Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

v=Know what I hate more than anything? I hate articles that are all bun and no meat. Now, I know what you’re thinking. What am I talking about? What does meat and buns have to do with writing articles? Well, believe it or not, it has everything to do with writing articles and if you get nothing else out of this particular one, get this…if you don’t give your readers meat to go with their bun, they will tune you out and never read anything you write again. Okay, so what’s bun and what’s meat?

Well, what you just read is the bun. It’s the lead in to what the article is about. It prepares you for what you’re about to read…kind of the same way that a nice looking bun prepares you for the juicy burger that’s inside of it. Have you ever noticed that about fast food burgers? The buns look really nice. But if the burger inside doesn’t taste good, are you going to eat there again? No, of course not. It doesn’t matter what the bun looks like. You want meat to go with it AND you want that meat to taste good.

The best way to set up the meat with a nice looking bun is, in the first paragraph of your article, to tell the reader exactly what you’re going to tell them. Make it very clear what you’re going to teach them or inform them of in the body of the article itself. Now, the title of the article can help a lot in this case. Now, my title and intro paragraph were a little odd and cryptic. But that’s okay too. See, that way, you build curiosity.

Ultimately, when the reader gets to the meat of the article, they want to learn something, even if it’s a simple concept. I’ve seen articles written without any bun at all. The problem with that is there’s no lead in. The reader just gets thrown stuff at him and he doesn’t know what hit him. I mean, do you want to eat a burger with no bun? Of course not.

So, in summary, introduce your topic through a good title and intro paragraph and then give the reader the meat of the article where they will actually learn something. If you do this, you’ll write articles that people will actually enjoy reading.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at:

http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html

This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

If this seems like an odd question, it’s not. I can’t even begin to tell you how many affiliate marketers really don’t know how to promote a product as an affiliate. They do some of the stupidest things imaginable and it shows. Well, if you’re not having any success doing what you’re doing, then it’s quite possible that you don’t know what you’re doing. If that’s the case, you might want to read this article. It just might help you to put some food on your table next month.

Okay, common mistakes. What are they? Wow, too many to even list here. Let me ask you a question. How do you decide what product to sell? Do you research them carefully? Do you buy them to see if they’re any good? Do you ask others what they think of the product? Do you look to see if the merchant has a history of paying affiliates on time? Do you check to see if the product is even legal? Just because something is being sold doesn’t mean that it’s legit. There is a lot of garbage out there that I wouldn’t sell to my worst enemy.

What about your ads? How long do you spend in writing them? Do you make sure that you concentrate on the benefits of the product when writing, or are you just trying to sell something? I have seen some affiliates actually send out emails saying, “Check out this great new product for growing hair” and then just put a link after it. What the heck is that? That’s not an ad. That’s a joke. And if those are the kind of ads you’re writing, don’t expect to make many sales.

What about protecting yourself? Do you cloak your links so people can’t steal your affiliate commissions by putting in their own links? In the IM niche especially, this is very common. The last thing you want to do is go through all that hard work and have it be for nothing.

Affiliate marketing can be very simple if you just take the time to do things right. By choosing products carefully, writing good ads and protecting the time you spent doing this, you will greatly increase your chances of being successful.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of being an affiliate failure? Want to turn yourself into an affiliate assassin like I am? Want to land in the top 20 of every affiliate promotion you tackle just like I do? Check out my site at:
http://www.stevewagenheim.com/affiliateassassin/index.html and start earning a solid income as an affiliate marketer.

SEO, or search engine optimization of your site, is one of the most focused on things online. You could say that marketers even obsess over it. Well, why not? The higher up the SERPs you go, the more traffic you get. The more traffic you get, the more money you make. Well, at least in theory anyway. However, everybody has their own ideas on just what SEO is. Well, believe it or not, some of you are way off base. So, in this article I’m going to explain to you what LEGITIMATE SEO is. And I stress the word legitimate. I think you will find this article most illuminating.

The very nature of SEO makes it something that, according to Google’s definition, makes it black hat, meaning not desirable by Google. See, by trying to optimize your sites by optimizing keyword saturation, anchor text and all that fancy stuff, you are, in essence, trying to game the search engines. You can justify it all you want, but that’s exactly what you’re doing. If you think I am kidding, go read Google’s terms of service. They are very clear.

Okay, so if we can’t do all this fancy stuff to climb up the SE ranks, what CAN we do? I mean, certainly we’re allowed to put up sites with relevant content, aren’t we? Well, that is the keyword my friends. And no, I don’t mean content. I mean RELEVANT. See, the sad truth about search engine optimization is this. If you simply put up a site with content that your visitors want to see, guess what? They’re going to come to see it and your site will rise up the SE ranks. Do you think YouTube had to do any of that fancy stuff to get people to their site? They have literally done no optimization at all. What they DID do was give users the viewing experience that they want…tons of videos to watch and the chance to upload their own.

The place is the number 2 ranked site on the Internet.

If you sit down and simply think about how you can give your visitors the experience that they want, the rankings of your site will take care of themselves without all the manipulation and trickery.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at:
http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html

Copywriters discovered a long time ago that you can’t sell things to people that they need. People don’t know WHAT they need. Heck, sometimes I don’t know what I need until somebody hits me over the head and points it out. As a copywriter, you can only sell things to people that they WANT. After you’ve done that, then you sneak in what they need with the product itself. It’s not rocket science. The question is, as a copywriter, how do we do this? This article will attempt to answer that question as simply as possible, although this is far from a simple concept.

To truly understand this, you have to understand how the human mind works. Let’s take a headache for example. What a person wants, when they have a headache, is to get rid of it. But what they REALLY want is to get rid of it EASILY. They don’t want to have to go through all kinds of gyrations to get it done. All they want is a pill. Swallow the pill and the headache goes away. So if you’re writing copy for a headache cure that doesn’t involve taking an aspirin, you’re going to need to convince them that this cure is as EASY as swallowing that pill, otherwise they are NOT going to buy your cure.

So in your copy, you would emphasize this. Without actually giving them the procedure, you’d point out that it takes very little time, is very easy and works instantly, or however quickly it works. You realize that it isn’t quite as easy as popping an aspirin, so you have to also point out how safe it is. People want safe too. So point out that there are no side effects from drugs. People want that too.

This concept, while complex as far as understanding how the human mind works, is actually very simple once you DO understand what people want. Then, as a copywriter, it is YOUR job to make the copy so that the prospect believes they are getting what THEY want.

Once you are able to do this, you can command five figures for any sales letter that you create.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Want to write copy just like the pros? Visit my site at http://www.bcipe.com/ and discover killer copywriting tips that have allowed me to write my own copy for years and earn myself a 6 figure a year income selling my own products.

Google wants their visitors to have the best viewing experience possible…period. That is the only thing they care about and it’s the only thing they SHOULD care about. Personally, I’m sick of marketers complaining about the “rules” that Google lays down as far as pay per click advertising. These rules are in effect for a reason, mostly because marketers just love to abuse things. Well, the free ride is over, in case you haven’t noticed. So, if you want to survive in the world of Adwords in 2009 and beyond, then you might want to make note of the few tips that I’m sharing with you today.

At the very top of the list is your prospect’s experience with your site. You want it to be the best viewing experience that they can have. That means no cheesy landing pages. When they come to your site, it should be loaded with content and information that actually helps them. Stop looking at these people like they’re just a pay check. They have REAL problems and a REAL need for a solution. If you have that solution, provide it. Give them a good reason to buy from YOU. If you don’t do this, trust me, you are dead in the water.

But making sure your prospects have a good viewing experience isn’t enough. You also have to be a smart business person. That means running your pay per click campaigns responsibly and without waste. Part of doing this is making sure that your daily budget is set and is one you can afford. So many marketers spend above their means and then they wonder why they’re going broke. Pay per click can get quite expensive for many keywords. Don’t get into a bidding war. Find long tail keywords that don’t cost as much and target those people.

Finally, learn how to write an ad. With pay per click, you only get three lines. It’s not a lot. And let me tell you, many marketers who can write a decent 2500 character email ad cannot hack pay per click because of the limitations on ads. So you have GOT to get a solid handle on how to write a compelling AdWords ad. If you don’t, you can forget about anybody clicking on them and going to YOUR site.

Pay per click can be a great way to getting people to your site. It’s targeted and it can be cost effective…if you know what you’re doing.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at:
http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html

A lot of marketers are into email marketing. It’s cheap and it’s effective, especially when done correctly. Unfortunately, very few marketers really know how to run an effective email marketing campaign. The first area where they usually run into problems is right at the beginning, the subject of the email. This article is going to explain the critical importance of your subject line and give you a brilliant example of one that will probably make this person a fortune. Keep reading to find out what it is and how effective it will be.

I am sure you all know who Mike Filsaime is. He is one of the top Internet marketers around today. His Butterfly Marketing and 7 Figure Code are legends already. He has sold everything that you can possibly think of when it comes to making money online products. Well, today, as I am writing this article, he sent an email out to his list with the subject line “Mike Filsaime Retires, Steven” to which my jaw dropped to the floor. How could this giant of marketing retire? Is he THAT rich?

Well, I had to open the email to see what it was all about. That’s the first step…getting people to open your email. As I read, I found out quite a few things. Mike Filsaime is not retiring from Internet marketing. He is simply retiring from public speaking. Okay, this is a whole different ball of wax. But think about it, if he had said in the subject that he was ONLY retiring from public speaking, would I have opened the email? Probably not as I really don’t care if he speaks in public or not. So by leaving out that key word, he gets you to open his email.

Now, as I kept reading the email, not only did he tell me that he was retiring from public speaking but he also told me why he was retiring from public speaking…to be able to free up his time to work on new products and services. Then he unleashes his new service, his mentoring program, on me. It was just masterful marketing on his part…all started with a simple subject that you just couldn’t ignore.

By using subjects that have a bit of mystery to them, you get people to open your email. Mike left out a part of the retiring equation…that it was ONLY from public speaking. But by doing that, he forces you to open his email to get the whole story.

If you think of your email subjects in this way, you’ll find that you’ll get a lot more people opening them than you do now.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
Tired of not getting your emails delivered, read or opened? Sick of not making any sales from your email marketing efforts? Visit my site at:

http://www.stevewagenheim.com/emailmarketing/index.html

and get your hands on 5 years of my personal experience with email marketing…experience that has earned me tens of thousands of dollars yearly.

One of the mistakes that Internet marketers make is that they promote to everyone as if they are the same. This is one sure way to alienate your target market, regardless of who they are. By knowing who it is you’re marketing to, you can then adjust your tactics to ones that are more suitable to that market. In this article, I am going to give you some examples of what I am talking about because nothing explains things better than examples. Hopefully, after reading these, you’ll understand the importance of how you approach your target market.

Let’s say you’re promoting mp3 downloads for hard rock or heavy metal. You’re most likely going to be reaching kids or young adults at best. You’re not marketing to 50 and 60 year olds. So you have to approach these people as such, age wise. Also, you’re dealing with a “hip” crowd, so the language you use better be in tune with the times. If you don’t know the vocabulary of the genre, learn it, or you have no business promoting things in it. Running promotional campaigns as if you were promoting Mozart symphonies isn’t going to cut it.

What if you’re marketing to the Internet marketing crowd itself? I’m talking about people who are looking to make money online, or even people who are already making money online. You’re going to have to understand the mentality of these people. Many have been ripped off or burned in the past, so they are going to need guarantees. So when creating your sales page, you’re going to have to stress these guarantees. This is something you probably don’t have to do with the mp3 niche. These kids aren’t looking for guarantees. They’re just looking for the hottest music to listen to.

Then of course there is the health niche. These people probably have some very serious problems. So they’re not looking for hip talk. They’re looking for simple solutions to their health problems. You’re going to want to focus on the benefits of whatever it is you’re selling them. In this case, testimonials from others are critical. Your target market is going to want to see proof that other people have been helped by your methods.

Each target market has to be approached a certain way. If you don’t know how to do this, it’s easy enough to learn. Just seek out other products and services that target these markets and see how they approach these people. Make notes of the tactics used. Eventually, you’ll have a good understanding of how to approach these people yourself. You can then launch your own campaign in your chosen niche.

It’s not rocket science. It’s just good common sense.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at:
http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html

A lot of people starting a home business think that free means worthless. Now don’t get me wrong, most things that are free are not quite as good as their paid counterparts, but in many cases, free can just as good if not better than free. Of course it depends on what you’re talking about. Well, in this article, I’m going to cover a few items that you can use for your home business that are not only free but work very well. You might want to add these to your home business setup.

One of the most useful items for your home business is a suite of office programs such as a word processor, spreadsheet, slide presentation program and database program. The most common one is of course Microsoft Office. The problem is, Microsoft Office comes with quite a hefty price tag, I remember when I got mine, it was about $500. Well, you don’t have to spend that kind of money for a suite of office programs. You can download Open Office for free and some people say it’s even better than Microsoft Office. I’ve used it and can honestly say it’s excellent.

Another useful item for your home business is a video maker. The reason is simple. Video has become very big in this day and age. Look at all the big marketers online and you’ll see that almost all of them are making videos. Well, the black tie of video makers is of course Camtasia. The problem is, this software too comes with a hefty price tag of several hundred dollars. However, there is an alternative called CamStudio that is not only free, but for simple videos, is excellent. It is certainly far from worthless.

Finally, there is membership site software. Now, there are many great membership site scripts out there and all of them are excellent. Some cost several hundred dollars and others a lot more. However, there are some excellent free shareware scripts that you can get that are perfect for simple membership sites. They’ll certainly hold you until you can afford a paid solution.

So as you can see, you can easily put together things for your home business that won’t cost you any money at all and still get a lot of use out of them.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Looking for a solid 4 step plan to building your own business…FREE? Pick up my free report at:
http://www.stevewagenheim.com/4steps.html and get started TODAY!

Why do beginning copywriters make things so hard on themselves? There is a world of expert copywriting out there. All you have to do is take a look at what’s already selling and craft your own unique message around those principles. But how do you know what the good sales letters are? That’s the key. You don’t want to copy styles from sales letters that aren’t converting. Well, there is an easy way to do this and I’m going to show you how in this article.

Most copywriters are doing work for merchants who have their products hosted by the big affiliate marketplaces online. Probably the biggest affiliate marketplace is Clickbank. Now, if you’re not aware of this, if you go to the Clickbank marketplace, you’ll find that if you do a search for products, he default search lists them by popularity. In other words, the top selling product is going to come out at the top of the list. How does this help you?

Well, for each product listed, there is an option to view the pitch page, or sales page. All you have to do is click on that link and it will take you right to the sales letter. From there, all you have to do is look it over and see what it is that makes the letter so effective. You want to look at design, headline, offer, guarantee, bullet points, testimonials, closing, everything. You want to take that letter apart piece by piece to see why it’s so effective. If you go through enough of these letters, you’ll begin to see a pattern.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many sales letters I’ve studied over the years. I’ve learned all the tricks just from looking them over. I have spent exactly zero dollars on copywriting instruction and I make a six figure income selling my own products writing my own copy.

This is absolutely the easiest way to learn copywriting without having to spend a fortune on copywriting courses or mentoring.

It’s all out there. All you have to do is find it.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write copy just like the pros? Visit my site at http://www.bcipe.com/ and discover killer copywriting tips that have allowed me to write my own copy for years and earn myself a 6 figure a year income selling my own products.

A day ago, a friend of mine gave me some articles of his to read. I almost fell asleep. I kid you not. It was the most boring collection of technical words that I ever saw on one piece of paper. Sure, the facts were all correct. I can’t argue with the content being invalid or anything like that, but there was NO passion. There was nothing in those articles to make me want to read them. Well, if that’s how YOU write, do yourself a favor. Don’t quit your day job any time soon. At least not until you’ve read this article. And I promise you, there WILL be passion in it.

Okay, listen up! You’re the expert on your subject right? Then let people know you’re the expert. Speak with authority. Don’t use words that are weak and lackluster. Use words that evoke emotion. If you’re trying to get a point across to somebody, get it across. Tell a story if you have to. Get in through the back door. Catch your reader unaware. Sometimes the best lessons are the ones that we don’t see coming. If you write like you’re putting together a cookbook you’re going to bore the hell out of your reader.

Now, I realize that you have to present facts, especially if it’s an article where you’re giving a person a step by step process to do something. But that doesn’t mean that those facts have to be presented dryly. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING can be made interesting if you REALLY believe in what you’re saying. Emphasize what needs to be emphasized. If you want to make a point very clear, make it clear. Give orders if you have to. Your reader WANTS to be told what to do if they’re looking for help. Help them for crying out loud. If they fall asleep on you, guess what? You’ve done nothing but wasted space.

If you can’t think of how to write in this way, pretend you’re sitting in a room with your best friend and you’re trying to keep him from making the biggest mistake of his life. Think you won’t have passion when talking to him? You’ll be screaming at the top of your lungs if he doesn’t listen.

If you want to make it as an article writer, you MUST be passionate about your writing.

Otherwise, you might as well be working at a convenience store.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at:

http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html

This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.