Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

Sometimes I have to shake my head at the way some affiliate marketers go about things. I don’t know about you, but I like to make things as easy for myself as I can. The last thing I want to do is promote something that I haven’t got a snowball’s chance of selling. And yet, I see affiliate marketers do this everyday. Well, if you’re one of them, and not getting the results you want, this article may just get you headed in the right direction.

You’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. Well, here it is straight from the hip. Affiliate marketers who jump on the latest launch craze and don’t have any real experience selling affiliate products, are doomed from the start. Why do I say this? Well, in order to really understand, you need to understand how these launches start and how they develop into the monsters that they become.

Contrary to popular belief, when Joe Guru creates his latest sensation, he doesn’t do this all on his own. He usually has a team of people working on the project. One of those people is the affiliate manager. What the affiliate manager does is, after the product is ready to go, he sends an email out to their list of affiliates. That’s right. This isn’t a list of people they’re trying to get to buy the product. This is a list of maybe 10,000 strong just waiting to promote it. Did that figure scare you? It should.

So when the product goes out the door, the average affiliate is up against thousands of other affiliates promoting the same product, some of which are big name gurus themselves. This makes it even harder for the little guy to make any sales. And yet, this is what the new affiliate marketer does everyday. And then he wonders why he can’t make any sales.

Below is a resource that will help you to become a better affiliate marketer. Even though I sell my own products, I have days where I make more money selling affiliate products. All you have to do is know what you’re doing.

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.

The wonderful thing about marketing on the Internet is that there are many ways to do it. You have everything from pay per click to solo ads to classifieds to you name it. But many marketers are missing out on a big piece of the pie by either leaving email marketing out of the equation or not using it properly. I don’t know which category you fall in, but if you’re not making a solid income through email marketing, you’re missing out big time. This article is going to give you a few tips to improve your efforts in this area.

For starters, you want to make your email subjects attractive enough so that people will actually open your emails. This does not mean to lie. For one thing, deceptive email subjects are against the law and punishable by some hefty fines. So don’t take the chance. But there are legit ways to get people to open your emails. For example. Let’s say you’re sending an email that contains a free ecourse on how to train your dog. Well then for crying out loud, say it in your subject. “Free ecourse on training your dog.” If the person is interested, trust me, they’ll open it.

That kind of leads in to the next area where you can improve the results you’re getting. People aren’t going to respond to you if you don’t give them something of value. Nobody wants to just open up and email and read a sales pitch. That want something for their time. A free ecourse or report or something along those lines will bring about a much better response than a sales pitch. There is plenty of time to pitch these people down the road AFTER you have gained their trust. Give them something of value first.

Finally, there is the service that you’re using to deliver your emails. Not all email delivery services are the same. Some have terrible delivery rates and your emails won’t get through. And sending them yourself is just plain suicide. Any spam complaints, even if these people DID opt in to get your newsletter, can end up in you getting your ISP to shut you down. Plus, your delivery rates are not going to be as good as the big boys. And let’s face it, the more emails that get delivered, the more money you stand to make.

If you fix up just these few things, you will greatly improve the results of your email marketing campaigns.

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.

If you’ve ever participated in a giant giveaway or been asked to donate a product, and you had more than one, you probably sat their wondering what would be the best product to donate. Do you give them your best? Do you give them your least expensive? How exactly do you handle this? Well, this article is going to give you some info and tips that should prove useful. By following these guidelines, you should have no trouble deciding what product of yours to hand over.

Here is the main thing you need to know about most giveaways, though not all, so please get the exact details. Your product, whichever one is actually given away, is just that…given away. You make no money from the giveaway itself. The product is used solely for the purpose of building your list. It is from that list that you will then hopefully make sales for another product. That is why it is best to not give them your best. If you do, you’ll have nothing to upsell to these people unless you create another product down the road.

The best procedure is to offer a lower end product that you have, but not necessarily one that is cheap. You want to provide value to the giveaway so that these people feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. Plus, in many giveaways products are also offered for sale as a one time offer. The contributors to the giveaway usually get a percentage of those profits. If it’s a firesale, and not a true giveaway, you could get as much as 50% per sale This is not a small chunk of change if the sale price of the firesale items is high. Some I have seen are in the hundreds of dollars.

There is a definite difference between a giveaway and a firesale. A giveaway is just that, the items are given away with an option to purchase additional items if you like. A firesale is when a number of items are sold at a reduced cost. These are usually more profitable because money is paid to you for each sale made whereas with a giveaway, you’re mainly building your list. If that is the case, you want to be careful with what you offer. If you have nothing left to sell these people, you’ve just built a worthless list.

Getting involved with these things can be a little tricky, so if you have any doubts or are fuzzy on any of the details, ask the person running it. Better safe than sorry.

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

I admit it…I’m a college geek. Well, at least I was about 30 years ago. And while I didn’t learn much in college that I use today as an Internet marketer, I did learn one thing in economics class that has helped me immensely with product creation and understanding market supply and demand. Now, if you think that doesn’t really matter when doing your marketing, think again. Supply and demand is the whole ball game when it comes to whether or not your product is going to sell and if so, for how much.

The basic law of supply and demand is simple. If the supply is high and the demand is low, then prices come down. If the supply is low and the demand is high, then the prices go up. Those of you who have had economics 101 know this. But exactly how does this apply to Internet marketing? I mean, if you’re selling info products, which aren’t a physical good, is there any real lack of supply? Well, there can be. How? Simple. Just tell your prospects that only a certain number will be sold and watch them head for the buy button if they think it’s something that will really help them.

You see it all the time with slick sales pages. Only 100 copies being sold, or this offer is only good for the next seven days. These are common tactics. Of course, if you want to have any kind of credibility, you better back up what you say. But that’s another message for another day. The point is, economic principals most definitely come into play when promoting anything online. So the more you understand about economics, the better your chances for success.

But economics is just the start. I also took marketing in college. Knowing the best ways to construct an ad campaign will greatly increase your sales conversion. I had a great marketing professor. This guy could sell anything to anybody. Heck, he sold me on taking the course in the first place when I went to talk to him prior to signing up.

Okay, there is a point to all of the above and here it is. By getting a solid education in marketing and economics, as well as writing and a number of other things, you will give yourself the best chance for having success with your Internet marketing career. A masters degree, which is what I like to call it, is the ticket to success, because unlike many college educations…knowing what you’re doing when it comes to your business is priceless.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to earn a 6 figure income like I do but get there in half the time? Please visit my blog at http://work-at-home-based-business.com/2007/12/06/review-of-nitro-marketing/ and read my review of the greatest info product ever to come out online in the 5 years I’ve been doing this.

The age of plain boring text is over. If you want your Internet marketing career to make it to the next level, you’re going to need to incorporate video into your promotional strategy. This article is going to explain why and also give you some ways to do this. After reading, you should be ready to enter the age of video marketing.

One of the main reasons that video is so important today is because Google says it is. In case you haven’t noticed, Google just recently bought out YouTube. As a result, when you do a search for something, YouTube is one of the first things you’ll find when it comes to search results. What does this have to do with video? Everything! YouTube just happens to be the top video site on the Internet. So bringing video into your campaigns is going to give you a big boost.

Okay, how do we do this? Well, the first way is to actually incorporate video into our sales pitch. I’m not suggesting that you do away with text on your sales page altogether, but it certainly can’t hurt to include a brief video presentation that people can view as well. This will greatly increase the effectiveness of your sales message.

Another thing you can do is actually submit videos to YouTube yourself. These can be humorous, instructive or whatever. Just having a video presence itself will help. The more entertaining the video, the better your chances will be of getting people to your site, which you will include a URL to at the end of your video. This is a great way of getting people to your site.

One thing that people don’t think about when it comes to video is proof of income. With the advances in technology, it is very easy to fake screen prints of income. However, by creating a Camtasia video showing people you actually logging into your online accounts, there can be no question that you are making the money that you say you’re making. Video income proof is the most powerful proof you can provide for people. Don’t pass up this opportunity.

There is no arguing that video is the present. It isn’t hard to incorporate into your promotions. If you can’t afford Camtasia, there are free alternatives such as Cam Studio. It isn’t quite as good as far as video quality but in most cases it should be sufficient for your needs until you can afford to spring for a really good video processor. The bottom line is simple. If you want to bring your marketing into the present, video is a part of it that can’t be ignored.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
Want to find out how to create killer videos like my friend Kevin Riley and rake in a 6 figure income like he and I do? Check out my review of his dynamite product at my blog at http://stevenwagenheim.blogspot.com/2008/06/kevin-rileys-recipe-for-success.html

Okay, I’m going to nitpick here. It’s one thing to have some success with Internet marketing. It’s another thing to get all that you can out of your efforts. This article, while directed to those who are actually having some success, can also apply to those just starting out. These tips will help anybody trying to scratch out a living online regardless of how much they’re making or not making. Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll be on your way to maximizing YOUR returns.

First thing I want to touch on is your sales copy. You’re bringing in about a 1% conversion on it. Hey, great! Some people don’t even do that well. But can you do better? I say you can regardless of what you’re selling. How? Simple method to do this. Split test your current sales letter against another version. You don’t have to change much. Start with just the headline and see what happens. If the new headline converts better, get rid of the old one and then test the new control against another headline. This method alone can bring your conversion up to 2% or even higher.

Next on the list is your autoresponder series. You are building a list of prospects, right? Well, if not, that’s the first thing you have to do. Having a list that you can email on a regular basis is one of the best ways to maximize your returns. I wouldn’t make nearly as much as I do if I didn’t have a list to contact. But it doesn’t stop there. Use the same process with your list as you did with your sales letter. Split test mailings. See which one converts better. Then, scrap the one that doesn’t perform as well.

Finally, and this may be the most important thing, are you maximizing your time that you’re spending on your business? Just by adding another hour to my day, I was able to generate between three and four more products each year to my arsenal. That means a lot more income. The minutes may not seem like much, but every second that you spend on your business adds up. Trust me, I am speaking from experience. I’m not saying you have to work around the clock, but even just adding an hour to your day can work wonders.

If you follow the simple tips I’ve outlined above, split testing your sales letter, building and split testing your list emails and adding some more time to your day, you’ll gradually see that the month end income statements start to grow gradually. And before you know it, you’re making six figures a year just like me.

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

Hate to be the bringer of bad news but the scarcity mindset is killing YOUR business. That’s right, it’s destroying it just as surely as if you’d taken an axe to it yourself. You probably have no idea what I’m talking about. You probably have no idea what this mindset even is. Well, that’s because you’re probably living in the world of giving out little bits and pieces of info like it was gold and charging through the nose for something actually worth two cents. It isn’t the way to run a business…not today. Let me explain why.

The Internet today is more competitive than ever. With downsizing and outsourcing overseas, many people are losing their jobs and turning to the Internet to make a living. As a result, you have more people to deal with as far as competing for a market share. So in order to get more sales, you have to give more. There is no way around it. Okay, so how do we go about doing this?

One way is to create a decent ebook, one that you would normally sell for about $20 and give it away. That’s right, give it away for free. Let people see the value of the material that you are giving away. What this does is it puts the seed in their minds that if you’re giving this much away for free, imagine what your products are like that you’re actually selling for a profit. It all comes down to perception.

Another way is to frequent forums in the niche that you’re in. Become very active in the forum. Answer as many questions as you can and truly try to help the other members. Start your own threads giving away as much information about the subject as you can. Again, if people see you giving away all this info, they’ll be more interested in what you are selling because certainly the quality has to be excellent. Again, it is all a matter of perception.

If you don’t know where to go to give your books away, there are plenty of sites on the Internet where you can upload your ebook and people can get to it. This is a great way to gain exposure for yourself and at the same time get others to come to your site and see what else you have to offer.

In this business, the more you give, the more you get.

Don’t ever forget it.

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

I just recently wrote an article about what the best word in copywriting is. So I thought I’d write an article about what the worst word in copywriting is. There are many horrible words that you should never use in copywriting but this one is absolutely at the top of the list. The word is “buy”. Don’t know why? Well, don’t worry. I’m going to give you the straight scoop on the worst word in copywriting history.

Okay, so what’s so horrible about the word “buy”? I mean it’s just a little three letter word. How harmful can it be? We use the word everyday. When our wife goes to the store and we’re busy doing something, we say, “Hey honey, can you buy me a pack of gum while you’re out?” What’s so bad? Well, when it comes to copywriting, using the word “buy” is like a death sentence…and not a slow painless one either. It’s quite quick…and anything but painless. It can literally destroy your bottom line in an instant.

Okay, you’re still asking why. Here’s the answer. When we say something in own sales copy like, “You can buy my ebook by clicking on the buy now button below” what we are essentially saying to somebody is “You can give me money…hard earned money.” Don’t laugh! That’s what using the word buy does. It reminds the prospect that they are digging into their wallet and taking out their hard earned cash to pay for your product. This is not a pleasant thought. People don’t like to spend money. Heck, I don’t like to spend money and I certainly don’t like to be reminded that I am spending money. Neither do your customers.

Psychology is an amazing thing. Sometimes by not stating the obvious, we make people completely forget that they’re doing it. It’s kind of like telling somebody NOT to think of the word “buy” for the next 10 minutes. You know that there is no way they’re going to be able to do it, unless they have incredibly strong wills. I’m not even sure I can do it…and my mind is usually pretty well occupied most of the time with my work. But plant an idea in it and I’m toast.

Bottom line is this. If you use the word “buy” in your sales copy, you are greatly increasing the chances that your prospect is going to go elsewhere to make his purchase.

If you want to know what to use in its place, as well as other words not to use…not to mention just about everything else you’ll need to become a crackerjack copywriter…check out the resource in my signature.

But please, whatever you do, don’t use the word…well, you know.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to save $2,500 to $15,000 in copywriting costs? Want to write copy yourself that can command that kind of payday? 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.

Is it worth buying web traffic? That’s the question. I’m not talking about launching a pay per click campaign. That’s not the same thing. I’m talking about forking over a few hundred bucks, or more, to a web site and say, “Hey, give as much traffic as you can for $X.” Some people think this is a good thing. Some think it’s a waste of money. In this article, I’m going to give you the straight answer. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

The main misconception that most marketers have is that traffic is traffic. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Let’s say you had a site that sold kids clothes and you went to a church gathering of 40 to 50 year olds and told them about your site. Would you end up getting a lot of traffic to your site? Maybe. Some of these people may have large families with lots of kids. The problem is, you don’t know that. The people you are directly reaching are 40 to 50 year olds and those people are NOT going to be interested in kids clothes. At least not for themselves.

Point is, the only traffic that you can reasonably count on to bring you sales is targeted traffic, meaning people who are most likely to be interested in what you’re selling. If you go to a traffic broker and buy a package, you don’t know what you’re getting, usually. This is where the somewhere in the middle comes in. See, some brokers have very specific packages. From surveys that they take from the various people coming to their site, they can get a pretty decent idea of what each person is looking for. They then group them into categories. If you should need traffic for a category that they cater to and can definitively segment, then there is a good chance that you can get decent targeted traffic.

But that’s the problem. It’s almost impossible to tell which brokers are legit and which ones are just out to take your hard earned cash. And for the ones that are legit, you really don’t know what the quality of these leads is going to be. It could be good or bad. It’s kind of like a crap shoot. So, while this isn’t a total waste of time for certain, it’s not a sure thing either. So like I said, the truth is somewhere in between.

If you want to take a chance on one of these brokers, do so with funds that you can spare to lose because there is a very good chance that the traffic you’ll get isn’t going to be worth a hill of beans.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to discover how to use the crappiest forms of promotion online that earn me over $3,000 each month? Visit my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/crapads/index.html

Tell me if this doesn’t sound familiar? You decide to start your own home business. You pick a program or plan, start promoting, hope to get people to your site and ultimately what happens is you either get nobody or you get a few people each day and the number never seems to grow. Your income is a few bucks a month, if that, and it never seems to grow. You just spin your wheels over and over and over. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. About 95% of the people out there who try to start and run a successful home business have the same problem. This article is going to try to fix that problem for you by telling you what the root cause of the problem is.

It essentially comes down to two things. The first is that you don’t have enough knowledge to actually run a home business. I find it interesting that somebody would go to school for years and years to try to learn how to start their own brick and mortar business and yet when it comes to the Internet, they think they can do it with no training at all. Guess what? It can’t be done. Running a business online is no different from running a business in the real world. The only physical difference is you don’t have a physical building to have to worry about and pay rent for. This is actually a good thing. But business principles themselves don’t change and they MUST be learned.

Problem number two is focus and work ethic. You can’t do the same things over and over and expect to get different results. If your advertising system is only generating five leads a day, guess what? Unless it’s a system that grows over time, such as adding more content to the Internet in the form of articles, then that’s all you’re going to get on a daily basis. It’s not going to magically grow. You have to add more pieces to the puzzle in order to get more out of it. There is no way around it. And you have to do this every single day. This isn’t a hobby. This is a business. You therefore have to treat it like one. And you have to constantly move forward with it. Otherwise, it will go nowhere.

I’m probably not telling you anything earth shattering, but trust me, these are the main reasons why people get nowhere with their home business. Correct these few things and you should find that your business will begin to grow quite nicely.

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!