Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

I really wonder if Internet marketers are looking at the same thing. One guy says the new iPad is great and another guy says it’s trash. And this goes on and on for just about every product, marketing wise related or not, that I can think of. Really makes me wonder whose eyes are glued on straight and who needs a new pair of glasses. Okay, there is a reason for this odd little rant and I’m going to get right to it…so hang in there.

As Internet marketers, we are trying to reach our target market the best way we know how. Agree with me so far? Okay, we don’t all agree on the methods to use (some use article marketing, some pay per click) but we do agree that if we don’t give our target market the experience that they’re looking for when they come to our site, they are NOT going to buy from us. With me so far?

Okay, we go through all this testing to try to optimize that experience. With our articles, if that’s the method we use, we try to write better and better with each one. We might experiment with different resource boxes to see which one performs better. With our sales pages, we changes headlines to see which one pulls better. With our squeeze pages we try different things. We keep testing and tweaking until we come up with conversion figures that we’re happy with. And even then, we don’t stop. We are constantly trying to optimize our marketing campaigns. I think we can all agree on this.

However, what we can’t seem to agree on, and this is where I have to wonder if we’re all looking at the same thing, is how to interpret those results. John Doe comes to me and says he’s getting a 2% conversion on his sales page after just one try and I say, “Hey, that’s great! Way to go!” Jim “I’m Never Satisfied” Jones says, “That’s pitiful” and immediately dismisses the campaign as an abysmal failure.

Did I miss something here? Have I been on the turnip truck too long. I realize that Jim Jones is probably a seven figure earner and anything less than a 10% conversion to him is crap, but there are people in this industry who would kill for a 2% conversion their first shot out of the gate.

Point is, when you look at things, you have to look at them objectively. You can’t let your personal “wish list” get in the way. You have to look at industry averages and standards to determine where you are and where you want to be. Pie in the sky is going to get you killed because it’s going to end up discouraging you. Before you take Jim Jones’ pooh-pooh of your conversion as gospel, take a look at what the industry says about it.

You might end up with a smile on your face instead of a gun to your head.

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

This article is actually inspired by a very interesting forum post over at the Warrior Forum over in the copywriting section. The post generally stated that unless you’re original, you’re going to end up at the bottom of the barrel. Well, this article is going to tackle the question, “How original do you have to be as a copywriter?” This is just my personal opinion. So take it for what it’s worth to you.

The biggest complaint of the person who made the post is that most copy he sees is just more of the same old same old and that there is just no originality. Well, I can’t say I can refute that. Yes, most of the copy I see, especially if you head on over to the Clickbank marketplace and take a look at some of those sales letters, is pretty much the same…almost to the letter. But then I take a look at something else and I say to myself, “So what?”

That something else is sales and how many affiliates are promoting these products. Some of the gravities are in the stratosphere. Make no mistake about it…these sales letters are kicking some serious butt. How is that possible when they’re all written from the same cookie cutter formula? The answer is simple.

See, copywriting goes way back to before there ever was an Internet. Take a look at Joe Karbo’s “Lazy Man’s Way To Riches” ad that appeared in newspapers back in the stone ages. If you read that ad, it is no different from the same sales letters you see clogging up the Clickbank marketplace today. And that ad was one of the most successful in history.

There is a reason why there is very little originality in copywriting. It’s because the formula for writing good copy hasn’t changed much over the years. You still need to get the person’s attention (your headline), get them interested in your story and/or product (your copy body), build the desire to purchase the product (testimonials, benefits, etc.) and get them to take action (your closing). This basic formula is what it is because it works.

Have there been original copywriters? Sure there have. Take a look at the guy who wrote the copy for the Rich Jerk’s products. He made an art form out of insulting prospects and forcing them to buy simply because they didn’t want to be losers. Naturally, this brought on a whole ton of copycats, but this guy started it all…at least online anyway. Who knows what offline copy this might have been inspired by.

Point is, and I know this is going to sound like a cliche, if it isn’t broke there is no need to fix it. Tried and true methods for writing copy still work because they always worked. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to write a sales letter that converts.

So, do you really need to be original as a copywriter?

No…you just need to be good.

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.

I don’t know what it is. Maybe I’m just getting ornery as I’m getting older but more and more things are bugging me about Internet marketing everyday. This rant was actually inspired by a forum post that reminded me of all the stupid things that some Internet marketers do, mostly in dealing with their lists. I’m going to briefly tell you what the post was about and then give you my personal suggestion for dealing with these idiots. I hope you find this entertaining as well as helpful.

It seems that one member of this forum got an email from one of the lists he was on saying, in the subject line, “Congratulations…You Just Made A Sale” or something like that. Well, when he opened up the email, it turned out that he didn’t make a sale. It was just this stupid marketer’s way of getting him to open the email. In case you are not aware of this, email subject lines like that, if they are false, are against FTC and Can Spam regulations and you are in fact committing a crime. Just wanted to get that out of the way.

Well, needless to say, this person unsubscribed from the list. But in my opinion, that’s not enough. I think we should do more. On a serious note, I think we should report people who use deceptive subjects like these. Put the fear of God into them and maybe they’ll stop pulling this garbage. On a less serious note, I have some other suggestions.

Why don’t we try something like this? Write back to the person asking them where there sale is. Tell them that you’ve checked your account over and over and don’t see anything and ask them to please look into this for you and to please credit you with your sale as soon as possible. That’s one thing you can do.

Another thing you can do is send them a screen print of all the sales you HAVE made and ask the person to point out which one they are referring to because you can’t seem to find the one that they’re talking about anywhere in your account. This will really tick them off as they will see that you are a successful marketer and not some hack like they are.

You could also send them an email saying that the commission received from the sale was posted incorrectly and that you should have received an extra $2,000 and would they please make this correction immediately and send payment to you. This will certainly tick the marketer off as well.

And I am sure you can think of a ton of other clever things you can do to annoy this person who has just violated who knows how many laws.

Oh, and of course…don’t forget to click on that unsubscribe link.

That sends the clearest message of all.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to know what the 7 Deadly Sins of Internet Marketing are? Get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/7deadlysins/7deadlysins.html and save your business from going down the tubes before it even has a chance.

I’ve had to do a lot of soul searching before writing this article. What I have to say isn’t going to be easy for a lot of people to hear, but it has to be said. I’m going to relate a true story without mentioning any names. But it will clearly show you why some people are not cut out for running their own business.

A customer of mine wrote me a very frantic email. To make a long story short, they were very upset with the product they bought from me. They were under the impression that it was one thing and then when they opened it, they didn’t find what they expected to find. Now that in itself isn’t too uncommon. The product is massive and it’s easy to get confused. But that’s not where the problem lies.

See, the customer then went on a rant the size of Texas that I won’t get into here. That in itself is fine. We all get upset. I get upset. But here is where the problem lies and why I realized that this person was not cut out to run their own business.

The rant itself was all over the place. There was no coherent thought to it. I honestly had a very difficult time trying to follow what the person was actually upset about. There were conflicting comments in the email that didn’t make sense. But more importantly, the entire email was written in one long paragraph with little, if any punctuation, that made it almost impossible to read.

Finally, I realized that this person probably didn’t have a strong grasp of the English language, which I later verified in later communications when I tried to understand exactly what the problem was. Oh, by the way, I refunded the purchase immediately and yet still tried to help the person through their problem. That is something you might want to take note of if you want to build up a reputation for good customer service. Most people would just refund and be done with it. Five emails later, we finally resolved the issue. How was it resolved?

After I fully explained to the person the skills that were needed to run a home business successfully (I didn’t sugar coat it) this person realized that this was something that was going to be extremely hard for them to do. The truth is, whether you want to admit it or not, not everybody is cut out for this. I have a friend who, God bless him, has a child who is mentally handicapped and will never reach beyond the age of 12 intellectually. The chances of this person ever running a successful home business are slim to none.

I know we all want to believe that anybody can succeed at this if they really want to. But I am a realist about this, and I know that, while a lot of people will disagree with me, there are some folks out there who are better off just working at a McDonald’s or pushing a broom. It is not a crime to admit that being a home business owner is not the thing for you.

I don’t know where you fit in all this. Only YOU can answer that. Only YOU know how hard or easy it’s been for you to try to earn a living at home. But I can tell you this. If you don’t have solid communication skills, you need to learn them. Because whatever you do, some form of communication, whether it be in salescopy, ads, emails, articles, or just plain customer support, is going to be CRITICAL to running a successful business.

Think about it. If somebody emails you and asks you to explain your product to them and you can’t do this in a way that gives the prospect a sense of security in their purchase because you weren’t clear in your explanations, how successful are you going to be?

Bottom line is cruel but a reality people need to face.

Some folks just aren’t going to be cut out for this stuff.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Sick and tired of all the home business schemes? Want one that will really deliver on its promises? Read my totally unbiased review of Carbon Copy PRO at http://stevewagenheim.com/blog/internet-marketing/review-of-carbon-copy-pro.html and get yourself a home business that is all substance.

Not everybody does Internet marketing full time like me. Heck, I had no choice in the matter. I was tossed out of my old job. But some people still do have comfortable jobs and Internet marketing is something that they’re working into slowly. For those folks, it’s generally said to keep their day job and then quit once they’re able to fully supplement their job income. Seems like sound advice on the surface. But is it? Believe it or not, there are pros and cons to this. We’re going to explore them in this article.

Let’s look at the pros first because they are so obvious. With a steady job behind you and income coming in regularly, the new Internet marketer doesn’t have to worry about paying the bills. Let me tell you something, not having to worry about where your next meal is coming from or if the rent is going to be paid is a HUGE load off of one’s mind. That is the big plus about keeping your day job while you’re building your Internet business. But like with anything, there are two sides to this coin.

On the downside, there are only so many hours in the day. Last I checked, there were 24 of them. If you’re the typical person, you sleep 8 of them. That leaves 16 left. If you’re working a full time job, say 9 to 5, that leaves 8 hours left. But wait…what about travel to and from work? Most people travel at least an hour to work each way. So now you are down to 6 hours in your day. Knock off an hour for dinner when you get home and you’re down to 5 hours. Do you see where I am going with this?

Working a full time job does NOT give you a lot of time to build your business. Therefore, what happens is that instead of working up to a full time Internet income in say, 3 months, it might take you a whole year or even longer. Now for some people, that’s okay. But what about for those who are working a job that is barely paying the bills? Maybe not so okay.

So you see, not quitting your day job is not such a cut and dried thing. In some cases, you might be better off leaving. But that is something only YOU can decide.

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

Just recently, over at the Warrior Forum, somebody started a thread listing a ton of copywriting outlines. These are all different strategies for constructing a sales letter that ultimately makes sales. Well, needless to say, my head was spinning by the time I read all of these models. And even though I’ve been writing my own salescopy for years, I couldn’t help but think that all of this really boils down to a few simple principles. In this article, I’m going to share what I feel all salescopy comes down to.

At the top of the list, you have to get the person’s attention. I don’t care how good your sales letter is. You’ve essentially got just a few seconds to grab that person’s attention and hold it, otherwise they are going to be gone from your sales page. This is done, through whatever means you decide to use, in the first couple of inches above the fold. Some people do it with big fancy graphics. Others do it with carefully crafted headlines. The debates will go on forever as far as which is better, but ultimately, those first two inches are critical to getting prospects to read your sales letter.

Okay, so what’s next? You’ve gotten their attention, now you have to keep it. If you read all the different outlines you will find a ton of ways to do this. One way is with a personal story of how the product creator suffered with the same problem, in order to build empathy. Another way is by providing some cold hard facts showing statistics of the problem. Still another way is to ask the prospect questions such as, “Are you sick and tire of…” and then fill in the problem. Point is, you have to build on the initial momentum created by the headline. Everything MUST be relevant to the prospect. The primary focus should be on them and their problem.

Next on the list is to show how YOUR product is better than everything else out there. Let’s face it, unless you’re in some obscure niche where you have no competition, there ARE going to be other solutions out there. You have to show that YOURS is the best. You can do this with testimonials, case studies, a list of features along with their benefits, and so on. The transition from the previous section of sales copy to this one should be smooth.

Finally, there is the call to take action. You’ve given the prospect everything that they need in order to make an informed decision. However, many people procrastinate. So in order to get them off the pot, so to speak, you need to force their hand. This can be done through scarcity, limited time offer, limited price offer and so on. If they have no reason to buy NOW…they won’t.

In my opinion, this is what all sales copy comes down to…these four things. If you make sure you include them in your sales letter, it doesn’t matter what model you use as they are all basically derived from what I have outlined above.

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.

I have to admit, I got the idea to write this article from a very disturbing thread at the Warrior forum that I am going to briefly go into in a moment. Doing SEO for a living is a very viable business model and something that you might want to consider. This article is going to go into some detail on this subject. But first, let me get to that forum thread.

Seems that a forum member had a friend who had some company do some web design for them. They asked the company to get them listed on Google and the company said that there would be a $25 Google fee. Now, I know for a fact that Google doesn’t have a fee to get listed. So the company was not being truthful about this. Maybe this was their fee and the customer misunderstood. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But this whole incident made me realize that doing SEO for other sites is a viable business model.

Okay, so how would you get into something like this? Well, for starters, you better know your SEO. A site owner is going to get pretty ticked off if you don’t do anything of real value for them. I know I would be very upset if I hired somebody and all they did was submit my URL to a few search engines. That’s not doing SEO. So know your stuff.

Next, you need to know who your customers are and how to find them. To do this, you need to get out your keyword tool and find out what people are searching for when they’re looking for SEO work to be done. You need to see if there is enough of a demand for the service. I happen to know there is and you will find this out when you do your own research.

After that, you want to put together a service and fee schedule. That’s right. Everything that you do, no matter how small it is, must have a fee attached so that each prospective customer knows what they’re paying for. If you’re smart, you’ll put together several packages so that each customer can choose the one that is best suited for them. Naturally, the packages will be discounted compared to each individual service if purchased separately.

Finally, you need to design your own site and get out there and start marketing it based on the keywords that you’ve researched. If you really know your SEO, you should have no problem getting traffic quickly and building a business from it.

Yes, there is a downside to this business model. No residual income. You don’t work, you don’t get paid, kind of like if you were a freelance copywriter. However, if you build up a large enough client base, and have enough customers who create multiple sites, you can have an ongoing income for a very long time.

Anyway, it’s something to consider. There is definitely a lot of money in doing SEO for a living.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

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Keyword research…what a mine field. Just recently a thread on the subject was started over at the Warrior Forum. After reading it and seeing all the different theories that people had, I realized something…maybe even for the first time. I’m going to share what that is shortly, but first I’m going to give you my thoughts on picking keywords and deciding on whether or not they’re good or bad. I think you will find this article quite an eye opener.

Let me start off by saying this. No keyword is going to be good or bad based entirely on how many searches it gets and how much competition it has. Those stats are only a starting point but they don’t tell the whole story. Aside from that, there are so many different ways of even determining searches and competition that you can come up with different conclusions based on what method you use. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In addition to searches and competition, you need to look at the keyword itself and see what kind of sites are coming up. See, not all keywords are created equally. Some are clearly indicative of a person looking to buy, such as “looking to buy a home.” Obviously, not all keywords are that, well, obvious. But something like “free Photoshop tips” is quite obvious. This person isn’t willing to spend money to learn how to use Photoshop. So unless you’re planning on putting up a site for charitable reasons, this keyword should be avoided at all costs.

Then there is the competition issue. Many marketers are afraid of keywords with a lot of competition. But the numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. Some keywords, if you check the top sites, are almost impossible to crack. The top competitors have been online for years, have tens of thousands of backlinks, if not more, and have well established names. They’re going to prove to be formidable opponents. It doesn’t matter if there aren’t many competing sites if the top ones are that strong.

On the other hand, you may find that even though there is a ton of competition for a keyword, the top sites haven’t been around long, don’t have many backlinks, have very poor content and their PR is nothing to write home about either. These sites will be much easier to overtake no matter how many there are.

And then of course there are the methods of doing keyword research, whether it be broad, phrase or exact match. Each tactic has its pluses and minuses. And the competition part, well, there are some interesting ways to actually determine that as well including using searches with quotes, without quotes, eliminating or including what Google calls “relevant” searches and other techniques. By changing just one variable, you can completely change how you “feel” about a keyword.

What this all made me realize, probably for the first time, is that there really is no one RIGHT way to do keyword research and no one system is going to be fool proof. A keyword that you think, because of the numbers, is going to perform well, might totally bomb out on you…either because you underestimated the competition or because the keyword itself wasn’t a “buyers” keyword.

My opinion on all this is simple. Pick a method that YOU feel comfortable with using. Get used to it. Learn how to spot its flaws and work around them. Eventually, you will begin to get a feel for the system and can tell when a keyword will or won’t perform for you.

In other words, keyword research is NOT an exact science and anybody who thinks it is, is going to be in for a rude awakening.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

If you want to discover the REAL truth about Internet marketing and get some solid tips to take your business to the next level…get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/realtruth.html and subscribe to my REAL Truth newsletter where you’ll discover more than from all those high priced ebooks combined.

This article is probably going to be my biggest rant since I’ve been online. I cannot believe some of the things that Internet marketers are being taught. Many of these are not only unethical but can actually land you in legal trouble. I’m not going to go over the whole litany in this article because we’ll be here all year, but I am going to pick on some of my biggest gripes. If rants like this bug you…don’t read this article. You’ve been warned.

At the top of my list is the outright theft of content. Yes, theft. Marketers are being told to take other marketers sales letters, articles, autoresponder series, or whatever it is they’ve created and pawning it off as their own, changing only the links used for monetization. This is outright theft and yet I am seeing marketers condoning this saying that “everybody does it.” No, everybody does NOT do this. If you are a victim of something like this, you need to send a C&D to the site that’s putting up your content and a DMCA to the hosting company. If you need to push the issue, especially if a lot of money is being lost, get a lawyer.

Another thing that marketers are being told to do that also bugs the heck out of me is to spam social networking and bookmarking sites by setting up profiles simply for the purpose of getting backlinks to your site. Folks, if you’re not actively involved in these sites then all you’re doing is clogging them up with your crap. If you are the owner of one of these sites and you find people are creating accounts for the soul purpose of getting backlinks and they’re not contributing to your community, you need to delete their accounts and ban them for life. If enough sites do this, people will get the message and stop this practice.

Finally, marketers are being told to write articles that specifically violate a site’s TOS. The thinking behind this tactic is that the site in question won’t notice. Trust me folks, they notice. They have trained staff to spot these violations. I won’t go into more detail than that because I don’t want to give anybody any ideas but you know what I’m talking about. For those who own these directories, these people need to be banned, plain and simple.

If we each do our part to clean up the mess, maybe Internet marketers won’t get the bad rap that many of them have earned.

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

Do you remember the old A&C routine, “Who Is On First?” That was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. Okay, you’re probably wondering what that routine has to do with your home business. Well, don’t worry. By the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll understand.

First off, the important thing you need to know about the routine itself for this analogy is that the names of the players at each base were very odd names. You had “Who” on first, “What” on second, “I Don’t Know” on third and so on. Point is, while the names were odd, they were easily remembered…kind of like when you do word association to try to remember dates, facts and figures. Many memory games use these tactics. Okay, so what does this have to do with your home business?

For every home business, regardless of what kind of business model it is, there are various points along the way. For example, let’s take a home business where you are building an opt in list to sell products. The first point of entry might be the articles you submit online in order to get prospects to your squeeze page. The second point of entry is the squeeze page itself. The third point along the way is your autoresponder series where you’re making your sales pitches. The fourth point along the way might be your sales page for your entry level product. You might then have a fifth point along the way for a higher end product that you pitch to previous buyers. You can have as many points as you like in your business model.

This is what’s important and what you get out of this. Just like with the “Who Is On First” skit, each point along the way MUST be, not only clearly defined, but memorable. It has to be something that the prospect can instantly latch onto. Some businesses do this by branding, either with their name or company name. Other businesses might do this with a slogan or a catch phrase. Still others might do this with a specific graphic that is seen every step along the way. Branding is absolutely one of the most important things that any business can do. It builds recognition and with that recognition, you can begin to build trust.

So take a look at your business model and see if you have all your points in place with something that can be easily recognized by your prospect. If you’ve done this, you’ve given yourself an excellent chance of building a name and a reputation that prospects will recognize and respect.

Even if they don’t know who is on first.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Sick and tired of all the home business schemes? Want one that will really deliver on its promises? Read my totally unbiased review of Carbon Copy PRO at http://stevewagenheim.com/blog/internet-marketing/review-of-carbon-copy-pro.html and get yourself a home business that is all substance.