Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

Okay, so you’re an Internet marketer. And as such, you probably belong to a lot of lists. So tell me, are you sick of these newsletters? You know what I mean. Do you read them and think to yourself, “What a load of BS” and just close up your email box, maybe even opting out? If so, there may be a reason that even YOU haven’t thought of. This article is going to dig into the newsletter nightmare. I think you’ll find this interesting reading.

Probably the most common problem with newsletters is the fact that they are nothing more than sales pitches. I mean some people don’t even try to put in an effort. It’s pitch, pitch, pitch right from the first line of the email. Makes you wonder why you even bothered signing up for the list in the first place. Yes, this is the most common problem with newsletters. But it’s not the only one.

Another problem is the marketer who can’t string two English sentences together that make any sense at all. Sure, they try to give you some decent content but the grammar is so horrible that you can’t understand a thing that the person is trying to say. Sadly, some people can’t write their way out of a paper bag and shouldn’t be doing newsletters. But that’s another subject.

Still another malady of newsletters is the content that is just flat out weak. Sure, it’s well written, but there really isn’t much to it. The concepts are beyond basic and aren’t of much help at all to anybody beyond the absolute beginner. Sure, the marketer tries to put in an honest effort, unlike the guy who’s just making a sales pitch, but their knowledge is limited and only have so much to share.

But there is still another problem with newsletters that isn’t the newsletter’s fault at all and is something that most people don’t really pick up on. These newsletters may have some really great content that could help a lot of people. Problem is…you’ve outgrown them. You’ve reached the point where, believe it or not, there is nothing left for you to learn. At least nothing that’s going to make that much of a difference in your marketing life.

This is the hardest thing for people to realize because they keep hoping for ONE issue that delivers the magic content that will make all the difference in the world. More likely than not, it’s NOT going to happen. It’s time for you to move on.

So if you’re tired of the newsletter you’re on, take a look at my explanations above. See where it is THAT newsletter fits.

You might be surprised to find out that you know more than you think you know.

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.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from people who have been at this awhile (newbies you’re off the hook with this one) is that every “how to market online” product that comes out is just the same old same old. There is nothing new in them and it’s irritating. Well, before you go blow a gasket, let me give you some advice that I think is going to solve all your problems. You’re going to want to read this.

First of all, if you’ve reached the point where every product you get seems to be the same old thing, maybe that should be telling you something. Like what? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe like there’s nothing new for you to learn. Have you ever considered that? Well, maybe you should. Maybe the well has run dry and you’ve got all the smarts that you need.

But let’s assume that there is something out there that IS new. So what? Look, let me tell you something. A lot of people think that the Internet itself is relatively new, as far as marketing goes anyway. But the truth is, if you go back to the early days of print marketing (remember that?) you’ll discover that a lot of the tactics that people use online are no different from those off line tactics.

An autoresponder is really nothing more than off line mail order. I remember, as a kid, getting those things from Columbia House every month for some record of the month. They’d send this really cool newsletter about the latest offering and give you some great deal. Isn’t that what we do online? The only thing that has changed is the method of delivery.

If you want to go one step further, the basic marketing methods that most marketers use such as pay per click, article marketing, blogging, social networking and others, really haven’t changed much over the years. Sure, we have more sophisticated tools such as better autoresponders and software that can build web sites at the push of a button, but the nuts and bolts marketing stuff really hasn’t changed much.

You still need to have a good offer and get it in front of your target market. There are just more ways to do that today. But…if you already have a few good ways to get traffic, there is no need to learn more ways. Just ramp up what you’re doing. In other words, do MORE of it. Writing 10 articles a day? Fine…write 20. Or pay people to write for you so you can get even more written. There is strength in numbers.

Point is, if you’re looking for some shiny new button that’s going to make a huge difference in your bottom line, it either doesn’t exist or it’s not going to give you the amazing results that you’re looking for. Most likely, what you already know is good enough to get the job done.

As somebody who has been doing the same thing for almost 4 or my 7 years online…you can quote me on that.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

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I get a real kick out of some forum members. They seem to think that the forum they belong to revolves around them and THEIR needs. Well, I have a newsflash for you. It doesn’t. But for those of you who don’t get that, this article is going to set the record straight. If you’re easily offended, I’d skip this one.

One complaint I hear a lot is this one. “My post was deleted…why? There was nothing wrong with it and there was no reason to delete it. At the very least, the mods should PM me and tell me why it was deleted.”

Okay, first order of business. To begin with, posts get deleted all the time. It is a fact of life when it comes to forum participation. Each forum has its own rules and certain things aren’t allowed. Plus, posts may get deleted for other reasons if the mods feel that they may lead to problems.

Secondly, if a moderator contacted every person who had a post deleted personally, they wouldn’t get anything done. There just isn’t enough time to do this. They don’t do it for anybody else so they’re not going to do it for you. Again, the forum doesn’t revolve around YOUR needs.

Another complaint I hear a lot is this one. “Why is there a requirement for number of posts before I can use the PM function? I have customers here who I have to contact. How can I do that if I can’t PM them?”

First of all, nobody should be using a forum as a means of business contact. If you have your own business, you should have a web site and/or an email address where people can get a hold of you. I mean for crying out loud, who uses a third party site (that’s what a forum is) as a means of contact?

Secondly, there is a reason why many forums have PM requirements. There is a lot of spamming going on at many forums. By placing a requirement on forum participation (how many posts you have) it greatly reduces the amount of spam that members send to other members. This is probably the main reason why some forums have this requirement.

Here is the bottom line and take it for what it’s worth to you. A forum is NOT your home. It is owned by the admin and thus, gets run the way the admin wants to run it. You therefore have two choices. You can accept the rules of the forum and abide by them or you can go someplace else and play.

It’s really THAT simple.

To YOUR Success

Steven Wagenheim

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If you’re a product creator, you might want to try this tactic with the next product you create, regardless of what kind of product you create. Yes, it will work with ebooks and software. This article is going to explain. Let’s start with ebooks. I know what you’re thinking. “How can I give somebody an ebook and then make them buy it after the fact?” Well, there is actually one way to do this. And it works very well if you have a product that has a lot of information in it.

For example, one of my products, My Secret Articles, what I did for a while was give people a little taste of it by allowing them to see the first few volumes for free. Then, if they wanted the rest of the set, they had to buy it. It worked very well. But what if you only have a single 100 page ebook?

Well, what you could do is send them the first couple of chapters and let them read it. Make sure that the info in it makes it so that they’d have to be crazy not to get the whole book. For example, in the second chapter you could go over one particular topic and then at the end say something like, “In the next chapter I’m going to show you how to take this tactic and turn it into a 6 figure a year business.” Think that won’t get sales?

For software it’s even easier. What you do is simple. You let them use the software for a limited amount of time. Then, after the time period has elapsed, you disable the software so that they can’t use it anymore. I suggest letting them use it for no more than a week or two…enough time to get an idea if the software is actually going to be useful for them.

Okay, so why would you even want to do this? Well, the answer is simple. Today, people are more cautious than ever with all the scams out there. So, if they could get to try your product BEFORE they actually had to pay money for it, they’d feel as if there was no risk in downloading it first since there is no up front cost. It’s kind of like giving them a free report, but the psychology is a little different. They’re thinking they’re getting a free product for a limited time.

You might want to try this tactic out the next time you create a product.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of creating products that nobody wants and don’t sell? Check out my Complete Guide To Product Creation at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/productcreation.html and create products that actually sell.

This article was inspired by a forum post. Yes, that’s right… a forum post. Somebody at the Warrior Forum started a thread with the title “I Hate All You Warriors.” After opening it, I received the obligatory, “Just kidding” and then read the fallout. You guessed it. Many members were not happy with the trickery. Well, when it comes to email marketing, using tricks to get people to open your emails may or may not work. Do you know if it works for YOUR niche? If not, you might want to read this article.

Let me start out by saying that this is based on my own experience. You need to test this for yourself. For starters, I have never, nor will I ever use trickery to get people to open an email. However, I have pushed the envelop at times with rather odd subjects. What I have found, at least for the IM niche, is that most people in it prefer straight forward, benefit driven subjects. They want to know what’s in it for them right off the bat. So a subject like, “Free Report On Niche Research Inside” will most certainly get people to open their emails if they’re interested in learning niche research.

But what about outside the IM niche? What if you’re targeting video gamers? Well, I have found that being a little mysterious or even tricky can work very well. For example, the subject “The Greatest Video Game Ever” will certainly get gamers to open. But what do you follow it up with? Well, something like, “What would that be for YOU? What’s YOUR greatest video game ever, or what would you like to see created?” Then, ask for feedback in your email.

If you’re a video game maker, this could lead you to creating something that a good number of people on your list might want. So while the subject line was a little bit sneaky, in this case, it would probably work in getting prospects to open your email.

Bottom line is this. You have to know who your target market is and what they respond to. If you’re sending out emails with deceptive subject lines and your list isn’t appreciating them, they’ll let you know under no uncertain terms by opting out of your list. In my opinion, it’s not worth the risk and using a benefit driven subject line is the best way to go.

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.

Blogs are great. If you use Blogspot, they’re even free as there are no hosting costs. Well, in this article, I’m going to give you a nice little system to make some easy cash with blogs. It doesn’t take much brain power and it can be done in as little as an hour a day. Keep reading to find out more.

It’s no secret that the world of entertainment is big. You almost can’t turn on the TV without finding out something that somebody did. Maybe an actor or actress is in a new movie or TV show. Maybe a singer has just come out with a new CD. Whatever it is, it’s news…and people want to know about it. So what I’m going to have you do is simply capitalize on current events.

Go to Google Trends and see what celebrity is on the charts. There isn’t a day that goes by that there isn’t somebody who is being talked about. What you want to do, however, is only focus on the celebrities who have something major going on…even if it’s not directly related to their career. Yes, I’m talking about all that hot gossip too, like who’s dating who or who’s divorcing who. Like it or not…that’s news too.

Once you’ve found somebody who is really hot, set up a Blogger blog (it’s free) for that person. You’re then going to focus on two areas. The first area is the day to day news for the person. Whatever is going on, you’re going to write about it…regardless of what it is. Like I said, even gossip is news. The second area you’re going to concentrate on is the person’s accomplishments. If they’re a singer, you might want to list all their CDs and even review some of them. If they’re an actor or actress, you might want to list their movies or TV shows and review some of them. You should have no trouble finding something to write about.

Do this for about three or four weeks so that you’ve built up quite an authority blog on the person and then wait for the traffic to come in. To help this along, you might want to bookmark each article you write. You might also want to tweet about it at Twitter if you have an account. No matter who you interact with, very few people are not into entertainment. It’s a broad market.

After about a month, start monetizing the blog with AdSense and Amazon. CDs may not sell for much and at 4% commission you won’t make a fortune. But after a while, the sales add up. And with decent traffic, AdSense revenue can become quite substantial.

This isn’t rocket science. It’s easy to do and it won’t cost you a dime.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to make money TODAY without spending a DIME? Check out my site at http://www.hottrendsdaily.com/ and find out how.

I’m sure you’ve heard of chicken soup for the soul. Well, this article is about chicken soup for your home business. No, you’re not actually going to drink chicken soup, though that wouldn’t be a bad idea if you’re hungry. After you’re done reading this article, you’re going to start repairing that sick business of yours. Keep reading to find out how.

First of all, how do I know that your business is sick? Because 97% of the people who run their own home business are either in the red or flat out just gave up. But why is the failure rate so high? Could it be that they’re not getting enough chicken soup? Well, actually, that’s exactly what it is. Let me explain.

In order for a business to thrive, it must be fed. No, it’s not a human being but it is a living thing. Try running your car without gas. See how far you get. Same thing with a business. It needs it own kind of fuel in order to run. But what is that fuel?

For starters, it needs cash. I don’t care what people say about running a business for free. You’re looking for serious trouble if you think you can grow anything substantial without investing some money. I’m not saying you have to invest a lot. My monthly expenses are under $200…and that’s running a 6 figure empire. Trust me, the essentials don’t cost a lot.

In addition to money, you need to invest time. I understand that some people running their own home business have regular jobs. But if you want things to get done, they’re not going to get done on their own. You, or somebody else, have to put time into it. It can be as little as an hour or two a night. It doesn’t matter. Just as long as you are consistent with your effort. Eventually, those hours will add up.

Finally, you need fuel for the business. I’m talking about an actual product that people REALLY want and need. You can only pawn off vaporware for so long before it catches up to you. A true home business, one that is rock solid, offers customers a product that fulfills a real need or satisfies a burning problem that the person is having. Put something like that in front of a person and trust me…you won’t have to sell them hard.

These may sound like basic ingredients, but you’ll be surprised how many people don’t have them in their home business. So invest some money, take the time to help your business grow, and give customers something that they actually need, and you’ll soon discover that you have a home business that doesn’t need to be spoon fed its medicine any longer.

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!

One of the things that people do, or at least they should do, when starting a home business is try to figure out some kind of a timetable for generating an income. The problem is, most people have unrealistic expectations. You’ve heard the saying, “I want it all and I want it now” right? Well, running a home business doesn’t quite work that way. In this article, I’m going to give you a realistic time table for generating your income. If you can hit these goals, you’ll do just fine. My thanks to my friend Stan for supplying me with the data for this article. I’ve modified it slightly to coincide with my own findings.

First thing you have to understand is that a regular off line brick and mortar business takes over two years to see a profit. So why anybody in the online world would expect things to be any different is beyond me. Heck, I only made $28 my first 5 months. Things take time. Having said that, here is my realistic timetable for achieving your income goals.

Your first goal should be just to break even. That’s right… spending no more money than you’re making. That should happen in the span of about three months. If you can break even in that time period, you’re doing okay.

Your next goal should be to make a profit of about $250 per month. This should be achievable in about three to six months. Why $250? Because this is a significant figure. It’s enough to pay a bill or even put away some money for a vacation in the summer.

Next is where I deviate slightly from Stan’s data. I believe that within the next six months to one year, there is no reason why you can’t be generating an income of about $3,000 a month. Why $3,000? That comes out to exactly $100 per day for a 30 day month. Where do I get the $100 per day? This is an easily achievable figure doing some very simple things like freelancing… a subset of IM. It’s something to consider in addition to your regular marketing.

My next stepping stone is $5,000 a month. This is something you should be able to achieve in your second year. Why? Because after I stopped messing around and got serious, that’s how long it took me to reach this income level. If I can do it…YOU can do it. I’m no rocket scientist. Yes, it will take a considerable amount of work but it is possible.

My last goal is $10,000 per month. Stan says $8,333 because that’s what you need to reach 6 figures a year. I say heck with that. I’d rather make 5 figures a month and get me well over that hump to allow for income tax. If I make JUST 6 figures a year, after taxes I’m below it. At $10,000 per month, after taxes you’re just over it…depending on your overall tax bracket and where you live. You should be able to achieve this figure in your third year.

There you have it… a three year timetable for achieving a 6 figure income.

If I did it… YOU can do it.

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!

Everybody wants to know what their competition is up to. Well, I don’t. I honestly couldn’t care less what my competition is doing. But most people DO care. So it is for them that I am sharing some killer spy tips so that you can get a leg up on what your competition is doing…especially if they’re using article marketing as one of their tools.

First thing you want to do is go to EzineArticles and check out the category that contains YOUR niche. Why? Well, you want to see what people are writing about. More specifically, you want to see what the hot articles are. You can find those in the most viewed list. To see that list, just pull up any article in that category and go down to the bottom of the page.

Next thing you want to do is pull up the most viewed article and make some notes about it. For one thing, note the title. That title is probably a big reason why the article is viewed so much. Titles are very important for getting people to read the article itself. Next thing you want to do is check out the site that the article sends the reader to. You’ll find this in the resource box.

Okay, here is where the REAL spying comes in. Take that site and plug it into SpyFu. What you want to look for here is to see how much money the person is spending on advertising daily. If they’re spending a lot, then that probably means that this is a really hot niche. Go to Google and look up the keywords they’re using. You’ll find these at SpyFu too. Then, look to see where their paid ads fall. Are they first, second, third, or nowhere near the first page?

Look to see where these paid ads take the prospect to. Study their landing pages. If they have a first position ad, most likely their quality score is very good. That means their landing page is liked by Google. Thus, you want to make a landing page that is of the same quality. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Just look at what other people are doing.

These are just a few simple tips to find out what your competition is doing so that you don’t get left in the dust because your sites don’t measure up.

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.

If you are like many home business owners, you probably are into more than just one thing. And even if you ARE into just one thing, eventually you might reach a point where you wonder if it makes any sense to hang onto that one thing…especially when you’re not making any money…or very little. This article is going to give a little insight into dumping the trash, as I like to call it. I think you’ll get a lot out of this.

Probably the biggest question, when it comes to this subject, is when? When do you pack it in? At what point do you take a look at what you’re doing and say, “This just isn’t worth it” and abandon ship? Believe it or not, the answer is not so cut and dried and here is why.

Sometimes a business opportunity just stinks. There are no two ways around it. The foundation is shaky, it’s built on a product that has little demand or is just plain awful, or it’s something that just isn’t worth all the effort because the return is so low. However, sometimes the problem isn’t the business model.

It’s the businessman.

I hate to say this, but some people just aren’t cut out for running a business. Either that or they don’t have the knowledge they need to market that business properly. The business itself may have tons of potential. In fact, there may be people all over the world earning six figure incomes with the same business model. The problem is that the business owner isn’t educated enough to get the most out of it.

That is when it becomes difficult to know when to pull the plug. Assuming you can even tell the difference between a bad business model and poor marketing, how do you know how much time to give yourself to learn the ropes? At what point do you admit that you’re not cut out for this or, at the very least, don’t know how or where to get the education that you need?

Unfortunately, there is no one answer to that question. But here is my rule of thumb. If I can’t adequately learn what I need to know to run a business in 30 to 60 days, then that business is not for me. The pure mechanics of any business model should not take any longer than two months to learn. Truth is, nothing online is that difficult. The hard part is disciplining yourself to do the work.

So, if you find that you’ve been struggling with your business for six or more months, maybe it’s time to cut your losses and move onto something else. Because either the business model is flawed or you don’t have the education you need to make it work.

In either case, it’s time to dump the trash.

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!