Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

This article is addressing a very common problem that I am seeing way too often, especially in short reports that people are giving away in order to build their list. The problem I’m talking about is what I call the “Life Story Syndrome” and it’s one that can kill your marketing. Nobody cares about your life story. Keep reading and you’ll understand why.

First of all, the reason most marketers include their bio in short reports or even in full blown ebooks is because they think that by telling their life story, the prospect or customer is going to identify with them. They’ll be able to say, “Hey yeah…I did that too.” The problem is, these people are usually at a stage where they just want to get to the meat of what you’re offering so that they can get some knowledge that will get them out of the hole they’re in. Going on for pages and pages about how you lost your job and how your cat died on New Years Eve is NOT going to score any points with them.

Ultimately, what’s going to happen is this. The prospect is going to get through three or four pages of your boring story, get fed up with not receiving any useful information, and put the book away. They won’t make it to the end of the thing where you have your affiliate link to some great product that will solve their problem or your own product for that matter. The prospect is long gone because you bored them to tears with your life story. You may find your life interesting, but nobody else will.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a casual mention of something you did that is relevant to what you’re explaining in the report. I do this all the time. It reinforces the material that you’re trying to get across. But don’t turn the mention into the main thing. It has to be an addition, and a minor one at that. People have short attention spans these days and don’t want to do anymore reading than what is necessary. So make it short and to the point.

If you’re wondering why I’m bringing this up, it’s because somebody sent a report for me to look at the other day. It was only 7 pages, but the first 3 pages were a life story that, quite honestly, had nothing to do with the material that the person was trying to teach in the report itself. It was just background information leading up to why they did what they did. Guess what? Who cares? Just tell me what I need to know. This is something way too many marketers don’t get because they get wrapped up in their own egos. “My life is important and you better listen to it.” Um, news flash…no it’s not and I don’t have to listen to it.

So please, make it short and to the point. Tell me what I need to know and then get out.

You’ll keep more prospects that way if you do.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of spinning your wheels trying to get your marketing off the ground? Haven’t got a clue what you’re doing and sick of being dead broke? Why not get some solid mentoring from somebody who has been EXACTLY where you are today? Check out my mentoring program at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/mentoring/mentoring.html and finally get yourself the one on one education that can FINALLY give you the success that you’ve been looking for.

One Of The Biggest Mistakes Internet Marketers Make

I’ve seen more than my share of mistakes in the seven plus years that I’ve been marketing online. If you lined them all up in a row, you could probably stretch them to the moon and back at least 10 times. Having said that, one of the biggest mistakes that I’ve seen Internet marketers make is one that I’d like to discuss in this article. If you’re making it yourself, you’re probably hurting yourself more than you realize.

Okay, so what is this God awful mistake? I’m talking about relying too much on numbers. There is an old saying that goes something like this…

“There are lies, there are damn lies and there are statistics.”

If you Read the rest of this entry »

Look, you’re marketing your brains out and you need a break. If you want to have a ton of fun, check out Edgebee’s Sorcery Quest. I don’t normally recommend games but this one is totally addicting.

I’ve been playing it since July of 2010 and I can’t get enough of it. It’s almost been a detriment to my business but somehow I’ve managed to keep the money coming in. LOL.

In short, Sorcery Quest is a MMORPG but if you’re expecting World Of Warcraft quality for a free game, look elsewhere. But if you want to play, what I feel is, the best free MMORPG game on the planet, you really have to check this out.

Let me put it to you this way. If I could buy a CD of this game to play at home any time I wanted (in case my Internet went out) I would buy it in a flash. It’s that good.

Anyway, if you want to check out it, here’s a link where you can sign up.

Sorcery Quest

Like I said, it’s free, so you have nothing to lose but a few minutes of your time if you don’t like it.

I’m that sure you will LOVE IT.

Sincerely,

Steven Wagenheim

This article is a bit of a change for me. That’s right…it’s MY turn to ask some questions. And I’m counting on YOU to supply me with some answers. So, it’s time to get out your trusty email account and get ready to write to me with your replies. Or, you can just post them as comments here. I really do want to hear what YOU have to say.

Okay, first question. Why are you running your own home business? Is it because you lost your corporate America job? Is it because you simply got tired of working for a boss? Was it the commute? Did you just want something better? Is it all about the money or is it the freedom to be able to work when you want?

Everybody has their own reasons for wanting to work online. I’d like to know yours. Here’s why I’m asking. Sometimes, the reason why somebody wants to do this is actually counterproductive to getting things done. I have learned from experience that some reasons lead to failure simply because the true love for doing something isn’t there. Those of you who ever tried to be something you’re not know what I’m talking about.

Okay, next question. Are you happy with your home business? I’m not just talking about the money you’re making. I’m talking about the actual work you’re doing. Does it excite you or are you bored to tears doing it? If the answer is the latter, maybe this isn’t the right thing for you or maybe your focusing on a business model that isn’t right for you. There are many different home business models. Just because one doesn’t excite you doesn’t mean you can’t find one that will.

What are your priorities with your business? Is it just to make money or do you need to enjoy what you’re doing? Some people say to me that they don’t care what they do as long as they make money doing it. I can’t do that. It would drive me crazy. I have to enjoy what I do. Also, is the money more important or is it the freedom to work when you want? Some people don’t need a lot of money but DO need their freedom. I can certainly understand that.

If you could do anything else in the world and make money, would you do that OR would you still be running a home business? I’ll be honest. If I could be a successful songwriter, that’s what I’d be doing. But that’s a tough field to break into, so I’m content being a successful home business owner. But no, this isn’t my first choice in the world.

Like I said, if you want to answer these questions, you can post your comments here or email me personally.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

If you want to answer any of these questions, you can email me at: asksteve@stevewagenheim.com, put “Answers For Ask Steve” in the subject, and I will get right back to you with a reply. In the meantime, if you are 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!.

There are more ways to start and run a home business than you can possibly imagine. Those choices only make the decision that much harder. Where do you begin? What’s right for you? What model will you be able to afford? Well,if you’re wrestling with getting an idea for a home business, you might want to consider getting into freelancing. It’s without a doubt the cheapest model in existence. This article will fill you in on some of the details and then point you to where you can get more info.

Okay, so what’s freelancing? Well, in a nutshell, it’s offering your services for a fee. Plain and simple. Naturally, in order to freelance, you have to have some kind of skill to offer. The more common freelancing jobs are writing, programming and graphic design. Writing actually covers many things such as article writing, copywriting, ebook writing and so on. Programming could be development of applications using a language like C or a scripting language like PHP. It could also include web design as an offshoot. Graphic design can be anything from ecovers to full blown web page templates.

If you have any of these skills, then freelancing might be something you’d want to consider. Now, having said that, don’t get the idea that freelancing is all roses. Yes, you do make your own hours and set your own rates. But there are some downsides to this home business model.

For one thing, you don’t have a boss hanging over your head telling you what to do and when to do it. If you get an assignment, it’s up to you to make sure you get it done. A late assignment is going to make a very unhappy customer. Plus, with freelancing, the work isn’t always steady. There may be times of the year that are slower than others. So you will have to learn how to budget. And of course there is the occasional problem of getting paid. Some customers, you have to drag the money out of.

Freelancing can be very lucrative. There are some freelancers who make six figures a year working very little. If you want more info on this fascinating way to make money from home, in my signature is an absolutely free report that you can read. It won’t cost you a dime and it will cover all the pros and cons of freelancing so that you can make an informed decision.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Not sure if freelancing is right for you? Get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/freelancing/squeeze.html and get the total rundown on the freelancing world and find out how YOU can earn 6 figures a year as a freelancer

We all get a little stale from time to time. Even I need a little energy boost once in a while. Yes, there are days when I can’t write a lick of sales copy. Heck, there are days when I can’t write a decent thank you note for that nice pumpkin pie somebody sent me. When that happens, it’s time to get the old switch blade out and sharpen up our copywriting chops. Just how do we do that? I’m going to give you the three things that I do. They work wonders.

The first thing I do is head for the Clickbank marketplace. Why you ask? There are new products coming out all the time. Many of them go on to become big sellers. If they’re doing that well then the sales copy can’t be all that bad. So I’ll pull up a few sales pages and I’ll start reading, starting with the headline. This is a great way to get some new headline ideas, not by actually using their headline, but by letting that style of headline inspire you to write something different. I’ll then continue the process with the rest of the sales letter, going through each part. You might even find things that you know YOU can do better.

The next thing I’ll do is pull out some of my old copywriting books. There have been some great titles released over the years, written by some great copywriters. I’ll open them up and read, right from the beginning. You’ll be surprised the things you’ll pick up the second or third time you read one of these. The reason is because as you progress, you spot things that you didn’t spot the first time because you weren’t experienced enough. You can only learn so much at each level that you are at. That’s why you have to constantly reread books.

The last thing I’ll do is go over my old sales copy. That’s right, my old sales copy. I look it over to see if I can pick out things that I might do differently today. I look for areas that I can improve. Hey, some of my old copy is pretty lousy in comparison to the stuff I’ve written of late. And that is to be expected. Hopefully, as you progress as a copywriter, you get better, not worse. So you can actually learn from your past mistakes.

All of these things can help to get you out of that rut you’re in and actually improve your copywriting skills. It’s a good idea to go through these exercises at least once every few months or so. That way you never get stale and you’re always improving as a copywriter.

If you’d like more great copywriting tips, check out the link in my signature.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Discover How YOU Can Write 6 Figure Copy For Pennies…And Save Up To $15,000 In Copywriting Costs For Yourself. 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 get a lot of questions from people asking me what the worlds best Internet marketing tools are. Quite honestly, I have to chuckle when I get asked this question because the truth is, the best Internet marketing tool has, and always will be, you. If that sounds funny, it’s not. Nothing can replace the human mind for coming up with innovative ways to market your business online. But, there are some great tools that will help a lot. Add your mind to them and you’ll have a dynamite combination.

The first thing you need, and it’s probably one of the best inventions ever made is an autoresponder. For those who don’t know, an autoresponder is a service that will send out emails to your prospects and customers for you. This can either be in reply to an inquiry from the prospect or simply as a broadcast message over time to inform the prospect of your offer. If you want to know what the worlds top autoresponder service is, it’s Aweber, hands down. Their service is second to none and the things that you can do with their autoresponder are almost limitless.

Another very important tool for Internet marketing is an article submitter. The reason for this is because content is king on the Internet. The more articles you write and the more you submit, the more people who will read these articles and ultimately come to your web site. Unfortunately, there are only so many articles you can submit at one time by hand. Therefore, having an article submitter, where you can submit an article to multiple sites at once, is a real time saver. Probably the best article submitter service on the Internet is Article Marketer. You can’t go wrong with them.

Another very important tool for Internet marketing is a keyword selection tool. The reason this is important is because when you write your articles, you want to target keywords that people are looking up regularly, but also don’t have a lot of competition. This is very hard and time consuming to do by hand, but if you have a keyword tool to do the job for you, this can save you hours of work. Probably the best keyword selection tool on the Internet, hands down, is Keyword Elite.

If you’re going to create digital products, such as ebooks, then you’re going to need a tool to create PDF files. There are many tools that do this, but if you want the best and not even have to pay anything for it (yes it’s free) then download Open Office. The PDF creator that comes with it allows you to create PDF files that have security built into them so that you don’t have to worry about your PDFs being distributed illegally.

Obviously, there are more tools than the ones mentioned above, but these should get you started. If you want to learn, not only about more tools, but also about every aspect of Internet marketing from A-Z, get the tools and the products to run an effective business, check out the link in my signature.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
My Secret Articles – Everything You Need To Run A Successful 6 Figure A Year Business

Well, I finally decided to blow the lid off of all the lies that are floating around the Internet, so I started a new video series called “Sincerely Steve – The Real Truth About Making Money Online”.

I hope you’ll take a moment to view it. When I add more installments (they’re up at YouTube) I’ll post a notice to this blog.

Here is the URL where you can check them out.

Real Truth About Making Money Online

It is my sincere hope that you will find this series informative and that you will get something out of it. If nothing else, I hope it saves you from wasting a lot of time and money.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Hi:

Well, I don’t get conned often, but I did this time. I won’t go into all the gory details, but after doing some research, after the fact, I discovered that Richard Driver, of Montreal, Canada, has been taking advantage of marketers for a long time, either by offering services and not delivering or delivering poor quality.

I am writing this as a warning. If you run into him, if he offers you his services, run in the other direction. Even getting it in writing isn’t going to stop him from taking you to the cleaners. His list of victims reads like a rap sheet.

I don’t want to give you his main site because I know there will be those who will actually seek him out, though I can’t imagine why, so I will just point you to a couple of posts on the net.

Site 1

http://richarddriver.blogspot.com/

Please be very careful of this man. He comes across as being so
sincere and helpful until he has your money.

Don’t give him yours.

Sincerely,

Steven Wagenheim

Hi:

Every once in a while, I receive an email that surprises me. I won’t bore you with a long story, but I got an email from Matt over at the Free Ad Forum.

He made me an offer that at first I thought was a joke. I mean why would this guy, who didn’t know me from Adam, want to do all this for me. I won’t reprint the email but let’s just say that he’s going to help me with my business a ton.

Quite honestly, I still don’t know how he found me or why he wants to help me so much, but I am more than grateful.

His Free Ad Forum can do a lot for you too. He has a terrific Alexa ranking so he’s not a little fish.

I strongly suggest that you take a look at his site.

You can find it here.

http://www.thefreeadforum.com/vbull/

Tell him that Steve Wagenheim sent you.