Let Your Website Do The Work!

What Makes an Irresistable Offer?

So is your free website offer simply irresistible? Do you have a free offer on your current website? If not this step by step solution will help create your offer that will have your clients knocking down your door!

First let's talk about why an irresistible offer on your website is so important. Without this in place your website visitors will never remember you or your website! I know this is harsh, but you usually find a website because you have a need right now. You're searching for a solution and you find a website that has the exact solution you're looking for in the form of a free offer. Do you enter your name and email address? Of course, but only If the offer has perceived VALUE!

If you follow the 5 steps below, your free offer will have tremendous value.

   1. Offer Should Be Something You Could Sell or Have Sold- If you haven't created an information products yet, it's ok. When you're developing your free offer make sure you could put a price tag on it. If you already have information products than you're ahead of the game. You can use one of your products as the free irresistible offer. And remember to make sure you list the value of your free offer. For example my Ezine is valued at $197 per year. So go ahead; it's ok. Your information is very valuable!

   2. Bundle Your Offers- Combine several offers into one irresistible offer! Combine a transcript, a free audio, and Ezine subscription into one offer and you will stand out. If you're not bundling your free offer already think about recording your free report as a free audio. Or get your audio or video file transcribed to add as a bonus!

   3. Different Mediums Add Value- Everyone has different learning styles so the more types of mediums you can provide the more value you're providing to the potential client. Some people like to listen to audio in their car, some like to sit down and read a report, and some love to watch videos. If you cover all of these bases of course your free offer will be amazing! But in reality that is a little overwhelming if you're just getting started. So I want to share my secret of how I created my free offer with you. I started with a free teleseminar and recorded and transcribed this special event. Off it went to a proofreader to clean it up. Free report, done in less than a few hours of my time!

 

  4. Add Even More Value With A Graphic- To increase the perceived value of your offer why not add a graphic to represent your digital or sometimes physical offer. Add a graphic that looks like a magazine to represent your free report or a beautiful CD graphic to represent your free audio. We are visual people and this graphic catches the eye and gives your free offer more value.

   5. Solve a Problem or Reveal The Mistakes- Whenever you can your free offer title should pull at a pain your clients are experiencing. If you're solving their problem this is very valuable. If you're revealing the biggest mistakes or helping them sleep at night with your solution, then you've got an IRRESISTIBLE OFFER!

So if you're ready to turn your current website into a website that does the work for you, start by creating your free irresistible offer.

Jennifer Haubein publishes "SiteNotes" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want a website that actually works. If you're ready to let your website do the work, check out my FREE video series at http://www.AutomateYourBizVideos.com.

The Power of Twitter: Tweet-a-Thon Event

We all know just how powerful Twitter is to our businesses but can it have the power to raise money for the causes in this world that are truly worth it.  There are millions of us online daily tweeting 140 characters at a time.  Just imagine if we were all tweeting for a cause.  On February 19, 2008 Twitter will be put to use for just that purpose with a Tweetathon which will raise money for Waterislife.com 

Waterislife is a nonprofit organization that helps bring clean water to those who live in areas of the world thats water is full of waterborne disesases.  These can be caused by protozoa, viruses, bacteria, and intestinal parasites.  6,500 die each day due to this, 4500 of which are children.

This Tweetathon is hoping to make a difference.  The live event will feature celebrities, and will  put together Ustream.com and Twitter.com to make it a huge 12 hour online event.  This is the power of social media at its best. 

So, while it is true that we can use Twitter for our businesses and even our own personal interaction for fun conversations with others, we can also use it to make a difference.  Combining social media sites like Twitter with the power of fundraising can truly help us to make a difference in this world. 

To learn more check out Tweetathon 2009. 

Can Your Blog Make You Money?

It is a question a many a blogger wants the answer to, "Can your blog make you money?"  The answer, yes.  However, it will depend upon what you are willing to do as to how much money you can make.  The different means by which to make money aren't for everyone. 

The fact is there are several ways to make money with you blog, however not every blogger is willing to do what it takes for each of these in order to make the money.  And in some cases, it may not be for the amount of money you hoped. 

The following are a few ways to make money on your blog:

Affiliate ads, banners or buttons -You see this on a lot of blogs.  The banner and button ads, which quite frankly don't make as much money as one might think and are actually on the low end of the spectrum in the list of money makers. 

Affiliate links (contextual and organic) - These links are those that you hand select and insert into a blog post.  You will want these to be very specific and targeted.  Try to be as organic as possible, working the link into your post.  Talking about a great new book you are reading, be sure to include an affiliate link to it.  This works much better. 

Text link ads - These are text ads that you can often sell for specific posts or for use in your sidebar.  They pay well and don't take up a lot of room, however they are often extremely random and may leave your readers wondering, "What does she/he have that there for?" 

Pay Per Post - Pay Per Post is a company that will pay you per post that you write on your blog about any number of topics.  Many bloggers feel that this is being a sell-out and is not worth the pay, though others make most of their online income doing them.  The choice is up to you.  You must follow the rules of the company and may many times not be eligible for ad networks if you do these posts on your blog.

Joining and posting ads for ad networks.  Ad networks will pay you for the space on your blog to insert graphic or banner ads. They usually pay out monthly, but there are some criteria your blog must meet in order to join the ad network. 

These are just a few of the top ways to make money with you blog.  What is right for you can only be decided by you, give a few of these things a try and determine what works yourself. 

And if you're looking for some other ways to earn additional income whether it's online or offline you'll want to check out this great report, "44 Ways To Earn Money". Click here to find out how you can easily start earning more money while working from home.

Photo credit: jenn_jenn

5 Easy Tips To Become A Rock Star In Your Niche

The Rock Stars that you and I are familiar with are selling out seats at the Super Bowl and hitting the top of the Music Charts with songs that make a young teenage girl scream & cry. Thanks to the Internet, we don't have to have crazy hair and a great voice to become a Rock Star. But if you want to truly suceed in your online business, you are going to need to elevate yourself to a level of "Celebrity-Status" that brands you as the authority in your niche.
Most importantly, when you become a Rock Star, your customers ceize to become "clients," and now become "Raving Fans." That's a good thing! So, the question is, are you ready to become a Rock Star to your customers? Here are five things you can do right now to get started:

1. Stand out from the Competition- Forget the competition! When I first started my business I didn't even look at how many competitors I had out there. Maybe that was a business mistake, but I think if I had done that research I might not have entered this business. So while you don't want to ignore your competitors like I did, you do want to do something no one else is doing. Go outside your niche, and see what's working in other businesses. Be the first to do it in your market! A perfect example is creating your own Ustream tv show showing others your expertise. If no one else is doing this yet, then you are way ahead of the game.

2. Use your Personality- We all know that people buy from people they like. You need to put your best "YOU" forward and let your personality shine. Your clients want to get to know you and this is especially important if you never meet your clients face to face. No one can be you and even though there might be a lot of people out there teaching similar things no one will deliver the way you do. And do not worry about pleasing everybody, that is impossible.

3. Showcase your Expertise- If you're a Rock Star in your niche, you need to let your whole world see it! It's important to always showcase your expertise. Some great ways to do this are hosting your own teleseminars, writing articles, blogging, and creating your own business system. Don't take for granted the knowledge you already possess, others will find even the most basic facts and lessons extremely valuable. So make sure you declare your expertise and your inner Rock Star will start to shine.

4. Video will make you Famous!- If you're not using video yet, you will be amazed at the results. There is just something about the power of video! Whether it's streaming video like Ustream or pre-recorded video on a website. It's an opportunity for people to instantly connect with you online if you don't want to network all over town, (not to mention how much search engines love video). I have to admit something here: I have been behind the video camera for so long that it took me awhile to start making my own videos. But now that I have, you will see many more from me! I had to get over my perfectionism when it came to video. So don't try to get it perfect the first time, just be excited when your first video is online.

5. Always Continue Learning- You will never know everything in your field, so it's important to always continue the learning process. I'm always listening to instructional CDs, reading, and attending seminars. I have such a passion for what I'm doing, that I can't get enough of the information.

So remember you are a ROCK STAR in your niche whether it's interior design, bartending, or video production! Keep focusing on dominating your niche whatever it may be and success will follow.

Creating a Viral Video to Easily Build Your Email List

Viral videos are extremely popular these days.  Who do you know who hasn't watched a You Tube video?  Probably not likely that there are many people left who have yet to watch You Tube.  So if you're looking to find a bigger audience or want to drive traffic to your site and build an email list then viral video is something that you should consider as a way to promote your website and your email list. 

Videos have the remarkable ability to capture ones attention and are often passed on to others for their viewing as well.  This is why viral videos work well as a "word of mouth" marketing tool. 

So,  if you're ready to give it a try then why not take these tips and make a viral video which will go to work for you.

Tip #1:  Make you video interesting whether it have the humor factor, the information factor, or somewhere in between in order to truly put it to work for you it has to create interest. 

Tip #2:  Keep it short.  In the world of online videos, most of the time you only have a person's attention for a short time, then they are on to the next thing.  So keeping  your video short and to the point (usually under 2 minutes) is smart, and the way to go. 

Tip #3:  You can make it yourself.  If you have a digital video camera then you're good to go, you can even edit it with some free software such as Windows Movie Maker.  Use istockphoto to find stock photos for your new viral movie  There is so much that you can do with little cost these days. 

Tip #4:  Be sure to include your url on the video.  Using the text feature be sure that your url is easily spot able and readable.  You will want to make certain that your video watchers know where to go to get the goods.

Tip #5: Extend an invitation. You will definitely want to invite them to sign up for your mailing list whether you state it verbally on the video itself or you insert it video text at the end of the video, either way you will want to use your opportunity to capture their attention. 

These tips are just a few ways that you can make the most of the marketing tool known as the viral video.  Don't be shy, create your short video and put it to work for you today.  The following is an example of an effective lead generating video I created for my client: Dream Home Movie.