Let Your Website Do The Work!

My Definition of the Internet Lifestyle

Here's my latest video o my defintion of the Internet Lifestyle. My friend James Wedmore of Reality Mastermind asked this question at Yanik Silver's Undergound 5. It really got me thinking about how I've created my dream business so I thought I would share my thoughts in response to his video. Let me know what your defintion is?

And here's Jame's video I was responding to....

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. 

Creating a Profitable Email List

There are many important activities that you should do as a small business owner, and building an email list should be at the top of your "list"!  An email list does a number of things for you, and is a powerful tool. 

There are several steps that you should take in order to create an email list that is truly profitable for you and your business.  After all, if you spend your time building a list, you definitely want to profit from your efforts. 

Some of the important steps or keys to building a profitable list include:

1. Obtaining a functional emailing program or autoresponder.  Having this tool in place will make the process of upkeep for your mailing list much easier and spam free.  It will also help to automate the process, saving you a ton of valuable time and effort. 

2.  Displaying a sign up box on your website.  You want to make the process of signing up for your email list as painless as possible.  You also want to make sure that visitors to your website spot your mailing list sign up box quickly and easily.  Therefore it should always be placed prominently above the fold, not where your visitors would have to scroll to find it. 

3. Create an incentive for signing up.  To help to ensure that you get great response to the option to sign up for your mailing list you will want to give an incentive for doing so.  This may be done in the form of a a free special report, an e-course, or even a discount code for one of your products or services. 

4.  Continuing to provide quality list content.  In order to keep your list subscribers on your list you will want to continually provide top-quality content and information like none that they could find elsewhere.  You will also want to help your subscribers to feel that they are getting something from the list that they could not otherwise obtain.  Make it "special" to be on your list. 

5. Creating a profitable list.  Finally, the part you have been looking forward to, profiting from your list.  You will need to offer specials and incentives that will help you to profit, you can also continually target your list subscribers with affiliate links that will help you to make residual income as well. Just make sure to protect your list and only offer products and services of high value.

These are the important steps or keys to truly making an emailing list work for you!  Of course, there are many other ways that will help to do this as well. 

If you are looking for more help in building your list, I highly recommend Carrie Wilkerson's list building course, click here to find out how you can easily build a list of raving fans!

Attract Your Ideal Client With Your Website

As small business owners, one of the most important tools that you can have for your business is a website.  With Google being today's yellow pages, most people who are looking for anything from party favors to a new hairstyle, from a new alarm clock to a new look for their living room will go to Google and type what they are looking for into the search box and wait a few seconds for the results.

Those business owners with the smarts to have a website and a good one at that will show up in these results.  So, as a small business owner, whether you own a beauty shop or a clock repair shop you should have a website, and not just a website, but one that will attract your ideal client or customer. 

After all, if your clients are searching Google for their needs then you want to show up, right?  So, how do you make this happen?  The following are some important parts of a website that will help it to rank well in Google searches. 

A good website will not only have a good layout, attractive site design, be easy to navigate and load quickly, but it will also put into action key concepts that will help it to rank well with the search engines, or be "SEO friendly". 

Some of these key items include:  titles, keywords and headers.  Which are simply areas of your website, that when utilized correctly can increase your search engine ranking.

Titles are viewed by a search engine first.  Therefore you will want to be certain to use your keywords in your title as often as possible.  Do not simplify your title too much by simply naming your homepage home your contact page contact and so forth, utilize these areas and insert your keywords there as well. 

Keywords, are one of the most valuable items in your website.  The search engines process your keywords in order to rank your website, the more specific you are with these the better.  You will want to use keywords in your title, in your header as well as throughout the website itself.

Headers, which are the bolded areas of your site are taken into consideration by the search engine and should therefore be utilized and filled with keywords as well.  The first two header tags are of the highest ranking in Google, therefore use them more readily than others. 

These are just three of the areas in which you can focus to make your website stand out among the search engine rankings and help your ideal clients to find you, when searching for your area of service or your specific product offering. 

If you're wondering how you can automate your small business and let your website do the work, you can check out my free video series at http://www.AutomateYourBizVideos.com.

Twitter: A Great Tool for Small Business Owners

If you haven't heard what it means to "tweet" or been in the world of "Twitterville", then you should definitely catch up on this hot new trend that can truly be a huge benefit to your small business.  If you are among the crowd who has not yet started "twittering" then you may be wondering exactly what it is. 

According to Wikipedia, Twitter is

"a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length."

It may not seem like a big deal, but in reality the more people you "follow" as a part of your Twitter world, and the more people who follow you, the larger your reach expands.  In reality you can begin to reach more and more people through Twitter, as one person follows you, another finds you through that person and on and on.  It is truly a way to "multiply" your contacts quickly and almost effortlessly. 

Besides allowing you to make contacts quickly, it is also a great way to broadcast information easily as well, and with the "retweet" ability that is made use by so many you can have the help of others to spread the word about your new product, website, service or your "special of the month" almost instantaneously and have people begin to take advantage of it. 

Yet another benefit of Twitter is the ability that it gives you to obtain information within minutes.  With the large number of people on Twitter, you can put just about any question you have out there to "Twitterville" and within seconds, or at least a few minutes, you are able to obtain an answer from the "knowledgable" people on Twitter.  Troubleshooting a problem on your blog, find the info that you need, looking for a service that will help you do this or that with your business, ask the Twitter world and get their opinions then and there.

These are only a few of the things that you can use Twitter for which are of benefit to you, and your small business.  As you use it more and more you will easily be able to see that there are many more benefits that are to be discovered. 

You can see what I'm up to and follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jhaubein.

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.

My Predictions For Small Business Websites in 2009

I wanted to share some of my predictions for 2009 for small business online marketing and specifically websites. I’ve been listening to other business owners, reading the technology blogs and studying the trends taking place in small business online marketing. Below are some of the biggest trends and thoughts regarding the future of small business online marketing.

1. Small business owners are already ahead of big corporations - The biggest trend is SOCIAL MEDIA and it's not going away any time soon.  In fact, it's just going to get bigger.  The good news is you are ahead of the game and big corporations.  Why?  Because as a small business owner, you are the brand, the personality, and the face of your social media strategy.  Corporations will have to find employees and others to be a part of social media where you can start right now.  If you haven't joined Twitter or Facebook yet, run now and get started.  But remember to put your picture in your profile.  Don't use your logo in place of your picture.  Don't try to act like a big corporation.  That's the biggest thing you have going for you is "you"; because, people don't want to work with big corporations, they want to work with people they have relationships with.
2. Small business websites will be more interactive - Enter forums, social networking, video, audio, integrated blogs, and much more. Small business owners are fed up with websites that just sit there and don’t actually bring in more clients. Websites will have integrated lead generation and ways to interact with their website visitors.
3. Video marketing will become bigger and more mainstream - With the addition of the flip camera, video is becoming more mainstream and easier to use. It’s also easier to upload video to your website with sites such as Youtube and other video sharing sites. More small business owners are turning to their webcam or flip video camera to get their message out to their potential clients. And as advertising is expensive, producing your own video becomes a great way to get out there in a big way.
4. Twitter will become more mainstream - With the recent twitter phishing scam and tweets being sent from a passenger on an airplane crash, it is a sign that Twitter is becoming just a little more mainstream. It’s not there yet and is still a very small community, but it’s getting bigger; which means more small business using this to effectively promote their websites, blogs, and businesses.
5. Facebook will continue to grow - Every one of my friends is on Facebook now! It is certainly now mainstream. They have integrated advertising similar to Google advertising and it continues to grow as a great place for business networking.
6. Economic downturn entices businesses into social media - You see a trend here right? More and more companies are saying “what the heck might as well try social media since I don’t have much of a marketing budget.”
7. Standard search engine optimization will become social media-savvy SEO- Even though there is a lot of hype about Facebook and Twitter a lot of consumers will not join these communities. But they will instead be spectators and will be served YouTube videos and blog posts via Google search. So combining a blog and other social media strategies with search engine optimization will be the best website traffic strategy.

So what do all of these technology predictions mean to you as a small business owner? Become a joiner of social media and show your personality rather than trying to look like a big corporation.