Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
Having a great newsletter can increase your business by as much as 5 fold – Or more, if you do it right! In fact, a newsletter is one of the most crucial tools in business, yet many beginning marketers miss out on it. Why is a newsletter so crucial and how can you start your own newsletter? Here’s the inside scoop.
Why a Newsletter is So Important
A newsletter is crucial because most people aren’t willing to pull out their credit card the first time they hear about someone. Instead, they prefer to get to know you and your content bit by bit over time. As they get to know you and realize you’re the real deal and that you can help them, then that’s when they’ll be willing to pull out their credit cards and make a purchase. To build this trust, you need to build a connection over time. A newsletter allows you to stay in touch with people even after they’ve left your site.
Getting Started With a Newsletter
The first step is to get an autoresponder service. There are many services, such as Aweber, GetResponse or iContact to choose from. If you have a shopping card system, that may have a built in autoresponder as well. Once you have your autoresponder setup, the next step is to get people to sign up for your newsletter.
The best way to do that is to have your newsletter on the front page of your website. Clearly tell your readers what they’ll get by signing up to your newsletter. Then ask them firmly and powerfully to join your newsletter.
Consistency
It’s important that you have a set consistency at which you send your emails. In general, anywhere from once a week to once a month is a good consistency.
If you send your emails more than once a week, people may start to think its spam. If you send your emails less than once a month, people will forget about you. Once you pick a consistency, stick with it so that people know what to expect from your website.
Building a Relationship
A lot of newsletter writers spend a lot of time on their headline. Because, that’s what gets emails opened after all. Right? Wrong. Your real headline is in the “from” column. People look at who the email is from more than the subject when they’re deciding whether or not to open an email. Your goal is to build a relationship with your readers, so that they know when they get an email from you that they’re in for a treat. It’s going to be interesting, informative and useful. You’re not going to spam them. If you build a relationship with them like that, then your emails will get opened – Almost every time.
Again, having a good newsletter can increase your business by many fold. Start by creating your autoresponder and getting signups. Then, pick a mailing consistency and start to build a relationship of trust with your readers.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
If you want to succeed online, then meeting people who’ve already succeeded before you is going to be a huge help. In fact, this could be the sole difference between success and failure. How do you network locally and at seminars? This crash course will help you build relationships that’ll help boost your network and your business.
Make Friends First
In online business, this business axiom holds very true: “All things being equal, people prefer to do business with people they like. All things not being equal, people still prefer to do business with people they like.”
If you want someone to share with you their success techniques for building an online business, then the first step is to build a friendship with them.
Get to know them as human beings and allow them to get to know you. Show a little vulnerability, as well as curiosity and interest towards them.
Once you have a bit of a relationship, then talk business.
Give As Well as Take
If you’ve discovered a technique that’s been working really well for you, don’t horde it for yourself.
There has to be a give as well as take relationship in any kind of business relationship. Share your knowledge and your contacts freely and others will do the same.
Join a Mastermind Group
Meeting with other likeminded people on a regular basis can really help drive you forward.
There are two important things that happen when you’re around other people like yourself. First of all, you get to share ideas, techniques and stories that’ll help you figure out more ways to be successful.
The other thing that happens is that you start to build off of each other’s momentum. If one person is making more money than the others, everyone else will start making more money. Everyone will start taking more action. The energy begets more energy.
If there isn’t a mastermind group near you, then start your own group. It’s not that hard to find likeminded people near you. Get these people together and ask them to bring people they know. Soon, you’ll have a great group of likeminded individuals.
Find a Mentor
If you’re making $2,000 a month and want to be making $5,000 a month, then find someone who’s making $20,000 a month.
This relationship can be a paid relationship, a friendship or a mastermind group relationship. Whatever you need to do, just make sure you have someone in your life that’s where you want to be financially.
This will have a very powerful magnetic effect on your finances. You’ll slowly but surely start making more money.
The bottom line is, who you spend time with has a great deal of influence on your success. Make sure you’re networking properly so that you’re spending your time with the right people.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
There’s a big difference between stale writing and writing in a way that really builds a genuine connection with your prospects. Can you guess which one generates more sales and traffic? You guessed it – If you build real connection, you’ll see the difference in your bank account. How do you write in a way that actually draws people in and builds connections? Here’s how.
Share Yourself
Be who you are. Chances are, you’re not the only person teaching what you’re teaching! But people will listen to what you’re saying, not only because of your content, but because they enjoy hearing you share your experience.
If you had a specific experience that relates to what you’re talking about, share it. Believe it or not, this can actually have a big impact on people feeling like they can trust you. Because they feel like they know you more.
“What’s In It For Me?”
The “WIIFM” question is a question that you should answer as quickly as you possibly can. Internet content that rambles on and on without being crystal clear about what they’re getting does not get read, period.
Not only should your WIIFM be totally clear, but you should put it as early in your content as possible. That way, people will know why they should keep reading before they even start reading.
Be Conversational
Write like you talk. Don’t use corporate fluff speak. You’re having a person to person conversation, just over the internet.
Use slang. Start your sentences with “and” or “because” if it sounds natural to you.
And most importantly, put your passion and spirit behind your words.
Let It Sit
Before you publish your content, let it sit for a day or two. Then, come back and review it one more time before you publish it.
Often times the second time around you’ll pick up on things you didn’t the first time. These could be grammatical mistakes, or it could just be more information you can put in that’ll make your content even better.
Credibility
One crucial element to having people listen to what you have to say is credibility. There are so many people on the internet giving different advice; it’s hard to know who to listen to. Have you helped over 1,000 people solve this specific problem? Make sure they know that. Have you been featured on Fox and CNN? Make sure that’s plastered all over your website. Have you done exactly what you’re teaching, in spades? Make sure they know that.
In short, the question of “why should I listen to you” and “why should I trust you” should be answered before you ask your readers to take your word on something.
Here’s the bottom line: If you write in a way that really connects with your readers, you’ll build more traffic, more loyalty, more referrals and more sales. Write to connect with your visitors.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
If you’re an online service provider looking for more clients, then read this article carefully and apply at least one of these techniques – Your bottom line will thank you. Below you’ll learn several different ways to add more clients to your client base almost right away.
Industry Forums
There are many internet forums where your clients may be hanging out in. These are great places to meet future clients, especially if they have a services section.
For example, if you’re a writer, then go on webmaster forums and create a services post about offering your writing services.
Craigslist
There are two ways to get business from Craigslist.
The first way is to post what you’re offering in the Services section. The key to success in doing this is to make it sound like they’re getting a deal – Because that’s what people go on Craigslist for.
The second place to look for clients is in the Gigs section. This is where others will post what they’re looking for in terms of service providers.
Work with Established Firms
If you’re a graphic designer, why go through the trouble of trying to find your own clients if others have already done it for you?
There are many firms out there that provide all kinds of services to clients. Many of them outsource most of their work.
For example, they may charge their clients $80 an hour for design work, and then outsource the actual work at $60 an hour. If that works for you, then just get in contact with a few different firms and ask what it takes to work with them.
eLance and Guru
eLance and Guru are both great ways to find potential clients. In fact, for many people who’re looking for service providers, this is the first place they look.
Keep in mind that eLance and Guru can be a little hard to navigate at first. Bear with the process as you learn your way through.
Depending on what industry you’re in, you might find it difficult to go up against low-cost service providers. You can either differentiate yourself based on value rather than price, or you can use other methods of getting clients.
Building Your Personal Brand
Having your own website that you’re driving traffic to is the ultimate way of getting more traffic. This method is slower than the other methods above, but once you start becoming known in your industry, you’ll start getting clients without having to work for it.
The end goal here is for people to really know what you’re about and what sets you apart. Once you build this reputation in your industry, then your perfect clients will come to you instead of the other way around.
Each and every one of these techniques described above is powerful enough to build a whole business around. Pick one that you’re not already doing and put it into action today! The results might just surprise you.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
Defining your target marketing is one of the most important things you’ll ever do in your internet business. This one decision may very well determine whether or not you’ll have a profitable business a few weeks or months from now.
How do you find your target market? Where do you look for ideas? Once you have a target market in mind, how do you research it? Here’s how.
What to Look For in a Market
There are several factors that make for a good target market.
The first factor is that the market is small enough that you can be a major player, but not so small that you can’t make good money. For example, you wouldn’t want to start a new online dating site because Match.com and eHarmony clearly have the market in a stronghold.
However, you probably don’t want to start a site on underwater basket weaving, as it’s too small to make any money.
The second factor is that there is money being spent. Sure, “dog pictures” may not have a major player – But chances are, there’s no money being made!
The best markets are markets that have a problem that needs to be solved. People who have problems are more willing to spend money.
Where to Look for Ideas
There are several great places to look for target market ideas.
The first is Google Trends. Google Trends will give you a good idea of what things are hot right now. This can often help you identify new target markets and become a major player before others hop on the bandwagon.
Another great place to look is Amazon Magazines. If there’s enough of a market for a magazine, chances are there’s enough of a market for you to make money online.
eBay Pulse is another great place to look. Again, you’re looking for potential markets where you can become a major player.
How to Research a Target Market
Once you have an idea, then what? How do you do your research to see if it’s viable?
The first step is to check the volume to make sure there’s enough traffic for you to make a living. You can do this through checking the Google Keyword Tool.
Once you’ve made sure you can actually make enough money for it to be worth your while, the next step is to get to know the market and the market’s spending habits.
There are two main places you should look: Your competitors and the niche forums. How are your competitors doing? Are they selling high ticket items, or are they scraping by with advertising? Are AdWords bids high or low? These factors will help you determine how much money is being spent.
Take a look at the niche forums to find out what are typical problems people have in this market. If someone asks a question and others say “I have that same issue!” then you should definitely take note.
Once you’ve brainstormed a few niche markets, identified the ones with promise and then narrowed them down to the winners through a good research process, then the next step is to take action and make it happen.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
Building a website the right way will ensure you get plenty of traffic – Not just today, but repeatedly over time. Most people who get started in web marketing try to cut corners and end up getting nowhere. The reality is, if you build your website the right way from the start, you’ll be able to create a very nice steam of traffic and income for months and years to come.
What Makes a Successful Website?
A successful website is based on giving real value to your visitors. In other words, it’s not based on trying to game the system, not based on trying to earn a quick AdSense check, not based on any black hat or spammy techniques.
These are websites that people will actually pass on to their friends, because the content is so useful. If you create a genuine online asset, that’s when the payoff really comes.
Why Great Content Matters
There’s a saying in the world of journalism: “Content is King.”
It doesn’t matter how pretty your site is or how good you are at writing copy. If the actual content, the real meat of your website isn’t good, then you’re not going to succeed.
Having great content will mean having your content passed around, getting links and getting ranked. Make sure your content is truly first class.
Work With, Not Against, Google
It’s true that you can game Google for a short period of time. However, eventually Google will update their algorithm and put these kinds of sites out of business.
It really doesn’t make any sense to try and game your way around Google when you can actually give Google what it wants instead.
What does Google want? Good, high quality, relevant content for its searchers. If you give Google’s users that, then every time Google updates it’s algorithm you’ll win instead of lose.
Connect With Your Visitors
Connecting with your visitors is key. If you can build a real relationship with the people you’re serving, you’ll get both links and traffic.
You’ll also start to become better and better known in your market. If you treat your market as just a “target market” to market to, you will get some traffic and sales. However, if you treat your market like you’re talking to real people, then you’ll actually start to build trust and a reputation in your industry.
That’s when your site will start moving away from small-time internet website to a real business.
It Doesn’t Pay to Cut Corners
There are many, many marketers who’ve been trying to cut corners for years. They’ve started website after website trying the latest blackhat techniques to no avail.
Sure, you may make a few bucks here and there by cutting corners. But in the long run, you will spend far more effort cutting corners than if you just built an asset with real value right from the beginning.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Having a great newsletter can increase your business by as much as 5 fold – Or more, if you do it right! In fact, a newsletter is one of the most crucial tools in business, yet many beginning marketers miss out on it. Why is a newsletter so crucial and how can you start your own newsletter? Here’s the inside scoop.
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