Article Marketing Tips – How To Start Writing Articles Regularly For Online Business Success

Posted on October 6, 2010 by

By Connie Ragen Green

Article marketing continues to be the very best way to build your business online. Writing articles will build your list, increase your credibility, and enable you to further your business by creating short reports, eBooks, and other information products. You will want to schedule this type of writing for best results. You will find that this will bring you incredible results, so make sure to give it the focus needed to complete as many articles as possible.

Figure out what time of day is best for you to do your writing. My best time is early in the morning, and I write for at least an hour each day. This has made it possible for me to write an average of one article a day for more than three years. You can decide what is best for you, but a goal of at least two short articles – around three to four hundred words in length – each week is a reasonable goal for most online business owners.

Choose a topic to write on that will allow you to showcase your strengths and expertise. You may want to ask your current prospects what they may be interested in learning more about, or simply do a keyword search for the terms and phrases that are commonly used with within your business niche.

Keep each article short. My articles tend to be anywhere from three hundred to four hundred words, and they are divided into about five or six paragraphs. This makes it easy for readers to get the best information possible in the shortest amount of time. Remember that one of the goals of marketing with articles is to get your reader to read all the way through and click on the link in your resource box. This will lead them back to your blog or website, or wherever you have chosen to send them after they finish reading.

Think of writing articles that will be related to one another. This is an excellent idea for putting together short reports or eBooks on your niche topic. You can simply copy and paste several articles together, and then add a short introduction and conclusion to the beginning and ending of your report or eBook. Add a bio to let people know even more about who you are and how you can help them, as well as a cover page and perhaps some pictures. This will help to make your article marketing strategy successful.

Remember that the reason to start an Internet business is to give you the time and money to live the life you choose. Download a Free Report on how to write keyword targeted articles by visiting Article Marketing Tips and learn how to become an article marketer quickly and easily to create multiple streams of online income and to increase your online presence.

Article Source: eZineArticles

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Effectiveness Is Not Inborn

Posted on October 2, 2010 by

By Rich Schefren

Just as each and every one of us had to learn to tie our shoelaces, no one was born knowing how to be a successful entrepreneur.

Every entrepreneur had to learn how to be effective at what he was trying to accomplish — and practice being effective until it became a habit.

I don’t talk about it much, but before I opened my chain of hypnosis centers, I traveled all over the world, learning from the best neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and hypnosis teachers. I was certified in NLP by Richard Bandler himself, the creator of NLP. I studied with Robert Dilts, Michael Hall, and every other big name out there.

I am telling you this because I want you to know that when I share something I know about learning new skills, you can pretty much bet it is based on a concept I was taught by a master.

Today, I want to share an NLP learning model with you. Once you understand the model, you can leverage it to establish new skills rapidly.

First, I’ll explain the model. Then, I’ll give you examples to make it easier to understand. And then, I’ll show you how to use it to make yourself more effective at any skill you’ve chosen to pursue.

The 4 Stages of Learning a New Skill

Stage 1. Unconscious Incompetence. This is when you don’t know how to do it, and you don’t even know that you don’t know.

Stage 2. Conscious Incompetence. This is when you know what you don’t know, and you begin to work on learning it.

Stage 3. Conscious Competence. This is when you know what you need to know — and you can do it. But it takes all of your concentration.

Stage 4. Unconscious Competence. This is when you can perform the skill without even thinking about it. It’s now a habit.

Okay. Now let me give you two examples of how this works.

Learning the alphabet…

Stage 1. When you were very young, you didn’t even know that there were 26 letters in the alphabet. You didn’t know what you didn’t know. Hence, you were unconsciously incompetent.

Stage 2. You learned that there was such a thing as an alphabet, and that it had 26 letters, but you didn’t know them all. You knew what you didn’t know. Hence, you were consciously incompetent.

Stage 3. You finally learned all the letters. So you knew what you needed to know. But in order to write a word, you had to really concentrate on each letter. Hence, you were consciously competent.

Stage 4. Now, you can write words without even thinking about it. Hence, you are unconsciously competent.

Just to make sure you really get it, let’s look at another example.

Driving a car…

Stage 1. There was a time when you had no idea of what was involved in driving a car. Hence, you were unconsciously incompetent.

Stage 2. You started to learn about driving. You read the book. Your parents explained what they were doing while they were driving. You asked questions and got answers. You gave it a try — with Mom or Dad in the car — and realized you still had a lot to learn. You were consciously incompetent.

Stage 3. After a lot of practice, you could drive. But you had to really concentrate on what you were doing. You were consciously competent.

Stage 4. By now, you’ve driven so much that it’s become automatic. You no longer have to think about what to do, you just do it. You are an unconsciously competent driver.

But… are you unconsciously competent at parallel parking?

Most people are not. They haven’t parallel parked enough. They are consciously competent at it — meaning they can parallel park. But first they have to turn down the radio, stop talking, and focus.

What all this has to do with the achievement of your goals…

The parallel parking example illustrates that when you are working on developing the skills you need to achieve your goals, simply being effective from time to time won’t help you fully establish the habit.

To become unconsciously competent at those skills, you must recognize which stage you are at — and then understand what you need to do to move to the next stage.

More than likely, there are still a few areas where you are unconsciously competent — things you simply don’t know you don’t know.

So your job right now is to become cognizant of what you need to know to achieve your main goal.

That will help you transition to Stage 2.

In Stage 2, you will start to learn what you need to know to be effective.

In Stage 3, you will apply your newfound knowledge. But you must do it consciously, consistently, and often.

Before long, you will pass on to Stage 4: unconscious competence. At that point, you will be effective by habit, performing the skills that ensure your success without even thinking about it.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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Why Higher Pricing Sells

Posted on October 2, 2010 by

By Michael Masterson

People like to feel superior. As a marketer, understanding this universal desire can help you do an awful lot of selling.

By appealing to your prospects’ pride, you can persuade them to pay more — sometimes much more — than what you could get by appealing to any other emotion.

Let’s talk watches.

For $10, you can buy a handsome digital sports watch that will outperform and outlast virtually any luxury watch made. When these watches were first introduced (over 20 years ago), they were so good and cheap that everyone predicted the demise of the analog timepiece.

Well, it didn’t happen. The new technology revolutionized the watch industry and changed the market forever. But analog watches survived. In fact, according to one estimate, sales of $1,000-plus watches have more than doubled since the 1970s and continue to grow every year.

It’s Not Simply a Matter of Dollars and Cents

Why do people pay thousands for watches when a $29 one works just as well and looks great? (By the way, have you taken an objective look at some of the fancier Rolexes lately? Tack-eeee. Piagets? Like a muscleman in a tutu.) I like the look of the expensive watch I bought in Paris, but I’ve had to have it repaired twice in two years. And boy did they charge me for that!

It’s not reliability. It’s not durability. It’s not precision. And it’s not beauty. So what does all that extra money buy?

In a word, prestige. Slap on an Ebel or a Cartier and you have instant credibility with the fashion police. Thrust out a Rolex-clad wrist and you announce to all those around you, “I have arrived.”

You need not say a word. What could be better than that?

The idea that price equates to quality is a myth. But price does relate to value. In the case of luxury goods, that value is prestige.

If You Understand This, You Can Outsell Your Competition

In Boca Raton, Florida, almost 30 years ago, a very smart entrepreneur bought a large parcel of land west of the Interstate in what was considered to be a very undesirable location. It was unpopulated and miles from the beach. There wasn’t a store or supermarket in sight.

Instead of trying to compete with the frantic homebuilding going on east of the freeway, this savvy marketer spent the money to build an 8-foot stucco wall around the property. In front of the wall, he planted trees, shrubs, and flowers. And he created a very elaborate entrance with pillars, pergolas, and arches. A guardhouse with a uniformed gatekeeper finished it off.

This was Boca Raton’s first “gated community” — and the first development to purposefully sell the promise of exclusivity. While other developers were emphasizing quality and value, our friend was selling prestige. (“Wait until your friends and relatives see this entrance and have to get permission from the guard to get in!”)

The result?

Lots the developer bought for $5,000 sold for $20,000, while lots on the “better” side of town were selling for less than half that amount. Today, those same lots cost a quarter of a million dollars apiece.

The point?

People will be happy to pay more for your product or service if it provides them with prestige. The more prestige you can offer them, the more they will be willing to pay.

You Can Pay Pretty Much as Much as You Want for Anything

When the Miami Heat basketball team opened its new arena years ago, it created a super-premium level of seating. It consisted of about eight seats that were practically under the basket. The price: a mere $50,000. Did they sell out? In about 24 hours.

In any marketplace — from watches to tractors — you will find luxury products selling for extraordinary prices.

Production cars range from $15,000 to more than a quarter of a million. Off-the-rack suits can be purchased for as little as $100 or as much as $5,000. The same holds true for just about everything.

If you make 20 grand a year, you are happy to get your macaroni for 89 cents a pound. If you are a millionaire, you search for handmade pasta at 10 times that price.

When I was first married, I bought used furniture, including a dilapidated couch for $25. When I started making a decent living, I came into the marketplace of $500 sofas. As the years went by and my lifestyle “improved,” I’ve had the pleasure of paying $5,000 and $10,000 for essentially the same thing.

I know $500 sofas still exist, but I can’t find them. They are not in the stores my wife drags me to. What I am confronted with, instead, have fancy names: divans, chesterfields, chaises, and settees. All priced at what I used to pay for my yearly rent.

Prestige Is Expensive

Whatever it is you are selling, there is a way to charge more for it — by throwing in a little prestige.

This may not be something you want to do right now. Now might be the time to grab market share by underpricing aggressively. But sooner or later, you should think about how to apply this very fundamental and powerful marketing strategy.

Remember that people with money want to pay you more — so long as it buys them a little prestige. And by charging them more, you are actually giving them a psychological boost.

Think about it.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money,improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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What Is the Tipping Point for Online Success?

Posted on October 2, 2010 by

By Bob Bly

KJ, like many of my subscribers these days, wants to get into Internet marketing. But she feels frustrated and unable to move forward.

“Where should I begin?” KJ asked in her e-mail. “What was your tipping point to online success?”

My answer: “The tipping point in Internet marketing success is to stop reading about it and stop talking about it and actually start DOING it.”

I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn something about Internet marketing before you start. I AM saying you do not need to learn EVERYTHING.

It’s simply Michael Masterson’s “Ready, Fire, Aim” principle in action. And it’s especially true in Internet marketing.

There is an oppressive mountain of courses… seminars… coaching programs… DVDs… websites… audio CDs… e-books… reports… and other “how to get rich on the Internet” material out there.

Aspiring Internet marketers quite sensibly buy and study this material in preparation for the day when they’ll start their own business.

Unfortunately, for the vast majority, that day never comes.

They get so caught up in reading and talking about Internet marketing that they forget to actually DO Internet marketing. And so they never graduate beyond the student phase and move into the real world. Their knowledge remains theoretical and never gets applied… and, they never make a dime from it.

To be sure, many people really enjoy reading how-to business books and studying marketing.

If you’re in that group… and all you want is a pleasant, intellectually stimulating hobby to pass the time… well, nothing wrong with that.

But I’m guessing you (like KJ) want something more than just entertainment.

Specifically, you want to start and build a home-based Internet marketing business. And by doing so, earn thousands of dollars a year in extra income.

To do that, you have to stop just studying Internet marketing… and start doing Internet marketing.

Every day, I hear something like this from one of my readers:

“I’m almost ready to start my online business. I just have to finish reading Mr. X’s book and taking Mr. Y’s coaching program.”

My advice to them is to forget about Mr. X and Mr. Y.

More than likely, you’ve already bought and read a ton of material on Internet marketing. At this point, you will learn much more through real-life trial and error by than by buying more education.

KJ told me that another thing holding her back is that she is a “rookie with no capital.”

I have news for KJ.

Everyone who is successful in Internet marketing today was a rookie no farther back than 10 years ago… and many (including me) much more recently.

So being a rookie doesn’t stop you.

As for “no capital” being a disadvantage — it simply isn’t.

Internet marketing is one of the least capital-intensive business opportunities on the planet. You can create and launch your first product for a few hundred dollars.

And if you don’t have even a few hundred dollars, you can start by selling someone else’s product for an affiliate commission.

KJ also told me that she knows “a little bit about everything in Internet marketing.”

It’s good to be so well-versed. But most of us aren’t.

There are dozens of techniques for selling products and services online. But you don’t have to know all of them — or even most of them — to get started.

In fact, you need only three things:

1. People to sell to — either visitors to your website, your e-list of online subscribers, or e-lists owned by joint venture (JV) partners.

2. A product to sell to them — either your own or one produced by a JV partner.

3. A way to sell it to them — usually e-mail marketing messages driving them to a dedicated landing page or micro-site.

So when is the best time to start your new Internet marketing business?

Quite simply, it’s today. And here’s how…

First, make a commitment to work on your new business at least five days a week, at least an hour a day.

Second, make a list of 10 things you need to do to get the business off the ground. (Not including any reading you still think you need to do.)

When your hour to work on your business arrives today, start with item #1 on your list.

Work on item #1 until it is done. If you run out of time, finish it tomorrow. Or the next day.

Then move to item #2. And keep going until all 10 items on your list are done.

By that time, you’ll be in business!

Yes, there’s always more to learn. But you’ll learn it as you go along. And because you’ll be doing Internet marketing and not just reading about it, the lessons will stick better and will be more meaningful.

Not to mention much more profitable.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money,improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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