Remember a couple weeks ago when I shared my proven A,B,C,D list-building formula and the single biggest mistake affiliate marketers make? (Don’t worry if you missed one of them.  I have a recap for you in this video, so keep reading.)

In the last week or two, over 5,871 people came to the blog to watch these videos… and the majority of the comments posted were practically *screaming* for me to do a follow-up video.

With everyone wanting to know how to SKIP the opt-in page on the merchant’s site (so your prospects don’t have to opt-in a second time), your wish is my command!

I just made a *new* video which gives you 3 ways around this problem… so you can stop throwing money away and start getting your prospects to go where you want them… onto the merchant’s sales letter!

How To Avoid
"Double Jeopardy Opt-In"
As An Affiliate

… Plus, sign up below and you’ll get Priority Notification when we release Mini-Site Creator v2.0!

Jim Edwards here with an update…

After last week’s email sharing my Mini-Site Creator Student Directory with you, a few people posted on the blog wanting to know exact numbers and stats from the sites listed in the directory.

Well, let’s think about it for a minute…

If you’re just getting started… and you’re making money in your niche… why in the world would you want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg by sharing all your details with the world?  

Most people want to keep that information close to their vest and stay under the radar (and with good reason).

But you guys asked for numbers and stats, and you know "Big Jim" never wants to disappoint you (don’t you love it when people talk about themselves in 3rd person?)

Plus, I want you to see just how potent ‘ugly’ little mini-sites actually can be (especially if you’ve never posted one yourself).

That’s why I twisted a few arms to get some of my students to spill the beans on VIDEO case studies for you!

Here’s your PROOF that it all works just like I say:

http://www.minisitecreator2.com/case-study-1.html <= PROOF

You’ll see EXACTLY what type of results they’ve gotten using my Mini-Site Creator System (and remember this is with the "old" v1.0 to boot – it’s BEFORE they’ve had a chance to experience the totally revamped and *automated* v2.0 coming out next month!)

In this video case study, you’ll see how the "Shark" started off with NO LIST and raked in over $10,000 in just 4 days (over a holiday weekend!).

Get this: He originally was publishing a "real" print book and was going broke. That is, until he started using a "Clickbank Stuffing" trick (this is REALLY clever and revealed in the video) which opened his eyes to the power of the Internet.

"Shark" quickly moved to selling his book online (using my Mini-Site Creator system, of course …a nd now he’s brought in over $100,000.00 in sales in 3.5 years…with a simple $27 ebook with NO upsell. 

Oh, and his niche has nothing to do with making money online, marketing or any other "get rich" topic.

Check out the whole case study here:
http://www.minisitecreator2.com/case-study-1.html

Believe it or not, I REALLY twisted his arm in this 32-minute video case study.  Not only will you hear his story and get his numbers, but you’ll also see the exact product he was selling. 

This is sure to open your eyes to the possibilities online…and give you several new tips for YOUR next mini-site.  Watch it as soon as you can!

Talk to you soon,

Jim

P.S. — This is a REAL case study, so you’ll pick up specific ACTIONABLE strategies and ideas you can put to use in your business right now. 

It took some prodding to pull back the curtain on this guy, so don’t miss this profitable NEW video I just posted:

http://www.minisitecreator2.com/case-study-1.html

P.P.S — As always, be sure to comment here on my blog.  There’s quite a flurry of activity happening after the last post.

See what I mean here:
http://www.igottatellyou.com/blog/think-mini-sites-are-dead/#comments

Think "mini" website marketing won’t work for your business?

Think again!

You see, over the last couple weeks I’ve been talking with you extensively here on my blog about mini sites.

We’ve received several emails from people wondering if mini sites will work for their specific niche.

And… believe it or not… some people even said in the comments on my blog that mini sites are dead!?

Let’s see: If you take a look around… you’ll find virtually EVERY major "expert" or "guru" uses mini sites to sell themselves, their products, and services (and I personally still sell millions a year with "ugly" little 2-3 page mini sites).

That’s why I want to make sure you know 100% that mini sites are alive and well and they CAN work for you online (in a BIG BIG way).

In fact, if you’re looking for examples of mini sites that work, I want to share with you a "Mini Site" Directory that shows a WIDE range of mini sites some of my students have made…from Bible study…to Spaniels…to Fitness…and MUCH more! 

It’s been online and updated for years… these are real people making real money and grabbing real subscribers and real customers with mini sites!

Check it out here:
==> http://www.IGottaTellYou.com/directory-preview.html

You’ll discover 50+ different mini sites that all used my Mini Site training (the ‘old’ v1.0 system too!) to quickly and easily put up sites that brought them recognition, subscribers and profits!

Now, are they the best looking, most polished sites in the world? NOPE!

In fact, are some of them "ugly"? In some cases, YES!

Do they get results fast? YEP!

Do they help their owners test markets and see if they can make a go of a niche without spending weeks and thousands of dollars to do it? YOU BET!

And with the v2.0 training around the corner (which now uses automated software, tricks and updated strategies that do 99% of all the hard work for you), just imagine the speed of success you can start experiencing online.

But until the doors open on the special NEW v2.0 training, be sure to visit this directory.  I promise you’ll find it very eye-opening – and it should get your mind going with the possibilities mini sites can hold for YOU!

==> http://www.IGottaTellYou.com/directory-preview.html

Talk to you soon,

Big Jim

P.S. — Also, over the next week or so, I’ll be highlighting a couple case studies of students who cashed in with "ugly" little mini sites in a BIG way (six figures+)… but started out very small. 

Keep your eyes peeled for those VIDEO case studies. 

They’ll be anything but an infomercial – in fact, you’re going to pick up ideas and strategies you can quickly implement to start seeing mini site success yourself!

But until then, check out the mini site directory here:

==> http://www.IGottaTellYou.com/directory-preview.html

P.P.S. — As always, please comment on my blog about this latest update.

Build A Big, Profitable List With This
Simple A, B, C, D Formula!
(Video)

… Plus, sign up below and you’ll receive a FREE HTML Template like the one I teach you how to structure in the video!

Jim Edwards here with my latest article (below) for you…

If you’ve been following my blog at all lately, you know I’ve been focusing on mini-sites and how to use them to quickly build your business.

Well, there seems to be a little confusion as to what exactly "mini" sites are and how you use them to quickly build up your online business (specifically selling to niche markets).

So before we go any further, I wanted to clear up any misconceptions for you and fill in the blanks for everyone.

That way we can all get on the same page about building a list, selling your own products, promoting as an affiliate and more.

Enjoy the article (below)…

Jim

PS – Want to comment on this article?

Leave your 2-cents here on the blog in the "Comments" section

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Cashing In Fast With "Mini" Sites

      – by Jim Edwards

© Jim Edwards – All Rights reserved
    http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I’ve gotten a plenty of questions lately about why I think "mini" sites, simple 1-2 page websites, are better than "traditional" websites you might learn to build in school or from a website design course.

In fact, I believe "traditional" websites represent a complete waste of time and end up making small and home-based business owners give up on the Internet before they even have a chance to get started.

If you want to cash in fast on the web, stop thinking about making "web" sites and start thinking about "mini" sites.

Basically, traditional sites try to be all things to all people.

If you go to somebody’s website and you see:
"Sign up for my newsletter";
"Buy my product";
"Check out these links";
"Check out our article archive";
"Click Here for the article of the day";
"Subscribe to this RSS feed";
"Visit our blog!"

…. it just creates confusion.

In other words, visitors arrive at the site and either go nuts figuring out what to do next or, more likely, they simply click their back button – never to return.

I once had a sales manager who told me, "A confused mind always answers ‘No!’ Never give people more than two choices in a sales talk."

He was right!

Traditional websites give people too many choices and they fail miserably at it, usually before they ever get off the ground.

On the other hand, mini-sites succeed wildly because they have one purpose: to force someone to make a decision!

Mini-sites typically fall into one of four main categories:
- sales letters
- newsletters
- affiliate presales
- intelligence gathering

Virtually every mini-site you ever see will fit one of these categories. Let’s take a look at each type.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
#1 Sales Letter Mini-Sites
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

One-page sales letter mini-sites represent the most recognizable type of mini-site on the Web.

A sales letter’s primary purpose should be obvious: to sell somebody something!

Typically one-page sales letter mini-sites sell ebooks, software, physical products, services and more.

Virtually anything can get sold with a one-page sales letter mini-site.

The decision you want a visitor to make when they come to your sales letter mini-site is also simple: buy or don’t buy.

You force them to decide right there on the spot. Just like any good salesman, you force the decision by the prospect.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
#2 Newsletter Mini-Sites
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Newsletter, or forced-opt-in, mini-sites make up the second type of mini-site.

Their primary purpose is to entice people to sign up for your list, newsletter, or ezine.

But frankly, if you looked at some people’s newsletter sites, you would think their purpose was anything but getting people to sign up for their newsletter!

Once you understand that the primary purpose of your newsletter mini-site is to get a signup, you can eliminate everything else that detracts from that purpose.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
#3 Affiliate Pre-Sell Mini-Sites
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Affiliate Pre-Sell pages make up the third type of mini-site you can use.

Numerous ways exist to "pre" sell people on an affiliate page, persuade them to make a decision, and then take the specific action you want.

Some common types of pres-sell pages include: product reviews; pre-sell videos; audio postcards; forced opt-in pages and more.

Most people think that the primary purpose of a pre-sell mini-site is to have somebody click an affiliate link, but I disagree.

I think that the main purpose of your affiliate pre-sell page should be to get a prospect to give you their name and their email address.

Once you get that information you can sell them several things over time.

If all you ever do is refer traffic without building a relationship, you’ll miss out on lucrative back-end opportunities.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
#4 Intelligence Gathering Mini-Sites
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The fourth type of mini-site is used to gather marketing or other intelligence from your target niche.

Here you actually use a mini-site to get people to tell you what they want to buy, try, see, give their opinion on a topic, etc.. I call it "Your Most Burning Question."

You use this type of mini-site to gather information about what people want to know, their overall interest level in your topic, and as a means to get ideas for newsletter and blog content.

The bottom line with an intelligence gathering mini-site is to get people to tell you what you need to know in order to make money selling them something later.

So now the obvious question: Which one do you start with?

The answer: It depends on your purpose right now in your business!

Need to sell your existing product or service? You should set up a sales letter mini-site.

Don’t have a list of subscribers? Set up a newsletter mini-site.

No product to sell? Build an affiliate pre-sell mini-site.

No clue what your target audience wants or if they even want anything at all? Set up an intelligence gathering mini-site and find out what you need to know BEFORE spending months creating a product.

Mini-sites are all about saving time and maximizing your effort through clear focus and purpose.

Once you know exactly what you want to get done online, mini-sites create the fastest, easiest pathway to success.

<– End Article –>

Hope this clears up any misunderstandings about mini-sites and why they’re so effective… no matter whether you’re a fresh-faced newbie or a battle-hardened online business veteran.

To Your Success,

Jim

From: The Desk of Jim Edwards
Re: Special Report

"The Top 7 Critical Mini-Site Design Mistakes Marketers Make…  and (More Importantly) How to Avoid Them"

• Mistake #1 – Butchering Fonts
    
• Mistake #2 – The “Tweaker” Syndrome
    
• Mistake #3 – Lack of Focus or a Consistent Theme in the Site’s Content
    
• Mistake #4 – Using Animation Improperly
    
• Mistake #5 – The Flying Dutchman Syndrome
   
• Mistake #6 – Jamming a Football through a Garden Hose
   
• Mistake #7 – That Baby’s So Ugly, It Makes You Want To Smack Its Mama!
   
• Mistake #8 – Clean Up Before Company Arrives
   
• Bonus Idea – Get Really Good at Keeping Records

Why should you listen to me when it comes to "mini" sites?

Well, here are the facts…

I’ve made hundreds of money-making mini-sites on everything from
- real estate… to
- mortgages… to
- typing tutorials… to
- self-improvement… to
- chihuahua potty training… to
- back pain… to
- Legal help… to
- Acne… to
- Writers and authors… to
- Self-Defense… to
- Video gaming… AND MORE

I’ve evaluated thousands of mini-sites (many of them terrible – but some of them killer)…

I’ve made millions with simple 1-page and 2-page mini-sites…

I’ve built up 250,000+ targeted subscribers using 1-page and 2 page mini-sites…

I’ve been the TOP affiliate for launches like John Reese’s "Traffic Secrets" and Ryan Deiss’s "30 Days To 10K" launches using mini-sites…

In short, I know what the hell I’m talking about and can prove it about when it comes to designing mini-sites that make money and pull subscribers like a Kirby vacuum on steroids!

Mistake #1 – Butchering Fonts

Let’s just jump right in… Mistake Number 1 that I see marketers making is that they absolutely butcher fonts. 

What I mean by butchering fonts is actually a four pointer. 

a.   The first point is that people use too many font styles on the same page. 

You will see this when you’re looking at pages where people are showing 50 different banners on one site and it’s like they get drunk with their ability to manipulate fonts. 

You see people with Arial, Times New Roman, Jester, Impact, Antigone and all these different fonts that other people may or may not have on their own computer (but you see them using all these different fonts in the same paragraph). 

It’s like they went and got a bottle of Jack Daniels and just got drunk with their new-found power to change fonts. 

The best thing you can do is choose one font style for the main headline and the sub-headlines.  I personally like an Arial-style font.  (That seems to work best for me as far as headlines go.)

Then you want to choose one font style for your body text.  I personally prefer to use a Times New Roman type font, though I have used Helvetica in the past. 

b.   The other mistake I see people making with butchering fonts is that they have too many different font colors on the same page and it looks, for lack of a better phrase, like the circus came to town when you open up their webpage. 

Keep it simple!  As far as colors go, keep it really simple and really basic. 

The consistent color that I see for the main headline is either navy blue, black or red. 

Those seem to be the colors that work the best. 

Then for sub-headlines, the colors I see that work best are royal blue or navy blue. 

For body text, pretty much without exception, the color that you should use in your body text is black. 

With very few exceptions, (I can’t really think of any) your text should appear black on a white background. 

c.   Now, if you need to put emphasis on a word or set of words, either use bold or use italics but try not to use both. 

All these rules are not 100 percent hardened fact (sometimes I break them). 

However, if you do bold italics, especially in a Times-type font, you’re going to have what I call “hairy letters” or “fuzzy letters” and they start looking jagged. 

The other thing you don’t want to do very often is to underline text. 

Make sure if you underline some words that people aren’t sitting there whacking that text thinking that it’s a clickable link. 

Another way to put emphasis on a word or a set of words (again, there are exceptions, but, typically you wouldn’t do this with a whole paragraph.) is to use a yellow highlighter. 

One of the things that people have been taught is that yellow highlighter is something on a printed page that’s very important. 

So, you can use yellow highlighter very effectively to really emphasize a point or to draw somebody’s attention to a specific point. 

But, be very careful not to overdo it… if you overdo any of this stuff… if you overdo the bold, or the italics, or the highlighter… if you overuse them… they will totally lose their impact. 

d.   The other thing that I see people doing as far as butchering fonts is using too many different font sizes. 

When they do their first sales letter they think that if 36-point font is good, than 72-point font is even better!

You’ve come upon those websites before with text six inches high and only one word screaming out at you. 

Typically your main headline is either large or extra large font size. 

It’s not a specific point size, but rather it is a relative size to the other sizes of fonts. Typically, that large or extra large corresponds to a 24 or a 36-point type equivalent. 

Then for your sub-headlines those font sizes are typically somewhere between 14 and 18-point font. 

The most important thing to remember is consistency. 

A sub-headline looks like a sub‑headline all the way through. (As opposed to a sub-headline in one spot that is huge and red and in another spot it’s small and green and in another spot it’s medium and blue.)  That interrupts the flow of people’s thinking and they get caught up in how the message gets delivered rather than concentrating on the message itself. 

Then your body text should be either medium or small. 

 (That corresponds if you were in Word, to something around a 10 to 12-point type size font.) So, again, main headline – large or extra large. Sub-headline – large. Body text – medium to small. 

Another thing that you need to do is pay attention to link colors. 

I try to keep my link colors blue and blue underlined. 

The reason for that is because the vast majority of people who have been on the web for more than about a day understand that a blue underlined word is normally a clickable link. 

So why do I want to try and retrain them on my website and make them guess as to what they should click?  My advice to you is to always use blue underlined links, (text links) to represent a clickable link. 

If you decide you want to do something else, that’s up to you. 

No matter what you do make sure your links are consistent all the way through your site so that if it looks like a link… it is a link.  If they click it, something happens. 

You don’t want people guessing if something is a link or not. 

So that’s mistake number 1, on butchering fonts. 

 

Mistake #2 – The “Tweaker” Syndrome

I will admit being guilty of this one. 

This is what I call the “Tweaker” syndrome… for those of us who like to tweak stuff. 

The “Tweaker” syndrome is when somebody gets hung up fiddling with something that was good enough two hours (or two days ago) and yet they keep tweaking it.  They keep fiddling with it and they get bogged down. 

I can be really guilty of this when it comes to the multimedia audio and video. 

But, once I figure out how to do something that works, then I don’t tweak it anymore. 

"Tweaking" stuff is a really big trap! 

Now, I’m not talking about figuring out how to make something work… all of us spend that initial time getting oriented and learning how to do certain things. 

But, once you know how to do something you don’t have to spend 15 minutes messing around with it. 

Always look for the simplest solution. 

Don’t fall into the trap of trying to find the most exotic, or the sexiest thing that you can find to get something done. 

If a simple link… or a simple graphic… or a simple whatever will do the job; do not look for a more complicated solution. 

All you’ll is waste time trying to make that work when the simple thing would have worked a long time ago.

The other thing people do is get caught up in the minutia of something little instead of keeping their eye on the big picture of why they’re putting the Mini-Site together in the first place. 

And, again, I will admit to being guilty of this. 

I remember spending an entire day fiddling around with a java script that eventually I couldn’t figure out.  It was a script.  I ended up wasting a whole day trying to get that script done. 

I couldn’t do it and I ended up hiring somebody on E-lance for $10.00 who ended up getting it done in 15 minutes! 

The big thing to remember is any time you find yourself fiddling around or getting bogged down with something that’s only a teeny, tiny part of the overall picture, you need to stop in place and ask yourself:

• “Is this just me screwing around with something because it’s something that I’m going to screw around with?"  Or,
• "Is this something I could put aside and even if I don’t come back to it, or if I bypass it completely, will that allow me to get the project done much faster?"  Or,
• "Could I hire somebody for ten bucks to do this for me and save myself 8 to 12 hours’ worth of time?” 

What you don’t want is to end up wasting a whole evening or a whole week on something that didn’t require all that time and even if it didn’t get done, wouldn’t affect the project overall. 

So be careful with graphics or wanting to get anything else "just right." 

Another place where you’ll get into problems with tweaking, especially once you start doing this for a while, is with java scripts. 

You’re better off paying somebody at E-lance ten bucks to install those rather that than trying to do it yourself. 

The same goes for web scripts. 

Again, you’ll hear about PERL scripts and PHP scripts and things like mail forms. 

One of the things I see coming down the pike right now are these interactive sales letters. 

But, I can tell you right now the average webmaster doesn’t need to fiddle around with that stuff because it’s an extra bell and whistle that in most cases you could do just as well without… ESPECIALLY when you’re just getting started into a market and trying to find signs of life.

So be careful of the latest, greatest trend or the latest, greatest script that is going to take you from having to put up a fast Mini-Site with a sales letter (or something like that) and turn it into this ordeal where you’re having to come up with ten different versions of your sales letter. 

Just be really careful of anything like that that requires endless tweaking and endless fiddling. 

The end run objective here, with Mini-Sites especially, is to set things up that run on autopilot. 

If you have things you must endlessly tweak and fiddle with, then all you’re doing is creating needless work for yourself. 

In the end it’s going to cost you a lot of money and time and probably won’t return the amount of money and time you invested. 

So the bottom line here is to keep it simple!  Once something works well enough…  leave it alone! 

Once you’ve got a Mini-Site that’s working mechanically, don’t mess with it!  Stop fiddling with it because honestly, bottom line, most people who are “tweaking” stuff or endlessly fiddling around with one little thing are using it as an excuse to avoid getting down to the real business at hand of making money with their Mini-Site. 

They’re using the fact “I worked all weekend on this script” to avoid getting anything done.

Well, yeah, they worked all weekend screwing around with this one thing and they use that as an excuse for not driving traffic to the site. 

It’s just an excuse.  You want to keep stuff simple, get it up, and keep it running. 

Well, I have beaten that one to death. 

 

Mistake #3 – Lack of Focus or a Consistent Theme in the Site’s Content

The mistake I see most webmasters making is a total lack of focus or a consistent theme in the site’s content. 

Here’s the bottom line, folks…

A Mini-Site is about one topic and it is aimed at one target audience. 

A Mini-Site is not a portal site where you’re trying to be all things to all people like Yahoo. 

I mean, Yahoo’s got finance, it’s got dating, it’s got personals, it’s got search, it’s got every kind of list under the sun. 

They’re trying to be everything and a Mini-Site is the complete and total opposite to that. 

It is one thing to one specific group of people. 

Now, the best example of a Mini-Site, (And the one you are probably the most familiar with) is the one-page sales letter. 

The one-page sales letter has one purpose and one purpose only… To get people to buy.  And it’s aimed at one specific audience. 

An example of a sales letter Mini-Site’s purpose would be to sell an e-book. 

Anything that doesn’t contribute directly to selling that e-book is not needed. 

That goes for everything from text and graphics to other things you can put on it… Multimedia, MP3s, any of that stuff. 

As soon as you start looking at the Mini-Site mindset like that, you realize that a lot of the things that you see on sites, (especially when you can tell they were done by somebody who doesn’t know what they were doing) a lot of things they think will help them make a sale will actually keeping them from making a sale. 

So, it’s important to always have a specific laser focus on your purpose for your Mini-Site. 

Then you’ve got to keep all the content on that site focused on that one specific purpose… which is to get people to take the action that you want.

The Single Biggest Affiliate Mistake
People Make (Video)

How you can build a profitable list,
make money as an affiliate,
and build a REAL business at the same time
(even if you don’t have your own product)!