Archive for July, 2009

Comments?

July 24, 2009

My conclusions from all the comments and some reflection:

1. Social networking is DIFFERENT than social media
   1. Social media is the "tool"
   2. Social networking is what you do with the tool
2. A tool is only as good as the person using it and their intention while using it and the end result they’re trying to achieve
   1. A tool can build a beautiful mansion
   2. A tool can be a murder weapon
   3. A tool won’t do either if it just stays in your toolbox!
3. Social media and social networking must be used as part of an overal strategy – they are not and end or a means unto themselves
4. If you already have a following, these tools make it possible to develop that following on a more personal basis with a stronger connection
5. If you don’t have a following, these tools make it possible to develop a following, but most people do it the wrong way and focus on quantity instead of quality
6. It takes a while to make this work… it’s not an overnight thing.
7. If you want to sell right off the bat, you’ve chosen a very hard row to hoe
8. If you choose to make this part of your marketing strategy, make sure it’s only PART of your strategy and understand that this is something you must develop over time
9. See this as a 2-step process in many cases:
   1. Step 1 – Meet them on a social media site
   2. Step 2 – Get them over to your blog / newsletter so you can develop the relationship with them
10. This is not a magic solution… these are tools!

My 2 cents

Jim

Jim Edwards here with an article that details one of the
true "secrets" for succeeding online.

When I was starting out full time online some years ago, I
didn’t have anything: no list, no money (fresh out of
bankruptcy), no job.

I basically had a computer, Internet connection, some basic
skills, burning desire, and an idea for a product… that’s
it!

I quickly realized one of the things I desperately needed
was an email list (my own list) that I could develop a
relationship with and we could grow together.

Since buying a list was out of the question, I realized I
needed to "grow" one myself. (I found out later it was a
blessing in disguise, because any list you buy isn’t
NEARLY as good as one you "grow" yourself!)

So I used a technique to build that list which turned out to
be one of the best things ANYONE can do to succeed online…
I created a kick-butt "Mini-Course!"

In the article below, I lay out 5 tips that will help you
start down the same road I took by using simple email
messages loaded into an autoresponder… to generate tons
of subscribers and a flood of website traffic any time you
want it.

Enjoy!

Jim

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5 Tips To Create A Kick-Butt Mini-Course
That Pulls In Thousands of Rabid Subscribers!

© Jim Edwards – All Rights Reserved
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One of the fastest ways to develop, build, and grow your own
list of subscribers is to develop a "mini" course with an
incredibly compelling promise. 

I have personally used "mini" courses to build lists of
several thousand subscribers in as little as a week. 

A "mini" course is simply a series of e-mail’s where you
teach people a specific skill, set of skills, or reveal
other information they really want to know. 

In the process of providing this focused, valuable
information, you prove to your subscribers that you are THE
expert in a particular area – and, you also encourage people
to pay you to get even BETTER information from ebooks and
information products you’ve either written or recommend.
 
An example of a "mini" course offer I’ve used with great
success is the free mini course at www.7dayebook.com that
appears in the exit pop up window when you leave the site.

The promise of this "mini" course is strong and compelling.
Here’s what it says…

         FREE eBook Mini-Course
         "How to Write and Profit from your own eBook…
         while you’re still young enough to enjoy it!"

All the registration page asks for is first name and email
address… and this mini-course has generated thousands of
subscribers!

So here’s the basic formula in a nutshell:
Strong promise+ low risk + high perceived reward = Subscribers

Now, if you’d like to build your own list of rabid
subscribers, here are 5 sure-fire tips for creating a mini-
course that truly kicks butt!

Tip #1 – The Promise

If you want to launch a successful mini-course, target an
audience with a specific need and then make them the biggest
possible promise you can deliver on.

People are pressed for time and rarely see as much value in
something they get for free as opposed to something they pay
a lot of money for.

Add to this the fact that the Internet gets more and more
crowded everyday and you can see that the best offers are
the ones that grab people’s attention by making a benefit-
driven promise they can’t resist.

Even though you offer your mini-course for free, you still
must SELL people on WHY they should pay you with their time
and attention.

Example: If you want to do a mini-course on real estate
investing, look for the biggest and best promise you can
make for people.

Let’s look at these various promises for identical mini-
course content:

Good: How to make a fortune in foreclosures.

Better: How to find and buy a profitable foreclosure within
2 weeks.

Best: How to find and buy a profitable foreclosure property
in your area within 2 weeks – using none of your own money!

** The promise you make has everything to do with whether or
not people sign up. IMPORTANT: After they sign up, make sure
you deliver on the promise.

Tip #2 – Don’t reinvent the wheel

Look for existing content – your own or other people’s – you
can adapt directly or indirectly into the mini-course.

Hey, I understand you’re busy… I’m busy too!

Why would you want to spend 2 days coming up with all the
content for your mini-course if you already have past
information you can adapt!?

If you don’t have any existing material, then find someone
else who has written an article and use that for part of
your mini-course – with their *permission* of course!

You’d be surprised at all the pieces of the puzzle that are
out there independently which you could combine into a great
mini-course without nearly the mountain of effort you might
expect.

Tip #3 – Give yourself lots of chances to make money

One way to build more value into your mini-course and make
sure people hang onto your messages instead of deleting them
is to put lots of quality links into your mini-course.

This allows people to get additional information on specific
aspects of the mini-course.

Some of those links can be to free resources, others to
resources where you earn an affiliate commission, and still
others to your own products and services.

The more links you have that actually contribute to your
students learning the subject of your mini-course and
fulfilling the promise you made to get them to sign up, the
better your chances of them clicking those links.

If you create lessons people save for future reference
because they have great links in them, you’ll make more
money!

For an example look no further than your "in-box"! Almost
everybody has email messages they’ve saved from other people
because they contain links to sites you want to use now or
access in the future.
 

Tip #4 – Build anticipation for the next message

If you’re going to take the time to put together the mini-
course, wouldn’t it be great of the majority of people who
subscribed actually read your messages!?

If you want to launch a successful mini-course, you’ve got
to rise ABOVE the noise of all the other email messages
people receive every single day.

One way to do this is to always end each lesson with a small
"ad" or excitement builder for the next message. You do this
by really playing up a big benefit they’ll receive as a
result of reading the next message you promise to send them.

Here’s an example:

"The next and final installment in this mini-course will
give you five tips for how to get 10,000 visitors to your
website without spending a dime on pay-per-click traffic! So
stay tuned for the next lesson in 2 days…"

It’s a simple, yet very powerful way to build anticipation
for the next message into EVERY message you send.

This simple step helps make them look forward to the next
message so it gets read… not trashed!

Tip #5 – Tell them what they don’t know!

If you’re using the mini-course to promote a product that
covers a much "bigger picture" of the topic as a whole,
constantly remind people that the mini-course is just a
"tiny piece" of the whole product.

Remind them of what else they need to know and tell them if
they buy the product then they’ll get this benefit, and that
benefit, and even more specific information.

Remember, you didn’t publish this mini-course to practice
your typing skills! You are in this to make money, to get
subscribers, and to make sales!

Once you deliver quality content that gives people a real
taste of what’s in store when they actually purchase, then
it’s time to close the sale… you deserve it!

–
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how
to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted
visitors to your website or affiliate links…

-=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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"Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving
Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate
links… without spending a dime on advertising!
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