Purely Because We Can Make A Difference…

Well, it was such great weather here over the weekend, I decided to take a couple of days away from my desk and get some much needed rest and relaxation.

I spent some time with my family on Saturday, my grandaughter Grace and I fed the ducks and threw sticks into the river for my Springer Spaniel Muffin to retrieve. Muffin loves to swim for sticks and we had a lovely afternoon.

Yesterday I just chilled out and pottered about in my garden. I really enjoy my small garden, it's big enough to be interesting and small enough to make it easy to maintain.

So what on earth has that got to do with marketing?

Well, I've just given you two very profitable niche markets to think about… Pets and Gardening and if you are interested in developing a portfolio of websites, then those two niche markets would be a great place to start.

A brand new product "AdSense Wealth Empire Manifesto" is launching today, and it's one of the most practical guides that I've seen

I wish "AdSense Wealth Empire Manifesto" had been available when I first started building sites for Adsense, it would have saved me a lot of unecessary time and expense learning the hard way.

I still do reasonably well from Adsense, although not as well as I used to, but I've yet to find anyone else pay me to research a market…

What do I mean by that?

Well, if I'm interested in a niche market, and the initial research indicates that it's worth getting into, I set up at least one Adsense site and then use the data that Google provides me to assess the feasibility of investing in more in-depth research.

If a site does well with Adsense, you can be almost certain that you can make even more from affiliate income. So rather than invest time building affiliate sites and then discovering the payoff isn't too great, I set up Adsense sites first and get paid by Google to do my research.

This new guide will provide you with just about everything you need to kanow to build a successful Adsense portfolio, check out "AdSense Wealth Empire Manifesto" now.

It's one of those questions that I get asked frequently… How do you get people to keep coming back to your blog?

Well, the short answer is to provide good quality content and to post frequently. And yes, I know… I don't always practice what I preach, I've recently neglected this blog as I've been busy working on a couple of interesting projects.

OK, so how do you tell people that there's new content on your blog?

I recently installed a new plugin called Goobar, it adds a little button to the Google Toolbar which makes it really easy for your readers to keep up with your most recent news. If you look at the "Subscribe" drop down menu, you'll see that you can add this blog to Google. You should also see a rather nifty graphic in the top right hand corner of the screen.

Check out Goobar for Wordpress now… and make it easier for your readers to return to your blog.

Yes, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you you find a handsome prince or a beatiful princess. And it's not much different online. Let's face it there's an awful lot of crap out there!

You wouldn't believe the number of Joint Venture proposals I receive every week and I can tell you that I reject the vast majority of them. Here's why I turn most of them down…

1. They are totally irrelevant to the needs of my subscribers. If people can't take the time to do a little research, maybe subscribe to my newsletter or check out my blog, how can they possibly know what my subscribers are interested in?

2. They offer poor product quality. Yes, software that doesn't install properly, scripts that don't work and information products that don't meet the promise of the sales letter… I've seen them and rejected them all.

3. They are overpriced products and services. The worst example of this that I've seen was a package of SEO tools that was priced at $197 - it was just a repackaged version of a PLR package that I'd already picked up for $37.

So, if someone comes along with a relevant, good quality product that is great value for money, then I'll usually take the time to review it for myself. Especially if it comes from someone who I know, someone who I've already done business with.

For example, I've recently reviewed a brand new PLR package and I know it's also being promoted by a few of the guys with big Internet Marketing related lists. It's an ideal product for you if you are into Niche Marketing.

With a little bit of effort and some creativity you could build some great niche based lists by using the PLR resources to create free reports to offer in exchange for the prospects email address. You could also use some of the material to build ecourses and as articles.

There's lots of potential, take a look and see this great PLR Package for yourself: 

You must have been wondering, like the majority of us online entrepreneurs what it would be like to be able to make lots and lots of money with very little effort?

Well, as soon as I find out…   I'll let you know!

To be honest I think that a very tiny minority just may hit on that "Big Idea". But the rest of us will have to resign ourselves to the fact that we do have to put at least some effort in.

I think I've always had a tendency to be lazy, several of my school teachers had that opinion in their end of term reports. And, all during my working life, I've been interested in finding more efficient ways of doing things. Maybe that's why I was so good at delegating?

My online business is based on getting the very best return on my investment and that's why I'm so keen on testing and tracking. I also outsource a lot of stuff to people who are decidedly more skilled that I am. This all goes to confirm my laziness!

Fellow Brit Matt Garrett reckons that he's lazier than me, in fact he calls himself the "Lazy Git Marketer" and if you want to know what a "Lazy Git" is, maybe you should take a look:

http://purelybecause.com/recommends/lazygit

I'm a big fan of resale rights products. Creating a product and offering resale rights to it allows you to charge a premium price and to boost your cashflow.

Not only that but resale rights products have an in-built viral effect as they get passed on from reseller to reseller and eventually to the end user.

I'm always on the look out for good quality resale rights products. Especially when they come complete with good sales copy and quality graphics.

Buying the resale rights to products saves a lot of product creation time. I can quickly and easily set up a dedicated web site or simply offer resale rights products from a separate directory on an existing site. I can have everything set up in less than 20 mins and I'm ready to generate a few sales!

If there's one weakness in affiliate marketing it's that we have absolutely no control on how the offer is presented by the merchant. Some merchants are open to constructive feedback and will take on board advice on how to increase their conversion rate and are simply too busy or lack the skills to test and tweak their copy.

However, if your merchant isn't receptive and you can't find a competing product within your niche market, here are 5 techniques that you can emply to improve any offer, and really send your sales soaring:

1. Increase the perception of value by providing a presale comparison

The real value of any product is always in the customer's mind, and you can increase that perception in dozens of ways.  For example, you guide the customer through a comparison of similar products, while pointing out why the one you're promoting is really the best deal for the money.

2. Demonstrate how the customer can immediately benefit

Show the customer how they can put the product to use from the moment they buy it. You should already own your own copy of most of the products you promote. So, create a tutorial or some way of showcasing the results you've gotten from the product.

3. Give More of Yourself On a Personal Level –

You can almost always increase the perceived value with social proof. Discuss your own experience surrounding the questions, problems and ultimate solutions in regards to the product at hand. Empathize with the customer's position and point out the things you share in common. Don't be afraid to point out the negatives, it's surprising how a fank description can sway the buyers decision. Let's face it we all know that nothing's perfect!

4. Build confidence in the product and the merchant

Your relationship to the merchant should enable you to give the customer a sense of security in making the purchase. Let them know about the product's guarantee and/or refund policy. Let them know the transaction is secure. You want to remove as much of the risk as possible from the purchase. If you feel comfortable with the quality of the product and customer support, offer a personal guarantee.

5. Provide additional incentives

Check with the merchant first to make sure you're allowed to do this. Its usually no problem when you're promoting things like e-books, membership sites, etc.. You can really sweeten up an offer when you add your own products to the mix. E.g., “order this e-book, and I'll throw in a free copy of this other product over here..”

So, you see, all it takes is a little creativity to add value to any affiliate offer. Use the five steps, differentiate yourself from other affiliates and you may soon be receiving accolades as the affiliate of the month!

Anyone who has known me for any length of time will tell you that, when it comes to testing and tracking, i'm a fanatic. I have probably tested more factors in the online sales and marketing process than you could even think of!

I have invested thousands of dollars in building up my database of test results and in developing my own tracking system. (I'm currently upgrading my own personal tracking system "AdTrackPro" and I will soon be opening the doors to a limited number of beta testers).

One thing that totally facinates me is determining what happens when a visitor lands on your page…

• What do they read first?
• Do they read everything in details or do they skim the sub-heads?
• Do they read the testimonials?
• Do they subscribe to the newsletter?
• Do they download the free report?
• How much time do they spend on the page?
• At what point do they leave the page?

There are so many questions for which probably in excess of 95% of Internet Marketers and webmasters just don't have the answers to.

Understanding what your visitor does and adapting your pages to achieve the optimum response can make a huge difference to your profitability.

This is especially true if you are buying your traffic through channels such as Pay Per Click, CPA or ezine advertising.

You probably won't be surprised to know that I'm currently testing this blog. I'll share some of my results in a future post.

In the meantime, have a great Easter Weekend!

I spend quite a bit of time on market research and I've always been fascinated by viral marketing. I was surprised to see that there are very few viral marketing ebooks or multimedia products that actually use viral marketing to achieve penetration within the Internet Marketing niche.

As I was researching, I jotted my notes down in the form of a mind map; and when I reviewed my mind map it occurred to me that I already had an outline for a special guide on Viral Marketing. I'll probably spend some time over the long Easter weekend to expand the ouline. Look out for an announcement next week.

I think that anyone that writes about viral marketing should at the very least build something viral into their distribution strategy so I will probably use ViralPDF (A brilliant application from Sean Kelly) to make my special guide "brandable".

I'm consolidating a number of my Internet Marketing related newsletters.

The main reason is to cut down on the number of duplicate copies many of my subscribers receive.

So, I'm looking for your suggestions for a suitable name for my new newsletter. Please post your suggestions by commenting below and I'll reward the best suggestion with a free copy of any of my products including my ebooks and scripts.

Come on, don't be shy!

I saw this question on an Internet Marketing Forum this morning:
"Has(sic) any of you tried getting interviewed by someone else, on tape, for the purpose of getting stuff you know out of your head and onto paper?"

I think it's an interesting question so here are some of my own tips and techniques

I love Mind Maps and Spider Diagrammes. I have a stock of paper that has been overprinted with a Cloud motif and I use that for mind mapping if I'm in my office. (I also carry a stock around in my briefcase) I also use software, there's a free application called Freemind which is quite powerful or, if you want a feature packed solution, you should check out Mindjet.

Another useful method of capturing ideas, especially when driving, is to dictate directly to some form of recording device. In the office I simply use my PC, when I'm out and about I use a Sony Minidisc recorder or I simply use the facility on my Mobile Phone. I have even been known to ring my own office number to record a message in my voice mail!

The most effective form of brainstorming is when you can put together a group of people. The internet makes it easy for us to record brainstorming calls with Joint Venture Partners using Skype together with HotRecorderPro.

If I want to remember something or simply to capture an idea for review at a later time, I find that the best solution id jotting the basic details down into my notebook or my diary. Sometimes the simple solutions are the best!

One of my most favourite idea tools is the combination of  "MagNotes" and my office whiteboard. Magnotes are magnetic hexagonal tiles that you can move around your whiteboard. You can write on them with marker pens, so you can edit them and they are totally reusable. They come in a wide variety of colours and sizes too.

John