5 Hot Tips for Boosting Ezine Sign-Ups

If you already have an ezine/newsletter and would like to get more people signing up to it (who doesn’t!) here are some simple things you can do now to increase subscriptions and get more people signing up to your newsletter.

1. Look at Your Sign-Up Boxes – What do they say? Is the text appealing? Do you have an attractive graphic?

Your newsletter signup area should be like a mini-salespage. It should have a headline that is attention-getting and grabs people to pull them in and tell them the benefits of handing over their email address. Just putting up a form that says ‘fill out your name and email to be added to my list’ is NOT going to get you the most sign-ups!

An example of a good headline might be “Sign Up Now to Get Your FREE Tips, Resources and Special Offers on X!”

You’ll also want to have some specific text below the sign-up box that also describes what they will be getting. Bullet points work, highlighting, italics. Make it important and make it stand out.

You can also look at your ‘Submit’ button and see how you can create a greater call to action with this. You can use words like ‘Get my Free Subscription’ or ‘Sign Me up Now!’.

2. Opt-in Sign-Up Placement – Where have you placed your sign-up box on your website? Is it just on the main page of your site?

Your main page of your website may get a lot of traffic but what about the rest of the pages? If you only have your opt-in on the main page then you need to think about incorporating it in to the rest of the pages of your site since you will often get website visitors from the search engines who don’t find you through your main page. You don’t want to lose these people!

Another thing to consider is to place the opt-in sign-up on other websites you have that are also in the same niche as your list.

3. Test the Location of Your Opt-in – Where is your opt-in or sign-up offer located?

Moving your opt-in location can make a big difference in the number of sign-ups you receive. If you currently have your opt-in in the right sidebar of your site, try it on the left (assuming you have a left) or try it in the copy of your website. Test out what happens when you move it around and if you see an increase in subscribers you’ll know you’ve found a winning location.

4. Use a Pop-up/Hover-ad -Yes these can be annoying to some people but they really do work. They don’t have to be annoying either if used sparingly. If you use a service like AWeber (which I highly recommend) then you can set the ads to pop in only once per visit or one per visitor so that people who are clicking around your site don’t need to keep closing your ad.

Test out a hover ad and see if that increases your conversions. Sometimes it can have a very big effect on the overall conversions.

5. Host a Teleseminar – Now this task may not seem as easy as the others to set up. Once you do have a system set up, however, hosting teleseminars can become part of your routine and be pretty easy to get going. Hosting a teleseminar allows people to get to know you better and creates more word of mouth about your business.

Of course you’ll also want to be looking at bringing more traffic to your website so more people see your email opt-in offer but you can use these five hot tips to start seeing more opt-ins without increasing your traffic one bit.

Are you ready to get your ezine/newsletter up and running so it can help generate more client/customer traffic to your website? Then join me in my new training program that walks you step-by-step through the process of building your list, creating a freebie, and getting more sign-ups.

 

Website Building Options

Looking to use a web builder? Want to know what host to choose?

You want a website up quickly, one that doesn’t cost you a fortune, and one that you can easily update without having to pay an arm and a leg to do so. That’s why you’re considering using a built-in website builder that comes with many hosting plans.

Here are some tips to help you get started and decide whether you should use an online web builder with your internet hosting.

What are the advantages to doing so?

Website builders often come with templates that you can just edit to your liking. This can also be a disadvantage because others may indeed have a very similar site to your own. Another disadvantage is that if you don’t have any advanced coding knowledge then changing around your template could be tricky or maybe even impossible.

It is a great advantage that you can edit your site yourself, without paying a web designer extravagant fees to make simple updates.

Another disadvantage, though, is that you most likely can never move hosts with your current site designer, because it is integrated with the website builder and is not movable.

What other options do you have?

Well of course you can have a website designed by a professional design service. To do this you will need to plan ahead and make sure you have all the content and elements of the site you require planned out so that it will not cost you in updates every time you think of something new to do.

There is another option, though.

You can use a Content Management System or CMS for short. Most content management systems have very user-friendly systems that allow you to go in, edit and make changes fairly easily once you know what you are doing.

One such program you can use as a CMS is WordPress, and the best part is it’s totally free. WordPress has thousands of templates to choose from all over the internet so the likelihood of you having the same theme as someone else is much lower. You can also have someone customize your template so it looks like no other.

How would you use this for your business? There are a number of advantages to using WordPress as your Business website:
– Easy and Quick updates without needing a web designer
– Integrate a blog into the site easily as it is part of the WordPress system
– You can post online Seminars, Membership Sites, etc. easily with the blogging format
– Can be moved to new hosting if required

So you see there are more ways to have an easily created and updated business site then using a website builder. Consider these options before making a final decision on where to start up your website.

If you are ready to get your business website up and running, join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating great business websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

Promoting Your Website on Twitter

Twitter is all the rage these days for online business and marketing.

If you don’t know what Twitter is, then let me do my best to explain it to you:

Twitter is a mixture between an instant messenger and a forum that only allows you to type 140 characters at a time. You can log on to your Twitter account at any time and find people chatting amongst themselves, ‘tweeting’ out inspiring messages, ‘retweeting’ cool stuff or linking out to interesting websites.

So great stuff, right? You’ve probably heard that Twitter is a great way to build relationships and your business, and you’re also probably wondering just how to promote your website on it.

Twitter-marketing is all about building relationships. When you give first, you’re setting yourself up for success on this social media site. So with that in mind here are some of my best tips for promoting your website with tweets:

1. Don’t Auto-DM!
A DM is a direct message. Beyond the actual public tweeting there are private direct messages that get sent to the receivers email address. Some people think it’s a good idea to automate their social media marketing by sending automatic DMs that do things like:
– thank people for following
– ask the new follower a question
– invite the follower to visit their website
– etc

It’s just bad form and most people find it extremely annoying.

2. DO be YOU
Don’t try to be someone you’re not. Be you and be proud! Twitter works best if you just let your own personality shine through. You are the only 100% original thing about your business and you are your best asset. People want to do business with people they know, like and trust and they can’t do that if they don’t know you. Let them in.

Being you doesn’t mean you have to post what you have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There’s a fine line between being social and being too personal and it’s up to you to decide where that is.

3. Give Before Taking
Absolutely you should be promoting yourself on Twitter if that’s something you choose to do. But don’t go and tweet ‘buy this’, ‘click here now’, ‘sign up here’ every time or you’ll promptly be ignored and/or blocked.

A great way to give first is to find genuinely useful information or websites and tweet it out. Start following a lot of quality people and retweet their good tweets. Start conversations and provide value where you see the opportunity.

Overall using Twitter to promote your website means using common sense and acting like you would in any social setting. Consider Twitter like a social event where you’re there to mix and mingle, to find people with like interests and to make some great connections.

Remember that marketing your website and your business on Twitter starts with marketing yourself. It’s a website all about connecting with others – do that well and you’ll see success to follow.

Now if you are ready to get our website up and running quickly so you can begin promoting it on Twitter and other social media sites, join me  as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating great business websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

How Much Does It Cost to Make a Website?

You want to know the real truth about small business website design and how much it actually costs.

Do you feel like you’re getting the run-around and no one can really answer the question of how much you really need to spend to build a website for your small business?

One of the reasons might be that there are just so many options for website design. There are literally hundreds of programs out there you can use to put up a website and they vary in many factors such as:

•    ease of use
•    cost
•    ability to update
•    add-ons

There are some approximate general costs to building a website that you should be aware of and here they are:

•    Domain Name $10: This is the www address that all websites have.
•    Hosting $5 – $500+/month: Hosting can be cheap or very expensive depending on if you have a dedicated server and how much traffic is running through your site.
•    Software $50 – $1000+: Website design programs can run you hundreds of dollars.
•    Website Designers – $100 – $10,000+: This varies so greatly and depends on many factors.
•    Graphic Designers – $50 – $2,000+: Again, so much depends on the designer, the needs and the amount.

So let’s go into a bit more detail on how to put these options together. Here are three main ways to build a website:

1. Website Builders
A website builder is most commonly a program that is available only online. You typically would sign up for a website with a website builder and would log in to access your account and update your website. This type of website design is an option for those who might never move their website or who don’t plan to add a lot of pages. It’s not really recommended if you plan on creating a large, customized website.

A free website builder you can use is Weebly.

2. Website Software
If you buy website software then you will be able to design your own site. Often website software is installed on your own computer. Then, once you’ve designed the site you’ll need to buy a domain name and hosting so you can upload your design to the internet.

Alternatively, you can use a software program like WordPress that is hosted online. You can buy a domain name and hosting and then use WordPress to build your website. By the way WordPress website software is completely free, unlike many other website design software programs.

3. Website Designers
You always have the option to hire someone to do it for you. You can find website designers who use software like Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expressions. There are also designers out there who use WordPress or Joomla. The way they design your site is important and even if you don’t know anything about how to do it yourself you should research and figure out what type of site you want BEFORE you hire a website designer.

My recommendation for a small business website software that is easy to use, affordable and flexible? WordPress for sure!

If you are ready to dive right in and start building your own business website then join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating great business websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

Website Design Blueprints

Designing a website is a time consuming task. However, doing it right in the first place will save you time and money. That’s why it’s important to create a website design blueprint before you start looking for a designer.

Without the blueprint it’s kind of like trying to make your way around a pitch black room. You’ll stumble around, bump into a few things but have no real idea where you are or where you’re headed.

What should you include in a website design blueprint?

Here are some ideas:

1. Target Market – The most important part of your website will be the message, not the medium, the graphics or anything else. To get the right message you need to know the market you are talking to. What are they thinking? What are their problems? What solutions are they looking for? Make sure you are very clear on this and write it down in detail. It’s a crucial step in your website design and development.

2. Branding – Maybe you have a brand created already through an offline business that you are moving online or maybe you are creating a new brand. Think about your brand and the feeling you want to impart on those who do business with you. Think about the colors, the shapes, the words and images you want to use to create that brand. Then write it all down.

3. Marketing Funnel – How will you lead people through your marketing funnel towards your profit center? This will make a big impact on how you design your website. Is the purpose of your website to get people to pick up the phone and call you where you make the sale? Do you lead them to an email opt-in form to start the follow up process? Will you lead them straight to a sale? Know where you want them to go and how you will get them there.

4. Content – Some of the most common and recommended pages of a website are the home page (of course), about page, contact page and frequently asked questions. These are pages your visitors will expect to see. Beyond that, you will need to decide what other pages you will build. If you are building an authority website you may end up with hundreds or thousands of pages. Consider how you will organize and categorize your pages to make them easy to find.

5. Realize It’s a Process – While a great website design blueprint will help the whole process go smoothly you must realize that no website is really ever finished. A website is a work in progress. Don’t wait until it’s perfect to get it going, just fix it as you go along!

Now that you have a good grip on how to create a design blueprint I’d like to introduce you to the free program I use to build all my websites called WordPress.

Having a professionally designed WordPress website has many advantages, including allowing you the ability to easily edit your own website. You’ll no longer need to wait for a designer to get to your work. If you can use Microsoft Word it’s a safe bet that you can edit your own website using WordPress.

Do you have your blueprint ready and are eager to get started on creating your own very profitable website? Great!  Join me as I teach you in my online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating great business websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

4 Ways to Use a WordPress Blog

WordPress Blogs allow for a lot of flexibility. Here are four great ways to use a blog for business.

1. Blog – Of course a blog is an option, and a good option. There are many bloggers online making a great income. You can use blogs for much more than your sole business plan, however. Blogs are great additions to many businesses, no matter what you are selling. You can use a blog to help promote your service based business by providing information on your services and why they are helpful. You can use a blog to help you sell more physical products by giving great information about their uses and unique features.

2. Website – I’m sure you already know what a website is, but did you know you can use WordPress to build one? Many people think of WordPress as just a blogging platform but it can be much more than that. There are many savvy theme designers out there who can create wonderful themes that turn your blog into a full blown magazine site, or corporate style site or even a real estate site. You can also hire people to customize your theme to have a completely original website created on a very easy to use piece of software.

3. BlogSite – A blogsite is a great use of the WordPress system because it combines the best of both worlds with both a blog and a website. With a blogsite you set yourself up with main ‘pages’ that contain content that is pretty static in nature. This might be where you would promote your products or services, give more information about yourself and give your contact information. Then you would also have a section of the website for your blog. The big advantage to having a blogsite is that it’s an all in one system. In the past people would pay thousands of dollars for a regular, html website and then add a blog later. Now you can really simplify and save money by putting it all together.

4. Membership Site – Another use for WordPress that many people are interested in is it’s ability to also be a membership site. There are membership plugins you can now buy that make it quick and easy to set up your own website using WordPress as the forum for your material.

No matter how you use the program understanding what is possible will help you optimize this great piece of software that is available for free with most major hosting companies.

Want to learn how easy it is to create a WordPress website? Then join me as I teach you in my online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating great business websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

Starting Your Own WordPress Blog

Starting your own blog on your own hosting involves a little setup. It’s really not overly difficult and there are even some hosting companies that will set up your blog for free. Here are step by step directions on how to start your own blog with an email host using WordPress.

Step 1: Install Blog

Install blog using Fantastico or Simple Scripts available in your hosting control panel.

If you host has Fantastico or Simple Scripts then installing a blog is a fairly easy and quick thing to do. What you do is login to your web site’s control panel, and find the smiley face, the Fantastico Icon, and click on it. You’ll see a section in most control panels for WordPress, click on it.

Then you click the ‘install WordPress’ and fill in all the information that it asks for. An important step to remember is the location that says ‘install in directory’. If you want the blog installed on your main ‘index’ page you’ll want to leave the box blank. If you want it to be installed in a different location, such as [http://www.yourdomain.com/blog] then you’ll need to put ‘blog’ in the box.

Step 2: Add Theme

Choose appropriate theme and upload to server using FTP. You upload the unzipped theme to: blog location/wp-content/plugins.

Go into WordPress dashboard and activate the theme. Activate them by going to Presentation and then scrolling down until you see the theme. Click it and it will be activated on your blog.

Step 3: Customize

Customize blog by
– adding appropriate header – edit the ‘header’ section in ‘Appearance’>’Editor’
– changing colors in stylesheet ‘style.css’
– editing sidebar – remove/edit blogroll/links, adding RSS links, add opt-in form
– set up categories

Some premium themes such as Thesis and Headway make the directions above unnecessary as customizing is as easy as filling out the options you’d like and clicking what you want.

How to change the header:
Go into the header section and look for the files that make up the header.

Feedburner.com:
Go to feedburner and ‘burn’ a feed. You’ll want to use that feed to allow people to subscribe to your feed so that you can track the sign ups and also get statistics on your feed.

Step 4: Add Plugins

WordPress plugins are available on the WordPress website.

Plugins I like to add
– Akismet – to prevent spam
– Action Popup – this is a premium (paid) plugin
– Podpress
– All in One SEO Pack
– Broken Link Checker
– Comment Luv
– DISQUS
– Feedburner Feedsmith
– Search Meter
– Tweetable
– WordPress Related Posts

Step 5: Posts

You’ll want to get a good number of posts 10-25 before you start promoting your blog. The idea here is that you don’t want to send people to an empty blog or else they’ll never return. You want to have a blog full of useful information that you can then start promoting.

You want to create some solid content and some really good articles that you can refer to. Create a category for this but it is also a good idea to include it in a header menu so that people can find it fast. Include it with the normal content listings such as ‘about’, ‘contact’, etc and label it ‘articles’.

Step 6: Marketing

There are many ways to market a new blog:
– post to other blogs and leave a ‘signature’ when allowed
– add your signature to forum posts when allowed
– submit articles to directories – do this once a week with targeted directories
– send messages to your list when you post a new blog post
– pay per click marketing
– advertising
– guest posts on other people’s blogs

Blogging can be seriously advantageous to your business. It allows you a place to connect with your potential audience very frequently and get your message out there more often. While it may take some time and effort to get your site up and running in the beginning, you’re sure to enjoy the many benefits that blogging can offer in the long run.

If you are ready to get your business blog set up so it attracts your target market and potential customers then join me as I teach you in my online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating great business websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

Steps to Sell Information Products Online

Creating your online presence is about establishing yourself as an expert in your niche. Releasing information products is a great way to offer up your knowledge and make money at the same time.

Here are some of the steps you’ll want to take in creating your first information product.

Step 1 – Create the Product
You can create an ebook, special report, physical book, mp3, video or any combination of these products. There’s nothing to say that you can’t hire a Ghostwriter to do the writing and proof reading for you.

This product can be as long or as short as you like but just make sure it’s information that people are really in need of and it delivers high value to their lives or problem.

Have someone go through your finished product to proof read (or view/listen) it.

Step 2 – Set up The Salespage
Of course you’ll need a place to sell your new product from. Though you don’t technically need a new domain for this it’s always a good idea to have a domain specific to the product because it looks more professional and can make it easier to find.

If you don’t have experience creating websites or writing content that makes sales, then this would be another great place to outsource these tasks to get it done.

Step 3 – Set up an Affiliate Program
Though an affiliate program isn’t an absolute necessity, it’s a great idea to set it up from the start to really leverage your new product and create more sales.

There are so many strategies you can get into for finding great affiliates and I’ll have to leave that for another article. Getting a few key players helping you promote a new product can make a big impact on its release.

Decide on a commission to pay your affiliates. For my first product, which sold for $19.97, I decided to offer 50% commission to my affiliates. You’ll want to offer an attractive commission to your potential affiliates so they see it’s worth their time to promote your product.

Step 4 – Get a Graphic
Having a graphical representation of your product really does make it look more professional. If you can’t afford to spend the money right away to get a great graphic done, don’t try to do one yourself unless you know what you are doing. It’s better to have no graphic at all then a poorly designed one.

Step 5 – Start Promoting Your Product
The ways to promote your information product are pretty-much endless. Here are a few ideas to get started:

* Add a short ad in your email signatures.
* Change your forum signatures to draw people to your new product.
* Make a special offer on a forum in your niche that allows such a thing.
* Make an announcement to you list that you have a new product available.
* Post about your product on your blog.
* Search out and contact people who are authorities in the topic your product addresses and ask them if they would be interested in becoming an affiliate.
* Do teleseminars or online conferences on your topic.
* Keep your affiliates motivated by providing them with resources on how to promote your products.

It’s important that you get out there and start making things happen, don’t just wait for your product to start selling like hotcakes because that likely won’t happen unless you are already well known for the information you put out there.

If you’re ready to get your website/salespage set up so it can start selling your information product to your target market and potential customers then join me as I teach you in my online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating great business websites with WordPress.

 

5 Ways to Increase Your Profits with Mailing Lists

Do you have a mailing list? When was the last time you had a look at how profitable the list is for you and made sure everything was up to date?

You’re likely one of the many people who’ve set up their list, got busy, and then forgot about it for a while. There are many things you can do right now to start making more money with your mailing list.

1. List Checkup – Go through every single message you have in your autoresponder series. This may take you a while to get through if you have a lot of messages set up, but it’s worth it.

When I switched my website format over to a WordPress site I deleted a lot of the pages from my other design. I had my autoresponder setup to refer to articles on my older site and with the update these were out of date and needed fixing, so I had to go back in and change the links. If your series of messages are too long and it’s just too much to handle by yourself hire a VA to help.

2. Opt-in Location – Do people know about your list? Don’t assume everyone will find you because you have an opt-in box in one or two locations on your website.

When setting up your list and describing it you’ll want to make sure that you deliver exactly what you offer then and beyond. A bullet-point list works well to let people know what your list offers without requiring too much of their attention to get them to read.

Many people make their list stand out by offering  a free ebook or report for signing up. Other ideas are to offer an audio or a video. Whatever you offer make sure it is of high valuable and something that makes signing up for your list irresistible.

3. Add Landing Pages – You should be using double opt-ins to make sure your list has really requested to sign up. After the initial sign-up you will be able to direct them to a landing page. Make sure the landing page they come to grabs their attention and tells them to confirm, you could use something like this:

“IMPORTANT: Please check your email inbox and confirm your subscription so that we can send you the information you requested.”

Use that landing page to make an offer on your own product or offer an affiliate product. Or if you have a service based-business and want them to get to know you better, direct them to your articles page.

Once they confirm, in the email you will be given another opportunity to create a specific landing page. Use that page to make another offer, or lead them to your website to read more information or articles.

You’ve got people’s attention once they get to your landing page and they HAVE to go somewhere once they’re done – it might as well be somewhere you can suggest, so that you benefit from it.

4. Promote – Think of the places where you promote your list. Is it just in one little box on your website? There are many other places you should be using to promote your mailing list.

-Write articles that you submit to directories that have a bio leading to your opt-in page.
-Make a special offer in your signature on forums (if they allow it)
-Add a signature to your emails that tells people why they need to sign up for your list
-Blog about your list and why they should join it

5. Contact as Often as Possible – You’ve heard this before but it’s time for a reminder. If your prospects don’t hear from you on a regular basis then they will forget about you and why they signed up in the first place.

How often you contact them will depend on what your list is about but it’s often said that you must be making contact at least once a month if you want to be remembered. Many topics will require you to contact your list once a week and this is perfectly acceptable to them because they asked for this information.

Are you ready to get your mailing list up and running so it can help generate more profits? Then join me as I walk you step-by-step through the process of building your list, creating a freebie, and getting more sign-ups.