I’m Not a Professional Speaker, I Can’t Host a Teleseminar!

Oh but you can host a teleseminar even if you’ve never spoken in public before, and you should! I know you might be nervous when you host your first one and that’s OK. Be afraid and do it anyway.

I remember when I hosted my first teleseminar. The topic was ‘Don’t Waste Your Money on a VA’. In all honesty, I didn’t earn a penny from that call. What I did earn, however, was experience. Experience I went on to host many more. In the future I hosted teleseminars that made me hundreds of dollars at a time and teleseminars that got me an average of 50-200 new email subscribers per.

Just Trying Hosting One – You CAN Do It!

I want to just encourage you today to just try it. If you’re still reading then there’s a reason and it’s something you deep down really want to do. Hosting teleseminars can be very reward for yourself personally and your business bottom line.

If it helps, you can think of talking to just ONE person instead of a whole line full of people. Teleseminars are a GREAT way to get started if you are interested in public speaking as you don’t have to look anyone in the face and get caught with stage fright.

When I first started speaking offline I really wasn’t all that nervous, I credit that to the dozens of online events I hosted before I ever stepped on the stage.

One of my most favorite parts of hosting teleseminars and other events is the thank-yous and compliments I get after delivering information that only I can give to people who are ready to hear it.

Think of it this way: There are people out there waiting to receive a message only YOU can deliver. If you don’t get out there and share it then you are depriving them of your great services!

How To Get Over Your Teleseminar Hosting Fears

Here are some practical ways to get going:

    Interview Someone: Instead of putting all the attention and demands on yourself why not bring in an expert to interview. This can benefit your customers or potential customers. In the end you can even recommend their products or services for affiliate commissions if they have that setup.



    Get Interviewed: If you want to keep the focus on your business then why not have someone interview you? Write up a bunch of questions and get a friend or colleague to read them for you. Easy Peasy!



    Take Questions: Maybe you have no idea what to talk about. How about taking questions from your customers or clients to answer on the call? Or, invite them to ask them during the call.

Those ideas should get you started!

I’ve taught many people to host their own teleseminars and worked with many clients. You CAN get over the fear and provide great events your potential customers will LOVE.

If you need help with the technical details to setting up your teleseminar then you’ll love the new product I’ve just released.

Check it out here: Teleseminar Hosting

Please let me know if you get your teleseminar up and running, I’d love to sign up!

Does Your Website Need an Overhaul? Self-Quiz.

How long has it been since you sat at the computer with excitement and enthusiasm and put up your first website? A day? A week? A year? A decade?

No matter when you created it you likely missed a few things in your rush to get online. Don’t worry! We all do it. It’s similar to the ‘cobbler’s children have no shoes’ sort of deal where you never spend as much time and care on your own stuff as you do on your clients.

Well I’m here to tell you to take the time to create a good pair of shoes (err…website)!

What you need to do is look at your website objectively, like you’re a new visitor who’s never been there before. Scroll around and see what you see. Or better yet, ask your kid or your mom or your neighbour to take a look at your site and watch what they do when they get there, where they go and what questions they ask you (this works best if they’ve never been there before).

You can also take this self-quiz to see how many of the website basics you’ve got down and what you need to work on:

1. When someone comes to your website and scans your header is it clear to them what your site is about?

2. Would your tagline make total sense to a stranger on the street?

3. Are you collecting leads from your website?

4. Does every page have a purpose?

5. Is it clear what you are offering on your site? (selling a service, a product or offering free information?)

6. Are you getting found in the search engines through ‘keywords’ that your marketing is typing in?

7. Do you have an about and a contact page?

8. Are you linking to your most important social media profiles? (twitter, facebook, youtube)

9. Are you using graphics to enhance your site’s image (versus bad images that take away from your image)?

10. Can someone find out how to contact you in 10 seconds or less?

11. Is your website font easy to read and large enough for your target market?

12. Is your branding consistent?

13. Can people find what they are looking for? (You got them there, now can they get to their goal easily?)

14. Do your links stand out? (Typical linking rules are blue font, bold and underlined)

15. Is your style and colors consistent?

16. Is your content well-written and easy to understand? (No extra info – straight to the point)

17. Is your content easy to read? (Use of headlines, sub-headlines, bullets, bolding, etc)

Honestly answer all these questions and you’ll probably have a little bit of work to do.

Did you get them all right? Really? Then way to go! (…and maybe you should come partner with me! lol)

If you’re like most people and you have some work to do I’d like to offer you some help. My WordPress website design course is meant for people just like you who have a new or existing website and are ready to really unleash the power of what a website can do. To do that I offer a program that runs all year long, has been attended by over 100 people and has a track record of taking the newest of newbies and turning them into website designers.

The Value of Watching Over The Shoulder of A Pro

Ever thought what it would be like to sit beside a seasoned web developer and learn as they work?

Years ago, a marketing manager decided he would hire a web development company to build them a web site. He then instructed a young lady who was among his staff to spend an entire day at the web developers’ offices to learn how to update their new site.

The young lady was excited as she was really curious. At the same time, she was also nervous. Would it be difficult? Could she handle this? What if all this is way over her head?

She was awfully lucky that day because she got paired with a designer-developer who patiently answer questions and freely shared his knowledge.

Sitting side by side, he show her how to update the site. Later, he began building a web site from scratch. At every action, he took time to explain what he was doing and why he did things that way, while she watched and took it all in.

That woman is Lynette Chandler. She says, that single, simple event, changed her career direction forever. It sparked a new passion. Lynette took this new found knowledge, built upon it and used it to create a profitable business with services and products ranging from web development to WordPress plugins, themes and more.

Lynette is fully aware just how fortunate she was to have been paired up with an experienced, professional developer who was willing to do what he did. So many are afraid of you stealing their ‘secrets’ they don’t necessarily tell you what’s going on in their head as they work. But he did and Lynette recognized the immense value in that. In the early days of her business and even on occasion today, she often draws upon what she learned from him.

That’s why, when Lynette started customizing a theme for one of her own projects recently, she decided to record it, explain her steps, the decisions made as she went and why. The result is a 5 part video training that is raw and unedited; filled with golden nuggets and instantly usable knowledge for any web developer or anyone who wants to work on their own web design.  Watching it, would be as close to sitting next to Lynette as you can get. Just like she did with her mentor.

You can learn more or get a copy of this recording at http://techbasedtraining.com/?p=2987

While you’re there. Make sure you check out her other training courses. Lynette is a wonderful and patient technical teacher. Someone you’d enjoy learning from.

You Can Start Your Own Transcription Business From Home

There are hundreds of ways to make money on the internet these days. Providing services may be the most popular and fastest way to get money coming in quickly.

The problem many people face with providing services is they require training or previous experience to get started. A transcription business can be started on the ground floor with little or no experience at all, and more importantly almost no start up costs are involved.

Running a transcription business from home can be both flexible and profitable. You set your own rates, giving you control over the money that is coming in. You also set your own hours, giving you the flexibility to work when you want and where you want. Want to take a week off to go camping with the kids? No problem, just let your clients know you’ll be out of town for a week and not available. You can always take preorders to complete their projects upon your return.

It can also be a portable business, all you need is your computer with the ability to download and play the audio your clients send you and you can transcribe from just about anywhere. Having the ability to be mobile can be hugely beneficial. Personally, I found this very helpful when my grandfather was in the hospital and I wanted to go visit. I just packed up my laptop, traveled to Pennsylvania and stayed at my mother’s house for two weeks. Portability is definitely a good thing in any business.

A transcription business is also an interesting one. Yes, you’re still typing every day, but the audio will never be the same from day to day. You get to listen to something new every day, and sometimes you even get to learn something new from your assignments. It’s never dull, that’s for sure.

Transcription Crash Course is an easy to follow guide to help you start your transcription business today. What are you waiting for? Get started now.

Finding Work at Home Transcription Jobs Online

A lot of people want you to believe that finding freelance transcription is shrouded in mystery. The truth is it’s really not. Yes, there are some things you need to know, but there’s nothing mysterious or mystical at work here, it’s a lot like any other job search you might do. Let’s take a look at a few things you should know when looking for work at home transcription jobs.

The first thing to take into consideration is do you need training or not. A lot of companies that offer the option to freelance transcription work don’t want to take the time to train new folks, so they prefer you already have a basic idea of what you’re doing and maybe a little experience as well.

The next thing to take into consideration is the amount of time you want to work per week. A lot of companies require that you take a minimum number of audio hours per week to transcribe and this may be more than you’d like to handle each week.

If you’d like to work one job at a time or maybe just handle overflow work, your best bet is to try bidding on freelance job sites. There are actually many companies looking to outsource work at home transcription jobs via these platforms, sites like Elance, oDesk, Freelancer, etc…. You can bid on the jobs and have total control over the amount of work you take on each week and the turn around times. It’s great if you need major flexibility.

Another thing you want to look for when you’re applying for freelance transcription positions with larger scale companies is what do they offer their clients. Do they offer various types of transcription and will you be able to choose which department you’re in or will you have to bounce back and forth from legal to general? Do they require additional training or a particular software program?

In most cases you can use any software you prefer, but there are a few companies that require you to log in remotely and use only their software programs. Check the requirements before you apply so that you’re not surprised later on.

Finding work at home transcription jobs doesn’t have to be a difficult process and it can lead to some great career options in the future. Take your time, do your research, and be prepared before you put in applications.

If you need an overview or a little help in getting started, Transcription Crash Course gives you everything you need to get started as a general transcriptionist quickly and easily. You don’t need any special skills, and unlike some business models, you don’t need a ton of start-up capital. In fact, if you have a computer and an Internet connection, you’ve got everything you need!

Work at Home Typing Jobs Are a Reality

If you’ve been looking into working at home you’ve probably seen plenty of ads that claim you’ll make hundreds of dollars per week typing from home. Unfortunately, many of these ads turn out to be ad typing scams that ask you to spam places like Craigslist and other free databases online.

The reality is that you can make money working from home with a typing job, by offering transcription services. This doesn’t require experience or a lot of funding. In fact, you can get started with little or no start up costs at all.

You might be wondering who exactly is going to pay you to type these documents from your home computer. Here’s a shortlist of a few people and places that need transcription services regularly.

    Internet Marketers have information products and interviews transcribed.
    Podcasters have their shows transcribed to distribute in text format on their blogs.
    Legal offices have client interviews transcribed for their records.
    Insurance companies have client phone call recordings transcribed for easy referencing.
    Busy bloggers and site owners have voice notes transcribed to turn into articles.

Those are just a few to give you an idea of the demand for transcription services online today. There are plenty of other opportunities out there to offer your services and make a decent living as a transcriptionist.

So, what’s the pay like? I’m sure you’re wondering. In today’s economy everyone wants to make a dollar. Transcriptionist rates vary with experience, type of files handled, and turn around time, but a general or legal transcriptionist can make anywhere from 30 dollars per audio hour to 160 dollars per audio easily.

Why is the rate per audio hour? Rates are a little different in the transcription world, instead of charging per hour that you’ve worked you charge by the length of the audio or video you are transcribing. Don’t worry though, this usually works out quite well and your hourly rate is quite decent in comparison. Of course, with more practice you become more efficient and it’s like giving yourself a raise without changing your rates.

Transcription Crash Course is an easy to follow guide to help you start your transcription business today. What are you waiting for? Make your work at home dream a reality today.

7 Reasons Why WordPress Rocks for Websites

When I created my first website I did it from ‘scratch’. That means I hand-coded every line of the site in HTML coding. It was time-consuming, pain-staking and some times down right frustrating.

Many years have passed and these days getting your website up is NOT the hard part. WordPress makes it very easy to get a site up in a matter of minutes (I timed myself one day and had a site up and ready to post to in 10 minutes!)

Sure there are still older, more costly and more complicated ways of building a website but why bother when WordPress is ALL that you need?

Here are 7 Reasons Why WordPress is Best:

1. Install in MINUTES – your website can literally be up in it’s most basic format in a matter of minutes. This involves using a great host like Bluehost and they’re three-click installation.

2. It’s FREE – Oh yeah, you don’t pay a cent for this highly advanced website and blog software. Is that Cool or what?!

3.It’s a Website – If you want just a website WordPress can be that.

4.It’s a Blog – If you want just a blog, WordPress also can be that. OR if you want a WordPress and blog combined you can do that too.

5.It’s Got RSS – If you’re not familiar with RSS the most important thing for you to understand here is this: By setting up your site or blog with RSS you allow people to ‘subscribe’ to your content and get updated automatically whenever you add something new.

6. It’s Extremely Flexible – There are thousands upon thousands of add-ons called ‘plugins’ that you can get for WordPress and make it do just about anything you can dream of. From stopping spam, adding audio to automatically updating your site and more.

7.It’s Easily Customized – Again, there are thousands of WordPress ‘themes’ available that allow you to create a very customized look without paying thousands for a completely custom site.

The important thing to understand is that WordPress is not just for blogs. It can be a very powerful website design program. And another bonus is that you can edit your site anywhere at any time! No need to wait on website designers or worry about what files are the most recent – it’s all online for easy access.

So there you have seven reasons why WordPress just plain rocks for websites, blogs or both.

If you want some examples of what else it can do and if you’re ready to learn how to set up your own or your clients sites then join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating rocking websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

8 Important Features of Professional Website Design

Many people who are just getting started online want to create a free professional website so that they can prove to themselves that it will make money before they spend hundreds or thousands on a full blown web design. That’s usually a smart move.

You will, however, at the very least want to pay for hosting so that the content you post online is yours. If you post to free website hosting sites then you are often giving up your authorship rights and your control of the website. If at any time, for any reason, they decide to shut down your website you will have no recourse or ability to get it back.

With that in mind, it is entirely possible to create a free website that is both professional and profitable.

Here are some features you’ll want to include to ensure your website is a success:

1. Includes an ‘About’ Page – To new visitors you are a stranger and they don’t trust you yet. An about page will start to build that trust so that you can make offers they will respond to. All good websites must include an about page.

2. Includes Contact Information– Now imagine your visitor is ready to buy but they just have one quick question they need answered first. They look around but can’t find your contact information anywhere! Don’t let this happen and make sure your website has full contact information including phone number, email and mailing address so your potential customers can choose their preference.

3. A Clear Call to Action – No matter what the purpose of your website is you must let your visitors know and call them to action. Are you looking for them to call you, order a product, sign up for a free consultation or hire you? Tell them in clear, direct words so they don’t miss the entire point of your website or individual pages.

4. High Quality Graphics – I once heard a colleague say that it’s better to have no graphics on your website than have poor quality graphics and I completely agree! Make sure any graphics, logos, backgrounds, etc are of the highest quality.

5. Easy to Read Font – The worst websites are the ones that nobody can read. The best font color for reading is black with a white background. Don’t put a barrier between you and potential customers by making your website hard to read.

6. Free Newsletter/ Ezine or Giveaway -A large majority of first time visitors will never buy from you and never return. What you need to do is catch their attention before they leave by offering something free, a sample that shows them what you offer. Do this in combination with an opt-in form so you can build your list and build the trust that is so important to future sales.

7. Privacy Policies, Website Disclaimers and Copyright – Again, trust is huge. The online world of marketing is very easy to break into and that means there is a massive problem with scammers and thieves. Show your potential customers you are not one of them by having proper disclaimers, privacy policies and protect yourself with copyright notices.

8. Well Thought-out Website Navigation – You want your visitors to find what they are looking for quickly. If they can’t find it in short order, they will leave. Make sure you have a well thought out website navigation that isn’t overpowering with too many links. It’s better to make sub-pages than to give your reader too many options right on the home page.

WordPress has many great free and paid templates available that let you create professional websites quickly.

So there you have some of the most important features of a professional website design.

If you want to learn how to make your own free professional website, join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating professional website designs with WordPress.

 

Building a Strong Internet Presence with WordPress

It’s true that a small business may not be able to compete against a large corporation when it comes to national media exposure, celebrity endorsements, and other aspects of high priced advertising campaigns. In the past, a small business owner was limited to the marketing exposure they could receive locally. Thanks to technology, that has all changed. Today, building an internet presence is especially important for small businesses.

A strong internet presence will open the small business up to national exposure and give them a chance to compete with large corporations. Small businesses are no longer limited to doing business in their local area. They can now work with clients all over the world.

The simplest way to start building your internet presence is with a blog. There are many blogging platforms to choose from, most of which are free. This will allow you to have your own “place” on the web, where you can share your views, opinions, and information and start connecting with other people.

When you are ready to take the next step, you can begin building a website. Depending on the type of blog you started, you may be able to simply add pages to it in order to create your website. WordPress, for instance, is a wonderful example of blogging software that you can also use to build a website.

You can also use an HTML editor such as Microsoft Front Page or Adobe DreamWeaver to build your site, as well as site builders you find on the web. If all of this sounds too technical, enlist the help of a good web designer. They will consult with you to determine the look and feel that you would like for your site and then they will create it for you.

Many people turn to the internet every day in search of information. By providing quality content on your website, you are helping the search engines find you, as well as send others to you.

Another way to use information to draw visitors to your website is through article marketing. This is the term used to describe the process of creating articles and distributing them to article reprint directories. Other website owners and bloggers search these directories in order to find content to put on their own sites.

If they select one of your articles, they are obligated to put your author bio box at the end of the article, which you get to write. You can use this bio box to direct people to your website.

Building a strong internet presence can easily be achieved, even by small businesses. It may take a little time, but it will be well worth it in the long run.
If you are ready to begin I’d like to invite you to join me as I teach you through this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about building your own strong internet presence with WordPress.

 

Customizing Your WordPress Website or Blog

Almost everyone who installs their own WordPress theme will want to customize the header. How you do this depends on the theme in question.

For most themes, you can use an FTP manager like Filezilla and then go in and replace the current header image on the theme. Again this will vary by theme so the best way to determine how to change your header is to find out if there are any support files with your theme and read them.

The best thing about buying premium themes is that they almost always come with user support as well as forums and files to make installation and customization easy for you.

Other items to customize:

Sidebar – Many people want to remove the ‘Meta’ information that is added to WordPress by default. You may also want to add an email opt-in and RSS Feed info to your sidebar. The easiest way to make changes to the sidebars is to find themes that are ‘widget’ ready. Widget ready themes allow you to easily add and remove widgets to your theme without knowing any special or custom coding. You simply click on the widget selection under ‘Appearance’ in the left menu of your WordPress software.

Background Color – If you know some HTML the background color is fairly easy to edit. In WordPress find your Stylesheet and the background color coding is usually very close to the top of the stylesheet. Again, this is made much easier if you choose a WordPress theme with different color options. There are many themes out there that now offer various color options. This would mean that you don’t need to make any coding changes yourself. Woo Themes is a great choice if you are looking for themes with different colors.

Footer – You’ll want to add your copyright to the footer of any blog or website you create with WordPress. You can also go to the CopyScape website and grab a graphic that shows your site is protected by copyright. To edit the footer you will need to go into your themes source files. These are found under the Appearance section but this time you will need to click ‘Editor’. Adding company information as well as privacy policy links in the footer section is a good idea also.

When choosing a theme look at what options are available. This will make doing the customization much easier when you come to it.

Ready to get your own WordPress website and theme set up? Join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about customizing your WordPress websites and blogs.

 

What You Need to Design Your Business Website

So you’re ready to build your own website on the internet. Congratulations!

You’ve made a smart decision by researching just what you will need. You see, it would be a mistake to just take the advice of the first person who tells you how to build a website. You likely have a relative or friend who knows how to make a site but that doesn’t mean it’s going to suit your needs.

Let’s find out exactly what you need to design a website.

1. A Business Plan – You might not think of a business plan as an essential website design tool but it absolutely is. The first thing you need to know before you do a domain name search is what you intend to do with your website. You see, websites can do a lot of different things.

A website is kind of like a puppet. It’s up to you to pull the right strings and make it do what you want it to.

Here are just some of the duties a website can perform:

Online Brochure – Maybe your business is pretty much offline and for now you want to keep it that way. Your website can be nothing more than an online brochure that directs people to pick up the phone and call you for your products or services.

Ecommerce – Maybe your business plan is to have a full blown ecommerce site selling physical products through an online shopping cart.

Information Products – Maybe you want to offer digital ‘information’ products through your website.

Services – Do you want to sell services online? This is another function a website can perform.

2. A Domain Name – The next thing you need to do to design a website is get a domain name. It’s important to choose a domain name that fits your business and that is easy to remember. It’s almost always best to choose a .com domain name because that’s what people remember and type in most.

Before you buy a domain name, it’s also a good idea to do keyword research to find out what people are typing in to find your business in the search engines. Then you can create a domain name that closely matches what people are looking for.

3. Website Hosting – Once you have a domain name you will need to host your website somewhere. It’s kind of like paying rent for the space your website occupies on the internet.

Find a host with a good control panel that offers you easy to install software programs and also good website statistics tracking.

4. Website Software or Coding From Scratch – Now the final step is to actually build a website.

This can be done in a number of ways:

From Scratch – Unless you want to spend a lot of time studying, creating and editing coding forget this option!

Website Builder – A website builder is a piece of software that is included with some hosting companies and allows you to build your website online. These can be good but some have limited options.

Website Software – There are many different programs out there that will help you build a website without having to know the coding behind it. Programs like Dreamweaver, Microsoft Expressions and NVU are a few. My favorite is a blogging software called WordPress that allows you to create blogs and websites through your hosting control panel.

Finally, building a website is a process. Break it up into various steps if you have to but remember that it’s not going to be perfect from the start. Accept that, get going and give yourself permission to fix it as you go.

Here is a resource that shows you through online videos, webinars and an email coaching program just how easy it is to design your own business website.

 

Tips for Building a Successful Affiliate Website

You’ve chosen affiliate marketing as a main or supplementary source of income. Smart move!

Now it’s time to create your marketing plan and you want to know how to build a successful affiliate website to make money with your promotions.

The first thing you need to do is choose how you will set up your site. You have a few possibilities here:

1. E-commerce Style – This type of site is set up as if you were the vendor. You choose a niche, target market or product line and build the website around showcasing the products.

2. Information Style – An information type of site is built to first get information seekers and then convert them into buyers.

3. Blog Style – You may want to start an affiliate blog where you blog about your experiences from a personal point of view.

4. Combination of Styles – Of course you can have any combination of the styles mentioned above.

In order to make your decision you need to consider the resources you have on hand. For example: an e-commerce style site will not require a huge amount of content to get started but promotions will be key. An information style site will require a large amount of content and it’s a good idea to create search engine optimized content. On the other hand, a blog style site will require a lot of personal time and attention. Each style has it’s advantages and disadvantages so consider them carefully.

Regardless of the type of site you choose, here are a few key elements that affiliate sites should contain:

– Call to Action: Don’t think people are just going to come to your site, read your stuff and look for something to buy. You need to make sure that you call them to action very clearly. It’s also very important that your message and your call to action match perfectly, that will allow you to get the greatest response and the best clicks.

– Case Studies: People love case studies because they can see what happens when real people have used the products. Gather case studies. Start with your own if you have none, look on the companies website and ask them if you can use their material or track down users and create case studies. Be careful not to hype or mislead, just state facts and always give a clear picture of reality.

– Reviews: Product reviews are also great selling tools. People who are looking to buy something will often do a search for product reviews before making their purchase. Make sure your affiliate site’s product review comes up by building incoming links to that review.

So there you have a few tips on building a successful affiliate website. This is just the beginning of your affiliate marketing journey.

The next thing you’ll want to do is make sure you offer your target market an email list and plenty of follow up information in order to convert them from ‘lookers’ or ‘information seekers’ to buyers. Don’t let them find your affiliate site and then leave without buying!

Convince your website visitors by inviting them to sign up for your email list.

Now I’d like to invite you to join me as I teach you through my online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about building your own money making affiliate website with WordPress.

 

Creating Web Graphics For Your Online Business

Everyone doing business online knows how important it is to have a great website. What many don’t realize at first, however, is that a website is not just words and a layout. The determining factor in a website that’s just plain OK and one that is amazing has a whole lot to do with graphics.

If you need an example, look at any of the popular websites you visit on a daily basis and take note of how much is content and how much is images.

First and foremost, professional-looking graphics lead to a professional-looking website. If your graphics are blurry, out of focus, or simply look haphazardly put together, the whole look of your website will take a turn for the worst. When a new customer visits your site, they will assume you are an amateur or that you don’t care enough to do a quality job, and they won’t stick around for long.

Web Graphics For Business Branding:

Most good graphics will build your brand and send a message to your target market all at the same time.

If the graphics on your website do not convey the message you are trying to send, your visitors will end up confused and click away. If you sell products online the quality of your graphics also affects the success of your affiliate program as well as the number of incoming links you may receive.

By offering an affiliate program, you are asking other people to partner with you and sell your products or services. If the looks of the graphics you choose for your affiliate program do not convey an image that people want to endorse, you will have a hard time recruiting affiliates. If they are going to take the time and effort to promote your product, they deserve to have quality tools to do so. One of the tools they need is quality graphics.

Likewise, when you ask someone to partner with you on a link exchange, they are going to expect a quality graphic. They will be displaying this graphic, with a link to your page, on their website. If you send them an unprofessional-looking graphic, it is going to bring the look of their site down. They will more than likely decline your offer.

How to Create Web Graphics:

As you can see, graphics play a big part in your business. When you need to create graphics you’ve got two options:
1. Create them yourself.
2. Hire someone to make graphics for you.

I’ve used both options in my own business and can tell you there are definitely advantages to both.

If you create graphics yourself you don’t have to worry about trying to explain your vision to someone else. You also won’t have to wait for someone to get back to you if you design your own graphics.

If you hire someone to create your graphics you may be able to get superior quality graphics that you just couldn’t create yourself if you haven’t developed your skills yet.

I definitely recommend a combination of both. It’s always good to be able to create some simple graphics yourself to save both time and money. You could start by learning how to use the free graphics program called Gimp.

Learning how to use Gimp may take a little time, if you want to fast-track a bit I recommend checking out my program that offers video tutorials, pdf introduction, templates and more for creating great web graphics for your online business.

 

5 Inspiring Custom Logo and Graphic Design Ideas

Many people think you need to be creative all the time to be in a creative field. I don’t believe so. I know I do pretty well and I don’t think that creativity is seeping out of me. I think I’ve just become good at developing ways to find inspiration when I need it so  I can create great custom graphics and logos for myself and my clients.

So here are five sources of web site graphics design inspiration you might not have thought of:

1. Down The Road – When you’re driving down the street have a look at the logos and colors you see in the businesses as you drive by. Most of these businesses will have hired a professional to create the graphics you see on display and they are great sources of ideas for your next product. Have a look at the shapes, colors, fonts and the feeling you get when you view each image. Consider taking out a video camera and video taping as you drive by with your own commentary (as long as you’re not also driving the car, of course!).

2. Newspapers & Magazines – I was at my local library the other day and I picked up a couple of local magazines. One was the town activity guide about local living. Each had plenty of graphics and ads that I could peruse for ideas and inspiration. Collect your favorite magazines or a selection of different types if you serve clients and you’ll always have plenty to draw from when you’re stumped.

3. Popular Websites – Of course you’ll want to look online for sources of web page graphic design ideas. If you’re working on a particular product then look up keywords related to your project and see what sites come up. Pay attention to the colors and the logos you find on these sites. Also many popular sites have ads that you can look at. The great thing about looking at ads is that people often have these professionally designed as well so they’re often great sources of quality ideas and inspiration.

4. Nature and the Outside World – Sometimes being stuck at a computer isn’t the best way to get inspired. Nature is filled with beautiful shapes, colors and materials. If you’re needing a new idea take a drive or go for a walk, you’re sure to come up with new ways to design web graphics that you never would have thought of without drawing from natural beauty. Now, you can also go to a city and draw on your surroundings for colors, shapes and of course plenty of marketing you see.

5. Your Graphic Design Inspiration Book – One thing I’ve wanted to do for a while is to create a binder filled with graphics that inspire me. Also, in this book I’d add a section for all the design techniques I can use to create different effects. You see, there are so many ways to create graphics that sometimes we forget certain techniques when we need them. I know that’s how it works for me, anyway. My suggestion is to get a binder and a bunch of clear sheet protectors and then just start collecting graphics you like. Organize them as you go into different categories to suit your needs.

Inspiration comes from lots of places and the five listed above are a good place to start. I’m sure as you become aware of your need for inspiration you’ll start seeing new ideas as you go about your daily life. Good luck and have fun!

Graphics shouldn’t just be beautiful, they should also be profitable! Join me as I teach you through live weekly webinars, email coaching, video tutorials, templates and more how to design web logos and graphics that get clicks and sales for your business.

 

How Using Amazon S3 Keeps Money In Your Pocket

A lot of people talk about using Amazon S3 because it is so affordable but don’t normally explain how it saves you money. If you’re wondering why you should pay extra to use Amazon S3 when you can embed or upload content directly into your web site, keep on reading.

No Need To Pay For What You Don’t Use

Large content files like video, audio and sometimes even PDFs eat up web space and bandwidth (also called transfer) on your web host – really fast. Once you hit that limit, your content would be inaccessible.

At that point, you will have to upgrade your web hosting package or temporarily add the extra resources you need. The cost of this upgrade varies, but you can expect a larger bill every month whether you use all those resources or not.

When you host your large files on Amazon S3, there are no limits and you only pay only for what you use. What it means to you: if you use more, you’ll pay for that extra automatically. Your content does not stop getting delivered even if your traffic spikes and a lot of people are accessing it. If you nobody accesses your content for that day, you don’t pay.

Worried About Another Monthly Bill?

The thing that worries many who haven’t used Amazon S3 before is the thought of forking over extra cash to yet another company. Surely you don’t want another monthly bill. I’m here to tell you the ‘extra’ payment is almost negligible.

For the longest time, we only paid $0.50 extra a month. Now our bill is less than $2, sometimes $3. A client of ours who used to pay $30 a month to host their weekly audio and video messages only pays $2 now.

No matter how much content you think you have, chances are, you are going to pay far, far less than what you are used to. That’s a good thing.

Saves You From Leaking Money

By default, all files uploaded to Amazon S3 is private. Nobody can access it by going to the URL directly – even if they know that it is. To deliver content to your audience, you can easily click a button to make the content accessible to everyone. Or, you can use time-limited URLs.

Sounds like a lot of super-difficult technical stuff? It’s not. Especially if you use WordPress, there are plugins that generate these time-limited URLs for you.

This limits content theft. While you can’t end it entirely, it can deter the less tech savvy thieves and frustrate others.

In short, Amazon S3 helps you deliver your content continuously without interruptions for less and limit loss of revenue.

To learn more about using Amazon S3, marketing technology, try http://techbasedtraining.com. You can also get free training by signing up here: http://techbasedtraining.com/free-training/



 

Tips for Generating Traffic to Your New Website

So you’ve got your website up and now you’re ready to get some people reading it.

Tip #1:  Write content that people are looking for and that is targeted to your website’s purpose. Fill your website with high-quality information that serves a purpose and provides high value at the same time. People come to the internet looking for information, entertainment or to find the answer to a problem – do any combination of these three things on a regular basis and you’re sure to have a hit on your hands.

Tip #2:  Decide with a clear set of goals what you want to use your website for. Will it be to draw traffic to a service? To make money through affiliate marketing? To sell your own products? Or all of the above?

Tip #3:  Get out there and let people know your website exists! I’m not going to cover the dozens and dozens of ways to get traffic here. You need to build a plan you can follow and one that works for you. Understand that just because you build a website that doesn’t mean people will automatically find it.

Here are a few ways to get your website found:

Website Directories- There are many paid and free directories available on the internet you can submit your website to.

Leave Comments on Blogs- Commenting on blogs brings you both traffic as well as incoming links if the blog has the no-follow attribute disabled.

Links from other sites- Links from popular websites is a good way to get both traffic and links as well.

Writing articles for other websites- By writing articles for popular websites you can build your reputation as an expert and increase traffic.

Link from your products- If you sell any physical or information products be sure to always make your website known on them.

Your Email Signature- You probably email a lot of people every single week. Get your website address at the bottom of those emails to get more people to your site.

Social Media Sites like Twitter and Facebook- Social media is all the rage these days and it can help you build relationships that translate into website exposure.

Partner Up With another High Profile Website Owner-  There are many ways you can partner with a website owner to create a mutually beneficial promotion. Just get creative!

Set your goals, stick to them and you’ll start to see your efforts pay off as you build a website that people love to come back to again and again.

Ready to get your own WordPress website and theme set up?  To help get you started join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating traffic generating websites and blogs with WordPress.

 

Creating a WordPress Website

Are you ready to start a website? Have you been wondering what format your site should be set up in, with all the choices there are out there? Then you really should consider using WordPress.

You likely know WordPress as one of the most popular blogging platforms available but it can do so much more then just let you post a few entries to your blog. Using WordPress as a Website or CMS (Content Management System) has many advantages, here are some to consider:

Easy Setup – Setting up WordPress is easy. If you have fantastico in your domain’s control panel then in a few clicks you’ll have WordPress up and running. If you don’t have fantastico then you can do a manual install, which takes a little more time but isn’t complicated if you follow the directions. If you are uncomfortable with either of those options you can always hire someone to do it for you. It won’t be pricey to do this as it doesn’t take a long time for someone who knows what they’re doing.

User Updates – Updating a traditional website that was built by someone else can be costly to the site owner because you have to pay a designer, you also have the wait while they get back to you and actually get it done for you. Using a system like WordPress is much more user-friendly and easier to learn. You can be updating your own site in no time and changes are instant – you don’t have to wait for a designer to have time to do the edits for you!

Easily Outsourced – Another great advantage to using WordPress for your website is that you can easily outsource website updates and changes. You can set your virtual assistant up with their own username and password and all she’ll need to do is log in online to work on your site. No making sure you have the most recent version of a website or making sure you don’t overwrite someone else’s work.

Management of Content – A great thing about using WordPress as a website is the use of the Categories and Archives that are built into the program. You can categorize your content into different sections and WordPress will automatically sort it for you.

Search Engine Friendly – Search engines love websites that are frequently updated. Because of the nature of blogs and WordPress you’ll likely be updating very frequently and this is good news for your search engine rankings. You’ll also be found in the blog search engines which can also give your site a boost.

RSS Feed Subscriptions – When you create a website using WordPress you also get a RSS feed. Now readers of your site can subscribe to your RSS feed and be notified every time you add new content to the site. This is a great way to keep your website ‘sticky’ and have people coming back for more information.

That should give you just a few ideas on how you can start using WordPress to create a website that draws in more traffic and makes your life easier.

So what are you waiting for? Get your website up and running in no time by joining me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating a website or blog with WordPress.

 

How to Get People to Read Your Blog

Ever feel frustrated that people don’t seem to be swarming to your blog or website? Wonder why they’re not?

I’ve been blogging for awhile now and I’ve learned a few things about how to get people to visit your blog or website.

Check Your Keywords – Keywords work. Keywords are what REAL people type into REAL computers to find your website. Use ’em ok?
Please don’t think I’m being patronizing here because I’m not! I ignored keywords in my own business for a long time but I think it’s really important if you want to build something that continues to work for you even when you’re not there – targeted keywords can do that.

Know Your Readers – Sometimes we get into the mindset that whatever we want to write about is what we want to blog about. But that’s not always the case. Get to know your readers, understand their problems and find out their questions and then start giving them the answers.

Be Approachable – People want to know you are a real person and not someone spewing out content to get them to buy. I do things like add video posts to my blog, put my email in a handy spot, and I even added a nifty little chat box on the right side.

Be Human – We all make mistakes and nobody wants to read a bragging blog for any sustained period of time. Be human.

If you make mistakes, admit them and tell people what you learned from it. I always say I love to learn the hard way, and boy when I mess up I like to make it big. Sometimes I don’t even learn from those big mistakes so I have to do them a few more times. But I’m pretty good at letting my readers know that I’ve messed up and what I think I’ve learned from it.

I like Carrie Wilkerson’s little quote about this: “Turn a mess into a message”

Bring Value – You know value. I know value. Let’s just bring it.

Know Your Purpose – WHY are you blogging, really? Is it just for money? Is it to share a goal? Is it to share as much info as you can?

Speak From The Heart – People know fakeness. They can smell it even over the internet. You won’t do yourself any good to being fake. You and I both know that. But let’s go even further and speak from the heart. Speak from your feelings. Write what you really feel.

People will dive into that and love it, they’ll come back and read your blog and be anticipating your next post.

So there you have a few good tips to get people reading your blog more often and coming back to your website for more.

If you are ready to start your own website/blog join me as I teach you through my online video, webinar and email coaching program how to create a great website/blog with WordPress.

 

Tips for Building Your Email List

There are many people who don’t start a mailing list in the beginning of their online presence because they feel they don’t have enough to share with a list. This is a big mistake! Email marketing is NOT dead and you need to be building your mailing list, now. You don’t have to start by sending out a huge newsletter every week, but you do have to start building that list. What you send to your email list will really depend on your market, and what they have subscribed to receive. You could do any number of the following: * A monthly, weekly or bi-weekly html (colors, pictures) newsletter * A monthly, weekly or bi-weekly text-based email * An ecourse * A daily, weekly, or monthly tips list * A series of autoresponder messages * Follow-up messages to customers or clients * A list announcing upcoming events such as teleseminars If you treat your email lists right they will become loyal followers, and when you have an offer to make them they will be there to listen to what you have to say. So, How Do You Build Your Email List? Before you can start sending messages out to a list you need to have people subscribed. The best way to build a list that you want to grow long term is to use a program that is built for sending out messages to those subscribed and also will help you comply with the Can-Spam legal requirements of sending out messages to large groups of people. Two programs I use most often with my clients and are well-known as industry leaders are: Aweber & 1ShoppingCart – Signing up with either of these programs will allow you to easily set up your mailing list and start collecting names and emails that you can then start sending your email promotions out to. Getting Opt-ins – Once you have a program to handle your mailing list you will then need to set up a mailing list opt-in form that people will fill out in order to subscribe to your list. You may want to offer subscribers a gift for signing up, it may help entice them and create greater interest then just the offer of your list alone. Adding a graphic may also help. You may want to test using pop-ups or exit pop-ups and see if they increase your sign up conversions. Confirmation Page – Once people fill out their name and email on an opt-in form you will likely need to have them confirm their opt-in so that you can confirm that they really did request the information and you are not spamming them. The confirmation page is a page that you need to optimize. If you’ve offered a special report make sure that you let them know they need to confirm their subscription in order to get that report, or confirm in order to receive the information they requested. You can make a special offer on the confirmation page, or send them back to your website to read articles. But since they’re on the page anyway, and they have to go somewhere YOU should be making a suggestion as to where they should go. Now It’s Time To Send Out Emails! You’ve got subscribers, they’ve confirmed they want your information and now you’ve got to send them some valuable content! A couple of things to really pay attention to when you send messages out your mailing list is your open rate and your click through rates. Open Rate – One of the biggest things that will affect your open rate is the subject of your email message. You want a subject line with the following qualities: * not too long – Long subjects get cut off in some email programs and a long subject line takes a chance at being ignored. * often includes the name of recipient – Personalizing your email subject line helps catch the attention of the person you’re sending it to. Who doesn’t respond when you call out their name? This is the same with an email. When people see their name they want to know what you’re saying to them. * sounds personal – If the subject line sounds like it is a personal message to the person opening it, you have a greater chance of having it opened. * isn’t misleading – Don’t try to trick your readers into opening something by using a misleading subject line. Not only is it illegal through the Can-Spam act, it just turns your subscribers off in a big way. If they’re expecting one thing and open up an email to see another, you risk them not opening anything else you send them. Click Through Rates – Ok, you’ve gotten their attention and they’ve opened your email – but that’s only the first step! Now you need to have a call to action in each and every message you send. Your call to action doesn’t have to ask your reader to buy something. Maybe you want them to visit your website to read a great article you’ve written, or maybe they should go check out a new podcast you’ve uploaded, or download a free special report you’ve written (all of which will have their own calls to action within them). Watch your click through rates and start paying attention to what works and what doesn’t for your market. If you have a large enough list you can do split-testing to test one message against another to see which has a better response. Sometimes the smallest things can make a big difference. Your mailing list can be one of the biggest assets to your business so make sure you take care and don’t bombard them with spammy offers or just low quality information. Take good care of that list and they will take good care of you for a very long time to come. And make sure you start building it now! If you’re looking to run your business and not let your business run you then check out my new training that walks you step-by-step through the process of building your list, creating a freebie, and getting more sign-ups.

Using Email Marketing as a Profitable Sales Tool

You’ve heard that using your email to sell products or services on the internet is the thing to do but you have no idea where to start.

Using email as a profitable sales tool doesn’t have to be complicated.

You need to connect with your audience no matter what tool you use. Email just allows you another way to do so. Some of the common reasons business owners don’t use email marketing is because they (1) fear it will take up too much time, (2) don’t feel they have enough expertise to write a ‘newsletter’ or (3) feel that marketing through email is ‘spamming’.

Let’s address each of these issues:

1. Too Much Time – This is a common issue that business owners face. They put off using email to make sales because they feel like it will take away from their other business activities and end up being a time drain.

Here’s the thing though: Your email marketing really doesn’t need to be a fancy, high graphic email Newsletter.

– You can offer quick weekly tips that take you 15 minutes each week to write.
– You can have a special offers list where you tell people what you have for sale.
– You can do a weekly article.
– You can give short, quick updates on your business.
– You can even set your email marketing on auto-pilot using autoresponders.

It’s your email list so you get to set the rules. Don’t let lack of time stop you! The amount of time you will save by having a responsive list to sell to will far outweigh the input of time in the beginning.

2. Not an Expert – Some people believe they need to be a ‘guru’ or an expert to write emails that people will want to read. This is so untrue!

Many people want to learn from someone like them. Someone who remembers what it’s like to struggle, to learn the hard way and someone who’s willing to give the step-by-step information they need to move along that path.

Business success is a gradual growth and no one expects you to be an expert overnight. If you’ve been in business for a while you have great information to share and there are people out there waiting to hang on your every word.

Just get going, be honest and people will love you.

3. Email Sales is Spamming – Yes we are overloaded with email and spam is a terrible issue. Does that mean you should concede to the spammers and not even try? NO WAY!

You can have an email list to sell to without selling like a spammer.

Provide great value, treat people the way you’d like to be treated, do good business and you have no worries about making people upset. The great thing about email marketing too is if you set your system up properly, when people want to leave your list, they can do so at the click of a button.

If you’re ready to start using your email marketing as a profitable sales tool, 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.