What is UNIQUE about your internet business?

Posted on September 22, 2010 by

What would you say is UNIQUE about your business online?  Why would customers come back again and again to you?

One of the most important steps to take BEFORE setting up a WordPress website is to identify a business niche that is UNIQUE and is driven by one of your PASSIONS! Choosing a market niche and making your business model unique can be compared to giving one of your best friends–let’s call her Sally — in your life a personalized gift for her birthday. One of the reasons why you are able to give Sally such a personalized gift is because you took the time to get to know her ahead of time and you knew what was valuable to her. You knew that Sally is the type of person that loves personalized gifts, instead of a simple gift certificate to Wal-mart :-)

Your main goal though is to choose ONE of your passions and then put a plan of action together to prove your ideas among your target market – just like meeting a new person for the first time and you want to know what you have in common so you “test the market” and ask him/her some questions about what they like.

Some questions that are answered as you prove your ideas within your target market are:

  • Are people willing to pay what you’re asking?
  • Is what you’re offering unique?
  • Are there a number of ways customers can get the same product elsewhere?

Check this video out from the Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner. It think Guy Kawasaki shares some awesome marketing advice.

http://ecorner.stanford.edu/swf/player-ec.swf

Now that you’ve watched the video above here are some steps and tips that I use as they relate to the video that you can use to refine your passions and find a unique market niche to make money with on the internet.

Brainstorm a List of Passions

Take some time to brainstorm the types of books you love reading, the places you visit, the conversations you have with friends, the hobbies you have, the buying habits in your life and so forth. This first step I am focusing in on dumping all my thoughts out on paper without reservation – no holding back :-)

Help with Choosing a Profitable Passion

To choose a profitable business passion to promote  sift through the list of passions you have and research them to prove which one has the highest demand, lowest competition and people are already paying for the product/service you are about to sell on the internet. The path to making it easier to making money on the internet is found in discovering what people are ALREADY PAYING FOR and then put yourself between the customer and the product/service. In essence you’re setting yourself up as the opportunity presenter, and for your efforts you’ll get paid if you do it right. If you’re wondering where to research what is selling on the internet as it pertains to your business passion you can go to Amazon, Craigs List, Google, market specific blogs, forums and so forth.

Here are some questions that I have found helpful to determine at this point which three passions to begin researching:

  1. Which ones do you find yourself naturally learning about on your free time?
  2. Can you visualize yourself working day in and day out within this area of passion?
  3. Does this passion bring the best out of you?
  4. Are there a lot of questions you have within this area of passion that I would LOVE learning about?
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4 Simple Steps in creating more certainty in your online sales

Posted on August 30, 2010 by

How certain or sure are you that your product/service will sell? Are you guessing or hoping that someone “out there” will stumble across your website and and then start buying up all your products like crazy?

The interesting note here is that most people who have a website think that by virtue of having their own “real estate” space online that this will automatically generate a sudden influx of income to them in their lives. The reality of making sales online is quite the opposite.

One of the most common questions I get while teaching small business owners how to successfully build their business online is…drum roll…:-)  “how do I make money online? “  A close second question is “how do I create more certainty” in selling online?”

Here are FOUR simple steps to apply if you want to create more CERTAINTY in your online sales:

1) create a solid product/service that is in demand that will solve specific problems/challenges among the people in your target market

2) create your sales funnel – how to deliver the product/service

3) put a system in place to automate the sales funnel as much as possible thus creating more time for you to develop relationships with those in your market.

4) incentivize your target market, sales team, affiliates, etc.. to purchase/sell more of your products.

If you’re using WordPress, or want to use it as you build your business online then I’d like to invite you to register for my next WordPress workshop. It’s FREE to register and then you’ll be counted among my special group that receive the announcement first as I present upcoming workshops. Register here

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9 Keys to Selling on the Internet

Posted on July 22, 2010 by

Through the course of marking your products and services on the internet, here are the 9 major keys to include in your sales efforts:

CALL to ACTION: When a customer comes to your home page, or any sales page do they see a CLEAR call to take action? If not you may be loosing customers as we speak. People need to be shown what to do when they come to your site. Calls to action include things like: SIGN UP, DOWNLOAD HERE, REGISTER NOW, LEARN MORE, etc..
AUTHORITY and ASSOCIATION: When you link your product/service to a celebrity chances are you’ll sell more..why? It’s because you are associating your product with someone that is a huge success, or may even endorse or support your product/service.
PAIN & PLEASURE: Show your customer negative effects, the pain or downfalls they stand to experience if they leave without purchasing your product/service today. All of us are motivated by TWO major EMOTIONS: PAIN and PLEASURE. Explaining or visually depicting the inverse of pain is ho they will experience great pleasure, satisfaction and happiness by having your product.
SCARCITY: If you don’t act today you may NEVER see this offer EVER AGAIN! There are 9 spaces left. Secure your spot while you still have time. This is a LIMITED OFFER.  All of the aforementioned statements are ways of creating scarcity, and hence a greater motivation for the customer to ACT TODAY instead of later.
SOCIAL PROOF: Share your testimonials in everything you sell. You can use audio clips, videos, and/or text. Has anyone used your product/service, or experienced the quality of it? Do you have any raving fans? Providing social proof that what you’re selling ACTUALLY WORKS is critical to your success in selling online. On the same note, also make it easy for your customers to share their comments on your blog or website, along with submitting testimonials and feedback. A person shouldn’t have to search around to make a comment or feedback..it won’t happen.
PERCEPTION: The reason why you and I act the way we do is based off of how we view the world around us, including ourselves. Helping our potential customers see ABOVE THE FOREST figuratively speaking does wonders in helping them see the END in MIND. Show them that you see a far greater picture than they do and they’ll begin to see things differently, including your offer.
WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER: If I haven’t purchased the product myself, tried it out and know for sure that it’s SOLID, then I dont’ share it, PERIOD. If you’re selling things you have no idea about, haven’t taken the time to investigate them this practice will come back and bite ya in the butt. People want to see that you are in the same boat they are, and that you’re in this together. Making this a habit in your sales efforts will not only help you make more money, but create a powerful synergy among your clients who are far more likely to spread the word for you…even for free.
DISARM: Being honest, right up front disarms your customers with the pre-conceived notions they have about you and the offer being presented. It does more than this also.. telling customers that “I make a commission when you buy this product” is probably something they may know already, but telling it out in the open shows that you’re not hiding anything and expresses the “What’s In It for YOU” element. All of us act out of our best interest, and want to do what will benefit us.
OPPORTUNITY: In your sales presentation make your OPPORTUNITY clear as day. What you should be selling is the END RESULT, NOT the benefits. People are far more interested and motivated in acting upon what your product/service will do for them in their lives..what they will experience as a result of having purchased today. Explaining just the benefits of the product doesn’t do much except for building up the product and is dis-attached from the person. Remember you’re selling to PEOPLE who have DREAMS, and aspirations of a better live…help the achieve it!
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How to Mind Map – 6 steps to creating your website road map!

Posted on June 21, 2010 by

Best Free Mind Mapping Software

A few days ago I came across the best free mind mapping software yet and thought I’d share the love with ya; thanks to one of my favorite internet marketers, Graham Cox – developer of the Ultimate Footer Ad.

The software called FreeMind is a tool that can help you stay organized, assist with establishing a blueprint for your internet business, and keep you on the track to success!  Mapping out your vision is like preparations you should make before going on a week long vacation.  Most people wanting to have an enjoyable vacation plan out AHEAD OF TIME the best roads to take, equipment to bring, the hotel stay in, etc… Using mind mapping software helps you execute your plan effectively, and saves you the burden of not having to wonder what blog posts to write, how to launch a product, the steps to take, and so forth.

I used to use Microsoft Excel to map out the course of action I would be taking for a particular website, but this free software makes it tons easier. Enjoy the find and have fun becoming more effective with your time!

Here’s a summary of mind mapping to help you get started:

Applying Mind Mapping 101

STEP 1:  What in the world is this?

“A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.

The elements of a given mind map are arranged intuitively according to the importance of the concepts, and are classified into groupings, branches, or areas, with the goal of representing semantic or other connections between portions of information. Mind maps may also aid recall of existing memories.

By presenting ideas in a radial, graphical, non-linear manner, mind maps encourage a brainstorming approach to planning and organizational tasks. Though the branches of a mindmap represent hierarchical tree structures, their radial arrangement disrupts the prioritizing of concepts typically associated with hierarchies presented with more linear visual cues. This orientation towards brainstorming encourages users to enumerate and connect concepts without a tendency to begin within a particular conceptual framework.

The mind map can be contrasted with the similar idea of concept mapping. The former is based on radial hierarchies and tree structures denoting relationships with a central governing concept, whereas concept maps are based on connections between concepts in more diverse patterns.”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

STEP 2:  Questions that mind mapping solves:

  • What format and system do I follow to make money online?
  • How will I move forward with planning out my entire website?
  • What do I label my pages and what order do I place them?
  • What blog topics will I write and when should I do it?
  • Who will be working with me on my team to operate my website?

STEP 3:  Benefits – Applications of Mind Mapping:

  • Gives you a blueprint to follow to keeps your online business on target and on track!
  • You won’t have to wonder every day “what should I blog about”, or “how should organize my website layout”.
  • Great way to help your customer and business partners see the “vision” of where you are going with your business.
  • You can convert that map to many extension such as your own html website, PDF, etc..

STEP 4:  Examples. The rubber meets the road:

STEP 5:  Software – Free and Paid:

STEP 6:  Further mind mapping insight:

  • I personally view mind mapping as an absolute MUST before developing and launching website; however you don’t necessarily need to use a software to do a mind map or flow chart of your website. You can simply write it down on paper, or use other programs, etc.. The main goal is you have a PLAN that gives you a ROAD MAP to the destination or journey you want to experience/achieve.

Have you tried mind mapping yet? Share your experience below!

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One easy step to mapping images

Posted on February 21, 2010 by

One easy step to mapping images for your website can be done at this website here: http://www.image-maps.com/

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