Which Internet Marketing Strategy is Right for You?

The beginning of a new year is a good time to take stock of your online business and decide what marketing strategy you want to follow in 2010. I’m assuming you are just as fed up as I am with over-hyped get rich quick schemes and are only interested in sustainable business strategies.

As online marketers, we can learn a lot from our counterparts in the traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. An offline entrepreneur also wears many different hats but s/he quickly learns to focus on her/his main strength and delegates the rest to capable assistants.

In the same way, you have to make some tough decisions as to what parts of your online business you want to handle yourself and outsource the rest.

To determine which Internet marketing strategy is right for your online business, ask yourself these questions (be honest with yourself): Read more

Are Your Written Words Producing the Results You Want?

When was the last time you really looked at your writing? I mean REALLY looked at it from your readers’ perspective? Are you happy with the results that you are getting from sales letters, blog posts and/or email campaigns? If you’re not then the quickest way to change that is to learn to write using powerful words that will lift your conversion rates. Some refer to it as “hypnotic writing.” Others call it “words that sell.”

Unlike a brick-and-mortar business where you have the benefit of visual clues like people’s body language, their facial expressions etc., online your words have a huge impact on everything you do and the results you can expect.

Your words must paint a vivid picture about what you are trying to tell your readers and make a powerful emotional connection with them. Only then will you have the ultimate power to influence and persuade your readers to take the desired action.

Go back to an article, a blog post, or an email that you wrote today. Read it from your visitor’s perspective. Does it speak to you one-on-one or is it too generic? Do the words address your main concerns/problems? Does the copy paint a complete picture of what you can expect to achieve if you bought the product or service? Are you convinced you’ve found the right person or business to solve your problems?
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How To Write Headlines That Attract Interested Readers

Read my headline again; note how I didn’t say “how to write headlines that sell.” I am trying to make a point here.

IMO, job #1 for your headline is to attract readership, grab their attention and persuade them to read further. In other words, headlines should act as “stop signs” and not necessarily, as “buy signs.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not denying that headlines do play a key role in the selling process but don’t confuse a good headline with a call to action. Tabloids like The National Enquirer, The Globe etc. do use outrageous and shocking headlines to seduce you into buying their publications.

I’ll post another article later about the different points of view among professional copywriters about the real role of headlines.

Here, I want to concentrate on crafting headlines that attract serious viewers and readers to your website and/or sales page.
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How to Select a Hot Topic for How-to eBooks

It is a limitless market when it comes selling profitable how-to eBooks. Almost everyone wants a step-by-step manual, advice, and/or a little extra encouragement to solve a particular problem.

Most of us feel a sense of accomplishment if we can help ourselves by reading a how-to book.

Anything you know how to do, anything you’ve ever wanted to learn, or anything that’s teachable, can made into a how-to eBook.

I’ve found hobbyists to be avid readers and buyers of how-to eBooks. A hobby how-to eBook could be on any topic from “how to remodel your kitchen” to “how to play Texas Hold ‘Em.”

Think of the very popular “Dummies” series of printed books on every topic under the sun. Not only are they hot sellers, they have spawned others like the “Idiot’s Guides,” “The Everything” series and a bunch of others that are cashing in on the how-to phenomenon.

Visit www.dummies.com and you could pick your hot title for your next how-to eBook. Pick one you like, and you can move forward to creating content for a how-to bestseller.

Here’s a screen shot from the Health & Fitness category. It lists the “How-to Series” at the top followed by “Most Popular”. On the left hand column you can click on sub-topics and drill down deeper until you find a niche that you really like.
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The 5Rs of Content Creation

Creating new content is not an easy task. Most people get a brain lock whenever they try to write new materials.

However, if you want to be a successful Internet marketer, you know you have to come up with fresh and interesting content regularly. Otherwise, your traffic will dry up and hard-earned subscribers will lose interest. How do you overcome this challenge?

It’s simple, just follow my 5Rs of content creation and things will start to flow a lot smoother.

1. RESEARCH

Even before I fire up the trusty word processor, the first thing I do is head to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal to research phrases that people are using in Google. I start with something related to a topic and get ideas from there. For example, “content creation.” That led me to other popular search terms like blog content creation, content creation help, online content creation etc.

Without thoroughly researching your ideas, you’ll find yourself running out of ideas to write about and/or guessing on what your readers would be interested in learning. You’d be surprised how many different ideas and directions you can branch out to from your initial thought after doing your research.

Of course, Google is not the only source of content ideas. Try visiting popular forums and reading about the different questions being asked around your topic or try Yahoo!Answers.

Bottom line – better research leads to better content.
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