Archive for June, 2009

I just sent this to my subscribers…in case it gets filtered or for some reason you don’t get my emails (hmmm…why not?! )

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Wow…is it really already June 29? We’re sitting right on
the edge of the second half of 2009 and now’s the perfect
time to kick things up a notch.

With that in mind, I’ve got a little offer for you.

Here’s the Deal:
****************

Get 30% of ALL self-study and coaching programs…but only
until July 1st, so you can start out the 2nd half of 2009
off right.

Whether you need to start a press release campaign, get more
sales from your website or start an affiliate program -
there’s something here for you. There are no more excuses
not to get things done!

When you make your purchase, enter coupon code:

2ndhalf

That’s “2ndhalf” without the quotation marks.

If you want to see the line up of programs available, here
are the links:

Self-Study Courses:
http://www.internetmarketingsweetie.com/self-study

Coaching Programs
http://www.internetmarketingsweetie.com/coaching

If you feel overwhelmed, and really aren’t sure what you
need right now, consider this:

-> If you’re overwhelmed because you’re just getting
started, get yourself grounded in a marketing strategy like
affiliate marketing or creating information products. You’ll
find help for this under self-study.

-> If you’re ovewhelmed because you’ve got too much on your
plate, march yourself right on over to the Internet
Marketing Spring Cleaning coaching program. You’ll find it
listed under the coaching programs link.

NOTE: If you already have a Sweetie members account, you can
add your choice(s) to your account by logging in at:

http://www.sweetiemembers.com

If you don’t have an account yet, just follow the
instructions on the product page and we’ll get you all set
up.

And YES, you can use the coupon more than once…on as many
products you like. The only restriction is that the coupon
expires on July 1, 2009.

Hope this sounds good for you. Please…give yourself a push
to finish the year out with a bang.

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Be sure to take advantage…it’s only for a couple of days.

I don’t know if it’s the emergence of the “new media” or what. Or maybe people finally realizing the power of press releases, but I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately on that very topic.

Now, I can’t possibly go through each and every question (my baby and my 2 boys would be REALLY annoyed that I’m cutting into Mommy Time), but I can tell you that I have a tutorial that answers a LOT of your questions about starting a press release campaign with YOUR marketing objective in mind.

In fact, this tutorial has been around for a long time…but I’ve just recently gone through it to ensure it’s up-to-date and ready for you to consume.

It’s delivered via email, so you have to sign up and you can do that by go ing here.

It covers:

• What a press releases are and why you need them.
• How to put the pieces of your release together.
• Making sure your press release is newsworthy.
• Where to send it.

…and a bunch of other stuff. Anyway, it’s here if you need it.

All you graphics whizzes out there may yawn at this, but my graphical abilities are limited to resizing and cropping images. I have great help with my graphics, but sometimes I wish I could do a few of things on the fly when an idea is sparked.  

Here’s a cool video that shows what’s possible with Photoshop. It’s not a tutorial, but simply a sped-up excerpt from David Peters’ Learn Photoshop Now tutorials that shows you cool stuff you can do. I particuarly was intrigued by what he did with the lighthouse…pretty darned awesome.

If you go to the Learn Photoshop Now website, you’ll see another quick demonstration that shows some cool stuff. I’ll definitely be learning about that removing wrinkles trick. I’ll be needing that in the next few years.

If you’ve ever gone to an Internet marketing forum and complained about an Internet marketing tactic that made you cringe, you may have met with responses like:

• “Well they do it because it works!”
• “Classic…an Internet marketer complaining about being marketed to.”

What-ev-errr…sometimes it’s okay to get your frustrations out. And here is your chance to complain without any judgment or argument. It’s simply your answer to the question:

What annoys you about Internet marketing (and perhaps an idea of how you could make the tactic better)?

Have fun posting, but then get back to some serious work (even if some of what you do annoys other people now and then)!

Seller: David Peters

Summary:

Learn Elements Now is a set of 30 tutorial videos on how to use Photoshop Elements. It covers the most basic tasks in Photoshop Elements to the more advanced.

Product Details:

The product consists of these 30 tutorials:

- Interface
- Opening an Image
- Guided Edit
- Quick Edit
- Full Edit
- Create Overview
- Share Overview
- Zoom and Pan
- Layers
- Blend Modes
- Undo History
- Brush Tool
- Selecting Colors
- Gradient Tool
- Creating Text
- Selection Tools
- Quick Selection Tools
- Refine Edges
- Effects
- Adjustment Layers
- Resizing Images
- Aligning Images
- Saving Your Photo
- Saving for the Web
- Remove Red Eye
- Remove Blemishes
- Remove Objects
- Convert to Black & White
- Color Curves
- Create a Panorama

The course also includes the following bonuses:

- Video tutorial images: All the images used in the video tutorials are provided in JPG format so the user can follow along with the very same images.

- “Absolute Beginners Guide to Photoshop Elements”: a 65-page easy-to-use guide to Photoshop Elements

- 30-day free trial of the latest version of Adobe Elements

Format:

The video tutorials are in Flash and Shockwave format, which can be either viewed online or downloaded into the user’s hard drive for local viewing. Downloading is not necessary, as the videos will always be available to those who purchase the course.

The tutorial images are in digital graphic JPG format.

The bonus, “Absolute Beginners Guide to Photoshop Elements” is in PDF format.

Thoughts on the Product:

“Learn Elements Now” is a good example of how to use video to teach skills. In this case, the video tutorials give step-by-step demonstrations of how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements. The instructions are clear and are easy to understand through both the voice-over and onscreen demos. The videos progress logically from the most basic to the more advanced operations that can be done in Elements.

Each video is only a few minutes long and clearly labeled, so the users can easily and quickly choose the video they need. I’m not sure the user will learn Photoshop Elements in 2 hours, as David Peters promises – especially if one follows along each step using the images provided – which is the best way to internalize the lessons in the videos. But it definitely will not take more than 2 hours to view all the tutorials.

With “Learn Elements Now,” even complete newbies to image editing will soon be able to create impressive digital photos using Photoshop Elements.

Where to Learn More:

LearnElementsNow.com

It’s been a little while since we gave you an update of what’s happening at Business Idea Library and here are some recently added business ideas:

Open You Own Boutique: This can be a traditional brick-and-mortar with an online component…or just run it online.

Open a Bookstore – another brick-and-mortar option that could be taken online (sell printed books or even ebooks and information products)

Art Gallery – Work with a clientele that has plenty of disposable income.

Become an Archaeologist – It’s contract work that won’t likely make you rich, but sure is thrilling for those interested in human history.

Open a Home Store – brick-and-mortar or try online…the choice is yours.

Sometimes great things just start with a simple idea. There are plenty of business ideas just waiting for you.

It’s that time again -> Sweetie Saturday Report Club Time!

And this month’s announcement includes an extra EXTREMELY valuable goodie for club members. Plus a heads up about boosted value and ultimately, boosted club dues (but don’t worry, if you’re already a member…you never have to pay more as long as you keep you membership active).

To Report Club Members: If you’re a member, everything is ready for download in your account.

Not a Member Yet? Click here to find out about this super-affordable and value-packed membership.

Onto this month’s new stuff:

If you’ve been pulling your hair out with too much stuff to do and you’re tired of little tasks taking you away from really GROWING your business…

Introducing: Your Guide to Finding & Working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) on Any Budget is your guide to leveraging the skills of others to boost your productivity and profitability.

Put together by Melody Spier of Essential Office Support (and who happens to be my own long-time VA), we’ve included a written report plus full audio recording that show you how to find and work effectively with a virtual assistant. And it doesn’t matter what your budget, you’ll learn how to start small and leverage the time and skills of your VA to boost your profits.

**Psst…if you don’t have a VA yet, log into your membership and you’ll see a valuable offer to get some one-on-one guidance and a work done for your with a VA Starter Package. Members-only!

(Full details on the report are at the Report Club Website)

Plus, you’ll receive these…

Members-Only Perks:

The monthly Essential Biz Notes supplement is a personal letter from me including a variety of strategies and recommendations for all aspects of your online business.

This month’s topic: “Being Popular May Not  Be All That It’s Cracked Up To Be And How You Can Do BETTER Than Be Popular” ~ If you’ve ever felt envious of other people’s perceived success, this will be a real eye-opener. Forget about being popular and learn how to get the true results you want from your business instead.

Stay Accountable & Learn More at the Club Members Only Discussion Forum

It’s one thing to get the information and tools you need to build and improve your online business, taking action is quite another. That’s why we’ve the private club members discussion area is available to you. Each month, you’ll find new discussions about the monthly materials. You’ll also find opportunities to share your action plans and stay accountable to sticking with your goals.

Now, there are no more excuses for NOT taking action.

AND NEW  for All Report Club Members

We’ve just added a cool new and handy bonus entitled, “27 Surefire Ways to Build Your Mailing List“.  Print it out and keep it handy because this quick guide has tons of ideas for you to continue building your opt-in list.

What to Do Next: Sign Up & Claim Your Coupon Code

To get your first month’s membership (new members only) for only $1, be sure to enter coupon code:

freezie

Yes, the coupon code is: freezie

Click here for full details on the Sweetie Saturday Report Club.

…or…

If you’ve already made up your mind, go directly to the sign up page.

Heads Up on New Perk & Price Hike Coming

Again, if you are ALREADY a member or sign up before June 27, 2009…you’ll never pay more for your membership…as long as you keep an active club membership. However, if you do join after the deadline, you can expect to pay a bit more due to the new and upcoming monthly perk:

Announcing -> Sweet Cheat Sheets!

We’re all busy. Whether we’re working hard in our business or would rather be out and enjoying friends and family – it’s nice to have a clear and focused task list. So, no more mucking around. In addition to your monthly report, recording, biz notes and club forum access – you’ll get a monthly cheat sheet that will either:

• Show you step-by-step how to conduct a specific (yet important) task for your online business. For example, SEO, putting together a sales page, solo email, etc.
• OR…give you plenty of actionable ideas to achieve a business goal (ex. choosing topics for your mailing list, blog ideas, etc.

Over the months, your library of cheat sheets will grow, so you’ll never run out of productive things to do for your business.

I look forward to delivering that in July’s package…but for now, enjoy this month’s bonus report with “27 Surefire Ways to Build Your Mailing List”. That’ll keep you (or your VA) busy!

You know, here’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while  and have also conducted a few experiments over the past half year or so.  I was recently reminded about my curiosity and thought I’d bring it up here when I read this thread -> Force Opt-In Confirmation Before Giving Them Free Content? The respondents had some very interesting viewpoints and things to think about.

If you’re not quite sure what I’m talking about when saying “holding freebies hostage”, let me give you a fictional example (& how I imagine the average person sees the experience):

Jane visits a website that promises her a report that will show her how to improve her memory by 98%. All she has to do is enter her name and email address and instantly (that’s what the sales page says) she’ll receive her report.

Jane is very excited and thinks this website owner may finally have the answers she has been looking for poor memory. So she enters her name, email address and clicks the submit button.

Uh-oh.

Jane is taken to a new page and at the top it tells her that she will need to check her email, click on a link and confirm her request. And once all that is complete, she’ll get her report.

This doesn’t seem very instant to Jane. There are more hoops to jump through and Jane is a little perturbed because she’s in a hurry. Plus, she is requesting this report from a computer at work, so she doesn’t have access to her peronal pop3 email that she used.

But add to that, a little further down on the page…there is a full-blown sales pitch for a product that she can purchase to further improve her memory. She is told this is the ONLY time she’ll ever see this offer and she’d better act now…but Jane is a little annoyed because she hasn’t received her free report yet. How can she possibly know if this is a product worth buying, when she hasn’t even received the promised “sample”? Add to that, she’s not totally sure she trusts this guy because he hasn’t done what he promised yet and is already giving her a pitch.

Now, This IS Fictional

I realize what I’ve said is purely fictional. Not everyone reacts like that and in many cases, you may find better results by holding goodies hostage.

I also tend to agree with Ron Killian who wrote in that thread:

“Honestly I think it comes down to what you want more, or your end goal. If you want a list, you need them to confirm before they get their freebie. If you want the info to get out there to push your site/product, you might be better off giving them the freebie whether they confirm or not.”

This is exactly what we found in our experiments. We were ultimately trying to build a CUSTOMER list. Sure, it’s nice to have opt-ins too, but we didn’t want to make it hard for people to see our amazing value and take us up on our super offer. And let’s face it a small list of customers is generally more valuable than a larger list of opt-ins.

Add to that, we had affiliates promoting these offers and we wanted them to see INSTANT results. We wanted to have them promote the page and BAM! see the sales notifications coming through.

And interestingly enough, in the cases where we did this, the confirmed opt-in rate was quite high. Now, I can only speculate why, but I’m guessing that we gave them confidence that we deliver on our promises, gave them QUALITY stuff and they were willing to confirm that they wanted more.

I think numbers are important (i.e. total sales, how much your list grows, etc.), but it’s also important to take a step back and walk through your process to see how your potential customer experiences it. From beginning to end, we want to people to be pleased with their experience, so they’ll keep on buying stuff, don’t we?