Author Archive

Okay, so I did screen capture video where I chose the winner live using random.org. Unfortunately, I accidently deleted the video instead of saving it, and because I wanted to be fair to the person chosen during the video, I decided not to re-do it.

Which means I have to do a boring text post to annouce it instead ;)

And the winner is…

Gary Gray from Montague, Prince Edward Island Canada.

Gary, you need to email my assistant at mel@sweetiemarketing.com with your full name and mailing address within 7 days. If we don’t hear from you, I’ll draw another winner next Monday.

Thank you all so much for entering

Totally Free Tuesday is the unofficial “Orientation Day” for new Work at Home Moms.  The event is organized and hosted by Work at Home Moms Talk Radio host, Kelly McCausey.

I’ll be joining Kelly as her guest at 2 pm EST to talk about using PLR content in your business. If there’s one thing I have plenty of experience with, it’s creating and using PLR.

To register for this call, and all the free goodies go to: TotallyFreeTuesday.com.

Please join me, I would love to have you there :)

In an effort to de-clutter our house before we have to start packing (if we ever sell that is), I decided to tackle my office today. Well, I unearthed a copy of a book that I ordered from Amazon a few months ago. It’s in almost perfect condition, and since I’m done with it, I thought I would pass it onto someone else to benefit from.

I’m also going to throw in a gift card so the winner can enjoy a cup of coffee while reading the book

*Please note: To keep shipping costs low, you need to live in Canada or the United States to enter.

This Coffee & Book Prize Package Includes:

• Copy of “Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business”
• $5.00 Starbucks Gift Card

Here’s How to Enter:

1. Write a comment below with your full name, state/province and country stating that you’d like to enter. Please include one sentence (or more) on why you’d like to get your hands on this prize.
2. Deadline for entry is 12am EST on Sunday, August 29, 2010
3. By random draw, we’ll pick the winner and announce it on Monday August 30, 2010. You MUST claim your prize within 7 days or we will draw another winner.

Good luck!

The Internet Marketing Sweetie

Guest post by Crissy Herron

Teaching an online class can be a great way to grow your business, connect with your customers, and share the skills and knowledge you have with others.

So, how exactly does this happen? Read on for more info!

Attract New Customers

When you offer an online class, you attract new customers into your business. There are many people who would like to learn the skills you have – and that can be anything from creating great copywriting, using social media, customizing WordPress and so forth.

It’s true that you could simply offer these services, but that would only allow you to reach customers who want to hire someone to do the work for them. There is a whole market of people who want to do the work themselves, and by offering to teach them the skill, you are opening up your business to a new type of customer.

Make Connections

As you know, building relationships is one of the keys to success in doing business online. When someone goes into a local business, they can chat with the owner or clerks, and over time, they get to know them. The customer forms a connection with that business and doesn’t think about doing business elsewhere.

This effect can be hard to achieve online. However, when you offer a class, it is hard not to make a connection with the participants! While you may choose to work with them through email coaching, phone conferences, or web chats the effect is still the same.

At the end of the day, you will be working with them, coaching them, helping them to step out of their comfort zone, and teaching them a new skill. The participants will feel connected with you, and that connection will lead to a life long relationship. These people will turn into loyal, life long customers.

Earn Extra Income

Creating your own online class allows you to earn extra income in several ways. First of all, it’s a new product, so just by offering it, you are creating extra income.

As was mentioned above, offering an online class can introduce your business to new customers who may not have purchased your services in the past. So, that right there opens up a new source of extra income.

The third way that offering an online class helps you earn extra income is that it allows you to earn more per hour. For example, let’s say that you are a copywriter who charges $125 for a simple sales page, and that it takes you two hours to create it. Your average wage would be $62.50 per hour.

Now, let’s say that you are offering a 4 hour workshop where you teach copywriting. You charge $100 for the workshop and 15 people sign up. Let’s say that it takes you four hours to create the materials and, of course, four hours to deliver the classes for a total of 8 hours. If you divide that by the $1500 you earned from the class, your average hourly wage is $187.50 — which is triple the amount of writing a sales page.

Of course, this is just one example. You may charge different rates and have a different outcome. But as you can see, working with several people in a group setting will increase your income.

Creating your own online class can be very beneficial to your business – and your bottom line. Now it’s your turn to think about what you would like to teach and to get your own class started!

Would you like to learn more about holding your own online class? Crissy Herron, the author of this post, will be teaching a four week workshop that will walk you, step by step, through the process of creating your own class. By the time the workshop is over, you will be ready to enroll your own students!

Click Here for more information and to register

In case you’re not on my mailing list, (though you really should be ) I thought I would post the email that I sent out to my subscribers earlier today for you here:

====================================================

Is it just me, or do you feel like you’re moving at a snail’s
pace too?

Yeah, I guess summer does have the annoying habit of provoking
laziness in even the most dedicated of us business owners

And as nice as it would be to keep up our idle ways, you and I
both know that it’s time to shake off the fog and start planning
for the fall if we want to meet our year-end goals.

So with that in mind, I woke up Monday morning, sat down with
my coffee and indulged in a crazy brainstorming session.

A session that I want to share with you, but more on that in
just a minute.

Using a combination of pen and paper, MS Word, and mindmapping
software, I created an ACTION plan for one of my sites that
will greatly increase the current monthly over the next few
months.

And predictably, the glue holding it all together is content.

I know content. I write it, I use it to market my business,
I have memberships sites based on it. It works.

Of course everyone says it works, but what they don’t tell you
is:

-> How to come up with content ideas
-> How to create content for search engine traffic
-> How to use content to convert prospects into customers
-> How to reuse and repurpose your existing content
-> How to grow your mailing list and readership with content

You know, all the really important stuff.

So when I realized how big a part content was going to play in
my business plans this fall, I figured maybe it was time to
learn how to create a long-term content marketing plan.

Naturally, I went to Alice Seba first, to take a closer look
at her interactive content course. Mainly because I want to
be focused and I want to take action. I don’t want useless
fluff, and I don’t want to learn stuff I already know.

To be honest, I was pretty confident her course wouldn’t be
for me, but her satisfaction guarantee meant that I wouldn’t
be out anything if that turned out to be the case.

So I got in touch with Alice and asked if she could extend
the lifetime course option to me so I could check it out.

Well, she did better than that…not only did she re-activate
the lifetime access option, she also gave me a coupon for $20
off the cost – so I dug in.

And now I have to admit that I was wrong. Her course turned
out to be nothing like I expected.

For someone who knows content the way I do, I’m doing some
serious learning over here, and more importantly, applying
what she teaches to my business.

The course even includes some cool videos (loved the video on
how Alice uses her iPhone to create content and get ideas) and
tons of supplemental learning materials, like planning sheets,
swipe files, templates, etc.

Anyway, now you’re probably wondering what the heck happened
to the brainstorming session I was talking about, so here it
is…

Remember how I said that content was the glue that held my
brainstorm together?

Well, the way I see it, handing over my personal brainstorm
isn’t going to do you much good if you struggle with content.
So here’s what I want to do…

I want you to join me as a content marketing student and we’ll
work side-by-side.

Sign up for just $1.00 TODAY, and I’ll send you a copy of my
business brainstorm mindmap next week.

Go here to get signed up (clear your cookies first):

http://internetmarketingsweetie.com/content-marketing.html

Then send a copy of your receipt to melissa @ sweetiemarketing.com
and I’ll get that to you.

*** SAVINGS & EXTRA BONUS ***

If you want to give it your all like I did, grab your lifetime
membership which gives you access to all the lessons, materials,
videos, audios, etc. for just $77.

Coupon code: sweetsweet
Expires: July 30, 2010
Discount: $20 off lifetime access

AND not only will you get a copy of my business brainstorm
mindmap, you’ll also get INSIDER ACCESS to my call with Alice
Seba this September where we’ll be talking about:

“Cashing in with Free Reports: How to Get Traffic, Build
Your List, and Make Money With Free Reports.”

Just forward a copy of your receipt to me personally at
melissa @ sweetiemarketing.com and I’ll be in touch with all
the details

Here’s that link again:
http://internetmarketingsweetie.com/content-marketing.html

Here’s to a successful and profitable fall season!

Warmly,
Melissa Ingold
The Internet Marketing Sweetie

P.S. If you already signed up, don’t worry, you’ll get access
to the call too.

I am in tears and utterly speechless by the outpouring of love, prayers and support that has been sent our way. I just can’t believe it. Thank you seems like so little after being given so much by you all.

Early death wasn’t just a possibility for Kyle, it was a reality. But we always believed that it would be a slow decline, that he would eventually require hospitalization or round the clock nursing. That we would know it was coming. That we could prepare for it as best as anyone could.

Never once did we believe that one night I would put a smiling, giggling little boy to bed and wake to never see him alive again. The horror of that moment will live with me forever. It replays over and over in my mind like some horrible, broken record. The “what ifs” tripping all over themselves in my thoughts. My emotions shift from one extreme to the next. It’s hard.

No one is ever prepared for the day they’ll have to bury their child. Just thinking about it was enough to send the denial racing back, enveloping me in its sweet rose colored arms. I couldn’t live with the clouded thoughts of loss, and now it fills my days.

In light of the fundraiser that my friend Kelly McCausey put together for my family, I know many of you may be thinking, “But isn’t she a successful online business owner, doesn’t she make good money?”

The truth is, I like to think so and I do. But that’s only part of the story.

Earlier this year we made the decision to sell our house, and move back to our hometown to be among friends and family again. Raising a special needs child is both physically and mentally exhausting. The constant care, the medical appointments, and the stress and fear of what’s to come can drown you. And when you live in a city where you have no friends or family to support you, you start to lose yourself.

And so, 2 weeks before Kyle passed away, we found the perfect house and signed a contract to buy it. A week later we put our house up for sale. With our savings and my income for the next little while tied up to make this happen - Kyle passed away, adding yet another financial obligation to the pile – a hefty funeral bill.

I can honestly say that if we could get out of our house buying/selling contracts, I wouldn’t do it. I can’t sleep in my bedroom anymore, where Kyle’s crib was and where he died while I was sleeping. This house is where we’ve spent the last 2 years fighting and hurting for Kyle. We need to get out. It hurts too much to stay.

And it’s you, all of you, who are making it possible for us to continue moving forward. To get back on our feet through your generous donations. To ease the pain of our loss with your heartfelt thoughts and prayers.

So you can see why saying a simple thank you will never feel like enough.

From my heart to yours,

Over the years, while helping website owners improve their website copy, I’ve seen a lot of copy. Some was great, some pretty good, some mediocre and I’m sorry to say…some pretty bad. In this journey of helping people improve their online marketing messages, I’ve come to see that many people make a lot of the same mistakes over and over again.

So I wanted to share my 7-page guide with you to help you cut your learning curve and eliminate those mistakes that are so easy to make.

CLICK HERE to download your FREE copy of my guide to uncover the common copy mistakes.

My life has been so nuts lately that it feels like my business is growing dusty and I’m missing out on great opportunities.

Do you ever feel like this?

I would love to hear about your own experience and how you manage it all. Please share your story with me in the comment section.