Archive for the ‘Beginner & Biz Idea Questions’ Category

Guest post by Angela Wills of MarketersMojo.com

As I started thinking about what to write for the Internet Marketing Sweetie blog I began thinking about what I needed to do to write a great guest blog post. Then it came to me: A guest blog post about the topic of guest blogging!

Not only do you want to guest blog for more traffic and exposure, you want to do it so well that you get invited back again and again.

7 Tips to Write Guest Blog Posts That Have Them Begging For More:

1. Know Who You’re Writing For – There’s nothing worse than a guest blogger who doesn’t understand the audience they’re writing for. If you’re not already a reader of the blog you’re guest blogging for do your homework and start reading a dozen or so posts plus comments. You could also ask the blog author who their target market is to get straight to the point.

2. Write What You Know – One of my favorite writing tips is writing about what you know. When you write from experience you won’t struggle with what to say. Just let the content flow from your fingers without censoring and edit it later.

3. Write From The Heart – I have a report called ‘Market From The HEART’ where I talk about infusing your personality into your business. When you write guest posts you have the opportunity to let a whole new audience get to know you – make sure you use that opportunity to shine through with the ‘real’ you!

4. Write on Topic – Before you write your guest post, check the blog categories to make sure you are on topic. If the blog has a tag cloud or popular posts section check that too to find out what the readers really respond to. Another tip for figuring out popular site topics is to use the Google Analytics Keyword Search Tool (link: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) and use the ‘website content’ function to find relevant keyword phrases based on the website content. Here’s a screenshot:

5. Link to Relevant Posts – If you want the blog author to appreciate your post even more, relate to other relevant posts within the blog or other materials created by the author (such as products, services or programs). For example, in the roundtable contribution I wrote yesterday (link http://www.internetmarketingsweetie.com/blog/roundtable-chat-affiliate-marketing-tips) I referenced a product of Melissa’s.

6. Set Your Post Up For Success – Ideally you want to generate traffic for the blog. Therefore, you need to do what you can to set the post up for maximum results. That would include doing keyword research, linking from your blog, emailing your list, tweeting or adding a link to your facebook account. If your blog post generates more readers, comments and/or traffic you’re much more likely to be invited back again and again.

7. Join The Conversation – Your guest blog post doesn’t end after you submit the initial piece. Many popular blogs get a number of comments. You’ll want to join in the conversation going on by posting replies and comments on your own post.

So you’ve written a great blog post and followed these steps to make sure it’s killer. What’s next? Don’t leave your new readers hanging. Let them know where they can find out more about you and your business. You could invite them to come read your blog, sign up for your RSS feed, download a free report or anything else that will add great value.

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With that being said I want to invite you to learn more about how to ‘Market From the HEART’. I’ve written a short but powerful report that covers how to be you, be honest, be ethical all while making a great living on the internet. Here’s where you can grab the report for instant download by entering your name and email: http://www.MarketersMojo.com

Love Your Business and Your Life,
Angela Wills

I received a question from one of my readers that I’d like to answer today.

Andre Arnett said:

“Hi Melissa, One of the biggest problems I have is when I get people through my squeeze pages setting up emails to send out. Any suggestions on what to send them. I use your Special Report emails but there are only 5 in there so what do I send out after they are used up? Thanks, Andre Arnett.”

This is something that we all struggle with at one time or another, and it’s completely normal to feel like you just don’t have anything to say. With that said, sending an email to your list once or twice a week is really important in order to maintain your relationship with them. Even if it’s just a quick note letting them know what you’re up to.

Think of your subscribers as friends. The more you stay in touch with them, the more your relationship grows. But when contact with your friend slows, or stops altogether then you grow apart and your friend moves on. And sometimes, after an extended period, they no longer welcome your contact because they just don’t know you anymore.

Treat your reader as you would a good friend. In how you write your emails, how often you send them, to the products you recommend to them. Do that, and the whole process becomes easy. This should be you thinking -> “Hey, I just wrote a great blog post. I’ll email my friend about it”. 

Now, of course I couldn’t end this blog post without giving you some ideas on what to send your subscribers Andre, so here you go…

Stuff You Can Send Out:

-> Articles: You can put articles inside your email or link to articles on your website. For monetization, your articles can include links to relevant products, bylines can include promotional links and if you send readers to a website to read the article, you can include Adsense ads and other possible monetization.

-> Blog Posts: If you’ve made an interesting or helpful blog post, invite your subscribers to read it, leave commentary and ask questions. I like to send readers to my blog to engage them in discussions that benefit all my readers and to make my subscribers feel like they’re involved. You can monetize blog posts much the same way you do articles.

-> Reports / Ebooks – Not everything has to be for sale. In fact, giving away free and helpful information can be an incredible sales tool. You can include product promos at the beginning of your report/ebook, at the end and definitely in context, where appropriate.

It doesn’t matter if you sell info products, consumer products or are an affiliate marketer, informing and teaching people is an excellent sales tool.

For example, if you sell cameras and camera accessories, you can giveaway a guide on digital photography. You can talk about different camera features, make recommendations for certain types of photography. If your guide includes information on editing, talk about software recommendations. Be sure to recommend printers and paper as well, if applicable.

-> Workbooks/Worksheets – Provide your readers something useful and practical like a workbook. For example, if you provide homeschool lessons, add a practical workbook to boost the value. You could also offer a workbook as a bonus to anyone who purchases a course/information product through your affiliate link. It’s just something relatively easy to make and taking the time can produce great results.

You can promote other products at the beginning of the workbook (as an introduction), in the page footers and at the end of the workbook. In addition, if product links are appropriate with certain sections/questions, put them in.

-> Checklists: Checklists are not only handy for your readers, but they’re something they’ll print out and use frequently if they find them valuable. Make a useful checklist with a product/website promo, so they’ll see it each time they refer to your checklist.

For example, if you sell a environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies, make a household cleaning checklist.

-> Audios / Podcasts: Audios are a great way for your readers to take your info and marketing messages on the go. Many will listen right on their computer, but others will load it to their iPod or even burn it to aCD. Encourage your readers to consume the content in the way they are most comfortable.

Audios and podcasts can be entertaining, informative or a combination of both. The best part is they can be used to recommend/sell a variety of products. Be sure to use memorable URLs as your listeners will have to type them in and give them a downloadable info sheet that includes any URLs mentioned.

-> Live Teleseminars / Webinars: Much like a recorded audio, live telseminars are also very useful. Being live also often makes it easier to build up excitement and get your listeners to take immediate action on an offer. An element of interactivity is also added if you allow listeners to ask questions.

-> Live Streaming or Recorded Video: With increasing broadband speeds, video is much more accessible than it was a few years ago. It’s a great way to add a visual element to what was previously limited to audio. You can use various software programs to get video onto your website or you can use services like YouTube.com to post recorded video or Justin.TV to stream live. You can talk about products in your video, include a watermark on your videos for promotion, etc.

-> Screen Capture Video: A little different than live-action video, screen capture video allows you to demonstrate things on a computer. Whether it’s to show how to use a particular website, some software or demonstrate a membership site, there are many possibilities for screen capture video.

-> Transcripts: Realize that not all your readers will be able to or will want to watch video or listen to audio. You can provide transcripts or notes on the broadcasts to people who prefer to read.

-> Comment on news / blog posts: Instead of completely coming up with your own topics and content, you can piggy-back on what’s going on in the news or on other blogs and share your own viewpoints and commentary. Your readers will appreciate your perspective.

-> Patterns, Flowcharts, Spreadsheets: Provide all kinds of practical tools for your readers. What you provide will depend on your topic and products you’re promoting, but do think outside the box.

I hope that helps!

P.S. If you have a question you would like me to answer, I would love to hear it! Submit Your Question.

Flickr is an online digital photo sharing site, which has become a great place for professional photographers to showcase their work.

If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s a step-by-step guide to uploading your digital photos on Flickr.

(Note: This describes the basic steps to upload your pictures in Flickr, without using the uploader tools for PC and Mac.)

1. Get a Flickr account. If you already have a Yahoo! account, then all you need to do is sign in using your Yahoo! ID and password.

2. From your flickr homepage, click on the “Upload Photos & Video” button.

3. Click on “Choose photos and videos”

4. Select the file you want to upload. You upload more than one picture, by clicking “Add More”

5. Choose the privacy settings you want (private or public). Then click the “Upload Photos and Videos” button.

6. A progress bar will let you know how the upload is going. When it’s done, you will see, “Finished! Next: add a description, perhaps? Click on the link if you’d like to add a description.

7. From this window, you can do several things: add a description, add tags, save the photo to a set (or create a new set, if you like). You can also change the privacy settings of the picture.

8. If you’re satisfied with everything, click on “Save”. You can go back and change any of the settings, and even delete and reorganize photos later.

Wasn’t that easy? Now you can show off your best photos to the world. You could even have your photos used in websites and other materials – that is, if you want them to.

If you’d like to take digital photographs worthy of being displayed, shared and spread all over the Internet, check out “Shoot Digital Pics Like the Pros.” It’s a free report with plenty of tips for taking digital picture you’ll be proud of.

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.

The other day, I ran into a friend who was distraught because she had just been laid off. Her husband had recently taken a pay cut and was afraid of losing his job any day. They have mortgage payments to make, 3 children to raise… you know the rest of the story.

Now I knew that this lady had been working as an office assistant in a construction company. Her eyes lit up as I gently suggested that she explore working at home as an virtual assistant. Of course, she had a lot of questions and rightfully so. It’s no joke to venture into a home business after years of employment.

Since this situation is becoming more and more common with the current economic downturn, I thought I’d share the questions my friend asked and some quick answers to them:

What is a virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant or VA is a self-employed, home-based entrepreneur who assists other businesses, often in administrative work. In other words, a VA is an office assistant who never has to step into her client’s office! In addition, most business owners have particular tasks that they will turn over to their virtual assistants, and these can go beyond basic office or business administration.

What skills do I need to become a VA?

The basic skills a VA needs are office and business administration skills. A VA also needs to be highly organized, communicate effectively and pay careful attention to detail. Some clients look for additional technical skills, such as writing, marketing, social media, blog or website maintenance, and multimedia production – even podcasting!

The skill set you’ll need as a VA depends on the type of clients you want to work with. Find out what they NEED and build your skills to respond effectively.

What kinds of work does a VA do?

VAs commonly do office-related stuff, such as:

- responding to emails
- making travel arrangements
- sending out faxes
- researching and compiling information
- business writing
- typing up notes or transcribing audios

In addition, VAs nowadays are often expected to be able to:

- write and publish or schedule blog posts
- work with autoresponders
- rewrite private label rights content
- optimize a website for search engines
- create a slideshow presentation
- update websites
- set up social networking profiles/pages
- create videos and publish them online

Is being a VA a good option for Women?

Oh yes! A lot of work at home moms and women I know are VAs and they make good incomes from the comfort of their home, without having to leave their children in the care of others. Virtual assistance is a home business, which means it’s flexible. You decide how many hours a day you want to work, on which days, what type of work you want to do, and even whom you will work with.

On the other hand, if you have small children, remember that occasionally you will need to be on the phone or webchat with a client, supplier or other associate. In this case you’ll need somebody else looking after your small children so you can have some quiet and be able to focus on the call or chat.
How much money can I make as a VA?

The hourly rate of VAs depends on several factors. These include their skills and experience, whether they specialize in certain services or a particular industry, and any certifications they may have (those who are certified by recognized institutions charge higher fees). VAs’ fees vary widely, ranging anywhere from around $15 to $70 per hour. So you can see, it’s entirely possible for a VA to make a full-time income working at home.

Ok, I’m interested. Where do I begin?

You can try and figure everything out yourself, of course. But better yet, get the guidance of experienced VAs who have successful virtual assistance businesses. Two such VAs are Jen and Nell ____ who have a combined experience of over 5 years in virtual assistance. They share their success stories and step-by-step tips in the Just Add Sweat Guide To Becoming A Virtual Assistant.

The guide includes:

- an audio course on everything from setting up your VA business, to marketing your services and finding and keeping clients
- a workbook to get you into action
- 5 videos teaching essential Internet skills
- and more.

This is the guide that will get your VA business up and running in no time. Who knows? Becoming a virtual assistant may be the next perfect “job” for you.

If you’ve got a knack for photography and want to earn money by selling your photos online, this is a very useful 20 page report you can download for free.

It will show you how you can make money, where to sell your photos and tips for taking photos that will sell well.

Click here to get yours.

When the job market is scarce, that means more people will be coming up with their own ways to earn money…and many will want to offer their services as a Virtual Assistant.

If you’re looking to start your own virtual assistant business, but aren’t sure what types of services you should specialize in, here is a handy brainstorming sheet that includes 103 Virtual Assistant Service Ideas.

Now, of course you don’t have to provide all the services, but you may see some ideas you’ve never thought of.

Click here to download yours (zip folder with 2 PDF docs inside)

AND BONUS USE OF THESE IDEAS: If you’re a business owner wondering how you can use a VA, grab the zip folder too…you’ll see TONS of things you can take off your plate and give to your assistant.

If you are worried about your business finances, have troubles paying your bills each month and barely have anything left for a paycheck of your own, here is a free guide to help you begin your own “Small Business Turnaround”.

A Small Business Turnaround is the process of reorganizing your business so it’s profitable, you’re able to pay bills when they are due and you can also earn a decent living for yourself.

This starter guide Small Business Turnaround: A Roadmap for Owners (PDF) includes practical guidance to help you start turning things around right away. The guide was put together by Van Lanier, a veteran Turnaround specialist whose been helping businesses become profitable again since 1977.

Download yours: Click here.

(If you’re interested in sharing the report with others, republishing information is inside)