TestedTough.com Home Business Journal: April 2007

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.Testedtough.com/Profit.html

If you are going to become a successful affiliate on the
Internet, you need 3 "intangibles." These are things that
must come from WITHIN you.

===> Intangible 1 <===

First, you must have a strong WHY.

Why must you make affiliate marketing work? What is driving
you? What is it that you CAN'T have in your life anymore
and/or what is it that you absolutely MUST HAVE now?

For me, I couldn't stand working 12+ hours a day anymore
and missing the experience of my children growing up. I also
absolutely HAD TO HAVE the freedom of being able to control
my life and finances through a little box that I could carry
with me anywhere in the world and not be tied to anyone's
time pressures or demands but my own. That was my carrot and
my stick. I felt a great pain deep in my gut of missing out
on my children's lives and the incredible freedom that
succeeding in this business would provide for me. I found my
why. You MUST find yours.

===> Intangible 2 <===

You must BELIEVE that it is possible.

If you don't believe that it's POSSIBLE for you to make
money with affiliate programs or make your living on the
Internet, you won't. It's that simple.

For me, figuring out that it was possible was just a matter
of realizing that many other people were ALREADY making
great money online. If they could do it, I could too. It
would just be a matter of figuring out what those people
were doing and then adapting it to my situation.

There is no shortage of undeniable PROOF that people
(millions of them) are making money online with affiliate
programs. Just get online and do some research and you'll
find countless testimonials and stories of REAL PEOPLE
making real money on the Internet. Or head to your local
bookstore and you'll find the same documented evidence of
this fact. Truth is, it's getting easier and easier to make
money online with affiliate programs.

I've always said that "affiliate marketing" is the job of
the future. In the "old" days, you had to go to a
potential employer, apply for the position and hope for the
best. Now you can simply go to any company you want, fill
out their affiliate application and start work immediately.
Affiliates are the new working class. Believe me, making
money with affiliate programs or making your living on the
Internet is WAY MORE than possible. It is pretty much (or
will be soon enough) unavoidable now. Affiliate marketing is
the "job" of the future that's already here TODAY.

===> Intangible 3 <===

You must be willing to MAKE THE LEAP.

Ready, FIRE, then aim... This is the operating philosophy
you MUST adopt to succeed with affiliate marketing.

That's backwards for most people who like to aim before
they fire. The fact is the Internet is a moving target...
The only thing constant about it is change. You need to stop
analyzing the game and simply jump into it. You can't learn
from the outside... You have to be IN THE RING to truly
understand it.

The lesson here is that you will never really be READY to
start an affiliate marketing business. You simply have to
start one. This is what I call "Making the Leap."

The good news is that the cost of failure on the Internet is
very small. In the "brick and mortar" world you need to
evaluate things very carefully before you decide to open up
a business. It's almost always necessary to invest
thousands of dollars to get an offline business off the
ground. However, on the Internet you can often start a
successful business for less than $100. The Plug-In Profit
Site is a great example of this:
http://www.Testedtough.com/Profit.html

You simply need get IN THE GAME... Each moment that you stay
"out there," you're wasting valuable time that you could
be learning and skills necessary to become a successful
affiliate marketer. In fact, if you're not in the game yet,
you're ALREADY behind the times. Make the leap to becoming
a successful affiliate marketer today!

About the Author:

Stone Evans helps ordinary people all over the world make
money online with affiliate programs. If you can follow 3
easy steps, you can get your own custom website,
autoresponder (email follow-up software) and pre-written
email marketing campaign professionally designed and
installed and ready to pull in profits for you in 24 hours
or less! See details at: http://www.Testedtough.com/Profit.html

Note: You have permission to reprint this article in it's
entirety in your newsletter or blog. Also please feel free
to pass it along to others who you think would enjoy it.

Create a shortcut to YOUR Internet marketing

Business plan... and your future success!

The IMC office is buzzing! Every few minutes it seems like another suitcase gets wheeled past my office door as my team of experts heads out on our biggest workshop tour yet.

My team will be spending the next two-and-a-half months doing what they love best — interacting with YOU in person at our Internet Wealth Building Workshops around the US and Canada.

And it's your enthusiasm and sheer determination to succeed that keeps me adding dates — and new speakers — to our schedule all the time.

Seeing everybody getting ready for the road reminded me of one of the most common questions I get asked at my seminars: "What's the fastest way to make money on the Internet?"

People are looking for a shortcut, and I can't blame them. There's a mountain of information out there! How do you separate the good stuff from the hype? How do you decide what you need to know at what stage? How do you decide which strategies will work for your business?

A shortcut would be helpful. But to me a shortcut means cutting corners, which is no way to start or run a successful business.

In fact, the fastest way to build a business on the Internet is the step-by-step method that we've tested and seen working for our clients time and time again:

Find a niche market

Find a product to serve that market

Set up a great sales process

Create backend products so you can KEEP selling to the same people!

But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, there IS a shortcut — one that doesn't involve cutting corners.

And, as so often happens in life, the answer had been staring me in the face all along!

The ONLY "shortcut" to success

Our free Internet Wealth-Building Workshops ARE the shortcut!

There's one thing that keeps getting in the way of starting a business. It's called life! Day jobs, kids, school, house and yard work... they occupy our thoughts each and every day.

But these workshops give you the opportunity to take time out of your busy life to focus exclusively on your business for two whole days. They're an intensive crash course that will take you through all the steps of how to start and run an e-business.

No interruptions. No distractions.

Just like-minded people learning absolutely everything they need to know about building a successful online business... and coming out with a solid Internet marketing business plan.

We built these workshops on the comments and questions we've received from clients and attendees, and they're designed to help people at all stages of building a business:

If you're just starting out, and you're overwhelmed at amount of information to absorb, you may need help figuring out where and how to start.

If you've been dabbling awhile but without success, you may be wondering where to go from here.

If you've been disappointed at the promises of cookie-cutter online business schemes, you may be wondering if it really IS possible to start a real business on the Internet.

If you've already got a business, you might be looking for a tune-up —some new strategies, extra motivation, or a look at the basics with fresh eyes.

So here are some tips on how to get the most out of the Internet Wealth-Building Workshops, if you choose to join us... and some pearls of wisdom we've picked up ourselves from all the workshops we've done in the last year!

Understand the basics to build a solid business, or revisit them to pump up an established business

Starting and growing a business on the Internet is like drinking from a fire hose. It's too much all at once! In fact, I've even been told that when I speak I tend to throw out a ton of information faster than people can write it down. (Hey, I don't want to leave anything out!)

But the most important thing is to get an understanding of the fundamentals. A "big picture" understanding is vital, because there are so many details and so many different areas where you could put your energy… and waste your time, if you don't know what you're doing!

For instance, I can't tell you how many times I've talked to people who have come to our workshops trying to find "the hot product to sell."

They're thinking, "If I have a hot product, it'll sell." Sounds reasonable, right?

But I can guarantee if they start their online business from that point, they'll likely fail. In Internet marketing, you start by locating a hungry market, THEN finding a product.

Mistakes like that are easy to make if you're in startup mode.

So if you're just starting, pay attention to the basics… like how to narrow your market to a particular niche and build your marketing plan around their wants and needs. These initial steps will guarantee a strong e-business... or several.

And if you already have a product?

Well, you STILL need to make sure you've defined the market you're selling to. Make sure you're using tools like Wordtracker to find specialized markets that you could sell to by looking at the "keywords" or search terms people use when they're searching online.

In fact, one of the most common things I find myself saying to the most experienced marketers I meet at our workshops is "Don't ignore the basics!"

And in the end, they usually have a "lightbulb" moment. They pick up on one key thing they've let slide and refocus on addressing the basics to get their site in tip-top shape.

My best advice to all online marketers is focus on one thing at a time, do it well, then go on to the next strategy. That way you won't get overwhelmed but you'll be sure to cover all the basics.

So if you do attend one of our workshops, you'll want to bring a pen with a foam grip... you'll be taking a lot of notes!

But the most important thing is to take ACTION on those notes when you get home.

Don't try to reinvent the wheel... learn from other people's successes — and their mistakes!

One of my favorite parts of our workshops is our onstage website makeovers, because people really get involved.

Our attendees love looking at the original site and spotting the things that are wrong with it. Then when they see the "Big Reveal" they know how each change improves the site's potential to make money… and I can see the lights go on above people's heads as they start making mental changes to their OWN sites.

One of my favorite makeovers we've done was on a site that sells granite countertops. Yes, that's right. Granite countertops! The biggest problem this site had was that if anybody was interested in getting a quote, or even asking for information, they had to fill in a complicated form that asked a lot of technical questions about what they werelooking for.

Hey — I don't KNOW what I'm looking for. That's why I'm asking YOU!

This is such an important lesson for ALL online entrepreneurs.

First, make your order form dead-simple. Second, and more important, write every word on your website for your potential clients, not for you!

When you take lessons like this and learn from the mistakes other entrepreneurs have already had to deal with, you can save yourself a lot of pain!

Use your goals — and these tips! — to create an action plan

One thing I tell all my customers over and over is that to see ANY results you have to take ACTION. And a great way to inspire yourself to get moving is to create a solid action plan. Once you know what you need to take action on in your Internet business, it's much easier to DO it.

I always chuckle when people at our workshops get so excited about the all the strategies they've learned that they want to implement them all. I always recommend that they don't. In fact, it's CRITICAL that you NARROW your focus.

Decide on three main goals you want to achieve with your business — three areas that you want to improve or get started on. If you go in with a plan, you'll find the three key areas where you can take action immediately with your business.

If you're just getting started with your online business, your critical areas might be:

Learning how to find a niche market and product to supply that market

Understanding how to write compelling salescopy

Building a website

Or maybe you've already mastered those areas, but you're just not getting the traffic numbers you need to really beef up your sales. If that's you, you could focus on:

Getting better rankings in the search engines

Generating more traffic

Learning the ins and outs of email marketing

Or maybe you're well established, but are looking for new ideas for your business. You might decide to focus on three advanced strategies:

Starting an affiliate program

Developing follow-up products

Discovering one new, little-known strategy to give you an edge on the competition

By narrowing your focus this way, you'll have a much clearer idea what you need to do.

And remember, you don't have to do everything all at once… or ever! Even implementing one or two of the most basic strategies can bring amazing results.

One of my favorite examples is Bert Ingley, a very successful marketer who's been to many of our workshops. After one of them, he realized that he'd never taken our advice about experimenting with different prices for your product to see which price brings in the highest profits.

Bert ran the experiment for one of his eBooks and wound up boosting his profit margin for that book before he even left the workshop. And it didn't cost him a cent!

Many people come back to our workshops over and over, knowing that as ideas fall into place, and as they build their business, they'll always pick up some new nuggets of information.

And since they focus on implementing only a few strategies at a time and taking ACTION, they almost always come back and report incredible results!

Take advantage of expert advice wherever you can!

Having a one-on-one conversation with an online marketing expert is an opportunity to get specific advice from someone who's already been there and done that, so they can tell you exactly what works — and what doesn't — based on their own real-life experience.

That's why I send members of my staff to every workshop to talk to our attendees. They absolutely LOVE getting to help our clients in-person, one-on-one, plus they always pick up a few new ideas from our successful clients, too. Hey, learning is a two-way street! ;-)

Peter Nobes — one of our clients — had a short conversation at a workshop with one of our expert mentors about his lack of success with Google AdWords, which places his ads on relevant sites.

Peter learned these key strategies:

Only use one keyword per ad

Place the keyword in the ad's title, its description, AND the displayed URL

He made a few tweaks to his ad — and saw results the same day!

In fact, he told us:

"I checked by daily sales tonight after getting home from the Vancouver workshop and registered my first sale. I jumped about 10 feet in the air! Your advice made an immediate difference, and I'm on my way."

Expert advice is incredibly valuable, so if you are thinking of coming to one of our workshops, make note of any questions you already have ahead of time so you can get the help you need from my expert staff.

Network your way to a set of new business partners — and some GREAT opportunities!

One of the most gratifying things we see at our seminars is people with related businesses coming together and sharing information.

Networking at seminars and events with like-minded business people offers tremendous growth opportunities for your business. You can meet people you might not otherwise come into contact with, and create partnerships that can take your business to new levels.

Whether you're a complete newbie to the online world or an established, successful business, you can benefit from combining your skills with people you meet to create new products or services, and to share resources to build something new.

So here are some great networking tips for our workshops or any other events you might attend:

Wear your name tag on your right side to provide an easy sight line to your name when shaking hands. And be sure to introduce yourself! Say your name clearly: "Hello, my name is Jane Smith. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Describe who you are or what you do in 10 seconds or less, offer a business card, and ask the other person for one of his or hers. And remember: Always keep your business cards handy, but don't deal them out impersonally.

Sit and listen to learn. Start the conversation by asking questions: Why people are there, what they hope to gain, how they found out about the event. Avoid monopolizing the conversation.

Don't stay too long in one place. After eight or 10 minutes, excuse yourself politely and move on to meet other attendees.

Once the event is over, your networking doesn't stop! Be sure to follow up with people you've met, keep in contact, share information and offer to help in any way you can. It's a great touch to send a written acknowledgement or "Thank You" note to your networking contacts, too.

Remember, the most important part of networking is to treat it as an exchange of ideas, information, and experience.

Be generous in sharing your talents and knowledge, and always be respectful of those around you. You can easily generate thousands in increased sales by getting a second opinion from a seasoned Internet business owner!

Final thoughts

If you're looking to build a serious online business that will provide LASTING profits, our free Internet Wealth-Building Workshops are the only "shortcut" I'd recommend.

You can:

concentrate on one thing only: your business

absorb the fundamentals of doing business successfully on the Internet

discover core tools and techniques that will save you time and money

learn how to use advanced strategies that have the potential to blast your online income to new heights

get custom advice from IMC experts

network with other online entrepreneurs

And you'll do it all in two full days of intensive information that will lead you to your Internet marketing business plan.

I hope the sneak peek I've given you in this newsletter has inspired you to take ACTION — whether that action is coming to a workshop, or just setting some concrete goals for your business. No matter what, keep us posted on your success.

And if my team is coming to a location near you, we'd love to see you there.

Get FREE Tickets to My Exclusive Wealth-Building Workshop or Coming Soon to YOUR City!

Join my team of experts at a FREE inspirational two-day workshop — coming soon to YOUR city — and discover how to make an extra $8,750 – $12,500 per month in as little as 10 hours per week!

For two full days in each of the cities listed below, my IMC team will speak live on stage, giving away the exact step-by-step blueprint you need to grow a lucrative Internet business...

... Using the most current, most advanced Internet marketing secrets, strategies, and technologies that we've used to generate over $60,000,000 in online sales.

There's no catch... your tickets are 100% FREE!

You can meet my Internet marketing team in:

Atlanta, GA — Jan 27 & 28 (click here to learn more)

St. Louis, MO — Feb 10 & 11 (click here to learn more)

Orlando, FL — Feb 17 & 18 (click here to learn more)

Boston, MA — Feb 24 & 25 (click here to learn more)

... And check with http://www.marketingtips.com/ for details on upcoming events across the US and Canada!

Or, if you're an active eBay seller — or hoping to become one...

You can meet my "Secret Weapon" at one of the following special eBay workshops...

... where this eBay expert will reveal how you can add $4,000 – $7,500+ to your weekly income using the world's #1 auction website!

You can reserve a seat for a free day of eBay brainstorming in one of the following cities:

New York, NY — Feb 10 (click here to learn more)

Boston, MA — Feb 11 (click here to learn more)

Inside the Internet Entrepreneur Club Forum

As you know, we recently created our Internet Entrepreneur Club. And even though the club is still in its early days, there are already so many great questions and discussions going on in the club members' forum that we just had to share some of them with you!

Here's a particularly good question posted by one of our members in the forum — and the response from one of our in-house experts...

***

This issue's question comes from club member Dave:

Hi Guys

When you come across keywords that are generating traffic but not sales, on Google PPC... Can I make ads to suit the general keywords.

Example keyword = Hair straighteners

Ad:

Hair Straighteners

SCP'S Tourmaline £34.95 (Brand/type/price)

Next Day Delivery

www.hair-connection.co.uk

I have some keywords that are very specific (i.e., include the brand name) and are not converting (although other very similar search terms are converting brilliantly). Is it worth keeping hold of these or just getting rid of them from the campaign?

Is there a particular conversion rate where beyond this you would delete the keyword from the campaign?

E.g., [hair straighteners] has a click-through rate of 5.32% and has conversion rate of 2.57% and is costing me £12.19, which is slightly higher than I'd like but still works in terms of profits.

Thanks in advance

Dave

And the answer from Jennifer, one of IMC's top marketing specialists:

Hi David,

To answer your questions:

#1... Yes, you can test writing more specific ads for your general keywords. You're right-- in theory this will drive more qualified traffic. However, you'll have to test it. Hint: make sure you're using keywords that your audience is searching. For example, in the case you mention, are you sure they're searching "SCP's"?

#2... If the keyword isn't converting, dump it. (UNLESS, you can figure out why it's not converting and make a simple tweak to your website that'll fix this. For example, are the brand names that are converting mentioned in the first 2 pages of your copy, while maybe the other brand names aren't?)

#3... Regarding the conversion rate, this is pretty personal. If you are satisfied with the profit you're making by bidding on a particular keyword, keep it. If you're not, dump it. Some businesses will actually take a LOSS on the front end of a PPC campaign, if they're got a superb backend marketing campaign in place. I do NOT recommend doing this when you're new to online business. It's a sure recipe for disaster. But it just goes to show, what's right for one business may NOT be right for yours.

Hope this helps!

Jennifer

***

If you're looking for the hottest, most up-to-the-minute information on EVERY area of the fast-paced Internet marketing world, connect with our massive team of experts TODAY!

For everything you need to know to get started, just click here!

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet businesses that make $100,000 to $2.5 Million (or more) per year. To get instant access to all his most profitable marketing campaigns, strategies, tools, and resources that he's used to grow $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: http://www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.html

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

TestedTough.com Home Business Journal

Friday, April 27, 2007

Make the Leap to Affiliate Marketing Success

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Internet Marketing Secrets

Create a shortcut to YOUR Internet marketing

Business plan... and your future success!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

2006 - 2007 "Online Marketer Of The Year"

Dare To Have Multiple Income Streams Generating A Successful Profit

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