ProBizTips Newsletter
** ISSUE #285 **

Tuesday, June 15th, 2004

Uh-oh. Did you lose money again last week?

A Word From Diane

ProBizTips Mid-Sponsors

ProBizTips Feature Article
5 Top Tips For Attracting Targeted Traffic

Ask Me Anything
Answers For Sherri Miller

ProBizTips Guest Article
6 Tips To Improve Your Business Website

ProBizTips Pick of the Week
Desktop Companion for eBay

ProBizTips Business Tidbit
Ways To Let Your Content Do The Marketing

Discount Mania

Weekly F*R*E*E*B*I*E
The Nitpicker's Guide: Punctuation Power

Leaving With a Laugh

Uh-oh. Did you lose money again last week?

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Learn it for nothing, and get paid to use it. Go here now
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http://www.rad4.com/4u/sansallis/index.html

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Hey!

Good Day to you and I hope your day is going well so far! :)
Welcome to all our new subscribers this week and I hope you grow
to love us as so many have... we couldn't do this without you!

As you can see -- I'm going to change back to Tuesdays for awhile. Mondays are hectic for me (as I'm sure they are for a lot of you, too)... we'll see how it goes.

How is everyone's summer going? I'm telling you, it is *HOT* here in Arkansas! I played golf this weekend in a ladies Scramble Tournament (my team WON!) and it was toasty!

On another note -- if you live in the U.S., I'm sure many of you watched President Reagan's funeral services and ceremonies last week. I'm willing to bet those of you in other countries heard about it all, too. It really made me sad -- I guess because President Reagan was the first President I remember (I was 5 when he was inaugurated)... and he was my favorite President.

I followed all the ceremonies and tributes (sometimes there was nothing else to watch) and realized that there was a lot to learn from that man. He was always smiling (I don't think I ever remember him scowling) and he had such an optimistic look on life. He had done a lot for this country and the world, but he also touched many single souls with his optimism and faith.

President Reagan started out as a poor boy in Illinois -- became a successful actor -- became a beloved Governor of California -- and then even after a failed campaign for Presidency, became one of the most loved and successful Presidents in U.S. history.

There's a lot to say about *optimism and faith*...

Sit back, relax and enjoy today's issue!

Your Friend,

Diane Hughes
ProBizTips Weekly

P.S. Just a reminder -- you can check out all the special deals,
business ventures, and the Tidbits Issues on our Online Archive.

P.S.S. Also don't forget to check out the *FORUM*... :)

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---------------------------------

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5 Top Tips For Attracting Targeted Traffic
by Steve Shaw

One of the most common needs of online business owners is traffic. Without traffic, your web site barely exists, and is unlikely to make any profit whatsoever. With traffic, you stand a much greater chance of success - but not just any traffic.

As the owner of a network of web sites receiving well over a million hits a month, in this article I give you my five top tips for increasing targeted traffic to your web site.

Newbies on the web frequently make the mistake of just wanting traffic, and join any and every program offering just that - "thousands of hits to your web site", with the vast majority of them completely worthless. When their web sites fail to make any money, many of them give up on the web as a money-making myth.

For those that do persist, and try to learn from their experience, they realize it's not just any traffic they need - it's targeted traffic. That means web site visitors who actually want to visit (rather than those who are 'forced' to visit via some traffic exchange program), and so are actually interested in what you have to offer.

This type of traffic is far more profitable to you - your visitors are far more likely to purchase from you, simply because you have what they want.

But how can you attract targeted traffic?

Here are my five top tips:

1. An Affiliate Program

This works by giving those who promote your products a commission if they make a sale. Over time you can build up an army of people who are busy promoting your web sites for you.

My own affiliates account for well over half of all my sales, and to do that, by definition they have to be pushing a lot of traffic my way.

You can begin to see what my traffic and sales levels might look like without an affiliate program.

For beginners who are selling digital products such as ebooks or software, the easiest and cheapest way to start your own affiliate program is through ClickBank. That's how I started and I still use them today.

2. Add Content

Providing quality content on your web site is an excellent way to permanently increase traffic to your web site.

Search engines like Google appear to favor web sites with a clear navigation structure that provide quality content within a certain genre - that means not adding anything you can think of to your web site, but focus on a particular niche, and provide content broadly in line with that.

You don't even have to create it all yourself. For example, look in article directories on the web for free reprint articles you can use, such as http://IdeaMarketers.com.

3. Create Content

Just as you are looking for content you can quickly add to your web site, so are thousands of other publishers. By creating content yourself, you can not only put it up on your own web site, but also provide it to others for their use with a small resource box at the end of the article with a link to your web site.

In so doing, you can have literally hundreds of web sites all linking to yours. This provides a consistent stream of targeted traffic from readers of the article who want to follow through to your web site, and also from search engines like Google, where your ranking will broadly increase in line with the number of web sites linking to you.

Hundreds of ezine publishers are also on the look out for quality content that they can publish, on a wide range of topics - if a publisher with a large mailing list chooses to publish your article, this can lead to a surge in both traffic and sales on your web site when their ezine is published. Many ezines are published online too, providing another permanent link and source of high quality traffic to your web site.

There are various courses and ebooks available online that can teach you how to effectively distribute your articles and get them published - there's also a free e-course available at http://takanomi.com/publish-articles.php that tells you nearly everything you need to know.

4. Publish An Ezine

One of the most effective ways to build a loyal base of repeat visitors for your web site is your own mailing list, whether it's an ezine that publishes regularly, or a mailing list who you occasionally mail to.

By publishing quality information in your emails, you increase your credibility, build trust with your subscribers, and encourage repeated visits to your web site.

5. Pay Per Click Engines

When you use pay-per-click engines, you are effectively paying to have a high ranking position for certain keywords, on certain search engines. If you choose your keywords carefully, the traffic is highly targeted - the trick is to ensure you are not paying more per click than each visitor is worth.

To do this effectively requires some careful tracking of the visitors that arrive at your site from your keyword placements, but done correctly, the end result is net profit for you.

The main pay-per-click engines are Google Adwords and Overture - with Google, your ads are displayed within minutes; with Overture, it can take a few hours to a few days to have your ads approved and displayed.

I personally use all of the above methods to attract targeted traffic to my web site - of course, that's not the end of the road in terms of web site profitability. You then need to ensure that a proportion of this targeted traffic converts into paying customers. Once you've mastered this too, you are well on your way to online success.

---------------------------------

Steve Shaw creates software and systems for effective
e-marketing. His software at http://popupmaster.com allows
you to add unblockable popups to your web site quickly and
easily, specifically designed to sign up subscribers to
your mailing list, and fast.

Add popular internet marketing and online business
content to your website with just a snippet of code!

If you like my articles and the other great articles
I use, add them to your site for F.REE! This is GREAT
for repeat traffic and search engine listings for content!

http://www.probiztips.com/syndicate.html

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Opportunity??
http://www.opportunity.com

What kind of "go ahead" if any, would you give this? Knowing that the key to marketing is YOUR OWN marketing list, yet I don't have one. Not one person except for the spammers. Spam them back? No, not gonna do it.

Thanks for your time -- Sherri

-------------

Hi, Sherri!

This is actually a tough question. Any type of network marketing opportunity like this is something I really don't recommend to people who do not have a list. But I *do* see that it mentions that it helps you build a list. This could be very beneficial to you -- a list is very important to your success. I still feel this way even with all the controversy over s.pam filters, etc.

The *only* reason I would give the *go ahead* on this one is because it's F.REE (to join -- I'm sure there's an upgrade option somewhere) and it's a list-building system. I would recommend joining the F.REE version and trying it out...

Hope this helps!

------------------------------

Just as the name implies, ask me anything.
If I don't know the answer, I'll find it.

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6 Tips To Improve Your Business Website
by Mike Moorefield III

There are six important characteristics that can play a major role on the impact your website has on prospects. Outlined below is the importance of each characteristic and tips on how to maximize your potential. It is always important to tailor everything you do to what your customer is expecting, doing so will help keep you one step ahead of the competition.

Convenience – Allowing your customers to make decisions at their convenience is a very powerful element.  Nobody wants to feel pressured or hurried into making a buying decision.  When a customer can go to your website, browse your products and services, and make a purchase at their convenience, you are satisfying a crucial consumer obstacle -- time.  They don’t have to keep returning to your storefront every time they wish to evaluate your value.  In fact, most customers do not buy something the first time they see it.  Instead, they must see and consider it several times before they finally talk themselves into purchasing.  A website allows customers to quickly review their reasons to purchase something, leading to a greater number of impulse buys.  

Information – A website can allow you to communicate much more information about a product or service than an in-store display or advertisement.  You can also control the way the information is presented.  Supplying information in an orderly step-by-step process can greatly improve the chance of a purchase.

Evaluation – Many customers will not purchase something without searching for the best value.  The internet allows your customers to obtain the information they need to feel like they are making an educated buying decision.  Make sure you are using your website to take advantage of this opportunity.  Inform your customer why your product or service is of the best value compared to their other options.  Always acknowledge the competition instead of acting like your product or service is the only one out there.

Guidance – The pages of your website should guide the customer towards the specific solutions they are looking for.  They should serve to help them quickly locate what they came to find.  Think of it as a store map located at the entrance of a department store.  The customer can use this directly upon entering the store to get to the department they are interested in, instead of wandering around looking for it.  Get their relevant information in front of them quickly while they are still the mood to purchase.  People buy on impulse.  If they have to spend 15 minutes searching for what they are looking for, that impulse may very well fade away.

Contact – The internet also allows for another form of contact with your customer.  Some people can be hesitant about talking to a representative in person or on the phone if they don’t feel very knowledgeable about the product or service.  Email allows them to carefully collect their thoughts before sending them.  They feel less awkward about their lack of knowledge.  Again, use this opportunity to gain an edge over the competition.  Go out of your way to educate them about the product or service.  

Entertainment – Use the informal atmosphere of the internet to entertain your customer.  The internet is used by more people as a means of entertainment than as a means of business.  If used effectively, entertainment can significantly improve the business relationship.  Provide clever facts, amusing presentations or even a witty character or mascot to assist them.  However, be sure that the entertainment is used appropriately.  Be sure that is does not obstruct the information or value you are trying to bestow upon them.

Always use your competition to your advantage.  Research how your competition uses these characteristics to improve their customer relations.  Your website does not have to be boring just because it is informative.  Create an appeal that will set you above the competition.  The internet can be an extremely powerful tool for your business, reaching a greater audience than ever before.  A successful business uses a complete arsenal to reach its market.

---------------------------------

Michael Moorefield is one of the founders of ThirdWeb Solutions,
a digital multimedia company specializing in creating and
improving the internet presence for small businesses.  Working
with a range of businesses to establish a prosperous web presence
keeps Michael up to date with online trends not only in a design
& development aspect, but a business aspect as well.  Visit
http://www.thirdweb.com for more info.

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Desktop Companion for eBay

If you sell or buy on eBay, let the Desktop Companion simplify the way you perform online.

Once you start using this handy little utility, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it! It makes navigating eBay a breeze!

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Ways To Let Your Content Do The Marketing
by Larry Dotson

1) Promote your products within the content of your web site. If you write and offer free articles, include a mention of the product or service you're selling. You could include it in your resource box or subtly reveal it within your article if it's related.

2) Ask visitors to subscribe to your ezine. It's a good idea to also give them a freebie when they subscribe. Once they are subscribed, they might read your content, see your advertisements, join your affiliate program, buy advertising, revisit your web site, etc. The benefits are endless.

3) Update the content on your web site regularly. You'll want to add new content and update the old content. People want timely information that tells them how to do something 'now', not how it was done 10 years ago. This is a super way to attract repeat visitors.

---------------------------------

10,000 Sales Letter Words, Phrases & Templates!

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---------------------------------

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>> The Nitpicker's Guide: Punctuation Power

You've probably heard about the surprise best-selling book in England entitled Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Over half a million copies sold just in England! It was released in the US in mid-April and is climbing the Best Seller lists here. The topic? Punctuation!

Who knew? People are starved for information on proper punctuation!

Kent Butler (aka The Nitpicker) has agreed to let all ProBizTips readers download his eBook for F.REE -- The Nitpicker's Guide: Punctuation Power.

** AUTHORIZATION INFO IN EMAIL **

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In the hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where their family member lay gravely ill.

Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber. I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news,' he said as he surveyed the worried faces. 'The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant. It's an experimental procedure, semi-risky and you will have to pay for the brain yourselves.'

The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a great length of time, someone asked, 'Well, how much does a brain cost?'

The Doctor quickly responded, '$25,000 for a male brain, and $3,000 for a female brain.'

The moment turned awkward. Men in the room tried not to smile, avoiding eye contact with the women, but some actually smirked. A man, unable to control his curiosity, blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, 'Why is the male brain so much more?'

The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and said to the entire group, 'It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to mark down the price of the female brains, because they've actually been used.'

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