ProBizTips Newsletter
** ISSUE #296 **

Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

A Word From Diane

ProBizTips Mid-Sponsors

ProBizTips Feature Article
How to Win the Advertising and Promotion Game

Ask Me Anything
Answers For Rob

ProBizTips Guest Article
The Lowdown: How To Create And Send HTML Email

ProBizTips Business Tidbit
10 Explosive Ways To Turbo-Boost Your Sales

Discount Mania

Weekly F*R*E*E*B*I*E
Fastlane Profits

Leaving With a Laugh

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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!

It's been an awful 2 months with my internet connection, modem problems, etc. but I think it's finally over! I know I've told you that before -- which is why I waited for 2 weeks to make sure it was all in working order before I told you again... :P

For those of you who are interested, I found out we're having a *girl*! We're pretty excited about it. One of each and we're done... LOL. I was done regardless, but it's great that it turned out that way. She'll be just as spoiled as my son, that's for sure. My husband is already dreading the dating years! LOL... :D

Without further ado -- sit back, relax and enjoy today's issue!

Your Friend,

Diane Hughes
ProBizTips Weekly

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How to Win the Advertising and Promotion Game
by Stone Evans

I am certain that, as a business owner, you have often entertained the question as to how much to spend and where to spend your advertising dollars. For most small business owners, these questions can add to the headaches suffered in the course of normal everyday operations of their business.

THERE ARE NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

The how much to spend and where to spend it questions have no easy answers.

Depending on your type of business, many people suggest that the *how much* should be equal to anywhere from 4% to 10% of your gross receipts.

The quandary is that a business cannot survive without a fresh flow of incoming customers. But, a business can seldom generate a fresh stream of customers without spending money to get the word out about their business.

THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING

Have you ever paid for advertising and sat back to await the fresh flow of customers, only to find yourself sitting and sitting and then sitting some more?

Don’t feel bad about that. It has happened to many of us before.

See, knowing where to spend the advertising money is not enough to get the job done.

Where to spend the money only begins to highlight the other issues connected with advertising:

· Marketing Plan
· Advertising Strategy
· Headlines, Ad Copy and Visual Presentation
· Tracking the Success of Your Advertising Campaigns

THE MARKETING PLAN

The Marketing Plan is used primarily to identify your own products and services, costs, strengths, weaknesses and the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

To learn more about constructing your own marketing plan, visit the Small Business Administration website for a comprehensive study of the elements of a Marketing Plan:

http://www.home-business.com/nav/articles/links/sba_plan.html

ADVERTISING STRATEGY

It is important to understand what you expect to gain from your advertising.

Do you simply wish to get your name known so that when your customer will need you, they will think of you first? Or, do you wish to get your customers in your front door on Saturday?

Do you want your customers to come in and take a look around to discover the next object that they cannot live without? Or, do you want them to come in and buy a specific widget?

Do you hope that enough people will come in to buy enough products or services to pay for your single ad? Or, do you expect to gain a lifelong customer who will help pay for your advertising over the course of several years?

When you know what you want, then you will better understand just how to do it.

HEADLINES, AD COPY AND VISUAL PRESENTATION

You might be surprised how many business owners put out advertising without regard for the quality of the sales pitch or presentation. The quality of your distribution outlet or the amount of money you spent to get there will do little for you if the advertising vehicle is a junker.

Test all of your advertising materials in smaller markets before blowing your advertising bank roll on it. You must absolutely know the value of your advertising before putting large sums of money behind it.

TRACKING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Tell your customers to save another 10% when they tell you they heard or saw your ad in such-and-such location. Suggest that they can register to win a free widget if they fill out a form and have them to tell you how they heard of your business. Advertise a specific widget in your ad and track the sales of that widget.

It does not matter how you track your advertising --- just make sure you do it!

IN SUMMARY

The ideal way to spend your advertising budget is to buy a rifle with a high-powered scope and to only shoot your targets in the light of day.

If you are not tracking your advertising, then you are shooting a pellet gun without an attached scope, with blinders on, and shooting in the dead darkness of night.

Even with a bigger gun, the blinders in the dark constitute the single largest mistake made by advertisers. If you are unable to track your advertising to learn what is working well, what is working somewhat, and what is a money pit, then you are condemned to repeat your mistakes over and again.

By relying only on gut instinct, you may be choosing to spend more money in the money pit and to lose all of your money in the process.

When you get down to the nuts and bolts of making money from your advertising, you should plan, prepare, track and study your results. You must have factual information on which to base your advertising decisions. When you are making the right advertising decisions, then making money from your business might just come easy.

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

Stone Evans owns the Home Business Resource Directory where
you can find everything you'll ever need to start, run and
grow a home based business at: http://www.Home-Business.com

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Hi Diane,

I'm a fairly new subscriber, so perhaps people ask you this all the time and you've answered it elsewhere - but it's quicker for me to just ask you again anyhow....

What programs are the top money earners for you, and why?

Thanks.

Rob Binnion
New program launch - free email service that pays you:
http://www.eqqu.com/?livingwell

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

Hi, Rob!

Of course my first answer would be my own business, but if you're like most -- starting your own business is not something you feel you're experienced enough for or you just don't want all the work that comes with it.

So here are a few of my biggest affiliate moneymakers...

1. Drop Ship Directory
http://www.1dropshipwholesale.net

2. Push-Button Publishing
http://snipurl.com/4e0e

3. Of course -- my own Net Profit Secrets
http://www.netprofitsecrets.com

Notice that none of the above are M.LM -- I have joined many M.LM programs and even tried marketing them... I've just never succeeded in doing so. I'm not sure if it's because I simply don't have the time needed to promote it effectively or what -- but they never worked for me. :P

Hope this helps!

Diane

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

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

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The Lowdown: How To Create And Send HTML Email
by Steve Shaw

I am frequently asked how to create and send HTML email, usually with regard to how to broadcast it to a mailing list. This article presents the various options available to you.

How to create HTML email:

Creating the content of an HTML email is very similar to how you would create a basic web page. Just use your normal web page editor, such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver (or even Notepad can be used, in conjunction with a browser to preview the code), and construct a web page in the normal way, saving it as an .html or .htm file.

You may consider creating an HTML email template that you can use as a basis for all your future HTML emails. If so, once you're happy with the basic look, save it and then just open and re-edit for your future emails.

There is an important difference that you need to remember between writing HTML for your web site, and writing HTML for email.

All the URLs in your code need to be absolute, rather than relative, for all links and images, eg. http://www.yourdomain.com/image.gif, rather than something like just image.gif. This also means of course that any images used in your HTML email need to be stored on a web server, the same as when you use images on a web site.

How to send HTML email:

To send the HTML email to an individual, such as to yourself in order to check on its appearance, you can open the web page (i.e. the HTML email) you have created in the latest version of IE (File -> Open...), and then click File -> Send.

However, if you're creating HTML email for use in email marketing, you will normally want to use a completely different tool in order to send it to numerous recipients.

There are two main options to enable you to send email to a mailing list - you can either use some special software on your own computer; or use a web-based solution, either on your own web site, or via a service run by a third party.

If you are looking for software, you can find a variety of solutions by going to somewhere like download.com, and searching for 'send email'.

You can also install some software onto your own web site, which can give you more control but also gives you all the responsibility for maintenance of the software/script if things go wrong.

However, I personally have a preference for using a third-party web-based service when sending out my newsletter. For one, it means my broadcasts are not reliant on my own Internet connection or PC, and it also let's someone else take care of delivering my messages to several thousand recipients.

There are literally hundreds of third-party web-based services available, all varying widely in quality and ease of use, and suiting different budgets and email requirements. One of the best ways to do your research on this is to check out your competitors or your favourite newsletters and ezines, and, if they send out HTML email, find out what service they use. Often the unsubscribe link, that should be at the bottom of their messages, will point towards the relevant web site.

(HINT: By signing up to my own newsletter at http://takanomi.com/newsletter, you will be able to find out which service I personally use.)

Finally, and importantly, should you send out HTML email? It entirely depends on the preferences of your own list. But, in general, look towards big business. Most big businesses tend to send out HTML email, and there's only going to be one main reason for that - response rates. But you do need to ensure that your HTML email is professional, easy to read, and has an attractive layout.  

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

Steve Shaw creates systems and software for effective
e-marketing. His powerful PopUpMaster Pro software creates
popups that beat the popup blockers and can significantly
increase your conversion rates. For more information:
http://www.popupmaster.com

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10 Explosive Ways To Turbo-Boost Your Sales

1. Design your web site to be a targeted resource center. Choose one subject and build on it. You'll gain repeat visitors that are interested in that topic.

2. Offer something that is really free. If people go to your site and what you said was free really isn't, you'll lose their trust and they won't buy anything.

3. Add a chat room or message board to your web site. People want to interact with other people that have they same interests as them.

4. Entice people to link to your web site by giving them something free in return. This'll increase your ranking in some search engines.

5. Trigger your reader's emotions in your ad copy. Example, if you sell a book on gambling tips, tell them the feelings they'll get when they win money.

6. Make sure your site looks good in all browsers. You could be losing sales because it looks distorted in some web browsers.

7. Increase your sales by e-mailing full page ads to your e-zine subscribers. Remember to tell people before they subscribe or they may consider it spam.

8. Ask people questions in your ad copy that make them think about their problems. For example: Do you want to be free of your debts?

9. Magnify the size of your prospects problem in your ad; show how your product can solve it. The bigger the problem, the more sales you'll have.

10. Invest a percentage of your profits right back into your business. Spend it on marketing, product improvement, customer service, advertising, etc.

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

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>> Fast Lane Profits

** AUTHORIZATION INFO IN EMAIL **

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An elderly man lay dying in his bed. In death's agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen.

Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven: there, spread out upon newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies. Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table, landing on his knees in a rumpled posture. His parched lips parted; the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth; seemingly bringing him back to life. The aged and withered hand, shockingly made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.

'Stay out of those,' she said, 'they're for the funeral.'

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