ProBizTips Newsletter
** ISSUE #298 **

Tuesday, December 14th, 2004

A Word From Diane

ProBizTips Mid-Sponsors

ProBizTips Feature Article
Internet Marketing In A Room FULL Of Naked Men!

Ask Me Anything
Answers For Russell

ProBizTips Guest Article
Understanding the Different Methods of Online Promotion

ProBizTips Business Tidbit
10 Eye Popping, Jaw Dropping Ad Copy Secrets

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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!

This is the last issue until after Christmas so I wanted to say "Merry Christmas" ahead of time and hope you have a great one!

I have some great things in store for you after the new year so stay tuned... :)

Without further ado -- 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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Internet Marketing In A Room FULL Of Naked Men!
by Willie Crawford

NO, that's not one of my secret dreams :-)  It's an observation that you need to make.  Years ago, I read Harvey MacKay's fantastic best-seller, Beware The Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt. I really enjoyed the book and even sent Harvey a note. He sent me an autographed copy of his book "Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive."  It's one of my most prized possessions - but back to the naked man...

When you surf the various websites offering advice and information products teaching you how to earn an online income, it becomes glaringly obvious that many people who created these products haven't done what they teach! They are in effect, "naked men offering you their shirts."

Anyone just starting out online can understand why this happens.  If you put up a website on making money online, and you admit that you haven't made any yet, people will realize that you have no useful advice to pass on. To avoid this consequence, beginners often "fake it, until they make it."  

One of the reasons many online marketers never "make it" in the first place is because they ARE following the advice of "naked men."  They are absorbing, believing, and then re-teaching the conventional wisdom so prevalently shared in the internet marketing arena.  The consequence is that not only does the creator of the info product fail, but so do all of his mislead followers.

We have two problems within this situation. The first is, "How does a beginner establish himself as an expert if he has achieved no major online marketing success?" The answer is that he creates a product in an area that he IS an expert in or that he has very thoroughly researched.  

The beginner can also very easily create a product by interviewing or partnering with someone possessing the knowledge or skills he lacks. I sort of touched upon this in another article I wrote entitled, "Don't Pretend To Be An Expert, Become One." That article is available on my website at: http://williecrawford.com/articles.html

The second problem is in knowing who is genuine and who hasn't really learned the ropes yet. My advice to many of my clients is to fully check out anyone before following their advice. Simply go to any major search engine and enter their domain or their name.  Visit many, MANY of the sites that are listed as featuring something related to this so-called expert. This will give you a very good feel for who you are really dealing with.

If sites about them contain testimonials, contact some of the people providing the testimonial... especially if something doesn't quite "feel right." That's right... I'm advising you to trust your instincts.

Another way to easily check out someone is by using a website called "The Way Back Machine." This website visits sites scattered across the internet and takes a snapshot of them. So if someone tells you that they've been in business for 5 years and you see that their only website is barely a year old, run away very fast - and don't look back!  

The way back machine can be found at:
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

If you enter my url, http://williecrawford.com in the search box, you will see that it offers snapshots of how sad this website looked beginning in 1998.  Prior to that time, all of my websites were self-replicated websites offered by various affiliates programs, and websites built on free hosts such as FreeYellow, Angelfire, Hypermart, Webspawner,  and about 30 others :-)

To digress  just a little, I purchased  my own domain name when someone responded to one of my posts in Links Exchange Digest insisting that I would have a lot more credibility if I got my own domain name AND ditched the Hotmail account.  I kept websites on free hosts for several more years, but finally started really listening. People were telling me that using a free hosting company... building and promoting their domain, was just bad business. When I listened and took their advice, that's when things REALLY took off for me.

I've just pointed out to you a way to avoid the naked man look. If you are a beginner, get you own domain... one with a url that is easy to remember and that suggests what your business is all about. My domain name, WillieCrawford.com was a poor choice in many ways, but over the years it has developed a very strong brand.  My second flag-ship domain, Chitterlings.com, was a better choice since it centered around "soul food" and the name was easy to remember to anyone familiar with that category of cooking.

Another way for beginners to avoid pretending to be something that you are not, and build online credibility, is simply to market other people's products. If you want a higher than normal commission either approach them about joint ventures, or obtain reprint rights to in-demand products. Don't waste your time and resources promoting products that there is no demand for. Many reprint rights that are offered for free are priced that way because the owner of the product couldn't sell them :-)

The benefit of obtaining products that are proven sellers through reprint rights is that you often get a tested website that will generate a steady income for you if you just drive  traffic to it. It's really easy, but again, you have to make sure that the product is one that is worth the effort. The criteria that I use and suggest you use is, ask yourself if you would purchase the product at the price you plan on offering it for. Also read the template website being offered and notice whether or not it gets you really pumped up. If not, look  elsewhere.

I do recommend that you eventually develop your own product or service. However, that may take some time. In the interim you need to establish a professional business that's built on  quality and integrity. Avoid coming across as a fake or "naked man."  Also beware of those who have to fake it until they make it. You know and appreciate that we all had to start somewhere.  Most of us could not afford to buy a huge, thriving web business, so we had to start from meager beginning.  Just look at my websites in The Way Back Machine for proof of that :-)

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Willie Crawford has been teaching others how to build an on-line
business since late 1996. Frequently featured in radio, magazine
and newspaper articles and interviews, Willie teaches the average
guy what the top marketers are doing but seldom talking about.
Willie provides detailed how to information in his newsletter,
through his personal coaching, and at his annual how to workshop.
Learn more at: http://InternetMarketingHowToWorkshop.com

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I have a web site that sell jams,jellies, chocolates, and BarBQ sauces. (www.mauijellynsweets.com) My question is how can I create a good marketing letter getting folks to visit my web site. The product is great but no takers. Help!

Russell Seiki

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Russell,

The best way to get a good sales letter is to hire someone who specializes in it. I recommend Grady at http://cheap-copy.com. He's affordable and writes very good copy.

However, there are those that cannot afford even Grady's good prices or would rather do it themselves. To those I suggest the Copywriting Course or the Sales Letter Generator.

Hope this helps!

Diane

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

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Understanding the Different Methods of Online Promotion
by Stone Evans

Did you realize there are only three types of online promotion?... This statement may seem odd and even untrue in your mind, but I am speaking in more general terms than you might be thinking.

Let me explain.

The three types of promotion are Junk, Active and Passive promotions.

JUNK PROMOTIONS ARE MONEY PITS

Junk promotions are those that seem to produce results, but by their very nature are really only illusionary promotions.

For example, let me begin with FFA (Free For All) pages. You might find yourself subscribing to a submission program that tricks you into believing you are submitting your links to tens of thousands search engines.

According to the Open Directory website, they have only approved 1705 search engines and directories for inclusion in their database (http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Searching/).

I like using the DMOZ directory as an example because submitted links are tested by human beings with integrity, for the honesty used in site description. Search Engine Watch and other search watchers tend to show fewer than these 1705 engines, primarily because a lot of the engines provide very little value.

Yes, you can submit your URL to a FFA page, but FFA’s usually only permit 100 or 1000 links on their page at any one time. So, if ten thousand people are submitting a link to an FFA page on a daily basis, then the average life of your link is between seven minutes and 144 minutes. I suspect the actual number of submitters is much higher and the results are much worse. Given that few people surf FFA pages, the chances of your submission being of any real value is practically nill!

Most of the people telling you that you can submit your site to tens of thousands of search engines are truly only submitting your site to FFA pages! Beware of the false promises.

Another junk promotion method is Safe Lists. A safe list is a mailing group that is signed up to be received by people who want to submit their own ads. Now, most safe lists have thousands of subscribers who are able to submit their ads daily or weekly. The person signed up to receive the list will receive anywhere from twenty to 140+ messages a day from the list. These messages will be received by people only interested in promoting their own thing who do not have the right motivation to open, let alone read Your Advertising. As a result, thousands of messages go out daily or weekly that will never be seen by anyone but the sender of the ad. Where is the value in that? There is none.

ACTIVE PROMOTIONS

Active promotions are the type that require you to go out on a daily basis or a weekly basis and put out your advertisements. With active promotions, you will either place your advertising or you will not sell your products or services. Your choice is simple --- work or starve.

Examples of active promotions include Pay Per Click Search Engines (PPCSE’s), Direct Email, Ezine Advertising, Solo Ezine Ads, Newsletter Publishing, Ezine Ad Swaps, Classified Ads, Auctions, Site Sponsorship and Banner Ads.

Some people are able to utilize these methods very productively, while others are destined to drop their money into the bottomless pit of failed Internet promotions.

PASSIVE PROMOTIONS

Passive promotions are those promotions that can continue to provide results for you long after you have invested the work to make them available to the Internet community.

Examples of passive promotions include: Link Exchanges, Articles, Ebooks, Content Exchanges and Writing Testimonials for others.

Let’s look at articles as a solid example of my point.

You are reading an article that I have written to promote my own business. This article is timeless and therefore could have been written five years ago and still have been as valuable as it is today.

Due to the fact that the article is timeless, it can and will be placed in newsletters/ezines and their accompanying online archives, on websites and in ebooks for many more years to come.

As a result, this article will continue to serve me well beyond the time in which I wrote it and submitted it to publishers and webmasters for public consumption and publication.

This is the best example I can give you of an excellent passive promotional method.

AVOID THE MONEY PITS

Many try and even fewer succeed to conquer the Internet and to produce their dreams of online wealth.

My hope is that you will be one of the people who conquer the challenges before you and to make a nice living while working online. It will take drive, determination, study plus trial and error, but you can make it work for you.

Please continue to educate yourself so that you can avoid the money pits - instead, strive to find the money barrels. It can be done. I am living proof.

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

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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10 Eye Popping, Jaw Dropping Ad Copy Secrets

1. Use a hand written letter on your ad copy instead of text. Write the ad on a piece of paper, scan it and publish the ad on your web page. Adding a personal touch will always increase your sales.

2. Publish a list of famous and respected customers who have bought from you on your a copy. People will think that if these people bought from you, they should also trust your business and purchase your products. Make sure to get their permission first.

3. Show before and after photos for your products on your web page copy. Show the problem picture and then beside it, show the picture of the resolution to the problem when they use your product.

4. Include an article or review that has been written about you or your business with your ad copy. This will show people that your business is respected and will increase your credibility.

5. When you offer free bonuses in your ad copy, also list the dollar value beside each bonus. People will feel they're getting a good deal and it will increase the value of your product.

6. Hire a famous person to endorse your product or service. Make sure the person is well known to your target audience. Include their picture and statements on your ad copy.

7. Include your own picture on your ad copy. This will show people that you're not hiding behind your ad copy and will increase their trust. Also, include your contact information below the picture and a brief statement or quote.

8. Tell your potential customers on your ad copy that you will donate a percentage of their purchase price to specific charity. This will show them you really care about the people. They may just buy your product to donate to the charity.

9. Ask your potential customers plenty of yes and no questions in your ad copy. The questions should remind them of their problem and make them think about what will happen if they don't purchase your product.

10. Tell your potential customers they will receive a free prize if they find the five words in your ad copy that are misspelled or spelled backwards. The longer you can keep someone reading your copy the greater chance of them purchasing.

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Two women friends had gone for a Girls Night Out, and had been decidedly over-enthusiastic on the cocktails.

Incredibly drunk and walking home, they needed to pee.

They were very near a graveyard and one of them suggested they do their business behind a head stone or something.

The first woman had nothing to wipe with so she thought she'd take off her panties, use them, then throw them away.

Her friend, however, was wearing a rather expensive underwear set and didn't want to ruin hers but was lucky to salvage a large ribbon from a wreath that was on one of the graves and proceeded to wipe herself with that.

After finishing, they then made off for home.

The next day the first woman's husband phoned the other husband and said, "These girls night out have got to stop. My wife came home last night without her panties."

"That's nothing, said the other husband, "Mine came back with a card stuck between her butt cheeks that said, "From All of Us At the Fire Station, We'll Never Forget You."

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