Grasp The Nettle

Stop Selling Yourself Short With Management Buzzwords

2009-07-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Why oh why do they do it?

Businessmen and politicians, I mean.

Why do they talk to you - at you, I should say - through a wall of self-congratulatory bilge, jejune business jargon and mindnumbing management buzzwords?

If you are guilty of this sort of thing, you need to realize that you are selling yourself short by using technical jargon instead of telling us what we want or need to know.

Just tell it to us straight, clear and simple, OK?

If you are ever tempted to adopt the way of talking that the young man in the following article by Michael Masterson uses, DO NOT DO IT!

Also, if you write copy for your website or blog, avoid slipping into business jargon. You want people to read your stuff, right? So keep your style open, friendly, direct and focused OUTWARD to the reader, and FREE of management buzzwords.

Yes, I could go on, but I shall desist because what follows is MUCH BETTER: an article on how business jargon does NOT impress, and how management buzzwords are more often than not COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE...

Over to you, Michael Masterson, for a guaranteed jargon buzzword free article on the art of selling yourself...

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: Resist hyperbole."

- William Safire

If You're Trying to Impress Me, Don't Do This

By Michael Masterson

He had been strongly recommended for the job. And so, when I got on the phone with him, I was expecting a sharp, take-charge guy. Instead, I got this:

"I've been involved in strategically important roles with communications companies for 25 years. Throughout, I've focused on my core competencies, building brand recognition and interfaces with key personnel."

To which I responded: "Huh?"

He went on...

"It's been a personal paradigm of mine that quality control and dynamic leadership are essentials in today's globalized business environment, and that's what I feel I can bring to any company I work for."

I had already made an initial assessment: This guy was a fraud. But to give him a chance to redeem himself, I tried to keep the conversation going.

"So," I said, "what, exactly, have you been doing all these years?"

I could almost hear him thinking, "What kind of dummy am I dealing with?" But this is what he said:

"Bringing in a bottom line and achieving optimal results have always been goals that resonated with me."

"That's enough," I thought. "I can't take any more."

"I'm sorry to do this," I said. "But I have to jump off the phone now to handle an emergency. I enjoyed talking to you. I'll be sure to look at your resume and get back to you if something comes up that meets your qualifications."

And with that, I bid farewell to this young man and any chance he had of ever working for me.

In their book Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide, authors Fugere, Hardaway, and Warshawsky say there are three reasons executives - and people applying for management positions - sometimes speak like this.

Their focus is on themselves, rather than on the person they're speaking to. "When obscurity pollutes someone's communications it's often because the... goal is to impress and not to inform."

They fear using concrete language, because saying exactly what they mean can make it hard to wiggle out of commitments. "Liability scares [some people], so they add endless phrases to qualify [their] views, acknowledging everything from prevailing weather conditions to the 12 reasons we can't make a decision now."

They want to elevate and even romanticize their thoughts and deeds, because they are afraid they aren't impressive. They do so by using lofty language that disguises the mundane truth.

They are afraid to appear ordinary. Their solution is to attempt to bamboozle everyone they speak with - and particularly those with power.

This is a very bad strategy.

In a job interview, it makes the interviewee look pompous and vacuous - two traits any sensible employer wants to avoid.

When applying for a job, only two things really matter: what you know (your skill set) and who you are (your integrity). Pretending to know things you don't is a waste of your time, because you will soon be found out. Getting tossed into the street after only a few weeks on the job is both embarrassing and an ugly blemish on your work history.

You can demonstrate your good character by being honest from the outset. Be candid about what you know and what you have done. But make it clear that you are confident you can quickly learn to do anything that is required of you.

In granting you an interview, your future employer is trying to find out if you can help him solve his problems and grow his business.

He isn't looking to be impressed. He's looking for someone who can make his life easier by doing a great job. Your job during the interview is to sell yourself as being that person.

And the first rule of successfully selling yourself is to make sure you've got the basics down pat:

You must be good at something - really good.

That something must be useful to the success of the business you are attempting to work for. If you've been reading ETR - even for a short time - you already know what I mean by that: It must be some financially valued skill. Generally speaking, that's one of four things: marketing, selling, creating profitable products, or managing profits.

You must prove that you are good.

And then you must deliver.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

SFI TripleClicks Online Store - It Works!

2009-07-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

It took me a while to get my act together and post an item for sale on the new SFI TripleClicks online store... but it was well worth it!

Sold after just five click-throughs!

Here's what I did. I live in Japan and play a lot of mahjong. I also handle Japanese mahjong sets for mahjong players around the world. I had a spare set so I listed it on the SFI online store, TripleClicks for just $35.

Then I linked to the listing from Japanese-mahjong.com using a tracking link on my HitsConnect link tracking account. That's how I know it took just five clicks to generate a sale!

Processing the order was also very easy. Note, you need to use a mail service that includes tracking so that TripleClicks can confirm delivery. This is because TripleClicks acts as a kind of escrow service and pays you after either they or the customer confirm delivery. That way, they ensure security for all parties.

If you'd like to try TripleClicks free, click the banner below and register today. (Registration is also free.)

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Squidoo Basics: Four Ways To Profit From Squidoo's Web2.0 Technology - FREE!

2009-06-02T23:53:00.000-07:00

If you want to make money on the Internet, Tiffany Dow is one of those people you want to stop and listen to. I'm also a big fan of Seth Godin, the creator of Squidoo.com. So when I came across this video of Tiffany talking about four ways to make money on Squidoo I just had to take a few minutes out of my day to check it out.

I'm glad I did.

If you want to know more about how to make money on Squidoo, watch the video then click the Squidoo Basics button to get some more hot tips.

Best wishes,

David Hurley
Squidoo Basics

5 Things Website Owners Should Know About People In Order To Improve Their Conversion Rates

2009-06-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

If you want improve your website conversion rate you had better start to think a bit about what drives your visitors so that you can give people what they want in the way that they want it...

On the assumption that your website visitors are PEOPLE and that people are pretty much alike, here are a few general guidelines that website owners need to chew on:

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PEOPLE...

People are not interested in you and your company, they are interested in themselves and their needs.
People scan web pages far more then they read them.
People are in a hurry.
People hate being sold to.
People buy on emotion and justify their purchase with "reason" after the event.

So what can you do to turn that knowledge to your advantage on your website?

Here are a few suggestions:

HOW WEBSITE OWNERS CAN IMPROVE THEIR WEBSITE CONVERSION RATES

Write a short sentences.

Keep your paragraphs short.

Keep it conversational.

Use contractions (don't, won't, I'll, you'll etc).

Write editorial-style content and product reviews rather than blatant sales patter.

Use bulleted lists like this one.

Use a powerful headline to arouse interest and curiosity in your readers.

Place your keywords in bold to help your readers (and search engine spiders) read your stuff.

Use subheadings to split up your copy into small chunks that are easy for people to scan.

Use a large font.

Use lots of white space.

Put your opt-in form where it can be seen easily and offer your readers an urgent reason why they should fill it in, and a nice fat bribe for doing so.

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Are You Building Web Traffic To A Site With Pathetic Website Conversion Rates?

2009-05-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

Are you going crazy building web traffic to a site that has pathetic website conversion rates?

Or have you forgotten all about building web traffic because you are so focused on improving your website that you never have time to advertise it?

Plainly you need to strike a balance between the amount of time you take working on your web site to raise its conversion rate, and the amount of time you set aside for traffic building activities.

If you are starting a new business website, it is vital for your success that you research how to set up an internet site that you can expect to convert as many visitors into customers or subscribers as possible.

Here are a few of the common mistakes people make when setting up a marketing web site:

Common mistake #1. Making your website look like a sales website. Remember, people don't like being sold to. They value useful information and that is what they want your website to give them.

Common mistake #2. Adding too many banner ads. Most people have learned to ignore banner ads. It is much more effective to place just one ad per page and use it to backup editorial content. Don't expect to sell much with banner ads alone.

Common mistake #3. Trying to sell before you have won the trust of your visitors. First-time visitors know nothing about you. So why should they trust you? They have no reason to unless you can show them that you are worth listening to.

Common mistake #4. A lot of websites are full of impersonal official jargon that talks about how wonderful the company behind the products is. That kind of stuff is a big turnoff.

Common mistake #5. The website owner hides behind anonymity. On the Internet being upfront about who you are works much better. Remember, people like to know who they are dealing with. If you have nothing to hide, don't hide.

Common mistake #6. The visitor is offered too many options and links. This is counter-productive because it confuses the visitor. It is much better to stick to one theme per page.
Common mistake #7. The visitor arrives on the site only to be shown a tedious flash movie - if he waits long enough for it to download!

These are some of the mistakes you will need to avoid before you even think about building web traffic.

In my next post I'll give you some tips about what you SHOULD be doing with your website to increase the chances of getting higher website conversion rates from your web traffic.

David Hurley
Online Article Marketing

Why Internet Marketers Should Consider Demographic PPC Advertising On Facebook

2009-05-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

The popular social networking site, Facebook, has produced an exciting demographic pay per click advertising package which goes one better than Google Adwords and its rivals by giving advertisers the ability to define the type of Facebook user they wish to target.

Until now, the big disadvantage of PPC has been that you cannot exercise any tight control over who views your ads or clicks on them. The reason for this is that the ads don't appear on specific user pages. For example, an ad about motorcycles would most likely appear on a web page that is about motorcycling, but anybody can surf in - bikers and non-bikers alike - and click on your ad even if they only arrived on the page to look at the model sitting on the bike in her bikini.

With Facebook PPC advertising however, you can exercise much more control over who gets to see your PPC advertisements. The demographic targeting feature of Facebook PPC ads enables advertisers to specify not just the product category but also as the specific location, age group, gender, marital status, and interests of the target group.

How focused is your PPC traffic?

So if you want to promote a dating site for unattached hetrosexual lawyers in New York, aged between 40 and 55, you could run a clearly defined campaign by using those specific criteria. When ads are as well targeted as this, copywriting becomes a much easier process. Simply stating what you have to offer will be sufficient because the ad will only be placed on the pages or newsfeeds of Facebook that meet the demographic criteria, so virtually every clickthrough will be very highly targeted.

Facebook also allows you to include a photograph with your ad. What's more, a generous hundred thirty-five characters are allowed for the main body of the ad, but the headline can only be up to 25 characters in length.

Facebook does not allow you to link your ads to affiliate sites, so make sure you direct people to a pre-sell page on your website or blog, or to a page that you can set up on Facebook.

If you have been struggling with PPC, demographic PPC advertising on Facebook is something you might like to check out.

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

What Should You Say In An Automated Twitter Direct Message?

2009-05-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

A lot of people are complaining about "Twitter spam" these days, but to tell you the truth, I really don't mind receiving tweets with links. I like to see what people are interested in (linking out to) and what people think will sell (affiliate links, self promotional links etc).

What bugs me more than links is all those automated Twitter direct messages that tell me how great I am and then promptly try to flog me something...

You know, they go like this:

"Hi, Thank you for following me. I am deeply honored. Get rid of the recession blues with this AFFILIATE LINK."

Well, for one thing I don't believe you even know I have started following you yet, so how can you be honored you phony fellow, or mendacious madam?

And another thing...

I rather resent you trying to sell to me (remember, people HATE to be sold to...) straight after hitting me with one of the most outrageous automated porkers** I have ever heard in all my life...

Sir, Madam, be off with you.

So, now I have got that off my chest, I will hasten to add that I don't find every Twitter direct message offensive.

It all depends on WHAT you say and HOW you say it. (Remember, the automated message you send to new followers is your first DIRECT contact with them, 1 to 1, so it is the equivalent of those first six seconds when two people meet for the first time...)

So what should you say in your automated Twitter direct message?

I was going to list some general guidelines, but I think it is better to learn by example, so instead, I'm going to post some of the Twitter direct messages that I liked, or at least did not mind:

Twitter Direct Messages That I Appreciated Or At Least Did Not Feel Indignant About...

lindawelch Thanks for the follow! Send me a tweet to say Hi! Looking forward to seeing you in Twitterland!

johnenns Thanks for following me! I'm looking forward to sharing tweets with you!

LyndonWright Thank you for Following me I look forward to what you have to say. I like #seo #iphone #wordpress

DianaSchneidman Let's get acquainted. Send me your website, FB or LI profile & I’ll tweet about it Thx for the follow.

rawlus Thanks for the follow! have a great day.

TweeterGreen Thanks for following. I tweet about sustainability, Green Issues and the environment. There is ROI in being Green both at home at in business. If you tweet on these issues I will retweet them.

And here's a couple with links that I found acceptable. Note the restraint in the messages:

jeffschuman Thanks for following me. Good luck to you. Keep in touch. http://www.Team-Schuman.com

igiftabasket Thanks for the following. Look forward to reading your tweets. Rashmi Patel, www.igiftabasket.com

So, what about you? Let us know which direct messages you liked by posting them below. Let's reward those who respect the basic courtesies with a bit of publicity!

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

** Pork pie = lie

Focus On Your Unique Selling Proposition, Not On Branding Your Business

2009-05-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

We are having a discussion over on the Evancarmichael.com forum about "the flaw in personal branding". It started off as a question about whether someone seeking to build a personal brand should be upfront about personal flaws and perhaps even use them as part of the brand image.

The conversation shifted to whether or not branding was useful for Internet marketers. So here is an article I was reading by Michael Masterson on why it is better to focus on USP, and how a strong USP will effectively give your business a brand in its own right.

Michael Masterson is one of the people I most admire when it comes to marketing both online and offline. As well as running an online mentoring site, earlytorise.com, he's written numerous books on the subject - see the carousel below for a small selection.

Amazon.com Widgets

The Myth of Branding: Why Entrepreneurs Should Focus on the USP

by Michael Masterson (09/21/2007)

I recently got an interesting e-mail from Brian Ochsner, an ETR reader from Denver. He said, "As a direct-response copywriter, I'm skeptical about the number of marketing people who are enamored with the need for 'branding' or to 'build their brand' to effectively market their business.

"I know that brands such as Kraft and Coca-Cola have power and influence with Americans, but I'm not sure 'branding' has much of a place with most small- to medium-sized business marketing."

He posed three questions:

What, exactly, is "branding" marketing?

Can it be an effective type of business marketing?

Can it work effectively together with direct-response marketing?

As Bob Bly and I have said in past ETR articles, nothing could be further from the truth.

Branding makes sense for Kraft, Coca-Cola, Nike, and Sony. Huge consumer companies have to spend money on general advertising to keep their names out in the commercial world. The idea is that when people make buying decisions, they will favor products whose names they know.

Brand-name consumer products almost always outsell generic products. In 2002, Dennis Dangerfield (the vice president of grocery-store cooperative Topco Associates, LLC) pointed out that private-label products accounted for only 20 percent of grocery sales in the U.S. And the reason brand-name products come out on top is not quality, since many generic products are just as good. The reason is consumer trust.

Trust comes from familiarity, and familiarity increases sales. But it is very, very expensive to create a household name. We are talking about tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars here - which puts branding entirely out of the reach of any fiscally intelligent entrepreneur, even if he is working with a big budget.

Prior to the Internet boom, small-business owners understood that they couldn't afford to spend money on branding. To break into new markets, they relied on traditional techniques: big discounts and bigger headlines. But when billions of dollars started pouring into start-up Internet ventures, the idiot-savant CEOs running those operations had to put the money somewhere - so they put it into advertising their brands.

To justify this enormous waste of money, they invented theories to substantiate their foolishness. Most of those theories were versions of the same, stupid strategy: Spend whatever it takes to garner the most eyeballs to your website. And after you've established first position in the "look-who's-looking-at-me" contest, figure out some way to profit from it. Profiting from something so nebulous needed its own magical name too; they called it "monetizing."

Create traffic first by selling the brand... and then monetize the traffic... and then go public. That was the program. And dozens of Internet entrepreneurs did just that. Most of that brand building went to naught, of course. Sports stadiums were renamed for unpronounceable URLs, and then they were changed back to something else again as the Internet businesses behind them went bust.

It was during that period of chicanery that the modern myth about branding was formed - the myth that the first course of action for any small business should be to build a nationally (or internationally) recognized brand. This myth persists today in books and at conferences and seminars about Internet marketing. But smart would-be entrepreneurs like you have the sense to smell rats when they are rotting behind the floorboards.

The fact is, most of the profitable business in the world is done without the benefit of brand recognition - and 99 percent of new businesses develop without any money or time spent on general advertising.

I can think of only one exception. The George Foreman Grill began as a small business and morphed quickly into a world-class brand. But you are unlikely to replicate that success if you hook up with Mike Tyson - or any other celebrity, for that matter - even if you could afford the price tag. The George Foreman Grill story was one of perfect timing: the right product with an out-of-fashion celebrity who made a miraculous comeback to the mainstream. It won't happen again for another 20 years.

The branding myth persists today, even among experts who witnessed the debacle of the Internet advertising implosion. According to a 2005 PointRoll Inc. survey, 70 percent of online advertising professionals cited "branding" as the most important or second most important goal of online advertising. Interaction rate was viewed as the most important measurement of an online ad's performance, with 53 percent of those responding indicating that the best way to judge an ad's effectiveness is to measure the percentage of users who interact with it.

What's missing from that picture?

Profits, of course. As a future entrepreneur, you want to create sales immediately. But they have to be profitable sales - or at least near-profitable sales - or you'll go broke before you reach your second year of business. There are as many ways to create profitable sales as there are businesses. When you get into your own business, you will have to figure out which way works for you. (I explain how to do this in my soon-to-be-released book Ready, Fire, Aim.)

Direct-response marketing of a hot product is probably the most effective way to create profitable sales. Promoting your brand through general advertising is probably the least effective way.

So now, to Brian's three questions:

What is branding marketing? It's selling the name of a company or product through general advertising so that later on, when the customer is faced with buying your product versus another one, he chooses the brand he is familiar with.

Can it be effective? Not for small businesses.

Can it be combined with direct marketing? Not really. Branding is meant to make selling (either direct selling or retail selling) easier. It is not meant to be used simultaneously.

Those questions answered, let me say a few words about where and how branding can work for entrepreneurial enterprises.

First, understand that establishing a unique selling proposition (USP) is not the same thing as branding.

Many, if not most, products and product lines will benefit from marketing that stresses the USP. If, for example, you are launching a business that sells organic pet food, your USP should emphasize the fact that all your products are green. Your company's name might express that benefit, as should the product names, the packaging you choose, and the layout and design of your marketing and product materials. And your USP should be a major component in the design of and sales copy on your website, as well as your Internet ads and landing pages.

All that promotion of your USP will have the effect of creating an idea in a potential customer's mind that will have the same effect that branding has for large businesses. And that effect - which is a higher-than-average initial response rate to your marketing due to consumer familiarity - will also work with your existing customers on the back end.

Thus branding in this limited sense (consistently promoting your USP) works in conjunction with direct marketing as a back-end mechanism - to sell more products to people who have already bought from you. And that's how people with small- and medium-sized businesses should think of it.

I have plenty more thoughts on this subject, but these are the most important for someone in the early stages of starting and growing a business. Get a copy of my book Ready, Fire, Aim when it comes out in January and you'll learn more.

Posted on Grasp-The-Nettle.com/blog by David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Traffic Python Review: The Latest Online Advertising & Web Traffic Generator

2009-05-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

I have recently been testing a new traffic generation and conversion site called Traffic Python.

The guys at Traffic Python ran some test ad campaigns on their targeted traffic service and they report that the results, if replicated, would guarantee more CONVERTING web visitors with very little effort or cost.

They show how their figures were achieved in the video on this page.

My first impression of the site was positive. It looked clean and professional and, above all, it's easy to read and understand. Joining the site was a simple process. You can get the key benefits FREE, but they also have two upgrade options for the big builders.

Okay, so once I was inside the Members Area, what did I find?

For a start, the layout is clear and easy to follow - I was able to find my way around and figure out what to do within a minute of logging on and was able to get my first ads up & running in under 5 minutes.

Once inside the site, you make links and text or banner ads for your promotions. The Traffic Python generator converts the links them "Python" links. You can make as many links and as many ads as you like, which is great for running split tests as you can create separate links for ads that you run on several sites. So you won't have to invest in any split-testing link builders. Links are displayed in the members area in the order you create them, and your 5 most recent links appear on the main page as well, for quick reference.

Also, since the link generator is the tool you'll use most, it is also right at the top of the main page when you login. That is the kind of attention to detail that makes Traffic Python a pleasure to use.

After you've created at least 1 link and 1 ad you can start to generate traffic. Just use and promote the new Python link instead of the original source link you had. Every time the Python link is clicked, the page loads followed by a cool slide-up ad window at the bottom. It displays an ad PLUS an image with your affiliate link that goes back to Python. So if anyone clicks the Python image they see the site, and if they signup they become your referral. It's a great viral feature because you can build referrals without even trying to just by using the site.

Now every time the ad window displays (your Python links get clicked) you earn credits that get YOUR ad displayed in the ad windows when other members' links get clicked. So the more clicks, the more times your ads get displayed.

And this works virally--meaning as you make referrals into Python (either by promoting it or just using it and visitors click the Python image on the ad window to join) you also earn ad credits on THEIR link clicks. And this works up to 5 levels deep. So you can create a massive amount of free ad views and web traffic by referring others to TTraffic Python also.

I didn't get to test the full effect of a big downline yet (I just got the tool) but I can tell you the rest of the site works exactly as stated--my links got clicked, I earned credits, and my ads got displayed. Python even tracked my results so I know how many clicks and how many ad displays. That was an impressive unadvertised extra feature.

There is one more benefit and feature which might be the best of them all--downline emailing. You can email your downline with offers, promotions, or whatever you like, and here is where Python really shines. They took time to make the emailing often enough that it's valuable as a user, but no so often that it's a burden to your downline. But the best part about this feature (and actually the credit earning too) is that it tells you exactly how long until you can mail again. Now THAT's cool.

Overall I have to say I am impressed with Traffic Python. It is simple yet powerful, and delivers on its promises. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to increase traffic and advertising.

Click here for more details: Traffic Python.

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

How www Empowerism com Works For Roy!

2009-04-26T17:57:00.001-07:00

This morning I logged in to my www Empowerism com account to see how much I had accumulated in commissions and check up on the progress of my RSVP orders (that will pay me back several times over on my leads purchases... even if none of my leads signs up).

The first thing I saw was this report in the news section:

"EmpowerBoard Case Studies ROCK! In 2008, Roy, a newcomer to Internet Marketing, volunteered to participate in a case study offered by Johan on our EmpowerBoard. With his www Empowerism com subscription and one-time $21 hosting fee as his only expenses, Roy's site has risen to #28 on Google and #3 on MSN for the very competitive search term work from home online!

That is pretty cool. Note, all the time Roy remains a member of www Empowerism com his lifetime web hosting fee is just $21. Wow!

$20 MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNT COUPON OFFER!

Look, I know the economy is tough for everyone at the moment, but that makes it more urgent to decide TODAY that YOU are ready to join Empowerism and plug in to the resources and support you need to achieve your goals.

I am offering a $20 discount on 3-month and 6-month memberships when you join Empowerism by clicking on the coupon on this page.

Here is the coupon code you will need to get your $20 discount: B8893. Click the coupon and select either a 3-month or a 6-month membership. You will be able to enter the coupon code on the LAST PAGE of the sign up process to claim your $20 membership discount.

Note, this discount is IN ADDITION to the $5 discount on 3-month memberships and the $17 discount on 6-month memberships that you will see when you click the coupon.

Here's a run-down of what you get when you join Empowerism:

State-of-the-art Empowerism Website, built to make the sale when you drive the traffic...

Discount Coupon Tool lets you generate Customized Coupons to provide even more incentive to your prospects...

24 Powerful SEO tools to help drive FREE traffic to your site...

Efficient Tracking and Reporting Tool - Know which ads are generating Hits and Sales...

Comprehensive Training Center filled with training, resource, and tools to grow your business...

A new Excellence Magazine each month filled with articles covering the latest Online Success Tips and Strategies...

Frequent new High-quality, Brandable eBooks (like this one) you can offer as Lead-Generation Incentives or sell for 100% profit...

Dozens of High Quality Website and Mini-site Templates to help you get up and running...

Optional 50MB Web Hosting Account ($21 setup ONLY)...

Online Training Lessons delivered to your Inbox...

Option to Make Money from Week 1 with our very successful Referral Program...

Top Notch Support, including LIVE Case Studies and One-on-One Help on our EmpowerBoard and our Support Ticket System where responses are always within 24 hours...

Click the coupon to join Empowerism TODAY and claim your $20 discount...

Coupon code: B8893

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

How To Search For Stuff On Twitter

2009-04-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

A while back, Twitter bought a search tool called Summize and transferred its staff to to Twitter HQ in San Francisco. The result was:

http://search.twitter.com

It's a very useful tool for looking up themed tweets with or without hashtags. The distinction is important. Not every search engine for Twitter tweets is able to distinguish between, for example:

Shakespeare

and

#Shakespeare

The second Twitter search term uses a hashtag to identify those tweets that include a hashtagged Shakespeare for search purposes. Inserting a hashtag before a keyword when you tweet offers a convenient way for you to group tweets by theme.

The other cool thing about search.twitter is that you can run a whole bunch of advanced searches and get very specific about what you want, see the full list of Twitter search operators here:

http://search.twitter.com/operators

Search.twitter is a great tool to help you get the best use from the massive amount of information that flows through Twitter.

Another Twitter search tool I enjoy using is http://www.twitscoop.com.

Twitscoop doesn't distinguish between "shakespeare" and "#shakespeare" but it does display a neat trend graph for your Twitter search term.

It also displays a cloud of current Twitter buzzwords (similar to the Amazon cloud thingummy).

You can watch the buzzword cloud as it automatically updates itself, with words appearing, waxing, waning, and disappearing... kinda hypnotizing so go careful!

David Hurley
Online Article Marketing

Walt Disney Leadership Secrets For Achieving Business Success

2009-04-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Evan Carmichael has just produced another of his famous entrepreneur features, looking at how Walt Disney achieved business success against everybody's expectations by doing what he loved... Check out the video below to discover some Disney leadership secrets that you can use to achieve business success in your own chosen field...

Okay, here's a summary of the three Disney leadership secrets:

1. Do what you love - "If you don't really love it, it's going to be hard to succeed."

2. Push the boundaries - Walt Disney did this when he made the first ever full-length animation feature film... (Which one was it? - Check the video!)

3. Stay top of mind - "Do whatever you can to make sure your customers are always thinking about you."

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Postcard Marketing Tips For Webmasters...

2009-04-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so you are an Internet Marketer. Great! But that doesn't mean you've got to stick to marketing your website on the Internet.

So here are some postcard marketing tips to get you thinking about running a basic direct mail campaign to generate traffic to your website.

The principal reward of postcard marketing is the low cost of producing and mailing the cards. In fact, you can make use of a service like http://www.click2mail.com to plan and manage your postcard marketing campaign wholly from a computer.

Did you know that it's possible to print and mail 1,000 postcards by first class mail and spend less than 40 cents a pop?

When you send out your postcards, make sure you include your website address and and give your prospects a good reason why they should go to your site, like some useful web tools or ebooks on a subject dear to your prospects' hearts. If possible, offer something that is unavailable elsewhere, like a report that you put together yourself.

Maybe you are promoting an affiliate program that features some ready-made postcards for affiliates to purchase and mail out to prospects. Nonetheless, it will be much more effective if you make original cards of your own and create your own advertising copy as this will produce greater results for you over time.

How so?

If you utilize standard promotional postcards you have no control over what is printed on them. You are stuck with what the affiliate company provides you with. But the beauty of postcard marketing when it's run the right way, is that it gives you control over every single part of your promotional campaign, including design and copy.

Having the option to make other versions of the postcard will enable you to compare one design against another with split tests.

Let's suppose you decide to test two different headlines to see which one will bring in more leads. Make 400-500 postcards (set "A") with one headline and 400-500 (set "B") with the other and send them off to 800-1000 prospects.

If set "A" brings in more responses, keep that postcard the same and rewrite the headline on the set "B" postcard. You could run some more tests, but when you are certain which headline is more effective, drop the "losing" headline and produce another headline that you can use against the "winner" in future split tests.

How can you measure the results?

All you need to do is to add a code number on set "A" cards and a different code number on the cards in set "B". Request that people responding to your offer give the code number along with their name and e-mail in order to access the link to the free gift when they visit your site. That will give you a clear indication of how many replies each headline has generated.

Once you have built up some expertise in postcard marketing campaigns and split testing, you'll find that you can systematically improve the results you get from them.

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Who Wants A Free Customised Wordpress Blog & 12 Months' Free Hosting?

2009-04-02T17:56:00.001-07:00

Would you like to have a blog designer design and install a customised Wordpress blog for you free of charge?

I mean, who wouldn't?

Well, in April you will have a chance to win yourself exactly that!

No, don't worry, the free blog design won't be coming from me!

I'm more of a bodge-a-blog-on-Blogger sort of bloke.

The geezer who is giving away the goods is a guy called Tyrone, who hangs out over at Internet Business Path and runs eBlogProfits.

Tyrone tells me he'll be giving away ONE customised blog design website with free web hosting and a domain name to whoever wins a competition that he's running...

Here's what the winner of Tyrone's blog competition will get:

A Wordpress blog designed to meet your particular needs and the proposed content of your blog.

Free Wordpress installation.

One year's free web hosting

Search Engine Optimization

Installation of up to 10 widgets

Includes up to 10 email addresses

Okay, sounds good. So, how do you enter and what do you have to do?

You earn one entry by simply filling the form on Tyrone's website and opting into his newsletter.

(He, he, nice one Tyrone!)

Then, you can earn five more entries if you blog about this contest and link to this post using the following keywords:

* Blog Design
* Customised Blog
* Profitable Blog Design

Have your post send a trackback and you’re in! If the trackback doesn’t work, then enter the URL in the comments.

Tyrone will be accepting entries up until midnight April 30th. The winner will be drawn the following Thursday at 12pm (AEST).

Good luck and enter now if you don't want me to win it!

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

P. S. If you want to build traffic to your website, take a leaf out of Tyrone's book... offer to do something gratis, or give away something, set up a competition and talk it up around the blogosphere and on the forums... Yagottagivetaget!

Business Downturn? Tell It To Nespresso!

2009-04-01T02:03:00.000-07:00

What is a good business to be in during a recession?

How about selling a luxury product, like an exclusive coffee that comes in pricey little pods that only fit one brand of coffee machine?

Sounds crazy, right? After all, in a recession people are looking for ways to SAVE money and CUT expenses, so you would have thought ersatz coffee would be flavour of the year...

Somebody should tell Nespresso, the cuckoo in Nestle's nest, the company that has enjoyed 30% growth-rates for the last several years, including 2008, The-Year-Of-the-Worst-Recession-Since-The-Great-Depression etc.

So, if you want to know how to enjoy a recession boom, learn from Nespresso!

Or, if you'd rather sit back, forget the recession and see how George Clooney charms the women, check out this Nespresso ad instead!!

Nice one, George!

David Hurley
Business Downturn or Recession Boom?

GetResponse And The Mysterious Joomla Plug-In...

2009-03-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

Back in the mists of time, towards the end of October 2009, I reported that "GetResponse has brought out a new Joomla extension, which allows their clients to integrate a GetResponse subscription form into their Joomla sites".

A couple of days ago someone contacted me to say that I was talking bunk.

Actually, she was politer than that, and wrote,

"Your post of Oct 29, 2008 ... states that GetResponse has come out with a Joomla extension. I called GetResponse and they said it's not true."

Oh dear... What on earth had I been talking about then?

I did a quick Google search and found a Joomla plug-in for GetResponse by Intellispire and guessed that was what I must have had in mind.

So, I sent this reply to my correspondent:

Thanks for pointing that out. I forget the original source for the story now, but it looks as if I got the facts wrong about who was behind the Get-Response plug-in. Here's a link to the plug-in: http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/bridges/mailing-&-newsletter-bridges/5792/details Time for a new blog post on the subject...! Best wishes, David Hurley

Earlier tonight, I began to check stuff out in preparation for this blog post and realized something was a bit fishy...

My blog post seems to be written by someone [er, that would be me!] who appears to be confident of the details... but the details of the plug-in I describe do not match the Intellispire plug-in specs...

I dug around a bit more and discovered that I had not been blatantly talking out of my posterior but had got my information straight from the horse's mouth - no lesser authority than the Implix.com website itself!!

So, I sent this self-exculpatory e-mail to my correspondent:

"Further to our exchange of email about the GetResponse/Joomla plug in, I have just been digging around to find the source for my story since the blog post is quite detailed.

Here it is: http://www.implix.com/getresponse-integrates-with-joomla!-news.html

"The plug-in was announced on implix.com, and GetResponse is part of the implix.com stable. The plug-in is presented in an official GetResponse box.

"I guess you could try contacting GetResponse and ask them to explain if THEIR report is true or not! The name of the programme developer is Sean Wheller.

"Best wishes,

"David Hurley"

It seems that my initial supposition that I had been writing bunk, was itself bunk. But if not, then it is Implix.com which was the initiator of bunk and not this humble blogger who was merely spreading it.

I wonder if I will get any response from GetResponse...

David Hurley
Autoresponder Success Strategies

Best Web Host Tips For Home-Based Internet Business Start-Ups

2009-03-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

At last! For the first time in three months I get around to posting a fresh article to my website! It has been doing fine while I've been away, and even continued its climb up the Alexa rankings...

So with a bit more TLC I have high hope of hitting my 2009 target of pushing http://grasp-the-nettle.com into the top 200,000 sites on Alexa...

When you post something new on your main website, it is always good to post a report about it on your blog. My blog used to be my first port of call after uploading an article to my site, but not now!

No sooner had I posted my latest article than I TWEETED it! It took less than a minute to do.

Once this blog post is up, I can tweet that too!

Next thing is to bookmark the article...

Anyway, today's article offers some tips to help you find the best web host for your business website.

Here's an brief extract:

"When you are looking for the best web host company for your Internet business, jumping for the one that offers the lowest price is not the wisest move. Instead, you first need to consider the features that are included in the package. Many of the cheaper services are not suitable for the needs of a business website.

"Here are some of the features that you will want your web-host provide..."

Read on...

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Will Internet Growth Lead Us Out Of The Current Recession?

2009-03-16T01:47:00.000-07:00

Is the current recession so very different from those of the past or will a new phase of Internet growth have an ameliorating impact?

Will current technologies make a difference to the way in which the current recession plays itself out, or to the way in which people, companies and perhaps even whole nations react or respond?

How will our increasing interconnectedness affect what happens? Is it possible that the Internet growth could provide the stimulus that is needed to get the economy moving again?

How many of the newly unemployed will turn to the Internet in the hope of building an online business for themselves? If that happens there would be a great need for providers of Internet marketing solutions and advice needed as to the best Internet marketing strategies.

For others who are seeking new opportunities, what role could social networking play?

Every recession creates a new generation of entrepreneurs. Could the next big winners be online marketers, or off-line businesses that build an auxiliary marketing arm on the Internet?

Should the government play a larger role in supplying the broadband infrastructure so as to help Internet business start-ups to prosper in challenging times?

If you happen to be in London on 31st March, you can attend a forum debate hosted by Spiked-Online.com.

The debate will take place in central London at 6pm for a 6.30pm start. It is free, but to ensure a place, book now!

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

To Twits Who Don't Have Time To Tweet On Twitter...

2009-03-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you don't think you have time to social network on Facebook or post 140 character snippets of news on Twitter, watch this entertaining 10 minute by Perry Belcher... He really puts it into perspective.

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

How To Raise The Price When Publishing An Ebook

2009-03-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

If you are writing or have written an ebook, here are a few quick tips to help you improve on the perceived value of the product you have created.

Sure, what I'm about to suggest will take a bit of extra work, but you only have to do it once and can reap the benefits time after time without any further effort.

1. Use graphics. Adding good graphics, in the form of photos, charts, and witty cartoons will greatly enhance the appeal of your ebook and make it much more likely to be downloaded and read.

If you can't do your own graphics, find a good graphic designer to do them for you. You will not regret it.

2. Write some bonus reports. This is a great way to add to the perceived value of your ebook. Turn it into a package by writing a series of reports on topics related in some way to the theme of the ebook without stealing any of its thunder.

Illustrate the reports with some graphics too.

3. Have Yourself Interviewed Have a friend interview you about your ebook and either film or record the interview and include it in the package along with a transcription.

Now you can use the interview as publicity for your ebook and offer the bonus reports as freebies.

4. Raise Your Price. Since the ebook is illustrated with professional graphics and comes with some extra reports plus an interview in which you present yourself as an expert in the field, the perceived value will be much greater and you will be able to offer it for a higher price.

As soon as you have one package up and running on autopilot, start working on a second...

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Serious Advice To Any New Plug-In Profits Site Members

2009-02-14T02:09:00.001-08:00

Now you have a PIPS site set up you may be wondering what to do next. The very next thing I would do if I were starting all over again with a PIPS site would be to join the PIPS Power Group.

The PIPS Power Group are are group of five very successful PIPS users who give a lot of time and also free resources to help inexperienced PIPS owners to learn how to make money online. They take you right from the beginning. You can ask any question you want about PIPS on the forum and you will get a quick response and great advice.

You will also get a lot of support from the other members. I am one of the active members on the forum.

I was sceptical about the PPG at first. I thought, "Oh yeah, it is just another group of people out to take all my money as fast as they can."

But it isn't like that. When I joined them I was amazed to hear them tell me that I did NOT need to spend money on this or that (things that they could easily have recommended to make a quick buck). I was impressed with their dedication to other people's success.

Sure, it costs money to join, but it will save you far more money than if you try to do everything yourself with your present level of experience. The fact is that if "you" want to succeed online you need to get serious!! My "ability" did not come from fresh air but from dedicated study, which included INVESTING money and time in my education. One of the best investments I made, and continue to make, was in the PIPS Power Group.

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

I Predict That Gary MaCaffrey Will Soon Be The Most Followed Person On Twitter!

2009-02-13T23:07:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of Gary McCaffrey?

You may have done if you have been seriously involved in Internet Marketing for a while, but if not, you probably haven't.

But, whether you know him or not, Gary McCaffrey is set to become the most followed person on Twitter!

Why do I say that?

Because he has just created and launched this free viral resource for Twitter called
TweeterGetter that takes less than a minute to set up, and does not even require you to give away your email address.

If you want to build your list of followers quickly and effortlessly, without having to first follow lots of other people and HOPE they follow you back, check out Gary's Tweetergetter, here:

Happy Tweeting Valentine's!

David Hurley
Internet Marketing Success Strategies

How Big Should My E-Book Be, How Much Should I Charge?

2009-02-13T01:58:00.001-08:00

A question was raised on the PPG Forum recently about how to sell e-books and e-book pricing strategies. How much should you charge for an e-book that you have written?

A lot of people feel that an e-book should be short and cheap, but in the article that follows, points out that if you are selling something your customer is interested in and actually wants to learn about, small is not necessarily beautiful...

So if you want to write the definitive guide to your subject, maybe you should turn a 30 page pamphlet into a 300 page bible.

Over to Bob Bly

===

"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."

Warren Buffett

Selling Information Products "By the Pound"

By Bob Bly

I frequently hire freelance writers to write e-books and other information products for my small online publishing business. Recently RH, a potential author, was taken aback when I told him I wanted a 15,000-word e-book from him.

"How did you come up with 15,000 words?" he asked me. "In this age of hyper-information overload, shouldn't such a document be more like a lady's skirt - short enough to be interesting and just long enough to cover the subject?"

RH's question seems sensible enough on the surface. But his conclusion - that when it comes to information products, shorter is universally preferable - is not true.

May I explain why?

To begin with, RH is theoretically correct when he suggests that readers are busy, have too much to read, and not enough time to read it. Despite this, however, people who buy information products - especially online - have a slightly different perspective than ordinary readers.

Info product buyers do, to some extent, buy their information "by the pound." If they pay a high price, they expect a lot for their money. Not just great content, but plenty of it.

We call this demand for quantity the "thud" factor. When a customer orders a $50 info product, the material should make a nice "thud" when he drops it on his desk.

For e-books selling in the $19 to $79 range, I find that the customer is satisfied with something that would be at least 50 pages when he prints it out and holds it in his hands. With approximately 300 words per page, a 50-page e-book is 15,000 words, which is the word count I gave RH.

RH, in turn, suggested that we could make a more valuable product by covering the topic in a single page, which he said he could do.

Well, let me warn you now. If you sell a $29 e-book and deliver to your customers a one-page PDF document on the topic, your refund rate will be huge. Those customers will feel ripped off and not buy from you again.

Even if that one page has great content, it is not enough. It does not meet the "thud factor" requirement.

RH is applying the rule that brevity is the chief virtue of good writing. Where he makes his mistake is in assuming that this rule should be applied equally to information the reader wants as well as to information he doesn't want.

I agree with RH that in correspondence and other documents that the customer doesn't really care about, you want to get to the point as quickly as possible - and keep it short and simple. But when you sell an e-book or special report, you are selling material that he actually wants to read.

Remember, he ordered it. He paid you for it. He didn't have to buy, but he did. That means your customer is sufficiently interested in the topic to educate himself on it at his own expense. He is reading your e-book for his own benefit. And perhaps for his own enjoyment. It is not a chore. Or if it is a chore, it is one he has volunteered for.

Strangely, RH didn't complain to me that books he buys on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble have "too many words." Yet the average 200-page nonfiction trade paperback contains 80,000 words - five times the length of my average e-book!

Are you, like RH, afraid your copy - whether you are writing a sales letter, a landing page, an article, a special report, or a print or electronic book - is too long? If so, the reason might be any of the following... all of which can and should be corrected:

• Too much fluff

To meet a required word length, you have padded your copy, making it dull and flabby. You are wasting the reader's time by saying the same thing over and over in different ways.

• Lack of content

You haven't done your homework, so you don't have a rich body of facts to illustrate your points and support your claims. Given the existence of the Internet and Google, there is no excuse for such inadequate research.

• Lack of authority

You sound like you don't really understand your subject in depth, and the reason is you probably don't. You need to either become an expert or interview an expert (or two).

• Boring copy

You don't really care about the topic or the project, and it comes across in your copy. Solution: Write only on subjects you are interested in and care about.

David Hurley
Internet marketing success strategies

The Plug-In Profit Site Introduces Budget Web Hosting With HostGator!

2009-02-08T22:27:00.000-08:00

In the current recessionary climate a lot of people are worrying about their budgets.

Yet, at the same time people are searching for extra ways to make money. An increasing number of those people are looking at working from home on the Internet but need help in getting an online business set up.

The Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS for short) has always provided a quick and economical way for the complete beginner to get set up fast on the Internet for a modest monthly outlay.

However, in the current climate, a few dollars saved will make a big difference...

I'm happy to say that, commencing February 2009, Stone Evans, the founder of the PIPS programme, has agreed to set up PIPS websites FREE on HostGator, the leading provider of budget web hosting.

Now, you will be able to choose between a premium business web hosting package from Host4Profit.com ($25 per month) OR the budget web hosting option provided by HostGator, and pay just $7.95 per month.

Suddenly, the Plug-In Profit Site got a lot cheaper!

Make Money From The HostGator Affiliate Programme

Also, the Host Gator affiliate programme is free to join and pays you on a sliding scale of $50 up to $125 for every referral you make.

Since your HostGator affiliate code will be embedded in the sales page that comes with your free PIPS website, you have a great opportunity to earn substantial monthly commissions simply by referring people to your PIPS sales page and pointing out how economical it is to set up a home based business with the Plug-In Profit Site.

Click the Croc!

WHAT ARE THE TOTAL COSTS OF SETTING UP?

Okay, good question.

Let's say you go with HostGator.com and opt for a fully functioning GetResponse autoresponder so that you can take advantage of the free 400 pre-written ezine letters that automatically follow-up with your website visitors to make extra sales for you...

... here are the recurring costs:

Domain name = $15.00 per year

HostGator Hosting = $7.95 per month

GetResponse Autoresponder = $17.95 a month (regular rate)

So for a monthly outlay of $25.90 you are in business!

You also have the option of joining several affiliate programmes that the Plug-In Profit Site promotes. These include:

SFI (FREE to join)

TrafficSwarm (FREE to join)

Web Prosperity ID (Premium Builder for $29.95 or Elite Builder for $59.95 p/m)

Empowerism ($29.95 for your first month, then $19.95 a month)

All of the above affiliate programmes are optional. For example, I am involved in all but Web Prosperity ID. It's your choice.

Also, once the website is set up it is yours to do what you like with.

Check out my website and you will see that it is a PIPS site but with a lot of stuff added to it: http://grasp-the-nettle.com

Anyway, the main point of this post is that the Plug-In Profit Site has collaborated with HostGator and has just got a lot cheaper to set up.

Click the link to find out more about the Plug-In Profit Site.

Read this interview with Stone Evans, founder of the Plug-In Profit Site.

David Hurley

How To Make A Free Website With Weebly

2009-01-29T09:01:00.001-08:00

Could the age of the viable free website be upon us?

Are you looking for a free website that looks good, has no annoying ads on it and has a back office suite that is beautiful to work with?

I think you might like the look of http://www.weebly.com/

I have just been playing with it and feel like a boy in a sweetshop!

The site cleanly designed, with a fresh appearance and a nice layout that makes it very easy to work with.

It also comes with a lot of cool features.

Want to add a new paragraph with a photo top left? Just drag and drop the appropriate icon into place. Want to work with HTML, you can if you like, but you don't have to.

At the top of the page a series of tabs lead you to the various building blocks to help you construct your website. The tabs are:

Elements
Designs
Pages
Settings

Elements is sub-divided into

Basics
Multimedia
Revenue (Google Adsense)
More.

You can keep your website completely free by having weebly host it:

http://www.MYFREESITE.weebly.com

Or you can buy a domain name and point it at your website.

There are no annoying ads on your site, EXCEPT for a Weebly footer.

You can easily add Google Adsense and share the revenue 50%-50% with Weebly.

There are upgrade options.

When you log back in, your current sites are easy to find, plus there is a clear "To Do List" to take you through your website building tasks.

Right now they are beta testing a set of features that allows any Weebly user to customize their theme, and are looking for users who know a bit of HTML/CSS and would be willing to spend a little time to test out the new features.

This resource seems idealy suited for testing out niche sites... 8)

But note, you can build a maximum of TWO free websites. After that you have to pay - but the rates are very good, AND you can pay by PayPal - always a good option as far as I'm concerned.

6 Months = $4.58/month
1 Year = $3.99/month
2 Years = $2.99/month

One you start paying you can have up to 10 websites per account and get some extra features thrown in too, such as:

Password-protected pages
Remove or Customize Weebly footer
100 MB file uploads
Audio player
Premium Support

So is Weebly reliable, can you expect 99.5% uptime?

I don't know. They suffered a major outage in June 2008, when three, or possibly even FOUR of the Seagate hard-drives on the storage system busted. But "drastic measures" (like replacing all 15 of their hard-drives) were taken "to make sure this never happens again".

Since Weebly's stated aim is to be the most reliable and best free web site creation service on the Internet, let's hope they have better luck with their new storage system.

Verdict: Worth trying for small narrowly focused niche websites, or fun sites...

Question: Does the free version of Weebly do anything that a free blog platform could not do as well or better?

Here's a 3 minute video demo: