Thursday, June 25th will forever be burned in my memory banks.  I’ll always remember the disbelief I felt when the news of Michael Jackson’s passing flashed across my Twitter screen. I didn’t believe it.  It had to be a hoax.  We had already lost one of our cultural icons that day in the passing of Farrah Fawcett. Surely we didn’t just lose another – especially one who was not known to be ill.  I immediately stopped what I was doing and Googled for details – convinced it was all a terrible mistake.

It wasn’t – Michael Jackson had indeed passed away at age 50.

Now I’m not going to go into details about his death or his life or even his music.  I’m sure you’ve all seen one of many news programs in the past week offering exhaustive coverage on the subject.

But what I will say is this: if you are not sharing your gifts with the world, you are doing the world a great disservice. 

Say what you want about Michael Jackson the man, one thing cannot be denied – he had an incredible talent.  Whether or not his style of music was your cup of tea, it can’t be denied that he had an incredible gift.  And he had such passion and dedication for sharing his gift with the world.  Anyone who has seen any of his videos will agree. Anyone who has seen him perform live will agree.  Michael Jackson loved what he did.

The same can be said of Farrah Fawcett.  She too had a talent, a gift she shared with the world.  Same for Ed McMahon, or David Carradine, or even Billy Mays.  Each had a gift that they shared with the world.

If you are not sharing your gifts with the world, you are doing yourself a great disservice.

It doesn’t matter if your gift is Fingerstyle guitar, song and dance, acting or writing.  In fact, your gift may not even be in the field of arts.  Maybe you’re a great mathematician.  Or a fabulous cook (and if you are, let me know when I can come over for dinner!). If you’re not sharing your gifts, you’re wasting them.

You may never reach the level of Michael Jackson – few ever will – but there are ways to share your love and passion for something.  Come to an open stage if you’re a guitarist, volunteer your time to tutor or teach a child, perform for your family and friends – whether the performance is a song or a four-course meal.  Share your gift – share your passions – do what you love to do and watch as the people you love share in that passion.

If you have been blessed with a gift (and we all have), it should be shared… before it’s too late.

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Now that Oprah is on Twitter and a number of other celebrities like Ashton Kutcher with a million followers and counting, has the Death of Twitter arrived for business owners using social media to grow their business?

If you’re not a member of this Tribal Seduction Tribe, you may have missed the LIVE show Coach Deb was on this week talking about Twitter and the controversial debates in the Twittosphere. But you can catch the first 30 minutes of the show right here:

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I haven’t participated in a while - not only have I been to busy to post, I’ve also been a little too busy to tweet.  But I’ll be back soon to join in the ongoing party that is Twitter.  In the meantime, if you want to join in the Follow Friday fun (it is Friday after all), here are some things to keep in mind:

You can opt out: Just because there may be a lot of #followfriday tweets, doesn’t mean you need to get involved.  

Categorize your recommendation: If you feel like sharing a bunch of recommendations, it helps to categorize them to provide more value to other tweeters.  For example: Social Media @CoachDeb, @JPMicek, @MariSmith… and so on.

Introduce new tweeps: Recommend a tweep (or more) who is new to your stream and who made an impact on you in the last week. 

Helpful tweeps: If anyone has given you a helping in the past week, be sure to share!

Chattiest Tweeps: Twitter is about engaging people in a conversation.  If there are no conversations, twitter is irrelevant.  I always love recommending tweeps with whom I’ve had the most conversations or interactions with in the past week.

Happy tweeting! 

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Now that you have your product ready, the next step is to get a salesletter online. I’m not going to teach you the specifics of how to write copy in the next few issues of this newsletter. There are others out there who have already created amazing resources to show you how to do this. I highly recommend any of Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero’s products. Derek Gehl’s Insider Secrets also includes a module on copywriting.

So while I won’t teach you how to write copy, I will go over the basic structure of an online salesletter and encourage you to create a swipe file of salesletters that you like. In fact, any time you order a product online, you should save the salesletter because chances are if it was good enough to persuade you to buy, it’s a good indicator of the strength of the sales copy.

Salesletter Template

Headline: Your headline is a concise summary about the benefit of the offer you will be making. Writing an attention grabbing headline is key to your online success. I myself have bought many a product based on the strength of the headline alone. I mean who has time to read 30 pages of salescopy? More often than not, I’m sold on the product based on the headline alone and a few other key elements on the salespage.

Opening Sentence: Your opening sentence builds upon the benefit, or problem-solution, spelled out in the headline. Some copywriters use a sub-heading to expand upon the benefits of the headline. Others use the first sentence of their copy. Test both to see what works best with your target audience.

Big Promise: You may choose to outline this in your headline or opening sentence. But if you’re using those elements to set up a problem and your salesletter is going to walk your prospect through your solution, then you want to make your big promise close to the top of your salesletter.

Proof: Another key persuasive element of your salesletter is proof. Proof comes in many forms. Ask yourself: What will make my reader / prospect believe what I am saying is true — what will make them believe I can deliver on my promise?

Structuarly, any combination of the following elements can be used:

• Bullet points
• Testimonials
• Facts
• Logic

Build Value: Your price point doesn’t matter much. Crazy claim, right? Here’s why: No matter what you’re charging, people will think it’s too much unless you make a reasonable (and believable) comparision showing that finding similar information or a comparable product or service any other way would cost far more. Study online salesletters for good examples. Look for phrases like: How much is information like this worth to you? or How much is all this going to cost you?

Make the Offer: Your offer is the unique, most compelling expression of the best combination of features and benefits of your product. This is also the area where you can highlight any special bonuses.

I know a few info-preneurs who say to write the salesletter first before you create your product and focus on designing the most compelling offer and then creating your product so that it delivers on every benefit and offer. But it takes many info-preneurs years to get to that stage. Just make sure your salesletter matches your product and you’ll be fine.

Call to Action: This is where you ask for their order. I’m always amazed at how many copywriters miss this step. Study your swipe files, especially for products you’ve personally ordered, and see how they close the sale.

Guarantee: Your Guarantee is very important, because it eases the worries that come right after your prospect has made a decision to buy. Many first time online entrepreneurs do not offer a guarantee on their products. They could be curtailing their sales. Again, study the guarantees on the salespages of products you’ve personally ordered.

P.S.: Your PS is your last chance to miss the sale. I feel it’s as important as the headline. You can shortform the main points of your benefits, value and offer in two or three impactful PS statements. I’ve personally bought many products based on the headline and the PS.

That, in a nutshell, is all that’s needed to write a compelling salesletter. I know I haven’t given you a lot of specific instructions. There are other teachers with a proven record of writing great conversion content who can fill in the gaps.

I do have a few tips I can share from my work with successful online entrepreneurs:

Before you start to write copy, you need to know your customer and how your product applies to your customer or market. Not only that, you need to talk to your market in their own language. Use words and phrases that they would use.

Using the format above, go through your product and find the features, tell your customer what those features will do for them (benefits) and then create your offer - which is essentially what does this combination of features provide in terms what it will do for the customer - and what’s unique about it.

IMPORTANT: This is a step that’s often missed. Once you’ve written the copy, read it out loud. Silly as it is, it will help you catch mistakes and also clue you in on whether the salesletter sounds personal and conversational - does it read like you’re talking to your customer

Examples:

Tribal Seduction Course

Mari Smith’s Social Media Marketing Method

Ali Brown’s Online Success Blueprint

Mark Joyner’s Best Selling Author (or really anything Mark Joyner writes)

Derek Gehl’s Insider Secrets

One more word of advice: The hardest thing about writing copy is getting started. Staring at a blank page can be intimidating. Follow the outline above and write blocks of copy. Deal with one element at a time and then write the filler copy in between each block.

Happy writing!

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Are you ready to make a move?  Sign Up now! 
 
 

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The last six months of 2008, my weekly eZine walked you through setting up a squeeze page, building a website, getting your first audio product together, choosing a broadcast service and more.

And many of you wrote asking for help.  Some of you wanted one-one-one training to master the techniques yourself.  Others of you wanted someone to take on marketing tasks so that you could focus on serving the people you were meant to serve.  Makes sense, right?  After all, long time readers will know that I often write about focusing on your brilliance and outsourcing the tasks that aren’t your core competencies.

Many of you took me up on the offer last month of one-on-one training sessions but many more of you got in touch looking for more specialized ongoing support.

That’s why I got busy building a team.

I want to see you succeed.  And I know I can help.  But I wouldn’t be able to do it alone so I’ve been busy training a team of internet marketing and new media specialists to help me help you.

Meet the new Virtual Partner team:

Sarah specializes in online customer care.  She’s trained in Kunaki and 1ShoppingCart but above all, she is personally trained in my world class customer care standards.

Delaine is also a Customer Care Specialist and provides backup support.  Her main focus is web maintenance and has been personally trained by me to be a Web Coding Ninja.  She can put togethers eZines and optin pages in a flash and can also handle many web maintenance tasks (blogging, adding testimonials from AudioGenerator or AudioAcrobat, integrating opt-in forms, etc.).  I’ll be personally training her in all the tools she’ll need to support any Online Entrepreneur. 

Spencer is my meticulous editor and proof reader.  I don’t know how he does it but he catches stuff that I just don’t see.  He’s good.  No he’s beyond good - he’s great!  The best proof reader I’ve ever worked with.

Edward is my secret weapon… and my brother :-)  He’s a programming genius and an excellent web server admin.  He’s helped me with many projects that require specialized skills such as Kayako installs, membership program installs, and PHP coding (when I get busy and can’t do it myself). 

Jason is my go to guy for web graphics: website headers, custom Twitter backgrounds and more.  He’s an experienced graphic artist and also a pro at photo restoration and editing.  And soon he’ll be dabbling in online video editing.  We’ll keep him busy for sure!

And then there’s me.  I’ll still be doing all of the things you know me to do (and do really well).  You’ll still have direct contact with me so if you need to discuss a project, no matter how big or small, I’ll be the one smiling on the other end.  But now I’ll have a team I can count on to help me deliver projects faster and keep me on track when projects with my online business management clients require immediate attention. 

I’m so excited to have my Dream Team in place.  And the best part is, they’re all old friends and have seen me on my best and worst days :-)  And I’ve known them all long enough to know where their strengths and passions lie.  I’m excited to be able to introduce them to you so that we can help you make 2009 the best year for your online business.

Get in touch with me today!  I can help you get your project off the ground or take your business to the next level.

I look forward to hearing all your great ideas!  Let’s talk soon.

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We’ve all completed a product, right? Ready to sell? Right? Anyone?

Nope… right?

It’s okay. Chances are you’re not alone.

You’re stuck. You don’t know what the next step is. You’ve listened to (and chances are paid a hefty price for) so much advice about what you should be doing that you’re overwhelmed and confused and afraid to take the next step.Or worse, you’ve got a virtual team in place and you’re too busy to manage each contractor. In both cases, you’re spinning your wheels and not getting it done.

All too often, I see online entrepreneurs fall into one camp or the other. And it gets me fired up because I love how full they are of terrific ideas but they just can’t get past the obstacles in their way.

Which means that their products stay trapped in their head and don’t get out to help the people they’re meant to help. Or they get tucked in a file folder or buried on a website because the business owner is much more excited about the creation process than the acutal marketing process.

So great speakers and coaches and online entrepreneurs stay small and don’t share their amazing talents with the world… all because they’re stuck.

I’ve worked with some amazing teachers over the years. People who coach others to build an online business. But each of these courses fails in one key area: they don’t show you exactly how to do the technical things you need to do to run your online business.

Almost every program tells you to hire a virtual assistant, or go to Elance and outsource the project. And while I agree in principle with the advice, I also think that it’s important for a business owner to have a basic understanding of how to do a task.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I know I’ve been teasing you for close to a year about my DotCom Mechanics tutorials: step-by-step video instruction on the basic internet marketing tools that you’ll need to get your online business up and running.

Well I’ve been so busy helping my clients build their businesses that I haven’t had time to record these tutorials for you. I know, shocking… given that I’m really good at project managing my clients projects to completion. I guess I’m stuck myself

So I gave myself a good kick in the you-know where and have changed my approach because I know that many of you are waiting for this training and have been asking me about it.

Instead of doing a formal product with pre-recorded tutorials, I’m going to offer live one-on-one training. So no fancy salespage to sell you on the benefits and full of irresistible offers. No fancy graphics or packaging. No product launch campaign. No packages to buy or confusing payment plans or hidden monthly member fees. Just me and you—one-on-one—training you on what you need. And if what you need is coaching, then I’m availabe for that too.

I don’t call myself a coach but a lot of what I do when I work with clients involves “coaching” - working with them to plan, strategize and offer feedback. Keeping them accountable to their goals and deadlines. Helping them get over their blocks and fears and challenges.

So here’s the deal: if this sounds like something you need, then let’s get started. If you need training, we’ll meet via webinar and I’ll get you up to speed on what you need to know to use tools like 1ShoppingCart, blogging software, AudioGenerator, web building programs, article marketing - you name it!

If you need a sounding board, we’ll meet by phone (or VoIP if that’s easier) and talk one-on-one and get you moving towards your professional goals.

The only thing I ask is if we’re doing one-on-one training, you allow me to record the webinar so that I can eventually turn it into training materials that others will benefit from.

Sounds great, Deb! How Do I Get Started!

You can tweet me or DM me on Twitter

You can send me a note through Facebook

You can leave a comment on this post

Or you can do all three! (And trick the internet gremlins!)

I’ll be in touch once I hear from you and we’ll schedule a time to chat and get to know each other and talk about your goals.

Don’t waste another day not getting closer to fulfilling your goals. Contact me today!

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Leveraging Social Media To Market Your Business
By Stuart Crawford

Social media and networking are all the craze in the marketing world today.  Professionals and small business are moving over to social networking and online marketing in droves.  However, many IT professionals today still do not understand the power of the Internet to market their business nor do they share this power with their client base so that they can become the expert in this field and help their clients.  Not only do they not understand the power of the Internet and what it has to offer to their business they may also be afraid of letting their hair down on the Internet.

The online social networking world is all about building relationships.  Exactly the same way you would create friendships at a kitchen party or at a social event.  Online networking using social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn or Plaxo is exactly the same as going to your local Chamber of Commerce or networking club and meeting new people or reconnecting with those colleagues in your local community.

Online social networking and media follows the same set of guidelines as you would find in any face to face interaction. You need to be yourself; you need to add value and most importantly you must be authentic.

How do we take our business online and attract new business opportunities using social media services?

The first step is you need to be memorable; you must create that memorable experience so when you follow up with a new contact they instantly remember you. Just like in a face to face networking event, you have to create that memorable experience. How are people going to remember you? What memorable experience are you creating so that they recommend you to their friends and family when they have an opportunity for you? You must create that memorable experience, you need to be unique and you must try to help everyone in your circle of inspiration, never sell to them.

The next step is exactly that: Never sell your services and push your products using social networking tools. Again, just as in a real life face to face meeting, if you come across as an aggressive sales person, people will run away from you and you will find yourself being awfully lonely. The same thing happens online, if you post links to your products on Twitter or on your blog, you run the risk of pushing people away from you. We must educate and only focus on teaching or sharing our knowledge with others.

Talk about current events and the affect that is has in your world. It is also OK to be a little controversial, controversy will attract readers to your blog. Current events and the impact that it has on your clients and your industry are also great ways to attract new people to your blogs and Web sites. Engage yourself in conversations with others in your industry and offer your insight into their postings. By combining your own writing and participation in what others are talking about in your local community and industry will attract followers to your sites.

When leveraging social networking it is important to add value. You do not have to create content all the time on your own. Leverage existing content that is out there today that your clients, friends and contacts would find value with. You do not have to create the content yourself. This is the power of the Internet. There are many sources of content out there;you need to find what content your followers would find interesting.

Leveraging social media is exactly the same as networking face to face, you want to exhibit the same behaviours that you would at your local networking club or Chamber of Commerce. It is important that you approach the online world this way. Be helpful, offer assistance and whenever possible follow up. Follow up just like in a real life meeting is critically important, if you can meet face to face following an online meeting great, if not, leverage tools like instant messengers, e-mail and online communities to take your new relationship to a whole new level.

The number one sin in marketing is to be boring; the same rules apply when you are marketing online. You cannot afford to be boring; you need to be exciting; people are attracted to those that are offer fun and exciting things. If you are looking at attracting new business opportunities online, do things that are fun and will attract potential clients to visit your site, post fun contests on your social networking sites that drive traffic to your Web site. The number one rule is to be fun and exciting and make it your number one intention not to be boring.

Online and social media can bring a tremendous amount of value to your business if done correctly. Remember these basic tips and tricks to help you with your online experience. Leverage the tools available to you and your business today, create those memorable experiences and help out those that are hungry for the value that you can bring to the world.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stuart Crawford freelance consults with You Factor Inc. helping Small Business, IT Firms deliver their consulting services to their local market. Stuart has helped many IT partners throughout the world and he can help you win in today’s marketplace, sign up for his daily email of the day to help your business at http://www.stuartcrawford.com. He can be reached through e-mail at stuart@stuartcrawford.com or through his blog at http://blog.itsuccessmentor.com.

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I love launch day - there’s nothing like the excitement of a few final tweaks and then the fanfare of pressing the launch button (just a little after noon Eastern today).  What’s exciting about this course is that we’re offering our We Do It For You package which means that you’ll end up with a smashing salespage at the end of our time together.  You won’t have to lift a finger.  When you’re ready, just tell us the domain name you want us to register, what you’d like to have for your website, and we’ll take it all from there.

Just sit back and relax while we work to get your site up and running and ready for sales.

Pretty exciting, huh?  To top it off, order through my link below and I’ll sweeten the deal - you’ll get 2 free 30-minute one-on-one training sessions with me on the specific technical aspects you’ll need to master to run your online business.

When you’ve placed your order, you’ll receive an Order ID number.  Just pop it to me in an email and I’ll be in touch to set up your complimentary training sessions. 

How would you like to make a living doing what you love with your passion for health or raw foods?

Check out the course here: http://tinyurl.com/yvac4p

This is the *only* course that teaches you step-by-step:

- How to discover your passion and a unique business idea

- How to create your own website, even if you’ve never done it before.

- How to sell your own products and coaching, even if you’re not an expert

- How to make passive income doing what you love working from anywhere in the world, and help A LOT of people in the process.

And remember, if you order with my link, I’ll throw in two complimentary 30-min training sessions: http://tinyurl.com/yvac4p

Looking forward to helping guide you through the system.

~ Deborah

PS: We offer this course only once or twice a year, so this maybe your only chance to jumpstart 2009.   We can accept 50 students total, so don’t wait.  Visit now for a chance: http://tinyurl.com/yvac4p

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The software is easy to install and customize.  Forums and discussion threads are intuitive to create.  A few clicks and you can create a parent forum and sub-forums within that topic.  It integrates easily with the most popular membership management software.  And best of all, it’s easy for your community to interact with each other through posts in your forum and privately via direct message.

Marketing in the new millenium is all about creating connections and community.  Download vBulletin today and start creating meaningful interactions with your followers.

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