One of the down sides to this system is the roughly 3% Paypal takes off the top for each transaction.  If you’re sending $10, not that big of a deal.  But when people send you $10,000 (like a client told me about today) she lost over $400 in the transaction.

Most people don’t know that this fee is completely avoidable! 

Here’s all you need to do:

When someone tells you they’re going to send you money via Paypal, request that they select the “Personal” tab, and click the “Other” option.

That’s it!  Instead of your friend absorbing the fees (or worse- passing them on to you!) Paypal eliminate the fee.

Cool, huh?

Did this article save you some future funds?  Why not buy me a latte at Starbucks as a thank you?

And while I’d love to say they all went on to fame, riches and wild success, it just ain’t so. Like watching ships sink right out of the harbor, many get frustrated, and after looking at the time and money they’re spending…. quit. Before they make a single sale.

Interestingly though, I’ve noticed some patterns that most rookie online marketers seem to repeat (and I’m guilty of these too).

A wise man once said, “the first step in avoiding a trap is knowing of it’s existence.” So here are the five biggies I see people falling into, and most importantly, how you can avoid them yourself!

Mistake #1: Firing Cannonballs Before Bullets

I love hearing my dad tell stories about being an artillery officer in the army. In the 60′s, they didn’t have the laser guided, precision video game style guns, but rather glorified cannons that depended on soldier’s skill to estimate distance, lob some shells, then adjust in order to hit targets.

The problem with this trial and error process is that shells were expensive, heavy, and took time to load. Enter the solution: the 106 recoilless rifle. This was simply a gun mounted to the top of the cannon, which the operator would fire, look for the puff of smoke, adjust, shoot, etc. When the bullet landed close enough… BOOM. The big gun took out the target (old junk cars, in the army’s training.)

What’s this have to do with online marketing?

Start with small, easy to create products, then when you’ve zeroed in on your target, launch the big expensive ones.

Far too often I see rookie marketers trying to create MASSIVE products their first go around. The products become so epic, so vast, so involved… they take months, and thousands of dollars to complete. 6 workbooks. 20 hours of video. Top notch graphics. Full blown membership sites.

And then, inevitably, when the sales only trickle in, frustration and anger set in. “The market is cold”, “This online stuff just doesn’t work”, and they throw in their hat.

Think of your first few products as warm ups. They’re research, lead generation… and if they actually make a few bucks for you, bonus!

They’ll help you learn: What does your audience REALLY want? How much are they willing to pay? How good at you at generating content, and finalizing products? Can you overcome your need to make things PERFECT, and get something to market in a week?

Ramp up the scope of your products over time, but make a goal to get something out there NOW!

Mistake #2: Wasting Time Trying to Do Everything Yourself

While this is certainly a mistake, it’s very understandable. Mostly, this is rooted in either finances “I’m not making any money, so I can’t spend any money!” or pride “Why would I pay someone to do what I could learn myself!”

The devastating effect of this thinking, however, has three ugly heads:

1. Your final product is sub par. We all have strengths and weaknesses… but I can spot a mile away when the website/graphics/copy are amateur. Your customers can too. Don’t become a perfectionist… but we DO judge books by their covers!

2. Your “time to market” sky rockets. When you get stuck on little problems (that outsources can do in their sleep) your valuable time is being wasted, you lose sleep, and you aren’t making a dime. Instead of launching products in days or weeks, you’re into months and years.

3. You’ve got no repeatable system. When you’re constantly re-inventing wheels, you’re missing the whole point of an online business- systems and automation. The more efficient you are at packaging your stuff, and making it available to hungry customers, the happier everyone is!

Learning from a master:

One of my heroes online is Bob Bly. Not only is he a great copywriter, he is superb at developing systems to crank out products. The guy is a machine. At a marketing bootcamp, he once shared how he is able to generate excellent products in a week’s time, for a few hundred dollars. It goes something like this:

Final Cost: a few hundred dollars for the writer and VA.
Time invested: a few hours to communicate with his people, and write a little copy.
Average profit: a few thousand dollars.

And then if you repeat this dozens of times (which Bob does) you start living that Internet dream lifestyle (which Bob does).

Learn your strengths and weaknesses, learn the value of your time, and learn to be a smart outsourcer!

Mistake #3: Think You Only Need ONE Website

Here’s a simple fact: the top online marketers don’t have one site… they have a fleet of them.

And each site has a unique, measurable task. Every time there’s something new to promote (product, service, niche area, there’s a new site to sell it.

Here’s a few types of sites you’ll want to put in your arsenal:

Sales page – single column, designed to sell a product or service. Click the “Buy” link, enter credit card info, receive your product!

Squeeze page – video or text enticing people to join an opt in list, in exchange for for something of value.

Authority site – a larger site, promoting YOU, your services, products, and your blog articles.

Membership site – great content in a specific niche that is only available to customers who have purchased access.

I can already hear the objections rising in your mind. “Having my site developed was a long, expensive, painful process. You want me to do that on a regular basis?”

The answer is… if makes you more money in the long run, YES.

You may develop the skills to create them yourself (like I did), or perhaps you’ll build a relationship with an assistant who can build them for you (like Bob Bly did).

But like billboards, TV commercials, or any other advertising campaign, the more targeted websites you develop, the more visible, credible, and profitable your online adventures will be!

Mistake #4: Don’t Know Your Stats

Here’s a common discussion I have with people:

Them: “Dave, my website sucks. I’m not making any money at all. I think I need a new (headline/banner color/flashy intro/reduced price/etc).”

Me: “Well, maybe. Do you know how many people are actually visiting your site?”

Them: “Um, no.”

Me: Well, of the people that do come to your site, do you know the percentage that buy from you?”

Them: (feeling sheepish) “Um, no.”

Me: “How about we start by getting some baseline figures on what’s really going on, then we can make some informed decisions.”

Them: “Great idea Dave! You’re probably the smartest guy I know.”

Ok, maybe that last line doesn’t happen very often, but you get the point- if you don’t know the problem, any changes you make are really just guesses about the solution. And you don’t have the time, money or energy to be guessing about this stuff.

So what’s important to measure?

There are four things you should know about any site you own:

1. Unique Visitors – how many people are visiting your site each day? Keeping an eye on this helps you to know the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, SEO efforts, and growth trends as your site develops.

2. Sales Conversion Ratio – How many of your visitors buy from you? If you have 1000 visitors in a month, and 50 make a purchase, your Sales Conversion Ratio is 5%. If you know this number, you can tweak your sales copy, product price, even button colors, and see how it affects your conversions. If you want to promote your site to joint venture partners, they’ll expect to learn your conversion numbers.

2. Optin Conversion Ratio – Of the visitors, how many take the action you desire (buy something, opt in, call you)? If you have 1000 visitors in a month, and 200 opt in to your email list, your Opt-In Conversion Ration is 20%. Like the Sales Conversion, you can tweak things and measure the effectiveness. The faster your email list grows, the faster your profits grow.

3. Average Visitor Value – What is a new visitor worth to you? If you have 1000 visitors in a month, and you sold $2500 in products, your Average Visitor Value is $2.50. This is critical for determining advertising spending. If your average visitor value is $2.50, and you can buy clicks on Google for $1.25, you’ve got a situation with a 100% ROI. Without this number, your advertising decisions become gut feelings… dangerous grounds.

I can track all of these numbers very easily using two programs:

Google Analytics – free software you can add to any site, it measures all visitors and their behavior while on your site. Easy to set up, even easier to check what’s going on. They even have real-time reporting (i.e. watch a map overlay to see people currently viewing your site). Cool stuff.

Web Marketing Magic – This is my shopping cart, product manager, and list building system. I can see product sales, opt-in subscribers, and track them over time.

Just like a doctor would want to know your “vitals” before he starts prescribing you for medicine, or scheduling you for major surgery, you being on top of your site’s numbers will help you stay on top of your website’s health!

Mistake #5: Failure to Take Action

This deadly mistake goes by many names: Information overload, Paralysis of analysis, Fear of failure (or success), or even the big P (Procrastination).

Regardless of what you call it, the result is always the same.. you’ve learned a lot, you’ve spent a lot, and you start to wonder if you’ve got what it takes to really make this work.

Maybe if you just tweak your website a bit, or post to some message forums, or buy that new program you heard about… Maybe you should try affiliate marketing. Oh wait- someone said SEO is where it’s at. But this “guru” said iPhone apps are the future! And you never stay focused, you never complete anything.

If you find yourself here- STOP. Ask a trusted friend to come and give you an invigorating slap in the face. Break free on the trance.

Set a goal to create a money making product, and GET IT DONE. Then launch it, knowing full well it’s not perfect. Then do it again. (the product, not the slap.) Keep doing this until you stop failing, and you start making money.

I can’t stress this enough, mainly because this is so tough for me. I think of a killer idea, I buy the perfect domain, and then next thing I know it’s six months later and I’m saying “I really should do something about that idea.”

Do your homework, and find a winning idea. Build it with as much efficiency and excellence as you are able. Then LAUNCH IT, and move on and repeat!

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge

Don’t make the mistake of thinking one website will take care of all your needs… the most successful marketers have a FLEET of sites. Different types of sites have different specific purposes, and can be tracked to measure their effectiveness and profitability.

Authority Site

When promoting you, your services, and your expertise, an authority site is key. Can contain a blog, an “About Us”, description of your services and products, and of course a way for people to contact you! For more info: www.AuthoritySites101.com

Sales Page (Mini Site)

These are highly targeted pages designed to sell a product, service, or event attendance. Get in the mindset of having a new site for each product you sell! This gets a lot easier with a service like www.7MinuteMinisites.com.

Squeeze Page

Want to make REAL money online? Then you need to build a contact list of your fans and followers! But you have to get their permission before you email them valuable information and offers. This is best done through a targeted opt-in page! See www.7MinuteMinisites.com to learn how.

Membership Site

Getting ten people to pay you $1000 per month is difficult. But how about getting 1000 people to pay you $10 per month? Much easier to do, and a paid membership site is the way to make it happen. You keep posting valuable info on the site, and people are charged each month for access!

Want to know more, or need assistance with your own websites? Feel free to contact us to see how we can help!

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Objective: To put your expertise into a written ebook format using the premade Microsoft Word ebook template.

Download HERE

For your first product, which will most likely lead to many others in your niche, we’re going to create an ebook. And while you see the snazzy 3D cover to the left, yours will be delivered electronically- meaning it’s not printed or shipped… it’s DOWNLOADED.

The huge advantage of this format is that you can INSTANTLY deliver this product to a paying customer, and they can begin reading a mere seconds after they pay.

And the best part, this process will go on completely free of your involvement. You can be at your day job, asleep, or basking on the beach, and your website is still taking orders, and still delivering products. We’ll get into this more later, but it all begins with your first product.

Writing an ebook is not as daunting as it may sound, especially since you’re writing about something you’re passionate about.

And while you’re ebook can have any length you like, and any format you like, here’s a few tips that might help on the first one.

[line_break]Insert Your Text Here[/line_break]

1. Have a clear objective. Can you answer, in one sentence, what the ebook is about? If not, you might want to refocus. Going on tangents can help to fill up space, but is also a quick way to lose readers. Each chapter, each sub section should in some way help guide people towards your ebook’s mission statement.
2. Check out the competition. In the last step, we did the research, and saw who you were up against. (Just to drive it home: you WANT competition! If you’re all alone in a niche… RED FLAG.) But don’t stop at research, why not buy the ebooks out there? By all means don’t plagiarize, but there’s no better way to generate ideas than to see how others are doing it. And by the way, you can bet they’re going to be purchasing yours as well!
   
3. Organize before you start! Most great ebooks begin with a simple outline, and then you just take time writing small chunks. Seems elementary.. but staring at a blank MS Word screen can be intimidating.
4. Don’t try to cover EVERYTHING. In most cases, your first ebook will be used as an incentive to get people into your “list”, where you can upsell them to bigger and more comprehensive products. By all means make the ebook packed with quality content… but don’t feel you have to cover every nugget of information you have.
5. It’s your book, be entertaining! Nobody enjoyed reading a math book in school, and your ebook should not have the same dullness. Write conversationally, engage the reader, try to anticipate the questions they will be asking, and address this. Most of all, let your personality come through in your writing!
6. Edit, but don’t obsess. A wise man once said, “Done is better than perfect.” While you don’t want to put out fluff or garbage content… most of us fall on the other end of the spectrum- making dozens of revisions, and never feeling it’s “good enough” to publish. Do a spell check, get a few people to give candid feedback, and then LAUNCH that puppy!

Your Ebook Template

To help you get started, we’ve provided a professional looking ebook template for Microsoft Word.

While this doesn’t include the fancy cover graphics you see above (we’ll talk about that in the next step), it has everything you need for the “guts” of the ebook, title page, table of contents, chapters, even appendices.

[membership_download_item_doc link="http://www.infomarketing101.com/wp-content/uploads/Ebook-Template.doc" + target="_self"]Download this template here![/membership_download_item_doc]

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[three_columns_1]Cover Page
This page is blank on the template, but when you have your cover art designed, you can just paste it right onto this page! It’s not essential, but gives your ebook a professional look.[/three_columns_1] [three_columns_2]Title Page
A Pre-written disclaimer is provided on the title page. Also, from this page forward, a header (add your ebook title) and a footer (great for a bounce back offer) are visible.[/three_columns_2] [three_columns_3]Table of Contents
Don’t fill this out until your ebook is completed, or you’ll be going back to tweak this page constantly. Each chapter has a title and description, makes it easy for your readers![/three_columns_3]

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[three_columns_1]Introduction Page
Lets you tell them a little about yourself, and why you write the ebook. A great way to connect with them before they even get started! Be real, be brief.[/three_columns_1] [three_columns_2]Chapter Page
Here’s where your main writing will be. Copy/paste as many of these pages as you need! Note the cool drop cap, and text box… see the videos tutorial for details.[/three_columns_2] [three_columns_3]Appendix Page
These are optional, but often appropriate to include a FAQ, a list of resources, contact info, or a way to purchase more of your stuff![/three_columns_3]

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You’re All Set, So Start Writing!

Download the Word Template above, and use it as your guide to write.

The following video will show you how to customize this template as your ebook starts to take shape!

Note: The ebook cover graphics will be addressed in the next step. Once you have your cover, you’ll want to paste it into your Word document.

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Video: How to Customize The Ebook Template in MS Word

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[video file="http://infomarketing101.s3.amazonaws.com/EbookTemplateTutorial.f4v" autostart="false"]