Why Writing Articles Is A Magical Internet Marketing Method
July 20th, 2009

Writing articles for more exposure!

Do you include article writing in your marketing strategies?

When performing keyword research you will notice that millions of searches are done for a certain keyword. When these keywords are typed into the search boxes of search engines such as Yahoo or Google, indexed websites containing articles including those keywords will be displayed in the organic results. And this is what drives traffic to websites with keyword-rich articles.

Yes, the magic word is articles, and I’ll tell you why.

I’m certain you’ve heard the saying before that in the internet world, content is king. You can say that again. That is why writing articles is one of the most popular and magical Internet marketing strategies today. Internet surfers just can’t get enough information on a plethora of topics. Providing information through articles is a surefire way to drive hot traffic to your web site.

Here are a few reasons why writing articles is a magical internet marketing method:

1. It’s absolutely free.

You may think it’s too good to be true because it doesn’t cost anything. Okay, you have to pay for your Internet Service Provider, but you do that anyway. But that’s it. All you need is your thoughts, your expertise, your computer, your hands and of course, some time. If you have those, nothing will stop you from typing words that will make you complete that article for your website. On which step of the process did you actually part with any money? Some of you may be saying you don’t have the time, but if you use simple templates to begin with, your articles will be completed quickly and easily.

2. Your website will be noticed quickly.

Submit your article to article directories that get the most web traffic and if you include an effective resource box, your web site will be crawled in no time.

3. Obtain back links automatically.

When you submit your content rich articles to directories, other websites will make use of your article too. With the copyright terms of your articles, and the resource box including the URL of your website still in tact on these other websites, more traffic will subsequently be driven to your website.

4. Raise your credibility.

As an online business owner, if you just display your products and services on your website, you will not achieve a high conversion rate. Conversion is when your traffic converts to sales. You have to show that you are knowledgeable in your field. And what better way to show that than by writing articles that will allow you show off your expertise?

5. Articles can be repurposed.

Once you’ve put your knowledge and expertise into an article, it can be repurposed or repackaged into information products. Create a teleclass using the same content as your outline. Write a number of articles and repackage into a special report, an e-course or a teleseminar series. Before long, your articles will be lining your product funnel.

Just allow your creative juices to flow and jot down your ideas quickly to jumpstart your article writing momentum, or refer to the idea generators here on www.productfunnelformula.com to get you going.

With the all the benefits including those listed above, you’ll quickly understand why writing articles is one step in the product funnel formula as well as a magical internet marketing method.

******
Danette Hibberd © 2009

Grow your Prospects, your Prestige and your Profits. Turn your knowledge into income with the free report, “11 Quickest Ways to Monetize Your Expertise and Fill Your Product Funnel” at http://www.ProductFunnelFormula.com

Danette Hibberd helps female entrepreneurs turn their knowledge into multiple streams of passive income.

Filed under: Entrepreneur Tips, Internet Mktg Tips — Tags: , , , — Danette Hibberd @ 9:50 am
6 Powerful Copywriting Tips To Effectively Sell Your Products
July 4th, 2009

Powerful copywriting that effectively sells is a skill, and those marketers who know how to do it well could even ’sell snow to the eskimos.’ Not every business owner can afford to invest in a professional copywriter, and if you are in the position where you write your own copy, it’s important that you follow a few guidelines to make sure your sales copy is done in the best way possible.

Copywriting is the one skill which all business owners, whether online or offline, should learn. However, in this article, we will focus on the benefits of powerful copywriting for those who conduct a large portion of their marketing and business online. As an online marketer you communicate through words – if those words aren’t effectively conveying your message, then you’re in for a long and bumpy ride.

You’ve spent your valuable time and effort creating your product, and it’s now time to let your target market know about it.

To help get you started, here are a 6 copywriting tips:

1. Really Know your Target Market.

Effective copywriters know exactly who they’re writing for before starting. They speak directly to ONE person and keep that same person in mind at all times. If you try to reach too many people with your copy you’ll end up missing your target altogether and not reaching anyone at all. Before starting, visualise your ideal client, what does she look like, what is she feeling, what is her pain? Ask yourself, what does she want more of, and how will she feel after learning or experiencing what you offer? Know exactly who you’re writing your copy for and stick to it. Make reference to her in your headline or sub heading for more powerful and effective copywriting.

2. Use Powerful Headlines that Intrigue.

Use clear headlines throughout your copy to guide the reader. Your main headline should be in bold and large letters to grab the reader’s attention. It is true the headline which can either make or break your copy. Use a benefit-focused headline, which explains in powerful detail how you can help solve the customer’s problem. Then use sub-headlines throughout the copy to keep the reader intrigued so they will keep reading.

3. Avoid Using Big Words.

Online writing is different to the writing you did in English class. Throw out the text book and forget all those rules your teacher taught you. Online writing is casual and needs to convey emotion and a clear purpose. You need to speak to the person as though you’re sitting down with them and chatting over a coffee… stay away from big words and long adjectives or risk boring (and losing) your prospects!

4. Be Persuasive and Honest.

If you love your product that’s great but it’s also a bit biased. Your customers want to hear from other unbiased people who have used your product. Include customer testimonials but not just any testimonial will do, the more information you can include the better. For more powerful copywriting, try to include the person’s full name, city, state, website URL and if possible a picture, or for more impact, an audio or video of that person. The more information your testimonial includes the more persuasive and believable.

5. It’s Not All About You!

In fact, it’s not about you at all. Effective copywriting is concerned with the needs of the customer. The writer doesn’t really matter… Of course, you may need to add a little personal information about yourself in order to gain trust and to explain why your customer should trust you, but even in this case it’s all about what you can do for them. Read through your copy and check. If it contain a lot of “I’s” then it’s time for a serious re-write. Go back and change most of those “I’s” to “You’s”. Remember the most important radio station WIFM (What’s In It For Me?). Your writing should always be about the customer.

6. Don’t Forget the Call.

The call to action that is. Never assume your reader will know what to do, but guide them and tell your visitors what you expect them to do. If you want them to click over and purchase your weight loss product, say so, and say so in a clear way which promotes all the benefits of your products . “Click here to learn how you can lose those last 5 kilos and keep it off for good”. Be precise in your wording and always include a clear call to action. This will certainly add power to your copywriting, and be more effective as your conversion rates skyrocket.

Use the above 6 tips for powerful copywriting to effectively sell your products, and before you know it, your info products will be ‘walking out the door’.

.

Filed under: Copywriting, Welcome — Tags: , , , — Danette Hibberd @ 10:47 pm
Tips To Make Advertising Work For Women In Business
June 23rd, 2009

As a female entrepreneur, it’s important to make advertising work for you.

In order for your advertising to perform optimally, that is for it to generate the awareness and sales you desire, it’s imperative that you create a system to test and track your results. Tracking will tell you how your advertisement is performing and testing will tell you which specific variables, like your headline, work the best. Here’s how to make advertising work for you.

Step One: Find the right tools for the job. Google analytics does a wonderful job of tracking website data. Creating an advertising strategy whereby you can track the click through rates of specific advertisements will go a long way toward providing the information you need.

Additionally, if you’re using AdWords or other pay per click search engine advertising methods then they’ll provide the necessary data.

In order to tweak an ad for optimal results, many business owners use a system called Split Testing or multivariate testing. This method involves testing the results from two different variables in the same advertising campaign. The results are tracked over a specified period of time There are many software programs which will facilitate a complex multivariate testing strategy however, it can also be as simple as sending the viewers of each different advertisement to a unique webpage and tracking the results.

Step Two: Decide what to test. You can split test just about anything from the headline to the background color in your banner ad or your call to action. The most useful items to test include:

* Keywords
* Graphics
* Copy
* Headlines
* Price points
* Photos
* Bonus offers
* Text links
* Calls to action

The most important thing to remember is to keep everything constant except the item you’re testing. This means that if you’re testing to see if a particular keyword works better in a PPC campaign, the advertisement has to remain exactly the same for both keywords.

At this point you’ve chosen your ad type, you’ve chosen a location to advertise, you’ve written your ad and you’ve created ways to test the ad to analyze effectiveness. You’re ready to start advertising and testing and tracking your results for maximum effectiveness and return on investment.

Remember, that advertising and promotion is a huge key to your success as a female entrepreneur or woman in business.

.

Filed under: Welcome — Danette Hibberd @ 9:07 am
How To Stay Focused And Motivated While Working From Home
June 12th, 2009

Working from home - is this for you?

Working from home is an ideal choice for many. Whether you own your own business or your employer allows you to telecommute, working from home offers many conveniences and freedoms that a traditional office job does not. However, working from home also offers many challenges; the primary challenge for many is staying focused and motivated.

Step One: Create a Workspace

Staying focused and motivated when working from home requires a home office. Yes, maybe the kitchen table or the couch could work. However, placing yourself in those locations is just asking for distractions.

When you create a designated workspace, your frame of mind changes immediately when you walk into it and sit down. You’re mentally more ready to focus. Make your workspace comfortable enough that you enjoy being there yet not so comfortable that you want to be there when you’re not working or that it becomes a place to hang out.

Additionally, when you create a workspace, your family will take your working from home more seriously. It becomes easier to set boundaries. When you’re in your office, you’re working and you’re not to be disturbed.

Step Two: Create a Schedule

Okay so maybe one of the things you love about working from home is that you don’t have to create a schedule however a schedule will help you stay focused and productive. When you create your schedule, remember to schedule in breaks, household chores, time with your family and meals. It’s easy to say, “I’m going to work from 10-4” however actually sitting there and working for six hours is going to be a lot more difficult. Give yourself breaks and downtime during the day. When you schedule in your distractions, your working time is much more focused and it’s easier to stay focused because you know you have breaks to look forward to.

Additionally, make sure to schedule days off. It’s easy when you work from home to work from the time you get up until the time you go to bed seven days a week. It’s a sure way to suffer burnout quickly. Plan vacations, days off, and time for yourself to stay motivated.

Step Three: Eliminate Distractions

Make a list of distractions. Perhaps it’s laundry, your children, your friends calling you for coffee, appointments and errands. Make a list of these distractions and then find a way to eliminate them.

For example, if your children are a distraction, then how can you plan your day around them? Can you trade childcare days with other parents who work from home? Can you hire a sitter for part of the day? Can you work around their naps?

Staying motivated and focused when working from home is possible. Rather than modeling your work from home life around what you feel you should do, take a look at your reality, your needs and personality, and create a work from home life that works for you. It takes a little planning and premeditation to get the job done.

Enjoy these tips to stay motivated at home as you run your business.

.

Filed under: Welcome — Danette Hibberd @ 11:12 am
5 Powerful Mind Success Strategies
June 2nd, 2009

Building a business is a fantastic and challenging experience. You can wake up exhilarated to begin your day and go to bed feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. The key to success is to maintain a positive, yes you can do it, mindset.

Easier said than done, right? Here are 5 keys to help you create and sustain a positive mindset so you attain the success you desire.

1. Surround yourself with successful and positive people. The influence people have over our own personal energy is amazing. Moods and attitudes are so easily spread – think about how much of a difference a simple smile from a stranger can make for your day and then magnify it 1000 times to demonstrate the power of positive and successful friends, family and associates. When you have people around you who inspire you, believe in you and want you to succeed, there’s no room for doubts and even when they creep up, they’re quickly swept away.

2. Create a mantra or an affirmation. Repeating positive affirmations has been shown to get people through tough times and to actually help them truly believe what they’re saying.

For example, “I am building a powerful and profitable business.” Many of the most esteemed business professionals have used the same affirmation strategy to attain their success. To find the right affirmations for you, consider writing a quick list of your doubts, insecurities and complaints. These can then be quickly turned into affirmations.

For example, if you write that you’re always feeling disorganized then your affirmation would be, “I am organized and in control.” Repeat your affirmations several times a day and feel the power of positive thinking.

3. Capture negative thoughts. We all have negative thoughts from time to time, however, negative thoughts and emotions can derail us and prevent us from achieving all we desire. Of course catching those negative thoughts takes practice and persistence. When you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or having negative emotions, find a trigger to turn them around. The affirmations mentioned above are a great way to turn the negative into the positive. You can also find quick pick me ups like a favorite song, a walk outside in the fresh air, or some exercise to help improve your mood.

4. Set goals/intentions and then be willing to let it go. The law of attraction says that we attract what we focus on the most. However, desperation, needing your business to be a success, sends mixed messages and a lot of negativity into the universe. Set your goals and intentions and then let them go. A certain amount of faith in yourself and in the power of attraction is necessary. Give it a try.

5. Be grateful. Gratitude is perhaps the single most powerful and positive tool for success. When you’re grateful for all of the wonderful things and people in your life the challenges you face seem significantly less important and are more easily dealt with.

Consider keeping a gratitude journal and make a practice of entering into it daily. That way, when you’re facing challenges a quick peek at all the amazing things in your life will make you feel as if you can tackle anything. Additionally, an attitude of gratitude helps you maintain a positive perspective and to face challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles.

Success is within your reach and with the right attitude you can accomplish anything you set your sights on. Embrace these five powerful mind success strategies and you’ll build a better business as a female entrepreneur and live a happier, more satisfying life.

You’ll be glad that you did!

.

Filed under: Welcome — Tags: , , — Danette Hibberd @ 8:49 am
5 Tips to Become a Better Blogger
May 4th, 2009

Blogging is a relatively simple process but admittedly can be a lot of work. While it isn’t hard to post to your blog, coming up with ideas to write about, getting the traffic and the revenue from your blog that you desire is a tougher proposition. Maybe you’ve been blogging for a while and still aren’t seeing the traffic numbers you’d anticipated.

Here are 5 ways that you can enhance your blogging skills for more effective results.

1. Keep up with the times. As you can imagine, no one wants to read last month’s news. A blogger needs to know what is going on in the world yesterday, today and tomorrow. Some important issues may stay in the headlines for months at a time but your audience will want fresh updates on those topics. Knowing what is going on around you will make your blog content interesting and worth reading.

2. Change your content often. It’s disheartening to lose traffic you’ve worked hard to attract just because you haven’t updated your posts. You might not need to post every day but you can be sure that your readership will drop off if you only post once a month. Readers like fresh content and they will go where they can get it so you need to keep them occupied. If you can’t manage to update your blog regularly and often, hire a virtual assistant or a writing company to produce interesting content on different topics that relate to your theme and post the information on a regular basis. This would work well if you have more than one blog and not enough hours in the day to manage them all.

3. Network, Network and Network some more. This will help you get your content out there. Register with search engines and join social bookmarking sites like Technorati and Digg so people can see what you are doing. Share your blog address with friends on your profile page on MySpace or Facebook. Twitter your updates as you post.

4. Pay attention to your readership. When people post comments they like you to answer them back. Some visitors ask questions whilst others just want to let you know that they agree or disagree with what you’ve said. Take the time to talk to them. After all, they took the time to visit and post a comment. Their comments can drive the direction your blog takes in the future if you want to keep them as readers and increase your traffic.

5. Keep your ads to a minimum. Ads are one way for bloggers to earn money from their sites. That’s all well and good and a few ads are great and will attract attention. If you post too many, however, visitors might be turned off. It’s important that your content is the main attraction. It’s good if the ads coordinate with your blog niche, but only a few and at the top of the page if you want them to be clicked regularly by visitors.

Effective blogging is an art and creating interesting, updated content to keep readers coming back takes effort and commitment. Even if you already blog, use these 5 tips to enhance your current sites and boost your value to the blogosphere.

You’ll be amazed with your results as you become a better blogger.

Filed under: Business Tips — Tags: , , — Danette Hibberd @ 10:38 pm
Top 5 Effective Landing Page Tips To Explode Your Conversions
April 21st, 2009

To optimize building your list of potential subscribers or customers you need to ensure your landing page is effective.

So, ask yourself - Is your landing page effective? Obviously, “effective” is relative to what your objectives are for the page, but as a rule, you are hoping to either sell your product or service, or capture details such as name and email address in order to build your list of leads.

Also referred to as the “name squeeze page” or “lead capture page”, you can build your database or mailing list by funneling all of your prospective subscribers from your marketing efforts in to your website via a landing page.

When someone visits your website and leaves, chances are that he or she will not come back, especially if there are no compelling reasons to do so. After all, we all behave rather impulsively on the Internet, and there is so much competition, that we can easily forget where we were 10 web pages ago.

So the bottom line is that your visitor may not come back to your website again. If 1,000 visitors visit your website, leave and never come back again, you can imagine the amount of potential revenue lost, simply because they do not return. Imagine instead if you could have converted a fraction of those visitors into your customers.

Some may say that creating unique content can keep some of the visitors coming back, but very often, unique content is not the solution. The real, long-term solution lies in converting your visitors into subscribers of your mailing list, and this becomes successful with an effective landing page.

Before your visitor leaves your website, you want to convert him or her into your subscriber via a simple opt-in to your mailing list. You do this by asking for your visitor’s name and email address through your opt-in form.

And should your visitor sign up to be on your mailing list, you will then be able to follow up via email, ezines and such and begin building a relationship and trust.

All in all, you want to convert as many visitors into subscribers as possible in order to be able to obtain the potential revenue in the future.

Following are tips to create an effective landing page that successfully converts a high percentage of visitors into subscribers.

Success Tip 1: Keep it simple. Let the visitor know who you are and how they can benefit by visiting your site. A photograph of yourself, an audio or a short video of introduction is effective as the majority of people searching for information on the internet today want to business with a real person.

Success Tip 2: While you are not necessarily making a hard sale or trying to get someone to buy your product upfront, being able to entice your visitors to give their details to you is just as important as selling. Be clear on what challenge or problem your prospect is experiencing (their pain), or what they want more of (their pleasure) and outline what’s in it for them.

Success Tip 3: As an incentive, offer a freebie in exchange for your visitor’s email address. I very much endorse this method of building your mailing list. You can offer a special report, audio or a sample of your paid product to your visitor in exchange for their details such as name and email address. The days are gone where many people are willing to leave their personal details just for a newsletter. As your goal is to capture details to enable you to follow up and build a relationship with your prospective customers, let them taste a sample of your expertise that contains great information. You should focus most of the attention of the text on encouraging your prospective visitor to download your free offer. Later, you gently remind your prospect that he or she has nothing to pay but just merely subscribe to your newsletter in exchange for the freebie.

Success Tip 4: Other than your opt-in form and perhaps important disclaimers and terms such as your Privacy Policy, there shouldn’t be any other links on your landing page which will either distract or confuse your visitor.

Success Tip 5: Have a clear “call to action”. Don’t assume they know what you want them to do, but rather tell the visitor what you want them to do, e.g. Fill in your details to have instant access to this free report to have you quickly (whatever the topic of your freebie is).

By using the above 5 top tips, you will build an effective landing page and your conversion rate will explode.

By Danette Hibberd

Filed under: Internet Mktg Tips — Tags: — Danette Hibberd @ 9:33 pm
Determine Your Awareness - Where Is Your Light Switch?
April 8th, 2009

If there is one man who shares amazing wisdom regarding the relationship between business, personal and spiritual success, it is David Neagle, aka the Million Dollar Income Acceleration Coach.
I love to share his diamonds of wisdom, and I hope you enjoy his latest sparkles.

Where did the Dark go?

People who are able to move rapidly into higher and higher incomes develop a greater awareness of their personal world and what is being created in their personal world. Let me explain the difference between two important words that will assist you in using this lesson to your greatest advantage.

Consciousness vs. Awareness:

People who get stuck in their current reality even though they have a sound understanding of universal laws and personal and business creation principles are not as unconscious as many would think. It’s very easy for someone to put these people in a box and say “They are unconscious of what they are doing.” After working with many people who have had this “being-stuck-in-their-current-reality-problem,” I can tell you that most of them are very conscious of the situation!

Consciousness (or being conscious of what you are being, doing and creating) is a proactive & deliberate intention on the part of the creator. However, it is only the first step in the realization of just how powerful and magnificent you really are. Consciousness sees and understands duality, and it can also get stuck there, which is why you will commonly hear conscious people ask “HOW” to do something i.e. “How do I raise my income to a million?”

There is an intellectual understanding at this level and some conscious deliberate creation has been experienced, but that is as far as it goes. The Conscious Creator will then commonly look for another model to use to change their circumstance and more often than not discovers that it does not work for them the way they had expected. They are very conscious of this.

Understanding awareness is the magic key, so to speak, that dissolves the nature of your reality and allows you to move from one reality to another at will. Awareness itself and by itself is an experience. It’s not something you do, but it is what you are.

“Aware people” change their reality as they see fit. When they are done experiencing one reality they simply step into another one. Consciousness wants to know how first and then make changes and then experience. Awareness is all about stepping into the experience first then playing in that experience. To make this very simple, it’s much like turning on the lights in a dark room. When you flip the light switch, light fills the room - but where did the dark go? Seriously, where DID the dark go? In truth, it didn’t go anywhere - it’s still there all around you. If you don’t believe me just flip the light switch off and see what happens. You may want to do this several times & really think about what you are experiencing.

Now think about this a bit more in the dark room. You are conscious of the things in the room, but you still see problems because you can’t seem to navigate through the dark. When you flip the light switch, your reality changes INSTANTLY and now you can see what you couldn’t see before - even though you consciously knew things were there! Because of intellectual understanding, you couldn’t see the way. All you could do was attempt to navigate your way around, which is the process of consciously thinking about what you are doing first, THEN receiving feedback from your environment, and lastly reacting to what you PERCEIVE your experience to be. Yes, it’s a mouthful but just sit with it for a while…

Okay, now lets move into a making a Quantum Leap…

Many people would love to know HOW to increase their income and better their individual circumstances. The key to leapfrogging (and not stair-stepping ), is to ask, “By staying in my current situation, what purpose is this serving?.” You see, awareness turns on the light every place there is dark. Discover WHY you would resist stepping into a different reality - and by discover, I literally mean become aware of why (don’t just repeat back what you think) then everything begins to change. Awareness = Quantum leaps. Period. No awareness, no quantum leap.

Would you like to know where your light switch is? Then let me suggest that you attend one of my upcoming live events so I can guide you personally. Just send an email to events@davidneagle.com and one of my team will be in touch to help you decide which of my upcoming live coaching sessions is best for you.

Remember: the reality you want to experience is only a flick of the switch away from you, but you need to be aware of where the switch is.

“Just Believe”

© Copyright 2009 - David Neagle’s Life Is Now Inc.
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

About the Author:
David Neagle, Million Dollar Income Acceleration Coach, mentors entrepreneurs to quantum leap their current businesses past the 7-Figure income level in just 12 months. David invites you to download–as his GIFT to you–his legendary “Art of Success” 4-hour audio program. This audio series is a tremendously compelling and comprehensive program that demonstrates–once and for all–that Success has nothing to do with “getting” or “achieving”, and everything to do with WHO we much BE to manifest our hearts’ true desires.

Think about your awareness and where your light switch is.
Discover more success strategies from David Neagle here.

Filed under: Entrepreneur Tips, Pers. Empowerment, Welcome — Tags: , , — Danette Hibberd @ 10:20 pm
Social Networking Can Explode Your Business
April 5th, 2009

Do you think that it’s possible to explode your business using social networking?

For some, the thought of signing up with social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter has them in a tailspin. Just having to open themselves up to the world is difficult, let alone having to find more time in their already busy day to chat with ‘useless gossip’. On top of that, there is also the idea of trying to come to grips with ‘how to’ work these social media sites effectively.

If your goal is to build relationships with others in your niche, and raise your visibility around the globe, then you really MUST begin actively being a part of social networking, particularly with the two major players, being Facebook and Twitter.

Yes, it is imperative to be active in social networking today, however be warned it can become addictive and chew up an awful lot of time. Once you master some of the steps, such as linking your sites to update concurrently, you’ll wonder why you didn’t begin social networking months ago.

Following are 3 tips to get you started:

1. To consistently be visible, allocate just a few minutes each morning, and again before you pack up for the evening.

2. Be interesting. Share messages that will both benefit others and raise your level of expertise within your niche.

3. Limit ’selling’ yourself, your products or services as the purpose is to build relationships.

For more tips and a great guide to understanding the workings of Twitter, and how you can get started, build a list of followers and raise your visibility, get your free guide -

The Twit’s Guide To Getting Started With Twitter.

Begin to use the benefits of Social Networking to Explode Your Business.

Danette Hibberd

Filed under: Internet Mktg Tips, Marketing — Tags: , — Danette Hibberd @ 6:45 pm
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »