We still must contact our prospects on a regular basis, to let them become acquainted with us, develop credibility, and set stage for relationships that are conducive to doing business. It often takes several contacts to convert an interested prospect into a paying customer, a near impossible task with one-shot advertising.

Our opt-in list allows us to do specific research, and test market for perceived needs. We can survey our customers and prospects to determine what their problems are, what it is that they want/need, and how much they feel a solution is worth.

By doing this sort of research, we can develop highly specialized 'lists-within-the-list' that are comprised of highly targeted prospects for a particular offer. You can bet that this type of list targeting was used whenever you hear one of Internet gurus crow about making $20K from a single email campaign.

Unlike any one-shot advertising venue can ever do, our own well cultivated opt-in list can guarantee us a monthly income into future. This is what is meant by 'The money is in list.' If we care for our list members, give excellent service, and cater to their needs, list itself becomes a means to financial freedom. __________________________________________________ © Copyright 2002 - Serenity Marketing Group LLC All Rights Reserved Worldwide

This is because those regular articles on their websites have taught their prospects all they needed to know about person (AND business), so by time they wrote their emails they were more than ready to commit.

So whether you decide to cover "Tips & Advice," "News & Updates," or "Lessons & Inspiration" in your own free articles, just make sure that you DO post them on your site on a regular basis... because they're surest way towards pre-selling success.

2) Booklets & Ebooks

Once you have a good enough number of articles (both on your site and off it), you can decide to compile them all into a print book or an ebook -- both of which you can use for even greater profits!

Use these books as value add-ons when clients make a purchase, or as prizes for contests you hold on your site.

Better yet, if you feel that information contained in your books are valuable enough for your target market -- AND if you have ceased to archive same articles on your website for free -- then you can even sell them as stand alone products by themselves.

This not only increases your sources of revenue; it enhances your reputation as an industry leader, too.

3) Mini Courses

Another possible offshoot from your web articles would be "mini courses" -- short lessons & seminar sessions that you can give both for a fee and for free.

You can administer these courses via autoresponder, through a mailing list, via teleconferencing, or even through a live seminar audience.

When prepared adequately and delivered successfully, these courses can become another source for additional profit -- and another way to pre-sell potential clients into trusting and hiring YOU.

4) Guest Appearances (On Print, Radio & TV)

Now that you have all these books, articles, and seminars under your belt -- or even if you don't have them yet -- another way to get free publicity is to make yourself available for interviews and guest appearances, particularly in publications & programs that effectively reach your target market.

Announce your willingness & availability to talk about your expertise through your letter heads, calling cards, mailing lists, and press releases.

Even if you get only one high profile media exposure out of all this it would still be enough -- and it wouldn't have cost you an additional cent!

A Final Word ------------

One word of advice though, from one entrepreneur-teacher to another: Remember to keep on learning!

Knowing things that you know NOW should never make you feel complacent and think that it's enough. Good teachers know this; good businessmen and salespeople should know it, too.

So keep yourself updated with latest trends in your industry, attend seminars & classes given by other industry leaders, and keep on reading & keep on asking.

Not only will these help you keep your client relationships stronger.

They will also improve EVERYTHING about way you do your business, and strengthen your position as a brand & industry leader.

© Tatiana Velitchkov