Time IS Money -- Stop Wasting It

Written by Mike McBride


A while back I was mentoring a woman who happened to be on my first level in a multi-tier affiliate program. She was a single mom with a low-paying job, trying to earn some money online to make ends meet, so I was giving her a little extra time and attention. After reworking an ad for her and sending her some suggestions as to how and where to use it, I didn't hear from her for several days. I emailed her again to see howrepparttar reworked ad was working. Her reply? She hadn't even openedrepparttar 121332 first email because she was buried in emails fromrepparttar 121333 various "paid to read" email programs she belonged to. She was spending so much time reading emails for pennies (or less) each, that she had no time left to make any real money! When she said that she didn't want to give up on those programs, she no longer had a mentor either.

Reading countless emails for pennies is notrepparttar 121334 only way to waste time *not* earning decent money online. Here are a few more things to avoid.

1) Joining *too many* affiliate programs

There are lots of good affiliate programs out there, with many excellent products and services to promote. Many people earn a healthy full-time or supplemental income doing nothing but promoting affiliate programs. So why do most people fail to make any real money at it? Because they join practically every affiliate program they come across, and then dilute their efforts by trying to promote them all, or become paralyzed byrepparttar 121335 sheer number of choices and don't work any (or most) of them.

The cure: limit yourself to no more than a handful of programs, at least to start. Of those, pick one to start with. Focus your efforts on promoting that product or service until you begin to see results -- sales, signups, whatever produces income in that program. Then repeatrepparttar 121336 process withrepparttar 121337 next program you chose, and thenrepparttar 121338 next, and so on. Pretty soon, you're an affiliate earning machine! (Forgive me.)

2) Using "canned" ads

Practically every affiliate program comes with a supply of pre- written ads for affiliates to use, and practically every affiliate uses them. The result? Repeated viewing ofrepparttar 121339 same ads over and over again causes potential prospects to become immune torepparttar 121340 offering. Heck, they become so immune to them that after a while they don't even see them. (And to be honest, some ofrepparttar 121341 canned ads are so *bad* that even on first viewing, potential prospects don't respond to them anyway.) You can waste your time posting them, but few people will waste *their* time reading them.

The cure: write your own ads. (Forgetrepparttar 121342 "I can't write" excuse. If you can talk, you can write - period. Get over it.) There are plenty of resources online to teach you how to write effective ads, and many of them are free. Another free way to learn to write ads is to read and study ads written byrepparttar 121343 pros. (Most advertisers and copywriters keep a "swipe file" of profit- pulling ads written by others. They don't copy them, but simply refer to them when they are in need of ideas or inspiration.)

How to write ads is beyondrepparttar 121344 scope of this article, so I'll just say this: Be bold, be different, and be honest. And then test, test, and test some more. And if you really, really, really can't do it yourself, then hire someone to do it for you. You're in business, right? So invest a little in your success. (Note: some affiliate programs require you to submit your original ads to them for approval before running them, so check your affiliate agreement first.)

3) Promoting "company" or "replicated" web pages.

Most programs provide their affiliates with their own company web page or affiliate url to promote. And most (unsuccessful) affiliates rush to promote these urls to their safelists (ugh) and post these company web pages onrepparttar 121345 hit exchanges like No More Hits, StartBlaze andrepparttar 121346 like. And just as withrepparttar 121347 canned ads, web surfers see these same pages over and over so often that they become immune to them. Yup, BuildReferrals again. CashEvolution. MoneyMailer. Again and again, ad-nauseum. Look, company-supplied web pages have their place, but advertising isn't it, so stop wasting your time humping them.

The cure: Create your own web page to promoterepparttar 121348 affiliate program. As Dr. Ken Evoy (ofrepparttar 121349 acclaimed 5 Pillar Affiliate Program, SiteBuildIt!, Make Your Site Sell, etc.) teaches so well, your job as an affiliate is to *pre-sell* your prospects onrepparttar 121350 product or service you're promoting, and then passing them on torepparttar 121351 company site for them to "closerepparttar 121352 sale." Everything you need to know about this process is covered extensively inrepparttar 121353 "Affiliate Masters" ebook provided as a bonus for subscribing to Marketing-Mentor. Enough said.

Is Your Website Spreading Stories About You?

Written by Tatiana Velitchkov


If it's not, then consider changing its format to make sure it DOES.

Although many brick & mortar entrepreneurs knowrepparttar importance of having their own websites, most of them still have few ideas for maximizing them, and often end up with nothing more than an "online brochure."

"But a brochure is all we need." some of them say, or "We can't afford to put up anything else."

But what if you discovered that -- with just a few revisions & for exactlyrepparttar 121331 same cost -- you can actually transform YOUR OWN ordinary brochure site into something more dynamic?

And what if I told you that everything you need to know about this "something more dynamic" is already outlined right here in this article... and all you have to do is read?

Click Here For Publicity ------------------------

This dynamic thing we're talking about is none other thanrepparttar 121332 "online press kit," and it isn't really as mysterious as it sounds.

Inrepparttar 121333 real world press kits are used to get media people interested in your product, your company, and even in you. But it could also be rather costly, particularly if you want it to leave a good impression.

The online press kit offers business ownersrepparttar 121334 chance to still make that good impression, but at much more affordable rates.

Four Ws, One H --------------

At its most basic level,repparttar 121335 press kit is simply a "packet" that containsrepparttar 121336 most important information, tools & details that a reporter would need to intelligently write about an event, person, or company.

Take this concept and translate it forrepparttar 121337 online medium, and there you'll have an online press kit.

In muchrepparttar 121338 same way that media people depend onrepparttar 121339 "four Ws and one H" to effectively cover a story, there are also "four Ws and one H" that you need to know about creating a press kit... especially when you plan to use them online:

* WHO should benefit from an online press kit? ----------------------------------------------

If your answer to this question is "the company / website owner," then you're not quite right. (Not "wrong." Just "not quite right." :-) )

Although it's only logical to expect that an online kit will bring in additional publicity for you & your company, it should first & foremost be designed to benefit someone else:

The Press.

The reporters, researchers, segment producers, broadcasters.

These arerepparttar 121340 people who are constantly looking for interesting stories & running against tight deadlines; these are alsorepparttar 121341 people who haverepparttar 121342 ability to shine a spotlight on you & your company... as long as you offer themrepparttar 121343 right kind of story.

* WHAT should be included in an online press kit? -------------------------------------------------

Becauserepparttar 121344 press kit is designed to entice & satisfyrepparttar 121345 press, try to keep their needs in mind when putting together your online kit.

Essentially,repparttar 121346 most important components of your kit will be:

1. Your Press Release

Like we said,repparttar 121347 media are always onrepparttar 121348 lookout for interesting stories, and your press release isrepparttar 121349 first place they'll look if they ever expect to find any on your site.

So apart from making "new product" announcements and tying up your business events withrepparttar 121350 latest controversial news, you can also gather interesting press release material from:

- your unusual hobbies, interests & accomplishments, or those of your employees - your staff's experiences with famous (and infamous) people - your company's involvement in outreach programs, sports, or community events - and just about anything that has happened to you & your staff that reporters have never heard of... but have a good chance of becoming interested in.

2. Articles You've Written, or Articles Written About You ---------------------------------------------------------

Once you've hooked them with an interesting idea/story, reporters would want to assessrepparttar 121351 reliability ofrepparttar 121352 source (you).

The best way to establish your credibility at this point is to show them how much you know about your industry, and how other press people have turned to you as an expert/authority.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
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