Hi, I’m still talking about the benefits of running your membership sites and I know this is of interest to many people with online businesses.  The memberships sites you run will keep your clients and prospects coming back to you on a regular basis and is a great way of running training courses and provinging informational updates regularly.

You’ll no doubt know I am a huge fan of WishList Member if you have been following my blogs, well they are running a really cool promotion where they have teamed up with the co-founder of WooThemes (Adii Pienaar).

If you purchase WishList Member between now and August 27th, you’ll get Adii’s new book (Rockstar Business) absolutely free.  Are you wondering what’s the catch?  Well there is not one, well no catch other than the promotion ends August 27th, 2010.  So if you don’t order between now and then, you won’t get the book and video for free.

All the details are located here:

Enjoy!
Aly

Oh and did I tell you that you can also ask Adii questions ahead of time before the video interview – they are
going to try and incorporate as many into the interview as they can.

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In todays business building session I have a really simple question for you … Is your business a best kept secret?

If your business a best kept secret of your best clients then prospects and potential future clients will not be able to find your or your website, will not know what products and services you offer, purchase from you or be able to refer you on to others for even more potential business.

That is all well and good if you have more work than you can deliver and everything is looking rosy.  However things are not always great forever and business can slow down or dry up.

Just think of the terrific work that you do and all the people out there who would benefit from your products and services if only they knew about them.

Why are you keeping your business a great secret?  Whilst it could be that you do have enough work for the medium and long term more likely for many businesses it is due to another reason.

Do you know how best to present your business?  Chances are that you were trained in your profession but not in marketing your business to the public.

Do you know how to differentiate your business effectively from your competitors?

Do your prospects know how to find you?

Is your mindset holding you back?  Does your business have potential to grow?  If so are you holding back from the necessary steps in fear that you will not success?

All of the above are just some of the reasons that businesses fail to prosper and grow.  You may be amazingly talented, you may offer fanstastic products and services, however if people do not know how to find you or understand what you do all your marketing efforts will have been in vane.

If you would like to develop and grow your business consider getting in touch with a business coach who specialises in marketing and develop a strategy for business success.

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Hi All

I’ve just finished reading Mark Ling’s new report ‘The 5 Step Formula to Making 10k/month online‘ and not only was I impressed with this, but over 1100 other people have already left comments on Mark’s blog saying how incredible that they thought was.

This is actually the best report I’ve downloaded all year – I couldn’t recommend it to you any more highly.

For a short time you can go download it for free here (there is a video version of it too):

Inside this revealing report Mark reveals the exact strategies that he uses to make over 7 figures a year online.

I strongly recommend that you give Mark’s formula a shot as it works extremely well.  To download your copy and to read the comments that others have been saying about it, go here, enter your name and email and you’ll be given instant access to this potentially life-changing report on how to make 10k a month online:

Let me know what you think of it.

Enjoy!
Aly

There are a few ways that you can use use your website or blog traffic to generate money.  I’m not suggesting that you ruthlessly squeeze every last penny out of your visitors wallet or savings account.  Many online business owners spend money to encourage visitors to come to their websites and obviously would like a return on this.

Many people have set up websites and blogs in response to the huge publicity given to those successful marketeers who have made six figure or seven figure incomes working just a few hours a week from a millionaire pad in a sunny climate.  However the reality is that far more people struggle to generate these hug sums.

Many newbies are under the misapprehension that setting up a webiste or blog, adding Google adsense and driving oodles of traffic is all that is required.  The small sums of money you get when your visitors click on your adsense adverts will not generate a great income for the site owner.

The secret to online success is through driving traffic, masses of it, to your website and having a product or service they are interested in available for them to easily purchase on their arrival.  If you do not have a product of your own then look at promoting affiliate products or services which may interest your visitors.

If you have a product of your own to sell then great, you get to keep 100% of the profit.  If you are promoting affiliate products then you revenue will the a percentage of what the goods or services sell for, less money but you have not gone to the expense of creating a product yourself, creating the website, paying for copy and graphics for the site etc.  Find out what works for you in the niche that you are working in.

Another essential requirement if you are lookingn to generate money online is to build a list.  You will hear time and time again that the money is in the list; it is.  The people who have joined your mailing list are interested in the niche you are working in, they will be interested in products and services available for purchase whether they be yours or an affiliates.

How do you get the visitors to your website to subscribe to your mailing list?  Give them an incentive; a free digital product is great, for example, information report, Ebook, audio or video relevant to the niche you service.

If you dont know where to start writing a product of your own (and it is not that hard, honestly!) consider using some PLR articles to get you started.

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Do you just love getting “extras” – especially when they don’t cost anything?  I do and that is why I wanted to quickly let you know about WishList Member.  I know I am often blogging about Wishlist Member but that is because I am convinced this is THE tool you need if you are looking to create a membership site or to generate regular monthly income.

Wishlist member is a very popular membership solution and they’ve just added even more to it.  New features, new integrations, important updates for WordPress and lots more!  Now is certainly the best time to get a copy.  Here’s the link

It’s by far the best solution for creating a membership site and there are even 30+ videos available for free showing you how it’s being used.

Enjoy!

Aly

P.S WishList Member also comes with 30-Day money-back guarantee. So if you aren’t happy, you can get your money back.

“5 Tips To Online Success”

Learn
Ensure you learn the basics of online marketing, how to grow your business with information and other digital products.

List Building
You really do need a subscriber list, it is crucial.  The bigger the list the better, for your list to be successful you need to deliver quality information which is relevant to your prospects passions.

Affiliate Marketing
Develop your knowledge on affiliate marketing.  If you do not have a product or service which meets your prospects need then promote an affiliate product, also works if what you are promoting compliments what you are offering.  Great thing about affiliate marketing is that you are promoting another persons product or service but it has cost you yourself nothing to develop or create the product albeit that you receive only a % of the sales revenue.

Traffic
To have a successful online business you must be able to generate traffic.  It is the lifeblood or your business.  Learning how to get great targeted traffic is not hard, so this should be top of your list. 

Product Creation
Create your own products, that way you get to keep 100% of the revenue generated from the sales.  The number of sales will fluctuate from day to day / week to week so ideally have several or many products that are income generating for you.  Many online busiesses choose to include membership sites in their business model as it is a great source of regular income.

Making your Advertising Plan

Free Coaching Session for Internet Marketers with Newcastle Performance Coaching http://geordie-coach.com/Blog

I am in the process of changing some of my websites and blogs into member ships sites so have just watched a great video on “membership models”.  You can watch the whole thing here.  It outlines 10 of the most popular kinds of membership sites (and some of them don’t even have content inside!). Just thought you might like it.

Enjoy!  Aly

P.S  After watching this video you’re bound to have lots of “membership site” ideas – I know I did

One question I constantly hear from other business owners is whether they really need to have a website, are they worth the costs of using a professional service and how hard is it to get going online.  These questions are key to how I work with sole traders to get them going online and I have great news.  It is really easy to get an online presence and set up your website in just a few minutes.

It is also possible to generate automated posts and information relevant to your target market.  You do not need technical or design skills to get started online and you do not need to be a professional writer.  Wow, I bet that is a relief for many of you.  If you use a wordpress website then you are able to use free templates and get going very quickly.  There is a load of information online which you can use to get your website filled with quality content really quickly.

The secret to geting good SEO (search engine optimisation) is not really a secret and simple to achieve quickly.  One key to gettting ranked highly in the search engines is to use hot keywords relevant to the niche in which you are working.  Everything you need to succeed is within your grasp, so get started in setting up your website today.

If you are interested in working with me to get your online presence kick started please do not hesitate to complete the contact form on my website http://geordie-coach.com/Blog

Kindest regards.
Aly

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Article Source:  Tutorial: the One Page Business Plan

Tutorial: the One Page Business Plan

Just telling a small business that they need to create a business plan often strikes fear and loathing into even the sturdiest of entrepreneurs.

Whenever I tell a client they need one, they look like I just told them they were being audited, kicked them in the weiner, and dry humped their dog.

The reality is that there are different types of business plans. Yes, there are the voluminous ones with reams of research and data, but those are usually reserved for projects where a source of funding is required. And I believe in these cases, a solid justification is both understandable and necessary. After all, if you are giving me $10 Million to launch a new business, you deserve to know exactly what I am going to be doing with it and exactly how I am going to be providing a return on your investment.

But for most entrepreneurs, a huge business plan is just not necessary.

For the majority of entrepreneurs, a business plan is simply a target that keeps your focus and the top level strategies for reaching that destination. This is where a 1 page plan is enough. It is designed to serve as a tool to keep you on track and to aid in decision making. That’s It. And in EVERY case I have seen it implemented in, it is a giant help. The 1 page plan provides the who, what, where, why, and how of your business at the 10,000 foot level.

Here’s what it should include.

Business Description: This section is a top level view of what your company does.

Company Mission: This is the most touchy-feely section of the plan. Your plan is to of course make money, but this is the section where you explain your values and why you are doing it.

Product/Service: Pretty self explanatory. This is the products or services that you plan to offer

Competitive Advantage: In this section you need to describe WHY someone would buy your product over someone else’s or why your business will succeed where others won’t. Key point, if you don’t have any competition now (brand new concept) you will. Otherwise it is probably not a niche you want to be in. Highlight your real advantages over anyone else. If you don’t have any, you had better find some.

Markets: This can be expanded or changed, but try to be as specific as possible. This will help you jump into the shoes of your prospects more easily. The “Putting a face to your target market exercise” is very useful here. [[/caption]

Revenue Channels: This section will most likely change as your experience with the business grows. That’s OK, but it is important to have a focal point to help you make better decisions.

Distribution Channels: For information marketers, this section will be easy. For physical product retailers or eCommerce sites, this will become a very important section. If you fall into the latter group, you need to make sure to take time to work out the fulfillment phase in quite a bit of detail.

Competition: It is important to spend a good bit of time analyzing your competition. You need to know what products they offer it, price points, how they market, profit margins, what they are good at, and what they stink at. A keen understanding of their core-competencies is crucial to exploiting your own. It is also important to constantly keep current on what you competition is doing.

Financial Goals It is understandable that this step may have some discomfort, especially in the early stages. While it is not important to have an exact figure early on, it is extremely important to have SOME challenging figure. You can always readjust up if you are more successful than planned (and I hope you are). There are several schools of thought on how to best use sales goals to motivate you. My personal philosophy is to make these numbers very challenging, but obtainable under ideal circumstances.

How to use your One Page Business Plan

In the initial stages, you should be re-evaluating and repurposing this document at 6 month intervals. Any more often and you risk losing focus (the main reason you are doing it to start with) less frequent and you could be missing valuable opportunities. Keep a copy on your wall or someplace handy and review it often. Whenever you are facing a tough decision, pull out this document to keep you on track. Below is an actual 1 page plan that I used with a client who was expanding their current Karate school to include at-home study program for women’s self defense.

Sample 1 Page Business Plan – InYourDefense

Business Description: InYourDefense creates, designs, develops, information products, videos, and seminars in the market niche of women’s self defense.

Company Mission: Our goal is to help our customers feel secure and in control at all times. We will do this through a system of education, training, and peer support.

Product/Service: information products, videos, and seminars about Women’s Self Defense Competitive Advantage: President is 6th degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do with 15 years of experience teaching. Wife of president is also 2nd degree black belt and can serve as the “face” of the company as well as providing first hand insight into buyers needs and desires.

Markets: Buyers are women aged 18-55 of all socio-economic backgrounds interested in personal safety. [/caption] Target must be easily reachable via internet and ready/willing to buy. In addition, the constant churn of natural new interest in this space make customer acquisition an easier task

Revenue Channels: Fundamental revenue comes from three streams: dvd instructional videos, personal coaching systems, and affiliate sales.

Distribution Channels: Internet distribution of digital content, postal mail of dvd and training packages. Partner/affiliate distribution will be evaluated.

Competition: Several competitors exist in the internet place including xxx, xxx, and xxx. However pricing strategies, poor marketing and execution, and relative weak experience in training makes this an open market. We will advance beyond the competition due to position as experts in this field , our knowledge of marketing best practices , and pre-exiting catalog of teaching content.

Financial Goals

Year 1: 20,000 (transition into full time)

Year 2: 75,000 (now full time position)

Year 3: 150,000 (start growth, few outsourcers)

Year 4: 500,000 (Begin full time employees, migration from worker to leader)

Wrapping it up

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. As I said earlier, tape this up on your wall and refer to it whenever you are faced with a difficult business decision. Another benefit of this document is that it provides a tangible action plan for tasks and a basis for your marketing plan. Whenever you are unsure on what you should tackle next in your new business, review this plan again. As you can see in the example above, there are numerous examples of areas that you need to explore fully before your business can become a success!

Hope this helps some of you. As always, feel free to post a comment with your thoughts or any questions you might have, and I’ll be happy to respond.

JJ Kennedy is CEO of Evil Genius TV, the small business coaching and strategy arm of Evil Genius Interactive, a web and marketing development firm located in Gainesville, FL. He is an MBA, happily married to a Veteranarian, and is hoping to have a few little ones soon.

We are in 2010, whilst the economy looks like it’s slowly recovering budgets are still shrinking, business and profits are hard to come by in many businesses. With a little bit of creativity and prioritisation we can deal with the challenges and make 2010 the best year yet. Look at the opportunities available to you, grab them and be creative so to push them to the maximum and watch things turn around for your business.

Here are my top 5 things you can do now to help you get more for your business.

1. Give your Business a Smack of Social Media Marketing

The true potential of your social media profiles is not always obvious and it is easy to pass it by however by grasping the concept of how great using Social Media in your business can help it grow, and grow quickly, is a great reason for you embracing it.

Provide your website or Blog with rich content for your visitors and you increase the chance of keeping them on your site, coming back again and buying from you.  Add a personal touch to your websites, encourage your visitors to connect with you on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.  Use your webiste and blog to its full potential and make it a great experience for your visitors, use images and video, make your text interesting, use targeted keywords to showcase what you offer.  There is so much you can do from your website or blog that can generate more business; set up a shop,
let clients make online bookings and give them the means to interact with you.

People buy from those they know, like and trust so take time to build a relationship with you.  Social media can help as can giving them the opportunity to interact with you via email, Twitter or Skype.  I have used these medias myself to interact with big names in my field of work and with whom I would never usually have been able to do so before.

Take time to look at the online profile of your buiess.  If your website visitors enjoy the experience of visiting your website and blog, find something of quality (not just quantity) they will come back.

2. Take time to Market Online

Even when you have your website up and running, looking great, you cant afford to leave it there.  Make sure you take the time to keep the site updated and change your images.  Top websites that do well are kept up to date.  The search engines want websites that are up to date and have relevant information. Your visitors want to see that you’re active and if you are they will come back again and again.and that you care for their business. An old static website that has not been updated for a while and is more of an online brochure can look unprofessional.Invest in your websites and blogs, use them to showcase your business to the maximum.  If you show to your visitors that you care about your business and what it offers they are more likelty to want to work with you.

Business owners who actively work on their business to market it effectively and bring in new business are more successful than those who sit back and expect the clients and customers to come to them.  Success comes to those who work SMART, look for strategies and develop plans to market your business then take action daily and you will reap the rewards. 

Schedule regular time at least twice a week to work on marketing your business.

3. The rise and rise of Video

We are living in a world of video, the growth of community video sites and TV shows with revealing our crazy pets, fun wedding dances, or funny home video clips.  The use of video marketing has generated fast growth and profits for businesses. Video can drive fast and focused traffic to your site, it can help you engage with your prospects and showcase your business more effectively than text alone. What does this mean for business owners?  More business!

If there’s one thing you choose to do this year, it’s to invest in a camcorder, you dont need anything expensive, and start doing short videos for your business. Many of the new camcorders on the market are reasonably priced and it is a simple case of point, shoot and upload straight to YouTube, your blog or website.

If you’re stuck for ideas, some things you might want to consider are the following

• A business video on who you are and what you do

• Provide demos on new or existing products and service that you offer to your clients, be creative.
• Tips that your customers might be interested in, let them see you know your stuff
• Training videos, give your clients and insight on what you do, provide good quality content and they will perceive you as an expert.

4. Network to build relationships.

Are you making connections online and offline?  Many businesses have grown through the relationships that have been created and nurtured online.  The secret to great networking is to share; take time to build real relationships with people, once they begin to know, like and trust you they are far more willing to do business with you. 

There is nothing worse than connecting with someone online and they have a sole mission of ensuring that you buy their products.  The people who fail online are those that see every person as a customer, real relationships can create business and remember when you build a relationship with another person online if they start to know, like and trust you they are also likely to recommend you to others too.  Treat fellow online marketers with respect, show you care and build real relationships and then when the channels are open and a relationship established you are all more likely to benefit.

Online networking really works.  Look out for like-minded people, share information often, and a ripple effect will follow.  Other people in online communities will see who are there for what they can get and who are there to build relationships and share.  The latter will be the most successful. 

5. What does your online reputation say about you?

It is hard to start and grow a business and the marketplace can seem to be increasingly crowed with your competitors.  Who will the consumers choose to work with?  It is not always the person who offer the cheapet service.  Consumers are smart.  They want a good quality service which solves the problem they have and gives results.  They want to interact with someone who is approachable and has an open communication.  How you and your staff communicate with prospects and clients can be a good indicator as to how successful your business will be.

Word of mouth as the best source of marketing and you want to make sure that what is being said is favourable to your business.  Negative comments generally spread far faster that good reviews.  Work hard to build relationships with your customers and prospects online as it is easier to get existing clients to come back for more or to get you referrals than it is to be on a never-ending pursuit of new prospects and leads to market too.

When you provide a product or service to your clients and they are happy with the key factors like quality and quantity, speed of delivery, communication from the supplier and overall satisafaction are all factors which a client will take into account when making a testimonial.  Why have testimonials?  You promote them to prospects and leads to speed up the time it takes for them to know, like and trust you and get down to purchasing your products and services.

They are my top tips for 2010, decide your goals for 2010 and start taking action otherwise before you know it we will be in 2011 or beyond.  Good luck.  Aly