OK, now we begin to get into the real stuff.

As I said last time the biggest mistake most people make when starting a business is that they create or find a product first and then try to find people to sell it to. Despite popular belief (and teaching), that is completely opposite to the way that successful people operate.

The only sure way to success in any business is to pick the market first. However, not just any market. For you to be really successful you need to identify what we call a hot target market.

OK, so what is a hot target market?

We describe a hot target market as a group of people who;

• Have a good level of disposable income
• Are passionate or fanatical about something (a hobby, interest etc)
• Are insanely passionate to the point that they will pay higher prices for things to do with their hobby
• Are repeat buyers. They buy stuff to do with their hobby or interest over and over again.

Let’s look at a real-life example of what I’m talking about here. Let’s take one of the most popular hobbies/sports today, Golf.

People who take an interest in golf are usually fairly well off, they have a well paid job or business and are not afraid to spend money on anything they develop an interest in, after all the fees to join a golf club aren’t cheap and neither are the green fees (the fee you have to pay to have a game). Then there is the cost of all the equipment, special clothing etc.

So they qualify on the grounds of disposable income.

They are passionate about their hobby. When someone decides to take up golf they go to their local bookstore/newsagent and buy just about every golf magazine on the rack. They go to the pro shop at their local golf club or a main golf stockist and buy a set of clubs, golf bag, maybe a trolley, golf shoes, golf balls, tees and all of the little bits and pieces that go with playing golf.

Maybe they buy a tuition book or two or tuition DVD/video. They look into the cost of lessons with the golf pro at the club that they are thinking of joining… and so it goes on. They are passionate about it. That takes care of our second criteria.

Do you think that they buy the cheapest, discount, no-name brand clubs or do they go for a leading brand? Of course, they go for the leading brand – they need to be seen with the best. What about the balls? You can buy reclaimed balls in tubs quite cheaply but do you think they start out buying discount balls – no way.

You see what I mean, they are irrational, they are insanely passionate about their hobby. That ticks our third point.

Finally, they buy over and over again. Every time they go to play golf they just have a ‘quick look’ in the pro shop and always buy something whether they need it or not. That takes care of point number four – they buy over and over again, they are repeat buyers.

Now, before you all rush off to start a golf-related online business let me say that the general term golf is way too broad, too high level. If you were to look at a golf related business idea I would recommend that at the very least you should drill down to a much smaller niche within the overall golf market.

You could look at women’s golf, left-handed golfers, junior golfers or any smaller niche within golf where you would have much less competition. Don’t get me wrong, you need competition. If your chosen niche has no competition, it’s almost certainly because there’s no market and no chance to make money in it.

There are many really big players in the general golf market with very big bank balances who could easily price you out – if you even managed to get started. To be successful in any niche you need to study the overall market and find a very small niche within it that has a lot less competition.

Markets versus Niches

Before we go any further I think I should cover the difference between Markets and Niches, why people often get this wrong and what you should be looking for here. When I started niche marketing several years ago it was standard practice to create lots of websites in lots of different niches. We would research for a popular topic, identify a niche around it and build a site. Then we would go off and find another comletely different niche and build a site around that.

There were programs available, like Directory Generator, that could throw up a site for you in minutes so getting your sites created wasn’t a problem. The problem was, and still is, that when you have those type of niche sites you are starting from scratch every time. Each site has a completely different audience, so each time you start with no list to market to. What’s more when you have the site up and running and have created a list, you can’t market anything else you have to them, their are only interested in that one topic.

That’s why you should first think of markets. Find a big market that has potential and identify a niche within it. That way when you’ve built a list of buyers for that niche, you can identify another niche within the same market build a list for that product and then cross sell your product to your first list. In all probabability they will also be interested in your new product because it’s the same market. Do you see what I’m saying? Another key point here is that you would have a hard time competing for the keyword ‘Golf’ when you’re starting out but once you’ve built a list of buyers for a niche within ‘Golf’, you can then market anything about ‘Golf’ to them.

What if I already have a business that I want to develop?

If you run an existing business, the best way to identify a common requirement among your existing customers is to devise a short questionnaire and ask them what they want. What is their most pressing need or problem right now, what would they buy from you if you sold it.

If you run a hotel or guest house ask them why they are visiting the area, what are their interests and hobbies and are they associated with your area. Look for ways that you can supply them with more of what they are passionate about. Consider doing joint ventures with other businesses in your area that offer products or services that would be of interest to your visitors.

In fact, too few offline businesses consider doing joint ventures with fellow businesses that supply the same market. It seems alien to them to work with other companies, maybe because they are afraid the other company will steal their customers.

I have some bad news for you, they are not your customers. They already buy from lots of people. In many cases they buy similar products from lots of suppliers. Don’t you think that if you expanded what you were able to offer them by working with other companies on a commission basis you would build more loyalty?

When we change our thinking from just making money to how we can serve our customers better, we find that the money comes as a by product.

OK, back to where we were.

Having identified your market niche, pick a product or service that those people are searching for. In other words, instead of trying to find customers to sell your product to, find targeted customers and then ask them what they already want to buy.

Don’t even consider starting a business until you know exactly what your target niche market is. You must identify targeted customers first. Then, when you know your niche and what they already want to buy, you can come up with a product or service for them that you know they are already looking for.

Remember, it’s not the number of visitors your site gets in a day that matters it’s the number of targeted visitors that you get that is important. A smaller number of visits from people who are desperate and willing to pay any price to buy your product or service are far more important than thousands of general visitors who are just browsing.

Let’s get started

This is where the work starts. Yes – that’s right I said work.

Did you think that you could start an online business without doing some work? Listen, let’s get one bit of BS out of the way first – you can’t start ANY business online or offline without putting some effort in. You will see lots of ads these days saying that you can buy their business opportunity and sit back, do nothing and the money will roll in.

I know what you’re thinking – you got this email from someone telling you that he is making a fortune online and he doesn’t get off his rear end all day. Well I’m sorry to be blunt but he is almost certainly telling you a pack of lies.

Most of these people aren’t making any money at all. They are trying to sell you on an idea so that they can make some money but in most cases they aren’t doing it themselves.

The biggest reason for failure on the web today is because people don’t focus on one thing until they have it making money on auto-pilot before considering anything else.

There are just so many opportunities being presented to us today that staying focused is very, very difficult. My advice is to not allow yourself to get sidetracked. Follow the steps in this series and stick with it until you have it running like clockwork.

I’m sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear but I believe that what you really want in the long run is someone who will tell you the truth and hold your hand until you gain the necessary experience to go it alone.

There is some good news though, starting and running a business online is MUCH easier than it is offline. So take encouragement from that and let’s get started.

Next time we’ll look at identifying your niche market. How you decide which market to target, which one might be profitable is the area that prevents most people from getting going. That why it’s important to make sure you look out for the next part of this series.

Until then remember,

“Nothing Happens Until You Take ACTION”

Trevor

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Business basics

OK, let’s get started on the basics. Believe it or not, developing a business on the Internet is no different to building a business off the Internet. Both of them are actually very simple when you know how.

People tend to make starting a business difficult because they don’t understand, or choose to ignore, the basic rules. It is an unfortunate fact that you won’t find what I’m about to tell you in most books or courses on building a business or on marketing, which is why people are doomed to fail right from the start … and statistics show that most of them do.

OK, I know I risk losing some of you right there but stick with me. If you’re thinking this guy can’t know what he’s talking about if he thinks it’s that simple, stick with me! I told you that you almost certainly won’t have come across what I’m about to cover anywhere else before.

You see, most people start with the product. They get this idea for a product or service, often related to something that they’ve been involved with – like their job or the home, and are convinced it’s going to make them their fortune.

They then plough their hard earned savings into it or arrange funding for it and create a product or service related to it. Then they start to try selling the product and in most cases, within 1 to 2 years, the business folds.

If you think about it the very words ‘try to sell something to someone’ don’t sound right. They suggest that you are trying to get someone to buy something that they didn’t want before you approached them. Not only do you have to convince them that they now do need what you have, but that they should buy it from you.

Isn’t it so much better to find a market first, find out what that market already wants and then all you have to do is show them how much easier or better it is to get it from you? That’s what successful people do! …and remember, people don’t buy what they NEED – they buy what they WANT.

In most cases we don’t need the model of car we drive we just need something with four wheels etc. to get us from A to B. We want the car we drive for all sorts of emotional reasons which we then justify on logical grounds.

We don’t need enormous plasma TV screens or the top plan on cable TV or Caribbean cruises. We want them for all sorts of emotional reasons. We need life assurance but few people want it. We buy it when we have to, to get our mortgage or for some other reason. This is a crucial point so go back and read it again. People buy what they want not what they need.

Now although I said this method is simple, which I’m sure you can see it is, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. I would be the first to admit that it is not always easy. It does require some work, sometimes hard work, but by following the simple steps I outline here, it will be much easier than most people make it.

One of the best pieces of advice that I was given many years ago now was this – find someone that has been successful doing what you want to do and copy their success.

Whatever you want to achieve, find someone who has already done it and mirror what they have done. Find successful people and do what those successful people have done.

Irrespective of whatever it is that you would like to do, it’s almost certain that someone and probably a whole lot of people have done what you want to do.

Find out everything you can about how they did what they did and model yourself on them. Don’t be afraid to ask their advice if necessary. They can only say no and you may be surprised to find how many of them will help you out.

After all, if you wanted to become a world class racing driver wouldn’t you be better off copying the current world champion rather than your local driving instructor?

Would you ever consider going on a journey that you hadn’t traveled before without taking a map or programming your satellite navigation device?

It is hard enough to find your way sometimes with a map. How hard would it be if you tried doing it without one?

Yet, this is exactly what people do all the time in business, online or offline. They try to build their business without following a map, a clear set of instructions that is guaranteed to get them there, if they follow them.

Then, after months of trying this and that, chasing the latest greatest way to make money online, they become frustrated and quit. They are convinced that the Internet doesn’t work for them or their type of business.

The reason it didn’t work was because they didn’t pick up a map and follow it – all the way from start to finish!

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. In this series I’m given you ten steps to help you get started following the simple process I described above.

Please bear in mind that this is just an introduction to running your business on the Internet. It isn’t everything that there is to know by any means, but it will give you a basic foundation to build upon.

It is designed to be your beginner’s guide to operating any business on the Internet.

Ok, that’s all for this one. Next time we’ll look at choosing who your customer is by looking at markets, niches and why you must know the difference.

Until next time remember,

“Nothing Happens Until You Take ACTION”

Trevor

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Getting Started

Of all the questions that I get asked relating to the Internet, the most common is “How do I get Started?”

I’ll cover the nuts and bolts of setting up your online business in a moment but first I want to cover something that I consider to be the most important step in setting up any business and that is what I call ‘getting your head straight’.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to succeed at everything they do and yet others always struggle no matter what they do? Do you know anyone that seems to be ‘accident prone’? They drop things, they seem to have more accidents in their car, they tend to look on the ‘black’ side.

Many people go through their lives like this without ever considering that there may be very good reasons why this happens.

I believe that probably the greatest discovery of the 20th century was that we become what we think about. If you haven’t come across this concept before you may think it a bit strange to include it in a book about starting a business.

This concept isn’t new. Wallace Wattles described these principles 100 years ago in his book ‘The Science of Getting Rich’. These principles have been practiced by a small group of people over the years to create phenomenal results in their lives.

I have been studying these principles myself for 30 years now and the more I study the more I discover about the laws that govern everything we do in life and in the process have created a life for myself that is already beyond my wildest dreams of 30 years ago.

It’s all about attraction

Many of you will have come across the book and DVD ‘The Secret’ that has caused such a stir. The ideas that ‘The Secret’ explores are based on Wallace Wattles works and so aren’t new but they are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them all those years ago.

The basic message in The Secret is that everything we are experiencing in our lives currently we have attracted into our lives. If this is the first time you have heard this you will find it hard to take. You will think of situations that have happened in your life that you will feel you couldn’t possibly have attracted.

The fact is that whatever our lives are like we have attracted it, like it or not. The good news is that once you accept this as a fact your life will begin to change beyond anything you have ever experienced before.

These principles have been used to improve health, cure major health problems, develop substantial fortunes, build business empires and improve quality of life and personal relationships for the select few that have taken them to heart and made them a fundamental part of their lives.

There is no doubt that we attract into our lives the people and circumstances that harmonise with our dominant thoughts. If we think successful thoughts we will be successful, if we think negative thoughts we will attract negative, unhappy people and circumstances into our lives.

Just as important as our thoughts are our feelings. Our feelings are the guidance mechanisms that tell us whether we are on the right track or not. If we feel good about things our system is telling us we are moving towards our goals and if we feel bad about things we are moving away from our goals.

Good feelings include passion, happiness, belief, optimism, hope, contentment. If we feel any of these feelings then whatever we are doing to make us feel like that we should continue to do more of. Bad feelings include Boredom, pessimism, blame, anger, jealousy, hatred, revenge, worry, frustration, fear/despair, guilt. If we feel any of these feelings we are not on track and need to make an urgent change to move into the good feelings area.

Isn’t it interesting that we have more descriptions of bad feelings than we do of good ones? I believe the reason for this is because as many as 98% of people spend their lives concentrating on the things that they don’t want in their life.

The Philosopher and author, Thoreau, observed that the vast majority of people live lives of quiet desperation. How sad that is when it is possible for everyone on the planet to have, be or do anything they want once they understand and practice the basic laws of the universe.

Before getting started on any business venture I suggest you read ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill, The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles and look up some of the books by Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, and James Arthur Ray to name but a few.

For many years I followed the advice of lots of the self improvement ‘Gurus’ and wrote my goals down. I made them personal, I wrote them in the present tense as if I already had them, I included minute details of my goals to make it easier to visualize them, in fact, I did everything I was being told I should do but still I had only mediocre results.

You see, what these experts weren’t telling me was that it is not just our thoughts but our feelings that attract results into our lives. What’s more this works whether our thoughts are positive or negative.

You see our mind cannot distinguish between positive and negative so if, for instance, we are thinking about getting out of debt, if we are constantly pre-occupied about all of our debt and are programming ourselves that we have no more debt, that we are debt free, we are actually not pushing it away. We are attracting more debt.

That’s why people who think they are scatty and accident prone continue to be scatty and accident prone. That’s why people work for years visualising that they are getting out of debt and yet stay in debt, and even get into more debt. That’s why we see the same patterns showing up in people over and over.

There’s a saying that the ‘Rich get richer and the Poor get poorer’. Why do you suppose that is? It’s because the rich are thinking about being rich so they get ‘more rich’ and the poor are thinking about poor so they get ‘more poor’.

Make another commitment to yourself now to think only of the life you want. Picture yourself living your new life every day as if it were already here. By picturing yourself living the life you want on a consistent basis you will be sending a message out to the universe, a positive vibration that will attract the picture into your reality.

This will be difficult at first but have faith that it will change, keep your mind on your goal and be happy and grateful for what you have in your life now, even if it doesn’t seem like you have very much right now. It’s amazing how quickly things can change when we practice an ‘attitude of gratitude’ as it is often called.

OK, that’s given you a small insight into some of the things that turned my life around and will do the same for you. Now let’s get down to some more details of getting started.

A good place to start with any business is to identify a few things about yourself. Ask yourself a few questions.

• Why did I decide to go into business?
• What are the underlying reasons for starting my own business?
• Do I need to earn a supplementary income?
• Do I want the freedom to do what I want, when I want?
• Do I hate my job and want to do something different?
• Do I wish for something better or am I determined to make a change?

• What thoughts am I holding in my mind?
• Do I have a clear picture of what my perfect life will be like?
• Do I feel emotional about it?
• Do I see myself in this situation as if it is already a reality?
• Am I in the picture or am I looking on as an observer?

If you are always an observer then your goals will always be in the future. You need to a part of your vision – taking an active part.

• What am I prepared to do to make my dreams a reality?
• How much time am I prepared to invest?
  • Hours per day or week
• What am I prepared to give up to make the time?
  • Television, pastimes, socializing etc.
• How much effort am I prepared to put in?
• Am I prepared to learn new skills?
• Am I prepared to invest/re-invest financially to make things happen?

• Am I suited to this type of business?
• Do I have the skills needed?
• Can I acquire the skills?
• Can I buy in the skills?
  • People that work ON the business rather than IN the business tend to be more successful
• Do I have the determination to keep going when things get tough?

Getting a clear picture about your motivation, your skills and your mental state will help you keep on track. The most important thing to remember is that whatever we keep in our minds on a consistent basis will determine our success or failure. Extensive research has proved that our success tends to have little to do with our education, or ability but everything to do with the thoughts we hold in our mind.

Some of you may feel that this chapter has little to do with starting an Internet business. You may be thinking that all you want to do is learn the steps to take to get your online business going now.

I can understand you being impatient, especially if you have tried lots of other business opportunities before. Hopefully you will take the points that I have made in this section to heart because they really are the keys to success in anything you do now and in the future.

Next time we’ll start working on our business basics. The simple steps you need to take to get your business off the ground

Until then, work on the principles I’ve outlined here and remember

“Nothing Happens Until You Take ACTION”

Trevor

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Being able to do what you want when you want is difficult to describe, especially when you’ve had to struggle for most of your life. That’s what I want for you and the information that I going to lay out here will set you on the right track towards achieving that.

Activate your dreams

Imagine for a moment that it is tomorrow morning and you are just waking up. If you were able to do anything that you wanted, what would your day look like? What time would you get up? Are you an early riser or would a long lie in be the way you would start your day?

What would you do with your day? Maybe you would go for a healthy breakfast followed by a light workout at the gym and mid-morning coffee break to read a book or newspaper for an hour or so.

Maybe you would choose something completely different. Maybe a morning’s golf with your friends is more your idea of your perfect day, or maybe a leisurely stroll around the shops with your partner would be your choice.

The important thing to realise is that it is your choice. The other important thing to realise is that this need not be just a dream. You can be, have or do anything that you want. By activating your dreams and using the potential of the Internet anything you can imagine can be yours. We’ll also cover more of this later.

It has been the dream of many of us over the centuries to be able to live the life we want without strain or pain. Unfortunately, a regular job is unlikely to provide the answer to that desire. The ‘system’ is designed to make the business owners and shareholders rich not the employees.

The only way to take control of our lives and develop the freedom to do what we want when we want is to run our own business. This has spawned a whole industry which is generally referred to as the ‘Business Opportunity’ industry.

Most of us are bombarded with an endless stream of ‘opportunities’ of one sort or another on a weekly or even daily basis. In amongst the scams there are many items that provide an excellent potential to create a good part-time or full-time income.

These opportunities include MLM/Network Marketing, franchises of all sorts, gambling/betting systems and products sold through direct mail to name but a few.

The development of the Internet has opened up a whole new area of opportunity for building our own business and increasingly over the last ten to fifteen years people have been looking at the internet as a means of providing them with a solution to their dreams of a prosperous and happy life.

There are just a few simple steps to creating your own online information business in the shortest possible time which I am going to outline in this and future posts as we work through the process together. What I’m going to cover is based on my own hands-on experience and will ensure that you avoid many of the common mistakes . The steps I outline here are the exact steps that I still use to contribute towards a regular income from the Internet, something that I have been doing for the past five or six years now.

If you follow my advice and work at it systematically and stick with it there is no reason why you shouldn’t be earning the equivalent of a full time income within 6 months. However, having said that, I can’t guarantee your results because I don’t know you.

It is a sad fact that as many as 95% of the people who read this or any other course, ebook or training workshop will do nothing with it. Having downloaded an ebook, many of them will save it to their hard drive and forget that they even downloaded it. A few more will print it off, put it on a shelf to read later and forget about it. Most people forget what they learned on a course or seminar within 48 hours and do nothing.

I can’t help those people unfortunately. Unless you take action on the help and advice that I provide, nothing will change. In 6 months time you will still be where you are now and that will be a real shame when things could be so different if you just take action.

I want you to make a promise to yourself now that you will not let this happen to you. In fact, go get a pad of paper and your favorite pen or pencil now, go on – this post will still be here when you get back.

OK, did you get some paper and something to write with? If you didn’t, go do it now because this is important.

Right, that’s better. Now starting at the top of the paper write;

I, insert your name here, do make a solemn promise to myself today, (insert the date here).

I will work through this valuable information step by step and take action on the points covered at each stage. I will continue to work on the system outlined here through to completion.

I will refuse to give up or let anything distract me or put me off until I have completed one income stream and started to see income from it. Only then will I consider starting work on a second income stream.

I will continue this process to develop multiple income streams until I reach the level of success that I deserve.

Signed; sign your name here.

OK, that’s it. You’ve made a promise to yourself that you will do this. You’ll stick to it until you make it work. There are thousands of people like you that have made a commitment to themselves to change their lives and are now living the Internet lifestyle, the life of their dreams.

Now I know that some of you will already have switched off because you want an instant solution. Don’t be one of them, this step is vital. I can’t stress this enough. Whether you believe it or not for anything to happen in our external world it first MUST happen internally. If we think of ourselves as a tree then our physical appearance, what’s happening in our life, our experiences are like the trunk, the branches, leaves and fruit of the tree.

BUT, in order for there to be growth above the ground, more branches, new leaves, fruit in season, growth from a seedling to a big oak – something has to happen at the roots, covered up where we can’t see them. If you chop off a branch, it will grow again but if you kill the roots the tree will die.

Similarly with us, in order for things to change in our life (the part we see) we have to change our thinking (the part we don’t see, the roots). Unless we change our thinking buying every ebook or course available won’t make a bit of difference. We will continue to sabotage ourselves over and over again.

Don’t wimp out on this, it’s vital. If you have any doubt’s about this head over to Amazon and get yourself T Harv Eker’s book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind – it will change your life.

Tomorrow we’ll take this to the next stage,

until then remember,

“Nothing Happens Until You Take ACTION”

Trevor

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You may have heard that one before and maybe not. Either way it does have relevance to what we’re going to be covering here.

In my last post I asked how prepared you are for tough times. Too many people are only one pay day away from real suffering if that pay day was suddenly removed, something that is happening to a growing number of families at the moment. But it needn’t be that way. People all over the world are discovering some very simple ways that the Internet now provides for adding some extra income and even replace that 9 – 5 merry-go-round that they’re on.

Today I want to start you on the road to financial freedom so that you are not reliant on a regular paycheck coming in.

So, why am I asking you the question ‘how do you eat an elephant?’ and what the heck does it have to do with your financial freedom? Well, I’m going to tell you but first we need to cover some key points that most Internet Marketing coaches shy away from. The reason that the majority of teachers of Internet Marketing do not cover these points is because people don’t want to hear them. They are often feeling acute pain from mounting bills and diminishing income and want a magic bullet, a cure-all pill to take the pain away.

… and I can understand them feeling like that, I’ve been there myself not that long ago so I know how it feels. What I found though was as soon as I changed my approach, my attitude, things started to change for me and I haven’t looked back since.

So to begin with I want to talk about mindset, your mental attitude. Now bear with me here, I know this isn’t sexy like social networking or driving traffic or the latest greatest way to get on the first page of Google but it is crucial to your success in anything – online or any other way. I know it isn’t included in most Internet Marketing courses that you buy and I believe that it not being there is responsible for the many failures online.

So what am I talking about here. When you start any business there are some key things that you need to identify right at the beginning.

What do you want to achieve?

It is really important to have a very clear picture of what you want your business to look like when it’s done. How much income per month does it need to provide. If it needs to replace your current income identify what that is and write it down. If it needs to provide some additional income alongside your job write down what that is. Some people enjoy their job and don’t want to give it up but some additional income would provide a better lifestyle. The most important thing here is that you need to be specific. ‘More money to pay the bills’ isn’t specific, ‘I want to be rich’ isn’t specific. How much you need to pay the bills is, it needs to be $x per month (or pounds or whatever your currency is). If you want to be rich, identify what rich is, what does that mean in terms of income, money in the bank etc. what is it.

When do you want to achive this by?

Having decided how much money you want to generate the next stage is to identify when you want to achieve it by. Now I know if you are struggling you want to achieve it by NOW. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen despite what many of the emails you receive tell you. It can happen very quickly but I don’t want to sell you a line that it can happen overnight when the truth is it will take some time if you’re starting from scratch.

Set realistic goals and you will achieve them quicker than you could ever imagine.

Stay focused

The biggest problem we face today is overload. We are bombarded with one offer after another of the latest greatest thing that’s going to make you money overnight. When you need money NOW it is very difficult to stay focused on one thing. So you identify a product or system that will provide you with a route to making money, buy it, download it to your hard-drive and are determined to get going with it.

Then you get another email that promises faster, better results and off you go again. All too often I find people who just end up going round and round this money-making merry-go-round like a hamster on a wheel, and 6 months, 12 months or years later they are still where they started but more broke, more dissolutioned and sick and tired of trying.

Too much to do

The volume of email that we’re getting now all telling us the techniques we must use to be successful have another impact. … and that brings us back to our elephant. How do you eat an elephant – well one bite at a time is the answer. Faced with a mountain of things that we feel we need to do to be successful it’s too easy to do nothing. We freeze like a rabbit in the headlights of an on-coming car and put off getting started on our road to financial freedom.

Getting started online is actually very easy, if you take it one step at a time. When I coach my clients I teach them the one-step at a time method.

Next time, I’ll begin taking you through the simple steps you need to take to get started.

Until then Remember,

“Nothing Happens Until You Take ACTION”

Trevor

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Many areas of the developed world are really suffering with the economic down-turn at the moment and things look set to get worse.

When things are going well we tend to think they always will and live up to our limit. It’s a sad fact that most people are only one pay day away from disaster.

Here in the UK the new Government has begun the first of what will be very hard cuts in public spending that is already costing hundreds of jobs.

Yet those of us who have been quietly working away on our Internet businesses have little or no impact from the economic climate.

Starting tomorrow, I’m going to take you through the steps that I would be taking now to protect myself from what may be ahead if I was just starting out.

Be sure to come back tomorrow when I’ll be looking at why so many people don’t get started and how to overcome it.

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Click the link below to get your very own List Building – Cash Pumping Turnkey Video Website Absolutely Free!

http://surefireprofitsystem.com/go.php?a=99893&p=665

This site is completely Free and comes with:

*An Eye-Catching Video Squeeze Page This will help you build your list fast!

*A High Converting “Video Skinned” Sales page You Make 100% On All Sales Paid Directly To You!

This is not some tired old site you have seen a million times before. I liked what I saw and took the opportunity myself to build another income stream.

The creators claim that this site is Brand New and was designed from the start to build your list quickly and convert your visitors into buyers. Looking at it, I’m inclined to believe them.

It’s worked for them, so I believe it will work for me and you too.

As always they are sating that there are only a limited number of these sites to give away, and once they are gone, they are gone. To be honest, I hope that really is the case, the less competition for these the better.

Click the link below to get started!

http://surefireprofitsystem.com/go.php?a=99893&p=665

Best wishes,

Trevor

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I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think too.

Until next time,

Trevor

“Remember, Nothing happens until we take ACTION”

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How are you going to put tires on a car you don’t even have?

For that matter, How could you add a room onto a house you haven’t even built yet?

Or give a frog an enema if you don’t have the frog?

Here’s the thing… if you’re like soooo many marketers, that’s basically what you’re doing.

I’m guilty of it, too.

We buy program after program on how to do a certain technique that’s supposed to make us
moolah by Sunday…

But we don’t even have a proper business up and running yet.

I’m talking about a business that will take care of us for the rest of our lives no matter what the economy does or what bone-headed mistake we make or whatever.

No matter what. Rock solid, steady income for years.

I think maybe we’ve forgotten what it is we truly want. It’s not a quick buck today and then broke again tomorrow.

It’s permanent long term no-one-can-take-it-away-from-us SECURITY.

I know a man, ONE man, who scoured the earth for the info that would provide him with EXACTLY that kind of business.

This isn’t how to build a site or write a salesletter or do SEO kind of stuff. Heck, you can get that for FREE on the net.

This is covert ops, only the rich KNOW this stuff, secretive HUSH HUSH knowledge that YOU and I need to be successful today, tomorrow and forever, no matter what we decide to do.

And this is the SAME info MARK JOYNER, the Godfather of Internet Marketing recommends you get your hands on ASAP…

…along with the secret TOOL that will take you further, faster than you ever thought possible.

How do I know that?

It’s been PROVEN time and time again by people who have already used it and gone from small incomes to five, six and seven figure incomes.

Be sure to become part of the team – until July 6, 2009 / and save money.

Find out how to finally start making consistent money here

until next time,

Trevor

“Remember, NOTHING happens until we take ACTION”

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DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENTS

A display or space ad differs from a classified ad because it has headline, layout, and because the style is not telegraphic, i.e. short and to the point.

However, the fundamentals of writing the display ad or space are exactly the same as for a classified ad. The basic difference is that you have more room in which to emphasize the “master formula”.

Successful copywriters rate the headline and/or the lead sentence of an ad as the most important part of the ad, and you should do the same. After all, when your ad is surrounded by hundreds of other ads, and information or entertainment, what makes you think anyone is going to see your ad?

The truth is, they’re not going to see your ad unless you can “grab” their attention and entice them to real all of what your have to say. Your headline or lead sentence when no headline is used, has to make it MORE DIFFICULT for your prospect to ignore, or pass over, than to stop and read your ad. If you don’t capture
the attention of your reader with your headline, anything beyond is useless effort and wasted money.

Successful advertising headlines–in classified ads, your first three to five words serve as your headline–are written as promises or warnings, either implied or direct. You may promise to show them how to save money, make money, or attain a desired goal. Alternatively you may use a warning against something undesirable if they don’t have your product.

Example OF A PROMISE; Are You Ready To Become A Millionaire–In
Just 18 Months?

EXAMPLE OF A WARNING; Do You Make These Mistakes In English?

In both examples. I have posed a question as the headline. Headlines that ask a question seem to attract the reader’s attention almost as surely as a moth is drawn to a flame. Once he has seen the question, he just can’t seem to keep himself from reading the rest of the ad to find out the answer. The human mind can’t stand anything that is incomplete, it has to find the answer to complete the interaction.

The best headline questions are those that challenge the reader; that involve his self esteem, and do not allow him to dismiss you question with a simple yes or no.

You’ll be the envy of your friends is another kind of “reader appeal” to incorporate into your headline whenever appropriate.

The appeal has to do with basic psychology; everyone wants to be well thought of and consequently, will read into the body of your ad and find out how he can gain the respect and accolades of her friends.

Wherever and whenever possible, use expressions or words that are usually found in advertisements. The idea is to shock or shake the reader out of his comfort zone and cause her to take notice of your ad. Most of the headlines you see today have a certain sameness with just the words rearranged. The reader may see these headlines with his eyes, but his brain fails to focus on any of them because there is nothing different or out of the ordinary to arrest his attention.

Example of what I mean here; Are You Developing A POT BELLY?

Another attention-grabber kind of headline is the comparative price headline;
Three For only $3, Regularly $3 Each!

And another of the “tried and proven” kind of headlines is the specific question;
Do You Suffer From These Symptoms?

And of course, if you offer a strong guarantee, you should say so in your headline;
Your Money Refunded, If You Don’t Make $100,000 Your First Year.

‘How To’ headlines have a very strong basic appeal, but in some instances, they are better used as book titles than advertising headlines. Who else wants in on the finer things, which your
product or service presumably offers, is another approach with a strong reader appeal. The psychology here being the need of everyone to belong to a group–complete with status and prestige motivations.

Whenever you can possibly work it in, you should use the word “you” in your headline, and throughout your copy.

After all, your ad should be directed to “one” person, and the person reading your ad wants to feel that you’re talking to him personally, not everyone who lives on his street.

Personalize, and be specific! You can throw the teachings of your English teachers out the window, and the rules of “third person, singular” or whatever else tends to inhibit your writing.

Whenever you sit down to write advertising copy intended to pull the orders–sell the product–you should picture yourself in a one-on-one situation and “talk” to your reader just as if you are sitting across from him at your dining room table. Say what you mean, and sell HIM on the product your offering. Be specific and
ask him if these are the things that bother him–are these the things he wants–and he is the one you want to buy the product…

The layout you devise for your ad, or the frame you build around it, should also command attention. either make it so spectacular that it stands out like top roast of beef at a vegetarian dinner, or so uncommonly simple that it catches the reader’s eye because of its very simplicity.

It’s also important that you don’t get cute with a lot of unrelated graphics and artwork. Your ad should convey the feeling of excitement and movement, but should not strain the eyes or disrupt the flow the message you are trying to present.

Any graphics or artwork you use should be relevant to your product, its use and/ or the copy you’ve written about it.

Graphics should not be used as artistic touches, or to create an atmosphere. Any illustrations with your ad should compliment the selling of your product, and prove or substantiate specific points in your copy.

A word of warning here for when you are using a graphic designer for your work. It is vital that you retain control of the project. You’re the sales copy specialist, they just want to show off their graphic skills. If you don’t keep them under control you will end up with something so over-the-top that your sales message will get completely taken over by the graphics.

Once you have your reader’s attention, the only way you’re going to keep it, is by quickly and emphatically telling him what your product will do for him.

Your potential buyer doesn’t care in the least how long it’s taken you to produce the product, how long you have been in business, nor how many years you have spent learning your craft. She wants to know specifically how she’s going to benefit from the purchase of your product.

Generally, his wants will fall into one of the following categories: Better health, more comfort, more money, more leisure time, more popularity, greater beauty, success and/or security.

Even though you have your reader’s attention, you must follow through with an explanation of the benefits your reader can gain. In essence, you must reiterate the advantages, comfort and happiness he or she will enjoy–as you have implied in your headline.

Mentally picture your prospect, determine their wants and emotional needs–put yourself in their shoes, and ask yourself: If I were reading this ad, what are the things that would appeal to me? Write your copy to appeal to your reader’s wants and emotional needs or ego cravings.

Remember, it’s not the “safety features” that have sold cars for the past 50 years–nor has it been the need of transportation–it has been, and almost certainly always will be the advertising writer’s recognition of the people’s wants and emotional needs and ego cravings.

Visualize your prospect, recognize what he wants: and satisfy them. Writing good advertising copy is nothing
more or less than knowing “who” your buyers are; recognizing what she wants; and telling her how your product will fulfill each of those wants. Remember this because it’s one of the “vitally important” keys to writing advertising copy that does the job you intend for it to do.

The “desire” portion of your ad is where you present the facts of your product; create and justify your prospect’s conviction, and cause them to demand “a piece of the action” for themselves.

It’s vitally necessary that you present “proven facts” about your product because survey results show that at least 80% of the people reading your ad–especially those reading it for the first time–will tend to question its authenticity.

So, the more facts you can present in the ad, the more credible your offer. As you write this part of your ad, always remember that the more facts about the product you present, the more product you’ll sell.

People want facts as the reason, and/or excuse for buying a product–to justify to themselves and others, that they haven’t been “taken” by a slick copywriter. It is good to remember that we almost always buy for emotional reasons and the seek to justify our decision logically afterwards – usually to our spouse!

It’s like the girl who wants to marry the guy her father calls a “no good bum”. Her heart–her emotions–tell her yes, but she needs facts to justify the seed of doubt lingering in her mind–to rationalize her decision to go on with the wedding and convince her father that she should.

In other words, the “desire” portion of your ad has to build belief and credibility in the mind of your prospect. It has to assure them of their good judgement in their final decision to buy- furnish evidence of the benefits you’ve promised–and afford him a “safety net” in case anyone should question his decision to buy.

People tend to believe the things that appeal to their individual desires, fears and other emotions. Once you’ve established a belief in this manner, logic and reasoning are used to support it. People believe what they “want to believe. Your reader “wants” to believe your ad if they have read through this far–it’s
up to you to support their initial desire.

It’s also a fact that people buy what they want, NOT what they need. So they require facts to justify satisfying that want when it is initially obvious that they don’t need it, and inside they know it.

Study your product and everything about it–visualize the wants of your prospective buyers–dig up the facts, and you’ll almost always find plenty of facts to support the buyer’s reason for buying.

Here is where you use the results of tests conducted, growing sales figures to prove increasing popularity, and “user” testimonials or endorsements. It’s also important that you present these facts-test results, sales figures and/or testimonials-from the consumer point of view, and not that of the manufacturer.

Before you end this portion of your ad and get into you demand for action, summarize everything you’ve presented thus far. Draw a mental picture for your potential buyer. Let him imagine owning the product. Cause him to visualize all the benefits you’ve promised. Give him the keys to seeing himself richer, enjoying
luxury, having time to do whatever he’d like to do, and with all of his dreams fulfilled.

This can be handled in one or two sentences, or spelled out in a paragraph or more, but it’s the absolute ingredient you must include prior to closing the sale. Study all the sales presentations you’ve ever heard, look at every winning ad, identify the element included in all of them that actually makes the sale
for you. Remember it, use it, and don’t try to sell anything without it.

As Victor Schwab puts it so succinctly in his best selling book, ‘How To Write a Good Advertisement’: “Every one of the fundamentals in the “master formula” is necessary. Those people who are “easy” to sell may perhaps be sold even if some of these factors are left out, but it’s wiser to plan your advertisement so that it will have a powerful impact upon those who are the “hardest” to sell.

For, unlike face-to-face selling, we cannot come to a “trail close” in our sales talk in printed advertising in order to see if those who are easier to sell will welcome the dotted line without further persuasion. We must assume that we are talking to the hardest ones and that the more thoroughly our copy sells both the
hard and the easy, the better chance we have against the competition for the consumer’s dollar-and also the less dependent we will be upon the usual completely ineffective follow-through on our advertising effort which later takes place at the sales counter itself”.

ASK FOR ACTION! DEMAND THE MONEY!

Lots of ads are beautiful, almost perfectly written, and quite convincing-yet they fail to ask for or demand action from the reader. If you want the reader to have your product, then tell them and demand that they spend their money now. Unless you enjoy entertaining your prospects with your beautiful writing skills, always demand that they complete the sale now, by taking action now-by clicking your ‘buy now’ button.

If you are running the one-page mailshot ads you should be demanding that they go to your squeeze page now to check out this fantastic product.

Once you’ve got them on the hook, land them! Don’t let them get away!

Probably, one of the most common and best methods of moving the reader to act now, is written in some of the following:

All of this can be yours! You can start enjoying this new way of life immediately, simply by clicking the button now! don’t put it off, then regret it later when the limited number we have available at this price are gone! Click that button now, and be one of the lucky few to get in! Act now, and as an “early bird” buyer, we’ll include a big bonus package-absolutely free, simply for acting immediately! You win all the way! We take all the risk! If you’re not satisfied simply return the product and we’ll quickly refund your money! Do it
now! Click the big red ‘Buy Now’ button, and receive the big bonus package! When the first 250 are gone, we won’t be able to include the bonus as a part of this fantastic deal, so act now! The sooner
you act, the more you win!

Offering a sweetener of some kind will almost always stimulate the prospect to take action. However, in mentioning the sweetener or bonus, be very careful that you don’t end up receiving primarily requests for the bonus with mountains of request for refunds on the product to follow. The bonus should be mentioned only casually if you’re asking for product orders; and with lots of fanfare only when you’re seeking inquiries.

Too often the copywriter, in his enthusiasm to pull in a record number of responses, confuse the reader by “forgetting about the product” and devoting his entire space allotted for the “demand for action” to sending for the bonus. Any bonus offered should be closely related to the product, and a bonus offered only for
immediate action on the part of the potential buyer.

Specify a time limit. Tell your prospect that he must act within a certain time limit or lose out on the bonus, face probably higher prices, or even the withdraw of your offer. This is always a good hook to get action.

Any kind of guarantee you offer always helps to produce action from the prospect. And the more liberal you can make your guarantee, the more product orders you’ll receive. Be sure you state the guarantee clearly and simply. Make it so easy to understand that even a child would not misinterpret what you’re saying.

The action you want your prospect to take should be easy-clearly stated-and devoid of any complicated procedural steps on his part, or numerous directions for him to follow.

Picture your prospect, very comfortable in front of the computer, casually flipping through her email or she maybe just picked up the mail and is casually opening up the envelopes. She notices your ad, reads through it, and is sold on your product.

Now what does she do?

Remember, she is very comfortable, she’s going about her business, you’ve “grabbed” her attention,
sparked her interest, painted a picture of her enjoying a new kind of satisfaction, a new life, and she is ready to buy…

Anything and everything you ask or cause her to do is going to disrupt this aura of comfort, excitement and contentment. Whatever she must do had better be simple, quick and easy!

Tell her without any ifs, ands or buts, what to do-go to the web address in your letter and read more, click the big red ‘Buy Now’ button! Make it as easy for her as you possibly can-simple and direct. And whatever you do, make sure your squeeze page captures her name and email address.

Incidentally if you are selling through the post make sure that your name and address is on the order form, and just above it on your sales letter. People sometimes fill out the coupon, tear it off, seal it in an
envelope and don’t know where to send it. The easier you make it for her to respond, the more responses you’ll get!

There you have it, a complete short course on how to write ads that will pull more orders for you, sell more of your product for you. It’s important to learn “why” ads are written as they are to understand and use the “master formula” in your own ad writing endeavors.

By conscientiously studying good advertising copy, and practice in writing ads of your own, now that you have the knowledge and understand what makes advertising copy work, you should be able to quickly develop your copywriting abilities to produce order pulling ads for your own products.

However, once you do become proficient in writing ads for your own products, you must never stop “noticing” how ads are written, designed and put together by other people. To stop learning would be comparable to shutting yourself off from the rest of the world.

The best ad writers are people in touch with the world in which they live. Every time they see a good ad, they clip it out and save it in what is known as a swipe file. The best copywriters have cabinets full of swipe files. Regularly, they pull out these files of good ads and study them, always analyzing what makes them good, and why they work.

There is no school in the world that can give you the same kind of education and expertise so necessary in the field of ad writing. You must keep yourself up-to-date, aware of, and in-the-know about the other guy-his innovations, style changes, and the methods he is using to sell his product. On-the-job
training-study and practice-that’s what it takes- and if you’ve got that burning ambition to succeed, you can do it too!

In the final part of this series I’ll be covering some of the common questions I get and answering them for you.

Until next time,

Trevor

Remember, It’s not the knowledge you have that brings success but whatyo do with that knowledge.
“Nothing happens until you take Action”

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