4 Steps To Writing Powerful Sales Letters
Copyright © by John Colanzi

I’m sure you’ve seen those ads that grab your attention and have
you ready to pull out your wallet or credit card. They are making
you an offer you can’t refuse.

Don’t you wish your ads were that persuasive?

Are the marketers who wrote these ads natural born writers, or is
there a formula that you can learn?

Writing to persuade is a skill that can be learned, like any other
skill. It’s just a matter of breaking down the process into four
simple steps.

Step # 1.

The first step in writing your killer sales letter is to identify
your target market.

This seems simple enough, but how many marketers do it?

When reading some of the ads I get in my inbox, I have to wonder.

I don’t want to burst your bubble, but the truth is, not everyone on
the planet is a prospect. Concentrate on those who are.

Before you begin your ad campaign identify your target audience.

Step # 2.

Once you’ve identified your target market, determine what their
major problems are.

* Do they need more money?

* Do they need to save time?

* Are they interested in improving their health?

Sit down and determine every problem that your prospects have and
decide how your product or service can help solve their problems.

There are no shortage of problems, but there is a shortage of
problem solvers. Start becoming a problem solver and you’ll always
be in demand.

OK, you’ve identified your market, you’ve determined what problems
they have, now you’re ready for the next step.

Step # 3.

The third step in writing your killer copy is to let your prospects
know that there is a solution to their problem. Not only is there a
solution to their problem, but you have the solution.

Remember these three magic words, “I can help.”

Identifying the problem is not enough. You have to show the reader
that there is a solution and you have it.

Tell them every benefit they will get when they order your product,
or take advantage of your service.

Let them know you can help them

* Make more money

* Save time

* Improve their health.

Step # 4.

The final step in creating killer ad copy is getting the prospect to
take action.

Identifying your market, determining their problems and letting them
know you have the solution, is not enough.

You have to make them act.

You have to create a sense of urgency.

There are many ways you can do this.

You can offer a special discount for fast action.

You can offer special fast action bonuses.

Ask for the order.

Let them know they don’t have to put up with their problems another
day.

You can solve them right now.

These four steps are a basic outline to get you started.

Start studying the sales letters you read and break them down into
the four basic steps.

Determine how effective the writer was in covering the bases.

Make notes on how you could improve on the sales letter.

Learning to write persuasive copy is a life – long venture.

When you’re writing your next sales letter, remember the four step
formula.

1. Identify your market

2. Identify their problem

3. Let them know how you can solve their problem

4. Ask for the order

Wishing You Success,
John Colanzi

Copyright (c) John Colanzi.

How To Market With Ezine Articles
Copyright © Charlie Page

Of all the ways that people have invented to sell things over the
Internet, writing free articles to run in ezines is perhaps the most
effective. One great thing about this method of marketing is that
you can do it with NO money. So if you are just starting your
Internet marketing career, put away the Visa and warm up that
keyboard! Article marketing may be the perfect way to market. It’s
free to do. It educates prospects. It gets your message in front of
thousands of interested prospects you would NEVER reach otherwise.
It’s viral. Best of all … it works!

So what is “article marketing” and how can it impact your world?
Glad you asked. What we call “article marketing” is simply
writing informative articles and having those articles run in ezines.
If that sounds hard, it’s not. Let’s run the numbers for a moment.

There are over 300,000 ezines out there. Estimates say that over 90%
of them use free articles in their ezines. That means there is a
HUGE market for your articles, no matter what you want to write
about.

We like to say it this way. From cat food to Katmandu, there’s an
ezine out there for everyone. You included.

The Big Picture

The first step is to understand the goal of article marketing. The
goal is to write an informative article and have it run in as many
TARGETED ezines as possible. When people read the article they see
your resource box at the end of the article, click to your website
and buy your stuff. They learn something, and you make money. Very
simple.

Notice the emphasis on targeted? Please, please, whatever you do, do
not waste an editors time with articles that they don’t need. One of
the greatest things about the Directory of Ezines is that you can
use it to find the perfect ezines for your articles … fast. Use
the DOE, but never spam editors with articles they can’t use.

<Getting off soapbox now>

How to Write the Article

You want to write an informative article about something you know.
Once you chose your subject, here’s the magic formula for writing
the article. Five easy steps.

1. Be yourself. Don’t try to write like anyone else. Let your
personality shine through.

2. Tell a story. People love to hear an interesting story.

3. Limit yourself to 600 words. This is an ideal length for most
ezines. Format your article to 65 characters per line with a hard
return at the end of each line.

4. Have a clear opening, make three or five points it the middle,
and have a brief conclusion.

5. THIS IS THE BIG ONE. Give the reader a few steps he or she can
take to make your idea work for them. Tell them what to do first,
second, third to accomplish the task you are writing about.

If the reader can take ACTION based on what you wrote (just like you
can now apply this formula to your writing) you will have delivered
valuable information to them. Do that and, hopefully, they will keep
reading your stuff!

How to Find the Right Ezines

The absolute, 100% effective, surefire way to do this is to use the
Directory of Ezines. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Look for ezines that have these three things. First, the ezine
content matches your article content. Second, the ezine accepts
articles. Third, the reader is someone who would be a good customer
for you. Once you nail down those basics you have found the perfect
market for your articles.

How to Approach the Editor

The BEST way to approach an editor is this.

1. Subscribe to the ezine.

2. Read a few issues.

3. Write a personal note commenting on what you enjoyed about the
issues that you read.

4. Offer your article as one that might fit in.

5. Ask to be informed if your article is run.

6. Thank them for their time.

7. Be available if they have questions.

If an editor chooses your article, the odds are they will run your
articles in the future as well. Stay in touch and you can develop
close relationships with literally hundreds of editors. Remember
that each editor represents thousands of readers that you may never
reach any other way. Also remember that the editor is a busy person.
Keep your email brief.

How to Maximize Your ROI

Include a “resource box” at the end of the article. A resource box
is where you sell the reader on going to your website, subscribing
to your ezine, or taking any other action you want them to take.

Marketing with ezine articles is truly a win-win-win proposition.
The publisher wins because he or she gets great free articles. The
reader wins because your article is informative and tells them how
to accomplish an important task as easy as 1,2,3. You win because
hundreds of thousands of readers see your selling message at the end
of your article.

All of this with no out-of-pocket costs. Now THAT’S a beautiful
thing!

Charlie Page is the owner of the Directory of Ezines, the first
and most comprehensive list of quality ezines that accept
advertising available on the Internet. Charlie can show you how to
sell more products and earn more affiliate commissions using the
Internet’s #1 marketing method … ezine marketing!

Beginning Your Goal Setting Plan

The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you
want to achieve in your lifetime, as setting lifetime goals that
gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of
your decision making process.

To help give you a broad, and balanced coverage of all important
areas in your life, try to set goals in some or all of the following
categories:

• Artistic:
Do you want to achieve any artistic goals? If so, what is it? Do you
want to write a book; paint a masterpiece, or write a song?

• Attitude:
Does your own mindset hold you back from making progress? Is there
any part of the way that you behave that upsets you for example, do
you talk too much? If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or
find a solution to the problem.

• Career:
What level do you want to reach in your career? Is it your goal to
be the boss or own your own company someday, or do you want to be
the president of someone else’s company?

• Education:
Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular or some
area of study that you would like to pursue? What information and
skills will you need to achieve these goals?

• Family:
Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good
parent? How do you want your partner or family members to see you?

• Financial:
How much do you want to earn by what age in your life? What can you
do to make that come about?

• Physical:
Are there any athletic goals you want to achieve, or do you want
good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take to
achieve this?

• Pleasure:
How do you want to enjoy yourself? You should ensure that some of
your life is geared toward making yourself happy for no reason other
than being happy.

• Service:
Do you want to make the world a better place by your existence? If
so, how?

How to begin to achieve your Goals

Once you have decided your goals in these categories, you have to
assign a priority to them if you want to succeed.

Then review the goals and re-prioritize until you are satisfied that
they reflect the shape of the life that you want to lead.

Also, you should ensure that the goals that you have set are the
goals that you want to achieve, and not what your parents, spouse,
family, or employers want them to be.

Success only happens when you are working for your own well being
because doing it for others will ensure that you sabotage your own
success.

Once you have set your lifetime goals, the best thing that you
can do is set a 25 year plan of smaller goals that you should
complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan.

From there you can just shorten your overall goal spans for example,
you set a 5 year plan, 1 year plan, 6 month plan, and 1 month plan
of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your
lifetime goals.

Each of these should be based on the previous plan. It is the best
way to begin to achieve a lifetime that is filled with and results
in a life without any failed wishes. It results in a life without
regret.

You see, by starting out slowly, you are giving yourself the chance
to realize and work on achieving the goals that you set out to.

Nobody ever succeeds at attaining a goal that was forced through.
Those that tried never really got what they were hoping for. In
rushing through and trying to achieve your goals quickly you will
likely miss a few key aspects that can really change your outcome.

Think of it this way; if you were to run a 10K marathon and decided
to take a cab for half of the journey; have you really achieved that
goal? Would you be satisfied when you crossed the finish line?

It would be a hollow victory that could only provide a moment’s
happiness.

Finally set a daily to do list of the things that you should do
today to work towards your lifetime goals.

At an early stage these goals may be to read books and gather
information on the achievement of your goals. This will help you to
improve the quality and realism of your goal setting and in effect;
make it easier to achieve them.

You also have to review your plans, and make sure that they fit the
way in which you want to live your life.

Once you have decided what your first set of plans will be, keep the
process going by reviewing and updating your to-do list on a daily
basis.

You have to periodically review the longer term plans, and change
them to reflect your changing priorities and experiences in your
life.

To your Success, may you reach your goals.
Gary Killops
Copyright © Gary Killops.
All rights reserved.

How to Stay Focused On Your Home Business Goals
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy

When you are the owner of a home business, you will find hundreds of
distractions that vie for your time, energy and focus.

Common distractions include: children, family, friends, neighbors,
pets, phone calls, mail, household chores, video games, television,
neighborhood children, visitors, and so many more.

As an owner of a home based business, you must always remember your
purpose in bringing your profession home. What was your reason for
wanting to own a home business? Was your goal to work from home so
that you can share in the lives of your children? Was your goal to
be out from under the rule of a tyrannical boss? Was your goal to
have the freedom to work when it is convenient for you? Was your
goal to make tons of money working for yourself?

Here’s a few good tips that will help you stay focused on your home
business:

TIP #1:
Whatever your reason for going out on your own, you must keep your
reason in the forefront of your mind. If you forget your reason for
starting your own home business, you will not be working for
yourself for long. It is far too easy to let circumstance drive your
activities — and when circumstance is in the driver’s seat, you
are more likely to crash and burn.

TIP #2:
Remember — your own business is a lot like a real job. Some people
go to work to play, some go to socialize, and others — most often
those who are paid in a commission or tip environment — go to work
to work and to make money. When you work for yourself, your salary
is directly proportional to your productivity. Therefore, wouldn’t
it make sense to stay focused on getting as much done in as short of
a period as possible?

Go to work to work and to make money. Leave playtime and recreation
for when your workday has ended.

TIP #3:
When you are dealing with family in the course of your workday, it
is important to schedule your activities as much as possible. With
small children, you must take time when you must, but you should
also work hard to make sure you dedicate a specific number of hours
to your workday.

With older children, it is much easier to tell them that you will be
working between the hours of x and y. Your children and your friends
must understand that certain hours of your day are devoted to the
activities of your business.

TIP #4:
Don’t permit your friends and extended family to run over you. Many
people get the blind idea that if one works from home then they are
not actually working.

Well-meaning people may try to fill your doorway to bring advice
about getting a real job. Others may simply believe that if you are
at home, then you are fair game for chitchat and socialization.

You must stand firm. You must make certain your friends and family
understands that when you are working, then you ARE working! If they
wish to socialize with you, then they need to do it during the hours
that are not dedicated to your home business.

You are the only one who can stand up for you. Your friends and
family will seldom be able to appreciate your dedication to your
home business, unless you make the effort to make sure that they
have the same respect for your business that you do.

TIP #5:
You should allot a certain portion of your day to email and to
regular mail. For example, allot one hour in the morning and one
hour in the afternoon to handling your written communications.

Unless you dedicate certain times to the handling of these
communications, you will soon find yourself on the downward slope of
decreased productivity.

TIP #6:
When you find yourself spending too much time doing non-productive
activities, then you should seriously consider finding a third-party
service provider who will assist you in those non-profitable
business activities.

As an example, you might be in the mail-order business. You might
believe that your time is best spent writing ad copy and setting up
your advertising, but you find yourself spending far too much time
taking care of your books to take care of your advertising in the
manner that you should. In this event, it might make more sense to
hire a bookkeeper to handle your financial records for you.

CONCLUSION:
In the end, the success of your home business is entirely and
completely reliant upon you and the decisions that you make.

You had your reasons for deciding to start your own home based
business. You must always keep your reasons in the forefront of your
mind. You must always be able to rely upon your own self and your
dedication to the success of your business.

Your friends and family might be annoyed that they cannot come visit
upon their own whim, but when success comes to you and your
business, they will better appreciate you for putting your foot down
when necessary.

Success is within your reach, if only you can stay focused on your
goals. You must decide to reach for your goals, and then, you must
have the discipline necessary to reach them.

Want Big Profits? Show Up Everywhere Your Customers Surf!
Copyright © by Jack Humphrey

There is a certain credit card company that is famous for the slogan
“We’re Everywhere You Want To Be!”

That is a darn good slogan for Power Linkers, because it hits the
nail on the head. When you are marketing anything, of course your
best bet is to reach every possible customer for your product with
your message, right?

But if you are not a big multi-national corporation with millions of
dollars to spend on flashy advertising, what are you going to do?

MORE…
Well, the internet is where the little guys have had equal footing
with the big corporations from the beginning. Remember the big tech
company crash when thousands of over-financed upstart internet
companies went the way of the dodo? Who could forget that, right?

Those guys thought they could dominate on OUR turf if they threw
money at the problem like they do in the offline world of
television, radio, magazines, and newspapers. And the experiment
failed miserably. Only a few companies got through that fiasco, but
not without some deep scars.

All the while, people like me were watching and learning. And I
realized then and there that the battle for monster profits on the
web was going to be waged guerilla fashion.

Low budget, no budget, the less money and more creativity involved,
the better! And that is how Power Linking was born. And that’s why
Power Linkers are “..everywhere you want to be.”

If you put the science of linking to use in a massive, systematic
way, by studying your potential customers’ habits and using this
knowledge to be “everywhere they surf,” you cannot help but blow
your competition out of the water.

There are billions of web pages on the net. There are fewer
super-high traffic places on the net, but still a pretty
mind-boggling amount. How many of them are you on?

How many sites with over 1 million visitors a month link to your
website? Did you even think that was possible until I asked the
question?

How well do you know your customers and their surfing habits? If you
sell horse blankets and many of your potential customers surf the
Number 1 horse lovers site online, what can you do to get exposure
for your site there?

And if you say “Spend money on advertising” I am going to ask you to
re-read what you just read above!

Get it out of your head completely, right now and for good, that you
have to have money to make money. That you have to make a huge
investment in hard cash to get the exposure your site needs. That
point could not have been made clearer by the tech crash!

And when you don’t have money to lose on the mistakes already laid
out before you on a silver platter, it is a cardinal sin to spend a
DIME on advertising!

Power Linkers show up everywhere our customers go. At least, that is
the goal. On your way to showing up absolutely everywhere your
potential market will see you, you will become a millionaire. That’s
a flat fact. So I doubt many people get to test the theory to it’s
absolute end.

There’s too much world travel, deep sea fishing, and shopping for
2nd and 3rd homes for millionaires to be bothered with wondering
whether they got themselves into every corner of the web that their
market surfs!

Do YOU Have What it Takes to Make it Online?

I have a test for you to complete. If you saw “Spy Games” with
Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, you will remember that Redford was
training Pitt to be a spy, and a darn good one at that. In one scene
during Pitt’s training, Redford and Pitt are standing outside a big
apartment building.

Redford turns to Pitt and says “You know anyone in that building?”
Pit says “No.” “In five minutes, I want to see you standing on the
outside balcony of one of the top floor apartments,” Redford told
him.

Pitt was clearly taken aback. You see, Redford was teaching Pitt to
befriend people almost instantly, gain trust, and go places and do
things no one else would dream of doing to be the best spy he could
possibly be.

His life depended on it. The scene cuts away, but we are left with
the feeling Pitt had no trouble with this task because the next
scene was of Pitt as a full-blown professional spy!

I want you to pretend right now that your life depends on getting a
very highly prized link from one of the biggest sites in your niche.
Either through an article, a plain reciprocal link, or other means,
WITHOUT spending a dime on it. And I want you to do it in 24 hours.

Taking what you know right now, and realizing that now your life
depends on how good a marketer you can be, come up with a plan that
requires you to “befriend” a webmaster, CEO, whoever the person in
charge of your “target” site is. And I want to see you standing on
THEIR “balcony” waving to me (with your link) in 24 hours.

Think you can do it? Seems almost trivial when put in the
perspective that if your life depended on it, and you HAD to find a
way to get onto a site with some sort of free publicity, that you
could certainly find a way. I mean, in the big perspective, this
certainly is not an impossible task by any stretch whatsoever.

I want to see what you are made of. How bad do you want the prize?
Because after you complete this task, the Power Linking world is
going to open before you and you will start to see internet
marketing in a whole new way, from that day forward.

If you do this and succeed, you are on your way to becoming a pro,
and a very rich person indeed.

You now have 23 hours and 56 minutes to complete your task!

————————–
Jack Humphrey is the Author of “Power linking 2: Evolution”

Analyzing Website Traffic
Copyright © Michael Rasmussen
All Rights Reserved

Analyzing your web traffic statistics can be an invaluable tool for
a number of different reasons. But before you can make full use of
this tool, you need to understand how to interpret the data.

Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic web traffic
information that you then have to interpret and make pertinent use
of. However, the data you receive from your host company can be
overwhelming if you don’t understand how to apply it to your
particular business and website. Let’s start by examining the most
basic data – the average visitors to your site on a daily, weekly,
and monthly basis.

These figures are the most accurate measure of your website’s
activity. It would appear on the surface that the more traffic you
see recorded, the better you can assume your website is doing, but
this is an inaccurate perception. You must also look at the behavior
of your visitors once they come to your website to accurately gauge
the effectiveness of your site.

There is often a great misconception about what is commonly known as
“hits” and what is really effective, quality traffic to your site.
Hits simply means the number of information requests received by the
server. If you think about the fact that a hit can simply equate to
the number of graphics per page, you will get an idea of how
overblown the concept of hits can be. For example, if your homepage
has 15 graphics on it, the server records this as 15 hits, when in
reality we are talking about a single visitor checking out a single
page on your site. As you can see, hits are not useful in analyzing
your website traffic.

The more visitors that come to your website, the more accurate your
interpretation will become. The greater the traffic is to your
website, the more precise your analysis will be of overall trends in
visitor behavior. The smaller the number of visitors, the more a few
anomalous visitors can distort the analysis.

The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure out how well
or how poorly your site is working for your visitors. One way to
determine this is to find out how long on average your visitors
spend on your site. If the time spent is relatively brief, it
usually indicates an underlying problem. Then the challenge is to
figure out what that problem is.

It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong type of
visitors to your website, or that your graphics are confusing or
intimidating, causing the visitor to exit rapidly. Use the knowledge
of how much time visitors are spending on your site to pinpoint
specific problems, and after you fix those problems, continue to use
time spent as a gauge of how effective your fix has been.

Additionally, web traffic stats can help you determine effective and
ineffective areas of your website. If you have a page that you
believe is important, but visitors are exiting it rapidly, that page
needs attention. You could, for example, consider improving the link
to this page by making the link more noticeable and enticing, or you
could improve the look of the page or the ease that your visitors
can access the necessary information on that page.

If, on the other hand, you notice that visitors are spending a lot
of time on pages that you think are less important, you might
consider moving some of your sales copy and marketing focus to that
particular page.

As you can see, these statistics will reveal vital information about
the effectiveness of individual pages, and visitor habits and
motivation. This is essential information to any successful Internet
marketing campaign.

Your website undoubtedly has exit pages, such as a final order or
contact form. This is a page you can expect your visitor to exit
rapidly. However, not every visitor to your site is going to find
exactly what he or she is looking for, so statistics may show you a
number of different exit pages. This is normal unless you notice a
exit trend on a particular page that is not intended as an exit
page. In the case that a significant percentage of visitors are
exiting your website on a page not designed for that purpose, you
must closely examine that particular page to discern what the
problem is. Once you pinpoint potential weaknesses on that page,
minor modifications in content or graphic may have a significant
impact on the keeping visitors moving through your site instead of
exiting at the wrong page.

After you have analyzed your visitor statistics, it’s time to turn
to your keywords and phrases. Notice if particular keywords are
directing a specific type of visitor to your site. The more targeted
the visitor – meaning that they find what they are looking for on
your site, and even better, fill out your contact form or make a
purchase – the more valuable that keyword is.

However, if you find a large number of visitors are being directed -
or should I say misdirected – to your site by a particular keyword
or phrase, that keyword demands adjustment. Keywords are vital to
bringing quality visitors to your site who are ready to do business
with you. Close analysis of the keywords your visitors are using to
find your site will give you a vital understanding of your visitor’s
needs and motivations.

Finally, if you notice that users are finding your website by typing
in your company name, break open the champagne! It means you have
achieved a significant level of brand recognition, and this is a
sure sign of burgeoning success.

Michael Rasmussen is a successful Internet Marketing Consultant and
author of many top-selling eBooks. Michael has been marketing online
since the early days and he knows what it takes to make money and
succeed online. Stop by his Web site and subscribe to his Free
monthly newsletter full strategies and techniques for successful web
site promotions that can help YOU!

A Millionaire’s Secret

Washington DC was nasty as could be. As I sat on the bench waiting
for my bus to arrive I couldn’t wait to get back to the backwoods of
Louisiana. I had almost sat in a pool of blood that was on the far
end of the bench and I was ready to go. I truly hope people coming
to visit our country don’t make DC one of their stops.

Anyway, before my bus arrived I was approached by a nicely dressed
elderly gentleman in need of directions. I told him I had no idea
what he was looking for as I too was just passing through. To this
day I’m not sure why, but we started talking as if we had known each
other for years.

We talked about life, people and eventually the conversation turned
to business. It was here that the gentlemen saw something in me, I
suppose, that made him feel like sharing what he said was the
greatest secret ever told. He said everyone had heard it but almost
no one paid any attention to it, even though it was the one thing
that could bestow a fortune upon any man or woman who used it.

My ears where definitely starting to perk up. Something about his
tone told me this man knew from whereof he spoke. And I wanted to
know what the secret was with a passion. He must have sensed my
anxiousness because at that very moment he gave me a warning that
was almost a scolding.

I’ll try to recount here as best I can the rest of our
conversation…

Man: “Do not make the mistake of shrugging off what I am about to
tell you because you have heard it before. No doubt you have heard
it already from at least one person in your life. You may have even
heard it many times. Do you have any aversion to religion Mr. Says?”

Me: “No I don’t. I don’t believe many preachers know what they are
talking about or even what they are trying to teach, but I do know
the Bible has a lot of great knowledge in it.”

Man: “Good. I would not want you to discount what I am about to tell
you because it does come directly from the Bible. But its
applications reach far beyond what most people can conceive of. It
will take thought, intense pondering on your part, to begin to get
some inkling of its power.”

“This simple secret, when applied to business, will draw money to
you as easily as water runs down a mountain. Even a fool can apply
it and prosper. When applied to relationships, it will create more
friends than you can handle” (laughing heartily)

Me: “What is it, I’m dying to know now?”

Man: “Patience Mr. Says, Patience. I will not give it to you as it
has always been repeated by fools who have no respect or knowledge
of what it even means. No. I will give it to you another way.”

“What type of business are you interested in?”

Me: “Well, I’m dabbling in Mail Order right now. I would like to
place ads and sell books.”

Man: “Fine. Fine. Mail Order it is. Let me tell you how to create a
fortune in this Mail Order. All you have to do is create the product
you want to buy”

Me: “I don’t understand”

Man: “You will”

“You see, you are your market. Whatever you want, there are millions
of other people wanting the same thing. That elusive product you are
looking for is the product millions of others are also looking for
right now.”

“All you have to do is create the product you want to buy, the
product you yourself have been looking for. Once you have this
product, what would you want the sales message to say so that you
know this is the product you have been looking for?”

“If someone else where selling this product, what would you want the
ad to say, what would get you to buy this product?. When you have
that answer, that is the ad you want to create.”

Me: “I see” (hesitantly)

Man: “See the business across the street here? Pizza. I could triple
the business that place does inside of 10 minutes. That’s what I do
by the way” (smiling)

“All I would do is walk into the business as a customer. I would sit
there and imagine all the things that could be done to me that would
make me a loyal customer to that business for life. What could they
do for me that would make me feel this way?”

“Once I had the answers to that question, I would implement them
across the board. Every customer would be treated the way I had
imagined. And without any doubt what so ever that business would
triple the profits it now makes.”

Me: “I think I know…”

Man: “Wait, you don’t really know anything yet. That’s the problem
with people. They brush something off because of where it came from
or because they heard it many times. Leave that for fools. You won’t
“know it” until you have deeply pondered it and put it to use.”

Me: “Ok”

Man: “What I am telling you has power undreamed of. The simple words
used to describe it cannot contain it. Does not do justice to it,
and has been prostituted by blabber mouths who let wisdom fall off
their lips with not even a single brain cell grasping what they are
rambling about.”

“What I am telling you is Law, not man’s Law, but the very Law’s of
nature herself. It’s the way things work and those who truly
understand it rise to the top in every field known to man.”

“What people don’t understand is that it applies to everything. This
secret can be applied with virtually every step you take, everything
you do, every word you speak and everyone concerned profits by it.”

“If you are a writer, write like you would like to be written to”

“If you are a salesman, sell like you would like to be sold to”

“If you are a speaker, speak like you would like to be spoken to”

“If you want more love, then love like you would like to be loved”

“If you want more friends, be the friend you would like to see”

“When you infuse everything you do with this secret it takes on a
magical power. Businesses dominate the market, books become best
sellers, leaders attract huge and loyal followings.”

“How would you like it?”
“How would you respond to it?”
“How would it make you feel?”

“Those are great questions to think about every time you do or
create something. You will get into the hearts and minds of everyone
who comes under your influence if you will first think how you would
have it done to you.”

“I’m certain you already know the quote from the Bible I’m referring
to. But don’t repeat it, just ponder it and pratice it.”

Me: “I do. But I’ve never thought of how it could actually apply to
everything in life. I too was one of those fools who passed it over
without so much as a second thought. I really want to thank you for
sharing this with me.”

Man: “It’s been a real pleasure talking with you Mr. Says, have a
safe journey home.”

———–

And with that, he was gone. The funny thing was, as I was riding
home on the bus I realized I never got his name, nor do I remember
ever giving him mine. Maybe he saw my luggage tag. I’m not sure. It
really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I’ve profited from
that advice for the last 15 years.

I’m not even really any good at it either and I’ve still pulled in
huge amounts of money. Especially from the Internet. This is one
place this knowledge can really shine. People have always asked me
my secret. How come the Warriors is still here, with the same
products, with all this competition, after all these years?

This one simple secret is the answer. I always ask myself how would
I like to be treated by this company? What would I like to see? What
would I like to get? How would I like to be dealt with?

Those simple questions are all you have to answer. When you do get
the answers, put them into action and watch what happens.

Create The Site You’ve Been Looking For
Write Like You Would Like To Be Written To
Sell Like You Would Like To Be Sold To
Talk Like You Would Like To Be Talked To
Deal Like You Would Like To Be Dealt With
Create For Others What You Would Like Created For You
Excite Others The Way You Would Like To Be Excited

To Your Success,
Allen Says

How To Plan For Success
Copyright © by John Colanzi

Marketers come online and they’re in such a hurry to make money,
they neglect one of the most essential ingredients to success.

They don’t take the time to put together their battle plan. They
know where they want to go, but they never sit down and map out how
they’re going to get there.

They’re like ships without a crew. They’re tossed to and fro and
have no idea why.

If you’re serious about your business, you need a plan.

Your business should be planned like a well thought out battle. If
you haven’t got your plan in place you’ll suffer casualties.

You won’t suffer loss of life, but you will suffer losses of:

* Money

* Time

* Opportunity

Just as the well honed warrior prepares for all possible
occurrences, you must be prepared to last through the slow times,
and be just as prepared to capitalize on the times when it appears
you can do no wrong.

The first step on your march to the flag is to decide who you are.
In the immortal words of Shakespeare, “In brief sir, study that
which you most affect”.

Know your strengths and know your weaknesses. You’ll never be truly
successful until you’ve first made an inventory of your-self. You
can study all the “How-To’s” and you may even make money, but to be
truly be successful you must have your “Why-To’s” in place.

Once you’ve decided who you are and listed your strengths and
weaknesses, the next step is to determine how much money you have
for your war chest.

Only use money you can afford to lose. As any professional trader or
championship gambler will tell you, “Scared money never wins!”

Don’t mortgage your house or max-out your credit cards because
you’ve got the million dollar sure-fire winner.

You’ll be so busy worrying, you won’t be able to think clearly.

Take money you won’t miss and test-test-test. Your thinking will be
much clearer and when your testing finally hits on a winning formula
you’ll be ready to capitalize.

When you’ve got your winning formula, you should pyramid your
profits to expand your business. A minimum of 50% of your profits
should go back into your business in the first 6 months.

If you’re only using money you can live comfortably without, you
should place 100% back into marketing, you’ll have plenty of time to
enjoy the fruits of your labors!

The final step in your battle plan is to keep a log book.

Just as generals study battles from the past and chess players study
strategies from the old masters, you must begin your own manual.

Don’t rely on your memory!!

In your manual keep every advertising campaign you’ve waged. Be as
detailed as possible. List what has worked and what hasn’t.

Key your ads to determine where your profits are coming from.

Test media used, actual ads and sells letters, etc. Sculpt your
business. If your business is based on profits, the best way to
insure profits is the same way you’d carve an elephant out of
granite.

“Remove everything that’s not an elephant!”

In your business remove everything that isn’t profitable.

Be ruthless with that chisel.

Don’t marry any method of promotion, or any one opportunity.

If you do you’ll spend time chasing losses, instead of accumulating
profits.

Put some thought and effort into your plan and you’ll be a step
ahead of the competition.

Wishing You Success,
John Colanzi

Copyright (c) John Colanzi.

World Class Customer Service
Copyright © Charlie Page

Every day we hear reports about a “soft” economy. One expert
predicts a long recession, then 15 minutes later another expert
predicts a quick recovery. All of which leaves customers confused.
How can we ensure that we will attract and maintain customers during
good times and lean times too? By giving them WORLD CLASS customer
service. Let’s look together at three “rules” of world class
customer service and see how we are doing.

======= The Customer Is Still King (Or Queen)

The first thing we must realize is that customers need to feel
important. Many of them feel that *their* business is what keeps us
in business, without regard to the size of their purchases. Some
customers don’t mind reminding us of that fact every time they see
us!

They’re right to a large degree. Most businesses today could lose
their largest client and survive. Not many businesses could lose the
smaller, regular customer that is the lifeblood of their cash flow.

Rule 1 — Never Forget the Customer is King

======= Stop Small Problems At The Source

No matter how hard we try, we won’t please all of the people all of
the time. This is where our problem solving and communication skills
come into play. The rule here is to nip problems in the bud before
them bloom into disasters.

We all know the stories of a simple miscommunication that, when
passed down the line, becomes something much more than simple. The
sooner we intervene in problems, the better. Wal Mart does
especially well at this, instructing associates to literally walk a
customer to exactly what they are looking for, thus preventing
confusion and any hint of less than excellent customer care.

The more we are willing to invest the small amount of time necessary
to stop small problems from growing, the more time and lost business
we will save in the long run.

Rule 2 — Prevent Small Problems From Becoming Disasters

======= How Well Are You Doing?

Finally, there is customer feedback. Rarely will you see a customer
more delighted that when you spontaneously ask them how YOU are
doing. Many of us are afraid to ask, thinking that the customer may
unload on us and waste our time. Yet nothing is farther from the
truth. While they may unload, this is *no* waste of time.

Customers almost always feel that their opinion (good or bad) is not
being heard. Let customers know that not only is their voice being
heard but that policy is being shaped around that opinion. We always
hear from the minority that believe they must complain to get what
they want. Here’s a chance to let our customers know we value them
and hear from that “silent majority” of happy customers as well.

Rule 3 — Ask Customers How YOU Are Doing

There you have it. Three quick “rules” which, if we follow them,
will ensure that we are in touch with our customers, can prevent
small problems from growing and help us learn what our customers
*really* think of us.

When we adopt an “attitude of gratitude” and actually THANK
customers for no more than simply being our customers, relationships
bloom and good things begin to happen.

Your clients may never meet you in person. Yet, the more personal
the attention you give them and the more informed you are about
their needs, the more loyal they become.

Charlie Page is the owner of the Directory of Ezines, the first and
most comprehensive list of quality ezines that accept advertising
available on the Internet. Charlie can show you how to sell more
products and earn more affiliate commissions using the Internet’s #1
marketing method … ezine marketing!

Setting Your Goals Effectively

There is a difference in setting your goals and setting them
effectively. Anyone can set a goal, but doing it effectively means
that it will actually get done.
There are so many things that you can do to better your life, but if
you don’t know how to go about it you are stuck.

The following guidelines will help you to set effective goals and
help you manage your time in an efficient manner that will cause
those goals to become reality.

State each goal as a positive statement

Express your goals in a positive way. That is a key component to
setting goals that you can attain.
How often have you been excited to accomplish a goal that didn’t
even sound good when you brought it up? If you are not comfortable
or happy with the goals that you have set, the likelihood of you
succeeding is pretty low.
If you want to express your goals in a positive way, you simply have
to first think of a goal that puts a smile on your face when you
imagine it completed. Why would you want to set a goal that made you
frown, cringe or cry?
When you are beginning to set your goals it helps when you are
talking about them to others in a manner that states your actions as
positives because it will have others seeing it as a positive as
well.
That will garner you a great deal more support. In the end, don’t we
all need a little support when we are trying to do something
positive in our lives?

Be precise

Set a precise goal that includes starting dates, times and amounts
so that you can properly measure your achievement.  If you do
this, you will know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can
take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.

Being precise in setting your goals is no more than setting them
with exact details. It is easier this way because then you can
follow a step-by-step format. That’s all there is to it.

Set priorities

When you have several goals, give each a specific priority. This
helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and helps
to direct your attention to the most important ones and follow each
in succession. Setting priorities will force you into the
step-by-step format above. By doing the most important first and
moving to the least important in succession, you are enabling each
task to be easier than the last. It causes the accomplishment of
each task to get easier and easier which will encourage you to
complete your goal.

Write goals down

This crystallizes your goals and gives them more force. In writing
your goals down, you are better able to keep up with your scheduled
tasks for each accomplishment. It also helps you to remember each
task that needs to be done and allows you to check them off as they
are accomplished.  Basically, you can better keep track of what
you are doing so as not to repeat yourself unnecessarily.

Keep operational goals small

Keep the low-level goals you are working towards small and easy to
achieve. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not
making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental
allows you more opportunities for reward. Derive today’s goals from
larger ones. It is a great way to accomplish your goals.

Set performance goals, not outcome goals

You should take care to set goals over which you have as much
control as possible. There is nothing more dispiriting than failing
to achieve a personal goal for reasons that are beyond your control.
These could be bad business environments, poor judging, bad weather,
injury, or just plain bad luck. If you base your goals on personal
your performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of
your goals and get satisfaction from achieving them.

Set realistic goals

It is important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of
people (parents, media, and society) can set unrealistic goals for
you which is almost a guarantee of failure. They will often do this
in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions or flat out
disinterest.
Alternatively you may be naïve in setting very high goals. You might
not appreciate either the obstacles in the way, or understand quite
how many skills you must master to achieve a particular level of
performance. By being realistic you are increasing your chances of
success.

Do not set goals too low

Just as it is important not to set goals unrealistically high; do
not set them too low. People tend to do this where they are afraid
of failure or where they simply don’t want to do anything.  You
should set goals so that they are slightly out of your immediate
grasp, but not so far that there is no hope of achieving them. No
one will put serious effort into achieving a goal that they believe
is unattainable.  However, remember that your belief that a
goal is unrealistic may be incorrect. If this could be the case, you
can to change this belief by using imagery effectively.

Achieving your Goals

When you have achieved a goal, you have to take the time to enjoy
the satisfaction of having done so. Absorb the implications of the
goal achievement, and observe the progress you have made towards
other goals.  If the goal was a significant one, you should
reward yourself appropriately. Think of it like this, why would you
choose to ignore any accomplishments that you have made?  In
doing that, you are downplaying your accomplishment which will
convince you that it wasn’t that important in the first place.

With the experience of having achieved each goal, you should next
review the rest of your goal plans and see them in the following
manner:

• If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goals harder

• If the goal took a disheartening length of time to achieve, make
the next goals a little easier
• If you learned something that would lead you to change other
goals, do so
• If while achieving the goal you noticed a certain lacking in your
skills, decide which goals to set in order to fix this.

You should keep in mind that failure to meet goals does not matter
as long as you learn from it. Feed lessons learned back into your
goal-setting program.

You must also remember that your goals will change as you mature.
Adjust them regularly to reflect this growth in your personality. If
goals no longer hold any attraction for you let them go. Goal
setting is your servant, not your master. It should bring you real
pleasure, satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

If it stops, there is no longer a point. Let’s look at an example.

The best example of goal setting that you can have is to try setting
your own goals. Set aside two hours to think through your lifetime
goals in each of the categories. Then work back through the 25-year
plan, 5-year plan, 1-year plan, 6-month plan, and a 1-month plan.

Finally draw up a To Do List of jobs to do tomorrow to move towards
your goals. When you do, you will soon realize that you will be on
your way to using your goals setting on a routine basis.

Setting career goals

One of the toughest issues in making a good career choice and career
goal setting is identifying what it is that you want. Even when it
seems that you know what you want, you may still have doubts on if
your career choice is the right one for you.

Reaching clarity in those issues may be the most important thing you
can do in your career planning and goal setting. Here are a few
career goal setting guidelines that can help.

Most people, even very successful ones, have some periods in their
career path when they seem unsure about their career choice and
goals. It is totally human to feel that way.
Often, such periods just come and go. For example, they come when
you face some overwhelming obstacles on your way. It is all over as
soon as you get through these obstacles.

That situation by itself is not a problem of choosing a career, only
a test of your perseverance in seeing it through but what if those
doubts persist, or if they always live somewhere in the background
of your thoughts? If it just does not feel right?

If this is the case, then it is time to look more carefully at your
career choice and overall career objectives.
Often we choose or are placed in a career because it just seems like
the right step to make or that is what your studies have focused on.

The only problem is that sometimes that passion that we once had as
a young adult are now gone, or the realism of the job has taken the
interest and joy out of it.

That is when it is time to set a new career goal or objective.
Choosing the right career goal to sink into requires a great deal of
soul searching. You need to ask yourself these questions beforehand:

• Am I making the kind of money that I want to make?
• Do I want to make more money?
• Does money even matter to me?
• Do I like what I’m doing right now?
• What am I passionate about?
• What could I be doing that would make me happier than I
  am right now?
• Would I be happier simply switching positions or getting
  a promotion; or would I be happier changing careers all together?
• Why am I still working here?
• What is stopping me from leaving this job or getting
  that promotion?
• What is stopping me from leaving this job?

These are all vital questions that you have to ask yourself before
deciding what your career goals are going to be. If you are honest
with yourself, you will know exactly what direction you should be
going in.

Without being honest with yourself you can’t expect to better your
life, you can only expect to have to ask yourself these questions
all over again until you find happiness.
Copyright © Gary Killops.
All rights reserved.