"How Can I Double My Sales?" - that must be the silent prayer of thousands of webmasters.

There are two ways to do it: you can either double your traffic or you can double your conversion rate.

Let's say you have a conversion rate of 2% (1 sale for every 50 visitors) and you get 100 visitors a day - you're getting 2 sales a day. You could get 4 sales a day by increasing your traffic to 200 visitors a day.

But you can get the same result - with your existing traffic - by doubling your conversion rate (2 sales for every 50 visitors).

Here are 5 ways to double your conversion rate:

(1) Direct Response: Make sure your website is a 'Direct Response Website'. A DRW is a site where the only options are to Buy, Bookmark, or Leave. The more options you give your visitor, the less likely they
are to buy.

(2) Free E-Books: Include Free E-Books as bonus gifts with your product. This can easily double your sales - especially if the Free E-Books are genuinely useful. Here are some places you can find Free
E-Books:

http://www.free-ebooks.net/
http://www.ebookdirectory.com/
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com/download.html

(3) Testimonials: Make sure you have plenty of testimonials on your website. Preferably, they should be from customers who have achieved results from your product (e.g. more traffic, more sales, saved time etc).

(4) Follow Up: You've probably heard this over and over again but it's worth repeating - people have to see you your message about 7 times before they buy.
The biggest mistake you can make is to try and sell your product on the first contact alone.

It just doesn't work, and the statistics bear this out: the 1st contact produces 2% of sales, the 5th to 12th contact produce 80% of sales.

So in your ezine ads and at your website, offer something free in exchange for an email address. And then follow up with sequential (or follow-up)
autoresponders.

Here are some sites that offer free follow-up autoresponders:

http://www.auto-responders.net
http://www.informationbyemail.com
http://www.getresponse.com/orderfree.html
http://www.rapidreply.net/free_features.htm

(5) Backend Sales: It's no secret that successful businesses make up to 80% of their sales from previous customers. Why? Because people who have bought from you before are much more likely to buy from you again
(they know you, they trust you, they were happy with your product).

The hard work in marketing is getting a customer. Once you have a customer, they'll buy from you over and over again.

Contact your previous customers and let them know about another product that compliments the product or service they bought from you. Experts reckon that the value of 'a lifetime customer' lasts about 3 years - make use if it.

If you follow these 5 tips, you may well find that you can double your online sales with the traffic you already have.

To your success!

------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over
3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use
this simple technique to build a successful online business.
Click here to find out more:
http://www.ezine-writer.com
------------------------------------------------------------

[TOP]

How to Stay Focused on Your Home Business Goals
Copyright ) 2003, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://Home-Business-Journal.com

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.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright ) 2003, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://Home-Business-Journal.com

Stone Evans publishes Home Business Tips, a fresh and
informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people like
YOU! If you're looking for the *best rated* home business
opportunities, the latest time saving tools and helpful support
from an honest friend in the business, come by and grab a
F-R-E-E subscription today at: http://Home-Business.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Starting Your Home Business on A Shoestring Budget
Copyright ) 2003, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://Home-Business.com

Whether seeking a supplemental income or a full-time income,
many folks have undertaken the task to discover a viable home
business solution to meet their personal needs.

For most folks who contemplate a home business, a low-cost or
no-cost solution is not only nice, but also very necessary.
Many also seek to find a home business that will permit them to
maintain their regular day job in order to protect their base
income.

Taking the cautious approach to a home business and keeping
one's job during the start-up period is often a very good
decision. By maintaining one's job, one can maintain the health
of their personal finances while permitting their home business
grow healthy and strong.

Fortunately, most home businesses can be started with little
or no cash, can be maintained on a shoestring budget, and can
be operated successfully with only a part-time investment.

One day, the business will be strong enough to support itself
and its owner. When that time comes, it will make good sense
for the business owner to leave his or her outside job to
dedicate more time to growing and maintaining their new
thriving home business. You will know when that time has
finally arrived.

The nature of a home business makes it easy and very realistic
for most folks to take the plunge into home business ownership.

Yet, many folks put off starting their own home business,
because they have the misconception that they will have to
risk thousands of their own hard-earned dollars at start-up.
Then later, if their business fails, they fear they may be
forced to take out a second mortgage on their house just to
stay out of bankruptcy.

Are you one of these folks? Do you let your fears of failure
keep you from reaching for your dreams?

If so, then allow me to introduce you to a few home business
ideas that you can start for less than $100 and can be started
and operated very profitably as a part-time business.

THE LIFEBLOOD OF ALL SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES

First of all, let me advise you to search out a business model
that will deliver steady and repeat business. It is the one
thing --- above all others --- that will assure that your
company can survive the test of time.

HOME-BASED MAIL ORDER:
Home-based mail order is a good example of how one can quickly
grow a home business income. Mail order is a low cost start-up
business that can be launched for around $100 USD.

With proper planning, your home-based mail order business will
not require up-front inventory purchases. In the mail order
business, it is not uncommon to rely upon drop-shippers for
product fulfillment services.

By utilizing drop-shippers, we can sell the products, collect
the money and then purchase the products from the wholesale
outlet. The wholesale outlet will then put a return address
for your company on the product packaging and deliver the
product directly to your customer.

By using the following link, you can explore the drop-ship
directory, which will let you explore the drop-shipping
companies that will enable you sell 500,000 products from
over 1,000 brand name manufacturers:

http://www.home-business.com/dropship.html

Your primary expense in the mail-order business is advertising.
Classified advertising tends to be a relatively inexpensive
form of advertising with thousands of outlets available to the
small business owner.

WHOLESALE BUSINESS:
Buy low --- sell high. You can acquire high quality, top-of-
the-line merchandise for a fraction of the retail cost.
Starting a wholesale business would require a Wholesale
Dealers Directory as your source for merchandise, such as
the one listed above or the one listed here:

http://www.home-business.com/auction.html

AUCTIONS:
Auctions can be an excellent source for buying cheap and
selling high. Both government auctions and Internet auctions
can lead to some excellent profit opportunities. Auctions are
an excellent tool for both acquiring and selling merchandise.

MAKE AND SELL YOUR CRAFTS:
Crafts are a hot seller at country fairs, swap meets or anyplace
where people gather. Make your own crafts and sell them for a
tidy profit!

SELLING INFORMATION:
Selling information by mail is another good example of an
inexpensive start-up. One can gain the resale rights to
information for usually about $50 USD. Other costs will include
printer cartridges, paper and postage. There are plenty of free
classifieds sites on the Internet, in which to successfully
advertise your information.

WRITE INFORMATIONAL BOOKLETS:
Write and publish your own informational booklets; sell them at
a high price! All you need is a little know-how, a printer,
paper and stamps. Great home business idea! You can also sell
the resale rights to others, for extra profits. In this age of
the Internet, you may also take advantage of the fact that
selling information is one of the most profitable endeavors
one can pursue online.

OFFICE SERVICES:
Offer office services for hire in your local paper. You'll be
surprised at the amount of regular office business that can be
gleaned from one little classified ad. Word processing, typing,
accounting, data entry, proofreading, transcription, promotional
letters and newsletters. All these tasks can be accomplished
right from your own home office.

AVON REPRESENTATIVE:
Yes, Avon's been around for eternity, hasn't it? Then it's not
such a bad prospect as a home based business, is it? I once
knew a woman who did so much business as an Avon rep. that
she had people calling her and knocking at her door wanting
to order products at all hours of the day and night! Once you
are an established Avon representative, you, too, will turn a
good profit.

CONCLUSION:
On your search for the ideal home business, try not to get
caught up in any scams that will run off with your money. There
are thousands of scam artists out there just waiting for the
next sucker to come along. Remember, if it sounds too good to
be true, then it probably is. Just use your good judgement and
invest wisely in proven methods of earning extra income.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright ) 2003, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://Home-Business-Journal.com

Stone Evans publishes Home Business Tips, a fresh and
informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people like
YOU! If you're looking for the *best rated* home business
opportunities, the latest time saving tools and helpful support
from an honest friend in the business, come by and grab a
F-R-E-E subscription today at: http://Home-Business.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[TOP]

How to Win the Advertising and Promotion Game
Copyright ) , Stone Evans
The Home Biz Guy
http://www.Home-Business.com

I am certain that, as a business owner, you have often
entertained the question as to how much to spend and where to
spend your advertising dollars. For most small business owners,
these questions can add to the headaches suffered in the course
of normal everyday operations of their business.

THERE ARE NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

The how much to spend and where to spend it questions have no
easy answers.

Depending on your type of business, many people suggest that the
*how much* should be equal to anywhere from 4% to 10% of your
gross receipts.

The quandary is that a business cannot survive without a fresh
flow of incoming customers. But, a business can seldom generate
a fresh stream of customers without spending money to get the
word out about their business.

THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING

Have you ever paid for advertising and sat back to await the
fresh flow of customers, only to find yourself sitting and
sitting and then sitting some more?

Don't feel bad about that. It has happened to many of us before.

See, knowing where to spend the advertising money is not enough
to get the job done.

Where to spend the money only begins to highlight the other
issues connected with advertising:

7 Marketing Plan
7 Advertising Strategy
7 Headlines, Ad Copy and Visual Presentation
7 Tracking the Success of Your Advertising Campaigns

THE MARKETING PLAN

The Marketing Plan is used primarily to identify your own
products and services, costs, strengths, weaknesses and the
strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

To learn more about constructing your own marketing plan, visit
the Small Business Administration website for a comprehensive
study of the elements of a Marketing Plan:

http://www.home-business.com/nav/articles/links/sba_plan.html

ADVERTISING STRATEGY

It is important to understand what you expect to gain from your
advertising.

Do you simply wish to get your name known so that when your
customer will need you, they will think of you first? Or, do you
wish to get your customers in your front door on Saturday?

Do you want your customers to come in and take a look around to
discover the next object that they cannot live without? Or, do
you want them to come in and buy a specific widget?

Do you hope that enough people will come in to buy enough
products or services to pay for your single ad? Or, do you
expect to gain a lifelong customer who will help pay for your
advertising over the course of several years?

When you know what you want, then you will better understand
just how to do it.

HEADLINES, AD COPY AND VISUAL PRESENTATION

You might be surprised how many business owners put out
advertising without regard for the quality of the sales pitch or
presentation. The quality of your distribution outlet or the
amount of money you spent to get there will do little for you if
the advertising vehicle is a junker.

Test all of your advertising materials in smaller markets before
blowing your advertising bank roll on it. You must absolutely
know the value of your advertising before putting large sums of
money behind it.

TRACKING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Tell your customers to save another 10% when they tell you they
heard or saw your ad in such-and-such location. Suggest that
they can register to win a free widget if they fill out a form
and have them to tell you how they heard of your business.
Advertise a specific widget in your ad and track the sales of
that widget.

It does not matter how you track your advertising --- just make
sure you do it!

IN SUMMARY

The ideal way to spend your advertising budget is to buy a rifle
with a high-powered scope and to only shoot your targets in the
light of day.

If you are not tracking your advertising, then you are shooting
a pellet gun without an attached scope, with blinders on, and
shooting in the dead darkness of night.

Even with a bigger gun, the blinders in the dark constitute the
single largest mistake made by advertisers. If you are unable to
track your advertising to learn what is working well, what is
working somewhat, and what is a money pit, then you are
condemned to repeat your mistakes over and again.

By relying only on gut instinct, you may be choosing to spend
more money in the money pit and to lose all of your money in the
process.

When you get down to the nuts and bolts of making money from
your advertising, you should plan, prepare, track and study your
results. You must have factual information on which to base your
advertising decisions. When you are making the right advertising
decisions, then making money from your business might just come
easy.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Stone Evans owns the "Home Business Resource
Directory" where you can find everything you'll *ever* need to
start, run and grow a home business. Come by and list your own
business/website for F/R/E/E at: http://www.Home-Business.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------



The 8 Myths About Creating Wealth Copyright © 2002, Nikola Grubisa
The Millionaire Mind
http://www.TheMillionaireMind.net?a6

You have probably read or heard about various myths (these are
the truths that are valid only for certain cases, but not in
general) surrounding wealth and wealthy people, all of which
hinder your quest for financial independence. Here are the
most common and most destructive:

Myth No. 1: How much you earn depends on how hard you work

If this were true, then the physical, blue-collar workers,
who have been working hard for years, would have been the
wealthiest people on earth. Of course, this isn't true.
They form most of the workforce and the vast majority of
the middle-class.

If you witnessed your parents coming home tired from a long
day's work in your youth, you probably learned that money
wasn't a sufficient reward for all that effort. People who
work "just" for the money often have debts because they
comfort themselves with whatever they can buy, beautiful
things they lack when working.

Myth No. 2: Being paid for something you enjoy isn't work
and you shouldn't ask for money for doing something that is
enjoyable.

Check this with millionaires. They all have so much money that
they don't need to work anymore. Nevertheless, they work for
other reasons, challenge, satisfaction, fullness of life,
activity, fun ... and all are connected to a love for their
work. If there was no joy in doing a certain task, they would
do something else that would make them much happier and that
enables them to realize their dreams.

In fact, if you don't enjoy your work, you will never become
wealthy doing it! However, just because you enjoy your work
doesn't mean you shouldn't get paid for it - in fact, that is
the ultimate goal, to get paid for what you already enjoy so
it never feels like you are at work!

Myth No. 3: You need to be in the right line of business to
amass wealth

Do you think so? This must mean that all the people who are
involved in the same business are millionaires. Of course,
this isn't true. In each business there are winners and
losers; winners abound, even in businesses that consist of
distasteful (to most) or "impossible" work like sweeping the
streets, collecting the trash, working in a factory, pumping
gas, selling newspapers, etc. On the other hand, there are
just as many "losers" in businesses like selling real estate,
management or being a stockbroker.

Myth No. 4: You need the right education to make a fortune

Are the most educated people really the wealthiest? Not at all!
In this case, university professors would be the wealthiest
people on earth. Ask them about their salaries, if you get the
opportunity. The truth is vastly different - the wealthiest
people are those who can convert their knowledge (or education)
into money, in the best possible way. They can be highly
educated people (like inventors, scientists, etc.) or almost
ignorant.

Being formally uneducated does not equate to poor performance
on the job or the inability to form a strong enough vision to
carry a person to success - they can easily be experts without
having a formal education.

Myth No. 5: It used to be easier

Statistics show an increase in the number of millionaires in
the world every year. Talking about the "good old times" only
offers comfort and a convenient excuse. If you look around,
you'll see there are people who behaved the same way in the
"good old times" as they do now, yet their success has been
recent. With technology and progress come new ideas, desires
and needs and there are more business opportunities appearing
daily to serve them.

Myth No. 6: I'm too old (young)

If you research the life stories of some of the most successful
people, you'll see that this isn't true at all. Some became
wealthy early in their lives (perhaps from the stock market),
while others found their fortune in their old age. Ray Kroc,
was more than fifty years old when he bought and made the
first McDonald's.

Myth No. 7: I don't have enough money to start. You have to
spend money to make money.

This is no different from any other excuse or "myth." Like the
others, it's obvious this one isn't true either. Many have made
their fortunes starting from scratch, living in an apartment or
working out of their garage and yet, they developed business
empires that are worth billions of dollars today. The other
elements of success are far more important than having seed
money to start a business.

But yes, often money helps and it certainly doesn't hurt. Like
everything else discussed in other myths: it probably helps,
but it is not always necessary.

Myth No. 8: I'll begin when I know everything

Do you believe that you will know everything someday? Or even
that you'll know enough to ever be "really prepared now?" The
more you learn, the more you see what you still need to learn.
Success and obtaining wealth is a dynamic process. Even if you
"could" come out of the gate knowing everything there is to
know, some of those elements will change immediately and many
will change rapidly. If you don't decide now, nothing will
happen. Live and learn.

Some millionaires have even allowed themselves to go bankrupt
and then (even faster) recreated their wealth, sometimes even
greater than before. Money itself isn't the obstacle that is
keeping you from being wealthy. If you're really good in your
business, don't worry, because someone that will offer you
money (a bank or business partner) will appear who will
appreciate your talent knowing you are a very good investment
opportunity. But you can't sit around waiting for this - make
it happen.

Exercise "taking action" as much as you can. Make your
workplace better or more efficient. After all, even if someone
else signs your paycheck, you really work for you. Even if you
are an employee in a large corporation - it isn't your
corporation - but it is the only corporation through which you
can prove what you are capable of right now.

All of us have what it takes to become a millionaire! Born
winners, yet few of us know how to take advantage of and
cultivate the possibilities hidden inside our own mind!

No one can ever grant you greater potential than your heart
already holds…you need only discover its contents to find the
one true path to your success in life. Born with the seeds to
our success, the greatest decisions must always come from the
inside! You will discover a new, deep well of fortune –
yourself!

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"I read it. And I was stunned. Here was a book with how-to
techniques, positive philosophy, an up-lifting message, and a
practical bent to it. It talked about human nature, as well as
business and even spirituality. It was like the best of every
business and self-help book I had every seen while still being
entirely fresh, new, inspiring and practical." - Joe Vitale (Mr.
Fire). Are you wondering what book impressed Joe Vitale this
much? Click here: http://www.TheMillionaireMind.net?a6
-----------------------------------------------------------------

4 Ways In Which You Can Achieve Critical Mass

4 Ways In Which You Can Achieve Critical Mass.
by Jack Humphrey, CEO EquipMint.com

Critical Mass Website Promotion is the elite goal rarely attained by website marketers in any industry. Reaching critical mass and getting targeted website traffic on autopilot (meaning you don't have to promote your site for 6 months and the traffic NEVER declines) is the Holy Grail of internet marketing. When you hit critical mass in your market, things change drastically for you and your business. Your marketing efforts go down in direct proportion to your customer support and sales going up. It sounds awesome. It IS awesome. But only a tiny fraction of websites on the net ever achieve critical mass. Here's a nutshell version of what it takes.

1. Work Hard

Internet marketing is no game to be manipulated by using software and quick fixes to a very large problem, which is long-term, steady traffic coming to your site.

There is no magic pill, silver bullet, or quick guru secret that will help you to achieve critical mass in your market. Hard work and intense study of the internet and how people surf, what they want, and how you get in front of them while they are surfing is the only answer.

The internet marketing game is for professionals and you MUST make yourself a professional marketer of your "shop" just as you would in the real world.

2. Understand Your Market

Understanding exactly who you are selling your products or services to is the crucial first step in achieving critical mass.

The worst thing you could ever do is put the hard work in and achieve critical mass in the wrong market for your products and services!

Know your market. Know your best, ideal customer inside and out. Get your links in front of them, ideally, everywhere they surf for related information to your site.

3. Be Vigilant

Over the years I have watched people listen to what I have to say about website promotion and then take one of two paths:

1) They work their tails off and do what I tell them, with great results and rewards for their efforts (more sales, more traffic, more branding and recognition).

2) They buy my book, take a half-hearted shot at the easiest things in the book, get bored, tired, or impatient, and then they go back to chasing down quick fixes.

I have watched people who had the answers they needed in their hands, and drop them for more glamorous-sounding, fast solutions. Which we all know don't work.

I will say this again - THERE IS NO WAY TO TO QUICKLY OR INSTANTLY ACHIEVE CRITICAL MASS IN YOUR MARKET!

You must work like anyone in business who is in it to succeed works. If you do not know everything about your business and how to market it, your competition will eat you alive because they WILL know everything, I guarantee it.

Just like in the real world, the one who works harder, smarter, and is vigilant about his or her business is going to come out on top every time.

You owe it to yourself and your family to learn your craft and do it better than most people in your market if you want to succeed.

4. Achieve Critical Mass

In order to hit critical mass, you must be everywhere, or nearly everywhere your best customers surf.

This means linking back to your site from reciprocal links, articles, press releases, joint ventures, forum participation, and good search engine positioning for your best keywords.

In order to have literally thousands of links pointing to your site in high-profile areas where human beings actually go and read/surf, it takes pure time and effort.

You must submit your articles to the best free content directories. Over and over until you have published everywhere you can that is relevant to your market.

You must secure deals with high-profile sites in your market to swap QUALITY links. I am talking about links that people will click on, not just links that only search engines will see.

You must be everywhere that is a good place to be on the net in your market. This takes time. This takes hard work. This is what it takes to have a viable, long term website traffic solution for your business.

Reaching critical mass, or even sitting down and deciding a plan of action to pursue critical mass in your market, takes maturity and a final realization that you can have anything you want in the world if you want to work for it. The day you stop chasing quick fixes to drive spurts of unqualified, un-targeted traffic to your site is the first step in achieving your goals as a professional internet marketer.

Jack Humphrey is the author of Power Linking 2: Evolution and CEO of EquipMint.com. He is an internet marketing consultant, copy writer, and a moderator for the net's #1 internet marketers forum "The Internet Marketing Warriors." You can find out more about Jack at:

http://power-linking-profits.com

This is a "Shareware" Article
(what's that? read on...)

This article is shareware. Give this article away for free on your site, or include it as part of any paid package as long as the entire article is left intact including this notice. Copyright © 2004 .

Autoresponders Are a Publishers Best Friend
Copyright ) 2001-2004, Bill Platt the Phantom Writers
http://www.thephantomwriters.com

How many times have you subscribed to a new ezine, and then
when the first issue of the ezine arrived, you were scratching
your head as to how your email address ended up on the list?
Our lives are often so tedious that little details often slip
right from our memory.

The point is this. If it happens to you, you can rest assured
that others have the same experience as well.

Sometimes when this happens to us, we just unsubscribe from the
list after that first issue. We cannot remember what compelled
us to subscribe in the first place, and the first issue of the
ezine does little to rekindle our initial enthusiasm for the
ezine.

As publishers, autoresponders can serve us well. When used
correctly, autoresponders can strike while the iron is hot,
cementing the subscription for the new subscriber.

If your ezine has been around for a while, or only for a
few issues, seriously consider taking the time to compile
a *Best Of* issue.

Be certain to list subscription instructions near the top of
your *Best Of* issue, and also ask people to forward it to
their friends.

Your *Best Of* issue should be placed into an autoresponder
email address, and then given away at every opportunity. The
moment the issue is ready, you can notify your subscribers of
the existence of the issue. In the ezine information area of
each issue, you can also remind subscribers that the *Best Of*
is available at such-and-such email address. Ironically, some
of your subscribers will download your *Best Of* several times.

The most important reason for building the *Best Of* issue is
not for the benefit of your current subscribers, though most
of them will appreciate your making it available to them. The
best reason to implement the *Best Of* autoresponder is for
your new subscribers!

When someone subscribes to your ezine, they will receive their
*Welcome to My Ezine* notice. As they are reading the *Welcome*
message, their enthusiasm is bubbling over. Waiting for that
first issue will be tough unless there is an invitation to
receive their first issue NOW.

In your *Welcome* message, you should let them know that if
they would like to get started right away reading your ezine,
then they should send a blank email to your autoresponder
address for the *Best Of* issue.

New subscribers will gorge themselves on your *Best Of* issue,
and they will remember your ezine when the first new issue
arrives in their mailbox. If the *Best Of* issue was precisely
what they were looking for, you can rest assured that they will
eagerly open each subsequent issue of your ezine, with delight
in their hearts.

If you do not have the ability to set up autoresponders on your
own domain, one company that offers a free autoresponder service
is: http://sendfree.com/

If you take the time now to implement the *Best Of*
autoresponder, the rewards will most certainly be long-lasting.
Remember, the best time to get a new subscriber to fall in love
with your ezine is when their interest is the highest --- at
the very moment they subscribe to your ezine.

Resource Box:
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more than 300 free-reprint articles available for your use.
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Passively Acquiring New Subscribers by the Boatload
Copyright ) 2002, Bill Platt the Phantom Writers
http://thePhantomWriters.com

First off, don't be lulled in by the title of this article
into believing that anything can be acquired by doing nothing.
People are always sending us emails telling us that we can make
millions online without any work.

Hogwash.

Stop to think for just a moment about the person who sent you
that garbage. How in the world did he send you the email you
are reading without first investing work to create the email,
and then investing hundreds of hours to send his garbage to
the masses?

Every person selling the "sitting on your ass" approach to
online success is busting his ass to sell you his garbage.
Think about that.

The truth is that success in anything requires hard work lots
of hard work.

Having said this, let me now return to the subject of this
article:

"Passively Acquiring New Subscribers by the Boatload"

By using this method, subscribers CAN be acquired by the
boatload! However, it must be noted that while these
subscribers are coming to you in a passive method, you
have in fact done a considerable work to position yourself
to take real advantage of this technique.

It is like the people who promise that you can make $5,000 in
a week by using a particular method. That may be true, but what
they did not tell you was that they had invested as much as 5
years work ahead of the $5,000 per week earnings! Nothing
happens overnight, not even on the web.

Everyone has pretty much seen by now the pop-ups that appear on
sites you visit on the web. These pop-ups offer all kinds of
goods and services to you. A lot of people complain that these
pop-up ads are really annoying, but the truth is that they do
work.

While it makes sense to offer a pop-up that tries to get your
visitor to subscribe to your ezine, it makes even more sense
to have this offer made on dozens of other websites. By joining
an advertising co-op, you can get your ad to appear in the
pop-ups on the sites of other folks, when you agree to do the
same for the co-op members.

The kind of pop-up ads I am talking about here is the pop-ups
that ask you to subscribe to any of ten ezines listed in the
pop-up ad. These pop-ups show a list of ezines with checkboxes
in front of them, so readers can pick and choose the ezines
that appeal to them for a new subscription.

Now, let's take this concept and apply the multiplication
power of MLM to the equation. Imagine a system that lets you
advertise the program and anyone who signs up to the program
from your site is placed in your downline, permitting you to
gain exposure credits from those you recruit to complement
the exposure credits you earn from your own site's traffic.

In the old system of pure pop-ups with no matrix program built
into the system, your exposures in the program are limited by
the amount of traffic you can generate to your site and your
site alone. With the matrix built into the program, your
credits are determined by the exposures that you produce on
your site plus the exposures the pop-ups get on the websites
of those you recruit into this free program.

Add to this program cookie technology so that your pop-ups do
not serve to annoy your visitors. With the cookie, the pop-up
will only repeat itself on the same system after a two hour
delay.

This system I speak of lets you attract new subscribers for any
opt-in list for absolutely free! You can even begin earning
impression credits within a few minutes of signing up to the
program. For each exit pop-up page that you show, you get your
newsletter subscription box shown 4 times, which in turn will
lead to new subscribers through a passive means!

Once you have the ball in motion, this method will pretty much
take care of itself. The one thing to keep in mind here is that
you earn your advertising credits based on the traffic that you
and your downline is capable of generating. With this having
been said, let us look back to the $5,000 per week example
again.

The more traffic your site generates, the more opportunity you
have for your ad to be seen and for you to get new subscribers
through the system. This is where the hard work comes from. You
need to generate the traffic to improve your ability to be seen.

I loaded this program into my highest producing webpage. The
page by itself generates three thousand unique page views each
month, and has done so every month for the last three years.
I just did some updating to the page to improve even those
numbers so that I can gain even more exposure for my ezine.

I am able to log in each day to the page to check my current
statistics outlining impressions and new subscriptions to my
ezine. My ezine subscriptions had been kind of flat for the
last year or so because I had pretty much stopped advertising
it. However, with this one method, I am now generating a 2%
increase in subscriptions every week!

Now that is what I call Power Marketing!

To sign up for the program yourself, please visit:

http://www.subscriberdrive.com/a/c.cgi?8085

Whether you are earning your credits from the ad impressions
that you give the co-op or the ad impressions that your downline
gives the co-op does not matter. What matters is that each of
these credits go towards helping you expose your ezine to the
new subscribers that you are looking to acquire for your ezine.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Platt owns The Phantom Writers, a company committed to
helping people to establish an Internet presence & promote
their businesses through the use of Free-Reprint Articles and
Press Releases. Articles are distributed to 6,000+ publishers
& webmasters as part of the package. http://thePhantomWriters.com
Do you write your own articles? Let us distribute them for you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Links, Links and More Links...
by Scott F. Geld
http://www.MarketingBlaster.com

Are you linked from other Web sites? You should be...and from lots of them. The number of Web sites that you are linked from has a direct impact on the success of your online business. The number of quality links that point to your Web site plays a key roll in the search engines relevancy algorithms. Simply put, the more relevant Web sites that link to yours, the higher your site will rank in the search engine returns.

Why is this important to your business? It's a fact of online business that the highest quality visitors to your Web site will usually result from links at related Web sites. A level of trust has been built up before a customer contacts your business, and they are already warmed up to do business with you. In fact this 'linking'
is equivalent to 'word-of-mouth" referrals in traditional marketing. The main goal of a search engine is to return quality searches for surfers. Having quality links connected with your Web site helps to improve your search engine ranking and consequently increases your business opportunities. It all means that you should be striving to get more links to your Web site. Easier said than done! It all takes time, the longer your business is online the more links you'll have.

Here are some hints that will help you to attract more links to your Web site:

Simply Ask

But, make sure you ask the right person. Visit the site you plan to contact and find out the Webmaster or the owner's name. Find out if they have a section of their site dedicated to links. Then, send a personal email, identifying yourself and why you feel a link swap would be advantageous to both of you. If you don't see a link section on their Website, you might still contact the owner and suggest a joint venture and see what happens.

Link Trading Services

Check out link trading services. You have to be careful though. Make sure that you can control what sites you are linked to, and view how the link will look. Find out how many links you can earn. In the past link trading services got a bad name because many links were not properly targeted and unrelated, they used banners that were too large and so on.

Pre-license Your Web Content

This is a simple approach and essentially means that you give permission to others to use for free content such as articles etc. that appear on your Web site. The only stipulation is that when they use the article they include a link to your Website. Pre-licensing is a winning approach because it provides content for one Website and a link to your Website.

Buy your links

You can buy links on targeted web-sites for as little as
$5 from MarketingBlaster.com. There are also auction sites like LinkAdage.com where you can bid for direct links to your site.

Scott F. Geld is the Director of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com, a company providing targeted traffic and direct links starting at just $5:
http://www.MarketingBlaster.com

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