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Build A Subscriber List

7 Ways To Build A Subscriber List

By on May 20, 2013 in Affiliate Marketing, Blog, List Building, marketing, Product Creation, Product Reviews, productivity, Social Media

“Build a subscriber list” is no doubt something you may have heard over and over again as you start to grow your online business. The money is in the list. The money is in the list. The money is in the list.

Your subscriber list IS your most valuable asset. And because of this, it’s important you understand how to build a good relationship with them and provide valuable content. However, before you can build a relationship with anyone – you need to know how you can acquire your list of subscribers in the first place – right?

How To Build A Subscriber List In 7 Different Ways

I’ve gathered together  some of the most successful ways to grow your email list.  These will work for you no matter whether you are just starting out or even if you’re a seasoned entrepreneur.

Register For A Reliable Email Service

As people become interested in what you have to offer, you need an effective way to gather their contact details so you can continue to build relationships and market to them. Gmail or Outlook is not going to cut it! While these tools might seem ok when you are first starting out, as you build your business you need to have tools in place that are scalable and can be automated. This way you can grow your audience without unnecessarily increasing your workload.

Whilst there are many email service providers out there, my two favourite ones are Aweber and iContact.

Aweberhas long been known for outstanding email deliverability rates and top-notch service. This is the email service I personally use. They have a great video tutorials and customer support if you need them, and their set up is super easy. Loads of templates are provided so you can create great looking optin boxes. You definitely can’t go wrong with Aweber.

iContact has some of the best email deliverability rates in the industry and it’s another great choice for anyone looking for the best autoresponder service.
Both Aweber and iContact both provide great low cost or free trial periods if you want to try them out.

MailChimp is another email service. It is a useful tool for people starting out who want to bootstrap. There are a few catches though. The free version is only applicable while your subscriber list is under 2000 with limited mailings. If you are serious about building your business you may outgrow this limit very very quickly. If at any time you want to transfer your subscriber list over to a higher performing service such as Aweber, they will generally not allow you to export/import your list from MailChimp so you would have to start from scratch anyway.

Giveaway Valuable FREE Content

Gone are the days when people could put an optin box on their website offering to ‘Sign Up For Newsletter”. Now more than ever you need to provide some sort of valuable free information as an ‘ethical bribe’ to get people to join your subscriber list. I like to call this an AFO (Awesome Free Offer). Don’t be afraid of sharing some of your very best content in your AFO. Some ideas for an AFO would be a short report, a series of videos or a recorded interview.

To grow a subscriber list you will need a way for visitors to your site to ‘optin’ to your email list and get this valuable free giveaway. Here are some ideas to help you gather new subscribers:

  • Add an optin box in the header or sidebar of your website. This can be created through your email provider or you can hire someone to create one for you from somewhere like fiverr.com
  • Install a pop up box that appears for every new visitor to your site – PopUpDomination is a very popular option here. Or, you can create one for free inside Aweber.
  • A free install of www.welcomegateapp.com which appears whenever someone visits the home page of your site for the first time.

Add An Opt-In Box To Your Videos

Lots of people have embraced the value of creating good video content to attract their audience. Sadly many people fail to have any effective call to action at the end of their video. Here’s where I love LeadPlayer.

Leadplayer is a tool that allows you to very easily add an optin box straight into your video so as your content finishes, the listener is encouraged to add their name and email address to your list. How awesome is that!
You can see an example of what I mean here….Build A Subscriber list with leadplayer

Facebook Landing Tabs

Social media makes it so much easier for you to reach your audience than ever before. But this modern day advantage is quickly lost if you don’t implement ways to capture some of the fans you work so hard to attract to your page and turn then into subscribers on your email marketing list.

At the top of your Facebook Fanpage you have a few little ‘tabs’. You can add a picture and a title that encourages visitors to your Fanpage to click on (see pic below). This takes them through to a landing page where they enter their name and email address in exchange for some valuable free content.
Facebook is a beast all of it’s own, so anything I have implemented on Facebook to help me build a subscriber list has been what I’ve learned over with Jo Barnes and her

her recent product The Social Media Bundle.
tabs

Giveaway Events

Participating in Giveaway Events is one of the easiest and most successful ways I have experienced to grow my subscriber list ever since I started online.

Giveaway Events work extremely well in the Internet Marketing Niche. If you do a Google search for “giveaway events” you’ll also find lots of events you can join in many other niches as well.

They are an easy and great way to get your information in front of a highly targeted audience and are generally there is no cost to participate. You can often choose to pay around $17 to upgrade so your free offer is more visible, but this isn’t always necessary.
It is possible to add anywhere from 5 to 500 subscribers to your list in just a few days.
Many people are unsure exactly how a Giveaway Event operates, so I’ve done this short video to walk you through how it works.
http://youtu.be/IJMRfvBgVOs
I am currently participating in Kerry’s May Day Giveaway and expect big increase to my subscriber list during the event. You can join in too if you like 

Free Calls and Webinars

Build A Subscriber list with Free CallsWith all the valuable knowledge you have in your head, it would be easy for you to do a free call or webinar for your audience. Simply set up a squeeze page with an optin box and some information on what the call will include. This will add listeners to your subscriber list.

Send traffic to your squeeze page and you will see your list numbers increase.

It’s a great idea to add this method of list building to your regular marketing calendar to keep a constant flow of new subscribers coming into your business. I’ve found Instant Teleseminar one of the most reliable platforms to conduct calls. Your listeners are able to attend via their computer without incurring large call costs to international numbers. You can keep your listeners on mute or interact with them during the call. And after your call, a replay and download link can be made instantly available. After a low cost trial period, there is a small monthly fee to this service, but if you include this as a list building strategy on a regular basis, it is definitely worth it.

You can also use a free service like www.freeconferencecalling.com where your listeners will need to dial a US phone number to participate in the cal. Getting access to a replay is a little more clumsy than with Instant Teleseminar but it’s still a great option.

If you prefer a webinar format or want to present information directly from your computer and show what is on your screen, then GoToWebinar is very trusty although can be slightly hefty in pricing for someone starting out. Alternatively www.anymeeting.com or www.meetingburner.com is a great alternative for those more budget conscious

Forum Marketing

This is a favourite ‘old school method’ of driving traffic to your site. This method of increasing your subscriber list is often overlooked. It’s so very simple and most people under-estimate the power this list building strategy has.

This method puts your directly in front of your target market. Eg: a weight loss forum is full of people who can relate to your product if it is related to health and wellness. Forum marketing allows you to become seen as a reliable source of information on your topic and is also a great place to do market research on your audience by watching what questions are being asked by the participants.

Two methods to locate the biggest and most active forums in your market are:
Google your keyword + forums (or message boards); and
www.big-boards.com

Once you’ve found the biggest and most active forums for your audience, you should become an activate participant and post good helpful advice, comments and articles. Include a link in your signature file (check forum rules) which sends readers back to your squeeze page where you can add them to your subscriber list.

Allocating a set amount of time each day and being consistent in this free traffic method will reward you with an increase of traffic to your site, and new subscribers as you build a subscriber list.

Let’s Go Build A Subscriber List….

I’ve given you some of the most powerful, yet simple methods to add new subscribers to your list. Some of them are free list building strategies and others will take a small investment.

The rest is now up to you! Knowledge without action is worth nothing.

Your actions steps are:

  • Consider where your audience is most likely to be hanging out
  • Decide which one or two of the above methods suit your skills, appeal to you the most and fit your time and money budget
  • Allocate a set amount of time every single week to implement;
  • Enjoy your results as you see new names added as you build a subscriber list each and every day

Would love to hear your thoughts and share your favourite strategies in the comment section. Let’s have some fun with it…

Here’s to your success..

Fay

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trello for productivity

I’ve Been Wasting Time!

By on April 22, 2013 in Business Success, marketing, Outsourcing & Systems, productivity, Social Media

I’ve been wasting time!

I’m told it’s a good thing when you can face reality and take responsibility….

Well, I’m here to admit that I have finally taken responsibility for wasting time.

Like many people who work from home, I am at my desk for many hours each day being ‘busy’.

With the recent arrival of our lovely new grand daughter Molly, I am having lots of time away from my business. So when I’m ‘at work’, I want to be even more productive.

After reading Jason Fladlien’s Double Your Productivity For Life I decided to track how I was spending my day for a couple of weeks.

Then suddenly it hit me…. for far too long now I’ve allowed myself to get into the habit of starting my day by casually flipping through my phone messages, checking email and then social media for what’s going on. I’ve realized that although I’m at my desk by 8.30 or 9.00am, I haven’t begun to be productive till around 10.30am.

What a waste of time!!!

If this sounds like you too then here’s a few things that I’ve been implementing (thanks to Jason’s advice) and they sure do work:

  1. Reconnect with the reason ‘why’ you are building your business. This will spur you on to take action to get the results you’re after, rather   than drifting through day by day.
  2. Find a productivity tool to help you organize your projects and tasks.  Some like a simple piece of paper and a ‘To Do’ list.  Don’t go to bed before you have created a list of the most important tasks that need completing the following day.
    Or, if you’re like me, as your business grows you have many projects all on the go at once and need something a little more robust.
    My fabulous Virtual Assistant Ana put me on to an awesome free tool called ‘Trello’. It’s a tool that will organize anything!   In one glance, know what’s being worked on, who’s working on a particular task and when it’s due. This super simple system has made life so much easier. I just love it.
  3. trello for productivityTrack your time usage for a week or two and see where you are losing momentum and where you seem to be most productive.  Everyone has a different body clock and you may find you are most alert and focused at a time of day you least expect.  When you recognize this time, you can maximise it. Schedule your ‘big’ tasks for your productive times.
  4. If you have created a bad habit (like I had) that is a time sucker, the first step is to be completely aware of it.  Next is to strategically work out a plan to avoid that bad habit. For example, I have set myself up a challenge, sort of like playing a game with myself, to see how many mornings I can get started onto my productive time immediately without even opening up emails or social media at all.  I’ve allocated a certain time slot later in them morning where it’s ok to do that stuff.   I’ll give myself a reward depending on what ‘score’ I achieve.  Seems silly I know, but sometimes you have to really focus and be a bit crazy to get what you want!

The more often I stay with the new habit, the less likely I am to go back to the old.
These days, in my keenness to get out and visit Molly each day I’ve been leaping into my office chair each morning with a fire and vigour to get my daily tasks done like you’ve never seen before.

Regardless of whether you have 40 hours or 4 hours to invest in your business, what is more important is how focused you are with that time. When you are in working mode – work. When you are in freedom mode – enjoy yourself!

I hope this was helpful and Jason has even more great ideas on how to increase your productivity if you need them.

LET’S HEAR FROM YOU BELOW
I’M REALLY INTERESTED TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS

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Freedom Lifestyle

Are You Creating a Freedom Lifestyle?

By on April 11, 2013 in Business Success, Internet Marketing, Product Creation, productivity, Social Media

This last week was so exciting for me…. We got to welcome into the world our new little grand daughter, Molly.  I know that I am biased, but she is absolutely perfect!  What do you think?

I’ve spent a lot of time away from my business this week, and fortunately didn’t have to worry about whether or not things were still moving forward.  Money is still arriving in my bank account even while I’m getting my ‘nana’ cuddles and I have to say it’s a wonderful feeling!

There’s been lots of time for reflection and I got to thinking about you….

There’s a good old saying “The grass is always greener on the other side.”

It’s this idea that often gives life to your initial desire to want to start your own online business.  You start imagining the possibility of being able to keep your own hours and not have to answer to a boss.  What a delight it would be to work from home and stay snug in your comfy clothes. No more suits and dresses to go to the office, or fighting daily traffic just to get there. Being able to take holidays or days off whenever you fancy. You can see yourself having the luxury of earning more money and to spend it on ‘wants’ rather than just ‘make do’ with paying for the ‘needs’.

All of these things seem attractive ‘on the other side’. When you put that together with your entrepreneurial spirit, the decision to start your own business, working from home and using the internet can become irresistible.

So let’s assume that you take the plunge.  You do start your own online business – and in fact, you are making progress. Yay!!

What does your business model look like?  In fact do you even HAVE a business model, or are you simply flying by the seat of your pants?

How do you spend your time each day?

Do you have a list of daily tasks that looks as long as a shopping list for a hungry family?

It’s very easy to have grand ideas of a freedom lifestyle when you run your own online business, but the reality is that many people simply create a ‘prison like’ environment for themselves.  It’s easy to suddenly find yourself chained to your desk for longer hours than you would ever have given a boss.  And often, for much less return than you had originally hoped for.

This dedication and commitment to your business comes easily when you are passionate about your topic – that doesn’t mean that it’s healthy.

Over the past six months, while we have been waiting for Molly’s arrival I’ve spent time analyzing my business, where my main income is generated and where all my effort is spent.

I’ve been stripping back, restructuring and rebuilding with ONLY what is absolutely necessary for me to reach my goals while at the same time providing YOU  with an even higher level of support.

You might be surprised to know that you can actually build a 6 figure online business with just ONE really well constructed sales funnel.

You don’t need six different products.  You don’t need 8 different programs and 5 different facebook groups!

I believe I can ‘have it all’ and I know that YOU can too!

A successful online business can be built with SIMPLICITY.  The less moving parts there are, the less overwhelm and overheads there is.  Most people over complicate things and end up in confusion and exhaustion. Or worst still, going round and round in circles and only wondering ‘what happened’ to the freedom, flexibility and financial abundance they hoped for.

Keep your eyes peeled because in the next few weeks I’ll be revealing to you exactly how you can create a simplified, successful online business that will give you a freedom lifestyle.  I know you’re just going to love it!

Creating Your Own Freedom Lifestyle

In the meantime, take the opportunity to really analyse some of the following things:

  • your business model
  • your process maps and systems
  • who you work with
  • how you reach and support your customers
  • what are your main money making activities

Perhaps you too can strip away some of the unnecessary, less productive activities. And instead, focus more on refining and tweaking one really awesome sales funnel that converts like crazy and gets your customers awesome results!

I just love hanging out with Molly when I want to!

Leave a comment or drop or email me and let me know how I can help YOU create the freedom lifestyle you need so you get to hang out with whoever is special in your life too!

 

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affiliate commissions

How would you like results like these!!

By on February 5, 2013 in Business Success, marketing, Product Reviews, productivity, Search Engine Optimization

Have you ever won anything?  If you have, even if it was a bingo game or a local raffle, you’ll know that feeling of absolute delight as your name is announced, and you can collect your prize.

How would you like results like these!!

affiliate commissions

Yesterday this is exactly what happened to me – my name was announced as a Top 10 Leaderboard finalist for affiliate sales on a product I own and also promote.  In fact – I ended up in 5th place, amongst some very skilled affiliate marketers so I was super excited!

http://myonlinebusinessempire.com/affiliateshub/2013/02/03/15kwinnerannounced/

So not only did I make $3322.29 in affiliate commissions for the month of January, I also won a prize valued $913.00. That’s a whopping total of $4235.29 in addition to my other business activities!!

I can swap the prize for cash, so I think I’ll be taking the cash and re-invest it into my business for advertising and marketing.  Boring I know – but much more effective for my business.

In fact, the prize is not really important at all – what is more valuable is the visibility and credibility this adds to my business and continues to confirm that the strategies I use to get customers, sales and conversions flat out WORK!

Here are some of the ways I know people earn their affiliate commissions:

  • Facebook Paid Advertising
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Solo Ads
  • Blasting their email list

I didn’t use any of these methods to earn $3322.29 in affiliate commissions for the month of January.

Here’s how I did it – and how you can achieve the same results too!

  1. I created some articles with high value content based around keywords and information related to the product.
  2. I optimized each article for SEO just like I describe in my post here.
  3. Then I used the process I explained to you in this post to distribute the articles.

Using these strategies, the traffic that was driven to the articles was enough to provide me with sales that even blew some of the high earning affiliate marketers out of the water.

But the lesson I want you to take away here is that you MUST TAKE ACTION!  If you have read these posts previously and not taken action to implement the same strategies, it’s likely you have not had the number of leads, sales or conversions that you wanted this month.

Taking on more information is simply overwhelm, if you are not implementing what you learn.  Remember, imperfect action will make you a lot more money than a perfect plan still in the making!

Affiliate marketing may not be your main business model, but it should be part of the income generating strategies at some level.  There must be tools, resources or programs that you already recommend to your target market in order to help them achieve their desired results.  These are a great place for you to start earning some additional passive income.

Decide on one product or offer (either someone else’s or your own) and use the strategy I describe here and you can set yourself up to have monthly passive income just like I do.

So go – now – and just do it!

P.S.  If you want to see  everything I do to  earn consistent sales and affiliate commissions you can  see it here…..

P.P.S.  Oh, and don’t forget – you can use these same strategies to sell your own products as well as affiliate products!

LIKE, TWEET OR SHARE IF YOU FOUND THIS POST HELPFUL..

COMMENT BELOW AND TELL ME ACTION YOU WILL TAKE FROM HERE..

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starting an online business is like learning to drive a car

Building An Online Business Is Like Driving A Car

By on January 30, 2013 in Affiliate Marketing, Branding, Business Success, Internet Marketing, List Building, marketing, mindset, Outsourcing & Systems, Product Creation, productivity

Once you begin your journey into building an online business you very quickly realize there are so many moving parts that go into to creating a profitable online business.  There is all the technical stuff; hosting, widgets, sidebars, footers.  And then there are things like list building, creating a product, joint ventures, autoresponders, affiliate commissions and so much more.  It’s easy to see why so many people give up and never get to realize their dreams.

Can you imagine if you had never learned to drive a car?  Imagine all the places you would never have seen.  All the things you could never have done if you didn’t have a way to drive yourself around?

I want you to think back to when you were learning to drive a car.  Come on, let’s face it – it was hard!  There were so many different things that demanded your attention; which peddles to push and when, gear sticks to move at the right time, mirrors to constantly check in.    These things didn’t stop you from now being able to drive easily and effortlessly though did they?  starting an online business is like learning to drive a car

The same will happen when you persist with all those little things that seem so demanding of your attention while you build your online business.  There will never be a time when you completely stop learning and being outside of your comfort zone, but there will be a time when all those things that seem difficult to you now, will be part of a well oiled system and happen easily and effortlessly.

You can  release yourself from your 9-5 job.  You can create a different future for yourself and your family.  No one said building an online business would be easy – but it is simple and  it can be done!

I’m here to support and help you all the way.

Think – Believe – Create!

LEAVE A COMMENT AND TELL ME WHAT PARTS OF YOUR ONLINE JOURNEY HAVE BEEN THE MOST DIFFICULT

SHARE, TWEET AND LIKE THIS POST IF YOU THINK THE CONTENT WILL BE  HELPFUL TO OTHERS

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Fay McLean

Care For Your Customers

By on December 6, 2012 in Branding, Business Success, Internet Marketing, marketing, mindset, productivity

Fay McLean Care For Your CustomersCare For Your Customers

I’m sure I’m like most people, I hate to be sold to, but if I getter better service from you than I do from the fellow down the street, I’m going to keep coming back t see you again and again. I don’t even mind if your prices are higher than  other peoples’ because you make me feel important and valued as a customer.
 
Here’s an example.   A few months back we wanted to upgrade all our televisions to meet the new digital signals.  Neither Murray or I are electronically minded at all – in fact dealing with electronics scares us to death!  On the morning we set off to do our shopping there was not even any discussion on where we would go to buy. 
 
We went right back to a local distributor who treats us like a long-time friend.  He welcomes us and from past purchases, knows exactly what our set up is.  He completely understands our fear of digital gadgetry, without making us feel inadequate. He knows he can recommend exactly what we will need to meet our needs.  We don’t question his recommendations; he’s proven himself right time and time again already.  Thrown into the deal he will come around to hour home and completely install and set up and stay to explain how everything works and we are completely happy.  
 
We never feel pressured and he has us as a lifetime customer.

Want the same relationship with your customers? Here are six ways to go about it.

 
Smile when you’re on the phone

You can hear a smile through the phone!  Anyone in your business who spends time speaking with your customers must have a happy attitude.  No ‘bad days’ allowed!  .

 
Ask your clients what they want

It like pushing a wheelbarrow up hill if you only ever give your customers what you  think they need, rather than asking them what they want.   When they tell you what they want, then as much as you can, give it to them. Follow this rule and you will always know you are doing the right thing. I often hear people ask me “Do you think I should do x?”  My answer is – ask your customer!  You can survey customers via your email marketing, hold competitions and learn to be a really good listener whenever your customers speak. 

 
Don’t be stubborn on refunds

“The customer is always right” is a good rule to follow.  If you deal with a complaint or refund pleasantly, and then also go overboard on anything else you can do for the customer to make things right you will build great loyalty.  In fact, people don’t even mind if they are disappointed with a product, if the way their disappointment is dealt with is pleasant.  It’s not difficult to turn unhappy customers into loyal followers who will come back again and again.

 
Reward customer loyalty

It bugs me when I see businesses offering incentives to attract new clients, yet forget to reward those clients that have been loyal for months on end.  It’s easy to give bonuses, inexpensive rewards and do unexpected “nice” things. In today’s digital world, if you can add some kind of personalization to a purchase, you will increase customer loyalty ten fold.  People are skeptical and appreciate knowing they are doing business with a ‘real’ person.

 
People love to belong!

One of human natures fundamental needs to feel like we ‘belong’.  Create a community with your customers and make them feel as if they are part of a very special group.  Be aware of ways you can keep them involved in your business.  This can be through social functions, with email messages, cards or special announcements that simply say “we appreciate you.”

 
Prioritize customer support

One of the quickest ways to develop a long term relationship and show how much you care for your customers is with super customer service support.  This is especially relevant in the online world.  You may have experienced a time when you sent in a ‘support ticket’ only to still be left hanging around for a response days or weeks later without ever having heard a word back.  This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in any business.  Treat your customers’ queries with the highest priority and your customers will stay happy.

Be there to truly serve and care for your customers with these small tips and it will make a big difference.

 

Here’s to your success!

Fay McLean

 

P.S.  Master your email marketing and you’ll never feel like you are ‘selling’ ever again.

This online workshop just might be the best investment you’ll ever make! Limited places.

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Unstoppable Entrepreneur

My Notes From Unstoppable Entrepreneur Jonathan Budd Event: 5 Tips from Top Achievers

By on November 27, 2012 in Affiliate Marketing, Business Planning, Business Success, Internet Marketing, marketing, mindset, productivity

My Notes From Unstoppable Entrepreneur Jonathan Budd Event

Ok, so we’re home from the event Unstoppable Entrepreneur and I’m writing today feeling that it’s the first day since getting back from our trip to the USA that I have a clear head.  For some reason (we won’t mention age), it has taken a bit longer to get back into the swing of things but now we’re good to go!

Unstoppable Entrepreneur This was a truly amazing event.  Yes, I spent over $3000 and more than 70 hours in travel to be there but just for being a reader of my blog, you get all the little marketing titbits I have learned at no cost..  is that cool? If so, please click the “Like″ button at the very top of this blog, just off to the left to show me some love! Did you do it? OK, proceed to my notes!

All the speakers varied in age, experience and income levels.  But there was a common denominator to them all…. Persistence and determination!

At Unstoppable Entrepreneur there was also lots of talk about Mobile Apps, Facebook, Traffic, Sales Funnels and Mindset.

I’ll share more over time, but today….

5 Tips From Top Achievers…

Build the Plane While You Are Flying It

I first heard this saying from a brilliant marketer Lisa Sasevich.  The concept is that you don’t need to have everything in place before you take action. When you get an idea, start to put it into action immediately. Make yourself accountable by announcing to your community what you are going to do.  It might be a webinar, a presentation, a product or an event. Then the fact that you have placed yourself on a deadline will mean you are much more likely to follow through.

Unstoppable Entrepreneur Jonathan Budd EventBuild A Team

It’s important to recognize that your team is not only a reference to people who you may hire to build your business with you.  It is also your colleagues, your list or community.  It’s about building relationships with lots of people who you can rely on to support and encourage you to achieve your destination.  Alone you will go a short way slowly; with a team you will go far, quickly.  I know which I would prefer!

Include High Ticket Offerings

While many people have made a lot of money selling $9.95 e-books, you should recognize that it is much easier to achieve high income goals if you include a high ticket offering.  There is information you have in your head that other people want!  One of the easiest ways to create a high ticket offering is to offer a VIP day or private mentoring.  You can offer this in any niche extremely successfully.  My very first product ever was a VIP program that I sold for $5995, so you don’t have to wait until you’ve been in business for years before you offer personal or high ticket offers.

Fail Forward

If you focus on implementation and take action quickly you will soon discover that not everything will work out as well as you planned.  But that’s ok!

Taking action and not getting the results you want is still better than taking no action at all.  We all learn very quickly from our mistakes. I hate to burst your bubble… your business will never be perfect. It’s why so many wannabe entrepreneurs go to the grave with their “idea” that’s never fully realized. Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t live life with regrets.

Create An Effective Sales Funnel

Which do you think is more important – Product or Traffic or Conversions?

The answer is ALL three are equal.  These three things do not stand alone and if any one part is missing – then you are leaving big dollars on the table.

It doesn’t matter how big your community is or how many people you have on your list – your first priority is to create an effective sales funnel.  You have people opt in to get your information and then you offer at least one product (yours or someone elses).  You track your results and tweak where necessary. THIS my friend is what will build your business.

POST YOUR FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS 
AND COMMENTS BELOW!

 P.S. If you would like to have a proven sales funnel working for you, check this out.

P.P.S. If this resonates with you, please pin, tweet or like this.

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hiring help for business systems

Getting Help For Business Systems

By on November 5, 2012 in Business Success, Internet Marketing, Outsourcing & Systems, productivity

hiring help for business systemsIt might have taken me years to get it drummed into my head, but FINALLY I have realized the importance of systems in my business.

I’ve know for a long time that there are things I do over and over again.  Every time I do the same task again I think to myself “I really must document this!”.  But – alas, it never seemed to happen.

Well all that has changed! I’ve realised that if I am going to achieve the goals I have set for myself, that it is impossible for me to continue to try to do everything all by myself.  In the past I’ve outsourced tasks here and there but not been consistent.

Here are some of the simple tasks I have had help with in the past:

  • Uploading weekly content to my blog
  • Submit articles to several article directories after it has been posted to my blog
  • Technical stuff for my website

Then I slipped into bad habits and began to do these tasks myself once more (what was I thinking!!)

You know the saying, “It’s often quicker to just do the job yourself.”

The thing that can stop you from giving someone else a task is that it always seems to take time you don’t have, to write down what you are doing as you perform the task, to show or explain to someone else how you want things done.

Creating these systems and ‘how to’ videos will be the only way to get out of this situation.  The easiest way is to actually allow time in your schedule for ‘Systems”.

During this time you have full permission to take longer over a task, and to document every step as you go.

The result is two fold.  If you continue to do the task, you have a detailed list to follow next time.  You know when it’s been a while since you did something and you have to stop and spend 20 minutes to remember the process before you can get started?

Well – no more.  Your systems and processes will in a nice folder for you whenever you need to do something. You will already have a detailed checklist or video on how you expect someone else to perform the task to your standard.  So, it’s win- win.

Maybe you still want to work your fingers to the bone and limit the time you have to spend with your family.  Me personally, I want to get results as fast as I can and have more time to do the money making activities and even having a little fun!

 This is how I’ve been able to do just that.  

Either way – you should know that at some stage you WILL need to get other people to help you get things done

 Watch this webinar and see how you can double or triple what you accomplish!

 I’m interested to hear how you go with it all… your feedback is important!

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systematize my business

Create A System The Simple Way

By on September 13, 2012 in Business Planning, Business Success, mindset, productivity

The Simple Way to Create a System

systematize my businessThere’s no point in building an online business only having to be stuck to your computer all day answering emails and putting out fires. That no fun at all!

After all, this type of business is about FREEDOM.

And you need to master something that most people ignore. We focus on “traffic” and “google”, when you should start with this one word..

SYSTEM

Now I have to admit that I have taken far too long to understand the importance of this – and this is why I don’t want you wasting loads of time like I have done in the past.

No matter what you do, you must be able to create a system out of it. And your system doesn’t have to be complicated to start.

As I began to work with more and more clients I realised that every time I was repeating the same information over and over to them.  They would need to know how to set up their WordPress site – so I’d help them do it.  They would need to know how to set up Aweber, so I would walk them through it. They would need to know how to get their product approved on Clickbank, so I’d walk them through it.  I’d go over the process of how to create an awesome Opt-in offer.

Now, FINALLY!! I have created videos, templates and checklists for all those things that get repeated over and over again no matter who I am working with.

Or, if I have a new project or product I’m creating, I simply write down EVERY STEP and put it into a google doc. This makes it easy if you want to share it with a team. That’s it. I don’t leave anything to memory.

But it’s not just about documenting any processes, I also document what tasks need doing during a new product release.

For example, if there is a new product I’m creating, I might have the following in the document… (and yes, it’s a fictional product!)

  1. 1.      Product Title and Summary: How to build your own membership site. It’s 4 online videos showing people how to build their own membership site. Step by step. We are going live on October 1st.
    2. Price: $495
  2. 2.      Set up sales page
  3. 3.      Record a video
  4. 4.      Write sales page copy
  5. 5.      Create a new list in Aweber
  6. 6.      Write autoresponder series
  7. 7.      Link payment System
  8. 8.      Refund Policy
  9. 9.      Online Access page
  10. 10.  Schedule date for promotion cal
  11. 11.  Decide on Bonuses to offer
  12. 12.  FAQ’s: this is where I’d add some typical questions like “is this for newbies?” “does it include software?”

Once this list is finished, I allocate deadlines dates to each of the tasks. Next step is to decide who is responsible for completing each task.  It is mine, or am I going to delegate that to a team member?

Just by creating a simple document saves me dozens of hours in email, confusion and overwhelm.

Now get out there and start documenting everything.

Your coach has spoken.

DO YOU LIKE THIS? HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE?
ADD YOUR COMMENTS BELOW

 

P.S. This is the most comprehensive systematized business model I’ve seen if you don’t already have your own.


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Business is Fun

Have You Played Lately!

By on September 10, 2012 in Business Success, mindset, productivity

Business is Fun

Business is Fun!

Have you played lately?

I’m sure you can remember a time when you were doing something that was just not any fun at all.

I know that sometimes when I sit at my desk I’m tearing my hair out when faced with technical challenges or things aren’t always going as I would like them to.  But the reason I ‘m happy to work on my business for long hours is that I really enjoy it.  In fact, if someone asks me if I am ‘working’ today, I hesitate to say yes, because my online business never really feels like ‘work’.

Can you say ‘Business is fun?”

I had a coaching call with my client Joanne.  I would call Joanne a ‘newbie’.  She’s been way outside of her comfort zone ever since deciding to start her online ventures.  During our last conversation Joanne said, “You know Fay, there are so many things that are difficult, but this is SO MUCH FUN!”

She’s excited about being able to blog. She’s excited to learn how to market. She’s excited to be able to extract herself from her everyday job and spend time on her new business.  Joanne sits in the corner of the cafeteria at lunch time and writes her blog posts.  Joanne is having fun and feels like her life has been rejuvenated because she’s doing what she loves.

It’s rare that you don’t come across things that challenge you as your business grows.  For most people, it’s technical stuff.  Or perhaps your challenge is trying to decide what you should be spending your time on.  There’s always the frustration of feeling like you never have enough time to get everything done.

These are different feelings compared to feeling that everything in your business is a constant grind.  If that’s how your business feels here’s what you may want to consider:

  • Whether entrepreneurial life is for you
  • Perhaps you need to change your niche; or
  • Find a coach or support group that will inspire and motivate you

Ways to keep the ‘fun’ in your business

  • Build your business on the foundation of something you have an intense interest in
  • Get excited and being able to share your knowledge and help others
  • Constantly set yourself new goals and targets to reach

Life is too short to be doing anything you really don’t enjoy.  One of the major benefits of having your own business is that you get to choose how you spend your time. So although you may find the journey a little bumpy at times, be sure to stop and smell the roses and have FUN.  I’ll guarantee you’ll be more productive in the end!!

I appreciate you being part of my community that allows me to have so much fun.

AGREE? DISAGREE?
ARE YOU HAVING FUN?

P.S.  You can spend the day with me planning how to make your business more fun!

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