Webinars - A Mind-Blowing Traffic Generating List Building Tool You Can't Do Without!

This is a list building venue that isn't used by many marketers because usually, it requires planning, knowledge and a little bit of a technical set up.  This is usually enough to put most people off.  Just like video marketing, webinars require a little knowledge of equipment and software and it does take a little time to learn.

However, this shouldn't in any way stop someone from using these tools in marketing.  As a matter of fact, the benefits of using video and webinars should really encourage people to use them.  For one thing, they’ll help you get to the top of the search engines much faster.

 If you’ve ever made a video and posted it, you’ll be stunned at how quickly it can rise through all of the Internet clutter.

The same thing could be said for audio files from webinars.  The reason why videos and audio seem to rank faster, is because there is less competition.  People feel too intimidated to make them, so therefore there’s much less competition. 

There are other bennies that many people don’t think about too.  For one thing, if you are able to have a well done audio or video, it makes people look at you like an authority in your niche.  The other thing, these items can have incoming or outgoing links and can be shared through email and other online file sharing systems.

So, ignoring these methods of marketing online is not too swift.

Basics of a Webinar

If you are going to create your own webinar, you should get a webinar hosting account.  These are typically inexpensive, but well worth the money you put into them.  A good hosting system will give you a fast and easy way to invite people to your event and sign up, by allowing you to send out an email inviting people.

You can easily find good companies to handle this for you.

 For example, there’s an online service called GoToMeeting  that has a lot of great features on it.  You can set up a really pleasing interface for people that you've invited to the event, and you can even share pictures and streaming with them.

Here’s the Shameless Cheaper Way…

Another good company is AnyMeeting. 

The thing I like about this service is that it reminds me of MailChimp.  You don’t pay anything unless you have a certain number of people.  In the case of AnyMeeting, it’s free up to 200 people.

I like that idea, because you all know that my whole marketing ideal is to do everything as dirt cheap as you can, especially if you are trying to start your venture.  I’m sorry, that’s just the way I am. 

I figure once you’ve hit the same financial status as that guy that runs Virgin Records or that other guy that invented Facebook, THEN you can spend Mega-Bucks on advertising.

But until then, you’ll want to save some money in your marketing efforts.  Just sayin’!

Make Sure You Tell Your Audience All about It

Before the webinar, make sure that you’ve really spread the word about the webinar.  Use Facebook, Twitter, Google + and any other social media site that you can.  Also, make sure that your entire email list knows about it as well. 

TIP!  Go offline too!  Get some nice event note cards produced and send them to all of the clients and customers on your mailing list.  Make it like a real nice invitation that is handsomely made.  You can do this dirt cheap with a printer and some clip art or go on a site like Fiverr and hire someone inexpensively.

Considering all of the effort you’re putting into something like this, you may want to call people that you know as well.  

For example, if you do consulting it would be pretty beneficial for you to call them and invite them to your event.

Even if they don’t join you for the webinar, they will be happy to know that you are still thinking of them and that you value them enough to invite them.

Make Sure You Aren't BORING

I know this is kind of common sense, but try to make your webinar interesting.  If you and your guest are not enthusiastic about what you do, then it will come off that way.

Also it would be a good idea to organize and write down your questions before the seminar.  Give your guest a copy of the questions so he or she can think about a response.

Off the cuff comments can be OK as they arise.  You do want to have a logical structure to your webinar, but try to be natural too.  If a question you didn't happen to think about rears its head, go ahead and ask it.  It will sound natural and spontaneous because it is.

To Your Success

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

(859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com

What to Do With Your Facebook Prospects Once They Come To Your Site!

Over the last couple of days I’ve written about how to use a social media site like Facebook to cultivate and nurture relationships with prospects.  Now we’re going to talk about what to do with them once they get to your site. 

Unlike direct mail, which has a marketing process that looks like this:

Using social media to sell your, service, product, or ideas has a marketing process that looks something like this: (Facebook = Your Facebook Business or Fan Page.)

So as you can see there is a distinct difference between the two processes. 

The Big Differences

The difference between the two is obvious; the direct mail method is a simple two step system that requires the medium (sales letter) to sell whatever it is you are trying to push.  The Facebook method requires multiple steps is more complex, requires more time and work and is more difficult to track. 

The direct mail method is simple, delivered exactly to the person or persons you want to connect with, and is much easier to track.  Let’s face it if you send out 100 direct mail pieces and 4 of them lead to a sale that’s 4%.  

However, finding out your rate of success with social media of any kind is going to be a daunting task.  Direct mail does require a lot of work, because you have to have the skill set to write copy that will convert to sales.  That is a lot of work on the front end.

The Hidden Benefits of Using Facebook to Market Your Business

The hidden benefits with the Facebook method are it’s much cheaper, and your message has the ability to hit larger numbers of people over and over again. 

  You can sell to them, and if they love what you sell them, they will spread your message for you virally.   Not only that, but you can easily stay in touch with people that subscribe to your Facebook page.  That means if they like your business and products, they may buy from you over and over again. 

THE REASON I’M TELLING YOU ALL OF THIS IS BECAUSE ONCE PROSPECTS OR FANS OF YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE COME TO YOUR SITE, YOU’LL WANT TO TAKE EVERY MEASURE YOU CAN TO MAKE SURE THEY TAKE THE ACTION YOU WANT!

After you go through all of the necessary steps to get prospects to your site, you’ll want to have the opportunity to eventually sell them. However, don’t get too excited yet!  We still have a trick or two to perform before we unleash our irresistible offer at them…

A Proper Pop-Up That’ll Eventually Convert

One good way you can use to build your list is to use a “Welcome” pop-up.  The Welcome pop-up will drastically increase the number of subscribers to your list. 

It has even been reported that one Internet marketer increased his opt-in rate by over 700% in just a few months by doing this.  I can’t confirm this, but I’m sure you’ll have a better opt-in rate using a Welcome pop-up than a static box on your page. 

Bench Prep Uses a Welcome Pop-Up

With the Welcome pop-up, you won’t send them to a sales page yet.  You will want so ease into the sale eventually at a later date.  At this point, you are merely growing your list of humble, yet starving followers. Yes, starving to hear more about your niche, service or product, and it can all be done very cheaply.

Overt - Subliminal Advertising

Here’s an idea that has been around for a while, and yet when we see it, we stuff it into the subliminal backs of our minds. It’s very, very common to see an ad at the top of many popular sites.  Because we have seen these advertising banners so much, we have a tendency to automatically think of it as being a vendor’s banner, rather than a banner of the SITE OWNERS. 

So, it would be a good idea to create your own banner as if were someone else’s!  Don’t lie, just advertise your product at the top of your page just like a banner.  Perhaps use different fonts and colors than the ones which are on your blog or website so that it register’s in your visitors mind as “just another ad”. 

You can either sell your stuff from the banner or use it as another way to get more people to sign up for your email newsletter. 

The Warrior Forum Sometimes Advertises It's Own
Products on Its Site Like WSO Special Offers

Another way to have banner advertising is to make them relevant.  In other words, if you are talking about kayaking, you could have a free video on how to put a kayak on top of a car, if you can get the person’s email.  So have a banner or button that your visitors can click on that is related to what you are talking about.

Keep Your Landing Page CLEAN!

One last piece of advice about these strategies, keep your landing pages clean.  Google gets it.  If you look at the search engine objectively, you’ll see just how clean it is.  While all of the other search engines like AOL, Yahoo and Altavista were busy putting more crap on their pages than you could stand, Google went with a very clean and elegant design. 

The reason?  The folks at Google wanted to make sure their visitors were focused on one thing: getting nothing but awesome search results.  If you went to Google you had only one option: SEARCH.

It's Easy To See Google is Very Focused on One Function...Searching!

So, when you have a page that’s supposed to make your visitor take a specific action, make sure NOTHING can get in their way.  Keep that page very simple and devoid of distractions.

To Your Success!

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

 (859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com

FREE List Building Tricks Your Mother Never Told You About!

I once worked very briefly for an Internet millionaire that had about 80 websites.  Man, he was selling everything you could imagine under the sun from e-books, courses, dietary supplements, to multilevel marketing sponsorships.  I was hired on to help him manage and update his sites because some of them had been around for a very long time. 

I will tell you that he had quite a following.  He had rented a big office building that was abandoned (I think it had been a two story commercial site that sold light fixtures originally.) and sometimes I would beat him to his office to start working on his sites.  The phones would ring off the hook day and night.

 

I remember that his primary product was an info product on how to build a multilevel marketing business.  He would travel to a bunch of Internet conferences and give a demonstration or speech about how to grow a networking company and then afterwards he would sell his course on how to do it.

He was constantly on the road and was an excellent salesman, and I believe that his ability to sell to a live audience increased his bottom line and it created a great sales funnel.

 If I can remember clearly, this is what his sales funnel looked like:

The process of doing business, whether it was getting people to opt-in, buy a product, or upselling was accelerated by the fact that he was at speaking engagements all of the time.  They would see him speak and at the very least most of his audience would go to one of his websites and opt in.

This Is Pure Gold

One day while he was at the office I had an opportunity to talk.  I mentioned to him how I was inspired by marketers like Dan Kennedy, John Carlton and Corey Rudl (Of course this is before his tragic death).  He told me that he had actually spoke at seminars with these folks on occasion and that even though he was a chronic info-marketer and pretty successful  himself, he was always trying to extract any nuggets of wisdom that he could from them.

The one thing he told me that he learned from the likes of these big time entrepreneurs was that a list of potential prospects is pure gold and that mining it, using it and reusing it was how he built his business.

As a matter of fact, his exact words were “The list is pure gold.”

Don’t Misunderstand The Message Here…

He never said the list was EVERYTHING, he just said it was pure gold.  Now, if you were in his office and could see the way he generated, used, and reused his massive list you’d know he was telling the truth.  As a matter of fact, the one aspect of his business that he was very careful to take care of was his list. 

Website passwords, he’d forget. 

Dates and times of things, he’d lose them. 

Even products and merchandise he didn’t have that good of a grip on, BUT THE LIST HE BUILT WAS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO HIS BUSINESS.

What Can You Take Away from This Story?

Well, list building is extremely important!  As a matter of fact, the more information you have on a prospect, the better off you are.  If you only have an email address, you can still stay in the loop with them, but it is much better to have a physical mailing address and potentially, a phone number even. 

As a rule of thumb, try to gather as much personal info that you can gather on your clients and prospects as you can.

However, if you JUST have an email address, you are limited to sending just one type of message – email.  Email is very easy to ignore and dispose of.  Not only that, but email accounts get dumped all of the time, so the more contact info you can get, the better off you’ll be. 

How Do I Start Building a List?

You can start by using an auto responder like GetResponse, Awebber, or even a cheap free one like SendFree.  Of course, anything that is free will just the bare minimum and they will want you to upgrade to a better account ASAP.

In my opinion, if you are brand new list builder the best way to start is by going as cheap as possible.  The reason I say that is because it will definitely take time to build a viable list.  If you are building your list online and that is the only way you are marketing your business, then building a list will be a rather slow process, no matter what marketing gurus will tell you. 

If you don’t want to use an email responder at all, here is a video that will show you exactly how to gather email addresses without one:

Once you have several email addresses to send to, you can always use the following e-mail trick to send your email out to an entire herd of people.  Use this technique to send multiple emails out without recipients being able to see a list of email addresses:  Email Trick 

The downside to this lesson is that it takes diligence, hard work and a certain amount of patience to cultivate, build and use a list properly.  However, once you have it, you will see that it is pure gold!

If you want to learn more about how to write and use ad copy in your business, please click the link below and I’ll send you a free report on how to write more effective copy for your business.

Please send me a free copy of The Secret 7 -How to use advanced tactics in your adcopy to dominate your competition! 

7 Ways to Find Red Hot Niches That Prospects Will Jump On

The very first thing you need to do when creating an  information product is to just sit down and write your guts out.

That's right, grab your favorite computer chair, get out your laptop and start writing.  I would probably write for at least five straight days (taking time out for meals, of course) and just get it all out on paper.

 Then, after you have created your masterpiece, you should  probably print up about four....no wait....five thousand copies and start selling them, because everyone, and I mean everyone will want to buy your info course called,

"How to Raise and Race Gerbils in Your Bathtub for Fun and Profit!"

If Ed Wood were alive, he'd shake his head in amazement at your incredible accomplishment. (He was very easy to impress, at least that's the way he was portrayed in the movie.)

Unfortunately, this process is WRONGO- BONGO!

You missed a very important step and that step is: FIRST, FIND A MARKET AND TEST IT BEFORE YOU WASTE ANY TIME WRITING A COURSE NO ONE WILL PROBABLY WANT!

Think about it, if you create a product that has no appeal for anyone, you won't make a sale no matter how well written your sales letter is.  As a famous marketer once said, "If you want to sell hamburgers what's the first and most important thing you need?  A starving crowd!"

I love watching Shark Tank.  I never miss an episode and when reruns come on I watch the episodes again.  I don't believe that I am actually learning anything, but I love the show.   It always amazes me that a person will invest $500,000+ in  creating a product, only to find out that there is no market for it.

"I decided to craft clothing out of discarded apple peels." she says.
"I put $249,000 into this business." she says.
" I have $40 in sales" she says.

"For that reason, I'm out."  they said.

So,the first step in creating any product, whether it's an information product or something else is finding a market for it.

OK, Ellis, how exactly are we going to find out what there is a market for? Well, there are several different ways and they all require that dirty four - lettered word we all hate: WORK.  What type of work?  Research work, that's what kind of work.  There are a variety of methods you can use, but these are the one's I would recommend.

1.  Mailing List Websites -  Used to be you could go to the SRDS (Standard Rate and Data Service) to look up periodicals and what magazines that are popular to find out what topics people buying and in what  geographical area.  It also used to be that you could find the SRDS in public libraries, but good luck finding one, or at least one in the library that isn't outdated.

The SRDS has an online service but it is very expensive. Your best bet is to go to one of the many online direct mail list companies to look at how many people are buying magazines and other items under different categories.  Here are a few I would recommend:
Mailing List Finder - Loads of categories to drill into and see what people are buying and how many people have responded to different topics.

2.  Google Trends - With Google Trends you can take a look at what people are interested in over time by looking at search volumes that this search engine has aggregated.

3. Google Adwords Keyword Research - AKA Google Keyword Planner - This is probably the best way to poke around and check to see what's hot and what's not.  By plugging in key words t will tell you exactly what ads people have been clicking on so that you will have a good idea if YOUR idea is good enough to sell. It's free but you have to get an account with Google's email system to use it.

4.   Pew Internet - This site freely gives out all sorts of demographic information a marketer might use to find a hot niche to sell to or a product to create.  The downside of this site is that it could take you a while to find the data you are looking for.


5.  Clickbank Market Place - Clickbank is the premiere digital information marketing site on the Internet.  You can create an info product, then market it by getting and paying affiliates to sell your info product for you.  However, you can also go there and peruse the products made by other marketers.  The people that made these products have more than likely done the market research for you, so you should be able to at least find a category that is suitable.  However, don't forget that if there are tons of people marketing a particular subject, then you will probably have a lot of competition in that field.  On the other hand, if there is low competition, then that subject may not be in too high of a demand.

6.  Amazon - You can use Amazon to see what people are reading.  Chances are, if people are buying books on a particular subject, then there is probably a market for that subject.  In the search field on the left, click the drop down menu until you see "books" and then select it.  Next, we would click search and then on the right hand side you should see a list of resources.  Scroll down until you see "Department" and under that will be all sorts of categories for books.  You can explore these all you want and drill down into all sorts of categories.  TIP:  When you find a book or a set of books in a niche you are interested in, take a look at the comments made by people.  If there are a lot of good, well written comments on that book then there is apparently a lot of interest in that subject, otherwise why would anyone want to write that much about it?

7. Articles Base - You can peruse through bazillions of articles on this site and even take a look at the most read articles to see what hot topics there are.

There are a lot of other ways to do market research, but these are seven of the cheapest ways I found to look around and get ideas.  You could also do cheap online surveys, or create a free report to advertise on the Internet and then build a website for people download it from.  If you get a good response, chances are you have a winner.

Mark “Elmo” Ellis is a freelance writer, able to write compelling direct mail pieces, video scripts, brochures, and website copy that will grab the attention of your readers, reel them in, and get them to increase your bottom line.

If you want to learn more about how to write and use ad copy in your business, please click the link below and I’ll send you a free report on how to write more effective copy for your business.

Please send me a free copy of The Secret 7 -How to use advanced tactics in your adcopy to dominate your competition! 

In the Gutter, Down and Dirty Tactics to Get Your Direct Mail Pieces Noticed

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

I got a call yesterday from a company that started something like this: “This is your second and last notice about a credit card that we will make to you….”  Now, that caught my attention big time because for a second, I thought I hadn't paid a bill or something like that. 

However, the message went on: “…to get an outstanding interest rate on our new offer, please stay on the line for this important message…..”  Also, a week ago, I got a letter in the mail that had a window on the envelope and it had my name on it, except the paper inside the window looked exactly like it was a check.  I eagerly opened it up, salivating over the idea that I would be able to take my wife out to dinner only to find that it was an advertisement and not a meal ticket.

My students at school would say that I was “dominated” and “owned”.

Even though this type of marketing and direct mail assaults are killer and sure to get me to open the mail, it is a two edged sword.  On one hand. I could just shrug it off and think, no big deal, on the other, I could definitely get mad about being deceived. 

Actually, I got mad about the call rather than the mail, because the call interrupted something important.

However, despite my reaction to both of them, the direct mail piece actually accomplished more than the call did.   The call was a one-step introduction whereas the direct mail piece required me to do at least two things, look at the envelope and then open it.

 (You can easily see which was harder to do.)

Anyway, I wound up opening up the envelope hastily, and of course, it was an advertisement.  However, no matter how disappointed I was, I started thinking, “What if they did this marketing right?”  I mean, what if they put some information of real value in there about their product or if they offered me something like a free trial or even an irresistible offer that I’d have to be crazy to pass up?

I’m here to tell you that it can be done the right way, and it has been done over and over again.  You can use these types of tactics just to get the mail opened, much like the direct mail ideas that I have told you about like three dimensional objects or the Doodleopes I wrote about previously.

Picture 1

The deceptive envelope trick isn't new but it is very effective and used by some of the best marketers on the planet. (see picture 1)

However, as I said before, if you use this tactic, you better make darned sure that you have something of value to say or offer them, otherwise this tactic could backfire and you could suffer a bad reputation. 

I would only use this tactic on first time prospects because chances are you won’t be remembered, unlike if you are sending out an offer to someone who already knows, likes and has been already doing business with you.

Picture 2

Anyway, you can get these types of direct mail pieces from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.  They have all sorts of great direct mail envelopes that you can order to help you get your foot in the door with potential clients or customers.  (See picture 2)  This company has all sorts of great envelopes covering almost every type of deception or occasion.  Check them out at the link above.

There’s a Chicken Foot Inside My Mail!!!!

Mark Ellis
Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

   

How would you like to craft a direct mail piece that you knew for sure would get opened without a shadow of a doubt?   Not only would your prospect open the envelope, but they would read the cleverly crafted sales letter that you provided for them without question.  Would that interest you?  Would it, Bunky?   

   Well, this is where you can get creative with your direct mail pieces and actually get prospective clients to look at your stuff. (I am of course assuming that you have a specific target market, and that you know that your clients are hungry for what you have to offer them.  You don’t want to try selling shot guns to blind people or Dick Cheney.  Ha!)

   Anyway, in my last incredible blog post entitled “If You Don't Read This I'm Gonna Croak!!!” I talked about moving heaven and earth to get people to open your envelopes and some of the basic things you can do to move things along and get people to absolutely open your mail.  Today, I want to make you aware of a few more things that you can do to get people to really open your envelopes and read your incredibly researched, tested and retested message that you know will make them want to grab their credit cards, cell phones, or check book and buy whatever it is you are offering.  At least, that is the theory.  

   If you are old enough like me, you will remember back in the olden days, the wonderful snack, Cracker Jack had a dimension to their snacks that made kids go gaga.  As a matter of fact, many cereal companies picked up on the idea and before legal and economic reasons started to interfere, putting prizes into these packages was a big hit.  Anytime someone says “Free” you can bet there will be an immediate attraction to the item or event.  I can’t tell you the number of times my wife wanted to drive clear across town because she saw an ad in a newspaper that Joe’s Warehouse promised the first 100 people that came into their doors a free $5 gift card. (We probably forked over $4.99 in gas just to get there.)

OK, so let’s say that you have sent out your direct mail pieces and your prospect gets a regular, legal sized envelope and you have it addressed and prepared the direct mail piece just as we told you to in our last direct mail marketing blog post.  But, this time when your prospect gets the sales letter in the mail, the envelope feels like there is something inside of it!!!

   If you were your prospect, would you want to know what was inside of there???   So, placing an item like a magnetic calendar, a pen with your business name, address and phone number, or any three dimensional object, would get someone to open your mail.

Now, you may be thinking, yeah, but that is gonna hike up the cost of my direct mail pieces!  Yep, it sure will, but considering the usual cost of a direct mail campaign, the time or money it takes to craft the sales letter, the price of your list or acquiring it and all of the other expenses, YOU WANT TO MAKE DOUBLE DARNED SURE IT GETS AT LEAST LOOKED AT, RATHER THAN THROWN AWAY!!!!!

   So, consider the slim increase versus what you could easily lose, which is the attention of your prospect.