Tag Archives: Build

Cross Promotion to Build Your List

Are You Building Your List with Cross Promotion?

Online marketing is similar to the offline, brick and mortar world in that it is a relationship business first and foremost. What I mean by this is that you can grow your online business much more quickly if you are willing to take the time and make the effort to connect with others who do something similar or complimentary to what you have to offer on the internet. This can lead to the opportunity for cross promotion to each other’s lists and communities which will grow both people’s businesses exponentially in a very short time. Expanding your reach in this way is valuable for years to come.

This cross promotion can begin in any of a number of ways, such as with guest posts on the other person’s blog, promotion of each other’s products through an affiliate link, co-hosting a webinar or teleseminar, and including more details of what each of you has to offer within a sequence of emails. Start slowly and build your relationship through this cross promotion strategy.

When I first introduce someone to my list and my community I like to do what I refer to as “seeding” my audience. This means that I will name drop the other person’s name in regards to how we met and what we have in common. The idea is to make sure your community is familiar with the other person well before you do any promotion at all. Once you do promote, even if it is for something that is free, your people will be more open to signing up and downloading something that is being offered by a name they recognize. Telling the story of how you are connected will pay off handsomely over time.

Once you do your initial cross promotion, don’t let too much time pass before doing it again. Repetition is important in our noisy world of online marketing so you want to keep the momentum going once it has begun. And using two or more types of media will also be helpful. I can introduce someone through my writing, but allowing my list to hear their voice will make a difference. You may also wish to use video, such as Facebook Live to share your thoughts and knowledge with others.

And be strategic with your cross promotion for best results. Make sure there is a reason to introduce this person to your community. If it’s a part of the story of how you are connected with them it will make sense to them. For example, if I introduce someone who helps authors write and publish books it makes complete sense if this person has been helpful to me with my authorship over the years. Think about and plan this with the other person before you begin and you will see the results you are hoping for more easily. The final result will be additions to both of your lists, more sales and downloads, and a greater reach to those who will benefit from being a part of your community.

I’m Connie Ragen Green and I work with new online entrepreneurs to help them get into profit as quickly as possible with information products, affiliate marketing, marketing for small businesses, blogging, authorship, and more. Download your Online Entrepreneur Blueprint and get started right away.

Build Your Email List with Coopetition

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You most likely know that the people you want on your list are already on someone else’s list. Instead of thinking about them as the competition I would encourage you to think of them as colleagues. Also, no one can directly compete with us as entrepreneurs because we are all unique in our thinking and approach to life and business. I prefer to use the word “coopetition” where we all cooperatively compete with one another. It’s an abundance mindset where people understand that there will always be enough for everyone.

Reaching out to your colleagues to build your email list can be an excellent way for both of you to grow your businesses. They benefit by having someone to recommend to their community and you benefit from the exposure you have to the other person’s list. Imagine suddenly having thousands of people visit your blog, opt in to your list, and connect with you on social media. Are you ready for that?

You must have a strategy in order to build your email list in this way. Start by making a list of everyone you can think of who is currently serving your target audience. These will be the people whose list you are already on, have written books on your topic, and who are in the public eye in some way. Do not be afraid to add the names of people who have been extremely successful for many years, as we cannot tell the story of what someone is thinking until we approach them individually.

Once you have a list of at least a dozen names you are ready to proceed. Locate the contact information for each person. It may be an address or phone number on their website or at the bottom of their emails, or it may be on social media. The law requires us to have our contact details visible on our blog, website, and at the bottom of our emails in order to be in compliance so this information should not be difficult for you to find. I would caution against contacting someone at their home address or with a personal email address or phone number because this will get you off on the wrong foot with them immediately.

Once you have their contact information, start with a short message where you introduce yourself and include a link to your blog or website so they will be able to take a look. Explain that you are looking for a way to share your information with their community and would like to explore how that could happen. If you have an affiliate program be sure to include the details of how they can become your affiliate. I have several free products a new affiliate is able to recommend so they aren’t asking their list to buy anything right away.

Another way to do this is to ask each person if you may interview them. My podcasts have been an excellent vehicle for reaching out to people who are not familiar with me and this will work for you as well.

You will find that people really do want to help each other and connecting with the right colleagues to build your email list is an example of how this works to benefit everyone involved. And be sure to take a look at my Really Simple List Building training course to get started right away with these and other list building strategies.

I’m Connie Ragen Green and I work with new online entrepreneurs to help them get into profit as quickly as possible. Download your Online Entrepreneur Blueprint and get started right away.

Fast Information Products to Build Your Online Business

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Create “Fast Information Products” Now

It took me a full year of thinking and planning to create my first information product. Most of this time was spent in thinking about what I couldn’t do because of a variety of reasons. These included not feeling like I had anything worthwhile to offer, believing that many others knew much more about my topic than I did, and telling myself that no one would be interested in purchasing information from me. The planning and creation of my first product only took about three days.

Once I got over my fears and lack of confidence about product creation and entrepreneurship in general, that’s when I really took off as a product creator and online marketer. It turned out that all I truly needed was a boost to my self confidence and then I realized that people were hungry for my information, knowledge, and experiences around many topics.

You can create what I refer to as “fast information products” by choosing your topic and jumping right in to decide what you will teach and share with others. This begins with your outline, where you make a list of what you will include in your info product as well as what you will exclude. This part of the product creation process is crucial to your success, as it is when we write a book or embark on any other journey for our life or business.

Once your outline is complete, begin preparing a written report for your product that can easily be turned into a PDF (portable document format) from within your word processing program. People prefer to have everything written out in this way so they can either print it out or refer to it later for reference.

Then add either an audio or video component to make sure the specifics of what you are teaching are explained and demonstrated in a clear and concise way. This will also add perceived value to what you are sharing in your information product. I would advise against creating an information product comprised of only audio or video training, as the written document is preferred by most people these days.

The final step is to write a short sales letter where you introduce yourself and your topic to your target audience. Include some bullet points listing exactly what you are teaching on your topic and also tell readers what is included in the product. Don’t forget to tell them what they are receiving so they will know if the material is written, audio, video, or a combination of two or three of these modalities.

I deliver all of my products using a membership site plugin called Wishlist Member. I was in a Mastermind with the creators of this WordPress plugin for several years and use Wishlist on more than forty of my sites.

You will find that creating fast information products is an excellent way to grow your inventory and build a lucrative online business. An example of one of these “fast information products” is one I created with Adrienne Dupree called Top WP Plugins for Business. It sells for only ten dollars and shares our top twenty WordPress plugins we use for our own businesses. Think of this as a low cost investment to learn the step by step process of how to set up and deliver fast information products to your target audience.

And download this training on “10 Ways to Create Fast Information Products” by Jimmy D. Brown to get started even more quickly.

I’m Connie Ragen Green and I’ve been an online entrepreneur since 2006. If you are ready to get started on your journey to multiple streams of online income, visit my site at Online Entrepreneur Blueprint and download your complimentary training to get started today.

Leverage the Internet to Build Your Business

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Is It Time to Leverage the Internet?

The calendar may say 2017, but are you doing business as if it were still 1999? What I mean by this is that it may be time to add an online component to what you are doing in your bricks and mortar business. Allow me to explain further exactly what I mean and to bring you fully into the new millennium by learning how to leverage the internet.

Marketing for small businesses is something I’ve done since the summer of 2007. I was new to online marketing at the time and offered to help a family member with his handyman business. He was still paying for a small print advertisement in the local newspaper, as well as for ads in a couple of local magazines. This was a costly proposition and he was just starting out. He confided in me that it sometimes took two full weeks before he was in profit each month. We agreed that I would help him out for the first month at no charge to see what would happen. I wanted to leverage the internet for his business.

First, I set up a simple site for him using the WordPress platform. The domain I used was the name of his business so that prospective clients could find him more easily. This worked extremely well. I also wrote short articles on this new site about his business, using the words anyone might type into Google if they were looking for a handyman in his location to do specific tasks for them. Within two months he pulled his ads and begin getting as many assignments as he needed from what I had set up for him.

Now I do not mean to say that print advertising is not valuable and worthwhile. If anything, it is quite the opposite. Your ads let people know you are legitimately in business and reach those for whom the internet is not a medium they trust to inform them and to find reliable and trustworthy services. Choose the publications you know and trust and continue to advertise there. But adding the online component is crucial for long term success in any business.

The second part of this marketing strategy to leverage the internet is to begin building a database of customers, clients, and prospects. This will become a valuable asset to your business over time. The idea here is to stay in touch with the people you serve so that you can open up the lines of communication more easily. Email them regularly and let them know what is happening in your industry. And use this as an opportunity to offer a discount coupon or other seasonal special.

The third and final component to small business marketing online is to offer something related to your business that can be delivered digitally. This can be a monthly audio recording that is available as a podcast on iTunes, a short book where you explain in great detail what you offer in your business, or even a physical product that could be available on Amazon and delivered by them. These components will serve to connect you with more prospects and to set you apart as someone who is at the top of their field or industry.

Setting up and maintaining a WordPress website costs about a hundred dollars each year. Setting up and maintaining a digital database is about two hundred dollars a year. Having these as a part of your business is priceless. Take a look at my Small Business Marketing training course so that you can leverage the power of the internet for your business and come into the new millennium.

How to Build an Online Business: It’s All About the Mindset

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My Story of How to Build an Online Business

When I set out to learn how to build an online business during the winter and spring of 2006 I had no idea what I was in for with this new venture. I just knew that I needed to leave my former life behind and begin something new. I had worked for twenty years as a classroom teacher, teaching grades Kindergarten through high school at four different school. And as if that weren’t enough, I had simultaneously worked in my own business as a real estate broker and certified residential appraiser. At that point I was exhausted and ready for a change. What had started out as an enjoyable career as a teacher supplemented by my work in real estate became almost intolerable after I got older and went through a serious work injury and multiple bouts with cancer.

It was during the spring of 2005 that I began to think about doing something new and changing my life in a major way. But I had no idea where to turn or what was possible for me at this stage of my life. I was about to celebrate my fiftieth birthday and yearned for something new.

I began to read books on business and entrepreneurship in search of some answers. Everyone in my life at that time knew that I was on a quest for answers and solutions to my dilemma. I have to say that people were supportive overall, yet no one seemed to have the answers I was looking for and so wanted to find. Then one night at a friend’s birthday party I was introduced to a couple by mutual friends. They had left the corporate world behind about a year earlier and were enjoying a life I could only imagine. The wife, Alicia had chosen to learn about day trading in the stock market while Patrick, the husband had gone into real estate. I was fascinated by what they had been able to achieve in such a short time and we became fast friends.

Each Sunday they got up at the crack of dawn and went hiking in our local mountains and invited me to join build an Online Business them. It was during these early morning hikes that I first had a glimpse of another life that I could have if I was willing to take full responsibility and make things happen for myself. I was more than willing to humble myself during this process and time of change. We discussed everything, from relationships and religion to business and education and everything in between. I attended their new age church with them a few times and also went to seminars and workshops they recommended. By April of 2005 my thinking had shifted and I was taking in information in a much different way that I ever had in the past.

It was during this month that a friend invited me to a real estate expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was a weekend event but I told him that I only had time to attend on Saturday. We made the forty mile drive downtown together, barely talking while sitting in heavy traffic. When we finally arrived we agreed to go separate ways until lunch, allowing us to each explore the sessions that were of interest to us individually. At lunch we would share our experiences and regroup for the afternoon.

It was fun to be away from my usual Saturday activities of real estate and classroom preparation. I had seldom taken a day for myself over the years so I welcomed this opportunity to explore new opportunities. There were sessions on buying foreclosed properties and those in probate, as well as ones on investing in multi-family buildings. Then I heard someone speaking about something I couldn’t quite understand and I went into that session and took a seat in the back row.

The man speaking was Raymond Aaron, the person who would become my very first mentor. He was explaining how much you could achieve when you led a “mentored life” and it all made perfect sense to me. An hour later I had signed up for his program and had a huge box of manuals and cassette tapes to show for it.

When my friend and I met for lunch I had a spring in my step and a twinkle in my eye, or so he later told me. I knew that most anything was possible and that I was going to start finding the answers I so longed for very quickly.

Within a couple of months of working with Raymond and following his program I had discovered the online world of business. And when I wanted to learn how to build an online business everything I needed unfolded with grace and ease. I was introduced to new business models and ways of thinking that were exciting yet challenging. I began to blog regularly and this was my first foray into the world of writing and authorship. I embraced this challenge wholeheartedly and my writing slowly began to improve.

So this is the story of how to build an online business if you are currently in a world that seems far away from any type of entrepreneurship. Once I allowed myself to live a mentored life the people I needed magically appeared. They say that when the student is ready the teacher appears and this was my experience.

Now I don’t want you to think this was easy. There were so many days when I told myself that anyone in their right mind would have given up long before that day. But I was determined to learn more each day and to not give up. I discovered that the online marketing world is filled with something motivation speaker and entrepreneur Brian Tracy refers to as “learnable skills”. And once I knew and believed that I did not have to come into this with God given talents and abilities I was then willing to learn whatever I needed to in order to achieve success.

Beginning with blogging and affiliate marketing I soon expanded to local business marketing and information product creation. This was followed by adding the business models of mentoring and consulting as well as authorship and publishing. Niche and membership sites came next and soon I had many plates spinning joyfully in the air. Learning how to build an online business was even more exciting and rewarding than I had imagined!

If you are longing to learn how to build an online business for yourself, be willing to take the time to explore just what is possible for you in your current situation. This is an amazing way to earn an excellent living and you can run your business as an online entrepreneur from anywhere in the world. I regularly work on my business from the beach in Santa Barbara or a coffee shop with wifi, and have also worked from a summer cottage at the lake in Finland, a hotel lobby in Bangkok, and an internet cafe in Amsterdam. None of this would be possible with any other job or career I can think of, and it’s so much fun. Know that you can achieve all of your entrepreneurial goals and take the steps to put the life you wish to live into motion.

I’m Connie Ragen Green and I work with new online entrepreneurs to help them get into profit as quickly as possible. Download your Online Entrepreneur Blueprint and get started right away.

Creating Your Free Giveaway to Build Your List

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Is Your Free Giveaway Complete?

Long ago, before I came online in 2006 it was said that people would opt in to your list just to be on your list. You didn’t have to promise them a newsletter or provide them with a short report or other opt in gift or free giveaway. All of what we now do on the internet was new and exciting and everyone involved looked forward to receiving email messages from people who had information on any of a variety of topics. Those days have gone the way of the dinosaur and you must accept that fact and move on.

There was a short period of time where people would join a list just to receive a newsletter, but these days that typically would only be effective for those who are already well known in their niche. The very first list I joined in 2006 was for a newsletter on being positive in our lives. This newsletter was from Jon Gordon, an author and speaker on the topics of leadership, sales, culture, and teamwork. I eagerly awaited each issue arriving in my inbox and took his valuable information and tips to heart. Jon had become an icon in my mind at that time.

For the rest of you who are not known to the world, you must provide something of value to the visitors whom you hope will opt in to your list. I have found two effective ways for you to make this happen.

There are several names for what you will offer people, including free giveaway, ethical bribe, and opt in gift. I will refer to it here as your free giveaway. Typically this would be a short report on a specific aspect of your overall topic, and could vary in length from five to thirty pages. The preferred length has gone back and forth over the years, and I now recommend that my students offer something that is between fifteen and twenty-five pages. You include a table of contents, an introduction, a resources sections, and information about the author at the end. It’s sort of a mini eBook in that it is self-contained and filled with excellent, helpful information.

At the end of your free giveaway you absolutely must include a call to action. This is what you want your reader to do next after they come to the end of your report. I send people to look at my author page on Amazon to see all of the books I have written, to one of my products or online courses, or to another one of my sites where they can find further information. The idea is to move them through a process that will serve their needs while also allowing you to share more about who you are, what you do, and what you have to offer.

Free giveaways can consist of audios and videos as well, but I would not create them without including a written component as well.

As you can see, there are many things to think about when it comes to creating and distributing your free giveaway to build your list. I offer a training on this called Really Simple List Building that continues to be beneficial to new online entrepreneurs who want to build a list and grow their business.

Online Courses to Build Your Business

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Create Online Courses

Information products can come in all shapes, sizes, and formats. One of my favorite ways to create an info product is to create online courses. I have done this over a hundred times since coming online a decade ago, and each time I perfect the process so that my students may learn it from me and implement the strategy for their own business.

I define an online course as one that can be accessed and consumed virtually, meaning that there will not be a face to face component as a part of the training course. I began by teaching on teleseminars, but for years now I have used webinars to teach a variety of topics online. Also, I record the audio separately so that people in my online courses may choose whether to watch the replay or to simply listen to the audio. Over the years I have found that the majority of people will only watch the webinar once, but want to have access to the audio to listen to additional times.

Online Courses: Choosing Your Topic

Deciding what to teach does not have to be a lengthy process. I get my ideas primarily from conversations I have with my students. I run an active mentor program where people come to me at various points in their online entrepreneurial careers and the discussions that arise lead me to teach a variety of topics. If one person asks about or struggles with something related to their business, then I know that many, many more people are also stuck on that topic. I make some notes and then create a new online course to answer the questions that need to be answered and to share some strategies that are working for me.

You may also come up with ideas based on news articles, discussions in a forum or on social media or even from face to face contact with people you know, and by thinking of things that you struggled with in the past. Ideas are everywhere and when you think about the problems and solutions people have and are seeking you will quickly come up with viable topics for online courses you could teach.

Online Courses: Delivery

Like I stated earlier, I deliver my online courses using webinars. I may also include handouts, checklists, study guides, and other materials. In this live interaction with my students I am able to guide them through my course over a period of several sessions. In between each session I assign them activities and tasks that will enrich their experience and bring them closer to achieving their goals.

Online Courses: Accessibility

Membership sites work well for accessing materials and replays for your online course. This can all be set up quickly and easily by you or someone who helps you with the technology portion of your online business. This way your students may log in to the member’s area whenever it is convenient for them and consume your training at their own pace.

I teach a popular training course on how to do everything I have discussed here, and more in my Really Simple Online Courses training program. I would love to teach you everything I know on this topic so that you could get started right away with this lucrative business model.

Repurposing Content to Build an Online Business

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Why Repurposing Content Just Makes Sense

When I create content of any type, and that would include written content, audio recording, and videos, it isn’t long before I begin repurposing content into other formats. I’m going to share with you here how to get started with this marketing and content creation strategy for best results in your own online business.

You may be thinking that people do not wish to be exposed to the same or similar content more than once, but I have found that not to be true at all during my decade working as an online entrepreneur. Instead, we all welcome the opportunity to revisit topics again over time, especially in a variety of formats.

You have a different learning style and preference than the next person, and if you are able to consume information in a way that is easier and more enjoyable for you to absorb then you will benefit. And if your business has grown within the last 6 months? If so, there’s a good chance that your content is going to be reaching an all new audience for the most part. Also, I’ve found that if I wait at least six months to share content with my community they are quite receptive to it.

Repurposing content is based on finding evergreen (something that will be relevant for many years to come) content and turning it into a slightly different format to share. For example, repurposing content that was originally created in a written format into audio or video content makes a lot of sense. My personal preference is to consume content while reading and listening to it simultaneously, and many people love this as well. You will want to survey your target audience to see which formats they prefer before you begin repurposing content for them.

Start by reading through your blog posts to see which ones could be put together into a short report with audio or a slide presentation. The best idea is to combine your content into something new that is also more substantial in terms of length. Then get busy repurposing this content and immediately begin distributing it to your community, both as free giveaways and as paid products and courses.

If you make a plan and a schedule for this, you will find that you have more content than you could ever get to over time. Perhaps spending two days a week in content creation and three days a week repurposing content will be the most effective strategy for you. Find a rhythm that works for you and stick with it for at least a month before evaluating what you have done.

As you can see, the idea of creating content and then repurposing it into other formats is a solid business model that can be replicated easily over the lifetime of your business.

I’m Connie Ragen Green, online marketing strategist, bestselling author, and international speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship and inner game mind shifts. Let’s connect to see how I may best serve you in the near future. Be sure to take a look at my Really Simple Content Marketing training course to help get you started on how to think like a publisher.

Thank You Pages to Build Your Online Business

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Strategic Thank You Pages

Few products stand alone. There is always something more to learn, tools to help us be more efficient, and related concepts to explore. Your download, or thank you page is the perfect place to help your buyers discover additional resources, and to build your passive income portfolio.

If you are not creating strategic thank you pages for your opt in pages and product/course/service download pages you are most definitely leaving money on the table. I did this during my first few years online and now know better.

Consider adding:

Coupon codes for additional purchases – I do this for my Internet Marketing Six Pack course
Recommendations for related products (yours or affiliate products)
Bonus downloads with promotional links

If it helps, think of this as adding value to your buyers (because you are) rather than selling them additional products. You don’t have to be pushy to create a solid passive income strategy, but you do have to care about your buyers’ experience. When you keep that in mind, sales come naturally.

You may also want to use your thank you pages to ask readers and clients to take a survey. Keep it short and ask specific questions you actually want answered to help you grow your business. For instance, you may want to ask them what products and courses they would most like to see you develop. Five to ten questions is a good length for a survey.

Another excellent addition to your thank you pages is asking them to tell you a little more about themselves by answering the following questions:

What are you struggling with (and how may I help you to fix it)
What are your goals (as specific as possible) for this year?
What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to [your topic]?

And finally, ask for their feedback. Asking for specific feedback gives you a more complete picture about what, why and how your community interacts with your site, products and services. Getting the answers straight from your them is your secret weapon for spotting problems and opportunities in your business. Whatever you do, make sure to make the most of your thank you pages.

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Connie Ragen Green Shares Internet Marketing Updates

Tag Archives: Build

Fast Information Products to Build Your Online Business

Leverage the Internet to Build Your Business

Is It Time to Leverage the Internet?

How to Build an Online Business: It’s All About the Mindset

My Story of How to Build an Online Business

Online Courses to Build Your Business

Create Online Courses

Online Courses: Choosing Your Topic

Online Courses: Delivery

Online Courses: Accessibility

Repurposing Content to Build an Online Business

Why Repurposing Content Just Makes Sense

Thank You Pages to Build Your Online Business

Strategic Thank You Pages