Category Archives: Online Marketing Tips

Metaphors for Your Online Business

Using Metaphors for Your Online Business Story

A metaphor is a figure of speech that refers to something as being the same as another thing for rhetorical effect. Examples include “those two friends are peas in a pod” and “the park was a lake after the big rain”. Using metaphors for your online business can be an effective way to incorporate storytelling into everything you share with your community.

My favorite type of metaphor is a parable, which is simply an extended metaphor that is narrated as an anecdote. An example of this is the illustrating and teaching done in works such as Aesop’s fables. In my own business I regularly use the metaphor “time is money” to teach the importance of time management.

Recently I was watching a broadcast over on YouTube where visibility expert Denise Wakeman interviewed Michael Kass and Tea Silvestre Godfrey on the topic of How to Use Metaphors to Tell Your Story. This conversation was brilliantly crafted to explain exactly how and why these are so crucial to our businesses.

I can remember attending an online marketing conference years ago when I was just getting started with my own Internet business. As I approached the large conference room there were groups of people gathered in circles, talking about a variety of topics related to themselves and their businesses. I didn’t know anyone there so I just stood by myself for a few minutes, listening to bits and pieces of conversations. One circle of people to my left was talking about a woman who used to be a school teacher and was now becoming successful as a marketer on the Internet. I leaned in a little bit closer to see if I could hear them mention her name. Imagine my surprise when one of them said “Connie Ragen Green”!

At that point I went over and introduced myself to the group. This was an important lesson for me. I learned on that day that my story would precede me and that it was completely up to me to share a story about myself that would portray me in the light in which I wished to shine. Ever since that time I’ve used metaphors and storytelling as a regular part of my marketing strategy.

Stories also make everything easier for people to remember. When you think about Abraham “Honest Abe” Lincoln, can’t you just picture him walking several miles to return someone’s change when he worked at the general store? And as Tea Silvestre Godfrey reminds us during the broadcast:

“If you’re attempting to teach anything, it’s more effective to teach with a story than with presentation of data.”

What’s your story? How are you sharing it with your audience? I recommend that you spend an hour watching Denise Wakeman’s broadcast I referenced above and learn how your stories will enhance everything you do and how to use metaphors for your online business story, while also taking advantage of how this will set you apart from others in your niche.

How to Write Effective Web Sales Copy

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Writing Web Sales Copy That Sells

I believe that learning to write effective web sales copy (copywriting on the Internet to sell products, services, courses, and more) was the best investment of time and money I could ever have done for my business during my first year online. Now that I have more than fifty different products for sale on the Internet, my web sales copy is like a sales team always at the ready to assist me in making sales 24/7/365. And the interesting part of this is that it didn’t have to take me a full year to learn how to do it. Now you can get started in as little as ten days.

I was given a review copy of a new training on copywriting by Dennis Becker, and I’d like to share my thoughts on this with you within this post. I also decided to do some additional research before publishing it here.

I was reading a post by Derek Gehl over at the Entrepreneur site called Make Your Sales Copy Sell: 7 Tricks to Writing Copy that Brings in Business where he says that:

Writing good sales copy doesn’t have to be hard–you just use a formula. Plug in all the elements, and you’ll create a whole that’s bigger than the sum of its parts.”

I agree, up to a point. When you are new to copywriting it’s easy to get confused by the glib comments of more experienced copywriters and marketers. Writing effective web sales copy takes practice, and that is exactly what you get from a new training just released by Dennis Becker. It’s called CopyBox and is a ten day copywriting challenge and short course on how to get started with copywriting to sell your products and services online. And it’s quite inexpensive as well. Dennis says:

Learning how to write good sales copy is one of the most valuable and profitable skills you can pick up in your business career. Because once you know how to craft irresistible, sizzling sales letters, then you’ll have the power to sell anything to anyone!

That’s why I’ve put together this 50+ page hands-on course, where you’ll get a step-by-step guide for crafting high-response sales letters. This includes:

*Ten daily modules where you learn exactly how to write sizzling copy!
*Ten daily assignments to go with each module. If you follow along, you only need to invest a few minutes a day to write a new piece of your copy – and in just 10 days you’ll be ready to roll with a high-response sales letter!

I love this type of “short course” where you can go through the materials quickly and easily over a ten day period. And I promise that if you do that you will most likely look forward to writing copy instead of dreading it like I once did. And Dennis provides dozens of examples and tips throughout this entire course to make it easier than ever for you to create your own sales letter.

One other part of Derek’s post that you will find helpful is this one on the topic of features and benefits:

Talk about benefits, not just features.
Your potential customers want to know how your product or service will make their lives easier, so focus on benefits, not features. Here’s an example:

Feature: The Grade A Gardening Shovel is ergonomically designed to remove weeds more efficiently than traditional shovels.

Benefit: Get your weeding done in half the time and reduce wrist soreness!

A benefit answers the question “What’s in it for me?” and gets visitors to imagine using your product to take care of the problem they’re trying to solve.”

So if you are ready to jump in to the world of copywriting for the Internet, grab Dennis Becker’s Copy Box and start your ten day challenge and course of study. You’ll be glad you did, as this is a necessary part of online marketing that you can’t afford to be without. And you might even decide you like it enough to write web sales copy for others. Yes, that’s something that is in high demand among those of us working exclusively online, and learning how to do this part of the business effectively could be your next career.

Excellent Ideas on Networking for Entrepreneurs

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Networking for Entrepreneurs

Even though my business is primarily on the Internet, I find myself coming face to face with people on a regular basis. Whether it’s at the two live marketing events I host each year, speaking at someone else’s event, or connecting with people at meetings, I find myself connecting with prospects, clients, and entrepreneurs regularly throughout the year. The concept of specifically networking for entrepreneurs is one that had eluded me.

It used to be that I would introduce myself and give a short explanation of what I did and then focus on listening to the other person in order to get to know them and fully understand what they were doing in their business. For years I did this same thing each time and finally I grew weary of the process of repeating the same thing over and over and not seeing the value of meeting so many new people. At some point I stopped attending most the Chamber of Commerce events, and only spent time with the charitable and non-profit organizations that mean so much to me.

At my last live event I invited Leslie Cardinal to present to my group on the topic of networking. She’s an expert in this area and I knew that I would pick up some excellent tips from her, right along with my event attendees. Recently she wrote a post on her blog about Three Easy Ways to Follow Up After Networking and here is some of what she shared:

First, if you gathered some business cards from the people you met, take a minute to look through them. Don’t try to follow up with everyone you met. That can feel overwhelming. Just pick two or three or four people who seem most important to you at this time.

Second, for the handful of people that you choose to follow up with, decide on the best method for your follow up. You can call them or send them an email or a text message. Another very powerful option is to send an actual written card in the mail.

Third, see if you can find the people you just met in social media sites, especially LinkedIn and Facebook. If it seems appropriate, send them an invitation to connect. Add a sentence or two to your request to personalize it, rather than just sending a generic request. This can be as simple as “I really enjoyed meeting you at the meeting this afternoon,” or “It was great to see you again at the networking meeting yesterday.”

Aren’t these excellent ideas for networking? The whole idea with networking for entrepreneurs is to help you connect with people whom you can serve with the skills you have to offer. What other tips, ideas, and thoughts do you have about networking?

Podcast: Blogging for Your Business

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Blogging for Your Business for Online Entrepreneurs

This most recent podcast is a discussion of the importance and relevance of blogging for your business as an online entrepreneur. Here are some of the points I explain in great detail:

The question is…are you blogging for your business on a regular basis?

Your blog is your “home on the Internet”.
A hosted WordPress site is your best option.
Post twice a week during your first year and once a week thereafter.
Use keyword phrases in your permalinks.
Always ask yourself if what you are doing is moving you closer to or further away from your dreams and goals and then adjust your behavior, thoughts, and actions accordingly.

Think about each of these points, listen to the podcast, and then comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts on these ideas and concepts in regards to how blogging for your business will enable you to be a more successful entrepreneur.

I also discuss how blogging for your business will help you to find your voice, how you can “blog your book”, and the four types of content for your blog – original writing, guest posts, curated content, and PLR (private label rights) content.

Are you ready to be surprised? Recently, I have introduced a new feature during these podcast training calls. I will always have the latest course or program, either one of my own or one offered by someone I highly recommend, at my Surprise! link. Check it out today and see what I am recommending this week. If it’s not my own program, product, course, or live event then it’s always from someone I know, trust, and highly recommend as a great value to you as an online entrepreneur.

My most recent book is now available. It’s entitled Doing What It Takes: The Online Entrepreneur’s Playbook and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it by way of a review on Amazon.

Are you already a part my list community and receiving my daily email updates and training? If not, please give me your first name and primary email address in the form on the right-hand side of this site. If you are brand new to my podcasts, you will be interested to know that this specific training call, as well as all of the calls in my podcast series is intended to teach you and other new online entrepreneurs how to take your business to the next level quickly and effectively, and as a way for me to share my exact methods, techniques, Case Studies, secrets, and advice on creating a profitable and lucrative online business using the ‘multiple income streams’ approach. People on six continents have now discovered that starting an Internet business is the very fastest way to achieve both time and financial freedom, as well as to great success in all areas of your life, and you need help to get there quickly. That’s why I started this online marketing tips podcast for my community.

You will see that each podcast session is first recorded live as a teleseminar, and then repurposed into a podcast to extend my reach to the world. Please join my list (opt in on the right) to be included on these calls, and be sure to introduce yourself and share your site for optimal exposure for years to come! Also, check out my Podcast Show Notes site to see how you can subscribe at no cost to both of my podcasts, and please leave me a review on one or both of them if you are so inclined.

If you would like to get started earning income online right away then I recommend affiliate marketing as the stream of income that will allow you to “earn while you learn” You may now pick up my popular training on winning affiliate contests and other online marketing tips for only seven dollars at Affiliate Contest Secrets. This training regularly sells for $27. Use the discount code CONTEST to bring the price down to $7. This training has been completely updated for 2016 with the latest information, strategies, and Case Studies for you to use in your own business.

Please be sure to leave your comments below so that I may get to know you better and to serve you as you continue your journey as an online entrepreneur. Getting started with an online business will change your life forever and my reward is your massive success!

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Save Time and Increase Productivity with Keyboard Shortcuts

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Keyboard Shortcuts to Save Time

I’m all about productivity and time management in my life and my business. Recently I was searching for some information on this topic and came upon an article on the Reader’s Digest site about making web browsing easier using keyboard shortcuts. Before I share some of their tips, let’s discuss what shortcuts are and how they work.

In computer language, a keyboard shortcut is a series of one or several keys that invoke a software or operating system operation (in other words, cause an event) when triggered by the user. The meaning of term “keyboard shortcut” can vary depending on which type of computer you are using (PC or MAC) and which operating system for that type of computer.

The Reader’s Digest shared a number of keyboard shortcuts that make everything you do much easier. Here’s one I wish I had known about long ago:

Type too small on a given web page? CTRL + Plus zooms you in, while CTRL + Minus zooms you out.

Actually, I needed this one recently and it was the amazing Kelly McCausey who helped me out. The text on my other main site, Huge Profits Tiny List somehow shrunk overnight. Knowing about this Control Plus or Minus saved the day.

You’ll also save time with this one:

Don’t be a slave to the scroll wheel: the next time you reach the bottom of the screen while reading a long article, hit the space bar to jump one screen-length down. Hit the space bar by accident? Just press shift + space to scroll back up to where you were.

I’ll admit that I played with this one on several sites before adding it here. This truly makes a difference when you are writing and researching simultaneously.

And if you are a multi-tab browser like I am, this keyboard shortcut will be a lifesaver:

CTRL + shift + t instantly reopens the last tab you closed (the more you press it, the older the tabs you’ll dredge up). If you usually have more than one tab open while you browse, this trick can be a life-saver. Try it now, and never forget it. If you want to open a new tab altogether, just hit CTRL + t.

No more pulling your hair out to find the sites you wanted to read. If you’re a multi-tab browser like I am this will definitely save your time and make you more productive during your workday on the computer.

By now you can see that many keyboard shortcuts are available for both PCs and MAC. Be sure to read through all of the article I referenced above to see what else will save you time and increase your productivity.

Podcast: Dan Morris & Rachel Martin of Blogging Concentrated

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Blogging Concentrated’s Rachel Martin and Dan Morris

On this podcast interview I had the opportunity to speak with the Blogging Concentrated founders Rachel Martin and Dan Morris. I’ve known Dan for more than five years, and finally met Rachel a couple of years ago when we were all speaking at an event in Toronto. They impressed me immediately with their knowledge of content creation as a means to connect with your target market, while also creating massive credibility and visibility for yourself and your business.

They share how they got started, individually and as a team, what their events consist of, and their vision for the future of Blogging Concentrated. They host live events all over the world, and they are tailored to the needs of the people they are teaching and consulting with at each venue. This is what Dan Morris has to say about the conferences he and Rachel are hosting:

My goal is to help bloggers perfect the little things that make a big difference. If the platform and infrastructure are right, we can really make headway. Every little thing we do should build upon itself, and if it doesn’t we should scrutinize why we’re doing it.

You are no different than a Fortune 500 CEO and you belong at a conference with people who feel the same way. We pay bills, raise families, and buy homes with our revenue. Let’s help each other get smarter about it.”

And Rachel adds:

I am passionate about the impact that bloggers can make in life, the ripple effect, whether it is a deal blog to a lifestyle blog to a diy blog – each of these platforms has a ripple that not only affects the blogger but also their readers’ lives.”

During this interview we are all at different locations. Dan was in his home city of Nashville, Tennessee, Rachel was on the lake in northern Minnesota, and I was near the beach in Santa Barbara, California. This is to show you that you may run a successful online business from anywhere in the world, as long as you have Internet access.

Dan, Rachel, and I also discuss the possibility of their coming to Santa Barbara to work with some non-profit groups on their blogging, social media, and other parts of their marketing strategies and techniques.

I know you will enjoy learning more about Dan and Rachel and what they are doing over at their site, Blogging Concentrated.

Subscribe To All Interviews In My Podcast Series

Tips for Authors and Self-Publishing on Amazon

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Tips for Amazon Authors

When I published my first book on Amazon in 2010 I knew that what I was experiencing was a revolution in the world of publishing. Just a few years earlier Amazon had rolled out its Create Space POD (print on demand) program, allowing people like you and I the opportunity to publish books and get them into the hands of readers without having to go through the traditional publishing process or the expense of a “vanity press” company.

Over the years this system has changed and evolved, and several years ago that was instrumental in leading me to create me own small publishing house, Hunter’s Moon Publishing. I’ve published a dozen of my own books through this company, as well as almost fifty books for entrepreneurs and small business owners who wanted to publish their book on their own terms.

But in order to play in this world of self-publishing, you must understand how it all works. I was reading a post by Brooke Warner over at Huffington Post on the topic of the top ten things all authors should know about Amazon and this one jumped out at me:

“You need to claim your book via Author Central. Many authors know this and somehow forget to do it. When you publish a new book, you must claim it. Claim books you’ve contributed to as well, if you can. Claiming books on Amazon is like collecting chips; you’re building your little empire and making your bio page more robust. Amazon Central is an extension of your author platform and should be tended to as such. Update your photo, bio, and other information as regularly as you would your website.”

I will highly recommend that you read all of Brooke’s post and bookmark it for further review. She makes some excellent points there and shares very detailed information on Amazon and self-publishing in general.

I visit Author Central regularly to update my books on Amazon. I just published my fourteenth book this week and immediately claimed it so that it would appear on my author page. I also updated my bio while I was there and added the details of my upcoming live event. Knowing the ins and outs of how everything works gives you a distinct advantage over those who do not take the time to do so.

Becoming a multiple bestselling author has changed my life in so many ways. None of this would have been possible without Amazon jumping into the publishing world. What other questions do you have for me on the topic of self-publishing on Amazon and becoming a published author?

Build Your List with YouTube

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How to Build Your List with YouTube

I’ve had my own channel on YouTube since 2011, but I haven’t truly utilized it as a list building strategy as I should have done. Recently I was reading a post from Joan Stewart (AKA The Publicity Hound) and found myself mesmerized by what she was sharing on a livestream about how we can effectively build a list with YouTube.

This is what Joan has to say about our video descriptions:

Your video descriptions (and mine too) are one of most overlooked opportunities on YouTube. That’s probably because by the time we shoot, edit and upload the video, we just want to write a few quick sentences in the description, add some keywords, and be done with it.

That’s a mistake. YouTube offers 2,000 characters for the video description—the equivalent of a 900-word article! And that’s a lot of real estate you can populate with keywords to help pull traffic.”

I have more than a hundred videos on my channel, yet I have never taken the time to write a complete description of any of my videos. This has to change!

Joan also discusses the importance of replying to the comments people leave on our videos:

Return to YouTube at least once a week and check to see if people are commenting on your videos. If they are, reply to their comments. The more interaction Google sees on your videos, the more traffic it will pull. I moderate my comments which means they don’t show up below the video until I approve them.

Pay attention to the questions people are asking within their comments. Take the time to answer. This is an excellent opportunity to encourage them to subscribe to your email list.”

I certainly hope that you can see the possibilities of putting these strategies into action so you can build your list with YouTube.I will add that Joan Stewart is one of the first people I met when I came online in 2006, and she was the first person I interviewed for a teleseminar to promote one of her courses. She is a consummate professional in the world of business.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see how I will be implementing what I have learned as well.

Content Creation Marketing for Small Business

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Content Creation Marketing for Small Business

I was reading a post by Ron Tester, small business marketing expert at Do This Not That Marketing, and in it he shares eight trends of content consumption that are noteworthy. I would like to elaborate on his fifth trend, the need for content to be multimedia in nature:

“Content Needs to Be Multimedia — Video, infographics, images, audio, eBooks, articles, blog posts and more should all be used together to create a storm of new content that works together to promote the products and/or services that you want to promote. Content can still be repurposed into new forms, but you need to put a unique spin on it. This is such an important trend, even I am creating videos. Believe me, I wouldn’t be doing it if people weren’t wanting it.”

Read this over a couple of times to make sure you understand the power of Ron’s words here.

I couldn’t agree more and would like to include one of my “lifestyle videos” from my YouTube channel to show how I use video to get my message out to the world.

I also repurpose my posts into articles, audio trainings, podcasts, and short reports on a regular basis. I learned while working as a classroom teacher that people have different learning styles, and I have kept that in the back of my mind over this past decade that I’ve been an online marketer and entrepreneur. Think about how you can use audio, video, and other types of written content to share and promote your products and services.

Content creation marketing for small business is a worthy endeavor and must be implemented regularly for best results. Learn more about the small business marketing course taught by Ron Tester and myself and join us in the member’s area.