Tag Archives: Marketing

Online Marketing Tips Podcast: Affiliate Marketing Tips Online

Affiliate Marketing Tips for Online Entrepreneurs

This most recent podcast is a discussion of affiliate marketing tips that will allow you to have a stream of online income as you build your business as an entrepreneur. I explain this business model as one in which you “recommend what you love” to others who would most benefit.

Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. In other words, affiliate marketing is recommending what you love in return for a commission. My all new course on this topic, Really Simple Affiliate Marketing, will be available by the first week of April.

I shared exactly what you need and what you don’t need as an affiliate, and which platforms are typically used by product creators to attract the best affiliates. This episode also includes a Study Guide, which you may download here. It’s the one dated March 18, 2016 and is two pages long. I recommend printing it out and saving it for a reference guide.

The first step in affiliate marketing is to make the decision to pursue this as a business model, and the next step is to choose a niche to work in and promote products. Next comes the process of carefully selecting the people and products you will recommend. We also discuss the importance of creating and marketing content regularly to build your credibility and visibility as an affiliate marketer. It was in 2009 that I was first referred to as a “Super Affiliate”, a term used to describe someone who can help you launch your product or course in a major way. I was in Austin at the time for the Traffic & Conversion Summit and that impacted the way I thought about my online business in a way that changed my thinking forever.

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.

I certainly hope these affiliate marketing tips will be beneficial to you as you grow your business. Online entrepreneurship is most definitely a worthwhile goal.

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!

Subscribe To My Online Marketing Tips Podcast Today!

Internet Marketing Six Pack

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The Internet Marketing Six Pack Course

When I came upon the idea of starting an online business I didn’t have a clue as to where I should start. In search of an outline or step by step model or instructions, I finally came to the conclusion that I would have to spend the time to figure it out all on my own. With the help of a few mentors I then created my own information that people all over the world have now benefited from. At the beginning of 2016 I turned these years of experience into The Internet Marketing Six Pack. This is the culmination of what I have learned, refined, implemented, and taught since coming online as an entrepreneur in 2006.

The course is broken down into six modules and includes:

Getting Started as an Online Entrepreneur
Two Models – Affiliate Marketing and Information Product Creation
Content Creation, Publication, and Syndication
Credibility, Visibility, and Joint Ventures
Technology for Online Entrepreneurs Made Simple
Advanced Strategies, Techniques, and Business Models

The idea of starting online with affiliate marketing continues to be an excellent one. Most of us come to the Internet with very little background in marketing or product creation, and the idea of being able to promote and recommend other people’s products and courses just makes sense. It is with this model that I was able to “learn while I earned” and observe firsthand what made online entrepreneurship work so well. This business model also enabled me to cultivate and grow my relationships with some of the top marketers in the world.

Creating information products first seemed like a difficult task, but later on I realized that I was simply sharing my knowledge, insights, and experiences in a specific area with those who wanted to know more about the topic. Once I had this idea firmly entrenched in my mind I was off and running as a successful inform product creator and marketer.

Building and increasing my credibility and visibility came more naturally to me, even though there was no social media during my first year on the Internet and I knew little about what I was working so hard to achieve. By turning myself into a writer I was able to share my messages with the world and get the word out about what I was doing and how I could be of service to others. This started with submitting two hundred fifty word articles to the article directories. Soon I followed with weekly teleseminars and short videos. Every single day I expanded my reach with what I was writing or recording. My view of what was possible changed as I became more productive and my online income increased dramatically.

Some joint ventures followed, and these were typically with people whom I had met at live marketing events. Dr. Jeanette Cates and I created courses together, followed by a half dozen live events. These ventures gave me an opportunity to observe how things were done more professionally than what I was accustomed to in my own business.

The technology had been challenging since the very beginning, so when I teamed up with “The Technology Tamer”, as Jeanette was known at the time, I had discovered a method of helping myself learn while also helping others. Together we created, implemented, and taught technology in a way that made it all more simple and effective in setting up a business on the internet.

Authorship came with the publication of my first book in 2010. It was entitled Huge Profits With a Tiny List – 50 Ways to Use Relationship Marketing to Increase Your Bottom Line and was based upon strategies I shared within my articles and blog posts. Once I had published this book I was seen and perceived in a much different way than I had been previously. I had arrived.

What have your experiences been since becoming an online entrepreneur? Which areas do you still need help with in your business? How may I best serve you?

Online Marketing Tips Podcast: Live Marketing Events

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This most recent podcast is a discussion of the value in attending live marketing events, as well as how content marketing can be of great value to your online business.

I shared several stories about live events, including the first time I attended a large marketing event in Atlanta, why the questions people ask at live events are more important than what is discussed, and how to actually earn money both while you are at the event and immediately after returning home. Live marketing events connect you with like-minded entrepreneurs with whom you can do Joint Ventures and brainstorm your thoughts and ideas. My next live event is Weekend Marketer Live! in Los Angeles at the end of April, 2016.

We also discuss the importance of creating and marketing content regularly, how to “blog your book”, and how content can build your online business more quickly than anything else you do. Remember than content can be written, audio, or video, or even a combination of these to reach people with different learning styles and preferences.

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 t’s always from someone I know, trust, and highly recommend as a great value to you as an online entrepreneur.

Are you already a part my list community and receiving my daily email updates? 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.

Subscribe To My Online Marketing Tips Podcast Today!

Time Effective Content Marketing Strategies

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Time Effective Content Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs

Recently I worked with a small group of entrepreneurs at my Retreat in Santa Barbara. They wanted to know how they could create relevant content for their business websites and blogs without feeling like they were stuck in front of the computer endlessly with the writing process. There are several strategies I teach on this very topic, and we will go into more detail with the top three here. They are original content, curated content, and guest writing.

Writing original content is always going to be one of the best content marketing strategies when it comes to building your business and your brand. You know your topic inside and out and have both an interest and a passion for it that no one else will have. Time management is possible when you schedule out both the topics you wish to write about and the days and times you will sit down and commit to writing. I tend to do this during the early morning several days each week. I keep a small legal pad on my desk so that I always know what I will be writing about. Research time is kept to no more than five minutes for any piece of writing, and the writing is limited to anywhere from three hundred fifty to about eight hundred words in total. Over time you will develop your “voice” so that readers get used to your tone and inflection through your writing.

The second method of content marketing is through something that is referred to as “curated” content. This is content based on someone else’s original writing and then expanded upon by you with your thoughts, opinions, and examples. There are some excellent writers on every topic you can think of whom regularly create content that can be curated. In my business I have used writing from people like Seth Godin and Neil Patel to curate my own articles and posts. They teach and inspire me and I like to put my spin on their work to connect my audience to these new concepts. Everyone wins with curation.

Guest writing is the third method of content creation I will address here. This was first brought to my attention when it was taught to me as “guest blogging” more than ten years ago now. The idea is to trade original articles with people in complimentary niches and industries so that you are all exposed to different audiences over time. This was very intimidating to me when I was first online working as an entrepreneur. The others all seemed so experienced and professional in my opinion, and I was just starting out. When I made the decision to jump in and write something I believed to be of interest it was the best decision I could have made.

By now you can see that there are many ways to honor your time and still create enough content to publish on your sites on a regular basis. Spend some time planning out topics you can include as original content, curated content, and guest written content and see how well this serves you in your business. Content truly makes the world go ’round, and these strategies will help you with managing your time as a content marketer.

I am reminded of a quote from Anne Tyler. “If I waited until I felt like writing I’d never write at all.” Once you learn how to get your writing done in a reasonable amount of time this will make even more sense as a business and marketing strategy.

Content marketing is all about positioning yourself as an expert, continuing to create massive visibility, and building credibility for yourself and your business.

Mentoring with Connie Ragen Green in the Online Marketing Incubator

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Hands Holding Mentor

Connie Ragen Green Incubator Mentoring

The Connie Ragen Green Incubator program is personalized mentoring with me. I prefer to use the word mentor rather than coaching because mentoring involves a relationship wherein the mentor guides the mentee and promotes them and their business. I have been described as a stage mother, or as a mother hen guiding her chicks to success in the big world of internet marketing. I consider this to be the most sincere form of flattery, as my people do achieve their goals after working with me and following my recommendations as to the steps and actions they must take in order to grow their businesses.

The word incubator comes from an idea used around the world to describe a group of like-minded individuals who come together regularly, typically in person, to explore ideas and establish strategies for business growth. My Incubator is primarily virtual, even though we do meet face to face at my live events twice a year in Los Angeles and at my Retreats in Santa Barbara throughout the year.

What Exactly Does Mentoring Involve?

First, let’s talk about what mentoring is. Essentially, a mentor helps a client/mentee with a specific problem within their expertise to clarify the issue, identify any blocks, and helps the mentee move forward toward reaching their goals by choosing a sequence of actions, helping them create a strategy and holding them accountable. They’ll help lead the mentee to success.

As you can see by the definition, there are a lot of problems with mentoring as a career in terms of finding a way to earn more money, since mentoring can be so time-consuming. It takes a lot of time, not only one-on-one with the client, but also time outside of working with the client to find the right solutions for the client.

The issues that you may have as a mentor are:

Time Intensive – Spending one-one-one time with clients is time intensive. It can also be draining. Most mentors find working one-on-one with too many clients difficult, if not impossible. They find that four to six clients a month is more than enough to keep them super busy and occupied but not enough to earn the kind of money they want. Instead, as a mentor I pick and choose the clients I wish to work with so that the relationships are mutually beneficial and joyous for everyone involved in my Incubator Mentoring Program. I am also able to work with more people as I implement strategies that work.

Trading Hours for Dollars – You have to charge enough per hour to make it worth it. You’re not going to be able to book 40 hours a week for billable clients so you have to charge quite a lot to make a living. It can be difficult to find the right clients who will spend that type of money on a regular basis. Having the proper attitude about this will make all of the difference in your results and your income.

Finding Enough Clients – Most mentoring courses teach you to find about ten clients a month. At $500 a month per client you’ll be earning $5000 a month working. Even if you only provide two 1-hour session a month per client, then add in the time you work that’s not billable, you’ll easily be working twenty to thirty hours a month just talking to clients. Add to this the time you have to spend marketing and finding those clients. The rest of your time, in my opinion and based on my experience, must be spent with actually doing the things you are mentoring on, such as affiliate marketing, product creation, teaching online courses, and authorship.

Choosing a Viable Niche for Specialization – Picking a niche is an important part of being an effective mentor. You want to present a perspective client that you are focusing on a particular area of their life or business to help them, such as parenting or social media marketing. Picking the right niche is imperative if you want to be successful. My niche is online marketing and content creation, as these are the areas where I continue to excel.

Getting Your Mentees to Follow Through – It can be really frustrating to know what’s best for your clients but have them not follow through. These types of clients will often also drop out of your mentoring program, which means you have to find yet another one to fill the spot. I like to think of myself as a mentor who both inspires and motivates my mentees, and then shows them specific ways to grow the business they are imagining.

Not Having One Main Focus – This is like choosing a niche, but even stronger. You need one main thing that you’re an expert in to differentiate you from the rest of the mentors out there. You can’t be everything to everyone. This can be both empowering and limiting when it comes to being a mentor. I focus on affiliate marketing, information product creation, and authorship as a way to differentiate myself, based on what I have the most experience in and actually do within my own online business.

Not Having Other Products and Services – Many mentors think all they need is to talk to people on the phone once or twice a month to be successful. But, if you don’t have other products and services that relate to your mentoring practice, it will be hard to fill your client roster. I have more than forty information products and online training courses, as well as more than a dozen bestselling books in my inventory.

If you can break through these issues, you can create a thriving mentoring business that involves a lot more than one-on-one mentoring, help more people and earn a lot more income in the process. Being a mentor and running my Online Marketing Incubator are the most satisfying and rewarding parts of my business.

If you would like to know more about the Connie Ragen Green Incubator Mentoring Program, please take a look at what I offer and then contact me if you have more questions. I would love to have you in the group!

Smart Marketing Goals

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Smart Marketing Goals

Goal setting is an important part of doing business. You have to set goals for every aspect of your business and that most certainly includes marketing. You’ve likely heard that goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. The acronym for this strategy is S.M.A.R.T. The reason this is a good plan of action is that it gives you a place to start when it comes to setting out your own smart marketing goals. You might think that the goal of marketing is always selling, but it’s not. It’s actually all about building relationships and serving others.

Know Your Purpose

You may have smart marketing goals for various purposes for your business such as spreading awareness, building your email list, getting more social engagement or something else entirely. The important thing is to understand the purpose of the marketing that you’re doing.

Where Do You Stand Now?

If you don’t have much of a list or a social media following, then it’s important to access what you should do first. Should you build more of a following and if so, exactly how will you accomplish it?

Where Do You Want to Be?

Look toward the future of when you meet the goal that you set for yourself based on where you currently stand.

Determine What Is Next

Always knowing what you’ll do next when you reach a particular goal is helpful to setting the best marketing goals for your business. It’s always first things first – build your blog, build your list, market to the list. Repeat.

Map It All Out

Creating a map of where you have been, where you are now, and where you want to go will help you succeed in the marketing goals that you set for yourself. It will also enable you to see gaps in your choices so that you can fill them.

Don’t Jump the Gun

If you haven’t tried content marketing yet, don’t spend thousands of dollars on banner advertising. You want to start where you are now, and work your way up to where you want to be.

Understand Your Audience

All marketing starts with your audience, and without knowing who they are it will be difficult to create a marketing plan that will work for you.

Know Your Products and Services

Understanding how your products and services benefit your audience will also help you know where to start with your marketing efforts. Does your audience know that they need what you have, or do you need to educate them?

Do the research you need to do in order to know your audience, learn your products, and to evaluate where you stand today. This is necessary to ensure that you choose the best smart marketing goals for your business today and in the future. What works for you today may not work for your business tomorrow.

I teach a course on Really Simple Content Marketing that ties in directly with the smart marketing goals I share here. Add your name to my list in order to learn more about this at the end of February, 2016.

Social Media Marketing – Your 2016 Update

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Social Media Marketing for 2016

A reader contacted me recently to discuss using social media to build her business. She says that she is an introvert and that she doesn’t feel comfortable spending so much time on the various social media sites in order to build her business quickly. Being an introvert myself, I feel like this is a topic that deserves further discussion.

Being an early adopter of social media, my motto from day one was to “get in, get out, and get back to work”. When Facebook opened its doors to the general public in 2008 (prior to this it was intended only for college students who had an email address issued by the institution they were attending) we were all faced with the dilemma of deciding how much information was enough and how to best connect with other people so as to promote our businesses.

Twitter came to life soon after, and this further complicated the issue in that we only had one hundred and forty characters in which to grab someone’s attention. In some ways this was a relief, as we could quickly announce where we were or what we were having for lunch and at least feel like we were a part of the conversation. Over time this gave way to being able to post pictures via a third part application such as Instagram, so that our followers could at least have a visual of what we were sharing through our carefully chosen words.

Fast forward to 2016, and social media has now gone through an even more sophisticated incarnation. Think of it as a way to syndicate your content in cyberspace. For example, the post you are reading here will already have made its way from an offline publication I write for monthly, to a half dozen social media sites before it ever hits the electronic format you are reading here on my blog.

Thinking of it in this way allows you the time to carefully put together your message in a way that will tell the story of who you are, what you have to offer, what’s new in your industry, and how it will benefit your target audience long before you hit “send” or “reply” on your computer. Add to this the ability for you to start and continue a dialog with your market and you have the perfect storm for no cost advertising and reputation building. When you think of social media in this way it changes your perspective quite a bit, I would imagine.

Get started by reviewing your profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other sites you wish to get involved with to promote and grow your business. Start slowly, making sure to have a picture that adequately represents you (actually looks like you!), and that your information is clear, concise, and up to date. Assume that people who connect with you will want to reach out and do so through your website, the telephone, and even in person.

Now spend some time lurking on each site to get an idea of what people are posting. Attempt to be an objective as possible when deciding if what you are observing is beneficial to business connection and growth or just downright silly. Make some notes about posts that make you want to know more about someone and their business. Ask questions like:

Would an image or a video be helpful here?
How can I best share my business values?
What do I want people to do after they connect with me?

Now jump in and make some posts and updates to your main profiles. Start slowly, giving some detailed information about something directly related to your business or your personal values. For example, you may wish to mention that you are at your Rotary Club meeting and listening to a speaker on a specific topic. Over time this will become more fun, as the people you are with are most likely also on social media and will like it when you include them in your posts and updates. This is an example of how we all help each other using social media marketing.

As you can see, spending time on social media can be a worthwhile venture. Set up your profiles, observe what others are doing, and then get started right away to share your message and your business with prospects near and far. What other questions do you have about social media marketing?

Online Marketing Tips Podcast: How to Start An Internet Business

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Start an Internet Business

My podcasts are designed to help you start an internet business with as much help and guidance as possible. I’ve been hosting these virtual trainings since 2007 and began repurposing them into podcasts on iTunes back in 2011.

I begin this training call with a discussion of time management, an area of strength for me that I have developed purposely over the years. Then I share my thoughts on the concept of “Core Competencies” as assets in your life and in your business. My own core competencies are in the areas of time management, content creation, and teaching marketing strategies pertaining to online marketing.

I also answer questions about using press releases to promote your online business, as well as any physical products you may be selling on Amazon or other platforms. Others questions include the use of immediate upsells on internet offers and why this style is not for everyone. We also discuss local business marketing as a faster way to earn online income than even affiliate marketing, using the Pretty Link plugin for WordPress to share affiliate links. Social media marketing is another area we cover, and I share the site that brings me the most business and virtual reach on a regular basis. Then we go on to answer the question “Who will I serve in my online business?”, as well as discussing what failure means to us an online entrepreneurs.

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 and see what I am recommending this week. It’s always from someone I know and highly recommend as a great value to you as an online entrepreneur.