This brilliant article is part 2 of 2 by my talented Guest Blogger and respected friend Kathleen Gage.

I highly recommend here free 3 part video training on list building too.

Why is it some people are incredibly successful at utilizing the power of the Internet in their marketing while others can’t seem to figure out the winning formula?

How often do entrepreneurs and salespeople look for that next magic formula to build their business and increase revenues, never quite making any of it work? Many people make it much more difficult to succeed than it need be, while others know exactly what to do… and they do it.

Ask anyone who has effectively integrated the use of the Internet into his or her overall marketing strategy and that person will tell you success in building your business, both online and off, is about systems. Simple as that.

Developing and utilizing systems is nothing new. Yet, the great search for the pot-of-gold at the end of the rainbow and getting-rich-quick continues.

The place you’ll find more gold than virtually anywhere else is in doing something many people just don’t find appealing. It is in developing and maintaining a solid database. Unfortunately, many people don’t find database management “sexy” enough. So they continually buy into that next “secret formula.”

Fact is, with a well-groomed database, you can increase your revenues and decrease your marketing costs. You can build customer relations and keep your name fresh in the minds of your market by keeping in touch. This establishes excellent position within your market.

Most people would be amazed at how simple it is to build an incredibly profitable database by applying a few simple strategies. Remember, simple is not always easy. It will take time, commitment and focus.

Bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to your database. Depending on your industry and what you sell, you may be well served to focus on the few dozen or few hundred who want to buy from you, rather than thousands who could care less about what you offer.

On the other hand, there will be situations where building a massive list is exactly what you need to do. Especially if you have a mass quantity of products you are selling at a very low price. Then you may want to go for the numbers.

Driving traffic to your site is an ongoing process, as is building and maintaining your database. If you are serious about using the Internet in your marketing, you need to lay the groundwork to optimize your opportunities.

- Develop a fully operational web site
- Have a way to capture contact information such as a sign-up form
- Give people a reason for leaving their contact information by way of an ethical bribe. This would include a free report or ebook, an article of interest to your target market or anything that is of benefit to the reader
- Develop a series of content-driven messages that address your customers’ needs
- Keep your name in front of your market consistently without being annoying
- Write and distribute articles to various online resources pertinent to your market
- Create a resource box containing your web address
- Do not make the articles a hard sell. Rather, provide information that positions you as a resource, before you are a vendor
- Develop a list of forums and discussion groups you can participate in
- Commit to the long-term.

By focusing on developing a solid database and providing incredible value to your market you can and will achieve success in your business. Guaranteed!

Get the FREE 3 Part Video Series from Kathleen Gage on how to build a profitable subscriber list. Click here.

Over the years we have researched and used heaps of different software. Some have been brilliant and we still use them today. Others cost us literally tens of thousands of dollars in lost sales, over-paid affiliate payments and staff time in trouble shooting problems. That doesn’t include the emotional strain of dealing with dodgy technology and uncooperative suppliers. How do you put a price on tears?

We now use a very powerful but simple combination of software tools to run our business. Each part of the software puzzle is used because it is the best at that part of the system, is simple to use and is great value. In fact, some of them are free and the rest are low cost.

In the video below, I walk you through the software we use. I show you how it is used, what we like about it and also, what are the limitations of them. This video is 1 of 6 videos in this month’s Wonderful Web Women gold member module. This month’s module takes you behind the scenes of a successful list building funnel, shows you why each section works so well and how to implement the same in your business simply and quickly. You can get life-time access to this training module by joining as a member today. This no-fuss training has been getting excellent reviews.

Any questions you have on the software I show you in this video, just leave below. I’d love to hear any questions you have and any experience you have with choosing software to run your business so leave your comments below. I’ll come back and join the conversation.

Cheers

Janet

P.S.

Links to the software:

Hosting (www.WonderfulWebHosting.com)

WordPress (comes free with your hosting. This creates your website)

Optimize Press Theme ($97). Puts your free wordpress software on steroids.

Aweber

1ShoppingCart

I share this launch with you for 2 reasons: to educate on best practice and also, in the hope that you will share this link with anyone you know who has been struggling with fertility. Gabi has helped thousands of couple conceive beautiful, healthy babies and you can potentially change the lives of the people you share this with. It may even be you?

Take the time to watch the video below and take notes as I share a lot of “behind the scenes” insights into the strategies used in this launch. A unique part of this launch is the use of a challenge.

In this video I share with you:

• The power of using challenges in your launch marketing
• The 2 big reasons to include one
• What topics to choose for a challenge
• The power of rinse and repeat
• Step-by-step what to include on a squeeze / opt-in page for maximum conversion

You can check out the program  here or forward this blog link to a friend if you think it will help them.

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1. Do you send an email out to your list or Facebook friends or Twitter to announce it’s release?

Even for seasoned marketers, the results can be really disappointing if you do that.

2. Or do you launch the program with a series of videos or reports or webinars, explaining the opportunity, sharing great content so people are impressed with your knowledge and then announce the program with a full description of what they will receive?

This is known as a launch and if you’ve been on the Internet for a while you will have come across them. They work. They work really well…if done correctly that is.

One of the best ways to learn how to apply this model to your own business is to analyse an actual launch while it takes place.

I don’t know about you but I am on the list of every experienced marketer and critically analyse all their launches. I take notes on what I observe and constantly update my mind map notes (my treasure maps) on Launches.

Today, I’ll give you a peak behind the scenes of a launch that is  right now.

NOTE: For some reason the video cut off so I have reshot the video with some extra analysis in there for you.

You can also see the video on YouTube.

Sue and Steve Soucey hit the Internet by storm about 18 months ago and I’ve been so impressed with the growth of their business and how many people they have helped. When they decided to re-open their Social Media Attractionaires course with a launch they brought me in as part of their consulting team.

So watch the video above as I take you for a bit of a walk through  some of the strategies of this launch as it happens. I’ve checked with Sue and Steve and they’re happy for me to share a few of their secrets.

Rule number one when doing a launch?

Over-deliver.

You’ll see that’s exactly what they have done as I guide you through.

Love to know what you think and any ideas you have for launching your own programs.

Cheers

Janet

P.S. Here’s the link to the WordPress theme Sue and Steve are using and I am changing our web site over to. It is that good.

I have a confession to make to you. I spent 5 years “flogging a dead horse”, telling myself that I was just about to break through the barriers and hit a big pay day. I prided myself on what I thought was the strong character trait of persistence when really I was demonstrating blind stubbornness.

It wasn’t until I had a huge wake up call and looked at my business dispassionately, that I saw clearly what the difference is.

When I focused that incredible persistence on a strong business model and really got inside the minds of my target market then whoah………the money and opportunities just started flowing. Imagine if I had focused on the right things earlier?

In this 4 minute video I share with you the difference between “sweat equity” and “flogging a dead horse” and the one thing you need to do to know the difference.

I’d love to know what you think. Please leave a comment below, share your own story and give any tips you can share with others. You can also view this video over on YouTube and leave your comments over there.

Cheers

Janet

This is one of the exercises I ran during the recent 4th Dimension Mastery workshop and it resulted in a lot of breakthroughs and Ah Ha moments.

Ready?

Create an Avatar For Your Business

I’ve heard this term bantered about on the Internet lately and first heard it from Jeff Walker (I’m studying his Product Launch Formula). This is my version and how it relates to my framework for creating a successful internet business, called 4th Dimension Mastery.

What is a Business Avatar?

You may be familiar with the movie Avatar? The human researchers take on the form of the indigenous (and gorgeous) creatures on the moon of Pandora. Or you may be aware of the original meaning of Avatar from the Hindu religion where deities / gods take on the form of humans or other creatures.

When it comes to business, an avatar is an imaginary person who represents the composite of your ideal customer. They are described in such detail that they almost seem real. Real enough for you to have a conversation with.

Well, not a real conversation (they’re an imaginary friend, not a real one OK?). But real enough for you to have a one-on-one conversation with when you write your emails, blog posts and sales letters. They are also the person you are talking to on your tele-seminars and videos.

What are the Advantages of Creating a Business Avatar?

If you get the avatar right then your ideal customer will truly resonate with every message you make. They will be naturally attracted to you and may even find themselves thinking “How did she know that is what I am thinking?” It doesn’t mean you will be excluding others who aren’t your exact avatar but you will get the message across clearly to the majority of your ideal customers.

This is how it impacts on the 4 Dimensions of a successful Internet Business:

1st Dimension: YOU

After you have created your Avatar think to yourself  “Is this a person I want to do business with?”.You have a choice you know. If you think to yourself that you’d rather not have their company then you need to look at what type of customers you really want to work with.

2nd Dimension: YOUR CUSTOMER

You need to do research to really create your Avatar. At the end of this process you will be incredibly clear on your customer needs and frustrations. I’ve given details on how to research your Avatar in the slide driven tele-class I ran today. You can listen to the recordings for the next week and watch the slide show on the replay page.

3rd Dimension: JOINT VENTURE PARTNERS

A JV partner is someone who has a very similar Avatar to you. They are already providing a complementary (though not identical) service to them. Once you are clear on your Avatar it is easy to identify potential JV Partners.

4th dimension: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

This is the dimension where your customer really interacts with you. By always communicating with your Avatar, rather than communicating as if to a blur of many customers, you will attract them, convert them to sales easier and encourage interaction in numerous ways (for example they will be more likely to comment on your blog posts if it feel as if you are talking directly to them).

How Do You Create An Avatar

Firstly, take the time to listen to this 60 minute class that goes into detail for you. It will be 60 minutes well spent.

Your Avatar should be very specific and include things such as:

• Gender
• Age
• Life Circumstances
• Income
• Biggest frustrations
• History
• Aspirations

You can even give them a name and find an image to represent them (just like with the Avatar you may choose to represent yourself in a forum or game).

Here’s Mine

To give you an idea, here’s one I prepared earlier This is an Avatar we created after an intensive survey of my customers last year. I was surprised by our findings (mainly their family situation and interests) which is a good thing in my books. Of course, this is not the profile of every customer but writing to this imaginary person makes my sales copy, blog posts etc much stronger. Ready?

My Avatar (Jenny) is between 35 and 45. She has children who are close to leaving home. She is a professional in that she has education or experience in a career and is actually pretty smart. She wants a change in her life. She doesn’t find her career as fulfilling as she would like and wants more lifestyle freedom. She wants to build her own business and is quite frustrated because, even though she knows she is capable, she is overwhelmed with how much there is to learn and where to start. She wants to build a business on her passions and she is driven by more than money. She wants to make a change in the world in some way though finance and lifestyle is also very important to her. Interestingly, she also has an interest in natural therapies, the environment and personal development. She has access to income other than her business income (through her partner, a part or full time position, or home equity) but knows she can’t rely on this for too long. She’s been learning how to build an Internet business and has taken some action already but is frustrated because she’s not making any money from her endeavours.

Sound familiar? Of course, this doesn’t exclude people who don’t fit this profile. After all, 10% of my customers for Wonderful Web Women are men. But it will only attract those who can relate to my Avatar in some way.

Your Turn

OK Here’s my challenge to you. You’ve got one week to research your Avatar (remember the recording of my tele-class) and post it here below in the comments section. If you don’t get it right the first time, that’s OK. I’ll hang out here and help you refine it further.

The Advantages of Taking Part

• You will get some great help from me and others here to nail your Avatar
• Your ideal client may visit this post and want to find out more about you (include a link to your web site or Facebook profile if you have one)
• Potential JV partners may identify you
• You’ll get links back to your web site when you comment

Yep, There’s Prizes

At the end of the week I will randony choose 3 people who have left comments. They win a copy of my best-selling book “Our Internet Secrets”, including the CDRom “How to create 17 in-demand products from just one hour’s work”

The person who creates the clearest Avatar will win my book, plus a 30 minute phone consult with me to help move your business to the next level (one-on-one consults are usually only available for my new Diamond Coaching clients).

So, get to it! Can’t wait to meet your Avatar.

Ooh that’s nice. Someone else is doing the marketing and you pocket the sales.

You email to congratulate them

Then you get another $997 sale. This time it is for tickets to a live event. But hang on……the customer is in the UK and the workshop is in Sydney. And the workshop was 2 weeks ago!

Hmmm something is not quite right here.

To find out what happened, how we worked it out, and what you MUST do if this happens to you….simply watch this 5 minute video below. Love to hear your comments so please take time to write below.

Slow down and take a little time to research. As well as looking at numbers, such as how many people are searching on your topic in Google, you want to try and get inside your customer’s head. You want to know what they think about and talk about on your topic. What are their biggest frustrations?

Here is a 3 minute video I have made for you to show you a really quick way to find your target market and eaves drop on their conversations.

Caring By Evelyn, Age 6. From www.52Virtues.com . Our "Giving Back" project

Now your customers and potential customers actively interact with each other on-line. They expect to interact with you and your brand as part of a community or tribe.
It started a few years ago with blogs. People could leave comments and start to have a say on the Internet, rather than just be passive readers of information. Then it was forums which meant they could start their own conversations.

Then came Facebook, My Space, Twitter, You Tube, Linked In……..there has been an explosion of ways people interact on the Internet and the old ways (last year) of doing business on the Internet are out the door.

It is a fundamental human need to belong. To find a group, a community/ a tribe to interact with and this is happening at a rapid pace on line. People are making buying decisions online based on peer recommendation and what they hear via social networks. Do you like what they are saying about you?

Here are 7 tips to help you tap into the Tribal Age of The Internet

This is just a taste of what you will learn if you join me in The 4th Dimension Workshop.

1. Listen To The Song in Your Heart

Social media allows your customers to get to know you on a much more personal level that in the past. They can tell if you do not truly and passionately believe in what you do and say. Spend the time to clarify for yourself first..What do you really value?
2. Know what a business really is

At it’s most basic, a business exists because you solve people’s problems. If you can provide solutions to these problems that people are willing to pay for, then you have a business. It really is that simple, yet so many people can’t tell you what problems they solve. What problems do you solve?
3. Understand whose problems you solve 

Don’t rush this. You need to really understand how your ideal customer thinks, who they are and what their problems are. Take the time to get inside their head. Before I started Wonderful Web Women I spent months talking with my target market. And where did I find them? In the queue in the Women’s Loos at Internet marketing Events! Now you can do it easier. You can find them on Facebook groups, blogs and forums.
4. Get to Know Who Already Solves Your Customers’ Problems

I grew my business very fast through the power of Joint Ventures. At it’s simplest, this means finding people who already solve problems your ideal client has. So think. What other problems does my customer have and who is already successful at helping them? I specialize in helping my closest clients form Jont Ventures with experts.

5. Create a Tribal Platform

To really harness the power of The Tribe they need a place to communicate with you and with others in your community. Importantly, you need a place to call home so you can invite them back to your place, after you’ve met in places such as Facebook, Twitter etc. The Hub of your platform is your blog. This is how they get to know what you really think. Even if you don’t have a business yet, start a blog and start writing what you think. At least it will help you define the very first step I mentioned “Listen to the song in your heart”
6. Challenge Your Customers

We are in the Tribal Age of the Internet and people need opportunities to demonstrate they are part of a tribe. A fun and simple way to do this is to provide opportunities for your customers to take actions to reach their goals, with a challenge to do it publicly. Sort of like a double-dare-you to do this. At it’s simplest, ask your friends on Facebook to define their biggest goals / ideal customer / submit a photo or video. They have a time limit and it must be “all about them”.
7. Plan To Change Lives

 If you are creating a business around your passions you have the capacity to change lives. Even one person at a time. So ask yourself this question in every marketing step you take. Can I change this slightly so that people can benefit simply by being exposed to the way I do business? I teach a test I call the 4th Win Test. It is very simple but incredibly powerful and is based on that one question.

The Relationship between Fence Sitting and Personal Branding

I want you think about the people in your industry who stand out as the leaders. There is something about them that draws people to them and often they have a polarising effect in the market. Some people LOVE them and other people can’t stand them. You may even find yourself saying sometimes “What would so-and-so say about this” or “What would they do in this situation”.

You may also find yourself thinking “geez, I can just imagine what so-and-so would say about that if they heard it”.

How do you know what they think and why do they resonate with you?

People who stand out as leaders in their field take a stand. They don’t sit on the fence and try to please everyone. They decide what they stand for and what they stand against. Now I’m not saying that leaders need to be inflexible. I’m saying they know what things matter.

This “taking a stand” is an important part of your personal brand but this is where it gets important (and powerful). To attract customers like a magnet in an online niche / community / tribe (which name you choose depends on the differing degrees of identity between the people in that group) it is essential that the stand you take resonates with the people you want to attract.

You can only be sure there is congruency between your values and those of your target market if you take the time to get to know them. Find out what makes them tick.

Here’s an example from my own experience

In online marketing people tend to fall into 2 camps.

There are some who teach that it doesn’t matter what topic or niche you build your business around as long as you make money. Your personal passions are not important. All you really need is to follow the steps.

There are others who say it is essential that you build your business around your passions because you won’t last the hard times. When the going gets tough it is your passion that gets you through and in addition, your target market can tell if you are passionate or not and this will impact on how successful your business is.

I can certainly understand both points of view and I have friends who have built businesses on both models. But me…I see business development as the most effective form of personal development so I only want to help people build a business around their passions (unless their true passion is business systems and that’s where they get their buzz).

So it should come as no surprise that I attract customers who want to build their business around their passions. This is part of my personal brand.

I share a story in a video of what happened when (ONCE) I promoted a product that was out of alignment with what I stand for and what my “tribe” believes. Woah did they burn me for acting in-congruently! This was an important lesson on how loyal people DO feel if you act in alignment with their values because they wouldn’t be complaining of betrayal if they didn’t feel loyal in the first place!

How Can You Apply This Idea To Your Personal Brand?

If you want to attract customers that YOU want to work with, they need to be able to identify that you are the person THEY want. There are just too many dull and boring people in the market place who sit on the fence and so blend in with the rest of the crowd. They sit there so long they get splinters in their bum and things really start to hurt (how far can I draw this analogy?)

Do some soul searching and market searching NOW and decide what things are important enough for you to jump off the fence and so stand out from the crowd.

This is one of the first steps to developing what I call a “Congruency Checklist”. If you’d like some help I’ve created a series of videos and worksheets to guide you through the process and they are my gift to you. They are just one  part of a new concept I’m launching this week called “4th Dimension Mastery”. Love to know what you think.

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I wake in the morning to see we have had a sale of our $2000 coaching program, making the most of our 12 part payment plan. Now there are a few things that need to happen to make sure our customer is looked after. But now it is all automated. And the best thing? Now it is automated at all levels, our customer service is higher than before.

So here’s the scenario from the beginning.

1. A new customer joins Wonderful Web Women
2. When they log out of Wonderful Web Women, they go to a page wishing them farewell and giving them the details of a very generous gift (so referral to the other program is automated)
3. The customer visits the site of our specialised coaching program and signs up for free membership. They are automatically given access to resources that , if they take action, they can use to create and launch a project that will build their business and reputation fast (delivery is all automated).
4. The customer is automatically subscribed to a follow up sequence of emails that give them more actionable tips and gives them a link to a page that gives them details on our coaching program (lead follow up and communication is automated)
5. The customer is given enough knowledge to make an informed decision themselves, if they want to invest in our coaching program (conversion is automated and the customer is never given a hard sell. They are treated with respect)
6. The customer purchases and the money is automatically deposited in our bank account. (accounting is automated)
7. As soon as the sale is confirmed, 3 emails are automatically sent to 3 different people:
   1. The customer receives an email telling them how to make the most of the program (customer support is automated)
   2. An email is sent to our fulfilment house with the customer’s details and a list of what resources (videos, books, MP3 players) to dispatch. They are also asked to confirm when they have dispatched (fulfilment is automated)
   3. An email goes to our help desk asking them to follow up the fulfilment house if they haven’t replied in 2 days (Quality assurance is automated)
8. Then a follow-up sequence of emails are sent to the customer helping them to make the most of the program, answer FAQ and offer support at the times we know from experience, they will need help. (More customer support is automated)

The nice part? The fulfilment house had dispatched the goods within 2 HOURS of each of the sales. This is the fastest we have ever been able to service our customers. So we all win.

And the best thing? The customer is cared for at every stage in the path. They are never pressured into a sale and they can make an informed decision by receiving solutions to problems they already have. They can identify themselves if they want to work closer with me. To me that is Automating With Integrity.

I love it! All of this is achieved by using Auto Web Business CORRECTLY. This is one of the things I will be teaching you when you attend our 3 day workshop at the end of May.

The secret is knowing what steps your customer would take at every stage of the process. You need to think about how your customer will want to be treated and what steps are essential to make the whole process work seamlessly. You need to map it out. So my challenge to you: Do you know what steps your customer needs communication from you?

It’s like Backyard Blitz but with a computer

Have you ever seen the “reality” TV show Backyard Blitz? Maybe in your country they have something similar but under a different name.  You know the drill…A family or similar are sent away for a weekend on some pretence while a cast of attractive and resourceful workers move in to totally make-over their backyard (or home or similar).

The tension mounts towards the end of the show because the team (the attractive and resourceful ones) are running out of time and the unsuspecting home owners are letting themselves in through the front door while the last pallet load of pavers is unloaded out the back.

How awful would it be if the truck with the last pavers didn’t turn up and the cast had the embarrassment of showing the returning tenants a half-finished job with a pile of mess in the yard? The suspense builds but the attractive and resourceful ones  never lose their cool. They still have time to joke and it all comes together in the end

That’s what it’s been like at Wonderful Web HQ.

It’s Web Site Blitz!!

Our launch time looms just hours away and the tension mounts. Now before I describe the incredible make-over our own attractive and resourceful team have done, let me tell you something…

The virtual equivalent of the truck with the pavers has failed to turn up. Yep. I’ll tell you all the frustrating details in a moment but let me tell you what this means for you.

Re-Launch delayed by one week:

Instead of launching tomorrow with a special tele-class (details and registration here at this link) we will now be launching one week later. I have changed the dates over there on the registration page. We figured you’d rather come home to a beautiful backyard make-over than be faced with a pile of construction material.

OK. That’s about as far as I can continue with the Backyard Blitz analogy.

At least I got to mention how attractive and resourceful our team is

What’s Involved in The Make-Over?

OK. I can probably stretch this analogy a bit further. Let me share a few statistics with you on what is involved in a Web Site Blitz.

Since the total recreation of  Wonderful Web Seminars, which was our first priority, we have turned our full attention to the recreation of Wonderful Web Women. Let me tell you what we have done in the last 10 days. Well actually, this is a really abbreviated version. I tell you this mainly so you can appreciate what is involved in re-building a business but also because I’m really quite proud.

1. Communicate with existing customers

If you’re building a business from scratch, you would focus on finding new customers. For us it was really important to keep the ones we had. They need to know what is happening at all stages so they know we still value them. So this has involved blog posts, emails, Facebook messages, Twitter updates, 2 special teleclasses for paying customers and in some cases, personal phone calls.

You can’t neglect this or you will lose your customers who are the most valuable asset you have.

2. Re-Evaluate the Business Plan

We could have recovered a few days earlier if we simply recreated our sites exactly as they were before. But we saw this as an opportunity to reinvent and come back even better than before.

After 2 years of running Wonderful Web Women we have a much better idea of what our customers want and what will help them reach their goals faster. We also have a better idea of what we are capable of providing. So lots of visualising, coloured textas and really thinking about what we value.

If you are starting from scratch, this is the first step you will do. Actually this is great step to do at many times during your business.

3. Ask Your Customers

We have also surveyed our customers and subscribers this last few weeks. We asked them to complete a survey and the results were incredibly powerful in helping us shape the new business. We printed out and analysed hundreds of responses.

I recommend you survey your customers at least twice per year. You should always be responding to the changing needs of your customers. Besides they have great ideas!

4. Move to a New Platform

For the last few years we have built our membership sites using Memberspeed software. This is incredibly powerful software but because it attempts to do so many complex things, it does them all poorly. I have literally spent tens of thousands of dollars fixing the problems this software has caused it. I had wanted to move to another platform for a while but the cost of redevelopment seemed a low priority. Well, be careful what you wish for!

This is the new platform we are using:

1. WordPress for the site structure with lots of really cool plugins
2. Wishlist Plug-in to manage the membership part of the site
3. Auto WebBusiness (a.k.a. 1ShoppingCart) to manage our sales, affiliate payments and tracking
4. EWay payment gateway so the info collected from the shoppingcart gets sent to the merchant account
5. Merchant Account. Previously we only used PayPal but Auto Web Business does not work with PayPal for subscription payments (yep, painful isn’t it?)
6. Aweber: We could use AutoWeb Business for our emails but we already have all our lists set up on Aweber so we decided to stick with them. Besides, Aweber rocks.

5. Design The New Site

We looked at all the resources we had, the new ones we wanted to offer and how the software worked and created a very detailed site map of the new web site.

We then had to create stunning looking templates for all areas of the site to make it really easy for people to navigate. Trickier than it sounds.

When people decide to get a web site done this is usually the main thing they think about. It can take forever  but as you can see, it really is the 5th step.

6. Add the Content

To give you an example of the content we have created in the last 10 days:

• 367 Pages of content already
• 88 MP3s plus transcript bundles added
• hundreds of images uploaded
• Then there is the sales copy to be crafted so people know what benefits there are to membership.
• There are email follow ups to write and sign up pages to create

Phew, exhausting just thinking about it isn’t it?

7. Prepare to Relaunch

There’s no use opening the doors if no-one is there to see it. This is where affiliates and JV partners come in.

So you need to set up an affiliate program, add sample promotion material for your affiliates and then contact your past affiliates and let them know of your new program. Ask them for help.

We also decided to create an opening event, which is the free tele-class we will run. So we needed to set that up as well

8. Tie it all together and test, test, test

This is the stage  we are at now. So many people don’t do this very thoroughly and it is where you really let your customers down. It is really frustrating for customers if links don’t work, payments don’t go through, emails don’t arrive.

Sure, you will find things once it is getting used but you need to really check through as if you were the customer. Without fail, you will find a really long list of things that don’t work properly and things that don’t make sense for the visitor to the site.

Now here’s where we have been let down. The virtual truck with the pavers…..

Unexpected Red Tape

Remember how I said we need to set up a merchant account because we will now use Auto Web Business. And PayPal won’t take subscription payments with this system?

That’s OK. We intended to get one anyway so as soon as we realised we needed to reinvent we applied for our account. 8th January. We chose the National Australia Bank (NAB) because at the moment they are the only bank that allows you to accept payments in multiple currencies.

3 weeks later they finally worked through the paper work (after we turned into the customers from hell) and came back with some very surprising conditions. It will still take a few more days for the paperwork to come through.

That’s why our relaunch is delayed.

I’ve been amazed at how slow this process has been. I’ve helped clients set up merchant accounts online before and it usually only takes 10 days.

On our call next week I’ll tell you why we had to come up with $7000 cash fast (luckily we had it on hand) and what the implications are for you, especially if you are just setting up. Heavens, even if you have a trading history of 3 years like we do!!!

Apparently, because so many merchants have gone bust with the Global Financial Crisis, banks are placing very severe restrictions on companies setting up to have an online merchant account. These restrictions have only been introduced in the last few months.

So shop around and find out what restrictions each bank will impose on you. They will very likely ask you to deposit money into a term deposit as security, especially if you have no merchant history with that bank. This is a new thing so take this into account if you are setting this up yourself.

Hope this helps you if you are planning to launch a new online business, or reinvent like we have.

In the mean time, I can’t wait to open the doors and show you what we have done with the place. The new Wonderful Web Women will be a force to be reckoned with on the Internet.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences you have had setting up from scratch or reinventing.

Just share your thoughts below and I’ll come back here and continue the conversation.

Cheers

Janet

In short, our web host who we had a wonderful working relationship with for two years, went AWOL. Totally missing from the planet and so are our web sites.

We have numerous niche web sites and 2 HUGE web sites with an amazing amount of content. They were backed up….or so we thought. We learnt the hard way that following the back up instructions that came with our membership software does NOT backup your entire site. All of the images, audio files, videos, etc etc..all gone from the net.

Anyway, I don’t want to talk about the negative lessons I have learned through this. Not today. I’ll do that later.

Today I want to share with you an incredibly positive lesson I have learned from this experience.

I Have Not Lost A Single Customer!

My web sites have been down for more than 2 weeks now. I expected a huge exodus. I fully expected to open my Pay Pal account and see row after row of the word “cancellation”. I expected disappointed customers demanding refunds.

I’m sorry I under-estimated you.

All we had were 2 people at the beginning of the month who cancelled because they spent too much at Christmas. They were sad to leave.

In fact, believe it or not, I have been getting emails from people asking where they can sign up and Wonderful Web Women is not live yet.

Why Are You So Loyal?

This is a question I have asked myself over and over these last 2 weeks. I’ve been shaking my head in wonder and gratitude. I’ve been trying to work out what has made our relationship so special so I can share the secret with you. I want you to experience the same loyalty and friendship from your customers.

I think I’ve worked it out. Well, part of it. I think it comes down to two things.

Wanna know?

Authenticity and Connection.

Authenticity

I don’t know about you but I’m not very good at being other people. I certainly learn and am inspired by other people but I’ve never been good at copying their style or pretending to be someone I’m not. I figure if I’m just myself the people who like my style will hang around and those that don’t like me will go away.

This is risky, because if you are going to be the real you in such a public space, you allow yourself to be a bit vulnerable. But if you take the risk and let people see your strengths and weaknesses, then you can have the second element I have identified.

Connection

One of my friends made a comment when I was first lamenting my predicament (and what I was going to do to turn it into an opportunity). He said “Janet, the strength of your business is in your relationships, not your web sites”.

You know, he’s right. And this is where the strength of your business is too.

So let me give you an exercise.

Grab a pen and paper (or a spreadsheet).

Now I want you to think about the different groups of people (or relationships) that are important in your business.

Here are mine:

1. Leads: (people who I have had a connection with but no money has exchanged)
2. Customers: you know who you are (big hugs and thanks)
3. Clients: I differentiate this from customers as these are people who have purchased multiple products or have worked closely with me as private coaching clients
4. Joint Venture Partners: These may be people I have created products with, they have promoted for me or I have promoted for them in the past.
5. Support Team: In my case this is my team of virtual staff who I totally rely on to keep my business ticking over.

Now I want you to think about the different ways you communicate with them.

Here are mine:

1. My weekly newsletter and special message emails
2. My blog (which has an rss feed you can subscribe to, which also feeds into facebook)
3. Facebook
4. Twitter
5. Emails people send directly to me or my team
6. Telephone
7. YouTube
8. Skype (only ever for JVs and support staff)
9. My Web Sites (big sob here)

Why does this matter?

Different people will connect with you in different ways. There are some people who I have developed a great relationship with via Facebook or Twitter but I know they very rarely open my emails.

Other people will reply personally to my newsletter but won’t leave a public message on my blog.

The important thing is, when it comes to your relationships and how you communicate, you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. Spread yourself a bit thinner. That way, if you lose one or more of your channels of communication, you can still connect with your customers and other key groups through the other means.

You will notice that the first thing we did was get my blog back up so I had a way to communicate and for you to comment back. Then I went to Twitter and Facebook (actually I tweeted and wrote on Facebook about getting the blog back up).

I already had wonderful support before I even sent my first email out to my list.

The important thing with all of this communication is to return to the first point. Authenticity. Be honest and real in your communication and you will be rewarded with wonderful loyalty from the people you connect with. Those connections are REAL relationships.

And in business relationships equal cash.

*******************************************************************

Would you like to use this article on your blog or newsletter? You can as long as you include the blurb below in full (feel free to use your Wonderful Web Women affiliate link)

Janet Beckers is the host and founder of Wonderful Web Women.
An award winning on-line community recognised for generous and honest marketing advice for women on the internet. She is also an international best selling author and multiple award winner, including Australian Marketer of The Year 2009.
To learn from the most successful women on the internet through live webinars, masterminds and forums absolutely free, visit http://www.WonderfulWebWomen.com and join today.

If you thought this was a question that only newbies struggled with – you’re not alone. I have been asking this question to my very successful Aussie internet marketing friends and they are all divided in their choices. It’s a tough decision. In the ideal world you could sell in both currencies through the one shopping cart (without rediculous fees that are charged at the moment for this).

I’ll talk about it from an Australian perspective here but if you are in another country (such as European or Asian countries or South Africa) you face the same problems. To keep it simple I’ll use dot points and talk about pros and cons.

Selling in US dollars instead of Aussie

Pros:

• This is the currency people are used to on the Internet
• A lot of people have an idea of what their currency converts to in US dollars (if they’ve bought on the Internet before)
• You could be selling a $27 product but really getting over $30 in your bank account
• If you have customers worldwide it shows you are an internationally thinking company

Cons:

• You are limited in the choice of the merchant facilities you can use that can sell in US dollars and pay into your Aussie bank account
• Apart from PayPal, facilities that you can use to accept US dollars have really high fees
• Aussie customers can get really annoyed if you are an Aussie company selling in US dollars
• You can lose Aussie customers if your dollar bottoms out because your products can get much more expensive overnight

My recommendation

If you are an international company, in that you target customers in all countries, then sell in US dollars. It is a good idea if you also have a way to accept payment in Aussie dollars – maybe by direct deposit or separate payment processor.

If the majority of your customers are in Australia (substitute your home country here) then stick with your home currency. Make sure you put a note there about the estimated conversion to US dollars or you will lose overseas customers.

Ah, the challenges of running an international business from a country other than the United States.

Lessons from Vegas:

In this thrilling, incredibly high quality video you will discover:

• What colour Janet’s swimmers are
• How gamblers in Vegas are like entrepreneurs
• The big mistake many entrepreneurs make
• What you can do about it
• You get to hear Janet mention, yet again, that she just won Australian Marketer of The Year
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0pQhOkw1gA

Go on, leave a comment. It will inspire to make more.

The best gifts are those that solve a problem your customer already has s they will start to see you as a solution provider and you give great value straight up.

Usually this will be a digital product like an ebook or audio recording, that can be delivered immediately on autopilot.

The thing that often starts business owners setting up this perfect lead generation system, is understanding the techy stuff. They have trouble visualizing the process, the steps involved, and what web pages and emails are needed.

So here it is, in dot point for your reference:

1. Customer fills in email address and name in an “opt-in” form on your site. This may be on a page called a “squeeze page”, “Landing Page” or just on the main page of your web site.
2. The information they fill out is sent to the email program you used to set up your “opt-in” box. I recommend Aweber and Autoweb Business.
3. The email / autoresponder programs sends an email to the new subscriber, asking them to confirm it was them that filled in the form. The email will have a confirmation link in it. Usually, you can edit the text of this email to add a personal touch.
4. Meanwhile…back on your web site…after the person clicks the “subscribe” button, they are taken to a new page on your web site. This is the Thank you page. I usually head this with “Step 2 of 3″ so they know they have another step to do. On this page you thank them for subscribing and tell them to check their in box and confirm their subscription
5. The customer checks the in box and clicks on the subscribe link
6. As soon as they hit subscribe they are taken to a web page that tells them they were successful. Your email program will give you the option to choose which page the customer is sent to. I send them to a page I have created on my web site called “Download page”. This page congratulates them and has links to their gift. I usually head this “Step 3 of 3″ so they know it is all over
7. When the customer clicked on the confirm link in the confirmation email, this triggered your email program to send the first email you have loaded into the follow-up email sequence. In this email you start building the relationship and also include the link to the “Download Page”.

That’s it. Now you have a happy, double opt-in subscriber.

In summary, here are the assets you need to create:

1. Landing Page - may or may not be linked to your web site navigation
2. Thank you page - not linked to navigation
3. Download Page - not linked to navigation
4. Confirmation email - edit the standard one to personalize it. I usually put “Step 2 of 3″ in the subject line.
5. Welcome email - first email in the follow up sequence with link to download page.

Good luck. If you don’t want to learn how to set this all up yourself, a great place to get help from people who understand Internet Marketing is Wonderful Web Solutions.

You ask them!

To make it easy for you, Douglas the Wonderful Web Man has created a step by step e-book on how to set up a survey online. You don’t need any technical skills and it is dirt cheap to do.

Feel free to pass this link to anyone who thing could use this information.

http://wonderfulwebsolutions.com/special-offers/onlinesurvey/

When I read your entries on the blog I felt like crying with joy. You are all such moving and inspiring people. Wow. I feel so privileged to be able to contribute to you and be part of your lives. Check out what people have said here:

http://wonderfulwebwomen.com/blog/2009/win-a-free-scholarship-to-p2p-business-building-program/

Although the scholarship entry to my Passion into Profits Fast Track Coaching and Mentoring Program can only go to 1 person -all of you deserve it.

I’ll be making the decision tonight with the help of a bottle of red (and input from my team and mentoring clients) and I’ll announce the winner tomorrow. Keep your eyes out for my email.

I know some of you already are buzzing with questions about the program and how it works so I will do my best to answer them for you right now:

What is the program and how does it work?

In the program I will guide you step by step in implementing the system that I used to go from close-to-broke to having a responsive list, consistent abundant income, and the ability to influence 10,000s with my passion each day of my life.

The system you will learn will show you how to trigger ‘The Oprah Effect’ whereby you interview experts in your industry and through this become known as a global expert in your field of passion yourself- just as I have done.

The program will include 6 weeks of group coaching and mentoring, community mastermind groups, action plans and templates, an MP3 player packed with ‘how to’ resources, DVD and Audio packed with clear guidance, and much more.

In the gold-plus package you even get an ‘All Done For You 4 page Website’ and tech support from my ‘dream team’ so you can start building your list straight away.

In short you get ‘hand holding’ guidance and support from me and your mastermind group, and all the resources you need (including life time access to everything I use to run my business in my online resource centre) so you have a sure fire path to achieve your vision in the shortest time possible.

Will it really work for me to achieve my vision?

Yes, it will work for you just as it worked for others like Ludwina Dautovic, Lenore Miller and Juliet and Nina who shared their stories with you on our call last week. Them and the many other stars that have already used my system to create products, grow a list and a community and create income for themselves.

Not only that, we will be guiding you step by step through the whole process.

We will help you work out your ‘niche area’, contact JVs in your field, build your list and foster it as a ‘community’ and through that create consistent abundant income.

And the best part is, your success is guaranteed. If after 1 year you have followed the system as outlined and you haven’t achieved success from it I will give you DOUBLE your money back (yes that is right – I will give you money!) because I am so confident that you can do this.

Can anyone do it, and will everyone be allowed to join?

Anyone can certainly follow this system as I am laying it out in baby steps.

Not everyone will be able to get in the program however because I am limiting it to 60 spots only. The reason for that is we will be giving personal support in the programs and our resources are not endless (yet!).

This will be done on a first come first served basis. There will be 30 spots available in the ‘All Done For You Package’ (where you get your own website made, and tech support) and 30 spots in the standard coaching and mentoring package.

Is it going to be too hard, and will I be able to do it?

No it’s not going to be ‘too hard’ for you – in fact it will be easy for you if you’re committed and get into ‘flow’ with it.

You know those times when the river of life takes you away and things start to happen for you quickly and you enter the ‘zone’.

This program is designed to take you to that special place of ‘income acceleration’ and massive personal productivity–where things happen easily for you and you get the results you seek with grace and power.

The other aspect is that you are a competent and powerful person capable of anything – you can do this. Especially when you consider I will guide you step by step throughout the whole process.

And the final factor that will make this easy for you is that you will be part of a supportive mastermind group, empowering you and acting as the wind beneath your wings on your rapid flight to success.

Is it going to be too expensive?

Well it’s certainly not going to be cheap as that would devalue the product – and I will be putting heart and soul into your success during the program so I am certainly not going to devalue it.

BUT…I am going to reveal a surprise to you on Wednesday that will allow everyone who is truly committed to joining this community of passionate entrepreneurs on their fast track to fulfilling their visions to do so.

How is the course different from the others I have done and all the other courses “out there”?

This course is very different to any others you might have done because firstly it is focussed on community – you will be in a mastermind group of passionate entrepreneurs supporting you in achieving your vision- and potentially acting as your JV partners etc, providing you with accountability (and getting you into action when you need a ‘kick up the backside!)

You will also be getting step by step guidance in what actions to take to achieve your vision – as opposed to getting more info to read through (as if you don’t have enough info to plough through already).

In the gold plus package you also get a website all done for you and tech support, so you can start building your list right away. This is about ‘action’ not just more information so you can finally achieve your vision of massive influence and consistent abundant income (not just dream about it for the next 5 -10 years!)

The most important question…is this right program for you?

That is something only you can answer. The longer I am in business the more I find myself trusting myself to make decisions by ‘instinct’.

I trust myself and I know when something is right for me.

And when I do trust myself, I experience more financial abundance, more joy, more luck, more ‘chance meetings’ with just the right people, and more opportunities to contribute to my community of passionate entrepreneurs across the world.

When I don’t trust my own intuition, and don’t trust my own judgement – things never go well for me and I have lost a lot of money so I have learnt this lesson by hard experience)

I invite you to ‘feel’ for yourself whether this is the program for you-

And only do it if you get a resounding yes….

I find going somewhere quiet, and listening to my still inner voice in my heart guides me.

And I invite you to do that- take the time to get in touch with your intuition about whether this is for you…and if so, just commit to it, and a way will be made for you.

And if you keep on trusting yourself, and following your intuition, then by taking powerful action you will achieve your vision, I promise you.

I know this to be true because that is the way the universe works, and it is certainly the way it has worked for me.

For my part I know because of the limited number of spaces in the program, the program will fill up either way.

So it is completely up to you and your own personal ‘intuition’ – whether it is part of your destiny to use this program to propel you rapidly towards your financial abundance and cherished dreams and goals. It can happen for you...perhaps sooner than you believe now.

Hopefully that answers most of your questions…

If you have any burning questions or comments that I didn’t answer here then please leave a comment below and let me know what they are and I will answer them personally for you.

Very soon I will be launching an intensive Business Building System designed to hold your hand to create your first product right through to negotiate Joint Ventures, build a list, leverage product creation and build a virtual team.

You can find out more about the way I help you “raise yourself above the crowd so opportunity can see you” in the free training videos available for a very short time at www.WonderfulWeb Seminars.com .

You see, I’m passionate about creating businesses that make a difference in the world and I am willing to mentor the right person to help them take what “light s them up inside” and use it to “light up the world”.

Announcing a Scholarship To The Right Person

After you have discovered the essential business building lessons from the videos rush back here and answer these simple questions:
If you were given a scholarship to this ‘fast track’ Passion into Profits business building program how would you use it…

1.    What is your hearts mission or cause?

2.    What Change are you committed to creating in the world?

3.    What do you want to create in your life? (Abundant Financial Success? Your Dream lifestyle? Vibrant Health? Happy Family etc)

Answering these 3 questions by leaving a comment below and you could win a FREE scholarship to brand  NEW “Passion into Profits Business Building System Fast Track Coaching and Mentoring Program”

You can share your Passion and be Inspired by what others have shared right here.

Remember when you share your dream with others you bring it closer to you.

Can’t wait to hear your inspiring stories.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:

Tuesday 25th August, 12 Noon Sydney Australia Time.

To find the deadline uin your time, use this link:

Can’t wait to see the fantastic products you create. Go on. Light up the world with your vision!

Step 1: Open a free account at http://www.freeconferencecalling.com

This is the next page you will see. Note your unique conference code. This is important

Log in to see your account

Use your conference code and host code as your username and password

Download the PDF to explain how to use the service

Step 2:. Make your recording

NB: The free conference number is based in the US (no comparable service in Australia yet). So go to your local newsagents, buy an International Calling Card (cheap) then use this to ring the US. It costs about $1 or $2 to call for an hour.

Record Via Phone only

Note the number you can press on your phone to record your product via phone controls

To make a recording, ring the number you were given when you opened your account. Use the conference code and host code to access your own line.

To start recording, simply press 5* on your phone

OR control your recording through the web interface

Log in and click on the “manage your calls”

– press record

You still ring the number on your phone to make the recording.

Step 3: Make your recording so other people can access it

Go to the web dashboard and click to review your recording

Make it so the status is PUBLIC. This means other people can listen to it

I also recommend you download the recording to your computer if you wish to keep it to use later on your web site

Give your call a description

To let other people listen to your call you simply send them to

www.freeconferencecalling.com

ask them to click on the button at the bottom right of the page to listen to a recording

They will need to know your conference code, so they can find your recordings

This is what they will see when they log in

That’s it! Pretty easy isn’t it?

Now go and read about the Passions to Profit Challenge and enter your recording

Good Luck

But you don’t have to do it alone.

FIRST STEP:

1. Go to www.WonderfulWebSeminars.com and register for the challenge.
2. Follow the link (after you register) to the webcast replay page for step-by-step instructions on how to create a quick, easy and FREE information product to share with the world.
3. Follow the instructions below to enter for great prizes

The emphasis is not on creating the perfect product. The emphasis is on JUST DOING IT.

Competition Ends @
Midnight Tuesday 18th August East Coast Australia

USA: 7 am Tuesday 18th Aug, Pacific, 10am Eastern

Winners Announced
Wednesday 19th August (Aussie time)

How To Enter

1. Create an account at www.FreeConferenceCalling.com
2. Record your product
5 or 50 minutes, ANY topic (even a nursery rhyme). You will not be judged on length or topic. The idea is to JUST DO IT!
3. Write your compelling description
You WILL be judged on this

4. Come to this blog post and Leave a comment with the following info:

What to Include in your Entry

1. Link to www.FreeConferenceCalling.com
2. Your unique conference code so people can listen to your new product
3. Compelling description of your product
4. Intro to yourself – your opportunity for shameless self-promotion. Include a link to your website if you have one
5. 2 tips you can share with people on creating a product. Something you learned through the experience

So… How do you win?

There are 5 copies of my new best selling book “our Internet Secrets” to be won. This special edition includes a copy of my best selling product “How to create 17 in demand products from just one hour’s work”

1. First Person to submit their entry (with all steps completed)
2. Best compelling description
3. Best Personal Introduction
   concise
   Makes me want to find out more about you & your services
4. Best 2 tips
5. Someone who can make me laugh

Grand Prize….. drum roll please…

For the Best all over entry, (so did all things really well)

*****************Life Time Membership To Wonderful Web Women Value $1128**************

Ultimate Prize…..

The confidence because YOU DID IT!!!!

You have 7 days but really, all you need is an hour to get it all done. It is that easy. Once you’ve taken the challenge you’ll be hooked.

And remember, I’ve created step by step instructions on how to create a product, what to include in your product so it inspires your listeners to action, how to describe your product so it sells and how to leverage it into a business. Get all that and more at www.WonderfulWebSeminars.com

Cheers

Janet

These books will only be available when people join as a gold member of Wonderful Web Women. (and if you’re already a gold member, watch out for a present in the post – as soon as I can sign the hundreds of books).

Limited Time Only Offer

For a limited time only, you can get a signed copy of the book when you join Wonderful Web Women. For a VERY limited time, membership is still $9.95 for the first month. This WILL change very soon (as soon as John, our wonderful copywriter can get the new sales copy done for the site). so ACT NOW.

Order in bulk as gifts

This is a special for gold members of Wonderful Web Women and Wonderful Web Seminars only. You can order 10 copies of the book to sell or gift for only $29.95 Australian – plus postage.

In the book stores the book is $29.95 alone. This special edition also includes the $48 USD CDRom. So Save $48 USD PER BOOK.

To order, please email me and we will send you a special order invoice.

One of the biggest frustrations they share with me, is knowing where to start. There are so many options that it can all be overwhelming.

Here’s my quick start guide for you.

Step 1: Start with a blog

This is central to your Internet strategy. Blogs allow you to show off your knowledge, interact with visitors when they leave comments and search engines (like Google) LOVE blogs.

Step 2: Collect email addresses

Did you know that only about 1% of people who visit your web site will buy anything? In fact, 1% is pretty good believe it or not. So that means 99% of the people who visit your site and then leave may never return. What a lost opportunity.
The most important thing you should have on your web site is a “sign up box” so they can join your email list. You need to give them a good reason to do this though. A newsletter just doesn’t cut the grade any more. That leads me to my next point…

Step 3: Give before you receive

You are asking people to trust you when you ask for their email address so you need to give them great value in return for that trust. I always offer something that is of such value that I could easily sell it, instead I choose to give it away. Then the relationship begins.

Step 4: Ask your subscribers what they want

This is one of the most powerful things you can do. Ask your subscribers what their biggest frustration is (in your field of expertise). You don’t need a long survey, just one question will do. Once you know what their problems are, if you can provide a solution, you have a business.

Step 5: Dazzle them with your knowledge

Now you have the 2 essential tools to Internet success (a blog and an email list) you can start to build a relationship. Your subscribers have told you what their problems are, now you need to convince them that you are the person they can trust to solve their problems. Take each of the problems they have given you and write a 500 word article that gives great help. You don’t need to solve the problem completely (they can pay for the complete solution) but you need to convince them that you know your stuff and position yourself as an expert. Post this article on your blog and encourage visitors to leave comments.

Step 6: Keep in touch

This is another one of those questions I get asked all the time. How often should I contact subscribers to my email list? There’s a fine line between building a relationship and harassment. I recommend you email great content weekly, monthly at the least. You need to be fresh in their mind when they are ready to buy.

Step 7: The 80 / 20 rule

Remember Step 3? Give before you receive? The same happens with every correspondence you have with your customers. I recommend in every email you send you use the ratio 80 / 20. If you give 80% great content that solves your subscriber’s problem, they will be happy to accept 20% selling. In fact they will expect it. This can be as simple as including a link to a product they can buy that relates to the email content, or advertising a workshop you are running or service you provide.

Step 8: Encourage a 2-way relationship

This is the most powerful thing you can do to build your Internet business. People buy from people they know and trust. It’s just like dating. You’re not looking for a one night stand here, you’re looking for commitment. So you need to encourage them to communicate with you and share a part of themselves. This is where your blog comes in. In every email you send, refer people back to your blog. A great way to do this is include only part of your great article in your email and link to your blog so they can read the rest. In the blog and the email ask them to leave comments and questions. Make sure you reply, on the blog, to every comment that is made. If people feel that you are listening, they are more likely to listen to you

A final note

In business, relationships equal cash. Traditionally people have seen the Internet as a place that isolates people and that makes it difficult to develop relationships. In fact, the opposite is true. By using the steps above, your potential customers will feel as though they know you much more than if they had walked into your shop once-off. And as I said before, people buy from people who they know, like and trust.

Deb had a great way of explaining the important steps you need to consider to make sure your web site provides a great buying experience for your customer. She relates it to the perfect buying experience you have when you go into a shop. I don’t know about you, but great buying experiences in shops are far less common that terrible ones.

Let’s walk through the ideal buying experience……

1. I got exactly what I was looking for immediately – no need to search around

How does this relate to your Internet business? When people come to your site, make it easy for them to find the products or services they are looking for. Sometimes people need a bit of time or more information before they buy. Make sure they get what they need – even if they don’t ask!

2. Ease of use and convenience

How does this relate to your Internet business? Is your site full of fancy bells and whistles that just slow everything down? Provide the information your visitors need to make purchasing decisions. If they have to spend more than a few seconds to find what they want, they’ll just hit their back button and try someone else.

3. Critical information was provided to help me get the most value from my purchases

How does this relate to your Internet business? Do you sell a product or service that has special care instructions? Or can you provide a ‘Quick Start Guide’ to help people start using it correctly within a few minutes of receiving it? Are there a few places people get stuck or mess up? Tell your customers up front! Help them avoid the problems and get immediate results.

4. Related products were recommended to me based on my purchases – up-sells!

How does this relate to your Internet business? Are there other products and services that your customers might benefit from as a result of their purchase? Are there critical prerequisites they need to know in order to have success with your product? Are there follow-up products that will help them after they use what they just bought from you? You’ll want to let them know what you have to offer.

5. Checking out was a breeze

How does this relate to your Internet business? Make the ‘call to action’ on your site easy to use. Are you asking them to opt in to your list? Make the opt-in form clearly visible and easy to use. Are they buying a product or service? The ‘Add to Cart’ button should be clearly visible – and it should do what it says!

6. Customer service was provided after the sale

How does this relate to your Internet business? Do you sell a product or service and find that sometimes after receiving it, people decide they really don’t want it, can’t afford it, or don’t understand it? Buyer’s remorse is all too common, and often has little to do with the value or quality of the product. If you provide followup communication with your customers, you can drastically reduce returns and complaints – and increase customer satisfaction!

7. Asked me what other products and services I might need or want.

How does this relate to your Internet business? You’ll want to start talking with your prospects and customers right away. You want to know exactly what they need and want – so you can develop it or find it, and then offer it to them.

8. Future offers were made that were of high value to me

How does this relate to your Internet business? Quite often businesses will offer ‘loss leaders’ to initially attract prospects and customers. If you are offering just one product or service, especially if your profit per sale is low, you’ll have a difficult time making your business work. Always be looking for more relevant products and services to offer to your prospects and customers – and make sure they offer great value and answer a need or want your customers have expressed.

9. The whole experience made me a customer for life and a source of new referrals

How does this relate to your Internet business? Wouldn’t you love it if your prospects & customers were also your best marketing? If they told their friends and referred them to you? And they can also become business partners with you – as affiliates – so you can have salespeople who love you, your products and your services, out there working for you. And you pay them a commission for results. Nobody on salary!

You can find out more about Deb and the brilliant offer she has made for our readers at http://www.wonderfulwebwomen.com/recommends/profitablebusiness

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Would you like to use this article on your blog or newsletter? You can as long as you include the blurb below in full (feel free to use your Wonderful Web Women affiliate link)

Janet Beckers is the host and founder of Wonderful Web Women. An award winning on-line community recognised for generous
and honest marketing advice for women on the internet.To learn from the most successful women on the internet
through live webinars, masterminds and forums absolutely free, visit http://www.WonderfulWebWomen.com and join today.

1. A web site (I recommend using WordPress to create your site. This is the basis of the web sites we create for our customers at Wonderful Web Solutions)
2. A shopping cart (this is where they enter their credit card details and it orders the product)
3. A way to get the money in your bank account
4. An email auto-responder program – so you can out it all on auto-pilot
5. An affiliate program – so you can have a motivated workforce making sales for you

To keep it simple, let me introduce to the main solutions, and simply tell you their pros and cons. You can identify which solution is best for you.

Frankenstein 1: Clickbank + Aweber + web site (prefer WordPress)

Clickbank (has the shoppingcart, payment acceptance,  affiliate program) + Aweber handles email automation

Who does this suit: You are selling individual digital products mostly featured on separate sites, rather than selling many goods and services and back-end coaching on the one topic

Pros: They take the money for you, affiliates go there looking for products instead of you looking for affiliates, well known and trusted, Clickbank is your customer every time so always the same nationality (this is good news if you are Australian as you don’t have to worry about GST), They pay affiliates and handle refunds, Aweber – I love them, they are so reliable.

Cons: You have to wait to get your money – money doesn’t go straight into your account,Buyers aren’t automatically added to Aweber after they buy from Clickbank, you need to give the buyer a reason to get on a follow-up list, Can only sell digital products. They have the relationship with the affiliate – you don’t have their contact details.

Frankenstein 2: Paydotcom + PayPal + Aweber + web site (prefer WordPress)

Paydotcom (has the shoppingcart, payment acceptance,  affiliate program) + Aweber handles email automation

Who does this suit: You are selling individual digital or physical products or services, mostly featured on separate sites, rather than selling many goods and services and back-end coaching on the one topic

Pros: Paydot com deposits every payment into your PayPal accouht so you get it straight away, affiliates go there looking for products instead of you looking for affiliates , You have the relationship with the affiliates, Aweber – I love them, they are so reliable. You can sell physical products and services as well as digital.

Cons: Buyers aren’t automatically added to Aweber after they buy from Paydotcom, you need to give the buyer a reason to get on a follow-up list,You have to pay your affiliates – just more admin. Not as popular as Clickbank for affiliates. Can only sell in US dollars.

Frankenstein 3: 1shoppingcart (a.k.a. – AutoWeb Business) + PayPal +  web site (prefer WordPress)

1shoppingcart (has the shopping cart, email automation, affiliate program) + PayPal takes the money

Who does this suit: You have many products and related services created under the one brand

Pros: All in one solution (except for the website), customers are automatically added to follow up emails, built in affiliate program. You can use the same system for multiple sites (but the branding must be relevant because the final payment page has just one brand), affiliates only need to join one affiliate program to promote multiple products, money goes straight into your bank account.

Cons: You have to attract your own affiliates. email program is not as reliable or well reported as Aweber, more expensive than the other Frankenstein models. You have to pay your affiliates – just more admin.

So Which ones do we use?

Glad you asked

We actually use all combinations of these, depending on our desired outcome.

Here are some examples:

Frankenstein 1: Clickbank + Aweber + web site (prefer WordPress)

We use this for our site www. LandscapePhotoSchool.com

we use this combo for this product because it is a stand-alone product and this site truly just runs on autopilot

Frankenstein 2: Paydotcom + PayPal + Aweber + web site (prefer WordPress)

We use this for our site www.landscapephotography101.com

We use this combo for this product because we wanted to test which was better – clickbank or Paydot com for our landscape photography product. We make heaps more sales through Clickbank because it has a better market place. We keep this one going though because we like the fact that any sales we do get go straight to our bank account.

Frankenstein 3: 1shoppingcart (a.k.a. – AutoWeb Business) + PayPal +  web site (prefer WordPress)

This is the system we are using for our new web site www.WonderfulWebSolutions.com. We will be using Australian currency for this site and have decided to use a merchant account (and eWay as the payment gateway that transfers the money from the shoppingcart to the bank). This is because we will be accepting payment plans and PayPal and 1Shoppingcart combined don’t allow subscription payments (yet).

We also will be offering many different products and services and running this division of our company as a stand-alone entity – so this is the best solution for us.

What about our membership sites?

We use Memberspeed to run our membership sites.

The combo here is: Memberspeed + PayPal + Aweber.

You don’t need to use Aweber but we prefer to. This is a complete system and is very powerful and also creates the web site for you. It is an over kill for simpler sites.

So, which Frankenstein model is best for you?

Cheers

Janet

(You can find out more about Sharla here and also listen to the interview in the gold members’ area of Wonderful Web Women.)

Sharla shared some great ideas on how to answer the question “What do you do?”

It is quite common for people to answer this question with details on HOW you deliver services. Eg “I interview the most successful women on the internet on live webcasts to learn how to grow a successful business” or “I run workshops and work with clients one-on-one to help them reach their goals”.

The problem with this type of response is it doesn’t answer the question that is really in their mind which is “What in it for me?”

Sharla suggested you rephrase the question in your mind to be “How do you help people?”, rather than “What do you do?”

Because really, you are in business to help people after all.

A useful Template to Use

Sharla shared a template you can use which helps to get your “elevator pitch” clear in a way that really answers the question “how you help”.

‘You know how some people………….. well what I do is……….”

I’ve been working on my own answer to the question “What do you do” using this template, so here goes

“You know how some people want to build a successful business on the Internet around something they are passionate about? But they have no list, no product, and don’t know where to start?

Well I help people build an Internet business from scratch and position themselves as an expert very fast so they can build a 6 to 7 figure business that will last.”

So, here’s my challenge to you.

I’ve taken the plunge to rewrite my “elevator pitch”. Now it’s your turn! Share YOUR response to the question “What do you do?” by leaving a comment on the blog here. Make sure you include a link to your web site ( if you have one) because you may attract new customers simply by taking this simple challenge.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

*********************************************

Would you like to use this article on your blog or newsletter? You can as long as you include the blurb below in full (feel free to use your Wonderful Web Women affiliate link)

Janet Beckers is the host and founder of Wonderful Web Women. An award winning on-line community recognised for generous and honest marketing advice for women on the internet. To learn from the most successful women on the internet through live webinars, masterminds and forums absolutely free, visit http://www.WonderfulWebWomen.com and join today.

In this article, let’s talk about the most important step in your business planning. This is the step that most entrepreneurs spend much of their time thinking and talking about (especially at dinner parties) but rarely enough time researching!

The idea which will become the seed  your business will grow from.

If you’re like me, and like most entrepreneurs, you have no shortage of ideas. Everywhere you look you see business ideas. The challenge is choosing one and sticking with it, instead of going off at a tangent and following the next “bright shiny object” which is another “glittering seed”.

So how do you choose?

Let Your Customers Choose

The most common thing I see is people who come to me and say

“I have a great idea for an ebook / membership site / widget, let’s get started. How do I create the product and sell it?”

WRONG QUESTION.

I can so relate to this because this is exactly how I was for years.

HERE IS THE CORRECT QUESTION

“Who is my target market and what are their biggest frustrations?”

Your idea may not be what your target market wants. But if you get to know them, you may find that your idea is close to the mark but needs to be tweaked to solve their problems.

A business is purely and simply solving people’s problems. Your idea needs to solve a problem big enough for people to pay for the solution.

How to see if there is a demand for your idea

Brainstorm who your target market is. Something broad like women is not good enough. Women over 40 is not enough. Women over 40 who want to run a business from home is getting closer. Women over 40 who want to run a business from home based around their passion for health and natural therapies but have no idea where to start is getting much closer. Do you see the power of specifics?

Online research:

• first of all, brainstorm as many keywords as you can on your topic
• Go to www.wordtracker.com and research how many people are searching on these terms and how many competitors you have
• Check out Google’s keyword suggestions to brainstorm keywords
• Pat Marcello recommends SEO Book for keyword research

Now…..

• Search on Google for your keywords and check out EVERY site on the first 2 pages.
• Make notes (I suggest you start a spreadsheet) on what the sites are like, what products are sold, what forums you find, who has products you may refer to your future customers etc
• Go to forums where your target market hangs out and see what questions they ask
• Join Facebook groups on your topic and see what people discuss
• Search in twitter for your keywords and see what is discussed.

This takes time but is absolutely essential if you don’t want to waste your time creating a product that no-one wants. Don’t be tempted to do this half way, get impatient and just go ahead and create the product / web site anyway. The majority of entrepreneurs on the Internet do that and I am sure that is why there are so many people who try and fail on the Internet. They just put all their energy into a project that was never going to work because there was no demand.

Did I say, don’t short cut this step?

Offline research

If you can go to where your target market is offline and talk to them face-to-face, make sure you do. The insights you will get into their frustrations is priceless. As a guide, when I was researching for Wonderful Web Women I wanted to get insights into what my target market wanted. Here’s how I found them.

• My target market? Women who want to create success on the Internet but want to learn from successful women. They need successful role models.
• Where do they hang out? Internet Marketing Conferences
• Where can I get their attention? A captive audience waiting in the line in the women’s toilets at lunch time! I kid you not. That’s where I did most of my research.

So, where does your target market hang out?

Each step is just as important as the other and under each heading I list ideas and strategies as I learn them or get a brainwave. That way, when I am looking for ideas to grow my business, I just look on the appropriate page. It also means I don’t get overwhelmed by ideas and feel pressured to do everything at once. I know where to find it.

So, what are these 8 key steps? 8 steps that you only need to make small changes to, in order to see massive results?

Over the next few articles I will expand on each of the steps but I’ll list them below. Keep these in mind when planning a project or when looking for ways to increase your profits. So here goes…

The First 8 Pages

1. The Seed / Idea

I see a business as a growing, living organism and like everything that grows, it starts with a seed. This is the most important part of a business and the one most entrepreneurs short cut. Under this heading I list ideas but also techniques to test if an idea will work. Is there a demand for my business idea?

2. Traffic

There are so many ways to drive traffic to your site. Under this heading i list all the different strategies I hear of. If I notice my traffic drops to my web site, I look under this heading and implement just one of the ideas there.

3. Convert to List

Once you get people to your web site, you need to get them to join your mailing list. Simply making small changes which increase the percentage of people who join your list, will make huge differences to your income.

4. Sales Conversion

On this page I list ideas that will make it easier for people to choose to purchase. Sales copy is the obvious one but there are heaps of other ideas you can implement quickly that can make a huge difference.

5. Increase the value of the sale

How can you get people to spend more at the time they buy? Would you like fries with that? Simply increasing the average spend for the same number of customers will have a dramatic impact on your income.

6. Increase the average number of sales per customer

On this page I list ideas of other things my customers may also want to buy. For example, ideas to increase the average amount of time a person remains a member of a membership program. member retention and additional products fall under this heading as well as lots of other strategies.

7. Decrease Costs

Not as exciting as increasing sales but often easier to do and the results can be very long term. For example I just decided to move my office back home because after decluttering, I didn’t want to leave home of a morning to go to the office. The energy is my home is just so lovely now. This saved over $700 per month which is roughly equivalent to recruiting about 15 new paying members each month.

8. Systems and Admin

Systemising repetitive tasks can save you a fortune. You can outsource tasks for much cheaper than you do them yourself. On this page I list ideas that will make my business a more streamlined operation.

You can get all the details here (and check out a little of my home office while you’re there).

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing the results of the survey with you and let you know the actions I have taken based on your feedback. I don’t know about you, but i always want to know the results of surveys I fill in but people rarely share them.

Results so far for Question 12. What is your preferred way of receiving information?

In this question I gave you lots of different ways to receive info (such as CDs, ebooks, events etc) and asked you to rate them as your most preferred to least preferred way of learning.

Results so far?

Out of 13 choices, the most preferred is:

1. One-on-one mentoring (41.9%)

2. Peer masterminds (36.1)

I can help you with finding a great peer mentoring group and then help you to manage the group so you all create great success. In fact, we already have 5 peer mastermind groups working well. All gold members can join one.

I can also help you with one-on-one mentoring.

I only ever work closely with a handful of people as I give a lot of my time. I only work with action takers so there is an application process. I had closed this service but now I have moved back into my home office I have some extra hours in my week.

So I have vacancies for 2 people only. I usually only work with people on a 6 month program (this gets results) and do not intend to offer this again after December. My other mentoring clients are already half way through their programs. So I can offer a 4 month mentorship (which allows us both time to have holidays and finish before Christmas). But only for 2 people.

You can details on the 6 month program here and the application form. To get the new price, simply multiply the price by 0.67 and this will give you the 4 month price.

Read on for all the details or just click the link below to fill in the survey and claim your gift.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pYAc6mABymHyLAW4oFlLug_3d_3d

A Gift To Take The Guess Work Out Of Your Business

Surveys are a very powerful way for you to grow your business. They help you understand your customers’ needs and after all, a business is really about solving people’s problems and meeting their needs.

And it’s not hard to do. So my gift to you as a thanks for completing my survey, is a  step-by-step guide to setting up a survey exactly like the one you will complete. I’d love to hear your stories of action – just send me an email and let me know. In fact, to reward you for taking action, send me the link to your survey and I’ll include it on my blog so you get extra exposure!

Oh, and if you’re not sure what questions to ask…feel free to copy any of the questions from my survey.

Your Chance To Win Thousands Of Dollars Of Coaching Products

I’ve been on a de-cluttering frenzy and am being absolutely RUTHLESS by selling, giving away, throwing out and burning everything I no longer use.

In this frenzy I discovered thousands of dollars of coaching products that I have devoured and taken action on over the last few years. These products are absolute gold and the information in them was essential for the fast growth of Wonderful Web Women. I don’t need them now and I know they will be absolute gold for the right person.

Here’s what’s in the box so far…..and I’m still de-cluttering so there may be more:)

1. Shaune Clarke – The Secret Six and The Power of intimate Interviews – 10 audio CDs on how to do great interviews
2. Shaune Clarke – Stop The Hype and Hard Closes: sell even more with indirect persuasion
3. Lou D’Alo, Judtih Sherven & Jim Sniechowski audio CD “Marketing with heart”
4. Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly marketing: 8 CDs & videos – really clever stuff
5. Mike Filsaime – Outsource secrets
6. Mike Filsaime – Firesale Secrets
7. Lorraine Pirihi How to have less mess, less stress and more success – audio CD
8. Lorraine Pirihi & Brad Tonini – How to run your business on auto-pilot
9. Lorraine Pirihi – motivation mini-posters
10. Loraine Pirihi -Work smarter not harder book
11. Lorraine Pirihi – how to gain an extra hour in your day
12. Sharon Tieman – How to profitably grow your business by going online
13. Book: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
14. John DeMartini – How to make one hell of a profit and still get into heaven – Audio CD
15. Dr John Gray – The Secret Tips to Personal Success – audio CD
16. Erik Gunzel – Landscape Photograhy -Video
17. Jeff Paul and Jim Fleck – Automated Direct marketing Database software – CD rom
18. Jeff Paul and Jim Fleck – Info product and making money online starting with $200 MP3 CD
19. Jeff Paul and Jim Fleck – heaps of products to resell – CD rom
20. Bill Glazer – A-Z blueprint for info marketers – audio CD
21. Shelly Taylor Smith and Lorraine Pirihi – 4 CDs – Skyrocket to success
22. 5 Easy Steps to email excellence – Outlook tips audio CD
23. Ramond Williamson – How to create your own high profit, low maintenance coaching clubs and mentoring programs – audios and videos
24. Masters of internet Marketing – folder with 29 audio CDs with clever marketers
25. CD rom – $10,000 worth of private label rights products

So, how’s that for an ethical bribe to reward you for taking the time to fill in my survey?

Just click here to get started. It should only take you 5 or 10 minutes.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pYAc6mABymHyLAW4oFlLug_3d_3d

Thanks heaps

Cheers

Janet

Web Hosting: We love our web host so much we joined with him to create Wonderful Web Hosting. 50 web sites for one low monthly fee and more. Free members, 10% discount. Gold members 35%. Discount codes are shown when you log into the members area of Wonderful Web Women.
Put Audio on your site easily: This is the site we use to put the audio on the home page of Wonderful Web Women. You can also add video and pod casts to your site quickly.
Shopping cart, affiliate program and autoresponder in one: This is the program we recommend to run your entire Internet Marketing business. Highly recommended.
Autoresponder & email program: This is the program we use to run our other lists apart from Wonderful Web Women (which uses our membership software). Very powerful and used by most marketers.
Webcasts for tele-seminars: This is the program we use to run the webcasts each week. Creates the web page, records the call and allows people to listen live online.
Membership site software: This is the software we use to run Wonderful Web Women and many of our other sites. Incredibly powerful.

Jennie is running a series of Special One Day Only “Web Success Secrets” Workshops around the country (Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth) and I am providing you with the opportunity to sign up for this event right now… but I must warn you that seats are Extremely Limited and naturally they are filling Fast!

Her next event (after the great success of those held in late 2008) is going to be in Melbourne on the 7^th of February 2009. I f you are anywhere near Melbourne or can arrange to get there, then I would encourage you wholeheartedly to register for the event NOW.

The Great news is that Jennie has generously offered tickets to these Special One Day Events for my clients and subscribers for F~REE but due to the very limited seating you will need to grab hold of one right now! If you don’t there is a good chance you will miss out.

Jennie is not some fly by nighter who has been in the game 5 minutes. She has been through the tough times, done the hard yards, gone the distance and discovered the keys to success which has enabled her to amass enormous prosperity for herself and empower many thousands of clients all around the world. Her longevity is a testament to how good she is and it speaks volumes in an industry that sees many people come and go because they are just not the Real Deal like Jennie is.

Now Jen has the true “MAP” for success on the Web (and in Life) and is offering you a unique opportunity to Fast Track your success and get you on the road to finally securing your future. Imagine how valuable it would be spending a whole day with one of the most respected wealth enablers in the country.

To Find out find out 5 key reasons why you should attend one of these Exclusive F~REE Events, go here right Now – www.webbusinessworkshops.com to find out more and secure your limited seat before they are all gone.

You just need to choose the event you want to attend (provided there are still seats available) and enter this Special “Ticket Code” to ensure you receive your FREE Seat – 1290

This is going to be an Intimate Workshop, as Jennie likes to interact and get very ‘hands on’ with everyone who attends so they get the most out of the event. These Special One Day “Web Success Secrets” workshops will be kept quite small so All participants can receive more personalized attention and walk away with a clear pathway, the necessary tools, strategies and focus to prosper and excel in these challenging times.

This does mean that seats will be Extremely Limited and there are only a handful of F~REE tickets available so don’t hesitate or you will miss out.

Jen ran these for the first time last year and I was lucky to meet many of you there. I had people email later to say it was the best events they had been to because Jennie over-delivered with the strategies she shared and it all just made such good sense. I learnt heaps too and came home and implemented some new strategies straight away.

These events won’t be repeated so if you want to hear about some of the greatest opportunities available for you to create wealth online right NOW (even if you don’t have a website) you must act FAST!

GO AND REGISTER FOR YOUR F~REE TICKET RIGHT AWAY – www.webbusinessworkshops.com , choose the event you want to attend (provided there are still seats available) and REMEMBER TO enter this Special “Ticket Code” to ensure you receive your F~REE Seat – 1290

This year the 4 day event will be held on the Gold Coast Queensland on March 12th to 15th. It costs $97 to attend and the days are packed. Because I am friends with Brett McFall he has given me 27 tickets to gift to the gold members of Wonderful Web Women. So you get to come for absolutely free.

These tickets will be offered to gold members first and only if there are any remaining will I be able to pass these to free members of Wonderful Web Women. I don’t expect there to be any remaining. Even if you are not a gold member yet, the first month is only $9.97 which is much cheaper than the $97 the tickets cost elsewhere.

Here’s how to get them. Contact us through Wonderful Web Women contact page or email us and we will send you the link to the free page. It will also be added to the gold members home page after you log in.

If you’re lucky enough to be there, please email and let me know. I will be there and intend to organise a “gathering” for all my lovely friends (that means you) who can be there.,

Cheers

Janet

Email is the life-blood of an Internet business. You will have heard many times “the money is in the list” and it is true. Every time I send out my newsletter (which takes many hours to write) I make money. Good money. But what is the use of a large responsive list and a valuable ezine (newsletter) if the email never actually makes it to the subscriber’s in-box?

So let’s change the mantra to “The money is in the list which gets delivered”.

THE PROBLEM WE HAD & YOU MAY HAVE TOO

Big problem: Why our email deliverability dropped

Our Wonderful Web Women list is managed through the software that runs our membership site. We love this software (now we have worked with the developers to iron out all the bugs). The problem with managing your email list from your own hosting account is twofold:

1. You look like a spammer: the ISPs (like AOL, bigpond, tpg etc, you know, the company you get your Internet connection through) don’t know you. They don’t know if you are a spammer or not. They don’t have a special relationship with you because you don’t call every one of them and let them know you are good etc (this is what companies like Aweber do). So if you send an email to thousands of people, and a few hundred of those are using the same ISP, the ISP will see a stack of emails coming from the one address to hundreds of different people and think you are a spammer. So your email can be marked as spam and in the worst case, doesn’t even get delivered.

2. Email takes hours to get delivered: To get around this, software that sends your email from your your own server (from your own website) will send out your emails in small batches every 10 minutes or so. This is in the hope that the ISP’s won’t notice you. The problem with this is as your list grows and gets into the thousands it can take HOURS for your email to go out. (600 per hour. So if you have a list of 6000, that’s 10 hours!)

Our list takes HOURs for us to send an email out but I could cope with that. But when some of our staff reported they were no longer receiving our email I started to worry. When my Mum stopped getting our newsletter I knew I had to do something!

THE RULES THAT SPOIL THE SOLUTION

Why Aweber ROCKS

We have used Aweber for years to manage our other lists and I love them.

They are easy to use, economical and most importantly they have the best deliverability rate on the Internet. We didn’t use them for Wonderful Web Women because at the time we launched, our software didn’t work easily with Aweber. Now it works seamlessly but we had a HUGE problem. If we transferred our list of thousands over to Aweber we had to follow their rules. These rules meant we would probably lose thousands of subscribers.

Every one must follow these rules (it is all automated) so if you want to move your list, you will have the same problem. First let me tell you the rules and then let me tell you how to bend them…..

Aweber’s rule: all subscribers to a mailing list MUST double opt-in. This means they sign up on your web site, then they receive an email that asks them to click on a link to confirm they want to receive email from you. This means it is impossible to add people to your mailing list who didn’t give you permission. It is impossible to spam. That is one of the reasons why Aweber has one of the best deliverability rates on the Internet – no mail from them is spam.

The Problem: If you are transferring an existing database of email contacts to Aweber, every person on that list MUST confirm they want to be on your list. They will all receive the “subscription confirmation” email, even if they have been on your email mailing list for years.

This requires your subscribers to take action. They need to open the email and click. This may not seem a huge problem but it is. Your email will be one in possibly hundreds received that day. If you average a 40% open rate on your email for great content, you will average even less for a confirmation email. You run the risk of losing way more than half of your subscribers. You only get one chance as you can not resend the confirmation email. Sure you can send an email before letting them know, and offering a bribe but like it or not, you will still probably lose half.

THE SOLUTION

You can see this is a tough decision to make and I know that many of you are facing the same dilemma. But then I got to thinking… Rules are made by people aren’t they? That means rules can be broken (or at least bent) by the people who created them. We often forget that Internet businesses have people behind the screens! So why not ask?

They said YES!!

But I had to prove to them that I had obeyed all their other rules and could prove I had permission to email the people on my list. So, if this is the solution you are looking for, here are the steps below.

Step-by-step How to Transfer your email list to Aweber WITHOUT each person having to opt-in again

1. You must already have a list that people have double opted-in. If you don’t, forget about it. You will need to bribe and cajole your list to confirm after you have added them to Aweber.

2. Create a list name in aweber ready to receive your contact list (make sure you create some great auto-responder follow up messages so people will get great content immediately. This will make sure they stay subscribed)

3. Make sure your house is in order before you ring Aweber (yep, that’s right you’ll have to speak to someone!): Here is what you will need to show them:

• the form people fill out explicitly says they are agreeing to receive email from you (It’s ok to say fill in the form below to receive our weekly newsletter, or similar)
• After people subscribe, they receive an email asking them to confirm they want to receive email from you
• There must be a way for people to unsubscribe. In our case, people can click through the link we put on each newsletter saying they don’t want to receive member updates

4. Ring Aweber (they are available for 12 hours per day so you should be able to find a time that suits you) and tell them what you want to do.

5. Aweber staff will check through the sign up process and they will also need to log into the backend of wherever you manage your list now so they can see that people have been able to unsubscribe in the past. You can only upload the list of people who are still subscribed.

6. If everything is approved by Aweber, they will turn off the confirmation email for THAT LIST ONLY while you import your leads.

Things you need to know when you import

1. You can only import 2000 leads per day. This means you need to split your list into groups of 2000. You will also need to ring them each day you are going to upload your next batch so they can disable the confirmation email again.

2. Follow the instructions to import under the leads tab at the top when you log into your Aweber account.

3. You will need to create an excel file with the columns “name” and “email”

4. They say to cut and paste the TAB or csv file but I found I just had to copy and paste the 2 columns from the excel file and paste it in.

Handy hint

1. You may end up splitting your list into multiple lists (eg gold members, free, purchased product x etc) you can still only import 2000 in total.

2. If you divide your list into multiple lists you can make it so they are all automatically subscribed to another “newsletter” list. You do this using automation rules which are explained under, you guessed it, the automation tab at the top. You need to create the automation rule in the “newsletter” list, not the other one you have just created.

So, there it is. How to bend the rules.

One last step

The staff on the phone at Aweber were fantastic. Sure they have a new customer now but they went out of their way to help. Tell them how grateful you are, send them a thank you email and maybe even send them a card. After all, you know real people will be reading it.

What auto-responder program to use
Here is another really useful discussion on which auto-responder programs to use.

Jennie is running a series of Special One Day Only “Web Success Secret” Workshops around the country (Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth) . The Great news is that Jennie has generously offered tickets to these Special One Day Events for the members of Wonderful Web Women for F~REE but due to the very limited seating you will need to grab hold of one right now! If you don’t there is a good chance you will miss out.

The events are in the next few weeks and there are only a few left. You can book your ticket here using the ticket code 1290. Make sure you enter this code.

If you can come to the Sydney event I will see you there. I’m not going to miss out on this opportunity to learn from Jen first hand.

The quickest way I know to get money in your bank account and optimism in your heart is with affiliate marketing. The secret to being an effective affiliate is to recommend products created by people you trust. You are a member of Wonderful Web Women so you know this is a community you can refer people to and know you are helping them.

Did you know that if you refer 4 people to us who join as Gold members we will pay you more than you pay us? You don’t even need a list to start making money. To make it easy for you I have written a guide book (it’s free) on how to make money as an affiliate. The techniques you learn can be used for any program, not just ours. You can download it from this page.

You see, if you can show your potential client how you provide a solution to their problems that satisfy the following 4 motivators, you are well on your way to increasing your client base.

The 4 main motivators

1. Make money
2. Save money
3. Save time
4. Save effort

So when you are offering a solution to your customers problems think if you can help them to make money with that solution, or save them money, or save them time or effort. Guaranteed client attractor.

I like this simple test to apply to your marketing that Fabienne shared with us. You can find out heaps more by visiting her site and especially joining her list to watch her customer attraction process in action.

What do you think?