I-Marketer Blog and Newsletter

Imagine you had a crystal ball to see the future of the internet.  Think you could make a buck or two?

Google has just released new API’s for their office applications allowing users to plug their own applications into the Google online interface.
Why would anyone want to do that?  It’s the future.

As more and more businesses are run from several places on the globe–or as more employees are working at least partly from home–businesses need a place to store data to be used collaboratively.

Think about it this way:  You and Joe are working on a project together.  You are working with the data on your computer at home while Joe is using a copy of the data on his computer.

The data set becomes inconsistent as you both work on it.  Suddenly he has one set of data and you have another.

The solution is what Google has envisioned: Putting the data in online storage where you can both access and work with exactly the same data.  No fuss, no muss.

Not only is it the future for business, it’s the future for education, programming and web development.

Students will be able to work with one another—or their professor—without leaving their home or dorm.  Web programmers can work together on projects without every having to “upgrade” their programming in stages.  Web developers can easily share applications, images, templates—anything—through a central hub.

It’s the future, and you have an opportunity to cash in on it.

For more ways to cash in on the ever changing world of the internet, check out my Success Secrets Course.

How much does it cost to start an Internet business?

I get this question, or variations on the same theme, every week. Today I wanted to give you just a quick run-down of what it costs to start a SUCCESSFUL online business, while giving you a HEADS UP about the BIGGEST but often HIDDEN cost.

Now, before we go any further, I need to define what I mean when I say a “successful online business”. A successful online business is one that makes a profit for the LONG HAUL, not just a few bucks this week. There is a huge difference between the two. You will not make any real long-term income by putting up the latest self-replicating site, or hawking the newest “business opportunity”. The kind of business I am talking about is one which will support your lifestyle for years to come.

 In order to start an online business, you first need access to a computer and the Internet. That doesn’t mean that you need to own a computer, just that you have access to one. That may cost you nothing–especially if you already have a computer and are already paying for access.

A word to the wise: You DO NOT need to have the latest, Pentium 8, running at 6 gigs, in order to start a business. In fact, many people who go this route spend so much on their computer equipment that their businesses grow slowly for lack of capitol.

Next, you need to have a web page. That means a couple of different costs:

You need to have a way to create web pages. By using web templates and Notepad for an editor, this may cost you nothing. But if that is beyond your ability, then you can download a free WYSIWYG editor or you can purchase one to use.

If you choose to hire someone to build your site for you, the rates vary considerably. Shop around for the best price and always check their references to make sure they can deliver you a quality, functional site in a timely fashion.

You need to have a web host. I know that there are still a number of free hosts out there, but sites that are going to be profitable are rarely able to be sustained on a free server. Plan to spend between $10 and $75 for your hosting, depending on the type of site, features and traffic.

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/hosting

You need to have autoresponders. This is the one thing most beginning sites overlook. This is your first line of customer follow-up and one of the best ways to close sales for those who don’t buy on the first visit.

Autoresponders are available either through your host or separately. I choose to use a service that provides me with more features than I would get through a hosting company alone. If you do not get autoresponders through your hosting company, plan to pay from $10 to $30 per month for this service.

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/list

You need to have advertising.

Before I go any further, I want to dispel a myth. Ready? Here it is: A slick looking site with all the bells and whistles does NOT sell products.

Did you catch that?

People tell me all the time that they have a great site. Usually, they are right. The only problem with putting all that effort (and often money) into a site is that they often have NO MONEY LEFT to get traffic to their site. A MEDIOCRE SITE WITH LOTS OF TRAFFIC WILL ALWAYS OUTSELL THE PERFECT ONE WITH NO TRAFFIC.

So, how much do you have to pay for advertising your product or service? Here is a rule of thumb: For every product you sell, plan on putting 45-50% of the gross profit into advertising.

So, if you want to sell 100 units this month, and your gross profit per unit is $30, plan to put around $1500 into ads THIS MONTH.

Can you do free advertising? Yes, and you might want to start that way if you are strapped for cash. Just know that your business will grow more slowly. In the long run make sure to set aside 50% of your gross profits for NEXT MONTH’S advertising. You will be glad you made the choice.

Now, that about covers it. There are certainly more things you can spend money on, but most of them won’t make you very much and can cost you plenty.

But, there is one cost that I haven’t yet covered. Here it is:

To start your own business will cost you more emotional strength than almost anything else you will ever attempt. Most people will never have the emotional strength to make it through those first hard weeks and months. Most people will give up just on the verge of success.
Only the strongest of us will make it, and that’s the real cost to weigh.

Selling a book online is much different than offline.

Imagine for a moment you are going to a bookstore to get a book on candle making.  You get to the store, find the section on candle making and begin browsing through the titles.  You pick up the individual books,   examine the table of contents and maybe even read a few paragraphs.  Eventually you pick the one which you believe suits you best and purchase it.

Buying a book (or eBook) online is nothing like that—the purchase decision is made simply by the title of the book and the description on the website.

So, in order for your book to sell you must have a compelling “theme” to build your book around.  Your theme is what is often referred to as a unique selling proposition or “USP”.

Here are the steps to getting that done:

Step One: Examine your competitor’s web sites.

At this point many people counsel you to purchase all of your competitor’s books, figure out what they go about solving your prospect’s problems then decide how you can do it better in your own book.

Good advice but it lacks the most basic fundamental—the one you learned in the first two paragraphs—people don’t see the content until they BUY.  They make the decision to buy based on the web copy.

So, I want you to visit your competition’s web sites.  For each site, determine what (if anything) is unique about their offer.  Are they offering a unique solution to your prospect’s problems?  Are they giving a unique service?  Unique information?

Those are the messages you are competing with.

Step Two:  Determine your own unique USP.

Brainstorm on something you can deliver to your customers that others are not.  Do you have unique experience no one else has?  Can you offer a “step-by-step” approach rather than just “information”? 

Sometimes a seeming “disadvantage” can be your advantage…

Several years ago I came up with a great idea for an eBook.  My main competition was another eBook at around 175 pages—most of it fluff.  As I looked at the product and website of my competitor, and as I heard from his customers (remember: research!)  I found many complaining the information was just too long and not simple enough to implement.

I made my eBook just 60 or so pages long, with simple, step-by-step plans and my USP was that I had a “no fat, simple, step-by-step plan”.

It worked.  The first year that little eBook earned over $50,000—and it took only a couple days to put together.

Step Three:  Turn your USP into a title.

Have you read the crazy titles the “tabloids” come up with for their articles? “500 Pound Cat Eats Owner”, “Elvis Found Alive in Jamaica”, “Something You’re Eating Right Now Can Poison You-Do You Know What It Is?.”

Pretty captivating, huh?

The tabloids use these crazy titles to get us to buy and read their publication. They understand the high value a captivating title can have in getting their product sold.

The same thing is true for any book you write for sale. You need to have a captivating title that grabs people’s attention and forces them to buy.

Here are some ways to create a captivating title for your next project:

1. Have Emotional Appeal

“How to Lose Weight on a Low-Calorie Diet” Yawn.

How about “Suddenly Sexy: How One Small Change Can Give You the Body of Your Dreams (and His!)” Wow, sign me up!

Appealing to emotion dramatically increases the likelihood your article or book will be picked up and read. Appealing to our innermost desires, our ambitions, our curiosity or our vanity can be powerfully effective.

Consider this title for a book on overcoming diabetes: “No More Needles: A Handbook for Beating Diabetes”. It appeals to both the fear of pain as well as the hope for a cure.

2. Make it Catchy

“Suddenly Sexy” conveys a whole image in just two words. “No More Needles” does the same. Over the years you have probably seen many titles with a “catchy” theme:

“Chicken Soup for the Soul”
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad”
“The One Minute Manager”
“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”

3. Convey a Benefit

“Six Figures in Six Months” conveys a compelling benefit. So do “No More Tantrums” or “Fly Free: How to Fly Almost Anywhere on Earth for Nothing”. Each has an obvious benefit to the reader.

4. Be Creative by Copying Others

To create captivating titles, look at what titles have been compelling or successful in the past then adapt them to your own use.

If I were writing an article or book on parenting, I might use “Chicken Soup for the Soul” as inspiration.

First, I would break it down:

“Chicken Soup” - a warm, homey, positive image for many
“for the Soul” - the target of the image

Next, I would try several variations to see if one works well:

“A Warm Blanket for the Hurried Parent”
“A Soft Shoulder for the Parent”
“Gentle Advice for Frazzled Parents”

Of these three I like the third the best, though I would probably work with this more to come up with an even better title-or look to a different winning headline for inspiration.

Step Four:  Outline your book, with sub-points springing from the theme.

Make a detailed outline, with your major points each representing a new chapter.  The more detailed you make your outline, the better organized your content will be.

Step Five:  Write your book or have it written for you

If you are going to have someone else write the book for you, check out these resources:

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/writers

If you are doing it yourself…

A few pointers:

1. Use a word processor with spell check ability.
2. Short sentences, short paragraphs.
3. Use a “conversational” tone—like you are talking to someone across a table.

Step Six:  Add screenshots (if applicable)

This is EASY and almost everyone can do it.

Depending on your eBook topic, you may want to add “screenshots” of things you are doing on your computer as you go.  This is how you can do that simply and easily…

Most computers today have a “Print Screen” button.  In Windows machines the button makes a copy of everything on the screen and places it on the “clipboard”.  You can then simply “paste” it into whatever document you are writing.

You can also use the “print screen” then paste technique to capture an image from your screen then paste it for editing into your Paint program or other image editor.

Step Seven:  Add artwork

The bare minimum you need is a good-looking cover for your eBook.  If you are the creative type and have the resources, you can make it yourself.

If you AREN’T the creative type, then you can get someone to make it for you.  Plan on spending $35+ for each eBook cover created.

In addition you can add clip art and other illustrations to your eBook.  You can buy these in bulk (we have a directory of 500K pictures we got for about $20) or you can get them from various sites online.  A couple we have used in the past are:

http://www.Clip-Art.com

http://www.PhotoSite.com

http://sxc.hu

If you have a digital camera it is also simple to make high-quality pictures you can add to your eBook.

Step Eight:  Have people read your book

This is crucial…have your family and friends read your book.  Print it out, give them a red pen and have them mark up any mistakes they find.  (It’s often best to give it to your mother-in-law since she will often find more of your mistakes than anyone else!)

After you get back your book, make the changes and you are ready to create an “electronic” version or eBook.

Step Nine:  Make your book into an eBook.

There are three main options for creating an eBook.

The first is to create an Acrobat Reader file (also called a “PDF”).  This has become the standard over the last few years.  PDFs are now so common most people are accustomed to looking at them so you typically have fewer customer service issues with PDFs.  PDFs also work on both Windows and Macintosh computers.

The second option is to use a custom eBook creator.  Custom eBook creator software typically breaks your eBook down into website-like pages.  Custom eBook creators typically work only with Windows computers.

The third option is to purchase a program that creates your eBook then gives each purchaser a unique password to be able to view the contents.  This, in theory, prevents someone from giving away the book free to others or purchasing the book then asking for a refund just so they can get it for free.

Here’s why I believe the first option is the best one…

When your eBook is done as a PDF file you are going to have far fewer customer service issues than if you use either of the other two options.  I have sold thousands of eBooks and in only about 2% of the cases do we have service issues with people being able to read the eBook.

But you need to take one further step to protect your eBook from piracy…

Add this disclaimer to the title page of your book:

If you have received this book from any website other than All-In-One-Business.com it is stolen.  We pay a reward for reporting theft.  Simply send an email to:

Theft@All-In-One-Business.com

Of course you should substitute your own website for mine, but you get the idea.

We have been using this method for four years and have had only a few instances of theft.

But what about people who ask for a refund?

Our refund rate is about 2.5%.  While I don’t know for sure how many people are asking for a refund simply to get an eBook for free, I know it isn’t many.  I would rather not have the customer service issues than worry about the .5% or so who might try to “steal” from me.

Here is how you can create a PDF:

You can buy Adobe Acrobat (about $250).

You can go here and get one made online for free (actually you can get 5 made last time I checked…):

https://createpdf.adobe.com/index.pl

or you can use one of many programs—some of them are free, some are $9.95.  I can’t recommend one over another since I haven’t personally used any of them, but one I hear does a good job is this one:

http://www.pdf995.com/

Once your eBook is in PDF format it is ready to go.

Step Ten:  Make a back-up copy of your files to a CD or your external hard drive.

Trust me, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

That’s it—ten steps and you’re done and have an eBook that can set the web on fire and line your pockets with instant cash.

The proceeding article is an excerpt from Kevin’s just updated, 2006 Success Secrets course.  When you are ready to really succeed online you need to pick it up:

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com

The first question everyone asks themselves when they attempt to start a business from home is this:  What am I going to sell?

While it is often the FIRST question, it should be the SECOND.  Let me explain:

In order to start a home based business profitably, you need to first have a group of people you can easily and cheaply reach with your marketing message.  The lower the cost of reaching your potential customers, the more likely you are to be as you start a business.

It’s simple math—spend less per customer and you will likely make more on each sale.

For years various online gurus have been touting the importance of  locating a market niche—finding a market with tons of demand and low competition.  When asked “How?” they would respond with “Well, just brainstorm some ideas and see what comes up.”

Not too helpful, is it?

Several years ago I began working on a method to find what people were already looking for online.  I tried a number of things, until I came up with a method that works for almost everyone.

First I go to this tool:

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/stst

Instead of typing in possible niche topics (like “tennis” or “skateboard”), I would put in terms people use as modifiers and then see what terms are actually searched (most people use 3-4 words in their searches…)

Here is an example:

I type in the word “compatible”—a word often used when someone is searching for a particular product.  Putting it into the tool I come up with the following results  (these are just the top 15—there are many more presented):

17245 — compatible inkjet cartridge
 4311 — compatible zodiac sign
 3950 — compatible
 1725 — 360 backwards box compatible x
 1521 — compatible sign
 1143 — compatible horoscope
 1120 — compatible numbers
 986 — directshow compatible mpeg 2 decoder
 850 — compatible astrology sign
 775 — video controller vga compatible
 670 — compatible horoscope sign
 666 — 360 box compatible game x
 658 — compatible astrological sign
 635 — 360 backwards box compatible game x
 573 — 360 box box compatible game x x

In this list the number represents the number of times that term was searched in Overture’s search engine in the month of December, the phrase on the right is the actual search term.

Using this method I see the most searches were done for ink jet cartridges.  Now I can expand my search by typing into the same tool the phrase “ink jet cartridge.”:

97110 — inkjet cartridge
 18776 — inkjet cartridge canon
 17966 — discount inkjet cartridge
 17921 — cheap inkjet cartridge
 17245 — compatible inkjet cartridge
 15348 — hp inkjet cartridge
 13271 — epson inkjet cartridge
 10120 — inkjet printer cartridge
 4081 — lexmark inkjet cartridge
 1299 — inkjet cartridge refill
 985 — inkjet cartridge recycling
 874 — dell inkjet cartridge
 793 — inkjet cartridge retailer
 698 — hp inkjet print cartridge
 681 — inkjet ink cartridge

WOW!  Lots of people are searching for ink jet cartridges.  My next step would be to research how much competition there is in the market and possibly find this is a great place for me to start my business.

But what happens if ink jets are too competitive?  Simple:  I go back to the tool and research “zodiac sign” and “X box 360” to see what competition there is for those topics.  If I don’t come up with good results on either of those, I move on to another search modifier.

My students receive a list of over 500 of these modifiers and they are responsible for a great deal of the success they find in their online business.  I have put together a list of modifiers for you to access free here:

http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/nichewords