No, not here (though I think we could make you more than that in the long-run), over at IdeaBlob, a new service run strangely enough by a credit card company.  It’s really quite remarkable marketing if you ask me.  Today’s marketing demands participation, and IdeaBlob offers plenty of that with their contest.  You can put your own idea up and if you get the most votes over a month period, you win the $10,000 prize money.  You can also browse the other entries and vote on your favorites or even leave comments for improvement.

For Advanta, the sponsoring company, they get a database of users who are actively trying to start their own projects and who are obviously in the market for credit, as well.   It’s ideas like this that I consider Win/Win, where even a credit card company can come out smelling like roses.  Contests are perfect ways to get people to interact with your company in a positive way.

If you have an idea, put it to the test.  You never know, other people may think it’s just as great as you do.  How would you get your idea started if you had $10,000 to commit to it?

I know what I’d do.  Check out my web incubator idea and give me a thumbs up if you like it.

Popularity: 95% [?]

Share This

• 1 Comment

Before you begin creating your information product, it is imperative that you know exactly who you are targeting.  Your blog will likely have a larger audience than the one you are trying to attract with your information product, so it is important that you understand that you should be as narrow and focused as possible when deciding who you are trying to reach and what you want them to do.

Typically, your information product should be aimed at novices or those new to your website.  The reason for this is that by offering those new to your company a valuable piece of information, you are opening the door to building a long-term relationship with these prospects.  The idea isn’t to sell them something and move on to finding new prospects to sell something to.  The idea should be to build a rapport with each new person that comes in contact with your company by first giving them something of value.

If your information product fills a need and provides an adequate (and hopefully better) solution to the problem you are addressing, your prospects will not only give you their e-mail address in return, they will also read future e-mails from you and be pre-sold on any product or service you are offering.  Can you see the value of giving away something for free in return for long-term attention from those searching for the solutions you provide?

In order to take best advantage of this relationship, you must first put the time into figuring out exactly who you are trying to target.  For instance, if you have a company that sells faucets and vanities, you may decide to go after the portion of your market that buys from you during do-it-yourself bathroom remodels.  To reach this market, your information product could be something like “Cut 15% Off Your Water Bill With These 10 Remodeling Tips” or “How To Double Your Bathroom Space Without Breaking The Bank”.  By supplying this information, you are teaching your prospects something of value and at the same time, positioning your products and services as the tools for maximizing the value of the information you have given them.

In time, you may decide to create multiple information products, which is a great idea, but make sure each is targeted to a different segment of your overall market.  For example, in the previous instance, you may decide to create an information product that targets resellers/retailers or one that targets remodeling companies.  People buy from you for different reasons.  It is your job to know as many of those reasons as possible (or hire a marketing firm to figure it out for you) so that you can craft different messages for each group.  Once you understand the differences between the different segments that make up your market, you can craft a powerful information product that should be the beginning of long, mutually beneficial relationship.

Popularity: 99% [?]

Share This

• 1 Comment

When we break it down, information products are the only product or service you can offer that actually costs you absolutely no shipping costs.  Everything else either requires some form of postage or the man hours required to deliver your promise.  Information products on the other hand, only cost you the time it takes to create your information product divided by the exact number of those who register to download your product.  Over time, this number will become basically zero and continue delivering benefits for a long time to come.

Depending on the information product you choose to create, the links you intentionally place within and the amount of promotion you give your information product, your returns can be staggering.  Think about it.  Even if it takes you a week or two to craft a great product, it is created cheaply, stored for less and delivered for even less, for as long as your content stays relevant.  And don’t forget that updating your information is fast, cheap and easy, as well.

Delivery of products and services are easily one of the most expensive aspects for any business.  Even marketing requires a delivery fee, whether it’s postage or the hiring of others to spread your word.  Information products are the exception to this rule.  In fact, delivery is so cheap, you may want to think about hiring a professional to craft your information product.  This marketing tool is going to be in your repertoire for years to come (if successful) and has virtually no costs after production of the prototype.  Maybe you pay $500-$1000 to have a 200 page e-book written for your site. It would only require 10,000 free downloads to bring your cost to a nickel or dime per download, and that’s not counting those that acquire your information product freely.

Provided your information product adequately performs the duties you crafted it to do and placed affiliate and landing page links in pertinent positions throughout your content, your money will be well spent.  And for each successful conversion you have through your information product, there is a high likelihood of two others coming along to download it, as well.  10,000 may seem like a high number (and it will be if you limit yourself), but valuable free downloads can reach far greater numbers.  If you aren’t worried about capturing e-mail addresses, think about alternative distribution avenues like torrent sites, e-book libraries and article directories.  You’ll be surprised how many people want what you know.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Share This

• 0 Comments

E-mail courses are one of the newer tools Internet marketers have at their disposal. They are cheap to create, valuable for your prospects and effective at converting prospects into buying customers. So what are they and how do they work?

E-mail courses are a series of e-mails you create as an opt-in mechanism that teaches your prospects about a specific topic or group of topics. They can either be given away for free, as a one-time fee or even as a subscription service that you update each month or week. You can even be more creative and package your information into custom subscription packages for your clients. Once you have them written, you set them up in your autoresponder so that they are delivered over specific intervals to those that subscribe.

So what are some ideas you can use for an e-mail course of your own?

• How To Market Your Small Business In 5 Easy Steps
• The Top 5 Divorce Tips And How They’ll Save You Thousands Of $
• How To Turn Your Catered Event Into A Favorite Event
• Why Computer Maintenance Is One Of The Most Important Things You’ll Ever Do
• Interior Decoration Ideas To Increase The Attractiveness Of ___________ Furniture

With no specific business in mind, I came up with those off the top of my head. With a specific business in mind, it’s probably even easier to find a good topic that will pique your prospects’ interest, entice them into trading their e-mail address for a chance to read your e-mail course and even persuade them to fill their shopping cart with your goods.

Remember to write your e-mail course in pieces so that it builds upon the original promise over time. To be successful, each e-mail you send needs to be worthy of its own message and provide useful information to those interested in the answers the course looks to provide. Keep a specific sales goal in mind as you write and make sure each part of the course ultimately asks the prospect to look further into a specific product or service you offer.

Each e-mail should also supply an answer to the specific question you raise within the message. If not, you run the risk of offending your hard-earned, new-found prospects. You also run the risk that they spread the word that your content is a waste of time. Creating any information product is contingent upon being valuable, and when you are looking for a prospect’s attention several times with your e-mail course, you better make sure each piece can stand on its own.

Popularity: 92% [?]

Share This

• 0 Comments

You must know something about your business or industry that very few others have any idea about. So what can you do with this information? One tactic is to write your very own e-book, an information product you can give away or sell on your small business website.But what exactly will supplying this information to your prospects do for your business? Well, the great thing is that it can do whatever you’d like it to do. Below are a few of the things you can do with your e-book:

• Create situations where your products or services provide the solution
• Shed new light on a new area of your business
• Provide a tutorial for improving how your clients use your products or services
• Establish yourself as an expert on a specific topic in your niche
• Create interactive elements to get your prospects more involved and make your e-book more memorable

Written properly, your e-book should support all your other marketing goals, ultimately leading new prospects through your door on a more regular basis and letting them get to know your company, product or service on a more intimate level. By doing so, you will enjoy one or more of the following benefits:

• Increased trust in your brand
• Expanded reach for your message
• Establishment of credibility within a specific area of your niche
• A product you can sell over and over again with little or no cost to yourself
• A marketing tool you can refer others to easily with no cost to yourself
• A publishing credit that can lead to future publishing opportunities
• Affiliate marketing opportunities
• A reputation for providing quality information, leading to increased sales of future products

Depending on your business, there are 1000’s of ideas you can come up with to write about and 1000’s more of how to market and maximize the publicity of your e-book. Don’t think as you usually do. What do you know best, or what is that you think you may know better than others? What topics do you talk about in conversations that intrigues people? Start with those types of ideas, and go from there.

Before you begin writing your e-book, plan it out. Create different topics you can use for chapters and format your e-book so that it is easily read on a computer screen. Keep in mind at all times that your book will be read while sitting at a computer and that unneeded information should be minimized or eliminated altogether. Also keep in mind that the information you know is valuable and that there are people out there that want to know what you know about your specific area of expertise. Give it to them.

Whether you charge for your e-book or not, by providing the best possible content, your e-book will become your first successful publication as an author. In time, you will write better e-books in less time and maybe even create the opportunity of starting your very own e-business out of the content you create, but first things first. Create your own e-book!

Popularity: 93% [?]

Share This

• 2 Comments