Which One Of These Top 16 Is YOUR Sticking Point?

I have a quick question for you?

Do you know what your Sticking Point Is?

A lot of people get so caught up in researching this new method or
exploring this or that new system, they lose sight of the
fundamentals of this business.

Even pros or veterans benefit by reviewing their fundamentals. That
is why football teams (soccer, basketball, etc) have training
camps.

Tiger Woods has a coach.

You can never do the fundamentals too well. But it's hard to know
what you know and what you don't know and what's holding you back.

I call the things that hold you back "Sticking Points."

To help you identify your unique Sticking Point or points, I've
assembled a tidy little list for you.

Here's a list of 16 Stick Points along with references to my
different products where you can get more help if that's your
Sticking point.

1. How are you at writing and submitting articles to ezine
directories? This is a basic way to get traffic. How are your
skills?

I did this quite a bit in the early days but in recent history
haven't. I assigned doing this to a team member so we can get back
in the habit of doing it.

2. How are you at creating screen capture videos and uploading
them to video sites?

If you need help on this, Promo Dashboard will walk you through it
in detail. http://www.promodashboard.com

3. How are you at creating a report to offer in exchange for a
name and email to get people on your list?

If you need help on this, see Promo Dashboard.

4. How are you at finding forums and blogs you can buy banner ads
or text links on to offer your freebie?

Again, if you need help on this, it's covered in Promo Dashboard.

5. Can you open a PSD (Photoshop file) a designer gives you and
change the text or make minor modifications? Or resize the graphic?

Design Dashboard will show you how to do this.

6. Can you look up a photo on a site like istockphoto.com, buy,
it, download it, open it in Photoshop Elements, crop it, and
resize it?

This is a basic Internet task you should be able to do. Design
Dashboard can help you with that.

7. How are you at writing emails and loading them up into your
autoresponder for broadcasts or follow up messages?

Promo Dashboard has a whole row on doing autoresponder messages.

8. Do you know what your target market is and how to reach them
with your marketing message?

If you don't, pushbuttontargetmarket.com will help you.

9. Can you write a basic sales letter for your product or service?

If you need help here, I recommend pushbuttonletters.com.

10. How are you at creating squeeze pages that actually work?

If you need help here, I recommend Promodashboard.com. I delve into
this quite a bit.

11. When people are on your list, do they BUY? If the don't, I
have two rows in Promo Dashboard to help get them to buy.

12. How is your focus? Do you easily lose focus?

If you do, I recommend my every other week Ateam calls.

13. Do you have your autoresponder set up and are you comfortable
with using it?

If you aren't, see Promo Dashboard.

14. Are you clear on the big picture of how you sell stuff on the
Internet or is the big picture foggy to you?

If it's foggy, check out: http://www.amazingformula.com

15. Do you know how to shoot live video with decent lighting, turn
it into flash and post it on your web site?

Promo Dashboard helps with this.

16. Do you have an affiliate program for your product up and
humming? If you don't, see affiliatedashboard.com.

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"Seven Ways To Hustle Up Some Money Selling Products"

*The bills are flying in.

* Your house needs repairs.

* The kids have needs.

* The government wants their taxes.

* Your gym wants money.

* Your car needs new tires or repairs.

Where are you gonna dig up all that money? Well, it's time you get busy and sell some stuff.

Let's look at ways to hustle up some money selling products,whether they're your own or someone elses.

1. Hold a teleseminar

I recommend freeconferencecall.com if you're on a budget. Send
an email to your list, announce the call, send remind emails and
a voice blast or two.

My friend Stacy Kellums runs ppc ads on Google, gets people on
teleconference calls and makes a killing selling other people's
big ticket products.

His model is really sweet because other people have the pitch
and the product. All he has to do is put people on the call!

If you get something that sells really well, you can record it
and have it played back on demand.

The teleseminar comes down to how good you or your guest can
pitch while giving value and making people happy. If all you do
is pitch and offer no value, you probably won't have many people
on your next call.

If you're not good at verbal selling, then maybe teleseminars would
be a good place for you to get that practice in.

If you love a topic and are passionate about it, you can't stray
too far.

If you sell stuff you could care less about, then probably
teleseminars aren't a good match for you, unless you can find
someone to be on there who does love the topic and wants to share.

TIPS:

-- Make sure you have a drop dead headline
-- Work on those bullet points on your sign up page
-- Send out multiple email reminders
-- Send out a voice broadcast the day of the teleseminar
-- Hook people right off the bat with a big, juicy promise and keep
it flowing or you'll lose 'em

2. Hold a webinar

The advantage of webinars is you can interact with the audience
via polls. And you can see everyone on the webinar.

Plus, you can show power point slides or even your computer screen.

Remember, you don't have to pitch YOUR product. You can get someone
else with a product to promote. All you have to do is get people ON
the call.

If you haven't held a webinar, you have to use gotowebinar some to
get familiar with it. It's a bit tricky to pull everything off
correctly. I plan on doing more webinars.

The main thing about webinars is getting people on them. You need
a great topic, a strong headline and good bullet points. Don't
expect people to show up just because it's free.

TIPS:

-- Realize you have to get people to sign up through gotowebinar.
They are required to sign up through a link.
-- Do a practice session so you're comfortable with the software.
-- Learn how to administer polls. I goofed this up my first
webinar.

3. Write an ebook and give it away

It's an oldy technique. But still works with a good topic, a great
title and a little hustle and showmanship.

I don't mean "hustle" in the bad sense of the term. I mean put some
thinking to it and a little elbow grease or work.

You have to use your wits a bit and be resourceful.

Ebooks are still a good way to build your list. Unfortunately, in
times past, the method got diluted as do most marketing techniques.
People seek to make something work with the least amount of effort
humanly possible.

I've found that money gravitates to people who have passion and put
soul into their work. And while I know of people who seemingly make
tons without a soul, I don't aspire to be them.

I think I'd rather spend an hour talking to a starving artist with
vision and creativity than I would even 5 minutes to someone who
sells crap but drives an exotic car.

While it's true you can outsource an ebook to India, you can't
outsource heart and soul.

I mean, thank God no one has figured out how to do that yet.

TIPS:

-- Put great content in your free ebook. Don't put your scraps in it.
-- Realize that it's as hard to give away a freebie as it is to sell
a product. Don't underestimate the task.
-- Know how you're going to profit in advance.
-- Pre-plan your upsells and downsells
-- Use Primal Branding in the ebook to emotionally bond readers

4. Create a screen capture video

I'm seeing more and more well-done screen capture videos that pitch
a product.

These are less effort than a teleseminar or webinar and potentially
have a longer life span.

The best way to learn to do a good one is to study ones that pull
you in and make YOU want to reach in your wallet and pull out YOUR
credit card.

It really just comes down to good old fashioned salesmanship or
saleswomanship, depending on your perspective.

-- Speak at a brisk pace
-- Articulate clearly. Don't sound like a dead fish.
-- Have a little excitement to your voice.
-- Outline what you're going to say.
-- Avoid the ummmmms and awwwwws.

5. Do a live streaming video broadcast

You've probably seen at least one or two of the live streaming video
sessions by now. If you haven't, go to ustream.tv and check them
out.

I have a whole product at http://www.pushbuttonchannel.com that can
help you get up and running.

This is the ultimate in communicating personally with your audience
and interacting.

TIPS:

-- Have pre-planned content to things keep moving
-- Make sure you use lightboxes for your lighting if you have them
available. Warm light really helps.
-- Do a few small broadcasts to practice with.

6. Create your case in a PDF

Believe it or not, free reports and PDF's STILL sell. Like anything
else, it boils down to your persuasive abilities.

You've got to hook people in, show them you have value, create
benefits and a reason to act today.

7. Ramp up your blog

Done well, a blog holds considerable sales power. Ramp it up and
you'll probably see more of those sales pouring in.

TIPS:

-- Study copyblogger.com to see how to write great blog content.
-- Don't assume you can put junk on your blog and get it read.
-- Learn to add video and podcasts to your blog
-- Make liberal use of pictures.

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Winning in a Down Market

Just a few years ago I presented some new elevated concepts to some of the top advertising agencies to get their opinion. This centered around the idea of creating digital based media for mobile devices to get the word out.

I knew the Michigan economic landscape was in dire straits and I wanted to create something new for the business community.

Every single one of these companies failed to see the light. But I pushed on while businesses around me continued to go down the tubes. I have had a lot of business owners in many industries challenge me on how I choose to get my messages out. Real estate professionals have long argued that putting up bandit signs was the way to get a prospect interested in what they were selling. But the problem with bandit signs is that you run the risk of getting into being fined by the county. Placing signs on somebody else's property in hopes that they will see your home listing is a very risky idea. Although it can work in some cases I find the entire process to be a headache generating one at best.

Michigan had a very interesting challenge due to the fact that we were losing people on a weekly basis. Last year alone we had 30,000 people leave the state. The job scene here has dwindled and we have had continuous bad news on our auto industry. Still, even though we have fallen into incredible hardship I found business owners stuck with
three choices.

1. More radio spots
2. Full page news paper ads
3. Postcard advertising

Each one of these disciplines came with new problems. Radio here in Metro Detroit was very expensive to the independent business owner. It rang in to the tune of $40,000 for three months. Depending on what season you were in you could easily expect to pay extra for airtime. You had to time your product and service in such a way that people would actually hear it and take action. Even this was hard to gage due to the fact you had rush hour traffic to contend with. The real question is would people really take the time to scribble your web site information down on paper while driving on the freeway during rush hour? If you have ever navigated a car during rush hour in Detroit I think you may already know the answer to that question. My guess is that they probably would not.

Another reason why I did not like radio was because I found it to be very ineffective. I actually had a radio show in Metro Detroit and I was on for a full hour. You have to think about things like tower frequency and how much of a range your station has over the public you want to broadcast to. In a lot of ways it is a lot like gambling. Hopefully, if things go well you will get some response from the public after doing all of this for any amount of time. You will get leads, sales and new customers by doing this.

But as you can imagine the response is slow at best. It takes time to build up a brand in someone's mind. Even then you have think about the people who will respond to your advertisements first. Are they serious minded individuals with cash in hand or are they unqualified information seekers? I see this a lot with people who wanted to buy into a cool loft development in Royal Oak, Michigan. The owner of the property complained to me that the people who called the property office wanted to know a rough cost of his units. They were not looking to buy but they heard the ad on the radio and wanted a little more information. That advertisement ran for 6 months and got very little response and to this day most of those units are unsold and empty. So, the property manager resorted back to bandit signs. When that didn't work he hired some college students to go stand out in the street and wear body signs. These were not strong enough pulls to grab the public's attention.

Newspaper ads are also very expensive. I used to run ads for my own businesses in newspapers and found out something very interesting. I ran an ad in a National newspaper, a Local newspaper and a national magazine and I got roughly 10 calls on each advertisement. These people were information seekers and not serious about actually buying anything. I expected some variance off of these efforts but did not see any major shifts in response.

At a recent event I was informed to drop $15,000 into a direct mail campaign. I was encouraged to do this even though the first round of postcards yielded no results. The Guru who suggested this advised us to do this an additional three more times for an end result of a 4% response rate. Please, keep in mind that the average business owner cannot afford to do this once in Michigan let alone three more times. I found this to be quite uncomfortable to do in this current economic downslide. It may be feasible to do this in another market but never in the Real Estate market of Michigan.

I would think you would need a better plan.

Digital Media To The Rescue

I found digital media to be a great resource because it was very inexpensive to create. I also found re-running a campaign I created to be great and just as effective if it worked the first time. Pre-canning all of your media clips is a great way to go. I would advise you to pre-sell your audience before you go for the hard sell.

This can be a radical departure from all of the teachings you hear from selling experts such as Zig Ziglar and Tom Hopkins. There was a time when I had to learn all of the closes and get the timing sequences just right so I could land the deal. But thanks to creating pre-selling clips all of that is a thing in the past. Now I do not have to worry about it.

I say what I want to say one time and then record it. From there I can take my audio or video and blast it out to the right people and from there it is magic time. Many great things can happen if you do this correctly. It is possible to also do this half way and still get incredible results. Just keep in mind that you cannot possibly service everyone at once. Even in economic hardship it is still possible to keep your funnel filled with prospects.

I mentioned that I had a radio show earlier. I now have roughly 6,000 listeners every week and this show only costs me $15 a month to run. It is an incredible resource and allows my new audience a chance to interact and listen to what I have to present. This is a much better communication channel for me because the people who listen to my show are seriously interested. I could not say that for my broadcast radio show. But through narrowcasting I am able to add additional information to my podcasts as I upload them. From there I blast them out all over the web in search of brand new prospects. The results for me are phenomenal. I am able to keep my funnel filled with minimal effort.

I still get letters from the Yellow Page people and invitations for radio spots from time to time. I do not have to worry about setting aside a budget for those things when I create my own digital media. And best of all I can choose who I want to listen to it at any given time. Think of this as advertising by invitation only. This cuts down my rejection time and allows my audience to really get to know me better. The results for my online marketing efforts come in at about a 30% response rate. This is a great way to go and to watch your budget. Now you can create your own type of customer and get the right kind of business.

I get to actually reject a lot of bad business and screen out people that I deem undesirable. I find this to be a huge advantage to my competitors who have to take on bad business just to stay alive. Digital media also breaks some additional rules when it comes to making money online. If I round up 100 people and introduce them to my pre-selling funnel I can count on getting anywhere from 14-30 sales. That is something that no pay per click campaign can guarantee. I know that when I put the right pieces in place we are going to be doing some business.

You have to look out for number one in a down market.

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How to Go About Taking up Telemarketing Jobs at Home

You've decided to take the plunge and start working from home. Whether you are a student, a household mom or even a long time office worker who has decided to say goodbye to the physical constraints of the office, you have taken the first few steps to financial freedom, lower levels of stress and possibly avoided high blood pressure at an early age.

Choosing telemarketing means there is a potential to make great amounts of cash - provided you follow the few simple but important rules that can lay the foundations of success for you. This is a basic guide - more research on your own is necessary of course - on how to go about taking up telemarketing jobs at home.

Before you dive in, wear your intuition like an airtight wet suit. Look at the options that are available to you and don't just take up the first offer from the first company that says 'yes'. You might be heading to a perilous waterfall in a rickety raft and you won't even know it. Why put yourself in a position where sharp rocks will soon be your companions? Know what's going on. Ask yourself some very telling questions. Have I researched the company? What do I know about the product? Is there any training involved? How much support do I get? Are the terms fair? Is my payment options fair?

Ask, ask and then ask some more. It means the difference between wasting your time for six months chasing empty shadows for a company that doesn't answer your calls. Also, review extensively the product or service that you are considering to recruit in your stable of accounts to handle. Does it speak to you? Does it excite you? The responses to the answers will be very important in predicting how a consumer will react when they come across it. The rule of thumb here is always to sell a product or service that you are passionate about - this is the deal breaker, the extra oomph in your voice, that factor of emotion that can turn a generic tele sales conversation into a dynamic tête-à-tête that can influence the purchasing decision and change a potential customer into a full fledged believer. Never underestimate the power of emotion when selling a product; once you can make that connection, the rest is simply elementary.

One of the best ways to make telemarketing work for you is simply having a database of potential clients you can use to start your selling. The climate of marketing usually dictates that having targeted lists is a good thing, but acquiring them is another issue altogether. When taking up telemarketing jobs at home, don't settle for free lists from shady sources or building one yourself. The time and effort and the lack of resources on the individual's part makes it a bad investment of time. Leave the job to dedicated companies who are backed by expertise and experience. Some of them are not free - but always look it from a prudent point of view, investing a little to gain a lot.

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How to Use Direct Marketing Online to Your Advantage

The internet is no longer just a potential to make money - that has been realised and built upon years ago. Now it is an evolution of a revolution, an unmistakable silhouette of success that stands and overshadows the real world. Everyone and I mean everyone in every busy city, town and village is wired to the internet. There are more satellites in space providing internet connectivity all over the world than there were more than ten years ago.

Google and Yahoo are household names with young upstarts like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook slowly nudging themselves into place. With more than ten million people logged on at anytime and an interface that allows you to reach them in a flash - direct marketing online is big business and this article will tell you how to use it to your advantage.

With digital direct marketing, there is no limit to what anyone can do. The leads and channels that can be utilised online are too many to list down and getting to that volume has become easier and easier. Forums, chat channels, interactive video interfaces, blogs, websites, newsgroups are just some of the examples of these sort of channels. Now digital fax has also become commonplace within networks that direct marketing agents are using to enhance their efforts. With so many ways to reach out to the potential consumer and so many markets out there existing separately and intertwined - direct marketing is big business.

The product is very important. It must be designed in such a way so that it can excite one or more markets. Take for example a new sort of skin cream that has the benefits of clearing skin conditions like eczema, pimples, scars, stretch marks but also rejuvenates and revitalises skin, making it look younger and healthier. Already, you have several markets that this product can attract - people with skin conditions, teenagers with overly active pimples and acne, women above and beyond their 20's looking to maintain their skin and metropolitan guys. This of course depends on how the product is packaged and branded but you can visualise the example that is given to you. Online, you can reach all of these markets easily, and that is the advantage the internet has over traditional means - low cost, easy access and potential to reach millions at a time.

Another advantage anyone must have is having in their hands a fresh new business list that is updated and renewed constantly over a financial year. A highly targeted business list that provides and points a direction to a market that understands and has a need for the product or service you are selling is as good as gold. It is an important feature that cannot be overlooked because it simply follows a basic tenet of marketing - selling is easier if your market is inclined to buy. It sounds simplistic but it is true. Why would anyone sell meat products to Vegans or a tennis racket to a golf enthusiast? If you can sell it - great but imagine the amount of effort one has to extend to change their minds and make them want that prime sirloin steak!

Don't over think it. A business list focuses all your efforts and gives you a nudge in the right direction, especially if you're involved in direct marketing online. The last time I checked, in marketing and especially selling - that is a good thing.

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How to Avoid the Most Popular MLM Scams

MLM or multi level marketing are basically independent distributors whose main goal is to sell goods and services to other companies. There is another goal of these distributors, that is to encourage there customers to become distributors themselves and sell the product or service being offered.

An MLM distributor can be successful n the basis of the referrals it has. The more leads a distributor have the more successful it is considered to be. You can increase your referrals by surveys or asking friends and family member to join the network or you can just search the internet and get them. This will save you a lot of time and money.

But this does not mean that the network is successful. You will find many MLM distributors claiming to provide you with a monthly income of $1000 or $1500. Beware of these things as most of them are scams. There is no way that an MLM distributor can generate this much amount of money.

With the increase in popularity of MLM there has been an increase in MLM scams. You should always avoid these scams as it's the best choice for you. There are a couple of things through which you can judge if it is a scam or is it true. The first thing to do is to contact the attorney general office or you can visit the Better Business Bureau Website.

You can put up your query about the MLM distributor and the offers being made to you, they won't charge you any thing and will in return provide you with information. The second and most important thing is to see what the distributor is offering. There are two things that they can offer. If the distributor claims to generate income by selling goods or service than it can be the real thing. If they claim to generate income by recruiting more people than it is definitely a scam.

You should avoid them at all cost as they bring you nothing. MLM scams are getting very popular and it is very important to evaluate a scam before joining it. Some MLM scams will even claim to be affiliated with a well know company; don't let these things fool you as a scam will always be a scam. MLM scam don't just target consumer but they have also started to target other businesses.

This makes it equally important for sellers and buyers to be cautious of these scams. Some people will believe them to be true and just join them, this increases there network and others will think them to the right thing. Even this can fool you; you may thing that a bigger network is the true thing.

But always remember that a scam will always remain a scam. No matter how big the network is or whatever they are claiming you should always evaluate them first before joining it. Try to be cautious as there are more MLM scams on the internet than real MLM distributors. Don't let them fool you with incentives, as looks can be deceptive.

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Business Opportunity Seekers List: Getting Highly Qualified Leads

In the arena of business, from the time the very first transactions were made thousands of years ago to the state of the art arena that it is today, fuelled by capitalism and ambition, one thing has remained the same.

The power of leads gives the business entrepreneur opportunity to follow up, convince and sell. No leads means no business which increases the shelf life of the product - something of a nightmare for anyone with a penchant for profits. This article is about the business opportunity seekers list, a highly qualified and targeted list that will lead to well, leads.

Ask anyone who has been successful in marketing and they will not be able to stress enough the importance of having a database in which effort and time can be concentrated on; generating quality follow up and of course the eventual and most sought after sale. The first hurdle 'getting the market interested' should never be the most difficult one. Your product or service should be designed already with a market in mind. It must speak to this market and create a buzz within its proponents. After all, for most of the time, there is no benefit of extensive ad campaigns and public relation events that help to 'launch' the message of the product into the societal stratosphere. Virtual workers and direct marketing agents only have the tools available to them, and in fact, they are the ad, PR and communications machine combined.

Continuing on this logic, lists should help your cause more than hinder it. Selling luxury cars? Your lists should contain high salaried individuals with a penchant for automobiles. What about if you are selling mothercare goods? Then your list should have an extensive database of independent housewives or mums-to-be. A new skincare product? Working women with a specific income bracket. You should be getting the drift right now. However, these are just generalised demographics. The devil is really in the details. You have issues like specific interests, purchasing history, subscriptions, familial status and so on. Do you have the time to think about all this?

How can you? It literally is impossible. Your time and effort should be selling and perfecting the pitch.
Here comes a cliché. Leave it to the experts. There are many companies on and offline that offer a service that is priceless to marketing - they use extensive manpower, resources and a connected infrastructure to build highly targeted lists that have a higher percentage of getting highly qualified leads. This means you can literally find the market that was tailor made for your product or service. That means you are marching into battle with a detailed blueprint and a well thought out plan.

Having a market that is already leaning towards the buying decision means you can get more highly qualified leads and turn them into sales. A business opportunity seekers list can do this for you. This is the true power of a good targeted list and it is the arms and legs of any business machinery. Don't leave home without it.

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