Make More Money From Your Ideas

"Actually I'd like to know how these people get to rip off others by charging money for viewing their website ... and im not talking about charging on porn websites ... simple websites ... how do they do it? and is it legal? i shouldnt have to pay extra money for viewing a simple website..."

This is a good question. Although I disagree with your point of view, I'm glad you have raised this issue.

If you're talking about a government Web site, then yes, you could argue that your taxes are already paying for the site and you shouldn't have to pay extra. But in other cases, why shouldn't the Web site owner charge a fee?

The fact is that information does have value. If there's a market willing to pay money for it, and it isn't readily available elsewhere, then it can have a price. For example, I teach people how to write and sell electronic books, which have no printing cost, no design costs and low distribution costs. Yet they can command a higher price than a printed book. Why? Because somebody is willing to pay money for that information, and they believe it's a worthwhile expense.

Labels: providing value

"Why bother with a blog? Who has time to read them?"

This is an excellent question, and you've hit on the biggest problem with most blogs. Nobody reads them!

So if you're writing a blog in the hope that people are waiting with bated breath for your latest posts, and will be visiting your blog every hour to see what new stuff you've written, you'll be sorely disappointed!

However, there are some benefits of writing a blog, especially if you're an
"information expert" (speaker, trainer, coach, etc.):

• It's a useful place to write new material in an informal way. For example, I could take many of these blog posts and expand them into articles, reports, e-books, courses or books.
  
• Search engines like blogs, because they change frequently, have real content (i.e. words!) and are often more relevant to searchers than blatant advertising pages. So if your blog has links to the rest of your Web site, it can get you high-quality traffic.
  
• If you write a blog like mine, where you answer questions from clients, it gradually becomes a "frequently asked questions" page. Whenever somebody asks me a question that I have answered already, I can refer them to my blog.
  
• In some cases, people will eagerly read your blog. For example, one of my clients is running a 90-day course, and will be expecting feedback from participants regularly. From time to time, he will take some of that feedback and post answers on his blog. That material will be relevant to other participants, so they will be reading it regularly.
  

Labels: blogs

"How do I get a blog with the good looks of yours?"

Start by signing up at Blogger.com (it's free). As part of creating your account, you can choose a template for your blog. These templates have been created by professional designers, and you're sure to find one that seems suitable for your blog. It won't match your site perfectly, but it will be a good start.

You can then ask your graphic designer to customise your template for you. That's what I did with mine. I started with one of the standard Blogger templates, then edited it to add my photo, products, newsletter subscription, and so on.

Labels: blogs

"I'm brand spanking new in internet marketing. How do I weed out the 'dead' sites in free linking?"

I think you're referring to the "free for all link pages" that are out there. It's true that getting inbound links to your Web site is important, but I would recommend that you do not do it by adding your link to these free-for-all sites. You won't get much traffic from them, and certainly not much quality traffic, which is more important.

A better strategy is to write an article with, say, 10 tips about your area of expertise. Then submit that article to ArticleCity.com so that other people can start using it. The links you get from people reading your article are much higher value.

There are a number of other low-cost things you can do to make more sales on your Web site.

Labels: internet marketing, traffic generation

"How do I cost effectively create and run a blog like you suggest (regularly answering client questions), if I don't know how to program a website?"

The neat thing about a blog is that you don't have to know how to "program a website" - and in fact, you don't even require a Web site!

Sign up at Blogger.com for a free account, and you can have your own blog within minutes. It provides all the programming support you require, and can host your blog for you.

If you do have a Web site, you can get your Web designer to transfer the Blogger blog to your site.

Labels: blogs

"How do I turn seminar material that is primarily experiential (the participants have an 'Aha!' breakthrough as a result of the training) and turn that into an information product?"

Give them a different experience.

This is also true of many high-energy keynote speakers whose presentation is as much a performance experience as an educational experience. This usually doesn't translate directly into a product. It's hard to generate the same experience in an audio or video recording.

Instead, your products could be based on the core material you present rather than the training itself. For example, Matt Church has created a high-energy keynote presentation "Fix How You Feel". But his products (books and CD) are based on the content behind the keynote, not the content of the keynote.

Labels: product creation, providing value

"I'm worried about spending a lot of money creating a book and then having it not sell."

Don't start with a book. By all means, do a lot of writing, but publish it as articles, e-zines, on-line courses, special reports and e-books. Give it away free (but it builds your credibility at the same time). Ask for feedback regularly, so that you know what's hitting the right spot. After a while, you will have a good idea of what to write for your book.

Labels: market research, product creation, writing

"How do I get in the right mindset to do it? How do I organize a good recorder, video recorder, audio recordings, support, etc.?"

You're making your life too hard. Start with something simple, like audio recording of an existing presentation. Even if you do it on a plain old cassette recorder, that's fine! Get the presentation transcribed, and you'll have 80% of the work done for writing articles, newsletters, a special report or maybe even a book.

Labels: product creation

"Selling product at my trainings and presentations - how do I do it without sounding like I'm heavily pitching?"

First change your mindset. Are you so good that you can give people everything they require in a single session? No - they absolutely require on-going materials and support. By having products for sale, you are being helpful, not pushy.

Of course, you have to make sure that your presentation doesn't turn into a blatant sales pitch. As long as you deliver high-value information and don't hold anything back from your live audience, that should be safe. And if you're already delivering high-quality presentations, don't change them! Just add the products as an additional resource.

Labels: providing value, selling from the platform

"I research and read a lot of material. How do I create products without infringing copyright? Especially when you read enough, you see things being repeated, and then who said it first?"

This is a good point, especially when you're creating products that become a permanent record. The best way to manage this is to create new material! That way, you can be absolutely sure that everything you're using is your own. Matt Church has an excellent program for experts to identify, develop and leverage their expertise.

Labels: copyright, expertise, writing

"The quality of my recordings is not studio quality."

People buy your products for the information in them, not because of the production quality. Sure, you don't want to produce sub-standard material; but by the same token, it doesn't have to be top-notch quality either. As long as your content is high quality, your listeners will pretty much forgive most other things.

Remember also that you shouldn't be recording material only for producing audio products. Record it, get it transcribed, and use that material for written products as well.

Labels: audio, multimedia

"If I create products from my presentations, will the products sell in their own right?"

Yes and no. Yes, it's possible to sell products on your Web site, as long as you know how to get traffic to your Web site and convert them into buyers.

However, the easier way to sell products is to sell them to people who already know, like and trust you. For a professional speaker, the easiest option is to sell them at your presentations, or build a mailing list and sell them to your subscribers.

Labels: selling from the platform

"I think that my speech is not developed enough to record it."

I think you're confusing two things here. Your speech is definitely good enough to record - I mean, you just buy a recorder and a microphone and record it!

But I think you mean that it isn't good enough to record and create an audio product. And you may be right. But that shouldn't stop you from recording it, getting it transcribed, and then using that material for articles, newsletters, special reports, an e-book or a book. You might be surprised how much valuable material is already there, even if it does require some editing and polishing.

Labels: providing value, selling from the platform

"I do not currently hold a belief that anyone would purchase my CD if I created one."

This is a common belief. The bad news is that you could be right! Perhaps you don't have products that the market is interested in buying.

The good news, though, is that it doesn't take a lot of time and money to test. First, survey your audiences to find out their biggest problems. Then make sure that your presentations do address these issues - or at least, the most important issues. If people are willing to pay you for talking about these issues in person, at least it's one sign that they might pay you for recording them on CD.

Labels: market research, survey

"I have a new website going up and am going to put my book as an ebook rather than have in hard copy as I don't have any left to sell. What is the best way to get an e-booked marketed and how do I know there is a market for it in the first place? Thank you for your help."

The first question to consider is whether there is a market for it. It's best to ask this BEFORE writing the e-book. However, it's still not too late now. You can do some simple market research on the Internet to find out whether there's a market for your e-book.

Then you have to figure out the best way to promote it. The easiest sale is to people who are already on your mailing list, or who are already your clients. So consider making a special offer to your e-zine subscribers. Then consider other ways of marketing it, and perhaps even offering it in different formats.

Labels: e-books, e-mail newsletter, market research

"I have many visitors to my site over the years and had some sales, but how do I convert more casual visitors to customers?"

There are a number of possible reasons why people aren't buying from your site. The best way to find out why they aren't buying is to ask them! When somebody leaves your site without buying, show a pop-up window asking them for the reason. Give them a "bribe" in return, in the form of a special report or e-book.

Then use the answers you get to refine your site, to make more sales from your Web site.

Labels: market research, sales conversion, survey

"How do I make money from a website that is primarily a search engine / information resource for a specific industry?"

Become an affiliate.

What this means is that you look around for people selling products in that industry, and check whether they have an "affiliate program". If they do, it means that they pay you a commission for every sale that comes from you referring somebody to them. Sign up for the affiliate program and you'll get a special link to use on your Web site. When you refer people to their site, use this link.

The only catch is that you really should buy the products first, so that you ensure that you're referring people to high-quality products. This means that it could be a high initial investment to buy and evaluate all these products.

Labels: affiliate marketing, providing value

"I purchased a 'shop front' which is an internet e-commerce business but at this stage I don't have anything to sell and I am looking for ideas and also leading on from that, when I do find something to put in the shop front - some ideas, tips etc that will help me promote the product."

If you're starting out with a blank slate, the first step is to do some simple market research to find out what products will sell best on the Internet. This is absolutely essential. Don't just guess; do the research.

Then you have to set up the entire business to sell these products. If they are physical products, you have to find a supplier, distributor, and so on.

When you get ready to promote the site, I recommend that you start by buying some Google advertising to drive traffic to your Web site quickly. This is the best way to get started.

Oh, by the way, be careful to direct people to specific pages of your Web site, not just to the home page. If you have an entire shop full of products, it might be tempting to take them to the home page to browse around. However, as a general rule, it's better to take them to specific pages relating to exactly what they searched for.

Labels: Web strategy

"In order to direct interest to my noise prevention products, how can I most easily obtain the email addresses of my potential clients who specify noise pollution prevention products, specified by architects, landscape engineers, land development planners, and Government Departments such as Main roads, Public works, Environmental etc."

This is a great question, because it demonstrates that you've thought about whom to target.

The first question to ask is: Where do these people hang out? For architects, I'm sure that they have a professional association. Ditto for engineers and planners. For Government departments, I'm not sure.

Then ask yourself how you can get in front of those people. For members of associations, one possibility is to approach the association and find out how you can reach their members. It might involve putting a flyer in a mail-out, or e-mailing your ad to the members, or becoming an official sponsor.

Ideally, you would like to get the members' e-mail addresses yourself, but for privacy reasons it's unlikely that the association will give them to you directly. So make sure that your flyer or ad directs them to something that asks them for their e-mail address. For example, you could write a special report for this industry and offer it free, in exchange for their e-mail address.

Labels: e-mail newsletter, niche marketing, traffic generation

"Interested in the pros and cons, the mistakes one can make and where to focus on content."

The biggest mistake of all when trying to make money on the Internet is not finding out whether there's a market for your product. Sadly, most people do make this mistake.

Some people believe that you can succeed by creating a fantastic product and then finding a market for it. And they are right. But it's the hard way to do it. It's much easier to find your market first, and then build a product to match it.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to throw away your existing business idea and start from scratch. Even if you already have an established business, it's still worth doing the market research to find the exact angle that the market is looking for.

Labels: market research, Web strategy

"How can I make money from a web site that promotes me and me services as an event manager/coordinator?"

If you're offering purely a service, then the most important goal of your Web site is to get clients to pick up the phone and talk to you. Is that right?

So what do you have to do to convince them to call you?

My guess is that their most important requirement when hiring an event coordinator is to make sure that their event runs smoothly. That's probably a more important consideration than cost.

But do you know that for sure? I suggest you run a brief survey with your existing clients to find out what their most important goals are. Then make sure that everything on your site convinces them that you can achieve that goal for them.

For example, if they really do care that their event runs smoothly, probably the best thing you can do to convince them of that is to provide high-quality testimonials and referrals from past clients. That's likely to be more attractive to them than a lower price or even a money-back guarantee (After all, if their event is a disaster, it's only a small consolation that they get their money back).

This process is what I call answering the "Why You?" question, which is one of the three critical questions that you have to answer to increase the response on your Web site.

But what about the people who visit your site and aren't ready to pick up the phone and call? Instead of losing them, I recommend that you encourage them to join your mailing list. One way to persuade them to do that is to write a short e-book with a title like "The Seven Fatal Mistakes To Avoid When Planning Your Next Event", and give that away free on your Web site - but only for people who join your mailing list.

Labels: sales conversion, survey

"How do I know if my website is giving the right message to encourage businesses to subscribe?"

What are the biggest problems, challenges, issues, concerns and worries of the businesses in your target market?

Are you sure? How do you know? If you only think you know the answers, then you might be wrong. If it's been a while since you last surveyed your customers, it's time to do that now.

The easiest way is to start with your current subscribers. Why don't you ask your current subscribers to e-mail you with their #1 problem / challenge / concern. To improve the response rates, give them a free e-book or special report in return.

Then, when you get the results, go ahead and write an e-book or special report that addresses those concerns, and make it available free to new visitors to your Web site, but only if they subscribe to your newsletter.

Labels: e-mail newsletter

"How do I create something that is different from all the other products on the same topic?"

Well, my first question is ... Why? Why is it so important to be different?

If you're just doing it for the intellectual exercise of having something unique, fair enough. But otherwise, being different isn't all it's cracked up to be.

For example, do you go to your favourite restaurant because the food is different from all the other restaurants in the world? Do you shop at your local supermarket because they stock items that are different from any other supermarket? Do you go to your doctor because she gives different advice from every other doctor?

Now you might have answered "Yes" to some of those questions. But I bet you that the reasons are not due to the uniqueness of the product. In my case, my choices are due to the friendly staff at the restaurant, the convenience of the supermarket and the fact that he's my family doctor.

You do not have to be different from every other product on the market. What's more important is to offer real value to your customer/client. The definition of value will vary for different customers - it could be price, convenience, service, ease of use, loyalty, promptness, reliability, whatever. Find out what matters to your customers and clients, and focus on that, not on being different.

Labels: providing value

"I attract a lot of visitors but not many of them buy from us. How can I encourage more of my visitors to purchase from me?"

Ask them why they aren't buying.

I know that that sounds annoyingly simplistic, but it really is the first step to increasing your sales!

Create a pop-up window that shows up when somebody visits a sales page on your site and leaves it without buying anything. Just ask them to tell you why they aren't buying.

It helps if you can give them an incentive to fill in this survey. For example, if you're offering an electronic product such as an e-book or a membership site, you might even consider giving it to them free in exchange for their feedback. I did that once with one of my e-books, and I was amazed by some of the responses. They were extremely useful in helping me to improve my sales letter.

If you're not selling an electronic product, it might be too expensive to give them a physical gift of the product (though if you value the feedback enough, it's an excellent way to get a strong response rate)! In this case, write an e-book or special report and give that away instead.

Labels: copywriting, sales letter

"How do I find out where search engines are placing me on their list and how do I change that position without paying for specific advertising?"

To answer the first part of your question, just do a Google search for the keywords you're interested in.

Look through the first 3 pages of results. If your Web site appears here in these three pages, that's good. If not, then it might as well be invisible, because most Internet users only look at the first three pages of results.

There are ways of improving your search engine position. The catch, though, is that it's a bit of a hit-and-miss process. And even if you do get the position you're looking for, are you sure that searchers are using the same keywords you used? I recommend that you do pay for some advertising, even if just for a short time. That will give you a better indication of what people are searching for.

Labels: search engine listings

"Can I combine three different products without having three different businesses?"

Yes, but there are a number of things to consider.

If the products are very different from each other - and particularly if they are serving three types of customer - then it's best to have separate Web sites for them. You can still run them under the same business name, though.

If the products are very closely related, then you might consider promoting them on the same Web site, because somebody who buys one might buy one of the others as well.

However, even in the case of related products, there is some value from having a separate Web site - or at least, a separate page - for each product. It means that you can focus on selling them just that product, by writing a compelling sales letter for that product.

Labels: niche marketing, sales letter, Web strategy

"How do I properly list my business in search engines to get the optimum traffic visiting?"

The first thing is to do some research to find whether there's a market for your products.

Then I recommend that you buy some Google advertising to experiment with various keywords combinations. Yes, I know that you're talking about free listings, but I do recommend that you buy some traffic first. Even if you only invest $100 in this form of advertising, it will give you a clear idea of what keywords are the most popular.

Then start optimizing your Web pages to get a higher listing for free search engine traffic. There are specific things that you can do, and they don't require much effort. However, if you're doing them on the wrong keywords, it won't help at all! That's why I recommend buying the advertising first.

Labels: Google advertising, search engine listings

"Do mini sites to sell specific products work better than a larger site with a broad range of services and information?"

This is a very broad question, and the answer depends on your particular market and products.

In general, if you're selling to complete strangers, and you have a range of products, then yes - it's better to have a separate Web site for each product. When somebody comes to a particular product page, you lead them through your sales letter, and they are not distracted by other products or other buttons.

Alternatively, you can have all your products listed on one site, but without any links between them. Again, you direct your Google advertising to the individual product pages on the main site.

Labels: niche marketing, sales letter

"How do I get companies to come to my website and leave their contact information?"

Give them something free.

It could be a free e-book or special report, a subscription to a newsletter, a self-assessment questionnaire, a free sample, a survey, whatever.

Also make it clear to them that you are putting them on a mailing list, and that they can unsubscribe at any time. This ensures that you're complying with privacy and anti-spam laws.

Labels: e-mail newsletter

"I am a real beginner (having paid a fortune for websites that I didn't understand in the past). I'm starting from scratch and using Front Page and finding my way around. It's like learning to walk. Anything that can help me get websites up and making money for me is great."
-- Mary

Since I know your situation personally, Mary, I know that you've already got an area of expertise, not just looking around for any product. So please read my comments in that context ...

The easiest way to make money from your Web site is to add a password-protected section, and then offer access to existing clients. In other words, when you next approach a new client for consulting or speaking work, add value by telling them that they can get access to your password-protected area. This allows you to justify a higher speaking/consulting fee.

The other good option is to offer on-line courses to supplement your training sessions. These are delivered automatically by e-mail, and provide on-going reinforcement to participants. Again, because you're offering added value, you can charge a higher fee.

You might have been expecting me to talk about search engine marketing, on-line payment systems, and the such. But it's much, MUCH easier to sell added-value services to your existing clients.

Labels: sales conversion, Web strategy

"I have a web site which is old looking and not efficient at all. I have been working on a long letter and it's almost done. What do you suggest my next step is; work with the long letter or redo the whole site?"

Do both! The only way to know for sure is to try them both. And it's easy to do if you have already written the long letter. Just put it up there for a week, then switch back to the old site for a week, and keep repeating this until you've got a good idea of which is working better.

In both cases, you can use Google AdWords to attract visitors to your site. Depending on the keywords you choose, you should get enough traffic to make an informed decision about which option works best.

Labels: copywriting, sales letter

"We've created an e-book, but how do you go about selling it, both electronically and physically?"

This is a big question.

To begin with, much of the process is exactly the same as selling anything else. In other words, you have to have the right product for the right customer at the right price. If you're selling to a non-responsive market, or your product doesn't have value in the customer's eyes, or they can get it at a better price elsewhere, you're already fighting a losing battle.

So, assuming that you do have the right customer, product and price, you then have to convince them of the value of buying it. Make sure you can answer these questions:

• What problem does this e-book solve?
• Is it a big enough problem for them?
• Does this e-book really solve this problem?
• Why should they buy from you?
• Why should they buy it now?

There is, of course, a lot more to know about writing profitable e-books, but this is a good start.

Labels: e-books, providing value

"At the moment I send out a monthly newsletter in Adobe format as an attachment that results in a long download time. How can I write a newsletter that can be readily and easily transmitted to clients?"

Yeah, sending attachments is a problem, not just because of the download time but also because some e-mail programs will block them because of virus fears.

A better option is to send your newsletter in HTML format - i.e. looking like a Web page. This doesn't get sent as an attachment, and the file size is usually much smaller.

Even if you don't know how to create Web pages, some e-newsletter systems allow you to write the basic text only, and they will add the HTML to "pretty it up". For example, our CourseBot system works in exactly that way. It also has an automatic switch between plain text and HTML, so that if somebody has chosen to receive their newsletter as plain text only, that happens automatically.

Labels: e-mail newsletter

"What am I doing wrong that I get clicks onto my web site but no buyers?"

Don't ask me - ask them!

Seriously. The best way to find out why people aren't buying is to ask them. If they leave your Web page without buying, display a pop-up window asking them for the reason, and offer them a small incentive in return for their feedback.

For example, I did this on one of my sites that sells an e-book. In return for their honest feedback, I actually gave them a free copy of the e-book. That might seem extravagant, but it cost me nothing and I got some excellent feedback. For instance, one potential buyer thought it would take too long to download, and another even thought it would be sent through the post! So I was able to update the Web page to reassure them of the download time.

Many people hate using pop-up windows because they annoy Internet users, and that is true to some extent. However, these people are already leaving your site! So what's the harm?

Labels: market research, sales conversion, survey

"I heard you say that you have your transcriptions done through elance. I have a 40MB mp3 file, but wouldn’t that be too big to email to someone? Wouldn’t it take forever even on broadband, which I have?"

Yes, that IS too big for e-mail!

What I do with mine is to upload it to my Web site and then send a private link to whoever is doing the transcription.

Another option is if the transcriber allows you to upload files to THEIR Web site. One person I worked with had a private upload area set up, and I just transferred the files there for her to retrieve.

I'm sure that most people who do this regularly will come across this issue a lot, and will have SOME way of handling it. So when you submit your job request on elance, I suggest you mention this issue.

Finally, if all else fails, use www.dropload.com.

Labels: outsourcing

"Are e-books typically priced higher than printed books or booklets? My tips booklet is priced at £5 but I've converted it to an e-book and thinking of seling it for £7 - is that about right or way off?"

Here's the simple answer: Pricing depends on the value you offer; the more value you offer, the higher the price you can charge.

There are a number of ways of demonstrating the value of your e-book - e.g.

• Showing them how much money they can make from it
• Offering a money-back guarantee
• Adding relevant bonus products to boost the value

Here's a video that demonstrates the money-back guarantee idea.

The other thing to remember is that if you charge a low price, it's easier to get people to buy it, but you require more customers! So if your marketing is great, you can afford to charge a lower price.

Pricing is just one of the factors in writing profitable e-books, but it definitely is important.

Labels: e-books, pricing, providing value

"How do I take my coaching practice and turn it into a primarily web based business? Sorry this isn't very specific, I am really at the start and wondering where to begin."

This is a good question, and one that most of my clients face when they first build their Web site.

The trap that many people fall into when first going on the Web is that they hope their Web site will bring them heaps of new clients from around the world. In practice, that just doesn't happen. This is especially true of a service business, like coaching, where most of your clients probably come to you by referral anyway.

It is possible to reach new markets on the Web, but it does require an investment of time, money and expertise. Another option - and the one that I recommend to most new clients - is to look at ways of using the Web to service your existing clients. For example, you could create a password-protected area on your site and provide additional resources for clients in that area. This would increase the value of the service you offer, which means you're offering more value, and can increase your coaching fees.

Labels: market research, Web strategy

"Is building a list still a feasible long term strategy to use?"

Yes! In fact, some people would say that it's the best long-term strategy to use. The trick, though, is to have a quality list, not just the biggest list. There's certainly no harm in having low-quality subscribers on an e-mail list (provided you're not paying for each subscriber), but a big list doesn't necessarily match a big response rate.

Even if you don't have anything to sell yet, start building your list. Send them useful information every 2 weeks or so, and start building that relationship.

Labels: e-mail newsletter

"How do I organize what is on my website so that it does not get totally out of control or that it just does not make sense anymore, it keeps happening to me. Nobody is signing up, buying, commenting, nothing."

Yes, this is a common problem, and it usually happens to a Web site over time, as things keep getting added to it.

The radical solution is to start again. Start with a clean sheet of paper, pretend that you don't have a Web site at all, and start your planning from scratch. Design the Web site that works now, not what has been built up over time.

For a less radical solution, just re-design the front page of your site. Identify the different types of visitors to the site, and then give them a link directly to the page that is most relevant for them. For example, you might say something like

"Are you looking to make more money from products? Find out more about our consulting program."

By doing this, you can hide some of the clutter behind the scenes. As long as a first-time visitor knows what to click first, and it leads to something useful for them, they never have to know about all the mess and clutter.

Labels: planning, Web strategy