Company Updates

DXN Review: A Winning Healthcare MLM?

David Sharpe bio

So it looks like you've been searching for some reviews about the DXN multi-level marketing company. Probably the number one thing you're searching for is, “Can I really make money selling mushroom-based dietary supplements?”

I'll break it down for you in this review… and give you a hint about one of the best online business opportunities, too.

What Is DXN?

DXN is a multi-level marketing (MLM) or network marketing company where distributors sell health supplements, beauty products, food, beverages, skincare, home goods, clothing, and more in a peer-to-peer sales model.

Based in Malaysia, DXN has become steadily more global since 1993. It was founded by Datuk Dr. Lim Siow Jin who was interested in using mushrooms as health supplements. Since then, it has grown to a much more detailed product line.

How Do I Become a DXN Distributor?

As of this date, there are 10 million distributors of DXN around the world. To become a distributor you must apply through the official website. Include any information about the person who sponsored you.

Once you apply, you redeem your starter kit of DXN products. These are the first products you purchase to sell or demonstrate to customers in your social circle.

Unique Perks of DXN

DXN has some unique perks for a multi-level marketing program, including a retirement plan. The plan bases retirement contributions on your sales and purchases.

There are also travel opportunities available to high-performing distributors, including international travel seminars.

On a related note, the global nature of DXN means that your potential sales audience is as big as you want it to be. With the “One World Market” membership, distributors can go global. Recruit or sell in countries you have never visited to expand your personal business.

Can I Actually Earn Money with DXN?

The structure of DXN is very similar to other multi-level marketing companies in that uplines recruit distributors. They must purchase—and keep purchasing—products to get started.

Their recruiter and upline earn a commission on each sale, even if the distributor struggles to earn money. It can take a while to build up clients or your own downline, so many distributors remain at the first tier of profit, which is only a 15% mark-up on products sold.

Distributors also need to keep up a minimum required sales, as well as consistent transactions each month. If they go 12 months without transactions, they will “expire.”

In this way, it is clear that DXN is structured to funnel money upwards, likely making it difficult for new members to make significant earnings.

As an area becomes more saturated with DXN sellers, it also becomes difficult to find customers. Frequently it is the earliest distributors who do the best in this model.

Am I Cut Out for Multi-Level Marketing?

Here's the secret about multi-level and network marketing: almost anyone can do it. But doing it successfully? That's dependent not just on skill but on timing, opportunity, and luck.

Think about the skills that made you think you'd be great at multi-level marketing.

Are you a people person? Do you love to solve problems for people and customers? If so, there may be a different type of marketing you'll excel at: affiliate marketing.

So… What's This About Affiliate Marketing?

I promised I'd give you a hint about a better alternative to network marketing that lets you make money at home and be your own boss, right? It's a business model where you can take control of your own plans and you don't have to rely on someone else's inventory or service plans.

It's affiliate marketing, a type of marketing that lets you reach people across the world via the internet. Some of the skills you learn doing network marketing apply to affiliate marketing too.

How Do I Do Affiliate Marketing As a Job?

Affiliate marketing lets you reach thousands of people online by marketing different products and services. But unlike network marketing where you have to purchase the products, market, and sell them yourself, you're not involved in the sale of products in affiliate marketing.

Let me explain.

You have definitely seen affiliate marketing before. Ever seen a social media post tagged with the products in it? It probably had a link in the description that you could click on to purchase the items.

The person who put up that social media post is affiliate marketing. By promoting the product and linking you to the seller, they earn a small commission from each sale that gets made based on their link.

Affiliate marketers turn this into a big business for themselves. Many begin to create content that can promote products on several different platforms, like YouTube, Instagram, or a personal blog.

Many of these platforms are free or low-cost to get started with—unlike buying inventory from an MLM. There are also affiliate marketing programs that match marketers with sellers in need of promotion.

By creating engaging content and promoting the right number of brands, affiliate marketing can be a profitable business opportunity to take on in your own time.

Be a Legendary Marketer

If you're interested in learning more about affiliate marketing and moving on from network marketing, Legendary Marketer has the tools for you to build an excellent affiliate marketing foundation.

With Legendary Marketer, you can sign up for a course about affiliate marketing to learn more. With a lower start-up cost than network marketing and more flexibility to be creative in your own time, affiliate marketing is a great field for someone looking for an online business.

Get Started

Now that you've read our review of DXN, does affiliate marketing sound more interesting than ever?

You've got a new business opportunity to pursue, and a great place to start is our free web class. In the class, you'll learn the best ways to make money online and scoop up a bunch of commissions. Get started with Legendary Marketer today!

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Natura Review: Unlocking the Beauty of Brazil

David Sharpe bio

Natura is a Brazilian-based MLM company that sells personal care items through representatives who make money from commission.

Maybe you’ve heard of Natura products, or maybe someone has offered you a position selling their products. Recruiters often promise the potential of earning a lot of money through their company. However, information about how much you can make is scarce.

Is selling Natura a legitimate way to earn income? Or is it another MLM waste of time and money?

Who Is Natura?

Natura is one of the top-ranking MLMs in the world. Antonio Luiz Seabra established the company in 1969. Despite endless competition in the world of cosmetics, they’ve managed to thrive as a company throughout the years.

They stand out from other companies by being eco-friendly and sustainable. They make their products out of natural ingredients and never use animal testing.

Natura is based in Brazil but operates in 73 countries. Natura & Co is a parent company that now owns Natura Cosmeticos, The Body Shop, Aesop, and Avon.

Unlike some other direct supply companies, Natura opened pop-up shops in Paris. Even though they sell their products online and in stores, they still claim that the majority of their sales come through brand representatives.

Is Natura an MLM?

MLM (multi-level-marketing) companies sell their products through individuals. Individuals pay an upfront cost to join the company, receive the products, and then sell that product in whatever way they choose.

MLM companies don’t give their representatives marketing assistance, but they do often give sales goals (and some require their sales goals be met before representatives can take a commission).

Multi-level marketing is not to be confused with a pyramid scheme. While they’re structured similarly, MLMs sell a product.

Since Natura sells quality products and it is a part of a reputable cosmetics conglomerate, sellers can expect to be successful as long as they take measures to market themselves and put in the work, so to speak.

What Does Natura Sell?

Natura sells a long line of personal care products, and it would be impossible to list all of them.

According to the Natura website, their best sellers include moisturizers, hair masks, body butter, oils, eye creams, shampoos, and conditioners.

They sell quality products made from ingredients found in Brazil. You can find their products online, in stores, and through one-on-one interactions.

Product Reviews

Natura products generally have good reviews. If you search for Natura product reviews, you’ll find endless blog posts and YouTube videos of people giving all the reasons they love using Natura.

If you’re thinking about working for Natura, this is good news. As an MLM company, they must sell products people want to buy. Otherwise, success would be nearly impossible.

How Do Representatives Make Money?

Natura sellers make money through recruitment and product sales. With most MLM companies, the biggest avenue of profit is through recruiting new members.

Natura doesn’t disclose their sales representatives' average income, which is most likely to hide the fact that they don’t make much money.

Like a lot of MLM companies, Natura holds back information about how much money you can make and commission percentages until you’re already signed up to work for them.

People move up in the company by recruiting others. The more people you recruit the more money you make and the higher up you move.

Recruiting people becomes the main goal for Natura sellers. To keep an income going, you have to continue to market yourself and the company, which costs money and time.

Pros and Cons of Natura

Most MLM companies don’t last long, especially not decades. As a company that’s been around since 1969, Natura has already beaten the odds. By proving they can be successful for so long, they demonstrate that they must have some good business practices.

Natura is a publicly-traded company, which means anyone can invest in their stocks. That proves they are a legitimate company and not a scam.

But as mentioned earlier, there is a lack of transparency about the company. There’s not a lot of information about how to join Natura, what selling packages they have, or how much money people make working with them.

It makes sense for you to want to research a company before jumping into sales. Yet, it’s difficult to find any information about what working with them is like. That lack of transparency is sure to drive away a lot of potential markets.

Why Are Some People Successful With Natura?

Success with MLA companies depends almost completely on marketing. That why only about 1% of people bring in a livable wage selling MLM products.

Today, social media plays a big role in how people market MLM products and recruit people. Without a prominent social media presence, the only people you can market to are those you interact with daily.

Learn Online Marketing

Figuring out how to get traffic to your social media page or blog stumps a lot of potential big sellers. You don’t have to get a degree to learn how to market online.

Online marketing schools give you the flexibility to learn when you want and what you want. Our classes ensure that you have the marketing knowledge and tools to get your name out there.

Whether you’re selling Natura products, some other MLM product, or you want to learn how to market your website, blog, YouTube channel, or Instagram, our online marketing school will help you reach your goals.

If you want to start a profitable online business, but aren’t sure where to begin, start with our free online webclass which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home and teaches affiliate marketing strategies including how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

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Nu Skin MLM: An Insider’s Review

David Sharpe bio

Do you have a passion for skincare? Have you considered joining the Nu Skin MLM opportunity? It may be a good option for you, but don't jump on board so fast.

Making money with it can be difficult, if not impossible. And if you do make money, don't plan on quitting your day job.

Keep reading to learn more about making money with Nu Skin.

What Is Nu Skin?

Nu Skin is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells skincare products, and you can make money by selling those products. However, like other MLMs, Nu Skin also lets you make money by recruiting people who then sell the products.

When you join, you will become a Brand Affiliate, which makes it sound like your average affiliate program. But Nu Skin isn't like online affiliate programs because it can take more work to sell and make commissions.

Cost to Join

One thing that sets the MLM Nu Skin apart from other MLMs is that you don't have to pay anything to join. You can sign up to be a Brand Affiliate, and you can start marketing the products without any tools.

However, Nu Skin also sells introductory packages you can use to learn more about the company. You can also test the products before you sell them. But the Nu Skin products and packages are pretty expensive.

Each introductory package costs about 438 GBP, which is 610 to 611 USD, depending on the package you choose. If you're on a budget, you may want to hold off on ordering products.

How to Earn

After you join Nu Skin, you can earn money in a couple of ways. First, you can sell the products and earn money through retail profits. In that way, Nu Skin seems like a more traditional affiliate program.

But you can also recruit other people to sell the products. When you and your recruits sell, you can make money. Having a team can also help you reach group volume requirements so that you can actually get the money you earn.

If you don't make your personal volume or group volume, you won't make money. And even if you do reach those goals, you may not make a ton of money.

Can You Make Money?

Unfortunately, you probably won't make much money from the Nu Skin MLM opportunity. Most affiliates don't make any commission at all. Of those who do make money, the majority don't make nearly enough to live on.

In 2019, only 33.93% of Brand Affiliates were active. Of that group, roughly 17.86% made money each month. Out of the total active affiliates, 11.92% made an average of $33 per month.

Less than half a percent of active Brand Affiliates earned an average of $2,657 a month. But keep in mind, some people earned way less than that. And all of these numbers don't include expenses on products, marketing, or time spent selling.

Nu Skin MLM Pros

Before you decide if the MLM Nu Skin is worth it or not, consider some of the advantages. There aren't a ton of benefits of working for Nu Skin, but you may still want to join.

Here are a couple of benefits you can enjoy when selling Nu Skin products.

Free to Join

Most MLMs charge something for you to join. Some of them charge thousands of dollars before you can start selling, while others charge closer to $100.

While you can pay for an introductory kit, you don't have to pay Nu Skin anything. However, you should try the products before you market them to others. That way, you can make sure you like them, and you can give an honest review as an affiliate marketer.

Wide Array of Products

Another benefit of Nu Skin is that you can sell a lot of products. While the products all relate to skincare, you can focus on selling the ones that you like or that would best suit your audience.

That can help you increase your sales, and you can make sure your followers like the products. You also don't have to familiarize yourself with each product Nu Skin offers, but you can if you want to increase your chance of selling something.

Nu Skin MLM Cons

Despite the benefits, there are quite a few cons to selling Nu Skin products. Before you sign up for free, consider what it might cost you after the fact.

Here are a few reasons you should steer clear of the Nu Skin MLM.

Expensive Products

If you compare the price of Nu Skin products to those from competitors, you may find Nu Skin costs more. And it's not a luxury skincare brand, so the prices can be a little much for what you get.

Because of the prices, you may have a hard time getting people to buy from you. Then, you may not be able to make enough sales to get a commission each month.

Hard to Make Money

Aside from the expensive products, it can be hard to make money with Nu Skin. After all, the majority of sellers didn't make any commissions in 2019, even if they were active.

And Nu Skin commissions aren't nearly as much as some other MLMs. Not even one percent of active sellers made close to a living wage in 2019. Keep in mind that most sellers weren't active, and the numbers also don't account for expenses.

Emphasis on Recruiting

If you want to make any money with Nu Skin, you have no choice but to recruit other sellers. Then, you can make commissions off of what they sell.

But even still, you have to rely on those recruits to sell, or you need a lot of recruits. And you still may not make much money.

Should You Sell for Nu Skin?

The Nu Skin MLM opportunity sounds enticing. You can join for free, and you can sell as many products as you want. But it's still an MLM, and it can be almost impossible to make any money despite having to work a lot.

If you like skincare, you may want to try it as a customer, and you can make a few sales here and there. However, it's not a good option if you want to earn a lot of money.

Do you want to make real money online without a ton of work? Check out our free online webclass which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home and teaches affiliate marketing strategies including how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

Click for free training

Infinitus Review: A Ticket Towards Wellness or Total Scam?

David Sharpe bio

China-based Infinitus has been around for almost thirty years and has started to expand its service on a global scale. In 2018, market reports found that this health and wellness MLM was worth over $4.5 billion.

Though this MLM hasn't quite made it to the states yet, it is expected to in the coming years. Back in 2016, they opened up business in Canada, marking their entrance into the North American market.

Whether you're living in a country where Infinitus is already active or anxiously awaiting its arrival in the US, it's important to ask: is Infinitus a legit business endeavor or is it a scam?

Read on for our complete review of Infinitus and find out what you can expect from becoming an Infinitus affiliate–and how to boost your sales.

What Is Infinitus?

Infinitus is a Chinese MLM that sells health and wellness products that employ ancient Chinese herbal medicines and natural remedies. The company aims to help buyers optimize Qi, balance Yin and Yang, and regulate Zangfu–concepts that may seem foreign to Westerners but have a lot to offer.

The products are broken down into five categories. Infinitus sells:

  • Health foods including herbs, vitamins, and minerals
  • Skincare including face creams and cleansers
  • Personal care including shampoos and toothpaste
  • Home care including laundry detergents
  • General health care

One thing that sets Infinitus apart from a lot of other health and wellness MLMs is that many of their products are award-winning. For example, products like the Dried Tangerine Peel Pu'er tea and Phytocare toothpaste have received Gold awards from Monde Selection, an international institute that tests for product quality. In other words, Infinitus does sell products you can be confident in.

Is Infinitus a Money-Making Opportunity?

In case it isn't entirely clear by now, Infinitus is not a scam. It's an international business that uses the direct sales model to sell high-quality, award-winning health and wellness products. Now, that doesn't mean that every affiliate will discover that Infinitus is a money-making opportunity.

Like other MLMs, Infinitus offers a few different ways for affiliates to make money. Affiliates will receive a commission on every sale they complete. They can also receive commissions and bonuses based on the growth and sales of their downstream. The commission rate is typically 2-10% depending on your rank and ability to generate sales, although that commission rate can go as high as 12.5%.

How does that actually pan out for most Infinitus sellers? It's not as easy to track down Infinitus income disclosure forms, possibly because the company is selling in such vastly different markets across the globe.

One income disclosure form released after the company's first year in Canada claims that typical earnings range from $49 to $964 annually. That being said, this particular form is limited in what it reveals. For example, we don't know if this is an average of all affiliates or if it represents only a certain category.

In the end, even the high end of that income disclosure–$964 annually–isn't nearly enough to live off of. What makes it difficult to turn an Infinitus affiliation into a real paycheck and why are people still doing it?

What Perks Come From Working With Infinitus?

Perhaps the biggest appeal of working with Infinitus is the products. Many of them are one-of-a-kind, renowned, and reasonably priced. Once you tap into your market, it won't be that difficult to keep these products moving.

For US affiliates itching for a new opportunity, there's also the perk of working with an MLM that is brand new to the US. While we still don't know when Infinitus will open its doors to American affiliates, we can expect that anyone who jumps on board in that first year will do fairly well. (It's almost always better to join an MLM in its infancy when the market isn't already oversaturated.)

Plus, if you can build a big, high-performing downstream, you can start to make some of your income in a somewhat passive way. For a lot of people hoping to build an online business with the help of an MLM, that passive income is the driving force. However, it can take more work than you expect to get to that point.

What Drawbacks Can Infinitus Affiliates Expect to Encounter?

Even if you do manage to join Infinitus when it first becomes available in your country, it may not be as easy as you think to start making those sales. It can be even harder to build up a reliable downstream.

The problem is that a lot of MLMs suggest that you reach out to the people you know–your friends, your family, and members of your community. Why is that a problem?

When you're only looking at people directly in front of you, you're limiting your market too much to get the ball rolling. Imagine that you add a few people in your social circle to your downstream, but you happen to know all the same people. If you don't know how to reach a wider market than that, you're going to actively oversaturate your own market and theirs.

In order to prosper with a company like Infinitus, you need real marketing skills. You need to understand how the internet works and how you can use it to your best advantage. You need to build an audience, capture their attention, and finally, give them a reason to trust you.

These skills aren't innate. Even for the brightest extroverts with stunning people skills, marketing requires a commitment to learning. Fortunately, you don't need to go back to school to get the know-how you need.

Go the Extra Mile and Boost Your Online Business Endeavors

Infinitus is far from a scam and possibly one of the best MLM opportunities out there. The only problem is that no matter how strong the company's products are, you're only going to get out what you put in. If what you put in isn't reaching the right audience, you're going to hit a wall pretty quick.

If you want to learn the online business skills you need to maximize sales, take a look at this video. It's free, it's comprehensive, and it will translate smoothly to any online industry. Whether you decide that Infinitus is the right match for you or it's time to take it in a different direction, you'll learn everything you need to know right here at Legendary Marketer.

Click for free training

Vasayo Review: Effective Nutritional Support Opportunity or Snake Oil?

David Sharpe bio

Nutritional and dietary supplements use reached an all-time high within the past couple of years. Whether users take supplements to achieve more gains in the gym or want to ensure they consume their vital nutrients, supplements offer a myriad of benefits to a variety of users.

Are you passionate about health? Do you regularly take nutritional supplements? If so, you may be wondering how to work in this field. You likely heard of nutritional MLM companies, such as Vasayo. Vasayo offers a variety of products to achieve better health.

Should you sell for them? Read our Vasayo review to learn more.

Vasayo Products

What does this company sell? They sell a variety of nutritional supplements that target different health factors.

Neuro

This is nicknamed “a meal for your brain.” This supplement enhances mental clarity, provides nourishment for your brain, and improves overall brain function. This product is available in pill form.

Core Essentials

This is a standard vitamin and mineral supplement. The product is available as vegetable-based capsules.

Renew

This is a liquid-based product filled with antioxidants. Renew fights pain, swelling, and targets other internal aspects of aging.

Energy

This is no energy drink. It’s an herb-based energy spray. It has a sweet taste yet is sugar-free. Spray the product twice orally for a boost of energy.

Sleep

This is a natural way to get a good night’s rest. The unique formula also helps your brain detoxify while you sleep. It’s an oral spray — spray the product four times in the mouth before going to bed.

Vasayo Scam: Can You Make Money With Vasayo?

Like many MLM scams, Brand Partners sell Vasayo products to retail customers. You can also onboard new Brand Partners and make money off of their investments.

Here’s a breakdown of all of the ways you can make money with Vasayo.

Product Introduction Bonus (PIB)

This is the best way to make money with Vasayo. When you enroll a Brand Partner, they put in an order for the products that they sell. As the seller, you make a commission off of this sale.

Customer Sales Bonus (CSB)

Whenever a customer buys a product, you receive a percentage of the sale. Keep in mind, you have a 30-day window to receive this commission.

Team Commission (TC)

One of the most common MLM opportunities is having sellers under your ranks. When your sellers make a sale, you’ll earn a percentage of their commission without you actively selling. This is called “residual income.”

Keep in mind, Vasayo’s commission plan is a little odd. Brand Partners have two separate teams (called “legs) and the sales from both teams have to match up in order for you to earn a commission.

This is why Brand Partners have to consistently onboard new team members to earn the residual income, which brings us to our next section.

Team Commission Matching Bonus (TCMB)

This bonus occurs when you onboard new Brand Partners. You start to earn a commission based on the Brand Partners’ sales and investments. Your earning opportunities increase, which also raises your rank. Rank Advancement Bonuses (RAB)

As stated previously, you move up in the ranks when you onboard new team members. When you move up in the ranks, you receive a bonus. While the bonuses are impressive (such as $100,000 for reaching Black Diamond status), they've paid out in smaller increments during a 10-month period.

Global Leadership Bonus (GLB)

If you reach a high enough rank, you can earn the GLB. This is a share you have in the company, amounting to 3% of the company’s wealth that’s paid weekly. Keep in mind, you must meet specific qualifications.

Multiple Business Centers (MBC)

If you decide to open up Vasayo business centers, you can earn the MBC. While this isn’t a traditional bonus, it opens up even more opportunities to build wealth.

Lifestyle Trips (LT)

LTs aren’t cash bonuses, per se. Rather, this is an opportunity to travel the world with other Vasayo leaders.

This opportunity starts with Blue Sapphire members, who can earn 2-3-day excursions within the US. Higher ranking members can travel internationally for up to 10 days.

Retail Commissions

How much are these commissions? Vasayo Brand Partners earn a 20% commission whenever they receive a sale.

If they generate 500 personal volumes (“PV,” the sales volume generated by a single Brand Partner), then they receive a $50 bonus and if they generate 1,000 PV, then they receive a $150 bonus.

Vasayo Opportunity: The Different Ranks

As stated previously, the higher your rank, the larger your earnings. You’ll also receive other benefits, such as traveling. Here are Vasayo’s affiliate ranks, from the first rank to the highest rank you can achieve.

  • Brand Partner
  • Qualified Brand Partner
  • Executive Brand Partner
  • Bronze
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Platinum
  • Pearl
  • Blue Sapphire
  • Ruby
  • Emerald
  • Diamond
  • Black Diamond
  • Royal Black Diamond
  • Imperial Black Diamond
  • Crown Blue Diamond
  • Double Crown Blue Diamond
  • Triple Crown Blue Diamond

As we saw in the previous section, your earning opportunities increase by rank. However, achieving higher ranks is extremely difficult. Even to reach the Qualified Brand Partner status, you need to achieve 80 PV and maintain one active customer as well as two Brand Partners.

There are also specific qualifications for Brand Partners and customers. An active customer is someone who has ordered 35 PV worth of products within four weeks and active Brand Partners are those who generate at least 80 PV every month.

Our Vasayo Review: Is It Worth It?

The Vasayo MLM is a legitimate company that sells health products. While the earning potential is huge, it takes a lot of work to rise up in the ranks. You have selling requirements starting from the base level, and maintaining your rank becomes even more difficult as you move up.

After reading our Vasayo review, you’re likely wondering if there’s a better alternative to working in health and nutrition while making a fortune. You can with affiliate marketing.

How do you become an affiliate marketer? Take a look at this free video to learn affiliate marketing secrets like how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

Click for free training

Vorwerk Review: Is This German Company an MLM Opportunity or Scam

David Sharpe bio

Vorwerk, the Germany-based direct sales company that was established all the way back in 1883, now has over 600,000 affiliated marketers selling their products worldwide.

Surely, a company of that size–and age–can't be a scam, right? The answer is that Vorwerk is not a scam and is, in fact, a bonafide MLM opportunity. The real question is, can you make money when you sign on to sell Vorwerk's products?

The good news is that you're already seeking out answers before diving in. Our goal at Legendary Marketer is to provide the best, easiest-to-implement information about how to build an online business. Now, we're here to provide an honest Vorwerk review and show you the ropes to make any MLM work for you.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about Vorwerk and find out whether or not this MLM opportunity is the best way for you to launch your online business.

What Is Vorwerk?

Vorwerk is a company that was established almost 150 years ago by brothers Carl and Adolf Vorwerk. The business was originally focused on carpets, upholstery fabric, and the looms used to make these materials. The company began to diversify after World War I, filling the gaps in commercial production caused by the shift to wartime materials.

Eventually, the company adopted a direct sales approach to sell the vacuum cleaners that they had begun to produce and were practically unheard of in Germany. Selling such an unusual product required the Vorwerk sales team to engage with customers about their needs and demonstrate the use of their product as a means to fill those needs. Although things may look a little different today, this is exactly what Vorwerk affiliates still need to do in order to land sales.

What Do Vorwerk Affliates Sell?

What kinds of products does Vorwerk produce today? If you sign up to sell for Vorwerk, what would you be selling?

Today, Vorwerk offers the following product lines:

  • Household products including Thermomix kitchen appliances, Temial tea makers, and the original (the well-updated) Kobold vaccums
  • Vorwerk flooring including carpets and other floor coverings
  • JAFRA cosmetics
  • Financing provided by the Vorwerk-affiliated AKF Group

Compared to other MLMs, it may seem that Vorwerk's product lines are on the limited side. However, the company claims that it keeps a narrow focus on a small number of products because it values quality over quantity. Whether or not their products are truly the best on the market is up to consumers to decide–and you'll have to reach those consumers to find out.

Will You Make Money Selling Vorwerk Products?

Vorwerk is most certainly not a scam. They are a real business backed by real products sold by real people. However, that doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to prosper when selling Vorwerk products. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of signing up to become a Vorwerk affiliate.

Vorwerk Pros

One thing that is admirable about Vorwerk is that they're truly not a pyramid scheme–not even close.

Vorwerk puts a larger emphasis on selling products to individual consumers than it does on building up your downstream. If you've worked with MLMs before, you probably know that this is unusual. Most of the time, you're not going to start seeing real money until you bring on a team of willing affiliate marketers whose sales benefit you directly.

With Vorwerk, there is an opportunity to make big bucks just by focusing on sales alone (or at least making sales your bigger goal). That's in part because the prices on these items can be pretty steep. We're talking over $1,000 for some of those household appliances.

How can they get away with charging such high prices for vacuums and blenders? Vorwerk puts in the time and research to build high-quality products that many believe to be the best on the market. In other words, their products back up those high prices.

Vorwerk Cons

Alright, so we all know this is coming: the cons. What kinds of roadblocks might you encounter when selling Vorwerk products?

For starters, the high price items are usually considered one-time purchases. For example, you're not going to encounter a consumer who buys a Kobold vacuum and loves it so much that they purchase four more. The items that are easier to sell again and again–like the cosmetics–are a lot cheaper and require you to purchase things like starter kits.

The second roadblock isn't exactly a con. It's more like a harsh reality.

The products won't sell themselves.

If you want to take an MLM opportunity like Vorwerk and turn it into a real business, you're going to have to do a lot of work. You need to master the art of marketing and building up a presence online that people flock to. You're going to need to establish trust between you and your consumers.

Oh, and one last thing. Vorwerk is on the up and up in a lot of regards, but one thing that gives us pause is their lack of an income disclosure in their otherwise extensive financial report. Because Vorwerk doesn't share this information freely, we can't tell you how much you stand to make if you master the art of selling Vorwerk products.

The Secret to Any MLM Opportunity: It Takes Marketing Knowledge

No matter what MLM opportunity you jump on, things aren't going to be smooth sailing from the start. Whether you're selling vacuums for Vorwerk or essential oils for Young Living, it's going to take serious marketing skills. Where do you find the knowledge you need to succeed at any MLM opportunity?

If you enjoyed this Vorwerk, please consider checking out our free online webclass which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home and teaches affiliate marketing strategies including how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

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Amway Review: Healthy Products for a Healthy Life or Healthy Deception

David Sharpe bio

If you're familiar with the world of direct sales (aka multi-level marketing, often shortened to MLM), then you've probably heard of Amway. Founded in 1959 and worth an estimated $8.4 billion today, Amway is one of the oldest and biggest MLMs around.

For many of us who are interested in the financial growth and freedom associated with online marketing and entrepreneurship, MLMs seem like the place to start. Companies like Amway are quick to let you know that some of their so-called independent business owners (IBOs) are making six figures every month on their own time.

In this Amway review, we'll pull back the curtain on these promises and take a look at what Amway has to offer. Is it a fantastic business opportunity with great products at the helm or is it a scam?

Read on to have all of your questions about Amway–and about internet marketing secrets–answered in this complete Amway review.

What Is Amway?

Amway is an MLM founded by Doug DeVos and Steve Van Andel. True to any direct sales model, Amway's IBOs are offered the opportunity to sell exclusive products using their own methods on their own time.

How do you get started? Amway allows new IBOs to sign up via a sponsor (someone who already sells Amway products), charging a $100 registration fee to get started. Once you're in, there are three core ways to make money:

  1. Commissions on each product you sell directly or that someone in your downstream sells directly
  2. Performance-based bonuses given to IBOs as they grow their business
  3. Incentives received for achieving certain milestones set by Amway

Sounds pretty easy, right? Let's take a quick look at what you'll be selling.

What Products Does Amway Offer?

Unlike other MLMs that sell products with their own branding, Amway sells a variety of different product lines. These include:

  • Nutrilite supplements
  • Specialty skincare products and cosmetics
  • XS Sports nutrition shakes and energy drinks

On top of these big sellers, Amway sells dozens of other product lines that they claim you can't find anywhere else. The trouble is that we're seeing a lot of these supposedly exclusive products on e-commerce sites like Amazon, where they're being offered for a lower price.

Does this affect the legitimacy of the company? Given how much it's worth, it would seem that the model is still working.

Amway Review: The Pros of Amway

It's important to talk about the perks of working for a company like Amway. For starters, Amway does allow you to build up your own independent business using tools like a personal website and social media. You don't answer to anyone but yourself (in theory), which means that you can take on as much or as little work as you need.

As with most MLMs, developing a downstream is key to your success with Amway. Selling the products will bring in some money, but convincing others to come on board is a better way to create a partially-passive income with Amway. If you can pull it off, you can make some serious money.

Amway Review: The Cons of Amway

Where there are pros, there are usually cons, and this is something everyone should be wary of before joining an MLM. When you watch Amway's promotional videos, it's easy to fall under the impression that their products sell themselves and that you can get rich with minimal effort. The reality is that for most Amway IBOs, Amway is not a sole stream of income–and we'll tell you why.

Amway Isn't Really Designed to Make You Rich

On Amway's own website, you'll find a page entitled, “Can you make money with Amway?”

After scanning through the surprisingly brief response to this question, you'll discover that even Amway's own higher-ups don't think you're going to get rich through Amway. In fact, they describe it as a “side gig,” noting that most of their distributors don't make a living off of Amway's business model.

In fact, even IBOs who make it to Amway's “Founders Platinum” level of sales only bring in an average of $41,066 per year. Why isn't this multi-billion dollar company leading to huge profit margins for its IBOs?

There are a few barriers that prevent Amway from becoming a get-rich-quick scheme, one of which is market saturation. With a company that has been around for so long and is so widespread, it's not as easy to find new consumers who are ready to start selling Amway products, themselves. Plus, commission rates are often as low as 5%, which means that you'd have to sell a lot of product to see any real turnover there.

In the end, though, the main reason that Amway's IBOs aren't rolling in cash is that they don't have the marketing skills necessary for any independent sales endeavor.

Without Marketing Skills, You Won't Succeed With Any MLM

A common complaint with MLMs like Amway is that they don't provide their direct salespeople with a ton of guidance. Where you do find a consumer base and, more importantly, how do you recruit new salespeople into your downstream?

The real key, here, is to learn everything you can about marketing. Browse through resources like our marketing blog, take classes, and look for mentorship outside of the MLM if you want to become an expert marketer.

How Can You Boost Your Marketing Skills to Succeed In Any Online Business Endeavor?

We hope our Amway review has given you some insight into Amway's business model and how to make it work for you. No matter the company, the product, or the commission rate, you're going to need marketing skills to succeed in any online business endeavor.

Whether you're looking to boost your business through a third party like Amway or start from scratch, we have the tools you need to succeed. Join the 15 Day Online Business Builder Challenge to access unbeatable resources like The #1 High-Ticket Business Model to Launch Online.

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LuLaRoe Review: Comfy Clothing or Pulling the Wool Over Your Eyes

David Sharpe bio

You’ve more than likely heard of LuLaRoe before. Maybe you’ve been invited to a LuLaRoe party or maybe you’ve seen a friend sporting a cute pair of their leggings.

If the brand has stood out to you, you’re not the only one. That’s one of the many reasons why one woman grew the brand into a billion-dollar clothing empire.

LuLaRoe makes clothing that’s not only stylish but comfortable, sporting items such as soft leggings that consumers love. The LuLaRoe MLM business model is under scrutiny, causing previous customers to ditch the brand.

Read our LuLaRoe review to learn more.

The Brand’s History

Deanne Stidman, a grandmother with previous experience in MLM marketing, formed LuLaRoe with her husband Mark (he currently serves as the CEO). The company formed in 2012, but it only took them a few years to become the hottest clothing brand in the country.

What About Their MLM Status?

Did you receive a LuLaRoe opportunity to become a consultant? You're probably wondering if it's worth it.

LuLaRoe aims to inspire women to become business owners, whether they sell for the fashion brand full-time or as a side hustle. They target young women who want to be successful, stay-at-home moms who want extra money, and women who generally want to be their own boss.

As an MLM company, LuLaRoe makes billions off of their consultants, who have to pay a steep sum to even receive their first inventory. Like any business, consultants purchase inventory at wholesale prices and charge the marked-up price to buyers.

LuLaRoe also has multiple consultant levels. These include:

  • Fashion Consultant/Sponsor
  • Trainer
  • Coach
  • Mentor

The higher you rise through the ranks, the more you earn. However, the requirements also raise and you’re expected to make more investments.

They also rely on consultants to do a large portion of their marketing, who host LuLaRoe parties to sell their products. Consultants often invite family members and friends to parties, but they can also sell locally to other individuals in their community.

LuLaRoe has received some criticisms in the past few years. If consultants can’t sell their inventory, they’re often left with boxes of merchandise and are unable to receive refunds. Consultants also have to make specific levels of sales to receive commissions and a bonus.

How About Their Products?

Is LuLaRoe legit? They sell extremely cute clothing, which draws people to buy LuLaRoe and even sell their pieces.

From leggings with cats to colorful sweaters, their products attract countless buyers. Their clothes are best described as boutique-style, meaning their clothes are stylish but are sold from a small brand/individual seller.

LuLaRoe is most famous for its leggings. They’re comfortable and soft, ideal for all-day wear. They come in a wide range of colors, patterns, and prints. LuLaRoe also sells other clothing essentials, such as skirts and dresses.

One of the best aspects of LuLaRoe clothing is they sell limited amounts of each product. That means the clothing you buy is very unique and you won’t see many people rocking your same outfit.

Their clothing is also relatively affordable. For example, a pair of LuLaRoe leggings is $25, which isn’t a crazy expensive price. And with constant raving reviews, it’s easy to think a pair of LuLaRoe leggings are worth it.

What’s the secret to these buttery soft leggings? They’re made of 92% Polyester and 8% Spandex. If you search on major e-tailers such as Amazon, you can likely find a pair of leggings made out of the same material at a fraction of the price.

Because of the soft material, they come with special washing instructions. You must wash the leggings in cold water and you’re discouraged from putting them in the dryer. Doing so will shrink or wear out the fabric.

Another issue that customers report is sizing. While other clothing items, such as dresses, have specific sizes, their leggings come in a one-size format with special sizing for tall and curvy women. At parties, you’re unable to try on their clothes, which makes it difficult to judge whether or not they will fit.

The LuLaRoe Scam: Is It Real?

Because of the issues we explained above, many people have accused LuLaRoe of being a scam. But are they a scam or just an honest MLM company?

There are many factors that point to LuLaRoe being a scam. For one, consultants are forced to make crazy eligibility requirements and investments in order to even receive a commission from their sales.

What about consumers? The products are stylish and comfortable, but you can likely find the same product from a competitor at a lower price. Unless you want to support a family member or friend who sells LuLaRoe, you’re better off buying from another brand.

Because of their potential scam status, they have faced a number of lawsuits.

Legal Issues

Conduct a quick Google search on “LuLaRoe lawsuits” and you’ll find multiple accusations and lawsuits. From individual consultants to government agencies, LuLaRoe has faced a number of compliance issues that range from knowingly selling defective products to overcharging sales tax.

An example of a major lawsuit is from Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson. LuLaRoe was forced to pay $4.75 million in a consumer protection lawsuit, claiming the brand is a pyramid scheme that leaves their consultants in debt, even after generating thousands in sales.

Why Affiliate Marketing Is the Better Option

You’re someone who dreams of entrepreneurship, right? You want to be your own boss and work on your own time, and ideally from home. Because of this, you likely looked into selling LuLaRoe and similar MLM brands.

However, MLM marketing comes with significant overhead and you’re constantly hustling to make sales — whether or not you sell for LuLaRoe.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to return to a 9-to-5. Affiliate marketing puts you in charge of your own business without spending a significant amount of money. While on an affiliate program, you’ll be hustling but you’ll be doing what you love — creating content, posting on social media, and promoting brands you care about.

Our LuLaRoe Review: You’re Better Off With Affiliate Marketing

After reading our LuLaRoe review, you probably realize that MLM is not your thing. You’re also probably interested in affiliate marketing and other ways to be your own boss without the overhead.

If you enjoyed this review on LulaRoe, please consider checking out our free online webclass which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home and teaches affiliate marketing strategies including how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

Click for free training

QNET review: Are They Really the Best Products in the Right Business?

David Sharpe bio

Consumers reported around 1.7 million consumer fraud complaints in 2019 with 23% losing money.

Have you ever fallen for a sales scheme before and regretted your choice to get involved?

Some businesses operate with illegal schemes or suspicious activities at the center of their sales. Yet, this also degrades the reputation of organizations that follow legal guidelines. The QNET scam is one of those cases in which the MLM business model created doubt amongst consumers.

But the QNET controversy opens a discussion of the legitimacy of network marketing companies. Continue reading below to find our take on the QNET scam and how you can find real opportunities to build your income

Explaining the QNET Business Model

QNET follows a controversial strategy that attracts a lot of negative attention due to its connection to pyramid schemes. QNET uses a multi-level marketing strategy to sell its products, more commonly referred to as MLM or network marketing.

Network marketing uses individual representatives to sell products. This is very different from a traditional in-person retail experience.

IRs have the power to sell as much or as little as their time, energy, and marketing know-how gets them.

Often, the MLM business strategy has been connected to scams and pyramid schemes. Many companies offer IRs commission on recruiting as opposed to product sales. This creates a negative image of MLMs no matter the legitimacy of their business structure.

How QNET Operates

QNET is a direct selling platform focusing on health, wellness, lifestyle, and education products. It is headquartered in Hong Kong and works with individual representatives to sell products through personalized e-commerce pages.

The QNET MLM fell into a negative portrayal due to their sales tactics: using representatives to sell various products and forego the need for operating retail storefronts.

But, QNET functions with a few key differences that legitimize the business model.

First, QNET works with individual representatives to ensure quality sales. IRs earn a commission based on the number of products they sell, not recruitment numbers. QNET shares a compensation plan that outlines the commission one can make based on sales volume.

This begins to refute the QNET scam as representatives are paid based on their sales output.

Next, QNET invests in its representatives and their success. The QNET business model is cyclical; the more an IR sells, the more QNET makes in revenue. The company offers training and tools to IRs to feel confident and move large amounts of product.

The QNET scam further delegitimizes when you learn of its refund services available to all IRs and customers. Network marketing has a bad reputation when it comes to people losing money with no hope for returns.

QNET ensures that refunds are warranted when backed by claims and evidence.

The business aims to fuel its representatives with the mindset and support they need to reach their financial goals.

A Different Take on the QNET Scam

You are taking a chance on any business when you begin selling its products. You should never be conned by the ‘get rich quick' schemes as network marketing takes energy, education, and time to pay off.

The QNET scam started when individuals began unpacking pyramid schemes and questionable practices. But you should not let a few bad apple MLMs keep you away from the QNET opportunity.

You should start your network marketing journey by understanding the investment you want to make in the opportunity.

Many individual representatives are quick to label something as a scam when they don't see immediate results. Yet IRs should liken themselves to a dedicated entrepreneur with the resources they will need to sell products or services.

The more you put into something like the QNET opportunity, the more you gain.

The QNET scam takes on a different lens when understanding the responsibility an IR takes to sell products. Further, QNET's team continues to speak on the company's legal practices to support its IRs.

You should conduct a full QNET review before diving into the opportunity. However, it is essential to remember that MLMs can be a great stream of income, especially those based on product sales.

Pros and Cons of QNET MLM

The QNET business model makes it unnecessary for QNET to shoulder high retail store costs. Instead, individual representatives become the storefronts and move the products to consumers. That is the major pro for QNET in utilizing this structure.

But individual representatives face different pros and cons when it comes to the QNET opportunity.

The main pro behind MLMs is the ability to create your schedule when working in network marketing. You become an entrepreneur who needs to build a successful schedule and routines to reach financial goals.

IRs can invest as much or as little time as they want when it comes to selling products. This means you have the chance to view this as your full-time job or a side hustle on the weekends.

One of the cons of MLM is understanding that you give what you get. You need to invest time and money to see the results of your work. MLMs are not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Finally, IRs should invest in building their marketing skills which can be easily forgotten when reviewing the QNET MLM. This con can turn into a major pro as you master marketing skills and increase your sales.

The QNET Scam Unveiled

As a network marketing corporation, QNET came under scrutiny for the legitimacy of its products and practices. But QNET's focus on developing IRs through training, tools, and sales support highlights QNET as a reliable MLM.

The QNET scam should not scare you away from the opportunity to be your boss through networking marketing commission. Doing your research into MLM opportunities is only the start of your profitable success. Grow your marketing knowledge into revenue-generating skills through our free training course and become the next MLM guru.

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Primerica Review: Financially Sound Opportunity, Scam, or MLM?

David Sharpe bio

When you think of an MLM, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of a scam or of sleazy salespeople. So you check out a Primerica review to see if it's like those other companies.

If you want to make money online, you have many options. Before you join Primerica or any other option, consider if it's worth your time.

Keep reading to learn more.

What Is Primerica?

Primerica is an insurance company that offers term life insurance, annuities, and other financial products. The company has been in business since the 1970s, and they serve people throughout North America.

Primerica is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. Because of this, they pay a commission not only on the products you sell but also on the products that your recruits sell.

However, this MLM is different from other companies because you sell insurance. It's not as easy to start as some other companies or other non-MLM affiliate marketing options.

What Do You Need to Join?

Anyone can sign up to join Primerica, but you can't start selling until you become a licensed insurance broker. If you want to sell insurance products, the Primerica opportunity may be for you.

However, it has a higher barrier to entry than many affiliate marketing programs. With a program such as Amazon, you can join and start making money that day.

But if you join Primerica, you have to put in money. You also have to spend time studying for your insurance license.

Only then can you start to sell the products and potentially make money.

Cost to Join

If you've joined other affiliate marketing programs, you probably haven't had to pay. However, Primerica insurance has multiple costs when you join and as long as you want to keep selling it.

When you join, you will need to pay a one-time fee of around $100. Then, you'll have to pay $25 per month to maintain access to your online portal.

But those fees won't exempt you from license or exam fees. You will need to pay to take your insurance license exam, and you may need to pay for classes or tutoring sessions.

Even if you don't take a class, you still have to put in the time to study. That could cost you money by not spending that time on other affiliate marketing options.

Is It a Scam?

When reading a Primerica review, you may come across the word “scam.” Primerica is a public company that you can trade on the stock market.

But that doesn't mean you should work with the company. If you want to focus on affiliate marketing, there are better programs to use.

Primerica requires a lot of work just to start making money. And once you start, you will have to spend a lot of time working.

Calling Primerica a scam may not be entirely accurate. However, it's not a good investment if you want to make money online.

The Problems With Primerica

Primerica has the same problems as other MLM companies. For one, it can be impossible to make money online from it.

Unless you have a massive audience who all need insurance, you'll have a tough sell. Consider a few other issues that make the Primerica MLM a bad business opportunity.

Focus on Recruiting

While you can make some money selling Primerica, you can't advance unless you bring in more people to sell it. If you want to advance even further, your recruits also have to make sales and advance.

You also have to sell more and more in premiums each month. While the first rank can provide some good commissions, you can make much more with a team.

Not to mention you and your recruits have to get insurance licenses. You may not have control over those people, and that can hurt your income potential.

Requires a Lot of Work

One of the benefits of affiliate marketing is that it's not too difficult. You can create a blog and share your favorite products with affiliate links.

But the Primerica opportunity isn't an affiliate program. You will need to work a lot more to find potential customers and get them to buy.

If you do choose to go the recruiting route, you also have to convince people to sign up under you.

All of that takes time and effort. And the payout isn't as great as it could be, especially if you hardly make any sales.

How Much Time Does It Take?

Another thing to consider as part of a Primerica review is the time commitment. When selling Primerica, you need to spend a lot of time upfront getting your insurance license.

Then, you have to spend time finding customers and pitching insurance to them. You may also have to spend time recruiting people.

While you can set your own hours, it's not as flexible as other programs. You may need to call or visit people when they're available, which may be at night or on the weekends.

In that case, you'll have to drive around town. And all of that work doesn't guarantee a paycheck. While no affiliate marketing program guarantees income, many of them are easy enough to do from home.

Can You Make Money With It?

Before you join Primerica, you should consider if it's worth your time and money. You can make money with Primerica, but it will be far from a livable income.

In 2019, representatives made an average of $6,249 all year. But if you can advance through the ranks, you may be able to make $35,000 to $40,000 a year.

Now, if you have a big audience and can sell insurance through a blog, that might be worth it.

But if you have to make phone calls or visits, that isn't worth your time. The average payout is just over $520 per month.

You may be able to use that to supplement your income. However, you're probably better off focusing on other affiliate marketing programs.

A Primerica Review

If you want to expand your income streams, you should consider as many options as you can. But before joining Primerica, read a Primerica review or two.

The company sounds promising, and it is a legitimate company. However, it can be hard to make any money, and it requires a lot of work.

If you enjoyed this review on Primerica, please consider checking out our free online webclass which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home and teaches affiliate marketing strategies including how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

Click for free training

Forever Living Review: Forever Opportunity or Endless Scam

David Sharpe bio

So you've just come across this way to own your own business: the Forever Living opportunity. You probably found this Forever Living review after searching “Forever Living scam?” and “Forever Living real?”

Well, I have the lowdown on how this company works, what your outlook is if you decide to work with them, and how network marketing might open some career doors for you if you think big enough.

Plus I'll let you in on some info about what is actually the best way to make money online.

My Forever Living Review

Forever Living is a network or multilevel marketing (MLM) company. You are not an employee but an “independent Forever Business Owner.”

As an Independent Forever Business Owner (FBO), you sell Forever Living Products like Forever Aloe drinks or Forever® Essential Oils. Your business goals also focus on recruiting new members.

How Much Does It Cost to Start?

MLMs typically have a cost to get started where you buy your first products to sell. Forever Living uses the same method.

You can get started at Forever Living by buying one of their “paks.” These contain products to sell or use yourself. They recommend beginning with the Start Your Journey Combo Pak which costs $315.57 USD.

How Much Can You Make?

Companies like to point out that your earning potential is “unlimited” in network marketing. In some sense, it is true that you have to put in the work to get the financial benefit back like any other job, and there is no cap on what you can earn.

The Forever Living MLM does post some information about what their FBOs make in a month:

  • 88.6% of FBOs/purchasers do not make “meaningful compensation or earnings”
  • 11.4% do actually make a profit
    • 69% of them earn about $105
    • 30% of them earn about $1,493
    • <1% of the earn about $28,512 per month

Forever Living is very upfront about how you are most likely not going to make money. So why are so many people looking at this as a great work-from-home business opportunity?

Are Multilevel Marketing Businesses Pyramid Schemes?

No, they're not. Multilevel marketing companies are being honest when they tell you that.

Pyramid schemes are illegal. Pyramid schemes focus on signing up more people to get buy-ins and support the upper levels financially. MLMs sell a product to make money for everyone in the up-line.

However, they do share some similar traits with pyramid schemes, namely that successes can weaken the further from the top you are. Higher saturation and fewer available customers and recruits contribute to this problem.

You Invest in Them, They Don't Invest in You

Up-lines at these types of companies, while not outright scamming anyone, know the realities of their likely profits and yours. They are aware that you will probably not make that much or recruit many other sellers.

Instead of putting in work to better your presentation, marketing, and sales skills, they simply cash in on your sign-up costs and any small sales and move on to the next person.

Is It Possible to Be Successful at an MLM like Forever Living?

Yes, as network marketing is similar to succeeding at any other marketing gig. You need to know how to reach people, how to solve their problems, and how to offer your product as a solution to meet their needs.

The problem with succeeding at something like Forever Living is that even when you work hard to get your marketing on point, the design of the company is not about making you money. It's about funneling cash to that top <1% who got in from the ground up.

Can you be successful in Forever Living? Sure. Will you be? I think you know the answer to that now.

That's why there is a better type of marketing to pursue to make money online.

So…Have You Heard about Affiliate Marketing?

Remember when I said there was a better way to make money online? It's not buying into someone else's business and crossing your fingers that you can find enough customers in your personal circle to make a profit over time.

No, it's about learning how to market to a wide range of people on the internet. It might help you do better in an MLM—as it did for me—but the important thing is that it is a legitimate online business opportunity that you can take much farther than an MLM.

What Is Affiliate Marketing and How Is It a Job?

Affiliate marketing is when you create content like a blog, videos, or social media posts that promote someone else's products. They give you a small cut of the sales each time your links lead to the product selling. Or they may sponsor content directly.

You can start affiliate marketing with any type of online content you're comfortable making. Many of the platforms used for affiliate marketing are free or low-cost to start, like WordPress, YouTube, or Instagram.

You'll use some of the same skills you would have in an MLM because marketing in any form is about connecting with people. Once you connect, you solve their problem with a product or service.

The best part? There are resources out there that can help you learn how to be a great affiliate marketer. Some even set you up with affiliate marketing programs to introduce you to sellers who want you to feature their products.

If you're looking for an online business opportunity, affiliate marketing has more to offer than network marketing.

Learn More about Better Marketing with Legendary Marketer

Could you make it big with an MLM? Our Forever Living review doesn't rule it out. But what if you decided to take on a more reliable, straight-forward type of business like affiliate marketing?

You can make money online by learning about how to use digital marketing as a business model. You can still have the flexibility of being your own boss than you would in an MLM, but your earning potential and stability can increase with an online marketing focus.

If you enjoyed this review on Forever Living, please consider checking out our free online webclass which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home and teaches affiliate marketing strategies including how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

Click for free training

Young Living Review: Good Business Opportunity or Essentially a Scam?

David Sharpe bio

According to the Young Living website, the company now has over 3,000 global employees as well as over 4 million members. For most entrepreneurs who are interested in joining the Young Living ranks, membership is a much more viable option than bonafide employment.

If you're a Legendary Marketer regular, you know already that we dedicate our time and resources to helping you learn the in's and out's of marketing. Our blog is filled with tips and tricks that help you build up your online business and take control of your finances.

Now, we're bringing you this Young Living review as part of a series addressing the pros and cons of multi-level marketing companies (aka MLMs). Are the products of high quality and can you really make money selling them? Is an MLM the best option for you?

Read on to find out more about Young Living. Is it an opportunity or a scam? It's all here in our Young Living review.

What Is Young Living?

Young Living is an essential oils and wellness company based in Lehi, Utah. It was founded in 1993 by avid oils user, Donald Gary Young.

Young Living has risen to the top of the essential oils production game alongside fellow oils MLM, Doterra. You'll often see Young Living members claim that the products they sell higher quality and better researched than any other essential oils options on the market.

What, exactly, are these products? Are they worth the hype?

What Kinds of Products Do Young Living Members Sell?

All Young Living products fall into the wellness category. Their biggest goal is to help buyers switch to an all-natural lifestyle. These products include:

  • Essential oils and related tools, ie diffusers, spray bottles, and rollers
  • Vitamins
  • Natural cleaning products
  • Antioxidants
  • Weight management products
  • Beauty products

Are Young Living's products superior to other comparable products? Not necessarily.

We looked at price comparisons around the web and found that companies like Eden's Garden offer similar products of comparable quality at a fraction of the price. Plus, to purchase these products, you don't need to sift through sales pitches or offers to get in on the action. For a lot of consumers, this makes non-MLM essential oils companies more appealing.

Young Living Review: The Pros

For a company to be this successful, it must be doing something right. To begin our evaluation of Young Living as an opportunity or a scam, let's look at some of the pros of buying into Young Living.

Sell Products You Enjoy Using and Receive a Discount

A lot of sellers buy into Young Living simply because they love the products. As we mentioned earlier, Young Living products aren't the most affordable on the market. Becoming a member grants you access to a steady 24% discount with additional offers that are also exclusive to members.

Build a Downstream and Build a Somewhat-Passive Income

We mentioned that Young Living is an MLM, which is an important part of how members can make money. MLMs can get a little complicated, but the gist is that there are two primary ways to make money as a member of an MLM. The first is sales, but the second and more lucrative option is to bring more members into your downstream.

Your Young Living downstream is anyone who joins Young Living using your special link or promo code, plus anyone who signs up under those people, and so forth. Each time someone in your downstream joins Young Living, makes a sale, or pulls people into their own downstream, you get a cut.

If you can build up a big enough downstream, your Young Living membership can turn into passive income.

Young Living Review: The Cons

That all sounds pretty good, but it's important to talk about the cons of joining Young Living. Trust us when we say that these cons should not be taken lightly.

Making a Living Off of The MLM Model Is Unlikely

That passive income? The six figures you occasionally see Young Living members brag about? It's wildly unlikely that you'll find that kind of success with any MLM, including Young Living.

Take a look at Young Living's own income disclosure PDF from 2019. Almost 90% of their members are at the lowest level of membership and, at most, are making $873 a year off of Young Living. On average, those people are making $3 a year.

Why is it so hard to get your Young Living gig off the ground? For starters, the market is already well-saturated with Young Living members, limiting your ability to build a downstream. Plus, plenty of people who do join your downstream will discover that the MLM model is not for them and they'll quit within a few months.

The truth is, the people who are making the most money through Young Living aren't making it off of eager new customers. They're making it off of everyone who has joined below them. This is a good indication that Young Living is less of a business opportunity and more of a pyramid scheme.

Young Living Doesn't Always Provide Clear Guidance

When you start looking at Young Living reviews on websites like Indeed, you'll find the same complaint again and again. Young Living does not help new members get their business off the ground.

In other words, without some serious marketing savvy, to begin with, this MLM isn't going to be the get-rich-quick opportunity it claims to be. The products are not going to sell themselves. In the end, it's still up to you to sell your brand, your products, and your story.

Unlock Your Marketing Potential With Legendary Marketers' Tools and Resources

As you can see from our Young Living review, Young Living isn't a full-blown scam, but it's not a great opportunity, either. Very few people make a living by joining ranks with an MLM. Those that do have something far more important than a good product: they have great marketing skills.

If you want to find out better ways to take control of your financial future, watch this free video. You'll have access to our guide on the #1 High-Ticket Business Model to Launch Online, Why Low Ticket Business Models Are Keeping You Broke, and more.

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Beach Body Review: Is This Health MLM for Real or Just Hype?

David Sharpe bio

You may not have heard of Beach Body, but you've probably heard of some of their workout programs, especially the ever-popular P90X. The company behind the workout was founded in the late 90s and is now worth over $1 billion. So, what is it and is it worth getting in on the action?

In this Beach Body review, we'll take a look at what this company does, what it promises customers, and, more importantly, what it promises its affiliate marketers.

As you know by now, Legendary Marketer is always trying to help you find ways to make money by building a business online. Now, it's time to put Beach Body under a microscope.

In the end, Beach Body is another MLM, which means that there's always a potential to make money. Read on to find out what this really means for you.

What Is Beach Body?

Beach Body is a self-proclaimed fitness and media company. Founded in 1998 by Carl Daikeler and Jon Congdon, the company has always focused primarily on exercise videos.

As Beach Body grew and began to adopt the direct sales approach, it ran into a few issues. As recently as 2017, Beach Body found itself dealing with issues like false advertising (in regard to how much money you could make selling their products, no less) and automatically charging customers for recurring payments without their knowledge. Yet, Beach Body is still standing and people are still signing up to sell their products.

What Products Does Beach Body Sell?

Beach Body has two main types of products to offer consumers. The first is its extensive line of video-based workout programs–most famously, as we mentioned earlier, P90X. The second is its smaller variety of nutritional plans, including its popular Shakeology line.

Ultimately, Beach Body sells a means to an end, which is getting in shape and/or losing weight. Unlike most other diet and exercise programs which promise that you'll see results with minimal effort, Beach Body takes the approach that these goals are extremely difficult to reach. Fortunately, this tactic seems to be working for them.

The question is, will it work for you as a member of their sales team?

Can You Make Money With Beach Body?

Like most MLMs, Beach Body offers its team of salespeople (called “coaches” in the Beach Body lingo) two main ways to make money. The first and most obvious is to sell the products and receive a commission. The second (and likely obvious to anyone who has worked with MLMs before) is to build up a downstream (called “Beach Body team”) of other salespeople, whose sales contribute to your own paycheck.

The business model is fairly straightforward. If you know how to make it work for you, you may be able to make a decent amount of money with Beach Body. Let's talk about how likely it is that you'll unlock this achievement.

The Pros of Selling for Beach Body

One of the bigger pros of selling for Beach Body is that the commission rates are comparatively decent. Depending on the product line you're selling, you could make a 25%-40% commission. When you consider that a lot of these programs are over $100 a piece, you could make a couple hundred dollars a day if you knew how to reach your target market.

Another pro of selling for Beach Body is that you have some say in how much you want to invest in order to get in on the action. Most coaches enroll by paying a $39.95 fee, although you can get around that if you purchase a (much more expensive) challenge or completion pack. After that, you do have to pay $15.95 per month to remain active.

Oh, and if you like the actual products, you'll get a discount on them, too.

The Cons of Selling for Beach Body

The problem with Beach Body is the same problem you're going to run into with most MLMs, especially MLMs that have been around for more than a few years.

For starters, you're going to be up against market saturation. We're guessing you know at least one person who has done a Beach Body exercise program, and most people you know have heard of some of these programs. That means that the market can feel a little bit tapped–either people are already paying for Beach Body products or they already turned Beach Body products down.

Another issue is that trying to bring new coaches into your downstream isn't as easy as they make it sound. The “ask your friends and family” approach is actually a really bad one, and that's about all the guidance you can expect to get from the higher-ups at Beach Body. If you want to build a stable team that you can actually benefit from and grow with, you need to seek out actual entrepreneurs, not just the people in your social circle.

In fact, Beach Body's own income disclosure form reveals that most people aren't making a living off of Beach Body. The vast majority are making an average of about $3,000 a year.

In the end, the issue comes down to marketing and business savvy. Signing up with any MLM is never as simple as paying your dues and talking to the people you know about this great new opportunity. You need to learn how to build up an online presence, reach an audience of thousands, and establish a relationship of trust with your customers and clients–you need to learn how to market.

That's where we come in.

Go Beyond the Beach Body Review and Learn How to Turn Every Endeavor Into a Success

We put together this Beach Body review because we get a lot of questions about this popular MLM. In the end, we can say with confidence that it is an opportunity–but the odds aren't great unless you know how to build up an online empire.

If you're ready to learn how to turn every business endeavor into a success, you're on the right track. Take a look at our free webclass that will help you learn how to create a high-ticket online business. Whether you want to sell fitness products or something completely different, our course is designed to help you learn the secrets of online marketing in all niches.

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Melaleuca Review: The Truth About This Home and Personal Care MLM

David Sharpe bio

For Melaleuca founder and CEO, Frank Vandersloot, marketing and selling wellness products has been an extremely lucrative business. In fact, his net worth was recently reported at $3.6 billion, making him the richest man in his home state of Idaho.

The question is, does his business model work for everyone involved? Is Melaleuca a true MLM or is it a scam that builds profits on the backs of its affiliate marketers?

We're going to answer these questions and more in this comprehensive Melaleuca review. We think that it's important to make sure that all online entrepreneurs understand what they're signing up for and how to make it work for them.

Read on to learn more about Melaleuca Inc. and decide whether or not it's the right way for you to build your online business.

How Does Melaleuca Work?

Melaleuca is a company that sells branded wellness items including natural cleaning supplies, skin care products, and even food products. The company claims that its primary objective is to help consumers achieve their wellness goals and live the life they want to live.

The difference between Melaleuca and a brick and mortar wellness shop is that Melaleuca relies on its team of affiliate marketers, aka direct salespeople or independent business owners, to sell their products. As a Melaleuca affiliate, you can receive discounts on their products and make a commission off of any products you are responsible for selling.

However, this is not the only way to make money with a company like Melaleuca. Companies that rely on direct sales need an ever-growing sales force, which is why they incentive bringing on new members to the team. Melaleuca affiliates receive a commission, amongst other rewards, for the sales made by anyone they've personally introduced to the company–this is called a downstream.

Oh, and the best part is that you can do all of this on your own time. You may be selling Melaleuca's products and membership, but you're not working for anyone but yourself.

Is Melaleuca a Scam or an MLM?

That all sounds great, but we all know that there are some serious drawbacks to joining an MLM without all of the information. In fact, it's pretty easy to set up a total scam and call it an MLM. So, which one is Melaleuca and how can you tell?

Melaleuca is a bonafide MLM–and one that has been around for a long time. As it exists today, Melaleuca was founded in 1985 and has continued to grow in worth, products, and membership to this day. This may be due to the fact that joining Melaleuca is fairly low-stakes, especially compared to some similar endeavors.

One way to determine that Melaleuca is not a scam is to look at who is buying their products. According to Melaleuca's income statistics from 2019, about 81% of their products sold to consumers who do not also sell Melaleuca products. Seeing a number like that can reassure you that the products really are the selling point and that the company isn't thriving off of its own sales force.

Another positive sign is that Melaleuca doesn't make you pay hefty fees to join or sell their products. To become a Melaleuca member, you are required to pay an annual $19 fee. That being said, you do have to place a monthly order to remain active, and you're going to want to be able to sell those products to keep up a decent return on investment.

As you've probably guessed, making a decent income off of a company like Melaleuca isn't quite as simple as it may sound. No matter how good the product is or how honest the company is about its business model, you're not going to see that decent return on investment without the right skills.

How Can You Maximize Your Experience With Melaleuca?

If all you're looking for is a discount on your favorite Melaleuca products, then you don't need to worry about this next part. However, if you want to start making money as an affiliate marketer for Melaleuca or any of the other big MLMs out there, it's going to take some serious effort.

Tapping into a consumer market and building your downstream requires marketing expertise. Some of these MLMs suggest starting with a list of family members and friends who may want to hop on this opportunity. However, any MLM member will quickly discover that this is an extremely limited pool of people–and not your best bet.

Instead, you're going to need to know how to build up a major online presence. Our blog offers tons of valuable resources and interviews delving into the ins and outs of establishing that web presence and marketing your business successfully. Perhaps the most important part of online marketing is your ability to tell a story and build a sense of trust between you and your audience.

Establishing yourself as a trusted and reliable source takes dedication. The competition is steep, which means that you want to come out of the gate prepared to make it to the top. How can you skip the trial and error process and become an expert marketer from the get-go?

Go Beyond Our Melaleuca Review and Become an Expert Marketer

We hope that our Melaleuca review has told you what you need to know about Melaleuca and how to spot a legitimate MLM. Now, it's time to take that learning process a step further and become an expert marketer so that you can excel at all of your online entrepreneurial endeavors.

If you're ready to become the best affiliate marketer in the wellness industry, check out this 15 Day Online Business Builder Challenge. In just 15 days, you can learn about the #1 High-Ticket Business Model to Launch Online, Why Low-Ticket Business Models are Keeping You Broke, and more.

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8 Affiliate Programs for Beauty and Wellness Enthusiasts

David Sharpe bio

The beauty industry has undergone major transformations in recent years. From clean products to complicated skincare routines, influencers taking over. Beauty and wellness are at the forefront of many people's minds.

Skincare and beauty enthusiasts know how expensive this passion can be. And more people every year are trying to find ways to turn their passionate hobby into a side job or a career.

It may seem like an unimaginable leap, but it's possible to make money from your love of beauty and wellness. One of the best ways to get started is with an affiliate program.

Here is what to know about affiliate programs you can join as a beauty and wellness enthusiast.

Why You Should Join an Affiliate Program

You may wonder how influencers make money on their social media platforms. One of those ways is through affiliate programs. With affiliate programs, you can make commissions when people buy products through links.

The beauty and wellness industry is always growing with new products and new brands. There are great programs to join to get started with affiliate marketing. In recent years, more men have gained an interest in beauty and skincare.

With this rise in interest and new brands entering the market, it's no wonder the industry is worth nearly $50 billion. So this is a great opportunity for beauty and wellness enthusiasts to promote products on their social media and website.

And the best part is that you don't have to be a top influencer to join these affiliate programs. Not sure how to affiliate marketing, it doesn't take much to learn. Online courses can help give you a comprehensive education in online marketing.

The Top Beauty and Wellness Affiliate Programs

The beauty industry is a large spectrum. From inexpensive drugstore brands to luxury and high-end products, there is a place in the industry for every consumer. And there are affiliate programs for beauty and wellness brands across the spectrum.

Here are the top affiliate programs in the beauty and wellness industries you should join today.

1. Afterglow Cosmetics

World-famous brand Afterglow Cosmetics is renowned for its gluten-free products. All of their cosmetics are made from organic minerals and include essential antioxidants. This brand prides itself on being better at creating more natural skin.

This is a great company to be an affiliate with because organic products are always a hit on the beauty market. Afterglow Cosmetics uses ShareASale to manage its affiliate program.

Enroll by signing up through ShareASale. After getting approved, you can apply directly for the Afterglow affiliate program. From there, you can promote the products and earn profits from sales.

2. Lululemon

As one of the most notable clothing brands for workout and yoga apparel, Lululemon has carved its name into the cornerstone of the wellness market. Their high-quality leggings are a cult favorite and often what other brands are compared to.

So getting into the Lululemon affiliate program would be a great move for those looking to get into online marketing. By promoting their line of sports bras, t-shirts, and yoga accessories, you can make a 7% commission on all sales.

3. MAC

One of the most recognizable beauty brands in the whole world is MAC cosmetics. They're known for amazing makeup products, but especially for their famous shade of red lipstick, Ruby Woo.

Customers can earn a commission through the MAC website with the affiliate program. With this program, affiliates promote various products on their websites. The MAC affiliate program also offers discounts and free shipping as bonuses to the commission.

For lovers of makeup, the MAC affiliate program is one of the best for beauty affiliate marketing.

4. American Council on Exercise

The exercise and workout market are a huge part of the wellness industry. It's constantly on the rise as people try to lead healthier lives and stick to workout regimens. So utilizing an affiliate program within this thriving industry is a good move.

The American Council on Exercise is highly respected as a training organization. They are globally recognized for fitness qualifications, which hold a lot of value within the fitness community.

Through their affiliate program, you can earn an 8% commission. You can sell their personal training certifications, specialist programs, and health coaching courses.

5. Makeup Geek

Makeup Geek is a brand that's quickly been on the rise in recent years. The website helps to teach makeup skills through uploaded videos. But the brand is also loved for offering professional quality and cruelty-free makeup.

Users start by filling out a form to register as a loyal affiliate. But the user cannot make false advertisements about their website, or else they may be rejected from the affiliate program.

6. Lorna Jane

Beginning in Australia, this brand now boasts over 200 stores worldwide. They're known for high-performance activewear, specifically for the gym, yoga, and travel.

The athletic apparel industry is always booming, so joining the Lorna Jane affiliate program is a good move. You can earn a 5% commission on all product sales. They also have an ambassador program that offers exclusive rewards.

7. Black Opal Beauty

Boasting beauty products for women of color, black opal beauty is a great brand to promote. This brand has made a name for itself for creating products that are good for all skin types and shades.

Black Opal Beauty offers competitive commission rates compared to other beauty brands. They offer various discounts as well as affiliate promotion codes for those approved for the affiliate program.

8. Meredith Health and Fitness Magazines

As the publisher of wellness magazines Fitness, Shape, Health, and Eating Well, this brand has the written fitness market cornered. With a huge audience and booming business, but that's not the only reason to jump on their affiliate marking program.

Meredith Health & Fitness Magazines offers a 45% commission on all sales of subscriptions. With a 45-day cookie window; there's an incredible opportunity to make money from this affiliate program.

A cookie window is the amount of time a cookie remains in a user's browser and how long the browser can use the cookie information. A longer cookie window means users can leave a window up in their browser and you can still receive a commission.

Benefit From Your Love of Beauty and Wellness

The beauty industry is constantly growing, and that's why you should jump into it yourself. You don't have to be a large influencer with millions of followers to get started making money from beauty sales.

Joining an affiliate program will allow you to share products you love with friends and family and even a few followers. And by sharing products you can make a commission. Find your place in the beauty industry by joining an affiliate program.

Would you like to find a profitable business you can do from home so you can bring in much more substantial income? If so, I recommend you watch this free video which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home.

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Looking to Learn? A List of Affiliate Marketing Training Materials

David Sharpe bio

The affiliate marketing sector is worth $12 million. It's one of the smartest ways for online businesses and content creators to get involved with marketing.

So we've created a list of educational affiliate marketing training materials. Turn on your inner autodidact and get reading, watching, and trying this advice. You'll find plenty of resources in these materials to learn from the best affiliate marketing training.

First, What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when you promote products and services in your content (videos, blogs, etc.). You are only tangentially affiliated with the product. You will get a cut of their sales for directing customers toward them.

Some people promote affiliate products related to their field. For instance, if they convert travel vans, they may link the solar panels and mattresses they install. Each time someone buys from this link, they earn a commission.

Others strictly promote products they have no connection to. They may do this in a series of online video reviews or blog posts. Either way, they still receive a commission on the products they promote. Affiliate marketers get paid when people purchase from their link.

Why do you need to take a course or read a book on how to do this? The intricacies of optimizing your marketing are worth having an expert opinion on. Not all affiliate networks are built equal.

eMarketing Institute Affiliate Marketing Course and Certification (Free)

The major benefit of eMarketing Institute's courses is the free e-book you get to download. Study from it and keep it even after your certification exam. Even if you don't bother to get certified, download the free e-book. Build up your library of excellent affiliate marketing – for free.

Beef up your resume with some related certifications from eMarketing Institute. These also come with free downloadable e-books, including for Web Analytics and E-Commerce.

The Advanced Affiliate Marketing Playbook by Graham Fisher and Jonathan Ostrander

Turn on your listening ears and dive into this Amazon Bestseller, ranking #19 in Web Marketing.

Available as an audiobook for on-the-go learning and e-book, The Advanced Affiliate Marketing Playbook: Learn Secrets from the Top Affiliate Marketers on How You Can Make Passive Income Online, Through Utilizing Amazon and Other Affiliate Programs Successfully! gives you the playbook for affiliate marketing.

After reading, you will understand the challenges ahead. It also covers writing effective sales copy. This best-seller sets you up for the long game to make sure you are prepared for what comes next.

Money Guru's Affiliate Marketing Training Youtube Playlist

Want to learn more about affiliate marketing in your spare time? YouTube is the people's university, with any kind of how-to video you might be looking for. This includes affiliate marketing.

Check out the Affiliate Marketing Training Playlist by Money Guru. This is a series of videos that run from about 7 minutes to 35 minutes. You can sneak some basic education into down moments of your day with this playlist.

Plus, it won't cost you a dime!

Affiliate Marketing by Noah Gray and Michael Fox

Check out Affiliate Marketing: Launch a Six Figure Business with Clickbank Products, Affiliate Links, Amazon Affiliate Program, and Internet Marketing, the 4.5-star Amazon book by Noah Gray and Michael Fox.

Available as a paperback or e-book, this breakdown of Affiliate Marketing answers the questions you have been asking. Learn how to avoid common mistakes and pick a marketing niche with Gray and Fox's guidelines.

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners Blogs & Videos

If you're getting into the affiliate marketing content business and you don't know ahrefs, you need to. This site is full of SEO-tools to use to get your webpages and blogs ranked higher.

But they also offer a wealth of knowledge after being in the business for so long. Check out their blog and YouTube videos on beginner Affiliate Marketing for some simple, free breakdowns of where to get started.

ClickMeeting webinar: How Affiliate Marketers Are Using Webinars to Promote Products

With ClickMeeting's ClickMeeting webinar: How Affiliate Marketers Are Using Webinars to Promote Products up on YouTube, you can watch this expert webinar on the use of webinars in affiliate marketing.

Watching Zach Johnson of MoneyReign Inc. cover this unique way to use affiliate marketing will no doubt expand your scope on the process. The presentation element of learning from webinars can be a great way to tackle difficult topics that remain flat on the page of a book.

Get the Basics Under Control

Many of the affiliate marketing materials out on the web are free to access. This is great, as it's always beneficial to dip your toes into a new topic without making an investment.

The one downside is that some of these materials online may not get as deep as you want to take your affiliate marketing to the next level. You may not have a real person instructor to reach out to with complicated questions.

That's where moving on to a more directed, intensive affiliate marketing course will do you well, like ours at Legendary Marketer.

Use the basic materials out there to walk before you run – but then run with us.

Why You Need to Jump into an Affiliate Marketing Training Program

With all the amazing resources out there, it's not hard to pursue further education about affiliate marketing. Why not join a formal affiliate market training online? When you join one of Legendary Marketer's Affiliate Marketing Business Blueprint you get primo access to our affiliate marketing training course material.

In our Affiliate Marketing Business Blueprint, we show you how to get started with affiliate marketing as an online business. Promote others' products through an affiliate network and then earn a commission if they buy it after clicking on your link.

Enroll in Our Affiliate Marketing Training Program

There's a lot of great affiliate marketing training programs out there – but you'll understand if we say we think ours is the best.

Are you ready to jump in with our affiliate marketing training program? Watch this free video to learn how to earn high ticket commissions and supercharge your earnings.

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6 Steps To Earning Money With Affiliate Marketing Using A Blog

David Sharpe bio

Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting a product or service and connecting a buyer with a seller. If you are looking for a side hustle or a way to make some extra money online, keep reading. In this step by step guide I am going to walk you through the process of becoming an affiliate marketer using a free blogging platform.

Step one- create a blog

When creating a blog to use for affiliate marketing, a great blogging platform is WordPress. These blogs are free to start. You can customize your blog with background images, themes, different layouts, and widgets to add onto your blog. 

When creating your wordpress blog, you’ll first sign up with email, choose a domain name and from there you’re able to choose what type of blog you want, such as .org, .com, .blog, or you can choose .wordpress.com which is the free option. Make your domain name something short and memorable. You want your viewers to remember your domain name when discussing the products they buy with other people so they can tell others to check out your blog. From there name your site and launch it. 

Once you launch your site and begin customizing it, you want to choose a theme that will help you stand out and be pleasing to your viewers. Don’t choose too vibrant of colors, and choose a font for your site that is easy to read. You do want your blog to be pleasing to look at, but not distracting so that your readers are focused on your content.

Step two- Choosing a product and researching it

When you make your blog, it’s good to pick a theme. Your blog can be about anything you want. From laundry hacks to cooking recipes, you name it. Once you’ve chosen your theme, next is choosing your product. Choose a product you are passionate about. You will have to have a lot of knowledge on your product which will require research. The point of this is to talk about something you enjoy in your blog posts because you want someone else to enjoy it too. It is even better if you can obtain the product yourself and try it out to have an easier recommendation of it. You want your blog viewers to trust you and the product you are telling them to buy. If your viewers are not happy with the product you are recommending they likely won’t be back to visit your blog. 

You need to identify your target audience. These are the people who are going to be reading your blog posts and purchasing the products based on your recommendations. Researching and finding other content creators who talk about topics similar to the ones you have chosen will help to give you a good idea on who the audience is and what type of products they will be looking for as well as what information will be useful to them.

A great way to promote your affiliate products is through comparison posts. You can use this in almost any blog theme. Examples are cooking with two different types of brands of food, two different recipes for the same food dish, two different brands of the same cleaning products, two different gaming consoles, etc. Comparing and contrasting products helps your audience make a decision on what product to purchase. Just make sure you include those affiliate links to each of the products in your posts.

When writing about your products you want to try to solve a problem with them. When a customer finds that a product will bring a solution for their problem, they tend to want to buy it more. If they know that the product you’re recommending helped solve a problem you had in some way, it’s likely they’ve had the same problem. For example, if you’re reviewing a window cleaning product, explain how the product really got the dirt that other products couldn’t get off of your windows.

Step three-  Finding affiliate links

In order to get an affiliate link you need to sign up for an affiliate program like Amazon associates. From there you get the affiliate link for your product and that’s what you will use to link your customers and blog viewers to the products you want to talk about. Once they purchase the product from the link, you receive a small commission and make money from it.

If there is already a product you have in mind to purchase you can simply go to google and search the product name and “affiliate programs” and if there is an affiliate program linked to your product, it will usually pop up. If not, find the contact for the company and ask if there is an affiliate program for your product.

When inserting your affiliate links into your texts make sure that they are hyperlinked to words or phrases that pertain to your product. Add only one or two affiliate links per blog post to not clutter your posts. Add visuals to your content that will make it more appealing to your viewers. Adding photos and videos about the product will help keep your readers interested. 

Step 4- Creating an email list

One important part of creating an affiliate marketing blog is your email list. This is where your readers will input their email addresses so that they can be notified about content you post. You always want to invite your readers back for more. There are a few strategies for doing this.

The first strategy is to offer them a free product. For example, if your blog is about cooking and recipes, you may want to offer them a free recipe for putting their email address in. The next strategy is to have an email pop-up where you add a tag line that says something along the lines of “want to stay up to date with my latest posts? Input your email here to never miss a post from me!”. A great way to do this is through a widget from WordPress called Mail Chimp. This plugin for your blog will help you collect email addresses through newsletter subscription offers.

Step 5- creating a newsletter for your email list

When sending out your newsletters for your blog, you want to keep it short and interesting. You don’t want to give away your entire blog post in your newsletter email. You want your reader to want to go to your website to read more about what you have to offer. 

It’s great to start sending a newsletter about once a week. Do this whenever you publish a blog post and use it as an opportunity to really hype up your post.  When you start your newsletter, establish the goals you want to meet. This has to do with the amount of traffic you want to your blog, the engagement you want with your readers, and how you want to send out your content. The more readers are interested, the more traffic you're going to have coming into your blog. 

Write your newsletter with care. Regardless of whether your newsletter is going to new or existing readers you want it to be well-crafted and comprehensive. Check your letter for typos and use a conversational tone when speaking to your audience. Make sure you include your call to action. Ask your reader to click a button that says “click here for more information” or something along those lines. Your call to action is how you are going to get your readers to come back to your website and become customers.

Step 6- Repeat the process

Once you find a niche and content that works for you and starts to bring you sales, repeat your process. The more dedication you put into your work, the better. Making sure your newsletter is going out to people often, and readers are staying up to date with your content makes all the difference in the world. When first creating your blog, it’s normal to not get a lot of viewers straight away. Don’t give up. The more you promote your blog through other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, the easier it is for other people to find your blog.

WordPress has a lot of tools to help you begin your affiliate marketing blog and run it without a struggle. Even if you’ve never worked with any free blogging platform and are just a beginner you can easily create a blog page for yourself that will be efficient and simple to run. 

If you’ve enjoyed this step-by-step guide on creating an affiliate marketing blog consider checking out this free webclass to learn more strategies to apply to your business including how to make multiple high-ticket affiliate commissions each month marketing valuable products people already want to buy.

Click for free training

7 Habits That Will Make You Successful

You've probably heard it a thousand times – your success ultimately depends on your habits.

There are certain things that 99.9% of all successful people do. Habits they develop that make them effective.

I came up with this list of 7 Important Habits that you need to develop to be successful.

Make sure you check out my YouTube channel for more on this topic.

1. Win The Morning

It all starts here. If you can win the morning, you can win the day.

What does it take to ‘win the morning'?

You need to wake up early. Set your alarm the night before – and NEVER hit the snooze button. We're all guilty of doing this from time to time – sometimes you just don't want to get out of bed at 5 a.m. STOP. It takes discipline to become successful, and waking up with your alarm is the first step towards that.

Have (and keep) a solid morning routine. What does that look like?

Make your bed as soon as you get up. Take a shower, brush your teeth, eat a healthy breakfast, go for a run.

It all depends on you – what tasks are important to have in your routine? What are some new things you haven't tried yet, but want to give a shot? Try them out and see if they fit with your morning routine.

2. Plan Your Day

This is a bit different from having a routine. You need to have a solid plan and a schedule for yourself every day.

A good idea is to start planning your day the night before. Think about what tasks you need to complete the next day and list them out. Make sure you review that list each morning and block off time in your schedule to complete those tasks.

Make sure you schedule everything. It helps you to avoid wasting time and being ineffective. If something isn't on your schedule and it's not absolutely imperative that you get it done ASAP, don't deviate to get it done. Add it to your list of tasks for the next day, and schedule it then.

Don't forget to schedule breaks for yourself! You don't want to get burned out because you have a packed schedule that leaves no time for self-care.

3. Read (or Learn) Every Single Day

Successful people keep their minds active. You should always make a point to read for at least 10 minutes a day.

“But Dave, I'm terrible at reading!”

Then LEARN SOMETHING. Sure, reading isn't for everyone, but you can still make an effort to learn something new. Study. Expand your mind.

TAKE NOTES. A lot of times when we read or learn, we come across something that jumps out at us, something we want to remember. But then it just slips our mind, we move on to something else, we forget about it. Keep a highlighter and some post-its handy. Write down the words or ideas that make an impact on you. You could even keep a separate journal for taking notes on what you're reading or learning.

Each night before you go to bed, look over those notes. Remind yourself what you learned that day. This way, it will stick with you.

4. Exercise

Now I know you've all heard this one before. Exercising is such an important habit to keep as a part of your daily routine. It's not just about keeping a healthy body, but a healthy mind. Exercising for just 20 minutes a day can improve your memory as well as your brain's ability to process information.

Exercise can also stimulate your brain's plasticity, which as we know, is an important part of rewiring your brain for success. Research shows that exercise increases growth factors in the brain, which makes it easier for your brain to grow new neural connections.

Physical exercise is great. It has tons of benefits. But when you couple that with mental exercise, something amazing happens. Which is why it's important to also…

5. Clear Your Mind

Throughout the day, our heads can get cluttered with all sorts of thoughts and ideas that might not be beneficial to us. You should take time every day to clear your head.

That can mean making meditation a part of your daily routine. It can also mean practicing mindfulness throughout the day.

 

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Meditation has a ton of proven health benefits. Most people know that meditation helps to reduce stress and anxiety, but did you know it can actually lower your blood pressure? Meditation can also lengthen your attention span and reduce memory loss as you get older.

Meditation also helps you to be more mindful, which is a great trick to keep distracting thoughts away and focus on being effective with your time.

Another benefit of meditation that can really improve your level of success is that it promotes healthy sleep. A good night's sleep makes all the difference.

6. Take Care Of You

Self-care is hugely important. You need to be taking care of yourself.

For some people, it can be simple things like getting enough sleep, getting a massage or a manicure, or relaxing through meditation. For others, self-care can mean focusing on your mental and emotional health – getting therapy, joining a support group, spending quality time with your family.

Spirituality can also tie into this. Staying grounded in your spirituality can have a profound effect on your mental health. Now, I'm not just talking about religion and faith here – everyone has a different meaning for spirituality. I'm just saying it's important to keep strong ties to that part of your life. Taking care of your mind, body, and spirit is essential.

Another way you might take care of yourself is to stay off social media. Did you know that using social media actually makes us less happy? It increases feelings of social isolation keeps us comparing our lives to others. It's also a huge time-suck. You can waste so much time scrolling through various social media apps – time that could have been better spent.

I'm not saying to go and deactivate your Facebook account. Start by trying to limit your social media time. Make it a goal to spend less time scrolling and more time focusing on what's important.

Speaking of goals…

7. Set and Track Progress Towards Your Goals

Keeping goals is a huge part of success. If you want to accomplish anything, you need to be setting goals.

If you're not used to setting (and reaching) goals for yourself, start small and be specific.

Make sure you set SMART goals – goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. When you use this filter to set a new goal, it makes that goal so much easier to achieve.

It's good to have both short-term and long-term goals. Set several smaller goals you can focus on while working towards your big goal. A big goal is like a trophy at the finish line – it's there to motivate you to keep going for the long-haul. The smaller goals on the way help you to feel like you've actually accomplished something, which will keep you from losing the drive to keep pushing forward.

Even after you hit your big goal, keep setting goals for yourself. Successful people don't stop pushing themselves after they become successful – they keep moving forward. Of course, your goals will start to change as you progress on your journey. As you grow and change, so will your goals. That's okay – just keep striving to achieve something more.

 

Are you committed to developing better habits to help you succeed? Making big changes takes a lot of work, but in the end, it is so worth it. If you continue to develop healthy habits like these, your life can look completely different in 6 months.

Don't limit yourself to just this list! While I consider these some of the most essential habits for success, there are many others that can help you on your path. It's about finding what's right for you. 

Can you think of any healthy habits necessary for success that I might have missed? Let me know in the comments below!

How To Set An Effective Follow Up Call

One thing I get asked all the time is how to set up an effective followup call.

The key is to not leave the ball in their court. Don't tell them to call you back when they're ready.

You need to book and schedule the appointment and confirm it when you're on the phone with them. Right there on the spot.

Your prospect needs to have realistic expectations. Setting the proper expectation is important.

In my new video, I'll show you a real example of how I set expectations and schedule a followup. Watch it below:

What I Wish I Knew Earlier In My Career

What is the one piece of advice I wish I had been given earlier in my career?

Detach from outcomes. Everything you do is a test.

When I first started as an entrepreneur, I was so attached to results. If I didn't get the results I wanted, it was crushing.

Once I started viewing every opportunity as a test, it was like night and day.

What do I mean? Watch my new video to find out:

How to Deal with Negative Comments

One of our members asked me how I respond to negative comments.

Even though you might look at me as someone who has success, I still deal with negative comments to this day.

Over the years, people have seen me build businesses, launch businesses, and succeed with businesses, but they still want to criticize.

It can be especially hurtful if those negative comments come from people you view as personal friends and family.

When a negative comment is out there for the world to see, it can be embarrassing and frustrating.

What can you do in that situation? Watch this video the learn more:

Do You Have The Guts To Share Your Gift?

Your product or service is a gift.

Do you have the guts to sell it?

I believe, if your product or opportunity actually helps people, you have a moral obligation to get it out there.

When you start to see your product or service as the gift that it is, you gain the emotional conviction that you need to succeed.

Own the fact that what you have is a gift and you're here to give it to the world.

Watch this video to learn more:

The #1 Skill You Should Learn to Build Your Business

I was going through some comments on social media earlier and came across a great question from a member named Jim.

He asked, “What's the #1 skill that you recommend that I learn to build my business?”

I had to think about it for about 5 seconds before I knew what my answer was.

So what's the #1 skill I would say you need to learn?

Watch this video to find out:

How To Build Deep Emotional Bonds With Your Customers

You need to connect with your customers.

They need to feel seen, heard, and understood.

Your customers need to identify with you. If you're too concerned with being seen, heard, and understood yourself, you won't be able to connect with your customers.

Instead of being so self-absorbed and looking for validation from your customers, focus your attention on seeing, hearing, and understanding them.

Not sure what I mean? Check out this video to learn more:

The ULTIMATE Marketing Tool | How To Use Story

 

If there's one thing you should be leveraging in your marketing, it's story.

What does that mean? What does telling a story have to do with making sales?

Stories can be so powerful – certainly more powerful than “features and benefits” – but you need to appeal to your customers emotionally.

Marketing has to be humanized in some form. Tons of companies use this approach in their marketing.

Think about a company with a well-known spokesperson. How are they trying to sell the product to you? With their story.

An Emotional Appeal

Your customers need to be moved by you. How is that done?

With a f**king good story.

So, how do you know what makes a good story? What's effective? What's not?

It starts with you. Are you in touch with your emotions?

If you want to tell your story in a way that appeals to your customers' emotions, you have to understand your own. You have to take a good look at yourself – even the ugly parts. Sometimes you have to dig up old traumas and get in touch with your past.

Now, I'm not saying you have to have a full-on therapy session with your camera. But you do have to be able to open up and be honest about your past and your story with your audience.

Look for defining moments in your life. Make a timeline of your life and look for the high points and low points.

“I never tell a story without making a point, and I never make a point without telling a story.”

Learning Through Story

Have you ever been talking to someone and realize they're not listening to you at all? Think about how you were communicating with them.

Were you just talking AT them? Or telling them a story?

As humans, we were raised to listen to stories. It's how we are programmed. Growing up, our parents didn't tell us facts and figures, they told us stories.

That's how we learn.

But the stories we use in marketing aren't quite the same as the stories we might have heard growing up.

So, what's the formula? What kind of story do you need to tell to connect with your audience and sell your product?

You need the basic story formula – a beginning, middle, and end:

What it was like, what happened, and what it's like now.

The best stories are victorious journeys. Emotional journeys.

You need to tap into your customers' emotions. Now, there is a whole spectrum of emotions out there – how do you know which ones to appeal to?

At your low point, what emotions were you feeling?

Fear, doubt, anger, shame, exhaustion, pain – all of these are emotions you want to play to in your stories. Because more likely than not, your customers are feeling those emotions right now. That's why they're looking for your product in the first place.

If you can connect with your customer on that deep level, they will love you for it. You'll start to get what I like to call:

Raving Fans

When you have raving fans, that's when you know you're doing something right.

You can get raving fans just by being relatable and authentic, but there are other things you can do to push the throttle into overdrive with this.

How? By being controversial. By polarizing your audience. Yeah, you'll get haters, but where there are haters there are also ride-or-die supporters.

Think about current events. What companies, public figures, or news stories get the most attention?

The ones that divide. The ones that get people going.

Look at Donald Trump. Everyone has an opinion on Trump – you either love him or hate him. Why?

Well, if you take a look at his Twitter feed, you would probably understand.

He polarizes people. He takes a side on controversial issues. Some people agree with him, some don't. They're all very vocal.

Look at the news cycle on any given day – it's dominated by Trump. A single tweet from him can spark thousands of news articles and hours of screentime on cable news networks.

Whether you love him or hate him, you know who he is. You know what he's about.

What about companies that do this? When Nike supported Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the anthem in protest, people got fired up. Some folks were sharing videos of themselves having Nike bonfires. On the flip side, there were troves of people who went out and spent thousands of dollars on Air Jordans.

How about Chick-fil-A? They make their stance on marriage equality very clear. And yeah, they lost business. People boycotted them. But conservative Christians came out in droves to buy chicken sandwiches because they agreed with the company's message. Hell, they might not even like those chicken sandwiches, but they showed up at the drive-thru the next day to show their support.

It's a risk to polarize your audience, sure. But where there are haters, there are raving fans. And the raving fans are the ones who are gonna pay your bills.

Conclusion

By now, you surely understand how powerful storytelling can be in your marketing.

When you use storytelling effectively, you'll see just how impactful a good story is. A clear, concise, compelling story can be the rocket fuel that helps your business take off.

All of the things I talked about above make a good story, but it needs to be easy for your audience to listen to and understand. When I speak at events or write a sales letter, I follow a general format. A great sales letter has:

  • Headline
  • Lead
  • Story
  • Bullets (Features/Benefits or Results)
  • Call-to-Action or Close

If you frame your sales letters or videos in a similar way, you'll start pulling in those raving fans.

So, go out there and tell your story.

Stay Legendary.

Learn more about how to craft a compelling story when you sign up for my 15 Day Online Business Builder Challenge. Click Here for more information.

 

What’s your story? Leave a comment below and let me know!

 

The Key To Effective Advertising Is Storytelling

What makes for great marketing?

If you've been paying attention to any of the emails I've been sending you, you know the answer by now.

It's storytelling.

When you start using story, you'll notice the difference in your results.

But not all stories are created equally – some stories are more effective than others.

So what makes a clear, compelling story? Watch this video to learn more:

How To Turn Your Mess Into A Powerful Message Using The Art and Science of Storytelling

If you want to be a powerful storyteller, you need to be able to get in touch with your feelings.

You need to be able to confront your past.

Make a timeline of your life up until now. Look for the high points and low points in your life.

I was able to turn my mess into my message by doing exactly that.

How can you do the same? Watch this video to learn more:

How to Create Raving Fans by Polarizing Your Audience

People are either going to LOVE you or HATE you.

You can use that to your advantage.

There's money on both ends of the spectrum of LOVE and HATE – but not in the middle.

If people hate you, chances are you've got some raving fans as well.

That's where your money is. The people who agree with you and love what you say and do are the ones who are going to buy from you.

How can you polarize your audience and leverage it in your business?

Watch this video to learn more:

How to Identify Your Perfect, Target Customer and Niche

A lot of people starting their business try too hard to appeal to everyone.

You don't need to cater to the masses to be successful.

The truth is, when you try to please to everyone, you end up losing appeal.

You don't need to appeal to everyone. You just need to find your niche.

If you're older, you don't need to appeal to Millenials. Maybe you want to cater to retirees.

There's riches in the niches.

How do you niche down? How do you figure out who your target customer is and how to reach them?

Watch this video to learn more:

How To Be A Powerful Spokesperson For Your Brand

If you want to leverage your story to create powerful marketing for your business, you have to know yourself.

You have to be able to confront the ugliest parts of who are you.

You have to be completely self-aware.

It's very difficult for someone without self-awareness to be able to create powerful marketing.

So, how can you leverage storytelling to become the best spokesperson for your business?

Watch this video to learn more:

When Internet Marketers Start “Telling Their Story” In Videos

What's holding you back from telling your story?

Have you been meaning to post that video, but just haven't been able to get it right?

Maybe you just want to make it perfect.

One thing I've learned over the years is that perfection isn't relatable.

And what's the point of telling your story if not to relate to others?

Check out my new video where I talk about why it's important to be authentic when sharing your story with the world:

How to know when time to fire a customer

When starting a business, we get excited about any potential sales.

Believe it or not, there are some situations where you shouldn't take someone's money.

What do I mean?

Down the road, if that person becomes a stressful, toxic client, the money they paid isn't worth the stress of dealing with them.

How do you vet your customers before you accept them and take their money?

Check out my latest video where I talk about how to know when you should fire a customer:

When To Fire A Customer

When starting a business, we get excited about any potential sales.

Believe it or not, there are some situations where you shouldn't take someone's money.

What do I mean?

Down the road, if that person becomes a stressful, toxic client, the money they paid isn't worth the stress of dealing with them.

How do you vet your customers before you accept them and take their money?

Check out my latest video where I talk about how to know when you should fire a customer:

Meet A Man Who’s Heard 45,000 Stories

Storytelling is such a huge part of sales.

I use storytelling all the time in my marketing. As you might have heard me say before, I took my mess and turned it into a message.

When I was in New York, I ran into Brandon Doman from the Strangers Project.

He's been collecting stories from strangers since 2009.

This guy has heard over 45,000 stories. That's incredible.

Check out this video to see my conversation with him:

Sales is about EMPATHY

Why is empathy such a great thing to have in sales?

Recently, I had a call with my Sales Team were I discussed how having empathy for your customers helps to build trust and honesty.

It's about making people feel seen, heard, and understood. It's about acknowledging their feelings and feeling with them.

It may be a cliche, but it's so true – people really don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Customers are gonna trust you more if you empathize with them. They'll be more honest with you if you show that you see them and hear them.

Check out this video where I take you behind the scenes on this Sales Team call:

Low Ticket Vs High Ticket Business Model | Which Should YOU Choose

If you're just starting your online business or you're struggling to figure it out, you might not be sure which business model is best for you.

Different business models require different levels of skill, and produce different results.

Low-to-no-skill business models often don't earn as much revenue as a business model that requires skill.

In my latest video, I aim to shed some light on the topic to help you choose what's best for you. Check it out below:

Personal vs. Company Branding

With all the talk about brand building these days, you might find yourself asking, “Should I focus on building my company brand, or my personal brand?”

I recently made a video on this topic where I go over the different situations where you will want to focus on either a company brand or your own brand. Check it out below:

Rewire Your Brain: How To Think Like A Millionaire

How can you unlock the power of your mind to manifest wealth and abundance in your life? Believe it or not, you can actually rewire your brain for success.

What does that mean?

I go over that a bit in the video below. Check it out:

Let's unpack this a bit…

What specific steps can you take to start rewiring your brain to start thinking like a millionaire?

When I started out, I was thinking like a broke person. I was never taught to think like a successful person. I didn't have wealthy habits and behaviors. The majority of the patterns or behaviors that were modeled for me, whether from family or society, weren't wealthy behaviors. That doesn't mean they're bad people, they just didn't have anyone teaching them this kind of stuff.

Studies show that our brains can rewire themselves. It's this little thing called neuroplasticity. If you're interested in that kind of stuff, it's worth doing some research on. We used to think that once a brain was “wired” it was stuck that way, but recently we have discovered that those pathways can actually be rewired.

I'm going to give you some tips on how you can do that, including what has worked for me in the past.

1. Set Time Aside Every Single Day to THINK

Now, you might be thinking, “Dave, I already think every single day…”

I'm talking about thinking your own thoughts and not other peoples' thoughts. We're always flooded with other peoples' opinions and agendas – whether that's through news, social media, emails or the like. Most of us check our phones first thing in the morning. We're glued to the damn things. Our phones are constantly filled with other peoples' agendas. It's rare that someone is telling you to think your own thoughts.

Well, I'm here to tell you exactly that. If you want to start thinking like a millionaire, you have to start thinking for yourself.

What is your agenda? What are your goals? What do you want to achieve?

While you're thinking, take specific time to develop your visualization skills. That leads me into Tip #2…

2. Visualize It!

Visualization is key. While you're thinking, take specific time to visualize what you want to achieve. Take a look at my video on The Power of Visualization.

Let me give you an example. I used to be terrified of public speaking. In fact, studies show that people are more afraid of public speaking than of dying.

As an entrepreneur, I've been asked to speak at public events. I was sort of forced into a speaking role. Instead of getting anxiety or having a breakdown, here's what I would do.

I would actually visualize myself speaking in front of a group. I would envision my body movements. I would envision interacting with the audience. I would envision it as if I was a fly on the wall.

I would do that over and over again in the days and months leading up to the event.

I started to realize that I was getting better and better at speaking. It felt like I had already been there and done that because I visualized it so much. It was total deja vu.

Believe it or not, everybody visualizes stuff. More often than not, we visualize ourselves failing. We visualize things going wrong. Well, it's no surprise that when we visualize it that way, things go wrong.

At the University of Chicago, Dr. Judd Biasiotto did a study with basketball players to see how they could improve their free throws. He broke the team down into three groups. The first group practiced free throws every day for an hour. The second group just visualized themselves making free throws successfully. The third group did absolutely nothing.

What do you think happened?

Well, as expected, the third group saw no improvement.

The first group, who physically practiced, improved their free throws by 24%. Not bad, right?

The second group, who visualized making free throws, improved by 23%. Without ever touching a basketball.

So, by the power of visualization, the second group improved almost as much as the group who physically practiced every day.

Thoughts become things. If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand. – Bob Proctor

3. Focus on Long Term Goals

If you really want to start thinking like a millionaire, start focusing on your long term goals. Every single wealthy person I know is focused on their long term goals. Sure, they have short term goals they want to meet, but what they're really focused on is the long haul.

I have long term goals, too. I have long term goals for my business, for my investments, for my retirement. Now, those plans may change, but they keep me focused.

Most of the time, things take longer than you think they will. If I'm focused on a short term goal, it's very likely that I'm not going to reach that goal. But if I focus on my long term goals, it's way more likely I'm going to achieve those.

The mindset of focusing on long term will help you to accomplish a lot more than you would if you focused on short term goals.

4. Act Yourself into a New Way of Thinking

This is probably the most powerful bit of advice I can give you. You cannot think yourself into a new way of acting, you have to act yourself into a new way of thinking. If you're sitting around thinking that you're already successful, it's just not going to happen. You have to start acting as if you're already successful. You have to start acting like a millionaire to think like a millionaire.

You gotta walk the walk. The way that you develop successful thinking is to ACT AS IF you are successful. In order to rewire your brain, you have to actually do different things. You have to change your behaviors.

This is exactly what I did when I got started. I was a deadbeat. I was broke. I wasn't acting successful. I didn't realize successful people attract more success. Successful people are attracted to other successful people.

Here's what I had to do: I had to trick my mind and act as if I was already successful.

What does that look like? It was my swagger. It was my confidence, my attitude. I was projecting success.

When I got on sales calls, I would speak with confidence. I would act like I've been doing this for 20 years.

One of the quickest hacks to figure out how to act as if you're successful is to hang around successful people. The reason most people don't know how to act successful because they're always around broke people. NEWSFLASH: Broke people act broke.

If you really want to learn how successful people act, how they talk, how they present themselves, you need to spend more time with succesful people – then model what they do. As I always say, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. It makes sense that when you surround yourself with successful people, you start to act like them.

According to a University study in London, it takes 66 days to make a habit. Now, you might find some other research that says it doesn't take that long, but let's err on the side of caution here and assume it falls on the longer side. A habit is something you do instinctually. There are good habits and bad habits.

In order to develop good habits, you have to create structure and repetition every day over and over again until it gets ingrained in your brain.

Feelings lead to thoughts, which lead to actions. So if you're gonna reverse engineer this, you need to start taking action with the intention of changing your thoughts. Only then can you start thinking – and feeling – like a millionaire.

The Winning Formula: How to Build a Rock-Solid Video Marketing Strategy

video marketing strategy

Did you know that by 2020, 80% of online traffic will involve videos?

Video offers all marketers an opportunity to engage and captivate consumers.

Plus, it's easy and cost-effective to implement. Some business owners even shoot compelling marketing videos using standard iPhones!

If you are ready to harness video's great advertising potential, you need a strategy first. Without a coherent strategy, those YouTube clips may have a minimal return on investment (ROI).

In this post, we discuss tips and tricks for crafting an effective video marketing strategy. Keep reading for more!

1. Know Your Target Audience

This is the most essential component of your video marketing strategy. If you don't know who you're targeting with your videos, you won't see the results you crave!

Take the time to pinpoint who you wish to reach with your campaigns. Be as specific as possible. Identify age groups, genders, geographic locations, and other demographics.

Think carefully about your target audience's needs and desires. Identifying a perceived need (or lack) is a great place to begin: you can focus on filling this need or lack in your marketing efforts.

You will likely have to do a fair bit of research to understand your target audience. One way you can do this is to visit public online forums like Quora to see what questions consumers are asking about your industry, product, or niche.

Social media can also give you insight into user activity, behavior, and preferences. If you have business profiles on Instagram or Facebook, for example, you likely already have some data on trending content, popular hashtags, and keywords.

If you already have an established customer base, send out customer experience surveys. To ensure responses, offer incentives in the form of discounts and freebies (like e-books and membership access).

By this time, you'll have enough data to assemble a buyer persona. This is your ideal customer with a specific set of needs and qualities. Keep this buyer persona at the fore as you are honing all of your marketing strategies.

2. Pinpoint Specific Campaign Goals

Now that you know your target audience, what are your campaign goals? If you don't have concrete video marketing goals, you won't be able to measure your campaign's success.

Be specific when creating your goals, just as you were in identifying a buyer persona.

What do you want to accomplish with your campaign? Do you want more brand awareness? Greater site traffic? Higher conversions? More subscribers?

 

Try to put numbers to these campaign goals, if possible. A great video campaign goal, for example, might be to obtain 10% more newsletter subscribers each month for four months.

Naturally, you may have multiple goals within one comprehensive marketing goal. That's okay: video marketing content makes use of multiple channels. It also takes many different forms.

3. Understand Your Brand and Your Message

This may sound like a given, but it's more important than most business owners realize. In fact, businesses with powerful brand images have 20% more success, in general, than those without.

What is your brand all about? What message do you want to convey to the world with your product or service?

If you've been following the steps in this post, you've already partially answered these questions.

Figuring out a target audience can help business owners establish a brand identity. Campaign goals often come from a business's “why”–what they are all about and what they wish to accomplish.

Brand identity can also emerge from a company's “personality” and emotional appeal. If you had to specify your brand's personality, what adjectives would you use? What emotional connection have you established or do you want to establish with your core audience?

Once you can answer these questions concretely, you're on your way to a solid video marketing strategy. Your goal should be to communicate your brand identity and message in every single video clip.

4. Create a Reasonable Budget

Video marketing can get expensive, and it can get expensive fast. While most small businesses allocate $400 per month to marketing, professional videos can have price tags of $4,000 and upwards.

That being said, video marketing has the potential for a significant return on investment (ROI). A potential customer may view your Facebook video ad, for example, and convert after thirty seconds.

If that conversion is worth $1,000, and if it happens with lots of different customers, those video costs are suddenly quite minimal!

Keep this in mind as you incorporate finances into your video marketing strategy. Pinpoint a budget ahead of time and make it reasonable.

Think about quality here. Fronting thousands of dollars for a video campaign doesn't equate to getting stellar results. On the flip side, shelling out $100 for a low-quality ad can hurt your brand image in the long run.

Your ultimate aim should be quality, but within parameters that make sense of your business. If you know your target audience, figuring out a budget should be even easier.

For example, let's say you want to cater to millennials. To do so, you may only need to invest in short, snappy social media video ads. You may even be able to repurpose social media content.

If you wish to cater to retirees, you may want to create longer, more informative videos showcasing industry experts.

Marketing budgets can be fickle things, and they often adjust as you follow your strategy and adapt results. Over time, however, those numbers will feel more precise.

5. Choose Your Distribution Channel(s) and Strategy

Marketers can distribute video content across a wide range of channels, including websites, blogs, social media, and email.

Videos can also take different forms. You may launch a social video ad campaign on Facebook, for example. Or you may embed an informative video into a pillar page on your website.

The channels and content forms you choose will depend upon your campaign goals and buyer persona!

If you're unsure of your distribution channels, start with where you currently have the most traction.

This is often a social media page. If you have several hundred followers on Instagram, for example, begin here. Launch targeted video ads and release regular Instagram stories that align with your buyer persona, campaign goals, and message.

Set up a timeline for distribution, too. This is paramount. Timelines give you an additional parameter for tracking results.

What's a good timeline for a video marketing campaign? This depends upon your goals. However, most video marketers work in months-long timelines.

6. Figure Out Production

How are you going to create your videos? Will you be hiring professional video services? DIY-ing it? Working with a freelance designer?

Identify the mechanics of video marketing production in your strategy. These will also be tied to your campaign goals, buyer persona, and–most especially–your budget.

It's also possible to work with a marketing agency to produce video content. These partnerships typically support businesses interested in a comprehensive internet marketing campaign.

7. Create a Plan for Optimization

Once you have a video product, your work's not done yet. It's important to optimize your video content for distribution.

Optimizing videos involves refining them to ensure maximum engagement and reach.

Marketers targeting social media channels should upload mobile-friendly video content. 77% of American adults have a smartphone. Many of these smartphone users access social media from their mobile devices.

You'll also want to optimize your videos to suit specific social media channels.

Shorter videos, for example, are more suitable for Facebook browsers. What's more, make sure you start your video with the most important information.

This will ensure that viewers get a snapshot of your message and brand immediately–regardless of how long they watch for!

You'll also want to use the appropriate captions, hashtags, and keywords once uploading video content to social media. If you have a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign in place, be sure to tag your content with SEO keywords.

If you are embedding video content on your website, make sure you compress it first. This will ensure quick loading time.

8. Analytics, Analytics, Analytics

Establish a system for obtaining and analyzing your video marketing campaign's results. This is essential!

If you can't analyze how your campaign is doing, you won't be getting the insights you need to adapt accordingly. Make use of social media insights, for example. These are readily available to any social media business profile or ad campaign.

To track website traffic, spend some time with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Google Analytics can be especially valuable, as it shows you where traffic is coming from. It also shows the devices used for access.

As you measure results, keep coming back to your campaign goals and target audience. Tweaking these can help you achieve that ROI you want!

Final Thoughts: Your Video Marketing Strategy

Now you have all the tools you need to develop an effective video marketing strategy.

Remember that every marketing campaign takes time and effort. It also requires a solid amount of advertising savvy!

Are you ready to take your marketing strategies to the next level? You can do so without hiring an ad campaign company–and from the comfort of your home.

Get started now!

6 Video Marketing Trends to Keep an Eye on in 2019

video marketing trends

Each day, people watch more than 5 billion videos on YouTube and more than 100 million hours of video are watched, per day, on Facebook. Videos with no sound even capture and retain the attention of people from all over the world.

The popularity of videos continues to grow, which is why businesses need to adopt this effective marketing tactic. However, similar to anything else, what works with videos changes each year.

If you want to ensure your videos are still effective in the future, then make sure to remain updated on some of the latest trends. Some of the video marketing trends to keep up with 2019 are listed here.

1. Extremely Short Video Ads

This trend was originated in 2016 with the introduction of YouTube’s six-second “bumper” ads. This new format was designed for much more than just the shortened attention spans of consumers. It also met the trend of mobile video and shorter videos.

Also, most people would only watch the countdown on a longer video ad until they could click on the “skip” button. Since then, short-form and mobile videos have become the norm.

Today, people follow a scroll and swipe technique when looking at content on websites, social media, and mobile devices. As a result, it’s necessary to capture people’s attention and become memorable within seconds.

This is the case when it comes to Instagram. If you want to ensure your business is competitive on Instagram, then creating short, concise, and memorable videos is a must.

2. The Growth of the Ephemeral Stories

When it comes to online video, the biggest story for last year was Stories. With this social media content format, there was a combination of image and/or video posts that were only able to be seen for a short period of time.

While this was pioneered by Snapchat, it was quickly borrowed by both Facebook and Instagram.

Today, Stories are more prominent on social networks than ever before, and this is a trend that’s set to accelerate in 2019. Why?

The answer is simple – this format is extremely popular, both with advertisers and audiences. Today, over 400 million people are viewing Instagram Stories each day, and the product is expected to drive the video spend on this platform to more than double.

3. Increased SEO and Google Friendliness

In August of 2018, Google added a new feature to their search results shown on Android devices. This feature was to auto-play video previews, which meant when people performed any type of search, the relevant videos appeared at the top of search results while playing a preview, which made them even more eye-catching.

It’s expected that this feature is going to arrive for iOS devices in 2019, providing plenty of incentive to make SEO-friendly.

4. Brands Will Increase Platform-Specific Targeting

The growth in video marketing opportunities online is generally great news for marketers. However, it’s also presenting a new challenge. It’s becoming less and less effective to try and distribute the same piece of video content all across the web.

If a brand wants to succeed with video going forward, then it’s important to optimize pieces both for the actual platform and the delivery format. For example, not just creating a video for a specific social network, but also for organic video posts versus paid placement versus a Story.

Brands that do this well are the ones that are most likely to experience the biggest return on their video efforts moving forward.

5. The Ability to Maximize Video Value

With such a wide array of options for when, how, and where people view videos, marketers, and brands have to put in the effort to get the most value out of their production. For example, recording a long-form video that works in both the vertical and horizontal format.

how to get more views on youtube

When this is done, the video can be produced in a way so it can be cut into smaller, bite-sized clips for Instagram Stories and short bumper ads, which may lead viewers to watch the entire video on another platform.

6. The Reduced Cost of Video Creation

For many years, brands have understood that a digital video is a powerful tool. The issue that has been present is that it’s challenging to develop pieces efficiently and quickly.

When asked to name the top three challenges, many marketers stated that the creation process is too time-consuming, the tools are too complicated, and the costs are too high.

The good news is, all this is changing. It’s easier and more affordable to use modern tools and equipment, which allows videos to be created faster, and for a lower price than in the past.

The shift in the effort needed to produce higher-quality videos highlights an extremely important point – from the way it is consumed, created, and delivered – online video is getting better. This is something that bodes well for marketers this year and into the future.

Video Marketing Trends to Know

When it comes to video marketing trends, 2019 has some pretty interesting changes in store. If you want to ensure your business stays ahead of the curve, then fully understanding these trends is essential.

Be sure to review the information here and keep track of how video marketing efforts change across the board. This is the best way to keep up with changes and avoid any negative consequences from creating video content that’s no longer effective.

If you need help or more information about video marketing and how it is changing for 2019, then check out our Free Course. Our team can help your business build a video marketing strategy that gets results.

A Complete Guide on How to Get More Views on YouTube

how to get more views on youtube

There are currently over 1.68 billion people who use YouTube. That is a massive people group for you to reach online with your business or creative endeavor. Since its launch in 2005, YouTube has revolutionized the way video is released to the public.

Gone are the days of MTV and VH1 for all the hottest music videos. Gone are the days of only seeing trailers for new movies at the actual theater. Now you can find all of this stuff immediately on YouTube, and many times it's used as the primary outlet for these things.

What does that mean for you and your channel? It means there is a huge untapped market out there just waiting for you to take over. The problem is that you're not sure how to get more views on YouTube!

Fear not! We've got you covered. Keep reading for a complete guide on how to get more views on your YouTube channel!

How to Get More Views on YouTube: A Survival Guide

When used effectively, YouTube can be one of the greatest sources in the world to get your content out to the masses. But how can you go from 10 views to 1,000 views to 100,000? Here is everything you need to know to increase the views on your videos!

1. Make a Plan

Before you even start filming anything, figure out exactly what you want to happen in your video. Start with an outline and then shift into storyboarding everything you want in your video. This includes the order of events, any sound bites you want to include, any video clips you want to add, etc.

Know what you want to accomplish with your videos. Going in without a plan makes for an unorganized video, but more importantly and unprofessional one.

One of the most crucial components in your plan needs to be some sort of call-to-action. Give people something to do when they are done watching your video. Whether that's going to your website or connecting with you on social media, give your audience something to do immediately after they are done.

2. Write a Script

This may sound tedious, but you would be surprised at how much more polished your video will be if you follow a script. Even a loose script can help guide you into exactly what you want to say throughout your video.

Write your script for the specific audience you intend to reach. If your video is aimed at kids or teenagers, don't use terms or phrases they won't understand. If your video is aimed at book readers, make sure you are catering your speech to the literary crowd.

Make sure your script and your storyboard sync up well. If your script is way longer than your storyboard, that will make for very stale, slow-moving visuals. If your script is too short, then you may not be able to fit in all of the actual video content you want.

Take your storyboard step by step and work on the script for each section. You want to make sure your video flows well and isn't choppy or confusing.

3. Entertain or Educate

Nobody wants to watch a YouTube video of some random person talking about everyday life. Make your content interesting and engaging. Two huge ways of doing that are by either entertaining or educating your audience.

If your goal is to entertain, make sure you are approaching the topic of your video as if you were a viewer. What would keep your attention? What would make you laugh? What would keep you on the edge of your seat?

benefits of video marketing

If your goal is to educate, make sure the content you are conveying to your audience is actually helpful. Do your research and set yourself apart. If your video isn't helping your intended audience, then it's pretty pointless.

One of the best things you can do is combine both of these. If you are able to entertain while simultaneously educating people, you will keep them coming back for more. Even video games are starting to incorporate an entertain and educate mentality.

4. Find a Trend and Use It

One of the best things you can do to increase your potential for views is to incorporate current viral trends into your videos. Viral trends already have a built-in market searching for content.

A perfect example of this would be the recent release of Avengers: Endgame. On its way to becoming one of the highest grossing movies of all time, it has opened the door for dozens and hundreds of YouTubers to capitalize off of the millions of people searching for more Avengers content.

Sometimes you can't always find a way to put a viral trend into your video. If you make videos about auto parts, it might be kind of hard to relate that to Avengers. But if you can find a clever way to capitalize on a current trend, it can definitely help boost viewership.

5. Optimize Prime

Optimizing your video for search engines is a crucial part of getting people to see your video. If you don't have any relevant information connected to your video, how are people going to find it?

There are 4 main ways to optimize your video.

The first way is with your title. It seems simple, but your title is crucial in people finding it with a quick search. Make sure that you are using relevant and important keywords within the title of your video.

The second way is through tags. Adding the proper tags to a video can make or break its chances of being discovered. If your video is about auto maintenance, you want to include tags for anything maintenance related.

Third on the list would be coming up with a proper description for your video. There is a very fine line you want to walk with this. You want to make sure you have all the information you need, but you also don't want it to be too lengthy or convoluted.

Last, but certainly not least, is the thumbnail for your video. Having a video thumbnail that is eye-grabbing from the beginning is so important in obtaining that almighty click. You can even create custom thumbnails as part of your channel branding.

6. Make a Playlist

We live in a generation of Netflix and Hulu where when you finish an episode of a show, you don't even have to do anything anymore. The next episode will instantly start playing about 15 seconds into the end credits. Use this to your advantage.

Creating a playlist on your YouTube channel creates less work for your audience, and allows them to dive into your rabbit hole of videos. If you have your videos in a queue, waiting to play, the chances of somebody watching more than one of your videos is going to greatly increase.

 

Don't feel like you have to have all of your videos in one playlist either. Creating specific, but smaller playlists will allow people to find exactly what they are looking for. It also decreases the chances of your viewers getting bored by a video that is unrelated to the one they started with.

7. Be Your Top Promoter

Do not underestimate the power of sharing your content on every platform you can think of. That means taking advantage of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and other forums you find online. If you don't share your own content, who else is going to?

Sharing your own content also shows that you have confidence in its quality and are proud of what you've created. Don't be afraid to share videos more than once either. Sometimes your posts can get lost in people's newsfeeds, so posting regularly can help keep your content in front of their eyes.

Another thing you can do is utilize hashtags on certain platforms. Instagram and Twitter are places where hashtags can have a huge impact on helping your posts get in front of the right people.

8. Be a Part of Your Own Community

People have a hard time trusting those who speak, but don't act. Make sure you are joining in on the community around your area of interest. Join online groups and forums and have actual discussions with other people who love what you love.

Not only does this help you to stay up on all the latest information dealing with your topics, but it also opens the door for you to tell those people about what you do. Networking is a huge part of growing your audience.

Viewers also love interacting with the people they see online. Giving your audience a great experience on a personal level can help create a positive reputation for yourself. This can then lead to people being likely to share your videos with their friends and family.

Time to Go Viral!

Now that you know how to get more views on YouTube, it's time for you to get to work. Take the tips you've learned and incorporate them into your process and watch your audience grow and grow.

If you want to learn even more about the secrets of marketing, check out our Free Course. I'll see you on the other side of trending!

Did You Watch That? How to Make a Promotion Video That’ll Go Viral

make a promotional video

Looking for ways to help your business grow?

Most businesses face the same problem too. In fact, struggling to gain the attention of potential customers is the number one reason why most businesses shut down as soon as they start up. To prevent this from happening, some businesses resort to many things, but the most effective and popular way of getting the word out is to make a promotional video that will go viral.

Promotional videos, along with customer videos, are both great ways to market business. For it to become viral though is another question on its own. Most viral videos are viral because they were lucky enough that someone found them and had a lot of people to share it to.

When it comes to business though, luck isn’t something to count on. Read on to learn how to make a great video without relying on getting lucky.

1. Spend Time on Making a Killer Introduction

One of the keys to making a viral video is to make a killer intro. Doing so ensures your target audience stays hooked long enough to pique interest within them. This is important as capturing their attention within the first 3 seconds of the video is essential to have a successful video marketing campaign.

The average attention span of the average viewer lasts 3 seconds. Engaging them within that time means you win at captivating your audience. This also means they’ll more likely watch it to fruition if they find it interesting.

Creating an eye-catching intro is important for social media platforms. Here, people tend to keep scrolling past most content until something engages them. With the help of the video autoplay feature on Facebook and Twitter, this is possible for you.

Make sure you make a good impression and create a good rapport with your viewers in the beginning. It may be what compels people to stay a while longer and watch your promotional video.

2. Work on What to Name Your Video

Like the intro, the title of your video needs to capture the attention of people as well. This is important if your planning to post your video to websites without an auto-play feature for their videos. The title is what makes a video stand out in those websites for the most part.

It also becomes a way for people to find your videos on the internet. Businesses can take full advantage of this by naming their videos in such a way that it appears first in the search results. This allows people to find out about their business and also increases the possibility of their video going viral through view count.

Which works best if you’re planning on marketing your video through YouTube and the like. These platforms prioritize the name of the video before the relevance of the topic. Researching keywords to put in your titles ensures you have a high search rate.

3. Prepare a Script Beforehand

If you want to make a successful promotional video, you need to prepare a script beforehand. Doing so makes you appear confident and professional for your promotional video. This is important because people tend to judge others online based on their confidence.

By making a script, you’re doing a mental workout before the filming of your video. This ensures you cover all the things you need to cover in it, too. Practicing your script beforehand also makes the video more engaging.

This is because people speak in a more natural tone if you’re familiar with what you’ll say. This also helps you enunciate better during the video. Being clear with your words helps attract more viewers as the video progresses.

4. Create a Video with a Cause

One way to make your promotional video go viral is to support a cause along with it. This is becoming a popular trend on the internet nowadays. One reason for this is because people love it when videos raise awareness for something.

How to create video content with a cause, you ask? One way is to start in your local community first. Tackle issues that the community is facing and bring some awareness to it.

During your video, make sure to mention it along while proposing a solution. A promotional video without a solution makes it look like you’re exploiting the problem. Prevent this by offering solutions like a charity for the existing problem.

Viral videos and charities go well together nowadays. This is a good way to gain recognition and help the community at the same time.

5. Keep It Short and Concise

Nothing kills a good promotional video like dragging it out with unnecessary details. Most people will find it troublesome to watch a video that’s 1 minute long. If it goes over a minute and 30 seconds, that’s when people tend to scroll past it without finishing it.

To make sure people won’t skip yours, you should consider keeping it short and to the point. Include all the necessary details and information you can and try to fit it in a minute. It may not seem like much, but as long as you know what you’re doing, 1 minute is longer than you’d need.

This also saves you and your business time and resources. Filming and producing a shorter video means you’ll do it faster and with a smaller workforce.

6. Don’t Forget About Production Quality

While you’re making your video, it is important to focus on your message and how to deliver it on the internet. That said, it’s also important to make sure your video is as beautiful as you can make it be.

Production value is something most businesses forget to put a focus on. This is why you see a lot of promotional videos go to waste due to bad lighting or sound. Focusing on those aspects will help avoid falling into a similar pit with them.

A way you can increase production value when you create company videos is by adjusting the sound. It won’t matter if you made your video well if there are bugs in your audio files. Buying professional equipment and compressing the sound will make it sound clearer.

Also, you shouldn’t skimp on the lighting of your video. A well-lit video attracts intrigues viewers for a few seconds. This may help in engaging them, as mentioned above.

Music also goes well with promotional videos. Add some atmospheric music that fits the tone of our video. This also helps engage your viewers to a degree.

Doing all these not only makes your video prettier, but it also makes you look more professional. This increases the trust viewers will have in your brand.

7. Tease Your Upcoming Video Overtime

Generating some hype for your video is another great way to make it go viral. Anticipation for an upcoming product/event draws attention to it until its release. Your subscribers will be on their toes while waiting for your video to come out.

A bad thing with hype is people tend to oversell the product/event in their head. This then leads to some disappointment when it comes out. You should make sure to deliver on your promises and satisfy them with a great video.

8. Post It Where Ever You Can

Once you finish making your video, you’re going to want people to know about it as soon as possible. You can do this by posting it where ever you can as fast as you can. While doing this, all you need to keep in mind is the guidelines of the platform you’re posting it on.

If you’re sharing on social media, there’s nothing you need to worry about. You can post your videos again and again without worrying about penalties. You only need to make sure the video doesn’t offend others and you’ll do great.

On websites owned by other people, you need to ask for permission first. They have the authority to remove your video if they feel like it’s a breach of their authority. Be respectful and know your boundaries when doing this.

9. Include a Call to Action at the End

A promotional video won’t be successful without a great call to action at the end. Including a CTA makes it more likely people will interact with your video after they’re done watching it. It can be a question, a reminder to avail of your services, or anything you can think of as long as it encourages people to take action in line with your promotional video.

10. Make a Promotional Video More Than Once

Making a good video to promote your business doesn’t happen in an instant. It happens once you’ve done many others and learned what you can do better from them. Perseverance, after all, is one of the 2 important steps in going viral.

Don’t get discouraged if your first promotional video doesn’t do well. Look into it and think of ways you could have made it better. In time, you’ll make one that will boost your business through the roof.

Start Making Your Promotional Video Today

You don’t have to struggle with making your video go viral anymore. With the help of our guide, everyone will know about your promotional videos in no time. Make a promotional video now and watch your business gain traction!

Looking to learn more about the internet’s business world? Sign up for our Free Course and we’ll guide you through everything you need to know and learn!

Shoot to the Top: 10 Video Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

video marketing tips

There’s something about hard selling that turns customers all the way off. There’s nothing they find more off-putting than getting constantly bombarded with television ads and cold calls. This method of sales is not as effective as it once was.

Today, video content is what drives internet marketing. Businesses are using videos to create a strong connection with their audiences in order to build a long term relationship with them.

This article explores video marketing tips guaranteed to boost your ROI and take your business to the next level. Read on.

1. Video Marketing Tips 101: Convert Your Blog Posts into Videos

Coming up with fresh new ideas for video content on a daily basis can be overwhelming, to say the least. Converting your popular blog posts is a great way of recycling content that you already know is doing well.

It’s also the perfect way to reach users who prefer content in video format especially if they’d previously passed on your blogs. There are lots of helpful tools you can find online to help you convert your articles into videos.

They work by analyzing your post, summarizing your content and matching the segments with relevant media. Make sure you include your branding in your videos so that your audience know about your business right off the bat.

2. Include a Video on Your Site’s Landing Page

Did you know that putting a small business video on your landing page increases conversions by as much as 80%? That’s how effective videos are. This technique kills two birds with one stone.

First, it increases the time visitors spend on your site once they land there. Second, they absorb the message you’re trying to pass a lot faster than if the same content was in written format.

Ensure that your video for small business is in HD format and embedded in a stand-alone video player. You can’t go wrong with Vimeo and YouTube. Remember to choose an eye-catching thumbnail that is relevant to the video.

The video itself should explain to visitors what you’re selling while entertaining them at the same time. It’ll not only leave a bigger impression on them, but they’re more likely to make a purchase.

3. Audiences Love Live Videos

Audiences are more impressionable when they feel like they’re a part of something great. Moreso, if they can interact directly with representatives of their favorite brands. There’s literally no better way to do this than through live streaming.

With the rise of live video, engaging with your customers has never been easier. Going live on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook receive truckloads of engagement.

You present yourself as an expert in your space. It also adds a measure of transparency since you get to answer your audience’s questions in real time. This fosters the trust in your product and that is what will ultimately grow your business.

4. Give Your Audience a Teaser

Do you feel like your audience isn’t responding to your content like you’d want them to? Chances are they’re getting a little bored. There’s no better way to jolt them back to life than to use video for your business to create a little intrigue and excitement around your brand.

Shoot a short teaser video about a mysterious new product that you’re about to launch or an exciting upcoming event. Short here means that it shouldn’t be any longer than a few seconds at least.

Get your creative juices flowing and shoot a video that will keep users on the edges of their seats. Before you know it, they’ll be tuning into your site every day to see if there are any new developments.

Be careful though. Don’t keep it running for too long or your audience might end up losing interest altogether.

5. Record On-Screen Tutorials

If your company is based online, you can enhance your customers’ experience by recording on-screen tutorials. This is especially important if your customers rely on written tutorials to learn how to use the software you may be selling or how to access different sections of your website.

This not only boosts your audience engagement, but they are likely to retain more information if they receive a practical step-by-step guide on how to work around the tough bits. There are lots of free screen capture software tools available that you can use to record your demos.

6. Use Native Videos Instead of Links

Posting a native video means you’re uploading a video in a format that’s specific to a particular social platform. This maximizes audience engagement as opposed to posting a link to a different site that hosts your video.

This method is better for two reasons. First, as your audience scrolls down their feed, native videos begin to play automatically. On the other hand, when you post a link, it means that your target audience has to manually click on the link in order to watch the video.

Second, when you post a video in its native environment, say Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, users don’t have to leave the platform to watch it. This plays a huge role in enhancing your audience’s social experience.

7. Minimize Time and Maximize Value

You might think packing a lot of information into a long video in order to get your message across is how you get customers hooked on your brand. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

As it turns out, research shows that the first 3 to 10 seconds of your video strongly influences your customers’ purchase intent. It’s important to keep your videos short given that consumers’ attention span is shorter now than it’s ever been.

The idea here is to create short videos that are value-oriented. Here’s the general rule of thumb:

  • Instagram marketing videos shouldn’t run longer than 26 seconds
  • Twitter videos should last an average of 45 seconds
  • Facebook videos can go up to 1 minute long
  • YouTube videos should run for an average of 2 minutes for maximum impact

The main reasons why customers like short, bite-sized videos are that they don't take up too much time and they deliver on their promise straight away. There’s no beating about the bush.

8. Tell a Compelling Story

Today, storytelling is the most powerful sales pitch. It gets you real results. Telling a compelling narrative takes your audience on a journey.

To engage your audience using storytelling, your content needs to be filling a need. You must engage their emotions in order to get them to take action. Here’s how to do it in three easy steps:

  • Introduce characters that will create some type of bond with your audience. They need to be relatable. Your audience should identify with these characters.
  • Next, you need to grab your audience’s attention by adding a twist they would never have seen coming. This is what will keep them glued to your video.
  • Finally, you must incorporate an actionable resolution. It needs to be clear to the audience what message you were trying to convey with your story.

Striking your audience’s emotional chords is the key to giving your brand the personality it needs to connect with your target audience. Your message needs to be delivered with clarity.

The last thing you want is to leave them confused about what the whole point of your video was. When that happens, the chances of them watching your videos in the future are slim to none.

9. Include a Powerful Call-To-Action

You’ve taken the time and effort to create a great, value-oriented video. Your audiences are eating it up and sharing it on social media. But, without a strong and clear CTA, it's all a zero-sum game.

If you’re not encouraging your audience to act, what’s the use? Your ultimate objective is to gather leads and convert them in the end.

So, make sure the end of your video leads your audience to get your business’ contact information and their contact information as well. If you want to direct viewers to your site, you can use the “Watch More” CTA link.

10. Start with What You Have

Creating a marketing video may look like a daunting task but you’ll be surprised to learn how much you already have to go on if you look in all the right places. For instance, your FAQ page can be a great source of ideas for video content since it touches on your customers’ burning questions.

So, you can begin by choosing topics that your audience are already searching for and creating content geared towards addressing those questions.

Some Final Thoughts

If you’re not already integrating video marketing into your strategy, your business is lagging behind. Suffice it to say that if you don’t start now, you’ll spend the rest of your time playing catch-up with your competition. Use the video marketing tips outlined in this article to take your business to new heights.

Are you having a hard time generating traffic and leads for your business? Check out these 7 types of internet marketing you can use to help you along.

Start Hitting the Record Button! 15 Benefits of Video Marketing

benefits of video marketing

With a whopping 90% of Americans spending regular time online, you can be sure your online marketing strategies are worth improving.

But what is the best way to market to your online audience? Two words: video marketing.

Some businesses might be slightly skeptical of this “newer” method, or they may simply be unsure of how to use video marketing to create valuable content for their target audience. Don't worry!

Here are 15 benefits of video marketing and how you can use video marketing to reach, relate to, and ultimately retain your potential customers.

15 Benefits of Video Marketing

If the old adage “a picture tells a thousand words” is true, then think how much more effective video is at getting your business's message or story across…

With the advent of YouTube, DIY videos, and those ever-appealing cooking videos played in 2x speed, the appeal of video marketing is growing at an ever-increasing rate.

After all, why read something if you can watch it, right?

1. Google Loves Video

Need we say more? If you're a business owner trying to market to an online audience and don't already comprehend the all-important influence of Google, you're in major trouble.

One of your best tools for getting your company website noticed by Google-bots is to create and publish videos that are relevant to your product and audience. Just be sure that you tag those videos appropriately using relevant and highly searched keywords.

Since Google now owns YouTube (and half the universe), embedding a YouTube video on your website will go a long way in boosting your site's ranking when potential customers are searching.

There are endless ways to use YouTube to improve your online marketing power.

2. Increase Your Company Sales

It's true, the more comfortable potential customers are with how to use a product, it's ins and outs, the more likely they are to purchase or invest.

Unfortunately, we don't always have the luxury of sending our best sales associate into every user's home to explain the benefits of our products and services. But we do have video…

The more you can anticipate the questions your customers might have about a product or service, the more helpful you can make your videos.

The more informative, clear, and entertaining your videos, the more products you're sure to sell. This one is a no-brainer.

Lest we doubt, reflect on the old “Will It Blend?” campaign.

3. Video Enhances Trust

We touched on this idea already, but when you create engaging videos for your audience, it builds their trust. That trust grows not only in your product but in your company.

Video gives your audience a feel of transparency.

It opens a door to your business and products and creates a more informed customer base. Knowledge and familiarity with your story, product, and company lessen any fear or apprehension.

Customers are less apt to think they will be swindled or short-changed if they've seen a video about how to use or care for a product or service.

The result? More sales.

4. Explain Complex Issues

Do you have a particularly complex product or service? Is it hard to write an explanation out on your website? And even if you do, how do you get people to take the time to read through it?

You don't. That's where you lose people.

But with video marketing, it's a whole new world of explaining opportunity!

Say you're launching a new product and need to clarify things to your clients or customers, how can you do it clearly? Answer: publish a video.

But remember, talking heads were never interesting viewing to begin with.

Animated videos, however, are often less expensive and a more engaging alternative for explaining concepts. Using video, you can do a lot of educating without boring your customers to tears.

5. Reach Phone Users

So much of online browsing and shopping is done from an individual's smart devices now. One of the best aspects of creating online marketing videos is that they are easily viewed on phones, tablets, laptops, you name it.

YouTube is especially good at helping you publish videos in different formats so your content will be clearly visible regardless of the size of the device it's viewed on.

6. Video Boosts Sharing

Besides cat videos, what are you most likely to share on social media? Cool videos.

Especially short, informative, humorous, or entertaining videos are much more likely to be shared by online users than some boring infographic or ad.

Do yourself a favor and make your content more shareable. Make it video.

7. Improve Your Email Marketing Strategy

If you're already creating great video content, why not increase the views by including every new video in your email campaigns?

Emails that include a video at the top of the body are more probably much more likely to get click-throughs. Kill two birds with one stone and use video in your emails to customers.

8. Introduce Your Brand

It can be hard to tell your brand story when you're not face-to-face with someone. What better way to get the conversation started than via video?

You can beautifully tell the story of your company, employees, vision, and purpose all in 2 minutes or less. No need to worry about potential customers misunderstanding your purpose.

Video is the best story-teller.

9. Convert Lazy Buyers

Let's face it, internet users are becoming more and more lazy. Very few people like to spend more than a few seconds or minutes, trying to figure something out or decide whether it's worth purchasing.

Video helps you appeal to those lazy buyers. It removes the barriers that long segments of text can create for those who are looking to understand quickly.

10. Stand Out

Despite the many obvious benefits of video marketing, many companies are still slow to jump on it. Thus, getting your toes in the water now and beginning your own video marketing strategy is a great way to get a leg-up on the competition.

Don't let myths about high cost or the challenges of creating quality content prevent you from getting ahead.

11. Widely Appealing

It's becoming more common for social media platforms to be divided among certain demographics. Individuals over 30 years old have been found to use Facebook more often.

On the other hand, marketing on Instagram, SnapChat, and other similar platforms is wise if you are trying to reach teenagers and young adults.

So how do you get your company's content to reach across these demographic borders created by differing social platforms? Video.

Video is one form of marketing media that works great across social media channels. Not only can you share it on almost any platform, but video content is also one of the most likely forms of social media content to produce high engagement numbers.

12. Create Curiosity

If you're feeling really motivated to create outstanding video marketing content, why not try a series?

It's very easy to spark interest and curiosity in a product or service if you leave your viewers with a cliff-hanger at the end of each episode. Show them how to use your product or service in a new, creative way.

Then, give them a hint or clue about what to expect in your next video to get them thirsting for more.

Video also allows customers a chance to leave comments or ask questions about the content you publish. This is usually a positive thing as the more engaged customers feel with a company or brand, the more they trust them.

13. Provide Question and Answer Opportunities

Another great benefit of video marketing is the opportunity it provides you to answer or anticipate customer questions.

If you're listening well on your social channels and seeing what customers common concerns or questions are, create a marketing video that directly addresses or answers their questions.

The right question and answer video can do a lot of good in clarifying concerns or even just showing customers that their voices are heard and their questions matter to you.

14. Greater Information Retention

Did you know that when you learn something visually you are much more apt to remember it than if you only learn it by reading? It's true, sight is one of our most impactful senses.

If you really want your customers to remember you, remember your brand, remember your product or service, show them.

Potential customers are much more likely to remember what they learned about your business if they watched it in a video than if they read it in a blog post or long website text.

15. Great ROI

Some marketing efforts are a real shot in the dark. Luckily, with video, you are at least more likely to get a good ROI. Google will appreciate your marketing efforts in this way, as will your clients.

While video marketing doesn't need to be expensive, it's almost always worth the investment,

What Marketing Strategy Is Best for Me?

The benefits of video marketing are undeniable. Companies that are looking to stay ahead of the game should tap into this treasure trove of effective marketing methods.

For more help figuring out what type of digital marketing services are right for you, check out our recent post on the subject.

Hobby to Career: How to Monetize Lifestyle Blogs

lifestyle blogs

Lifestyle blogs can net big money. Financial Samurai says a blogger can make over $100,000 every year in three years. Within a decade, that same blog can bring in a million or more every year!

So how do you actually monetize your blog? We cover the different ways you can make money off your blog.

Myths of Blogging

First things first, let's knock out some common myths about blogging.

It's easy money.

It's true that bloggers can nab big bucks with blogging. But actually making a successful blog requires diligence and hard work, and a lot of patience.

Most bloggers don't see their site take off for years. The few exceptions will tell you first hand they worked hard for it.

Occasional Posts Will Do The Trick

Same with diligence, you need to be consistent while blogging. Keep a blogging plan and a marketing plan, and stick to it. Sporadic, irregular, and off-topic posts won't get you anywhere.

It's Fine to Write Whatever I Want

Chasing Foxes were able to take their blog from scratch to full time travel in just six months. Plus they write about whatever they want.

But they're the exception to the rule. Most blogs need to focus down in a niche to make a dent in the industry. Consider mommy blogging. You'd have more luck mommy blogging about autism, or mommy blogging as a full-time nomad. Where there's less competition, you'll have more luck being seen.

Blogging is Just Writing

Er, sort of. But don't expect to see big returns by publishing an article two or three times a week. To be a successful blogger, you need to understand your audience, and you need to know how to write and market to them. We teach you how to use YouTube as a marketing tactic here.

That's a big part, marketing. For your blog to take off, you need to know how to market it.

But that's for a different article. This is how bloggers make money off their blogs.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs are the most popular way to make money with a blog, and for good reason too. They're pretty easy to install and use. Depending on what you promote, you can earn anywhere from 5% to 75% commission. All you have to do is link to the product in your blog!

Pros and Cons

Pros: It's pretty easy to get started as a lot of companies have an affiliate program.

There are also tactics you can use to improve your conversion rates. Try writing product reviews and comparisons.

Cons: Like most items on this list, you need at least 1,000 daily visitors to see an impact.

But it's also important you only advertise products you support. Give a disclaimer in your articles so your readers know you get paid for promoting the product. A bad promotion can ruin your reputation, so be diligent, and always protect your good name.

How to Get Started

Start by joining the biggest affiliate marketing companies. Join Amazon Associates, ClickBank, and Rakuten. Reach out to products you already love. Check their headers and footers to see if they already have a program.

And of course, cross-collaborate with your fellow bloggers! It's likely they have products they would love your support on, and they're likely to return the favor.

About How Much Can You Make

Even at a low level, if you're doing affiliate marketing right, you can earn around $300 a day.

Advertising

Next, let's talk about advertising on your blogs. This is tricky territory. Even though Google makes billions off Google AdSense, websites with a lot of ads don't rank as well.

So if you do put ads on your site, do not overdo it. This could hurt your rankings on Google.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Ads are easy to put in place. It's a set it and forget it technique.

Cons: But ads can detract from a users experience with your site. Many marketers tell clients to avoid ads on your site until you're seeing about 1,000 visitors a day.

Customers who follow ads are also no longer your customers. Ads pull readers off your site onto some other site.

How to Get Started

It's easy: sign up for Google AdSense. There are other options available, but Google AdSense is the favored route. It's popular and easy to use with most blogging platforms.

About How Much Can You Make

You get money two different ways with advertising. By view, and by click. You can get a set dollar amount per every 1,000 views. Or you can earn anywhere from one cent to a few dollars per click. It depends on the add and the site.

Most sites can make anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 per month, depending on the blog.

Sponsorship

Ever hear “This podcast was brought to you by. . .” Of course, you have. That's a sponsorship. On blogs, the sponsorship will usually be at the top of an article or newsletter.

Pros and Cons

Pros: A sponsorship can pay out big bucks, up to $5,500 for a single post.

Cons: They're hard to come by, and you need a big audience for the sponsor to consider sponsoring your site. If you have fewer than 5,000 daily visitors, don't expect sponsorships. Don't expect big bucks until your audience is closer to 50,000 regular visitors.

How to Get Started

The best way to get started finding sponsors is to grow your audience. After that, send out emails to companies you're hoping will sponsor you.

Keep an eye out for scams, and don't accept any deal that's too good to be true – it likely is.

It's okay to turn down sponsorships – and in fact, you should! If a company doesn't line up with your values, it's important to say no. You can never repair a tarnished reputation. So stick to your guns.

About How Much Can You Make

Sponsorships range from $75 to $5,500 per post. This depends on your audience size, and your domain authority.

Freelance Writing

Most bloggers don't rely solely on their blog for all their income. They often use it as a portfolio to advertise their writing skills. Many bloggers have a “Work With Me” part on their about page, where clients can find them.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Freelance writing has all the perks of blogging – your own schedule from anywhere you want in the world.

Cons: As a freelancer, you have to deal with deadlines and someone else's expectations. You also may have to chase down clients who don't pay on time.

How to Get Started

Reach out to companies you want to freelance for. Put a “Work With Me” section on your web page and let clients come to you.

About How Much Can You Make

This varies on the client, your ability, and the product you're writing. But quality freelance writers are in high demand. Some freelancers can charge several thousands of dollars. Depending on the project, you can charge anywhere from $0.15 per word, to $10,000 for a high-quality full-blown sales page.

Offer Coaching or Other Services

People love your blog, so they obviously respect your opinion and advice! Consider offering coaching or consulting services.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Bloggers who offer coaching feel like they're impacting their readers' lives.

Cons: Make sure you can deliver on the coaching you promise. Again, you need to protect your reputation.

How to Get Started

You can advertise on your website, or in a regular newsletter you send out to your readers.

About How Much Can You Make

You can usually charge anywhere from $100 to $300 per hour.

Create and Sell an Online Course

You're already teaching your readers through the stuff you write, why not put it in a course and market it! The difference between the content on your site and the content in a course is convenience.

Pros and Cons

Pros: People love buying courses. And there are a lot of platforms you can use to market your course.

Cons: You have to take the time to put together a quality course. But typically, it's worth it.

How to Get Started

You can launch your course directly on your website. Or you can publish on a different platform such as Udemy or Skillshare.

About How Much Can You Make

Most bloggers can make about $1000 a month off their course. But some people can make $100,000 or more every month, just off courses alone.

Write a Book

A book is an easy way to make money off your site. The hardest part of writing a book is writing it.

But wait, you've already done that! You can compile, organize, and fine-tune blogs you've already written and then compile them into a book. You can publish directly to kindle.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Books are easy to publish, and people like them for the convenience.

Cons: Most often, they don't actually bring in that much money by themselves.

How to Get Started

Compile and organize blogs you've already written into a comprehensive book. Publish it on Kindle. Then you can market your e-book to your readers.

About How Much Can You Make

This will depend on the book's topic and how well it's marketed. Your e-book doesn't typically bring in a huge revenue share. Most publishers make less than $10,000 annually. But every bit counts to monetize your blog.

Lifestyle Blogs Take a Lot of Work

If you think you can start a blog and be a millionaire overnight, you are very wrong. Lifestyle blogs take time, research, and energy. To make money as a lifestyle blogger, you have to be a writer, a marketer, a salesperson all while being your own boss.

But they can definitely pay off if you use the tips above to properly monetize your blog.

Are you ready to up your game and get your marketing to the next level? Check out this free course.

Home Business Tips: Creative Marketing Ideas

creative marketing ideas

Amazing fact: The United States is home to a whopping 30.2 million small businesses.

An even more amazing fact: 69% of startup businesses started right at their owners' homes! And of established small businesses, 59% are home-based.

So, if you've been thinking of starting your own home-based business, you're on the right track. You may even have started operations already! You have a well-stocked product inventory and you know what to say to close those sales.

But all that won't take you anywhere unless people know that your business exists.

That's why it's time you learn about the best creative marketing ideas to make a splash in the market.

But what exactly are these marketing tactics that will make people's heads turn your way?

Don't worry if you have no idea where to start. We'll show you how to do your small business marketing right, so make sure you keep reading!

Set up a Blog

Did you know that every month, some 409 million people read a staggering 20 billion blog pages? That means people read about 43,800 blog pages every minute! That’s how big blogs are, proving how crucial they are to catching the attention of consumers.

One of the best things about blogging is that it provides you a creative way to tell the story of your business. It gives you complete control over how you want to portray your business. You choose which keywords to use and follow your own creative processes.

More than that, it allows you to reach the 4.3 billion Internet users worldwide with a few clicks of a button. And it works because it already gives readers something of value — without them having to pay for it first!

But for your blogs to be effective, they need to contain information that your target readers can use. At the same time, it has to be relevant to your business. Otherwise, they'll only annoy your visitors once they find out that they're on the wrong page.

For instance, if you have a home baking business, then your blog posts should (for the most part) be about baking. A bit of cooking or other kitchen-related posts are also okay. What’s not is stuff about plumbing, air conditioning, or furniture-making!

Also, be sure you give your blog site constant updates. If you can, include at least one blog post a day in the list of daily goals you set for yourself. The more useful info people can get from your site, the higher your traffic can get, and the more leads you can covert.

Work SEO into Your Blog Posts

SEO is the acronym for search engine optimization. It's the “free”, “natural”, or “organic” way to drive traffic to a website. It's how Internet users enter keywords in a web browser, and they get relevant search results.

Although that makes it free on a technical level, it's an industry said to be worth $80 billion by 2020.

Before objecting and saying “I don't have the money for that”, know that you don't have to spend big bucks to start with SEO. But you do need extensive target market and keyword research. From there, incorporate your findings into your unique, valuable, and high-quality blog posts.

You need to optimize your blog posts because this makes it easier for search engines to find them. By using the right keywords, search engines can “pick up” your site faster. This then gives you better chances of ranking high on search results.

There are more factors — like 200 more factors — that go into site rankings than keywords though. But as a newcomer to SEO, you can first focus on curating quality content and proper keyword use. Make sure you also link to highly-valuable resource sites as needed!

Keep Your Customers’ Eyes Glued to the Page with Video

The human brain is so amazing it can process an image in only 13 milliseconds.

No wonder then that people love images more than they do simple, written text!

It's also no surprise that people watch a billion hours of YouTube videos every single day.

After all, unlike images, videos move and come with a more complete story. Because it's a visual story, the brain can process videos faster than photos.

All these make videos some of the best creative marketing tools your new business should use. In fact, they’re a must-have to create the ultimate online marketing campaign.

Exceptionally-made videos can fuel your site visitors' interest faster than written text alone. They also allow you to highlight the best features of your products or services. Your potential customers will already have a better idea of what to expect when they pay for your goods.

Plus, it's not necessary to invest in video equipment that can cost thousands of dollars. You can use your smartphone, so long as it takes high-resolution videos. Take time in planning your video's storyline though, and make sure you edit it before you upload it!

Humanize Your Brand through Vlogging

Speaking of videos, another creative way to market your business is through vlogging. It's much like blogging, wherein you become a story-teller or an advice-giver. It's also a platform to disseminate valuable information your target market can use.

The main difference is that you share these pieces of information through videos. And that you – the storyteller – appear in the videos.

Since people will see you in your vlog posts, they'll have a face to attach to a name. That already humanizes your brand, making it appear more approachable.

You can also vlog in real-time, which makes you even more “human” in the eyes of viewers. Vlogs also have a more personal approach, since you speak to your viewers directly. People can relate to you (and your business) better, so you have better chances of engaging them.

Socialize (and Engage) on Social Media

In the U.S. alone, almost seven in 10 adults are on Facebook. Of these people, three-fourths log in to their accounts every day. What's more, 43% of them use the social media site to get their daily dose of news.

So, why not become one of those sources of information or news? As soon as you've uploaded a blog or vlog post, share it on your Facebook page. And if people comment on it, hit them back with custom responses.

Remember, people don't like it if they're ignored. So, make sure that you track your FB page's activity so you can send out prompt responses. It's also a good idea to be witty and funny, which can further humanize your brand and make it more approachable.

Give Them Goodies

When Krispy Kreme opened a branch in Cardiff, Wales, over a thousand people lined up for more than two hours.

The reason?

Free donuts.

That's only one example of how freebies can get so much attention. And let’s face it, everyone likes freebies, whether they're free samples or giveaway items.

That said, consider giving away free items, say, when people sign up for your newsletter. This can be any small but usable item that has your brand stamped on it. From pens to mugs to USBs and eco-bags, there's a lot of promotional items you can choose from.

Best of all, they're not expensive, especially if you get them in bulk. Which is great, because the more you “give away”, the more branding opportunities you have. But make sure you use interesting and creative designs when branding your freebies!

You may also want to offer discounts using creatively-designed online coupons. Don’t settle for regular or boring ones that only say “25% Discount Off”. Use witty descriptions, imagery, or bold fonts so that they can grab people’s attention right away.

Host a Contest

Humans are competitive in nature, and studies found several reasons behind this. There's the desire to win, which then motivates us to exert effort. There's also the satisfaction of performing well, and if we win, proof that we performed better.

Of course, there's also the possibility of getting a prize after winning.

Which is why contests should be part of your internet marketing campaigns. Since people like competitions, be it for the prize or recognition, they're likely to join or sign up. This can then lead to a spike in your online engagement rates.

Use these Creative Marketing Ideas to Get More Leads and Conversions Now

As you can see, there are various ways to use your creativity to get your target market's attention. At the same time, the ones we mentioned are also scientifically-proven. That combination is what makes these creative marketing ideas work so well.

So, as early as now, include them in your online marketing campaign! The sooner you do, the sooner you may see your home-based business' website and foot traffic rise.

Interested in advancing your marketing skills and know-how? Then be sure to check out our free course!

Marketing 101: How to Grow Your Home Business

marketing 101

Most home businesses only care about the step-by-step tactics and how-to guides.

Not to say that those aren’t important, but if you only understand the tactics without understanding the principles, you’re most likely not going to use it successfully.

Tactics without principles are just fluff, and it’s why 99% of home businesses struggle.

They do social media and postcards just because everyone else is doing it.

They post on Instagram with hashtags because they feel like they should.

However, once you understand what these tactics are based on, you’ll be able to apply it to every marketing decision you make for your practice.

There are timeless principles based on human psychology.

Technology and trends may come and go but knowing principles will help you navigate and take advantage of new opportunities or avoid them.

If you understand the timeless principles that stood the test of time, you and your practice will be able to:

  • weather any economic downturn.
  • dominate your local area. (It won’t even be close.)
  • create ravings fans and a community who will love to give you more business.

Regardless of the technology, environment, or your competitors…

You’ll not only be able to survive but thrive with this newfound skill set.

Below are some of the basics: Marketing 101.

Marketing 101

internet marketing

Here are some underrated principles that most internet marketing gurus gloss over.

This first one is highly underutilized and you can get started right away.

Start with Your Immediate Network

A business is offering products and services to other people. The only way you'll be able to grow your business is by building your relationships, one person at a time.

If you've been in the trenches and trying to build relationships with cold email, forums, or online facebook groups, you may have been neglecting one of the most powerful tools at your disposal: your current network.

Think of your family, your friends, your old classmates, your colleagues. Take them out for coffee to catch up.

Chances are they might know a friend of a friend who would be interested in your services.

Focus on having a certain number of conversations with someone new or old every single week.

A bonus is that it will also keep you from going insane if you're working from home 24/7.

Understanding Your Numbers

Most business owners don’t understand their numbers. Most don’t have a way to track how much money comes from new/repeat business.

To see marketing as an investment, you’ll have to shift your mindset on how you should look at each potential client that walks through the door.

The questions you want to ask yourself are:

  • What is my most profitable type of customer?
  • How often do they purchase your services over a period of a year?
  • How much does it cost to get one customer through the door?

You have to know how much you get from potential customers over a lifetime of the relationship, not just from the first transaction.

This is called Customer Lifetime Value, and it’s important that you find out your number from your business because this will be the basis of all of your marketing decisions. Here’s an excellent infographic to get you started.

You can get started tracking deals in excel, but if you have a substantial amount of customers, it would be better to get dedicated software to track deal amounts.

Build Your Email List

You want to stay in the front of their minds through both broadcast and individual outreach.

This is where email marketing comes in. Send a monthly newsletter to all of your customers with tips and advice related to your expertise.

Anything that can contribute to their health and happiness is perfect for a newsletter.

For individual outreach, this will take a bit more work. You’ll want to keep tabs on your customers and tailor each email to appeal to their social status.

This might sound a bit “ulterior”, but you ultimately want to help people, right? This is just how human psychology and sociology work. Read more about this phenomenon here.

The nuances of email marketing are beyond the scope of this article, but here are some best practices to get you started.

  • People like you and your business for you, so don’t be afraid to let some of your personality show in your writing.
  • Remember that you want to write the email as if you were writing to that one person(both in your newsletter and, obviously, in your individual outreach emails).
  • Keep things casual and use simple language. Too many people try to be verbose and technical in their writing. Don’t overthink it.
  • Offer something valuable like a coupon or discount to your customers who give you referrals. Offer it through a reward program or a contest/random lottery.

You’ll most likely need an e-mail marketing software so you don’t need to send each email manually yourself, but that’s for another lesson.

Ask for Referrals

For some reason, there seems to be a stigma related to asking customers for referrals. People seem to think that it’s pushy or you’re asking people for a favor. This is a stigma that needs to be reversed.

To understand why we need to shift our thinking and look at why referrals are made.

It has to do with social status.

According to marketer Dean Jackson, there are three things that are needed for a referral to take place.

  1. A conversation related to your business
  2. You being in your existing customer’s mind
  3. Your existing customer taking action and telling their friend

For example, I tell you about a book to you that you’ve never read before. I tell you it’s amazing. Let’s say you read it and find it amazing.

That makes me feel good because I was the one who referred it to you.

That’s the feeling I subconsciously wanted in the first place. Sure I wanted it to benefit you, but the first reason is that it boosts my ego.

You enjoying the book confirms that I have good recommendations, making it more likely that you’ll listen to any recommendations I have for you in the future.

That puts me in an authority role, similar to celebrities who recommend products(albeit on a much smaller level).

It’s all subconscious, but that motivation is inherent.

The bottom line is, referrals are made to satisfy self-interest(boosting social status). Once you understand that, it’s now a matter of how you come up in conversation.

What are some conversations you imagine your business coming up in?

Narrow Your Client Base and Tailor Your Messaging

As you continue to build a customer base and keep in touch with them, you'll want to start narrowing down who you serve. Providing services for everybody, while great for cash flow and short term gains, is not the best strategy long term.

You'll continuously be in the feast or famine cycle common to many home businesses.

When marketing your services, it’s important that you write your copy or your elevator pitch as if you’re speaking to one person.

This is called your Ideal Target Profile.

Look at a few of these questions and answer them for your specific target market(s).

  • What's their demographic and psychographic information?
  • What professional or industry associations are they a part of?
  • What do they read? (websites, blogs, magazines)
  • What are their life goals/biggest aspiration?
  • What are their fears?
  • What are their fears related to your business?
  • Who are the other players that influence their decisions?

Messaging is absolutely crucial here. You can have more than one target persona, but all of your marketing material needs to be separate from each persona.

You wouldn’t speak the same way to professional athletes as you would to senior citizens, would you?

Pick a target market, make tailored messaging, present it to them, and optimize. Rinse and repeat.

Here it is step by step:

  1. You want to get your prospects attention. This is done through the copy(specifically the headline) on your ads, e-mails, direct mail package. If it’s compelling enough, they’ll click your ad or read your letter/postcard to find out more information.
  2. Keep them interested. You want to take them on a journey and tell them a story. A good formula to follow is this:
    1. Present the problem
    2. Agitate the problem
    3. Give them the solution
  3. They’ll then want to evaluate and think about it..but as a marketer, you must understand that millions of dollars are lost every year to the “I’ll think about it” crowd, so you want them to act NOW. Here are some tactics to use:
    1. Limited Time Offer – Give them a hard deadline. “This offer only lasts for 2 weeks so make sure to contact us as soon as possible.”
    2. Application Only – Make it exclusive. “We’re only accepting 10 people during this pilot program so contact us now.”
  4. You want to make this as easy as possible. Prepaid reply envelopes that they can just drop in the mailbox, a phone number to leave a voicemail or to text. Anything that makes it easier for them.

Many business owners don’t understand this simple process, but with these tips, you can start a simple test campaign with your existing customers.

Marketing 101 Will Serve You Well

Hopefully, this gave you an excellent Marketing 101 overview to help grow your home business.

If you practice these tried and true principles, you'll be able to grow your business and thrive.

If you're interested in learning more, read other helpful articles at our blog or check out our Free Course!

What Type of Digital Marketing Services Are Right For You?

The Internet is a bottomless goldmine of business opportunities. For starters, there are currently over 4 billion Internet users on Earth. That's nearly half of the world's population.

With the Internet being so extensive, it gets increasingly difficult to get noticed. In 2018, digital marketing revenues reached 100 billion for the first time. That's only going to continue to grow as the Internet continues to grow and evolve.

Digital marketing is a major component of being successful in eCommerce. Traditional marketing and advertising still have their place. Digital marketing is a whole new level of sourcing leads and spreading the word on your brand, however.

Not all digital marketing is created equally, however. There are also a lot of different kinds of digital marketing, as well. We're going to cover the different types of digital marketing services out there, to help you decide where to put your energy.

Different Types Of Digital Marketing Services

Digital marketing has evolved so far beyond simple SEO and email marketing (both of which are still great, of course, but more on that in a moment.) As the Internet's evolved to accommodate Web 2.0, and beyond, we've been seeing new, innovative digital marketing practices emerge.

We're going to go through a bunch of different digital marketing approaches, to help you know which digital marketing tools will best suit your needs.

SEO

SEO is the first approach that comes to mind when people mention digital marketing. That's partially because it's been around the longest. SEO is the blueprint that the Internet is built around.

SEO should be a part of your digital marketing strategy, even if you're investigating other methods as well. First of all, SEO is forever. Or at least until the next algorithm, that is.

SEO is one of the only digital marketing strategies that yields in actual organic traffic, as well. Your audience grows as your website gets closer to the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs.)

SEO involves a few different aspects. There's on-page SEO, which is the process of including keywords throughout a web page. Then there's also link building, which is incorporating internal and external links in a piece of web content to enhance your search engine ranking.

The difficulty of getting quality inbound links for your web content is a great reason to work with a digital marketing agency. Marketing agencies often have connections at high-quality websites like Forbes, which can get quality backlinks to your website.

SEO is an important part of…

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEO isn't the only way to get found on search engines. Search engine marketing (SEM) is where you pay for sponsored posts to show up on the top results of the SERPs.

These links are nearly identical to organic search results. A tiny green box reading ‘ad' is the only thing that differentiates a sponsored post from an organic search engine listing.

The two most common SEM networks are Google AdWords and Bing Ads. Both networks allow you extensive targeting capabilities, allowing you to your intended audience by location, demographic, or target keywords.

Search engine marketing using involves pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. This is where you pay a set amount every time someone clicks one of your links. It's advisable to spend some time fine-tuning your PPC campaigns to get the most ROI.

SEM is similar to SEO. The two disciplines work well together. You might come up with a list of keywords you're trying to rank for when conducting SEO analysis. Those keywords could also form the cornerstone of your PPC campaign, as well.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

While it's always a necessity to be thinking about evergreen content, sometimes you need a quick burst of traffic to your web content. You've also got to build brand awareness and customer loyalty. Getting people to talk about and engage with your content is one of the best ways to accomplish all three goals at once using one powerful digital marketing strategy.

Social media marketing (SMM) has been one of the leading digital marketing strategies of the last 10 years. It helps your customers engage and interact with your brand, helping them to understand your brand's values and what sets you apart from your competitors. It's also one of the easiest and best ways to get people talking about your brand, essentially doing your advertising for you.

With social media being so prevalent, obviously there are a number of different platforms that are suitable for SMM.

Some of the most popular networks for SMM include:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

If you're going to undertake a social media marketing campaign, you should spend some time researching where your target demographic spends the majority of their time. 66% of Americans use Facebook on a daily basis, for instance. That demographic might be a bit wide to be ultimately useful for highly targeted ads, however.

Consider that 81% of Pinterest users are female, by comparison. That makes it a perfect candidate for creating targeted content that will appeal to a certain section of your customer base.

To make the most of SMM, you should spend some time developing your buyer's personas. Going into an ad campaign blind is never the smartest way to go about making business decisions. These buyer's personas will help give you an idea of which social media network to focus your energies on.

It can also lead to even more useful metrics which will help you further optimize your digital marketing strategy.

Remember, for marketing to be ultimately effective, it needs to be measurable, actionable, and repeatable. That requires eliminating as many variables of possible so you can derive clear insights on how your SMM is operating.

You might consider constructing SMM campaigns around a hashtag, for instance. You schedule your posts to publish to social media at a set time. Then you can see the engagement rates around that hashtag and make decisions accordingly.

You can also run paid ads on most social media networks. SMM also intersects with some other recent digital marketing techniques, such as…

Influencer Marketing

There's no over-stating the power of community in digital marketing. Customers are much more likely to trust advice and recommendations from their peers than they are from paid advertisements and direct marketing. Influencer marketing also gets your audience to market your business for you, which is the kind of press you simply can't buy (which is why influencer marketing is so powerful.)

Influencer marketing has been growing and evolving like wildfire in recent years. It's been like the Wild West of digital marketing until recently, with a similar level of casualties.

Brands like Sony and Disney have learned the risks of allowing contracted creatives to create their own branded content. Both experienced major fallout after unethical influencers tarnished their name and reputation, forcing them to backtrack in a hurry and conduct damage control.

If you're going to engage in influencer marketing, it's incredibly important to vet the influencers you'll be working with. Don't just get swayed by the numbers, either. It's not the follow count that matters as much as the engagement and their authority in their niche.

Thankfully, there are growing numbers of influencer networks that you can work with that does the filtering for you.

Similarly to SMM, you should do some soul-searching and decide which platform you'd like to build an audience for. Instagram is the go-to, with high engagement rates and a particularly attractive, aesthetic platform. Twitter and Pinterest can also be useful for different demographics.

Content Marketing

Content marketing has also been trending in recent years. It's also an amalgam of different marketing techniques combined into one powerful package. It can also be a part of other aspects of your digital marketing to make for a robust, comprehensive campaign.

Content marketing is similar to SEO and SEM. Simply, it's creating great content around a keyword or phrase you're trying to rank for. Then it's a matter of getting your audience to engage with, perhaps using SMM.

Don't limit your content to just blog posts, either. Content can also include whitepapers, infographics, or eBooks. You might offer these as an incentive for something, like signing up for your mailing list or sharing something to social media.

Content marketing can be an excellent way to help guide your customers through their buyer's journey. It's also an easy way to assess where their currently at in the buying cycle. This helps you deliver content that will appeal to their individualized, personalized needs.

This prevents trying to convince your customers to buy too early. Customers are taking longer than ever to navigate the buyer's journey with so much competition and information out there.

In the earlier stages of the buyer's journey, it's better to build a real connection with your audience by delivering content that will bring actual value to your customer's lives.

It's also an easy and essential way to increase thought leadership in your niche or industry.

It's no longer possible, or advisable, to just conduct one marketing campaign and hope for the best. Think of these different marketing techniques as interlocking chains or intersecting Venn diagrams. There's quite a bit of overlap.

That's one of the best things about digital marketing. It helps you to think ahead about building your business. It optimizes your workflow, eliminating redundant and inefficient tasks, so you can focus on bringing the best to your customers and audience.

Looking For Digital Marketing Services?

We're glad you found us! Digital marketing is endlessly complex but also infinitely powerful. Digital marketing services know how to make the most of emerging technologies and the latest trends, to create powerful, compelling digital marketing campaigns.

If you're ready to take your digital business to the next level, sign up for our free course!

Tipping Point: When Should You Hire a Digital Marketing Specialist?

digital marketing specialist

Did you know that 91.5 percent of all search traffic never ventures past the first page of search results on Google? This means if your site isn’t listed on the first page, you only have a 9.5 percent of being seen by searchers.

Most would agree – those aren’t very good odds.

What many people may not realize is that achieving this first-page rank isn’t only based on the keywords used. An entire digital marketing strategy needs to be implemented to achieve the desired results.

Unfortunately, if digital marketing isn’t your particular area of expertise, then it may be time to being in the pros. Some of the signs it is time for you to hire digital marketing specialist can be found here.

You’re in Over Your Head

If you are like most business owners, you probably know your service or product inside and out. When it comes to the item or service in question – you are the expert. The issue is, you have no idea to market this product or service online.

There’s a huge difference between having a great business and having a great product. Product marketing and development are very different areas of expertise.

If you plan to take your product to market, but you have no idea how to use the internet for marketing purposes, then it’s time to enlist the services of the pros.

You Haven’t Been Planning Ahead

Thinking just a month ahead isn’t good for your business’s growth and success. Instead, you need to approach your marketing with short-term campaign goals, along with long-term brand building and revenue goals in mind.

When you work with a digital marketing professional, you’ll gain the ability to think three, six, and even 12 months ahead.

You’re Experiencing Growing Pains

After your business has gained steam, and the orders are coming in, do you know what needs to be done to scale your marketing efforts? What usually happens as your business grows is that there’s a specific marketing channel working, but the owner wants to achieve the next level.

The issue is – they don’t know how to use any other marketing channels. In this situation, the internet, for scaling their business.

Another issue that is commonly seen with business owners is that they don’t have the time to learn and execute a digital marketing strategy. After all, there are quite a few moving parts involved when you try to market a business online.

The business owner’s time is much better spent finding the right team members to handle digital marketing while they focus on financial matters and business development.

Lead and/or Sales Numbers Have Suddenly Flatlined

Have your sales plateaued? If you answer “yes,” it’s a good sign it’s time to bring in the pros for help. They can begin working to create an inbound marketing strategy that can help you reach your key customers, where they spend time (online).

 

When you work with a digital marketing agency, they will also start to develop the content that customer’s want to see and present it when the customer wants to see it.

Your Message isn’t Coming Through Successfully Online

Did you have a website created years ago that no longer reflects your brand accurately? Did it ever do this?

Remember, your website is essentially the face and the heart of your business online. You may have a beautiful brick and mortar location, amazing corporate culture, or a stellar company mission; however, if your website isn’t reflecting this, you are missing a massive opportunity to connect with your audience.

This doesn’t just refer to branding. What is even more important is the message you are sending in the content you create and publish.

Are your company’s mission and values effectively coming through in your message? Your website is the chance you have to give value to your customers and audience through the blog and page content you create and publish.

It’s also important to use social media for promoting your message and to effectively expand your reach. This is where you can make a huge impact on getting your message out to your audience.

If you have noticed your content and your social messaging are missing the mark, then it’s another sign you need help from the pros.

It’s Been More Than 2 Years Since Your Website was Updated

You have to have a new, updated website if you want to remain competitive. In fact, Google has begun to give preferential ranking to websites that are specifically designed to be responsive and mobile-friendly.

This means that websites scale so they fit various desktop screens, smartphones, tablets, and provide a seamless viewing experience across all device’s customers may be using to reach your website. If you don’t have a responsive site, you are going to be losing out.

This isn’t just with the ranking algorithm used by Google. You are also losing out with a consumer base that is more tech-savvy than ever before. The good news is, Google provides you with a free tool to determine if your site is responsive – that way you know for sure.

Subpar Traffic

This is where the rubber meets the road for quite a few businesses. You have a website – but you aren’t getting the traffic expected. In most cases, the reason for this is a combination of everything that’s been mentioned above.

Many business owners don’t know how to market their business online, they don’t have the time to learn, and as a result, their website has missed the mark when it came to reaching their audience.

If your website traffic is low, it’s going to reflect a lack of strategy and no solid plan for carrying out a digital marketing campaign. Yet again, this is when a digital marketing professional can help.

You Aren’t Tracking What’s Going On

When it comes to marketing, it’s all about tracking and then analyzing your results to figure out what is and what’s not working. If you aren’t tracking what’s going on regularly and figuring out how your leads are coming in, then it’s time to hire a digital marketing professional.

They can help you identify the leads with the highest sales possibility. This will ensure you can continue to grow and achieve digital marketing success.

Your Website is Getting Traffic, but it’s Not Converting

Are you letting your audience know how they can connect with you? How they can make a purchase? How to join your email list?

If it isn’t clear from your web page content or your calls to action that there’s a valuable resource available, and that you want to build a relationship with a potential customer, then they aren’t going to convert.

While the person may read your content, they are going to also leave. Once gone, they may never return to your site.

You Don’t Have the Skill Set In-House

This is often a rather sensitive topic of discussion. The fact is, digital marketing is a process that requires a special skill set. It is one that’s full of social media authority, SEO know-how, graphic design, and, of course, website development skills that are essential to the overall digital success of your business.

When you hire a marketing agency to help with this, you can easily tap into all of their creative knowledge. In most cases, these services are more affordable than trying to find in-house talent, as well.

How the Right Digital Marketing Specialist Can Help

When you hire a digital marketing specialist, they are going to work with you and your team to create a marketing strategy that’s specific to the goals of your business. The ultimate goal of your website is conversions, in the form of purchases, leads, and new contacts, which is what your digital marketing specialist will help with.

Also, the agency or specialist you hire will provide a full analysis of your website to determine what’s working, what’s not, and what changes need to be made. These services will help you get on the right track when it comes to an effective digital marketing strategy.

Creating an Effective Digital Marketing Plan: Now You Know the Role of the Pros

As you can see, there are more than a few ways that a digital marketing specialist can help create a smart digital strategy for your business. If you are ready to improve your website and online presence, finding the right partner is a must.

Our team is here to help. If you are ready to get started, then be sure to sign up for our free course. We can help you better understand exactly what we can do, and how our services can help your online presence specifically.

Independence: How to Get Into Freelance Digital Marketing

freelance digital marketing

Do you think you have what it takes to work in digital marketing? Does the idea of working for yourself sound like a dream come true?

If so, you can join the 56 million Americans working in the freelance market.

Before you jump into freelance digital marketing though, you want to make sure you know what you're getting into. To make the most of freelance marketing you need to make sure you can manage yourself effectively. You also want to make sure you know the skills required to make it in the digital marketing world.

What is Freelance Marketing?

First things first, freelance work involves working for yourself. Freelance means you take temporary jobs from multiple sources rather than working for one company.

This means you can work whenever and wherever you want. It also means your income will fluctuate. You will go through dry periods, and you don't get those employee benefits. Vacation time means time you're not getting paid.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing encompasses a range of jobs. A digital marketer handles

  • Content creation
  • Social media management
  • Setting strategies
  • Website maintenance

Daily, you'll fluctuate from SEO and marketing strategy planning, to creating everything from articles to videos, to regularly keeping up with social media posts and interaction, to cleaning up the website. The good news is you can start with your own website to help you hone your skills while marketing your services.

Getting Into Freelance Digital Marketing

Before you get into the ins-and-outs of freelance marketing, you need to understand the importance of setting realistic expectations. This means setting goals you can achieve. It also means pushing yourself to do more.

It's easy to hit a comfort zone and grow stagnant. While you don't want to set yourself up for failure by pushing yourself too far, you want to make sure you're always increasing your skills and job opportunities.

These expectations will change over time, so make sure you review your goals and plans regularly as you move forward with your freelance business.

Know Your Platforms

The first step to a successful digital marketing business involves familiarizing yourself with the platforms you'll use. Digital marketing takes in many online platforms, including:

  • Websites
  • Social media
  • Email Marketing
  • Networking forums
  • Review platforms
  • PPC markets

Your digital strategy will take in all or at least many of the online platforms, so make sure you know how to use them.

The Website

Website maintenance takes up part of your time as a digital marketer. It's your job to create new content for your client's website. It's also your job to clean up outdated content and make the site presentable and easy to navigate.

Make sure you understand the website platforms you might come across. WordPress has the most use, but it's not the only platform available.

Social Media

The first step to social media is understanding the popular platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube will need your attention most often. You'll also want to know how to use LinkedIn and Pinterest.

This also means knowing the best strategies for each platform. You want to update your social media platforms regularly, but not so often that you annoy your audience. Remember, balance your updates with a mix of your own and other industry content.

You also want to participate in discussions. Social media management involves answering questions and starting new conversations. This offers excellent market research opportunity.

Email Strategies

As a digital marketer, you need to know how to use email automation tools. You also need to understand the strategies required for effective email marketing.

Automation allows you to set up email campaigns without you needing to monitor everything constantly. This only works if you know the right content to use for the different campaigns you set up.

You want to offer different content for each stage of the sales funnel. A new contact doesn't need your big push, but someone that's stuck with you might respond to a push.

Using Forums

Networking and question forums have gained popularity recently. This means you need to create a presence in these places. Look for opportunities to share your industry knowledge in these forums.

This offers another research opportunity. You can use these forums to understand what's relevant to your target audience. This will help you build your digital strategy.

PPC Advertising

Your job as a digital marketer involves finding advertising opportunities. You want to understand the platforms that fit your pay-per-click marketing needs. You also want to understand the best practices on these platforms to get the most for you, and your client's needs.

Look into the ad potential on search engines. This involves understanding how to bid for relevant keywords. It also means understanding how to set up your demographic needs for personalized ads.

Optimization is Your Key to Success

Digital marketers need to know the best search engine optimization techniques. Your SEO practices will help you bring in organic traffic which means people that want the information you provide.

To generate organic traffic, you need to know the questions people ask about your services or products. You need to know the keywords that will catch attention.

You want to know how to find these keywords, and how to use them. You want to know how to set up websites to catch the attention of search engine bots so you can rank higher in search results.

Understand the Sales Funnel

You need to know how to differentiate between different types of leads. This will help you see what funnel to send each lead through.

For instance, a new lead needs information-driven marketing. A person that's checked out several offers might respond to a coupon code or a bigger push on a particular item.

This comes down to understanding basic marketing strategies. Digital marketing means marketing on the internet, so the plan will look similar in many ways.

Always Feed Your Knowledge

If you want to make it in the digital world, you need a readiness for continued learning. Your job requires the ability to implement new tricks and ideas based on digital changes.

Online trends will change. Online platforms will vary. Algorithms will change.

For instance, Google updates its search engine regulations at least yearly. They always look for updates to ensure people get the results they want. This means you need to get ready to change your SEO strategy to meet these changes.

What works today might not work tomorrow. Make sure you stay up-to-date with industry changes. Make sure you fully understand these changes so you can make the most of them.

Other Digital Marketing Required Skills

As a digital marketer, you need to know how to create content. This includes articles, videos, and graphics. This means you need to know how to use the tools required to create these different types of content.

Communication Skills

You also need strong communication skills. You need to communicate regularly with your clients as well as with their clients.

You need to know how to communicate your ideas. You also need to know how to listen to what others say. Remember, communication involves both skills.

Research Skills

The job of a digital marketer requires constant research. Your researching marketing and consumer trends. Your researching new methods and strategies.

You need to know how to find the information you need. This includes finding new ideas for content. It also involves finding the right tools to do your job.

You also need analytical skills. Your job involves reading the data to determine what works and what doesn't. This means you need to know how to read the analytics provided by different platforms.

Know How to Market Yourself

Your first job in digital marketing is marketing yourself. A digital marketing specialist can make $60,000 per year on average. To get here or beyond, you need to know how to make people want to work with you.

Build Your Portfolio

To get started in self-marketing, you need to build up your portfolio. This gets difficult if you're just getting started, but it's doable.

If you don't have many clients yet, build up your online presence. Use your website to show off your skills.

Once you build a client base, use the work you do for them as further examples of your skills. Include testimonials from previous clients so you can show your expertise.

Pitch Your Work

When you're getting started, you'll need to pitch your work regularly. Once you get established, you can rely more on incoming clients, but you won't get to that point if you don't get out there and find jobs.

You can look on job boards to find opportunities. You can also research online publications or entities that you could benefit and send them a pitch for services.

Use social media for advertising your services as well. Set up business accounts on the major platforms, and share examples of your work on these platforms.

Wherever you pitch, make sure you make the pitch relevant to the people you reach out to. Don't send generic offers. Give them something specific you can help with.

Take the Next Step in Freelance Marketing

As you can see, freelance digital marketing requires a lot of work. That work can prove rewarding if you plan well though.

To get started with your freelance business plan, you want to start with the best educational materials.

If you want more information to succeed in digital marketing, check out our Free Course!

7 Types of Internet Marketing and How to Use Them

internet marketing

63 percent of businesses say that generating traffic and leads as their biggest marketing challenge. This goes to show that internet marketing is not always as easy as it looks.

No matter which industry your business operates in, there is a lot of competition from rival businesses.

Competing on price is difficult, as there is often little that businesses can do about margins. However, where you can beat your competition is on branding, trustworthiness, and reputation. Which is where internet marketing comes in.

Every internet user makes choices about which sites to visit and what to buy. As a business, you should be trying to influence those decisions at every step.

So, if you run a business or are starting a new venture, there has never been a better time to develop your internet marketing plan. The internet is always changing, but there are more exciting opportunities now than ever before.

Read on to find out more.

1. Internet Marketing Through Blogging

If you don't have a blog on your business website, you are missing a trick. Blogging is one of the best ways to showcase your business in detail, and is also great for SEO. Let's talk about why.

Blogging allows you to develop your brand by using your own voice. There can be so few things that distinguish rival businesses, as competing on price can be difficult. However, your branding should be unique and personal.

Writing a blog allows your readers and customers to get to know you. They can recognize your voice, and this will create a rapport, trust, and loyalty.

Blogging also allows you to talk about your business in much more detail than product descriptions. This not only helps customers make more informed buying decisions but also shows your expertise.

Finally, but most importantly, blogging is excellent for your website SEO. Creating new blog posts keeps your content fresh, which means the search engine bots can see that your site is active.

Blogging also allows you to keep adding relevant keywords to your site, and keywords are what SEO is all about.

2. Email Marketing

Email marketing might sound a bit old fashioned in this age of multimedia, but it does work.

Just because email has been around for a long time does not mean your emails need to be boring. Write your emails as if you are talking to your customers. No one wants to read formal, dry messages so make them conversational and don't forget to embed photo and video content.

Emailing allows you to get direct access to potential customers' inboxes. This is a great opportunity to offer discounts and deals to people who have subscribed to your website. Including direct links to promotions and merchant pages also make it even easier for customers to make purchases.

You can also use direct email marketing to interact with customers. You can include surveys and questionnaires in your mail outs. This will help you get to know who your customers are to help you target your marketing. You can also invite subscribers to leave positive feedback on social media or third-party sites.

Email marketing is also very time and cost efficient. With the click of a button, you can send targeted marketing content to thousands of people, and all it has cost you is the time to write the email.

3. The Future is Mobile

In 2020, the number of smartphone users worldwide should reach 2.8 billion. And of those smartphone users, 63 percent access the internet from their mobile, so it's safe to say that the future is mobile.

Optimizing your site for mobile users should be one of the main focuses of your digital marketing strategy. Because no matter how great your content is, if it does not perform well on mobile devices, many users won't bother to look at it. Always check every site update and blog post on different devices and make sure that they are properly formatted and not too slow to load.

You can also think about using specific mobile marketing strategies for your business. Mobile marketing is about trying to reach a specific audience on their smartphones and tablets. SMS marketing is a great example of targeting mobile users, as you are sending a link directly into their hand.

4. Video Marketing

By 2020, videos will make up 79 percent of all internet traffic. So, if your business is not using video content, then you could be missing out.

Many internet users expect to see video content now and they are more likely to sit through a 1-minute video than read 500 words of text. This means that video content is great for keeping readers on your site, which keeps your bounce rate low.

Video marketing, like blogging, allows you to go into more detail about your products and services. You can show viewers more aspects of your business than you can by using text. For example, you can showcase your company culture and employees, and show customers what it's like behind the scenes.

YouTube videos are also great for SEO, not least because Google owns the channel. But don't forget to make sure that you give your videos optimized titles and descriptions to boost your SEO even more.

5. Social Media

If you run a business, then social media is your friend.

Because it's something that we all use to keep in touch with family and friends (and gossip) it's easy to forget how useful it can be for internet marketing.

The whole point of social media is for people to share things that they like. As a business, this means you can get your customers to do your marketing for you by sharing your posts. But here's the thing: no one will share your posts if they are boring.

Creating cool, fun and informative social media posts should be the backbone of your online marketing strategy. And it is worth getting this right because the rewards can be huge. If only 20 people share your post to their friends, you can still reach up to 10,000 people — for free.

Always use multi-media in your social media posts. Graphics, pictures, and videos will always get more shares than text and will stand out in people's feeds.

You can also raise your social media game by using paid ads and sponsored content. This is a budget-friendly way of getting your posts to your target audience.

6. Content Marketing

Content marketing is not a one-off campaign, but an ongoing process. Your website is not just about selling products but communicating with consumers and developing your brand.

You should be thinking about content marketing in everything you do online. Always make sure that your content is of high quality and fully optimized. Keeping your content updated and fresh is also great for your brand, as no one trusts a neglected website.

Blog posts should be on a variety of things such as your company culture, your employees and your local area. Don't focus on sales and promotions and nothing else. Content is a great tool to inform your readers and declare what sort of ethos your business has.

If you get your content marketing right, your reward will be loyal, informed customers.

7. Influencer Marketing

There was a time when influencer marketing was only available to large companies and brands. Those who could afford to get endorsements by celebrities and sports stars. However, with the advent of Instagram and social media influencer marketing is now available even to small businesses.

The ‘micro-influencers' of Instagram have thousands of followers and charge to promote products. They are a lot cheaper than celebrities and will charge between $50 and $300 per post. That's pretty good value.

What's even better, is that micro-influencers actually out-perform celebrities. This is because they are easier to relate to and more believable.

Everyone knows that celebrities receive lots of free products to promote. But when someone who looks like they lead a similar life to you endorses something, it is a lot more credible.

In fact, a recent survey showed that only 3 percent of consumers are influenced by celebrity endorsements. But 30 percent said they were likely to buy a product endorsed by a non-celebrity influencer.

Become a Legendary Marketer

So there you have it. Seven types of internet marketing and how to use them.

Some of them will have been right under your nose all the time, like social media and email marketing. They may have been around for a long time, but that's because they work. Both email marketing and social media posts get your message straight into the hands of all of those people checking their phones.

However, the internet is changing. You also need to focus on new marketing trends such as videos and influencer content if you want to stay ahead of the game.

The great thing about all of these internet marketing ideas is that they all represent value for money and are suitable for businesses on a budget.

If you want to find out more about how internet marketing can benefit your business then sign up for our FREE COURSE today.

Rinse and Repeat: Sharing Content on Social Media More Than Once for Internet Marketing

You’re spending precious time and effort crafting your content, but when it’s shared on social media, the engagement isn’t there.

Oh well,” you think to yourself.

It’s easy to shrug it off and move onto planning the next piece, but your writing deserves a second chance to shine.

Sharing it once on social media means nothing as it’s easy for your content to get lost in the huge world of the internet. Blogs can easily go unnoticed, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth sharing.

For real results, it needs to be republished. If you’re serious about internet marketing and writing content – you need to be serious about driving it, too! Why?

Grasping the art of repeating social media posts is the key to growing reach, engagement, traffic, leads, and, ultimately, sales. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to re-share content and you don’t want to upset or push away your followers.

Want to find out how? Read on to discover how often to post on social media – the right way.

1. Is It OK to Share Content More Than Once?

The first question you may ask is – is it OK to share content more than once?

Yes, some marketers shy away from re-sharing content out of fear that it will annoy their followers and lead them to unfollow.

But the reality is that given how expansive the world wide web is, it’s unlikely your followers will see a duplicate post. They aren’t online 24 hours a day and when they are, they can miss posts due to low organic reach or increased competition.

The high likelihood of increased reach by far outweighs the low chance of overlap.

If a repeated post does appear on their feed, your followers are unlikely to notice or care – especially on high-volume networks such as Twitter. In fact, on Twitter, the number of followers who see your tweets may be as little as 2%.

It’s easy to forget within marketing that people don’t always notice every single thing we do!

Sharing content more than once provides followers with value as it allows them more opportunity to read quality content produced with their interests in mind.

So, instead of worrying about whether you’ll irritate people with duplicate content, you should worry if your content’s reaching the right people at all.

2. How Do I Avoid Being a Spammer?

Nobody wants to spam social media. Here’s where you need to be careful when re-posting.

If you post the same link with the same message every hour, you’ll agitate even the most tolerant of followers. Re-posting this way is a no go and if you share too often, people will start to phase out your posts or unfollow.

Use your common sense and think of your own behaviors and the way you use social media yourself.

How often would you consider too often? How would you react if you saw someone else using the same strategy? Where is the ‘spam line’ for you?

Ask yourself all these questions and put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Be careful not to cross that metaphorical line!

Respect your followers and take them into consideration. After all, your feed tailors to them, not you.

Likewise, share content that you believe is well-written and of quality value. Content that your followers will genuinely enjoy and find useful.

There’s no point scheduling a post across weeks if you believe it to be weak or dreary.

3. What Types of Social Media Posts Should I Republish?

Luckily, most types of posts can be re-posted to drive social media traffic.

The main aspect is that all links in the post are relevant. There’s nothing more annoying than clicking on a link in an article only to find that the article is out of date or that the link is broken.

A good idea before re-posting content is to double-check links and fact-check the article.

There are some types of content that work particularly well to re-post. These include:

  • Evergreen Content

Evergreen content is timeless and always relevant. These are the pieces that people will click on time after time – it doesn’t matter how long ago it was posted.

  • Regular Promotions and Events

Posting of regular promotions or events coming up within your business is a great way to keep followers in the loop. What’s more – people are usually grateful to be informed of offers and deals where they can save money or grab a bargain. This is especially when they can easily miss them on the feed.

  • Popular Posts

Popular posts are popular for a reason – because they provide value to your readers. Re-posting these pieces allows more people to reach your best content, leading to engagement through the rest of your website.

Who knows, maybe it’ll go viral!

  • Content for Different Time Zones

If your post is valuable to readers over the globe, re-posting it throughout different times of the day is a great way to ensure different countries are reached. Plus, it means that any overlap is unlikely.

  • Big News

There may be a short lead time for big news stories, but if it’s important then people will want to hear. Schedule it throughout different times of the following days or even weeks, depending on the nature of the story.

4. How Should I Share My Re-Posts?

As we've touch base on, there are ways to re-post on social media with best practice. Such as:

  • Never Share the Same Message Twice

Posting the same link with the exact same messaging, as we know, makes you a spammer. And we don’t want to be a spammer, do we? 

Using a different variety of messaging for your posts is an important step in the re-posting process. There are many ways to share a blog post – so get creative!

An easy option is to post the title and link with some relating hashtags. This is simple but works well with an eye-catching title.

Another straightforward way to mix it up is to ask your followers a question relating to the post or to pull an interesting snippet of text from the blog to tease and draw in clicks. Likewise, adding facts featured in the main text is a great way to arouse attention.

Get creative and have fun with your ideas! Monitor which types of messaging generate the most interest for future reference. Make sure every message is unique in its own way!

Don’t slack on changing imagery either. Remember that browsers skim through a feed – it’s the supporting image of a post that first catches the eye. If it’s the same old photo used with every post, the reader is going to get bored, even if the messaging is different.

  • Make a Schedule

Decide how many times you’re going to re-share your post and schedule it in. Depending on the piece, it can be shared weeks or months after it’s first published.

Just remember to be careful with your timings – again, don’t be a spammer! Don’t share them too closely together, or in big clumps. Leave a fair amount of time between each post.

Decide which social media networks you’d like to share on and how frequently on each.

With a high-turnover network like Twitter, you can get away with posting more regularly than on Facebook, for example.

Whilst you could go as far as posting daily on Twitter, with Facebook we’d suggest posting weekly at the most. It’s a personal choice but be sure not to over-do it.

With Instagram posting once is enough to promote a blog post – it certainly isn’t the network to republish the same content.

Use a standout image with a note in the text directing the viewer to visit the blog piece, found on your Instagram bio. This is the only place on Instagram where you can share a clickable link.

If your followers are global, you can get away with posting more as the risk of overlap is low. Consider repeating your posts a couple of times throughout the day – but always have a good chunk of hours between them.

Improving Your Internet Marketing Techniques

With the right methods, you’ll learn how to use social media effectively and how to republish posts with best practice.

Done the right way, re-posting can offer more engagement, clicks, traffic, and sales and can draw in new followers. There’s also the added excitement of content potentially going viral! It’s not unusual for pieces to generate attention months after publication.

Keen to develop your internet marketing skills even further? Check out our range of products or get in touch with any questions.

10 Steps to Creating an Awesome Online Course

Have you always dreamt of creating and selling an online course? 

As we progress into 2019, we're seeing a growing number of professionals transform their expertise into creating an online course. Not only are online courses a great way to make money, but they're also incredibly popular amongst students and professionals today.

While online courses were once the rarity, students today favor how flexible and all-encompassing online education has become. In fact, 79 percent of students believe that online education is “better than” or “equal to” traditional education. 

With the rise of internet marketing, it's never been easier to market your course to prospective students. 

If you've been wanting to create an online course, you're going to want to read this. We've put together a step-by-step guide that will have your course up and running in no time. 

Not only is this ten step guide simple to follow, but it's also designed to work for any subject or niche! 

1. Choose a Profitable Topic 

First and foremost, you're going to want to begin by choosing a profitable topic for your course. 

The name of the game is to discover topics that are currently being researched by the public online. You're also going to want to select a topic that you have profound knowledge, skill or experience with. 

For example, if you are working as a freelance writer, you may teach a course on how to transition from a traditional job into a freelance lifestyle. If you are an accountant, you may teach a course on how to better manage your finances and understanding taxes. 

It's especially beneficial to choose a topic in which you have a solid educational background. This is what is going to allow your future students to envelop their trust in you to lead this course. 

2. Test Your Course

Before you exert all of your energy into creating your course, you're going to want to start by testing your topic. 

This is where you are going to determine if prospective students are interested in what you are teaching. After all, there's no sense in spending your time and money creating a course in which there is virtually zero interest. 

To determine this, you are going to conduct some market research tests. A simple way to do so is sending an email to your network as well as advertising your course on social media. 

Some professionals will also choose to “pre-sell” their course to get an idea of numbers. This involves summarizing your course objectives and encourage people to sign up. To create a sense of urgency, many professionals will choose to establish a “maximum” number of students that will be accepted into the course. 

3. Create a Course Outline

Now that you have established a generalized idea of interest, you can now move on to creating a course outline. 

This is a simple and general layout of what your expectations are for the course. This should clearly outline for students: 

  • Topics expected to be covered
  • How long the course will run
  • What is expected of the students
  • Whether or not the students receive anything for “passing” the course
  • Whether or not there are homework assignments or tests 
  • Lines of communication

While you have yet to establish any course content, this outline will be shared with prospective students. This will give them a clear idea as to what is being covered in the course and whether this course appeals to them. 

4. Establish the Course Content 

Now that you have your generalized outline, you can begin to focus on creating the content of your course. 

Here you are determining the content itself as well as how you plan to share that content with your students. You can determine whether your content is summarized by slides, videos, interactive calls, etc. 

Many professionals get overwhelmed in creating their content. While you may feel pressure to share as much information as possible, it's best to resist this desire.

Remember, this is the first course and you don't want to overwhelm your students. Only share content that is going to directly answer the questions that your students are likely to have. 

5. Structure Your Modules 

This is where you're going to take the entirety of your content and divide it into different themes. 

Each of these themes will become their own individual chapters that eventually make up the course. Be sure to arrange these themes into a timeline that makes sense for the topic and for your students. 

Remember, each chapter should bring your students closer to achieving their goal and answering their questions. With each chapter completed, your students should feel that they are becoming experts on this subject. 

6. Create Tests or Assignments

It's now time to determine whether your course is going to be followed by assignments or tests.

Some professionals have each chapter of their course accompanied by an assignment or a test. On the other hand, some will choose to eliminate official tests or graded assignments from this course. Instead, the course work will encourage students to “take action” after completing each chapter. 

For example, a course on freelance writing may encourage students to cold call prospective businesses for writing opportunities. While this is not a graded nor overseen assignment, it is encouraged for the benefit of the student. 

7. Determine Your Delivery Method 

Now, it's time to channel your focus on how you're going to deliver your course to your students. 

For this, it's best to select the most simple and accessible means for your students. You want to avoid all delivery mishaps from taking place and having to refund any monies.

Many professionals will choose to release the course to students through email once payment is received. This method is the most simple and least problematic. From here, the students will have to use their credentials to sign in and access the course. 

For many online classes, all of this content is released at one time and students can take their time reviewing the content. This will allow students to move through the coursework at their own pace and avoid feeling rushed.

8. Establish the Reward

Before a student signs up for your course, they're going to want to know ahead of time if they will receive anything for completing the course. 

Some courses may reward students a new title or an honorable mention for completing the course. Others may offer students specialized opportunities once that course is completed. For example, a freelance writing course may offer students access to a job board that is exclusively for course students. 

On the other hand, another course may not offer a final reward to their students. These are courses that the student is taking for their own personal benefit and the reward is simply the information being released. 

9. Launch Your Marketing 

Now for the fun part! 

Too often, online professionals believe that their work is complete once enough students sign up for the course.

If you really want to ensure that your course is profitable, this is where the work truly begins. To make the absolute most of your course, it's essential to continue marketing it to prospective students. 

Remember, you can use the same general coursework on a number of different students. This means that there's no need to invest your time into creating another course. Instead, use the course that you have spent so long creating to appeal to an entirely new group of students. 

You can also encourage your students to submit testimonials for your course. These testimonials can be incredibly effective at reaching new students and encouraging them to sign up for your course.

Let's consider that 88 percent of consumers trust online testimonials as much as recommendations from friends and family. The goal with these testimonials is to build confidence in prospective students that this course is worth the investment. 

Try advertising your course on the various social media platforms. Outlets such as Instagram and Facebook make it simple and relatively affordable to advertise your products. 

You can also do an email blast to your immediate network and offer friends and family discount codes. 

10. Establish an Online Community 

Last but certainly not least, you're going to want to create an online community for your students. 

For many, this will come in terms of a Facebook page or Slack group that is exclusive to course members. When it comes to online communities, people enjoy interacting with likeminded people and feeling as if they are part of an inner circle. 

This is a place where your students can interact and communicate with yourself and other students. In many cases, this will end up functioning as a question and answer forum as well as a base for communication. 

It's also a great way to stay connected to your network and even offer free coaching to your students. 

Internet Marketing and Your First Online Course

If you're an expert in your field, why not share that expertise online?

Today, more students than ever are choosing to enroll in online courses. In fact, 28 percent of higher education students are currently enrolled in at least one online course. 

While online courses were once limited to professors, it seems now that anyone and everyone can create an online course. Not only is creating an online course relatively simple, but it's also a great way to make money in a short period of time. 

As internet marketing continues to rapidly expand, it's never been easier to market your online products. This means that finding students to sign up for your course doesn't have to be so intimidating. 

If you've been hemming and hawing over whether to create an online course, it's officially time to bite the bullet! Allow this guide to serve as a basis for how to create and sell your first online course. 

Do you need help marketing your products or ideas? If so, be sure to check out this free course to learn more!

5 Brilliant Ways Smart Marketers Use #Hashtags

Meet the hashtag (#), formerly known as the pound sign. This symbol is the common denominator between all social media channels and is a powerful tool when used right.

It can help people find you, help you connect with like-minded businesses and streamline your social media marketing.

The hashtag is a way to keep your social media content categorized, making it easier for users to cut through the clutter and reach the content they’re most interested in. It’s also proven to increase engagement. In fact, a post with hashtags averages more than 10 percent engagement than posts without them.

Hashtags are used to make your posts found by those who are searching for that hashtag or a particular keyword. For example, #smartmarketing. You’ll also be visible to those who don’t currently follow you, opening the door for more followers. They can be used anywhere within your post.

Here’s how to use hashtags to catapult your Internet marketing.

1. Drive Engagement

 

One of the ways to use hashtags for business is to drive engagement. This works by using hashtags that resonate with your audience, either through current events or trends. Find what’s popular and if it fits with your brand, start building posts that use that hashtag. If it resonates enough with them they’re more likely to share your content.  

Using hashtags not only drives engagement with your current followers, but it also exposes you to other people who don’t currently follow you. You’ll be seen by their followers and the followers of anyone else who shares your content. When done well and thought out this engagement is what leads to a post going viral.

Your business has a lot to say on social. However, it may go unnoticed if you aren’t doing something to draw attention to it. Engagement hashtags allow you to reach other companies and people who are interested in the hashtags you are using and encourages them to take action on your post, whether by liking it, sharing it or commenting.  

You can also create a unique hashtag that aligns with your brand and can be used in your wider marketing efforts.  One such tactic is called User Generated Content (UGC) and it works by having social media users promote your brand for you by sharing your hashtag in their posts.

One great example of this is Aerie’s #aeriereal campaign. It encouraged users to spread body positivity and discourage the use of photo editing apps by posting unedited photos of themselves. To take this a step further the company also donates a dollar to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) for every post that included the hashtag.

2. Use Trending Hashtags

A trending hashtag is a hashtag that is already very popular. When you piggyback off of what’s trending, you’re already a step ahead. Trending hashtags are already popular and in front of your target audience.

If you see an opportunity to use a hashtag that’s trending for your business, if it’s relevant, it can be exactly what you need to get that increased visibility.  

Regardless of how popular a topic is, if it doesn’t fit your business it won’t do well for you. Keep an eye out for trends that fit your niche. When using trending hashtags in your marketing efforts it’s important to move fast because trends are always changing.

A successful hashtag campaign is one that moves fast before the buzz dies down. Keep an eye on what’s trending and if it fits, move fast.

3. Tell a Story

Tell a story. And keep them wanting more. Hashtags will let you get your story in front of a wider audience. Storytelling is an important part of marketing–it helps you connect with your audience and lets them into the more human side of a brand.

This connection is what generates brand loyalty.  If they feel like they know you, they’re more likely to keep coming back to see what you have to say.

Social media is an ideal venue for telling stories. You can use hashtags to promote this by creating a hashtag related to the topic and using that every time you post. It will keep your stories organized and easy to find.

One brilliant example of this was Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign, which urged females to not be influenced by society’s expectations of them. It encouraged the use of the phrase “like a girl” to symbolize strength rather than weakness.

When you share your story, think about what emotional connection you want to make with the audience and what makes you unique. If you can stand out while nurturing a real connection, you have the makings of a successful storytelling campaign.

3. Target Your Audience

The more specific your hashtags, the better. To attract the audience you’re looking for you need to do some research and figure out what they’re searching for. Once you know that, you can use targeted hashtags that you know your audience will see and is more likely to interact with.

You can also look into what your competitors are doing. Hashtags will give you insight into who they’re targeting so you can do the same.

To hone in on the audience you’re looking to target, you'll need to make your hashtags as specific as possible. If it’s too broad it will get lost in the sea of other hashtags.

4. Run a Contest

Holding a contest can help you grow a larger following on social media. A contest with a simple incentive will get people involved and entice them to share your post in front of their audience.  

To make this work you’ll create a specific hashtag for your business and ask your audience to share it in exchange for a chance to win a prize. You can use additional hashtags to target the groups who are more likely to not only share your content but to stick around after the contest is over and turn into potential customers.

Promote your hashtag across all your social media channels and create blog posts around your contest along with email marketing efforts. Make it fun, and relevant to you.  

In one example of great marketing hashtags, the Empire State Building’s Instagram account ran a photo contest that asked people to post an image of them “holding” the top of the Empire State Building. The winner received $5000. 

A hashtag contest is easy to set up but to be successful you have to outline the goals of the contest, determine the audience you’re trying to reach, whether a broader or niche audience and then you can come up with an effective plan.

Bonus: Hashtag Marketing Dos and Don’ts

When using hashtags for marketing purposes, there are some key things to remember to make sure they don’t work against you. 

  • Do follow trends: During a major event, piggyback off of the success of a popular hashtag and become part of the conversation.
  • Don’t repeat hashtags in a single post: You won’t do yourself any favors by being repetitive, and it could render your post unreadable.
  • Do keep a list of your company’s effective hashtags:  Social media is a lot of trial and error. When you find a hashtag that works well for your company, add that to your marketing arsenal and keep using it. If it’s not working, toss it.
  • Don’t use hard to read hashtags: You want your hashtags to be read easily. So you’re going to want to #avoidhardtoreadandrunonhashtagsbecasuetheyretoomuchwork. Don’t make it hard to decipher your hashtag. Rather, #keepitsimple.
  • Do listen: To stay on top of the always shifting and something that was popular yesterday is already old news. Look out for the trends and when you find one that aligns with your brand, move fast so you don’t miss out.

Hashtags for Internet Marketing Success

Hashtags make your content discoverable, makes you stand out and encourages engagement with your brand.

By using these tips to improve the way hashtags for businesses are used, you’ll see an improvement in visibility, engagement and if used correctly, you’ll see an increase in your followers.

Remember, social media is a conversation. You don’t want to talk at your audience you want to talk to them…and ideally, you want them to talk back. Effectively using hashtags will allow you to communicate with a broader audience than you typically would, exposing you to potential clients and growing a loyal follower base.

Check out this Free Course to learn more about Internet marketing success.

Instagram Marketing: How to Use the Social Site for Your Business

Instagram boasts of 500 million daily users on their platform. Influencers and users alike use Instagram to share their favorite products and give a glimpse of their daily lives.

People even use Instagram to find new products to try. This makes the platform useful in your internet marketing strategy. To get the most out of the Instagram platform, you need to understand how to use it. 

If you take the time to learn the tools and tips available, Instagram can turn into a cost-effective option to promote your brand. 

How to Use Instagram for Internet Marketing

Before you get started with any social media platform, you need to do your research. This includes research into marketing trends, platform trends, and customer demographics.

It's good to know who you're connecting with to make the most of the platform. For instance, Instagram users are 68% female. 59% of those are between the ages of 18-29.

While this doesn't mean you can't target other demographics, it's important to know how to target the audience you want. You also need to know how to use the tools available to target them.

Visuals Lead in Instagram Marketing

Before you start posting, you need to find good tools to create appealing visuals. Instagram offers some editing tools for your visuals, but you'll get the best results with content that's already polished. 

You want branded content along with snapshots to engage more users. With the right visual editing tools, you can create consistency between the different content.

Make sure your visuals create a clear message since Instagram deals with visual over written content. You want your pictures and videos to tell a story.

Create a Business Profile

If you don't already have an Instagram profile, you can start with a business profile. If you already have a personal account, you can easily change it to a business profile.

A business profile offers easy access to contact info for your business. This also allows you to publish ads and access analytics tools. These marketing tools are not available with personal profiles.

Keep in mind, you can't make a business profile private. This means you want to take care with personal info you share on your profile.

Make Use of Those Analytics Tools

Your business profile gives you access to measurement tools, and you should make use of them. These analytic tools help you fine-tune your marketing strategy. This gives you access to important information about customers and content.

You can use the tools to check out the demographics of your followers and those that access your content. You can also check out the success of different posts. This includes learning the times when your content proves most effective.

These analytics tools also help you track ad success. This will help you determine which content to use for ads and how they're converting.

Determine Peak Posting Times

If you post too often, you'll annoy followers. If you don't post often enough, people will forget about your brand. If you don't post at the right times, your content can go ignored.

You need to do your research to determine which days and times when you'll have more engagement. You can use the analytics to help you determine this.

Make your posts on the days with the most engagement. Keep your posts to one or two per day at peak times.

Make Hashtags Part of Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

Almost every social media platform makes use of hashtags, but Instagram corners the market on hashtags. People can search or even follow hashtags to keep up with trending topics or topics of interest to them.

This means it's helpful to know the most competitive hashtags for your niche. Pay attention to the tags that prove most popular. Then, mix and match the hashtags to better target your market.

You can even set up a hashtag for your brand. You should be careful with this option if you don't already have a large following. It doesn't hurt to get something set up though.

Become a Team Player

Collaboration provides opportunities to reach a wider audience. Collaboration can take the form of working with others in your industry or working with influencers. You can also take advantage of user-generated content for a wider audience.

If working with others in your industry or with user-generated posts, make sure you ask permission to use the content. You can create contests to create excitement around user-generated content. Have them post to a brand hashtag, then use the #regram hashtag and tag the user to share the visuals.

You can also partner with influencers to share your products. Seek people with a large audience to share pictures and/or videos of your products. This will both get your products in front of more people and increase your Instagram following.

Take Advantage of Contests

Contests can generate enthusiasm for your brand and increase your following. You can offer a simple, appealing prize to those who participate. You should also encourage followers to share the contest with others.

Make sure you provide a short time to participate so people don't lose interest. You should also make the contests easy for participation. For instance, likes for a chance to win.

Contests can take on many forms. You can do a hashtag or selfie contest for instance. This provides an extra marketing tool that people get excited to participate with.

Make Use of Video

Video has taken over the internet. This includes Instagram marketing. Videos prove easy to make and watch and hold attention longer than written content.

When creating videos, make sure your brand comes out clear early on in the video. Provide a clear call to action with your video, and make them short and sweet. You should also look into multi-media options.

Video works great for ads. They're also good for stories. You can play around with your options to find what works best with your audience.

Create Sponsored Ads

Sponsored ads are one of the benefits of a business profile. You can use your most popular content, or create ad-specific content, to reach a larger audience. 

Sponsored ads allow you to set a budget, and set up the preferred demographics for your content. Since Facebook owns Instagram, and the interaction rules are similar, you can combine the ad with Facebook to get more out of the money you spend. 

When creating ads, you want to use teasers to get the most out of Instagram ads. Don't push sales, but tease products and offers with good-quality visuals.

You can even create a shopping ad so people can purchase directly from Instagram. In fact, 72% of Instagram users have purchased a product they've seen while scanning the platform. If nothing else, teaser ads make it easier for people to share your content.

Make Use of Stories

Instagram stories are posts that last 24 hours. You can combine several visuals to share for limited access. These get posted at the top for mobile-users, making your post easier to find.

These work well for limited-time offers or sneak peeks. You can also use stories to try out new content. You can even tag other followers for collaboration opportunities.

Use Content Managing Tools

If you use social media for marketing purposes, you'll want to set up a content management tool. These tools allow you to schedule posts, including appropriate hashtags, so you can plan ahead.

You can pre-schedule contests or promotions with management tools. You can also mix your content among several social media profiles to get the most out of your marketing materials. These tools also offer their own analytics tools so you can better monitor your content progress.  

Link Your Website

Instagram gives you another opportunity to promote your business website. Not only can you share content to this platform, but you can provide a direct link to your website in the bio.

This provides another way to determine what content generates the most interest. This also offers another way to provide ease of contact so customers know how to find you.

Make Use of Keywords in Your Bio

Your bio should tell people who you are and what you do in simple but interesting terms. Make sure your brand is easy to recognize in your bio and make sure you use keywords that will make you show up in searches.

Just as your website makes use of keywords, so does your social media bio. With the right keywords, people can find you when searching for products or services that you offer. You also want to make them stand out so you don't have too much competition.

Social Media to Other Online Marketing

Instagram and other social media platforms provide one way to take advantage of the internet for marketing purposes. These sites should take part in your overall internet marketing strategy, but you need to take advantage of all the platforms.

Do you need help developing your digital strategy? Check out our helpful marketing bundles to get the advice and ideas you need to succeed online.

Internet Marketing: How To Build an Income on Autopilot

Have you ever dreamt of working for a few hours a day and spending the rest of the day how you please? How about making money while you sleep? The industry of internet marketing, known as affiliate marketing, made over 12 billion dollars in 2017.

Affiliate marketing is used by both big companies, small brands, and individuals looking to receive passive income. Let’s dive into this comprehensive guide on successful affiliate marketing.

The Guide to Successful Internet Marketing

Affiliate marketing has been a buzzword in the online world for the past few years. So, what is it and why is it so popular? This type of marketing is a marketing model where advertisers or merchants send their products to affiliates to promote.

These affiliates host the advertiser’s products or services in a number of ways on their site. They have agreements with the merchant to receive a percentage of each sale that is made from their unique hosted product link.

The History of Affiliate Marketing

William J. Tobin, an American entrepreneur, visualized and developed the idea of affiliate marketing in 1989. He owned his own business, PC Flowers and Gifts. He rolled out his concept of internet marketing to his business, and within two years, they made over six million dollars.

In June of 1994, Lou Montulli created computer cookies. These cookies allowed computer programmers to implement a reliable and trackable virtual shopping cart that remembered the user’s data. That was not their only function. Cookies also allowed them to see who had visited their site previously, store login data for the user, personalize the user experience, and track web analytics.

There was much controversy around the release of the cookie because it was not known to the public. The introduction did not notify users of its existence and perceived to be a huge privacy concern. It was determined that only third-party cookies posed a threat.

The use of cookies provided a way for affiliate marketing to take place. Businesses could now track specific URLs that their affiliate marketers promoted and see how many leads and conversions resulted.

The Big Players

In 1996, big companies like Amazon Associates, Rakuten, and BeFree joined the affiliate marketing game. These players formed the golden standard for the affiliate marketing world by setting their products up in an affiliate marketing structure.

A few years later, ClickBank, the first affiliate network began. Since then, over 81% of brands use affiliate marketing in their marketing strategy mix. That’s over 15% of all digital marketing revenue and it’s still on the rise.

What Exactly is Affiliate Marketing?

The best way to describe affiliate or internet marketing is by comparing it to a referral service. Affiliates have a website set up where they promote advertisers' products or services, and whoever they refer, they get rewarded for.

The link the advertisers provide the marketer is a unique link because it is tracked. The business can then see who referred leads and how many leads they sent.

When a lead comes in and makes a sale or converts, the marketer receives a commission. These commissions vary in value depending on the company and the product, but some marketers make over $50,000 a year.

The best part about this is if you have a steady flow of traffic to your website or social platforms, you set it up once and let it run without your maintenance. The traffic to your site increases the chance of users clicking and purchasing from those links.

Businesses do have a right to change their affiliate terms at any time. If this happens, it can directly affect revenue, but being aware and having multiple affiliate partnerships can alleviate this blow.

Creating an Affiliate Marketing Strategy

Having affiliate marketing and an auto-pilot income sounds great, but how do you create a successful marketing strategy? It’s pretty easy to sign up and get approved to become an affiliate marketer, but driving people to your site and building a following is tricky.

Affiliate Marketing Audience

First things first: determine who your target audience is. Are you a mommy blogger with a huge following of other moms? Maybe you have a platform where you write a bunch of software reviews or perhaps you love search engine optimization. Whatever your niche is, think about which products or services your audience would show interest in.

The best way to use affiliate marketing links is to promote products or services that make sense for your style. For example, if you write a lot about household cleaning products, be an affiliate marketer for cleaning products.

Choose items that make sense for your mission and items that you truly believe in. Your lack of authenticity will show if it isn’t a product you trust.

And, if you have no idea what it is your audience likes or is interested in, ask them! Be creative and create a poll or analyze your website data to see your most visited links.

Be Authentic

If you start affiliate marketing, it’s important that you’re upfront with your readers. Let them know that you’ve started affiliate marketing and you’ll receive a commission for items on your website. By telling your readers, they will trust you more than if they happen upon it and you haven’t disclosed it.

It’s best practice, but it’s also required by the Federal Trade Commission, so it’s something you must do.

Creating Your Affiliate Marketing Website

Now that you know who you’ll be marketing to, it’s important to have a site that you drive people to. Whether it’s on a current blog or website, you’ll have to implement specific internet marketing pages.

The main focus of your entire website is your blog, and your goal is to make sure it's updated regularly. There are other pages you need to have on your site, however, that are necessary for affiliate marketing.

About Page

You need to have an about page to tell people who you are, what you're about, and why you have a blog in the first place. Share a captivating story about your life and what drove you to blog. Make it relatable and personal so your readers are able to engage with you.

Contact Page

Your site also needs a contact page. Know that whatever information you put on this page will be available to all the internet. Have a work specific email address, P.O. Box, and work telephone number to protect your real inbox from spam. People use your contact information to contact you about advertising, marketing, or partnering.

Disclaimer Page

You must have a disclaimer page if you're monetizing off your website. On this page, you'll explain your terms and conditions. You'll go into detail about how you're monetizing. Your disclaimer needs to tell your audience what products and services you make money off of, and who you're partnering with.

Terms of Service Page

This page states legal information regarding the misuse of services or information on your site. It limits your legal liability. If someone wants to use the information on your site, it outlines the copyright and trademarks guidelines they must follow. 

Anything regarding legal documents or guidelines must be on this page.

Advertising or Marketing Page

One of the most important pages to have on your site is an advertising page. This page shows users how to advertise with you. The cost of advertising and available advertising spots are available for a user to see.

Including your website's current analytics such as demographics of your viewers and how many people come to your site is also useful information a user wants to know.

Lastly, this page needs to have a contact form for people to get a hold of you if they want to use your site for advertising. Make it simple and straightforward, and have it sent directly to your business email.

Website Content

Once you've set up your site, you'll want to create a content strategy. This strategy outlines all of the upcoming content you're going to feature on your site. For your site to be high quality, you'll want to mix organic content with affiliate marketing content. 

Having just affiliate marketing will send your audience running. Provide them with valuable information that's relevant and helpful to them. This requires strategy and quite a bit of thought, but as long as it's tailored towards your audience, there is success.

Leave them with content that keeps them coming back to your website again and again by adding value or providing a unique perspective.

Affiliate Marketing for the Win

Follow this comprehensive guide to get set up with your internet marketing network and see the money start rolling in! Choose a niche that fits your target audience and features products that make sense.

Remember to keep your content high-quality and fresh, and mix in your organic content with your affiliate content. 

Are you interested in getting your online business launched today? Take a look at thisFree Training Course. Don't hesitate to reach out to us for help.

Internet Marketing: How to Harness the Power of Youtube

Did you know that people around the world watch up to one billion hours of YouTube every day? 

Just as with any other online platform, YouTube marketing is about optimizing your strategy to reach out to as many users as possible. You just need to settle on your marketing goals before you get started.

Do you want to know more about how you can make the most of internet marketing on YouTube? Discover more below!

1. Regular and Consistent Video Posts

If you want users to regularly watch your videos, you've got to give them regular and consistent video posts.

You should be clear and specific about when you're going to post your YouTube videos on your channel. Don't keep your schedule to yourself. You need to publish it for everyone to see. 

But, when you make a commitment to post your videos regularly, you should make sure you can meet expectations.

After all, you should remember that the regular creation of YouTube videos is time and energy intensive. Make sure you're up to the task.

Say you announce that you're going to post videos each week. That doesn't mean you have to create a brand new video every single week. You can create the content all at once. So you can prepare a few weeks before with several videos, then post them at the relevant times.

You should also consider posting at the optimal time to get the most views. The best time is weekday afternoons to get the most traffic.

2. Establish Your Video Production Strategy

If you're going to meet the commitments you've made to your subscribers, you've got to establish a strategy for your video production.

Any tactics you can develop to streamline your video production should be grasped. Can you set up a template for editing? Can you hire an assistant to help with production?

You may need to invest in a video production studio to really save time. This way whenever you've got to create new content, you're ready to go!

3. Start Your Videos with a Hook

This is bread and butter stuff for marketers.

You've got to hook the viewer with something extra interesting or engaging to start off your video. Just because a YouTube user was convinced to click on your video, that doesn't mean they're going to stick around for long.

You've got to retain the attention of the viewer. The hook helps you keep the viewer on the side throughout the video.

Your hook can do anything from showing the viewer what happens at the end of the video without showing how you got there. Or, by leaving the viewer on a cliff hanger, before they can't stop watching to find out what happens next.

You could also hook the reader with a personal story of how you were inspired to create this particular video. This will help to convince the viewer to discover more.

4. Short and Sweet Title Opener

You don't have to include a title opener for your YouTube videos. But, they're definitely a nice touch. 

It's also important to impose your brand on the video. When your video gets shared by users on social media, you'll still have your brand all over it.

However, don't go overboard with your title opener. That means avoid The Game of Thrones titles blueprint, which takes up to 90-seconds to run.

Just add a quick and engaging title sequence to remind the viewer what they're watching before you go ahead with the main content.

5. End Screens Before the Video Finishes

Once the viewer is on your YouTube channel, you've got the opportunity to keep them watching your videos over and over.

A great way to keep them knocking around your channel is by adding end screens to each of your videos.

The end screens can last up to roughly 20 seconds. Make sure you include the end screen before the video finishes up.

You can continue to engage the viewer while highlighting other videos which they might enjoy. You can also use the end screen to encourage viewers to either subscribe or visit your website for more.

6. Tempt Viewers With Your Thumbnails 

While YouTube recently announced that custom thumbnails won't be a thing as much anymore, they remain an important part of attracting viewers to click on your videos. They actually have the ability to make or break a YouTube channel.

You need your thumbnail to stand out from the crowd. You can do this in a number of different ways.

Bold fonts and bright colors are always helpful. However, you may need to go more subtle to appeal to your target audience.

But, don't just create clickbait. You'll alienate your audience with tempting thumbnails which don't deliver as promised. 

This is also an opportunity to market your channel to users. You need to learn to make unique thumbnails with a consistent look and feel. 

7. Collaborate With Other YouTubers

If you to expand your audience quickly, why not work with other YouTubers. You're not in competition with other YouTubers since people can watch multiple videos.

You can learn from others each about how to increase your audience and market your brand through your YouTube channel. 

If you can exchange support with an influencer within your niche, you can reach out to an audience which you wouldn't normally be able to. When you return the favor you both benefit.

You should also work with YouTubers with a similar audience with different content.

For example, you could be a healthy food recipe YouTuber. You could collaborate with a Yogi YouTuber or an eco-lifestyle consumer vlogger.

8. Give Viewers What They Want

You don't want to push your video content on viewers which doesn't actually appeal to your audience. 

You need to learn from your success rate with different types of videos. If long videos don't work with your audience — stop making them!

You can also take advantage of trends in the most popular content. For instance, there has been a growth of 70 percent in “How To” videos. 

9. Direct Viewers to Your Store 

You can take advantage of the power of YouTube to direct your viewers to your online store.

Around 80 percent of YouTube viewers watch videos to learn about a product or service. This is the start of the shopping journey for many people.

You can direct consumers to your products and services through your video. You can do this by providing explainers about your products and services. 

If your products or services are new and innovative, it may require a brief description of what exactly you're selling to consumers. 

10. Write an Engaging Title 

You need to optimize your YouTube video title as well. You want to encourage people to click on your the video without simply giving them clickbait.

Make sure you consider keyword optimization. That means that you include keywords and phrases which are searched on YouTube and other platforms, such as Google or Yahoo. 

You can achieve this by including half a sentence to persuade users to click through to discover more. For example, “This is the best photograph ever by…” or “The most incredible touchdowns from…”

11. Make it Mobile Friendly

YouTube has a bigger audience among adults on mobile devices than any cable network during an average week. 

Moreover, over three-quarters of Americans watch YouTube on their mobile devices. You've probably noticed everyone streaming content on their phones. 

If you're not creating content which can be enjoyed via a smartphone or tablet, you could be missing out on your audience. 

If you want to hold the attention of your audience with advertising for your business, you're going stand a much better chance on YouTube. YouTube video ads are 84 percent more effective than television equivalents. 

You can optimize your mobile-friendly videos by including captions and subtitles. Many mobile users want to watch videos without sound.

Don't go on too long either. Shorter video lengths are much more popular on mobile devices since people are usually on the go and don't have time for a feature-length movie.

12. Include a Call to Action

The call to action (CTA) is an essential part of YouTube marketing. You've got to keep the user coming back for more next time. 

You've provided free content for their enjoyment. It's only fair that you would ask for something in return.

You can encourage viewers to subscribe below to your YouTube channel. You can indicate this before the end of the video and in the description.

You can also take the opportunity to engage with the viewers via comments. While the comments below page is not always a space of pleasant conversations. It's a means of interacting with your audience. 

Internet Marketing on YouTube

YouTube is an important platform for any business looking to market to their target audience. With so many people streaming video content via YouTube, it's an essential place to reach out to your customer base. 

However, marketing on YouTube isn't always easy. You need to follow the tips in our guide on internet marketing on YouTube to optimize your efforts. 

Do you want to know more about making the most out of YouTube marketing? Check out our tips on how to hack YouTube's algorithm. Don't forget to take a look at our Free Training Course!

Internet Marketing: A Complete Guide

Why does internet marketing matter? There are more than 4 billion internet users worldwide. Those internet users make billions of searches. Google alone has more than 3 billion searches per day.

With the increase in mobile use, people depend on the internet to find the products and services they want and need. This means you must have an internet presence for your business to succeed these days.

Before you jump into an internet presence, it's important to know how to use the available platforms wisely. This includes understanding what internet marketing is and how to take advantage of this marketing tactic.

What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing takes in any online marketing efforts. This includes:

  • Search engine marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Paid advertising
  • Networking

These marketing platforms use content and interaction to create brand awareness. This allows you to reach leads and customers at each stage of the sales process. The internet provides an economical way to educate and create an emotional response to make people want to work with you.

Types of Online Marketing

Online marketing combines free and paid strategies to reach your preferred audience. To make the most of these opportunities, you need to understand who you want to reach. You also need to understand what your audience will respond to. 

You should create a buyer persona before implementing any of these strategies. The buyer persona will answer who you want to reach, their wants and needs, and how and where to reach them. Once you understand your potential customers, you can determine which online platforms will work for your brand.

Search Engine Marketing

The best way to reach new leads involves ranking high in searches. This includes search engine optimization (SEO) onsite and paid advertising on search engines.

SEO seeks to increase your website's ability to get noticed on search engines. You can optimize your website with keyword research and link building. 

You want to find high-ranking, low-competition keywords to use in your website content. These keywords, combined with internal and external links help you create authority and rank higher in searches.

Social Media Marketing

You can also create brand awareness through ads and posts on social media sites. Once you determine the social media platforms where you can reach potential customers, you create business profiles on each one.

It's important to stay consistent with brand information and design on each platform you use. It's also important to engage with your audience on a regular basis.

This engagement involves sharing your own content and content from other industry professionals. You also want to share personal info about the company. Make sure you respond and interact with relevant info to keep your brand in front of potential customers.

Email Marketing

Every marketer needs to build an email list. You can create a lead magnet to capture these contacts and reach out to each lead based on where they are in the sales process.

You want to create autoresponders to welcome new leads. You can also provide incentives to new and current customers, send reminders, and introduce new products and services. Each email should provide a call to action, clearly stating what you want them to do with the information you provide.

Paid Advertising

Pay-per-click marketing involves paying for clicks, conversions, or impressions on search engines or social media sites. These paid ads or promoted content helps you rank higher and engage more people.

You set up the demographic information for the people you want to reach, and determine keywords to activate your ad in searches. Once everything's set, you pay, based on the ad metrics.

It's important to know what you want from the ads you set. If you create ads without a clear plan, you'll end up wasting money. 

Internet Networking

Networking involves relationship building rather than outright sales. This proves important to create new opportunities for partnerships and interaction.

Internet networking involves using online groups to build these relationships with others in your industry. This opens doors for collaboration opportunities.

You can also join groups to interact with customers, answering questions and sharing information. These online groups include social media groups, industry forums, and Q&A forums.

Content Key for Online Marketing

Each of the internet marketing platforms revolves around content. It's important to publish content online to create trust and authority. With valuable content, you can draw in new customers and establish your brand's online presence.

While a good content strategy proves important, only 39% of marketers have a strategy in place. This strategy includes

  • Blog posts and guest posts
  • Ebooks and PDFs
  • White papers
  • Case studies
  • Infographics
  • Videos

The content provided should answer real questions. Content also needs to remain engaging so people stick around for more and share the content with others. You should create content on a regular basis, but with a specific goal in mind.

Internet Marketing: How-to

Now that you understand what's included in internet marketing, how do you put those platforms together to create a strategy? You need to understand how the different internet platforms work together to get the most out of them.

It's not just a matter of throwing content out there. You want to strategically combine platforms to get the most out of each one.

It Starts with a Website

Your first step in internet marketing is creating a website. You want to create a site that's easy to navigate and runs smoothly. When creating a website, you also want to keep mobile users in mind.

Make sure you create pages for ease of use. The pages should include contact info. You should also include a blog to provide content for sharing.

Use your blog to build up internal and external links. The internal links send people to other parts of your website and external links provide authority. Both types of links, when combined with keywords, build up your SEO.

Capture Emails

Once you have your website in place and you start to build up content, you want to start capturing emails. You can create a lead magnet to capture contact info as people visit your site. Lead magnets can include videos, ebooks, and case studies.

Create email campaigns to welcome and follow up. Set up autoresponders for welcoming emails and follow up for the different stages of the sales process.

Interact on Social Media

To get the most out of social media, you want to start small. Determine the platforms where your potential customers hang out and get active on those sites.

You want to do regular posts with a mix of interaction and content. The rule of thumb on social media involves 80% content and 20% personal interaction. Break up content with 50% from other authorities, and 30% brand content.

Forum Profiles

Once you start to generate content, you should look into different industry and customer forums. Groups and forums will help you learn what others in your industry are doing. Some forums allow you to learn more about potential customers to help you build up your buyer persona.

With some forums, you can even share content specific to the questions or concerns addressed. This gives you another opportunity to get your content in front of more eyes.

Include PPC Marketing

You want organic traffic, but that doesn't mean you should ignore the paid traffic. You want to include PPC marketing on search engines and social media sites to reach new leads.

Determine your best content to share for PPC marketing. Determine whether you want more traffic or better conversions for paid ads. This will help you determine how you set up each ad. 

Analyze Internet Marketing Results

None of these internet marketing strategies will do any good unless you measure your results. You need to find the tools that will help you analyze and measure the results from the different platforms you use. 

This includes website and social media analytics tools. Most social media sites have analytics tools provided with your page to determine your results. Some website providers have their own analytics tools included.

You can also use tools such as Google analytics to measure your content success. These tools will help you determine which platforms offer the best results for your efforts.

You can also measure what content works best with your audience. This will help you determine what type of content to offer and where to share it.

Digital Marketing Success

The means to succeed with internet marketing changes often due to changes in algorithms for the marketing platforms. This means it's important to have the tools to keep up with these changes. It's also important to have the tools to adapt your marketing strategies to meet these changes.

The tools you need for success depends on whether you need help getting started, or you need help nudging your internet marketing strategies to the next level. Wherever you are in the process, check out the marketing bundles available to push you towards success.

The Beginner’s Guide to Keyword Research

What is Keyword Research?

You might have heard a lot of marketers talking about how important keyword research is when developing your marketing strategy. Keyword research is essential if you want your marketing to be successful.

So what exactly is it?

Well, it's exactly what it sounds like – researching keywords. I'm kidding, of course. There's a lot more to it than that.

Keyword research is what we marketers use to find out which alternative search terms people enter into search engines when they're searching for a similar subject. It helps us to understand what people are searching for, and how we can optimize our websites or content to reach those people.

Through keyword research, you can learn a lot about your target keywords. Things like how competitive your keyword is, which competitors rank for that keyword, and other helpful metrics you can use to determine the best keywords for your business. You have to think critically to analyze the metrics for different keywords and determine which ones will work best for you.

Why is Keyword Research so important?

You want people to see your website on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) right? You want people to be able to find your website easily when searching for terms related to your content.

You need keyword research to do this. Keyword research will help you discover different search terms that you might not have considered for your content before. Knowing these terms and adding them to your page so you can rank for them can bring in traffic you otherwise might not be able to reach.

So how do you get started?

First, you need to brainstorm. What basic, relevant topics come to mind when thinking about your business? Be sure to write them down. Come up with 5 to 10 topics and keep them general. These are your jumping-off point.

If you're a blogger or content creator, you'll probably want to pick the topics you write about the most. If you provide a service, what kind of service is it? Who is your customer? What problems are you solving for them?

If you're writing these down, make a separate column for each general topic. In each column, you will begin to list variations of that keyword and other relevant keywords and phrases.

Head Terms vs. Long-Tail Keywords

You'll also notice there are short, basic keywords – we call these head terms. You might also have written down longer phrases and sentences. These are referred to as long-tail keywords. You want to have a good mix of head terms and long-tail keywords. Keep a good balance of both.

Why are long-tail keywords important to include?

Well, consider the competition. A head term like “blogging” is going to be harder to rank for than a long-tail keyword like “how to start a blog” or “tips for writing great blogs.”

The whole point is ranking in the results, right?

Now, it's true that fewer people are going to search for those long-tail keywords. But consider that people searching for long-tail keywords are looking for specific answers to their query. You'll start to bring in higher quality leads who are looking specifically for what you're offering.

Things to Keep in Mind and Questions to Ask

There are certain things you need to consider when doing keyword research. Successful keyword research requires critical thinking and a bit of creativity.

Consider your keyword difficulty. Chances are you're not the only person out there using your keywords. With each relevant keyword you come up with, ask yourself the following questions:

How many people are searching for this keyword?

What is your competition level?

How many sites or business are targeting the same keyword, and how?

These are important factors to consider when coming up with your keywords. If your competition is ranking for certain keywords on your list, start focusing on improving your keywords.

Keyword Research Tools You Can Use

How do you evaluate your competition?

There are tons of Keyword Research Tools out there that will help with this. Many of them require a subscription or some other form of payment. There are some excellent free resources out there for this purpose as well.

Keyword Research Tools can also help you find lesser-used keywords that are relevant to you. If you had trouble brainstorming alternative keywords during the first few steps, you can use these resources to find some.

Google Keyword Planner (Free with Google Ads)

If you are running ads on Google, you should have access to the Google Keyword Planner. This tool from Google works with your Ads account to find new keywords for you.

That's not all you can do with Keyword Planner. It will also provide you with metrics for certain keywords and forecast how they might perform for you in the future.

SEMRush (Free Trial, Paid Sub)

SEMRush is a popular SEO tool used for keyword research. SEMRush does offer a Free Trial, but if you want to unlock all their features and get unlimited searches, you need a paid subscription.

There's a lot you can do with SEMRush, but in this example, we're going to be looking at their Keyword Magic tool. Just type in one of the basic keywords you brainstormed earlier. Make sure you have the “Related” button selected, and click “Apply.”

With this example, I used “digital marketing” as my keyword. You can see that the Keyword Magic tool came up with a lot of results for related keywords – a total of 102,120.

You can see the different keywords in the Keyword column. Notice there is a mixture of head terms and long-tail keywords. If you look to the right, you can find the statistics for each keyword, including how closely the keyword is related to your target (Related %), the average number of monthly searches (Volume), how difficult it would be to outrank your competition (Keyword Difficulty, or KD), the level of competition for that keyword, and the number of organic search results for that keyword.

Keyword Difficulty and Competition are two things you definitely want to consider when choosing your keywords. You want to pick the keywords with the least amount of competition – something that won't be hard to rank for.

Keyword.io (Free to use, PRO membership available)

Keyword.io is a free long-tail keyword research tool that helps you find the best keywords for multiple platforms, including Google, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, and more. Unlike the other tools on this list, Keyword.io does not provide metrics for these keywords (that feature is available with a PRO membership). It's a great free option if you're struggling to come up with unique long-tail keywords that are relevant to your target keyword.

I used Legendary Marketer as an example keyword here. You can see that the Keyword.io tool found 140 long-tail keywords that match “Legendary Marketer”. You can export these keywords by selecting the keywords you want OR clicking “Add All” and then “Export” on the right. Keyword.io lets you copy your keywords to your clipboard, export them as a text document, or even import them into the Amazon Keyword List tool.

UberSuggest (Free to use)

UberSuggest from Neil Patel is a free SEO tool you can use for keyword research. What's cool about UberSuggest is it allows you to look at domains as well as keywords, so you can spy on your competition.

Take a look at this example using the Legendary Marketer domain. UberSuggest shows you the keywords Legendary Marketer ranks for. You can filter by country if you want to view the most effective keywords for a specific part of the world. They also show you what the domain's rank is for a certain keyword on SERPs. You can see that our site ranks first or second for a lot of these keywords.

UberSuggest also has a Keyword Ideas section, where you can plug in your target keyword and get a list of keyword ideas related to your target. UberSuggest will even tell you how competitive the keyword is in addition to showing you the top ranking sites on the Google SERP for that keyword.

Keyword Research can be a complicated subject, but if you’re able to think critically and successfully apply it to your SEO, you’ll start ranking in search results and bringing more traffic to your website. And that’s the ultimate goal, right?

Do you have any tips and tricks for keyword research that I didn’t cover here? Let me know in the comments.

If you’re looking for more awesome training like this, check out this free course.

10 Simple Tricks to Increase Your Facebook Engagement

Standing out on Facebook can be tricky. With over 60 MILLION active business Pages, Facebook is an endless sea of content. Out of all of that content, how can you make someone engage with YOURS?

If you're marketing your business on Facebook, engagement is everything. You have to keep your audience liking, commenting, and sharing. You need your posts to reach as many users as possible. The higher the engagement rate, the higher your reach, which means more eyes viewing your content.

Here are my top ten simple tricks you can start using right away to increase your audience's engagement with your content.

Check them out, and let me know some of your tips in the comments below.


  1. ENGAGE!

Let's start with the most obvious one – engage back! Your audience will be more likely to comment on your post if they see that you are replying to other comments. Keep the conversation going.

Look at other companies to see how they are engaging with their audiences. Starbucks is a great example. Take a look at how they reply to some of the comments on one of their posts:

You should also be engaging with other brands and Pages similar to yours. Chances are, their audience will be interested in your content, too! You can use this to get your name out there. Share or comment on their posts, reply to their audiences' comments, get out there and start making connections.

 

  1. Check Your Insights

Facebook Insights gives you a look at how your page is performing. You can view when your audience is online (which is the best time for you to post)…

You can also which types of posts get the most reach or engagement on your page.

You can see Facebook's suggestions for Pages to Watch, which compares your page to other pages similar to yours. Super useful for finding other pages to engage with, like I mentioned above.

Adjust how you post based on what your Insights tell you. The best time to post is when your audience is online. If your Photo posts get more engagement then your Links and Videos, then post more photos. Just remember to be consistent! CONSISTENCY IS KEY.

 

  1. Invite Engaged Users

You probably already know that you can invite people to like your page, but did you know you can specifically invite users who have already engaged with your posts?

It's a simple trick I've seen used a lot. Just look for one of your recent posts with the most engagement.

Here's where it gets cool:

You can click on the reactions area to view every user who has engaged with that post.

See that little “Invite” button there on the right? That means this person is not a fan of your page – yet. Just click that button and invite any users who don't currently like your page.

Chances are, if they've engaged with your content previously, they would be interested in seeing more. Why not invite them to like your page, so they see when you post something new?

If you want to take it a step further, you could always reach out and invite them with a message. It adds a nice personal touch to your invitation.

You don't need to wax poetic about why you think they'll love your page – just send them a simple message saying you noticed they like your content, and invite them to like your page. It's easy and effective in establishing a connection with your audience.

 

  1. Include CTAs in Every Post

Your fans are more likely to engage with your post if you include a Call-To-Action at the end. There are the more obvious Calls-to-Action, like asking them to click, like, comment and share the post with their friends.

You can also get creative by asking open-ended questions. Ask your audience to fill in the blank. Ask if they prefer this or that. Ask what they would do in a particular situation. Make them think.

Add a Call-To-Action to every post you make, even if it's just asking for a like. Your fans will be more likely to engage with something that asks for a response.

Here are some basic examples you can throw at the end of almost any post to drum up engagement:

  • “Like if you agree!”
  • “Let me know your thoughts in the comments.”
  • “Share this with someone who needs to see it.”
  • “Don't forget to like and comment!”
  • “Tag a friend in the comments.”
  • “What do YOU think?”

 

  1. Images are Everything

Research shows that Facebook posts with images see more than twice the engagement that links and text posts do. Keep your audience interested in your content by being dynamic with what you post.

Share images from other pages or create your own branded content. While it's true that memes and motivational quotes tend to get more engagement, don't be afraid to throw some personal photos in there once in a while. Your audience will feel more of a connection with you if you do.

 

  1. Stay Away From Confusing Jargon

Imagine listening to a lecture about quantum mechanics without knowing anything about the subject. You'd be confused, right? Maybe you'd feel a bit alienated.

That's what happens when you overuse jargon in your content.

While it's true that some of your audience might understand the more technical terms used in your niche, you can't always assume the reader knows what you're talking about. They might not know the terminology. Keep your language simple and easy to understand – your fans will appreciate it.

 

  1. Make Your Audience Feel Valued

If your audience feels appreciated, they'll keep coming back for more. A popular method for garnering tons of engagement is offering a contest or giveaway. Who doesn't love free stuff?

One common method is to host a giveaway of one of your products (it doesn't have to be your product, but it doesn't hurt!). Have your audience share the post or tag someone in the comments to enter the giveaway. The more it gets shared or tagged, the more people it will reach. The more people it reaches, the more people will enter by sharing it with their friends. It's a great way to get your content spread around.

Take a look at this Facebook Giveaway example from 1-800-Flowers. It’s a great example of using engagement as the entry criteria for a giveaway.

 

  1. Go Live with Facebook Video

Give your audience a behind-the-curtain look at your brand by doing Facebook Live videos. You don't need to worry about fancy video production here – be authentic and keep it unscripted. Keep it fun. Give your audience insight into the human element behind the scenes.

Facebook Lives get a ton of engagement from fans, so if you want to boost those numbers, try doing a quick live video while your audience is online (remember – check those Insights). Try doing one or two short live videos every day to get a feel for what works best for your page.

 

  1. Keep Delivering That Value

One thing your audience will appreciate more than anything is  VALUE. Providing value in your content is one of the best things you can do for your brand. If you provide value in your posts, whether by sharing something new, teaching them something, or giving them something they can use people will flock to you.

Now, for me, I like to do this with things like short videos or text posts where I break things down and teach my audience something. I'm a marketer, so I'm always giving my audience marketing tips and advice. Figure out what kind of value your audience is looking for you to provide, then make sure you deliver!

The important thing to remember is: you need to keep delivering that value consistently, or it won't matter.

 

  1. Use Trending Topics, Articles, and Hashtags

Trending Topics are “Trending” for a reason: they're hot. People click on them. And the truth is, they get more engagement than most other things out there. If there's a trending topic in your niche, make a post about it!

Find a popular article or video and share it on your page – add your own commentary, too. Your audience wants to know YOUR thoughts, so don't be afraid to let them know how you feel.

You can also try creating your own original content around that topic. Write out your thoughts in a text post. Set up a poll. Shoot a quick rant video.

Make sure you find out which hashtags are popular in your niche and add them to your posts. Don't go overboard with those hashtags though – posts with fewer hashtags get the most engagement.

So there you have it: my top ten simple tricks to increase your engagement on Facebook. If you can successfully start using these tricks, you'll begin to see those engagement rates go up tremendously. So try some of them out, and let me know how they worked for you.

Do you have any tricks to get more engagement that I didn't cover here? Let me know in the comments.

 

If you're looking for more free and awesome marketing tips like this, look no further than my 15 Day Business Builder Challenge. Sign up today!

National Giving Day – Legendary For Breast Cancer

We recently wrapped up a charitable campaign where we raised money and matched dollar for dollar the contributions…

For a non-profit that helps women who’ve battled breast cancer get back in their feet, pay their bills, etc.

This was the first charitable campaign Legendary Marketer has run since our launch, and although we didn’t raise as much as we would have liked, it doesn’t matter how small you start… as long as you start something that matters. If this changes one woman life, it was worth it.

Grateful to all those who gave. Stay Legendary.

#NationalGivingDay #LegendaryMarketer

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME TO YOUR LIVE CERTIFICATION!

Congratulations on your decision to attend our next 2-Day Live Email Marketing & Story Selling Certification class. You'll get the chance to come to Legendary Marketer's corporate headquarters to learn directly from Coach Larry Beacham and his entire team. You'll also get to spend time with David Sharpe which includes VIP access to his closed-door exclusive training, along with getting a signed copy of his book and a photo opportunity!

Mark your calendar for the following dates to come down to see up LIVE:
JULY 8TH & 9TH

The address to our corporate office is as follows:
4020 Park St. N.
St. Petersburg, FL 33709

6 Email Marketing Mistakes With Disastrous Results

If you are anything like me, your email inbox is stuffed to the rafters with unopened messages. Just for fun, I logged into an old email that I no longer use and there's more than 30,000 UNOPENED MESSAGES!

Over time, we subscribe to a variety of different email sources which is the reason why we get bombarded with so much crap – and that doesn't even include spam. However, there are certain emails that get opened by me to the exclusion of others on a regular basis. Does any of this sound like you? As an online marketer the $64,000 question is, why is it that some emails get “the royal treatment” while others get completely ignored – and how can I get my stuff opened?

If you rely on email marketing as part of your core marketing strategy like I do, the most important thing is that your emails get opened. However, many marketers find themselves frustrated with their email open rate and can't figure out the problem.

Today I will share with you 6 mistakes that email marketers make and what you need to do in order to avoid making them. Let's dive into it.

MISTAKE #1: YOUR EMAIL SUBJECT LINE SUCKS

There's usually two extremes when it comes to your email subject line; either its too bland, or its over-hyped. If its too bland, there's little chance it gets opened. If its over-hyped you're likely just using click bait to get it opened and that's a dangerous strategy.

Dan Norris, Co-Founder of WP CURVE says, “The one mistake I see is overhyped subject lines. Writing headlines is a fine art and while the BuzzFeed style baited headlines might get more clicks, people forget about the impact on the trust of their brand. It's OK to encourage people to click but if they are constantly let down when they get into your content, it will have a long-term impact. I would rather sacrifice a few clicks to maintain the integrity of my brand.”

Since it takes time to develop the skill of writing good headlines, I wouldn't suggest winging it. Here's a cool tool that will give you the power of a pro headline writer.  A great website that teaches copywriting is CopyBlogger.com.

MISTAKE #2: YOUR EMAIL CONTENT STINKS

If I open your email, you better make sure that I'm better for having opened and read the content. Did you answer a question? Did you solve a problem? Did you relieve pain or make my life easier? Did you deliver VALUE? If not, say goodbye to me ever opening another email or just flat-out unsubscribing from your junk.

Noah Kagan, CEO of AppSumo says, “Focus on your emails being so valuable your potential customers read them, share them and are excited to use more of your product and pay you money. Just ask yourself if your emails are valuable even if your potential customer never buys.”  This advice is pure magic. I suggest you take it seriously and adjust if necessary.

MISTAKE #3: YOUR EMAIL IS SELFISH

How do you know if your email is selfish and self-centered? When it's more promotion that substance. Are you pitching and promoting, or are you serving and helping? If you are constantly thinking about how you can get someone to buy from you, bingo. You're an ego-maniac running wild.

Matthew Smith, creator of Really Good Emails says, “Emails should serve the customer not the product. Often times the marketing team, not the product team is in charge of the email flow and their directive is to grow. If you get myopic about that task you forget that the most solid growth comes through simple, repeatable, service that is so good it's sharable. Serving customers comes by meeting them in their email client with simple tasks and giving them more than they expect or more than they are paying for with their time.” This is a great filter that you should run your next email through.

MISTAKE #4: YOUR EMAIL IS WAY TOO LONG

Have you ever opened an email to the shock of what looks like a million words? My eyes glaze over every time I see an email like this. “Delete.” Next. Like the one viral video says, “Ain't nobody got time for that!”

“I often see people spending hours, even days, crafting long emails filled with many topics, ideas and news that would need a minimum of 10 minutes of uninterrupted reading to get through,” says Dan Levitt of Mad Mimi. “These monster emails lower your engagement and worst of all, they suck up your time and energy and become a chore. Keep it short and simple! Pick a goal and write a simple, short email that leaves the reader in no doubt what their next step is. It should be engaging, fun to read but most of all, it should take a few moments to grasp and act. If you’ve got a lot to get off your chest, send short emails more often.” ENOUGH SAID.

MISTAKE #5: YOUR EMAIL SHOWS YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

Jimmy Daly, head of content at Vero says, “The biggest mistake I see all the time is marketers ignoring behavior.
Here's what I mean. You see a lot of promotional email, lots of newsletters, etc. That's the easiest place to start with email marketing so people focus on it. Then, you get lots of content around optimizing subject lines, writing better copy, when to send emails, etc. We're missing the point! Email marketing campaigns should be sent as a direct result of data and behavior. If a user is inactive, they get a nudge to come back. If they are active, they get emails about features they haven't tried yet or inspiration to engage at an ever higher level. Data-driven lifecycle email is so, so, so powerful. And I believe it's where most businesses are missing the boat on email.”

I love the way Matt Hodges, Senior Director of Marketing at Intercom puts it: “Not considering your audience. It's like writing a love letter and then addressing it “to whom it may concern.” OUCH. Don't do this, please.

MISTAKE #6: YOUR EMAIL IS SENT TOO INCONSISTENTLY

Are you sending your emails too much, or too little? According to a recent survey, 53% of consumers reported getting too many emails from retailers, while only 44% said they get the right amount. Here are a couple of tips that can help with knowing how to keep things in balance:

1. Just ask up front. Find out from your subscribers how often they want to receive emails, either at the time of subscription or shortly after. You can then segment your list accordingly. Didn't think of that, huh?

2. Get to know them better. Survey your email subscriber to learn more about them, and not just to find out how often you can send emails. If you know them, it will help gauge frequency because you are more service focused.

YOUR NEXT MOVE

Hey, there are other mistakes to avoid and a ton of things to do that are awesome, but at the end of the day its all about making sure you cultivate a “loving” relationship that stands the test of time – and gets them to buy eventually. We train on this subject here at Legendary Marketer. Grab a copy of David's book, its a great place to start your learning.

Go Forth In Victory,

Coach Larry

David Sharpe’s 5 Offbeat Money Making Habits

I have the pleasure of being around Legendary Marketer's founder, David Sharpe, every week as I take the 55 minute drive from my home in Odessa to the corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida.

We are located on the second floor of this building.

When you are around a person on a regular basis, you get to see them up close and personal. I've said it many times that it is important to get within “arm's length” of highly successful people so you can witness for yourself what makes them so successful. I can remember when I first met David about 3 years ago when a buddy of mine dragged me to meet him at the office of his previous company.

I had only known David in passing at that point, but I had great respect for his success especially knowing his back story of overcoming multiple addictions and severe health challenges. When we arrived at his office, he appeared in the doorway and greeted us. I can remember very vividly being quite uncomfortable in his presence. At the time, I didn't understand why I had that experience, but looking back on it I realized that his very presence challenged me. Not the fact that he's slightly taller or that he had a nice smile. It was his energy. He exuded something that was more than just, “I'm successful,” or “I make a lot of money.” I believe it was, and still is, a deep sense of self-worth, humility, and clarity of purpose that forced me to return home and do an inventory of myself.

In the time since our first meeting we lost contact. Then one day a mutual friend put us in contact with each other, and the rest is history. Today I want to reveal to you 5 habits that I've noticed that make David Sharpe a true Legendary Marketer and continue to propel him and the company into amazing levels of success.

HABIT #1 – David Walks To Work

I'm not sure if this was intentional, but the corporate office is less than 5 blocks from David's personal residence. I have tried to get to the office to catch him walking down the street, but because I don't know his schedule of arrival its difficult. At least a couple days a week, David scrolls down the street with his leather briefcase hanging off his right shoulder. In this time, he's able to get some free time to mentally prepare for the day and get some fresh air.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. Many of us don't take enough time to stretch our legs or feel the warm sun in our face. We tend to be in a hurry all the time and fail to take time to simply think. We don't live in the moment enough. When was the last time you WALKED ANYWHERE? How often do you take time to think, be thankful, or prepare yourself mentally for the day? I respect this as one of my favorite habits of David.

HABIT #2 – David Packs His Lunch

I have the bad habit of eating on the fly, and I find myself in a drive-thru more often than I care to mention. There's a lot of money spent being unprepared and this is one of those things that David pulled my coat tail about. One day I asked David very directly where he felt I needed to grow. I braced myself for what I knew would be a very straight forward answer. My insecurities were on high alert and I became a bit tense. His answer shocked and surprised me. He said, “Figure out what you are going to eat everyday before its time to eat.” He went on to tell me the importance of removing this from my mind in order to leave room for more valuable things to think about.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. Too often we live our lives with the “drive-thru” mentality. If we're honest, we spend the bulk of our day flying by the seat of our pants. Little to no preparation goes into our day, other than the fixed schedule given to us by our employers. I struggle with forming this habit, but by watching David flow through his day I realize how this little habit yields big results for his productivity.

HABIT #3 – David Takes Care Of Himself

It's no secret that David has struggled with addiction as he shares this regularly. If we are honest, many of us do a very poor job of managing and caring for our minds and bodies. I've had many candid conversations with David about some of my own issues, and he's gently pointed me to the fine art of self-care. He takes time to unwind to be with his wife and young daughter. When he's working, he's working – and when he's not, he's REALLY not. He has surrounded himself with a tremendous support system that keeps his mind and spirit clear and in balance. He's careful to remove himself from anyone or anything that would challenge is sobriety or sense of well being.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. It's very difficult, if not impossible to operate at a level of peak performance if you are out of balance in your mind, body or spirit. Ignoring our self care is a big mistake and could cost us more than we care to lose. Today, I have sought out a professional therapist and joined a group to help me to overcome some of my demons and work for a plan of genuine self care. David won't take credit for that, but I will say he has directly influenced me to do that. I told him just the other day that his influence regarding self care is making a difference in my life.

HABIT #4 – David Loves His Family

A few times throughout the week David's lovely wife, Erin, pops into the office. Sometimes she's there just to visit, while other times she's helping out in some aspect of the day to day operations. You may think this is a weird observation that “proves” how much he loves his family, but I saw him kiss his wife goodbye one day and it wasn't one of those half-second near miss swipe of two pairs of lips. As a husband of 21 years, I know how routine it can be to “kiss goodbye.” That's not how David kissed his wife. That kiss was one of a man who honors and respects his wife and doesn't put his work, passions, or pursuits in front of her. He works to be the best husband and father he can be. Yes, I saw all of that in how he kissed her goodbye. I also know that outside of work he's dedicated to getting tools, resources and support that further builds his skills and keeps him accountable.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. Many ambitious men sacrifice their families on the alter of success and use their hard work as the excuse for not pouring into their lives. Too often we hear about how successful a man is in the boardroom, but a total failure at home. Not so with David. He's not perfect, but he is actively working on being the best husband and father he can be, and I can only respect that.

HABIT #5 – David Honors and Values Integrity

One day David pulled me into his office to participate in one of our many brainstorming sessions. On this particular day, I could see that he was uneasy and clearly troubled. He started off by telling me that he wasn't comfortable with the level of value being delivered in one of our products. So, for the next 2 hours we dissected that product until we came up with a new set of deliverables which met his expectation of genuine value. For our members, they now know this as the Builder Masterclass 2.0, Leader Masterclass 2.0 and Traffic Rolodex 2.0.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT. The moment that David felt in his soul that there needed to be a change, he changed. He didn't continue selling something that he came to believe wasn't good enough. Many companies will knowingly continue to sell their stuff simply because its selling with no regard of whether the end consumer is getting everything they should. I wish more people could have seen his anguish because it would be apparent how much he really does care about his people.

I could list 100 more habits that I've witnessed in David since working with him that I admire and respect. In the world of internet marketing, there's a ton of unscrupulous owners who hurt people and give our industry a bad name. I guess I'm just proud to be around someone who's not drinking his own Kool-aid and feeling himself. If you know David like I do, or he's done something to positively impact your life do me a favor and give him a shout out. These days he's not one for a lot of attention, but sometimes you just have to give credit where its due.

Go Forth In Victory

Larry Beacham (Coach Larry)
Dir. Of Training

GRAB A FREE COPY OF DAVID'S BOOK

3 Utterly Bizarre Misconceptions About Making Money Online

On last Friday, one of our members posted a pretty bizarre message in our Facebook group that tells the story of how so many people misunderstand what it really means to make money from home. I'll share with you what they said in a moment. In the meantime, I'd like to talk very frankly about what may be your thoughts about making money from home, and whether those thoughts will help or hurt you.

 

As a coach, I often cringe at some of the things that people say about their “make money from home” beliefs, and it shows me two key things:

1. Most people have formulated opinions and conclusions about a home based business that will cause them great frustration

2. Frustration leads to anger, and that anger will lead to them leaving the home based business industry with a bad taste in their mouth

I remember when I first joined the home based business industry at the age of 19. A mortgage broker attempted to introduce me to my first home based business in the conference room at my job. As he began to get into his presentation, my boss at the time burst into the room and threw the guy out. I was horrified and afraid for my job. It turned out that my boss was involved in the very same opportunity that this guy was pitching to me, but he'd never shared it with me. Later that week, I came to a business meeting at our office. Upon seeing “circles” drawn on a white board, I became mesmerized by the potential and, after borrowing the enrollment fee from my boss, I joined this amazing home based business industry.

 

For nearly 10 years I struggled to make any money in that opportunity. In that stretch of time I never made more than $500 in any one month. Depressing, right? It wasn't until I hit my mid-thirties and started working with a mentor that I began to see where some of my challenges came from. The bulk of my problem is the same as the guy who posted in our group.

He said, “I've been in Legendary Marketer for about a month now, and I still haven't made any money. Showing people this thing, and they aren't signing up. I'm doing everything that I'm being told to do, AND ITS STILL NOT WORKING. What am I doing wrong?”

This is a very common complaint, and its unfortunate that many people feel this same way. So, here are 3 misconceptions about making money online that have to be addressed before you can ever make any real money.

MISCONCEPTION #1: “Making money online is quick and easy to do”

The home based business industry has a lot of blame here. The constant promotion of “easy steps” and overuse of terms like “simple,” “effortless,” “quick,” and others perpetuates this faulty belief. It is “easy” once you do the work to learn the basics and master them. However, its painful to make changes in any aspect of life. Learning a new skill like marketing online is not exempt. As it relates to “quick,” that a matter of personal opinion. Entrepreneurs who understand business don't focus on “quick.” That's an expectation that will deplete your energy. Don't put a 2-week paycheck expectation on a business opportunity. It's apples and oranges.

MISCONCEPTION #2: “Working part-time from home will make a full-time income”

Have you ever heard this one before? I hate to admit it, but I've actually said this many times with full belief that it was true. Of course, I did this during the time when I still had a full-time job and I just trusted this to be true. To be clear, you don't need to work “full time” in the same manner you would on a typical 9-to-5 job to be successful. However, a full-time effort is absolutely required to create the leverage necessary to have the option to work “part time.” In other words, you have to build a system that works for you when you are not “working.” Until then, you'll need to do EVERYTHING (i.e., marketing, lead generation, list building, etc.). David Sharpe, CEO of Legendary Marketer, doesn't work “part time.” All of the great and successful online entrepreneurs I know work “full time” even though they could technically work “part time.” In the beginning, you will most likely sacrifice time away from things that matter to you in order to get things working, or to educate yourself well enough to take actions that yield results. This isn't a negative. The good news is, some day you'll have the CHOICE to pick whatever schedule you want, but not in the beginning. Get your head out of the clouds!

MISCONCEPTIONS #3 “Making money from home can be done with no investment”

NOT! This one right here is really misleading and gets a lot of people into trouble. This belief is usually centered around the marketing of the business opportunity. I'll speak to this in a moment. At the very least, you need to invest in quality training in order to understand what you need to do to get things to work. You can't expect to build a solid knowledge base googling everything, or searching all day on Youtube. Most of the time that stuff is fragmented or just enough information to get you taking action. What happens when you run into the gaps in your understanding or have questions? Help costs money. Also, if you are signing up for “free” or low cost opportunities, you'll soon realize that sooner or later SOMEBODY has to spend money for YOU to make money. If not, its probably not a legitimate opportunity. There is an exception to this rule of “no investment” (assuming you are involved in a legitimate opportunity) and its surrounding the idea of free marketing. If you are going to work a “free” marketing strategy, get ready to wait a LONG time to get a return because its not quick. Also it will require a ton of your personal time. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try these strategies. I'm just bringing you to a more realistic perspective about what it will take to get results.

In the Legendary Marketer's membership area, we have a lot of training on how to work in a home based business and get real results, whether you use our affiliate program or not.

I want you to get the success you dream about, but you can't do it in a cloud of fantasy beliefs. Millions of good people have been able to use the work at home industry to leave their jobs and live their dreams. That much is completely true. In order for you to join them, someone has to tell you the truth from the beginning with no B.S. We can help you. Just reach out to us and we'll be there for you. For now, grab a free copy of our book to get started.

Go Forth In Victory,

Larry Beacham (Coach Larry)
Dir. Of Training

CHECK OUT OUR DAILY MOTIVATION AND MINDSET SERIES

[INTERVIEW] How To Develop Longevity As An Online Marketer Feat. Super-Affiliate Keysha Bass

Most of us don't take enough time to think about the long-term impact that we want to make as online entrepreneurs. That's pretty evident by the tactics used to attract people with the “right now” focus. The truth is, we all need to develop the skills to last the test of time, because only then can we experience real success and have it be there long after we desire to work.

On this week's Legend's Webinar Series (9pm EST), we've invited super-affiliate Keysha Bass to come and train on her strategy for longevity. For more than 5 years, Keysha has been an amazing testament to what hard work, dedication, integrity and mental toughness can get you.

Check out this revealing interview and make the decision to join us for her training tonight. Thank you, Keysha, for being so willing to deliver life-changing value to our industry at large, and to our members here at Legendary Marketer.

REGISTER TO ATTEND TONIGHT'S WEBINAR HERE

TRAINING CLASS: Your 6-Figure Webinar: How To Create ONE Simple Webinar That Consistently & Predictably Makes You $10k Per Month Or More Featuring Marquel Russell

Many of us have attended webinars and recognize how powerful this tool can be for delivering amazing value and selling stuff, and most of us would LOVE to benefit from this amazing tactic. The question is, what will it take to host a webinar and actually get results?

In this training class, master trainer and webinar marketing expert Marquel Russell deep dives into the world of webinar marketing and lays out in great details all of the pieces necessary to host webinars and successfully pull in thousands of dollars in sales, profits and commissions.

What's cool about this training is that its effective even if you have no list, no one has ever heard of you, lacking in techy skills, and have not made one red cent online. NONE OF THAT MATTERS, and Marquel proves that in this training. When its over you'll see how quickly you can start leveraging webinars and before you know it, you'll be the proud recipient of multiple $1000's in new income. Don't believe me? Just watch below!

INTERVIEW: Marquel Russell – The 7-Figure Webinar Marketing Machine

On Monday, March 12th we've invited acclaimed webinar expert and trainer Marquel Russell to come and teach us his 1-2-3 step blueprint for how he's able to consistently (and on auto-pilot) generate $3000-$10,000 PER WEBINAR (results not typical)! We were able to grab Marquel for a quick introduction to his story and get him to give some insight on exactly what he's going to cover on the training.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR HERE.

Webinars are one of the “go to” tools that nearly every top earner uses. As a matter of fact, a webinar is the next best thing to a live event, and the amount of income earned on webinars is the direct rival to event revenue. The problem is, most people in our space ATTEND webinars, but very few HOST webinars.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR HERE.

How Making Money Online REALLY Works – Pt. 4 – MAKING OFFERS THAT TURN INTO SALES

When you think about making money online, did you know that how you set up your offer is as important as the offer itself?  This is critical to whether or not your prospect says “yes” or “no.”  You can't just toss out an offer; you have to “package” the offer in an attractive, irresistible way.  This is what we will cover today as we dive into the final part of our 4-part series, “how making money online really works.”

Check out PART 1, PART 2, and PART 3 here in case you missed it.

MAKING OFFERS – HOW THE 6- AND 7-FIGURE INCOME EARNERS DO IT

Chess is my all-time favorite game for many reasons, but as it relates to business and making money one of the principles stands out to me as the key to success:  BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND.

Making offers that turn into money begins with reverse engineering the entire process, which simply means we start with the outcome we are after, then work backwards from there.  Here's what I mean.

MONEY (end) ->  SALE ->  OFFER ->  SOLUTION -> BIG PROBLEM ->  “SMALL FIX” ->  SMALL PROBLEM -> TARGET MARKET (beginning)

Remember when we began with giving a “fix” for something that is “broken” in your target market?  Here's why that's so important: the thing that you fixed isn't likely to be the MAIN issue; it's probably a symptom of a larger problem that needs a full solution.  Since it's your goal to make money with your full solution (i.e. your product, service or opportunity) we have to get our foot in the door to ensure that we are on the right track by providing a small fix.

One of the oldest “small fix” techniques used by dentists is to offer free teeth whitening.  Let's assume that the dentist wants to serve smokers who are challenged with yellow teeth.  So let's chart the path of the dentist:

TARGET MARKET – Smokers
SMALL PROBLEM – yellow teeth
SMALL FIX – complimentary teeth whitening

Once the dentist gets the smoker in his chair and they open their mouth, he now has an opportunity to identify additional challenges if they exist.  He starts to examine the condition of their teeth and gums and notices the early stages of gum disease, which means he's now identified a bigger problem.

A skilled dentist isn't simply going to jump in there and say, “Hey you've got gum disease.  While I'm in your mouth, I'll fix that up for you and it's only going to cost $5,000.”  That dentist is going to starve to death.

POWERFUL OFFERS BEGIN WITH POWERFUL QUESTIONS

During the teeth whitening process, the dentist observes (and totally expected) that the patient shows signs of discomfort with the procedure.

POWER QUESTION: “Do you normally experience discomfort or bleeding when you brush your teeth?”

All great offers begin with great and powerful questions.  Power questions such as the one above serve 2 purposes:

  1. To qualify the audience and get them to identify with the problem
  2. To set up the details of the solution – which LEADS to the offer

Let's make a clear distinction.  The SOLUTION (to the bigger problem) and the OFFER are two different things.

The SOLUTION is  your product, service or opportunity details that gets rid of the bigger problem which consist of:
FEATURES – what the solution consists of
BENEFITS – what the solution actually does for you
RESULTS – the final  or “better” place that the solution brings you to

The OFFER includes the details such as:
METHOD OF DELIVERY – i.e. videos, audios, membership access, private coaching, etc.
RISK REVERSAL (if applicable) – i.e. money-back guarantee, bonuses, extras, gifts, etc.
PRICE

IN THIS VIDEO I take time to fully illustrate this process so that it's crystal clear. WATCH IT NOW.

 

WHEN YOU SKILLFULLY PRESENT THE SOLUTION, ACCEPTING THE OFFER IS EASY

If our dentist can deliver a powerful presentation of the solution, with the appropriate details surrounding the benefits and the results his patient can expect, his offer will be quite irresistible.  Here are the final steps in his process:

BIGGER PROBLEM – Gum disease
SOLUTION – “Nu Smile Dental Care System”
OFFER – In-office treatments, guaranteed financing, free teeth cleaning for 6-months, $(PRICE)

PLEASE NOTE: There's no such thing as closing 100% of those who you present your solution to.  The goal is to line up as many qualified candidates as possible, ask the right questions, and present your solution with authority.

YOUR NEXT MOVE

At this point, you can decide to work towards mastering all of the components of this process on your own.  The benefits are life changing, but the process to learn and master it all can prove discouraging for many.  If you have the “DIY (do-it-yourself)” mentality, chances are you'll take much longer than you need to in order to reap the rewards.  I typically recommend a nice mix of “DWY (done-with-you)” and “DFY (done-for-you).”

Would you like an opportunity to test drive a hybrid system that's 10% “do-it-yourself” and 90% “done with/for you?”  If so, I would recommend test driving the Legendary Marketer system.  Your test drive includes a complimentary “driving instructor” (i.e. coach) that can answer some of your key questions, help you solve your most challenging problems that have prevented you from making money online, and ease your discomfort with respect to implementing the principles we've discussed.

It all begins with you accepting our offer to get a FREE COPY of our book, which you can GET RIGHT HERE.

Thank you for allowing me to guide you through the process of what it takes to truly make money online.  If you have questions, please comment below and I will follow up.

Do you believe this content is share-worthy?  If so, please share it with those who you believe could benefit – specifically those who are looking for the secret to making money online.

Until next time, go forth in victory!

Coach Larry

 

 

How Making Money Online REALLY Works – Pt. 3 – Building Authority & Developing Relationships

CLICK HERE TO GET A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK! ->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->–>->->->->->

Have you ever heard the phrase, “people only do business with those whom they know, like and trust?”  I don't think there's any disputing this, however the problem for most people trying to make money online is they do a poor job of building trust.  Today in part 3 of our 4-part series we will deep dive into getting your “friends” list to know, like and trust you.  If you haven't checked out part 1 and part 2 of this series, make sure you do that before going on to avoid any confusion.

CHECK OUT PART 1 HERE

CHECK OUT PART 2 HERE

HOW TO BUILD AUTHORITY AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR LIST

At this point you have successfully started building a list of people who had a problem that you successfully fixed.  Congratulations!  For 95% of people looking to make money online, this is the most difficult.  The next step is to KEEP THEM ON THE LIST.

How is that accomplished?  Think beyond the original reason they entered to include related topics that are likely to be additional issues (i.e. things that are broken) that need your attention (a.k.a. your fix).

WHAT YOU FIX IS A SMALL INDICATION OF OTHER TROUBLE AREAS THAT MAY NEED ATTENTION

Remember when I talked about the collar stays in part 2?  Once I received that fix, I joined the “friends list” of the gentlemen who created that video for me.  Within 24 hours I began to receive “fixes” for other things that may (or may not) be areas that could help me.  The point is, he was smart enough to know that collar stays wasn't the main category to serve.  It represented a sub-category (i.e. professional dress) that needed attention.

I began to receive daily “fixes” that came in many forms:

-coaching/mentorship
-lifestyle showcases
-equipment training
-interviews
-news/fashion updates
-etc.

Sometimes I was surprised by the value that I received because I discovered areas that needed to be fixed that were total blind spots for me.  I can remember being “fixed” when it came to knowing what height my shirt collar should be based upon my neck size.  Pretty empowering stuff.

In the following video, I deeply illustrate my point of going into other areas to help your “friends” list.  WATCH THIS VIDEO.

GIVING GENUINE VALUE AUTOMATICALLY BRANDS YOU AS AN AUTHORITY

Here's a very funny story that I once heard from someone on my list.  One day a “friend” from my list and I were having our first phone conversation per their request.  In their excitement, they conveyed to me how much they appreciated my value by sharing with me their habit at work.  At one time, I would release content at the same time everyday, and when this particular person saw my update, they would duck into a bathroom stall in order to consume the content!  I was totally blown away at this level of risk just to get my content as quickly as possible.  It was in that moment that I fully understood the power of giving value.  That person went on to buy hundreds of dollars in products from me.

One of my early mentors put it this way: “True selling is when you can reveal your value to those you serve so well that they are happy and excited to give you their time, attention and eventually their money in exchange for it.”

BUILD A FLAMING HOT AUDIENCE AND YOU WILL BUILD A LIFE CHANGING INCOME – GUARANTEED

Another example of the power behind giving incredible value happened to me on a conference call.  I did an hour-long training on a particular subject and at the end I made an offer (more about offers in part 4).  As people were making their purchase, I decided to do what I call “The QVC Technique,” where I pull someone onto the line and ask them to share with others why they decided to buy.

One young lady gave a response that completely blew my mind.  She said that her decision to purchase had nothing at all to do with what I covered in the previous hour.  She said that I had given her so much value over the previous months that she felt as if SHE OWED IT TO ME to buy my training!  Talk about a mind-blowing experience.  I will never forget the feeling I had when she said that.

If you practice and apply what you've been learning in this series, I have no doubt that you will have similar stories to tell.  Real value has a way of transforming how the market views you.  When you can build a flaming hot audience with your value, you will quickly build a flaming-hot, life changing income.  You will know what it means to “print money on demand.”

Tomorrow I will teach you how to make offers that SELL.  You will have the final piece to the puzzle that has made millions for others before you.  Until then, here are a few things to do:

  1. Start compiling a list of other “fixes” that are tied to the main category of things your target market needs help with
  2. Begin to build up your inventory of tips, tricks, do's and dont's, etc. to prepare your list for your amazing value
  3. Determine how frequently you want to deliver your “fixes” (i.e daily, weekly, etc.) and commit be consistent.

Do you believe this content is share-worthy?  If so, please share it with those who you believe could benefit – specifically those who are looking for the secret to making money online.

Come back tomorrow for part 4 where I will lay out an in-depth blueprint on how to present your offer and GET PAID!

Until then, go forth in victory!

Coach Larry
P.S. In the RIGHT MARGIN of this page, there is a book that we would like to give you as a FREE GIFT.  Some of the principles in the book were featured in today's training.  Click on the image and get your copy today.

 

How Making Money Online REALLY Works – Pt. 2 – THE “FRIENDS” LIST

Did you check out part 1 in our 4-part series entitled, “how making money online REALLY works?”  If so, you now understand what it means to give value as the first step towards making money.  If you have not seen part 1, check it out here so that you can keep up.  Today we move on to STEP 2 in the process of making money, which I like call the “friends” list.  Let's recap the 4 things you need in order to make money online.

  1. A Quality Value Exchange Between You And Those You Want To Serve
  2. A Growing List Of People You've helped From Step 1 Above – TODAY'S TOPIC
  3. A System For Building Relationships & Authority With The List
  4. Make The RIGHT offer at the RIGHT Time Unapologetically

MAKING MONEY ONLINE – NOBODY LIKES TALKING TO STRANGERS

Your first and most important objective online, if you ever want to make money, is to move from being a stranger to being “trusted,” then on to being a “friend.”  If you never make it to the realm of a friend that's fine; that's the ultimate way to maximize your results.  However, you can do everything you need to do to make money online at the level of being trusted.

In our everyday life, we have given our trust to both friends and non-friends.  Take for instance your primary care physician.  Can you really say that's your friend, or just someone you trust?  The real question is, how did they earn your trust WITHOUT developing into a friend?  There's 3 possible ways this happened:

  1. Their marketing convinced you to trust them
  2. Their credentials convinced you to trust them
  3. Their results convinced you to trust them

Once you conclude this training you'll be given the secrets to using marketing, credentials and results to earn trust.  Once you have that, never do anything to break that trust.  More on that in part 3.

MARKETING – HOW TO CONVINCE SOMEONE TO TRUST YOU

I can remember one time being panicked because I couldn't find the little brass strips to put into my shirt collar, called “collar stays,” which is what kept my collar from flying up when I put on a tie.  So I jumped onto Youtube and typed in “DIY collar stays.”  There appeared a young man in a 3-minute video that showed me how to cut up an old credit card and use it as a replacement for the brass collar stay.  Genius!  His marketing (of a solution to my problem) is what convinced me to trust him.  I immediately subscribed to his channel and have revisited him from time to time.

But here's where it gets good – he invited me to download a list of DIY tricks for men who wear suits, and I jumped all over it.  He added me to his “friends” list.  I use the word “friend” very loosely here, but the focus is on the fact that he's no longer a stranger because demonstrated perfectly what we talked about is part 1, the value exchange.

This young man understood that a lot of men who wear ties (i.e. his target market) carry this “broken” item, so his video was a demonstration that he had the “fix.”  He was skilled enough to immediately direct me to a place where he could continue building trust, which is why I ended up on his “friends” list.

LIST BUILDING PRINCIPLE: FIXING WHAT'S BROKEN LEADS TO INSTANT TRUST

Your second and most important objective online after building trust is to build a list of those whose trust you have earned.  If you can appreciate that my problem with collar stays wasn't the ONLY problem I would have, then you understand the value of building a “friends” list.  Other things that may be “broken” that he could fix (via email) could be:

-How to get scuffs out of my shoes WITHOUT damaging them
-How to remove wrinkles from my suit WITHOUT ironing it
-etc.

THE MONEY IS IN THE LIST – WELL, KINDA

In tomorrow's training we will discuss how to build a relationship and authority with the list, and why that is the final step before getting paid.  Before I go I want to address something I've heard since I began marketing online.  You'll hear every online guru utter the following line when referencing building your email list:

“The money is in the list.”  In other words, if you can successfully build a strong, thriving list of people who are on that list because you fixed something that was broken, and you make offers to them, you'll get sales and therefore make money.

This is partially true, and here's why.  It's not the sheer accumulation of a list that leads to money.  It's building an AUDIENCE from the list that is the essence of what they are trying to say.

Check out this video and you'll better understand what I mean.  WATCH IT BELOW.

Tomorrow I will dive into part 3 where we focus on building that relationship to the point of being a friend and trusted advisor.  Until then, here are a few action steps you can do until then:

  1. Identify the MOST COMMON broken items that you target market would deal with on a regular basis
  2. Make a list of the top 3-5 that your can create a “fix” for (i.e. video, audio, pdf, etc.)
  3. Set a goal to build a list of 100 people who you have provided your “fix”

Do you believe this content is share-worthy?  If so, please share it with those who you believe could benefit – specifically those who are looking for the secret to making money online.

Until tomorrow, go forth in victory!

Coach Larry
P.S. In the RIGHT MARGIN of this page, there is a book that we would like to give you as a FREE GIFT.  Some of the principles in the book were featured in today's training.  Click on the image and get your copy today.

How Making Money Online REALLY Works – Pt. 1 – THE VALUE EXCHANGE

Are you battling with the details of what it takes to actually start making money online?  I know that battle all too well.  There's so much BULL circulating that it seems like those who really know what to do only want to share it AFTER you fork out a small fortune – and even then they still hold back.  Sound familiar?

HOW TO START MAKING MONEY ONLINE EVEN IF YOU'VE NEVER MADE ONE RED CENT

As we gear up for our annual Sales & Marketing Experience (February 2nd-4th in St. Petersburg, Florida), I thought this might be a good jump-start in your efforts to make money.

Today, we begin a 4-part series that will explain in detail the necessary pieces that have to be in place in order for you to start making money online.  

Here's the secret: there is no secret!  It boils down to basic principles that have worked in marketing for 1000's of years.  It has very little to do with the internet specifically.  However, what you're about to learn over the next several days is the adaptation needed for it to work online – and work for YOU.  Make sense?

So the question is, what's the first step in the process to making money online, even if you've never made one red cent?  Let's first list the 4 things you will need.  The remainder of today's training will completely focus on the FIRST thing you need to start making money online.

  1. A Quality Value Exchange Between You And Those You Want To Serve
  2. A Growing List Of People You've helped From Step 1 Above
  3. A System For Building Relationships & Authority With The List
  4. Make The RIGHT offer at the RIGHT Time Unapologetically

LEARN HOW TO FIX WHAT'S BROKEN – THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS MAKING MONEY ONLINE

When I first attempted to make money online nearly 10 years ago, I kept hearing it said over and over, “you have to give value to the marketplace.”  Can I be brutally honest here?  I had no freakin' idea what that actually meant!  In my day to day life, that kind of talk wasn't happening, so it confused me.

Imagine someone carrying around a box that has a broken item inside.  They are searching for someone to teach them how to fix it.  They come upon you and you are also carrying a box that has the “fix” instructions inside.  You exchange your fix for their broken item.  THAT'S THE DEFINITION OF GIVING VALUE.  It's an exchange that you make that leaves someone better than they were before connecting with you.

In other words, when you are able to do one of the following 4 things, you have successfully given value:

  1. Give a quality solution to a problem (“I'm having a problem with _______.”
  2. Give a quality answer to a question (I have a question about _______.”
  3. Give quality relief to pain (I'm suffering from _______.”
  4. Give quality advice to a given situation (I need advice on how to _______.”

In the following video I break down an example that should anchor the point.  WATCH IT BELOW.

Tomorrow we will pick up where we left off here and talk about the next piece of the puzzle when it comes to making money online.  What I want you to do until then is identify:

  1. Who do you serve with your business?
  2. What are the “boxes” that they carry around with “broken” items?
  3. What is the “fix” in your box that you can exchange with them and make them better?

Do you believe this content is share-worthy?  If so, please share it with those who you believe could benefit – specifically those who are looking for the secret to making money online.

Come back tomorrow for part 2 where we dive into how to grow a quality list of people who you've helped from step 1 and exactly what needs to happen to get you closer to the cash.

Until then, go forth in victory!

Coach Larry
P.S. In the RIGHT MARGIN of this page, there is a book that we would like to give you as a FREE GIFT.  Some of the principles in the book were featured in today's training.  Click on the image and get your copy today.

 

 

We’re Looking For Great Coaches

Hey Legendary Marketers! We're looking to add a few more coaches to our Core Step Coaching Team! This is a HUGE opportunity to work closely with the inner circle, internal team of Legendary Marketer AND earn a great income.

Our Core Step Coaching Team is lead directly by me, David Sharpe and our coaches are best in class.

Our Core Step Coach's role is to guide our new members through our 15 Core Step Training Process and introduce them to our core products.

To be considered you must:

– HAVE A GREAT ATTITUDE. Feedback, ideas and constructive criticism is always welcome. Negativity is never tolerated.

– BE GOOD WITH PEOPLE. You must generally like poeple and want to see them win. If you don't enjoy interacting with poeple this isn't for you.

– MAKE CALLS AND WORK THE PHONE. Yes, coaching and selling requires hustle. The phone is your weapon of choice. If you don't like hustle and don't want to use the phone this ain't for you cowboy/cowgirl.

– BE ABLE TO ASK FOR THE SALE. Our “sales process” is entirely based on value and education based selling. We overdeliver on value first before we ask for the sale. But we do ask for the sale. If you can't ask, this ain't for you.

– WANT TO GROW FINANCIALLY. If you don't want to earn a minimum of $100,000/year…and if you aren't hungry enough to hustle for it…this ain't for you.

If you're still reading, here's what to do next.

To be considered do the following:

Send your resume, 2 references and a short 1-2min video of why you're the right person for this role to the following email address.

proclosersneeded@gmail.com