Hey Wes,
So have you got your personal narrative nailed down?
Get busy on it if you haven’t.
Because today, in this market, positioning yourself is one of the single most important things you can do to build a business.

It creates easier sales
It creates more loyal customers
It creates more repeat and referral business.

Trust me. Don’t skip that part of planning your business.
But once you get that done, then what?
Well that’s what I want to talk to you about in the next couple issues here. About what the rest of your communication should be about.
This is something else you shouldn’t take lightly, because if your communication to prospects and client’s isn’t doing this specific thing, then you’ll be struggling down the path to failure.

Time to explain what I’m talking about. Let’s dive in To higher profits and beyond,

Rich

Your Second Most Important Communication

By Rich Schefren

OK. We’ve spent the last few issues talking about communicating with your market. Specifically how you shape your personal narrative.
Once you get that down, you’re going to be way ahead of the game. But you’re far from done.

Today I want to start talking a little more in depth about another area of communication that is vital to your business. One that can accelerate your success, or leave you stuck in the mud spinning your wheels.
The area I’m talking about is…

FREE CONTENT

More specifically, free content that actually makes sales.
You see, if the content you produce and give away isn’t clearly moving you closer to the sale, it’s actually moving you further away.
So let me tell you a little bit of the back story. You see, I was out West a little over a year ago consulting for a well-known guru I’m sure you’ve heard of. He’s not in internet marketing but he’s been around for quite a long time. And his company is about a little over ten million dollars.
They flew me out to get my input because sales had been flat.
More specifically, the launches that they had done were mediocre at best. Sales from their blog were basically non-existent. Sales from the content emails they sent out barely moved the needle at all. And even their webinars and teleseminars really didn’t have the impact that they were hoping for.
Now whenever I hear something like this I’m always thinking there is a problem in the way the content is being structured. More specifically, is the content that’s being delivered actually furthering the sale? Is it advancing customer’s desire to purchase the product that the company, guru, etc. is hoping to sell?
You see, the big mistake this client was making, one I see so many people make these days, is thinking, "if we provide really good content, people will automatically want to buy our stuff."

Guess what.

That simply isn’t the case –

And it hasn’t been the case for quite a long time.

Valuable content for content’s sake, on its own and without a strategic plan behind it will not get more people to buy from you. Today we live in an age where great content is all around us. So the simple fact you are offering someone great content doesn’t have the impact that it once. It doesn’t motivate buyers with regard to actually stimulating a sale like it did when great content was much more scarce. .
So that’s what we’re going to talk about. Content. Specifically the type of content that actually increases desire. The type of content that actually stimulates a sale.

Are you suffering from weak content?

Well, the easiest way to get a grasp on whether or not this really applies to you is how effective is whatever free content you’re putting out there is actually generating sales?
For example, I’m well-known for the reports that I’ve put out, the free reports that I’ve put out to the public. In each of those reports I’ve made millions of dollars based on the sales that they cause. So that’s what I’m talking about.
If you’re putting out content that doesn’t stimulate sales, then you really got to scratch your head and ask yourself why you’re putting out that content in the first place and could that content be better? Could it actually create the sales that you desire?

It can.

When you create great content that actually does advance the sale; that does create desire, what happens is that you build a momentum in your business where that content that is out there for free for the prospects and your marketplace to eat up and to consume, continuously increases your sales. Continuously brings new prospects and new customers into the fold. That’s when you have content that is really effective.
So let’s talk about really why people have this problem. There are two different concepts that have floated around the market that I believe really cause more harm than they do good.

The first and most problematic is called…

"Moving the Free Line."

This is the standard response entrepreneurs offer when they see the content they’re currently offering isn’t getting the results they hope for.
If you’re a BGS or Founders Club member, you’ve probably heard me talk about Earl Nightingales comment about why you don’t want to do what the rest of the market is doing. This is a perfect case in point.

Anyway, the concept here is that we’re going to give more away than has been given away before. Somehow magically because we’re doing that, people are automatically going to buy from us. That simply is not the case.

Think about this for just a second. if your content isn’t creating sales in the first place, how is giving more of it away going to help? Still that’s the mindset that most entrepreneurs work from.

If your content doesn’t create greater demand your content is not effective. So the idea of moving the free line, while it’s a clever statement, doesn’t really capture in its essence what is necessary to create demand and make sales.
Now there are a number of other content mistakes that entrepreneurs make as well. But i’m going to cover them in the next issue, so create any content in your marketing, stay tuned!

Questions or Comments on this issue?
Click here to send them to Rich!

———————————————————————-

Until Next time…

Wes

www.SpidersMarketingWeb.com

There’s Always A ‘What’s Next?’ For The Information-Marketing Client
By Dan Kennedy

Let me tell you about a long-time client of mine. Because he is a multi-faceted information marketer, it’s not easy to accurately describe his business. It’ll take a few minutes.

He publishes a book and a home-study course about earning finder’s fees in the real estate investment world – the finder’s fee idea of my invention. These information products are sold via direct-mail letters, magalogs, booklets, and postcards, as well as websites and tele-seminars and through affiliates.

To get that far, he required copywriting for a collection of sales letters, magalogs, booklets, postcards, and websites, then, as soon as that was working, a series of ‘back-end’ letters to stop refunds and help retention; to get the buyers to attend follow-up training conference calls and tele-seminars where other courses are sold; and a letter to recruit affiliates to let him promote his products to their lists.

Next, all these course buyers needed to be sold into coaching programs – requiring another wave of sales letters, booklets, audio CD scripts, websites, email campaigns. Now that all that’s working, campaigns are needed for three different boot camps and an annual conference.

Next, we’re in discussion to have me (a) re-create all that for a different personality with a different kind of opportunity likely to appeal to these same customers and to the much larger number of unconverted leads, and (b) re-create the original system to be aimed at a higher level, more affluent, more sophisticated target audience.

Each successful step in the evolutionary growth and expansion of his business provides the next copywriting project I’m needed for. It should be noted he is also using other freelance copywriters and content writers for less critical and difficult project work.

This guy runs his business with his wife, two employees, works part-time, generates over $5-million a year with high net profits, and pays me well for my contributions – and better yet, is zero hassle. We speak once a month during a pre-scheduled phone call, otherwise communicate by fax. As soon as I finish one thing, we contract for the next.

He is not at all unusual.

As a matter of fact, there are thousands just like him, in hundreds of different product and business categories but all marketing "how-to" information, published offline and online, delivered in training programs, in coaching programs, by one-to-one coaches, and on and on.

Many have ascension processes for their customers, so that, with coaching as an example, the same information marketer may have programs priced at $3,000, $15,000, and $30,000 a year. They have insatiable need for new and better "front-end" marketing to bring in new buyers plus even more insatiable need for "back-end" marketing to ascend their buyers, bring buyers to conferences, and otherwise monetize buyers. They also have need for content, for everything delivered to buyers that gets created "fresh" week to week, month to month.

This is but one very good kind of information-marketer client, who I’ll call "Steady Eddie."

Another is the client who only periodically, even sporadically comes out of the woodwork to create and run a big but short-term promotion, for a product or event. I have clients like this I do a project for once a year and never hear from them until the next year.

There are other types of clients, too. The information-marketing industry is huge and diverse and blossoming thanks to proliferation of new media yet very much reliant on old media as well, and most importantly, in constant need for more copywriters and writers willing to learn how they operate, why their customers buy, what they sell, and then serve their needs.

Any such client’s successful campaign for something automatically births an endless series of Next’s, creating an endless series of assignments for the capable copywriter.

This is very important to understand. Like most businesses, a typical information-marketing business has, as its floor, one or several on-going, chug-chug-chug means of getting customers and making sales that get little or no tinkering for months or even years on end.

The client I spoke about at the start of this article is heavily reliant on a single direct-mail campaign I wrote 26 months ago, that has not needed change since.

But, good news about these information-marketing businesses: they are a bit like movie studios, in that they are very much about their next "release" and the marketing to make it a hit, and their next "release" and the marketing to make it a hit.

To their own lists of customers and unconverted leads, in their own media like websites and newsletters, they are rolling out one entirely new, built-from-scratch promotion after another after another all year long; as one is happening, the next is being readied, and the next to follow it is being conceptualized. A few months ago, when we saw the marketing of The Green Lantern movie, with fast food company, toy, comic book and magazine, video game, and online promotion. What we don’t see is all the work in progress for the marketing for the new Superman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Justice League of America films to follow, each in varying degrees of planning and development, for 2012, 2013, and 2014.

These information marketers work in much the same way, so there is also more than one to many new products, events, coaching programs, and services being readied for launch, and advertising, marketing, and promotion campaigns as well as content being written, on cycles of months to six months to even further out.

Few other industries or types of clients function like this. That’s why learning to write for information marketers can be so beneficial to the freelancer. Here, not only is there an abundance of available clients and opportunities and assignments, there is a way to eliminate the roller-coaster effect of getting an assignment and making money, but then being unemployed and having no income when you finish that assignment, then hunting for another gig. Here, there is a way to lock in steady work and income through a series of Next’s.

Dan Kennedy Will Personally Help You Succeed

In his Writing for Info-Marketers Training and Certification Program, Dan Kennedy gives a comprehensive guide to how the information-marketing industry works and how to break into this niche as a copywriter.

As a Carefree Entrepreneur, you can benefit from this knowledge in two ways. First, you’ll get to know the industry – which is ideal for Carefree Businesses – inside and out. Second, by learning to write copy, you’ll master a skill vital to your own business success. Even better, you’ll make extra money… maybe even discover you like it enough to make it a career.

For a limited time, Dan’s program is available at $500 off the regular price. But, this is a strictly limited time offer.

Go here for more details.

Ready to start earning 100% Commissions in your own Real Home Business?

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Hey Wes,
In your last issue of One Step Ahead, I got on the topic of your personal communication. Of what it should be accomplishing every time you reach out to your prospects or clients. And how important it is to make sure they get the message.
But how do you know if you’re succeeding? How do you know if your messages are hitting or missing your mark?
Well I’ve got some good news for you today.
There are some tell-tale signs you can look for that will give you those answers.
Clues from your market that will tell you if your personal communication is resonating, or simply going in one ear and out the other.
And I’ve got a couple tips for those of you just starting out can use as well.
So let’s get started…
To higher profits and beyond,
Rich

Three Checks To Be Sure
Your Communication Is Hitting Its Mark

By Rich Schefren

So we’re talking about your communication with your market this week. This is really an important and often misunderstood topic.
You see, all of your communication must have a point, a purpose. To create a connection, to gain agreement with your perspective, to boost retention, to establish loyalty…
Not just to produce content. (That’s what my latest Founders Club report is about – what your content needs to do to move a prospect closer to the sale.)
So writing with one or more of these goals in mind begs the question…
How do you know if right now your communication is achieving any or all of them? Let me give you a few ways that you can tell.

How do you know when you’re doing it right?

The first thing to notice is are you getting contacted by the marketplace? Do you get mail or emails from clients and prospects on any kind of a regular basis?
And not just correspondence asking questions (or customer service calls!) But are you getting mail that talks to you? Let me tell you about some of mail I get.
Whenever I talk about my dealing with ADD, I often get email, letters, sometimes boxes with gifts in them that have to do with my ADD. They’ll offer suggestions about what I can do to deal with it or relate what they’ve done to get over it that I should try. Personal things like that.
In other words, when I mention that I have ADD, people on the other side of that communication who feel like I care about them… who feel connected to me… who feel as if there’s a relationship between us… care enough to send me an email, a letter, a gift and express their concern.
So that’s one way of knowing your communication is hitting the target. Call it "personal fan mail." If you receive that kind of stuff, that lets you know you’re doing what I’m talking about here the right way.
Another way to know you’re hitting your mark is when people start telling your stories or quoting you – and giving you credit.
As an example of this, many of you might have heard Frank Kern say that, "launches are bonuses, not businesses." He says it pretty frequently and always gives me credit for saying it first.
When people quote you, re-tell your stories, etc. – and especially if they give you credit (if they just take your story it’s not really that wonderful) – that also tells you that you’re resonating.
Another way to know your communication is doing its job is if your market communicates with you telling you things that they’ve accomplished based on what you’ve told them.
That may seem like they may just be showing it to you in order to seek some approval from you. I don’t mean this in a derogatory sense, but in the same kind of way my daughters might bring home something they painted or colored at school and want me to put up on the refrigerator door with a magnet.
Like, "look what I did Rich based on what you taught me." It’s a pride of accomplishment they want to share. Often as a form of thanks for you helping them.
So those are just some ways that you know that you’re on the right track.

But what if you don’t have the big huge following yet?

Now if you’re just starting out, it’s a little harder to tell. You’re not as likely to get a ton of fan mail from your market.
But there are ways to gauge the impact you’re having, especially when you’re just starting out. One way is if you have a blog, to see how often people come back to read your posts? How often do they leave comments? Or you can check to see how many people are opening your emails, etc.?
The whole purpose of communication is about getting your marketplace, your prospects, your clients, to pay attention to you. To listen to your advice and your information. To accept it and then to spread it.
This is really important because understanding and getting clarity on your communication goals has to become before your positioning.
And speaking of positioning, one of the most important ways to do that is through your personal story. Many entrepreneurs think business is about their products and the benefits they offer their prospects. That’s a mistake to think like that.
And one of the best ways to connect with your market is through your personal story. It’s a powerful tool that can create lifetime relationships if you do it right.
And that’s what we’re going to cover in your next issue…

Questions or Comments on this issue?
Click here to send them to Rich!

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Empower Network Hit’s $1,000,221.20 in 3 weeks Congratulations everyone!

by davidsharpe

Hey Empower Network …and Empower Network onlookers and supporters

We’ve accomplished something monumental.

A million dollars in sales, and we did it in less than a month!

Congrats

When Dave and I were working behind the scenes before we launched, we watched a video together from a prolific leader who talked about the empowering feeling of creating your own economy and taking responsibility for your future.

I was inspired then.

However, right now:

I am inspired even more.

By you.

Everyone of you.

Because you have done that.

When we launched publicly on October 31, 2011, we knew we would experience momentum, but our growth has exceeded our expectations. However, what we’re most proud of is not the fact that we’ve hit a million dollars so quick, but that we’ve done it TOGETHER, with our leaders, and our members. UNIFIED, which is exactly the way we envisioned things all along. Our strength not only comes from our sheer numbers, but from the quality of the people involved. Our missions is to change lives, help businesses and inspire more entrepreneurs to follow their dreams …and work more intelligently to achieve them.

In the spirit of the holidays, many people focus on finding something to be grateful for. Well we have many. Our people. Their success. How we’ve simplified business and life for so many people. But also the challenges and struggles. Because nothing great ever happens without hardship. However, we are experiencing life together, and giving people a place they can learn and grow ….and tap into the resources and knowledge base of a transparent and empowering community of leaders and entrepreneurs. For that we are grateful.

Today, we celebrate not only the MILLION DOLLAR mark that we’ve hit, but we also each other. Because without ‘US’, nothing is possible.

Congratulations Empower Network.

You’ve seized the moment.

You are changing the world, and you are helping the people.

Celebrate your success …and celebrate each other!

- David Sharpe
Proud Co-Founder of The Empower Network

P.S. If you are a member of Empower Network, there is some swipe copy below in celebration of our million dollar benchmark.

Send it, share it and post to a note on Facebook!

If you are not a member yet… Your ship is in port now, DON’T Miss it!

Get Full Details on How to get started Here!

Dear Subscriber,

In today’s Carefree Entrepreneur, Michael Masterson explains a strategy you can use to make every ad, sales letter, and promotional email you put out more effective.

Your customers will "connect" emotionally with your business and products, they’ll buy more and more often, and you’ll succeed much faster.

Michael focuses on applying it to marketing in this essay. But this little-known principle is key to your success in all areas of your Carefree Business, including the niche you choose and the products you create.

Cheers,

Jason Holland
Managing Editor
Carefree Entrepreneur

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up officially for Carefree Entrepreneur. As part of your subscription to Early to Rise, you get a complimentary subscription for a limited time. Please go here to make sure you don’t miss any future issues. You’ll also get instant access to an exclusive video from Michael Masterson in which he reveals his top business start-up secrets.

The Power of One – One Big Idea
By Michael Masterson

One of the biggest lessons I have ever learned about writing came very late – in fact, more than twenty years after I wrote my first piece of copy.

It happened about a year after I began writing Early To Rise (ETR). I was looking over issues I’d written that year and noting which ones readers rated the highest. Without exception, those achieving the highest scores presented a single idea.

It struck me that readers didn’t want to hear everything I had to say about a topic every time I wrote. They were looking for a single, useful suggestion or idea that could make them more successful.

That was one of those "aha!" experiences for me.

As a reader, I had always most enjoyed stories and essays that tackled one subject effectively and deeply. As a writer, I sensed my readers felt this way too. But it wasn’t until I looked at the ETR results that I recognized the power of a narrow focus in writing.

I checked to see if this same phenomenon applied to advertising copy. I pulled out my box of "best promotions of all time." While not all of them were on a single topic, most of the very best hit just one idea strongly.

It seemed I was on to something. I presented this idea as one "powerful secret to publishing success" when Agora had our first company-wide meeting for publishers in France.

Bill Bonner reminded me he’d learned about the Power of One from the great advertising guru David Ogilvy. Ogilvy’s concept was that every great promotion has, at its core, a single, powerful idea that he called "the Big Idea."

At about that same time, John Forde was rereading the classic 1941 book, "How to Write a Good Advertisement" by Victor Schwab – the man Advertising Age called the "greatest mail-order copywriter of all time."

In that book, Schwab listed his choice for the "Top 100 Headlines." John found that of those 100 top headlines, 90 were driven by single, Big Ideas.

Note how instantly clear and engaging these "Big Ideas" are…

• "The Secret of Making People Like You"
• "Is the Life of a Child Worth $1 to You?"
• "To Men Who Want to Quit Work Someday"
• "Are You Ever Tongue-Tied at a Party?"
• "How a New Discovery Made a Plain Girl Beautiful"
• "Who Else Wants a Screen Star Figure?"
• "You Can Laugh at Money Worries – If You Follow This Simple Plan"
• "When Doctors ‘Feel Rotten’ This is What They Do"
• "How I Improved My Memory in One Evening"
• "Discover the Fortune That Lies Hidden In Your Salary"
• "How I Made a Fortune with a ‘Fool Idea’"
• "Have You a ‘Worry’ Stock?"

At ETR, we made this concept a "rule" for writing. The mandate was clear. Write about one thing at a time. One good idea, clearly and convincingly presented, was better than a dozen so-so ideas strung together.

When we obeyed that rule, our essays were stronger. When we ignored it, they were not as powerful as they could have been.

Here’s an example of the Rule of One as applied to an advertorial taken from ETR:

Subject Line: The Easiest Product to Sell Online

Dear Early to Riser,

Would you be interested in investing $175 to make $20,727?

That’s exactly what Bob Bly just accomplished!

See how he did it below… and how easily you could do the same.

MaryEllen Tribby,
ETR Publisher

---

Dear Friend,

There’s no product easier to create or sell online…

… than a simple, straightforward instructional or how-to e-book.

Why are e-books the perfect information product to sell on the Internet?

• 100% profit margin.
• No printing costs.
• No inventory to store.
• Quick and easy to update.
• No shipping costs or delays.
• Higher perceived value than regular books.
• Quick, simple, and inexpensive to produce.

My very first e-book has generated $20,727 in sales (so far).

My total investment in producing it: just $175.

Now, I want to show you how to make huge profits creating and selling simple e-books – in my new e-book "Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit."

Normally my e-books sell for anywhere from $29 to $79, and later this year, "Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit" will sell for $59.

However, to make it affordable for you to get started in e-book publishing, I’m letting you have "Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit" for only $19 today – a savings of $40 off the cover price!

For more information… or to order on a risk-free 90-day trial basis… just click here now.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly

P.S. But, I urge you to hurry. This special $40 discount is for a limited time only. And once it expires, it may never be repeated again.

Let me explain how the Power of One operates here.

In the lift letter (signed by MaryEllen Tribby), Bob asks a question and then tells a single-sentence story. The question is an inverted promise. The story validates the promise.

The sales letter follows. This, too, is a beautifully simple piece of copy. It leads with a statement that expresses one clear idea: "The easiest way to make money on the Internet is to market e-books."

That statement is supported by a number of bulleted "facts." Then Bob validates the statement by mentioning his own experience.

The reader is already sold. Bob makes the sale irresistible with a strong, one-time-only offer.

Short, sweet, and simple.

The Power of One is not only one big, central idea. It’s a fully engaging piece of copy with five necessary elements. Using Bob’s example:

• One good idea: "There’s no product easier to create or sell online than a simple, straightforward instructional or how-to e-book."

• One core emotion: "It is simple! I bet I can do it!"

• One captivating story: Told brilliantly in 11 words: "My very first e-book has generated $20,727 in sales (so far)."

• One single, desirable benefit: "Now, I want to show you how to make huge profits creating and selling simple e-books."

• One inevitable response: The only way to get this book for $19 is to "click here now."

To create blockbuster promotions time after time, you must understand the difference between good copy and great copy. The Power of One is the driving force behind great copy.

Veteran advertising consultant James Loftus, who’s worked with Anheuser-Busch, Holiday Inn, McDonald’s, and many other clients, agrees:

"Also keep in mind that the more points you try to cover, the less effective each point, and therefore your ad, will be. An effective ad will actually have only one central focus, even if you discuss it from two or three perspectives. If your points are too diverse, they compete with each other, and end up pulling the reader’s attention in separate directions."

When challenged with an advertising assignment, most writers conjure lists of features and benefits, then mention as many as possible. Their thinking goes, "I wonder which of these benefits will really push the buttons I want? I’ll throw them all in. That way, if one doesn’t work, another one will."

This is B-level copywriting. It’s not the way to create breakthrough advertising.

The Power of One is commonplace now at Agora… it’s taught by AWAI… and you’ll see that most top copywriters follow it.

You can use the Power of One to create your own blockbuster copy. Ask yourself: "What is the Big Idea here? Is this idea strong enough to capture the hearts of my customers? Or are my ideas all over the place?"

The challenge is to find that one good idea the reader can grasp immediately. And stick to it. So the idea has to be strong, easy to understand… and easy to believe.

Put the Power of One to work for you in all your communications. You’ll be amazed at how much stronger – and successful – your copy will be.

Editor’s Note: Michael Masterson spoke in depth about the Power of One during his presentation at AWAI’s recent Bootcamp conference.

During the event, a dozen master copywriters and expert marketers shared their most powerful secrets for creating powerful advertising copy. Copy is one of the keys to your online business success. You can’t afford to not educate yourself about how to create effective advertising.

If you weren’t at the live event, no worries. American Writers & Artists Inc. recorded the whole thing. The videos of every single presentation, including master copywriter and marketer Dan Kennedy, veteran copywriter and consultant Bob Bly, and copywriter and entrepreneur Joe Sugarman, among many others, are available online.

Go here to find out more about the 2011 FastTrack to Success Bootcamp Home Study program.

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No Product? No Problem!
By Jason Holland

As Carefree Entrepreneurs, we take the “easy way” whenever possible.

This philosophy guides how we start our businesses. What niche we go into. And, as I’ll show you today, what products we sell.

The great news is that you can sidestep the dilemma facing many new business owners: how do I create a profitable new product?

Take my friend John, whom I mentioned a few months ago. In his Carefree Business, he never creates products. He simply chooses among thousands of already created, proven-to-sell products to offer on his websites. This speeds up the time it takes for products to come in. And he never has to waste time trying to perfect a product he’s created.

John doesn’t stock these in a warehouse or ship them out… process orders or handle returns… or even talk to customers.

The only thing he does is some simple advertising. For that, he collects checks every month – from wherever in the world he happens to be at the moment.

It’s thanks to affiliate marketing.

Basically, John markets other businesses’ products (he specializes in nutritional supplements) and takes a commission (from 20 to 80 percent or more, depending on the company) on every sale. All he has to do is include a unique link (trackable to him) to the shopping cart of the company in an ad, blog post, article, or sales letter on his website.

It’s all automated. And John has nothing to do with the order after visitors to his site click over to the shopping cart. As I mentioned, affiliates don’t have to process orders, ship out products, or handle any customer service.

It’s a very low-maintenance business thanks to that level of automation.

The Easiest Way to Get Started as an Affiliate

As an affiliate, you can sell products from big names like Amazon or Walmart, as well as smaller companies who market everything from weight loss programs to legal services.

But today, we’ll focus on an affiliate network called ClickBank. It’s ideally suited to Carefree Entrepreneurs – and first time online business builders – because:

• It deals solely in instantly downloadable digital information products. With instant delivery, customers are more willing to buy.

• The products on ClickBank are cheap – nothing above a few hundred bucks. Again, that means customers are itching to pull out that credit card. Expensive products sell less. And the customer usually has to feel more comfortable, visiting the sales page a few times before making a final decision. Not so with ClickBank.

• ClickBank has many proven bestsellers with long track records of sales and profits.

• The commissions – at up to 75 percent- are among the highest online. That means you can sell these relatively cheap products – which sell much easier than expensive products – and keep most of the sales price for yourself. Product owners allow this because of the sheer volume of products they sell through all their affiliates. And because everything is digital, you get your commission payments much faster.

This well-established affiliate network is a one-stop shop. Many entrepreneurs base their whole business on ClickBank.

You’ll find products on just about any subject you can think of: investing, dog training, Disney World, weddings, computer help, languages, building chicken coops… And they’re in many formats that appeal to customers: ebooks, software, instruction books, travel guides, and more.

One bestselling product in the health and fitness area, The Turbulence Training Kettlebell Revolution, is a video series dedicated to exercising with the kettlebell, a heavy round weight with a ring attached. With a 75 percent commission and a sales price of $57 for the basic package… that’s $42.75 per sale you get to keep. Just five sales a day would bring in just under $1,500 a week.

And all you’ve done is set up a simple website selling this product.

What’s really cool is that many times the business you affiliate with has proven sales copy already written for you. You can use it on your own site in ads, blog posts, articles, and even full sales letters. The companies encourage you to “copy” all their advertising. They want you to market their products and will help you do so.

You’re bound to find a product related to your business’s niche on ClickBank. The list is easily searchable on the website. And you get detailed sales stats so you know which products are the most popular. These are proven sellers that have made affiliates thousands of dollars.

And when you want to start promoting a ClickBank product, it’s easy. You don’t have to contact each product creator and set up an agreement. You just register once with ClickBank.

Then you simply browse all the affiliate offers available related to your niche, pick one, and as a member, you’ll get links to the company’s sales letter and order page, trackable to your account. ClickBank handles the commission payments so you don’t have to follow up with anybody.

There really is no easier way to start selling online.

Of course, to generate sales, you need a website and customers visiting that website, right?

The tips I’ve been passing on over the past several months – and the ones to come – will help you do that.

But to speed up that learning… you have another option.

Nick Usborne’s How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites program is designed specifically for those starting their first online business. Using ‘simple to set up and manage’ website software, you could soon have a website generating up to $10,000 of extra income per month for just a few hours of work a week.

With Nick’s strategies for picking a profitable niche for your business, bringing traffic (potential customers) to your website, and creating content that primes visitors to buy… you’ll have a complete online money-making venture.

Learn more about Nick’s proven model for a Carefree Business here.

———————————————————————-

Everyone should have their own Home Business…

Ready to get started for FREE?

www.Referals.ws has your answers.

Get Ready
By Jason Holland

Several weeks ago, I told you about a nearly risk-free way to start your Carefree Business.

It’s a strategy that will allow you to nail down the niche for your Carefree Business, test your business ideas, figure out what type of products you should sell, and refine your advertising and marketing strategy… without spending much money (a few hundred bucks at most). And you’ll experience success – and your first profits – much faster.

This start-up strategy is called Ready, Fire, Aim. And I’d like to tackle the next step today.

First, I have to mention that today is the very last chance to join the Internet Money Club online business building program. The next session is starting next week. And although the official deadline to sign up was yesterday, I’ve arranged for Carefree Entrepreneurs to have one last chance to get in.

With IMC, you’ll start from scratch … and at the end, have a fully functioning online business. With a mentor showing you the way, you’ll go step by step through determining your niche, honing your marketing, building your website, and everything else you need to have your own profitable "mom and pop" Internet business.

Several past members have gone on to create five- and six-figure Carefree Businesses working just part time. Read their stories – and find out all the details on the Internet Money Club program – here.

Back to Ready, Fire, Aim.

In a nutshell, RFA is all about taking action, speed, keeping things simple – especially at first, and not spending time or money on unprofitable ideas.

You don’t go through what are considered the conventional first steps to a business: logo, fancy website, office equipment, or product stock. Because you are starting an information business online, you don’t need any of that anyway. All you really need are your home computer and your ideas.

You test those ideas in the market first by trying to sell them. You let your customers determine what your business looks like. You start with the prospect, not the product.

As Michael Masterson says in his book Ready, Fire, Aim:

"Wise business owners know they cannot determine the goodness of an idea until they try to sell it. So they will try to sell it as soon as they can – before they have spent a lot of time and money making it perfect."

In my first essay on RFA, we covered the initial steps in the first phase: Ready. When getting Ready, you narrow down your business’s niche, determine the target market, figure out what products you’re going to sell, and put together the initial marketing plan.

This is all done quickly and easily with the online tools I’ll be telling you about. And we’ll be taking things one step at a time here in the Carefree Entrepreneur.

Last time, I asked you to come up with an idea for your Carefree Business. I heard from several readers.

Thomas wants to sell information on disaster preparedness. Sally is a wedding planner in Italy looking to take her business online. And Charles wants to help people on a budget with interior decorating.

If you haven’t picked your niche yet, take a moment to do so now.

Brainstorm all your passions, hobbies, or interests. Then pick one that your gut tells you will sell.

Now we’ll back up that gut feeling with some proof that this is a viable business idea.

The Carefree Entrepreneur’s Path to a Profitable Business

So you have an idea for your ideal business. Let’s use something having to do with yoga as an example. Insert your own business idea to follow along.

You love yoga and so do all your friends. It seems to be everywhere.

To confirm your feeling, do this:

1. Look for real-world evidence. How many yoga studios are in your area? Is yoga offered at your local gym? Have you seen yoga DVDs and other products for sale in local shops? At your local bookstore, do you see yoga books and magazines for sale? Do you see ads related to yoga in magazines you read?

   Here in South Florida, I found 30+ yoga studios in a 20-mile radius of my home, with 10 within a 15-minute drive – and that was just a cursory search. And yoga gear is for sale everywhere from Whole Foods to small businesses downtown.

   

   If you found the same results with your topic, then…

2. Go online. Do keyword searches related to your topic. In our example, you could Google "yoga", "yoga tips", "hatha yoga", "beginner’s yoga", etc. You are looking for sites selling products and information related to yoga. There should also be plenty of paid ads at the top and right of the search results. The more you find, the better. That means there is a big customer base and businesses are making money. You should also check eBay and the Amazon Marketplace for sellers in this niche.

   My keyword searches yielded thousands of sites selling videos (yogawithles.com/videos/), subscriptions to member sites (yogatoday.com), and physical products (gaiam.com). And there were many sellers on eBay and the Amazon Marketplace (a great place to check out trends). Plus, there were paid ads up through the 15th page of search results. If there are that many businesses paying for ad placements – that’s also a good sign.

   

   Now let’s make sure that all those sites in the search results are the real deal.

3. You want a topic that generates traffic (which leads to sales). Here’s an insider tip to find out just how successful all those sites you found are. Use free tools like Alexa.com and Compete.com. Just type in the web address and you’ll get a graph of web traffic. You should also use Google’s free Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) to check out searches related to your niche.

   Again… The more the better. A few thousand searches a month is not so good. Tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of searches is where you want to be. I wouldn’t recommend going into any niche without at least 30,000 searches per month.

   "Bikram yoga," for example, yielded 823,000 monthly searches on Google. "Yoga video" has 210,000 searches. "Yoga online" brought 110,000. Those are good numbers.

   

In the yoga example, going through the steps above yielded a huge offline and online presence. Thousands of businesses large and small are selling yoga products, from mats and clothing to instructional videos, ebooks, and yoga retreat travel packages. And the website traffic and keyword searches were off the charts.

It’s a certified worldwide trend and you should jump on it. If your niche didn’t have much of a presence, repeat with some of your other passions or hobbies until you find a winner.

You might wonder, how will you stand out from the crowd? Is there room for your business in this crowded market?

The competition is a good thing.

It seems counterintuitive. But you want to be surrounded by similar businesses. Other successful businesses mean there are customers out there. Customers that can be yours.

That doesn’t mean your business won’t be unique.

In the next essay in this series, we’ll discuss how to narrow down your niche to meet the needs of certain segments of the market. By being specific and coming up with your own unique twist on what’s "hot," you’ll position yourself as an authority and become the go-to online resource.

In our example, yoga is too broad. And you can’t compete with the big name companies and gurus in the field. But "yoga for preschoolers" or "yoga for busy professionals" might do the trick. The keyword tool you used above will be very useful here.

Next time, we’ll use several of the same online tools to help you pick your specific niche.

Before then, make sure to go through the steps above. It must be done before you can narrow down your niche, not to mention find or create a product to sell, create your initial marketing, and perform other start-up steps.

If you have any questions on market research, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at askjason@awaionline.com.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up officially for Carefree Entrepreneur here. You’ll ensure you won’t miss an issue, and you’ll get a free video presentation from Michael Masterson. Created originally for attendees who paid $2,000 to attend a conference, in this presentation, Michael reveals the four stages of business growth. Go here to get access immediately.

For questions or requests: contact us online.

Everyone should have their own Home Business…

Ready to get started for FREE?

www.Referals.ws has your answers.