Whether you’re an advanced business owner or you’re just ready to explore becoming an entrepreneur, it’s important to immerse yourself in proven strategies and real-world inspiration to help you grow and make the journey a fun one. :)

And that’s why, for the past 3 years, entrepreneur mentor (and ABC’s “Secret Millionaire”) Ali Brown has hosted SHINE, a powerful 3-day conference designed to lead entrepreneurial women through their own reinvention at all levels via an exciting LIVE experience…giving them new ideas, tools, and strategies to propel their businesses and lives to new heights.

This week, Ali made a big announcement about her plans for SHINE this year…

“It seems many of you are planning your entire year around my women’s entrepreneur conference that has gained so much ground in the past 3 years, and I’m honored.

“Well, I have a *BIG announcement* about SHINE 2012, and that is that I’m taking a break this year. I’ll be using this extra time to work with my Elevate coaching members, speak at many other events around the country, and work on my new book and some other personal projects.

“While it was a hard decision, I’m excited at what else this year will bring! And there’s actually some *GREAT NEWS* in this for you.

“For the FIRST TIME ever, I’m giving you the chance to experience SHINE again and again at home—without having to travel!”

It all starts TODAY with Ali’s special SHINE Deluxe Set Pre-Order SALE.

At SHINE 2011, Ali hired a team to do a professional 3-camera video shoot, as well as audio recordings of all the breakout sessions. This means an incredible at-home SHINE experience for you!

The SHINE 2011 Deluxe Set includes 13 DVDs, 19 hours of audio sessions, PDF transcripts, a follow-along binder, and more. You’ll learn from dozens of jam-packed sessions delivering *powerful business growth formulas* to help you *make more money* and *marketing strategies* to help you *grow your list* and *expand your reach*. As well as some super inspiration as well!

Watch this SAMPLE VIDEO here of what the event was like, and to see how high quality the DVDs will be too!

IMPORTANT: There are 2 reasons to *reserve your copy right now*…

1. If you are one of the FIRST 50 to reserve your copy, Ali will throw in a complete audio set of SHINE 2010! So you get TWO SHINE events to learn from and enjoy.

2. You SAVE $100 if you act by MONDAY, *February 13* with Ali’s special Pre-Order Sale.

To get all the details on what your SHINE 2011 Deluxe Set includes, and watch that SAMPLE VIDEO, visit this page now.

This is what I would call “simple genius”.

Every now and then a book is written which changes the game.

The author of the book in question charts the precise journey he took to go from working 80-100 work weeks (for 15 years) down to just 2 hours…

That may be interesting and inspiring but how does it affect YOU?

The breakthrough with this particular book is that it details a step-by-step, universally applicable blueprint which any business owner, running any type of business, can implement.

It sounds like a bold claim and you’d be forgiven for being skeptical!

However, he has amassed literally hundreds of profoundly enticing and eminently credible case studies and testimonials spanning all manner of businesses from real estate management companies to retailers and from marketing agencies to landscape designers…

In other words, finally, someone appears to have come up with a blueprint which ANY business owner can implement to radically change the way they work (and live).

His solution is elegant and simple, requires a little ‘heavy-lifting’ for a short period of time and is being hailed by business leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world as the “holy grail formula for working less and earning more”.

For a short period of time you can download the entire brand new PDF book and the audiobook.

If you do anything this year, read this. It’s a game-changer.

Let me know what you think of it!

Mike Koenigs and Pam Hendrickson has officially launched an exciting new program that will not only train you but take you through the practical process of building an info-product business.

Mike is no stranger to Internet marketers. He is the co-owner of the 8-figure online blockbuster Traffic Geyser and the mastermind of some of the biggest online launches in our industry to date.

Some people would say behind every successful man is a woman. I’m not referring to Anthony Robbin’s wife. For over 20 years, Pam Hendrickson is THE person behind all of Tony Robbins’ content, products and services.

Using her expertise, she now teams up with Mike to produce a complete 7-step, 7-week online course in the same detailed, compelling, usable formats that made Tony Robbins’ products such best-selling and award-winning stuff.

“MAKE, MARKET, LAUNCH IT” takes people through an easy-to-follow process:

• Finding their ideal target market
• Creating an irresistible offer for that market
• Producing a product that fulfills the promise of their offer
• Successfully launching their product, both in the short and long term

Each of the 7 modules, to be released weekly on the membership site, includes:

• 5-7 video training sessions with Pam and/or Mike
• A thorough, easy-to-follow action guide for each session (to support step-by-step implementation)
• Templates, examples and worksheets (these are not just 1-page Word documents; we’re talking in-depth Keynote and PowerPoint files, detailed Excel spreadsheets and comprehensive swipe files—the stuff all of us would have loved to have gotten our hands on early in the game)
• Product maps that show the specific process to follow to get the fastest results for each step (these alone are worth the entire investment in the program)

While they go over 15 different formats you can use to create your platform and product funnel, the focus is on the 7-step system and process necessary to successfully produce and launch any product, in any form.

There are 7 weekly Q&A live calls (also posted on the site) to correspond with each of the modules as they are released.

They also have bonus interviews with experts in the field (people you’ll want to hear from) and skill trainings on everything including copywriting, design, video production, live events and curriculum design. There’s outsourcing and crowdsourcing training and pretty much everything a person needs to successfully create and promote their online information product business.

The program also covers what NOT to do so people don’t get stuck working on things that aren’t making money or making a difference)

Every customer also gets a ticket to the 2½-day MAKE, MARKET, LAUNCH IT ‘live’ event in April 2012, in San Diego.

And stay tune for more high-value, surprise bonuses to come.

Between the two of us, Mike and Pam have created, produced and sold over 200 unique products and services to the tune of tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Their records are proof enough that you are getting the very best from 2 business veterans. Click here to find out more about the “MAKE, MARKET, LAUNCH IT” course.

Right now small business owners are suffering more than ever and they need your help!

It’s time to dust off your cape and superhero mask and come to their rescue…

This really is something anyone can do and you can start with zero and look like a fortune 500 company by the end of the week.

If you like the idea of becoming a Very Rich Business Consultant in your local area and have a queue of business owners line up handing you cash, then you should take a look at Local Marketing Maven…

Brendon Burchard just opened enrollment to Experts Academy!

This is the most comprehensive training you could ever find on how to get paid as an author, speaker, coach, seminar leader and online information marketer.

YOU can help others with your advice, knowledge and information. And you can get PAID for it. Brendon shows you how with Experts Academy.

Over 10,000 people have posted RAVING comments about the complimentary videos Brendon has been sending out.

But they have no IDEA how many more secrets, tools and strategies Brendon has for building an expert empire.

That’s why Brendon has become the go-to-guy in the expert and guru industry. His innovative strategies, checklists and tools help you start from scratch and position yourself as an expert, package your knowledge into lucrative programs, promote your products for recurring income, and partner with others to get your message out.

He started from nothing and built a $4.6 million expert empire in just 18 months. He and his clients end up with best-selling books, high-dollar speaking fees, sold out seminars, a waiting list of high-end coaching clients, and millions of dollars in sales online. How?

Now Brendon is teaching you step-by-step how to get started.

It’s that time in the economy when people are looking for your advice and information. Why not build a new and lucrative career right now?

Why not become the expert on your topic of choice and make a real difference and an income at the same time?

Why not TRUST in your ability to find and create information that can help people improve their lives and grow their businesses?

YOU can be the expert.

I know Brendon’s program can help you do it. That’s why people like Tony Robbins, John Gray, David Bach, Paula Abdul, Frank Kern, Jeff Walker, Wayne Dyer, and the top names in the expert space speak on Brendon’s stages and call him for advice—his information is THAT good.

Make the choice today to get started. Don’t wait another year to get your information out there in a BIG way and get paid for it.

I’ve heard that Brendon’s program will be open for only a very limited window, because it will probably sell out FAST like last time.

Here’s to your new expert career! Go enroll now.

1 | 2 | 3

Too many marketers focus on the initial sale, when the real profits are often generated by repeat business over the lifetime of the customer, says marketing expert Jay Abraham.

For Icy Hot, a balm, he got $10 million worth of advertising without paying for a single spot. In exchange for running the ads at no cost, the station or publication could keep the $3 customers paid for each jar bought from the ads. One million people tried Icy Hot on that basis.

Approximately one-third of these buyers came back at least 6 times a year at an average order of $10, generating $21 million a year in sales.

Icy Hot became so successful that a major pharmaceutical company bought out its original manufacturer for many millions of dollars.

Source: The Abraham Files

One of the most dreaded customer objections is “I have to think it over.” Here are some responses that can help get past it:

>> “What exactly do you want to think about?”
>> “Let’s think it over out loud. Sometime two heads are better than one.”
>> “Let’s think it over while it is fresh in your mind. What are some of the items you need to know more about?”

Source: Selling Power magazine

Whenever there is a recession, the marketing trade publications run articles extolling to their readers the importance of continuing to advertise in a recession.

Since these articles are usually contributed by ad agency owners, magazine publishers, and marketing consultants, one could make an argument that they are self-serving.

As Warren Buffett says, “Don’t ask the barber if you need a haircut.”

Marketing professionals make money only when companies buy their marketing and advertising services.

But do they REALLY believe that spending money on marketing in a recession is smart business?

Or are the consultants and ad agencies pushing clients to keep spending so the advertising professionals won’t starve?

During a recession, when money is tight, should companies ramp up their marketing activities and spending…keep them steady…cut back…or stop altogether?

McGraw-Hill Research’s Laboratory of Advertising Performance studied recessions in the United States.

Of course, we must keep in mind that McGraw-Hill, as a large publisher of trade journals, depends on ad revenues to maintain profitability.

That being said, following the 1981-1982 recession, they analyzed the performance of some 600 industrial companies during the downturn.

Their research found that “business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their marketing expenditures during the 1981-1982 recession averaged significantly higher sales growth both during the recession and for the following 3 years than those which eliminated or decreased marketing.”

In a different study, Management Review asked American Management Association (AMA) member firms about spending during the 1990-1991 recession.

The data showed most firms that raised their marketing budgets enjoyed gains in market share: firms that increased
their ad budgets were twice as likely to pick up market share.

One of my readers, MT, owns a software company. In response to the recession, MT has cut his budget for Google AdWords campaigns in half.

How did he determine what to trim?

Before the recession hit, MT ran 10 Google PPC ad campaigns—all profitable.

“When the economy turned south, 6 of those PPC campaigns, those targeted mainly at fence-sitters who don’t buy any longer, began to lose money,” says MT.

So, very wisely, MT cut those 6 unprofitable PPC ad campaigns—and kept running the 4 that were money-makers.

But are all consumers not buying any more…or is it just MT’s customers?

According to an article in Internet Retailer, nearly 4 out of 5 households earning $100,000 a year or more said they are cutting back their spending.

When consumers cut back spending, your business can take a real hit—especially if you sell a product that’s “nice to have” vs. one that customers absolutely must have.

So what can you do to maintain healthy sales during what has already been a prolonged recession and is likely to continue for some time?

The first thing big corporations cut in tough times is marketing. That’s really stupid (and yes, I know that as a
copywriter, I sound self-serving saying this).

Marketing, when done right, makes money, brings in customers, and generates sales.

During a recession, your biggest problem is making sales and maintaining revenues—exactly what marketing is designed to accomplish.

So stopping all marketing really makes no sense.

What does make sense is MT’s approach:

1 – Precisely measure the ROI from all marketing campaigns.

2 – Cut the ones that lose money.

3 – Keep the ones that make money.

John Wanamaker, a famous retailer in his day, once said, “Half my advertising is wasted, but I don’t know which half.”

But today, with direct response measurement and Web analytics, we do know which half is wasted.

So we can fix or eliminate the wasted half, and generate a positive ROI by running the ads that do work.

I took a survey on my website on how the recession has affected my visitors.

38% of those surveyed said their sales are flat, while 25% reported increased sales and 37% have seen sales fall.

Eight out of ten people who answered the online survey expressed some degree of worry about the effect the recession will have on their business and their sales.

In response, 32% have increased their marketing budgets and 24% are spending less money on marketing.

Yet these businesses are holding firm on their pricing—more than 8 out of 10 say they have not lowered their prices to stimulate sales in a recession.

When it comes to economic recovery, they are slightly pessimistic.

Just over 57% believe the recession will end this year.

Almost 43% say the country won’t recover from the recession until 2012 or later.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

What products and services sell best in a recession?

Hint: It’s not a trick question.

And yes, the answer is the one that immediately popped into your head when I asked you – and before you started over-analyzing the question…

The products and services that sell best in a recession are the cheaper ones.

That’s right: the ones that cost less and are more affordable.

I recently read in a biography of Milton Hershey that he believed his business was recession and depression-proof because he sold an affordable product.

He reasoned that, even if a person couldn’t afford new shoes or a new car or a vacation, they could always afford a nickel for a Hershey’s chocolate bar (which was the price in those days).

It turns out Milton Hershey was right.

According to an article in Ad News, when the economy turned sour in the fourth quarter of 2008, Hershey increased its advertising budget by 23%.

And as consumers switched from expensive premium chocolates they no longer felt they could afford to Hershey’s, the company’s net income for 4Q 2008 rose 51% to $82 million.

Similarly, while the restaurant business is in its worst slump since 1991, McDonald’s worldwide sales rose 7.1% in January 2009. Diners may not be able to afford caviar any more, but they can still afford a Big Mac.

I have found the same principle—consumer preference for lower-priced goods and services during an economic downturn—to hold true in the 2 little businesses I run: information marketing and freelance copywriting.

In my online publishing business, our low-priced products are e-books selling in the $19 to $49 range.

Our mid-range products are DVD and audio CD albums selling in the $100 to $150 range.

And our high-end products are multimedia programs selling in the $300 to $1,000 range.

In recent months, our customers are clearly telling us that (a) they are worried about money, (b) they really appreciate our reasonable prices, and (c) for now they prefer offers of low-priced products.

They want us to focus on offering products that sell for under $100, which seems to be the magic recession-proof price point for our market.

When we advertise midrange or high-priced products to our list, I get at least one e-mail from a reader telling me she wants to buy the product, but she can’t because she has lost her job—and a few others asking if they can break up the purchase into multiple small payments.

If you are an information marketer, I suggest that, rather than fight this trend, you accommodate your customers by:

1) Expanding your product line, especially in the lower-priced products like e-books.

2) Offering your readers more free content such as special reports and webinars.

3) Bundling products into packages that enable customers to get related materials at handsome discounts; e.g., buy 2 e-books, get the third free.

I am also finding that offering low-priced service options has kept my freelance copywriting business active and profitable.

To make $10,000 as a freelancer, you can either do one $10,000 project or five $2,000 projects.

These days, I am doing many more $2,000 projects for clients who want to continue their marketing but are focused on controlling costs.

For instance, we are saving my clients money by doing more marketing online and a bit less offline.

We are also using marketing methods that can be tested at minimal cost before rolling out the campaigns (e.g., small test mailings of 1,000 instead of 10,000).

One thing that has worked especially well is a new service bundle I call the “Starter Package“.

I added a button to the main menu of my copywriting website describing a new service I call the Starter Package.

Normally, I charge $500 an hour for consulting. With a 10-hour minimum, payable in full in advance, that works out to $5,000—affordable in normal times, not so affordable in an economic crisis.

With the Starter Package, I offer new clients 90 minutes of my time for a flat fee of $600—a discount of $150 off the regular rate.

I picked 90 minutes deliberately. Not only is it enough time to give prospects a taste of how my advice can benefit them. But it comes in at a price point under $1,000, which is within the comfort zone of a new client who doesn’t really know me all that well.

More important, the Starter Package shows prospects I empathize with their desire to cut back on spending and have designed a service to accommodate their smaller budgets.

Interestingly, what usually happens is that, after reviewing the Starter Package offer, prospects call me to get a quote for whatever it is they really want—and more often than not, buy it from me.

So while I don’t actually do a lot of consulting under the Starter Package arrangement, it makes prospects more comfortable with me as a vendor who respects their budget concerns and limitations.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

There’s a lot of money being made in marketing information products online today.

But there’s also a lot of competition as I’m sure you’ve noticed.

You can’t just sit there and pray that your customers never find out about your competitors.

Thanks to Google, they can find these competitive offers in seconds.

Your best strategy is to identify who and what you’re competing against and fill a gap in the market they’re missing.

Here are the 4 types of competitors you face as an info-marketer and one good strategy for combating each.

The first category of competitors is organizations giving away content on your topic absolutely free.

There are countless companies out there giving away free information on their sites.

These folks are not in the business of selling information products.

They typically sell a physical product or a service and give away free content to build their reputation as a recognized expert in their industry or to expand their e-list.

It can be challenging to compete in a niche where a lot of good free content is published by companies that treat content as a marketing strategy instead of a product.

After all, why would your customers pay you for your content when they can get it—or something close to it—for free elsewhere?

One competitive strategy against free information is to establish yourself as a guru in your niche.

Consumers want authoritative information from experts, and are willing to pay a premium to get it.

For instance, anyone can compile and sell or give away information on conservative issues and politics—and many have.

But only Rush Limbaugh can publish The Limbaugh Letter.

Bookstores are a second category of competitors in the info-marketing business.

I’ve lost track of the number of times I have reviewed some Internet marketer’s expensive info-product, only to find that it contains less information than a 250-page paperback I can buy at Barnes & Noble for fifteen bucks.

One competitive strategy is micro-niching: publishing in a highly specialized niche trade book publishers won’t touch.

Example: I can go to Barnes & Noble today and find several highly useful—and quite inexpensive—books on social
networking.

If your market is dentists, you can publish “Building Your Dental Practice with Facebook”.

That title is too niched—and narrow—for bookstore sales.

Low-priced info-products are a third category of competition.

Their bargain rates can make it difficult to sell your more expensive info-products.

In the 1990s recession, a major newspaper ran an article about two entrepreneurs selling reports on marketing in a recession.

One was me and another was a much more famous marketer.

The paper told readers how to buy my report but not the famous marketer’s.

Reason: mine cost $7 and his cost $1,000.

From one press release, I sold over 3,000 of those booklets.

A great way to win against low-priced to competitors is to offer more in-depth content.

In information products, there is a content hierarchy that from weakest to strongest goes like this:

A – Telling readers what to do (e.g. in a booklet on making money as a landlord, telling the reader that they must make every tenant sign a written lease).

B – Telling readers how to do it (e.g., giving a checklist of the 9 points every lease should cover).

C – Doing it for them (e.g., actually including sample leases).

Low-priced info-products mostly cover level A and to a lesser degree level B.

The more your high-priced info-products give the readers of B and C, the greater the price you can command.

Finally, there are competitors in your field that charge as much or more than you do for seemingly equivalent info-products.

If your pricing is similar, the two strategies mentioned earlier—micro-niching and establishing yourself as an industry guru—can work to differentiate you from the crowd.

If your price is lower than most of your competitors, play the price card.

In your copy, talk about how the other guys charge an outrageous fortune for big, elaborate packages that the reader won’t have time to absorb, and will probably never look at.

Then show how your product saves time because it is tightly written (no fluff) and inexpensive by comparison.

One other idea for handling competition: befriend them instead of going to war with them.

This strategy is called “coopetition”. It recognizes that two companies can be competitors and joint venture partners simultaneously.

Reach out to your competitors via phone or e-mail. Offer to do joint venture deals and affiliate promotions with them.

Maybe they have a high-priced product that is the perfect back-end to one of your front-end products.

Instead of spending a lot of time and money to duplicate what they have done, sell their product to your customers on the back end for a nice affiliate commission on every sale you make.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

My readers often complain to me that the gurus they follow are aloof and inaccessible.

You often can’t reach them by phone, and either you get a ‘no’ reply to your e-mail or an automated reply from an
auto-responder.

My readers say this is rude and it angers them.

After all, they bought the guru’s book or course…or might someday soon.

Doesn’t this entitle the customer to some personal time and customized advice from the guru himself?

Well, yes and no.

I personally answer my own phone and reply to my own e-mail messages.

But I don’t think other authors and info-marketers are obliged to do so (though I think they should).

When you buy a Stephen King novel, you understand that he is not obligated to discuss the plot with you – and most likely will not do so.

In the same way, when you buy a business book for $20, you are purchasing the contents—and nothing beyond that.

The author may also consult and speak, but he charges thousands of dollars for those services and just buying his book doesn’t entitle you to them, right?

One famous copywriting guru complained to me that some of his readers have the unmitigated gall to call him up, ask for free advice, and then grumble when they don’t get it.

“Do they not realize my paying clients get first dibs on my time?” he asked me.

I do. It makes sense to me. And I hope to you too. But still, I desire to help my readers as much as I can while still having time for a life.

So how do I respond to queries and complaints, both phone and e-mail, without becoming overwhelmed—and unable to get my work done?

For e-mail queries and complaints, about 90% are routine (e.g. did not receive a product they ordered on my website, can’t open the PDF of an e-book, need help becoming an affiliate, etc.).

These I pass on to my assistant, because she can handle them better than I can.

About 10% require a more thoughtful answer. These I answer myself—either via e-mail or sometimes a brief phone call.

Tip: when a customer has a problem or complaint they register via e-mail, calling them on the phone and helping them one-on-one converts them from complainers into rabid fans.

They are shocked that you actually took the time to call—and care enough to resolve their problem personally.

Of course, I can’t talk to everyone all the time: I have copy to write for my clients.

So I use caller ID to screen my inbound phone calls.

After the call, I listen to the voice mail.

If it’s routine, I pass the request or complaint on to my assistant for handling.

If it’s a situation where my personal attention would add value or create satisfaction, I will call back and help them.

However, as an information marketer, you want to avoid the trap of allowing people you don’t know to pump you endlessly for free consulting over the phone.

Speaker Patricia Fripp has a great technique for handling these brain-pickers which I use.

When someone who is not a client wants to ask me questions, I say: “My time normally sells for $500 an hour. I will give you 5 minutes—starting now.”

This script makes the caller understand that your time is limited…and that by talking with them without charge, you are doing them a favor and giving them something of value.

5 minutes may not seem like much. But at $500 an hour, 5 minutes of my time is worth almost $42. That’s a generous gift to give a total stranger.

The time limit also forces callers to get to the point, not waste your time with long explanations, and listen to what you tell them without debate or argument.

Here’s another way you, as an expert, can save time answering questions from readers…

Produce content—an FAQ page on your website, a blog, a newsletter, a special report, an information product—on the topics you are asked about most often.

Then, when people ask you for advice on Topic X, give them the URL of the website where they can either read your content for free…or purchase your information product on Topic X.

Am I clear on how to handle inquiries from clients, customers, prospects, readers, and fans?

If not, I expect you’ll call or e-mail me for clarification—and I welcome hearing from you.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

Mike Koenigs’ Cross-Channel MOJO program is open NOW!

The sooner you see this 4th video in your free series, the better!

Once inside, you’re going to:

- Be shown what the NEW currency is for your customers, and how you can exchange MORE of it

- Discover the tools that will TRANSFORM you into a highly-paid marketing technologist

- Hear how you will make MORE money by connecting with customers in ways that your competition HASN’T EVEN THOUGHT OF YET

Stop chasing after customers.

Stop HOPING they’ll open your e-mails, or read your direct mail.

Let Mike help you discover the ways you can market your business across MULTIPLE channels and build PROFITABLE relationships.

And believe me, after spending 3 years and more than a million dollars building this program, it’s BULLETPROOF.

Check out his step-by-step and done-for-you training and templates that equal FAST results.

You gain more influence and waste less time attracting the right audience. Double bonus.

As with all Mike’s programs, he keeps the “class” small so his team can always assist you.

That’s why time and seating are limited!

Go here and see what it’s all about.

1 | 2

Database giant, Oracle, conducted a survey in 2011.

It revealed 78% of consumers are using two or more communication channels before making a buying decision.

30% use three or more.

If you’re limiting your business to just a single marketing channel, you’re missing leads and losing sales.

Now is the time to reverse the negative trends affecting your business growth.

The information covered in these FREE videos will have you leveraging numerous marketing channels in powerful, profitable ways.

And the best part of Mike Koenigs’ approach is that you actually spend LESS time & energy than what you’re doing now.

A bit about Mike: If you have been in Internet Marketing for some time, you likely know who he is. Mike Koenigs used to be part of the 99% or so he once said. Then he went on a product development rampage, created a BUNCH of easy-to-use online marketing programs, and has made a good living helping other small businesses grow.

He has made his latest entire video series showing you the hidden truths behind how to quickly build profitable relationships with media channels OTHER than just e-mail, and you can watch it for FREE.

Be warned: This is forward-thinking stuff. This is what FORTUNE 500 companies are only JUST catching onto (and spending a fortune on right now). But the know-how is now accessible to you and me.

Go here to watch your first video now.

1 | 2

How much would you pay for a complete and current list of local businesses in your area like:

- Used Auto Dealers in Phoenix AZ

- Plumbers in Boise Idaho

- Chiropractors in Sydney Australia

- Dentists in Manchester UK

- Child Care Centers in Charlotte NC

I’m talking dozens to hundreds of laser-targeted leads delivered at the push of a button!

In this video we’ll reveal a piece of revolutionary new lead generation software that does exactly that.

Watch It In Action!

You’ll pull in geo-targeted, niche-specific leads complete with Company Name, Addresses, Phone Number, and even E-mail Addresses with ease.

You’ll also know instantly which companies are in desperate need of your apps, where they rank in Google Places, and which websites have gone unclaimed…

Handing you the perfect opportunity to swoop in and pick up a batch of new clients overnight.

Tap into this unlimited supply of leads for your Local Consulting business right now!

The other day I got an e-mail from JT, a professional proofreader, who expressed her grave concern that she had found more than one typo among the dozens of websites I own.

“Can I be direct without being offensive?” asks JT. “Let me start by saying that my only reason for writing these e-mails is that I want to work with you, because I think we could both benefit from collaboration.”

JT continues: “You need a new proofreader, and if you do your own proofreading, you need to fire yourself from that job!”

Did I hire JT as my new proofreader?

No, because I did, in fact, find her e-mail to be both offensive and self-serving.

Yet many freelancers and independent contractors who render creative, professional, and technical services take a similar approach to marketing. And it almost never works.

The basis of this horribly inappropriate and ineffective selling method is: approach complete strangers, point out a fault with something they are doing, and then offer your services to help them fix the defect.

On the surface, it seems sensible. After all, you are doing someone a favor by helping them correct a defect that could be hurting their business, right?

So you’d naturally think they’d be grateful, and reciprocate by hiring you to fix the problem you alerted them to.

After all, you have already demonstrated your expertise, skill, and value by detecting the problem for them without charge.

But here’s the problem: most folks, including me, don’t like unsolicited advice.

One of the inviolate rules of my life, both business and personal, is: never give unsolicited advice.

Advice is only valued if three conditions exist: (1) the advice is sought after (i.e., they asked for it), (2) it is positive and not negative or insulting to the recipient, and (3) it is constructive and specific.

JT’s e-mail to me violated the first and second of these conditions.

First, I didn’t ask her to proofread for me. So why do it?

The fact that she is spending her time proofreading copy for strangers without compensation tells me she probably isn’t very busy…and that she needs more business.

Your prospects prefer to work with vendors who are successful and in demand, not with those they perceive as desperate and needy.

Second, she insults me by telling me I am a lousy proofreader and I should “fire” myself.

Customers buy from people they like. And we don’t like people who insult us.

Another problem with trying to win business by giving unsolicited critiques or advice to strangers is that you risk
looking ignorant.

That’s because you lack the background on their situation to know whether your suggestions are valid and warranted.

In JT’s case, she assumed we had a typo on a landing page because we are bad proofreaders.

She’s wrong. The real reason why you can find typos on some of my sites is that I have literally hundreds of pages posted on the Web.

And with my team already overloaded, we simply can’t always keep up with our proofreading and other tasks that are not critical to sales.

A better approach for JT would have been to point out the typo, and then say, “Are your proofreaders overloaded? Hire me to take on the backlog and get those pesky typos off your sites forever.”

That would have been more appealing to me than assuming we stink at proofreading, which we don’t.

Finally, JT’s idea of giving unsolicited advice to strangers violates the Silver Rule of Marketing, first articulated to me by marketing consultant Pete Silver.

Peter told me: “It is always better to get them to come to you, rather than you go to them.”

By violating this rule and soliciting my business, JT placed herself in a weak position.

It may be that I don’t care about typos (not true, but there are people who don’t), in which case JT is pursuing an unqualified prospect.

Even if I had been interested in her offer, JT would have to work hard to convince me that she is the proofreader I should hire.

After all, I’ve never heard of her before, have no idea who she is, and therefore certainly do not perceive her as an expert or top pro in editing and proofreading.

On the other hand, if you get prospects to come to you because of your reputation as a recognized expert or top pro in your field, you don’t have to do a lot of convincing or selling, because these prospects are already predisposed to hire you.

I would advise JT to stop wasting her time criticizing the websites of marketers who don’t want those critiques and may even resent them.

Instead, she should take steps—write a column on proper English for a respected business magazine, create a course on copyediting, speak at conferences on the importance of proper business English—that position her as an expert in correct writing.

By doing so, I might have come running to JT for help, instead of running away from her.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

Rocky times are not over yet. There has NEVER been a better time to create your OWN economy, invest in yourself, and shape your future. All you need is a business system that’s proven and easy to follow.

And that’s exactly what Ali Brown is delivering in her BRAND NEW video series that includes detailed, step-by-step training.

It’s called “Elevate Your Income: Top Strategies to Boost Your Business Fast!” and it’s FREE. But it won’t be up for long.

Ali was featured this year on ABC’s “Secret Millionaire”, and she’s one of the MOST respected resources when it comes to business success, with awards from Inc. 500, Ernst & Young, Enterprising Women, and more.

With a woman of these credentials, you gotta pay to listen to what she has to say…not today though!

Get started now and access the first video right away.

I just know you’re going to love it. See you there!

Your business—whether you are an information marketer, retailer, catalog merchant, manufacturer, service provider, freelancer, or consultant—has not one but two unique selling propositions (USPs): the tangible and the intangible.

The tangible USP is the visible, quantifiable differentiator between you and your competitors.

Because it can be seen, felt, described, and grasped, the tangible USP is the one you feature in your marketing copy.

Example: years ago, before digital cameras were invented, Polaroid’s USP was that its cameras produced instant pictures.

With all other cameras, you had to take the film to get it developed. But with Polaroid, the picture would develop when exposed to air, in about a minute, allowing you to view the image almost instantly.

The intangible USP, for most entrepreneurs as well as many larger companies, is your personality and reputation, which in the corporate marketing world might be called your “image”.

The intangible benefit can be just as important in closing sales and attracting repeat business as the tangible benefit.

Yet it takes a secondary place in marketing copy, if it is there at all. The reason is that intangible USPs are difficult to describe in a way that is clear and compelling, even though it may in fact be enormously valuable.

For instance, TP owns a local camera store near my office that sells the same cameras as all other camera stores.

Many of the big chain stores sell these cameras at lower prices and carry a wider selection, giving them a tangible advantage over TP’s little shop.

TP’s advantage over them—in this case, the intangible benefit—is his infectious enthusiasm for the art and craft of photography.

TP is a successful semi-professional photographer whose work has been widely published; he specializes in photographing fires and firefighters.

The most obvious benefit to the customer is superior advice and guidance on camera selection and usage.

But there’s another, even less tangible benefit: when you go to TP’s store, you can talk photography with him, and his enthusiasm is contagious.

Being around TP, a craftsman who takes pride in all of his work—both as a photographer and store owner—gives you a sense of camaraderie with a fellow shutterbug.

It makes you eager to improve and master your craft as an amateur photographer…goals which TP can help you achieve, both with the products he sells for money as well as the advice and mentoring he dispenses for free.

I see a parallel between TP’s photo shop and the business of marketing information products, an area of interest to many of my readers.

The tangible USP you have is usually inherent in either the content of your products or the credentials of your product authors.

You can also build a tangible USP into your offer. For example, Prentice Hall (PH) was selling a book on how to create a marketing plan.

The offer was a 30-day free trial of the book: if you did not like the book, you returned it within 30 days for a refund.

The copywriter who wrote PH’s direct mail package to sell the book realized that a customer could get the book, follow the instructions, create the market plan he needed, and then return the book within 30 days for refund—in essence getting a free marketing plan.

He used this fact as the USP in the headline of his letter: “Create a Breakthrough Marketing Plan in 30 Days—Guaranteed or Your Money Back.”

But when you are an information marketer, especially on the Internet, you also have an intangible USP that becomes very important to your customers.

That intangible USP is who you are—your personality. Even though this intangible USP doesn’t translate into sales copy very well, your personality—some marketing experts call it your “personal brand”—is a major factor affecting your sales revenues.

It is an old axiom in selling that customers prefer to do business with people they know and like.

So the more you come across as someone your customers like, respect, and trust, the more they will seek your advice—and in turn, the more information products they will buy from you.

Unlike consumer brands (e.g., Pillsbury and their Dough Boy), successful personal brands are not manufactured by advertising agencies.

They are natural reflections of the information marketer—her personality, experiences, beliefs, strengths, prejudices, opinions, and attitudes.

In using your personal brand to your advantage, it is best to be true to yourself—be the person you really are—rather than to fabricate some artificial persona you think more people will like and buy from.

In matters of personal branding, heed motivational speaker Rob Gilbert’s formula: SWL + SWL = SW.

This stands for: “Some will like you and your products. Some won’t like you and your products. So what?”

Be yourself. It’s the only personal brand you can really pull off with credibility.

If you try to be someone you’re not, your customers will sense it in everything you write or say and distance themselves from you.

Yes, your persona will attract some customers and repulse others. But SWL + SWL = SW.

The number of loyal readers and fans you attract by being yourself in your writing will be more than sufficient to earn a handsome living selling information products—reflecting your ideas, way of thinking, and opinions—to your core mailing list.

One more thing: your persona or personal brand is established primarily in your communications with your prospects and customers.

On the Internet, these communications include your e-newsletter, e-mail marketing messages, transactional e-mails, website, landing pages, blog, tele-seminars, customer service e-mails and phone calls, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, tweets and of course, your information products.

So while it makes sense to develop your own style in written and spoken communications, you should always present your best, most positive self—the “you” that is most helpful, friendly, and caring about your readers’ success.

That’s something your customers will like. A lot.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

Once you’re able to finish watching Kevin Wilke’s 4-video series on local marketing, you will understand just why some businesses have “all the luck”, though the truth is these bosses do not allow recession and down-times have the permission to take hold of them.

This is not a self-development/mindset thing. In these 4 videos, you’ll discover:

- What is the #1 client-getting method and why it works so well.

- How to get prospects coming to you, already pre-sold and ready to get started (and expecting to pay premium prices).

- How to have a 90% to 100% close ratio with every prospect—they just want to know “how much and how soon” so they can get started ASAP.

- How to never have to deal with “tire-kickers, time-wasters, and no-money” prospects and clients ever again.

- How to consistently get clients every week and erase your fear and frustration.

- Plus 2 ways to use this client-getting method.

As you are imagining, this sounds like a dream come true.

The good news is this isn’t a dream, but the reality of local marketers using this client-getting method.

And it can be the same for you too.

Watch these 4 videos now. They are FREE and can only improve your business. Discover how Kevin’s clients have made a fortune for themselves.

I came across this course from 3 guys who are cleaning up their local neighborhoods, and I don’t mean with a broom! Selling local services to businesses in your area is a scorching hot market right now, and there are more and more courses ‘teaching’ it.

However this is the first one I’ve seen that does more than tell you that local merchants in your area need services. They actually show you how they’ve done it, and give you the same tools and knowledge you’ll need to walk into a business this afternoon and walk out with a large check!

Local Lead Machines is a huge course with a tiny price tag! Packed with value and 70+ videos and 40+ PDFs and swipe files, you will have everything you need to start your local consulting business TODAY!

See what the buzz is all about!

The minimum price for physical information products can be calculated using the “10:1 rule”.

This rule says the price of a physical product sold through direct marketing must be at least 10 times your product cost.

Example: A set of DVDs that costs $8 per copy to make should sell for a minimum of $80.

A book that costs $2 per copy to print should sell for at least $20.

But that’s the minimum. If your information is worth more, and buyers will pay more, then charge more.

Source: Speaker Fulfillment Services, News & Notes, Vol. 15, p. 1.