Tools you may not think of

There are a number of tools out there that people bypass because of the stigma that has been attached to them.

Take the opt in mailout business. You sign up and you get to mail to the list. Of course in return you are being flooded with emails. The thing to keep in mind is that almost everyone on that list is trying to sell you a product in the "get rich" genre. This means that they will do like you; tune out the emails. You can only see the "make a gabillion bucks in 9 seconds" type headlines a few times before you just say "blah blah blah". And if you are doing it, so is everybody else.

BUT what if you go in with something else? I have gone in with my Salad book This throws them for a loop and they actually go look at it and amazingly a number will buy it. Afterall, everyone needs to eat.

On top of that, you need to make the subject something that catches the eye and is different. I talk about that in detail in "Psychology Of Advertising". Have you ever tried an email subject of 1 word? You will be shocked when you get a better response from a 1 word headline than from a longer one. Some of those gurus are starting to catch on to the "less is more" mindset. I have recently gotten emails with just my first name in the subject. Nothing more. But I then look at who is sending it and trash it.

So what word do you use? Something to grab the eyes and pique the curiosity. I did one that said "Toilet" in the subject. My open rate went to 50% on a 2 million person email blast where I had rarely gotten more than 1 or 2% before. Of course then you have to somehow tie the subject into the sales pitch.

This is how you use the email blasters and such. You have to sell something different and you have to get their attention. There are other things you can do like give something away just to get them to your site but the day of the squeeze page is long gone.

Finally I will leave you with a couple of the opt-in list sites that I've had fairly good reactions from.

Herculist Has a free option that is okay. But their Pro and Gold are not that expensive. I've had moderate success with this list but the flood of emails back is higher than most. That is probably a good thing because it means emails are FLYING out from them. I worry when one of these sites only gets me 1 or 2 emails a week. Have to wonder about those.

Web Traffic Marketing is fairly inexpensive. A 1 time fee allows you to blast to an outrageous number of people. Once again, they are all trying to sell YOU get rich quick products. Hit them with something different. If you have a tracker link or something you can use it on this one. Prepare to be disappointed if you try selling the same old garbage on this one. You can get no response at all from about 3 million members. You have to do something different.

Now how does this help your website? It gets traffic there. Not the best traffic but they are looking anyway. Hopefully they will at least click on your AdSense ads.

Keyword Research

A lot of emphasis is put on keyword research and finding that little niche that you can occupy and be profitable. However, that isn't the end all and be all for marketing which so many try to convince you it is.

First you have to find a product that can sell and then you go find the best keywords or phrases that will bring in people looking to buy what you have without competing against the "big boys". Pretty foolish to try and out rank big companies like Microsoft, IBM, Amazon and so on. So you need to find how to get traffic from them whether it is PPC or organic.

One way is the old fashioned way of trial and error. Just take a guess at what you think will work and then go for it and see what happens. But here is another idea. How about looking at what other people are doing in the same general niche and then copying their campaigns?

Sound unethical? Not by a long shot. Why reinvent the wheel? If somebody is selling widgets using specific keywords and they are paying $x.xx per click, then why not use their ads, their keywords, and up the ante on the bid to bring people to your site? Do NOT copy their site tho. Well, there is an instance where you basically are doing that. When you are selling affiliate products and sending the customers straight to the product page. Then you will have copied the entire campaign. But this stuff happens all the time. Look at the emails you get whenever there is a "launch" of a "new killer .. gonna blow the internet marketing world wide open" product. I get 4 or 5 emails that are EXACTLY the same. From those "gurus". Still think they are smarter than you?

I can get into that more in another post but for right now I will stick with the subject of finding good keywords for your product.

What I used to have to do was actually use Google AdWords and a number of other sites to find a good idea of what might be good keywords. Then I would search on those and find the top PPC ads and copy them down. Top 10 usually. Then I would come back in a week and see if they were still there. If they are still there, then they are probably making money. Either that or the person is a fool.

This took a LONG time to find good keywords.

Now, I can spy on other people and see what they are doing. Even the big boys. How?

With Keyword Spy you can do this. If you are just trying to launch one product, use the free version. For serious marketers, you have to get the full version to find those gems in the rough. This gives you the edge on those other affiliates especially where ClickBank is concerned.

30 Day Challenge In Hindsight

Have you heard of the 30 Day Challenge? If not, it is a training session that is free that walks you through making money on the internet. Or so they claim. I faithfully went along with them on their journey this year and found that it is not toooo bad for a rank beginner or if you are looking at finding some new tools to use.

One tool they relied on is Word Press Direct. This is supposed to be a Search Engine Optimized blog. Now even tho it has some problems, if you know how to edit the templates you can make it work very well. The good thing about it is the auto posting where it pulls content from different sources to put on your blog. You choose. As is the case everywhere, templates may not be very good and so you either have to fix them yourself or go get one that works. This is a problem with the whole CSS world of templates. They break very easily. Also AdSense does not work on WPD for some reason. It displays ads but I never saw the impressions in my account at Google.

Now one thing about blogs, if you want to get the attention of Google, maybe using Google's blog (this one) would be the better choice. I think I will do a test and put my TDC blog onto Blogger and see what happens. In the meantime if you want to see my TDC blog it is http://salads.brighterplanet.org

Probably the most vexing thing about TDC (Thirty Day Challenge) is their insistance of no links except to some stupid social thingy. Okay, I can see wanting to limit affiliate links but they go overboard. Do like a lot of discussion boards are doing, put one board for people to post affiliate links to their heart's content. Put a time limit on how often they can post so they don't go crazy. Like once a day or week.

But here are a whole bunch of people trying to follow along and you can't put up a link to your project so others can see it and critique it (in a constructive way). To me, part of market research is testing your advertising etc BEFORE going big time with it. Having built websites and been involved in marketing them for a very long time, we ALWAYS had people come in and test the sites and make comments and critiques. These people were a mix of potential customers and just surfers. So by limiting people in the TDC to doing it on their own, there is a fantastic chance of failure.

Okay, enough for this post. I'll go into things the TDC people failed to talk about in my next post.

Tips to Reduce Your 2006 Income Taxes in 2007!By Scott Sherrill

Income taxes are a substantial burden for business owners and real estate investors. There are few actions which can reduce your 2006 taxes after December 31, 2006. This article summarizes four options for reducing your 2006 federal income taxes during 2007. These include reducing revenue, increasing real estate depreciation, increasing expenses by conducting a fixed asset audit and increasing expenses by converting capital expenditures into operating expenses.

The basic process for calculating income taxes is simple:

Revenue - expenses = net income, or taxable income,

Taxable income x tax rate = income taxes

The formula is not quite as simple as stated above. The tax rate for most taxpayers steps up as their income increases. Hence, the calculation of income taxes is usually taken from a tax table. However, the above concept is correct.

Two options for reducing income taxes are to reduce revenues or increase expenses. It is not possible to change the tax rate except through congressional action. It may be possible to reduce revenue for taxpayers on an accrual accounting system. Taxpayers may be able to increase expenses by increasing real estate depreciation, personal property depreciation or operating expenses.

Accrual accounting recognizes revenue when it is earned. For example, revenue for a project completed in December would be recognized in December even though payment was not expected until January. Cash basis accounting recognizes revenue when payment is received. Accrual basis taxpayers can review revenue which has been booked but not yet received. In some cases, it may be appropriate to increase the allowance for bad debt. There is little cash basis taxpayers can do to reduce revenue (after the end of the year).

Most real estate owners can sharply increase depreciation by obtaining a cost segregation study. Cost segregation is a more accurate method of calculating depreciation than simply separating land and long-life property. The IRS has developed detailed guidelines for correctly prepareing a cost segregation study. Real estate depreciation schedules are typically established by simply separating land and long-life property. Long-life property is depreciated over 27.5 years for rental residential property and 39 years for commercial property. Cost segregation can usually increase depreciation by 50% to 100% during the first five to seven years of ownership by allocating a portion of the cost basis to 5, 7 and 15 year property. Short-life property includes items such as carpet, vinyl tile, some signs, sidewalks, landscaping and paving. In addition, real estate owners can "catch-up" depreciation under reported in prior years without filing amended tax returns.

Fixed asset audits can be a cost effective means to increase operating expenses by removing phantom assets, removing operating expenses mistakenly coded as capital expenditures and correcting the depreciable life for incorrectly coded items. Phantom assets can include assets which have been lost, stolen or disposed of without removing them from the accounting records. The undepreciated basis of these assets can be converted to an operating expense after the error is discovered. In some cases, substantial operating expenses are incorrectly added to the fixed asset listing as capital expenditures. This could include items such as substantial roof repair or parking lot repair. Another example is extensive repairs to a massive chilled water cooling system; are these repairs or a capital improvement? Accounting professionals could vehemently argue both points of view. The undepreciated basis of these items can be converted to an operating expense and written off when the error is discovered. The fixed asset listing is massive for many companies, sometimes exceeding 1,000 pages. With so many assets, it is difficult to ensure all are accurate. For items added with an incorrect and excessive depreciable life, it is possible to revise the asset life and "catch-up" depreciation under reported in prior years without filing an amended tax return. Instead, a form 3115 is filed with the tax return.

The difference between capital expenditures and operating expenses is often subjective. Are substantial roof repairs a capital expense or an operating expense? Reviewing disbursements which were listed as capital expenditures in 2006 may uncover items which can be converted to operating expenses.

Federal income taxes are a substantial expense for successful businesses. However, since it is difficult to profitably operate a business, it is worth reviewing legitimate options to keep more of what you have earned. Tax planning is less glamorous than purchasing a new company or developing a new division. However, a modest effort focused on reducing federal income taxes can sharply increase net income.

Patrick O’Connor, MAI is president of O’Connor & Associates, a 180-person real estate services firm in business since 1974. Further information on reducing income taxes is available at: http://www.poconnor.com/federal_tax_reduction_overview.asp. O’Connor can be reached at 713 686 9955 or poconnor@poconnor.com.

Patrick O’Connor, MAI is president of O’Connor & Associates, a 180-person real estate services firm in business since 1974. He can be reached at 713 686 9955 or poconnor@poconnor.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Sherrill

THE PURPOSE OF AN AD CAMPAIGN

Establishing Reputation

Advertising is not always required for the purpose of increasing the sales of a product, although that must be the final effect of the advertising if it does its work. It frequently happens that business organizations at various times in their careers need advertising for the extension of values along more general lines in connection with the organization and its market. Sometimes it is necessary to forestall difficulty by establishing relations of confidence with the public, not merely in connection with the product but in connection with the organization itself. It is frequently necessary to find other uses for a product and impress them upon the consumer.

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In the last 15 years of rapidly increasing activity along the internet lines, many concerns which have started and gained a considerable amount of business have been obligated to set themselves at work to devise advertising for the purpose of establishing an organization reputation. This has been particularly the case with organizations making a number of products, where the sale of the one product cannot altogether carry the sale of another product, but where an established organization's reputation can increase the sale of both. It is obvious that the plan of action will materially differ if this is to be the central idea. Every piece of copy and every piece of printed matter must be selected physically with the same idea so that type, border, illustration, the text of articles in the magazine, internet, or publication, and the whole atmosphere of the campaign will intensify the suggestion contained in the copy.

Extending Organization Values

Allied to this matter of establishing reputation is that of extending the value of the organization by suggesting not so much its repute but the individual character of its actions. This point of view has been necessary in a number of cases where it is difficult for the consumer to be able to determine from the appearance or general survey of a product, the value which it will possess for his purpose, and where consequently the discrimination is not exercised except in a negative way.

There are many products which to all appearances may be made to look equally good with a 50 per cent difference in cost. In such cases the only hope of the serious manufacturer is to extend his organization value to the public by showing the care that is taken in giving to the public a product which will fulfill the purposes required of it ant1 possess a value equal to the price which is asked for it. The plan which requires this point of view will not be effective particularly as to media, but it will be thoroughly effective as to copy and illustration.

Look at the clothing and accessories industry. Put a name brand on the same pair of pants and the price asked will skyrocket. This comes from convincing the consumer that the brand is worth more than other brands based on reputation and image set forth in advertising copy. Thus when you do your research into the niche market you are going for, you should have sufficient reason to ask a higher amount, if, in fact, you are setting a higher price. Much of that will be in selling your organization, which could just be you, as a superior producer of the product.

The Way Advertising Is Used

Advertising is in reality the machine, or bulk, method of selling. It takes a large portion of the public and, directing them to matters of fundamental interest, turns these matters to the advantage of the product and firm involved. It is the mass action of selling, selling to the group, handling the sales question wholesale.

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It is used, therefore, either to supplant the personal selling force, to supplement it, or act upon it. In some cases the printed method of selling in bulk is the only method used. This is the method employed by the many internet companies, which secures its business by Pay-Per-Click advertising and through search engine optimization. In this case the personal selling force is eliminated, and the whole proposition is put up to the customer, his approval secured and his order placed without the personal representative of the seller having been called in at all.


In this case, the advertising is used by directing the consumer to the product in question, and instituting discrimination among the consumers in favor of the product being sold or their acceptance of its quality and reliability.

Advertising as a Control

That part of any business organization which comes in contact with the public is the one upon which the good-will of the business depends, and the one which can be controlled only with the greatest difficulty. The work of the agent or representative can be controlled only to a very minor degree, as his time is spent where there is no check upon his actual methods of doing business. He may exaggerate, change his arguments, guarantee and do other things not consistent with the house policy, and so long as these matters do not assume vital importance, may be allowed to continue.

Theoretically the principal is responsible for all the acts of his subordinates in business, but there are a great many small minded men, and the individual methods of each of these representatives cannot effectively be held to the policy which the principal desires. Advertising aids the central control upon the conditions of sale and does this very definitely. It takes the claims, the advantages, and factors of service, puts them into the most carefully worded phrases, and, by printing them gives them a definite .character and record, which may be quoted against the concern in question at any time.

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The statement of the salesman is no longer the only statement of the house; another statement is found in the printed messenger of the organization. This statement, moreover, is authoritative because it is printed, definite, and limited. A measure of comparison is set up by this printed message by which the statements of the representative and the character of the service can be equally measured. This measure of comparison acts as a control upon the condition of sale in all its phases by fixing the estimate placed by the principal upon the services of his product, and consequently obliging all other conditions to come to this.

A Good Title Is A Work Of Genius

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A Good Title Is A Work of Genius

By Yanik Silver
http://surefiremarketing.com/?46532
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That's what Emanuel Haldeman-Julius said about changing the title of a book to increase sales. And he should know, he's the guy who single-handedly sold more than 100,000,000 "little blue books" during the first part of the 20th century (Yes, I said 100 million copies).

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His book entitled "The First Hundred Million" gives a rare glimpse into how to use certain tested title words to increase your sales. In fact, his book is one of the most scientific studies of what a title change can do for your sales.

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The most remarkable thing is that Haldeman-Julius simply advertised his books by title alone. There was no selling copy, only the title of the book. That's it.

So before you decide on any haphazard title for your next ebook, manual, ezine article or free report, you might want to take advice from this savvy marketer.

Haldeman-Julius had a policy in his business - if a title didn't sell over 10,000 copies a year it was sent to a place in his office called "The Hospital". Inside the Hospital he went to work coming up with a new title for the poorly selling book and re-releasing it. If the revised title didn't sell, the book went into the 'morgue".

He tells about a book originally being titled "The Art of Controversy" which never really sold until it was changed to "How to Argue Logically" and then it leapt up to 30,000 copies. The amazing thing is that nothing else was changed inside the book, just the title.

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And from this "in the trenches" research, Haldeman-Julius discovered certain title words that could increase the sales of almost any book when applied. For instance the words "The Truth About" increased sales for one book starting its publishing life as "Patent Medicine". This book by Dr. Arthur Cramp only sold 3,000 copies in 1925 but when the title was changed to "The Truth About Patent Medicine" it rose up to a respectable 10,000 copies.

Therefore the words "The Truth About" are magical.

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Next, he found the words "Life" and "Love" to work well. Followed by the worn, but still very powerful phrase "How To". Books with "How To" in the title were almost always placed at the top of his sales list. Take for example, the title "How to Psycho-Analyze Yourself" sold 43,000 copies while a similar title "Psycho-Analysis Explained" sold 5,000 less copies. And the title "How I Psycho-Analyzed Myself" managed to attract only 13,500 buyers.

What's more, Haldeman-Julius discovered the public was (and still is) clamoring for facts. So the words "The Facts You Should Know" proved a big winner.

So how can you apply this information?

Easy! The way you should use this wisdom from the ages is by applying it to titles, ebooks, ezine articles, free reports and your headlines. For instance, if I was a cosmetic surgeon I'd give out free ebooks like this: "The Facts You Should Know About Liposuction" or "The Truth About Laser Hair Removal" or "How To Erase The Years With Laser Resurfacing". Each of these could almost be a headline by themselves. That's what you want to strive for because that's what people want!

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Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on creating automatic, moneymaking websites...and he still doesn't know how to put up a website.

He is the author, co-author or publisher of several best-selling online marketing books and tools, which can be found at http://surefiremarketing.com/?46532/?46532
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Principles and Practice of Advertising - The Importance Of Association

Given a knowledge of the target audience with their needs, and given an analysis of the product's specific qualities which may be presented to the consumer as able to satisfy those needs - the next step is the psycho-economic technique of advertising is that of establishing associations, in the thinking and the acting of the consumer, between the need and the product in question.
A common error of advertisements is in assuming that the mere repetition and constant reiteration of the name of the product, company name, or a trade mark will effect a sale by simple brute force. The theory is psychologically wrong. What is desired is not merely that the consumer be familiar with the name of the product. Familiarity may breed contempt. Connection and association, rather than brute impression is what will be effective - connection of such a kind that, given the moment of need, the product name will come to mind before any other product. Not the mere driving of one idea, but the connection of the two ideas, is the task of advertising. The following law should be kept in mind:

The Law Of Contiguity
In general, the best way of establishing mental associations between two things is by presenting them together. Thus "Abraham" at once makes you think "Lincoln" because these two words are so frequently seen together. No matter how familiar you may be with the word "Lincoln", that word will not tend to come to mind when you think "Abraham" unless this association by contiguity has been formed. Similarly, the mere repetition of "Yuban", "Yuban", "Yuban" does not lead you to think "Yuban" when you go to purchase coffee, unless, along with the word "Yuban" the idea "coffee" has also been presented. In advertising, then, the Law of Contiguity means that whenever the name of the product is mentioned it should be accompanied by the idea of the need which the product is to satisfy.