In Search Of Heroes Spreads Good News About Everyday, Real-Life Heroes Who Deserve Recognition For Their Good Works

Unless you’ve been in a cave, you know that Harry
Potter mania is a worldwide phenomenon. Kids and
grownups alike eagerly await the release of each
book and movie, and I'm one of them. I even
devoured the last book, "Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince," in less than a day. But even
more interesting than the stories, from a business
point of view, anyway, is the fact that 6.9 million
copies of that book were sold in just 24 hours. Wow!

Actually, I had my own “big” release just a few days
before the boy wizard – it was for the tapes of my
"Underground Online Seminar," which are now sold out.
However, I have to admit I didn’t fare anywhere near
the multi-million dollar payday J.K. Rowling had,
but it still wasn’t too shabby. I raked in over six
figures (actually $193,380 to be exact) in the first
24 hours of my release.

So what do these two releases have in common?
One word...anticipation.

Whether it’s for the next blockbuster summer movie
(think"Star Wars") or for Harry Potter or even your
product – if you really want a big, monster payday
you’ve got to create an event. I’m going to let you
step behind the curtain a little bit so you can use
some of these same strategies I used.

First of all, I need to give credit where credit is
due. My friend, Jeff Walker, helped me formulate the
plan for this release. Jeff was one of my featured
speakers during the same "Underground Online Seminar"
and his topic was on exactly this same point – "how
to create six-figures in less than seven days with a
product release." So let’s dive right in…

Secret #1: Create Anticipation
We’ve already talked about this, but let’s give a
few more specifics. I started an "early-bird" list
from my subscribers and customers. I got people to
raise their hands and say "Yes, I want to know first
when you’ll be releasing these DVDs." Then once
people were on this list we started "dripping" on
them. We used a blog to post everything from "spy
photos" of the product (which came in a very cool,
individually numbered suitcase) to actual video
clips from the event. Each communication whet the
person’s appetitie for the upcoming release. Please
keep in mind, these updates were planned out before
the start of the promotion so it wasn’t just thrown
together by the seat of our pants.

Secret #2: Secure Partners' Participation
Over the years I’ve built up a network of friends
and business associates. I don’t "hit up" my
Internet friends and associates too often to
promote products, so most of them were eager to
help with this promotion. This is the same thing
you can be doing in your own marketplace. Instead of
thinking of competitors – you should consider them
potential promotion partners. Also start "digging
your well before you are thirsty." That means
building relationships and networking with people
in your industry and marketplace who have influence
and carry weight.

Secret #3: Promotion Tools
Everybody has too much to do and too little time to
do it,so the more you can “spoon-feed” your partners
the better. Yes, some people will take the extra
effort to do their own promotions, but most people
would rather have a pre-made "cut and paste" email
or letter to send. That’s why I provided my partners
with "content" in the form of video clips from the
seminar that they could release to their list. This
put more people on the early-bird list who were
"glued" to that particular partner. Cater to
everyone’s laziness and make it "fill-in-the-blank"
or turn-key simple.

Secret #4: Get People Buying
I wanted to make sure people were really excited
about the release, so we reminded them the day
before and also one hour before the release time.
Plus, I even added a special time-limited bonus
that expired after 4 p.m. on the first day of the
launch. That gave people one more incentive to
order right away. You can’t stop with one notice
about a launch – you’ve got to remind them multiple
times when everything is happening.

Follow these 4 secrets and you'll see some big numbers
in no time flat!

==========================================================
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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource - http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 08:10 AM | Permalink

July 4th for Americans is a chance to celebrate our independence.
Trust me, I'm not going to get on a soapbox and start waving the
flag - but I do think it's important no matter what country
you live in to really think about that word "independence"
and its meaning for you.

My father reminded me that July 3, 1976 was his
"Independence day" since that's the date my family came
over to the United States from Russia. (Pretty cool
since it was right before the bi-centennial celebration.)

For me, my independence day was on July 1, 1999.

That's the date I left my father's business to work on my
own. It was by far one of the hardest decisions of my life.
You see, I had worked for my dad since I was 12 and he
thought I was going to take over the company. I had that
same thought as well until I got the "bug".

In fact, my wife, Missy, and I were talking about this
recently. She was talking about how when she met me 9 years
ago, I had only one thought: "how to grow my father's
business". I would stay late working on new ads and
marketing pieces. I was in early calling my accounts trying
to make sales, etc. etc.

Now I had been studying direct marketing, and results were
really paying off for my dad's business. (Actually they
still use a lot of the ads I wrote in 1998 because they
still work today.) But with every ad I wrote I was getting
more and more aggravated. Not because the ads weren't
producing sales - they were - but because of the grief and
politics I had to deal with. Everybody seemed to be an
advertising expert even though they've never studied or
read anything on the subject. People mistakenly believe
that if they wouldn't "read all that copy" then nobody
will. Or if the ad is "ugly" and has no pictures or pretty
graphics it won't work.

Complete and total crap.

For every ad I wrote I had to fight to get it out there. I
got sick of it and decided I would create my own product so
I could write ads for myself. My first product was to help
dermatologists who wanted new cosmetic patients. It was a
big kit (manual, tapes, reports, diskette, etc) based
around some marketing consulting I was doing on the side
for one of my customers.

I ran my first ad in April 1998 in Dermatologic Surgery
magazine. I got 10 responses so I sent them the 20-page
sales letter I'd written selling this $900 kit. Not one
order.

I waited...

Sent out a 2nd notice to those 10 respondents.

Nothing...

Then I sent a 3rd notice telling them the expiration date
to get all the free bonuses was only 10 days away. Finally
on the very last day of the expiration date I got one order
over the fax machine.

Yipeee!!

I still remember that doctor's name in Flushing, NY. What
an incredible feeling. That was the start of my
independence. I realized I now had the power to chart my
course as I wanted. That first sale. That's one of the
greatest feelings in the world - when something you've
created is sold. It took me a little over a year after that
first order to realize I wanted my freedom and I finally
quit on July 1, 1999.

Maybe it's the new confidence you get when you realize
you've created something that people want and are willing
to exchange money for. That first sale is usually the
hardest (but also the most rewarding).

It's wonderful when I help turn on that light in people.
I've seen it first-hand working my Apprentices and seeing
them launch their products. How amazed they are by the
money pouring from around the globe. I love it!

And my wife is striking out on her own with a little bit of
my help. She set up her first web site -
(www.InstantThankYouLetters.com) and she's getting
checks each month.

So when will your independence day be?

If you've already achieved it - I bet you can remember it
perfectly. Sometimes the bleakest times that we believe are
terrible actually turn into a perfect opportunity.

Take my good friend, Jim Edwards', for example. His
independence day came because he got fired. To him that
wasn't a blessing at first but as he looks back on it -
it's the best thing that ever happened.

I remember the conversation we had right after it happened.
I was drinking a bourbon and Jim was having a beer. We were
talking about different projects he could try and pursue
and do now. We were throwing around some ideas and we came
up with "33 Days to Online Profits".
(www.33daystotoonlineprofits.com)

It was right there during that call that we outlined each
of the days and moved forward from there. And "33 Days" has
been a tremendous six-figure income earner for both of us
and it doesn't seem to let up.

So what can you do to achieve your independence?

I'll give you a couple things to take to heart. I can't
remember the author who said this but he said if you show
me what a man does in his spare time I'll show you the type
of man he'll become. What are doing with your spare time?

- Watching TV or reading?

- Napping or practicing your copywriting?

- Yakking to your friends or studying direct marketing?

It all comes down to the choices we make every single day.
In fact, you shouldn't let one day go by without making
sure you are taking at least one proactive step towards
your own independence. Just because the thought of you
doing what you want when you want may seem so far away -
don't let that stop you from taking those baby steps each
and every day. That's one of my rules and I hope you'll
adopt it.

What else?

Learn to be different. The truth is you need to become
extraordinary to achieve extraordinary results. You can't
be like everyone else (and why would you want to). That
means doing the things other don't (or won't) do. That
means not listening to their advice (unless they are doing
what you want to do). Frankly, if you simply did the exact
opposite of what everyone else is doing you'd turn out
okay. Why? If only 5% of people are truly successful and
the 95% are the mediocre majority - doesn't that mean the
majority is wrong? Don't engage in their thinking. Don't
follow their lead. Don't adhere to the same values and
standards the "95-percenters" do.

Two people who really helped me clarify my thinking on
this was Early Nightingale and also Dan Kennedy. (See
next article for his insight and a special gift I've
arranged for you.)

Please don't get me wrong - in no way am I trying to be
elitist. I'm not. But it is tremendously important to go
through your day with your eyes wide open. The truth is
most of your friends (right now) probably don't want you to
change and succeed. That would imply that they are losers.
That would mean they are failures. Nobody is going to
propel you to succeed except yourself.

So get on it and proclaim your own Independence Day
starting T-O-D-A-Y!

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================
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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, which can be
found at http://www.Ultimatecopywritingworkshop.com
==========================================================

Posted by ralph at 04:48 AM | Permalink

During my presentation at my recent Underground Online
Marketing Seminar (www.UndergroundOnlineSeminar.com) -
I talked about my own "Underground" secrets. One of the
things I covered was how to sell super high-end products.

Personally, I've sold everything from $17 ebooks to
$14,500.00 "Apprentice Programs" and lots in-between. My
most recent high-end product is a $7,995/month program for
cosmetic surgeons.

I really love high priced products and you'll see why in a
moment...

First off, if you want to make $1M this year - then you'd
have to sell 20000 copies of my 'doohickey' at $50. Or it
could be 2000 copies at $500. Or better still 200 copies at
$5000.

It's a lot easier dealing with 200 customers than 20,000.
Think of all the customer service and infrastructure, etc.
Plus, as a general rule - the buyers of a high-priced
product or service are better buyers are easier to deal
with than someone who bought a $9.95 ebook and drives you
crazy.

The other thing is these customers pay more attention and
revere the information or product/service more. I've
attended $500 seminars and I've attended $10,000.00
seminars. Which one do you think I was paying more
attention to? So having higher priced products is actually
better for your customers because they are more committed.
Think about the last time you gave free advice to someone -
what happen? That's right. Nothing. But if you had made
them pay you for consulting - they would have taken it to
heart.

But there's still more on the economics side...

With a higher priced product that means you have more money
to advertise. If I'm going against someone selling a $19
ebook and I'm selling a $199 home study course in the same
market - who can spend more?

No contest, right?

My competitor can only go up to $19 (unless they've got a
back-end product) but I can actually spend up to $199. But
what else does that let me do? I can come into a
marketplace and suck up a big part of the resellers because
I can give more commissions. Hey, that's the name of the
game for many affiliates. I can give them $100 to promote
my product instead of the measly $10 my competitor might
give them.

And of course speaking of economics there's more money in
it for you. If you've got a high priced product there
should be a very high margin built in. If not, raise the
price. I'm serious most people are undercharging for what
they provide. My rule of thumb and one of my values I look
at it every morning in my planners says "I am rich by
enriching others 10x - 100x what they pay me in return".

That's a big deal for me. If you pay me $1000 for a product
- I want to make sure it delivers $10,000 in value for my
customers. I suggest you consider something similar. If
your product isn't good enough for you to raise your price
on it - make it better!

Here are just some of the high-end products you could sell
in the information marketing world (I've successfully sold
all of these and taught many of my students how to do the
same):

* Live events like workshops and seminars

* "Big" boxes of manuals, CDs, DVDs, CDroms, etc

* High end facilitated group masterminds

* eClasses

* "Done it for them" services

* Coaching

* Reprint rights and licenses and many more...

And don't think high-priced products can only sell if you
are selling 'how to make money' related products. I have
students and friends doing very well selling high priced
products to the fitness marketplace, the dating markets,
small niche obsessive-compulsive markets, self-help, career
marketplaces and many more.

Now a lot of people think selling high priced products are
a lot tougher than low-priced products. Not true. You
usually spend about the same effort trying to sell a high-
priced product as a lower priced product.

Now when selling a high-priced product most people make the
mistake of just trying to "1-step" it. That means sending
people off to a webpage or sending them a sales letter and
then nothing more. Only a small percentage will buy this
way. I prefer lead generating where I get people to "raise
their hands" and say "yeah I'm interested". This way I can
now afford to spend more to chase those prospects. And it's
not enough to just email them follow-ups. I prefer to have
a whole arsenal at my fingertips if needed like direct
mail, voice broadcast, telephone calls, postcards, etc.

If over-delivering on value - hold your breath and add an
extra zero to your price. You'll thank me for it! ;)

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================
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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including this
updated course for selling high-end products onine:
http://www.InstantInternetProfits.com

Posted by ralph at 03:56 PM | Permalink

If you're already selling anything online this article is
going to show you how to add extra revenue you didn't even
know you had "hiding" in your site without getting any more
visitors.

* Overlooked Way #1 - An Upsell:

If you've been in marketing for any time you've probably
heard of "upsells" or "bumps". Car dealers are excellent at
using this technique. Once you have agreed to buy a car you
then go into the finance office. This finance guy is really
another place where they try to extract as much money as
possible from you; dealer financing, extended warranties,
rust coating, a low-jack security system, etc. These
additions will normally add as much, or more, profit to the
dealer as the original sale. These are upsells or cross-
sells.

Another great example is if you've ever called a late night
infomercial you will be given an upsell. They will offer
you a special deal on the third bottle of super grime
cleaner if you buy 2 bottles. These upsells usually end up
bringing more profit than the original item people intended
to purchase.

Why not do the same online?

This little "magic trick" can instantly increase your
profits 20-66% even without getting any additional business
or website visitors. It works great because your prospect
is all hot and heavy and ready to buy. They've got their
credit card in their hand and they've already made the
commitment. (If you read Robert Cialdini's book "Influence:
The Psychology of Persuasion" you'll see commitment and
consistency is a key psychological trigger.)

There are a couple ways I've successfully used upsells on
my sites:

First you can use an "intermediary" page. Once prospects
click on the order buttons they're taken to a new page (and
not the order form). This page tells people about a special
offer that is for today only and that they can get a
'deluxe' or 'gold' version of the package for X dollars
more. You can make the upsell a big dollar amount or a
small insignificant little 'bump'. I do this on
www.Instantsalesletters.com and my numbers have been quite
good using this technique - as high as 68% some days. So think
about my additional profit margins just by inserting this
one extra page. Awesome!

Another way of doing this is by "recommending" a product.
Anytime you buy something from Amazon - that's exactly what
they do. Up comes a page that "Customers who bought __ also
bought__" and then they have a slew of products.

Next, you can also have the upsell right on the Order page.
I've even used something as simple as putting a check box
on my order form on www.InstantInternetProfits.com. It could
be that simple. On this we get a 25% upsell rate. Take a look
at what appears at the bottom after the customer has
already filled out their info to buy the course

You have to play fair and let people get the original price
and package you offered but there's no reason you shouldn't
add a complimentary upsell immediately. The upsell is one
of the easiest (and most profitable) techniques you can
start implementing tomorrow. This is like the "would you
like fries" strategy. Unless you're offering "fries" you're
missing out on tons and tons of profit. You simply need to
come up with a couple more compelling bonuses, packages or
up-sells that people will get for the upgrade.

* Overlooked Way #2 - Thank You Pages:

After upsells, I'd say 'thank you' pages are one of the
most overlooked profit hot-spots. Once again, there are
several ways I've used this technique. First of all,
anytime somebody buys a product from you online - they are
taken to some kind of thank you page. Most people will
simply put "Thank you for your order" and that's it. They
leave the customer with their credit card in their hands to
go off to some other website and give them money. Why not
give people a special deal on the thank you page or at
least give them links to your other products or other
people's products that you make an affiliate commission on?

Now if it's a digital product - then they need to get their
download but you can also put some recommended resources
right on the download page. At the bottom of the digital
download page for www.PublicDomainRiches.com we have a
recommendation for the new Public Domain Gold Mine(tm)
package.

Those aren't the only thank you pages. Many people totally
forget about the 'thank you' pages that come up after
someone signs up for your list. Now where you want to send
them will depend on where they are in the sales process -
but you can have a list of recommended resources that comes
up AFTER people subscribe to your email list. Why not? If
that's the last action you were expecting - you should look
for ways to profit from this.

* Overlooked Way #3 - Thank You Emails/Confirmations:

Don't forget the initial email confirmation you send back
to your customers. Last technique we talked about making
offers on the thank you page but your 'thank you' email is
one of the most read emails. In addition to the 'typical'
stuff you should include like customer service information,
who will bill their credit card, etc why not add a simple
P.S. to the bottom of the email like I do offering
additional resources (or even a special deal just for
customers).

I guarantee just putting these 3 easy overlooked ways to
work on your site will help squeeze out even more profits
for you & without adding a single visitor. Give it a try.

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================
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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource - http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 12:00 PM | Permalink

In only a few short months I've achieved the ultimate
Internet "fantasy" of making a lot of money from a simple
(almost primitive) web site that runs itself virtually on
complete autopilot. Starting from scratch I banked over
$51,351.94 my first 6 1/2 months online, just working part-
time out of the corner of my living room.

Now today at age 31, I've gone on to earn over 7-figures.

How did I go from a standing start to banking mega
profits?

To do that, what I think you really need are these inner
secrets to mega internet success. This has nothing to do
with search engines, pay-per-clicks. It doesn't have
anything to do with any of the tactical stuff. It's all a
lot of stuff that goes on in your head.

* Secret #1: Cheerful Expectancy *

One of my biggest mentors is Earl Nightingale. He passed
away several years ago but you need to get everything he
recorded at Nightingale.com. He has a program called "Lead
The Field" and "The Strangest Secret." Just listen to
that thing over and over again. He talks about cheerful
expectancy.

There's a big difference between having expectancy versus
hoping or wishing something is going to occur. When you
have that cheerful expectancy, you know it's going to
occur. And that doesn't just come from being
"Pollyannaish" or having rose-colored glasses.

It comes from having knowledge. And you get that
knowledge from studying in your field whatever it is. It
could be Internet marketing or it could be neurology. That
means reading, studying and buying everything and
absolutely immersing yourself in it.

I learned from Earl Nightingale that if you want to be an
expert, you spend an hour a day reading on whatever
subject that you're interested in, that you want to be an
expert on. So I said, "Well, what would happen if I read
for three hours a day?"

I just started learning as much as I possibly could, and
that knowledge gives you the confidence to know that you
have that positive expectancy. Your expectations determine
your results.

* Secret #2: Do one proactive thing a day *

You don't need to do 100 things a day. Just get that one
proactive thing a day. So each little brick builds a big
wall for you. Trust me it's easy to be overwhelmed with
hundreds of tasks. You're like, "Oh, we need to do e-zine
ads and free-for-alls and pay-per-click search engines,
and I need to do all this other stuff." Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

But just relax and do one task a day.

Your action will create more and more and more action for
you. You simply need to make a commitment to do one
proactive thing a day no matter what. Even if you're dead
tired and worked a 14-hour day - come home and mail one
letter or send out one joint venture proposal. I'm telling
you - just these little tiny proactive things will have an
immense impact.

Most everyone has heard of the '80/20 rule' or the Pareto
Principle. It says that 20% of your actions produce 80% of
your results, and the other way around. 80% of your work
only creates 20% of your results.

So go back and look where your successes came from, and I
know that they're from a tiny little group of actions. So
if you just get that one proactive thing a day (from the
20% group) that is going to propel you further, that's
going to bring you to where you want to be.

Make it a point to focus on those "20% activities". In
Stephen Covey's famous work "7 Habits of Highly Effective
People" he calls these activities "important but not
urgent".

One of my Apprentices, Peter Woodhead, from the UK is a
perfect example of simply doing one proactive thing a day.
A lot of Apprentices bolted out of the gate during our one
year program but Peter was an Internet newbie and he also
had a full time job so he was a bit slower getting
started. However, he took my advice and simply managed to
do one proactive thing every single day. No matter how big
or how small. It could be writing one autoresponder
message or it might have been writing 50 headlines. No
matter the day - Peter was moving ahead. And not
surprisingly his project was completed before many of the
other Apprentices were finished.

* Secret #3: Decision *

This is such a big point. A lot of people have so many
problems with decision. That's because they don't like it
because it cuts off other options. But frankly that's
exactly what you want. You want to cut off other options.

One of our top apprentices, Cindy Kappler, WebAdMagic.com,
had no other option but to succeed because she quit her
job. Now I'm not encouraging you to do that if you still
have a real job but it does prove if you cut off your
options, you're much more motivated. Successful people
make decisions quickly.

There's a magic of attraction when you make your decision.
However, when you're hemming and hawing, you don't
experience this magic. I don't want to get into too much
woo-woo or metaphysical or spiritual stuff.

But there's this magic of attraction. I can't even
explain it. When you set your mind up that you're going
to do this, all of a sudden, at the next dinner party
you're attending you meet somebody that can help you get
to where you want to go. Is that luck or is that
something else?

I don't think it's luck.

It's like once the decision is made your mind is tuned
into the solution and all kinds of 'freaky' coincidences
and occurrences happen.

And that brings me to another important point about
decisions - fail quickly. Don't be afraid of failure. A
lot of people are so afraid of screwing up, or making a
mistake that they are forever frozen. Who the hell cares?
Screw up quickly! I screw up all the time. And you want
to fail quickly.

That's the great part about the Internet. You want to go
out there and find out if your dumb idea is going to work
right away. You can do it in days instead of months.
Sometimes hours and if it doesn't work, you move on. You
say, "Next!"

Look, I know a lot of people who are working on their
products for the last two, three, four years. Get the
damned thing out! You just make it better as you go
along.

InstantSalesLetters.com, our first product was not where it
is now. We've added a ton of stuff to it and made it
better. But I just wanted to see if the thing was going
to sell.

It wasn't complete and utter rubbish, as my British
friends say, but it was enough that it made the point. It
found out if there was a marketplace for it. So find out.

Some people like to go around at dinner parties and so on
and say, "I'm writing a book. I've been writing a book
for five years. I'm an author."

Uh huh...

I can show you 6 different ways to have your book done in
days. It's a cop-out and complete B.S. Bottom line - make
the decision to get the product out there. See what
happens and fail quickly.

Now get out there and do it!

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================
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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
quickest and easiest way to create a product to sell -
http://www.TheUltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 01:43 PM | Permalink

The Yanik Silver's Underground Online Seminar III was one of the best seminars ever created and executed by Yanik's staff of elite professionals. The event went off flawlessly...the attendees were pleased, amazed and astounded by the quality of the content, the personal wealth of the expertise of the attendees and the mind-blowing joint venture opportunities .

Yanik set a new standard in seminar excellence with this event. Most seminar investors are sick of the 'pitch fests' that are are the totality of many other internet seminars. Many attendees stated that just the contacts they made were worth their weight in gold. The seminar content was a huge bonus.

This was definitely a gathering of the "Who's Who" of the internet online marketing world where few were willing to admit their 6, 7 and 8 figure incomes. Most were dressed like who they really are without any boasting or posturing on how much money they are making...down-to-earth-people looking to make new friends and find million dollar joint venture partners.

I think I took more photos at this event than any previous seminar. All seemed to have a great time. When everyone was not learning the newest, state-of-the-art techniques and skills, they were partying hardy.

Yanik, Rob and Heather definitely know how to create an event to remember. Kudos to you guys. I loved being a part of the team.

To see the photos from Underground Online Seminar II and III, Click Here.

Posted by ralph at 11:54 PM | Permalink

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).

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 10:59 PM | Permalink

Click Here to see the photos from Yanik Silver's Underground Online Internet Marketing Secret Seminar

"Yanik Silver's Underground Online Internet Marketing Secret Seminar Blew Everyone Away Especially When They Discovered Incredibly Valuable, Previously Undisclosed, Marketing Strategies and Techniques for Search Engine Optimization, Google Adwords and Adsense, Podcasting, Word Press, Movable Type and Blogger Blogs, E-zine Articles, Public Relations and Membership Websites and the Fiend Who Murdered Yanik Silver"

Wow! What an amazing event. The top secret techniques, tools and strategies for making awesome amounts of money FAST on the internet and offline were shared by an interstellar group of speakers, evil geniuses and covert multimillionaire attendees...maybe some who will be future casual, unassuming, not ego-maniacal internet guru (goo-roo), over-delivering billionaires.

Everyone wore their secret agent disguises so you didn't really know who was a mega marketing star, billionaire, millionaire, secret performer, doctor, athlete, genius, successful copywriter, spy Google agent, spammer, hacker or murderer...Yes I said vicious, hardcore, brutal killer or killers who handily dispatched Yanik during the Saturday night celebration.

It is hard to believe that Yanik Silver was murdered at his own Underground Internet Online Marketing Seminar.

The valuable information, strategies and techniques exposed at his seminar was just too great a threat to the other seminar creators.

You may reasonably suspect it was one of the other jealous online marketers, seminar promoters, internet aficionados or so-called internet gurus that did him.

Click Here to see the photos from Yanik Silver's Underground Online Internet Marketing Secret Seminar

There are so many people who are jealous of Yanik's phenomenal business success in such a short period of time. Or perhaps you may believe it was a conspiracy of multiple partners involved in social internet intercourse (not sex you voyeur...communication) that joint ventured to perpetuate this hideous crime.

ONLY THE MEMBERS OF HIS SECRET UNDERGROUND ONLINE INTERNET MARKETING SEMINAR SOCIETY
KNOW THE REAL TRUTH!

To read the juicy and startling details of Yanik's sudden, premature, demise you need to become a member of his secret underground society of internet secret agents. In the next couple of days, you will learn the sensational details about Yanik's death and rumors surrounding his unexpected, miraculous resurrection.

Be sure to subscribe to the In Search Of Heroes RSS feed to keep updated daily. We will be revealing not only how to become a member of this elite marketing group but also how you can become a integral part of Yanik's underground family.

We are at this very moment creating a secret photo album where all the agents in good standing can enter with their special password to gain access to a members only area. To qualify you must have been an attendee at Yanik's Underground Online Internet Marketing Seminar 1-2 or a member of his "Underground Secret Society".

You will be able to update your personal file with your email address, name, address, phone number, websites, blogs, IM, waist, hip, chest and shoulder measurements, karate skills, marksmanship accomplishments, weapons training, disguises and aliases. You can share the missions you are interested in and those you are qualified for.

Also, you can tell the other secret members about what types of agents, skills and resources you are looking for to make your next covert internet marketing project a killer success. For the truly daring agents you can upload photos of your different secret agent personas, dressed in your appropriate disguises.

Click Here to see the photos from Yanik Silver's Underground Online Internet Marketing Secret Seminar

All the secret agent attendees are welcome to download the photos of themselves, family, friends and future joint venture assassins...that will murder their competitors' hopes of actually competing and staying in business.

If you use the photos on your websites or blogs, all I ask please give me a return hyper-link back to this website. It is not mandatory and no death dealer will come calling some dark, rainy, night to extract payment, but it is the way I am build traffic to this site so people will come listen to the amazing wisdom of the internet heroes I have discovered at internet seminars and already interviewed, including Yanik.

"Discover the wisdom of the internet Heroes who are helping develop the In Search Of Heroes™ Program model that will generate desperately needed income for beneficial local community programs that were secret agents at Yanik's Underground Online Marketing Seminar!"

They candidly discuss how changes in their attitudes and heroes in their lives helped them become successful: Ray Edwards, Michel Fortin, Ralph Zuranski, and Yanik Silver. Soon to be interview secret agents are: Willie Crawford, Rosalind Gardner, David Frye, Jonathan Mizel, dynamic father and son marketing duo Joshua and Greg Writer, Dr. Michael Woo-Ming, MD, Jeff Walker, Ryan Lee, Air'n Monahan and other major powers in the global conspiracy to dominate unique, highly profitable target niches.

Anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Take a gander at the awesome photo albums of the event. Click on the links below to see the photo albums for each day of the event.

Click Here to see the photos from Yanik Silver's Underground Online Internet Marketing Secret Seminar

Be sure to subscribe to the In Search Of Heroes RSS feed to keep updated daily. We will be revealing not only how to become a member of this elite marketing group but also how you can become a integral part of Yanik's underground family.

Posted by ralph at 08:52 AM | Permalink

By now we've all become accustomed to the "bonus pile on"
that's almost a required part of any online offer. But even
though it's quite common place, never forget that adding
extra value to your offer is essential - especially when
you're selling information products.

This bonus concept is so important, I have frequently taken
something out that I was originally going to put into the
product just so I could use it as a bonus. Bonuses really
do sell (if you handle them the right way)!

Most people put some lame bonuses in that have been "around
the block". A bonus can't just be an afterthought. It's got
to be part of your initial offer strategy.

I know a lot of people struggle with bonuses so here's an
easy way to develop bonuses with high perceived value. Just
look for public domain works you can repackage.

I love public domain bonuses for many reasons. First,
they're completely free - you don't have to pay anyone to
write them. Second, they're often truly unique - with
millions of pages of public domain material available,
you're bound to find a "sleeper" on a great topic.

And best of all, they can jazz up just about any old
information product. Even a commonplace how-to course can
seem extra special when you've added some "vintage gems" as
bonuses. Talk about an underutilized marketing secret
weapon!

Here are just a few ways to use public domain materials as
bonuses...

Software - Believe it or not, many software developers
don't copyright their works because they want them to be
free for public use! Check out what's available by typing
"freeware" in your favorite search engine. Don't forget to
clear the rights with the author first.

eBooks - Even if you can't find a public domain work on a
related subject, inspirational and motivational topics go
with just about anything. There are thousands of public
domain works that fit into this category, from words of
wisdom to prayer books.

Government publications - US Federal works (and some state)
are in the public domain, and they are an absolute gold
mine. For example, when I created an anatomy drawing book
for artists (also in the public domain material!), a little
quick searching revealed government lists to grants for
artist. People love free money, making this an awesome
bonus with a high perceived value!

Diagrams, patterns, technical spec sheets - While finding
these may take a little more digging, they're perfect for
marketing to hobbyists, crafters, or collectors. If you're
selling a how-to guide to hand quilting, just a couple of
vintage quilt patterns will make your audience swoon. Or
what about diagrams or specifications for antique car parts
or vintage airplanes? Here's one instance where your
audience might grab your product simply to get the bonuses!

Drawings and photos - The copyrights on many old
illustrations and antique photos have expired - or they
were never copyrighted to begin with. Bundle these graphics
into themed sets to complement your product. While scanning
in old artwork may be a bit time consuming, this is one of
those "work once, reap the rewards forever" products.

Finally, here's a bonus for YOU. Remember that the more
unique your public domain bonus is, the more likely you can
package or even sell it in its own right! Sometimes
something as simple as changing a title can give your bonus
even more perceived value.

What a great way to breathe new life into those old
forgotten works... and pile on value-added bonuses that
justify a premium price tag for your product!

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 12:52 PM | Permalink

July 4th for Americans is a chance to celebrate our independence.
Trust me, I'm not going to get on a soapbox and start waving the
flag - but I do think it's important no matter what country
you live in to really think about that word "independence"
and its meaning for you.

My father reminded me that July 3, 1976 was his
"Independence day" since that's the date my family came
over to the United States from Russia. (Pretty cool
since it was right before the bi-centennial celebration.)

For me, my independence day was on July 1, 1999.

That's the date I left my father's business to work on my
own. It was by far one of the hardest decisions of my life.
You see, I had worked for my dad since I was 12 and he
thought I was going to take over the company. I had that
same thought as well until I got the "bug".

In fact, my wife, Missy, and I were talking about this
recently. She was talking about how when she met me 9 years
ago, I had only one thought: "how to grow my father's
business". I would stay late working on new ads and
marketing pieces. I was in early calling my accounts trying
to make sales, etc. etc.

Now I had been studying direct marketing, and results were
really paying off for my dad's business. (Actually they
still use a lot of the ads I wrote in 1998 because they
still work today.) But with every ad I wrote I was getting
more and more aggravated. Not because the ads weren't
producing sales - they were - but because of the grief and
politics I had to deal with. Everybody seemed to be an
advertising expert even though they've never studied or
read anything on the subject. People mistakenly believe
that if they wouldn't "read all that copy" then nobody
will. Or if the ad is "ugly" and has no pictures or pretty
graphics it won't work.

Complete and total crap.

For every ad I wrote I had to fight to get it out there. I
got sick of it and decided I would create my own product so
I could write ads for myself. My first product was to help
dermatologists who wanted new cosmetic patients. It was a
big kit (manual, tapes, reports, diskette, etc) based
around some marketing consulting I was doing on the side
for one of my customers.

I ran my first ad in April 1998 in Dermatologic Surgery
magazine. I got 10 responses so I sent them the 20-page
sales letter I'd written selling this $900 kit. Not one
order.

I waited...

Sent out a 2nd notice to those 10 respondents.

Nothing...

Then I sent a 3rd notice telling them the expiration date
to get all the free bonuses was only 10 days away. Finally
on the very last day of the expiration date I got one order
over the fax machine.

Yipeee!!

I still remember that doctor's name in Flushing, NY. What
an incredible feeling. That was the start of my
independence. I realized I now had the power to chart my
course as I wanted. That first sale. That's one of the
greatest feelings in the world - when something you've
created is sold. It took me a little over a year after that
first order to realize I wanted my freedom and I finally
quit on July 1, 1999.

Maybe it's the new confidence you get when you realize
you've created something that people want and are willing
to exchange money for. That first sale is usually the
hardest (but also the most rewarding).

It's wonderful when I help turn on that light in people.
I've seen it first-hand working my Apprentices and seeing
them launch their products. How amazed they are by the
money pouring from around the globe. I love it!

And my wife is striking out on her own with a little bit of
my help. She set up her first web site -
(www.InstantThankYouLetters.com) and she's getting
checks each month.

So when will your independence day be?

If you've already achieved it - I bet you can remember it
perfectly. Sometimes the bleakest times that we believe are
terrible actually turn into a perfect opportunity.

Take my good friend, Jim Edwards', for example. His
independence day came because he got fired. To him that
wasn't a blessing at first but as he looks back on it -
it's the best thing that ever happened.

I remember the conversation we had right after it happened.
I was drinking a bourbon and Jim was having a beer. We were
talking about different projects he could try and pursue
and do now. We were throwing around some ideas and we came
up with "33 Days to Online Profits".
(www.33daystotoonlineprofits.com)

It was right there during that call that we outlined each
of the days and moved forward from there. And "33 Days" has
been a tremendous six-figure income earner for both of us
and it doesn't seem to let up.

So what can you do to achieve your independence?

I'll give you a couple things to take to heart. I can't
remember the author who said this but he said if you show
me what a man does in his spare time I'll show you the type
of man he'll become. What are doing with your spare time?

- Watching TV or reading?

- Napping or practicing your copywriting?

- Yakking to your friends or studying direct marketing?

It all comes down to the choices we make every single day.
In fact, you shouldn't let one day go by without making
sure you are taking at least one proactive step towards
your own independence. Just because the thought of you
doing what you want when you want may seem so far away -
don't let that stop you from taking those baby steps each
and every day. That's one of my rules and I hope you'll
adopt it.

What else?

Learn to be different. The truth is you need to become
extraordinary to achieve extraordinary results. You can't
be like everyone else (and why would you want to). That
means doing the things other don't (or won't) do. That
means not listening to their advice (unless they are doing
what you want to do). Frankly, if you simply did the exact
opposite of what everyone else is doing you'd turn out
okay. Why? If only 5% of people are truly successful and
the 95% are the mediocre majority - doesn't that mean the
majority is wrong? Don't engage in their thinking. Don't
follow their lead. Don't adhere to the same values and
standards the "95-percenters" do.

Two people who really helped me clarify my thinking on
this was Early Nightingale and also Dan Kennedy. (See
next article for his insight and a special gift I've
arranged for you.)

Please don't get me wrong - in no way am I trying to be
elitist. I'm not. But it is tremendously important to go
through your day with your eyes wide open. The truth is
most of your friends (right now) probably don't want you to
change and succeed. That would imply that they are losers.
That would mean they are failures. Nobody is going to
propel you to succeed except yourself.

So get on it and proclaim your own Independence Day
starting T-O-D-A-Y!

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 12:50 PM | Permalink

Every year I've been in business for myself online
has been better than the previous one. Recently, I
decided to create an "Apprentice" program (Yes, even
before Trump) and I was extremely pleased that we
had nearly 100% of my Apprentices get an online
venture up and running.

I've gone back and thought about their projects and how
they developed and I came to a striking conclusion that
will be worth a lot of money to you this year if you heed it.
There was one key aspect that got them off their butts and
making money and it came down to one thing...

...A Deadline!

As simple as that sounds, once a firm deadline was
established that's when the rubber met the road and all
obstacles melted away like snow flakes in a frying pan.
I'll give you a perfect example for one Apprentice we were
going back and forth a bit tidying up some finishing
touches on the project and trying to get it out the door.
Many times people can try to make everything too perfect
and it never gets out making money so we said we are
launching this project at the LIVE Apprentice Summit. That
was it and that was final.

The date of the Summit was getting closer and closer and I
could see this Apprentice start to sweat a bit. But I made
him make the commitment to this deadline publicly during
our group call and he couldn't back out now.

Fast forward to the day of his launch he had multiple
obstacles that would normally have put the project on hold
get swept away but not now. With the firm deadline in place
and the opportunity for him to be embarrassed our fine
Apprentice finished his project. We hit the 'send' button
and he made a tidy sum from a tiny list over the weekend.
And this was just the start because his project has made
well into the five figures already. And why did it get
finished?

The deadline once again.

What's your deadline for your first project or your next
project?

Is it something that's in your head? Not a good idea. It's
pretty easy to keep moving that forward or letting other
things take precedence.

Who knows about your deadline and who's going to hold you
to it? In some cases it's not a good idea to share your
deadline or goal with another person, especially if they're
the kind of negative energy vampire a lot of well-meaning
friends and family are. But if you've got a group of
colleagues all with the same thinking use them. This works
especially well if you don't want to look like an "idiot"
in front of them and they are people you really respect.

I'll tell you what works for me and maybe it'll work for
you too.

For me, I work best when I absolutely "have to" perform.

For instance my first product on Internet marketing
might never have been made (or at least it would have taken
much longer) if I didn't sell it before it was done. In 2000
when I first started marketing online a lot of people wanted
to know exactly what I did and how I started making money
so fast.

Well, I got my first opportunity to share my story in
Atlanta at an Internet seminar. I was extremely nervous and
my heart was beating out of my chest to go talk in front of
100 strangers. I gave my presentation and then I sold this
product (yet to be created).

I told people it would be delivered in a few weeks so they
knew it was a prepublication offer. I walked away with 10
orders at $200 bucks. All well and good except I couldn't
charge anyone until the manual was done. Even though it was
only $2,000 (less what I had to pay the promoter)

I knew that at least people wanted this information and I
could keep selling it once I finished it. I probably had a
week or two of 3 o'clock in the morning work sessions but I
completed it and charged the cards. I was under pressure to
get the manual done because these people paid me (though I
didn't charge them) and I owed them the material.

Since then I've updated my course material and it's been
worth well into the six figures just because "I had to
do it".

How can you set something like this up for yourself? If you
can stand the pressure - you can decide to put on a tele-
seminar. This is one of my favorite ways of creating
product by a deadline. You can do either a one-time tele-
seminar or series of tele-seminars and you get paid to
produce the product. How great is that? It doesn't matter
if you have 1 person or 1000 people on the call because
this is forcing you to create product and perform.

Once you've set your deadline for anything you'll
"magically" see certain resources fall into place. Trust
me, it's a bit eerie but when it occurs every time you set
a firm deadline you know there's something to it. Just the
act of making the decision sets these events into motion
for you. It's also because what you focus on becomes your
reality. Your perception has changed. Your internal
"radar" is now attuned to resources, allies, etc that can
help you get your project completed.

Now I leave you with one more secret...Set "mini
deadlines".

When you're looking at the whole task of setting up an
Internet business (or anything really) it's easy to get
overwhelmed. But if you break everything up into small
tasks with their own deadlines you'll be at your
destination before you know it. I promise it'll work for
you. In fact, that's one of the reasons I really like
Franklin planner systems (now Franklin Covey). I've been
using them since 1998 and that's when I first started
making some significant changes in my life.

Actually the founder of Franklin, Hyrum Smith has a great
book called "The 10 Essential Laws of Time and Life
Management" - this should be required reading for you!

Even though I hate ad slogans (since they don't work) this
one should become your mantra for the year - "Just Do It".

As cliché and overused as it is - that's all it comes down
to. Whether you're willing to roll the dice and put
yourself out there a little. I promise whatever the worst
case scenario you're thinking, it is far from the reality.

And if you need someone to send your deadline list to - go
ahead and email it to me. I'll keep it confidential and
we'll celebrate together when you reach your destination.

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 12:55 PM | Permalink

During my presentation at my recent Underground Online
Marketing Seminar (www.UndergroundOnlineSeminar.com) -
I talked about my own "Underground" secrets. One of the
things I covered was how to sell super high-end products.

Personally, I've sold everything from $17 ebooks to
$14,500.00 "Apprentice Programs" and lots in-between. My
most recent high-end product is a $7,995/month program for
cosmetic surgeons.

I really love high priced products and you'll see why in a
moment...

First off, if you want to make $1M this year - then you'd
have to sell 20000 copies of my 'doohickey' at $50. Or it
could be 2000 copies at $500. Or better still 200 copies at
$5000.

It's a lot easier dealing with 200 customers than 20,000.
Think of all the customer service and infrastructure, etc.
Plus, as a general rule - the buyers of a high-priced
product or service are better buyers are easier to deal
with than someone who bought a $9.95 ebook and drives you
crazy.

The other thing is these customers pay more attention and
revere the information or product/service more. I've
attended $500 seminars and I've attended $10,000.00
seminars. Which one do you think I was paying more
attention to? So having higher priced products is actually
better for your customers because they are more committed.
Think about the last time you gave free advice to someone -
what happen? That's right. Nothing. But if you had made
them pay you for consulting - they would have taken it to
heart.

But there's still more on the economics side...

With a higher priced product that means you have more money
to advertise. If I'm going against someone selling a $19
ebook and I'm selling a $199 home study course in the same
market - who can spend more?

No contest, right?

My competitor can only go up to $19 (unless they've got a
back-end product) but I can actually spend up to $199. But
what else does that let me do? I can come into a
marketplace and suck up a big part of the resellers because
I can give more commissions. Hey, that's the name of the
game for many affiliates. I can give them $100 to promote
my product instead of the measly $10 my competitor might
give them.

And of course speaking of economics there's more money in
it for you. If you've got a high priced product there
should be a very high margin built in. If not, raise the
price. I'm serious most people are undercharging for what
they provide. My rule of thumb and one of my values I look
at it every morning in my planners says "I am rich by
enriching others 10x - 100x what they pay me in return".

That's a big deal for me. If you pay me $1000 for a product
- I want to make sure it delivers $10,000 in value for my
customers. I suggest you consider something similar. If
your product isn't good enough for you to raise your price
on it - make it better!

Here are just some of the high-end products you could sell
in the information marketing world (I've successfully sold
all of these and taught many of my students how to do the
same):

* Live events like workshops and seminars

* "Big" boxes of manuals, CDs, DVDs, CDroms, etc

* High end facilitated group masterminds

* eClasses

* "Done it for them" services

* Coaching

* Reprint rights and licenses and many more...

And don't think high-priced products can only sell if you
are selling 'how to make money' related products. I have
students and friends doing very well selling high priced
products to the fitness marketplace, the dating markets,
small niche obsessive-compulsive markets, self-help, career
marketplaces and many more.

Now a lot of people think selling high priced products are
a lot tougher than low-priced products. Not true. You
usually spend about the same effort trying to sell a high-
priced product as a lower priced product.

Now when selling a high-priced product most people make the
mistake of just trying to "1-step" it. That means sending
people off to a webpage or sending them a sales letter and
then nothing more. Only a small percentage will buy this
way. I prefer lead generating where I get people to "raise
their hands" and say "yeah I'm interested". This way I can
now afford to spend more to chase those prospects. And it's
not enough to just email them follow-ups. I prefer to have
a whole arsenal at my fingertips if needed like direct
mail, voice broadcast, telephone calls, postcards, etc.

If over-delivering on value - hold your breath and add an
extra zero to your price. You'll thank me for it! ;)

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 11:49 PM | Permalink

Did you notice the title for this article?

Of course, it's a headline. That's right and it uses a
shop-worn classic format which still continues to amaze me
with its power. Just 2 simple words...

"How To..." Stick with me on this, I know it sounds too
easy.

The simple, lowly "How to" headline is still tops in my
book for simplicity and effectiveness. You really cannot go
wrong with it. The 'how to' headline is so versatile. You
can follow it with several benefits, a question, an offer,
almost anything - and it works great!

In fact, using the 'how to' formula is one of the best
places to start when writing headlines because it forces
you to think of what your product/service actually does for
the person.

Here are a couple of winning examples to get your juices
flowing:

How to Collect from Social Security at Any Age

How To Get FIVE Money-Making Web Sites In 29 Minutes Or
Less...Without Spending A Fortune!

How to avoid the biggest mistake you can make in building
or buying a home

How to cruise the world for $19 a day

How to get Enthusiastic Applause - Even a Standing Ovation
- Every Time You Speak (Ted Nicholas)

How To Win Friends And Influence People

How to make your car invisible to radar and laser!

How to make your computer as easy to use as your telephone

How to fix cars

Check out the last winning headline on our list - "how to
fix cars". I mean it really can't get any simpler than
that, but it works...and it works big time!

Now here are a few "How To.." headlines you can plug-in
and use right away when brainstorming:

=============== "How to" Formulas ===============

How to get ____________
How to have __________
How to keep__________
How to start __________
How to begin _________
How to become ___________
How to improve your _________
How to develop _____________
How to get the most out of_____________
How to avoid ________________
How to end________________
How to get rid of _____________
How to conquer _____________
How to enjoy _______________

Even just adding the word "how" in front of a headline
gives it an additional appeal. Compare these 2 examples:

A strange accident saved me from baldness

How a strange accident saved me from baldness

Which one is more compelling? I think you'll agree #2 does
the trick. And that one is a winning headline used over and
over.

Okay, but maybe the tried and true "how to" is too boring
for you. No problem! Spice it up by adding a little
something before the 'how to'

Here's HOW TO...

Discover HOW TO...

If you think a 12% annual return on your money is good,
here's HOW TO set your sights on 100% or more

All new course reveals HOW TO use Pop-Ups to double your
opt-in rate, explode your sales, and squeeze up to 300%
more revenue out of each visitor to your Web site!
(Jonathan Mizel)

I'll show you HOW TO hit golf shots as straight as you can
point, or this video golfing lesson is free...and I'll pay
you $25 for wasting your time! (Jeff Paul)

Ohio man discovers the secret of HOW TO escape the American
Rat Race

Or if you still want to change it up a little - just use
"How you..." or "How I..." like these winning examples:

HOW I earn my living in 4 hours a day

HOW YOU Can Make Well Over $300,000.00 Per Year As A Real
Estate Agent Working Less Than 40 Hours A Week.... Have A
Top Income AND A Life..... And NEVER Have To Make A Call
You Dread Or Waste Your Time With Unrealistic Sellers Or
Insincere Buyers, Ever Again (Craig Proctor)

I think you'll agree for getting the most bang for your
buck - "how to" headlines are the way to go.
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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 12:57 PM | Permalink

Advertising is expensive. And it costs you the same amount
of money to run an ad (or mail a letter) that brings in 2
customers as one that drives in 20 customers. So that
difference is in your ad (or letter).

Let's say you've come up with what you think is a good ad
(powerful headline, good offer, sizzling copy, etc.), now
you're ready to test.

Testing will help you:

1. Save yourself a bunch of money.

2. Improve any results you're currently getting.

3. Stop guessing about what works.

I'd say those are some pretty good reasons to learn all
about testing and how to apply it to your business. So
before spending loads of money on your new ad you can (and
should) do a few low-cost/no-cost tests:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Sleep On It Test
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

First, you should let your ad sit for at least a day. Then
the next day you can come back to it with new eyes and a
fresher perspective. You can find errors that weren't
apparent before. Also, your chances of writing a good ad
are significantly improved with rewriting. (I will rewrite
an ad or letter 3, 4 or 5 times before I'm done.)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Reading Aloud Test
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I don't know what it is about reading something aloud
versus reading to yourself, but you'll pick up lots and
lots of insight into how good (or bad) your ad really is by
reading it aloud. All the bumps and rough spots jump out at
you.

Or a variation on this is to have someone else read it you.
This is even better. As they're reading it, you should take
out a copy of the ad and make notes on it. One big
advantage of this is your reader is completely impartial.
He won't stress certain phrases or words to make the
meaning clearer. And if the reader is having trouble you
know that's an area to edit.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Sneaky Opinion Test
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This test is really great. Take your ad off your printer
and make a xerox copy of it. Then go around to a few people
who should be in your target market and say something like,
"Take a look at this, I just found this in a magazine." Key
point: Do not tell people you wrote the ad because they'll
be say how nice it is.

You're gauging their response. If they say something like
"Did you write this?" or "This is really good." What that
really means is your ad stinks.

But if you start hearing "Do you know how I can get this
done?" or "Do you do this?" then you know you're on to
something good and ready to spend money on your test.

Opinions are great, but the only votes that really count
are the ones that are paid for. The first thing you *don't*
want to do is call every newspaper, magazine, throw-away,
etc. You need to start by testing small. And that means
spending as little as possible to get accurate results.

=-=-=-=-=-=-
Test Small
=-=-=-=-=-=-

Joe Sugarman (He sold millions of Blu-blocker sunglasses)
tells how he would test all his ads in the Southwestern
edition of the Wall Street Journal. Because this was the
cheapest and smallest edition of the Journal to test.

That way he was able to read results quickly and then
decide whether or not to 'roll-out' to other editions. So
how can you apply this information to your business?

Easy.

Let's say you've been running ads in your local paper.
Well, usually newspapers have zoned editions based on zip
codes. So instead of paying for your ad to appear in the
entire circulation, you simply put it in one of the
cheapest and most representative zones available.

And by tracking the response (using a specific phone#,
person, extension#, etc.) you can safely predict what
results you'll get once you go out to the entire
circulation.

One more point: It's better to run your test ad in a daily
paper instead of a monthly magazine. Simply because you can
ascertain information more quickly.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Don't Fall For Your Ad Rep's Traps
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

You cannot multiply zero. That means if there is no life in
your ad -- kill it before it drains more money and time
from you.

Don't listen to your media rep's b.s. about repetition and
getting discounts for multiple insertions. Remember, these
guys have no clue about how to create advertising that
works. If they did, they'd be running ads in their own
magazines and making tons of money.

Infomercial marketers realize this point. Imagine spending
$100,000.00 to produce one single 30 minute spot and then
buying $400 - $1,000 in media to test it out. That's what
infomercial companies do.

They know if the phones aren't ringing after a couple of TV
spots -- they're definitely not going to ring if they throw
tens of thousands of dollars in media at it, either.

Follow these tips and you'll be able to save a lot of money
plus increase response. Just test until you come up with a
winner and then keep running it!

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 09:02 PM | Permalink

I let my personal trainer, Jeff, borrow a copy of "Rich
Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. A few weeks later during
our workout session he blurts out, "You know what -- I'm
carrying buckets!"

"Huh?" I replied.

Jeff reminded me in the "Rich Dad" book Kiyosaki gives the
example of someone carrying buckets to supply a town with
a water and another person building a water pipe line to
carry the water. It took longer for the pipeline to be
built but once it was done - the money would continue to
come in with or without him.

What are you doing?

Sadly most people are carrying buckets. They are getting
paid based on the hours they work. Even if you are a
highly paid surgeon or attorney your income is still
limited by the hours you can work. Everybody has been
taught to think the harder you work the more money you
make. What if that's completely wrong? What if it's the
smarter the work, the more money you make?

Personally, I prefer to work once and get paid over and
over and over again. And there are lots of ways you can
create recurring revenue for yourself. It could be via
royalties from an invention, a song, or a book. It could
be from network marketing. It could be from real estate.
It could be dividends from investments. Or it could be
from a multitude of other ways aside from the typical
9-to-5 grind.

The majority of my income day-in and day-out is a direct
result of work I did 1, 2, 3...even 6+ years ago or more. For
instance, if you create an information product to sell
(like a report, ebook, software, video, etc) you only have
to do the work once of creating it and once to write the
sales letter.

Then if you set up some automatic promotion avenues like
an affiliate program or autoresponder messages - you can
continue to get paid for that product indefinitely. One of
biggest income streams is a product I created 5 years ago
and still makes me a nice six-figure income each year.

Frankly, I couldn't turn off my recurring revenue streams
right now if I tried. That's because much of what I've
created has fed on itself. One product refers people to
another. Our affiliate network (over 35,000) refer people
to our sites. Some of our sites cross-promote our other
sites, etc. etc.

When you keep working on activities that have recurring
value you'll create a momentum that's tough to stop. But
the truth is -- it IS hard work in the beginning. It's
like a rocket taking off in which it burns most of its
fuel on lift off.

You need to put in the hours and effort upfront and then
you can ease off the throttle. But if you don't put in the
extra effort upfront you'll never achieve lift off and get
that momentum you need.

The more you think about doing the work once and being
paid multiple times the more creative your mind will
become. Ask yourself the right questions and you'll get
the right answers.

In fact, even this article, if I'm lucky, will become a
recurring income producing activity. I wrote this material
once and the publicity from it will hopefully get a few
people to my websites and into my marketing funnel.

Now of course, I'm not saying that every activity I do
each day is highly leveraged because I still do some "dumb
stuff" like checking email or filling out tax forms. But
I'm working on outsourcing as much as I can and focusing
just on income producing activities (just like you
should).

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 12:47 PM | Permalink

If you're already selling anything online this article is
going to show you how to add extra revenue you didn't even
know you had "hiding" in your site without getting any more
visitors.

* Overlooked Way #1 - An Upsell:

If you've been in marketing for any time you've probably
heard of "upsells" or "bumps". Car dealers are excellent at
using this technique. Once you have agreed to buy a car you
then go into the finance office. This finance guy is really
another place where they try to extract as much money as
possible from you; dealer financing, extended warranties,
rust coating, a low-jack security system, etc. These
additions will normally add as much, or more, profit to the
dealer as the original sale. These are upsells or cross-
sells.

Another great example is if you've ever called a late night
infomercial you will be given an upsell. They will offer
you a special deal on the third bottle of super grime
cleaner if you buy 2 bottles. These upsells usually end up
bringing more profit than the original item people intended
to purchase.

Why not do the same online?

This little "magic trick" can instantly increase your
profits 20-66% even without getting any additional business
or website visitors. It works great because your prospect
is all hot and heavy and ready to buy. They've got their
credit card in their hand and they've already made the
commitment. (If you read Robert Cialdini's book "Influence:
The Psychology of Persuasion" you'll see commitment and
consistency is a key psychological trigger.)

There are a couple ways I've successfully used upsells on
my sites:

First you can use an "intermediary" page. Once prospects
click on the order buttons they're taken to a new page (and
not the order form). This page tells people about a special
offer that is for today only and that they can get a
'deluxe' or 'gold' version of the package for X dollars
more. You can make the upsell a big dollar amount or a
small insignificant little 'bump'. I do this on
www.Instantsalesletters.com and my numbers have been quite
good using this technique - as high as 68% some days. So think
about my additional profit margins just by inserting this
one extra page. Awesome!

Another way of doing this is by "recommending" a product.
Anytime you buy something from Amazon - that's exactly what
they do. Up comes a page that "Customers who bought __ also
bought__" and then they have a slew of products.

Next, you can also have the upsell right on the Order page.
I've even used something as simple as putting a check box
on my order form on www.InstantInternetProfits.com. It could
be that simple. On this we get a 25% upsell rate. Take a look
at what appears at the bottom after the customer has
already filled out their info to buy the course

You have to play fair and let people get the original price
and package you offered but there's no reason you shouldn't
add a complimentary upsell immediately. The upsell is one
of the easiest (and most profitable) techniques you can
start implementing tomorrow. This is like the "would you
like fries" strategy. Unless you're offering "fries" you're
missing out on tons and tons of profit. You simply need to
come up with a couple more compelling bonuses, packages or
up-sells that people will get for the upgrade.

* Overlooked Way #2 - Thank You Pages:

After upsells, I'd say 'thank you' pages are one of the
most overlooked profit hot-spots. Once again, there are
several ways I've used this technique. First of all,
anytime somebody buys a product from you online - they are
taken to some kind of thank you page. Most people will
simply put "Thank you for your order" and that's it. They
leave the customer with their credit card in their hands to
go off to some other website and give them money. Why not
give people a special deal on the thank you page or at
least give them links to your other products or other
people's products that you make an affiliate commission on?

Now if it's a digital product - then they need to get their
download but you can also put some recommended resources
right on the download page. At the bottom of the digital
download page for www.PublicDomainRiches.com we have a
recommendation for the new Public Domain Gold Mine(tm)
package.

Those aren't the only thank you pages. Many people totally
forget about the 'thank you' pages that come up after
someone signs up for your list. Now where you want to send
them will depend on where they are in the sales process -
but you can have a list of recommended resources that comes
up AFTER people subscribe to your email list. Why not? If
that's the last action you were expecting - you should look
for ways to profit from this.

* Overlooked Way #3 - Thank You Emails/Confirmations:

Don't forget the initial email confirmation you send back
to your customers. Last technique we talked about making
offers on the thank you page but your 'thank you' email is
one of the most read emails. In addition to the 'typical'
stuff you should include like customer service information,
who will bill their credit card, etc why not add a simple
P.S. to the bottom of the email like I do offering
additional resources (or even a special deal just for
customers).

I guarantee just putting these 3 easy overlooked ways to
work on your site will help squeeze out even more profits
for you & without adding a single visitor. Give it a try.

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 creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for online copywriting -
http://www.UltimateCopywritingWorkshop.com

Posted by ralph at 12:46 PM | Permalink

In only a few short months I've achieved the ultimate
Internet "fantasy" of making a lot of money from a simple
(almost primitive) web site that runs itself virtually on
complete autopilot. Starting from scratch I banked over
$51,351.94 my first 6 1/2 months online, just working part-
time out of the corner of my living room.

Now today at age 31, I've gone on to earn over 7-figures.

How did I go from a standing start to banking mega
profits?

To do that, what I think you really need are these inner
secrets to mega internet success. This has nothing to do
with search engines, pay-per-clicks. It doesn't have
anything to do with any of the tactical stuff. It's all a
lot of stuff that goes on in your head.

* Secret #1: Cheerful Expectancy *

One of my biggest mentors is Earl Nightingale. He passed
away several years ago but you need to get everything he
recorded at Nightingale.com. He has a program called "Lead
The Field" and "The Strangest Secret." Just listen to
that thing over and over again. He talks about cheerful
expectancy.

There's a big difference between having expectancy versus
hoping or wishing something is going to occur. When you
have that cheerful expectancy, you know it's going to
occur. And that doesn't just come from being
"Pollyannaish" or having rose-colored glasses.

It comes from having knowledge. And you get that
knowledge from studying in your field whatever it is. It
could be Internet marketing or it could be neurology. That
means reading, studying and buying everything and
absolutely immersing yourself in it.

I learned from Earl Nightingale that if you want to be an
expert, you spend an hour a day reading on whatever
subject that you're interested in, that you want to be an
expert on. So I said, "Well, what would happen if I read
for three hours a day?"

I just started learning as much as I possibly could, and
that knowledge gives you the confidence to know that you
have that positive expectancy. Your expectations determine
your results.

* Secret #2: Do one proactive thing a day *

You don't need to do 100 things a day. Just get that one
proactive thing a day. So each little brick builds a big
wall for you. Trust me it's easy to be overwhelmed with
hundreds of tasks. You're like, "Oh, we need to do e-zine
ads and free-for-alls and pay-per-click search engines,
and I need to do all this other stuff." Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

But just relax and do one task a day.

Your action will create more and more and more action for
you. You simply need to make a commitment to do one
proactive thing a day no matter what. Even if you're dead
tired and worked a 14-hour day - come home and mail one
letter or send out one joint venture proposal. I'm telling
you - just these little tiny proactive things will have an
immense impact.

Most everyone has heard of the '80/20 rule' or the Pareto
Principle. It says that 20% of your actions produce 80% of
your results, and the other way around. 80% of your work
only creates 20% of your results.

So go back and look where your successes came from, and I
know that they're from a tiny little group of actions. So
if you just get that one proactive thing a day (from the
20% group) that is going to propel you further, that's
going to bring you to w