Category: Advertising

Passive Income – Automated Affiliate Marketing

3-step proven formula for success

1. High quality products your demographic wants

Passive income opportunity. There are lots of high quality products available that other people have created.  The creators will pay affiliate marketers a healthy percentage of the selling price when they sell a product.

Some people are earning  6 or 7 figures every year without ever creating their own product. The get affiliate products from websites such as ClickBank.

2. Automated list-building system to find qualified buyers

Learn how to give some valuable information to people for free. In exchange for that, they give their email addresses.  Learn about value-added email marketing.

3. Automated sales closing process

passive-income-affiliate-mktg-yellow-arrowsA good email marketing program does more than help you build your list. It shows you how to have a relationship with people on the list.

You build a trust. You send them valuable emails they WANT to receive. After about 7 emails they trust you so well that they pull out their credit cards and buy.

Earn a percentage of the selling price for every book sold.

Click here to learn more.

Example of a passive income website

The 7 Day YouTube website is designed to give the owner a passive income.

Notice the signup form. When people fill it out, they will automatically be send an email every day for 7 days. Each email will give them more information on how to create entertaining YouTube videos and animated GIFs.
The emails are sent out using the AWeber email services.

 

 

Peter Enns has been developing websites since 1996. He is a social media blogger and author of the free YouTube video-creation tutorial called 7 Day YouTube.

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Social Media Manager’s Suggestions


Create an Animated GIF

click-here-start-online-business

The left-hand portion of this image was at the top of one of my blog posts.  Even though it said, “click here”, only one person clicked on it.  By combining that image into an animated GIF, I am hoping to increase my click-through rate.The above animation is telling people to click in a much more powerful way than the still picture ever could.  If you are into online marketing at all, it is important to learn how to make animated GIFs.

The purpose of the above animation is to create more calls to action (CTAs).  A good animated GIF can increase the CTAs without being too distracting.

Explain things in seconds

Watch the animated GIFs on this page. See how very complicated concepts can be explained in just seconds using an animated GIF.

Create your animated GIF in 6 steps

1. Choose the pictures you will usebuilt-in-effect

2. Set up your story on Keynote

 

3. Choose the effects you want


Earn a percentage of the selling price for every book sold.

Click here to learn more.

4. Using ScreenFlow 6.x or better, record your Keynote slide presentation

5. Edit ScreenFlow video to maximum size of 500 x 500 px. & shortest time reasonable.

screenflow-export-menu6. File > export. Set preset as animated GIF.  Click
on export button.

 

 

Peter Enns has been developing websites since 1996. He is a social media blogger and author of the free YouTube video-creation tutorial called 7 Day YouTube.

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11 Tips to Enhance Your YouTube Video Quality

 

Video Quality start-your-own-business-click-hereI wanted to make a YouTube video to complement my blog post about how to start your online business.   The purpose of the video was to get people to the post. I had 5 main points I was trying to get across.
Watch the video below.

11 secrets  for adding video quality & making some boring points memorable

The 5 points are in abbreviated form such as “paid advertising” and “build a list”. If I would have simply listed those 5 points, most people would have closed the video before they watched it all. I had to enhance the video quality.  So, here’s what I did to make it interesting.


1. Bought the “start your online business” graphic from Adobe Stock.
2. Used the Keynote effects to give movement to the text.
3. Had additional smaller text to give more meaning to each of the 5 main points.
4. Video Quality start-online-businessHad a Keynote “spin” action on graphics that came from the blog post.
5. At the end I added the URL of the blog post that corresponded to the video.
6. I set the Keynote slides to “play” and recorded them with ScreenFlow.
7. Edited the video using ScreenFlow.
8. Using ScreenFlow, I recorded the text as an audio file.
9. Added the individual audio clips to the video.
10. Went to the YouTube audio library to find free music to use in the video.
11. Used the audio ducking feature to soften the music during the speaking parts.

Earn a percentage of the selling price for every book sold.

Click here to learn more.

Buy ScreenFlow

Go to the ScreenFlow website to buy. Alternately, you can get a free trial copy so that you can try before you buy.

 

 

Peter Enns has been developing websites since 1996. He is a social media blogger and author of the free YouTube video-creation tutorial called 7 Day YouTube.

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Starting Your Online Business — From Scratch!

The Internet, a blessing or a curse?

click-here-start-online-businessPerhaps you are a retailer whose customers are shopping online rather than in your store.  In that case, you may consider the Internet a curse. Every skillful business person tries to turn each negative into a positive. You should be starting your online business.

5 advantages of having an online business

1. Vast audience

You have a vast audience who are on the Internet and you can market to them every day.

2. Your own website 24/7

You can have your own website promoting for you 24/7 365 days a year. You do not have to be there to sell.

3. Promote using email

You can have a squeeze page and give valuable information to the people who have given you their contact information.  With a click on a button you can promote to one person, a thousand people or a million people.

4. Lower cost than anything

With the Internet you can provide more value per visitor than ever before in history. (This blog post will refer to value quite often.  It’s what you want to be giving with all of your emails and with the products you sell.)

Earn a percentage of the selling price for every book sold.

Click here to learn more.

5. Love your lifestyle

Having your business online gives you more freedom.

5 characteristics of a good online business

1. Paid advertising

You can get lot of free publicity and can create brand awareness using social media.  You want to get good at social media.  You want to make lots of blog posts and link to them from your Facebook page, from Twitter & from Google Plus.  For the really good posts you will want to make a YouTube video and also link to it from SlideShare, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

start-your-online-business-adAs important as those 7 social media are, they will likely never work as quickly and effectively as paid advertising.  Also, keep in mind that it can take a year or more to become reasonable good at using even those 7 social media above.  You will have to learn the first one, become good at it and then move onto the second one. You keep repeating the process until you are good at all of them.

You must decide whether you should use Bing, Google, LinkedIn or whatever.  It depends upon things like cost per click and what demographic uses the platform. If you are undecided, search for something like how decide which PPC to use Bing, Google, Instagram, LinkedIn. That may help you narrow down your choices.

2.  Phenomenal website

wordpress-gears-401There is a reason why a quarter of the websites in the world use WordPress. Learn how to use WordPress and make a WordPress blog. Seriously consider using the Divi WordPress theme.

3. Build a list

online business list-building-bookHave an excellent squeeze page, use it to create a list and develop a relationship with the people on your list. (Click on the image of the book to learn much more about list building.)

Let AWeber help you make the best use of that list. Watch the video.

4. Give the people lots of value

You want to be known for giving people value. Sell nothing but high value squeeze-page-2products.  To get people to give their contact information on your squeeze page, you must give them valuable information.

That’s why they give you their email address in the first place — they are anxious to get the free valuable information you are offering them.  That free valuable information should tell them that you will be emailing them more free valuable information.

You may even end up sending them a free valuable video or PDF file every day for a week. Each video or PDF file will have information about your product. The more value you give people, the more they will trust you.

5. Sell your product

buying-online-with-credit-cardWith each email, you will make it possible to buy your product. And remember, the more they trust you, the more likely they are to buy. If you are using the Divi WordPress theme, consider using the WooCommerce shopping cart for your online business.

YouTube video

Below is the YouTube video that accompanies this blog post.

 

Peter Enns has been developing websites since 1996. He is a social media blogger and author of the free YouTube video-creation tutorial called 7 Day YouTube.

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Copywriting Tips & Mistakes to Avoid

Visitors leaving your page prematurely

When copywriting, be careful that you do not use the wrong words. You do not want your visitors to leave sooner than is necessary.

A WordStream blog post says that they process information subconsciously at lightning speeds to determine if they’ll click or bounce within a few fractions of a second. The post goes on to distill huge amounts of data comparing the results of various words used in copy. It describes why the delinquent words are bad choices.
copywriting-coffee-cups

7 words to avoid when copywriting

1.  Submit

copywriting scin-care-tips-submit-landing-page

copywriting scin-care-tips-landing-pageThese 2 landing pages are identical except for one thing. In one the bottom line says Submit. The one on the right says Click here to get my free PDF file.

There was a study using over 40,000 landing pages. One group said submit and the other said something different. The conversion rate for the one with Submit was a little over 14%.  The other one had a conversion rate of 17%.

2. Business jargon like synergy

Simple easy-to-understand English gives a better conversion rate.  Read the WordStream blog post for an explanation.

3 Hint of spam

Avoid any words that make people think about being spammed.  Even Your information will not be shared gave a noticeably higher CTA (call to action) than We will never spam you.

4. We

People are reading your copy because they want a solution to their problem. They do not care about you as much as they care about their situation.  So, use you or else no pronoun.

5. Your

When the message on a submit button was changed from Start your free 30 day trial to Start my free 30 day trial, there was a 90% increase in CTA.

6. Free (under certain circumstances)

The word Free can invite many people who just want a free sample.  Read the WordStream blog post for a greater explanation.

7. Save Time & Money

Save Time & Money is a vague, meaningless, overly-used generic phrase.

Understand those 7 points

To get a thorough understanding of those 7 points and their implications when copywriting, read the article entitled 7 Conversion-sabotaging Words to Avoid at All Costs.

Sample squeeze page

Below is a mockup of a sample squeeze page. As you can see, it is very simple. Remember, more is less. It has

  • An eye-catching headline that makes people want to read more.
  • A few pictures to help tell the story.
  • A minimum amount of text to tell the story.
  • A place for the visitor to leave their name & email address.

Click on the graphic now.

 

 

Website Statistics by Awstats

How well is your advertising doing?

Do this near the beginning of your online advertising campaign: Use a good website statistics program to figure out what is and what is not working.  Then quickly adjust your advertising so that the stats will become more favourable.

anaylzing-graph-with-magnifying-glass

 

Using Awstats for your website statistics

Awstats is a free program to help with your web analytics.  I use LiquidNet hosting.  They have Awstats, Webalizer, WordPress and many other programs available for your use at no extra cost.

Example of using Awstats

In the example below I used an Instagram ad to send people to a website explaining how to create a WordPress blog.

Daily statistics

website statistics awstats-number-of-visits-per-dayThe daily statistics chart showed that there were 559 visits to the website several hours after the advertising started.  This was way higher than any of the previous 13 days. So, I knew that the advertising indeed did attract visitors to my website.

Top 10 pages

website statistics awstats-top-10-pages-being-advertised
The Top 10 Pages chart tells you the top 10 pages that were visited during the month.  As you can see here, the page in the Instagram ad was the third most popular page for the month.  Considering the fact that the page was not promoted until November 14, it is obvious that the advertising is working to get people to the blog post.

Visit duration

awstats-1-30-seconds
 The column in front of this chart displays the amount of time a visitor spends on the entire website during the month.  The 87.6% stat shows that most of the visitors left the website in the first 30 seconds.  That almost for certain meant that most of those visitors did not see any of my advertising.
However, the stats for August, Sept. & Oct. were also close to 87%.  That suggests to me that most people spend less than half a minute on my entire website whether there is advertising or not.  However, this could change if I could figure out how to have incredibly effective advertising at the top of the page.  So far I have not figured that out.

 Search keyphrases

awstats-top-10-search-keyphrases
 These stats help you decide what pages people are really interested in.  That will help you decide where to advertise.

Glossary

For more information about website statistics, go to the Awstats glossary.

 

 


Value-added Email Marketing to Sell Online

What is value-added email marketing?

Value-added email marketing is a system whereby the vendor will gain trust with a potential customer by giving them valuable information. Typically the vendor will have an ad aimed at a particular demographic.

  • Ad sends potential customer to squeeze page.
    • value-added email marketingThe squeeze page is a lead-generation page that will have a form where the visitor adds their email address and name to a form.
  • Potential customer offered something of value in exchange for contact information.
    • It could be something such as a video or a PDF file with information of great interest to the demographic. In the form above, people can get a access to a free 7-lesson YouTube video creation course. Included in the information file there could be a notice that they should be expecting more valuable information in the form of future emails.
  • As next week passes, visitor gets email each day with something valuable (e.g., access to a lesson) in each one.
    • Because it is information they really value, with each email they will gain more trust in the vendor. Usually they will be much more willing to buy than someone who has been given no valuable information.
  • Click here for example of lead-generation page used for value-added email marketing.

Preparation work for your emails

Before you ever try to get people’s email address, do this:

  • Create 6  or 7 PDF files, tutorials or videos
  • Each one must have valuable information that is important for your demographic.
  • In YouTube video creation example above, each could be about a different aspect of  video creation
  • Each of these files should be so important for your demographic that they gain more trust in you with each email
  • After sixth or seventh email, it would be much easier to sell many of them one of your products
  • Each daily email should have  link making it possible to buy

Sample squeeze page

Below is a link to a sample squeeze page. As you can see, it is very simple. Remember, more is less. It has

  • An eye-catching headline that makes people want to read more.
  • A few pictures to help tell the story.
  • A place for the visitor to leave their name & email address.

A squeeze page mainly is a place for visitors to leave their name & email addresses.  Click on the graphic now.

Related Pages

All of the pages below are important for your value-added email marketing strategy.

Free AWeber 30-day trial

AWeber Review

How to create a form and add it to a web page

Resizing a form

SlideShare

The SlideShare presentation below expresses the main points of this post in 12 slides.

YouTube video

Watch the highlights from this page in this video.

 

Pinterest Pin

value-added email marketing width=

 

 

Peter Enns has been developing websites since 1996. He is a social media blogger and author of the free YouTube video-creation tutorial called 7 Day YouTube.

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Bing PPC FAQ

Q. Size.  What are the maximum sizes of the heading and the body of a Bing PCC?  What other minimums & maximums are there?
A. Ad title: 25 characters

  • Ad text: 71 characters
  • Display URL: 35 characters
  • Destination URL: 1024 characters
  • Minimum word count: 3 words in title & descriptive text.  I.e., the title and body must have at least 3 words combined. (More info)

Q. Size, expanding it.  If I feel like the maximum sizes are not enough, what can I do?  
A. Change your ad to an Expanded Text ad.  This is a free service. These will be your new dimension:

  • Ad title: 60 characters
  • Ad text: 80 characters

To set up Expanded Text Ads:

  • Click on Ads tab
  • Click Create ad button
  • In Ad group box select pertinent campaign
  • Select pertinent Ad group
  • Under ad type select Expanded text ad.

 

 

 

 

 

Stay at Home Mom Opportinities

stay-at-home-mom

Money magazine has an interesting article about a stay at home mom.

Addie’s daughter had a serious injury from a car crash.  She decided to quit her job to take care of the girl.

After the daughter had recovered, Addie decided to reenter the work force. About trying to get a job, she said,

As weeks became months, I met other women like me who were taking time off to raise a family or care for a loved one….

Some had already started the process of trying to find employment after 3, 5 or 10 years out of the workforce, while others were just getting ready to begin career re-entry.

They shared war stories about sending resumes without replies. They joked about “rust” and creeping self-doubt despite degrees from top schools and previous leadership positions as managers, directors, even VPs. Read more.

Earn a percentage of the selling price for every book sold.

Click here to learn more.

Motherhood, the most important job in the world

An article in The Star says

I’m at the tail end of maternity leave, but for all intents and purposes I’m a stay-at-home mom. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I should get a medal every day. Read more.

What the world needs now is more champions.  It’s hard to raise a champion without a skillful, dedicated mother.

Minimize stress

Being a stay at home mom can be stressful.  One of the most important factors in minimizing stress: Try to make sure your children feel emotionally secure at all times.

One of the best ways to do this is to love your spouse.  Aim towards treating each other with consideration and respect every minute of every day.  The rewards will be tremendous.

Modern technology, opportunity knocks

With technology developing so rapidly, there are some excellent opportunities for these stay at home moms to work online.  Forget about spending all of that extra money on extra clothes, beauty salon trips, etc.  Forget about working long hours for someone else.  Learn about having a business lead generation for yourself.