You Gotta Have Content

It takes many different things to build an internet business - a market, a product, prospects. But the most important thing is (drumroll please) content.


Content! What's that? And how can it help me build a business? Let me give you some examples from personal experience.


I'm browsing through my email and I see one with the subject line "Learn My Email Marketing Secrets". So I open the email and it explains how the sender used email marketing to boost his sales and how he can help me do the same thing. It doesn't tell me how, but it provides a link that supposedly will tell me all I need to know. Intrigued, I click on the link provided and am taken to a sales page for a $97 dollar training package. Annoyed, I close the page, delete the email and go on about my own business.

I continue scrolling through my mailbox. I see another. This one reads "Does Your Downline Suffer from NBT Syndrome?" This one really catches my eye. What is NBT Syndrome? Does my downline have it? Is it a good thing? I need to know. I open the email. Again, another email telling me how the author has had experience this problem in his own business. And if I just click the link provided, he'll tell me how to handle it. For a minute I hesitate. It's probably another sales letter. But I click anyway, just to see and ...Surprise! There are several paragraphs that explain how new network marketers don't always understand the business and jump from one opportunity to another in search of the "Next Big Thing" that will make them rich overnight - and leaving their sponsors discouraged by all the attrition. It gave some personal examples and offered some suggestions on how to deal with that problem in my own downline. It was good information but not very in-depth. I needed to know more. And you know what. At the very bottom of the page was the offer. For $39.95 I could learn more. Guess what...I bought the book. Why? Why this one and not the other? It wasn't the price. It was the fact that the author already gave me enough information to show me he knew what he was talking about. I knew his book would be a good value. And he obviously cared about me more than his sales because he shared such great information with me FREE! Who wouldn't want to support such an individual by purchasing his book.

The point is just that little bit of content made the difference between sale and no sale. Content is vital and you need to use it everywhere you can. In your sales copy, on your website, in your free reports or other viral marketing tools. Besides attracting more and better prospects, you'll also attract search engine attention. Search engines love content rich sites. Want to move up the page rankings? Add some fresh, meaty content to your site regularly.

"But I don't know how to get content." Well if you can't develop or write content of your own, there are other ways to get it.

You can hire someone to write it for you.

You can check out free sources of content on the internet. One of my favorites is Articles Factory (www.articlesfactory.com).

You can buy products that come with resale or private label rights. This allows you to use the content in your own products. Many of the ebooks and training courses I purchase come with resale rights which allows me to resell the product and keep the profit. Private label rights allows me to brand the product as my own - even better.

If you need to revamp your website to make it more content rich and don't know where to begin, I suggest you start by purchasing Site Build It! (http://buildit.sitesell.com/wealthtogether.html). SBI! assumes you know nothing about building an online business (and yet, it is invaluable for the advanced Webmaster, too). It provides everything you need. It will help you create, host, and market a website that is consistently ranked in the top 1% - 3%.

Spice up your business life with a little content.

Let's Make Next Year Your Year to Shine!

I know it's been a while. A loooonnngg while! Too long! I apologize. I can only say I've been very busy. Running business. Rethinking strategies. Planning for next year. How about you? Are you ready for next year? If not, now is a great time to start thinking about 2008. If you have a business, start looking at ways to grow. New products. New delivery options. New promotional strategies. Perhaps even a whole new business venture.

If you don't have a business yet, there has never been a better time to start one. Thanks to the internet it is now cheaper and easier to get up and running than ever before. And thanks to all of those who have gone before you, there is more help than ever before. People like Ken McArthur, Derek Gehl, Yanik Silver, Mike Filsame, Mark Joyner, and Joe Vitale. Some of them will even let you be affiliates of their products and resell them a commission. We discussed making money with affiliate programs in an earlier post if you aren't familiar with the concept.

So what's holding you back? I'm issuing a challenge to all of you right now. Let's make 2008 your year. Each one of us has a choice to make. 2008 is right around the corner and it's calling to you to change your life. Are you coming or not? Will you make the choice to join us?

I know many of you will be afraid of leaving what if familiar and venturing into something that is totally unknown. Others of you will be excited and challenged at the thought. All of you will be asked to do things you never thought you could do - contact people, write a business plan, promote yourself and your business.

What if you decide to make the choice? What happens next? Contrary to many of the "gurus", there is no foolproof formula. What works for me may not work for you. I can't do what my friend Ken McArthur does. I use many of his ideas but I adapt them to my situation. But there are some steps you can take to increase your chances of being successful.

1. BREATHE! Change brings stress. Even positive change can be stressful. So make sure you take time each day to relax and just breathe. Do yoga, meditate, go for a walk - whatever it takes. Just don't let yourself tighten up and be afraid.

2. Take control of the change. Each day remind yourself of your vision, your plans, your goals. Stand in front of a mirror and state to yourself your intentions to build a better life. Or even go a step further as recommended by my life coach and sing it. She claims music brings the message deeper.

3. Never stop learning. Read everything you can about your chosen business. Find out who the experts really are and study them. I've listed many of them in this blog but there are so many others. Buy their books or get them from the library. Join their forums, subscribe to their newsletters, read their blogs. Go to seminars when you can afford them. If you have questions about which ones to attend or which products to purchase, ask me. If I am not familiar with it, I'll find someone who is.

4. Don't lose touch with yourself. I've seen online entrepreneurs who thought they had to pretend to be something or somebody different from what they were to be successful. They only thing they were was phoney. And people can spot phoney right away. If you aren't credible, you won't go anywhere in this business.

5. Make sure you keep your priorities in order. Success is great, but not at the cost of your family, your spirituality, your faith, your health, or your fun. Set aside time for the things that make your success meaningful.

6. Make Nature your best friend. NATURE HAS A LOT OF WISDOM FOR US. It’s as simple as that. Don’t ignore this truth, live it.

7. Don't be stingy! Give back to the community that gave to you. Help others get where you are. You get back what you give. I have a friend who sells cars very successfully. Every day he makes it a point to do something for one of his customers. He calls it "feeding the lot." You know what? His customers love him and are very loyal. And if they have a friend or family member who needs a car, guess who gets the referral? That's how I met him. He sold me my car based on a referral from someone else. Besides, there is nothing like "free" to gain long-term, loyal customers. You can even use this concept to market. It's called "viral marketing" and we'll talk about it another day.

So - are you in? Make the choice.

By the way, speaking of free stuff - I wanted to let you know about this fabulous promotion I'm taking part in that ANYONE can join to market your business for FREE!!! It's called 30 days of Christmas and this is the third year running. When you visit the site you can become a member for free and then have access to hundreds of ebooks, ecourses, and special reports all designed to help you in your business efforts. What's cool about this site is many people give away valuable stuff so they can get their name out there and be seen by the thousands of visitors to the site each day. I'm giving away a free offer-- go now and see what it's all about: http://www.30daysofchristmas.com/index.php?id=M2183. You can also become a contributor yourself-- it's just a few simple clicks and then your giveaway can be seen by thousands, too!I hope you'll get in on the action! This is cool stuff!