Formula5

In a post a couple of months ago I whined and complained about all the email I get during product launches and vowed to only promote ’boutique’ products. Since that time I have done that and stayed away from the ‘big guru’ products. However, sometimes we have to admit we’re wrong and Formula5 is the product that’s making me admit that you can’t always ignore the ‘big guys’. Reason is, this product is going to be fabulous and it would be a disservice to my readers to not tell you about it.

When I first started getting the emails I scanned them and hit delete. But, as always with the big launches, they kept coming. And they became hard to ignore (there’s a lesson in there somewhere, right?). So, last week I clicked through and I signed up. I thought I’d find the same ole search engine optimization information which is good info but, heck, I’ve read it all and I didn’t want to pay for more of the same. Well, I was wrong.

They sent an email where I downloaded a video that was about how to make more money in your business by simply applying five strategies. Five very simple strategies that would double your revenue. I was floored by the level of information they were giving away in the video. And then last night I watched a video by Andy Jenkins about applying three simple little strategies to your business, that you can do right now, and again, I was in awe.

After that I read on their blog that they were having a contest and everyday they were going to give away a Flip Video Camera to the person who applied one of the strategies and made the most money. Today the guy who won increased the price of two items he sells and his sales increase $944 yesterday over what they would have been. That’s $944 for one day’s sales! Now tell me that’s not amazing!

So, I feel it’s my duty to tell you about this launch. Even if you don’t purchase the product, you still need to watch all the videos and learn from them what you can do to increase your revenue almost immediately. They are giving away valuable techniques to increase your business, and you need to pay attention. When I watched the videos, I took notes, you should too.

So click this link now, watch the video on the page and then put your name in the form. You will receive an email confirmation, click the link and confirm. The next email will have a link to download a video, that video is over an hour, so when you have time, with your coffee in the morning or a glass of wine this evening, watch the video with a notepad. Then get to work.

Here’s the link:

Formula5

Cheers!

Reba

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Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide Review

Sometime in the last quarter of last year I had the pleasure of running across the Biz Starters website and ‘The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide’ by Jeff Williams. I asked Jeff if I could promote his product on my website and he was kind enough to give me a review copy of his start-up guide. So that he wouldn’t have to mail me the physical product, I read a PDF copy on my computer.

I have read a lot of business start-up books in my lifetime and I have to say, this is the most complete one I’ve ever seen. And having actually started a ‘brick and mortar’ business myself, I feel qualified to judge whether or not a book on how to start a business is complete or not. Honestly, why Jeff named this 222-page guide a ‘Boomer’ guide is beyond me, as it is filled with comprehensive checklists and uses a ‘decision tree’ approach to help anyone (not just Boomers) get through the complicated steps of starting a business.

In reading this book I liked how the author led the readers through decisions and based on those decisions, he led them to do different steps. For instance, if it was decided that a rented office space was needed, then lease review, review of prices for comparable space, and even attorney review was suggested. If home office was the choice, regulations for home businesses, space consideration, what address to use for business, and whether or not the type of business was conducive to residential areas was considered. This level of deliberation and forethought was suggested for every decision discussed in the book.

The other thing I liked about the way the guide was written was that the author talked about his own personal experiences and how they related to the topic being discussed, however, he didn’t bore his audience with tons of personal dribble. He contained it in a section at the end of each Action Step so it was easy to skip if the reader wasn’t interested.

The first section of the book covers setting-up the organization of the business. Jeff helps aspiring new business owners through a vast sea of decisions, like whether to locate in a home or rented office, how to choose a name and identity for the business, how to handle the legal aspects of setting up a new business, and how to organize an office.

The second section of the book includes the Action Steps to take in preparing to market and sell a product or service. Preparing a marketing plan, how to set-up a website, and deciding how customer service will be handled is covered among other things. Again, the information is very thorough, and the full scope of every topic is covered.

It started to come to my attention in this section that throughout the book the author suggests lots of websites, products, and information about where to find tools and help needed to complete his action steps. I love that the information is given so the reader knows where to go, however, I also hope that Jeff plans to do continuous updating of the book in regard to that information. For example, Microsoft FrontPage is one of the recommended products to use for building a website and Microsoft no longer sells this product, it has been replaced by another product.

Section three of the book talks about money. In my opinion, next to sales and marketing, finances is the most important thing to know about in a business but is most neglected by small or solo business owners. The author covers this area very well, all the way from setting up the company bank account and what to look for in a bank to setting up the accounting software. One of the most important things covered in this section is how to estimate start-up costs and find the money for start-up, but even more importantly, how to prepare an estimate of the expenses, cash flow and profit/loss for the first year in business is covered. The book explains very well how to go through preparing this information and Jeff gives very good tips for cash management.

The book recommends using Quickbooks for the accounting and makes some very specific recommendations on how to set-up the office processes. These recommendations will work well for a very small start-up but if the business being considered is much larger than just a few people, I think other software and different processes should be considered. However, I feel the author was writing for the very small business and that’s why these recommendations were made.

The last section is about running the business operations. Here Jeff covers setting up the phone system, production system, and hiring employees. The telecommunications section is good. It covers things to consider in regard to mobile phones, land line, and fax. I know email is not considered telecommunications but I feel it needs to be discussed somewhere in the book and it never was. With more and more transactions being handled by email and the fax machine becoming a dinosaur, it seems the space allocated to how to handle fax communication would have been better used discussing how email will be handled. In today’s business world, this can make a huge difference in the perception a customer has about the level of customer service a business provides.

The book closes with more fantastic information for hiring employees and running a business. Again, thoroughness is foremost. There are tips for deciding whether to hire regular employees or contractors, tips for reducing personnel costs, information about government requirements for hiring personnel and much more. The very last section is about setting up your production processes and running your business with tons of information from a seasoned professional.

All in all the ‘The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide‘ is the ultimate business guide and not just for Boomers. There were only a couple of things I saw in the book that could actually be improved. I do feel the 10-week timeline presented is a bit long, but since planning a business start-up can’t be done on a linear timeline, 10-weeks could be about average. I guess I’m an action person and would never take that long to get everything in place.

Oh and I don’t want to forget to mention that as the owner of the ‘The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide‘ you’ll receive an exclusive offering of more than $150 of discounts for leading online start-up service providers including LogoWorks.com, VistaPrint.com, MyCorporation.com, StockLayouts.com and Intuit.com. And Jeff is continually working on adding new discounts that he sends to all purchasers of the guide.

The ‘The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide‘ sells for only $99 and for that small amount of money there’s not a better guide. If a new entrepreneur messes up even one thing taught in this book it could cost the new business many, many, times that amount of money. It only makes sense to read the guide first. And if you use the discounts that come with it, you’ll get that money back and then some.

If you are considering starting your own business, you MUST consider using the The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide as roadmap. It is available at the following link, click now to learn more:

The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide

EDITED TO ADD: A short time after this review was published Jeff contacted me with some exciting information about The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide. Here’s what he had to say:

New, Improved Version of the Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide Debuts on February 1, 2009.

Members of the Bizstarters community have asked us to add several new features to Ultimate Boomer Guide, and we’re pleased to respond.

Debuting on February 1, 2009 we will expand the Ulitmate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide into a full-blown business start-up and management program, offering several new features:

1. An invitation to join Bizstarters CEO, Jeff Williams, for a monthly 60-minute TeleCoaching session during which you can ask any business start-up or management questions you have and get an immediate answer.

2. A DVD containing mp3 files for a series of podcast interviews conducted by Jeff Williams with a number of 50+ Boomer entrepreneurs who share their valuable insights into how their launched their particular kind of business.

3. A new binder workbook presenting a print worksheet version of our Business Blueprint planning outline (CD verision is also included in the new program), as well as our “mini-MBA” guides for managing the marketing and finances of your growing business.

The new, improved version of the Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide comes packaged in a convenient carrying case. The selling price of $249 is backed with a lifetime satisfaction guarantee.

Ciao!

Reba

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ClickBank Bonus Domination – Simply Revolutionary

In staying with my pledge to promote, review, and recommend the ’boutique’ marketers (see my comment on this post to understand what I mean by boutique) who have great products, I want to introduce you to a new product that I think has been needed for some time now, and quite frankly, I’m really surprised that ClickBank didn’t implement a resource like this long ago. And that product is called ClickBank Bonus Domination by Jeff Czyzewski.

ClickBank is a hub for affiliates to find good products to promote. I promote several products that are sold through ClickBank, many of Jimmy D. Brown’s products are sold through ClickBank and I recommend his products heavily. But there is an inherent  problem with promoting ClickBank products and that’s the fact that you don’t have access to the purchaser, heck, you don’t even get an email telling you when you’ve made a sale. If you offer bonuses for purchasing through your link, it’s a nightmare. The customer has to email his receipt to you and you have to email the bonus itself or at least a link to where they can download it. Cumbersome is the best description I can give the process.

Well, that all changes with ClickBank Bonus Domination. This product hasn’t launched yet so I haven’t looked at the software myself, but in viewing the videos, this thing is a dream for anyone who sells products through ClickBank, ESPECIALLY, if you give bonuses for purchasing through your link.

First thing it does is it sends you an email when a sale is made. Yahoo!

Next, there is an auto delivery of your bonuses. The system automatically sends an emails to the customer that includes the customer’s receipt number and a link to a page where you can capture his email address and then deliver the bonus.

On your download page you’re free to do upselling right after the customer has purchased and is in the buying mood. My goodness, this product is amazing. It gives you control of every part of the process and helps you increase your sales and profits exponentially.

Lastly, Jeff is including what he calls the Bonus Domination Blueprint. This is a framework to help you create relevant bonuses for the products you promote. The blueprint covers important concepts of making a good bonus offer and demonstrates how to create killer bonus content that  works for any product. I know many of us don’t have or know where to get good content to offer for a bonus, Jeff’s blueprint will help you in that area.

The ClickBank Bonus Domination package won’t exactly be cheap at $197, but if you promote a lot of ClickBank products, the ability to offer a bonus will increase you sales to cover that pretty quickly. And then think about the upsell opportunity along with the backend offers you can make because the customer has opted into your mailing list. Yes, this product should pay for itself very quickly.

I’ve got to give Jeff a hand in figuring out a way to solve all the problems that marketers have with ClickBank. Congrats Jeff!

ClickBank Bonus Domination launches at 12:00 p.m. on January 14th. I’ll post again to remind you. Right now, click through on the following link and view Jeff’s video to learn more about how the product works.  You’re going to LOVE it, I do.

ClickBank Bonus Domination

OH ~ and I almost forgot, Jeff is only going to sell 2500 memberships to the software (I don’t know why he’s limiting it like that, he can sell way more), so don’t wait around. Affiliate marketers will be scooping this up quickly.

Cheers!

Reba

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Traffic Generation for Your Blog

I’ve been working on writing about traffic generation this week while writing my new e-course ‘10 Days To Limitless Traffic’ (you can get the e-course by signing up for my mailing list, see the right-hand side bar). Traffic has got to be the most important component of a profitable website or blog and there is so much to cover that a 10 day e-course just isn’t enough.

However, I thought it would be a good idea to add at least one post with a few tips in this Blogging for Money series because it’s that important. Please understand however, this is just skimming the surface of the subject of traffic generation.

There are a few easy ways to drive traffic to your blog. None by themselves will generate huge traffic but lots of little trickles soon lead to an unstoppable flood.

Each of these are easy and most can be done in a few minutes each day. Getting in the habit of doing at least one of these each day will soon create the traffic you need to be profitable.

Here is a quick list of some of the things that will help your blog traffic increase.

1.    Commenting on a related blog with a thoughtful comment and a link back to your blog
2.    Posting a video with your link to YouTube
3.    Bookmarking your content and others’ content at Stumble Upon, Digg, etc.
4.    Commenting on others’ pages at MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, etc.
5.    Posting on Twitter about your latest post
6.    Using Facebook and including your RSS feed on your profile there
7.    Adding your RSS feed to a Squidoo lens, Hub page, Wet Paint, etc.
8.    Writing articles that link back to your blog and submitting them to various article directories

By no means is this everything. For more ideas, subscribe to my mailing list and get my new e-course ’10 Days To Limitless Traffic’.

Commenting on others’ blogs – Commenting on other people’s blogs has two benefits. If the blog is set up with ‘do follow’ (this blog is) you get a back link to your blog. Even if not, you can and will get traffic from people reading the comments if…you actually take part in the conversation and add value to the post. This also builds up your name recognition in whatever niche you are operating in and helps build your credibility. After all, your goal is to be recognized as an expert authority in your niche.

Posting video – Adding a video about your topic to YouTube or any of the many other video sites can also add back links and new visitors. Make sure you start your description with the full url of your blog – http://yourdomain.com

Adding a podcast – Audio is easy to use and you can create an mp3 file with the free tool offered by Audacity from SourceForge ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ ). If you hold teleseminars most services record them for you and you can use that in mp3 format as a podcast. Add these to your blog using appropriate plugins (Podpress is a good one) and then submit that feed to all of the various podcast services.

Bookmarking – Using social bookmarking services such as StumbleUpon, Digg, etc. will increase the amount of traffic you receive. Remember though that these are communities and you should not be bookmarking just your own sites but other sites that have value as well. Bookmarking posts that you have commented on is a great way to indirectly bring more traffic to your site and will increase the number of bookmarks of other sites you have on your account.

I have found it best if 20% or less of all your bookmarks are your own. Feel free to bookmark some of my posts ~ .  You’ll find a bookmarking plug-in to help you at the end of every post (it’s a good idea to have a bookmarking plug-in installed on your blog to make it easy for your readers to bookmark your posts).

Blog communities – I use two blog communities Blog Catalog and MyBlogLog. Of the two I find MyBlogLog to be the better choice if you only have time for one. You can join communities there, add in other social sites you are using like Digg, Stumble Upon, Twitter, and Facebook and your updates to any of those will show on your profile. You can install the widget on your site to allow others to see who has been visiting your site. I get a lot of traffic from other blogs I’ve visited because my face shows on the other blogs widget.

Twitter – Twitter is a micro-blogging platform and can really help you get visitors if you are posting regularly, have a decent amount of followers and add a tweet when you add a new post. Like commenting, you must take part in the conversation and add value not just tweet your posts.

Facebook – Another great social site as it is becoming a ‘must participate’ site for businesses.  You need to make sure to add your RSS feed to your profile so your visitors will see your latest blog updates. Recently I also joined another social networking site similar to Facebook called Eons, it’s a social networking site for those who are 50+.

If you join either of these sites, be sure to add me as a friend, my profile can be found under RebaCollins, just do a search. Also, at Eons, I have just taken over the Marketing/Internet Marketing Group, please stop by, join and add to the discussion. Honestly, I really need your help there, the place is like a ghost town, please help me out and join in!

Squidoo, Hub Pages, etc. – Squidoo and Hub Pages along with others are like blogs on steroids. Because there are lots of people constantly adding content to their pages at these sites, the search engines like them and rank them well.

Adding targeted anchor text leading to posts on your blog and having your RSS feed displayed on these sites can be a great traffic generator. I have a lens at Squidoo about blogging and another about setting up a virtual assistant business, both have links to the articles here and generate traffic for me.

Article submission – Writing quality articles and submitting them to the various article directories is another way to generate back links for your blog which in turn helps you to rank higher in the search engines. Ezine and website owners can use your content but have to link back to your site through the resource box and this creates the additional back links and visitors you are seeking.

Like I said earlier, these tips are just the beginning. Traffic generation has so many avenues you can take. Subscribing to my e-course will give you a little more detail, which is great because it’s all about taking baby steps and learning as you go. I suggest playing with some of the techniques in this post, while going through the e-course.

If you feel you want to take it to the next level, check out StomperNet’s new product Formula 5. I haven’t seen the product because it hasn’t launched yet but I have their Stomping the Search Engines 2 program and it was far and wide the best information I’ve EVER seen on search engine optimization and learning how to drive traffic to your site. I’m sure their Formula 5 program is just as good.

My next post will be about advertising your blog. So, until then…

Ciao!

Reba

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