If You’re A Woman Over 50 and Hate Your Job…

Yesterday I was so focused on getting restarted here at Internet Marketing Boomer I totally forgot to tell you that I also started a new site a few weeks ago. Not that I was ever going to neglect this one but I felt the market focus of the new site was under represented and I really feel passionate about this new group of people that I’ll be working with.

The new site is 50+Success and is totally focused toward women who are over 50 and unhappy in their job because they are being passed over for promotions, interesting projects, and pay raises. I want to teach these women how to start their own online business and build it while continuing to work to the point where their online income meets or exceeds the salary of their current job. This will give them the freedom, if they so choose, to leave the job where they are undervalued and made to feel irrelevant.

I’m currently working on a series of courses that will move these women to a point where they can say “So long golden handcuffs and hello SWEET FREEDOM!” If you feel you could benefit from a program aimed specifically to the over 50 working woman, be sure to stop by and join the mailing list so I can keep you updated with information and  let you know when my courses are ready.

If you join the mailing list right now, you’ll receive a copy of the Sweet Freedom Checklists for joining. The package includes 5 checklists to help you:

• Choose your domain name
• Know what to include on your website
• Set-up your email strategy
• Research your target market
• And start getting traffic to your site

Additionally, I’ve loaded a series of emails in the auto-responder that teach you how to get your mind ready for entrepreneurship. the series is called Sweet Freedom Success Mindset Series. It’s worth joining the mailing list just to get the email series, believe me, it’s good.

I’d also love for you to stop by the site and leave a comment on one of the blog posts. The poor site is so new it doesn’t have any traffic and no comments (aw, poor little site) but I know it won’t be long before it becomes a hub for all women over 50 who want to join me on the internet.

Oh – almost forgot – the website address is http://www.50PlusSuccess.com .  Be sure to stop by and join the mailing list, see you over there!

Until later,

Reba

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It’s Been A While But I’m Back Now

It’s been quite a while since I posted on this site but I always knew I’d be back. Over the years I’ve had a bunch of sites and year before last year I went through my files and took them all down, all but this one. I didn’t take down this site  because I LOVE internet marketing, I guess you could say it’s my passion.

At the time when I decided to take down my sites, I had just been promoted at my job and it was taking a lot of time and energy to get my new department turned around. I didn’t have any energy left to do internet marketing. I’d get home at 7 or 8 at night after being at the office for up to 12 hours that day.  I had nothing left. So, I had to decide where my focus would go and at the time it was to my day job, which pays me a good salary.

Now fast forward to the present, my day job is the same job but my department is under control and has been for a while. I know the systems and processes I implemented  like the back of my hand. I arrive at 8 in the morning and leave promptly at 5. Since we moved closer to where we work, I’m home at 5:30. Additionally, our daughter graduated from college where she played volleyball for four years, and we don’t even travel to watch her play any longer. I now have some time and I’m feeling the itch to come back and build my online empire !

So I thought I’d make this post to let anyone who might be subscribed to my feed know that I’m back and they will start seeing posts again. Sometime in the next couple of weeks I’m going to sit down and make a plan and set a direction for this site and I’ll post that information then. I would be working on it this weekend but on Tuesday morning my hard drive crashed so I ordered a new computer (the one that crashed was old, I really needed a new one anyway). I should get it tomorrow and I imagine I’ll spend the weekend downloading my stuff from Carbonite (I LOVE CARBONITE) and loading up all my software. I’m not sure what I’ll do about all my saved passwords but oh well, I guess I’ll figure them out as I go. Once all that’s done, then my mind will be free to do some planning.

I want to thank everyone (if there is anyone) who is reading this post. Thank you for sticking with me, I know I’ve been a little undependable. I’m hoping to correct that image of me in your eyes.

I’m also going to send out this post as an email and give all subscribers the opportunity to unsubscribe.

Thanks again and I’ll be talking to you again within the next couple of weeks.

Reba

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New FTC Rules

I haven’t read much about the new FTC rules that became law yesterday, but I thought I’d pass on a couple of good links to other blog posts talking about the subject. I’ll update this post with more links as I run across them and comment when I know more about how to deal with the rules.

http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2009/10/the-end-of-marketerblogger-relationships.html

http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/?p=59

Until later…

Reba

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Develop An ‘Elevator Pitch’ And Tell The World About Your Business

Over the years I’ve heard many business authorities talk about the benefit of preparing an ‘elevator pitch’ for your business. I never much cared to write one, much less deliver a ‘pitch’ in an elevator of all places, so I didn’t participate. For heaven’s sake, an elevator is not a place where you want to talk to other people, right? Aren’t we all supposed to fixate on the numbers as they change when moving from floor to floor?

All kidding aside, what I didn’t realize is that developing an ‘elevator pitch’ is not so much about where it’s delivered as much as it is about knowing what your business does and being able to tell others. It’s about taking your company’s main focus out of the obscure recesses of your head and putting it into words for the world to hear. Come to find out, doing this isn’t always an easy task.

When the ‘time’ presents itself, and it will present itself, having a memorized ‘elevator pitch’ for your business will help you communicate what your business does and you won’t have to worry about going off on a long-winded, disjointed, tangent. In fact, a well constructed ‘elevator pitch’ helps others quickly decide whether or not they want to know more about your business. And the fact that you know exactly what to say when that ‘time’ presents itself, gives you a distinctly higher possibility of having your audience want to know more.

One thing I learned while writing the ‘elevator pitch’ for this website is that summing up what your business does is not all you will gain. The process of writing the pitch actually helps you realize what the one most important thing is that you want your customer to know about your business.

What is an ‘elevator pitch’?

An ‘elevator pitch’ is a succinct summation of what your business does. It should be easy to understand and should take no longer to deliver than it takes to ride an elevator to the top of a short building. It should be delivered in such a way that it excites the listener and entices them to want to know more.

How do you write an ‘elevator pitch’?

• Do not use a cookie cutter template that is easy to find on the internet. Make your pitch unique and give it personality.
• An ‘elevator pitch’ is not a sales pitch. Do not allow it to sound cheezy.
• Your pitch must be easy to understand by anyone, even your grandmother. Do not use acronyms or industry jargon.
• The core of your ‘elevator pitch’ should convey benefits to your customer. This is where you should explain why your business is unique and better than your competitors.
• Ensure it is no longer than 30 seconds. This will drive you to focus on what’s most important about your business in the eyes of your customer.
• Lastly, memorize it, rehearse it, inject passion, confidence, and personality.

Delivering your ‘elevator pitch’.

• Practice it, and then practice it again, and then again and again. Out loud in a mirror. Determine how it will be different when delivering it to different audiences and practice it some more. Get to the point where it rolls off your tongue naturally.
• Get over any apprehension you may have about ‘tooting your own horn’. Delivering an ‘elevator pitch’ about YOUR company is all about telling how YOU will deliver.
• Speak at a pace that shows calm confidence. People can be put-off when you speed through a rehearsed speech. Make sure it sounds natural.
• Remember the first rule of sales – ABC – always be closing. Give your speech to everyone, don’t save it for only those you think are customers, you never know when a potential customer is sitting at your table or…standing in the elevator with you.

An effective ‘elevator pitch’ is designed to give its audience enough information that they will know what you’re talking about and then have enough interest to want to know more. It should not overwhelm, intimidate, or make the other person feel dumb. And it should not be so detailed or long that they tune out.

Here’s version 2 of my elevator pitch for Internet Marketing Boomer and I still think it needs work, actually, a lot of work:

“I help internet business owners find success online by explaining and teaching online marketing concepts through the articles I post on Internet Marketing Boomer. I do that by examining, reviewing, reporting and recommending internet marketing knowledge products as well as writing about how to set-up an internet business and website, how to drive traffic to that website, and examining the different options people have to make money online. Basically, with what I write, I help internet business owners find the information they need to succeed online.”

The tag line I’ve developed for my ‘elevator pitch’ is:

“Helping internet business owners find the information they need to succeed online.”

Keep it concise, to the point, and easy to understand. Deliver it with passion, confidence and personality while keeping it shorter than an elevator ride up a short building. Do all that and you will have an ‘elevator pitch’ that not only helped you pinpoint what your business does but will allow you get a lot of people interested as well.

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Tony Robbins Video With Frank Kern & John Reese

Yesteday I was reading through my Twitter timeline and @KellyMcCausey posted a link to a fabulous video from which I thought many of you could benefit. It’s a 40-min video where Tony Robbins has a chat session with internet marketing icons Frank Kern and John Reese.

Of course, I must say, Tony was definitely a star, the man is a genius. Reese and Kern really didn’t have much to offer but a couple of stories where Tony elaborated as to how and why those stories are a big part of why the two were so successful. I was kind of amazed at how they both appeared to be so small (personality wise) next to Tony who is so charismatic and absolutely larger than life.

This video actually got me so interested in Tony that my husband and I are considering going to Chicago in October to attend his Unleash the Power Within seminar. It will cost us a small fortune but maybe, just maybe, it will give us much more in return.

Your time will not be wasted by watching this video, you don’t even have to opt-in. I didn’t post an affiliate link because his affiliate program is through Commission Junction and I’m having a hard time keeping a CJ account. So just click through to watch and learn while Tony explains how your beliefs affect your potential, your potential affects your actions, your actions affect your results, and your results affect and reinforce your beliefs. He explains how this cycle can either end up being a downward spiral or build you up with no limits.

Here’s the full link:

http://tonyrobbinstraining.com/320/interview-with-frank-kern-and-john-reese/

Enjoy as I did!

Reba

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I Thought I Did That…

I was reading a blog today called “Fifty is the New” and there was a post by Prudence Baird where she posted a YouTube video that made me laugh. It’s a song sung by Tom Rush ~ I just had to share.

When was you’re last memory lapse?

How do you keep track of everything that needs to be done?

Is today’s “information age” maxing out your memory?

Have you noticed it getting harder to rely on your memory and you need a better way to remember little things?

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Can anyone relate? I’m not that bad yet but sometimes I wonder!

Let’s discuss ~

Cheers,

Reba

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Goal Setting – Zig Zigler Is A Legend

I was having a Twitter conversation today with Asher Aw (@asheraw at http://twitter.com/asheraw) about getting passed the struggles and roadblocks of growing your business and he led me to one of his blog posts about goal setting. It had some fabulous videos of Zig Zigler and I wanted to share some of that with you here on my site.

In the first video, Zig talks about the formula he uses for setting and accomplishing goals. Do all the following in writing (writing it down is ESSENTIAL):

1. Identify your objective – what it is you want to accomplish
2. Set the date you expect to complete your goal – put a date on it
3. Identify your obstacles – things you need to overcome
4. Identify the people, groups, and organizations you need to work with – who will help you
5. Devise a plan of action – include time limits
6. Identify what it is you need know – do you need to learn anything
7. Identify all the benefits to you if accomplished – “what’s in it for me”

Check out Zig ~ I love him, he’s such a motivator:

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In listening to Zig speak, I’m not only motivated but a bit overwhelmed. Just the thought of doing all the steps can be more than we think we can handle alone, not to mention following through on everything. Having help is really okay. Getting someone to push you a little or having a system to follow can really be the difference in reaching your goals or just saying “I wish I had followed through” later.

If you’re looking for a system to help you reach your goals next year, check out Gary Ryan Blair’s (The Goals Guy) new program called “Got Resolutions?”. If focus, discipline, and accountability were the things that prevented you from achieving your resolutions in the past, then you must get the “Got Resolutions?” program!

Earlier this year you probably set some goals and resolutions, made promises to yourself, and ended up with unmet goals and unmet resolutions. Don’t let that happen in 2009. As Zig said, you need to devise a plan. Let part of your plan be to get some help and accountability to reach your goals next year.

Got Resolutions?

Cheers!

Reba

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Learn A New Skill In 2009

This is Day 10  of 10 of my tips to help you increase your online business profits in 2009. Yes, this is the LAST tip.

By making just a few changes in the ways you handle a few little things each day, you can grow your business and increase your profits substantially.

Stay tuned over the next ten days and I will share ten important ideas that can help you increase your business and grow your profits in 2009.

Day 10 -

LEARN A NEW SKILL IN 2009

By learning a new ‘in demand’ skill it will most certainly help you grow your business and increase your profits in the coming months and years. Personally, I think copywriting is the best skill you could possibly learn and it’s worth the monetary investment to take a class or course. The ability to write effective sales copy, not only helps you write your own sales letters to promote your own products and affiliate promotions, but you can also charge a high price for your sales copywriting services.

If copywriting just isn’t for you or is too time consuming to pursue, there are many other skills you can learn. Watch internet marketing forums or sites like e-Lance to see what skills you can learn to enhance your business in 2009. Here’s a short list:

• Web design
• Article writing
• Graphic design
• SEO Techniques
• LSI Techniques
• Time Management skills
• .PHP, MySQL, HTML, Java, Flash, Ruby on Rails, or any of these related skills are highly sought after and pay very well
• How to create your own product
• How to land a joint venture (JV)
• Basically, anything creative that you can come up with!

Whether you learn the new skill to use solely for your own business or so you can sell your services — you will profit highly from acquiring one of these skills. If you learn the skill to use for yourself, you will save money on outsourcing adding straight to your bottom line. If you learn the skill in order to sell your services you will also (obviously) profit greatly from that route as well.

Take article writing for example. If you learn how to do this simple skill, you can profit in at least 3 ways:

1. Writing articles for yourself to promote your products/services, etc.
2. Saving money by not having to outsource
3. Selling your article writing services for even more profit

You will leave money on the table if you don’t learn a new skill this year. Think about it. There are so many little nooks and crannies that can be squeezed to add profits and long term income streams to your business. Your efforts can really add up and make a significant difference in the success of your business.

CONCLUSION

It is clear that there are a lot of things we can do to grow our business and increase our profits, no matter how successful or unsuccessful we have been in the past. The past is done and gone. What matters is the present, which is what shapes the future. The future is important because it determines where we will be in a year, two years, five and ten years.

Will you be happy? Healthy? Wealthy? It’s really all up to you.

Implementing even ONE of the tips I’ve outlined over the last ten days will help you grow your business and increase your profits during 2009 and beyond. Taking action is always the most important factor in the end, no matter how great of an idea or plan you have in mind.

I wish you all the best of success!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

P.S. Be sure to check out Gary Ryan Blair’s (you know, The Goals Guy) new program called “Got Resolutions?“. “Got Resolutions?” is a personal leadership program that provides a step-by-step system for setting and achieving your New Year’s resolutions. If you want to implement one of the strategies in my tips but know you have trouble staying focused and on target with your goals, this program might be just the thing you need to make your goals a reality in 2009. Just click the link to see what I mean.

Got Resolutions?

Ciao!

Reba

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Get With The Times And Grow Your Online Business in 2009

This is Day 9 of 10 of my tips to help you increase your online business profits in 2009.

By making just a few changes in the ways you handle a few little things each day, you can grow your business and increase your profits substantially.

Stay tuned over the next ten days and I will share ten important ideas that can help you increase your business and grow your profits in 2009.

Day 9 -

GET WITH THE TIMES

It’s 2008 and drawing ever closer to 2009. We were supposed to have flying cars by now but instead we have iPods and eBooks. Still, it’s pretty advanced compared to even 15-20 years ago, heck, even 10 years ago! A lot of internet marketers stick to what has made them money ‘in the past’ or they follow a business model that worked for somebody else, ‘in the past.’

But, what’s important is right now.

If a new product comes out tomorrow that sweeps the nation and everybody MUST have one — your job as a marketer is to go out and market it! Why would you stay back and market beepers or pagers, when iPhones and BlackBerries are the latest and greatest?

Most of the time, Amazon.com and eBay.com will be selling the latest and hottest products on the market and therefore you can get a piece of the action by promoting these items as an affiliate. Even the greats have to ‘get with the times’ every now and then. Great music artists like Paul McCartney write songs that fit the style of the current time. In the 60’s he was writing “She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!” and in the 80’s he was writing “Silly Love Songs” and “Ebony and Ivory” which was very much 80’s style music.

Getting with the times is an essential part of your business — online or off — and it will most certainly result in your business growing and your profits increasing.

Here are some things you can do to ‘Get With the Times’ as far as your internet business is concerned:

• Get into video marketing
• Use Web 2.0 techniques
• Make your site look modern
• Be involved in social networks (twitter, etc.)
• Have video on your site, as well as new looking Web 2.0 graphics
• Sell Products that are popular NOW, in the current time (day, week, month)
• Follow the latest rule changes so you can keep up with effective SEO techniques (A lot of people use very outdated SEO tactics that don’t work anymore).
• Use LSI Techniques when doing SEO for your site or when writing optimized articles, etc.
• Build a list of opt-in subscribers using a squeeze page or a give away
• And anything else that is new, groundbreaking, effective, creative and profitable!

Tomorrow – Day 10

LEARN A NEW SKILL IN 2009

Cheers!

Reba

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‘Doubling Up’ To Grow Your Business

This is Day 8 of 10 of my tips to help you increase your online business profits in 2009.

By making just a few changes in the ways you handle a few little things each day, you can grow your business and increase your profits substantially.

Stay tuned over the next ten days and I will share ten important ideas that can help you increase your business and grow your profits in 2009.

Day 8 -

‘DOUBLING UP’ TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

This is technique I like to call ‘Doubling Up’ and it’s a strategy you can  use to grow your business and increase profits every couple years.

‘Doubling Up’ can be applied to many different areas of your business. For instance, if you write articles to promote your website and it’s working well for you, what could you do to double that success? Simple. Outsource the exact number of articles you write, so if you write five articles, outsource five articles and then you’ll have ten articles. This means your efforts, as well as your traffic, as well as your PROFITS, have the potential to double.

Even if you can’t double your output, what if you increased by 50%? That would still increase your profits. If you can’t afford to outsource just yet, you can still apply the technique and write all ten articles yourself. You can even have a friend, family member or significant other help write for you as well, provided you give them a little bit of training.

What else could you do in your online business that could DOUBLE your profits?

• Create two videos instead of just one.
• Market to two niches instead of one.
• Charge double for one of your products or service (do split testing to prove which price sells better).
• Do two launches instead of one this year (with the help of outsourcing or JV partnering).
• Put up a website AND a blog instead of just one or the other.
• Double your PPC advertising budget or raise it by a percentage.

Any of the above tactics will increase your profits significantly, so there is no reason to ignore the magical potential of ‘Doubling Up.’

This isn’t rocket science but it works and it’s a tactic that’s easy to try.

What if you took it even further and did ‘TRIPLING UP’? Of course, that would take a bit more outsourcing or tripling the amount of hours you work on that segment of your business, but triple the income doesn’t sound bad at all.

Tomorrow – Day 9

GET WITH THE TIMES

Cheers!

Reba

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