Advertising - Are You Wasting Your Money?

Anybody who has a product to sell, an idea to promote or a service to offer relies on advertising to get the attention they require.

There are so many forms of advertising that finding the correct medium can sometimes be a daunting task.

Depending on the type of business, or the reason for your need for promotion you may find it easier to seek some professional advice.

Firstly you need to decide who your target market is, whether it is men or woman, older generation, younger generation, companies etc.

Secondly you need to ascertain whether your market is local, national or global. This is important, as leaflet dropping in your local supermarket car park is fine if your product or service is a local one, but if your services can be offered world wide or nationally, then you are seriously losing out on the largest percentage of your market.

Once you know who you are planning to target, and where they are, you can begin to research the how, which are the options you have available.

There is an absolute ton of free information on the internet, and if you are reading this, you must have access to it!

If you have a low budget, try doing the advertising yourself, you can knock up some great leaflets from your own pc, (providing your market is local).

Making a website has become a lot easier over the years, and if you shop around you can get some great prices on hosting packages and domain names. Try downloading a free html editor, preferably with a wysiwyg platform, (what you see is what you get), there is a wealth of information on the internet to guide you through making a simple website.

If you have a bigger budget, then consulting with one of the many advertising companies is an option. These people can advise you, and come up with some fantastic ideas, but be sure to shop around and not just go with the first company you come across. Prices will vary, and their expertise will vary also, so it’s an idea to ask to see some references, or some of their projects with other clients that they have worked on.

Done correctly, and with proper research, advertising will reap rewards. It is after all one of the most important factors in any business. So I personally, would always recommend that you give this area the attention it deserves!

Advertise to millions -#6- Multiple marketing techniques.

Introduction:

This is a series of articles about marketing and advertising. There are different ways you can reach an audience of millions of individuals all around the world. I show you on this series how to implement profitable strategies in your marketing career.

It has been said that “what matters is not what you sell but how you promote it.” So, the secret to success lays within your marketing techniques.  That’s why it is very important for business owners to develop skills which allow them to increase the sales of their products.

One of the most important skills you must have is the ability to reach a lot of people quickly. To do this you need to realize how powerful media is an how it can drastically increase your revenues.


– Newspaper ads –

Americans read their newspapers a lot, that’s a fact. Check the statistics and you will realize that the newspaper have always being a good place to advertise. Depending on the kind of products or services that you sell you could use the American’s newspapers to generate new sources of income for your business.

It doesn’t matter whether you live in the USA or not. For example if you own an international e-business this could bring you good profits. I think this is another way you can diversify your marketing strategies.      

There is a website called Nationwide Newspapers http://www.nationwideadvertising.com/, which allow you to post your ad in thousands and even millions of papers all around the country for a low fee. Imagine how much publicity you can get from that! You choose your budget and everything. They have different advertising packages to suit different business needs.

Whatever you choose to market, always use powerful phrases in your messages. The most effective ads are brief but they have the ability to act upon the feelings of the readers. Motivate them, intrigue them, make them feel the heat. Always remember that short phrases with a strong emotional impact are the most effective ones.


– Highway billboards –

If you want to advertise outdoor some companies may help you with this project like for example http://www.billboard-ads.com/. Keep in mind that this is an expensive type of advertisement. To rent an ad space on a well populated area will usually cost you a few thousand dollars per month.

On the other hand, I think the best choice you have is to buy a piece of land in or near a mayor highway and set everything up by yourself. Learn about the laws and regulations in your specific state. Probably the most important agency you will have to contact is your state Department of Transportation.

Visit http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/links.htm to find your state agency. They can give you specific information about this subject. Basically you will have to fill out an application where you affirm that you own the land where the billboard will be placed and you will pay an annual fee which may range from $100 to $500 depending on the state you live. To have someone design and create the ad for you will cost you $1,000 to $3,000. That’s a one time fee you will pay.

How much publicity can you get from this? A lot! But it all depends on your ad’s location. If your ad is next to a highway with a high traffic volume, let’s say that on average 45,000 different drivers travels through said highway everyday, then there will be more than a million individuals watching it every month.

That’s a lot, but to be honest with you, this kind of advertisement works better for local businesses like nearby restaurants or real estate Companies than for other kinds of businesses. Also transnational corporations with a large advertising budget, which would like to build reputation would want to have many billboard ads across the nation.

Small business owners usually prefer to market their products using other less expensive techniques. Anyway, I included this information here because I thought some of you would like to read about it. After all this is another way you can reach a vast amount of individuals in an everyday basis.


– TV Commercials –

To advertise on television will have a powerful impact on your business revenues. Different factors will determine how much this marketing strategy will cost you. For example the price vary depending on the channels you choose, how often you will advertise, etc.

There are some Companies which can help you reach your clients easily. I think the two most popular are http://www.nationaltvspots.com/ and http://www.metromarkcorp.com/. In National TV Spots some marketing packages start as low as $26 for a 30 seconds spot. This is other way to diversify your marketing techniques.



– Magazine Ads –

You can advertise on magazines and save up to 80% off the regular price. There is a company called Media Bids - http://www.mediabids.com, which allow you to meet other marketers as well as to choose among different marketing packages available. The service is free. You only pay for an ad if you choose to make a purchase.

As you can see, these techniques can increase your exposure and help you get more clients. You can read about other effective marketing techniques from my other articles on this series.




EasyWebRiches © 2006

A Day in the Life of the Reverse Funnel System

BEEP!  BEEP!  Keep it moving, non stop ever flowing traffic.  For the first time in my life I feel blessed to be caught in a traffic jam.  But the highway has thousands of lanes and the traffic will never be jammed, until arthritis sets in and your crippled fingers can no longer scour the web finding new ways to drive traffic to your site.

A day in the life of the Reverse Funnel could mean ten thousand dollars in your added into your fat pockets.  A day in the life of the Reverse Funnel system could mean a sore back from being slumped looking over your computer, a slight head ache and a loss of focus in the eyes that comes after several hours of staring at a computer monitor, all the while with nothing to show for your miseries. 

A day in the life of the Reverse funnel System is dependant on how well you know how to navigate the internet, how connected your team is and how close you are.  A team that completely shares all their secrets so everybody can be successful will make you more successful.

A day in the life of the Reverse funnel System is what you may need for your self, for your family, for your freedom right now.  The prospects of this system are remarkable. I am making lots and I mean lots of money, 20K in my first month involved in the Reverse Funnel System.  Franco, my up-line made over 50K this month, his second month in the Reverse Funnel System.  Of course his $1,000 commission off each of my sales helped him out a bit.

But that’s how it works.  You work and you get hard workers to work underneath you.  Working for GRN (Global Resorts Network) you and your uplink get a $1,000 commission.  So when you become the up line your worker’s and you get $1,000 commission.  That’s a thousand dollars free for you as long as you teach the people under you our valuable marketing skills.

So get that traffic moving and experience a day in the life of the Reverse Funnel System.

A Simple Way To Create 7 Effective Autoresponder Messages

Email is the Net's most powerful marketing tool. And autoresponders are the best idea yet for marketing with email.

There is an old saying that the first ad rarely sells. You have to put your product, service, or idea in front of a prospect several times before she buys.

Autoresponders are designed specifically to get your message back to the same prospect over and over. That's why most autoresponder packages come in groups of 7 messages--from the 7 message marketing rule that has been the rule in advertising since our grandparents were in diapers.

But what do you say in your 7 messages? We've written autoresponder series for hundreds of customers. Here is one method that always works.

This method is called REMIND 'EM. People don't read your sales letter as carefully as you think. They tend to skim. They read the first message, but miss the second and third message. The prospect may not tune in again until message five. It's so easy for people to completely miss your main points intended to lead to a sale.

It's important to *repeat* your main message over and over. Say it once, twice, three times in your first message. Say your main message in a different way in the second message. Re-cap your main point again in the third message. That way, people who aren't paying attention still get your important ideas.

Here's an example of how the "remind 'em" formula works for a 7 letter series promoting personal security products.

Message (1) The world is a dangerous place. You need new innovative security products to insure your protection.

Message (2) More details on how and why the world is a dangerous place. List places or situations that are especially threatening.

Message (3) Recap how the world is a dangerous place. Give more details on the key new security products that have come out.

Now start the middle section of messages. Note how they become more instructional telling people how to use the products.

Message (4) Protect yourself from the dangerous world with Product A. Here's how to use Product A. Here's why you would use it. Here's where to use it.

Message (5) Protect yourself with Product B. Here's how to use it. Here's what happy customers say about it. Tell a hair raising story of how Product B saved a customer's life.

Now comes the wrap-up and reminder, especially important for people who never got around to reading your earlier messages.

Message (6) Go back to your main sales letter used in numbers 1 and 2. Start all over reviewing your main points and highlighting your most popular products.

Message (7) This is the final follow-up email. I usually have it come two weeks to one month after message 6. It's designed to scoop up all the people who weren't ready to buy in the beginning, but may be ready to buy now.

It can start with "For the past few weeks I've been sending you important information about how to protect yourself in threatening situations. I know you are busy and may not have had time to consider how these products could improve your life and confidence." At that point, you again review your main points.

Repetition is the key to advertising success. Find creative ways to keep the main message going week after week and you will have as many customers as you can handle. Busy prospects simply need time for your message to sink in. As we used to say when I worked in media, it's just when you and your staff are sick to death of a commercial that the audience is just beginning to notice it.

9 Marketing Credos for a Thriving Business

1.  Differentiate or Die!  You Must Stand Out From the Pack.  Don’t become another “me too” option for your prospects to choose from.  When you allow this to happen, you position yourself to compete only on price – a tough arena to play in.

2.  You Are in Two Businesses... The Business of DELIVERING Your Products and Services AND The Business of MARKETING Them.  You're better off being a GREAT marketer and have adequate ability at what your business delivers than have great ability at what your business delivers and be an average marketer.

3.  Know Thy Target Audience!  Who exactly is your ideal customer?  What do they look like?  Where do they hang out?  What is their decision making process?  Keep drilling down until you are crystal clear and can visualize them in your head.  Then focus your marketing efforts directly at them.

4.  The Internet is Simply Another Medium to Reach Your Target Audience – Don’t Be Intimidated by it!  You do not need to be a computer expert to market your business online.  Nor do you need to go it alone.  Help is all around us, we just have to ask for it.

5.  Consistency Is Key!  This is where the old cliché “Out of sight out of mind” really holds true.  You must have consistency in the look, feel and frequency of delivery of your marketing efforts.  This builds a level of comfort between you and your prospects and helps you maintain “top of mind” presence with them.

6.  Apply the Rule of Five to Your Marketing Efforts Every Day.  Commit to doing at least 5 things per day to market your business and see your business soar!

7.  Have a Plan!  Know the 5 W’s – Who, What, When Where, and Why of every marketing initiative you take.  Add to that a financial forecast for your marketing efforts and you are golden!

8.  Diversify Your Efforts!  Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket.  Have multiple marketing tactics going at all times so that you always have a bread-winning marketing tactic.

9.  Tap Into Viral Marketing!  Get others promoting and selling for you.

© 2005 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

10 Headline Writing Tips That Will Instantly Boost Your Advertising Response Rates!

:
Copyright 2006 Brian Maroevich

Even the most powerful advertising copy on the planet is useless without an effective headline.

An effective headline determines whether or not your prospective customer will read the next sentence of your sales message.

You must grab your reader’s attention with something that appeals to them and forces them to want to learn more, otherwise you won’t make a sale.

Whether you have a successful headline or you are just starting to write your next ad or sales letter, here are 10 Headline Writing Tips That Will Instantly Improve Your Advertising Results:

1. Put your prospects name in your headline. Everyone wants to see their name in "The Headlines".  This will definitely grab their attention and get them to read your ad or sales letter.

2. "Use Quotations" around your headline. Quotation marks create the perception that your headline is a testimonial and has credibility.  And credibility, in turn creates more believability, and this can significantly increase response to your ad.

3. Don't make your headline to "BIG". Many advertisers believe that bigger headlines get a better response. Bigger is not always better. You want your headline to be in a readable and believable size compared to the rest of your ad. A big headline can reduce your credibility because it looks to “hyped up.”

4. Don't end your headline with a period. This creates a pause in your readers mind and they may decide to move on to something else. People have been trained to pause at a period. But if you end your headline with an "!" exclamation point you will ad excitement to it and your reader will want to move forward with your ad (this is a good rule of thumb, but it's not a law. I've seen and written ads with a period in the headline and it's worked.) Another technique is to leave your headline open ended or use "..." to get them to move into your body copy.

5. Use one, two, even three subheadlines. Subheadlines below your main headline can be very effective in building intrigue and excitement in your reader. Each subheadline should be smaller compared to the main headline and the subheadline before it; ultimately your reader will end up in the main body of your ad or sales letter before they know it.

6. There are many advanced techniques for producing great headlines but what I’ve found to be simple and effective is to use the best benefit your product or services provides as your main headline, and then ad “How To…” to it.  For example, if your best feature as a web developer is getting websites built and online within 3 days, the benefit of that could be..."How To Attract New Business Worldwide While You Sleep Starting In 3 Days!”

7. If you use "$" dollar figures in your advertising use this tip: If you help people save or make an extra $2,500 with your product or service, attach a decimal point to it: $2,500.00. What looks like more money, $2,500 or $2,500.00? Conversely, if you are stating a price for your product, put as few "0's" in the price as possible. For example, if your product costs $2,500, you don't want to print, "$2,500", or "$2,500.00". You want to print something like $2,499. This looks less threatening.

8. Combine a grabber with your headline and you might get amazing results! Grabbers are small gadgets and trinkets that are attached to your letter or report that get your prospects attention like: million dollar bills, real money, string, magnifying glasses, pencils, fake checks, bubble gum, poker chips etc. The key is to tie in your grabber with your offer in a clever way. Also, if you combine a headline above and/or below your grabber you'll really ad power to your advertising.

9. Make your headline newsworthy. "How To Get Your Tax Refund In 10 Days!" is a pretty good benefit oriented headline, but you could test a newsworthy approach like..."Local Tax Planner Gets Clients Over $1,000,000.00 In Tax Refunds!"

10. Use a testimonial as your headline...Get the most detailed and specific testimonial you have and use it as your headline. For example, "I made an extra $32,000.00 In Six Weeks, and another $10,000.00 in Two Days!" is a prime example of a specific testimonial. This makes it very appealing because it's real, it's newsworthy, and I can attach a real name to it.

6 Things I Know About Postcards That You Don’t

In my plethora of experience tucked away between these ears, I have managed to cull out for you what I consider the “best of the best” – in other words, I took the most proven details about postcards that were significant to you starting a postcard campaign and really winning at it.  So here goes the most incisive highlights about postcards.

<b>1)  I know that a postcard is better than something in an envelope.</b> 

For many reasons, the main one being, in an envelope you can’t make your potential customer see your message.

People are fast.  We see and read very quickly – actually much more quickly than we even realize..  Think about yourself – how fast do you go through your mail and process out what you want to keep and what you don’t want to keep?   Pretty darn fast.  It takes fractions of seconds to go through and process in your mind “bill, bill, advertisement, bill, advertisement, letter…”  And it also takes fractions of seconds to decide whether you are even going to bother giving more attention to the pieces that you designated as advertisements.

With a postcard, even if they throw it away, they already saw your message regardless of whether they think they did or not.  They saw it enough to throw it away, didn’t they?

And the next time they get that same postcard in the mail, they see it again as they throw it in the trash.

Let’s face it - junk mail gets thrown away.  And postcards are junk mail to a lot of people.

Although they may be junk mail, postcards get read no matter what – even if thrown away without reading them, they get seen.  It’s like the phoenix rising up from the ashes.

<b>2)  I know that if you are not doing repeat mail with your postcards you are flushing your money down the toilet.</b>

Repeat mailings cannot be repeated enough.    DO REPEAT MAILINGS!  DO REPEAT MAILINGS!  DO REPEAT MAILINGS!  A one shot in the dark postcard mailing is not going to change your business, your bottom line, your life or your anything.

The long and the short of it is, if you are not up to confronting that you need to do a campaign then don’t bother being in business.  Sorry if I sound a bit harsh!

<b>3)  I know that the best price is not best necessarily the best postcard.</b>

The cheapest is not necessarily the best.  The old adage “you get what you pay for” applies here.  Get whatever potential postcard company you interview to send you samples.  Make sure the postcard is a very good, quality, stiff card that catches your attention.  Get them to give you customer references.  Call those references and find out what they think of that company’s service, product, etc.

There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into getting your postcard done right.  If they screw up printing, if they don’t get your mailing out on deadline, etc. – doing it dirt cheap might not mean getting the quality service you need or want.

<b>4)  I know that although most people, if surveyed, say they like full color on both sides, the truth is black on white on the back of the postcard gets a better response.</b>

Why?  Because full color on both sides is confusing.  On the other hand, if you have a very aesthetic, pleasing-to-the-eye front - with a great headline  - you just want to turn that postcard over and simply get the message on the back.  You want good eye trail.

Eye trail is where your eye goes when you look at the postcard.  You can have good eye trail with full color on both sides – but it has to be done correctly.  Usually when you give people a choice to do full color on both sides they go overboard and the creative juices start flying, not flowing, flying with, “WOW!!! full color on both sides?!!”  And they make it too busy.  You don’t want it to be dispersing – you want it to go like a trail.  Have a start, a middle and an end. 

<i>Example:</i>
     
<b>Did YOU Notice this Postcard?

Your Customers Will Notice Yours Too!
5000 Full Color

Super-glossy

Postcards

for only

$389</b>

Look at it from the customer viewpoint – really look at it from their viewpoint and you can see what I mean by eye trail.

<b>5)   I know that you should promote only one thing at a time on your postcard.</b> 

Even if you sell lots of different products, you only promote one of them.  It is fine to mention them on the back of the postcard bullet pointed.  But your main focus on the front of your postcard needs to be one product, service, item, what have you – just one thing.

Say you have a flooring store and a furniture showroom in the back.  Your postcard should only talk about flooring.  It is not that people who are looking for flooring are not also looking for furniture – it’s just too much information on the front of postcard.

The purpose of a postcard is to get your prospect interested with one thing.  You can put on the back as just a mention:  “We also have a giant showroom full of furniture.”

But on the front – one item!  ONE ITEM!

If a company sells hot tubs, above-ground pools and jungle gyms they need to pick the one that gives them the most income and make their postcard about that.

<b>6)    And I know that a person could grow a company with no other marketing media.</b> 

With postcards alone, one could take a company from zero to over a million bucks in revenue or more.  How do I know?  Because I did it.

We mailed postcards every single week, and the more postcards we mailed out, the more we grew.  Yes, it is good to diversify and as we grew and became more successful and had more money to try other media, we did.  Some we kept and some we nixed.  Postcards are a staple that works no matter what. 

These six points of postcard marketing data are proven techniques of making your postcards WOW your prospective clients while at the same time being faithful to the time-honored methods that have proven to get more bang for your buck.  These tips are what will put your postcard in a class all by itself.

5 Simple Ways To Promote Your Affiliate Programs - Without Spending A Fortune On Advertising!

So, you want to make money online, but you’re having trouble getting visitors to your website? If so, you’re not alone. Many people think that running an online busy is easy – just build a website, and in no time you’ll be making money.

Well, running an online business is no different than running any business – you need to find ways to reach people who want and need (and are willing to pay for) your product or service.

Affiliate marketing (selling other people’s products) is a great way to make money online.

Yet, it is still a business, and the same rules apply to affiliate marketing – you need to find people who need what you are selling.

The best way to be a successful affiliate is to create your own website, provide information to get people ready to buy, and then encourage them visit the programs you are representing.

How do you do this, without spending a fortune on advertising?

1) Learn how to get free traffic from search engines

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means getting the search engines (like Google and Yahoo) to place your website at the top of the rankings. Getting “free advertising” from the search engines is great. However, it is not easy, and it does take some time. The key is make your site the best possible site for your theme – tricks and scams may provide you with an instant “boost” but this rarely lasts (and sometimes even gets you banned permanently!) Over the past few years, I’ve made lots of money by having high rankings – and I’ve lost money when my rankings have fallen. It’s part of the process, so you shouldn’t count only on free traffic from the search engines.

2) Create your own newsletter

By creating your own newsletter, you can contact each person who signs up more than once, increasing your chance for a sale. Don’t have any ideas for a newsletter? How about a free course. Or monthly tips about the topic of your website. Sign up for a few newsletters in your industry to get an idea of how other websites maintain this important relationship with their current – and future – customers!

3) Write articles

Writing articles provides you with several benefits at the same time – by writing an article you are positioning yourself as an expert; when your article is published, you get a link back to your site (which helps SEO; you can promote your newsletter so you can contact readers more than once. You don’t need to have your article published in USA Today to get these benefits. In fact, getting your articles listed in an article directory (such as EzineArticles.com), can help you get listed in more specialized websites, newsletters, and magazines, helping you reach the right people!

4) Place newsletter, magazine, & newspaper ads

When spending money on ads, especially for the first time, start out small. It’s very easy to spend a ton of money, without getting any responses (a tough lesson many advertisers learn the hard way!) Email newsletters or ezines are a great way to start (start with the ones in your industry that you subscribed to in order to get ideas for your newsletter above). Make sure you offer something valuable – like your newsletter – to get as many people to respond as possible.

5) Watch out for scams!

Buying 10,000 visitors for only $29.95. Submitting your website to 150 search engines for $19.99. Getting your site listed #1 on all the search engines for just $50. Most of these sound very tempting, especially when you are just starting out. Unfortunately, most of these are great ways to drain your bank account very quickly – and make other people rich.

So learn from the real experts how to build your online business: sign up for newsletters (HighRankings.com is a great resource), read the forums (IHelpYouServices.com and WebmasterWorld.com), read articles (EzineArticles.com).

Yes, you can make money online. So, get started, keep learning and trying, and don’t ever give up!

5 Tips On Making Your Business Card A Powerful Marketing Tool

When used effectively business cards can be a great marketing tool. In this article we will discuss 5 of the most effective ways that you can use your business cards everyday.

1. Be Creative.

Be creative in the design of your business cards. Business cards do not just need to be bits of paper with your contact details on them. Be creative and give your business cards a use and purpose. Make them a powerful marketing tool in the promotion of your business.

Your aim is to make your business card something that the receiver will want to keep and make use of. This is the difference between a well thought out and designed business card and a piece of paper with your contact details on it that will probably be thrown into the trash.

Give the recipient of your business cards a special offer. For example if you are a school/training centre you may offer 'first lesson for free with this card' or if you run a shop maybe you will offer '10% of any purchase over $50'.

Whatever your business, there is a creative way to give your business card real value to the receiver. If you can think and implement these new creative ways before your business does, you will have an instant advantage in that area of business, and should definitely see a rise in business if you have promoted you cards correctly.

2. The 1 minute rule

The 1 minute rule basically says, if you talk to a person for longer than 1 minute they should already have one of your business cards in their hand.

This means in conversations you need to find a way to talk about what you do, and be in the position to be able to offer one of your business cards to the person you are talking to in the first minute of conversation. This can be likened to a conversation you may have with someone at the bus stop or on the elevator. The conversation will end in a very short time and you only have a very short time to get your message across, or in this case get your business card to the recipient.

The 1 minute rule is basically just practice to get your business card out there as much as you can. Many people go through all the trouble of ordering business cards just to let them sit in a corner of their office. To use business cards effectively you must be giving them out at every opportunity that you have.

3. Make them keepers

Once you have given your business card to someone what is going to keep it from being thrown in the trash or forgotten about. Unless you are selling necessities it is probably fair to say that most likely they do not need the product/services you are offering at the present moment. Hopefully though in the future will come a time when they are looking for that product/service and that is when your business card still needs to be in the hands of the person.

Why does someone want your business card? If you cannot answer that easily, maybe it is time to think about a new business card design.

Does your business card have valuable information on it? By valuable I mean a map, discount, calendar, measurements, charts or anything relevant to your industry? If it doesn't, you may want to think about adding a value feature to your business card.

4. Leave them everywhere you go

During a number of trips around a number of businesses in my local area I have noticed piles of business cards on the counters of various businesses. For example a recent trip to my accountant I noticed they had a few piles of business cards on the counter for mortgage lenders, home loans, etc.
This can be likened very much to link swapping that goes on with webmasters looking for business referrals from similar businesses.

Every place that you frequent, you should ask if they mind you leaving a stack of you business card there for their customers. You could try this at your doctors office, your dentist, accountant, lawyer, beauty saloon or hairdresser.

For similar businesses (e.g. accountant > lawyer or money lender) maybe you can arrange to have a stack of their business cards displayed at your business when they offer your business cards at theirs. This can be a very effective way to use you business cards and can have great returns.

5. Ask for an opinion

'Do you mind if I ask you a quick question? I'm looking for opinions on my new business card'. After asking the question and bringing the topic up hand them a business card. Make sure that they keep it, even if they try to hand it back to you tell them that you have thousands printed already.

Thank the person for their time, and if they ever need the product or service that you are offer that your contact information is on the business card. Even if that person may not directly contact your business, there is always a chance that they may pass your card or business name onto another party.

Even in the worse case they may go home and tell their friend how a nut just came and talked at the bus stop and handed them a business card for his lawn mowing service. That friend may say, 'I've been looking for a good lawn mower'. 'Here's the business card I got'. And there is a situation where you may still even get business out of handing your business card to a stranger and even a disinterested stranger.

By following just one of the above five ideas each day, you can turn your business card into a great marketing tool, and see an almost instant increases in business.

7 Keys In Getting Your Prospects To Act

Today I would like to look at the matter of persuasion. How do you get your prospects to take action?

I remember as a door-to-door salesman, my instructor often said that you must understand 'why people buy'. It has a certain ring to it doesn't it? If you know why people buy then you can gear your ads towards these 'psychological buttons'.

Before I go any further, I would just like to mention that this is in no way 'manipulation'. It's just common sense that you don't approach someone about an important decision when they're angry. Every wise wife knows how to place their husband in that 'mood' before they spring their special request on him!

Even kids wait until their parents are in a good mood before they tell them the cost of the special outfit that they MUST have.

Having cleared the air let's look at these important principles.

1. Scarcity - People go after those opportunities or products that are limited in availability. That's why you must show in your ad that your offer is for a limited time or in limited quantities. Field tests have shown that limited-quantity ads pull much better than limited-time ads. Procrastination is still a large part of human nature, so there're always those who would wait until the last minute to act. If the prospect knows that the item is in limited quantity, there's no way of determining when they'd be all sold out.

2. Herding Instinct - Your prospects will better respond to your ad if you can show that people JUST LIKE them are responding. Just recently a high school senior knocked on my door selling magazine subscription for a college scholarship program. She used that number on me - she was sure to let me know that my neighbors had bought subscriptions! We all just want to keep up with our neighbors. Needless to say, I fell for it. Whether I would read the magazine is another story.

I often point this out to my wife and you can try looking for this pattern as well. You would seldom find a satellite dish on a single home on a block. You often find dish receivers in pairs or more. One neighbor gets that service and the other follows. The same goes for gardens and lawns. Nobody wants to be the sore thumb! This is where the use of testimonials comes in. Your testimonials say "See, a lot of people like you are making this decision". Use lots of testimonials.

3. The desire to pay back a good deed - If someone thinks that you've given him or her something of value then there is a strong desire to pay you back the favor. One example is that of AOL that marketed their service by giving away those floppy disks. They literally blanketed the USA with these floppy disks. They still do but now with CDs and 1000 hrs free etc. Do you think that this is working for AOL?

In your marketing efforts you must give something of value FIRST - this builds loyalty and results. Always show the value of what your 'free' service is - never just say 'FREE'. Show the value of the gift then say that it is free. This is important because you want the person to place value on your bonus. (You'll notice that in all the bonus ebooks that I've given through these articles that I first tell you the value of them -and even go out of my way to prove the value sometimes.)

4. Authority - People will listen to you if they see that you have authority on your subject. There was a TV commercial that used this line - "My son-in-law recommended that I take _____ for my heartburn. Why should I listen to him you say? He's a doctor". You may think that you do not have authority on what you are advertising. In this case appeal to authority figures - quote from a respected journal, expert ... you get the idea.

5. Commitment - If someone has made a PUBLIC commitment to something then they are more likely to follow through. Find some way of getting someone to make a commitment and he or she's more likely to follow through than if they did not. That's why any motivational trainer would tell you that it's important to WRITE your goals down -you are more likely to complete them!

Just today I received a sales letter in the mail for which I had to send for free information. My physical act of commitment was to peel a nice red label marked "free" and place it in a designated spot on the mail back card. Now you know why they make you do this little silly stuff.

Only if weddings worked the same way!

6. Your 'likability' - People would respond to your offer if they like you. It's hard to sell to someone to whom you have no relationship even if it's just a 'perceived' relationship. This is one of the most overlooked areas of marketing on the Internet.

The Internet can seem a little cold sometimes. I've found that even after making email contact with my prospect I still have to make voice contact before they sign up for my offers. At the same time the Internet is a wonderful tool to build relationships through emails, message boards, instant messages ... the list goes on. It's a known fact that someone would buy from you if THEY think that YOU like them. Give people value, more than they expect and you have a customer for life!

7. The eternal "what's in it for me?" principle - As your prospect read your ad this is the question they are seeking an answer to. Make sure that you give them plenty of answers. Appeal to their desire for recognition, wealth, better health, and security -yes all those nice things on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - all the way up to self-actualization. (Check out a Psychology 101 text book if you are not familiar with Maslow -you will glad you did.) But do not forget to appeal to their FEAR of pain and loss.

Field research has shown that people are more responsive to loss than gain. Be sure to show them what they would LOSE if they don't get your product.

Read through your sales letters again and see if these buttons

5 Tips To Make Money on Craigslist

Craigslist is one of the most visited sites on the internet today, with millions upon, millions of visitors a day. With this many visitors
daily, it is very easy to get a nice chunk of traffic with your postings. I have put some tips together for you guys, apply these, and you WILL
make money!

<b>Tip 1: DON'T POST DUPLICATE POSTS!</b>
Posting duplicate posts will do nothing for you but get your ads taken down.  Yes, it is easy to just copy and paste, and make over 100 ads within minutes, but it won't do you any good.

<b>Tip 2: USE DIFFERENT IPS!</b>
Using different IPs is another way to avoid getting your ad flagged.  One way Craigslist will know to flag your posts is by looking at the IP you are using.  If they see multiple ads from the same IP, they will most likely flag your ad, thus your profits will suffer. (Wait, you won't have any.) One way you can
change your IP is by using a proxy.  If you want a list of them, check out proxy.org.  They have thousands of them.

<b>Tip 3: DONT BE AN IDIOT!</b>
Being an idiot is the easiest way to not make money on Craigslist. Do not post something, blatantly spamming your URL. <b>This is an example of what NOT to do:</b>

"HEY GUYS CHECK OUT MY SITE ITS THE BEST!!!! LOL11!!!  http://myaffiliatelink.com LOL  OK GO THER PLX"

Doing this is also a good way to get banned from your CPA network as well, which also is not a good thing.

<b>Tip 4: CATCH THE CURIOSITY OF THE READER!</b>
This is one of the most important tips of all. By catching the curiosity of the reader you have a much higher chance of getting an email from them, or getting a click on your link.  Also, make sure to keep your ad short - this will help catch their curiosity.

<b>Tip 5: DON'T GIVE UP, EVER!</b>
That's it, DON'T GIVE UP.  Giving up is the easiest way to not make money online.  To make money you must stick with it.  I know it will be hard, but when you finally do get that first sale, or that first lead, it's the greatest feeling ever. If you can do it once, you can do it a million times.

7 critical aspects of a fantastic logo design

When it comes to logo design, you ultimately want it to convey your brand in the best possible manner. At the same time you don’t want it to take up too much space. That is the greatest challenge – to be able to create a winning impact within the space constraints. Here are the 7 factors you need to consider to have a logo that spells success!

1.  Research always helps in effective logo design
Never make the mistake of rushing into creating a logo design. It will only make matters bad. You need to do a fair bit of research to understand the company, its objectives and mission as well as its business goals – both short and long term. You also need to know the demographics of the target audience.

2.  Attractive and unique: two elements of great logo design
You would obviously want your logo design to catch the attention of the customer. At the same time it should not be screaming for attention. It should test the intellect of the customer; make him or her think a few minutes after seeing the logo. If you notice some of the top logo designs each of them have a unique aspect to it that depicts something about the company.

3.  Simple and memorable logo design
One of things you need to really focus on is to make sure your logo design is not too cluttered or too fancy. This will just confuse the customer. Ultimately you want the customer to remember your brand. That will only happen if the logo is easy to remember. Also be sure that the logo sends out positive signals to the customer.

4.  Flexibility is a major issue in logo design
There are so many companies who invest a fortune on their logo design only to realize later that their logo doesn’t work on a product wrapper! What a waste of time and money! Your logo needs to be flexible enough to work and create a lasting impact on any medium whether it is a product wrapper, your company website or even any promotional materials you send out!  That means you need to consider the size of the logo and the usage of appropriate colors. The colors used need to match well with any background while also helping the brand to stand out.

5.  Never clutter your logo in logo design
One critical mistake people make is to cram in too much information in their logo design. This makes your logo look cluttered not to mention the fact that customers will fail to remember your brand!

6. Use fonts that promote readability in your logo design
You might select a font that looks great on paper but when you use it in the logo it hampers readability. There is absolutely no point using classy fonts in logo design if they are going to prevent customers from remembering you. Make sure fonts are easy on the eye.

7. Usage of color in logo design
Great logo design will always focus on using complementary colors that looks good against a black or white background.

4 Power-Packed Techniques To Stimulate Customer Buying

What is it that gives business life and vitality?  Yes, sales.  Without sales, our businesses will dry up and die.  On the other hand, a healthy growth in sales means an increase in profits.  Yeah, we business owners spend a lot of time watching for signs of growth, and plotting to make it happen.  Here are 5 sure-fire ways to get customers to shell out the bucks before they leave your place of business.

1.    Tantalize Their Emotions
When was the last time you bought a candy bar?  Exactly what is it about chocolate that makes us waste perfectly good money on something that lasts less than five minutes?  Yep, it's the feeling of satisfaction we feel after we've eaten the sweet morsels. 

Everything consumers purchase is for one purpose… to satisfy some emotional feeling they are looking for.  Don't believe it?  Why do we buy cars?  …security, to show off, personal satisfaction?  Sure, we all want to look good and know that we'll be able to get where we're going safely.

Take advantage of the emotional pull purchases have on your customers, and dramatize.  Paint word pictures that will enhance to pleasant feelings that come with the purchase you are trying to get them to make. 

2.    Scare The Heck Out of Them
What are your customers going to lose if they don't buy your product?  No, we don't always have to stick with the pretty pictures that leave us all warm and fuzzy.  Fear is as effective of a  motivor as pleasure… sometimes greater.

Do you have fire alarms installed in your house?  A dramatic mental picture of waking up in the night and not being able to rescue you child isn't at all pretty, but will be much more likely to motivate you to invest in a fire alarm system than any pretty picture ever would.

Don't hesitate to use a little negative influence if your product calls for it.  Many people fear what they could lose more than they get excited about what they could gain.

3.    Keep Buying A Simple "Yes" or "No" Choice
Are you planning a special sale?  Take care to promote only one of each type of product at a time.  Decisions can make the buying process more complicated and cost you sales.  Yeah, the buyer who can't make up his mind often leaves without taking anything with him… that's money out of your pocket!

Do you have several related items you want to offer?  Combine them into one package and watch your profit skyrocket!

4.    Make It Easy To Buy
Several years ago, I found myself spending my lunch hour in a long line at the nearby fast food restaurant.  After patiently waiting for more than 30 minutes, I placed my order only to discover they didn't accept debit cards.  Now, there's no feeling of frustration quite like spending the best part of your lunch time waiting in line with a yammering stomach, only to be denied.

Your customers want to be able to pay in whatever way they choose when they walk to the cash register.  If you want to attract the most customers, be sure they can pay using their favorite method.

5 Must Ask Questions to Create Effective Advertisements

Are you ready to kick off a marketing campaign that will send your sales to the moon?  Whether you're ready to create a Web page, sales letter, or other sales copy, take a moment to ask yourself these important questions before you dive in.  Think before you advertise.

1. Who Do You Want to Target?
Is your prospective customer an avid outdoorsman who likes to hike?  Know exactly who you are talking to before you start.  Once you know the characteristics of your ideal reader, it's much easier to create a dynamic sales message that will address their interests and needs.  Talk directly to the reader, and watch them respond.

2. What Action Do You Want Your Reader to Take?
Not all advertisements are intended to spur immediate sales.  Are you looking for a list of prospective buyers, first time inquiries, or direct sales?  Word your sales copy to stimulate the action you want the reader to take. 

3. What Do You Have That Your Competitors Don't?
Before you can expect your audience to head out for your place of business, you've got let them know why they need to do business with YOU.  Do you provide faster results, a better guarantee, personalized service, easier to use products?  What is it that makes your product better?

How important is it to identify your competitive edge?  A good rule of thumb is that it should cover about one half of your advertising space.  Pretty important, huh?  Yeah, you'll want to keep a close eye on the competition and continuously update to KEEP the competitive edge.

4. How Can You Verify Your Claims?
You don't believe everything you hear...especially from someone wanting to sell you something, and neither will your prospective customers.  You've got to make them believe that what you say is the gospel truth.  Gather testimonials from current customers, dig up some reliable research that will back up your claims, and find someone well-respected to endorse your product or service.  Just don't expect blind faith from people who don't know you.

5. How Do You Spur The Readers to Action
Let's face it...procrastination has a good foothold in the lives of many of the people we are marketing our products and services too.  Yeah, they're a lot like us.  They see the ad, think "Hey, I need to get one of those," and go on about life without every getting around to making it to your place of business.

Deadlines can spur action.  Hey, if you know you're going to pay 25 percent less if you buy it by Saturday, you're not likely to wait until Sunday to do your shopping.  Put together a list of sales you want to introduce, specify the end dates, and your set to put a little motivation in your copy.  Hint:  You don't have to have new sales every time - recycle the ones you have every so often...especially those that bring good response.

Motivating sales copy doesn't have to be written by professional marketers.  Implement these questions in your sales page and you'll have high-quality copy the produces top-notch results.

5 Print Ad Essentials!

Writing an effective print ad, particularly a classified advertisement, requires that you remember five essential points. Failure to implement these points correctly can cost you much in the way of time lost and a sale missed.

You've just cleaned out the attic and straightened up the garage. You've identified items you no longer need, but they certainly have a cash value to them. You could really use the money, but you don't want to post the information on eBay. What to do? You create a classified ad!

Unlike in times past, the classified advertisement you run with your local paper will more than likely have exposure beyond the printed copy. Smart newspaper publishers, knowing the inroads that the internet has had on their businesses, now allow advertisers to have a copy of their advertisement appear online. This is important as newspaper readership is dropping rapidly as internet usage continues to climb sharply. Still, a printed copy is smart especially if the classified ad section of your local paper is popular.

When designing your ad, you need to come up with an eye grabbing title. The title you choose will help the reader decide whether they want to read more or continue scanning their eyes toward other ads.

List the item you are offering for sale predominately within the name of the title. If you have several items to sell, consider a catchy title such as, "30 Year Contents of Attic" which will indicate to readers that you probably have antiques. If you state, "Assorted Sporting Goods" you will attract people who are looking for a bowling ball, fishing equipment, children's toys, etc. The key is attracting the reader and encouraging them to read your ad.

Beyond the title, the following five points will help you in your campaign:

<b>1. Be descriptive</b> The clearer you present what you have to offer for sale, the better your responses will be.

<b>2. Do not abbreviate</b> Not everyone understands what an abbreviation means. Spell it out and erase all doubt!

<b>3. Specify the price</b> Particularly if you are selling just one item, list the amount you want for that item.

<b>4. Highlights</b> I like ads that stand out. If the newspaper offers decorative symbols, characters, or fonts use them to draw the reader's eyes to your listing.

<b>5. Ad campaign</b> One day listings only work for popular items. Do you believe your item will sell if you list it for just one day? If you list it longer, you can always cancel the ad. Remember to find out what the newspaper's policy is about online ads too. Your buyer may only see the ad online.

Some newspapers will design the ad for you, if you find writing ad copy to be a difficult task. Not everyone is gifted in writing clear, concise copy. If they want your business, they should be happy to provide this service.

3 Things You Must Do Before You Submit To Article Directories

To all writers and non-writers out there, now is the time to start digging up those creative writing skills back.
With modern communication technology comes the popularity of information-based marketing, which is one of the oldest and most effective techniques in getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers. This is why article writing, submissions and publications are also getting popular.
There are already many tools that people can use to make the process of distributing their articles more easily. Though this is invaluable in getting the contents more exposure, which is only half of the story.
Let us take a look first at the common mistakes that some people make before submitting their contents to article directories:

1. Confusing the reason to promote the articles with the reason to write them.
In article writing, there are three key benefits why you are promoting them; branding, lead generation and promotion, which are all part of your optimization efforts.
But there is only one reason why you write an article, and that is to inform your audience. If the article is not focused on this primary and most important purpose, it will fail to achieve the three promotion benefits because no one will be interested in reading them.
You need to figure out first how to get people to read what is in your article, then make them click on your resource box. You can achieve this by producing better contents.

2. Failing to maximize the promotional opportunities of article marketing.
You may know already that your articles can help you generate additional links back to your site. But do you know that you can get more visitors and better search engine results from that same articles?
Mention keywords at strategic places. Just be sure not to overdo them. Some are even using anchor texts which is also an effective method. But it is important to know that majority of the directories are not able to support this.
Remember that is not only about the links back to your site. Part of doing well in your article marketing is getting picked up by publishers with a large number of audiences and gaining the ability of leveraging other brands because of the quality of your work. Better search engine results also are great benefits.
But these things do not put much money in your pocket. There are other factors that can turn your article marketing efforts into an opportunity that can boost your earnings. Not just increase the number of visitors to your site.
Start out with a plan and see to it that your article will serve the function that you intended it to have.

3. Publishing content that does not help your readers.
Maybe in the process of writing articles, you are thinking that all that is you wanted is links back to your site. And any visitors it can generate are fine.
Guess what? Not all article banks and directories are going to accept your content automatically. Oftentimes, they have some guidelines and specifications on the articles that they are accepting.
You can double the number of sites you can submit to by writing articles that the directories want to share with other people. All it takes is one publisher with a hundred thousand readers to increase your potential audience overnight.
Write the articles that publishers want in their publications if you want your article marketing to work the most effective way for you. This also means you have to obey the standard guidelines, spell checks, researching on a good topic and even hiring a writer to produce a good content on your behalf.
In the end, it is all really a matter of choice on your part. You can start getting a little exposure from increased links back but on a very basic level. Or enjoy massive exposure from a little extra time making quality contents.
It will be your choice. You may not be aware of the fact that an article submitted on directories is not meant to have the same level of exposure as highly-targeted content ones geared on a narrow group of people.
Learn the difference between these two and it will surely help you know what kinds of articles to write and to submit.

3 Steps to Creating A Knockout Corporate Logo For Dum Dums

A corporate looking logo can effectively make you look far more important than you actually are. By adopting this simple 1,2,3 step guide we can turn your existing crummy logo into a world beating effort - garaunteed to impress the ladieees.

Step 1 - Choose a dull font such as helvetica
In the world of high flying executives and corporate back slapping deals done upon yachts etc. the one thing almost all self-made millionaires will agree on is that you must give the impression that your company is a straightlaced solemn outfit. Standard fontfaces such as helvetica or times will signify your ability to fit in with suits without ruffling too many feathers and will be looked favourably upon by those all important investors looking to harvest some of their cash in your business.

Step 2 - Choose a dull colour such as grey
Battleship grey - has there ever been a colour more appropriate for the deadening nature of high corporate investiture? No, not by my reckoning at any rate. But surely a grey logo among a sea of other bland logos is just going to get lost isn't it? Hmmm, I've got to hand it to you, you're right but do you know what - if we add a smidgin of royal blue somewhere within our hypothetical logo we achieve the type of chin stroking brilliance that committee members and associate directors can spend literally minutes debating before abstaining to the golf course and soho massage parlours.

Step 3 - Choose a dull symbol such as a circle
Right this is where our creative minds get to have some fun. Do we put the grey/blue circle before the words or after? Above or below? Whatever you choose to do make sure it doesn't involve anything too clever or inspiring. Remember our aim here is to look 'corporate' and sensible not like some kind of fun loving chimps, you gets me. Right the logo should be just about complete and ready to enter the exhilarating world of corporate high life. To celebrate why not throw a lavish party inviting your corporate buddies like Dave and Steve from down the pub?

To summarise, what we want to achieve is an air of 'dullness' yet reliability. Choose a dull font, keep the colour palette strictly dull- nothing too interesting and if you must add a quirky symbol of some sort make sure it keeps well within the dull spectrum of ideas i.e. a circle or square. Corporate Logo Design is not rocket science but if you want to give off the right impression you've got to go with the flow. Right now where did I leave that bowl of cocaine I'm off to a corporate party. Toodle pip.

3 Reasons Why Every Business Needs A Newsletter

There are many benefits you and your business can reap from publishing your own newsletter.

1. Keeping In Touch -- Your customers and clients are the lifeblood of your business. What better way to stay in touch with your existing customers than through a newsletter? A newsletter allows you to add personal touches to your relationship and celebrate milestones, both your own and your client's. In addition to furthering your relationship with your clients, a newsletter can also allow you to introduce new products, offer special sales or discounts to your existing client base, and encourage referrals.

2. Hook In New Customers -- Unless they have an immediate need or came to you through a powerful referral, most potential customers won't buy right away. Often they will shop around and compare which means you will likely never see them again. However if you have a free newsletter that offers interested clients the opportunity to learn more about you, your business, and your products for free and they can also learn more about your interaction with your existing customers. A newsletter can be a very simple strategy to turn a one-time visitor into a lifetime customer.

3. Establish Your Expertise -- No one knows more about your business than you do which makes you an expert. Likely the construction of your own business has further left you with a great deal of expertise in your field. Share your nuggets of knowledge through your newsletter to deepen your relationship with your existing customers and convince potential customers that you are the answer to their problems.

Now that I have convinced you that you need to publish your own newsletter, I want to go over a few questions that budding editors and publishers always ask.

What exactly is an electronic newsletter?

Just like their paper counterparts, electronic newsletters deliver written messages usually relating to a common theme or topic. The main difference is that an electronic newsletter transcends paper and ink and most likely only ever exists on a computer screen.

Some electronic newsletter are delivered only via email while others are delivered only on the web. Most are delivered in some combination of the two. Most of my ezines and newsletters are delivered via email but also available immediately via web page (or rather blog page) and RSS feed.

You can choose the method is most suited to you and your audience.

How do you publish an electronic newsletter?

It is much easier to start publication of your own electronic newsletter than it is to start up a print publication. You simply need to decide on a topic, name your publication and start writing. It is easy to find an audience (beyond your own customer base if you choose) through the various ezine and newsletter directories around the internet as well as going directly to the source, for example discussion boards for people interested in your topic.

You will need to determine a delivery method, which means most likely setting up your own web site or page on your existing web site; creating an archive for your issues once they are created, which could mean setting up a blog; and tracking your readers, which likely means setting up a mailing or autoresponder service. However you can use free tools to do any of these things.

2 Little Words That Work Marketing Magic

In his classic best-seller, <I>How To Win Friends And Influence People,</I> Dale Carnegie's second chapter is entitled The Big Secret of Dealing With People. The secret is summed up in this principle: Give honest and sincere appreciation.

Carnegie said there is only one way to get anybody to do anything -- by making the person want to do it. How can you encourage customers to say good things about you and give you referrals? By giving them what they and all human beings crave: honest and sincere appreciation.

<B>The Two Magic Words</B>

The big secret of dealing with people (or customers) is often overlooked or forgotten. It's simply saying "thank you" consistently, personally and, above all, sincerely. These two words work marketing magic because customers want to feel important.

Saying "thank you" is an act of kindness, besides. But don't say "thank you" for the sake of flattery. It must be sincere. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "You can never say anything but what you are."

<B>"Thank You" Promotes Referrals</B>

The uncertainty of referrals can be disconcerting. Can you control them? No. Can you influence them? Absolutely.

First you must provide a valuable product or service for customers. (You're already doing this, right?) But perhaps you can make an even bigger difference in their minds by your continued interest after you've delivered the product or service.

Each customer has a different level of satisfaction with your products and services. However, all customers to whom you say "thank you" are satisfied that they're important to you. This can determine whether you'll continue a relationship with them and get referrals.

<B>"Thank You" as Direct Mail or E-mail</B>

If you've never used direct mail and are considering it, start a thank-you correspondence program. If you've used direct mail or e-mail but haven't sent thank-you letters or e-mails, start now.

The thank-you letter or e-mail to your customers is targeted (you know them, they know you), personal and effective. It's guaranteed to receive a positive response.

Furthermore, it's a pleasant surprise if it's snail mail. They see your envelope. They think, this must be something for me to review, to sign, or worse a bill. Surprise! They're appreciated; they're important. And you're the one telling them so.

Write a thank-you letter or e-mail at every opportunity. But don't send one with an invoice or other correspondence. Always send it separately.

<b>Writing the Thank-You Letter or E-mail</B>

The thought behind a thank-you letter or e-mail may seem simple, but writing one can be tricky. Here are 9 tips for writing a winning thank-you letter or e-mail:

1. <I>Keep it brief.</I> A half dozen lines (or fewer) are sufficient.

2. <I>Make it sincere.</I> This is crucial. If you aren't careful, it can sound awkward, even when you're trying to be sincere.

3. <I>Start with "thank you."</I> Dear Ms. Johnson (or first name, if appropriate): Thank you for ...

4. <I>Make the tone warm, but professional.</I> Be friendly, but keep it businesslike.

5. <I>Reinforce a positive.</I> Jog their memory of a positive aspect of the relationship.

6. <I>Offer your continued support.</I> If I can help, please call ...

7. <I>End with "thank you."</I> Thanks again for ...

8. <I>Use an appropriate closing.</I> Sincerely, Best regards.

9. <I>No ulterior motive.</I> Make it a pure "thank you," otherwise sincerity is jeopardized.

Remember: Saying "thank you" is part of building strong customer relationships over time. Use these two magic words consistently and watch your repeat business and referrals grow.

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel

[Emini Course] Market Order, Limit Order, Stop Order, Stop Limit Order Demystified!

Types of Orders
Placing orders is an art in itself. Beginners often do not know when to use market orders and limit orders. Different orders are used in different market conditions. But the limit order is the one that is most versatile. Understanding a limit order is essential to your trading success. I will only discuss the case for buying, the reasoning and mechanism is the same for shorting.

Market Order
In a market order, you are basically giving instructions to your broker to buy at the prevailing price. You cannot set what price you want to buy. Market orders might be prone to slippage in fast moving markets. For example, if you give a market order to buy 10 lots, 3 lots might be filled at $10, another 3 lots at $10.50 and the remaining 4 lots at $11.00. We usually use a market order when we need to get in or out of a market fast, such as when the market suddenly moves against you drastically.

Limit Order
A limit order is different from a market order in that you can specify the price at which you want to buy. For example, if you specify you want to buy 2 lots at $10, you will not get a fill at prices above $10. Hence a possible scenario is you get both 2 lots at $10, or 1 lot each at $10 and $9.50. The beauty for the limit order is that you will not get a fill unless the price is better than what you specified.

Stop Order
A stop order is better known as a stop loss order . In day trading stop loss is essential to your survivor. Some traders do not set a stop loss because they are monitoring their trades real-time. They feel that they can step in fast enough to close the position when the situation goes against them. However, in fast moving markets, you can very well lose $200 or more on a single contract in a matter of minutes. Setting a stop loss order removes the psychological hesitation to exit a position. From my experience, this is an absolute requirement, please master it and use it to your advantage.

Assume you are currently long at $10 and you set the stop loss at $8, you are giving instructions to your broker to sell at market price when the price falls down to $8. When the price is above $8, the stop loss order lays dormant, it will turn into a market order only when the price hits $8 to save you from further losses. Note that a stop loss order is always used to exit a position. Hence if you are long, the stop loss order will give instructions to sell. If you are short, the stop loss order will give instructions to buy.

Stop Limit Order
A stop limit order is similar to a stop loss order, except that it will turn into a limit order at the predetermined price. For example, assume you are long at $10 and you set a stop limit order to sell at $8, when price falls to $8, the order will become a limit order at $8. Recall that limit order will assure you of a fill better than the price you specified. Hence, a limit order at $8 means that you get a fill at $8 and above.

$100 Per Day With Adsense - Possible ?

These are proven techniques for making Google AdSense, which will work on most blogs and websites. There is no secret system, you just have to think smart and put the time and effort into making things happen. Don't start out on the Google AdSense path and think you are instantly going to be making 1000's of dollars a week. It isn't going to happen.
The most important step to making money from Google AdSense is to increase the volume of traffic to your blog or website. Simple ways of doing this is by distributing your articles to ezine lists, article announcement lists, blog carnivals, social bookmarks sites and yahoo groups. For this to work you need to write at least one new article a day, which needs to be of a good quality and interesting.

Create the ad units so that they blend in with your blog. You will need to go into your Google AdSense control panel and enter the hex colour codes from your website or blog. Make sure the text colour; background colour, and link colours all match your blog.

Don't use borders around the ad unit boxes. Again, you want the boxes to blend, you will have to colour code the borders to match the background so that they become invisible.

Find profitable niche markets, it is important not to choose markets where the cost per click is too low to make it worth your while. I suggest that you do some keyword research and find out roughly what the cost per click is in Ad Words. Usually this will be a good indication as to whether this will be successful.

Keywords are of great importance, you have to make sure that your content is not overstuffed with particular keywords to the point of destroying readability and value. What you need to do is master the art of making sure your articles make liberal use of on-topic keywords, which are likely to generate the most relevant ads. Experts maintain that using keywords with your titles and H1 tags is any excellent way to assist in getting the most relevant possible adds