Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

How To Start A Mail Order Business

The Mail Order business is not a business of itself, but is another way of doing business. Mail Order is nothing more nor less than selling a product or service via advertising and the offers you send out by mail. Therefore, to start and succeed in a mail order business of your own, you need just as much, and in some cases, more business acumen than you would need in any other mode of business.. . .

The Top Seven Marketing Mistakes

In my view, nearly all government statistics about reasons for business failures are nonsense.Undercapitalization, inexperience, or poor management are usually blamed for all business disasters.Of course, there can be one or several more causes that result in a business going "belly up."However, from what I've seen, marketing mistakes are by far the primary reason businesses do not survive. Thi. . .

How To Generate Leads And Grow Your Business

If you are an independent professional or small business owner, building the list of prospects you market to should be one of your core marketing activities. The more people who are interested in your products and services, the better your chances of growing your sales.Wouldn't you like to have the contact information for another thousand or ten thousand prospects for your products and services. . .

Google is Quickly Changing...

Google is quickly changing... With the big buzz of Novembers fall within Google comes a newly indexed data-base... Did Google do something bad to our great placements? No I don't think so and here's why. While people are screaming for help and wondering what went wrong, I've noticed a MASSIVE shift in page ranking. If you look at top placements at the moment, according to Scroogle, most of the . . .

What Is Your Marketing Really Costing You

Small business owners are justifiably concerned about the expense of marketing their business. Many look at marketing as a line item in their budgets, and minimize marketing expenses in order to maximize profits. But to grow your business and be more profitable, you need to evaluate the costs of marketing from a broader perspective.Like most small business owners, you know what you earned last . . .

Good Vibes/ Bad Vibes

Have you ever walked into a store or business and felt uncomfortable there for no apparent reason? Have you ever walked into a store all happy and left quite frustrated? Have you ever wished your house could feel happier? The process called energetic clearing can make a significant improvement to any location.There are many kinds of energy all around us. They effect where we live and are prese. . .

Start Your Own Ezine Newsletter & Profit!

The information listed here is worth more than gold. if you apply these simple list building plans and techniques, we guarantee you will see results. you may not get the results as fast as you want to, but don't worry. all list building strategies take time and when properly used correctly, will be more rewarding than you can possibly imagine. ONLINE Make your website an "attention grabber". Wi. . .

Review of EzineAnnouncer

The most critical piece of software in my article submission arsenal is EzineAnnouncer. I've been using EzineAnnouncer, developed by Jason Potash, for ten months with a great deal of success and just a little aggravation.EzineAnnouncer automates ezine submission to directories and announcement lists, registration of articles in directories, submission of articles to ezines and article announce. . .

Make Your Prospects Say Yes!

6 Secrets to Stellar Sales PresentationsEvery sale is won or lost in the presentation. Regardless of product, industry, or market every sale has the same basic components: A prospect who wants a product, a product, and a sales person who will or will not help that customer buy. These 6 secrets will help you make presentations that build your customers understanding and excitement to a point whe. . .

How To Write A Mini-Course

Do you use mini-courses in your online marketing? If not then maybe you should! Mini-courses are an important part of Internet marketing. A mini-course is a tool that enables you to provide valuable content to your subscribers and promote your own or affiliate products at the same time.A mini-course is fr*ee information on a specific topic. It is normally distributed as multiple articles in. . .

Beetle Bailey and Presentation Skills

In March 2002, the comic strip Beetle Bailey contained a valuable lesson for business presenters. As General Halftrack walked into his office, his secretary asked: "How was Lt. Fuzz's presentation?" The General replied: "Like the Washington Monument." Puzzled, the secretary asked "The Washington Monument? General Halftrack responded, "Yeah, it took a long time to get to the point." How often ha. . .

Leverage the Power of Publicity for Your Small Business

Your business is only as good as the number of people who knows about it. For your venture to grow, you need to start spreading the word about your business. You may have the best products your field, but you cannot expect your business to breach the million-dollar mark in sales if only the people in your street know about it. Some entrepreneurs start doing promotions only when their businesses. . .

How to Increase The Sales Of Promotional Products

I have searched for a new way to increase the sales of my promotional products. A good way is to start an affiliate-program with a commision for every customer who buy an product and who came to your page from a webpage of one of your affiliate-partners.I thought that this is not the only way to inrease my sales and there is another problem. You need to have your own online-shop and a webpage.S. . .

Successful Sales Strategies: Winning the Close Ones

The “Three Cs” in building customer relationships are a key component of professional selling skills.Indianapolis, IN (PRWeb) November 23, 2003 – The deal is coming down to the wire. The buyer perceives the competitor’s solution as marginally superior, but the slight underdog still wins the sale. In this case, the adage, people buy from people they like, proves true.In the audiobook, “Sound A. . .

Revealed: The $12,500 Copywriting Formula

Have you heard of Brian Keith Voiles? Probably not, but if you have eyes you've seen his ad campaigns and you probably even bought products that he created ad campaigns for. Would you like to have the formula he gets paid $12,500 to put into use for Fortune 500 Companies? Well then, today's your lucky day, isn't it? If you follow this formula whenever you write a sales letter or an ad you'll s. . .

Britney Spears Branding

How would you like to sell as much in one year as Britney sells in one day or in one hour? Have you put much thought into how marketing empires are created? If you're selling anything then you're a marketer and you should study the biggest successes to follow in their footsteps.We've all heard of branding, but do you do it? Have you branded yourself? If you have, are you expanding your marketin. . .

The Secret Weapons of Success

There are two things that will determine your success or failure in business. Actually, they will be the source of your rise or fall in life whether or not you choose to make money online. The first success factor will be what you have between your ears. A wise man once said "As you think, so you become." No truer words have ever been spoken. Your mindset is your life and you control it by fee. . .

Snowflakes Improve Holiday Sales

Snowflakes are beautiful! For the Winter Holiday sales season handcrafted snowflakes are the perfect touch. They lend an aura of a mystical winter wonderland to any room, house or office decor.You may ask "What has snowflakes got to do with internet marketing?"A free gift with every order gives you the competitive edge over your competitors.Everyone likes getting something for free. And what be. . .

Marketing Smarter to Earn More

An accountant once told me that he never met anyone who didn't want to make 30% more money. Whether you want a better lifestyle or to take more vacations, buy a fancy car, spend more time with your family, send your children to college or to give it all away, you could always use more money. If you sell services, your primary limitations on earnings are your costs and the number of hours in. . .

Understanding The Corporate Buyer

Selling your services to corporations is an attractive proposition. The contracts are larger than with small businesses and individuals, and often longer-term. There's the possibility of repeat business worth many billable hours at respectable rates. But the best clients are not always the easiest to get. If you don't grasp the realities of the corporate environment, you may sabotage even a hot. . .

What Your Competition Knows About Traffic

Need more traffic? There's a lot you can learn from spying on your competition. Your competition has traffic sources that you can easily swipe by following these steps. Step One: Who should you spy on? You probably can name six to thirty online competitors. If not, you need to go through Google and Yahoo with the key terms you target. Who comes up? Write down everyone who has a business similar. . .

Fundamental Strategic Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

This is a pretty tough global economy and it is critical for a company to leverage every bit of their marketing resources. So, if this is the case, why are so many companies shooting themselves in the proverbial foot by breaking some of the most fundamental rules of marketing? It's a very simple question with complex answers - here are some of the pitfalls to avoid: 1) Believing a second rate w. . .

Outsourcing your Web Marketing

The online world is still very new, and constantly evolving. You may be thinking about outsourcing your Web promotion to an expert who is immersed in this world as their fulltime occupation, rather than trying to acquire this knowledge, and cope with the pace of change in-house.So, what should you look for in a consultant, and what guarantees can you expect?Choosing the consultantThe consultan. . .

Can Media Coverage Build An Online Business? You Bet It Can!

As someone with expertise in media relations, I've been asked if media coverage and publicity can build an online business. The real question is whether what happens offline really matters online. And the answer is unquestionably, "Yes!"Here are ten reasons why media coverage can help your online business grow: Every one of us, even if we spend four to eight hours a day in front of a computer. . .

Best Approach For Free Advertisement

Best approach for free publicity.Product/service publicity is the superhighway to business success everyone dreams. Then imagine having your product/service written on newspapers, trade publications, aired on radio and viewed on television absolutely for free!!! That’s going to skyrocket your profit target only if you know how to use the best method of getting free publicity.The million-d. . .

Time Your News Release For Maximum Publicity

"Cindy, where's that story? I need it yesterday!""Coming right up, boss. I'll have it to you soon," Cindy shouted back."Yesterday isn't soon enough!"Cindy clicked on her screen. "You have mail." She looked at the messages. "Three news releases," she murmured. "I don't have time for this now." [delete] [delete] [delete]Stop! Was that your news release Cindy just deleted? Too bad you se. . .

How to Build a Worldwide Distributor Network

When your product is market ready and has a good bargain, it will be no value to you if you don't know who's going to buy it, or how you are going to tell the world about it. Your product will only sell if it has a good wide distribution network.Let's say that you've written a "Guide to" make $120,000 a year compiling and selling mailing lists. You calculate the production cost of $1.50 per boo. . .

Does Your Company Need More Marketing? Or Just Better Ma...

Many sales problems can be solved by improved marketing. Selling harder is often not the solution. More . . . or just better . . . marketing may be what's needed. Marketing presents a special problem for any company that has not yet developed a professionally staffed marketing department. This article looks at the various marketing functions. It describes some successful approaches to determini. . .

New Realities for E-Mail Marketing

Spam e-mail is no longer the mild irritant it once was - it's clogging corporate networks and ISP mail servers and has become a real productivity drain, forcing corporate and consumer e-mail users to spend 20-30 minutes a day dealing with this deluge of junk! According to recent figures, unsolicited bulk e-mail now makes up to 36% of all e-mail, up from under 8% just over a year ago. And, what'. . .

Forget Conventional Marketing - Embrace the Web!

Tactical marketing processes are once again undergoing fundamental shifts from traditional to web-based processes. Many traditional marketing firms/agencies are still touting the tried and true to their clients; i.e. Tradeshow attendance, Print, Traditional PR, TV and Radio. However, these conventional marketing processes work best for broad market awareness and/or branding, especially for a Fo. . .

How to Spellbind your Prospects in 10 Seconds!

You've got yourself 10 seconds to HOOK your prospects or LOSE them!If you can't make them interested in 10 seconds, there's a good chance you'll lose them forever. So, you'd better shoot it right and "grab" their attention -- fast -- if you don't want them to go to your competitors!And how do you do this?**Just write HARD-TO-RESIST headlines!It works just like dating online. There are hundreds . . .

The New 5 P's!

NO! When I say "5 P's", I'm not talking about the big 5 P's of marketing everyone's familiar with.Here I'm NOT referring to Product, Price, Place, Promotion and Package!But I'm talking about the FRESHEST 5 P's I believe will be extra useful for your websites and newsletters.Are you ready to discover the hottest 5 P's?1. P.S.This writing technique alone will shoot your sales to the roof!Count ho. . .

Maximum Marketing - Minimum Budget

Two years ago I started my small Virtual Assistant business with a non-existent marketing budget. I borrowed marketing books from the library, read countless articles on the Internet and joined a professional trade association of my peers. I learned hundreds of marketing techniques and one valuable lesson. The lesson I learned is that the financial ruin of large companies is often achieved b. . .

7 Killer Ways To Increase Your Online Sales

Every online entrepreneur I talk to is asking the same question, "How do I increase my online sales, NOW?" Online selling is essentially a numbers game. The more visitors to a site, the more sales that site will make. The number of sales made divided by the total number of visitors to a site is called the conversion rate. A typical site will have a conversion rate of between 1 and 2 percent, or. . .

How To Use the Multiplier Effect in Web Marketing

One of the most exciting things about doing business online is the Multiplier Effect. It's the principal factor behind some of the fortunes that have been made on the Internet. How does it work? The Multiplier Effect occurs when your marketing technique either: A) replicates itself over and over again, or B) feeds into other marketing techniques A classic example of the first kind of Multipli. . .

Small Business Marketing, According to Seinfeld

What could Seinfeld possibly have to do with marketing a small business? As it turns out, all small business owners could take a few lessons from the show that brought us such popular phrases as “Man Hands” and “master of your domain”. The Coffee Shop – Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine spent countless hours in the coffee shop, talking about “nothing.” You should spend some time there as well, . . .

Share Ad Expenses to Boost Profits

The challenges of the small business owner are well documented. They must battle for market share against larger competitors, run all aspects of their business, and even pay higher rates for advertising and other marketing related expenses. Small businesses generally do not qualify for volume discounts when it comes to buying advertising space or marketing materials, and thus they end up paying. . .

10 Easy Tips to Improve Your Ezine

Writing and publishing an ezine is a very important part of your online business so you want to make it the best possible ezine you can. I have made mistakes and changed and re-changed my ezine many times to make it the best it can be. I am still always looking for ways to improve MOE. Over the years I have learned a few simple ways to improve my ezine. You can easily implement these tips i. . .

When the Clock Strikes Twelve!

I just finished reading another sales copy ending with the Deadline Marketing!And it's the sixth I see today saying "If you order by midnight, blah blah blah...."I'm sure you've seen it. And I'm sure you're getting (if not very) a little bored.The deadline trick has proven itself to be overwhelmingly successful. It's a deadly-effective "countdown trigger" that pushes reluctant people to ACT at . . .

Smashing the Myth of the Press Release

A musician spends years honing his craft. He writes world-class songs and performs them in a manner that moves his listeners to tears. He records a demo tape and sends it to record labels. He gets a contract and becomes rich, famous and adored. The lesson: demo tapes are the secret of becoming a famous musician. Wait, you say, the demo tape was just a tool, just his way of conveying his talent.. . .

Is Your Business Ready for 2003?

Anyone who owned a business in the U.S. in 2002 knows the difficulties that a poor economy can cause. Even those in other countries who may have operated under better economic conditions last year have or will experience downturns in business. Well, 2002 is over, so how do you regroup to face 2003 with optimism and a fresh game plan? That was the topic of discussion in my recent coaching sessio. . .

Joint Venture Your Way to Extraordinary Sales!

You know what makes me really happy? Drinking a Starbucks latte while doing my grocery shopping at Safeway. Getting my Godiva fix at Barnes & Noble. Cheap thrills, I know! Ever wonder why McDonald’s is inside many WalMart stores? Or why you can buy the board game, Cranium, inside most Starbucks locations? These are not just lucky coincidences. They are very well-planned, structured, and negotia. . .

Are You Irresistibly Attractive?

If you’ve done any reading on the subject of marketing, you’ve certainly heard the term “Unique Selling Proposition” or “USP.” As a reminder, your USP is what positions you in the marketplace --- are you, or what you sell, the best, the cheapest, the fastest, the easiest, the longest lasting, the most reliable, the most prestigious? Your USP is what makes you distinct from your competitors, but. . .

Must Know Tips I Wish I Had Known 6 Months Ago About Onli...

1--- The importance of a schedule and staying focused. Keeping on task. schedule promotions. Plan and make a task schedule for project ideas.schedule purchases -- (don't buy on impulse, the offer will still be there in a day or so!) schedule time -- (remember to schedule time for family members as well :o) schedule breaks from the computer -- (not just physical breaks, take your mind of your bu. . .

Irresistible Click-Me Tools for Marketing

Never mind the irritating, but effective, pop-up window. There is another type of interruption advertising that is much more subtle, much less annoying, and just as effective. It is the negative interruption. A negative interruption is when an expected pattern is removed or "restrained" from an expectation causing a noticeable non conformity. I'll give an example, and then I'll show you. (And I. . .

Start Your Sales Engine!

Does your business run on a sales engine or a sales effort? A sales effort is something that has to be done every time you want to make a sale. But, a sales engine is something that, once put into place, can bring you sale after sale without added effort. Here are a couple of examples …A photographer gets to know a handful of bridal consultants that refer every new bride they meet to him. E. . .

Are Your Clients Buying What You're Selling

Linda felt like she had reached a plateau in her cleaning business. For the past 3 years, she'd run the same ads in the same publications with the same results. She would generate enough new clients to make up for the ones she lost due to normal attrition, but she was never quite able to get beyond her mediocre success. "I feel a little stuck," she shared in our last call. "Every time I try run. . .

Get More Clients Now!

Although David has been a graphic designer for a decade, he’s only been a business owner for a little over a year. He was becoming increasingly discouraged with his clientele. “I'm the only person in the business, and even though I’ve been in business for a whole year, I’m still having to spend a lot of time marketing to get new clients. And the ones I do get usually only have one small proj. . .

Raise Your Fees Overnight!

Do you want to make more money?Yes, I guess that is a rhetorical question. Everybody wants to make more money, but oftentimes we are not willing to do what needs to be done in order to make it.For example, I’m not willing to work an 80-hour per week job to double my income. I have a husband and a 1 ½ year old son - I want to spend time with them. I want to take vacations and visit my parents. . .

Want to Make More Money? Fish in a Bigger Pond!

Setting prices is a dilemma most service business owners encounter at one time or another. This week, it was Susan’s turn. “When I first started my business, I felt uncomfortable charging for my services. Since I was doing it to make a living, I finally just picked a price I thought wouldn't scare too many people away. Now, based on my available work hours, I can't really take on more clien. . .