What is the purpose of writing articles?

What is the purpose of writing articles?

The purpose of writing articles is first and foremost to educate people, to give something of value to the reader, to pass your knowledge or expertise of a particular subject onto others.

Within the internet marketing industry and in fact many other industries, it can be a lucrative way of driving traffic to your website and the other real beauty is it is FREE.  What I love about Ezine Articles is that writing just one article can mean a Google position on many different pages within your niche.  The added bonus is that once you have had your article published, it is out there sending traffic to you for many, many years to come.

Before writing – what is the purpose of your specific article?

Any good article author will tell you that you should always sit down before you write any article and determine what the purpose of that particular article is.  For example, if your intention is to rate in the Search Engines then you will need to use long tail keywords so your article will appear when people type that keyword into the Search Engine.

If you are writing an article to submit to a blog post or a niche related forum where your target  market hangs out, then you don’t even need to bother too much about keywords at all.  Your purpose on this occasion is not to appear on the Search Engine Results page but to offer something of value to your hungry audience.

Search Engine Ratings or Value to the Reader?

I have never written any article yet that has started with me aiming solely to get ratings in the search engines.  Instead what I have tried to do is to answer the questions that I sought answers to when I first came into internet marketing.  If during my many visits to the forums that are out there, I see a reoccurring question then I will do some research if necessary and attempt to write an article on that also.  Again this is about providing value rather than ratings.

Now this doesn’t mean that I totally ignore the Search Engines but just that I do not dwell on it so much.  The day I made the decision to no longer focus on keywords, keywords, and more keywords was the day I felt a huge burden lift from me.

There is also a lot of software out there that promises to take the ‘arduous’ task of writing articles away from you.  Some claim that you only need write one article and their software will spin it to make several more articles out of that one.

My question to you then is “what is your purpose of writing articles?”  “What are you attempting to achieve?”  I ask this because in my opinion, the fact that you have opted for an easy way out suggests that this is all about ‘you’ and ‘taking’ rather than ‘giving’ value to your readers first and foremost.

Internet Marketing – Newbies can’t teach me anything!

Well, how arrogant does that title sound when you read it aloud?

But it was a comment made to me the other day and I have to admit it left me quite shocked.  I was showing a contact on one of the social networking sites some excellent training I had received and the remark to me was “how can someone who has only been in the Internet Marketing business for less than 2 years teach me anything”?

The successful Internet Marketer I had introduced this person to is an Award Winning Internet Coach, and when he hosts webinars, no less than 800 of his members turn out to hear and be educated with what he has to teach.  So, for someone to make such a snap judgement after listening to only a few minutes intro, left me quite speechless (not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination lol).

You see, I have never been someone who is afraid to admit they don’t know something and I always say “a day wasted is a day I haven’t learned something”.  I am never too proud to ask whoever is the best person to teach me how to do something and that is because I do not judge people.

What I’ve found since coming into this industry is there are a lot of ruthless people – yes we find this in all walks of life but there seems to be an abundance of them in Internet Marketing.  People who profess to ‘know it all’ and really only ‘think they know it all’.  No human being ever ‘knows it all’ when it comes to anything, there is always room for improvement.

So, please forgive me venting in this blog post, but my message is to this type of person ‘don’t think you’re all that, allow yourself to swallow that pride you have but be careful of choking!  I would also ask you to be prepared to accept that newer people into the industry bring fresh eyes to what is an ever evolving and fast moving business that doesn’t rest on its laurels – you may do this inadvertently because ‘no-one can teach you anything’ and this will be at your peril!

Why so many people give up on their online business opportunity

A question I am asked time and time again is “can a complete newcomer make money online”.  My response to that is, and always will be “absolutely YES, if the correct mindset is in place”.  The correct mindset CAN make money online.

Now if you’re reading this article here and already you have those doubts in your head, those nagging fears and you’re questioning yourself in this business, do you know what? – That is absolutely fine, it really is and I almost embrace that.  I was like that when I started out in the online industry.  I was excited about my new business, of course I had fears and I questioned myself many, many times as to whether I could do this.

There has never been a better time than right now to start an online business.  Please do not start thinking that you’re too late, that you should have done this years ago, that you’ve missed the boat because nothing could be further from the truth.

Just think about Google for a second, Google is almost 12 years old.  Imagine 12 years into the car industry or the computer industry or the airline industry.  Do you think people are saying “oh well, it’s almost 12 years old now, we’ve missed the boat”.  Absolutely they are not, people are always looking for the next best thing, how to improve on what is already out there and the world of the internet is no different.

Here we are into the second decade of the 21^st century and this is the perfect time to start, to really consider an online business.  The web is still in its infancy, yet it’s not a fad, it’s not a phase, it’s not going to disappear.

The fundamental fact about the internet, if you decide to really take this seriously, is that you can reach an unlimited audience and the entry costs are pretty much next to nothing.  Compare this to any other business and there simply is no comparison.  This opportunity that is in right in front of both you and I has never been seen before in our lifetime but I suspect there’s a part of you that actually does know that, and it will never be seen again.

Now if you’re familiar with Robert Kiyosaki and his books on success, he always says that the way to success is to stand in front of a trend.  We are all in front of the biggest trend we will ever see.  My question to you therefore is, what are you going to do about it?  Are you going to sit there and let it pass and in a few years from now turn round and say “oh, I should have got involved” or are you going to dive in despite having some fears, which I’m sure you do have, and actually get involved?

Can a Beginner Really Make Money Online?

YES, YES, YES!  Like any business though, there will be a certain number of new skills you will have to learn first.  For some reason, the web has got a kind of reputation of being really quick and you don’t have to do any work.  That is not strictly true, it’s not particularly quick, and it’s not particularly easy.  Great incomes can be made however, but only AFTER a new Skillset is learnt.

The problem or difficulty facing most people starting out online is that all these new skills are more of less thrown at you at once and we end up with ‘information overload’.  It’s at this point that many people give up, they tell themselves it’s not for them, it’s too difficult, they don’t have the skills to make money online.

What I’d like to do now is to take these new skills and break them down.  The new skills you will need to get comfortable with are:

• Correct mindset
• Simple web skills – get over that web fear
• How to create a webpage
• How to upload
• Autoresponders
• How to generate traffic

The very definition of a skill is that it can be learnt, that is what a skill is.  Just think of a baby trying to walk, takes its first steps then falls down.  Mother then says out loud “oh well, that’s it, this one’s never going to be a walker”.  No, the baby is developing a skill that needs to be perfected and the only way this is going to happen is to take a few bumps along the way, get frustrated but the baby never gives up.  You are a baby in the world of internet marketing, you will take many bumps along the way, you will probably want to tear your hair out in frustration but what you must NEVER do is GIVE UP.

Website versus webpage – what is the difference?

A Website is an online presence and it doesn’t matter what the content is for it as long as there is something online.  Every website has a domain name, and this is similar to a book having a title, your website has a title referred to as a domain name.

Although you may only have one domain name, every website can have different pages. These are known as WebPages.   Using the book analogy again, this is like hundreds of pages within the book but they all come under the one title.  A website can have hundreds, even thousands of pages all under the one domain name.

Creating a webpage – some things to note

You need an html editor and I use Kompozer, it is free to download and very simple to use.  It has a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) format, so it is very similar to putting together a word document.

A Home Page is the page that visitors see when they type in your domain name, it is your main page of your website and in the html editor it is entitled the index.html page.  You will physically save it as index.html when you are working on your home page in Kompozer.

If you have a second page you are working on in Kompozer, this must be given a different title, remember it is only your home page that you save as index.html.  An example of a page you may want to include in your website is an ‘about me’ page.  When you save this unnamed page in Kompozer as this title you must not include any spaces, for example you must save it as aboutme.html.  If you look at my blog site you will see I have different pages set up there – http://www.businessmentorblog.com.  Try clicking on the different pages and watch in the address bar when you do so and you will see how businessmentorblog.com is what would be my index.html page and I have saved the other pages as different headings.

To go straight to a webpage within your website, you simply type in the main domain name followed by a / and then the name of the page you want to go to.

Why not start right here, right now.  Enter your details in the box there at the top right hand side of my page and just see what this new online world has waiting for you.

Home Business Scam – or naivety on our part?

I made this short video this morning for 2 reasons.  One was to alert new people into the world of Internet Marketing that all may not be as it seems and secondly, my annoyance that someone who I know is a decent and hard working woman has lost everything she worked really hard for.

She hasn’t lost it, she has chosen to walk away rather than partake in something that goes against what she believes in.

I remember when this new product was being launched around November 2009 and I was being signposted to it by some credible people in the industry.  It was being hailed as the next best thing and the high paying commissions put it head and shoulders above anything else or so the marketing gurus would have us believe.

I couldn’t see what all the hype was about, wasn’t able really to get what I thought was tangible evidence of how it all worked so decided to opt in myself for the FREE trial.  As soon as I did this, everything started moving really fast – pressure to get payment details set up (dodgy move #1), pressure to take part in Skype discussions for hours (dodgy set up #2), call with CEO during which he tells me he loves me (really dodgy move #3) but quite funny.

You see, being a Glaswegian, the only time you tell someone you love them is when you have a belly full of vodka and you’re wanting someone to buy you a kebab from the van outside the pub at 2am on a Sunday morning LOL!

Anyway, I watched this business with interest, got into the back office and still was unable to find out EXACTLY what it was.  I looked around, watched others marketing it and making promises, but I just WAS NOT GETTING IT!

One woman in particular and whom I refer to in my video was a very active participant.  A bundle of fun, full of positivity, building teams right, left and centre and in general full of praise for this product.  When I say she was full of praise, I was still unable to glean what the heck it was.

2 weeks had gone by now and I was no further forward.  I knew that if I remained on there for another 2 weeks, I was going to be short changed by over $120 monthly.  One quick visit to Paypal and that problem was remedied.

So, in summary, unless you know exactly what you are buying, see actual proof that it works and know and absolutely trust the seller, then please exercise extreme caution and wariness.

There are lots of scammers out there, pouncing on new marketers, giving you their sob story of how they went from nothing to billionaire in a few short months – THIS CANNOT AND DOES NOT HAPPEN so please do not fall for it.

Enjoy your business for what it is, this industry is so amazing and can be so rewarding, as long as you stay in safe waters and swim around the sharks or take a harpoon and jab them out of your way!

Brick wall ahead – non techie about to come crashing through!

I’ve gained so much technical knowledge these last 6 months or so now that I think I get a wee bit carried away with myself and sometimes I think I’m a lot better than I really am.  I try and be too adventurous and it always comes back to bite me on the proverbial.

What I’ve been trying to do for the last xx hours is something that probably sounds really simple to some people and it is to do with setting up accounts.  It was in place, or so I thought until I went to move some accounts around and realised I hadn’t quite got it right with one of them in the first place.  In the end I got so frustrated with trying to backtrack etc, I just closed the account and opened a new one.

Do you ever find yourself doing that, taking the long way round things when a really simple solution is staring you straight in the face?  Pragmatism is a large part of my personality and most pragmatists don’t take time to read instructions, they just plough straight in.  Well that is me over and over, and I never learn.  It doesn’t always result in errors but when it does, I would give anything to be the opposite type of personality and be a reflector.  Someone who doesn’t make decisions quickly but takes lots and lots of time to evaluate, to weigh up all the pros and cons and then takes things one baby step at a time.

So, that’s where I’m at right now.

On the positive side, I attended a fantastic webinar with our marketing group tonight and learned of really exciting things happening.  I’m always amazed at how we never sit still, there’s always some other high money making venture waiting to be thrust into our laps.

Tonight was extra exciting though – not only is there some really HOT STUFF coming our way but we are putting on a timebound promotion where people can try before they buy with all our marketing and coaching club.  All this for just $1 - I just can’t see how it is possible but if that’s what the boss says, that’s what we can offer.  I just wish I had this opportunity to access the best training materials and make lots of money for just $1 – I would have been laughing all the way to the bank.

So, here it is - grab it while you can because it won’t be there forever and could be taken down at any time.

Change is Good……You Go First, by Mac Anderson and Tom Feltenstein

“Change What Needs Changing, Not What’s Easy”

This is an excerpt from a book entitled ‘Change is Good, You Go First’ by the authors highlighted in the title.   I particularly liked the message I took after reading it and thought others may enjoy it also.

A few years ago, British Rail had a real fall-off in business. Looking for marketing answers, they went searching for a new ad agency – one that could deliver an ad campaign that would bring their customers back.

When the British Rail executives went to the offices of a prominent London ad agency to discuss their needs, they were met by a very rude receptionist, who insisted that they wait.

Finally, an unkempt person led them to a conference room – a dirty, scruffy room cluttered with plates of stale food. The executives were again, left to wait. A few agency people drifted in and out of the room, basically ignoring the executives who grew impatient by the minute. When the execs tried to ask what was going on, the agency people brushed them off and went about their work.

Eventually, the execs had enough. As they angrily started to get up, completely disgusted with the way they’d been treated, one of the agency people finally showed up.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “your treatment here at our Agency is not typical of how we treat our clients – in fact, we’ve gone out of our way to stage this meeting for you. We’ve behaved this way to point out to you what it’s like to be a customer of British Rail. Your real problem at British Rail isn’t your advertising, it’s your people. We suggest you let us address your employee attitude problem before we attempt to change your advertising.”

The British Rail executives were shocked – but the agency got the account! The agency had the remarkable conviction to point out the problem because it knew exactly what needed to change.

As Yogi Berra once said…

“Before we build a better mousetrap,
We need to find out if there are any mice out there.”

I found many similarities in what I read with what I and every other internet marketer is trying to achieve.  How do you treat your customers?  Are they valuable to you and your imminent success?  Of course they are because withouth them we have no business.

What I have always strived to do in any business I am in is first and foremost to find out what it is my customers are wanting and then I supply it.  If I personally can’t supply it, I will research and find someone who can so I will always look for a solution.

It can be very easy to become complacent, you make a few sales and that is the done deal – I don’t think it is at all, it is only the beginning of your journey with that person.  Continue to under promise and over deliver and you will have a customer for life!

Working at home in my own business, I know that my overall success or failure is solely down to me and how I treat people.  By continuing to value each and every person I come into contact with, I quickly built up a reputation as someone of trust, integrity and honesty and I really could not and would not work any other way.

If you too share similar values to me and want to change your life, then why not get in touch.  Simply enter your details at the top of this page, get a FREE eBook in the process and I’ll see you on the other side.

Out with the Old and in with the New – Reflection of an Internet Marketer

As we get towards the end of 2009, I thought I’d take a bit of time to reflect on where I’m at personally in comparison to this time last year.

At the end of last year and having worked on an extremely demanding and mentally draining task in my corporate role, I was in work and thinking “I need another huge challenge similar to that, I need to be working pro-actively, making decisions, devising strategic plans and working alongside my fantastic team to deliver outstanding results.

It didn’t happen and much as I tried to be pro-active and forward thinking, proposing several suggestions based on sound business sense and customer service, others who needed to endorse the proposed changes were much more risk averse than I was.

Working in career guidance we teach a model called the alignment model and this basically outlines that your needs and wants have to be in alignment with the organisation you work for.  If you are out of alignment then you need to either find that motivator, that driver outside of work to feel fulfilled, or you need to look for another job.

I didn’t want to look for another job because I really love and believe in what I do, I work alongside a fantastic team who are well motivate, embrace change and constantly come up with new and exciting ideas that we discuss then implement.

So what did I do?  Well I found the challenge I was seeking by joining a Home Business opportunity with the full intention of making it a success and eventually working from home full-time.

I have to say however, I had absolutely no idea about internet marketing or how to make money online.  I knew how to surf the net and send email but that really was about the extent of it.  Now I have so much learning under my belt, I amaze myself sometimes by things I do know but thought I didn’t if that makes sense.

5 months down the road and I’m still working in my management role and running my business part-time.  That however is my choice.  Financially I could leave now but something inside of me is saying “don’t do it just yet”.

You see, I still have lots I want to do in my job, changes I want to see implemented, some of which I have personally proposed and many of these will happen in 2010.  I also don’t feel I’m ready to leave the team and sit at home on my own.  Although I love to work on my own at times, I also enjoy going to work in the morning, having a laugh with the others and seeing great results every day.

If you’re reading this blog post and you are working in a position that often leaves you unfulfilled, why not consider doing what I did and finding that challenge in something else.  You definitely won’t regret it, that’s for sure and may find like I did, that this is something I should have done years ago.

If you want to get started, just fill in your details at the top of this post and I’ll help you get started on your road to financial freedom (if that’s what you want) or get you to a point where YOU can sack YOUR BOSS!  How good would that feel?

As I sign off now with only 3 days left of this old year, I have to say it’s been fantastic, rewarding, challenging at times but just like any other year I have had, I wouldn’t have changed anything.  Everything I do and have done has been for a reason and it’s all been worthwhile.

Every day’s a school day and a day you haven’t learned something new, is a day wasted!

Serious about starting your own Home Business or still Window Shopping?

I have come across many people asking me questions about the Home Business Opportunity I am currently in.  The first question I always get asked is “what is it you actually sell” and this quickly turns to a look that is desperate to ask “well how much money do you make at it”?

So in my head I divide the people asking me questions into 2 groups and don’t get me wrong there is nothing negative about either group but it’s just that one section is more ready to act on their instincts.

I will call the groups ‘prospects’ and ‘searchers’.  The prospects adopt a more realistic and holistic approach whilst the searchers are on a journey seeking out as many different opportunities as they can in the hope that the next email they receive is the one that will make them a millionaire overnight!

So how do you tell the difference I hear you ask?  It is quite simple really and the categorising of each group is based on a) types of questions asked and b) how many other businesses they try and compare.

Let’s go ahead here and I’ll come up with some of the personality traits that I have come across:

1. Prospects understand the principles of costs being associated with a business opportunity and totally get that aside from the initial costs, there will be some small additional and eventually some marketing costs.  Searchers will complain about the time it is taking their business to bring them in a substantial income or how much they have to pay to get it up and running where it is making a living for them.  They will also raise comment about having to put in a lot of work in the early days and immediately expect to just work 3-4 hours each day, from the get go and the money comes rolling in.
2. Prospects are willing to learn and are like sponges in the early days, thirstily soaking up all the knowledge they can get.  Searchers will normally have their own way and consider it a better way of doing things.
3. Prospects understand the fundamental concept of internet marketing and will use the internet to grow their business whilst on the other hand Searchers will talk about all the people they know who are going to join them and help them grow their business.
4. Prospects will rapidly implement the training given whilst Searchers are always looking for ways to innovate rather than duplicate.  This can be a good thing though sometimes as well.  The world of internet marketing is continually evolving and we have to remain ahead of the game.
5. Prospects tend to follow their gut instincts and will quickly see the opportunity is right for them and will join.  Searchers will seek out the opinion of others first, valuing their opinions above their own.
6. Prospects will want to know exactly what they have to do to make money and build their team.  Searchers will be more interested in what the top earners are making and how quickly they can do the same.

The qualities I’ve found to be prevalent in both groups are:

Prospects – commitment, vision, ambition, strong work ethic, trainable, learn from mistakes

Searchers – dreamlike, unrealistic expectation and vision, work ethic if it reaps financial gain, mistakes are seen as confirmation that it doesn’t work.

If you fall into the Prospect category, you are the kind of person I want to work with in this first class opportunity.    You know where you want to go and I will do my hardest to ensure you get there.

If you are a Searcher and have been doing this for some time now, I really hope you find what you are looking for although something tells me you may spend a long, long time searching but I wish you all the best in your venture.

What is Niche Marketing – a simple explanation?

What is a niche?

A niche is a term used often by Internet Marketers and it means a specific segment of a market.  In theory, you seek out specific segments of a market and get a website; you then promote it to your list and market your product to them.  In a nutshell, it is what your website is all about.

How to start an internet business the wrong way

Beginners spend a lot of time looking for new niches or untapped niches and there’s a lot of sites online promising to give you untapped niches.  If you’re a beginner, don’t do this.  This is a waste of your time and it’s a waste of your energy.  Once you get more established and you are comfortable using all your new skills then perhaps start to experiment with more diverse niches.  To start with though:

STICK WITH THE MAIN 3 MARKETS

When starting out in an internet business you should know that there are 3 markets that are universally popular and these 3 markets have thousands, even millions of people searching and prepared to buy information on them.

In truth, you could spend your entire online career within these 3 markets and never have to venture outside of them and still make a substantial online income.  These 3 niches follow the basic rule of economics and that is Supply and Demand.  People are looking for something, you have it and you sell it to them.  If you can find what people are demanding, and you can supply it, you will be in business forever.

Don’t make it any more difficult than it needs to be, stick with the main 3 markets and you WILL be successful

What are these 3 main markets?

Pure and simply they are:

HEALTH

WEALTH

LIFESTYLE

A niche is a section of one of these markets.  Let’s look at some suggestions within each of these markets:

WEALTH

• Online trading
• Work from home
• Credit cards
• Internet marketing
• Start your own business
• Mortgages
• Debt relief
• Business opportunities
• Government grants
• How to purchase foreclosures

The author’s main opportunity focuses around Internet Marketing and that alone is a multi billion dollar industry.

HEALTH

• Healthy Eating
• Medical procedures
• Increase energy
• Headache relief
• Lose weight
• Gain weight
• Hair loss
• Supplements
• Skin care
• Children’s health
• Diet
• Quit smoking

LIFESTYLE

Most people today crave and desire a healthy work/life balance although many fail to achieve it.  This is mainly down to longer working hours, time spent commuting to and from work, never actually finishing work in the office and continuing with it at home and therefore having no real quality of life.  Other niches within this large industry include:

• Mind, body and spirit – a major boom industry at the moment
• Personal development
• Dating
• Computer games
• How to sell your house
• The web
• Online study courses – another multimillion dollar industry.  You could build yourself a website and sell online courses to meet the ever growing demand.
• Alternative energy
• Motivation
• Self improvement
• Spirituality
• Pets
• DIY
• Relationship advice
• Divorce
• Stress management

If one of the 3 main areas above resonate with you and you are knowledgeable about it, you could easily have an online business.  Consider all the ideas above and start thinking creatively and thinking ‘I’ve always sort of been interested in xyz’.  Why not expand your interest and start your own business?

Where do I start in finding products to market?

There are a number of areas you can find businesses to promote and some of these are:

• Commission Junction
• Shareasale
• Clickbank
• Clixgalore
• HD Publishing
• Market Health

Firstly though you have to build a list otherwise you have no-one to market your products to.  You could if you wish start by signing up for a few lists.  Google products in your area of interest and discover what sort of products people are promoting.  See what is out there by doing a bit of market research.

In summary, that is what a niche is and it is what your eventual website will be about, the subject matter if you like of your site.

Alternatively, you could invest in a TurnKey business that is 100% genuine, offers limitless potential in terms of earning and takes you through how to market, what to market, where to market and everything else a complete novice to online marketing would need to know.  Check it out in My Main Opportunity above.

Ready to start? Simply enter your details in the top right of this page to receive FREE instructions on how to Create Your First Website by 3.45pm today.

simple step by step instructions and have your first website up and running by 3.45pm today!