Niche Praxis

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What would it mean to your business if you had 1,000 customers sending
you MONTHLY payments for your own membership site?

When you hear those kinds of numbers being thrown around on
salesletters, you’re probably skeptical. Me too. It just sounds
“too good to be true”.

Well, Jimmy D. Brown has made a believer out of me! He’s broken the
1,000 broken the 1,000 paying member barrier not once, not twice,
but THREE times! All three times it took him less than two
weeks without any “product launch” or “guru partners” lined up to
pull it off.

He’s prepared a special video for you to watch which shows you the
exact steps he used to make it all happen. It’s a little over an hour
in length.

You can watch it at

Membernaire

No charge. No list to join. No hoops.

NOTE: It will only be available for the next THREE days. On Thursday
morning at 11:00 AM, he’ll be pulling it off the site.

** Don’t have a membership site? Don’t worry! He’s also
gonna show you how to have your own original membership
site up and running within 48 hours!

It’s completely free and you can view it all online with no telephone
calls or charges of any kind.

During this videocast you’ll discover…

– How to get 1,000 cash-in-hand, paying subscribers for your
membership site even if you don’t have “guru” friends to
help you with a “product launch”.

– How to setup your own membership site in just 2 days if
you don’t already have one of your own. (His wife, who has
absolutely ZERO experience setup one by following this
simple plan … he’ll show you how.)

Watch the video now at…

Membernaire

There is a “printable guide” you can download at

http://www.FinalChanceToBuy.com/curriculum_guide.pdf

**** ONE FINAL NOTE ****

Membernaire is being retired in a matter of days and will no longer
be available for sale.

There is a special offer at the site for Membernaire … instead of
paying $27 per month for 12 months and getting your lessons weekly
(total investment $324 over 52 weeks) you can…

Purchase the entire year’s subscription for a one-time price of $247
and download everything NOW!

Details are at the bottom of the video page.

Membernaire

Best regards,
Mike Lawson

The rise of “the Googles,” MicroSoft, Yahoo and social networks like Facebook are by design, not accident. What a great tool to amass a global database that includes all essential information of virtually all of humanity. Think about it.

Medical records are already in databases as are employment records, military service records, educational levels, political leanings, everything. Somewhere in a basement your whole existence is at the fingertips of those who would manipulate you via your demographic profile.

Consider this newest technology that is being introduced – eye scans. You will be tracked instantly by every move you make. Big Brother will know when you are home, at work, at the doctors office, playing golf or buying underwear at WallyWorld. There will be no where left to hide.

Several years ago there was a huge initiative to electronically brand all livestock in this country with a chip to track them through their life cycle – from farm to table. All under the facade of mad cow disease.

I have to wonder now if that was not an attempt to “field test” this coming technology for its effectiveness in “tagging” the human race. A test run to iron out the bugs before seamlessly integrating this eye scan thing into a tracking system for the global population.

Marketers are already conniving on how to manipulate this new technology to garner more sales. How much more effective would marketing be if it could be marketed to individuals instead of demographic groups?

Google already does this. But unless you are paying close attention, you probably don’t even notice it, it is so subtle. But I challenge you to pay a bit more attention to what you see when surfing around the Web.

Google has your personal interests recorded from the information you gave them voluntarily. They also know where you go when you surf. By collating all their data on you, they can almost pinpoint what your key interests are and make sure those types of ads appear on the pages you visit.

Ever wondered why, after you visited the ABC Skin Cream site, you seem to see ads for ABC Skin Cream all over the Net? That is no accident, but the direct result of Google tailoring a marketing campaign specifically to you – via your pc, laptop or mobile device.

Let’s take this one step further. These scanners work at a distance in milliseconds. What’s to prevent marketers from scanning your eyes as you drive down the road and adjust digital signage you are passing to display ads for ABC Skin Cream as you pass by? Or political ads for their preferred candidate that closest fits your demographics?

They know what you want before you do.

Is it any stretch to think the powers that be will not exploit this same capability to get you to respond in certain ways to what they want? I think not. Subliminal messaging has been used for years in stores to create what appear to be “impulse buys.” Yes, we are being brainwashed, I think.

I bet Orwell is rolling over in his grave laughing and saying, “I told you so.”

Oh well, off to the Dollar Store to buy a case of tin foil. I can almost guarantee they will up the wattage on the “thought rays” aimed at my house tonight…you know how they are!

Until next time: market smarter, not harder.

Mike Lawson
Niche Praxis

Would You Like to Get to Know Me?

By Roy Furr

So, you’ve just landed an exciting new copywriting assignment in a niche you know little-to-nothing about. Maybe you’re just starting out, or perhaps branching out. For whatever reason, it’s time to get to know your prospects, and quick. Because knowing your prospects is the first — and probably the most important — step to writing an effective sales letter or web page, or any other piece of copy.

So, how do you do it? How do you get to know your prospects, quickly?

I recently branched out into a new field — writing for investment advisories and financial publishers — and faced this issue. I’m going to let you know how I handled it so you can copy this process for yourself.

What You Need to Know About Your Prospects

First, a little lesson in what you’re looking for, because you need to know what you’re looking for to find it. So, here’s what you want to know about your prospects to have the best chance at writing winning copy. (Kudos to Clayton Makepeace for this breakdown.)

Find out what your prospects think. In relation to your product, service, client’s company, or industry, where does the client see themselves? What reasons do they have for being interested in your offer, the company, or the industry? What reasons do they have for NOT being interested, or avoiding it? This is their logical, rational stance with regards to what you’re selling.

Find out what your prospects feel. Beyond reason is emotion, and I guarantee your prospect has quite a bit of it. What’s their visceral reaction to offers like yours? Do they get hopeful and excited? Do flashes of betrayal and anger hit them from past transactions gone wrong with other merchants in the space? Beyond what feelings they currently have, what feelings are they striving for? Security? Relaxation? Love?

Find out what your prospects believe. Beyond our thoughts and feelings, we all define ourselves with a set of core truths (and their corresponding fictions). Do your prospects believe the government is corrupt — or trust it wholeheartedly? Do they believe God is ready to work a miracle in their life — or that there is no god? If you’re on the right side of their beliefs, you gain instant rapport. Get on the wrong side though, and you’ll gain an instant enemy.

13 Ways to Get to Know Your Prospects

Now that you know you’re looking to understand your prospects’ thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, it’s time to find out what they are. Each of these 13 ways can provide you with some insight into the world of your prospects — together they make up much of their reality.

1.Books

There are two ways I like to find books that give me an idea of what’s going on in the heart and mind of my prospects.

The first is Amazon bestseller lists. Just click over to http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books and select your category on the left. Keep drilling down by clicking subcategories until you get a reasonable category to match your product. (For investing, it would start with clicking “Business & Investing” then “Investing,” and then perhaps one of the eight sub-categories under “Investing.”) These are the books your prospect is reading right now — buy them, read them, know what they’re about, and especially read others’ reviews of them on Amazon. This is priceless.

The second way I find books prospects are reading is by going to my local bookstore and browsing the appropriate section. Pick up anything that looks interesting — or more importantly, that may look interesting to your prospects. Scan it, and if it looks good, buy it to take home and dig deeper.

2.Magazines

While you’re at the bookstore looking for books, look over the magazine racks for any that might be related to your topic. These are niche and market goldmines. Look for consistent themes in cover stories and major headlines. Look at the ads — especially those that appear in multiple magazines. Read through the editorial, and the letters to the editor.

Get a feel for the language, the topics, and the areas of high appeal that magazines are featuring now. From week to week and month to month, these publications are shaping your market — you’d be remiss to ignore them.

3.News Sources

On a daily basis, your prospects turn to news sources like TV news networks, newspapers, and news websites to find out what’s going on right now. Do your best to find out any relevant TV programming your prospect may watch — and sit down for a while to see what people are saying. Read the newspapers your prospects browse daily. Find the top 5 or 10 news websites, and read all the headlines, plus any stories that snag your attention.

Like magazines, these news sources are shaping your prospect’s consciousness and focusing their awareness — you better know where if you want to connect with prospects where they’re at.

4.Commentary on Popular Websites

News sources primarily focus (or at least, are supposed to) on the facts — in essence, telling your prospect what to think. I like reading commentary on popular websites on my topic because this gets down to feelings and beliefs — it reinterprets and rehashes all the “factual news” through the lens of opinion, and sometimes covers topics mainstream news won’t touch with a ten-foot pole. So, while I look at the news sources to pick up trends, I search for blogs and online newsletters to understand what my prospect feels and believes about those trends.

To do this, I spend a lot of time on Google searching for popular websites on my topic. Then I click as many links to new sites as possible until I keep running into the same sites over and over again. These are the influential sites, and I dig in deep and read as much commentary as I can from them (and subscribe to their email updates, if possible).

5.Email Newsletters

I mentioned this under commentary on popular websites, though it’s worth focusing on separately for a moment. If you intend to spend much time at all writing for a particular market, it pays to regularly be reading what your prospects read. That means subscribe to as many email newsletters on the topic as you can — and refer to them on a regular basis to ensure you’ve got your finger on the pulse of the market.

A side benefit of doing this in industries like financials and health that are skilled in direct marketing, is you also get to see much of the marketing your prospects are receiving — from clients and competitors alike. This is a great way to get ideas and build a swipe file.

6.Forums

You want to know what your prospects are passionate about? Look no further than online forums. 90% or more of what you find in forums turns out to be a waste, but I’ll give you a shortcut.

Most online forums list discussions along with the number of views and comments. When you’re browsing through forums on your topic, you can quickly see the most viewed and most commented upon discussions. Stick to these and you’ll quickly understand the hot topics in your niche, and what gets your prospect’s blood boiling.

7.Other Social Media

Depending on your topic, there may be tons of discussion on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or other social media sites. It’s worth browsing these to get an up-to-the-minute idea of what your market is talking about.

This can also be a great source for finding other online resources — as one of the most popular things to do in social media is to share interesting things you find online with others.

8.Your Client

Many of my best insights into my target market have come from savvy clients. “Our customers have responded to this, and not that.” “Here’s our most common customer for this item.” “We get the most positive customer feedback on this.” Don’t be afraid to ask your client about the customer you’re speaking to — you may get very specific information about how to speak to them most effectively.

9.Your Client’s Customers

Customers love to give their opinion — don’t be afraid to ask. If they loved the client’s product or service, they’ll be a good source for information on how to sell to prospects like them. If they hated it, you can find out why — and either avoid over-bold promises, or advise the client on where to fix the product to get and retain more customers.

10.Your Prospect

If your client knows who the prospect is, you can track them down and ask them about your topic. If you get someone telling stories and giving their opinions, you may find it hard to get them to stop! Even an unrelated story may give you some insight into the feelings and beliefs of your prospect which you can leverage down the road for higher response.

11.Friends and Family … Even Strangers!

Perhaps a friend or member of your family is an ideal prospect for what you’re selling. (Maybe even on your client’s mailing list!) Don’t be afraid to ask their opinion about the topic, the offer, or both. You could even have them read your copy, and ask for a gut reaction. Be careful with your copy though — because friends and family will tell you your copy is “good” to make you happy. When asking those close to you to read your copy, only one question matters: “Does this make you want to buy?”

Strangers are a great source of wisdom, too. A random opinion could give you tremendous insight into your market. For this, I like owners and clerks at small stores that may have something to do with what you’re selling — like asking the clerk at the local coin store about investing.

12.Analyze Controls

This is a popular approach among copywriters, but I put it near last because it’s hard to get a unique Big Idea if you mire yourself in what others are doing. You’re also perpetually keeping yourself weeks or even months behind your competitors by focusing on what marketing works today — by the time your copy is live in the market, the topics you copied may be months old.

That said, advertising shapes our ideas as much as news, and is a good source for knowing what your prospects are responding to. Plus, you may be able to pick up some techniques that will help you as you write to the same market.

13.Your Imagination

Once you’ve done all this other research to get to know your prospect, it’s time to put your most powerful tool to work — your imagination. Step into the head of your prospect. Look over all you’ve gathered and let yourself start to think like he’d think. How does the news and what’s going in this market make you feel? What do you believe needs to happen to get the outcome you want? And, what do you believe will happen?

Spend some serious time running the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of your prospect through your heart and mind, in rapid succession. You’re not looking for individual snapshots — you’re looking for the Gestalt, the whole picture. And once you’re in this mode and start to discover what’s most important to your prospect, let the ideas flow. When one gets your (your prospect’s) engine revving, you know you’ve got gold.

How to Use This

A quick note before I sign off. Whenever you’re going into a new market, you should use this checklist to get to know your prospects quickly. You should also use it on a regular basis to ensure you’re keeping up with where your prospects are at — because their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are an ever-moving bull’s-eye.

Get this right and you connect with your prospect instantly, can speak with them on their level, and ultimately will find it much easier to get them responding in droves to your copy.

If you are looking for the best copywriting training available to learn , check out:

AWAI’s Excellerated Copywriter Course

We have added a new free report to the site for our reader’s enjoyment. It is written by a friend of mine who is one of the premier expert authors over on EzineArticles.com – Debbie C. Allen.

You can grab a copy of her report here:

Article Marketing Plus

Until next time,

Market smarter, not harder.

Mike Lawson
Niche Praxis

If you are a marketer looking to maximize your reach in social media, this report may open new doors for you. It is coming on the leading edge of the trend Facebook has achieved as a leader in paid advertising. Check it out here:

Facebook Social Ads Exposed

Until next time: market smarter, not harder.

Mike Lawson
Niche Praxis

Just a quick note on a new version of the WordPress Content Management System that was released earlier this week. Love it or hate it, WP is here to stay I think, and this new version of the software has its upsides and possible downsides as well.

I personally use WordPress extensively in niche marketing. It’s quick and easy to install a new site and have it up and running in an hour or two. Best of all, it’s free – less your domain name and web hosting provider, but you were going to need to buy that anyway, right?

You can read all about it here in this article on BusinessWeek: WordPress 3.0

I will post new info on this software as it becomes available. As always, market smarter, not harder.

Regards

Mike Lawson

Although there are many strategies you may use to market your business with articles, some strategies are more effective than others. If you want to get more traffic and sales from your articles, here are seven things I recommend you do. (You don’t have to do them all at the same time. Just use these tips to help you get more traffic and sales.)

1. Write the problem/solution article.

With the problem/solution article, you explain what the problem is and then show readers how you would solve the problem. You also use your resource box to lead your readers to your web site. Lead them to additional information at your web site.

2. Submit to as many directories as possible.

The more directories you submit your articles to, the more likely your articles are to be read. This is because many people have their favorite article directory they read or use to find content. Here the strategy is to put your articles in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

Don’t worry about the duplicate content penalty. The duplicate content penalty is about penalizing sites that are trying to trick the search engines. If you are posting to legitimate article directories, your articles won’t be penalized. Just make sure you post to the top directories and any other quality article directories you may find.

3. Make your products an extension of your articles.

One of the purposes of your article is to provide information to readers. You also want to give readers a taste of how you will solve their problems. Also give your readers a taste of what is included in your products.

An article should only offer a little information on your topic. Your products should offer a complete solution to the problem you are trying to solve for readers.

4. Build backlinks to your web site.

This is one of the most important strategies you may use article marketing for. This strategy is tied to number two, listed above. When you submit to a lot of article directories, you will automatically build backlinks to your web site. The more backlinks you have pointing to your web site, the higher your web site will rank in the search engines. This will provide you with an additional source of traffic to your site.

5. Provide information that will make readers want to visit your web site.

This tip is tied to point three. Your products are an extension, as well as a fuller explanation, of your article. Your products will give your readers a fuller explanation of how to solve their problems.

The point here though has nothing to do with your products. It’s about providing just enough information to readers to make them want to visit your web site and get additional information. Inform your readers. Give them a good taste of what you can do, and they will visit your site.

6. Combine your article marketing with social media.

If you want additional backlinks to your web sites and additional exposure, consider using social media. This includes bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious and others. Then there are social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Linked In. Regardless, this is one more way to recycle your content and get more mileage out of it.

7. Turn your articles into free reports.

If you write a lot of articles that are related to a specific topic, then why not take these articles and convert them to a free report? This is something you can give away to readers to get them to sign up for your list. You can also give it away through ebook directories.

There are many more article marketing strategies available to help you market your business online. Use these strategies listed above to help you get started and increase your traffic and sales.

Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His service provides quality reviews for article marketing automation programs. Read a review of Content Crooner

If you are using article marketing to promote your business, you want to make sure you include all of the appropriate elements in your articles. This will increase both your traffic and sales, as well as help you build credibility. Articles will also help you provide valuable information for your readers so they don’t feel they are being sold to.

Use this checklist to make sure you include everything you need to make your articles as effective as possible:

-Research the appropriate keywords for your articles and business.

-Before writing your article, select the software you will use to write your article. A text editor is best because it won’t add unnecessary characters.

-Decide what type of article you want to write. There are many types, but the most effective and easiest are tips, lists, and step by step.

-Choose an appropriate title for your article.

-Include your keywords in your article title.

-Outline your article. Include three main points and two sub points for each main point.

-Flesh out your information packed article by writing two to three sentences per point.

-Use your sub points to emphasize your main points.

-Include your keywords in your article.

-Don’t keyword stuff. A little goes a long way.

-Write an attention grabbing opening.

-Write an attention grabbing conclusion.

-Make sure that your article is not a sales pitch. You want to pre sell your readers.

-Write your resource box. Give away something for free.

-Make sure your resource box makes readers want to click.

-Make sure the web site you are driving traffic to is relevant to your readers.

-Verify that your link is working and that you have spelled your domain correctly.

-Leave out any information that isn’t relevant to getting the click. For example, avoid using personal information. No one cares unless you’re writing an article on grief.

-Proofread and spell check your article. Nothing is more embarrassing than an obvious error.

-Prepare to submit your article to article directories. This means writing a summary, adding keywords, resource box, etc. to your text file.

-Format the various article elements in your text document. This will make it as easy as possible to copy and paste into the appropriate sites.

-If you have a blog or web site, post your article there first.

-Choose an article submission service. A good service will automatically submit to top article directories, as well as many lesser known directories to help you get lots of backlinks.

-Consistently write and submit your articles. The more articles you have to offer, the more likely you are to connect with your audience.

-Submit to as many article directories as possible. The more article directories you submit to, the more backlinks you will build and you’ll increase your search engine rankings.

Article marketing is easier when marketing your products or services because you don’t really have to do traditional selling. You allow your readers to use your information to help them decide whether or not you can provide the solution to their problems. Solve their problems, and they will buy from you.

Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His service provides quality reviews for article marketing automation programs. Read a review of Content Crooner

If you want to learn about how to leverage your blog content through article distribution then read this article all the way to the end. Specifically, I’ll cover how to post your article on your blog, submit to article directories, and submit to blog carnivals. After you’re done with this article you should be able to get more targeted traffic and increase your sales.

Posting your article on your blog is vital to getting the most from your article marketing. The reason is that not everyone uses article directories to find information or blog content. If you have a following of loyal readers already, they won’t go to the article directories looking for your articles. They will come to your site. You want to make it as convenient as possible for them to find your articles.

Your next step is to submit to the article directories. This step is vital to getting more traffic and sales from your sites. You want to get the widest possible distribution so that those who read articles for information will find you.

Submitting to article directories also allows you to build backlinks to your websites, which is an important search engine optimization strategy. Article marketing is one of the few opportunities you have to combine several effective internet marketing techniques to increase your traffic and sales.

One thing I would recommend is that you invest in a good article submission service. Although this will cost you a little money, it is well worth the effort because of all the time it will save you. Look for a submission service that submits your articles to top article directories, as well as smaller, more niche related directories. The most important thing is to make sure you get the widest possible distribution for the price because this will help you increase your backlinks easily without a lot of extra work on your part.

Submitting your articles to blog carnivals is another way to easily leverage your articles. The reason is that it allows you to increase your exposure even further by submitting where most article marketer don’t submit. In other words, you are submitting your content where a different but overlapping market has a chance to see your content. This is people who enjoy reading blogs but might not have read yours.

Just as you would submit your articles to article directories to increase your traffic and sales, make sure you submit regularly to the blog carnivals. Constantly updated content is more likely to be read than content that isn’t fresh.

Each of these techniques is an easy way to get more traffic to your web sites, especially if you have a blog. Combined together, they will increase your traffic and sales exponentially. Done consistently, you will build an audience of readers who are interested in what you have to say. With a loyal following, you will increase your traffic and sales easily because your readers will rely on you for recommendations. Don’t take them for granted.

Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His service provides quality reviews for article marketing automation programs. Read a review of Content Crooner

If you want to learn about selling through article marketing, then this article will help you. Specifically, you’ll learn that the secret is to simply offer your readers valuable and useful information up front, and then send them to your web site for more information.

You’ll also learn that being an expert in your topic will get you more readers. Writing as many articles as possible about your niche will help you increase your readers and make more sales because readers will come to trust you. After you’re done with this article, you should be able to use article marketing to increase both your readership and your chances of making the sale.

Giving useful information is vital to selling through article marketing because you aren’t actually using your article to sell; you are using it to draw readers to your web site. The process is actually two step, like advertising: you offer information to your readers up front. Give them just enough information that they need to click through to your web site to get more information.

In other words, what you are actually doing is a pre-sell. You don’t sell within the content of your article; this is the job of your resource box. Your resource box is where you give your readers instructions on what to do next.

The quality of information is also paramount because readers are more likely to click through to your site if they believe you can solve their problems. This increases your chance of making the sale because you are actually getting your readers to visit your site.

Giving your readers a reason to click through is also essential. If you don’t get your readers to click through, then you have wasted your time writing the article in the first place.

The important thing here is to focus on information instead of selling. If readers feel you are selling to them, they will click away and look for someone else to solve their problems. Becoming an expert in your topic will convince your readers that you know what you are talking about, and they are more likely to read your articles.

Becoming an expert in your topic is also vital to selling through article marketing. You want to clearly demonstrate to your readers that you know your topic inside and out. By thoroughly knowing your topic, you make it easy for your readers to see whether or not you have the expertise to solve their problems.

Ultimately this is what readers are concerned with: does your solution solve their problems? If you can show your readers this within the article, then you are more likely to get them to ask for more information, information that should be on your site.

It is not enough to write articles that demonstrate your expertise. You also need to write as many articles as possible. By writing as many articles in your niche as possible, it increases your chances of being perceived as an expert.

You will also increase your chances of connecting with your target audience because web site owners are more likely to publish your articles when they see that you know what you are talking about. The more sites you are published on, the more like your readers are to find you.

Submit to as many directories as possible. The more directories you submit to, the more likely you are to be found. Also, this gives you a greater chance of being syndicated as most web site owners tend to use their favorite directories to find content. Make sure your content is available in as many places as possible.

The more articles you write the more traffic you will drive to your site, and the more likely you are to make your sales. Write articles regularly and keep submitting them to as many directories as possible. Article submission services will help you keep this from becoming too time consuming.

If you really want to sell more of your products and services, providing information through article marketing is one of the best ways to do it. It allows you to connect with your specific market, which is targeted traffic. Article marketing will actually increase your chance of making the sale.

Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His service provides quality reviews for article marketing automation programs. Read a review of Content Crooner Article Distribution Service