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Diary of an Online Business – Tenacity Breeds Success

May 10th, 2010

Yesterday, in Australia was Mother’s Day. My daughter told me that she was in a group of people who were asked to describe their mother in one word. Guess what word she used to describe me? Tenacious.  She said there were a few people in the group who new me and agreed with her.  I laughingly described myself as a bulldog holding onto someone’s ankle and refusing to let go.

I thought alot about this conversation that afternoon and decided that I actually liked this description of myself. But at this point you may be wondering what it has to do with online business success?

I have heard of some people who have made it big online quickly. They were in the right spot at the right time with the right product. I have met many more who are more like me – hard working, making lots of mistakes and passionate about what they do.

Some of these people have given up. Unlike the bulldog, they decided that it was just too hard. You know what, sometimes, that is exactly as I have felt but there is a difference between feeling a certain way and giving in to those feelings.

So what exactly, is tenacity and why is this quality so important to the success of an online business? One online dictionary describes it as – “persistent determination – the quality of being determined to do or achieve something”. Other words used by the Thesaurus are: doggedness, perseverance, determination, purpose and persistence.

Yes, you need:  technical knowledge (if not your own then at least someone else’s), a good product, customers, marketing but if you do not have tenacity you simply won’t kick the ball through the goal posts. You will become fatigued long before that and simply give in.

Someone challenged me last week to get off the comfy couch and get doing – learning, working, connecting, experimenting.

I’d like to pass this same challenge on to you. If you are serious about an online business, then you will have to keep at it. You will have to learn and grow from your mistakes and failures. You will have to be the bulldog hanging on for your strength and one day you will start to see the trickles and then the floodgates coming rushing in.

If this post encouraged you then send the link to others who you think may benefit: www.diaryofanonlinebusiness.com

Until next time

Julie

achieving your goals, internet business, internet businesses, motivation, online business, online businesses , , , ,

Google Adwords Bans Me-Secrets To Emotional Health

January 7th, 2010

I just arrived home from a trip around the world (and yes it was fabulous and yes, I will be sharing some pictures with you) to receive a very blunt letter from Google – they had disabled my Adwords account! What does that mean? It means that I can never advertise on Google Adwords again.

Now if I was you, the first question I would be asking is why? Well that’s exactly what I also asked Google and to date (10 days later) I have not had any sort of answer.

Google Adwords have told me that I have broken some unforgivable rule but I really do not know what.  Since learning of this we have:

  • audited all our websites
  • talked with Hostgater to see if any nasties had been put on there that we weren’t aware of
  • talked with our email service to make sure we are receiving all messages
  • contacted a number of people in the business including the adwords expert Mike Rhodes
  • read other people’s stories who have had the same thing happen to them -and there seems to be a few
  • reread Googles rules and regulations to see if we could identify any rule we may have unknowingly broken – and couldn’t identify anything

And at the moment we are no further advanced on why this has happened to us and how to fix it.

As you can imagine this is time costly.

The thing that I am really having trouble with is that Google Adwords is telling me that I have not acted ethically (my interpretation).  My whole professional life has been governed by the ethics of caring for others so I not only see this banning by Google as a very large threat to my business but also to my reputation.

I am an optimist and definitely believe that when one door closes another opens. We’ll just have to work out other ways of driving traffic and certainly people are telling me not to worry about this as there are other ways to do it.

I think though I’ll give it a few more tries appealing to Google as I really want to believe in the good Corporate culture and spirit that we hear so much about today. I will choose to believe it is alive and well

I’m really needing some support, advice and information with regards to this one so please leave your comments about anything you feel would be helpful to me and others like me in this difficult situation.

My advice for my readers – check your websites against the Google Adwords regulations. Obviously, this has not been enough to save me a lot of confusion and distress but I really hope that it will be for you

Until next time

Julie

Google Adwords, internet business, internet businesses, motivation, online business, online businesses , , , ,

The Secrets To Emotional Health

January 7th, 2010

You may be asking where I have been all this time? Well I’ve been very busy getting my new membership site ready and it is now launched and ready for viewing – www.secretstoemotionalhealth.com.

I’d like to give you the first instalment in “The 6 Vital Steps to Emotional Health” Hope you enjoy.

How To Be Free Of Emotional Baggage and Finally Live a Life of Health, Vitality and Abundance

Did you know that research shows that 90% of all illnesses are stress related?

Did you know that stress is caused by negative emotions such as fear, worry, frustration, powerlessness, resentment, bitterness, sadness and many other feelings?

If you control your emotional health, you control your overall health and well being!

Here are Six vital steps that if you take action with, will help you get started on a more energetic, healthy, happy, content and fulfilled life.

Let’s get healthy:

Step One – Establishing Self Care as an Integral Part of Emotional, Mental and Physical Health

“What you are is God’s gift to you. What

you do with yourself is your gift to God.”

Danish Proverb

Human beings are a complete system made up of the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and social. Each part of our system impacts on the other. To have good emotional health we must have good physical health. To have good physical health, we must have good emotional health. So let’s start at the being with how to care for our body and reap the rewards of strong emotional health.

On any given day, we have a certain amount of energy to spend to accomplish the necessary tasks for the day. If life is going well and we are fit, healthy and happy, then we will have a larger amount of energy to spend than if we are going through some form of life crisis. When faced with life’s problems, our precious resource of energy can be very quickly used up.

Digestion uses more energy than any other activity we engage in. However, negative painful emotions are the second greatest user of our finite stores of energy. In other words, personal disaster will cause us to feel many painful emotions such as, fear, hurt, frustration, confusion and powerlessness and these emotions will use up a very large proportion of our daily energy allowance.

Without an adequate source of energy, we will find it very difficult to successfully navigate the challenges we may face as we move forward to a healthier life. Not only will our body feel exhausted but our brain function will also be diminished and we may find it difficult to make decisions and remember things.

Just like a car requires not only petrol to run, but the right sort of petrol – our bodies also require the correct fuel and proper care to perform at a time when we are most challenged.

Below, is a simple but effective prescription for self care that if followed, will help you perform at your optimum:

· Be careful about the types of food you eat. When under pressure, we often turn to the fast foods that are easy to reach for and give us a quick burst of sugar. In very simple terms:

o The best food to eat is unprocessed. Try to stay away from processed foods such as, fast food, cakes, chocolates, sugar drink.

o Replace these with vegetables, fruits, nuts and protein such as meat and fish. Complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains help increase our levels of serotonin. Serotonin is a brain chemical or neurotransmitter that helps us feel calm. Of course, this is very important in times of crisis.

o Protein taken three times a day, at about the size of the palm of your hand, will help you to not feel as tired.

o Try to eat something no more than one to two hours after waking as this will help keep your blood sugar levels up for the day

o Eat frequently, that is every three to four hours, the types of foods I have mentioned, as this also will help keep your blood sugar levels up, thereby helping you to not feel tired and confused.

· What you drink is also important. Remember to drink a minimum of two litres of water per day. Reduce or cut out alcohol as it acts as both a stimulate and depressant. During times of stress our adrenals are working overtime and it is a good idea to avoid anything that will further stimulate them. Caffeine and sugar also stimulate the adrenals so it is important to reduce or cut out drinks such as cola, coffee and soft drinks.

· Try to get some form of cardiovascular exercise 4 – 5 times a week for between 30 – 45 minutes each session. This form of exercise includes walking, swimming, cycling, running and dancing. Cardiovascular exercise helps us produce many good chemicals such as, serotonin, already mentioned and endorphins which are a natural opiate or feel good chemical. This form of exercise also helps us get rid of the stress chemicals such as, cortisol and adrenaline that are produced in times of adversity and stress.

· Try to get adequate rest, sleep and relaxation. During periods of stress, the body produces high levels of toxins. It is when we relax and sleep that the body has an opportunity to repair and restore itself. Denying yourself rest will affect your ability to continue to reach your full potential.

· Tap into every form of support possible.

Although this information may be a bit technical I have found that if people understand why they need to keep up these basic self care practices they are more motivated. Keeping your body in good shape, will be one of the most powerful things you do to help keep your mind and emotions in peek condition to help you bring about the changes needed to live your best life.

I’ll send part two very soon but to learn more why not come to one of my seminars:

Talk soon

Julie

PS the website again is www.secretstoemotionalhealth.com and I’ll be sending out lots of free products to change your life

Rick Warren - The Purpose Driven Life, achieving your goals, health and wellbeing, internet businesses, membership sites, motivation, online businesses, success , , , , , ,

Andrew and Daryl Grant – Final Step To Build eBook Website

June 1st, 2009

Step six—Monitor and fine-tune to maximize results

Activate your sales campaign by going to Google adwords and reactivating your ads. The campaign is generally up and running in under 30 minutes. You can check that it’s working by doing a Google search on one of your key words, and clicking on the ad. It should go straight to your home page with your sales letter.

Every day for the first few weeks (or until the campaign is consistently profitable) you need to monitor two things:

  • Number of sales—You can check how many books you are selling by logging onto Clickbank and looking at the Daily Sales graph. You generally expect about a 1 % buy rate, that is, for every 100 people that click on your site, you should be selling 1-2 books. If you are selling less than this, you may need to:
    • Make some changes to your sales letter
    • Increase your advertising budget, as your ad may be stopped (if it hits your budget) before your market is “awake”.

If you are making changes, it’s important to change only one thing at a time, so you can see what’s working.

You will also need to monitor the number of refunds. This is also done via Clickbank.

  • Effectiveness of your advertising—You can monitor this on Google adwords. The things you need to watch and improve on are:
    • Number of impressions—this is the number of people who see your ad. You can increase this by adding more key words. You will also find that the number builds up naturally over time as other people pick up your ad and place it on their own websites.
    • Number of clicks—this is the number of people who’ve seen your ad and clicked on it. You are aiming for a few hundred clicks a day, but the more the better. You can improve this by adding more key words.
    • Click through rate—this is the proportion of people who see your ad, who actually click on it. You can increase this by changing the wording of your ads, or deleting the ads that are not performing well. You can also increase the price per click, which will put your ad further up the list. You should be aiming for about 5% on your top key words.
    • Conversion rate—this is the proportion of people who click on your ad, who actually buy the product. This will also tell you how much it costs you in advertising to get each sale. Expect it to cost about $8-$10 per book, for a $27 e-book.

If you have put a “contact us” button on the home page, you will also have to reply to email questions and comments regularly.

We found that Perry Marshall’s “Definitive Guide to Google Adwords” improved our income enormously. Go to www.PerryMarshall.com for his manual.

Don’t forget to have a look at this link if you are interested in building either a ebook or membership site business. This is what we have been using and found it truly fabulous

http://www.ourinternetsecrets.com/2009/lookinside/opt2.html

I hope you have enjoyed this series on building a ebook website and it has inspired you to have a go. It is never easy but can be very rewarding.

Until next time

Julie

Andrew and Daryl Grant, ebooks, internet businesses, online business , , , ,

Andrew and Daryl Grant – Step 4 eBook Websites

May 27th, 2009

The Grants speak of step 4 as probably being the most difficult part of the whole process and from my own experience I agree. It is really worth learning about copy writing and Brett McFall’s book “How To Make Money While You Sleep” is really worth a look. Who knows, you may be a budding sales copy writer. Personally, I have found this is not one of my strengths and for me it has become essential to at least have my sales copy edited by a professional.

Step four—Write the sales letter

This is probably the trickiest bit. However, you do have a couple of options:

Your first option is to learn the skill of copywriting and write it yourself. Most sales letters follow the formula:

  • Problem—what are the buyer’s biggest fears, frustrations and needs?
  • Aggravate—how does the problem get worse if they don’t do anything about it?
  • Solve—what can you do to help?
  • Prove—substantiate your claim with testimonials, research, etc, and give a money back guarantee
  • Call to action—ask them to buy and make a special offer.

There are plenty of examples around that follow this formula. Look at any of our sites mentioned above to see how this works.

There are also plenty of training programs or materials that can help you with your copywriting technique. Some of them come with vouchers which enable you to get feedback on what you’ve written. The training programs that we think are the best are:

The other thing you need is a good headline. Headline generator is software that is an easy, automated way to generate hundreds of headlines in just 5-10 minutes. You can get it from www.headline-creator-pro.com

Alternatively you can pay someone else to write the sales letter. This can be a bit expensive in the short term (up to $10,000 per letter), but a good copywriter will more than pay for themselves in the long run. The copywriter we use is Pete Godfrey. You can contact him at petergodfrey@iprimus.com.au and please mention our names!

Don’t forget if you want to learn more about the Grant’s internet business just follow this link or the banner on the right hand side:

http://www.ourinternetsecrets.com/aff/?w=4dayws197&p=jspain

Until next time

Julie

Andrew and Daryl Grant, ebooks, internet businesses, online business , , ,