Advice Network Founders Blog

I was listening to a great podcast yesterday. A talk by Rasmus Lerdorf. If you are like me, you just said “who?” Well, Mr. Lerdorf is the person who invented PHP. Now, your saying “What?”

Don’t worry. I wouldn’t know what PHP was if I wasn’t running an internet startup, and truth be told, I really don’t know much about it. PHP is an open source language for building web pages.

So this guy, Mr. Lerdorf, was doing web programming, and he needed better tools, so he wrote a language called PHP. And instead of trying to make money off of it, he just gave it to the world, and let other people have it, use it change it, and improve it. Now, PHP runs some of the biggest sites on the internet, sites you use all the time like YouTube. Yet, it is still free.

It’s tools like PHP, and MySQL that allow sites like Advice Network to exist. Ten years ago, it would have cost 2 million to build Advice Network. Now, $100,000.

Mr. Lerdorf was talking about what it took to start a big open source project that people want to get involved in, and I felt really inspired.

You cannot run a decent open source project if you make it about you. It has to be about the people who contribute… You have to think about how do people feel about themselves when they are involved… We’re all in it together.

That is really how I feel about Advice Network, especially now that people are starting to write. It isn’t about me, it is about you, the writers and readers. And I truly hope that you get a lot out of being here. If you are writing, I hope you feel satisfied knowing that you made someones life easier while they tried to do something really hard. (buy a house, run a business, plan a wedding) AND I hope that it brings you more business.

If you are reading the advice, I hope we made your life easier, AND I hope you have a good experience with one of our vendors

The more time I spend with online businesses, the more I realize it truly isn’t a “get rich quick” scheme like so many people believe. If it was, wouldn’t everybody be rich by now?

Certainly some people have got rich online…very rich. But believe me, it usually wasn’t quick.

In fact, most successful internet business owners failed time and time again before they ever turned over a profit. Sure, they may have got rich quick with one business or another, but they had been studying, practicing, and working on that business plan for years before it ever came into fruition.

There are a few traits that an online entrepreneur should have to be successful – I italicized “should” because there are always exceptions to the rule. Here are the few that I consider most necessary:

Big Dreamer

If you want to achieve great things in life, you need to dream them up first. Without dreams you have no goals and without goals you can’t plan your future. By dreaming big and chasing your dreams, you’ll have a much greater chance at success than somebody who is blindly walking in an unknown direction.

Hard Worker

In order to chase your dreams, you have to work. Sure, it might not be the easiest part of business…but it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t know a single successful individual who hasn’t worked hard to get where they are today.

Innovator

You don’t need to create the next big thing to become a success story, but you should always be looking for ways to improve your products and services to continually offer the best in the industry. Find something that makes you different or find something your prospects or begging for…then come up with a solution.

Communicator

In the end, it doesn’t matter how great your product is or how amazing your services are…if you can’t communicate well with people then your business will die. Not only must you be likable to make a sale, but you also need to be able to describe everything you offer in a way that doesn’t intimidate prospects, but rather captivate them.

As with almost anything in life…communication is key.

Analyzer

This one barely made the list…because it is the easiest trait to outsource. Nonetheless, analyzing statistics and testing your success rates are a HUGE part of online business. So huge, in fact, that many companies are willing to pay millions to find out where they can improve their sales by a meager 1%. An analytical entrepreneur will not only be interested in tracking the numbers (conversion rates, revenues, traffic, etc), but also discover ways to improve them.

Any thoughts? Do you have another trait you think should be added to this list?

“It’s not what you know, but who you know that matters.”

My Dad used to tell me that line all the time – still does. And when it comes to internet marketing nothing is more true.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a rocket scientist or a high school dropout, everybody starts out on a level playing field in online marketing and has the opportunity to build a respectable reputation or a bad one. Everybody also has the same opportunity to contact the online world through blogging, posting on forums, and developing an eNewsletter.

Your opt-in list is everything when it comes to creating an online business. Without an opt-in list you have no audience, without an opt-in list you have no voice.

By creating an eNewsletter you’ll accomplish three main things:

1. You’ll build your opt-in list through subscribers.
2. You’ll develop relationships with your target market.
3. You’re create credibility by positioning yourself as somebody your prospects know, like, and trust.

Here’s how to stop dreaming and start getting things done…

Content

You can write your own – which I recommend – or you can take it from content sites. Here’s a list of the more popular ones:

• Idea Marketers
• Article Announce
• Free Content
• Ezine Articles
• Article City
• Go Articles
• Article Central

Sign Ups

You sign up area should be very prevalent on your website so your visitors know what you’re offering and see the value. Sign-ups should probably be double opt-in to ensure the email that is given belongs to somebody that actually wants your newsletter.

Delivery

You’ll want to be able to send your newsletter to everybody that wants it in a personal way. That means having their first name used throughout the email (not overdone, but noticeable).

To send your newsletter out, you can choose to purchase a software or pay for a service. I’ve found aWeber to be the best around…but check out some of the options as well:

Service: QuickPayPro, List Universe, and EZezine.

Software: Gammadyne and MailLoop.

Marketing

You’ll need to do more than just write to get known online – you need to market yourself as well! Here are directories you’ll want to submit to: The BIG Ezine Directory, Ezine Universe, Ezine Directory, Amazines, and The Free Newsletter Directory.

Beyond that, you’ll want to stay active in blogs within your niche and post free articles on other websites, such as Advice Network. This won’t just create visibility, but it will also demonstrate expertise.

Regularity

You’ll want to consider how often you’re able to send out your newsletters. It’s always best to have  consistent schedule. Too often and you’ll tick people off, too scattered and people will unsubscribe, too rare and people will forget about you. Make sure to choose a time frame that works for you and your reader. For starting out I’d recommend once a month or every two weeks.

Well…that’s it for now, but I’ll have more about this coming soon! Let me know if you have any eNewsletter tips that you’d like to share. And don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS Feed so you don’t miss any of our value packed posts.

Have you ever thought about starting an E-Newsletter, but never followed through with it? A newsletter can do a lot of great things for your online business. It can…

• Establish credibility as an expert
• Build trust with your top prospects
• Create a community of like-minded individuals
• Promote your products and services
• Grow your mailing list for other projects

If you’re struggling to get yourself known online, then there is no reason you shouldn’t start an E-Newsletter. It might seem like it would take quite a bit of time, money, and effort to get it going – but the benefits far outweigh the difficulties.

Today I’m going to tell you about a few of the things you might want to consider before starting a newsletter and on Monday I’ll give you the tips and tools to get it done.

Purpose

Before you do anything, you should have a purpose. What would your newsletter do? What would your goals be for it? If you don’t have direction, then you won’t see results. You should pick 2 or 3 main reasons for having the newsletter and use this as the foundation of your entire project.

Target Market

What’s your target market for your newsletter? Are you already regarded as an expert or do you still need to gain visibility? What other E-Newsletters would you be competing with? What can you provide that nobody else can? What’s your Unique Selling Proposition?

Topic

You can start a successful newsletter on practically any topic under the sun. Farming, networking, writing, biking, sports, sewing…whatever! Choose your topic wisely, however, and make sure it’s something you won’t grow tired of 6 months down the road.

Emotion

What emotions do you want to pull out of your readers? Is your newsletter going to be one that inspires them to keep going, build trust in you, gain confidence in their skills? There should be a focussed emotional drive – or two, or three – that is consistent throughout your ongoing newsletters.

Frequency

How often do you want to publish? Pick a reasonable goal that doesn’t necessarily match what you wish you could do, but is instead in line with what you can do. Sure, you might hope that you could publish once a week, but if you’re extremely busy you might appreciate a bi-weekly or monthly schedule instead. Remember, it’s quality not quantity that pulls prospects in.

E-Newsletter Description

Write out a short description of your dream e-newsletter – 50 words, 25 words, and 10 words. These will help you understand what you’re looking to do and get to the core of your project.

Start thinking about what you would like to write about and what you’d like to accomplish with an online newsletter. Don’t worry about how much work it will take, because once you understand the entire process it won’t be very demanding. The great thing about online newsletters is that most people are scared of writing them – so you can capitalize on this and have a major edge on your competition.

Remember to come back on Monday, because I’ll show you some of the tools you can use to make your newsletter production a breeze.

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You’re smart, you’re savvy, but you’re not making as much money online as you hoped when you put together your website and got things going.

Do you remember the goals you used to set for yourself? Do you remember dreaming about the potential the internet had? Well, you don’t need to worry and you certainly don’t need to give up your dreams. Instead, you need to refocus on them – you need to dream again.

But is that enough? Of course not… you need to take things beyond visualization and into implementation. How can you turn your current website into a money maker? Here a five steps that will take you all the way:

1. Marketing: How much traffic does your website get? You need an audience before you can sell your product or service online – focus on this before you even think “sales.” What is your target market looking for? What do they already get? What do they still need? Position yourself as a unique provider that can help your visitors – and then reel them in. A few great ways to increase your exposure include: blogging, posting in forums, submitting articles to other websites, advertising in directories, commenting on other blogs in your niche, and becoming as active as possible wherever else your prospects interact. Just remember – traffic is absolutely necessary if you’re going to complete steps 2-5.
2. Creating Unique Products: Once you have consistent traffic, you’ll be getting the exposure you hoped for to get the wheels rolling. But what services or products are you offering? Are you answering the same questions as everybody else or selling the same products as the guy next door? Be different! Personalize your work. If you are a service provider then you should look into creating some information products – How-To eCourses, eBooks, webinars, and more. The possibilities are endless. Be creative and be yourself. Sell the answers to your market’s biggest unanswered problems.
3. Affiliate Programs: Whether you’re creating your own products or not, you should still look into affiliate programs. You can make up to 50% or even more for selling somebody else’s information products on your website. Sound easy? It is…as long as you have traffic!
4. Consulting: You’re an expert in what you do… believe it or not, there are thousands of people that wish they knew what you did – there are thousands of people that are willing to pay to learn what you’ve learned. If you want to add a bit of side-income, then offer consulting programs. This can be in the form of email consulting, phone consulting, or even a weekly webinar answering your client’s questions.
5. Keep Building: By this point you’ve probably settled in to what you’re doing, but if you want to keep making money then you need to be constantly creating exposure and building your sales. Don’t settle…keep dreaming big!

We want to help you with your dreams, if you have any questions about promoting your business then please post them here and I’ll feature them in an article later this week.

If you’re looking into starting an online business, then having a valuable domain name is key. There are two options really…

1. Get a cheap domain name on GoDaddy or some other registrar and work your butt off to market it to your clients, prospects, and anybody else who will listen.
2. Purchase a premium domain name that is highly recognizable, easy to optimize, and ideal for monetizing.

Now, I understand many of you probably don’t need a premium domain name for the kind of business that you’re running – perhaps you have a portfolio, blog, or about page. But if you have a website that you’re looking to sell stuff on, then a premium domain name makes a lot of sense, especially for small businesses.

Here are five keys to purchasing a valuable domain name:

1. Keyword Oriented: If you’re selling wedding services, then do your best to have “Wedding” in the domain name. Not only will it help you with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), but it will also help your visitors realize they’re in the right place.
2. Extension: Everybody knows this, but it must be said anyways: .com is king. Sure, you could save a few thousand dollars and settle for a .net, .org, .info, .us, or something else…but all you’ll be doing is settling. You’re bound to lose 10% of your visitors to your direct competition – the person who has the .com – and spend more money marketing your extension than you would have spent if you just purchased the .com in the first place. It’s no coincidence that almost every successful .net company has gone on to eventually buy the .com extension as well. ***note, if you’re a small-time local business, sometimes the local country code (.us, .ca, .de…) will be better than the .com.***
3. Pronounceable: If you have to take time spelling out your domain name, then you could’ve done better. Hyphens, numbers, and fancy spelling can doom an online business before it even begins. A good rule of thumb is to see if your domain name passes the radio test. RightFotos4U.com fails every time (“right, photos with an ‘F’, the number 4, and the letter ‘U’ dot com).
4. Grammatically Correct: The arrangement of the keywords in your domain name will either cause people to remember it or forget it very quickly. “AmericanCars” sounds much better than “AmericansCar”, “CarsAmerican”, or “AmericansCars” – don’t ya think?
5. Brandability: Lastly, you want your domain name to be brandable. Sometimes this will be a catchy four or five letter domain (eBay, Meebo, etc) while other times it will simply describe the essence of your services. I consider AdviceNetwork.com to be a very good example.

If you’re having trouble figuring out the value of domain names, then you should visit some domain auction websites and see what things are going for (just Google “Domain Name Auction” to find the best ones).

You shouldn’t purchase your domain name on impulse (or you’ll likely buy a few before you settle on the right one), but you should start looking into finding a good name for your business if you’re serious about establishing yourself online.

Good luck!

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Starting a small business online can be tough. You’ll have hundreds of questions running through your head…

• What should my website look like?
• What services should I offer?
• What tagline should I use?
• What color scheme will work?
• What type of logo should I have?
• How should I market my services?
• Should I start a blog?

The list could go on forever.

Do you want to know a great way to simplify your workload while giving yourself the chance to charge a premium price for your products and services while building a strong and loyal customer base?

Find a niche!

By only offering services that you can do better than anybody else, you’ll be able to charge more than others and spend less time doing general work that doesn’t pay as well. It doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to offer other services, but you will be able to build your business and make it more profitable in less time before getting into other work.

Just look at Under Armour. If you’ve ever looked for high quality sports wear, you’ll know who they are. They started out offering clothing to be worn underneath uniforms – pads for football, hockey, and lacrosse as well as other materials for basketball and baseball – but eventually grew to the point of offering complete clothing lines for practically any sport. They’re also expected to release tennis shoes in the near future.

How do you find your niche?

Choose something that you can offer than is more specific and more specialized than the norm.

• Instead of offering “complete marketing solutions” offer “SEO marketing for small businesses.”
• Instead of being a photographer for any occasion, choose your specialty and focus on it – building up a portfolio that others can’t match.
• Instead of just being a Realtor, be a “Realtor specializing in high-end condos in downtown [your city]“

What Does Niching Really Mean?

Niching simply means to offer services that are specifically created for certain individuals, but not for everybody.

Instead of trying to please everybody, you’ll be ignoring most while creating passionate customers that will pay a premium price for what you’re selling.

Eight Steps to Niching Success

1. Choose your niche.
2. Study your target market.
3. Study your competition.
4. Get your name out there.
5. Over-deliver.
6. Maintain contact with customers and clients.
7. Build a mailing/emailing list.
8. Ask for specialized referrals.

Further Reading:

• Advice Network: Finding Your Niche
• Advice Network: Niche Marketing
• Baymard: A Simple Strategy for Start-Ups to Kick Fortune 500 Butt

I recently read an article by Hubspot entitled “Online Reputation Management: Big Deal for Small Businesses.” This wasn’t just another blog article, this was one that really got me thinking…

“Even if you are a small business, social media users are increasingly likely to talk about your business online. More and more, users are conversing on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and others about products and services. Although you can ignore these conversations, there’s one inherent risk with this: Your online reputation can have a significant impact on your offline business relationships. What makes this particularly troubling is that social media sites, blogs and forums can often rank well in Google — perhaps even higher than your own website. Imagine a prospective customer searching on Google for your company or product and landing on a discussion of your business online. An important conversation that impacts your business. One that you’d likely want to at least participate in.”

While the article goes on to discuss methods of responding to criticism and becoming a part of the conversation, I strongly encourage taking it a step further.

Create Your Own Conversations and Build Your Own Image

If you’re a small business owner with a large amount of prospects surfing the internet, then you need to not only get involved in the webosphere, you need to overcome it.

If people are already talking about you – great! It means you have tons of prospects online. It doesn’t matter whether they’re saying good things or bad things (well, obviously you’d prefer the former), at least you’re relevant!

If people aren’t yet talking about you, then beat them to the punch! Make yourself relevant and build a positive reputation online before anybody else gets the chance to create your reputation for you.

There are tons of ways to get recognized on the internet and thousands of individuals and small businesses have made a fortune by simply promoting their expertise and brand online. You can start a blog, participate in forums, write advice articles, publish eBooks, and more. The options are endless…

…but just because you have a long list of options doesn’t mean you have a long time to decide before you choose one of them.

I procrastinate, you procrastinate, we all procrastinate…it’s human nature. But here’s a simple fact: the more you procrastinate the more you miss out on.

Don’t worry about having to do everything at once, do one thing at a time. The most important thing is to get your name out there so when prospects search [Your Name], [Your Business Name], or [Your Industry, Your Region] that you come up smelling like roses!

Search engines can be a business breaker if you can’t grab hold of your reputation online. If you can, however, you’re see significant results and a growing bank account.

Go for it…grab hold of your online reputation today!

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Don’t know where to get started? Start here! Advice Network can help you build an impressive online reputation that your prospects will find!

There are two keys to success when it comes to promoting your services online.

1. You need a website.
2. You need traffic to your website.

I’m not going to bother explaining anything to do with #1 here, but instead focus on a few ways you can develop organic traffic to your website (traffic you don’t need to pay for). Here are 18 tips for promoting your website in today’s world:

1. Put your website URL everywhere your current and prospective customers would expect to find it – on your business cards, letterhead, email signature, advertisements, and so on.
2. Include your web address on promotional items that you give away to people – pens, pads of paper, t-shirts, key chains, and whatever else.
3. Make sure to include your URL in press releases or bylines whenever your company is mentioned in print.
4. If you drive a company vehicle, throw your logo, tagline, and website address on the back and/or side.
5. Improve your Search Engine Optimization so that you have a better chance of being found through Yahoo, Google, and other search engines.
6. Start a blog to give others a reason to visit your site on a regular basis.
7. Hold a contest to generate inbound links and buzz.
8. Offer to write articles for other sites so that you can make your name visible and build your reputation online.
9. Create a regularly published newsletter for people interested in your business and services.
10. Deliver extraordinary value to the people that matter most by offering free reports that your visitors can download…advertise these reports on your business cards and newsletter.
11. Comment on other blogs within your expertise.
12. Participate in online message boards.
13. Generate an email list of prospects (with consent) and make sure to keep in touch through personalized autoresponders and newsletters.
14. Create YouTube videos about your services if you have creative tendencies.
15. Make sure your website speaks directly to your well-defined target market to keep them coming back for more.
16. Use FaceBook, Myspace, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites to build connections and create awareness of your website and services.
17. Make it easy for blog visitors to submit your site to Digg, StumbleUpon, and other social bookmarking sites.
18. Make sure you include lots of link-outs on your blog…there’s a good chance you’ll have some coming your way soon after.

Your website should become the hub of your services. By using technology to your advantage your can automate many of your processes and run a much more efficient and effective business. Get with the times and promote your website!

Passion Sells

Are you passionate about what you do and looking to promote your business online? If so, you need to discover the power of advice networking.

Advice networking allows you to demonstrate your expertise, promote your business, and network with prospects all at the same time. You want to know the great thing? It’s the most affordable method of online marketing out there.

By writing advice articles, your return on investment will outshine any other marketing tactic you are using. Why? Because there is no monetary investment.

By writing advice articles, you expose yourself to a whole new marketplace while helping your prospects get to know you, like you, and trust you to the point where they are ready to do business with you.

It’s a simple process really – and one that you can’t afford to miss out on. It’s not rocket science, it’s simply networking with your prospects until they are ready to do business with you. Is it hard? No. Does it take effort? Sure.

Everything that “works” takes effort. If you aren’t willing to write a few articles each month to get your name out there, then you’re going to be spending much more money to replicate the same results.

Advice networking will help you…

• Build Your Network – Your network is your net worth.
• Establish Your Reputation – Position yourself as somebody people trust.
• Promote Your Services – Keep your services in people’s minds.
• Improve Your Business – Increase your income without spending any money.

If you’re interested in advice networking, check out Advice Network. We’ll help you fast-track your way to success…and you might just win a MacBook at the same time.

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Advice Network is the right choice for building your online reputation. Check us out today!