Sunday, June 28, 2009

4 List Building And Email Marketing Tips That Work Like Gangbusters

by: Jeremy Gislason

List building is one of the most effective ways to make money online and build a rock-solid foundation for your business. The more quality subscribers you have, the higher you will earn when you promote a certain product.

But it’s not about accumulating as much subscribers as you can, and then bombarding them with ads and promotions. If that’s the only aspect you’re focusing on, then your list building efforts are a waste of time.

Here are some red-hot tips to help build a list who will trust and like you, and to establish your credibility with your subscribers. Most important of all, these strategies would make your list more willing to buy anything you promote that is beneficial to them.

Tip # 1: Create An Exceptional Squeeze Page.

The more people who signs up to your list, the more prospects you will have. So the first thing to consider is to build an excellent squeeze page that catches their attention and entices them to give their name and email.

Some experts suggest that having eye-catching graphics can boost your opt-in rates, while some advise to focus on the copywriting aspect and the benefits they will get upon subscribing. There are no hard and fast rules. The only way to really know what works is to test, test, and test.

But despite different recommendations, make sure you create a professional-looking squeeze page that is easy on their eyes. This is the first real impression you make with a prospect. Even if you have minimal graphics, you want to make your customer “attracted” to your site and confident enough to spread the word to others who might benefit from it.

The average person does not spend more than three to five seconds on a website that is not pleasant to look at, or does not offer what they want. So make sure your squeeze page looks decent and offers something beneficial in exchange for their subscription.

Tip # 2: Build Friendly Relationships.

Building rapport and good relationships with your list is necessary to secure a profitable business in the long run. Getting the trust of your prospects is a high priority.

Many marketers hard sell their products immediately when someone subscribes; this is not a good idea. A single one-time offer could be a lucrative idea after they opt-in; but it has to end there, at least until you’ve given them enough valuable content and information to build trust and credibility.

Studies by sales and market research companies, confirmed by the top professional sales people, have shown that it regularly takes seven or more communications before potential patrons make a purchase. Make every one of them count.

Want to give value and earn at the same time? Send a free helpful e-book branded with your desired links. You could also ask them to read articles that they might find interesting. Post these articles on separate webpages; and in these article pages, you could insert Google Adsense and/or include your offer after the article.

Another way you could give value without being too promotional is to subtly put a soft sell message in the P.S. portion of your email. It’s best if this P.S. complements your non-promotional content.

After you’ve given enough value to your subscribers, you’re ready to earn big time and send solo promo emails. But you should still maintain the right balance between sending content messages and promos. Some marketers suggest sending 2 to 3 content (or semi-content) emails for every 1 promotional email. But each case is different, so you need to test and analyze your unsubscription rates for every email you send out.

Tip # 3: Give Them The Special Treatment.

Most people hate being sold to. But here’s a way to make your subscribers love you despite promoting to them:

Give them huge discounts or coupons they can avail on your products. If you’re promoting an affiliate product, ask the owner to give your subscribers an exclusive discount. Persuade the owner by telling him that the quantity of the sales will offset the reduction in earnings for each product sold. If the owner is hesitant (and if you’re feeling generous enough), you could even suggest that he reduce your commissions in exchange for giving your subscribers the special deal. Even if you’re earning less per product, the number of units sold could multiply many times over.

If offering a discount, coupon or rebate is impractical, you could give away special bonuses when they buy through your recommendations.

Your aim is to satisfy your customers to the best of your abilities. If you do that, they will continue buying from you, because they know you’re looking after their best interest.

A good reputation will drive in more traffic and customers, as your clients will spread good things about you or your products, and recommend you as a reliable source. Just as in a brick and mortar business, treat your customers well and they will in turn treat you well.

Tip # 4: Let Other Companies Promote To Your List.

Apart from selling your own products and recommendations, you may also use your list to earn additional profits. How? Allow other companies to put an ad in your mailing for a fixed fee. This works quite well if you have a newsletter, where you could insert sponsor ads. This doesn't mean sell to the competition, but a company with a product that compliments yours. You are basically renting email space to another company that will market to your list.

But the big question is… would it be better to promote your own recommendations, or earn a fixed income by letting other companies advertise to your list? It depends on your purpose. Many gurus suggest promoting your own recommendations (especially if your promotion has been tested to convert really well). But the downside is that there’s no assurance of how much you will earn. By letting others leverage from your subscribers, you will earn a fixed income (but in this case, you’re limiting your earning potentials). Again, it’s best to test and analyze your results to see which will bring the highest profit margin for you.

Hope these list building and email marketing tips help bring your business success to the next level.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_4681.shtml

About The Author

Want to discover the most incredible and intuitive membership site software today, including a breakthrough email marketing software? Then go to http://www.memberspeed.com for details on the world’s leading client and content management system.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Selecting the Right Property for Investing

by: Gary Fee

Anyone can make money in real estate when the market is booming in your area. The trick to making a solid investment that pays out big in today?s market is to follow the process used by the professionals. The first question that you have to ask is which property is right for me? If you are new to real estate investment, or have lost your shirt trying to flip properties in the past, please pay attention to the points I will lay out in this article. Pros never buy based on a hunch or a guess. They always do their homework.

Basic Economics

We all know that the market is the intersection of Supply and Demand. The set price of goods or services is wherever consumer demand meets producer supply. In real estate, demand always sets price. However, real estate is more complex than just that, and you need to research why market indicators in your area are the way they are in order to make a wise investment. Why is there a high or low demand, what is driving the prices up or down, what are people looking for, are people making more money now? Of course, you are going to be looking for markets with a strong demand and low supply for investing techniques like flipping and wholesaling. However, even markets with a below average demand and above average supply of real estate can yield decent profits through investment techniques such as listing with a lease option and buying a home for rental.

Making money requires that you know when the market will go bad, or begin to boom. Waiting until after the market changes before making your move is a good way to do poorly. You will want to know when the market in your area is at its highest so that you can sell off and take your profits, and at the low end, ready to head up again, so you can get in on the best deals for future profit. You can leave this to chance, or you can pay attention to the market indicators and let them show you where it is going before it moves.

Market Indicators

Some indicators are more important than are others, but all should be considered before making an investment. When doing your research remember that your local numbers and statistics will not necessarily reflect those of the national market. Real estate values are always local in nature.

-Housing Affordability-

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has an index that gauges median income against median price. A rating of 100% means that the median earner has just enough income to purchase a median priced home, assuming a 20% down payment. An index number above 100% means that the median earner has more than enough money to qualify for a loan on the same homes with the same money down. A rating of 100% is ideal for a growing market and a higher supply.

-Population Growth-

In general, a growing population means increased demand for real estate. For instance, if the average growth over the past five years in your town has been 3%, but a new highway and industrial park drive more people to the area then the population growth rate will probably increase. Supposing that the local chamber and county planning commission expect the growth rate to approach 10% in the near future, you will want to invest in this market.

-Employment-

Employment is a good indicator for an obvious reason. If chronic unemployment is high because of problems with local industry, like in Michigan, then this may not be the best time to invest in working class housing serving the needs of the auto industry because there simply is no money to buy real estate, and because people are leaving the area to seek employment elsewhere. On the other hand, investors who saw the increase in major corporations moving their operations to North Carolina made a huge profit. These companies brought a large influx of upper-middle class wage earners seeking housing and employment. The market there is still booming. Noticing the up or down shift in employment figures can help you predict the market ahead of its shift. The best indicators are low unemployment and a growing local industry.

-Consumer Confidence-

A market with high consumer confidence should do well. Low consumer confidence can depress a market through reticence to buy because consumers are unsure of their future earning potential. As expected, this hedges prices down. The NAR also measures consumer confidence. A score over 100 means that consumers have confidence in the economy, while a score under 100 means that consumers have less confidence, and the real estate market will reflect that. High consumer confidence often comes with low unemployment rates and a strong economy.

-House Sales-

The sale of homes is a direct indicator of how well the market is doing. High inventories, with homes sitting for more than 120 days will hedge prices down into a buyers market. If inventories and average time on the market are low then prices will be higher, and the time will be ripe for quick deals and investment techniques like rehabbing and wholesaling. You should be aware that sellers using multiple agents listing separately, and agents delisting and relisting properties could manipulate the putative Days on Market (DOM).

Home sales are really a following indicator. It is usually the result of higher consumer confidence, employment, and affordability.

-Interest Rates-

Lower rates often result in higher prices and more qualified buyers. Do not overestimate the importance of this indicator, though, for when consumer confidence is high, higher rates will have less of an impact on the market. Be on the lookout for cash-following properties when rates are low. Sometimes a percentage point can be the difference between a positive cash flow and a negative one.

Best Investment Properties

To put the odds in your favor, look for standard investment properties. Avoid the quaint and the kooky, and never buy an investment property just because you would want to live there. For the fastest turn-around, you want properties that will appeal to the greatest number of people. The point of investing in real estate is to get your investment back with a healthy profit. To that end, I recommend the following qualifications to ensure a quick flip.

* Priced right for you
* Needs a little work
* 5 to 50 years old
* Single-family dwelling
* Three bedrooms with two baths
* Decent area
* Priced from the lower median to median for your area

The price should be about 65% to 70% below the After Rehab Value (ARV) for a good discount. I will explain that later. You should keep the rehab costs between $10,000 and $12,000, which means that you want to avoid older homes that might need electrical or plumbing system replacements. Nothing sells better than single-family homes with three bedrooms and two baths. The best areas are working class neighborhoods where first-time homebuyers would want to live. Finally, most buyers will be looking for homes priced in the lower median through median range. Give the people what they want.

Getting Your Money Back

As an example, take a property that had an ARV of $150,000. Subtract 35% or $52,500, and you get a purchase price of $97,500. The reason you want to find property at this discount is that in order to get cash at closing, I advocate using a hard money lender to purchase the property, rehab it, and then either sell it again at $150,000 or refinance the property to put a new loan on it. Most hard money lenders will only loan 65% to 70% on the property. Some will loan on the After Rehab Value, and some will loan on the Fair Market Value. The key strategy for your success in flipping property is to work with lenders who loan on the ARV.

Surprisingly, this is one of the best markets for finding properties with this kind of discount transaction. Another benefit of using hard money lenders is that they will review the property value and estimate the rehab costs so you will have someone checking your work to make sure you got it right. To learn more about hard lenders please follow the link below.

Gary Fee
http://www.fast4close.com

Aquinas Company
21390 Bagby Road
Bowling Green, VA 22427

About The Author

Gary Fee is a professional trainer whose clients have included Fortune 500 firms, Federal agencies, technical schools, and colleges. He runs a sometimes amusing blog about starting home based businesses at http://makewhatyouareworth.blogspot.com


The author invites you to visit:
http://www.fast4close.com

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Professional Health Care Business Card Designs That Does the Job

by: Geraldine Anderson

The health care industry is a people-oriented business and it will be certainly advantageous for health care professionals to be viewed as pleasant and easy to talk to. One of the ways to achieve this is through nicely designed business cards that reflect a caring and understanding personality behind the card.

No one understands this better than people who work in the health care business. People who seek professional health care are understandably under some pain. They would expect that their health care provider should at least empathize with them. People in pain require that they can count on their health care provider when they need them.

No other tool that can do this effectively yet inexpensively than the use of business cards. There are lots of business cards out there that to think that all of them are alike and will have the same effect might be a costly mistake for health care providers. When people are in pain, they are more likely to be more sensitive than average healthy people.

Your business cards will not only serve to provide your patients and people around you the information that they need when they need you. Of course, any sensible person would include the important information such as addresses and phone numbers, however, the special sensitivity of patients and their loved ones will probably notice a little more.

Even the size, color and style of fonts will be noticed and commented upon by your card recipients. In turn, their comments will give impression as to the kind of personality that you have. If you have a disorder or untidy looking business card, naturally, it will reflect on your personality as someone disorganize.

In the same vein, if you have a business cards that looks really presentable showing that a lot of effort and thought has gone through in the making of the card, it will reflect on your personality as someone who really cares about his profession, and in turn, will be viewed as someone who really cares for his or her patients.

All in all, a business card is not simply a tool that you hand out so you don’t have to write down your important details on a piece of paper every time you want to disseminate important information about your profession. A very effective business card should be able to get you more clients, more renowned in your field, and most of all, lets your card precedes your reputation for kindness, compassion and professionalism in your work.

About The Author

Get your free products for 250 business cards , 14 standard post cards and 6 jumbo magnet calendars and a whole lot more only at http://www.bizcard.com/industry/health-care .
The author invites you to visit:
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