Archive | January, 2023

If you want proper financial security, it’s not enough anymore to be a millionaire – you’ve got to be a multimillionaire. So how do you join the ranks of the 1%?

Make a firm decision to be a multimillionaire. Your first step is making that firm decision and then reaffirming that decision several times a day. See yourself rich, feel yourself rich, and be rich in your heart and mind. This is where it starts and is the first step to realizing your dream.

It would be best if you lost the poverty thinking. No matter what you were taught about money being evil or scarce, you’ve got to let go of those beliefs once and for all. Abundance is all around you when you open yourself to it. Like attracts like, so if you’re thinking poverty, you’ll get more poverty.

Continuously think of your multimillionaire status as accurate. Since you can’t hold two opposing thoughts simultaneously, if you’re thinking about how little money you have, you’re not thinking about getting rich. You’ve got to feel abundance throughout your entire body, and meditation combined with visualization is a great way to achieve this state.

Stepping stones are okay. They’re great. One of the biggest obstacles new marketers face is that $ 10,000-a-month wall. They think they should make this money from day one, but you must start somewhere. So be it if that means getting your first $10 day and working up. Most self-made millionaires began with a tiny step on their journey and then never stopped growing and moving ahead.

It’s not just money; it’s also something else. This might be making a difference, proving yourself, living up to your potential, improving the world, or leaving a legacy. If your sole focus is money, you’ll find that all the money in the world won’t make you happy. But wealth can make you happy if you have other goals beyond cash.

Get yourself some millionaires. They say you are the average of the people you hang out with, including your income. So find wealthy people, whether you know them personally or read their blogs and books.

Buy time. Rich people buy time, while poor people sell time. Nothing is more valuable than time, and this includes money. So anything you can outsource to someone else, whether work-related or home-related, should be outsourced when you can afford it.

Forget spending – invest instead. Do you know that new car you want to buy? What would happen if you took that $30,000 instead of buying a car, you invested it for 20 years at 7% interest compounded monthly? You’d have $121,162. If you purchased the car in 20 years, you would have nothing of that money.

Millionaires-in-the-making invests when they can, whether in their business, education, or portfolio. Instead of buying a house, they purchase an apartment building that produces cash flow and tax write-offs. Instead of buying a car outright, they buy cars for their company and then deduct them because they’re used during work, and so forth.

Create multiple sources of income. The more revenue streams you have, the more money you can potentially make, and the more secure you are should one of your streams dry up. This is why marketers go into multiple niches, create more than one product, and look to earn money in various ways. Remember when Google made junk Adsense sites obsolete? Those with many different income streams were the least affected, while those who depended solely on Adsense were devastated.

Take advantage of trends. Right now, one of the hot trends is finding inexpensive products and selling them at huge markups on Amazon. Eventually, the competition will be severe, and something else will be hot. That’s okay. If you stay flexible and closely monitor the marketplace, you’re ready to take advantage of trends while building a solid, reliable business you can count on.

One last note: Self-made multimillionaires are confused by people who aren’t rich. They don’t understand why you can’t do the same things they do – and they’re right – you can.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to creating great wealth is the mindset. You’ll never get rich if you believe that money is limited or evil or that rich people are wrong.

But if you can focus on abundance, create a clear picture of where you’re going, and feel satisfied with what you have right here and now, you can achieve wealth.

Lack leads to lack. Worrying and stressing about your lack is only going to produce more lack. By all means, get fired up and excited about what’s coming, but while making it happen, let abundance flood your very being.

People are nothing, if not predictable. For example, saying to someone, “You’ve got a great job.” They will invariably tell you why it’s NOT great. But if you tell them, “You’ve got a lousy job.” They’ll let you know why it’s an excellent job.

Knowing the triggers, you can use to activate certain behaviors in prospects can help tremendously increase your conversions and bottom line.

That’s why I’ve compiled ten slightly sneaky methods to get your audience to do your bidding – or stated another way, here are ten strategies to get the public to buy your product and share your message with the world.

People crave entertainment like they crave air and always need more of it. A good analogy is a caffeine – in the beginning, the smallest amount of caffeine can give you a nice little buzz. But the more caffeine you use, the more you need to achieve that same buzz level.

Entertainment is no different. The movies of the 40s weren’t fast-paced enough for people of the 60s. The music of the seventies can’t compete with the theme of the 80s. The comedy of the 90s seems tame compared to the humor of now. Why is that? Because entertainment constantly has to turn up the intensity to get the same reactions from the audience. People want more exciting stuff, and if you can build excitement and entertainment into your product, you’ve got a hit.

Speaking of entertainment, people LOVE controversy. Build a controversial website, blog, forum, product line, podcast, YouTube channel, etc., and watch people flock to it. You’ll get free publicity everywhere as people promote or flog you on social media, forums, and other blogs.

And as a marketer, you could capitalize on both sides simultaneously if you wanted to be sneaky about it. For example, you might build two websites – one on each far, far end of the political spectrum – and let them slug it out online. Anything that has what is perceived to be a polar opposite could work, such as God-fearing vs. Atheist, protecting wildlife from loggers and miners, etc.

Or build controversy into your product from the start. “How To Use Tax Loopholes, So You Don’t Pay Your Fair Share Of Taxes.” Is it legal? Yes. Is it fair? No. Or how about toy guns for children? Some parents love them, many hate them, and all will have something to say about it, which drives more traffic to you.

This one’s sneaky – carry on a conversation between two people about how great a product is. This could be in a forum, posts on a blog, or even if it were to “come up” during an interview about something else. The point, of course, is not to appear as though it’s a promotion. Yeah, I know; pretty sneaky.

People like to follow, as in “follow the leader.” What happens when one cow walks away from the herd? They’ll follow if the other cows suspect this cow knows something they don’t. It doesn’t matter WHAT this cow might know, only that they have information that might be useful. Is the grass greener over there? Is there a secret stash of alfalfa or a salt lick over there? Let’s follow her and see!

It might seem callous to compare people to cows, but the herd mentality applies to many species, including people. If someone is seen as a leader and that leader uses ABC products, then it will be easy to get the followers to use ABC products as well.

As a marketer, you can use this in one of two ways – either become a leader yourself or get your product into the hands of leaders and make sure people find out about it.

Speaking of following, people follow the confident person. They’re attracted to confidence like bees to honey. If you don’t have faith, get it. Depending on your niche, arrogance might work as well.

Take it away. Whatever your product is, please find a way to take it away from the potential buyer. Maybe they have to qualify, and not everyone can. Or there’s a limited number. Or the offer is ending soon. Or perhaps they’re just not supposed to have it, so you tell them NOT to buy the book but drop hints of how powerful it is.

People do not like to be left out. This works well in the Internet Marketing niche and even better in any non-marketing savvy place.

People work harder to get something for nothing. Weird but true. What else explains someone who masters a gambling system or studies racehorses just to bet? If your product promises enormous returns for a small effort, it will sell. Unfortunately, most products like this can’t deliver. But you can ethically use the something-for-nothing technique – referrals. That is, get people to promote you through social media in exchange for something free.

Another way to ethically use something-for-nothing is to make it appear that purchasing your product is a giant leap towards attaining their goal. You’re being honest that there is work involved, but you make the first step seem so enticing they feel they’ve practically achieved their dream simply by buying the product.

People get seduced by stories. BIG TIME. Think of the man sitting cross-legged, playing the flute while a cobra sways hypnotically to the music. This can be you hypnotizing your audience through written and verbal storytelling.

Entire courses have been written about using storytelling in marketing. A good story creates thoughts and images in your prospect’s head that originate from the opportunity, not from you. And a great story causes the audience to feel emotions and desires that come from these thoughts and images. Bottom line, get good at storytelling and use your skill to weave mesmerizing stories throughout your marketing.

People buy dreams, not just once, but over and over again. Why is it a camper will buy every camping gadget out there? Why will a golfer purchase every golfing book written in the past 20 years? Why do Internet marketers buy online marketing products sometimes at the rate of 3 or 4 a day?

This is why a list of actual buyers is so hot – if these people buy once, they would likely purchase again and again. You can continue to create products and promote products to this list, and as long as their dream remains alive, they will continue to buy. Perhaps it’s the act of purchasing that makes them feel they are one step closer to realizing their dream. Thus five purchases put them five steps closer, and ten investments put them…

You can get sneaky with this one as well. Create several somewhat similar products and then let them compete with each other. It can be surprising how many customers purchase two or more.

People WANT to believe. So make it real. Make it believable. Help them along. Show some negative with the positive. Did you know testimonials are far more effective if they mention something NEGATIVE? For example: “I wasn’t crazy about the title of this course and thought it was going to be just a rehash, but it turns out it was exactly what I needed. Using this information, I’ve ___ and ___ and achieve ___.” Make it believable.

And remember, please use these methods only for good and never for evil.

My favorite theme is the importance of generating ideas, having ideas, and then putting them to good use. At first, every business you see and every invention you marvel at was someone’s opinion. Every great blog post, new content, information product, etc., all started as a tiny little seed inside someone’s brain…

Without the idea, nothing else flows. With the idea, anything is possible.

So how do you get great ideas? By training your brain to find them for you. Every day writes down ten new ideas. If you can’t think of 10, then write 20.

“But if I can’t come up with 10, how am I going to think of 20?”

By relaxing and having fun.

Ten ideas a day is complex; you assume every idea has to be good. No. Even most of the ideas you first think are good won’t be… That’s okay. Just train your brain that you want 10 (or 20) new ideas daily, and your brain will deliver. It’ll be slow at first, but it’s like a muscle – the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.

Write down your ideas. ALWAYS write down your thoughts. Even the hair-brained ones. This teaches your mind to keep finding new ones.

How Do I Know It’s a Good Idea?

Short answer – you don’t. It might sound, look, feel, taste, and smell like a good idea, but until you test it out, you don’t know.

So if you think it might be a winner, take fast action and see what happens. If it fails, you haven’t wasted much time or many resources.

New Projects are Like a Road Trip

You know that ancient saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” Imagine this:

You’re starting on a road trip. Maybe it’s your first road trip, so you’ll make it easy – 150 miles – or kilometers – it doesn’t matter.

You’re in your car, pulling onto the road, headed in the right direction.

Now quick: Tell me every curve of the road ahead, every car or truck you’ll meet, every stop you’ll make along the way.

What? You don’t know? Can’t you see 50 miles ahead? 100 miles ahead?

Of course not.

Then why is it that when most people start a new project, they think they have to know every step they’ll take before they ever begin?

You don’t. You only have to know two things: Your destination and the first step in the right direction. That’s all you need to get started. And just as the road keeps appearing as you move forward, the next step will become evident as you complete the present stage.

So start exercising your idea-generating muscle, implement new ideas quickly, and leverage the ones that gain traction to create your next business and life success. Then wash, rinse, and repeat…

Here’s how a typical Internet business works – you pick a niche, create a product and then find the audience to sell that product to. If it doesn’t sell, you do it all over again. If it does sell, you make more products for those same people. Sounds logical, right?…

Maybe not. Suppose you decide to sell NOTHING for the first two to three months of your business. Not a gosh darn thing.

Instead, what you do is focus on building and nurturing your audience. Once they know you and are confident you know what you’re talking about, then and only then do you sell them something.

“But I need to make money NOW!”

Okay, what if you had started the entire process three months ago? They say the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. So bear with me for a moment while we grow a tree in your mind right now…

Let’s say you’ve taken up a new hobby. Maybe it’s golf. You’re cruising the Internet when you find this offer for a free golf book for newbies, “10 Ways to Take 10 Points Off Your Game Today.” You enter your email address and get the book.

And next thing you know, this author sends you golfing offers daily. “BUY THIS!” “BUY THAT!” And on and on. What do you do? Maybe you buy something, perhaps you don’t. But do you lose faith and trust in the person? Yes. This is just some guy who used bait and switched on you. “Get my free book!” means, “Let me sell you a whole lot of stuff so I can make money!”

This is how Internet marketing typically works; the days of it being a magic bullet are long gone. Sure, the money is on the list, but if you continually go for the sales before establishing the relationship, you’re doing it backward.

I say it’s time to adjust.

Second scenario: You sign up for the free ebook, and here’s an email introducing the author. The next day, s/he sends you a great golfing tip. And the next day, and the next. Maybe the author throws in some personal golfing stories, a few golfing jokes, some golf news, etc.

This author feels more like your email golfing buddy and golf expert than a salesperson. In fact, in 2 whole months, s/he hasn’t tried to sell you a single thing. But maybe they have sent you a few videos with excellent tips, so you can get to ‘know’ and like them even better. You trust this person and feel they have your best interests at heart.

They’ve built a REAL relationship with you.

What will happen when this author starts sending you the occasional offer? Oddly, you’ll take a severe look at buying it because your new golfing friend/expert recommends it. And if they’re recommending it, you know it must be GOOD!

And as long as this author sends you only the best advice and offers, you’re likely to continue buying, too.

So is it worth it to invest 2-3 months to build relationships that create super high conversions and subscribers that are loyal to you for a long, long time? Is it worth it to make such a tight bond they never unsubscribe? Do you want to be their go-to person, who they know and trust for advice, tips, and recommendations? Or do you want to be another salesperson pitching the latest product until your subscribers flee your list?

“But 2-3 months before I make a sale??!”

Yes. I know. It takes a real commitment and investment of your time.

But let’s try putting it into perspective: Let’s say you want to open a business in your town. You scout a location, make the deal to rent the building, get your business licenses, get the necessary equipment, order the inventory, hire staff, get insurance, etc. How long would it take? And how much would it cost? And how much would you clear after all of your expenses?

I’m discussing a viable way to build a six-figure business in less than 12 months with almost no out-of-pocket expense. To begin with, all you need is a good autoresponder. You don’t even have to put up your blog right away because, initially, you can do everything via email.

This is a business model you can start today. It helps if you have expertise in your subject – if not, you’ll want to start reading and learning immediately. Your topic should be one you’ve got a measure of passion for because you’ll be writing and talking about it a great deal. You’ll need ten or more hours a week to devote to this.

And you’ve got to be ready to sacrifice a small amount of short-term income for an abundance of long-term gain. Long-term, beginning in about 2-3 months, with the potential to grow significantly around 6-8 months.

This is all about your audience. It’s all about what they want. And here’s the kicker – you know how experts tell you to research what people want before you create a product? In this case, you will be so in touch with your audience that you will know exactly what they want before you ever offer it.

You’ll have people standing in line to buy your products before you even produce them. Think about that – you’ll know IN ADVANCE that your products will sell and sell well because your audience trusts you enough to tell you what they want. Maybe it’s not in so many words, like, “Could you sell me a product about this or that,” but rather, “How do I _____?” When you keep getting the same questions, you know there is a market for a product that solves that need.

To summarize, the old-school method is: Spend weeks creating a product nobody buys. Then do it again. Or build a list and then fry it to death.

New school method: Spend 2-3 months building an audience that loves and trusts you, then create products and make recommendations based on what they want.

Times have changed. If marketers don’t change with the times, our customers will leave us behind.

One of the most significant expenses for some businesses is advertising. Think about the auto repair shop, the kitchen cabinet maker, the plumber, etc. They can spend a small fortune each month running ads that might not even pay off. After all, what’s the reaction of most people to advertising? It’s disbelief. “Sure, they say they’re great, but… They all say that!”

But what if you could show offline clients how to get all their business from referrals, thereby saving the money they spend on advertising? What would that be worth to them? Frankly, it should be worth about 2-3 months of their current advertising budget, paid directly to you.

This won’t work for all businesses, so use your best judgment on which companies to work with using this strategy. While every business will be different, you can quickly learn how to set up a referral system that brings in as much, if not more, business than their current advertising.

Let’s use an automotive repair shop as our example. First, what do most people think of when considering auto repair places? The shops are dirty; the mechanics try to take advantage of customers by doing work that doesn’t need to be done; they take too long to make repairs; you have to arrange for transportation while you don’t have your car; their waiting room is depressing, etc.

We want to change all of those things. Cleaning the shop up won’t cost much beyond labor, and it can make a tremendous difference in how people perceive the shop when they arrive. If the outside of the shop needs a new coat of paint, some flowers planted in the bed out front or a new sign, it should be seen too. This alone can bring more business off the street.

Next, unless the mechanics are good at explaining what needs to be done to the mechanically illiterate, there should be a liaison between the mechanics and customers. This liaison will show the customer the problem, what might have caused it, why it needs to be fixed, and what it will cost. A clear, thorough explanation without technical mumbo-jumbo can put the customer at ease and make them feel they’re not being taken advantage of.

If the work will take longer than 90 minutes, the auto shop either provides a loaner car or offers to drive the customer to their home or place of work, picking them up when the vehicle is ready. How many auto places do this? Almost none. Imagine the word of mouth this alone can create.

If the customer opts to wait for the car, they’re shown into a waiting room that looks more like a living room than a nasty waiting room. The chairs are plush and comfortable; there are flat surfaces if they want to work on a laptop or do anything at a desk. Instead of the usual daytime television, there’s a DVD playing of a hilarious and non-offensive comedian. Who doesn’t feel better after laughing? There are beverages – not just coffee – and maybe some bagels, fruit, or danish.

After the repair is done, the car is washed and cleaned. The bigger the repair, the better the washing and cleaning. This could range from a quick exterior wash to a complete wash and wax outside, vacuuming, and wiping down inside. An alternative would be to set up an affiliation with a nearby car wash, getting car wash tokens in bulk at a discount. Then for every $x amount of money spent, the customer receives a pass. If the amount is $50, then on a $300 repair job, the customer would get six tickets which could be used for six car washes. This is hugely unexpected by the customer and something they’re likely to brag about to others for weeks.

If the customer doesn’t receive car wash tokens, she should be given something. It could be as simple as homemade-looking cookies for the road or a cup of good coffee. As the customer pays her bill and receives her tokens, she gets a very brief questionnaire about her experience. The final question is, “Can we use your comments for marketing?” Thanks to the law of reciprocity and the small gift she received, she will almost certainly say ‘yes.’ These comments can be put on the business’s website and should number in the hundreds after several months. If they ever do more advertising, they’ll need a list of these comments, their hours, and their location to create a very effective ad.

The customer gets an actual thank you card in the mail within two days of her experience at the shop. On the card is a photo of the shop with all the employees out front, holding a giant blank sign. Only the character isn’t empty; it only appears that way when the photo is taken. Before sending it out, “THANK YOU customer name!” is handwritten onto that blank sign. If they have the technology, they can do this in Photoshop, but handwriting it in is fine. In the card is a warm thank you, 2-3 magnets containing the business’ details, and the suggestion she gives one or two to friends.

Finally, 3 to 6 days later, the customer gets a follow-up phone call, inquiring if the car is still running fine and ensuring everything is alright. If there should be any problem, being this proactive will keep the business in good favor with the customer. And if everything is fine, it leaves the customer with a hot, cared-about feeling that they don’t get with the typical auto mechanic.

This has been just one example – how you set up a referral program will vary according to the type of business you’re working with. You probably noticed that we did not ask the customer for referrals in this sequence. Typically the best way to get excellent word-of-mouth advertising isn’t to ask for it – it’s to give the customer such a fantastic experience; they have to brag to others about it.

“I’m at this moment, Dub Thee, Super Duper Expert! Now Go Forth, Change the World & Prosper!” If only it were that easy to become an expert – get someone to tap a sword on both your shoulders as you kneel and PRESTO! You are now the go-to person for your niche.

Wait – it actually can be almost that easy.

The first thing you need to know about becoming an expert is WHY you want to be one. People want to buy your products and services when you are viewed as an expert. They also want to promote you. Whether sharing your stuff via social media or interviewing you for the news, you become THE person in your niche that people gravitate to.

The second thing to know is HOW to be seen as an expert, which works like this: You need to ACT like an expert, THINK like an expert, and SPEAK like an expert. And all three of these will become natural when you believe you are the expert. But what if you don’t think you’re an expert? Then start acting like you are, and your actions will bring about the belief.

Of course, none of this is of any value if you don’t have a clue when it comes to your niche. That’s why constant study and practice in your field are essential. You’ve got to know what you’re talking about, and the best way to do that is to learn from others and your own experience.

So how do you get others to view you as the go-to person, the expert they should do business with? Here are 12 methods:

1. Choose your niche carefully. It’s much easier to be a big fish in a small pond than a whale in the ocean. For example, if you want to be a business coach, you’ve got a ton of competition. But if you coach massage therapists on how to grow their businesses, you can very quickly become a whale of a fish in that particular pond.

2. Act like you have a list of thousands, even when making your debut blog post. Be a professional from day one by imagining you have thousands of people depending on what you say and do. Sure, the only person reading your blog is your grandma, but remember that will change soon. Hundreds of thousands will eventually read the debut post you write today, so make it good.

3. Use a great incentive to build your list from Day 1. Keeping them updated on your blog posts will yield some subscribers, but offering a coveted bribe will get you far more. And if your incentive isn’t ready yet, tell them what it is and that by adding their email, you’ll send them a copy the moment it’s prepared.

4. Write a newsletter. Yes, an actual newsletter. And do it weekly. Please put it in PDF form so readers can download it. Anything in PDF has a higher perceived value, probably because PDFs are often paid for.

5. Interview experts for your newsletter. When you have an expert interview in your PDF newsletter, it raises your own perceived stature considerably.

6. Hold webinars. This is less effective in the online marketing niche because it’s already done so extensively. But if you are in any other place, offer to hold webinars and give free teaching. You can make these offers via social media and also list owners. You aim to get ahead and help as many people as possible. Ensure they sign up for the webinar – this lets you capture their email address. And if you don’t yet have a product to promote, offer individual or group coaching at the end of the webinar. Split proceeds with the list owner (if there is one.)

7. Guest blog. The more high-traffic websites you can appear on, the better. Always insert your short bio at the end and offer them your free incentive to click your link.

8. Pay attention to what people ask you – it’s essential. The questions you receive are a great indication of what’s on the minds of your prospects. Find ways to answer those questions straightforwardly.

9. Skip the big words. You might think being an expert means using a lot of big words and fancy phrases, but being an expert means having the capability to help others further their goals – no fancy jargon is needed.

10. Find your voice and your message and stick to them. You don’t need to know everything about everything. What you do need to know is a whole lot about a real little. Choose your stand on a topic and make your best case – don’t try to make everyone else’s case as well. For example, if your frame is that massage therapists can do 100% of their marketing and do it entirely through the Internet, don’t tell them how to hire a marketing agency or place a newspaper ad – tell them how to do their online marketing. That’s it.

11. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can if you want to, but you don’t have to. You might think that to be an expert, you must constantly think up new ways of doing things, but that’s not true. 99 times out of 100, it’s best to stick with what works. For that 100th time, test it yourself before advising anyone else to try it.

12. Recycle your content. A blog post can become an article in your newsletter, which can become the content for your latest video, etc.

Remember: When you think, act, and speak like an expert and have the knowledge to back it up, you ARE the expert. It is that simple.

You’ve just entered a niche brand new for you, and you’ve got zero contacts. But you’re creating a product to sell and need joint venture partners. So how do you get those all-important JVs when you don’t even have any contacts in the niche? Like this…

First, make sure your product gets people excited and wants to promote it to their lists. You can do this by solving a BIG problem, preferably something people already spend time and money trying to solve.

Second, solve the problem with a step-by-step formula – a blueprint to success. You don’t want to give a bunch of info – they can find plenty of that online. Instead, it should be a system for solving the problem, such as “7 Steps to Getting 7 Hot Dates in 7 Days.”

Now that you’ve got your product takes a little time to set up a JV page and an About Me page on your website. The JV page should tell about your product and how it will help the potential JV partners’ customers, how much commission they will earn, how you will run the JV, etc. Make it look professional but don’t obsess over this – get it done.

The About Me page should give some personal and professional info on you so that a potential JV partner learns something about you and gets comfortable with possibly working with you.

Create a separate testimonial page if you’ve already collected some testimonials for your product. If you haven’t yet collected any, skip this.

Now find your potential JV partners. Let’s say your new niche is tennis. Search for tennis newsletters online and see all the results you can. Search for tennis e-courses, products, and anything tennis-related – including blogs – where it’s pretty clear that someone has a list of tennis players. Because that’s the key – finding the people who own lists of people who play tennis.

It doesn’t even matter if they have a product of their own – what matters is they have a list of tennis players. Use a little creativity, and you’ll find hundreds of people who own lists like these, some of which have never even monetized their lists – they do it as a hobby.

Social media and Facebook are excellent avenues for finding these potential partners. Focus first on finding small to medium-sized list owners to build your confidence. You can go after the big players in your niche when you’ve done a few JVs, and you’ve begun to build a solid reputation in your field.

Ask yourself who is already talking to the audience you want to talk to. Where are the people you want to meet hanging out? This is where you need to be, both online and possibly offline.

When you find these tennis list owners, take down their name, URL, and email address. If you like, get their phone number as well. Now email them individually, one by one. Don’t do more than a few in one day, just in case you get several replies.

When you email, you might tell them how you know them. “I read your book,” or “I’m a fan of your blog.” Please show them admiration and respect, but don’t go too overboard. A little is great; a lot might make them uncomfortable. Be specific in your praise. Don’t say, “You are the greatest tennis blogger ever!” Say, “Your article on serving mistakes helped me tremendously, especially that point you made about ___.”

Next, in your email, you’ve got two different avenues you could take – the direct and the indirect.

The direction goes something like this:

“Thought you might be interested in doing a joint venture. Here’s an opportunity we have, and if you’re interested, we’d like to schedule something with you very soon.” Then give them the link to your JV page, About Me page, testimonial page, and even your sales page. Offer to send them a review copy of your product.

The indirect method is just that – more indirect. It takes a little longer but tends to work better, so you decide which suits you. It goes something like this:

“I want to support you by creating a mutually beneficial relationship.” Ask them for a quick phone conversation to discuss the possibilities. Please include a link to your About Me page but no other links. If they want, they can search your site and find the other pages, but you don’t want to be the one sending them there yet. Then get on the phone with them and discuss the possibilities, including promoting your product.

If after you send either of these emails, you don’t hear back in a week, send the email again with a one-line note that says something like, “Just wanted to be sure you saw this,” or “Gentle nudge,” or whatever is in keeping with your style.

I know some people will disagree with this method of getting JV partners. You’ll say that it’s best to spend some time establishing a relationship and doing favors for the potential JV partners before ever asking. And without a doubt, that’s an excellent method, one I endorse wholeheartedly.

But if you need money now, this is the way to go. And if your product solves a big problem in a step-by-step fashion – in other words, it’s a fantastic product – you will get JV partners this way. You might need to contact 10 to 20 people to get 3 JV’s, but it’s all a numbers game and worth it.

Just don’t burn any bridges. If someone never gets back to you, it’s okay. If someone tells you to bugger off, it’s okay. Always be super polite and friendly, and never take offense.

You might want to wait to contact the vast list of owners until you’ve gotten a few JVs. It’s probably a good idea.

But there is a way you can contact the big dogs in your niche from Day 1 if you’re up to it. That is if you’ve got the confidence.

You will ask for an interview with them to add to your product. Most everyone is looking for more exposure and publicity, so this is a great way to get your foot in the door and improve your product. And odds are, if they grant you an interview, they’ll promote your product because it contains their discussion.

Here’s a trick: Find the big players in your niche doing something now or shortly. Maybe they’re releasing a new book or product where they want publicity. This is the best time to ask to interview them, as they have their reason for wanting to get as much exposure as possible.

Another benefit to having well-known names in your product package is leveraging this to get more JVs. Some potential partners will be all ears when you start term dropping because they’ll think that if these big names are in your product, then it’s something they want to be a part of, too.

Remember, if you have a great product that creates breakthroughs, you can get partners – you must persist in finding and asking these folks to JV with you.

Whether you’re solving a problem, writing a blog post, crafting a review, or creating your following product, creativity is one of your best tools for getting the job done with finesse and style. With that in mind, here are 17 methods anyone can use to become more creative.

Free writing is where you start writing anything and continue writing as the words and ideas flow. At first, it may be silly nonsense, but you’ll be surprised how fast your comments and ideas can merge into something truly inspired.

Carry a notebook – Two things happen by jotting down ideas as soon as they appear. First, you don’t forget your thoughts because you’ve got a written record. Second, writing them down tells your subconscious you want ideas, encouraging them to give you even more.

Make lists – The very act of writing things down frees up your mind to be more creative.

Take breaks from work – Get up, walk around, play 5 minutes of hopscotch – whatever. Just take a breather.

Get up and go – Leave your computer at home, take your notebook, and leave the office. Go anywhere – a park, the mall, a coffee shop, a museum – get out, get away and soak up some different surroundings.

Get near water, especially if it’s moving – Studies show that it floods you with negative ions, making you feel good and boosting your creativity. Remember how you get some of your best ideas in the shower? That’s part of the reason why.

Talk nice to yourself – Positive self-talk about creativity will produce more ideas. Beating yourself up for being a dummy won’t.

Have caffeine – If you don’t usually drink caffeine, one cup of coffee or tea can remarkably affect your thinking.

Clean off your desk – Nothing stifles creativity like a messy, cluttered desk.

Read something different – Read an article on a topic you know nothing about, a page out of the dictionary, a chapter out of a random book, etc. Learning outside the box can trigger many new ideas for you.

Practice writing or bouncing a ball with your non-dominant hand – This can help activate the connection between the two sides of your brain.

Be open to new ideas – We often dismiss an idea before giving it a chance. Even if you think it’s a bad idea, try playing devil’s advocate and find out why it’s a good idea – you might be surprised.

Collaborate and mastermind – Two heads are better than one, and five are better than 2. Form a mastermind group, present a problem, and let the ideas flow. The only rule is: No one shoots down an idea.

Sleep on it – Give your subconscious your problem or need: “I need three new blog post ideas by tomorrow morning.” Then let it go and see what your subconscious finds for you.

Make friends with mistakes – When you goof up or make the wrong decision, realize it’s not the end of the world. It’s simply something that didn’t work at the moment. This allows your creativity to continue to flow.

Purposely break the rules – Don’t break the big ones like “do not steal,” but do break the little ones like “this is what a blog post / new product/video should look like.”

Be you – Don’t worry about what others might think because no great idea is without naysayers anyway. If everyone thinks your idea is excellent, then it’s probably not.

One last tip: Ask “Why?” and “Why not?” a lot. We often accept things as they are when there could be a whopper of an idea just staring us in the face the whole time.

Well over 5.5 million gigabytes of content are shared daily through social media and email. Want to grab a piece of that viral pie? Here are five tips to help get your content moving into new hands and seen by many new people daily.

Use Great Headlines. This one’s a no-brainer, yet it’s the most prominent mistake marketers make. Your headline should be short enough to be readable, long enough to be interesting, and enjoyable enough to grab attention instantly, and the more curiosity it provokes, the better.

Use a Story. “Buy this great product” is never going to get shared as often as “The Customer Service Nightmare on Elm Street” or “Redhead Finds Bliss in a Bottle.”

Use Visuals. Relevant, exciting visuals grab attention, heighten interest, tell a story, and make content stand out in social media… do I need to go on?

Use Humor. Nothing gets shared as much as something that makes people chuckle – or better yet – laugh out loud. Find ways to insert humor into your content, both in the words and the visuals, and your shares will immediately go up.

Make It Easy to Share. Add buttons for each of the leading social networks. The idea is to keep sharing as easy and straightforward as possible. Even one extra click can result in no shares.

You’ve written a genuinely terrific blog post. You’ve dozens of them – yet your traffic still looks more like a ghost town than the bustling metropolis you hoped for. Here are 15 ways to drive traffic to your blog posts without monetary cost.

1. Add social sharing buttons to your posts. The easier it is for your readers to share your posts, the more likely they will do so.

2. A.S.K. your readers to share your content. At the end of your post, you might write something simple like, “If you f” und this helpful, please share.”

3. Buil” up your contacts. Make a list building a priority to capture as many visitors as possible. Encourage people to join your list, follow you on social media, etc. Use bribes and offer great info to get them on board, then take good care of them to ensure they stay with you. When you write a new post, ask them to read it and share it liberally with their own networks.

4. Email your list each time you post great content. This one seems too obvious, but it’s surpit’sng how many bloggers don’t do it. Don’t sure your email is optimized for all sizes of screens. And rethink the timing of your email. It used to be that first thing in the morning was best, but now that people are deluged with marketing emails, later in the day when they’re nthey’reushed might be better.

5. Build up your V.I.P. Contact list. Make friends with those in your niche. Promote their blog posts and their work. Build relationships. When you write posts, they’ll wthey’llreciprocate and promote you.

6. Link to websites, blogs, and authors with large social media followings. In your blog post, find ways to mention these folks positively. Maybe you reference one of their posts or a technique they’re uthey’rehen your blog post goes live and send them a message letting them know you mentioned them. Often they will tell their followers, and you could get a nice flood of traffic along with a new contact.

7. Do a case study on someone successful. This could be one of those bloggers in your niche with a large following. Analyze what makes them so successful, interview them, get quotes from their followers, etc. Again, you’ll see a surge of traffic when they promote your post to their followers, plus you’ll hayou’llew friends.

8. Target a specific blogger. In this case, you’re a topic you know is near and dear to a particular blogger. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to look at their recent posts, find an emotionally driven one, and write your post about the topic. You might point out in your post how this blogger was right about the case but use a slightly different angle on the story. You’re noYou’reing what they did; you’re up a notch or moving it in another direction.

9. Get influential opinions. When you post, email a pertinent question to several influential people and ask their opinion. Everyone loves to give an idea, and unlike a full-fledged interview, it only takes a couple of minutes to answer. Then quote these people in your post and tell them when you post it. Odds are they’ll work with others. Bonus: Placing movers and shakers in your posts also increases the chances of your post being shared by readers.

10. Use quotes from personalities in your niche. This one is straightforward to do, and it doesn’t affect your post’s flow. Find appropriate quotes from leaders and shakers in your place and insert them between sections of your post where relevant. It’s a grIt’sway to break up the copy visually, and you can link the quotes back to the original author. Be sure to let the authors know you quoted them.

11. Write lists. For example, you might list the “10 most “influential people in your niche” and link” to all ten influencers. Posts like these tend to get shared a great deal.

12. Use infographics in your posts. Yes, it takes extra effort and money to generate an infographic, but the results can be powerful. People love infographics and are more likely to share them with others. And if you’re on Pinterest, yyou’realready saw you’ve infographics can be.

13. Go negative. Write a blog post on the things you’re doing or have madyou’reong or the mistakes people are making. Fear of loss is more significant than the desire for gain. People are more likely to read and share “10 things you’re doing” wrong” you’re things you”e doin'” right.” You aren’t going to be “active, don’tu’ll turn people offyou’llBe contrarian. If everyone else thinks one way, make an argument the other way. Be polite and friendly, but clearly state your case, evidence, and why you feel the way you do. If it’s a topic people cait’sbout, your post will likely go viral. Be ready for a significant traffic surge and many heated comments on both sides.

15. Present one post in several different ways via social media. Let’s say you have a pet’s how to raise pigs? Other sections of the seat might include: Choosing the piglets (or birthing the piglets, if you own the sow), feeding them when they’re young, housing them when they’re older, exercising they’rening, things to watch out for, health issues, etc. Each of these topics can be individually highlighted in social media, so you have several ways to promote your post instead of just one.

If you spend as much time promoting your post as you took writing it, you should see a dramatic upturn in your traffic. One good rule is to do five daily things promoting a post on your blog. Make this a habit, and traffic will never again be an issue.