Students Of Success

Many marketers and product developers make a disastrous mistake:
They develop and sell products that nobody wants.

This is usually how it goes: The product developer starts
programming software or writing a book, just because he is
interested in the subject, without looking at the market. Then
once the product is ready, he starts promoting it, just to find
out he can make no sales.

There must be a better way. Let’s look at how it should be done
instead.

You should always create a product that solves a problem. The
problem has to be serious enough for people to want to pay for a
solution to their problem. Good examples are: People who are
overweight are willing to pay for a solution to that problem.
People who suspects that their husband or wife is cheating on
them are willing to pay to find out. People who can save a lot
of time by automating a time-consuming task are willing to pay
for the saved time.

So here are the simple steps to creating a successful product:

1. Identify a common problem There are many problems that need
to be solved in this world. The problem has to be a common one,
so that enough people need a solution to this problem. And the
problem has to be important enough so that people are willing to
pay for a solution

2. Provide a solution to the problem This is the product
development phase. You have to solve a product that actually
solves the problem that these people are experiencing.

3. Find people experiencing the problem This simply means that
you need targeted advertising. Where to find your target
audience will depend on the specific problem. Maybe you will
find them on search engines. Make sure that your keywords are
very specifically targeted at those who experience the problem
you want to solve. Or maybe you can find your target audience in
certain communities, such as online forums or self help groups.

4. Prove that your solution works Once you have found your
target audience, they will only be willing to buy your solution
once you prove to them that your solution actually works. The
proof can be social proof (such as testimonials), or it can
consist of examples of the results. If you are selling software
that removes red eyes from photos, the proof can consist of
before and after pictures.

That is really all there is to it. Follow the simple steps as
outlined above and your product is a guaranteed success.

The Before and After Scenario is one of the
oldest, and best, methods used by advertisers and copywriters.
And why not? It works because it paints a vivid portrait for
your prospect of how he can realize a major change in his life.

A “Before-Scenario” depicts a person whose circumstances are
much like that of your targeted prospect: overweight, broke,
stuck in a dead-end job, bald or what have you. This is a person
your targeted prospect can identify with because he or she
languishes under the very same circumstances.

Then you present an “After-Scenario” depicting one of your
satisfied customers who is delighted with the changes your
product or service has brought about. She is now fit and trim
(and has the requisite bathing suit pictures to prove it), they
now has enough money to live the life they always dreamed about,
or he now has a full head of hair and is irresistible to the
opposite sex.

The simple truth is that now matter how familiar we are with
this kind of advertising, it still works because the targeted
prospect identifies with your Before-Scenario and strongly wants
to escape from those circumstances. And the After-Scenario
offers the prospect the very life he or she wants to escape to.

But at times the very familiarity of this formula may simply get
old in your market. Nevertheless, there are a few ways to get
even more mileage out of this old advertising workhorse by
adding a few twists:

1. Create A “Virtual” After-Scenario. Sometimes you may
not want to use a real person’s situation, but want your reader
to visualize his or her own Before and After Scenario.

You do this by injecting a lot of emotion into the problem your
product or service is designed to solve.

Suppose your company provides auto financing for people with
poor credit. You could create a Before-Scenario by vividly
describing the embarrassment of driving an old, dilapidated car.
Remind the prospect of the constant fear of driving a car that
could break down on a remote highway late at night or on a busy
highway in the middle of rush hour traffic. You could also, stir
up the humiliation of being turned down for financing from
traditional lenders.

Then you paint a second, emotional-filled scene of your prospect
driving an attractive, dependable car, after being treated with
dignity and respect by your finance officers. Paint an emotional
picture of your prospect being seen by friends and neighbors
driving this nice looking, late model car and having the peace
of mind that the monthly payments are reasonable and that the
car is in very good working order.

2. Depict a Negative After Scenario. Sometimes you have
to educate your prospect about why buying your competitors’
cheaper product is more costly in the long run. Here is an
example, written by Dan Kennedy, to sell an ordinary product
like shoes: “…but if you insist on just wearing any old pair
of ordinary shoes, here’s what you have to look forward to in
your so-called golden years; fallen arches…intense lower back
pain…even pain from just walking around a shopping mall!
You’ll be asking your friends to slow down so you can keep up.
You’ll be futilely soaking your feet at night like some old
fuddy-duddy. You may even need pain pills just to get to sleep.”

With a Negative After-Scenario, you are projecting an
undesirable future resulting from your prospect’s shortsighted
attempt to save a little money now by buying an inferior
product, or by not spending any money at all to solve a known
problem while there is still time.

3. A Back-Story Scenario. This Before and After formula
is not seen by your reader, but is sketched out for you the
writer and marketer. Even if I am writing copy that follows a
different format, I will often write out a before and after
comparison for my own use when I begin my work. This enables me
to clearly see the benefits the prospects are seeking in the
form of specific changes they want to experience in their lives.

I want to know what the prospect is dissatisfied with now, and
how intensely that dissatisfaction feels. I also want to know
how the prospect wants to feel in the future and what changes
must take place in order to achieve that desired state and the
emotions that will come with it.

Let’s face it, I don’t want to overlook a single benefit that my
readers might be seeking. And without my own draft version of a
before-after sketch, I might miss the very benefit that will
trigger the most response.

Every worthwhile product or service helps to bring about a
desired change. And let’s face it, all of us, regardless of what
we sell, are really in the business of selling change. A person
who is satisfied with the status quo is not a prospect, and will
never be a customer. But when that person is ready for a change,
and has become dissatisfied with the way things are right now, a
strong Before and After Scenario can show them the way to find
that change.

COPYRIGHT © 2005, Charles Brown

In a recent article, Increase Your Income with an Organized
Marketing Plan, I talked about how to organize your daily
marketing tasks so that you could be more efficient in your
marketing, save time, and make more money.

There are additional ways that you can organize yourself so that
your are more effective.

One major advantage of organizing your self is that you can save
time. And as the old adage says, “Time is money”. If your
information is scattered all over the place it is hard to find
and you will waste time looking for it.

It is easy to join several programs, especially if you start
joining traffic exchanges or safe lists. Keeping track of their
information can be a real chore. Most of them will send you an
email. You can print out the emails and file them. You can also
save all the emails in a folder. While it is a good idea to do
both of these, it will take time to look up the information
later.

Create a file where you can store all of the information from
the email in one place. This file could be made with a word
processor, a spreadsheet, or a database program such as Access.
Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

With a word processor you have everything in one file that is
easy to scan. However, you should alphabetize the entries as you
enter them.

With a spreadsheet you can have one line per program and easily
sort them by program name, program type, or date. Sometimes when
you save a URL in a cell the cell looks strange.

A data base program takes a little longer to set up, but once
done you have nice fields with labels for each piece of
information.

Use whatever is best for you or what you are most familiar with.
The point is to organize them for easy and speedy access. Store
the file where you can get to it easy and fast.

For each program I suggest that you store at least the name of
program, login URL, referral URL, your user name, your password,
date you joined the program, type of program, and cost. You may
also want to store your email address used for the program,
program contact email, how you found the program (especially if
u joined from a portal), and some notes on the program.

As you join programs you will have costs and income. Generally
these costs are tax deductible and the income may have to be
reported. Also, you will want to know if you are making or
losing money. This is another thing to track.

Tracking expenses and income can be as simple or complicated as
you want it to be. A spreadsheet is one of the simplest ways.
Set up columns for date, program name, cost amount, income
amount, and source. The source would be PayPal, ClickBank,
check, credit card, etc.

Once the spreadsheet is set up you can enter the information as
it occurs of gather and enter it monthly.

More complicated ways to save your financial information is by
using an accounting program. The advantage of an accounting
program is you can get some very nice reports from them.

Your downloads can also become very hard to find after a while.
It is easy to vaguely remember downloading an ebook last month
and then spend a lot of time trying to find it on your computer.

A spreadsheet or database program will work great for storing
this information. I store name of the ebook or software, whether
it is an ebook or software, author, source (usually a url), path
on my computer where the file is found and the name of the file,
cost (if any), whether I have any rights, such as resell rights
or giveaway rights, whether it is brandable, whether or not I
have printed the book, and a brief description. You may also
want a category field so that you can group related items.

These 3 lists, plus the daily task list mentioned in my previous
article, are the main lists that I keep. If you would like a
copy of the previous article send an email to
organize@profits-for-life.com or visit
http://www.the-home-business-center.com/articles.php.

You may have additional things to want to track.

How you organize your lists is up to you. There is no correct or
incorrect way. There may be better and worse ways, however this
is also dependent on what software you have and what you like to
use best.

The point is, just organize. In the long run you will save
yourself a tremendous amount of time and frustration. The
Internet is huge, so don’t get lost in it.

If you are just starting out this may seem like a waste of time
to you. However, now is the best time to start. It is easiest to
organize when you have only a little information to organize.
Later you will be very thankful that you took the time to do it.

Be flexible. As time goes on you may discover that you want to
change how you are organizing. Go ahead and make the change.
Fine-tune it so that it works for you. The goal is to have the
information that you want and need in one easy to use place when
you want it.

Sometimes computer can be ornery. They can crash when you don’t
expect it and always at a very inconvenient time. So back up
your files on a regular basis. Back them to a disk, a CD, your
hosting service, some free web space, or whatever else you can.
Backing up can save you the frustrating of having to start all
over again if you have a system problem.

The Internet can be a fun and exciting place. It will be even
more fun if you are organized. It can also be a profitable
place. The less time you spend looking for information the more
time you will have for your marketing efforts, which will mean
more income for you.

Have you ever thought about kids at age 4 or so, ask
questions all day long about everything and anything.
But then, years pass and where did the questions go?

Why after the youth do the questions go? Is it because
of knowledge or is it because of lack of interest? What
do you think?

What questions do you ask yourself about your life and
about your purpose and about your goals whether they
be about business or personal aspects?

Do your questions look something like this?

Who am I? Where am I going? Why do I exist? What
what I put on Earth for? Is there more to my life then
just getting up and going to bed and going to work and
going to?

What about my finances? Was I put here to be rich and
if so, where is the money? Do I play the lottery expecting
to win or working hard at work or at taking control of my
own destiny with working on your own business. Or, what
about this… Since I have all the money in the world, why
am I not happy and content?

What about social and fun? Do you have fun and laugh and
do you quesion what fun would be in your life? Have you
settled into a routine that is just that of mere existence and
your friends are laughing and having fun?

Are you a half full or half empty person that looks at the positive
or negative side of life? Who do you like to hang around… Positive
or Negative friends?

What about your physical nature? Are you healthy and fit? Or
if not, what do you want to be or look like different then you are
now? Are you eating right, sleeping well, exercising every day?

What about your emotions? Yeh, they all have questions too..
Do you have intimate relationships? Do you share and care with
others? Do you have friends that care and help you when you are
in need? Do you reach out and help others?

See, the subject was about questions. The purpose is to leave
enough space and pondering for what the questions might have
you ask and more of yourself.

Here is another question that I often ask especially when I go to
the grocery store and at the check out.. “how can they write any
thing new about weight loss, beauty for skin, hair stuff”? There is
an amazing thing, notice when you go to the check outs that there
is something in almost every magazine about how to loose pounds
or inches.

And, the last area of question would be what that of your spiritual
questions and growth areas? Do you spend time getting in touch
of the real purpose of your existence? Have you defined your real
purpose on being here?

So, what would be the answer to any or all of the above questions?
Would they not have to be different for each one of us. Why? Well,
we are all unique individuals right down to our fingerprints, personalities
experiences, and life as it is.

Do we all share a commonality? It is my belief that the answer is yes.

What would that be, well my opinion is that we are all seeking
truth fulfillment and our higher purpose for existence and servitude.

About the Author
Judy LaMont, R.N. MA.Sec Ed. is an Internet Consultant
who shows Entrepreneurs how start their online home-based
businesses in very easy simple steps. She resides in Orlando, Fl.
and is well known for her Internet knowledge and dedication to
helping people. Judy can be reached at support@bizwizzle.com;
http://www.bizwizzle.com; or at 407-832-1996.

We are looking for genuine buyers for orthopedic instruments
throughout the globe….

Making the financial transition from paid employment to earning a living on your own is probably the single biggest challenge facing many would be entrepreneurs. For most, the mere thought of financial insecurity holds them back from even trying. But if you have the vision, persistence and the ability to respond to market feedback the financial rewards will soon follow.

Two ways to make the transition.

There are essentially two main ways that you can make the financial transition.

1. Establish a revenue stream before you quit your job.

2. Quit your job and then build a revenue stream before your start-up capital runs out!

Establish a revenue stream before you quit your job.

Establishing a revenue stream whilst you continue to work, for most people is probably the more sensible of the two options.

The advantage of this approach is that it gives you the freedom to try things out at your own pace to see if there is a market for your pro or service before you actually cut off your regular income stream from your job.

A disadvantage of this approach is that it is often hard to devote the time necessary to get your business up and running particularly if you have a demanding full time job. Another slightly less obvious disadvantage is that the comfort of a regular income may make you less prepared to take the risks necessary to make your business succeed.

Quit your job and build a revenue stream before your start-up capital runs out!*

Now this is the riskier of the two strategies and definitely not for the faint hearted!

The advantage of this approach is that you have all your time to dedicate to your new venture. Another bonus is the uncomfortable fact that you don’t have a regular income stream yet. It’s incredible what you can achieve in life when you place you self in a position where you absolutely must succeed. This fact alone, if channelled effectively can rapidly propel you towards the achievement of your goal!

A disadvantage of taking this approach is the fact that it can put you under extreme financial pressure which can then impact upon the other areas of your life as well as the lives of any of your dependants. It could even mean depleting all you capital creating a need to return to paid employment.

The approach I took to set up my Coaching Business…

In setting up my own coaching business I decided to take the later of the two options. I gave up my ridiculously well paid corporate consulting job so I could dedicate all my energies into establishing a successful coaching business.

What I personally like about this approach is the uncomfortable feeling you get when you start eating into your start-up capital whether it be savings, borrowings or venture capital. This feeling has compelled many an entrepreneur to push forward rapidly and make breakthroughs that they would not have been able to achieve had they kept their job.

So which approach should you take?

This a question that only you can answer. Give deep consideration to how you feel about both approaches and determine which one is more suitable for you given your current circumstances. It is also important to consider the type of business that will satisfy your entrepreneurial needs. This may also impact upon your ultimate decision.

Regardless of your which approach you take, there is one thing that is for certain; if your will is strong enough and your idea compelling enough you will find a way!

* Financial Health Warning: if you do decide to take this approach please consult with your financial adviser first.

Damien Senn is a Life and Business Coach as well as a qualified Chartered Accountant. He helps people create compelling futures.

He is the author of the ‘Senn-Sational Success Journal’ and has developed his own coaching model called the ‘Senn-Sational Success System’.

For your free download ‘101 things to do before you die’ please click the following link: http://www.senn-sational.com/freeresources.htm

One of the most serious threats to your organization is the lack of visibility. If your target market does not recognize you, you will not succeed. It is a basic marketing principle.

But how does your organization get access to this vital visibility? There are many viable alternatives, depending on the size of your institution and the goals you have in mind. There are many costs involved in obtaining visibility, but there are some inexpensive ways to enhance your brand name.

The most expensive is buying advertising space. Depending on your desired reach, television, radio, and newspaper are among the most effective. The best spots cost the most, but you may consider remnant space. This is airtime or print ad space that has not yet sold or is hidden in areas and times. It is less expensive, but may not be worth the money if not seen of heard.

For the money, direct mail is quite possibly the best alternative. There are many ways to obtain mailing lists, and they range in cost depending on the quality of information. Direct mail brings great results and it is easy to track your efforts.

Creativity is the key to direct mail. You must differentiate your organization for the others to have success. By placing a logo or icon on your address labels, you will appeal to your target market and they will associate with your cause.

Visibility does not happen overnight, but being seen time and time again will increase your chances. You customer will recall seeing your logo when they least suspect it.

As with anything, obtaining visibility takes time. And you must be patient. Affixing a visible address label identifying your organization may be the most cost-effective solution for your ongoing marketing efforts.

Robb Ksiazek is a successful author and publisher for http://www.checks-4u.com/Address_Labels.htm. He has researched and written hundreds of articles and can simplify your online search by recommending merchants for the best value and selections in business or personal checks, address labels, rubber stamps and envelopes.

Preparation for a firm’s event, particularly Around London, could be a tricky, and time consuming procedure if your work are not organised, and just do not have the right resources near. From appointing bar people, to making sure cleaning staff are prepared to clear up the venue, organising belly dancers, champagne, it might often all incredibly speedily become unruly.

And it is all about your firm’s workforce. Please do not forget that for one minute. Whilst using a delightful waterfall of Verve Cliquot falling from your business’s corporate event entry might be the firm’s suggestion of workforce. event heaven, if people haven’t say cater to diabetics then your company are in all probability going to be in difficulty! Take care to make certain that every one of your personnel are content, their individual desires are under control, and your business can be well on the way to co-ordinating an awesome event. Make certain the company plan, coordinate and plan again.

Corporate event is necessary to the smooth running of your company’s shindig and you really cannot do too much here. It’s always best to make certain transport is taken care of and so when the time comes to disappear the corporate gathering, your visitors are not floundering outside struggling to grab coaches to get home. Preperation might often be a challenge if your work are arranging a corporate event for a large number of workers, therefore it may be an idea to gain some assistance from skilled specialists if your work force are unfamiliar with doing this sort of thing! If you’re planning corporate events, london is a good place for a party.

Pick and choose the function venue informatively. Should most of the company’s employees live in south west of the capital, hiring a place in north of the capital will probably not be the greatest idea, even if it’s the most pleasing Work events function venue Around the whole world. Do not always make things complicated for workers when they don’t have to be. Your company can get lots of corporate event planners and contractors with Hardens Employee events.

Around the city of London Hardens have an online directory of caterers, mobile discos, fancy dress hire, cakes, you name it, you’ll be able to uncover nearly every type of Work celebration service, allowing the company’s get together go with a massive bang!

The other day, someone asked me what it’s like to be a work at home mom. I just blinked back at him, my mind blank. How could I possibly describe life as a work at home mom? Only someone who’s lived it can understand the juggling act it requires.

Work at home moms have the usual responsibilities of being a mom - folding laundry, scheduling doctor’s appointments, helping with homework, reading bedtime stories, and basically being on call 24-hours a day. In addition, there is the conundrum of how to find time to work and answer emails, do networking, update bookkeeping, make phone calls, and more. And, it must fit into a 24 hour day. So, how do we do it? How do we stay sane in the chaos?

It’s disclaimer time. I am not the person to give advice on sanity. I’m pretty sure I filed away my sanity last year when I did taxes. I have my days where I say “That’s it! I’m getting a regular job!” But, then I talk to my wonderful friend who reminds me of the reality of the real world — the traffic, the boss who won’t let me go to my son’s field trip, and the fact that I’d probably have to buy pantyhose again. She manages to slap some sense back into me every time. I hate pantyhose.

Working from home the last few years, I’ve picked up a few handy tips. They aren’t magic beans, that, when planted, will grow you a nanny and a housekeeper, but they can help you to enjoy being a work at home mom just a little bit more.

10. Freezer Cooking! This is my personal life-saver. Spend one day during the week or one day each month assembling meals and your reward is a freezer filled with food. Then, when it’s time to make dinner, just grab a healthful, inexpensive meal from your freezer, heat it up and serve. Think about it. Next time you cook dinner, quadruple the recipe and put what you don’t eat into the freezer for later. Presto! Magic food will appear in your freezer the next time you need it.

9. Pay it Forward- By helping others, it reminds us that many of our own problems are much smaller than they appear. Whether you donate money, give blood, or volunteer your time, you are setting a beautiful example for your children. Involve your older kids and make volunteering a family activity.

8. Stay Healthy - Dust off your rollerblades, strap a pillow across your bottom and hit the pavement. Or surprise your children and the dog with a nice long walk.

7. Organize, organize, organize! If you’re spending hours each week sorting through piles of paper, looking for receipts or “to do” lists, that is wasted time and unnecessary frustration. Sweep the Magic 8 ball, the empty jar of peanuts, the Slinky, and the Snickers wrapper off your desk right now. You can do it!

6. Save Money - As Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard’s Almanac “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Work at home moms know how hard it can be to earn a penny. So, do everything you can to save those hard-earned cents.

5. Time Management - Don’t let Time Stealers make you work any longer than you need to. When you’re sitting in front of your computer or talking on the phone, that is time away from your children. Always remember your “why”. WHY are you working from home? If the reason is to spend more time with your kids, then figure out how to make that happen!

4. Learn and Learn some More! - Find a mentor or someone who you like the way they handle their business. Network with other moms who are successful, take online classes, or hire a coach. Invest in yourself and you’ll invest in your business.

3. Play with your Kids - Whether you sit down to play a board game, or drive Hot Wheels around the carpet, there’s always fun to be had. If you need some ideas, check out http://www.ShowKidsTheFun.com

2. Keep your sense of humor. Laugh every day! Turn off your computer, put in your copy of The Village People “YMCA” (I know you have one) and Dance! Dance! Dance!
and the number one way to stay sane as a Work at Home Mom …..

1. Always remember “The days are long, but the years are short.” Although it oftentimes feels like the days drag by as a work at home mom, remember that the years are flying by. It’s that reminder that keeps me grounded on days when the projects are heavy and the beach is calling.

If you’re looking for me, you can find me at the beach!

Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane Mom behind http://www.showmomthemoney.com - helping WAHMs Succeed. If you want to be a successful and mostly-sane work at home mom, too, don’t miss Nicole’s free tutorial at http://www.showmomthemoney.com/free-tutorial.htm

If you’re paying a copywriter to do a job, you may not care about keeping them happy. On the other hand, if they are happy, they’ll do a better job and work more efficiently, which will help keep the price down.
So how can you help your copywriter to produce excellent work - and keep them happy into the bargain?

Plan ahead

Try to build at least some time into the project for the writing.

The brief

Give your copywriter a good brief, and they’ll be off to a flying start. Supply as much background material as you can. The brief which says “there’s lots of information on our website” usually starts the alarm bells ringing. It’s amazing how few people in business have really looked at their websites and analysed how little information is there.

You may not have much information, however, and you may employing a writer so that they can go and find it - perhaps by interviewing product managers or chief executives. That’s fair enough. But there are still plenty of things you should try to include in the brief - or at least find answers if the writer queries them.

This should include a guide to your marketing positioning, your brand and so on. Who are your customers / clients? What makes them buy? What messages do you need to get across?
If possible, dig out product / service descriptions, reports, whatever you can find. Most copywriters like to get as much information as possible: they can sift through it, that’s their job.
The other dreaded bugbear, however, is the PowerPoint presentation. These usually contain nothing. They might be useful in sales, because there’s someone there talking over the slides. But for copywriters, they are usually next to useless.
The same goes for mission statements. Don’t bother.

Ask people to respond

If the copywriter needs to talk to people in your company, but they never respond to phone calls or answer emails, things can get a bit frustrating. In fact, the job can stall.

Approvals

When you get the copy, remember to look at the bigger picture. Bear in mind that the copywriter is pitching this material for your customers and clients - not your sales force or managing director. The customers are the ones that really count. The language has to be what they will respond to. That’s part of the reason to employ a copywriter - they understand this stuff.
The copy will usually need tweaking and refining. This is normal. Make sure the core messages are right first, before getting too engrossed in sentence structure. When it’s time to give amends to the writer, try to make them co-ordinated. Ten conflicting set of track changes in a word-processor file will spoil anyone’s day.

Give it back

One of the most common mistakes in marketing is to allow all-and-sundry to make last minute changes to the copy, without ever consulting the writer. Horrible sentences get shoved in regardless. The tone of voice is wrecked. All that care taken polishing the flow and creating a coherent sales message is wasted - because someone decides to cut and paste a sentence without even re-reading the piece as a whole. You’ve paid a writer - so if at all possible, get them to have a final read through.

Pay up

Like everyone else, copywriters like to get paid for their work. On time, if at all possible.

Keep the copywriter informed

If you really want to keep your copywriter happy, send them a copy of the finished product, if it’s a brochure for example, or at least a little message that the website is live. Give praise where it’s due. Give feedback, if that’s more relevant.

Keep it coming

More work would be nice. Lots more lovely work.

UK copywriter and journalist Simon Townley can be contacted through http://www.simontownley.co.uk. You are welcome to re-use this article on your website providing you don’t change it, you include my byline and you link to my website.