Internet and Businesses Articles

Before I identify who should be considering setting up a subscription website, it would be a good idea to define exactly what a subscription website is.

There are two inter-changeable terms; a subscription website and membership website. Most people don't differentiate between the two.

A subscription or membership website is a site which has a password protected member area. Visitors to the site have to register their details and usually make a payment before being issued with a password. The password gives them access to a member-only content. The content is usually text articles, but it can be applications, digital downloads or streamed video and audio clips.

In the traditional print world the subscription website can be compared to a specialist newsletter or magazine. But the internet has some major advantages over print. There are almost zero distribution costs, they can attract a global audience, they can be run from anywhere in the world, content can be archived in a searchable format and most importantly members are able to interact with one another creating a strong sense of community.

These advantages open up subscription websites to a huge number of individuals and organisations who otherwise would not be able to cost effectively sell subscriptions and distribute their information. A site with as few as 500 members can provide a good income for the editor.

Examples of individuals and groups who should consider the online subscription website opportunity are:

• Authors
• Publishers
• Consultants
• Celebrities
• Marketing Experts
• Musicians
• Hobbyists
• Public Speakers
• Personal Coaches
• Sports Coaches
• Business Owners
• Program and Course Developers
• Teachers/ Trainers
• Directors/Producers
• Talent Agents
• Fan Clubs
• Associations/Societies
• Songwriters
• Writers/Journalists/Editors
• Church Groups
• Sports Clubs
• Charities
• Alumni Associations

If you consider that there are over 50 million active blogs on the internet, many of these have a strong and loyal followings......... but they are making very little money from advertising. These are ideal candidates to convert to a subscription website so that they can start earning a proper living from their expertise.

Remember everybody has knowledge and expertise that is valuable to somebody.

Miles Galliford is the co-founder of SubHub http://www.subhub.com . He has been on the board of many successful internet companies since 1998. SubHub provides everything that an individual or organisation needs, from the technology platform to the know-how, to setup, run and grow a successful subscription website business. To read more articles about subscription website publishing, please visit http://www.subhub.com .

This article has no fluff, it's BS free and if you are offended by hard nosed truth, do not read any further. This article will show you how to write a book that makes the Clickbank Bestseller list, no if's or but's about it, it just is.

So what is the best way to write a Clickbank best seller?

What is the one thing buyers want to read about online at just about any cost? The answer is pretty simple really and you will kick yourself for not thinking about this before hand, but what people really want to read about in an ebook is....

HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH THEIR HOBBIES!

That's right. People want to know how to make money with their hobbies. Everyone wants to be able to turn their hobbies into a full time income or even get them to pay for themselves. Some people have really expensive hobbies and would pay quite a lot of money to find out how they could off set the costs of their hobby some how.

People also love the idea of being able to go to work everyday doing something they love. Making money with what they love doing in their spare time is something these people will pay through the nose to find out how to do and you can cash in on that with your own ebook.

Here is an example Clickbank product that targets the Golf market:
http://www.golfmoney.com

Is this product a Clickbank bestseller? You better believe it is. Would this sort of idea work for any hobby or passion? You better believe it again. These books will sell and sell like hot cakes no matter what the market or what economic conditions are in play. This is a timeless business idea.

Now all you have to do is write the ebook, which I will talk about in part two of this article.

Six Figures In Six Months: Learn How To Turn Small Niche Information Products Into A Six Figure Income Online

Go to: http://www.profitableniches.net

Sign Up To My Free E Course Above To Learn How To Create Your Own Empire Of Small Niche Information Products Quickly And Easily

In this article, I'm going to tell you an idea for finding a profitable niche that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. Most internet marketers tell you to find a subject that you love or are passionate about, but here's what I think. I take the advice of "sell what you love" with a grain of salt. While I have lots of passions, some I wouldn't want to make money from.

For example, while I've spent about 11 years troubleshooting computer problems, there's no way I want to use those troubleshooting skills online in some way. It would still be hourly labor and it's labor-intensive work. A better solution would be for me to sell computer-related infoproducts to help people fix their own computer problems, if they're inclined to do so.

If you think of yourself as a marketer rather than as someone who sells xyz product, you can find a niche that is potentially profitable ( use http://www.nichebot.com which tells you potential profitability) and learn what you don't know about it.

Here's another underutilized source for niche ideas: If you have any ebook collections, I think they're a goldmine, and not for the reasons people think. If you look at the ones that include special reports-Take for example Free to Sell-If you don't have it, I'm sure you'll find it for $2 on Ebay. There is the Ebusiness Encyclopedia which has dozens of reports you can resell. Now these reports may be outdated but they give you dozens of potential niche market ideas.

Plus you're allowed to take the reports that are there and add to them. And you can do your research right on the web to expand this information into an ebook.

Some examples:

Catering Business

Used CD & Video Store

Child Care Business

Local Tour Operator

Show & Seminar Promotions

Limousine Service

Janitorial Contracting Business

Auto Detailing Business

Party Plan Sales (350 searches for how to be a party planner on Overture)

Bed & Breakfast (487 people searched for how to start a Bed & Breakfast on Overture last month)

Okay those are all business-related, but that's because I took them from only one of the 20 report collections. Despite how outdated these reports may be, there are hundreds of people searching for information on these businesses on Overture alone. I suspect that's because the person(s) who wrote these reports knew this information was in demand at the time, and it still is!

I hope that helps you come up with your some potential niche ideas to start with. Then you can narrow it down to the ones that interest you the most. In my mind, coming up with a niche idea isn't as hard as choosing one and getting started.

Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 270 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com . Copyright (c) 2006 Donna Knight.

It all started with the Mark Joyner Farewell Package which is affectionately (or disaffectionately in some cases) known as the MJFP. This was the first time I know of where someone sold source code worth many thousands of dollars that had been successfully used to run million-dollar websites. Since then, I have seen a couple dozen similar sales of source code, and you can be sure you will see more of these in the future.

WHY DO THEY DO IT?
First of all, there are multiple reasons why someone would want to sell their source code, including:

* They need funding for a project.
* They're going out of business and won't be using it anymore.
* They spent $100,000 to get it programmed and would like to save someone else money and time.
* They are using a new version of the source code but the old source code is fully functional, especially for smaller sites.
* For a few people, such as Jeremy Burns, selling private label source code has become a business in and of itself.

WHAT TYPES OF SOURCE CODE
The types of source code you can buy include website scripts and software programs. Some people will refer to eBooks as source code but I don't consider them to be. By source code, I'm referring to desktop or website programming or code.

The source code sometimes is for private use only. Sometimes it comes with resale rights, master resale rights, private label resale rights and even master private label resale rights. Private label resale rights means you have the right to do whatever you want with it, including resell it under your own name. But you cannot sell it with private label rights. Master private label resale rights means you can offer the source code with private label resale rights.

Incidently, the MJFP was the most expensive private label source code sale I've seen and it only came with private label rights. You could not resell the source code itself. However, it was also the most valuable in terms of how much was paid for the programming behind it and the value of the non-source- code products.

SKILLS YOU NEED
HTML - If you don't know anything about HTML, you probably should NOT buy private label source code. Not only will you be lost in terms of what to do with it, but you won't be able to give useful instructions to a programmer or webmaster about what to do with it. Most of the source code buyers I've read complaints from knew nothing about HTML and didn't even know where to start when it came to putting the code to use.

One exception to this is that I have seen a few sales where you only need to know how to edit a sales page, and you don't have to have experience installing scripts. This is a deal that practically anyone can benefit from.

SCRIPT INSTALLATION - The people who benefit most from these deals are people who know some HTML and who have some experience installing scripts. It is really not that hard to learn how to edit HTML and to install scripts. There are low cost books out there that can help you. If you know HTML but you don't know how to install scripts, it is usually not very expensive to hire someone to do this.

PROGRAMMING - You do NOT need to know programming to profit from private label source code. While I am an experienced website builder and script installer, I am NOT a programmer.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Always read the entire sales letter. In fact, read it a couple of times. I've bought quite a few source code packages, and I haven't seen any cases whatsoever where people were lied about what was required to get the source code working. The fact that bugs or missing data situations were rectified in many cases indicates to me that the seller was not trying to scam anyone. As a moderator of the MJFP forum, I saw all the complaints (and praise) about the package, so I got quite a bit of insight as to what people need to ask themselves before they buy source code. In many cases, people didn't pay attention to the part of the sales letter where it said you needed to hire someone to configure and install the source code.

Whether you should take advantage of a particular deal depends on your level of experience and the answers to the following questions:

- Does the code require additional work by a programmer to get it working? If yes, do you have money to hire a programmer? If not, are there additional non-source code products in the package that are worth the price of the package alone? If the answer to both is NO, then you should NOT buy this source code. It will be a waste of your money.

- If the source code works as is, does it come with installation instructions that a newbie can follow? Or do you need to be an experienced script installer to follow the instructions? If the source code doesn't include instructions, even an experienced script installer is taking a risk in buying it.

- Do they give information on programmers and/or script installers you can hire, if necessary?

- If the source code is expensive, is there a payment plan?

- Is there a refund policy? In most cases there are no refunds, so you should not buy unless you can honestly afford to.

- Are you spending your last dime hoping this will finally be the product that will make you rich?
If so, DON'T BUY! If you are that desperate, the last thing you need to do is spend money. You probably already have products you can sell to make money. Your problem is most likely that you haven't used what you already have. Well, now is the time.

WILL YOU NEED TO HIRE A PROGRAMMER?
If you want to add additional features to the source code, you will need to hire a programmer to do that. You can't do it on your own and, frankly, it is not practical to learn programming just so you can use a source code package you bought. One of the best programmers I've ever met said it took him 5 years to feel like he had a handle on programming. Do you think it's wise to buy something that takes you 5 years to put to use?

In cases where you will need to hire a programmer to get the source code working, you can hire one cheaply at places like Scriptlance.com and Rentacoder.com. Before you hire one, pay attention to the feedback they have. You should also ask to see work they've done.

CONCLUSION
There is no question most of the private label source code deals I've seen can be very profitable. They can save you hundreds and even thousands of dollars you would have to pay a programmer to custom program it for you. Plus there's no guarantee the programmer you hire won't hand you unusable garbage. These private label source code sales are usually fully working code that in some cases was used to run successful websites. However, you must go into these purchases with your eyes wide open.

I won't say "buyer beware" because that implies there are lots of scams, and so far I haven't seen them. I will say "Buyer be informed -- BEFORE you buy." That is the key to your satisfaction. If you are one of the many people who has bought stuff and never used it, then save your money and work on your motivation. This won't cost you anything and in the end it will save you lots of money, time and frustration. With the right motivation and the right private label source code, there is no question that you can be very profitable.

Donna Knight is a Computer Trainer and Website Promotion Specialist. She has built over 270 websites and helps new site owners promote their site cheaply. For tips that will help you save money and save time when marketing online, visit Internet Marketing Tools and Reviews blog at http://www.DonnaKnight.com. Copyright (c) 2006 Donna Knight.

I just fired my Internet design team and I think you should avoid the mistakes I made. So, as a public service, I’ll convey my lessons in an attempt to help you in your search.

I have been in advertising for over 35 years, but when my wife and I conceived a new online business, I needed help in producing the site. Sure I could create the basic screen shots and writ e the copy, but the HTML, PHP, or SQL, required was just a myriad of alphabet soup. So, being the savvy guy I am, I went surfing for a reliable Internet team to make the site happen. With so many to choose from, I figured that I could use a local group that had a nearby presence. Therefore, I did a citywide search and narrowed down the firms. After reviewing their sites, paying particular attention to their years of experience and portfolios, I called one for an interview.

Getting an answering machine should have been my first indication (warning sign 1) that disaster was looming. But I left a message anyway and waited for a return call. When it finally came, we agreed on meeting at his office. When I arrived, I realized it wasn’t exactly his office. It was an executive suite with a conference room that they rented to save money (warning sign 2). When the young man (around 30) showed up in shorts, I was a bit uneasy (warning sign 3) but gave him our background anyway. He appeared confident about being able to produce the site in a timely manner and sent my wife and I a fairly professional proposal via email. The timeframes and costs seemed appropriate and we decided to give his company a try.

After emailing him my screen shot for the front page, he sent a note asking if they could redesign it. Mind you, I have been a professional designer and consultant for over three decades. But I consented and received something we hated and I told him as much. He emailed back that he was insulted by our response and knew far more (at age 30) than us about web design. He changed our colors, which we finally acceded to, but we remained firm on the artwork. Eventually, we got what we wanted and moved forward. It was nearing Christmas, and work came through like molasses. His “guy” that was doing the majority of design took three weeks off for Christmas and our project sat dormant the entire time. (warning sign 4)

“Hey, it’s the holidays,” he explained. “What do you expect?”

I expected our site to be finished, which is what I paid for. After the first of the year, we asked for a meeting to discuss the problems getting it finished. He said he would give us a solid timeline and promised quicker responses. Until now, many of our emails went unanswered for days (warning sign 5). So we trusted his word and continued to try to get the site up and running. A few months flew by and the old ways returned. The timeline was now out the window and we were upset. The site didn’t work on my I-Mac using “Safari.” The owner told me that Mac’s are only 3.19% of the entire Internet, so why be concerned with that segment? (warning sign 6) I explained that the site should work on all platforms, as we first proposed, but he was adamant that we were wasting his time. His time? It was our site. I told him that there were over 8 million Mac users on the net and I wanted everyone of those potential customers. He told me I was foolish and I called him ignorant of Mac users, being he had never used one in his life. He was incensed by my accusation and told me so. The battle came to a head when my wife phoned him and he yelled and insulted her (final warning). Seconds after he hung up on her, I began my search for a new Internet group.

It wasn’t until later that we discovered he had been using a Russian working somewhere in the US to code the pages and all the support documentation was written in Russian. In researching on the net, I discovered and was told by others, that outsourcing to Russians to save money was a very common practice. I was never told that this was the case for our site and would not have used them if I had known in advance.

We have since chosen a firm that (a) has a physical office, (b) has the programmers on the premises, (c) has good communication skills, (d) will meet their obligations and fill your needs. My recommendation to you is to know who and where your site will be developed and have a contract that includes penalties for missed deadlines. Check references, interview at least three firms, and make sure they understand your needs. Finally, if they show up in shorts to your first meeting, don’t walk, but run, for the nearest exit.

Jeffrey Hauser’s latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages,” which can be viewed at http://www.poweradbook.com

He was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. Currently, he is the Marketing Director for thenurseschoice.com, a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.

Why do some people have 10’s or 100’s of products online, all contributing to a nice income, and others do not have any?

One of the biggest differences is that those individuals who have multiple products online have broken through a barrier in terms of being able to quickly innovate, think up, and create products that have value online.

Individuals with many products online understand that although some of the products may not be best sellers, there is a volume effect that comes from marketing many products.

They simply determine that they are going to create products that will help the online community, and then simply create them.

So where do you start?

What are your talents and what is your knowledge base? What do people need that you can offer? What information do you have that took a considerable amount of time to learn and you know that you would have paid to gain the information you have now, in the form of an ebook or audio, rather than the year or two it took to learn the information through trial and error?

Quickly brainstorm the different types of products you could create with your specialized information. Perhaps an ebook, or a CD, or an online video.

All are quite easy to produce, once you determine what information you want to give to others.

Write an outline for the information you have that you want to share with others. Write down a purpose statement for your information product. For every step in your outline, ask yourself, does this information add to the purpose I have created for this product? If it does, keep it in. If it does not, leave it out.

Simply get to work creating your product. Once you have your outline, simply start writing. Write the ebook or write what you are going to teach for the CD or video product. But the key here is to simply start writing. Probably the single greatest hold-back in product creation is not getting started, not doing the work.

So just get started!

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/ezrss.html

Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/listbuilding.htm

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

In this article, I will show you how to build a web directory in a few and easy to follow steps. Using these tips will not only save you a huge amount of time, but it will also reveal to you new ways to build a good quality site loved by net-surfers and search engines as well.

1). Purchase a domain name and a hosting plan. You can buy a domain name for as low as 2.50$ (e.g. http://domain.yourwebpoint.com). Choose your domain name carefully, according to what kind of key words do you target. For example, if you want to build a directory for garden lovers, you can call it 'My Green Corner' or 'Green Garden Directory'. If you want to build a general directory, you may want to use some top popular searched words on net. As for hosting, you can choose between free or paid hosts, each of them has advantages and disadvantages. Use the Google search tool to find out about everything. For example, just type on Google 'free hosting plan', and you will get almost 100 million results. Similarly, you can type 'top most searched words', and so on.

2). Choose a directory script. I personally recommend phplinkdirectory script (known as phpld). You can choose the free version 2, or you can pay a small fee for purchasing the later version 3. Installation is very easy and does not require major coding skills, and the support forum is excellent. Basically you just have to upload the script to your server and follow some simple installation steps.

3). Choose a template and customize it. There are many templates available for phpld v2 and v3, and with some minor Photoshop skills, you can tune your web directory to look exactly how you want it to look. There are also available some extra mods for phpld script, you just have to read their support forum. You don't need to know how to modify the script source, most of them are simple 'cut and paste' jobs. Find and install all the mods that you like, this will give to your directory a fresh look.

4). Add extra features like some web seo related tools from iweb, for example, a forum like phpBB or a blog like wordpress. All of them are free scripts just waiting for you to install and customize. Syndicate at least your blog, with your directory (you can use the RSS feeds from your blog or from anywhere else, and syndicate them to your website by adding a script like rss2html to it's code). This will add content and utility points to your directory.

5). Advertise your new web directory on forums, blogs, on everything that you can. Write articles. Build a newspaper and let people to come and subscribe for it. Start a link-exchange campaign. Make friends, do some reciprocal linking, but stay away from link farms. Submit your directory to other directories. Search engines like directories, because most of them are human-edited, and they will crawl your page, whenever they have the chance. Get into as many directories top as you can. If you have some money to invest in it, buy some links on top pages of other directories with higher PR, or apply for Google ad-words, so that people can hear about your new creation. Try to blend into the system. This step is called seo, short for search engine optimization, meaning the process of increasing the amount of visitors to a Web site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine.

6). Last, but not least, enjoy your work, enjoy this experience.

You may want to check my blog(http://blog.mygreencorner.com/) for more tips&tricks regarding seo or gardening. Webmaster of My Green Corner Web Directory (http://www.mygreencorner.com/), a very nice and free webdirectory. If you own a web directory, you may want to subscribe it to My Green Tommy Top Directories (http://www.mygreentommy.com/), a new top of web-directories.

"Come on Jeff, you talk about me creating multiple products like I can do it, when I haven't even created one!"

I hear this all the time when working with our members at BuildingYourIdealPractice.com. It's much like what Richard Bach, author of Illusions, has said about limitations:

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours to keep."

I really like to help people get past, and even burst through their limitations.

3 Important Principles to Keep in Mind

1. If you have an area of expertise, if you are an expert in something, then you can create products. All that a product is, simply, is your expertise in a sell-able form.

2. When you create and market your products, you turn the typical work model upside down. The typical work model is work once get paid, work once get paid, etc. The work model I learned from Tom Antion, my internet marketing and speaking mentor, is work once, get paid, paid, paid, paid, paid, paid.

3. When you create one product, keep this one work in mind - leverage. When you learn to leverage a product, you learn that one product can be several products. For example, when you write an e-book, -that e-book can also be a off-line book or booklet, an audio CD, a tele-seminar, part of a home study course, etc.

With these ideas in mind, get going on becoming a product machine.

Visit http://www.TheInternetArticleGuy.com for more leading edge tips and tools for writing articles that bring you prospects, publicity and profits. You can also subscribe to our monthly Article Writing & Marketing Tips Newsletter You are also invited to visit my Express-Start Article Writing Program for more information on the next article writing tele-seminar.

In my previous eBay auction tutorials, I talked about how someone - a lot of someones - are willing to pay for your knowledge, whether it's a soup recipe, bowling tips, or just about anything!

Selling ebooks means that you don't have to spend a lot of money for inventory, and you can "deliver" your ebooks via email immediately after someone purchases them, which is a very big selling point. What you do have to decide upon is the format in which you're going to create your ebooks. As I mentioned in my last eBay auction tutorial, using a word processor program such as Microsoft Word isn't a good choice, since this allows a buyer to share your ebook with anyone they choose - and that takes money out of your pocket!

A format that's worked well for me in the past is creating an ebook in Portable Document Format, or PDF. PDFs are created with one of several Adobe products, and PDFs are very professional looking. You can create the ebook itself in MS Word, and then use Adobe Professional to create a PDF from that document. The purchaser can then use a free program, Adobe Reader, to read the ebook.

Adobe Professional does have its drawbacks, the major one being that while you can set a password for the PDF, it's going to be the same password for all copies of a given PDF. For example, let's say you write an ebook packed with recipes. When you run Adobe Pro, you'll have the option to set a password, but it's going to be the same password for all copies (unless you compile it every time you sell a copy, which you don't want to do). I can tell you from experience that people share passwords from everything to their computer to bank accounts, so having a single password for your ebooks is just about like having none at all.

Adobe Professional is also a little pricey at $450. I'm definitely not dumping on it. Actually, I've got a copy on the computer I'm writing this article on! However, it comes with a great many features that most likely you'll never use for creating ebooks, so why pay for them?

Adobe Pro isn't a bad choice for selling your ebooks on eBay, and if you have a copy of it already, you may choose to use it! From my eBay ebook selling experience, you will need a more reasonably priced program that will allow you to use different passwords as well as potentially automating your entire process - and in my next eBay auction tutorial, I'll review that product's pros and cons for you. Until then, get started on your first ebook. I don't care if you write it in Notepad for now, just get started and give yourself a raise by selling on eBay!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also available!

Visit his blog and sign up for Cisco Certification Central, a daily newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice questions! A free 7-part course, "How To Pass The CCNA", is also available, and you can attend an in-person or online CCNA boot camp with The Bryant Advantage! http://www.thebryantadvantage.com/

In this article, I will tell you step by step exactly what to do to brainstorm an idea and create your very first information product online. If you have already created a product, this article is probably not for you. But if you have not….read on and discover the secrets to easily creating your very own information product.

1) You must first decide what that information product will be about, what it will teach the consumer. Perhaps you already have an idea, or you have a web site already. If you do, create your information product on a topic that accentuates what you already know, and complements your web site. If you have nothing already, think about what you are good at. What do you do better than most of your friends? Has anybody ever asked you to teach a class or made the comment ‘you are really good at that, where did you learn that?…..etc.? Those are great starting places.

2) Start small. Do not try to create a multi-visual multi-part information product on your very first attempt at an information product. It is far better to create a small quality product and give it away for free or for a nominal amount, and allow others to see the quality of your work, than to get in over your head and create a lower-quality product. By starting small, it will give you the confidence to create something bigger in the future. By trying to create something huge, you run the risk of not finishing your project, which is a shot at your self-confidence, which can affect your future productivity.

3) Now that you have an idea for what you can share, how can you best convey the knowledge? Is it easily conveyed in print form, as in a book or other reading material? Or would it be better suited to an interview, where someone would ask you leading questions, and you would answer their questions? For this type of information product, you might consider creating a CD containing your interview, or even a series of CDs that would teach your skill. Or is your skill set most easily shared with others by showing them how to do it, hands-on? In this case, you might want to consider doing a video or a video series. Simply have someone video you performing the skill you wish to teach.

4) Once you know your medium (book, audio, or video) begin an outline of your material. For either medium, create a master outline. This master outline will be a listing of all the topics you want to cover, for example, maybe 10 or 12 primary ideas that need to be conveyed. Next, brainstorm at least 5 sub-ideas that would be taught, shown, or demonstrated to fully explain each of your main topics.

5) Now that you have your outline, if you are writing a book, write a section (1-5 paragraphs) about each of your subtopics. Also write an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph for each of the subtopics and each of the main topics. If you are doing a CD with an interview, rephrase each of the subtopics and topics into questions, and jot down the ideas you want to convey in each of the sections or topics. Although you can write this out, when you actually do the interview you do not want to just read the information, rather you want to be able to talk ‘off the cuff’. You want the interview to sound quite natural, not like you are reading the material. If you are doing a video, then you will need to stage each of the steps in your teaching process by your topics and sub-topics.

6) This is the hardest part. Just doing it! All the planning in the world will never get the job done. Because this is your first project, you may be intimidated by the process and scared that if you do not do well, you have failed. In reality, no matter how lousy is your first attempt, you will be a success because you will have done something that probably less than 1% of the entire population of the world has ever done--created your own product! You will also be able to critique your work and let others critique your work, so that your next one can become better.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/ezrss.html

Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/listbuilding.htm

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

The field of information products is a highly competitive and often junked-up online business model, because of the ease of entry. In the last year or so, mass availability of easy-to-use book publishing tools, audio and video creators, and the ease of distribution has really made this field attract anyone who thinks they know something about a field, and a desire to make an extra buck.

The bottom line with creating, and especially making money from, information products, is to create the very best. There are a lot of lousy information products online which are comprised of old rehashed information, and clog up the information market online.

However, because information products have become so easy to create, they make an excellent entry-level field online for the beginner.

So how do you get started?

First, you must identify what you are really good at. What do you know a lot about and are willing and interested in learning more about? The reason I say interested in learning more about is because without the interest, the field will soon grow old. There are so many great topics for online profit that you might as well find something that really interests you.

Second, learn everything you can about that topic. Don’t just start with what you know, go out and learn more. Become an expert in your field. If you are already an expert, be sure you are completely up to date on new developments in your field.

Third, study the market. What types of information would be useful to someone without your experience, but are not readily available online? Anything that fits that category is probably a good place to start in the information world.

Fourth, determine how to disseminate the information. Is it conducive to putting out in the form of a book, or even a digital, downloadable book form like an ebook? Is it information that is more readily available audibly? Is there an advantage to actually being able to see you talk about or demonstrate a process, and therefore a candidate for development as a video or video feed?

Fifth, once you have developed your initial product you will need to let the online world know about it. You will need a web site and you will need a steady stream of visitors to your site, where they can view and purchase your new product.

Sixth, you must position yourself as an expert in your field, and consistently stay ahead of new product developments. As new products arise on the market, you may need to make adjustments to your product, or develop additional products to meet additional needs.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/ezrss.html

Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/listbuilding.htm

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

When I started out creating infoproducts it always bothered me as to who exactly I should be targeting. Who was my audience, who would actually buy information over the internet?

This is a common problem but one that can be easily solved when we realise it's not a particular market we should be going after but a particular kind of person.

A desperate person!

If you can somehow zero in on people who will do anything to cure there acne for instance, to stop their pain be it physical or emotional, then you can sure sell to them!

This may sound a little heartless but really, you're just filling a need and it's your duty to cash in on it ;)

And it's this internet marketing "secret" that is discussed in Alexis Dawes new ebook Desperate Buyers Only.

This may seem like yet another product about writing ebooks and selling them to niche markets - the same old story. In actual fact where Alexis has done a great job is in making the 70 odd page tome a great read. Very few ebook authors manage to do this one simple thing. They forget they're selling a product that people will actually take the time to read - they just think about the dollars.

It may seem obvious to target needy people, whether they have a sinus infection or are just stuck in bad debt - but Desperate Buyers Only explains exactly where to find these kinds of markets and then how to solve their problems.

If you're not solving someone's problems then you're not making any money on the net full stop.

But this course doesn't stop there. We're then shown how to go about creating the product and crucially how to write the sales page.

Alexis has devised her own highly effective technique to draw the reader in and get them to flip open their wallets and she provides the detailed plan right here. This, in my humble opinion, is worth the asking price alone. Once you truly know how to engage and persuade the reader then real riches await!

The next step in marketing infoproducts is getting people to the site. You can have the greatest sales letter in the world but if no one reads it then, guess what, you're not gonna make any money. Luckily Alexis is here to save the day once more. Sure, she goes through the more obvious traffic magnets like articles and posting in forums but she also has an ace up her sleeve which is duplicatable even for affiliate products. I tried it and it works, but you'll have to buy the book to find out what that is!

Overall this is perhaps the best infoproduct creation ebook out there, it's ingenious twist on a well worn theme could be exactly what you need to launch your business into the stratosphere. Desperate Buyers Only is essential for any serious marketer, newbie or pro.

Read the full review of Desperate Buyers Only at Matthew's site which reviews the latest and greatest http://www.the-complete-guide.com/

If you're just starting out in the online business arena it can be difficult to navigate your way around the Internet Marketing maze. There is a heck of a lot of contradictory information out there and all kinds of opportunities, so it can be really difficult to know where to start.

The recent publication The One Month Magnate aims to put a stop to the confusion and deliver a step by step guide to building an online income in as little as one month.

There have been plenty of ebooks written around the 30 day success theme so is there anything to separate this one from the crowd?

Author Tony Shepherd has fairly recently come onto the Internet Marketing scene as a partner of the more well known Sara Brown.

Together they produce helpful guides about earning online - with particular focus on the novice or beginner. The book claims to show the reader how to build an income starting with no product, no list and no contacts.

So will the formula work? In my opinion, yes it will. Tony follows time-honoured Internet Marketing guidelines and shows us how to find a captive audience, how to create a product and how to get buyers almost immediately so that you can indeed be earning within one month.

I particularly liked Tony's style of writing. He is, shall we say, forthright and certainly pulls no punches. His story if being out of work and forcing himself to be a success online is also captivating and it's a background true of many successful marketers.

Perhaps success only comes about once we realise that we "have" to make it work.

Particularly helpful is the section on building credibility. You may have found, if you've already tried to market to a different niche than you're comfortable with, that it's extremely difficult to win over people who don't know your background. Here, the One Month Magnate provides an excellent solution to the problem of becoming an instant expert.

So we're shown ways to build an audience, a quick and ingenious method for creating a product even if you have little knowledge of the area to start with. By the end of the month it's entirely possible that you'll have a steady stream of visitors queuing up to buy your new product. Remember this has all happened within one month - not bad!

I would have liked to have seen a bit more about copywriting as personally I think this is the most important aspect of any info-product and Tony doesn't really reveal how to maintain a consistent level of sales.

Overall thought if you want to begin your internet fortune right now then The One Month Magnate is hard to beat.

Read the full review of http://www.the-complete-guide.com/One_Month_Magnate_Review.html at Matthew's site which reviews the latest and greatest http://www.the-complete-guide.com/

If you have a website it makes sense to create a product to sell on your website. It does not have to be complicated but it does need to be something that people will enjoy and do desire.

Most websites do not offer products and yet one has to wonder why, because it does not take much to start offering a product and there are so many products that you can offer. It simply makes no sense to have a website or industry portal, which has nothing to sell people, who maybe very interested in buying something.

Monetarizing a website is not difficult and you can do this simply by adding links. It is equally as easy with product creation and then offering your product on your website. You can start by enhancing brand if you have a lot of traffic, sell T-shirts, hats and knick knacks; this is such an easy way to start. Product creation is not so difficult and if you outsource most of it, you may find that your out of pocket costs to make the offer is next to nothing up front, meaning why wouldn’t you do it?

Perhaps you might sit down with a pen and paper or survey your current Internet viewers and consider all the possible things you might offer. What makes sense, what is easy to produce and what requires the least out of pocket expense to set up; then do that and work from there. Think on this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

If you have never written a book or developed a product before, creating a brand-new information product may seem downright daunting to you today. In this article, I will break down the steps to creating your own product to their rawest elements.

What is an information product? An information product teaches someone else how to do something you can do well. It can be in the form of a book, an ebook, an audio (CD) series, or a video series.

1) What can you do well, or know a lot about? You must first determine a topic for your product. Are you a fisherman, a good dog trainer, or do you know how to shop using coupons and save money every week? Anything you can do well that could benefit others if they could too, is a great product.

2) Write down an outline of all the things you know about your topic. Literally everything.

3) Organize all the things from 2) into categories of information. For example, in the fishing example, list ten different types of fishing.

4) Under each category, list everything you know about those categories.

5) Start writing what you know. Do not worry about grammar or even spelling. You will catch all of that when you proof read. You want to write from your heart, sharing all the information you can. If you are constantly correcting yourself, you will find it difficult to keep writing as effectively.

6) If you really have a hard time starting the process of writing, think of each topic as an article. So write an article on each topic. When you have written an article on each topic, put them all together and you have your book.

7) You can use this same process for an audio or video---you will just be talking instead of writing. But you still need to write out the categories and topics, and write good notes so you cover everything.

8) Be sure and proof whatever you do, and have at least one other person read it. There is nothing more embarrassing than seeing your own mistake in print.

9) Pull it all together, find a publisher, create a PDF file, or record your product. Once you are satisfied with it, the hard work begins! Marketing!

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/ezrss.html

Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/listbuilding.htm

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

Following a recent article on planning successful business events, a reader contacted me about New Product Development (npd) launches. They had a unique product - new and very different - and asked for my thoughts on their overall marketing strategy generally.

Here was my reply:

You have an interesting challenge, or should I say "opportunity", here. To answer your question fully I could write a book. But, here are some broad tips:

Firstly, you have an unusual product but it is still a product. You might do well to look at how other people have launched other products in your marketplace to see what lessons you can learn.

You will need to be clear about your answers to the following standard questions:

Into what market will the product be launched?

What customer segments will purchase the product?

For what applications will the customer use the product?

Into what geographic segments will be sold?

What are the benefits for the customers?

What is the price/performance ratio relative to the competition?

Who are the principle competitors?

What will make your product unique in the market?

What percentage market share is targeted at end of year 1 and year 3?

What percentage of the customer base currently uses this product?

From what distribution channels do customers purchase today, by percentage?

What influences the customer's decision to buy?

How will competitors position themselves against this product?

What is your sales strategy?

What is your marketing strategy - and budget?

What Measurement of Performance will you use to track success?

I guess you need to start with publicity. Articles in the media, especially coverage on radio and television, will reach huge audiences. Your product is unique so that will help but maybe get some celebrity or academic endorsement for it. Publish some articles and distribute your press releases across the internet to raise your product profile.

Publicity & PR is much less costly, and can be more effective than advertising. It can also create a situation where customers and distributors are looking for you rather than you have to find them!

If you have a budget for advertising then plan a year ahead but do leave some cash for some last minute bargains or an offer you cannot resist!

Your online presence needs to impress people to reinforce the brand, give technical information about the product, make your client easy to contact and maybe be a useful resource for educators and students.

Think about the brand name. Vacuum cleaners are still often referred to as "Hoovers". Promote your brand name at every opportunity and guard it well. Think about your logo - how can you maximise its recognisability?

The bird flu aspect is interesting. Maybe, someone from the company could be be promoted within the media as some sort of expert on bird flu - and how their product is an answer for caterers etc.

If you have a trade association to which you belong, ask them if they have any support for members with new products to launch. I did some work some time ago with EEF South here in the UK (http://www.eefsouth.org.uk/) and they were offering consultancy and training for members and non-members across a wide range of sectors from engineering to horticulture.

My final suggestion is to think about a launch event for the product. A carefully planned event can be the building block for success. My recent blog entry about planning business events attracted a number of responses which all had one theme - everyone agreed that a badly planned event creates huge problems for future relationships with customers. Conversely, a well planned event leads to improved customer relationships and very positive media coverage.

As I say, these were random thoughts off the top of my head. To give a comprehensive answer would need a full consultancy session - or for me to write a book maybe!

I hope you found this interesting. Either way, please drop me an e-mail with your thoughts.

John Hicks is a Marketing and Press & Public Relations Consultant supporting small to medium sized businesses in the UK. He specialises in the manufacturing, leisure and retail sectors. His company is Headline Promotions Press & PR and you can read his blog at http://www.headlinepromotions.blogspot.com

Perhaps you have been online for awhile now and are marketing others’ products. Perhaps you are just getting online now and aren’t sure what to promote. Or maybe you have a product or two already and want to create a new one, but aren’t willing to put in the time and effort you did the first time around.

I am going to show you an easy way to get an online product ready to go, in the shortest amount of time possible.

These are the steps:

1) Decide what the product will be. If you don’t know where to start, ask yourself what you know more about than most people. Do a search online and see what is available on that topic. Do you notice any conspicuous missing areas of information? Should there be better information online on your topic? If so, that will make a great topic to base your product around.

2) Decide what you will create. Will it be an informational manual? Will it be an instructional video? Will it be an audio series? Or will it be some combination of all three?

3) Sit down in a quiet place and write down, in outline form, everything that you would want to include in your product.

4) Take out another sheet of paper and organize all the things you brainstormed in step 3. Create 10-15 topics and write out a title for each topic. Next, create 5-10 sub-topics under each topic. This will be the backbone outline of your product, whether it is an ebook informational manual, an audio series, or an instructional video.

5) Now begin writing! Write one sub-topic at a time. You do not have to write in any order, meaning that you do not have to write the first topic first, etc. Just write what you are feeling most like writing about at the time. You may need to do some study on some of the topics about which you do not have as much experience.

6) If you are adding an audio element, there are plenty of good inexpensive audio recording and duplicating programs out there. Once again, start with an outline, and either write out a script or ad lib your information. Be sure to listen to the final version and make sure it sounds professional--if it does not, rerecord it, making the necessary adjustments.

7) If you are adding an instructional video element, be sure and have a good cameraman. You want to have good shots of whatever it is you are teaching about, so the viewer can understand what is going on just by watching. You also need to make sure that the voiceover is nice and clear, and maintains a consistent volume all the way through the recording.

8) Edit and reread everything you do. Have others look at it and be very open to their suggestions. You want to have a quality product for sale.

Now, you should have your product ready to go. Come up with strong packaging and then begin promoting it online. Now you have your own product!

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/ezrss.html

Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/listbuilding.htm

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

What makes up a "Dream Product"?

It would be a product that has everything it takes to make-up a dream product and more-you would be with a single company that has exclusive rights on selling the special formula (talk about an entrepreneur's dream product!).

It would be unlike vaccinations, which protect you against a specific strain of a germ or virus. It would be a revolutionary product that has been shown to be effective against all pathogens that it has been tested against. Plus, it would be proven by independent researchers that microbes cannot mutate in order to escape being wiped out by it (like they do with vaccinations and antibiotics).

It would be a patented product that has been independently verified to help your immune system. It would kill every microbe that has ever been tested against it, including germs and viruses.

It would be a revolutionary product that kills microbes including: bacteria, protozoa, yeast, and even viruses. Plus, it could be taken orally or applied topically to help boost your immune system. Independent studies would show that it could protect you and your family against the bad guys-germs & viruses.

In addition, you could fill a small mist-sprayer with THE Dream Product in it. You could immediately spray every scrape, burn, or rash with this patented solution. You could spray rashes and infected cuts with it and, Whaa Laa, the infections & rashes would seem to disappear in almost no time flat.

It would be something you could religiously take for protection against all germs and viruses.

Did you know that the media and BIG government have suggested that they were wrong about the Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) becoming pandemic? Maybe not, but you would want to protect your family and yourself anyway with a dream solution because, who really knows?

This dream product would be a modern solution so different from any other solution in that it would have an authentic patent. It would have numerous universities and other independent laboratories backing its claims with independent tests and additional information.

This innovative solution would be a product that has had head-to-head comparisons against prescription antibiotics; and it would have safety data. It would have been tested against microbial organisms, including: bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and yeasts.

This new & improved solution would have the approval of an international health consortium as being an alternative to antibiotics. It would be above and beyond any other similar product in that it could be used for water treatment in addition to being used by physicians for humanitarian aid in Asia, South America, and Africa.

It would be the best and the newest of all similar solutions. This would be the type of product about which we all dream:

* It is patented;

* It has numerous universities & other independent laboratories backing it with tests and information;

* It has had head to head comparisons against prescription antibiotics;

* It has safety data;

* It has been tested against microbial organisms, including: bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and yeasts,

* PLUS, it is used to purify water.

All Marketers-Online or off line-dream about having exclusive rights to promote and sell such a product.

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If you've been online for any amount of time, then you've probably heard the best way to make money online is through your own information product.

It's all true. Having your own information product you've created enables you to be unique in the marketplace. No one else will have a product just like yours.

Your own product will also allow you to sign up affiliates to promote and generate traffic for you. By providing them with a good percentage of the income, you can have thousands of visitors sent to you everyday for free. You don't pay until you profit.

Whenever you do your own promotions, you keep 100% of the money from the sale...instead of having to split it with someone.

Wouldn't it be nice to have other people promoting for you for a change instead of you doing all the promotion?

Wouldn't it be nice to be selling your own product where you keep 100% of the money instead of only getting 10% to 50% of the money as an affiliate?

Sure, it is. Having your own information product allows you do this and more, but there is only one problem.

Having your own product requires you to:

- Research your market to find out what they want.

- Work to develop the product (by writing, audio-taping, etc.)

- Write powerful order producing web copy.

- Create promotional sales pieces and emails.

A lot of people starting out can't do the above or don't have the confidence yet to do it. So what are they to do?

They can do what I did in the beginning...buy rights to someone else's hot selling products.

I didn't get started online as a product developer. I was working as a pizza delivery driver for Little Caesar's! I didn't have any confidence or faith in myself to create my own product. That was way beyond what I felt I could do.

I had to take baby steps to that point. I started my business by purchasing reprint rights to a CD. Reprint rights give you the ability to sell someone else's product with proven sales pieces and keep all the money.

Once you've purchased the product, you have the right to duplicate it and sell it yourself.

I started selling this CD online...made some money...and then purchased reprint rights to other products.

This enabled me to earn multiple streams of income from the same group of customers. They'd buy one product and then purchase the 2nd and 3rd one from me. I kept 100% of the money from all of them (besides the low cost duplication expenses).

It was exciting. People were sending me checks and credit card orders everyday. For an Indiana boy who never earned much money in my life, this was heaven.

Within 6 months I was earning a full-time income online.

I couldn't believe it, but it was reality. So I spent the next 2 years collecting rights to other products and continually selling them online.

I didn't develop my own product until after I had been full-time in my Internet business for two years. By that time I had developed my opt-in email list, my traffic generating methods, and some copywriting skills. So I began teaching everything I learned about Internet marketing up to that point.

Having my own products took me to a new level of income, but I still got my start and my first income online with reprint rights.

If I can do it, you can do it too.

There are hundreds of products which have reprint rights available...and many of them could be your first start. There are even monthly membership sites dedicated to providing new rights packages every month such as: http://ebookwholesaler.net

The biggest key is to find something that hasn't been sold to death online in every single ezine and newsletter. There are a few packages I've seen that have been sold so much (10,000 or more rights owners) that their conversion numbers are completely destroyed.

This may take a little more effort and may cost a little more money (most $17 rights packages have thousands of people selling them already), but it's worth it to keep your eye out for good packages.

Even today, with my own products and services, I still buy rights to give me additional streams of income. You'll find that many of the top marketers do the same, because you can never have too many income streams.

How do you sell these products you own rights to?

Simple. You do it the same way you would if it was your own product. You place ezine ads, run Pay-per-click search engine advertising, submit articles, etc. You should even consider starting an affiliate program and working on joint ventures.

While you're doing that, you concentrate on building your opt-in email list by giving away a freebie offer. You then use your list to promote your first product and any additional products you have available.

Reprint rights don't guarantee you an income...especially if you just sit on them. But they can be a viable business if you're willing to follow the same marketing strategies and techniques I lay out for you every month.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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For most of us, coming up with a creative idea is a painstaking process. I know I get my best ideas while doing something completely unrelated to my business such as walking, gardening or playing golf. But it's not always reliable. The ability to think in practical but creative and original ways is available to everyone.

A local businessman once told me, "Originality is simply having a pair of fresh eyes."

We can nurture the habit of looking at the same old things in new ways- as though we have never seen them before. Here is one way to "get a pair of fresh eyes" and look at your world as if it was brand new:

-= Ask Customers for Their Ideas =-

In emails to my customers I ask them for their opinion on projects I'm contemplating. What an eye opener it is! You and I tend to look at things the way we always have...but ask a stranger what they think and you'll see what you've been missing.

Friend, if you're trying to choose between 2 or 3 projects and aren't sure which one you should pursue send your ideas to your email list and ask them for their input. For responding, you could offer them a discount on the product that is finally chosen for development. This 'system' works for products your developing yourself or for products you might be interested in distributing or representing.

You have the power to make a difference in someone else's life. Your words, actions and attitude affect people around you. If you have ever spent any amount of time with a child between the ages of 5 to 10 the affect you can have on them is dramatic. Smile, and they smile. Frown and they will frown. Act happy and excited and so will they. They will follow your lead in whatever you do.

It doesn't get that much different when we become adults. You can have the same affect on your customers. If you're happy about what you're selling, they will be happy to buy from you. You can affect your customers in positive ways and they will respond by doing more business with you.

I hope you have enjoyed this Introduction to a Free Course on Marketing.
If you would like to read the next issues for Free,
http://www.internet-marketing-springboard.com/2006/06/22/internet-marketing-strategy/free-course-serie/new-product-development-strategy/
Vita Vee