How Do You Use Your Blog To Promote & Profit From Info-Products?

I hear a lot about using blogs, social media, forums, articles, etc.—all these online avenues to promote your products, and even services. Yet, I’ve done a lot of this but haven’t seen spectacular results—yet. Yet, I still do all these activities, always hoping for more results.

What I’ve come to understand is that although it may not appear that you’re getting immediate results, the effect is actually slow building and cumulative. The process of building relationships doesn’t happen overnight. When it comes to building that “know, like, and trust” factor, it does take time. So with every blog, with every social media contact, with every forum or article, etc., you’re building that factor.

How do you do that? By being a source of valuable content. You’ve heard the saying, “Content is King!” That means everyone wants good content. They want answers to their questions. They want solutions to their problems. They want more information, more data, more ideas, and more and more. And that’s what your info-products have—more of all of that! That’s why they’re called “information” products!

However, remember that blogs, social media, forums, and articles are not for direct selling—they’re for sharing all this valuable content. So that means you take a few good ideas from your info-product, whether it’s a book, ebook, ecourse, or whatever, and start sharing those ideas in your blogs, social media posts, forums, and articles. Then people see you as the expert. They see you as having answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. They want to learn more from you.

So what do they do? They follow your links to your website, or your squeeze page, or your sales page. They think, “Hey, she had lots of great ideas. If I buy her ebook I’ll get a lot more good ideas. Maybe my pain will go away!” See, people buy info-products because they’re in pain—they have a problem, a question, a challenge, an issue and they’re looking for answers and solutions.

Info-products offer information, education, inspiration, motivation, solutions, answers, relief from pain. Share bits of these ideas in everything you do online, and you’ll eventually start to see some profits coming to you. I mention using your blog to promote and profit from info-products here because we’re on a blog but also because you can set one of these up in about 5 minutes.

Just go to www.WordPress.com, sign up, and you’re in! Start building relationships now and you’ll soon see those profits just up ahead!

Happy info-products profits,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

What To Write About When You’re All Out Of Words

When you’ve been writing a regular blog for a number of years, it’s conceivable that you’ll run out of ideas at some time. I’ve been expecting that time to come sooner than later, but I’ve managed to pull ideas out of this ancient noggin for over two years now on a regular and sometimes irregular basis. But now, I fear, I’ve run dry. I’m at a loss for words—which rarely happens for a professional writer. Yet, as a ghostwriter, I’m writing other people’s words day in and day out (and much of the night as well).

So, how do I keep my blog going without words? That’s quite embarrassing to imagine a writer running out of words. See, I don’t want to repeat myself, although, I doubt anyone reading my blog today will read what I wrote two years ago. So I could, if I so chose, repeat former blog posts. I’d probably be the only one who knew that I did that. It’s not like I’m getting thousands of readers/day!

And that’s odd, now that I mention it. When I’m writing a blog post like this one, which really isn’t one at all, is it, because I’m plum out of words, I imagine I’m talking to the ultimate reader. But since I don’t know who that is, if indeed anyone reads my blog, and since in all likelihood I’ll never meet any of my readers, I often wonder why I do this at all.

Have you ever wondered why you write a blog—if you do even write one? Like social networking, did someone tell you this is a great way to attract prospects, get leads, build your list, get traffic to your website, sell products and services, etc.? Well, I’ve heard all that—the Internet marketing gurus telling us to write blogs and articles, to Tweet every day, and to do whatever is necessary to drive traffic to our websites and convert visitors into buyers.

Yeah, yeah, I know all that. But does it work every time? You’re darn right—it doesn’t! I do believe there’s a magic formula, out there in cyberspace somewhere, that only a handful of the elite few Internet gurus seem to know where doing all this “stuff” really works! If it’s working for you, please leave a comment and let me know about how it’s working.

In the meantime, I’ve just showed you how to write 430 words of nonsense when you have nothing to write about. I guess my well isn’t completely dry, is it? A writer can always write—something!

Happy info-products profits,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

How to Create an Info-Product in an Afternoon (or Morning!)

Does this sound like you?

You’ve been dreaming of creating your first info-product but just can’t seem to find the time!

You’ve been collecting ideas and content from your blogs and articles but still haven’t created that first e-book!

Ideas are coming at you quickly but you can’t type fast enough!

Or maybe you’re spending hours sitting at your computer typing, retyping, making changes, editing … and still you have the final editing and formatting to be done to get out your info-product. You get about 50% finished, and your enthusiasm wanes. And then someone else takes your idea and gets it to market first!!! They take the $$$ that should have gone into your pocket and put it in theirs. How frustrating is that? You know that if only you can finish this product, you’ll be able to take your business to a whole new level! You know that every day you don’t have your info-product on the market is costing you money, causing you frustration, and holding you back.

I’m sure lots of us have felt this way. I know I have and I write info-products for my clients every day! But not for myself! So I keep reading, and listening, and learning, and soon I’ll have all the answers. And as I’m learning, I’m sharing what I’m learning with others.

Well, in August I held an interview where I learned about marketing my business with audio and video. And lots of my listeners learned a lot as well. Last month, I interviewed an expert in building your business with a MasterMind. So this month, I’m continuing with the interview format. On Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET, I’ll be interviewing Patsy Bellah of Great Transcriptions on “How to Create an Info-Product in an Afternoon (or Morning!).” Patsy is the author of the ebook “How To Get Your Info-Product To Market With Lightning Speed! Fourteen Surefire Ways To Create Your Own Info-Product In An Afternoon.” Check it out at http://www.lightningfastinfoproducts.com/lfinfo-ebook.html.

Patsy will discuss a simple A-B-C formula to create information products faster than your competitors, how to avoid the 10 worst time wasters most people suffer when trying to complete any info-product, and how to take your business to the next income level using this method. You’ll also learn how you can apply these ideas to create special reports, press releases, blog posts, and articles. Plus she’ll answer any of your questions. If you want to build an Internet marketing business you need info-products; there’s no way around it!

On this call you’ll learn How You Can Create Your Own Dynamic, Financially Successful Info-Products Faster Than You Ever Dreamed Possible. I’d love to have you join Patsy and me. Just sign up at www.WritersWay.com/102009.

Happy info-products profits,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

INFO-PRODUCT SUCCESS SYSTEM: Produce + Promote = Profits

I write my weekly blog posts at the beginning of each month and often think of a theme for the month. Not only does that make my job of writing four posts at one sitting easier, but it gives a cohesiveness to my posts and the reader can learn more in depth content about one topic. For October, I’ll be back to my favorite topic, the heart of my business, my brand, and my reason for being: info-products! I’ve also chosen this theme because my tele-interview this month is about how to create an info-product in an afternoon (or morning!) Post coming up next Sunday!

I recently completed a new report I call “Your Info-Product Success System: Produce + Promote = Profits.” I wanted to distill the basics of creating and marketing info-products for profit. Although I plan to expand this content into a full-fledged ecourse or online course at some point, this report, which is FREE, has some great ideas. Pick up your copy at www.Info-ProductSuccessSystem.com.

What I like to share about info-products is that they make a lot of sense for small business owners and entrepreneurs primarily in the service businesses. Service professionals like coaches, consultants, health care providers, beauticians, estheticians, massage therapists, and anyone who serves people one-on-one, can only work so many hours and serve so many people, thereby limiting their income. But if they can take their knowledge, expertise, experience, and wisdom and transform it into books, ebooks, ecourses, and any other type of info-product, they can reach so many more for so much less work, in so much less time, and for so much more profit!

Wow! You can see I’m really passionate about this. So order my FREE report, read my blog posts, and start producing info-products. I’m always available for any questions about this topic. Contact me at www.WritersWay.com/contact.

Happy info-products profits,
Andrea
Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

How to Find the Best Support People for Your Business

Who’s on your team? What you don’t have one? Why not? If you read my last blog post, you’ll see how hot I am on the topic of building a team around you so you can build your business, whether it’s a brick and mortar business or an Internet marketing business.

So how do you decide who you need on your team? And how to you find the right people?

Initially, I say: what tasks do you have in your business that you just CAN’T do and what tasks do you have that you don’t WANT to do? What don’t you have the time for and what don’t you have the knowledge for? These are the tasks for which you need to find others.

For example, what I CAN’T do is anything technical. I’m no good when it comes to things like putting up a website or learning new software. I don’t have the knowledge and I don’t want to learn it. What I don’t WANT to do are mundane tasks like maintaining my database or sending out newsletters and emails. I don’t like doing it and don’t have the time. So for these kinds of tasks, you could hire a webmaster, a tech guru, or a VA. I found a VA who can do all these things.

Another area where I fall short is marketing. I don’t enjoy it all that much and can’t always find the time for it, since I’m busy ghostwriting and copyediting for my clients. But I know ongoing marketing keeps a business alive. So, for marketing I rely on JV partners, business associates, past clients, referral partners, and strategic alliances. They’re all sending me referrals on a regular basis.

How do you find the right people for your team? It takes time and lots of trial and error! I went through four VAs before I found the right one. The first four either disappeared or didn’t perform their duties on time or ever! The current one, with whom I intend to have a long-term relationship, was referred to me through the owner of the autoresponder program I was reviewing. She’d been trained in the program, so I knew she would be an expert in handling my database, emails, newsletters, affiliates, and shopping carts.

Initially, then, I would say referrals are your safest way to build your team members. Then you have to judge for yourself if the person fits your needs and expectations. I’ve also built my team through experience and personal exposure. For example, my strongest business associate and alliance has come through the professional organization I belong to, PWSD (Publishers & Writers of San Diego). Another editor and I share leads and Skype each week to provide accountability and support for our businesses and other projects.

If you want to add a coach or mentor to your team, ask for referrals. When an associate or client mentions how much their business has improved as a result of working with someone, get that person’s name and request a short phone interview. Continue to build your online and offline networks, and you’ll soon find the right team members to catapult your business to great success.

Happy info-products,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

Power of the Business MasterMind

How big would you dare to dream if you knew you could count on the support of like-minded individuals on your team? Are you ready to grow your business as well as contribute to the growth of others? It’s time to move beyond where you are and bust through to the next exciting level!

A highly effective MasterMind group is one of the most powerful tools you can have. A well run MasterMind group is essential if you want to succeed in business with faster and better results.

What is a MasterMind? I’m not sure, but I think Napoleon Hill, author of the bestselling classic Think and Grow Rich coined the term to denote a group of people who get together periodically to support each others’ goals. The MasterMind principle comes from the Bible, Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” This is to indicate that the power of two or three is multiplied many times by the power of the group energy.

If you’ve ever done any brainstorming with someone, you can see that by yourself, your thinking is somewhat limited, but when you begin to throw out ideas with another person, so many more ideas evolve from the synergy of your two minds. There’s an exponential factor when 2 X 2 no longer equals 4 but more like 10 or more!

In a business MasterMind group anywhere from 4 to 8 people gather weekly or monthly or somewhere in between either live or over the phone to share what’s going on in their businesses and what kind of support they need. The other members offer feedback, solutions, or resources. The facilitator makes sure everyone gets equal time.

I’ve been in many MasterMind groups and I find them extremely valuable. As a solo entrepreneur I get limited in my thinking. I only know what I know and I don’t know what I don’t know. My MasterMind partners can bring valuable insights and growth to my business beyond my own knowledge.

For that reason I’ll be hosting a live interview on Tuesday, September 29 at 6 pm PT (9 pm ET) with Law of Attraction coach, Cheryl Vallejos on “How to Build Your Business With a MasterMind.” Find out more and sign up at www.WritersWay.com/92909.

Anything that you can do on your own, you can do quicker and more effectively with a MasterMind. If you’d like to find out about a new group starting visit http://www.PrimeLeaders.com/mastermind.

In my next blog, I’ll discuss how to build a stellar team…

Happy info-products,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

Building Teams & Partnerships: Your VA, Coach, Mentor, JV Partners, Associates, Referrals, Clients…

No one ever succeeds alone, in a vacuum, as an island—and all those other clichés. Believe me, I tried. I’ve been single and self-employed a long time and had many excuses as to why I could “do it all myself”!

I can’t afford it! (You know that one!)

No one is as capable as I am! (Really?)

It takes more time to tell someone what to do than if I just do it myself! (If you know HOW to do it!)

What’s been your excuse for being a SOLO-preneuer? And how is it working for you? All I know is it wasn’t working for me. Not only didn’t I have enough time to do everything myself, but I certainly didn’t have the knowledge. I’ve found in running every business, especially an Internet marketing business, there are three essentials for success: TIME * MONEY * KNOWLEDGE

I’m sure there are more ingredients to success, but these are the three I come up against all the time—the three that stop me cold. I run out of time (gee, we all need to sleep sometime); I run out of money (hey, I’m an entrepreneur; I can’t predict each month’s income); I run out of knowledge (I’m smart but I don’t know everything and sometimes I don’t even know what I don’t know—you know that one!)

Knowledge I can get—I can read books, take classes, hire a pro—although sometimes I just can’t grasp the knowledge if it’s technical or over my head, and sometimes I just don’t have the money to hire the pro or I can’t find a reliable one. Money I have, from time to time—and when I do I’ll pay for a class, a coach, or a pro. Time—well we all have the same 1,440 minutes/day! And I know I spent a good deal of them facing a digital display, but I always seem to run out! How ‘bout you?

So, this is where your TEAM or PARTNERSHIPS come into play. Where do you need assistance—with knowledge, money, or time? Where can you get these resources? From others who have them and are willing to share them with you. If I need more knowledge, like how to set up a shopping cart, I can hire a pro like a VA (virtual assistant), or tech guru, or shopping cart specialist. If I find someone I like who’s capable, they become part of my team. The next time I need that service, I’ve got someone.

What if I need more money? If I want more clients, I can contact my referral partners, my past clients, or my business associates. I can ask for new business or referrals. My strongest referral partners, such as strategic alliances and satisfied clients, are now on my marketing team.

And if I need more time, I either get a coach to teach me better time management skills or hire pros such as VAs to do the tasks I shouldn’t be doing because they don’t net me the highest income: like managing my database, sending out my newsletter, or running an email campaign. Or I create a joint venture or partnership where we can share the load.

In my next blog, I’ll discuss the power of the MasterMind…

Happy info-products,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

Turn What You Know Into Dough

 I’m not always a big fan of these virtual book campaigns to get authors to #1 on the Amazon bestseller list for one day! But sometimes I am!

What it looks like is the author gathers a bunch of friends, associates, or complete strangers to send a specific email to their lists in exchange for the author listing this “partner” as a bonus offer if someone buys the book.

Here’s how it works: THE AUTHOR – writes and publishes the book, creates a promotional e-mail, finds joint venture partners, and puts up a web page with the book offer plus the bonuses. I’ve seen these anywhere from 10 to 50 bonuses. Not always, but many times, this strategy will catapult the book to the top of the online bestseller lists for a short time.

THE JOINT VENTURE PARTNER – creates a bonus item for the campaign, usually a downloadable MP3 or report, then sends the pre-written e-mail to their list on designated days, either one day or several days. In order to get the bonus item, the book buyer has to opt in and provide an e-mail address, so the JV partner may add a bunch of names to their list. Being on this end has added more than 100 names to my list.

THE BOOK BUYER – buys the book at Amazon, then takes the transaction code and enters it on the author’s website where the book is listed for sale. Then you’re taken to a page with all the bonus items. You can claim them by signing up to be on their mailing list. One problem I’ve found being on this end is that I never have time to claim, read, or listen to all the bonuses, plus those that I’ve claimed put me on their list and now I get way more e-mails per day than I can handle.

Since I had a good response the last time I took part in one of these, I’m involved again with the same author. Loral Langemeier takes the confusion out of financial and investing matters and makes everything crystal clear. I’ve read all her past books and am looking forward to this one.

Put More Cash in Your Pocket is a no nonsense guide to turn what you know into dough! Loral says, “You don’t have fixed potential, why accept fixed income?” By following Loral’s simple and straightforward approach, you’ll put more cash—$1,000 or more a month—into your pocket in no time. Loral has helped thousands of people make extra cash fast, people from all different backgrounds, in a variety of situations, all over the world. People just like you!

If you’re interested in knowing more about Loral’s book visit www.LiveOutLoud.com. If you want to know more about these virtual book campaigns, leave a comment, and I’ll get back to you! I wonder if this would work for e-books. Hmmmmmmmmm…..

Happy info-products,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

Working Smart with a Smart VA

 

I wanted to continue with my VA saga, because I want you to know that it’s so important to have support to succeed online. I can see the difference now and before in terms of what I can accomplish. I hadn’t yet reached the level of success in my ghostwriting and copyediting business, because I didn’t always have the time to promote myself. Now with a competent VA, I have her do most of my online marketing.

 And I’ve complained here in my blog before that I don’t have the time to write my own info-products because I’m too busy writing them for my clients. But with a competent VA, I have a lot more time to work on my own projects, namely my info-products.

 In order to be successful online, I knew I needed a good foundation. To me that was an excellent autoresponder/shopping cart program. I’d procrastinated choosing one like Aweber or Constant Contact because they overwhelmed me technically, and I couldn’t find one that seemed to fill all my needs yet was user-friendly. Now, I not only have a great program, WAHMCart, but a VA who is trained in it and knows the program so well, I don’t need to know it!

 Another part of my foundation was having someone with technical ability, who could do website updates, html newsletters, and more. Rather than paying for a costly web designer or other tech person, I have it all in my VA. It took me six months to learn and redesign my website. Staci started updating it the first day she logged in!

 So now I have the two primary foundational pieces to start building my Internet business: a great autoresponder/shopping cart program and an awesome VA! The program allows me to collect names, build my list, stay in contact with my list, add affiliate programs, and sell products. Staci, my VA, has given me the greatest gift—my time! She gets the tasks done on time and thinks outside the box. I have her doing all my online marketing and many of my admin chores. I am not a Twitterer, but now I don’t have to be. Facebook overwhelms me, but now Staci can do that for me. And I’m able to do so much more of what I’m good at—writing, editing, and teaching!

For example, I held my first teleclass interview this month and had a total of about three dozen attendees and people who followed up after the class! I could never have done all the PR I did with articles, blogs, press releases, and social media without Staci. And I have another interview lined up for next month. Over the Labor Day holidays I will be primed to get back to writing my e-book that will launch my info-product line.

Build your foundations and you’ll experience your info-product success!

Happy info-products,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

There’s the Wrong VA and the Right VA—and a world of difference in between

I know this is a bit off the topic of info-products, but I’ve found that if you want to be successful with your info-products and the whole Internet marketing business, you absolutely cannot do it all by yourself! I know; I’ve been at it for more years than I’d like to reveal. And it’s not that I didn’t want any support, but I’m so efficient myself (as a ghostwriter and copyeditor I’m very meticulous!) that it’s difficult to find someone up to my standards.

So a few years ago I set out to get some support in the form of a college intern. I thought I’d find someone I didn’t have to pay and would love to learn my business. Well, think again. I did have to pay, though not very much. I hired an English major at a local college and had her write my articles, blogs, and some of my clients’ articles and blogs. They were fairly decent, though I had to clean up most of them. But when I needed her to do research and other stuff online, she was not very experienced at that. Plus her boyfriend needed her, and she had homework….

My next attempt was to hire a Virtual Assistant (VA) who was just getting started. I met her at a networking event and she seemed eager to build her practice. The first week on the job, I got an email from her husband the day a bunch of stuff was due, saying that she broke her thumb. I never heard from her again. I had to hustle to complete the work that was on deadline.

Next, I hired another new VA (hadn’t I learned my lesson yet) who I met at yet another networking event, who was also eager to build her client base. I gave her, with complete trust, ALL the business cards I’d collected over the years that I’d never gotten into a database, but always said I would. I put each into different envelopes with the different categories. A month later, way past my desired timeline, she returned my cards and an Excel spreadsheet with about half the names in the wrong categories and about one quarter of the email addresses (and other data) misspelled. I learned that tragic fact after emails started bouncing back. I kid you not, it took me a year of late nights to get that whole thing cleaned up!

Well, it was a long time before I decided to try again. This time I met a “seasoned” VA at an Internet marketing boot camp. She came highly recommended, so I put her to work right away with a list of chores and timelines. I don’t know if it’s me, but the work never came in on time and was never completed to my satisfaction. She eventually faded away, never responding to my last emails wondering where we were in terms of time left on our contract.

Just as well! I was about finished with the idea of finding someone who could help me and do it right! About a week after I misplaced my last VA, I got an email from the owner of an autoresponder service I’d been considering signing up for that she had trained several VAs in her software. I trusted this woman and liked her program, so I contacted the three VAs and that’s how I found Staci. I’m here to attest to the power of patience, perseverance and sticking to your values. I wanted someone as attentive to details as I am, and I found her in Staci Jansma (www.StaciJansma.com).

I’m over my typical limit on the size of my blog post, so to be continued…

Happy info-products,
Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com