What makes it so effective?

It’s not hard to figure out. Audio breaks the silence of the web. It makes your site more “human”. And makes people feel they’re dealing with a real person. Audio literally breathes life into your website. Which fascinates greater interaction from your visitors.

The benefits of audio

There are actually two profit boosts from using audio. You will close more sales. And second you’ll save money on the sales letter. You won’t have to hire someone to write your sales letter. You can just add your own audio. Your visitors will respond better to a heart-felt message from you than some fancy copywriting.

And you will increase your subscriber opt-in rate. People need to be told exactly what to do. Just add a short audio message saying: Enter your email address in the form. A simple message like this will increase your opt-in conversions by 305% or more!

How to use website audio

Put a welcome message that plays automatically on your site, Most people abandon a website within just a few seconds. Grabbing their attention like this helps you keep them on your site.

A guided tour. The same principle the we used to boost opt-ins applies. You just explain what to do first, then next, etc. And take them all the way through buying your product.

Product testimonials are great. Written testimonials are good. But an audio testimonial is better. It’s pretty easy to fake a written testimonial. Audio adds a level of higher believability. Which boosts your sales for sure.

Here’s a bonus tip

Did you ever think of making a product just by recording some audio? This is by far the easiest content to produce. Plus people love audio products. Think about how popular podcast are. Plus you can get them transcribed cheap. This is the easiest way to “write” an eBook!

Is it hard to add audio?

It’s actually really easy. There’s software that will show you how to add audio to a website. You don’t actually have to do anything yourself. The software records the audio, creates the button code, etc. Simply copy the code and paste it in your site. You don’t need to even consider this part.

Summary

Just a reminder of why you want to start using audio. Putting streaming audio on your site will boost all your results. You’ll enjoy more customer sales. And your opt-in rate will increase. And don’t forget that you can easily create sales pages and products in a flash. It’s a less often used medium. But audio is a really big time and money saver. Start using it today and you’ll be glad you did.

Video marketing

You can’t deny that video is powerful. Video online is everywhere because people love it. It’s so much easier to keep people’s attention with video. So you can put this to great advantage in your affiliate marketing.

Here’s how to use videos for affiliate promotions:

• Testimonials
• Walk-throughs
• Ordering
• Do a preview video

Do a testimonial video

It doesn’t get any easier than this. Just click record on your web cam and start talking. Don’t worry about quality. Seeing a real person on the other end helps your viewers make a buying decision. In truth, mistakes and mess-ups just make it more believable. So serious, just turn on the camera and talk. And if you don’t want to show your face, use one of the next ideas.

Record a walk-through

This is a great way to promote something without selling it. Make this more like a tutorial helping them use the product. And in the process you’re actually selling the product. As long as the product is good, the tutorial makes them want it. So, obviously, pick a good product to demo.

Do an ordering video

This technique is super powerful. Do a screen capture of the ordering process. Nothing inspires your viewers to buy like watching you do it. First, it’s social proof. People will feel more comfortable buying after seeing you do it. This also makes your viewers trust you. Your advice is easier to trust if they can see you’re doing what you tell them to do. And let’s not forget about good old fashioned envy. It’s simple – you have it. Now they want it. To really cap this one off, end your video with: In order to get to see the inside, you gotta buy the product.

Sneak peak

This is a great way to build value. What you do is record a tour of the back end. You show them the entire contents of what they get. It also reduces the reservations of skeptics. Once they’ve seen the back-end, they know it’s real.

You can do this!

You don’t need any special training for this. Anyone can create stunning videos with some easy-to-use software. The software really does all the work So you don’t have to worry about the technical part of this at all. Keep focused on the rewards:

• Increase sales You’ll earn more affiliate commissions when you add video. People like video, so start using it.
• Lower refund rates You’ll also have less of your commissions taken back. Thanks to you people know what’s inside before buying. So they’ll be less likely to refund.
• Rise above the competition! This is a really easy thing to do. But only a very small percentage do it. This puts you out in front of the rest.

Take your affiliate promotions to a higher level and getting started with this now. Not using video is detrimental to you business. So do it!

OK, but how?

There are 3 factors in list building you need to consider:

• Your Landing Page
• The Incentive
• Your Confirmation Page

Your Opt-in Page – Your opt-in page is the page you send visitors to to build your list. It’s the page where you ask them for their email address. This page needs to look professional. And have an easy to understand opt-in form. And have a clear call to action.

Failure to include a great “call to action” will result in failure. This “close” tells your visitors what you want them to do. You opt-in rates will take a dramatic nose dive without it. It’s strange, but if you don’t tell people what to do, they won’t do it.

If you want to add some extra juice to your opt-in page add a video to it. You only have a few second to get your visitors attention – video helps! It also allows you to tell them what to do several times. Then at the end of the video you can print “sign up now” on the video.

It’s OK, if you’ve never made a video before. It’s very easy to hire people for a couple hundred bucks to make one for you. There are also list building systems that include video squeeze pages.

The Bribe – The next thing you need is an incentive to subscribe to your list. People won’t give you their email for nothing. Nobody likes spam, so most people guard their email closely. This means your bribe needs to be very attractive.

The only way to make this work is to provide real value. It has to be something that people actually want. And something from which they can derive a benefit. This can be:

• A report
• Some useful software
• Videos
• A multi-part email series

Basically, you just need some content. It’s got to be something helpful for your new subscribers. And nothing sells like “free”. If you make it good enough, they will give you their email in exchange.

Once again, don’t worry if you don’t know how to create the freebie. Here again, you can hire freelancers to create this for you. Just give them a topic and they will write the content. A 5-part email series is a good freebie. And you can get emails ghost written for about $20 – $25 each. So, a great premium will cost you around $100 – $150.

There are also list building products that include the follow up email series. There are two important things about the email series. First of all it has to give the subscriber what you promised – valuable information. And second, it needs to make you money. One very easy way to make some money from your list is with affiliate marketing. Affiliate products are easy because you don’t have to do anything at all. And you can earn some commissions immediately from your emails.

The Thank You Page – The last bit is the thank you page. This is where your visitor goes after opting into your list. It’s nice to give them some great content right away. That way, they feel glad that they gave you their email address. It also sets the foundation for your relationship with them. Then they’re more receptive when you email them.

Again, a simple solution to this is to get an email marketing package that includes everything. Or you can do it yourself. And write it all yourself. Or have someone ghost write for you.

Final thoughts

It makes no difference whether you build your opt-in, bribe and thank you page. Or if you hire people to do this for you. Or go with a complete package. The important thing is that you build your own list starting now. Because as soon as you’ve got your own list . . . You’ve got a license to print money!

The number one strategy to increase your affiliate sales is preselling.

First, what is preselling? Preselling is both an art and a science. It’s a process of taking your reader and getting them ready to buy. Then when they’re ready, refer them to the product website so they can buy it. And if it’s done properly, the process is completely sub-conscious.

Basically, you give them some content. Then send them to the sales page. We’ll get into how to do it correctly in a minute. Before we get into that, you should understand what’s in it for you. Some major benefits of this process:

• It builds trust – Readers who trust you are more likely to click your links. Which obviously means you’ll make more sales.
• It takes your reader out of defense mode – Nobody likes to be sold something. By not doing that to them, your reader is less defensive. Unguarded reading means they’re not filtering what you say. And your intention is conveyed more easily.
• It puts them in a buying mood – Now they’re open to hearing what you’re telling them. So they become more receptive to other messages. For example, the sales message on the page you’re linking to. Being open to a sales message is what it means being in a buying mood.
• It increases your sales – Now your reader arrives at the sales page in a buying mood. Open to the sales message and feeling safe. This dramatically boosts your sales rate!
• Your customers are happier – Your referral now feels like they decided to buy. Instead of feeling pressured or “sold”. And this leads to greater satisfaction with the product.
• Your profits go up – Satisfied customers are less like to refund. And that translates to more commission staying in your affiliate business.

The need to presell is clear. You earn more commissions. And increase your customer satisfaction. That’s a clear win-win.

OK, so how do you do it?

Now you know whey preselling is critical. So, hopefully you’ve decided to start preselling. So, it’s time to break down how it works. Remember, there are two components – art and science.

The art of preselling

Effective preselling requires gaining your readers trust in order for them to let down their guard. This can only be accomplished by providing actual value in the information you’re presenting. Now, providing enough info to be useful, but still making them want more – that’s the art of it. That is, they have to be wanting more when you refer them to the product sales page for the product you’re trying to sell. And since they’re more open, they are more likely to make a purchase.

Part 2 – the Science

You also have to include some very specific things.

First of all, it’s important HOW you present your information. You have to have your end in mind. In the end, you want to sell a specific product. There are two ways to accomplish this with great content. The first method is to provide enough info to get them started, but not enough to finish. Or you can give them so much information that it feels overwhelming to do what you’re talking about. Either way, the product sales page solves the problem.

You also have to link to the product you’re promoting discretely. Instead, you use a direct link to the product website. That’s because nobody likes to click on affiliate links. But, without your affiliate link, how do you get credit? This is all part of the science of preselling. You use an image tag to cookie your reader before they leave your site.

Next, you want to make sure you’re linking on related words and phrases. People are used to clicking on hyperlinked words to get information they’re looking for. And when the words are in context like this, it makes perfect sense for your reader to click them.

Using this system, you’re virtually guaranteed to increase your affiliate business success.

Unfortunately…

This process is not easy – at all! Let’s look at the skills required to pull it off: Awesome content. First and foremost, you have to be able to write a great article that provides valuable information. Which means you need to be both knowledgable on the subject and capable of writing a high-quality article. Preselling skills. First, you have to give good information. But, you also need to know how to present the information in a way that give value to the reader. And somehow also make them want to learn more. Or make the information so overwhelming they realize they can’t do it on their own.

Product selection. You also need to determine what products you’ll be preselling. If you can manage to get the article written well. Your efforts are completely wasted if you don’t pick a winning product.

Technical skills. And finally, you need the technical know-how to embed your image tag and make sure you get credit for the sale. This is actually pretty simple – just embed a 1 pixel X 1 pixel image and set your affiliate link as the “source” of the image. (But if you mess it up, your referrals won’t be tracked.)

Summary:

Now you’re armed with the information needed to effectively presell. Preselling properly will boost your affiliate profits up to 500%! It’s absolutely critical to do this every time – and to do it correctly. Take action now. The effort it takes is well worth the benefits…

Here are some tips for generating website visitors:

Here’s a short list of great, free traffic generating methods:

• Web 2.0 Sites
• Article Websites
• Video Marketing

And here’s how to use each method…

Web 2.0 Sites

The term “Web 2.0″ is associated with websites that facilitate interactive information sharing and collaboration in a social media setting. The exciting thing about Web 2.0 sites is that you get to add your own content and it becomes part of these sites. Because these sites get so much traffic, Google and the other search engines treat these sites with greater importance in their algorithms. Which means the content on them gets “indexed” faster and with more weight. By placing links to your websites in this content you’ve created, you get traffic from the site and search engine ranking for the keywords you choose. This is the hidden benefit of using Web 2.0 sites. Getting free web 2.0 traffic is a big topic that we’ll discuss more later. This is good overview of the reason to get into it, though.

Articles Sites

The next thing we want to talk about is article marketing. Article sites are in essence web 2.0 websites. Article directories are sites where users (including you) can upload articles they have written. And because they are also considered authority sites by the search engines you get all the benefits of other web 2.0 sites just by putting your articles on them. And in addition to this, other users can take your article and place it on their own website. And because the terms of the directory say they have to include your “resource box” you get links back from all these other sites, too. In order to get the most free traffic make sure you:

• First, spend the time to determine your keywords
• Write specifically to target these keywords
• Hyperlink these keywords to your website – both in the content of the article and in your author’s info section.

Video Marketing

The last of this group is video marketing. Here to we’re really looking at a web 2.0 sub-category. And it carries all the same benefits of article marketing. And in addition to this, because Google and the others love video so much, you can get listed for highly competitive keywords much more easily.

OK, so how do you do effective video marketing?

• Set up your YouTube account
• Make your profile uncluttered by turning off all the modules
• Use the tags in your profile to enter the keywords you want to rank for
• Include a link to your main site in your profile
• Add 1 or more videos to your profile
• For each video use your keywords in the tags, the descriptions and the title

Putting it all together.

This is a great overview to get your started generating massive traffic to your site.

Step 1 – Find a Fanatical Market

The first step in developing a profitable membership business is to find a market with fanatics in it. Fanatic is defined as someone with an irrational enthusiasm. These are the people you’re looking for because they are so enthusiastic they’re willing to spend money on their topic of fanaticism. Now that we know what we’re looking for, let’s talk about how to find them…

• One simple idea that’s easily forgotten is to scan the magazine racks when you’re out and about. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to run a print magazine. So if you see one on the shelves you know they are making money, which means that there are enough people interested in what they’re saying to make it profitable. This is a very good indication that it’s a good niche for you to go into.
• Watch and listen for fanatics in your daily life. Pay attention to conversations, social events, TV, restaurants, public places to see what people are talking about. People generally talk about things they are interested in. And that may also mean they’re willing to pay money to learn more about it.
• Don’t forget about clubs and organizations. If there are enough people to to build a club, there are certainly enough people to start a membership site on the same topic. By the same token, if enough people are interested to hold a convention on a certain topic, you can definitely find enough people to build a membership business around that same topic.
• And of course there are all the things you have an interest in, too! There’s a good chance that others are interested in these things, as well. And, as an added bonus, it’s much more fun to build a business around things you’re interested in.
• One simple and easy way to find out what’s hot is Google Trends. Google Trends tells you the most popular current search terms. These topics are the hottest topics because lots and lots of people want information about them. Hot topics that people are excited about make great niches for your membership website.

Second – Analyze the “commerciality”

OK, so you’ve got a great idea for your niche membership business with lots of fanatics. But will they actually spend money? The quickest way to find out is to determine if others are profiting in your potential niche.

Here’s a punch list for figuring out if anyone’s making money in your niche:

• Find out if there are blogs or forums related to it. Just search Google for “YourNiche blog” & “YourNiche forum” and see what comes up. This means there is a large group of people already assembled for you to market to.
• Check Amazon, eBay and Google Shopping to find out if others are making and selling products in your niche. What you’re trying to figure out is if anyone is making money in this niche, and if people are selling products it means they are making money.
• Monitor Google Adwords to determine if people are running the same ads for weeks in a row. If they are, this means they’re making money on these ads – otherwise, they’d stop running them. Which means there is money to be made in your niche.

Last, but not least… How hard will it be to break into this niche?

OK, so you found a hot topic and you know other people are making money on it. Will you be able to get involved and do the same? Here are some things to look at to figure this out:

• Product types. What kind of products are being sold in the niche? You’re looking for a niche that sells info products. That’s because it’s much easier to build a membership business around information vs. any other kind of product.
• The next thing to look at is the competition. You don’t want to try to break into a saturated marketing, so figure out how many people are already selling in this niche.
• Unless the market is just so big that it doesn’t matter how many competitors there are, you want to limit the competition. So evaluate the size vs. the competition.
• How ready is the market for marketing messages, and how willing are the fanatics to buy. Depending on the market it can be anywhere from a couple minutes to a many months between when someone starts the investigation process to when they actually make a purchase.

Putting it all together

So far, we’ve talked about exactly what it takes to pick a great niche: One with a hungry crowd of fanatics, who are ready to spend money on information about their topic. And you’ve determined your barrier to entry is small enough to give it a go. Now that you’ve prepared properly, you’re success is 99% guaranteed. How to actually run your membership website is the only thing left to talk about…

The truth? They aren’t doing anything wrong!

There’s actually a quite possibly MORE disturbing thing happening. A large percentage of computers now have some sort of spyware on them and more recently there are spyware programs that will change affiliate links on the host’s computer from your affiliate ID to the spyware creator’s. That means you’re doing all of the work and they’re STEALING your sales!

If you’re making less sales that you expect to – or more than you normally make – it is very possible that this is your problem. With your current links there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop this problem either. The solution?

CLOAK YOUR LINKS!

Click Here To Download Your Free Cloak and Dagger Affiliate Secrets Report

Normally people run off to a URL shortening service or something and get a different URL so it can’t be edited, but I would NOT recommend that you do that. More than likely you’ll pick one of the many services that will break affiliate cookies and you won’t get the sell anyways. More recently though there have been a few link cloaking services that are directly related to affiliate marketing – these are the ones that you want.

The best ones of these will be hosted on your own site and allow you to change the links, etc. You probably shouldn’t try and make your own redirect script (unless you’re a programmer) – you might end up not having affiliate cookies still.

I asked around for a program that can do just this and was instead redirected to a report about link cloaking. It’s over 15 pages of information about link cloaking and why you need to do it. If you’re serious about getting the sales that you deserve and stopping thieves in their track, I recommend you download it as well.

The report is titled ‘Cloak & Dagger Affiliate Secrets’ and you can find it right here. This will take you through the reasons to use link cloaking, as well as the different ways that people can hijack links.

It recommends ‘Phantom Link Cloaker’ (PLC) which is a great cloaking service that runs on your website. Recently ‘PLC’ was upgraded to version two and a ton of new features were added. You can find ‘Phantom Link Cloaker’ here if you have already read the report or are already convinced to look into a link cloaking service.

Click Here To Download Your Free Cloak and Dagger Affiliate Secrets Report

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Mistake #1 We elevate our prospect above ourselves

This is often done by elevating their opinions above yours and or elevating their time over yours. It is a given that we need prospects but it is important to have the mind frame that you have gold in your hands and act like it. It is important that your prospect values the time they meet with you. If they say there are busy, guess what you tell them? You are busier!

Mistake #2 We chase and convince instead of attracting

You are not in the business to chase prospects to look at your opportunity, nor do you want to be trying hard to convince prospects. I mean think about it, you can be a good convincer, but what will you be convincing your prospect to do? Go to a website, conference call, or meeting? But what are you truly looking for? You are seeking dynamic leader s for your business, and the best way to attract these leaders is by being one first. You are looking for prospects that are looking for you. At the end of the day the opportunity is either for them or it’s not.

Mistake #3 We talk too much and throw up all over prospects

Instead of the saying “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!’ New home base business owners suffer from “I’m talking and I can’t shut up!” It is important to remember the more you say the less your prospect wants to hear. But the less you say the more they want to hear. Engage your prospect by asking questions.

Mistake #4 We make the opportunity sound easy

Often we say to our prospect “It’s so easy, all you have to do is get people on the call.” Or “Everyone is going to do it.” But in reality we don’t want people who are going to do it if it is easy. We want people who will step up to the plate; we want people to plug in. You want to inspire them rather than motivate them. You want to find out their Why? Their Reason? Their Purpose?

Mistake #5 Not Treating this business like a business, it is not a hobby

This statement speaks for itself. It is vital that you concentrate on your behavior (activity), not results. Maintaining the proper mindset is vital to success as a home base business owner. Remember sow now and reap the benefits later.

Mistake #6 Look for leaders not needers

Strive to work with people that deserve it not the one’ who need it, you can’t fix people because they need us. People are looking for someone not to take care on their needs; they are looking for someone to lead them.

Now armed with this information I hope that you will be able to avoid these mistakes in your home base business.  And would love to hear your thoughts on this subject, so please feel free to send me your comments.

I would also like to invite you to Get FREE Instant Access to My Social Media Income Transformation 8-Day Video Training Series

#1 Establish a high level of self-confidence and self-esteem.

Your self-confidence depends on your self-esteem.  And there’s a direct positive correlation between how much you like yourself and how well you do everything else.  The higher your self-esteem, the lower your fear of rejection will be.  The more you like yourself, the more effective you are in getting along with others.  And people have more confidence in you when they feel you like are care about them.

#2 Develop your power of commitment and perseverance.

One of the best ways of building self-esteem is backing your sales effort wit the willpower of commitment and perseverance.  The primary reason for sales failure is not sticking with it long enough and hard enough to get the winning experience to maintain self-esteem.  They’re willing to take no for an answer.

Selling is a business of percentages.  Successful salespeople know success is directly related to the number of calls they make, and that 80% of sales are made after the fifth visit to a prospect.  It’s terribly important to make and absolute commitment to succeed in your sales career.  This is a 100%, no-compromises, take no-prisoners dedication to become the best in your field.  You’ve made an ironclad contract with yourself.  And once you’ve done that, failure is not an option.

#3 Have a positive self-concept.

Customers will accept your image of yourself, so act in every way like a top sales professional.  When successful salespeople see themselves in a role that’s helpful to customers, it’s what the customer also sees.  Position yourself mentally as a successful consultant to your customers, someone who is on call as a problem solver and adviser.

#4 Refine your ability to set goals and pursue them.

Every successful salesperson is goal-oriented.  Goals must be concrete and achievable, even if at first they seem a bit beyond your reach.  Set your goals in the way suggested by the French philosopher Teilhard de Chardin: “Our duty as men (and women) is to proceed as if limits to our ability do not exist.  We are collaborators in creation.”

The key to effective goal-setting, of course, is writing goals down and reviewing them frequently.  Go over then every day, if needed, to keep you on course and on your timetable.  Be ready to make adjustments as necessary.  Goals are also a marvelous tool for organizing your time effectively.  Develop the nightly practice of setting goals for what you plan to accomplish the next day.

#5 Be courageous.

Probably the greatest single deterrent people experience in achieving success in sales is fear.  Primarily it is fear of the consequences of acting.  It is fear of failure.

While the fears we encounter in our careers seldom concern physical safety, the consequences can be almost as debilitating if such fears aren’t faced squarely, challenged and managed.  In the simplest sense courage is managing your fears and taking action to overcome them.

#6 Operate with personal integrity.

I consider personal integrity the magnetic north on our moral compass.  It’s a constant reference point that assures a true course in life.  No appraisal of your business conduct will hold you in higher regard than being considered a person of integrity by your customers and colleagues.

I will be adding the final 6 personality characteristics that define successful salespeople.  Selling, after all, is a people business.