Learn Internet Marketing Now!

Everyone needs an opportunity to live a better life and with that said, right now I'm offering tips and techniques along with course material!

Just head to my internet marketing page at http://unrelentingseo.com/affiliate-marketing-gold.php

How To Make Money Online As A ClickFunnels Super Affiliate

People are always asking me what’s the best products to promote online? My answer has always been the same. When looking for an affiliate program to promote, you should look for the follow features.

• Product offers a recurring commsion
• Tags customer is to you for life
• Low or no cost to join
• Great training program

One of the best affiliate program that pay recurring commissions is ClickFunnels. They give you 40% of the customers bill for life. Not only do you get paid over and over again, but the customers you referred are yours for life. Anything they buy in the future, you will make money on.

In this video I show you how you can make money with ClickFunnels affiliate program, plus I show you how much I’m making from it.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

To help their affiliates, ClickFunnels has an Affiliate Bootcamp. If you accept the challenge, they will guide to step by step on how to become a ClickFunnels super affiliate and retire in the next 100 days.

The challenge is free to join and all the training is free as well. I recommend signing up even if you don’t plan to be a ClickFunnels affiliate because the training can be applied to any affiliate marketing program.

Click Here To Register for the ClickFunnels Affiliate Bootcamp

from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2tI1O66
via Daniel

Ordered The Galaxy S10 + The One Funnel Away Challenge

On this episode of the Dot Com Lunch, I talk about why I ordered the new Samsung Galaxy S10, and show you the internet marketing lessons you can learn from the launch. Also, everyone at the Dot Com Lunch is ready for the One Funnel Away Challenge! Are you?

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

Registration for the Challenge will close on February 24th at 6PM PST (that’s tomorrow). If you haven’t registered yet, then you better do it now.

The One Funnel Away Challenge is designed to FORCE you to stop working on stuff that doesn’t matter, and start implementing the key tasks that will get your funnel LIVE, and your business flowing. In 30 days, you’ll have a funnel that is built and LIVE, and ready to gather leads and sales.

If you’re the type of person who vaguely knows what to do, but just needs to buckle down and DO IT, then this Challenge is going to be the kick-in-the-pants you need EVERY DAY until you get your funnel launched. I look forward to doing the challenge with you!

Click Here To Join Me for The One Funnel Away Challenge

from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2E9ieZT
via Daniel

Are You Ready For The One Funnel Away Challenge?

Registration for the ClickFunnel One Funnel Away Challenge will close on February 24th at 9PM EST. If you haven’t registered yet, then you better do it now. I am ready for the Challenge! Are you?

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

The One Funnel Away Challenge is designed to FORCE you to stop working on stuff that doesn’t matter, and start implementing the key tasks that will get your funnel LIVE, and your business flowing. In 30 days, youâ€ll have a funnel that is built and LIVE, and ready to gather leads and sales.

If you’re the type of person who vaguely knows what to do, but just needs to buckle down and DO IT, then this Challenge is going to be the kick-in-the-pants you need EVERY DAY until you get your funnel launched. I look forward to doing the challenge with you!

Click Here To Join Me for The One Funnel Away Challenge

from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2Iu0zSc
via Daniel

Common Split Testing Mistakes and How To Correct Them

Split testing is a necessary evil. It’s tedious and time consuming, however it’s one of the quickest ways to achieve online success.  Using this strategy can add immediate value to your website if conducted properly. You’ll need to take the time to make the necessary preparations to get your site split test ready. But once you’re set there will be no stopping you.

This article will guide you specifically through the process of preparing for a split test. Your website shall soar to new heights if you follow just a few simple rules that I’ll lay out for you now. Let me help you make split tests work for you!

1. The Importance of Traffic

Traffic is an essential component of an effective split test. The sign of a successful website is when visitors follow action steps you have laid out ahead of time. Whether the action step involves subscribing to a weekly newsletter or buying a product, the successful completion of these action steps is the yardstick by which you are measuring your efforts.

It stands to reason that in order to measure the results of data you must have statistics with which to draw your conclusions. To acquire data, you’ll need substantial traffic to your website. It’s really only valuable to run split tests in periods of adequate traffic for this will be considered your baseline.

Traffic is really the population that is going into the funnel you are testing. You need to be specific when gathering data. If you’re testing your home page than your results must reflect this information in order to be useful when making accommodations and amendments.  Each page of your website must be tested separately to get an accurate picture of your actual site traffic numbers. This will naturally bring you to the next question.

Necessary steps to take help ascertain the correct level of traffic:

1. Determine your typical business cycle. You’ll need to establish whether your cycle will span over a week, month or year.
2. How do your visitors behave at various times over the course of the cycle? Do you notice any substantial differences in their browsing patterns?
3. Through the use of a sample size calculator it will be necessary to determine your desired confidence level and interval. The traffic you need to generate will be in proportion to how much confidence you have in your website and the desired goal you have set forth.
4. The sample size value that’s generated by the calculator will need to be multiplied by two. Now you know the level of browsers you must acquire through your chosen funnel to run your A/B test in accordance with the confidence requirements you have chosen.

Accurate results call for accurate data. Pay attention to the business cycle you have established. It’s important to stay within these parameters as cutting off your results mid-cycle will lead to false conclusions and set you up to make unnecessary adjustments.

That being said, you need to determine whether or not your funnel has enough traffic to meet the requirements of population as well as sample size. You want to avoid running tests indefinitely as this will impact the validity of your results.

2. Have An Awesome Giveaway

Promotional offers with free giveaways have the power to draw in substantial traffic and are therefore excellent strategies to generate interest in your website. What you really want to do is to harness the power of desire. What does your target audience really want? You must truly have your hand on the pulse of your customer in order to determine a product which will appeal to them. Free giveaways work wonders when the product delivered is of immeasurable value to the consumer.

This sentiment rings true for product sales as well. Split testing can only do so much to generate traffic. Ultimately the quality and desirability of the product must stand on its own. Products must be validated in order to hold water with the general public at large. Check out this article to give you tips on how to validate a product idea.

Essentially your free product giveaway is an opportunity for your customer to get to know you and build trust with your organization. Later on down the road you can introduce alternative product sales but initially you want to keep it fairly straightforward. Everyone loves free giveaways and by initializing this tactic you will develop trust and have your customers coming back for more somewhere in the future.

Use An Enticing Giveaway

EBooks make phenomenal giveaway products. Tap into the mind of your readers and determine an area of great interest and then create ways to make the subject matter work for you. How to manuals that solve problems in a unique manner garnish a vast amount of attention from visitors. For example, a book that highlights ways to stop your dog from chewing things may be of much greater value than an eBook listing ways to get your dog to sit.

Perhaps it may take a bit of detective work to uncover the exact area of interest that you want to delve into but the time is worth its weight in gold when your site traffic begins to multiply. Hopefully my now, you know your audience, and can build an eBook which you know they’ll love to read. If you can tap into the desire of your audience, then you’ll have an easier time having people opt-into your form or landing page.

3. Understand Your Target Market

Understanding your target market is fundamental to running effective split tests, determining effective giveaway promotions and improving your conversion rates. The main objective is to create products/services which address the needs of your visitors. In order to do this, you must completely understand the psychology behind their actions. You’ll need to become familiar with their hopes, wants and fears in order to create a persuasive copy.

Getting to know your target market involves immersing yourself in their world, talking with them and frequenting spots where they typically hang out.  It would be extremely useful to read books and forums which appeal to your demographic. You need to get into their psyche and understand what motivates them and the emotions that drive their actions. In order to do this, you’ll need to put yourself in their shoes and determine what types of changes would drastically improve the quality of their lives.

Your service may provide a solution to a problem that you, yourself, had encountered at one point throughout your life. Take yourself back to that time and place and search for the emotions and concerns which plagued your mind. Now you have an idea as to how your target market perceives the world. Record all of your observations. Allow them to direct your words as you create an amazing and persuasive copy that truly takes into account the struggles of your target market.

The big key word here is empathy. In order to provide quality and responsive service you must be able to relate to the individuals whose lives you hope to positively influence.

4. Keep Setting Your Goals

Running a split test is meant to help you make adjustments that will lead to the overall success of your website. As in everything your objective must be clear and concise. Setting definite goals for your split tests maximizes their efficiency.

The goal of a split test can cover a wide range of topics but generally it’s beneficial to begin with low-hanging fruit first. Focus in on those areas that are readily achievable and don’t require a large output of effort. For example, you might choose to center in on boosting email subscribers. Here it is advantageous to look at the opt-in box copy and location as well as the efficiency of giveaways. These are fundamental features that directly impact the subscriber rate to your website. Choose a goal and back it up with split tests that support your overall objective.

Ensure that you have covered the low-hanging fruit first before embarking on tactics you might come across while travelling across the web. You may discover a new and cool tool and wish to implement it immediately. However, be sure that you have covered the basics first. Large companies who have already tested the low-hanging fruit may have chosen to follow an up and coming trend but they did so only after ensuring the essentials were taken care of.

Detailed in this article are a few low-hanging fruit ideas that you might want to hone in on and implement for your own site. Split testing can improve your conversion rate significantly but you must be willing to initiate radical changes to facilitate growth. The results you get from split testing can allow you to accelerate the pace by which your company thrives. If you can feel the fear and do it anyways, the changes you make will make lasting change and success for your business!

Final Thoughts

Split testing is the backbone of an effective blog, and collecting email subscribers. If you can build an enormous list, then you’ll be able to remarket your content, and products more effectively. Think about it, you’ll reach your audience faster, and will be able to convert them helping your bottom-line. However, again this all starts with a solid split testing campaign, and being about to test out what you have implemented on your blog with solid data. Start by utilizing the strategies which I’ve listed above, and see how they help convert your audience. Once you find a strategy which works, and helps your bottom line, you can continue to optimize it going forward.

I’m sure you have heard this numerous times from others. No matter what your niche, it’s important to make sure you test everything because your probably in a very competitive niche. The more you optimize, the better chance you have of outperforming your competition. In the end, this is what matters when building a successful business, and brand.

from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2SlbPzY
via Daniel

Blogging Lessons I Learned From Spending Two Nights in the Woods

You’ve probably come across an online quiz or seven where they ask if you’ve ever done this, if you’ve ever eaten that, or if you’ve ever visiting this place or that. You tally up your score and determine that you’ve still got a lot of the world to see, a lot of food to eat, and a lot of items to tick off your bucket list.

Even though I was born and raised right here in Vancouver, I’ve always wondered about how Canadian I really am. I mean, I enjoy poutine and beaver tails as much as the next hoser, but I can’t skate (I know, right?) and I’ve never actually been camping. That is, until another Canadian dad blogger thought it might be a good idea for us dads to go on a social media-fueled camping trip.

So, even though I’d never been really “camping” a single day in my life, I signed up, went on the thing, and I even shot a vlog documenting the whole thing. You can find more of our content by checking the #5DadsGoWild hashtag on Instagram and on Twitter. But from the perspective as a blogger, an online entrepreneur, and a business owner, what did I really learn from spending two nights in the middle of the forest with no electricity, no heat, no Wi-Fi, and no cell phone reception?

Find Your Tribe

Just because you work for yourself doesn’t mean you have to work by yourself. One of the most common misconceptions that people have about this business is that other bloggers, other YouTubers, other digital influencers and other online content creators are your competition. You’re competing against them for advertising dollars. You’re competing against them for search engine rankings. You’re competing against them for this or for that.

But the real truth of the matter is that you’ll all do a lot better if you all help and support one another. As we spent those chilly days and nights in the middle of the wilderness, we helped one another capture those perfect Instagram moments. When we posted our content online, we all helped to amplify the signal of all our posts.

A rising tide lifts all ships. And having the support of your tribe goes a long way in achieving that.

Less Is More (More or Less)

As this was our first time putting together an “event” like this, we weren’t really sure what to expect with #5DadsGoWild. The whole thing was little jury-rigged together and we were flying by the seats of our sponsored pants to see what could and could not work.

The net result is that we may have taken on more sponsors than we should have for the trip. We had considered all the things that we needed to make the event successful and we set out to find sponsors to support that mission. In hindsight, though, what this meant is that we extended our obligations a little too far and we probably would have been better off approaching fewer brands and asking for more from them.

There is that old Pareto principle again.

Be Prepared

As mentioned, I’d never been camping before. I had no idea what I was doing in the middle of the woods, so I was leaning on the experience of some (really just one or two) of the other campers. At the end, I’m fairly certain we all overpacked for the occasion.

But as the Boy Scouts (and Scar from The Lion King, apparently) have taught us, you should always be prepared. Remember that we were far from proper civilization and we could hardly hop out to the local Walmart to pick up something we forgot. In this way, it was far better to bring something and not use it, than it would have been not to bring something and then desperately need it.

If nothing else, it provides peace of mind. And this certainly applies to the tools and resources of online business too.

Embrace Discomfort

No one ever grows from within their comfort zone. If you stick with what you know and what is safe, you’ll never actually get anywhere. It’s only when you put yourself in situations that make you a little (or very) uncomfortable, in situations that stretch you beyond your limits and test your ability to adapt, that you finally get to discover what you can really do.

I am in no way some expert camper now. And I would not at all be comfortable in leading a camping trip of my own any time soon. However, those two nights in the woods taught me a lot and I think I gained a lot from the experience. Scared to write and publish your first book? Too afraid to start shooting videos on YouTube? Frightened about getting started with affiliate marketing?

It’s okay to be scared, but it’s not okay not to try. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like you’ll be eaten by bears or anything, right?

from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2SQhgMh
via Daniel

How to Revive Low Performing Content

Content is the lifeline of every blog, and you have to make sure you have the best content available for your readers. The way content interacts with people, and the important it plays has changed enormously over the years. Much of this has to do with Google algorithm updates that have been tweaked to meet the user pattern. For example, users are much more precise when they search, and know what they are looking for. This means we have to be as “targeted” when implementing keywords into our content. As a blogger, I made the mistake of using to many broad keywords, and my competition when through the roof when that happen. However, I was able to learn early on I have to be very precise, and targeted so I’ll have a better chance of ranking within the SERP’s. Next,

Many of us have been blogging for years even before many of the algorithm changes took place. This means we should go back a revive old content because there’s still value in what we wrote before. With that said, I’ll be going over some cool ways to revive older content you’ve written, and how you can keep a close eye on future content making sure it stays Evergreen. Let’s get started, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Don’t Forget Link Building

One way you can fall down in the ranks, and stop having traffic visit your website is from competition. I believe in almost every niche you’re going to have competition so you have to find ways to stand out. This means writing content which is better, but continue to build links from authority websites. Since the Google update, much emphasis has been given to relevance, value, and refreshing content. This means you have to always make sure all three elements are completed when building your brand through content. Otherwise, you’ll be just like everyone else. What can you do to make sure you have the best links? Here are “3” things I’m always doing to revive old content by constantly building link…

Guest posting – One of the best ways to build momentum quickly, and get a high authority link back from a solid website. Some authority bloggers have been around for years, and have built their brand with thousands of readers. They have enormous traffic daily, a high domain & page authority. If you can get published on this type of website, then it can be awesome for your link building profile. However, you have to make sure you don’t just post on any blog because it has to be:

• Relevant
• Authoritative
• Have traffic
• Always kept up to date

When you publish content on a high authority blog, you’ll drive relevant traffic to your blog. Next, make sure you add an author bio to the bottom of your content so people can click through to your actual blog, and read other content you’ve written.

Social Media – Social media has changed the way we connect with people online, and it’s important to have accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. I rely on these “3” networks because they control 75% of the social media traffic. The key is to get accounts setup, and be able to share value content getting it in front of the right type of people. Use the tools these social media platforms offer like #hashtags, etc. Why is this important?

When you add the correct #hashtags, you’ll attract the right type of people to your content. These people are relevant, and the chances of getting them to link to your content from their blog goes up enormously.

Internal Link Building – When building links, it can work both ways so it’s important to always connect your internal pages too. This will increase the PA (page authority) of your website, and it’s something Google has been updating within their algorithm too. For example, they look for the overall value of the website when ranking it within the SERP’s. It shows a complete site full of value, and NOT a single page. Before many people were able to manipulate the search engines by building ranking “1” single page for conversions, and avoiding all other pages.

Lesson #1 – Pay close attention to the way you build external, and internal links. It’s important to make sure your links are relevant, keyword “TARGETED”, and from authority websites.

Combining Relevant Content

One thing I’ve noticed when writing content is I’ll have similar pieces of content. Over the last 7 years I’ve written closely related content for my blog, and this actually opens up a great opportunity when reviving my content. If both pieces of content are NOT performing well, then I can always combined, edit them, and publish them as one single piece of content. It will allow me to create a higher value piece of content which adds enormous value for my readers. Next.

I’ve noticed a huge trend taking place within the SERP’s. Much of the content which is outranking in search engines is above the 2,200 words count mark. I think this has to do with the value you can provide when you have lengthier content…right? The longer the content, the more value you can provide for your readers. This is something which has stood out with Google after the algorithm updates. With that said,

Go back and view the previous content you’ve written, and look for similar topics. Check the sate they were published, and how much traffic is currently being driven to those pages organically. If you notice the traffic is slow, it’s time to take both pieces of content, and combine them to optimize them. Whenever, I combine to revive, I’ll take 1-2 weeks to go through each one adding the MOST important points, and keywords. I’ll have someone edit it for me before I publish. Here are a few more things you can think about when combining content:

• Think about adding images if you have NOT previously
• Add videos
• Add infographics
• Skim through your competition, and see what they are missing so you can add it to your content afterwards.

Lesson #2 – Find similar content on your blog, and combined them to make a “SUPER” content. Make sure you take time to research how you’ll combine them, and what sections you’ll pull out of each. Next, add the right keywords, and any other element you think will improve the overall value. For example, images, videos, and even infographics will help your audience going forward.

Create Other Relevant Content

It’s one thing to combine relevant content as mentioned in Point #2, however you do have another option. Since much of the ranking system is based on relevance, then it might be a good idea to create content around a specific topic linking to each other. Relevance adds value to relevance so linking similar content will definitely help boost your rankings. For example, if I’m writing on “Link Building Strategies”, then I can create 10 different topics linking into each other. Here are just a few:

• Intro to link building
• Using anchor text
• Article directories
• Guest posting
• Social media
• Text decoration
• LSI keywords

All of these topics are related, and can be combined into each other boosting each with juice. Google has stated links from relevant websites, and content will be even more important as we move forward. This is why such a strategy can definitely help move you up the ranks providing much needs traffic. However, when using such a strategy it’s important you research the broader topic, and start narrowing down until you find a solid handful of topics.

Lesson #3 – Create a cluster of similar topics all ranking into each other. This way you are adding relevance into each of your content “TOPIC” which ultimately will be good for rankings, and driving traffic.

Evergreen Content

In the end, I want to talk about ways you can protect yourself going forward when creating content. We first must understand why content runs into a dead lifeline, and most of the times it’s because it becomes irrelevant. However, there is a way to make sure you stay relevant all the time, and it’s to write content that is Evergreen.

Evergreen content is one which has NO expiry date because the topic will always be relevant. For example, if I’m writing content on “10 Vacations Spots for 2015”, then once the year is over my content will MOST likely fail to attract the right audience. However, I can shift this topic around, and make it last for a very long time as long as it’s the best available, and full of value. I can write content based on “10 Things to Take When Going On Vacation”. You can see with such a topic or title it will apply to everyone no matter what the year or vacation location. This type of content will stay relevant for a very long time.

Evergreen content is the direction many of you should be focusing on going forward so you can continue to drive traffic to your pages NO matter what.

Lesson #4 – Create content which is Evergreen, and has NO expiry date. This will ensure your content doesn’t stop attracting an audience, and doesn’t have to be revived going forward.

Final Thoughts

Keep these factors in mind when you go back to revive older content. It will be time consuming in the beginning, however if you spread out the process then it’s something which can be done WITHOUT burning you out. After, going forward, you might want to focus on writing content which is Evergreen so it has an unlimited life line.

from John Chow dot Com https://ift.tt/2BIIpGE
via Daniel

Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting With Google Cloud

Not all web hosting is made alike. You may be able to find what appear to be crazy bargains on web hosting only to learn the hard way about all the corners they had to cut to achieve that price. Customer service is unhelpful or nonexistent. Server hardware is horribly outdated and mismanaged. You suffer through way too much downtime and page load times are atrociously slow. In the end, your “bargain” just isn’t worth it. There has to be a better way without breaking the bank.

And there is, especially if your website is powered by WordPress. Kinsta positions itself as offering “premium WordPress hosting for everyone” with benefits and features that really place it a step above the rest. Let’s take a closer look.

A Better Way to Host Your Blog

By and large, you’ll find that most standard web hosting plans fall into a few familiar categories. You’ve got shared hosting, virtual private servers (VPS), and dedicated servers. Kinsta doesn’t really fall into one of these buckets. Not exactly.

That’s because instead of simply shoving everyone’s website onto the same hardware (shared hosting) or charging a premium to allocate your site separately from others (VPS), Kinsta is powered by the Google Cloud Platform. This takes advantage of its 18 global data centers with an interconnected infrastructure that leverages their premium tier network.

The goal here is to minimize distance and hops, and the net result is data transfers that are faster and more secure than the competition. The WordPress web hosting service is fully managed, so you never have to worry about the nitty-gritty details, daily backups are always included, and you can trust your site will always run on “speed obsessive architecture” with automatic scalability and high availability.

Lucky enough to have your content go viral? Kinsta is ready for “unpredictable traffic surges,” so your site will still be available and load just as quickly for all those new visitors.

Pricing Plans

The pricing plans from Kinsta are based mostly on the number of WordPress installs (remember that these are fully managed), the number of monthly visits, and the amount of disk space. The good news is that you don’t have to immediately upgrade to a higher plan because of a higher-than-average month; you have options with overage fees: $1/1,000 visits and $0.10/GB for CDN overage.

The $30 starter plan includes a single WordPress installation; 20,000 monthly visits; 5 GB of SSD storage; and 50 GB of free CDN access, as well as site migrations, 14-day daily backup retention, a staging area, free SSL certificates and SSH access. This scales up to $60 for the Pro monthly plan with 2 WordPress installations, $100 for the Business 1 monthly plan for 5 WordPress installations, and so on. All plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee.

In addition, a series of optional upgrades are also offered, like $100/month/site for Cloudflare Railgun or Elasticsearch. If daily backups aren’t enough, you can also opt for updates every six hours or even every hour for $50/month/site or $100/month/site, respectively.

The User Dashboard

Just because Kinsta provides fully managed WordPress hosting doesn’t mean that you lose out on features. The elegant dashboard makes it easy to view all your critical statistics and analytics, as well as access advanced site tools and account management details.

From the main dashboard, you can quickly and easily review your resource usage, including number of sites, number of monthly visits, amount of disk usage, and amount of CDN usage. This way, you can best gauge if you’ll need to go into overage or if you might want to consider upgrading your plan.

Dive deep into your analytics, create SSL certificates, manage multiple users with granular access rights and more. What’s great is the dashboard almost feels like a WordPress installation itself, so getting around the different sections is easy and intuitive.

It’s also here that you can access some additional features, like the Kinsta DNS. This is a premium DNS service that is provided free of charge to Kinsta customers. You can manage your own zone records and use Amazon Route 53, which enables faster domain name resolving.

Pro Hosting for Pro Bloggers

With monthly prices starting as low as $30 for a single WordPress site, Kinsta is well within reach for budding professional bloggers who want a better experience than generic shared hosting. Your visitors will appreciate the blazing fast speed, thanks to SSD storage and the free CDN, as well as the best hardware by way of the Google Cloud Platform.

You’ll enjoy peace of mind against security risks, and you’ll know that everything will always be completely up to date and secured, especially with those daily backups. With free white-glove migrations and a money-back guarantee, Kinsta could be the new home on the web for your blog.

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2TXSoib
via Daniel

Potential and the Growth Mindset

Something that I’ve come to assert time and time again, both here on John Chow dot Com and on my own blog at Beyond the Rhetoric, is that inspiration and key insights can be gleaned from practically anywhere. You can learn from Instagram models and South African super geniuses alike. And yes, you can learn from would-be professional gamers too.

Where’s Bobby Scar Now?

A few years back, I featured this guy named Bobby Scar (I don’t actually know his real name, but that’s what he called himself publicly) as part of my weekly Sunday Snippet series. At the time, he was a player that was better known for his skills in a game called Super Smash Bros. Melee, but he wanted to make some headway into the Street Fighter scene.

He appeared on an episode of Excellent Adventures with Gootecks and Mike Ross, a YouTube series where the guys play against online warriors for our entertainment and benefit.

Long story long, Mike Ross said that Bobby Scar had a lot of potential to be an exceptional Street Fighter player. Most people would have taken that comment as a compliment and as a form of encouragement. Having potential is certainly better than being told you’re clearly not cut out for this, and this can help boost your confidence.

However, Bobby quickly rebutted, “Potential is one of those words that is a double-edged sword… You never want to be the player with potential for too long.”

Because you need to “do work” and convert that “potential” into tangible benefits. Having potential doesn’t mean you’re actually any good at this game yet, whether the game is Street Fighter or blogging or Internet marketing or whatever else. It means that you could be successful, that you could be skillful, that you could be seen as the best at what you do… but you’re not there yet. And you can hardly take “could be” and “might be” to the bank.

The Danger of Potential and Praise

And here’s the thing that might turn out to be completely counter-intuitive. Being told that you have potential, being told that you could be great might actually hamper your ability to boost your skills and improve your lot in life. Being showered with praise early in your career could be counterproductive.

When you’re told that you’re pretty great (and you could be exceptional), you feel compelled to maintain that state so you can keep receiving that praise. As long as you keeping doing great, everything is fine. But as soon as you slip up, you start to doubt your ability and diminish your potential. And being the human being that you are, you tend to gravitate toward positive experiences and shield yourself from negative experiences.

So, instead of constantly pushing yourself forward and giving yourself a legitimate shot at fulfilling your potential, you shy away from risky situations. You become too afraid to stretch beyond your comfort zone, because you don’t want to risk messing up. So, you stick with what is safe. And when you stick with what is safe, you inherently limit your opportunity for growth.

Punched in the Face

And that is why we all need to embrace the growth mindset instead. The growth mindset understands that failure is inevitable, and failure in and of itself is not a negative thing. You have to understand and appreciate that in order to develop your talents and skills, in order to ascend that virtual ladder, you must be willing to face those challenges where you will likely make mistakes.

You’ll stumble and fall. Over and over again. You’re going to get punched in the face, and you’re going to take a beating. But that’s okay, because it is through all that falling and failing (and by picking yourself up again and again), that you are able to grow and improve. Failure is not something to be avoided. Welcome the challenge, learn from your mistakes, and keep pushing forward. Put in work.

Don’t be just the guy with potential. Be the guy who took his potential and actually did something with it.

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2BE9tGY
via Daniel

Why I Will Never Go Back To Microsoft Windows

On this episode of the Dot Com Lunch, I talked about contradictions and explain why I will never go back to MS Windows after experiencing the Mac OS. Also, check out the lady trying to walk her pet rabbit. Join us for the next Dot Com Lunch. RSVP here.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2EeqA3H
via Daniel

Vintage Chevy Camaro with New LT4 Motor At South OC Cars & Coffee

South OC Cars and Coffee has a lot of cars showing off their stuff. However, the car that stood was a vintage Chevy Camaro that was updated with modern wheels, tires, brakes, and a brand new supercharged LT4 motor! Check it, and much more, in the video!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2DKespL
via Daniel

Landing Page Video Errors That Are Costing You Conversions

Having a solid landing page is important to ensure you get the right conversions. Without a high conversion rate, you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll struggle to get from Point A-to-B. With that said, I’ve dedicated much of my time to finding out what works compared to what doesn’t. This means I have done enormous split testing, and have been able to figure out what really matters when it comes to building a landing page for conversions. Next,

You’ll notice a huge trend in landing pages, and it is to include videos. I’ve noticed when including videos, you are automatically increasing your conversion rate by 10. People love videos because it takes very little work to pull out the value you are looking for. However, with people knowing this, I’m surprised at the amount of people who pay no attention to the videos they add to their landing pages. I’ll tell you that your missing out on solid conversions if you don’t add videos to your LP’s. Next, these videos have to be well constructed, and should follow a certain pattern.

Here are six factors I’ve paid close attention to when building landing pages, especially, when adding videos. Let’s get started.

Not Educating Visitors

When you add a video, it’s important to not just add any boring video because this is NOT going to help your conversions. People arrived on your page because they want to find value, and it doesn’t matter if this comes in text, landing page or even image format. You have to educate because when they feel like they are learning something, they’ll most likely click-through increasing conversions.

Whenever you design a landing page, put yourself in the visitor’s position, and think about the kind of stuff you like to read or view. This will help you make the right tweaks to your landing page video increasing the overall value. Start by doing the following:

First, this about the product or service you are promoting, and what are the top features you’ll like to present. For example, if you are promoting a product, then it will be a good idea to make a list of the features which stand out. This way when you are creating a video, you’ll be able to base it around these features. Look for features which the competitors DON’T offer because only then will you provide different value.

Secondly, check out the products affiliate page because many of them will offer you ready made videos. You just have to copy, and paste to put it on your website. This will also save you the trouble of NOT having to create a video on your own. The video offered by the affiliate program will already showcase some of the important features.

Third, think about your audience, and the type of information they are looking for. If you have been blogging for some time, then you know your audience so can tweak videos to meet their preference.

Fourth, create video and make sure it’s interesting while keeping right to the point. I’ll be talking about this in detail later, but it’s important to ensure you always stick to the main points.

Complication

That’s right! I’ve seen many landing pages, and I’ll tell you that many of them are way too complicated. If you want people to convert, then make things very simple for them. For example, I was reading on this topic, and found a great example using Dropbox.com. If you head over to their website, you’ll notice how simple the entire conversion process is. Not to mention, the video is optional, and the whole layout if very clean. Check out this illustration, and you’ll notice how right to the point the page is while giving the user the option to watch a video.

Providing the video option, gives newbies the ability to learn a bit more before getting started. However, many people just want to get started so will download the product.

When creating your landing page, it’s again important to put yourself in the visitor’s position, and ask this question: Is this page easy or too complicated? If you answer “Yes”, then go through looking for ways to tone down the landing page. Here’s a cool trick I use whenever I’m designing a page:

Head over to someone who is your competitor, and look at what they are doing. You can learn a lot from them especially if they have been in your niche longer. Spend a few hours, and make notes along the way so you can improve your page afterwards by incorporating some of the same elements.

Poor Call-To-Action

Whenever I’m building a video landing page, I’ll always make sure I have a solid call-to-action. I’ll place this in two places. First, it will be a “click” to start the video so people can start watching. Many videos do play automatically however lately I’ve opted to not have mine to this. It’s because I like to give people more control when they are on my page. Sometimes visitors are more interested to read through the content on the page instead of watching the video. This is why my first CTA will be a clear “Play” button. Next,

Always have a call-to-action in the video because after you educate people, you’ll be able to direct them to a specific call to action. However, you can even place this towards the bottom of the video pointing people to it after they have finished watching the video. The point is…

It’s very important to have a CTA (call-to-action) so people who have arrived for the first time know what to expect from the video, and how they can get from Point A-to-B.

Design Does Matter

Landing page have to attract your audience, and stand out compared to your competition. This means you have to focus on design making sure they are inviting. Landing pages are actual “Pages” so the same concept applies just like your entire website. For example, 75% of people will leave your website if they feel your website is NOT inviting or trust worthy. This applies to your landing page too. The longer you can keep your audience on your page, the better chance you can convert them increasing your conversion. Let’s look at a few things to keep a close eye on when building your landing pages.

First, it’s important colors match, and are easy on the eyes. For example, I like to base my entire color combination on my logo. All colors must represent my logo, and play off each other. They must be around the same spectrum of colors i.e. blue, grey, white, etc. The more comfortable the colors on the visitor’s eyes, the more time they’ll spend on your website. Secondly, font size must be very easy to read so go for the common sizes like 14px, 15px or even 16px. Some bloggers make the size too small hoping the person will adjust zoom to compensate, however this isn’t always the case. I like to avoid the visitor leaving my page to do anything once they have landing. This is why I make sure I test different sizes looking at bounce rate over 30 days until I find the size which actually work.

Third, incorporating some main “target” keywords are a great way to build momentum while increasing conversions. Keep in mind, they have arrived don your page by typing in specific keywords, and expect to see them on your page when they arrive. The more they see them, the higher chance they’ll stick around because they know they’ll find the solution if they do. I’m surprised at the amount of people who forget to incorporate target keywords on their page, and this causes them to lose customers, and momentum quickly. From my experience, I’ve noticed the following locations matter when building a landing page for conversions.

• Headline – should be short, and right to the point with your main keyword included.
• Bullet-points – You want to ensure you have small amounts of text so people don’t have to waste time reading. This is why I always include bullet points with my main and target keyword in them.
• In the video – This is the most important because people fail to re-iterate the main purpose of their video. Include or mention the main keywords within the video.

As mention on my last point, many people fail to include their main keyword within the video, and this does NOT help re-iterate the point to your audience. Make sure you mention or include keywords within the video.

Final Thoughts

Including a video on your landing page is something which is very popular. It’s a great way to educate your audience without them doing too much work, and just pressing the play button. However, just like anything else, it’s important you split test different video player designs, and “ACTUAL” videos at the same time. This will help improve your overall conversion rate when engaging your visitors. Next, keep the main elements in mind when building your main landing page video next time. For example, it’s important through your video you:

• You educate your audience because they are always looking for value. It doesn’t matter if this is through text or video, the bottom line is value.
• Make the video right to the point removing the complicated elements. Don’t make video fancy or hard to understand. They should be able to pull out the value easily.
• Always add a call-to-action because a lot of people who are visiting your page will be newbies. They’ll watch the video, and need to be told what to do next. Add CTA within the video, or a direct message showing them what to do next.
• Design matters because you want to make video easy on the eyes so people keep watching to its entirety. Remember, the longer they watch, the higher chance they’ll be able to pull out the value which is great for your bottom line.

Next,

Landing pages can be tough to create, and master however it all comes down to the amount of time you take testing, and optimizing. Afterwards, you’ll have a much easier time building a landing age with awesome conversions.

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2TQH2fX
via Daniel

5 Ways that Kajabi Makes Selling Courses Online Easy for Bloggers

As bloggers, we’re already familiar with the most common ways to make money online. It usually comes down to the content and traffic volume on our sites – but ultimately, it’s usually a preference of affiliate marketing, Google AdSense, or selling a course or product.

While affiliate marketing and Google AdSense are nice, they still only allow you to earn a small percentage of the total revenue involved. When selling your own course or product, you can take home close to 100% of the revenue.

On top of that, as the name and brand behind your site, it’s quite likely that you already have more than enough content on your site to package up and create a course or membership site from it.

With all of this in mind, today we are going to take a look at Kajabi, and the platform they’ve created to make selling online courses and digital products easy.

To get the most revenue possible out of your site and marketing efforts, be sure to follow each of these examples and features, then be sure to implement them into your own business efforts.

1 – Say Goodbye to Programming and Hiring Designers

Many people are hesitant about starting an online business because they aren’t sure how to get started, or don’t have the costs associated with hiring a designer or going for a nice custom design.

This one feature in itself has made Kajabi one of the most popular and loved platforms in the market today. There is no coding or design skills required.

As simple as WordPress might seem, it’s still quite a task to set up a membership site or even an online course using that platform. You’ll also likely need to pay for some high-end plugins and probably need to hire a custom coder and designer to make it look how you want.

With Kajabi, it’s all about typing in your specific product or site information, choosing the type of site designs and placements you want to have, and using their easy to learn drag-and-drop platform. And building out your products is as easy as filling in the blanks.

2 – Proven Site Design and Templates that Work for You

Since this article is heavily focused on site owners and bloggers who are likely familiar with the concept of WordPress and using premium WP themes, it’s important to also discuss the many different themes and templates Kajabi has as well.

With WordPress, even if you find a nice theme, there is still going to be a lot of customization work. You will also need to figure out how to remove headers, sidebars, and any other distractions that the theme might present to your audience.

Kajabi has their own set of high-quality and premium themes that users can choose from. What’s really great about each of these themes, is that they are proven for success and fully optimized to perform with audiences of all types.

Instead of messing around with theme files, domain names and hosting, Kajabi will already have all of this in place for you. Just select the site design or theme you like, fill in some information, and then use the drag and drop editor to tweak it to your liking.

3 – Start with a Simple Lead Gen and Let Automation Do the Rest

One of the great things about blogging and content creation is that it’s always working for you. Between social media and SEO, there could be new visitors coming to your site all the time. The same is true with online courses – when you have the right tools and automation in place.

Kajabi once again makes all of this simple, and one of their most useful features for acquiring new customers and leads, is through the use of their automated email marketing.

The concept here is quite straightforward, and it’s something you might already be familiar with if you already have a mailing list or send out a newsletter. However, Kajabi has a much more advanced platform that allows for customization and the tracking of where/when users are opening and clicking emails as well. And because the platform also supports tagged contact segmentation, polls and landing pages, using these features together to create holistic marketing “Pipeline” flows can be super powerful.

All of this comes together to make for an excellent marketing strategy. Give something away for free in exchange for an email address, then watch as those free leads soon become paying customers.

4 – Lead Generation is Fun with Online Quizzes and Surveys

With site visitors getting more used to online advertising and popup windows that ultimately lead to subscriptions and upsells, it’s important to make sure you have real engagement within your site and content.

A perfect way to set this up and provide value to your audience, is through online quizzes and surveys. There are some solutions out there that can be used with WordPress or other lead gen channels, but again, you will need to purchase them separately and also make sure they are all seamlessly connected together.

Kajabi has a nice set of tools in place that allows users to create custom quizzes and surveys for their audience – both within course material, and as marketing tools as well.

A great way to think about how you could use these tools to better engage with your audience, is to include a quiz after a lesson, or quizzing users on your site to see what type of business owner or entrepreneur they might be.

5 – Utilize the Power of Webinars and Affiliate Marketing

For entrepreneurs and site owners that have higher ticket priced items and courses, it might be a good idea to start investing some time, money and effort into online webinars.

Webinars work great because the live engagement factor is super high, while they also increase the brand loyalty and trust factor. If someone is going to watch you on a webinar for 30-45 minutes, they are much more likely to act upon whatever it is you have to offer.

Another great method for increasing sales and reach, is by adding an affiliate program into your course marketing. With this method, other site owners can promote your course and earn a commission on each referred sale.

Both online webinars and affiliate programs are easy to set up when using the Kajabi platform.

How to Take Your Blog and Business to the Next Level

Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. Just create something of value and know how to market it to your audience.

After seeing what’s possible with Kajabi, you should have some nice ideas flowing through your mind on how you can really propel your business in the right direction with their tools.

Sure, there are other platforms and solutions out there for getting each of these tasks done, but it’s going to cause headache and extra money just to get it all set up. This is where Kajabi shines above the competition.

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2N6ZiiP
via Daniel

This Metric Is More Important Than Reach or Clicks

How do you measure success? This is not meant to be some sort of existential inquiry into the deeper meaning and significance of happiness. I already do a lot of that on my own blog, as well as in this space from time to time. In this case, I’m talking from a purely practical standpoint.

As much as we talk about lifestyle and freedom and fulfillment, the thing that fits into the bottom line of success is, well, the bottom line. It’s about dollars and cents. This is true from the perspective of the blogger and content creator, just as much as it is true for brands and mega corporations. It’s about how much money is being made. And there are so many factors that go into how much money you can make in the short term and in the long term.

Understanding Influencer Marketing

Traditional advertising and marketing strategies just aren’t as effective these days, particularly when you’re trying to reach a more tech-savvy audience with ad blockers and cord cutters. The 30-second ad on network television costs a whole lot of money, both in production and distribution, and it’s out of reach for most smaller companies. And the ROI is even questionable at the higher end.

That’s one of the many reasons why influencer marketing has become so important these past few years. Brands are looking for ways to reach audiences in more meaningful ways and in places they are already are… like on Instagram.

And as with any other form of marketing, there are a lot of numbers and figures that are of interest, like how much you should charge if you want to participate. How much is a blog post worth? What about an Instagram video? A YouTube video? Well, it depends on how much value you are providing the brand.

But how do you determine that?

Going Beyond the Reach

You might recall when I wrote about a similar topic, saying how important it is to go beyond raw reach when it comes to influencer marketing. I said it’s about getting the right fit and reaching the right audience. And brands agree.

According to a report compiled by Business Insider on the subject of influencer marketing, the most important success metric for an influencer campaign is engagement. Some 90 percent of brands indicated that engagement is how they would go about measuring the success of an influencer marketing campaign.

Engagement, in this context, would include likes, comments, shares, tags and so on. Not only do you want eyeballs on this influencer content, but you want those eyeballs to translate into people actually engaging with the content. That extra step shows that they really did consume the post or picture or video in a meaningful way. That makes the brand (and product) much more memorable.

The Business Insider report shows that engagement is far more important to brands for influencer marketing campaigns that traffic/clicks (59 percent), reach (50 percent), and even conversions (54 percent) and product sales (46 percent). Brands are recognizing that it’s not just about making an initial sale right now, but rather about building long-term brand awareness and loyalty.

More Money on the Table

In many ways, influencer marketing is still very much a new thing and we are still in the Wild West period of its development. Both brands and influencers are still experimenting to see what works best, but it’s obvious enough that this is a great area for growth and opportunity.

Linqia put out its report on the state of influencer marketing in 2018 (you can check the highlights on MarketingProfs if you’re interested). This report is based on a survey with nearly 200 marketers that run influencer campaigns for different brands in the B2C (business-to-consumer) space.

What they found was that among the brands that had decided how much they planned on spending on influencer marketing, more than half were going to increase their budgets for these campaigns. That’s 39 percent of all respondents, but when you factor out the 35 percent who were “not sure” or responded with “don’t know,” you’re left with 60 percent of the remainder. Only 5 percent of all respondents planned on decreasing their influencer marketing budget.

This means there is more and more money on the table for these campaigns, and they’re likely available for influencers big and small, especially as brands start to recognize the value of engagement among so-called micro influencers. Reach and clicks are important considerations, to be sure, but engagement reigns supreme.

What they found was that among the brands that had decided on how much

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2WXQ0tO
via Daniel

Live Demo: Gator, the new website builder from HostGator

Do you have an idea for a new business, website, or blog, but don’t know where to start? Then we have the solution for you!

It’s easier than ever to build a professionally-designed, reliable website without needing a ton of technical skills – thanks to the new Gator Website Builder from HostGator!

The new drag-and-drop Gator Website Builder allows you to create a website frustration-free, on a reliable and powerful platform from HostGator.

Join us for a Free Webinar as the product team from HostGator demos the powerful new Gator Website Builder, and how you can use it to make your website dreams a reality.

The live webinar will start on February 13 (tomorrow) at 12:00pm CST, and will run for one hour. Seating is limited. Go register now.

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2N1i3nt
via Daniel

It’s Not About the Money (Not Really)

We’ve oftentimes been told not to worry about the money. They’ve told us time and time again that we should do what we love and the money will follow. Well, I’ve got a bit of a newsflash for all the burlap sack enthusiasts in the audience; the money will not follow unless you go out there and get it yourself. And let’s all be perfectly honest with one another: we’d all like to have more money, right?

If your job paid you absolutely zero dollars and zero cents, you probably wouldn’t be all that motivated to keep working that job even if it’s something you really enjoy doing. There are bills to be paid, food that needs to be put on the table, and roofs that need to be kept over your family members’ heads. Money is necessary. But it’s not about the money. Not really.

One of my favorite posts that I’ve written on this site explored this in the context of the dot com lifestyle and making money online. It echoed a sentiment that John has asserted time and time again here too. The best part of the dot com lifestyle is not the money itself. Instead, it’s the time and location freedom that the lifestyle affords you.

Another thing that I’ve asserted time and time again here and elsewhere is that inspiration can come from practically anywhere. That’s one of the ways that you can work when you’re not working, as counterintuitive as that may sound. That’s also why some of the most successful people in the world read a lot of books, both for business and for pleasure.

I recently finished reading “Vacationland” by John Hodgman. You might know him as the “I’m a PC” guy from the Apple commercials or as the “deranged millionaire” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The book is partly a memoir, intermingled with some unique observations and lessons gleaned from his personal experience. And this involves his experience with money.

While he never really had to worry about going hungry or homeless, it wasn’t until Hodgman came into some wealth that he really got to understand the power of money. In his book, he writes:

This country is founded on some very noble ideals but also some very big lies. One is that everyone has a fair chance at success. Another is that rich people have to be smart and hardworking or else they wouldn’t be rich. Another is that if you’re not rich, don’t worry about it, because rich people aren’t really happy. I am the white male living proof that all of that is garbage.

There are plenty of rich people out there who don’t “deserve” to be rich. They got lucky or they were born into wealth or any number of other possibilities. And there are plenty of smart and hardworking people who never get their “big break” and are left leading an existence on the brink of poverty. But is it really about the money, then? Is that all it takes to be happy?

Hodgman continues:

The vast degree to which my mental health improved once I had the smallest measure of economic security immediately unmasked this shameful fiction to me. Money cannot buy happiness, but it buys the conditions for happiness: time, occasional freedom from constant worry, a moment of breath to plan for the future, and the ability to be generous.

Money, in and of itself, won’t make you happy. You could be a billionaire and still suffer from horrible bouts of depression. However, when you reach a certain threshold, it sure makes it a lot easier to be happy. If you’re not worrying about paying your looming bills, it’s easier to be happy. If you have more free time to explore your interests and hobbies, rather than being saddled with the responsibility of keeping the ship afloat, you have an easier shot at being happy.

And almost as counter-intuitive as it sounds, spending your money on other people makes you happier than when you spend that money on yourself. It’s awfully hard to do that when you don’t have enough to feed yourself, right?

So really, this all boils down to the same thing we’ve been saying all along. It’s not about the money. But that money can create the circumstances that allow for greater time and location freedom, as well as the creative freedom to do what you want, when you want, in whatever manner you want. And that’s what the dot com lifestyle can grant you if you’re willing to work for it.

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2tht7no
via Daniel

Why I Send My Daughter To A $32K A Year Private School

In this video, I explain why I’m willing to pay $32K a year in tuition to send my daughter to a private school. Agree? Degree? Let me know in the comments!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2SHJgkw
via Daniel

How To Increase Your Conversions with Webinars

Webinars are slowly gaining popularity and notoriety for their ability to effectively draw traffic while increasing sales. In this day and age, time is in short supply. At the end of the day, individuals prefer listening to engaging content rather than reading about it. The value of a meaningful, and well-executed webinar is undeniable. In fact, a survey conducted recently found that over 60 % of content marketers are now seeking to include this medium within their marketing strategies.

The path has already been paved by many travelers which takes the guesswork out of creating success within your first attempt. You don’t need to be a seasoned professional to implement a successful webinar. All you need is a road-map to guide you on your way and to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes made by countless others before you.

Your journey to a successful webinar begins here today. Let’s examine the 4 major components of an effective webinar and how implementing a few successful strategies can yield immeasurable results.

THE 5 COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL WEBINAR

1. HOW TO EFFECTIVELY REMIND PARTICIPANTS ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WEBINAR
2. EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTIONS
3. FOLLOW A PROVEN CONTENT STRUCTURE
4. HOW TO SPEAK IN AN ENGAGING TONE

Let’s begin!!

1. Reminding People of Your Upcoming Webinar

Timing and frequency are everything! Email reminders serve to keep your upcoming webinar foremost in the mind of your participants. However, there is a fine line between sending gentle reminders and overwhelming your attendees. Your webinar will be successful if you can attract a viewing audience so you must strike a balance that will guarantee a prosperous outcome.

TIMING:

Life is busy and your participants may get distracted and forget about your upcoming event. This is natural and to be expected. By taking this factor into account, you can determine just the right time to send your reminder emails.

• First and foremost, stick to sending reminders during the working day as there is an increased chance that they will garnish attention.
• A week before- Reminds participants that they have signed up for your webinar and gives them the opportunity to put it in their calendar for the upcoming week.
• A day before – Allows participants to plan for the upcoming day and remove any and all distractions
• An hour before – Serves to remind participants and make necessary adjustments so they are prepared to participate

FREQUENCY:

• Sending 3-6 email reminders is a good place to start
• On the day of your webinar, there is no harm in sending multiple emails which give your participants extra notice.
• The final email you send should highlight the education and knowledge that participants will attain within a bullet point format combined with the time. This will further entice attendance at your webinar and drive up the excitement factor of your audience.

DISCLAIMER:

• There is such a thing as too much. If you get emails requesting that you stop sending reminders than make sure you heed this demand. Rather than stopping all together, it’s advisable to merely cut back significantly and send out the occasional reminder closer to the date.

2. Introduction of Webinar

Developing trust and peaking the interest of your participants should be the main goal of your introduction. You’ve managed to attract their attendance. Now you must provide invaluable resources that truly speak to the needs of your participants.

The introduction is vital to the success of your webinar. It’s here where you entice your viewers and create a bond that will have them engaged and listening to what you have to say until the very end. Personality and qualifications go hand in hand in the creation of a successful webinar.

Making effective introductions involves establishing yourself as an expert and detailing what you have to offer. Your audience may or may not be familiar with your work. It’s a pre-emptive strike to take the time to establish credibility and to get your audience on the same page.

Introducing the topic in a fun and exciting manner is also crucial to establishing rapport with your participants. For them to remain engaged in your webinar they must truly understand the topic of discussion and the value that you will bring to the table. Your viewer’s knowledge of the subject at hand may vary extensively so therefore it is necessary to break down the topic in a clear and concise way. Don’t be afraid to use your personality as well as humor to make an impression on your audience. A good laugh goes a long way!

3. Follow a Proven Structure, and Strategy from Before

To ensure that your audience remains with you to the end, seek to be clear and to the point. Jumping from one topic     to another only leads to confusion. Your content must be easily understood and the connections that you highlight need to be concise and practical.

In the case of webinars, its best to follow a well-laid out formula that guides you through the process. One that fits well with this format is termed the P.A.S.T.O.R. model

• Problem – Identify and Clarify the problem that you are hoping to solve
• Amplify – Delve deep into the problem at hand and provide intricate details that effectively illustrate how dire the situation is.  You want viewers to understand the seriousness of the problem so that they can fully appreciate the solutions you have to offer.  Keeping your audience motivated and paying attention is your ultimate goal. They will be more inclined to take action if they get a full and accurate picture of the scenario.
• Story/Solution – Describe your solutions to the problem at length. You’ll want to include how you came to your conclusions and often it’s a good idea to incorporate a funny story to illustrate your points.
• Testimonials –Reviews are extraordinary ways to validate your service. Ensure that your testimonials Include businesses as well as individuals who have experienced unparalleled success with your product or information.
• Offer –You’ve highlighted your value and provided creative solutions. Now the time has come to showcase your offer. Clearly explain how your solutions can improve their lives or businesses. You’ll want to demonstrate how your service is unique and how investing in your product or service can effectively solve even the most difficult dilemma.
• Response –Effectively you are asking your visitors to take immediate action. Your product and service is of great value to them and here you’ll impress on them the need to make solutions their reality by buying your product. Here you’ll need to be clear and explicit when directing your customers towards the exact steps they’ll need to take. (e.g. “go to this link” or “send me an email here”)

4. Speaking In An Engaging Tone

Engaged audiences are created through inspiring speakers. Even the dullest subject matter can elicit a favorable result when presented in a fun and exciting manner. There’s an old adage which states that your tone of voice communicates far more words ever could. How you present your content is just as valuable as the content you have to deliver.

It’s important to pay specific attention to inflection, rate of speech and familiarity of content when preparing your material. Your personality and the way you present your content can impact your overall effectiveness significantly so follow the below mentioned criteria and your webinar will be poised on the brink of success!

Tip#1 Rehearse, But Never Memorize

To truly establish a connection with your audience you must develop an authentic rapport. If you seek to practice and rehearse every single aspect of your presentation you may appear robotic at times and your audiences will have a hard time relating to you. There is also a chance that memorizing your presentation as a script can backfire if you lose your place and freeze up.

However, if you feel your extensive knowledge doesn’t warrant practice, there is a danger that your laziness will be felt by your viewers and you will lose their interest. It’s important to hit a happy medium.

You want your viewers to feel like you are engaged in a passionate conversation with them. Rehearse between one to three times prior to your presentation. When deciding what to say, create generic talking points that you’d like to cover rather than a word for word script. Adlibbing will create ease with your audience but still keep you on point. While practicing, mark down areas where you feel your confidence lagging and then re-do these sections.

Take the time to establish a connection with your audience through confidence and ease and let the conversation flow. Your webinar will thank you.

Tip #2 – Make Speech Interesting:

Inflection is your friend. If used wisely it can help keep things interesting and spice up your webinar. Changes in your speaking tone help to keep your audience engaged and entertained. This is easily done by emphasizing certain words while you’re speaking or slowing down in important sections and pronouncing words in an increased volume.

Inflection breaks up monotony and draws the interest of the listener. Webinars often last for up to 40 minutes. Due to the fact that you are the solitary presenter, you’ll need to employ methods of interest to retain the attention of your viewers.

Tip#3- Never Rush When Presenting

Rushing makes it harder to comprehend what’s being said. Nerves are often the culprit when you find yourself breezing through your presentation. It’s not a competition and getting to the end faster does not mean you’ve run the race. This is the fatal error that many presenters make. Learn from their mistakes and take your time.

The strategic placement of a pause here and there can have the desired effect of attracting the audience’s attention and allowing you to slow down the pace of your presentation. Pauses also create opportunities to vary the speaking tone and generate viewer interest.

Don’t underestimate the power of taking a well-placed breath from time to time. It will allow you to refocus on your content and settle your nerves. Your audience has the ability to pay attention for extended periods of time if the speech is captivating and the speaker is interesting and charismatic. Speed isn’t everything and if you take your time you’ll find your groove slowly but surely.

CONCLUSION:

Webinars are the wave of the future. Not only are they powerful tools to increase your conversion rates they also foster strong relationships with your clientele due to their personalized format.  Follow the above steps to create your own unique webinar that will engage your audience and delight your audience. Your confidence will soar as your business prospers.  Anyone can do it and if you honestly apply these principles you’ll begin to see how powerful a webinar can truly be!

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2I1t1dU
via Daniel

But What Are You Going to Do About It?

Over on Beyond the Rhetoric a while back, I blogged about some common sayings that annoy me. Words matter. For example, it really bugs me when people say something like “it’s my Friday” on a Wednesday. Sorry Irene. Just because you work a non-traditional schedule doesn’t mean you get to rename and redefine the days of the week. If that were the case, as a self-employed freelance writer and professional blogger, every day of the week is both my Monday and my Friday.

And another one of those phrases that really bothers me (but for a completely different reason) is “it is what it is.” You’ve surely heard it. You may have even said it yourself; I know I have. But it bugs me, because it perpetuates this diea that you’re just a helpless and hapless victim. That life is simply something that happens to you and you’re just a passive agent in this whole thing.

That’s simply not the case. You can’t just shrug your shoulders and give up so easily. If you do, you’ll always be playing the role of the victim and you’ll never be able to change your circumstances. Take the reins. Be in control of your own destiny.

Now, I’m not saying that everyone starts out with equal opportunity and equal circumstance. Some people definitely start with a leg up on everyone else and some people come from a much more challenging situation. It’s not fair. Life isn’t fair. But that doesn’t mean that you should just shrug your shoulders with a defeatist attitude and say, “But what are you going to do about it?”

Because that’s exactly the thing. What *are* you going to do about it? That’s really the key question here, as it helps to illustrate the difference between fault and responsibility. It might not be your fault that you grew up in a less than desirable neighborhood. It’s not your fault that you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth. But it is now your responsibility, as a full-fledged adult, to do something about it.

Recognize what you can control and focus on that. Here’s an excellent example.

I have practically zero nautical knowledge whatsoever. If I were to accept the defeatist attitude of “it is what it is” or “what are you going to do about it,” I would simply accept my ignorance and assume that I would never know anything about boats or sailing ever. Of course, we all recognize that this is silly. I could read books, I could take a course, I could watch YouTube videos… there are plenty of opportunities to learn.

Taking it one step further, I think we can all agree that as a human being, I have no control over where the wind blows. Does that mean I have no control over which way the ship sails? Again, of course not. I don’t know the specifics of how this works (if you do know, enlighten me in the comments below), but you do have the ability to set and adjust your sails in whatever way you’d like.

In this way, while you cannot control the wind, you can control (to some extent) where you want your sailboat to go. If we were always at the complete and utter mercy of the wind, all those ships over the years would have never been able to go to where they wanted to go. Columbus would have never made his way over to North America and I probably wouldn’t be here typing these words.

If you ever catch yourself in a “what are you going to do about it?” line of thinking, take that question literally. It may or may not be your fault that Google slammed your site into oblivion. Now, it’s your responsibility to pick up the pieces and try again.

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2DvAQDo
via Daniel

How You Know You Have an Effective SEO Team

The world of SEO is broadening daily and companies that know how to harness the power of a multi-disciplinary team are far exceeding their counterparts within the online business world.

Gone are the days where a solitary SEO could effectively run the show. The demands of the marketing world have given rise to the need to procure a team of professionals with specialized skill sets and abilities.

Given this information, two options present themselves. Companies can either hire an agency who have on staff the appropriate specialists or they can, themselves, seek to develop a team with the necessary expertise.

The advantage to creating an in-house team is that you have far more control of the process and can easily determine where and how to make adjustments if necessary.

Building a strong and dynamic team of experts can ultimately take your SEO organization and put it on the map. Picking just the right person for the job comes down to the area of expertise that you wish to acquire. For the purposes of this article, let’s now delve deep into what makes an effective SEO team and how you can create just the right structure to make your SEO thrive in today’s market!

Component #1: The Management

Any great team needs a leader to guide them. Managers oversee the entire operation and are integral to the organization. Strong leaders know how to delegate tasks effectively but also give their employees the trust and autonomy to perform duties independently.

Managers are responsible for pitching ideas and working directly with clients. As the pitch is ultimately what creates the sale, the person responsible and the individual executing the project must be one in the same. This creates continuity and customer satisfaction as promises made during the pitch will be attended to throughout the process.

Other duties performed by a manager include creating proposals, working out payment agreements and keeping clients updated and happy before and after the sale. While sales reps can bring in new clients they won’t have the level of expertise to capture big accounts and therefore the manager must be involved in this aspect of the business as well.

The goal of any manager is to make the sales process as seamless as possible. It’s important to get an accurate picture of a client’s strengths and needs in order to service them properly. A manager is in charge of initiating and facilitating an effective SEO strategy that will incorporate the skill set of the entire team and provide the client with a high level of satisfaction.

Component #2: The Content Producers

Great products speak for themselves and have the power to sell based solely on their quality. Your product is your content and how much traffic you generate through SEO hinges specifically on the quality of your work.

A content writer’s skills are not merely limited to articling for blogs. They also have the ability to create videos or infographics which are phenomenal tools to include and provide a multi-faceted approach to content.

Copywriting is yet another area where content writers can excel.  Email marketing or conversion rate optimization tasks can be delegated to content writers thus providing managers with the ability to focus on tasks of higher priority.

The quality you wish to generate is in proportion to how well you value your content creators. You’ll want to establish high standards and pay your creators accordingly. Valuable content garnishes approximately $100 dollars per post. While this figure may seem slightly overblown, modern day writers provide a professional service and if you pay them well you will be handsomely rewarded with backlinks.

Component #3: The Designers

Designers are valuable assets to an SEO organization. Custom images can draw substantial attention to your work and greatly enhance the quality of your content. Therefore designers are essential components of effective SEO teams.

It is unlikely that you’ll encounter an individual who possesses both writing and design abilities. As design requires a highly specialized skill set, you will need dedicate a position specifically to this area of expertise.

Whether you hire a freelancer or employ a full-time designer, it’s crucial that you include this component within the structure of your SEO organization. Freelance designers are great options for specific projects if a full-time designer is not in your budget.

Content creators and designers work hand in hand with one another to maintain the integrity of the work and managers oversee the process. Cohesiveness within a team environment has the ability to create immeasurable value and extremely powerful content!

Component #4: SEO And Link Building

PR and link building go hand in hand. Creating connections is truly what it’s all about. This particular component involves reaching out to industry professionals and developing mutually beneficial relationships.

PR is simply a broader term that encompasses modern day link building. Joint ventures and other profitable opportunities fall under the PR job description. Therefore, it’s important for SEO’s with link building abilities to expand their horizons and acquire PR skills to boot.

Relationships Grow Exponentially:

Developing relationships over digital mediums requires creativity, ingenuity and a comprehensive understanding of social media trends.

This brings me to the Network Effect. Simply put, this philosophy states that we stand together much more powerfully than on our own. Establishing relationships through online networking can be very fruitful. Each new member increases the value of the entire network across the board and all participants benefit from the experience.

Strong relationships formed over this medium can create opportunities for joint ventures. In your group you may even find yourself acting as a middle man between your contacts and facilitating connections that are mutually beneficial for both parties. As this may not directly yield results in the present moment, further on down the road your contacts will be more than happy to return the favor. This is the Network Effect.

The Network Effect is only truly advantageous when there are multiple participants and the community is fairly large. For this reason, it’s best to hire one specific person to do all your outreach. A team of PR/link builders will create a bunch of small networks rather than one large one. Let’s stand together and make ourselves a power to be reckoned with!

Component #5: The Technical Experts

The technical side of the business is still a very important component. It forms the foundation upon which all other aspects are built.

Site architecture and split testing fall under the technical umbrella. Keyword, load time and internal linking optimization are also areas that technical experts would be responsible for as well as implementing rich snippets and “rel” tags.   The technical side of your SEO is fundamental to your success and therefore deserves a significant role on your team.

Without technicians who understand these factors, your team would struggle and you’d have difficulty exposing gaps and flaws in your SEO.

SEO analysts often possess programming/development skills, but they can still work with developers. Large complex sites require a dedicated developer while SEO analysts can function just fine for a small WordPress site.

Component #6: Developers

Developers seek to create phenomenal experiences for site users. The value in your content speaks volumes but you need return readership to guarantee success. If site navigation or multiple ads overwhelm users than you’ll be less likely to receive return business.

Developers can assist you to make the appropriate modifications. Their unique skill set may even enable you to create different forms of content such as tools that benefit your target audience. SEOs often do not possess these skills so you may think to hire a freelance or full time developer.

With the aid of a developer, Quick Sprout was able to create a unique tool dubbed the Quick Sprout Tool. The subsequent business generated and the links it attracted brought us enormous success. The addition of a developer to our team actually increased our revenue by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Herein lies the value a developer can bring to an SEO team.

Component #7: What About the Account Manager?

Account managers exist to alleviate the burden of responsibility off the shoulders of the head manager. Often, they will handle most of the basic post-sale client communication. Post-sale reports allow managers to determine the overall effectiveness of the team and make adjustments accordingly. As the account manager is responsible for collecting the data they hold a critical role in the sales process.

Their responsibilities can also include customer support and often they are your first line of defense for issues or questions that arise.

Account managers take on a bulk of responsibilities once performed by the head manager. They will handle concerns themselves and pass them on to the SEO director only if they are not able to answer effectively and need a higher level of expertise. Primarily the position of an account manager adds value to an organization as now the head manager is free to prioritize other pursuits that can add to the overall growth of the company.

Component #8: Email and Social Media Marketers

Email marketing is an incredible tool to amplify the ROI of a company.  This coupled with social media marketing can yield the greatest return on investment (ROI). These two mediums tend to overlap and therefore must be attended to individually and can be allocated to different members of your team.

Social media can act as an effective channel for certain types of products and/or services. Regardless of which tool you implement it is crucial that these roles have input into your content marketing strategy. The content will need to be embedded within the framework of their emails and posts so to be effective as a promotional tool they must be allowed direct access into the process.

The SEO director can delegate these roles to copywriters or content creators who are more than capable of fulfilling these responsibilities. The final step of this process is to keep tabs on the progress of this initiative over email and social media. Tracking and documenting the process will provide solutions for future campaigns and allow the team to determine areas for improvement.

Conclusion

An effective SEO team covers all its bases. It’s crucial that the structure of your organization reflect the complexity of today’s SEO world. If you follow the above mentioned components and truly give them the weight they’re due then your team will dominate the SEO market.

Specialized personnel with specific skill sets can absolutely take your business to the next level. Whether you work with an agency or have an in-house team, these essential roles must be filled and optimized efficiently.

Survey your own company just for the heck of it. How many of these components do you yourself cover? How big is your current SEO team?  And if you were to contemplate making just one change, where would it be and how do you think it would improve your bottom line?

Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments in the space provided

from John Chow dot Com http://bit.ly/2E2xsRW
via Daniel