Archive for the ‘Information marketing’ Category

How to Make a Greeting Card

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Making your own greeting cards can be both fun and rewarding.  Many people cherish home-made greeting cards because they are a true expression of yourself and the person you are making it for.

The first step in making a greeting card is to determine who you are making the greeting card for.  What interests does the person have?  What is the person’s hobbies?  Is the person your friend, family member, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandparent, parent, husband, wife, or significant other?

The next step to making a greeting card is to decide if you want a funny greeting card or a sentimental greeting card.  If you want a funny greeting card, you will want cut outs of cartoons, or you might want to draw your own cartoons.  If you want a sentimental greeting card, you might gather cutouts of flower pictures.  If you want a Christian greeting card, you might cut out some pictures of crosses or bibles.  If you can draw your own, that’s even better.  But not everyone is an artist!

You also need to decide why you are sending the greeting card.  Is it for a birthday, anniversary, thank you, sympathy, holiday, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or other occasion?  Maybe the greeting card is just because you care.  If you want to send a birthday card, a picture of a birthday cake might be best.  Or a picture of a flag for Independence Day greeting card would be nice.

The next thing you have to do is write the copy for your greeting card.  You can choose a poem you like or one that you know the person getting the greeting card will like.  You could also write your own poem.  You should remember though, that when you copy someone else’s poetry onto your card, you cannot sell the card.  Copyright laws forbid you to sell someone else’s work without permission.  But for the purposes of just making a greeting card for a loved one, copying a favorite poem, saying, or scripture is more than acceptable.

Now that you know what you will put on the greeting card, who it is for, and why you are sending it, the next step is to gather all the materials you will need to put the greeting card together.  You will want to gather cut outs of any pictures you want to include, as well as scissors, paste or glue stick, construction paper, crayons or markers, a pencil for outlining (in case you make mistakes), and don’t forget your creativity!  You may also want some lace, ribbon, doilies, pretty material scraps, paints, and other items.

The most important thing to remember when creating your own greeting card is that the sky is the limit!  There is no right or wrong way to make a greeting card.  The only thing limiting your greeting card possibilities is your own creative mind!  So break out those old magazines, poetry books, comic books, and cartoon strips, get those creative juices flowing, and make the best greeting card ever!  Your loved one is sure to enjoy your hard work, effort, and how much you care showed by your handmade greeting card for years to come!

How To Churn Out Hot Selling Information Products Tittles in a Jiffy and Flood Your Bank Account With Cash Every Single Day!

Monday, September 28th, 2009

People are hungry for information, and people are looking to the Internet to feed their hunger. After you’ve read this article, you will feel confident enough to create information products that will flood your bank account with cash .

Napoleon Hills talks about a man in his bestselling book” Think and Grow Rich” who by just changing the tittle of his book and the cover was able to triple the book  sales within a short time.  So the tittle you give your excellent write up is very crucial.

Observe what’s going on around you

If you’re smart enough to read this article, you’re smart enough to look around you and determine what interests you and those around you. Think of what problems you’ve recently solved, and what kinds of problems others have had and solved. Any problem that has been solved in your world could easily be the subject of your next information product. People love to read how other have solved a problem that they currently have.

So, brainstorm a list of problems in your life and in the lives of those around you. Your friend Rick lost his job? Your sister’s child had chicken pox? How did they cope or find solutions? While you’re at it, start another list of unsolved problems evident in your corner of the world. Write down problems you wish you had solved. Aha! These are subjects that people will really be interested in! How to lose the last ten pounds. The truth about UFOs. The straightest path to becoming a millionaire. From your personal corner, your step-granddaughter is pregnant at age 14? Your grocery bill is double what it used to be? Your roof leaks? These are problems waiting for ebook solutions!

These unsolved problems would also be great ebook topics. Remember, you don’t have to know the solution, just the topic. You’re going to get someone else to do the research and write the book for you. You will not actually be writing one word.

Spend a few minutes Googling

The Internet is a great way to find out what people are looking for at any given moment. You can search for almost anything. Google™ is a popular search engine you can use, or you can try any of the others like Yahoo!® or Mamma.com. Type in phrases like “top concerns of Americans,” “best-selling nonfiction topics,” or “popular how-to manuals.” Common worries of 2005.
And while you’re on the Internet…

Find out the most popular nonfiction books from the New York Times bestseller list, Amazon, and a Google search for ebooks. Your findings will tell you exactly what book subjects people are buying right now.
Try this. Go to www.amazon.com. From the tabbed menu running along the top of the Amazon home page, click “Top Sellers.”

Here is some more good news, and if you didn’t already know this then you are going to be smiling big. Drum roll please… ideas are not copyrighted, therefore any idea you see, hear, or read anywhere anytime, is yours to use for an ebook! You can create books around the same ideas that are covered in the Amazon best seller list, and turnaround and create an ebook on the exact same subject!
Now, copyright law does protect the way ideas are expressed, so you want to make sure your hired author does not plagiarize or copy book text outright.  And you cannot use the title word for word either. But there’s nothing stopping you from creating another book or ebook that covers the same subject with a different voice. It’s all as completely legal and guilt-free as nonfat Haagen Dazs. This is why looking at bestseller lists is a great way to get topic ideas.

Digging a little deeper

There are groups of people who are willing to buy nonfiction ebooks: hobbyists. At any given time, these people are looking for ways to spend their money on their hobbies. Their passion is your financial gain.
What avid hobbyists want will always make great ebook material. Note that I did not say what hobbyists need. You may have certain opinions on what exactly certain people should need or should read. But those are not necessarily good topics for immediate ebook profit. Those topics may be areas for you to dabble in at your leisure. However, if you want to make money at this, find out what niche groups want, and hit those groups with your ebook.

Find hobbyists and niche groups by searching the web for “popular hobbies,” “enthusiasts,” or “what America is buying.” Or, you can search specifically for forums and discussion groups for hobbyists. In the forums, people talk with each other to share ideas with one another. Often, they will exchange testimonials for equipment, upcoming events, and books.
One popular site where hobbyists go to talk to one another online is Yahoo!. Check it out. Go to www.yahoo.com. Click “groups.” On the groups page you’ll see a list of categories such as Business & finance, and Religion. For demonstration purposes, click on “Games.”
On the games screen, game subcategories are listed followed by numbers. The numbers indicate how many discussion forums are available for that subcategory. These numbers reveal a lot. Notice how “role playing games,” and “video & computer games” have factors of ten or in some cases factors of 100 more forums than other subcategories. “Wargaming” and “paintball” don’t even come close, although those categories are much more discussion-laden than “horseshoe pitching.”

For fun, one day I continued selecting subcategories until I arrived at a list of over a thousand (yes a thousand) discussion groups on Yahoo having to do with vampire role playing. Here’s how I got there: Games>>Role Playing Games>>Live Action>> World of Darkness>>Vampire: The Masquerade.

Some of the forums are open to new members, and you can join to read what everyone’s discussing. Once in the forum, you can review discussion threads from today, yesterday, or a year ago. Don’t go back too far if you want to find out the hottest possible ebook topics. You can participate in discussions if you like. FYI, do not drop into a discussion group just to market an ebook; hobbyists consider this spam and will drop you from the group.
When you read and/or participate, you’ll find out what this group is buying. All you have to do is skim to find out what questions they are asking each other about products or traveling or information. What they are interested in buying is a key piece of information because passionate consumers love to research before they buy. This is an immediate ebook market. Create a book on how to select the best this or that on the market, related to the current wants of the enthusiasts.

Enthusiasts come in all shapes and sizes. Think brides-to-be, golfers, whitewater rafters, people who collect vintage baseball cards, wine connoisseurs, gardeners, frequent vacationers, video gamers, and parents who put their children into private tutoring, ballet, and violin lessons before age 3.
There are some hobbies that seem to continually attract enthusiasts, like playing golf, watching football, restoring old cars, and listening to music. These are classics. Then there are some hobbies that seem to come and go in waves, such as Red Hat Societies participation, snow boarding, or line dancing. Pick either a classic hobby or a fluctuating hobby in its peak season for your best odds.

A big market on the Internet is the 20-30 set. Here’s what they are doing right now, according to one survey. They’re snowboarding, wakeboarding, traveling, camping, listening to music, taking photographs. They’re drinking gourmet coffee, rock climbing, playing guitar, camping, dancing, looking for online love, shopping for computers and other electronics, attending sports events, studying the Bible, exercising, trying to find jobs, and watching movies. Any one of these subjects would make a great ebook with a buying market standing by.

You can quickly tap into this hot cash spot now cheers !

The Insider Secret To Determine What People Want In Information Marketing Business?

Monday, September 28th, 2009

This is a problem for a lot of people. They don’t know how to determine what a lot of people want so they can create products for them. For you, it’s shouldn’t be a problem.

Identify A Problem

This is the fastest way for you to succeed with your product. Can you come up with a product that can solve solve a problem for people? Once you can identify a problem, you’re ready to make money.

Let me give you an example. Everywhere I turn to online today, I find out that Nigerians are looking for a way to be able to open and operate a paypal account.

Personally, I do not think it’s compulsory to have it especially when you consider that paypal will close down your account if they find out that you are from Nigeria.

But people kept asking me for it. So I had to do a lot of research. I spent time and money on how to go about it. Eventually, I found out a simple system where people can open their own paypal account.

I priced the service (it’s not actually a product) at N4,500 and about 50 people have taken me up on it. How much money is that? Two hundred and twenty-five thousand naira. It’s that easy.

I identified a problem and gave a solution.

Can It Make Money For People?

That is another easy way to come up with information products. Once you can come up with something that can make money for people stress free, you have come up with a winner.

The truth is that everybody wants more money. Don’t you? Come up with it and you will make money.

Let me use the football predicting example to explain this…

I did not know anyone who was looking for ways to make money by predicting the outcome of football matches. Very few people knew about it in Nigeria.

I however knew people would like it considering the fact that it could make you good money and also because football was fun and very popular in Nigeria. I packaged it and advertised and it sold well.

Can It Make People Live A Better Life or Become Happy?

This is another winner although many people are not doing it in Nigeria. It was the basis that formed my first ever information product. That was in 2003. It was a product that teaches people how to relocate to Canada as a skilled worker.

We know a lot of Nigerians want to relocate abroad and live a better life so that kind of product will sell if you package well. Similar products will sell as well. Products like passing JAMB easily, like getting a good job, organising a great marriage, winning back your lover’s heart etc.

EBOOK? VIDEO? MANUAL?

People often ask me: In what format should their information product be in? My usual reply is it depends on you. It depends on what you will confident with. As long as you can express yourself well, the format is not that important.

BUT EMMY, I CAN’T WRITE. I’M NOT WOLE SOYINKA!

This is a big problem for a lot of people. Most people I teach tell me that they won’t be able to create an ebook or manual because they are not prolific writers.

I often tell them that they don’t have to write like any guru to have good information products. Just write what’s in your mind and teach as honestly as you can and you will be okay.

I STILL CAN’T WRITE!

Okay. I hear you. You can’t write. There is still a way out. The way out is that you don’t have to write. You can create other kinds of products. Like you already know, you can create audios and videos. You can even hire someone to write it for you.

I DON’T HAVE ANY IDEA ABOUT ANY PRODUCT
Still not a problem. There are many people who just don’t know how to start with the creation of their products. It could be a daunting task for beginners. Not to worry, we can find ways around that as well.

Here are the ways to create information products without having to do the work yourself.

Interview An Expert

Once you have decided on a topic, identify an expert in that field and interview him. Record the interview and use an an audio information product. You can turn it into a manual by transcribing it.

A lot of people think that the experts will not agree to be interviewed. They are wrong. The only way you will not get people to interview is if you do not ask. If you ask politely, people will agree.

Even the experts wants a bit of publicity.

Conduct A Seminar/Training

This is another simple way to go about it. It is similar to the one above. Organise a free or cheap seminar and have it recorded. Your recording becomes an information product. You don’t have to be the speaker. Invite an expert and just do the recording.

Easy!

Use Private Label Rights Materials

Listen Up!

If you’re ready to create information products the fast and easy way, this is the route to go. With private label rights products, you can create your information products in the next ten to fifteen minutes.

Sounds to good to be true? If you know how to use this technique, you can make a killing in information marketing business.

Why Coaching is the Best Way to Go in Team Management

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

When you hear the word “coach”, what comes first into your mind? Do you picture a basketball team with a man/woman shouting out directions? Or perhaps a football team with a man/woman pacing to and fro and calling out the names of the players?

Coaching is no longer reserved to sports teams; it is now one of the key concepts in leadership and management. Why is coaching popular?

Coaching levels the playing field.

Coaching is one of the six emotional leadership styles proposed by Daniel Goleman. Moreover, it is a behavior or role that leaders enforce in the context of situational leadership. As a leadership style, coaching is used when the members of a group or team are competent and motivated, but do not have an idea of the long-term goals of an organization. This involves two levels of coaching: team and individual. Team coaching makes members work together. In a group of individuals, not everyone may have nor share the same level of competence and commitment to a goal. A group may be a mix of highly competent and moderately competent members with varying levels of commitment. These differences can cause friction among the members. The coaching leader helps the members level their expectations. Also, the coaching leader manages differing perspectives so that the common goal succeeds over personal goals and interests. In a big organization, leaders need to align the staffs’ personal values and goals with that of the organization so that long-term directions can be pursued.

Coaching builds up confidence and competence.

Individual coaching is an example of situational leadership at work. It aims to mentor one-on-one building up the confidence of members by affirming good performance during regular feedbacks; and increase competence by helping the member assess his/her strengths and weaknesses towards career planning and professional development. Depending on the individual’s level of competence and commitment, a leader may exercise more coaching behavior for the less-experienced members. Usually, this happens in the case of new staffs. The direct supervisor gives more defined tasks and holds regular feedbacks for the new staff, and gradually lessens the amount of coaching, directing, and supporting roles to favor delegating as competence and confidence increase.

Coaching promotes individual and team excellence.

Excellence is a product of habitual good practice. The regularity of meetings and constructive feedback is important in establishing habits. Members catch the habit of constantly assessing themselves for their strengths and areas for improvement that they themselves perceive what knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to acquire to attain team goals. In the process, they attain individually excellence as well. An example is in the case of a musical orchestra: each member plays a different instrument. In order to achieve harmony of music from the different instrument, members will polish their part in the piece, aside from practicing as an ensemble. Consequently, they improve individually as an instrument player.

Coaching develops high commitment to common goals.

A coaching leader balances the attainment of immediate targets with long-term goals towards the vision of an organization. As mentioned earlier, with the alignment of personal goals with organizational or team goals, personal interests are kept in check. By constantly communicating the vision through formal and informal conversations, the members are inspired and motivated. Setting short-term team goals aligned with organizational goals; and making an action plan to attain these goals can help sustain the increased motivation and commitment to common goals of the members.

Coaching produces valuable leaders.

Leadership by example is important in coaching. A coaching leader loses credibility when he/she cannot practice what he/she preaches. This means that a coaching leader should be well organized, highly competent is his/her field, communicates openly and encourages feedback, and has a clear idea of the organization’s vision-mission-goals. By vicarious and purposive learning, members catch the same good practices and attitudes from the coaching leader, turning them into coaching leaders themselves. If a member experiences good coaching, he/she is most likely to do the same things when entrusted with formal leadership roles.

Some words of caution though: coaching is just one of the styles of leadership. It can be done in combination with the other five emotional leadership styles depending on the profile of the emerging team. Moreover, coaching as a leadership style requires that you are physically, emotionally, and mentally fit most of the time since it involves two levels of coaching: individual and team. Your members expect you to be the last one to give up or bail out in any situation especially during times of crises. A coaching leader must be conscious that coaching entails investing time on each individual, and on the whole team. Moreover, that the responsibilities are greater since while you are coaching members, you are also developing future coaches as well.