I use pre-scheduled tweets and links in some of my tweets as well.  I’m not against that.  However, you can’t posting nothing but links and expect anyone to follow you.

Why would people stop following you on Twitter? There are quite a few reasons. Eliminating those mistakes is the key to being profitable on this site. Double check your wall and see if you are a twitter unfollow. Here are five mistakes you could be making that would cause people to stop following you:

Mistake #1) Overselling

Often times businesses will just send out one sales tweet after another. The whole objective of each one is to make money.

People can smell that a mile away. Some businesses even have an automatic message when someone follows, instantly asking them to buy something.

This will repel visitors faster than anything else. Constant selling is one of the biggest mistakes business owners make. Obviously you want to make money. However, you won’t be profitable if you do nothing but sell. If there is no actual information for them to read then you will be a twitter unfollow and few will see those links, let alone click on them.

All your recent posts are on display. So if your last twenty have been blatant sales messages, people will stay far away from you. Instead, you want to focus on creating value. Sure, every now and then you can include a tweet asking people to buy something. Just avoid doing it too often.

Mistake #2) Being negative

Some people claim that you want to sell based on fear. While it is true that this can be effective, it’s far more productive to focus on positive stories.

Inspiring people to rise above their circumstances is the best way to sell. Therefore, the more positive you can be, the better. Nobody likes to be around someone who’s negative.

If you notice, the people who tend to have many friends are the most enthusiastic and positive people. The same principle goes for Twitter.  Show them how you can help.

Mistake #3) Offending others

If you don’t re-tweet someone, and instead use their message as your own, you will offend others. They will then stop following you. Proper etiquette is very important.   Give credit where due at all times.

Mistake #4) Being boring

Twitter is all about community. That’s what it was designed to be. It wasn’t started for the sake of helping businesses.

Therefore, when you recognize that and get involved in the conversation, people will be more inclined to follow you. When you show no interest in others, people will unfollow you.

Mistake #5) Not including personality

People don’t buy from businesses, they buy from people. Therefore, telling interesting stories about your life is key. If you can tie it into your niche, all the better.

The more personality you have, the more money you can make.

Some try to keep their business and personal life completely seperate, but in social networking I haven’t seen that work successfully.  While you do not need to talk about everything your baby is doing, the kids soccer games, or what you had for dinner, you do need to let people get to know you at least a little.

The bottom line is, when used the right way, Twitter can be very productive. Avoid these five mistakes, and you will be well on your way to profiting from the site and being less of a twitter unfollow.

How to Get Paid Creating a Juicy Information Product

Have you ever wondered what it takes to put together a step-by-step guide or system? I’ve seen them for sale and I’ve even invested in a step-by-step guide on marketing and mindset that I absolutely love. But, maybe you and I are a lot alike. I have kids at home and my life is very busy. I would love to put my own system or step-by-step guide together, but how on earth am I supposed to find the time?

Then it occurred to me that I can get paid for creating my genius system. And you can too. (Don’t worry, I’m not selling anything. I just want to share this idea with you).

So, how can you create this amazing, genius product and get paid in the process? It’s simple. Don da da doooon…eCourse!
Okay, now did your jaw just drop in disbelief? Are you thinking, what in the world is she talking about?

Well, hold on there. Don’t stop reading yet.

Let’s say you have a business specializing in WordPress. You love what you do and you have plenty of clients, but you’re tired of working so darn hard and you want to start bringing in some passive income. Plus you want to tell other moms how easy it is to start making money online starting your own blogsite service. What can you do?

· Create easy, digestible weekly lessons on how to get your WordPress business up and running.
· Charge a small amount of money to send the lessons via email to hungry learners.
· Compile all of the weekly lessons and combine them to create a step-by-step guide or system.
· Hold a couple of free or low-cost tele-classes on your topic.
· Deliver your new step-by-step guide as an e-Book with audio or use a fulfillment company like, www.vervante.com and have your step-by-step guide with CD’s of the teleclasses delivered as a hard copy.

Voila! You now have a manageable way to create your first information product and get paid for it. That wasn’t hard at all. Now go get busy on creating your new product. I can’t wait to see your natural genius in play.

About Michaela:

Michaela is offering a 12 week workshop and mentorship program to women and moms who would like to reinvent or create the business of their dreams. To learn more about the program visit Passionate Profitable Moms to get more information. There is an EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL until August 19th. Be sure to check it out.

To learn more from Michaela Sibanda visit Passionate Profitable Moms, your source for helping you find joyful work. Whether you are looking to make money from a passion or don’t know exactly what your passions are… Passionate Profitable Moms can help.
Follow me on twitter @michaelasibanda

Did I purchase what she was selling? No, I did not. Would you? Probably not. I’m not going to name names or point fingers here, so don’t bother to ask. I know that she is currently working on rewriting her description and messages in a more positive light, so the situation will be remedied soon enough. But, it made me think a little.

I looked around the internet a bit and sure enough I found plenty more pages that were very, very negative. Now, don’t misunderstand me, you want your information product to be the cure for a particular pain or problem that someone is having, so of course you have to describe that pain or problem to get your point across. That is not what I am referring to as negative here.

By negative I mean looking at everything from the negative point of view with a negative attitude. I’ve seen a lot of “negative advertising” and “negative marketing” going on a lot lately and I have to say that it doesn’t attract me as a buyer at all and it makes me want to poke you in the eye just a little bit.

A good example without linking to anyone online in particular would be those rotten political ads you see on TV all the time, making yourself look better by making someone else look bad is not the way to win me over for a vote or to buy your stuff, so knock it off and show me some real value in a positive way.

I hope you’re having a super productive Monday today and influencing the internet in a positive way!

Kind Regards,

These questions are some of the important reasons why you need a properly set-up marketing strategy plan. A marketing strategy plan will help you gain maximum benefit from your marketing. It goes a step beyond a normal marketing plan.

A marketing plan describes the activities you are going to do to promote your product or service. A marketing strategy plan establishes the basis for your marketing and provides the goals for all your marketing activities. It gives you a tool you can use to define your market, position yourself, and increase your sales.

Here are some of the things a well thought-out marketing strategy will tell you. This information will help you gain maximum results from all of your marketing efforts.

* Describe your business and your objectives. This is where you will write down what your business does and what product or service it provides. You will also consider what the goal of your business is. When you have established your goals, you will be able to choose marketing activities to help you reach those objectives.

* Describe your products or services. This describes what you do and how you provide your product or service. It is important to understand exactly what service your business provides so you can tell others about it effectively. This may seem obvious, but many business owners can’t describe exactly what it is they do. Including this in your marketing strategy plan will ensure that you understand what you do and why it’s important, and can relay that information to others.

* Profile your target market. Who are you providing your product or service for? This will tell you who you should be marketing to. Research your market to find out what appeals to them about your product. This will help you market it to them effectively. Learn everything you can about your market so you can speak their language and make sure your marketing is appropriate.

* Know your business’s role in relation to your competition. This will help you understand your unique position in the marketplace. Find out how you’re different than your competitors, whether it be stronger or weaker. You can use this in your marketing to make yourself stand out from the competition.

Your marketing strategy plan will provide the goals for all your marketing activities and help you reach them. It will also simplify your marketing because you have done your research ahead of time. For these reasons, a marketing strategy plan helps ensure that you gain maximum benefit from your marketing.

Keyword Research

Most often keyword research is the best place to start. However, keyword research doesn’t have to be a systematic non-creative process. Rather, use keyword research as a brainstorming tool.

The first step is to start with potential keywords or phrases you’re interested in. They can be a little broad, this is brainstorming and you’ll start scaling down as you search. Use the keyword tools to generate a list of viable keywords and keyword phrases. In addition, research the viability, supply and demand for your topic keywords. I love using the free keyword tool at google.

Start by taking your main topic and finding its most popular version. Which related keywords receive the most searches? Once you have your main keyword, then spend some time researching the lower competition keywords and keyword phrases. People are becoming savvier with their searching and instead of typing in generic keywords like “pet care,” they’ll be very specific and type in “Golden Retriever puppy nutrition.” These are the keywords and keyword phrases you’re searching for and the results from your keyword tools will help you find phrases with high demand and low supply. Here are a few keyword tools to use when doing this type of research:

* Google AdWords – Visit adwords.Google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. Enter your keyword/keyword phrase here and you’ll see a different list of results. You’ll see advertiser competition and approximate search volume. I have this listed first on purpose, it’s truly my go to site for finding a profitable niche market.

* KeywordSpy.com – This is a great tool to research your competition. It’s also an excellent tool for generating profitable keyword ideas.

* WordTracker – This will show you how many searches have been conducted for your keyword phrase, how many they predict, how many pages Google lists for that search term and a number called KEI or Keyword effectiveness indicator. Tons of resources for finding a profitable niche and a free keyword research tool. However, the paid version is affordable and highly recommended.

* KeywordDiscovery – This site works in a similar way to WordTracker and also requires a monthly subscription.

Trend Analysis

Being on the leading end of trends is also a great way to find niche markets. Imagine if you can predict a quick niche. It will provide a very affordable few months, with room to build with add-on sales.

There are a few great tools to analyze trends including:

* Google.com/trends – This shows the most popular trends for the day.

* Pulse.ebay – Here you can analyze the most popular searches for the day. You can also see the most popular stores and the most watched items.

* Buzz.yahoo – This works similarly to Google in that it highlights the most popular search terms. However, it seems to tend toward gossip and entertainment topics rather than products and industry trends.

* Springwise  – A newsletter, which you can subscribe to, that highlights current and possible trends.

* Trendwatching – Emailed to thousands globally to spot and report on upcoming trends. They produce an annual report as well as monthly “trend briefings.”

* Entrepreneur – Annually predicts the upcoming trends for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Social Networking

Finally, social networking can be a great way to recognize trends and niche markets. Pay attention to hot topics, frequent questions and controversy stirred up on mainstream sites. Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are all great places to observe, research and brainstorm.

Finding niche markets is an ongoing process and it can be a fun and interesting process as well. Think outside of the box, analyze trends and pay attention to what’s going on online. The next big niche could be right around the corner and an offshoot of ideas you already have running!

Present an irresistible offer. The days of getting people to give you their email address with the promise of a monthly or weekly newsletter are gone. You need to offer your readers something of value. Downloadable products like eBooks and special reports are popular, as are software, and even trial subscriptions to membership sites.

Use highly targeted marketing. If your list focuses on gardening, and all your Twitter followers are other Internet marketers, pushing signups on your Twitter account is not going to result in a lot of conversions. Instead, concentrate your efforts where gardeners hang out – online forums, niche blogs, even Craig’s List are all good choices for getting your list in front of qualified, interested individuals.

Get traffic to your opt-in page. Common wisdom says that you need an opt-in form on every page of your site, and while that’s important, it’s even more critical to have a separate opt-in page. When linking back to your site from articles, forums, guest blogs, or ads, link to that page rather than your home page. You’ll see conversions increase dramatically.

Test, analyze, tweak, and repeat. No headline or opt-in page is perfect from the start. Keep an eye on your stats, and systematically change out elements to test performance. You can use scripts to split-test headlines and other parts of a squeeze page, or you can just manually track which ones work and which do not. And keep notes, you’ll want to refer back to them later for other campaigns.

Change your offer, too. Today’s hot ebook will eventually become yesterday’s news, and a new offer will often rejuvenate a quiet list.

Getting sign-ups is only part of your overall list building campaign, however. Once people are on your list, your job turns to keeping them there. Start by living up to the promise you made them. Revisit your opt-in page and welcome letter and make sure you’re doing what you said you would do. Did you promise a weekly newsletter? Then you need to get it out in a timely manner. Regardless of the promised schedule, don’t let weeks go by without contacting your list. An out-of-the-blue email from someone they haven’t heard from in three months will likely result in an unsubscribe.

At the same time, don’t make every contact with your list a sales pitch. Sure, they know they’re going to be marketed to when they sign-up, but they expect (and deserve) some value from being a member as well. It’s impossible to say what the exact ratio of information to sales pitch should be, but you should definitely test and analyze your results until you find the optimum mix for your market.

Building a list – and keeping it healthy – should be your highest priority as a business owner. Whether your business is selling diaper patterns to new moms, or multi-thousand-dollar software systems to IT professionals, your list is your biggest asset. Treat it well, and you will reap the rewards.

Kind Regards,

P.S. If you’re looking for a mailing list solution, Aweber is the top service provider when it comes to email delivery rates and easy to use tools.

The tendency is to think about the exciting things you learned and the people you met – for a while. After a week, you seem to lose your enthusiasm and settle back into life before the event. That is the last thing you want to do especially where your business is concerned.

Now is the time to cement that lasting impression that you believe you made on the people you met at the seminar. Don’t let a moment go by, from the time you get home, that you are not harnessing the power of that meeting. Besides you know yourself that out of sight truly does mean out of mind if there is no contact for a while.

Here are a few tips to help you get the ball rolling on that pocket full of business cards, that camera full of pictures and that briefcase (or tote) full of helpful handouts and resources.

1. Create a new plan. Now that your head is swimming with ideas, take out that handy notebook and look at what you’ve jotted down. If you have been putting off an affiliate program for one reason or another, this may be the perfect time to get going. Find out a new way to streamline your shopping cart or optimize your website? Flesh out a plan to get the ball rolling right now.
2. Email your new colleagues. Each business card in your hand should contain the website and email address of the one who handed it to you. Contact each person individually and tell them what a great time you had meeting them. To give them a mental picture of you, include your picture at the end of the email. What will impress them is if you can recount one tidbit from your conversation with them and include it also.
3. Get involved in online social networking. Find your new peeps on all the social networks: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn. Invite them to be friends or followers (depending on the site) so you can keep in close contact.
4. Blog about the experience. Get your readers interested in the event happenings. Share your experiences and any new business takeaway advice you received.
5. Develop new products. Talk about leveraging! You can turn that one seminar presentation into a wealth of digital products. Create an e-course on your topic. Use the handouts as filler for your monthly newsletter, content for your site or new topics for video media. Those brainstorming techniques you developed at the event will come in handy now.

What did you learn at your last live event? Did you do anything with the knowledge? Hopefully you did. If not, use these five tips to reawaken the enthusiasm and create new action items.

Kind Regards,

P.S. Want to attend my favorite live event with me this August? The 4th NAMS event is coming up and I’ve got my seat for it already, my cozy hotel room is reserved, and Lisa is going to be my roommate again. I’m just busting at the seams to get there and get started! Attending last summer propelled my business life into overdrive for so many reasons.

Maybe you’ve just been holding out for a coupon code to get a discount off the $697 ticket price and save a few dollars to pay for your plane ticket. Guess what? Today is that day!! Sign up for #NAMS before 5/31/10 using the code NAMS4MAY save $300!!!

Seats are going super fast for this one and the event is expected to sell out by the end of this week, so grab your spot now! I look forward to meeting you in person come August and I hope we’ll be having lunch together at least one of the days of the event.
—
Posts in this series:
Live Networking Events and Four Reasons Why You Should Be Attending
Choosing the Right Live Networking Event for You and Your Business
Network and Learn New Techniques at Live Business Events
Take the Podium at a Live Event to Gain Exposure and New Business Opportunity
This Post: Tips for Success After You’ve Attended a Live Event
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Someone may ask you to speak at a live event. Maybe you have done guest blogging for others or participated in podcasts on other sites. It was a thrill a minute for you because you were networking and getting your name out there. Also, someone wanted YOU. Your marketing has paid off in big ways and involving yourself in these activities increases your credibility and expert status.

Now, you are going to take part in a live event where you will actually stand face-to-face with those who have heard you on podcasts or read you on the Internet. It can be nerve-wracking as well as exhilarating.

Take a deep breath and get ready. You want to shine and the only way to do that is to prepare.

• Know the main focus of the event. Share with the group in the session your knowledge and expertise based on what the event is trying to highlight. If it is geared towards a niche then feel free to discuss how you got into your niche, what marketing techniques you use and new ways to expand the niche.
• Know the other presenters. Some of them may be sitting in your audience. If they are more seasoned than you, prepare a few questions for them about how they stay calm and at ease before a presentation.
• Practice a lot. There is no substitute for this one. The way to avoid those dead silent moments when it seems that all your thoughts fly away is to get up and go over your speech many times. This is also how you prepare to deliver well-timed jokes. The more practice you get in, the more comfortable you will feel going off script when the inspiration hits you.
• Have materials in place. The audience will want handouts. Prepare something eye-catching as well as informative for them to read and hang on to. You can create a packet of material including your business card and other pertinent information about how to reach you. Don’t forget to place a sign-up sheet at the door so you can contact them later.
• Present your products. Don’t forget to bring along some freebies and priced products so that as soon as the presentation is over, they can get everything they need right away.

When you take center stage, make sure you truly TAKE CENTER STAGE. Use your presentation as a platform for gaining new business partners, new customers and more sales.

Kind Regards,

P.S. Want to attend my favorite live event with me this August? The 4th NAMS event is coming up and I’ve got my seat for it already, my cozy hotel room is reserved, and Lisa is going to be my roommate again. I’m just busting at the seams to get there and get started! Attending last summer propelled my business life into overdrive for so many reasons.

Maybe you’ve just been holding out for a coupon code to get a discount off the $697 ticket price and save a few dollars to pay for your plane ticket. Guess what? Today is that day!! Sign up for #NAMS before 5/31/10 using the code NAMS4MAY save $300!!!

Seats are going super fast for this one and the event is expected to sell out by the end of this week, so grab your spot now! I look forward to meeting you in person come August and I hope we’ll be having lunch together at least one of the days of the event.

—
Posts in this series:
Day 1: Live Networking Events and Four Reasons Why You Should Be Attending
Day 2: Choosing the Right Live Networking Event for You and Your Business
Day 3: Network and Learn New Techniques at Live Business Events
Day 4: This Post: Take the Podium at a Live Event to Gain Exposure and New Business Opportunity
Day 5: Tips for Success After You’ve Attended a Live Event
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Live events have so many opportunities, that you almost have to be wearing track shoes to get around to taking advantage of them all. One plus in particular is learning new business techniques. There is not a single person (and that applies to gurus as well) who couldn’t stand to learn a thing or two. In fact, they will probably be the first ones in line.

The person who has stopped learning has also stopped growing. The only limits that are placed on your business are self-imposed. The Internet is a wealth of knowledge for the one who can access it, but did you ever stop to think where that knowledge was received?

At least some of it was gained at live business events. Here, you are exposed not only to people who can expand on marketing techniques that you currently utilize, but also individuals who have found new ways to harness business power.

Stop and think for a moment. Those who host these events are looking for the best and the brightest to entice you to come. These people prove time and time again that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to business.

In case you didn’t know or haven’t thought about it in a while, here are a few things you can take part in and learn from at live events:

• Brainstorming sessions – Imagine the energy in the room when hundreds of entrepreneurs get together at tables to discuss new ways to improve each others’ businesses? Be sure to take copious notes to refer to later and get the names of everyone at the table.
• Visit the vendor area – This is an opportunity for businesses to highlight their products and services. You can learn about new programs computer programs, business software and get to demo items right there on site.
• Keep all materials given to you – Within the pages of those handouts are vital information. Speakers may lay out for you how they go about promoting new products, implement new programs and techniques and list online resources for you. You may want to bring a tote bag or a briefcase to hold everything you will get so it is easier to reference later.

Attend live events with an open mind. Be ready to expect the unexpected and get immersed into business techniques you haven’t tried before.

Kind Regards,

P.S. Want to attend my favorite live event with me this August? The 4th NAMS event is coming up and I’ve got my seat for it already, my cozy hotel room is reserved, and Lisa is going to be my roommate again. I’m just busting at the seams to get there and get started! Attending last summer propelled my business life into overdrive for so many reasons.

Maybe you’ve just been holding out for a coupon code to get a discount off the $697 ticket price and save a few dollars to pay for your plane ticket. Guess what? Today is that day!! Sign up for #NAMS before 5/31/10 using the code NAMS4MAY save $300!!!

Seats are going super fast for this one and the event is expected to sell out by the end of this week, so grab your spot now! I look forward to meeting you in person come August and I hope we’ll be having lunch together at least one of the days of the event.

—
Posts in this series:
Day 1: Live Networking Events and Four Reasons Why You Should Be Attending
Day 2: Choosing the Right Live Networking Event for You and Your Business
Day 3: This Post. Network and Learn New Techniques at Live Business Events
Day 4:
Day 5:
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Live events are going on all around you. The trick: knowing where to look. Here are a few suggestions:

• Visit your favorite blogs for information. If your bloggers are speaking or attending a conference they will want to let their readers know about it. Ask for more information if they don’t provide a link.
• Visit forums. Business forums usually have a place where they list upcoming events both online and offline. Check to see which are close to you and if they are on a topic that interests you.
• Visit social networking sites. These are great for business connections. If friends are hosting events or attending, they may post an invite to the event for their business contacts. Read the information and attend.

The live events you choose may interest you in two ways:

• Professionally
• Personally

Professionally, choose live events that are relevant to your business. You wouldn’t attend a crafting seminar if you sell gardening supplies. And, you probably would pass on a seminar that highlights how offline businesses can get into online markets if you already own an online business.

It can be hard to decide if you are new to online business. Because you aren’t sure what you need to know, you don’t know what live events will be best for you. Here are some pointers:

• Check geographic location – Your first time out, you might want to stay close to home to lower costs. Money is often tight when you just get up and running.
• Look at event registration costs – Now, money is not the only consideration. As the fees get more expensive, your attendees will reach a different caliber as well. And, some events are tax deductible as a business expense. What we are talking about here is to see if you can swing the cost for a highly rated event that will benefit your business in many ways. You could probably cut back on other things for a little while to make it work.
• Look at the speakers – Who is coming to regale you with their business savvy? If the speakers are some of your favorite bloggers or online business owners that you have been wanting to meet, don’t pass up the chance to have your questions answered and gain some insight.

Choosing a live event to attend doesn’t have to be a hard decision. Gather as much information as you can about upcoming events, their location and fees so you can map out your networking strategy.

Kind Regards,

P.S. Want to attend my favorite live event with me this August? The 4th NAMS event is coming up and I’ve got my seat for it already, my cozy hotel room is reserved, and Lisa is going to be my roommate again. I’m just busting at the seams to get there and get started! Attending last summer propelled my business life into overdrive for so many reasons.

Maybe you’ve just been holding out for a coupon code to get a discount off the $697 ticket price and save a few dollars to pay for your plane ticket. Guess what? Today is that day!! Sign up for #NAMS before 5/31/10 using the code NAMS4MAY save $300!!!

Seats are going super fast for this one and the event is expected to sell out by the end of this week, so grab your spot now! I look forward to meeting you in person come August and I hope we’ll be having lunch together at least one of the days of the event.

—
Posts in this series:
Day 1: Live Networking Events and Four Reasons Why You Should Be Attending
Day 2: This post. Choosing the Right Live Networking Event for You and Your Business
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:
—