Record Yourself On Blog Talk Radio

If you haven't yet realized it, I like to try out new things. I'm a non-techie, so they have to be simple to do new things. My thing for this past week was to try recording my own show at Blog Talk Radio. If you haven't tried it yet, do yourself a favor and get on over there. It's fun and I've had all kinds of people asking if I would interview them now. You'd think I was Oprah or something the way people act.

Anyway, I've done one show so far. You can do a one time session or a regular episode. My show is called Inspirational Women and after a couple of days of advertising the upcoming show, it occurred to me that it was a good domain name and I should probably register it. Too late, someone beat me to it, but guess what, they have it up for sale. After all, it has no content, just a neat name. Since I'm not into being forced, I purchased the .ca instead. Some day I may regret that, but for now I have the satisfaction that I stood my ground.

Back to the show. I registered to air at a specific time, then found out that the two ladies I wanted to interview weren't available then. Thankfully, there's an option to pre-record and then upload the file. I just had to phone in at airtime and stay on the line until the show was over. I was also on the computer at the same time, watching the action from the inside of my Blog Talk account. There is also a chat room so you can interact with listeners, and had the show been live, people could have asked questions if they had a mic.

I'm pasting in the widget so you can have a listen for yourself. There's a slight pause because even though I had selected autoplay, it didn't seem to work until I pressed the play button as well. The widget can be pasted on your website and will automatically update when you record a new show. The show will also be picked up by Itunes.

Now listen closely and let me know if you hear the hum of my frig in the background. I have to go and practice writing my autograph.

NAMS 3 - Will You Be There?

In August of this year, I attended NAMS 2 in Atlanta. Short for Niche Affiliate Marketing System, NAMS is a three day hands on Internet marketing workshop. No sales pitches, just solid information and the chance to implement what you learn. With three different tracks - beginner, intermediate, and advanced, there is something for everyone.

You decide which level you are at and go into the room for that track. If you feel the content is over or under your head, you can switch to another room. No getting bored or confused at NAMS. My only complaint in August was the fact that the days were very long. We went from 8:30 each morning until 6:30 at night. Then of course we visited on the patio until all hours which didn't help matters. Apparently NAMS 3 will have shorter days, so more time to network. I hung out with Lynn Terry, Nicole Dean, and a number of Lynn's Elite Forum crew after hours - one of my favorite parts of the day.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture - NAMS is great. And NAMS 3 will have presenters like Lynn Terry, Kevin Riley, Jimmy D. Brown, Nicole Dean, Bob the Teacher, Willie Crawford - the list is long and amazing. Why not check it out for yourself?

Another reason you should purchase now - I've got a coupon code for $100 off - just enter 100nams3 for the discount. I bought my ticket the minute they were available. Get yours before they sell out - which they always do. And let me know if you're coming so I can make a point of saying hello.

Why An Internet Business Is Best For Me

I'm presenting a full day workshop at the local community centre in a few days. My topic - Start an Internet Home Business For Under $100. With more than a dozen ways to make money on the Internet, this will be a brief introduction of all the possibilities that exist online. There is no way I can cover too much in depth - but I hope to inspire people to try.

Who am I to be telling anyone anything? Well, in the past few years I have learned more than I realize. I created a mindmap with six main topic areas - finding a niche, what you need to get started, monetizing, places to sell, getting traffic, and other possible options such as video and audio. Mindmapping was an easy way for me to see all the different things I could talk about. The hardest part is narrowing it down to what can be consumed in one day without causing information overload.

In the past, when I've presented workshops on topics like eBay, the only negative comments I've ever had are always about too much information presented. So I'm very mindful not to try teaching too much, but at the same time I want the participants to feel they got their money's worth. I also like everyone to have fun, so try to include group activities as well.

If you enjoy teaching and motivating people, don't hesitate to try your hand at presenting workshops. After I get over my initial stage fright and wondering why I thought I could do this, I really enjoy the time. And when you present on a topic you're passionate about, it comes across and rubs off on others.

As for my workshop title - yes, it is possible to start an online business for under $100. About $10 for a domain name, less than $10 month for hosting of unlimited sites (or free with Blogger or Weebly), and $19 a month for your autoresponder to keep in touch with a list of subscribers. Those are your necessities. Well under $100. Try that with an offline business. Sure it might take time, hard work,and traffic, but ask any business owner in your town how long it took them to get established and start making money.

Most offline businesses don't see a profit for years, and if you decide you want to change the products or services you offer, it isn't easy. Not so with the Internet.

A number of years ago, I operated a small Internet Cafe. A lot of work for months before I opened. Finding a location, getting permits to renovate, renovating and furnishing, leasing computers, getting a vendors permit and a food permit, dealing with the health department, getting insurance, having a sign made and put up, and advertising to get people to come. Then when I opened, guess what happened? Within a month I realized I didn't like being in a shop and waiting for people to come in. So I started offering classes. That was better, but they weren't every day all day, so the shop was a waste of money. Plus I gained weight from drinking so much coffee and cream so it wouldn't be thrown out.

The end result - I closed up shop less than a year later and took my business home. Less overhead and more time for myself. Now the Internet has opened an even easier way for me to have my own business and help other people. It's no wonder that I'm so passionate about the opportunities available online!

Now tell me your story. Why are you marketing on the Internet?

Product Types and Packages

Here's another tip from NAMS, this time about the four types of products you can sell online and the different ways you can package them.

Four Product Types:

1. Consumables – such as memberships or regular calls. Things that people can repurchase time and time again.                                                                                 
2. Collectibles – e.g. collection of computer guides. Buyers will often buy similar products or services to add to their collections.                                                                                                         
   
3. Toll Booth - necessary training, tools or information needed for what your customer wants to do.           
4. Back end - add-ons of higher priced products.

• Have different packages with various levels of quality. Make the highest quality package so beneficial in comparison that people choose it most of the time. Start by listing all of the possible things that could be included in a package. This would be your highest priced package. Then start deducting items to form the lower priced packages. I found this was much easier than starting with the lowest priced package and its contents and then trying to figure out how much to add for each of the higher priced packages.

• To make money, you have to give people the opportunity to buy from you. Don’t give it all away or bother people trying to push sales. As we know, people love to shop, but they hate to be sold to.

More tips to come. I hope you are getting as much benefit from them as I have been.

Productivity

Here are some NAMS tips I picked up to help with productivity:

• Plan your day the night before. 
• Don’t look at your email until you’ve done your most important task (this is a hard one to follow).
• Use the first hour of each day to help you monetize and grow your business - even before you do your work for a client.
• Prioritize your to-do list and get rid of unnecessary tasks. Outsource as much as you can. 
• Failure is good. If you are afraid of failure, then you are also afraid of success. Fail often and fast, then you learn what works and what doesn’t. Launch, learn from it, improve, and relaunch.

Now get out there and start taking risks. For example, I created a guide for grandparents and spent months trying to make it just right. I finally got fed up and put it up on Lulu just so I could say I did something. Did it sell? Not really, but now I can add to it for a 2nd edition and try selling somewhere else. You don't know if you don't try.

When To Sell And When To Give Away

If you are like me, you've heard the advise to create short reports and sell or give them away. But how do you know when to give it away and when to sell it? That was one of the questions asked at NAMS and I appreciated the following answer:

If you are pre-selling for a service or a physical product, then the report should be free. For example, if your niche is barbeques, write a short report with quick recipes for the barbeque and give it away with your affiliate links in it. But if your market are information product buyers, then create an informative report and sell it for a low price point (under $30). This is because your market are already proven buyers. By keeping the price point low, these people will make impulse purchases. The result - you are building a list of buyers.

Another great tip, courtesy of Lynn Terry. Now doesn't that sound easy?