Issue #2285
- WEALTHY: Dirt-cheap stocks to buy now (Rick Pendergraft)
- HEALTHY: An all-natural sugar replacement (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Steve Ballmer on staying in touch
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- 8 keys to getting your customers to tell you what they want (Wendy Montes de Oca)
- Does every new product have to be unique? (Michael Masterson)
- It’s Good to Know… about pollution concerns for the Beijing Olympics
- Add "moil" to your vocabulary
How Many Automatic Income Streams Can YOU Handle?
The Internet has now come of age as the most incredible marketing tool in history.
Think about it for a moment… It’s possible to spend no more than a fiver, write a couple of basic ads, and have instant access to over millions of potential customers all in a matter of minutes!
This has created a real “sink or swim” situation. Those who master Internet secrets will profit massively. Those who don’t are simply doomed to sit on the sidelines and watch others make the real money.
Jim Sheridan’s plan banked him $187,296 in one day. The great news is – you can copy Jim’s plan exactly. The program is called Instant Internet Income and I guarantee it does exactly what it says it does.
Take a look at how Jim brought in over $187,000 in a single day!
- Patrick Coffey
Building Momentum
Buy low, sell high. Follow this "perfect" investment model and watch your portfolio get fat. Right now, you may be able to put it into practice with U.S. homebuilder stocks, which have been hammered for the last few years.
Here’s why: The real estate market can’t get any worse. Home sales are anemic at best. Huge land write-offs have hurt balance sheets. Yet the population continues to grow at a steady clip.
Building came to a halt in mid-2005 when the real estate market crashed. Homes built in or before 2005 make up much of today’s unsold inventory. And until the market turns, builders aren’t likely to build anything new. This means there will be a lack of inventory available when the market finally does turn. And builders that have managed to stay afloat will thrive.
Homebuilder stocks have all of the negativity built right into their current share prices. So now is the time to buy… and wait. But I would look only at the biggest builders, those with the ability to weather this storm and capitalize on the next building boom.
I like D.R. Horton (DHI) and Pulte Homes (PHM). Both have national exposure and won’t be dependant on regional recovery. If they have survived in this market, the worst one in years, they can make it through anything. Pick them up now while they are dirt-cheap.
[Ed. Note: Rick Pendergraft, a two-time winner of the "Top Trader" award at Schaeffer's Investment Research, is a contributor to ETR's free e-zine, Investor's Daily Edge . Learn how to protect your portfolio and multiply your money - in any market - by clicking here.
You can meet Rick Pendergraft in person - and learn the SAFEST and most PROFITABLE income-generating and entrepreneurial opportunities you've never heard of - at our 72-hour wealth-building summit in April. Learn more here.]
"We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we’re in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There’s no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either."
Steve Ballmer
How to Find Customers in a Web 2.0 World
You’ve probably heard about Web 2.0. It’s all the rage these days. But do you really know what it is? More important, do you know how to use it to your advantage?
Today, I’m going to reveal one Web 2.0 technique you can use to help attract targeted, qualified prospective customers to your website. But first, here’s the 411.
Web 2.0 isn’t a newfangled Internet technology or software. And it’s not a marketing tactic, per se. It’s simply the evolution of the Internet into an environment of interactivity, reader participation, and usability. This, in effect, changes users’ Web behavior. As Tim O’Reilly – founder of O’Reilly Media and the guy who coined the term "Web 2.0" – puts it… it’s "harnessing collective intelligence" through user-generated content.
Web 2.0 opens up the dialog between user and website or blog. This connection can help generate traffic and a viral buzz. Patrick Coffey pointed out in a recent ETR article that not all Web 2.0 traffic is a good thing. But from a search engine marketing (SEM) standpoint, the benefits are clear and measurable: More traffic and frequent interactivity (or posts) equal better organic (free) rankings in search engine results.
Getting good organic rankings is a powerful way to find qualified prospective customers. A recent eye-tracking survey of people doing an Internet search showed that 70 percent of the time their eyes go to the upper-left side of the search results (the organic listings). Their eyes go to the right side of the search results (the paid listings) only 30 percent of the time.
One way to increase your organic rankings – and take advantage of Web 2.0 user behavior – is with targeted online acquisition polls.
Online polls can help you collect names and e-mail addresses, gauge general market (or subscriber) sentiment, and generate sales via a redirect to a promotional page. They also allow for interactivity, where a user can sound off about a hot topic. I’ve been including polls in my online marketing strategy for at least six years now, and have rarely been disappointed with the results.
Some websites, like surveymonkey.com, allow members to set up free or low-cost surveys and polls. However, they may not allow you to include a name-collection component or a redirect to a promotional offer. If that’s the case, either ask your Webmaster to build you a proprietary poll platform or use a poll script. (You’ll find examples at hotscripts.com, bgpoll.com/, ballot-box.net/faq.php, micropoll.com, and 2enetworx.com.)
Here are eight ways to help make your Web 2.0 poll a success:
1. Make it engaging.
Your poll question should engage the reader, encourage participation, pique interest, and tie into a current event. And be sure to have a "comments" field where people can make additional remarks. Sample topics: politics, the economy, health, consumer breakthroughs, the stock market, foreign affairs. Sites that highlight the most talked-about (and searched) topics on the Web include buzz.yahoo.com/, 50.lycos.com/, and google.com/press/zeitgeist.html.
2. Be relevant.
Your poll question should also be related to your product, free e-zine topic, or free bonus report topic. This will greatly improve your conversion rate (the number of people who actually participate in your poll) and your up-sell rate. Let’s say your free offer is a sign-up for an investment e-zine and your up-sell is a redirect landing page promotion for a paid investment newsletter. In that case, your poll question should be something like "Do you think the Dow will rise or fall in 2008?"
3. Offer an incentive.
After people take your poll, tell them that to thank them for their participation you’re automatically signing them up for your free e-zine or e-alerts… which they can opt out of at any time. To reduce the number of bogus e-mail addresses you get, offer a free "must-read" e-report too. And assuming it’s your policy not to sell or rent e-mail names to third parties (and it should be), indicate that next to the sign-up button. This will reassure people that it’s safe to give you their e-mail address.
4. Tag the responses.
Having your poll question somehow tie into your product line makes the names you collect extremely qualified for future offers. Each name should be "tagged" by your database folks according to the answer they gave. Segmenting the names into such categories will make it easier for you to send targeted offers to them later.
Let’s say your product line includes an investment e-zine on equities. In that case, your poll question might ask people which investment product they think has the best returns: money market, gold, equities, or options. Those who answer "equities" will be prime candidates for a promotion for the e-zine.
5. Use the results for new initiatives.
In addition to collecting names, online polls will help you gauge general market opinion – and could help you come up with new products. Keeping with our above example, you would flag all of the responses that come in. Then, if an overwhelming number of responders indicate an interest in an investment product you don’t have – maybe one on gold – you should consider developing one. Because you now have an instant market of people to sell that product to.
6. Strengthen your new relationships.
You need to reinforce the connection between the poll people just participated in and your e-zine or e-alerts. So make sure each name that comes in gets an immediate "thank you" (for taking the poll). Then send an automatically generated e-mail with the link for the downloadable free e-report you promised. Consider sending a series of "bonding" e-mails to them too – to help them get to know who you are, what you do, and how it will benefit them. This will help improve their lifetime customer value.
7. Gratify participants with the results.
Don’t just leave poll participants hanging. Make sure you tell them that the results will be published in your free e-zine or on your website (to encourage them to check it regularly). This will help increase readership and website traffic.
8. Publish the best reader comments.
On your poll landing page, mention that some user feedback may be published (anonymously) in your e-zine or on your website. Pick the very best, most powerful responses to use. Republishing user feedback is fundamental to the Web 2.0 concept. And it has been extremely successful for social networking communities and blogs.
Marketers have used polls to collect names for years. However, with the recent surge in (and buzz about) Web 2.0, now – more than ever – polls should be included in your online marketing mix.
Polls aren’t just for finding new customers. They allow you to measure customer sentiment – which, in turn, can impact customer retention and service
[Ed. Note: Wendy Montes de Oca is ETR's Vice President of Marketing & Business Development. For step-by-step instructions on starting your own Internet business, get ETR's Magic Button program. Click here to learn more.]
Economic Uncertainty = Deep Profits for YOU this year?
Don’t let the talking head zombies of the mass media frighten you into inaction!
A troubled marketplace means MASSIVE opportunities for those in the know. Yes, I’m talking to you…
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Join us at our never before offered "Profits in Paradise" Wealth Summit. You will learn how easy it is to set up a variety of income streams that churn out cash month after month – and these profit streams are NOT dependent upon what the market does.
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You get it all – soup to nuts – action steps for everything from boosting your present income… to quickly setting up profitable online businesses that throw off profits – even in economic downturns.
Plus, once you’ve got a system for setting up passive income streams, we will hand you proven, actionable strategies for swelling your portfolio in record time.
Nothing will be left to chance when your success is on the line. And every idea and action step is presented in clear, "beginner friendly" language you can immediately use.
Hurry and you will lock in the low price for early bird registration. Don’t wait until the price jump in the coming days. If you are serious about quickly amassing great wealth – even during uncertain economic times – this is your best opportunity.
Click here for the exciting details…
If You Can’t Compete on Price…
John D. Rockefeller dominated the oil industry by buying up production and delivery, and thus was able to offer oil and gas at prices his competitors couldn’t touch. Likewise, Andrew Carnegie made a fortune by producing inexpensive steel. Marshall Field brought down the cost of retail shopping. Sam Walton is known for his discount stores, Henry Ford for making autos within the financial reach of the average person, and the Mellons for making money cheap.
When you are starting a new business, you’d be crazy not to make the concept of underpricing a core part of your growth and marketing strategy. But if you can’t compete on price – and most new businesses can’t – you have to compete with your product. And that means positioning it as somehow different from and better than other products of its kind.
[Ed. Note: The above is an excerpt from Michael Masterson's latest book, Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat, published with permission of John Wiley & Sons. In the book - which has already hit the New York Times business best-seller list - Michael shows how veteran and rookie entrepreneurs alike can take their businesses to the next level. You'll learn how to identify and solve the problems that crop up during each stage of a company's growth... and how to take advantage of profit opportunities along the way. Order your copy of Ready, Fire, Aim now.]
A Sweet Way to Boost Your Immune System
Most experts agree that sugar is one of the immune system’s fiercest enemies. It raises insulin levels and decreases the vitality and number of white blood cells that respond to invaders. But thanks to a new breed of all-natural sweeteners, you can satisfy your cravings without spiking your blood sugar or hampering immunity.
The blood sugar benefits of polyols (sugar alcohols) have been mentioned in ETR before. Now I’d like to introduce you to another ingredient you can add to your low-glycemic baking repertoire: Siraitia grosvenori, better known as luo han guo (also spelled luo han kuo or lo han kuo).
Luo han guo is a member of the gourd family. It’s low glycemic, heat stable, has a mere four calories per teaspoon, and can be used in baking just like sugar. But the benefits don’t end there. New research suggests luo han guo may actually help reduce inflammation and enhance immunity, especially in people who have diabetes.
You’re likely to hear much more sweet talk about this up-and-coming ingredient. Look for Jarrow Formulas’ Lo Han Sweet at your local health food store.
[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR's free natural health e-letter.]
It’s Good to Know: Pollution Concerns for the Beijing Olympics
Ever since Beijing was picked to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, concerns about the effect of the city’s notorious air pollution on athletes have been raised. Respiratory infections, nausea, and allergic reactions are common problems attributed to heavy pollution. And according to the World Health Organization, pollution in Beijing is often five times above safe levels.
City officials claim that a plan to close factories and reduce the number of cars on the road by half will ease pollution enough that it won’t be an issue. But some Olympics participants aren’t taking any chances. The United States is considering giving its athletes masks to wear when not competing. Several other countries are encouraging their athletes to train indoors while in Beijing – jogging in hotel hallways, for example, instead of the outdoor facilities being provided by the city.
(Source: Time and The New York Times )
What If There Was A Way To Legally Beat A Traffic Ticket?
“When Attorneys Get Speeding Or Traffic Tickets, This Is What They Do… No Points, No Increased Premiums & Definitely No Stupid Driving School. These Tricks Work Like Magic.”
If you’re like me then the simple sight of a police car in your rear-view mirror is enough to send shivers down your spine, but…
When the lights start flashing…
There Goes That Safe Driver Discount… Right? Not anymore…
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Moil
"Moil" (MOYL) is hard work; drudgery. The word is from the Middle English for "to soil one’s hands."
Example (as used by Alan Hollinghurst in The Spell): "He saw himself in the sleepless moil of early parenthood, and felt a plunging anxiety."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008
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