“This way, attendees could start making as much as $500 while they’re still at the conference!” MaryEllen exclaimed.

We’d already made a big promise: Every attendee at our upcoming 5 Days in July Internet Business Building Conference WILL walk away with their own fully functioning Internet business – in just 5 days. But now MaryEllen had upped the ante. Now, attendees would have a chance to start making money even before they got back home.

This is how it breaks down: All attendees will have the opportunity to enroll in ETR’s Affiliate Program at the conference.

As you may know, becoming an affiliate of an established company that already markets a variety of products is a great way to “get your foot in the door” as an online entrepreneur. You simply promote the company’s products on your website, and they (in this case, ETR) take care of fulfilling the orders generated by your efforts, handling customer service, and so on. You, of course, get a cut of each sale. (With ETR’s commission structure, you get 25 percent on all sales. So, for example, by selling just one ticket to ETR’s 2009 Info-Marketing Bootcamp, you can get $499.25 – straight into your pocket!)

George Dahir, ETR’s Affiliate Program Manager, will be in Denver to personally assist the new affiliates in setting up their websites for affiliate sales, show them the best ways to promote ETR’s products, and, of course, answer any questions.

But this is only one component of the comprehensive Internet business-building program the ETR team has in store for 5 Days in July attendees. Search engine optimization, pay-per-click ads, copywriting, e-mail marketing and list building, not to mention website creation with some of the easiest-to-use software ever… it’s all going to be covered in Denver.

[Ed. Note: Even if you are just thinking about starting your own business, you should go here to find out what the Early to Rise team has in store for you during our 5 Days in July Internet business-building conference.]

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Networking is a great way to establish personal connections with people in your industry, whether you’re interested in joint ventures, finding a business partner, seeking funding, or looking for a new job. 

But do it wrong and you can burn a lot of bridges. Here are some things you should not do: 

Be too vague. Your friend passes on contact information for a consultant that you know will help your business – so you give him a call. But instead of briefly describing your problem and asking for specific advice, you tell a long rambling story and then ask: “Can you help me?” 

Prepare for the call by honing your elevator pitch – a one-minute, specific summary of who you are and what you need.

Bombard the contact with “follow up.” Let’s say you’re given contact information for a CEO who’s looking for your type of freelance services. Make your pitch with a phone call or by e-mail. Lay out your expertise and tell him what you can do to help him. Then let him carry the ball. Don’t send daily e-mails “checking” on the status of the hiring decision. Nagging isn’t going to get you the job. If he’s interested in you, trust that you will hear from him. 

Forget to follow up with the “connector.” When you’re introduced to a great contact don’t forget to say thanks and offer to reciprocate or help in some way.

[Ed. Note: Networking effectively is just one skill you can learn with Unscrew Your Life, Early to Rise's monthly newsletter dedicated to helping you navigate the trials and travails of daily life, whether you're at home, at work, or anywhere in between. Find out more here.] 

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It was possibly the worst sales pitch I’d ever heard – a National Public Radio commercial for a touring company coming to South Florida.

“If you see one Broadway show this year… you might want to see Les Miserables.”

It’s like saying, “Hey, the show is so-so. You might want to go to a movie instead.”

Are you engaging in this sort of halfway marketing with your business? Are you hesitant to make strong claims and scared to “sell” – sending out lukewarm sales messages instead?

You shouldn’t be. If you’re in business, you believe in the quality and value of your products. You think they will help people. Make sure they do – and be proud to sell them. Tell your prospects that your products are the best ones out there. Enthusiastically urge them to buy.

Review your marketing efforts. Get rid of half-measures. Adopt this model and your sales will skyrocket.

[Ed. Note: For more straightforward business-building and marketing advice, check out Michael Masterson's Wall Street Journal bestseller, Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat. It's full of wisdom, techniques, and insider "secrets" that Michael has learned in his 40-year career. Get your copy today. ]

“I’ll build your website – only $895! Call 800-XXX-XXXX.”

No, it wasn’t the copy for a classified ad or a posting on a freelance job site. It was a “bandit” sign, stuck in a grassy highway divider down the street from my house.

At ETR, we embrace multi-channel marketing, but you have to choose channels that are going to reach your target market.

“Garage Sale” signs at busy intersections get noticed by folks who are out for a Sunday drive. Billboards on the highway do a good job of drawing traffic to restaurants and attractions. And at election time, roadside signs are fairly effective at drumming up support for candidates and issues.

But if you’re marketing a technical service like Web design, you should be posting on CraigsList or Elance.com, not a street corner. You could also place pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google, so that when people search for “Web design services” your ads will pop up on the results page.

The idea is to advertise through channels that will get the attention of your prospects.

In their book Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business, http://changingthechannelbook.com/promos/102808_etr/ Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby point out, for example, that an 80-year-old grandmother almost certainly doesn’t spend a lot of time with a computer. So if your target market is older women, it wouldn’t make sense to focus your marketing online.

Identify your target market and do some research. Then make some educated guesses about the kind of advertising that is likely to appeal to them. Telemarketing? E-mail? Banner ads on websites? Print ads in newspapers?

Test your best guesses, track your results… and run with the winners.

[Ed. Note: Not sure how to reach your prospective customers? Find 12 highly effective marketing methods in Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby’s Amazon.com bestseller, Changing the Channel. Pick up your copy today.

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There’s a house for sale in my neighborhood. Has been for over a year.

Not uncommon in today’s market. But the home’s Pepto pink and lime green facade – in a neighborhood of conservative homes painted in subtle, neutral colors (many of which are also for sale) – makes me think it will continue to be on the market for quite a while.

Eye-catching, for sure. But if the owner thinks that’s giving him an advantage in the marketplace, he’s making a big mistake.

Are you doing the same thing with the website for your Internet business – depending on flashy graphics to make the sale for you? As Michael Masterson pointed out in a recent issue of his VIP newsletter Ready Fire Aim, fancy websites with animation, music, and the like may keep Web designers happily employed, but they do nothing to help you sell your products.

Your business website should be simple and clean, with a clear call to action. You want to convince visitors to buy your products with an easy to read and understand sales message, not dazzle them with design.

[Ed. Note: Michael Masterson's take on Web design is just one of the many "insider" tips and techniques he reveals in True Path to Profits: A Master Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Success. Find out more (including how you can get a bonus subscription to Michael's VIP newsletter, Ready Fire Aim) here.]

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You’ve probably seen the Cash4Gold infomercials. You send in your old jewelry, and they cut you a check. But when one curious blogger tried it, he got back a third of the appraised value. He called to complain and get the jewelry back – and Cash4Gold quickly upped their offer.

The blogger considered this to be unethical (why wasn’t he offered the higher price the first time around?), and posted the story at cockeyed.com. It was picked up by other websites. And now when you Google “Cash4Gold,” it is #2 on the Google results page.

But what the company did next made it a lot worse.

They sent the blogger a series of e-mails offering “Cash4Deleting” the negative post. At one point, the offer was up to a couple of thousand dollars. And, of course, those e-mails ended up online as well.

Some say any publicity is good publicity… but in this case, I’m not so sure.

Aside from their clearly dishonest approach to running a business (which, in itself, pretty much assures that Cash4Gold has no future), they made a stupid mistake when attempting to bribe the blogger. Apparently they didn’t realize that anything you say in an e-mail can end up being seen by the wrong people – millions of them.

(Source: Consumerist and Cockeyed.com)

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Some business owners and marketers think that one channel of marketing (maybe direct mail, TV ads, or joint ventures) is all they need.

“I just have a little retail store. I’m not a big company,” they say. Or, “I reach my customers with the Yellow Pages just fine.”

But as Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby reveal in Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business, any business can multiply its profits by using a multi-channel marketing strategy to reach their customers.  

For example, the owner of Michael Masterson’s local cigar shop, Cigar Connoisseur, is already using joint ventures, event marketing, TV and radio advertising, print ads, and direct mail. Joe’s coordinated, multi-channel approach has increased the number of customers that come to his shop, the frequency of their purchases, and the amount they spend during each visit.

Joe is doing very well. But Michael thinks he could do even better, and has suggested testing telemarketing and e-mail marketing, as well as search engine optimization for the Cigar Connoisseur website and pay-per-click ads. If Joe takes Michael’s advice and tests these additional channels, he will surely find at least one more that will work to his market.

You, too, could amp your sales by reaching out to your customers via multiple channels. Keep in mind that not every marketing channel works for every business. That’s where testing and tracking comes in. If one channel isn’t generating enough sales to justify the time and money spent on it, forget about it… and move on to the next channel.

[Ed. Note: A comprehensive marketing plan is only one part of your business's overall sales and marketing efforts. You can find dozens of techniques and strategies in Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby's Amazon.com bestselling book, Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business.]

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You (and your team) have looked at your products and have developed a plan for getting those products in front of your target market.

Part of that plan might include creative tasks like coming up with innovative copy approaches or design layouts. But don’t let the “fun” stuff take precedence over the plan’s real purpose: profit!

According to Inc., here are some of the nuts and bolts that should be the foundation of every marketing plan.

1. A specific target market for each product. “Men” is too general. “Baby boomer men” is still too general. “Baby boomer men with back problems” might still be too general. “Baby boomer men with a certain type of back problem” is just right.

2. An anticipated return on investment. If you don’t know how much money you need to make from a marketing effort (a print ad, for example) for it to be worth your while… you’re just wasting money.

3. A way to test until you find the best copy and offer. Campaigns are never set in stone. Tweaking and fine-tuning (even wholesale overhauling) is necessary until you find the right mix. This goes hand in hand with the next essential component of a marketing plan…

4. A way to track and monitor all your marketing efforts. Without this feedback, you won’t know what’s working and what isn’t. That’s why Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby almost always recommend direct-response marketing. As they say in their book Changing the Channel:

“Your online [direct-response] marketing efforts can offer you almost immediate feedback. And if you’ve done your testing properly, you can roll out instantly with your winner, while continuing to test different elements that can bring in more bottom-line dollars.”

5. A goof-proof system for accepting orders. If a customer tries to buy and your online order form doesn’t work – or the customer service rep who takes incoming calls can’t answer his questions – you’ve just lost a sale. If it happens enough, you’re going to be out of business.

[Ed. Note: A comprehensive marketing plan is only one part of a business's overall growth strategy. You can find dozens of great ideas in Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby's Amazon.com bestseller, Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business.]

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