As we go about the business of making DiegoNorte.com the most successful company in the history of the Internet, we see a glimpse of the businesses of our customers.   Boy do we see a lot of mistakes.

For instance, our franchise system allows customers to choose their own domain.  One franchise owner chose something like ForumBlogHelp.org for their franchise.  That’s just about the worst domain name we could possibly imagine.  It mixes forums and blogs which are both media, not topics of their own.  It’s too long.  And it’s a .org domain.

What kind of domains do the top 10 sites on the ‘net have?  Google.com, MSN.com, Ebay.com, Amazon.com, etc?  Yeah… short and ending in a .com.

What’s worse is that the franchise owner bought a launch from us.  We had to work really hard to launch it, but we got them 20 active contractors after about 10 times as much work as it should have taken.  Why was it so hard?  Would you rather work for a company with a web-site like Google.com or like forumbloghelp.org?  Yeah… me too… assuming I wanted to work.

She then demanded some free consulation to ask why nobody had written any articles for her blog among her contractors.  The team member who did her launch was frustrated with her obviously self-destructive behaviour and gave her an earful.   We changed our internal procedures so that a frustrated team member can no longer directly contact a customer to give them an earful.  But who knows… maybe it helped.  Maybe it didn’t.

One of the things this contractor obviously told the franchise owner is that a ghostwriter had no ability to guess the topic of her blog.  Was it about blogs?  Was it about forums?  Was it about help?  Was it about non-profit organizations?  She could have at least posted a sample article so that ghostwriters could guess the topic of her blog.

Her response?  It was about dog health.  Wow.  Who would have guessed?

We don’t want to pick on her alone.  We see it every day.  With the recent special for article marketing, we saw a lot of URLs of current sites of our customers.  Every single one made us cringe in some way.  We know what works.  We teach it here everyday, but this group teaching environment isn’t very effective in getting points across about mistakes being made by individual customers.

We wish we could help individual customers.  Of course we actually can.  We have a program to do just that.  The customers who are using this program are having phenomenal success.  Here’s the URL if you are interested:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Coaching_Plus/

We start out with the very basics.  We pick the dang domain name and get it hosted with a Wordpress blog on the home page.  They can’t make mistakes like the above franchise owner.  We also force them to choose from a known good market right from the start.  Choosing “dog health” as your first market to tackle on the ‘net is negative 537 points right off the bat.  Why not give yourself every advantage to winning this game from the very beginning.

Of course after those foundational steps, we have to slowly start letting go so that the new business owner can start to learn how to walk and then how to run.   Like a good watchful and proud parent though, we are always there to give guidance and help.  That’s the coaching part of the program.

All you need to succeed is:

1. Action.  Being willing to actually do something.

2. Focus.  Being able to focus your efforts in one direction.

3. Following a proven path. 

It doesn’t matter how much action you take with your forumbloghelp.org site about dog health.  It doesn’t matter how much you focus on that site and tune out all of the distractions.  Nobody else has ever succeeded with a dog health site called something like forumbloghelp.org and there is no reason to believe you are going to be the first.

This is the #1 cause of failure.  For some reason, entrepreneurs are an inventive and creative group of people.  That’s good in some ways.  It helps you solve problems that cause others to freeze.

However, it also causes you to take really stupid risks and forget your goal.  Your goal is financial independence; remember?  You can take the easy known path.  Or you can be inventive and creative and launch your expedition to get to financial independence in some brand new and super creative way.

Those who choose the former usually get to their goal.  Only the tiniest fraction of those who choose the latter get to their goal.

Think about it as an actual journey.  Let’s say you want to get to a town at the other side of the desert.  There is a highway that goes through the desert and you can rent a well maintained car with air conditioning and even a guide who will help you prepare by putting a few gallons of drinking water in the back of the car and making sure the radiator is full and all of the tires have proper air pressure.  Or you can be creative and inventive and decide to grab a canteen and start walking across the desert.

That is the #1 cause of failure with Internet businesses.  The owners decide to do the latter.  It sounds more exciting.  They think that if they triump, they will be a hero.  They will be the first person to cross the desert on foot with just a canteen of water.

So what!?!

Your goal is to get to the dang town, not to become a hero doing it.  Just rent the car and use the guide!  It has a nearly 100% chance of getting you to your goal.   You might still get a flat tire even though you fully prepared.  You might even overheat the engine.  But even when those problems happen, your guide will be right there to call the auto service on his cell phone that he thought to bring.

If you want your own guide (actually an entire team of guides) to help you have your own successful Internet business, then here is the URL:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Coaching_Plus/

We would love to help you.  It’s a lot more fun to help new business owners actually get to their goal than to sit around and peek at their URLs and shake our head in amazement wondering what the heck they were thinking.

Let us help!

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

The thoughts, ideas and concepts framed using the power of certain words can bring about amazing results, as some words are extremely powerful. It can create a winning message and have an emotional influence over readers mind. The right words can not only increase your sales but also create many new potential buyers dramatically.

It is a proved fact that whether the words are written or spoken, they have enormous power. You can do some research to find the power words or phrases that capture your attention. Then note down these words in your diary. If it captured your attention, there are more chances that they will hold peoples attention and invoke reaction in them. When time comes you can use power of your words to stimulate interest and drive profits.

When the power words are combined with the right message, you can get very good results. The difference of just few words can either pull in prospects or push them away. It is very important that you use the power of your words in headlines and content of your sales page because when the people visit your sales page you have about 10 seconds to grab their attention. If you cannot make it within that first 10 seconds, there is possibility that the visitor may leave your sales page.

10 ways to use power of your words to get amazing results:

1. Capture peoples attention.

2. Create a visual picture of the product.

3. Make your product description easy and understandable.

4. Invoke reaction in people.

5. Give reasonable solution to your prospects problem.

6. Offer hope for getting success.

7. Arouse the interest of the readers.

8. Motivate people to buy your products.

9. Cause an impact on the visitors.

10. Prove your creditability and Professionalism.

Finding the right words to communicate with your prospects is very much essential for the growth of your business, as it provides you with a powerful way to present the description of the opportunity or the products that you are promoting. Below are the 30 power words that you can use to increase your sales and sign ups:

Excellent, Reliable, Creative, Expert, Knowledge, Limited, Hidden, Special, Exciting, Important, Tested, Massive, FREE, Easy, Guaranteed, Magic, Secrets, Results, Discover, Confidential, Ultimate, Discount, Sale, Profitable, Urgent, Attention, Sensational, Successful, Powerful, Remarkable.

The reason why the word “FREE” continues to be one of the top selling words throughout the internet is that everyone loves to get something without spending anything. Some words are so powerful that they can elicit emotions and create visual pictures in your readers mind, sometimes to such an extent that they can induce people to laugh, to cry or even to buy.

Always use familiar words while sending a message to your business prospects, so that whatever message you want to put forth becomes clearer and easily understandable. Including the prospects name in your message, especially in the middle of the sentence, helps to boost the attention levels. If, people come to know that you have the right solution to their problems, automatically more and more prospects will be attracted towards you thereby making your online venture a successful one.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

The December 2008 issue of The Diego Norte Letter has been uploaded and will be shipped to all subscribers on Thursday.   This is your last chance to subscribe if you want to get this issue.  Here is the URL:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/The_DIego_Norte_Letter/

This issue has an article about the Tesla effect and how you absolutely MUST use Tesla strategies if you ever want to be one of the huge top 100 Internet sites.  100% of all of the top Internet sites have used Tesla strategies. 

Who was Tesla and what does he have to do with successful Internet business?   Tesla was a scientist that was way ahead of his time doing research on electricity and other natural forces.  He discovered a method to cause an earthquake in New York city with a tiny little black box that exerted the most minimal amount of force against a building in New York city. 

Fortunately he turned off the box just as the induced earthquake started or that tiny little black box could have leveled the city.   The power to that little black box was a small battery the size of a motorcycle battery.

How could such a small amount of power almost level New York city?   He never disclosed the exact schematic, but he did disclose the strategy.  He used that same strategy to perform many, many different kinds of things that seemed impossible at the time.   Every top 100 Internet business has incorporated the same strategy to become a top 100 Internet business.

Of course you don’t have to become a top 100 Internet business if you don’t want to.   You can turn off the box early just as Tesla did.   I have personally created four top 10,000 sites and one top 1,000 site before turning off the box.  The strategy works.

It can actually be used to get anything you want in this life.  It’s not the law of attraction or “The Secret” as recently discussed.  It is much more scientific and provable than those metaphysical concepts.   It’s real and actually fit into a physical black box about 1.5 feet by 2 feet by 1 foot in size.

The secret disclosed in this issue has allowed me to lose weight, travel the world, make tons of money, invent gadgets, meet people that are very difficult to meet because they are so famous or rich, triple sales on a sales page and increase traffic to incredible levels.   This secret alone is worth way more than the subcription price of the newsletter.  If you agree, you can sign up here:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/The_Diego_Norte_Letter/

Be sure to sign up before tomorrow at noon though.  That is the cut-off time to get this issue that discusses the Tesla secret in detail.

This issue also has a more conventional article about how to use content to increase traffic.  It shows you how to play both sides of the game so that you make everyone happy…  especially yourself.

Specific free resources are disclosed that I could never put on this blog.  They are just too powerful to put into the hands of the hundreds of thousands of peoplw who read this blog.   They are reserved for subscribers to The Diego Norte Letter.

Here is the URL if you want this list of resources that is included on the CD that contains this issue:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/The_Diego_Norte_Letter/

But that’s not all.  I’m not even going to discuss the topic of several articles here.   They are that powerful.

In addition to the newsletter which now comes on a CD, there are some extras.  One extra is a piece of software that every Internet business needs.  We’ll release it to the public for $300/copy in January or February.  Subscribers get a free copy on the same CD as the newsletter though.

Another extra is a secret URL that contains a Christmas gift.  It will blow you away and alone is worth more than the subscription price.  It is also software.

So you get two pieces of software that retail for $300 each with just this one issue.   Plus there is some data in the extras folder that can help you grow your business faster.  That data retails for $100.

It’s the Christmas issue so I want some things to be a surprise.  However, this issue is a MUST HAVE and tomorrow at noon is the last chance to become a subscriber and still get this issue.  Here is the URL again:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/The_Diego_Norte_Letter/

Don’t miss out.  This is absolutely the best issue we have ever produced.  And we intend to try to top it every single month in 2009.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

When starting an online business or any work from home business, marketing is your lifeline to get started on the right track. Many people think if you hit everything possible marketing avenue that success will come. In theory this is a good idea, but you want to market smart, not necessarily hard. This article will look at specific and effective marketing tools that you can use as you get your business started.

Smart marketing starts with researching who your target audience is. What is the demographic that you are trying to work with? What makes your product appealing to them? You want to ask yourself how your audience finds the product you are selling most effectively. A good idea would be to ask people how they found other people with your product. Doing this research will help you know how to spend your time and money on marketing wisely.

Google is another good research tool to find how people are finding the product you are selling. Look at how other companies describe themselves and see if there are any keywords that they have in common.

After you research the ways people find your product, you will want to look at ways to make yourself stand out above the rest. Your money is spent wisely by looking for a top-notch designer…someone that knows how to create a great website, great flyers or great business cards. You want a designer who is creative and can work with you to find a unique spin for your company. A successful business owner knows that the right images and words will speak large volumes to customers.

You also want to look at where people are finding your product. If that place is the Internet, spend your resources on a great website and google ads. For customers that find their product locally, you will want to place an ad in the newspaper or post flyers around the area. Being specific in your target will help you grow your business effectively.

Once you start gaining customers, the next step is to serve them well so they will become your best marketing tools. A happy customer is a person that is going to tell everyone they know about a company that they love. The goal you should have is to be that company people can’t stop talking about. You create positive customer service experiences by spending time with your customer in making sure that their needs are met. You want your business to go above and beyond for their customers. By doing this, word of mouth will spread like wildfire.

Your word of mouth “street team” can not only be effective soundboards but you might want to consider recruiting some of them for further marketing efforts like posting up posters or maybe heading up forums online. It is amazing what people will do for a company they are passionate about.

These are some basic ideas for effective marketing. Find what works for you and go with it. Successful business people are those that work outside the box and make themselves stand out from the crowd. Our world has become a much better place because of creative people who were willing to take risks to let the public know about new products. Know who your crowd is and what speaks to them and you will see your business grow!

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

We have received multiple requests for two different things over the last week:

1) More $10 specials.

2) Converting the Article Marketing Five Pack service into a monthly service so that users don’t have to order every month to continue their article marketing service.

We decided to put them together with this 24 hour special.

Here is the URL:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Article_Marketing/

It is the same service we launched recently as a five pack of article submissions.  It turned out to be extremely popular during the 24 hour special.  But that was just the beginning.  When the articles started going out and customers saw the results, that’s when we really saw the popularity.

We received four very angry emails.  We were surprised because the bulk of the email talked about how much traffic and how many links they were receiving.  How could they be angry?  The service was working exactly as described.  Who doesn’t want more traffic and more links to their web-site?

They were angry because we offered it during a 24 hour special as a five pack and they wanted it monthly.  They went to sign up for a second month and saw that the normal price was $500.  They wanted it for the 24 hour special price of $150 every month.

OK.  Fair enough.  We set up a special sales page so they could do that.  Then we thought better of it and decided that other customers might be in the same boat, but didn’t want to take the time to send us a note.  So we refunded them and told them that today we would offer something to everyone that would make them even happier than just offering them the $150/month rate.

How?

How about a two week trial (where either 2 or 3 articles go out) for only $10?

That’s a bit of a no-brainer.  I expect everyone to sign up for at least the $10 trial.  Where else can you get 2 or 3 articles sent to over 10,000 publishers for $10?

We absolutely know that no competition can offer such a deal.  It’s just plain absolutely impossible to do that at a profit.  We are going to do it at a massive loss just to show our appreciation to current customers.

We also know that during those two weeks that you’ll see the massive results and will want to continue having articles submitted with a link to your site in the resource box every month because it constantly increases traffic to your site and increases the number of links to your site.

It’s just a no-brainer offer.  Here’s where you can trade $10 for submission of two articles to at least 10,000 publishers each:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Article_Marketing/

This special will expire at noon on Tuesday (CST which is GMT-6).  Please don’t share this URL during the special.  This special is only for current blog readers and customers.  Thanks in advance for that!

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

So you had that fantastic business idea, the one that’s going to be wildly successful and make you a fortune - and even better, you actually did something about it and started your own business. Good for you! Not everyone gets even that far. Most people sit and day dream about what they might do if only ….

“The world is full of dreamers, there aren’t enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision” - W. Clement Stone

But you got over the biggest hurdle, you took that first step and you actually created something.

Well done - you already did more than most. But once you’ve got started and you’ve maybe lost that first flush of enthusiasm with the day to day details of running your business how do you keep going?

There are several things to look at here:

1. What are you really good at and what do you enjoy doing? Make two lists - one of all the jobs you like and/or are good at, and one of all the jobs you hate and/or really don’t do very well. Take the second list and have a look at what you might outsource or automate. Do you really love doing those accounts or would your time be better spent in forward planning while your accountant does the sums? Must you personally reply to every last enquiry or could you create a FAQ which you can post on your website and refer people to by autoresponder? Obviously in the early stages of your business you might find you don’t have the money to pay someone to do the jobs you hate but you’ve got to think about what is best for you and your business long term. Be creative - could you swap skills to get the help you need? The more routine jobs you can outsource or automate the more time you have to plan and to market your business, and to think about even more ways to bring in all that love!
ly cash - not to mention you get to spend more of your time doing the things you really enjoy doing.

2. Why are you doing this? You really need to be motivated to start a business and keep it going and the best way to do this is to know what all that effort is for. What really moves you to get up in the morning and do what you need to do even when you don’t really feel like it? Write your reasons down and stick them on your wall. Even better find pictures of that house in the country, the Lamborghini or that ‘must have’ holiday and put them where you can see them every day.

3. How do you deal with those inevitable bumps in the road? Not everything you do will be perfect - sometimes things you’ve tried will be a total disaster - but it’s the way you react to problems that matters. If you curl up in a ball and give up at the first sign of failure you’d better not be in business. “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” - John Quincy Adams. It’s all about attitude.

4. Have a plan and stick to it as far as possible but always be prepared to be flexible and open minded. Sometimes the most unexpected opportunities come up and you need to be ready to seize them with both hands - as Joe Vitale says ‘Money likes speed’.

5. Get yourself a mentor - learn from someone who has done it before. Having someone to bounce ideas off and someone who can encourage you when things get tough is invaluable.

And most importantly, never let anyone put you down and never be afraid of failure

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

The ongoing financial crisis and talk of recession has left a lot of Internet marketers worried about whether they will be able to stay in business over the coming months and years. Many people who now work from home on the Internet are also worried about whether or not they will be able to continue selling their products and services.

However, an economic crisis also offers opportunities as well as dangers. In times of anxiety and economic uncertainty the business that responds to customers’ needs and wins their trust is the one that will survive and prosper in the midst of doom and gloom.

Because of the interactive nature of the Internet it offers many opportunities for online marketers to get to know their customers and website visitors, learn what they want and respond to their needs by engaging them in a friendly, informal dialogue that develops into a relationship of trust.

This relationship building process can be done in several ways, for example by inviting people to comment on your blog posts and then responding with follow-up comments. Another option is to participate in forums that attract your target market. Social network marketing sites, email, instant messaging and Skype all offer the Internet marketer opportunities to communicate with clients at various levels of intensity in order to discover where they are coming from and build rapport with them.

The key is to build trust by listening and then following up with products and services that meet their needs at prices that suit their pockets. Remember, it takes time to build trust. Trust is a two way process that is both rational and emotional. You cannot win a prospect’s trust without putting in some preliminary spade work. Rushing at them with products first is not a great way to raise your credit rating with your prospects.

One good way of getting to know your target market better is to set up an online survey and offer your prospects an incentive to complete it. The great thing about online surveys is that they take full advantage of the interactive nature of the internet and are cheap or even free to run as well as being easy to set up.

You can use a customer survey to find out about your customers’ impressions of the products or services you offer. Another approach is to keep the survey focused firmly on the customer. Either way, make sure you have a clear focus from the beginning so that everybody knows why they are taking the survey.

Offer your prospective survey takers an incentive to do the survey such as a free report or ebook that can be downloaded on completion.

Keep the survey short, invite “yes” or “no” answers by asking closed-ended questions, include some multiple choice questions and assure participants that any private information they give you will remain confidential.

When you look over the results keep an eye out for trends and surprises.

Publish the results of the survey on your website or blog and invite comments.

The whole process of survey taking and reporting should be treated as a trust-building exercise and an opportunity for increased interaction with your client base.

A successful survey campaign will also have brought you a lot of valuable information about your target market which you can now use to present your prospects with goods and services that more closely match their needs and win their loyalty.

So, in recessionary times, a customer survey is an excellent tool for building stronger ties with your target market, winning the trust of your clientele and thriving in the midst of recession.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

What if someone told you that you could be totally happy at work? You would probably find it hard to believe. You’re not the only one. Tens of thousands of people are unhappy at their job every day. From accountants to interior designers, they all wish they were somewhere else. What if I told you there were ways to ensure you are happy at work? Would you do them? Let’s find out.

1. Pick a career that fits your lifestyle. Are you busy in the morning but free in the afternoon? If so look for a position that’s not the usual 9 to 5 routine. This will allow you to get more things done for yourself, and have less stress while you are at work.

2. Think about the commute. If you enjoy sitting in traffic, then the big city drive is for you. You would be the exception though. No body I know likes fighting traffic first thing in the morning only to spend the rest of the day in a cubicle. Look for a position a little closer to home.

3. Consider your pay rate requirements. If you are thinking about a job that pays less than you need to make, STOP! If you work for less money you are never going to be happy. Do not count on raises or bonuses to fill in the gaps. Decide how much you want to make and stick to it.

4. Do you enjoy socializing with others? Most companies have strict rules and guidelines regarding social interaction at the office. Not to mention it’s hard to talk with someone through a cubicle wall or an office door. Look for a company that will allow you the freedom to socialize while you work.

All of these are very important things to consider when choosing a job or starting a career. There are those who actually like the daily grind of corporate life. If you are like me you enjoy a little less stress in your life. That’s why so many Americans are deciding to work from home these days.

Isn’t working from home only for retirees? Not at all. There are plenty of people with lots of reasons for working from home. You set your own hours, income is only limited by how much you want, no one is going to tell you to get off the phone, and say goodbye to that tedious commute.

A few years ago working from home was a hard thing to commit to. Today however, it is pretty easy to get started. All you really need is a phone and a computer with an internet connection.

If you think you are not ready to run a business from home, consider the following. These days it’s easy to work a full time job AND work from home. That may be the perfect way to supplement your income.

If you really want to be happy at work keep these simple things in mind. You may decide you like the idea of being your own boss. Keep your options open and whatever you decide, good luck.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Without doubt, the most important asset in any business is its database. This seemingly innocuous list of past and present customers, prospects, leads and other people you’ve met can, if managed correctly, turn your business from a small and mediocre performer into a hugely profitable and widely successful enterprise. It’s like the old saying says, “It costs 7 times less to sell to an existing customer, than to get a new one.” That being said, your database needs to be managed, and just by making a few small changes, you can ramp up the effectiveness of your online marketing offerings. The number of changes or strategies you can employ is vast, however in this article, we will focus on the thank you page, and the small changes you can make to put your new subscribers into a “buying mood” from the outset.

In short, your thank you page, is the page that appears after your prospects have subscribed to your database or completed a survey or finalized an online sale. It will appear once your prospect has entered his/her information correctly into the form.

The thank you page has a few goals… It is common courtesy to thank people for their interest in your products/services, and also, to briefly and subtly reinforce the benefits of subscribing to receive your eNewsletter, eBook, etc, and lastly, to impart some important information to your prospect.

You begin your message by thanking your prospect and informing them that their subscription has been successful. This is where you can briefly remind them of their brilliant choice in subscribing. If you use a system that requires a double opt-in, you’ll need to remind them of this fact here. In this situation your subscriber will need to confirm their email address by clicking on a link in an email you will send to them.

Many businesses opt at this point to offer their new subscriber a gift to thank them for subscribing and start to build the rapport.

If you do not wish to give a gift at this point, why not provide them with a special offer they can take advantage of. (Depending on your database, a sales offer at this stage can be particularly lucrative.)

Another great idea is to offer them an incentive to refer a friend/family member to your database. This means more contacts for you to market to, and the referring person gets rewarded for their efforts.

The most frustrating thing that can happen to your prospect at this point is the promised email and/or eNewsletter not arriving. Unfortunately, nothing is entirely foolproof and mistakes can occur. It may not necessarily be a glitch with your email marketing service-provider either - your prospect may have not entered his/her email address into the form correctly, resulting in the email not arriving. Therefore, include a paragraph on this page with what course of action your prospect should take in this event. This would be either emailing you directly or contacting you by phone should they prefer.

The other reason the email would be received is that their Spam filter may block your email. Advise your prospect to add the address from which the email will be sent to their Spam Filters Address Book.

Connect with your clients personally at every stage in order to build rapport, and a few ways to do this via your thank you page is by signing off with your name, signature and perhaps including your photograph. You may also wish to include your contact numbers and invite your new database subscriber to contact you with any feedback, requests or suggestions.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

There are many ways to advertise your business. You can buy ads on the internet, post ads on social networking sites, or even buy ads in phonebooks or newspapers. But one of the cheapest and one guaranteed to bring traffic to your site is window markers. If it brings in at least one customer, it’s worth it. Take any advertising opportunity when it’s available. People may even ask you about it when you are getting into your vehicle. Then you have the opportunity for more interpersonal contact that generates the best business.

Window markers are cheap and can be found at any discount store. They come in a variety of colors. Some are even waterproof, but will come off with regular window cleaner. There are a variety of websites that sell these types of window markers.

You simply write the web address on a window of your automobile. That’s it! People will see it when they are behind you at a red light or driving down the road. Out of curiosity they will go to the website when they get home to see what it was about.

The only downfall to this type of advertising, is your company website. Is it short enough for a person to remember it until they get home. Is it catchy enough to bring their attention. If at least one of those answers is yes, then this advertising is for you.

People generally use the markers as a way to show support for a team or when people get married, but it is a great effective way to generate traffic. If the person does not need your goods or services, they probably know someone who does. They will refer them to your website.

Nothing beats the active advertising, like going out and talking to people to get your name out there. Getting out into the public. However, any form of advertising is helpful.

Unlike Billboards, where a driver can only see the ad for a few passing seconds or radio ads where we all change the station, the website is there on the eye level of the driver behind you. They will see your website for as long as they are behind you. If you travel the same routes everyday, then repeated exposure to your ad also, increases the likelihood that they will visit your site.

Mobile advertising is on the rise, so take the first steps in becoming part of this advertising movement. Start simple and inexpensive with the window markers. If this medium seems to work for you, then move on to a magnetic sign or window decals. If those work, move onto bigger and better things, such as auto wraps. Let your vehicle do your work. People will be talking about the car that has the huge advertisement on it. People will ask you about it when you are out doing your everyday errands.

Always ask the customer how they heard about your business.

Be prepared with business cards when they stop and ask you about your business.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Do you have a business blog?  Would you like more traffic to it?

Blogs get most of their traffic by participating in the blogging community with other bloggers.  That happens in a number of ways:

1. You can comment on other blogs of the same topic as your own and include your URL in the proper field.

2. You can post entries on your own blog that mention other blogs and link to them.  Many will feel compelled too link back.

3. You can host blog carnivals.

4. You can submit posts to blog carnivals.

5. You can create a blog roll and link to other blogs.  Many will link back automatically when they see your link in their blog control panel.

The list goes on and on.  The important part is that you must know your blogging community to take advantage of any of these methods.  You must build a list of blogs in your community.

That can be costly to build a list of say… 1,000 business blogs.

But we built a list for you.  You can get it here:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Business_Blogs_Disk_1/

The cost is only $150, but you can get it during this 24 hour special for only $50.  This special expires at noon on Thursday (CST which is GMT-6).

Here is the URL again:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Business_Blogs_Disk_1/

It is a CD that contains a list of business blogs that were painstakingly researched and compiled by a human research team.  Then software scanned each one and made sure it was a Wordpress powered blog and that it mentioned the word “business” in at least two recent posts.

You can’t beat that for $50.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

It IS the thing to do, to do consistently, and to some people it is also something that is quite expensive to accomplish effectively. It should allow you to garner more revenue by converting more leads into sales without spending too much of your money on advertising. It’s important to understand your marketing ROI at all times.

Online prospecting is the use of online marketing tools to generate leads for new customers or contacts. It is one innovative approach by which online channels are leveraged to drive enrollment in your services or to drive traffic to your site.

One way online businesses obtain prospective customer information by creating general information websites on various topics. Content is king on the Internet and more often than not people are looking to have their questions answered. Online visibility is a big part of this, which is why search engine optimization is such a hot topic among people seeking to make money online.

Lead generation and search engine optimization. It’s like bread and butter.

Search engine marketing campaigns need to take into account all aspects of the customer base, the keywords prospects might enter, and intents of the information seeker. The customer base, trends and analytical trends all are important variables and factors that a good search engine marketing campaign should comprehend and base their strategies on.

Generating new customers via valuable and relevant content will improve your business and keep the search engine spiders interested. Make generating construction sales leads a constant part of your daily business routine.

A necessary but progressively easier evil - prospecting

Generating and managing prospects has always been necessary for any salesperson. The economic downturn, however, is causing sales and marketing professionals to focus on more effective lead generation. Leveraging free sources of website traffic and creating a product or service fulfilling on the needs of other business owners is a great strategy. Generating sales leads from your articles or from your efforts within manual traffic exchanges are very effective and do not cost a bundle of money.

Developing solid, high-quality sales leads takes a well-defined approach

Start with a plan, set clear goals, measure, monitor, track, and follow-up. Build your plan around annual, monthly, weekly and daily prospecting activities. Demand of yourself a weekly minimum number of prospecting contacts and visits to your sales pages from a variety of free traffic sources. Build your marketing plan to generate a steady, consistent flow of prospects to ensure your conversion ratios will lead to positive cash flow in a predictable manner.

The duration of your marketing efforts span the length of time you plan to be in business. It takes time, effort, and constant fine tuning of your messaging to you have a steady flow of new customers. To reach the revenue bulls-eye means the traffic to sales prospects to converted customers equation will forever be part of your daily mindset.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Building a successful business on the Internet takes more than simply creating your own information products and offering them for sale at your blog or website. To successfully market your products and services via the Internet you need to create the following:

1. Visibility - People won’t be able to buy your products and services if they don’t know they exist. One of the best ways to become visible on the Internet is with your own blog, which you update three to five times a week, at a minimum.

2. Credibility - Before customers or clients will purchase your products, they must see you as a credible expert on the topics you write about. You can start establishing credibility right now by writing short articles on topics in your area of expertise, and submitting them to online article directories. In addition to credibility, you will gain more visibility through these articles as they start to show up on various websites, blogs, and in e-zines and online newsletters.

3. A growing mailing list - This gives you a way to reconnect with people who visit your sites. To create a mailing list you need a way to capture names and email addresses of people who visit your site. For this you need an opt-in box, and something to entice people to sign up for your mailing list. Once you have an opt-in box, and something to offer people who sign up for your mailing list, you’re ready for social networking sites. As you interact with people on these social networking sites, you’ll invite them to join your mailing list.

4. Trust - People tend to purchase products and services from companies and individuals they know, like, and trust. There are a variety of ways to build trust. Start with an audio welcome message and your photo at your site. People feel they know you better right away if they can both “see” and “hear” you. Also, offer something free to people who sign up for your mailing list. Be sure this freebie is something your niche market will find valuable. Share your knowledge and expertise in your regular blog posts. All this will help people get to know and trust you.

5. Passive Income - This just means you create something once, then sell it over and over again automatically. Information products can be an excellent source of passive income once you have created enough visibility, credibility, a large mailing list, and trust in your products and services.

Start building your business through Internet Marketing today by incorporating all these elements into your overall marketing plan.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

We have published The Diego Norte Letter now for two full years (although it started with a different name).

The next issue will start circulation of the same material to over 30,000 Internet business owners.  We will also be splitting into two different editions.  One edition will contain ads and will be distributed free to those known to own a successful Internet business.  If you want to place an ad in that edition, you can do that here:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/The_Diego_Norte_Letter_Advertising/

The main edition will remain advertisement free.  The content though will be identical… with one new exception.

The paid version will now come on a CD.  Our motivation to change from a paper newsletter was actually logistical.  We’ve been having delivery problems with the USPS even with their new “tracking” system.  Twice in the last month, we have used their tracking system which has blatantly then informed us that they lost the package and have no record of it’s delivery.  Wow!  That’s not going to work.

With a CD, we can send via other carriers with reliable tracking systems.  However, this change also allows us to add a bonus.  With the paper newsletter, there was only so much room before the cost increased to add another page.  With the CD version, we have 700 megabytes of free space available on every CD.  That could contain a newsletter of other 14,000 pages.  Of course we aren’t going to do that.  The newsletter will remain approximately the same size although we may occasionally add a page or two when an article was previously cut.

We will however now always add some kind of bonus with every month’s issue of the newsletter on the same CD.  So be sure to check the “bonus” folder on your CD every month.  Sometimes the bonus might be a list of publishers to use for article marketing.  Other times it might be a free beta version of some software we are about to release.  Still other times, it might be a procedure along with the video so that you can add it immediately to your business system and increase your profits.  Who knows what we’ll think up for ideas for the bonus each month.

I do know that December 2008 will be our first CD edition of the newsletter.  Because of that, we will definitely be adding some incredible bonuses to kick off the newsletter in its new format and to celebrate Christmas.

If you want to get in on that and you aren’t already a subscriber of The Diego Norte Letter, you can subscribe here:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/The_Diego_Norte_Letter/

If you are already a subscriber, there is nothing you need to do to get the new CD version of the newsletter.  You will automatically get it in early December just like you always received the paper version of the newsletter.  The newsletter will be a PDF file on the CD so you can just print it out if you prefer reading it on paper.  But you will also receive the free bonuses on the CD.

If you are a product of the month club member, you should not sign up for the newsletter.  In fact, if you are a CD/DVD of the month club member, you can actually cancel your subscription to The Diego Norte Letter because you will automatically start getting it as a member of the product of the month club.  It now qualifies for the club because it is a CD instead of a paper newsletter.  How cool is that?

Here is the URL again if you aren’t already a subscriber of either The Diego Norte Letter or the product of the month club:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/The_Diego_Norte_Letter/

Be sure to subscribe before the end of November if you want to get the December issue with the special Christmas bonuses.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Many people work in a job they dislike for one reason or another. So, as an alternative way to support themselves they try becoming their own boss. Home based and Internet based business are becoming the new way to work. However, if someone isn’t self motivated it can be difficult to stay focused on the work need to be done to make their business work. This can be a set back and even the downfall of their business.

How hard is it for you to get motivated and stay motivated about work?

Well here are some tips on how to make getting and staying motivated about work.

1. Plan your day - it can be difficult to be motivated when you see the clock slowly making its way from hour to hour, making it seem like eternity until 5 pm. So plan activities into your day, like the tasks you need to achieve. Also make time to stretch your legs or enjoy a drink. You will be amazed how quickly the day goes by and the things you will achieve.

2. Remain positive - office politics and/or negative colleagues can often reduce moral and make people feel demoralized and unmotivated. So what can you do to keep a positive mind - reminds yourself of the good things, such as the thank yous, the positive comments and thoughtful appreciation. Then share your positivity with others around you.

3. Manage your projects - if you are working on a project that seems overwhelming or impossible to finish, take a little extra time and break it down into manageable chunks. What can you do today to progress the project forward? Setting and achieving mini-goals will motivate you towards completing the overall project.

4. Consider what you enjoy about your job - regardless if a person is unhappy at work everyone enjoys something about their job. Take a moment and remind yourself about what attracted you to your job in the first place, what do you still enjoy and appreciate, and how it benefits other parts of you life.

5. Have something to look forward to - whether you are planning your next holiday or what you’re going to do on Friday night, schedule activities and events that you love. Or if you are working hard to afford a new car or other big expense, remind yourself of what you are doing to achieve that goal.

6. Remember that you don’t have to work flat out all of the time - make sure you take a break every so often, whether you make a pot of coffee, have a chat with one of your colleagues or do a different task

7. Take a lunch break away from your desk or working area - fresh air and exercise is a great motivator and it is good to give you time away from your work. It has the added advantage of making you feel more refreshed and more productive.

8. Delegate some work to others - delegation of the right tasks will help you to reduce your workload and will also give a new challenge to another person. Show them what to do, give them a timeframe and then let them get on with the task.

9. Set goals for your working future - if you don’t want to be in the same job in one year’s time, do something about it. Set a goal of where you want to be, and then start to work on it today. What can you do within the next two weeks to move you closer to that objective?

10. Call for help - if you are having trouble staying motivated in your job, find someone to help you. Whether you choose a colleague, friend, partner or a coach, talking about it will help you to overcome this slump and clarify what needs to change.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

In past chapters, I have touched on building a professional website. Now I will go over how to create a website if you are creatively challenged or just have no idea how where to start.

What you need to think about first is the kind of impression you want to give to the potential customers who visit your website. Make sure the layout of your website makes it easy for customers to navigate, and that the design allows for a good understanding of the product or service you are offering. You need to select content that will keep customers intrigued and interested, so they won’t just close the page. The content needs to look professional, but it does not have to be so technical that readers are bored or don’t understand what you are talking about.

Now that you have thought about the type of content you would like to use on your website and the design, you need to start collecting, or writing content and selecting images to spice it up a bit. If you have no idea about how to create articles for web content, there are a few things you can do.

If you are a decent writer, you can use websites such as article publishing websites and article submission services to generate ideas. Simply look through the website for articles about topics you wish to cover on your website and get some ideas from those articles, but Make sure not to just copy and paste articles unless the site clearly states you can do so. The idea is to generate topics for your articles and to build onto those topics.

If you have no idea how to write an article or just would rather not, you can purchase articles written by other people to place on your website. One option is to select a writer or group of writers to write content for your website and pay them a fee for their services directly. If you aren’t sure about this option, you can also use websites that publish articles. To do this you just sign up for an account to an article publishing website, such as Helium or Associated Content, and submit article guidelines and topic information for the content you would like to place on your website. Make the guidelines specific enough that the writer knows exactly what you are looking for. Once you submit the guidelines and the amount you are willing to pay for the article, writers for that site will have a chance to accept the assignment, write it, and then submit it for your approval. Once you approve it, you will pay for it, and you can then use that for content on your website.

If you do this on Helium, it is handled a little different, but it is basically the same concept. You will submit the guidelines and price you will pay for the piece, and many writers will submit articles that will be rated against the others submitted until the best article emerges. You will then pay for the piece and place it on your website.

No matter how you choose to come up with content for your website, you want to be sure to include written and visual content to stimulate readers and keep them interested. Remember that the ultimate goal is to let the customer know what want or need you will be fulfilling with your product or service for them. Include all the details about your product or service in a manner that is easy to understand but still professional. Be picky because this is your customers first impression of you and your business, so it needs to be a good one. Make sure the customers impression of you is what you would expect from any other business selling a product or service they want you to purchase.

After creating your website you need to maintain it. To do this, you do more of the same. Keep adding content such as any updates on the service or product you are offering, other images that correspond with the written content that you select to place on the site. As I stated in previous chapters, building the website will bring in customers, but maintaining it will bring them back.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

The web has provided grounds for many successful entrepreneurs, while others struggle to and sometimes never get their idea off the ground. Here are 5 sure fire ways to guarantee success…

1. Give Value to Customers

Despite the Web being the “new economy,” the old fashion business rule still applies: the most successful businesses are those able to create value for their customers. The website exists first and foremost to fill customers needs whether for information, a product or a service. You will only succeed if you give customers something that they want.The success of your website depends on the value that you give them. The more your site is able to make your clients lives easier or help them save money, the more your business will be valuable to them. It means not just creating an online brochure but guiding visitors how using your website can actually help them. Your site must have enough information for the visitors to make a decision and take the action you want them to take. If you are selling a product, provide a clear description of each product along with its features and benefits. If you are selling a service, the prospect must be able to get a price on the site or at least be given a phone number to call for an estimate. Your prospective customer must be able to get most of his or her questions answered on your site. Collect your client s questions and put them together in a FAQ page, or Frequently Asked Questions. This way, your visitors will get the answers to the most common questions asked on your site. Many webmasters make the mistake of creating a website primarily to pull off the fast buck. Instead of creating a site where users could actually get value , they create useless spam pages in the hope of tricking users and search engines alike. This strategy, while it may bring short-term financial windfall to the owner, is not likely to be sustainable (search engines could punish the site and their revenue source could kick them out of their programs).

2. Focus on Customer Service

The challenge facing every small business owner on the ‘Net is how to keep customer service alive and well in a medium where personal interaction is inherently limited.One way would be to keep your web site functional and personal. But how do you actually make a site personal, when your customers never get to see you or shake your hand, much less touch or see your product up close? Well, it all starts with your design and content, which should be based on a deep understanding of what your customers are, what they expect and why they actually need your product.If you are selling quilts and handcrafted items, your site may be designed to have a very homey feel. Detailed text can explain the inspiration of the design of a particular quilt. If you are selling pillows made from balsam firs on the Web, your site may be designed to evoke memories of mountain forests and scents of pine trees. It is important that your overall look and feel must set the tone of your entire business.

There is no need to go for the technological overkill and aim to become the trendiest site. Instead, your web site should be an integral part of your business plan.

3. Under-promise, Over-deliver

Customers love it when you deliver way more than their expectations. There is a lot of hype on the Web, particularly among the small Web entrepreneurs (ever seen one of those websites with extremely loooooong sales letters that are full of hype?). While those sites may be effective in drawing out the sales from the customers, many customers are left wanting given that their expectations were raised to the stratosphere by the sales copy. As a result, they are left with many unhappy customers. But if you underpromise to your customers (whether you are using short or long sales copy), and then beat out their expectations, customers will be pleasantly surprised and love your site all the more for it!

4. Design the Web Site for Your Customers

Although a well-written, well-designed Web site with great content can make a positive impression on your prospects, the design should focus around getting the visitor to take the action you want. Think of your site as the Yellow Pages. Users checking the Yellow Pages are looking for a solution to an immediate need. Your site visitors may not have an immediate need, but he or she definitely has some interest in your site (or otherwise, the person will not click on it.) Now, notice why the Yellow Pages have remained popular with its users: it is heavy on content (the ads) but it uses minimal design. Adopting this strategy, your focus should be on improving copy and content that sell. Remember, the Web site is a means to an end — and that end is making more sales. It’s a waste of money to put up a site unless the site is designed to increase revenues or achieve some other marketing goal.In creating your web site, your best resource is your customers. Seek the feedback of your customers and ask them if the site is working for them or not. Are they turned off by the requirement to register before using the site? Is the site confusing and hard to use? Are the graphics too slow to load? Is your search engine not flexible enough? Listen carefully to their comments, and adjust your site accordingly. See what works, and what doesn’t.If you are technically savvy, you can also establish a personalization option. Customers often want to feel like they belong in a community… a feature that Internet has fostered tremendously. You can allow shoppers to set up a customized page and receive recommendations and gift services from your store.

5. Put on a Face!

Automation is the name of the game on the Web, but it does not mean that personal touches that will assure your customers that they are dealing with humans have gone out of style. In fact, customers are more likely to trust, use and patronize a Web site repeatedly if they know that they can communicate with a person easily. They want assurance that their orders will come through, their complaints will be addressed and their feedback will be heard. Many successful e-tailers are generating sales through click-and-buy (e-commerce) but a hefty percentage also comes from telephone calls after customers found the number on the websites. If your sales are done without the assistance of a live person, send out personal “thank you” emails, including a real name and phone number of their personal customer service representative so if there are any questions, they can call or email a real person!

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Would you like to be doing more article marketing for your site, but you just plain hate writing and rewriting?  Are you worried that the blurb that goes at the end of the article needs to be written by a real copywriter?   Do you just not have the number of publishers in your submission list that would make it worthwhile?

More importantly…

Do you wish you could just enter your URL and push a button and everything else would be taken care of for you automagically?

Who wouldn’t?

Here’s our solution that does just that:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Article_Marketing_Five_Pack/

The cost is only $500 for five articles, but you can pay just a fraction of that in the next 24 hours.   We always give a steep discount for blog readers during the first 24 hours of a new product offering.  Your price is only $150 if you order before noon tomorrow (CST which is GMT-7).

Here’s the URL again:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Article_Marketing_Five_Pack/

All you have to do is enter your URL and click the order button.  We’ll take care of everything else.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Many times I have coaching clients who complain, “I just can’t seem to get everything done during the day. There isn’t enough time for all the things I need to do.”

These clients are always frustrated and behind with either their writing, marketing, or some other aspect of their business.

When I go over their schedules with them, I usually find one of two things is happening. Either they are running around too much during the day and not setting regular “office hours” OR they are doing too many activities that don’t really make a difference in their careers or income.

Look at your schedule. Determine how much time is spent out of your office. Some of this time is probably well spent. However, how much time are you spending in the car, driving to and from places? This driving time can really start to add up and it can eat up your work day rather quickly. And you aren’t earning income when you’re on the road.

Try to schedule as much work as you can either online or on the phone. Teleconferences are a great way to meet with a group, or you can conduct a webinar.

Even if you must be out of your office for several hours each day, be sure you also set office hours - time to be IN your office doing the actual writing and administrative activities that are part of any business.

Next, if you create a weekly marketing plan every Sunday night or Monday morning (which I highly recommend you do), look at the activities on your plan. How many of those activities are really, really important? Are some of those activities merely “busy work”? If so, then eliminate the busy work so you’ll have more time during the week for activities that really will make a difference in your career and your income.

One of the biggest ways to squander your time is by checking email and browsing around online. Set aside specific times for doing both of these activities each day. Then stick to ONLY those specific times.

Next, set aside specific days for specific tasks. I find that if I leave my office too much during the day I have a hard time settling back into my writing. For that reason, I try to schedule all my outside appointments on the same one or two days a week, so I only have to leave my office on those one or two days. If you like to leave your office every day, then schedule all your appointments for mornings and schedule your office hours for afternoons - or vice versa. That way you won’t be coming and going all day, only part of the day.

You really CAN do all the things you need to do for your business if you make the BEST use of your time every day.

Try it!

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

What can you do if you’re having a slow month? Do you need to increase your sales quickly? It might be time to have a sale! Every customer loves to think they are getting a bargain, so a sale will quickly increase your traffic. It can also help you clear out a discontinued item. It needs to be well planned and I have compiled a few tips that may help.

Here are some things to remember when having a sale:

1. Make it special - Give your sale a reason to exist, so your customers aren’t left wondering why the random discounts. Any special occasion will work. You can use a holiday, your own birthday, the first day of a new season, anything will work. Just make sure that there is a reason for your sale.

2. It doesn’t have to be across the board - It is your sale and your are the one determining what it needs to accomplish. You can discount everything, just a few things, or you can even send out discount codes for your loyal customers. Consider having a “VIP” list to let your customers know about sales.

3. It won’t last forever - Make sure your customers are aware that there is an end date. Decide before you start your sale how long it will last. In most shopping cart programs, you can even set an end date for a discount, so you won’t have to remember to reset your pricing.

4. Try a buy-one-get-one sale - A current trend in marketing is the BOGO sale. Remember, this doesn’t have to be a buy-one-get-one FREE sale. It can also mean that the second item is discounted. Any type of sale will get your customers interested in buying.

5. Offer free shipping - You can avoid having a sale at all by offering free shipping for a limited time or possible just to your loyal customers. This may inspire your customers to make purchases they had been delaying. Be sure to specify what type of shipping your are offering for free. Overlooking those details could be expensive.

6. Offer a “friend” sale - You can increase your sales AND your customer base simultaneously if you offer a referral sale. Perhaps you can have a sale for your current customers and offer a discount code for them to pass along to a friend with their purchase. It never hurts to combine your efforts in several areas.

If you integrate sales throughout the year, you can control your cash-flow and glide through the periodic slow periods in your business. After you have been in business, you will be able to see trends and can plan sales accordingly. Remember, in order for a sale to work, you will need to make sure everyone knows about it. Send out emails and do some advertising far enough in advance for people to have money available.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

I hate it when I see people buy my products and then never put them to use.

It happens a lot though.  People get stuck buying one thing after another hoping that someday they will get just the right tool that will somehow magically create a profitable Internet business for them.

It won’t happen.  Tools are great.  They often make it easier to grow your Internet business faster.  It would be insane to try to build a house without a hammer.  It would be just as insane to never buy a tool to help build your Internet business.

But let’s face it.  It would also be insane to decide to go build a house right now.  That’s just not the way it works.  If you want to become a house builder, you should first learn about pouring foundations or putting up drywall or framing or roofing.  You don’t just decide to build a house without learning the individual parts.  There is no reason to go out a buy a roofing gun and a cement truck because you decided to build a house.

The same goes for an Internet business.  If you are just getting started, you need three things (plus desire):

1. Domain registration.

2. Hosting.

3. A coach that has already built a successful Internet business and can help you learn each step.

The tools come later.  I see no reason to buy anything other than the above three things when you are just getting started.  You need domain registration and hosting so you can start your web-site and have a place to sell stuff.  You need a coach to show you how to generate visitors to your site, create products and write compelling sales pages.

That’s all you really need to get started and even become profitable.  Why not wait until you are profitable before you buy all of those fancy tools designed to help your business grow faster?  Why not wait and buy that software out of your profits?

Pretty strange for me to say since I sell a lot of those tools; right?

Maybe.  Maybe I would rather see the tools I sell put to good use building and growing profitable Internet businesses.  Maybe my business actually depends on having actually helped a lot of people to build their own profitable businesses and not just to have bought my software and put it on the shelf somewhere.

That’s what I would prefer anyways.  I want you to be successful… and then I want you to buy all of my stuff because everything you buy from me makes your business more profitable.  I love win/win scenarios.

With that in mind, I created a very low cost coaching program that includes domain registration and hosting.  It included EVERYTHING you NEED to create a profitable Internet business.  It gives you complete access to a coaching staff that are experienced in running a successful Internet business AND teaching you how to do the same without spending a bunch of money on tools.

The cost will be a very reasonable $300/month, but I always give a huge discount for a 24 hour special to my existing customers.  This is that 24 hour special so until noon on Thursday (CST which is GMT-7), you can get into this coaching plus program for only $100/month.

Here’s the URL with the details:

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Coaching_Plus/

If you have $100/month and the desire to build a profitable Internet business, then this is all you need.  We’ll be happy to hold your hand and answer every single question you have along with providing you with a perfect domain name, registering it for you and even providing your hosting.  We’ll even install blog software on your new site and a template that looks just like this blog…. so you can be off and running instantly with your new Internet business.

That’s what you need… not our latest greatest new software.  Wait until you are profitable to buy our software.  We don’t need the money and you don’t need the software until then.  Why not focus on what you do need right now to get your Internet business running and profitable.  That is…

http://www.DiegoNorte.com/products/Coaching_Plus/

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Have you ever gone to a website and actually found spelling errors? I have and it always amazes me! In this day and age of computer technology, proofreading seems like it would be relatively simple to implement and maintain.

Web pages are no exception! Website authorship means the responsibility of making sure that the information is understandable, but also that the punctuation, the grammar, and the spelling are correct. You also want to make sure that all of the work is properly formatted and that your information is accurate. This is all part of the proofing process.

There are several reasons why proofing your web page is important. Please note that this is only from personal observation.

1. Readers may come to your website and instinctively sense that you may not be as authoritative because of errors in spelling or grammar.

2. Readers who come to your site may find that it is not very professionally done if they see errors that should have been clearly apparent to you as the author before posting. Even if these are not big errors, it sometimes lingers in the back of the mind of the reader which also distracts them from the subject matter that you want them to focus on.

3. Proofing also indicates the level of attention to detail that you might have regarding your ideas or subject.

How can you make sure that your website is not hiding any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors? This is easier than you might think, even if you aren’t a spelling bee champion or an English teacher!

1. Use spell check and grammar check regularly. These are not infallible, however, they will bring things to your attention that might be beneficial if changed.

2. After working on your content, walk away from it for a short while and then return to look it over later. You can always benefit from another look at your work at a later time.

3. Have another individual read over the content for you. It is easy to think a word or phrase is correct and re-read it so many times only to miss an error. A fresh pair of eyes can often help find these errors. There have been several times that I have enlisted someone else’s aid in reading over my articles and have been surprised at what is found! (This sometimes occurs when I have been working long hours on a particular project).

So, if you are one of those people who likes to see the perfection of your website and know that others will expect it of you also, try these simple tips to create a more professional web page! You will never be sorry that you double-checked your work or tried to improve on the content of your web page.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

I just noticed that I have an extra domain hanging around.  I like to keep my business lean, clean and uncluttered, so I’m going to sell it off at a bargain.

The domain is InternTask.com and was used for an intern program that has now been merged with our paid contractor program.  It doesn’t have a ton of links, but it does still have a steady flow of traffic from some unknown sources.  I actually noticed it in my logs.  It has delivered several hundred visitors to DiegoNorte.com so far this month.

The first blog reader who sends $500 to **SOLD** gets it.  I’ll post here once there is a buyer so we don’t get multiple buyers.  If we still get multiple buyers, I’ll immediately refund everyone but the first buyer.

This is a great way to boost your traffic or to kick start your own intern program.  Our internal evaluation of this domain says it’s worth about $3400 on any of the domain selling sites.  I suppose you could just buy it and flip it on one of those sites.  I personally don’t like to waste my time on those sites, so if that is the destiny of this domain… it’s up to one of you to do that.

I would rather just give it to a loyal blog reader for a fraction of it’s worth and let them profit from it.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

If you want to succeed in your online business, there are some very basic tips that will apply to any type of online venture. A home based business required a lot of self discipline, but it also requires a good direction to focus your efforts. These should help you get started.

1. Take care of your potential customers - Any communication you receive from a potential customer should be answered promptly and courteously. That first communication from a customer is almost like an audition. They may have a question, but they are also testing you to see if they would like to do business with you, not your company, but you. They want to know who is behind the web page.

2. Be persistent - Be determined to make your business a success. You will likely encounter set-backs, but keep working to overcome them. If you chip away at the walls that appear in front of you, you will eventually tear them down.

3. Don’t expect instant success - It will take time and effort to make your online business a success. Work hard and take the necessary action to make your business work. In the end, your hard work will pay off.

4. Create a budget for your business - It is very rare that you will make your business a success without spending some money along the way. Set up your plan for how much you will spend in any given area, so you do not overspend without realizing it. Don’t be afraid to rethink your budget allocations if you see that they need to be changed.

5. Promote aggressively - The only way you will make money in your business is if people are aware that it exists. You have to spend a majority of your time and energy marketing and advertising your business. Do your research and try out different ideas, then put more effort towards the ideas that work. Your goal is to make sure as many people know about you as possible.

6. Never stop learning - Every day is a chance to learn how to do thing more efficiently. Keep your eyes open for news ideas and strategies to implement. Look for tools and techniques that will help you.

7. Communicate - If you have business partners and employees, communicate with them often. Talk to them about decisions and the direction of the company. Also, talk to them about any idea they may have and look objectively at their suggestions. They may see something you have overlooked.

8. Believe in your success - If you believe that you can do this, you will inherently work harder. You will set high goals and standards for yourself. You will not give up easily.

Remember, by following these steps, you will greatly increase your chances for success. You can do this. Grow your business!

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Before the Internet, small business owners like yourself were usually limited to a local market -resorting to expensive advertising and brochures, direct mail, cold-calling, networking at the local Chamber of Commerce or Rotary. You hoped customers found you through word- of- mouth or a Yellow Pages ad.

Today, you can work with a consultant, a financial planner, or a business coach across the country as easily as someone across town. In the Internet age, prospects often find you (instead of the other way around).

This is the age of the virtual customer. Yet, although the Internet has made it perfectly reasonable to land a major client you’ve never met in-person, it has also created new expectations among consumers.

Prospects now “Google” around to find someone with your skills. They expect you to make a good virtual “case” for yourself. If you don’t pass the test, or make a bad impression, or appear lackluster compared to your competitors, you will lose the potential client.

The only way to be truly successful in business is by establishing a good reputation. And understanding the way business has shifted in the Internet age can help you bring the potential of marketing your business into the virtual world.

The Virtual First Impression

The Internet has increased the expectation among consumers that businesses will have a credible online presence.

Many of us now form “first impressions” of people and companies via our Internet browsers. From the moment your name and business appear in a Web browser to the moment your Web site loads, your first impression often means the difference between a shot at your prospect’s business, or being shut out.

Think about it. You have probably used the Internet to research a company or a person you’re considering doing business with. Certainly potential clients and customers are checking you out online, too.

Prospects you’ve never met are forming opinions about your business at the click of a mouse. Internet first impressions are not just influenced by how your Web site looks, but also by how often your business appears or how high it ranks in a web browser.

Become an Online Center of Influence

We all know people who command rapt attention whenever they speak. Others want to listen to, learn from, and emulate them. They are centers of influence, a distinction you can pursue online by developing the following qualities:

Share inside knowledge with your target market;

Participate, listen, contemplate, and offer thoughtful responses;

Be willing to voice an opinion;

Assume leadership positions in your industry

Certainly, experience counts. But this is not the only prerequisite to becoming an online center of influence that will earn you the distinction of ‘trusted advisor’ within your target market.

Start by making your Web site a resource for your industry. Feature lots of useful information, including articles, links, downloadable files, customer resources, and anything else of use to your target market. Be generous and give, give, give!

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Learning complex technical aspects of the components we use in our internet business can be intimidating. Web site hosting is a subject that could be challenging to understand but crucial to your long-term success on the internet. If you understand what to expect from your hosting services then choosing one will be a breeze.

There are many shared hosting providers competing for customers, so you have the advantage of finding one with the options that matter most to your business and creating a stable site. If you do adequate research you could end up getting superior hosting services for a very low price.

Here are some key points to keep in mind before deciding on a web site hosting provider:

You must have enough space to store your files and images including your web pages. If you are just starting out try investing in an account that offers no less than 50MB of disk space, but go a lot more if you can.

The ultimate goal for every webmaster is to get as many visitors to their website as possible. You must have as much bandwidth to handle the traffic. If you are reaching your bandwidth then you are on to something, but if you are not prepared to handle it then you will be losing a lot of business. To start, don’t accept anything less than 4GB of bandwidth, but go a lot more if you can.

As you become more familiar with great marketing tools available for people using the internet to earn money online you want to have a hosting account that could handle additional platforms, such as CGI, PHP, RoR and Perl. These are programming languages that can help you create some awesome features for your site or in addition to it.

Having a database is crucial to any business. MySQL is the most common database used when starting out. If you can get an account that offers more than one MySQL database you will be in very good shape.

Once you have a site and a hosting provider you will need a domain name which will be the address of your blog or website. Having the flexibility to have add-on domains, domain forwarding and sub domains should be a must when choosing a hosting account. Unlimited domains would be great!

Most if not all hosting providers will give you the ability to create email addresses, but keep in mind that you need to monitor the usage if you do not have enough disk space in your account.

Make sure to find a hosting provider that has reliable customer support because your website is a very important part of your internet business and knowing you have someone to contact in an emergency situation is vital.

Believe it or not you can get all these features from many quality web site hosting providers so don’t worry about having to rush into investing on any of them without knowing if they offer what you feel is best for your business and a price you can afford.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

If you are struggling with ways to make your advertising more memorable and more effective, it might be time to consider coming up with a tagline for your company. A tagline is basically a memorable way to sum up the solution your product or service provides and create an impression in the customer’s mind.

Having a tagline will associate your business with the message in the tagline. Think of lines other companies have used in the past, such as “Just do it” or “Built Ford tough”. While they don’t expressly say what the company does, they give you an idea and a relate-able message to attach to a product.

So how can you create your tagline? Here are some steps that might help:

1. Keep notes. Keep your eyes and ears open for a few days to a week and just jot down the taglines you hear that catch your attention. The best way to make sure your own tagline is memorable is to figure out what grabs your attention and why. It will likely affect your customers in the same way.

2. Make a list. Over the course of a few days, have a few brainstorming sessions and write down everything that relates to your business. Remember, when brainstorming, nothing is a bad idea. Write down everything that comes to mind until you have a sizeable list. From here, you will be able to narrow your list down into categories to help you direct your tagline. Your goal is to have 3 or 4 main points. Try to keep your final list specific. Generic lines will not get your point across.

3. Keep your tagline short. You want it to be 8-10 words maximum. You might think this would make it easier, but it’s actually harder to express what you want to get across in just a few words. Don’t get discouraged if you have trouble.

4. Come up with a few lines. Use the 3 to 4 main points from your brainstorming list to come up with several options for taglines. Take a little time to think over each. Say them out loud. Try to determine if there are any double meanings you’ve overlooked. It may even be a good idea to get a few opinions from people to see what they think. Ideally, you should ask people who don’t already know what your business does.

Once you have chosen a tagline, be sure to use it everywhere. Include it in your advertising, put it on your business cards, and make sure it is displayed on your site. Because it will be so closely associated with your company it is almost like a second name. It should be displayed everywhere your company’s name shows.

One final note: Don’t be afraid to change your tagline down the road if you would like. While some companies keep their tagline the same for the life of the company, it is not unusual to change it after a few years. If you come up with ideas for a better tagline, jot them down and keep them in a safe place for future use.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Would you like to receive personal, private email consultation about any of our products?

This was the #1 suggestion submitted by our customers in a recent survey.  We decided to put our cloudware technology to the test and see what kind of results we could obtain by putting an entire team at work on the task of email consultations and then another team to evaluate their work.

The system has been in beta-test for the last 40 days and we are very impressed with the results.  Do you hate it when you call a customer service operation and get an outsourced minimum wage worker who doesn’t even speak your language as their first language and certainly doesn’t know the answer to your question?

So do we.  It seems to happen with the very best of companies.  Until now, it seemed impossible to get consistent customer service even from mega-giants like Microsoft who charge premium fees for their support.  In fact, most major Internet businesses severely restrict the ability of customers to even contact them because they realize that their customer service more often alienates and disappoints customers than it helps them.

Try contacting customer service for Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Ebay, PayPal or any of the other huge mega-giant Internet businesses.  They have automated their way into a system where it’s nearly impossible to get a live person to answer a question.  Instead you go through form after form and knowledge base search after knowledge base search.

I think we have finally discovered the secret to providing quality personalized customer service.  The secret is to use the same cloudware technology that allows us to do everything we do at Diego Norte with a group of unskilled individuals who aren’t capable of running Diego Norte on their own… but are as a team or a “cloud” of human resources.

It’s true.  Two plus two doesn’t equal four in the cloudware world.  It equals something like 9 or 10.  A group of individuals structured by a computer controlled algorithm can accomplish much more than the sum of the individuals involved.  The computer controlled algorithm is responsible for ensuring that the very best people in every area of talent are consistently chosen to exhibit their talent.  The result is a happier team and happier customers who are served by team members who are the absolute best at what they do.

We put our cloudware algorithm to the test with customer service and the result is spectacular.  Have you had a nagging question about one of our products?  Put our new email consulation service to the test and see for yourself.

Here is the URL:

http://www.diegonorte.com/products/Email_Consultation/

The price will remain the same until noon on Monday (CST which is GMT-6) to show appreciation to our current customers and readers.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.

Due to the recent decline in the economy, more and more people are turning towards the internet to pursue business endeavors. But what’s the best for you?

To first start your internet business, you need to decide what you’re best at. Determine what your skills are then choose an internet business that fits your strengths. If you choose something you’re not good at, you will probably fail within the first few weeks.

If you know a great deal about copyright laws, marketing and networking, the Blogging industry would be your best bet.

If you are talented in merchandising and customer service, consider going into an Online Auction or Sales business.

If you’re great at relationship building and have fantastic communication skills try working in the recruiting industry.

If customer service is your forte, try working in virtual assistant programs.

There are many different kinds of internet businesses for you to begin. The main types are: Blogging, Virtual Assistance, EBay and Auction selling, Arts and Crafts, Business Marketing, Internet Research, E-commerce, Consulting, Freelance work, and Recruiting. Out of these, find the one that best fits your style and personality so that you can begin a profitable home business.

Blogging - A website devoted to one person’s, or a group of people’s, comments about a certain topic (i.e. This blog is dedicated to your online business success).

Virtual Assistance - Helping other people with basic computer needs.

EBay and Auction selling - Selling, buying or trading online. This is usually done using EBay, Amazon, or Craigslist.

Arts and Crafts - This can either be a how-to site or you can actually sell products you’ve made.

Business Marketing - A site dedicated to promoting products for other companies.

Internet Research - With this kind of site, you’ll conduct research for other companies. Usually law offices that don’t have time to do their own research.

E-commerce - This is a technology-based service you provide to others on your website.

Consulting - A site where you provide your professional knowledge to other businesses.

Freelance work - There are many different kinds of freelance websites. Most require you to provide services like copywriting, design, illustration. You can be billed on an hourly rate with this kind of website.

Recruiting - With this site, you’ll be finding candidates for companies who, in turn, pay you money for finding their new employee.

Keep in mind that you don’t need a background in any of these areas to begin your business. Millions of people are turning to internet businesses who have no previous history in this job line. There are books out there to help you along the way. Businesses like Amazon even have online tutorials to help you out when first beginning your online job.

If this is your first time working for yourself online, I’d advice you begin working for a pre-existing website. By doing this, you’ll be able to get a decent idea of how to run your own internet business when you’re ready. Sure you know how to sell or how to communicate with others, but are you prepared to create your own business plan at this very moment to successfully run your own company? Most people are not.

You may reprint the above article in any publication online or offline as long as you do not modify it and give credit to Diego Norte as the author. No link is required, but links are always appreciated.