As all successful Internet Marketers know, the money is in the list, so a priority for all IM beginners should be to start collecting their prospects email addresses using a “squeeze page” as soon as possible so that they can be marketed to at a later date.

For those that don’t know, a “Squeeze Page” is a simple landing page/website, which offers a free gift to a prospect in exchange for their email address. (and sometimes their name as well)  The free gift could be an eBook, a video or access to a membersite etc.

If you have yet to set up your squeeze page and don’t know where to start, fear not… I’m going to show you exactly how to do it!

You could pay someone to create and set up your squeeze page for you, but I know for a lot of beginners this isn’t an option as it can be quite costly.  I’ll therefore be using as many free resources and low cost solutions as possible.

Over the coming days and weeks, I’m going to show you all the steps you need to take to set up your own squeeze page, get traffic to it and finally start building your email list.

Best of all, this valuable content won’t cost you a penny!

What we will cover in Squeeze Page Masterclass:

Part I: Intro & What To Give Away

Part II: Registering A Domain & Getting A Website Host

Part III: Creating & Editing Your Squeeze Page

Part IV: Setting Up Your Autoresponder

Part V: Uploading Your Squeeze Page To The Web

Part VI: Testing & Tweaking Your Squeeze Page

Part VII: Driving Traffic To Your Squeeze Page

Ok… let’s get started!

We’ve got a lot to cover, but for today, I just want you to start thinking about what mouth watering gift you will offer your prospects to get them on to your list!

It should be something new, fresh and exciting and should offer real value to your new subscribers.  (If you offer the same tired old eBooks that everyone else does, you won’t get as many sign ups.)

The best way to offer something completely new is to create it yourself, but if you aren’t quite ready for that yet, there are a few options open to you…

1. You can give away my popular eBay selling guide, Auction Profits Blueprint, as it comes with giveaway rights.  (Sign up here to receive your copy now)

2. You can use a Resell Rights Product. (as long as it also comes with giveaway rights)

This is another quick and easy method as it gives you a ready made product and usually comes with nice graphics that you can add to your website.  If you are anything like me, you’ve probably already got hundreds of Resell Rights eBooks clogging up your hard drive so have a look through them and see if you have any you can use.  The downside is that other marketers may be giving away the same product, but if you do a little research you’re sure to find something that’s in demand.

(If you don’t already have something to use, I highly recommend joining ResellRightsFortune.com which has a huge searchable database so you can quickly find what you’re looking for)

3. Use a Private Label Rights product.  This type of product allows you to edit and change it, therefore creating something new, but without the hassle and time investment involved in creating a product from scratch.  (ResellRightsFortune.com can also help you find PLR products)

Once you have something to give away, you’re ready to move onto Part II, so check back soon for the next post.

It’s the 2nd week in January and I’m happy to say I’m still sticking to my New Years Resolutions!

“What are they?” I hear you ask!

Well… It’s also my 30th year on this big blue marble, so such a landmark birthday deserves a landmark resolution!

In short…

I intend to make 2010 the healthiest, wealthiest year of my adult life so far!

Health wise, I’ve been attending the gym 3-4 times a week and have improved my diet considerably, as well as cutting down on my alcohol consumption, so that part gets a big tick.  I just need to keep that momentum going now!

With regards to the wealth part, after months of preparation, I’ve officially launched my new eBay business that specialises in selling opensource software, public domain audiobooks and resell rights ebooks and within one month of launch it’s already in profit.

We’re not talking massive profits yet, but considering I download a lot of my products completely free over the internet, I’m very happy with the additional income!  (I’ll soon be launching a free product that shows you exactly how you can do the same, so make sure you’re a subscriber to get early access)

So now I have my resolutions in place, it’s time to start setting goals and making plans to achieve them, so here goes…

First Quarter Business Goals 2010

• Complete and launch my new Twitter eBook and accompanying Membership site.
• Double my eBay profits monthly, by adding new stock daily, cross promoting items and tweaking existing inventory to reduce fees.
• Double my subscriber list by continuing to be involved with JV Giveaways and start getting involved in Adswaps.

Business Goals to Achieve By End of 2010

• Consistently earn at least $2000 per month through all my online ventures.
• Post on my blog at least once a week. (And update JV giveaway page weekly)
• Add a lot more free content to my autoresponder series and ensure more regular contact with subscribers.  ie at least 2 emails per week.
• Build my subscriber list to 10,000.
• Launch my new Internet Marketing Membership Website for beginners.
• Release my eBay Business in a Box package.
• Promote at least one major IM product launch per month.

Personal Goals to Achieve By End of 2010

• Sell/rent my current home and move to a new house in a better area.
• Continue to go the gym at least 3 times a week. (Healthy body, healthy mind!)
• Reach my goal weight of 13 stone (Currently 14s 8lbs) and maintain weight through better diet, more exercise and cutting down on beer. (BOOOO!)
• Take at least 1 beach holiday plus 1 city break.

So there you have it.  I’ve set myself some major goals for this year and you should too.

It sounds obvious, but you will never achieve your goals in life unless you set them, plan how you will achieve them then consistently work at them!

Right, I’m off to make some more in depth plans and get cracking on this quarter’s goals.

Let me know what your goals are by leaving a comment below and maybe I can help?!

Here’s to our success in 2010.

This will be my final post of the year and it’s going to be a quick one because I know there are more important things you want to be doing right now, like wrapping presents, enjoying time with loved ones and of course eating and drinking till you can’t move!

I just wanted to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to every one of my readers and subscribers and also to all the fantastic people who I’ve met (online and off) who have helped and supported me in growing my online business, especially my fellow Marketing With Alex students. (and of course the big man himself, Alex Jeffreys!)

I’m still a long way off reaching my business, financial and personal goals, but I feel this year has been about laying solid foundations to build on and I now have a much clearer plan of action and have learned some amazing Internet Marketing techniques that I plan on using to make 2010 my wealthiest year yet…

Of course, that means that as I grow as a Marketer, so will my subscribers as I plan on doing some extraordinary things to help them in the New Year (So if you’re not on my mailing list, you’ll want to join up now!

All that’s left to say is have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous New Year!

…or at least we will be once the hangovers subside and we all have some time to reflect on what a fantastic couple of days we had at Lee McIntryes Profit Max workshop!

Wondering what the title’s all about?  I guess you had to be there but let me just say Lee’s staff member Mark knows how to fire up the crowd – even when they have killer hangovers!

If you didn’t get the chance to attend then you missed out on a mega event – In Lee’s words… “Man Alive!”

Aside from the great content, I also got to meet and have a beer or ten with some of the UKs (and worlds) top, and up and coming marketers…. if only I’d remembered my camera!

Sitting on a table drinking beer with guys like Alex Jeffreys, John Thornhill, Dave Nicholson, Lee McIntrye and many more was, for me, a bit surreal, because I hold them all in such high regard, but there’s no doubt it was also an honour and very educational.

I’ve taken away some very powerful lessons about how Lee has grown his business to such a phenominal level so quickly, thanks to him being so completely transparent with us.

The things he shared with the fortunate 50 who attended were astounding and I’m now going to put his tactics into practice to grow my own online business and maximise my profits.

It would be impossible to share all of that mindblowing info in one blog post, so if you want to know exactly what went down during his 2 day workshop, then keep an eye on Lee’s blog as he’s soon to announce the release of the DVD recording of the event. (and no, I’m not on commission… I just know it will benefit your business and that’s what this blog is for – to help you!)

So, what’s the most important lesson I learned from this event? (Apart from not drinking so many beers when you have an early start and a lot of stuff to learn!)

Well, it all boils down to keeping your online business fairly simple. Remember the front end is for capturing leads, the backend is for profits…

If you don’t have the following in place, now’s the time to get on top of it…

1. Set up a killer squeeze page – Lee swears by video sales letters because they are so much quicker to create than written text and tend to convert better.
2. When someone opts in to your list, present them with an immediate offer on your thank you/download page. The offer should be a low priced and high value. Remember – Low Price = Low Risk… therefore more sales.  Any if they don’t buy? – You now have their email – keep emailing them until they do… but remember to keep giving them free stuff inbetween your offers!
3. If your prospect takes your offer, now upsell a related, higher priced offer… Why… Because they have their credit card in hand and want to give you their money!
4. Backend time… this is your highest value, highest priced product (for example a coaching program) where you can maximise your profits. Be careful you are not sending out the message that the products you’ve already sold to your customer are sub par or won’t help them… you need to drive home the message that this is a related, more in depth product showing them the exact steps they need to take, rather than just an overview.

Let me stress, that is a simplified version of Lee’s business model and I have a pad full of notes covering each step so it really doesn’t do justice to all I’ve learned.  That’s why I urge you to check out the DVD set once it becomes available.

Otherwise, keep following my journey here as I share my progress with you.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your comments.

Steve

P.S. You can check out the video testimonial recorded live at the workshop over at Lee’s blog now.  Every attendee made a short testimonial yesterday.  That’s good going considering some of us were terrified talking on camera in front of so many people!  Here’s the link:-

Video Update From Lee McIntyre’s Profit Max Workshop.

P.P.S. See you at the next event?!

First my house was invaded by spiders – big, hairy, scary ones.

Then at least 10 wasps a day started finding their way in to terrorize me, even though I’ve had all windows and doors closed!

Now, let me just say, I’m not usually scared of any bugs, whether insect or arachnid, however there have been so many of them jumping out at me or buzzing angrily round my head, that I’ve become a little bit jumpy!

Added to that I’ve been spending a lot of time considering where my internet business is headed and what I need to change in order to become more successful.

Because of all this I’ve been feeling a little bit frazzled!

Anyway… I’ve finally banished the wasps and spiders by filling all gaps, vents etc

I’ve also created my next 90 day action plan because one thing I know holds me back sometimes is lack of focus and direction.

Now that my 90 day plan is in place, I can break it down into managable daily tasks in order to stay productive – to check out what I’m going to be up to over the next month, click here.

One of the goals on my 90 day plan was to attend my first Internet Marketing seminar/Workshop so I’ve finally taken the plunge and booked my slot at Lee McIntyre’s, “Profit Maximization” workshop, which is taking place on October 23rd – 24th in Manchester, UK.

As it’s my first event of this kind, I’m a little bit nervous but also very excited about what Lee has to teach me.

He’s well known for rising through the Internet Marketing and going from being flat broke to $100, 000 per month in record time.  More importantly, he is highly respected for his ethical approach to IM and in my experience he over delivers every time – something I aim to emulate in my business.

Needless to say, it’s going to be important to my online development (and will hopefully help to expode my bank balance in the very near future!)

Aside from the learning side of this event, it’s also an opportunity for me to meet my Mentor Alex Jeffreys and some of my fellow AJ Coaching students who are also attending – it’ll be good to share some ideas over a couple of beers rather than over an internet connection!

If you’re interested in joining me, Alex Jeffreys and some of the up and coming stars of Internet Marketing, check out Lee McIntyre’s website to book your slot.

I’m not on commision, I promise… but last time I looked there were only a few slots left, so hurry over there now!

If you aren’t able to attend (or it’s sold out) fear not… just keep watching this space – As always, I’ll be sharing what I learn over the coming weeks and months so that you can benefit too.

Hope to see you there,

“Internet Marketing Secrets Revealed – What the Gurus don’t want you to know!”

If you’re anything like me, then you’ll have definitely kept on reading, in the hope that you’ve finally discovered the Big Online Secret to overnight success.

I will bet you’ve even went on to buy some of those products, just as I have.

Did they deliver?

Many times I’ve been sucked in by this type of hype filled marketing and I know I’m not alone.

Ok, some are decent products, but they don’t reveal the Magicical, Mystical ever Illusive Online Secret that apparently all the Gurus know about. ( but you don’t!)

So are you ready to learn the Big Online Secret?!

I can tell you right now if you really want to know?

The secret is…

“There is no secret”

Sorry if that’s a disappointment, but it’s true…

Really, I’m not kidding!

The more I learn from Alex Jeffreys the more I’m coming to realise that there really is no big secret to making money online.

Alex has only written 6 free ebooks, written only 26 blog posts and submitted only 2 articles…

Yet he has earned $675,038.00 in the last 11 months alone!

How is that possible?!

It seems inconceivable, but there is no big secret to his phenominal success.

However, there are :-

• Excuses to overcome.

• Plans you need to make.

• Steps you need to follow.

• Roadblocks you need to get over.

Making money online can be broken down into 4 easy steps.

That is as close to a secret you are going to get.

They are the steps Alex follows and the same one’s he’s taught me and hundreds of other ordinary people.

If you follow those steps, you WILL make money online just like myself and many other AJ students are starting to realise.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself at this point,

“It’s not that easy -I don’t know how to create content, drive traffic, build a list or do any of the steps in between!”

That’s fine.  We were all there at some point. Even the experts!

In fact, if you’ve read my about me page, you’ll know that I’ve been struggling online for the past few years, but thanks to Alex and John Thornhill mentoring me, things are finally coming together and I’m now a full time Interent Marketer.

Over the coming weeks I’m going to be putting together a free beginner’s guide to Internet Marketing that will outline every step you need to take to start making money online so watch this space.

All I’ve learnt from my Mentors, will be yours to start putting into practice.

If there’s anything you specifically want to learn, then please get in touch using the contact me form at the top of the page and I’ll make sure I cover it.

To be the first to get access to my free report once it’s ready, enter your details below and I’ll add you to the VIP notification list!

I hate SPAM – Your email address will be kept 100% secure and you can unsubscribe at any time

Don’t forget, we are in the game of Internet Marketing, NOT Internet Selling.

The world of Internet Marketing is rapidly changing and the techniques that used to persuade people to part with their hard earned cash are becoming far less effective.

In these times of credit crunch and economic uncertainty, I for one am far more aware of the value of my money and I am a lot more careful in where and what I spend it on.

I’m certain I’m not the only one and I’m betting that my readers and subscribers are just as sick as I am of the constant barrage of hard selling that’s still prolific amongst some online marketers.

As an example, I’ve just checked my twitter account and I’d say 90 % of the people following me are only doing so because they want to pimp their products and affiliate links!

Now, don’t get me wrong… we’re all in this game to make money and I don’t mind a bit of soft selling and gentle marketing on twitter, facebook, blogs etc. but it really gets my goat when I this sort of thing:-

cb_earnings 92,000 richer in 8 weeks. I can show you how. – http://tinyurl.com/fdgbgdfbd (url changed to avoid making this person any money from click throughs!)

It wouldn’t be so bad if this one a one off, but this guy (or gal) has tweeted literally hundreds of the same kind of message, all containing the same affiliate link for Clickbank Code. AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!

Needless to say, I no longer follow this person and have no interest in ever doing so again!

Point is, this person lost my trust and even if I wanted to buy Clickbank Code, I wouldn’t do it through their link because they have provided me with nothing of value and are just trying to get rich at my expense!

Now although I DO provide lots of free content and value to my readers and subscribers here, I don’t feel comfortable pushing big flashing ads down their throat just to make a few sales here and there.  If someone stumbles upon my blog, I want them to go away with nothing but good impressions so they’ll keep coming back.

I also want them to know that if I do recommend a product, it’s because I have complete faith in it… not because it’s been thrown up by an ad rotator.

Since I set up this blog and on my previous blog, I’ve had all kinds of Ads – some were for products  and services I used, others weren’t.  I’m now wondering whether it had a detrimental effect on how long people stayed on my blogs and how many signed up to my mailing list.

For the few quid I’ve made from Ads, how many readers/potential subscribers have I actually lost because they clicked on an Ad and navigated away from my website?!

Wish I knew the answer, but my gut feeling is that it’s a lot.

Ok, so what makes me think no Ads is the way forward? How am I supposed to make any money?!

Well, because my Mentor, Alex Jeffreys has proved it can be done.

He’s made $711,043.03 online, without selling one single thing from his blog, ever!

That’s some pretty convincing stuff, wouldn’t you agree?!

So from here on in you won’t see any Ads from adsense, paydotcom, clickbank, or even any banners for my affiliate products.  Just great valuable content because (to nick another of Alex’s phrases) “I’m Marketing With You, Not To You!”

If my free advice here helps others make money online, then it can only be good for my reputation – which means I’ll grow a big, loyal following of people who want to pay for my help, just like they do for Alex’s help!

Ok, I’m getting down off my soap box now

Seriously though, have a good think about whether those ads on your websites are really justified.

Are they making you a lot of money, or are they just encouraging people to navigate away from your site, never to return again?

Could you be using that ad space more effectively,for example, to grow your twitter following, to add a video, to add various opt in free reports?

There are blogs out there who have hundreds of thousands of hits every day, such as problogger.net for example.

Darren Rowse who owns the site, probably makes a fortune from advertising alone, but with so much web traffic, he can afford to lose a few readers  if they don’t like all the ads on his site.  Can you?!

I’d love to hear your comments on the subject.

Take it easy,

1.  Used eBay About Me Page To link to my blog.

eBay allows you to link to your websites from your about me page as long as you aren’t blatently trying to take business away from them and make sales outside of eBay.  This means you have to be a bit careful what websites you link to and what you write to invite users to visit your site.  For example…

Say you sell “Wonder Widgets” on eBay (not sure if thats a real product but it’s the first thing that popped into my noggin!) and you also sell the same “Wonder Widgets” from your website – If you provided a link to your website from your about me page, and wrote,

“Visit my website to buy Wonder Widgets cheaper than on eBay,”…. then you’d be very likely to upset eBay and get your account suspended!

However, if you had a section called, “My Favourite Websites” and provided a link to your website, you wouldn’t be breaking any of eBay’s rules and could benefit from some free traffic!

In the case of a blog, you probably aren’t trying to sell the same products that you sell on eBay, so you can therefore be a bit more direct and write something like, “Check Out My Blog Where I Provide Free Advice on How To Make Money Online!” – then provide your link.  (As a sidenote, you can also add an aweber opt in form to your about me page and use the free traffic to build a mailing list, but I’ll cover that in more detail another time!)

2.  Using the products I sell on eBay to drive traffic.

I’m in the process of setting up an eBay business that sells resell rights products and public domain materials.  As eBay no longer allows the sale of digital items, I put these products on CDs and ship them to my customers.  The beauty is that they include an easy to use menu system that I can edit to whatever I want, so I always include links to my websites within the menu system.  See the picture below to give you a better idea what I mean (Click it to view full size image)

If you are interested in using this method to sell eBooks as physical items, then I highly recommend Digital Media Solution to do it, as that’s what I use.  It’s really easy to use and comes with full instructional videos.  Here’s the link:-

http://steve-wakefield.com/recommends/digital_media_solution

No matter what products you sell on eBay, another easy way to drive traffic to your websites is to include your URL somewhere on the packing slip.  You could even put it on the outside of the packaging because all the Post Office staff that see it are potential customers!

3.  Listed a product on www.download.com

This is a method I recently learned from Socrates Socratous at Resell Rights Fortune.  It is actually a method to build a mailing list, but it also sends lots of free traffic to your blog if you do it right.

Here’s the basic principle:-

• You take a PLR product from Resell Rights Fortune website and brand it with your name and blog URL
• You upload a “locked” version of your product via www.upload.cnet.com. Once approved, it shows up on www.download.com
• Someone downloads your product, but has to join your mailing list to get an “unlock code” before they can view the product.
• Once they enter the unlock code, they can view your product and will hopefully click on the blog link you’ve provided within the eBook!

I intend to create a video to outline this method in more detail as soon as I get a chance, but if you join up with Resell Rights Fortune, you’ll get access to Socrate’s in depth training videos and all the resources you need.  Here’s the link:-

http://steve-wakefield.com/recommends/ResellRightsFortune

So folks, that’s what I’ve done so far to increase traffic to my blog.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes and will get a new google analytics screenshot on here in the next couple of days.

Hope you’ve found this useful and as always, I’d love to hear your feedback so feel free to leave comments below!

Make sure you check back here soon, because I’m going to be making very regular posts over the next 2 weeks and there’s going to be loads more great ideas on driving traffic and other cool stuff.

Speak soon,

The second step is… Start driving traffic to it.

A blog is the perfect platform to start building an online income because it’s relatively easy to set up and as soon as you start adding content to it the search engines will pick it up and start sending traffic your way.  You can then monitize your blog by adding affiliate links and adds and as long as you provide some great free content and real value along the way, people will start to know who you are, like you and finally trust you… and once they trust you, they’re more likely to buy from you.

My mentor Alex Jeffreys has been drilling this into us since the start of his coaching program, but this week he’s really stepped it up a notch.

He’s been showing us the methods he uses to drive bucketloads of traffic to his blog and I’m now buzzing with ideas and can’t wait to get started and share my ideas and progress with you.

To motivate us further, Alex is running a competition for his students to see who can drive the most traffic to their blog by 14th August using the methods he’s taught us and also any of our own methods.

The rules are as follows:-

1. We have to show proof of our blog traffic using the Google Analytics tool.
2. We have to use our blog to write about how we are driving the traffic!

The benefit of writing about how to drive traffic to a blog, is that those posts will automatically begin to show up in the search engines for keywords, such as “driving blog traffic.”  So the effect is that traffic will end up on our blogs naturally.  (Nearly confused myself then so hope you still follow! )

The benefit to my readers, will be that as I implement each traffic driving step, I’m going to tell you what I did it and what the results are.

So here’s where I am right now…

I have never really done anything to drive traffic to my blog.  Most people who land here, do so by chance after searching for something in Google.

The only way I currently send anyone here is through my eBay “About Me” page, therefore my traffic is pretty low as you can see from the Google Analytics Screenshot below.

(click to enlarge)

Google Analytics Screenshot for www.steve-wakefield.com 31st July 2009

Over the next few days I’m going to use various methods to try to drive traffic and I’ll outline the steps I take each time, then share the results with you as soon as I have them, so check back regularly.

Hopefully, I will start seeing some big traffic increases and also teach my readers some new techniques along the way!

So, if you don’t already have a blog, then get one set up asap and you’ll also benefit from this exercise.  If you are unsure where to start, check out http://www.blogsetuptutorials.com/free/ which was created by Tommy Mclaughlin – a former student of Alex and another of his success stories!

Best of luck and will speak to you again soon,

It is for this reason that I have recently invested in Alex Jeffrey’s Mentoring Course, and after just a week of following his advice, I feel like I have a real business that’s capable of massive growth.

Alex has been mentored by some of the biggest names in Internet Marketing such as Mike Filsaime, and he has used all he’s learnt from his mentors to create a 6 figure income.  His business is continually growing and he’s now showing a small number of students exactly how he does it and I’m lucky enough to be one of them!

The good news for my readers, is that you can follow my progress right here on my blog because I want to use what I learn to help you start and grow your own online business, so make sure you check back regularly because there’s going to be plenty of free content to set you on your way.

The first lesson Alex has been instilling in us is that of organising your business properly, firstly so that you stay focused and secondly so that you can manage your business if it starts to grow very rapidly.  After all, you’re interested in IM because you want to earn more and work less, right?!

If you don’t have a properly organised business from the outset, things can easily get out of control and you’ll end up working 15 hour days everyday -I know because I’ve been there!

Here are some steps you should take to make sure you stay on track in your online business:-

1. Set your self real goals with real time scales attached to them.  You should set your self goals for the next year, then work backwards to figure out exactly how you will reach those annual goals eg, after you’ve set your 1 year goals, break them down into 90 day goals, then monthly goals, then weekly and daily tasks.

2. Keep track of your goals by keeping a daily journal so that you can look back and monitor how productive you are on a daily basis.

3. Use tools such as daily task sheets and mind maps to organise your throughts and stay productive.  (You can get access to a free mind mapping tool here:- www.mindmeister.com and I’ve included added my first mind map below to give you an idea what it’s all about! – just click to enlarge the image)

Successful Internet Marketing Business Mind Map

I’ve been putting all of Alex’s teachings into practice and I now feel like I have much clearer defined goals.  I’ve also tidied my work space and organised all of my computer files so that I know exactly where everything is!

If you really want to be a successful marketer, then this is your starting point.  I used to be a “busy fool” flitting from one task to the next without ever stopping to organise my time.  The result was that I had hundred of unfinished jobs, none of which were making me money!  Now that I have a plan I know exaclty what I need to be doing each day, therefore I’m a lot more productive.

I’ll leave you with a well known saying that really struck a chord with me and I’ll post again very soon…

“A fool with a plan can outsmart a genius with no plan any day”