At last my official blog website is actually finished. My intention of blogging for a living has become a reality.
Ok, what next?

The first thing I need to do is to go back over the archives and delete all my earlier muses.
In the early days, as is usual for blog virgins, my impression of a blog was something that no sane person would ever read or be interested in. So my first blogs were indulgent, grammatically terrible and some were even downright silly.
But as my hand hovers over the delete button I hesitate….wait a minute…this is like throwing out an old photograph album.
There’s the one about my dog Sadie, now gone, who was miraculously cured of cancer by a Spirit healer. And the time a had my cat trimmed and she looked like one of those nodding animals you put in the back window of your car.
Then there are the feelings I had when starting a new job or moving house.
I recorded my first days on Facebook and how cheeky people were, asking to be “my friend” when they didn’t even know me!
Of-course, I would hate for all you guys with discerning tastes to read these old blogs but I am definately not going to dispose of them. I’m going to print them up and stick them into a scrap book for posterity.
Maybe one day one of my grand daughters will find them and will read them to their children…how strange it will be to them…how old fashioned it will seem!
This time of Ipods, webcams and Twitter will be an archaic, bygone age to them!

I wish I had written more!

Read Pat’s Official Blog at http://www.patsutton.com

Confessions of a Blogger.

If you build a relationship – they will come!

You can have the best looking website in the world, the best products ever invented, the most eye catching advertisements and a service second to none but if you don’t tell your customers how to buy from you then all your hard work is wasted!

If you want the reader to buy your product or take you up on your service, then tell him so, tell him what to do to pay now!
Unless you enjoy entertaining your prospects with your beautiful writing skills, always demand that he complete the sale now, by taking action now – by calling a telephone number, by clicking a pay now button or by writing his cheque and rushing it to the post office.

So how can you stimulate your prospect to act?

1. You could offer a reward of some kind.
However, in mentioning the reward or bonus, be very careful that you don’t end up receiving requests for the bonus with mountains of requests for refunds on the product to follow.
The bonus should be mentioned only casually if you are asking for product orders; and with lots of fanfare only when you are seeking inquiries.
2. Specify a time limit. Tell your prospect that he must act within a certain time limit or lose out on the bonus, face probably higher prices, or even the withdrawal of your offer. This is always a good hook to get action.
3. Offer a good guarantee. Any kinds of guarantee you offer always helps produce action from the prospect.
And the more liberal you can make your guarantee, the more product orders you will receive.
Be sure you state the guarantee clearly and simply. It is important to make it so easy to understand that even a child would not misinterpret what you are saying.
4. Spell out to them the whole procedure, in other words what will happen once they have paid.
5. If applicable, tell them how quickly they will receive their purchase. It really annoys me when I buy something only to find that there is a 3 week delivery time. I always want my purchase yesterday and I like to see clearly on the front page of the website how soon I will get it, for me, this will make the difference as to whether I buy or not!

So remember, the action you want your prospect to take should be easy – clearly stated – and devoid of any complicated procedural steps on their part.
The easier you make it for them to respond, the more responses you’ll get!

Pat Sutton is author of “The Image Attraction System” http://www.TheImageAttractionSystem.com
An internet marketing specialist and Authorised Representative of LifePath Unlimted
http://www.ThisBusinessRocks.com and http://www.MakeMoneyFromHomeCoventry.co.uk

That call to action – your life’s blood!

Do you have what it takes to be really successful? Have you ever thought about what you must be prepared to endure and do in order to be successful in business or your career?
I think I have been asked at least 5,000 times what it really takes to be successful in business, so I jotted down 10 questions you can use to gauge whether you already have what it takes, or if you need to do a little “work” to get there.
Many years ago I heard Jim Rohn say that you either pay the price of discipline or the price of regret. Discipline weighs ounces… regret weighs tons! With that said, here are 10 questions to ask yourself:
1. Are you disciplined?
2. Do you take rejection personally? What about criticism?
3. Do you bounce back quickly from making errors or failing over and over again?
4. Are you a planner or do you do things by the seat of your pants?
5. Are you prepared to take risks? Moderate or Big?
6. Do you stay focused on one thing and one thing only until the result you want is achieved?
7. Do you have the stamina to keep going long after everyone else is tired?
8. Can you delegate well, or are you the only one who can do things right?
9. Do you wait for things to happen or do you aggressively go after what you want?
10. Do you do whatever it takes to achieve your goals or just what’s convenient?

These questions are critical for you to ask yourself in order to get a true picture of your nature and behavior.
What I have found is that successful people are aware of the consequences of not being efficient in these areas, and find other ways, resources or people to manage for them.
Food for thought?
Remember to create a masterpiece!

Copyright © 2004 John Assaraf
John Assaraf, aka The Street Kid, a New York Times & Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author, Trainer & Entrepreneur.
Go to: http://www.thestreetkid.com to discover his “Secrets To Building A Multi-Million Dollar Business – Guaranteed!”

Go to: http://www.TheStreetKid.com/seminars to register for your No-Cost eCourse, “The Science Of Making Tons Of Dough.”

10 QUESTIONS: DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? By John Assaraf

People often ask me about the benefit of having  a membership site.
I have 3 networking  membership sites that are free to join and are  self populating.
Once set up, these sites tend to need very little administration but, although they do not generate any direct revenue apart from occasional affiliate earnings, they have immense value to me.

Let’s take a look at my Women’s Peer Network,

At the time of writing I have a membership of  266 business women who have written 119 blog  posts and started 18 forums. They have 14 groups ranging from Blogging to Arts and Crafts to  Women in Golf.
As the founder of the network I have been invited to speak at events, join company boards and consume many delicious lunches.
If I, or one of my members, has a product or  service we would like to promote, we have a  captive audience. I am sure the members have  generated many fruitful relationships through this network. Yes it is a labour of love but it  allows me to feed my passion for helping women  in business.

Now let’s take a look at the paid membership site.

This relates back to my “Image Attraction  System“. If you want people to agree to pay you  good money for what you have to offer then you  need to have first “upped” your image to such an extent that they see you as a leader, a mentor and an expert in your field. I am not saying that you should lie – but you  should not be afraid to “blow your own trumpet”!

So if you plan to launch a paid membership site you had better have prepared your “Image” first.
You need to give your prospect a reason to  believe that you can deliver. You need to  “shout” credibility!

How can you do this?
Well first you should have a great profile across all the social and business networks where you must make a conscious effort to engage with people, (not pitching to them- but building relationships).

This is how you set about being seen!

You can join forums and groups where they are  talking about your chosen subject. It is always beneficial to leave comments on other people’s entries and blog posts always remembering to  use your full name and website if possible,  you’ll be surprised how many people will  recognise you and then search you out.

For me, I built my “Image” through Blogging.

I blog about Internet Marketing, Personal  Development and The Tarot. I research the things that interested me and  then I write about them. If you are becoming good at something and you can see it working for you then with a little research you may well be on a path to becoming an expert in it and can pass that information on.

Don’t get me wrong, when I say expert, I mean
expert.

Internet Marketing, as an example, changes every day. What worked last week may well not work  this week. You need to keep up with the times by reading newsletters, blogs and articles, taking courses and attending seminars.
A good source of information is to set up Google Alerts. You can choose news feeds to be  delivered to your inbox everyday that will keep you up to date with the latest trends.

The trouble with the internet and the social networks, is that many people will declare themselves to be experts when actually all they have done is read an article or two.
Look for ways that you can prove your credibility. I have reccomendations and testimonials on my website from people I have worked with and workshops I have delivered.
If you haven’t got this far yet then be honest, offer your services for free and if people are happy with what you have done for them then ask them for reccomendations.

OK, so you’ve built your image and are seen as  an expert – now what?

Decide what you are going to offer to your  members!

As an example:
Our membership site is a Marketing Vault, where  you have resources such as e-books, videos and  software with articles and newsletters delivered to your inbox.

Your membership site could have many products or just one on-going product such as a course or knowledge base. It’s up to you.

Decide what you are going to charge for  membership!

We charge a small subscription of $19.95 a  month. We find that it is expensive enough to  show a value in the membership but not too expensive to put people off.
Lower may devalue  your offering and higher may generate less sign ups.
If you feel you would prefer a higher price therefore less people joining then that is your  choice. I personally think that the money is in the list. The more people who join the better.

So let’s summarise:

• You need to “Up” your image.
• Decide what your expertise is going to be.
• Work hard, help people for free so that you will be seen as an expert in that field and can generate testimonials.
• Decide how much you are charging for membership.
• Decide what you are offering to your members.
• Do your research; if you can take what you  learn and turn that knowledge into value for other people, you will have cracked it.

It’s by helping others and giving them information that they would not easily find on their own that builds your credibility and gives other people confidence in your expertise.

A good membership site can generate a great  residual income so it’s worth getting it right  by preparing properly. You first, your business later.

Pat Sutton’s Official Blog,
Internet Marketing and Personal Development http://www.patsutton.com

How and Why to Start a Membership Site.