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2007-11-12
Issue #173
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November 12, 2007 |
Issue #173 |
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The
IMC Insider
Helping Real People
create wealth and freedom with Internet businesses since
1996 |
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November 12, 2007
Issue #173 |
A
special announcement from the IMC team:
We
want to meet you in person!
If you live near any of the cities listed below, we
invite you to join us for an exclusive two-day "Internet
Wealth-Building Bootcamp!"
For two full days, my IMC team will speak live on stage,
giving away the exact step-by-step blueprint you need to grow a lucrative Internet business...
... Using the most current, most advanced Internet marketing
secrets, strategies, and technologies that we've used
to generate over $60,000,000 in online
sales.
We'd love to meet you in person!
Internet Wealth-Building Bootcamps:
To claim your tickets, click on the links above -- or
call my team, who will be happy to answer any of your
questions about these exclusive events -- at 1-800-595-9855
or 1-604-730-2833. |
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Editorial:
Have YOU been sucked in by a scam? Here's how to tell
By Derek
Gehl 
Last week I wrote an editorial warning people away from
the so-called "business in a box."
Since then I've received a FLOOD of emails from people
who say they've just spent big money on a complete "online
cash machine" package... and now they're worried
they may have wasted their savings on something that's
never going to make them a dime!
A lot of these people have asked me to do some research
on the product they've bought and tell them whether I
think it's a good money-making opportunity or not.
I'm really sorry, but as CEO of a $60-million dollar business,
I simply don't have the time to check out hundreds of
different products and tell you which ones are decent
and which ones you should avoid like the plague.
But I CAN offer you something even better than that...
... I can empower you by giving you the information you
need to decide for YOURSELF whether a business opportunity
is the "real deal" or not.
Today I'm going to educate you on how to filter the REAL
money-making opportunities from all the B.S. out there,
with my "Scam Detector Check List"!
Whenever you come across a possible business opportunity,
simply consult this handy checklist. It'll help you discover
if it is a real opportunity -- or a real waste
of money.
Scam Warning #1: The company can't prove
a successful track record
If you've never heard of the company before -- and they
can't offer solid proof they've got a successful track
record -- then how can you trust them to help YOU make
money?
Be skeptical. Ask questions. If they say they're a successful
company, ask for proof!
Scam Warning #2: You can't talk to a company representative
in person
Before you make a significant investment in a business
opportunity, give the vendors a call. Talk to them in
person. Ask them hard questions.
If they don't make it easy for you to them in person,
then don't do business with them!
Scam Warning #3: Former customers have lousy things to
say about the product
A little bit of research goes a long way. Try typing "the
name of the program + scam" or "the name of
the program + customer review" into Google and see
what results you get.
If the majority of the results are from former customers
saying the product is a scam or a waste of money, then
whatever you do, don't make the same mistake THEY did!
Scam Warning #4:
Thousands of other people are selling the EXACT same thing
If your "business in a box" package includes
a product for you to sell, do a search on the name of
the product in Google and go through the results. How
many people are selling the exact same product? Say hello
to your competition!
(And how many of them are using the exact same website the company is trying to get YOU to buy?)
If a lot of people are selling that product -- and you
can't see any way to offer a unique selling proposition
that makes your offer stand out from the crowd -- then
quite frankly, you're going to find it extremely difficult
to make any money at all.
Scam Warning #5: They can't show you legitimate
testimonials -- from recent customers
If you are making a significant investment in a business
opportunity, the company you are purchasing from should
be willing to put you in contact with other successful
customers. We get this request all of the time, and have
numerous successful customers who are happy to give us
a personal reference at a moment's notice.
(If you'd like to take a look at how we use those testimonials
on our salesletters, please visit: www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.html.)
Look for testimonials that names, photographs, and URLs,
if possible. The more information that proves the testimonial
giver is a real person, the better.
If the testimonial has a URL, go to that person's website
and check it out. Does it look like the website of someone
who's making good money? Look for the contact info on
the site and then email that person to ask him or her
directly about the product you're thinking about buying.
If the person says yes, it really is a good deal,
and is still experiencing good results with that product,
then chances are it's the real deal.
However, be on the watch for DATED testimonials. If people
were able to make money using this package two years ago
-- but the profits have long since dried up -- then the
product's not going to do you much good now, is it?
Scam Warning #6: The company is charging
YOU money to sell THEIR products
Ask yourself this: If a company is making a product that
millions of people are going to want to buy, why wouldn't
they simply sell it themselves -- instead of making other
people pay for the opportunity to sell it for them?
The truth is, companies like this KNOW their "affiliates"
aren't going to generate any sales. That's why they need
to get your money up front!
Take it from someone who has been running a highly successful
affiliate program for years. If someone wants to become
an IMC affiliate and sell my products for me, I'd never make them pay. Why should they? They're doing me a favor!
Scam Warning #7: The company makes outrageous
income claims, without backing them up with proof
If a company says their product will have you earning
tens of thousands of dollars within a matter of weeks,
BE SKEPTICAL. There is no magic bullet on the Internet
that can promise a five-figure income in 30 days or less.
The truth is, building a profitable business takes TIME.
Sure, you can have a profitable business in less than
a month... but you'll probably have to wait a few more
months before the money really starts pouring
in.
So whenever you see outrageous income claims, ask yourself
-- where's the proof?
Look for testimonials that back up these claims. If someone
claims to have made incredible money from using this system,
track them down via their URL and ask them if it's really
true.
And be sure to listen to your "inner radar"
to determine whether the person is genuine or not.
Above all, do your research and ask lots of questions.
If you follow these guidelines, chances are you will make
the right decisions and pursue the right opportunities.
When it comes to online success, there is no magic pill.
If you want to start a real business on the Internet you need to be prepared to put
in the time and effort to build it.
In my Insider
Secrets course, I give you a step-by-step blueprint
on exactly what you need to do to build a profitable online
business. No false promises,
no B.S. -- just the exact instructions you need to follow
if you want to be successful on the Internet.
You can check it out here: www.marketingtips.com/onlinesuccessblueprint
Just remember, when you're thinking about buying into
an "online cash machine" opportunity, use
your common sense.
My team and I can give you all of the strategies you need
to make that happen. And we can break them down into easy-to-follow
instructions. But the rest is up to you!
Until next time...
Derek Gehl |
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**
Warning: Just a handful of spots left!**
On November 12, 2008,
What Will YOUR Life Be Like?
Will you still be struggling with the
challenges holding you back today
... Or will you have achieved your financial destiny?
Imagine... A year from now, being the most successful
person at the dinner party.
Your friends will ask you how you did it...
And when they do, my only hope is that you give us a
shout-out and say, "With a little help from my friends
at IMC!"
My team and I are prepared to do whatever it takes to
help you leap-frog over the obstacles that are holding
you back right now.
That's why we're giving away 30-day memberships to our
exclusive "Internet Entrepreneur Club" -- for 97% off the regular price!
Search engines got you stumped? Getting lots of visitors...
but NO sales? Lost because you don't even know what
to sell yet?
No matter what your challenges, my experts and
I will help you solve them in 30 days or less.
To discover how my team of experts can help you turn
your current challenges into a distant memory -- for
less than a cup of coffee! -- I urge you to click the
link below:
www.internetentrepreneurclub.com/1-month-miracle
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Seven
deadly design sins (Make sure YOUR site isn't committing
any of them!)
By
Andrew Mallory
Whenever I go surfing on the Web, I'm always afraid of
what I'll find...
... Because I come across so many sites suffering from
DEADLY design sins, I want to stab out my eyes with a
pen!
Think I'm being dramatic? Maybe just a bit... but these
fatal errors are guaranteed to be killing the
sites' conversion rates -- and I just want to grab the
site owners by the shoulder and tell them, "It doesn't
have to BE this way!!!"
So today, I'd like to tell YOU about the top "seven
deadly design sins" -- so you can make sure you're
not committing any of them on your website. (Because any
one of them could be pulling your potential sales right
into the gutter!)
Here they are...
Deadly design sin #1: No eye-catching headline
to grab your visitors' attention
It takes average web surfer 10 seconds MAXIMUM to decide
whether to stick around on a site or move on to another
one. You have to make those 10 seconds count!
You have to capture your visitors' attention RIGHT AWAY
and convince them your site has exactly what they're looking
for. And the best way to do that is with a well-formatted,
attention-grabbing headline that's packed with intriguing
benefits and compels them to read further.
Here's an example of a well-formatted, benefit-laden headline...
Discover the
secret to eating as much as you want,
whenever you want
-- And still lose all the weight you need --
While buzzing with the non-stop energy of a 9-year-old kid!
(Please note the benefits of "eating as much as you
want," "losing all the weight you need,"
and "non-stop energy" are either bolded or underlined
so they pop out at the reader.)
... and here's an example of something that's NOT:
Welcome to my diet site! I sell over 50 different weight
loss products, from pills, to nutritional supplements,
to popular weight loss books. Feel free to browse through
my selection and find the product that's right for you.
... See the difference?
Above and beyond the lack of formatting, there are no
benefits listed in the second example at all. It talks
about what the site sells, but not about what these products
will DO for the people who buy them.
Plus, by telling visitors they have to browse the site
to find what they're looking for, you're putting all the
hard work on THEM. Your copy should lead visitors straight
to the solution they're looking for -- not make them have
to hunt for it.
Deadly design sin #2: Distracting banners
and links!
On your site, don't put up banners or links that send
people to someone else's site! (And that includes Google
Adwords ads.)
You want to keep people on your site -- not drive them
somewhere else!
Everything on your site should directly relate to its
ultimate PURPOSE -- whether it's to get more opt-ins for
your email list or to sell your product! Anything on your
site that doesn't serve this main purpose should be immediately
deleted.
Of course, if the purpose of your site is purely to promote
affiliate products or sell advertising space, then obviously
you'll want to include banners or links... but otherwise,
you shouldn't have them on your homepage at all.
If you try to promote affiliate products on a page that's also meant to sell a specific product, you'll
end up doing a lousy job of both.
Deadly design sin #3: Too many dizzying colors
or fonts
Nothing screams "amateur!" louder than a dizzying
mishmash of different fonts and colors.
To make your site look professional, use a basic color
scheme with just 2-3 colors maximum and a couple of fonts
only. Look at any well-designed site and you'll see that
they're pretty conservative about the colors and fonts
they use.
(Remember, you want to make it as easy as possible for
your visitors to read the words on your page!)
Deadly design sin #4: Patterned backgrounds
Make sure your background stays in the background!
If you add textures or use dark backgrounds on your site,
people won't easily be able to read your copy. And if
you aren't making it easy for them to read your copy,
you aren't making it easy for them to buy your product!
Tests have shown over and over and over again
that the highest conversion rates are seen on sites that
have BLACK text on a plain white background, with colors
limited to the margins.
It might seem "boring" from a design perspective...
but better sales are pretty darned exciting from an income perspective!
Deadly design sin #5: Too many distracting
graphics, animations, or video clips
Many website owners make the mistake of thinking that
having LOTS of images, fancy graphics, animated gifs,
or video clips will make their site more interesting.
Ehhh... wrong.
Unless those visual elements help persuade people to buy
your product -- by showing visitors what your product
looks like, or demonstrating how it works, for example
-- then they're useless decorations that will distract
your visitors and prevent them from following through
on the action you want them to take.
Deadly design sin #6: Slow-loading pages
and graphics
How long does it take for your homepage to load? If your
answer is longer than, say, 3 seconds, you've got trouble
on your hands!
Remember the 10-second rule... if your homepage doesn't
load quickly, your visitors will lose patience and click
away. Web surfers are extremely impatient people. If they
can't begin reading or viewing your page right away, they're
going to leave and go to another, more user-friendly site.
If you absolutely MUST use large graphics on your homepage,
provide a small icon that links to the larger graphic
and warn people they may have to wait as it loads.
Here are a few things you can do to speed up your loading
time:
- Reduce the file size of the graphics on your page.
A great tool to use for this is WebGraphics Optimizer
(www.WebOpt.com)
- Specify the dimensions of your graphics files in
your HTML code, with a tag that looks like this:
- Substitute colored text for a graphics file whenever
possible
And last but not least...
Deadly design sin #7: Huge blocks of text
that are nearly impossible to read
Here's a question for you... Which of the following text
samples do you find easier to read?
Sample #1:
Are you sick of trying diet after diet and painfully
denying yourself all your favorite foods but never seeing
any lasting results? Or joining the latest supposedly
"healthy" eating craze, only to discover a
few months down the road that most health experts say
that following that eating plan is actually BAD for
you? I know exactly how you feel. For decades I was
a "yo-yo" dieter. I would try out the latest
celebrity diet trend and lose maybe 5 - 15 pounds, but
then gain it all back as soon as I started eating "normally"
again. In fact, usually I'd end up gaining even more
weight, which is why I got on the scales one day and
discovered to my horror that I now weighed over 200
pounds, not exactly a healthy weight for someone who's
only 5' 2"! In my desperation to get back to a
"normal" weight, I tried every single diet
plan I could. I ate nothing but pre-packaged calorie-reduced
diet meals. I took pills. I drank diet shakes for breakfast
and lunch, and forced myself to ignore my growling stomach
all day long. And yet time and time again, I broke under
the strain of self-denial and ended up "cheating."
I can't tell you how many nights I'd cave to my cravings
and end up gorging on bags of chips, tubs of ice cream,
and entire pans of brownies. And then I'd wake up the
next day, absolutely sick with self-hatred. Well, I'm
happy to tell you that those days are now over for good!
Because FINALLY I discovered a healthy approach to food
that allows me to eat my fill and walk away from the
table feeling satisfied, and stay at my "ideal"
weight of 125 lbs, which I've been able to maintain
for over two years and counting!
Sample #2:
Are you sick of trying diet after diet -- and painfully
denying yourself all your favorite foods -- but never
seeing any lasting results?
Or joining the latest supposedly "healthy"
eating craze, only to discover a few months down the
road that most health experts say that following that
eating plan is actually BAD for you?
I know exactly how you feel...
... For decades I was a "yo-yo" dieter. I
would try out the latest celebrity diet trend and lose
maybe 5 - 15 pounds, but then gain it all back as soon
as I started eating "normally" again.
In fact, usually I'd end up gaining even more weigh
-- which is why I got on the scales one day and discovered
to my horror that I now weighed over 200
pounds.
Not exactly a healthy weight for someone who's only
5' 2"!
In my desperation to get back to a "normal"
weight, I tried every single diet plan I could. I ate
nothing but pre-packaged calorie-reduced diet meals...
I took pills... I drank diet shakes for breakfast and
lunch, and forced myself to ignore my growling stomach
all day long.
And yet time and time again, I broke under the strain
of self-denial and ended up "cheating." I
can't tell you how many nights I'd cave to my cravings
and end up gorging on bags of chips, tubs of ice cream,
and entire pans of brownies.
And then I'd wake up the next day, absolutely sick with
self-hatred.
Well, I'm happy to tell you that those days are now
over for good! Because FINALLY I discovered a healthy
approach to food that allows me to eat my fill and walk
away from the table feeling satisfied, and stay at my
"ideal" weight of 125 lbs -- which I've been
able to maintain for over two years and counting!
... As you can see, Sample #2 is MUCH easier to read.
Its "choppy" paragraph allows visitors to skim
read the text and immediately grasp its meaning. In contrast,
Sample #1 forces you to read every single word -- and
even then, it's hard to keep your place in the text!
When writing for the Web, you should limit your paragraphs
to six lines maximum. And make sure you vary
your paragraph lengths so they don't all look the same!
A "choppy" paragraph structure makes online
text MUCH easier to read.
And if you want your visitors to read all the way to your
"order" button, you want to make it as easy
as possible for them to do so!
... So there's my list of the "seven deadly design
sins" that all serious website owners absolutely
MUST avoid if they want their sites to do a good job of
converting casual visitors into eager customers. If you're
committing one of these fatal errors, make sure you start
working on getting it changed today!
[Ed. note: Andrew Mallory
is one of our top Internet
Entrepreneur Club experts.] |
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Do
you have a challenge you'd like Derek and his team to
help you solve?
Leave a comment on Derek's blog: http://blog.marketingtips.com/derek/
And let's get the conversation started! |
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To
contact us...
If you have any questions, email info@marketingtips.com
Or, if you would prefer to use postal mail,
please contact us at:
The Internet Marketing Center
Attn: Newsletter Subscription Dept.
400-1155 West Pender Street
Vancouver BC V6E 2P4
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