Hey all,
Well I am back from traveling. Met some clients and relaxed. Also got to some of your e-mails and had some time to respond. And one e-mail was pretty interesting...
I have spent so many of the last newsletters dealing with things that might help you plan your day as an information marketer and how you can help keep up with change. Now I want to talk about fun things: what to do once you get successful.
Getting successful is the name of the game in information marketing. If you tough it out long enough, you will see both prestige and the accompanying cash to go with it as reward. But as the adage goes, success comes with a price. It’s so easy to want to celebrate day in and day out by going to restaurants and buy friends rounds of drinks. Or new cars. Or furniture for your rec room. Whatever you fancy, overzealous celebration can have disastrous consequences.
Once you get successful, there are a few things you should take time to consider. They are:
--Mindset: It’s good to understand success and to keep an open mind once success happens for you. Don’t get arrogant once you start seeing money rolling in from your information marketing business. Success will only continue if you keep your head on and pursue the same level of quality in your work as you had previously.
--Improvements: Take a few notes to see what you did that made you successful. Was it just your content writing or was it the inclusion of a special offer with your newsletter? Had you redone your website and attracted new clientele? Should you expand on a new idea? Always ask yourself what is working to help your business be successful and, above all, what can be done to improve it. Watch your business over time and see what can be done to make it the best it can be at ALL times.
--Taxes: This is the part of information marketing that isn’t much fun but sometimes requires the most attention. Since you are now your own boss, you are responsible that the people of the government are kept happy. You will have to file your own taxes and note whatever expenses are being made for your business. Now this isn’t as hard as it sounds. Search the Internet or consult your local employment centre to see what tax deductions need to be made from the income you earn. Set up an expenses account at your bank to and use this to track all money going in and out of your business. Provided you keep your expenses and tax work organized, you shouldn’t encounter much trouble with those in bureaucratic positions.
--Recreation: With the aforementioned tax and expense information in mind, don’t think that being an info marketer is strictly business. See what revenue is coming in and what can be used for fun. Put aside some cash to take a trip or save some for something special you would like to buy. Again, just be organized and do not overspend on things that are unnecessary. Reward yourself, just with discretion.
--Your future: My friend works at a major bank and he often uses the term “money in-money out”. That is, you see what money is coming in and what money is going out. This monitoring will helps you plan your professional future and what can be done to make it more successful then it already is. Once you see success, think about consulting a financial specialist and how they can help you with money investments. Look at ways to eliminate unnecessary expense. Talk to other information marketers about what they do in terms of staying successful and what pitfalls to avoid. In short, when you are not writing content, keep an eye on the roads ahead – particularly the financial one - to see what can be done to both maintain and improve on your business’ success.
The key to success is always thinking about tomorrow. Once you get into the groove of becoming a good information provider, you will, with the right skills, become equally good about predicting your future. It just takes time.
Take care,
J.
For more information, click here to read the E-Wealth Daily.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
All of the Specs – Tips on Providing all Necessary Elements of Information to Your Clients
Dear Info Marketers:
Ah, what a nice week. I am writing the galleys for my next few E-Blasts on the rooftop of my flat and loving the sunshine. It's a busy day for others here in the Big Smoke, but I get to take it all in.
Speaking of taking it all in, let me tell you a story. A few years back, I went home to see some family. While out for a burger and beer with an older friend of the family, I crossed paths with a friend I used to hang out with in public school. We chatted away for a while and, as they say, it’s surprising how much hasn’t changed.
I had met my friend through the local comic shop that had since closed in my hometown. We spent a good hour talking about our old love of comics – both of us had since quit collecting when we left high school – and our memories of secret identities, black-and-white underground taboo stories, and who and drew what. All of this talk harkened to a question a client once asked about information marketing: “How much knowledge should I be providing my clients?”
Obviously being well versed in anything is always an asset, but you have to know when to trim the fat and be concise in what information to provide. Here are some tips on what information is necessary in, well, information marketing:
--Classifications: Model trains, jukeboxes, even sports footwear…they all have a make and model. Whenever you want to provide information on a specific product, include all the specifics about it. Knowledge is truly power in this business and the more you know, the more your clients will pay to learn even more. It’s true that you may encounter the ridicule of “nerd” with your friends for this, but your clients will thank you for it.
--Sources: If you have a regular source for wherever you acquire certain products and consultation, reference it in your information content. For example, on newsletter I subscribe to about travel always points to good websites for airline tickets and outdoor gear. This can be beneficial to both your customers and you as customers like being in the know and merchants might offer to take out ad space in your newsletter and pay a fee to do so.
--Avoidances: If you really want to provide great information to your clients, consider telling them what to stay away from. A fellow information marketer who deals in antique furniture keeps a blog about people who wheel and deal in the antique world and are scammers. He lets people make their own postings on who are good and who to avoid. Thanks to the Internet, you can express opinions freely and, with reason, tell the public who may be worth staying away from.
--Prices: I probably should have put this at the top of the list. If there is one thing people are continually conscious of, it is cost. If you can provide information on good deals and where the best places with the lowest prices are, you will always have a continual client base. No question about it.
--Forecasts: Keep up with news about the information you are providing and if you can include a column of what is to be expected in future for whatever it is you are providing information on, people will stay interested in your product. My superior Michael Lombardi keeps abreast of financial news regularly and writes about it for his clients. A friend wrote regularly about film and video and with the advancement of HD technology, and his tips a few years ago on the increased industry usage of video has made his product increasing popular and profitable in the industry.
You can’t take the pulse of all clients, potential or confirmed. But you can provide the necessary information regularly to keep clients routinely interested in your product while attracting new ones as well. A solid information base means solid revenue for you.
Take care and more to come.
Best,
J.
PS Be sure to visit the E-Wealth Daily site for some cool new updates from myself and my colleagues. I am heading out of town for a week and might not get to make a new posting here, so keep checking the E-Wealth site for tips and advice. Feel free to shoot an e-mail too!
Ah, what a nice week. I am writing the galleys for my next few E-Blasts on the rooftop of my flat and loving the sunshine. It's a busy day for others here in the Big Smoke, but I get to take it all in.
Speaking of taking it all in, let me tell you a story. A few years back, I went home to see some family. While out for a burger and beer with an older friend of the family, I crossed paths with a friend I used to hang out with in public school. We chatted away for a while and, as they say, it’s surprising how much hasn’t changed.
I had met my friend through the local comic shop that had since closed in my hometown. We spent a good hour talking about our old love of comics – both of us had since quit collecting when we left high school – and our memories of secret identities, black-and-white underground taboo stories, and who and drew what. All of this talk harkened to a question a client once asked about information marketing: “How much knowledge should I be providing my clients?”
Obviously being well versed in anything is always an asset, but you have to know when to trim the fat and be concise in what information to provide. Here are some tips on what information is necessary in, well, information marketing:
--Classifications: Model trains, jukeboxes, even sports footwear…they all have a make and model. Whenever you want to provide information on a specific product, include all the specifics about it. Knowledge is truly power in this business and the more you know, the more your clients will pay to learn even more. It’s true that you may encounter the ridicule of “nerd” with your friends for this, but your clients will thank you for it.
--Sources: If you have a regular source for wherever you acquire certain products and consultation, reference it in your information content. For example, on newsletter I subscribe to about travel always points to good websites for airline tickets and outdoor gear. This can be beneficial to both your customers and you as customers like being in the know and merchants might offer to take out ad space in your newsletter and pay a fee to do so.
--Avoidances: If you really want to provide great information to your clients, consider telling them what to stay away from. A fellow information marketer who deals in antique furniture keeps a blog about people who wheel and deal in the antique world and are scammers. He lets people make their own postings on who are good and who to avoid. Thanks to the Internet, you can express opinions freely and, with reason, tell the public who may be worth staying away from.
--Prices: I probably should have put this at the top of the list. If there is one thing people are continually conscious of, it is cost. If you can provide information on good deals and where the best places with the lowest prices are, you will always have a continual client base. No question about it.
--Forecasts: Keep up with news about the information you are providing and if you can include a column of what is to be expected in future for whatever it is you are providing information on, people will stay interested in your product. My superior Michael Lombardi keeps abreast of financial news regularly and writes about it for his clients. A friend wrote regularly about film and video and with the advancement of HD technology, and his tips a few years ago on the increased industry usage of video has made his product increasing popular and profitable in the industry.
You can’t take the pulse of all clients, potential or confirmed. But you can provide the necessary information regularly to keep clients routinely interested in your product while attracting new ones as well. A solid information base means solid revenue for you.
Take care and more to come.
Best,
J.
PS Be sure to visit the E-Wealth Daily site for some cool new updates from myself and my colleagues. I am heading out of town for a week and might not get to make a new posting here, so keep checking the E-Wealth site for tips and advice. Feel free to shoot an e-mail too!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Dealing with That Unhappy Clients
Dear info marketers,
Hope you had a good weekend. The sun was out here and I got out on my bike long enough to get some colour on my skin. It was grand.
I recently got an e-mail about an information marketer and his trouble with some of his clients. He asked for some advice. I replied with this story:
I remember having a paper route as a kid. At all of eleven years old, I started having my own professional responsibilities and making money on my own. But as you might expect, I had to encounter that cumbersome experience of dealing with my customers. I had to approach them personally to collect the bi-weekly fees, take notes of when they did not want to receive the paper due to holidays, and answer to any and all complaints they might had had. It was a tough job, but looking back, I seemed to have handled it well and I held the job for four years with some nice kudos from my customers.
Dealing with customer complaints was always tough. If you had a friend do the route for you and he or she made a mistake, it might meant you had to deal with a customer who was understandably unhappy for not getting their paper. But it was a job that had to be done and one that you might have to deal with as an information marketer. You might get a client who never received a product from you or becomes upset with the information you are providing. Regardless of the situation, there are some ways you can deal with unhappy clients.
When dealing with an unhappy client, you should:
--Listen, listen, listen: Whether the complaint you receive comes via phone, letter, or e-mail, listen to everything that the client is saying. Find out exactly what the problem is and be absolutely sure what the client is unhappy about.
--Be professional: This is your business. It represents you and you represent it. Whatever problem comes your way is going to test the level of professionalism you and your business possess. Keep that in mind when a client complains, you must always respond to them in a professional manner and do not break from the professional stance you have built up for your business.
--Do not react: No only should you keep a professional manner, you should not let your emotions get ahead of you. You might have to deal with a client who is slightly unruly and may use cruel or rude language with you. The worst thing you can do in such a situation is react in the same way you are being addressed. Again, be professional. It’s hard to do, as I have to do it in the past, but it can work out - if you show the more mature manner in the situation, the other person will see the irrationality of their behaviour and show more courtesy to rectify the problem.
--Be proactive: Always aim to solve the problem. Apologize for any inconvenience you might have caused your client and offer to fix the situation. If you can’t deal with the problem right away, offer to get back to the client with a solution at a later date. Hold up your end of the deal and get back promptly to the client on the date you promised with a detailed solution.
--Learn: Mistakes happen to everyone. But the smart information marketer will take these bad situations seriously and find ways to improve their business based on the problems that occurred. You can only improve your business with time and these bad scenarios are a sure fire way to make your business better.
Client-to-client relations can be both great and difficult. If you find yourself in the latter situation, use the above tips to help fix problems that occur and never break from the professionalism you have worked so hard to maintain for your business. You will be glad you did in the end.
More to come. Check out the E-Wealth Daily website here for other news and information.
Take care,
J.
Hope you had a good weekend. The sun was out here and I got out on my bike long enough to get some colour on my skin. It was grand.
I recently got an e-mail about an information marketer and his trouble with some of his clients. He asked for some advice. I replied with this story:
I remember having a paper route as a kid. At all of eleven years old, I started having my own professional responsibilities and making money on my own. But as you might expect, I had to encounter that cumbersome experience of dealing with my customers. I had to approach them personally to collect the bi-weekly fees, take notes of when they did not want to receive the paper due to holidays, and answer to any and all complaints they might had had. It was a tough job, but looking back, I seemed to have handled it well and I held the job for four years with some nice kudos from my customers.
Dealing with customer complaints was always tough. If you had a friend do the route for you and he or she made a mistake, it might meant you had to deal with a customer who was understandably unhappy for not getting their paper. But it was a job that had to be done and one that you might have to deal with as an information marketer. You might get a client who never received a product from you or becomes upset with the information you are providing. Regardless of the situation, there are some ways you can deal with unhappy clients.
When dealing with an unhappy client, you should:
--Listen, listen, listen: Whether the complaint you receive comes via phone, letter, or e-mail, listen to everything that the client is saying. Find out exactly what the problem is and be absolutely sure what the client is unhappy about.
--Be professional: This is your business. It represents you and you represent it. Whatever problem comes your way is going to test the level of professionalism you and your business possess. Keep that in mind when a client complains, you must always respond to them in a professional manner and do not break from the professional stance you have built up for your business.
--Do not react: No only should you keep a professional manner, you should not let your emotions get ahead of you. You might have to deal with a client who is slightly unruly and may use cruel or rude language with you. The worst thing you can do in such a situation is react in the same way you are being addressed. Again, be professional. It’s hard to do, as I have to do it in the past, but it can work out - if you show the more mature manner in the situation, the other person will see the irrationality of their behaviour and show more courtesy to rectify the problem.
--Be proactive: Always aim to solve the problem. Apologize for any inconvenience you might have caused your client and offer to fix the situation. If you can’t deal with the problem right away, offer to get back to the client with a solution at a later date. Hold up your end of the deal and get back promptly to the client on the date you promised with a detailed solution.
--Learn: Mistakes happen to everyone. But the smart information marketer will take these bad situations seriously and find ways to improve their business based on the problems that occurred. You can only improve your business with time and these bad scenarios are a sure fire way to make your business better.
Client-to-client relations can be both great and difficult. If you find yourself in the latter situation, use the above tips to help fix problems that occur and never break from the professionalism you have worked so hard to maintain for your business. You will be glad you did in the end.
More to come. Check out the E-Wealth Daily website here for other news and information.
Take care,
J.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Publisher’s Toolkit – What You Need When You Go to Press
Dear Information Marketers,
Wow. What a crazy week, weather-wise. Sun, rain, sleet...not sure what's it's like for you, but here it has been crazy. I had to put my bike away and take more transport. Got a lot of reading done in the process, which was good.
Speaking of reading, I haven’t gone anywhere without a book for a long time. I never used to be a big reader until I worked abroad and had television robbed from me. Looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened as I found a world of knowledge that I never really took advantage of.
A fellow information marketer e-mailed me a few weeks ago and asked: I have a lot of stuff information here and I think it’s time to take the next step. How do you publish a book? For a long time, I never thought about how someone could publish a book on their own as I always assumed you needed an agent who queried a publisher to print and distribute it for you. You had a fifty-fifty chance of being successful.
But things have changed – for the better I might add – in the digital age. Now you can publish your own work and have all the success you want off it. I asked around and found a guy who had success self-publishing a novel after being dropped by his agency over a disagreement over rewriting his novel. He sent me a list of what you should have if you want to publish on your own.
Here it is:
--An editor: Once you have your content written, no matter how good you think it is, get it edited. Hand it over to a friend you have confidence in or hire someone who edits professionally. An extra set of eyes can give you that objective input you need to make your content look good and correct any outstanding errors that may exist.
--A graphic design: Your product’s content is of the utmost importance, but after that, you need to make it look presentable to your clients. Coming up with a graphic design is how you plan for your information product to look for public use. My friend advised getting a real graphic designer to help you with coming up with cover and layout ideas. I agree, but if you have already have experience with this in the past with publishing print products as some of my colleagues do, feel free to apply your skills to this tasks.
--An ISBN (International Standard Book Number): You know that funny thirteen digit bar code on the back of your books? That’s the ISBN and it gives the book its individual identification for public use and sale. Getting one can be a bit time consuming, but my mate said it’s a good thing to have in order to legitimize your product for the public to use. You can get information on purchasing this code online by visiting www.iso.org.
--A distribution plan: Don’t be confused by this as I am not implying that you have to network with a big distribution agency to sell your book from here to Kuala Lumpur. Quite the opposite, in fact. Start displaying your product on your website and offer it to existing clients in your e-newsletters. Check out related tradeshows and if you can get a place in one, bring along some copies to sell. Also pitch it to friends and colleagues, as someone may be able to carry it for you in their place of business or company and can sell it for a small honorarium. This “baby-steps” method will help your products’ success to get rolling and could lead to others offering to market it for you. If you start small, you can only get big.
This short list of tips is exactly what my friend used to get his book out to book shops and buyers. After thinking he would not have much success after being dropped by his agency, my friend can only certify this to you that it’s a surefire way for people to see what you have to offer and dig into their pocket to pay for it.
For more information marketing and wealth creation tips, visit us here at The e-Wealth Daily website.
Take care,
J.
Wow. What a crazy week, weather-wise. Sun, rain, sleet...not sure what's it's like for you, but here it has been crazy. I had to put my bike away and take more transport. Got a lot of reading done in the process, which was good.
Speaking of reading, I haven’t gone anywhere without a book for a long time. I never used to be a big reader until I worked abroad and had television robbed from me. Looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened as I found a world of knowledge that I never really took advantage of.
A fellow information marketer e-mailed me a few weeks ago and asked: I have a lot of stuff information here and I think it’s time to take the next step. How do you publish a book? For a long time, I never thought about how someone could publish a book on their own as I always assumed you needed an agent who queried a publisher to print and distribute it for you. You had a fifty-fifty chance of being successful.
But things have changed – for the better I might add – in the digital age. Now you can publish your own work and have all the success you want off it. I asked around and found a guy who had success self-publishing a novel after being dropped by his agency over a disagreement over rewriting his novel. He sent me a list of what you should have if you want to publish on your own.
Here it is:
--An editor: Once you have your content written, no matter how good you think it is, get it edited. Hand it over to a friend you have confidence in or hire someone who edits professionally. An extra set of eyes can give you that objective input you need to make your content look good and correct any outstanding errors that may exist.
--A graphic design: Your product’s content is of the utmost importance, but after that, you need to make it look presentable to your clients. Coming up with a graphic design is how you plan for your information product to look for public use. My friend advised getting a real graphic designer to help you with coming up with cover and layout ideas. I agree, but if you have already have experience with this in the past with publishing print products as some of my colleagues do, feel free to apply your skills to this tasks.
--An ISBN (International Standard Book Number): You know that funny thirteen digit bar code on the back of your books? That’s the ISBN and it gives the book its individual identification for public use and sale. Getting one can be a bit time consuming, but my mate said it’s a good thing to have in order to legitimize your product for the public to use. You can get information on purchasing this code online by visiting www.iso.org.
--A distribution plan: Don’t be confused by this as I am not implying that you have to network with a big distribution agency to sell your book from here to Kuala Lumpur. Quite the opposite, in fact. Start displaying your product on your website and offer it to existing clients in your e-newsletters. Check out related tradeshows and if you can get a place in one, bring along some copies to sell. Also pitch it to friends and colleagues, as someone may be able to carry it for you in their place of business or company and can sell it for a small honorarium. This “baby-steps” method will help your products’ success to get rolling and could lead to others offering to market it for you. If you start small, you can only get big.
This short list of tips is exactly what my friend used to get his book out to book shops and buyers. After thinking he would not have much success after being dropped by his agency, my friend can only certify this to you that it’s a surefire way for people to see what you have to offer and dig into their pocket to pay for it.
For more information marketing and wealth creation tips, visit us here at The e-Wealth Daily website.
Take care,
J.
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