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.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Q & A - Some Questions and Answers From and For Other Info Marketers
Hey all:
So you've been writing away and sending messages. I am glad - it’s always nice when you get e-mails, especially ones from other information marketers seeking advice. As the guy who is dishing out the goods on information marketing tips and advice, it really forces me to do my homework, think, and research the answers to everyone’s queries.
Over the past months, I’ve been banking all of my e-mails in a file on desktop here at E-Wealth Daily and dug them out on the weekend to go over them. Some of the questions were pretty good and I thought I should compile a bunch of to share with you. These are all valid questions – ones that I think you should consider for your information marketing business as well.
Here goes:
--Q: Hey James. I just started my info marketing business and I create information about sports, specifically basketball. I am getting to a point in my content creation where I am expired of ideas. I am debating writing content that might border on, well, false information and exaggeration. What’s your take on this? I think I know the answer but thought I better check…
A. False information, be it in high school term papers or information marketing, is always a bad idea. Especially if you are selling it to the public, the proliferation of false information can potentially result in ugly legal ramifications that you can only conceive of. My uncle always said: “If you don’t know, don’t bull…”…wait. Well, you get the idea. In short, you can be creative, but make sure you are always truthful. If you are out of ideas, take a break and then do some research for new ones.
--Q: James, tax time is here. I have never done any filings for my information marketing business before. Help!
A. This question is very important. What I would suggest if you have never filed a tax return for your business is to collect all of your sales receipts of your information products, all of your receipts for things you have bought for your business, and find a good accountant. They can walk you through the process of filing taxes, show you what you might have to pay, what return you may be entitled to, and what you can write off as expenses. Finding an accountant is like finding a doctor: search out a bunch of them and find the best, but be sure they can take a new client.
--Q: My products have not been reaching my clients through the mail. ARRGHHH! I am mad and don’t know what to do.
A: Funny you should mention that. I sent a package a few weeks ago to a friend and it never made it to their place either. I know the postal service in this part of the world is pretty good. But I would suggest that if you have very important products to send like items customers have ordered, consider using a courier service. They offer insurance, are very fast, and will handle your products with absolute care.
--Q: Hey man, any health tips for information marketers?
A: HA! I thought I better include this one as your health is important. Like people who work in offices or drive truck, information marketers will spend a great portion of time sitting down, strapped behind a computer. There is little physical exercise there. That said you should always make time to get up and get exercise. Factor in daily running or walking into your work schedule. As well, do not get in the habit of eating poorly either. Snacking gradually over the day is actually good, but think about eating dried fruits and nuts over the chips and carbonated drinks. Health is an important discipline to consider in any job, and all information marketers should be aware of it.
At E-Wealth Daily, there really is no such thing as a stupid question. Feel free to send queries any time and we will respond with the best advice possible to make your business a success.
For more information, visit us here at the E-Wealth Daily.
So you've been writing away and sending messages. I am glad - it’s always nice when you get e-mails, especially ones from other information marketers seeking advice. As the guy who is dishing out the goods on information marketing tips and advice, it really forces me to do my homework, think, and research the answers to everyone’s queries.
Over the past months, I’ve been banking all of my e-mails in a file on desktop here at E-Wealth Daily and dug them out on the weekend to go over them. Some of the questions were pretty good and I thought I should compile a bunch of to share with you. These are all valid questions – ones that I think you should consider for your information marketing business as well.
Here goes:
--Q: Hey James. I just started my info marketing business and I create information about sports, specifically basketball. I am getting to a point in my content creation where I am expired of ideas. I am debating writing content that might border on, well, false information and exaggeration. What’s your take on this? I think I know the answer but thought I better check…
A. False information, be it in high school term papers or information marketing, is always a bad idea. Especially if you are selling it to the public, the proliferation of false information can potentially result in ugly legal ramifications that you can only conceive of. My uncle always said: “If you don’t know, don’t bull…”…wait. Well, you get the idea. In short, you can be creative, but make sure you are always truthful. If you are out of ideas, take a break and then do some research for new ones.
--Q: James, tax time is here. I have never done any filings for my information marketing business before. Help!
A. This question is very important. What I would suggest if you have never filed a tax return for your business is to collect all of your sales receipts of your information products, all of your receipts for things you have bought for your business, and find a good accountant. They can walk you through the process of filing taxes, show you what you might have to pay, what return you may be entitled to, and what you can write off as expenses. Finding an accountant is like finding a doctor: search out a bunch of them and find the best, but be sure they can take a new client.
--Q: My products have not been reaching my clients through the mail. ARRGHHH! I am mad and don’t know what to do.
A: Funny you should mention that. I sent a package a few weeks ago to a friend and it never made it to their place either. I know the postal service in this part of the world is pretty good. But I would suggest that if you have very important products to send like items customers have ordered, consider using a courier service. They offer insurance, are very fast, and will handle your products with absolute care.
--Q: Hey man, any health tips for information marketers?
A: HA! I thought I better include this one as your health is important. Like people who work in offices or drive truck, information marketers will spend a great portion of time sitting down, strapped behind a computer. There is little physical exercise there. That said you should always make time to get up and get exercise. Factor in daily running or walking into your work schedule. As well, do not get in the habit of eating poorly either. Snacking gradually over the day is actually good, but think about eating dried fruits and nuts over the chips and carbonated drinks. Health is an important discipline to consider in any job, and all information marketers should be aware of it.
At E-Wealth Daily, there really is no such thing as a stupid question. Feel free to send queries any time and we will respond with the best advice possible to make your business a success.
For more information, visit us here at the E-Wealth Daily.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
All You Need to Know About Docs — Tips on Creating the Best Info Marketing Documents
Dear Info Marketers,
An old colleague in the publishing world once told me about a trip he took to Mark Twain’s former residence in upstate New York. He talked extensively about seeing one of his writing idols’ home and the thrilled feeling he got exploring it.
One thing he talked with admiration about was Twain’s writing space. He got to see the room, desk, chair, and typewriter that Twain produced a large body of work from. He joked about how tough it must have been; all writers make spelling and grammar errors, and in the age of digital publishing and printing, the idea of re-typing whole pages on a typewriter to correct one error seems ludicrous. Mind you, my colleague joked, with the fear of having to do all that re-typing, I’ll bet he didn’t make too many mistakes!
Indeed. And who knows…it may have created a discipline and originality in writers of the past that we can’t even imagine of today. But that’s okay. Today things are different and we can use today’s technology to our advantage without sacrificing any quality at all.
Creating professional documents, whether they are newsletters, information products, or even e-mail messages, requires time and care on the writer’s part. But there are some great digital and non digital tools to help.
Here are some products I like:
--Scrap paper and a pen: No question about these as for my nickel in the jukebox, the old faithful pen and paper is still the best way to start creating documents. I always keep either a pad or folded bit of scrap paper in my coat pocket with a pen clipped to it whenever and wherever I want to jot down ideas or passages. I advise you to get into this habit as well.
--A voice recording device: This sounds pretentious, like the clichéd image of a screenwriter or mad scientist hidden away in some works space someplace, concocting crazy ideas. But a former colleague who often had trouble writing at the spur of the moment used an old tape recorder from his college days to record ideas he had while at home. He would play the tape back at the end of a week or random recording and transcribe the ideas he liked best. His success proved this method worked for him. It might also work for you if you have similar problems. As a bonus, many recorders now do not require tape and can be kept in your pocket like a pen, ready to use at a moment’s notice.
--Microsoft Word: I always thought this program was taken for granted by a great number of people today. But twenty years ago when my dad got our first personal computer, there was no program that you could access within minutes, and that had everything from font changing and table drawing tools, to text inversion and colour adding tools. Word has gotten me through many years of document creation and has been useful in so many ways. If you ever go to buy your first computer or laptop, make asking Is Microsoft Word on this? your very first question to the salesman.
--Adobe Acrobat: Adobe creates a lot of products for document and visual image creation/manipulations. I was fortunate in my former job to have been trained in it during a two day session. I learned how to create portable digital files (PDF) from scratch and how to transfer them electronically, over the Internet, etc. You can now download Acrobat from the Internet and I would advise you look into this if you wish to send out information products and documents electronically to your clients and colleagues.
--A Good Online Publishing Program: If you get or are already savvy enough with Internet publishing formats, invest in a good online publishing program. These programs come with an interface where you can transfer all the content from your existing Word documents onto and add the appropriate online markup to see how the pages will look online. They also come with an online publishing mechanism where, provided you already have a domain registered online, you can publish your pages immediately. We used to use Ultraedit programs before, but for personal use, Dreamweaver is a good investment.
The expression that it’s all in your hands truly applies to the information marketer that creates his or her own documents. The processes are cheap, accessible, and do not consume much time. Once you have your content and visual ideas prepared, you can literally sit down and create the documents you want and that best present you and your product to the world.
Take care and have a good week,
J.
An old colleague in the publishing world once told me about a trip he took to Mark Twain’s former residence in upstate New York. He talked extensively about seeing one of his writing idols’ home and the thrilled feeling he got exploring it.
One thing he talked with admiration about was Twain’s writing space. He got to see the room, desk, chair, and typewriter that Twain produced a large body of work from. He joked about how tough it must have been; all writers make spelling and grammar errors, and in the age of digital publishing and printing, the idea of re-typing whole pages on a typewriter to correct one error seems ludicrous. Mind you, my colleague joked, with the fear of having to do all that re-typing, I’ll bet he didn’t make too many mistakes!
Indeed. And who knows…it may have created a discipline and originality in writers of the past that we can’t even imagine of today. But that’s okay. Today things are different and we can use today’s technology to our advantage without sacrificing any quality at all.
Creating professional documents, whether they are newsletters, information products, or even e-mail messages, requires time and care on the writer’s part. But there are some great digital and non digital tools to help.
Here are some products I like:
--Scrap paper and a pen: No question about these as for my nickel in the jukebox, the old faithful pen and paper is still the best way to start creating documents. I always keep either a pad or folded bit of scrap paper in my coat pocket with a pen clipped to it whenever and wherever I want to jot down ideas or passages. I advise you to get into this habit as well.
--A voice recording device: This sounds pretentious, like the clichéd image of a screenwriter or mad scientist hidden away in some works space someplace, concocting crazy ideas. But a former colleague who often had trouble writing at the spur of the moment used an old tape recorder from his college days to record ideas he had while at home. He would play the tape back at the end of a week or random recording and transcribe the ideas he liked best. His success proved this method worked for him. It might also work for you if you have similar problems. As a bonus, many recorders now do not require tape and can be kept in your pocket like a pen, ready to use at a moment’s notice.
--Microsoft Word: I always thought this program was taken for granted by a great number of people today. But twenty years ago when my dad got our first personal computer, there was no program that you could access within minutes, and that had everything from font changing and table drawing tools, to text inversion and colour adding tools. Word has gotten me through many years of document creation and has been useful in so many ways. If you ever go to buy your first computer or laptop, make asking Is Microsoft Word on this? your very first question to the salesman.
--Adobe Acrobat: Adobe creates a lot of products for document and visual image creation/manipulations. I was fortunate in my former job to have been trained in it during a two day session. I learned how to create portable digital files (PDF) from scratch and how to transfer them electronically, over the Internet, etc. You can now download Acrobat from the Internet and I would advise you look into this if you wish to send out information products and documents electronically to your clients and colleagues.
--A Good Online Publishing Program: If you get or are already savvy enough with Internet publishing formats, invest in a good online publishing program. These programs come with an interface where you can transfer all the content from your existing Word documents onto and add the appropriate online markup to see how the pages will look online. They also come with an online publishing mechanism where, provided you already have a domain registered online, you can publish your pages immediately. We used to use Ultraedit programs before, but for personal use, Dreamweaver is a good investment.
The expression that it’s all in your hands truly applies to the information marketer that creates his or her own documents. The processes are cheap, accessible, and do not consume much time. Once you have your content and visual ideas prepared, you can literally sit down and create the documents you want and that best present you and your product to the world.
Take care and have a good week,
J.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Content Creation — Rules of the Road for Creating Your Content
Dear Information Marketers,
Back in my salad days, one of the freelance jobs I took was that of website writer. I created content for a few websites for a number of different businesses. From house siding suppliers to small business real estate firms to logistics information, I created the content for all of these websites, starting with a pen and paper and ending, for some of them, by adding HTML markup for it to be posted online.
Recently a friend asked me to redo the content of his company website. He gave me the URL and told me to take any information I needed from it. The company information was in fact there, but the content appeared to be written by a surrealist author, and was chocked with spelling and grammar errors. When I asked my friend about it he said, “Oh yeah, I just nicked some pages from some other websites and cut and pasted them together”
My heart skipped a few beats. We had to have a chat after that as my mate was a content thief.
Creating your website can be cumbersome, but it can be fun too. So much fun that you do NOT need to steal material from others. You need to be organized, but you can do it yourself.
Here are some techniques I use when doing up websites:
--Create an Outline: Like creating an information product, create a detailed outline of your website. Use a blank page of paper for every page of website content you are going to use. Some pages to consider are: About Us/Me, Mission Statement, Products and/or Services, Order Online, and Contact Us. As a rule of thumb, I create between five and ten pages of content for anyone website, depending on the company size.
--Writer your Content Carefully: You don’t need an MFA in creative writing to write your website content. You do, though, have to be thorough. Give some details about yourself, your company, a brief description of your products, and how people can get a hold of them. That’s it. I write my pages in longhand on scrap paper first, and then type them up later. If you are more computer savvy, feel free to type them up straight off, but be sure to edit them and print them off to see how the content looks.
--Keep Fonts and Letter Sizes Consistent: Put yourself in the viewer’s chair and always think about what you would like to see if you randomly landed on that page during a ‘Net surfing session. Keep your fonts consistent – I always use either Courier or Arial – and keep the letter sizes readable and attractive to your viewer.
--Have Graphics for your Products: For the E-Wealth Daily website, we took the graphic files of our product covers and compiled them on our Products page with a brief description of each. If you have graphic files for your products, do the same. It will look attractive to the viewer.
--Do NOT Plagiarize: People say that the Internet is so vast there can’t possible be people out to police it. Hogwash. A recent documentary I watched on a news program revealed that companies will hire detective-like personnel to scan suspect websites to see if plagiarism has occurred. If another entrepreneur suspects you have taken content from their site, you could risk serious legal penalties, and they might have a very good legal team. When in doubt, write it fresh. If that’s an issue, hire a copywriter. Either way, it’ll save a lot of potential hassle.
Websites were designed for information marketing. You are writing your own products right? If you can do that, you can writer your own content. It does not take too long, can help you test your creative juices, and is something you can show to people what a serious entrepreneur you really are.
More to come, so stay tuned!
Best,
J.
Back in my salad days, one of the freelance jobs I took was that of website writer. I created content for a few websites for a number of different businesses. From house siding suppliers to small business real estate firms to logistics information, I created the content for all of these websites, starting with a pen and paper and ending, for some of them, by adding HTML markup for it to be posted online.
Recently a friend asked me to redo the content of his company website. He gave me the URL and told me to take any information I needed from it. The company information was in fact there, but the content appeared to be written by a surrealist author, and was chocked with spelling and grammar errors. When I asked my friend about it he said, “Oh yeah, I just nicked some pages from some other websites and cut and pasted them together”
My heart skipped a few beats. We had to have a chat after that as my mate was a content thief.
Creating your website can be cumbersome, but it can be fun too. So much fun that you do NOT need to steal material from others. You need to be organized, but you can do it yourself.
Here are some techniques I use when doing up websites:
--Create an Outline: Like creating an information product, create a detailed outline of your website. Use a blank page of paper for every page of website content you are going to use. Some pages to consider are: About Us/Me, Mission Statement, Products and/or Services, Order Online, and Contact Us. As a rule of thumb, I create between five and ten pages of content for anyone website, depending on the company size.
--Writer your Content Carefully: You don’t need an MFA in creative writing to write your website content. You do, though, have to be thorough. Give some details about yourself, your company, a brief description of your products, and how people can get a hold of them. That’s it. I write my pages in longhand on scrap paper first, and then type them up later. If you are more computer savvy, feel free to type them up straight off, but be sure to edit them and print them off to see how the content looks.
--Keep Fonts and Letter Sizes Consistent: Put yourself in the viewer’s chair and always think about what you would like to see if you randomly landed on that page during a ‘Net surfing session. Keep your fonts consistent – I always use either Courier or Arial – and keep the letter sizes readable and attractive to your viewer.
--Have Graphics for your Products: For the E-Wealth Daily website, we took the graphic files of our product covers and compiled them on our Products page with a brief description of each. If you have graphic files for your products, do the same. It will look attractive to the viewer.
--Do NOT Plagiarize: People say that the Internet is so vast there can’t possible be people out to police it. Hogwash. A recent documentary I watched on a news program revealed that companies will hire detective-like personnel to scan suspect websites to see if plagiarism has occurred. If another entrepreneur suspects you have taken content from their site, you could risk serious legal penalties, and they might have a very good legal team. When in doubt, write it fresh. If that’s an issue, hire a copywriter. Either way, it’ll save a lot of potential hassle.
Websites were designed for information marketing. You are writing your own products right? If you can do that, you can writer your own content. It does not take too long, can help you test your creative juices, and is something you can show to people what a serious entrepreneur you really are.
More to come, so stay tuned!
Best,
J.
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