Dear Subscriber,

Welcome to the 13th edition of my newsletter.

Ok, I'm at least starting this issue on time, but I'll admit that it is partly because I'm having writer's block on writing a press release and doing some other advertising. 

This has been quite the rollercoaster of a year.  When the year started I had two businesses that I was either starting or working on and generating income.  The first went under because the admin lost interest in it.  He decided he was making more money and spending less time with EDC Gold, then Perfect Wealth Formula, and then Roadmap to Riches (I think that is the most recent one he is promoting) so he gave up on his own program.  Needless to say, I will NEVER join another program with him again.  I find his tactics unethical and think he was completely wrong in the way he handled things.  So that was frustrating.  Then the other business, which was primarily an offline business looked very promising, then I found out I hadn't quite done enough research and I needed a $500 license and a $20,000 Surety Bond (which was going to cost $2,600).  So, unfortunately that business never got started, didn't have the funds to get it started.

The thing was, we moved into a newer house which we have a lease-purchase contract on based on me earning extra income.  My husband has been earning some extra income through our electrical contracting business, but not enough to sustain a lease, a mortgage, and a 2nd mortgage (still haven't sold our old house).  Then I had some success with another business as well as some web design - May was a good month.  Then that program started to not maintain their communication and they made some changes that I didn't agree with so I'm no longer promoting that business either.  It is definitely hard to find long standing, ethical, and successful businesses online these days.  There are more and more scams and more and more programs where the admins have no idea how to communicate with their members.  Or, there are great businesses and programs but you end up with a sponsor who promises you the world to get you to sign-up and then disappears once they get your money. 

So, I've had an up and down year and so far things aren't going as well as we need them to.  I've done some soul searching and I've realized that my problem is focus and passion.  I am NOT focusing and I am NOT following my passion.  See, I'm getting too distracted and many of those distractions are not things that I'm really passionate about. 

That is when I decided to give myself a $30,000 Challenge.  Of course, it is partly financially motivated- $30,000 will get my husband and I COMPLETELY caught up with the bills we've incurred, our credit cards paid off, and a little ahead by having our lease, 1st mortgage, and 2nd mortgage payments made for October.  So, that is how much I want to earn.  Not to mention, that is what I want to earn each month to COMPLETELY get rid of our debt within 5 months.  I will be ok with $5,000 a month which will cover our bills and give us some savings- but I always say "shoot for the stars even if you don't make it you'll have at least reached the moon and that isn't too shabby!"  If I gave myself a serious challenge and made myself focus then I'd have a better shot at actually making the income I want to make.  That covers my focus.  Now for my passion, my passion is solving problems and helping people.  So, I've decided to do a combination of things.  I wrote an e-book compiled with resources and tips on free and inexpensive internet advertising- including HOW to use those resources and a couple opportunities to use to make money online (in case someone doesn't have an opportunity).  I plan to give that e-book away and sell the re-branding rights in order to help build my list and then earn some money.  But, more importantly, I have also gotten my act together with my lead capture page design services.  If you have need for a very inexpensive lead capture page with hosting for a year AND auto-responder set-up, check out my site: http://www.yourhomebizguide.com/Services.htm  -- If you know of anyone looking for great customer service and an inexpensive lead capture page hosted and designed, I'd appreciate the referral!

Well, that was a LONG introduction to this week's newsletter.  Sorry, I guess I had a lot to share this week!

Last week's article focused on 15 methods to boost your sales, so here are 15 more!

Best wishes,
Liz Martinez

Another 15 Proven Methods To Boost Your Sales
by Terry Telford

In the last Top Tip, we reviewed 15 methods to boost your
sales. This time we've got another 15 FREE and
almost FREE techniques to do the same. Use all 30
effective techniques and watch your sales skyrocket!

16. Offer a discounted product. Discounted products
attract tons of traffic. Take one of your best selling
products and slash the price as low as you can and still
make a small
profit. Your smaller profit will be offset with a larger
volume of sales. Even if you don't make a lot of money on
this one off promotion, you introduce more people to your
products and services and can contact them later to make
more profitable sales.

17. Give your product away! Although it sounds crazy at
first, it makes a lot of sense. The best example of this
technique is used in the software industry. Adobe Acrobat
Reader, Win Zip, and Group Mail all give away a free
version of their software. After you have used the product
and have a good feel for the 'inner workings,' you
probably want to upgrade to a more deluxe version. Your
upgrade is where the company makes money.

This is also an effective technique used by affiliate
programs. You sign up as a free affiliate and are then
shown the benefits of upgrading to a paid member.

18. Re-mail. Send your list a second chance offer by
re-mailing them. Statistics show that your same offer
that you mail today, will achieve approximately 70% of
its original success on the second mailing. Remember, it
takes an average of seven impressions before your
prospects actually make a purchase.

To automate the process, load a series of emails into
an autoresponder and your re-mail marketing is done
for you. Make sure you load several different offers
into your autoreponder. You don't want to keep
sending the same offer over and over and over :)

19. Numbers and bullets. Make a list of features and
benefits and list this in your sales literature. It is
much quicker for a prospect to scan a list than it is
to read a paragraph.

20. Promotion warning. Give your customers an advanced
warning about upcoming promotions. This creates a demand
for your promotion even before it is released. You also
create a feeling of goodwill from your customers because
you have shown them that they are important.

21. Ask for referrals. The best type of advertising is
word of mouth. Place a referral form on your site where
customers can give you their friend's names and email
addresses. In return, you will give your customer a
special bonus and send an email to their friends on
their behalf. The email you send must include a very
special offer and refer to the customer that gave you
the contact.

22. Rename things. Give standard items a new name and
prospects will respond. If you ask a prospect to
subscribe to your online magazine, or digital magazine,
your subscriber rate will increase faster than referring
to your publication as an ezine.

23. Double up. Instead of offering one item at a special
price, offer two. On average, the extra item brings in
an additional 45% more sales.

24. Bonus value. It is common to offer FREE bonuses with
every purchase on the WWW. If you don't offer free bonuses
you are losing sales. FREE bonuses are part of the internet
culture. Since everyone offers FREE bonuses, make yours
stand out by giving it a price value. Instead of offering
a FREE ebook, offer a FREE ebook worth $29.99.

25. Swap ads. If you publish an ezine, swap ads with other
ezine publishers to increase your exposure.

26. Define your USP. What makes your business different
than your competitors? Your USP, or Unique Selling Point
gives your customers a reason to buy from you instead of
someone else. Are your products bigger, faster, cheaper?
Every business has a USP. Find yours and promote it.

27. Testimonials. Your customer's opinions are worth
gold, especially if they write them down. Include
testimonials from satisfied customers in all of your
promotional material. This technique gives your product
or service more credibility in the eyes of your prospects.

28. Pre-sell. If you are introducing a new product, ask
your customers for their opinion a few weeks before the
product is released. This gives you time to tweek and
polish the product to perfection before its release.
When your product is released, you can send the customers
who have responded with suggestions a special discount on
the product as a thank you for their help.

29. Test. Send a trial offer to a percentage of your
mailing list. From the response, you can gauge whether
to roll out the offer to your entire list or rework the
details and try again. Testing saves you money and
increases your sales by giving you feedback in small
blocks before you use up your whole database.

30. Short and sweet. Keep your prospecting emails short
and to the point. Long emails are often deleted before
they are read. To present detailed information, get the
prospect hooked in your short email and invite them to
visit your site for the details.

And there you have it, the complete set of 30 award
winning techniques to kick your sales into high gear.
Implementing just a few of these techniques will
increase your sales. Imagine if you implemented them
all!

Have a prosperous week - I know I plan to!!