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by William Knotts on June 26, 2008, 05:46:00 PM

Welcome To Lesson 5.5 In Your
30-Day IM Challenge Training Program

"The Magical Formula For Creating
Life Changing Income!"

Copyright© 2008 by The Abundance Group, LLC for www.DirectionsUniversity.com . All Rights Reserved.

"Four Under-Utilized 'Profit Nuggets'
Guaranteed To Snag Up Highly
Responsive Customers And Send Your
'Hit Counter' Into A Spin Frenzy!"


Welcome Back Top Gun!

I take it you've been enjoying your lessons so far or you wouldn't be here. Yes, the lessons are great.... I know! Sooner than later, you'll be scoffing at all the "Nay-Sayers" while you're balancing your checkbook and downloading your PayPal reports. Don't fret... you could thank me then ;

Because right now we've got more important things to do...

Today, in lesson 5, we're going to briefly go over some of the techniques we've already discussed in Lessons 1 thru 4 just to be certain you undoubtedly understand how everything we've talked about so far is beginning to take shape and how all of your "prep-work" will eventually propel us into "BIGGER AND BETTER" things to come.

We're also going to grab some more free tools that I'm sure will make great additions to your marketing toolbox. These tools are highly effective marketing "gems" and many folks don't even realize they exist (so let's keep it between us... shall we?)

And finally, we're going to talk about some traffic generation methods that I'm sure will have you jumping out of your seat with excitement -- 5000 watt light bulbs flashing in your brain -- once you realize just how easy it can be to have your hit counter spinning out of control.

So... Are you ready to get those creative juices flowing?

Lesson 5 starts right NOW!

Before we really dive in, I'd like to touch upon one really important aspect of your "game plan". I didn't mention this in previous lessons so I want to take a minute and go over this one "ULTRA IMPORTANT" aspect before we go any further...

Do you know what your USP is? Do you know what those THREE letters stand for? To be perfectly honest... If you don't know the answer to these two questions, you're business is going to crumble right before your very eyes.

Entire books have been written on this subject. But if you don't know what a USP is yet... you're in luck because right now -- before You jump into your lesson, I'm going to clear all the cobwebs...

So... What is your USP? In it's simplest terms...

Your "USP" Is Your "Unique Selling Proposition".

In other words...Why is your business Unique? What does your business offer your target market that separates it from the rest of your competition? Why should a customer buy from you instead of your competition? What do you provide "head and shoulders" above your competition to encourage your customers to BUY FROM YOU?

Let me give you a good example of how a strong, cleverly thought out USP can turn a failing business into an instant success story...

Amazingly enough, a once failing pizza shop used the power of a strong USP to turn their struggling business into an empire. They decided to become unique by capitalizing on JUST ONE specific aspect of their business that no one else had yet capitalized on.

Once they did, their profits soared!

Who is this pizza shop? Domino's Pizza. How did they turn their business around? With a simple, clever, slogan combined with a strong USP....

"Delivered Hot And Fresh In 30 Minutes Or Less... OR IT'S FREE!"

The young owner of Domino's Pizza didn't capitalize on the freshest ingredients, the ripest tomatoes, 5 different cheeses, or herbs and seasonings directly from the hills of Italy.... NO WAY! Everyone else was already doing that. This "college student" realized where the "wants and needs" were and hammered home ONE simple and UNIQUE message! He asked himself...

What do folks want from a pizza shop?

The simple answer -- They want their pizza FAST And HOT!

This simple yet ingenious slogan combined with their newly developed USP alone turned their failing business into a MEGA MILLION DOLLAR FRANCHISE!


SIDEBAR:

At the end of this lesson, I'm going to provide you with a link to download one of my favorite "quick read" ebooks written on the subject of developing a USP. This ebook is authored by none other than "Dan Kennedy" and the title is:

"21 Days To A Profit Explosion"

This ebook was written more towards a "Direct Mail" marketing campaign but you will truly gain a new outlook on just how simple yet important the proper development of a unique marketing strategy and USP is to your online business.

Look for the download link at the end of this lesson and ENJOY!


So my astute student... You might be asking yourself...

How does this relate to your business model for "Candle-Lite Cooking"?

Simply put, when deciding on your website's theme, it's imperative to your success that you define a strong USP first... then clearly state your USP at the forefront of your website...

YOUR HOMEPAGE...

Let's take another look at your website and see if you think you've clearly capitalized on your USP so your customers and website visitors will immediately recognize why you're different and what You have to offer...


If you haven't yet done so, STOP and Click Here. This link will open in a "new window" and take you to the Homepage.

Take a moment and look it over.

  • Look at the use of the logo text.

  • Check out the subtle ways you'll add the links to other pages within your website.

  • Look at the bulleted list of "Benefits" you'll be offering.

  • Look at the use of the graphics and how they encompass a certain "romantic" theme.

  • Notice how you immediately state your "Unique Selling Proposition" then immediately ask a question to get your website visitor involved in your site.

"Spark A Hotter Flame Under Your Next Meal!"

and...

"Would You Like To Fire Up A Little More Romance In Your Relationship?"

Do you think those folks hitting your website who might be interested in "Sparking Some More Romance" into their relationship will continue to read your homepage?

Absolutely 100% Yes!

But more importantly -- only if that traffic is highly targeted to what You have to offer!

Rule Number 1...

YOUR TRAFFIC NEEDS TO BE HIGHLY TARGETED IF YOUR WEBSITE IS GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL

That's why it's so critical to your online success that you take the time to clearly define your USP and develop your entire website around it.

Take note:

  • You didn't capitalize on "1000 Cooking Recipes" on your website.

  • You didn't capitalize on "The largest assortment of cookware" available online.

  • You didn't capitalize on "Non-Stick" or "Lifetime Guarantees" on your cookware.

  • You didn't capitalize on the fact that You've been in business for over "XX" years!

  • You didn't capitalize on any of these things (although You may have all these things to brag about!)

You simply developed your USP as this...

The only place on the web where fine dining and romance combine to spark your love life!

And right now, those are the only folks that You want to bring to your website! Folks who enjoy cooking and would love to prepare a nice "candle-lite" meal for their mate!

This is very important...

Never lose sight of the fact that You could have the greatest website on the net, thousands of customers visiting your site on a weekly basis, a lot of valuable, entertaining content, freebies available to download, pop-ups and email forms ready to snatch up email addresses to build upon your "foundation"... but the fact remains...

If your traffic isn't "Laser Targeted" toward what You're offering... all your efforts will be in vain -- wasted!

If the vast majority of the folks who visit your website aren't specifically interested in your USP:

  • They're not going to opt in to your email offer

  • They're not going to be interested in your newsletter

  • They're not going to be interested in your "follow up offers"

  • Ultimately... They're not going to buy your products!

Simple as that!

You specifically want to target only your defined NICHE! You need to seek out and find your target customer and then carefully "lure" them to your website.

You want to attract folks who will be visiting your website specifically looking to create some romantic meals for their mate. Right? That's the perfect market to attract.

Yes, there are other targets You can expand upon like "healthy cooking", "fine wines", Chocolates, Flowers and gift baskets via affiliate programs, etc. as your business grows (and we'll discuss many of those profit nuggets later in these 12 lessons) but for right now -- your primary focus needs to always remain -- Romantics that want to cook up a "special candle lite meal" for the one they love.

So, how can You be sure to attract those folks interested in your USP?

You "PRE-QUALIFY" all your website traffic. You need to target those folks in particular before You can really begin to reap the rewards from your marketing efforts. You don't want to spend your time and efforts (and possibly money) on bringing traffic to your website that isn't specifically interested in what You have to offer. Your USP!

Got it? Understand? Capice?

Okay then...

So, now that You know WHO your target is, how do You let those customers know You even exist and "entice" them into visiting your website? How are these folks - who may not even realize yet themselves that they're interested in what You have to offer - going to find out about You?

Simple. You're going to tell them You're here -- brighter than life -- and that You've got some incredible offers just waiting for them - MANY FREE just for stopping by. You're going to show them You know what You're talking about before they even hit your homepage. You're going to become a respected leader in the marketplace.

In other words, you're going to become an "influencer".

SIDENOTE: I talk about becoming an influencer in Step1 and Step 2 of the 30-Day Challenge materials. You'll find these at:

http://www.theimuniversity.com/step-1-mindset
http://www.theimuniversity.com/step-2-target-markets

But before You go "touting" your web address all over the Internet, You first need to be sure that once You do start seeing those customers pounding on your homepage -- "Let Me In... Let Me In..." -- You have all the tools and resources in place to capitalize on each and every visitor.

Remember this...

When your traffic starts arriving, You want to be sure You can step up to the plate and crack a "HOMERUN" every time. Okay... maybe not a homerun every time, but at least a single or a double...

Here's what I would consider a "Good At Bat" when it comes to what You want to gain from your traffic ...

Getting every single visitor to sign up for your email list.

You're going to have such an advantage over 99% of every other site online once you start implementing these strategies...

In earlier lessons, while just beginning to build your website, we talked about how important it is to build your "foundation" -- your email list of customers -- Right?

We also talked about how important it is to "pre-sell" your website traffic by offering them something of "value" in exchange for their email address.

And do you remember how You pre-sell your customers?

By convincing them to subscribe to your list which will allow us to follow up with them via email, eventually establish a relationship with them and build trust.

REMEMBER... BUILDING YOUR LIST IS - AND ALWAYS WILL BE - YOUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY!

If you also recall, in past lessons we talked about how important it is to have quality, entertaining content to write about in your niche. Do you remember?

Well, without getting too far ahead of myself here ( I tend to do that sometimes), I'd like to try and put a few of the pieces from your "scattered website puzzle" together for you so you can begin to see where all this is leading to and to hopefully start expanding your "newly acquired" knowledge about why this "simplistic" setup you developed when you first started out building your website was so extremely important.

Take a step back for a moment and think about something...

You have to take into consideration your "ultimate goal" as an online marketing, selling, endorsing, writing, entertaining, trusted, self-employed, Internet entrepreneur.

  • Is it your goal online to make a few hundred dollars each month?

  • Is it your goal online to make a few thousand each month?

  • Is it your goal to make TENS OF THOUSANDS each month?

I'm sure you'll agree - BIGGER IS BETTER - Right?

So, if You want to be able to expand your business into an "E-powerhouse" You need to realize that You are going to want to be bringing in multiple streams of web revenues to accomplish this.

But can all these multiple streams of income come from just one small website?

Yes, they can - in the beginning...

But to really be able to see the "big bucks" coming in You need to realize that You will eventually want to expand your business in many different directions -- NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST as You continue to BUILD YOURLIST. That's when "multiple streams of income" will really begin to erupt!

Like I said, I don't want to get to far ahead of myself here in this lesson, but I want you to realize that it really is a "SUPER-SIMPLE" process to open a new website online and generate $10,000, $20,000, even $40,000 plus per year from one simple laser targeted niche site if setup and marketed correctly.

And rest assured, as You continue to move forward throughout each of these 12 lessons, you'll realize just what I mean when I say "SUPER-SIMPLE".

But I think you'll agree that You want to do more than that... right? You want to set your goals high! Ultimately, You'd like your business to provide a full time income... Right?

You'd like to see your income develop into $100,000, $200,000 even $300,000 a year if You can. So how do You do this?

You do this by expanding your "foundation" NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, And WEST! This will allow you to have various streams of income coming into your business from all directions.

This is what I call "Going Wide and Going Deep" at the same time in your profit funnel.

Let's think about your little website for just a moment...

In it's first stage, your site will have everything it needs to start bringing in targeted traffic, converting that traffic into a "solid foundation" of targeted email subscribers, and the ability to make a few sales each day (as you'll soon see).

But wouldn't it be great if You knew right from the initial launch of your site that You had "BIGGER AND BETTER" plans for your website than to simply grab a few sales each day from your list of customers?

You're darn right it would!

So, although here in Lesson 5 You're going to continue to break new ground and learn about some clever techniques for building your foundation, just keep it in the back of your mind that You're not nearly done expanding your foundation and building your business from all directions - NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST!

In future lessons, You're going to keep expanding your "BUSINESS" to create an auto-pilot system that will generate sale after sale once You set it up correctly.

Exciting, isn't it?

But right now in lesson 5 You need to concentrate on homepage's "TO DO LIST".

You need to continue designing your homepage. You need to be virtually guaranteed that You'll convert all the traffic to your website (once You start generating it) onto your subscriber list and build your foundation.

So... Let's get your homepage completed so You can be sure You snatch up those email addresses...

Adding pop-ups, forms, and lead capture systems to your homepage...

Again, you're probably sick to death of hearing me say this... but your NUMBER ONE goal as an ecommerce entrepreneur is capturing your visitors email address! END OF STORY!

So, to be sure You've given yourself every opportunity to do this effectively, You'll need to incorporate a few lead capture systems into your homepage.

If you haven't yet visited your "LIVE" Homepage yet, I encourage you to Click Here Now and take one last look at what your page looks like before You begin to add some more clever "Profit Nuggets" onto your page. All You've basically done so far is add a subscription form embedded directly into your homepage. That means... "You've only just begun"!

As I stated in lesson 3, you should try to incorporate at least three or four "lead capture" generators into your homepage for maximum results.

  • A link to your newsletter at the top of the page

  • A pop up inviting your visitors to register for a FREE e-course or special report

  • A link in the menu bar offering a FREE e-course or report (some type of valuable downloadable product)

  • An exit pop up for your offer

  • A sign up form directly embedded into your homepage

When You designed your homepage for "Candle-Lite Cooking" You designed the homepage with a "sign up" form embedded directly into the homepage of the site. That was your first step.

Now, You need to expand on that "capture page" and add a few "goodies" to allow for your targeted traffic every opportunity to "opt-in" to your email system.

So now comes the fun part! We'll need to do a little brainstorming to decide what You'd like to offer your traffic in return for their email address.

Remember... GET YOUR TRAFFIC IOTO YOUR EMAIL SYSTEM!

So, let's think about a few things You could offer. My three personal favorites that I've continually had great success with over the years are:

  1. A free e-course

  2. A free newsletter

  3. A free report to download

So let's stick with those for the time being and see how You could incorporate them into alternative "capture" methods by using some pop-ups and exit windows for starters.

NOTE: Before You do that, let me just address the issue of "Pop-Ups" in general for a moment because there is a lot of "hissy whispering" going on about the use of pop-ups in general online and how "ANNOYING" they can be to your website visitors.

Rest assured, I hate annoying pop-ups just as much as anyone else when browsing the net. The difference however, between what is generally considered to be an annoying pop-up and a "welcomed" pop-up is the relevance of the pop-up to your website.

There's nothing more frustrating than visiting a website and having multiple pop-ups jumping out all over your web browser - each having nothing to do with what you're interested in. To further frustrate the hell out of you, each time you close one... another pops up at you. Heck, there are times when you have to close down your entire web browser just to get rid of those annoying things.

That's not what I'm talking about when I refer to a pop-up on your website. You see, you're traffic won't mind if they see a pop-up on your website's homepage as long as it's relevant to your target audience and gives your visitors the option to immediately close the window if they aren't interested.

Trust me... I've used pop-ups on many different websites over the years and I don't think I've ever had one complaint from a visitor about them.

Why?

Because I'm offering my visitors something valuable on the subject that they've come to my site to learn more about. Simple as that! You NEVER want to place a pop-up on your site advertising an affiliate program, traffic exchange system, banner ad, etc. That will definitely annoy your web visitors.

But a custom designed, strategically placed pop-up offering something of value to your visitors will be a welcomed addition to your site. Plus, you'll be amazed at how many of your website visitors will actually take you up on your offer by entering their name and email address into the pop-up form - hence - building your "FOUNDATION".

Okay... enough said!

There are two crucial elements to your business that I wanted to bring to the forefront here in lesson 5. My goal in this lesson is to provide you with a better understanding of these two elements:

  1. A Strong USP

  2. An Effective Capture (home) page

So, to better help you understand the importance of developing a strong USP, I have provided you with a free download that I would like you to read written by an author many refer to as "The Million Dollar Man" - Dan Kennedy. I think you'll find this e-book both enlightening and entertaining. Pay special attention to the story about Al The Plumber. MY FAVORITE!

If anyone could demonstrate to you why it's imperative to your business that you develop a strong USP it's Dan Kennedy. You can download his ebook from the link below:

21 Days To A Profit Explosion

The second crucial element to your success is understanding the importance of a well designed capture page (homepage) and learning how to add "un-blockable" pop-ups, pop unders, exit pop up windows, and forms to your homepage.

Although we'll continue to talk about capturing email addresses in upcoming lessons, in today's lesson I wanted to provide you with a VIDEO SERIES by Louis Allport which I think will provide you with some valuable information, tools, and techniques for creating capture pages, pop ups, forms, and links to get your website visitors to subscribe to your list offer.

Although Louis talks more about selling "information products" in his video series, you'll clearly gain a better understanding of how to incorporate these little "gems" into your own website.

But before you download the video series however, I would also like to mention a few things that Louis doesn't cover in much detail that I feel is important.

As I mentioned in Lesson 1, it's absolutely necessary that you setup an autoresponder account in order to capture and follow up with your website visitors. Two of the most popular and most trusted companies for an autoresponder service are:

aWeber - http://www.askggg.com/aweber

GetResponse - http://www.getresponse.com

However, I also recommend that you consider getting what is called an "integrated system" that allows you to get a shopping cart, affiliate program, autoresponder, and more in a single system. This is a much more cost effective way of getting the essential tools that you need to build your business. My two favorites are:

ThirdSphere - http://www.askggg.com/recommends/hosting (also includes hosting)

eBizAC - http://www.askggg.com/ebizac (also includes a support desk you can put onto any of your websites)

All of these services will allow you to create pop ups, pop unders, exit pops, glide in windows, embedded forms, etc. through the account tools they offer. This is very handy when you want to design a pop up or exit window, etc. quickly and easily.

Regarding your homepage at "Candle-Lite Cooking", I've now added FOUR "lead capture" generators so once You begin sending traffic to your website You'll be sure to snatch up as many targeted email subscribers as possible. Before you take a look to see how I've incorporated these four "Lead Generation Systems" into your homepage (capture page), take note of the following:

  1. The subscription form I embedded into your homepage:





  2. The pop up window offering a free e-course:




  3. The exit window offering a free download:




  4. The link to your newsletter:



Okay... So now that we've gone over the "key" capture elements to your homepage, take a minute and Click Here To Visit Candle-Lite Cooking Live. Take notice of the "FOUR" elements You now have incorporated into the site.

  1. The pop-up window (unblockable)

  2. The exit window (NOTE: If you have pop up blockers "on" you will not see this exit pop up)

  3. The embedded form directly on the homepage

  4. The newsletter link at both the top and bottom of the page

I'll STOP HERE AND WAIT while you check things out!

Now that's an effective homepage! And who would ever guess You plan on using some drop shippers to sell products from your website. Would you?... I Didn't think so ;-)

So, to learn more about how to create an effective homepage and also where to grab some incredible FREE tools that you can use immediately to add these clever types of pop ups and exit windows to your website, you can download your video series below:

Click Here To Download Your Videos

And remember to take some time to read over Dan Kennedy's ebook about developing a strong USP:

21 Days To A Profit Explosion

I think that will about cover things for lesson 5.

In lesson 6, we're going to quickly finish up discussing the remaining elements of your homepage design and get into some terrific traffic generating techniques that will virtually guarantee us we start bringing in some highly targeted traffic and building your "foundation" by adding email addresses to your customer list.

You have my word... your next lesson is gonna be a real "spitfire"!

So, until next time..

See you at the top,

Gina Gaudio-Graves
"The JV Queen"
Author and Mentor
Founder & Dean, Directions University

P.S. I'd Love to hear your comments or any feedback about this course. Just drop by Directins University forum at www.TheIMUniversity.com/forum anytime to get in touch with me!

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