PPC Tip #5

Just like you’re concerned about getting the right kind of traffic, you should be just as concerned about getting the wrong kind of traffic. You, of course, want to avoid paying for ads that don’t convert. That’s why you should make use of the negative keyword tools in your PPC engine. When you enter these, your ad will not show when your negative terms are searched for.

For instance, let’s say that you are selling a topical acne treatment (a cream).

You might then choose to use “supplement,” “pill,” and related keywords as negative keywords so that your ad does not appear during searches that are done by people looking for an acne pill treatment (capsule).

This will save you a lot of money, which will allow you to focus on the words you really care about.

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Outlining and Organization Part 1
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I’ll be honest with you up front — if you don’t create an in-depth outline, get yourself organized and stick to the plan, you’re going to have a hard time writing your eBook.

The reason writers can write a new eBook every month is because THEY STAY ORGANIZED. It’s that simple. It isn’t creativity. It isn’t writing ability. It isn’t some special power or magic wand. It’s ORGANIZATION.

So, let me share a few tips with you to keep you on track…

1. Get Organized.

I can tell you from experience, you got to get organized and stay organized if you want to write an eBook. Each time you get ready to write something new, ask yourself some very simple questions.

– What is the focus of this book, article, newsletter, etc.?
– What is the message that I want to get across to the reader?
– What makes this writing different or special?
– What is the order in which I need to divide categories?
– Is this a believable idea and if not, how can I make it believable?
– What kind of research do I need to perform?

Once you’ve answered those questions honestly, you will have better focus to begin. I cannot stress the importance of getting and staying organized. I just don’t know any other way to write than to have a game plan and to stick with it. I’d be lost without doing it.

A great tool many authors use is a planner or organizer. Find an office supply store and get you a new planner or organizer to record your outline and steps completed for your ebook.
Believe me, it’s money well spent. It is critical to your success as an author — simply because it helps you to stay on target and complete your projects.

2. Understand your Goals.

When you get serious about writing, sit down and actually write a mission statement. Identify why writing is important to you, what you expect to get out of it, and what result you want from your writing.
Do you want to earn money?
Do you want to experience a sense of accomplishment?
Do you want to be recognized as an expert?
Do you want fame or credibility?
Do you want to share your knowledge and experience to help others?
Do you want ALL OF THE ABOVE? (And then some!)

When you need motivation, look at your mission statement and re-read what it was that opened your heart to writing in the first place. For the writer that finds great success, it’s perfectly fine to be proud of your accomplishments and awards, but don’t get so caught up in things that you lose sight of why you started writing in the first place. A mission statement will also help keep you grounded.

3. Find a Significant Audience To Sell To

The biggest fear of most writers is that their eBook won’t sell. And that’s a good fear to have because it forces you to take some time to RESEARCH and find out if your eBook is something to pursue at all.

The biggest mistake you can make as an eBook author is to invest time and energy into writing something that no one (or very few people) want to read, or are willing to pay to read.

Before you write a single word of your eBook, find out if the information you are going to share is “sellable.” Determine if it’s information that is valuable to a significant number of people. If your eBook is something you are going to sell in the $20 – $50 range, then you need to make certain that there are at least 10,000 potential customers out there. You’re going to need to sell a substantial number of eBooks to earn some decent profits, so make certain that you have plenty of people who are potential customers.

If you are going to sell a very “nichey” product for a higher price tag of $100 or more, then obviously you won’t need as large of an audience to choose from.

4. Determine Your Own Unique Approach.

What makes you DIFFERENT? Why should a customer buy from you instead of your competition? Are you faster, better, cheaper? Do you offer more? More for less?
From the beginning, you need to find some way that you separate yourself from the rest of the package, something that makes your eBook more advantageous to the potential customer than anyone else’s. You want them to buy from YOU, so why should they?

One of the things that autors like to do — and then stress in their sales letter and ads — is that they offer 100% original, exclusive information. In other words, if you want this information, you gotta buy it from THEM, because NO ONE ELSE HAS IT.

If you can create an eBook that is structured in such a way that no one else is offering it, then you force folks to buy from you if they want the information. That’s a powerful concept, so don’t take it lightly. One of the most important things you can do is determine WHY someone should buy from you, and then work on solidifying that as you write.

Exclusive information? Then write only content (at least portions of it) that no one else is sharing.
Exclusive format? Then structure yours in such a way that can only be found through you.
Exclusive offer? Then put together something that is yours and yours alone.

You separate yourself from the competition by eliminating the competition.

5. Have a Purpose.

I mentioned this briefly before, but certainly it applies here as well. To stay focused on your objectives, you gotta have a purpose. Something that drives you. Something that is waiting at the end of the journey — at the completion of your project.

One young man started writing as a tribute to his loving parents who through unbelievable challenges had raised him with unconditional love and full support. As a way to thank them, he decided to write a book, hopefully have it published, and present it to them for their 50th wedding anniversary. Not only did he get his book published and completely surprised his loving parents, but he went on to a full-time career in journalism.

He had a purpose, a real purpose that drove him to succeed. Keeping your objective in sight is much easier when you’re excited about your work and strive to succeed at your goals. The great thing is that you’re never too young or too old!

Heck, even if the purpose is “Nah, nah — see I told you I could do it!” — that’s something to stay focused upon. One of the most invigorating things in life is to do something that someone told you couldn’t be done.

6. Write Objectives Down.

This is an extremely important step and one that shouldn’t be missed. If you don’t write your objectives down, you will quickly lose sight of them. Keeping them as a visual will help you achieve them.

The most important objective is to identify WHAT YOU WANT TO SHARE with your readers. What is it that you want to share with those who download your eBook?

And, more importantly, have you done that?

Staying on track means looking back over what you’ve already written and determining if it does meet your objectives. In other words, if you want to give your readers a step-by-step plan for losing weight, does your writing do that? If it does, keep moving on. If it doesn’t, then what areas need further explanation or additional information?

7. Working Title.

Choose a title to get you going. You should always entitle the product before you even start writing on it. It helps you to organize all of your ideas towards supporting the main theme of the eBook. That’s what a title for an information product is — it’s a statement of the main theme of the eBook.

For example, when Jimmy D. Brown wrote List PROFIT System, that title helped him to organize his thoughts, remove information that didn’t belong, and add new ideas as he worked on the outline. He structured that course so that everything he shared would work towards showing the reader how to profit from their online newsletter (Aka: ezine)

You can also use the TITLE to help you create your actual chapter headings. For example: If you are writing an eBook on becoming a better golfer, you might entitle it “How to Become a Great Golfer.” Your organization for the eBook might include chapters such as…

Great Golfers aren’t afraid to take risks.
Great Golfers develop their own unique style.
Great Golfers invest in their game.
Great Golfers blah blah blah

The TITLE of your eBook, in addition to helping you stay focused towards the theme, also helps you to organize the subheadings / sections of the eBook by incorporating it into the actual chapter titles themselves.

8. Thesis.

A thesis is one or several sentences that state the audience’s main problem and then how your book is going to solve it. Go ahead and write your book’s thesis, knowing that doing this before your book is written will help keep you on track much better. In this aspect, the chapters will all need to support the thesis so as you write, you will have that in your mind.

Basically, you are expanding upon the title of the eBook. “How to Become a Great Golfer” is the title. Your thesis statement might be “How to become a great golfer in less than an hour a day by following 7 strategies of other successful golfers.”

Everything you write works toward accomplishing what you state as the purpose of your eBook. If it doesn’t work towards that, then get rid of it. It doesn’t belong in there.

9. Use The 4-Step Writing Formula.

Closely connected to writing your objectives down and then seeing if you are achieving those objectives (particularly in reference to WHAT YOU WANT TO SHARE with your readers) is to use the 4-step writing formula…

Step One: Write Out A List of Everything You Want To Share. That’s right, just write down everything you want to share in your eBook. I’m talking just start rambling on paper (or your computer screen). Everything you can think of that relates to the subject of your eBook. Just a list of “ideas” you want to share.

Step Two: Write Everything You Can Think Of For Each Entry. For each entry on your list (I.E. Each “idea”) write down everything you can think of. Explain each idea as thoroughly as you can. Share research, examples, case studies, quotes, tips, resources — everything you can find for each section.

Step Three: Organize Your Thoughts. Take everything and put it into a logical order. If it’s a tutorial, organize it chronologically in order of which steps come first. If it’s a “tips” eBook, categorize the tips. Put things in a logical order for your readers to be able to understand as they begin reading.

Step Four: Edit And Pad The Sections. Go back to each section and edit. Take out what doesn’t need to be in there. And add more content to the sections that need further explanation.
Congratulations. You just wrote an eBook. )

10. Outline Again And Again.

A common mistake of many new writers is that they are so eager to write, they want to dive into a project immediately without giving much thought to process or content.

Perhaps you have an idea but it’s only half-baked. By using ideas that haven’t been thought out very well you usually end up with a poor eBook and a lot of frustration. (How many times have you quit a project and started a new one?) For this reason, if you are just starting to get involved with writing, you need to first learn about and understand the importance of OUTLINING your project.

I always start any writing project by constructing an IN-DEPTH outline. I jot down every idea that I want to share in the eBook (original ideas and researched ideas) and then I organize it into a logical flow for actually writing the content.

BUT, it doesn’t end there. As I am actually writing the eBook, I continue to tweak the outline. I add more subpoints along the way.
——————- Sidebar ———————
Here’s a “very simple” example:
Original outline…

3 Ways to Research Writing Projects
1. Interview experts
2. Subscribe to newsletters
3. Search keywords at search engines.

Expanded outline #1…
3 Ways to Research Writing Projects

1. Interview experts
A. Determine what you want to ask
B. Identify experts
C. Prepare contact letter
D. Submit contact letter
E. Conduct Interview

Expanded outline #2…
3 Ways to Research Writing Projects
1. Interview experts
A. Determine what you want to ask
You could easily add many subpoints here describing what I would actually want to ask the experts concerning my writing subject.
B. Identify experts
You could easily add many subpoints here discussing ways to find out who the experts are and how to contact them.
C. Prepare contact letter
You could easily add many subpoints here explaining what to include in the contact letter, how to make it “worth the while” for the expert, etc.
D. Submit contact letter
You could easily add many subpoints here about the best ways to submit the contact letter (email, traditional mail, fax, telephone, etc.)
E. Conduct Interview
You could easily add many subpoints here describing in detail how to do the interview. (necessary equipment, interviewing skills, preparation, etc.)
——————- Sidebar ———————

The point is to continue EXPANDING each point and subpoint until you have covered everything that is needed in order to comprehensively and clearly share the information your readers need.
Once you have an IN-DEPTH outline, the writing is easy. Who couldn’t write ONE PARAGRAPH about each subpoint? That’s really all it takes.

That is all for Part 1. In Part 2 of Outlining and Organization we will start with #11 Create a Plan of Action. Until then I hope you read, absorb and utilize the information in Part 1 to help you in writing your book.

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PPC Tip # 4

Continuing our series on Pay Per Click advertising we take a look at a very
important aspect of any marketing campaign. The Landing Page.

One mistake that many people can and do make, is sending their PPC
traffic to an unfocused or bad landing page.

You want the landing page to be relevant to what that person searched for.
This will ensure that your visitor doesn’t simply click away the second they
land on your page.

People are often trying to find something very specific, and if it’s not clear
that you have what they want you’ll lose that visitor fast. If you make an
effort to customize a landing page that is relevant to your website you will
find that your traffic converts a lot better.

This often means sending visitors to different web pages depending on
the keyword they clicked on.

For example, if one of your keywords targets “natural acne treatments for
sale,” you want to make sure the page people come to clearly showcases
these natural acne treatments.

If a different ad created references “homemade recipes for acne,” that
landing page had better show some homemade recipes.

It might seem picky, but the more targeted your page is, the more likely
your traffic is to convert into sales.

Think about your own experience with searching for information or a
product you were interested in and how important the landing page was
for you when you reached it. Did it contain the information you were
looking for or did you click away because the information or product
was not relevant?

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Everybody wants to know WHAT to write about.  What is it that people
want to read?  What are the “hot topics” that you know will generate some
interest if you write about them.

Even though the Internet has changed the face of the world — how we shop,
communicate, do business, research and just about everything else — it
hasn’t changed what we WANT.  There are classic (and absolutely
TIMELESS) topics that are always going to be hot topics.

Here are ten of them.  If you want to know WHAT people want and WHAT
you should write about, then find something related to these topics…

1. Making Money.  This one ain’t ever gonna go away.  You can just go
ahead and etch it in stone, it’s here for the long haul.  We all want to make
money (if for no other reason than to be charitable and give it away to
someone else) and some of us (I won’t mention any names ) are
half-crazed for information on how to make money.

If you can show people how to make money (in a legal, moral way,
of course) I can assure you, they will buy it.  I guarantee it.

Internet marketing / doing business online eBooks are some of the hottest
information products available anywhere in the world.  And for good reason. 

People want to make more money.

So, show ‘em how to do it.

2. Self Help / Personal Growth.  Another classic topic for writing is what has
commonly been referred to as “self help” or “personal growth.”  People want
to improve their lives. 

Some struggle with addiction and need help in overcoming the struggle. 
Other people have low self-esteem or feel depressed. 

Some people don’t know how to deal with relationship problems and want
to know how to save their marriage.  The list could go on and on.

I’ll make you another guarantee:  show people how to better their lives and
they’ll buy from you.  No question about it.

We all have things about our personalities that we would like changed. 
Whether we’re shy in public or have a horrible temper or don’t know when
to keep our mouths shut, there are things we’d like to improve.
And that’s an eBook waiting for you to write.

3. Weight Loss / Fitness.
Even though obesity and illness are at the highest levels ever, people are
working hard to reclaim their health and fit bodies.  Gyms are overflowing
with sweaty people and stores are selling out of vitamins left and right. 
Health and fitness is a writing subject that you can never go wrong with.
Heck, I’ll be your first customer. )

The point is this:  we, as a society, want to be healthier and we struggle
with being out of shape. 

It’s no wonder that diet and exercise is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Might as well get your piece of the pie.

4. Dating / Relationships.  What another great topic for an eBook.  There
are dozens of ideas you could use for this one that could each become
best-sellers…

How to avoid divorce court.
How to make your marriage last forever.
How to be more romantic.
How to pick the perfect mate.
How to get people to notice you.
How to use online match making services.
How to be a great father / mother.
How to be a great husband / wife.
How to raise great kids.

I mean, we could go on and on and on here.  Play the energizer bunny if we
want to.  There are dozens of ideas for this topic and the information sells
like crazy. 

Why?  Because if we have positive, enriching, growing relationships, we are
HAPPIER.  And since we can’t buy happiness in a bottle…

…we buy your eBook instead!

5. Everyday Problems. Let’s face it, we all face problems everyday in our
lives.  And often we don’t know where to turn or what to do next.

For example:  If someone is facing foreclosure, do you think they would be
interested in finding information on how to avoid it?  You betcha.

I know of one guy who wrote an eBook about BAD BREATH and is selling the
thing like crazy.  It’s an eBook on BAD BREATH for goodness sake!  And yet
for folks who are struggling with the problem (and I am told it is a common
problem — I guess I’ve just been lucky ) they gladly shell out the $20.00 to
find a cure.

Everyday problems.  They are a headache for US, but they are a product
waiting to be created by YOU.

Think about things that people deal with every day that are annoying and cost
money and time.   And help us out for crying out loud!

6. Hobbies and Crafts.

Hot selling items in any bookstore or online as e-books, are information
products about hobbies or crafts.  People love making things themselves
and getting the self-gratification of a job well done.  You could do some quick
research on the Internet to see what some of the most common hobbies and
crafts are and come up with some unique ideas.

Some might include woodworking, door wreaths, stained glass and any type
of do-it yourself information.  Things like improving your golf game, a guide to
stamp collecting, antiques and so forth. 

Recreation is a huge part of our lives.  We all like to spend time enjoying a
hobby.  And, we spend a lot of money supporting those hobbies as a society
(My wife is a major contributor )

Hobby related information products are most always a big hit and certainly
warrant consideration when choosing a topic to write about.

7. Recipes.  Talk about a HUGE industry — recipes are IT!  I didn’t realize how
big they were until a guy I know started making $30,000 a month selling a recipe
eBook!  (That’s a nice chunk of change, don’t you think?) 

I did a bit of research with Micro Niche Finder which uses Google (the largest
pay-per-click search engine) and found out that recipes are searched for over a
MILLION times each month.

Anything getting that much attention is money waiting to be made for an eBook
author.  I have plans myself to start tapping into that market.  I feel like I’m
throwing away money every month that I don’t have a recipe eBook on the
market!

You probably are as well.

Definitely something to look into.

8. UFOs.  I am a true Star Trek fan and I have watched a great number of X-Files
episodes, it stands to reason that UFOs and unexplained phenomenon are
HUGELY popular online. I have to some extent a understanting of what the
fascination is, but these folks tend to be die-hard fans and are passionate
about the subject.

Any group of people who have that much interest is a group of people who ought
to be offered an eBook.

9. Online Shopping.

What tools are available?  Where can you find price comparisons?  Are there
free trials available?  Demos?  Where are the best deals?  Are there any meeting
places for like-minded shoppers?  Can I browse?

Shopping is becoming a larger and larger industry online (It already is HUGE) as
more and more people are buying online, and as people buy more and more.
Some kind of resource directory for shoppers would be a great eBook, I believe. 

How to find trustworthy merchants online.  How to find the best prices.  How to
get special deals and discounts.  Etc. Etc.

Tips and resources and webpage links — HOW TO SHOP ONLINE…great idea
for an eBook. 

You could even get “nichey” and create an eBook on how to shop for “golf
accessories” or “fitness stuff” or “Christian materials.”

Or, if you’re really smart, you’ll create an entire series of eBooks on how to shop
for just about anything.  One eBook at a time, for dozens of different categories.

10. Technology.
I bought a digital video camcorder.  I brought it home.  I looked at the 300 page
manual. 

I had no idea how to use it.

If you had an eBook available summarizing in simple details how to use the
various features of the camcorder, I’d have paid you $100.00 for it!

And I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Technology is great — but it can be a bit overwhelming.  And, who the heck has
3 days to read through a manual to figure out how to use the darn thing you
bought, even if it isn’t overwhelming to you?  I don’t.

I’d rather pay someone to show me how.

And that’s a market you should consider going after. 

There are hundreds of software programs, video games, computers, electronics,
etc. that folks would love to be able to figure out how to use QUICKLY AND
EASILY.  So, you write tutorials and show us how it’s done.

And we pay you.

And we’re all happy. )

Seriously, I think this is one of the biggest industries for information products that
is currently untapped.  A sharp writer could make a fortune here.

The above 10 topics are just the tip of the iceberg on what to write about. I’m sure
with a little brainstorming you can come up with a few of your own ideas that may
be of interest, or yet a passion of yours that you can write about.

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I took a close look at the PLR.me website and came away with a new look at what is available throught many PLR website offered out ther. Of course…

Everything has pros and cons in life and in business. The pros and cons of PLR.me are very simple and straight forward. This list will give you a clear idea of what PLR.me can do for you.

The Pros of PLR.me

* Get all the self-help PLR content you need to expand your business at one low price.
* The content is real and based on the personal experiences and success of the founder. He knows his stuff.
* The program offers many different types of content, including wallpapers, affirmations, worksheets, and checklists… not just articles.
* You don’t need to struggle with writing your own content. It’s all done for you and looks incredibly professional. (You seriously have to see it for yourself).
* You’ll get more than 80+ pages of Web 2.0-ready content to use every month. If you get creative, you can squeeze out videos, teleseminars, podcasts, and products out of the materials.

The Cons of PLR.me

* The content is limited to the self-help and personal development niche for now.
* The vast amount of content may be overwhelming at first, especially if you’re new to PLR.

It’s seriously one of the best PLR memberships I’ve seen in a long, long time. The value is incredible and the professionalism is unmatched.

www.onlinesuccessideas.com…

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One of the most important things you can do to make sure your articles do well is keyword research. Since people use keywords to search for information in the search engines like Google, you’ll want to target appropriate keywords if you wish to show up at the top of the results pages.

You can find relevant keywords in many different ways, but the easiest way is to use Google’s research tool.

You can find it at:  adwords.google.com…

Simply type in a keyword for your website and Google will give you many keyword ideas.

Example: If you’ve got a website about pet recipes, you would enter terms like “cooking pet food”, “homemade pet food”, “natural pet food’, “cook dog food”, etc.

Google also gives you the numbers that tell you how often people search for each term. That way you know the keywords you’re targeting are worth your efforts.

Another important piece of the puzzle is figuring out how much competition there is for each keyword. If you are targeting words that have too much competition it’s going to be harder for you to reach the top of the search engine results pages. Don’t worry about that happening, because it’s easy to figure out how much competition there is.

Simply go to Google and type in your keyword surrounded by quote marks. The results that pop up are the other sites that are specifically targeting that term.

Now that you have these keywords you can use them to give you a basis for your articles. It’s easiest to choose one keyword per article and focus the topic around that keyword. Remember to put the same term in your title as well.

I have found a tool that will do all the above plus more. To take a closer look at this niche keyword finder go to:

Click here>> Keyword Research Tool

It will be well worth your while to take a closer look at what this marketing tool can do for you.

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If your like me working with Gimp or Photoshop is more than challenge to get it right.  So, I look for free graphics when I can find them. Yes, they are every where but the quality varies from fair to pretty dang good. Especially when they come at no cost.

To get the best graphics you usually have to spend money.  But, what if you could get some of the best 2.0 icon graphics by just giving you name and email. I would and have. I got 332 high quality icon graphics by doing just that. Now you can also by going to:

Click here >>  Web 2.0 Icons

It will be worth your time to go and get your set also. Not sure how long they will be there so take advantage of this Free offer today.

In the meantime I will still be trying to learn how to use Gimp.

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