-•- HomeOfficeDigest.com Newsletter - Issue 146 -•-
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THE HOME OFFICE DIGEST NEWSLETTER
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BE YOUR OWN BOSS
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Picture this ... you just spent the last 3+ months producing a 
killer new product that you know will make you rich! You've put
together a great sales letter, spent hours toiling over each and
every word, and days linking it with a great flash movie and
the perfect website layout. You publish the website, start your
advertising and the sales start flying in! Two days go by and at
this rate you'll reach 6 figures in two month's time! Suddenly
your website goes down! If you're thinking that you don't have
a problem because your web host does back-ups... think again!
If you're the boss it's your responsibility to have a complete,
100% accurate backup of your entire website and products at an
offsite location at all times! Many web hosts only do backups 
once a week, or once every few days leaving it up to you to make
sure that the information on your site is correct and available 
in the event it's needed! It takes only 10-15 minutes to do a 
backup, there is simply no reason not to! 


FEATURED ARTICLE
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Meat and Potatoes for Your Affiliate Diet
by: Beka Ruse

Think of banner ads as the spice in your affiliate diet. 
Sprinkle them around, but for a heartier helping of sales, 
you'll need something more solid! Learn to give your 
visitors longer, more descriptive pre-sales text. Revamp 
your affiliate advertising using these simple steps: 

* Pull the Reader in 
* Introduce the Product 
* Explain the Product's Significance 
* Tell the Reader to Make a Purchase 


--------------------------------- 
Pull the Reader in 
--------------------------------- 

To convince your audience that your text is worth reading, 
make your first sentence or two very interesting. Make a 
bold statement, say something seemingly ridiculous, or 
appeal to your prospect's emotional side. Then, tie this 
grabber in with the rest of your copy. 


--------------------------------- 
Introduce the Product 
--------------------------------- 

What is the product you're advertising? What does it do? 
Directly after your grabber, give a compact explanation of 
your product. Keep this explanation short, while still 
being very clear. This should still be a very short 
section of your text. 


--------------------------------- 
Explain the Product's 
Significance 
--------------------------------- 

What will it do for me? 

By writing your own copy, you can directly target your 
unique audience. Make the most of this opportunity! 
Clearly explain how your readers will benefit from this 
product. 

No one knows your audience like you do. Suggest a variety 
of product uses just for them, and give examples. This is 
the time for details - make this section long and rich. 


--------------------------------- 
Tell the Reader to Make 
a Purchase 
--------------------------------- 

You've come so far - you've laid out exactly what the 
product is and how it will help your unique audience. Now, 
seal the deal - tell your readers to purchase the product! 
Include your affiliate link in this section. 

This step may sound strange, but it's necessary. Often, 
people hear about a product and are genuinely interested, 
but fail to actually make a purchase. A clear call to a 
simple action cuts down on buyer ambivalence. Don't be 
pushy - just change your verb tenses to the imperative. 
Instead of: 

"If you think that you fit this profile, you 
might want to think about buying this product." 

Say: 

"Click here to order an account today." 


--------------------------------- 
Drive Sales - Use Long Copy 
--------------------------------- 

If you don't feel ready to write long copy yourself, ask 
your affiliate program manager for help! Many companies 
release well-written articles by respected authors that 
you can reprint free of charge. 

The novelty of the Web is wearing off. People online now 
are busy. Surfers won't make a purchase unless you make a 
great case for what they'll get out of it. And you're not 
going to do that with just a banner ad. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Beka Ruse provides affiliates of AWeber Communications 
with tips like the one above. Do Less, Earn More. 
Automated E-Mail Follow Up From AWeber. 
http://www.aweber.com/a/p186/affiliate.htm 
 

DOWNLOAD OF INTEREST
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The download of interest this week is taking on a little different
twist. Although I generally recommend a specific software title, 
this week I'm recommending a software genre. If you're connected
to internet ( and I know you are ) then you have to have some type
of Instant Messaging software! It doesn't matter whether you 
choose ICQ, or AOL IM, MSN Messenger or Yahoo Pager but each
and every person doing any type of business online should have 
at least one, if not all of these Instant Messaging programs! 
Communication online is one of the keys to online success and if
you don't have your bases covered you will lose some business. 
You don't have to keep the program on all time, you don't even
have to check it daily, but you should have one of these programs
available in the event that a potential client wants to chat with
you about one of your products or services. 

You can download any, or all of these FREE Instant Messaging 
software programs by visiting http://www.download.com . Go get
one now!


WHAT ARE THEY THINKING
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Why do so many e-businesses think that we're going to be swayed
by the testimonials on their website? Do all the content creators
and webmasters out there really think that we the buyer don't know
that the majority of the testimonials on their websites were either
paid for or faked? We visit Joe Blow's site and see testimonials
from John Doe, then we visit John Doe's site and see testimonials 
from Joe Blow. Do all the webmasters out there really think we're
too stupid to put two and two together? If you notice sites using
this cross-testimonial method make they pay! If  they use these 
shady tactics take your business elsewhere! If a webmaster thinks
he/she can trick us into buying a product that can't generate any
testimonials on it's own merit they need to think again!


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