Information Business Home Study Course by George Watts

TABLE OF CONTENTS MODULE 1: INSTANT 3 YEAR PLAN ....................2 MODULE 2: INSTANT RICH CELLS .................... 26 MODULE 3: INSTANT RESEARCH...................... 36 MODULE 4: INSTANT DATABASE...................... 47 MODULE 5: INSTANT SALES LETTER ................ 55 MODULE 6: INSTANT MARKETING BLITZ.......... 64 MODULE 7: INSTANT OPS MANUAL.................. 96 MODULE 8: INSTANT REPACKAGE................. 100 MODULE 9: INSTANT COURSE........................ 104 BONUS MODULE: INSTANT E-COURSE........... 116 BONUS MODULE: EBOOK ............................... 138 BONUS MODULE: HOW TO VIDEO ................. 144 BONUS MODULE: AUDIO INTERVIEW ............ 158 BONUS MODULE: TELESEMINAR.................... 171 BONUS MODULE: 3D COVER.......................... 174

MODULE 1: INSTANT 3 YEAR PLAN

WHY DO I WANT TO BE AN INFOPRENEUR? Everyone has different reasons for doing things. It’s critical to understand yours. Without grand enough reasons, you won’t finish this course.

Possible reasons (tick which apply to you) Make A Difference To People’s Lives Operate From North Pole (mobile business) Instant Delivery Almost Zero Start Up Cost No Boss Zero Inventory 100,000 + Niche Markets Zero Overheads Do in your spare time Incredibly Easy To Create An Info-Product Can create an Info-Product in minutes 100% AutoPilot (works 24/7 without you) Do In My Free Time Very Profitable Multiple Streams Of Income Become an expert (self-published author)

INFO-PUBLISHING 9 STEP FORMULA The 9 steps include… 1. Instant 3 Year Plan 2. Instant Rich Cells 3. Instant Research 4. Instant Database 5. Instant Sales Letter 6. Instant Marketing Blitz 7. Instant Operations Manual 8. Instant Repackage 9. Instant Info-product Notice ‘creating the info-product’ is the very last step in the infopublishing formula! You may have the urge to leap straight to step 9 2

before doing any of the other steps. Be warned! That leap will land you in failure! Have the courage to take one step at a time!

KEEP IT EASY, SIMPLE & FAST What do you know that we don't? Or who do you know that knows something that the rest of us need or want to know? You don't have to spend years learning a core expertise; you can find some expert who is under-marketed and take his or her idea to the marketplace. You absolutely must organise your info-product in the communication age style... 1. Easy and fun to learn! 2. Simple to use! 3. Fast results!

INFO-PUBLISHER NOTE BOOK Leonardo DaVinci used a notebook ‘daily’ and crammed it full of diagrams, drawings, ideas and doodlings. You are going to do the same! Before long you’re going to love your NOTE BOOK! It’s FUN. There are no rules. It’s there to capture stuff. You never know where your next £300,000 idea may come from.

Get out your Info-publisher Notebook and scribble down an idea. If you don’t have an idea. Just draw a cat or something. Just get into the daily habit of picking up your Info-publisher Notebook and write, doodle or draw something in it!

INFO-PUBLISHER E-NOTE BOOK If you’re good with a computer, complete the exercises on this course using Microsoft Word.

DAILY HABITS ARE THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Would you like to know how to

guarantee success?

Research shows that those who participate in a daily routine are 3 times as likely to stay on their course than those who participate 6 days a week – and fare 5 times better than those who participate 3, 4 or 5 days a week. To guarantee success make it your daily habit to either create or sell infoproducts.

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” - Woody Allen

I know habits aren’t exactly sexy. If you want a sexy, passionate, juiced, buzzed, rich and abundant life you’ll want to develop the daily habit TODAY! I don’t give a hoot what you’ve done in the past. The past is NOT you. Every moment of every day you are reborn. So, if you’ve had trouble sticking to stuff in the past THAT’S NOT YOU! Today, you are someone who sticks to a daily habit. It does NOT take four years of University to build the daily habit. It does NOT take years of psychotherapy to build the daily habit. It takes an instant. It takes a moment. Now!

Right this second you can instantly become a daily habit guy/girl. Building daily habits will make a radical, quantum change to your life. Decide right now to instantly become a daily habit guy/girl. Do you know the reason why most people fail in life?…

SUCCESS IS WAY TOO SIMPLE! There are about 6 billion people on earth and about 6 billion of those could easily, immediately, effective right this second, have a “daily habit”. But only a few do. The problem is there are a million and one things to do in life. There are millions of fun diversions out there to distract us. Yet it is the person who focuses his/her attention like a laser beam “daily” on who he/she wants to **be** that becomes a raging, out of control, wild success.

3 Steps To Build A “Daily” Habit If you catch your mind saying, “I don’t have time today.” Don’t listen! Don’t think! Simply show up! 1. Pick a daily time to show up to your InfoBiz (e.g. 6 to 7am) 2. Block that time off in your diary system 3. Show up “I will show up to build my InfoBiz every day at ______am/pm.” Signed: ____________________________

THE MATHS OF SUCCESS Normally maths is a boring subject, but I think this maths will inspire you!

£300,000 Business Model •

As an info-product developer/marketer, it is within your reach to earn £300,0000 a year or more from your efforts.

•

To achieve that level of income, you have to follow a specific business model - one that is designed to maximise your chances of success, while reducing your chances of failure.

How to make £300,000 a year? •

Daily Amount: £300,000 /365 = £821.9178082 a day.

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Weekly Amount: £300,000/52 = £5,769 a week.

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Monthly Amount: £300,000/12 = £25,000 a month.

Running the numbers To earn £300,000 a year, you need to earn an average of £822 a day in sales. At first, that may seem like a lot of income to generate for every day of the year. And it can be . . . depending how you go about it.

THE 3 PATHS LEADING TO £300,000 A YEAR

1. The really hard path: £10 If you sell info-products that only net you £10 per sale, you'll have to make 82 sales a day, and do that every day of the year - for a total of 30,000 sales a year. And let me tell you, generating 30,000 sales is a lot of work. Especially considering that in most cases, you will have direct contact with at least 20% of your customers (that's 6000 people calling or emailing you). 2. The hard path: £50 If your info-products net you £50 per sale, then to make that £822 a day in earnings, you need to make 17 sales a day. Or 6,000 sales a year - still a lot, but attainable. 3. The easy path: £205 If your info-products earn you £205 per sale, you only need to make 4 sales a day. That’s a total of 1,463 sales a year (120 sales a month).

Choose which INFOPATH you want to travel down I want to go down path # ______

THE 3 LESSONS TO REACH £300,000 A YEAR First lesson Concentrate on high profit items •

Selling low cost info-products = unrealistically high sales volumes.

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Concentrating on a info-product mix where the average revenue from each info-product is between £50 and £500 per sale means you can achieve your revenue goal with far fewer sales.

Second lesson 10 + info-products in your mix = 2 sales per day per info-product One Info-product •

Let's assume that your chosen info-products earn you £50 per sale. If you offer just one info-product, it means you need to find 6,000 different customers to make 6,000 sales (6000 x £50 = £300,000).

Ten Info-products •

If you have 10 info-products earning £50 each per sale, you need only 600 sales per info-product per year to achieve £300,000 a year. That works out to just two sales per day, per info-product.

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Instead of having just one info-product, you have 10 different infoproducts, appealing to the same target audience. The likelihood is that many customers will order at least two of your info-products. And if that average holds, it means you need only find 3,000 customers.

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If on the average customers order 3 of your info-products, you need only find 2,000 customers.

Third lesson Keep adding related info-products to your mix •

The more info-products you offer, the fewer sales required by each info-product to achieved the desired revenue goal.

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If you offer multiple info-products that appeal to the same target market, and if customers order multiple items per order, it means you need far fewer total orders per day to achieve your daily sales goal. For example, if an info-product earns you £50 per sale, you will need to process 17 orders a day to achieve your goal. But if

each order includes 3 different info-products, with an average net income of £150 per order, you only need to take 6 orders a day to achieve £300,000+ a year. •

By offering multiple info-products with strong profits targeting the same audience…you can reduce the number of required orders per day down from 82 (for a £10 info-product) to just 6 orders a day (average £150 per order).

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You must understand the numbers if you are to have any hope of achieving £300,000 in revenue per year.

3 Lessons Recap •

I will concentrate on ___________ profit items.

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I will create 10 info-products in my info-product mix ranging from £50 to £500 each. If all 10 info-products sold for £50 I’ll need ___ sales per day per info-product to reach £300,000 sales in 1 year.

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I will continue adding _________ info-products to my info-product mix.

PRICE COMES FIRST Here’s a guide to coming up with the perfect price for your info-products - a price that makes your customers happy, and generates the kind of revenue you want.

TOP 6 INFO-PRODUCT PRICING RULES 1. Your individual info-product pricing must be part of an overall income strategy. If you want to make £300,000 with your infoproducts this year, then you need to develop the kinds of infoproducts that you can price at a level that can generate £300,000 a year. Without a strategy, you may end up developing a series of £19 info-products, which will never generate £300,000. Set an annual income goal, and then develop info-products that can be priced to achieve that goal. 2. Avoid selling anything for under £58. Selling something for less than £58 requires too many sales to make much profit. Generally you will want to earn at least £40,000 from any info-product you develop. And if you price below £58, it will take too many sales, too many customer contacts, and too much support to generate much profit. But if you price at £58 (and well above), you can do quite well on fewer sales and fewer support headaches. An info-product priced at £20 will require 5 times as many sales as an info-product priced at £100 to generate the same revenue. Put another way - 500 sales of a £20 info-product will earn you £10,000, while 500 sales of a £100 info-product will earn you £50,000. The same amount of work is usually involved in fulfilling the order. 3. Create info-products that don't require much support (videos, home courses, online courses, DVDs, reports). 4. Too low a price kills sales. Setting a price too low is a very common mistake. If your price is far below the expected price and far below your competitor's price, customers will think something is wrong. Better to have a higher price - which usually indicates better quality. 5. You'll only sell a small percentage of your projections. Marketers almost always over-estimate the number of info-products they will actually end up selling. In reality, very few independently developed info-products sell more than a 1,000 units. Yes, it

happens, but rarely. Still, if you price your info-product right, you can do quite well selling just a few hundred units. If you sell 300 units of a £100 info-product, you generate £30,000. And if you have ten info-products doing the same volume, you generate £300,000. 6. Don't try to reach your annual income goal from sales of just one info-product. If you have high annual income goals, don't try to make all that income from a single info-product. You'll be better off to have an assortment of related info-products (all appealing to the same general target market). Doing this encourages customers to buy several items at a time - increasing your per order volume. If you have 'all your eggs in one basket' info-product-wise, you can get blind sided by changes in the market place or consumer demand.

INFO-PRODUCT PRICING STRATEGY When it comes to choosing the perfect price for your infoproducts, it's best to price your info-product BEFORE you actually come up with the info-product!

This way, knowing in advance what the price will be, it is much easier to create an info-product that matches the asking price. This makes a lot more sense than trying to come up with a price after the info-product has been developed. When you do it that way, your pricing options are pretty much locked in by the limitations of the info-product and the market being targeted. For example, if you have developed an e-Book showing how to make money on the Internet, you are pretty much locked into the price of other e-Books offering the same information (just a few pounds). You may want to charge more, but most likely your effective price will be limited by customer expectations. But if you start with the price, before you come up with the info-product, you can find the right market, and build the right info-product to fit the price range. Here are a few examples of how I do it.

THE £88 - £135 INFO-PRODUCT EXAMPLE

Let's suppose you want to come up with an info-product you can sell for £88 to £135. You want to be able to sell at least 800 of these info-products in a year, and you want to net at least £80 profit per sale. (Generating at least £64,000 in profits a year). That means the info-product must have low duplication costs, low packaging and shipping costs, and have a perceived value well in excess of £135 to potential buyers. And to achieve the sales goal, the target market must be large enough for customers to produce at least 800 sales. Starting out with that kind of info makes it easier to come up with the right info-product. In this case, you may choose the Course with audios package. Not just a single audio! Most customers wouldn't expect to pay £88 - £135 for a single audio. To achieve the £135+ perceived value, a set of 3 audios makes more sense. And since you can get 3 audios duplicated, packaged and shipped for under £8 a set, each sale at £88-£135 would generate the desired profit. In the same £88-£135 price range you could offer… • • • •

A how to manual packaged up with some goodies A video tape set A course with audios & templates Any other easy-to-deliver higher perceived value info-products

THE £895 INFO-PRODUCT EXAMPLE

Suppose you wanted to offer an info-product you can sell for £895. The first place to start would be in choosing a target market of people who have a history of spending £895 and more for info-products of the general kind you plan to produce. For example • • • • •

People who have paid £800 for an info-product People who have paid £800 for info-product resale rights People who have paid £800 to attend training workshops People who have paid £800 to have their web sites developed People who have spent £800 on courses

To find these target markets, you need to look for lists of people who have made recent purchases of items within the price range. You can find these lists on the net, or you can find the people at the support sites of the infoproducts they purchased. After you have found a well-qualified target market, the next step is to start thinking about what kind of info-product you could create. The idea is to come up with an info-product tailored so specifically to the wants of the people in the target market that they will want to buy it when they find out about it.

Start by asking yourself… "What would it take for me to spend £895 on an info-product?"

Now make a list of all the… • • • • • •

Features Benefits Delivery methods Guarantees Support Bonuses

to attract me as a customer.

TOP 10 INFO-PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS Choose to create and sell only info-products with the following characteristics: 1 High profit margin (profit at least 5 times the cost) 2 Priced greater than £30 3 Minimal support requirements 4 Easy to pack and deliver, not likely to be damaged in shipping 5 Easy for customers to learn about 6 Easy for customers to order the info-product 7 Potential of 1,000 or more sales 8 Unique with little or no competition 9 Appeals to customers who buy info-products on the internet 10 Leads to sales of additional info-products you offer

TOP 9 WORST INFO-PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS Avoid creating and selling info-products with these characteristics: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Low price (under £30) Low margin (less than 300%) Difficult or expensive to keep in stock Difficult to package and ship Takes several days to deliver to customer Requires extensive ongoing support Requires extensive marketing to find potential customers Long development lead time Are illegal in any way, or are in legal or moral 'grey areas'

TOP 6 CUSTOMER CHARACTERISTS Choose customers who have the following characteristics:

1 2 3 4 5 6

Have the ability to pay (they have credit cards) Are comfortable using the internet to find and buy info-products Are looking for the kind of info-products you offer Are likely to be repeat customers for other info-products you sell Are likely to refer new customers to you Won't need ongoing support

TOP 12 KILLER MISTAKES OF AN INFO PUBLISHER If you want to be a successful info-publisher, you must avoid making these common mistakes: 1. No target market - How can you possibly expect to develop the right info-product if you have no idea who you are developing the info-product for? If you develop an info-product for no one, you can expect no one to be your customer. 2. Wrong price range - You want to choose info-products where the selling price is at least ten times greater than the cost to produce and ship. Anything less will be trouble. 3. Don’t run the numbers before embarking on a project - Want to lose a lot of money quickly? Just underestimate the cost to produce, and overestimate the sales. Or underestimate the break-even point, or overestimate the conversion rate. To avoid these problems, smart maverick info-publishers always 'run the numbers' before they consider a project. Better to know up front that a project can't make money, than to discover that after you've lost a bunch of money. 4. No effective marketing plan prior to development - If you have to ask, "Now that I've developed this, how do I market it?" you're in trouble. Determining how an info-product can be marketed effectively is something that needs to be researched before you develop a project. In some cases, the cost and difficulty in reaching prospective customers for a specific info-product are so high that the project will be a failure - no matter what. You want to know this before you start developing the project. Most info-product developers look for 'marketing paths' first, and then find infoproducts to fit the path. 5. Too complex – Keep it simple! If your project can't be described in 15 words or less, it is too complex. Complex projects rarely get completed (too much complexity means many, many challenges). Simple projects are easier to produce, easier to market, easier to support.

6. Incomplete projects - No matter how great an idea you have, you can never generate revenue with that idea if the info-product is not completed. My guess - 90% of projects are abandoned before they are completed - most because they were too complex (see above). 7. No icing on the cake - In a rush to get an info-product completed, many info-product developers fail to take the time to do the final 5% of the work needed to make the info-product really shine. This includes designing a professional cover (book, DVD, video), fine tuning the user interface and menus (software), correcting typos and page layout errors, writing the user instructions, etc. 8. Exceeding the budget - Just because you have money to spend, doesn't mean you should. In fact, in most cases, trying to solve problems by throwing money at them is a mistake. 9. Getting impatient with marketing - Blame it on TV. Some people think that you run an ad, and millions of orders result. Unfortunately, that is not the way marketing works. In the real world, marketing is much like a slow boat taking off. It moves slowly at first, requiring lots of energy and resources to get it going. But if you keep the power up, the boat eventually gets under way and reaches cruising speed. 10. Not automating for success - If your project depends on you receiving and responding to hundreds or thousands of orders in order to be a success, then you better have tools in place to automate the order process before you start. Failing to have these tools in place can kill your project quickly. If I didn't have tools in place to automate processes, I would own a job and have to work 40+ hours a week! The goal is to create an Info business that works without you! Automate just about everything – which will give you more time to provide better infoproducts, better customer service, and have a life outside of work. 11. Not knowing when to give up - Life is too short to waste on projects that you know will fail. If you are in a deep hole, don't look for a bigger shovel. Look for a ladder so you can climb out of the hole. 12. Not developing new info-products - If you want to continue to grow your revenue, you need to continue to expand your info-product line. In order to generate £300,000 a year with just one £50 infoproduct, you have to sell 1000’s of copies. But if you have ten different £50 info-products, you need only sell a few hundred of each info-product to make the same money. Info-products have life spans, so you have to develop new infoproducts to take up the slack when sales for older info-products fall

off. And customers who see your new info-products often also order your older info-products as well. So don't just develop one infoproduct and stop. Develop many.

THE NO 1 MISTAKE YOU CAN MAKE The single biggest mistake info-product developers make is taking on the wrong project. As a maverick info-product developer you have the freedom to choose the info-products you develop and market. You can choose info-products that are easy to create, and easy to market, or you can choose info-products that are difficult (or impossible) to develop and market. For some reason, most people choose the difficult projects - the ones most likely to fail. Go after the simple projects first. There are thousands of simple info-products waiting to be developed. After you have exhausted the list of all the thousands of simple projects you could do - retire. Those who succeed in the info creation business know that time is too valuable a resource to devote to projects that are likely to fail. We learn to be very, very selective in the projects we pursue, avoiding projects destined for failure, and only pursuing those projects with an extremely high chance of success.

15 TIPS TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL INFO-PRODUCT DEVELOPER Here are a few rules to make your info-product development business a lot more enjoyable. 1. Understand that most projects fail. Learn to choose the ones that don't. 2. Understand that no amount of money or effort can turn around a bad idea. 3. Know that to create professional results, you either have to use professional tools or hire professionals. 4. Understand the difference between price and margin. Price is what you get paid, margin is what you keep. Choose projects with high margins. 5. Be happy for the success of others. Often the path they took to reach success can be a useful roadmap.

6. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. If you can't afford to lose it, don't invest it. 7. Live well below your means, especially when you have money in the bank. 8. Choose your customers before you choose the info-product to sell. 9. Never start to develop an info-product until you have qualified customers waiting to buy. 10. Always deliver far more than the customer expects; reward them for doing business with you. 11. Money isn't everything. Time you can spend with friends and loved ones is. 12. The greatest freedom is the freedom to say 'no' - especially to those who want to give you money for your time. 13. What you think you want today will not be what you want tomorrow. Be flexible with your plans. 14. Don't give up if at first you don't succeed. Because you won't succeed at first (no one does). 15. Develop a three-year plan. Review and modify it every six months for the rest of your life.

DEFINITION OF A BUSINESS A business is a profitable entity that works without you. The ‘without you’ means if you went on a dream cruise for one year around the world, you would make money every single day, and when you returned you’d be richer then when you left.

Definition of a business A business is a __________________________________that works without me.

OWNING A JOB If you are self-employed…YOU OWN A JOB! If you are self-employed you are the business. Being self-employed means if you don’t show up to work you don’t make money. Ouch!

Do I want to own a business or a job? Make your decision and tick a box…. “I want to own a job.” “I want to own a business.”

WHAT’S YOUR RESIDUAL GOAL? The one word you want to learn to love is *RESIDUAL*. Definition of “Residual” in the Oxford dictionary: Abiding, Continuing, Leftover, Outstanding, Persisting, Remaining, Surviving, Unconsumed, Unused Each Info-Product you create is “residual income”. That means each time you create an Info-Product you “continually” for the rest of your life make money from it without doing any work! That means even when you’re sleeping…you’re making money! You’ve got to have an ‘exact residual amount’ in your mind! What you focus on you attract. If you say, "I want to be rich," you’ll never become rich. That’s way too general. That’s NOT focused. The mind needs a SPECIFIC target to focus on. Just remember anyone can earn money at a job getting paid for each hour you work. The trick to financial freedom is to accumulate lots and lots and lots of residual streams of income (e.g. Info-products). This course will show you how.

But before you know the ‘how’…you’ve got to know exactly (to the penny) how much residual money you want to make each week. And you’ve got to believe it has already happened…which it has in your mind. Thoughts are real. Thoughts are tangible. As soon as you give your mind an exact target it immediately sets off to manifest it.

My RESIDUAL Goal… I’ve accumulated multiple streams of residual income that puts on average £________ into my bank account every week.

BEDTIME RESIDUAL QUESTION When you go to bed for the next 30 days ask yourself…

"How much time did I spend today creating RESIDUAL income?" If your answer is zero, you’re in real trouble!!!! Your life is going to be one long struggle! But don’t worry. You can start TODAY building your Residual income by creating Info-products.

Bedtime Residual Question Get your notebook out. Ask yourself this question just before going to bed (or in bed)…

"How much time did I spend today creating RESIDUAL income?" Make a note of your Residual activity (e.g. wrote 2 pages on my XYZ book) in your Notebook. Congratulate yourself if you spent time creating residual income. If you spent ZERO time creating RESIDUAL income, ask yourself some painful questions and write down how you feel in your notebook. o “Do I like being poor?” o “Do I like being in debt?” o “Do I like worrying about money all the time?” o “Am I willing to work like a dog for the next 20 or 30 years?” o “Am I willing to have no time to travel or meet new people?” o “Am I willing to struggle all my life?” Notebook entry example I can’t stand being poor. I spend my whole day worrying about money and how to pay the next bill. I have no life. I have no friends because I’m too tired to do anything when I get back from work. I refuse to continue like this. If I keep doing the same thing, I’ll get the same result! So, I will definitely show up every day from 7 to 8pm creating and marketing my info-products.

INFO-PRODUCT DEVELOPER'S 3-YEAR BUSINESS STRATEGY What are the types of projects and info-products you plan to develop and market over the next three years? One of the keys to long term success as an info-product developer/marketer is to continually evaluate: • • •

Where you are Where you are going Where you want to be

Next, take your answers and compare those to: • • •

What info-products the target market wants now What info-products the market will want in a few months What info-products the market will likely want in a few years

Then try to figure out a way to get the two lists to 'sync up'. If you can do that, you'll be doing exactly what you want to do with your life, making a living producing the kinds of info-products your customers want when they want them. But the key is to first figure out what you want, what your customer’s want, and then a way to achieve both. A 3-YEAR STRATEGY It helps to develop a road map to get from wherever you are now, to where you want to be in the future. In creating that road map, list the final objective, and then work backwards from that objective filling in the steps needed to get there. This 'working backwards' involves seeing what things will need to be learned, acquired, or accomplished to meet the goal, and then laying out a logical sequence of events in which everything needs to be accomplished. For major life changing goals, you can work with a 3-year timetable. Three years is usually enough time to accomplish major changes in direction - yet still short enough that you don't lose sight of the goal. Warning! Make sure you keep the 3-year plan simple! If it’s complicated, you probably won’t even bother looking at it.

EXAMPLE 3-YEAR STRATEGY 1. Lifestyle Considerations o

No employees - No physical shop front - Little or no direct customer contact - Little or no business travel - No rigid work schedule - Business runs mostly on auto-pilot - £15,000+ monthly income - Minimal overhead

2. Info-product Mix (see Module 8: for info-product mix examples) o

Audio Sets - I plan to begin producing special niche market 'how to' AUDIOS related to life coaching & info-product development.

DVD Sets - I plan to begin producing special niche market 'how to' DVDs related to life coaching & info-product development.

Courses – I plan to create special niche market ‘how to’ courses related to life coaching & info-product development.

Workshops - I plan to conduct one hands-on training workshop a month. Topics will cover developing life tools to craft magnificent lives & infopreneuring.

3. Tools required to achieve our goals We can produce all of the above info-products, including DVDs, with the equipment we already have. I anticipate that I will be adding additional DVD & AUDIO production software. 4. Marketing We plan to continue to show up to our marketing blitz list daily. Our main focus is venture partnerships, word of mouth and eBay. 5. Budget The info-products we develop have little out of pocket development costs. For most of my new info-products, the real cost is the time it takes to create the info-product. Because our development and marketing costs are primarily time, we budget our time with great care. Summary: Over the next three years I see myself moving toward developing more audios, DVDs and courses and giving workshops in the UK and Europe.

MY 3-YEAR STRATEGY

MODULE 2: INSTANT RICH CELLS

YOU’RE ALREADY RICH! Congratulations you’re rich. How do you feel? Are you feeling it? Go wild right now if that’s how you’re feeling. Or do you feel a great sense of peace? • • • • •

See, touch and smell the money in your wallet/purse. See, touch and smell the dream house. See, touch and smell the dream car. See, touch and smell your amazing life partner. See, touch and smell the community you’re helping.

ENROL ALL YOUR SENSES! You’re rich! Feel the rich feeling NOW! Don’t wait. That’s the secret to attracting wealth. To attract wealth you’ve got to feel wealthy NOW. Not tomorrow. Not next week. NOW! It doesn’t matter if you haven’t got a penny to your name. It doesn’t matter if you’re heavily in debt. Don’t make the classic “poor person mistake” of waiting for riches to arrive to feel rich. You see, poor people wait for riches to arrive before they allow themselves the joy and peace of feeling rich. That’s why poor people stay poor! They have poor, low energy thoughts = poor cells. If you have poor cells, you’ll have a poor, empty wallet or purse. To feel wealthy you’ve got to not only believe you’re rich…every single cell in your body must feel rich. And you can do that in an instant by using your number one asset…your IMAGINATION! Imagine yourself rich NOW.

DO YOU HAVE POOR CELLS?

Poor thoughts = Poor cells = Poor wallet If you have poor thoughts, you have ‘poor cells’. If you have poor cells you’ll always, always, always (and I do mean ALWAYS) have an empty wallet or purse. Research in the field of quantum physics has revealed something quite jaw droppingly spectacular!

When a scientist (observer) looks through a microscope at the tiniest sub atomic particles, he actually changes the particle.

You (the observer) are constantly creating the world around you (particles) just by the way you think!

How poor are my cells? (Tick which applies to you) I live on debt! I struggle to cope mentally and physically! I am constantly rushing and stressed! I feel out of control quite often! I feel like I’m surviving versus thriving!

DO YOU HAVE RICH CELLS?

Rich thoughts = rich cells = rich wallet How rich are my cells? Tick which applies to you (1 point per tick)… I feel I can attract/manifest anything I set my heart upon! My body feels energetic! I am filled with peace! When a problem comes along I view it as a challenge! I focus on solutions over 90% of the time!

There is greatness in YOU right now! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past. You’re brimming and bursting at the seams with unlimited stores of potential! You’re already a raging, out of control success. You are! You really are! I’m not kidding! I’m not exaggerating! You just might not be aware of it yet.

Do you know what it took for you to gain entrance into this world? You beat over 100 billion sperm in the race to your mother’s womb. Pretty darn amazing if you ask me! Let me repeat, there is greatness in YOU right now! By the end of this course you’ll begin to see your greatness and instead of running away from it, you’ll embrace it. Most people are scared of success. • • •

It’s far more comfortable to be average. It’s far more comfortable to stay below the radar. It’s far more comfortable to slip into your grave unnoticed.

Without rich cells you have ABSOLUTELY ZERO chance of succeeding. Even though this is a course on how to create and sell info-products, our number one aim is to turn your poor cells into rich cells. If this aim is accomplished the rest of this course will be easy. In fact, the less you do, the more you’ll earn.

SECRET TO RICHES What if someone said they had the secret to riches? Would you use it? Would you? Are you sure? Ok, here is the secret to riches…

Take one action a day! Take one action a day towards your goal and you will become an uncontrollable success. The most powerful question you’ll ever ask yourself is…

“What one step can I take today towards my goal?

If you ask yourself this question every day, you will become an uncontrollable success. So, you want to create an £397 info-product? - What seemingly trivial action will you take that will lead you to this goal? Take one tiny action and you will set into motion your destiny and if you continue taking one or more steps a day, you will become an uncontrollable success. For example: Today, I will… • •

Set my price Set my deadline

PLAY THE MULTIPLIER GAME The worst mistake you can make in life is to ‘overwork’. There is another way to approach work. Any idiot can work hard. Any idiot can work smart. Very few people know how to banish work and replace it with joy. Here’s how… Repeat after me:

“It is NOT the number of things you do, but the EFFICIENCY of each separate action that counts.” The trick is to exert a small amount of force that can be multiplied by… • • •

Technology People Some other factor

Ok, are you ready to play the ‘Multiplying Game’? The game is simple. You ask yourself one question.

“How can I leverage the power of…?”

For example: • • • • • • •

How can I…leverage the power of email marketing? How can I…leverage the power of web marketing? How can I…leverage the power of the phone? How can I…leverage the power of databases? How can I…leverage the power of outsourcing? How can I…leverage the power of joint ventures? How can I…leverage the power of the media?

Your mind must be ‘set’ (mind set) to multiplying if you want to succeed at anything on a massive scale. Be creative! There are billions of ways to multiple. What are you waiting for? Go play!

YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO MONEY GAME Fill in the following statements: 1. Money is…. ___________________________________________________ 2. Money is… ___________________________________________________ 3. Money is… ___________________________________________________ 4. Wealth is… ___________________________________________________ 5. Rich people are… _____________________________________________ 6. Rich people are… _____________________________________________ 7. The possible reasons I am blocking myself from wealth are…(list several)

8. What are some of the possible negatives of being rich or going through the process of becoming?

9. Were your parents constantly worried about money?

10. During your childhood did you feel money was in short supply or plentiful?

11. Did money cause arguments between your parents when you were growing up?

12. Do you believe the only way to make money is to work hard? 13. If I continue to struggle with money, who am I hurting most?

YOUR NEW RELATIONSHIP TO MONEY GAME Fill in the following statements: 1. The clearer you are about what you want, the more chance you have of manifesting it. So its critical you are clear about the kind of relationship you want with Mr or Mrs Money. Write a personal ad listing all the wonderful things you are looking for in your relationship with money.

2. Write a love letter to Mr. or Mrs. Money and post it to yourself.

3. Write about how wonderful your friendship with Mr. or Mrs. Money is10 years from now. With money’s help…what are the beautiful places you’ve been to; the dream house you bought; the fabulous friends you’ve made; the assets you’ve piled up; the fun activities you do; the empowering hobbies you have; the community you’re improving, etc.

MONEY MIND QUESTIONNAIRE Rate yourself from 0-10 0 = 100% Disagree 10 = 100% Agree 1. ___ Money is evil. 2. ___ It’s more spiritual to be poor than rich. 3. ___ Most rich people did something unethical to get their money. 4. ___ Getting rich takes too much time and effort. 5. ___ Having a lot of money is a huge responsibility. 6. ___ There are a lot of sacrifices to becoming rich. 7. ___ People will love my money and not me. 8. ___ Money isn’t important. 9. ___ If I spend years creating assets and fail, I’d have wasted my life. 10. ___ I’m just not good with figures and money. 11. ___ Having lots of money is just plain greedy. 12. ___ I haven’t got a degree. I’m just not clever enough to be rich. 13. ___ Rich people are boring. All they think about is money. 14. ___ The only reason to work is to make money. 15. ___ I don’t need anyone’s help. No one can do a job better than me. 16. ___ I’m a wonderful giver, but suck at receiving. 17. ___ I hate making mistakes. I’m a perfectionist. 18. ___ Only rich people have the time & resources to create assets. 19. ___ If I’m honest I’m a bit jealous of rich people. 20. ___ I’m not that bothered about becoming rich. 21. ___ I’m way too busy to put much time into learning money skills. 23

22. ___ You need money to make money. 23. ___ I hate sales people. They are just so annoying. 24. ___ I’m too old to get rich. 25. ___ Financial security comes from a 40 hour a week job. 26. ___ Money corrupts people. 27. ___ People should only have enough money to get by. 28. ___ I just don’t know how to manage my money. 29. ___ I’m always in debt. So what’s the point in trying to become rich? 30. ___ You’ve got to be lucky to become rich. 31. ___ My only chance of becoming rich is winning the lottery. 32. ___ I don’t deserve lots of money. 33. ___ Success and riches take lots of hard work. 34. ___ Doing my accounts and managing money is hard work. 35. ___ I’d rather spend time on my hobby than waste it making money. 36. ___ My leadership skills are pitiful. No one would be on my team. 37. ___ Being rich is a fantastic challenge. 38. ___ Investments are only for people with lots of money. 39. ___ I hate taking on too much responsibility. 40. ___ I don’t have any money to manage. 41. ___ I don’t have a simple system to manage my money. 42. ___ Whenever I get money, it slips through my fingers straight away.

MODULE 3: INSTANT RESEARCH

CHOOSE THE RIGHT NICHE MARKET If you want to succeed as an info-product developer, the first and most important rule is, define your target market before you define the infoproduct. For example, if I know my target market are people who want to know more about their cats, it makes it relatively easy for me to come up with the perfect info-product for them.

Define your target market before you define the info-product

I can tailor the info-product to meet their exact wants and desires, package it in a manner that suits them best, and price it in a range that meets their 'comfort zone'. And I can work out a marketing plan - before I create the info-product - and then tailor the info-product to fit the marketing plan and the customer. Creating info-products after defining the target market significantly increases the chances of coming up with a real winner, and reduces the chances of developing an info-product no one wants.

THREE QUESTIONS TO FIND THE RIGHT NICHE MARKET The easiest way to come up with the perfect niche market is to 'fill in the blanks' of the following statements:

1. The 'who are you' question. Most people define themselves by what they do - this is particularly true of men. If you ask a group of men to define 'who' they are or what they want to 'be', you'll find that most will include what they do for a living or what they want to do for a living in the answer. Those kinds of answers define niche markets. Answers to the 'who are you' question, could include: o o o

Cat lover Professional golfer Real estate investor 26

o o o

Art gallery owner Band member Freelance writer

Avoid answers that define physical or personal financial conditions as these answers are usually negative. The best niches in the 'who are you' category are those that give pride to those answering the question. When you think you have a good answer to the 'who are you' question, use your answer to fill in the blanks below.

"This info-product is for those people who are _______________________ _______________________”

Note that there are only two blanks for the answer to the above question. The reason is simple - the fewer words it takes to answer 'who are you', the tighter the niche (e.g., Restaurant Owner, Cave Diver, Art Collector). If you can't define 'who they are' in 5 words or less, then you really don't know who they are. 2. The 'what do you want to be or do' question. Most people have dreams or passions involving something they either want to do, or something they want to be. And most people are happy to buy infoproducts that get them closer to these dreams or passions. The dream or passion could be things like: o o o o o o

Living on an island Being in a band Learning to paint Moving to a specific place (New Zealand, Australia) Starting a specific kind of business Mastering a sport

The best niches in the 'who do you want to be' category are those that are long term interests. When you think you have a good answer, fill in the blanks below.

"This info-product is for those people who want to _________________________________________________"

3. The 'what do you want to learn?' question. Most people invest in info-products and information that help them to learn something. If you can define what it is they want to learn, you can probably come up with the right info-product for them. Answers to the 'what do you want to learn' question, could include: o o o o o

Learn a simple golf swing Learn to care for my cat Learn to produce how to videos Learn to buy and sell real estate Learn to sell on eBay

When you think you have a good answer to the 'what do you want to learn or do' question, use your answer to fill in the blanks below.

"This info-product is for those people who want to learn _________ __________ ________ _________ ________”

Be careful when answering the 'what do you want to learn' questions. Be sure you understand that the desire to do that 'something' needs to be strong and compelling, not just a temporary issue that can be quickly resolved. USING THESE THREE QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY In most cases, unless you have a large audience of people willing to answer the above questions, it will be up to you to ask the questions of the markets you are considering.

For example, if your general target market is ‘cat lovers’, you have to find out… • • • •

What these people really want to be What they really want to do What their dreams are What lies between them reaching their dreams

If you can define all this, you can probably come up with a good niche market topic. (I'd concentrate on getting good answers to the first two questions . . . those are the most important.) TOP 6 TIPS TO FINDING THE RIGHT NICHE 1. All the questions use the word 'want' rather than 'need'. That's because people spend money on things they want, and not necessarily on things they need. 2. The questions are designed to help you define the audience, not the info-product. By defining the audience we get a better idea what the info-product should be. 3. Learn to throw out answers that are too generic. For example, if someone says they want to be 'successful', that is not a real answer. The next question should be, 'what do you want to be successful at?' 4. Learn to throw out 'politically correct' answers. If the answer is 'I want to learn to be good with people', throw the answer out. Follow up with the question, 'why do you want to learn to be good with people? What do you hope to accomplish by learning this?' 5. Keep a list of your answer ideas. If you think of 40 different answers to the first question, write all those down. Most will represent a niche market. 6. Fine tune your answers - learn to look for very specific answers. For example, if the answer to 'what do you want to do' is 'own my own business', the answer is not enough. You want to know what kind of business, and probably what niche within that business category. The more defined the answer, the tighter the focus. And the tighter the focus, the easier it is to define the niche market.

TEST HOW HOT YOUR NICHE MARKET IS IN 3 CLICKS This simple test will show you the best selling books in your niche market.

• • • • •

Go to www.amazon.co.uk Click on ‘books’ Click on a category (e.g. ‘sports’) Click on some of the best selling books Get out your notebook and write down your thoughts

Example Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea: the Best Places to Swim Outdoors in Britain (Hardcover) by Kate Rew (Author) Comments I put in my I-Biz notebook: Kate Rew has a book called ‘Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea: the Best Places to Swim Outdoors in Britain’. I was amazed that a book with such a narrow niche is ranked #4 in the ‘sports’ category on Amazon.

MARKET RESEARCH SITES Below are some great sites to find out useful information about your niche. Market Information Sites Market size, trends, and consumer expenditure • • • • •

www.keynote.co.uk www.mintel.com www.dti.gov.uk www.tradstat.com www.cobwebinfo.com

Company Information • • • • • • • • •

www.companieshouse.gov.uk www.dnb.com www.europages.com www.globalyp.com/world.htm www.hoovers.com www.kellys.co.uk www.kompass.com www.thomasregister.com www.yell.com

Statistics Discover the number of people in your niche

• • •

www.natcen.ac.uk www.statistics.gov.uk www.wales.gov.uk

Trade Magazines •

www.allyoucanread.com

Newspapers •

www.newsdirectory.com

Other Useful Research Sites • • • •

www.trendwatching.com www.wikipedia.com www.theanswerbank.com www.ehow.com

COMPETITOR INFO FORM Name _______________________________________________________ URL ________________________________________________________ How many info-products do they have (books, audios, videos, etc) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Do they have an online newsletter? If so, what is the title? ________________________________________________ What do they do well? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ What do they do poorly? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ What is unique about them? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Give 3 reasons why your niche market would buy from you rather than your competitors? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Give 3 ways you are unique from your competitors? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ What can I learn/model from their website (Testimonials, P.S, etc.) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP) Out of all the unique points you’ve discovered, which is the most marketable? Which point will your niche market fall in love with most? Your uniqueness comes from one of seven areas: quality, price, service, delivery, speed, convenience, and experience. Here are some examples of what your uniqueness could be: You sell very high quality info-products, and you can demonstrate several benefits the customer will get. You offer a better/longer guarantee. You serve a specific (yet sizable) demographic group that is overlooked by your competitors. You offer a loyalty club system. You offer the best after-sale service. You have ultra expensive info-products that cater to those who only want the best and will pay anything to have it. You send a video catalogue, take the order over the phone, and deliver within 48 hours. You run ongoing competitions, such as every 10th customer wins £20 voucher.

WRITE YOUR USP Once you’ve got your uniqueness, write it down! You will communicate your uniqueness everywhere from now on. For example: email signature, letterhead, website, car signage and your business cards.

"My USP is…

MODULE 4: INSTANT DATABASE

BECOME OBSESSED WITH MAILING LISTS Want to build a whopping database of hungry, hot prospects? Then make it your mission to hunt down lots and lots and lots of qualified mailing lists (a qualified mailing list has customers who have previously demonstrated they are interested in buying the type of info-products you offer). The quickest and most profitable means of reaching “prospects” is through email. The key is in first finding the right mailing list, then creating the right info-product for the customers on that list, then creating an email that creates an offer that gets results. WHERE TO GET “EMAIL LISTS” Contact related, non competing businesses (e.g. if you’re selling a ‘cat book’ contact catteries and ask if they can send an email to their database about your ‘cat info-product’. They won’t have to write the email - you’ll supply it for them. All they have to do is copy and paste it! (If they don’t send emails to their clients, ask if you can put an A4 flyer with a special offer for the cat book in with the next mail out they do for their clients. They’ll get a percentage of the profits generated! That’s easy money for them and easy money for you! Everybody wins! Everybody is happy! http://www.hilitedms.co.uk (e.g. a life coach could buy an email list with 30,000 names/emails of people who’ve bought ‘life tools’ that cost between $50 & $300. The cost of the list is only $150! Bargain!

HOW TO FIND 1,000,000 POTENTIAL BUYERS Find 1,000,000 potential buyers for your Info-product online and offline. Go crazy on this one! You want to find absolutely every single possible place your potential buyer hangs out, businesses they buy from, books they read, websites they visit, radio stations they listen to, TV programmes they watches, newspaper(s) they read…. Don’t stop until you think you’ve reached the magic 1,000,000 target.

PLACES TO FIND THE 1,000,000 POTENTIAL BUYERS… Example: Info-product: ‘Owner manual for cats: how to train your owner to treat you like royalty’ Cat Associations Animal Aid Society: www.animalaid.org.uk Animal contacts Directory 0845-4589595 Animal health trust www.aht.org.uk Animal rights coalition www.arcnews.co.uk THERE ARE OVER 100 ANIMAL ASSOCIATIONS!!! Cat Books 277 secrets your cat wants to know The cat who covered the world Understanding cats: their history, nature and behaviour Housecat: how to keep your indoor cat sane and sound + 1000s more cat books! Cat Magazines Animal lovers guide Cat world Cat fancy Cat fanciers almanac Cat world international All about cats National cat magazine Cat Online Magazines Cat rags Cat Websites Cat fanciers www.catsinfo.com www.cats.org.uk THERE ARE 1000s OF CAT WEBSITES OUT THERE!!!! Cat Owner Mailing Lists Build a list of all cat owners you come across! Purchase mailing lists Other places include: Cat Breeders Catteries Cat Rescue Organizations Cat Shows Cat Product Manufacturers

My 1,000,0000 potential buyers are… (E.g. foundations, specialized societies, museums, magazines, newsletters, radio programs, web sites, educational outlets, libraries, historical groups, medical groups, clubs, etc)

IS YOUR NICHE BIG ENOUGH? After you’ve completed the ‘How To Find 1,000,000 potential buyers’ exercise it’s time to ask yourself a very important question.

“Is this niche big enough?” “No” à Find another niche! “Yes” à You’ve got the green light to create an info-product!

USE GETRESPONSE TO BUILD YOUR DATABASE The goal is to collect 100's of hot prospects before writing a single word of your Info-product. The beauty with this system is that you DO NOT NEED to know anything technical (no hosting account, no domain name and no ftp software). It’s so simple! With a GETRESPONSE autoresponder your e-Course works 24 hours a day, 7-days a week WITHOUT you. The autoresponder acts as a SALES AGENT for you...greedily collecting "hot prospects" while you sleep. THREE STEPS TO GETTING STARTED 1. Create a 5-day e-Course. 2. Produce a classified ad (with a link to your 5 day e-Course). 3. Test your classified ad. STEP 1: CREATE AN E-COURSE Part 1: 7 steps to sign up for a free autoresponder 1. Go to www.getresponse.com. 2. Spend 1 hour snooping around the site and learn, learn, learn. Take the free tutorials! 3. To sign up for a free account click, "sign up for FREE" 4. Fill in the information. They'll ask you to select your Smart Responder Name. If you select "autopilotmoneymachines" than

autopilotmoneymachines@getresponse.com will be the address you will place in your ads. I recommend something catchy and short! 5. Hit the submit button. 6. It will now ask you which autoresponder you want. Choose which one you want. You will arrive at a screen that says, "Your autoresponder has been created. Now it's time to check your email. 7. Check your email for the welcome message. Visit the link in the email and log in with your name and password (which are provided in this welcome message).

Part 1I: 6 steps to create your first e-Course 1. Go to www.getresponse.com and sign into your account. 2. Watch the getting started video. 3. Write 5 simple articles (Day 1,2,3,4 & 5). 4. Add the articles to your new autoresponder (see getting started video on www.getresponse.com on how to do this). 5. Take the address that your auto responder responds to and write it down (e.g. autopilotmoneymachines@getresponse.com). 6. Send an email to the address to test if it works! When you send and email to your address you should get a reply within seconds with your message. STEP 2: PRODUCE A 2 OR 4 LINE CLASSIFED AD Before you ever write a single word of your Info-product, create a 2 or 4 line classified advert. Then create MASSIVE URGENCY by placing that advert where your prospects hang out (e.g. local papers, magazines). Classified ads are relatively inexpensive and over many months can generate substantial results. The biggest drawback to these ads is that the lead-time can be as much as 90 days, and managing many different ads can be time-consuming. However, the results are usually worth the efforts.

Example Advert =============================== FREE 5-Day eBay Seller Course! Send a blank email to: autopiotmoneymachines@getresponse.com or call 01982 552515 & I’ll post it to you =============================== STEP 3: TEST YOUR CLASSIFIED AD Test your ad by placing your ad in several places online & offline Offline Example: local newspapers Online Example: Free online classified ads (e.g. www.gumtree.com) Monitor the response. If you make profit, keep the ad going and place the same classified ad somewhere else (e.g. another local paper).

CLIENT E-NEWSLETTER Once a prospect becomes a customer, add his/her email to your client ENewsletter. SET UP A DISTRIBUTION LIST USING OUTLOOK Getting the message out, that's what mailing lists are for. In Outlook, such lists are called "distribution lists". Using such a distribution list, you can then send an email to a group of people easily. But first, let's find out how to set up a mailing list in Outlook. 1. Select File | New | Distribution List from the menu. 2. Type the desired name under Name. 3. The list name is what you will use to address messages to the list. 4. Now, you can add new members immediately using the Add New... and Select Members... buttons. 5. Click Save and Close. 6. With your distribution list in place and ready, you can start sending messages to its members.

9 TIPS FOR AN EFFECTIVE E-NEWSLETTER 1. Send your weekly tip text format only, not HTML. If you send your email in HTML format, it is likely that a large percentage of your target audience will never receive your emails as many email programs and hosts will delete it. Include the name of the 'tip of the week' in the subject line of the email. Let the visitor know that the email is the tip of the week they signed up for. 2. Never include any Spam words in email subject line. Doing so can cause 90% of your messages to be deleted by Spam filters. 3. Do format the email so text lines do not exceed 65 characters Text email messages with line widths greater than 65 characters can display improperly in email readers. For that reason, place a hard return in each line of your message at or before 65 characters. 4. Do not include special characters in email - When writing your tip of the week; avoid bullets, graves, or any other special characters. Adding these can cause the email to display improperly. For best results, do NOT use MS Word to format your email message as it will add special characters. Stick with use a plain text editor (i.e. MS Notepad). 5. Keep the message short - The most effective tip of the week will have 3 to 5 short paragraphs no more than 4 lines each. 6. Don't mail too often - the more often you send a tip, the higher the unsubscribe rate. If you send a tip out daily, recipients will soon tire of seeing your tip in their mailbox. If you send out a tip once a week, and keep the tip short and interesting, recipients are much less likely to unsubscribe. 7. Don't send Spam - The quickest way to lose email subscribers is to send out useless or spammy emails. While it might be acceptable to include links to info-products or services in your tip, those sales links should be placed near the bottom of the message, and should not detract from the value of the tip. 8. If your tip is perceived to be nothing but advertising, readers will grow tired of it and will either delete or unsubscribe to future messages. 9. Send the tip on a predictable schedule - when you send your tip on a regular schedule, your readers will come to expect and look forward to receiving your tip on specific days of the week. Because they expect your tip on a certain day, they are less likely to accidentally delete it as Spam.

MODULE 5: INSTANT SALES LETTER

WRITE YOUR SALES LETTER FIRST Write your sales letter before writing a word for your info-product! Your sales letter will give you lots of ideas for what to include in your infoproduct. It will save you a lot of time and effort! WHO SHOULD WRITE IT? You could hire a professional copywriter or purchase sale letter software to help you write it, but why not do it yourself so you can use this skill multiple times for future projects.

YOUR OWN WEBSITE Set up a domain, hosting & template using an amazing bit of kit called www.mrsite.co.uk. It’ll only cost you about £25 per year and you’re up and running in minutes. And the best thing is you don’t need an ounce of technical ability. It’s as easy as using Microsoft Word! And, you can make changes to your website from any computer with Internet access.

SALES COPY FORMULA 1. Sizzling heading 2. Subheading 3. Testimonials 4. Benefit Bullet Points 5. Features Bullet Points 6. Call to action 7. Bonuses 8. P.S. 9. Guarantee

1. SIZZLING TITLE This is the most important part of your sales letter. Get this wrong and your sales are doomed. Write a sizzling title designed to hook your potential customers and draw them in for the read. One of the most important skills to develop as a marketer of an info-product is the skill of creating…

Attention-grabbing titles. When you master this skill you must use it in every aspect of your writing to attract more readers, more sales, improve your cash flow and increase your profits. All marketing material from your 5-page sales letter, email campaign, website, 2-line classified ad needs the attention grabbing power of a great title. Titles set the stage for your potential audience. They either work to grab your potential reader by the collar and pull them in for the read or they don't. Top titles create excitement, anticipation and enthusiasm for more. You want your titles to express the heart and passion of your message. TOP 7 TITLE TEMPLATES 1. Command your prospects through your book title. "Get Clients Now!" Most will say they don't like being told what to do. But our human psyche seems to respond in spite of what we like. The command has an immediate effect. Why? It connects with the "Yes, I want that" spot within us all. Commands reassure you that helpful advice will follow to help you get what you want from the advice. It tells the readers it's possible to achieve the benefit the author is claiming. 2. Include a ‘How to’ in your book title. "How to Make Your Article Marketing Go the Extra Mile"

People love magic pills, miracle solutions or just plain old EASY. They love to learn with simple steps, easy ways and most of all fast. 3. Write a title using a provocative statement. "7 Book Writing Mistakes that Stamp Loser On Your Self-Published Book" Are you saying I could be making mistakes that stamp loser on my self-published book? You would want to know, especially, if you've been working hard to self-publish in excellence. Provocative statements pull at our attention like an electric shock. They make us curious. They sometimes make us mad. They make us feel a lot of different things but most of all they make us read. 4. Ask a question in your title. "Are You Getting Enough Sex In Your Marriage? Most of the time people unconsciously answer the question you pose in their minds. The key is to provide the answers in your copy including statistics. For example, "Have you felt afraid to buy online? Like it or not, many are still cautious of buying on the web. A Boston Consulting Group Consumer Survey found that 70% of respondents worry about making purchases online. 5. Make a big promise in your title. "How to Increase Sales 400% by Using Article Marketing" People will turn away from hype and never come back. But if you have a big gun promise, don't be afraid to pull it out and use it. Consider carefully and use sparingly; then make your big promise and deliver. People will remember your promises and come back for more or purchase. Don't forget to include the specific delivery or 'how to' in the content inside your big promise titled book. 6. Perplex your readers with a confusing title. "Eat the Book Writing Elephant One Bite at a Time" Develop curiosity in your title. A seemingly opposite simile works like a charm. Use this one cautiously. Even so, sometimes the title that doesn't make a lot of sense will pull your audience in for the read. Would the title above arouse your curiosity? The confusing title can capture the attention of your audience just to see what it's about.

7. Offer your top benefit in the title. "Think and Grow Rich" A winning non-fiction title immediately communicates the benefit readers will gain after reading your book. Benefit examples: profit more, less expense, less trouble, gain more time, less stress, better relationships, better health, less drama, less trauma, more energy and vitality and less fatigue.

MY TOP 10 TITLES Brainstorm at least 10 possible titles for your info-product and ask people which title they like best.

2. SUBHEADING This is the second most important part of your sales letter. enticing.

Make it

Use magnetic words. Revealed – Secret – Exposed – Amazing – Unleashed – Free – Discover – Easy – Incredible – Sex – Love – Money – Breakthrough – Guaranteed – New – Ultimate – System – Scientifically - Master Revealed! The New Chocolate Diet That Will Sex Up Your Life The Incredible Breakthrough System For Attracting The Girl Of Your Dreams 3. TESTIMONIALS Get testimonials from people who have bought your info-product and weave them into the content on your sales letter. This helps readers to trust your info-product because others have endorsed it. 4. BENEFITS BULLET POINTS Outline the top benefits of your info-product. The benefits must solve problems. Create a bulleted list so it is easy to read. 5. FEATURES BULLET POINTS Include the features of your info-product so people know what they are getting. Create a bulleted list so it is easy to read. 6. CALL TO ACTION This is where you mention the price and your offer. Many people are procrastinators so they won’t act immediately. Create a sense of urgency to “buy your info-product now”. This will help them to make up their minds as they may miss out on the deal. For example you might say: “Pre-launch offer for limited time only”

7. BONUSES Bonuses help readers decide buying your info-product because you are over delivering on your offer. 8. PS The post script (P.S) message is to re-emphasize the value of the infoproduct. For example you might say: P.S. Don’t forget our 365-day, no questions asked, full money back guarantee. 9. GUARANTEE A guarantee is very powerful! People hate taking risks. A guarantee immediately removes the risk of buying your info-product. Try to make it at least 30 days. Studies show that the longer your guarantee the more sales you’ll get.

SALES LETTER TIPS •

Maintain the interest of your reader throughout your sales letter copy by including the main benefits of your info-product or service.

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Study other sales letters on the Net to improve your own then proof read it several times before it goes live.

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Get suggestions from others how to improve it.

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Improve your sales letter conversions by testing different titles and tracking the results.

SALES LETTERS FORM 1. Go to www.clickbank.com (1000’s of great info-product sites) 2. Make a note below of the websites you like URL ________________________________________________________ Stuff I am going to copy (don’t reinvent the wheel) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ URL ________________________________________________________ Stuff I am going to copy (don’t reinvent the wheel) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ URL ________________________________________________________ Stuff I am going to copy (don’t reinvent the wheel) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ URL ________________________________________________________ Stuff I am going to copy (don’t reinvent the wheel) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

Write the sales letter for your info-product Use the sales letter formula (Sizzling heading, Subheading, Testimonials, Benefit Bullet Points, Features Bullet Points, Call to action, Bonuses, P.S. Guarantee).

MODULE 6: INSTANT MARKETING BLITZ

TOP 11 MARKETING ACTIVITIES FOR AN INFOPUBLISHER 1. Managing a database. 2. Tracking your results. 3. Email marketing. 4. Writing compelling sales letters. 5. Asking for referrals. 6. Venture Partnerships. 7. Understanding psychology. 8. Direct mail advertising. 9. Buying the best and cheapest advertising. 10. Tapping into the Internet. 11. Phone follow up.

ARTICLE WRITING The best way to market offline is to use free advertising. If you are good at writing articles related to your info-products or services, we recommend that you write an article and submit it to highly targeted magazines or trade publications that cater specifically to the market you wish to reach. Be sure to include a "resource box" at the end of your article. A "resource box" is that free mention at the end of your article that gives your readers more information about you. Your article has already established your expertise so your readers will want a way to contact you so they can learn more about your related info-products and services. It is very important that you make it as easy as possible for your readers to contact you. Provide your… • • • •

Telephone number Website address Email address Special offer

Write your first article This article is for: ___________________________(e.g. my local church newsletter) Contact name: ______________________________ Contact address: ____________________________________________________

FIVE WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR AMAZON SALES 1. Name it well - If you want your book or DVD to be found on Amazon, it is absolutely critical that you choose an info-product name that reflects what people search for on Amazon. For example, if someone searches for a book or DVD about cats, the search results will show all books or DVDs with 'cats' in the name. But the search results won't show your book or DVD (even if it is about cats), unless the word 'cat' is in the title. So the quickest way to increase your Amazon sales is to make sure your book, video, or DVD is found when customers search for it and the way to do that is to be sure to include keywords in the name of the info-product. 2. Write a review - Amazon encourages customers to write reviews of info-products on Amazon (even if they haven't purchased those items from Amazon). These reviews allow others to read about the info-product before they make a purchase. The more positive the reviews, the more sales you'll get. Encourage customers to leave reviews at Amazon for your info-product - even customers who purchase from you directly. Positive reviews will benefit you, and being a listed reviewer at Amazon can help your customers generate more traffic for their own info-products. 3. Use the 'Recommend an Item' feature - On every Amazon infoproduct description page, you'll find a 'Recommend an Item' link, where you can recommend another info-product that might go well with the one shown on the screen. One way to use 'Recommend an Item' to your advantage is to search for all info-products related to yours, and use the feature to recommend your book or video in addition to every related item you found via the search. When you do this, your item will appear under the heading, 'Customers interested in this title may also be interested in. This is a quick and easy way to associate your info-product with many others. (Amazon suggests you don’t recommend the same item more than 5 times so you may need to do this by logging on with different Amazon accounts.) 4. Listmania - To help visitors find items within a specific genre, Amazon encourages customers to use the Listmania feature to create a list of items available at Amazon that others might be interested in. For example, you could create a list of the 'ten albums you'd want to take to a desert island', or '7 books that changed your life'. . . the choice is yours. When you create the list it will show up on pages that are related to items on the list, and the topic of the list. So you could use Listmania to create several lists, and include your info-

product on all of them. 5. Buy your own item - And then buy other related items. On every info-product description page, Amazon includes the 'Customers who bought this book also bought:' list. The way to get your info-product listed on that list is first buy your own info-product, and then within a 30-day period, buy other info-products related to yours. If you do this (and if you can encourage a few friends to do this), your infoproduct will be displayed on the 'Customers who bought this book also bought:' list for several info-products. Yes, doing this will cost you some money, but if you get on the 'Customers who bought this book also bought:' list of a hot selling info-product, it could pay off quickly.

HOW TO GET A MANUFACTURER TO PROMOTE YOU Many manufacturers, even the very largest, appreciate those who create info-products relating to their info-products. In some cases, the company will even purchase bulk copies of the info-product and provide them to their own staff, and authorise their phone support staff to mention the availability of your info-product to those who call for support. The following 6 steps will help you to get a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer to promote your info-product on their website at no cost to you. 1. Create the 'how to' DVD –e.g. John Doe created a DVD showing how to use the JVC GY-HD100U 3-CCD PRO High Definition camcorder. To create the DVD, John Doe bought a HD100U camcorder, read the manual, and learned to use the camcorder. Then he produced the DVD showing how to use the Camcorder. 2. Create Review Copies of the info-product - After the DVD was completed, John Doe made several copies, and inserted them into professional DVD packing. When it comes to getting corporate promotion approval, the way the DVD looks in the package is almost as important as the information on the DVD. 3. Contact the manufacturer - John Doe called JVC support (obtaining their phone number from the JVC web site), and told the person who answered the phone that his company had produced a DVD showing how to use the JVC HD100U camcorder, and he wondered if he could speak to someone at JVC who might be interested in learning about the DVD. His call was transferred up the ladder to someone at JVC who, after learning of the DVD, and seeing the web page for it, expressed interest in including links to the DVD on the JVC support pages for the HD100U camcorder.

4. Follow through after the initial contact - John Doe was asked to provide sample copies of the DVD and information on how customers could order the DVD. John sent out all the required information. 5. Obtain Approval - In this case, approval was granted during the second phone call with the initial contact at JVC. They had reviewed the DVD and the sales page, and felt it met their standards. During the phone call, the link was added to the JVC site. 6. Test the link and prepare for the orders - When another company includes a link to your info-product on their web site, you'll want to test the link to make sure it works. Once you get to the linked page, you'll want to make sure the customer can order the DVD easily from that page.

List 20 manufacturers you could approach

FIVE STEPS TO EFFECTIVE PR What’s the best way to get people to buy your info-product? Tell them about it! Seems easy, right? It can be, but it takes work, dedication, and persistence. The five steps to getting the word out about your info-product are… 1. Craft an effective message 2. Assess your audience 3. Create a contact list 4. Get the word out 5. Follow up—don’t get discouraged 1. Craft an Effective Message The crucial element of promotion is crafting an effective message, which can be conveyed in a short press release to send to media contacts. Frame your press release around a newsworthy event, such as the release of your info-product or a seminar you have planned, like a book signing. You can also write a press release to call attention to your book in relation to a current newsworthy event, but it is not just a blanket advertisement for your info-product. When drafting your release, keep it simple. It needs to tell your contact the “who, what, when, where, and why” of a newsworthy event associated with your book. Present the most important information first and make sure to include your contact information. Keep in mind that you will be submitting to online news sources, so optimise your release to include audience-specific keywords for search engines. 2. Assess Your Audience When it’s time to determine your audience, consider the best places to reach readers interested in your topic. Fish where the fish are. If you’ve written a book on cats, why waste time sending a press release to Popular Mechanics? To assess your audience, you must do research. No matter what the subject matter, there are foundations, specialised societies, museums, magazines, newsletters, radio programmes, websites, educational outlets, libraries, historical groups,

medical groups, or clubs that would have interest in your infoproduct. The Internet is a potent tool for your research, as almost every website has contact information and links to other, related resources. Many of these organisations also have newsletters or magazines with wide circulations that might mention your book. Of course, you will also want to contact radio stations, newspapers, magazines, television shows, and any other relevant media outlets. Most newspapers now have a place on their web site where you can submit community news. For example, send a picture of your book and a synopsis. Your best bet is to start local; your community media outlets are more likely to run a press release about a local infopreneur. There are places you never think would be interested in your infoproduct. All it takes are a couple of good hits to start the promotional ball rolling. An enthusiastic person on the receiving end of an e-mail can do a lot to promote the info-product on your behalf. 3. Create a Contact List Before you start making contacts, it’s vital to create a good media contact list. The list will contain more than names and addresses—it’s best to include notes about the media markets, target audience, types of coverage, publication schedule, contact names, and any other relevant information. If you have a specific name and e-mail address to contact, the outlet is much more likely to accept and review your information. It can also be useful to keep track of how many times you have contacted each organisation and if you received a response. 4. Get the Word Out Once you’ve crafted your message, assessed your audience, and created a contact list, place your press release into a concise, informative e-mail you can send to media outlets. Since many news organisations do not accept attachments, send your press release as a plain-text e-mail, and follow up with a mailed hardcopy. Send e-mails, make phone calls, write letters, and knock on doors of individuals, organisations, clubs, foundations, and societies—anyone that might be interested in your info-product. Your enthusiasm for your info-product’s topic will be obvious when

you share it with others. Make sure you follow the law—don’t Spam or harass potential media outlets or readers. 5. Follow Up—Don’t Get Discouraged! Once you have initiated the first communication with the myriad of contacts you’ve discovered, make sure to follow up with an individual. Info-publishers who follow up with initial contacts are 100 times more likely to have a successful promotional campaign and generate interest in their info-product. When you make a follow-up call or write an e-mail, be pleasant, direct, helpful, and willing to answer questions. Keep conversations upbeat—don’t get discouraged—so you can maintain a good working relationship with the people on the other end of the line. Tell the outlet you sent them a news release or an e-mail related to your info-product. Let them know you are following up to see if they need further information about the book for a story, review, or interview. Offer to send a review copy, and make sure you know your info-product’s PR pitch. If you are contacting an organisation or group, offer to visit with them and share some information at their next meeting. Once you have initial success with local media and organisations, use the stories as leverage to take your campaign to a regional and national level. A tightly focused strategy can be like a snowball rolling down a hill, gathering more snow along the way. Create a domino effect. The more e-mails sent, the more sales you’ll get.

PHONE FOLLOW UP Repeat after me, “The phone is my friend.” The phone is the most amazing money machine ever invented! Seriously. If you get into the habit of picking up the phone on a daily basis to cold call and follow up, you will definitely become a runaway success.

Nothing is more powerful then picking up the phone and speaking to live human beings. Nothing. And I mean nothing. A few examples… • • • •

If you want an interview on the radio, pick up that phone. If you want delegates for your seminar, pick up that phone. If you want to set up a joint venture, pick up that phone. If you want to a press release sent, pick up that phone.

Nothing beats personal contact! If you got into the habit of making 10 calls a day (like the ones listed above), you will succeed.

Who can you phone right now?

PRESS RELEASE EXAMPLE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Contact Person Company Name Telephone Number Fax Number Email Address Web site address Headline City, State, Date — Opening Paragraph (should contain: who, what, when, where, why): Remainder of body text - Should include any relevant information to your info-products or services. Include benefits, why your info-product or service is unique. Also include quotes from staff members, industry experts or satisfied customers. If there is more than 1 page use: -more(The top of the next page): Abbreviated headline (page 2) Remainder of text. (Restate Contact information after your last paragraph): For additional information or a sample copy, contact: (all Contact information) Summarise info-product or service specifications one last time Company History (try to do this in one short paragraph) ###

Write the press release for your info-product Google ‘press releases’ to learn more in you need to.

List 20 places to submit your press release (E.g. your local newspaper)

GET FREE RADIO PUBLICITY Radio is one of the small business person's best marketing buys. It's inexpensive, it allows you to carefully target your customers, and it's big time media. But did you know that you can get on radio for FREE? Your local radio stations have to generate a non-stop flow of information and entertainment 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Radio never closes and never rests. That's great news for you. •

If you can supply your favourite DJ, newsperson, or talk show host with interesting or helpful information--you get on the air for free.

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If you can call a popular morning show and tell them a funny joke-you get on the air for free.

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If you can drop by the studios with a hot box of donuts, and feed their underpaid mouths with free food--you get on the air for free.

Radio people have big egos (and they won't mind you saying that either). Compliment them on their work. Tell them how much you like their radio station. Fans get on the air for free. If at first you don't succeed, try again with different stations and personnel.

What stunt could you pull off to get radio publicity?

GET FREE TV PUBLICITY Few things in media are as powerful as television exposure. Anyone who has ever been on TV can tell you, a few shots on the tube and people are recognising you in the supermarket. Local television news has taken off as one of the most trusted voices in media. Like it or not, when your local TV presenter says something, huge numbers of people regard it as hard truth. Imagine this scenario. You're trying hard to introduce the general public to your new service. Advertising is expensive, so you will have to get creative to make your marketing ideas stretch. On the local nightly news, the veteran presenter who everyone in town has watched for 20-years, turns to the camera and mentions your new info-product or seminar. Impossible? Not at all when you know how TV news works. You can have your business featured on TV for free if you follow these guidelines. ALWAYS REMEMBER...TV IS VISUAL! The most important thing about television is that it is VISUAL. In many cases, the story may not sound interesting or be interesting, but if it LOOKS interesting, it gets on TV. SIX THINGS THAT TV PRODUCERS LOOK FOR There are SIX basic categories of stories that television likes to cover. You won't find these written down anywhere on a newsroom bulletin board. They are instinctive to assignment editors. 1. Political stories: Anything that has to do with local or national politics gets on TV. Expect to get on TV if you mount an accepted challenge to a government official, entity, or proposal. 2. Big community problems get the same kind of coverage. These are often things that touch everyone. Potholes, rubbish collection service, and crime all fall into this category. Create or be part of an activity that solves a big community problem, or potential problem. For example, plant fifty trees in the city park.

3. Education and Health earns a lot of television coverage these days. The first one is because everyone is concerned about kids. The second is because television news viewers are disproportionately middle-aged. They have an increased interest in health information and issues. 4. Celebrities always get television time. The reasons are obvious. The man or woman who couldn't care less about the other topics mentioned will always look up when a movie star comes on. 5. Sports make up to 50% of local news in many towns. 6. Finally, television loves novelty. Some experts say that anything visual and original will get on. I'm not sure I agree. Do something that's done once every year or two. The cameras will show up for something that they know from experience will be a winner. For example: contestants diving into a swimming pool of green jelly; grab a key that starts a free car is the oldest stunt in the book, but it invariably brings the TV vans out in droves. HOW TO GET YOUR INFO-PRODUCT OR SEMINAR ON TV ATTACH your info-product, seminar, or idea to a topic that the news wants to cover--you're in! Can your business get involved in a community service programme that will be newsworthy? For example, in the USA two boys decided to camp out on top of their house in hopes that someone would notice them and give them tickets to a hot NBA basketball game. It was just goofy enough to get the TV cameras out. Everyone laughed. One sharp business person called a TV station and explained he was on his way over to the boys’ house to offer them his tickets and bring them down off the roof. The TV news director immediately saw a story happening. He ordered a camera crew to meet the business man as he arrived at the boys’ house. Did the guy with the tickets get on TV? Yes! Did he look good to people watching? Yes! Did lots of new customers arrive at his store the next day to tell him what a great guy he was and buy a few things? Of course! HOW TO CONTACT THE NEWS DEPARTMENT The media is very telephone oriented. Your best bet is to call the news department and tell whomever answers all about your story. Get to the point. Make sure your story is good. Tell the reporter that answers the juicy

or visual part first. Remember that while you're talking, the reporter is thinking: 1. What's in this for us? Will our viewers be interested? 2. Will my boss think this is a good idea? 3. How much trouble will it be for us to get this on tape and on the air? If you can get positive answers on those three points, you've got a great shot at getting some TV. Keep in mind that TV stations run short-handed and on a very tight deadline. They've got a lot of work to do in very little time.

What stunt could you pull off to get TV publicity?

VENTURE PARTNERSHIPS The most expensive marketing consultant in the world, Jay Abraham, was quoted as saying "the fastest, easiest way on earth to make a fortune...and if I had to choose from one single way to make money, this is it." Joint Venture marketing made Jay Abraham and the companies he works with millionaires...what can it do for you? To put it simply, joint ventures are when one company who has developed a list of customers makes an endorsement of another company's products or services to their list sharing in the profits. It is based on one business rule, "People prefer to buy from someone they know and trust." The most precious asset you have in your business is the relationship you have built with your customers. It is an asset that isn't measured in pound signs, but that doesn't make it worth one penny less. If you learn how to leverage your business, this asset is worth pure gold. BENEFITS OF VENTURE PARTNERSHIPS • • • •

Save money by sharing operating & advertising costs. Get referrals. Save time by sharing the workload. Gain new business associate.

OVERVIEW OF THE VENTURE PARTNERSHIP PROCESS Let's say for a moment that you rent a list of names and addresses from a list broker. You carefully plan your offer and prepare a killer sales letter. Your campaign becomes a winner and pulls in a 1 to 3 percent response on the offer. That is a very effective direct mail project, but with those numbers, you may or may not make money. In many cases, you don’t make very much profit on the first sale to the customer. It is on the backend sales later on down the road that you make your profits. As a matter of fact, many of the Infomercials actually lose money on every sale they make. They are willing to lose money on 10,000 customers a month so that they can make money on the backend.

ONE PAGE ENDORSEMENT LETTER Using endorsement offers though can change those numbers completely. All you do is write an email endorsing yourself as if the list owner wrote it! State your worthiness (e.g. unmatched service and high quality infoproduct). You write the endorsement letter because you know how busy the list owner probably is! This saves him/her valuable time. Your goal is to make the list owner lots of money with the least amount of effort. The endorsement letter only needs to be one page. The list owner can revise it. The letter is then inserted with your sales letter. LET’S RUN THE NUMBERS If you were selling a £197 info-product to a list of 10,000 people by direct mail, and received a 1% response rate, you would make 100 sales. That would be a gross income of £19,700. If your mailing costs totalled £10,000 (which is quite possible) and your expense of your order line plus info-product were another £5,000, you would have made a profit of £4,700 before the cost of list rental. In other words, your profits would have been decent, but nothing to write home about. Now, let’s take the same direct mail campaign and make it a Joint Venture. The list owner endorses your offer and you achieve a 10% response rate on the mailings. You made 1,000 sales. That would be a gross income of £197,000. The cost of mailing stays the same and the cost of your info-product and order line is now £50,000. You have made a £147,000 profit. You have to split this 50/50 with the list owner and you both make out with £73,500. Is this a better deal? Both you and the list owner make thousands more than you could have considered ever making without this partnership. Plus, more customers get to take advantage of your wonderful info-products (I am assuming they are wonderful). It is a WIN-WIN situation for everyone involved in the process. RIDE ALONG OFFER Would you like to know how we could have leveraged your sales even further and removed ALL RISK from the process? If the list owner had a newsletter which they sent out to their customers regularly, he could have included your info-product offer as a ride-along

and had NO additional postage costs to include it. The entire offer would have had NO risk to you or the list owner and the potential for over a hundred thousand dollars in profits. IF YOU ARE A LIST OWNER If you find the right info-product offer and send it out to the 10,000 subscribers of your newsletter along with the right Joint Venture elements, you can instantly earn tens of thousands of pounds in new found wealth for your business. This can occur while helping your subscribers and without having to spend a minute on developing a new info-product. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A INFO-PRODUCT OR A LIST Even if you are starting at ground zero, you can take advantage of Joint Venture Marketing Principles. You can become a deal maker who finds the info-product owners and list owners and sets up the opportunity. If you were working on a profit split, you could easily earn 10% - 30% of the profits on the deal! HOW TO FIND THESE VENTURE PARTNERSHIP DEALS There are infinite numbers of ways to find these deals and set them up, but here is how to get started: 1. Ezine Publishers… Look for deals with Ezine publishers. Many of them have 10,000 or more subscribers and send out emails to their lists every single week (some daily). Over 3,000 of them organised by industry and market can be found at http://www.dominis.com/Zines/. 2. Discussion Groups… Start participating in discussion groups. You can actually network your way to wealth by participating in the networking method of the next century. The most extensive list of these groups can be found at http://www.forumone.com 3. Search Engines…. Do a search on one of the search engines such as http://www.yahoo.com. Finding dozens of potential partners in any business will be snap using the online tools we have available to us.

HOW TO CONTACT POSSIBLE VENTURE PARTNERS 1. Once you find your potential partners, prepare a letter and send it by courier to the decision-making person in the company. 2. Tell them that you have a way to leverage the assets in their business for immediate profits and that there is no cost to them whatsoever. 3. Call them. Introduce yourself and start interviewing them. Ask about their company, their sales, their business, etc. 4. Share the information you have learned here with them and get the deal going for maximum profits for both of you.

JOINT VENTURE LETTER TEMPLATE Hi Jeff, My name is George and I'm the author of: ‘Owner manual for cats: how to train your owner to treat you like royalty’ I think my book is something your clients would enjoy reading, so I have an offer you may like because it will do four pretty cool things… 1. Increase your profits 2. Cost you nothing 3. Take only a few minutes of your time 4. Make your customers very happy with you The offer I will send you a FREE copy of my book. If you think it’s a good read and your customers would like it I’d like to offer it to them at a special, limited time offer price of £12.95 (saves them £2). Plus you’ll receive £4 for each sale. Options 1. Email: If you regularly send emails to your customers I can email you the ‘sales copy’ which you can simply copy and paste into an email and send to your customers. 2. Special Offer Letter: If you send out a newsletter I can send you copies of the ‘special offer letter’ to insert within the newsletter. 3. Web: I noticed you have a website. Looks great by the way (forgive the blatant brown nosing). I can email you my Special Offer Banner (html code) which you can copy and paste to your website. 4. Store: I can also set up a bookstand with my books within your store absolutely free of charge. Please let me know if this sounds like something you would like to try out and I will send you a copy of my book. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for taking the time to look this over. George Watts Author www.ownersmanual4cats.com mail@ownersmanual4cats.com 01982 552515

Write your Joint Venture letter Pick a business you think has a lot of customers that will absolutely love your info-product and write your ‘joint venture letter’ below.

List 20 businesses you could set up a Joint Venture with

DISTRIBUTION FUNNEL How are you going to distribute your Info-product? Your goal is to find the most cost and time effective way of reaching your niche market.

DISTRIBUTION FUNNEL Which marketing path suits my personality?

_________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________

Example Owners Manual For Cats eBook workshops cat resource website eBay store pet shops Book stores Pet groomers Pet products manufacturers Pet Associations

MARKETING GOALS FUNNEL Before you start writing your first info-product you’ll want to know your top 10 marketing goals.

MARKETING GOALS FUNNEL Which marketing path suits my personality?

Example I started marketing on eBay. I then wrote articles for eZines. I then posted replies on forums. I then put classifieds ads in local newspapers. Then I started small venture partnerships. Then I put display ads in the newspapers. I then hosted seminars. I then organised exclusive holidays. I then went into television advertising and did Infomercials.

30 DAY MARKETING BLITZ Once you’ve completed your marketing funnel you’re ready to create your 30-day marketing blitz list! MARKETING IS AN ONGOING EVENT! Beware! Getting results from marketing activities is a slow process. So, please be patient! Block daily marketing time in your diary!

Showing up daily to your marketing plan is critical to your success. Showing up once, twice, three or four times a week is NOT enough! Show up daily if you want to succeed. 90% of success is simply showing up; only 10% is talent! So, show up daily and proceed systematically through your marketing blitz list. Marketing never ends. So, after 30 days go back to the top of your marketing blitz list and start again (revise your plan if you need to). 8 STEPS TO CREATE YOUR MARKETING BLITZ 1. Set your daily marketing time (e.g. 9-11am) 2. Open up Microsoft word. 3. Create your 30-day marketing blitz. 4. Print it and keep it on your desk (or on your wall). 5. When the clock strikes 9am look at your marketing blitz list. 6. Take action. 7. Tick the box when you’ve completed a marketing activity. 8. At the end of 30 days start the process again.

30 DAY MARKETING BLITZ EXAMPLE Start Date: Feb 12 End Date: March 12 Create Prospects Email Group in Microsoft Outlook and add 20+ potential coaching clients from my address book. Create a Client Email Group in Microsoft Outlook and add all client emails. Send a life tool tip every 2nd Monday. Check your pig of happiness getresponse account for new sign ups. Identify 20 different e-zines that you can submit articles to. Subscribe to them using ‘article submit’ software. Write an article (remember your signature at the end with a link to my e-Course) and submit to the 20 e-zines. Identify 5 different discussion groups that you can participate in. If necessary, subscribe to them. Get a basic web page outline together for your links page. Identify 20 similar, non-competing web sites you can swap links with. Submit their URLs to your links page. Send all 20 of the website an email saying I’ve added their link to my website, could you do the same. Submit my website to 10 search engines. Add 2 more related sites to your links page and send 22 personal emails to the 22 businesses on your links page complementing their web site, discussion group post, info-products, etc. Write a joint venture letter to use as a template. Send a joint venture letter to the 20 businesses who you swapped links with. Set a follow up date in your diary to call them! List 20 places to send a press release. Write a press release and send to the 20 places. Open an eBay Account - and learn how to buy and sell on eBay.

Open a PayPal Account - and learn how to make and receive eBay payments. Open a Google gmail account - doing so allows you to activate google talk, google checkout and participate in other google offerings. Forward all your email to your gmail account, and use it as an archive of all your email. Learn how to register a domain name (and then register your name as a domain) - knowing how to quickly register a domain name can help you buy and sell domain names that have resale potential. Learn basic html commands - so you can create better web pages and better eBay listings. For more control get an html editor. Install and learn to use a FTP program - you'll need to be able to do this to upload to your web site. Create your own web site and set it up with web hosting - as a minimum your web site should have a main page, a 'contact us' page, and an 'about us' page. For a minimal site like this, use low cost hosting and domain name registration (E.g. www.godaddy.com). Dump your amateur email address - Start using a credible return email address, which includes your name and your web site name. Quit using yahoo, aol, hotmail and other free email services that tell the recipient that you are an Internet 'amateur'. Replace your old computer with a more powerful model - Don't be hobbled by an out of date computer. Purchase a pocket sized digital camera and learn how to use it. Install and learn how to use a basic photo-editing program - this will come in handy when you create eBay listings, web pages, infoproduct sales pages and info-product catalogues, sales letters and more. Attend the XYZ trade show for cat owners to gain a better understanding of what it takes to exhibit at a trade show. Install and learn to use video editing, DVD authoring software knowing how to quickly edit raw video into an effective message will be a necessary skill for communicating with customers - whether in DVD products, sales messages, or YouTube videos.

Open an account with YouTube and Google Video - and learn how to upload videos to both. Participate in a teleconference call - your first hand involvement in this call will help you gain a better understanding of how they work and what is offered, and this will help prepare you to conduct your own teleconference.

THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO DO MARKETING. THE ONLY WAY TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS IS TO ‘TEST’. IF THAT TEST WORKS…DO IT AGAIN…AND AGAIN…AND AGAIN…AND…UNTIL IT STOPS WORKING! For example, if you send out a Joint Venture letter to a Cattery and they agree to sell your Cat Book…SEND A SIMILAR LETTER to 100s of Catteries!

List the first 10 marketing activities that you want to ‘test’. Start Date: _____________ End Date: _____________

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI) Once you’ve created your marketing activities plan it is absolutely essential you track and monitor your top 3 to 5 KPIs daily! EXAMPLES OF AN INFO-PUBLISHER’S KPIS Each KPI has to be specific and measurable (see examples below). Spend 1 hour on forums finding problems my niche market have Write 2 pages of my sales letter Write 1 page of my latest Info-product Open 1 distribution channel (e.g. a local shop) Write and send 1 news release Spend 2 hours creating a seminar Host 1 seminar Give a 1 hour tele-seminar Set up 1 joint venture partnership Write an article and submit it to an online e-zine Post 1 response in a forum that relates to your niche market Put 1 classified advert online or offline Create 1 e-course Put up 1 flyer EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS NOT A KPI ‘Do some research’ (too general and cannot be measured).

"What are my top 5 KPIs?

MODULE 7: INSTANT OPS MANUAL

100% AUTOMATE GOAL Your goal is to automate 100% of your Info-Business. That will never happen. But that must be your goal. You want to automate as much as you can. The question you must always ask yourself if you catch yourself having to ‘work’ is…

“Can I automate this?” Examples of stuff you can automate… •

Your newsletter.

•

A fulfilment house to handle all the order taking and shipping.

•

Packing of the info-product (e.g. course in a folder).

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Website optimisation (go a web designer).

•

Find a printer for your info-product (e.g. course) who will store inventory and ship for you.

•

Get a friend to store inventory and ship for you.

•

If you sell on eBay, use Seller Manager Pro to automatically relist your auctions.

•

Have a friend manage your eBay sales.

•

Hire someone for £6 per hour to call prospects on your prospect list.

•

Get affiliates selling your info-products for a cut of the profits.

Get the idea? The goal is to absolutely ‘do nothing’. Can you handle that? Or are you addicted to hard work?

10 YEAR OLD BOY RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS This may sound silly. But here is your mission if you choose to accept. You want a 10-year old boy to run your business while you’re sipping colourful drinks on a dessert Island. Here’s how to do it. Do what the BIG businesses do….

…Create an operations manual. An operations manual is simple! It’s a bunch of lists. Easy or what! An operations manual contains absolutely every single process in your Info-publishing business.

START YOUR MANUAL NOW 1. Open up Microsoft Word on your computer 2. Name the document ‘OperationsManual’ 3. Write all your procedures in your manual

EXAMPLE PROCEDURE 1: SEARCH ENGINE SUBMIT Result: Submit sites every 6 months to the following search engines… 1. Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com Submit Date ___________ 2. AltaVisa http://www.altavisa.com Submit Date ___________ 3. Hot Bot http://www.hotbot.com Submit Date ___________ 4. Infoseek http://www.infoseek.com Submit Date ___________ 5. GoTo http://www.goto.com Submit Date ___________ Submit Date ___________ 6. Lycos http://www.lycos.com 7. Excite http://www.excite.com Submit Date ___________ 8. Northern Light http://www.northernlight.com Submit Date ________ 9. LookSmart http://www.looksmart.com Submit Date ___________

10. WebCrawler http://www.webcrawler.com Submit Date __________ 11. AOL Netfind http://search.aol.com Submit Date ___________ 12. BizWeb http://www.bizweb.com Submit Date ___________ 13. ComFind http://www.comfind.com Submit Date ___________ 14. MSN http://search.msn.com/default.asp Submit Date ___________ 15. Snap.com http://www.snap.com Submit Date ___________ 16. Google http://www.google.com Submit Date ___________

EXAMPLE PROCEDURE 2: LINK SWAP EMAIL TEMPLATE * Use this email template when requesting a reciprocal link from another Web site owner Subject: I've placed a link to your site... Hello (website owner's name) My name is George Watts, and I run the Pig Of Happiness web site, <http://www.pigofhappiness.com>. My site is geared towards helping eBay sellers work smart. Around 4 weeks ago I came across your very informative XYZ site, and decided to give you some free publicity on my Links page at <http://www.pigofhappiness.com/links.html>. Hopefully you're receiving a fair share of new traffic. I noticed that you have a links page as well, and was wondering if you could return the favour by giving PigOfHappiness.com a seat in your spotlight. I've formatted a link so all you have to do is cut-and-paste: -----------------------------------------------------------------------FREE E-COURSE ON HOW TO BECOME UNCONTROLLABLY HAPPY http://www.pigofhappiness.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------Please let me know if I can be of help in any other way. I'm always looking for a creative joint venture. Warm regards, George Watts Personal Coach, Author & Speaker www.pigofhappiness.com mail@pigofhappiness.com 88

MODULE 8: INSTANT REPACKAGE

REPACKAGE TO BECOME RICH

It Is How You Repackage The Same Information That Will Make You Rich! Bill Gates didn’t invent the original software that launched Microsoft. He bought it from someone then repackaged it. He added stuff & made it easier to use.

The problem is not a lack of information or ideas but a lack of information that is packaged properly. Your job is to convert the mountains of raw data into specialised knowledge presented in a way the consumer can use quickly:

22 WAYS TO REPACKAGE YOUR INFO-PRODUCT 1. Audio CD Marketer: Creating audio programs 2. Author: Selling books to traditional publishers. 3. Calendar creator: Selling info packaged as a calendar. 4. Computer programmer: Selling info via CD's. 5. Consulting: Selling personalised one-2-one information. 6. Courses Online: Selling info packaged as a home-based course. 7. Courses Offline: Selling info packaged as a home-based course. 8. Desktop Publisher: Self-publishing for others. 9. DVD developer: Selling info packaged in a DVD. 10. e-Book author: Selling or giving away e-Books. 11. Freelance writer: Selling info in magazine articles. 12. Game designer: Selling info packaged as a game. 13. Internet expert: Showing people how to market on the net. 14. Magazine publisher: Packaging info in magazine form. 15. Newsletter editor: Selling info in monthly format. 16. On line expert: Producing on line services and info-products. 17. Professor/teacher/trainer: Education, corporate, public. 18. Public speaker: Selling information from platform. 19. Seminar promoter: Selling information in seminars. 20. Talk Show/Info host- radio or TV. 21. Telecommunicator: Selling info via teleconferences 22. TV producer: selling info via TV infomercials/shows.

BE CREATIVE WHEN DESIGNING THE PACKAGING The 22 ways to repackage an info-product just touches the surface! There are literally a million and one ways to package information! The only

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limit is your imagination. So, open your mind to new ways to package your info-products.

MY INFOPRODUCT PACKAGE Way before you start writing your first info-product, you’ll want to know how you’re going to repackage it to create your 2nd, 3rd and 4th infoproducts. It’s time to choose the info-products you want to develop! EXAMPLE My first info-product is a short, humorous, e-Book for cats (not the owner). It’s about how cats can train their owners to do what they want. I will be giving the e-Book away to cat owners on my website to build my database of hot prospects. My second info-product will be an eZine. I will send a cat tip every two weeks to my database via email. My third info-product will be an audio set. My fourth info-product will be a workshop on how cats can train their owners to do what they want’.

My first info-product is…

My second info-product is…

My third info-product is…

My forth info-product is…

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INFOPRODUCT REPACKAGE FUNNEL Now you know which info-products you want to develop, it’s time to add them to the ‘Info-Product Repackage Funnel’.

INFOPRODUCT REPACKAGE FUNNEL Which Info path suits my personality?

The funnel starts out with my first info-product at the open end of the funnel. Each following info-product offers the same information in a different package.

______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________

Example Create a 5-day e-course (Package 6), then write a newsletter (Package 14), then write an e-Book (Package 10), and then follow with seminars (Package 19) which leads to selling via TV infomercials (Package 22) Choose at least 5 info paths that fit your personality but eventually you will expand to many other paths.

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MODULE 9: INSTANT COURSE

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CREATE AN OFFLINE COURSE

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WHY ARE COURSES SO PROFITABLE? You can charge A LOT! The perceived value of a course is high. That means you can charge £300 to £10,000 or more for a niche course.

2,200% PROFIT MARGIN The magic is that your costs are almost non-existent. A £397 course can cost you just £18 to produce. That's a £379 profit. That's a whopping 2,200% profit margin! Each course I sell makes me the equivalent of a week’s work! But the one thing you should know straight away is that creating a home study course takes a lot of 'hard work'. Let me repeat. Creating a home study course takes a lot of 'hard work'. Having said that, once you've done the hard work, you make a week’s wage for doing absolutely nothing. Your only problem will be what to do with your spare time. I'm not joking.

SECRET FORMULA Before you run off creating your home study course...I've got a SECRET FORMULA that will save you countless hours of your time! Ready? The SECRET FORMULA is...

DO NOT WRITE A WORD OF YOUR HOME STUDY COURSE BEFORE YOU PRE SELL 5 COURSES

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FORMULA FOR PRE SELLING YOUR COURSE 1. Write an email about your course that includes a headline, sub headline, benefits, guarantee & call to action. 2. Include a magnificent guarantee (e.g. 3 year money back guarantee). Use your imagination to create a guarantee that takes all the risk away from your prospect and puts all the risk on your shoulders. 3. Include a call to action! Your call to action must inspire the prospect to ACT! (For example: I've got 23 copies of my XYZ home study course left. If you reply to this email within 14 days, I will let you try out my entire course for 30 days without forking out a penny). 4. Find 5,000 prospects for your course. For example, this home study course you’re taking right now gives my whole system for creating and selling information products such as courses. Before creating a single word of the course I located 5,000 prospects online and offline and put them in my database (word document). When I find a prospect I open up a word document called 'ProspectTracker' and add the prospect's details (email, name, address, web, phone, etc). I recommend keeping your database simple. Create prospect categories. My top three prospect categories are: authors, consultants and life coaches. 5. Send your email (see step 1) to the prospects on your prospect database. 6. Keep sending those emails until you get at least 5 people interested. When they reply wanting your course here's what you do. "Many thanks for your interest, but unfortunately we've sold out of the XYZ home study course. Our next batch should be available shortly. I have put you on our waiting list. In the meantime please accept this gift to show our thanks." (For example: attach a PDF document with information that relates to your course). 7. When you've got 5 people interested, it's time to start writing your home study course. The formula I use for creating courses is simple. The more simple the system the more chance you have of succeeding. Try not to get too fancy. My courses consist of modules and CDs. That's my 1-2 formula! The CDs are usually filled with useful resources (templates, forms, etc) and audios. I create my own audios using a FREE audio editing software called 'Audacity' and also include audios made by other experts (who don't mind them being bundled into my course).

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DO NOT BE NORMAL Warning! Do not do what everyone else does. Do not create your course and then expect people to knock down your door to buy it. That's crazy! I beg you not to go down that route. If you want to succeed in the information business get 10 interested prospects for your home study course before you create it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COURSE Keep it simple! When I create courses I follow a 3-step formula… 1. Create modules using Microsoft Word 2. Create audios using Audacity (type audacity into Google) 3. I put everything (modules and audios) in a folder That’s it. Simple. Easy. Effective. This simplicity means I can get someone else to fulfil my orders. I get my local printer to fulfil and post the courses to my customers. Why is this so important? Because I don’t ever have to print, pack and post any products I can operate my business from a laptop while sunning myself on a beach in the Bahamas. You can include anything you want in your course! The goal is to increase the perceived value of your course so the customer believes he or she is getting the best deal in the world. If I am selling a course for £397 it must be worth at least ten times that in my prospect’s eyes (£3,900 value). Here are a few extra things you can include in your course to increase the perceived value. • • • • •

Bonus modules Bonus audios Audio links Video links (e.g. YouTube) DVD(s)

COURSE PRICE I recommend pricing your course from £197 to £397. I will charge £ _________ for my course

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SIZZLING TITLE Write a sizzling title designed to hook your potential customers and draw them in to purchase your course. One of the most important skills to develop as a marketer of an info-product is the skill of creating attentiongrabbing titles. TITLE TEMPLATES 1. Command your course prospects through your course title. "Get Clients Now!" Most will say they don't like being told what to do. But our human psyche seems to respond in spite of what we like. The command has an immediate effect. Why? It connects with the "Yes, I want that" spot within us all. Commands reassure you that helpful advice will follow to help you get what you want from the advice. It tells the Course Prospects it's possible to achieve the benefit the course creator is claiming. 2. Include a ‘How to’ in your course title. "How to Make Your Article Marketing Go the Extra Mile" People love magic pills, miracle solutions or just plain old EASY. They love to learn with simple steps, easy ways and most of all fast. 3. Write a course title using a provocative statement. "7 Book Writing Mistakes that Stamp Loser On Your Self-Published Book" Are you saying I could be making mistakes that stamp loser on my self-published book? You would want to know especially, if you've been working hard to self publish in excellence. Provocative statements pull at our attention like an electric shock. They make us curious. They sometimes make us mad. They make us feel a lot of different things but most of all they make us want to buy to find out more. 4. Ask a question in your course title. "Are You Getting Enough Sex In Your Marriage?” Most people unconsciously answer the question you pose in their minds. The key is to provide the answers in your copy including statistics. For example, "Have you felt afraid to buy online? Like it or

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not, many are still cautious of buying on the web. A Boston Consulting Group Consumer Survey found that 70% of respondents worry about making purchases online." 5. Make a big promise in your course title. "How to Increase Sales 400% by Using Article Marketing" People will turn away from hype and never come back. But if you have a big gun promise, don't be afraid to pull it out and use it. Consider carefully and use sparingly; then make your big promise and deliver. People will remember your promises and come back for more or purchase. Don't forget to include the specific delivery or 'how to' in the content inside your big promise titled course. 6. Perplex your course prospects with a confusing course title. "Eat the Book Writing Elephant One Bite at a Time" Develop curiosity into your title. A seemingly opposite simile works like a charm. Use this one cautiously. Even so, sometimes the title that doesn't make a lot of sense will pull your audience in to purchase your course to find out more. Would the title above arouse your curiosity? The confusing title can capture the attention of your audience just to see what it's about. 7. Offer your top benefit in the course's title. "Think and Grow Rich" A winning title immediately communicates the benefit readers will gain after completing your course. Benefit-oriented courses often use the problem-solution approach. Master (A) this skill or technique and get (B) this benefit. People buy courses for a "benefit" that will help them… • • • • • • • • • •

Grow more Profit more Save money Save time Reduce their stress levels Have better relationships Have better health Have less drama Have less trauma Have more energy and vitality

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TOP 10 TITLES Brainstorm at least 10 possible titles for your course and ask people which title they like best.

My top 10 titles are….

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TOP 10 RESOURCES Come up with at least 10 resources to help create your course (e.g. XYZ website, ABC expert)

My top 10 resources are…

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COURSE MODULES

My modules are…

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COURSE CREATION SYSTEM 1. Create a folder on your desktop for your Course (e.g. "How to train your owner – a course for cats") 2. Create a subfolder for each module (e.g. how a cat owner thinks, how to make your owner treat you like royalty, when you’ve done something wrong do this, etc) 3. When you’ve completed all your modules copy and paste them all into one master document and create a table of contents 4. Print the course 5. Hole punch the course and add the pages to a 4 ring binder 6. Create a cover for the 4 ring binder 7. Create an index for the binder (index of the course modules) 8. Add CDROMs to the back of the folder in a CDROM pouch

OPEN UP MICROSOFT WORD Open up Microsoft Word on your computer and start writing. Keep it simple! Keep it easy for people to read and understand. Don’t edit at this point unless you want to waste your life! Just keep your fingers moving and edit when you’ve completed all your modules.

COURSE CREATION TIPS 1. Get information from websites, online articles & forums and copy & paste it into your word document. Change up the wording so you aren’t copying word for word! 2. Phone or email experts relating to the Course you are writing about. 3. Put your personality into your writing! Be original with your writing. Put a lot of "YOU" into it! A good way to be sure you are in fact being original is to write how you speak. 4. Think as if you were creating your course for a good friend, or your significant other.

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5. Don’t ever, ever, ever even think about editing while you are writing your first draft! And I mean ever! You’ll waste half your life if you do that! So, DON’T EDIT WHILE YOU’RE WIRITNG YOUR FIRST DRAFT! 6. Once you've finished the first draft that is the time to edit. You’ll need to re-read, revise, and retype your product. But it will never be perfect. 7. Start selling your course even before completing it! Offer discounts for pre-orders. 8. Finish! It doesn’t matter if there are a couple of typos or a point you forgot to cover. What matters most is that you finished! 97% of people never finish anything they start. Perfectionists never have any money. Why? Because they hate making mistakes! Be different. Be one of those rare people that can complete a project.

The Latin meaning for ‘Perfection’ is ‘To Finish’.

9. Once you make it past creating your first course, the rest will be a breeze. Getting started is always the hard part.

COURSE DEADLINE Set yourself a deadline! If you don’t set a finish date for the course you’re creating, you’ll never finish! You’ll always be editing. Trust me on this. The deadline gives you a sense of urgency!

My course deadline is: _____________________________

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BONUS MODULE: INSTANT E-COURSE

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E-COURSE INTRODUCTION Online courses are convenient to attend and just as convenient to teach. You can supply lessons, answer questions and mark work -- all from the convenience of your laptop or desktop. The e-course is a relatively low-tech version of the online course--rather than requiring a website with discussion boards and chat capabilities, all of the teaching is done by email.

6 STEPS TO SET UP YOUR E-COURSE 1. Gather your course materials. Decide what information and ideas your course will cover and collect appropriate supporting material (anything you can send as an attachment is ideal), but you can send students to the bookstore prior to the course. Plan lessons, homework, papers and/or exams. 2. Create a course schedule. Decide how many weeks it will take to run the course and assign readings, homework, papers and tests and quizzes over this time span. Keep in mind how much work you can reasonably expect students to complete. If you are teaching your course through a university or community college program, the number of weeks designated to your course probably will be predetermined, so check the school's academic calendar first. Schedule example: Your course may run for 16 weeks You cover one module every two weeks (8 modules total) 3. Send an email welcoming students to your course several days before it is slated to begin. Include in your email the course schedule, a course description and their first reading and homework assignment. Also provide your contact information, including a phone number. Some students might be more comfortable asking you questions over the phone than through the Internet. 4. Respond to questions within a day or two and reply to homework assignments and papers promptly as well. Because there's no classroom setting, your prompt response is partly what keeps the course going. If weeks lag without interaction from you, your students might feel like they are doing work without an audience. 5. Consider using one of these three FREE platforms to manage your ecourse.

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A. Wikispace (http://www.wikispaces.com) B. Google site (http://sites.google.com) C. Yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com) Using one the above sites will make your e-course more dynamic. Students will be able to respond to course-related questions and interact with each other. 6. Request student feedback to get ideas on improving your e-course. 7. Provide a certificate

STEPS TO MOTIVATE ONLINE STUDENTS Strategies can vary based on whether the online students are of low to high ability, less than computer literate, or working adults. There are several ways to encourage and inspire the students to keep them motivated throughout the online course. 1. Post your own introduction (before the first day of class) and ask the students to post theirs under the "Introductions" discussion thread, then ask them to answer the discussion question (DQ). This will let the instructor know more about what drives the students and what their needs, interests, and career goals are. 2. Motivate students who are new to online learning or might lack some computer skills by reassuring them that it's just a matter of time before they become comfortable with the online applications. You should also encourage them to contact available technical support for help with any questions. 3. Encourage the poor or average ability students to take advantage of additional practice exercises. Let the student know when they do well. 4. Bring up a shy student's viewpoint from any written assignment and praise them for it. This will help to inspire the student to lose their shyness before the rest of the online class. You might also call on them in the discussion forum and ask the student to agree with or contradict another student's response and give reasons to support the argument to encourage interaction between the class. 5. Motivate the over achievers with optional advanced modules.

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6. Motivate the highly exhausted full-time working student by adding humour to the discussion forums in order to brighten their spirits. 7. Show that you care for the success of the entire class by offering positive reinforcement whenever possible, showing patience, and offering the most help available while the students adapt to the online format and teaching style.

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INSTANT ECOURSE USING YAHOO GROUP

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Part I – Setting Up Your Yahoo Group In part I you’ll discover how to set up your Yahoo Group.

Yahoo Group Introduction Yahoo Groups is a free online forum consisting of a forum for sharing ideas and information online or via a mailing list. Each Yahoo Group has its own web site and URL, and optional services determined by the group owner such as: •

File and photo sharing

•

Lists of links to information relevant to the group

•

A calendar and polls

•

An online message archive that members can search for information or conversations posted in the past

Once the person pays for your Ecourse you will send an invitation so he or she can join. It’s free, secure and spam-protected. The beauty of Yahoo Group is that you don't have to know anything technical to create your course. The simple process lets you build the foundation for your ecourse with ease.

The Only Catch The only catch are the Sponsor advertisments but that’s a small price to pay. The adverts are paid listings provided by Yahoo. They’re what keep the service free to all users. The adverts are adverts are relevant to the group you’re viewing. For example, if you created a Yahoo Group for a course on how to play better golf you will have a few golf-related sponsored adverts on that group's pages.

GET YOURSELF A FAST TRACK YOUTUBE EDUCATION Get yourself a cup of tea and a biscuit and sit down in front of your computer for a couple of hours.

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1. Go to 2. Go to www.youtube.com 3. Type in ‘yahoo group tutorial’ 4. Take notes

What Types of Groups are Available? Yahoo Groups offers online groups for just about any topic imaginable. Groups are divided into these broad categories: * Animals * Business & Finance * Computer & Internet * Culture & Community * Entertainment & Arts * Family & Home * Games * Government & Politics * Health & Wellness * Hobbies & Crafts * Music * Regional * Religion & Beliefs * Romance & Relationships * Schools & Education * Science * Sports & Recreation Each category is divided into subcategories, which are further broken down by specialized groups.

Join A Few Yahoo Groups Get your feet wet and join a few groups. Learning by doing is always the best route. To find a group you are interested in joining, go to the Yahoo Groups site and click on one of the group categories, then browse through subcategories. You can also find a group by entering search terms in the search box near the top of the Yahoo Groups page. For example, you could search for golf , para gliding, snow boarding or any other interest you could possibly dream up. Most groups are open to any interested party but some are closed, private groups which you cannot join without an invitation. You will need a free Yahoo ID to join a Yahoo Group, and if you use Yahoo Mail, just log into Yahoo! Groups with the same ID and password. 011

Pay attention to any rules the group may have about what you may post. It is usually good online manners to only post questions, answers, comments and information that pertain to the group topic.

Create Your Yahoo Group It only takes a few minutes to set up your first Yahoo Group. 1. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com 2. Follow the simple directions Once you’ve created your Yahoo Group it will get listed in the Yahoo Groups directory within a few days, in the category that you select during the set-up process.

Restrict Membership Since your Yahoo Group is designed as an Ecourse for a paying students (not the general public) you must control membership. Make your group restricted, which means you approve all memberships. You’ll need to send invitations to the people who might want to join. Here’s how to make your group restricted: 1. From the list on the left, click Management. This link only appears if you’re the owner of the group or a moderator with the appropriate privileges. 2. Under "Group Settings", click "Membership". 3. Click Edit next to "Membership Type & Welcome Message". 4. Choose "Restricted" next to "Membership Type". 5. Click Save Changes.

1-2-3 Formula For Starting Your Ecourse Once you’ve created your Yahoo Group and have created your Ecourse follow these steps.

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Step 1: The Owner/Moderator posts a welcome and the first module If you’re running a 16 week Ecourse you will need 8 modules and post one module every 2 weeks. ----------------------------------------First Post Example -> Welcome ---------------------------------------The first post is where you explain how the course works: Example Hello everyone and welcome to the XYZ course! :-) This is where we will be learning about XYZ - you should have received the automatic email when joining this group. The email contains the overview of how things work and what to focus on this week. The basics: The course covers 8 modules over 16 weeks. We will post you a module every two weeks. You must post your answers within two weeks of receiving the module or we will not mark your work. When posting your module include the module number in the post subject line. Please post all your questions (unless it’s of a sensitive nature) because other students may have the same questions on their mind. I look forward to reading your introductions and seeing your photos. If you have any questions at all, about the course, the technical workings of Yahoo or about the things we have said feel free to ask us. ---------------------------------------------Second Post -> Tutor introductions ---------------------------------------------Include: • • • • •

Name Background What you hope to gain from the course (goals) Any worries or fears Anything else you want to say about yourself

------------------------------------------Third Post -> Tutor posts module ------------------------------------------Post the first module. We recommend posting modules every 2 weeks on a Monday morning. 013

----------------------------------------------Other Posts -> Weekly Update Post -----------------------------------------------Weekly Update Post Example Hi everyone Thank you for your introductions it is lovely to meet you all. Also thank you to Frank and Jessica for your photos, it is good to put a face to a name. We have a couple more members to join us here and hopefully they will do so this week. Each week I will post an update like this in order to check both that we have received the posts you have posted and also as a reminder of where we all are, keeping track of progress. Frank Intro received - thanks Emma Intro received - thanks Bob Need to join the group Step 2: The student replys to the post with the answers to the module Step 3. The administrator replies to the student's post Mark the student’s exercises. Try not to personalise the markings too much. To make life easier, open up Microsoft Word on your computer and keep a list of the most common replies to each exercise. Simply copy and paste the reply and edit. Another option is not marking the exercises at all. This frees you up to create other information products.

Q&A Q: Can I change the name or URL of my group after I’ve set it up? A: Yes. You may change the name of your group at any time, but remember: this may confuse your members! 014

If you change your group email address/URL: •

Any existing invitations, links, and sign-up boxes outside the Yahoo! Groups service will no longer be valid, since these refer to your old group name.

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Any message filters or email in-box assistance programs maintained by your members may have to be changed. For example, if a member has an email program that organizes incoming messages into folders, it may not be able to recognize your new group name.

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If your group has been running for some time, your members may resist any changes to the name.

Please carefully consider the implications before changing the name of a group. OK if you want to do it anyway, here’s how: 1. From the list on the left, click Management. This link only shows up if you’re the owner of the group or a moderator with Management privileges. 2. Under "Group Settings" in the upper right, click "Description & Appearance". 3. Click Edit next to "Web Address". 4. Change the "Group Address", then click Save Changes. 5. Note: We generally recommend checking the box to notify users of changes. ======================================= Q: What should I set for Reply-to? A: The "Reply-to" option has four settings: All Members Most discussion groups use this setting, where replies go out to all the members of a group.

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Sender Choose this option to have replies go to the person who sent the message being replied to and NOT to the entire group. Group Owner Choose this option only if you don't want discussion in a group and prefer all responses to go to you, the group owner. Leave Group This setting is sometimes selected by announcement-only newsletter groups that want to make it easy for someone to unsubscribe simply by replying to the newsletter. To change the "Reply-to" setting for a group: 1. From the list on the left, click Management. This link only appears if you’re the owner of the group or a moderator with the appropriate privileges. 2. Under "Group Settings", click Messages. 3. Click Edit next to "Postings & Archives". 4. Under "Reply-to" in "Posting Options", choose your preference. 5. Click Save Changes. Note: Only group owners or moderators with appropriate permissions (the ability to “change group settings”) can make this change. ======================================= Q: How do I prevent my group from appearing in the Yahoo Groups directory? A: Only moderators can adjust this setting. Here’s how: 1. From the list on the left, click Management. 2. Under "Group Settings", click on Description & Appearance link. 3. In the "Description" section, click Edit. 4. Scroll down until you see "Listing Type", at the bottom. 5. Select Not listed in Yahoo! Groups directory. 6. Click Save Changes. =======================================

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Q: How do I create a message footer for my group? A: A message footer is a short block of text that appears at the bottom of each message sent by group members. To create, edit, or remove the footer for a group: 1. From the list on the left, click Management. This link only appears if you’re the owner of the group or a moderator with the appropriate privileges. 2. Under "Group Settings", click Messages. 3. Click Edit next to "Subject Tag and Footer". 4. Edit or remove the text in the "Footer" field. 5. Click Save Changes. ======================================= Q: How do I add any site relating to my group in the "Related Link" field. A: Here’s how: 1. From the list on the left, click Management. This link only appears if you’re the owner of the group or a moderator with the appropriate privileges. 2. Under "Group Settings", click "Description & Appearance". 3. Click Edit next to "Description". 4. Add the URL in the "Related Link" field. 5. Click Save Changes. ======================================= Q: How do I restrict access to the Members area? A: By default, all group members have access to the Members area of a group (although group owners and moderators have access to more information than members). If you would like to further restrict access to this area: 1. Click Management from the list on the left side of the page. 2. Click Web Tools

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3. Click Edit next to Web Tools. 4. In the Members section, select Moderators only or Off. 5. Click Save Changes.

Part II – Inviting After your Group is ready, you need to find people to use the Group.

Personalise Your Welcome Message The welcome message will automatically be sent to people joining your Yahoo Group. Here’s how to personalise the Welcome Message 1. From the list on the left, click Management. This link only appears if you’re the owner of the group or a moderator with the appropriate privileges. 2. Under "Group Settings", click "Membership". 3. Click Edit next to "Membership Type & Welcome Message". 4. Edit the message. 5. Click Save changes. Bonus: Add another message — or multiple messages, or a photo! — to the welcome for new members by uploading a file to the Files section. Click Files from the list on the left of the page, then just choose "Upon joining group" in the "Auto-send to Members" section. This distributes whatever else you’d like new members to receive when they join the group.

Invite Members To Your Group To invite members to your group: 1. Click Members in the list on the left side of any page. 2. In the upper right, click Invite People. 3. In the first box, enter the email addresses or Yahoo! IDs of the people you want to invite to your group, one per line.

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4. Click Submit Invite. 5. Preview your invite. If you'd like to send it, click Invite People. Note: Only group owners or moderators with appropriate permissions (the ability to “Invite and add members”) can send invitations.

Difference between "Invite Members" & "Add Members" The main difference is that invitations require a response before a member is added to the group. Also, users who are "added" rather than "invited" will be treated as "emailonly members" of the group. This means they won’t be able to use the group's web features (photos, files, calendar, etc.) until web access membership has been completed. The "Invite Members" feature allows you to send an email invitation to people to join the group. You can invite people by email address or Yahoo ID. These people won’t be added to the group until they have responded to the invitation. The "Add Members" feature allows you to automatically add members to your group's mailing list by email address. These people will receive a welcome email to the Group without having first responded to an invitation. Use this feature only if you’ve received permission to do so from the people you’re adding.

Q&A Q: How can I directly add (not invite) members to my group? To add (directly import) members to your group: 1. Click Members from the list on the left of any page. 2. In the upper right, click Invite People. 3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Add Members from an existing email list. 4. Enter the email addresses of new members you want to add, one per line.

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5. Click Continue. 6. Review the list of email addresses to be added. To add the new members, click Continue. 7. Now, review the welcome email that will be sent, click Add Members.

Part III – Managing Your Yahoo Group Print a complete list of your members This feature is for owners. 1. From the list on the left of any page, click Members. 2. Then, click Download in the upper-right corner. This opens a complete list that you can either print directly out of your browser, or copy and paste into another document.

Steps to change membership settings for a member 1. Click Members on the left side of any page 2. Click Edit Membership under any member's name. On this page you can: •

Request a profile: This is for email-only members who don’t use a Yahoo email address. By clicking Request a profile in the Yahoo! ID column, you ask a member to include their profile in the group. This gives them access to the group's web features, and it also gives you and the rest of the group a way to learn more about the member, since the information shown in their Yahoo! profile will be displayed to the group.

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Adjust message delivery: If a member is having problems adjusting email message delivery settings, you can help. (Choose from Individual Emails, Special Notices, Daily Digest, No Email.)

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Adjust message format: If a member is having problems adjusting email message format settings, you can help. Choose either "fully featured" or "traditional". The "default" setting is a setting that just means a person never selected either. Currently, individual email

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set to "default" receive the traditional format but soon all "default" users will receive "fully featured" email. Click here to learn more about the differences in the two formats. •

Adjust membership privileges: Change a person's membership level and the privileges associated with it (Member, Moderator, Owner).

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Adjust message Posting Settings: You can change a person's message posting setting to be different than the general group setting. (Choose from Moderated, Unmoderated, Cannot Post.) The most common reason to change this setting is to make an individual's message posts moderated due to off-topic/high-volume posting. You can make one member's posts moderated without affecting the other members' messages. You can always change this setting once you feel the moderated member deserves to be unmoderated again.

PART IV – MANAGING MODERATORS & CO-OWNERS

Set moderator privileges? If you’re the list owner or a moderator with the ability to add, remove, and change moderator privileges, then you can assign additional privileges to one of your co-moderators. Steps to assign moderator privileges 1. Locate and click the member's email address in the Moderators section. 2. The Moderator Privileges form is located below the Member profile. You can set the following options: Approve pending messages and photos Gives the moderator the right to approve pending messages and photos. Approve pending members Gives the moderator the right to approve pending membership requests. Invite and add members Gives the moderator the right to invite people to the group. Remove members and reset bouncing members Gives the moderator the ability to unsubscribe members and to reset bouncing members. 021

Ban members Gives the moderator the right to ban members from the group. Add, remove, and change moderator privileges Gives the moderator to make members moderators or to change the privileges of existing moderators. This is a very important power that should be granted only to people you trust. Set auto-send options for files Gives the moderator the power to send automatic messages to the group (like the welcome message). Change group settings Gives the moderator the power to change settings for the group. Another very important power that should be granted carefully. Delete this group Gives the moderator the power to permanently delete the group. Since this can only be reversed by Yahoo! Customer Support (and only within 30 days of a deletion), another power that should be granted very carefully.

Steps to promote one of your members to moderator status 1. From the list on the left, click Members and locate the member on the Members page. 2. Click Edit Membership. 3. A little way down, click Change to Moderator. 4. Click on the Make Moderator button to confirm. The moderator you appoint will have basic privileges in the group features you've made available, including Files, Calendar, Polls, Database, and Links. In these areas, the new moderator will be able to add, edit, and delete items, including items submitted by other members. You also have the option of assigning them advanced moderator privileges for the Messages, Members, and Settings areas.

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INSTANT ECOURSE USING WIKISPACES

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BENEFITS OF USING WIKISPACE FOR YOUR ECOURSE • • • • • • • •

FREE Create a dynamic e-course in minutes 100% automation Students can interactive - add articles, audios & videos No technical knowledge needed Create unlimited E-courses Students give feedback to each other Create unlimited pages

STEPS TO USING WIKISPACES FOR YOUR E-COURSE 1. Go to http://www.wikispaces.com and take the tour 2. Go to www.youtube and type in ‘wikispace tutorial’ and learn 3. Create a wikispace 4. Add pages for your course (e.g. student pages, class agenda page, syllabus page, modules pages, course calendar page, notes pages, key words page)

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CREATE AN ECOURSE using GOOGLE SITES

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BENEFITS OF USING GOOGLE SITES FOR YOUR ECOURSE • • • • • • • •

STEPS TO USING GOOGLE SITES FOR YOUR E-COURSE 1. Go to http://sites.google.com and take the tour 2. Go to www.youtube and type in ‘google sites tutorial’ and learn 3. Create a google site (only takes a few minutes) 3- Add pages for your course (e.g. student pages, class agenda page, syllabus page, modules pages, course calendar page, notes pages, key words page)

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BONUS MODULE: EBOOK

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EBOOK PRICE Do you remember which info-path you’ve decided to travel down? Are you going to sell low or high priced info-products (see module I)?

I will charge £ ______ for my e-Book TITLE Choose your title. Go to module 5.

TOP 3 PROBLEMS Uncover the top 3 problems your niche market has, that your e-Book could solve. FORUMS If you haven’t uncovered three problems your niche market is having then it's time to hit the FORUMS. You will discover more about your subject matter and the folks who are most likely to buy from you. People go to online forums when they have a problem (e.g. about their cat). They post their problem on the forum and they get a bunch of cat owners giving them advice on how to solve their problem. Can you see how valuable forums can be to find problems your potential customers are having! Plus it's a wonderful way to find out how much interest there is from others about your info-product topic. Ask specific questions and incorporate those into your e-Book based on what responses you get. EXAMPLE: FINDING THREE PROBLEMS CAT OWNERS HAVE 1 Go to http://www.google.com 2 Type “Cat Newsgroups” 3 Reply to a forum post 4 Post your own problem

Find a suitable forum: _____________________________

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Write your forum post…. (e.g. I’m doing a bit of research for a cat book I’m writing. Which one of these 10 titles do you like best and why? )

The top 3 problems I’ve uncovered are….

TOP 10 RESOURCES Come up with at least 10 resources to help create your e-Book (e.g. XYZ website, ABC expert)

My top 10 resources are…

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DESKTOP FOLDER 1. Create a folder on your desktop for your e-Book 2. Create a subfolder for each topic (e.g. how a cat owner thinks, how to make your owner treat you like royalty, when you’ve done something wrong do this, etc)

My topics are…

TEMPLATE Use a template for keeping your e-Book simple, simple, simple! These are proven template winners… q 7 Days (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3….) q 101 Tips q Objective followed by steps q Ingredient 1,2, 3…

My template is...

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OPEN UP MICROSOFT WORD Open up Microsoft Word on your computer and start writing (or copying & pasting info from the Internet). Whatever you do…keep it simple! Keep it easy for people to read and understand. Don’t edit at this point unless you want to waste your life!

14 WRITING TIPS 1. Write 5 to 50 pages. You’re not writing a novel here! Keep it short and simple. 2. Get information from websites, online articles & forums and copy & paste it into your word document. Change up the wording so you aren’t copying word for word! 3. Phone or email experts relating to the e-Book you are writing about. 4. Put your personality into your writing! Be original with your writing. Put a lot of "YOU" into it! A good way to be sure you are in fact being original is to write how you speak. 5. Think as if you were creating your info-product for a good friend, or your significant other. 6. Don’t ever, ever, ever even think about editing while you are writing your first draft! And I mean ever! You’ll waste half your life if you do that! So, DON’T EDIT WHILE YOU’RE WRIITNG YOUR FIRST DRAFT! 7. "Don't be a perfectionist. Perfectionists never have any money. Why? Because they hate making mistakes! 8. Once you've finished the first draft that is the time to edit. You’ll need to re-read, revise, and retype your info-product. But it will never be perfect. 9. Start selling or giving away your e-Book even before completing it! Offer discounts for pre-orders. 10. Finish! It doesn’t matter if there are a couple of typos or a point you forgot to cover. What matters most is that you finished! 97% of

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people never finish anything they start. Be different. Be one of those rare people that can complete a project. The Latin meaning for ‘Perfection’ is ‘To Finish’. 11. Most people are too scared to expose themselves. That's why they remain small, poor, forgettable and unknown! 12. Some of the top selling info-products are covered with typos and highly embarrassing grammatical errors -- but the guys and girls making the most money are the ones cranking out loads of infoproducts and marketing them! 13. Once you make it past creating your first info-product, any others you create will be a breeze. Getting started is always the hard part.

DEADLINE Set yourself a deadline! If don’t set a finish date for the e-Book you’re creating, you’ll never finish! You’ll always be editing. Trust me on this. The deadline gives you a sense of urgency!

My deadline is: _____________________________

CONVERT TO PDF If you are writing an e-Book you will want to convert your word document into a PDF. Here’s how to do it for free. 1. Put all your topics into one Microsoft word document. 2. Go to http://www.pdffactory.com and download their free Word to PDF conversion software. 3. Spend 30 minutes taking the tutorial on how to use pdffactory! 4. Use your printer to convert to PDF.

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BONUS MODULE: HOW TO VIDEO

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VIDEO PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT Use this checklist as you gather up the gear to shoot and produce your 'how to' video or DVD. Covers just about everything you need from camcorder to gaffer's tape. I'm preparing to shoot a series of 'how to' videos, and part of the process involves making sure I have all the equipment I need to shoot each video, before I start. I know from experience how a single missing cable or a dead battery can ruin a day of shooting. To reduce the chances of an interrupted shoot, create a video equipment checklist. Check an example checklist, below. VIDEO PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST Here's my list of basic equipment needed to shoot a 'how to' video;

Have

Need to Get

Description Camcorder - miniDV format with microphone input. - (low budget - Canon ZR500 or Panasonic PV GS180 will get the job done - Expect to pay £300 or more) Blank MiniDV tapes - Panasonic, Maxell or Sony. Always have 3 blank tapes ready. Expect to pay £4.00 each Extra Camcorder batteries - always have 3 extras. Expect to pay £40 each. Neutral Density Filter for camcorder lens - reduces light reflections from glasses - Expect to pay around £40 Second Camcorder - (optional) to record from computer screens and to use to rewind tapes, and to shoot in places where you don't want to risk main camcorder Expect to pay around £300

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Wired Lavalier Microphone - available for under £50. If budget allows, get a second lavalier as a backup. Extra batteries for Lavalier microphone - you'll need them at the worst moment. Having spares can save the shoot. Expect to pay around £5 per battery Lavalier microphone extension cable at least 20 feet. Expect to pay around £5.00 Camera connection adaptors for lavalier microphone - either mono to stereo or stereo to mono, depending on camcorder and microphone Camera Tripod - sturdy enough to securely hold camcorder. Don't get a lightweight tripod. Expect to pay around £80. Video Lights - get 2, three head, floor lamps with a total of 6, 150 watt daylight florescent screen in bulbs, and two overhead 'hair' lights with 30 watt daylight florescent bulbs. Expect to pay under £100 for all. Extra Light bulbs - Have a replacement bulb for each wattage of lights used. Don't let a blown light ruin a day of shooting. Expect to pay under £8 per bulb. Headphones - if camcorder has headphone jack, using headphones can help check audio levels while recording. Expect to pay under £30. Preview Monitor - use a 13" TV monitor to view output from camcorder while recording. Will help you catch problems, adjust the set, and insure that things look good. Expect to pay around £80. Cables to connect preview monitor to camcorder - standard audio/video component cables. Expect to pay around £5.

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Power extension cords, surge protectors - when shooting video, you will always need extension cords for the lights and camcorder, and will want to use a surge protector on the camcorder. Expect to pay around £50 for all you need. 4 pin to 6 pin firewire cables - used to connect camcorder to computer. Get a 5', a 10', and a 20' cable. Gaffer's or Painter's tape - use to tape all wires and cables to the carpet or floor. Small erasable white board - use to write presenters outline notes before each scene. Place immediately below camera so presenter can refer to during presentation. Duffle bags, pelican cases - use to store camera, tripod and accessories between shoots.

TRAINING COURSES After you put together the equipment needed to create how-to videos and DVDs, the next big question is, "what kind of video or DVD should I produce?” The answer is pretty simple. Produce the kinds of videos and DVDs most likely to make a profit. Workshops are expensive, aren't always available, and don't always fit the schedule of the person needing the training. This creates a strong demand for other effective training methods - especially those on video or DVD. A training course offered on DVD or video allows the customer to use it when it fits their schedule, work through the chapters at their own pace, and refer back to specific sections when needed. Plus, compared to travelling to a distant workshop, the DVD training provides very significant cost savings. Paying £289 for a DVD training course can seem like a bargain when compared to the costs for travel, lodging and attendance fees for a three day workshop. BEST TOPICS When it comes to the absolute best topics for how-to videos and DVDs, the best strategy is to find a specialised software product category, where the

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products in that category are expensive and difficult to learn. And then start producing how-to titles for products within that category. The idea is to pick a specific category, and start creating a line of how-to products for items in that category. The best categories will generally be those where the products in the category are expensive, the choices are many, and the tools are somewhat difficult to learn.

5 MINUTE GUIDE TO WRITING A SCRIPT Here's how to quickly put together the perfect script for your next how-to video or DVD. Follow these guidelines and you'll be able to create the kind of production your customers will value. WRITING A HOW TO VIDEO SCRIPT Most good how-to videos don't happen by accident. They are usually the result of careful planning, tight editing, and staying on focus. Before producing a video, always write an outline script, designed to best cover the subject matter in a method that will both educate and entertain the audience. Your goal is to make sure the information provided doesn't bore or confuse. When the video is complete, you want the viewer to say, "Seeing it on video really helped me understand how to do it. Now that I've seen it done, I can do it myself". And at the end of the video, you want the viewer to ask, "I wonder if this guy has any other videos I can buy? This was great!" Here's how to develop outline scripts that elicit the above responses. THE BASIC STRATEGY When you create a video, try to pattern the 'flow' of the video to match that of a typical TV crime story. Present in the first few minutes enough details to show what you will cover (an overview), then present several short video segments (usually no longer than five minutes each), to build a body of information that leads the audience to the ultimate solution to the problem. In keeping with the flow of a TV programme, try to keep each segment close to the length of the segments of actual TV shows - rarely longer than 7 minutes without a break. Because most of our target market has grown up watching TV, they subconsciously expect TV to have a certain flow - and when they are forced to watch longer segments of video, they can become impatient or uneasy. 037

To prevent that, present the information in short segments, providing a break between segments by using graphics to provide 'bookends' between each one. Doing this helps keep the viewer's attention (based on the TV generation expectations of information flow) and keeps the video from getting boring or confusing. Plus, shooting a video in 5-minute segments is a whole lot easier than trying to shoot an entire video at once. (And it forces you to only include the most important and useful information in each segment no going astray telling your life story when viewers actually are looking for information about how to paint a house.) When I begin the task of writing the script outline, I usually follow this basic time line template: TIME LINE TEMPLATE Video Time Line

Segment Topic Length

Action