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Introduction
When it comes to
building an online business, the first question
often asked is, “Do I have to learn HTML? I’m not
technical.” Actually, this question belongs at the
bottom of the list. It is of primary importance that
you understand what business you wish to be involved
with and what it will take to build a successful
online business.
It is amazing that
most people do not associate the same business
thought processes and planning that they would
conduct to open a “brick and mortar” business with
“opening an online business.” The reason is because
the Web is an abstract concept, as opposed to a
tangible “brick and mortar” business. With an online
business, all you really see is a Website with
information, links and a shopping cart. You rarely
talk to your customers or even know when or why they
are either buying, or not buying from you. The ways
to operate an effective Web business is not
abundantly clear.
This makes it
difficult to know how to transfer your common
business knowledge to your Web business. The
Authorpreneur Program was designed to help you to
develop an online business based upon your books
theme. Once you understand the process, you can
expand your online business for your future books or
niche interests.
Get Away From Your
Computer
The best way to
design an effective online business including your
Website is to get away from your computer and grab
your trusty pen and paper. Creating a solid
foundation on paper will guarantee that you build
your online business and Website correctly the first
time. Most individuals jump right into building
their Website and then change it as they learn more
about what they should be doing. This can be a
painful and costly learning experience.
Overall, you want
to design your niche business based upon the
following criteria:
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Ensuring that
your site addresses the needs of your visitors
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Properly
designing your Website’s navigation
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Properly
writing your Website content to place well
in the search engines
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Developing a
linking strategy that also helps with search
engine placement and generating targeted traffic
-
Developing a
list of subscribers that grows into long term
customers
As an author, you need to incorporate the above
to obtain the following:
-
Branding
yourself as an expert
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Obtaining more
PR about your expertise and your book
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Sell more
books
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Turn your
Website into a profitable e-business that
generates additional income associated with your
book’s theme
The Big Picture
It is important
that you first understand “what” you will need to
accomplish and “why.” If you jump directly into the
hands-on portion of the Authorpreneur program
without understanding why, you can become frustrated
because you may want to make faster progress and
will try to cut corners. This will inhibit or
prevent your success and you may not understand why
you are less than successful.
The Authorpreneur
program incorporates proven strategies for online
success without any hype or gimmicks. It helps you
to achieve the above by providing a step-by-step
“hands on” system that resembles a
blueprint for success.
By following this
blueprint for success, you will be able to determine
your:
-
Niche market
based upon your book’s theme or subject matter.
-
Web page
content based upon profitable keywords.
-
Affiliate
products to sell in addition to your book.
-
Advertising
income with Google Adsense.
-
Content-rich
articles based upon additional profitable
keywords.
Once your Website
is built or modified with the above, you will then
incorporate your Internet Marketing strategy to
generate targeted traffic by developing:
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A solid link
exchange program
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An effective
article writing campaign
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A Marketing
campaign to build your list of subscribers
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An effective
Viral marketing campaign
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A profitable
Pay-per-click advertising campaign using Google
AdWords
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An effective
and profitable e-zine advertising campaign
Additionally:
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Optimize your
Web pages so Google and other search engine
spiders will automatically find and index your
Website without submitting your Web pages. Your
position will be determined on your choice of
keywords and proper Web page optimization
-
You will also
submit your Website to the various directories,
such as Yahoo and DMOZ (Open Directory)
-
Use Web
promotional activities, such as press releases,
teleconferences and Webinars to help brand
yourself as an expert
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Use technology
to execute an effective PR campaign without
having to make any phone calls (unless you want
to!)
After you complete
your niche and keyword research, you will then
diagram your Website on paper. You will list your
topics and associate your research with each page.
The Authorpreneur program provides you with easy to
follow worksheets that follow a proven Website
design model that has been modified for authors.
Targeted Web
traffic
Most of the Web
traffic available today still comes from the free
search engines like Google and directories such as
Yahoo. Because of this, a successful Internet
strategy needs to incorporate the techniques that
will help your Web pages to be ranked favorably by
these engines. This results in your Web pages being
placed somewhere on the first two pages, and
preferably in the coveted “top 10.” It is quite a
feeling of accomplishment when you type in one of
your keywords and see that you are number two or
three out of 850,000+ Web pages using the same
keywords.
The Authorpreneur
program will demonstrate how to properly write your
pages so you can accomplish this goal. In order to
place well in the search engines, your Website needs
to incorporate the following standards:
-
Content rich Web pages that conform to a theme
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Properly
written Web pages that are optimized with
profitable keywords
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Incoming links
from Websites that contain similar content
Your Chances of
Success
Believe it or not,
95% of all current Websites DO NOT consistently use
these standards. As you methodically incorporate
them correctly and find the least competitive
keywords, you WILL be successful in consistently
generating targeted traffic to your Website. Many of
the obvious keywords will be heavily used, and you
should not expect to place well with them. However,
using less competitive keywords; and having your
posted articles link back to your Website will help
to increase your positioning. It is also an amazing
“rush” to receive calls and e-mails from the media
interested in using your expertise in their feature
article or program.
About Web traffic
Web traffic is the
key to success. However, do not confuse “motion”
with “productivity,” as not all traffic is
considered valuable. Stay away from all the gimmicks
being advertised, such as 10,000 Web visitors for
$45; or services that display your Web page in a
traffic generation system. They will deliver the
traffic as advertised, but you will be disappointed
with the results – if you want to make money or have
visitors sign up for your e-zine. Here’s why: Let’s
say you are surfing and interested in finding
information on vitamins. You click on a link for
Vitamin C and you end up at a page promoting
something other than Vitamin C. What do you do? Like
most surfers, you figure that you ended up on the
wrong page and leave the site. These traffic
promotion services deliver general traffic which
will usually provide you with little or no value –
just motion!
How Traffic
Becomes Visitors and Then Customers
Now consider this:
a Webmaster loved your original article entitled
“Tips to Surviving Online Dating,” and posts it on
her Website along with your resource box – which
contains information about you, your book and a link
back to your Website.
Her visitors read
your content-rich article and want more information.
They click on your link and you now have someone
interested in your Website content. She signs up for
your free e-zine and reads other articles that
you’ve posted on your Website. As she receives your
e-zine and grows to trust and respect you, she then
buys your book and a few affiliate products that you
suggest. She is also one of the first in line to buy
your next book when you announce its release.
Turning Your
Visitors into Customers
You cannot
approach a visitor and try to sell them like you
would in a store. What is going to make you
successful is that you will be determining what your
visitors want, and incorporating a “call to action”
that will encourage them to act while visiting your
Website. This is your business and if you owned a
brick and mortar store, would you allow customers to
wander aimlessly without helping or directing them?
A good Web page
informs and excites your visitors and the “call to
action” makes them act instead of just floundering
aimlessly or leaving your Website. Essentially, your
writing leads them by the hand and then encourages
them to act.
The Authorpreneur
Program demonstrates how to use your “pen and paper”
to design an effective Website solution once you
follow the step-by-step program and complete your
niche and keyword research. Then you will develop an
outstanding Marketing plan that will help to brand
you as an expert and generate additional income from
your niche Website.
Click here to
become an Authorpreneur today!
Click
here to return to the "Book Excerpts" Web page.
Authorpreneur is a
registered trademark of V. Michael Santoro. Swiss Army Knife
and image are trademarked by the Victorinox Corporation.
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