Smart Strategies – Ever Wanted to Sell from a webinar?

September_AllHere’s a new marketing topic for you today…and of course, we’ve got some templates to make it easier to implement these strategies. And again, whether you use our templates or not, these strategies will get you places.

Today’s topic is selling products from a webinar.

Webinars a very popular online marketing strategy for selling high-ticket products. They’re an effective tool for getting a highly engaged audience that is interested in your information and your pitch…if you do it right. That’s what this month’s template package is all about – helping you with creating your sign up page, your presentation, your pitch and more.

A Few Tips for Successful Webinars

#1: A Well-Defined Product: Your webinar content needs to naturally flow to the sale of a product or service. So, before you can create the webinar content, it’s a good idea to define the product or service you’re going to pitch.

The key to providing more engaging, interactive webinars is to allow attendees to “personalize” their user experience. From within the webcast, viewers should be able to open and close information panels, access social media, respond to polls/surveys, view complementary resources, and network.

#2: More Audience Interaction Means More Sales: It’s easy to create a webinar with content that solves a problem and leads to a solution, which you then make available to your audience for purchase. However, if content is all one sided, you’ll have participants that start multi-tasking and not paying attention. You can lose them. Webinars needs to provide interactive features to keep your viewers’ attention and discourage them from leaving or losing attention.

#3: Be Transparent: Your audience expects that you’re going to pitch a product or service. Don’t try to hide that. Be completely transparent and embrace your pitch. It shouldn’t be a hard sell but you’re probably giving them a special promotional offer and you’re proud of your product or service so pitch with pride.

#4: Leverage a Solid Webinar Structure: Generally, people front-load their webinar. They talk and then at the end they pitch. Instead, consider this format:

• Position the heaviest, most valuable, content up font to get people engaged right away and for those who have limited time to spend with you.

• Add mini-pitches throughout. Find a few spots in the middle where you can gently pitch to attendees. Again, this helps you grab people if they have to leave early and it may get some sales rolling in before the end of the webinar.

• Make your big offer at the end. It’s okay to be direct with your call to action. As mentioned, your attendees are expecting it and if your content has done its job, then they are looking for it.

Make it easier to conduct your webinars and sell those products with our Webinar Template Package that includes:

  • Insider’s Webinar Marketing Strategy Guide
  • Webinar Planning Checklist
  • Webinar Sign Up Page Template and Sample
  • Webinar Thank You Page Template and Sample
  • Detailed Webinar Outline
  • Webinar Slide Show Template
  • Affiliate Recruitment Email
  • 5-Part Promotional Email Series
  • 5-Part Follow Up Email Series

Click here to grab the webinar template package.

And, of course, use our special coupon code to get 40% off. Coupon code: EWLBLOG

You can use these templates for your own webinars are select developer or resell rights to use the templates for your clients or to sell them. The choice is yours!

Tips to Earn More Affiliate Commissions

Whether you sell your own products or not, affiliate marketing should always be a part of your strategy. That’s why we’ve got those tips and a new template package for you today.

And as always, these tips can be used with or without the templates…but it’s much easier with them. 🙂

If you’re not sure what affiliate marketing is, it’s simple. You basically get a special coded link to recommend products from other websites…and when someone makes a purchase, you earn a commission. It’s that simple. You don’t have to make any products, offer any customers or service or anything. The merchant does everything and you get paid.

How to Earn More Affiliate Commissions:

• Fully Investigate Products Before Promoting: Be a more knowledgeable sales person and boost your reputation with your audience by understanding the products you’re promoting. Nothing can kill your reputation faster than promoting a bad product. Share as much information as possible, so your readers can make informed decisions. If you’re not sure what to include in your reviews, our affiliate program templates include an easy-to-use product review template to get you on the right track.

• Track Your Results: Many affiliate programs allow you to track where your sales are coming from, so you know which promotions are doing better than others. Of course, focus on the promotions that perform best to increase your earnings over time.

• Offer Bonuses (with a Twist): You’ve probably heard of offering a bonus to your subscribers who buy through your affiliate link…but here’s an extra tip. If the product vendor is offering a one-time offer or upsell, always offer a valuable bonus on that upsell to increase your earns for each sale. Oh and by the way, our affiliate marketing templates include a bonus offer page template and we’ve included a bonus offer video script to make it even easier.

• Follow-Up!: Most people make the mistake of sending out one email or just adding a graphic to their website, but they don’t follow up. If an offer is selling well, make the most of it and follow up several times. Educate your audience about the product, how to use it and provide them with valuable information…in addition to a product pitch. If you don’t know how to do that, we’ve got a 7-part email series template to help you.

• Record Tutorials: What better way to convince your audience that these affiliate products are worth their time and money? Demonstrate their usage in a video. For instance, if you are promoting a new gardening tool, center your video on how to use that tool effectively. This is a way to build a trust relationship with the audience. People get to see the product in action, increasing their faith in it.

• Ask for Coupons: Everyone loves a coupon. It represents a discount on something that is a value product. Ask if a custom coupon is available for the affiliate program (we’ve got fill-in-the-blank email templates to help you do this).

Make it easier for yourself to rake in those commissions with our Affiliate Marketing Template Package that includes:

  • Insider’s Affiliate Marketing Strategy Guide
  • Evaluating a Good Affiliate Program Checklist
  • Promoting an Affiliate Product Checklist
  • Affiliate Network Comparison Chart
  • Product Review Template with Sample
  • Product Comparison Template with Sample
  • Affiliate Account Tracking Spreadsheet
  • Product Seller Contact Templates
  • Bonus Offer Page Template and Sample
  • Bonus Offer Page Video Script and Sample
  • 7-Part Proven Email Follow Up Series

Click here to grab the affiliate marketing template package.

And, of course, use our special coupon code to get 40% off. Coupon code: EWLBLOG

Social Media Made Easy

july2016-social-imageNew topic and new template package for you. Whether you pick up the templates or not, we’re sure you’ll find these tips helpful. And hey, we’ve even bumped up the special coupon code, so you can save even more this Black Friday weekend.

Today’s topic is filling up your social media with a ton of great content.

The online world sure has changed. Where you used to only have be concerned about filling your own website with content, now there are so many social media sites where your audience gathers. It’s easy to open a Facebook, Twitter or a Pinterest account, but keeping it full of useful content is a whole other matter.

There are many social networks out there and where you decide to put your focus is completely up to you and that will be based on where your audience is most active, your personal preference and the results you achieved.

If you’re new to social media, choose one or two networks where you audience hangs out and start building a connection with them. Then expand your social media efforts as you go, or consider hiring someone for your team to help you.

Social media provides your business with a number of benefits including:

• Establish credibility with valuable, informative and helpful content
• Build a connection with your audience in a more casual and conversational environment
• Increase website traffic by sharing your content
• Build your list by sharing your free opt in offers.
• Boost SEO – when others share your content, it boosts your search engine reputation.
• Glean valuable information to grow your business. You can observe your competitors, your audience and more.

A few ways to share and connect on social media:

• Share Lessons and Experiences – Social networking is about connecting. If you have something relevant to your industry to share, share it. Start conversations and partake in them.

• Share Pictures, Audio and Video – Multimedia formats are available through many of the big social networks. Us these to your advantage.

• Share Information – Post interesting and relevant statistics, quotes, or headlines and start a conversation. When appropriate, link to your company website.

• Drive Traffic to Your Blog or Website – Post a curiosity generating or attention grabbing headline and include a link to your website. Remember, your ultimate goal in all your marketing is to always grow your mailing list. A mailing list is something you own and makes it easy for you to communicate directly with your audience and sell them products.

• Promote – Launching a new product? Announce it via social networking sites. Offering a huge holiday discount? Let people know, but use this approach with the other more relationship-building aspects of social networking. Nobody wants to follow a company that simply pushes their products.

• Advertise – Many social networking sites also sell advertising space. Use the opportunities to your advantage in connecting with your existing audiences and building new ones.

Finding the best way to connect with your audience takes some time and the best way to figure it out is get out there and start posting. Pay attention to the analytics provided in your account dashboards, track your links and see what your followers are more interested in and provide more of that.

To make the most of your social media efforts, you bet we’ve got a template package to help you. Our Social Media Templates Package includes:

  • Insiders Social Media Strategy Guide
  • Social Media Plan Checklist and Brainstorming Sheet
  • 7 Social Media Site Checklists (all the big ones in this one)
  • 2016-2017 Social Media Content Planner
  • Visual Guide to Social Media Site Posts and Image Size Specifications
  • Hootsuite Bulk Scheduler Tool and Guide
  • 149 Selected Success / Motivational / Inspirational Quotes
  • 20 Graphics with Success / Motivational / Inspirational Quotes
  • 20 Eye-Catching Blank Graphics to Work Your Magic On

Click here to grab the social media template package.

And, of course, use our special coupon code to get 40% off. Coupon code: EWLBLOG

How to fill your blog with AWESOME!

june-2016-screenIf you’ve ever struggled to fill your blog with fresh content, you’re certainly not alone.

You’ve got plenty to do and sometimes blogging gets left by the wayside. But the good news is if you set aside just a bit of time for planning and utilize effective brainstorming tools, your blog can become the incredible resource you’ve always wanted it to be.

There really are just 3 keys to keeping your blog full of AWESOME and here they are:

#1: Planning Your Content

If you take the approach that you’ll blog when you sit at your computer and decide to blog, you’ve probably found yourself staring at a blank screen more than once. Or wandered off to the Facebook or Instagram and hoped that inspiration would soon strike.

And then what? A lot of wasted time…that’s what.

A lot of people think that content planning is time consuming, but in reality it ensures that you create a cohesive content marketing plan that is more likely to make you money and saves you plenty of time in the process.

If you take the time to plan your content for the coming month, a couple of things happen:

• You’ll be able to sit down and just create content when you’re ready or you can assign those topics to your guest contributors.

• You can create a plan shaped around your product launches or affiliate products you want to promote. In short, you can more effectively make your content make money for you.

Luckily enough, in our blog content template package (enter coupon code: EWLBLOG to save 40%) we include a blogging calendar to help you generate plenty of content ideas, a weekly blog planning sheet and a blog post planning template as well.

#2: Systematize Your Content Creation

Establishing routines for your content creation benefit you in many ways. Establishing routines doesn’t mean you’re going to spit out boring robotic content…not at all. It just means you can get a lot more done in a lot less time.

It’s not always easy to get there, but we help you with this with our checklists, brainstorming and idea sheets that you can find our blog content template package (enter coupon code: EWLBLOG to save 40%).

#3: Don’t Create All Your Content Yourself

A common approach to a blog is to center everything around the blog post owners. The logic is that all content is created by the owner because they are the expert and their readers expect no less from them. This approach has appeal because you can create a great brand based on your personality and quickly build up a loyal following, but the long term drawbacks can certainly outweigh those benefits.

Some of Those Drawbacks Are:

• It is a lot of work for you. We don’t have to tell you that creating all your own original content is a HUGE job. While content creation is an important part of building your business, you need to have time for planning, strategizing and marketing. If you’re writing all day, it’s tough to dedicate enough time to these activities.

• It is a lot of pressure on you personally to always deliver. If your business is all about you, your readers and your customers rely only on you. There is a loyal following and connection, but sometimes the expectations can be too high and your time is sucked up by doling out free advice and answering endless questions. While we’re all in a content-based business because we like to help people, we’ve got to make money and have time for ourselves too.

• You have no exit strategy. A business that is centered around one person has no value without that person. What happens if you want to sell the business or if, heaven forbid, something happens and you can’t run the business? A lot of people don’t plan for an exit strategy or they don’t feel they need one, but we’d encourage you to think about:

-> Your business is an asset. Not only for your family right now, but your family in the future when you’re long gone. Even if you don’t sell the business, you need to plan for your succession.

-> On the other hand, a business you can exit can be sold at any time. If you or your family has a need for extra money or you’re just ready for something new, you can sell part or all of your business.

-> You can make a ton of cash if you plan your exit well. By building up the business, systematizing it and selling when it’s doing well…you have more money to work on new ventures, improve your family’s situation or just enjoy yourself.

Now we’re not suggesting you should set up an impersonal business with a ton of content just flying out there to see what sticks. NEVER. You can still benefit from being the central person in your business…but also effectively leveraging the work of others in delivering knowledge to your target market.

Once You Get Help Blogging, You Have:

• The ability to get more leads: Content is a lead generator and if you optimize and distribute it well, you’re going to reach more leads with more content.

• More time for profit-generating activities: While content is a great lead- generator, your business needs your attention when it comes to strategy, marketing and sales activities. When you don’t spend as much time creating content…you get more time for exactly that.

• More Variety for Your Readers: By using content from others, you give your readers a fuller experience that they will appreciate and come back for. Stop worrying about having all eyes on you, create a resource that is the most valuable to your readers.

And you bet, we’ve got the templates you need to start hiring writers or even getting people to write for you for free. It’s true…you don’t have to pay to get content on your site. Grab our blog content template package (enter coupon code: EWLBLOG to save 40%).

Put these tips to use and you’ll have a viable blog filled with all kinds of AWESOME your readers will love!

What to Do Next:

Need more help with your blogging? We’ve got a great package of blog content templates (enter coupon code: EWLBLOG to save 40%) that includes:

Blog Templates

  • Insider’s Strategy Guide
  • Blogging Calendar
  • Weekly Blog Planning Sheet
  • Blog Post Planning Template
  • Content Style Checklist
  • Content Types for Your Blog Checklist
  • Where to Get Blog Content Ideas Checklist
  • 50 Things to Blog About Checklist
  • How to Get Free Content Checklist
  • Recruiting and Working with Free Guest Bloggers Checklist
  • Guest Blog Post Submission Guidelines Template
  • Hiring and Working with Writers Checklist

Click here to grab everything and again, use coupon code: EWLBLOG to save 40%

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Ron’s Top Tip for 2017 Success

ron-crystal2016 was an amazing year for me and my business. It was a year of personal growth where I improved my craft and gained a lot of confidence.

In 2017, I plan to narrow my focus and scale up the programs that have the most potential for my business.

My two big takeaways that can be a big help to you in 2017 are:

1) “Do or do not. There is no try.”

Spending time learning and planning are good, but the real education comes from actually doing new things. Only then will you learn what you are really capable of and break free of your limiting beliefs.

In 2016, I hosted my first live virtual event (the BestSellersSummit) with Alice and then later in the year I hosted an in person marketing seminar (the WarriorEvent). I’ve always considered myself an introvert, but forcing myself to get involved and step out of my comfort zone showed me that I’m not bad at helping to organize and host events. In fact, I think they both went over really well based on the feedback from attendees.

I also did several product launches in 2016, one in which I wrote my own sales copy all by myself. Prior to that, I thought I needed to hire a copywriter, but after seeing my video sales letter outperform the copy I had paid thousands for in the past, I realized that my skills were a lot better than I thought with that as well.

So the bottom line is, stepping out of your comfort zone is the best way to master your craft. Think of each new experience being like an arrow in your quiver that will give you the confidence to battle your competitors. You can achieve a lot more than you realize.

2) Surround yourself with people who are doing what you want to accomplish.

This was huge for me in 2016. Just interacting with people who were high achievers and learning what was working for them helped me tremendously.

I did this by attending events and by joining key mastermind and networking groups.

One of my strengths is being able to model what others are doing. Once I see that something is working for someone, I can usually put my own spin on it and implement it for my own business. Strategically being part of groups like our EliteWritersLab opened my eyes to a lot of exciting things that I realized I should be focusing on to grow.

One little tip can result in windfall profits. So in 2017, make sure you network and model after people who have achieved things you want to achieve. I certainly plan to do more of this.

Those are my two big takeaways going into the new year. I hope this serves you well for 2017.

P.S. Here’s the link to Alice’s tip from yesterday, if you haven’t seen that one yet.

Alice’s Top Tip for 2017 Success

alice-familyOver the past year and a half, I’ve been shaving off projects and getting more focused in my business.

It’s the tendency of many online entrepreneurs to dip their feet into many projects because it’s easy to do. The problem is, when you divide your efforts, you minimize your success.

Eliminating projects meant that half way through this year, my account announced that my revenue was already double that of the same time last year.

But that was the big picture stuff. I still had some further focusing to do. Every day, while my kids were at school, I’d spend most of my day in my office working. Or some version of working. There were distractions, simple tasks that dragged out and when I looked at it honestly, a lot of unproductive time.

So here’s what I’ve been doing to become more productive and ultimately, more successful.

I’ve been planning more fun stuff to do during work time. I’ve also been volunteering my time at the kids’ schools where normally, I’d always convinced myself I was too busy.

And guess what? I still got everything done, but in less time.

When you think you have hours to complete a task, the task will take hours. When you think you have just 30 minutes, you’ll be surprised at what you can get done.

The other benefit is limiting the time you can work ensures you focus on the most important things. Those things that are going to grow your business…rather things that will just keep you busy. Prioritization becomes easy when you simply can’t do it all and you have better things to do.

So if you often find yourself saying you don’t have time to have fun, schedule it in. Not only will it force you to be more productive and focused during work time…it’ll make you a whole lot happier and guess what? That happiness will produce even more success.

Facebook Ads for Writers:
27 Ideas and Examples

Facebook Ads for Writers

With nearly 2 billion active monthly users, it’s almost crazy not to tap into the huge audience of Facebook. Sure, you can do it the old-fashioned way and try to build your following organically, or you can make it much easier on yourself by using the Facebook Ad platform to multiply your profits.

Facebook advertising makes it easy to target your precise audience…and even reach your previous website visitors and customers directly.

Of course, writers have unique needs when it comes to advertising. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freelancer, book author or blogger…there are plenty of ways to leverage this powerful platform.

We’ve put 27 ideas together for you, including real-life examples to help inspire your own Facebook ad campaigns.

Facebook Ads for Writers

Click here to download this free guide (PDF)

And hey, let us know how you’re using Facebook Ads or if you have any questions.  Just tweets us @elitewriterslab.

11 Ideas for Writers Using Facebook Live

Even Writer's Can Take Video Selfies!

Okay, as a writer, you might be weary…or let’s face it, possibly deathly afraid…of doing live video. But Facebook Live is an amazing platform to create a connection with your audience and get them to take action.

If you’re not sure what you could do with Facebook Live as a writer, here are a few ideas for you.

Take them Behind the Scenes – One of the most creative and best ways to use Facebook Live is to take your followers behind the scenes to a “day in the life” of your business and you. People whoa like to know about you like to know everything they can about you. Take them behind the curtain to see how you get ready for a live speaking event, or how you conduct your process to create your products or services.

Be Transparent – You’ve heard it before, that people like you because you are “real”. But what does that mean? Real means that you’re transparent and you’re not putting on airs to be someone you’re not. The best way for anyone to witness this fact is via video where you are just yourself, mistakes and all.

Do a Live Q & A – This goes back to your followers wanting to know everything they can about you, your products and services. A great way to do this is a live Q & A. Your audience can ask questions via the chat function of Facebook Live and you can answer them via the video right then and there. Hint: It might help to have an assistant reading and telling you the questions because it will move fast.

Teach Your Audience Something They Need to Know – A great way to use Facebook Live is to teach them something they need to know. You can take one question, and turn it into a live event that teaches them something important. Remember, while you have 90 minutes, you don’t need to use all 90 minutes.

Share Your Opinion on Your Niche – You can also use a Facebook Live event as an impromptu way to discuss an event, occurrence, or issue going on within your niche right now. It can be used for conducting a rant, or giving people confidence.

Conduct Interviews – A good use of Facebook Live is to interview people live for your audience. This works great if you’re at a live event or a meet up and want to introduce those who couldn’t make it to some insiders within your niche.

Stream a Live Event – A good use of Facebook Live is just sharing real life and live events with your audience. If you’re going to an event in person, showing your audience that event live is a great way to get their attention.

Share Client Testimonials – Now that Facebook allows people to answer with video, you can even share client testimonials via the live feature. Just do a live video asking for the testimonials in response.

Share Success – Did you create some amazing success today? If so, you can go straight to your Facebook Live and share it right away. Want to share an amazing accomplishment off the cuff? Facebook Live is a great way to do it.

Ask Your Audience Questions – A great way to use Facebook Live is to get on there and ask your audience a question to ponder each day. They can answer in text but some people are being given the opportunity to answer back with video as well.

Repurpose all Videos – Any time you have videos that you’ve created using Facebook Live you have an opportunity to repurpose them for use elsewhere. Facebook records the videos automatically. Now you can edit them and use them in other products.

Now it’s your turn. Get out there and start making those videos and hey, let us know when you publish one (Just tweet us @elitewriterslab). We’d love to see it.

Content Shortcuts – How to Use PLR

Marketing your books or products in the online world takes a lot of content. Whether it’s content to inform or entertain, it makes the web go ’round.

Content Marketing ShortcutsIt doesn’t matter if you market through social media, advertising, your blog, email marketing or YouTube…you NEED content.

And as a solo entrepreneur, it’s not always easy to keep up. One of our secret weapons is using private label rights (PLR) content. In fact, Alice loves it so much, she created a whole business out of creating PLR content for others (you can see the kind of content she offers here).

If you’re not familiar with PLR, it refers to pre-made content that you can purchase publishing and editing rights to…without having to give credit to a specific author. It’s kind of like hiring a ghostwriter who writes on a certain topic, but the content is already made. Plus, it’s cheaper than hiring a writer because the PLR seller generally sells multiple licenses of the same content.

You in turn can take the content, edit it, brand it, add your product/affiliate links and make it your own. It’s much quicker and simpler than writing your own content.

Here are a few ideas for using PLR content to promote your business.

* Use it as newsletter content
* Make an ecourse
* Use it on your blog
* Promote your products with it
* Build your mailing list by giving away a PLR report
* Create an info product from PLR
* Use it as a script for audio or video content
* Make pamphlets or booklets for offline use
* Turn it into bonus products for your books or other products
* Add the content to a membership site

There are so many possibilities, but a lot of people worry about using content that is seen elsewhere, but there are so many ways to make PLR your own.

A few ways to customize PLR:

1. Add Your Opinion. To suit a wide variety of purchasers, PLR sellers often sell content with any strong opinions. This makes it easier to pack a little more opinionated punches into your content.

2. Add Examples. When explaining a process or giving instructions, incorporate examples your audience can relate to. For example, an article for parents about bed wetting can include experiences/case studies of your own customers – or even your experiences with your own children.

3. Add Your Own Formatting & Punctuation. As a writer, your writing likely has a visual style. You may frequently incorporate the use of sub-headlines, questions to your audience, bullet points etc.

4. Add Statistics and Other Relevant Data. Show your readers more depth to a topic by including statistics and data with your content.

5. Add Quotes. People love thought-provoking quotes. Find relevant quotes to your topic and give your readers something to think about.

6. Add Links. Link to other useful information and products. Whether it’s links within the article or a recommendation at the end, go the extra mile to add value and monetization.

PLR is certainly a time-saving tool and when you find a great source of ready-made content, you definitely want to hang onto it. Of course, not all PLR providers are the same. That’s why we made a free guide for you to find great PLR content to promote your books and products. Download the free guide here (PDF).

What to Do Next: Take Your Content Marketing to the Next Level with 40% Off Our “Content Management for Traffic and Monetization” Templates.

Content Management Templates
Make it easier to make your content work for you with our Content Management for Traffic and Monetization Templates Package that includes

  • Insider’s Strategy Guide with our best content marketing strategies.
  • Daily, Weekly and Monthly Content Planner to keep you fully organized and on track.
  • Master Content List to ensure you are maximizing all the content you publish.
  • Master Affiliate Promotions List to help monetize your content.
  • Master Products/Services Promotions List to help monetize your content,
  • 50 Things to Blog or Post About so you never run out of ideas.

Click here to content management template package.

And, of course, use our special coupon code to get 40% off. Coupon code: EWLBLOG

You can use these templates for your own webinars are select developer or resell rights to use the templates for your clients or to sell them. The choice is yours!

Stay Up to Date with Elite Writer’s Lab

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Building a Loyal, Buying Audience

Last month’s Elite Writer’s Lab case study was with one of our favorite bloggers and super affiliates, Lynn Terry. We talked to her about building a loyal audience who loves to buy…even if you hate selling.

Lynn is a lifestyle blogger and offered some very smart advice on:

  • Where you need to put your focus to build an engaged and buying audience.
  • What to do if it feels like you’re talking to yourself and no one is paying attention to your blog or social media updates.
  • How to get around the obstacle of hating selling, but wanting to make money from your content.
  •  

    Using product discussions to generate revenue.

By the way, we do case studies like this every month, so if you want more, join us here for just $1.