Get More Clients Online

How to Brand Myself on a Limited Budget

Q:  How can I brand myself on a limited budget?

Bob Medak
StormyWriter.com

A:  Hi Bob--

You're definitely in the right industry (writing) to help brand yourself pretty easily. Here are the 4 best, most inexpensive ways to become an expert in your industry and thus begin the branding process:

1.  Determine what you're best at. Once you determine what you do best, it becomes much easier for your prospects to understand that, as well.  Here's an article I've written that will help: 10 Key Questions to Ask to Unlock Your Expertise

2.  Develop an authority web site.  Content is king online, and providing useful info that helps your target market solve their problems will go far in developing the like, know and trust journey with your prospects.  This article will help you:  10 Steps to Creating a Lead-Generating Authority Web Site

3. Create a Unique Selling Proposition for your business that makes you stand out.  Being able to succinctly articulate what you do and what makes you different is key in branding.  This article will help you:  How to Create a Unique Selling Proposition for Your Online Business

4.  Begin to share what you know.  The quickest way to do this is by writing articles and syndicating them on various article banks across the Internet.  I've written a number of articles on the topic of article marketing, but one to get you started:  How to Write Articles That Will Increase Traffic to Your Website

OnlineBizU.com's Branding Expert, Samantha Hartley, offers a free online brand assessment, which you can access here:

You might also want to check out our members' only call on Aug. 17th with visibility expert Nancy Marmolejo on the topic, “The Secrets to Success in Any Economy: How Finding Your "Profitable Essence" Can Save Your Business, Restore Your Morale, and Make You the "It" Person in Your Industry”.  You can join OnlineBizU.com here to get access to this call.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

Need help with list creation in aWeber

Q:  I see that you use aWeber for your ezine.  I'm trying to create a giveaway that is available for download on my site.  When someone signs up for the giveaway, they're added to my email list.  How do I do this in aWeber?

Tania

A:  Hi Tania--

1.  Set up your new list to which new prospects will be added. Go to Create and Manage Lists, and then Create New List.

For this task you'll need to have the following info:

• the email address you'll use to correspond with them. You might want to set up and choose newsletter@yourdomainname.com or ezine@yourdomainname.com.  If this email address isn't already created, you'll need to create it in the admin panel of your hosting account.
• the URL where your logo can be downloaded
• a confirmation page on your site where the prospect will be taken when she opts into your list.  Typically, I put the same info on this page as is contained in the first email autoresponder.  More info on that below.
• personalize the boiler plate text that aWeber provides for the email inviting a prospect to opt into a list.

Enter this info when requested and save your list.

2.  If you have a downloable giveaway (PDF or audio), you'll need to FTP it to your site and then note the pathway to the giveaway, which creates the URL.  For example, if the filename of your giveaway is called donnasgiveaway.pdf and it's uploaded to your site (donnagunter.com, for example) at the level where your other main files are located, the URL for the giveaway is probably going to be http://www.donnagunter.com/donnasgiveaway.pdf  (NOTE -- This isn't a working URL but created only for purposes of this tutorial.)

3.  In aWeber, make sure the appropriate list (the one to which new prospects will be added) is selected from your Current List dropdown menu.

4.  Then in the top nav menu, go to Messages and then Followup. This is where you'll add the email messsage that your prospect receives with instructions on how to access your giveaway.

5.  You'll see a green button that says, "Add New Followup Message".  Click that button.  This is where you create the autoresponder, even though nothing in the menu calls this an autoresponder.

6.  Then you'll be taken to a screen where you can create an HTML or Plain Text message, or both.

Plain text is easiest.

7.  Create the message.

Sample subject line:

{!firstname}, confirming your toolkit request and subscription

(the {!firstname} is aWeber coding to insert the recipient's first name into the subject line)

Sample body of email:

Hi {!firstname},

(the {!firstname} is aWeber coding to insert the recipient's first name into the subject line)

Thank you for requesting my toolkit, "TurboCharge Your Online Marketing" and subscribing to my ezine today. I'm confident that you'll find it very helpful as you determine the best strategies to use to help you get clients online.
 
So, congratulations on the first big step you took!

To download the toolkit, just click on the link below.
http://www.donnagunter.com/donnasgiveaway.pdf

You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and read this ebook.  If you don't already have the program installed on your computer, you can download it at no cost at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
 
I'd love to get feedback as you read the book. If you'd like to provide a testimonial, please just hit "Reply" and send it to me.  I'd love to add it to the website.

You should also receive the next issue of my Get Clients Online Ezine, published each Thursday.
 
Let me know if I can help you make more money (and get more clients) online!

Warmly,

Donna

===========
If this is the first message of the autoresponder, aWeber will automatically set it up to go out right away.  If you add additional followup messages, you can set them to go out at whatever interval you choose -- 3 days after the first, 10 days after the first, etc.  It's up to you.  Then, save the message.

8.  Lastly, create your opt-in form. Go to the "Web Forms" tab and aWeber will take you through a form creation wizard.  The easiest form to create is an "in-line form" using the Basic Plain template.  I believe that Name and Email will already show up in the form for you.  There's an option to put something in the header and footer fields, but I usually delete those.  Give the form a name and save it.  Then, you can take the Java code that aWeber provides and insert that into your web page so that the form shows up there.   

Now, you should be should be all set.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

Seeking a new conference call service

Q  We have been using FreeAudioConferencing.com for our conference calling service. Over the course of years, we are not completely happy with their service and are searching for a better service. I was wondering if you have one that you recommend or know of a service that might be better.  Thanks for your help!
 
Xina Raley, Executive Administrator
Global Coaches Network

A:  Hi Xina--

I've got two great recommendations for you.

The first is a free service, FreeConferencePro.com. I've been using them now for several years to record client phone calls and haven't had a problem. They offer call recordings, the ability to personalize the greeting callers here when dialing the bridge number, ability to hold up to 250 participants, and multiple conferencing modes (conversation, Q&A, and presentation).  In addition, there's an easy-to-navigate Host Keypad Controls that let you manage callers, security, and settings right from your phone keypad. Get real-time participant counts, lock and unlock the conference, mute and un-mute participants, and more.  The online Live Conference Control Panel gives you all the control as the Host Keypad Controls with additional capabilities, such as a real-time view of who is on your conference.  Best of all, this service is free!

Because I have members calling in from around the world, for my teleclasses, I use Instant Teleseminar,  which starts at $67/month.  This service offers the ability for 200 participants to listen to the call live on a phone line, and 2000 participants to listen from an online webcast, which has about a 10-second delay behind the phonecast. The webcast participants incur no long distance charge for the call, which makes it ideal for international callers.  The service also permits you to configure an event and a replay page, and you can send out that URL to your participants, where they can get the bridge line number, report back to listen to the webcast, or pick up a handout or a special offer that you've linked to on the event or replay page.  You can also record a custom greeting and customize the event page with your logo or picture.

The most useful feature, however, is the fact that the service provides a primary recording and two backup recordings.  One of the backups records everything between the beginning and ending time of the event in case of a problem with the primary recording. I've only had to use this once, and was very glad I had access to the backup.

They have recently added the ability to show a Powerpoint presentation during an event, and the system records the PPT and the audio, so participants listening to the call at a later time can see both.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

How to Attract Clients to My African Tour Web Site

Q:  We have come up with a tour company that I am really hoping to see it grow into a multi-million company. The company is situated in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. I would like you to advise me on how I can get clients from Europe and other countries since the company is new and I don't have any links to those countries. At the moment I am working on my company's web site. Please advise.

Grace Mwihaki

A:  Hi Grace!  Congrats on taking the plunge into entrepreneurship!  It sounds like you have created a very exciting business.

Here's how I would get started:

1.  Create a lead generator.  The first thing you need to do is to begin creating a list of prospective customers. To entice them to join your list, you need a lead generator, or a client attraction device. Many times this is an ebook, audio, or ecourse  that solves some problem of your target market.  In your case, your giveaway might be called something like, "The Best-Kept Secrets of Booking a Successful Tour of Africa That Other Tour Companies Don't Want You to Know."  In this giveway, you tell your prospects how to look for a great tour company to book a tour of Africa, and mention how your company can help them.

2.  Build a list.  You'll need an email marketing program like GetMoreClientsAutoresponder.com, which is what I use to collect leads.  You'll need to install an opt-in box on your site where prospects can leave their names and email addresses in exchange for your client attraction device.

3.  Educate prospects.  Write one article a week about some aspect of booking a tour in Africa or visiting Africa and submit it to article submission sites. I use the service, GetMoreClientsArticles.com to help me with my article submissions.  In your resource box, be sure and point the prospect to your web site to pick up your client attraction device.

4.  Stay in touch with prospects.  Publish a weekly email newsletter with an article about traveling in Africa, along with an offer for your prospects.  This offer might include special limited-time pricing on a specific tour package, a free consultation to help a prospect plan a trip, or your upcoming tour schedule.

5.  Blog about traveling to Africa.  In addition to writing articles and publishing an ezine, start a blog about traveling to Africa post new info on it 2-3 times per week. If you have a client who lives in Europe but has traveled to Africa and would be willing to share his/her experiences on your blog, all the better!  You can also publish the articles you write on this blog, as well as repurpose your email newsletter content here, as well.

6.  Seek out strategic alliances.  What other kinds of companies serve this same market but provide a different product or service to the market?  Perhaps a travel insurance company or company that sells tour clothing?  Each of you can promote the other's web site or  feature articles by each other on each other's blogs or email newsletters.  Finding web sites that travelers from Europe frequent would be another way to get in front of your target market by advertising there or becoming an expert content provider on the site.

7.  Video.  Video marketing is very hot right now, and if you can take video excerpts from tours you have conducted or take video of places you will visit and post those to places like YouTube.com.

I hope this helps you get started, Grace, and that your tour company has a very long and prosperous life!

Bonus tip:  For more help in creating and implementing these strategies, names of the resources and tools I use to implement these strategies, and answers to your questions, become a member at OnlineBizU.com.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

Help in building a video landing page

Help in building a video landing page

Q:  I'm looking for someone who can help me with building a video landing page.

Sam Micco

A:  Hi Sam -- For one-time projects like this that can't be handled by people on my team, I often look to the freelance sites to help me.  One of the most helpful sites is http://www.oDesk.com, where you post your job and list an hourly rate or a fixed rate, and independent contractors bid on it.  You can see their prior experience and reviews on their oDesk profile.  The majority of the independent contractors on this site are outside the US.  The bulk are from the Philippines, India, and Pakistan.

Other places to look include http://www.elance.com and http://www.guru.com.  I've had the best luck and best responses with oDesk.

Good luck with your project!

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

Hiring someone to help me with my Internet marketing

Q:  I was wondering if you would suggest hiring an internet marketer to do everything you are teaching on your membership site.  In other words, how could I find someone who will do all the work for me (i.e. college student) while I write my ebooks? Although I have somewhat of an interest in knowing everything that goes on within my business, I would rather hire somebody who has the knowledge and will do everything for me while I take the time to create my product. What are your thoughts? How would I go about finding such a person, i.e. college student, or small business?

Wayne

A:  Hi Wayne -- great question, as this is a big conundrum for many online business owners. Yes, this does make sense, if you can afford it.  So many of my clients who are just starting out don't have an extra $500 - $1000 a month or so to hire someone to implement Internet marketing strategies for them. The cost depends on the extent of your marketing strategy, or how many ways you want to drive traffic to your site (PPC, SEO, article marketing, content marketing, blogging, video, authority website, etc.)

The downside to hiring someone without an understanding of the processes is that you set yourself up to be taken advantage of.

So, before hiring someone to help you with your Internet marketing, here's a few things to keep in mind:

1.  Are they using automated systems that can easily be integrated into your current marketing practices?

2.  How much time will it take to set up systems before the implementation begins?

3.  What kinds of reporting do you receive?  How is your ROI (Return on Investment) measured?

In terms of hiring someone to help you, I wouldn't hire a college student, as they typically aren't going to know what to do unless you train them. For best results, hiring a small business is more more effective, and in the long run, more cost effective, as they typically have the type of experience you are seeking.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

Best Ways to Find Your Target Market

Q:  What would be the best, most productive ways to find, and target, my niche market? 

Susan

A:  Hi Susan -- First, you need to determine what you can offer and then describe your ideal client.  Who are the kinds of people with whom you enjoy working? What is it that you do best?  I've written about 7 more questions to ask yourself in this search in my article, How to Find Your Niche, Determine Your Ideal Client, and Target Your Market.   

Then, once you have a better picture of your target market developed, here's another article I've written on how to find them online: How to Find Your Target Market Online. 

Then you need to determine what to ask them once you've found them: 10 Essential Questions to Ask Your Target Market.

Bonus tip:  For more help in creating and implementing these strategies, names of the resources and tools I use to implement these strategies, and answers to your questions, become a member at OnlineBizU.com.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

 

An Alternative to Spacky.com

Q:  What happened to the great keyword site you recommended called spacky.com, mentioned here in a 2008 issue of your ezine?   It's gone. Do you have another free keyword site you recommend?

William Taylor

A:  Hi William--

I just recently noticed that Spacky.com had disappeared, as well.  I did a bit of research online and no one seems to know why it disappeared.

I have found a listing of other free/fee-based keyword tools here.

The closest one I've found that seems to search across various search engines is the one by SEO Book.  This tool bases its results on WordTracker, and you do have to become a free member of their site to access this tool.  WordTracker offers a whole host of additional features with a paid subscription.

It appears that access to useful keyword research tools are going to be by paid subscription only in the future.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

How Do I Get More Clients?

Q:  I retired from the Fed Gov't last year and started a consulting business, both are in-person & online. I am trying to generate income & see the potential. I really enjoy reading your articles. Any ideas on how to get more clients?

Jim Hennessey
www.JLH86.com

A:  Hi Jim--

I checked out your site and you're offering a great service for those folks who need a security clearance.  Your biggest obstacle at this point seems to be getting in front of the people who need your services.

So, here's what I recommend that you do -- start by defining your target market and then figure out where to find them online.  Here are some articles I've written that will help you:

How to Find Your Niche, Determine Your Ideal Client, and Target Your Market

How to Find Your Target Market Online

10 Essential Questions to Ask Your Target Market

How to Create Your Target Market Profile

Once you've figured out who comprises your target market and how to contact them, then follow this formula: How to Get 95% of Your Clients from Internet Marketing

Bonus tip:  For more help in creating and implementing these strategies, names of the resources and tools I use to implement these strategies, and answers to your questions, become a member at OnlineBizU.com.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

Finding free articles for my newsletter

Q:  How do I find other articles to add to a newsletter? I would write one article, but would like to include other content. Is there a site for free articles?

Randy
Jack Quinn Solutions

Hi Randy--

Great question!  The largest, longest-running article bank online is EzineArticles.com.  You should also check out the article directory at GetMoreClientsArticles.com, which is the submission service I use to get my articles all over the Internet.

All that either of these services requests of you as a publisher is that you give proper attribution to any article that you publish from their site.  In most cases, that means noting the name of the author and publishing the author's resource box (bio) at the end of the article.  You can go to either site and search for a topic, or check out their category index and find articles in that fashion.  Or, if you know the name of an author whose work you want to use, you can search by author name, as well.

Good luck with your newsletter!

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.