Kristie T’s Home Business Blog Fun, mom-geared work-at-home tips and advice on making money on the net.

Are you looking for fresh ideas to market affiliate products (or even a cool tool to give your affiliates)?

I just got the most brilliant affiliate marketing idea opening my mail today. The merchant solutions provider I use sent me a Fax form with a sales message that I can fax to a friend that will give me affiliate commissions when they sign up for their service.

========================================================

At the top it says …

FAX
To:
From:
Phone:
Fax:
Date:
Re: Something that can help your business

Message:
I want you to know about COMPANY NAME HERE. I use their services to process my credit card payments and just love their service. They have really helped my business and I think they could help yours too.

Give them a call today, 1800-555-5555. If you tell them I sent you, they’ll give you a special referral offer…

- no setup fee
- no application fee
- no service fee for two months

But hurry, this special offer won’t last long.

Here’s you you can take advantage of this special referral offer:

1) Call the toll free number 1-800-555-5555
2) Mention YOURNAME
3) I know you’ll enjoy this special deal with COMPANYNAME - over a $95 value for you!

========================================================

What a neat idea huh? Bypass the clogged email avenue that’s sure to get you in the spam box and use FAX to promote your affiliate products. WOW! What a cool concept.

I’ll definately be putting this to the test creating some Fax promotions for my affiliate team now. Who knew my mail box would bring me a hot money making idea today?

What is the coolest affiliate tool you ever got? A viral ebook, a teleclass, an ecourse? Share your favorite affiliate tools here.

1

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

I am reading Jack Canfield’s latest book “You’ve Got to Read This Book.” It’s a neat book about 55 famous people talking about the one book they read that changed their life. It’s a really inspiring book.

As I was reading Jack Canfield shared about the book that transformed his life. He said that from this book he learned two principles to live by that totally turned his life around. He said that in the book Life After Life the book tells about a man who had an after death experience and he followed the light to heaven he was asked by God these 2 questions in review of his life:

1) What wisdom have I gained in this life?
2) How have I expanded my capacity to love?

Wow! Isn’t that a simple, yet profound life lesson to serve as good food for thought?

Have you read any books that have changed your life? Tell us about what great book is the one book that really changed your life.

(Leave a Comment)

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

I am in the Rich Scheferen coaching program now (yeah, he’s that Manifesto man) and one of the ways he mentions increasing your income is increasing your lifetime value of a customer. The theory is that by knowing how much each customer can be worth to you, it helps you determine how much you can spend from a marketing standpoint to aquire that customer.
Obviously to increase the lifetime value of a customer, you need to increase the size of your product funnel.

Here are a few activites to help you increase the lifetime value of a customer:

1) Develop a new product - the more products you have for someone to buy from you at various pricepoints, the more you can earn from a customer. For example, in addition to the $19 ebook, you’ll want a$24.95/mo membership site, a $147 bundle product, a $325 coaching group, a $1500 seminar etc.

2) Write a new marketing salesletter that you can add to your arsenal of marketing materials. The more salesmaterials you have to sell your stuff, the better. It gives your affiliates more to work with too!

3) Develop a viral tool like an ecourse, special report, or audio program to giveaway. Again, the more salesmaterials you have, the more likely you can get your customer to buy the “next” thing you have to offer.

4) Write an article that shows “why” solving the problem your product solves helps them.

5) Add an upsell offer onto your shopping cart for every item you sell. Think about what related offer they might enjoy and give it to them at 50% off if they buy it on the spot.

6) Add messages about related products of yours or affiliate products on your thank you pages.

7) Make follow up calls to people on your list who purchased a product to give them a special deal if they join your coaching program

Obviously this is just a few ideas. But I hope it helps you get out of the mind set of “one sale” and helps you think about how can I get my customer excited enough to get them to consume all my products?

Have you ever calculated the lifetime value of a customer? What things have you done to increase the lifetime value of your customers? Share your lifetime value ideas here.

(Leave a Comment)

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

Bob Parson, the founder of Godaddy had a great post on his blog featuring 16 rules he tries to live by.

Here’s they are for your enjoyment from Mr. Godaddy himself, Bob Parson.

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.” My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.”

2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think. There’s an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.” My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”

5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”

6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks. You’ll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems. You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.” There’s also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: “A wise man keeps his own counsel.”

15. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There’s always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, you’re really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: “We’re not here for a long time; we’re here for a good time.”

What rules and principles do you live by? Share your words of wisdom here.

2

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

Some of the most successful people I know practice meditation, journaling, or both. Being the “spazz” I am, I have had trouble sitting still and focusing enough to do meditation. I also have tried to journal many times but never got into the swing of it. I am very good however at long prayers that help me think, connect, and sort things out.

I am of the belief that when you discover your God given talents and purpose and turn that into a business, you not only will realize phenominal success, but also make the world a better place. And I believe part of that is staying “tuned in” spiritually for direction with your business.

Do any of your meditate? If so, how did you learn how to do it? Do any of you journal? If so, how do you get started journaling and keep at doing it everyday?

Today, you get to be the one with the answers. So to all the “tuned in” people out there, anyone have any direction?
Share your meditation techniques and journaling tips here.

1

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

I stopped by the Hallmark store today to pick up some thank you cards. I really enjoy sending notes to friend, collegues, and people who go out of their way to be kind. It’s important to show your appreciation to the special people in your network. I know there are those automated card sending services, but I think there is something precious and personal about a hand written thank you card in your own writing.

Well imagine my surprise when at the bottom of the box of Hallmark thank you cards I found a “thank you” from Hallmark. WOW!

Here’s what it said:

Thank You for choosing Hallmark Stationery.

For nearly 100 years, Hallmark has been entrusted with helping people keep in touch and nurture their relationships. We believe in the emotional value of written communication and the difference it makes in people’s lives. We hope you enjoy this product, and thank you for joining in the Hallmark tradition of enriching lives through meaningful communication.

That gets you all warm and fuzzy now doesn’t it? Imagine if you wrote a little note like that and tucked it into your product orders or book orders what a difference that would make?

What do you do to say “thanks” to customers and make them feel really special?
Share your ideas and thoughts on little touches to show customer appreciation here.

(Leave a Comment)

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

Are you knee deep in shift? Maybe you are experiencing a career/business shift, a relationship shift, or just a whirlwind of shift. Learn the secrets to transition with Master Shift Coach Christina Carpentier.

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s change. Just when you think life is going smoothly you could suddenly face corporate downsizing, divorce, retirement, or even a health crisis. But it’s how you handle life’s shifts that makes all the difference.

That’s why I have invited Master Shift Coach, Christina Carpentier, to lead a teleclass dealing with change and shift in our lives. She shares how asking “IF” questions as we move thru shift reveals the light on our true potential.

Christina shows us how anyone can move through transition easily and enjoy a more inspired life. She tells us why we are guided through shift to release our authentic soul.

Click here to reserve your spot in this exciting free teleclass on managing transition.

(Leave a Comment)

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

One of the biggest challenges that new businesses face is how to find new customers. If you have ever sat in your home office hitting “refresh” a million times in your email just hoping orders would come in, you may need to think about prospecting for new customers. But how and where?

Here are 5 ways to Get New Customers:

1) Fish in a well stocked pool of customers - If you have friends or someone you know with a big list, offer to do a joint venture with them. You could offer a free ebook to their list or do a free teleseminar for them and offer a commission on sales generated from their efforts.

2) Find fresh leads - Offer to give away something free in exchange for people’s contact information. It could be a free report, article, piece of software, checklist, or audio program. It could even mean buying a list and sending out postcards. Or maybe you want to create a landing page and buy pay per click traffic.

3) Boost your conversion rate - Improve your phone marketing script. Tweak and test your ads. Offer better bonuses. Hire a consultant to review your marketing materials. Find out what it will take to turn a higher percentage of your LEADS into sales. I recently read about an apartment complex that boost their conversion rate and got more renters by giving them a free car wash once as week as a benefit of renting an apartment there.

4) Get more referrals - Ask your existing customers who else they know that could benefit from your product, service etc. Put a tell a friend form on your site. Make this an automated part of your sales process.

5) Make customers so happy they never want to leave - What can you do to improve customer service? How can you make working with you so rewarding they never want to leave? How can you continue to grow and develop your relationship with your customers.

Hope these 5 ideas helps you drive more customers to your doorstep!

(Leave a Comment)

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

When you work in Corporate America everything about your future is held tightly in the hands of your employer. And when one company gets bought out by another company in a big corporate buy out, well, you can just kiss your job goodbye. That’s what happened to Kelly Ferry recently. And they are just “waiting” to see if her husband’s job will go away too because of a recent corporate buyout.

I’ll never forget a few years ago when the startup company my husband had worked for went bankrupt. As the last few days of his job came to pass we were freaked out about how to buy groceries and pay the mortgage. I NEVER want to feel like that again.

This is why I love owning my own home business. I am in charge of my paycheck. If I am not earning what I want, I know what to do so I can turn it around. I never have to wake up one morning worrying about the dreaded “pink slip”

If you’d like to start your own home business, here’s a guide that will help you do it right.

3

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site

If you have ever accidentally let your domain expire, you know it can be a horrifying experience. You think, what will happen to my website? What will I do?

This happened a few days ago to my web design clients last week at www.watermgm.com. Lorne Haveruk is one of the world’s top water irrigation management experts. He was getting ready to attend a major conference for his industy and horrified to see he had let his domain expire.

You basically have 2 options when this happens:

1) Pay a huge fee to get it renewed. Usually this is anywhere from $150-$300 depending on the registrar where you purchased the domain name.

2) Purchase a NEW domain name and setup a new hosting account. Upload your files to the new IP address. Then, when your old domain name is “released” back into the queue where it can be purchased again at regular price, you can buy back your old domain name and forward it to your new domain name and hosting account you setup.

We purchased www.DHWaterMgmt.com for Lorne and uploaded his files there. And today he is flying off to his conference.
I will keep an eye out when his old domain is available for repurchase keeping a close watch. You don’t want to “lose” your domain name due to someone else buying it before you get a chance.

Has this ever happened to you?

4

Subscribe to RSS feed
Add to your favorite bookmark site