As you may remember from the 5-part video series on our Nitro Blueprint System, I told the story of attending my first seminar in 2001.

And how that became one of the defining moments in my professional life and sent me down my new path.

And after leaving that event, the next month I launched a new business that in its first 6 weeks did $102,019.

So, as you can imagine, I am a big believer in the value of attending live events.

However, I am also very selective on the events I choose to attend - because I want the time and money I invest in attending to pay off 10 times the amount or more.

The one event I recommend is…

If you too would like to attend a live event then coming up is the one I recommend being that event you do attend.

It is Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar at http://undergroundonlineseminar.com/go/stealthmode

When you visit this link you will read all about the event and why you will want to attend and will get out of it.

In addition, here is why I really like the Underground Seminar.

FIRST, the quality of the people who attend is the highest quality. It attracts people who are out there making things happen.

That means the contacts you will make will be much more valuable to you and your business.

And if you are just getting started it will help you clearly see the big picture of what's possible for you online as you rub shoulders with the hundreds of people attending.

SECOND, you get access to fresh, new information instead of the "same old stuff." Most seminars bring in speakers who are part of the "training circuit". Those speaker's business is based on going and speaking at seminars.

Now, there is nothing wrong with that, and what those speakers have to offer is valuable and I always learn from them.

However a lot of times you can go to their website and get the same information.

The difference with the Underground Seminar is Yanik brings in "underground" online business owners and gets them to reveal what they are doing, in the real world, so you can duplicate it for yourself.

You are learning and experiencing things that would be literally impossible to get and learn on your own.

If you attend, I'll buy you lunch…

In 2008, every time I travel to a new location, and if you are in the same city too, then I would like to buy you lunch.

So, if you are attending the Underground Seminar this year then let us know so we can have lunch together while we are there.

Of course it would be great if you signed up using this link (we will receive a commission) but even if you're already signed up let me know so we can have lunch together.

All you need to do is go to this page: http://www.nitromarketing.com/meetforlunch/

And let us know you are going to be at the Underground Seminar so we can arrange a time to meet up in person while at the event.

I know 2008 is going to be our best year ever and I would love it to be YOUR best year ever as well. So let's meet up and chat how to make that possible for you.

~Kevin Wilke

P.S.

If you want the 20 second recap…

- One of the best ways to experience a "defining moment" in your business life (just like I did) is attending a live event.

- The one I hands down recommend is coming up fast, its Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar at http://undergroundonlineseminar.com/go/stealthmode

- If you are attending let us know so we can meet up for lunch, meet live and in person and chat about your business ideas and goals.

internet marketing seminar, internet marketing training

Way too often I run across people who have concluded that sales is a nasty word, and sales people are the bottom feeders of society.

They may have reached this conclusion on their own when door to door sales people show up at their home, or maybe when buying a car they can’t stand the pressure the sales person and the sales manager apply during the process…and I don’t blame them…these are the worst examples of the sales process.

I watch people who have that view create websites, and they are financial disasters from the very beginning.

Here are some of the signs of a website that reflects a fatal aversion to sales:

1) No email capture

They do not provide a signup form where a person who is interested in the topic can get more information.

They don’t provide a series of follow up messages or send out newsletters giving people more information about the subject, or informing them they can buy their product or service to achieve their desired outcomes.

2) No listed benefits

A mistake I’ve made and seen many others do, is not listing the benefits for the product or service.

As a recovering engineer, I felt that just listing the features was enough. People could easily spot the benefits…was my thinking.

I was wrong. People don’t visit a website, then sit down and think of all of the benefits they would get from purchasing the product that had 21 features listed.

Instead, they are either a bit lazy, or don’t have the background to understand the benefits. You need to be specific as to what exactly they will gain by getting your product.

3) No sense of urgency

Many create sites where they hope to sell something, but they don’t put a sense of urgency. It is part of that not wanting to push their product on someone.

What is that visitor likely to do the instant they leave your site? Will they come back…very unlikely.

There are a number of ways to create a sense of urgency.

We’ve all seen the “limited time offer” where if you don’t buy in three days, the “price will increase” or “it will be taken off the market”.

The one time offer is popular as well, where you are given only one chance to get something, and if you come back later the offer will no longer be available.

The “limited quantity” offer is also used.

An example of that is: “Only 323 damaged cases are left, so you can get the special hail damaged version only if you are one of the 323 next buyers.”

One of the best techniques is to paint the benefits so clearly, they won’t be able to sleep that night without getting it, because they will have such a vivid image of what it will do for them. They won't want to wait another day without those benefits in their lives.

4) No call to action

Some websites have no button or phone number requesting people buy or get more information. I’ve heard reasons from: “it doesn’t fit our image” to “I don’t want to seem desperate” to “I just feel bad asking people to buy.”

The best answer I’ve heard came from popular author Larry Winget, years ago, while I was attending a presentation he gave. He was speaking to a bunch of us who were members of the National Speakers Association. He said that we should have “stuff” to sell people that attend our speeches. Several in the audience had different variations of the objection: “I don’t want to cheapen myself by asking them to buy something from me.”

His response, which came so fast my head began to spin, was this: If what you are saying has any value, you owe it to your audience to offer them something to further advance their understanding and development of your topic.

If what you say has no value, then don’t bother, but if you have quality content and helpful advice, then you must provide multiple different media products so they can learn more and improve their lives and their businesses. Have a book, a downloadable MP3, and a video. This will appeal to the three dominant learning styles: visual, auditory and tactile.

What should you do?

If what you have is truly valuable, life changing, and worthwhile, then you need to get better at selling, so you can benefit those who want or need it.

Think back to all of the sites you’ve visited; do you remember anything from the sites you didn’t buy something from? Maybe. But it is easy to forget about it.

When you buy something, print it out and keep it next to your desk. Not only are you going to go through it, you will take action and improve your life and your business.

Be sure to become great at that process…otherwise all of the great things you know and the great things you’ve created will have been wasted, since you weren’t able to persuade others to buy a good product from you that will help them out.

- Dan

make money online, online marketing, sell online, website promotion

Even though most people wanting to start an online business already have a full time job and are approaching this part time, some need to create an immediate income online.

The solution most gurus give you for immediate income is some form of big launch. A “fast business model” in theory sounds like a great idea, and for the expert they could make it happen quickly and make that immediate income.

But the reality is, they can produce fast results because they have the experience and know how to do it. For somebody brand new, it still requires them to do 100 different things which are all brand new to them now, but for the expert they come naturally.

Would you instead like to know a way to make immediate income that actually works for people who are just like you?

The best way to do it, is to trade your time for dollars.

Yes, this is kind of like a job – but without the annoying boss with a bad tupee that learns his amazing management secrets reading his Dilbert daily desk calendar!

To be clear, it is where you do for others, in exchange for compensation, one or more specific tasks of the 10 Steps in the Nitro Blueprint System.

The reason this actually works is because, instead of having to learn how to do everything to see any financial results, you only have to learn how to do ONE thing better than somebody who doesn’t know how to do it.

Which do you think is easier and faster? Learn and be able to do a dozen major tasks -OR- learn and be able to do just one task.

In the Special Report you get as a bonus when purchasing the Nitro Blueprint System, I’ll walk you through the 5-step process I recommend following to create an online income today.

A great benefit to this approach (besides the fact that it actually works) is you are still gaining experience and building your skills doing something that will also help you build your long-term Nitro Blueprint System style business.

So following this approach does not delay your progress in building your business, it can actually enhance it!

In the Nitro Blueprint System, you'll find a bonus special report that teaches you The 5 Steps To Creating An Immediate Income.

To make it even easier and faster for you, you are able to advertise your services in the Nitro Blueprint Members Only forum, so that other members who don't have the time, or just don't want to do one of the steps themselves can outsource it to someone who knows the right way to do that step. It's a win-win for everyone involved.

In addition, we will soon be offering Nitro Blueprint System members the chance to apply for a listing in our Directory. This will give you much greater exposure, and help you create an income on the internet quickly.

make money from home, make money internet, make money online, online income, work at home

In 2008, every time I travel to a new location, and if you are in the same city too, then I would love to meet you and the other awesome Nitro subscribers in person and buy you lunch (or coffee or dinner or tasty ice cream!)

This is the perfect opportunity for us to talk in person and get to know each other, to hear about what you are up to, for you to ask some questions, meet other like minded people in your area and have a fun time together.

If you would like to be notified of my travel schedule so you know when I will be in your area so we can meet up, then go here and get on the update list.

~Kevin

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Many people ask me if they will run into problems with the duplicate content penalty when distributing their articles online.

If "run into problems" means being penalized, then the answer is no.

What will happen if you submit identical articles to multiple directories is, after a while the duplicate content filter will spot them, and the links pointing to your website from those articles will not "count" in Google.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean that submitting the same article to multiple websites won't do you any good. Many times, the duplicate content filter will not catch every single one of the articles. (Webmasters will find your article on the directories and post it to their own website.)

Also, as of now (this will probably change in the future), most of those links will still count in MSN and Yahoo. And they send traffic too…

One thing I do not recommend doing is posting the articles you distribute on your own website. Always use unique content on your own site.

When it comes to article marketing, most of the benefit comes from the links you'll acquire.

Whether you use Isnare, Article Marketer, submit to the Top article directories, or use any other kind of distribution service/tool, it's always a good idea to setup a Google Alert for your article title and:

a) Track the results so you know which service is more effective for you. (Results can vary based on your market, and a number of other factors)

b) When a website with good PageRank and/or Alexa ranking picks up your article, contact the webmaster and offer them a unique article to post on their site. This way you both win. They get unique, quality content for free - and you get a valuable link to your website for free.

The more links you can get from websites with high PageRank, the better off you will be from an SEO standpoint. This is all covered in Step 7 - SEO Traffic, of the Nitro Blueprint System.

Bottom line, using something like Isnare or Article Marketer is very quick and will still get results.

Last time I checked, Article Marketer had a service that allows you to create unique versions of your original article, then distributes the unique versions for you. This is a great strategy, because unlike with Isnare, more of the links from those articles will count in Google, and won't disappear as the duplicate content filter spots them.

With something like Isnare, it's still effective for getting links. What will typically happen is, your article will be submitted to hundreds of places, and about 5-10 of those links will "stick" in the long run.

Don't forget there are more benefits from article marketing than just getting links. For instance:

• Some sites will pick up articles from article directories and send out to their newsletter subscribers. In that case, the duplicate content filter is meaningless.

• Also, regardless of whether the search engines count the link or not, there will be readers on other sites who will read your articles and follow the links back to your site.

• Plus, by getting your name out there all over the web, you are establishing yourself as an expert and authority in your niche.

Now get out there and start distributing some articles.

- Liz

article marketing, internet marketing, seo, website promotion, website traffic

Nitro Marketing announces 4 cool job openings.

Do you want to work for one of the most innovative, fun, and
fastest-growing cutting edge Internet marketing companies on the Internet?

Nitro Marketing is now hiring for 4 New Positions, and looking for top
grade people.

Can you make the grade?

If so, you may have just found your dream job.

Here are the current four specific job openings that we have:

- Affiliate Program Manager: attracting, training and managing affiliates
and joint venture partners for our various products.

- Product Manager – manage one or more product lines, helping us plan,
market, promote and manage our products or our client's products.

- Technical Manager – provide technical support for our various projects
including managing our servers, managing our domains, creating websites,
setting up autoresponders, php and mysql programming and handling other
technical issues for the company.

- Continuity Manager – someone to help identify what are the ongoing wants
and needs of our customers and create a way to provide that for them.

Review this page, listen to your intuition, and be a speed implementer:

- Kevin Wilke
Co-Founder, Nitro Marketing

PS: Don’t see the position for you, but want to “get on the Nitro radar”
for our future expansion? Then simply select the affiliate program manager
form at this page and complete that form explaining your area of specialty
where you can contribute. We are growing like wildfire and will keep your
info on file.

PPS: You may forward this blog post to the first 3 people who come to your
mind who would be a good fit.

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This just happens to be a personal experience that I wanted to share. This is the epitome of “hearing” your customer talking, but not “listening” to what they are saying.

The story starts out when I ordered a set of work out videos from a very large, well known company. I called in to order the discs. The girl convinced me to order the upgrade package and a bunch of upsells. (Let me just say up front, I am everyone’s dream customer, I am a total easy sell) For purchasing the amount of stuff I did, I ended up getting a free upgrade in my shipping.

Now I am not necessarily interested in loosing pounds, but I want to get in shape and not feel like I need an oxygen tent after taking the laundry up to the third floor. The girl kept pushing diet pills etc, after about the 10th time of me saying no and explaining this, she said ok and processed the order.

I received my confirmation e-mail with tracking number. YAY! I am so excited, I just know I am going to pop the discs in as soon as they get here and get started.

The discs arrived and I took them down to the TV and was ready to go. I opened the box and the directions were just not meshing with the items I had in the box. Hmmm, I called customer service and was immediately placed on hold for about 10 minutes. Now, 10 minutes is not unheard of, but when listening to a looping version of "Hey Jude" on the pan flute, it seemed excruciating long and painful.

I finally got to speak with “Matthew”. Matthew took down my information and read my order back to me. Excellent, he already has all the information he needs and is ready to help. Before he even asks how he can help me with my previous order issue or why I am calling, he starts trying to sell me additional diet products.

I nicely advised Matthew that I am not interested with purchasing any new products, and that I still have issues with my previous purchase. He then asks me to verify my information again, so I did.

I explained that I believe some of the discs were missing from my package as the “Quick Start Guide” keeps referencing discs that I do not have in my pack. I also advise that I see the package marked Deluxe (all my upsells) but I did not see the other discs being referenced.

Matthew reads my order back to me again and says that is what I ordered. I again explain I believe that some discs are missing from the package I ordered.

Oh! he says, like the light bulb has come on. “May I place you on hold while I check on this?” he says. I say sure. Another 15 minutes of "Hey Jude" on the pan flute. He comes back and again asks me to verify my information. Are you serious? Oh yes, he is serious.

Again with the information verification process. He reads the order to me again and says, "Ok here is what is in your package", and reads me a list of items.

He gets to the basics disc set, and I seized upon that like a thirsty man in the desert. That is it, that is the package I do not have, I tell him. Matthew just sounds disbelieving and says but you ordered it, so it should be in the box.

“Yes, I agree, it should be, but it wasn’t. Can you please just send me a new set?”

“I need to speak with my manager. May I place you on hold?”

I want to scream NOOOOOOO, but there is no other way, so I get to listen to the haunting rendition of "Hey Jude" again. Normally I hate those every 30 second “Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line” messages, but at this point I would have given a lot for that interruption…especially in the high register parts.

Matthew comes back and says he will ship out the new set. Hallelujah!

He then begins to try to sell me diet pills that can be sent with free shipping in that package. I explain to him that am not interested in loosing pounds and just want to get in shape. He says ok, then proceeds to ask me if I would like information on how to lose 7 pounds in 7 days. Again I tell him no.

“How about a quick slim program?”

“No, I am only interested in my discs.”

Ok, but how about a diet recipe book?” This guy can’t be for real…

“No please just send me my discs”.

“But you want to lose weight don’t you? You want to be thin don’t you? You…”

At this point I had to cut Matthew off. “Just send me the discs I paid for. Don’t offer me anything else, don’t send me anything else, just send me the items I paid for.”

“Ok, I just need you to verify your address.”

I am thinking well it hasn’t changed since the last time you took me off hold and asked for it, but I did not want to be rude. Again we verify all of my information and just when I think we are done….you guessed it. I am put on hold while he enters it into the system.

When all was said and done I was on the phone for over an hour. With about 45 minutes of "Hey Jude". This phone call should have taken about 5 minutes.

Why did it take so long? Because “Matthew” heard my voice, he heard the sounds coming out of my mouth, but he did not listen to what I was saying.

Suffice to say I will never do business with this company again due to this experience.

So to recap, what did I learn as a customer service manager?

1. Make sure that your clients are being listened to.
2. Don’t needlessly make your clients verify their accounts. Once should be sufficient and then, if shipping, ask if they would like to use the same address still or provide another.
3. Make sure hold time is minimal and productive.
4. And most important…never never ever use looping "Hey Jude" on pan flute as hold music.

Hopefully if you can see any of this in the service you provide your customers you change it right away. You never have a second chance to make a first impression.

- Meredith

customer service tips, online customer service