Tuesday, July 26, 2011

LinkedIn Influence and Premium Pricing Graphics

Good afternoon. I'm trying to take some time to spend with my
twelve-year old son while my wife is on vacation visiting a
girlfriend and my daughter is off with her youth group on a
mission trip. So far we've watched 13 episodes of old 1992 X-Men
cartoons on NetFlix, he's participated in a great singles and
doubles tennis match, we've gone swimming, cooked, and we're off
to the museum and then to see the Tulsa Shock (women's
basketball). And it's only Tuesday!

Two things crossed my desk I wanted to share with you today. The
first responds to something I have very strong feelings about:
businesses spending too much time with Facebook fan pages and
Twitter tweets. In working with a local consulting client, I
performed a competitive analysis for them and reviewed my
findings with them today.

One of the things I discovered is that some of their competitors
are really attacking the market with social media, notably
Facebook and Twitter. Good for them for jumping on the bandwagon.
However, after almost two years of using these tools -- on a
regular weekly/monthly basis -- they have practically no friends
or followers. Why?

I suspect it has to do with the fact that their target audience
is not spending as much time on popular social media sites as
they expected. I also suspect it has to do with the fact that
they are targeting the wrong social media sites.

If you want to get on the consumer's radar, you use Facebook and
Twitter. But if you want to get on the businessman's radar you
need to use LinkedIn. There's a great ebook collection that takes
you from zero to sixty with LinkedIn. It shows you how to set up
your presence, your blog, your group and leverage it for maximum
return on investment.

If you are not using LinkedIn or not using it to YOUR advantage, then
run -- don't walk -- to this page:

http://tinyurl.com/4yjocsd

The other item I found was Premium Pricing Graphics. Every great
sales letter has two components: words and graphics. Use this
inexpensive collection of graphics to make your price pop off
your web page:

http://www.cooltoolawards.com/software/multimedia/premiumpricinggraphics.htm

One last thing: a subscriber special for the rest of this month
only: get a sales letter written and a custom ebook cover
designed for one low price of $297.00. Limited to first three
people to respond to this newsletter only. Seriously! Do it now!

Until next time,

Steven

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Recapturing Joy

Greetings friends. Hope you are staying cool during this
oppressive heat that has hit many parts of the world. Today I
wanted to share a personal story with you to show you that
anything is possible.

We all have dreams and wishes, things that we place on our bucket
list of things to experience or achieve before we die. Many of
our dreams gets dashed as we pass from childhood into adulthood.
Sometimes our interests change as a result of going to college,
that first job, or by the people who come into our lives.

Sometimes changes that occur around us inadvertently change the
direction of our lives, and as a result, we push our dreams deep
down inside, often never to be thought about again. As we
transition to adulthood and independence from our families, we
realize the need to become more practical in our way of living.
Work takes the place of play. Money becomes the focus.

And then we meet someone who captures our heart, and life changes
more than we could ever imagine. We settle down, buy the house,
start a family, and gradually our focus changes yet again, and
all of our energy becomes focused on others. The dreams have long
ago faded.

I come from three generations of magicians. My Uncle Harry owned
a small novelty and magic shop in NYC back in the 1940s-1950s. My
Dad worked in the magic shop for a brief time as a teenager. And
when I was about 5 years old, my Uncle started pulling quarters
from ears and making them disappear at his fingertips. My Dad
started teaching me card tricks in our basement on rainy days. I
was instantly hooked.

By the fourth grade I was performing magic in the school variety
show. My first time in front of several hundred people. All
energy was focused on me. And I was making them laugh and
enjoying every minute of it. I knew I wanted to be a magician.

I started reading every magic book in the local libraries. I met
other magicians and learned where the professional magic shops
were in NYC. I started visiting them and buying and learning. I
had a voracious appetite to learn as much magic as I could. I
dreamed of big shows in front of big audiences.

I worked private parties and occasionally local clubs but never
hit the big times. Then I started college and found something
else I really liked to do -- write. I liked it so much, it
gradually displaced magic. I even became a college English
teacher and taught writing for three years. I started winning
awards for my writing and even published some of my work.

Then I entered the corporate world and rapidly climbed the
corporate ladder to make as much money as possible. If
anyone ever asked me to show them a trick, I politely refused and
told them I gave up that hobby.

I packed up my magic props and books and didn't even look at them
anymore. I moved, got married, had kids, experienced a great deal
of success in the corporate world, made a lot of money, and
performing magic was a distant thought. For over 20 years.

And then I entered a period of self-discovery. I was now in my
mid-40's and had accomplished almost everything I had ever
wanted, and yet it all felt empty. I began to discover a
God-shaped hole inside of my soul.

Over the past 7 years I have tried to fill that hole with a great
many things, but last year I was given the opportunity to
experience the joy of performing again when a friend from church
asked me to perform at a picnic.

I was very nervous about getting in front of an audience again,
but soon found it was a lot like riding a bicycle. I stood up in
front of the people and started performing. Soon they were
laughing and applauding, and I once again felt a rush that I had
not felt in years.

Over the past 12 months, I have performed for several private
parties, and have become the opening act for a local comedy
improv group as well as a closing act for a variety show at the
historic Spotlight Theater here in Tulsa.

And then last week, I was contacted by a local casino.

On August 13, from 8-9 pm, I will be doing my one man show at the
Creek Nation Casino in Okemah, OK. It's not a huge venue, but it
is my largest to date, and I hope that it opens the door to
other opportunities in the surrounding casinos. There are dozens of
them here in Oklahoma.

And so, my goal in sharing this personal story with you is to
remind you about your own dreams, and to challenge you to embrace
them, and to reawaken those desires you may have buried a long
time ago.

There is joy in those dreams.

Now go recapture that joy.

All my best,

Steven

Monday, July 11, 2011

Create Hot Ebook Covers with High Res Ecovers Pro

Greetings from 106 degree Tulsa, Oklahoma. Whoa, it's hot
outside. Feels like you could cook an egg on the hood of my car.
I hope you are able to find a cool spot this summer and take some
time to ruminate about things.

Over the past few weeks, I have been contacted by several folk
seeking advice on how to make money online. Many have been trying
to do so by selling their own ebook or special report. And they
are not having a lot of luck. When I visit their web site, one of
the first things I look for is their ebook or report cover.

Ugh.

You'd think by now that people would understand they need to show
a representation of whatever they are selling. And that
representation is usually a product shot -- an ebook cover, a
report cover, a CD, something that makes their product look REAL
and DESIRABLE.

That's the goal.

First, make whatever intangible product you are selling look
real. Does it look like a book I might buy off the shelf at
Barnes & Noble? If it doesn't, I'm not interested.

Second, does the product shot intrigue me enough to desire to buy
it or learn more about it? Does it make me think about the
subject matter? Do I wonder if I could use it? Will buying it
make me better or make me richer?

But so many folks go to market without a product image -- or
worse yet -- with a really bad and amateurish product image. And
then they wonder why nobody buys, subscribes, or downloads.

My friend Max Rylski has released a new graphics package designed
to help solve this problem. You'll need PhotoShop CS4 or CS5, but
this is a wise investment anyway. It comes with an all-new
collection of sizzling hot action scripts of books, binders,
spiral bound reports, CDs, DVDs, business cards and more. It also
comes with templates to get you up and running fast, a users
guide to walk you through the product and a video tutorial. And
it's only $67.00.

Check it out here:

http://www.resellerproducts.com/highresecoverspro

Until next time,


Steven