Sunday October 20, 2002              Issue: #008 ISSN 1539-056X
(c) Copyright2002 - http://flashmarketing.com        Editor: Flash
_________________________________________________________________

                The FlashMarketing Newsletter(tm)
                   ~Simple Steps to Success~
                  Marketing Online Since 1997
_________________________________________________________________

Hello,

This publication is *never* sent unsolicited. If you are reading
this, it is because you've subscribed or someone has forwarded it
to you. Please do *not* reply to unsubscribe.

To subscribe: subscribe@flashmarketing.com

To be removed: unsubscribe@flashmarketing.com

You can also use the form at:
http://flashmarketing.com/newsletter/

Please *FORWARD* this whole newsletter to your associates.

_________________________________________________________________

"In a free and just commonwealth, property rushes
from the idle and imbecile to the industrious, brave
and persevering."

- Emerson

_________________________________________________________________

                          Contents
_________________________________________________________________

1. Editor's Notes

2. Feature Article - Creating Websites that actually make money!

3. Announcing - EZ Submissions.com

4. Doctor's Advice - Two Top Reasons Marketing Fails

5. Useful Links

_____________________________

1- Editor's Notes
_____________________________

Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. One of the drawbacks
of a monthly publication is timing announcements. This issue was
delayed until I could roll out EZ Submissions.com. More later.

I just ran into a big surprise. This weekend I finally upgraded to
IE6. As I was laying out this issue of The FlashMarketing
Newsletter, I looked back at last month's issue on the Web and
discovered it was all centered. It looked really bad.

Just to make it easy, I have the newsletter in a "pre tag" located
in a centered table. To remedy the problem I simply added
"align=left" to the "td tag."

The moral: Don't downshift on a super highway!

- The Editor
[ Back to Contents ]

_____________________________

2- Feature Article
_____________________________

Creating Websites that actually make money!
- by Jim Edwards

Not a week goes by that half a dozen people don't ask me
what separates a great, money-making website from a bad one.

In response, I surveyed of a number of different websites,
large and small, to find what they share in common to make
them so successful.

With few exceptions, every extraordinarily great website
contained the following elements.

~ Testimonials

Every great website has testimonials from satisfied
customers. These testimonials help set the potential
customer's mind at ease that the products or services sold
online will perform as promised.

Truly great testimonials not only endorse the product, but
clearly state how the product increased sales, saved money,
or benefited previous buyers in very specific and tangible
ways.

Testimonials should present real benefits others can readily
identify with, understand and, more importantly, want those
same results for themselves!

~ Headlines

Headlines capture visitors' attention and get them involved
in the website.

How do you read the newspaper?

If you read like most people the headlines first catch your
attention and determine whether you'll actually read a
story.

Similarly headlines on a website determine whether visitors
get involved in the information or surf away never to
return.

My own experience has shown that the proper headlines can
easily and quickly double, triple, or even quadruple a
website's sales almost overnight.

~ Bullets

Bullets communicate various and subtle bits of information
about a product or service without making readers plow
through paragraphs of information to get to the meat of a
website's offering.

Bullets arouse interest, build excitement and convey a lot
of information very quickly to time-starved web surfers.

~ Bonuses

Every great website offers bonuses to people who buy, apply
or fill out a form.

Nothing induces someone to do business with you online like
offering them something extra for taking the action you
want.

Offering a bonus report, tape, extended membership, extra
quantities of product at a deep discount, coupons, or just
about anything makes people more willing to go ahead with
the purchase decision.

~ Guarantees

Everyone takes a risk whenever they buy anything from
anyone.

The risk centers on whether or not the product or service
will perform as promised. In a retail store most people feel
pretty confident the store will still exist if they need to
make a return or exchange in a few days.

On the web, however, that risk in making a purchase seems
much higher than in the 'offline' world.

Every great website makes a point of specifically telling
customers about their return policy and truly exceptional
sites offer 100%, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantees.

People rarely take advantage of such guarantees and I have
personally seen a website's sales increase by 45% just by
extending the guarantee period an additional 30 days.

~ Phone numbers

Every great website has a phone number with a real live
human being on the other end who can answer questions and
provide product support.

So there you have it!

With few exceptions this represents the formula for creating
or identifying a truly great website.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Jim Edwards, author of numerous best-selling ebooks, earns
thousands in affiliate commissions every month! Jim has
developed "Affiliate Link Cloaker," the easy, FAST, safe way
to STOP affiliate link "hijackers"... Dead in their tracks!
Click Here => Affiliate Link Cloaker
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[ Back to Contents ]

_____________________________

3- Announcing
_____________________________

EZ Submissions.com

I am very proud to announce that EZ Submissions.com is up and
running. Please visit it at: http://ezsubmissions.com

It has all the benefits of TrafficSeeker Platinum and it is web
based.

* No software to install or learn
* No contract, quit anytime
* Great for Mac users
* Set it up once then put it on autopilot
* Spider you whole domain with one click

One additional benefit is the "Top Keyword" tool. Those of you
that have been around for a while know I believe in choosing the
right keywords to properly optimize you page. I always recommend
the article by Sumantra Roy as a guide.
http://flashmarketing.com/ck.htm

Please review that article if you haven't lately. It has you
going to different sites plugging in keywords and filling out a
spreadsheet to get to the most profitable keywords. It gets quite
involved but it's well worth it!

With the "Top Keyword" tool, you just plug in a keyword and
click. You get a list of phrases. Check the ones that are
relevant and click. You then have a list of the keywords, with
the "KEI" values, that you should use to optimize your page/site.
It is KILLER!

I am giving you a special deal because you are a
subscriber. For the next week I'll give you a month @ 1/2 price.
Save up to $40.00. After you sign up, choose the plan you want
and on the next page enter the Promotional code: "killerap"
without the quotes.

If you're in a position to recommend this service, our affiliate
program pays you 40% commission on every referral. You can make a
living with that margin! Since it's a monthly service you'll get
residual income and it's free to join! Click for more:
http://flashmarketing.com/ap.htm

[ Back to Contents ]

_____________________________

4- Doctor's Advice
_____________________________

Two Top Reasons Marketing Fails
by Kevin Nunley

Ads sometimes don't work.  There are a lot of reasons why
this happens, but more often than not, we can point to two
downfalls that seem to hurt marketing.

Problem one is your ad isn't clear to the people it is talking
to.  Most of us have words and phrases we use in our
industry that make little sense to our customers.  Strive to
put your ideas in plain everyday language.  If you have an
industry buzz word, translate it into words everyone uses.

Just as often, the one important benefit that will make
people buy gets lost somewhere in the copy.  Often when I
get a long email message from someone, they'll have the
important part in the next to last paragraph.  Someone in a
hurry wouldn't find it.

Problem two is marketing frequently isn't pointed at the
right people.  One guy who wanted to recruit members for
his MLM opportunity advertised in the daily newspaper.
Lots of people read the paper, but very few were interested
in network marketing.  He would do far better to put his ad
in a networking publication or ezine that specializes in his
target audience.

Kevin writes your sales letter, web site copy, or autoresponder
messages so they get response.  He can write any style and on
any subject.  See Kevin's writing deals at:
www.flashmarketing.com/copy/

[ Back to Contents ]

_____________________________

5- Useful Links
_____________________________

*NEW*
EZ Submissions.com - Like a web based TrafficSeeker Platinum
http://ezsubmissions.com

WebPosition Gold 2- Submitting your sites does no good if it's not
good enough to be listed on the first couple of pages. Optimize
it with:
http://webposition-gold.com

TrafficSeeker - Mega-Submitter - 799,000+ sites.
http://trafficseeker-platinum.com

MYSS! - The Internet Selling Manual (Bible)
http://flashmarketing.com/myss.htm

Dr. Nunley - Killer Copy - Never Underestimate the Power of Words
http://flashmarketing.com/copy/

ScamFree Zone - "Internet Success Blueprint" - Highly Recommend.
scamfreezone.com

eBook: "How to Write and Publish your own eBook... in as
little as 7 Days"

[ Back to Contents ]

_________________________________________________________________

If you decide you no longer want to receive this publication,
send a blank email message to:

	 unsubscribe@flashmarketing.com

If you received this from an associate and you would like to
subscribe just send a blank email message to:
	 subscribe@flashmarketing.com

You are hereby granted permission to publish this newsletter in
its entirety. This includes forwarding it to your associates. If
you just want to publish an article, you must also publish the
resource information at the end of the article.

Improve the Internet - Help a Newbie

Market a little *every day* ... it adds up!

Thanks for reading!

[ Back to Contents ]

_________________________________________________________________
(c) Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved
FlashMarketing