It’s no secret really.  People buy “How to” information in every niche, sub-niche, and marketplace there is.  Why?  I believe it’s because the human mind is curious and always seeking to find a new way of doing things.

The reason I wanted to address this topic is simply because consumers search for, purchase, and read (or watch) “How to” information in their subject of interest without the usual apprehension and hesitancy that they might otherwise experience with a regular report, ebook, course, or video.

Consumers understand the structure and format of “How to” articles and reports.  They have seen and already consumed them often and I believe, subconsciously, they expect the format to provide them with the information they are seeking. They know that they are going to get a step-by-step or natural progression of instructions that will lead them from where they are to where they want to be.

Providing “How to” information to your audience can be the very basis of your business.  In fact, there are very popular services online like Lynda.com (recently sold to LinkedIn), Teachable, and Udemy that allow experts to offer courses of instruction to targeted prospects in order to teach consumers “How to” do various tasks and solve problems or fulfill desires and dreams in the consumer’s life.

If you are not offering “How to” information to your audience and subscribers, you should be!  The “How to” format or model seems to be universally accepted across all subjects and topics and it has some advantages over other alternatives.

• “How to” information is relatively easy to outline, write, and publish.  As the creator of much “How to” information, I can tell you that it is a very intuitive and easy format to produce.  If you can create a list of steps in outline format, starting at the beginning and moving from one step to the next logical step through to the end of the sequence, you can create “How to” information.
• “How to” information lends itself to all types of media … from articles, to short reports, to white papers, to infographics, to ebooks, to video, to audio, and podcasts, membership site content, and just about every other publishing format there is!
• “How to” information allows the reader to quickly move through the information and spend more time on those steps that need further focus or less time on points that he has already accomplished or that he currently understands.
• “How to” information is easy to “put down” and then come back to at a later time.  Steps can be checked off or highlighted as they are accomplished.  The information doesn’t need to be totally consumed in one sitting because the reader can simply leave the material and return later to continue progressing through the information until the end.
• “How to” information lends itself to browsing and skimming.  It is an easy format to follow and to “pick apart” for highlights, key thoughts, important instructions, and quick consumption if that is the desire of the reader.
• “How to” information lends itself to easy and enticing marketing.  Think about all the books and reports and articles you’ve seen over your lifetime that were titled “50 Ways to …” or “The 10 Best …” or “The Top 5 …”  Well, you get the picture I hope.  It’s easy to title your information and if you’re dealing in a marketplace of rabid fans and consumers, you have a ready-made template for your information.
• “How to” information lends itself to lead magnets, teaser copy, summaries, and other snippets or shortened versions of the full “How to” information.  It’s very simple to include 1-3 ways, or steps, or tips, or tricks in order to entice the reader to want to see more … which can lead to a curiosity about the full document and process.
• “How to” information can be published in many different formats (all at the same time, if desired) including on a blog, in a newsletter, in an email series, in membership sites, in books, reports, videos, podcasts … well, in just about any type of media there is!

Here are a few suggestions about how to find information and examples of this type of writing in your niche.

Go to Amazon books and look at the titles in any niche.  There is an excellent probability that some of the most popular books will include some variation of this format:  “101 Ways to ______________.”  or  “10 Steps to _____________.”

Try all of these descriptors:

• Ways
• Steps
• Ideas
• Secrets
• Facts
• Things
• Reasons
• Basic
• Rules
• Tips
• Best
• Popular
• Easy
• Tricks
• Hacks
• Little know
• Undiscovered
• Brand New
• Amazing
• Fool proof
• Proven
• Professional

Well, hopefully you get the idea of the various ways of setting up your “How to” information steps and instructions.  There are many more things you might say to introduce what you are going to “teach” or expose in your information.

The Internet is the perfect vehicle for sharing your knowledge, your expertise, and your instructions if you desire to base your business on providing information to consumers in your niche.  It allows anyone with an Internet connection and a little bit of technical savvy to record and publish their “How to” material so that it can be presented to millions of people across the globe!

The Internet plus your valuable “How to” niche information can become the basis of a home-based business that will provide a very nice full-time income for its owner.  It’s a tried and proven business model that anyone can dive into!

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.BusinessEmpires.com

Marketers have long understood the value and importance of a strong and powerful Call-to-Action (CTA, for short).  It’s not enough to simply present an offer and leave the final decision on what to do to the prospect.

The CTA is actually a command, a motivation to take some action, and an invitation to take another step in the sales process.

Successful marketers understand the power of guiding the prospect toward making a purchase once the sales offer has been presented in full.

I would like to offer some ideas or suggestions on how the make you next CTA a more powerful sales agent.

First, be sure that your CTA is direct, specific, and detailed enough that there’s no question about what action you want the prospect to take next!  Credibility and believeability are important so think about using any supporting material you can think of . . . like statistics, percentages, endorsements, testimonials, etc.  Your prospects will see you as a more credible marketer when you use supporting data and facts that make your case stronger.

Second, coupons, sales, and freebies can be a part of any CTA.  They usually increase the perceived value of an offer.  They often motivate people sitting on the fence and not able to make a decision.  A flash sale, a one-time coupon, and even quantity discounts can be just what a CTA needs to move a non-committing prospect.

Here’s an example:  instead of simply ending your sale page with “Click Here” or “Buy Now” . . . you might want to say something like “Get this Free training that has been increasing my sales conversions by 50% this past month!”  Or something similar – be creative and come up with your own hot idea to add value and power to your next CTA!

Third, add the principle of urgency to your CTA.  Many would-be purchasers are in a hurry, a rush, or are anxious to get on with life.  If you don’t give the prospect good reasons to buy now . . . he probably won’t buy at all.  But here’s a caution – most marketer’s overdo this principle and insult the intelligence of the buyer in the mean time.  We all hear many marketing messages on every form of media telling us that we have to act fast before the offer is gone forever!  People see right through fake or false urgency and when they do . . . often they feel manipulated and not inclined to buy from this merchant.

If there is a buying deadline, tell prospects exactly what it is (i.e. Friday at 10:00pm Eastern time.)

Instead of saying “download your free copy” of something, provide a specific number or quantity that will be available.  You might say it this way:  “Hurry, there are only 25 copies being given away!”  It’s important that the marketer follow through and be truthful about the CTA happening as stated.  Don’t give away 50 copies if you said you were going to give away 25.  Be honest and up-front as some people will check to see if you are good for you word!

Fourth, be sure to make the CTA simple and uncomplicated.  Only promise one offer, one gift, or one solution at a time.  Too many results complicates the CTA and sometimes confuses the buyer.  If you want to add additional “goodness” to any offer, do it after the fact (for example, on the download page or as a “surprise unannounced bonus.”  It’s best to keep the CTA short and hard hitting.

Fifth, only give one command in the CTA, otherwise you stand a good chance of making it boring and not so urgent.  Don’t ask the prospect to do more than one thing – like visit multiple web sites, remember multiple facts, or take a series of actions.

Sixth, make the CTA stand out!  Boring, run-of-the-mill, vanilla or “lazy” CTAs don’t cut it these days.  We are all bombarded with hundreds, even thousands of marketing messages each day and it is easy to a prospect to filter out or ignore bland CTAs.

Often the design or graphical elements used in the offer’s CTA can make it really pop and be something that is difficult to ignore.  It can grab attention and direct a prospect to take quick action.

There is a big difference between a small narrative link that is black and says “Click Here” compared to a large red button, a pretty model pointing to it, and a CTA that entices the prospect to “Download 101 Tips Guaranteed to Triple Your Online Sales.”

Seventh, be extremely clear and straightforward in “commanding” the prospect in whatever action you want him to take next.  Remember, one action only per CTA.  Make the CTA easy to understand, easy to execute, and easy to justify as being the next logical step in the buying progression.

Eighth, keep track of all your CTAs and split test them so that you can compare their performance based on facts rather than hunches!  It will pay you dividends to track how well various CTAs perform and keep a swipe file on hand so you can use the best ones over and over in your marketing.  Just use split testing and keep all other variables of the offer constant.

I hope these eight suggestions will make sense to you.  Crafting a powerful and valuable CTA is not really a difficult thing.  CTAs can make a noticeable difference in your marketing results so don’t underestimate their power!

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com

No matter what type of affiliate product or service you’re selling, you’re probably always looking for ways to get your offers in front of more prospects . . . and you’re looking for ways to get folks to click on your affiliates links.

It is often said that marketing is a numbers game – the more targeted prospects who see your offers, the more money you make.  Of course, that’s assuming that your have a great product to promote and that you have compelling reasons why the prospect should click on your link now.

With that in mind, here are five killer tips for getting others to click your affiliate links . . .

1.  Buy and Use the Product You’re Going to Be Promoting

It should come as no surprise that most affiliates never purchase or have any experience with the product they are promoting.  It’s simply lazy marketing to slap on an affiliate link to an email and hope that someone clicks and buys the product.  How can an affiliate give a good and truthful recommendation to a product without owning it and trying it out?  Seems rather logical doesn’t it?  Truth be told, the vast majority of affiliates are much more concerned about their potential commission than the best interest of their customer.

2.  Build Trust First

People buy from those they know, like and trust.  So if you’re a virtual stranger who’s asking people to click on your affiliate links, guess what happens?  Usually, not a darn thing!  No one clicks because no one that sees your link trusts you.

Instead of hitting your prospects cold, you need to publish a newsletter and/or preferably a blog, too.  By doing this, your prospects get to know you with each issue you send out or article you post.  You’ll also build trust with your audience by providing free, quality solutions to their problems, questions, and desires.

3.  Pre-Sell Your Products

Even if people know, like and trust you, they’re still not going to rush to click your affiliate links unless you give them a good reason to do so. What that means is that you need to pre-sell your affiliate offers before you send your visitors on to the vendor’s page.

Here are three ways to do exactly that…

a.  Do a product review or comparison.  If you want to sell a single product, then you can do a product review.  This is where you share the good points (benefits) of the products, the product’s flaws and your “verdict” (whether you recommend it or not).

Tip:  If you just want to offer the product benefits, then you’re basically writing a sales letter.  Now that’s OK, but don’t confuse it with a product review.  A review is an honest assessment of the product, including product flaws.  However, don’t be afraid to share the flaws, as doing so makes people trust you more – and that greater trust increases your conversion rate.

Alternatively, you can compare two or more similar products – flaws and all – and let your readers know which one you recommend.

b.  Share a case study.  People want proof that a product works.  One way to offer proof is by sharing a case study of what types of results you or someone else got by using the product.

c.  Build anticipation.  Another way to get people to click on your affiliate links is by building anticipation and curiosity.  You can do this over a series of emails.  Alternatively, you can also do it in just one email, where you get people curious about the sales page.

4. Add Value to Your Offers

When you’re an affiliate, you’re in direct competition with other affiliates who are selling exactly the same product.  One way to virtually eliminate the competition is by adding value to the offer – that is, you offer a related bonus product or service to those who purchase the item through your affiliate link.  Make the bonus offer relevant and useful to the product being promoted if at all possible.

Examples:

• You offer a free sales letter critique to those who buy a copywriting course through your link.
• You offer a free blogging course for those who purchase a traffic-generation course through your link.
• You offer a free exercise book and a free recipe book to those who purchase a diet course through your link.

5.  If You’re a Serious Affiliate . . . Build an Email List in the Niche

It’s no secret that the best affiliates tend to focus their promotion efforts in a few targeted, and often related niche marketplaces.  Why do they do this?  One reason is that they understand the specific marketplace and the desires of prospects in it.  They know the types of products that sell well, they know how and where to contact prospects, and they know the various vendors that are selling successfully.  Here’s another important reason:  they can promote and sell related items to the same prospects that have purchased previously in the niche.  That strategy is a whole lot easier and more productive that finding new buying prospects.  So these successful affiliates build niche mailing lists and often have great targeted audiences that they can tap into with related offers.  It’s a huge advantage over other affiliates that are simply prospecting for first time buyers!

In summary:  You can get more clicks to your affiliate links and more money in your pocket simply by doing these five things:

• Buy and use the product you’re going to be promoting.
• Building trust in your prospects first.
• Pre-sell your products.
• Add value to your offers.
• Build an email list in the niche.

Apply all five of these tips ASAP and see if you don’t start enjoying more sales, too!

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com