Well it’s the middle of summer, and we here in Seattle are FINALLY enjoying summer weather. I found the top of my desk again (after digging through a week’s snail mail), and I am starting to put into motion the cool things I learned while I was at the NSA Convention.

It feels really good to know that whatever website, blog, or Internet Marketing-related ideas I get from a learning experience like that, I can implement them immediately. If it means I add more pages to a website, no problem. If it means I start a whole new blog, I can do that. If it means create a new email campaign, or add an opt-in box, NO PROBLEM. I’m not waiting for anyone else’s schedule; I can set things up now and benefit NOW.

At the core of my confidence is my knowledge of HTML and CSS (by the way, I learned most of it AFTER leaving Microsoft). Even if you decide to use software like Wordpress to set up your website, you’re going to bump into HTML and CSS over and over and over again! It’s time to stop hiding from them, and really learn the 20% of HTML and CSS that will get you 80% of the way.

My “I Can Fix My Website Monthly Membership” program is a low-cost, effective way to get started. In fact, on Tuesday, July 27th at 4 pm Pacific, we’re having the first of 2 webinars this week — an Open Q&A where you can bring your questions about ANYTHING related to websites, blogs, and Internet Marketing (yes, including Social Media).

http://www.toolieforums.com/zmember/signup.php

Then on Thursday at 4 pm Pacific, I’m demonstrating how to create an Offline Marketing piece that can drive traffic to your website or blog. You get both of these calls PLUS access to our private Technical Support Forum for just $27/month. Both webinars are recorded and added to our soon-to-be-released how-to Video Library. Sign up today, and you’ll immediately receive the GoToWebinar registration links so you can join us for both calls.

Make this summer the one when you finally take charge of your websites and blogs. I’ll be here to help you succeed.

http://www.toolieforums.com/zmember/signup.php

Have a great week!

Toolie®

I’m a big advocate of learning to manage your websites and blogs yourself; that means learning enough HTML and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) stuff to be able to change pages, correct typos, add photos, audio, and videos. But it also means that when something you’re working on isn’t quite working well enough, you can tweak it, and add the web pages or blog widgets (or whatever else) to support the new tactics.

In other words, it’s about doing it right the first time (with real web skills) and NOT having to do it over again.

One of my clients shared a success story with me and is allowing me to share it with you. She has a product that took her substantial time to create, and having done some copy edits for her, I can vouch for the quality of that product. Even though it’s not a pricy product, for her market, it’s high enough for some of her prospects to hesitate before buying.

One of her mentors advised her to create a small product that would not only bring in cash but would also demonstrate the quality of her work. She set about creating the product, and then put up a web page (without my help) to sell it. After adding a link to the new page from her blog, presto! She made her first sale on the small product, and within minutes, sold a copy of the big product to the same person.

My client responded to market conditions. She paid attention to the comments and inquiries from prospects, and realized that while her product was worth everything she was asking, there was sales resistance that she had to overcome. Because she long ago committed to the idea of working on her sites herself, she could adjust her tactics immediately and overcome the resistance. Time required to create the small product? A few days. Time to create the web page? A few hours. No waiting for a web designer to fit her into their schedule; my client did the page herself, and it literally paid off immediately.

Speed to market on the Internet is everything. Don’t let the opportunities go whizzing by you when by learning some web skills you could be seizing opportunities instead. Take advantage of my 30% off Coaching Sessions at www.ToolieCoaching.com, and begin taking control of some the most valuable business assets you have: your websites and blogs.

The recording from last week’s “Cool Features for Your Site” Webinar is now ready for viewing. Just click the big blue button at right to sign in and view the recording AND download all the demo files I created for the webinar.

This Thursday, I’m having one of my “I Can Fix My Website” Monthly Membership webinars, and we’re going to learn how to do 1-minute Video Ads for our websites and blogs. If you can sum up what your website is about in 60 seconds, then you have a good chance at making a sale. Half the problem websites and blogs have in attracting their target markets is that their owners aren’t clear as to what needs to be on the site.

So creating a 60-second ad is also a good exercise in being clear about what’s important. I hope you’ll join the ICFMW Community by signing up for membership. In addition to 2 webinars per month devoted just to members, you also get access to our technical support forum for websites and blogs. You can post a question and I’ll answer within hours on subject ranging from fuzzy photos to misbehaving websites to blogs out of alignment to Internet Marketing strategy. You can cancel anytime, but once you realize how helpful the forum can be, you won’t want to cancel!

Sign up at the link below, and you’ll immediately receive the GoToWebinar registration links for BOTH webinars (June 24 AND June 29th). The second webinar is an Open Q&A Session, so bring your website and blog issues, and I’ll try to solve them on the spot.

http://www.toolieforums.com/zmember/signup.php

See you on Thursday!

Toolie®

If you’ve ever studied what makes businesses successful, you may have encountered the concept of the “slight edge.” In the world of websites and blogs, that means it isn’t always the big flashy websites and blogs that get the business, but the smart, well-designed sites that anticipate what your visitors need and want, and supply it to them.

Sometimes that means a well-placed graphic, or text with highlights that make your point stand out, or subtly-placed credit card logos that reassure people that they’ll be able to afford your product or service.

This coming Tuesday night, June 15th, at 6 pm Pacific, 9 pm Eastern time, I’m going to show you one of my web design secret weapons for placing these kinds of cool features where they will do the most good. Here are some things we’ll cover:

• Adding backgrounds and border to text with a simple set of instructions you create once, and use again and again.
• Adding hyperlinks to a newsletter or long web page that jump within a page and back again.
• Putting an image on a website, blog, or ezine someplace OTHER than the top left corner. It could be your photo, a set of credit card logos, a Copydoodle, a BUY button, or any other kind of image!
• Adding an opt-in box or a block of contact info to your website without having to copy and paste it 14 times.
• Placing audio buttons and video frames anywhere on the page and having the text wrap around them.
• Creating FAQ pages whose questions appear in a list while answers show or hide when you click the button. I have 2 versions to show you!

Simply click the red Register button at right, and you’ll be taken to the registration page. You’ll then receive an email with the GoToWebinar link. Complete the GoToWebinar registration form, to receive your customized Join link, and you’re done!

I’ll see you Tuesday, June 15th at 6 pm Pacific time, 9 pm Eastern time!

Thanks!

Toolie®

The summer sunshine is taking its time showing up here in Seattle, but today I think the clouds may finally disappear! Since it’s been too rainy to go out and play, I have been overhauling one of my websites, putting on a fresh face, and expanding the content to exhibit the work I’ve been doing for the last 2 years. I had so much to add to my Internet Business Consulting website (www.ToolieNetBiz.com) that I had to split it into 2 sites. Go take a look! The other site will be done this week, and will contain my burgeoning web design portfolio.

It’s really great to be able to update contents of my website myself with my recent activities. I was able to sit down, change some graphics, adjust the page widths, and copy/paste the new template. It had been so long since I updated this particular site that it went from 7 pages to 35 pages in 2 days!

While I certainly don’t recommend waiting so long to update your website that grows by 500%, this IS this kind of comfort level and confidence with HTML and CSS that I want for you and your website or blog.

Having the skill to update your website whenever you want means that you can decide to do a teleseminar and have the pages ready within hours. Or you can run a promotion for a new product anytime, because you can create the HTML email yourself. Or you can set the date for a workshop and begin taking registrations 24 hours later because you know how to add the registration page to your website or blog without hesitation.

My 30% Off Coaching deal is on right now, and there’s never been a better time to sign up for help getting your sites up to date. You can even pre-pay for coaching time, and use it up to 3 months after purchase.

http://www.tooliecoaching.com

The Coupon Code you need for the Sale is: 10GRADS. Sign up for a session at www.ToolieCoaching.com, enter that code into the Coupon Code box on shopping cart order page and click APPLY to immediately see your discount. 

In honor of my updated www.ToolieNetBiz.com site and my forthcoming web design site, I am also discounting my website and blog projects, which I don’t normally do. That means not only will you get 30% off website and blog coaching, but also any web design projects you want to have me do for you.

So make your list and book some coaching time with me. We’ll get your site up to date in no time, and you’ll be able to take it from there!

Talk to you soon!

Toolie®

My niece Kendra, who lives in Maine, graduates from high school this weekend. Even though I can’t be with her, I’m still celebrating by offering 30% off Website and Blog Coaching Sessions through July 14th at www.ToolieCoaching.com.

You may be curious about what website and blog coaching accomplishes, so let tell you about one of my successful clients. She’s has had Internet Marketing training; she knows the general principles of how to attract clients, and is diligent in her outbound marketing. But is as the case with many of these Internet Marketing training programs, they leave out implementation instructions for maintaining the websites and blogs they want you to put in place.

When it comes to Internet Marketing, simply putting up a website or blog is not enough. It needs to be updated frequently with content to keep the search engines coming back. Even if you’re using blog software to create a website, you’re still going to bump into HTML and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) code when you want to change something: adding a new widget, installing a new feed, changing the appearance of the blog theme if you don’t like the colors.

My client realized that getting help with her websites and blogs was the smart thing to do. Over time she’s learned the HTML and CSS she needed to post new pages, add features to her website, and start an ezine with a template SHE created that matches her brand and colors. Yesterday’s victory? She added a new page to her website with links to past newsletters. By uploading the HTML ezine emails to her website as “side door” web pages, she’s building up the content, and regularly updating her website. The search engines LOVE her site.

It may seem like a small thing to be able to add pages to a website, but believe me it brings a huge sense of accomplishment. Over and over we’re told that we can get by without learning HTML… why? Because the people who tell us that have something to sell us that is several steps down the road from setting up a website. So we put up a pre-fab site we don’t understand to install a feature we can’t maintain. How do I know? Because those pre-fab site owners come to me to help them deal with the aftermath of those decisions.

The good news is that HTML and CSS are not difficult, they’re just detailed. It requires a little patience to get started, but once you get the hang of it, it’s enthralling, creative, even fun! Time and time again, my clients express relief, then satisfaction, then excitement, then joy over the fact that their most important online business asset is no longer a mystery to them. It becomes a tool they can use to increase their income, and bring help, joy, and satisfaction to THEIR clients.

Now what does all this have to do with my niece Kendra? She’s going off to college this fall, and a whole new world will open up to her. In addition to being 1,000 miles from home, there will be more competition, more challenges, more things to learn than ever. I want for her the same things I want for you: a good foundation for future success, and thankfully she’ll get it at that school. Now what about you?

Recognizing the value of learning certain essential skills for online success (like HTML and CSS) is my challenge to you. I’m offering you a free 30-minute initial consultation to help you sort out what needs to be done on your sites. Sign up for one now, and let’s get your websites and blogs back on track. Learn how to really manage your websites and blogs so that you can benefit YOUR clients.

http://www.toolie.com/links/initialconsultation

Toolie®

Thinking about making changes to your websites or blogs, but not sure what might improve them? Got a gnarly issue that keeps popping up on your site that you’d like to get fixed once and for all? What about adding some new pages, a new widget, a new opt-in box? Need help figuring out how to squeeze in the changes and balance everything?

This coming Wednesday night, May 26th, at 5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern time, you can get answers to these questions on-the-spot during my free “Website and Blog Makeover Night.” Whether you just want a second opinion or you’d like me to look at code and offer suggestions, this is your chance to get technical help, so that you can have the websites and blogs you want.

Simply click the big red button in the box at right to go to the webinar sign up page. When you get to the GoToWebinar registration form, enter the URL of the website or blog you’d like me to review. If I can show you how to fix your issue during my review, I will be happy to do so. We can also meet later to discuss a plan to make the updates.

I will review as many websites and blogs as I can during the 90 minutes, in order of registration. I will also be revealing some new websites and programs of my own that are designed to further support your web-savvy education, so you won’t want to miss those details!

So sign up by clicking the big red button in the box at right, and I’ll see you Wednesday, May 26th at 5 pm Pacific time, 8 pm Eastern time!

Thanks!

Toolie

What kind of email list do you have? How did they find you? What caused them to sign up for your content? What are you saying to your prospects to turn them into customers? Is yours the kind of Internet business where the focus is on selling a product once, without follow-up contact?

I was listening to Bob Proctor’s Six Minutes to Success Videos last night, and in one of early lessons he said something that stopped me in my tracks: what inspires you? Without hesitation, I thought to myself, “working with people who are determined to succeed.” It’s that kind of tenacity I look for in my clients. Those are the people who come to me for coaching: those are the people I want on my email list. It’s a deliberate goal for my business to work with people who recognize the value of learning web skills that support their online businesses. And it is nothing short of thrilling to see them wrangle their websites and blogs with confidence. I’m just as happy about their success as they are!

When you first learn Internet Marketing (depending on who mentors you) it feels like you’re under pressure to build up the numbers in your database, without any filtering for “quality.” How do you “filter for quality?” By establishing up front that you deliver value, and that you are not going to rely solely on the delivery of free information to attract customers.

Yes, you’re going to create an opt-in bonus that delivers solid, usable, valuable content, but you’re also going to have half a dozen $7 Reports, and maybe some $27 products. Each and every one of those products for which you charge money must over-deliver on quality, of course. In the process of offering these low-cost purchase opportunities, you’re communicating that you have value to offer, and that you deserve to be compensated for your quality products. This is not an easy thing to do! It requires subtlety, some thoughtful planning (including a “sales funnel”), and the conviction of your own worth.

This point was dramatically demonstrated to me by a fellow Internet Marketer, and I’ve never forgotten the lesson. After being on his list for a while and attending a number of his free teleseminars and webinars, he suddenly announced a $7 webinar with content that interested me. Now, I like to attend free stuff as much as the next person, but I thought, “hey, I can afford the $7. He’s already given plenty, and I’m going to go for it.”

When the event started, he explained why he had charged for this particular event, and he said to us what I’ve explained above. He wanted us to think about our own lists, who we had attracted, and whether they were responsive and willing to compensate us for value received! It was a timely lesson for me, and I began changing the way I communicated with my own list.

Tonight, Wednesday April 28th at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern, I’m sharing my methods for building and improving your email list based on my own 6 years as an Internet Marketer, plus work done on behalf of clients. I haven’t charged for a webinar for quite a while, but this is one topic that is so critical that I’m devoting 2 hours to the workshop. Plus I’m including a CD of the recording, a 14 Day Trial Membership I Can Fix My Website Support Forum, and other bonuses, all described at:

http://www.icanfixmywebsite.com/listwebinar/

Whether I see you tonight or at some future webinar, I strongly encourage you to reflect on your own email list strategies, and decide who you want to work with! I’ll be here to help.

Toolie®

P.S. You can also click the big red button at right to get to the salesletter page. Enjoy!

Technology is a funny thing. At first we resist it; then we succumb to it, then we’re mildly interested, then we get involved, then we become passionate. I’ve seen this digital diversion take over my siblings, then my Dad (who STARTED with his first computer at age 77), then my clients, and now our culture as a whole.

The same thing happens when you first get involved with marketing over the Internet. You put up a website, then you realize that if people are coming to your website, you probably ought to be collecting email addresses and maybe sending an email or two. But you don’t want to spend money on a service, so you sign up for an autoresponder or low-cost email service that doesn’t include a shopping cart.

Then it occurs to you that could be selling an information product or handling registrations for your local workshops over the Internet. That’s when you realize that maybe having a shopping cart is a good idea. You put up a PayPal button but you don’t really have a sense of what sales you are making and whether your emails outbound are bringing traffic inbound.

It’s usually at this point that clients come to me and ask for help. We talk about their use of a non-cart email service and decide whether it’s time to move up to a single solution where they can start separating out their hangers-on from real prospects and real customers; where they can track their results from their email list in one place.

Tomorrow night, the core of my “Online Marketer’s Guide to Building and Managing Email Lists” webinar is about this critical point in the development of your Internet business. If you have a list of people and you want to move it to a shopping cart system, how do you do that?

Some of my clients used a closed loop (double opt-in) system prior to switching to a cart; most did not. They may have a lot of people on their lists who they have added manually, but who may not be truly “engaged” with the messages my client is sending. If you’re about to move to a new service, how do you keep from losing them in the transition?

Being able to have your email list and your shopping cart work together is a HUGE advantage. I’ve got the real-world strategies to share with you in my webinar: how to set up the transition, what to say in the emails to the old list, and how to get them to your new list.

So join me tomorrow night for this 2-hour workshop (don’t worry, we’ll take a break in the middle). If you’re thinking about making this transition, this webinar will answer all your questions. As usual, I’ll give you the demo files I have prepared, and above all, you will have a recording you can keep and refer to again and again.

The webinar is just $37, a bargain considering my usual consulting rates for this kind of strategic support. I’m also throwing in 2 weeks of tech support through my “I Can Fix My Website” Monthly Membership along with the next 2 Monthly Group Webinars.

Read all about it and sign up for both the webinar and the 14-day trial at http://www.icanfixmywebsite.com/listwebinar/ or just click the big red button at the top right.

See you tomorrow night!

Toolie®

I truly believe that the Internet is a land of opportunity, that it IS possible to either supplement your income, or rely entirely on income from activities and sales over the World Wide Web. There are a lot of steps needed to set up the infrastructure for those activities, or as I described to a client recently, “a lot of moving parts.”

I think this is where the dream of making a living over the Internet breaks down; the realization that there are things you have to learn, and there are specific mechanisms that have to be in place before you can bring income into your business. This is precisely why I have set up MY business to address this particular need; to BE the someone who tells you HOW all this is done.

In recent webinars I showed my attendees how to create an HTML email template and how to create a salesletter template. I’ve been focused on “templates” because if you set them up well, you can do a lot of copying and pasting and reusing. This month in my 2-hour webinar on Building and Managing Email Lists, we’re going to put together the initial pieces as the start of the infrastructure I mentioned above. It’s based on actual work I’ve done with my clients plus my own 6 years of experience with marketing over the Internet.

Why am I charging for this particular webinar? Well, obviously because it’s good information, real-world stuff, not theory. But I am also throwing in 2 more webinars that I offer for members of my “I Can Fix My Website” Monthly Membership program. The first webinar, on May 6th, is where I will be teaching a New Technique based on member requests. The second webinar, on May 11th, is an Open Q&A webinar. We do critiques, we solve problems, we discuss strategy.

With your investment of $37 for the webinar, You’re also getting 14 days’ access to my website and blog support site where members get technical answers to their most pressing questions. Members can upload broken web pages or hurting blog posts (among other things), and I tell them how to fix them, usually within hours. You can also snoop through my personal list of favorite websites, tools, and other resources that I use to keep my business running.

Finally, I am throwing in a CD of the webinar recording which I’ll mail to you along with my Opt-In Reference Card that reminds you of the steps to setting up opt-in pages. You can refer to both the recording and the card when you need to set up for your next product to sell.

I’ve got a web page that describes the webinar in greater detail, and from there you can both invest in the webinar and get your 14 days’ access to the membership to try it out.

http://www.icanfixmywebsite.com/listwebinar

More tomorrow!

Toolie®

P.S. I think it’s a great value for the money, but do get all the details at http://www.icanfixmywebsite.com/listwebinar, or click the big red button on the right to get there.