10 techniques to create independence in your online business

Automation
Email marketing
Outsourcing/delegation
10Comments

If you’re working too hard, you can use one or more of these techniques to get more done in less time and give yourself more freedom!

1. Automating emails and funnels

When people sign up for your freebie, they should get a series of automated emails, appropriately called autoresponders. You set these up in advance in your email service provider’s software and these emails should tell people who you are and what you do, help them get value from the freebie, and make a first offer to buy something. That offer should also be on the thank you page after people complete the opt-in form and in the freebie itself. That’s the process of automating your first sales. The funnel is freebie > offer. That offer is often a low-priced one, to get people “in the door.”

Similarly, when people buy something of yours, there should be a next step.

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by Ellen Finkelstein

Stay in touch with your list with less work

Automation
List building
Outsourcing/delegation
WordPress/blogging
0Comments

online-business-maintain-relationship-subscribers-1As an owner of an online business, you know you need to grow your list of subscribers. These are the people who have told you they want what you have to offer and they are your primary source of customers.

But if you don’t stay in touch with them regularly, you’ll lose them…

  • They’ll forget who you are
  • They’ll unsubscribe
  • They won’t learn to know, like, and trust you
  • And they certainly won’t buy from you

Maintaining a relationship with your audience is SO important, yet, like many online entrepreneurs, you might not manage it. Perhaps you’re focusing on creating a product, doing events, learning about online business and maybe even working full time. You’re busy! But being too busy to keep in touch with your best audience is not a good approach.

Do you know what batch processing is?

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by Ellen Finkelstein

Find the information you need to move forward

Automation
Deciding What Business to Do
Outsourcing/delegation
Web technology
5Comments

I’m responding to the survey I posted — providing those of you who filled it out with content to help you with your most pressing needs.

internet-marketing-information-to-move-forward-1If you haven’t completed it yet, click here to complete it. Why? Well, if you read this post, you’ll see how I’m helping those who did complete it. Why not get your concerns addressed too?

Below, you’ll see the most common responses so far and the resources I have on my website to address those issues. Each topic’s content is like a mini-course; you could easily pay $97 or more for this information — on each topic!

Not enough time

Perhaps you’re working full time or have small children at home. You may just have taken on a lot. Whatever the reason, it’s common for Internet marketers and small business owners to get overwhelmed.

And after all, if you’re trying to change the world, that can be a daunting task!

If time is an issue for you, here are some posts that can help you.

The technology overwhelms me

There’s no getting around the fact that an online business involves technology. Unless you have employees to take care of all the technology, you’ll need to learn some of it yourself.

In fact, even if you do have employees to do a lot of the technology, you still need to understand it. So here are some technology tips and tools to make it easier.

That said, if there’s a specific technological issue that’s holding you back, leave a comment and I’ll try to address it.

I don’t know which marketing strategy to use

Some people spend lots of time and money trying out a strategy only to find that it doesn’t work for them. Maybe it was the strategy, maybe it was the implementation, but either way, it wasn’t successful.

This issue can be especially frustrating because we are bombarded by Internet marketing gurus telling you, “This is what I did. I know it can work for you, too.” Well, if that were true, there would be a lot more success stories.

The truth is that everyone has different skills and passions. Some people need more hand-holding than others. Some strategies work better for one niche than for others. So many variables!

This is truly an area in which it’s helpful to have personalized guidance, but still, I have some posts that can help you.

These topics were the most commonly brought up in the survey, although there were others, such as lack of money and getting noticed.

Was this helpful for you? Contact me if you’d like personalized business coaching.

Please complete the survey to add your own 2¢!

 

by Ellen Finkelstein

How to automate an Internet business: Part III-Schedule blog posts and emails

Automation
Email marketing
WordPress/blogging
4Comments

internet-marketing-automation-schedule-3You must have noticed that sometimes you have enough time and other times, you don’t.

Your tasks don’t flow in an even stream; sometimes you’re too busy and other times you have some time for projects.

One aspect of automating is to schedule blog posts and email newsletters so that you can do them when you have time. For example, you can create your blog posts and newsletters on Monday, but publish them on Tuesday.

You can even pre-write many blog posts and newsletters and schedule them throughout the week or month! How cool is that?

Should you create a blogging calendar?

Some bloggers create a blogging calendar, even for the entire year, and stick to that.The calendar lists the blog title, and perhaps a short description, with the projected date of publication. But there are pluses and minuses. Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein