Frank Speaking Live

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Making Money with Ezines


 


Ezines – Develop a 10 touch plan for all your existing clients (making contact at least 10 times a year). You can email, phone them, meet face to face or the easiest way is to have a newsletter. Whether it is a hard copy or online newsletter, this is a great way to keep in touch. I avoided having an electronic newsletter (ezine) for ages. My first ezine resulted in 10 International bookings from people that I had never met as my newsletter was passed on to them by my other subscribers. With so many newsletters circulating, content is king and is going to be the one differentiator between getting your newsletter read or deleted.
         Always ensure that you have a main article that provides information that your readers will find valuable.
         Within your Ezine, throw in links to related articles that you have written or been featured in when appropriate.
         Offer testimonials from satisfied clients
         Give real life examples and show how you’ve helped clients
         Case studies always position you as the expert in your readers’ minds more than you coming out and saying so.
         Jot down eight questions your clients have asked you in the past
         Answer each one in a short article, as there may be many other clients who have the same questions in mind.
         If you have been to any industry conference workshops or seminars where you’ve picked up some helpful hints, share these with your readers
         Offer a list of your top five to ten tips on a certain subject
         Recommend books or resources and offer reviews on some of these books.

Headlines
Today, money is "created" by the words you say, how effectively you say them and how quickly you get them in front of your readers.   Your Headlines MUST stop your readers dead in their tracks and get them to read further into your ad, article or sales page.

If your headline doesn't grab your reader's attention, then all the rest of the time and effort you have spent writing your ad, article or sales page have gone to waste! They have NO value if your headline hasn't done its' job.

Every one of your marketing tools needs a headline. Headlines get attention, make your message easy to read, get your main selling points across, and lead your customer to a sale. Use a short three word headline for classified ads. Use headlines frequently in your web site copy to help people get your main message without having to spend a lot of time online. 

Seven Proven HeadlineTechniques
1. Ask a Question. "Are you worried about filing your tax return this year?" A question headline gets the reader to answer in their mind. You automatically get the prospect involved in your message. Many people will read further into your letter, ad, or web site copy just to find out what answer or solution you provide.
2. Start your headline with "How to." "How to buy a second home with no deposit." People love information that shows them how to do something valuable.
3. Provide testimonials. The recommendation of a satisfied customer can go a long way in convincing others to buy from you. "This product really works! I'm happier and less stressed. Joe Kelly, ABC Widgets." Always include the customer's full name and the city they live in.
4. Issue a command. "Aim high" and "Lose 15 pounds now." Turn your most important benefit into a commanding headline.
5. Important news makes a good headline. This particularly works well for big changes in your company or the introduction of hot new products.
6. Use deadlines and special offers. Most of us are busy and tend to put off taking action. If you don't get the prospect to act now, you may never get the sale. Deadlines encourage people to respond when their interest is highest. "Save Money Now" and "Get More If You Buy Now" offers increase response.
7. FREE offers often pull the best response. "FREE report on Search Engine Optimization" is a powerful way to get lots of interested prospects. 

Tip
Useful Tip for Headline Creation
How do you convert casual readers of your marketing brochures and websites without pulling your hair out with the time-sucking chore of producing a winning headline? I discovered a great piece of software that automates the process for you, take a look at http://www.headlinecreator.co.uk


For more articles, please take a look at my website http://www.frankfurness.com and please download complimentary eBooks and software at http://www.frankfurnessresources.com

Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in financial services sales and sales management. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 53 countries. His publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. For more information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’ newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com and for resources take a look at http://www.frankfurness.com and http://www.technologytoolsforbusiness.com
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/
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How to Analyze your Website for Free | Sales Technology Speaker



How Sales, Technology, Social Media & Goal Setting work in t...



How to use the @ and # in Twitter



Here is a great article I found at http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/993583/hashtag-etiquette and I thought I would share it.

Social media has many benefits: staying close with family and friends, keeping up to date in your professional career and gathering the latest news. But to really make the most of your accounts, proper hashtag etiquette is a must.

The hashtag
To start off, the main difference between the two symbols is that a hashtag links to all other instances anyone (whether you “follow” them or not) mentioned that specific hashtag. They are used on Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter to connect you to other users also posting on the same topic. Facebook and Pinterest generally do not use hashtags. However, if your Instagram account links to your Facebook account, hashtags will appear — but they will not be live.
The @ symbol

The @ symbol should be used to tag specific friends or acquaintances into your posts and photos. Use the @ symbol to notify them about posts they will want to check out. To add people into Facebook posts, just type the person's name — that will be enough to tag them.
Adding the @ symbol followed by a popular news source, celebrity or organization is a great way to reach them with your comments or suggestions. If they are active on Twitter they can read and take into account your thoughts, and if you're lucky you can even get a response or retweet. This possibility of being heard is just one of the many benefits of using the @ symbol on social media.

Why hashtag?
What's great about Twitter is when news stories break, following the specific hashtags made for the event brings you closer to up-to-the-minute news. Coincidentally, news stations often refer to trending Twitter hashtags to report on what most people are talking about. So in a way, it helps to show newscasters what's on people's minds and lets users discover current events as they unfold.

It has even reached beyond hard news sources and into late night TV. The show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, created an original segment called "Late Night Hashtags." The show chooses a hilarious hashtag, viewers tweet to it and Fallon reads his favorites on air. It's yet another example of Twitter's influence on mainstream media outlets.
On picture-sharing sites, such as Instagram or Tumblr, tagging helps push your interests further. By searching similar hashtags, it could open up more inspiration for your own blog.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Video Jeet Software not Working

There has been a buzz about the new Video Jeet software. I bought it and it does not work...


I have tried it on 3 different computers.

Their TEC support does not work either, the emails bounce back. If this a big con......

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Sheraton Ft Lauderdale Beach Hotel Review - This Hotel destroys the brand

Sheraton Ft Lauderdale Beach Hotel Review - This Hotel destroys the brand

This is one of the most disappointing hotels I have ever stayed at. I have stayed at Sheratons around the world, and this is not a Sheraton, not even close. 
As a professional speaker i was presenting to 4 seminars in Ft Lauderdale and thought that we could stay at a beach hotel.
The hotel is scruffy, old and totally lacking in good management.
I paid extra for a balcony room overlooking the beach. What i was not told was that there was going to be a music festival right outside my room and my view was of a construction site, cranes and building work and no beach view. 



To get to the room you had to go from inside the hotel to outside with a door in-between that banged the whole time when people were going in and out at all hours (avoid all rooms ending in 11 and 12)
The room was tiny, pokey and old and nothing like any other Sheraton I have stayed in.
The only saving grace in the hotel was a receptionist called Andrew who tried his best, but my advice to him would be to go and work for a professional hotel group.
Although free internet is advertised on the website, when you check in they tell you it is only free in reception, in the rooms it is $9.95 a day (what a con). 
Fortunately Andrew tried his best and gave us free internet for the week, but it was so slow and the signal so weak that we gave up using it. When I complained, they put me through to technical support in some foreign country (I could hardly understand the accent) and after an hour on the phone I gave up.
It was a far walk to the beach and the beach area is nice, but again a total ripoff. To hire a bed with canopy on the beach was $121 a day, this is Ritz Carlton prices without the luxury.
Parking is $20 a day for self park and $25 for valet. I opted for valet and then found out that the self park cars were under cover, but valet parked in an open lot in the sun. 
Despite asking asking 3 times for my car to be parked under cover, this was never done and the car was filthy every day. The one day I was going to speak at a large conference, when my car was brought around it was full of bird droppings and I had to have it washed before going to the conference (my own cost)
The restaurants and coffee place was good and the staff friendly there (I imagine that this is outsourced)
Overall a totally disappointing stay and I will never go there again. This is definitely not a 4 or even a 3 star hotel, more likely 2 star (we spent a lot of our time next door at the Harbour Marriot whch was a proper 4 star but could not accomodate us as it was full, otherwise I would have moved and forfeited what I had paid at the Sheraton)
Apologies for the long review, but I am a professional speaker and author on customer service and specialize in the hospitality industry as I spend over 250 days a year in hotels and will share this story on stage in in my next book.
There are certain hotel brands that have no overall standards like the Sheraton and Hilton groups and others that you can always rely on like Hyatt, Intercontinental, Ritz Carlton and Marriot - I will stick to there in the future.