A Guide To Complete Freedom

Vol. I Issue III March 7, 1999

Contents:

Mission

The Absolute Best Way To Advertise Your Business

How To Create Your Own E-zine For Free

HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS WITH YOUR OWN MONEY-MAKING NEWSLETTER (Part One)

A Few Words of Advice On Your New E-zine:

Sponsors

Developing A Positive Attitude: Goals

Resources

Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information

Contact Information

Mission:  This e-zine is designed to help new web-entrepeneurs locate free and inexpensive resources to help them start their own home business.   Our goal is to help everyone understand that freedom is earned, not made.  This e-zine will hopefully guide those who wish to earn money do so.  We cannot guarantee any of the information in these e-zines, and only offer them as a guide to help you gain success.



The Absolute Best Way To Advertise Your Business

Okay, we all now know that the best return for investment ratio is information. And we all now know how to become an expert on our favorite hobby or past-time. But, the biggest question is how do you get that information out to the massive audience known as the World Wide Web? Simple. Advertise. But, not in the way that you think.

I've already told you that FFA sites are hard to get response from, but they can be invaluable to the owner of the FFA page. Posting thousands of classifieds will most likely get you tons of mail from other marketers. (Which is not necessarily bad. You can always pick their brains.) But, the one way that works the best you are already familiar with.

Let me ask you a question? Which do you go to more everyday, a favorite web-site or your e-mail? I'll bet you said "e-mail," didn't you? So, then the best way to advertise is through e-mail, right? Sure it is. But, you could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars putting out e-zine classifieds advertising your site. So, there must be a better way.

And, as usual, I would not offer the question unless I had an answer. The answer is to start your own e-zine on your favorite topic on which you are now an expert. You are giving it away free, so people will take advantage of it. (In the next issue, we will discuss different ways to earn money from it.) It will go to their e-mail every week. (Or everyday if you are ambitious.) And you can advertise your web-site in it. (Did you check out my Free Business Opportunities and Meaning of Life sites in Issue I? If you'll notice, I didn't even have to hard-sell you to do so. I just merely used them as examples, but if you were curious enough you checked out the rest of the site, didn't you?)

But, that's gonna cost a fortune to set up my own e-zine, isn't it? Not the way you think. It'll cost you a lot of time, but no money.

So, let's get started.

How to Create Your Own E-zine for FREE!

What you want to do is first write your premiere issue. Use your favorite html editor to publish to your web-site. I suggest you create a new directory with "e-zine" in the name. That way you can put all your e-zines in that directory. It's also useful for archiving your e-zines.

You can follow the same format that I have or create your own. Either way, I suggest you create a template and save it as your e-zine format. This will save you time typing each issue. Then you can just pull up your format, and use "save as" under your File button to save the name of each specific issue.

Now, you have a beautifully written new e-zine about your favorite topic. What's the next step?

You need to go to Listbot and set up your owner's account. Don't worry, it's free. Unless you decided to take advantage of their gold version, which will be your option, but I'm trying to show you how to do this for little or no money.

Now, you have a place to store all your subscribers and your wonderfully crafted e-zine. Now, all you need to do is get the word out. Do I have a place for that? You bet. How did you find out about this new e-zine? That's exactly what you are going to do. Just go here and follow the format listed. A good template can be found at Greg Schliesman's JVMARKETER web-site for submitting the announcement of your new e-zine. (While you're there, why don't you sign up for his e-zine. He's the one marketer that I have seen so far that exemplifies what we try to teach here at The Complete Freedom Company.)

(The following is just one report from Over 500 Reports that we offer at Complete Freedom Company.  If you would like to order these reports, please contact me at completefreedom@netscape.net. This particular report covers the off-line method of creating a newsletter, but many of the guidelines will be useful to your e-zine creation.)

HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS WITH

YOUR OWN MONEY-MAKING NEWSLETTER (Part One)

Writing and publishing a successful newsletter is perhaps the most competitive of all the different areas of mail order and direct marketing.

Five years ago, there were 1500 different newsletters in this country. Today there are well over 10,000, with new ones being started every day. It's also interesting to note that for every new one that's started, some disappear just as quickly as they are started - lack of operating capital and marketing know-how being the principal causes of failure.

To be successful with a newsletter, you have to specialize. Your best bet will be with new information on a subject not already covered by an established newsletter.

Regardless of the frustrations involved in launching your own newsletter, never forget this truth: There are people from all walks of life, in all parts of this country, many of them with no writing ability whatsoever, who are making incredible profits with simple two-, four-, and six-page newsletters!

Your first step should be to subscribe to as many different newsletters and mail order publications as you can afford. Analyze and study how the others are doing it. Attend as many workshops and seminars on your subject as possible. Learn from the pros. Learn how the successful newsletter publishers are doing it, and why they are making money. Adapt their success methods to your own newsletter, but determine to recognize where they are weak, and to make yours better in every way.

Plan your newsletter before launching it. Know the basic premise for its being, your editorial position, the layout, art work, type styles, subscription price, distribution methods, and every other detail necessary to make it look, sound and feel like the end result you have envisioned.

Lay out your start-up needs; detail the length of time it's going to take to become established, and what will be involved in becoming established. Set a date as a mile stone of accomplishment for each phase of your development: A date for breaking even, a date for attaining a certain paid subscription figure, and a monetary goal for each of your first five years in business. And all this must be done before publishing your first issue.

Most newsletter publishers do all the work themselves, and are impatient to get that first issue into print. As a result, they neglect to devote the proper amount of time to market research and distribution. Don't start your newsletter with out first having accomplished this task!

Market research is simply determining who the people are who will be interested in buying and reading your newsletter, and the kind of information these people want to see in your newsletter as a reason for continuing to buy it. You have to determine what it is they want from your newsletter.

Your market research must give you unbiased answers about your newsletter's capabilities of fulfilling your prospective buyer's need for information; how much he's willing to pay for it, and an overall profile of his status in life. The questions of why he needs your information, and how he'll use it should be answered. Make sure you have the answers to these questions, publish your newsletter as a vehicle of fulfillment to these needs, and you're on your way!

You're going to be in trouble unless your newsletter has a real point of difference that can be easily perceived by your prospective buyer. The design and graphics of your newsletter, plus what you say and how you say it, will help in giving your newsletter this vital difference.

Be sure your newsletter works with the personality you're trying to build for it. Make sure it reflects the wants of your subscribers. Include your advertising promise within the heading, on the title page, and in the same words your advertising uses. And above all else, don't skim on design or graphics!

The name of your newsletter should also help to set it apart from similar news letters, and spell out its advertising promise. A good name reinforces your advertising. Choose a name that defines the direction and scope of your newsletter.

Opportunity Knocking, Money Making Magic, Extra Income Tip Sheet, and Mail Order Up-Date are primate examples of this type of philosophy - as opposed to the Johnson Report, The Association Newsletter, or Club-house Confidential.

Try to make your newsletter's name memorable - one that flows automatically. Don't pick a name that's so vague it could apply to almost anything. The name should identify your newsletter and its subject quickly and positively.

Pricing your newsletter should be consistent with the image you're trying to build. If you're starting a "Me-too" newsletter, never price it above the competition. In most instances, the consumer associates higher prices with quality, so if you give your readers better quality information in an expensive looking package, don't hesitate to ask for a premium price. However, if your information is gathered from most of the other newsletters on the subject, you will do well to keep your prices in line with theirs.

One of the best selling points of a newsletter is in the degree of audience involvement - for instance, how much it talks about, and uses the names of its readers.

People like to see things written about themselves. They resort to all kinds of things to get their names in print, and they pay big money to read what's been written about them. You should understand this facet of human nature, and decide if and how you want to capitalize upon it - then plan your newsletter accordingly.

Almost as important as names in your newsletter are pictures. The readers will generally accept a newsletter faster if the publisher's picture is presented or included as a part of the newsletter. Whether you use pictures of the people, events, locations or products you write about is a policy decision; but the use of pictures will set your publication apart from the others and give it an individual image, which is precisely what you want.

The decision as to whether to carry paid advertising, and if so, how much, is another policy decision that should be made while your newsletter is still in the planning stages. Some purists feel that advertising corrupts the image of the newsletter and may influence editorial policy. Most people accept advertising as a part of everyday life, and don't care one way or the other.

Many newsletter publishers, faced with rising production costs and viewing advertising as a means of offsetting those costs, welcome paid advertising. Generally the advertisers see the newsletter as a vehicle to a captive audience, and well worth the cost.

The only problem with accepting advertising in your newsletter would appear to be that as your circulation grows, so will your number of advertisers, until you'll have to increase the size of your newsletter to accommodate the advertisers. At this point, the basic premise or philosophy of the newsletter often changes from news and practical information to one of an advertiser's showcase.

Promoting your newsletter, finding prospective buyers and converting these prospects into loyal subscribers, will be the most difficult task of your entire undertaking. It takes detailed planning, persistence and patience.

You'll need a sales letter. Check the sales letter you receive in the mail; analyze how these are written and pattern yours along the same lines. You'll find all of them - all those worthy of being called sales letters - following the same formula: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action on the part of the reader - AIDA.

Jump right in at the beginning and tell the reader how he's going to benefit from your newsletter, and then keep emphasizing right on through your "PS", the many and different benefits he'll gain from subscribing to your newsletter. Elaborate on your listing of benefits with examples of what you have, or you intend to include, in your newsletter.

Follow these examples with endorsements or testimonials from reviewers and satisfied subscribers. Make the recipient of your sales letter feel that you're offering him the answer to all his problems on the subject of your newsletter.

You have to make your prospect feel that "this is the insider's secret" to the success he wants. Present it to him as his own personal key to success, and then tell him how far behind his contemporaries he is going to be if he doesn't act upon your offer immediately.

Always include a "PS" in your sales letter. This should quickly restate to the reader that he can start enjoying the benefits of your newsletter by acting immediately, and very subtly suggesting that he may not get another chance to get the kind of "success help" you're offering him with this sales letter.

Don't worry about the length of your sales letter - most are four pages or more; however, it must flow logically and smoothly. Use short sentences, short paragraphs, indented paragraphs, and lost of sub-heads for the people who will be "scanning through" your sales letter.

In addition to the sales letter, your promotion package should include a return reply order card or coupon. This can be either a self-addressed business reply post card, or a separate coupon, in which case you'll have to include a self-addressed return reply envelope. In every mailing piece you send out, always include one or the other: either a self-addressed business reply postcard or a self-addressed return reply envelope for the recipient to use to send your order form and his remittance back to you.

Your best response will come from a business reply postcard on which you allow your prospect to charge the subscription to his credit card, request that you bill him, or send his payment with the subscription start order.

For make up of this subscription order card or coupon, simply start saving all the order cards and coupons you receive during the next month or so. Choose the one you like best, modify according to your needs, and have it typeset, pasted up and border fit.

Next, you'll need a Subscription Order Acknowledgment card or letter. This is simply a short note thanking your new subscriber for his order, and promising to keep him up-to-date with everything relating to the subject of your newsletter.

An acknowledgment letter, in an envelope, will cost more postage to mail than a simple postcard; however, when you send the letter you have to opportunity to enclose additional material. A circular listing other items available through you will produce additional orders.

Thus far, you've prepared the layout and copy for your newsletter. Go ahead and have a hundred copies printed, undated. You've written a sales letter and prepared a return reply subscription order card or coupon; go ahead and have a hundred of these printed, also undated, of course. You'll need letterhead mailing envelopes, and don't forget the return reply envelopes if you choose to use the coupons instead of the business reply postcard. Go ahead and have a thousand mailing envelopes printed. You also need subscription order acknowledgment cards or notes; have a hundred of these printed, and of course, don't forget the imprinted reply envelopes if you're going along with the idea of using a note instead of a postcard. This will be a basic supply for "testing" your materials so far.

(Next time - We will cover the Advertising Campaign)

(For A Step-by Step Detailed Way To Create A Newsletter, I strongly suggest you check out Books, Kits, And Courses, and order E. J. Mall's "How To Become Wealthy Publishing A Newsletter")

A Few Words of Advice On Your New E-zine:

When you create your e-zine, realize that graphics merely slow down the loading of the page. Try to entice and inform through words, unless a diagram or chart is extremely useful. Don't rely on fancy backgrounds, they also slow down the page, plus many times are hard to read.

Show your e-zine to a friend and make sure the friend understands your message. Clarify and re-write until your e-zine is easy to understand.

Use the method I showed last week to find a new or different angle on your topic that you don't believe has been conveyed as thoroughly as it should. That will give you a new starting point to start your e-zine.

Sponsors

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Resources

These are a review of some of the free resources we have covered so far, we will add to this as we continue our journey to complete freedom.

To get your own FFA Page Free Without Having To Use CGI go to FFA Net.

To get your own Mailing List go to Listbot



Developing A Positive Attitude: GOALS

I'm going to share with you a few of the best known secrets of accomplishing your goals. Now, don't think that you are in the middle of an AMWAY convention, (which, if you are successful in it, great. I've got nothing against it. They did, after all pioneer the way for successful MLMs.)

Take a picture of some material possession like a new car, a fancy boat, or a new house and put it on the refrigerator. These are known as your dreams. They might not embody the entirety of your dreams, but they represent a better life ahead. Next to the picture or pictures, put the date you intend to be completely free.

Now, whenever you go to the refrigerator, you will be reminded of your dreams. And you will know the date you intend to be free.

Now, write a name for your business. This will start you focusing on all the things you have to accomplish to make this business a success. You will start considering all the long hours you may have to put into it to promote your new business. (This is actually the hardest part, but that's why we are here to help you with that.) You will think of things like distribution, whether by UPS shipping or via FTP (we will probably cover FTP in a later issue) through your computer. You'll start reading everything you can get your hands on to learn more about the aspects of your new business and ways to improve it. (Remember, the library is a great place to do this. After all the infomercial stuff I had bought, I found the answer in one book at the library. You can send me an e-mail if you want to know the name of the book that changed my life.)All of the pieces will start to align themselves to make you start realizing your dreams.

Keep a journal or a small notepad nearby. When you think of something that will help your business or something you need to do to help you build it, write it down. (Next week, I'll teach you a few tricks about prioritization.) This way, you won't forget anything and you'll know when you can move to another aspect of your business.

Now, don't quit your day job, just yet. You have a date sitting on your refrigerator for when that is going to happen. However, realize you will have to invest a lot of your spare time towards achieving success and freedom in your new venture. But, that's okay. So, what if you are investing an extra 40 hours a week, even if it takes another five years to become free. When you reach the top, you will have all that extra time to be with your family and/or do the things that you love.

Until the next time, have a great day- EVERYDAY!

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Contact Information

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