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It seems one of the greatest challenges for those new to the world of Internet Marketing is to know who to trust when it comes to who they are, what they know and have they truly accomplished that which they claim to be an expert at?
Here are a few recommendations on how you can minimize getting sucked into the next “get rich quick” scheme and find those who are “the real deal”.
1. Listen to what your mom used to say…”If it seems too good to be true, it likely is.”
2. Running a business on the Internet is like running a brick and mortar business. You are running a business. Period. There are likely no shortcuts and if these “experts” are telling you there are and you don’t have to work at this, turn and run the other way….fast!
3. Anything you are going to be successful at takes time, effort and energy. If someone says you only have to buy their program with no work involved, that’s a bunch of baloney.
4. Before simply taking an “experts” word that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, do you homework. Google them, check with your colleagues, research their product offerings. You can get some amazing information by going into forums specific to their market and expertise. How do you find the forums? Go to Google, put in “forum + (whatever the topic is)”. This should bring up some great information.
5. Realize that those of us making six and seven figures a year work for what we have. We have systems in place and we do what I recommended in point #2. We treat our business like a business. We have been around long enough to earn the trust from our market.
With as easy as it is for someone to put up a website or blog and create the illusion of position, you are well served to be leery of many of the so-called experts. Do your research before plopping down your hard-earned money.
Once you do know that someone is the real deal and can be trusted, the next step is to put into action what you learn from them.
As much as you experience frustration from not knowing whom to initially trust, experts experience frustration from people who buy their programs and then turn those programs into dust collectors.
Do yourself a favor, if you have programs you have purchased and have not done anything with them, take them down from the shelf or open the file on your hard drive, put some time aside to review the information, apply at least a few of the recommendations and watch what happens. You may be surprised at how quickly you can get results with a focused and committed effort.
Kathleen Gage aka The Street Smarts Marketerâ„¢, works with speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their products and services into money-making products and services. Access FR*EE marketing resources at www.kathleengage.com

Not a day goes by that someone, somewhere is hosting a teleseminar. Some are free, others are fee. Sadly, many do not achieve the outcome the host had hoped for.

There are many reasons why teleseminars fail. Invariably the mistakes made are small but they have a profound effect on the success of a teleseminar. With proper preparation you can have a successful event on your hands. Not only are you in a position to increase your market reach, you can also increase your opt-in subscriber list, and revenues.

Here are a few tips on how to avoid a disaster so you can enjoy a successful event.

When planning to host a teleseminar, you should endeavor to build trust with registrants so that they know you are an expert who is offering information and knowledge they will not get anywhere else.

Some of the most common reasons why teleseminars fail are listed below. Do all you can to avoid making similar mistakes the next time you host a teleseminar.

• Providing incorrect date and time: By giving potential registrants incorrect time and date, you are ensuring that there will be no one to listen or view your teleseminar. This is the most common reason for many teleseminars to fail.
• Providing incorrect dial-in number or website URL: Many times the registration page does not provide the correct information as to where registrants should log on for the teleseminar. Nearly all registrants will note down the details somewhere at the time of registration and if the information provided is wrong, your teleseminar will fail.
• Not providing an opt-in page: An opt-in page is a must to build a list, which is important for the success of any online business. This will also allow you find out how many people are interested in what you are offering.
• Not sending reminders: People are busy and can forget the time, date, website URL or the dial-in number. Make sure you set up a series of emails using a reliable autoresponder to remind all the registrants about the teleseminar.
• Not providing a learning guide: Have some sort of information guide that can work as a roadmap for the teleseminar. It should contain precise information as to what potential participants can learn when they take part in the teleseminar. It should be persuasive enough to get people to register.
By being aware of what could go wrong you have a greater chance of doing all that can go right.

To learn more about Money Making Teleseminars access Kathleen Gage’s report – The Truth About Making Money with Teleseminars at http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/teleseminars/

Kathleen Gage is an Internet Marketing Advisor for speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn the knowledge into money making products and services.

When I began my “conscious” spiritual journey some 30-plus years ago I had a very erroneous belief that if I became “spiritual” nothing bad would ever happen to me.

I read book after book on positive thinking. I listened to recordings of famous speakers (and some not so famous) about how my thinking shaped my world. I became convinced that I had complete control over everything around me, which meant nothing bad would ever happen again.

For anyone who had what I classified as “bad” things happening, that simply meant they just didn’t get it and were doing this “spiritual thing” wrong.

30 years ago I called that, “Having it all figured out.”

Today I call it spiritual arrogance. For me to think that life won’t happen as long as I have “right thinking” is most amazing to me. Life happens. Simple as that.

My beliefs today are very deeply connected to a Higher Power who I often call God or Senior Partner.

Today I know that life happens. Illness happens, houses burn down, loved ones pass on, and jobs are lost. On the flip side babies are born, promotions happen, people find their soul mates and joy abounds.

I also know that I don’t always know what God has in store for me.

What I do know is that being spiritual doesn’t mean that “bad” things won’t happen. It simply means I have a toolbox full of great tools to assist me in the process.

Life is not about the externals of what we experience, but rather how we interpret those experiences and what we do with that interpretation.

Kathleen Gage is an Internet Marketing Advisor for spiritually minded speakers, authors, coaches and consultants. Access her free eBook, The Truth about Making Money on the Internet at http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/free-ebook3.htm

I work with many speakers, authors, trainers and consultants who want to gain visibility on the Internet and within their market. Without a doubt, they all realize they need to market themselves, but many just don’t know where to begin.

Marketing serves several purposes including market reach, visibility, credibility and perception of expert status.

There are countless ways to achieve these outcomes. One of the best ways to do so is by writing and submitting articles to various online directories and Ezines.

When done correctly article writing and distribution can be an incredible tool for marketing a site, business, product, service or person.

The upside of online submissions is that in a very short period of time you can have an article submitted to dozens, even hundreds, of online locations. In some cases you will reach thousands of readers within hours of your submission.

There are some instances that within minutes of posting an article it will be visible on a site, directory or blog. Additionally, articles can remain online for indefinite periods of time, allowing for continued visibility for the author.

For those new to posting articles, finding locations can be challenging. To find directory locations simply do a Google or Yahoo! search with the words “article directories + your topic”. Replace the words “your topic” with your actual topic or market.

One of the most popular article directories is Ezinearticles.com. Christopher Knight‘s directory is by far one of the best you will find. There are others like it, so do your homework and you will find many that are a great fit for your articles.

For Ezines, do the same search but replace “article directories” with the word “Ezine.” You can also look in Ezine directories for numerous listings specific to your topics and market.

Be sure to utilize a very targeted approach for distribution of your articles to Ezines. For example, if you specialize in articles specific to pet owners, submitting to a business Ezine is likely to be a complete waste of time. Submitting to Ezines specific to pet owners will give you greater results.

Ezines are different from article directories. Directories may take articles in hundreds of categories while Ezines are targeted to specific topics and markets.

The number of locations you can submit to it is almost unlimited. This in itself can create challenges. How do you know where the best location is? Spend time reviewing the directory or Ezine. Subscribe to the Ezine to find out how consistently it is distributed and review the quality of information included in the Ezine.

More is not necessarily better. It is a much better decision to submit to a few high quality Ezines than a ton of low or no quality ones. Consider all of these are factors when you submit articles:

 Reputation
 Distribution and reach
 Ease of submission
 Traffic
 Demographics of readership

It is essential to determine if the Ezine you are submitting to online is a credible location.

Although article distribution can be very beneficial, there are downsides to this strategy. The primary challenge is that virtually anyone can get published on the Internet, often with no restrictions. This means the quality of writing can be mediocre at best, and yet, the writer gains visibility.

Another challenge is that some people use articles as a blatant form of advertising rather than a valuable resource of information to the reader. Avoid this temptation! Although you may gain in the short term, over the long haul you will be viewed as less than professional.

A huge benefit of posting to various article directories and eZines is that your articles can and will be viewed by editors, publishers and journalists from many other publications, including trade journals, traditional publications, and radio and television producers. Many opportunities have been created by way of articles being posted on the Internet.

Case in point: Some time ago I was contacted by an editor for the largest trade journal for the specialty items industry. She asked if I would be interested in writing a review for the publication. Since it was a great market fit, I agreed.

When I inquired as to how she had located me, she said it was from an article of mine she had read online which directed her back to my website. She found my website to substantiate my professionalism and thus the desire to interview me.

I have also had countless radio interview opportunities that came to me by way of an article I wrote. Hosts are in need of credible experts. Articles offer them the opportunity to find much needed articulate experts for their shows.

The point here is not only does your article need to be top notch, everything that represents you does too; like your website or blog.

Although you will likely not get paid for most of what you submit online that is not to say you won’t create paid opportunities.

Although you may not receive payment for most of the articles you submit online, they may very well create paid opportunities. I make a very high percentage of my revenues from my writing. However, I utilize the opportunity to strategically post no-fee articles throughout the Internet, drive readers back to any number of my websites and mini-sites, and create opportunities for people to download a free resource in order that I can continue to keep my name in front of them.

Over time, I am able to sell information products, books, coaching and mentoring services and private consulting because I have built name recognition, credibility, expert status and most of all, trust. Although I was not paid for the initial writing, ultimately there is money to be made because I utilized the article writing as part of my long-term marketing strategy. Do you?

Kathleen Gage aka The Street Smarts Marketerâ„¢, works with speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their products and services into money-making products and services. Access FR*EE marketing resources at www.kathleengage.com

Do you dream of having a book published, but don`t know where to turn? Already have a book, but unsure of how to promote it? Looking for cost effective high-return strategies to market your book? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the following information is for you.

Many writers and aspiring authors are under the mistaken belief if their book is published by a publishing house they can sit back and watch sales miraculously happen. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is, competition to have your manuscript noticed and published by one of the remaining large publishing houses is extremely fierce. Additionally, no matter who publishes your book, you absolutely must take an active roll in marketing, promoting and selling your book.

Moreover, profit margins are not extremely good when you go through a traditional publisher. Sure, if you sell tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of books, you make substantial amounts of money. In reality only a small percentage of writers achieve this level of success.

In addition to minimal profit margins is the length of time it takes a book to get to market when going through a traditional publisher. When you self publish you have control of the creative process including when the book does in fact make it to market.

However, it takes more than simply taking a book to market for it to be successful. Ask any author who has books stacked up in their garage watching their dream of fame and fortune diminish every time they see the boxes against the garage wall.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With a solid marketing plan you will sell books and make a profit. One of the best ways to promote your book is with teleseminars.

That’s right! Teleseminars are one of the best ways to gain visibility for yourself as an author and your book.

Although this is a time consuming process, it can pay off handsomely. Not only do you increase your chances of selling your book, you also gain more credibility with this strategy.

The process of teleseminars is actually quite simple. One, decide on the topic. Two, determine the date you will host your event. Three, market the heck out of the teleseminar. Four, be prepared to incorporate information about your book throughout the teleseminar. After all, promoting and selling your book is why you are hosting the teleseminar in the first place.

To learn more about how you can develop money-making teleseminars check out my report, The Truth about Making Money with Teleseminars. Go to http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/teleseminars/.

Kathleen Gage is an Internet Marketing Advisor for speakers, authors, coaches and consultants.