Think about it…

Do you really need a blog to make money online?

Nope.

In fact, if you took everything from me, dropped
me off in the middle of a tropical resort and
challenged me to rebuild my business I would
use just 3 marketing tools:

1. Web hosting & a domain name (I can get those together at BlueHost.com)
2. An Aweber Account (My list is like a magic genie)
3. A squeeze page

That’s it!

No blog.

No Fancy Facebook page.

No Twitter account.

Just a simple squeeze page with an opt-in box.

THAT is how I would build my entire business.

I’ve been doing a LOT of testing this year.

And I can tell you that 95% of our profits come
directly from email marketing.

And guess where the MAJORITY of those subscribers came from…

a SQUEEZE PAGE!!

That means that about 5% of our subscribers and sales
come from the blog, social media, etc…

That’s like a little fart in study hall compared to
the marketing power of our email list.

Now – don’t get me wrong.

There is NOTHING wrong with social media. It can be
a great platform for engaging with your community.

But…

It’s NOT going to build your business quickly.

If you want to build your business FAST – then keep
it “Old-School”. Cause ‘Old School’ is still ROCKIN!

In fact, most six and 7-figure online businesses are built
on the basics – “squeeze page, follow up emails,and an offer”

To see what else is working RIGHT NOW in our business,
go to…

http://www.buzzblogger.com/behind-the-scenes.html

Back to the Lab!

- Kim

P.S. I’m also doing a LIVE Case Study this month
where you can watch me step-by-step as I
generate 5,000 subscribers in just 30 days.

If you want to see EXACTLY how a six-figure
business ACTUALLY works on a day-to-day basis,
come join us…

http://www.buzzblogger.com/behind-the-scenes.html

Lots of marketer’s love to throw out a bunch of
theory. I say, come look at my stats.

Let’s go behind-the-scenes…

http://www.buzzblogger.com/behind-the-scenes.html

Unfortunately, only a handful of people make it to that point.
Most bloggers burn out in the process. At the end of the day,
they have a hobby, NOT a business.

If you want to build a REAL business online, your blog should
serve to build your list, provide massive value, engage with
your audience on a deeper level, and lead your readers into
your sales funnel.

In this article I’m going to show you 7 ways to turn your
blog into a REAL money-making asset in your business.

1. Sidebar Image Ad.

Most people aren’t making the most of their Sidebar. Instead
they’re using it to list their ‘latest comments’, ‘latest posts,
and their ‘latest tweets’.

Well… that ‘latest’ information is not going to make you a dime.

So instead, let’s use that valuable real estate to promote
your own products (or an affiliate product).

Create an enticing, eye-catching banner that converts your
visitors into buyers.

You can see an example in the right-hand sidebar of this blog.

The LESS you have in your sidebar, the better!

Because it INCREASES the chance that they’ll click on
what YOU want them to click on.

So declutter your sidebar and see what you can take out.
The more widgets your plop onto your sidebars, the more
confused your visitor gets. And a confused visitor does
not take action. They leave.

Instead, limit your sidebar to 3 items at most and make
them the critical, money-making items in your business.
(i.e. Opt-In Box, Product Promo, and Affiliate Review Pages)

2. Post Recent Reviews in Your Sidebar.

Now that we’ve got your sidebar cleaned up, let’s optimize
it for maximum profits.

Instead of listing your ‘latest’ blog posts or your ‘most popular’
blog posts – why not list the articles that make you money!

I would recommend listing your product review pages in
the sidebar. If you’re going to list any of your blog
posts in the sidebar – why not make them your most
profitable pages?

Let’s be more strategic…

Find out EXACTLY which of your blog posts is most profitable.

Which one’s are converting more visitors into sales?

To figure this out you’ll need to use tracking links.

But for starters, let’s put the product review pages
in the sidebar. These are specific pages that review
some of the best products from within your industry.

So for example, in my market I might list product reviews
for Aweber, Bluehost, OptimizePress, and Easy Video Player.

And instantly, you’ve now maximized your chances of making
affiliate sales.

3. Teaser Posts

If you have a membership site, here’s something super simple
you can do to increase sales…

In addition to your regularly scheduled blog posts, create
a ‘teaser’ post each week that highlights some of the
best content from your membership site.

In this post, you’ll give an overview of your premium content.
You tease the reader about what’s ‘behind the curtain’. Tease
the benefit but don’t give away the details.

As said best by Jimmy D. Brown, ‘useful but incomplete’.

Then underneath the teaser post – put a link to the
sales page where they can get the rest of the content.

When done properly, this alone can bring in a steady
new flow of members into your site.

4. Footer Image Ad.

Once someone has read your blog post, they’re going to be hungry for more!

So give them an opportunity to get more information on that topic.

EVERY piece of content should LEAD somewhere.

If I’m writing an article about how to build your subscriber
list, at the end of the article you can transition naturally
into recommending your favorite pop-up software.

One of the BIGGEST mistakes that bloggers make is NOT
integrating their valuable content with useful product promotions.

You can see an example of one of our own footer image
ads at the end of this post.

Notice how I’ve used a bit of creativity to grab attention
and funnel my visitors to the sales page.

Remember, the more eyeballs you get on the sales page – the
MORE sales you make.

5. Johnson Box at the TOP of each Blog Post.

This is perfect for when you’re running a holiday special.

Put a Johnson Box at the TOP of each blog post that points
to your special offer.

For example…

“Click Here to Save 90% off of ALL of our VERY Best Products…”

OR

“It’s my Birthday! Get Everything Half-Off!”

Of course, you’ll want to use these special offers sparingly.

Otherwise, they would no longer be special.

But when used properly, they can bring in cash windfalls
throughout the year.

6. Featured Post: On the front page of your blog.

Do you have ONE blog post that performs especially well?

One that does a REALLY good job of converting readers into buyers.

If so, then why not feature that at the TOP of your homepage.

This is super simple to do in Wordpress – but the feature is
kind of hidden.

So when you’re editing a post, look at the “Publish” settings
on the right-hand side.

Click to Edit the “Visibility” settings. From there you’ll
be able to make that particular post sticky.

That post will now be positioned at the very top of the
home page. Driving more traffic and increasing your
profits!

7. Pop-Over

If you aren’t building a subscriber list, then every single
person who leaves your blog is gone (and probably for good).

It’s highly unlikely that they’re going to remember to come
back to your site.

So instead, why not build a perpetual traffic machine?

With an email list, you have traffic on tap.

A lot of people (especially bloggers) make the mistake of NOT
building their subscriber list. When in reality this should be
the #1 focus in your business.

This is where the MAJORITY of your profits will come from.

So you need to be making every effort to convert your
visitor into a subscriber.

And one of the best ways to do that is using a pop-over.

Your subscriber list is the lifeblood of your business. It’s the
money engine in your business.

I wish someone would have kicked me in the butt, knocked me
in the head and forced me to start building my list from Day 1.

When it comes to building a business online, nothing generates
on-demand traffic and long-term revenue like a list of engaged
customers and subscribers.

I’m personally able to send an average of 3,000 clicks per email.

Imagine being able to command that kind of traffic. Sending 3,000
people to your latest blog post. 3,000 people to a webinar
registration page. 3,000 people to an affiliate promotion.

That’s the power that comes with doing email marketing properly.

One of the coolest things about an online business is that you can create cash windfalls on demand. Unlike a traditional job where you have a set salary, as an entrepreneur you can create cash windfalls on demand. For me, some of the most exciting times in my business were my first $1,000 day… my first $5,000 day… my first $10,000 day.

And hitting those milestones came as a result of continuously growing leverage in my business. Building my list of subscribers and turning those subscribers into raving fans.

The secret to creating these cash windfalls is to create a killer offer and promote it to your list.

I know, not exactly rocket science ;)

But let me give you an example from my own business…

In June I created a ‘Birthday Blowout Bundle’ for my subscribers – which included all of my very best products for a HUGE discount. (9 of my best products for $77)

As you probably know, people LOVE to get a deal.

The headline for our sales letter was…

“You Can Grab All of My Very Best Products for 90% off the Normal Price…”

The other cool part about creating a special sale or product bundle is that you immediately have a unique hook for the sales letter. The headline above could be used as a template for literally ANY business online.

Really simple formula here. We put all of our very best products into a special, time-limited bundle and gave a HUGE discount.

Completely no-brainer offer.

Using this strategy we made 211 sales of $77 each which gave us a total cash windfall of $16,247. Pretty nice birthday present :)

You’ll notice a few key elements in this promotion that made it extremely successful…

Time-Limited Sale

One of the best ways to create a cash windfall in your business is to include an element of scarcity.

In the case of the Birthday Blowout, the massive discount only lasted for 72 hours. We had a countdown timer on the page and after that it was taken down completely. You’re giving people a REASON to act now.

When I started using different forms of scarcity in my business a couple years ago, I immediately doubled my sales for any promotion. I never thought it would make that drastic of a difference but when I put it into action, I started doubling and tripling my conversion rate.

For affiliate promotions, I would give an exclusive bonus package to the first 30 buyers. Or (for higher priced products) I would give a one-on-one coaching call for the people who bought in the first 24 hours.

The key here though is that you MUST have legitimate scarcity. In other words, DO what you say you’re going to do. Don’t give bonuses after the first 30 buyers or after the first 24 hours, etc…

This trains your list to take action and lets them know you’re the real deal.

Themed Promotion. (Turn your marketing into an event.)

We centered the promotion around an event. This is extremely powerful because you’ve now turned your marketing into an exciting event! Which is really the whole purpose of a product launch.

We also created built-in scarcity because it was centered around my Birthday. So there’s a definite beginning and end date.

You can use this same strategy in your own business by centering your promotions around holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.

You can also create sales around life events such as your birthday, a new child, anniversary, etc…

Get creative and have fun!!

As an entrepreneur, you can create these cash pops anytime you want in your business. But I suggest limiting them to once every 3-4 months. This way, they’re truly special and unique.

Also keep in mind that in general, your list is going to purchase exponentially more from YOU than from someone else. Your own offer will always outsell an affiliate offer because your subscriber list already has a pre-existing relationship with YOU and people buy from people they know, like, and trust.

In the example above, we created a product bundle to create a nice ‘cash pop’ in our business. But there are lots of ways to do this. In fact, here are 6 ways you can create a cash windfall within the next week…

1. First, if you have an existing product, run a time-limited discount.
I generally like to do 48-72 hours.

This works incredibly well because people LOVE to get a deal.

If you’ve heard of Frank Kern’s “4-Day Cash Machine” – that’s basically what this is.

You take one of your products, offer a discount, pile on some bonuses, and infuse an element of scarcity by limiting the sale to 48-72 hours.

Cash Pop!

2. Product Bundle. If you have multiple products, then why not bundle them all together for a special price. In fact, they don’t even have
to be your own product!

You can license other people’s products and sell them as part of the bundle. I had 2 licensed products in the Birthday Blowout Bundle. There are literally thousands of products online that you could license for a couple hundred bucks and sell them for 100% profit.

That’s what I call instant product creation :)

3. Update an existing product. If you have a popular product that you sell, create version 2.

We could easily create Traffic Dashboard 2 and relaunch it to our list and to our affiliates. This allows you to piggyback on the success of the first product launch.

4. VIP Coaching Days. You can create your first $1,000 day by having a VIP Coaching day where you sell 1-hour blocks of your time.

People LOVE one-on-one coaching. However, the drawback is that long-term coaching is incredibly intense.

So instead, you can offer those same benefits – but in one-hour blocks. Set up 2 days of coaching calls and you’ve created an instant cash windfall in your business. (I suggest charging AT LEAST $100 an hour. I personally charge $250 per hour for one-on-one coaching.)

5. Pick a top-notch affiliate product and do a webinar with the product creator. This works best with higher priced products or continuity
programs.

By doing a webinar you’ll get MUCH higher conversions and then add on some time-limited bonuses. You will ALWAYS make more sales when you add a deadline. You can either give an exclusive bonus to the first ‘x’ number of buyers or to the people who buy within the first 24-48 hours.

6. Create a product on the fly. One of my favorite product creation models is through LIVE webinars. This allows you to literally launch a product within 48 hours. Survey your list. Find out what they want most and then create a video sales letter around that topic.

You’ll then deliver the product over the next 5-6 weeks via LIVE webinars. And now you’ve created a cash windfall in your business on the fly.

Way too many people over analyze the product creation process. They spend months or even years creating a product. But you can actually be PAID to create the product itself using this model.

Plus, you now have instant accountability because you have an audience waiting for you next webinar.

Speed of implementation is one of the biggest keys to creating a successful online business.

LESS thinking. MORE doing.

And every time, I always say the same thing…

PERSONALIZED COACHING!

I personally struggled for YEARS before finally getting some REAL
help and personalized training.

This has been the catalyst for…

* My first $1,000+ day. (After 2 months of coaching with Chris Freville.)

* My first $8,000 day. (This happened in my first week of coaching with
Lee McIntyre. Now, obviously I had a list that I could leverage. But Lee
was the brains behind it. In our very first coaching session he laid out
a simple plan for creating a cash windfall in my business.)

* My first six-figure product launch. (also masterminded by Lee ;)

* Personal introductions to the top marketers in our industry.

The benefits of personalized coaching and belonging to a mastermind
group has so MANY benefits (far too many to mention them all), but
probably the single biggest success factor has got to be:

… A Mastermind Group OPENS DOORS!

Because of coaching and masterminds I’ve connected with amazing people like…

* Travis Sago
* Lee McIntyre
* Maria Gudelis
* Sean Donahoe
* Nicole Dean
* Jit Uppal
* Jason Parker
* Tim Atkinson
* Richard Legg
* and many, many others.

Each one of whom has promoted my products.

Making these connections has literally changed my life!

I can tell you for a fact that there’s NO WAY I would have reached the
six-figure level without the power of my friends and fellow marketers.

No one builds a six-figure business by themselves.

I personally struggled for years online trying to create a
successful business before I realized I was missing 3 critical
keys to success…

And that’s accountability, a mentor, and a proven system to get you there!

Before you go, tell me… Would you be interested in joining a Coaching Group?

Post your comments here if you are interested!