Now you have a PIPS site set up you may be wondering what to do next. The very next thing I would do if I were starting all over again with a PIPS site would be to join the PIPS Power Group.

The PIPS Power Group are are group of five very successful PIPS users who give a lot of time and also free resources to help inexperienced PIPS owners to learn how to make money online. They take you right from the beginning. You can ask any question you want about PIPS on the forum and you will get a quick response and great advice.

You will also get a lot of support from the other members. I am one of the active members on the forum.

I was sceptical about the PPG at first. I thought, "Oh yeah, it is just another group of people out to take all my money as fast as they can."

But it isn't like that. When I joined them I was amazed to hear them tell me that I did NOT need to spend money on this or that (things that they could easily have recommended to make a quick buck). I was impressed with their dedication to other people's success.

Sure, it costs money to join, but it will save you far more money than if you try to do everything yourself with your present level of experience. The fact is that if "you" want to succeed online you need to get serious!! My "ability" did not come from fresh air but from dedicated study, which included INVESTING money and time in my education. One of the best investments I made, and continue to make, was in the PIPS Power Group.

David Hurley
Best Internet Marketing Strategies

Labels: Pips Power Group, Plug-In Profit Site

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

Ever heard of Gary McCaffrey?

You may have done if you have been seriously involved in Internet Marketing for a while, but if not, you probably haven't.

But, whether you know him or not, Gary McCaffrey is set to become the most followed person on Twitter!

Why do I say that?

Because he has just created and launched this free viral resource for Twitter called
TweeterGetter that takes less than a minute to set up, and does not even require you to give away your email address.

If you want to build your list of followers quickly and effortlessly, without having to first follow lots of other people and HOPE they follow you back, check out Gary's Tweetergetter, here:

Happy Tweeting Valentine's!

David Hurley
Internet Marketing Success Strategies

Labels: Gary McCaffrey, Twitter

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

A question was raised on the PPG Forum recently about how to sell e-books and e-book pricing strategies. How much should you charge for an e-book that you have written?

A lot of people feel that an e-book should be short and cheap, but in the article that follows, points out that if you are selling something your customer is interested in and actually wants to learn about, small is not necessarily beautiful...


So if you want to write the definitive guide to your subject, maybe you should turn a 30 page pamphlet into a 300 page bible.

Over to Bob Bly

===

"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."

Warren Buffett

Selling Information Products "By the Pound"

By Bob Bly

I frequently hire freelance writers to write e-books and other information products for my small online publishing business. Recently RH, a potential author, was taken aback when I told him I wanted a 15,000-word e-book from him.

"How did you come up with 15,000 words?" he asked me. "In this age of hyper-information overload, shouldn't such a document be more like a lady's skirt - short enough to be interesting and just long enough to cover the subject?"

RH's question seems sensible enough on the surface. But his conclusion - that when it comes to information products, shorter is universally preferable - is not true.

May I explain why?

To begin with, RH is theoretically correct when he suggests that readers are busy, have too much to read, and not enough time to read it. Despite this, however, people who buy information products - especially online - have a slightly different perspective than ordinary readers.

Info product buyers do, to some extent, buy their information "by the pound." If they pay a high price, they expect a lot for their money. Not just great content, but plenty of it.

We call this demand for quantity the "thud" factor. When a customer orders a $50 info product, the material should make a nice "thud" when he drops it on his desk.

For e-books selling in the $19 to $79 range, I find that the customer is satisfied with something that would be at least 50 pages when he prints it out and holds it in his hands. With approximately 300 words per page, a 50-page e-book is 15,000 words, which is the word count I gave RH.

RH, in turn, suggested that we could make a more valuable product by covering the topic in a single page, which he said he could do.

Well, let me warn you now. If you sell a $29 e-book and deliver to your customers a one-page PDF document on the topic, your refund rate will be huge. Those customers will feel ripped off and not buy from you again.

Even if that one page has great content, it is not enough. It does not meet the "thud factor" requirement.

RH is applying the rule that brevity is the chief virtue of good writing. Where he makes his mistake is in assuming that this rule should be applied equally to information the reader wants as well as to information he doesn't want.

I agree with RH that in correspondence and other documents that the customer doesn't really care about, you want to get to the point as quickly as possible - and keep it short and simple. But when you sell an e-book or special report, you are selling material that he actually wants to read.

Remember, he ordered it. He paid you for it. He didn't have to buy, but he did. That means your customer is sufficiently interested in the topic to educate himself on it at his own expense. He is reading your e-book for his own benefit. And perhaps for his own enjoyment. It is not a chore. Or if it is a chore, it is one he has volunteered for.

Strangely, RH didn't complain to me that books he buys on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble have "too many words." Yet the average 200-page nonfiction trade paperback contains 80,000 words - five times the length of my average e-book!

Are you, like RH, afraid your copy - whether you are writing a sales letter, a landing page, an article, a special report, or a print or electronic book - is too long? If so, the reason might be any of the following... all of which can and should be corrected:

• Too much fluff

To meet a required word length, you have padded your copy, making it dull and flabby. You are wasting the reader's time by saying the same thing over and over in different ways.

• Lack of content

You haven't done your homework, so you don't have a rich body of facts to illustrate your points and support your claims. Given the existence of the Internet and Google, there is no excuse for such inadequate research.

• Lack of authority

You sound like you don't really understand your subject in depth, and the reason is you probably don't. You need to either become an expert or interview an expert (or two).

• Boring copy

You don't really care about the topic or the project, and it comes across in your copy. Solution: Write only on subjects you are interested in and care about.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

David Hurley
Internet marketing success strategies

Labels: how to sell ebooks

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!

In the current recessionary climate a lot of people are worrying about their budgets.

Yet, at the same time people are searching for extra ways to make money. An increasing number of those people are looking at working from home on the Internet but need help in getting an online business set up.

The Plug-In Profit Site (PIPS for short) has always provided a quick and economical way for the complete beginner to get set up fast on the Internet for a modest monthly outlay. However, in the current climate, a few dollars saved will make a big difference... I'm happy to say that, commencing February 2009, Stone Evans, the founder of the PIPS programme, has agreed to set up PIPS websites FREE on HostGator, the leading provider of budget web hosting.

Now, you will be able to choose between a premium business web hosting package from Host4Profit.com ($25 per month) OR the budget web hosting option provided by HostGator, and pay just $7.95 per month.

Suddenly, the Plug-In Profit Site got a lot cheaper!

Make Money From The HostGator Affiliate Programme

Also, the Host Gator affiliate programme is free to join and pays you on a sliding scale of $50 up to $125 for every referral you make.

Since your HostGator affiliate code will be embedded in the sales page that comes with your free PIPS website, you have a great opportunity to earn substantial monthly commissions simply by referring people to your PIPS sales page and pointing out how economical it is to set up a home based business with the Plug-In Profit Site.

Click the Croc!

WHAT ARE THE TOTAL COSTS OF SETTING UP?

Okay, good question.

Let's say you go with HostGator.com and opt for a fully functioning GetResponse autoresponder so that you can take advantage of the free 400 pre-written ezine letters that automatically follow-up with your website visitors to make extra sales for you...

... here are the recurring costs:

Domain name = $15.00 per year

HostGator Hosting = $7.95 per month

GetResponse Autoresponder = $17.95 a month (regular rate)

So for a monthly outlay of $25.90 you are in business!

You also have the option of joining several affiliate programmes that the Plug-In Profit Site promotes. These include:

SFI (FREE to join)

TrafficSwarm (FREE to join)

Web Prosperity ID (Premium Builder for $29.95 or Elite Builder for $59.95 p/m)

Empowerism ($29.95 for your first month, then $19.95 a month)

All of the above affiliate programmes are optional. For example, I am involved in all but Web Prosperity ID. It's your choice.

Also, once the website is set up it is yours to do what you like with.

Check out my website and you will see that it is a PIPS site but with a lot of stuff added to it: http://grasp-the-nettle.com

Anyway, the main point of this post is that the Plug-In Profit Site has collaborated with HostGator and has just got a lot cheaper to set up.

Click the link to find out more about the Plug-In Profit Site.

Read this interview with Stone Evans, founder of the Plug-In Profit Site.

David Hurley

Labels: budget web hosting, HostGator, Plug-In Profit Site

Recommended: Plug-In Profit Site - Complete Money Making Site Setup FREE!