Why Use Autoresponders?

You’ve written your free eBook, you’ve recorded audio downloads… you’re all set to grow your community by offering an incentive to your audience to provide their email address so you can continue marketing to them.

 

People are signing up and enjoying your free content… and your list is growing. But what next…?

 

Are you regularly reminding your community that you are there and can ease their pain? Do you have an auto-responder campaign in place that takes care of your follow up with your community?

 

Or do you rely on remembering to send the occasional broadcast message?

 

Auto-responders are an incredible way to keep in touch with your community, share even more content or promote your offers. Plus you only need to do the work once and the automation takes care of the rest of the work for you.

 

So, let’s talk about what auto-responders are… and think about what your auto-responder campaign could look like? What information can you provide to your community to keep you in the forefront of their mind?

 

What are auto-responders?

 Auto-responders are a series of automated emails that are sent to your community at varying intervals. You will need to use an email marketing system such as AWeber to organize and manage the distribution of your scheduled emails.

 

You will also need to set aside some time to write and schedule your auto-responder campaign in your chosen email marketing system.

 

How often should you email?

 The length of auto-responder campaigns vary between 10 and 20 (your email marketing system provider may impose a limit on how many you can send so check this out before you begin planning your campaign) It is usual for the first 3 or 4 emails to be daily… then every other day, petering out to weekly so as not to overwhelm your audience and risk being flagged as a spammer.

 

Your auto-responder campaign will begin in the first day or two following their download email confirmation and your email frequency is greater during the first month… becoming less frequent for the following few months.

 

What content could you include?

 It is important to get the balance between sharing informative content and sales promotion right to reduce the risks of your community unsubscribing… I’d recommend no more than 1 sales promotion message to every 5 or 6 emails sent.

 

I invite you now to think about what kind of informational content you can provide. Here are a few ideas for you to consider;

 

Worksheets:

 Did your free download contain exercises for recipients to complete after reading/listening to your message? Can you prepare any worksheets or link to resources that might make the task easier/quicker/more rewarding?

 

Blog posts:

 Do you have any blog posts that offer useful tips or strategies that your audience would benefit from knowing about? It’s wise to assume that your community won’t have spent enough time on your site to have read your posts already… highlight one blog post per email and explain why you feel it is to their benefit to take notice.

 

Is your free download part of a series?

 If not, would there be a benefit to your audience in creating a further eBook or videos to explain areas covered in your original download in more detail? You can use your auto-responder campaign to schedule the delivery of the remainder of the series over the next few days/weeks.

 

Resources:

 Are you using any third party resources that would also benefit your community that they might not know about already? Why not share the details on your favorite resource?

 

TIP: You may find it useful to write a blog post reviewing your favorite resources (one per blog post)… you can describe features and benefits easier in a blog post… and it will be a permanent resource you can direct traffic to.

 

If you aren’t following up with your growing community, you are missing opportunities, so I invite you to give consideration to how you can use auto-responders in your marketing campaign and take some time to plan and schedule relevant content.

 

If you are already making use of auto-responders, what content do you find is working best for you? Please share your tips in the comments area below

Taken from www.joannamartin.tv

Just in Time for the Holidays

December 09, 2013

by Melaleuca Journal

 

Between their bills and a mountain of maxedout credit cards, the Grimleys only had $150 leftover each month to feed their family of four. Forget movies or new shoes or even candy for the stockings—how could they possibly provide basic nutrition for an entire month with only $150?
Almost overnight, the Grimleys’ finances crumbled into what seemed an irreparable mess, their once-bright future water-logged by terrible timing. On the very day Josh quit his corporate job, sick of the long hours and hectic lifestyle, Jacki noticed some strange bowing in the wood floors.
“I went to check the hatch under the house and it was swollen shut,” Josh recalls. Unbeknownst to the Grimleys, a water leak had been destroying their home. “Plumbing, electrical, walls, flooring and even some of the floor joists had to be replaced,” Josh says.
The damage to their home was so extensive they had to move in with parents while the home was remodeled. Their insurance paid for some of the repairs, but it wasn’t nearly enough. With Josh now unemployed, the Grimleys turned to credit cards to survive.
“I took another job making half of what I used to make and worked on remodeling the house in my free time,” Josh says. “We were barely making it paycheck to paycheck.”
Around this time, Josh heard about Melaleuca. The business plan sounded impressive, but first Josh wanted to try the products for himself. “We liked every product we tried, especially Renew® [Lotion],” Josh says. “My wife has a serious dry skin problem on her hands. Before Melaleuca, she was using steroid creams and going to bed with socks on her hands. Within three days of using Renew, her skin had improved so much she stopped using her other creams.”
The Grimleys enrolled on November 2, 2012, and put their all into building a Melaleuca business. When that first check arrived in the mail for $2,409, it quite literally saved their Christmas. “It saved our bacon,” Josh says. “We were able to give our kids Christmas and even give it to another family.”
Since then, Jacki and Josh have paid off $50,000 in debt using their Melaleuca income. Finances were so tight last year, the couple wasn’t able to do anything for their 10th anniversary, so now Josh and Jacki are taking an eight-day trip to Hawaii. And Christmas this year won’t be a time of stress and worry, but rather an opportunity to help others. They plan on providing Christmas for several families in need.
“We believe that the more you give, the more you gain, and we have a responsibility to go out there and provide for other people as well,” Josh says. “This is such an amazing company. It can bless so many lives if you just open your mouth. If you do, you’ll be blessed beyond what you can imagine.”

Learn how you can join a great company and start to enjoy great products as well as a way to go into business for yourself and help your family to become prosperous in so many ways. 

 

Just fill out the form on the top right corner of this page.

 

The One Leadership Secret You Can’t Ignore

The One Leadership Secret You Can’t Ignore
By Vinay Nadig Setbacks and disappointments are inevitable in business. It's how you respond to them that makes a difference in how much they impact you. Here are five things you can do to see immediate improvement in how you deal with setbacks.

Image source: Photospin.com

I talk about twenty core Leadership Secrets in my executive coaching, speaking and writing. But if someone asked me to name only one that can make an immediate impact, I would pick the behaviors to counter setbacks.

All of us have had (and will continue to have) some professional setbacks – prospects breaking off at the last moment after a seemingly agreeable interaction, clients refusing to renew, etc. While these examples are very specific to my situation, we all face “setbacks” frequently as we strive to achieve our transformational goals. It may be in our personal or professional lives, but setbacks and obstacles are here to stay with us. How does an effective leader react and respond to setbacks? While I can’t say that I am totally immune to the vagaries of rejection and setbacks, here are five simple and quick daily practices I use that have helped me and can help you as well:

# 1 - Budget discrete time for disappointment – While I believe in positive psychology, I don’t really believe in ignoring reality. I acknowledge the sinking feeling I get in my stomach when negative events occur! I know that it will make me feel discouraged and disappointed. What I have taught (and am constantly teaching) myself is to put a discrete timeline in my mind and tell myself that I will stop ruminating over the event after that arbitrary limit. Where you set that limit is up to you. The sooner the better, obviously. But you’ll get better at it as you practice this behavior.

Related: How to Get Over Past Mistakes

# 2 - Go back to your Personal Mission Statement –The personal mission statement is one of my centering tools, and I especially go back to it when I have setbacks. Do the “whys” still hold true? Am I doing what I am doing for the right reasons? Do they align with my personal and professional themes for the year/future? This exercise serves to firm up my spine and point me back in the direction I should head. Do you have a personal mission statement?

# 3 - Rapidly accelerate – I shift up my “MPH,” my “magnificent performance horsepower” to a different gear and focus intensely on my activity plans. I have found that nothing accelerates outcomes better than positive action. The time after a setback is the second-best time to accelerate (the best being when you succeed, more about that in a future chapter), so focus on action more than ever before. It is quite common to have doubts, of course, especially after a setback, which is why it is important to have a framework for action. I prefer to practice a weekly leadership ritual that gives me a discrete foundation for action. What about you?

# 4 - Find and finish – I pick an outcome in a space that I have influence over (current project, personal project, personal life) and finish it! It is important to me at this point to gain the feeling of achievement and credibility I get by successfully getting to a notable outcome. This is also the time to go after that one activity you have been procrastinating about. The best way to build your core back up is based on achievement and credibility.

# 5 - Finally, surround yourself with the right people – This is exactly the wrong time to hang around people who don’t understand your goals and vision. Unfortunately, many of those whom you consider close may fall into this category. It is simply best not to solicit any feedback from folks who say things like, “Well, it was always going to be tough to do that,” or “This is why I didn’t try to do that – I could have if I wanted to,” or the best one of them all – “I told you so!!!” Understand that you don’t have to react to this unsolicited feedback. Practice the art of selective hearing! It is very important to seek support from a group of people who are positively inclined and are striving toward transformation just as you are.

 

Vinay Nadig is the author of Leadership IS for Everyone: 20 Leadership Secrets for Exceptional Outcomes and Fulfillment at Work. He has had a 20+ year career as a consultant, entrepreneur and a business unit head in the manufacturing, healthcare, retail, technology and airline sectors sectors, consulting with several large Fortune 500 organizations. For more information, please visit, www.vinay-nadig.com and www.leadershipdharma.com.  This article is taken from www.businessknowhow.com

Andre Hardy is a member of a ethical home based business team that would love for you to listen to what he has to offer you that could change the future of your family and all your needs in life.  Enjoy a full life that allows you to meet new people and be out going.  Fill out the form on this page and get some great information to help you achieve things you thought you could never ever achieve.

http://www.1-2-3-bedebtfree.com

5 Steps to Kickstart Your Confidence

5 Steps to Kickstart Your Confidence
by Craig Wagganer Self-confidence is important to growing a successful business, but it's something many people have to work at to achieve. Use these 5 steps to give your confidence a boost.

Image source: Photospin.com

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines confidence as:
1 a: a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances <had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed> <met the risk with brash confidence> b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way <have confidence in a leader>2: the quality or state of being certain: certitude <they had every confidence of success>

Confidence is a mesmerizing quality. When we have it we don’t think about it. When we don’t have it we want it, and when we observe it we admire it. (To a point, anyway.)

True confidence is displayed in a way that begets trust in those that observe it. But some confidence (false) shows up as overplayed, overstated and down right arrogant. Most people have little trouble distinguishing between the two. But often times we wish we had confidence, genuine confidence so we could move forward and be les intimidated by those around us. The sad fact is that we begin to compensate, or even worse, we are taught to compensate by acting confident, instead of learning to be confident.

Here are some simple steps to increase your confidence in yourself, in a genuine way that will help you deal with issues in your life when confidence is at stake.
1. State Your Purpose. More easily said- what do you value? Find out what is really important to you. Make a list of what you want others to think about you. This isn’t an exercise to find out what you think impresses others, but rather to discover what is really important to you that you want others to understand and see in you. Simply make a list of the character qualities you want others to notice in you. In other words, when people talk about you behind your back, what do you want them to be saying?

2. Talk to Yourself. Train yourself to think concerning those values you have listed. Find motivational resources that will help you develop those qualities. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t- have a positive attitude about what you are becoming. Make your progress a matter of choice, not default. Take charge of your input. That is to say, make sure the things in your environment enhance you and don’t reduce you. Commit yourself to learning and growing. Don’t take it for granted but be intentional on what you are becoming. Be in control of your expectations and raise them.

Related: Improve Your Self-Talk

3. Be Nice. This may sound a little strange, but being good to those around you helps you feel better about yourself. When you hold the door open for someone, offer to carry heavy packages, help someone pick up things they have dropped, let a car go in front of you, give someone your place in line, drop extra change into a help bucket, make a donation to a charity… all these things make you feel better about yourself and increase your confidence. Be generously generous. Try this and see how it makes you feel. The next time you go through a restaurant drive through, buy the person behind you their meal. Next time you’re in line at your favorite coffee place, by someone else their coffee as well. When you go through an automatic car wash, pay for the next person in line. When you go through a toll way pay for the person behind you. If you have a “buy one get one free” coupon, find someone to receive the free one. Be nice and practice generosity- it will make you fell better about yourself and increase your confidence. One big thing to remember, expect nothing in return.

Related: Why You Need to Give Compliments

4. Don’t Just Do It, Do It Justice. Remember your mom saying, “If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” It’s true. Don’t just do it, which is merely getting it done because it is a responsibility, or you feel you ought to. But do it justice. Always make sure your work is marked with quality. Don’t do the best you can, increase your capabilities, work a little harder and do better than expected. Don’t go the extra mile, go two. Remember, to make an impression you have to exceed expectations. When this becomes your attitude, people will notice and your confidence in yourself and others confidence in you will increase.

5. Stay In Motion. I believe Sir Isaac Newton said something about an object in motion stays in motion and an object at rest stays at rest. Keep moving forward. When you find that you confidence has increased, don’t stop- keep moving forward. It has far-reaching effects. If you get to the point where you think you have achieved confidence, then it won’t take long that resting in that your confidence will become an act, superficial and arrogant to those around you. If you keep growing, your confidence will be in yourself, not what others think. And, paradoxically, your confidence will be in helping others and making a difference to your community and those you come in contact with.

If you are a leader, or aspire to be one; maybe confidence is what is holding you back. Try these steps and see yourself grow, enjoy the journey and keep it up. Maybe you’re confident in some things, but have a lack in other areas. Try these things and you will become confident about yourself and not things. Even if public speaking (a regular on the top five things that people are afraid of) displays your confidencelessness, these things can help, because it builds you and affects every area of your life. That’s right, make these things a part of your everyday life and it will even help you public speaking.

For confidence to be authentic and appreciated it must come from within. It comes from a genuine, honest and authentic integrity.

Craig Wagganer is an instructor and personal coach for The Leaders Institute, Management and Supervisor Training. His classes focus on overcoming the fear of public speaking, building confident and autonomous leaders, and improving employee morale. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

These are steps I take all the time when it's time to work my home business.  If you are in need of an home business and want to make anywhere from $500 to $2000 a month or more depends on your desire.  Contact me at 813-730-7612 or visit my website at http://www.1-2-3-bedebtfree.com.  Join an ethics based home business team that takes pleasure in your success.

 

This article was taken from:  http://www.businessknowhow.com/growth/confidence.htm

Silent Dangers in Your Finances

www.1-2-3-bedebtfree.com

There is no denying that the economy has made a tremendous turn around over the past few years.  Many Americans are riding high and once again are letting their guards down on their finances and not realizing the “Silent Dangers in Your Finances”.  Many studies have shown that many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck instead of saving.  What if the bottom was to fall out of the economy again…….Will you be prepared? 

That is a question that many can answer with an astonishing “No”.  What are things that we can do to prevent ourselves from falling for economic tragedy again?  The one thing to do is to be prepared and while times are good start to save.  No one is a fortune teller and will ever predict when the economy will fall again so find ways to save. 

Many people don’t realize what they can do to save themselves some extra cash.  Here are three of many ways to save money and recognize what to do.

·         Recognize what the actual cost for owning a car in your state.  We all just get in the car and drive, but forget about monitoring how much it cost for gas in the car, tune-ups, tires, and state fees for things like your tag and insurance which is a must in most states.  The average cost to own a vehicle in America is $3500 per year.  This is based on average use so if you are one that drives around more than most this cost will cost you more.  To cut this cost down is simple, stop casual driving and go where you need to go with a very fuel efficient route.  If you and your friends are going out or just hanging out in the same place then alternate who picks who up. Of course not all the time but every little bit helps.  To save on fuel don’t be a speed demon and take your time.

 

·         Cell phone bills are a big danger.  Cell phones have taken off over the years and get more and more expensive.  With companies like Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon holding us hostage with rates which they raise every year does not help the consumer to save money.  Most Americans are starting to use their phones for everything.  The standard bill is not the problem.  It’s the data plans and all the apps these phones come with.  These apps get our attention and I have to admit myself that you could lose time when you are using them.  As you lose your track of time on these apps your data plan has taken a big hit and most of these companies can charge anywhere from $.20 to $1.00 per minute.  That can really add up, so be careful of your minutes.

 

·         Cable Bills are another budget killer.  When you sign up for cable, you most likely got the best package they had.  Now do you really need every movie channel?  I mean look at the movies they show over and over and over.  It’s like the same movies every month.  Now with the movie package your bill will jump up to $100 a month or more.  Now a great solution to that is to get a membership on Hulu, Redbox, or Netflix for under $10 per month.  They show the same movies that are on cable and you can watch them when you want on your time.  Now $10 per month for all the movies and television series you want, or $100 per month and they pick what they want you to watch.

 

Well these are just a few examples of Silent Dangers in Your Finances.  If you could just cut back on these, it will save you a great deal of money over the year.  Now think about the things that you spend a lot of money on and see how you can cut cost doing that and I am sure you will free up hundreds of dollars per month.

About the Author

My name is Andre Hardy and I love to help people achieve their financial goals by way of a “Home Business”.  If you have any debts like student loan debt, credit card debt, or you may just need an extra 500 to a 1000 dollars a month.  Contact me and find out how you can do this or fill out the form on my website.  http://www.1-2-3-bedebtfree.com

Come by and like my Facebook Fan page:  https://www.facebook.com/HomeBusinessConsultant

 

 

Thinking Twitter? These tech IPOs paid off big

Thinking Twitter? These tech IPOs paid off big

10 Causes of Debt 5-10

Causes of Debt #5 Car loans: $768 billion

 

Outstanding auto loans totaled $768 billion in the third quarter of 2012, the highest amount in nearly four years, according to the Fed. Also, auto-loan balances increased for the sixth consecutive quarter.
New auto loans rose for the third consecutive quarter, to $85.8 billion, an increase of 4.4% over the prior quarter.
The percentage of auto-loan debt that is 90 days or more delinquent was roughly steady versus the prior quarter, at about 4.2%.
The rise in auto debt, along with the stability in auto-loan delinquencies, is seen as a positive sign for the health of the overall economy.

Cause of Debt #6 Credit card debt: $674 billion

 

Credit card debt in the United States totaled $674 billion in the third quarter, up $2 billion from the second quarter, but down significantly from its peak of $866 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York also reported that there are 382 million open credit card accounts, down slightly from the second quarter.

The average credit card debt per borrower was $4,996 in the third quarter, according to the credit reporting bureau TransUnion. That is up 0.5% from the second quarter of 2011 and up 4.9% from the third quarter.

Credit card debt in 2012 followed the same pattern as the previous year, TransUnion reports, with balances declining in the first half of 2012, then increasing in the second half. That seasonal trend is also reflected in the national credit card delinquency rate (the ratio of borrowers with payments 90 days or more past due), which increased from 0.63% in the second quarter to 0.75% in the third.

 

Cause of Debt #7 Home equity loans: $573 billion

 

During the height of the real-estate bubble, Americans relied on the equity in their homes to support their lifestyles in the face of falling or stagnant wages. The viability of that approach evaporated in the wake of the financial meltdown that occurred in late 2007, but home equity lines of credit have remained a significant source of personal debt for U.S. consumers.
On the plus side, that exposure has mainly declined since 2008.
Balances on home equity lines of credit dropped by $16 billion, or 2.7%, to $573 billion in the second quarter of 2012, the Fed reports. The delinquency rate (90 days or more) for such lines of credit has remained steady at 4.9%, as of Sept. 30, 2012, the Fed states.

Causes of Debt #8 Medical debt: Estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars

 

Not all credit card debt involves discretionary purchases. Many Americans use their cards to pay for medical expenses not covered by health insurance. Reliable figures for what Americans collectively owe in health care debt are not available, but recent surveys suggest it's a big problem.
According to the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health care research foundation, 24% of Americans ages 19 to 64 have medical debt they are paying off; 25% of them owed $4,000 or more.
A survey by the research and advocacy group Demos found that 62% of low- and middle-income households with credit card debt reported that medical expenses contributed to what they owed, adding an average of $1,679 to their balances. And 30% of the households surveyed had medical debt, averaging $6,476, that's not on their credit cards.
Amy Traub, a senior policy analyst at Demos, says about 62% of personal bankruptcies in the United States in 2007 were linked to medical bills or illness, and past-due medical bills make up 52% of accounts reported by collection agencies.

Cause of Debt #9 Gambling debt: Estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars

 

One particularly toxic kind of debt that frequently ends up on credit card balances stems from the losses racked up by problem gamblers.
Here, too, hard data is lacking, but new casinos and the availability of online gambling sites appear to be giving people more ways to get in real financial trouble.
The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that about 2 million Americans in any given year could be considered pathological gamblers, and an additional 4 million to 6 million could be considered problem gamblers.
Those with gambling problems can rack up serious debts. Gamblers seeking help from Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services reported an average debt of $28,158, the department reported in 2011. If that level of debt were shared by half of the pathological or problem gamblers in country, it would amount to between $84.5 million and $112.7 million in total gambling debt.

Causes of Debt #10 Personal business and farm loans: Several hundred billion dollars

 

One form of debt that is generally considered positive is the kind taken on by people who are starting or expanding business.
So, it can be considered good news that the U.S. Small Business Administration's loan programs posted their second-largest dollar volume ever in the 2012 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30. The agency's loans for the year totaled $30.25 billion, which works out to about $97 per American, and the SBA says the growing pace of its loans is a positive sign for the economy.
Agriculture remains an important part of the economy, too, and farm loans (which, like small business loans, are typically made to individuals rather than corporations) represent another arguably positive form of personal debt.
As of year-end 2011, the U.S. banking industry had extended nearly $130 billion in farm loans, according to the American Bankers Association's latest Farm Bank Performance Report.  You have to understand that when you start a small business you have to budget yourself and make sure you have a serious plan on how you are going to profit in this business.  Information gathered from (MSN Money)


Hello.  My name is Andre Hardy and I am part of a “Home Business” that is an affiliate of Dave Ramsey and we preach being debt free.We are offering Dave's "The Total Money Makeover" for free to anyone that joins our team and start their journey to being debt free.Click the link below and see what we have to offer.
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