This week the guys at mystoryhub let us know about a new service that is detailed here  … http://myccmarketing.com/services/mystoryhub.php

A quick word of advice/clarification … I think (pls correct me if I’m wrong as I wasn’t on the call), I think this is a service offering to set up a hub site.

Now this is fine, if you want someone to set up a good looking personally branded website.

But (and this is a big “but”) if you’re after a Google Adwords-friendly landing page to beat Google slaps, I don’t know if this is the answer. You’ll have to clarify it with the guys at MyStory Hub.

My big concern, when I checked out the http://myccmarketing.com/services/mystoryhub.php
offer is that it didn’t mention that they can or will design any “landing pages” for us.

Now, here, everyone needs to understand there is a huge difference between a landing page (squeeze page, capture page, opt-in page) and a “branded personal website or blog”.

The examples at http://myccmarketing.com/services/mystoryhub.php are “branded personal websites/blogs”. My branded personal website is http://futureathome.com. On the other hand, an example of one of my Landing pages is http://futureathome.com/?page_id=284. Huge difference in form and function.

A landing page is set up with the sole purpose of capturing a lead’s name and email address (and possibly phone number). You can have dozens of these doing their job all over the internet.

A branding page (personal website), on the other hand, serves a totally different purpose (in terms of our sales process). This is where people go — after they have become a lead. You direct them there, once you have established contact with them to get to …

• know you
• like you
• build rapport with you
• and trust you.

It’s like inviting people to your Home, after you made initial contact with them in a business sense (after they’ve been to your landing page).

So, your prospects will generally (99% of the time) become a lead from your landing page, not from your branded website/mystory hub/Wordpress blog.

It can be confusing. But it is dangerous (if that’s the right word) to imagine that you can have a personal branding page that ALSO functions as a landing page (lead capture page).  The two have to be considered as serving two completely separate functions. One capture, the other rapport.

I would have liked to see the mystoryhub offer include a Google Adwords-friendly landing page design, with the form and everything. You’ll want to check this out with them.

Yes, you can certainly include a landing page within your personal website. But the landing page’s purpose and navigation should be isolated from the rest of the site. Otherwise people will get there, get distracted and start wandering around, instead of focussing and giving you their name and email address in return for the promise of “what’s on the other side”. You see, if there is no “other side” because the other side is already conveniently laid-out for them in your navigation bar, then there will be no reason for them to provide their name and address.

So I’d be asking the guys at mystoryhub if they can incorporate a Google Adwords-friendly landing page
for you.

You will want them to basically copy the general wording and layout from one of the landing pages from the back office. But change the design and change the names of the graphics and maybe include a pic of yourself and a sentence to introduce you (to make it Google Adwords-friendly). You will want them to bring across a “form” (the bit where the person fills in their name and email address) and they will need to link that back to aWeber and then back in to CCPro back office for you so you can track your leads.

I’ve just been through this today. Quite involved (sheesh). Good luck.

At the end of the day when approaching the thought of planning a landing page that’s not hosted by CCPro don’t be thinking you can incorporate one with, for instance, a personal blog site Home Page for instance. I just don’t think it will work. Too distracting. A traditional welcome page with a “For More Information” Form, is not a Lead Capture page, not an effective one anyway.

Yes, it is still a good idea to have a lead capture form on your Home Page and wherever else you might want one, but it’s not going to get many leads for you.

Of course there’s always an exception. Michael Forces blog (see picture below) at http://securebusinessmodel.com is the exception in this case. Michael has designed this whole site like a personal blog site.

But it’s not a “blog site that acts as a landing page”.

It is, rather, a landing page that looks like a blog site. Or, to be more accurate, a series of landing pages that, together, look like a blog site. Very cool. You go from one page to the next and unwittingly you are being confronted by one “landing page” after another. Ingenious. Each page makes you want to join Michael to see what’s on the other side. He gives a lot of info, but he’s careful about what he doesn’t tell so that there is still the offer of something incredible “on the other side”. Every page has an opt-in Form. You have to fill in the form to see a “Private Business Overview”. Every page has pics of Michael and Dalila enjoying the lifestyle made possible by “whatever it is on the other side”. Every page has great headlines. Every page follows a similar rhythm and feel.

I hope this makes sense. Please understand you don’t have to worry about Google Adwords-Friendly landing pages unless you are doing Google Adwords advertising to get your leads.

Some awesome advice here from the “King of Copy” Craig Garber.

If you aren’t already signed up for Craig’s list it’s well worth while. He sends emails like this about three times a week. Incredibly useful information. Even if you don’t buy anything from him, just get his tips, they are worth a million bucks. www.kingofcopy.com. I’m not an affiliate of Craig’s.

Here’s Craig’s tip … this one is about “transition marketing” or “process marketing”.

Something you need to consider when you’re selling — especially in print — is the number of things you’re trying to do at once. For the most part, you should ONLY be doing one thing a at time. Each sentence should only be dealing with one issue. Each paragraph — one issue. And each decision you ask your prospects to make, should only revolve around one thing at a time.

There are a few reasons for this: One, what you know about your product or service is usually infinitely more than what your prospect knows. And while it’s great to be enthusiastic, it’s equally important to make sure your prospects are on the same page with you.

Plus, most topics aren’t as simple as you think they are.  And when it comes to spending money, people generally want to be 100% crystal clear on what they’re getting. So while you might be tempted to say something like this: “This racquet is made of carbon fiber manufactured under the same controlled scientific environment NASA manufactures the components of the space shuttle.

This material was discovered by accident while NASA scientists were trying to create a special space-age polymer designed to last no less than 100 years and you’ve never seen anything like it!”

You’re far better off saying this, instead: “This light-weight racquet is incredibly durable.  In fact, it is made from the exact same material NASA uses to build the space shuttle.  Because of this, I guarantee its durability, for 100 years.  If ANYTHING at all happens to it during this time, I will replace it, 100% free.”

[Zoe says: the equivalent, in our case, might be "trying to sell" the concept of our product too early. Rather than simply selling THE NEXT STEP (ie the landing page or the application). eg: Come and join our business. It's called Acme and I work with a company called Global International and I sell their products and we do it on the internet. So you'll have to learn that too, but don't worry I'll teach you. And, by the way, did I mention it only costs $20,000 to come in at the top level.]

See, when you’re only trying to make ONE point at a time, you are much more likely to make that point. But when you’re trying to get people to do more than one thing at the same time, or think about more than one thing at a time… it’s just too confusing and things get lost in the mix.  The importance of any one thing is generally diluted, and your strong benefits wind up going unnoticed.

[Zoe says: Right on Craig, at the start of our Transition Marketing process all I "sell" is useful information (the Coffee House Letter), then I try to sell an "Application to Find Out More" about CCPro. It's subtle, seductive. You should never go charging in to the sales process like a rhino.]

This is especially important in print, where you’re stripped of all the non-verbal communication other media allows you to use. And you can take that… to the bank.

Is getting leads really all that hard???

Well, I guess it depends on who you talk to these days. Let’s face it, network marketing is more competitive, more expensive, more complex and more fierce than ever before. And right now Google advertisers in particular are throwing in the towel faster ever.

A few weeks ago I surveyed my subscribers asking what is their biggest challenge in network marketing. I got back a lot of replies and as I read through each one, I kept hearing a central theme … “My biggest problem with network marketing is how to generate leads and make more money than what I spend on marketing.”

Why is this such a struggle for so many? Why can’t people launch their online businesses and make them soar? And why is network marketing frustrating more and more home business owners? I am convinced that there are two fundamental reasons for all of this:

1. Most fail to properly grasp and apply the powerful but counter-intuitive fundamentals of “Information Marketing” (or Attraction Marketing) to build high-performance businesses.
2. Most fail to create a well-thought-out sales funnel, break it into pieces, and work at optimizing each step (process marketing).

You see, network marketing is not just about keywords, clicks and leads. That’s where it begins, and no doubt it is a very critical step. But what do you do with your visitors once they arrive at your site? How do they move through your sales funnel? If they want to proceed, can they do so assuredly and automatically? These questions boil down to having a watertight sales funnel: including things like a good picture; a congruent flow; a landing page that matches the ad, a personal web site that allows people to get to know, like and respect you, a system of auto-responders that enable you to continue to communicate with them, automatically. And CCPro gives more tools than ever for getting the job done! All you have to do is understand the genius that is the CCPro “information marketing” system, and put it to work for you.

But for many network marketing users (myself included), getting a firm handle on their sales funnel and learning which tools to leverage for the best results is a daunting task. No doubt about it.

The (short-term) Answer: Forget the tools for a while. Forget about twitter, Facebook, Google, Wordpress, YouTube, SEO etc.

Instead, focus on the PRINCIPLES of “Information Marketing”. The touchstone upon which any good business is built. Learn the skills that will empower the successful deployment of the mechanisms like Squidoo, Blogger, MySpace etc. These “tools” are your servants. Nothing more, nothing less.

The ANSWER: Information Marketing.

THE RESULT:Less time and money spent, more money earned.

A master knowledge of “Information Marketing” will put an end to your frustrations.

The INTENSITY of competition in home business and network marketing arena is heating up right now (Have you been feeling it?).

There are more people rushing to join the industry. More customers, that’s good. But more customers also means more competitors. In any case, I need to know what I am up against. I must have MORE than a “great” product and a turnkey “system” to prevail against the toughest rivalry.

*Understand this*

The key to success in network marketing is NOT brute force!

It’s FINESSE.

Even if you’re competing with 5000 other marketers, the secret to winning this game is counter-intuitive but simple. Sixteen years ago, stuffing a few thousand flyers in people’s letterboxes was enough to do the job. Obviously, that’s not going to cut it any more. Nowadays you must make the paradigm shifts necessary to propel you to the head of the pack.

And, like anything else, it’s easy when you know how.

So what is the secret?

I’m convinced that there is one fundamental, foundational understanding that people must comprehend …and that is this:

*Infomation Marketing*

Understand and implement the principles of Information Marketing and you’ll steadily surpass even the most determined competitors. It’s not easy. But it gets easier. Again, you do NOT succeed in network marketing through brute force selling. Don’t pitch. Never pitch. Instead TEACH.

Lever off the shoulder of the giant you have teamed up with … CCPro. The fact that you had the foresight to join the best online marketing education company on the planet makes you a leader in this industry.

But what to teach? What to offer first? Well, the “Self Employed & Rich” series is a good start. Promote that, attract a list, market to that list. The Coffee House Letter is another “Attraction Marketing Tool”, an awesome one. I use both, at the same time!

In fact, I never pitch the business. I pitch the Coffee House Letter. That is I pitch Information.

Then, when people give me their email address, they get to know me (from my emails and my website) and they get to know about CCPro. It’s simple, it’s beautiful and it works. It works because, in the first instance, I’m giving information WITHOUT WANT. I’m teaching. I’m attracting. I’m implementing the fundamental but counter-intuitive laws of “Attraction Marketing”.

If you don’t already have Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring Course go here … http://zdeluca.magneticsponsoringonline.com

Here’s some definitive tips for CCPro Googlers from David Schwind.

David is an Adwords guru and a CCPro top earner and (self proclaimed) marketing “Jedi” (ha ha, Marketing “Jedi”, that’s funny). In a nutshell David is advising us to get our Wordpress sites up and running and have your landing pages on it. So it looks and feels LESS like a “mass-produced affiliate” site and MORE like an “organically grown” website.

(REMINDER: This is good advice for everyone, but only particularly applies to people who want to do, or are doing, Google Adwords Advertising).

—————- David says —————

People have been getting SLAPPED by Google like no other… so, I wanted to give you some simple quality score guidelines to abide by if you’ve been slapped: (if you haven’t been slapped, then I don’t recommend making any changes till necessary, as you don’t want to potentially disrupt any traffic you are currently receiving from the Google villians

Here they are:

1. Do NOT have any outbound affiliate links on your landing page. Examp: links to ‘magnetic sponsoring’, ‘carbon copy pro’, etc…
2. Have a “site-map” on your website/blog. If you don’t know what a sitemap is, you can google it. (most blogs naturally have sitemaps)
3. Have “legal” pages on your website/blog. Examp: “terms of use”, “disclaimer”, “privacy policy”, etc.. “Contact us” is also a great one.
4. Have 3-10 “content” pages linked to FROM your landing page. Things you can put on these pages: testimonials, pictures, articles, videos, contact page, etc…
5. *Your “domain re-direct” in your “autoresponder opt-in code” What I mean: If your landing page is “www.BillyBob.com”, then the next page your opt-in form re-directs to – should be something like “www.BillyBob.com/thankyou” -In otherwords.. the landing page and the re-direct page are hosted on the SAME domain.

*Also, BLOGS are working great right now with Google because the code is written much cleaner than average html websites.

(NOTE:) Do NOT set up “one-page only” blogs! Google will shut it down (eventually) In other words, have other CONTENT pages linked to within the blog from the landing page. ————————

If you want to know how to design state-of-the-art websites, check out this site…

http://v2.affiliateclassroom.com/blog/

Start from the bottom of the blog and watch the videos in order (from the bottom up). This guy really knows his stuff. He talks about an opt-in site (like our landing pages), a blog site and a review site. Plus his team has a very effective way of teaching – using case studies and before and afters.

I downloaded the pdf notes to go with these videos. Again very informative …… here are some main points. The opt-in box.

All you really need to collect from your visitors are their name and email address. Get rid of the excess information and just focus on the specifics. The eye naturally scrolls from left to right, so the opt-in should be moved to the right side of that page. If you’ve got to scroll to view your entire page, remember to add another opt-in box towards the bottom of the page.

That’s in addition to the one above the right hand navigation.

Where’s the Headline? Always add a headline to your site and call it out with bright colors and images!
And Big Type size. Emphasis on FREE!

You always want to emphasize the word “FREE” on your site.

If you are giving your visitors something for free… make sure to call that out!

Use all capitals letters, bright colors, and flames if you must – but you definitely want to call attention to the “free” items you’re giving away. http://v2.affiliateclassroom.com/blog/

best wishes,

Zoe

Dee sent me an email yesterday about her frustrations with Wordpress. I thought I’d share my response with you in case you wanted to consider outsourcing as an option. I found dealing with this company in India has been great. It’s like having a personal assistant …

——————-Dee Wrote——————–
Hi Zoe,

I have been on Wordpress (My hub) for most of the day and yesterday afternoon and can’t seem to get any thing to work properly, I’ve decided for my sanity i’m going to have to get someone to load it for me. I have done up most of the content on Word to transfer over. I’ll have to have a nose around and find some one who knows what they are doing. I found square space easy to follow and use compared to this, but Wordpress is what they have loaded it on, sorry for the big blah blag but I’m tearing my hair out with it, any suggestions would be great

cheers,

Dee.
———————My Reply———————-
Hi Dee,

I’m afraid I don’t know much about Wordpress. But I’ve just signed up with an outsourcing company in India http://brickworkindia.com and they are pretty good at Wordpress. And they are soooo lovely to deal with. You can buy a trial package of 10 hours for $140. You pay $140, then you send them instructions (eg “please get my stoopid wordpress site working” haha). They even did my “squarespace” work so they are professional and accommodating. I was dealing with Sripriya … sripriya.v@brickworkindia.com http://brickworkindia.com/

This is the company recommended by the author of “The 4 Hour Work Week”. I’ll send this out to the rest of the team, as other people may find this useful.

I made some enquiries at Yahoo the other day. If you want to transfer your Google campaigns to them (give Google the big snub) here’s what they told me to do….

——————–Original Message——————–

Hi,

I was wondering if it was possible to quickly and easily transfer my Google Account ad groups etc to Yahoo.

—————————-Reply—————————-

Hello Zoe,

Thank you for contacting Yahoo! Search Marketing. We will be glad to assist you with your inquiry. You can email us your campaigns from your Google account and we will be glad to upload it into your account for you.

Please download your campaigns from Google and save the file as a .csv format. Please do not have any spaces or special characters in the file name. Then email us the file via the Customer Support link that is located in the upper right hand corner area in account.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,

James Wong

Customer Solutions

Yahoo! Search Marketing

For more info and best practices, please visit our Help Center (help.yahoo.com/ss) and the YSM Blog (www.ysmblog.com).

Master Marketers understand the use of keywords & smooth, seamless transitions — from a thought in the prospect’s mind to an ad, then to a landing page, then to a “thank you” page, and finally to entering their credit card details

The essence of success with online marketing requires the ability to define our business and/or its benefits clearly in a very small space with a very concise and simple statement. What does this process “look like” in an Adwords campaign? Like this…

*Person thinks to him/herself… “I want X” Person then goes to Google and types in… “I want X”… or “X”.

*Person sees an Ad that you’ve written and your ad says… “You want X? Good, we’re going to give you X”.

*Person clicks through and the landing page says, “You want X? We are here to give you X. Now, let me tell you exactly what steps you will need to take in order to get X. Fill in the form at the bottom and that will be step number one in you getting X.

*It’s really that simple. If they want X, you echo that right back to your customer. X might be anything from “red shoes” to (in our case) “network marketing”, “business opportunity” or “work from home ideas”, etc.

Now, a smooth transition process will also include a landing page that repeats what the Google ad said.
That’s what I call a keyword chain. Here’s how the whole process might “play out”… it all starts with a thought in your prospects head.

*Thought in person’s mind: “home based business”

*They type in to Google: “home based business”

*Your keyword: “home based business”

*Hey presto: The keyword they typed into Google matches the keyword you nominated in your campaign. This magical “match-up” triggers your ad. That’s great, but, here’s where a lot of people don’t go far enough. Your “ad” should ALSO contain the keyword “home based business”. Why? Because that’s what the prospect is desperately searching for.

That’s exactly what is on their mind. So you want to give it to them in your ad so they can see the words written before their very eyes. They will be many times more likely to click on your ad if your keywords are in it.

So, let’s continue with process…
* Person sees “home based business” in your ad.
* Person clicks on your ad and is sent to your “landing page”.

Now, here again is where a lot of people get it wrong by not going far enough. Your landing page should ALSO contain the keyword “home based business”, thus completing the “keyword chain”.

Why? Because, again, that’s what they’re after and because that’s what you promised in your ad. So give it to them on your landing page. It will be more congruent for them. They will know they are in the right place when they see your reference to home based business (or similar). It is what they are expecting to see. It is an answer to their problem/query. Also, importantly, Google will give you a higher quality score and ad rank because it will rate your page as “relevant” because it contains the exact keyword the searcher is looking for… “home based business”.

For example (this is a crude example for demonstration purposes. The keywords are too broad and competitive. So don’t necessarily use this as it probably won’t work. The purpose here is to demonstrate the process)…

Example Keyword: mlm

Example Ad: Still Failing in MLM? Learn to Soar in a Volatile Economy. Proven System. Recession Proof. YourDomainName.com/?site=MLM Landing Page

Now, at this point “most” people might send them to a landing page like “100Millionaires” which begins with the headline: You’re About To Learn How This “Muffler Salesman” Raked In Over $143,220.00 In A Single Month. Now this is a “good” landing page for our ad.

But a “better” landing page from this ad would be one that “transitions” the prospect more seamlessly. One that repeats what I said in the ad and really “speaks to” our prospect’s query. So it leaves the prospect in no doubt that I am talking “to them” and talking about their concerns. That’s why I would use the “MLM” landing page, available in the back office. Because in the headline it repeats the wording “Still failing in MLM”.

Perfect… Are YOU Still Failing In An MLM Or A Network Marketing Company

Now, the person who clicks on the ad knows they’re in the exact right spot. They’ll think to themselves. “This is exactly what I was looking for. This page was custom built for me”. The transition is smoother, their initial interest – conveyed by the keyword they typed in – was matched by our keyword, reinforced by our ad and then repeated again on the landing page.

I am promising to deliver exactly what I said I am going to deliver. That is, information about their specific problem (still failing in MLM). All they have to do is give us their name and email address. That’s the power of the keyword chain.

cheers,

Zoe

Here is the perfect example of why it does not pay to BS people in this business, or any business. I treat everyone that comes through as if they were our friend, and you can see the results in the email exchange, below…

1. Rob asks some relevent questions
2. I give him some honest answers (rather than glossing over or deflecting his concern about the relevence of the M1 to his market).
3. He appreciates my honesty and wants to buy.

How cool is that? See for yourself.

cheers,

Zoe

From: info@MarkandZoe.com
To: Rob
Subject: Re: Questions
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 20:40:00 +1000

Hi Robert,

Great to hear from you. Thanks for asking the right questions. Please see my feedback in bold…

cheers,

Zoe

On 04/08/2009, at 12:58 PM, robert wrote:

Hi Zoe,

I was checking out the info on what Wealth Masters does for you when you purchase the M1 program. I have many financial challenges that they could maybe help me out with for advice. I did a search on the internet to find out what others had experienced with this program and of course came up with some negative and some positive results. One person said that they said many great benefits were promised in the materials, but that there was very little info on how or who to contact for the help.

Zoe: all the alliances that Wealth Masters recommend are listed in the m1. People who complain that there “was little or no info available” should maybe try picking up the phone and ringing WMI direct. They will find the staff thoroughly professional and courteous and wonderful. Seriously, some people would rather decide “it didn’t work” than pick up the phone. I think they expect a genie to appear out of the M1 box and make them rich You also have to ask yourself whether the people criticizing are trying to sell their own opportunity.

Rob: It was also mentioned that there were additional cost involved in order to take advantage of many of the alliances.

Zoe: Yes indeed there are. I mean, of course, you have to employ these people in order to use their services. But the savings offered are significant. And the fact that they are screened and recommended by WMI is significant.

Rob: It is very important to me that I am marketing a product that does what is promised. As I have a lot of faith in you, I would be interested to hear what your own benefits and experiences have been in particular with the M1 program associated benefits.

Zoe: to be honest the m1 program is very US centric and probably needs a freshen up. It’s of less benefit to people outside US. Still a lot of the content in it is universal, but nothing you can’t read in a a good book or hear at a good seminar. The M2 and M3 events, on the other hand, were incredible. I have sacked our financial advisor and taken control of our retirement money. I have invested in gold and silver and shares as directed by WMI founder Kip Herriage and his alliance partners. I’m also looking at rare coins, self banking, oil and more. Even though the M1 is not that great unless you live in America I don’t think people really give a hoot. I know I didn;t really, because It was just a means to the end, which was the business opportunity. Looking back a lot of the info was quite universal and there were some gems amongst it.

Please understand that I am not looking for excuses to not build this business. I want this business to be everything it says it is and I truly hope that your experiences have been most positive. I indeed would be very disappointed to hear otherwise. I am eagerly anticipating a positive response from you.

Sincerely,

Rob Jobb

Zoe: Have a great night Robert.

And here’s Robert’s response …

From: Robert
Date: 6 August 2009 7:02:25 AM
To: Zoe
Subject: RE: Questions

Hi Zoe,

Thanks for your honesty and I really appreciate it. If I could come up with the money to purchase my M1 today, is there anyway that I can still get it at the discounted price of $1595.
Rob

Voila!

Most ju-jitsu salespeople would have tried to knock down all doubts by, well, BS-ing Rob, even if Rob very “reasonable” objections. But good prospects will always see through anyone trying to gloss over a relevent concern that they have. So don’t. And the thing is, your best prospects always also have the best BS detectors. Makes sense when you think about it. Because they’re smart and they’ve probably done their research. They probably have money because they don’t throw it away at the first salesperson that spins them a yarn. They also research purchases (so they probably know the answer before they ask you). In fact, they’re probably just testing your honesty, whether consciously or subconsciously.