APD-Marketing Newsletter

Hello and welcome to this month’s newsletter, February already! I am in apology mode once more…late again!

In my defence Lee and I have been hugely busy getting the new website up to speed and…it’s amazing how many bugs you find once you start testing! I was once told (many years ago when I was setting up a recruitment business)… ”large projects like this always cost twice as much as you expect and take three times as long”. It’s very true!

The bottom line we are now behind on just about everything! But we keep going! Persistence is the one thing failure can’t live with! If nothing else, I am a persistent old ********!

However, I promise that once everything is ready, it will be a much better “user experience” that you have when “interfacing” with APD :>)

So, moving quickly on, let’s get going.

I haven’t talked about the dreaded downturn for quite a while now. I’m sure you can see for yourself that this is not a normal “blip” now. If you can remember back, I first called trouble when I got home from Vancouver in August 2007. Go back and have a look if you don’t believe me!

I’ll be the first to admit it’s taken a while to really hit the world economy, but summer 2007 was when the sub prime crisis started to break in the U.S.

What I hadn’t realised was the extent of the mess the Banks had caused (mind you, none of my Banking chums knew either, says it all really). So, I hope you have been following Robert Peston for the inside track on this because you do need to understand what is going on. And, he is particularly good at breaking things down into words of a few syllables that we can all understand!

I admit that I got the scale of this thing wrong. I definitely said “in the great scheme of things it will only be a ripple”, but it is bigger than that. I should have guessed when I was told by an exotics trader that a bank (that has to remain unnamed) had posted profits of close to $1 billion in a quarter on derivatives trading. His exact words to me were, “Someone has to be holding the other end of the stick…I’d hate to see what happens when this all unravels”.

It’s unravelling!

I’m not going to explain how the Banks made this mess again, but never before have we had a Banking led recession. And the fact that there is now less than zero confidence in the world’s banks is hurting the global economy big time – even the most robust economies.

However, and I have said this before, the online world is still prospering. It is where you MUST take your business if you want to succeed.

The top ten retailers who operate online saw an across the board 37% increase in Internet sales over Christmas…while the high street squirmed, screamed and squealed (and kicked a bit too).

Nielsen Online reported Amazon was the most visited website in December 2008 with 15.6 million visitors 17% up on 2007 (I think that is a U.K figure). Is it no surprise that Zavvi (ex Virgin music and U.K CD/DVD retailer) is going out of business?

They can’t compete with Amazon in the more niche markets where Amazon clean up and make that incremental profit on the higher margin items.

The world is shifting and Amazon wins because of the economies of scale and variation they are able to supply. It is impossible for the high street to offer this breadth of product, they don’t have enough shop space. And, here in the U.K we see Tesco’s and Sainbury’s (and the other major supermarket groups) offering the top 50 CD’s and DVD’s at giveaway prices, the traditional music retailer is being squeezed out of existence.

Music and film was a large proportion of now defunct U.K retailer Woolworths, again, couldn’t compete with Amazon (they also had other issues as well, but you get the idea).

Littlewoods (a U.K catalogue operation) saw online sales increase by a massive 66% in December. What further proof do you need??

There is NOT a recession happening online! Taking your business online offers you numerous advantages over a traditional business model.

You should be seriously thinking about how you can productise what it is you do? Think about what you know that people would pay for? What do you find easy that others find difficult? What comes naturally to you?

Then…how can you turn that into a product? Ideally an information product that you can deliver via CD, DVD, Online audio or video download. Ebook or PDF report, all are great, cost effective delivery methods for information products.

I have heard it argued that you dilute your offering by not being personal - but that’s not true. You are making your valuable information available to a wider audience at a far lower price than you would be able if you were offering 1 to 1 consultancy.

This is, as they say, a “no-brainer” and is a great way to start your online “information empire”. It’s the only way to go…you know it makes sense!

Yes, there is a learning curve to getting online. But, it’s not that difficult. If I can do it, you can too! (I haven’t said that for a while).

Find a PLR product and get it online!

www.apd-marketing.co.uk/infoprods.html

This was a PLR eBook that I found, (paid very little for) re-hashed, added about an extra 30% and now sell online. Easy!

www.apd-marketing.co.uk/buildwebsite.htm

This one I got from Tom Hua’s excellent Ebook Wholesaler site. I haven’t changed one thing on this site or in this book, this is how the PLR package came. O.K, I know I need to make it unique, but I haven’t had time and it’s doing O.K.

Go to the new site and the free stuff page. If you don’t believe me download Armand Morin’s “An Obvious Truth” or just click this link. Armand is quite explicit about this. He re-enforces what I am saying here, so don’t just hear it from me…hear it from someone who has generated over $50 million worth of online sales.

Time to get tough on you…you have NO excuses. It’s true there is a lot of crap taught out there. And it is also true there is no such thing as a get rich quick scheme like some so called “Guru’s” would have you believe.

You have to make the effort and learn what you need to learn in order to suceed, Internet Marketing is a business like any other…which is where so many people fall down. They expect to read one $37 eBook and earn a million dollars – sorry.

But, if you are prepared to put in a little effort, learn how to do this, it’s not difficult, time yes, brain power…some required. I repeat…the online world is simply not partaking in this “alleged” recession. Whoops, I said the “R” word, not as bad as the “D” word though! If you haven’t been listening, Gordon Brown accidentally called the current recession “the depression”. Oh dear, Gordon. How not to rally the economy, he really has goofed big time with this one (unless he knows something he’s not telling of course).

I think that’s enough for this month. Please do explore the new site at www.apd-marketing.co.uk Let me if you find any “glitches”!

Also remember the new blog at www.apdinternetmarketing.blogspot.com

You can also now catch APD on YouTube under the name apdmarket and why not check out our HubPages at http://hubpages.com/profile/apd%20marketing - do give us the “thumbs up”!

Although, amusingly, Hub Pages haven’t quite worked out what APD is about yet…the Adwords ads on our home Hub are offering pictures of Anna Kournikova and bikini clad young ladies. I’m sure Google will work it out soon, but I did laugh when I noticed!

By the way, I hope you are paying attention to this new strategy I am implementing here! More of that very soon.

And finally…I was really hoping to have the new newsletter blog up and running. It’s coming along, but Lee and I simply bit off more than we could chew this month. You’d think at my age I would have learned, but hey…why not push yourself.

If you aim low and miss your goal, well, urghhh, what have you achieved?

However, if you shoot high and just miss chances are you will have achieved something very worthwhile.

With that thought I will wish you well. If you have any comments, please drop me a mail through the website.

As always…to *YOUR* success.

Cheers now…and have fun!

Derek

www.apd-marketing.co.uk

www.gain-money-and-power.com

www.write-for-riches.co.uk

If you feel anyone else would benefit from this information, please feel free to pass it on.

Hello and welcome to the November 2008 issue of the APD Newsletter.

I did say I wasn’t going to make comment on the financial markets and economic turmoil this month but I’m going to! I promise I won’t next month (unless something else outrageous happens)!

I have tried to avoid my old City chums this month to be honest, as the tales of woe are becoming a bit boring! But a few continue to call me with useful info, so I will very quickly tell you what I’ve learned as it is useful!

First up…Iceland. The Government knew in APRIL that Iceland was about to go bankrupt. How they could sit by and just let it happen without warning exposed consumers and businesses is absolutely beyond me.

In my opinion, this Government has made some serious gaffs, but that is the biggest of the lot…and it got very little publicity!

And what’s worse is that Gordon Brown has managed to spin the situation to make us think he’s the man to turn to in a crisis! God help us!

Secondly, I’ve had numerous calls telling me this is “the worst I’ve ever seen” in the markets.

I’m not only talking FTSE and Dow Jones type markets here, but also FX and Money Markets (and the like).

The Banks, despite the massive influx of Government funds are still unable to raise funds on the open market at reasonable interest rates. This is why, if you’re on a tracker mortgage, it’s doubtful yesterdays full rate cut will be passed on to you.

The Government may kick up a fuss about trying to get the Banks to pass on the cut and to lend more, but they have created a really juicy “Catch 22” with their actions.

You see the Government want to get the economy moving again so they want the Banks to lend at reasonable rates to get liquidity back into the economy. However, despite the capital injections (which just about saved the Banks) the Banks can still only raise money at 6-7% interest.

So, to make profits and pay back the Government they have to lend at high interest rates.

The rub for the Government is that if the Banks do as they wish and lend at low rates, they make massive losses and can’t pay back the taxpayers money.

What a wonderful Catch 22!

So, do the Government want the Banks to make profits and pay back to the public purse, or do they want them to essentially become “public servants” and help get the economy back on track by lending at a massive loss.

Oh…the irony of it all!

Now if we come back in to the real world what does this mean for the “man on the street”?

Well, I do remember telling you that this would be a mere ripple in the great scheme of things. Ummm…I might have been under selling the situation.

Neither I, nor my friends in the financial community realised the extent of the damage. It is now accepted the financial impropriety of the banks extends into the TRILLIONS!

I did say at the back end of 2007 we were in for a bumpy 2008. That was correct.

I am now predicting 2009 will be much worse! Globally!

This situation is now definitely more than a mere ripple.

If you have savings you will do well in the next 12 months, if you have debt you will not.

Inflation will melt away to be replaced with a degree of deflation. That means your savings will be worth relatively more (even without interest) but also in real terms any debt will become more in real terms.

House prices will continue to fall and by the end of 2009, they will be circa 33% below their peak.

The economy will shrink, by up to 3% - this is unheard of. There will be many bankruptcies and unemployment will rocket.

The services and banking sectors will contract violently. So will manufacturing, particularly areas such as cars and luxury goods (TV’s etc).

Credit will become even harder to come by.

In short, we are going into a very nasty recession that could easily tip into depression of the right decisions are not made at the top.

It is going to be the toughest year you have ever known. I was wrong about the ripple!

Whilst it’s still not a tsunami, it’s quite a big wave, but it could turn into the dreaded tsunami if world Governments are not very careful indeed.

Everyone I talk to, across all sectors are experiencing a severe slow down, 2009 is going to be pretty nasty – nothing and no-one is safe.

You have been warned, make sure you take precautions! I’m sorry I got this wrong, but…if the insiders didn’t know how bad it was what chance do you or I have?

On the bright side, whilst I expect the recession (that we ARE in) to be quite vicious, I do expect it to be over relatively quickly (12-18 months) provided all other things remain equal.

Enough of all that, let’s talk about how to make some money!!!

This month I’m going to talk about Pay Per Click marketing, a subject so vast and so complex…many people fail at this hurdle in their online business! Hopefully not you, and this month I’m going to give you some wise words on the subject of Google Adwords.

First up, if you want traffic quickly, Adwords is the way to get it. Free traffic takes time to build and is an ongoing process. Yes, free traffic builds over time and once you’ve done the ground work it keeps coming.

And, yes, PPC traffic is nebulous, you pay for it, it comes and mostly it goes again.

But, if you want traffic quickly, pay per click is the way to get it.

If you treat Big G right and play by their rules, it can be a real friend.

 However, treat Google bad, or in the wrong hands, it can become a money sucking monster that will quickly cripple your business.

When I first started out I spent £1,397 on Adwords in my first month and got…wait for it…3 (that’s THREE) sales. I sold £210 in products…so as you can see a whopping great loss.

It definitely pays to get good at Adwords.

The first major point you need to firmly ingrain in your brain is that Google’s sole reason for existing is search. Indeed, their sole reason for providing search is to provide the best search engine possible.

That means Google’s reason for existence is to provide totally RELEVANT search results VERY quickly – therefore remaining ahead of the competition and retaining their position as the search engine of choice.

Consequently Google places HUGE emphasis on relevancy of search results not only in the SERPS but also the paid results.

If you are not relevant, you will be slapped!

So, if you place the keyword “red shoes” in an ad group that advertises socks and directs to a landing page about socks, you will be slapped. You may argue the two items are “linked” but in Google’s eyes they are not totally relevant.

Now Google has changed its modus operandi recently. You used to get your
keywords disabled for search. Now, they simply tell you that you are not paying enough to get on the first page of search and tell you what outrageous rate you have to pay to get there.

This is Google “code” for “we don’t think you’re relevant”!

I did hear it called “Google’s Stupid Tax” made me laugh that! Stupid in who’s eyes??? Pardon me, we must respect Google…they will be spidering this :>)

So, when you create a set of keywords that are totally relevant to your ad and drop down to a totally relevant landing page, you will not see those $5 and $10 per click prices.

Here’s an example.

For example, you sell “dog grooming brushes”.

Your initial thought may be to bid on keywords like “pet” and “pet supplies.” Google considers these keywords as too general – not specific enough and therefore not relevant.

People looking for dog grooming brushes will not most likely search on the
keyword “pet supplies.” Think about it…would you?

The person looking for a dog grooming brush already knows what he or she wants.

You need to target your ad directly to the buyer. These sorts of keywords are often called “buying” keywords.

Do this and your conversion rates will increase. So, if you think about it, that’s as good a reason as any to be relevant.  It will also show Google you are relevant. This tends to translate into an increased click through rate (CTR) and a better quality score!

And of course, those two things mean a decrease in your cost per click. Not rocket science is it?

So, if you group and bid on keywords like “dog grooming supplies,” “dog grooming brushes,” and “dog grooming hair brushes”, you remain tightly focussed and relevant.

Each of these keyword phrases has one thing in common: the phrase “dog grooming.”

These are relevant. Make sure each keyword in each ad group has one common word or phrase.

You should always be looking out for new keywords and testing them.

Finding a list of converting keywords is an ongoing process!

You should use a keyword tool. You can use the keyword tool that’s in Google itself to generate new keywords on a regular basis. But don’t limit yourself to this tool when creating your keyword lists.

You can be as simple as using MS Word or other word processing program and enter some of your best keywords. Then use the built-in thesaurus. If your word processing program does not contain a thesaurus, go to www.thesaurus.com or any other online tool available.

This is a simple way to build a well targeted, original keyword list for
any successful PPC advertising campaign. The keyword tool in Google has recently been upgraded and does now offer much more functionality and information.

It is a good tool and of course the results come “straight from the horses mouth”!

You can find the Google Keyword Tool at the following link…

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

If you want to use a paid tool, in my opinion by far the best tool on the market is Keyword Spy. Using this tool allows you to build huge keyword lists in double quick time. And, what’s even better you can literally spy on your competition.

You can see their keywords, their ads and even see how much they’re paying.

If you’re serious about making money online you need this tool. It’s a little expensive, but it will pay for itself many times over very quickly.

Click below to have a look.

http://www.apd-marketing.co.uk/keywordspy.html

Next up you have to make sure your headline, body copy and display URL contain your keywords.

When someone performs a search, the keyword they searched for appears in bold, in the headline, body copy and web address. Ads with more bolded text stand out to the searcher, resulting in more clicks. Again, this is not rocket science but plain commonsense.

To take full advantage of this, you should try, wherever possible to have your keyword in the headline, ad copy and display URL. Sometimes it is just not possible without making your ads nonsensical or spammy, but generally the more often the better.

Again this helps you by driving more focused traffic to your site. Google will reward you for the higher CTR this brings with better quality score and giving you a higher position in the results for a lower cost. Your ad is shown more because you please the Google users because you provide exactly what they are looking for.

Again- The name of the game is relevancy – and Google will love you for it!
Finally, you should create a landing page for each root keyword you bid on.
One of the key “tricks” to getting higher relevancy and higher quality scores in Google’s mind is to drive traffic to highly relevant and specific landing pages.

Each keyword you bid on should be slightly altered so when someone clicks on your ad, they still see the same keyword or something very similar to it in the headline and in the body of your copy on your website.

To give you an example, if you search for “personal trainers in London.” If you then see an ad that says “Personal Trainers in London.” You will probably think “this is exactly what I want”. You click on the ad to go to the website.

The first thing you read on the web site is “3 Personal Trainers In London Reveal the Insider Secrets Of Special Fitness Programs That Can Easily Get You Fit And Looking Great In No Time At All.”

There is a pretty good chance this website gives you exactly what you are looking for. You are unfit, overweight and out of shape and you want a fix, and you just found someone local who can help you - now that’s relevancy at it’s best.

I guarantee you will have a high CTR, low CPC a Great quality score and loads of sales!

So, to finalise, just think relevancy from your ad groups through your keywords, into your actual ad and finally down to the landing page. Keep the root keyword common through the entire sales cycle and you can win the PPC game.

Hopefully you found that helpful. I’ll be back next month with…a bumper Christmas edition! I know, it just doesn’t seem possible does it? I haven’t shouted about it, but this is our second anniversary issue!

Yes, it’s true the APD newsletter is two years old today (well yesterday actually as I’m a day late this month). Why not have a dip into past issues, there’s loads of great info in them to help you in your quest for online profits!

Any questions, observations or comments drop me a line on the usual mail
derek@apd-marketing.co.uk

So, until next month, keep safe, keep positive and keep putting yourself out there.

Persistence is the only thing failure can’t live with!

As always…to *YOUR* success.

Cheers now…and have fun!

Derek

www.apd-marketing.co.uk

Build Your Own Website

267 Great Information Product Ideas

If you feel this information may be useful to anyone else, please feel free to pass it on

How Lucky Are You?

Hello again, and welcome to this month’s newsletter. Well, I can’t believe we are now
into September and it has suddenly become very noticeable that the nights are
drawing in. The football season is now well under way and it won’t be long before the
first frost arrives!

I love the autumn though. I wake up on a cold autumn morning and look in wonder at
the bright blue sky. I love the way the yellow, orange and red leaves contrast with the
sky’s blue, I love the way the low sun shines on the shimmering leaves. On mornings
such as this I genuinely think: “How lucky I am to be alive”!

So, how lucky are you? No, not just to be alive…but in life generally.

Whilst you know I like to ask tough questions, I reckon this is a tad easier! I’m
willing to bet you will have a good idea of how lucky you are. Where would you rate
yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the luckiest)?

I was going to talk about looking for product ideas this month, and amazingly (or
should I say luckily) I saw an article on the TV that brought these two subjects
together. Another lucky coincidence was that I’d read an old article from about four
years ago that connected the two subjects as well. So, I thought, as I’d been lucky, I’d
give you my take on this.

Now before I go into this in more detail, the need for product ideas is the one thing
that holds so many people back. It is something I get asked about constantly and it
appears to be an age-old problem. What to sell? How do I get ideas for products?

To be honest this doesn’t need to be a problem!

Anyway, back to the article I saw on TV. This is what happened.

A scientist was walking around Covent Garden with a copy of a magazine and he was
asking people to look through the magazine and count the pictures. He put them under
a time constraint and…if they got the right answer within the time allowed, the
“contestant” won a fiver.

So, people would rush off and count the pictures. Out of 14 people who took the trial
only two won the fiver. There were 77 pictures. OK, difficult to flick through a
magazine and count that many pictures in 60 seconds – very difficult indeed.

However, before he asked people to take this little test, he asked how lucky they were.

Here’s the amazing bit, the two people who thought they were the luckiest were the
two people who won the fiver.

And…even more amazingly, neither of them counted all of the pictures!

OK, I know you’re now thinking this was some sort of trick here…and it sort of was!
About ten pages in, on the left hand side, was a page that simply said in big bold black
letters on a plain white background: “Stop counting, there are 77 pictures”. As it
happens, neither of the winners saw this page (obviously none of the losers did
either).

However, just over half way through there was another page that said. “Stop counting,
tell the tester you’ve seen this page and you have won the £5”. The two “lucky”
people saw this page and claimed their fiver.

So, what’s the point?

Simply this. The scientist stated that there had been many studies conducted and it has
been “probably” proved that lucky people are simply more observant of their
surroundings and the opportunities presented to them.

Now this is a bit of an “ethereal” area, but this little experiment does sort of prove the
point.

I remember from the past an old saying that ”you make your own luck” and that luck
is simply “Labouring Under Correct Knowledge”…and this again, is “sort” of true.

So, if you’re looking for products to sell and build your business with…how
observant (lucky) are you?

How often do you go to forums on-line and look for problems people are
experiencing? A problem solved is a profitable product!

How often do you read about problems in the paper and think about how to solve it? Do you read the business pages to see what is going on?

How often do you get frustrated with a product and say “if only it did this or that”? How often do you wish for a certain service or product?

What are your areas of expertise and what problems are you able to solve? Are these
problems lots of other people have as well? All you need to do to find a forum is go
on to Google and type forum + subject. Read the forums, most of them have an FAQ
section, could this be made into a product? Go try!

There are forums on every topic under the sun and there is sure to be at least one in
your area of either interest or expertise, so see what people are saying there. What can
you deliver to the members in return for profit? It’s certainly easier to build a product
if it’s a subject you know intimately.

So, another difficult question for you…how often do you think you have passed a
product idea by during your lifetime? Ouch! That one hurt. Indeed, it hurt me when I
re-read that old article I mentioned earlier.

I totally missed the relevance of this first time round, but…it referred to the first series
of Dragon’s Den. I’ve dipped into the program occasionally, but the point is this.
Dragon’s Den is full of people presenting business ideas to a panel of wealthy
entrepreneurs each week. What better way to fill your head with product ideas?

I have to admit I can’t believe this one actually passed me by! Each week most of the
presentations get rejected, but…a different slant, an enhancement, a more efficient
version, a version for a different market? I’ve just watched it for pure entertainment,
when I could have been trawling it for profitable product ideas – derrr!

So, how about another slant? What about when you go abroad for your holidays?
Three years ago in Vancouver I saw this amazing gadget that throws a ball for a dog
to chase. It’s a sort of sling that launches the ball a very long way and also picks up
the ball. This means that the dog gets great exercise and the owner doesn’t have to
pick up the ball covered in nasty saliva with their hands.

Guess what? I’ve started to see them over here now. I must admit, I thought it was a
good idea when I first saw it. However, someone saw the thing, thought it was a good
idea and DID something with it and imported the product into the UK. I expect that
person is doing rather well.

There are just so many ideas and products out there just waiting for YOU.

So, why do so many people seem to have this “shell” around them that stops them
“seeing” these things?

I’m not sure, maybe it’s the pace of life these days, but…I have decided that I should take more time over things and just generally, look at things much more carefully. I think this will prove to be a very good discipline regardless, but I’m sure if I persist I will generate some great new ideas for products and / or services.

Maybe I might just get lucky! Maybe you might too!

One thing is for sure, you can sell pretty much anything over the internet these days.
The cost of building a web site is coming down day by day as are all the other costs
involved, particularly eCommerce solutions.

So…you have no excuse for not getting out there and building your own success.
Ideas are simply everywhere, you just have to cultivate the right mindset to be able to
“see” all of that opportunity.

On a totally different subject, following on from my note to you about Adwords
Excellence, I’ve spoken to Stewart at AE today and had a look at the number of
people who took up my referral. It’s really low! I can’t believe that! Did you not look
at it properly??

If you want to make a success of marketing on-line learning how to get the best from
Google Adwords is absolutely essential. I guarantee, if you don’t get your Adwords
campaigns right, you will lose money. Stewart is the undisputed king of Adwords in
the UK.

I cannot recommend this service highly enough and, still, for just a short time longer,
you can sign up FREE. Yes, for no cost. You CAN learn everything you need to
become successful with Adwords for no cost to yourself. If you are serious about
marketing online you just cannot afford to turn this chance down.
So, once again, here is the link…

Editors Note 2009 - sadly the AWE service left the internet in late 2008. A sad loss!

Without wishing to be rude…do yourself a favour and get into this.

So, with autumn nearly upon us and the winter months to follow, this is the ideal time
to spend those dark winter nights getting lucky. Open your eyes to the possibilities
and come next spring I reckon you could be on the path to freedom. What a great
word – freedom.

I’ll be launching further products to help you achieve just that in September. The
Total Control system is now ready and the website is being developed. This will help
you unlock the secrets of how the money power giants do what they do (make buckets
of money).

And I have a referral to an incredible product for you in the next few days. This one
will come with products ready made in it, so you won’t even have to worry about
finding or developing the products! How easy do you want this??

On that positive note, I shall bid you farewell. Any questions, comments or just plain
insults, please feel free to email me, and I’ll try and get back to you as soon as I can.

As always…to *YOUR* success

Cheers now and…have fun.

Derek

Internet Marketing from APD

How To Find Great information Product Ideas