You need to get the attention of a powerful internet marketer, A-list blogger, or busy CEO.

Maybe you’ve got a brilliant idea for a joint venture that would make you both scads of money.

Or maybe you just wrote a brilliant guest post that a certain top blogger’s audience will love.

Whoever it is, you’re convinced you’ve got a win for this person.

Unfortunately, the big shot you’re pitching won’t answer your emails.

It’s not because she’s evil, honest. She’s just got a lot of other pitches in her mailbox, and there’s no way to give all of them her full attention.

Your mission is to get yours to the top of her list. Here’s how.

So how do you get prominent people to pay attention to you?

Obviously, the most sure-fire way is to know the hotshot personally. If you didn’t happen to go to grade school with your famous person of choice, you can still make a connection.

You can go a long way just by being consistently sincere and helpful to her and her friends. Social media tools come in handy here.

That takes time, though. When you don’t have time, follow these six steps instead.

1. Open with compelling subject line

Your reader likely gets hundreds of emails each day. Make yours stand out — not with all caps or lots of exclamation points, but by condensing the best points of your offer to create a sense of urgency.

WEAK:

An invitation for you

STRONG:

Paid speaking opportunity, no travel required (deadline approaching)

2. Introduce yourself in one sentence

Your reader doesn’t care about you (yet). Don’t blather on and on about your accomplishments or your history.

Introduce yourself in one sentence. Include a link to your site, so if your hotshot wants to know more, she can investigate.

3. Do your homework

What sorts of offers has this person accepted in the past? What kinds of propositions is she interested in, and what sorts of incentives does she need to say yes?

If you find that your big shot agreed to a $6000 fee for a three-day conference, offering $2000 for 90 minutes of her time on the phone makes for an irresistable offer.

4. Keep it short

State your offer clearly in one paragraph.

Not a long run-on paragraph either. Six sentences, tops.

5. Be bold, not precise

Your goal for this email is to get this person interested. Too much detail at this point wastes your reader’s time and attention. (But do include the one or two details that will capture that attention.)

You’ll get 51% of the registration fees from the people who click on your affiliate link, unless they click on someone else’s affiliate link after they click on yours, or unless they clear their cookies or buy from a different computer or switch browsers. Or unless the cookie volcano erupts.

Way too complicated. Instead, stick with:

You’ll get 51% of the profits from everyone you refer ($212 per sale).

Keep it bold and simple.

6. Don’t squee all over your shoes.

Acting like a rabid fan won’t win you any points; it will get your proposal taken a lot less seriously.

Don’t go on and on about how you’ve read all this person’s books and that you stood in line for hours at a convention once to meet her and does she by any chance remember the woman with the mauve hair carrying a bunch of asparagus because that was you.

Act like a peer with a good proposal, and you’ll find you’ll get replied to like one.

It’s fine to mention that you like the person’s work. But too much gushing and your email is going to wind up with all the other fan mail — not in the “A” folder of messages that need a quick response.

No one can guarantee you’ll capture that busy big shot’s attention. But follow these six steps and you’ll stack the odds in your favor.

About the Author: Pace Smith is the co-leader of the Freak Revolution, a bunch of weirdos who do awesome stuff. Her latest project is the World-Changing Writing Workshop, featuring six famous writers who replied to her email.

If you read Copyblogger and dream of striking out on your own, you need to know that independent business isn’t always good. Bad things do happen.

For instance, I’m writing this in a bookstore cafe. Two tables down from me, there’s a guy with his headphones on belting out “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon. (You’re an old person in the blogosphere if you know who Carly Simon is. Hint: She’s kind of like the Jonas Brothers, except she’s female and not like them in any way whatsoever.)

See, people think that being an entrepreneur means freedom and independence, but nobody stops to consider the perils of the Singing Cafe Guy.

So be careful what you learn around these parts, or you could end up where I am. Now don your earplugs and take cover, because here’s what happened this week on Copyblogger:

Monday:

4 Things an Ethical Internet Marketer Can Learn from Spammers

In this post about things that non-spammers can learn from spammy tactics, Daniel Scocco missed at least one technique that successful spammers use to make sales: innuendo mixed with crime reports. I once got a spam email for some “adult services” that ended with this disturbing signoff:

Mwah XOXO always
:”‘~diana~’”:.
Police: Man hunted in family slayings kills self

I didn’t join up (despite promises that “i setup a private entry for you with my contact info for tonight”), but I did write about it on my blog. That has to count for something.

Any post that has to start with a disclaimer is a good one in my book, and Daniel’s does. We’re not spammers… okay, fine. But if we can think like spammers just a little bit, we can probably improve our conversion even if we’re not selling Viagra.

Mwah XOXO always
:”‘~johnny~’”:.

Read the full post here.

Tuesday:

The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

So it wasn’t yet 11am on Tuesday when Stephen Covey called me all angry and yelling about Annabel Candy’s post title on Copyblogger, and how he wanted remuneration for use of his “X Habits of Highly Effective Ys” format.

So I told him, “Stephen, I’m not in charge of Copyblogger. And plus, it’s fair use. And plus, how did you get my phone number?” That’s when the giant talking Lambchop puppet appeared and I realized I was dreaming, and then woke up in a bin of dead fish once again.

Now that Covey is contained (oh yes – we’ve dealt with him), you definitely need to check out this post so that you can learn how to be Highly Effective. Annabel lists eight things that successful bloggers have in common… so that you can cut to the chase instead of getting lost in the minutia of what they do differently.

Read the full post here.

Wednesday:

Copywriting 3.0: How to Bounce the Fat Kid off the See-Saw

My job in writing this wrapup is to give you just enough of a tease about each post so that you’ll want to click through and read the whole thing. I can hint at interesting content, promise free tacos, or (my favorite) use “the WTF technique” — writing something that makes you say, “WTF? Better go check that out.”

Well, I kind of don’t have to say anything on this one, because Erika Napoletano has written the ultimate “WTF” headline.

It suffices to say that playground obesity and dismounting antics do, in fact, have a lot to do with copywriting. And it also suffices to say that Erika has five hot tips for how to unseat overweight children with linguistic jiu-jitsu.

Let’s face it. With that headline, there’s no way you’re not going to read the full post.

Thursday:

Online Business Disaster: Where to Go When the Volcano Blows

Leave it to Sonia Simone to find a way to reference both Jimmy Buffett and an Icelandic volcano (the one named when a cat ran across a keyboard) in a post about online business.

But for real — where are you going to go when the metaphorical volcano in your business blows? What are you going to do when something really crappy happens, like a big client disappearing, a server crashing, or Journey reuniting for a comeback tour?

Do you have contingencies? Do you have enough hairspray?

Sonia has ideas for surviving eruptions in style. I need to implement some of them for myself, actually.

Read the full post here.

Friday:

How to Get Free When You’re Feeling Stuck and Scared

I relate so strongly to this post by Julie Roads that I’m not even going to make a joke about it. I spent two years scared out of my mind, and the problem is you can’t see the forest for the trees. My dad says, “You can’t see out of panic when you’re down inside of it.”

So yeah, no matter what’s going wrong (particularly if it’s in your biz), you could probably use some coping skills. And that’s where this post comes in, so read it.

Okay, maybe one joke.

Q: What’s brown and sticky?
A: A stick.

Now go on and learn about frightened little birds.

About the Author: Johnny B. Truant is one of the creators of “Question the Rules: The nonconformist’s punk rock, DIY, nuts-and-bolts guide to creating the business and life you really want, starting with what you already have” — an awesome new course which will launch this coming Wednesday, April 28th.

First things first: We hate spam. And we hate spammers. Maybe even more than you do.

So this article isn’t about endorsing spam in any way, or suggesting that you do anything unethical.

But as much as we hate spam and wish it didn’t exist, we can’t deny one fact.

Spammers make a killing online.

Just to give you an idea, last year a Russian investigation found a network of spammers selling fake goods and fake pills online. Each spammer was making, on average, $4,600 per day.

Sure, the spammers use the “law of large numbers” to achieve these results. But you also need marketing savvy to make more than $1.5 million a year selling fake stuff to people who would rather shoot themselves in the left foot than listen to you.

When I started looking more closely at their tactics, I found some valuable lessons any marketer should know.

1. Go where the fish are

What is the most important factor you need to have if you want to go fishing?

Most people will say the fishing rod. Others will say the bait, or a boat. Interestingly enough, they are all wrong.

The most important element of the equation is the presence of lots of fish.

If you have a lake full of fish but don’t have a fishing rod or bait, you can probably still improvise something that would let you enjoy a fish dinner tonight.

But no matter how great your bait or how cutting-edge your equipment, if there aren’t any fish, there’s no fish dinner.

Spammers know this, and they always focus their efforts on the niches with the largest number of fish. That means they always target known customers willing to spend money. Examples include health-related niches, luxury goods, anti-virus software, and, of course, men who want access to certain prescription medicines without getting into embarrassing conversations with their doctors.

Lesson learned: If you target a niche that’s too obscure, you’ll have a hard time making money even if your product and marketing are outstanding. If you target a large and profitable market, of course you’ll face more competition. But it’s a lot easier to improve your product and marketing than it is to manufacture buying customers out of thin air.

2. The money is in the list

Email is the most direct type of communication we have. That’s why spammers love it so much. It allows them to display their messages right in the face of their victims.

Now, if creepy, bottom-dwelling spammers get a conversion rate high enough to keep them in business, imagine what kind of results you can get with:

• A legitimate, permission-based list of people who want to hear from you,
• Terrific content that benefits the reader, and
• Smart, respectful promotion of excellent products and services?

Lesson learned: If you are not building your email list, you are almost certainly leaving a lot of money on the table. Blogs, social networking, and various kinds of advertising are all useful tools. But email is still the “killer app” for building relationships with your prospects and clients.

3. Copywriting, copywriting, copywriting

Ever wondered how scammers manage to convince people to buy fake products?

It comes down to one word: copywriting.

Spammers may not always write the most poetic English. But they do use solid, time-tested copywriting techniques. If you master the essentials of copywriting yourself, you’d be able to sell crappy products to a fair number of people. (Not that we recommend that.)

But because you have a quality product or service and a great reputation, you’ll be able to sell it to lots and lots of people. Who will, in turn, tell their friends about how terrific you are.

There are lots of places you can get solid copywriting advice, including:

• The Copywriting 101 series on Copyblogger (free)
• Copyblogger’s Internet Marketing for Smart People newsletter (free)
• Read classic books on copywriting (inexpensive)
• Take a paid copywriting course — one that focuses on persuasive writing that sells rather than beautiful or “creative” writing (can be expensive, but if you’re a serious marketer, it’s worth it)

Lesson learned: Copywriting matters just as much as having a quality product or service. In some situations it matters even more. Never shortchange the attention and care you give to your copywriting.

4. Scale matters

Do you know how many emails a spammer needs to send out to get one sale? More than a million.

That’s right, their conversion rates are usually lower than 0.0001%.

So how can they make those thousands of dollars per day in profits? By sending out millions and millions of messages.

Obviously we are not saying you should start spamming people like there is no tomorrow. What you need to keep in mind, however, is that even great conversion rates are still pretty low in the scheme of things.

If you were able to convert 5 or 6% of your list to becoming paying customers, you’d be doing a fantastic job. Which means 95% of your list won’t ever spend a dime with you.

In fact, for many marketers, a conversion rate of 1% is doing quite well. That means if you have 1,000 subscribers on your email list and you send them an email talking about your latest product, you’re doing well if 10 people buy it.

Lesson learned: Numbers aren’t the only thing, but they do matter. If your main income source is your website, learn how to get as much traffic as possible. If your main income source is your email list, learn how to get as many subscribers as possible.

How to do that? Keep following blogs like this one and putting their advice into action.

About the Author: Daniel Scocco is the owner of Daily Blog Tips. He is also the author of the “Make Money Blogging” ebook, which you can download for free by signing up for his newsletter here.

Enjoy this Guest Post by Lexi Rodrigo!
Follow Lexi on Twitter @LexiRodrigo

Freelancing: A New Income Stream
for Internet Marketers

Are you an Internet marketer who’s still waiting for your online business to produce a full-time income? If so, you’ll be happy to know that you’re sitting on a gold mine just waiting to be tapped.

That gold mine is you: your knowledge and expertise in Internet marketing. If you’re like most Internet marketers, you’ve invested thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to learn the nuts and bolts of online marketing.

You may not realize it, but you’ve got plenty of skills and experience that other people would willingly pay you money for…

Freelancing or offering your services to other entrepreneurs can bring you immediate cash flow. You may soon find your freelancing to be out-earning your Internet marketing activities.

Is the Opportunity for Online Freelance Work Really There?

Lynn Terry has predicted here that “2010 is going to see a huge need for consultants and service providers to bring small businesses online so that they can engage with their customers.”

Frank Kern makes a similar prediction in his “State of Internet Marketing Address” (you can watch it here). In fact, guess who’s providing his online marketing services? That’s right, no other than Frank himself, to the tune of $200,000 a pop.

Many marketers have seen the opportunities years ago and have developed training courses to help you tap into the offline market. So the opportunity definitely exists.

What Do You Have to Offer?

Many of the skills you take for granted as an online marketer are valuable to offline businesses. Some examples:

Blog/site installation

Have you set up half a dozen websites or WordPress blogs for your niche marketing? Then you have enough experience to do the same for somebody else.

Very few entrepreneurs know how to do this, or how to do it properly. And many pay thousands of dollars to website creation companies only to end up with static HTML sites that totally suck. Save them from these guys, please. Go build them a nice, traffic-generating, lead-building site and get paid for it at the same time.

Content creation

Do you love writing blog posts, articles, special reports and ebooks? Then you’re a special breed. The majority of people struggle with writing. They have emotional blocks that keep them from writing. And even if they could overcome those and actually write, it would take them forever.

If you’re a writing whiz, you can easily make money doing what you love. Offer to build a blog for a business and then earn recurring income by writing blog posts for them indefinitely.

Now are you seeing how profitable this can be?

Search engine optimization

If you’ve been reading Clicknewz regularly, you know enough to get a web page to rank in the Top 3 of Google – without resorting to expensive software, SEO services or blackhat tactics. This is another skill that traditional Internet companies do for thousands of dollars. Now it’s your turn to cash in on this market.

Social media marketing

Do you live, eat and breathe Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? Then you know how to set up a profile, build a network, and attract traffic and leads from social networking sites. That’s another valuable skill you can offer to other businesses. (And all this time you thought you were only having fun!)

Email marketing

If you know the ins and outs of autoresponders, broadcast messages, lead generation and writing emails that get read and clicked through – boy, you are pure gold!

Email marketing can be very lucrative to a business and you’re the one to help them make it work. What’s great about providing this service is that it brings recurring income. For example, get clients to join Aweber through you affiliate link, or resell another email service. And then offer a 52-week package of autoresponder messages.

These are only a few of the Internet marketing services you can provide. There are so many more; just look at what you’re doing now in your online business: affiliate marketing, video marketing, conducting webinars, creating podcasts, running Google Adwords campaigns….

Who Would Be Interested in Hiring You For Online Freelance Work?

Now let’s take a look at who might be interested in your services. Here are a few markets who need and crave your online marketing expertise:

Brick & mortar businesses in your city/town

More and more offline businesses are realizing the power of the Internet to boost their profits. Small businesses in your community who are already spending advertising dollars are good prospects for your services.

Business to business companies

These companies have huge resources to hire service providers. They also need an effective online presence, as well as reliable lead generation strategies.

Non-profit organizations

Larger non-profits know you need to spend money in order to make money, so they’re willing to pay for service providers. They’re also increasingly aware of the power of the Internet, particularly social networks, to raise awareness about certain issues and generate funds for their activities.

Subject experts: authors, speakers and coaches

These are people who have written books and taught others. They’re well-known in their field… but probably not making a lot of money for it. They want to harness the Internet, possibly create their own digital products and Interactive Learning Environments to leverage their time and expertise. But they have neither the skills nor inclination to learn Internet marketing. That’s why you’re there for them.

Getting Started

Are you excited yet? If you’d like to give freelancing a try, then begin by answering these questions:

• What do I want to offer?
• Which online marketing activities do you enjoy doing and are good at?
• To whom?
• Who’s your Ideal Client, where is he/she and what online marketing services does he/she want?
• For how much?
• How much is your time and effort worth, and how much is your Ideal Client willing to pay?
• When?
• How much time do you want to allocate to freelancing and when will you start?

Answering these questions will help you create a rough plan for your freelancing biz, one you can refine as you go along. The next step will be to start promoting your services.

Let’s Hear From You!

I’d love to hear what you think about freelancing as an alternate income stream for Internet marketers. Is this an opportunity you’re willing to grab?

If you’ve been freelancing on the side while running an online biz, do share what the experience has been like for you.

—– Copywriter and online marketing consultant Lexi Rodrigo created TheSavvyFreelancer.com to help freelancers achieve creative and financial freedom. She is also the author of The Savvy Freelancer’s Website Secrets: How to Create a Client Magnet Online, a guide to creating an online presence that helps clients know, like and trust you.

Hello once again. This is Scott Tousignant here to wrap up my five post series on home office fitness and how it will have a positive impact on your Internet Marketing business.

If you missed any of the previous posts during my blog tour please take a moment to check them out…
Desk Exercises
Increase Productivity
Networking Opportunities
Success Principles.

Today is ‘Black Friday‘ a term used to represent the time of year when many retail businesses get out of the red (losing money) and into the black (turning a profit). So my question to you is, “Are you in the black?”

If you are among the group of Internet Marketers that are making a profit with your online business… congratulations! It sure is great to see all the hard work pay off. But are you really “In the black?” In order to achieve online success have you sacrificed your health and precious time with your family that you’ll never get back?

If you don’t have your health and you aren’t sharing in memorable moments with your loved ones are you truly wealthy? Are you truly making a profit? My answer is, “Absolutely not!” I’d actually go as far as saying you are in debt because you are taking away from the life that you deserve.

I used that picture of my family and I with Mickey Mouse for a reason. Sure you’ve seen my abs in some of the pictures this week and you’ve even had a look at my wife Angie’s abs too. And you may know that I’m a successful Internet Marketer. But abs and money do not define who I am.

The picture above says more about me than any shot of me without my shirt. I’m a loving and caring father who loves to read books with his kids. I enjoy running around the yard and letting them tackle me. I’m a supporting husband who loves nothing more than waking up before the sunrise and sipping coffee with his wife on the deck and listening to the birds. I enjoy the silence. I love who I was, who I am, and who I’m about to become.

I know that I am “In the black” because I have balance in my life. I can look my kids in the eyes and know that I’m giving them every ounce of me that I possibly can. I run around, climb a mountain, and swim in the ocean because I am full of energy and vibrant health.

I was caught in the trap of working endless hours and making sacrifices that were never worth it. I think it happens to most of us. The funny thing is, my wife would always tell me, “Scott, you’re trying to hard. You’re forcing it. You’re out of balance. Try taking the time to relax and spend time with your family… success will come.”

I always knew she was right. It’s what I had been taught for years. But I just didn’t want to listen. I thought that this was different. I knew that in some cases you had to make sacrifices in order to achieve success, but I was making the wrong sacrifices.

The moment that I took my focus off of money and defined success for what I truly knew it to be in my heart, it happened. I had more time with my family. I had more time to enjoy life. I had more time to go for a walk. I was busy, but busy doing the wrong things and definitely not doing the most productive tasks. It didn’t all happen over night. But it happened and I was happy… really happy.

It’s time to get serious and make the positive changes that you’ve been putting off. I sure hope that my posts this week have provided you with some inspiration to take those first steps. It’s easier than you think. The time demands are minimal. In fact, here’s some great ideas to help you easily incorporate home office fitness into your workday…

Fitness and Business Combo

I listen to a fair amount of podcasts, teleseminars, and webinars throughout the week and that can be a lot of butt time if you’re just sitting at your computer soaking in the information. These are the most ideal times to combine fitness with business. As you can see in the video above I either ride my stationary bike, perform some basic cardio movements, or do some exercises on the stability ball while I’m listening to the webinars or calls. I’m burning calories, boosting my energy, getting oxygen flowing to my brain, and learning at the same time.

Another thing that I do is wait for the recording of the podcast or teleseminar to be available and I pop it into my mp3 player and go for a walk. Because the podcasts can run 45-60 minutes my walks end up being longer than I had been anticipating, but that’s ok because I was going to listen to the audio anyway and I would have just been sitting down otherwise.

I mentioned yesterday that I had another FREE Report to share with you today. It’s called the Fat Loss Quickie Motivation Report

This free report is more like a free book. Actually I sold it for $47 for two years and sold a lot of copies of it. Now, I just want this information in as many people’s hands as possible. If you have been sabotaging yourself and lacking the motivation to follow through with fitness, this free report will be of tremendous help to you. I do hope that you enjoy it.

Before I wrap up this post and this series I would like to address those of you who are spending more on your online business than you are bringing in. You are definitely in the right place. I don’t know of many other free resources out there that offer so much incredible information to help you get “In the black” and go from start to profit than Lynn Terry’s Clicknewz blog and her Self Starters Weekly Tips webinars. I’ve also never been a part of a better paid community for Internet Marketers than Lynn’s Elite Members Community. Like I said, you are definitely in the right place.

I look forward to seeing each of you achieve the success that you deserve in fitness, business, and life.

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

PS If you have enjoyed the home office fitness tips that I’ve shared with you this week and would like to experience to full impact of how it can transform your fitness, business, and life… I would be honored to have you among our outstanding group of super-achievers in the Fat Loss Quickie program.

Keep the momentum rolling. This is just the beginning of your journey.

Hello again. I’m Lynn’s friend and fellow Internet Marketer Scott Tousignant. This week I am enjoying my role as guest blogger here at Clicknewz and introducing you to the positive impact that home office fitness will have on your business.

I sure enjoyed all your comments on yesterday’s blog post where I shared some simple desk exercises with you. Remember, I’m randomly selecting a winner from all the comments on my blog posts this week.

Yesterday I mentioned that corporations have been adopting workplace fitness as a means of increasing productivity with their employees. Today we are going to explore the topic of productivity in more detail and help you get more of it during your workday…

I know that this is a question which has come up at Clicknewz in the past, but it’s worth asking again. How many hours do you spend working on your online business? Next question… How many of those hours are spent being productive?

It’s important to work hard and pay your dues in order to get your online business turning a profit. But spending 12-16 hours sitting in front of your computer may not be the most useful way to spend your time. You may be busy, but you are not being completely productive.

Have you ever found yourself staring at the computer screen for an hour trying to write a blog post, free report, or sales copy and not get anything done at all? Read the rest of this entry

Hi there, my name is Scott Tousignant, friend of Lynn Terry and your guest blogger here at Clicknewz for the next five days. I’ll be helping you adopt a new healthy approach to Internet Marketing and guiding you along the way of transforming your business, fitness, and life.

To encourage you to participate in this process I am going to randomly select a winner from the comments shared on my posts this week. The winner will receive my Fat Loss Quickie home office fitness program and all the bonuses that come with it. So don’t be shy with your comments

During the journey of bringing your online business ideas from start to profit it can become all too easy to focus exclusively on business while putting your fitness and life on hold. Have you caught yourself thinking, “Once I complete this project and get some money rolling in I’ll have more time to spend with my family and begin a fitness program.”

How has this way of thinking affected your health and relationships with your family members? Have you gained a bit of weight? Is your partner beginning to feel distant from you? Are your kids upset that they only get to see the back of your head while you sit at the computer?

Focusing solely on your business can cause a great deal of stress on you mentally and physically, doing more harm than good toward your online success.

Astonishing as it may sound, your level of fitness plays a much bigger role in your business than you ever imagined. Your health truly is the #1 asset in your online business. You can’t afford not to take care of it.

Internet Marketers are a unique breed and as an Internet Marketer you deserve a unique fitness approach that suits your lifestyle. Today I’m going to show you how easy it is to incorporate fitness into your workday starting with these simple desk exercises that you can perform as often as possible throughout your workday.

Home Office Fitness Tips

Did you have to go into the attic, closet, or kids play area to pull out the stability ball you purchased ages ago and swore that you were going to use? If you don’t already have a stability ball I highly recommend that you get yourself one. They are inexpensive and incredibly versatile in what you can do with them. You can pick one up at WalMart for just over $10 or find one at Amazon as well.

You may still be thinking to yourself, “What exactly does fitness have to do with business?” To answer this question all that you have to do is take a look at what BIG business and corporations are doing. Pick up a newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch your local news and chances are that you’ll hear about the measures corporations are taking to improve the health of their workforce. Everyday my Google Alerts are filled with articles about corporations placing more focus on workplace fitness.

It would be nice to think that they are doing this out of the kindness of their hearts and that they truly care about your well-being, (Some corporations may feel this way.) But the bottom line is… it’s all about PROFIT!

Corporations are looking to do everything that they can to lower their expenses and increase revenue. Adopting a workplace fitness program is one of the few things that can do both. The #1 reason that many corporations are taking great initiative to get their employees more active is to reduce their health care costs, which is a huge expense. Other reasons are; reducing absenteeism, sick days, stress, and lost productivity.

The great news is that a significant number of corporations have been reporting positive feedback about the impact that workplace fitness having on reducing their expenses.

Workplace fitness can have an even greater impact on increasing the revenue of these businesses through increased productivity, focus, energy, improving quality of work, time management, mood, and creativity, just to name a few.

When you have a workforce that can get more done in less time, rarely call in sick and are happy, confident, and proud… your business is going to succeed.

Even in these tough economic times corporations have been pouring more money into workplace fitness because they are recognizing the impact that it has on their business and profits.

But you are a home business and don’t have any employees, what does this have to do with you?

Everything! You are the president, CEO, manager, and employee of your business. If you’re sick, depressed, have low energy levels, can’t focus and easily get distracted, you are costing your online business money. Yet if you make simple changes to embrace home office fitness and incorporate it into your workday you can expect to see the same positive impacts that corporations see in increased revenue and profits.

This isn’t a huge monumental task. You don’t need to spend hours at the gym each week and you don’t need to starve yourself or follow some crazy diet plan. Like I said, as an Internet Marketer you are incredible and unique and you deserve an approach that suits your lifestyle and is easier to stick with for the long term.

Over the course of the next 5 days I’ll be demonstrating some fast and fun ways for you to incorporate home office fitness into your workday. I challenge you to follow along and report the impact that it has on your online business. I know that you can do it, especially with the support of the amazing community that Lynn has built here.

With this being Thanksgiving week and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season here, there is no better time to adopt a more active and healthy lifestyle. Take charge of your health and create the quality of life that you deserve. This isn’t something that you want to put off until tomorrow. Start today!

You ROCK!

Scott Tousignant

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Murray Newlands is an internet marketing veteran, a “green affiliate”, he runs his own affiliate network… and he is also known for conducting some of the best interviews on the net at his (new’ish) blog.

He recently published an interview with me, and I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions as well.

You may recognize Murray as a speaker at IzeaFest, or you may have seen him at any number of recent industry events. In this post, I’ll give you more of an inside look into Murray Newlands, and his history with marketing on the web…

Reading your bio, I saw that you were a lawyer up until the late 90’s when you transitioned into a full-time internet marketer.

Can you tell us what precipitated that transition, and why you chose such a dramatic career shift?

Well when you are 17 you choose what you are going to study at university in the UK you really do not know much about the other end. I qualified as a lawyer and I was on the National Committee for your solicitors and doing well but I did not like it.

I knew I wanted a change. My girlfriend at the time was a designer with a full time job and doing some freelance work. I took some time off work sold some design work and before you know it we had an agency.

How did this change your lifestyle? Dramatically, I imagine – for example, I noticed that you travel the world…

Well it has been quite a ride but a few years ago now I was lucky enough to work for the UK office of a US company and they kept bringing me to the US so that when I move on I kept my business contacts and things have developed from there.

You have a wide range of online business experience, and currently run your own affiliate network. Give us an inside look at what you do online, and what you offer.

For me online marketing is all about the people. From people flow great advertsing offers and great relationships with affiliates. Good advertisers and affiliates have a choose as to who they work with and they only work with people they want to. Most of what I do is finding out how to help people and then doing it. Who wants what leads or sale and who has traffic and needs offers.

I noticed that you just started blogging this year. In another interview you mentioned that you wish you had started blogging earlier.

Given this is your first year as a “blogger”, what would you advise others who are just now setting up their first blog?

Yup I started my Marketing Blog this year. Finding some good bloggers to give you advice and learn from them about how to succeed. The things I have learned the hard way that could have got my blog going so much faster but you live and learn.

Do learn about SEO and do get some blogging buddies.

Your blog content is great, by the way! Has blogging become a big part of your online marketing & exposure strategy?

My blog has become a big part of my online and offline exposure. I interview people on my blog and it has been a great way for me to reach out and connect with people who I would otherwise have never meat, both online and offline. I am running my first offline Blogging event in New York next week and I am very excited about that.

Prior to starting your blog, how did you market yourself online? What were/are your favorite marketing strategies?

Prior to blogging I used more forums and facebook a bit but looking back I did not really get online marketing in the same way. The thing I love about having my own blog is that I can make it what I want.

I’ve been around since the late 90’s as well, with a variety of online business models. I’d love to hear your take on how Social Media has changed the internet marketing space…

Social Media has brought consumers a voice which they did not have in the same way before and they have learned to use it to vocalize and mobilize discontent as well as delight. Social Media has in Obama’s case changed governments. If it can do that what can it do for your sales?

Marketers have learned that there are social media influencers many of whom are bloggers that can lead this conversation and blogger outreach programs are increasingly popular.

In a recent presentation at Izeafest, you shared a message on the current landscape titled “Content is Dead, Conversation is King”.

What top 3 ways would you recommend that people engage with their target market, or get involved in the conversations in their niche?

Top 3 hum…

-SEO is still a great way to engage people in your niche, by writing about topics your audience are searching for and having your good content found you can engage.

-Going to events and meeting people face to face and ask them about your niche and get their opinions, people like to be in a conversation where they talk.

-I have to say the T word Twitter, search for conversations on your chosen topics and engage in those conversations.

-I would also have to add blogging outreach. Find blogs in your niche and make constructive comments.

Networking seems to be key for you. I like how you seek out relationships, and look for opportunities to get fully engaged.

For those that cannot travel, what would you recommend as the best ways to meet and network online with others in their industry?

Simple. Find the people who do travel connect, and influence others and connect with them. Find their blogs and comment, friend them on facebook and comment on their status and twitter with them, converse online. It does take longer but I have many friends I converse with online. If you know people who do travel to events and connect online ask for introductions.

If you were consulting with an aspiring affiliate marketer, what advice would you give them for the start-up phase?

People thing then they are starting a business they will make money from the start, if often takes money and time to get going. Think about all those things you are good at and how much you have learned to get you there.

Find someone good to teach you and listen to them. It takes time and hard work, keep going. At the same time you have to bring your own thing to it to make it unique special different and successful.

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Thanks, Murray – it was a pleasure getting to know you!

Visit Murray on the web at www.MurrayNewlands.com

Best,