I Fly to Detroit & Big Mouth is At it Again ;)

So, I flew to Detroit for a seminar this weekend and while I was gone, Andre was at it again. He has blown the lid on the new extras I've added to help anyone who plans to buy Frank Kern's and Ed Dale's Underachiever Mastery System on Sunday. He's posting it on forums (bless him for being supportive)...but I want you to know about it too, instead of all these complete strangers on message boards.

If you don't already know, Frank & Ed have created something incredible here -- The course teaches you in full detail how to locate highly profitable target markets; create products to sell to them and virtually eliminate your competition in the process. And they'll teach you to do it all in "Underachiever" style -- without working so darned hard.

I love not working too hard, but what I love even more is being as cheap as I can. If you like to save money on promoting your products...I want to teach you what I've learned to generate tens of thousands of targeted visitors each and every month --- without shelling out any cash or too much effort.

Here it is: Alice's Extra Helping Hand

Hi Mom!

Oh my...today, I visited my parents and my mom said to me, "Alice, I went on the Internet and searched for your name, so I could finally understand what you do online. I was surprised to see so many pages about you."

Well, first off --- I was surprised that my mom knew how to search the Internet (sorry mom!). She worked for the Canadian government for a long time and until a few years back they had them working on these really old mainframe computers and she didn't get a PC until recently. I knew she took a course on using Microsoft Outlook and she took very detailed notes, but I didn't know she knew how to use the Internet. LOL (Mom, that stands for "laugh out loud", in case you don't know).

I've always known people search for my name on the Internet, but I always thought it was people who only knew me "virtually" and I felt reasonably comfortable with that. It feels kind of strange to know your friends and relatives are searching for you on the 'net...but it shouldn't be surprising.

And this is my mom...for goodness sakes. I hope I've behaved properly and she didn't uncover anything naughty I may have done. She didn't say so.

So, mom welcome to my virtual world and I hope I've done you proud. :)

What it REALLY Said in My Newsletter Today

Sheesh! My autoresponder woes never cease. Today, I sent out a newsletter that was cut off part way through the email...so I had tons of people emailing me that I left out the "punchline". No kidding! Talk about leaving you hanging. I'm sorry.

Anway, I'll post it here for those who are craving the whole story. And sure -- give me your autoresponder recommendations, but I'll look at them all with skepticism. :( At this point, I have an autoresponder installed on my server, have a monthly fee shopping cart/autoresponder service PLUS a monthly fee newsletter management service -- and none of them make me happy. Thus, I am working between the 3 trying to figure out what the heck I should do.

But I digress. Here's today's newsletter:
============================

....Today I thought would be a good day to get back to answering questions from my subscribers. I love it when my subscribers submit questions because then I don’t have to decide what to talk about. Hee hee! If you want to submit a question, you can anytime at:

http://www.aliceseba.com/ask-alice.html

Of course, I get a lot of submissions and I try to get to as many as I possibly can…so do be patient with me.

Today’s Topic – One of the Biggest Mistakes Online Entrepreneurs Make :(
===========================================

I’ve actually been receiving a few questions on this topic. The fact is, A LOT of people have serious trouble with this. We’re told that we can come online and turn our passion into an Internet business. In some cases, that’s true…but that certainly doesn’t mean that every passion or hobby will become a profitable business. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.

You need a target market first. If you’re the only one who shares your passion…you might be in big trouble. If your passion doesn’t require you to spend money…you might be in bigger trouble.


Here’s a couple of the questions I’ve received:

“Hi Alice, I'm at a crossroads because I have so many interests that I'm trying to explore and develop and I would love to turn one of them (or maybe a combination of them) into a homebased business. So my question is, how do I find what online business would be right for me when I have such a broad range of interests?”

“…I know I can do it but WHAT to do and what idea to come up with is what is killing me, just cant find the right niche...any suggestions?”

I also get questions like this:

“How do I get people who are interested in what I am offering to my website?”

“I'm not quite sure where to advertise to reach my target audience. I have a database of close to 1,000 customers that have used me at one time or another during the past 9 years, but some have changed addresses and are unreachable…So far, I'm getting many congratulory phone calls but very little sales.”

Well, let’s back up a second and I’m going to give you the best advice I ever got on target market research. That advice came directly from Frank Kern (whom I’m going to talk a bit more about in a few minutes). He says that you need to do the following:

> Forget about products to start with. Don’t start by trying to decide what products you are going to sell online because products don’t buy from you --- people do. So, you need to focus on a target market of people first.

> Look at magazines to see what kind of target markets are out there. I mean there’s magazines for horse lovers, motorcycle enthusiasts and so on. Frank says that if there’s a magazine for these people, there must be a market because there enough advertisers who are willing to pay to advertise in the magazine. People don’t pay big bucks to advertise in a magazine if they aren’t going to make sales.

> Make sure that this target market is passionate about this topic (yes, passion does come into play!) and very importantly, that they pay good money to pursue their passions.

> Then, you can go online and check out where these people hang out – on message boards, email groups, etc. See what they are talking about. What problems do they have? What problem could you solve?

..and so forth. So, please don’t jump in without doing your research first and be aware, that sometimes our passions won’t become businesses – but that can be a good thing. They can still stay your hobbies and the things that keep you sane and away from working on your business. :)

I have some more good news. When I told you that the best advice I ever got about market research was from Frank Kern…it was very true. Of course, I can only give you part of what he told me, because that wisdom belongs to him. There is no sense in me regurgitating it for you.

You may also remember that last week, I told you Frank was holding a teleseminar today and “coming clean” about what happened with the FTC and how he’s rebuilt his business stronger than ever.

Even if you aren’t interested in listening to the call, I have to insist that you go and sign up for the list because a little Kern-birdie told me that if you’re signed up for that…a couple days later, you’ll receive access to his “Info Millionaire” course for free.

This course is step-by-step information (including detailed video presentations) on finding your target market and then goes into showing you how to develop information products to sell to that market. Even if you don’t want to do info products, get it to watch the information on finding your target market. It is absolutely brilliant.

So, go here to enter your name and email address. The course info will arrive via email a couple days later *Alice's note -- teleseminar has passed since I posted this -- but go sign up anyway!*

http://underachieverseo.com/frankcomesclean

The old adage is true – “Look before you leap.” Even though the startup costs of starting an online business are minimal, your time invested is priceless. Make sure you have the right market first and you’re off to a great start.

http://underachieverseo.com/frankcomesclean

Let's chat soon,
Alice Seba
http://www.AliceSeba.com

P.S. If you're interested in attending a chat on the "Power of Press Releases" this Thursday, register here:
http://www.contactlistbuilder.com/seminar_registration.asp?ref=INCREDIBLE

This One's for the Mommies -- Free Gifts in Return for Your Input

Hey moms,

I need as many moms as possible to complete this very, very short survey about your online business, please.

In return, you'll receive instant access to over 6 hours of audio interviews (great for busy, busy moms!) from some of the smartest and most successful people in online business.

And don't forget to tell your mommy friends. They can get free stuff too!

Please -- complete the survey if you're a mom only -- if you really want access to those calls and you're not a mom, post a comment on this blog with a way to contact you and we'll work out a deal.

--> The Survey is Here.

My Friend Andre Has a Big Mouth

Well, since my friend Andre Chaperon told all his subscribers about it before I had a chance to tell my dear blog readers (or my subscribers!)...I'd better catch up. Andre was talking about a big course coming up -- from Frank Kern (mentioned in my last blog entry) & Ed Dale.

He warned his subscribers that they would be receiving a lot of emails about this Underachiever Mastery System -- and many people will be clamoring to get them to buy through their link. And you can expect this to be true. This is a hugely extensive course that teaches people to do online business the right way --- without working too hard or spending too much money.

But there is a problem with the Underachiever course and that's what Andre uncovered in his email to his subscribers today. He said:

"Frank Kern spends about $20,000/month on Overture alone, which helps achieve the $50,000+ he earns each and every month with his 'Underachiever Mastery System'."

Now, that may sound like a lot of money -- but if you can make tens of thousands of dollars in profit in the process -- It makes PERFECT sense to me.

But still, there's a way to get a lot of that traffic for FREE for search engines and you don't have to pay them per click. I know because I do it every single day and I barely work at it (I've always called myself "lazy" in the way I work, but I love Frank & Ed's terminology of "underachiever"....sounds much nicer). I receive traffic from over 20,000 keyword phrases each and every month by doing these simple things. You can imagine what I save in pay-per-click fees with this kind of traffic.

Or better yet -- add the cash Frank earns from using PPCs, plus the FREE traffic I get and your business multiplies immensely.

So, if you want to find out how I'll give you EVERY SINGLE bit of my search engine knowledge without charging you a dime -- and no, this is NOT the techy-geek stuff that you see in most search engine courses -- I'll tell you. This is real honest stuff that will have search engine optimization companies trying to throttle me because it's so simple...yet nobody is telling you about it.

--> Go to Underachiever SEO to find out more.

Am I Not Usually a Kind & Giving Person?

I don't get a lot of hate mail (never say never), but I get the occassional piece and I leave it be. And truth be told, this doesn't really bother me...I'm not losing sleep over it. I'm just kind of dumbfounded that people have to get so angry.


=============================================
Okay -- here's the story. I sent this out to my list today:
=============================================

Subject: I've Been Trying to Get in Touch Forever

Well, it seems like forever. My autoresponder service went through an upgrade late last week and it's been a bit crazy getting things to work right. I know new subscribers were getting the wrong welcome messages, links weren't working -- it was pure chaos. I'm actually pretty nervous about sending this email out to you now.

I have been trying to get in touch with you about a couple things...and quite honestly, I don't know if you received my messages. So, if you did, I apologize for bothering you...but I have a few new things to share with you too:


If you're selling ANYTHING on the Internet, download this new 15-page report by Frank Kern because I said so. :)
===================================

Get it free right now by going here:
http://underachieverseo.com/specialreport (PDF format)

If you don't know who Frank Kern is, he's brilliant. Okay, I should tell you more than that because you really should know. This guy shares the same philosophy as I do to working online - and a philosophy I think everyone should share - so whenever I see he's written something or I can listen to him talk --- I LISTEN!

Frank has been incredibly successful in numerous highly targeted niches and has dubbed himself as an "Underachiever" and has created a whole system of making good money by not trying so hard. But don't let that fool you, the "not trying so hard" doesn't mean lack of action. It means working smarter, working less and eliminating much of your competition -- even if they are big multi-million dollar corporations.

So, please, like I said -- download Frank's report here:
http://underachieverseo.com/specialreport (PDF format) ---> And please send me your feedback and thoughts. I'd love to hear them.


Online Auctions Teleseminar TOMORROW
Ask a 7-Year Auction Veteran Anything You'd Like about Online Auctions
====================================

Vera Raposo has been using eBay for the past 7 years and has completed more than 40,000 auctions in her virtual career. Now, she’s going to answer all your questions about online auctions…if you sign up for the call right now.

> Please sign up for the call here:
http://www.auctionstrategists.com/teleseminar.html

We have secured a bigger bridge line because of the overwhelming response – but space is still limited…so get your name in quickly. You'll be invited to submit your questions right after you sign up.

Talk to you tomorrow.


At the Risk of Repeating Myself --- You Now Have Access to an Extensive Website Traffic Course
====================================

It's been over 6 months in the making and finally...finally...Kelly and I are ready to show you. In June of 2004, Kelly and I started developing a course on how to drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website --- but soon we found out there was some other guy developing a course on the same topic...but his course was bigger, better and more advanced (more on that later).

So...we were disheartened and the project just never got completed, but it was always sitting there, like a monkey on our backs. We did this work...why aren't we releasing it? Well, Kelly and I had a long talk last night and we decided, "Why don't we just offer the course for f r e e?"

Great idea...and that's what we've done. The "Truth about Traffic" course is now available to you - at no cost - so go check it out now and get the full story on the guy who "stole" our traffic course idea (ha ha ha!).

It includes over 3 hours of audio; a study guide; quick-reference cheat sheets & tons of indispensable resources. This is your special private download area access information:

XXXXXXXXXXXX (the email did include log in info, but you have to sign up first!)

Please don't share it with anyone. It is special for you. If you like the course and want to tell people about it, please send them to:
http://www.truthabouttraffic.com so they can see if it's right for them. :)


Well, that's it for me. The boys are at preschool today and I'm getting tons of work done...so back to work I go!

All the best & until next time,
Alice Seba

====================================
End of My Message
====================================

I got tons of thank you emails from people for the information I gave. Some people who said that - yes, they were getting my emails, but were still thankful. Some who said they were glad I sent it again because they never got it. LOL -- My autoresponder was messed up...it wasn't a marketing ploy.

====================================
So, then later in the day, I get this:
====================================

If your subscribers as you put it were important to
you , you wowouldn'tombard them with spam email...
Would you? Just to make a point about the fact that
you have sent me four emails within a day of
enenquiringbout your services means that really you
don't give a hoot personally about me or anyone other
than yourself as you want me to take all your lovely
services so dedesperatelyhat you send an
ununacceptablemount of email. I was genuinely
interested in your services but now I am advising you
that I have set your mail ID as spam so it will not be
worth you forwarding anymore obnoxious pepatheticails
trying to tell me how important me as a client or how
wonderful your seservicesre!

I can only hope that you will read this mail and alter
your operations accordingly.

Yours
A dissatisfied client

====================================
END GRUMPY PANTS EMAIL
====================================

He must have subscribed yesterday because he refers to my saying my subscribers are important to me. It's a little autoresponder message on the 2nd day, I send out INVITING people to submit a question to me that I can answer in my newsletter for FREE. I don't sell anything in the email...just offer to help. So, he probably got that message earlier and then this one.

But what the heck? Not sure where the 4 emails came from, unless he subbed more than once...which is possible. My autoresponder from hell will duplicate sign ups if they sign up twice.

Nowhere did I ask him to buy anything...and nor is he a client of mine. But you know what? Even if he didn't get 4 emails in one day, he still would never be a client of mine. You see, these are the disposable people on our lists. I know so many people who are worried to actually sell to their lists because they're afraid they'll lose subscribers.

Well, so what? Those who don't want to be sold to, aren't going to buy from you. Let them unsubscribe. Look at this...I didn't even try to sell this guy anything (Okay yeah -- there's "backend" sales attempts on all those things above...but he didn't even read the email or check the offers)...and he got all perturbed.

So, I'll focus on emails from subscribers like this:

"Please don't be hesitant to e-mail me I enjoy hearing from you! So keep me on your list. You are well respected on the web! I have heard many good things. I appreciate You!"

"I didn't see this yet. I can't believe all this great stuff you sent."

"Thanks very much Alice, for all you do."

"I did get your email, but I'm glad you reminded me to check out your traffic course. Thank you."

"Hi, I don't know if you have time to read your email anymore or if this is going to a real mailbox or not, but I just had to take the time to write to you today and say Thank You!

I'm a tiny player trying to turn my talents from my offline business into a successful online one...and I am quickly becoming sick of people who offer useless things for free simply to get your address and try and sell things that you don't want or can't afford. I just have to say thank you for actually offering things that are real and helpful!!

You are doing an awesome job and when I see your name connected to something I take notice!

I just thought you should know."

eBay Can Help You Pay Your Holiday Bills

Well, the holidays are over and it's time to pay all those bills. One thing I've always thought was cool about the Internet is that if you need cash quick -- you can just sell stuff on eBay. Or you can even make a whole business out of selling stuff at online auctions.

I must say -- I know very little about online auctions...but I have a friend who's been auctioning for over 7 years and has completed more than 40,000 auctions. Vera knows it all (or just about!) and she's agreed to do a free teleseminar this coming Tuesday, January 11 to answer your online auction questions.

Space is limited, so sign up now. As soon as you're signed up, you'll be invited to submit questions to Vera. Can't wait to talk to you then.

Extensive Website Traffic Course -- For FREE

It's been over 6 months in the making and finally...finally...Kelly and I are ready to show you. In June of 2004, Kelly and I started developing a course on how to drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website --- but soon we found out there was some other guy developing a course on the same topic...but his course was bigger, better and more advanced (more on that later).

So...we were disheartened and the project just never got completed, but it was always sitting there, like a monkey on our backs. We did this work...why aren't we releasing it? Well, Kelly and I had a long talk last night and we decided, "Why don't we just offer the course for f r e e?"

Great idea...and that's what we've done. The "Truth about Traffic" course is now available to you - at no cost - so go check it out now and get the full story on the guy who "stole" our traffic course idea (ha ha ha!).

It includes over 3 hours of audio; a study guide; quick-reference cheat sheets & tons of indispensable resources. You'll need to go here, leave your name and email address -- then you'll get instant access:

TruthAboutTraffic.com (note if you're already subscribed to my Internet Marketing Prescriptions, you'll receive download information through my list)