And just in case you did miss that article, a webinar is typically a live video and audio presentation where attendees can see your computer screen and hear you talk as you navigate through a presentation, “how to” demonstration or anything else you’re showing on your computer. They also provide a rich participation environment and give you the flexibility to provide:

• Handouts before or after the webinar
• the ability for attendees to ask questions during the presentation
• live chat with the organizer or other participants
• live attendee polls for getting instant feedback
• automatic follow-up marketing to attendees and even non-attendees

Today’s webinar technology allows you to host LIVE webinars or RECORDED webinars that can be played on-demand or on some type of pre-determined schedule. And before you think you cannot use webinars in your business or think they are too complicated, I want you to know neither of these thoughts is correct and to prove my point, I’m going to describe four ways, four different types of online business owners can use webinars to generate or reinforce their business relationships and create more sales. Think about your own business and how you might be able to use webinars as you read through these scenarios.

Scenario #1: Diet & Health Author – Selling Digital Cookbooks Online
An ebook author could use webinars in several different ways to promote her ebooks. She could host virtual cooking classes for a fee where they show attendees how to make healthy meals. In this scenario, they could show videos or photos of how the food is prepared. She could allow real-time interaction and questions and answers from her paid attendees.

Scenario #2: SEO Expert – Lead Generation and Training Course
An SEO expert could use webinars in several different ways. He could host free, live lead generation webinars to show people how to do keyword research and then offer the opportunity to work with him as a consultant. He could also develop a 10-part course, with each part consisting of a webinar session showing a specific SEO topic. He could sell seats to the live webinars, record them and then use them in a webinar replay system that offers the 10 webinars over the course of 10 weeks in order to get additional sales.

Scenario #3: Internet/Affiliate Marketer – Promoting & Selling Products
An Internet/Affiliate Marketer could easily add webinars to drive new sales to large groups of attendees. Imagine a weekly webinar where she hosts affiliate partners on a content-rich webinar and then offers their product at the end of the webinar. Software demos and Power Point presentations work great as webinar content and are easily created.

Scenario #4: Information Marketer - Product Creation
Webinars provide a great way to create content that could be used to create print or electronic products that can be sold. An info-marketer could host a number of paid or free webinars and on each he is interviewing a guest expert on a specific topic. These webinars could be recorded and turned into videos, DVDs, books and courses.

So there you have four ideas I came up with for different types of online business owners. I know there are many others out there and the use of webinars in your business is only limited by your creativity and imagination.

To help business owners get started using webinars, I’ve created a great product called How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars! I’ve been using webinars since 2004 and How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars contains all the strategies, tools and techniques to create hugely profitable webinars, including my proven 7 step strategy to Plan & Promote, Engage, Record, Follow-up, Edit, Convert, and Turn a webinar into a cash machine for your business!

Start creating webinars in your business today!

A webinar is typically a live video and audio presentation where attendees can see your computer screen and hear you talk as you navigate through a presentation, “how to” demonstration or anything else you’re showing on your computer. They also provide a rich participation environment and give you the flexibility to provide:

• Handouts before or after the webinar
• The ability for attendees to ask questions during the presentation
• Live chat with the organizer or other participants
• Live attendee polls for getting instant feedback
• Automatic follow-up marketing to attendees and even non-attendees

The other good news is if you can use a computer - you can host webinars - and I cannot think of a single type of business owner who could not figure out how to host either live or recorded webinars and help strengthen their relationship with their customers, clients and prospects either in a small, 1:1 webinar or a large-scale group webinar.

Today’s webinar technology allows you to host LIVE webinars or RECORDED webinars that can be played on-demand or on some type of pre-determined schedule. And before you think you cannot use webinars in your business or think they are too complicated, I want you to know neither of these thoughts is correct and to prove my point, I’m going to describe four ways, four different types of business owners can use webinars to generate or reinforce their business relationships. Think about your own business and how you might be able to use webinars as you read through these scenarios.

Scenario #1: Restaurant Owner – Online Classes
A smart restaurant owner could use webinars in several different ways. They could host virtual cooking classes for a fee where they show attendees how to make their signature dishes. In this scenario, they could show videos or photos of how the food is prepared. Another way a restaurant owner could use webinars is to create short webinar presentations that showcase the ingredients and how carefully their signature dishes are prepared.

Scenario #2: Estate Planning Lawyer – How to Presentation
Having personally just gone through this experience and having to attend several in-office meetings to go through forms, I can envision an estate planning lawyer using webinars to walk their clients through complicated legal forms and outline the entire estate planning process either live on a monthly basis or via a webinar replay.

Scenario #3 - Real Estate Agent – Virtual Tours
In the ultra-competitive world of real estate agents, rising above the mediocre masses is critical. Imagine a forward-thinking agent who offers her clients the opportunity to learn about a number of homes without hours of driving around. A personalized presentation could be given to a client and then after they’ve narrowed down their preferences, property visits could be made.

Scenario #4: Software/Technology Sales Professional – Software Demos
The smart technology sales professional could use webinars to generate leads for their products and services. Direct mail, email marketing and social media marketing could all funnel leads into a webinar presentation quickly and easily and without ever having to jump on a plane. Software demos and Power Point presentations work great as webinar content.

So there you have four ideas I came up with for different types of offline business owners. I know there are many others out there and the use of webinars in your business is only limited by your creativity and imagination.

Stay tuned for next week's article where I'll discuss different ways online business owners can profit using webinars!

To help business owners get started using webinars, I’ve created a great product called How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars! I’ve been using webinars since 2004 and How to Boost Your Business with P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Webinars contains all the strategies, tools and techniques to create hugely profitable webinars, including my proven 7 step strategy to Plan & Promote, Engage, Record, Follow-up, Edit, Convert, and Turn a webinar into a cash machine for your business!

Start creating webinars in your business today!

I highly recommend everybody watching this episode read this book and consider its application to your business and direct  marketing.  I found it quite eye-opening and took several pages of notes.

The logic behind the price strategies discussed in this book could help every single business owner, entrepreneur, and especially anyone who is doing direct marketing.  Dan Kennedy and Jason Marrs share their secrets for setting prices for the greatest gain and they tell you how to compete with FREE which is becoming so prevalent in today’s marketplace.  I highly recommend this book.

Want a fun, attention-grabber for your next direct marketing mail campaign?  Check out the million dollar bills you can print from EasyMillions.com (non-affiliate link).

While these are not new, two different direct marketing campaigns crossed my desk recently using them and both caught my eye.  I think they’re a fun, eye-grabbing way to grab attention, which is the critical first step to any marketing campaign.

The company that makes these also makes a unique million dollar thank you card, so check out EasyMillions.com.

My last tip is for anybody who wants a free set of never-before-released CopyDoodles (these are exclusive and will never even be available in the CopyDoodles Access club)!

We’re going to give you this set if you help us spread the word about the power of CopyDoodles by telling your business-owner friends about the power of CopyDoodles.

You’ll be helping us out (which I greatly appreciate) and you’ll be able to grab two different sets of brand new CopyDoodles as a way of thanking you for your support.

Check out www.copydoodles.com/x/free-copydoodles-friend to grab these CopyDoodles and thanks in advance! {NOTE: Free Offer Ended 9/1/11}

I hope you enjoyed these 3 direct  marketing resources and tips which I have shared with you today and if you have any comments, please leave them below!

Hopefully you know who Dan Kennedy is and if you don’t, and you’re an entrepreneur of any sort, you’re missing on his extraordinary wisdom and business insights.  I suggest you seek out a few of his books on amazon.com.

If you’re familiar with Dan and his genius, you already know about the positive influence he’s had on thousands of business owners around the world over the past several decades.

Given Dan’s current consulting day rate is $18,800, you’ll immediately recognize this is no small decision and I one I prepared for days prior to our meeting.

To say the day was amazingly powerful, would be an understatement and while I cannot go over everything I received that day, I thought I would share three important takeaways that are applicable to all entrepreneurs.

Takeaway #1

I went to Cleveland focused on the business of CopyDoodles®, and Dan made it abundantly clear to grow my business, the passport (as he called it) is not about the thing (in my case CopyDoodles), but instead about me, my years of experience in helping entrepreneurs and the relationship I have with my CopyDoodles members.

As a matter of fact Dan said and I quote, “Your growth will have less to do with your talent, your skill, your expertise or your deliverables than it will your ability and willingness to create and exploit your own status.”

To some that may sound offensive, but if you truly understand what Dan is saying, it’s a truth to amazing income breakthroughs.

Takeaway #2

The second gem Dan Kennedy helped me see was the need for a price strategy that consistently yields a high-quality “who.”

You see one of my questions was about creating a low-priced front end offer for CopyDoodles membership and Dan made it crystal clear why he thought this would be a mistake for my business.

I realize for many folks, in the current economic environment, it’s a natural reaction to lower the barrier of entry to do business with you, but if you consider the potential ramifications (like I did), you’ll see there are better ways to grow your business.

On a side note, I would recommend reading Dan’s recent book he co-authored with Jason Marrs on pricing strategy.

Takeaway #3

The final kick in the pants I want to share is important for any entrepreneur who relies on email and the web as a primary media for their marketing.

Dan was insistent for me to figure out a way to start using offline marketing for both new business and keeping current members longer.

Yes, email and online marketing is cheap and easy, but if you talk to anybody who does a lot of online marketing you will see that it’s becoming very challenging get people to open and read their emails.

I am going to start using direct mail immediately and current CopyDoodles Access Club members are in for a big treat in the coming months so stay tuned!

Bottom line, make sure you’re doing offline marketing!

So there you have it… a brief glimpse into a consulting day with one of the living legends of direct response marketing.  With over 15 pages of jam-packed notes, the investment in a consulting day with Dan Kennedy is going to pay off for years to come!

http://www.mikecapuzzi.tv/2011/07/

In case you missed it, it’s well worth three minutes of your time to check it out.

On this particular episode I shared three tips for helping your improve your business and marketing.

Resource #1

The first was a little, classic book by Charlie “Tremendous” Jones called “Life is Tremendous.”

This book is less than 100 pages and over 2 million copies of this book have been sold since it was first published.  It’s full of positive and actionable leadership strategies relevant to everybody reading this article.

While you may not have heard of Charlie Jones, who passed away in 2008, don’t let that stop you from reading this book.  You can grab a copy for under $10.00 on amazon.com.

Resource #2

Would you like free access to a number of must-read newsletters from the late, great copywriting and direct marketing expert, Gary Halbert?  Then check out

www.thegaryhalbertletter.com

If you don’t know who Gary Halbert was, you should.  He was one of the most successful copywriters who ever lived before passing away in 2007.

Starting in the late 80’s, Gary wrote The Gary Halbert Letter, a monthly print newsletter full of marketing wisdom and Gary’s unique style of writing and wit.

Fortunately, you can access many past editions of Gary’s newsletter at the web site above.  And while it’s not the easiest site to navigate and it will take you a few clicks to get to them, but its well worth the search.

Resource #3

My last resource is a proven direct mail strategy and one I’ve used many times in my own business. It’s a format that practically guarantees the piece will be opened.

Think you know what it is?  It’s making your direct mail look like a personalized greeting card.

Who can resist not opening up something that looks like a birthday or greeting card?

The key for a successful mailing is to make it look exactly like a card envelope you would buy at a greeting card store.

You want to handwrite the recipient’s name and address or use a handwritten font at a minimum.

Personally, I put my name and return address on the envelope and depending on the context of the mailing, I may use a CopyDoodle on the outside as a teaser.

You should also use a live stamp.  The point is to make it look like you’re sending one card to one friend.

8 times out of 10, I will put in a greeting-card style mailer inside the envelope.  It could be a thank you card, an obscure holiday card or you can even make up your own holiday reason for mailing like my friend Charlie McDermott did with his recent National Web TV Day mailing.

So if you want to create a direct mail piece that begs to be opened, create your own greeting card-style mailer.

You can check out past episodes of my 3 in 3 web TV show (the only web TV show guaranteed to give you three valuable business resources in only 3 minutes) at

http://www.mikecapuzzi.tv/3-in-3

The late Gary Halbert said that “Successful marketing is about impact.”

You can have effective marketing that makes an impact by using strong, emotion-driven copy.

Or you can add impact to create effective marketing with a powerful, irresistible offer.

With effective marketing you can even have visual impact with a unique, attention-grabbing look and feel and that’s what I am going to focus on in this article.

Recently two events gave me the idea for a unique, attention-grabbing effective marketing piece that I am going to start using in my marketing and now you can too.

The first event was my recent trip to Europe. My family and I were able to spend two weeks cruising around the Mediterranean Sea on a Disney cruise. We visited eight different ports including Barcelona, Naples, Rome and Corsica.

It was a great time and the sights and history we experience are unforgettable.

As you know, to travel around Europe, you need a passport, which I pretty much carried on me at all times. If you have a passport, you know it’s a unique-looking document in a compact format (which triggers ideas to my marketing brain).

But it was the second event that triggered my idea to create a brand new effective marketing piece. Recently my wife gave me a membership into a cigar-of-the-month club (yes, enjoying a good cigar is one of my vices) and when I receive my welcome kit, they included a passport-looking piece that described the benefits of my membership.

Since I am always on the lookout for unique and effective marketing ideas I can use in my business, these two events triggered the idea I could do the same thing with my CopyDoodles Access Club welcome kit and include a passport in it for new members.

So I created my “Passport to Profits” CopyTemplate, which I shared with CopyDoodles Access Club Platinum members this month. It is a done-for-you effective marketing template that is perfect for anybody with a membership program or even as part of a marketing sequence to fill an event.

This CopyTemplate includes everything you need to create your own effective passport marketing piece for your business and the only thing you need to figure out is how to apply it to your business and use it as effective marketing!

If you’re a current CopyDoodles Access Club Platinum member, log in today and check it out and if you’re not, I invite you to visit www.copydoodles.com and become a member today to start creating more successful, effective marketing pieces!

According to digital marketing behavioral company, ComScore, 174 Million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in March 2011 for an average of 14.8 hours per viewer.

Why not create an avenue that promotes your business and connects you to this ready-made audience all at the same time?

Enter - the WebTV Show!
I’ve been doing Web TV shows since May of 2008 when I first launched CopyDoodles.tv. CopyDoodles TV has always been a simple, PowerPoint-based type TV show that everybody reading this article could create for their business. It’s goal is to expose viewers to unique technique and strategies involving CopyDoodles.

Then in 2010, I created my 3 in 3 show, which has become wildly successful and viewers love! It offer practical business tips and ideas on a show that only lasts three minutes. If you haven’t seen an episode, check it out at MikeCapuzzi.tv. This show is produced by my good friend Charlie McDermott at StandOut Video.

But even the most engaging Web TV show will get lost in the shuffle of the rest of the video content on the web today, without the right website to get you in front of people with real-time profitable results.

Why do you need a website to promote your Web TV Show?

• Exposure

Sure you can just upload your show to YouTube, but without your own website you’re missing the opportunity to include video podcasts and have automatic syndication. The right website allows your Web TV Show to use RSS feeds to keep your audience connected to your show! Plus, your own website gives you control of your content at all times (no more worrying if YouTube will decide to close your account on a whim)!

• Profitability

The proper website allows you to feature your opt-in or advertising space in the most prominent area proven to get the best results. You can promote affiliate products or your own product and/or service. You can even include sponsors for your episodes, and offer them prime advertising space as well.

• SEO Rankings

The proper website for a Web TV Show is configured to get the best rankings possible. This means you can be featured in the top ten for searches on Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. This is how people can easily find you on the web.

The challenge with getting your Web TV Show online is finding the right website format, which is why I turned to my friend Greg Russell. Greg created the MikeCapuzzi.tv site you see today and now is making this powerful Web TV show system available to others marketers looking for a Web TV site that works like you need it to.

THE SHOW is a new Wordpress-based website system designed to properly feature your latest show episode, syndicate each episode of your show, get you guaranteed inclusion on iTunes, and spread virally with Facebook comments.

Greg is a standout guy and THE SHOW theme is very cool! Discover more about this unique system by visiting www.Gregurl.com/TheShow.

Starting a marketing campaign from scratch each and every time is tedious and not a great way to leverage time and creativity, which is why most successful marketers build and maintain a marketing swipe file.

Personally, I have several large boxes in my office where I keep my print swipe files and my marketing radar is always on – looking for new things to add - which might help me in the future (just yesterday I received a cool piece of mail from a credit card company and it’s an idea I’m definitely going to swipe for my marketing).

I also maintain a set of folders on my computer hard drive where I collect and store online marketing examples, like emails and web pages.

I use these swipe files to generate ideas and spark creativity. Sometimes I use the materials for to get ideas for my copy writing, but regardless of what I need to accomplish, by simply maintaining a healthy swipe file of both print and web materials, I can beat the blank page blues.

If you haven’t been keeping a swipe file, here are several ideas to help you get them started.

Offline Marketing (print) – study the mail you’re receiving each day and be on the look out for unique and creative ideas that grabbed your attention. Read magazines and newspapers and pay attention to the advertisements. Again, you’re looking for examples that catch your attention. Pay particular attention to headlines and eye-catching ads.

Recently I took home several ads, from the SkyMall catalog that you find on every airline flight, because the headlines were so good.

When you attend tradeshows or marketing events, don’t just walk through the vendor area – look for marketing ideas you can use in your business.

Online Marketing (web) – watch for email headlines and emails that grab your attention. Either print them off or store them in a folder on your computer. I like to use SnagIt from TechSmith to capture web sites, optin pages and sales letters. SnagIt take a picture of the entire site – no matter how long it is – and I use it many times throughout the day to build my digital swipe file.

The bottom line is to ALWAYS HAVE YOUR MARKETING RADER SET TO ON!

And speaking of swipe files… I’m putting together a brand new swipe file book of smart, effective and successful marketing examples and campaigns that used CopyDoodles, CopyComics or any of the other content found on the CopyDoodles Access Club.

All CopyDoodles customers and members are eligible to be included in this book absolutely free (plus I’m going to give you several gifts). It’s a great chance for exposure and free publicity for your business.

To see all the details, visit http://www.copydoodlesbook.com

Finally, one last point I feel it’s important to make – swipe files should be used for inspiration and to spark creative ideas. I do not recommend simply copying large chunks of a sales letter or squeeze page and using them verbatim in your own business.

I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts on using swipe files in your business. What sort of thing do you store in your swipe files? I’d love to hear from you below!

Personally, I am a huge fan of webinars and over the year’s I’ve hosted hundreds of webinars. Some that were informational and free, some that sold a product and some that required a fee to be a part of.

If you can use a computer – you can host webinars.

Think of a webinar as an opportunity for your customers, clients, patients or prospects to “look over your shoulder” as you conduct some type of computer presentation.

I cannot think of a single type of business owner who could not figure out how to host either live or recorded webinars and help strengthen their business relationships and increase sales.

If you’re just getting started with webinars or having been doing them for a few months, I invite you to check out http://www.theperfectwebinar.com .

Using CopyDoodles® to market and enhance your webinars is a smart strategy. Here are 7 ways you can use CopyDoodles on your next webinar!

1) Use one of our brand new WebinarDoodles, which is a collection of over 50 handwritten webinar-specific phrases. Many of these are from my own personal collection of CopyDoodles I created for my own webinars.

2) Use CopyDoodles in your pre-webinar print marketing. You can use CopyDoodles to create excitement in your newsletters, flyers and postcards promoting your next webinar.

3) Use CopyDoodles in your pre-webinar email marketing. Insert a CopyDoodle or two in your next webinar email campaign.

4) Use CopyDoodles on your webinar registration pages. A proven way to get more people to sign up is to use CopyDoodles to create a unique, personalized “eye-magnet” on your webinar registration pages.

5) Use CopyComics on your webinar registration pages. I love using CopyComics on my web pages and you can use them to jazz up your webinar registration pages so they don’t look like every other webinar page out there.

6) Use CopyDoodles during your webinar! This is another technique I love using. CopyDoodles work great to add visual spice to your PowerPoint presentation. You can even use the various custom animation settings in PowerPoint to simulate the CopyDoodle being written.

7) Use CopyDoodles on your webinar replay pages! After you hosted a live webinar, you’re going to want to leverage a webinar replay using the recording. Use CopyDoodles on your webinar replay pages for a personalized touch!

Three BIG takeaways in this article… first, figure out a way to start using webinars in your business!

Second, use CopyDoodles to enhance your webinars!

Third, check out http://www.theperfectwebinar.com !

Just this week, CopyDoodles Access Club Member Alan Steacy sent us this note…

Thanks Alan for the kind words.

Alan’s note prompted me to write this article on how others are using CopyDoodles to spice-up their marketing mix and add some “eye dazzle.” I think you’ll enjoy seeing some of these recent additions to our CopyDoodles Hall of Fame!

This first example is one I just highlighted in the current episode of 3 in 3 at www.mikecapuzzi.tv. It’s the world’s largest CopyDoodle (as far as I know) from Darin Spindler's marketing mix. He added a CopyDoodle to the tour bus he’s currently using to tour around the country and promote his Kids Bowl Free program.

I no sooner sent out the email about Darin’s bus, when I received an email from super-marketer Michael McLean who told me he added to his marketing mix, CopyDoodles that were as big as a house on his office building. Check out his newest banner (and green CopyDoodle arrows) on his office up in Perth, Canada…

At the other end of the CopyDoodles size spectrum, I met Dr. Jacquelyn Stanfield at the Glazer-Kennedy SuperConference and she showed me, from her marketing mix, her brand new business card that was inspired by a recent episode of CopyDoodles TV.

It’s a die-cut, multi-panel business card featuring CopyDoodles and more. Talk about eye-catching! Great job Dr. Stanfield for adding CopyDoodles to her marketing mix!

Keeping with the dental theme, Dr. Brian Berg shared his most recent newsletter from his marketing mix where he used our special “punch-out” CopyComics to add a bit of humor and personality to his marketing mix. Check out his million-dollar bill comic and his web site comic…

Switching to an online example, here’s a great looking squeeze page from Michael Carroll's marketing mix where he’s using CopyDoodles very effectively to help build his list.

Finally, Linda Steele Thom used CopyDoodles in their marketing mix on a recent coffee mug promotional piece for a trade show she attended. Another fun and eye-grabbing example how folks are using CopyDoodles in their entire marketing mix!

So not only are CopyDoodles perfect for traditional marketing projects like direct mail and online marketing, they can be used on the sides of buses, office building and even coffee mugs!

I would love to see how you’re using CopyDoodles in your marketing mix - drop us a note and let us know what you’ve done and we may add you to our CopyDoodles Hall of Fame!