There is an endless labyrinth of possible software and information/advice offered on the Net. I'm not sure which is worse... the overpriced products that under deliver, or all the free info available, most of which does not work so it costs you something more valuable even than money... your time.

Wouldn't it be great if the single best approach, explained in detail, was also free?! Here it is...

The Service Sellers Masters Course.

"the complete resource for building a client base

    for your service-oriented business,

        whether your clients are around the world...

            or around the block.

This 10-DAY course focuses 100% on helping you, the Service Seller, succeed. It leads you, step by digestible step, day by day, through a flawless process...

    from developing a Site Concept

       to brainstorming hundreds of profitable related keywords

          to building a themed site that establishes credibility and inspires trust

             to generating motivated, targeted traffic that wants to contact you

               to nurturing ongoing relationships through a high-value e-zine.

 

The most amazing part of this course?

It's free!

Actually, the "price" is only the second most amazing part. The best thing about the Service Sellers Masters Course is the clear, high-quality, step-by-step, day-by-day content that lays out a process that really works.

Up until now, it has been available only via e-mail. But now it is available in glorious PDF, too!

To take the e-mail course
simply click on this link
and send a blank e-mail to...

tsmsbestmanagers@sitesell.net

-OR-

Choose the "comfortable" e-book format! A joy to print and read.

Click here to download The Service Sellers Masters Course e-book.
5.08MB - Windows and MacOs

You are about to download a zipped file ("ServiceSellersMastersCourse.zip"). Save it to your desktop. After you have downloaded, unzip it.
 

• Windows users need CamUnzip -- free softwarel
• Mac users need Stuffit Expander (v5.5 or greater) -- free software

This will unzip a folder called "Service Sellers Masters Course" on your desktop (if you do not change the default location). The folder contains two files....

1) ReadMeFirst.txt
Please do read this file first -- it will get you to a flying start!

2) ServiceSellersMastersCourse.pdf
The Service Sellers Masters Course will lead you step by step through an effective easy-to-understand site-building and client-expansion process.

(Please note: the Site Build It program referenced in this course is being upgraded to a full E-commerce solution for start up entrepreneurs and small business organizations. Individuals who subscribe to Site Build It prior to the release of the E-commerce add-on will get the entire upgrade for 12 months after their enrollment -- without an additional charge!)

¤--------¤----------¤---------¤--------¤--------¤--------¤
Why Webmasters And Online Marketers
Are (Or Should Be) "Going Local"
¤--------¤----------¤---------¤--------¤--------¤--------¤

© Sharon Fling

It used to be that webmasters spent all or most of their
time online. They ate, slept and lived the web. How do I
know this? Because I was one of them.

Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when all I cared
about was creating one pretty website after another.
Develop, install, move on.

But these weren't public sites. They were developed for a
corporate INTRANET, and had a built in audience that waited
with baited breath, hungry for the information.

However, when I started freelancing for small business,
everything changed.

A small local business does NOT have a built in audience.
Most live in the cold cruel world of a billion websites, with
no earthly way to rise above the clutter.

My clients knew squat about marketing and promotion. So
eventually, like a bad penny, a website might come back to
haunt me. Some customers would call to complain that their
sites weren't "working".

"In what way?" I'd wanted to know.

"Well, nobody's buying anything?" or "I'm not getting any
traffic."

I'd say to myself "and how is this my problem?", but to
them, I'd recite the standard webmaster chapter and verse --
the site was optimized, submitted to search engines, blah,
blah. I told them that having a website is the equivalent of
having a phone number. That a website is only 10%, the other
90% is marketing.

But nobody ever told them that, so they didn't have a clue.
They thought when they got the website, they'd be set. Just
sit back and wait for the customers to arrive...and
wait...and wait...

Even though they got exactly what they asked for, I felt
bad. I didn't want to have unhappy customers telling all
their friends the Internet "doesn't work", Since all my
customers were local, I started looking for resources
specific to local online promotion.

Well, the pickings were slim. Very little had been written on
the subject. So...through a lot of trial and error I figured
it out myself. Then I wrote the book and the rest is, as
they say, history.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that things have changed a lot
in the past couple years. Internet pros are becoming more
attuned to the fact that people live in the real "dirt"
world, and have started to cater to local businesses and
their needs. If they haven't they should. Here are a few
reasons why:

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

Many online marketers and webmasters try to market to the
world, when some of their best customers could be right down
the street. Why be a little fish in the big crowded Internet
OCEAN? In a local setting, someone with the right expertise
and attitude can position themselves as the expert.

Truth is, most local business owners aren't likely to hire
someone they don't know and probably won't meet. They want
to see who they're doing business with, establish personal
relationships, learn to trust. The key words are "trust" and
"relationships". It doesn't happen overnight, but once you
have it, they're likely to be customers for life.

CONCERN FOR COMMUNITY

Someone wrote me recently, telling me all the reasons why
online marketers don't want to be bothered with local
business. It's a tough nut to crack, so why bother? Go
after the low-hanging fruit. He talked about it being a
numbers game -- the bigger the pool of would-be-buyers, the
greater the likelihood of making a sale. It's easier to sell
to active seekers. We're cheap, lazy, impatient, and
besides, who wants to spend time trying to convince
computer-phobes what they're missing? It's their loss,
right? Small towns are small potatoes.

So everyone has jumped on the global bandwagon, leaving
local business to either get with the program or get lost.
And money that could be funneled back into the community is
being sucked into the web, feeding the international economy
instead of the local economy. Then, he said, "as prices
continue to rise in the cities, businesses will be forced to
go global in some way, since the local economy will no
longer be able to completely support it."

Bingo! My point exactly.

Look, small local business cannot ignore the Internet
forever, not if they want to stay in business. For
individuals with patience and concern for their local
community, local business can be a viable target market for
their services -- website design/hosting/SEO/link building
(Site Build It! works VERY well here www.geolocal.com/sbi),
email marketing, local portals, etc. It's not a get-rich-
quick opportunity...but how many people are really getting
rich quick online anyway?

MAKE MORE MONEY

Concern for community is great but at the end of the day, we
need to make money to stay in business. And there's lots of
money to be made in the local business space. Geocommerce --
local online advertising -- is predicted to be a $50 BILLION
market by 2006.

Local business needs the same marketing toolset that online
business needs, but with a narrower focus. Since so few
people are paying any attention to the local market, it's
wide open for a variety of value added services. Here's a
niche just waiting to be filled, no matter where you live.
Specializing is the key, and what better market to focus on
than one that's growing daily AND can help better your local
community's economy?
--¤------<<>>------¤--

No, it's not get rich quick. No, you can't hide behind your
monitor and remain anonymous. Yes, you risk rejection. But
as we've discovered in publishing Coffee News, it can be
financially rewarding as well as emotionally satisfying to
help the businesses in your local community to succeed...
online and off.

---------------------------------------------------------

Sharon Fling is the author of "How To Promote Your Local Business On the Internet,", and publishes an electronic
newsletter that gives tips, tools and resources for
targeting local customers. For more information, visit
http://www.geolocal.com  or send any email to:
mailto:subscribe@localbizpromo.com