This is the fifth in a series of reviews that I’ve been doing for year end of evergreen products. Evergreen products are products that are usable over and over and over. All of the products being reviewed are products that I personally use and recommend highly.

Design Dashboard

Marlon Sanders calls himself The King Of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing and he truly is. Design Dashboard is one of a series of dashboards that Marlon has created that will break complex things into small manageable steps. There is a reason that more than one of Marlon’s dashboards has made this series of reviews. He puts out evergreen products.

Now anyone that knows me understands that graphics is not a strong point of mine. Knowing how to create graphics is important at least to the point where you can talk the language with a graphics designer.

There are times that small graphics or a minor change are needed and the ability to make those little tweaks and get things done now is invaluable.

Having been stuck waiting for a graphics designer can be extremely frustrating and this allows me to be able to do simple things and avoid that frustration.

As you go through the various steps in the dashboard you will discover not only how to create the graphics but why to use them. The why is much more important to me than the how.

Following the steps has allowed me to create graphics and put together a reasonable quality web site even with no eye for graphical design. It has not replaced me outsourcing the majority of my graphics but it has improved the quality I get from my outsourcers because I can explain in their language the effect I want when making changes.

More importantly I understand the why of what I want.

Understanding the basics of web design is a skill you need to have. If you have the artistic bone this will show you how to eliminate the need to outsource your graphics and web design. If like me you are missing that artistic bone it will still help you to get the graphics you need from others easily and put them in a page.

Check out Design Dashboard

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: create graphics, Design Dashboard, graphics, Marlon Sanders, web design

Creating your squeeze page is almost the next step (actually you will need to set up your autoresponder first but we will cover that in the next edition). The reason for going out of order is that they actually need to happen together.

If you have been following the series you already have a product you want to sell, you have created a profile of your perfect customer and found out what they just must have to create your ethical bribe.

You really can’t start on the squeeze page until you have done all of the preliminary steps listed above although most people starting to build a list will do just that. Those are the ones that say list building is impossible.

Most new people just decide to build a list, set up their autoresponder and create a squeeze page and wonder why they aren’t making money even if they drive enough traffic to it to get subscribers. I know I have done it and suffered the frustration.

Having done the preliminary work though it becomes easy to craft a headline that will resonate with the target customer.

Next build up a list of 5 benefits that the subscriber will receive from your ethical bribe. These benefits will also form the background for your follow up email series because of you have the right gift the same benefits will apply to the product you want to promote. That is why the squeeze page and setting up your autoresponder are so intertwined.

If you don’t have a good graphic for your ethical bribe then either create one or order one from a good graphic artist. You can find more information on how to do it yourself from Marlon Sander’s Design Dashboard or if you are looking to outsource it both Justin at Shark Studio or Jamison at Black Hat Graphics do excellent work.

The three sources above can also be used to create the actual page for you too.

I would recommend that you check out other squeeze pages in your niche next. The type of page will vary depending on your traffic source and the niche.

For example if you are going to use traffic exchanges then you need a very short squeeze page that will primarily consist of a headline, a graphic, a few bullet points and your opt in form.

If you are driving traffic from articles or ad words then you will need a longer style page. Depending on the niche your audience may prefer video or audio on the pages versus a plain text page. This is where your research ahead of time will put you on the right track to connect with your audience.

Once you have created your page you will also need two other pages. A verification page and a download page. These can and should be monetized to help offset your cost of obtaining a subscriber.

You can get sample pages in The Easy Giveaway Plan and instructions on how to use them too. The report was created for using JV giveaways but the monetization techniques work in any type of list building.

If you need additional free help on the various steps you can find free videos at Videos For Beginners that can help you create and upload your pages.

Next time we will integrate the autoresponder into your squeeze pages.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: Black Hat Graphics, create graphics, create squeeze page, Design Dashboard, list building, Shark Studio, squeeze page

Yesterday I wrote about the new launch of Video Cash Explosion and added a review which you can see on the previous post. That shows what I liked and didn’t like about this product.

One of the comments asked if I had a page up that they could see. I had done a page to test the process but had not created a new video because I was pushed for time.

Because of that comment I did create one today. It took about 3 hours from the time ….

• I picked a product
• did the keyword research
• bought a domain
• added the domain to my server
• edited the script Shannon includes
• finally created the video and uploaded it.

The product I picked was Marlon Sanders Design Dashboard. You can see the page at

http://getdesigndashboard.com

All that is left is to start generating traffic to it and I am done. The hardest part was reading the script in a way that I liked and editing the ums and uhs out of it. That took three tries to get something that was usable but like most things the next one will be easier to do.

Check out Video Cash Explosion

This really is a great way for someone to get going easily on a part time basis and is perfect item to be outsourced.

I am offering a bonus for anyone that purchases through my link. I will send you the same information and tweaks that I will be sending to my assistant to use to make the promotion even more powerful. Just send a copy of your receipt to my support desk and I will forward it as soon as it is completed.

This really is a good business formula for someone working part time. It will take a bit of focus and effort initially but can generate continuing income from the effort. It s also perfect for anyone that is willing to outsource it as an extra income source like I will be.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: Design Dashboard, Marlon Sanders, Shannon Lueck, Video Cash Explosion

I really love how Marlon Sander’s cuts to the basics. There are things you need to know even if you outsource them. Most of all YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING – START NOW. Here’s Marlon-

STOP OVERCOMPLICATING part 2: Even LESS Things You Gotta Do To Make Money Online And Sell Your Stuff To People Who Buy It

By Marlon Sanders

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hit me with your feedback on today’s article at:
http://www.marlonsnews.com

Here we go…

I don’t get it.

There’s something about the human brain that makes everything seem more complicated than it really is.

The stuff that you gotta do in Internet marketing isn’t rocket science for the most part. Not unless you get into the really advanced stuff.

Part of the role of “gurus” is to think of more and more stuff to make it more and more complicated so they can sell more and more.

And if you have a niche, you should do the same in your own charming way.

But for me, for whatever reasons, I like making things simple. Many others CLAIM to do that right in the context of over-complicating everything under the guise of making it simple.

It’s like Photoshop Elements.

Here are the BASICS. These are ALL explained in ONE Design Dashboard video — The 20 MINUTE bonus walk through. If you HAVE Design Dashboard and have NOT watched that 20 minute walkthrough, go to productlogin.com, log in, go to the bonuses and find the one that’s the 20 minute walk through.

If you have Elements 6.0 it is THE SAME as 5.0 as far as what we do. The ONLY difference is the change in looks.

Here’s the stuff:

File new canvass, 650 W x 150 pixels H. 72 resolution, RGB, white.

Now you got yourself a header. Click the T for text. Type. Select Impact Font size 48.

Hit the gradient tool. Select a gradient. Ctr/Cmd and click on the T in the layers pallette to get the marching ants around the text.

Drag a line from top to bottom of the text.

POOF! Instant gradient.

Now go to EDIT Stroke, 1 pixel, black. OK. Now you have a nice little line around your text.

Now go to effects, click layers and select drop shadow. Pick one and hit APPLY. Now you got yourself a drop shadow.

Open a picture, select all, edit, paste into selection. Now you have a picture as a background. Decrease opacity. Control T and move it around.

Is THAT so all complicated you cannot do it?

Really, folks. It’s NOT hard.

My point is you spend all this time fearing Photoshop and thinking it’s some BIG MONSTER. And in about 20 minutes ONE video can show you all the basics.

You gotta know inserting type and sizing it, apply gradient, add stroke, add drop shadow.

You gotta add a pattern and pictures to the background.

I’m NOT claiming to turn you into some master Photoshop artist. But knowing the basics? You NEED to know. And it’s not some huge ordeal.

Ditto with the other basics like going into automateyourwebsite.com, Aweber or Getresponse and setting up an opt in form, copying and pasting the code.

Need to PODCAST?

1. Download audacity

2. Hit record

3. Talk

4. Save as mp3

5. Open up Sonic Memo

6. Pick player

7. Save

8. Upload

Here’s a little tutorial on how to put your podcast into your WordPress blog:

http://www.macloo.com/examples/audio_player/

Need video?

Open Camtasia or Camstudio. Select screen area. Hit record. Talk. Save. Upload. Learn this TODAY. Camstudio is FREE and easy to learn. Camtasia is a great product.

What about a mike? I’ve found that for starting out, Plantronics headsets work great. Later, you can get an Eidorol and higher quality mike.

Frankly, to start, grab about ANY mike you have. Practice. You’ll at LEAST learn. Then upgrade as you go. Try out different equipment.

You need to learn this.

HTML

You gotta be able to insert tables, position graphics, select font sizes. I think it’s really NICE to know how to screen cap a subhead font and then insert the image.

Also, you should know how to put a nice shadow around your table. That’s a bit more complicated but not bad.

Most people use Dreamwever. It’s the standard. You can also get by with Microsoft Expression Web. In Design Dashboard we taught Evrsoft, a free html editor that’s pretty robust.

Don’t have a name squeeze page? You open your html editor. Insert table. Center. Fill out web form info at Aweber, Getresponse or automateyourwebsite.com. Go to “code” area of html editor.

PASTE and save.

Now you have a name squeeze! OMG! It didn’t cost you an arm and a leg either. You did it yourself.

Have you LOOKED at the Double Your Dating name squeeze?

http://www.doubleyourdating.com

If you CAN’T DO that, you need practice. Seriously. Insert table. Center. Add code. Save and done.

Oops, I forgot. To dress it up add a headline and bullet points. Maybe even a picture of what they get. The ebook or report cover you can outsource, although Design Dashboard shows how to do them too.

KEY POINTS:

1. There IS a set of skills you need to learn
2. These are fairly basic skills
3. You need confidence and proficiency in doing them
4. That comes through practice
5. You do NOT gotta do all the super ninja stuff to sell and make money.
6. You DO gotta do the basics
7. Most people AVOID the pain of learning the basics and focus on super ninja stuff
8. You go super NINJA AFTER you have your basics in place
9. Always work on the basics and never forsake them
10. Gurus have a vested interest in selling super ninja stuff since people are totally enamored with buying bright, shiny objects which is MUCH more exciting than buying something that teaches the basics
11. Grasshopper says you don’t need to spend $5000 to learn the basics. But you can if you have the money and want to. Nothing wrong with it.

A lot of people will spend $3000 to $5000 for advanced methods (or even basic ones) before they’ll spend a few weeks (or less) learning the basics.

I mean, if you can’t format TEXT, insert tables, format and email, set up a web form for your opt ins, and do the basic stuff, I question spending those huge fees for advanced marketing.

I totally and completely believe in education and training. But there is a sequence to things. I think you START with the basics. You don’t start with advanced ninja marketing stuff.

And yeah, I KNOW some say just to outsource it. Fine, if you have the budget. But even then, you’ll STILL pull your hair out waiting for a freelancer to do what YOU could have done in 2 minutes with fairly minimal knowledge.

Don’t get me wrong. I use freelancers and employees. But in the beginning I did it myself.

There IS a time and a place for outsourcing. And when you launch that first site, yeah, you might wanna use a graphic designer to do something slick.

Still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to put together a quick and dirty page or graphic yourself. Or edit the font, text or picture that a designer sends you.

You have to LEARN to see a little deeper sometimes.

When I say STOP OVERCOMPLICATING, what I mean is:

1. You gotta get traffic from one of these — pay-per-click, article writing and submission, banner ads, affiliate program or joint ventures (part of an affiliate program).

Pick ONE and become an expert in it. After that, you can add a second. But you start with ONE and learn it inside and out and make it work. I don’t care which one. Pick one. Pay per click is good but costs money. The Evergreen Traffic System is great but requires time. Affiliate programs are GREAT if you can network. Banner ads are great in niches where you can BUY them.

2. You gotta have a name squeeze page that offers a very enticing freebie to people for getting on your list.

3. You gotta have emails

4. You gotta have a sales letter, sales teleseminar, sales video or sales podcast.

Something has gotta GET people to buy.

Now, here are my questions:

1. Do you have your target market?

If you don’t, get pushbuttontargetmarket.com

2. Do you have a way to get traffic?

If you don’t, try:

http://www.affiliatedashboard.com or http://www.marlonsanders.com/evergreen

3. Do you have a name squeeze page?

Design Dashboard will teach you how. But to start, try hiring designgururyan.com. He is inexpensive and knows what to do.

4. Do you know how to write and format an email?

If you don’t, READ the emails you get from me or whoever. But LOOK and observe. Learn from others.

5. Do you know how to sell via a sales letter, teleseminar, audio or video?

WATCH what others DO and HOW they do it. That is how you learn.

Marlon

———————————————————–
Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Info Product Dashboard.”
If you want to create your own info products, go to:
http://www.productdashboard.com

There is the plan from a master but you need to take action.

As always your comments and questions are welcomed.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: Affiliate Dashsboard, Design Dashboard, get started, Info Product Dashboard, Marlon Sanders

Sometimes I swear that Marlon Sander’s is watching what I am doing . Here is a new article he just released. It fits in so well with the series we have been doing here that I had to add it.

STOP OVERCOMPLICATING: The only 3 things you gotta do and how to get ‘em done in a few weekends.

By Marlon Sanders

Marketing 101 is to get a list of people and sell something to ‘em.

That’s about as basic as it gets.

Step one: Get people on your list

Step two: Send emails

Step three: Sell something

There, now you have the “magical formula’ for making money online. How does it feel?

Of course, as with all things, the devil is in the details. For example, one fly in the ointment is people don’t have a target market.

I solved that with pushbuttontargetmarket.com so I won’t waste time on here.

Another fly in the ointment is having a product to sell. You START by selling affiliate products or PLR. But you create your own product in ONE WEEKEND if you’re halfway
ambitious.

Santos works for me. He’s writing an ebook THIS weekend for his niche (a gaming membership site).

Beyond those two sticking points, the next BIG question is: “So how do I get those people ON my list to begin with?”

The answer is: Offer them something free that they really want.

The more they want it, the higher your conversion rate on your squeeze page, that is the page that gets ‘em to give you their name and email.

There is no “magic formula” for the write freebie to give. Some target audiences might like videos, or audios, or cd’s or podcasts.

In the past, there was an import company called Mellinger that build a multi-million dollar business running classified ads in dozens of magazines offering a free sample import. And they taught you how to run an import/export business.

Their freebie was a free sample import.

If you’re offering a free report, audio or video, the KEY is simply the title you give it.

It’s no more complicated than that.

They have to REALLY want whatever the secret you’re offering is. If they really wanna know about it, they’ll opt in. If they don’t, they won’t.

The format of audio, video, ebook or whatever is secondary to the topic and the secret being offered.

Your actual name squeeze page can be ultra simple. Eben proved that with doubleyourdating.com. Or you can be a tad fancier.

Here’s a page Jonathan Mizel (inventor of the Name Squeeze as evidenced by his trademark on the term) used to use as his example of a fancier name squeeze:

http://www.slotmachinesmastery.com/get.php

See the red circle around the box? You should know how to add something like that to your pages or make sure whoever you use as your graphic designer does.

Should you use a name squeeze page?

How do you come up with a great title for your freebie?

Look at the things that grab YOUR attention. That’s a good start. Look at magazine article titles, subject lines of emails, and so forth.

When something grabs your attention, ask yourself “why?” Why did that grab your attention?

So step one is:

1. Find something your target market really wants to have, see or know.

2. Offer it to them in exchange for joining your list.

It’s no more complicated than that.

Now you have people on your list. Step two: Send emails that continue value and on occasion sell something.

There are advanced methods, secrets and little tricks for name squeeze pages, follow up emails and all that.

But you START with the basics.

Target your group of people. Get ‘em on your list. Send ‘em emails.

Listen, in ONE WEEKEND you can write an ebook. 50 pages. You can do that in one weekend.

In one hour you can write 10 bullets and ask a designer like Design Guru Ryan to create a name squeeze page for you. That would be http://www.designgururyan.com/

Excellent graphic designer who knows how to create a nice name squeeze page for ya.

In one weekend you can create a few Camtasia videos people get as a freebie when they join from your name squeeze page.

You can EVEN do like Eben does on doubleyourdating.com and answer all the bullets on the next PAGE. If you notice, Eben NEVER sends a freebie. Your freebies are all delivered on the next page after you join his list.

STOP OVER COMPLICATING.

Get a stupid name squeeze page DONE! Get a freebie you offer in exchange for a name and email. Get it DONE!

Write your ebook in ONE WEEKEND. 50 pages. THREE PAGES per hour. Ten hours in a day. That is 30 pages per day. 60 pages in two days.

DONE! Finished. Get on with it. If it needs editing, send it off to an Elancer.

Don’t got a target market. Pushbuttontargetmarket.com. Can’t do graphics. Hire Guru Ryan NOW and then get Design Dashboard and get some SKILLS going for yourself.

It’s a GREAT product. I just had Santos watch some of the vids. Heck, I watched the vids. Great stuff. Yeah, Adobe has a new version of Elements. So one or two things changed on the videos. But really, you CAN figure it out.

It isn’t complicated.

You draw boxes. You insert photos. You add a border or shadow. You create a gradient. You add a pattern.

Understand layers.

Understand how to use the canvass.

Understand how to lock layers and view layers.

Know how to add a stroke on text or graphics.

Know how to add a background image or color to a table.

SIMPLE, SIMPLE stuff.

That’s about all things we do in Photoshop and Dreamweaver. You could learn them in a few hours if you set your MIND to it. We use like 3% of the total abilities of Photoshop.

It’s EASY to learn.

Dreamweaver. Insert tables. Center. Add background image. Insert picture. Insert graphics.

That’s your html editor or Dreamweaver basics.

Now, Photoshop. Layers, gradients, patterns. Saving for the web.

Basic, basic, basic stuff.

Let me ask you a question: Can you think of ONE STUPID THING your target audience or market REALLY wants to have, see or know?

Can you think of ONE THING?

If you can, write 10 bullet points on it.

Open html editor.

Insert table.

Center.

Type headline. Select font. Choose dark blue as color.

Type bullet points.

Go to aweber, automateyourwebsite.com or Get Response. Create form. Copy html. Paste in code in html editor.

Name squeeze. DONE! See doubleyourdating.com for example.

Now, you have a list in Aweber, Getresponse or automateyourwebsite.com.

Send emails.

Sign up for affiliate products at Commission Junction or Clickbank. Send emails. Sell.

Here are some other basic things you can do AFTER you’ve done those above. Don’t sweat them until you’ve done the above.

Do live streaming broadcasts for your folks. Or videos using Camtasia. Or regular videos and compile with flvproducer.com

Do a blog in WordPress. Hire an elancer to set up your blog or do it yourself.

Make posts. (Click on write. Write. Then save. Tough stuff!)

Set up Twitter. Tell list about Twitter. You can set it up in TEN minutes or less.

Make more blog posts.

Write article of 300 words. Submit using articlemarketer.com, submityourarticle.com or isnare. In the resource box of the article (the bio box), offer your freebie and send them to your name squeeze page.

Write press release. Submit using prweb.com. This takes a few days to study how to write a press release.

Hint: Search “how to write a press release” on Google.

Buy pay per click words on Google. Track your name squeeze results using their built-in conversion tracking tool. Buying clicks takes more time to learn.

You’ll spend about a month learning how to do ppc.

Set up your affiliate program using affiliatedashboard.com.

These are the BASICS.

This is how you make money in this business if you’re curious and really don’t “get it.”

STOP OVER COMPLICATING.

STOP IT!

Get the basics done. Like starting NOW.

Hit me with your feedback at:

http://www.marlonsnews.com/

Do you agree? Do you think I’m full of it? Hit me with YOUR comments.

Best wishes,

Marlon

———————————————————–
Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Info Product Dashboard.”
If you want to create your own info products, go to:
Info Product Dashboard

Seems like some of the rants I have had lately. Please leave your commnets and let me knwo what you think.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: Affiliate Dashsboard, build list, Design Dashboard, giveaway, Info Product Dashboard, Marlon Sanders, squeeze page