Mastermind Sessions – Worth your Money!

By Ashwin | October 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Dave Navarro has done a really great job in his recently launched – More Buyers Mastermind 2010 Course – that includes 14 Incredible “virtual mastermind” sessions, from 14 Incredible Entrepreneurs.

By Signing up for this course – you’ll receive 2 Strategy Sessions every week – later followed by Action Plans. If you are an Internet Seller and looking to Grow and Excel in your Online Business, this is a “must signup”!

So far, 4 Strategy Sessions are up and available – they are awesome and value for Money (already!).

You can no longer lock-in the Introductory Price – but still the Sessions are worth the Full Price of the Course.

Click here to Know more and Sign up! (Non-affiliate link, I am recommending because I found it useful and will surely help you Sell more)

Filed Under: Reviews

Batchbook CRM Software : A Review

By Ashwin | October 19, 2010 | 1 Comment

A Robust CRM Software is essential for every Seller! I was using Batchbook CRM Software sometime back (probably 8 months), but didn’t continue due to its Lack of Usability and Complicated Interface. But over the past few months, Batchbook has worked & improved a lot on these aspects and I am giving it a “second” try.

I find it interesting so far and here is a Review of the Product (purely from my perspective)

Solid Features

Contacts Import

I can easily Import Contacts from Google Contacts, Freshbooks, Mailchimp and many other popular services. This way, I can get all my Friends, Co-Workers, Clients and Email Subscribers in to my Batchbook, within minutes. Further, I can also import contacts from vCard and CSV file formats

Clean Dashboard

The Dashboard is very clean, highlighting only the essentials and abstracting the rest. I can also customize the Dashboard and see things that matter the most.

Integrated ToDo List

I manage all my ToDo Tasks related to Clients and Communication, from Batchbook. This way I can keep things together and don’t have to run around for my Tasks and the Contacts

Email Communications

Having an Email Communication with Contacts and wish to record it? Simply forward the Mail to the dedicated Batchbook Mail Address linked to the Account and the communication will be logged

Manage Deals

From within Batchbook, I can Create and Manage all my Deals with Clients. Also, I can associate Tasks, Events and Communications with the Deal – to have everything in a single place

Super Tags for Advanced Tagging

With the Super Tag feature, I can not just tag my Contacts and other entries but also associate Additional details to the Base Tag. For Example, “Website Customer” can be a Super Tag and I can add Attributes like “WordPress Client” etc. under it.

Pricing

Batchbook is very friendly, when it comes to Pricing (at least according to me, considering the similar products around)

A Starter Account with 1 User Account, 2 GB Storage and Unlimited Contacts costs about $9.95/month. Click here to view all the Available Pricing Plans. Each Plan also comes with 30 Days Trial period, for you to try their services

Accessibility

First, the Batchbook CRM is hosted on the Web and always accessible. I don’t need any software installed on the Computer, other than your Browser of course.

Second, Batchbook has recently released their iPhone App and I can have the Contact list handy on the GO. For me, this is a very Powerful Option and strong driver to try Batchbook

Improvements

No tool is perfect; at least not in the first attempt. I can think of the following improvements to the Batchbook Software and I hope those concerned are listening:

Freshbooks Invoices are imported but the Invoice Amounts are Incorrect/Missing
Some Duplicate Contacts across Google & Freshbooks aren’t merged. Instead separate Entries are created for each Contact. An Automatic Merge can be handy!
For a few of My Contacts, the software ignores to locate them on Social Media (though they are there)!

Overall

I am satisfied with the Batchbook CRM Software. It is backed by some Strong Features, Competitively Priced and Highly Accessible. I would highly recommend it to my Sales Friends.

Do you like this Sofware? How do you manage to make the Full Use of it? Let me know!

Filed Under: Reviews

Top 5 Reasons why You are Losing Traffic on your Blog

By Ashwin | October 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment

A Blog is hale and healthy, as its Traffic. Once the Traffic starts Decreasing, eventually the Conversions and Sales through the Blog, start moving South. So, it is absolutely essential that you keep your Blog Traffic on the Rising Mode.

Do you know the “Top 5 Reasons” why Your Blog might be Losing Traffic?

1. Stale Content

You must keep pumping New Content in to your Blog, on a Regular Basis. A Blog with Stale Content can lose Traffic very fast.

Maintain a Blogging Schedule and Stick to it. Find out what your Readers like and Post more of such Content. “Action brings Traffic” – and that’ very true with your Blog.

2. No Promotion

With so many Blogs and Sites existing, it is hard for People to read your Blog all the Time. Also, Search Engine results keep varying based on the Relevance and Popularity of the Sources.

Thus, you must Make Sure to Promote your Content through Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon etc.) and Blog Networks. Never wait for the Search Engines or your Readers to Promote – though that is important too.

Proactively Promote Blog Content for Better Traffic

3. Content Not Optimized for Search Engines

If the content in your Blog is not optimized for Search Engines, then over a period of time the Traffic decrease.

Though you have been writing and promoting Content, the Search Engines are unable to find them. Since, most readers reach Blogs or Sites from Search Engines results – it is essential that your Content is optimized.

4. Poor Design

Though this is not a direct cause for Losing Traffic, a Bad Design can prevent one-time and occasional readers to reach your Blog again.

This is more of a non-verbal reason than a tangible one, but it can surely impact the Traffic.

5. Poor Networking

Network with your Readers. Network with your fellow Niche Bloggers.

Without these networks, it is difficult for your Blog to Survive and attract more Traffic. Your Blog is part of the “huge” Blogosphere and Networking is essential to thrive.

To Summarize…

Here are the Top 5 Reasons why your are losing Traffic on your Blog (make sure to correct them, if there’s a problem):

Stale Content
No Promotion
Content not Optimized for Search Engines
Poor Design
Poor Networking

Know of any other Reason to lose Traffic on a Blog. Share it with us!

Filed Under: Blogging

Weekend Reads and Deals – October 16

By Ashwin | October 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment

During the Weekend, I will Share with you some interesting Reads that came out during the Week and also some Interesting Deals for you, if any.

Here are some of the “not to miss” Posts that came out during this week:

7 Things you must Do to Make your Product Launch Easier – Dave, as usual has come up with an excellent post and gives you some important things, that can make your Product Launch a Breeze
Customer Service is Everyone’s Job – Read this post by John and I am sure you will appreciate it
How to take Control of your Financial Life – This is not exactly a Sales topic, but it’s a nice read for anyone dealing with Money
How to Choose and Hire a Web Designer – In this post, Cynthia gives you all that you need to choose and hire a Web Designer, for your next Project
Autoresponder on ‘Roids – A good start, if you are trying to know more about and start using Autoresponders

Deals

Envato Marketplace has an amazing deal of a “WordPress Bundle Pack” – that includes WP Plugins, Themes, PSD Templates and an eBook.

The Bundle is worth $250+, but you can get it for just $30 until Wednesday, October 20 2010. Click here to grab the deal.

Customer Service Is Everyone’s Job

Filed Under: Weekend Reads

Ethics and your Blogging Business

By Ashwin | October 1, 2010 | 3 Comments

Professional Blogging is a Business. As with every Business, it is absolutely necessary to be Ethical with Blogging.

We all take care to be Good to ourselves, when running a Blog.

But how can we be Good to our Readers and Fellow Bloggers?

No Plagiarism

Plagiarism is one serious thing, that can greatly affect the Credibility of your Blog. The Primary Attribute of a Blogger is Authenticity and Credibility – and plagiarism can do serious damage, to both these!

But, never confuse Plagiarism with the usage of Excerpts and References to related content. They are always good and healthy to your Blogging Business. As a thumb rule, make sure to keep in mind the following, before including relevant content in your Blog Posts:

Check if the Content can be Referred or Used with Attribution (Best way is to the check the Copyright Information on the Source Website/Blog)
Make sure the Source Content is not Paid/Premium. If yes, chances are high that it cannot be Referred or Reused
If in doubt, contact the Source Content Owner to clarify any questions before using the content

No Spam

When your Blog gets Subscribers – you not only Get their Email Addresses, but also their Trust.

Avoid Misusing the Trust or their Email Addresses at any cost. Don’t Spam your Subscribers. Before publishing content to your Subscribers make sure to ask yourself the following questions:

Will I be happy to receive such content or promotion in my Inbox?
Does it add Value to your Subscribers?
Did you experience the Benefit yourself, before recommending to your Subscribers?

No Promotion to Illegal Content

At any cost, don’t promote Illegal Content. It marks a scar on your Blog’s reputation and though you may get immediate benefits, they may not work well on a long term.

Some examples of Illegal Content include:

Pirated Software
Illegal Distribution of Copyrighted Videos
Sharing Paid eBooks or other Material for Free
Selling Email Addresses
Sharing or Promoting Confidential Information

In short, don’t promote or share anything, that you won’t do, if it was your own!

No to Offensive Content

Never publish anything on your Blog that can be offensive to your Primary Readers. That not only hurts their emotion, but also can damage the reputation of your Blog.

I want to be clear on the message here! Your Blog’s primary niche may be a generally offensive content – but that’s not what I am talking about.

Don’t do or publish anything that might be Offensive to the Primary Readers of your Blog, in your own Niche!

To Conclude

Be always nice to your Readers. Not just that – be nice to your Fellow Bloggers and other Internet Marketers you deal with. After all, your Blog is part of the Big Ecosystem and it cannot flourish without being nice to others in the System. Being Ethical also makes you an Inspiration and Illustration for others to emulate! Happy Blogging.

Photo Credit: Creative commons