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Issue: July 18, 2003

"The Undeniable Value of Differentiation"

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If you're reading "Starting Smart" because a friend sent this issue to you, get your own copy every other week by clicking either of these addresses.

http://www.9mistakes-online.com
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Here's the link to subscribe:
http://startingsmart.9mistakes-online.com

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"Starting Smart"
The Ezine for the Online Marketing Newbie

July 18, 2003
Karl Augustine - Publisher

Subscribe Link:
http://startingsmart.9mistakes-online.com

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*Greetings...a quick thought, I hope all is well with you...
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Hello,

Welcome to this edition of "Starting Smart". I trust you had a great 2 weeks online.

I've had lots to do these past 2 weeks, I can hardly catch up. Part of making strides with an online business is staying focused and being productive by not being distracted. Lots of online marketers get distracted with surfing forums, reading email, and other things and that can weigh heavy on any scheduled delivery of any other task.

I was talking to an online friend of mine last evening about a variety of things including the concept of 'focus'. My online friend runs an business similar to mine, so it was fun trading war stories...he, like me, hates wasting time and making mistakes.

One thing I realized by talking with him is that no other form of communication is as valuable as "in person" communication. The phone is 2nd best...not email, not audio messages, but real life conversations. This may seem obvious to some, but you'd be surprised how many people can think they will get positive results from just an email.

Get on the phone, make friends! Make partnerships, trade stories, help each other. I guarantee you'll be glad you did. If you want a 'play by play' of how to leave messages and emails for potential JV partners, the full edition of "9 Mistakes..." has it all.

NEWS you may have seen, but in case you missed it...

Yahoo! bought Overture in a stock deal worth $1.6B...the deal is supposed to be sealed by year end. For you and I, this doesn't change much in how we do business. Just be aware of it because your advertising strategy may be altered a little depending on how in-depth you get with PPC strategy.

Read Danny Sullivan's article here...Yahoo!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

All the best online, enjoy this issue...

Karl Augustine
"The Regular Guy"

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In this edition...
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*A terrific new edition to your software arsenal-find partners fast!
*The best ebook in a long long time...Jimmy Brown's "How To Create Best Sellers Online"
*Featured Article: "The Undeniable Value of Differentiation"
*Get Interactive With the Publisher, me!
*Welcome New Subscribers! Help us grow!
*Copyright and Publisher Info

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A new terrific addition to your online education and arsenal...
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**Affiliate/JV tool to save you loads of time! Jun Han and Wincer Song got together and created a great piece of software called Super Affiliate Tracker, S.A.T. for short!

• I started using this software this week and it's solid.
  A+ on ease of use and effectiveness
  A+ on speed and UI (user Interface, what you see, how you navigate, etc.)
  A+ on ease of set up
  A+ with regards to the need for this type of software.

S.A.T. is a true time saver when searching for affiliates or potential JV partners, this is the tool you need. (You'll see my pic on the order page, I look tired huh!)

Get S.A.T. here now and find yourself some partners fast!

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*The best ebook in a long long time...

Jimmy Brown's "How To Create Best Sellers Online". I'll make this quick since I sent a solo message the day I read this book. If you didn't get this book from the 1st message, get it now...

I read it last weekend, A+ on all counts. Not much even needs to be said...don't think about it, just get it...this is truly a "no guilt, no buyer's remorse, nothing but I'm glad I bought it and would again" product.

Pure quality. I'm an author, I know...the best book of it's kind since I can even remember. Click ---> "Create Best Sellers" and get it before the price increases...it will!

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*Featured Article:
"The Undeniable Value Of Differentiation"

With all the people offering products and services online, what sets yours apart from the crowd?

You can't argue this, to succeed you need to differentiate yourself.

Online businesses come and go every day and about 90% fail.

The reasons online businesses fail vary from situation to situation, here's a few:

It could be that the business owner didn't educate themselves properly
It could be that the netreprenuer didn't market correctly
It could be that the webmaster didn't develop a product people were actually willing to pay for
It could be that the newbie didn't spend enough time creating and leveraging the right types of relationships
It could be that the inexperienced Internet marketer didn't remember to be thorough and calculated with their product offering, sales copy, packaging, traffic plan, etc.

All of the above reasons are valid and one of the most common reasons the product offering itself fails, is because the niche market that the business owner is marketing in is semi-saturated and the marketer had no "differentiator".

A differentiator is anything that makes your unique selling proposition differ from any other by the benefits it delivers to the user. Those benefits need to be itemized in the sales copy to make sure the prospect will understand what makes the offering specific to his/her needs.

A differentiator could simply be a different angle or viewpoint on some problem or product not currently realized by anyone else. How many ebooks have been written about Internet marketing?

Hundreds if not thousands...the ones that make money have easily identifiable differentiators.

A differentiator could be an added bonus to your product offering that the prospect can't get anywhere else.

Simple example:
Suppose there are 2 products that a prospect is considering purchasing.

*Product offering #1 offers a bonus that can be easily found on the Internet.
*Product offering #2 offers a bonus that is exclusive to this offering itself that cannot be obtained anywhere else other than through this specific offering.

If both products are equal in benefits to the user and have the same price, which product offering will the prospect choose?

Of course, the prospect will choose Product #2 because of the "exclusivity" of the bonus. That exclusivity is a differentiator.

A differentiator could be a discount on a service that no one else in your niche offers. A differentiator could simply be a promise to respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours. The trait that defines a truly effective differentiator is uniqueness.

A differentiator could even be something as simple as the packaging of the sales process of a product or service itself. The packaging of a product includes graphics, format of delivery, appearance of web presence, etc.

With regards to graphics it is important to understand that people respond positively to visually pleasing graphics regardless of whether the end product of offering is actually affected by those graphics. Due to the average person's reluctance to buy online, the better things look, the better the prospect feels about moving forward with a purchase.

In the online world, the prospect decides to purchase a product or service that is being marketed to them somewhat "virtually"...it is intangible to them until they buy. In this instance, a differentiator could be something as simple as slick graphic or choice of product format-pdf, exe, audio, RAM, MP3, etc.

Before you can actually identify a truly effective differentiator for the product offering, a good amount of competitive intelligence needs to be done within the appropriate vertical niche market. Begin by reviewing all products and services that could be perceived as competitors in that niche market and define the differentiator from there.

Whatever type of differentiator is chosen, it's vital to make certain the prospect clearly can understand the value of it by itemizing the benefits it brings to them.

This is often overlooked and equates to unrealized sales.

Be humble, work smart, keep it simple.

Karl Augustine
"The Regular Guy"

(c) Karl Augustine
http://www.9mistakes-online.com
http://startingsmart.9mistakes-online.com

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Note to other online publishers, webmasters:

Feel free to use the article above on your website or in your publications. You are required to place the 'resource box' below after the article.

To get this article send an email to article3@9mistakes-onlne.com.

(c) Karl Augustine
http://www.9mistakes-online.com
http://startingsmart.9mistakes-online.com
"9 Deadly Mistakes To Avoid When Starting An Online Business". How much time and money have you wasted? For more time saving and money making tips, get your full copy here => http://www.9mistakes-online.com

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*Get Interactive With the Publisher, me!

NEW SECTION: If you have something you would like me to write about, send me an email and I'll choose the most common theme of the requests and write an article that will be published in upcoming editions of "Starting Smart"!

Send an email with your topic choice to: write-about-this@9mistakes-online.com

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*Welcome New Subscribers!

For those of you just joining, welcome!

Your time is valuable and I'll do my level best to make this "read" time well spent. I am just a regular guy, just like many of you out there...I stuck with it, and now am having a blast doing what I love to do. Keep a positive attitude and you can do just about anything....seems like old news, but it works and we all can use a little reminding now and then.

Please forward this ezine in its entirety to any friends or colleagues who you think may find it useful.

Thanks for helping us grow!

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"Starting Smart" newsletter

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*Copyright and Publisher Info
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"Starting Smart" is copyright 2003 by Karl Augustine.
No part of this publication may be reproduced
without consent from the publisher.

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