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How To Use Free Reports On One-Page Websites and Ads To Drive Traffic

by Marlon Sanders

Don't have a lot of time?

a. File a domain name at Namecheap or any other domain name registration service.

b. Create a one-page landing page.

Your website should have one page. That's what I call a landing page. And that page offers a free report. There are a lot of terrific programs that can help you create a simple web page quickly. I use Dreamweaver but it's expensive for this purpose. FrontPage is easy to use and has a lot of great features.

You can also find some free HTML editors if you search Google.

Here are examples of free reports you might offer for different types of products. They all begin with the same words: HOW TO...

• Meet beautiful women (men) who are honest, loving and intelligent
• Amazing secrets of saving money on all computer products
• Unleash the hidden power of windows
• Advertise your home on the Internet and sell it fast
• Separate the truth from the trash about weight loss programs
• Discover the truth about (insert any topic)
• Save 75% on travel using a little-known secret

You can use the techniques I give you in Plan 10 to create titles for your free reports. The title of your free report means everything. One way to get ideas for your free reports is to study the classified ads in the back of magazines, in e-zines, and so forth.

Get ideas from what other people do.

c. Offer your free report through ads and as a tag to posts in forums.

This plan is similar to Plan One except that you're creating a new website and it only contains one page, which is your free report. The same advice applies to your free report as mentioned above. Show people how to do something specific.

The magic words for your advertising are: FREE REPORT REVEALS...

Those words have been selling products for many years offline. You would run a classified ad or small display ad in a magazine that said, "Free report reveals how to blah, blah, blah."

Then, when people wrote or called for the free report, you would send the report and a sales letter, or a combination of the two. ALL types of products have been sold with free reports. Everything from hair restoration to weight loss and investments.

If you're stuck for ideas on free reports, read the titles of articles in Reader's Digest magazine and the cover of Cosmo. Regardless of the country you live in, you should be able to get a copy of those magazines.

If not, just scan any magazine rack for article titles that get your attention. Let's say you see an article called "7 Secrets to Keep From Getting Ripped Off When You Buy Nail Polish".

You then adapt that title to your product. "7 ways people get ripped off when they buy widgets and how to avoid them." You see, you let the article title create an idea in your brain. You don't have to use it verbatim. Just use the idea.

I can best explain how to do this by giving examples for my product. Then I'll give examples for other products. I have a member's only website where people conduct marketing tests and report the results.

Here are potential ad headlines I wrote based on what people found out by conducting different tests.

* $1600 in 18 hours with a very simple method. Easy!

* 4 words that turned a banner ad from a $14 a week to $14 a day!

* Which price sells most? $29 $39? $49? $59 $69? $97? (You'd think $29 or $39. Right? Wrong!)

* Which sells more products? A site with content or site with only sales information? The truth will shock you!

* A one-word change in an ad that doubled results

* How a 30% price increase zoomed profits

* 3 words that boosted ad response 8%

* A nifty little change that doubled profits

* Banner ad gets 6% click-through

* From 3.3% response to 8%. Here's how it's done.

* This letter doubled sales

* A simple twist and now 10% of visitors buy

* Special sale nets 5.6% response

Next, what you do is turn your headlines into ads. Those ads could be banners, e-zine ads, pay-per-click, blog ads, pop-ups, pop-unders, contextual advertising or other creative methods.

Banner ads for the most part get really low click-through rates nowadays. But if you're selling in a niche, they can still work and be profitable. It just depends on the market and how much you're paying for them. It's all about dollars out and dollars in. If the dollars in exceed the dollars out, you have a profit.

Later, I'll talk about the different places you can buy ads. But let's talk just a second about banners. Again, they may not be your FIRST advertising choice, but neither can you count them out.

To illustrate how to do this, I turned the above headlines into banners: Click here.

The point is NOT for you to use my banners. I wanted to show you how to take headlines and report titles and turn them into banner ads.

Or, of course, you can come up with your own free report ideas and create your own banners ads and/or classified ads. When you write your free report, use the idea and the test results.

The best way to do this is to break it down into a step-by-step formula people can follow. Remember, the free report needs to give valuable INFORMATION that people can use.

And please pay attention to this. The key to a report that works is to give very specific information that shows you know what you're talking about. Vague stuff doesn't work. All of the examples I gave you above are specific and will arouse curiosity. Then if you write about the topic and reveal some good information, you're going to develop credibility and trust with your reader.

The purpose of the report is to give information and develop credibility. Do NOT hype the product you're promoting. That's the job of my sales letter. And it works to perfection. Your job is to get people to click on your reseller URL in an attitude of trust.

This results in the highest conversion rate possible.

How To Create Free Reports

Of course, now you're wondering, "OK, how do I create a free report?"

Writing one is easy if you have an outline. Here are several that will work for you.

Method one:

a. Begin with a promise.

For example, you can say, "In this report, I'm going to reveal a simple 2-minute change that increased our hits-to-sales ratio by 37%."

b. List and explain the benefits. "Here are the benefits of this method:..."

One: It only takes a few minutes...(Explain this point in one or two paragraphs.)

Two: It's free...(Explain this point in one or two paragraphs.)

Three: Not many people know about it so you have a competitive advantage...(Explain this point in one or two paragraphs.)

c. Explain the solution...

I like to break things down into steps like I'm doing here. Step one, step two, step three and so forth.

d. If it helps, provide screen captures that show how to do what you're talking about. Show people. Don't just tell them. I use a program called Ultrasnap.

e. Provide an example. After you've explained how to do it, refer people to an illustration or example that shows people the end result.

f. Give your resource box where you reference your reseller URL:

This article is by John Doe of Blahblah Company. John operates an Internet business where he shows people how to sell more products online and offline. If you're spending a lot of time on your computer because you are involved in marketing a business (your own or someone else's), then check out this program John heartily endorses: http://www.insertresellerdomain.com/cgi-bin/t.cgi/XXXX

Method two:

Method two is similar to method one except you focus on solving a problem.

a. State the problem

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you start Windows 98, you lose 30% or 40% of your system resources?

b. Point out the ways the problem causes you trouble

This means after you launch your e-mail program and one or two other items, you're often almost out of system resources. Sometimes your computer freezes up and you have to reboot. Then you have a big long wait while Windows reboots. It's a total hassle.

c. Explain solutions people try that don't work

Now, you've tried adding additional RAM. But guess what? It doesn't help. The problem is your total system resources and not your RAM. You've tried limiting the number of programs you open. But you run a business. You need to open these programs. What's the solution?

d. Explain the cause of the problem

The reason for this problem is what's called your System Tray. It's the group of icons on the bottom right-hand side of your computer that automatically start when Windows starts. These programs suck up your System Resources.

In addition, some programs are memory hogs. And when you shut them down, Windows doesn't free up the systems resources they required to run. After this happens a couple times, your computer grinds to a halt.

d. Give 6 tips to solve the problem

Here are 6 tips for solving your problem:

1. Download the program MaxMem. This program sits in your system tray and scans for memory leaks then frees up the stolen memory for you.

2. Go to Start, Run and type "msconfig", and click OK.

3. On the page which appears, click on the "startup" tab

4. Uncheck any boxes of programs that shouldn't be running in your start tray.

5. If you don't recognize a program there, then copy the name of the program like "xyz.exe" and go to Start, Find, Files or Folders, paste in the name of the program and do a search. This will show you where the program is located on your computer. You can usually figure out what it does after you do that.

6. Visit the discussion board we have set up to allow folks to discuss other possible solutions to this problem. It's located at: http://www.blahblahblah...

e. Give your resource box where you reference your reseller URL:

This article is by John Doe of Blahblah Company. John operates an Internet business where he shows people how to sell more products online and offline. If you're spending a lot of time on your computer because you are involved in marketing a business (your own or someone else's), then check out this program John heartily endorses: http://www.insertyourdomain.com/cgi-bin/t.cgi/XXXX

3 Ways To Make Money With Your Reports

One: You can expand it and use it as a free report that you promote through banner ads

Two: You can submit a short version to ezines as well as targeted magazines offline

Three: You can send it out as a press release using one of the resources we discuss later

The best way to think about free reports is that they are BAIT. It's like you're catching fish and you need bait the fish will bite on. Do NOT spend a month coming up with your bait. The key to the bait is the title. Get a good title that makes people WANT to get the information.

Then give them the information you promised in short order and then sell'em something! You must deliver the info you promised or you'll lose credibility. But you don't have to give them a book. Just deliver what you promised.

If the fish don't bite on the bait you're using, what do you do? Use some different bait! Come up with a different title for your free report or write another one. Your report only needs to be 300 to 600 words. Most people can write that much in 1 to 3 hours. When you're starting out, it may take longer. But with practice, you'll get fast!

Marlon Sanders pioneered the popular e-book format and invented the 2-page mini-site format, thereby revolutionized the entire self-publishing and Internet Marketing industries. He is an evergreen Internet marketer who has created excellent products for the most crucial aspects of online marketing and marketed them better than almost anyone else. Check out his all-new 2006 version of "The Amazing Formula" that has helped so many people make 6-figure income with their own capabilities. Here is the CD-ROM that best reflects who Marlon is, his business strategies and what makes him click.

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