It was the soft drink company Sprite (tm) that so blatantly advertised their original phrase "Image Is Nothing".

Whilst drinking soda might not thrive on creating an image for yourself, doing business online certainly does.

Your customers demand trust, reliability and assurance that they're dealing with genuine folk. Without any one of those things and oops, you've just lost the sale.

Let's face it - the Internet is essentially an anonymous medium which means that prospects are a lot more weary when having to part with their hard earned cash as opposed to doing business in the 'real world'.

There's no face-to-face communication. No reassuring smile from the salesman. In fact, current technologies such as email (however essential they may be) render you as nothing more than a page of text. You're no longer a person, you're a walking, talking, online sales letter.

And without the human touch, you're a bad sales letter too.

I bet if I was to ask you to name 3 Internet Marketers that have inspired you in some way, you could easily do so.

Have you noticed how the same names seem to crop up over and over again? Notice how the same articles by the same people constantly appear in lots of the e-zines that you read, and websites that you visit?

This kind of fame brings endless benefits to their online businesses. With it, they can:

* INSTANTLY inspire trust. * Have products SELL LIKE CRAZY. * Generate ENDLESS visitors to your site. * Produce MORE money with LESS effort.

Think about it. The hardest part of getting the sale is convincing people that your product or service is worth it. If they already trust your knowledge and experience, and can sense your genuineness, BINGO, half of the work is done.

I've developed a simple 4-step guide that will IMMEDIATELY start generating more sales for you than ever before. If you employ these tactics in your online business, you WILL start to see a huge difference. I mean it!

1) Establish a Name For Yourself
Having your own domain name is worth it's weight in gold. I fail to see why anyone would even consider running an online business without one, and it surprises me to see how many people are still using a free web space provider.

Which looks more appealing?..

http://members.thewebspaceprovider.com/~membername/file.htm
or
http://www.yourname.com

There really is no contest. You'll also need to ensure that your website is clean, professional, and made for the job.

Dump all of those free banner exchange links that clutter up your page. Don't cloud the purpose of your website, make it clear what you offer, and make your site easy to use.

I challenge you to take a good look at your website right now and put yourself in the customers shoes. Would you buy from a site like yours? You may have some serious thinking to do.

After all, if your website doesn't portray the right image, then neither do you. And unfortunately, this reflects on you.

2) Tell Them Who You Are
Dedicate a page on your website to let visitors get to know the person behind the operation. Tell them about yourself, your background, and how you can help them.

Tell them your successes, your achievements, your biography and even include a nice little picture of yourself.

The more they know about you, the more personal the whole website experience becomes. If they feel that they 'know you', then they're more likely to buy from you. It's that simple.

3) Show Off Your Skills And Network
Use of the Internet for your business shouldn't just end with your website. There's a big wide world out there full of people who are interested in what you offer, so get out there and start meeting some of them.

Participate in discussion forums related to your area of expertise. Become a moderator for an online forum. Help people out and generally interact with your market.

(You can check out my forum at http://cyberprosper.com/forum )

If you make a name for yourself as an expert, you're the first that people will turn to when it comes to needing a product or service that you offer.

4) Write Helpful Articles And Get Them Published
Writing articles and getting them featured in a target publication is once of the easiest, and most effective ways to promote your image and personality.

Making yourself into a household brand is what you should be looking to achieve. It helps so much if people know who you are, and sales will sky rocket.

No doubt you've tried E-zine advertising in your time, and realised how effective it can be. But an article can pull in at least a 10 times greater response rate than ANY advert can get. Here's why....

If someone enjoys reading your article, they will instantly learn to like you. They respect your help, advice and opinions on that particular subject, and will instantly perceive you as an expert in the field.

The result is an INSTANT positive reputation. You will have succeeded in creating the right image.

There are lots of e-zines that are looking for quality content to feature in every issue, so compile a list of your favorite newsletters and ask them if they accept articles. Chances are they'll say yes.

Developing the right image is essential for your online success. Do yourself a favor and think about what I have said. Are you doing your best to project the right image?

Until next time.

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