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Neil Asher

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Neil Asher

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Neil Asher

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Neil Asher

Get in touch!!

Neil Asher

I wanted to show you exactly what I’m doing for
my new sites so you can apply this yourself.

First the sites are built on word press, simply put
you’d have to be crazy to choose any other platform.

WordPress is very customizable and has a ton of
great plug ins to make it do what you want.

so use wordpress

second as I mentioned already the shopping cart we
use is www.totalbusinesscart.com

why?

Because it does WAAAAY more than we need it to and
it’s cheap and does what it says on the tin, simply.

third

Here’s a list of the wordpress plug ins we will be using:

WordPress SEO – Very cool and fairly new, we moved
from the All In One SEO Pack to this plugin and have
been impressed by its flexibility and RSS support
along with its simple setup. It also handles Google XML
Sitemap duties, which means we don’t need that particular
plugin anymore.

Sexy Bookmarks – Adds an attractive social bookmarking
menu to your posts, pages, index, or any combination of
the three. Important to Google for showing that you’re after
social interaction with your site, we’ve seen a boost from just
having these buttons on-page.

WP OnlyWire Autoposter – Syndicates your blog posts/articles
to over 20 social networking sites simultaneously using
OnlyWire.com’s infrastructure when you publish a post.
Increases your site’s traffic AND generates fantastic
backlinks, what could be better?

SEOPressor – An absolute MUST, it’s our best timesaver
and most accurate on-page optimization tool
towards ranking. And I don’t want to hear any
whining about what it costs, scrape some pennies
out of the couch cushions and make it happen

OK so now here’s something you may not realize

I have no idea how to build a website )

Instead I stick to what I’m good at and get the best
affordable talent to do it all for me, whilst I concentrate
on marketing.

So as a special treat let me share with you my top 2
people.

1. Ed Hadome. Ed does ALL my work on ALL my businesses
I have tried a ton of people and he’s the only one I trust.

He gets marketing and gets how to make money.

you can check him out here:

http://askedward.co.uk/

Ed builds all my sites, I have tried other people
but invariably they end up pissing me off because
they have no idea how to sell, Ed knows how to sell.

2. I use e-lance for LOTS of my stuff I have a core team
of designers, copy writers and, product creators etc

If you need a referral for anything let me know

So there you go, my secret weapons in making money

1 request…. I use Ed A LOT, he’s a good guy and has LOTS
of time for people, so don’t take the p*ss. If you get in touch
have an idea and be ready to take action.

Fair enough?

Otherwise he’ll have no time to do all the stuff I get him doing!

Neil

P.S I have had a ton of e-mails asking me if I’m going to start
teaching people how to make money online again.

The answer is no.

I love writing these e-mails and to be honest I make LOTS
more money actually applying this myself than I would teaching it

As my dad says “those that can do, those that can’t teach”

but as I said I’m happy to tell you exactly what I do in my own
businesses, what works and what doesn’t. It’s up to you to apply it.

I spend a lot of time thinking about the future.

What will happen and the opportunities that it will create.

If you haven’t ben paying attention you may have missed what I believe is the most exciting opportunity so far this millennium, the first trillionaire will be made in this industry without a doubt.

I defy you to watch this and not be blown away.

Just think of the possibilities this presents to us as entrepreneurs.

Digital delivery of physical goods is now possible.

WOW!

Neil Asher

The top 100 websites by revenue

Top 100 websites by revenue

You can learn a lot from other businesses.

I am in no way shape or form a creative guy, I am however brilliant at seeing what works in one industry and then APPLYING those ideas in my own businesses.

So as part of my on going research I keep my eye on the top 100 websites in the English speaking world by revenue.

I figure if I’m going to research I might as well research the people who are making billions online right?

So anyway, here’s the top 100 websites by revenue, along with a link so you can check them out and their latest yearly online sales.

The top 100 websites by revenue

1. Amazon.com Inc. Mass Merchant

2. Staples Inc. Office Supplies

3. Apple Inc. Computers / Electronics

4. Dell Inc. Computers / Electronics

5. Office Depot Inc. Office Supplies

6. Walmart.com Mass Merchant

7. Sears Holdings Corp. Mass Merchant

8. Liberty Media Corp. (QVC, Liberty E-Commerce) Mass Merchant

9. OfficeMax Inc. Office Supplies

10. CDW Corp. Computers / Electronics

11. Best Buy Co. Computers / Electronics

12. Newegg Inc. Computers / Electronics

13. Netflix Inc. Books / Music / Videos

14. SonyStyle.com Computers / Electronics

15. W.W. Grainger Inc. Hardware / Home Improvement

16. Costco Wholesale Corp. Mass Merchant

17. Macy’s Inc. Mass Merchant

18. Victoria’s Secret Direct & Bath and Body Works Apparel / Accessories

19. HP Home & Home Office Store Computers / Electronics

20. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. Mass Merchant

21. L.L. Bean Inc. Apparel / Accessories

22. Target Corp. Mass Merchant

23. Systemax Inc. Computers / Electronics

24. Gap Inc. Direct Apparel / Accessories

25. Williams-Sonoma Inc. Housewares / Home Furnishings

26. HSN Inc. Mass Merchant

27. Overstock.com Inc. Mass Merchant

28. Amway Global Health / Beauty MLM

29. Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. Toys / Hobbies

30. Avon Products Inc. Health / Beauty MLM

31. Kohl’s Corp. Mass Merchant

32. Buy.com Inc. Mass Merchant

33. Redcats USA Apparel / Accessories

34. Nordstrom Inc. Apparel / Accessories

35. Symantec Corp. Computers / Electronics

36. Vistaprint Ltd. Office Supplies

37. PC Connection Inc. Computers / Electronics

38. Saks Direct Apparel / Accessories

39. Neiman Marcus Group Inc., The Apparel / Accessories

40. Cabela’s Inc. Sporting Goods

41. BarnesandNoble.com Inc. Books / Music / Videos

42. Blockbuster Inc. Books / Music / Videos

43. Home Depot Inc., The Hardware / Home Improvement

44. Musician’s Friend Inc. Specialty / Non-apparel

45. 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. Flowers / Gifts

46. drugstore.com Inc. Health / Beauty

47. Peapod LLC Food / Drug

48. Urban Outfitters Inc. Apparel / Accessories

49. Gilt Groupe Apparel / Accessories

50. J. Crew Group Inc Apparel / Accessories

51. CSN Stores LLC Housewares / Home Furnishings

52. PC Mall Inc. Computers / Electronics

53. Foot Locker Inc. Apparel / Accessories

54. Scholastic Inc. Books / Music / Videos

55. Crate and Barrel Housewares / Home Furnishings

56. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Apparel / Accessories

57. American Eagle Outfitters Inc. Apparel / Accessories

58. Follett Higher Education Group Books / Music / Videos

59. U.S. Auto Parts Network Automotive Parts / Accessories

60. Blue Nile Inc. Jewelry

61. Market America Mass Merchant

62. Recreational Equipment Inc. Sporting Goods

63. Nutrisystem Inc. Food / Drug

64. Oriental Trading Co. Inc. Specialty / Non-apparel

65. Zones Office Supplies

66. Shutterfly Inc. Specialty / Non-apparel

67. YOOX Group Apparel / Accessories

68. Microsoft Corp. Computers / Electronics

69. Ancestry.com Inc. Specialty / Non-apparel

70. Ralph Lauren Media LLC Apparel / Accessories

71. FTD Group Inc. Flowers / Gifts

72. Diapers.com Health / Beauty

73. Walgreen Co. Food / Drug

74. Disney Shopping Inc. Specialty / Non-apparel

75. FreshDirect LLC Food / Drug

76. Signature Styles LLC Apparel / Accessories

77. Hayneedle Inc. Mass Merchant

78. Nike Inc. Apparel / Accessories

79. Orchard Brands Corp. Apparel / Accessories

80. Build.com Inc. Hardware / Home Improvement

81. Weight Watchers International Inc. Food / Drug

82. RueLaLa.com Mass Merchant

83. CVS Caremark Corp. Food / Drug

84. ShopNBC.com Mass Merchant

85. Northern Tool + Equipment Co. Hardware / Home Improvement

86. Bass Pro Outdoor Online LLC Sporting Goods

87. Shoebuy.com Inc. Apparel / Accessories

88. Sierra Trading Post Inc. Apparel / Accessories

89. Net-a-Porter LLC Apparel / Accessories

90. Vitacost.com Inc.  Health / Beauty

91. Lowe’s Cos. Inc. Hardware / Home Improvement

92. Eddie Bauer LLC Apparel / Accessories

93. Coldwater Creek Inc. Apparel / Accessories

94. Bluestem Brands Inc. Apparel / Accessories

95. Ann Inc. (formerly Ann Taylor Stores Corp.) Apparel / Accessories

96. Army & Air Force Exchange Service Mass Merchant

97. Colony Brands Inc. Food / Drug

98. Football Fanatics Inc. Apparel / Accessories

99. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. Food / Drug

100. Etronics Inc. Computers / Electronics

So there you go, the top 100 websites by revenue… As you would expect there is a disproportionate number of tech companies selling PC’s etc… BUT what’s surprising (for me at least) is the number of companies that 5 years ago you would NEVER have expected to see online. Who would have thought we’d be buying our clothes and shoes online 5 years ago?

Not me.

Expect this to get more and more diverse as other industries catch up.

FYI Amazons online sales last year were $34,200,000,000 That’s BILLION!

If you like this post hit like below so I know to give you more like this post.

Neil

Business is fun, I love the idea of creating value and making a quid for my efforts, it puts a smile on my face and spring in my step )

BUT

It's a jungle out there - Neil Asher

Make no mistake, it’s a jungle out there.

Money is a powerful motivator for people and there are people who will do anything they can to get money, specifically YOUR money.

There are basically 2 ways to win at business;

1. Be the best in your niche

2. Be the only one in your niche

Normally I talk about being the best in your niche, however once you get started you’ll quickly learn that there are plenty of other businesses who’ll stop at nothing to be the only one in that niche too.

As I said it’s a jungle out there, to survive you have to know how to fight when you need to.

Over my 20 years of business experience I have occasionally had to defend my business against attacks from competitors, I have found the best form of defence is invariably to attack back.

So here’s 5 simple ways to kill your competition in your niche.

advertise negative keywords

Report to ASA:

The Advertising Standards Authority is a simple tried and test strategy to give your competitors a headache.

99% of ads that companies run fall foul of the ASA’s guidelines, a cursedly glance at their site shows the extent of the battles that are fought between the major companies on the UK high street:

http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adjudications.aspx?date=12/21/2011#results

From Tesco, sainsburies and Asda doing battle to Phones 4U.

A confident at the ASA admitted that 99% of their complaints where instigated by rival companies, making the ASA unwilling pawns in the battle for your cash.

So, first port of call is to report your competitors to the ASA.

Adwords Strategy

Google adwords is brilliant, I am still amazed how much money can be made from it so easily, and how few business owners utilise this simple but effective tool.

For all it’s good it can be used for battle too, here’s how;

No matter how good your business is you will get complaints, no matter how well you handle complaints the sad truth is that some people would rather go online and bitch about your company than come and talk to you directly to solve it.

Naturally as a business owner you do everything you can to mitigate these complaints but once they’re online they’re their for all to see.

Why not help customers find the negative reviews that your competitor so desperately wants to hide.

A very effective strategy is to place google ads on buying keywords and direct the traffic to the bad reviews online.

nasty huh… works VERY well.

It’s brutal in the big bad business world and it’s best you prepare yourself for attack so you can defend should you find yourself on the receiving end.

Write negative reviews

Naturally the adwords strategy won’t work if there are no negative reviews online, so why not create your own and post them to sites dedicated to bitching and moaning.

This is highly unethical, however I know this happens all the time.

Tripadvisor is at the heart of a VERY BIG ongoing legal battle with a group of hotels that have been targeted with negative reviews by competitors, the hotels can do F.A to remove these false reviews and their business is slowly being killed as a result.

Think this couldn’t happen to you?

Think again.

Instant search

You’ve seen Googles latest innovation with instant search, this is when Google sees what you’re typing in the search box and offers suggestions as to what you might like to see.

This is VERY easy to game.

I have used this on numerous affiliate sites to get keywords that i want to appear to appear,

quite simply it is repetition and diverse users that make a keyword show up in instant search.

If you get 10 people in 10 different locations (a location as defined by IP address NOT physical location) to search for “(business name) rip off” then lo and behold that search terms comes up in instant search after a few iterations of doing this.

then it’s just a simple case of having the domain name and doing very very simple SEO on it and you’re done.

Register web sites

So the instant search naturally you’ll want to make sure you register www.(your own business name)ripoff.com ASAP

There are MANY more ways, however for the next level it starts getting pretty gnarly and I’d rather not share those strategies publicly as I use them more often than I care to admit.

However, what i’ve shared here will kill 95% of attackers.

This is not a pretty fluffy post, I hope I’ve shook you up a bit.

Business IS fun, it IS rewarding and I believe it is a great vehicle for personal growth. I would however be doing you a grave disservice if I didn’t give you the whole picture.

I don’t know anyone else who does, do you?

Neil

P.S I welcome your comments on this post.

Greetings

Neil Asher - what to do when things go wrong

BUT

What about when stuff goes wrong?

Most people won’t tell you about that stuff as
“it’s bad for business” meaning they want you
to think everything is perfect.

Believe me…. sh*t happens!

So I thought I’d give you a heads up on a recent project
and some of the problems we’ve had so that you
can avoid them

Lesson No 1.
Test everything (twice) and expect problems.

I regularly get people on my facebook page to help
me test out websites in exchange for free products.

This is a great strategy and gives you some VERY
valuable info, however, even after doing this and all
my team going through the site invariabley when we
go “live” we get problems.

So my advice put your site live and slowly send traffic to it!

Lesson No 2
Everything costs twice as much and takes 3 times as long

We test 2 business ideas a month usually, we have it down to
an art, everything is systemized, we have great suppliers we
work with, and still we hit snags that end up costing us time
and money, this is inevitable.

My advice, when you do your plan, double everything!

Lesson No 3
Traffic starts slow…. deal with it

When I put a business live the temptation to
send massive amounts of traffic to the site is
hard to resist.

I like nothing more than making 5 – 6 grand on the first
day of a new site.

BUT

This is not the way to do things.

This is a recipe for losing tons of cash fast.

My advice, start with the very best targeted traffic you can.

Once you can make that convert, start to broaden your keywords
and targeting in facebook.

Then as you know how things convert you can ramp up

So there you go.

If you take my advice you’ll save a ton of time
and money.

Neil Asher

Happy New Year!

Have you seen the movie, “The Secret?”

I saw it. I loved it. I think I watched it three times. It made me feel really good about my life and my dreams and my aspirations…

… but you know what?

It doesn’t work!

The ideas in the movie are amazing – positive thinking, setting your intention, creative visualization, abundance mindset – but that’s not enough.

Never has been. Never will be.

Everyday, I meet bright-eyed positive thinkers who never get anything done.

I mean nothing.

They can’t pay their rent, they stay in crapy jobs they hate, they don’t go to the dentist… I could go on and on, but I’ll stop.

What the world needs is NOT more dreams. We need more action takers. More people who wake up in the morning when their alarm clock goes off (instead of hitting the snooze button 4 times).

We need people who eat more Steak and less broccoli. People who are serious about creating wealth, happiness and abundance in their lives…

… people who are NOT AFRAID to actually get off the couch and do something!

You can make “dream boards” or sit around “imagining” how you’d love your body and life to be all day long. It’s fun and uplifting, but ultimately pointless until you do something.

Let me tell you a story so you get this deep down under your skin.

My first bicycle was a hard rubber-tired Schwinn red & white tank that my dad fixed up for me.

It was a collector’s item to be sure, but it was not a bike that any kid in 1984 wanted to be seen riding around on.

What Will YOU Do To Get Your Mongoose?

The one I wanted was a Mongoose BMX with black mag wheels and a blue steel frame. My family didn’t have much back then, but instead of sitting around staring at the picture of the bike in a magazine hoping some positive thinking fairies were going to take pity on me and give me the bike of my dreams, I forced the issue.

I mowed lawns. I did chores. I cleaned cars.

It took me 9 months, but I saved up £268 pounds and I bought the damn thing myself. For cash.

That, my friend, is the real “Secret.”

Suck up your pride, strap on your boots, and get to work. You want something? Great, now take some massive action and get it.

Here’s why I’m telling you all this:

I’m a wealthy guy, but it’s not magic.

I found a system that worked – list building, PPC, copywriting – and I followed that system until I got the results I wanted. I work my ass off and I make sacrifices, take risk and get on with it.

My old bank balance was like that hard rubber-tired Schwinn. It was OK to look at, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to ride that thing around for the rest of my life.

Now, I got my BMX…

Want yours?

Do you really?

Then you have to get started, not sure how to get started?

Try putting £200 aside to learn and then pick something….anything to be an affiliate for, and start.

You’ll lose your £200.

BUT

You’ll LEARN and by learning you’ll get better. Afraid to screw up and lose £200?

Then stick to doing nothing, you’re not cut out to be an entrepreneur.

If you’re happy with your crappy old Schwinn… do what you’ve always done

Neil

How can you almost guarantee the success of your business?

Wish You Were Here - Next Year You Could Be

Well you can’t guarantee business success, anyone that tells you that is lying.

But you can increase the odds of success, I use a 15 point process when i’m evaluating business ideas, I’m not going to share it all with you but I will share this 1 strategy which, for me, is the starting point of all the best businesses I’ve built.

One of my business rituals is to go to WH Smith every Tuesday Morning

I do this to get information on the market and a feel for the general feeling of people.

I’m also looking for ideas, specifically I’m looking for 2 things:

1. Products that I can sell in other countries

2. People I can build products around

Let me give you an example of those.

One of the products I sell very successfully throughout Europe is a hair care product. I first discovered this product on the front page of InStyle Magazine, it was also featured in Vogue and Cosmo (not on the cover) so I knew there was a great buzz about it and also knew that it would do well in the EU as I tend to find that most things do, with some tweaking and localisation.

It was touted as the best low budget product in the UK, I took the product to the EU, increased the price and started selling it.

We sell about 150 bottles a day.

I sell a “how to be an awesome fisherman” type newsletter to fishermen, my step dad John fishes as do my 2 brothers, but I find it boring as hell. But when I saw that the best fisherman in the world lives in Yorkshire I knew I had a product I could sell to the 2.5 million people who call themselves fishermen in the UK.

I contacted him and asked him if I could interview him and use his image etc and offered him a royalty on the newsletter, naturally he agreed. Free money and publicity is persuasive.

We started off with 50 subscribers and now have over 1000 and growing, plus of course fishermen are notoriously good at buying other stuff to catch bigger and bigger fish.

The opportunities are endless.

So my strategy is to find someone or something with massive amounts of credibility built into it. Then build a product around them.

My good mate Joff is very close to jancis robinson who is a very well respected wine writer for the Times. Massive credibility built in to her, people know and trust her.

Do you think that if Jancis recommend a wine it sells?

You better believe it does!

What if Jancis had a wine business do you think it would do well?

I do.

In fact I have an incredible idea for the wine industry that would turn that industry on it’s head, i figure £25,000 to test the business and if I’m right it’s a £100 million a year business. If you’re interested in the idea e-mail me.

but that’s a different story.

I saw a magazine dedicated to Dr Who, so I did some research, I found a guy who makes £500K 4 times a year by putting on a Dr Who convention, I then researched further, Dr Who is shown in 22 countries….

See, where I’m going with this?

Right now there are literally thousands of ideas waiting for you to take action to put them into existence, good ideas, some are a couple of grand a week ideas and others are blockbuster billionaire ideas.

They’re everywhere.

Let 2012 be the year you put one of those ideas into practice, there is no better time to be an entrepreneur.

The economy means there has never been a better reason to take control of your destiny.

Job security is a thing of the past.

State funded pensions are a joke.

The only way to free yourself is to educate yourself, and the fastest way to learn is to get started.

Don’t look for a business to start, look for a problem to solve.

When you’ve found your problem look for someone or something that can give you instant access to credibility and a market of buyers.

The easiest way to find that is an hour at WH Smiths looking through the magazines.

Neil

P.S last Thursday I asked if anyone wanted to see my SEO strategy that involved some naughty boobie pictures, I had 15 people put there hand up for that out of hundreds that read that post so I have to conclude no one wants to see it. If you do then go here and tell me:

P.P.S I’m in Australia! Nice and warm on Bondi Beach ) after months indoors, I am so white that I am actually reflective, so far I’ve stooped 3 yachts crashing into the beach

When they want it you've gotta give it to em!

What’s the most important thing when it comes to making sales off and online?

- Copywriters think it’s the written word that sells

- Designers think it’s how the layout and images look

- Printers think it’s the quality of paper

- Product creators think it’s the quality of the product

what about you? what do you think?

This weekend I was in Geneva with Tash and Izzy

What a great city!

The swiss franc is the strongest currency in the world at the mo and it shows.

Anyway we were in the old part of Geneva shopping on Saturday, the sun was out and the place was packed with tourists and locals alike.

it was midday and Isabella started getting hungry.
nb if you’re a parent you’ll know there is an ascension process to kids that want something

1. they ask
2. they shout
3. they scream
4. the have a tantrum
5. meltdown!

She wanted Sushi… nothing else would do.

by 12.15 we were at level 4 as Tash and I franticly searched for Sushi.

12.25 with Izzy approaching meltdown we spot a small sushi restaurant hidden round a corner.

It was; very average and very expensive.

BUT

At that exact moment it was exactly what Izzy wanted and thus we wanted it too.

OK

Here’s the idea for you.

You can have a very average product, crap copy (writing), crappy design and rubbishy paper etc

BUT

If you have customers who want what you sell you’ll make a fortune!

So

Start with what your customers want NOT with what you want to sell them.

Obsess over what they want

NOT

Over how you want to sell it to them.

Find your market first then create products for that market and you’ll do far better in business.

If you have a product right now, take a step back from it and re think who your customer is.

If you don’t have a product yet stop worrying about what to sell and start researching who has a problem.

More on this in future e-mails

Neil Asher

P.S I will no doubt get LOTS of e-mails from people saying you should have quality: copy, design, product and printing

YES OF COURSE YOU SHOULD!

I know that, so re read the e-mail and get the lesson.

P.P.S I WAS going to show you a brilliant SEO strategy today to get a ton of back links for free, but it involves some nudity of the page 3 girl type… I didn’t know if that was appropriate so I held back, however if you would like to see it then hit the like button or the +1 button and I’ll know.

Gary Halbert – Live at the System Seminar, San Francisco 2004