This page is a listing of resources to help you market, advertise, and get publicity for your Hypnosis Business. Every one of these I’ve either used, one of my clients has used, or I have done the research on them by asking people I trust about their experiences with the service.
INTERNET MARKETING
Content Marketing
YouTube.com (FREE, requires a Google Account) – YouTube is the #2 search engine in the world, which is why Google bought them awhile back. Best part… it’s free to put your videos there. If you name your videos and tag them correctly, you can get a lot of very good quality traffic from YouTube. You’ll need a Google account to use YouTube.
Video Traffic Academy – This is a great instructional course in how to create good content & marketing videos and how to maximize them on YouTube. It’s $97, but worth every penny because he teaches you how to tap into all the traffic available on YouTube.
Free Publicity
List of Top 10 Free Press Release Sites – This is a list I put together of websites where you can put out a press release online for free. I usually update it every couple of years as things change online fairly often. Some of the free services go to paid only.
PRweb – A reasonable cost Internet distribution service for press releases. Minimum level is $80 (used to be free). It fairly easy to use, and the best part is, your release will be in Google News and Yahoo News the day it is released. Often used as part of an SEO strategy since bloggers will pick up stories and they become permanent links back to your site.
Email Marketing Services
Send Pepper (Free 15-day trial) – The email service I recommend most and I use myself. Service starts at $29.95/month for up to 2500 email addresses. They have the best deliverability of any service I’ve used. Even some costing ten times as much. They have an easy to use interface, have detailed statistics, tools for split testing, easy list segmenting and much more. You get a 15-Day free trial to see if you like it, no credit card required.
Mailchimp (Free limited account) – Mailchimp is a good ‘starter’ email service if you are on a limited budget. They have a free option. I don’t recommend the free option though. Instead I recommend the $9/month option. This way you get access to the AutoResponders and they remove the mailchimp ad in your email. Bluntly, if you can’t afford $9 a month, you shouldn’t be in business.
Keyword Research
Sadly, many of the free keyword tools are going away and being replaced by paid versions. Google’s is still currently free, but will soon only be available to people who have a Google Account and are signed up for Adwords (Google’s pay-per-click ad service).
Google Keyword Tool (FREE) – Google made this tool available outside of their Adwords advertisers a few years ago, but as I mentioned above they are going to eventually remove it and only make it available to Adwords accounts again. But for now you have all of Google’s data at your fingertips. Remember, Google has about 70% of all searches done on their system so this is the most relevant and accurate data on who is searching for what available.
WordTracker Keyword Tool (Free trial, requires registration) – This was my favorite tool until Google made theirs available for free. It’s still a good tool to get a quick look at the top 100 search terms for a niche market. They now require you to create an account to use it.
SEO Research
Market Samurai (Free trial, requires registration) – To try and explain why this tool is like magic would take me hours. If you are serious about doing in depth research into online markets, SEO and Keywords… then this is your tool. It’s not free. It’s currently $149. Frankly it’s easily worth 10 times as much just for the time it will save you. Click here to get a free trial version (requires name & email).
Pay Per Click (PPC) Research
PPC Web Spy (FREE, Requires registration) – This is a new, free, keyword research tool that will allow you to view any website’s Adwords keyword list. You’ll be able to see the keywords that any Adwords advertiser is bidding on! Plus, you’ll be able to see a ton of other extremely valuable market research information.
Online Advertising
Google Adwords – Hands down the best and fastest way for a business to get targeted advertising online. In 10 minutes you can have you first ads appear beside the search results in Google. And you can target content sites, run banner ads, and soon you’ll be able to order online classifieds in newspapers. One warning, if you don’t learn about how to run successful ads online, you can end up with a HUGE credit card bill in short order. I very highly recommend Perry Marshall’s Definitive Guide to Google Adwords BEFORE you advertise on Google. Note minimum click bids are at $0.05.
Yahoo Search Marketing – Yahoo’s attempt at what Google has done so masterfully. Their interface is poorly thought out, clunky, and annoying to use. Plus they can take up to 3 days to approve your ad. Meanwhile the same ad on Google will have already been shown dozens of times. I only list them here because they still have about 30% of the search market and it would be dumb to not put successful ads here. Test and refine on Google, then put ads that pull on Yahoo. Minimum click bids are $0.10.
CraigsList.org (FREE) – No, it’s not my list. Almost every major population area around the world has it’s own CraigsList. You can place ads for your services there free. The only catch is they are gone in 2 weeks, so you have to keep putting them back up. Worth testing, but don’t do it for long if it doesn’t bring you any business. There are tools to help you track your ads from 3rd party vendors.
Shopping Cart Services
Ultracart – A full service shopping cart system. Many of my friends in Internet Marketing are switching to them. They also tightly integrate with Send Pepper’s email system.
Clickbank (Products only) – Clickbank offers a secure checkout system and also gives you access to the largest group of affiliates in the world. They also handle returns and have their own customer service system. And they are worldwide so they take credit cards local to many countries. They offer other advantages like JV Contracts and you can offer other people’s programs to your list as an affiliate. The downside is you can only sell products. No services or events.
Web Hosting
I’m currently testing a new web hosting service. The ones I previously had listed here had BIG service outages and other problems, so I can no longer recommend them as being good quality.
Blogging
WordPress (FREE) – You should have a blog. WordPress is THE top blogging software, and It’s my favorite. If you are going to have a blog, it should be part of your web site. Almost all hosting services offer a 1-click install of WordPress. You can be up and blogging in about 10 minutes.
WordPress Themes
Optimize Press – This is the ultimate marketers theme. Easily create sales pages, squeeze pages, membership sites and more. Watch the video. It does a much better job of explaining all the capabilities. This is the gold standard theme among my Internet Marketing colleagues.
Domain Name Service
NameCheap (Free account) – This is the domain service I use. Prices are fair, the interface is clean and they have been rock solid. Includes domain forwarding, email forwarding, and other domain services. They also throw in 1-year of free domain privacy service with each new domain you register.
Outsourcing Office Tasks
FancyHands – Fancy hands is like have a group of Virtual Assistants at your bidding. You email them a task and it gets done. They keep you updated on progress until it’s finished. They can do anything that involves phone calls, email or looking up stuff online. This services saves me hours of time each month. Prices start at 5 tasks a month for $25/monthly.
Shieff Services Inc. – A one-stop shopping business for outsourcing all your daily office tasks. They will answer phones, process orders, work with your vendors, and even chase down overdue bills or credit cards that went bad. They have a very high reputation among even the most demanding entrepreneurs. Call them at 512-353-5037
Direct Mail
Market Research
Standard Rate & Data Service (SRDS) – This is the bible of Direct Marketing lists, magazines, and catalogs. They have been providing this service for 85 years. You can read it at any major public library. They also have an online service at srds.com.
Direct Mail – Lists
- InfoUSA also has some list and mailing services. Order their free catalog and familiarize yourself with mailing lists. Infousa has been around 30 years so they are a reputable firm with lots of experience.
- SalesGenie.com is an online leads service you pay for by the month. They are a division of InfoUSA. They have 2 monthly services, one at $90 and one at $180. This is for a business that will need a lot of access to lists and a lot of leads.
- GoLeads.com. Another source is a service online you can pay for by the month. They offer residential and business listings for 9.95/month. You can choose your criteria (called “selects” in direct mail lingo) such as age range, zip code, etc. and they generate a downloadable list for you. They claim the lists are 93% accurate, meaning they keep them up to date. Your mileage may vary.
Direct Mail – Full Service
Direct Mail – Printers
City Print – They specialize in printing for Direct Mail. They can print anything you can imagine, and fast. Call Toll Free (866) 907-1222
Product Fulfillment Services
Speaker Fulfillment Services – Originally started to help members of the National Speakers Association with the products they sold at the back of the room, they evolved into a full service fulfillment house. They will print, assemble, and ship your products anywhere in the world within 48 hours of receiving the order.
Used by many info marketers, including clients I have worked with. They also handle returns. Based the center of the USA it’s usually only 2-days to ship anywhere in the country or Canada. They do keep inventory, but I think you can specify how much to keep. 812-235-8050
McMannis Duplication & Fulfillment Inc. – Even though the name says ‘duplication’, they do much more than just audio/video duplication. They are a full service fulfillment, and direct mail house too. And if you have special printing needs, they can handle that as well.
If you plan to mix shipping products and doing direct mail marketing, they are a one-stop-shop and your best choice of the three. For specialized Direct Mail, they work closely with City Print as they are located a few minutes away. 620-628-4411
Merchant Services & Credit Card Processing
Direct Pay Merchant Account & eCommerce Services – Reputable firm used by many business both online and offline. You can also reach them on their toll free number 877-779-9800
Paypal For Businesses – This is the fastest and easiest merchant account to setup. Be sure if you already have a personal PayPal account you do NOT use that one. It’s no problem to open another one, and it’s a bad idea to mix personal and business accounts.
