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Keith Watson here as Adam is on leave AND it is his birthday SO...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - ENJOY YOUR BREAK

It's a strange week here with Adam away on leave - very few e-mails flying about - in fact there has been precisely two - one from me to Adam telling him about our new look online store (more about that below) - and the other from Adam to me which alarmed me when I saw it come in as the title was 'Piracy', - about a serious copyright violation on YouTube.

Would you believe it - an online company, with no attempt to hide their identity, had uploaded the whole of one of Adam's major programs.  There were four videos each about five hours long available freely to anyone.  It was not hard to get them taken down, but we know that a lot of the other audios available from that company are also copyright violations.  You do have to keep a watchful eye if you market products online.

That brings me neatly to my topic this week - marketing online.  

This edition is aimed at all you people running businesses out there - AND also people that may be considering making some money online by working with us selling our products and services.  

Yes anyone can do it and over the years that I have been involved with the Internet I have known several people who have prospered well online as an affiliate.

I got involved with what is called affiliate selling (selling other people's products online) back in the mid 90s when Amazon started up.  

I had a website and was approached by Amazon who at that time were a fledgeling business. They were asking me if I wanted to promote some books on my website.  

I decided it was worth a shot and went about listing some titles - a process that was not very well developed at that time and very cumbersome and time consuming to execute.  But hey after a couple of days there they were 12 books listed on my site each with a secret little code which identified them to Amazon if someone clicked on the link and finished up buying the book.  

Massive wealth would surely follow!  

Well after the first few days of watching my behind-the-scenes affiliate membership area on Amazon and not seeing too much activity, I forgot about it.  

My interest was reactivated however when one day a few months later a cheque suddenly arrived in the post for about £60, if I recall right.  Guess who spent a few more days adding a lot more titles to my website.  The beauty is that I was able to get regular cheques for many years based upon that initial work.  

The process of setting up an affiliate program is a lot more sophisticated these days and thankfully much easier to implement than when I started with Amazon - but more about that after my main article.

Marketing The Power of Storytelling

How sweaty armpits got me interested in hypnosis

I first met Adam at a BNI Business breakfast networking meeting.  

The format dictated that every week each member would give a one minute presentation about their business - very inventive some of them were too.   

The presentations were often anecdotes and I can still remember some of the stories and connect them to the storyteller.   I recall that Adam was very good at this and he really got me thinking about hypnosis and the mind.  He told us one week about his own journey into discovering hypnosis and how is it helped cure his psoriasis.  

A physical condition helped by a thought process and imagination - wow - this got me thinking.  

But of course it all made sense - a light bulb moment - 

Just think of:

BLUSHING - embarrassing thought > flushing of cheeks

SEX - Thinking about someone who turns you on > let's just call it arousal

FEAR - Unusual noise in the dark > trembling, rapid heart rate

and in my case:

SWEATING - Got to give a talk at BNI > Profuse sweating under the armpits - literally the tap turning on as my turn to speak approached.

In fact I can embellish the story much more by telling you about wearing a jacket in the sweltering heat of Oman in middle east when teaching nurses - just to hide the state of my sweaty shirt.  

OR

Trying to stuff tissues under my armpits to absorb some of the wetness - but having then to keep my arms rigidly held to my side to prevent the tissues dropping down inside my shirt. 

Believe me - any fellow sufferers of mega-sweating will totally connect and relate. 

And that is what you are trying to achieve when communicating in marketing.  

Engagement!

The above, hasn't been told strictly as a story as it is all intermingled with an explanation but I hope you get the idea that I'm trying to convey.  I think storytelling has an immense part to play in developing brand awareness of any business.  The more you can involve potential clients with an understanding of what makes you tick the better.  

I love great communicators and especially those who can take a complicated subject and present it in such a way that you actually want to understand.  

Think:

• Brian Cox - Physics, 
• Patrick Moore - Astronomy, 
• Dara O'Briain - Maths as examples.  

I personally can't bear to read academic papers (some people flourish upon it and I can think of sIsomeone quite close to me here who does) - Instead I just want someone to interpret all that material and explain it to me in a simple descriptive way with anecdotal examples.  I bet I am not alone.

Don't get me wrong there is of course a need for all the original research and debate among the academic geeks and their peers.  But,  please - in it's own place.  This is partly why I am delighted we have a new podcast website 'Hypnosis Weekly' where all the academic discussions can take place for those that want to study the subject further.

Only yesterday in The Times (Wednesday August 6 page 19) there was this headline Geek speak 'makes computer science graduates unemployable'.  The article began...  Computer science Graduates have the poorest employment rates of university leavers because they struggle to communicate without using geeky language...

I loved maths at school and I remember a great teacher, Waxy Wainwright, who was able to explain incredibly complex concepts and communicate about them in such a way that maths was one of the most popular subjects to take at A level.  What a gift and what an inspiration to us youngsters!

Let me get you thinking - and I will explain how this can be when I write Adam Up again at the end of this month  (Adam will again be taking another well earned week off).  

How can this be?  When a car is powering along the road at say 100 mph - there is one part of the car that is totally stationary and also one part of the car that is going at 200 mph.  

It is not a trick question - it is a fact and I will attempt to explain this phenomenon in plain un-mathematical way when I next write at the end of this month

Intrigued!!?? and sister 3 o'clock

If you want to watch some TED videos about Brand Storytelling as a communication tool then let me guide you to a great page I found recently on this topic.

3 TED Talks That Uncover The Secrets Of Storytelling

PS.  In case you wondered I do not suffer from anxiety sweating before a presentation any more and my armpits are more or less approachable at any time now.  I wrote my own script based upon Adam's teaching and it absolutely worked.  It was the first of several issues I have used self-hypnosis to overcome. 

Do YOU Want to Learn How To Earn 60% Commissions and as an Affiliate Promoting Our Audios?

I mentioned above that I know people that have made a lot of money online.  They did this without having their own product, and sometimes without even having a website.

I also mentioned that we have a newly designed Hypnosis for Download Store and part of that rebuild was to incorporate our new affiliate program.  To sign up to the Affiliate program all you have to do is go to 
http://aff.awake-media.com/users/main.php

I will be holding a Google+ Hangout/Webinar - I have got to come up with some sexy title - on Tuesday 19th August at 7pm.  

In particular if you have bought and like any of Adam's audios you are in a good place to promote them and I will be going over some strategies that you can use.

Consider This Simple Strategy Which Anyone Can Do Even Without a Website:

1.  All you need is an account with:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• Other Social Media

2.  Join the affiliate program at:  http://aff.awake-media.com/users/main.php

3.  Get your text affiliate link pointing to the HypnosisForDownload online store

4.  Go to the new look Hypnosis For Download store: http://hypnosisfordownload.com

5.  Write a review about a product that you have used and found useful

6.  Tell your friends in the social media platform you are using (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) that you have written a review about whatever product it was - and add your affiliate text link.

Don't forget you are NOT really trying to SELL a product - you are simply telling other people about a product that you have used and like.  People prefer to be referred by their friends rather than believe some online promotion.

The bottom line is that if they buy the product or any other product in the store by following your link you will earn 60% of the sale.

There are many other ways to do this, especially if you had a website,  and I look forward to sharing some of those with you if you can join us on Tuesday 17th of August at 7 pm.  

I will send an invite out to all who signed up for our affiliate program at:

Please get in touch if I can be of further assistance via our Help Desk

If you want to train to be a hypnotherapist, there has never been a better time, we are thriving in this economic climate! 

If you'd like to train, check out here for a course prospectus, dates and application form for this year's diploma, fully approved and accredited in several countries... 

The spaces are going at some pace right now though... 

My training school is one of a few in the UK to currently offer the externally verified HPD (Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma) which matches government occupational standards and is the equivalent of National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 4