Reinventing the Entrepreneur: Turning Your Dream Business into a Reality

Praise for MaryEllen Tribby "Wow! This is an incredibly helpful book that shows you how to start and build a successful business in our highly competitive marketplace." —BRIAN TRACY, author of Now . . . Build a Great Business! "Many people say they want to run their own business. But few people truly understand how the entrepreneurial mind works and what it takes to succeed in today's uncertain economy. MaryEllen Tribby shares her secrets to success in Reinventing the Entrepreneur." —MARCI SHIMOFF, New York Times bestselling author of Happy for No Reason "If I ever have to start over from scratch, this book is going to be in my back pocket. It is the perfect step-by-step guide for the first-time Internet entrepreneur." —MICHAEL MASTERSON, New York Times bestselling author " Reinventing the Entrepreneur is like having the smartest business marketing mind in the U.S. as your personal chauffeur. Where most stop at the 'what' and the 'why,' MaryEllen Tribby breaks it down into bite-sized, simple-to-follow action steps and delivers the 'how' of your success on a silver platter. This is the only book you'll ever need to create raving fans and loyal customers in the new marketplace." —GARY W. GOLDSTEIN, Film Producer, Pretty Woman "We all can recall chance meetings that we never forget and are richer for them. That's how I think about my first encounter with MaryEllen Tribby that occurred completely by accident while I was attending a conference for thought leaders in Los Angeles. I knew immediately she was NOT one of those pretend experts who try to teach, but have never 'accomplished' anything on their own. Since then, she has been a trusted friend and great resource that I have had the good fortune to tap into. And now, you're getting the same opportunity to access MaryEllen Tribby's amazing business growth brain through her new book: Reinventing the Entrepreneur. I can attest that this book is like having MaryEllen as a personal mentor to guide you to getting your business(es) up and running or take them to the next step to economic profits." —BILL GLAZER, founder of Glazer-Kennedy Insider's Circle; bestselling author, marketing strategist, BillGlazerConsulting.org "If you're ready to grow your business and achieve higher levels of success, then read and absorb the strategies in this brilliant book by my friend MaryEllen Tribby!" —JAMES MALINCHAK, Featured on ABC's Hit TV Show, Secret Millionaire ; The World's #1 Big Money Speaker® Trainer; founder, www.BigMoneySpeaker.com

Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Turning Someday into Payday 1 Part One: The Who and the Why Chapter 1 Idea Brainstorming: Fun, Fast, and Easy 7 Discover the Three “P’s”: Passion, Purpose, and Profits 9 Is It Sellable? 12 Quick Start Summary 14 Chapter 2 Markets versus Topics: Understand the Difference and Prosper 15 Starting Small Is Better 18 Chapter 3 Determining Market Size: Easy as the Three Bears—It’s Got to Be Just Right 21 Where’s There’s a Good Question, There’s a Great Answer 23 Chapter 4 Your Subscriber Avatar: Knowing Your Ideal Customer 27 Birds of a Feather Flock Together 30 Chapter 5 Competitive Analysis: The Direct and Indirect 33 Two Is Better Than One 33 Quick Start Summary 35 Part Two: Anatomy of Your Business Chapter 6 A Proven Business Model: If It Ain’t Broken 39 The Pros and Cons of Each Business Model 41 What’s a Guru? 45 No Face—No Name 46 Show Me the Money 47 Chapter 7 Naming Your Inbox Magazine: It’s Got to Be Good! 51 A Name Can Make You or Break You 51 Give the People What They Want 56 Give It a K.I.S.S. 58 Chapter 8 Design and Frequency: It’s All about Engagement 61 When, Oh When 63 Plain Text or HTML—What? 64 Let’s Push It! 65 It Needs to Be Actionable and Useful 66 Stick to Your Guns 67 Your Panache 68 Chapter 9 Software and Systems: Technology Made Easy 69 The Bad You Need to Know 71 You Want to Stay Single 71 Websites Have Never Been Easier 72 Opt Them In—Send It Out 73 Chapter 10 Don’t Wait: Action You Can Take Right Now 75 Action Step 1 75 Action Step 2 76 Action Step 3 77 Action Step 4 78 Action Step 5 79 You Are on Your Way! 80 Part Three: The Useful and the Actionable Chapter 11 Building Your Panel: Content Is King 83 Three Easy Steps for Putting Your Panel Together 86 Step 1: Brainstorm a List of Potential Panelists 86 “No” Won’t Be an Option 105 Chapter 12 You, the Author: Article Writing Made Easy 107 Alert Yourself 107 Become a Dictator 108 Take It to the Bank 110 Creating the Perfect Article Structure Is Golden 111 Creating Engaging Content 113 Be Remarkable 116 Chapter 13 Sourcing Compiled Content: Done for Your Filler 117 Private Label Resale Content 117 Article Sites 119 Public Domain Content 120 Meat, Vegetables, and Bread 124 Chapter 14 Don’t Delay: Action You Should Take Right Now 125 Reality Awaits 127 Part Four: The Art and Brilliance of a Community Chapter 15 Landing Pages: Land on It and Squeeze It, Baby 131 Quantity Plus Quality Equals a Great List 131 Long versus Short Squeeze Pages 140 The Elements of a Squeeze Page 144 Get Out of the Headlights 146 Chapter 16 Lead Magnets: Your Ambassador 149 Types of Lead Magnets 151 The Reciprocal 151 Not Peanut Butter and Jelly 152 Be a Leader with Your Lead Magnet 156 Chapter 17 Your First 1,000: It’s a Numbers Game 159 Step 1: Social Media Marketing 160 Step 2: Article Marketing 163 Step 3: Active Content Syndication 172 Step 4: Press Releases 174 Step 5: Viral PDFs/Infographics 176 Step 6: Ad and Resource Swaps 177 Less Is More 178 Low–Hanging Fruit Is Always the Way to Go 179 Part Five: Finally, a Real Business of Your Own Chapter 18 Let’s Start Monetizing: The Smart Way 183 Affiliate Promotions 183 Nobody Likes Greedy 184 Give Them What They Want 185 The Proof Is in the Pudding 185 Selling Advertising 187 Rates and Data: It’s All in the Cards 193 Evolution in Advertising 197 Brokers and Managers 199 Logical and Methodical 200 Chapter 19 The Publisher’s Matrix: Your Content Empire 201 Determine Your Needs 206 Publisher Method 1: Joint Venture Partnerships 206 Publisher Method 2: Buying and Licensing Content 210 Publisher Method 3: Hiring Ghostwriters 214 Publisher Method 4: Interviewing Experts 217 Do One, Do All 222 Part Six: Big or Small, Your Choice Chapter 20 Measuring by the Numbers: The More You Know, the More You Grow 225 Daily Key Metrics 225 To Keep the Doors Open = Fixed Plus Variable Expenses 226 Costs in Action 227 Subscribers Are Your Lifeline 228 You Can Improve Only if You Know Your Results 230 Weekly Key Metrics 233 Long–Term Metrics 239 Successful Entrepreneurs Love Numbers 242 Chapter 21 Building Your Team: It’s Good to Be Great! 243 Who and When 244 The Million–Dollar Mark 247 Never, Never, Never Outsource 248 Gross Revenue versus Profits 249 A Good Problem to Have 252 Chapter 22 Positioning for the Sale: Your Big Payday 253 Getting Ready 254 Good Things Come in Threes 259 Start the Right Way 261 Epilogue: Still Growing Strong and Damn Proud 263 About the Author 265 Index 267

MaryEllen Tribby is the founder and CEO of Met Edge Media. She is well known for launching iMags such as WorkingMomsOnly.com, the world's leading Inbox Magazine and website for the empowerment of the working mom as well as The CEO's Edge, where entrepreneurs learn how to build a stronger business. Prior to founding Met Edge Media, MaryEllen was publisher and CEO of Early To Rise where she was responsible for growing the business from $8 million in sales to $26 million in just 15 months. Before that, she served as president of Weiss Research where she led the company to $67 million in sales from $11 million in just 12 months. Earlier in her career, she ran divisions at Forbes , Times Mirror Magazines, and Crain's New York Business , where she learned from some of the best business mentors in the world. Today MaryEllen is a highly sought- after international business consultant, speaker, and author. She resides in South Florida with her husband of 17 years, their three beautiful children, and their nutty boxer, Coco. You can find out more about MaryEllen at MaryEllenTribby.com and ReinventingTheEntrepreneur.com