While living in Ukraine, music was Milana Leshinsky’s life. But when she moved to the United States in 1992 and discovered the world of Internet marketing, Milana started singing to a different tune. By launching an Internet-based venture, she reinvented herself as a successful entrepreneur, author, and advisor to life and business coaches.

That is why Milana is featured, along with other successful, self-employed entrepreneurs, in a new book, “The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing on the Internet” by Robert Skrob and Bob Regnerus. The book, out in September 2008, is the sequel to last year’s “The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing. ” Milana’s transition from music to an Internet info-marketer began when she started doing web design for an insurance company and a newspaper. But it was only after Milana was hired by coaches to develop their websites that the budding entrepreneur started to hit high notes.

“At first, I didn’t even know what a ‘coach’ was,” Milana admits. “But after a third time a coach came to me for a website, I took notice and started to investigate this industry. ” Milana started a membership site for coaches using all the materials she gathered during her research and her business took off. “One of the clients who hired me to do a website was a coach who asked me to be part of her team,” Milana recalls. “Later, I wrote an e-book, “How to Grow your Coaching Practice on the Internet” and she wrote the foreword for it.

Her partnership gave me a lot of credibility. ” Milana’s “doorway into the industry,” however, was a website called Tele-Class. com by the late Thomas Leonard, a key player in the field of personal and business coaching. Milana advertised monthly tele-seminars on this site, eventually creating a membership site and a program called “7Habits of Most Successful Coaches. ” “I noticed that successful coaches had products, names for themselves, processes and follow-up sequences,” Milana says.

“So I gathered all of these factors into a program and I coached people who had sites that didn’t generate business. I critiqued the site and worked with the clients to create content to rework it. ” Milana had clearly found her niche but, she says, she needed a “breakthrough” to get to the next level of her business. She found it during a mastermind session, “Infopreneur’s Think Tank,” with Sterling Valentine, which led her to telephone based, multi-day events called “tele-summits. ” This was the win-win solution not only for Milana, who didn’t like to attend live conferences, but also for her clients, because they had an opportunity to participate in training programs without having to spend time and money to travel.

“With Sterling, I created a global event for coaches,” Milana says. “Before, the word ‘tele-summit’ didn’t even exist, so that was my big break. ” How big? Milana’s first eight-day tele-summit netted $60,000 – with more to come. “That was huge for me, but the chain reaction happened afterwards,” she reports. However, that chain reaction resulted in Milana’s site being flooded with too many products, so it was hard to market. In fact, websites cluttered with too many graphics and too much useless information are counterproductive, Skrob notes.

“The more choices you put in front of people, the longer it will take them to make a decision and the less likely they are to be happy with the choice they make. When the number of options gets overwhelming, people often respond by making no decision at all. ” So Milana hired a consultant who suggested folding all her products into one – a home study course called Coaching Millions, based on her book, “Coaching Millions Business Building System. ” The other part of Milana’s venture is her “Coaching Business Mastery,” which includes a home study course and an implementation program. A streamlined landing or opt-in page was essential to Milana’s continued success.

“These pages are the best way to welcome potential customers to your website, and they allow you to establish the right type of relationship with your visitors,” Skrob says. “An effective, well-written landing page builds trust and establishes your credibility. The more visitors you convince to opt in, the more sales you’ll make. “

I am addicted to the Internet. I am a busy working parent and still I find the time to check my e-mail, chat with my friends in Yahoo Instant Messenger, read news, forums and on and on.

I need “to know” and I need “to have” more than ever before. I want to get my latest news. I want to spread the news to my on-line and off-line friends, who, I might add, are doing exactly the same. I need to get a new book or . . . shoes or . . . gadget just because it is there and easy to buy, no need to drive and look for parking at the mall. Don’t you love these FREE shipping offers? All this is in addition to already being entertained on the Internet watching YouTube, listening to iTunes etc. Do you do the same?

It is not hard to find out if you’re addicted to the Internet. Do you find that when you get online you’re frequently surprised by the amount of time that has passed? Do you find yourself staying home instead of enjoying a beautiful day outside because you’d rather use the Internet?

A recent study from Stanford University School of Medicine found that more than one in eight Americans show signs that they could be suffering from some form of internet addiction.

How do you cure this problem? Google “Internet Addiction” and log on to a bunch of websites? Instant Message other sufferers? Join an Internet support group? Or buy self-help books from our favorite on-line store (after performing an extensive price comparison)? You might as well offer a drink to an alcoholic trying to cure his addiction.

In China, parents send their children as young as 12 to the first officially licensed clinic for Internet addiction at the Beijing Military Region Central Hospital. That is after their kids skip school to spend time playing online games and visiting chat rooms. These kids are admitted suffering from depression, nervousness, panic, fear, agitation, unwillingness to interact with others, sleep disorders, the shakes and numbness in their hands. The daily schedule at the center begins at 6 a. m. and includes electric shock treatment and the administration of intravenous drips to “adjust the unbalanced status of brain secretions”.

This sounds a little extreme to me. How about a gentler American way of approaching this problem? How about using a new high-tech device called SnoopStick?

SnoopStick is a very small USB flash drive device that will allow someone to fully monitor and limit your access to the Internet from any other computer on the Internet. Just run the set-up program on your computer then unplug the device and give it to your trusted friend. Your friend will plug Snoop Stick to any Windows-based computer (in her home or office) and at any time will be able to monitor your Internet use and disable your access to the Internet if needed. You can also specify the times when you will be able to access Internet and SnoopStick will enforce this schedule.

Stay aware, alert, and in control of your Internet with Snoop Stick.

If you wish to be a successful Internet marketer you will want to avoid these 8 mistakes:

1. Failure to prepare properly. Many Internet marketers are simply lazy and will not make the effort to prepare properly. Refrain from being overly anxious as if you’ll miss the boat if you do not market your website immediately. Use however many days it takes to setup all the appropriate advertising accounts and advertisements properly. This will make your administration more efficient and enable you to fly through your schedule tasks effortlessly each day. The net result is that your marketing efforts will be far more productive than if you were to take a haphazard approach.

2. Failure to implement an advertising strategy. You must have a plan with well defined goals if you wish to have positive marketing results. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Do not try to recreate the wheel. Find out what successful people are doing and do the same. Regarding goals, write them down. When you achieve a goal mark it as “completed” and replace it with another. By doing this very simple step you can monitor your effectiveness and progress.

3. Failure to be professional. Some of the ads on the Internet are of embarrassingly poor quality. Be professional in your business approach and in the design of your ads. If you lack the ability to produce professional ads then find a resource that can. The quality of your website and advertisements is a reflection on you. Also, when dealing with customers always be courteous and professional even when they are not. If you are professional you will shine above the rest and earn customer confidence.

4. Failure to implement and adhere to a disciplined schedule. If you don’t have a realistic schedule in place then you will not be disciplined in marketing your ads properly. Consistency not volume is the key to success in marketing on the Internet. A schedule allows you to be consistent and also forces you to be disciplined. The Internet is not a “get rich quick” environment. It takes hours of dedicated and consistent work. You must be committed to putting in the time if you wish to have good marketing results.

5. Failure to utilize the right tools. There are some very innovative tools on the Internet to make the operation of your business more efficient. Many of them are very affordable and they will save you from having great frustration. Some marketers take the approach of being a “penny wise and a pound foolish. ” In saving their pennies they are losing out on making the bigger dollars. Don’t ignore the many tools which are available.

6. Failure to build a downline. Your downline is the cornerstone of your business. A downline is your customer list or they can be referrals that join certain advetising programs through you serving as an affiliate. Verious advertising sites offer you some type of compensation for bringing them referrals. Don’t ignore the value of these referrals. Some Internet marketers are so anxious to advertise their product they fail to have an understanding of the bigger picture. A big downline can save you money in your advertising and enbable you to advertise more effectively. When soliciting always get the email address of your customer for future solicitations and sales.

7. Failure to track ads. Much time is wasted on unproductive sites and ads. If you’re not tracking them you will continually work in ignorance. You must have a measure of what is working and what is not. Is the program that you are participating in yielding the desired results? Are your ads well written and effective in drawing customers? You will never have the answers to these important questions unless you track your ads. You can waste a great deal of time on poor advertising programs and bad ads if you never track the results.

8. Failure to understand the advertising medium. You must understand how each type of advertising program works if you’re going to be an effective marketer. Whether you use pay-per-click advertising or membership driven sites like safelists, traffic exchanges and text ad exchanges all have their own personality. Not only do you need to understand the mechanics of each but also the general personality of their membership.