Welcome!
This Lesson will kick into high gear the advanced marketing mindset..
the advanced mindset that all successful marketers have.
Keep in mind that since you have control over your mind (you do have control over your mind,
don't you?) you can change your mindset at any time. So even if you don't the have proper mindset now, once you
learn the proper mindset you can change, adapt and add whatever you need to be successful.
The principles in this Lesson are based on my own experiences in marketing
products and services. Don't make the same mistakes all newcomers make to marketing: Try to do something 'new'
or worse, 'invent' something or even, be 'creative'.
Follow advice that's good and that's proven to work. I don't blame you though for being confused... there are just too many people
out there giving advice when they don't have a clue what actually works!
Don't let that happen to you. The Lesson below will either have you screaming
up and down and saying "Bravo! I finally understand what it takes!" Or you'll say, "Gee, I wonder
if it could be this easy?" and then never get started. But I'm not trying to convince you of anything...either
you understand what it takes, or you don't. My job is to deliver you the best I have to offer... and the truth
as I see it.
Only you can take action but don't let doubt stop you. The key to being successful is
testing things that have a good probablity of working. Don't just test anything, test those things you learn, adapt
them to your own business and tweak them if necessary.
With that said, are you ready? Ok! Let's get going - Lesson 2 begins
NOW!
Lesson 2
Introduction
In Lesson 1 we discovered a couple of very important things about ourselves
and about other people.
- We discovered that a lot of people are confused,
dis-satisfied and generally un-happy with their lives.
- We also discovered that there
is this 'void' in everyone's life the seeks to be filled as quickly
as possible
- I started to introduce you to a marketing mindset I developed called
Leadership MarketingTM that cuts through the crap and shows you where the money is.
Leadership MarketingTM seeks to build relationships with
people who share a specific interest and then sell them products and services that would benefit them on a regular
basis.
Leadership MarketingTM
understands that people are CONFUSED, EMPTY and PRE-OCCUPIED.
Leadership MarketingTM EMPATHIZES with people and seeks to build relationships with them based on a
common interest. Because it understands that people are pre-occupied, confused and empty we communicate with them
in simple, easy to understand and empathetic messages. Once a relationship is established it leads potential customers, step by step,
to make a purchase by fully revealing the benefits of the product over and over again until that message is delivered
to every potential prospect who could benefit from it.
The Marketing Mindset
The above definition works for me.
But you know what?
It's just common sense, isn't it?
After all who would try to build a business that wasn't based on 'building
relationships' with their customers?
Right?
Well, you know what? Common sense is about as rare as blue diamonds.
I've seen some really good businesses go down the drain because they either don't know how to or don't understand
the importance of building relationships with their prospects and customers. And by 'relationships' I'm NOT talking
about becoming their 'friends' or being 'close' in the normal sense of the world.
What I mean by relationship in a marketing and business context is this:
Establishing yourself, through constant contact, as the person or company
your potential customers will look to when thinking of buying the type of product or service you're selling.
It's NOT the same kind of relationship you have with your friends,
spouse or neighbor. The relationship I'm talking about is a 100%
"business relationship". Yes, we EMPATHIZE with people and we care about them but in a 'business sense',
not a 'personal sense' and their is a BIG difference as you'll see... we will be talking in detail about what it
means to establish a 'relationship' with customers and potential customers in a just a few minutes.
Here's a couple of examples of what I mean about how un-common "common
sense" really is:
A local new business, "Have A Sushi Bar" was scheduled to open
in a few weeks. It was positioning itself as an upscale shushi restaurant/bar and it had created a bit of a 'buzz'
in our town of 55,000.
To get the marketing campaign rolling the owner decided to give 50 people
a special invitation package that allowed them to invite one other person, of their choice, to the restaurant on
a special night to sample the menu and have some drinks. It wasn't free, you had to pay for your meal and drinks
(I think they said something about some 'free' champagne) but still, it would be kind of a fun thing to do.
I liked the idea... thought it was a pretty smart way to get people excited
and involved in the opening. But like all good ideas, if it isn't carefully planned and all contingencies accounted
for, ends up backfiring.
First off, who do you choose to give the invitation packets to? At first
I thought they would hold a drawing... they could have gotten some free publicity with one of the local radio stations
and offered everyone who called a special number to be entered to get one of the "Invitation Only Day" packets.
The owners could collect the names and addresses of the callers...that
would have had the dual purpose of building a mailing list as well as getting a ton of people who hadn't heard
of the opening a chance to discover it.
Out of the hundreds of people who would call in to the get the special
"Invitation Only Day" packet they would have randomly picked 50 lucky winners! I mean what a great idea!
Everybody wins! The owners get people excited about the opening, they
get at least 100 people to come to the restaurant on this special day to have fun and try it out and they get a
ton of free publicity from the station!
And, if this was my restaurant, I would have contacted every person who
called in to get the packets. I would have told them that even
though they didn't get chosen for this night, that we are scheduling a second night and they would still be able
to get special "Invitation Only Day" packets but for another night!
In fact, if there were enough people who called in I would have immediately
scheduled 3 or 4 or 5 "Invitation Only" days so that my restaurant was filled any day I wanted it filled!
And you know what really happened instead?
What did the owner do instead? He hand picked 50 of his closest friends,
relatives and business partners to get the invitation packets. They in turn could invite only one person to attend
this 'special' opening day with them.
That still would have been ok... but what happened is that the word got
around that some people received the Invitation 'packets' and, not knowing beforehand that the person who received
the packet was limited to inviting just ONE person, people started asking if they could go with them. When the
person said, "no", that they could only invite 'one' person, people started to get offended.
The owner was notified that there were a lot of people who wanted to
come, but were turned down. He didn't seem to care. He just told everyone they could only bring "one"
person and that was that.
At that point he still could have 'rescued' the situation by getting
the names and addresses of everyone who wanted to come and offer them something else, but he didn't ... instead,
a lot of people were really offended, and they had the impression that this restaurant (and owner) was not very
friendly.
I know one person who told me that they didn't care if they had the best
sushi in New York State, they would drive 60 miles to a larger neighboring city than ever step foot in this restaurant.
I think the restaurant was open about 14 months before it closed. The
owner was not using common sense, or any kind of marketing sense.
Here's another case:
When I was the director of economic development for the municipality
I lived in, I would frequently be contacted by businesses in the area who wanted to get a low-interest loan (generally
1%-3%) from our economic development fund.
The fund was there to help create jobs for residents of the community.
In exchange for a low interest rate, the company would promise to create as many new jobs as they could. If they
requested $50,000 they had to create two new jobs, if they needed $100,000 they would have to create 4 jobs, etc...
While I was director of the fund, one of the companies my predecessor
had provided a low-interest loan to started missing their quarterly payments. It was my practice to call the owner,
schedule a meeting with them that included their financial director and/or accountant and review the reason for
their missed payment. Of course, I would be there to get them to make an immediate payment, or at least get a firm
date when the missed payment would be made.
During the course of this meeting I would always inquire about their
current business situation. Did they have sufficient working capital? Were orders increasing or declining? Were
there any changes to their fixed or variable monthly expenses and overhead? Were they in the middle of labor or
contract negotiations? etc...
The last question I would always ask, if there weren't any significant
changes to their operations, was about their marketing practices...
I asked them if they had products and services they could provide to
their past customers to help increase their cash flow. They said that the companys' reps keep in touch with customers
to make sure they are serviced and take orders for supplies and parts, etc... but during these 'service calls no
additional offer is ever made to the customer. If the customer needed something, they said, they would ask for
it.
I asked when the last time a letter with an additional offer, or even
a catalog was sent ot their customers. "Never" or "years ago" was almost always the answer.
In the case of this one company, it became clear that they didn't have
a clue about the lifetime value of a customer, how to work back-end products and services or the idea of an endorsed
mailing, up-selling, cross-selling, etc.. They had a customer base of 35,000 and had NEVER mailed to them or tried
to sell them anything else! They never tried an endorsed mailing or any kind of joint venture.
Is this typical?
Sadly, for most established business, yes, it is typical.
When I asked the president of the company about this he said, "What would we write to them about? Besides I don't want to ruin our relationship.
We're not barkers."
The reference to a 'barker' was a pretty typical mindset by most well
established companies. They didn't want to appear too aggressive to their customers, like a sideshow at a carnival
the 'barker' yells out at passersby to come and see the lady with the 14 fingers. If it wasn't for the fact that
they has a good product that was in repeat demand by their marketplace, they would have been out of business a
long time ago. The only thing keeping them alive was repeat orders, but even that was declining and was the reason
they were missing payments.
They had a customer list of 35,000 and never mailed to them! This mindset
he had was simply wrong for the market conditions he and his compnay were facing. Instead of ruining a relationship,
bringing excellent products and services to the attention of your customer base can only strengthen the relationship.
As long as the products are really going
to benefit your customer, you are doing your customers and prospects a favor!
No wonder they were having trouble making their payments. They had a
very negative image about being too aggressive with selling company's products and services to their customers
and it was hurting their business.
Don't ever assume that just because a company has a big building and
several hundred employees that it understands how to build relationships with customers or how to effectively market
themselves.
In this case, the company was built by a very dynamic and entrpreneurial
individual (the current Pres/CEO's grandfather) and has been on cruise control since he passed away years ago.
If they don't fix their mindset soon (to be more like thier grandfather's), they will be out of business.
Leadership Marketing states that you need to build relationships with
customers AND sell them new products and services on a regular basis, not just 'build or maintain relationships'
as this company was doing.
How Common is Common Sense?
Common sense does not come automatically with position or power. So don't
expect people in a position of authority to have it.
And don't assume anyone has any common sense at all... or manners! Common
sense is anything but 'common'.
It's rare.
One of my favorite books that teaches how powerful common sense is in
business is titled, "Obvious Adams" written by Robert Updegraff. You can still find it being published today by the
Updegraff family. Search for this book on Amazon.
Originally published in 1916 it's the story of a plain, unassuming man
who had an un-common trait: He could spot the "obvious" and most profitable thing to do in almost every
business situation. That's just another way of saying, he had "un-common" common sense!
Why Do Most People Fail At Business?
I don't know if the statistics the Small Business Administration publishes
is true or not... but I suspect they are are pretty close.
The SBA states that 80% of all new businesses fail within the first year.
Combine that with the well known fact that public speaking is the number
one most feared event in a persons life (rated higher than "death" itself!) and you start to understand
what could be causing the high new business failure rate...
After all, what does it mean to be in business for yourself?
Being in business for yourself means (if you want to be successful!)
constantly communicating with potential prospects urging them to buy your product or service!
And whenever you are communicating with someone, especially in a selling
situation, you are squarely face-to-face with someone who might - and probably will - reject your offer the first
time you contact them!
Now, we know intellectually that people you are trying to sell something
to do not (probably) reject you personally ... but in a real selling situation there are very few sales people
who would not also feel personally rejected when a prospect refuses to buy your product... right?
Hey, we're only human, after all!
My belief is that not being able to handle rejection is the number reason
new businesses fail... a new business owner has a difficult time distinguishing between a rejection of their product
and a rejection of them personally.
In bsuiness there is no room for anything except a completely objective
view of yourself and your products. And, as hard as this might seem, there is no room for emotion in business.
If you are an owner of a business, you should not let your emotions influence
your decisions in anyway. Your objective must be clear: Providing
high value products and superior customer service at a price that will make you a good profit.
Any decision that is not held up to the light of this objective should
be discarded. I know, easier said than done. But if you let your emotions run your business decisions, then you
will contantly make the wrong decision and force you out of business.
Emotions have a place in your personal life, but when it comes to business
you are making an investment. The worse thing you can do with
investments is let your emotions make your decisions for you.
You Have To Get Over It
When I became a full-time entrepreneur I just never gave myself an option to "fail".
Unfortunately, I also didn't give myself an option to "succeed"
either because... :-)
...even though I thought I knew how to succeed, I totally
underestimated what it really took.
For every 10 hair-brained ideas I had I get only 2 or 3 ever really become
successful. So, I figured that if I really want to be successful
I should fail more often so I can discover the winners faster :-)
The Internet makes failing easy... and faster. That's part of my success- just going out and doing it. If it doesn't
work I stop doing it... if an idea I have starts working I just do more of it.
There's a great line in the movie "The
Untouchables" when Jim Malone (played by Sean Connery),
after being shot a dozen times could barely speak but he looks up into Eliot Ness's eyes (played by Kevin Costner)
and asks with dogged determination and his last breath, "What are you prepared to do?"
The movie came out in 1987 and I still remember that line and can even
visualize it in my mind because it was such a strong, moving performance.
But it's that attitude, that "I will not fail" attitude that
is so necessary to become successful. The question, "What
are you prepared to do?" has to be answered.
And only YOU can answer it.
Even if you think you know what it takes, forget it. It's harder than
you think...
Not physically, mentally.
The number one obstacle that I had to face was getting over rejection...
it's very tough to do. At least it was for me because I have always been on the sensitive side... and a little
shy.
I always believed that people should just like me automatically. And
my thinking was, "everyone would just like me and buy all my stuff" and of course, that is very far from
reality.
I'll tell you the truth: Even
your best friends will not buy anything from you unless there is a HUGE benefit in it for them...so, tell me, how is a total stranger going to react when you ask them to buy
something from you?
Now even if you were totally gregarious, had all the confidence in the
world and could handle unlimited rejection like rain falling off a duck's back, you still wouldn't be successful
if you didn't have a great product that offered a HUGE benefit.
You have to get over the fact that no one knows you or likes you or cares
about you... they only want what's best for them. But that's ok... because now that we have uncovered this 'secret' you can start
marketing your products like a madman (or madwoman) and not have this unrealistic expectation that people will
even like you or approve of what you are sending them... because they won't.
Now your mindset should be,
"You know, I've really got a great product or
service here to offer that would help and benefit a lot of people... and I really hope you like it Mr. and Mrs.
Prospect, because it will benefit you and I hope you buy it... but if you don't like the product or don't like
me, well that's your problem
not mine. I will continue to let people know about it and I'm not going to let anyone stop me from helping people,
not even you."
When I told you that you have to "seek to build relationships"
this is the kind of "relationship" I'm talking about... it has nothing to do with the kind of "personal"
relationships you build with your family, friends, neighbors, etc... it's strictly business- but it is a business
of helping.
Being in business for yourself has nothing to do with being "liked"
or seeking the "approval" of others, it has to do with getting your product or service in front of as
many people as possible who are likely prospects, taking their orders, sending them the product, providing them
with first-class customer service and pocketing the profits.
That's it.
What It Takes To Be Successful On The Internet
Number one:
You have to learn the mental skill of handling rejection... major rejection.
Direct marketers will tell you that a 2% return to a 'cold' list (a list
of people you have no previous relationship with) is outstanding... 2%!
If you get a 2% response... that means 98% of the people you mailed an
offer to DID NOT BUY. 98% REJECTED your offer at that moment (if they eve noticed it!).
Ok... you don't really see the rejection yet. You're thrilled with a
2% response, and you should be. .8% is a more typical response to a direct mail piece. Still, 99% rejected your
offer. But, I mean you actually never hear a word from the people that didn't buy... they just kept silent.
On the Internet, it's a different story.
When you send an email to your opt-in list and you get some orders...
it's great! But you'll also start getting some 'hate mail'... because the Internet makes it so easy to communicate
- especially by email - people who got your offer, but didn't order, will start sending you hate emails... saying
things like "you suck" and "don't ever email me again or I'll turn you in for spam", "are
you an idiot?", etc... or worse.
And these are people who signed up for your list with a double opt-in
acceptance!
I mean, you're trying to help people and they are just all over you and
rude too!
It doesn't matter if you have the greatest product, the best customer
service and you're a nice person. People will attack you just for saying "hello", and heaven forbid you
should ever try to sell them something!
After you get something going online you will begin to see what a wild
frontier the Internet still is.
A very important aspect of being successful is not being afraid to sell
something. I've learned that people hate to sell and are reluctant to sell anything to anybody. They get really
nervous selling themselves and their products.
You gotta get over that if you're going to be successful in any
business of your own - you basically have to be totally fearless
when it comes to marketing your products ... you have to believe 100% that your product or service will help people
and be good for them, or why sell it at all?
Ok... here's what it really takes to be personally successful on the
Internet:
1. Do not care about, or give a second thought to, people who do not
like you for some odd
reason. If you get hate email delete it instantly, don't read
it again, don't respond to it(!), just DELETE IT. If you feel yourself getting upset by the email just get up and
walk away from your computer to gather your thoughts. Have a cup of coffee, take a walk ... but put the email completely
out of your mind.
2. Take VERY good care of, and pay special attention to, the people
who DO like you - especially those who have bought something
from you. Do something special for the people who have already cast their vote and like you and your products...
send them a free gift now and then, offer to answer any questions they have and let them know you appreciate them.
3. Set your marketing priorities and work your plan every day despite interruptions, power failures, dogs barking, rain, sun, snow, accidents,
phone ringing, explosions, cold, heat, shortages, world peace, a nagging spouse, noisy children, happiness, sadness,
fear, age, headaches, etc...
In a few minutes we'll discuss what your marketing priorities should
be and how to best avoid any distractions.
Number two:
Be absolutely ruthless when it comes to managing your time.
The next big killer of any business, after 'rejection', is not being
able to manage your time. You thought it had something to do with poor marketing? No!
When you boot up your computer in the morning you have to watch your
time carefully because you know what happens if you don't? You will lose that time and, once it's lost it's gone
forever.
It is so easy to get on the computer and simply surf all day... I'm sure
you've had days you've done that and I've done it too.
But I'll tell you something, if you sit at your computer without a clear
objective of what you need to get done you'll waste a lot of your time in non-income producing activities... and
that's the last thing you can afford to do if your goal is to make a living on the Internet.
I will usually get into my home office after taking my kids to school,
around 9:00 AM. If I had absolutely no clear goal for how I would spend my time I would not make any money.
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SIDE NOTE:
Remember when I shared with you the 'discovery' I made about the switch
word "find'? Well, every morning I say it 3 times out loud and 3 times silently just after waking. It helps
me focus on my objectives for the day.
I also say it anytime I run into a problem I need to solve. I simply
keep the problem or situation clearly in my mind, then repeat "find" several times out loud and silently.
If it's really an urgent problem I will step away from my computer and do something totally unrelated to the problem
such as taking a walk, gardening, cooking or listening to classical music.
Sometimes a solution will present itself right away... other times I
have to wait a day or two, but as long as I 'churn' the problem over in my mind frequently during this period and
I repeat "find" while doing it, a solution will almost
always present itself in my mind. In fact, for the 2 and 1/2
years I've been doing this it has ALWAYS worked to provide me with one or more solutions. I don't want to make
too much of this... at least not right now, because we will talk much more about success thinking in Lesson 6.
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When I sit down at my computer I have my TO DO list in front of me and
get right into my priority tasks keeping one eye on the clock that sits in my system tray. I will normally set aside a certain amount of time for each of my 'to do' items for the
day and when time is up, I switch tasks... I follow my schedule
and discipline myself to cut myself from an activity that has gone on too long.
I keep an eye on my time using my system tray clock but there are also
small, free apps available that you can use on your computer to keep track of the time... like digital alarm clocks,
etc... Check snapfiles.com for some nice digital alarm clock applications.
Let me give you an idea why this is so critical.
Since I create and write a lot of my own products, I spend about 2 hours
each day on this task. I love creating or planning new information products. You can be creative when developing
new products, just don't be too 'creative with your marketing as mentioned in the introduction... anyway... this
is a critical income producing activity that I give high priority to.
When the 2 hours are up, I just try to wrap up whatever loose ends on
the project I have and move on to my next priority.
If I didn't have the discipline to cut myself off and stop writing or
recording or planning or whatever I was doing, I could spend all day creating new products but not get other, just
as important, income-producing activities done for that day and my income would suffer as a result.
Creating new products is something I really enjoy and have 'fun' with
so it's hard for me to break away from such a pleasant activity (I'm filling my 'void' with a pleasant activity
- remember the 'void' from Lesson 1?) ...but if I don't break off from this activity then I won't get to write
my ezine, get new subscribers, find affiliate products to sell or many other really important income-producing
activities and marketing priorities.
On my "off days" like Saturday and Sunday, if I find a block
of time to work on a new project I would use that time to work on it, but on prime business days, Monday to Friday,
I am in my office, totally dedicated to what I have to get done and am ruthless with my time and schedule.
When I finish my day around 3:00 PM I re-write my TO DO list for the
next day.
My TO DO list includes the activity I need to complete and the time allotted
for that activity. If I didn't finish a task from today's list, because I didn't have the right tools or information
to get it done, I place it on the list for the next day and keep putting it on the list until it's done.
This is pretty much routine for me now, but when I started to organize
my time by priority and time allotments I rebelled against it and constantly fought with myself. It was a change
that I knew I needed to make...
The reason you need to do this, and find a system that works for you
is pretty simple: If you don't do it, if you don't control your time and manage it carefully...
...someone else will manage it for you.
One of the habits I got into when I was still working for someone else
was to block off times during the day to get my work done and not take any calls during this time. Instead, I would
instruct my secretary to simply take messages. Then at the end of the day around 4:00 PM I would retrieve my messages
from my message box, prioritize them according to importance of the call and between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM I would
return all the calls in the order I prioritized them.
Of course, during the day, if it was some sort of emergency, I would
take the call... if not, I just let the secretary take a message for me.
Other professionals in my department would take calls whenever they came
in... interrupting their day constantly. When they took calls like this during the day, they didn't have the chance
to prioritize the calls or prepare for them in anyway.
Then they would constantly complain that they could never get anything
done! Gheesh, no wonder! They were constantly at the beck and call of whoever was calling -- allowing the people
who were calling them to manage their time.
Like I said, if you don't manage your time, someone else will.
When you work or yourself it's even more critical to control and manage
your time.
You cannot answer the phone all day long and expect to get anything done.
If your business requires you to take incoming calls because you're taking orders for your products or something
that is income-producing, then when communicating with clients in your sales literature and marketing materials
let them know you only take phone orders between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM or whatever works best for you.
And most people will call during those times ... if you set no time limit
on the time you'll take orders, calls will come in morning, noon and night and you'll probably end up missing a
bunch of orders anyway.
Once you get to the point where you have enough sales coming in you should
seriously consider hiring someone to answer the phone for you and then tell then that, unless it's an emergency,
they should handle all calls.
Don't leave this section without really thinking very seriously about
this for a moment.
I heard about 'time management for years and even practiced fairly good
time management when I was working for as living... but it didn't prepare me for the time when I was on my own...
in business for myself.
When you have your own business, even if it's part-time and you're doing
it after your regular job and night and weekends, you have to be ruthless with your time and protect it like a
jewel, from being stolen.
I value my time more than money.
Let me tell you plainly: If you haven't firmly embraced this section
you are doomed to fail. Yes, I know that sounds a little strong, but you will FAIL if you don't manage and control
and be totally ruthless about your TIME.
If you are one of those individuals who are highly organized and have
no trouble managing your time, then great!
I'm not one of those persons and there are lot of people like me... and
I had to change my habits to be able to control my time effectively. Habits are the most difficult thing to change
in your life... but change them and you'll succeed.
Think of it this way:
Is the mindset and the habits you current have helping you to get everything you want?
If not, then it only makes sense that the mindset you have, and the habits
that are a result of that mindset, needs to change.
Right? ...'nough said.
Marketing 'Gimmicks- The Shame of the Internet Marketing Community
Every day I receive multiple offers for all kinds of new marketing techniques
that are supposed to dramatically increase my traffic and my income.
The sad part is, a very, very small minority of these may actually work!
I say "sad" because I will probably never try them.
I won't try them because I know from experience that traffic means absolutely
nothing unless they are qualified visitors.
So my marketing techniques tend to be simple and measurable.
The number of options for generating traffic to your site is staggering.
There are link exchanges, viral techniques, ezine swaps, cloaking page techniques, smart pages, doorway scripts,
pop-up exchanges, and dozens of others.
Every week an new offer is made to get you to part with your hard-earned
money and profits on a new magic traffic generation system.
One of the biggest selling products in Clickbank's "Marketing and
Ads" category is a membership program that blasts your ad to 2,500,000 websites every day for just $39.95...
How can you tell if sites like this are really doing you a service or
ripping you off? Well one way is the 'promise' being made. I mean it's too outrageous to even contemplate. The
promise is SO BIG that no one should ever believe it... but hope runs eternal and this site will be more than happy
to take your money for nothing.
The other way to tell if the site delivers what it promises is by reviewing
comments on the site through Alexa.com's toolbar add-on for Internet Explorer.
To view comments left by other visitors or paying customers of the site,
just click on the traffic number on your Alexa toolbar and scroll to the "User Reviews" section. For
example, I reproduced the User Comments for the site above for you here:
Site Makes False Claims, 6/26/03
Reviewer: Bryce
All this site offers is services that can be found for free across the net. The software is trial versions that
you can also get on the net for free. Most of what an individual or company will be submitting to is FFA Sites.
The $39.99 or $29.99 special price one pays is a total waste of money, since as was stated earlier the services
and software is available for free. Just do a decent web search on google, msn and other search engines.
SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM, 1/14/03
Reviewer: Lance
Took my money and provided no customer support. They lied about the amount of people you email your ad to. They
claimed millions but I was only sending my ad out to 250 others like myself who were also ripped off.
CHEATERS, 9/16/02
Reviewer: Derick
THEY ARE BIG TIME CHEATERS. DONT LOOK AT THEIR RANKING. AFTER YOU PAY, YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. YOU WILL SEE LOT
OF SERVICES ON THEIR HOME PAGE, BUT ACTUALLY THIS IS ALL SCAM AND YOU WILL FIND IT OUT ONLY AFTER YOU PAY. SO LEARN
FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.
Don't waste your money!, 9/14/02
Reviewer: lj112
I signed up for this before I knew about these worthless sites. Take my advice and don't waste your money, it doesn't
work and they won't respond to you quetions.
USELESS SITE, 9/2/02
Reviewer: Andrew
I agree with Tony, its a useless site and you will only know after you pay. So stay away from this site
This site is just a SCAM, 8/29/02
Reviewer: Tony
Hello advertisers, be careful, this site is total bull. They have all useless free links inside and you will know
only after you pay. I tried this site for advertising purpose but there is nothing inside. So please be careful
and dont waste your money.
This scam may be obvious to you... and I hope you see clearly that
it is, but there are other scams that are less obvious. One such potential scam is the "hits" scam.
You've seen them advertised everywhere. They'll tell you you'll get 10,000
hits for $9.99 or 1,000,000 hits to your website for $39.95. I won't go into detail about this kind of program
because I went into some detail about this in an Interview I did with Scott Foster which you can download in the
Bonus Learning Material section below.
All I want to say is that it is very easy to 'imitate' real visitors
to your website using computer programs. In some cases, these packages are 100% computer generated and not one
'real' person ever sees your site.
There are only a few very reliable ways to generate qualified traffic
to your website. And we're going to talk about them in the next section.
One last thing about scams... it's my opinion, and just my opinion, that
anyone who tells you you have to buy 'keyword rich" domain names to do any serious marketing on the Internet
is dead wrong... here's why:
I'll make a rather BOLD statement, and then back it up with a darn good argument:
A domain name is of relatively little importance when
it comes to marketing anything on the Internet.
For example, what's the word "ebay" mean?... it means nothing and it meant nothing UNTIL someone
made it well known.
How about "msnbc.com"?... The letters mean nothing! "M
S N B C"? What the heck is that besides the combination of "MS" or Microsoft and "NBC"
the television network?
How about "zoovy.com" or "google.com" or "dogpile.com"
- are these names 'keyword rich'? No. Are they related, even a little, to the main business that these companies
are involved in? No.
Are they "memorable"? Yes. But were they memorable BEFORE they
became popular? No.
A domain name means nothing... don't get all excited about domain names.
It's the BENEFIT and VALUE a site brings to the Internet community
that makes it popular. "eBay" is a made-up word. "Google"
is a made-up word. "Zoovy" is a made-up word - a kind of like a loose interpretation of the hip slang
word, "groovy".
"ebay" doesn't even have any relevant keywords to 'auctions'
in it... it's just an address, like a phone number to remember and dial up.
I could easily setup a site tomorrow with the name "goofriddy"
and if I provide a solid benefit to my visitors, it will grow in popularity even if no one knows what it means.
My main site "infoproductlab.com" doesn't mean anything either... except maybe to me. It's a loose combination
of the words "information" and "product" and "laboratory". So what? Who cares? Has
the website made me more money because of the name? No... not one penny.
It's an ADDRESS - and maybe a "brand" that's all it is... like
"Fuddruckers" - it's just a made-up name that sounds funny so it's memorable. If you've never heard of
"Fuddruckers" it would mean nothing to you...and you'd probably think I was swearing at you. But if you've
ever been in their restaurant you know they have great burgers and fries and a retro-look, so it means something
to you, BUT ONLY because you've been to their restaurant.
The only domain name that you need is a simple one that people can possibly
remember if they saw it in a newspaper or magazine article and weren't near a computer to look it up.
On the Internet, domain names are 'addresses' ...THAT'S ALL THEY REALLY
ARE. They don't provide a benefit to your users, YOUR products
and services provide the BENEFITS.
I have wasted a lot of money registering 'must have', 'keyword rich'
domain names... it's a waste of money, in my opinion.
Again, in my opinion, you're wasting your time and you have more important
things to consider than the 'perfect' domain name. Don't fall for that trap.
Instead 'make-up' a short but memorable name, register it and create
a great product and service that's full of BENEFITS for your visitors. If you're site is good and useful people
will visit and they won't care if it's called "goofriddy.com" or "my-website-keyword-keyword2-to-you.com"
if you give them something they want.
Finding Out Who Your Customers Really Are
In Lesson 1, I suggested you create a headline and some body copy that
will be used as an ad to generate a subscriber list. This will be the "engine" to pull our money train...
so if you didn't get that done, I suggest going back to Lesson 1 and get it done right now.
Don't think of an 'ezine' as an ezine... don't think of it as a 'newsletter'
you have to write. To me, an ezine or a newsletter is simply the 'vehicle' in which I get to deliver my marketing
message - but in delivering my marketing message I also provide good information to my list... a kind of 'bonus'
for remaining a subscriber. More about this in Lesson 3 and Lesson 4.
The reason creating a headline and ad copy is so important is you need
some sort of "handle" or "Hook" to get people who read that ad into your pipeline - an ezine
- ... this "pipeline" will lead your prospects to your products and services.
You see, the first time your visitor comes into contact with you or your
company they will not be inclined to buy anything from you at all... if fact their "defensive radar"
will be on HIGH ALERT.
This means they will automatically NOT TRUST YOU, and more than likely
99 out of 100 times NOT BUY ANYTHING from you on the very first visit.
In order for anyone to buy from you, you will need to contact them over
and over again. The majority of successful marketers will tell you it takes 2 or 3 and probably 7 to 10 or more
communications from you before you get a prospect to buy. And you can't sell them anything if you can't communicate
with them.
The 'hook' to communicate with your prospects again and again is your
ezine.
Your prospects should be people who are interested in the same
subjects you are.
Remember what Leadership Marketing is? Leadership Marketing "seeks
to build relationships (defined above) with people who share a
specific interest".
If you have an interest in repairing, overclocking and maintaining PC's
then you should be writing your ezine about "repairing, overclocking and maintaining PC's"... if your
interest is in 'making money' then your ezine is going to be about making money ... if your interest is in 'cash
management for small businesses' then your ezine should be about "cash management strategies", etc...
Finding Out What They Want and Finding Out Where They 'Hang Out'
It isn't hard to find out what your prospects and subscribers want...
just ask them!
If you don't have a list yet, you can easily find out what they want
by visiting active discussion boards. The easiest way to find them is to go to Google and type in "_________
discussion board" into the search box.
All you have to do is fill in the blank. For example if you want to find
a discussion board on "repairing computers" just enter the following into the Google search box (without
the quotes):
"repairing computers discussion board"
When you do you'll see a large list of discussions boards that you can
visit, post questions and post answers to questions.
The people who visit, 'lurk' and participate in these discussions
are HIGHLY TARGETED prospects for your products and services.
Once you have an effective headline with a direct or implied benefit
and the body copy written for your ad from Lesson 1, all you have to do is create a simple web page with your headline
and body copy on it and a script that will allow someone visiting this page to 'opt-in' to your ezine... this is called your "capture page".
Then you start participating in the discussion on these highly active
boards... answer somone's question or ask a question yourself and at the end of each post leave your "tag
line" or headline and a link to your web page - another word for leaving your link at the bottom of a post
is called a 'sig'.
This is how you start creating a highly targeted and highly responsive
email list. That's all there is to it. People will see your signature in your post, visit your website and sign
up for your list.
You have to be very careful about blatantly advertising your products
and services on these boards... you will get flamed if you abuse
the privilege of participating in them when all you're doing is advertising your products.
The general rule is, you should be helpful, and participate in a friendly
way if you want to be taken seriously -- but you also get to put your URL in the signature of each one of your
posts.
When people read your answer to someone else's question or you post
questions yourself, they will see your link and if people are interested they will click on it, visit your site
and sign-up for your ezine. This is quality and targeted traffic but it's not a 'direct marketing' method... it's
much more subtle than that because it's a community.
How fast can you build a HIGHLY targeted and responsive list this way?
Well, if there are 3-5 discussion boards in your 'interest area' -and you actively participate in these boards
on a daily basis- you should be able to generate 5 - 25 new subscribers a day or more, at a minimum.
When you're promoting an ezine that's timely and maybe a hot topic online
you can expect higher opt-in numbers... in one month I received almost 1,000 subscribers for one of my projects
with this method.
This may not sound like very many people to you, but it doesn't take
a BIG list to make money. It takes a highly TARGETED list with
people who are intensely interested in the subject matter of your ezine and that's exactly the kind of list you
are building.
Recently I came across an excellent article by an experienced online
marketer. I've received permission to re-print it here for you. Pay attention, this is good stuff:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Profiting From Discussion Forums
by Willie Crawford ©Copyright 2004
I am a big fan of networking and discussing issues in online
discussion boards - or forums. I've frequenlty been asked if
this is a really profitable way to spend one's time. My answer
is that, if done properly, it can be. In fact, it can be VERY
profitable!
Done wrong, you can spend many hours chatting away
unproductively when you could be building your business.
Let's look at the difference.
One of the things that makes discussion forums so popular is
that they reduce the coldness of the internet. You get to
connect directly with another PERSON and no longer feel locked
away behind a cold computer screen. It's forming those bonds/
those connections that makes forums and discussion boards a
medium with such powerful potential.
If your time online is intended primarily to build your business,
then you need to make sure that you use it most productively.
That means you need to balance building relationships with
generating new business. Incidentally, forming new relatinships
IS how you generate new business. That means:
- You need to join the online discussions that showcase your
expertise and generate leads.
- You need to join the online discussions that help to solve
your business problems and allow you to help others.
- You need to join the online discussions that like-minded
people participate in.
My specialties are "internet marketing" karate, and also
cooking. So I frequent discussion boards/forums that focus on
these topics. Since the audience that I wrote this article for
is "internet marketing" let's focus on that.
First of all, not all internet marketing discussion forums are
equal. Some get very few visitors, spend too much time dealing
with non-productive issues, and generally won't benefit YOU.
Others get millions of pageviews a month, are very helpful
communities, and have the potential to allow you to generate a
lot of business and "connections." Only you can decide which
forums are right for you. However, I have posted a list of my
favorites to an autoresponder. You can get this list by sending
a blank email to: willie3-56873@autocontactor.com
I've been using online discussion forums since 1997, so let me
share with you a few time-tested "secrets" to getting more out
of them. Just a few quick tips that will make your posts more
likely to be read and responded to:
1) As a rule, you want to post to forums that get a lot of
traffic. Naturally that increases the odds of you making the
right connections. The exception is that sites which aren't
moderated and are full of spam, are generally a total waste
of time.
2) When posting to forums, you generally want to let people
know who you are. If you are trying to build business
relationships, you don't want to hide behind a cute username.
Instead, I advise using your own name and even posting your
photo or logo where allowed. You should be branding yourself
and this is a great way to do it.
3) Posting your photo or a graphic generally has been proven
to increase response to your posts. They make you seem more
"real" to others who read your post and that allows them to
connect more. You allow them to feel that they know you and
they respond.
4) To increase the chances of your post being read, or
responded to, it's better to post to popular or "hot" topics.
When other visitors see that very few people have responded
to a topic, they tend to ignore that thread. Post to threads
that you have something useful to contribute to, but popular
threads are better than ignored threads.
5) When posting or responding to a topic, use keywords that
people using the search engines would use to find that topic.
Put those right in the subject line since the search engines
do
index many popular discussion boards.
6) Where allowed, use a signature file or include a link to
your site/product. This pulls double duty by helping your
searchengine link popularity/rankings and by letting fellow
users of the forum know how to find out more about you. Some
seem to frown upon posting links to your site for some reason.
Done tastefully, I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. Most of
the users of the forums that I visit are in business after all
to generate MORE business. You can't do that by not telling
people how to contact you.
7) Contribute to the community rather than just feeding off of
it. By that, I mean, offer useful comments, suggestions, and
feedback. Don't just post only to promote your products. Don't
disguise the real purpose of your posts - most people can see
right through that. If you contribute to the community and offer
genuine value, others will notice this and be more open to make
purchases from you. It is in accordance with the inviolate
natural law of reciprocity!
8) Be civil and polite. Too many people attack others and their
products without sufficient justification. Too many people are
much ruder on the internet than they would be in a face to face
interaction. Rudeness and lack of civility are noticed on the
discussion forums and those who behave this way drive away a lot
of business without even realizing it. People who see this type
of behavior just make mental ... often subconscious notes not to
deal with people who behave inappropriately!
Those are just a few of my thoughts on how to use discussion
forums profitably. I post regularly to over 20 discussion forums.
I also help to moderate several. Being a part of these online
communities can be very helpful to the growth of your business
when you adhere to just a few rules. Start applying these today
and you may be very surprised at the results.
=====================================================
Willie Crawford has been teaching others how to build an on-line
business since late 1996. Frequently featured in radio, magazine
and newspaper articles and interviews, Willie teaches the average
guy what the top marketers are doing but seldom talking about.
For example, Willie demonstrates the power of automated residual
income through his system at: http://ProfitAutomation.Com
Test drive this system now. email: williecrawford2004@yahoo.com
======================================================
How Much Can You Make Online (Part 1)
Here's an example of how you can make really good money with a small
list:
Not very long ago I found one niche that I felt represented an excellent
business opportunity. I created a headline, body copy and a web page sign-up page for people who were interested
in this particular subject - in the EXACT same way I have been telling you how to do it.
In about one week, after actively participating in various discussion
boards on this subject, I added 153 people to my "list". Shortly after adding this number of prospects
to my list I sold over $6,700 worth of products in just 3 days.
You do not need a BIG LIST... you need a targeted,
highly responsive list.
We are also going to be talking about what kinds of products to sell
to small lists for big profits in Lesson 3 and Lesson 4.
Prospecting Online, The Right Way, The Wrong Way
You will have a very difficult time building highly responsive lists
if you are trying to generate subscribers using 'automated' traffic generation methods like 'safelists', FFA pages
and most of the other un-targeted means of generating traffic to your web site...
In fact, it will be impossible to generate a full-time income using those
methods.
In order for you to generate a targeted list of highly responsive subscribers,
in addition to the method above, you'll need to create a minimum of ONE information product (an ebook, report,
etc) that you can give away... to other webmasters so that they can give it to their subscribers and members as
a 'freebie'...
This is a very powerful method of generating highly targeted and responsive
subscribers very fast.
Here's how it works:
1. Create an information product,
probably a "report" in the same subject area as your ezine. It doesn't have to be long, maybe 20 to 30
pages...
2. Put really good info in this report...
don't cut corners. Make it the best report you can make it. Do NOT put any ads, affiliate links or anything or
a "promotional" nature in this report. The purpose of the report is ONLY to generate highly qualified
visitors to your web site capture page.
3. Find web sites that are the 'influencers' in your target market. These are the websites that everyone in your niche knows about and belongs to...
if you don't know which websites are the real influencers in your niche, you're in the wrong niche. IMPORTANT:
Create a separate copy of your report for each major website you identify in your niche and "BRAND" the
report with the website of the influencer on the cover page of the report.
NOTE: You can easily
brand the report by simply putting the following on the cover (with a link to their site):
Brought to you by YourInfluencersWebsite.com
4. Make sure that your 'sign-up' page URL is prominently displayed
on the front cover of your report and, if possible on every page of your report. Make the link 'clickable' so that
people reading the report can go directly to your sign up page.
5. Send the report to the webmasters you identified in step #3. Tell the webmaster that you prepared the report and are giving them the rights
to 're-distribute' the report, at no cost, to their subscribers. Also tell them that the report is "Branded"
with their URL displayed right on the cover page. This will generally be enough to entice them to send a mention
of it to their list and offer their subscribers a download link. Offer to host the download or let them setup their
own link from their site... whichever is easier for them.
NOTE: As an additional
incentive to get the webmaster to agree to distribute the report or if they are really reluctant, include their
affiliate link for any ONE program they want to promote in the report in a prominent area like the title page or
cover... it won't hurt your sign-ups and, wow! what an incentive for them ;-)
On the cover page you could create a little box that says "Recommended
WebHost: XYZHosting.com" that is linked to the influencers affiliate program.
As an additional 'incentive' you can also allow them to 'resell' the
report and keep 100% of the profits...
You have to understand if you can get a webmaster with a large list to
offer a free download to your report - you are essentially getting a 'direct line' to their subscriber base...!
The reason this works is that a lot of webmaster with large lists are
always looking for good content they can distribute to their subscribers... and they are always looking for 'freebies'
to give their subscribers to keep them subscribed to their ezine.
VERY IMPORTANT:
DO NOT give this report as an incentive to get subscribers to sign-up for your ezine... it is always better to
"let" people find you and sign up for your ezine, than to have them sign-up for your report just because
you were giving them a 'free' report.
Let me clarify this point even further because it is so important: When you give away a free report to sign up for your ezine, some people will
read it most will not... they just wanted something for 'free' and that's how they valued it...
When somone else gets your report (as a 'freebie' for signing up for
someone else's list) again, some people will read it and some people won't... BUT
the people who do
read it and see what wonderful information you provide will immediately
go to your 'capture' page and sing-up for your ezine!
These people have ALREADY read your report so they kind of 'know' you
and because a relationship has begun, will be more likely to do business and buy something from you when you make
a recommendation to them.
Do you see this important difference?
You do not want 'freebie' seekers polluting your list. Ok, well "polluting"
may be a little strong... but there is a huge difference between people who sign-up for your list because they
are going to get something for 'free' and people who sign-up for your list because they downloaded and read your
report (that someone else gave
them) and then sign-up for your list because they liked what you wrote.
This is extremely important... you do not want or need people who are
only interested in getting freebies from you. But if they got the 'freebie from someone else, and then sign-up
for your list that's different. On your web site sign-up page do not offer anyone anything for free for signing
up for your ezine...why? Because...
...you ONLY want highly targeted prospects with
money joining your list, not freebie seekers.
Does that mean you never, ever give anything away 'free' as an incentive for signing up for your ezine?
Well no, there really aren't any hard "rules" and if there really was a "rule" I would probably
want to break it... ;-)
All I'm saying is that you should make your copy for your ezine darn
good and let it stand on it's own merit and, as much as possible, avoid a list that is heavily populated with people
who do not have any money to spend and are only looking for free stuff. One way to do that is to make it clear
in your ezine description that you make 'product recommendations', 'resources', and 'hot new products' announcements
in the newsletter that way they know they will be getting some commercial messages.
Ebay. PPC's. CoReg's. Websites. Ezines. Blogs.
The same marketing 'philosophy' can be used when trying various secondary
list building services such as ebay, PPC's, Co-registration services, other websites, other people's ezines and
starting a 'blog'.
You do not want to provide any free reports or other incentives to people
for signing up for your ezine. Let other ezine owners and webmasters give away your free reports... let them target the 'freebie' seekers -- you keep the more motivated,
responsive subscribers.
The most effective thing you can do to build a highly responsive list
with money to spend is to simply offer the promise of really good information in your ezine and that's all... NO
free report... NO freebie of any kind. That's why it's critical to get the Headline and Body copy of your ad PERFECT
with a strong direct or implied BENEFIT in the copy.
The only other 2 methods worth mentioning for building a highly targeted
list of responsive people is through the use of articles and co-registration services.
Article writing is an art and there are some good ebooks on the subject.
My favorite is Jim Edwards, Turn Words Into Traffic. But I will be
honest with you, I do not do as much of this as I think I should, probably because it's too much work. But here
are a few sites, to help you get started, for submitting your articles:
The other method I had very, very good success with is co-registration.
A co-registration service basically means that your "ad" is seen on pop-ups on other websites by their
visitors and given an opportunity to subscribe to your ezine.
I know Terry Dean grew his list very fast using co-registration and several
other Internet marketers' who really do make money online use them.
I've used them in the past and find the subscribers to be somewhat responsive,
but there are good ways to use the service and bad ways.
What I like best about co-registration programs is the ability to
"test" an ezine idea. Once you're a member you can start a new list at 50% off the normal fee. If you
want to 'TEST' an idea for an ezine... simply enter a headline, the body copy and click "activate"...
within a day or two the service will begin sending you subscribers.
You have the option of having them delivered directly to your autoresponder or simply to an email address you select.
When I use a co-registration service I ONLY want motivated, highly
targeted and motivated subscribers, so I never use freebies as an incentive to get people to sign-up. I do not
use the word "free" in my description. In fact, the reason I put "SERIOUS ONLY" at the end
of my description is to keep freebie seekers from subscribing.
As long as co-registration services continue to provide high quality
subscribers I will be using them. I suggest you do too.
I cannot, at this time recommend any one service. You need to experiment
and find one that'll work for you. I use them occassionally, but I am not 100% convinced that they are even 1/10th
as good as the other methods I've outlined above.
There is one additonal method I just found out about that I would highly
recommend for building your list: Use your ebaY "About Me" page to get visitors there to sign up for
your list. Jim Cockrum, a terrific guy and great marketer has written a brand new report on this subject. I'm not
going to steal his ideas so if you're interested in this excellent list building method visit Jim's site here.
We will talk about offline list building strategies in Lesson 7...
The Money Online Is In Your List
The 'money' online is in your list...and it's one of the most neglected
forms of marketing online except by those who know what they are doing! I talk to a lot of people who want to make
money online and when I ask them if they have a "list" almost everyone says "no"!
Let me say this one more time, if you want to make your living online
you need a LIST. It doesn't have to be big, but it has to be
built and the best ways to do that I have discussed in depth in this Lesson.
Only you can take the action necessary to start to build a list.
As long as you have a focus for your ezine and can post a response to a question on a discussion board with your
URL and signature, or use the ebay technique above YOU CAN BUILD A HIGHLY RESPONSIVE LIST. It isn't hard to do.
There's no doubt that email and web marketing is going to change over
time. But the marketing techniques I've outlined here are never going to change.
You want to build a list online or offline and whatever tools help you to do that USE THEM... and you don't want to build you list with 'freebie' seekers either... make anyone
who wants to do business with you jump a hoop or two... and as long you write compelling, benefit filled copy you'll
get sign-ups and you'll get more responsive subscribers, or what I like to call "subscribers with money to
spend".
It all goes back to the copy you write... it must be so compelling, so
full of benefits that no one in their right mind would refuse to sign-up for your ezine. In the Interview transcript
(the "interview") below, I provide more details on this important subject.
Listen, you can always write weak copy and give away a ton of 'free'
stuff to get people to sign up for your ezine, but how many of them are going to be seriously interested in buying
anything from you when you've already given away the store?
Sure, you'll get lots of subscribers but they will be worthless, and
even worse, when you actually try to 'sell' them something they'll un-subscribe from your list faster than you
can say 'ebay'.
Your Daily Marketing Priorities (Part 1)
Your daily marketing priorities become pretty simple once you have a
way to capture prospects emails. Try to create your own 'marketing priorities' for yourself.
As mentioned earlier... be very, very conscious of your time. Break tasks
and priorities into 'time allotments' and create an environment that you have relative peace and quiet in order
to complete your tasks.
You're going to have a tough time working on your business if you don't
create this type of environment... I have 4 children and it's very difficult to work on my business during the
summer months when they're on vacation... I hate summer vacations!
My office is in my home... in a separate room with a door I can close
and work in private but I still get interrupted. I try as nicely as possible to let my family know that when I'm
sitting at my desk I am not to be disturbed unless it's an emergency.
Here's another reason you want to keep your time managed carefully...
you want to be able to spend MORE time with your family, and the only way to do that is if you stick to a schedule,
manage your priorities and work on your business when the time is available... not 'surf' aimlessly or get involved
in other non-income producing activities!
One more thing I should add in case you think I'm a work-a-holic, because
I'm NOT! The fact that I manage my time carefully doesn't mean I don't take days off... in fact I frequently take
prime business days off and do absolutely nothing or whatever I want!
That is another benefit of managing your time while in your office... I'm talking about
being ruthless about your time WHILE in your office and ONLY when you're in your office.
Several times each month, I just decide to take the day off or go on
'mini-vacations'! The best part is I don't have to ask anyone's permission ;-) -- I go to the movies, have lunch
or breakfast with friends or alone and just do everyting I can to enjoy my life. But I would not be able to take
those 'mini-vacations' and days off if I wasn't ruthlessly following my schedule on the days when I was in my office...
do you see what I mean? When I'm in my office, it's all business and it's serious... but only when I'm in my office. And I give
myself permission to take days off frequently as long as I'm meeting my goals.
The following are some of my priorities... you need to adjust
them for your business:
1. Spend time each day participating in multiple discussion boards in
your target market. (1-2 hours max)
PLEASE NOTE: When I talk about 'participating' in discussion boards
as a marketing priority, I am NOT talking about just hanging around the boards and wasting time reading posts.
What I'm talking about is going into each discussion board, searching out the
latest discussion 'threads' that you can either ask a question
about or answer a question that someone else has asked. Find a post you feel qualified to respond to and post a
response or post a question and get out! Don't hang around and lurk. That's it. In and out - and always leave your
'sig'. If you can't find an appropriate thread to post in, DON'T! Just go on to the next board.
2. Leave your signature in every post you make - even if you're only
asking a question.
3. Create a report that you can distribute to webmasters and 'influencers'
in your target, market as we've discussed above. (1 hour per day)
4. Us the ebaY strategy to generate subscribers above ...and use Lesson
1 to create your "ad".
5. Find products to promote and create content to send to your subscribers
(1 to 2 hours per day - HIGH PRIORITY) - (covered in Lesson 3 and 4)
6. Send your subscribers your ezine... and make tons of money (exactly
"how" will be covered in Lesson 4 and 5)
Core Marketing Strategies
Are you starting to get the picture now?
Below are the core marketing strategies I've developed over many years.
They are short and easy to remember. We're going to expand on each as we move into the higher levels of these lessons,
but I think they are helpful to you now as you are just getting started:
#1: Capture EVERYTHING
You must CAPTURE the name, address, phone number and email of every potential customer that contacts you in any
way... by phone, email or letter.
In order for your business to be profitable in the long term, you must use the lowest cost methods available to
you that generate a consistent and reliable flow of new prospects to build your list.
You know, the methods I gave to you above, will not cost you a cent (except
co-regs)... but don't limit your markteing efforts online. We will discuss offline methods too and you should always
think of ways to adapt the methods above to offline media.
For example: Who are the 'influencers' in your target market offline?
They are usually magazines or newspapers. You can adopt the method discussed above - the one of creating a report
- to be used with magazines. Let them know you have a 'report' (even if it's just a series of articles you have
collected) that they can brand and distribute to their new subscibers or make available to existing subscribers
(at their expense).
Don't pay to have a few thousand reports printed... send them the report
on CD and let them print it. If you allow them to brand it they may go for it. Your material should be of very
high quality, but imagine the payoff. A magazine with 100,000 subscibers could easily boost your own subscription
levels to the sky. The key is to develop a high quality 'special report' that they can brand and use.
Suggestion: You
could make your special report EXCLUSIVE to the first publication with a subscriber base of over 100,000 (audited
circulation). The first magazine that grabs it, will have the exclusive, but let them know if they dont' send it
to their subscibers within 30, 60, 90 days or whatever time limit you impose, they lose the exclusive. Think the
strategy you will use though before implementing it, but the potential payoff could be very large.
You MUST store your prospects in a database or spreadsheet (like Excel) so you can easily manipulate and retrieve
and insert the prospects information into your marketing communications.
You must diligently and unmercifully follow-up with this person until a sale is made or they want off your mailing
list.
Normally it takes 1 and up to 10 communications with this person before they will buy anything from you. DO NOT
STOP at 3 letters or emails. Mail at least 10 times before giving up on them.
#2: Sell Like A Madman
You MUST have a product to sell that you have exclusive rights to (or own or have created or had created for you)
in the $9.95 to $49.95 range as a "breaker". A 'breaker' is a product that 'breaks the ice' with your
prospect and is usually the first product they buy from you. This is your lead product. It's inexpensive and it
has to be good. It must "WOW" your audience because if it does, they will buy more things from you in
the future.
It must be a product you are proud of and that is above average in USEFULNESS to them.
When thinking of a product to develop think about what others would find USEFUL and HELPFUL first. Focus on the
customer... what they would find useful and helpful to fulfill their dreams and goals.
#3: Upsell To Profits
You MUST have another product that you own or have exclusive rights to that is in the $195 to $999 range. If it's
your own product great! You're going to be in the BIG money. Back-end products with high-margins are where the
BIG money is in information marketing and publishing and, really, any business.
High margin products = high profits.
You must diligently and unmercifully follow-up with the people who bought your lower-priced product until a new
sale made with the higher product or they want off your mailing list.
#4: Save Every Penny of Profits
You MUST KEEP every penny you make from your business and be watchful you don't spend money indiscriminately. In
order for you to be rich you must MAKE BIG money and you must SAVE every single penny you make except for the very
rare, absolutely essential things you need to run your business.
This is where most entrepreneurs FAIL miserably. They make the money,
but then they spend it on stupid and nonessential items that do not help them to produce MORE wealth.
ONLY spend money on advertising that gets results or on a 'system' of some kind: equipment, office systems, software
or information that will help you MAKE more money because it automates and frees up your time to create more income-producing
activities. That's it.
Be very, very diligent about SPENDING... in most cases DON'T!
#5: DON'T MANAGE YOUR TIME... Control it!!
We have already gone into detail about this...' but it is critical! Managing time' sounds like you have very little
control over how it's used. Nothing could be further from the truth. You must be as diligent with your time as
you are with your money, especially if you spend a lot of time on the Internet.
It's easy to waste minutes, half-hours, whole hours and days just 'surfing' or 'browsing'. Is that you?
Divide your time anyway you want but make sure the majority of your time is spent on DIRECT CASH GENERATING ACTIVITIES
such as participating in discussion boards, sending offers and newsletters to your subscribers, etc.
Here's the model I use for controlling my time in terms of percentages:
80% to direct cash generating activities (including product creation
and marketing and writing my ezine)
10% to product delivery and customer service issues
10% to planning
direct cash generating activities
And... every 30 days take one whole day OFF- no cell phones, no pagers, no computer, nothing! Really take a day
off and re-charge your internal batteries.
Be very, very diligent about SPENDING your cash and your time and please ...don't waste either one.
What To Do Now!
Here's what you need to know:
Create a sign-up web page or CAPTURE PAGE for your pipeline (or ezine:). That's ONE web page ...using the headline and copy we prepared in Lesson 1 as
the basis for the copy. This step is critical, because you need to have a 'place' where you can lead people to
to get them to sign-up.
If you don't know anything about HTML, go to http://www.htmlgoodies.com for
excellent tutorials or do a search on Google for "beginners guide to html" or click here for an excellent tutorial or here for the W3Schools online tutorial.
In addition to creating your web page for sign-ups you'll need a sign-up
script. The script I use for a lot of my sites is the best I have ever found. It includes an autoresponder so you
can email new sign-ups that their subscription is confirmed, and since it's a PHP script you don't have to "chmod"
it or worry about uploading it in 'binary' or 'ascii' mode. The only draw back to the script is that it is single
opt-in. It does not allow the subscriber to 'click a link' to confirm their subscription prior to being added to
the list - they are added automatically when they sign up. Click here to download it (includes instructions).
How about some examples?
Just so you have an idea what a 'capture' page could look like, here
are a few examples you can view to help in your own design:
At a minimum your page should have the following components:
- A headline with an implied or direct benefit
- A paragraph or two describing your ezine, newsletter with more benefits
- A sign-up form.
Before we leave today's session, I want to quote from one of Dan Pena's
newsletters online:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My 33 year experience shows me one of the main reasons
people don't fulfill their goals is "giving up, or in to outside pressure" to soon. I have heard countless
reasons: my mortgage, my kids education, my wife (and this is most often the case), my job doesn't allow me the
time, I don't have the will, I don't have the stomach, and the biggest one of them all-money isn't everything!
Or money can't buy you happiness!
All goals aren't financial. I have written and said this countless times. But I can assure you, it is at the head
of most individuals' goals - or more importantly money "buys" you freedom to make infinitely more choices.
The individual who writes below now has a continuum of choices he couldn't have envisioned 8 years ago! That's
a great new problem virtually all of you would like to have!
So why do so many not achieve their goals? As the writer so appropriately states - it's "your belief system"
that keeps you from fulfilling your dreams. We are all products of our socio and economic milieu's. We are whom
we hang out with, or as the kids used to say, chill out with. (I am a little unclear what that really means.) I
have written, I never met a part time high performance person. And like people congregate together in like surroundings
- with people they relate to. That is not to say high performance people don't fly alone. On the contrary they
soar often alone like an eagle. Many high performance people are perceived to be loners. Whether you're a loner
or not - soar!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS- You can find all of Dan's online newsletters at: http://www.danpena.com/docs/newsletter.php (also a good example of an effective CAPTURE PAGE!)
Next Lesson:
In the next Lesson we are going to charge up your keyboard and learn
ways of creating content that sizzles and sells. We are also going to continue our discussion of marketing, marketing
that actually works.
Why is learning how to
create content so important? If you can 'create' content (or have
it created for
you :) your
income will soar and there are really no limits. If you desire
a $1,000,000 a year income, you need to learn how to create your
own content. I'll show you more ways to create content than you
ever knew existed!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR THIS LESSON
HIGHLY Recommend Reading Books:
The Revenge of BrandX by
Rob Frankel. A
great book on what a 'brand' is and what it can mean to your business and more. Available from RobFrankel.com
Ogilvy on Advertising,
by David Ogilvy. Vintage Books, 1985. A classic and importnat
work on creating advertising. (Very
highly recommended)
How To Make Your Advertising Make Money, by John Caples. Prentice Hall, 1983. Another
classic that is widely read, but very little understood or used.
Recommend Internet Services/Websites:
http://www.danpena.com/ :: Dan Pena's Home Page. Look
at his site as an example of someone who understands "information marketing".
http://www.aweber.com/ :: The best autoresponder service
on the Internet. Period.
BONUS LEARNING MATERIALS FOR LESSON 2
"Lost" Masters Of Copywriting (Course)
As many of you know I was a rare book dealer before becoming an Internet
marketer. Several years ago I found a "lost" course written by the masters of copwriting from the 1920's
with parts of the course written by the greatest copywriter of all time, Claude C. Hopkins! Other contributors
were H. Harry Thompson, Joseph Appel, Bruce Barton, J.K. Fraser, Ben Nash, Kenneth Goode and many other notables
in the field of copywriting at the time.
This 'rare' course has not been available in digital form until now.
I am not done with the process of 'digitizing' the hard copy of the 25 lesson course, but students will receive
several Chapters each week for the next 6 weeks until you have in your possession the entire course.
Being able to create copy that persuades people to do what you want
them to do YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE COMPELLING WORDS THAT SELL.
That's a MUST. No "if's", "ands" or "buts".
By the way... this course is NOT available anywhere online... and very,
very, few Internet marketers have ever heard of it or even know that it exists. So please let's keep this quiet...
and our 'little secret' ok?
Click here to download lessons 1-10 (you got 1-5 last time) of this "lost"
copywriting course:
Easy Money: How To Pick The Low Hanging Fruit From The Internet Marketing
Tree
- Easy Money: 58 Page Transcript... this is the interview I told you about. Scott Foster, a newcomer to Internet
marketing grills me about marketing, finding products to sell and making money online. A very important document
that supports this training.
Surprise BONUS Learning Materials!
A series of excellent presentations From the PayPal' s Developer and
Merchant Conference on 5/8/2003 about using PayPal for payment processing, Selling on ebaY, the advantages of selling
'digital goods', Email Marketing and much, much more. From basics to advanced startegies this is an interesting
series of full-length videos from the Conference.
NOTE: Pay close
attention to Alex Kazim's presentation on "New Markets" and "Really Big Picture" - there are
opportunities there.
- Making E-Commerce Easy
by Alex Kazim, EVP PayPal (Note: especially interesting are the topics he presents on "New Markets" and the "Really Big Picture". There
are incredible opportunities here :-)
- Presentation Video On Selling Digital Goods by Shannon Sofield, CEO, PayLoadZ. Make
money selling eBooks, software, files, subscriptions and more. One time purchases, Fulfillment, Subscriptions
- How to Sell on eBay - Presentation by
Deborah Liu & Brian Phillips. Using eBay to increase your sales and customer base.
- PayPal 101 for Merchants
by Dave McClure, PayPal and Wayne Lambright, Lambright.com
An overview of the PayPal service covering topics of interest to merchants. Accepting payments and fulfilling orders,
Buy Now, Shopping cart, Subscriptions, Preferences and Account Profile
- Managing Payments & Sales Reporting
by Yee Lee, PayPal. Stay on top of every payment you receive, every order you need to fulfill and every dollar
that goes to your bank account. Reporting Tools, History and Search, Downloadable logs
- Email Marketing: Send Your Customers a Buy Button Topica, Roving Use email to increase sales and repeat customers. Email Marketing 101,
E-Commerce Email, Customer Relationship Management
- Integrating Digital Good Sales and Paid Content
by Shannon Sofield, PayLoadz. Integrate PayPal to automate the sale of digital goods. Install Password Management
in 10 minutes. Sign up Buttons, IPN, Cancellations, Trial Periods, Password Managemen
Next Week:
More Lessons of the Masters of Copywriting course and more brand new
Bonus Learning Materials... and, of course, the greatest methods of developing instant info-products of your own
ever conceived ... stay tuned!
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2003-2006. All rights reserved.
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