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If you have been running an Internet business for some time now, or if you are marketing your products and services online, you are probably aware of the significant role of email marketing.
I firmly believe that email marketing can make or break your business. ![]()
How is that so?
Well, it’s very simple actually.
You see, if you keep sending promo emails after promo emails to your subscribers without giving them any real, valuable content that can benefit them, you are bound to break your business.
There are quite a number of well-known Internet marketers who do that, but I won’t name names here.
How do I know?
Because of the simple fact that I’ve been in their lists for quite some time now - and all the emails they sent are 100% ALWAYS promo emails persuading me to buy the “next big thing”.
Luckily I have specifically created a Gmail account for the sole purpose of receiving these “junk” emails so that I can glance at them when I some time to spare. ![]()
And you know what I think as a subscriber when I receive their emails?
Inside my mind I keep wondering how these guys operate?
I mean, here they are sending me promo emails after promo emails saying their “buddies” and “good friends” have just stumbled upon some unbelievable hidden “secrets” since the discovery of slice bread and that these “secrets” are the only thing we need to buy.
Then a few days later we receive another email from the same guy saying the same thing, except this time the product or service they recommend is different.
I thought that the last product they recommend is the last thing we need to buy? ![]()
Hmm…
I figured that the way they operate is simply hammering their email lists cross-promoting each other’s products.
For example, let’s say this network consists of 5 Internet marketing “gurus”.
Guru 1 would promote Guru 2’s products today.
A few days later, Guru 2 would promote Guru 3’s products.
Then a few days later, Guru 3 would promote Guru 4’s products.
So they cycle typically looks like this:
Guru 1 => Guru 2 => Guru 3 => Guru 4 => Guru 5 => Guru 1
Please note that this may not be necessarily true. It is just my own personal opinion. ![]()
Having explained how email marketing can break your business, now I’m going to share with you how email marketing can make your business.
In order to successfully sell your products and services to your subscribers, you first need to build beneficial and trusting relationships with them first.
Today, your subscribers have a lot of choices when it comes to buying products and services related to your industry.
The biggest and most important question (for you as a product/service owner) is: Why should they buy from you?
What makes you unique compared to your competitors?
Sure, price maybe a very important factor. But you can’t just use “low price” as the basis of your unique selling point.
Look at the automotive industry.
Why are people willing to spend twice or triple the money to buy a BMW when they can have a Honda for half or one-third of the price?
Competing on price alone will not get you far, you need some kind of Unique Selling Proposition so that you can thrive and destroy your competition.
One such unique selling point that you can offer to your subscribers or potential customers could be the beneficial and trusting relationships you have with them. ![]()
Remember that a lot of marketers and business owners still don’t understand the importance of building meaningful relationships with their subscribers or potential customers.
The majority of them are simply interested in making a quick sale or two out of you and then they move on to find the next victim customer.
That is why I said email marketing, when done correctly, can take your business to a whole new level you never thought possible. The important thing to remember is that your subscribers and potential clients are humans just like you, and if you are able to make them trust and believe in you, then selling to them becomes much easier.
I’d love to hear to hear your thoughts and opinions about this subject. You can leave them at a comment below… ![]()
Popularity: 19% [?]
There are a lot of reasons why people buy products and services. Generally these reasons can be classified into 2 types of reasons.
The first reason is that they buy because they “must have” the product or service in question.
For example, we as human beings need to eat in order to survive. We must buy food, and there is no other way around this.
Another example is that in order to go from one place to another (to work for instance), you need to buy gasoline to fill up your vehicle or pay for transportation service. Either way you buy something - you buy gasoline or you buy the service that the transportation company offers.
The second reason why people buy products and services is that they “want” the product or service in question, even though it is not a must.
A good example of this would be buying the latest mobile phone when you already own one, simply for the sake of “wanting but not needing” it.
Another example would be buying the latest fancy car when you already have a decent car.
In short, you don’t need these products in order to survive, but you buy them anyway because you want them without actually needing them.
You may be wondering why I’m explaining to you these 2 different reasons. ![]()
Well, because they have something to do with a very important concept that I call Direct Response Selling and Long Term Selling.
Direct Response Selling simply means that you expect to sell your products and services to someone who doesn’t know you (a stranger) on your first encounter with him. For example, if you are an insurance agent, you expect to successfully sell an insurance policy to a completely new prospect right then and there on your first encounter with that prospect.
Long Term Selling, on the other hand, means exactly the opposite - you understand that in order to successfully sell your products and services, you need to build good relationships first. Using the insurance agent example again, you realize it’s okay if you don’t close the sale now, because you understand that the sale will come later when you have successfully built good and trusting relationships with the prospect.
Now, if you were selling products and services based on the first reason - which is people buy because they “need” instead of “want”, then you don’t really have to care about the Direct Response Selling and Long Term Selling concept.
But if you sell products and services based on the second reason - which is people buy because they “want” instead of “need”, then you really have to pay very careful attention to the importance of the Direct Response Selling and Long Term Selling concept.
I used to be a Direct Response Selling (DRS) type of guy, but for a few years now I have become a Long Term Selling person (LTS).
When I was a DRS person, I’d expect to close the sale on my first encounter with the prospect. I figured since I’ve already spend my time and energy doing sales pitches to the prospect, I’d surely have to close him right then and there. If not, I’d simply be wasting my precious time. ![]()
Since becoming a LTS person, my mindset was completely the opposite and not surprisingly, my sales increased significantly. ![]()
This is powerful stuff if you know and understand the concept. Now, I strongly advocate Long Term Selling over Direct Response Selling.
Why?
Before I explain the reason why, do you know that it takes more than 1 time for a stranger (someone who doesn’t know you and your product) to be exposed to your product before he actually buys it?
I forgot where I got this from, but I remembered reading somewhere that it takes 7 exposures to you and your product before someone actually buys it.
Having said that, this is exactly why you must try to capture the contact info of ALL your site’s visitors, so that you can follow up with them later to sell your products and services, or to sell affiliate products and services.
Remember you need at least 7 exposures to the same person before he buys what you are offering.
Even if you are not selling anything to your visitors, you should also be capturing their contact info so that you can invite them to visit your blog again when you have new content.
This will make your blog more crowded and interactive with comments from your visitors, which in turn will boost your blog’s advertising income (since the more crowded your blog is, the more expensive advertising space will be).
By the way, if you want to learn how to earn real money with the power of blogs, you can take a look at my Beginners Blog Profits.
If you are wondering how to capture the contact info of your site’s visitors, the answer is you need an autoresponder system.
You don’t have to be a programmer to put the autoresponder system in place, although you need a very basic understanding of HTML.
The autoresponder system I have been using for the past 2 years (and still is using now) is GetResponse. I’ve been very satisfied with their service and I highly recommend them if you are looking for a great autoresponder system. ![]()
Take a look at the top right of this page where it says “Free Internet Marketing Scoop” and you’ll see this autoresponder system in place.
Whenever visitors land on my blog, the first thing I want them to see is this form (also called opt-in box) so that they can then enter their names and email addresses.
When you are trying to capture visitors’ contact info, I advise that you put the opt-in box above-the-fold. Above-the-fold simply means that when your site is loading, visitors do not have to scroll down to see your opt-in box.
This will definitely increase the number of people who opt-in.
To wrap things up, I highly advise you go the Long Term Selling way instead of the Direct Response Selling way for the reasons mentioned above. ![]()
Popularity: 33% [?]
If you are like most people out there, then you probably agree with me if I say that you like to receive better than you like to give.
Confused? ![]()
Let me explain a little.
If you were to choose between:
A. Taking/receiving something good
Or
B. Giving away something good
I seriously believe that you would choose A over B anytime.
Am I right? ![]()
You see, by nature we humans are selfish creatures. That is why almost everyone wants to take rather than to give.
I seriously believe that in today’s world if you want to thrive and move forward in your Internet business, you need to give, give, and give first before you can receive.
If you are just like every marketer or business owner out there who just want to sell, sell, and sell, it is very hard for you to make good impressions in your customers’ or would-be-customers’ eyes.
Well, actually you can still thrive and do very well in your business even if you sell, sell, and sell all the time, provided that:
1. You already have an established brand that people know, or
2. Your products and services are so unique and great that all your competitors can’t compare (let alone compete) with you.
However, if you or your business does not belong to the two categories stated above, yet the only thing you do is sell, sell, and sell, then you seriously need to consider doing things differently starting from now.
You need to create VALUE first for other people before they are willing to buy from you.
You need to start giving and stop selling (or taking)!
I’m not implying that you don’t have to sell. At the end of the day, we are still marketers and we need to sell to be able to make profits. ![]()
I’m simply saying that if you want to acquire new customers, you need to give first before you can receive. You need to create value for them first before they will buy from you (unless of course one of the two reasons above applies to you).
So how exactly do you create value?
Well, you can give them some kind of freebie that is related to the niche/field you are in. Do make sure that this freebie can benefit them in one way or another; otherwise your freebie will simply go down the drain.
For example, if you are talking about doing business online, you can always give them a free report, e-course, ebook, audio, or video tutorial. The point is to give them something useful that can benefit them.
If they feel that your freebie has benefited them, they will be more receptive to you and your products. If you continue to provide more value for them, they will slowly but surely trust you. ![]()
When you are at this stage, it will be a lot easier to sell your products and services to them.
Having said what I’ve said above, I want to point out that there are a lot of sites out there who simply sell and sell. There is, of course, nothing wrong with having sites who want to sell you something.
Yes, these sites may produce a few sales every day if their sales copy, traffic, and follow up “hard-sell” email messages are great.
But, I seriously believe that if you can build relationships and provide value first without the “hard-sell, pushy” email sales pitches, then you’ll be able to sell much more effectively.
Think about if for a moment.
The last time you went to the mall and some “pushy” salesman tries to hard-sell you on something, do you feel comfortable? Would you buy from him then and in the future?
Of course not! ![]()
Nobody wants to buy from a “pushy” salesman.
The whole article today focuses on why you should give and create value first before you can expect to receive anything, because it is very hard nowadays to just be able to make sales on your first encounter with your visitors. You must build beneficial relationships with your visitors first so that they trust you.
Believe me, trust is a very, very effective and vital component in successful selling.
This is also the reason why I highly recommend you build your own lists for your business. Put in some kind of opt-in form and ask for their email addresses in exchange for a freebie that they will get.
You have put in a lot of hard work to bring visitors to your site; don’t just let them go like that. If you don’t get their contact info, you lose them forever! There are millions of sites out there, what makes you think they will remember your site?
Always try to get their contact info so that you can follow up with them and give them more Free benefits such as tips and tricks related to your field. The point is to build good relationships with them on a consistent basis.
When beneficial relationships are built, trust will be formed. At the end of the day, selling your products and services to them become much easier. ![]()
Popularity: 77% [?]
Almost every Internet Marketer or anyone that I meet admits that they have difficulties staying focused on their goals.
Well, even though this is the case, they are still a lot better than those people who do not have any goals at all.
Most of the time, they find it difficult to stay focused on their goals because there are a lot of distractions out there.
You know, those get-rich-quick-schemes that spread like viruses all over the Internet, and those emails about receiving a humongous amount of inheritance from some middle east countries.
I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of the saying “if it sounds to good to be true, it usually is”
In this article, I’d like to show you 6 ways on how you can focus on your goals:
1. Chop your big goal into smaller goals
Do you know how to eat an elephant?
Before you exclaim “No way! That’s impossible!”, what if I say that to eat an elephant, you simply cut it into small pieces and put those pieces into your mouth?
If your goal is too big, it is very hard for you to stay focus.
Let’s say that your current goal is to achieve $10,000 nett profit/month from your Internet business. Maybe $10,000 nett profit/month may sound out of reach for you, and you feel a little discouraged by that huge figure.
Now what you can do is chop or cut your $10,000/month goal into smaller, more achievable goals such as $1,000/month for the next 3 months, and $3,000/month for the next 6 months, then $5,000/month for the next 12 months, and $10,000/month for the next 18 months.
Chopping your big goal into smaller, more “human-like” goals will motivate you to work harder on achieving them because they are more achievable and your confidence will definitely grow as well.
2. Focus only on the goal that you want to achieve
A lot of folks, myself included, tend to lose focus when they are working on their businesses.
It does not apply only to Internet Marketing. I’m talking about all kinds of businesses, whether online or offline. Everyone must have lost their focus at some point.
For example, let’s say that your goal is to achieve $3,000/month from affiliate marketing.
This means that the only activities that you ought to be doing are those that are geared towards how to make money from affiliate marketing. Such activities may include driving traffic to your sites, or how to build and maintain good relationships with your customers.
However you and I both know this is not always the case. Sometimes Often, you might wander off browsing and participating in forum discussions about HYIP or Forex, which have nothing to do with your goal!
My advice is to only do those things that have a direct impact in helping you achieve your goal. As for the rest, you can forget about them, at least for the time being.
3. Set a specific dateline for you goal
Simply knowing your goal is not enough, you need to set a specific dateline as to WHEN you want to achieve it.
Typically when we are asked when we are going to achieve our goals, our answers revolve around “as soon as possible”, “the sooner the better”, “next year”, or “2 years from now”, etc.
Do not use these words because they are very vague! ![]()
What does “as soon as possible” or “the sooner the better” mean? Tomorrow? Next week?
What does “next year” or “2 years from now” mean? January? December?
When you set a dateline, be specific. For example, setting a dateline like “5 Septermber 2009″ works great because it is specific.
You see, our brain works a lot better if your goal and the dateline for your goal is specific. ![]()
4. Remind yourself on a consistent basis what your goal is
Often, we set our goals today only to forget about them in the next few days or weeks.
This is why you must remind yourself on a consistent basis what your goal is.
Write your goal clearly with a big font size on your whiteboard so that you can see it every day.
If you don’t have a whiteboard, you can write your goal on your computer wallpaper or cell phone wallpaper, or just anywhere you like. The point is to make sure you can easily see it every day, so that you always aware of what your goal is and not lose focus along the way.
5. Inspire and motivate yourself
One of the best ways to inspire and motivate yourself is to find out the people in your niche who have already succeeded, and watch, listen, and feel their success.
How much money do they earn every month? What have they done with these money that they have earned? What have they done for themselves or for their families? What kind of lifestyles do they now currently enjoy?
When you are feeling down or frustrated and everything seems to not go your way, stop your work for a moment and imagine yourself having achieved success like these people. Imagine the money that you would have had, and the lifestyle that this kind of money would bring.
By doing this, you will recharge your “down” state so that you become inspired and motivated to work towards your goal once again. ![]()
6. Eliminate all distractions while you are focusing on your work
If you really want to focus on your work so that you can achieve your goal, then you should eliminate all distractions.
What I mean by this is that you turn off your Yahoo Messenger, Skype, MSN (unless you use them strictly for work purposes), Facebook, MySpace, your favorite non-work-related forum, Outlook, your cell phone, and of course your TV.
Why?
Because they are total distractions in getting your work done for the day.
I’m not saying that you can’t casually chat with your friends or check your personal email or Facebook account, it’s just that you should set aside a specific time for these non-productive activities, so that they will not distract you when you are working.
By doing this, you are bound to increase your productivity!
So there you have it, the 6 ways to stay focused on your goals.
Do let me know in a comment below what your thoughts are, or if you have anything to add that I might have missed, I would be happy to hear them ![]()
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