Archive for July, 2006

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Marketing – A Positive Attitude is Crucial When Starting Out in Internet Marketing

Saturday, July 29th, 2006

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It is so easy to become overwhelmed when first starting up a new business. This applies equally to an Internet-based business. The first crucial step is to maintain a positive mental outlook.

Dear Friend:

In order to become proficient in anything we want to pursue, we must have the right mental outlook from the get-go in order to maximize our chances for success. When learning to walk, talk or drive a car, it takes time, practice, patience and persistence before we can become so good at it, we don’t even have to think about what we are doing anymore. It becomes automatic. But until we reach that point, there are a few ways to help us reach our goals faster and with less frustration.

One way is to be patient with ourselves, keeping in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day. We won’t become overnight sensations in Internet Marketing either. There will be a learning curve that we will be subjected to, but once we pass through it, we can and will succeed if we maintain our faith and believe in our capabilities. Any committed and determined individual with an “I’ll do whatever it takes…” attitude is sure to come out on top.

I know from personal experience that when my self-doubts begin to surface, that is when I begin to lose my motivation and focus and it becomes much harder to follow-through on the necessary steps I need to take to keep me moving toward my goals. Self-sabotage is an insidious thing – it creeps up on you without you even realizing it because it happens subconsciously. One is usually not aware of it even happening but it almost inevitably leads to failure. The only way to combat this self-sabotage is to consciously maintain a very positive and upbeat attitude and above all else, to keep up the faith. Eventually this positive outlook will override your self-sabotage tendencies and your subconscious mind will become programmed for success.

So, believe in yourself and have faith! With these two essential ingredients, you will be destined to succeed in a big way.

Onward and upward….

Cherylin Gilad

For many great ideas on how to prosper from Internet Marketing, make sure you take advantage of the fantastic free online course at http://www.InternetProfitMentor.com

About the Author

Cherylin Gilad is an up-and-coming Internet Marketer. She is at present working diligently to create a website to showcase what she is passionate about – alternative healing.

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Internet Marketing – Internet Marketing Tip: Know What Marketing Means by Rick Tanzo

Saturday, July 29th, 2006

Internet Marketing has been a buzzword for over a decade now, a short time by ordinary measure. And yet in terms of Internet reckoning, this is a very long time. Whatever, we always go back to the origin of the word marketing.

Marketing, as we know it, primarily concentrates on consumers . As Internet marketer, your responsibility is to determine your consumers` – or potential customers` – needs and desires. You then develop strategies – both online and offline – about your product`s important features, persuade your potential customers to purchase your product, and make sure your customers are satisfied with their purchase.

In the olden times marketers stopped with the sale of products and services. Today, successful marketers make it their strategy to sell to existing customers more than finding new buyers. Why? Because it is more profitable to sell to existing consumers than to new ones!

Why do I belabor this definition? Because in essence, that is what marketing is all about. If you understand the above definition, and I have highlighted the important keywords, your duties as Internet marketer is placed in correct perspective. With this at the back of your mind, there is no doubt you will become a profitable entrepreneur.

With marketing as defined above, you now understand why almost all the successful Internet marketers today flood your server with opt-in emails. Or fire you up with their newsletters` latest edition. Because they consider you as within their loop of customer base (even if you have not bought from them before; your only participation to their business is to sign up for their newsletters` subscription forms).

Be that as it may, we now go back to the definition of marketing given above and list down the important eywords. Internet marketers tweak the keywords inside and out. million of pages have been launched on the Internet out these keywords.

The shady marketers target all and sundry potential customers, prying on the innocents specifically. They offer all kinds of products and programs, rather than educating the unsuspecting readers. If you were one of those who is a beginning Internet surfer to scout for an online business, in all probability you have been victimized by these shady characters. Beware therefore.

About The Author

Rick Tanzo is the webmaster of the InternetMarketingLearningCenter.com. Visit his web site today to discover the simple, fast and easy way to learn Internet marketing and home based business. The site offers free downloads and guide to some of the best deals online. http://www.internetmarketinglearningcenter.com.

mailersplace@yahoo.com

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Direct Marketing – Direct Marketing – A Beginners Guide

Saturday, July 29th, 2006

This guide is packed with tips and tactics to help you write successful sales letters and target your marketing campaigns for maximum response. You are taken from the basics of Direct Marketing, how to profile your targets, and develop prospect lists, through to the planning and writing of successful Marketing literature. A longer version of this guide can be found on the author’s website the URL of which can be found at the end of this article.

Understanding

Direct Marketing is direct to the customer. This includes Direct Response Advertising, email and Interactive Web Sites. However, the most common format is Direct Mail. In terms of overall expenditure, Direct Mail ranks as the third largest advertising technique in the UK.

Despite sometimes receiving negative press (often being referred to as “junk mail”), targeted direct mail is an effective and valuable form of marketing. On a cost-per-head basis it may sometimes appear more expensive than other forms of advertising but when you look at its unique advantages – its accuracy, testability, flexibility, personalisation etc – it can in fact turn into the MOST cost-effective form of communication.

Research

Once you have decided to use Direct Mail, you must research to understand who your targets are in some detail.

Profile your existing customers. Look for any similarities between customers in terms of their type, regional distribution, age, economic characteristics etc. If you have only basic customer records, Upgrade any old records you have by consulting a database marketing company to add marketing information from their own extensive company database into yours. If you don?t have a customer base, use market research and your product/service USPs or Unique Selling Points to try to identify what types of people or companies would most benefit from your offering.

Next, Identify your “hottest” prospects. These are customers who return the most for your time and money investments. Next, look for any potential customers or groups that you could try to target that you haven?t already. If your customer base has any geographic bias, think about whether you want to maintain that bias or expand it. Finally, think about the individuals. Do you have a preferred profile of age, sex, occupation or job title. What responsibilities do you think they would have?

Locating New Prospects

Now you know who your potential customers are, you have to locate new prospects to target. The easiest way to locate new prospects is to buy or rent a mailing list.

Mailing lists are available directly from database marketing companies that specialize in business to business or consumer lists. List brokers broke many lists from many different sources. Many lists, especially consumers, are available through Internet groups. These databases are often compiled on an “opt in” basis where all consumers have freely submitted their data, interest areas etc.

As mentioned, lists can be rented for a one-time use only or purchased for multiple use. Lists can provide contact names, titles, company names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and sometimes email addresses. Each element of information potentially adds cost so be clear as to what data you require before ordering.

e-mail addresses are currently a bone of contention within the Direct Marketing industry. Unless the company has indicated that they want to receive your e-mails (permission based or opt-in marketing) your e-mail may be considered as SPAM (unsolicited commercial e-mail) and can be the cause of your ISP being blacklisted or, at worst, court proceedings to be threatened. If you want to buy an e-mail list, be clear about the criteria under which it has been collected and how it can be used.

Define Your Campaign

Direct Marketing or Direct Mail has a clear advantage in that it allows you to measure exactly the response to your campaigns, their success and ROI (Return on Investment). Before you start you will need to be clear on what the objectives are of your campaign(s). A clearly-defined mission makes for a clear message to customers. Are you looking for direct, immediate sales? Do you want sales leads? Are you informing your customer about something new? Are you looking to change people?s perception of your product/service/company? Are you offering an incentive? It is vital that you know what you wish the successful outcome of your campaign to be.

Planning the Literature

You know your target customer. You are clear about the mission. Now at the heart of every Direct Mail shot is the sales letter. Whether you are emailing, faxing or posting. Whether you include coupons, reply-paid cards, brochures or leaflets, offers, gifts…it?s the sales material itself that provides the personal communication element. Although great sales letters don?t grow on trees, bad ones mostly fail through one or two simple and fundamental mistakes.

You can use experts to help such as Direct Marketing agencies but this this can be costly and time consuming. A simple sales letter which you can design and/or print in house may work just as well for you. Five key points to remember in creating the marketing literature are simplicity and clairty in the language and message, enthusiasm and belief in your product, empathy towards your audience, imagination and creativity in your style and “Call to Action” to let your customers know what to do next.

Remember that a product or service is seen for what it DOES for the buyer, not what it IS. Work to the FAB rule. Write down the Features of your product/service. Then write the Advantages. Now focus on ommunicating simply the Benefits that arise from these in your Direct Marketing material.

Make your FABs relevant to the readers? needs/wants/ambitions. Look for Exclusive or Unique aspects. Make it Worthwhile and Valuable. Support your proposition with credible evidence or testimonial.

Research, research, research. You don?t have to go it alone. What are your competition doing? If you received their mailshots, would they work for you? Collect and review the Direct Marketing that you receive. Learn from their mistakes as well as harvesting their best features for your own campaigns.

Call to Action

A great sales letter does not necessarily lead to great sales. It?s amazing how many otherwise passable sales letters leave the reader floundering as to exactly what?s expected of them AFTER they?ve read the letter.

Be precise and clear in what you want them to do. Direct the recipient to the required actions. Make it as easy and as quick as possible for them to respond by including such items as direct ordering forms with preprinted names and addresses, fax back sheets, response mailers (reply paid), hyperlink click-throughs for e-mails.

The Nitty Gritty

This is it. The time to put pen to paper. You should be clear on all your objectives, output formats, target customers, FABs, mechanisms for reply, etc. Now you have to make it all happen. There are a number of simple techniques or formulae designed to help you approach a sales letter logically. They are not intended as a ?straitjacket?, merely as a guide to ensure you cover the right points in the right order.

Wavelength. Readers decide to read or junk a letter, fax or e-mail in about the first 5 seconds. That?s the length of time you have to grab and hold them…or lose them forever. The most effective way to grab them is to show that you?re on the same WAVELENGTH as they are. Get on their wavelength right away – with your first headline or sentence or message topic for an e-mail.

Interest. Or more importantly, holding it! Use some surprising or intriguing facts relevant to your product or service. Make sure you are talking about the reader?s problem, need or opportunity, not about your company or product.

Salespoints. This is the ‘Big Promise’ answer to the reader?s ?what?s in it for me?? question. Back it up with as many subsidiary salespoints as you can without confusing the
main issue.

Conviction. Support your Big Promise with evidence – market research, customer response, lab tests, testimonials from experts. Try and anticipate the audience?s doubts or questions, and answer them, don?t sidestep them.

Desire. Merely informing your reader of the facts isn?t enough. Since we?re all human, it helps to involve our emotions as well as our mind. Even the most practical or technical product can make the user feel better or more successful or more secure. So help them turn that conviction into desire for your product or service.

Action. Provoke strong, clear action from the reader. Many readers may MEAN to reply: it?s only the ones who actually DO that produce your results.

It’s All About Style

It?s not what you say – it?s the way that you say it. The actual style will depend very much on your product and customer type. Some of the biggest expenditure Direct Mail campaigns you will see push the creative boundaries as far as they will go. Sometimes they push them too far and fail to communicate the message effectively to their customers. Don?t let your message get lost in the rest of the design.

Be personal. Committees don?t write personal letters, individuals do. Don?t be afraid to use ?I? and even more important ?You? rather than third-party expressions like ?This company? or ?customers?. Write as you would talk. Sales letters are meant to be clear, easy and friendly. Take just as long as it needs to tell your story. If it?s a complex technical matter, don?t be afraid to take the time to explain it properly but remember to keep it interesting all the way through. Use active not passive words. Not ?Deliveries within 3 days? but ?We?ll rush it to you within 72 hours”.

Now circulate your material. Show friends, colleagues and even existing customers. Get their views or comments and be prepared to adapt your communications.

Wrapping it All Up

The actual physical nature of your package can help to produce results too. For Direct Mail through the post, don?t forget the envelope. Use the outside to whet the reader?s appetite. Hint at what the offer is, who the letter should go to, and why.

Think about who else might see the material first. One successful letter to senior managers put a shorthand note to their secretary on the outside. Another was posted from abroad with foreign stamp and postmark – to create extra interest for an export service.

Raise your mailshot above the herd with some element of surprise or originality. Altering the promotional offer can make a huge difference.

If posting, consider when. Items received on a Monday or Friday for instance, may not receive the same amount of attention as a package received in midweek. Or consider ?tying in? with some special event as Valentine?s Day, Mother?s Day, the anniversary of Waterloo(!) etc.

Record who replied and to what message or offer. This will help you fine tune both your message and your mailing list.

Success

As so much planning goes into what communication you are sending out, ensure you leave enough time to plan what you will do with the successful outcome. Having spent so much effort getting customers, don?t lose them again through poor response or customer service. Don’t be caught in a trap by failing to acknowledge replies, responding too slowly, running out of leaflets…and so on. Few campaigns work entirely alone so plan to follow them up with a second letter, a phonecall, a visit, a follow-up e-mail or faxshot.

About The Author

John Harris-Burland, former Head of Marketing for the University of Portsmouth, has worked as a Marketing consultant for a number of years and recently worked with Marketscan Ltd to produce the Direct Marketing Guide.

As Head of Marketing at the University of Portsmouth, John was responsible for all marketing communications and planning for the University. The department provided a full in-house agency service including: Advertising, Media and Public Relations, Market Research, Exhibitions, Direct Marketing and Publications.

For more information on Marketscan Ltd’s activities, go to http://www.marketscan.co.uk.

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Marketing – The #1 Myth That Kills Your Internet Marketing Success Stone Dead

Thursday, July 27th, 2006

The funny thing about the Internet is how many experts there are. Wherever you look there are self-proclaimed gurus ready to tell you how to run your business or your life – and we eat up their advice like candy.

But, like candy, too much advice may be bad for you.

I’m no guru, and I hate to be called an expert, but as a marketer with 30 years under my belt I do look at some of the most frequently trotted-out ‘pearls of wisdom’ and shudder.

The most damaging bit of bad advice that I still see every single day is this: ‘Create your website/ebook/product according to your passion.’

The theory is simple: if you write about what you know and care deeply about, you can position yourself as an expert and reap the benefits accordingly.

That single piece of bad advice kills so many Internet marketing careers before they’ve even begun.

The sad fact is that most of us are hard-pressed to find a subject that we feel that passionate about. And even if we can find one, we quickly discover that it has already been done to death by other enthusiasts.

And those who do struggle to create their ebook or website on the topic that most fascinates them more often than not find that there is no market for a book on ‘Collecting 19th-century thimbles.’

The result is that most people who accept and try to follow that advice either end up doing nothing, or put massive amounts of their valuable time and energy into creating something that nobody is interested in except themselves.

Either way they sadly leave the Internet marketing arena believing that it is they who have failed.

The truth is that for every single person who is making money from their passion, there are a thousand – or even ten thousand – who never will. Sorry to disillusion you.

The more modern approach – and the one that is proving to be hugely successful for those who embrace it – is to find a hungry market first and then create a product to feed it – regardless of whether it is a subject you know anything about.

There are many ways that you can do this, but the easiest, and for me, the most profitable, is through private label ebooks and the membership sites that supply them.

These membership sites research hot niche markets – usually two or three each month – and pay ghost writers to create ebooks to service them. In addition, many of the private label ebook membership sites also supply private label articles for you to populate your websites with.

Private label, in case you are unfamiliar with the term means that the ebook or article is supplied to you as a txt file, or a Word doc so that you can add to it, change it, rewrite parts of it, or do anything you like to make it your own product. You can even change the title and add your own name as the author.

Effectively you get an ebook that can be sold by you as your own work, (keeping all the profits) without having to spend weeks or months researching and writing.

And from any one membership site costing (generally) less that $30 a month, you will get at least two and sometimes as many as six great ebooks to start selling immediately.

That is the power of private label – someone else does all the work and you get to make all the money.

Success online, in 2006 at least, isn’t about following your passion. It is about finding markets that are desperately hungry and thirsty and providing websites and ebooks that satisfy that raging hunger and quench that aching thirst.

And more, to do that over and over again.

With private label ebooks it is easy to have a new product on sale. Once you have the know-how, turning a private label ebook from an anonymous text file into a unique professional ebook is the job of a few hours.

My ebook ‘Unlock the Secrets of Private Label eBooks’ takes a step-by-step approach to teach everything you need to know to start profiting from this gold mine. In addition, it details eleven different ways that you can use the private label ebook contents that even most ‘experts’ have never done!

So forget about following your passion to create your ebook or website. Find out what passions other people have and follow them. they will be your hungry markets.

The only passion you need to have is a burning desire to be successful in Internet marketing and the passionate belief that private label ebooks are your key to that door.

About the Author: Martin Avis is the author of the best-selling ‘Unlock the Secrets of Private Label eBooks’ – a complete blueprint to private label rights success. Discover how easily you can profit from this goldmine at http://www.plrsecrets.com

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Internet Marketing – The 4 Giant Lies Youve Been Told About Internet Marketing!

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006

To quote Peter Finch from the iconic 1970’s film “Network”: I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!

There are so many lies, half-truths, and misguided misinformation out there about online marketing that it’s driving me crazy!

I just finished reading yet another ebook by yet another “successful” Internet marketing guru. It kills me because the only thing most of these gurus are successful at is selling themselves and their “snake oil” to unsuspecting business people.

They don’t know squat about marketing a business on the Internet. But they do know how to push buttons. So these self-proclaimed “experts” LIE to you just to sell you their latest crap books, tapes, and seminars or whatever it is they think they can get people to buy.

(Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised is someone out there isn’t selling the “Color by Number Marketing Kit” that comes with its own crayons!)

These gurus make it sound sooooo easy to make money online. They say stuff like, “You dont need a computer connection” or “You dont need any experience,” or “You dont need a lot of money.”

According to them, you dont even need a brain! You just need to BUY THEIR PRODUCT and you’ll make a gazillion dollars online in 30 days or less.

If you believe in that crap, you need to have your head examined!

I got news for you, Bucko. Marketing is work and successful, bring-home-the-big-profits marketing is HARD work.

That’s because marketing isn’t a crapshoot or a game of chance. It’s a business. And just like any other LEGITIMATE business, you need to invest time, effort and energy to make it grow into a successful enterprise.

And it even takes even MORE ENERGY to maintain that growth and manage your success for the long term.

Now it’s definitely true that the “wonders” of technology make it easier to succeed with an online business than a retail store. And even a one-person operation can utilize email, autoresponders, and the Internet’s global marketing capabilities to grow rich.

But although it’s easier online, its still work.

I know it’s work because it’s the work I do! I am the mentor for the some of the most super-successful websites/internet business people on the planet. I’m the behind-the-scene the guy, helping little businesses that are generating $5,000.00 to $10,000.00 a month and “big” businesses with annual revenue figures of $1,000,000.00 and MORE.

There’s one thing they have in common: they all agree with me that it takes dedication, commitment, and hard work to reap the benefits of selling online.

Simply put: you get out what you put it. My clients aren’t at the top of their industries by just pure dumb luck. Their upwardly mobile climb takes ongoing dedication, forward-thinking, and careful planning. Their success demands creativity, persistence, specialized knowledge, a quality product or service plus good old-fashioned, shoulder to the wheel and nose to the grindstone, hard work.

Of course, having a mentor helps, too!

So right now, I’m going to mentor you and tell you the facts behind the big lies told across the Internet by the gurus of “make believe,” not marketing.

Big Lie #1: You dont need ANY money to get started.

Thats just complete B.S. If you’re flat broke and one paycheck from homeless, youre gonna have a very tough time making it. Of course you need money to get started. Whaddya think your smile is gonna pay the rent?

Now you dont need a lot of money to succeed online, it’s true certainly less than it would take to build and open your own Widget Shop on Main Street. But you do need some operating capital and it stands to reason that having a large bankroll couldn’t hurt.

When your pockets are fat and your budget can include more money for smart marketing, you’ll be able to see (and enjoy) the results of your efforts even faster.

In short, it takes money to make money.

It takes money to educate yourself to research the marketplace… and to develop your product or service.

It takes money to get a domain name, it takes money to host your site. It takes cold-hard cash to hire a designer to program your site and a copywriter to write a killer sales letter for you. You even need money in order to get a merchant account so you can accept the money your website generates.

And most importantly, it takes money to DRIVE traffic to your site.

Yeah I know I know! There are all those “free” traffic-generating ideas that you can pursue. I do a lot of them myself but I don’t trust my success to traffic I can’t control.

Most of the time, it costs me money to drive quality traffic to my site, and it will cost you, too. Could be Pay-Per-Click, could be running an ezine ad, could be doing some sort of offline promotion.

But the bottom line is — you need to have a bottom line. Especially in the beginning, your cash-flow will be in one direction: OUT.

Big Lie #2: You dont need a list.

This is almost as ridiculous as “you don’t need money.” Give me a break. Sales aren’t made to the man in the moon they’re made to people on your list. People you have carefully cultivated and “primed.”

You need to build a list because your money is IN the list!

You need to build a herd as quickly as humanly possible but dont purchase one of those deals where you “GET A MILLION EMAILS ON ONE CD.” (That’s not a list — that’s spam-in-the-making.)

And dont do the co-registration deal. With this approach, where people go to a site to subscribe to a particular newsletter that they want, they find a checkbox (or other response mechanism) “advertising” your offer. If they’re interested, they check the box to agree to receive mailings from you.

This sounds like a good way to get traffic because unlike spam, you’ve been given permission to make contact. The problem is these people dont know you from squat. To them, the checkbox is just an invitation for another form of spam.

The online sales game — any successful sale, in fact — is about connecting with the right buyer and make the right offer. The right buyer comes from the right list.

The best approach to list-building is strictly OLD SCHOOL: build it from scratch. That way, your list people are “pre-qualified” from the start. They KNOW you right from the beginning. They want to hear from you. They want to learn more from you. They want to listen to what you have to say.

And with a list of people like that, it doesn’t take long before they’ll want to BUY from you

Big Lie #3: You dont need a product or service.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

Let’s try a little role-playing game. Pretend you and I were thinking about starting an offline business together. What if I said to you, “Oh, don’t worry all we need to do to succeed is open our store. We dont need any products or services. But we’ll still make oodles of money!”

You’d think I was crazy, right?

Well, then why in the world would you believe the same line of crap when it’s being fed to you on the Internet by some expert whose credentials can’t be verified?

Commerce is all about products and services and if you want to do business, you NEED a quality product or service to sell. Preferably multiple products and services so that you can back-end sell your existing customers and increase their value to you exponentially by turning them into customers for life.

Do I hear you asking, “Dan, what about those super-affiliates who are making a lot of money promoting others products and services?”

That’s a good question because yes, there are some exceptions to this rule. But the list of exceptions who do well with someone else’s product or service is very short. Plus there are a lot of potential risks to being the middleman.

For example, let me ask you this: what if that company youre promoting products for go out of business? What if they change their products? Where does that leave you?

The answer: High and dry.

And I cant even begin to tell you how many affilia
te “horror stories” I’ve heard. It’s common to hear about vendors not paying affiliates on-time. Or to learn that customers may bypass the affiliate link, so you dont get paid.

Vendors tracking software screws up, there are “technical difficulties” so you dont get credited for the sale and on, and on, and on.

And here’s a killer: more often than not, you dont get to keep the customer, they do. Many affiliate programs are set up so that you only get credit for the first sale a consumer makes. After that, all the profits stay with the vendor.

They keep all the back-end profits.

And when they back-end sell their products and services, you dont get a dime. It doesn’t matter that your links are making the vendor rich. The effort is yours, but the profit is theirs.

When it comes to my income I’m a control freak! But affiliate programs are out of your control. Your financial well-being is in someone else’s hands and there’s nothing you can do to manage your success.

You can’t test different things on your site because its NOT your site. You can’t change what’s not working because it’s not yours to change. All you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best

Hardly a recipe for success, I think you’ll agree.

I am not saying you cant promote other peoples products, but very often you should do it as a back-end, not front-end. You front-end your own stuff, and you can back-end other products and services.

There’s still one more problem with promoting other people’s stuff: when you stop promoting, your income also stops. You have to constantly be on the lookout to find the NEXT red-hot product and constantly be inking the next great deal.

Big Lie #4: You dont need any experience.

Of course, you need experience to succeed online! The only job in the world that doesn’t need experience is “virgin.”

If you want to make money, you need to get hip as quickly as humanly possible. You need to figure out what works, what doesn’t, and how you can use all the “tricks of the trade” to build your success.

Thats why having a mentor works. Working with someone who’s “been there and done that” can save you time and money.

Your income can only grow to the extent that you do. You must educate yourself and you must be open to the process.

Be prepared to make mistakes, try new things, and push yourself beyond your safe, secure comfort level. Do whatever it takes to earn your Masters at the School of Hard Knocks. Learn your lessons and develop the skill sets you need to make the kind of money you want to make.

On this season’s The Apprentice, Donald Trump put two teams in a head-to-head competition: book smarts and street smarts. You don’t have to play for one team or another, you can take the best of both worlds for your success strategy.

It pays to be educated and street-wise. Knowledge comes from books and experience.

Big Lie #5: You dont need any technical knowledge

This really is more of a medium-sized lie. It’s definitely true that you can be a master online marketer even if you don’t programming, HTML codes and all that stuff. (Hey, you can watch television without understanding how it works!)

However while you dont need to know the how-to, you DO need to know what needs to be done and what YOU need for your site. If you don’t, you’re as “at risk” for being had as a 17-year old car owner who visits the Bad Guys Auto shop.

I’m the first to admit that before I got smart, I was screwed-over and taken advantage of by several dishonest webmasters. They did a lot of unnecessary programming and sent me a hefty bill. They charged me a lot of money and gave me crap.

I definitely overpaid but I didn’t know any better. But you can be damn sure I rectified that situation with a little “quick study.”

I found out for myself that it doesnt hurt to have a little of technical knowledge. If you’re familiar with basic HTML — at least when you want make changes to your site, you can do so instantly.

There are many things that only a programming professional will be able to do for you. But it’s nice when you dont have to go to your webmaster and pay them per hour for a fix that could easily be a do-it-yourselfer.

If you’re the “exception that proves the rule” and are making money hand-over-fist as a super-marketer, you may disagree that the four big lies are lies at all. Congratulations on your success but take it from me.

For the average even the above-average person online marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Its a business and you have to treat it like a business. So if you’re not yet rolling in dough, but would like to be part of the Internet moneymaking machine

Dont buy into all the hype. Think it through. Use your common sense. Don’t try and get rich quick or you may find yourself in the poor house! BUT you CAN and you WILL make money if youre willing to do what it takes.

Dan Lok

Copyright 2005 Quick Turn Marketing International, Ltd.

About The Author

Dan Lok is known as “The World’s #1 Website Conversion Expert”, with a proven track record of selling over $25.7 million dollars of merchandise and services. Dan has resuscitated copy that was previously in “critical condition” and helped his clients to double and triple their conversion rates some as much as 417%!!! More than 200 websites have been “Lok-ed” and loaded for Internet action. Go to: http://www.WebsiteConversionExpert.com

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Direct Marketing – Why Jerks Win At Direct Marketing

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006

Have you ever noticed that some very successful direct marketers go out of their way to be cantankerous? Have you ever wondered why? Today we’re going to discover their secret? It makes many of them millions!

Studies have shown that people buy on emotion and then justify it with logic. We buy new BMW convertibles because we know we’ll look good in them. Then we rationalize that “BMW makes a very good car that will prove to be a great long-term investment.”

Those direct marketers that come across as cantankerous, or even total jerks, are deliberately tapping into the emotional side of their market. They’re doing something called polarization.

Polarization is the art, or science, of getting members of your market to take an emotional stance. You want to get them to either really like you – or dislike you. Those who are neutral rarely buy your products. Remember, people buy on emotion, even though they’re often not conscious of it. Getting people emotionally charged INCREASES your chances of making a sale!

One marketer that understands this concept and uses it brilliantly is copywriter Gary Halbert. Gary will tell you that he is the greatest copywriter alive, and he charges for his services accordingly. If you visit Gary’s site at: http://TheGaryHalbertLetter.com you’ll see that he is very politically INCORRECT. Gary goes out of his way to insult his audience, delivering smack after smack as he educates you on what good copywriting is.

Gary understands that not everyone is his market. So he creates strong feelings, and this drives away those who would never buy from him… and really endears him to those who appreciate his work. This tactic is very effective, and Gary has no shortage of customers making him rich.

Another marketers who understands this concept very well is Jay Abraham. I watched Jay Abraham, Stephen Pierce, and Rich Schefren orchestrate a teleseminar in 2004. Leading up to this teleseminar, they sent out a barrage of emotionally charged, very informative emails.

Their numerous joint venture partners also sent out a tightly orchestrated barrage of emails to their lists.

Those who saw the tremendous value in the free information provided in all those emails were charged up. They were so charged up that many could hardly wait for the teleseminar to take place. I was one of those nudged to sign up for this $497 teleseminar through all of those emails :-)

A final example of a marketer brilliantly employing polarization is a guy who calls himself “The Rich Jerk.” I won’t reveal his identity, but will tell you that coming across as a jerk is making him millions on the Internet. He is a very good marketer in his own right (he recently sold a website on Ebay for $379,000).

This “Rich Jerk” uses emotionally charged copy on his websites and it’s very effective. Part of what makes his copy so effective is that he also incorporates proof of what he says. Reading this copy, you get emotionally charged up, and at the same time, you realize that you’ve encountered someone who can really help you succeed. You can see how he does this by reading his copy at: http://WhyJerksWin.com

By studying the examples above, you see that using polarization, or even coming across as a jerk, can be a very powerful marketing tactic. It can touch your reader at a deeper psychological and emotional level than many other marketing techniques. However, don’t forget that another reason this works in the examples above is that these marketers also deliver tremendous value to their customers. They also PROVE their points.

Without also incorporating proof into their copy, this tactic probably wouldn’t work. Without proof they would just turn prospects off. So now you know… jerks win at direct marketing because they employ polarization and proof.

About the author:
Willie Crawford has taught PROVEN Internet marketing techniques to thousands of successful Internet entrepreneurs since late-1996. Subscribe to his free weekly ezine, which helps you cut through the clutter and time-wasting hype. Subscribe now by visiting: http://WillieCrawford.com

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Marketing – The Power of Two – Marketing and Sales

Monday, July 24th, 2006

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Leads: Salespeople need them, and Marketing Departments (theoretically) generate them. In a perfect world, the salesperson’s challenge would be to keep up with the flood of qualified prospects that Marketing funnels out to them. In reality, however, the Marketing-Sales lead scenario often plays out like this: “We work our tails to the bone getting the salespeople leads, but they hardly ever follow-up with the prospects, and we never hear about it if they do,” lamented Andy, the Marketing Manager, during a recent training program.

“They give us loads of leads,” agreed salesperson Bert, “but they’re no damn good. Then, they want a full report on each of them about what transpired within a week after we get the leads. I’d rather do without leads than do all of that useless work.”

What’s going on here? Who’s right – Bert, or Andy – Sales, or Marketing?

In many companies, the Marketing and Sales departments work at cross purposes, rather than bolstering each other’s efforts. Each department is communicating different messages to different people.

The result? When Bert follows up on Marketing Department-generated leads, “…almost all of them indicate that they don’t know if they will ever be genuine prospects,” said Bert. “Yet, some of them try to get me to visit them, because they are ‘really interested’ in our products. If I waste time on low probability prospects, I won’t be able to spend my time with prospects that are ready to buy or specify our products now.”

Bert knows that a real prospect is someone who is ready, able, and willing to buy his capital equipment product- now. Following up with ‘interested’ prospects would be a waste of time. The need to justify his reluctance to pursue low probability prospects to Marketing, and his manager, wastes yet more time and causes unnecessary friction.

Marketing and Sales should be working together towards a common defined objective. Marketing creates Brand Awareness and communicates Product Knowledge to the market, generating Acceptance among target companies. Sales contacts the individuals at targeted companies responsible for Specifying and Buying its products.

The breakdown between Marketing and Sales occurs when the Sales cycle is left out of the equation. Sales should be consulted before marketing communications are sent out: Messages need to be targeted appropriately to different levels of Decision Makers who are at different stages in the Sales Cycle. Lead generation needs to qualify the prospects, and those not ready to buy should be entered into the Company database and receive continuous marketing messages.

Ideally, Andy and Bert would be working together to define and refine the Company’s target markets and target Companies. They would work together to develop a detailed database of individuals at target companies who influence, specify, and authorize Buying for their products and services. Andy’s Marketing Department would generate the universe of prospects, and Bert wouldn’t be expected to contact a prospect until Marketing had determined that the targeted company had entered the Specifying or Buying mode.

When good things happen, Sales and Marketing should both be able to rightfully claim that it was due to their efforts and expertise. That’s the Power of 2.

About the Author

Jacques Werth, author of “High Probability Selling,” is an internationally respected Sales Trainer and Sales Consultant. HPS graduates are excelling as top Sales Performers in over 70 industries. Visit http://www.highprobsell.com to read more articles, preview his book, or learn more about High Probability Selling and Sales Training.

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Internet Marketing – Tips for Finding a True Internet Marketing Expert

Monday, July 24th, 2006

At some point you may find it necessary to obtain the service of an Internet marketing expert in order to boost the rankings of your website. There are a number of inexpensive and free tools you can utilize yourself to optimize your site, but usually it will be necessary to consult with a professional. When that time comes, there are a few tips to keep in mind to make sure you get the most services for your money without being taken to the cleaners:

1. Dont settle for the first company you come across. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of search engine optimization firms out there who claim to an Internet marketing expert. Look for a company that focuses solely on search engine optimization and not one who does it as a side business.

2. A guarantee is not always golden. Dont trust a company that promises they can get you the number 1 spot on any search engine.

3. Steer away from an Internet marketing expert who uses unethical practices in obtaining optimized results. Examples of less than legitimate means include: link and keyword farms, hidden text, doorway pages and cloaking. Not only will you lose the trust of your sites visitor but these types of procedures can at the very least get you banned from search engines instead of at the top of the list.

4. Avoid companies who claim their methods of search engine optimization are a trade secret. Now, obviously no company wants to give away all their tips; to do so would be business suicide. However, an Internet marketing expert who is trustworthy and employs legitimate SEO practices will feel comfortable sharing with you a basic plan for how they will improve your sites rankings.

5. Do your research. Find out how much the average SEO firm charges for their services. Shop around. Ask friends and business acquaintances. Research any company you are considering for hire. Dont stop with just the references they offer you, because obviously they arent going to give you a reference that would badmouth them. Ask around.

6. Before you sign on the dotted line, read the contract carefully. Find out exactly what the fee you are paying will cover and if the company offers a money back guarantee.

It may take a little time, and a lot of patience, to find the right Internet marketing expert but rushing into a business relationship with the wrong firm can lead to disaster.

About the author:

Jack Elmy’s Web site provides information for anyone who wants to start a cleaning business. http://www.the-cleaning-business.com

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Direct Marketing – How to Use the 3 Most Common Direct Marketing Measurements to Increase Your Profits!

Sunday, July 23rd, 2006

John Wanamaker, a 19th century entrepreneur, once famously made the statement, I know that half of my advertising is wasted, I just dont know which half. Fortunately for todays marketers, there are scientific ways to determine which half is wasted, and which half is not, through the use of common direct marketing measurements.

Advertising is, and has always been, part art and part science. With direct marketing, the science part takes center stage as there are common direct marketing measurements that can be utilized to verify the results of the advertising.

With the increased popularity of direct marketing, the success of advertising can be measured through a variety of common direct marketing methods such as cost per acquisition, cost per piece, and response rate.

Before continuing in describing these common direct marketing measurements in detail, it is beneficial to review one of the direct marketing tools needed to determine the success of the mailing. The most important direct marketing tool is the response mechanism. This is how you can gauge the success, or lack of success, of a direct mail campaign. This is the mechanism by which the prospect will use to respond – it may be a postcard to request more information, an 800 number to call, or a website address to place an order. You can than utilize this response to determine the success of the direct mailing.

The first of the most common direct marketing measurements is the cost per acquisition. The cost per acquisition can be determined by taking the total cost of the mailing and dividing it by the number of responses. For example, lets say the total cost of a mailing is $2,000 and 20 people respond. The cost per acquisition is $100. This is an important tool to find out if the cost to obtain a new customer is in line with the profits that you will receive.

The second of the most common direct marketing measurements is the cost per piece. To find the cost per piece, you would take the total cost of the mailing and divide it by the total number of pieces sent. For example, if the total cost of the mailing was $4,500 and you sent 2000 direct mail pieces, the cost per piece would be $2.25. This is an important figure to keep in mind, because by lowering the cost per piece (as long as the number of responses stays the same), you can lower the cost per acquisition.

The third of the most common direct marketing measurements is the response rate. The response rate can be calculated by taking the number of people that responded and dividing it by the number of people that were sent the direct mail package. For example, if 2000 people were mailed a direct mail package and 20 people responded, the response rate would be 1%. This is an important tool that you can utilize to forecast the success of future mailings.

By using all three of these common direct marketing measurements, you can finally determine which half of your marketing is working, and which half is not.


About the author:

Daegan Smith is the Ex-NCAA Wrestler Turned Webmaster of
Perfect Home Based Business Opportunities – The Internet’s Top Home Based Business Opportunities Free Information Resource!

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Marketing – These 50 Benefits of Joint Venture Marketing will Shock You

Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

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Are you ready to find the solutions you have been searching for?

What you are about to read is the culmination of information from many different places and resources. I hope you enjoy it.

What you are about to discover will benefit you greatly.

You are about to learn the information you have been searching for. I hope you find it helpful.

Here are some of the killer benefits of joint venture marketing…

1. You can build long permanent trade relationships.

2. You can expand your credibility by teaming up with different reputable, branded businesses.

3. You can get free commodities and services.

4. You can construct most joint venture deals with little or no cash.

5. You can obtain new leads and customers.

6. You can get discounts on products and services.

7. You can save cash on business management expenses.

8. You can whip your competition.

9. You can gain referrals from different businesses.

10. You can clear up your business problems.

11. You can save useful time.

12. You can get free and low charge advertising.

13. You can propose your customers new goods and services.

14. You can continue in a depression, recession or a slow-moving economy.

15. You can save cash by sharing advertising and marketing costs.

16. You can target other developing markets.

17. You can expand and swell your business quickly.

18. You can gain valuable knowledge or skills.

19. You can enlarge and safeguard your cash flow.

20. You can discover new profit outlets.

21. You can become wealthy and rich.

22. You can start almost any business at little or no costs.

23. You can get rid of your extra inventory.

24. You can reduce and knock out your debts and avoid bankruptcy.

25. You can manage to sell your products at a lower cost.

26. You can increase your opt in or ezine subscribers for free.

27. You can get your website hosting and design for free.

28. You can save money outsourcing your workload for free.

29. You can discover hidden income streams.

30. You can trade unproductive products for money-making ones.

31. You can create new business funding and credit lines.

32. You can reduce your taxes.

33. You can discover and create new distribution channels for your products.

34. You can give your employees additional raises, bonuses and advantage.

35. You can even trade non business material to improve your individual life.

36. You can increase your sales and profits.

37. You can send your ad to huge, targeted email lists at no cost.

38. You can eliminate worker hiring costs creating barter outsourcing deals.

39. You can build your client or opt-in list for free.

40. You can build money-making alliances with other businesses.

41. You can learn insider information from other experts at no cost.

42. You can test your product for free.

43. You can out-sell other affiliates much easier.

44. You can increase the number of affiliates that sign up to your reseller program.

45. You can offer additional bonus products and incentives to buy.

46. You can get highly trustworthy endorsements and testimonials from other experts.

47. You can quickly increase your ezine subscribers.

48. You can offer your products at discount prices than your competition.

49. You can effortlessly find new up sell and backend products to sell.

50. You can create products faster and with less effort.

These are just some of the benefits. They’re unlimited!

I hope you have gotten some good ideas from this article and that you are able to use them.

So that’s the information I have on that subject. I hope it was helpful and you were able to get something out of it.

I’m hoping that you found all of this interesting and helpful. The internet is full of helpful tips and tricks and I appreciate you coming and visiting.

About the Author

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