Being forewarned is forearmed about these two obstacles to achieving success will help you on your way to success. By knowing in advance what can stop you from realizing your goals you’ll be able to do what’s necessary.
Necessary to overcome these obstacles and move straight through to victory.
The first obstacle is engaging in limiting beliefs.
If we believe that we don’t deserve success, do we get it? Not likely.
And if we’re always being negative, thinking negative, speaking negative, what happens? Nothing good.
If we get what we think about, and we think we don’t have what it takes to accomplish something, what happens? We don’t accomplish it.
We achieve what we believe. Period!
It doesn’t matter what we hope for or what we desire, or what we wish for. You will get and acheive what you believe.
There used to be a computer expression called G.I.G.O. and stands for garbage in, garbage out. It’s the same way with your thoughts and beliefs, put bad thoughts in you get bad results out.
The second obstacle to success is giving up too soon and quitting.
There is a quote I like that goes like this.
“While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. – Henry C. Link –
You’ve no doubt heard the story of the man who mined for gold and gave up just inches shy of hitting the mother lode. It’s the same way in anything.
Every time you give up, you lose. Wayne Gretsky said: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
You’ve got to keep taking the shot, keep moving towards your goal because it is only through quitting that you will fail. If you do not quit, you cannot fail because you are not done yet.
As Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never, never give up.”
Follow this timeless wisdom in your business and you will overcome obstacles every day.
Expensive products and heavy packages sell better.
You’ve stopped at the gas station for gas and got a drink. Can virtual “big gulps” line your pockets?
Many people, just go straight to the largest cup they have called the Big Gulp. There is more to it than just being thirsty, people carry those big, clumsy drinks with pride.
Compare that with the mega launches of super-expensive products that boast about how heavy the packing box is.
“You Get 32 CD’s, 22 DVD’s and 3 Big Manuals of 250 Pages Each! This package weighs a whopping 15 pounds, delivered to your door!”
Bigger is better for more than one reason.
As marketers, we think that bigger is better, even when it’s not. After all, more of anything seems like a better deal to the customer than less of something, right?
But thanks to a new study, we now know that “more” of a product is also more of another thing. Not only does “more” sound better, but it can also be a status symbol for the customer.
Take for example the Big Gulp drink which is 30 oz of sticky sweet carbonated beverage. Does anyone on the planet NEED 30 oz of sticky sweet carbonated beverage?
While some might say they do, the fact is it’s a flood of empty calories. Empty calories with a bevy of negative health effects, yet they sell like gangbusters.
It makes the buyer feel better.
And believe it or not, they can actually make the purchasers feel BETTER about themselves. No, I am NOT advocating you run out and buy one of these things.
But instead, I’m suggesting you SELL these things, in digital form. Follow this closely.
This is from the Journal of Consumer Research and it concerns a series of experiments. These experiments were carried out by Derek Rucker of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Tabulated results showed that the bigger the drink, the higher the status score each photo rated. No, I’m not kidding, and it gets weirder.
In the second experiment, half of the volunteers were asked to remember a time when they were bossed around. The other half were asked to remember a time when they were in a position to boss others around.
No surprise here, the volunteers who remember being bossed around felt the least powerful. (Yet another example of how the thoughts you choose determine how you feel.)
Those who felt least powerful chose bigger.
Okay, here comes the surprise, next those same volunteers were offered a drink in 3 different sizes. There was no choice on what KIND of drink, only of what SIZE drink they could have.
Those who felt the least powerful CHOSE THE BIGGEST DRINK. In other words, even in something as ordinary as choosing the size of a drink, it’s more involved.
Now let’s compare the micro to the macro, the worldwide economy. It becomes a reasonable conclusion that as people feel powerless to control what’s happening, more and more super sizing will be taking place, and not just in food.
Now then, here’s how to use this in your marketing.
Make your product appear larger and more valuable.
First, when you can make your product appear larger, do so. For example, you might take each chapter of an ebook and separate it into a report.
12 reports look like more than one ebook. If you are shipping audios or videos, place them on 12 discs rather than 4 and so forth.
Second, offer a super size version of your product. That is, you might have your regular product and a second version that offers more information, more promises, more benefits, etc.
Create a fancy name that sounds prestigious.
Third, offer them power and prestige. For example, if you’re creating a membership, don’t make it just any old membership.
Give it a name like The Exclusive Gold Club for Star Class Members or something that conveys the power and prestige so many people are lacking in these uncertain times.
Fourth, don’t forget to add an OTO to your offer. OTO’s are like supersizing the fries and drink.
They’ve already decided to order, now it’s just a matter of offering them more, and many times they will jump at the chance to upgrade to that virtual Big Gulp.
There is no need to feel guilty about your offer.
One more thing. Don’t feel guilty about up-selling your customers.
People want to feel they are in control, that they have power, and that they do matter.
Now they have a choice between buying a few Big Gulps that are going to rot their bones and pack on the fat, or your new product that can actually HELP them.
It makes sense and you’ve got a duty to offer them that product and let them decide for themselves.
Create a product that has a lot of value, an OTO, and a prestigious name.
Okay, so I spoke in an earlier article on the importance of having a list. Not that it’s good to have, but that you MUST have a list if you want to achieve long-term success online.
Put an end to the confusion about the funnel thing.
I’ve noticed the thing that really stymies a lot of would-be marketers. Figuring out how to set up this whole funnel thing that gets you the list.
Because it has to be really elaborate and it takes a lot. A lot of time, effort, and work to get it all set up, right?
Chances are you are overcomplicating it.
Wrong. Too many people are overcomplicating it. Here’s what you’re going to do, and hang with me so you don’t get lost.
First, you’re going to create a squeeze page.
Second, you’re going to grab your autoresponder code and add it to your squeeze page.
That’s it.
Seriously. Building your list really is this easy.
“But I don’t know what to put on the squeeze page!”
Make a squeeze page the easy way.
Here is an easy squeeze page to create. All you need is a great headline and 3 to five short, snappy bullet points.
“But I don’t have a free gift to give them for subscribing.”
Seriously you don’t have a free gift? Have you ever heard of a PLR?
A PLR product is a publication that you can make your own. It stands for Public Lable Rights.
There might be a minimal one-time charge of $5 to $15 and then you own it. Now you just spruce it up, make it yours and resell it a million times.
There are PLR products all over the Internet, any one of which you can adapt into your own product in about 30 minutes.
Or you can create your own report – simply find the burning questions people ask the most in your niche and answer them.
Another way is to send your customer directly to a sales page.
OR, forget giving away a freebie. Instead send them to your sales page.
“I don’t have a sales page!”
Then send them to the sales page of an affiliate product you’re promoting.
Seriously, so many marketers make this so darn difficult when it should be the easiest thing in the world.
Your highest priority right now is getting your squeeze page up and running. NOW.
Later you can create your own super-duper extra special freebie to give away if you like, but in the meantime you can be collecting names.
To get, or not to get, subscribers is the determined by you.
Think about this, you decide to create the ultimate free gift. It takes you a month to create that gift.
Sure, you thought it would take 3 days, but darned if the project didn’t stretch out for the entire month. Had you set up your squeeze page right away, you might have captured 10, 20 or more names a day while you were creating that ultimate freebie.
But you didn’t create the squeeze page and the result is you lost 300 to 600 or more subscribers that should have been yours.
Start advertising and let your squeeze page do the work.
See what I mean? Just put up the squeeze page, and then no matter what you’re doing online, be sure you’re sending people to that page.
Send out tweets, advertise it on your Twitter profile, place it in your signature file on forums and in emails, advertise it (paid and unpaid) on Facebook, etc.
And once you get started building your list, you’re going to find that it’s easy. It’s not the big deal you thought it was.
Then drive targeted traffic to your squeeze page just so you can watch those numbers increase daily.
The important thing, the really important thing, is to target your list. That is, if your niche is on hot rod cars, be sure that your squeeze page is geared towards people who love hot rods.
For example, if you’re sending them to a sales page after the squeeze page, then the sales page should be promoting an excellent product specifically on hot rods.
You want the people who opt into your list to be heavily into your niche, whatever that might be.
If you have a good offer on a good product it will work.
Everyone always thinks they’ve got to give away the farm to get someone on their mailing list. But think about this, if you’re sending them to a sales page after they opt in, some of those people will buy.
Not a huge percentage, but if it’s a good offer for a good product, you’ll get sales. And the money you’re making from those sales can actually PAY to send traffic to your squeeze page.
Now, with some money coming in, you can advertise on Facebook, in solo ads, or where ever you want. And the more you advertise, the more sales you make, the more you can advertise.
It’s all self funded once it gets going, so you’ve got your list building system on autopilot. It only took you 30 minutes to set up, plus the time it takes you to set up your advertising.
What about other ways that are promoted as faster?
What about shortcuts? You know, like co-reg lists, safe lists, harvesting, and renting lists, aren’t those easier ways to build your list?
And the answer is no, absolutely not, because they don’t work. Not only are they unresponsive, but in many cases you’re spamming and you just don’t want to do that.
That’s why you want to build your own list of people who get to know you. People who open your emails just because they see your name and they want to know what you have to say today.
Building your subscriber list becomes a real asset.
Now you can go to that list anytime you want and send them an offer or even ask for their help on something and they will respond.
Here is a neat way free way to get traffic to your link.
And if you’re just starting and you don’t know where to go to get traffic to send to your squeeze page, start with the forums. Google your keyword along with the word ‘forum,’ and find all the forums in your niche.
Look for forums that allow you to have a signature line. A word of caution here, you don’t want to blast out your squeeze page info.
Many people do that and that’s not what you want to do. Instead, enter conversations and help people and become the go-to person in that niche.
Use these forums consistently to build your authority.
If you’re on these forums every day for a week, you can become an instant authority. Just be real, help people, and don’t hype anything.
Let them click on your signature line in their own time and they will. Because you’re helping them, they’re going to want to know more about you.
They see you as someone who really knows something about their subject. They’re also interested in what you have to say and will want to get your updates.
These will be some of the most responsive leads you get! They’re absolutely golden so treat them well and they will stick with you for years to come.
Once you’re good at forum posting you can add something else to your traffic driving arsenal. Now you can add social media or advertising to get even more traffic to your squeeze page.
Find what works for you, get good at it, and then add something else. Do you see how easy this is?
We try to make everything so hard and it’s really not. Just get started, get going and you’ll find out for yourself just how easy it is to build a list.
We’re always trying to overcomplicate things, aren’t we? Making things appear more difficult than they really are. Why is that?
The other day I saw a breakdown of the 7 things you need to build your online marketing business, which was 2 more than you really need. Here’s my list of 5 things: Network, List Build, Focus, Take Action, Produce.
That’s right, just 5 things.
So let’s break each one down to its simplest form:
Network with other marketers and support each other.
Make friends with other marketers in your niche, whatever that niche might be. When you need help (such as promotion) call on them.
Help them out when they need it. Why is networking so important?
3 reasons:
First,
working from home can be lonely, daunting, and just plain difficult. It’s easy to procrastinate.
It’s easy to get bogged down on some little obstacle. But when you’ve got others to turn to for morale support, it gets a whole lot easier.
Second,
you can get quick help. Having trouble loading that widget or formatting that ebook?
promotion. Do you think it’s just a coincidence when you get 5 or 10 emails promoting the same product?
No. Those are friends of the person launching the product.
It can make all the difference in the world to have a list of people to turn to when it comes to promoting your products. Without networking, your list is going to be a whole lot smaller.
Focus. I know I’ve hit on this before, but here goes – STAY FOCUSED! I wanted to add a swear word after that for emphasis, but in the interest of keeping this PG I won’t.
So many times I see people jump from this to that to the thing over there and around and around and they never stay focused on one thing for more than a day or two and then they wonder WHY they aren’t successful.
Pick something. ONE thing. Then FOCUS on that one thing until you’ve got it done. Eliminate distractions. If need be, REMOVE distractions from your immediate vicinity. Set a work schedule and STICK to the work schedule.
Here’s something to make it simple:
The more focused you are,
the more money you will earn.
Period.
Take Action.
Don’t just plan and daydream, DO. Move forward every single day by taking some real action that gets you closer to your goals.
Produce products.
LOTS of products. There are those who buy lots of products and those who PRODUCE lots of products. Who do you think is more successful?
Let’s put it another way, what are your odds of success if you produce one product versus 10 products? 100 products? Not all of your products will be grand slams, but when you produce enough of them then some of them will be hits.
Also, by producing your own products you’re also building your own reputation online, which furthers your success. So take the plunge and begin producing products to sell in your business.
In fact, make a HABIT out of product production.
That’s it. Do these 5 things day in and day out starting today and continuing as long as you’re an online marketer, and success will almost undoubtedly be yours.
How do you influence others over the Internet? Whether you want to change one mind or make one sale, the better you are at influencing, the more you’ll get what it is that you want.
Here are 27 tips to strengthen your online influence.
With that in mind here are 27 tips, in no particular order, to strengthen your own online influence and get more of what you seek.
Pick one niche and become the master of that niche.
The thinner you spread yourself then the less influence you will have. That’s why you want to thoroughly cover one niche rather than haphazardly trying to cover several of them.
Get out of your own online world and into new communities.
We tend to get stuck in a rut of our own making, and we view the world from that one perspective that we’ve chosen. But if you’re going to influence others, you need to hang out with them, experience their world, and see what makes them tick.
Build long-term relationships. The longer and better you know someone then the more influence you have in that relationship. Work on making your customers stick to you for years until they’re sure you’re a friend and there’s no hesitation on their part when you recommend something.
The oldest customers are almost always the least skeptical and most trusting because you’ve taken the time to really get to know them.
You want to be authentic and consistent.
If you are being your true authentic self, it will show and in being authentic, you never have to worry about being consistent.
You probably know how a liar has trouble keeping his stories straight with everyone all the time. As the real and honest authentic you, you’ll only have one story and that is yours.
For every product there is a buyer and they are your target customer.
Know who your target prospects are and then find other people who already have your prospects on their lists. Now co-create products with those people in mind to put yourself in front of your prospects. The result is instant influence!
Speak for those who are afraid to speak.
Sometimes it takes guts to say what needs to be said. Become the person in the theater who asks the noisy patron to be silent, and the rest of the theater will love you.
It works the same way online, be the one to speak up for others and you will have influence over those you speak for.
Give lots and give often to as many as you can.
Too often we are focused on our goals, our business, and on ourselves. Try giving as much as you can and as often as you can without thought of what you might get in return.
An ounce of passion will out sway and out influence a pound of reasoning and logic nearly every time.
Share some of the internal stuff you’ve experienced, both bad and good.
Having a nightmare moving your website? Confounded by the speaker in the conference you’re sitting in? Thrilled that you just got a great big order? We’re taught to always keep it professional, but it’s through sharing both the good and bad that people feel they know you and your business.
Create video content for your niche.
In your videos, be bold, be passionate, be exciting. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just correct them and keep going. You want to be human, fun, and entertaining in your videos and distribute your videos like crazy.
Share good content today, tomorrow, and every day.
Almost everyone has good information that they have acquired in their life experiences so share it. Knowledge from growing up, jobs you had, schooling you’ve gone through, and even tips from family life experiences. There are many more subjects you can choose from than these so make and present good content.
Learn how to tell stories to support the point you are making.
Who doesn’t love a good story and who can’t be influenced by the right story? Learn to become a master at storytelling and you can persuade even the most ardent enemy into joining your side.
Focus on a smaller niche.
It’s hard to exert influence when you are one of 10,000 bloggers writing about weight loss – it’s easy to be influential when you are writing about weight loss for new moms in the Phoenix area.
Choose 5 to 10 people you admire in your niche and gradually get to know them.
Share their stuff with your readers, ‘like’ their posts, ask them questions and pull them into your circle of influence. And don’t forget to thank them for what they have done for you, how they have influenced you, for the insights they’ve given you along the way.
Share of yourself, dreams, goals, and passions.
Share your ideas, your thoughts, your ambitions – share what you’re doing today or what you did today. Not the, “I ate oatmeal” stuff, but rather the, “I thought about my grandad today and wondered what he would do if faced with this decision.” People listen when you share what’s close to your heart.
Align yourself with the best people in your niche.
Not necessarily those who are making the most money, but rather those who are doing the best work and helping the most people. Those are the people you want as partners.
Don’t worry about how you’re going to get attention.
Instead, make or do something worthwhile, something worth talking about.
Be different than the rest to make a statement.
Defy convention and do what others aren’t doing and say what others aren’t saying. People notice those who dare to be different.
Do interviews and put it online for others to see.
Even if you have to get a friend to interview you, just do it. Get it online and make sure it’s seen by your people.
Become an advocate and help newbies move their businesses forward.
Identify people on their way up in your niche and help them to succeed. By becoming their advocate, they in turn become yours.
People like to talk so get them talking and listen.
People want to express themselves and they want to be heard. But start simple. Ask if they prefer smooth or crunchy peanut butter, or what their favorite food is. Work up to the bigger stuff. There may be no greater source of influence than simply listening – REALLY listening – to your people.
Choose who to influence and target them on social media.
You can, by micro-targeting, find just the right people for your blog, product, niche, or service. Let’s say you only want women in their 30’s who work in Albuquerque, New Mexico. So use Facebook advertising to find those people.
Make connections online and meet them.
When you make connections online then every chance you get, meet them in the real world. This might be at a conference, or it might be locally. Nothing beats meeting face to face.
Put your business ahead of your own fame and noteriety.
Sure you can become the top dog on a forum, but is it enhancing your business? If not, why are you doing it, for the fame?
Keep your eye on your business goals, and if what you’re doing doesn’t further those goals, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.
Stop talking about your products and services and start talking about your customer.
No matter what you write or say, always keep in mind, “Is this what the customer wants to know? Am I communicating with them, or just tooting my own horn?” They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care is as true today as it was before the Internet.
Be the go-to person of your niche for content.
Filter and aggregate your niche content so that your website is a one-stop shop for the latest news.
Have a point of view and share it proudly.
Sure, not everyone will share your opinion but that’s a good thing. Those who do share it will follow you anywhere.
Leverage some or all of these tips, and you’ll become a better influencer in all you do.
This can be very overwhelming because there is so much disinformation on autoresponders. So what should go into your autoresponders?
There is so much confusion on this that I just have to weigh in. No doubt you’ve been told or read that you should create a fancy autoresponder sequence where each email builds upon the previous email.
And that if you make it fancy enough, and complicated enough, you can get prospects to take any action you like, blah blah blah…
Your systems and predictions may be the outdated.
But guess what? You don’t know how people are going to respond to it. You can make a prediction, but your guess might be 180 degrees off.
So now you’ve come up with an elaborate system that accomplishes nothing.
More importantly, building a sequential series like sections of a story might have worked 10 years ago, but these days I guarantee that even your best customers will not read and digest every one of your emails.
There are several reasons your email won’t get read.
Some of your emails won’t even get through, and many will be lost in a sea of OTHER emails from other marketers.
No matter who you are or how famous you might be, not every message of yours will get read. Remember that. Thus each email needs to stand on its own and not rely on the reader having read and remembered something in a previous email.
So what should you place in your autoresponder sequences?
Here are some ideas that flat out work at getting a response.
1. Send people to your blog.
If you’ve got a blog with great posts full of good information, write up an email for each blog post and place it in your autoresponder. This only works for evergreen information and blog posts that don’t display a date.
2. You can even tie each blog post to a product you’re promoting.
For example, “Here’s a great product that teaches you exactly how to get traffic. And before you get that traffic pouring into your website, you’ll want to make sure your page is optimized for the highest conversion possible. Here’s a post on how to do that.”
You send a broadcast email to your list and the response is phenomenal, or just plain good. So what do you do? Most marketers forget about it. But the smart money says to copy and paste that email into your autoresponder series. And yes, it’s okay to send out repeat information. Some of your readers will never see it the first time, and others who did see it will appreciate the reminder.
5. Send them a question.
Yes, in the autoresponder series, send them an email that asks an either/or type of question. For example, “Which do you value more – exciting new diet news or easier fat-burning exercise techniques? Reply back with one or the other in the subject line.”
6. Then follow up with both.
“Are you one of those who wants the latest new diet news? Well check this out!” “Are you one of those who said you want exercise techniques that burn fat? Look at this!” You’re hitting both (in two separate emails) regardless of which they answered.
7. Personal stories.
You’ve got a ton of stories to share with others, you just don’t realize it. And so long as you can relate those stories to the interests of your readers, by all means share those. Anytime you can show that you are a real person with a real life and real challenges, you’re that much closer to forging a bond with your customers. After all, just like you, they want to do business with people they KNOW, like and trust.
As you can see, building an autoresponder series isn’t a cookie-cutter science. Best developed, it’s an authentic and organically developed series of follow-up messages that help you create deeper connections with your subscribers so that you can build meaningful business relationships through building trust and connecting the value that your products offer with the needs and aspirations that your subscribers actually have.
Are you up to the task of building a great autoresponder series? I hope so because once developed and refined, your autoresponder follow-up emails can work on autopilot for years to come helping to tirelessly deliver more sales and profits for your online business.
Notice the headline says, “How to Create a Product That Sells.” It doesn’t say, “How to Create a Product and Sell It.”
Frankly, that’s exactly what most marketers do they create a product without any thought to what the market wants. After they create a product without market research, then they try to figure out a way to sell it.
Result? Most times: failure.
Create a product for a target audience.
To create a product that sells you want to first identify a niche that’s hungry, and then create a product. Create a product to offer them whatever it is that they are hungry for.
The hard work is in finding that target audience that is ready and eager to buy. Once you’ve done that, creating the product is the easy part.
It is also the fun part because you know in advance that you are about to make money. So how do you identify a hungry niche?
These questions will help you find or create a product.
Here are some keys to look for when investigating a possible market. Are they in pain? Are they seeking relief from that pain, and are they willing to pay for that relief?
Do they have a problem? If so, are they willing to pay to get the solution to that problem?
Are they seeking a specific pleasure? Are they willing to pay to receive that pleasure?
If you find competition in your prospective niche, it’s a good sign that there is money to be made. So don’t think you’ve got to find some great undiscovered niche because it’s not likely to happen.
If there is no competition, realize that it’s probably because no one is buying.
Now then, you are going to allow your market niche to define your product. In other words, rather than creating the product and then finding the market, you’ve now found your market and you’re going to create your product to satisfy the specific needs of that market.
Let’s walk through an example or two.
Say you’re targeting retirees who want to make extra income online. What do you know about your niche?
You know that generally, they’re not as computer savvy as teens and twenty-somethings. And that they’re going to be more receptive to building long-term income rather than something that’s supposed to make them rich overnight.
That they’re likely to be more skeptical when it comes to making money from home, and so forth.
Thus you are going to target all of your marketing and your products using the information you gather from your research on this niche. And you’re going to always have your prospects in mind when you’re working on your business.
You might even imagine a couple of your best prospects right there in the room with you as you’re creating your product and your marketing materials.
Here are some of the hottest niches right now.
Let me give you a head start on finding a niche that’s just dying to purchase your product.
The three biggest, hottest, and hungriest mega niches are…
1. Health, fitness, and weight loss
2. Making money
3. Relationships, dating, and personal development
These are excellent starting points, but of course, you’re not going to target the ENTIRE health, fitness, and weight loss market. If you’re trying to market to everyone, you are marketing to NO ONE.
Thus you’re going to drill down to find the specific group within these niches that you want to market to.
Examples: College women wanting to lose weight. Stay-at-home moms wanting to earn money.
People married over 10 years wanting to put the spark back in their marriage.
And you could narrow it down from there. The point is, once you have a hungry niche, you extensively research and even interview that niche until you know exactly what they want, and then offer it to them.
Do you see the difference between guessing what people might want, and KNOWING in advance what they will pay for? It will save you time and frustration while growing your bank account 10 times faster than guessing ever would.
Many bloggers are looking to increase their subscribership and these tips should help. Here are 7 ways to get more subscribers every day.
When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you tell them?
Here is a more accurate response to the question.
Do you tell them that you own your own business? That you write a blog? Maybe you say that you create products or build websites.
Of course, some more common professions like you’re a doctor, lawyer, plumber or race car driver? I hope not, because while all those things are professions they’re still NOT what pays your bills.
The only real answer to the question of what you do, regardless of what your profession is, is that you are a marketer!
Your answer to “What do you do?” says a great deal about how YOU think about your business or job. If you’re defining yourself by the service you provide or the products you sell, you’re setting yourself up to lose business that otherwise could have been yours simply because your head is in the wrong place.
Every business is a marketing enterprise.
Every business is first and foremost a marketing enterprise, even if it’s a non-profit. After all, without customers, you have no business. Getting those customers and then getting those customers to spend their money with you is how you stay in business, stay profitable and grow.
When your mindset is on marketing first, you will base your decisions on what creates business, thus eliminating many of the wrong turns and mistakes that the “business owners” make.
You are a marketer. Say it loudly, state it proudly, act accordingly and you cannot help but be successful.
Here are 5 great ways to boost sales, capture attention and get your prospects seriously interested in purchasing your offers. Whether you’re doing product reviews or simply sending traffic to an affiliate page, these ideas are effective.
1. Use screen captures to help your buyer.
Our first method of increasing your sales is to use screenshots or screen captures. These screen captures might be of the vendor’s website, the product itself, the download page, etc.
Similar to using a screen capture, use a picture that displays one or more benefits of the product. Depending on the product, see if you are able to find a photo that depicts a benefit of using the product.
For example, if it’s an herbal supplement to provide energy, then a photo of a leaping, jumping, or a somehow energized person will boost interest.
3. Use pictures of the product itself.
I like to use a professional-looking picture of the product I’m selling. If it’s a physical product, by all means, use photos provided by the vendor or ones you’ve taken yourself.
4. Show the data of the product you are promoting.
Along with pictures, people need information about the product to help them justify the purchase they are considering. Are there any tables or charts on the sales page that present a good case?
You might place one of these in your write-up or your review.
5. Make a video of the product.
This is perhaps the best one of all, make a short video of you USING the product. If it’s a physical product, show it off and if possible use it in front of the camera.
If it’s a digital product, take screen captures of you using it. Small things make a difference, and product images and videos sell.
Try a few of these conversion boosters in your next affiliate promotion and I bet you’ll make more sales for your efforts.
I mentioned in a previous article that you don’t want to become one of those one-hit wonders. Many one-hit wonders make a big splash on the Internet and then vanish.
But how do you make sure that you’re not?
Because it’s really easy to say you won’t be, but the fact is that no one PLANS to be a one-hit-wonder. In fact, it happens when you DON’T plan or have a big enough goal.
I’m going to offer some tips here for ensuring that your success is not the flash-in-the-pan variety. But rather the type of success that continues to pay off day in and day out for years to come.
Really what we are talking about is becoming what you might call a “repeat success.” Because isn’t that the opposite of being a one-hit wonder?
There is nothing at all wrong with that initial success. It’s repeating that success over and over that gets you the outcome you’re seeking.
Sort of like being a one-hit wonder a hundred or even several hundred times. And when you view it like this, you see that it becomes easier.
You want to be consistent in business activity.
The first thing I’m going to recommend will sound too easy, perhaps, but it’s extremely important that you try it out for the next 21 days.
I say 21 days, because psychologists say it takes that long to make a new habit. Plus, it gives you the proper chance to evaluate the results and see that what I’m telling you is profound, to say the least.
Pick a number between 2 and 5.
Okay, are you ready? The first thing you need to do to ensure you have ongoing success is to pick a number from 2 to 5. After you choose that number, then do that many things in your business everyday.
Let’s say you are a super busy person with a full time job and a young family, so you don’t have much time to devote to your online business. Your number is going to be 2, because you’re only going to have time to do 2 things a day.
If you’re working online full time, your number is 5. And if you’re in between, you can determine the right number for you.
Time to choose what to do and write it down
Now then, every evening you’re going to make a list of the most important things you need to accomplish the following day in your business.
If your number is 2, then write down the 2 things you want to do. If your number is 5, then you’ll list the 5 things.
Obviously, you’re not going to choose 5 really big things like “build a new website,” “create a new product,” etc. Instead, you’ll break down your tasks so that they’re manageable and doable in the time allotted.
Make those things your priority.
And then you’re going to do those things, no matter what. As in, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS.
Doing the things on your list takes priority over your favorite TV shows, eating out, etc. These things are as important as brushing your teeth and sleeping.
Once you realize that then you’re not arguing with yourself on whether or not to do them, you’re simply DOING them.
I told you this would seem too simple, does it seem too simple to you? Because this one technique will do more for you than almost anything else.
Certainly, it will allow you to accomplish more than any self-help seminar you could attend, or any time management tool you could use. The list technique is not new, it’s old and it’s proven and you know what else?
It flat out WORKS and you can start now.
So if you’re not already doing it, then I encourage you with all my heart to start using this method now, today, right this very moment.
I do have a word of caution for you now. I see students of Internet Marketing get very excited and say something over-ambitious like, “I am going to do TEN things every day!”
Watch out for over-ambitious traps
But don’t fall for this because this is a trap. What happens when you do that is you get burned out and in less than 21 days you’re not doing ANYTHING in your business.
It just became too overwhelming, too time-consuming, and too much like WORK. And isn’t that what so many of us are trying to escape, the drudgery of WORK?
So don’t fall into that trap. If you have lots of hours in your day then choose the number 5.
Do those 5 things in the morning and early afternoon, and then TAKE THE REST OF THE DAY OFF.
Protect the biggest asset in your business.
It’s very important to protect the biggest part of your business from burnout. You will find that the biggest asset in your business is actually your enthusiasm for the business.
That’s right, and you do not allow yourself to get burned out with over-ambitious plans. Also, it’s important to take a day off for yourself but not 2 days off at least not in the beginning.
Because if you take 2 days off, those 2 days often become 3, and then 4, and then you’re not doing anything in your business. But you can take one day off and go do something totally unrelated to your online business, and come back refreshed and re-energized the next day.
When you start a project, finish it!
My second tip for ensuring you have long-term success is so simple, and yet few people understand the power of it. Ready? It’s to FINISH WHAT YOU START.
If you start creating a product, finish it and then promote it. It’s not finished until you get it out there and promote it.
If you’re writing a blog, set a schedule and keep to it. True, your blog will never be “finished,” but if you stop writing then it’s as good as an unfinished project.
This is simple wisdom but it’s not easy.
Look, I probably sound like your parents on this one. “Son, you’ve got to learn to finish what you start.” Why do you suppose your parents said that? Frankly, they probably said it because their parents said it, but there is a terrific amount of wisdom behind that thought.
First of all, if you don’t finish what you start then you have wasted your time and energy on that project. Second, you receive nothing in return for your effort and you can’t make sales and earn money on a product you didn’t finish.
Third, unfinished work breaks you down psychologically. Having unfinished tasks in your life is like having pesky little green goblins. They’re sitting on your shoulders tapping you on the side of your head and telling you that you’re a failure.
Why? Because an unfinished project is a failure. It’s a constant reminder of something you intended to do but didn’t follow through on.
There may be a good reason to quit a project.
One note: If you’re in the middle of a project and you realize that it’s the WRONG thing for you to be doing (for whatever reason) then by all means bail out. There is no sense wasting more time on something once you’ve realized your project has little hope of success.
Careful planning and research should minimize the instances of this happening, but there are times when things aren’t in our control. For example, you’re writing a series of promotional emails for an affiliate product that suddenly gets pulled from the market.
The best case scenario, in that case, is to re-adapt the emails to another product and move on.
Success loves speed.
This brings me to my next tip for ensuring you are not a one-hit-wonder and that is that success loves SPEED. If you are quick to move from an idea to implementation, you’ll seldom have a project that goes unfinished or doesn’t pan out.
For example, if you’re writing code for a plug-in on a piece of software today and you get it finished next week, you can start selling it. If it takes you 6 months to write that code, and the software is obsolete in 5 months, you’ve wasted your time.
Not to mention the fact that speed also reduces competition, at least initially. Using the plug-in example, if you’re fast you can get that plug-in on the market 2 weeks ahead of any competitor, rather than weeks behind the competition.
Again, success loves speed so when you get a great idea, don’t sit on it, ACT on it. NOW.
Building your email mailing list.
Next is your mailing list and yes, you need to be building a list. I don’t care what kind of marketing you’re doing or want to do, what your product or service is, etc.
It doesn’t matter, because everyone who enjoys long-term success online is always growing and mailing their list.
In fact, they have TWO lists, a list of buyers and a list of interested prospects. And whatever else you are doing, you need to be building that list and sending them offers.
An email list is key to long-term success online.
This is KEY to long-term online success. I know you’ve heard this before, but if you’re not aggressively building your list then you’re just not “getting” it and it’s high time you start.
I don’t mean to sound like a drill sergeant on this, but it’s simply not negotiable. Unless you want to be some flash-in-the-pan marketer who creates a product, sells a few hundred copies and disappears off the Internet, you MUST build a list and never stop building that list.
The reason you can never stop is that some people on your list will lose interest in your niche, or they change email addresses and don’t tell you. Or any of a number of other reasons they are no longer a viable prospect.
Now some folks will say that you don’t need a list because of social media, to which I’ll vehemently disagree. Social media is an awesome tool to help you build your list. I highly recommend you spend time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube if it’s helping you build your list.
But you still need a LIST of people who know you and like you so that you can send them emails and yes, SELL them stuff.
You’ll find that the majority of your income comes from emailing your list and either letting them know about your own products or suggesting an affiliate product on which you earn a commission.
Build your list as “fast and furious” as you can.
The best thing you can do when it comes to list building? Build quickly, aggressively, and without hesitation. What I’m saying is, to find all the best ways that work for you to build your email list.
Then be relentless in using those methods to build your list even bigger and stronger.
Look at it this way, if you add 10 subscribers a day to your list, in a year you will have 3,650 subscribers. Now if you really focus your time and resources on list building you can multiply your numbers.
Instead of adding only 10 subscribers a day, you add 100 subscribers a day, in a year you will have over 30 THOUSAND subscribers.
This is a profound difference in just a year. Multiply it out over 3, 5 or 10 years, and you can see how worthwhile it is to be aggressive in your list building.
Of course quality matters as well. A list of buyers is worth far, far more than a list of prospects.
Here is one of my list-building secrets.
I’ll tell you my secret for quickly building a list of buyers: Create a product that sells for $5 to $10, and then give away 100% of the commission to your affiliates, paid immediately via PayPal. You’ll find software that automates this if you look for it.
By paying your affiliates 100% commission that goes straight to them, they have a huge incentive to promote your product. And YOU get to keep the prospects and market to them time and time again.
The marketers who DON’T build a list? Those would be the one-hit wonder people.
They do something, and they make some money, but they don’t stay in touch with their customers and prospects. Now the funny thing is, they left the lion’s share of the money on the table. Because it’s the money in the FOLLOW-UP that you makes the REAL money.
Think about this, if you sell a $17 product, get a list of buyers and prospects, and then do nothing. Or you never bothered to gather the list in the first place.
So whatever you made on your $17 product is ALL you are going to earn.
But if you captured their email addresses, you can continue to market to these folks for days, weeks, months, and even years to come. You will be earning thousands of dollars more in affiliate commissions and selling your own products.
Stay focused on one thing and make money.
And the last bit of advice on how NOT to be a one-hit wonder? Focus. That is, choose a niche and focus on that niche at least until it’s earning you a steady stream of income.
Once you hit that level if you think you want to try a second niche, go for it. You do not want to use a scattergun approach from the beginning. Do not enter 2, 5 or 10 niches all at once because you will only yield minimal results. More accurately no results because your energies are too dispersed.
In other words, you can get a tiny bit of success in several niches simultaneously, or a whole lot of success in one niche – your choice. Personally, I prefer to devote all of my time and energy to just one niche, and I’ve found it pays off quite well.
Pick your niche and define it.
And by niche, I do mean NICHE. Weight loss is a category and is not a niche.
Weight loss for women over 50 in the Dallas area is a niche. Another example of a niche is weight loss for work-at-home moms.
Or weight loss for men in their 30’s who have diabetes. The more narrow your focus, the easier it can be to reach your target audience.
They will be more likely to purchase because they feel you are speaking directly to them.
So don’t choose the “make money” niche because you’ll discover it’s too vast and too broad. Instead, take it a level deeper and define it.
More like this, “part-time work for high schoolers” niche or the “supplement your social security with a profitable hobby” niche.
Do you see the difference? Narrow your niche and get specific.
I know I’ve given you a lot of tips here. You might want to go back and review (then implement aggressively) because it’s equivalent to rocket fuel for your business growth.
