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Let's talk about the latest FTC guidelines and how you should respond?
You're going to be seeing lots of web sites and ads that say "The average person made .01 cents," or $1.00 or other such ridiculous numbers.
Let's talk about WHY this is and what you should understand about it. There's a bit of sane thinking in this ezine, or I think there is.
So you might wanna read it.
The FTC published new guidelines about income claims and affiliate links.
Here's a great link to an interview about it from Fast Company:
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=oct10fast
Since I ain't no lawyer, you better learn about this stuff yourself. But let me give you a marketer's perspective.
I in NO WAY am criticizing the law. I'm just stating a marketer's viewpoint and explaining things you're doing to see happen on marketer's web pages, so you understand WHY you're going to see these things.
A lot of what I say below is intentionally MELODRAMATIC and tongue in cheek. But there is a real law and real penalties. So understand that while I'm making a bit of light of it, there IS a real point here you need to take seriously.
Let's drill down.
1. Typicality of results
If you use testimonials or endorsements that make a specific claim, you ALSO have to reveal the results the average user gets.
So if you read in one of my letters and endorsement or testimonial that says Johnny or Betty used one of my products and paid for a new house with it, you'll ALSO be seeing a disclaimer that says:
"The average person who bought this product made .01 cents."
I may be exaggerating but that is roughly what you'll be reading quite a bit.
Now, you and I BOTH know (or you should know) that the average person buys stuff and doesn't do a lot with it. Or if you don't know that or haven't heard it, it is the truth.
Then again, the average person reads two books a year, can't spell the word Potato, thinks UFO's exist, and doesn't vote in elections.
So unless YOU are average, this shouldn't be of great concern to you. Now granted, I had to look up the spelling of potato in Wikipedia. But at LEAST I'm bright enough to do that.
A lot of people aren't.
HOWEVER -- having said that, about three weeks ago, I published an article FORESEEING what has gone down. I published an article that said basically 95% of people don't do squat at Internet marketing.
That statement a few disillusioned souls to refund to my office.
Absolutely phenomenal.
So let me break this down for you again at the risk of having other pie-in-sky dreamers freak out over it.
Here's what you're going to see:
Marketers WILL have statements in their sales materials that reveal the average results are PATHETIC.
Does THAT mean the methods don't work?
Heck no.
What it means is people don't work the methods. I speak the truth.
a. Very few people read more than five chapters of those books, ebooks and courses they buy. I know this because I've put tracking links in products and I can tell how deep people read into the product.
So HOW pray tell are the average results going to be good when, on average, NO ONE even READS the product?
Should the fact that you're competing against people who can't and don't read ALARM you? Or should it KINDA make you excited to know that you're competing against people who buy stuff and never even read it?
b. Out of the people who DO read, there are many reasons people buy products.
A LOT of people, maybe even the majority, buy out of curiosity or to do research. They don't INTEND on acting on the information.
I do this ALL the time.
I'm a curious person. I buy stuff all the time out of curiosity
with zero intention of doing anything with it.
Does that INVALIDATE the information I'm reading and mean it doesn't work because a whole lot of people are just like me and reading for enjoyment, research or curiosity?
c. Do you really believe you're an average person?
Personally, I don't like the attitude that everything should be boiled down to the lowest common denominator and we should protect people who can't read, can't spell (or at LEAST look it up in Wikipedia) and believe stupid stuff like they can push a button and buy a yacht the next week.
One way or the other, evolution will eventually weed those people out. Just not in OUR lifetime.
I like to think that God don't make junk and that I got a little something going for me. And I would hope you do also.
d. Decreased competition is GOOD.
This law will weed out some competitors who just don't want to
reveal that the people who buy their deal on average don't do
squat.
This is good.
It's the law of supply and demand. Less supply means more of the pie for the rest of us. Seriously, this law isn't the end of the world.
I've complied with MOST of it all my career or done my best to. Much or most of this law has been in place for a long time. People are just now realizing what the law says.
My take is, you don't freak out. You just comply. Ain't no big thing. But when you see some disclaimers that sound outlandish,
you DO need to understand WHY they are there and the purpose and intent of them to protect new, uninformed people from making bad
decisions.
I HAVE seen people who ARE sincere believe extreme hype and spend money they didn't have.
Law one: Do NOT spend money you don't have to chase an uncertain result. Scared money never wins. You build a business with money you can afford to lose.
Law two: There is no simple, easy, no-brainer thing you can do that will bring you in 6 g's a month. Everything in business requires a brain and thinking.
Law three: People who are an overnight success were either lucky, inordinately talented or spent a long time preparing for that big moment of success.
Law three: There is no magic ebook or course you can buy that in 30 days or even 60 is going to allow you to pay off those huge
credit card bills or buy you a Lambo. So stop asking for it and looking for it.
You GROW a business over time, not overnight. Relationships with customers take some time to build. And some people like my friends Lee McIntyre and Jason Fladlien DO extremely well really fast. But yeah, that ain't average.
It took me a lot longer.
=================================
Is This A Hidden Flaw In The Law?
=================================
Now, lest you think this is all rosy, there IS a hidden flaw in the law.
Here it is:
What the law SHOULD say is that you have to publish the average results of people who reasonably followed what you taught.
This does NOT mean you skirt the law. I'm just saying here is why I think it's misguided. Now, I'm NOT blaming the FTC on this. They are trying to protect people.
I understand that and it's a noble cause. They have the right to make and enforce the law and it's our job to comply fully and
completely.
But let me give you an example from a marketer's perspective:
The AVERAGE person who buys a beginner's book on how to play the guitar WON'T ever play more than maybe one chord.
They read chapter one, and go back to playing video games, eating bon bons on the sofa or reading the National Enquirer.
I'm NOT making this up. This is actually true. But what's wrong with that? I have all kinds of books on all kinds of topics I bought for one reason or the other and never did anything with.
Like this book over here on my bookshelf on how to design a database. Like I ever read that! I mean, it sounded like a good
idea at the time!
I doubt I made it through one chapter. No big deal. And on rare occasion I eat bon bons and read the National Enquirer. So there you go.
Here's what the law SHOULD say through the eyes of a marketer:
What is the average result by the person who actually follows the majority, if not all, of the instructions?
Of course, there are so few of those people, it wouldn't make for a very good law. That would expose how ridiculous it is.
For example, how many people READ the Bible cover-to-cover or even the New Testament?
How about even one whole chapter?
And how many of those people can even QUOTE what the 10 commandments are not to mention even take a stab at following them?
Case proved.
The obvious example here is the people who buy something off of a TV commercial that helps them drop 10 pounds.
Whatever "it" is comes with a little manual that says in addition to using whatever the tool is, you ALSO have to STOP stuffing your pretty little face with pizza, beer, tacos, nachos, pie, cake and candy, not to mention those piggie blanket things down at the mall I like to chow down on.
Of course, about .00001% of the people actually do that.
So we all KNOW what the average results are.
Does that mean whatever was sold doesn't work?
It's like Jared on those Subway commercials. By the way, I think Subway is a trademark. I probably am supposed to say that.
Can you imagine the commercials when they say THIS?
"While Jared dumbped 108 pounds, (or however many it was) the average Subway customer actually GAINS 25 pounds in a period of 5 years because in addition to eating subs, they ALSO on average consume 512 pizzas, 398 bottles of beer, 498 pieces of candy, 109 servings of cake or pie and 598 bon bons, not to mention soft drinks and other assorted goodies."
Americans, on average, are considerably overweight. Eating at Subway ain't gonna change that as long people continue to pig down on other stuff.
Is THAT Subway's fault?
So I ate at Subway this week. I also bought a full pumpkin pie and chowed down on it (albeit a little guiltily). I had some pizza and ice cream.
So on net I think I gained 1 or 2 pounds this week. None of that is Subway's fault. By the way, this example if HYPOTHETICAL. Maybe Subway customers lose tons. I don't know.
It's an example or illustration that's pure fantasy in my head and NOT representative of true, real Subway customers.
Here's my POINT:
Isn't the real question what happens in that rare event when someone actually FOLLOWS instructions?
I think that my results would look pretty decent if you looked at what happens when people act on what I teach. Like on my Dashboards.
For the people who actually go through all the steps on an icon, I imagine most people get a good result on that ICON. Thing is, they don't go through all the icons. And that's the fly in the ointment as far as average results are concerned.
=================
Here's an Example
=================
About 3 weeks ago I published a drop dead ezine issue with extreme specifics on how to do an outline in freemind and record it using software that also is gratus.
Out of roughly 50,000 people who got my ezine issue, THREE PEOPLE did anything with it.
THREE.
What percentage is that?
My math is crap (cause I'm "average" at math). But I think that is .006% average results.
If you're one of those 3 people, congratulations.
You're the anomaly.
The weird, rare person with an ounce of entrepreneurial ability and instinct and the capacity to take action.
People worry about competition.
Look at it this way. For every 50,000 potential competitors, about 3 of them will ever do jack.
This is what average is.
If you're one of the other 49,997 who didn't do jack, it's OK. You're AVERAGE! It's normal to not do anything.
It's OK that you read my ezines for either inspiration, or for ideas, or for use in the future.
A lot of people read this ezine just in case they DO decide to do something in the future. It's all good. Nothing wrong with that. Fact is, I'd say that's most people.
I do the SAME exact thing.
I subscribe to, buy and store information of all sorts from all kinds of resources.
=========================
An Example From My Family
=========================
A long time ago when my dad who is 80+ now was a young buck, he took a correspondence course to learn how to fix Television sets, which were the hot new technology on the block.
I'm assuming the company sold a lot of those 3-year correspondence courses.
My dad finished the course and they flew him in at their expense to a graduation with two other people
That's right.
Two others finished the course that year! Three total.
My dad went on to do very well in the TV service business and at one point serviced the TV sets for virtually every hotel and motel in in the city we grew up.
And that was his part time job.
The correspondence course was a GREAT course. It worked. It allowed my dad to accumulate substantial assets and support my family over the course of his lifetime.
Yet the average person who took that course NEVER made even one DIME because they never FINISHED it.
That's the fly in the ointment with this law.
You know that book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie?
On AVERAGE I dare say people who buy that book do NOT Win Friends or Influence people. Why? Because it says stuff like you have to smile at people and consider their point of view and listen.
How many people who buy that book REALLY do it? Seriously. How many people do you know who listen, always consider the other person's point of view and who do all the other stuff the book teaches?
Not me! That's for sure. And probably hardly anyone I know.
Ain't Dale Carnegie's fault I like to talk more than I listen, criticize others, and consider my own point of view first.
2. Revealing affiliate links
This one is more vague. But the FTC says that, more or less, you need to be transparent about this relationship.
No problemo.
You tell people it's an affiliate link or you make a commission. Whatever.
I don't think this amounts to diddly squat. Just do it.
Here's my affiliate link: blah, blah, blah.
Or: Affiliate link: blah, blah, blah.
Ain't no big thang. I'm not sure exactly how you have to reveal them or what's required. I BELIEVE you just have to state that
they're affiliate links. That's how I read the law.
"OMG! I clicked a link, bought and someone snagged a few bux in their bank account because of it. The world is coming to an end!"
Personally, I make an ATTEMPT to buy via affiliate links because I want to SUPPORT the people who give me ideas and turn me onto cool stuff. But maybe that's just me.
I reckon lots of average folks out there believe that the people who take time to write elaborate reviews on blogs with nice graphic design and perty pictures 'n stuff are just altruistic human beings and doing it without making one penny if they click their little link their, whip out their credit card and punch in the numbers.
So in the spirit of full disclosure, get this NOW! ALL links to ANY product in my ezines or products that are NOT my own ARE
affiliate links.
That means, if you click and pull out your credit card and enter those little numbers on it and push SUBMIT that money is going to
appear in my bank account.
If you have a problem with that, then do NOT enter your credit card numbers now, quickly and easily and do NOT push submit. Not NOW. Please. Thank you very much.
If you have been deceived into thinking I'm a charity and I do this out of the goodness of my human heart just because I ain't got nothing else to do with my time, then let me clarify this for you right this second.
You click. You buy. I profit.
How 'bout them bananas?
====================
The Final Disclaimer
====================
In the words of Frank freaking Kern, I ain't a lawyer nor do I play one on TV.
That means you're well advised to go read the little law yourself, consult your own legal advice, and, in general, use that little thingy God put in your head called a BRAIN.
Now that's a pretty novel concept for a lot of us, myself included. And I DO expect that at least 3 people who read this ezine will do it.
Still, I gotta say that just cause I'm supposed to and it makes me sleep better at night.
=======================
What You DO Need To Do
=======================
As I read the law, here's the scoop:
1. If you publish testimonials or endorsements that aren't typical of average results, you need to reveal what those average results actually are, as pathetic and pitiful as they probably are or will be.
2. If you make claims or promises in your letter, as anyone selling anything does if they hope to make any sale before Christmas, then you need to state what the average results.
I'm not certain the law requires this but I believe it does.
Again, you and I both know that in ANY how to product, the average results will be absolutely pathetic. Just embarrasing. So live with it.
Comply with the law. There is no choice about this.
Personally, I'll probably state that my average earnings from my buyers are .01 each unless I can get provable stats that show
otherwise.
Since thousands of my email addresses from thousands of customers in dozens of countries are no longer valid, getting stats OTHER than that won't be easy.
So when you see those average earnings from myself and other marketers, understand why they are there and what they MEAN.
Oh, if I send you a survey about this, please take it and return it.
You can also publish testimonials that are fluffy without specific results. Like "OMG, Marlon is so smart!"
Personally, I like to print out and read those testimonials anyway. I try to get other people to let me read them to them but you know...that doesn't go down so well.
3. Consider publishing a separate web page for non-U.S. customers
I'm NOT sure about this one yet. But I THINK you will legally be able to serve up a different page to non-U.S. customers.
4. If you use affiliate links, reveal they're an affiliate link.
Like honestly, who except the rawest newbie doesn't know this in our industry.
So revealing it won't make a dime's worth of difference in your sales.
This is NOT the end of the world.
People will STILL buy from you if they are educated about the law in the U.S.
Average results suck but hopefully YOU aren't average.
And if you are, join the crowd.
Oh, and read the law yourself since I ain't no lawyer nor attorney. I'm just an online marketer who likes to sell stuff. I may be wrong as the day is long on all aspects of this law and my opinions.
So use your noodle to get the boodle and do a bit of your own sound thinking and research.
Marlon Sanders
The King of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing and "The Ambassador of Old School Marketing"
P.S. In the spirit of complete compliance, here is my new disclaimer:
Ain't NONE of the results in NONE of the web pages below anything remotely resembling AVERAGE nor typical." People who succeed at stuff possess superhuman, freakish ability and you should NOT assume you fall in that elite class of superhumans. You' ain't never gonna amount to nothing so just give it up. That's my disclaimer. My average buyer earns .01. And if you work really hard, read well and follow all the instructions you too can end up in this elite class.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy for approximately .00001% of the people who buy the product and the KING of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing for those 3 people out of 50,000 who can actually follow steps. Everybody else is basically screwed with no hope of being anything but average -- EVER!"
You can COMMENT on this article here:
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=oct4ezine
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http://www.getyourprofits.com
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What It Means To Be Old School
If you're new to my list, my name is Marlon Sanders.
I AM what you call an old school marketer. Not old....old school. I got started in this business back in 1978 when I read Ben Suarez book "SuperBiz (tm)in 1978 and also H.K. Simon's "Out of the Rat Race and into the chips."
A lot of folks today don't know about old school marketing nor what it stands for. George Haylings made bank the old school way back in the days of the great depression.
If it worked back then, it'll sure work in today's less chaotic times.
I'm writing this because a lot of foks have gotten lost somewhere along the way. They got distracted by bright and shiny objects and forget the simplicity of this business....
.....maybe you're one of 'em.
If you've been in this business longer than 6 months and have been buying courses and training and you haven't made your first $100 in sales, you may have lost your way.
If you've been in this business longer than a year and haven't sold at least $5,000 or $10,000, then you might have forgotten what it means to be old school.
If you're an old pro or veteran but somehow have lost your way, you might have gotten sidetracked and forgotten the bare simplicity of this business.
I want to talk about what it means to be "old school."
1. Old school means you produce products.
Now, there's nothing wrong with promoting affiliate products. It's true a lot of newbies get started that way. You can build a list and start sending out emails selling affiliate products.
But the best way to build your list is with your own product. And you can have one of those in 3 hours if you know what you're doing.
2. Old school means you promote what you produce.
Think of it like breathing.
You do it every day. It's your essence.
You breathe in...that's creating new life with the oxygen that hits your blood stream.
That's creating new products.
It's your lifestream.
You breathe out.
That's promoting...it's an outward energy.
You go inside to produce...that's breathing in. You go outside to promote. That's breathing out.
If you're listening to someone telling you to do things other than breathe in and out, that's fine. But if it's not working for you, you might rethink what you're doing.
3. Old school means you roll your own
There's something to be said for hand made.
You can outsource lots of things. You can mechanize lots of things. And you should.
But no one can replace the human spirit and soul.
And plr and automated this and that are great. I've automated much of my business. But do you have a SOUL?
Seriously.
I'm a human being, not a machine. I'm here. I have emotions. I have ups and downs like anyone else.
Like late last year when I was TRYING to be the only guy in my city at age 51 to have a 6-pack (you know, lean stomach area), and I ripped some muscles working out and had to have surgery, that was a tough time for me.
I know some people read a few of my emails and wondered.
It was a very emotionally challenging time.
But that's life. I don't try to be something I'm not...at least not on my good days when I'm my highest and best self. And I recommend you do the same.
I don't pretend to live in a million dollar house with a 1/4 million car and Rolex watch.
I don't need the watch, I got plenty of house and my car is a warrior.
But one thing you can say about me is since day one in this business I've been REAL and called it the way I saw it, even if it meant going counter to the opinions of some of my closest and best friends.
So I think old school is about being real. The day you replace you in your business is the day the U is removed from the word UNIQUE and the day the U is tripped out of the term USP (unique selling proposition).
Marketers are a funny bunch.
The first thing they do on Twitter is load up a thousand quotes that someone else wrote.
That's not old school.
I don't want to read a bunch of quotes you downloaded. I want to know who YOU are what YOU think, even if I disagree at times.
Even if you aren't the biggest Mac Daddy of 'em all.
At least you're real. And maybe I'm interested in what you have to say.
4. Old school means getting things done
I love to talk on the phone.
My dogs (close friends) Jonathan Mizel, Declan Dunn, Jason Fladlien, Kirt Christensen, Daegan Smith, Ray Edwards, Paul Myers and others have probably lost more than a day of production chatting on the phone. But we share. And it means something to me.
One day I won't be here to write this ezine. All the products I got to create will be gone. All the sales letters will be written. All the insights will be given. All the words will be said.
I hope that at that time, people will look back and say, "Marlon Sanders was real. He told the truth. He made me a better marketer and a better person."
That means you can't just talk. You have to create. You have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
All that means is your breath, your life, is creating and selling and marketing and promoting.
That's who I am.
That's what I do.
And if you're reading this ezine, then I suspect that's who you are or want to be.
It's NOT the only way to run an Internet business.
Like I say, I'm Old School. I believe in stacking a few bills in my bank account by creating a valuable product and promoting it to others who can honestly benefit by it.
It's a noble way to make a living.
A lot of people don't get that. Selling is spiritual. You're taking a person with hopes and dreams of a better life and you're lending a helping hand.
You're taking a person with problems and frustration and helping remove them.
You're making the world a little better, more relaxed, more convenient, more enjoyable and less problem laced place to be.
And that is a great, awesome thing.
The first thing some marketers want to do is remove the human spirit and element.
And I guess some businesses operate that way.
I'm an Old School dog and I've been around the block. I've seen people go to jail, even gurus. I've seen them make comebacks by turning over a new leaf.
I've seen more gurus come and go than you can shake a stick at.
I've made more products than I can remember and sold most of 'em pretty well.
How about you?
Have you lost your way?
Have you strayed from the way of the Old School?
If you have, then maybe it's time you get back to breathing.
You find wants and needs, hopes and dreams, desires and passions.
You create products.
You promote products.
This may sound like a daunting task if you're new to this Game.
But over and over and over, people who take action prove you CAN produce products with value in less time than you think. I'm NOT saying you need to be perfect or produce the world's greatest products.
I'm saying to put some of YOU into your products. Put some heart in there. Put some soul in there.
Get out stuff that helps people. But get out a lot of it. You really do need to be a Prolific Product Creator.
Old School means you get produts out and you sell 'em. And on the one hand you don't succumb to the need to be perfect.
That's a trap.
On the other hand, you make sure you got a baker's dozen in there.
It's time.
It's time, you and I and everyone else in this Game get back to a few simple VALUES.
Finding out what people want. Creating lots of products and selling 'em good. Breathing as a way of life.
Production and promotion.
Good gosh that's simple.
How did we ever lose our way?
Maybe it's time a little Old School finds its way back in your life.
If you aren't working TODAY, this week on creating a new product or promoting the one you got, then what are you freaking thinking?
Honestly.
What are you doing? Researching more and more and more until you're certain?
Can you guarantee me you'll wake up tomorrow?
If you can't find certainty about that, how do you think you'll find certainty about whatever it is you're trying to feel certain about?
Find your way back home.
Now. Today. It's never too late.
This moment is all there is.
Embrace the Old School.
Produce.
Create.
Promote.
Sell.
This is the straight and narrow path.
Welcome home.
My name is Marlon Sanders. I've been in this Game long as I can remember. I am the King of Step-By-Step Internet marketing. And I cherish and relish every moment life has given me to be in this Game.
Every day I wake up, suck down some coffee, and feel thankful for another day to play the Game.
Old School Lives.
Play on.
Marlon Sanders
The King of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marlon Sanders is the author of The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing.
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple, to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com
and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
http://www.getyourprofits.com
Get your plugins installed, spruce up your sidebar, add recent comments, fix those blasted permalinks and add the Twitter viral script you won't believe -- all in a jiffy!
Do you have a blog?
If you don't it's an easy thing to set up.
http://wordpressmadeeasy.net/
That little product right there from my Ateamer Mike Paetzold will get you going -- fast! It's also a great example of how to create a simple product with a built-in audience.
I'm the King of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing, NOT the king of blogging. But I did spend yesterday tweaking out a few things on my blog, inspired by RobertPlank.com.
Robert's blog has some really nice tweaks on it I liked, so I added a few to mine. And you might want to add them to yours.
I cover how to set up your blog in Promo Dashboard, if you have it. Normally, I reserve highly detailed step-by-step information for my products. For one thing, to get it right takes more time than I have to write my ezine.
Also, you often need supporting video. But I'm brave today, so in the 45 minutes I have to write this ezine, I'm going to hammer out a few step-by-step procedures for you. Understand that when we do this in products, we support it with screen caps and videos.
This is a very small taste of how we do things around here in our Dashboard products. It really takes a lot of time and attention to detail to do steps like this with screen caps and video so they are as goof proof as we can get them.
THAT'S that value we offer others don't. No one has stuff as step-by-step as our Dashboards.
Here we go:
After you have it set up, here's what you do:
=========================
1. Set up your permalinks
=========================
Your permalinks are the way your blog post url's read.
Here's what mine looked like before:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/?p=123
The problem with that structure is it has a number at then end instead of your keywords.
After fixing my permalinks, my url's now look like this:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/7-ways-to-kick-your-sales-profits-up-a-notch-starting-this-week/
That's much better for your search engine optimization (seo). Here's how you do it:
a. On the left menu, click on "settings."
This will drop down a little sub-menu of things you can tweak your settings for.
b. Under settings, click on "permalinks."
You'll see several buttons you can click under "Common Settings"
c. Click Custom Structure
d. Put this in the custom structure field:
/%postname%/
2. Redirect links to your blog
If you already have your blog set up, you'll have inbound links to your blog posts from readers and from Google. If you change your permalinks setting, then all those links go bad.
This is NOT good!
When I originally set up my blog in March of 2007, I didn't feel the permalinks were important. Later, when I decided I wanted the seo boost, I already had inbound links and didn't wan to muck up what I was doing.
So how can you FIX your permalinks WITHOUT mucking up your existing inbound links?
Here's the solution:
a. On your left wordpress menu, click PLUGINS
b. You should see one called "permalink redirect"
If you don't have the permalinks redirect in your plugins, go here and follow the instructions to download and install:
http://scott.yang.id.au/code/permalink-redirect/
b.1 Download the plug
b.2 Unzip the contents
(If you don't know how to do this, go to youtube and search "unzipping" and HOPE you find children safe videos!}
b.3 Ftp the whole "permalink-redirect" folder to your wp-content plugins folder
b.4 Go back to your plugins menu under settings and you will now see a listing for permalinks redirect.
b.5 Click activate
If you get lost on the above, go to youtube and search:
"How to install plugins on wordpress"
c. Click activate on the right side.
d. In your settings, you will now see a link for "permalink redirect"
e. Click it and scroll down to the text box labelled "old permalink structures"
f. Paste in there the way your OLD links were structured.
In my case, here is what I pasted in:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/?p=123
g. Click "update options" and you'll be good to go. Your old links will now redirect to the new ones. So you don't lose any links.
And the best part is, your URL'S now have keywords in them for the search engines.
=======================================================
2. Set up Tweetmeme -- the coolest viral Twitter script
=======================================================
I'm excited about this one. It shows the number of tweets for a blog post. And lets people tweet the post just by clicking.
Go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and tweet one of my articles. You'll see how easy it is to use and why you need it on your blog.
a. Go to -- http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tweetmeme/
b. Just as you did in number one above, download the plugin
c. Upload to wp-content > Plugins just as you did above and then activate
That takes care of that one. Now, I'm going to have someone tweak my template to get it located where I want it. And you may need to hire someone to do that.
Or if you're smart, you've used outsourceplan.com to hire a virtual assistant like I have. The Sultan of Speed Internet Marketing and my friend Jason Fladlien just used the system to hire someone for $2.50 an hour!
So now you have your VIRAL component installed.
====================================
3. Add Recent Comments With Avatars
====================================
One of the things Robert has at RobertPlank.com is the most recent comments on the right hand sidebar. His have photos. Now, I found a great little plugin that adds user's avatars. However, most of my folks don't have a picture.
So I'm pretty sure Robert has a different plugin or a tweak. I'll find out from him. In the meantime, you can add your comments on the right side easy peasy.
Yours will look like mine does right now at marlonsnews.com.
a. Download the plugin:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/recent-comments-with-avatars/
b. Install same as above.
c. Click "Recent Comments" under settings to tweak your look
Now you have it.
You've fixed your permalink structure, added a killer VIRAL tool AND added recent comments. One more.
================================
4. Re-order your sidebar widgets
================================
See all those things I have on my right-hand sidebar:
Recent comments, categories, archives, blogroll, tags?
All of those are called "widgets." And you change the order of them, add and delete them using widgets.
a. On your left Wordpress menu, click "Appearance"
b. Under appearance, you'll now see "widgets"
c. If you have a widgets-approved theme, you should see a widgets menu.
What's WEIRD is I don't. And this really hampered my ability to tweak my blog. But when I go to this URL, I get my widgets menu:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/wp-admin/themes.php
d. Substitute your domain where mine is and you should
find your widgets.
e. Click ADD next to any widget you want to add to your sidebar
f. On the right side, you can just drag and drop to re-order your widgets! How cool is that?
Alright, your blog should be pimped out now.
Have fun.
PS: If this article was valuable, please go to my blog and tweet it to others:
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=aug22_blog
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marlon Sanders is the author of
"The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple, to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
http://www.getyourprofits.com
Get your plugins installed, spruce up your sidebar, add recent comments, fix those blasted permalinks and add the Twitter viral script you won't believe -- all in a jiffy!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Do you have a blog?
If you don't it's an easy thing to set up.
http://wordpressmadeeasy.net/
That little product right there from my Ateamer Mike Paetzold will get you going -- fast! It's also a great example of how to create a simple product with a built-in audience.
I'm the King of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing, NOT the king of blogging. But I did spend yesterday tweaking out a few things on my blog, inspired by RobertPlank.com.
Robert's blog has some really nice tweaks on it I liked, so I added a few to mine. And you might want to add them to yours.
I cover how to set up your blog in Promo Dashboard, if you have it. Normally, I reserve highly detailed step-by-step information for my products. For one thing, to get it right takes more time than I have to write my ezine.
Also, you often need supporting video. But I'm brave today, so in the 45 minutes I have to write this ezine, I'm going to hammer out a few step-by-step procedures for you. Understand that when we do this in products, we support it with screen caps and videos.
This is a very small taste of how we do things around here in our Dashboard products. It really takes a lot of time and attention to detail to do steps like this with screen caps and video so they are as goof proof as we can get them.
THAT'S that value we offer others don't. No one has stuff as step-by-step as our Dashboards.
Here we go:
After you have it set up, here's what you do:
=========================
1. Set up your permalinks
=========================
Your permalinks are the way your blog post url's read.
Here's what mine looked like before:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/?p=123
The problem with that structure is it has a number at then end instead of your keywords.
After fixing my permalinks, my url's now look like this:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/7-ways-to-kick-your-sales-profits-up-a-notch-starting-this-week/
That's much better for your search engine optimization (seo). Here's how you do it:
a. On the left menu, click on "settings."
This will drop down a little sub-menu of things you can tweak your settings for.
b. Under settings, click on "permalinks."
You'll see several buttons you can click under "Common Settings"
c. Click Custom Structure
d. Put this in the custom structure field:
/%postname%/
2. Redirect links to your blog
If you already have your blog set up, you'll have inbound links to your blog posts from readers and from Google. If you change your permalinks setting, then all those links go bad.
This is NOT good!
When I originally set up my blog in March of 2007, I didn't feel the permalinks were important. Later, when I decided I wanted the seo boost, I already had inbound links and didn't wan to muck up what I was doing.
So how can you FIX your permalinks WITHOUT mucking up your existing inbound links?
Here's the solution:
a. On your left wordpress menu, click PLUGINS
b. You should see one called "permalink redirect"
If you don't have the permalinks redirect in your plugins, go here and follow the instructions to download and install:
http://scott.yang.id.au/code/permalink-redirect/
b.1 Download the plug b.2 Unzip the contents
(If you don't know how to do this, go to youtube and search "unzipping" and HOPE you find children safe videos!}
b3. Ftp the whole "permalink-redirect" folder to your wp-content plugins folder
b4. Go back to your plugins menu under settings and you will now see a listing for permalinks redirect.
b5. Click activate
If you get lost on the above, go to youtube and search:
"How to install plugins on wordpress"
c. Click activate on the right side.
d. In your settings, you will now see a link for "permalink redirect"
e. Click it and scroll down to the text box labelled "old
permalink structures"
f. Paste in there the way your OLD links were structured.
In my case, here is what I pasted in:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/?p=123
g. Click "update options" and you'll be good to go. Your
old links will now redirect to the new ones. So you don't
lose any links.
And the best part is, your URL'S now have keywords in them
for the search engines.
=======================================================
2. Set up Tweetmeme -- the coolest viral Twitter script
=======================================================
I'm excited about this one. It shows the number of tweets
for a blog post. And lets people tweet the post just by
clicking.
Go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and tweet one of my
articles. You'll see how easy it is to use and why you
need it on your blog.
a. Go to -- http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tweetmeme/
b. Just as you did in number one above, download the
plugin
c. Upload to wp-content > Plugins just as you did above
and then activate
That takes care of that one. Now, I'm going to have
someone tweak my template to get it located where I want
it. And you may need to hire someone to do that.
Or if you're smart, you've used outsourceplan.com to hire
a virtual assistant like I have. The Sultan of Speed
Internet Marketing and my friend Jason Fladlien just used
the system to hire someone for $2.50 an hour!
So now you have your VIRAL component installed.
====================================
3. Add Recent Comments With Avatars
====================================
One of the things Robert has at RobertPlank.com is the
most recent comments on the right hand sidebar. His have
photos. Now, I found a great little plugin that adds
)
user's avatars. However, most of my folks don't have a
picture.
So I'm pretty sure Robert has a different plugin or a
tweak. I'll find out from him. In the meantime, you can
add your comments on the right side easy peasy.
Yours will look like mine does right now at
marlonsnews.com.
a. Download the plugin:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/recent-comments-with-avatars/
b. Install same as above.
c. Click "Recent Comments" under settings to tweak your
look
Now you have it.
You've fixed your permalink structure, added a killer
VIRAL tool AND added recent comments. One more.
================================
4. Re-order your sidebar widgets
================================
See all those things I have on my right-hand sidebar:
Recent comments, categories, archives, blogroll, tags?
All of those are called "widgets." And you change the
order of them, add and delete them using widgets.
a. On your left Wordpress menu, click "Appearance"
b. Under appearance, you'll now see "widgets"
c. If you have a widgets-approved theme, you should see a
widgets menu.
What's WEIRD is I don't. And this really hampered my
ability to tweak my blog. But when I go to this URL, I get
my widgets menu:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/wp-admin/themes.php
d. Substitute your domain where mine is and you should
find your widgets.
e. Click ADD next to any widget you want to add to your
sidebar
f. On the right side, you can just drag and drop to
re-order your widgets! How cool is that?
Alright, your blog should be pimped out now.
Have fun.
PS: If this article was valuable, please go to my blog and tweet
it to others:
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=aug22_blog
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marlon Sanders is the author of "The
Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step
Internet Marketing."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds
of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple,
to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without
all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
http://www.getyourprofits.com
The real answer to why only 3% succeed and how to know if YOU will be part of the 3% or the 97%.
Are You Gonna Produce Or Consume?
Let's get it straight.
All the money in this business is made by being a producer, not a consumer. Now, being a consumer is NOT bad or wrong.
But here's the secret: You consume to produce.
Let me share a fact: It's been estimated that 97% of customers of info products don't make anything. Why?
Because the never produce and promote.
They just consume and make up reasons why they can't do it, why it won't work for them, why they are different, why their situation is different, and why later not now is the time to start.
True story.
This fact is true of ANY info product business where you are teaching people how to do things. Whether it's how to invest in stocks, real estate or anything else.
So realize this happens in EVERY industry, not just mine.
It's really crucial that you get this straight in your head. For one thing, in the U.S., you are supposed to publish "typical results." No one does. Why?
Because the typical result is 3%. Now, colleges do fair slightly better. 80% of the people who graduate with a degree NEVER work in the field they got their degree in.
So if 4 years of college and $50,000 or $100,000 can't get people a $30,000 a year entry level job, why is it that a small minority of people with a chip on their shoulder, think they can buy a $97 course and with almost NO effort grab six figures?
Why is that? It makes no sense. That a human being with intelligence could think that baffles me. People want something where someone else gives them a defined set of instructions, they do it with no risk, and they get a check.
THAT is called a "job," not a business.
You don't push a few buttons and money magically appears -- NOT until you have a list or form agreements with people who DO have lists. Then, yeah, you push a few buttons and money appears.
This is not a job. It's a business. And by nature, business is volatile, uncertain and there is risk involved and no guarantees. If you can't deal with that fact, keep your day job. Honestly.
If you're lazy and think you'll make 100 g's a year by being dumb, stupid, in-informed and uneducated, keep your day job. But you're about to be fired from there -- so you better have a check up from the neck up.
There IS no room in the world for people who cannot produce and promote, even if all you're promoting is yourself at your job.
On the flip side, if you take the number of people who product and promote at least 3 products with a degree of intelligence, diligence and effort, I imagine the results are pretty good, if not really good.
The reason 97% don't get results is 90% or more didn't REALLY give it their best shot. They stuck a toe in the water and "tried" just to see if "this thing is real."
Well guess what?
That isn't how it works.
You don't read one book on chess, and enter a chess tournament to see "if this book is worth anything." It's a skill that takes practice and repetition.
"Yeah, but Marlon, all the sales letters say it's easy."
Actually, a few do but most by respected, legitimate marketers don't. They promise to show you how THEY and maybe a few customers have gotten great results far above average (remember, the average result is nothing because people don't implement at all or precious little).
Now, I LOVE being a consumer. I have vast libraries in my home because I love to read and learn new, exciting things. And when I speak, I speak from experience. I prefer consuming to producing.
Why?
1. Things go wrong when you produce.
The software doesn't work, you can't figure this or that out. Something doesn't work right. That can lead to feelings of frustration or even feelings that somehow something is wrong with YOU that you can't figure this out.
But follow me on this: Your FEARS of your own stupid feelings of failure or frustration. NOT of what it takes to get things done.
Murphy (Murphy's law...look it up) is a part of any business.
2. Nothing works the first time
Write it down.
It never works out the way you want the first time. If that wasn't true, then sports teams would only hold ONE practice session before they played games that counted.
Think about it.
Even the great Tiger Woods and the greatest athletes in the world practice over and over. Yet, to my absolute mystery, somehow a few people think they can have the Internet lifestyle by reading one ebook and working 15 minutes a day.
Please. Get real.
There IS an Internet lifestyle. But you pay your dues first. You learn, you practice, you test, you tweak and you learn some more. Now, I've seen that compressed into literally very short time frames.
My friend Jason Fladlien is 20 months into the Game and bringing in $30,000 to $50,000 a month BUT he has PRODUCED dozens of products in that time span and promoted them to a small list of only a few thousand names (but a list growing rapidly now).
Doesn't matter you have a small list. THAT is how you start out. You start out, you produce and you hit singles or bunts to start with NOT grand slams.
If someone DOES hit a grand slam their first time at bat at product creation, THAT isn't typical.
Typical is like me -- my first products hardly sold. Like my one on how to avoid TV Repair Ripoff that I advertised in the TV Guide. If your TV was broke, would you be READING the TV Guide? Those are the dumb mistakes beginners make.
It's part of the normal learning process.
Are you a NEWBIE? If you are, you can STILL produce $10 reports, little pdf's or audios you sell, simple things.
Get in the HABIT of producing and promoting and not just consuming info until you are a bloated info glut.
I got a real problem with people who want and expect something
for nothing. For people who think an ebook or even a coaching
program will magically open the doors to the Internet lifestyle.
You produce and promote.
Like breathing.
Do it over and over and sooner or later you'll pretty good at it
and that's when your luck finds you.
That's when your money finds you.
That's when success happens overnight.
Now it helps if you produce and promote things with the perception of value that people want to pay for. That helps a lot.
=================== So What DOES Work? ===================
What works is to produce while you consume. Start building your list, creating and promoting products.
THIS is what works.
Even if you're not competent, even if you make mistakes, even if you get frustrated, even if you don't feel you have the right to create a product, even if your web page is kinda ugly, even if you aren't confident in what you're doing, even if you don't know everything, even if you aren't a good writer, even if you sound less than perfect on audio.
NO EXCUSES.
You get your assets busy and you produce and promote.
Produce and promote.
Produce and promote.
Repeat after me.
Produce and promote.
Produce and promote.
It's a mantra.
Say it now. Produce and promote. Produce and promote.
Stop over analyzing.
Stop your second guessing.
Stop making excuses.
This is the ONLY mantra that virtually guarantees your success....I say "virtually" because not everyone succeeds -- at anything. Not everyone succeeds at golf, tennis or chess. Business is no different.
But as a general rule, if you persistently and relentlessly create, produce and promote products that are wanted and needed to audiences known to be passionate about buying and spending money, it'll be hard for you to NOT succeed.
This is the straight and narrow path to success -- the one I have been teaching and preaching since 1998 and before.
This is the EVERGREEN path to success. The money you spend to learn it won't be wasted because it's a skill. Producing and promoting never "stops working."
Back in 0 B.C. people were producing crops and promoting or selling them. They were producing cows or donkeys or whatever and promoting and selling them.
This is evergreen.
It's not as sexy or exciting as sending one email and having 100 g's come in the door. The most read email I've had recently was the Terry Dean report I gave away about how he brought in 100 g's by sending 1 email.
Which is all true.
But he had a list of qualified prospects to send that email to. But it shows that even on my list of people who hopefully read this ezine every week, people are entranced with the idea of pushing a button and having their bills paid for the year.
Get real. Honestly. Aren't we both adults here? Aren't you aware that the path to success lies in producing and promoting and not magic. Cavemen believed in magic. In third world countries where books and education are lacking, people believe in magic.
But you aren't a caveman, you have books and the Internet and you're in charge of educating yourself.
So cut the crap, forget the magic and get your assets busy producing and promoting. And if you don't want to do that, keep your day job and seduce yourself into believing that your job is about something OTHER than producing and promoting, which of course it isn't.
You just don't have responsibility for the ultimate product and the exchange obtained for it. It's a matter of what you FEEL you're responsible for.
Those people who go in forums and complain that they "tried Internet marketing" and it didn't work.
Did they produce and promote? Produce and promote?
No. They tried promoting affiliate products to a really low quality list they built using questionable, unproven methods because they wanted to "try it and see if it works" instead of committing to do it.
So someday when the NEWS hits the fan that "97% don't make it in Internet marketing," ask yourself out of those 97%, how many do you REALLY think followed the mantra 3, 4 or 5 times?
You know why people have jobs?
Because they are comfortable letting someone else do the hard work of producing and promoting, and they just want to be a cog in the wheel without much responsibility for producing and promoting the thing that is actually sold to the end buyer.
You STILL produce and promote on a job. But you have defined steps with a known outcome. That's called a job.
An entrepreneur lives in changing markets and an uncertain world where any one product may or may not sell jack.
That's life. That's marketing.
You can do surveys and market research to put the odds in your favor. But it's STILL uncertain. They cure is to produce and promote a LOT! Not a little.
So I got a question for you.
This next week are you ONLY consuming?
Are you ONLY reading my ezine?
Are you making excuses for all the reasons producing and promoting won't work for you and how you need to wait for some reason, and why your equipment isn't good enough, your voice isn't good enough, your writing isn't good enough, you don't have the confidence and you aren't sure it'll work.
Or are you going to shut the muck up and produce and promote?
Really, this choice is yours.
Do you want a job?
Or do you want the Internet lifestyle?
If it's the latter, start producing and promoting.
Marlon Sanders
The King of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple, to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here ==> http://www.getyourprofits.com
I just got word Armand Morin is launching some "SECRET" project in a few weeks and his is pre-launching it with a whole series of FREE Training Videos RIGHT NOW!
Here's the cool part...
Every 48 hours he'll be posting a new video. Yup, every 48 hours he's going to take down the old video and put up the new video, so you have to watch them as soon as possible.
Here's The Site To Get On VIP Notification List:
FREE Training Videos
Don't wait on this one. The training videos start in a few days, make sure you watch every one.
I've seen Armand do this before and the videos were amazing. This time he promises even more up to date information for all us.
Click This Link To Get Started:
FREE Training Videos
Remember, each video will only last 48 hours, so make sure you get on the list early.
The King of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing Breaks Down The 7 Steps To A Super Fast Start. Exactly What To Do And How To Do It
I want to talk to you about how you make products make you a living so that you don't have to "work" for a living.
First, let me remind you of something in case you don't know.
I've been at this "Game" longer than just about anybody still active and producing in our market.
Back BEFORE the Big Seminar, BEFORE Yanik's seminars, BEFORE about anyone's seminars, Jonathan Mizel, Declan Dunn and yours truly put on the shindig known as the "Boulder Seminar." For 4 years, we put on the seminar everyone who was anyone attended to get the real inside scoop on Internet marketing.
I've spoken around the world at over 120 seminars.
My affiliate list has 30,000 folks on it. But when I started it had none.
I've spoken all over the world in Kaui, Gold Coast Australia, Wembely arena in London where rock stars perform, Bermuda, and all over the U.S. from Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, LA, to Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia, Miami, New York, Boston, Raleigh, and other cities.
I've been selling $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000 a month for longer than I can remember, which would 1998 -- and before.
Unlike Johnny-Come-Lately's, my formula has stood the test of time.
But when I first started, my hands shook so much, I could barely put the transparencies on the projector I used at the time.
I've successfully produced and sold DOZENS of info products. Yet, NONE of those things matters that much. What DOES matter is this: In the last 7 years, I haven't "worked" much.
I read, hang out at bookstores and coffee shops. And check in with my staff daily, of course.
Now, for 7 years, I did NOT have an office outside of my home. I had a few virtual assistants (mostly that was Lisa). Today, I have a small office with 2-3 employees, depending on the month.
My point is THIS:
My products make me my living, so I don't have to invest a great deal of personal work and effort. This formula works. I have people on Twitter and Facebook all the time tell me how my Formulas, systems and dashboards helped them get started, become successful and make it to the next level.
The process is simple:
1. Find a group of people with money to spend and the willingness to spend it on a passion, hobby or compelling personal interest
2. Come up with 12 product ideas
3. Do your 12-product survey
4. Find experts to provide content on that topic
5. Create your info product
6. Set up your download page
7. Set up your order taking
===========================================
Step-By-Step What To Do And How To Do It
===========================================
Since I AM the King of Step-By-Step Internet marketing, I'm going to break down those 7 steps for you.
I'm working on a new BONUS for my $97 a month Ateam version that I'm going to roll out.
I'm going to give you the "trimmed down" version of the bonus I'm working on.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1. Find a group of people with money to spend and the
willingness to spend it on a passion, hobby or compelling
personal interest
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a. Explore Yahoo Groups:
Here are the basic categories. In each category you'll find many forums where people with all sorts of passions meet together and discuss their interests:
* Animals
* Business & Finance
* Computers & Internet
* Culture & Community
* Entertainment & Arts
* Family & Home
* Games
* Government & Politics
* Health & Wellness
* Hobbies & Crafts
* Music
* Regional
* Religion & Beliefs
* Romance & Relationships
* Schools & Education
* Science
* Sports & Recreation
b. Look for the people spending money
You need to find a niche or target audience to fish in where the fish bite. In other words, they need to be spending money over and over on their passion and interest.
If people aren't buying lots of stuff, it probably won't be a good market for you.
c. See if anyone is spending money for INFORMATION vs. physical products.
There are lots of car forums where people discuss different types of cars and share all sorts of resources.
But you probably aren't going to find any or many information products being sold, although you might find a few.
Look for something that has repeat business or a big ticket item that a number of people buy. In the information selling business, you want to look for people who are spending money to go to seminars and workshops, buying newsletters, membership sites and that sort of thing.
d. Begin making friends in Yahoo groups and other forums or groups related to your target market.
You'll need these people to take your 12-product survey when you get to that step. Pay SPECIAL attention to the people who sell products and have lists.
You'll know they have a list because their blog or web site will have a sign up form for their email list on it.
e. Search Google for "workshop" or "seminar" or "coaching." That's a secret back door.
By scrolling through the results, you'll find out who is ALREADY spending money.
f. Search ezinearticles.com
Here are the broad categories you have there. Just tell me you can't find SOMEONE here to sell to!
Business Business Accounting Accounting Payroll Advertising Branding Career Advice Careers Employment Change Management Consulting Continuity Disaster Recovery Customer Service Entrepreneurialism Ethics Franchising Fundraising Human Resources Industrial Mechanical International Business Job Search Techniques Management Marketing Marketing Direct Negotiation Networking Non Profit Outsourcing PR Presentation Productivity Resumes Cover Letters Retail Sales Sales Management Sales Teleselling Sales Training Security Small Business Solo Professionals Strategic Planning Team Building Top7 or 10 Tips Venture Capital Workplace Communication Workplace Safety Internet and Businesses Online Internet and Businesses Online Affiliate Revenue Auctions Audio Streaming Autoresponders Banner Advertising Blogging CMS Domain Names E Books Ecommerce Email Marketing Ezine Publishing Forums Internet Marketing Link Popularity List Building PPC Advertising PPC Publishing Paid Surveys Podcasting Product Creation Product Launching RSS SEO Search Engine Marketing Security Site Promotion Social Bookmarking Social Media Social Networking Spam Blocker Traffic Building Video Marketing Video Streaming Web Design Web Development Web Hosting Finance Finance Auto Loans Bankruptcy Bankruptcy Lawyers Bankruptcy Medical Bankruptcy Personal Bankruptcy Tips Advice Budgeting Commercial Loans Credit Credit Counseling Credit Tips Currency Trading Debt Consolidation Debt Management Debt Relief Estate Plan Trusts Home Equity Loans Leases Leasing Loans PayDay Loans Personal Finance Personal Loans Structured Settlements Student Loans Taxes Taxes Income Taxes Property Taxes Relief Taxes Tools Unsecured Loans VA Loans Wealth Building Investing Investing Day Trading Futures and Commodities IRA 401k Mutual Funds Retirement Planning Stocks Insurance Insurance Agents Marketers Car Auto Commercial Dental Disability Flood Health Home Owners Renters Life Annuities Long Term Care Medical Billing Personal Property Pet RV Motorcycle Supplemental Travel Umbrella Vision Watercraft Workers Compensation Legal Legal Copyright Corporations LLC Criminal Law Cyber Law Elder Law Employment Law Identity Theft Immigration Intellectual Property Labor Law Living Will Medical Malpractice National State Local Patents Personal Injury Real Estate Law Regulatory Compliance Trademarks Real Estate Real Estate Building a Home Buying Commercial Construction Commercial Property Condominiums FSBO Foreclosures Green Real Estate Home Staging Homes Investing Land Leasing Renting Marketing Mortgage Refinance Moving Relocating Property Management Selling Home Based Business Home Based Business Network Marketing Writing and Speaking Writing and Speaking Article Marketing Book Marketing Copywriting Public Speaking Publishing Technical Writing Teleseminars Writing Writing Articles Computers and Technology Computers and Technology Certification Tests Computer Forensics Data Recovery Hardware Mobile Computing Personal Tech Software Gaming Gaming Communities Computer Games Console Games Console Systems Online Gaming Video Game Reviews Communications Communications Broadband Internet Fax GPS Mobile Cell Phone Mobile Cell Phone Accessories Mobile Cell Phone Reviews Mobile Cell Phone SMS Radio Satellite Radio Satellite TV Telephone Systems VOIP Video Conferencing News and Society News and Society Crime Economics Energy Environmental International Military Politics Pure Opinion Religion Weather Relationships Relationships Affairs Anniversaries Commitment Communication Conflict Dating Dating for Boomers Divorce Domestic Violence Enhancement Friendship Gay Lesbian Love Marriage Post Divorce Readiness Sexuality Singles Wedding Reference and Education Reference and Education Astronomy College University Financial Aid Future Concepts Home Schooling Languages Nature Online Education Paranormal Psychic Psychology Science Survival and Emergency Vocational Trade Schools Wildlife Health and Fitness Health and Fitness Acne Aerobics Cardio Allergies Alternative Anti Aging Anxiety Arthritis Asthma Autism Back Pain Beauty Build Muscle Childhood Obesity Prevention Contraceptives Birth Control Critical Care Dental Care Depression Detoxification Developmental Disabilities Diabetes Disability Diseases Diseases Multiple Sclerosis Diseases STDs Drug Abuse Ears Hearing Eating Disorders Emotional Freedom Technique Environmental Issues Ergonomics Exercise Eyes Vision Fitness Equipment Hair Loss Hand Wrist Pain Headaches Migraines Healing Arts Healthcare Systems Heart Disease Home Health Care Hypertension Massage Medicine Meditation Mens Issues Mental Health Mind Body Spirit Mood Disorders Nutrition Obesity Pain Management Physical Therapy Popular Diets Quit Smoking Self Hypnosis Skin Care Sleep Snoring Speech Pathology Supplements Thyroid Weight Loss Womens Issues Yoga Self Improvement Self Improvement Abundance Prosperity Achievement Addictions Affirmations Anger Management Attraction Coaching Creativity Empowerment Goal Setting Grief Loss Happiness Innovation Inspirational Leadership Memory Training Mind Development Motivation NLP Hypnosis Organizing Personal Growth Positive Attitude Self Esteem Speed Reading Spirituality Stress Management Success Techniques Time Management Recreation and Sports Recreation and Sports Archery Auto Racing Baseball basketball Billiards Boating Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Cheerleading Climbing Cricket Cycling Dancing Equestrian Extreme Fantasy Sports Figure Skating Fish Ponds Fishing Football Golf Gymnastics Hockey Horse Racing Hunting Martial Arts Mountain Biking Olympics Racquetball Rodeo Rugby Running Scuba Diving Skateboarding Skiing Snowboarding Soccer Sports Apparel Surfing Swimming Tennis Track and Field Triathlon Volleyball Wrestling Travel and Leisure Travel and Leisure Adventure Travel Airline Travel Aviation Airplanes Bed Breakfast Inns Budget Travel Camping Car Rentals Charter Jets City Guides and Information Cruise Ship Reviews Cruising Destination Tips First Time Cruising Golf Travel and Resorts Hotels Accommodations Limo Rentals Limousines Luxury Cruising Outdoors Pet Friendly Rentals Sailing Ski Resorts Timeshare Vacation Homes Vacation Rentals Home Improvement Home Improvement Appliances Audio Video Bath and Shower Cabinets Cleaning Tips and Tools Concrete DIY Doors Electrical Energy Efficiency Feng Shui Flooring Foundation Furniture Heating and Air Conditioning House Plans Interior Design and Decorating Kitchen Improvements Landscaping Outdoor Decorating Lighting New Construction Painting Patio Deck Pest Control Plumbing Remodeling Roofing Security Stone Brick Storage Garage Swimming Pools Spas Tools and Equipment Windows Yard Equipment Home and Family Home and Family Babies Toddler Baby Boomer Crafts Hobbies Crafts Supplies Death Dying Elder Care Entertaining Fatherhood Gardening Grandparenting Holidays Motherhood Parenting Parties Pregnancy Retirement Scrapbooking Pets Pets Birds Cats Dogs Exotic Farm Ranch Fish Horses Reptiles Amphibians Automotive Automotive ATV Mobile Audio Video Motorcycles RV Repairs Trucks Cancer Cancer Breast Cancer Colon Rectal Cancer Leukemia Lymphoma Cancer Lung Mesothelioma Asbestos Ovarian Cervical Uterine Cancer Prostate Cancer Skin Cancer Food and Drink Food and Drink Chocolate Coffee Cooking Tips Crockpot Recipes Desserts Low Calorie Main Course Pasta Dishes Recipes Restaurant Reviews Salads Soups Tea Wine Spirits Kids and Teens Womens Interests Womens Interests Cosmetic Surgery Menopause HRT Plus Size Arts and Entertainment Arts and Entertainment Animation Astrology Casino Gambling Humanities Humor Movies TV Music Performing Arts Philosophy Photography Poetry Tattoos Visual Graphic Arts Shopping and Product Reviews Shopping and Product Reviews Collectible Jewelry Electronics Fashion Style Gifts Internet Marketing Jewelry Diamonds Lingerie Book Reviews
Each category has MANY niches within it. Surely within that list you can find a group of starving buyers who are PASSIONATE about spending money for products, preferably information products.
How do you know?
g. Read the articles in the category and look for links to sites. Then at the bottom of the articles, you'll find the bio/resource box with information on the author and a link to their blog or web site. Go there and see if they're selling anything, what they're selling and how much they're selling it for.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2. Come up with 12 product ideas
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After you find your niche or target market where people are ALREADY spending a lot of money for stuff they're passionate about, then you come up with your 12 product ideas.
a. Make a list of everything they're already buying
The best way to do this is in a Google Docs or Excel spreadsheet. List what they're buying in one column, the url in the next column, and the price in the next column.
If you do NOT see information products, seminars, workshops or coaching there, you may want to choose another niche, unless you want to enter the dropship or merchandise selling business.
It's more difficult to sell big ticket products and your profit margins are lower than an information business. But you can do very well there.
I have a relative who sells garden supplies from a web site. All the products are shipped direct to the customer from various manufacturers.
b. Sort the threads in forums by "most viewed"
One thing you'll want to do in Yahoo groups is look for OTHER forums that your target audience frequents.
You can also just search Google for the name of your niche and "forum."
And you can do this in the Yahoo groups. Most forums allow you to sort the posts by the number of views -- from most to least.
By sorting the posts this way, you can find out which ones have the most interest. These are GREAT topics for products, especially information products.
c. Make a list of the top 50 most viewed posts.
You can drop theses into a Google docs spreadsheet or into Excel on a worksheet.
d. Scan through the top 50 posts looking for great product ideas, especially information product ideas.
e. If that doesn't work, use all top 50 posts to create 50 mini chapters for your information product. Those top posts become the topics you write about using the info in the posts as your basic research and starting point.
f. Search affiliate programs on the topic
1.) Go to affiliateprograms.com
Search the database there for your topic and see what you come up with. Affiliate programs are situations where you sell someone else's product for a commission. This lets you know what is being sold and what the commissions being paid are.
2.) Search Commission Junction Dot Com
If you're going to sell PHYSICAL products, this resource is awesome because they publish the dollars per click that the affiliates make.
In other words, for every click that goes to that web site how much money is made?
Now you know if the product is profitable or not. You can go to quantcast.com and look at the traffic for the sites (or Alexa.com) and based on the dollars-per-click you get from CommissionJunction dot com have a rough idea of how much money the web site makes.
3.) Search Clickbank for your topic
This gives you the ebooks being sold on the topic. The gravity and popularity ratings give you an idea of whether or not the product does well.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3. Do your 12-product survey
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a. From step 2, you should have a robust list of product ideas. Take the ones you think are your 12 best and put them into a survey.
b. Use the pushbuttonsurveys.com software or the survey module of automateyourwebsite.com to conduct the survey. Other options are surveymonkey.com or oneminutepoll.com.
c. The best way to do the survey is to ask people you've met through the forums.
You may even be able to get permission to post the survey in the forum. Sometimes you need to offer a bonus report to get people to take the survey.
You may be able to find private label reports called PLR on your topic by searching Google for "private label rights." If not, then you may want to write a 5 or 10-page report on a hot topic to give people who take your survey.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
4. Find experts to provide content on that topic
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a. Make a list of the blogs that are mentioned most in the forums in your target market.
You need to know what blogs they're reading and who they're paying attention to.
In forums, you'll usually see certain names come up over and over. You'll find blogs a lot of people read. THOSE are the people you want to interview -- the ones who have influence in the market.
You'll find that you can get interviews with those opinion leaders more often than not because they're "go-getters." They're people used to self promoting, and they understand that interviews are nothing but a chance to self promote.
b. Get 5-12 people who will allow you to interview them for 15- 30 minutes.
Call or email these people. Write out a brief description of your interview request. Do NOT write a book on this. Keep it short and to the point.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5. Create your info product
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a. Use the freeconferencecall.com service.
This service allows you to record the interview and delivers the recording to you as a downloadable file.
You can also use instantteleseminar.com.
b. Get the audio transcribed.
1.) Go to Odesk.com
2.) Post your transcription request
3.) Select someone with a good number of positive feedbacks.
c. Get your ecover created
This is another project for a graphic designer on elance.com, getafreelancer.com, Odesk.com or rentacoder.com.
d. Turn the transcript into a PDF
Use the Openoffice.org software for this. The "Writer" program will export the file as a PDF.
1.) Open the transcript in Open Office Writer.
2.) Clean up the transcript. Sometimes the transcriptionist won't be able to understand a few words or phrases.
3.) Add bold formatting, yellow highlights and a different font.
4.) Add your ecover as page one
5.) Select File ==> Export as PDF and you're done.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
6. Set up your download page
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a. Set up your hosting
Hostgator.com has plans that will cost you $7 to $25 per month that will work fine.
b. Use an html editor for this
We use Dreamweaver, but it isn't cheap. You can also use Frontpage, NVU, First Page or other html editors. But if this is new to you, just have a graphic designer from one of the freelance sites do it for you.
http://www.net2.com/nvu/
http://www.microsoft.com/expression/
http://www.evrsoft.com/
c. Turn your .wav file into an mp3
a.) Download the Audacity software (for PC or Macs) at:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
b.) Download the lame encoder plugin. When you go to File ==> Export to export your wav file as an mp3, Audacity will prompt you to download and install the lame encoder:
http://lame.sourceforge.net/
This allows you to export your files in the mp3 format that lets them play over the net.
d. Link to your PDF and audio file
e. If you want, turn your mp3 into flash that can be listened to without downloading the file, this is a tad more involved. I use a product called Sonic Memo for this available at:
http://www.SonicMemo.com
Sonic Memo will work on Mac's and PC's.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
7. Set up your order taking and affiliate software
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The common options for this are:
a. http://www.automateyourwebsite.com
Have autoresponders, shopping cart, ad tracking, survey module, digital delivery module -- all in 1.
b. http://www.infusionsoft.com
This is definitely pricier but your big hitters are going to this because they can afford the fees.
c. clickbank dot com
Cheap and perfect for digitally delivered products. It includes a set up for your affiliates.
d. paydotcom dot com
Another favorite choice for a lot of folks who don't want to spend much upfront. This includes your affiliate set up.
That's basically my system. Nearly everyone SKIPS the 12-product survey. Big mistake! In the Info Product Dashboard, I show you actual survey results, just so you can SEE with your own eyes how much of a difference doing a 12-product survey makes.
See, if you choose the product to sell that gets the FEWEST votes on a 12-product survey, you're dead in the water before you begin.
Now, the next issue people have problems with is coming up with the 12 product ideas. What most people do WRONG here is they create product ideas LIKE what is already selling.
That's dumb.
I show you how to use Marketing Warfare strategy to do what's called a "flanking" move. My whole business is built on FLANKING product ideas. In the Info Product Dashboard, I show you how to do these moves.
I talked much more in depth about that last year in "The Red Factor." So if you have that, you're ahead of the learning curve.
Most people have NO IDEA or clue how to select winning product ideas. So if you HAVE produced a product in the past that did NOT sell, THIS is likely the reason.
a. You didn't use Marketing Warfare strategy
b. You didn't do your 12-product survey
Now, in terms of finding experts, if you already have content, you don't need experts. But if you don't have expertise on the topic, you need to find and interview experts and spin this into an attractive info product.
Best wishes,
Marlon Sanders
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple, to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
http://www.getyourprofits.com
Would you like to learn how to inspire even your most reluctant prospects to take action? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's not something that's taught in any school, business, or industry. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It might be persuading them to open an email, visit your website, or read your blog post.
Convincing them to surrender their contact info (and willingly become your lead) in exchange for a free special report or newsletter.
Or more importantly, influencing them to work underneath you in your downline and getting them to purchase whatever you're selling.
The reason I ask is this.
Ann Sieg just interviewed this unorthodox fellow by the name of David Garfinkel.
And guess what?
They Chatted At Length About This Very Subject! Copywriting.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other words, writing that inspires people to take the actions you want them to take.
If you want to start learning how to craft enticing sales messages and offers that no sane prospect could ever refuse...
Click here to listen to their conversation.
Wealthexperiment
(David really over-delivers on this call and serves up plenty of proven-to-work copywriting advice - free of charge!)
Plus, Ann gets him to reveal a little-known (and severely underused) mindset trick you can immediately start using...
That Will Help You "Connect" With
Potential Clients Like Never Before!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The highest paid writers working for the biggest advertising agencies don't even understand this stunning sales secret.
But you can discover it today by simply listening to their in-depth interview.
Here's the link again.
Wealthexperiment
Now you might be wondering...
"Who Exactly Is This
David Garfinkel Character?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, he's considered by many marketers to be, "The World's Greatest Copywriting Teacher."
Because from what I hear he's dedicated the last 15 years of his life to teaching it. Thanks to him, many of his students have gone on to become rich because their websites, sales letters, emails, and ads, rake in small fortunes.
(At least 3 of them have written sales letters that made over $1,000,000 dollars in 24 hours.)
Oh, and I should mention this too.
Word on the street is that Ann Sieg secretly hired this guy for 35k to personally train 3 of her team members for six months.
(And to help launch Renegade Professional.)
The results?
Over $1,100,000.00 In
Sales Within Just 72 Hours!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Almost 40,000 fresh opt-ins (leads) generated in a single month.
Exactly 4,454 new customers acquired in less than 8 hours.
More than 186,517 unique website visitors in under 30 days.
Apparently Ann was so thrilled with David's training and how things went...
(Who wouldn't be, right?)
That now she's having him teach copywriting to her entire team for six straight weeks!
But you'll never believe this.
She's actually going to allow a limited number of people from the general public...
To Sit In On These Closed-Door
Company Training Sessions!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm almost positive nothing like this has ever been done before and I'll have to admit I'm a little curious to see how it turns out.
Interested?
Click here to find out more information.
Wealthexperiment
By the way, Ann and David talk about "The Ultimate Copywriting Crash Course"...
(I think that's what they're calling it.)
Towards the very end of the call.
Everything before that is pure content.
Sound copywriting (and business) advice from David (and Ann) that will help you politely influence folks to do what you want them to.
To find out more about the Support for Leaders and Beginners at the Renegade University visit my front page
==> http://marekpetynka.com/
How I Went From a Beaten Up, Broken Down, Smoke Bomb Car and 1:30 Second Microwave Corn Dogs To World Travel & The Internet Lifestyle
By Marlon Sanders
If you're struggling to make ends meet, or you're new to the game of Internet marketing, or things are going good but you want them to go better, then my story might be of value to you.
In fact, I'm almost sure it will.
Things are good now. My affiliate list has 30,000 folks on it. But when I started it had none.
I've spoken all over the world in Kaui, Gold Coast Australia, Wembely arena in London where rock stars perform, Bermuda, and all over the U.S. from Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, LA, to Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia, Miami, New York, Boston, Raleigh, and other cities.
I've been selling $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000 a month for longer than I can remember, which would 1998 -- and before.
Unlike Johnny-Come-Lately's, my formula has stood the test of time.
But when I first started, my hands shook so much, I could barely put the transparencies on the projector I used at the time.
Fact is, I remember when I first read that ad in a magazine. It was about some dude in Ohio who had a method of escaping the rat race by assembling "systems." So I sent in my dough and waited.
That ugly blue book turned me onto a whole new world called "direct response marketing." And what the old-timers called "mail order."
I started buying everything I could afford. I just had to know more about this thing where you'd sell products for a living instead of selling your own time. That sounded like a good thing to me.
I bought all kinds of junk. And I do mean junk. Some of it was really useless. But I knew I was digging through the coal to find the diamonds. And if you don't go through the coal, you never find the diamonds.
Schemes, plans, ideas, systems, reports, books. I had 'em all. One thing I learned from all that was the difference between a good information product and a bad one.
I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. But I kept doing it and being persistent. I didn't quit like a lot of people do because I had this desire and visions.
You didn't have the Internet when I first started learning to do this stuff. The game was you'd run these little ads in ad sheets or magazines offering a report. People would write in and then you'd send them your sales letter.
Nowadays, you can do that in 30 minutes using Google Adwords. Back then, I'd run my little ad and wait 2 or 3 months for it to come out. I'd spend all the change I had trying to print up and mail stuff.
A few orders would come back but never enough to even pay for the printing! The learning curve back then creeped along like a turtle. Nowadays, you can learn what I did in years of effort in 6 months if you make the decision to do it.
I chased a lot of dead ends and had a lot of things that didn't work out. If you've ever ran ads or tried "methods" or "formulas" that didn't work for you, then maybe you can related to the disappointment and frustration I felt. The only difference between me and those who never got anywhere is I didn't give up.
I just KNEW I could do it.
Those times tested my patience. And pocketbook. I remember when I worked as a freelance writer in the daytime and did telemarketing, timeshare sales and other stuff at night trying to make ends meet while I learned the business.
Back then, you didn't have all the great information products to cut your learning curve like you have today. You know, I had maybe 4 or 5 good books to learn from. That was about it.
So it was all trial-and-error learning. And I think going through all that pain is what motivated me later on to lend a helping hand to others who felt some of the same things I did.
My Buick car had engine problems. I'd look back behind as I drove to see if smoke came out the tailpipe or not. I never knew for sure.
Not until one day somehow I got a date with a model. A real one. How, I don't know because I was really tall and thinner than an ironing board. I had to put skis on so I didn't get washed down the shower drain.
Anyway, we went to this nice place where they had valet parking. When I got out the valet guys were literally laughing at the smoke bellowing out my tail pipe.
But then....
The rider's side door opened. And this 6 foot tall model with beautiful hair got out. They didn't laugh anymore.
I doubt I tipped valet because I couldn't afford to spit in those days. I remember making $7,500 one year and eating minute thirty second microwave corn dogs and living off the $1.97 burger, fries, coke drive through on Greenville Avenue in Dallas, Texas.
Later, I'd make $7500 in a day -- and more. But not back then...
It wasn't all bad. I had a female friend named Kelli. We'd swing by late night at the Taco Cabana and get nachos. That was all either of us could afford.
Out of desperation, I took this job working deep nights. I'd go to work at 11 p.m. and get off at 7:30 in the morning. I did that for 3 years. I think I lost half my hair then due to the stress of the job.
I got really sick at that job and developed asthma. I paid a price to get where I am today....
I made enough money I could fork over $5,000 for advanced marketing training.
And when I mixed that in with all the other stuff I'd been reading, studying and learning about -- a BREAKTHROUGH
happened.
I call it stumbling across "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy."
Something just clicked in my head. I can't explain it. All of a sudden I got it. That was after YEARS of NOT getting it. YEARS of running ads that didn't work or mucking around with things.
I mean, I once put 30,000 miles on my car in 6 months trying to sell insurance and only sold 1 homeowners policy on a wood frame house my company didn't want to insure.
So if you're not great at sales or something, I understand. Boy, do I understand.
What I found at, though, is that if you keep at it, sooner or later something clicks. Or it did for me.
I started getting paid to write letters for clients. I won't go through the whole story here. But things started turning around. At first, slowly....
Then....like a GUSHER.
When you "get it" and success happens, it can happen really, really quickly. Success is when preparedness meets opportunity.
Like one time I took a vacation to Hong Kong and Thailand, came home and I had a $5,000 consulting check waiting for me. And I hadn't even asked for it. The guy just sent it.
I got paid $7500 to $10,000+ to write sales letters for clients.
I got invited to teach my sales formula at seminars.
When success happens, it happens quickly. If you've done all your groundwork and preparation. But a lot of people get impatient. They want it all today without paying the price of preparation and learning the basics.
I understand that.
The good news is can happen 10X or 20X faster today than it happened for me.
I felt like an evangelist on the mission. I'd been at the bottom of the barrel and below in marketing. And I knew what it was like to be there. And what it was like to be at the top.
I had a MISSION to teach people the secrets that work. The things that REALLY make the difference. And to cut through the noise, eliminate 50% to 80% of the learning curve -- and get people on the path to success as quickly as possible.
I boiled the sales process online down into a 12-step formula. I taught it at over 120 seminars where people paid $3,000 to be there. Later, my "Push Button Letters" software codified that formula into a fill-in-the-blanks" process.
All of that culminated when I penned my smash hit "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy."
It has hundreds of testimonials from around the world. I followed it up with the action plan to implement it called
"Gimme My Money Now."
And then there's a whole string of step-by-step Dashboards, which is what inspired my title as the King of Step-By-Step Online Marketing training.
But I'm going to confess something here.
I'd bank a lot more dough if I wanted to work crazy hours, weeks or months like some other famous Internet marketers do.
My goal always was lifestyle. I'd rather live a comfortable life on a 1 hour workday than be live ultra high on the hog on a 12-hour workday.
I don't drive the fanciest car, live in the biggest home, or sport the most exotic watch. But I could if I wanted.
Then again, my workday consists of hanging out at Starbucks, mucking around a little on my laptop and calling it good.
I don't speak at as many seminars as I used to. After you've done 120 around the world, it isn't exactly new. And the seminar Game has evolved into how much of your products you can sell in your 90-minute speech. It's really just not my cup of tea.
Some of my customers have asked how come I don't do the massive product launches like some do. As though doing that somehow makes you more credible.
The answer is you have to work longer, harder and more intensely than I care to in order to pull off one of those launches. It's not my thing. Maybe I'll do it someday. But I doubt it. My thing is now and always has been creating consistent, steady systems that underwrite my lifestyle, my dreams and my future for myself and those I care about.
So this is my story.
If you'd enjoy making your living on your laptop at Starbucks or wherever it is you like to go, and you realize that the work is upfront learning things but once you "get it" you have the greatest lifestyle in the world, then I recommend this business.
Truth be told, 80% or 90% of the people who buy products in this industry probably don't make that much.
Why? Most try a thing or two, it doesn't pan out and they go onto other things.
Nothing wrong with that. I'm here and I exist for those who are truth seekers. Those like me who won't take no for an answer. Those who realize you gotta dig through coal to find the diamonds.
My mission is to help the 10 percenters who really have the desire to get behind the curtains and see how the magic really happens.
My mission is to share the true gospel of Internet marketing without the hype or fluff.
My mission is to help the guy or gal who has some of the same pain that I felt and help them get beyond that to a new world of understanding and a new lifestyle.
I'm NOT here for the guy or gal who wants to buy one or two products and all of a sudden be hauling down 6 figures.
That isn't reality. And it isn't how the game is played.
I'm here to help the person who understands this is a business. And all business involves risk of gain or loss. You may or may not make it.
There are no guarantees in business or life.
I can't guarantee you'll wake up in the morning.
But I can guarantee to share the secrets that led me to go from a beaten up, broken down smoke bomb car and a diet of minute thirty second corn dogs to a wonderful lifestyle, world travel and a business I can run on my laptop in 30 minutes or an hour a day at Starbucks (most days).
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple, to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
http://www.getyourprofits.com
Someone finally put together a step-by-step system that shows "normal" people how to build their network marketing business on the internet.
The only problem is, it's been closed for the past two and a half months!
Well, in case you didn't get in the first time...
It's official:
Ann Sieg and Mike Klingler are re-opening the doors to Renegade Professional today!
If you don't know what Renegade Professional is I'll explain why I think this is such a big deal in a minute.
But first, I should tell you that it sounds like they're going to be keeping the doors open for good this time.
However, they ARE going to be giving away over 5 hours of free training from Ann and Cyndi Williams to the first 1,000 people who join.
You've probably never heard of Cyndi before.
She's one of Ann's "secret weapons" and actually runs ALL of her pay-per-click advertising accounts.
It sounds hard to believe I know, but apparently they've been told by Google that they're actually one of their largest advertisers in terms of number of keywords and have caused their system to malfunction on numerous occasions because Google had to make ADJUSTMENTS for their volume.
So she really knows her stuff.
If you want to check out some free sample clips of these trainings you can check them out at their blog here (no opt in needed):
Renegade Pro
This is the only training she's ever made available to anyone outside of Ann's own private team.
The last time they offered bonuses like this all of them were sold out within 2 minutes of the website opening.
And there's over 38,000 people on the waiting list right now so it's a safe bet these will probably be gone pretty quickly.
If you want to make sure you get a shot at these, here's where you want to be at 9:00 am Eastern today: ==> Renegade Pro
Now -- what is Renegade Professional?
It's Ann and Mike's monthly video training site that teaches you what you need to know to MASTER lead generation.
If you've struggled to build your business online in any way this is honestly my number one recommended program to get started with.
These two have built a reputation for having an unusual ability in helping people go from beginner-to-expert in no time flat.
And the number of internet-newbie success stories they have to prove it is truly jaw-dropping, both in terms of the results and the amount of them.
(You can see all these on their blog as well.)
Their training focuses on showing you exactly how to attract high quality prospects using free social media techniques - like Twitter and Facebook - so it's perfect for people who are on a "low-or-no dollar" marketing budget.
And they cover everything else too, from...
--Creating lead capture pages and websites specifically designed to sell your unique products and opportunity
--Building a world wide audience using simple and free tools like Blogs
--Getting people to pay you to prospect them and making money with your network marketing business right away
(instead of waiting months for residual checks)
--Setting up automated email campaigns that build relationships with thousands of people in the same time it takes to build one
--What to do when prospects start calling you (believe me, it's a shock the first time it starts to happen to you!)
And a lot more.
It's basically a complete A-Z learning system.
But what's so different about it is that it's easy for the average person to follow and they show you how to make it work for your unique situation, business and products.
Plus, the sheer volume of training they provide (over 104 hours and 14 trainers) is STAGGERING compared to what they actually charge for membership - only $49.95 a month.
And of course you get new stuff all the time.
The site goes live at 9:00 am Eastern today.
If you haven't experienced internet attraction marketing yet (and you're tired of hearing about how everyone else is) it will be well worth your while to stop and reserve your own spot in their program.
And don't forget - if you're quick to get on this deal you might also be one of the few to get your hands on some exclusive training from Ann and her own personal Google Adwords manager.
Here's the link ==> Renegade Pro
P.S. - Just a few weeks ago Ann and Mike also launched a new mentoring program called Renegade Breakthrough.
This is their advanced stuff where they reveal the strategies they've used to build MULTIPLE different million dollar businesses online in the past few years.
(And from what I've heard, if you like their beginner's training, their advanced stuff is mind blowing)
I know a lot of people who wanted in to this program but the nearly $3k price tag was a little outside their means.
Well, when you join Renegade Professional, Ann and Mike also have an offer for new members to get a huge discount on the "scaled down" version of their mentoring program.
If you think this is something for you, you can choose to accept or decline these offers.
Either way, I recommend picking up a spot in Renegade Pro today ==> Renegade Pro
Running out of ideas for content?
It's a proven fact:
Content = Traffic = Leads
If you have a lot of content you'll have a lot of leads. It's as simple as that.
This is the one thing that ALL network marketing gurus have in common:
They all give away massive value by creating content.
The only problem is, most people have a really hard time coming up with content to create. Once you have a blog what do you put on it?
What kind of videos do you put together?
WHAT IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SHARE?
There's a very good chance that these stumbling blocks are THE main thing holding you back from success right now.
Well, Ann Sieg and Mike Klingler just released a new video that solves this problem - permanently.
It's free to watch through this link here ==> Content Factory
In this video Mike shares his proven formula that's guaranteed to turn you into a content producing FACTORY - even if you think you have absolutely nothing to share with people right now.
It's the same formula that he and Ann use to pump out massive quantities of content.
(And these guys have built not one, but TWO million dollar businesses online in the past couple years by basically FLOODING the internet with killer content. So this video is definitely worth paying attention to.)
It's totally free and you'll learn 3 proven "cookie cutter" templates that you can use right off the bat to quickly create magnetic pieces of content on any topic.
There's also 15 very specific examples of how to use these different templates in different industries.
And the formula works for creating any type of content,including videos, articles, blogging, emails, you name it.
Pretty much all the network marketing training on the internet these days focuses on getting traffic to your website, which is Important.
But ALL of that is dependent on having good content.
No one else online is really teaching this so I highly recommend you go watch this video right now. It really makes the process effortless.
Content Factory
P.S. - By the way, word is starting to get around...
Ann and Mike are going to be re-opening their video training site Renegade Professional in about a week or so.
It hasn't been open to new members in over two months and the last time they did open it, it filled up within hours.
From what I've heard they're going to be keeping it open this time...
But I'll keep you posted once I find out more.
Here's the free video again ==> Content Factory
Do you need to generate leads for one of the following industries?
-Health & Wellness
-Travel
-Legal
-Communications
-Consulting and other services
If so, I've got a free video for you to check out that will show you how.
Just like having your own business card used to be a bare minimum requirement for anyone in sales or networking...
Having your own blog has become pretty much mandatory for success in any kind of business today.
But especially home based business owners like us.
Blogs empower individuals to communicate their message with large audiences, spread their ideas, connect with people, foster friendships, educate others, report news and even entertain.
AND...
They're becoming even more influential than the previous mainstream media moguls like newspapers and cable news stations.
Plus they're a great central "hub" for all your other online marketing tactics like videos, Twitter, email, you name it.
If you're a regular blogging pro this new video won't be anything groundbreaking for you.
But if you haven't gotten your own blog up and running yet I'd recommend checking this out right away:
Blogging 101
It explains 6 powerful reasons why blogs have become the standard way to build trust with your customers and attract new business partners.
(Generating leads and sales are 2 obvious reasons but the other 4 might surprise you)
Plus, you'll 3 learn SEO tactics you need to know to get your blog to the top of the search engine rankings.
The entire video is free but if you enter your name and email address you'll also get a ton more stuff on the very next page, including some of the best free Twitter training you'll ever find on the internet.
Blogging 101
How to Get It Done Even Though You Don't Know If You're Doing It Right. Even Though You Might Be Making Mistakes. Even Though You Are Following a Less Than Optimal Process.
I'll never forget writing my first newsletter. It took forever. I never dreamed I'd be able to do one monthly.
The first time you do anything, it's like pulling teeth. Sometimes you sweat bullets. You feel like you'll never get it done. You make lots of mistakes. You feel uncertain about every little detail.
This is what STOPS most people from HAVING their own info products. They let doubt, fear, indecision, and uncertainty stop them from getting it done.
Yet, this IS the path to having a great 2009. Finding a way to get it done anyway. Because it DOES get easier. It really does.
By the end of 2009, you will either be trading your own personal time for dollars. Or you will have a product of your own that you can trade for dollars.
Once you learn the process, you can bang out new products in a week or two. Maybe even less. But to get to that point, you have do it 3, 4 or 5 times. And the first few times will be tough. Hard. Almost like pulling teeth.
That's life. It's called a "barrier to entry." It's what STOPS
people from doing it. Which is a good thing. Because if everyone did it, the opportunity would be greatly reduced as I explained in Red Factor.
What I CAN tell you is it gets easier.
The first newsletter I wrote took almost a month. The second one
took something like two weeks of sheer agony. The third took a little less time.
Soon it was a week, then three days. Then a day or less.
Don't get me wrong. I still find those four to eight hours difficult and even agonizing at times. But at least those feelings only occur over four or eight hours and not a month!
My first products sucked. They took forever and weren't easy. I made a bonus video where I showed a few of my first info products.
One was a booklet on "How to Avoid TV Repair Ripoff." I spent six months or so working on it as I recall. Whew!
Here's something I want you to understand: You WILL feel
UNCERTAIN when you do your first anything. You won't have all
the answers.
The people who make it plow THROUGH uncertainty and do it anyway. Others let it stop them.
Now, my Product Dashboard is an uncertainty reduction process. I try to remove a LOT of the uncertainty. But you can't totally
eliminate it. You have to plow through it and get things done
anyway -- even though you are uncertain. Even though you're unsure. Even though you don't know if you're doing it right. Even though you might be making mistakes. Even though you are following a less than optimal process.
You do it anyway.
It gets faster. It gets easier. It gets simpler. It becomes less painful. It can even become fun. Although I can't say I'm at that point. I don't wake up in the morning and go, "Oh boy, instead of shopping today (like I do almost every day) I'm gonna create a product!"
I don't do that.
I'd rather be shopping. Rather be at a coffee shop or bookstore.
But the whole process DOES get easier and simpler.
What's more -- is SURE beats working 8 hours a day at a J-O-B.
You work once on a product and get paid over and over and over
on it. Instead of working 8 hours and getting paid for 8 hours.
What I offer you is an uncertainty reduction process called
"The Product Dashboard." It helps but doesn't totally eliminate
the fear of screwing up, fear of making mistakes, fear of feeling or looking stupid.
THOSE are the reasons most people don't have info products.
THOSE are the emotions and feelings you have to overcome.
If you're really struggling with that, if you're the kind of person who knows WHAT to do and HOW to do it but you don't just DO IT, then I highly recommend Anthony Robbin's 30-Day Personal Power Program.
Yeah, that's the one. The one he used to pitch on late night TV. You can even buy it on Ebay.
It will give you that kick in the tail end you need to get it going. I highly, highly recommend it.
Why? Because at the end of the day you either trade your time for dollars or products for dollars.
And trading products for dollars is a lot better choice.
Marlon Sanders
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Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy." If you'd like to get on his mailing list and receive tips, articles and information about online marketing, visit:
http://www.amazingformula.com/
How to go from where you are to the next level where the going gets good
If you haven't snagged it yet, I have a freebie guide for newbies at:
http://getyourprofits.com
I refer you to that because today's article is NOT for you. It's for people who have gone beyond the newbie stage and want to go the next level and the next level beyond that.
Yesterday on Twitter, Karen asked if I could produce a guide for "not so newbies" and "wannabes." I'm going to assume you know the basics of building websites, blogs, market research, optins & aweber, SEO and Social Media.
But you're struggling to get by and working 10-12 hours a day. Your biggest problem is building a stable, consistent income.
Let's dive right in:
1. Get really comfortable with producing products and getting them out the door.
You need to get this down to a checklist. About everything you need to know is in
ProductDashboard.com.
But you still have to DO that process over and over.
When I was a kid, I loved to go to the skate rink. Now, before you could learn to backwards skate (which was the really cool thing to do), you had to learn to forward skate.
And until you're comfortable going around the rink forward, you're not advised to start working on backwards skating.
Same way in marketing. Getting products created is something you should do like breathing. Get comfortable with it.
2. There are several ways to get products out the door. Find one or two that work for you.
You can interview people over the phone, transcribe the interviews and create audio and pdf compilations.
You can do webinars and record them.
You can create Power Point presentations and record audio with them.
You can write ebooks (don't attempt this unless you're a fast writer).
3. Master Camtasia, Camstudio or Screen Flow.
These are what you use to record your screen in concert with audio. Screen Flow works on Macs. Camstudio and Camtasia are for use on PC's. Camstudio is a freebie download.
That's right, if you're too broke to spit, you can STILL create products with Camstudio. Or just do audio interviews.
4. Get confident
Dan Kennedy is fond of repeating the saying that "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."
If you need a dose of good ol' fashioned self confidence, try listening to Anthony Robbins.
5. You gotta write or talk
There are only two choices here -- either you write or you talk. If you write, you can always hire someone to turn your written words into audio and video. If you do audio or video, you can have it transcribed.
6. Now, once you get comfortable producing products, learn to SELL them.
If the word "sell," is a potty mouth word for you, the reframe it as learning to create messages that make people WANT to buy. Or "helping people make sound buying decisions."
This is a different learning curve. You've got to get comfortable learning to sell stuff. You can sell via sales letters, webinars, teleseminars or podcasts. But sell you must.
Let me point out something here. These are the things most newbies focus on: Building websites, blogs, market research, optins & aweber, SEO and Social Media.
These are all ways to get TRAFFIC to your web site. And most newbies START as affiliate marketers. And that's a good thing. You need to know how to get traffic.
But notice there's nothing in that list about learning to SELL. See, building web sites and blogs and researching the market, those things all involve NOT selling. They are just fun little things you piddle around doing on your computer.
And they're good things to do no doubt.
But do you get paid for building web sites or setting up Aweber? Do you get paid for building blogs?
As a matter of fact, you don't.
No one gets paid unless and until someone buys something. In the end, that goes for Adsense clicks also. Because no one pays for clicks in the long run unless someone buys at the end of the day.
I do NOT recommend you build your business around adsense. I recommend you build your business around learning to SELL STUFF online. That's where the bux are.
Stated differently, the money is in learning to help people buy now and not later. And learning how to craft messages that give people really good decisions to want to do that now.
7. Realize that your time as an affiliate, before you create your own products, is best spent learning to sell.
Learn to get people on your list then invite them to a teleseminar or webinar where you pitch a product. Learn to write great "pre-sell" pages. Have someone interview you about an idea and then subtly pitch one of your affiliate products as you talk.
8. The money is learning how to sell
I'm famous for creating the saying, "The Money Is In The List." I said that in Amazing Formula back in 1998 or whenever it was. But you've got to learn to SELL to your list.
That means learning to write emails that sell. Learning to write words on a page that gets people to buy.
9. Realize that selling is NOT a dirty word.
Some people associate negative things to the word "sell." If that's you, then realize now that what you're really doing is helping people make a sound buying decision.
When we use the word "sell," what we're really talking about is explaining why the value in a product is greater than the money someone has in their pocket. An why it's in their best interest to trade that stack of money for the product today and not next week, month or year.
10. If you learn how to create products and how to sell but you don't have anyone on your list to email, you still aren't there yet.
So one of the things you'll want to do is create small reports, videos, newsletters, pdf's or webinars that you can offer people as a freebie in exchange for joining your email list.
If you don't know how to do this, I refer you to promodashboard.com as a resource.
11. Learn to split test
The way you increase the number of people who join your email list when they visit your web page and then the number of people who buy from your presell, sales letter, audio interview, teleseminar or webinar is by learning to split test.
You test one sales approach or sales message vs. another one. And you see which works best.
12. Get really comfortable with writing and sending out emails
At this point you know how to create products and sell them. You need to get in the habit of writing emails to your list at least several times a week, if not daily.
Learn to write subject lines that get your emails opened. Learn to write and format emails. Learn to create your tracking links, so you can see what people click on and how many people buy.
13. Create your automated follow up sales machine
Now you have products to promote, you know how to sell them, and you know how to send out emails.
Now take the webinars, teleseminars, emails, blog posts, podcasts, interviews, and pdf's that have worked BEST and load 'em up in a sequence in your autoresponder, so that every new subscriber gets a pre-planned sequence of offers.
Be sure you use your tracking links.
14. Calculate the value of a new list member
Once you have this follow up sequence, you can figure out how much a new subscriber to your list is worth after 30 days. Now you know how much you can spend to buy traffic.
15. Ramp up your traffic
You can pay people to write articles for you. You can pay ppc ads. You can buy banners. Once you know the value of a new subscriber after 90 days, you know how much you can afford to get that subscriber.
16. Ramp up your affiliate promotions
Once you've mastered your sales machine and have a healthy worth for every new list member, ramp up your affiliate recruiting. Now you can go to affiliates and say that every click they send you should be worth $X.
If you need help setting up your affiliate systems, I've laid out my whole system at affiliatedashboard.com. If you have a really lucrative sales process, the affiliates will come because you're paying their bills for them every time they send you a click.
17. Learn to sell by speaking
If you haven't already started doing teleseminars and webinars to pitch larger ticket products, now is the time to learn.
You're going to need larger ticket back end sales and this is how you get them. Once you learn to pitch on teleseminars and webinars, you'll be ready to hit the speaking circuit.
Bundle up your products into a bigger ticket you can sell. Or create a series of teleseminars or webinars with high value. Learn to sell big tickets.
18. Hit the speaking circuit
Now that you have a bigger ticket product that you know you can sell because you've done it over and over on many teleseminars and webinars, you're ready to hit the speaking circuit. It's easy to get speaking slots once people know you can sell from the stage and aren't boring.
If you've been practicing your webinars and teleseminars, you've learned how NOT to be boring. If this is a challenge, join a Toastmasters group.
19. Handling bumps along the way
You're going to run into problems, glitches and obstacles along the way. Get used to it. That's part of business.
Learn to hire talent and outsource on elance, rentacoder and the other sites. Find a "go to" technical person to assist you. Find a "go to" graphics person who can do the graphics for your web sites.
Struggling with technical things shouldn't be your focus. Learning to create and sell products should be.
For the record, the money is NOT in the details. The money is in the list an in learning how to sell. Or, if you prefer, learning how to get people to buy stuff that's in their own best interest to buy.
Selling stuff is what pays your bills.
People think they're getting into the web site building business. It sounds sexy and exciting. It is. But make no mistake.
What puts large chunks of dollars in your bank account is selling stuff, whether it's your own products or someone else's. But eventually, you need to learn to create and sell your OWN products, webinars, podcasts, seminars and teleseminars.
20. How to overcome mistakes
Let's say you screw up or make mistakes. So? You thought you were God? Only God is God. Everyone else makes mistakes and screws up.
How do you overcome mistakes?
You sell enough stuff and big enough ticket stuff that it doesn't matter. You create a sales machine, so you have the room to make mistakes and not suffer.
21. How to find the time
You may say, "But how do I find the time for all of this?"
If you use webinars or teleseminars as the basis for your product creation, it doesn't take that long.
If you learn to interview people in your products, so that part or all of the content is theirs, it doesn't take that long.
You've got to focus on what pays your bills -- learning to create sales messages that get people to buy then getting those sales messages in front of the right people.
22. How to get traffic
One of the perennial questions is, "How do I get traffic to my web site?"
This usually means you're still in the "web site creation" model. The idea is that your job is to "build web sites." And somehow by building or assembling lots of web sites, your bills will get paid. That's OK for newbies just getting started. You can pay a few bills that way.
But you've been there and done that or you wouldn't be reading this. So let's get real. You get paid when someone buys something. Plain and simple.
Getting thousands of people to your web site makes you zilch.
Would you rather have 1,000 visitors who do NOT buy or ONE who buys? I'll take the one who buys.
The BEST traffic bar none comes from your affiliates. Chances are, you've been sucked into the idea of being someone else's affiliate. And I love affiliates. Affiliate marketing is a GREAT way to get started in this business.
But the best traffic comes from affiliates. And affiliates send traffic to the offers that get the most bux per click. And the secret to getting most bux per click is split testing and learning to craft super powerful sales messages.
Nothing happens until someone buys.
And no one buys until someone sells.
Here are your best traffic sources:
a. Getting affiliates to promote your products
b. Article traffic
c. Ezine traffic (from buying ads in ezines)
d. organic seo
e. ppc
f. banners
g. cpa traffic
We could debate the order of some of the above. But you can write or get written and submit dozens of articles a week and get traffic that way. You can buy ads.
Here's the thing: It ALL works and pays your bills as long as you have a SALES MACHINE that follows up and gets people to buy over and over and over again.
Without a sales machine, not much above will work. As long as you write the articles yourself, article marketing will. If you have a sales machine, it ALL works.
23. The bottom line
The thing that separates the newbie from the next level up is the willingness to create and the willingness to sell.
"But Marlon, what about all these stories of people who just have these automated systems for building web sites that magically make bank?"
Here is what I think:
a. It sounds good in theory
A lot of these people give you 2 or 3 examples of sites they created in a few hours that bring in $30-$100 a day. But they don't tell you they had to create 10 or 20 to find those.
The same thing for those super big Adwords campaigns that make your eyes bug out. They don't tell you they created 100 to find that 1 to give you as an example.
b. The person has a very high skill level
I've seen people who actually DO this. And they have a very high skill level that few people could match. If you're a genius, a lot of doors open up to you.
I prefer teaching methods that are within the realm of realism for someone who is less than genius.
c. The person skews the truth
The pitch doesn't necessarily lie but it omits key facts.
d. The System isn't evergreen and will be "broken" in 6 months or a year.
If you want to build a solid business that will be around 5-10 years later like I've done, learn how to get people on a list and get 'em to buy stuff.
I'm thinking about doing a new 6-week course that elaborates on all the above. It would be teleseminars, videos and a webinar or two for $300 to $500. I need 12 serious people to do it.
Post to my blog if you're 100% sure you'd be 1 of the 12:
http://www.marlonsnews.com/?p=262
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Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That
Sells Products Like Crazy."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple, to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
http://www.getyourprofits.com
On the May 18th 2009 Mike Klingler and Ann Sieg are launching a new advanced mentoring program. The program is called "Renegade Breakthrough".
In this program they will be covering more advanced business building strategies such as:
* Networking, Alliances, Partnering and JV's
* You and Your Business Model: Viability & Long-Term Growth
* Outsourcing & Building an All-Star Marketing Team
* Market Research: Finding and Creating a Hungry Mob
* Creating Content: Building Your Own Fort Knox
* Copywriting: Words That Sell
* The First Phase of Your Marketing System: Leading With Value
* The Second Phase of Your Marketing System: Closing The Sale
* The Backend: Upsell Profits = Long Term Profits
* Marketing To Your Lists: Getting Multiple Product Lines
* Traffic Generation: Stuffing Your Marketing Funnel
* Monetization: Turning Losses Into Sources of Profits
They will be offering the most incredible deal EVER when they open the program on Monday.
For a full 7 days, anyone who joins the Renegade Breakthrough Mentoring Program will also get an entire YEARS membership to Renegade Professional absolutely FREE.
That's 12 whole months of free access to member's only click-by-click training site.
This would normally cost over $599.
For more information please contact me here =====> Contact Me
Three simple principles you can apply todayto start selling your products like crazy
What are the 3 key principles of Amazing Formula that changed my life? How can they be applied to your life? How do they work?
These 3 key principles are used by the most successful online businesses of any type. They're buried in the teachings of every prominent info product, yet not made explicit.
Thousands around the world use these principles in every walk of life and type of business.
************************
The First Key Principle:
************************
The Money Is In The List
I said this years ago in Amazing Formula. It's often quoted and often misunderstood.
This means that you first understand WHERE money comes from online. And that source is selling products.
The only way you stop trading your time for dollars is to have something else to trade for dollars. And that other thing is products.
Just the other day I got an email from an online friend. He started in this business only two years ago.
And in my email conversations with him, he had his doubts and fears about his business. Yet, last month he pulled in $50,000 -- without doing a big product launch. Just from selling products to his list and a nice cadre of small affiliates...exactly what I teach.
But without the list of customers he's grown and cultivated, his products would be worth nothing.
Really, all he does is the basics. He creates helpful products and does a great job at communicating the value in them (principle two). Then he adds on back end items (principle three).
Basically, he's just running a 3-step business.
My dad grew up on a small farm in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Early every morning he'd wake up and go out to milk the cows.
Like clockwork the milk would be there.
Until one day the cattle caught a disease and died.
There was no more milk.
Getting milk from a cow is like selling products to your list. The milk is what gives you trade for dollars. But the SOURCE is the cow.
People get all hung up on products. "Marlon, I got this product. Show me how to sell it."
See,, they got it all backwards. Products are NOT your money source. It's the customers. Products bought and sold are the by product of the customer list.
Some products will sell. Some won't. But your customers will buy and keep buying if you serve them well.
*************************
The Second Key Principle:
*************************
People Buy According To The Value They Perceive
People buy what they want not what they need.
And they buy according to the value they perceive. This means they do NOT buy the best product. They buy what they PERCEIVE as the best product.
Another story about my dad. When he was a young man, he repaired washers and dryers for Maytag. So he knew quite a bit about what made a sturdy washer and dryer.
Well, over the years, my mom and dad had some friends they saw regularly.
We'll call my dad's friend Charlie. Charlie came over one day to visit my mom and dad. He was bragging about the new washer he'd bought.
It had some kind of mechanism that made it go up and down and in all kinds of gyrations. But the clincher to him was this magazine had rated it as the best buy.
He really thought he had a humdinger.
Later, my dad commented that all that washer had was stuff that was gonna break and did nothing to wash the clothes cleaner.
In other words, he bought gyrations that created perceived value but little actual value.
Marketing is the same.
Hopefully, you do sell the best product. But remember also that people buy what they PERCEIVE as the best product.
This is why people write books. You know that book "The Four Hour Work Week?" What are the chances the dude would be so famous if it was only an ebook?
He wouldn't be. Even if it was the same content.
It's the publicity and the fact that it's at the bookstores that makes people perceive him as being more an expert than someone else.
In marketing we call it "signal value." The value of a produce includes what you SIGNAL it to be. Not just the actual value.
Become really great at knowing the signals you can send that cost little but create a lot of perceived value.
Storytelling is one way you signal value. The book "The 7 Laws of Influence." Those are all ways you signal value and they don't cost a DIME!
You build your perceived value with WORDS. Whether they're in a letter, a teleseminar, on a web page,or in a video -- you build your perceived value with your words and your "messaging."
In Amazing Formula, I called it the KSL for Killer Sales Letter. But really, it's more than that. It's your words and your messaging. It's creating the perception of value for what you sell.
************************
The Third Key Principle:
************************
The Money Is In The Back End
Not only is the money in the list. The money is in the back end, what you sell AFTER the initial sale to a customer.
In other words, in repeat business.
The manager of a boat shop hired a new sales person. At the end of the day, he's ringing up sales and this new sales person had sold $250,000 on his very first day.
The manager being duly impressed asked him if he got lucky and someone came in to buy a boat.
Here's what the sales person said?
"Nope, story was empty. So I sent outside and saw a man standing around looking for a light for his cigarette. I walked up to him, offered him a light and said, "Looks like a nice day to go fishing, doesn't it?"
We chit chatted, and I invited the guy to come in the store to see our new fishing rod. He decided to buy it.
As I started to ring up the order, I pointed out how it'd be a shame to have the rod and reel without a new tackle box.
So after a bit of discussion, we added that on.
Then I said it'd be a shame to have a new fishing rod, and a new tackle box without a boat to take out on lake Pomawa, seeing how the bass there are plentiful and you need to be able to maneuver into crooks and crannies to find 'em.
So that was it.
Basically, all I did was offer a favor to someone and say it looked like a nice day to go fishing."
That's what I mean.
The money isn't in the rod and reel. It's in the back end. Selling the boat to go with the rod and reel.
When I first got started selling Amazing Formula, my back end was called "Big Course." It sold for $500 and was all digitally delivered.
I still talk to marketers today who are successful in this business and that was the first big ticket they bought.
So these are the 3 principles of Amazing Formula. They've made me a lot of money over the years and I they'll work for you also.
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Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple,to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here: The Amazing Formula
Today I go "old school" and tell you straight up how to line your pockets with bills and stack those nice smellin' green ones in your bank account
Out Of The Rat Race and Into The Chips
So you're getting lots of emails I bet.
And not that I'm psychic or anything but I'm pretty sure they all have a common theme...
"Buy something from XYZ person."
And there are probably screen caps with dollar amounts that make your eyes pop out and your emotions soar to Saturn just anticipating buying that mansion the new Jag and a hot tub the size of a swimming pool.
Let's apply some logic here to see how we CAN get you in the chips and out of the rat race.
Some of you NEWBIES who aren't used to my style or ezine, let me explain. I sometimes write colloquially on purpose. I feel it gets a point across.
This issue is written deliberately with very casual language and spelling BECAUSE I have a VERY simple message than I'm really passionate about. If you want more detailed info, see the "cheat sheets" on my blog at: http://www.marlonsnews.com
Many years ago I was in your shoes. I was buying all the information products and books I could find. Of course, at the time, that wasn't many because the Internet didn't exist.
I had Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples, the one with the red and white cover.
I had How to Write a Good Advertisement by Vic Schwab (the ugly blue and black cover one).
And I had a whole lot of dinky little reports I bought from hokey ad sheets that made the rounds back then.
One day I spotted this ad by a guy out of New York named H. K. Simon "How to Get Out Of The Rate Race And Into The Chips." Now, coming from Oklahoma where they raise pigs and cows, I wasn't quite sure why anyone would WANT "cow chips."
But I bought the book anyways since I didn't have many books to choose from or buy.
So this dude H.K. Simon put together info products and sold him. It was the same kinda thing Jerry Buchanan, the father of the modern day info product business (or arguably so), recommended people do.
Actually, Jerry Buchanan once told me R.A. Torrey was the Father of the modern day info product business. But not many people know 'bout R.A.Torrey. I got some of his old products and sales letters round here but that goes WAAAAY old school.
My mentor Lew Williams knew one of the proteges of R.A. Torrey and worked with him back in the day. Back then,they'd test 300 pieces of direct mail 'cause 2,000 was too expensive.
Anyway, I read this thin book my H.K. Simon and it told how he put together a little booklet about getting freebie ads on radio stations called "per inquiry" where you could sell your products without paying money upfront.
And he sold that report. In came a bundle of bucks he stuck in his bank account. Sounded good to me.
Twas a lot better than working at the Dairy Queen or selling shoes.
I thought I'd share couple old school ideas with you about how you can do a little better and make a little more online and line your own pockets with bills instead of only someone elses.
These days everyone wants to reach into your pocket and take some bills out.
And you got bills showin' up in the mail. But not the kind you can put IN your bank. The kind that take OUT of your bank.
I wanna turn the tables on that for ya.
Now listen up closely 'cause I'm goin' "old school" here on ya.
"The secret of stuffing your pockets with bills is sellin' stuff to others."
Now buyin' info products that teach you HOW to do that is all good and everything. I spend $35,000 a year and am happy to do so.
But here's the thing:
You gotta SELL more than you BUY!
And I talk to a lotta folks who ain't figured that one out yet. They are buyin', buyin', buyin' but there ain't no sellin' goin' on.
Here is how you turn the tables:
Step one: Find folks who are buyin' today in this economy
You want people who are STILL spending money.
Look at the forums. See what people are talking about. See if they are buyin' or not.
Step two: Find out WHAT they're buyin' and where they're goin' to buy it.
What blogs, web sites and forums do they trounce around on?
Step three: See if you can buy ads there.
Step four: Create a product for 'em in under one week.
Step five: Create a sales letter to SELL the product in under one week.
Step six: Go hustle it
How do you hustle it?
Man, you get creative. This is old school thinkin' here.
You know, you need bills in your pocket, you just FIND a way. You find out who has a list and will SELL your product to THEIR
list.
How?
I dunno. You FIND a way. You pick up the phone. You tweet. You email. You make friends. You participate in forums.
Now see, what you gotta realize is you got your tables turned round all WRONG.
That's right. I said your TABLES are all turned around WRONG.
Cause you are in someone else's pond and YOU are the one THEY'RE sellin' to, sellin' to and sellin' to some MORE!
Which is all fine and good IF you're turnin' around and usin' what you learned to sell MORE to others.
See, you got your IN BUCKET and your OUT BUCKET.
And if that in bucket got less in it than the OUT bucket, the bank account goes DOWN, the significant other, spouse or kids
complain 'cause they can't buy stuff, the car company gets upset cause you didn't pay them money....and so forth.
This ain't new school.
This is old school.
You find out what people buy.
You find out who they are.
You find out where they are.
And you make some stuff they wanna buy.
And you figure out how you sell it to 'em.
You just figure it out.
How?
I dunno.
You figure it out.
Yout try some stuff.
Then you try some more stuff.
Some of my folks in my family here on my list...they been buyin' and buyin' and buyin' for YEARS and there ain't no product
creatin' and product sellin' goin' on.
Lemme tell you something.
That's agin EVERYTHANG I believe in...ever THANG I teach.
Ain't nothin' right bout THAT.
I'm talkin' old school here. I'm not talkin' new school. I'm sayin' you do what you gotta do to get money in the door. And you spend LESS than that.
Not more.
You don't spend more.
You spend less.
Some of you write me and say "Marlon, I ain't makin' money online. How come?"
And I say "Dude, you got to go OLD SCHOOL man." You got to find people BUYIN' stuff. Then create stuff for em that they WANT.
Then you gotta SELL it to 'em.
And the reason you ain't got money is you been buyin' but NOT creatin' and sellin'.
I did NOT say create perfectly.
I did NOT say sell with the 1 click upsell, forced continuity, triple bypass SPILLOVER.
I said just sell dangit.
Just sell it.
You can add on the magical whiz bang upsell, downsell, insell, outsell, forced this and that....AFTER you got money in the door.
You're lining your pockets and stacking greens in your bank account.
My friend, you make bank by SELLIN' stuff more than buyin'.
See, now you knew this fer you read this, right? You know the truth about this. And you know you know that you know. And now all I'm sayin' is who you gonna listen to?
Who you gonna put your faith and trust in?
Someone reachin' in your pockets all the time but not helpin' you line em?
It's your choice.
Now, I'm ALL FOR selling. Don't get me wrong. Do NOT learn selling from people who can't sell.
And I'm all FOR buying info products and learning.
I'm saying if you're learning and buying and learning and buying and never creating and selling, you got your tables wrong and you need to turn things round.
Get off your buts, get off your assets, create some products and some sales letters, sales videos, sales something or the other and go other there and get someone to give you money.
This isn't new school folks.
It's old school.
You make bank by sellin' to people who are buyin'.
End of sermon.
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Marlon Sanders is the author of "The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy."
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple, to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
http://www.getyourprofits.com
Just published my new article titled: With the rise of the internet and the power of multi level marketing, more and more people are choosing network marketing for their home based businesses. What people don’t realize is the importance of choosing the correct multi level marketing business. It doesn’t matter how many people you speak with, or how much traffic your website gets if your product or service doesn’t sell. Choosing a reputable company is vital to any home based business’ success. If you follow the three basic guidelines outlined in this article, you will be on your way to having a successful home based network marketing business.
Starting your Network Marketing Home Based Business
To read the whole article go to:
Starting your Network Marketing Home Based Business
Internet Network Marketing is an efficient and effective way to raise awareness of your company and increase product sales. So why isn’t everyone using this sales technique? The two primary reasons are a resistance to the unknown, and the perception that that Internet network marketing is more complicated than it really is.
Network marketing began prior to the advancement of the Internet, and was an effective way to make a reasonably good living. Not only did you include everyone that you know in your marketing, you also went door-to-door selling your products, and signing people up for your multi level marketing plan. You spoke with people in the line at the grocery store, or on the way to pick up your dry cleaning. You brought your pamphlets and flyers with you to sporting events, the movies, and the mall. When you went out to eat, you sold your product line to your waitress and left a catalogue for your tip. With this option, you not only made income from your sales, but you also made income from your multi level marketing partner’s sales. It was a slow and tedious process, but those who worked at it could make it work for them. If this sounds familiar, I have some fantastic news for you!
To read the whole article go to:
Advantages of Internet Network Marketing
I just added a new article to my web
site about Internet marketing and extra income.
Being able to earn an extra income through Internet marketing networks is very attainable. You just need to understand how it is done effectively. With so many different businesses and marketing companies coming up with “new and improved” methods or “how to” books, you never know what is real and useful or what is pure junk. The following information in this article is quality and very useful, indeed.
To read the whole article go to
http://marekpetynka.com
For every small business, knowing where to begin can be a huge
headache. What every business needs are customers in order to grow and make
sales. This is true for any type of business, including network marketing.
So, how do you go from making zero dollars to millions?
To make gold in network marketing, you need to master creating a sales lead.
Sounds great, but what exactly is a sales lead?
A sales lead for network marketing is pretty much any person or company who
seems interested in purchasing whatever product you are selling. Sales lead is
always the first step and the most important step in the sale process. Without a
sales lead you cannot make any kind of money.
It is important not to get sales lead and marketing leads mixed-up. Marketing
leads are leads that are specific to a certain brand or company (Coca-Cola,
Johnson & Johnson, ECT.), and cannot be re-sold. Sales lead can be offered
to multiple companies in one type of industry (life insurance, finance, ECT.).
The tactic used for a sales lead for network marketing is direct selling. Direct
selling is handled by distributors who represent the parent marketing company.
Distributors are paid based on the amount of sales they make, during a given
time. Direct selling makes a sales lead for network marketing by taking out the
"middle man". Distributors of the parent company give demonstrations,
presentations, and even place calls thus creating a relationship with a sales
lead.
Once a relationship has been established, the chance of making an actual sale
rises. What many people have trouble with is going from sales lead to the
selling process, and keeping a sales lead interested if a sale is not made on
the first try.
To go from a sales lead for network marketing to sales prospect is based on the
quality of the product you are selling. If a sales lead is interested than an
interview of money, distribution of the product and a time frame will be
organized. Once the sales prospect has actual paid for and been given the
product, you have then made a closed sale!
Okay, so what if your sales lead does not turn into a sales prospect and how do
you keep them interested in your product?
To keep a sales lead for network marketing, you need to be patient and
persistent. The trick to maintain a sales lead is by reminding them of the
product every so often. Direct mailing lists are a great way to advertise to a
sales lead and keep a relationship. Direct mailing lists are used on a regular
basis to keep track of potential customers and existing customers. A direct
mailing list will mail out whenever you choose, (For example: Once a week or
once a month), with a newsletter about you or your company, and the product. The
turnover rate for large direct mailing lists can be amazing and many small
businesses make most of their money this way.
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to my new upgraded blog and website.
The goal of this blog and my website is to provide awareness for network marketers and give them enough knowledge to know what works and what doesn’t work. With this knowledge, you will be able to arm yourself and your downlines to the teeth!
Times have changed since network marketing was introduced to the world. We must be very careful how we approach our prospects, however.
Just because the profitability of network marketing is still viable doesn’t mean that using the same old techniques that were used in the 80s is going to get you the same results in the 21st century!
I'll be posting some information about network marketing, why not to use the old school network marketing techniques?
How to harness the power of the Internet for lead generating so you will not need to make cold calls.
So, keep eye on my blog and make sure you apply these techniques, take advantage of my free ebook and the video tutorials listed on my website. But just reading the ebook or watching these videos is not enough. You have to take action and make your business a part of you; otherwise you will not be able to achieve success!