Selecting a hot niche is all about finding Customers.

I like the fishing simile. In order to be able to catch fish, you have to work out where the fish (customers) are biting, what bait they’re going for (your ‘offer’) and what tackle to use (your website, marketing methods, etc).

But it’s no good just going and sitting by any old pond and using the wrong bait and tackle… if there are no fish, or you’ve got the wrong equipment, you won’t even get a bite!

One way to make sure you’re fishing in the right place is to look at the water and see where the fish are. But that can be a bit hit-and miss if you’re not sure where to look.

Better to watch those who know – by finding out where the other fishermen (your competitors) are and see what they’re catching and what bait and tackle they’re using.

So, you need to search the market to find where there are lots of ‘fish’ and see where they’re biting.

And don’t try to ’fish’ in a market where there are no other ‘fishermen’ – there’s probably a good reason why, and you’ll need to know exactly what you’re doing if you are to succeed!

This all sounds ‘old hat’ stuff, but it’s amazing just how few people do it right! I find I have to keep reminding myself!

Hot Tip: If you want to short-cut your own learning curve and minimize your costs, watch to see who is successful and what ‘bait and tackle’ they’re using. Then copy them!

Hot Tip: And if you talk to real fishermen, they’ll always speak about how to catch fish by describing what the fish do – where they swim, what they like to eat, what tackle works, etc. So, if you’re going fishing, you need to understand the fish and think like they do!

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

Your Business

Which comes first… …the product? …the web site? …the customers? …the marketing?

Many people put the cart before the horse. They have a product they want to sell and they’re looking for people to buy it. But that’s all the wrong way round! And just how hard can that be?

Do you know how easy it is if you start with the people who want to buy something first…and then offer them a product they WANT?

A Hungry Market…

Pick a ‘hungry’ targeted niche market first. Then build a site…build traffic…and then you can either find a product they already want, sell advertising space or sell the leads on to others. All you have to do is target a niche market with a specific subject and a good number of customers.

Hot Tip: We often try to make things so complicated. The simple truth of how to make money on the web, in one short sentence:

“Build a Site That Gives People What They Want!”

Burn that into your mind. I like to remind myself of this every time I want to go dashing off down some ‘rabbit hole’, chasing something more exotic!

Keep It Simple – Keep It Focussed

And KEEP IT SIMPLE! Complicated won’t work for you in this business and can be very expensive!

And KEEP IT FOCUSSED! The tighter your niche, the easier it is to dominate it. Once you’re king or queen of your niche, you can expand.

But you can’t just put up a sales letter and expect to profit. You’ll need to:

1. Find a market. There are many ways to do this. But as a starter, look at your local magazine rack. No matter what your hobbies, passions or interests are, there are going to be others with similar interests – you’ll be amazed at the selection!

2. Find out what they want. You do this by asking them. Look at magazines, message boards or newsgroups which already cover your subject or similar subjects. Do a search for your subject on Google^TM, or Google Groups^TM at www.groups.google.com.

Go and read the articles and posts and ask what people want or what they think is lacking in your market online. Don’t be shy – people love to discuss things they want!

Or set up a free on-line survey questionnaire using any of the free online survey sites, such as http://freeonlinesurveys.com or www.surveymonkey.com.

3. Give it to them. Once you figure out what people want, give it to them. Design a site which is exactly what they are looking for. Send out press releases, mention it in the newsgroups, write articles, trade links with other sites, and start growing – none of this is difficult and we can show you how to do it all!

OK, so how do I find a Niche that’s not already overcrowded? Enter ‘Mindset Marketing’… and we’ll look at that in a future blog post.

Until then—happy researching!

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

To maximise the profitability of your web business, you need to find a lucrative niche. Here are some suggestions from seasoned marketer Larry Dotson on the key factors to consider:

Why Am I Here?

OK, so here I am at your website — now give me what I’m looking for!

Your business — and your website need to invite visitors from your targeted niche in and give them exactly what they’re looking for.

And just what is it that they’re looking for?

Well, that depends on your niche, of course. But there are some basic human needs that are common across any business.

So here are some ideas to stimulate your thoughts and provide some niche ideas…

People want to save money.

They may want to invest for the future or save for a big purchase. This will make them feel more secure.

On your web site you could publish articles on how to save or invest money or give them free money-management software.

People want to save time.

They may want to work less and spend time enjoying life’s pleasures. This will make them feel more relaxed.

You could install a time-saving bit of software or a navigation bar on your web site that saves them time when they are browsing or searching through your web site.

People want to look better.

They may want to lose weight, tone their body, or improve their facial features. This will make them feel more attractive.

Give away a free e-book on losing weight – it really doesn’t matter who your target audience is - they are all human.

People want to learn something new.

They may want to learn how to change their car oil or build a patio deck. This will make them feel more intelligent.

You could publish a lot of how-to articles on your web site about things your target audience wants to learn.

People want to live longer.

They may want to get in shape, eat better or gain extra energy. This will make them feel healthier.

Publish some exercise and nutrition strategies and checklists on your web site – it really doesn’t matter who your target audience is as most people want to improve their lifestyle.

People want to be comfortable.

They may want to relieve aches and pains or want to sleep in a more comfortable bed. This will make them feel rested.

You could give away a free report on how to naturally relieve aches and pains for certain parts of the body.

People want to be loved.

They may not want to be lonely any more or they might want to start dating again. This will make them feel wanted.

For example, you could provide some singles, dating and relationship chat rooms on your web site. People will be able to meet new people or find out how to improve their current relationship.

People want to be popular.

They may want to be a famous celebrity or be more popular in school. This will make them feel praised and admired.

You could allow people to submit articles or comments to your web site that you would publish for the world to see.

You could also publish profiles or interviews with your web site visitors.

Be Popular—Give Them What They Want

The most effective way to make sure your website is popular is to give people what they want — and in a way that makes them want to tell their friends, so that your site becomes ‘viral’.

There is no more effective form of marketing than word of mouth and personal recommendation. So give them what they want and they’ll tell their friends about it!

Happy hunting!

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

Blogging can be the cheapest and one of the most effective ways to profit from the Internet. Here’s how…

What the blog…?

Web Logs – or ‘Blogs’ for short – started as a simple means for providing an online journal or diary, where an individual lets the world know how they think and feel about certain things. If you are a member of facebook.com, myspace.com, or any other social networking site, there’s a good chance you have been writing in a blog – and maybe didn’t even know it!

Blog marketing?

Blog marketing is the use of a blog or blogs to produce traffic for the purpose of monetizing that traffic. Using a blog to market a product or merely as a means of producing online income is much cheaper than using a website. This is because a number of free blog services are available that almost as good as having your own website that costs you plenty!

Because blog marketing has few barriers to entry, it is an excellent way for a beginner to get into the Internet Marketing business.

Due to both the human and Search Engine demand for quality content, it’s very possible to make serious money from creating, promoting, and maintaining blogs.

Turning a blog into a cash machine is relatively inexpensive and can be done by anyone who understands the basics of marketing and the Internet.

Monetise!

So how should you monetize your blog??

Well, that rather depends on what your objectives are and how you’re going to use your blog. The simplest system is to write blog articles that include an affiliate link for them to buy a range of other people’s products.

Or, if you’re looking to build a list of prospects, you can include a ‘name squeeze’ box, where you offer something of value (a free ebook report, software, etc) in return for the visitor’s contact details (name, email address, etc). You can then follow up with an offer that monetizes the list – or you can sell your list to appropriate traders (maintenance, double glazing, office equipment, holidays, property, etc), who pay you for each name supplied.

Topical Passion

Many marketers suggest starting a website on a topic that you are passionate about. But think about it… If you want to make a lot of money on-line you need to blog about profitable topics, ie those with a lot of potential traffic.

This means you need to do 4 things:

1. Identify topics or niches with a lot of traffic potential

2. Constantly add fresh quality content to your blog

3. Get lots of free traffic to your blog

4. Monetize that traffic

So what topics should you pick that will generate a lot of traffic??

There’s no point in starting a blog unless it is geared towards an in-demand, profitable topic. And remember that it’s fairly common for blogs to outrank other websites competing for the same keywords because your blog regularly delivers fresh, quality content.

Also, just because a topic has a lot of competition doesn’t necessarily mean it is not worth starting a blog about – you actually want to work in a busy topic area! See ‘Find Your Niche!’ and other articles in this issue of Web Biz Insider on how to do this.

Once you’ve determined your niche, you’ll need to derive some Keywords that people will search on to reach your blogsite – again see other articles in this issue for some ideas! Then you need to set up your blogsite!

Free Blogsite!

There are many free blog services available but the free Blogger service provided by Google (http://www.blogger.com) is perhaps the best for starters, for ease and simplicity, to create a content-rich blog. The other services available mostly either don’t allow affiliate links display adverts on your blog/website. Blogger allows you to advertise affiliate programs or whatever you want on your blog and places no ads of it’s own on there.

To create your blog, you’ll need a Google account – if you don’t have one go to: https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount, then go to Blogger and follow the instructions to create your blog.

Hot Tip: When you’re setting up your blog, make sure you use your Target Keywords within your URL of your niche blog and in the Title and Description. VERY Important!)

Join Up!

To be really successful at blogging, you’ll need help and support from a community of like-minded people, regardless of what specific Internet business model you decide to operate. So, sign up to one of the many online business forums to support your success. Some you might consider include:

www.bloggerforum.com – Free
www.warriorforum.com/forum – Free
http://forums.digitalpoint.com – Free
www.forumknowhow.com – $ monthly

If you choose a topic with good traffic and spend some time learning about your chosen topic, promoting your blog and adding great content, you should have no problems getting traffic to your blogsite. Then it’s up to you how you monetize your visitors.

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

“When you have a dream,
you have to grab it and never let it go!”

Carol Burnett – Actress

What is your Life Worth?

Where did the last year go? It’s horrifying how fast life slips by, isn’t it?

Did you notice that the kids had suddenly grown up and you’re worrying about your pension?

And what did you achieve last year? What did I achieve?

Well, I’m not going to ‘wash my dirty laundry’ just here, but I know that I would like to have achieved much more than I managed!

You too? Well, think on this then…

How do you value your life? And your time?

Do you earn what you are really worth? As much as you should be paid?

And just… How Much Time Do You Have?

We all have exactly the same amount of time each day…

Are you spending your time…

…or investing it wisely?

Here’s another thought:

Poor People spend Time to save Money…

…Rich People spent Money to save Time!

Which are you?

How Much Are You Paid?

Please can we play a little game? But one that is DEADLY SERIOUS!

Fill in the numbers below — I think you’ll get a something of a shock!

A: How much do you earn each year? $£ …………………

B: How many hours do you work a day (inc travel)? ……………………

C: How many days do you work a week? ……………………

D: How many weeks do you work a year? ……………………

Z: The number of hours you work a year = BxCxD= …………… Hrs

Now work out your hourly rate = A = $£______ = …………… $£ /Hr
. Z ………Hrs

This is the Hourly Rate which you are selling or trading your time for!

=> And this is your ‘Outsourcing Cut-off Rate’
.     (more on that in just a moment…)

At a recent meeting, one business owner worked out that, although he was on a good salary, his effective pay was just £6.78/Hour!

What is Your Time Really Worth?

Before we go any further, let me just pick up on something Armand Morin pointed out at the Internet Success Bootcamp I recently presented in London.

Armand noted that, using his simple repeated and tested formula, he spends only 15 minutes or so preparing a landing page and Adwords campaign for marketing an Affiliate (someone else’s) product.

And just one such product recently earned him around $22,807 in a year.

On that basis – and let’s be conservative and say it actually took him an hour – he earned something like…

$22,000 an hour!

And that’s how he makes $15M-plus a year!

Now…

How About You?

And don’t think that Armand’s earnings are out of your reach.

Do you see that you – yes YOU – could do this through an Internet Business, an off-line business, Property Investment or other business.

And don’t think that “oh, that’s for the clever people – I couldn’t do that!”

This is for Real People – like you and me – the Internet ‘gurus’ all started with next to nothing – or chucked in well paid jobs to start their own businesses.

So why don’t you invest more of your time building your wealth?

People often focus on the short-term goals, rather than the long term – this can be driven by the need for cash-flow to pay the bills. But it also reflects a lack of focus and priority.

But back to today’s subject…

When to Outsource

· If you can get a job done by someone else for less than your
‘Outsourcing Cut-off Rate’…

· (especially if they’ll do it faster/better)…

· Then you can spend your time on more valuable things…

=> Outsource it!

You can outsource just about anything these days, with the help of the Internet. So which should you outsource?

Well, just think what you’re good at and that will earn the kind of returns we discussed earlier in this post – and focus your time on those activities.

And Outsource everything else!

I’ll show you some of things you can easily outsource and how to do it in future blog posts.

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

Armand Morin is perhaps the best-known internet marketer of all. With over 9,000 websites in 400 niches, his businesses are expected to bring in over $30M this year — all with a staff of just 6 people! So when Armand speaks – I listen!

And listen I did when he spoke at the Internet Success Bootcamp I presented recently in London. I interviewed him to find out just how he does it and I’d like to share with you some of the pearls of wisdom I gleaned – as they are exactly what we teach, here at Internet-Tycoons.com!

Armand started up on the Web in 1996 when the Internet was a new thing - there wasn’t anyone to show him what to do, so he just learned by trial and error.

However, as he noted… “People starting today have so many advantages, with lots of guidance and simple systems to follow, there’s never been a better time to start a web business! The Internet is changing fast, and change always means opportunity! So get out there and get started!”

Armand went on to note that… “for people starting up now, Information Products are by far the easiest to get going with — but keep away from ebooks on ‘how to make money on line’ — it’s too competitive. Go for a niche where there is a sizable community of people hungry for information on that niche topic.”

“As an example, when the new film of HG Well’s ‘War Of The Worlds’ came out, I sold the book in ebook form — nobody was advertising on Adwords and it was really popular. And I got the book and the rights to sell it completely free, in the Public Domain. We used Adwords and many other ways to market the book.”

“We also put seven Jane Austin books up on the web too, at the time the film ‘Becoming Jane’ was out. The same with Oliver Twist. You can pick up the rights to a whole range of books and publications at one of the Public Domain resource sites like www.Gutenberg.org absolutely free!”

Doesn’t he make it sound easy? So what’s the secret to Armand’s success? Well he let me in on it — and this is very confidential between us…

Armand Morin’s Secret System…

‘Highlight — Copy — Paste’.

It’s as simple as that – from the mouth of the Master Internet Marketer!

“Everybody tries to make it more complicated and makes it difficult for themselves.

“As a result, they don’t get started! Sure, you need to know a bit about web technology but that shouldn’t get in your way, as you can get other people to virtually everything for you.

“I’m not talking plagiarism here — but you DON’T need to be clever — just use material that’s out there and adapt it to suit!

“Look, I had an idea for a useful piece of software one Sunday. By that afternoon I had someone writing the software for me through Elance.com. It was finished within a week and I launched it at $99 a week later and made $83,000—it’s still makes me around $5,000 a month! The simplest ideas are the best!

“The average paperback book will cost you say $15. But people will pay more for ebooks — anything from $27 to 97. By adding an audio version — record yourself reading the ebook — and making a few adjustments, you can make it into a ‘home study course’ — and people will pay $297 to $497. People are hungry for knowledge!”

When I asked Armand what he thought had made him so successful, he responded:

“The real difference between me and most people trying to do business on the internet is approach and focus:

· Most people are looking to make millions

· I’m looking to make only $300!

“I set up websites that will make me just $300 a month. So that’s around $3,500 a year. Not a fortune! But if you set up 100 of these — it’s now a very nice income! And they really don’t take long to set up, particularly if you outsource all the work!

“The odds of you making a website and generating a million dollars from it are tiny!

You may not want to hear that but it’s true — think about it!

“On the other hand, anyone with very little experience and a few hours of training can develop the skills needed to create a $300-amonth income. Then you just need to replicate it 10 times and you’re making $3,000 a month. Duplicate it 50 times and you’re making $15,000 a month! Hire someone to do it for you.”

And that’s exactly what we show you how to do at www.Internet-Tycoons.com!

So I asked Armand the easiest way to get started with a $300-a-month website.

He responded… “Eventually, if you want to make real money, you’ll need your own products. But the easy way to get started is by selling other people’s products — as an Affiliate. It costs nothing and you can even get paid without having your own website!

“Commissions on information products average 35% to 50% — just go to www.Clickbank.com and sign up completely free. Look for products in your chosen niche and select one that seems popular and sells well and gives you a sensible return — you want to make a reasonable margin on your promotional costs.

“All you need is to drive traffic. You can advertise with Adwords but there’s a better way, that’s free! Using the Article Traffic System, you can get links to your website from thousands of other websites and ezines that people read daily. It’s very simple:

• Write an article on your topic — or hire someone to do it for you on Elance
• Submit it to an Article Directory — there are lots on the Web but the best-known is www.ezinearticles.com
• Post your Article to your own Blog — you can get blogsites free but I prefer to put it on my own website with Wordpress.
• Send the article to newsletters — there are many newsletter directories on the web — just do a search for your niche.

“Within days or weeks, you’ll be getting free traffic just through natural search rankings. And the best thing is that you can automate most of it, although I like to do the research and the basic web pages myself.”

And just to put this in perspective, Armand noted… “Look, I have around 9,000 blogs out on the Internet, in 300 or 400 niches. How many of those do you think I write myself? We use automatic feeds and outsource the work.”

So what’s the easiest way to develop your own product?

Armand’s view is that he simplest way is to write an ebook, which you can do with no expertise just by interviewing one or more experts, transcribing it and publishing it! The ‘expert’ can be anyone from your local DIY expert or cat breeder to a well-known author or personality.

You need to convince people to contribute to your ebook and they will normally want something in return — whether it’s new customer referrals, or publicity, or whatever.

Armand adds that “my ‘Down and Dirty’ method of ‘writing’ your own ebook very quickly simply is by gathering together other people’s articles on your niche subject. Pick your subject, search for articles on it and collect 50-70. Email each author asking to include them in your new ’book’ (don’t say ’ebook’).

“Two thirds will say yes, so just compile each article in a logical format, remembering to include all the relevant credits you’ve agreed with the authors. How many topics can you do with this method?”

When I asked him about Membership sites, Armand smiled broadly! “Sure! Membership sites produce a recurring income from each particular niche. You just need to make sure you offer great value to make sure the members stay with you!

“I have around 3,000 members paying $29/m, a further 3,500 at $39/m and then 200 members of our premium sites at $500/m and 30 getting on-to-one service from me at $1000/m. That totals around $350k/month or over $4M each year!

So you can see why Membership sites are an attractive business model to him!

With all this, I asked Armadn what drives him — surely it couldn’t be the money?

“Look, I have a great deal — a lovely house and a great family! But there’s more that I want to achieve – this is not the last home I’ll have – I don’t have everything I want and I’ll go on to achieve those things.

“But to succeed, you need vision and goals – my business is very competitive , so I need to be very focussed! When will I think ‘I’ve made it’? Well, I recall Phil Phillips – who wrote the very successful book ‘Body For Life’ – said that “at $100M, I felt that I’d made it”! But I love giving back to the community—and helping other people be successful on the web!”

And Armand’s parting advice to anyone starting up today…? Just 2 Words:

Don’t Think!

Don’t add your own opinion to what works. Success leaves traces – copy the traces. “Just do exactly what I say – I’ve done it all and I know what works! Everything you need to do has already been done – just copy it!

“The longer it takes from idea to fruition, the less likely you are to succeed. So move quickly – you can start making income on line in less than one day! Where else can you do that?”

What more need I say?

Just Do IT!

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

Build A Lucrative Relationship With Your Customers!

Profitable Relationships

Building a profitable relationship with your prospects and customers, like any aspect of successful marketing, is like learning to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.

You’ll fall off a few times, or play ‘bum’ notes, before you begin to get the hang of it — but once you do, you’ll go on to do a few cycle stunts and play music that people want to listen to! Practice is important.

Copy!

And as leading copywriter Allan Forrest-Smith advises, the easiest way to practice is to copy the experts. After all, if they can bring in millions with their copy, why reinvent the wheel? And they probably copied it from an earlier success anyway — why do you think the text in the body of an advertisement or web page is called ‘copy’ anyway?

We’re not talking plagiarism here—but many of the most successful sales letters of all time have either taken their inspiration from earlier successes or have themselves inspired others.

And email marketing is just like that. Practice and draw ideas from others’ emails. Use current topics or popular themes, use timeless truths or your latest product as themes.

But this is all about building a relationship with your prospects and customers — and they’ve given you permission to be in touch with them by email (see other posts on this blog).

Five Magic Questions

Michael Rassmussen has carved out an Internet Marketing niche for himself in the

field of Email Marketing. His advice is that you need to address FIVE MAGIC QUESTIONS that the recipient will have when you are crafting emails to your lists:

• Who are you?
• What do you want?
• Why should I care?
• What’s in it for me?
• What do I do now?

Unless you answer these five questions in your email, your target will move on to the next email and you’ll have lost her/him.

Killer Subject Lines

But the body of the message will be wasted if your email Subject line — your ‘headline’ — doesn’t get your target excited or intrigued enough to open your email in the first place!

So your Subject line is the key to getting your email read.

As Allan Forrest-Smith points out, the whole purpose of your Subject line or Headline is to get the reader to carry on reading. And the purpose of each paragraph and sub-header is to get your reader to keep on reading!

Try to make people curious with your headline—and to want to open your email to

find out what it’s all about — ie ‘What’s In It For Me?’ (abbreviated to WIIFM in the

industry)!

To do this your subject line should be benefit oriented — asking a question is often

effective. But your subject lines should be ‘blind’ — they should entice irresistibly

without revealing the content up front.

Opening Up!

So, you’ve got your target to open the email — what now? The Opening section is now vital to keeping your prospect on the page — and to keep him/her reading — so it has to be conversational and interesting. And it MUST grab the reader and involve him/her immediately — so it has to be about them, not you!

Think about the emails you receive… Which do you open? Which do you go on reading? Most of us prefer emails that sound as though they’re coming from a friend with something interesting or useful to tell us, don’t we?

As Michael Rassmussen notes, your opening should be conversational and get to the point really fast. Talk to the reader—not about yourself!

Assuming that your reader is still with you, you now need to keep the content in the body copy super-relevant and focused on the purpose of the email! Don’t go off on any tangents or turn into a blabbermouth! Your target doesn’t have time to waste, so respect her/him accordingly!

Action! And Keep It Tight!

The purpose of your email is to get them to take a specific action — so the whole copy should focus them to this end. The last things you want to talk about are how your personal life is going, your recent vacation or the car you drive, or how much work you put into your product (although there may be a place for these in the ‘story’ you tell on your sales page).

The reader doesn’t care about you — only him/herself!

Bullets!

So keep the body copy of your email relevant and tightly focused. You can use powerful bullet points to hint at the particular benefits the reader will gain — but they should never reveal the content or the secret. Otherwise you’ve given the reader the information to make an immediate decision not to continue reading!

Michael gives an example of the benefit of a blind bullet over a plain one:

· Plain Bullet: “How to make your bullets powerful by making them blind”

· Blind Bullet: “A simple change you can make to your bullets that will triple their power”

I think you can immediately see the difference—and how the second bullet forces

the reader to keep on reading, to find out more!

Use Your Head-ers!

Michael also points out the importance of making your body copy easy to read — split it up into paragraphs of a few lines each and use sub-headings to break your text into ‘bite-sized’ chunks.

Alan Forrest-Smith also points out that the sub-headers in any piece of copy should tell the whole story by themselves — since many people skim through the body.

In an email — particularly a plain text mail — it’s important to make your sub-headers stand out. Use capitals and a line of asterisks or dashes above and below

Bucket Brigade

You’ve probably heard of the ‘Bucket Brigade’ in copy writing. This is the use of little pieces of copy in your email that forces people to keep reading. Phrases like ‘As a result…’, ‘As I said…’, ‘Why?’ and ‘Oh, and let’s not forget…’

Call To Action

But the whole purpose of your email is to get the reader to take action! NOW! So your call to action must be clarion clear! And URGENT!

Tell them exactly what you want them to do and how to do it! And what they should do it now, and not leave it ‘till later!

You can use a whole bunch of incentives to act now, including scarcity (time deadlines or quantity limitations) or bonuses.

PS: Oh, and don’t forget the PS! This is often the first part of a sales letter or email that people read — after all, I often go straight to the bottom of a sales letter to find out how much it’s going to cost me. Don’t you?

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

Your goal in starting your own business should be to build a profitable commercial enterprise that works without you.

After all, systems should run a business, not the owner – and you don’t just want to exchange one job for another!

So, you should be looking to implement the systems and strategies that are most appropriate for your particular business’s needs (increase profitability, systems, controls, etc).

You need to assess the business in the five key profit generating areas:

• Lead Generation,
• Conversion Rate,
• Average Sale,
• Average Number of Transactions per customer, and
• Profit Margins.

Those areas are highlighted in the following equations:

Lead Generation x Conversion Rate = # Customers

# Customers x Avg. Sale x # Transactions = Revenues

Revenues x Profit Margins = £ Profits

These determine the profitability of any business, in any market, in any industry.

So stay focused on the things that matter!

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

How To Make YOUR Business Fly!

Everyone looking to start their own business should think carefully about why you’re starting up and where your focus will be to optimize the returns from your business!

It’s easy to get caught up in the ‘I’ll start a Web business and make a fortune’ enthusiasm, without really thinking about your longer-term strategy.

Once you have established that the business can be profitable, you need to learn the difference between working on your business and working in your business.

As Andy Gwynn, of Action Coach says…”Small business owners can spend 60 hours or more per week just trying to keep their business running. Most often, what we find is that they are working on the wrong aspects and end up spinning in a relentless circle until the business finally folds in on top of them.”

He suggests that, from the start, you should be thinking how to build a profitable business that will have real value in the marketplace — ie it should become an asset that you can sell on and make a fortune.

The same good business principles apply to any type of business — they may look a bit daunting when you see them in black and white, but start by keeping them simple and work up each level as you get there.

The six steps you need to take in building your business are:

1. Niche - You need to think carefully about your business niche, and your marketing and sales. Where and how will you sell your products and services? Who are your customers (at least the ones you want)? How do you reach them with a message that will get them to visit your business and buy?

2. Leverage - You can’t realistically do everything yourself — you’ll need to outsource some of your business. So you need to think how to put systems in the business so that the customer has the same positive experience and you, the owner, reduce the amount of time you spend in the actual business (ie working “on” your business instead of “in” it).

3. Team — If you need other people to support you, or you will be working with joint venture partners or outsourced resources, getting the right team revolves around not only getting the right people on the bus but making sure they are in the right roles where they, and the business, will be successful.

4. Mastery - This is all about understanding and controlling what is happening inside your business. At this level, you need to address processes/production, financials, marketing/ advertising and your team — and how you will manage each aspect.

5. Synergy — the collaboration of the previous four levels moves you to the stage of a commercial profitable enterprise that can operate without you. This is important. Now, as an owner, you have a business that can really deliver some value in the market place without taking your every waking hour — and is based on your exit strategy!

6. Entrepreneur — at this stage, you have built a successful business. The best part is that now that you know the sequence, you can do it again and again in any business you become involved with!

You need to stay focused on your goals, testing and measuring results, working through potential obstacles for growth, systems implementation, etc.

Stay focused on these 6 steps and you’ll have a profitable business!

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com

To be successful on-line, as in any business, you need to build three things with your customers – CTR: Credibility, Trust and your Relationship. And there are two further words which should be central to your whole web business approach… but we’ll come to those in a moment!

Credibility: When your prospect reads your ad or your website sales page, you want to make sure he believes any claims you make about your product or service. Because, if there’s any doubt in his mind, he won’t bite, no matter how sweet the deal. In fact, the “too good to be true” mentality will virtually guarantee a lost sale…even if it is all true.

Building credibility is all about showing that you – or your product – have a proven track record. There are many ways of building credibility and this requires you to give ‘social proof’ of the reliability and benefits that you and your product provide.

If you’ve been in business for a number of years, you can point to this and your hundreds or thousands of satisfied customers, providing testimonials from customers to whom your product has brought specific benefits or success.

But even if you’re just starting out and don’t have a ‘track record’ yourself, you can use a variety of ways to build credibility and increase the perception of believability – because, after all, it’s the perception you need to address up front!

Here are some tried and tested methods that will help boost credibility:

• Avoid baseless ‘hype’ – make sure your copy is accurate and truthful.
• For existing customers, who already know you deliver as promised, emphasize that trust.
• Include testimonials of satisfied customers – include full names and locations, if possible.
• Use 3^rd party testimonials (endorsements of the product type or solution by industry experts) or “lift notes” (brief notes or letters from a person of authority, possibly a celebrity).
• Pepper your copy with facts and research findings to support your claims (credit all sources).
• If you can swing it, adding a celebrity endorsement will always help to establish credibility.
• Give your own credentials or background (and photo) – or those of an expert if you’re using her/his real or ‘implied’ expertise (relating to your product or service, of course).
• Cite any awards or third-party reviews the product or service has received.
• Tell them a lot of your widgets have already been sold – “10 million people can’t be wrong”.
• Include a GREAT Guarantee or return policy and stand by it! You may give more refunds, but if you sell three times as many widgets as before, it may be worth it – crunch the numbers!
• Reveal a ‘flaw’ about your product (that’s minor or isn’t really a flaw). This helps alleviate the “too good to be true” syndrome and builds trust and your reader will start to subconsciously believe that you are revealing all of the flaws…
• If you advertise a deadline, don’t keep changing your deadline – you’ll reduce credibility.

Trust: There are two simple words which should be absolutely central to your whole approach to marketing on the Internet: Underpromise and Overdeliver.

Just tell people you will give them one thing and then give them what you promised plus a little bit more. The results of adopting this simple philosophy and incorporating it into your Internet business can be truly remarkable.

What makes this concept so incredibly powerful for Internet Marketers is that it doesn’t really take a whole lot of additional effort to give people more than what they expect. The huge value we deliver on our training courses and to the Internet Tycoons Mastermind Group are examples of this.

But by spending just a little bit of extra time giving you a few things you did not expect we established ourselves as someone who not only delivers what we promise but gives you even more. Ultimately this translates into a rock solid reputation and long term customers (you) who will buy from me over and over again. All of which equals more value for you and more profits for us!

Basically, you need to be kind and generous – and to do this genuinely. But in this business being consistently generous results in more than just a personal feeling of satisfaction, it results in huge profits. The benefits of practicing the underpromise and overdeliver philosophy far outweigh the extra effort and expenses on your part.

Kindness really does pay – and on the Internet it pays in a big way!

Relationship: The third pillar of your internet business is your relationship with your prospects and customers.

You’ve probably heard it said many a time that ‘the money is in the list’. Well, this isn’t the way of the world. People buy from people – people they Know, Like and Trust. So just think ‘KLT’.

So the key is to build an excellent relationship with your customers – and ‘the money is in the relationship’ is a rather more appropriate approach to your business.

How to do this? Well, there is plenty of free advice on the web about building your relationship with your customers. But the crucial thing is to get in touch – and keep in touch at least once or twice a month – with your customers and prospects.

Make them know you value both them and their business – but do this in a genuine way, without hype and fluff. Give them value!

It’s amazing that less than 10% of businesses actually follow up with their customers! When was the last time you had an email from your local shops, dentist or hairdresser?

Web technology provides a wonderful platform from which to develop your relationship with your customers.

You can set up your own web log, or Blog (see ‘Blogging For Profit’ on page 14) and you can personalise email very effectively using autoresponders to stay in touch with your customers (more on autoresponders in an upcoming issue of ‘Web Biz Insider’).

But you need to make it personal in order to build your relationship – there are any number of companies that send you their standard brochures and expect you to be ecstatic, aren’t there (perhaps your bank comes to mind)?

Two of the easiest ways to generate greater profit in your business are to get your customers to buy from you more often and to increase the average value of each purchase!

And, if your customers appreciate your relationship with them, they are much more likely to do both!

So, get inside your customers’ minds and think how you can build your relationship and boost your profits!

John Thornely
© John Thornely www.johnthornely.com 2008

To learn more about how YOU can
Profit From The Internet – Fast, visit
www.Internet-Tycoons.com