Welcome! Welcome to This BONUS Lesson! We've covered a lot of ground together in the past six lessons. When I wrote this course I only outlined 6 lessons... this Lesson came after a review some months after the course was initially released. Why? Why did I feel a 7th Lesson was necessary? I had been doing an extensive amount of research on how to 'marry' the best the Internet had to offer entrepreneurs with offline marketing and lead generation. The result of that research is in this Lesson. It's very, very exciting. It will take your business to the next level just as it has mine. The world is full of incredible possibilities. But they are only possibilities - a possibility is an opportunity that has not yet been captured or taken advantage of. As you know by now, it's my desire you have everything you need to make money online and I hold nothing back... I tell it all and I'll do the same in this Lesson. The Internet has expanded the ability to communicate with each other and with prospects, customers and suppliers. These possibilities are ever expanding. We will learn how to capture those opportunities in this Lesson. With that said, are you ready? Ok! Let's get going - Lesson 7 begins NOW! BONUS Lesson 7 Introduction: The Internet is full of exciting possibilities but don't forget there is a huge world out there that is just starting to utilize the Internet. We're going to look at ways to use the best the Internet has to offer in terms of fulfillment and information presentation in the form of sales copy and what we can do offline and online to generate more business than we can possibly handle. Never forget that what you know... what you've learned in these Lessons... as well as all the other knowledge you've gained from being online, is more knowledge than 99% of the people who are online know. What we're going to talk about in this Lesson is getting the Internet and direct marketing to work harder for us by using 'systems' - both online and offline- to take our business to a whole 'nother level... After finishing this Lesson you learn to create a huge and never ending flow of new prospects for your business using offline and online methods so you can convert them into paying customers to grow your business and create the lifestyle you've always wanted. It's Not Just About Making Money Of course we need money to live, eat and enjoy ourselves but business is not just about money... is it? So, in order to live the lifestyle you want you need to set up certain systems that give you the freedom you desire. Without systems you're business will not be able to grow without the addition of employees or contracted help. Thank goodness that many of the 'systems' available to grow your business can be contracted out. You don't need to hire employees. You can run a one person shop and still generate $100,000 in sales each month or more - most of which is automated. In my opinion, overhead such as office rent, employees and business debt are very, very bad for the health of your business and should be avoided at all costs. If you're like me and are an information entrepreneur then you are in the best business in the world. Overhead is almost zero, profits are high and you can expand you business into any field simply by creating words on paper (or digitally). Overhead and employee expenses can kill a thriving business. If your business gets so large that you do need an employee or two, then that's fine, but just remember that employee expenses are high, rent is an 'expense' and anything you buy for your business should enable you to make more money otherwise DON'T buy it. As I mentioned before, being in debt is very bad for you. If you're in debt now you want to get out of debt as soon as possible. For the first few years I was online I used credit cards to live. I accumulated almost $60,000 in credit card debt. Over $1,500 of my monthly income was paying nothing but credit card bills. That's $1,500 I could have been putting into MY pocket. So my first goal was to retire any and all the credit card debt I had accumulated. I did it in about 9 months after I figured this stuff out and I still had enough money to pay myself a nice salary. Now that $1,500 (and more) goes into a savings account. But the most important aspect of being completely debt-free from credit cards is the peace of mind you'll have. If my business hits a slump, my expenses are so low I could easily live without really making very much money. That's freedom and security, at least to me it is. You should have the same attitude. Become debt-free. When you're in debt you are kind of like a slave - you work for a task master who will destroy you if he isn't paid. Credit card companies are ruthless. I know, I've been through this. They will try to ruin your marriage (pitting one spouse against another in order to get money out of them), harass you, lie to you (and all your relatives they can find in the phone book) and do everything they can to embarrass you and torture you until you pay them your kids milk money. You think I'm joking? I'm not. I've been through it. Credit card companies do not follow any consumer protection laws, even though they are supposed to. The don't care about you or your family. They want their money and they want it now and if they have to lie to get it they will. If they get 'caught' and you turn them into the feds, they get a little slap on the wrist and a fine and just keep on going. I did not file for bankruptcy, instead I decided to pay every single debt I had. It cost me dearly, but since I was responsible for taking the debt on, I was also responsible for paying it back. Once you start to take responsibility for your own situation in life you will feel POWERFUL. I don't know what the reason is for that, but as soon as you accept the responsibility for where you are and what you are and what you've done suddenly you are in control of your life. You realize that all the blame is on you. You are where you are in life because of CHOICES you've made... no one else. No one else is to blame for your situation. You are to blame. Once you realize that and accept that, you're in control. And once you're in control you can change your situation - if you want. I want you to get this picture planted firmly in your mind: You are responsible for your own actions. Period. Just say to yourself: "I am responsible for the situation I'm in right now. No one else is to blame for it. It's my mess and I'm going to do something to clean it up starting today." The question you need to ask yourself continually is: "What am I going to do to change my life right now, for the better?" Ok?... I think you get the picture. Now if you're one of those individuals who has always accepted responsibility for your own actions, then bless you. You are to be congratulated- you are also rare. I guarantee you though that re-affirming "you are responsible for you own actions" will be good to remember once in a while... Ok... enough of the personal development pep talk, let's get on with business. The systems we'll talk about below include marketing systems, lead generation, follow-up systems and customer service systems. The Next Level After you've had a little bit of success with your online business you might be curious to know what it takes to take your business to the 'net level'... whatever that means for you. For example, taking a business from doing $500 a month to $10,000 I've already shared with you... you now know HOW to do that online. But what if you want to take your business from $10,000 a month to $100,000 a month or more? That's a whole different ball game and it will require great attention to what this Lesson is all about- marrying the best the Internet has to offer and the best the offline world has to offer- direct marketing methods for lead generation. That does not mean you stop doing Internet marketing... it only means you start to add additional methods to your 'marketing system'. You see, no matter how big you think the Internet is, there is an entire world of people who only use the Internet sporadically or are just getting online. You and I are 'serious' Internet marketers- we eat, live and breathe the Internet. We are so used to doing everything on the Internet that we may lose sight of the fact that there are hundreds of 'grades' of Internet users out there - not all of them as sophisticated or savvy as we are. So there's an entire market who ONLY uses the Internet when they want to 'look something up on the Internet' or read ABOUT a website that interests them... they are casual searchers. But don't think that they aren't good prospects, they are - even for Internet offers such as biz opps, dieting, electronics, etc... Remember this major marketing maxim: People are only interested in themselves. They will ask you only one question: "What's in it for me?". As long as you answer that to their satisfaction you can sell anything. 99% of all business FAIL in this regard: They do not follow-up enough when they do have a prospect that's interested. Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself... let's start with your product concept... I'm starting right at the beginning here. The Product "Concept" What do you have? What's your product or service all about? Can you tell me in one, quick sentence? Hurry... I'm waiting? What? You can't do it? Let's talk about that for a minute. I've already discussed the idea that you must be 100% CLEAR and most importantly DO NOT CONFUSE your prospect. You know that you have to be CLEAR and you have to make sure you answer the question for your prospects (as if you are in your prospects shoes): "What's in it for me?" If you do not clearly answer that question your prospects will not bother to read what you're sending them. Once you have your "Message" written, like we did in Lesson 1, you need to place that message in places where your prospects will see it. The more people who see it the more who will want more information about it. Those who are serious will order. That's where the idea of 'marrying' the best the Internet has to offer with the best 'direct marketing' has to offer first popped into my mind. Basically it goes like this: The Internet Is Best At: Capturing Contact Information Fulfillment of Your Sales Letters and Digital Product Delivery Offline Direct Marketing Is Best At: Delivering Your Marketing Message and Lead Generation Once you get this, YOU'LL get it for the rest of your life. It's so simple and many savvy marketers are using this simple formula to make tons of money. More and more television commercials that were using only 800#'s are now telling prospects to get to their website ASAP instead of, or in addition to, the 800#. I think they will find a lot of people will go to the website instead of calling the 800#. Why? It's less threatening. You call an 800# and get a 'live' operator what's the first thing on your mind? "What will they try to sell me that I don't want?" Right? Well, when you send someone to your website, it's non-threatening. They know there is not going to be someone sitting there waiting to 'sell' you on anything... it's only a webpage. They can read or print it out and be in total control... Now once they get to your webpage you need to CAPTURE their name and number so you can follow-up with them as I've drilled into you throughout this course- because NO ONE buys anything on the first visit... right? Ok... I think you're getting the idea... USING direct marketing methods to an offline base or potential prospects opens a whole new world up to us... and the results I've had so far indicate that the QUALITY of the people who respond to simple postcards or letters I've sent them about InfoProductLab.com are very responsive... even more responsive than those I've had join my list through Discussion Boards, etc... PLUS there are so many more people you can contact offline than online without getting in trouble. Even though many people comply with the new CanSpam law, you'll still get in trouble with your ISP or web host company if you send a bunch of unsolicited emails telling people about your web site BUT you'll never get in one once of trouble sending 10,000 postcards to people's physical mail box telling them about your website. Right? Even if only few hundred of those 10,000 sign-up for your list they will be extremely HIGH QUALITY leads for you... why?... because they actually had to TAKE ACTION to get on your list. Think of it this way: When you market online all you have to do is click a mouse or type your email address to sign up for someone's list. If you get a postcard in the mail, (1) you have to read it, (2) take it physically to your computer (or memorize your web site URL), (3) open their browser window (or start the computer if it's turned 'off'!), (4) TYPE your URL into the browser window and then hit 'click' on their mouse. They had to do MORE work, jump through MORE hoops to get to your website, and then they STILL had to sign up! Talk about being motivated! So if they have jumped through all these hoops, and taken more action than your online only leads, it just makes sense that they are more qualified for your offers. Right? So if they are that motivated why not send them directly to the 'sales page' with your offer? In some cases you may be able to do just that and make very good money. But I still would encourage you to 'capture' their email address so you can follow-up with them later. Once they join your list you can send them directly to your sales page. In other words the Internet is great at capturing email addresses and presenting your sales letters and when they buy (if your product is 'digital') it will deliver your product through a download, etc... immediately. In order to drive prospects to your website so you can capture their contact info, present your sales letter and make the sale you need to drive people to the Capture Page. Direct Marketing makes that easy... Now, before we continue let me remind you: Direct Marketing Is Best At: Delivering Your Marketing Message and Lead Generation So what do you need to know? First: How do you get started? My first step has been to place small classified ads in magazines like Home Business, INC, Home Business Opportunity, Usa Today's Marketplace section, Entrepreneur, The Business Journal and other print publications. Your niche may be completely different from mine so you need to find those magazines and newspapers that cater to your market. Check to make sure they have a classified ads section. If they don't, what do you do? What I have seen some magazines do is allow an advertiser to place a small 'display' ad that looks like it's a classified section of their magazine and then you simply sell a few ads in that section to non-competing businesses to fill up the classified space- making sure , of course, you place your own ad in the section first. I'm not talking about a classified section run in the magazine... it's a display ad that was purchased by a company or individual for the purpose of 'looking like' a classified ad section of the magazine. The owner of that space sells the 'classified ads' to other advertisers, collects the money and then pays the 'display ad' rate (at 'card' rates or less) to the magazine. In this way you could even get your classified ad for free! If you sell enough other classifieds, at the right price you could even make a few bucks. One thing that many people miss when taking your business to the next level is that fact that you cannot rely on one or two classified ads... you need to find out which one's pull best and the only way to do that is by using the several small classified ad in several magazines. Once you know which ad pulls best use that as your 'control' ad- the one that you know will work best. Once you have an ad you know that works you can try to come up with a new ad that 'beats' the control ad and outpulls it. So when you're sending people from your classified ad to your Capture Page make sure you have a good statistics program to determine the number of visitors you're getting and how many convert to subscribers. The way I am doing it is by 'keying' each ad with a different URL: One for each magazine and one for each type of ad I use. For example this ad is my control so I call it my "A" ad: FREE Website reveals Little Known Ways To Make Money Online! Non-stop Profits Are Only A Click Away: http://InfoProductLab.com/click "Click" is the key in this ad and it's my control ad. In this ad I direct the visitor to another page so I can track response: FREE Website reveals Little Known Ways To Make Money Online! Non-stop Profits Are Only A Click Away: http://InfoProductLab.com/jump My using a different 'key' for each magazine I can determine which ones pull more visitors and which one converts better into subscribers. You can use the same method with postcards or letters. Always make sure you use a different Capture Page for each one of your mailings or ads so you can see the results. This is very important when you change the headline of an ad or postcard! Always know which one is getting the best response! The placing of small classified ads that drive prospects to your web Capture Page is the best way to generate Leads for you business because when your visitors sign-up for your list you OWN them. You can then mail to them as often as possible. As we've discussed, this is the necessary if you're to make your living online- constant follow-up is CRITICAL to your success! Before I go on with the rest of the critical information in this Lesson I want to share with you an article I found recently by one of the best and brightest copywriters in the world. His name is Brett McFall. A student of this course told me about him. Brett has revived my enthusiasm for copywriting and has made an impression on me, not because he is so original in his methods, but because he has reminded me that the fundamentals of copywriting NEVER change- they work now and have worked for the last 100 years or more... in other words, good copywriting is grounded in 'human nature'! Anyway, pay close attention to this report. He's one of the few people who really get the power the Internet has to offer entrepreneurs like us :-) and even though I think there is a bit of exaggeration in his 'numbers', the lesson is about the POTENTIAL of the Internet combined with offline marketing methods... NOTE: There is a pitch at the end of the article for a book by Ted Cuiba (who I really like and admire) but am not endorsing in anyway. In exchange for allowing me to re-print the article here I've included the pitch. -------------------------------- FROM: Brett McFall THE MCFALL REPORT The World's Best Advertising Secrets - MADE SIMPLE G’day my friend, Have you ever wondered if there was some way you could harness the power and the reach of the Internet to make some money? There is such potential there, don’t you agree? Millions and millions of people … all reachable at very low cost. Question is, how do you do it? Well, there are literally hundreds of ways to start a profitable business online. Unfortunately however, most of the ways are gutless and wimpy – like “spamming” for instance. Which if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of endless offers from people you don’t know … for products you’d never want in a million years - then you’ve experienced “spam” first hand. It’s when some turkey, selling products like “penis enlargement” pills, harvests millions of email addresses and then begins mailing them his ads. The people receiving the ads generally didn’t ask to receive anything; are rarely in the market for what is being sold; and are pretty pissed off at receiving it. What’s worse, when you try to have your email address removed – you find the company has moved on so you can’t track them. Only to set up again somewhere else and keep mailing you more crap you don’t want. They believe that by sheer numbers alone – that is, millions of people getting their ads – that they’re bound to make some money. And they probably do. But ask yourself … … do YOU really want to make your living being this kind of a scumbag? Hopefully not. Let me give you one very sound and simple way you could start your very own internet business. A way in which you could actually build an extremely profitable asset for life, earn a lot of money; and truly free yourself from reliance on a dead-end job or frustrating business. Even if right now you’re employed … you can start your own business on the net WITHOUT having to leave work. And I’m talking about starting a business right now, and pulling a profit in as little as 30 days. Very simply, here’s all you have to do to make tens of thousands of dollars on the internet: Provide compelling information to a hungry market, in exchange for names and email addresses … then email them with offers periodically. Simple as that. Now, most people say, “Huh? Isn’t that spamming?” No it’s not. And the difference is very small, but the consequences quite substantial. See, spamming goes to anyone and everyone that has an email address. It’s the “shotgun” approach. Just “send it and pray.” What I said was … Provide compelling information to a hungry market, in exchange for names and email addresses … then email them with offers periodically. See, with spamming, the receiver of the email DOESN’T have a choice in receiving it. They get it no matter what. And they HATE it. Using the secret I’m about to elaborate on, only those who are actually interested in what you sell, VOLUNTEER their email addresses. And they do so happily. Big difference. Here’s what I want you to know: First of all I’m going to tell you how to collect names. And then I’m going to tell you what to do with those names. Okay? How to collect a ton of names for little or no cost What about if you created a website that offered free information for your target market? Let me give you an example… Let’s suppose for a moment that you’re a personal fitness consultant. Where you train people one-on-one in their homes on how to lose weight and get fit. A boom business of late. What you should do is create a web-page that offers good, solid, beneficial information to anyone wanting to lose weight. No ads. No selling. No nothing - except great information for people who at some stage may become your customers. You might call your web page: “PERSONAL TRAINER REVEALS: The Truth About Losing Weight … And How To Make Certain Your Inches Disappear - FOREVER” Or something like that. The point is, you’ve got to let them know that you know exactly what you’re talking about. That’s your only job at this point. You’ll want to provide tips on: Why so many people find losing weight harder than climbing Mt Everest What the medical professional isn’t telling us about weight loss (and why it is preventing nearly every one of us from trimming down… and keeping it off) 5 of simplest ways to shed 3 kilos THIS week 2 little-known foods that help melt away the pounds like butter in a microwave 7 simple exercises that take only 5 minutes a day, which can be responsible for a 23% weight reduction in just 6 weeks Now, who wouldn’t LOVE to read these little tips if they were struggling with a weight problem? And what about if you were to run a teeny-weeny, low-cost little ad in fitness magazines … newsletters … websites … and general newspapers. Something like this perhaps: FREE Website Reveals The Truth About Losing Weight … And How To Make Certain Your Inches Disappear - FOREVER! www.yourwebsite.com.au How many people in this country do you think might be interested in finding out information like this? Take a guess. How many people would just LOVE to be able to shed a few kilos? Considering that obesity is one of today’s biggest issues, would perhaps 3,000,000 people be a conservative estimate? Well, let’s be really conservative okay? Let’s say that maybe 1,000,000 people might be interested in finding out some simple secrets for losing weight (and I can tell you that it could be much, MUCH more than that). Don’t forget, this information is provided TOTALLY FREE. So there’s no barrier at all to getting it. People can just log on and read. Very inviting indeed. And let’s suppose that at the end of all this really good information, you write something like this… Now, that you have just discovered some amazing secrets about losing weight ... Is there an even better secret? Yes, there is. The best secret of all is to become a subscriber to a special online newsletter, FAT BURNER! This fortnightly newsletter delivers rock-solid techniques on how to get amazing results from your training, as well as dietary advice … all delivered direct to your computer. It’s written by me, - a personal trainer with over 9 years experience, working with 231 separate clients - and helping them lose a total of 3,121kg safely and effectively. FAT BURNER! carries no annoying banner ads, or stupid ‘filler’ material. You get simply the best information for losing weight - straight from me. There is no charge whatsoever for receiving FAT BURNER - no obligations; and your name will never be rented out to anyone else. If you want to stay fit for life, and you are not signed up for FAT BURNER!, you are missing the boat. It’s easy to sign up. Just click below and sign up right now. Click here to subscribe to FAT BURNER! How’s that for an idea? At the end of your great information, your reader can choose to learn more (and if you’ve done your job, then that should be an easy choice) ...then BOOM! … You have their NAME!!!!! And their email address!!! What’s more, it’s not just ANY email address. But one of a person whose is obviously interested in your topic. So it’s a … ... targeted email address. Now, let’s say that out of the 1,000,000 people who click on to your site, that only 1/3rd of them decide they want more information about the subject, and so 333,000 sign up to receive your email. Not bad. Because here’s why… One of the best things about email is that it’s very cheap to use. Whether you send an email to 10 people or 10,000 - the cost hardly changes at all. What to do with those names to make a lot of money So let’s say you’re successful in getting 333,000 names on your database. With 333,000 people now receiving regular emails from you with little tips on weight loss, fitness training and general health, you’re building up quite a bit of trust, wouldn’t you say? You’re becoming a valued part of their lives. Well, what if you were then to make a recording on a 1 hour tape, and call it… “The 7 Highly Effective Habits Of A Thin Person.” Or … “How To Shape Up For Summer.” Or… “New Diet Secrets For Burning Off Body Fat 24 Hours A Day.” That’s a good one. If you’re not comfortable speaking into a tape recorder on your own, you could have someone interview you perhaps. Maybe even the local community radio station - they’d love to do it. And they won’t charge you any more than $50, I suspect. Then what you do is this: You take that tape recording and you have a local secretarial service transcribe that tape onto paper. For maybe $100. So now, you have an audio tape AND a report. Why? Because people like both. But what you really have now is a KILLER product! A product that could sell for anywhere between $29 and $49. So let’s settle for $39. And let’s say you then write a little letter about the product, and let people know the types of things you cover in the product. All the little tips … hints … and step-by-step advice. Then tell them the price and the ordering instructions. And then you email that message to your 333,000 strong database. This takes about 30 seconds to complete. Now what happens when they receive this message? Why, they devour it like they do every other message you send them. And because you’re sending it to people who are: Very interested in what you say Keen to know new things about the topic Trusting of your advice… Many decide to purchase your new product. How many decide? Well, I think that around 4% of your list is a fairly conservative prediction. And it’s always best to be conservative when making predictions, so that will do. But let’s do some mathematics here. 4% of 333,000 = 13,320 people 13,320 people who purchase your product at $39.95, comes to oooohhh… $532,134!!! That’s $532,134 of the easiest dollars you’ve ever made, true? Still, you’ve got your costs to come out of that, right? Let’s say around $10 per product, including postage (TOTAL: $133,200). And then there’s the classified advertising that you had to run in the newspapers and newsletters, etc. Perhaps allow around $50,000 for that. Which comes to a total of $183,200. Which still leaves you with … $348,934 in profit. So how’s that? Is that an “okay” first promotion? Is that quite an easy way to get rich? Now obviously, you’re not totally “rich” yet. But that’s only your first promotion to your list. One of many more to come. You’re definitely on your way, don’t you agree? And all because you decided to … Provide compelling information to a hungry market, in exchange for names and email addresses … then email them with offers periodically. You could offer a promotion like this once a month. How would bringing in $348,934 every month make you feel? What about if you were to then make a product that contained 2 audio tapes … or perhaps video tapes … or the complete set of videos of a weekend seminar? A complete set of video tapes (say 6-8 videos) plus a workbook, could retail for anywhere between $699 - $999. And the shelf life of a product like that could be a good decade or more. You’d only need 1% of your 333,000 strong database to purchase this product from you at $699, to turnover… $2,327,670 in about 5 days! How does that sound? Have I lied? Have I exaggerated? I don’t think so. But if you disagree with me, then halve my figures. Then halve them again if you want. Do whatever it takes to satisfy your mind. But don’t ignore the underlying principle… This is quite possibly the easiest way in the world to take your ideas and skills and turn them into cash on the internet. At a very conseravtive guess, you could literally be pulling in well over $100,000 a month, and hardly lifting a finger to do it! Your friends will be in shock … your family won’t believe it … yet you’ll know exactly WHY you’re getting rich. Don’t you agree? I hope this example has got your mind churning over with amazing ideas. If it hasn’t, then you should make an appointment to see your Doctor - just to see if you still have a heartbeat!! At the very least, you could sell this exact example to ANYONE who is a personal trainer! (Which switched on entrepreneur wouldn’t pay you $10,000 for an idea to make them $100,000 a month?) What I’ve shown you here is a simple way to use the Internet to make a fortune. But what I’ve really shown you is a model … a system. A system that can be adapted to whatever it is you want to sell – as long as there’s a hungry market for it. Now, you’ve got to agree that this makes the internet pretty exciting, don’t you think? In fact, it’s literally mind-blowing. And what I’ve just told you here is only one way to do it. There are plenty more. And if you want more ways, then there’s some very important information you need to check out. Here's why... A millionaire marketer by the name of Ted Ciuba is looking for one lucky person who he can give a website to ... a product ... and a few insider marketer secrets ... so that the person can then make thousands of dollars doing practically nothing. In fact, the last person he did this for made $4,737 within the first 3 days. And Ted did it all just to prove that it CAN be done. Pretty powerful stuff. It’s info that not 1 in 1000 people even know. And an opportunity that not 1 in 1,000,000 will ever get again. But he's set himself a challenge to do it LIVE. And it could be YOU, once you read his letter to you. Click Here It could truly be one of the most important pieces of information you read this year. Warmly, Brett McFall ©2003 Brett McFall. All rights reserved -------------------------------------------------------- Did you notice something interesting about this report? He is very much in the same line of thinking we've already discussed: Create CAPTURE PAGES!! And then follow-up, follow-up, follow-up! How simple is this business? It doesn't get any simpler than this. By the way- I do recommend you subscribe to Brett's ezine, The McFall Report. Click here to join. Million Dollar Secrets To Get Massive Leads There are buyer and inquiry 'lists' that you can buy through hundreds of list brokers in the US and Europe. I don't recommend using them however for most businesses. The reason? They are expensive and you do not own the list... you only rent them for a one-time use (usually). When you rent them you can only mail to them ONCE. Be aware though that the list broker or owner will 'seed' the list so they will know if you violate the agreement and mail more than once. They will never rent to you again if you violate the agreement- they may even circulate your name around so other list brokers won't do business with you. If you do use 'buyer' or 'inquiry' lists I still recommend you do 'lead generation' mailings. What that means is you send them a postcard (or letter) that drives prospects to your website so that you can capture their contact info. Why? Because, if you can only mail once, then you better get them on YOUR list ASAP so you can follow-up with them later on! If you do rent lists I would be very, very careful who you rent lists from especially 'biz opp seeker' lists. Many are nothing more than lists compiled from phone books! I don't have any specific recommendations - all I can tell you it is much, much better if you generate your own leads and build your own list through classified ads. They response rates you'll get will be higher and the leads will be better quality. If you'd like to try a list or two, I can say have purchased lists from LPM Associates and they have worked out very well but you'll have to test them with your offers. LPM Associates actually run classified ads themselves- generic type ads - that target opportunity seekers, weight-loss and health and fitness enthusiasts, etc... Another source of lists are InfoUsa.com and Melissa Data. But these companies use 'compiled' lists which means that the people on the list did not respond to an ad, they were added simply because of where they live or what their occupation is or what kind of business they own, etc. If you have a business opportunity that appeals to those who want to start a "home business" why not use New Homeowners lists? New homeowners are those who have just purchased a house and they spend a lot of money the first year on home decorations, furnishings, etc... but they are also perfect for offers of 'home business plans', home business opportunities, etc. that could help them earn some extra money from 'home' for that new mortgage payment they will be making every month :-) An angle that I have used successfully is by emphasizing that the business could be run on "automatic" (they are usually young families with children) and I have emphasized the 'tax deductions' of running a home business, especially in the US as well as the idea that they will have more money for vacations, kids education and other 'topics' that would appeal to new homeowners. A great source of New Home Owner data is HomeData.com. In most cases the vendors supplying lists will allow you to receive them in a text file in 'comma separated value' format (*.csv). All that means is that your data will look something like this in a text file: "FName","LName","Number","Street","City","State","Zip" "David","Vallieres","188","Any Street","MyTown","NY","18888" The top line are the 'headings' and the lines below that will contain the actual data you've paid for. This formatting is important because you'll need it when you start mail merging the names and addresses into your postcards and letters. Unlimited Wealth What you're about to learn is relatively new... it's the reason I was so excited about getting this 7th Lesson to you. Just months ago, if you wanted to create a 10,000 piece mailing you'd have a lot of work to do. You'd have to create the piece, find a reliable printer (this is extremely difficult to do if you've never done it. Printer are notorious for being unreliable and delaying your order with excuse after excuse why it's not getting done), deliver the project to a 'letter shop' for mailing (or, God forbid, do the stuffing and mailing yourself) then make sure it got mailed (some letter shops are known for destroying half your mailing which saves them the postage costs but still billing you for every piece mailed :-( The whole process could take a month or more if everything goes according to schedule. Then, any changes you wanted to make to the piece would require another print run which would take another month. Not only was this process slow, it seriously cut down on your ability to make rapid changes in your direct mail strategy, it meant being 'out of the office' a lot to manage the entire process and it was expensive. Now... thanks to the Internet you can do the whole process in a few minutes, you never have to leave your office and the prices are just pennies more than the postage you pay! Ok... let's look at the major players and what they can do for you and how this "mailing from your computer" works... Zairmail.com - Zairmail.com is an Authorized Affiliate Merchant of the United States Postal Service. From their website you can upload a list (or buy a targeted list from them if you don't have a list), create your own postcards (or upload a letter in MSWord), and with a click of a few buttons have your mailing printed and mailed! Here's a it more about their service taken directly from their website: The process of launching a direct mail program is daunting for first-time direct mail users and universally despised by even the most experienced direct mailers. In fact, the Direct Marketing Association reports that on average it takes three weeks to launch a direct mail campaign. Small businesses can trim some time and complexity by producing direct mail in-house (often literally) at the expense of production quality and personal work time. Zairmail Express Direct gives you the ability to launch direct mail campaigns in minutes right from your PC. Simply upload your mailing list; upload your direct mail document and approve the online preview; we do the rest. The message is automatically printed, folded, inserted, and presented to the Postal Service for delivery. Zairmail Express Direct is faster, easier, and costs 50% less than using traditional small business tools. In addition to automating direct mail campaigns, Zairmail Express Direct also offers targeted consumer mailing lists or business mailing lists with low minimums; free direct mail design templates and direct mail artwork; free direct mail design and list consulting services; toll free number rental; telesales follow-up calls; educational content; a free monthly newsletter full of business tips; and timely special offers. In short, everything required to grow your business using direct mail. No other service offers the depth and breadth of Zairmail Express Direct. Sounds great doesn't it? And it is. Zairmail's current minimum is 250 pieces of mail. They have a good selection of mailing pieces: Standard Size Letters (8.5" x 11"), Legal Size Letters (8.5" x 14"), Legal Size Letters (8.5" x 14") with a perforated tear-off, Self-Mailers (1-4 pages, double sided, 8.5"x11"), Standard Postcards on 80# stock (4.25" x 5.5" or 5.5" x 8.5") and Double Postcards with perfs, folds and seals to 5.5" x 4.25". You can include a BRE (business reply envelope) in any letter for only an additional 6 cents and all options come with B&W and full color or spot color options. This is inexpensive (a standard B&W postcard is only .34 each to mail which includes the printing, the card and the postage for 250 pieces) and will save you a ton of time preparing mailings. Here's where it gets really interesting. There's another company that does a lot of the same things Zairmail does, but, it will also allow you to automatically send 'timed' messages over a period of time! Compare this feature to an 'autoresponder' on the Internet. An autoresponder is setup to deliver messages to your recipients over a period of time, automatically. That's exactly what QuantumMail.com will do for you. The big difference between QuantumMail and Zairmail is that QuantimMail allows you to set your postcard follow-ups on 100% AUTO-PILOT! Here's some additional information from their website: We’ve got the list! Use our in-house national database of over 100 million recipients or use your own list - free of charge. Whether 20 QuantumCards® or 20,000 we offer next-day turnaround on most orders. Low minimums of only 20 QuantumCards® per order! No more “shells” or inventory management. Now it’s practical and affordable to customize your message and target your audience! Use NeighborMailSM™ to target all area homeowners around a specific address! See which addresses your automatic selection includes before you place your order! Upload your own files, or design online with My QuantumCard®. Powerful design tools and help features make it easy & fun to customize your mailing. Schedule a year’s worth of automatic mailings in minutes! You choose the months, messages & designs, and pay only as each mailing is sent! Personalized full-color mailings, including targeted list and postage as low as 42¢ per QuantumCard®! Upload and manage your own PersonaLISTSM for repeated use. Our new Exclusion List feature allows you to block certain addresses from being mailed to. Our Quantum Library allows you to save designs and frequently used images for easy re-ordering! Create and manage farm areas online simply with EasiFARMSM, utilizing our national database. Select the streets within a zip code. Reporting tools allow you to check on order status, or view order history. Billing flexibility; multi-level ordering at company, office or agent login levels. Completely self-contained, turnkey and customizeable direct-mail programs with fast and easy online ordering. All production takes place entirely in-house. We’ve been in business since 1986! This is heaven for savvy marketers. Think about it... you can get mailing lists, you can create your own postcard or letter online, you can get it printed and have it mailed for you in a few clicks! This is like email marketing as far as automation and list management is concerned, only much more effective. Unlike email marketing it isn't free, but the results are much better. Some other benefits include: There's an unlimited number of prospects you can send your message to and there's no chance of being accused of spam. There is one additional feature of QuantumMail that is simply unbelievable and a potential goldmine. Oh, before I forget there is a one-time fee to join QuantumMail of $39 (as of the time of this writing). That shouldn't bother you if you're a serious marketer. What do you get for your $39 fee? Here's more info from the QuantumMail website: Setting up a secure and personalized web account hosting all your personal contact information, personal photo, signature, company logo, payment and contact information. Access to your on-line account 24/7 complete with real-time order status and reporting features. Unlimited use of QuantumMail.com's national residential database - where you can see where your mail will be sent BEFORE you order! Your own personal library of mailing lists where you can create, add, edit, delete - anytime! Ability to create and store your own Exclusion, personal "do not" mail list. Use of automatic scheduled mailing services. Use of QuantumMail.com's easy on-line design tools. Use of QuantumMail.com's extensive library of 1000's of images. Create and store your own personal library of custom images where you can edit and reorder easily. High quality printing services for flyers, brochures, newsletters, greeting cards, door hangers, etc. Fast turnaround and low minimums on orders. More free time! Did you notice something very important in this list? They can print and deliver "newsletters" AND you can use "automatic scheduled mailing". Think about this for a moment. I'm very excited about this and you should be too. An entire line of 'information products' can be developed around this exciting feature. Let's say you want to sell a course on "Internet Marketing" or "Search Engine Optimization" or "How To Lose 20 Pounds In 10 Days", etc... whatever. You create a course that has 4 Lessons or 10 Lesson or whatever number fits your course, upload them to QuantumMail, create your list from buyers of the course and have them automatically delivered to the buyers, on schedule, one month apart (or whatever schedule you want them sent) without lifting a finger! This open lots of possibilities when it comes to information marketing. Of course, the most obvious use of the "automatic scheduled mailing" feature is a timed sequence of letters or postcards selling your product or service. In most cases you cannot send just one or two letters or postcards and expect an excellent response. Test after test after test has shown that 6-10 messages timed approximately 2 weeks apart is optimal for most offers. Some other printing and mailing services I found include: http://www.modernpostcard.com/ http://www.everydayprint.com/ http://www.postcardbuilder.com/ They look more expensive than the one's above and I honestly have not done much to evaluate their potential, but you might find something they do so well that you would want to do business with them. Building A Million Dollar Business Using Systems I've shown you how to find lists and how to build your own list. By far the best source of leads will be the one's you capture yourself through classified ads but you may have good luck with rented lists for your particular offers don't ignore them, test them. This is itself can become a 'system'... a 'lead generation system' for your business. Where most businesses go wrong is not thinking in terms of "systems". For example, my 'lead generation' system, at a minimum, would include: The ad I'll use that performs better than others I've used (my control) Additional ads for testing purposes (trying to beat my control) The magazines I advertise in, including their submission dates, run date and ad rates. A spreadsheet that lists the ad used, date run, website hits, and conversion response I would know just by looking in my system when an ad has to be placed, when it would run and what prior response rates have been. When you do this it becomes a little more scientific and measurable than simply 'flying blind' i.e. running a single ad and hoping for a response. But 'systems' are the only way to grow a business to a very large level of sales. If you are interested in building a million dollar plus business think of designing it around 'systems'. You'll need at a minimum: A Lead Generation System A Sales Conversion and Closing System A Customer Service and Support System, for Existing Customers Each of these should be designed with the goal in mind: More sales and higher satisfaction for existing customer. Now if your a pure 'affiliate' marketer and not interested in creating your own products than you don't need "A Customer Service and Support System, for Existing Customers" system. The company you're affiliated with, selling for is providing that system. There are a lot of advantages to that as we discussed in Lesson 5. Refunds should be handled immediately and without question no matter how much it hurts. Your 'system' for refunding a customer should be simple: Just do it. Every business has refunds... everyone has refunds. It's a part of doing business so you add it to your spreadsheet tracking that tracks sales and conversions and keep track of it to make sure it does not exceed a certain percentage of your sales. It's one barometer you can use to determine if there are problems with your products that customers may not be telling you about. If you have a problem with your product because it does not perform as stated or it's not easy to use. Instead of telling you about the products problems, your customer may simply request a refund and never tell you what the real problem is. Most people are very honest and will not request a refund unless there is something seriously wrong with your product. So pay close attention to the percentage of refunds you process. It could save your business. In general (it's different for every business) but if your refund rate is 2% to 5% of your sales then you're ok... 6% to 9% should put you on 'alert' to a potential problem and anything above 10% is a real problem and should be looked into as fast as possible. How about numbers for sales conversion? Again, it depends on the type of product you're offering the price of the product and a hundred other factors but here is a general guide*: If you're generating 2,000 leads a month and closing 500 orders - that's 25% and that's FANTASTIC*! You better start ramping up your lead generation, advertise in more magazines and roll this baby out! You'll be a millionaire in a very short period of time :-) If you're generating 2,000 leads a month and closing 200 orders - that's 10% and that's very good. Anything in the 9% to 15% range is very, very good and should be your goal. If you're generating 2,000 leads a month and closing 80 orders - that's 4% and that's so-so. Not great. Maybe you can do something to fix it... i.e. change your headline, change your offer, ad a dynamite bonus, etc. Test it again and if you don't get a better response DROP the product and sell something else. If you're generating 2,000 leads a month and closing 20 orders - that's 1% and that's very bad*. You should start selling something else. End of story. *This guide works with one condition: Are you PROFITABLE with these rates? For example:You could be selling a $10 item and closing 25% but not making any money because your costs are too high! On the other hand you could be selling an item that is priced at $10,000 and a 1% conversion rate is fantastic and you're profitable at 1%! Now, if you're selling your own product, especially one that is digitally delivered, like an 'ebook', your 'cost' is very, very low. So how do you determine if it's a profitable project worth pursuing? I use two benchmarks during a project: Gross dollars earned and number of orders. Generally if I'm pursuing a project I have two things I'm going to measure it by as it's sent: How many gross dollars will the project generate and how many orders should I expect to receive? If I think I should be getting 400 orders that generates $15,000 in sales on a 4,000 piece mailing and I only get 75, then the project might have to be dropped. Generally if you're mailing to a list for lead generation purposes then your 'conversion' rate is the percentage of people singing up for your ezine, getting your sales piece, etc. If you're mailing to the people who have already signed up for your list and your mailing an offer to them, you should be looking at (1) gross dollars earned on the mailing and (2) the total number of orders - not percentages yet - the total number of orders. I know in my head that I should be getting a 10% response, but when the orders start coming in you want to take a mental note of the pure number of orders coming in. It's much harder to track if you think in terms of percentages... "well, let's see I got 2% in order today and I add that to the 1% yesterday, etc..." You can convert all your numbers to percentage AFTER the project is complete, but during the project, while order are rolling in, you want only the pure numbers to help you determine if you're on track. You see what I mean? All I do is say, "ok, this is a 5,000 piece mailing. I am expecting 500 orders. As the orders start to roll in I want to add them up day by day... let's see I got 55 orders today, 35 yesterday that's 85 so far...". That's what you want to do... keep a rolling total of the number of orders as they come in. In general if you're making an offer to your warm list (a list of people who know you and are expecting your offers) you should receive 90% of your total sales within 7-14 days of your mailing. So by Day 13 you have 485 orders from a 5,000 piece mailing (the day the mailing is sent is "Day 1") then you know you're right on target and getting the expected response and more. Again, the total number of orders, gross sales and anything else you use to measure the success of your promotion is dependent on whether it is PROFITABLE. There are a lot of tutorials on the Internet on how to 'run the numbers' of a direct mail project. There is software as well that will allow you to enter all your costs and your product price and give you 'profitablity' projections based on various conversion rates and percentages. If you can't find one you can use the free one here on BizHub. How Important Is Marketing... Really? You and I have the tools at our disposal right now that direct mail marketers just a few years ago would give their eye teeth for. These are incredible time savers and they will allow you to generate lots of profits if used correctly. One caution with these tools: Make sure your offer is working before rolling it out to a larger audience especially using direct mail. Even though these tools are cool and free and will save you a ton of time there is no substitute for common sense. Let's say an offer to join your "Internet marketing" focused ezine is sent to 1,000 business opportunity seekers from a 'rented' list and only 100 sign up? Is that good or bad? It could be good, but... Let's say you send the same offer to 1,000 new homeowners who are interested in starting a business at home and 235 sign-up...? Which lead generation method worked better? The answer is: it depends. The 100 sign-ups you got from the biz-opp seeker list could be very responsive when you start presenting them with offers, more so than the new homeowners that signed up. So you have to test this all the time to see which type of prospect will generate SALES. That's the only thing that counts. This next section is critically important. You have just learned about some tools that can be used effectively to drive new potential customers to your website. But the big question is, "How do you transform a small business into a very SUCCESSFUL business?" The answer is in your MIND. It's your MINDSET, once again, that makes all the difference. It's the way you look at things that will make the biggest difference in your life and your business. Remember we talked about the fact that you learn things from other people, believe they are true, and then when the truth finally comes to you you're not able to accept it because it conflicts with what you already believe? This is one of those things. You may have learned something about business in the past that was NOT true, but you accepted it because you didn't know the real truth. The problem, as we've discussed, is that most people are not open to the truth when they have an existing belief that contradicts what they are hearing. You need to open you mind here and suspend belief about what 'business all about for the next few minutes. I've seen a lot of people say to me "I don't know what kind of business to start." So I ask them about their hobbies, what interests them, etc. and I ALWAYS find something that that person could start marketing immediately, but they hesitate because they are not sure they want to be "in" that type of business. They don't if they should open a physical store or a website or whatever... They are trying to choose a business to be "in"... whether it's the 'mortgage reduction' business or the 'gift shop' business or the 'auto parts' business and this is the wrong mindset. 100% wrong, that is, if you want to be successful, as you'll see. So our question is: "How Important Is Marketing...Really?" First answer this question: Are you "in" the "information marketing business"? How about the "mortgage reduction business"? Are you really "in" any kind of business at all? Bear with me here... You in not in the information publishing business, you are not in the mortgage reduction business or the coaching business or whatever business you think you're in. You in the "marketing business". Your only business is marketing _______________ (fill in the blank with your business specialty). For example, I am not in the information publishing business, I'm in the "business of marketing information products". There is more to this than you think... so please stay with me. Let me give you some examples of how this mindset can TRANSFORM your business overnight! If you are an owner of a store that sells auto parts, are you in the "auto parts business"? No. You're in the business of marketing auto parts. See the difference? I know it may look like I'm splitting hairs here, but I'm not. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that 'marketing' is your first priority and I don't want you to think that just because your own a physical store that sells, for example, "gift items" that you are stuck with that method of marketing. A 'physical store' is one method of marketing... that's all it is. Just like a 'website'- it's only one form of marketing. With a physical store, if you get a good location you are able therefore to get your prospects attention for your products simply because they are riding in their cars past your store and see the sign you've placed out front. But don't get stuck thinking this is the only way to market your products (the "sign" is a form of marketing your 'gift items', and to be honest, not a very good one because it's passive :)... think in terms of more pro-active forms of marketing like referrals, direct mail, press releases, coupons, display or classified ads and any other method that will bring business to your door. In other words you are NOT marketing your "STORE" because your store makes you no money. Right? It's the SALE of GIFT ITEMS that makes you money. So you do not want to market your store, your business is the marketing of gift items. But how many ads have you seen in your local paper that try to market the 'store' the person owns. I guess it's 'pride' of ownership that causes these shops to advertise the shop, instead of the benefits of the products they carry. Believe me, very, very, very few store owners understand this difference and the mindset I'll share with you below. Let me ask you what would happen if you did not put a sign out in front of your business if you owned this gift shop? Nothing would happen, right? People would not stop at your store to buy anything because they didn't even know you were there. So you see that a "sign" in the front of your store is a form of marketing, right? Is the sign there to advertise your store? No. It's job is to DRIVE potential customers into your store TO BUY gift items. So the marketing for most stores is a simple 'sign' out in front of your store that gives your name and maybe something that describes your store like "Gift Shop". Ok? Now people at least know what you do and that you're a business. No sign, no customers. Are you going to leave your entire businesses future dependent on that one 'sign' in the front of your business or a few ads in your local paper? Sadly, most businesses do. They could be using a hundred different methods to DRIVE potential customers to their front door (some of which I mentioned above) but they don't because they do not understand this important thing: They are not in the 'gift shop business' they are in the business of marketing gift items. When you realize what your REAL business is you begin to see thousands of possibilities for getting more customers. You use anything and everything at your disposal, test every method and keep the one's that work constantly. When you don't realize what business you're really in, you get stuck and confused because you think you are in the "Gift Shop Business" - a DEAD END - then you try to figure out how to market your 'shop'. But that is WRONG. You are in the business of marketing gift items. That's the complete opposite of what really, really successful businesses do! A successful person will turn the phrase "I am in the Gift Shop Business" into "I am in the business of marketing gift items" and suddenly completely turn their business around, overnight Once a business owner realizes they are in the business of marketing they can develop a "direct mail" division or a "infomercial" division or an "Internet" division ... anything that will drive customers to do business with them. Because they are in the 'business of marketing gift items'... and not the 'gift shop business'. See the difference now? The illustration I gave you above is EXACTLY the same type of thinking that you need to employ and it doesn't matter what you're marketing. You are not in the 'mortgage reduction business', you are in the business of 'marketing business reduction solutions' ... ...your website is JUST and ONLY a convenient PLACE to drive your potential customer to so you can capture their contact data. Nothing more. It's the same with for anyone who has a physical storefront -- once you get into this MINDSET, the storefront is JUST and ONLY a convenient PLACE to drive your customer to. You could also take orders by PHONE through running 'infomercials', or on your website or through a direct mail package or catalog. I have seen businesses literally TRANSFORMED overnight into million dollar businesses when they realized what business they are REALLY in ... ..."the business of marketing". This has been the catalyst for a transformation in my own business. I used to think I was in the business of "internet marketing"... I'm not. I'm in the "business of marketing information products" and it doesn't matter HOW - website, infomercial or direct mail, storefront, etc... I hope concept helps you too. I hope it helps you to understand that nothing happens until a sale is made and that the only thing that matters in business is marketing and sales. I cannot tell you what you should market... I don't think it matters as long as their is a strong market for it. You could be in he business of marketing wiper blades for cars or marketing a diet pill. As log as you are convinced the product is a good one and it will benefit the person you're selling it to there is NOTHING stopping you from making a million dollars except YOU. You are the only thing keeping you back. There isn't anyone on this planet that can stop you if you follow the laws of your country. Most businesses languish and fail because the owner has given up. They forgot what business they are really in. There are lots of movie theaters in the area I live, but I have never received any kind of promotion from them at all. Several have closed down. They thought they were in the 'movie theater business and that when they didn't get customers it was because they were in a bad location or 'attendance' was down or some other excuse. If they thought they were in the business of marketing the 'movie experience then I think they would still be with us today. Don't let that happen to you. Know what business you're in and think like a master marketer at all times. Bless you with success, RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR THIS LESSON HIGHLY Recommend Reading Books: Unlimited Selling Power: How To Master Hypnotic Selling Skills by Donald Moine and Kenneth Lloyd, Prentice Hall, 1990. The depths of selling in person or in groups masterfully presented and extremely powerful. The Way To Live and Make A Living: The Lyman P. Wood Story by Roger Griffith, In Brief Press, 2002. The auto-biographical account of a remarkable man who started a business selling a report called the "Have-More Plan" and then how the business evolved. An interesting look inside the the mind of an entrepreneur who just wanted to enjoy life in the country and make money through mail order. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joseph Sugarman, DelStar Books, 1998. First book in a trilogy on the successful methods of Joe Sugarman. This first volume covers his unusual, but highly effective copywriting methods. Marketing Secrets of A Mail Order Maverick by Joseph Sugarman, DelStar Books, 1998. Second book in the marketing trilogy. Discover how Joe Sugarman, the famous mail order maverick who started JS&A (selling BluBlocker Sunglasess among other tech products), reveals his secrets for mail order success. Million Dollar Mailings by Denison Hatch, Libey Publishing, 1992. The art and science of creating money-making direct mail. The book includes copies of the direct mail pieces that have made direct mail history because they made lots and lots of money. The most interesting parts of the book for me are the discussions with the creator of the pieces who reveals the thinking process they used to position the direct mail they created. May Last Piece of Advice To You Is This: I have seen businesses literally TRANSFORMED overnight into million dollar businesses when they realized what business they are REALLY in ... "The business of marketing!" ------------------------ © 2003 by David Vallieres. All rights reserved.