When you start a business, you have an idea of who you are targeting, what that market wants and the messaging required to get that market to take an interest and buy what you are offering.

The smallest error in either your assumptions around market, their desires or their "hot buttons" can mean a massive difference in your sales, profits and future in your business.

So why are we so confident that WE know the market, what they want and how they want to hear about it?

TOUGH LESSONS LEARNED

When I first started my own information product business I wrote an ebook that bundled a ton of knowledge into a guidebook that helped others put together their own products highly focused on the creative process…but after several reviews and being hit over the head enough times I was told "You have one really GREAT chapter in your ebook which talks about packaging that information into info products so people can leverage their time & energy by packaging their knowledge for profit – why not just go with that?"

You have to understand, the entire book was my baby, I didn't WANT to give up the other chapters, but as time went on it became more obvious that I had to fit my knowledge to the market instead of the other way around.

SO…AFTER ALL, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK

Just this morning I was speaking to another marketer who had yet to learn the same lesson…

He mentioned how much he hated a certain subject line that marketers often use in broadcast emails out to their list, the subject line was "If you are reading this, chances are…"

The fact is there are many email subject lines that may personally dirve me nuts but one thing I've learned to do in marketing is to trust the results…

So, I would not dismiss using any email subject line unless a) It were obviously offensive or would hurt someone or b) Test results showed it was abismal in its response.

There are two aspects to email marketing that are important…

1. Getting people to open the email

2. Getting people to read and take action on your post

It may be that the subject line you mention will do neither OR it could be that it accomplishes both, do we really know?

If not, then I would be willing to test it with some solid content relevant to the post.

Look – if you have a list of 5000 people and what you are writing about is highly relevant to those people, AND the subject line "If you are reading this, chances are… gets them to open and read your email at a rate 1.5 times higher than other subject lines, would you still think it is stupid?

When it comes right down to it, there are two extremely important factors that will improve our business results:

1. Getting to know our market at a deeper and much more comprehensive level…who they are, what is causing them pain, what they badly want and why. The more we know about our market, the more we will be able to speak their language in terms of product offerings and marketing

2. Suspend disbelief long enough to test.  One thing I have learned in my decades creating information products and marketing is that more than half the time my gut is wrong…so it is much better for me to dig in and know more about my market and then suspend disbelief until I have tested. 

Could you have missed something in your product planning or marketing because of how YOU feel or beliefs YOU have instead of taking guidance from your market?  Leave us a comment, it may help others to expand their thinking and breakthrough current limitations.

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Do you have a clear picture of what success in your own online business would mean? 

Even more important, do you have a measure of success in the short-term (say 6-months out), medium term (1-2 years out) and longer term (3-5 years out?)

BUSINESS SUCCESS IS A MOVING TARGET

When I first speak with newbie internet marketers or infoproduct writers and publishers they have a goal of what they would like to be earning – for everyone there are different motivations behind these numbers, some have in mind paying off a mortgage or major debt while others want to replace a current job or career, still others have a big number in mind so they can secure their future years. 

Having long-term measures of success is a great thing – shooting to earn $100K with your own internet business to take the place of a current job is a terrific goal and could be quite realistic in a greater than 6-month scenario, but how do we stay motivated, focused and satisfied with our progress in the meantime?

UNDERSTANDING PROFIT…THEN GROWTH

When we start out, everything is on a small scale (unless we buy an existing business).

We have zero traffic, a brand new website, a new product, no or a very small following – sales will be non existent or at least very low.

In the first few months, as traffic builds, our sales process kicks in we can begin to make some early sales and draw some conclusions. 

Let's say your weekly sales have reached $300, and to get those sales you have spent $250 – that is a $50 profit. 

Not bad to start with, because we could scale this model and turn $600 in sales into $100 in profit, $1200 in sales into $200 profit – and so on…

The first important point in building a business  is that we have found a profitable system, we can work with that.  In the beginning, focus on profit NOT on sales

The differences between those people making $300 on $250 investment and those making $3000 o on a $1500 investment are…

1. They have tried more things and found the right combination that produces 50% profit instead of $15% profit

2. They would have started with little or no profit, but continued to change, test and improve their process to triple or even quadruple their profits

3. They have learned something about their market that is much more fundamental – what their market values most which allows them to make $10 for every $5 invested.

4. Having found a system or generating traffic, converting that traffic into profits and improving profit margin over time, they can now scale their business to continually increase sales monitoring profit to make sure it stays in an acceptable range.  This what takes a part-time internet business into a full-time enterprise. 

FAILING TO SUCCEED CANNOT BE AN OPTION

Too many times the people we work with have given up when they make their first loss, when their profits are not as high as they expect or when their business remains at a very low scale…they have NOT made failure painful enough.

Nothing will happen if you don't make NOT succeeding with your business more painful than succeeding.  It is not enough to say "I wish…I had my own business" or "I hate my job…" without constantly reminding yourself (each day) the implications of NOT succeeding with your internet business venture. 

If you are not absolutely convinced that you MUST succeed with all of your living matter…then you most probably will not.

People who try once or twice and then give up have not associated enough pain and unpleasantness with NOT succeeding, otherwise they would not have given up.

Look, we know that staying focused, keeping your faith, remaining motivated and working through challenges is not easy..if it was, there would be many more of us millionaires. 

A big part of why we made InfoMarketer'sZone so accessible was to not only provide a solid system, simple training and helpful tools for starting and growing your information product marketing busieness on the internet – it was also to provide a strong bridge over troubled dips in your motivation & belief. 

From initial planning through post-launch, we talk about what to expect when building a business, how to measure and examine your online business, how to interpret the results you are getting and how to really scale the more successful aspects of your business so you don't lose faith and you DO succeed where many others have given up. 

Now that is as close to guranteed business success as you are going to get! 

How do you see success in your business or business plans…and how will you know when you have reached your goals?  Let us know by clicking on the "Comment" bubble top right of this message and leaving us your comment.

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"Off-Ramp" Money Machines

It is sometimes confusing to understand how you convert a growing and loyal blog reader base into email list opt-ins where you can begin to push out information to them.

One of the best things about blogs are that, by nature, they put control of what content people want back in the hands of the reader because they "Pull" the content they want through RSS, links, etc…instead of content being "Pushed" at them through email marketing.

However,  at any given time there are a subset of your blog readers (anywhere from 10% all the way up above 50%) who do WANT great content and are more than willing to become an opt-in subscriber on one of your email lists to get that content. 

So, what is the best way to channel loyal blog readers into opt-in subscribers on the path to becoming paid customers?

OFF-RAMPS ON YOUR SUPERHIGHWAY

Try thinking of your blog as the super-highway where you draw thousands and thousands of interested readers each month and you have "off-ramps" where you branch out to collect opt-in subscribers.

Each one of these "off-ramps" is tied to an "automatic money machine" where you have tapped into a passionate desire to achieve outcomes to challenges or desires – the off-ramps take you on a busy street filled with content and multiple promotions that collect your subscribers money before they get back on the super-highway.

First – They Find You

Readers find your blogs by seeing a posting appear on the search engines when they search for information about your topic, or they see a link from another blog they read, or they find you through links from articles and other content around the net. 

If you blog regularly, you will notice your readers/visitors will grow large quickly – the challenge then becomes monetizing that content in a way that meets the desires and wants of your readers. 

Then – They Subscribe…

We do that through a concept of OFF-RAMPS – just as you would see on a super-highway.

For example, one general off-ramp would be a free-course, report or video you give away from the front of your blog – you have an opt-in form from a major autoresponder such as our favorite pick - Aweber, which takes your readers to the specialized content they are looking for. 

Another off-ramp – you could post to your blog part 1 of a video series where they click on your post to be taken to a page where they see part 1 but must opt-in to get part 2. 

You can offer a 1-time 10-page report on a tip, technique, strategy or case study you are offering and collect an opt-in on that.

Next…They Buy From You, Again and Again

Another idea for an off-ramp is to review a product (either your own or an affiliate product where you could earn a profit on sales).  For this type of off-ramp, you can either link directly to the affiliate product or – even better – start the review, then have them click to the "Full Review" which requires an opt-in.  Now you have a mailing list of high-demand subscribers who want to purchase products in different markets – these all become automatic money machines for you. 

HOW DO I COLLECT THE EMAILS AND MANAGE MY LIST?

I've been asked many times whether you should use a Wordpress plugin, script or form to collect and manage your subscribers who sign up on your blog to these "off-ramps" you create – my answer is…

 NO – you MUST use a strong auto-responder service.  The one we have used for years with a high degree of success and satisfaction is Aweber.  Do yourself a favor – get an account and begin building your off-ramps.

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Oddly enough, it took reading a recent interview with Malcolm Gladwell who has recently been on the interview circuit for his latest book "Outliers" to remind me of the important that persuasion and influence play in achieving anything within today's society – including business. 

The author of "Blink" has chosen to deal with much more politically charged topics in Outliers than books of the past – touching on the role of priviledge, IQ and tearing down the notion that there is anywhere close to a level playing field between poor, the wealthy, the smart and those with lower IQ. 

There is a lesson for any of us who write for a living – who produce training, information-based products – don't be afraid to be controversial, to deal with topics that ruffle a few feathers.  I'm not saying be controversial for the sake of being controversial, just to not shy away from the challenging issues and questions related to your topic.

ADVANCING YOUR CAUSE

One of the major statements Gladwell makes in the Macleans interview is the following:

"Being successful is all about whether you have the skills necessary to impose your will on the world. That’s really what class advantage is: being taught the skills necessary to make sense of institutions."

Is that really true?

I would argue this statement is fundamentally wrong – being successful is NOT about IMPOSING your will as much as it is about 1) Knowing what you want and 2) Learning how to influence and persuade others around to your point of view.

Barak Obama was tremendously successful in his bid to become President – would you say he imposed his will on the people – NO, he mastered the art of persuasion and influence.  How do you persuade or influence?

1) You are likeable – if people like you, they are more likely to do what you want

2) You use empathy – if they sense you know what they are feeling, they will be more apt to listen and follow

3) You do what you say and prove what you say is true…proof could be social proof (others support your view) quantitative proof or any other form of credibility enhancing proof points that gain trust

4) Consistency – we value consistency, if you are bouncing around all over the place, you will not be able to influence or persuade

Gladwell is correct in saying that people who are priviledged enough to be around such influence at an early age will have an advantage, I'm not sure that is always the most wealthy, strongest, most prestigious people in society – but there is likely a correlation between status and the ability to persuade. 

Regardless, if one can master the two critical pillars of achievement being 1) Knowing what you want and 2) Mastering persuasion and influencing skills, there is no reason to believe they cannot elevate themselves from any starting place in life.

What do you think?

Jeff

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When you choose to start your own business, the potential for procrastination is very high since you are entering a new area with equal amounts of excitement and sheer terror! 

There are many risks that underly the rewards – you could lose money, look bad to those around you, miss out on living out a long held dream, hurt those around you, so much to ponder, the reasons for procrastination is extremely high.

Once you get started with your online business, there are up-front strategic decisions on market and positioning, technical decisions to be made – again the procrastination anxiety can be quite high.

Info product publishers – developing content for your info products is a common area where you get caught in the trap of procrastination never seeming to finish projects. 

So what to do?

Here's an excellent 6-part method for using positive affirmations to beat back procrastination – turn your objectives for your online business into daily affirmations using this system and you can truly make procrastination a concern of the past. 

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If you're goal is to make a few hundred bucks each month – then you can certainly play around with some internet marketing tactics, but to get to a full-time, growing income we have to turn our sights on operating a real business.

That's one of the first steps we help our members with over at InfoMarketer'sZone is to make sure they are on solid ground as far as market definition, business idea and product strategy.  That way the foundation is set to build a high-growth, high-profit, full-time online business.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IM AND A REAL BUSINESS?

The fundamental difference between someone who dabbles with internet marketing, perhaps starts a few websites, sells some affiliate products or establishes a bunch of Adsense revenue sties and someone who builds a six or seven figure online income is the concept of VALUE.

Are you committed to offering ongoing value to a market segment you can both reach and understand?

To me, the difference between someone who is operating an ineffective business versus a very effective, long-term, growing business is the degree to which they 1) focus on their market 2) Understand the underlying challenges, desires and emotions of their market and 3) is committed to ongoing delivery of value to that market.

I remember back in 2000 when I first decided to develop my own training products and market them online — after years of doing so offline.

I (along with many others at the time) read through Corey Rudl's "Insider Secrets" course and couldn't believe the huge potential IM offered to reach markets and distribute products…BUT THEN

A few days after reviewing his entire course I thought, this course is ONLY useful for those who already have a business…who already KNOW what they want to offer their market AND understand that their market wants what they have to offer.

What I saw happening was a massive number of business opportunity seekers who looked at IM as a business in itself…that magically by putting some products in front of internet users they would want what they were offering…therein lies the trap.

Instead – businesses are built on a deep understanding of their customers, a fundamental committment to delivering value (either through services or products).

It was shortly after reading Corey's course that I put out my first product which was exactly to fill that gap – a business and product idea generator and testing system so that people would have a process and system where they could get a handle on WHAT business they were in first, then be able to use the amazing marketing techniques he was teaching at the time.

Since then, I've started 3 different businesses where IM was involved – 1 is sold and 2 others continue growing. Lots of fun!

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