According to Tim Erway, online guru and co-founder of a huge and very well-known internet marketing company, there are three fundamental components which are essential for an effective online sales system. In this short article I’ll explain what they are and how each fits into the bigger picture.
The three essential components of a sales system are:
You need several sources of traffic.
Traffic, of course, means people who see your website (or capture page). There are countless ways of securing traffic, but you don’t need to use them all. Tim and Mike’s very well known company uses just three main sources of traffic. Three is the recommended minimum.
You need an automated prospecting system, which includes three elements:
A capture page. This is where you hook your “traffic” and turn the traffic into “leads” who are potential customers. Give away a freebie in return for their name and email address. Get your prospect into a “yes” state of mind.
An autoresponder. The automatic drip of emails serves to nurture a relationship between you and your leads, behind the scenes. Keep your prospects interested not just by reminding them about your services, but by giving them additional free advice and information that is going to be genuinely helpful. The whole point is to build trust.
A self-liquidating offer. That means you sell them something – not your main product or business opportunity – to pay for the advertising that brought them to you. This could be a report, a seminar a CD or something similar. Tim Erway recommends that you create your own information product as well as something for which you are an affiliate.
The third essential component is a conversion system that works. That means you are converting someone from a “lead” into a paying customer. Your automated prospecting system will have warmed the prospect up. You need an irresistible product, persuasive selling (by the way, this is often achieved by pinpointing a problem or difficulty experienced by the reader and outlining the benefits – not features – of your product which will solve that problem), good reasons to act immediately, straightforward ways of receiving payment and prompt delivery.
Why teachers are well-placed for Internet Marketing
You may not know much about marketing yet, but generally:
- teachers are intelligent and receptive
- teachers are good at instructing and simplifying
- teachers are good at persuading
- teachers are aware of the power of words
- teachers are not easily fooled
- teachers can find time in the holidays
- teachers are good at staying motivated
Have a look at my e-zine article which deals with each point in greater depth. Find out about YourNetBiz.
Monday 10 August 2009
Ten ways to get leads for your online marketing business
No one will have any reason to visit your site until you direct them there. People who arrive at your "landing page" and look at your site are called "traffic". People who show enough interest in you or your product to "opt in" to your list (leave their name and email address) are called "leads" or "prospects". Many gurus consider that your list is your most valuable asset. Here are ten proven ways of getting traffic.
How do you get traffic? Here are some proven ways:
1 Online Listings, many of which are free. People really do read these, but be careful - you will inevitably be contacted by sharks who try to sell unnecessary services to you.
2 Adwords. In the notoriously risky world of "Pay per Click", you write a short ad which contains a compelling message full of the "keywords" that your customers will be using in their Google searches. The ads appear at the top of search results (with a pale coloured background) and to the right of the page. Each time someone clicks on your ad - thus getting sent to your "landing page" - you have to pay google. Get it right and you can make a fortune. Not quite right and you will lose one.
3 Newspaper advertisements: don't bother with local papers if your product comes with a hefty price tag. Ads in national papers can be expensive, so again you have to know what you're doing, but they do work. Agencies such as New Horizons can get you a discount and provide sound advice.
4 Build a great website full of "Keywords", with lots of links to and from it, and to a blog with constantly changing content. The art of setting your site up so that Google will put you at the top of the list is called "Search Engine Optimization" or "SEO". There is a whole industry surrounding this and there are plenty of opportunities to spend money trying to achieve it. Take care!
5 Article Writing: this is free and it can be extremely effective if you've got more time than money. To begin with, write short articles about anything at all that people might be interested in, include a link to your website and submit the articles to sites such as Ezine Articles. You can check which articles are read most, which get the most "clicks" and which are taken up by people who need material for newsletters. Then home in on the more profitable areas and concentrate on a successful "niche".
6 Create short videos and post them on "youtube". Include a link to your website in the description (so that people can click on it), show it on screen and mention it in the video as well. Get involved in user groups and discussion forums. The service is free and you can also use "youtube" videos on your own website.
7 Join social networking groups such as facebook, myspace, twitter and betternetworker. Have fun posting lots of zany messages and establish yourself as a sociable, active contributor. Use your popularity to stir up interest in your product and encourage other users to visit your page and click on your link.
8 Read discussion forums about whatever "niche" you're into. Post informed observations and answer other people's queries in genuinely useful ways that establish you as an expert. Subtly invite readers to click on your link.
9 Newsletter lists subscriptions: collect the email addresses of people who are interested in your niche and send them regular newsletters which include promotions.
10 Start a blog (free from blogger) but make sure the content is well written, entertaining and relevant. Add new, valuable content as often as you can - this can include audio and video, photographs and all kinds of "gadgets". Make sure that important keywords are included in the title of the blog, in the title of each post and in the text itself. Include lots of links (all this helps with the SEO). Promote your blog with Ezine articles, social bookmarking, submitting it to directories, video marketing, RSS feeds, your e-mail signature and comments in other people's blogs.
How do you get traffic? Here are some proven ways:
1 Online Listings, many of which are free. People really do read these, but be careful - you will inevitably be contacted by sharks who try to sell unnecessary services to you.
2 Adwords. In the notoriously risky world of "Pay per Click", you write a short ad which contains a compelling message full of the "keywords" that your customers will be using in their Google searches. The ads appear at the top of search results (with a pale coloured background) and to the right of the page. Each time someone clicks on your ad - thus getting sent to your "landing page" - you have to pay google. Get it right and you can make a fortune. Not quite right and you will lose one.
3 Newspaper advertisements: don't bother with local papers if your product comes with a hefty price tag. Ads in national papers can be expensive, so again you have to know what you're doing, but they do work. Agencies such as New Horizons can get you a discount and provide sound advice.
4 Build a great website full of "Keywords", with lots of links to and from it, and to a blog with constantly changing content. The art of setting your site up so that Google will put you at the top of the list is called "Search Engine Optimization" or "SEO". There is a whole industry surrounding this and there are plenty of opportunities to spend money trying to achieve it. Take care!
5 Article Writing: this is free and it can be extremely effective if you've got more time than money. To begin with, write short articles about anything at all that people might be interested in, include a link to your website and submit the articles to sites such as Ezine Articles. You can check which articles are read most, which get the most "clicks" and which are taken up by people who need material for newsletters. Then home in on the more profitable areas and concentrate on a successful "niche".
6 Create short videos and post them on "youtube". Include a link to your website in the description (so that people can click on it), show it on screen and mention it in the video as well. Get involved in user groups and discussion forums. The service is free and you can also use "youtube" videos on your own website.
7 Join social networking groups such as facebook, myspace, twitter and betternetworker. Have fun posting lots of zany messages and establish yourself as a sociable, active contributor. Use your popularity to stir up interest in your product and encourage other users to visit your page and click on your link.
8 Read discussion forums about whatever "niche" you're into. Post informed observations and answer other people's queries in genuinely useful ways that establish you as an expert. Subtly invite readers to click on your link.
9 Newsletter lists subscriptions: collect the email addresses of people who are interested in your niche and send them regular newsletters which include promotions.
10 Start a blog (free from blogger) but make sure the content is well written, entertaining and relevant. Add new, valuable content as often as you can - this can include audio and video, photographs and all kinds of "gadgets". Make sure that important keywords are included in the title of the blog, in the title of each post and in the text itself. Include lots of links (all this helps with the SEO). Promote your blog with Ezine articles, social bookmarking, submitting it to directories, video marketing, RSS feeds, your e-mail signature and comments in other people's blogs.
Seven ways to find a product for your online marketing business
So you want to make money on the internet, and you’ve heard that there’s a fortune to be made, but you’re not sure what you should be selling? Here are seven areas to consider (but don’t try to do everything – one would be enough).
1 You could promote a physical product that you can make or buy for significantly less than your retail price. Find out how to use eBay effectively by studying one of the many handbooks available.
2 Alternatively, make a deal with a local shop to promote their most desirable product on the internet for a significant percentage. You could start with a "blog" (they're free from blogger.com) although a proper website generally looks more professional, and image is everything.
3 Or go to a site like clickbank, choose an eBook (on a subject that you know about) which is backed up by compelling advertising copy (this is all available free of charge), and then promote it. No postage or packaging costs are involved and you receive a commission for each sale - this is called "Affiliate Marketing".
4 If you have the knowledge and the confidence, you can write your own eBook. Convert it into a PDF file which your customers can download. Perhaps do one that you give away for free and make a second eBook available for sale. Get affiliates to sell it for you.
5 Watch the free videos that promote some of the more credible information/life-skills products, then buy a whole system for less than the price of a tank of petrol. Some of these (virtual) packages come with their own training, marketing system and back office.
6 When you sign up to a high-end, top-tier product, you'll find that the package includes hundreds of eBooks on many subjects, to which you have the rights and which you can sell, keeping all the revenue. Many of them are very useful marketing resources which you will want to use yourself.
7 This one's for serious marketers only: go straight to the top tier and join a high-end outfit. Since the asking price will be substantial, only committed customers will be interested, but a single sale will put a lot of money in your pocket. Follow-up emails and calls can be done for you, the back office is stuffed with video tutorials, eBooks and valuable information and the sales pages are slick. The only thing you’ll need to do is to advertise to attract traffic to the site.
1 You could promote a physical product that you can make or buy for significantly less than your retail price. Find out how to use eBay effectively by studying one of the many handbooks available.
2 Alternatively, make a deal with a local shop to promote their most desirable product on the internet for a significant percentage. You could start with a "blog" (they're free from blogger.com) although a proper website generally looks more professional, and image is everything.
3 Or go to a site like clickbank, choose an eBook (on a subject that you know about) which is backed up by compelling advertising copy (this is all available free of charge), and then promote it. No postage or packaging costs are involved and you receive a commission for each sale - this is called "Affiliate Marketing".
4 If you have the knowledge and the confidence, you can write your own eBook. Convert it into a PDF file which your customers can download. Perhaps do one that you give away for free and make a second eBook available for sale. Get affiliates to sell it for you.
5 Watch the free videos that promote some of the more credible information/life-skills products, then buy a whole system for less than the price of a tank of petrol. Some of these (virtual) packages come with their own training, marketing system and back office.
6 When you sign up to a high-end, top-tier product, you'll find that the package includes hundreds of eBooks on many subjects, to which you have the rights and which you can sell, keeping all the revenue. Many of them are very useful marketing resources which you will want to use yourself.
7 This one's for serious marketers only: go straight to the top tier and join a high-end outfit. Since the asking price will be substantial, only committed customers will be interested, but a single sale will put a lot of money in your pocket. Follow-up emails and calls can be done for you, the back office is stuffed with video tutorials, eBooks and valuable information and the sales pages are slick. The only thing you’ll need to do is to advertise to attract traffic to the site.
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