Every day, you can find so-called gurus touting the latest get-rich-quick-scheme. They’ll promise to tell you how to make loads of cash if you’ll give them a handful of your hard-earned dollars. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that their hyped-up sales pitch is going to work for your business. I know a lot of people who have been discouraged after being “taken” by self-proclaimed Internet gurus. If you’ve bought something from someone who has only sold “How to Get Rich on the Internet” products, you’ve probably been “had.”

There’s an easier way to Internet marketing success, and it doesn’t involve handing over an insane amount of money to learn the process. The good news is that making money on the Internet is within your reach. There’s no “secret” formula, and you don’t have to attend an expensive seminar and take lots of notes to get the answers. In the time it takes for you to read this chapter, I’ll show you how becoming a successful Internet marketer is less about luck and more about using common sense to sell your product or service to others.

I’m living proof that you don’t have to slave away for years in order to “break into” this business. I’ve built a very successful online business in a relatively short period of time, and I’ve tapped into a formula that’s so simple that I can’t believe more people aren’t doing it. Remember this very important point: Becoming a power-seller is not about creativity. It’s about strategy.

Now, listen up: I’m about to show you the proven, step-by-step approach that has made me a ton of money. It’s a simple five-part strategy for building your business, and it creates a win-win relationship between you and your customers. By developing products that you already know your customers want, you can become very wealthy. Employing this very same line of attack over and over again will have a snowball effect on your cash flow.

Have you ever wondered how some people create products that sell like crazy, yet others are constantly losing their shirts with products that never sell? What’s the primary difference between the two entrepreneurs? Both have great products. Both are passionate about their products. Perhaps they’re even selling within the same niche. But there’s one major difference: One used his enthusiasm to get the product out to the public as quickly as possible while the other used his enthusiasm to create desire for his product.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could produce a winning product right now? Wouldn’t it be great if people were so hungry for your product that they couldn’t wait for its release? Rather than praying that “this time” will be your ticket to success, why not create an “insurance plan” that will safeguard your business from failure?

The good news is that success is just around the corner, and I’m going to show you how to launch a marketing campaign that will generate winning products time and time again. You won’t believe how simple it is! I’ll even show you how to stop losing money with ineffective marketing by incorporating five simple steps into your marketing plan. My system works for me every time, and I believe if you put this same system in place for your business, it will also work for you every time, as well.

Before we get started, you need to know that this winning strategy is designed for people who have a customer list or a subscriber list of some sort. If you don’t have a list at all, then I recommend you build one now. Don’t wait another day. It’s your key to creating a winning game plan. Once you have a list in place, this system will make you rich. No kidding.

First, I want to quickly discuss the wrong way to launch a product. The main problem I see is that people get overly excited about their product without putting thought into the actual selling process. They’re inspired by an idea, and they get so pumped up about it that they charge full steam ahead without really giving the marketing strategy the time and thought it needs to succeed.

The Internet is a virtual marketplace of millions of products. Every day, goods and services are marketed via the web. Enthusiastic entrepreneurs, like you, launch new websites each day. Their potential for success or failure depends upon whether they jump too quickly into the fire.
Products bomb all the time because of ineffective marketing strategies, but with just a bit of careful planning your marketing campaign with be a success.

Here’s how an average person begins a product launch:

1. He has an idea.
2. He takes action on the idea.
3. He builds a product around the idea with no research.
4. He launches the product.
5. He experiences poor sales and wonders why.

If you can identify with this scenario, don’t sweat it. This is the normal thought process of an average entrepreneur. However, it’s a lousy process and one that will never take your business to the next level. Next, I’ll reveal how wealthy entrepreneurs launch successful marketing campaigns time after time again. It’s so simple—so basic—yet it’s the most overlooked part of the process.

As a matter of fact, as long as you read the entire chapter, this process will change the way you do business. Don’t skip a single word. For you to be successful, you must follow each step precisely as I’ve outlined them.

The first step that makes this process drop-dead easy is having a list. The size of your list doesn’t necessarily matter, but the responsiveness of your list is very important. Don’t get ahead of yourself and launch your product before you get some very valuable feedback from your customer list.

Why is your list so important? One simple reason: You will be asking these people some very important questions, and their answers will determine how you create new products. They will tell you exactly what they want and what they don’t want. The number one rule in selling is to focus on what your customers want, not what you think they want. Stop believing that the product creation is YOUR responsibility; it’s not.

Although you’ll physically create the product, your customer list will provide you with best ideas for what you should develop and when. When you listen to your potential customers, you’ll be rewarded with more sales than you would if you created a product without prior research.

Before we continue, you need to realize that you will no longer need to be creative when making your own products. There are a lot of broke creative business owners. Don’t be one of them. People don’t want “creative. They want products that will make their lives easier, make them wealthier, make them healthier, etc. You get the picture.

Where you launch your business is not nearly as important as how you launch it. For instance, I own a highly successful company, and it began in a small apartment. Although my wife and I made our fair share of mistakes along the way as we were growing our business, the best thing we did was listen to our customers. Because of this strategy, we’ve created a business that ships products all over the world, and our customers keep buying because we give them what they want. Because of the relationship we’ve nurtured with our customers, our business has thrived.

When you’re finished reading this chapter, you’ll understand exactly how I think and exactly what I do to hit home runs with my product launches. Now, let’s get started.

You can follow these steps with virtually any product, but because I own a business that teaches people to braid and weave hair, let’s assume we’re selling instructional hair styling DVDs. Because I’ve built a sizeable list already, I can get started with my market research. But, before we even begin to create a new product, here is what we’ll do.

Step 1:

As I said earlier, you’ll need to have a list, so focus on building your e-mail list with sharply focused intensity. Without this step, you’re just shooting in the dark and hoping for the best. You must create this list so you can sell to these people in the future, and you’ll also want to know their needs, wants, and desires for future product creations.

Step 2:

Once you’ve built your list, it’s critical you set up your autoresponders for at least one year with evergreen content that will be just as relevant in five years as it is now. You never want your messages to just stop. You want to keep the relationship going with your list. Always provide great content and build a life-long relationship. Relationship building is important and the lifeblood of your business, so you must constantly survey your list and ask questions.

Step 3:

Here’s a crucial step: Once someone signs up for your e-mail list, set your autoresponder so that exactly 14 days later you’ll ask a question similar to this one:

Hi [NAME], I’m sorry to bother you, but I have a real quick question. If you could choose any hairstyle you’d like me to film, what would it be? It’s simple to answer, simply hit “Reply” to this e-mail and let me know. Thanks!

The answers you’ll get will provide you with the exact information you need to create your next product. Look for trends, and make sure you stay current or one step ahead of the industry.

Step 4:

When someone contacts you on your website through your contact form, have a box that says, “What Hairstyle Would You Like Me To Film”? Now, this gives you even MORE great information for your next hair styling DVD and products. It also involves your customers in the process, which further builds on your marketing relationship. If you can build a good relationship with your customers, they’re more likely to buy more products from you in the future.

I would also recommend asking what their biggest problem is with their hair or hair styling products. This will give you great information for other products. Of course, you just need to change the words to fit your niche, but you can see how easy this is.

Step 5:

Now you’ll need to regulate your surveys.

Go to www.SurveyMonkey.com, and sign up so you can send surveys to your list on a regular basis. I recommend sending a survey to your list every four months. Ask your list five very specific questions, and offer a gift in return for taking the time to answer. For instance, you may also offer a discount on future purchases. Just make sure you give a gift that is valuable to the receiver; otherwise, you may not get the feedback you need.

Keep the questions simple. You don’t want to take up too much of their time because many of them won’t bother to respond. The questions should be short and to the point. For instance, if you’re in the hair styling business, you may want to ask the following questions:

1. What’s your favorite hairstyle?
2. What’s the best product you’ve ever used in your hair and why?
3. What’s your biggest problem you’re having with your hair right now?

If you don’t have a list already in place, get a list right away and give it time to build. I won’t create a product unless I have 200 or more responses from my list. I really like to have 350 or more but at the very least, I require 200 to get solid information.

See how simple this plan is?

Making money online doesn’t have to be complicated. Many successful entrepreneurs have built wealth with simple, low-cost products. Remember, the sky’s the limit! Because the world is your audience, you can tap into virtually any niche and make a good living.

I guarantee that if you start putting these systems in place within your business, you won’t have enough time to create all the products your customers want.

Now, go have fun and make lots of money!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Making Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.