AUGUST 2006
Greetings & Salutations:
Back in 2004. all the rage was to put together a book by asking
successful people to answer questions, then publishing the questions
and answers in an eBook -- well ...
I'll bet I answered a thousands questions - but - most of them
were never published - SO ... last year, I published a
ho'bunch of the questions I was asked and my answers to
those questions for you (you'll find them in
the archives starting with the July, 2005, issue of the
eLetter -- archives.html).
Well, I thought I had published all of them - but - I just
found a ho'batch of them that I overlooked in my personal
archives - so - here they are.
Hope you gain something from them.
Q: What Online Business
are you involved with?
A: Selling the same info-products
I have sold by mailorder for 30 years.
Q: What have been your
major challenges/obastacles so far? -- How did you overcome
them? -- How did you learn what it take to succeed?
A: After setting up my
website, I said to myself, "Self, you now have a web site;
which is supposed to revolutionize mailorder marketing, so why
not do some marketing to see if you can make some of those Big
Bucks everybody is talking about."
To that end, I followed all of the advice from each and every
one of the Internet Gurus I could find. -- Guess what? -- The
Internet Marketing b.s. is even more pervasive than the mailorder
b.s. -- It didn't take me long to figure out that most of those
who were making a fortune on the Internet were making their fortunes
by selling information about "how to make money on the Internet."
As in mailorder, ALL of the gurus were right - but - ALL of
the gurus were wrong, too.
Each of them can teach you "what" they have done
... in their specific field; with their specific product or service;
to their specific customer list ... but - they cannot tell you
"how" to sell YOUR specific product or service. --
You have to learn that for yourself.
Since I didn't have a "how to make money on the Internet"
product to sell, I began testing, Testing, TESTING, and Testing-Some-More
to find methods that would work for me.
The things that didn't work were discarded. The things
that worked were enhanced and multiplied.
Just as I have always done in my mailorder business, I slowly,
but surely, built a stable of methods, techniques and media that
work for me and just did it over, & over, & over ...
multiplying my profits. And, even when I seemed to have
a full stable, I continued my testing to continue adding methods,
techniques and media that work for me.
"Testing" is what separates the winners from the
wannabees in the mailorder business and, now, the Internet marketing
business. -- But, you gotta do it ... you can't just use your
tracking methods once and forget it. You have to do it
with every method, technique and medium you use ... keep good
records ... watch every indicator ... leave nothing to chance.
At long last, when I had actually made a new fortune on the Internet,
I wrote and published a book about Internet marketing ...
... where I don't just each "what" to do but
"how" to do it.
Q: What specific types
of online marketing tools are you using successfully?
A: My most successful
Internet marketing tool is ... just as it is in mailorder ...
frequent emailings to my own in-house email customer list.
Q: Do you believe in these
4 words as the basic online success formula -- 1. Simplicity
-- 2. Leverage -- 3. Automation -- 4. Multiplication -- Can you
explain briefly on each in relation to online marketing?
And how you use any of them?
A: NO ... I DO NOT.
Marketing; of any kind, is not "simple." -- It is
just as much art as science. -- Ain't anything "simple"
about it - and - anyone who tells you it is is either a fool
or a liar.
You can't begin to "leverage" anything until you
find at least one (just one) method or application that really
works for you, your product or service, and your customers. --
Only then can you begin to leverage your methods by doing more
and more of the same thing ... to bigger and bigger audiences.
Before you "automate" anything you have to be sure
that what you are automating won't take away from you the ability
to stay on top of what is happening in your business. -- All
too many people automate their business before they even have
a business and, because it is automated, they have no way of
telling where they are making money and where they are losing
money.
Zero times zero is still zero. -- If you don't have a winner,
why would you want to "multiply" your dismal results.
When you have a "proven" success, then (and only
then) can you multiply your efforts by employing dealers, distributors,
or affiliates.
Q: Have you always envisioned
yourself doing what you are doing now? -- What did you want to
be when you grew up?
A: Yes & No ...
When I was a kid ... growing up on the farm ... I wanted to
find a way to make life easier for myself and for other people.
I fulfilled that desire by finding products and services I could
sell to other people to make their lives easier or better. --
I made their lives easier and better and, by so doing, made my
life easier and better, too.
As I have done things during my lifetime, I have kept notes
of what I have done and how I have done it ... even the things
that didn't work. Then, about 37 years ago, I found out
that people would pay real money to learn what I had learned
the hard way, so I began writing about my successes and, in some
cases, my failures.
I set up a company to sell my writings and went ahead doing
other businesses ... succeeding in some; failing in some ...
and writing about what I had done. -- My writings; since they
were from "personal" experience, not research, gave
me a worldwide following of other business people who wanted
to know how to do some of the things I have done.
Today, I mostly write about the things I have done - BUT -
I am always ready to take on the next "real" opportunity
when it comes my way.
Hey ... I ain't growed up, yet ... I just got older.
Q: What is your least
favorite part of running your own business? Your favorite part?
A: My least favorite task
is "writing" ... I hate it. -- I would much rather
be doing it than writing about it - but - I have made it my objective
to tell the "truth about making money" to those who
are constantly bombarded by the b.s. put out by people who have
never done it. -- The "truth" may sometimes be hard
to swallow but it is always the truth.
Of all the things I have done, being able to answer business
questions for those who are serious about "really"
doing business, is most enjoyable.
Q: What is the most important
advice or tip you would give to a new online business owner.
A: Quit looking for an
easy way. -- There ain't one.
Q: What public relations
tools work particularly with promoting an internet business?
A: Public Relations is
public relations, whether it be for an Internet business or an
offline business.
Almost every business person knows the value of a well-written
News Release - but - few of them are capable of writing one.
And, advertising copywriters don t do much better because publishers
don t consider "ad-copy" to be "news worthy."
How, then, can you get a good News Release written?
The answer is simple ... hire a professional ... a person
well versed in turning mundane subjects into "news."
-- Hire a Journalist.
Most Journalists are on the low-end of the pay scale.
For that reason, they are always looking for "freelance"
writing assignments.
When you want to get a news article (Release) written about
yourself, your business or product, go to your local newspaper
office and talk to some of the reporters. Ask if any of
them would be interested in earning a few bucks on a "freelance"
writing assignment.
Once you have the reporters interest ... which will happen
almost instantly ... tell them you want a dynamite news article
written about (whatever). -- Tell them they don t have to offer
the article to their newspaper for publication ... just write
it. -- Ask them to suggest or recommend ideas, publicity stunts,
gimmicks, tricks or anything else you can do to give them a 'story'
to write. -- Offer to pay the reporters from $50 to $100 for
each 'story' you accept. -- Buy the articles that have the most
punch to them. -- Use those articles as News Releases.
Hey ... it works! I ve done it myself ... countless
times.
Q: I have heard that a
newsletter is one of the best ... if not the best way of selling
because once you have the contacts you have a built in captured
audience so to speak. -- Do you find this to be the case?
A: First, you need to
read my report about how to get rich publishing your
own newsletter at:
Jan03.html
Almost every guru tells you that you should publish a newsletter
(ezine) in order to build your email list to which you can sell
your products.
They ain t wrong - but - they ain t all together right either.
Actually, I was far ahead of the gurus when I first set-up
my web site ... I had been publishing offline, paper & ink
newsletters since 1969 so I established a newsletter to go to
people who visited my site from day one.
Beyond that, I had been preaching the use of newsletters as
"sales tools" since the mid-1970s. Even though
it almost got me thrown out of a "newsletter publishing
seminar" in the late 1970s, when I was invited to speak
and be a panelist at a seminar on newsletter publishing ... primarily
directed at journalists, graphic artists and publishers.
There were only a few thousand newsletters in this country
back then and the vast majority of those newsletters were "in-house
organs" used to keep employees, members or sales people
informed of happenings within the organization. -- There were
only, maybe, a thousand real "commercial" newsletters
of the market ... selling subscriptions (without advertising)
to defined niche markets and making significant (big) profits.
-- Today, there are well over 50,000 "commercial" newsletters
on the market ... and hundreds of thousands of electronic newsletters
(ezines).
Back then, we; the commercial newsletters, were called the
"bastard children" of the publishing industry.
But, more and more of the "legitimate" publishers were
beginning to see the profits in newsletter publishing and were
eager to learn how it was done. -- That was (supposedly) the
purpose of the seminar and the reason I was invited to participate.
At the seminar, I listened all day to the speakers drone on
& on about journalistic style, graphic arts, creative design
and all the other glorious stuff that goes into conventional
publishing. -- Not once did any of them even mention the most
important element ... the customer; the real, live person who
was going to "pay money" to read the newsletter.
When it was my turn to speak, I told the audience that journalistic
style, graphic arts and creative design had absolutely nothing
to do with a "successful, profitable" newsletter.
The only thing that mattered was giving the "customer"
short; quickly read, information on the subject ... to "sell"
the newsletter.
At first, the audience sat dumbfounded at what I was telling
them. Then, I told them, "The only purpose of a commercial
newsletter is to sell it and other related products and services
to the readers ... your customers ... to make a profit."
Believe it or don t, back then, I was actually booed by the
audience for having equated newsletter publishing to making money.
-- Today, everyone is preaching "making money" from
newsletter (ezine) publishing and it seems everyone is publishing
a newsletter or an ezine. -- But ...
"Half the world is composed of people who have something
to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say
and keep on saying it." - Robert Frost
As a matter of fact, this past month I counted 23 ezines
with exactly the same articles ... picked up from the "writers"
who offer their articles for publication. -- The only difference
was the "ads" which had been "sold" to other
aspiring Internet marketers.
Then again, I guess I receive a few dozen ezines which are
heavy on graphics and all kinds of little boxes with links to
products and services the publisher is selling. -- Just like
the fancy paper & ink newsletters published by the over-sophisticated
journalists and magazine publishers. -- They still fail to consider
the most important element ... their customers.
My suggestion is to NOT publish an ezine ... in the conventional
sense. If you do, you will only be ONE of the multitude
of ezines out there. But, DO PUBLISH.
If you aren t going to publish an ezine, what do you publish?
Rather than being one of the masses, just write "personal
letters" ... by email, of course ... to your email list.
In each letter, tell your readers about something you have just
read, seen or heard. -- Nothing fancy. Something like a
"letter from home" with information about the subject
of your marketing efforts.
For example: If you write about "fishing,"
you might tell your readers ... who are ALL interested in fishing
... about the "big one that got away" last week.
Or, you might share a fishing joke you heard today ... or, tell
them where you found the best fishing hole on the Oopsagolla
River.
REMEMBER: Your goal is to make "customers"
... not just "sales." When you have the "customers,"
the "sales" will come.
Q: There seems to be different
opinions about using pop ups -- How do you feel about their use?
-- Is there really any detailed studies done on this?
A: As with everything
else in business, there are no doubt countless studies
on the use, misuse and abuse of pop ups; and pop unders, too.
How do I feel about them? -- Ambivalent.
Those who use them swear by them. Those who oppose their
use swear at them. -- SO ...
Whatever works for you is okay by me ... I just click the
little box in the corner and go on about my business.
Q: Do you recommend using
joint ventures to sell your products online and how do you do
it?
A: What is a Joint Venture?
-- Unfortunately, it has been shrouded in mystery by those who
want to sell you a course on developing Joint Venture partners.
EVERY affiliate program is a Joint Venture.
Yes ... if you have a viable product; with sales material
that sells that product online, you definitely should establish
an Affiliate Program. Then, you invite people to "joint
venture" with you in the sales of your product - but - BEFORE
you set up your Affiliate Program be sure your sales materials
"sell" your product. Never giver your Affiliate
Marketers (Joint Venture Partners) sales materials that don't
work. -- If you can't sell your product using your sales materials,
neither can they and they won't be your affiliates for long.
Q: I would be VERY interested
in your overall predictions for the path of Ecommerce.
Is it here to stay? How much of any given population will
migrate to mostly shopping via the Net?
A: Sorry ... I ain't a
prophet.
Successful entrepreneurs never try to predict the future.
They live, work and make money in the "here &
now." They watch their customers to determine where
those customers are going ... without trying to "guess"
where their customers will be in the future. -- As the customers
embrace a new marketing medium, the entrepreneur rolls with the
punches and learns how to use that medium to reach the customers.
The "future" is driven by the "customers"
... not by the wishes, hopes, dreams or prognostications of the
entrepreneur.
Q: Do you have any tips
to share on how to find one's target market more easily online?
A: What is a "target"
market? -- It is only a group of people who share a common interest.
Therefore, you simply look for web sites, discussion groups,
boards & forums, where people who share that common interest
congregate.
It ain't easy - but - it ain't difficult, either. --
Just search for the "keywords" common to the people
you want to reach.
Q: What in your opinion
constitutes "making a good living" on the internet?
A: What would be a "good
living" for me would probably be completely different for
you.
If you are currently working a job; getting a
pay check each pay period, and consider that amount
of money a "good living" then all you need to
do is get your Internet business to a point where the income
will replace your current pay check. -- If your current
pay check isn't a "good living" to you, figure
out for yourself what you would consider a "good living"
and shoot for that mark.
Q: If you're on a shoestring
budget, how do you find investment money to "roll out"
a marketing project?
A: Believe it or don't,
in my 50 years in business, I have NOT ONCE looked for
investment money for a marketing project.
NO ... I did NOT always have the money I needed
to roll out - but - the beauty of the marketing business
is that it can finance itself.
Instead of planning to roll out with a 10,000 piece
mailing, ads in every possible publication, radio &
TV ads, or whatever, just start with what you can afford.
If it doesn't work, you will only lose what
you can afford to lose - AND - you will know, if
you had someone else's money involved you would have lost it.
On the other hand, if your small marketing efforts works ...
produces a profit ... just keep putting the money back into more
& more & more of the same marketing. Let your profits
make profits make more profits.
That's the way I have done it for nearly 50 years
... even when I have had millions to spend on advertising.
Q: Do you use eBay as
a sales vehicle? What are your recommendations on using eBay?
A: Sorry ... I have
never used eBay.
I have looked at their site a number of times & thought
it might have possibilities - but - I am so busy
doing what I do; and making money at it, I simply haven't
had the time to learn how to use eBay.
Guess What? -- Surprise, surprise! -- While I was putting
these Questions & Answers together for this issue, I found
a ho'bunch more of them that had never been published - so -
guess what you're gonna get next month?
Copyright - 2006, J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved.