Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
August 18, 2008
Issue #483
Dear Business-Builder,
The great investor Warren Buffet has a net worth of about $62 billion. That’s sixty-two thousand million dollars.
If your net worth is $10 million, Warren is 6,200 times richer than you.
If you’re worth $1 million, he has 62,000 times more money than you do.
If your net worth is $100,000, Mr. Buffet is 620,000 times richer than you are.
There are people whose businesses grow a hundred, maybe even a thousand times or more faster than yours does. For every new customer you attract, they attract 100, 1,000, maybe even 10,000 or more.
There are people who look, feel and perform ten, twenty, even thirty years younger than you do …
Who have far greater success in love and relationships (OK – maybe just in sex) than you do …
Who live better for less, have greener lawns, clearer skin, more hair, thinner waists and smaller butts, better-behaved or more successful kids, more friends or are more successful in some other area of life than you are.
Sorry – but you know it’s true. And no, I’m not trying to depress you – just trying to make a very important point.
So let me ask you: WHY do you think all those people are doing so much better than you in so many different areas?
Are they all thousands of times smarter than you?
Do they work thousands of times harder?
Are they thousands of times luckier?
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Posted by:
Daniel Levis
July 2, 2008
Issue #450
Dear Web Business-Builder,
Yesterday, being Canada’s 141st birthday — I got to wonderin’ …
What would life be like up here in Canada if we hadn’t wupped you Yanks in that war?
… Would the Russians have gotten away with invading Chechnya and Saskatchewan?
… Would VCRs be legal?
… Would baby seals still be clubbed to death on the Toronto ice flows?
I guess we’ll never know …
What I do know is that to celebrate this Canada Day, instead of giving you the usual 13-gun salute, fireworks, and double ration of rum … here I am doling out Web marketing advice.
I know everybody hates it — advice that is — but think of it as a gift from the Great White North … right up there with Captain James T. Kirk, Tommy Chong, and Pamela Anderson.
Now where was I … before fantasizing about being a lifeguard?
Oh right — advice. Well here it is: Every day — come hell or high water — make it a point to reach out to at least one other business, trade association or publisher to set up an interview.
Here are just a few of the many benefits a steady flow of promotional interviews can bring to your business:
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
June 16, 2008
Issue #439
In today’s special issue, Internet marketing legend
FRANK KERN grills me to discover …
- How I create e-mail sales campaigns that generate up to $80 million in online sales each year …
- Two essential components of every great e-mail sales campaign …
- The missing ingredient that makes my e-mail copy up to four times more profitable than even the top online marketing gurus’ …
- The massive business opportunity the biz-op experts are completely missing now — and how it could make you millions in 2008 and 2009 …
- And much more!
Dear Business Builder …
I’ve been hearing about and watching Frank Kern work for over a year now and so has pretty much everyone else who works for me.
The guy is astonishingly prolific … a leading light in the Product Launch Formula arena … and a darned good copywriter in his own right.
Plus, Frank is known for having the most outrageous sense of humor in the entire online marketing space.
So when the great Frank Kern asked if he could interview me last Friday, I jumped at the chance.
And now, the recording of that interview is today’s issue of The Total Package!
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Posted by:
Julie McManus
May 23, 2008
Issue #424
Dear Business Builder,
Happy Friday and good to see you back!
Bigger isn’t necessarily always better … so there I’ve said it! Yet, there’s a drive in the direct response web marketing community to generate massive opt-in lists with very little pre-qualification. No matter the market, there seems to be a push to capture every Tom, Dick and Harry that’s willing to give you an e-mail address … so long as you can count them in your list total.
Perhaps it’s the age old story of the man with the biggest list … picks up all the babes at the bar. Isn’t that how it goes?
I’m not suggesting that everyone give up their list building efforts, and pack it in. But I am suggesting you take a closer look at your list building strategies to determine how to capture the most qualified leads that will convert quickly and ultimately give you a healthy and ongoing return on your investment.
Generating leads like a game of hide and seek!
First let’s classify our leads into 3 different (and brilliant) categories … there’s no sense making this harder than it seems …
Cold – You can generate cold leads in many different ways. Cold leads come on file knowing absolutely nothing about you, your company or your offers. Typically they’ve come on file because they wanted to give their opinion, entered a sweepstakes or generally been enticed by some carrot that is loosely (or not at all) related to your company’s offers. It stands to reason that prospects that come on file with little or no interest in what your company has to offer will potentially do two things … convert poorly and eventually report you as spam.
Warm – Warm leads are typically generated by offering something of interest to the prospect that is in direct correlation to a search they’ve done or the topic of a site they’ve visited. Warm leads may not be familiar with your company as the provider of what they’re looking for, but they’ve demonstrated a specific interest. Warm leads often come on file by responding to free offers for reports, white papers, newsletters or to receive access to specialized information your company can provide. Warm leads can convert really well when there is a strong conversion marketing series in place that is closely related to the original lead gen. offer.
Hot – In the lead generation arena everyone wants leads that will ultimately convert to a sale. No sense spending lots of money and time promoting to people that don’t open your e-mails and could absolutely care less about your offers. And of all the categories, hot leads are the most likely to succeed. Hot leads have put their money were their mouth is. They’ve responded to low price, shipping and handling or trial offers in which the actual product is shipped. Oftentimes, all it takes for a hot lead to convert to a full paying customer is one or two strong conversion promotions and a sweet upsell offer. I’ve seen hot leads convert from a low price trial offer to a full paying offer to the tune of a 70% conversion rate. And then a good percentage of those customers go on to become lifetime customers.
So now that we’ve classified our leads, let’s take a look at …
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Posted by:
Julie McManus
May 2, 2008
Issue #409
Dear Business Builder,
Welcome back to In the ‘Net Trenches. I’m really happy you’ve decided to join me again today.
Last week, I revealed a really “big” secret about how to get tons of traffic to your website. And no, it’s not some newfangled do-this-then-do-that, step-by-step system. It doesn’t involve social media sites and befriending thousands of people. And it’s not Google Pay-Per-Click or Search Engine Optimization.
The funny thing is … I never realized how big a secret it really was until recently. To me, it was just business as usual.
So, what the heck is the secret you say? What? You didn’t read last week’s issue!?
Okay then, I won’t beat around the bush …
The easiest way to get tons of traffic to your website is to (drum roll please) … PAY FOR IT!
And how exactly do you do that? Well, that’s what we’re going to explore today.
The Wacky World of Web Media
It amazes me how many online marketers completely ignore this opportunity. Web media seems to be the ugly stepsister of the web marketing world … definitely the marketing sloppy-second to Search Engine Optimization and paid search … and certainly not as flashy and Hollywood as Social Marketing.
Yet, unlike paid search, web media affords an opportunity to reach a nearly endless amount of prospects … at a cost that can be completely controlled … with results that can be measured without question.
So why is it that more online marketers don’t add it to their marketing mix?
Perhaps they lack knowledge … are afraid it won’t work for them or think it’s too expensive … or maybe because no “superstar web marketing guru” is talking or writing about it (keeping this one their inside secret) … well, let’s rectify that, shall we?
Web media is too expensive and won’t work for me …
If you ask me, this is a huge fallacy … pure rumors spread by people that have never given media a fair shot or have never taken the time to figure out how to make it work for them.
But not all web media is created equal. As a responsible web marketer, you can’t listen to what they say. You have to find out for yourself! And this means testing.
As a smart direct response marketer, you need to allocate time and money to testing not only ad copy, ad layout, offers and prices – you also have to traffic drivers. Consider the media placement for your prospect list … it’s your traffic driver. The thing that get’s people to your website. And any list can work at the right price; it’s simply a numbers game.
If your list brings in enough prospects that convert and generate enough revenue to cover the cost of the media placement — you win. If not, you lose and go back to the drawing board. It’s as simple as that.
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