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The rumors are true, the full MarketingCrazy program does not launch until
late-2009!
I know, you're thinking, why so long? Why so far in the future? I'll
answer honestly. I'm making too much money, having too much fun, doing too
much traveling, and enjoying too many projects, both for profit and charity,
to take on anything else.
As much as I want to get started helping you right now, I simply can't.
But don't worry, I will be in touch from time to time. In very
late
2008, we will open the program up for a maximum of 8 entrepreneurs, that we
will coach to success. Those 8 lucky people will form our "roundtable".
But you don't want to wait for that do you? Ok, what can I do for you
right now?!
Here is your accelerated 10 step action plan to business success on the
internet. Most of this will not apply to people already doing serious internet
marketing, but rest assured, we will address many of your concerns as well. Our
ebook, action plans, and coaching program, goes into far greater detail on each
one of these topics, plus about two dozen more, but here's a short summary guide
to get you started.
Remember, it's really all about taking the first step, so dive in, have
fun, and you will succeed.
Before I start
though, understand . . . you'll need to invest some money and some time in
your business. Now, we're going to help you greatly minimize both
investments, but you will have to invest both.
Let's talk about each one, and the trade off between the two:
1) Money: This is the easy one!
What? Yes, it's the easy one. I can quantify it for you.
You're going to
invest up to 5-10k, in stages, in your internet business.
Guess what? It's
a steal. I mean, if I could have just paid 5k to learn everything I've
learned now, and make what I've made and continue to make, I'd do it a thousand
times over. I
'm not even going to spend time on this, because if you're not
willing to invest 5k in your business, you should stop reading this right now.
The goal is not to WASTE your investment!
2) Time: This one was the real tough
one for me. It takes time and work!
Not fake work . . . REAL work.
While there is some trade off between being able to spend more money, and invest
less time, there's a limit to how far you can go. No matter how much money you
invest, your time is going to be the most important factor in your business.
My
success is no longer limited by the amount of money I have to throw at a given
opportunity, but more so by the amount of time I have left to devote to it. This
will be the same for you, even if you don't feel it yet. Your time is
everything - and it will be your greatest limitation, and your most valuable
commodity.
Don't wait, for even one second! Overload yourself with tools, and
dedicate yourself to your project right now. Do everything voraciously,
and over the top. Don't fret over a $200 course, or a $79 hosting package.
I can't stress this enough. We're talking about serious money here.
Dive in, and succeed. Baby steps may get you there, but it'll take
years. I know we all have jobs, families, and countless infringements
on our time and pocketbook, but this is something that can really make a
difference in your life.
It's something attainable, that can be yours, with hard work.
Let's start:
1) You're going to need an idea! Start with your
passions and hobbies, and don't worry if they seem small.
As long as they
are your passion, they'll work just fine. As I'll
recommend many times in this startup guide, Cory Rudl's "Insider
Secret's" course, will be your first bible. This course, not only is
one of the greatest beginner's Internet courses I've ever found, but will kick
start your idea generation process, and put you on the right track to success.
It's an absolute steal, and should be on the first products you invest in.
If you're wondering about the price, stop wondering!
This is an absolute must to start your business, and should be your first
purchase. It will pay for itself a dozen times over!
Get it now.
You also need to sell something to make money! This
was my greatest stumbling point for many years. I had a great website - tons of
traffic, and I didn't sell anything.
Buy this course. FYI - Cory was my first real dose of internet
marketing, and much of my enormous success, I owe to him. I only met him once,
but he was down to earth, friendly, and driven to succeed. He recently
died in a chance automobile accident, a millionaire dozens of times over, at age
34. That started me thinking about this course, and what I could do to train
others to realize their potential . . . and to do it right now!
Option #2: This is not recommended, but needs
to be discussed. How would you like to experience complete training, enormous
hand-holding, and step-by-step business thinking through every step I've
outlined, and am about to outline?
I couldn't handle this spoon-fed approach, it
just wasn't for me, but for many, it's the easiest way to be online, and I can't
discount it, and I at least have to tell you about it.
The program is
called Sitesell, and it's a
complete website creation, building, and marketing package. It's amazingly
thorough, and I've never, ever, seen it's equal.
Yes, I've bought it. Yes,
I've used it. And yes, I thought it was amazing, And finally, yes, I eventually
asked, and was given, a prompt and courteous refund.
Finally,
Yes, you should try out Sitesell
for yourself. It will add a full week onto your startup time, and enormous hours
of reading, but you'll receive a top notch education, from the ground up, for
absolute beginners. This is a fairly good place to start.
Can you achieve
the same results without this program? Yes, I sure did.
Probably far better (which is what I talk about for the rest of this article).
But I am technically savvy, and did not want to be hand held through the
process. Beacuse of this, I made many mistakes, and it may have taken
longer than necessary to achieve my success.
However, with MarketingCrazy
helping you, it is by no means necessary to choose a partner like Sitesell, but
it may still be the right thing to do. It depends on your style, and your level
of familiarity with the things we're discussing. If you're already fairly
familiar, you'll probably find
sitesell a little too "slow" for you. It's still worth a look . . . and it's
priced fairly well.
These same people make the very well known,
stupendously boring, and completely over-wrought ebook called "Make
your Site Sell", which I can only recommend for the fastest readers, with
enormous time on their hands, whom want to be spoon-fed an otherwise pretty
standard philosophy of how to sell online. It still may be worthwhile for
some . . .
2) Research your idea! Yes, you've got to do a bit of
research. Get a list of "keywords" (searches done on the internet), and find out
how many times your keywords are being searched. There are two tools for this,
both of which are invaluable to your business, and both of which we'll discuss
later, in great detail. The first is:
keywordtracker - which is the main keyword tool for overall search
popularity that most people use. The second, is a fantastic program, which is
far more advanced, and allows you to do far more things (and works with the
first), is called
Dowser, which bills itself as "The World's Most Powerful Keyword Research
and Management", and strangely enough, might be right. Both tools are a must for
your business.
3) You're going to need a domain name and a hosting partner!
Ok, so this part comes after you've selected a business, done some keyword
research, and want to start a presence on the internet. Choosing a domain
name, and a hosting partner, go hand in hand (although they don't have to).
To make things easy, I find it's best to keep things simple, and register your
domain name where you're going to be hosting it. This isn't always the case, but
it's a good idea for starters. I recommend two different companies - both offer
good customer service, exceedingly low rates, and free domains with a hosting
account (or close to it). First is
IpowerWeb, excellent cheap hosting for small business, and the second is
POWWEB. Both will give you that free domain name, and a great deal, and a
good package and service! Don't go to un-trusted service providers. These
two are good - and provide a solid company to base your business on. Go
and register your domain name, and get your site started.
4) Now, the big one! And I do mean, the big one. This is
spilt into two separate topics, but it concerns " building your website".
I recommend at least trying to build it on your own, and laying it out. Chances
are, just by surfing the web, you've run across designs that you think are
great. You've probably heard of easy design programs, which do not require HTML
programming ability - things like Frontpage and Dreamweaver, are both programs I
have used, but they require some programming knowledge. There are also programs
like Website Tonight and Sitebuilder - which come with your hosting accounts,
promise easy layout and formatting without hassles, and rarely
deliver. Avoid them all!Recently, even with my technical background,
I've changed programs - and my new program is called
Xsite Pro, and is by far the best, easiest, and well laid out program for
simple internet design, I've yet to run across. It's got some great
tutorials - so even the technically challenged are going to be able to tackle
this step just fine. Let's review the steps of website creation:
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Writing a
Plan and Design on Paper, Creating a Consistent Navigational Structure |
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Copywriting
- The process of creating "text that sells" on your website. This is writing the
actual text that people will read on your site |
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Creating
artwork, page templates, and design elements for the sites (such as logo,
bullets, borders, etc . . . ) |
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Adding email
list collection, order forms, backend merchant processing. |
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Actually coding your website and uploading it to your hosting povider
And once again, that's just the start! But don't get overloaded - nor fear
that you can't do this. You Can! It's
all entirely do-able, and this program,
Xsite Pro, helps you do it all, and more, with no programming
knowledge. Get it now. |
NOTE: Having trouble writing "copy" (otherwise known as
"text that sells") for your website?
Ever seen those long "sales letter" style
websites, that seem to sick to a proven formula, and lay out compelling
arguments to buy their products or services.
Well, good news! A professional
copywriter can cost you 4k, easily, to write about just one of your products,
but I found a couple of different step-by-step programs, that walk you through
the process of creating these sales letters, producing great text that sells for
your website, in an easy, walkthrough fashion.
Yes, I use BOTH these programs
for many of my sites, and they really do work fairly well to give you a good
layout. Each program guides you through a set of questions that you answer, and
it spits out the text for you! It's as easy as that. Both have
complete guarantees, and both can help you write that "salesy" copy, especially
if you've never done it before.
The two programs are:
Amazing Sales Letter Creator and
Instant Sales Letters (don't let the website fool you - this is a great
program). So, if you were wondering how all these people came up with similar
websites, in the same format, but with different text, this is how they do it.
Again, this isn't rocket science. It's a formulaic way to sell products and
services. Does it work for everyone?
At first, I thought it was stupid, and
there was no way this type of long-form sales pitch could work. However, after
trying it, my conversions tripled (that's right - 3x the sales), and I was sold.
I've been using it, along with other tactics, ever since! Get these programs . .
. they will force you to look at your products and services in a different
light, and will help you focus your offerings and your sales pitch.
5) Now, as I said earlier, there's a Time/Money trade off
taking place here, and designing a website yourself takes time, both for
education and implementation. You're other option is to hire a designer, and
regardless of whether you create the site yourself or not, I highly recommend
doing this step as a "backup", and to have your work reviewed.
There are many
steps in creating a website - you have to have various pieces that all fit
together into a single whole. Hiring a professional is no easy task - and you
need to be aware of your options for hiring people. Yes, we'll refer you to a
specific firm, but first, let me tell you your options. There are two sites,
Elance and RentaCoder, that most people use to post projects that need to be
done. All projects, from making a website, to issuing a press release, to
writing your copy, can be bid on at these websites. They're the Ebay of
consultants.
NOTE: Take your time and relax! Here's where most
people freak out. They got to the point they need to make their website, and
they just freeze, right there. This is a do-able thing. You're going to get past
it. Here's the most important bit of advice I can offer -
remember, it does NOT have to be perfect. As long as you get
SOMETHING online, you're ahead of "the pack". I mean this! Just start -
get something, written, online. Over time, your website might change, your
skills will increase, and you'll benefit from experience - so don't let an
overactive need for perfection stop you from getting SOMETHING (and I really
mean, anything), online! Take this to heart - the minute you get
something that's online, you can tweak it, fiddle with it, and tinker to your
hearts content, for years on end - but don't keep putting off putting that FIRST
design online.
6) Woohoo, you're online, you have a website, and now, you
have to do three things, right away. You have to add email collection (a way to
collect emails that will form the backbone of your business), auto-responders
(the process of automating the sending of your emails to your clients), and a
merchant account/payment solution. Let's deal with the first two, first -
because I recommend using the same program for all three things.
The program, FrontpageCart (also
called 1shoppingcart) is the absolute panacea for internet marketers. Beginner's
use it - advanced people use it, and if you're NOT using
it, you'll be WAY behind everyone else. This is it. As close to a silver
bullet as I've found for getting a lot of what you'll need in ONE
single place. I can't go into this system enough! As
we lay out in the forthcoming ebook, we give you all the options, and all the
reasons to use it, but for now, just use it. If you're wondering, Yes,
sign up for the full service (the Pro Package) - that's the most expensive
monthly package, which gives you everything. Don't even think
for a moment that it won't be worth it to you. It will. This is the best thing
you can do for your business, and even without our ebook, their online tutorials
are brilliant, and will themselves, launch you head-and-shoulders above all
competition. It comes under many names, and is branded differently in many
places, but just
CLICK HERE to sign up for a single solution which gives you:
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Email List
with Autoresponders - allowing you to collect leads, send emails, and keep in
contact with them over time. Provides forms for you to include in your website |
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Client
Tracking and Order Acceptance - Allows you accept orders online, track clients,
and manage your business (you'll still need a merchant account, and we cover
that next) |
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Affiliate Programs - Allows you to start a robust and trackable affiliate
program, which even if you do not use now, will be a signficant part of your
business soon.
And, once again, it does so much more. This is really your control panel, and
has become the most cherished part of my business. Why? Because this is where I
check my sales reports, and as you'll someday find, it's exhilerating to see
what you're business is doing, and how it's grown! |
NOTE: I got ripped off! I chose to get my
merchant account through the shopping cart system above, and was charged a $200
fee that, as it turned out, wasn't necessary. Argh! Live and learn - you
do not have to purchase your merchant account through the shopping cart system
above. In fact, they work with just about everybody already - so, no matter whom
you choose, you'll be fine setting it up to work with the above shopping cart.
There is no noticeable benefit to actually getting your merchant account through
them. -- Soon, we'll place our link to the people we use, here. Let's talk
about your options!
7) Merchant Accounts: Ok, the simplest thing to do, is
Paypal!
Paypal is an online merchant provider, and doesn't require
lengthy agreements, or even a difficult process to register. Highly recommended,
everyone should have a Paypal account.
In the beginning, it will probably be
your primary method of payment - and perhaps, even later it will remain so. For
me, It's my secondary method, and I chose to get a real internet merchant
account for my transactions. This can sound tricky - because you need a
processor and a "gateway", but really all you need to know is, GO HERE, and use
a trusted provider, who won't overcharge you to get started.
Generally, I
use PayQuake (who I'm not satisfied with), MerchantSolutions (who handle
payquake's customer service), and authorize.net as my payment gateway. Chances
are, you'll be having a similar process. Once again, start with
Paypal, for an easy setup, and then guage what you need. The
ShoppingCart,
Frontpage Cart, offered above, works great with
Paypal!
8) Ok, you've got your website, with great copy written to
sell, complete with shopping cart, merchant account (payment solution), email
collection, sending system, and affiliate program all setup and working on your
wesbite. If you had traffic, and or visitors, you'd be making money! It's
promotion time. First - you need to submit your site, and do some Search
Engine Marketing. Once again - you can go with a professional, but you're better
off giving yourself a few days, getting one of the two programs I recommend
(perhaps getting both), and learning a bit about the process before doing it.
I
have one program I absolutely love, and out of the two, this is the one I
recommend the most - for it's ease of use. It's Called
WebCEO, and can handle many of the tasks of submitting your website to the
major search engines. Get it, use it, and start seeing results . . . in about
4-12 months?! Whoa - what did I just say? Yes, using this program is your
long term marketing, but won't help you much in the short term. Search
engine optimization, marketing and promotion, is a never-ending process - I'm
continuing it to this day.
The second program I'm going to recommend is
called WebPosition Gold.
It's a heavyweight - it's been around for awhile, and tons of people use it (and
that alone, makes me a little nervous). Another way to build traffic is through
your affiliate program. Design one that rewards your affiliates well! It's
like printing free money, so you want them to be motivated to work with you.
They're going to make you rich, and you're going to pay them well. It's a
win-win situation, and it's a website traffic driver (more on this below).
So, now you now, long term thinking is to visit make a great website, with lots
of content, that had good search engine optimization from the start, and then
you use one of the two programs I mentioned and submit it. Then . . . you wait.
But, there's a lot you can do while you're waiting...
The #1 option is PPC (Pay
Per Click) advertising. The two heavyweights in this field are Google
and Overture, and we'll discuss these in depth in our forthcoming book. For now
- be careful! Most people throw away hundreds, if not thousands, on
PPC campaigns which are not thought out well, nor create good results.
9) Let's talk about Affiliate Marketing! You'll see
most of the links on this page are affiliate links (and yes, you should use
them). What should you think about affiliate marketing? Is it going
to be make you rich? I could say for the bulk of people reading this, the answer
is a resounding NO. Did it make me rich? No! Will it create a
moderate income (a couple of thousand a month)? Yes, but only with a lot of
work! Is it worth it? Not in the way that you think. Should you run
a program selling other people's products? Perhaps, but only if you have an
existing high traffic website, and you're doing an Upsell (selling things to
customers you've already sold your own product too). Now, people disagree with
me vehemently on this, but I'm not in this to make money - I'm in it to tell you
the staight facts. Not many people make good money (at least what I consider to
be good money), doing affiliate marketing of other people's products. It's
simply not worth the hassle until later in your internet businesses life. Now,
that being said, you must have your own affiliate program! Yes,
other people selling your products is an entirely different story. You've
absolutely got to invest time, money, and training into your affiliates to make
sure they succeed, and thereby, you succeed. Now, if you've chosen my
shopping cart (Frontpage
Cart) above, this comes with a fantastic built in affiliate program that
will more than meet your needs (congratulations). If you haven't - and chosen to
say, go with
Paypal (for cost reasons), you still need an Affiliate Program on your site
that allows people to sign up and start sending you traffic! I recommend
AssocTrak (which guess what, is
Cory Rudl's solution).
10) Audio, Video and Bells and Whistles: Wow - what an
amazing distance you've come! First off, congratulations, we're already at
the bells and whistles stage. You can start thinking about adding
audio and
video to your website, with these two simple programs - both of which I
highly recommend (as they each have numerous uses).
Audio is a great way to collect testimonials and feedback from people, and
video is a great way to demonstrate your product, or even introduce people
to your services. In addition, if you don't have a drop down "hover
ad" style of technology used to collected email addresses, invest in one
now. If you're using our recommended Web building program,
Xsite, than it's easy to add. If not, then consider purchasing this program,
to start building these style of collection boxes. They are worth their weight
in gold 10x over! Now, another big tip, get a Hover Ad Creator.
What's a Hover Ad? It's like a pop up that can't be blocked. You can use them to
insert your Mailing List collection form, and you'll quadruple your signups over
night! They also have even better uses that we'll discuss later.
Regardless, get the creator now! There's many of them on the market, but the
best is Novasoft Hover
Ad Generator. It encrypts the button, and is easy to use and preview.
Cory Rudl also has one, but I didn't like it as much, and it was harder to
use (harder to quickly preview what you were creating).
Also, if you've got an extra $299, the Yahoo Directory is a great place to
get a reciprocal link, and get a Express Business Listing in Yahoo. While it
does not guarantee, nor even supposedly help, placement - I've found that all my
sites I list with this program tend to do well in long term. It's definitely an
"extra", but it shouldn't be dead last on your list of things to do!
BONUS - LONG TERM THINKING: Ok, so you're through the
10, you've probably spent a week, perhaps a bit more, but you're online, and
wondering if the work you've done is possibly going to make you any money. The
answer is probably: "yes, but not much", at this point. But that's ok!
We're in this for the long term, and when things start picking up, they
really start picking up. Brace yourself, because doing business on the
internet is an ongoing process. I have no doubt I'll be 10x as successful next
year, as I am this year. And guess what, since you're now part of
MarketingCrazy, so will you. Always take a step back, analyze
what your doing, and analyze what you want to do. Constant forward
thinking - and most importantly, constant forward progress. If you take even one
small step forward every day, you'll be simply amazed at how far you'll be able
to travel in one short year. Keep taking those steps forward! Here's what you
need to be thinking about and doing for the longer term, and things we discuss
far more in depth in the forthcomig ebook:
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Buying PPC
Search Engine Traffic |
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Starting a
long term link building campaign |
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Focus on
building your affiliate program |
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Looking at
ways to build your Opt-in Email List |
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Constantly upgrading, tinkering, toying, changing, and investigating new
ideas and opportunities that will help grow your business. It's a never ending
process, but it's also a process that you and I will journey on together! We'll
share ideas, tips and tricks along the way, and we look forward to hearing from
you. You're an entrepreneur now - so never stop dreaming!
First - let us know what you thought of our Ten Step Starter Program, and in
addition, give us any feedback you'd like. We have a complete Written and Audio
Feedback system (the same system we referenced above), so
Leave Us Some Feedback or a Testimonial Today! |
This is NOT rocket science, and should not take you
weeks upon weeks. In fact, you should divest yourself of the idea that it's
going to take a lot of time (as in years upon years). It simply won't! It may
take time to build your traffic and your business, but not to do the steps
required. One week of significant work, get all the tools, as laid
out above, and you'll be MORE than well on your way.
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