Visualizing Your Customer’s Success
The point of this blog is to show you how to put your customer’s wants and needs first, and in doing so you will get what you want.
You see, sometimes it’s easy for a marketer to “slip” and fall back into an egocentric viewpoint. You start thinking about what you want instead of what the customer’s wants.
Sure what you want is to work from home on an online business in a niche you love and enjoy. But do your customers see it this way?
For example, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people send me newsletters practically begging me to buy something because they need to make their mortgage payment. The buyer doesn’t care about your mortgage payment. The buyer only cares about his or her wants and needs. The buyer only cares about solutions to HIS problems, not your problems.
As such, no matter what’s going on in your life and no matter how desperately you need the money, you must still put your customer’s first. Forget about your own problems and focus on providing solutions for your customer’s problems, and soon enough you will find that you get what you want too.
The easiest way to do this is to frequently practice visualizing your customers’ success.
I’ll explain this in more detail in a moment, but first I wanted to clarify something. You can use this technique purely as a straightforward business tool where you learn to get into your customer’s heads so that you can better serve them. Or if you are someone who enjoys spiritual and universal theories, you can use this technique alongside any affirmations or other positive thinking that you do.
For example, I had a friend who used this technique when he sold advertising for a magazine. He’d sit back and consciously visualize his customer’s success as a result of them placing an ad in his magazine. Then what generally happened is that the client called him to place an ad…he never even had to “chase” the customer!
Coincidence? Perhaps. It all depends on what you believe with regards to putting your intentions out there to the Universe. Regardless of what you believe, it certainly can’t hurt!
Now let’s look at visualizing your customer’s success…
You’ll want to put yourself in your customer’s shoes when you first start developing your product. For example, let’s suppose you have a weight loss product aimed at women who’re trying to lose the extra weight they’re still carrying from having a baby.
Now if you’re a woman and you’ve been pregnant, it’s likely easier for you to get inside your customer’s head. If you’re a man or you’re a woman who’s never been pregnant, then the next best thing you can do is imagine a close friend of yours who has been pregnant.
Sit back, relax, and clear your mind. It’s important to clear your mind, because you want your thoughts to flow freely (doing these exercises often result in breakthroughs – great additions to your products, a new marketing angle, etc). Breathe deeply to induce relaxation.
When you’re relaxed and calm, close your eyes and imagine your potential customer. Feel her pain, her happiness…be her. Feel her joy at having the baby…but also feel her frustration at being unable to lose the weight. She feels “fat.” She feels like her husband isn’t attracted to her any more. She feels unsexy, unglamorous. She feels like a mother rather than an alluring woman. Instead of seeing a bombshell when she looks in the mirror, she sees a fat woman with stretch marks on her belly and breasts, and baby spit-up on her shoulder.
Now imagine her holding your book. Her eyes light up as she reads the table of contents. What is exciting her? What is it about her book that makes her want to buy it?
Now fast forward a few months and imagine the results of her using your product. She’s slimmer. She has more energy. She’s getting plenty of compliments from others about how great she looks for having just recently given birth. She feels sexy again. She’s turning heads (including her husband’s). She feels great.
An aside: at this point I typically like to take out a pen or paper (or hop on the computer) and start dumping all these ideas down on paper. Just start writing anything that pops into your head, and don’t censor anything. Imagine yourself as this customer and write from HER point of view. As you do this brain dump, use the word “I” (but it’s not actually YOU, it’s the customer).
For example, as you use this written exercise to get into your head, perhaps a line or two will look like this, “I got disgusted today when I saw the belly rolls and even my back fat in the mirror today. None of my clothes fit. John gave me a funny look today and I wondered if he noticed that I’m not losing the baby fat…”
Remember, don’t censor anything. Keep writing as long as you can, but at least three to five pages. Write as if you ARE the customer. Talk about how you feel. Talk about what you want and need. Then pretend you’ve already used the product, lost the weight, and write a testimonial about how well the product worked.
End result? You’ve got into your customer’s head to tap into her desires. Now you have a better idea of what to put in your book since you know what the end result should be for your customers.
Another good step to take before you even create the product is to write the sales letter. Why should you write the sales letter before you even create the product?
For starters, it keeps you thinking about the customer and helps clarify for you what benefits you want your customers to receive when they use your product. For example, if you realize that your customers don’t just want to lose weight but they also want more energy, then you’ll want to be sure to address this in your product (e.g., by having a section in the book about which foods provide both short term and long term energy).
Second, a sales letter should be crisp and exciting. If you start crafting your sales letter AFTER you’ve just written a 200 page book, your sales letter will likely be dull and flat. What a yawner. No one buys a product from a letter that bores them to tears. If the marketer can’t get excited about the product, the potential customer won’t either.
If instead you write a draft of the sales letter first, you’re excited about the product and your enthusiasm will spill over into the letter. People who read the letter will be able to sense your energy and passion. In turn they’ll get excited too – and they’ll want to buy!
And finally, writing the sales letter first helps you stay inside your customer’s head. Remember, you are writing the book for a very specific audience. If you stay inside the customer’s head even as you write the book, you will have a better product on your hands…and this means fewer refunds and more repeat customers!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Making the Sale: Do You Hate Bothering People?
Making the Sale: Do You Hate Bothering People?
We’ve talked about things like working from home, online businesses, creating a product people want, attracting joint venture partners, and crafting a sales letter based on your potential customer’s deeper desires. Now if you’re getting your marketing plan in order, it’s also likely that you’ve started a newsletter or are at least considering starting one.
As with all topics we’ve discussed so far, this is yet another place where you need to keep your reader’s needs and wants in mind. However, that doesn’t mean that you put their wants so far ahead of your own that you discount your wants.
Here’s what I mean: in theory, many of your customers likely want as much information as possible for as little money. Makes sense, especially with online businesses. Even people who aren’t particularly thrifty enjoy getting free stuff. Even people who buy very expensive items enjoy getting freebies.
From a Universal perspective (and an online business perspective for that matter), you also likely know that you need to give to receive. So you give away ebooks, reports, audios, interviews, newsletter content and more. Yes you do get an email address in exchange for these freebies, but you are also looking to develop a relationship with these people so that they trust you and eventually become your customer.
Here’s the problem: some people go overboard with the freebies to such a degree that their list soon fills up with tire-kickers (freebie seekers) who will never buy. The online marketer makes matters worse by loading on even more freebies and focusing on “free stuff.” Then when the marketer pitches a paid product, all he hears are crickets chirping.
What happened? If this marketer gave –just look at all those freebies! – why didn’t he then “receive” when he pitched a product?
In other words – why does it seem like some people can give away the store and STILL make a killing when it comes time to pitch a paid product, while others give away a few freebies and then seem to acquire a list straight out of Freebie Seekers Hell?
Perhaps the underlying problem is the online marketer’s subconscious attitude. It oozes into everything he does. Maybe it feels like he’s “bothering” people or being too pushy when he asks for a sale. So instead of asking for sales, he gives away freebies in hopes of getting into the good graces of his list members.
Instead of the list members seeing these freebies as chances to sample his product before they buy, they become conditioned to receive free stuff from this marketer …and when he asks for the sale they are downright appalled.
“How DARE he ask me to buy something! I thought we had an understanding that I’d bleed him dry of freebies and then move on to the next host!”
Perhaps the marketer expected this. Indeed, perhaps the marketer was so afraid of offending people by “pitching” a paid product that his delivery was weak. Instead of confidently closing a sale, he hesitantly tells people about a paid product and then practically apologizes about the fact that it’s a paid product and not a freebie.
If he feels like he’s bothering people and he already has the expectation that people won’t buy from him, why SHOULD people buy from him?
They probably won’t. Indeed, this fictional marketer’s list is likely populated with people who can’t or won’t buy, simply because his weak delivery ATTRACTED those sorts of people.
If you’re running a hobby site that’s fine. But if you’re running a business to make money you have a problem.
If you’ve ever had this problem or you’ve felt like you are bothering people by asking for the sale, let me ask you this: the last time you went to a shoe store and the sales clerk helped you find your size, how did you feel towards that clerk?
When you went to McDonalds to order a cheeseburger and the clerk asked you if you wanted fries with that, how did you feel about the clerk?
Chances are in both cases you felt that the clerk was being helpful (and indeed they WERE being helpful). Did you feel “bothered?” Probably not. You wanted something and the clerk helped you get what you want.
The same is true with you and your customers. Stop worrying about bothering people, and start viewing yourself as helping people. When you shift your attitude, your potential customers will become customers because their attitudes will shift as well. Those who want everything for free will go elsewhere, and you will be left with people who appreciate the freebies that you DO give away, but at the same time they’ll happily buy the products that you recommend to them. They’ll view you as a trusted friend – someone who helps them.
The beauty of this is that you are STILL putting your customer’s needs and wants ahead of your own. That’s because you are still giving away suitable freebies – but now you are giving them away as samples rather than as “bribes” for someone to stay on your list. And yes you are putting your customers’ wants and needs ahead of your own when you go out and review products for them without bias. If you like it and recommend it, then yes, it’s ok to receive compensation (a commission) for the work you do.
Even the most holy people and those with the purest of intentions get compensated for the work they do, so why not you? Do your local ministers get paid? You bet they do. Teachers? Of course. Doctors? Yep, and they’re paid well, too.
The reason I’m telling you this is because if you condition your online list to only expect freebies (and remember, it’s all in your attitude), there will be people who will complain the first time you pitch a paid product. Just remember that no matter what the crybabies say to you, you DO deserve to get paid for what you do.
We’ve talked about things like working from home, online businesses, creating a product people want, attracting joint venture partners, and crafting a sales letter based on your potential customer’s deeper desires. Now if you’re getting your marketing plan in order, it’s also likely that you’ve started a newsletter or are at least considering starting one.
As with all topics we’ve discussed so far, this is yet another place where you need to keep your reader’s needs and wants in mind. However, that doesn’t mean that you put their wants so far ahead of your own that you discount your wants.
Here’s what I mean: in theory, many of your customers likely want as much information as possible for as little money. Makes sense, especially with online businesses. Even people who aren’t particularly thrifty enjoy getting free stuff. Even people who buy very expensive items enjoy getting freebies.
From a Universal perspective (and an online business perspective for that matter), you also likely know that you need to give to receive. So you give away ebooks, reports, audios, interviews, newsletter content and more. Yes you do get an email address in exchange for these freebies, but you are also looking to develop a relationship with these people so that they trust you and eventually become your customer.
Here’s the problem: some people go overboard with the freebies to such a degree that their list soon fills up with tire-kickers (freebie seekers) who will never buy. The online marketer makes matters worse by loading on even more freebies and focusing on “free stuff.” Then when the marketer pitches a paid product, all he hears are crickets chirping.
What happened? If this marketer gave –just look at all those freebies! – why didn’t he then “receive” when he pitched a product?
In other words – why does it seem like some people can give away the store and STILL make a killing when it comes time to pitch a paid product, while others give away a few freebies and then seem to acquire a list straight out of Freebie Seekers Hell?
Perhaps the underlying problem is the online marketer’s subconscious attitude. It oozes into everything he does. Maybe it feels like he’s “bothering” people or being too pushy when he asks for a sale. So instead of asking for sales, he gives away freebies in hopes of getting into the good graces of his list members.
Instead of the list members seeing these freebies as chances to sample his product before they buy, they become conditioned to receive free stuff from this marketer …and when he asks for the sale they are downright appalled.
“How DARE he ask me to buy something! I thought we had an understanding that I’d bleed him dry of freebies and then move on to the next host!”
Perhaps the marketer expected this. Indeed, perhaps the marketer was so afraid of offending people by “pitching” a paid product that his delivery was weak. Instead of confidently closing a sale, he hesitantly tells people about a paid product and then practically apologizes about the fact that it’s a paid product and not a freebie.
If he feels like he’s bothering people and he already has the expectation that people won’t buy from him, why SHOULD people buy from him?
They probably won’t. Indeed, this fictional marketer’s list is likely populated with people who can’t or won’t buy, simply because his weak delivery ATTRACTED those sorts of people.
If you’re running a hobby site that’s fine. But if you’re running a business to make money you have a problem.
If you’ve ever had this problem or you’ve felt like you are bothering people by asking for the sale, let me ask you this: the last time you went to a shoe store and the sales clerk helped you find your size, how did you feel towards that clerk?
When you went to McDonalds to order a cheeseburger and the clerk asked you if you wanted fries with that, how did you feel about the clerk?
Chances are in both cases you felt that the clerk was being helpful (and indeed they WERE being helpful). Did you feel “bothered?” Probably not. You wanted something and the clerk helped you get what you want.
The same is true with you and your customers. Stop worrying about bothering people, and start viewing yourself as helping people. When you shift your attitude, your potential customers will become customers because their attitudes will shift as well. Those who want everything for free will go elsewhere, and you will be left with people who appreciate the freebies that you DO give away, but at the same time they’ll happily buy the products that you recommend to them. They’ll view you as a trusted friend – someone who helps them.
The beauty of this is that you are STILL putting your customer’s needs and wants ahead of your own. That’s because you are still giving away suitable freebies – but now you are giving them away as samples rather than as “bribes” for someone to stay on your list. And yes you are putting your customers’ wants and needs ahead of your own when you go out and review products for them without bias. If you like it and recommend it, then yes, it’s ok to receive compensation (a commission) for the work you do.
Even the most holy people and those with the purest of intentions get compensated for the work they do, so why not you? Do your local ministers get paid? You bet they do. Teachers? Of course. Doctors? Yep, and they’re paid well, too.
The reason I’m telling you this is because if you condition your online list to only expect freebies (and remember, it’s all in your attitude), there will be people who will complain the first time you pitch a paid product. Just remember that no matter what the crybabies say to you, you DO deserve to get paid for what you do.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Monetize Your Traffic to get the Most Out Of It
How To Monetize Your Traffic So You Get The Most Out Of It
Establishing your own online Internet business site is not like what it used to be. There are thousands of competition that is all too willing to get a bigger share of the pie. Every scheme and method you can find to augment your sales would be very beneficial.
We have got to admit to ourselves, whilst working from home is great most of us are into it for the money. We are not going to waste our time and effort just for the fun of sitting at home. Many sites would not wait until hell freezes over just to see their profits. While there are some who takes things lightly there are always those who would rather see profit any given day.
It is common knowledge that without traffic we have no business. Like any business, without any customers you don’t get sales. Traffic represents all the people that get a chance to see what you have to offer. The more people who see your products the more people there would be to buy them.
Nobody puts up an E-commerce site that doesn’t expect profit. We have a start-up capital that needs to be regained. With a consistent traffic, we at least have a fighting chance to achieve that probability. Monetizing your traffic would optimize your chances of making the best out of it.
Making Money out of your Traffic
The best and most proven method of making a profit out of your traffic is using advertising. The Internet generates hundreds of thousands upon hundred of thousands of traffic everyday. Most of them are searching for something. While some are just looking for information there is also a good percentage that is looking for something that they need.
The Internet has proven to be a very reliable source in finding what was deemed to be a very unreachable product. The Internet has made the world a smaller place; you can advertise a product from the depths of Istanbul and still find a buyer from the center of Philadelphia.
Generating traffic is not an easy task. You have to contend with a great number of sites to generate a good number of traffic flows. But if done successfully this could open up a Pandora’s Box of possibilities. One of the benefits is monetizing your traffic flow.
So, to get to the core of it the more traffic you generate the more likely you are considered as a desirable, desirable, in a sense that a good traffic flowing site is easily convertible to profit. Basically traffic equals profit. Advertising is the name of the game; with the good advertising scheme you can use your traffic flow to your advantage.
When you have good traffic you have a good number of potential customers, customers that are willing to pour money into your coffers. Other than that these are also traffic that can be redirected to sponsored links that are willing to pay you for a sizeable portion of the traffic that you have generated.
This scheme is called “pay-per-click”. With every click a visitor of your site makes on an advertised link you will be paid. The more traffic you generate and the more clicks that happen would spell to more profits.
Affiliate Programs
Another method of monetizing your traffic is affiliate programs. You can link up with other tried and tested sites and online companies and monetize your traffic by having a percentage of sales generated by traffic coming from your site.
The basic idea is, traffic generated from your site will go to another site that can offer a product that you do not carry. Many programs can keep track and make records of transactions that was made possible because of site linkage.
When customers that were led by your site to their site make purchases you get a percentage of that sale. Affiliate programs would give you the benefit of monetizing your traffic without the actual need of carrying or promoting a certain product.
There are so many ways and methods to monetize your traffic. All it takes is a bit of hard work and the desire to successfully launch a profit-earning site. The Internet is a veritable source of information, many tips and guides are offered everywhere in how to monetize your traffic and make your site a good profit earner.
Establishing your own online Internet business site is not like what it used to be. There are thousands of competition that is all too willing to get a bigger share of the pie. Every scheme and method you can find to augment your sales would be very beneficial.
We have got to admit to ourselves, whilst working from home is great most of us are into it for the money. We are not going to waste our time and effort just for the fun of sitting at home. Many sites would not wait until hell freezes over just to see their profits. While there are some who takes things lightly there are always those who would rather see profit any given day.
It is common knowledge that without traffic we have no business. Like any business, without any customers you don’t get sales. Traffic represents all the people that get a chance to see what you have to offer. The more people who see your products the more people there would be to buy them.
Nobody puts up an E-commerce site that doesn’t expect profit. We have a start-up capital that needs to be regained. With a consistent traffic, we at least have a fighting chance to achieve that probability. Monetizing your traffic would optimize your chances of making the best out of it.
Making Money out of your Traffic
The best and most proven method of making a profit out of your traffic is using advertising. The Internet generates hundreds of thousands upon hundred of thousands of traffic everyday. Most of them are searching for something. While some are just looking for information there is also a good percentage that is looking for something that they need.
The Internet has proven to be a very reliable source in finding what was deemed to be a very unreachable product. The Internet has made the world a smaller place; you can advertise a product from the depths of Istanbul and still find a buyer from the center of Philadelphia.
Generating traffic is not an easy task. You have to contend with a great number of sites to generate a good number of traffic flows. But if done successfully this could open up a Pandora’s Box of possibilities. One of the benefits is monetizing your traffic flow.
So, to get to the core of it the more traffic you generate the more likely you are considered as a desirable, desirable, in a sense that a good traffic flowing site is easily convertible to profit. Basically traffic equals profit. Advertising is the name of the game; with the good advertising scheme you can use your traffic flow to your advantage.
When you have good traffic you have a good number of potential customers, customers that are willing to pour money into your coffers. Other than that these are also traffic that can be redirected to sponsored links that are willing to pay you for a sizeable portion of the traffic that you have generated.
This scheme is called “pay-per-click”. With every click a visitor of your site makes on an advertised link you will be paid. The more traffic you generate and the more clicks that happen would spell to more profits.
Affiliate Programs
Another method of monetizing your traffic is affiliate programs. You can link up with other tried and tested sites and online companies and monetize your traffic by having a percentage of sales generated by traffic coming from your site.
The basic idea is, traffic generated from your site will go to another site that can offer a product that you do not carry. Many programs can keep track and make records of transactions that was made possible because of site linkage.
When customers that were led by your site to their site make purchases you get a percentage of that sale. Affiliate programs would give you the benefit of monetizing your traffic without the actual need of carrying or promoting a certain product.
There are so many ways and methods to monetize your traffic. All it takes is a bit of hard work and the desire to successfully launch a profit-earning site. The Internet is a veritable source of information, many tips and guides are offered everywhere in how to monetize your traffic and make your site a good profit earner.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Turning One eBook into Twenty Info Products or More
Turning One eBook into Twenty Info Products or More
If you have read my earlier articles, Finding Niche Markets and The quick and easy way to produce ebooks then this very short article will greatly interest you.
I’m now going to show you how to create twenty info products or more using a special method that is vastly underused but hugely profitable.
It’s all about dominating niche markets and this is one way you can do that. What you do is create a generic ebook for your niche then create multiple versions of the product aimed at areas of the niche For example if you created a product aimed at dogs the generic product would be aimed at all dogs, but the sub products could be aimed at poodles, labradors, bulldogs and so on. All you’d need to do is change the title and the introduction so it was aimed at a specific dog breed and you’ve got a unique product that can be marketed to a highly targeted niche.
Does that make sense? Let me give you another example. If you were to create a product on the subject of how to be a great teacher you could create a generic book, and then with a few changes aim separate books at people teaching maths, people teaching science, people teaching history and so on. The key here is to create a product that will benefit everyone in a niche, and then create ultra specific versions.
From this you then set up mini sites with specific long tailed keywords, more on this in later articles in my newsletter.
If you have read my earlier articles, Finding Niche Markets and The quick and easy way to produce ebooks then this very short article will greatly interest you.
I’m now going to show you how to create twenty info products or more using a special method that is vastly underused but hugely profitable.
It’s all about dominating niche markets and this is one way you can do that. What you do is create a generic ebook for your niche then create multiple versions of the product aimed at areas of the niche For example if you created a product aimed at dogs the generic product would be aimed at all dogs, but the sub products could be aimed at poodles, labradors, bulldogs and so on. All you’d need to do is change the title and the introduction so it was aimed at a specific dog breed and you’ve got a unique product that can be marketed to a highly targeted niche.
Does that make sense? Let me give you another example. If you were to create a product on the subject of how to be a great teacher you could create a generic book, and then with a few changes aim separate books at people teaching maths, people teaching science, people teaching history and so on. The key here is to create a product that will benefit everyone in a niche, and then create ultra specific versions.
From this you then set up mini sites with specific long tailed keywords, more on this in later articles in my newsletter.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The quick and easy way to produce eBooks.
The quick and easy way to produce eBooks.
Today I’m going to show you how to create a hot selling eBook in one day. And get this, you’ll only have to write five paragraphs. Anyone on the planet can do that. So without further ado let’s get started.
Decide on Your eBook Topic
The first step is to have it clear in your mind what subject you want your ebook to be on. If you are not sure as to the subject then have a read of my article on finding niche markets.
Now what we’re going to do is use other peoples’ hard work to create our very own unique eBook. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it. However this is a very real opportunity that the top gun ebook publishers use time and time again to create products in lightning quick time.
Go to www.goarticles.com. We’re going to use the content from the best of them to create ebooks. You see web site owners write articles and submit them to article directories so that they get free publicity for their sites. At the end of each article is a link back to their web site with a bit of information about their site for example. These site owners want people to take that article and market it to people so they get visitors to their site without spending a dime on marketing. This is perfect for savvy entrepreneurs just like you.
You see what we can do at go articles.com is type in a niche in the search bar at the top right (make sure it’s on “article content” rather than search by author). Type in your niche market. So for example type in “dogs”. You’ll get thousands of result related to what you have searched for. Now what I want you to do is simply go through the results finding at least seventy quality articles related to the dog market and copy and paste them into word or some kind of word processing application.
As I’ve said make sure they are quality articles. If you create an ebook using rubbish you’ll just get a sky high refund rate and it will all be a pointless exercise. Do it right from the off and you’ll set yourself up for success.
If you can, try and tie all the articles together in one sub niche. For example a sub niche of dogs might be training your dog. So you could find articles on stopping your dog from barking at night, toilet training that kind of thing. Use a bit of imagination when using this method.
Email Article Authors
You don’t want to use any articles without the author’s permission. Remember the majority of articles will have been submitted so the author can get visitors to their site without spending a dime. However you never want to breach any copyright laws. To avoid this email the authors of each article. Explain to them that you are creating an ebook aimed at their niche market. You’d love to include their article in your book and you’ll include a link back to their site and information about them. Also ask them if they have any other articles you could include.
You can expect around seventy percent of authors you contact to be delighted you’re going to include their article in your book. Then all you need to do is discard the articles from authors who you haven’t heard from or who won’t let you use their article.
Put the articles in an order that makes sense and create a contents page. Use the titles of the articles as contents topics. You could even create chapters aimed at solving certain problems people in your niche have. All articles would make up separate chapters.
Add a graphic for your first page. You can find graphics to use at http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/clipart/default.aspx. Add a title and a small copyright section so people know that this product is unique to you and your business. Also point out that people don’t have the rights to resell it.
Finally write a short introduction and conclusion. These only need to be a few paragraphs each. Tell people what they can expect to learn and make sure you sign off using your name. Instantly you will establish yourself as an expert. You can also link to your back end products at the end of the book to increase your sales.
Finally you need to turn it into an ebook to sell. Go to primopdf.com/ and download the software. Don’t worry it won’t cost you a dime. Once downloaded all you need to do is in your word software hit “file“ and then “print” and then select “primo PDF” as your printer. Voila. You’ve just created an ebook using other people’s hard work. This whole process can be done in just a few hours. Obviously you may need to wait a day or two for the article authors to get back to you but apart from that you’re all set! Anyone can use this method to create more ebooks than you’d ever be able to sell.
That’s a great method right?
Today I’m going to show you how to create a hot selling eBook in one day. And get this, you’ll only have to write five paragraphs. Anyone on the planet can do that. So without further ado let’s get started.
Decide on Your eBook Topic
The first step is to have it clear in your mind what subject you want your ebook to be on. If you are not sure as to the subject then have a read of my article on finding niche markets.
Now what we’re going to do is use other peoples’ hard work to create our very own unique eBook. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it. However this is a very real opportunity that the top gun ebook publishers use time and time again to create products in lightning quick time.
Go to www.goarticles.com. We’re going to use the content from the best of them to create ebooks. You see web site owners write articles and submit them to article directories so that they get free publicity for their sites. At the end of each article is a link back to their web site with a bit of information about their site for example. These site owners want people to take that article and market it to people so they get visitors to their site without spending a dime on marketing. This is perfect for savvy entrepreneurs just like you.
You see what we can do at go articles.com is type in a niche in the search bar at the top right (make sure it’s on “article content” rather than search by author). Type in your niche market. So for example type in “dogs”. You’ll get thousands of result related to what you have searched for. Now what I want you to do is simply go through the results finding at least seventy quality articles related to the dog market and copy and paste them into word or some kind of word processing application.
As I’ve said make sure they are quality articles. If you create an ebook using rubbish you’ll just get a sky high refund rate and it will all be a pointless exercise. Do it right from the off and you’ll set yourself up for success.
If you can, try and tie all the articles together in one sub niche. For example a sub niche of dogs might be training your dog. So you could find articles on stopping your dog from barking at night, toilet training that kind of thing. Use a bit of imagination when using this method.
Email Article Authors
You don’t want to use any articles without the author’s permission. Remember the majority of articles will have been submitted so the author can get visitors to their site without spending a dime. However you never want to breach any copyright laws. To avoid this email the authors of each article. Explain to them that you are creating an ebook aimed at their niche market. You’d love to include their article in your book and you’ll include a link back to their site and information about them. Also ask them if they have any other articles you could include.
You can expect around seventy percent of authors you contact to be delighted you’re going to include their article in your book. Then all you need to do is discard the articles from authors who you haven’t heard from or who won’t let you use their article.
Put the articles in an order that makes sense and create a contents page. Use the titles of the articles as contents topics. You could even create chapters aimed at solving certain problems people in your niche have. All articles would make up separate chapters.
Add a graphic for your first page. You can find graphics to use at http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/clipart/default.aspx. Add a title and a small copyright section so people know that this product is unique to you and your business. Also point out that people don’t have the rights to resell it.
Finally write a short introduction and conclusion. These only need to be a few paragraphs each. Tell people what they can expect to learn and make sure you sign off using your name. Instantly you will establish yourself as an expert. You can also link to your back end products at the end of the book to increase your sales.
Finally you need to turn it into an ebook to sell. Go to primopdf.com/ and download the software. Don’t worry it won’t cost you a dime. Once downloaded all you need to do is in your word software hit “file“ and then “print” and then select “primo PDF” as your printer. Voila. You’ve just created an ebook using other people’s hard work. This whole process can be done in just a few hours. Obviously you may need to wait a day or two for the article authors to get back to you but apart from that you’re all set! Anyone can use this method to create more ebooks than you’d ever be able to sell.
That’s a great method right?
Monday, June 11, 2007
Discovering your customers desires
Discovering your customers desires
Building your home based online business should give you time to think about your ideal customer.
Picture one person. Is this person a male or female? What does she/he look like (for simplicity sake I am going to use “he” in this example)?
How old is he? Where does he live? What does he wear? What does he drive? What does he do for a living? What does he do in his free time? What does he need? What does he want? What thing does he want that he won'’ admit to?
What thing does he say he wants but in reality he doesn’t? What are his friends like? What’s a typical week like for this gentleman? Is he married or single? Gay or straight? Religious or not?
And perhaps more importantly: why? Why does he drive the car he drives? Why does he live where he lives, wear what he wears, and work where he works? Why does he buy the things he does and do the things he does? (Hint: there’s a big difference in attitude between someone who drives a Hummer and someone who drives a Toyota Prius hybrid car).
Ok, now the only hard bit, write all this down on a list, then tidy it up, so what do we have on this list?
We have your ideal customer, and if you spent some time just writing everything about this person that came into your head, you probably also have a list of his desires. Now let’s look at your product and see how its benefits coincide with your ideal customer’s desires.
List out the features, benefits and outcomes of your product (e.g., what will happen if someone uses your product). Don’t accept the surface benefit – go deeper to get at your target market’s true desires.
For example, a dog training product may help your customer get a well-mannered dog who doesn’t chew or bark inappropriately, the dog comes when called, and knows other obedience commands.
These are what I call “surface” benefits. Your job is to dig deeper. Ask yourself WHY would someone want a well-mannered dog? When you ask this question, you may find yourself listing a whole other set of benefits (deeper benefits, or desires).
For example, a dog owner might want a well-mannered dog so that they can leave for the day and not worry about the neighbors complaining about the barking. Or perhaps they want to protect their $5000 leather furniture from the destructive chewer.
Perhaps the potential customer wants a well-mannered dog in part because of the compliments she receives when she’s in public with the dog. “Oh wow, your dog is so well-behaved” will put a smile on any dog owner’s face.
Yet another dog owner may use his dog to help attract women. If he has a well-mannered dog, he’ll likely do better getting phone numbers the next time he walks his dog at the park. Dogs – and particularly puppies – are like magnets and great conversation starters!
Do you see how we’re tapping into the customer’s deeper desires? On the surface the owner may want a dog who doesn’t jump on people, but the deeper desire is to have a well-mannered dog that will help him land a few dates with attractive women.
Building your home based online business should give you time to think about your ideal customer.
Picture one person. Is this person a male or female? What does she/he look like (for simplicity sake I am going to use “he” in this example)?
How old is he? Where does he live? What does he wear? What does he drive? What does he do for a living? What does he do in his free time? What does he need? What does he want? What thing does he want that he won'’ admit to?
What thing does he say he wants but in reality he doesn’t? What are his friends like? What’s a typical week like for this gentleman? Is he married or single? Gay or straight? Religious or not?
And perhaps more importantly: why? Why does he drive the car he drives? Why does he live where he lives, wear what he wears, and work where he works? Why does he buy the things he does and do the things he does? (Hint: there’s a big difference in attitude between someone who drives a Hummer and someone who drives a Toyota Prius hybrid car).
Ok, now the only hard bit, write all this down on a list, then tidy it up, so what do we have on this list?
We have your ideal customer, and if you spent some time just writing everything about this person that came into your head, you probably also have a list of his desires. Now let’s look at your product and see how its benefits coincide with your ideal customer’s desires.
List out the features, benefits and outcomes of your product (e.g., what will happen if someone uses your product). Don’t accept the surface benefit – go deeper to get at your target market’s true desires.
For example, a dog training product may help your customer get a well-mannered dog who doesn’t chew or bark inappropriately, the dog comes when called, and knows other obedience commands.
These are what I call “surface” benefits. Your job is to dig deeper. Ask yourself WHY would someone want a well-mannered dog? When you ask this question, you may find yourself listing a whole other set of benefits (deeper benefits, or desires).
For example, a dog owner might want a well-mannered dog so that they can leave for the day and not worry about the neighbors complaining about the barking. Or perhaps they want to protect their $5000 leather furniture from the destructive chewer.
Perhaps the potential customer wants a well-mannered dog in part because of the compliments she receives when she’s in public with the dog. “Oh wow, your dog is so well-behaved” will put a smile on any dog owner’s face.
Yet another dog owner may use his dog to help attract women. If he has a well-mannered dog, he’ll likely do better getting phone numbers the next time he walks his dog at the park. Dogs – and particularly puppies – are like magnets and great conversation starters!
Do you see how we’re tapping into the customer’s deeper desires? On the surface the owner may want a dog who doesn’t jump on people, but the deeper desire is to have a well-mannered dog that will help him land a few dates with attractive women.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Tap their deeper desires to boost your online business
Tap their deeper desires to boost your online business
Your online business depends on the written word, you are at home, not in front of your customer so you need to get inside the potential customer’s head and tap into their deeper desires.
While it’s true that the customer may want to save money and they’re interested in getting their hands on “secret” recipes, chances are their desires are even deeper than that.
Very often if you can appeal to someone’s ego, they’ll open their wallet to buy your product.
Sometimes you have to paint a picture that enables them to imagine their friends and family being impressed, complimenting them, etc. This is most important for the online business where your customer has no direct contact with you.
Let me give you an example. Last year I was browsing the keyword tool Wordtracker when I ran across some interesting results for arbour and pergolas (these are things you put in a garden). Now from a functional standpoint people often use arbours as “ladders” for plants to grow on. But I’m willing to bet very few people buy these items from a purely functional standpoint.
Think about it. To begin with, the garden itself is something the gardener is proud of. So when he or she goes out to buy something like an arbour for the entrance, that arbour needs to be beautiful and worthy of compliments from admiring friends, family, and even the UPS guy.
So let’s suppose you were selling an arbour. Perhaps you build very solid, long-lasting arbores with a 20 year guarantee. That’s a big selling point, but that’s not the main selling point and that’s not even the point that will get the customer to take out her credit card. Instead you need to appeal to her ego.
Specifically, in your web pages you need to use your words to gently guide her into imagining the arbour is already in her garden. She needs to be able to daydream about her neighbour looking over the fence admiring the arbour and maybe being a little jealous. When this potential customer can imagine the jealous looks and admiring glances of others, you’ve made the sale.
Let’s have a look at one final example: vehicles. The auto manufacturers truly understand the desires of their market, which is why even one car company puts out so many different types of cars. These carmakers know that while everyone NEEDS a car to get from Point A to Point B, that’s not the only reason they WANT a car (we’re generalizing here). In other words, the vehicle’s main selling point isn’t that it’s a mode of transportation.
So what’s the main selling point of a car? It depends on whom you’re selling it to. For example:
If you’re selling it to an elderly couple, it’s very likely that they’re interested in comfort and safety. You’ll make the sale if you can tap into their desire to have a comfortable trip to see their kids who live in the next state over.
If you’re selling it to an 18 to 24 year old, they’re likely to want something fast, flashy, and yet affordable for their college budgets. If you can enable the young person to daydream about being “cool” while cruising around on a Friday night, you’ll make the sale.
If you’re selling to a young man, the vehicle might be an accessory for him that enhances his sex appeal and helps him attract beautiful women. You tap into that desire and yes, he’ll buy your car.
A rancher needs and wants something that is rugged enough to drive into the fields, and powerful enough to pull a horse trailer. You tap into his desire to make his work easier, and you’ll win him over.
An environmentally conscious couple wants something economical and preferably a hybrid or even an electric car. If you can appeal to this couple’s ego by letting them know they’re doing their part to save the planet (yet preferably they aren’t sacrificing quality or style), they’ll buy your car.
Those are just a few examples that are easy to visualise but the online market is just the same, it is the words you write in the comfort of your home, but this will give you a good idea about how to appeal to different markets. The obvious selling point is usually not the main selling point. In order to find the main selling point, you need to examine your market’s deepest desires and motivations.
If you are a part of the target market or know someone who is, think about what makes you buy these niche products. If you cannot do this, then find a few people from the niche, talk to them, and find out what makes them tick with regards to their spending habits in this niche. And remember that the desire that they express to you may in reality be rooted to a deeper desire (e.g., they SAY they want whiter teeth, but what the actually want is a nice smile to attract potential mates).
Your online business depends on the written word, you are at home, not in front of your customer so you need to get inside the potential customer’s head and tap into their deeper desires.
While it’s true that the customer may want to save money and they’re interested in getting their hands on “secret” recipes, chances are their desires are even deeper than that.
Very often if you can appeal to someone’s ego, they’ll open their wallet to buy your product.
Sometimes you have to paint a picture that enables them to imagine their friends and family being impressed, complimenting them, etc. This is most important for the online business where your customer has no direct contact with you.
Let me give you an example. Last year I was browsing the keyword tool Wordtracker when I ran across some interesting results for arbour and pergolas (these are things you put in a garden). Now from a functional standpoint people often use arbours as “ladders” for plants to grow on. But I’m willing to bet very few people buy these items from a purely functional standpoint.
Think about it. To begin with, the garden itself is something the gardener is proud of. So when he or she goes out to buy something like an arbour for the entrance, that arbour needs to be beautiful and worthy of compliments from admiring friends, family, and even the UPS guy.
So let’s suppose you were selling an arbour. Perhaps you build very solid, long-lasting arbores with a 20 year guarantee. That’s a big selling point, but that’s not the main selling point and that’s not even the point that will get the customer to take out her credit card. Instead you need to appeal to her ego.
Specifically, in your web pages you need to use your words to gently guide her into imagining the arbour is already in her garden. She needs to be able to daydream about her neighbour looking over the fence admiring the arbour and maybe being a little jealous. When this potential customer can imagine the jealous looks and admiring glances of others, you’ve made the sale.
Let’s have a look at one final example: vehicles. The auto manufacturers truly understand the desires of their market, which is why even one car company puts out so many different types of cars. These carmakers know that while everyone NEEDS a car to get from Point A to Point B, that’s not the only reason they WANT a car (we’re generalizing here). In other words, the vehicle’s main selling point isn’t that it’s a mode of transportation.
So what’s the main selling point of a car? It depends on whom you’re selling it to. For example:
If you’re selling it to an elderly couple, it’s very likely that they’re interested in comfort and safety. You’ll make the sale if you can tap into their desire to have a comfortable trip to see their kids who live in the next state over.
If you’re selling it to an 18 to 24 year old, they’re likely to want something fast, flashy, and yet affordable for their college budgets. If you can enable the young person to daydream about being “cool” while cruising around on a Friday night, you’ll make the sale.
If you’re selling to a young man, the vehicle might be an accessory for him that enhances his sex appeal and helps him attract beautiful women. You tap into that desire and yes, he’ll buy your car.
A rancher needs and wants something that is rugged enough to drive into the fields, and powerful enough to pull a horse trailer. You tap into his desire to make his work easier, and you’ll win him over.
An environmentally conscious couple wants something economical and preferably a hybrid or even an electric car. If you can appeal to this couple’s ego by letting them know they’re doing their part to save the planet (yet preferably they aren’t sacrificing quality or style), they’ll buy your car.
Those are just a few examples that are easy to visualise but the online market is just the same, it is the words you write in the comfort of your home, but this will give you a good idea about how to appeal to different markets. The obvious selling point is usually not the main selling point. In order to find the main selling point, you need to examine your market’s deepest desires and motivations.
If you are a part of the target market or know someone who is, think about what makes you buy these niche products. If you cannot do this, then find a few people from the niche, talk to them, and find out what makes them tick with regards to their spending habits in this niche. And remember that the desire that they express to you may in reality be rooted to a deeper desire (e.g., they SAY they want whiter teeth, but what the actually want is a nice smile to attract potential mates).
Saturday, June 9, 2007
WHY Do They Want Your Product?
So you want to work from home, you’ve a business idea or hobby niche you can sell online and Yes, you’ve created a product that a certain group desperately wants, so you’re one step ahead of the game.
But the next very important step is that you need to be able to effectively communicate your marketing message (e.g., through your ads, sales letters, etc). If you don’t know why your market wants your product, then your marketing message will fall on deaf ears. End result? Pretty dismal results if you can’t get your target market’s attention!
A large component of this is helping potential customers see the potential benefits and outcomes they’ll get if they buy your product, as opposed to you just letting them know the product’s features.
For example, if you’re selling toothpaste you can list one of the 16 letter ingredients as being a “feature” of your toothpaste. To most people that won’t mean much. But if you tell people that this long word that they can’t spell or pronounce is used to whiten teeth, you’ll get their attention. And if you tell them the potential outcome of whiter teeth (such as attracting hot dates), you’ll be tapping into the underlying desires and wants of your market.
Let’s face it – toothpaste customers need toothpaste to protect their teeth. But what most of these customers want are more attractive mouths, perhaps with the intention of attracting suitors. Here you see that while people know they NEED toothpaste, your marketing message is likely to resonate with them more if you focus on why they WANT your toothpaste.
However, the story changes when you look at children’s toothpaste. The parents buying this stuff for their kids aren’t looking for “whiter teeth and fresher mouths.” What these parents what for their children is exactly what these children need: dependable cavity protection.
Let’s look at another example of getting into your customer’s heads…
Some time ago there was sales letter designed to sell a cookbook that teaches you how to cook your favorite recipes from famous restaurants.
The sales letter was good overall – it had all the right elements, the trigger words and the overall look of a sales letter that should convert browsers to buyers. But in reality the letter should have converted better. The author wanted to know why it wasn’t converting.
After about one minute reading the letter, I had a pretty good idea about why the letter wasn’t converting. My feeling was that the marketer wasn’t tapping into his target market’s main desires. You see, the letter emphasized saving money. The letter suggested that instead of going out to eat at the restaurants, you could save money by cooking the same recipes at home.
Yes, true, that IS a bonus.
But is that the main reason someone would buy the cookbook? I didn’t think so…
My first gut feeling is that the way of positioning the product might be turning potential buyers away. Specifically, you spend the first several paragraphs talking about how much money I'll save by cooking these meals at home versus going out to the restaurants. I don't know about you, but I don't go out just for the food.
I go out for the ambience. I go out so I don't have to do dishes. I go out because it's a social occasion -- a time to celebrate a birthday, or just catch up with an old friend. Price doesn't enter my mind.
I'm not paying for the FOOD...I'm paying for the EXPERIENCE of dining out. So in the beginning of your copy when you tell me how much money I'll save, I have the urge to click away. I'm thinking "this product isn't for me..."In fact, if I were a potential customer I would have clicked away and not bothered reading the rest, I kept on reading.
And then...THEN you grab me when you say:
Now you can cook your favorite restaurant dishes for friends and family right from your own kitchen. They will be convinced that you've ordered in. You'll have them so fooled they won't believe you've made it yourself!
That's it! Screw how much money I'll save cooking this stuff at home... I don't care because that's not an issue. But then you tell me that my friends will be amazed...now you have my attention.
An ego stroke! THAT'S what I want you to do with your new online product, find the root ego stroking reason for someone to read and buy. Then you know how to pitch your sales letter and web site.
But the next very important step is that you need to be able to effectively communicate your marketing message (e.g., through your ads, sales letters, etc). If you don’t know why your market wants your product, then your marketing message will fall on deaf ears. End result? Pretty dismal results if you can’t get your target market’s attention!
A large component of this is helping potential customers see the potential benefits and outcomes they’ll get if they buy your product, as opposed to you just letting them know the product’s features.
For example, if you’re selling toothpaste you can list one of the 16 letter ingredients as being a “feature” of your toothpaste. To most people that won’t mean much. But if you tell people that this long word that they can’t spell or pronounce is used to whiten teeth, you’ll get their attention. And if you tell them the potential outcome of whiter teeth (such as attracting hot dates), you’ll be tapping into the underlying desires and wants of your market.
Let’s face it – toothpaste customers need toothpaste to protect their teeth. But what most of these customers want are more attractive mouths, perhaps with the intention of attracting suitors. Here you see that while people know they NEED toothpaste, your marketing message is likely to resonate with them more if you focus on why they WANT your toothpaste.
However, the story changes when you look at children’s toothpaste. The parents buying this stuff for their kids aren’t looking for “whiter teeth and fresher mouths.” What these parents what for their children is exactly what these children need: dependable cavity protection.
Let’s look at another example of getting into your customer’s heads…
Some time ago there was sales letter designed to sell a cookbook that teaches you how to cook your favorite recipes from famous restaurants.
The sales letter was good overall – it had all the right elements, the trigger words and the overall look of a sales letter that should convert browsers to buyers. But in reality the letter should have converted better. The author wanted to know why it wasn’t converting.
After about one minute reading the letter, I had a pretty good idea about why the letter wasn’t converting. My feeling was that the marketer wasn’t tapping into his target market’s main desires. You see, the letter emphasized saving money. The letter suggested that instead of going out to eat at the restaurants, you could save money by cooking the same recipes at home.
Yes, true, that IS a bonus.
But is that the main reason someone would buy the cookbook? I didn’t think so…
My first gut feeling is that the way of positioning the product might be turning potential buyers away. Specifically, you spend the first several paragraphs talking about how much money I'll save by cooking these meals at home versus going out to the restaurants. I don't know about you, but I don't go out just for the food.
I go out for the ambience. I go out so I don't have to do dishes. I go out because it's a social occasion -- a time to celebrate a birthday, or just catch up with an old friend. Price doesn't enter my mind.
I'm not paying for the FOOD...I'm paying for the EXPERIENCE of dining out. So in the beginning of your copy when you tell me how much money I'll save, I have the urge to click away. I'm thinking "this product isn't for me..."In fact, if I were a potential customer I would have clicked away and not bothered reading the rest, I kept on reading.
And then...THEN you grab me when you say:
Now you can cook your favorite restaurant dishes for friends and family right from your own kitchen. They will be convinced that you've ordered in. You'll have them so fooled they won't believe you've made it yourself!
That's it! Screw how much money I'll save cooking this stuff at home... I don't care because that's not an issue. But then you tell me that my friends will be amazed...now you have my attention.
An ego stroke! THAT'S what I want you to do with your new online product, find the root ego stroking reason for someone to read and buy. Then you know how to pitch your sales letter and web site.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Turning a hobby into a cash income
Working from the comfort of your home with your own online business.
Do you have a hobby or an area of special interest?
Would you like to tell others all about it and at the same time get cash for your efforts?
This is the best way to start a home-based online business.
Putting together an ebook all about your hobby is a lot easier than most people think.
An ebook is just the same as a long letter you may send to a friend explaining all about your hobby, both produced at home. The ebook will be about 50 pages long.
Putting together 50 pages explaining all the tips tricks and special interests on a hobby subject may sound daunting but like most things there are tips and tricks on how to go about it. I have a series of other blogs and articles that go into more depth plus I run a weekly newsletter that covers this as well.
You may even think there was no point in doing it, as nobody would know you had written it, well yes the ebook is just the start. All online businesses should start simply like this and build up steadily, building knowledge and skill along the way.
Next you need to tell the Internet world all about it, so you produce a Blog site, then a Mini Web Site, again it sounds daunting but in reality just type up a single page summary (sales page) and using one of the many free word to web software tools convert it into a web page, add a picture and keywords relating to the ebook and you are one step nearer to getting a steady income.
To increase the awareness even further take one section and publish it as an article, put your details at the bottom and even more people will find out about your hobby and ebook again all this is from the comfort of your own home.
Still worried about the 50 pages, well I have an article on that, plus it is also covered in depth on my free weekly newsletter.
Your first ebook will take you well over a month to get all the elements together but after that you will be able to turn them out in a single day.
So no matter how daunting it may seem it is worth the initial effort. The thrill of getting your first email from PayPal saying you have received funds is truly exhilarating. Then when you have half a dozen selling at $17 then an extra $1000 per month could be yours, selling just 10 of each every month it soon mounts up!
For years I've been looking for the ultimate home based online business and writing ebooks is the bees knees. You make the initial effort, publish it then with the aid of PayPal’s auto responder have it delivered electronically just as soon as the buyer has paid.
Before long you become an acknowledged expert and people will be asking for your advice, this in turn gives you the ideas for follow up books, so your reputation increases further.
By the very nature of blogs, I can only briefly cover the production and marketing of ebooks, the subject is well covered by a wide range of experts and in the future blogs that I will be publishing, so be inspired and follow this up. It could pay for next year’s vacation.
Do you have a hobby or an area of special interest?
Would you like to tell others all about it and at the same time get cash for your efforts?
This is the best way to start a home-based online business.
Putting together an ebook all about your hobby is a lot easier than most people think.
An ebook is just the same as a long letter you may send to a friend explaining all about your hobby, both produced at home. The ebook will be about 50 pages long.
Putting together 50 pages explaining all the tips tricks and special interests on a hobby subject may sound daunting but like most things there are tips and tricks on how to go about it. I have a series of other blogs and articles that go into more depth plus I run a weekly newsletter that covers this as well.
You may even think there was no point in doing it, as nobody would know you had written it, well yes the ebook is just the start. All online businesses should start simply like this and build up steadily, building knowledge and skill along the way.
Next you need to tell the Internet world all about it, so you produce a Blog site, then a Mini Web Site, again it sounds daunting but in reality just type up a single page summary (sales page) and using one of the many free word to web software tools convert it into a web page, add a picture and keywords relating to the ebook and you are one step nearer to getting a steady income.
To increase the awareness even further take one section and publish it as an article, put your details at the bottom and even more people will find out about your hobby and ebook again all this is from the comfort of your own home.
Still worried about the 50 pages, well I have an article on that, plus it is also covered in depth on my free weekly newsletter.
Your first ebook will take you well over a month to get all the elements together but after that you will be able to turn them out in a single day.
So no matter how daunting it may seem it is worth the initial effort. The thrill of getting your first email from PayPal saying you have received funds is truly exhilarating. Then when you have half a dozen selling at $17 then an extra $1000 per month could be yours, selling just 10 of each every month it soon mounts up!
For years I've been looking for the ultimate home based online business and writing ebooks is the bees knees. You make the initial effort, publish it then with the aid of PayPal’s auto responder have it delivered electronically just as soon as the buyer has paid.
Before long you become an acknowledged expert and people will be asking for your advice, this in turn gives you the ideas for follow up books, so your reputation increases further.
By the very nature of blogs, I can only briefly cover the production and marketing of ebooks, the subject is well covered by a wide range of experts and in the future blogs that I will be publishing, so be inspired and follow this up. It could pay for next year’s vacation.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Creating an online Product or Service
Creating an online Product or Service
Wants VS. Needs
Working from home on your online business may meet your needs but what about your customer. You’ve heard it plenty of times – find a market with a problem, find their solution, and throw yourselves in their path so that they throw their money at you, online businesses can benefit from this very good advice. However, let’s break this down further since essentially what we are referring to is meeting a customer’s wants and needs.
You see sitting at home the problem is that it’s easy for our ego to get in the way when we start a business. We may know what a customer needs and so we set off to create that product or service. Then we are completed befuddled when no one is on our online web site buying our product.
What happened? We didn’t create a product that people WANTED.
Creating ebooks or any other form of online business you may run from home is just the same as any other business.
If you decide to create a business that meets people’s needs, you better also be sure that these people want your solution.
For example, let’s suppose you run into a specific population of smokers. They love gathering on Saturday nights on their front porches, enjoying good company, their favourite beverage, and a pack of Marlboro Reds.
The problem is, this particular group has a history of lung cancer in their families. And due to the long history of smoking each of these people has, coupled with the large number of cigarettes they smoke each day, you know they are walking a dangerous path health-wise.
What do these people NEED? This particular group needs to quit smoking before they meet their untimely ends. But if you attempt to market a stop-smoking product to them, you’re the one likely to meet an untimely death. Quite simply, this particular population of smokers doesn’t want to quit, so you’re wasting your time and money trying to sell that sort of product to them.
At this point you have a choice:
1. You can find a market of smokers who DOES want to stop smoking, and sell them your product.
2. You can figure out what your “porch smokers” actually want, and sell it to them (discount cigarettes come to mind).
3. Or you can just choose another market and product.
You can see this same sort of example playing out across many different populations, especially in regards to health. For example, you may find overweight people who need to lose weight, but they want clothes that make them look slimmer, not an online exercise program. Or you may find teenagers that need a dependable car, but the teenager is more interested in what the car looks like as opposed to whether it will need costly repairs.
Sometimes the product you are putting on the market is so revolutionary that people have yet to realize they need or want it. In that case, if you decide to proceed you will likely spend a lot of time and money educating your potential customers. This is one of those cases where being second into the market may be more beneficial, since your competitor spent the time and money educating the market, and now you can swoop in and get your market share.
For example, marketer John Reese was one of the first people to come out with an autoresponder. People didn’t realize they needed it, and they for sure didn’t want it. In fact, they didn’t even know what it was. As such, John and his closest competitors had to educate the market before he could sell autoresponders.
Now of course when you say “autoresponder” most people want it for their business plus they tend to need it if they’re running a mailing list. Even though the competition may be tough, at least if you entered that market now you wouldn’t need to explain to potential customers why they wanted and needed your autoresponder service.
So what’s the bottom line? Know your market! No matter who you are marketing to and what product or service you’re putting out, if you want to succeed make sure your market wants what you have. Better yet, make sure your market DESPERATELY wants your product!
Wants VS. Needs
Working from home on your online business may meet your needs but what about your customer. You’ve heard it plenty of times – find a market with a problem, find their solution, and throw yourselves in their path so that they throw their money at you, online businesses can benefit from this very good advice. However, let’s break this down further since essentially what we are referring to is meeting a customer’s wants and needs.
You see sitting at home the problem is that it’s easy for our ego to get in the way when we start a business. We may know what a customer needs and so we set off to create that product or service. Then we are completed befuddled when no one is on our online web site buying our product.
What happened? We didn’t create a product that people WANTED.
Creating ebooks or any other form of online business you may run from home is just the same as any other business.
If you decide to create a business that meets people’s needs, you better also be sure that these people want your solution.
For example, let’s suppose you run into a specific population of smokers. They love gathering on Saturday nights on their front porches, enjoying good company, their favourite beverage, and a pack of Marlboro Reds.
The problem is, this particular group has a history of lung cancer in their families. And due to the long history of smoking each of these people has, coupled with the large number of cigarettes they smoke each day, you know they are walking a dangerous path health-wise.
What do these people NEED? This particular group needs to quit smoking before they meet their untimely ends. But if you attempt to market a stop-smoking product to them, you’re the one likely to meet an untimely death. Quite simply, this particular population of smokers doesn’t want to quit, so you’re wasting your time and money trying to sell that sort of product to them.
At this point you have a choice:
1. You can find a market of smokers who DOES want to stop smoking, and sell them your product.
2. You can figure out what your “porch smokers” actually want, and sell it to them (discount cigarettes come to mind).
3. Or you can just choose another market and product.
You can see this same sort of example playing out across many different populations, especially in regards to health. For example, you may find overweight people who need to lose weight, but they want clothes that make them look slimmer, not an online exercise program. Or you may find teenagers that need a dependable car, but the teenager is more interested in what the car looks like as opposed to whether it will need costly repairs.
Sometimes the product you are putting on the market is so revolutionary that people have yet to realize they need or want it. In that case, if you decide to proceed you will likely spend a lot of time and money educating your potential customers. This is one of those cases where being second into the market may be more beneficial, since your competitor spent the time and money educating the market, and now you can swoop in and get your market share.
For example, marketer John Reese was one of the first people to come out with an autoresponder. People didn’t realize they needed it, and they for sure didn’t want it. In fact, they didn’t even know what it was. As such, John and his closest competitors had to educate the market before he could sell autoresponders.
Now of course when you say “autoresponder” most people want it for their business plus they tend to need it if they’re running a mailing list. Even though the competition may be tough, at least if you entered that market now you wouldn’t need to explain to potential customers why they wanted and needed your autoresponder service.
So what’s the bottom line? Know your market! No matter who you are marketing to and what product or service you’re putting out, if you want to succeed make sure your market wants what you have. Better yet, make sure your market DESPERATELY wants your product!
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