It sure looks easy enough, and with all those people putting their testimonials out there claiming to have made hundreds or thousands in just hours, online marketing is drawing people in from all walks of life - factory workers, doctors, teachers, college students, police, lawyers and YOU. If you're reading this, you surely must have an interest in developing an online income!
We need to get something straight right from the start. We are NOT born marketers. You need to become a student of marketing. This doesn't mean you need to enroll in marketing classes, but at the very least you better find somebody who is successful and willing to mentor you and REALLY HELP YOU, not just try to make a dollar off you. There is no magic bullet that can turn you into an online marketing guru. Time, practice, patience, making mistakes and learning from them will get the job done. There are many "marketing tools" out there, and you can buy them all. However, if you don't know how to USE the tools, you're no better off. Anybody can buy a scalpel, but I'm not going to let them do surgery on me! How about you?
With that said, it doesn't have to be a painful learning experience. Let's get started right now with Marketing 101; people do business with people they know, like and trust. Establishing these criteria can take time and many attempts in the OFFLINE world of marketing. Trying to accomplish this online can be even more difficult. Let's start with "KNOW".
Get your name out there - BRAND YOURSELF. You must sell "YOU" before anybody will want to hear about your opportunity (no matter how great it may be). Participate on social sites, and make friends with like-minded people (especially those who are successful - learn from them). Post in marketing forums. If you have nothing original to contribute, at least read other people's posts and blogs. Then make a thoughtful reply to those blogs and forum posts. Always use a picture of yourself anyplace you can! People want to SEE who they are doing business with. They aren't interested in a picture of your dog, cat, or kids%u2026(no matter how cute they are). Go to Godaddy, or any site that sells domains and buy YOUR NAME ! If you have a long name or it's difficult to spell or remember, get creative and come up with a clever, easy to remember domain name. You can then forward that domain to the URL of your lead capturing or splash page (more on that later). One last tip to branding: always use signature files in your emails.
Like and trust are difficult to establish via the Internet but can be done. People will like you for taking the time to read their blogs and forum posts and taking the time to make a nice comment. People will like you for giving them value. Always give people you do business with MORE than they expect. Very rarely can you go wrong by UNDER PROMISING and OVER DELIVERING. People will like you for helping them. Whenever there is an opportunity to help another, do it! Trust can be built by always doing what you say you will do. Make yourself available to people and let them know where you are. It helps them identify with you. I always use my full name, city and state in my signature files. I also include my cell phone number. You don't have to be an expert marketer in order to offer to help and allowing people to contact you. If you don't have an answer for somebody, you have to be willing to say, "Great question, but I don't know. I will find out the answer for you and get back with you right away."
Trust me...this relationship building process is necessary. This type of "attraction marketing" is key to building a large, faithful, trusting list of potential prospects. I've heard A LOT of "gurus" say the money is in the LIST. The reason they say that is because it is the absolute truth!
The reason you need a list to market to brings me to this point: Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Companies come and go for a variety of reasons so it is best to diversify. Developing a portfolio of opportunities with varying degrees of risk, you can best leverage your money, while minimizing your risk. If one of the opportunities in your portfolio closes, for whatever reason, you will need to replace it. To do this, you will need a list of people who trust you to make a recommendation for a new opportunity.
To start building your list, keep in mind that it makes more sense to promote "YOU" and add people to your list who are interested in making money online than to promote an affiliate link that sends a prospect directly to some company's web site. This will require a capture page that has a form to collect contact information or an email address to build your list. Now that you have added this person to your list, you can send them to your affiliate web site for information (after you give them some value ;-)
Remember to follow up, follow up, and follow up. The point is to keep your list updated and informed, not overwhelmed with every new opportunity that comes along! There are fine points to learn along the way, but this is basically the "secret formula" that the gurus use. Some will build quickly if there is a large budget to generate traffic and others will have to move more slowly using low cost or free advertising.
There you have it: relationship build, list build, market responsibly to your list. That's it!!
The whole point of marketing is to be seen. To be seen you have to stand out by doing something completely different from what everybody else is doing. Email me or connect on facebook to find out "what works now".
Troy Rudd
Rochester, IN
troy.rudd@yahoo.com
http://www.TroyRudd.com
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