Internet Marketing Doesn't Exist!

by Anthony Stillwell

I know what you're thinking. "Internet Marketing Doesn't Exist?" "Yeah Right!".

Well, technically that's true. Marketing has been around long before the creation of the Internet. Most Internet Marketing courses are basically just Direct Marketing techniques applied to the web. To make money online you must understand Direct Marketing.  Internet Marketing is not a new form of marketing. It's an adaptation of proven Direct Marketing principles.

The problem with having an Internet Marketing mentality is that it can hurt your bottom line. So many things can be done for free online that some entrepreneurs lose perspective. In the "real world" it costs money to advertise and do business so you are accountable for your actions. Online you can place free ads, get a free website with a free web host, etc so you're not pressed to earn a dime. In the "real world" when you advertise your goal is to earn more than you spent on advertising.

There's nothing wrong with free advertising. It can only hurt you when you forget the goals you have when you have to pay for advertising. Carry that offline attitude over to your online business using Direct Marketing concepts. Here's how you can incorporate proven direct marketing principles into your business today!

One way to find a "hot" product can actually be done offline. Watching T.V. or opening your mail can make you money! I'm sure you've seen all the info-mercials that promise to help you lose weight or get washboard abs. Do you know why there are so many of these products out there? Because the market for this type of product is Huge. There a Millions of people that want to lose weight. Sell What People Want To Buy! You don't necessarily need a Huge market, but it should be sizable. Take a look at your "junk mail". Do you notice certain offers being sent to you more than a few times by the same person or company?

If you get the same offer by 10 different people in your offline mailbox you should take note. Why? Because these people have identified a market that exists. Once you know that a certain market exists you can make more money than your competitors by doing a few things differently. Study the product offer. How compelling is the sales letter? Do they offer bonuses? How many? Do they offer a strong guarantee? Can you keep the bonuses even if you return the main product? Tear their offer apart and find ways to improve it. You could use a killer headline, better bonuses, a stronger guarantee, a more compelling sales message, different advertising medium like the Internet... etc.

Competition is good. Some people find great products just by finding out what others are selling profitably and going into competition with them. Another way to find a great product to sell online is to ask your web site visitors what they want to learn or what type of product would help them. You can give away a free bonus for giving you their feedback. You take a Specific Action: Asking for your visitors feedback and in return for a free gift you expect a Specific Result: Get visitor feedback to save you time on finding or creating the product(s) they want. Once you find out what people are looking for you can buy the rights to a successful product or you can create your own. To learn how to create your own products send for our free InfoProduct Masters course here: mailto:timswebsecrets1@sitesell.net

Note: Products that don't sell well offline probably won't do to well online. If people won't buy a product offline what makes you think putting it on the Internet will make it irresistible? One major rule of Direct Marketing is to find a market that already exists then find or create a product for them. The same applies online.

Every Direct Marketer knows the long-term value of a customer so he understands how important it is to attract new customers. Long-term value: How much will a person spend with you over years of contact. That amount can be substantial. Into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars per person. Once you have a targeted prospect and make the sale: if you give that person a high quality product and good service he/she is more likely to do business with you again in the future.

The problem most online marketers have is attracting that person in the first place. You must understand that online or anywhere else people are highly skeptical and for good reason. There are people out there who do take advantage of their customers. Your potential customers don't trust you because they know nothing about you or how you do business. For that reason you have to give people a risk-free reason to make the first contact with you. In the offline world you would do that by giving away a valuable free report, video, cassette, etc... that is related to the kind of products you sell.

This has two functions. One is to build trust. When you give someone valuable information that they can actually use to help themselves then you build trust. Second, this also gives you the opportunity to show the value of the products you offer. You have to make a strong risk-free offer to get people to contact you for more information on the products you sell. Don't just blindly do business. Take specific actions with a specific result in mind.

One way to use the valuable freebie method online is to create an information rich eBook. Don't just throw any information together and call it an eBook. If the information isn't worth the download time then don't bother. For more information on creating and successfully marketing eBooks go to: http://www.getfreeadvertising.com/ebookmarketing

Every successful direct mail offer has a strong benefit rich headline or opening statement. Your web site should do the same. What major benefit will people gain from your site? Put that benefit up-front. You only have a few seconds to capture your visitors attention and convince them to go further into your site. Make your headline or opening statement flow into the rest of your site.

You can also use benefits for your web site links. Make your links give a specific benefit someone will get by clicking it. Successful sales letters use compelling headlines and sub-headlines that make people want the benefit offered so your links should do the same. You'll notice on my main page I don't say "Welcome to GetFreeAdvertising.com" I have a clear benefit rich headline that leads people into the action I want them to take which is to submit a form for a free report. The headline for my site reads..."How to Get a Million Dollars Or More Of Advertising Free of Charge.... Make Your Product, Service, Business, Cause Or Yourself Famous Locally, Nationally Or Globally, Free!" How's that for a reason to stay and read the rest of my site?

What do you want people to do when they get to your site? If you don't know then how are your prospects going to know? Do you want people to sign up for your newsletter, send for your free report, buy your product, download an ebook, etc. Have a clear plan for every page on your site. Let every page lead your potential customers towards a specific action you want them to take. You'll notice on a lot of sales letters that you get in the mail say "go to next page" on the bottom corner of each page. Now you would think putting "go to next page" on sales letters is unneccesary, but the opposite is true. It's essential!

Why?

Well, people want step-by-step directions for everything. We've been conditioned that way for years. Look at all the products you buy. Everything from food containers to shampoo has step-by-step "how-to" instructions. It's what people expect. A successful sales letter or web site is no different. Tell your prospects what you want them to do every step of the way.

I can't count the number of times I've been to an extremely boring and un-motivating website. You could never get away with this in the offline world. You would quickly go broke mailing boring sales letters. So why do people do this online? Because they aren't paying rent on a store-front or in many cases even spending money on advertising so they aren't losing any money by not making sales. You have to treat your online business just as seriously as you would a brick and mortar business or you may never make a penny online.

Learn how to write great copy. Your prospects want to be excited when they read your sales letter or web site copy. Use strong, emotion-charged words. People make decisions based on their emotions then later try to back them up with logic. You, me, everyone makes decisions based on the way we feel. You have to write in a way that taps into your prospects emotions. The thing is... you can't write an emotional sales letter unless you can put yourself in your readers shoes. The most powerful way to get the maximum response to any letter you write is to put yourself in the same mindset as your reader.

One thing many online marketers don't realize is that the whole purpose of a sales letter is to address a problem a reader already has. No one wakes up in the morning and says "You know, I could really go for a good InfoProduct today". No, a lot of people are thinking "Man, it's Monday again... it was just Monday 6 days ago. I don't want to go to work today". That's the reason people will buy your money making package. Because they want the financial freedom to be able to do what they want when they want. Not because you send them a fancy letter or have a web site with thousand dollar graphics. People buy what they want... not what you try to convince them they want.

Can you picture yourself getting 10 sales letters in the mail deciding on which ones to trash and which ones to read? What kind of letter would get your attention? How can you make your offer stand out? Online you can make your offer stand out just by using a compelling headline on your main page because most webmasters simply don't do it.

What can you say that will convey your desire to help and make your prospects feel good emotionally about buying from you? Can you picture yourself with a limited income and how that affects what you're willing to spend your money on? You have to put yourself in your prospects position. Think of all the reasons to buy what you have to offer and possible objections to your offer so that you can answer them in your letter or web site. Make a list and use your list as a guide to writing copy that addresses your prospects concerns and get them motivated to buy.

One of the most important things you can do is to write like you're talking to a friend. One on one. Use the word You every chance you get. Use exciting words like: Create, Profit, Uncover, Secret, Secrets, Revealed, Unleashed, Private, Power, Powerful. Of course free still works, but you have to make sure that what you give away for free actually has value. Also people love for things to be revealed to them and to be let in on exclusive information. Curiosity plays a big factor in getting responses to your offers. To learn more about copywriting read "How to Create Killer Advertising That Practically Forces People To Respond"  http://www.getfreeadvertising.com/copywriting to learn how to create compelling copy that gets results.

One thing you must never do is to let an interested prospect get away from you. When you advertise and get someone to raise their hand and identify themselves as being interested in your products it's absolutely insane to neglect them if they don't buy right away. Most people won't buy form you the first time they visit your site. You have to get their contact information with their permission of course.

If you have a prospects permission to send them eMail then you have a powerful advantage over a lot of your competitors. Most of them don't understand the value or even know how to successfully collect follow-up information from their potential customers. So if someone doesn't buy from them on the first contact then that sale is lost to them forever.

Since I don't want to repeat myself too much you can read a previous article titled: "Direct Online Marketing Revealed" http://www.getfreeadvertising.com/dom.html and learn 3 proven and very effective ways to capture your web site visitors eMail addresses so that you can keep in contact with them.

Every successful offline Direct Marketer sends follow-up messages and it costs them money to do this. The only reason they spend money to send follow-up messages to their contact list is because it makes them money. Online you can send virtually unlimited messages to people who want them for Free so there's no reason for you not to get started Now!

If you want to make money online you have to become a student of Direct Marketing. That means being accountable for your actions. That's the only way you can succeed online.

Anthony Stillwell is webmaster at:http://www.getfreeadvertising.com Get our Free Report that reveals how you how you can promote virtually any product/service without spending a dime of your own money on advertising. Subscribe to EnterNet Profits our Free Bi-Weekly Newsletter and get 4 Free Gifts including 7 Secrets To Unlimited Traffic. Learn how to create a steady flow of traffic to your site automatically. Mailto:enetprofits-subscribe@listbot.com