Business 1-10: Building Your Own Online Community
Too many people have just bought some web space, put up a sales letter for this or that product, and sat back waiting for millions to come in. I am going to tell you right up front in this course....that tactic won't work, ever!
If you want to succeed online, you have to put together a strategy for your website. Whether you call it a strategy, a theme, a world center, or an online community, it doesn't matter. It is still the same thing. You have to build a site that has a central focus on a specific WANT that your prospects have. Then, you find products which follow along the theme.
Free bonuses are then added to your site. Following the theme you developed, you could create a report on it, start a message board, or run an ezine. Some type of software program could be added to your site which helps people in this theme. If search engines were your theme, you could have a software program on your site which submits web sites to the search engines and visitors could use it for free. I have a sample of this type of program on my site at http://www.bizpromo.com/sesubmit/submit.html
So, the three keys to creating income from ANY web site and ANY theme are:
1. Have a lead product that people WANT.
2. Have freebies at your site that follow the theme.
3. Have multiple backend or supporting products for the theme.
I know some people who are brilliant strategists about online marketing who achieve amazing success even though their actual tactical skills are only so-so. They hire out the web site design, the search engine registrations, the linking campaigns, and the copywriting. As a matter of fact, one of these brilliant minds once mentioned to me that, "The concept is greater than the copy."
In other words, the right marketing strategy can overcome slight problems in the copywriting or even the carrying out of the plans. Even the best copywriting on the planet won't make a success out of a poor business strategy or concept.
No contractor would ever consider starting work on a project without having a detailed blueprint already done and in their hands. It also doesn't matter how good they are at following the blueprints if the blueprints are all wrong. For many people, their internet businesses are in this exact state. They have many of the internet tactics ready, but they have yet to develop a powerful strategy to empower the whole process.
So exactly how do you choose the strategy for your Internet Marketing Empire? Below you will find a three step process in helping you develop your overall strategy. I don't want to over-complicate the process by any means, but I do want to help you create ideas through this. Your actual day to day internet marketing tactics will then flow out of your overall marketing strategy.
STEP ONE: Create Your Overall Theme to Your Online Business
You can't develop a business around a single product. Even if you are promoting a single product upfront, it is not the product that people want. They want the BENEFITS they receive out of the product. When designing your site, think about an "Ultimate Benefit" to build your site around.
I first heard the phrase "The Ultimate Benefit" through Dr. Jeffrey Lant and it has stuck with me ever since. It is that ever abiding "WANT" or "GOALS" that your prospects have with them continually. Ultimate Benefits are things such as: more money, weight loss, online success, being sexually attractive, self-defense, etc.
Ultimate benefits are what your prospects are really seeking after. So, don't base your business just on products. Base your business on this Ultimate Benefit. This will be the theme that binds everything else you do at your site together. It is what you want your site to become known for. It is why people will return to your site over and over again forever.
What is it that your prospects ultimately want?
More Money
Better Health
Weight Loss
etc.
Once you have defined your "Ultimate Benefit," that's where the products can come in. You will want to provide multiple products that all fall under the same Ultimate Benefit. This will help you to create "Multiple Streams of Income" all generated from one web site.
What mail order or internet company do you know of that only has one product? There aren't any really successful ones. Even the sites which seem only to have one main product still have dozens of different profit streams which all originate from the main product. Your mission online is to help people reach their ultimate goals, and that cannot be done with just one product. It takes a variety of products to accomplish this goal.
One warning I do want to mention here though is that your site will be more successful if you have one LEAD product. By testing both multiple product sites and sites which focus on one lead product, I have found that the lead product sites will outsell the multiple product sites by a long shot in most cases.
So, the absolute best set-up is to focus on a main product, and then have many different backends or supporting products which will help your customers to further their goals. This type of system is often referred to as a marketing funnel. You may be selling a book about Ad Copy on your site, but you will also have consultations, seminars, audio tapes, and ad writing services which all support your theme.
If you are selling web sites as a primary lead product, you could also sell books on internet marketing, web design services, CGI programming, etc. If your theme is weight loss, your primary product may be a nutritional product. You could also sell weight loss and exercise books. A newsletter could be started. You could also do personal one-on-one consultations for specific individuals.
You also don't need to come up with all of these products yourself. Many of them can be found through Joint Ventures with other companies which have products you know your customers want.
STEP TWO: Develop A Unique Aspect to Your Business...Your USP
Your business cannot just be a me-too business online. You need to develop some type of uniqueness to it...something that sets you apart from all of the rest of your competition online. You need to create a "Unique Selling Position" which makes you stand out from the crowd online.
For example, everyone is selling books online. How did Amazon.com become the most well known bookstore on the interne? They developed a USP which basically states, "The World's Largest Bookstore" which is exactly what they are. They have stated in one phrase exactly what makes them unique from the rest of the bookstores in the world.
How can you develop your own USP? You probably aren't going to own the largest selection of anything in your business since most of us have started out bootstrapping at home or in our small business. Let me give you a simple little formula you can use which will help you immensely in the creation of a USP for your business.
To find your USP, pull out a blank sheet of paper. At the top of the paper, write "You know how most __________..." Then, halfway down the page, write "Well, What I do is..."
I want you to write how most of the businesses in your market are in the first section. Then, I want you to write what sets you apart from them. Avoid using words such as quality or better service, because those types of things don't really mean anything UNLESS you are more specific in your description. This may take you a while to do. You probably will have to study your competition online for a while. Give yourself a few days to think it over. Then, write it down.
Next, I want you to boil down that entire sheet of paper to a single phrase or sentence. This takes some work. Write it out in a sentence or phrase as many times as you need to until you get just the right words. Again, if this takes you a few days, let it. Think about it when you are driving, eating, etc. Mull it over. Then, once you have just the right wording, that is your NEW USP which you will use to separate you from all of the competition.
Use it on your signature file online...use it on your website...use it in your ad copy. Let it become a guiding force to your online business that sets you apart and defines you as the person to deal with in this area.
STEP THREE: Concentrate on Building Relationships with Your Prospects
To fully develop an online business, you need to maximize your relationships with people. Although your goal in your internet business may be to set it up on auto-pilot, you have to remember at all times that you are dealing with real people. Credibility online is a major issue because there are many fly-by-night get-rich-quick operators on the internet.
To help you develop this credibility with your prospects, your overall strategy has to include such tools as ezines, message boards, chats, conference calls, dealer programs, etc. Many people keep asking exactly why does it seem ezines are popping up everywhere...it is simply because they work. They help you to develop the relationships you need with your prospects. You are able to contact your prospects over and over again providing them with good useful information.
The same thing is true of the message boards. Once you have worked them up to a certain level of traffic, the same people will keep coming back day after day learning from you and the other experts you may have brought to your board.
Use your imagination and develop other free services such as these to help you develop your web site and relationships online. How about doing JV's with other businesses? How about running a monthly conference call on your subject? Your business online is only limited by your imagination!
A Internet Community Could Be Built Around ANY Product or Service You Could Imagine!
Below we are going to give you 10 examples of communities you could build, but they are only examples. You could build an internet community around ANYTHING! What interests you? What do you like to research and learn about? What do you like to do for hobbies? Everyone of your answers to those questions will be another THEME you could follow on your site.
Go to any local magazine stand and look through the magazines. Every one of those magazines is built around a targeted market of consumers and is based on a specific theme. Products will be sold in the magazine that focus on that theme. Free articles are throughout the magazine which focus on the theme. You could easily compare the design of successful web site to these magazines.
Pick up a magazine and you will be holding in your hands a complete idea for your entire web site. The articles will show you the kinds of free information the market is seeking. The ads which run month after month will show you the products they are buying. That is how simple it can be to figure out what kind of theme interests you...what magazines are in your house?
Ten Communities You Could Build Are:
1. Internet Marketing
This market is still HOT...and will continue to be for years to come as more and more businesses are moving to the web every day. The biggest problem with building a community in this area will be in creating a Unique Selling Position to it. There are thousands of sites out there selling internet marketing products, services, or information. So if you go in this area, you have to find a very targeted niche market and/or provide a lot of free information or services to break away from the mold of the rest of the sites.
2. Copywriting
Every business needs to learn more about copywriting...and we never stop learning. For this area, you would need to come up with all kinds of free reports plus possibly find programs that would compliment ad writing or make doing it easier. Again, just like #1 above, you would find yourself in a very competitive market with thousands of competitors. This is not saying that you can't develop a uniqueness to your business. It is just saying you will have to work harder at it. For example, I know of one copywriter online who separated himself from the rest of the pack by calling himself the "World's First Cybercopywriter" showing that he writes specifically for the internet.
3. Fitness
To see just how hot this market is, just turn on your TV set and watch the infomercials for a few minutes. More infomercials are becoming successful through nutritional products or exercise equipment than anything else. You could build an entire community around a specific diet program, exercise program, or nutritional program. Message boards, ezines, chats, and more would all be exciting to your prospects in any of these areas. Plus, there is NO lack of companies which you can find online which would allow you to be a dealer for their products for you to sell on your site.
4. Buying and Selling At Online Auctions
This is another business opportunity which really gets people excited. You could create a community that focuses on a specific type of buying (online auctions, local auctions, garage sales, government auctions, etc.) or on a specific type of products (collectibles, beanie babies, tools, furniture, property, etc.). Then, you could have online forums, a training course, classifieds (to sell these products) which you give some ads away for free (the best ads at top or through searches would be paid ads). You could easily target a specific type of buying or selling and end up becoming the Main Web Site in a specific niche market.
5. Press Releases
You could build a community around press releases for other businesses online. Include informational reports for free which help people design their own press releases. Have a message board and ezine with tips. Then, sell a press release course, service, or lists of publishers to contact.
6. Beauty Products
Go to your local magazine rack and look at the number of magazines which fall under this category. There are dozens of them (or hundreds depending on the store). You could find a specific niche market and focus your site on that. You would have a primary product and then could find hundreds of supporting products to go with it!
7. Kitchen Aids
How about new kitchen appliances or cookbooks. The biggest challenge in this area will be making sure you are selling products which CANNOT be found at the local store. New products or cookbooks can be extremely HOT, but there are a lot of similar products being sold at stores for less than what it would cost to sell them through mail order. For ideas in this area, watch some of the infomercials that sell products of this nature. You could start a "Recipe of the Day" newsletter or a message board to trade recipes...both items which will quickly gain popularity in this market.
8. Automobiles
I hate lumping all of the ideas which you could come up with on automobiles in just one category here, but I don't want this course to be called 1001 internet businesses. You could do collector cars (having cars sold on your site for a commission or with paid ads), models, books on automobiles, etc. Gas treatment products and various other things would make very good supporting products.
9. Golf
Any other sport could also become a good theme, but let's focus on one idea at a time. With so many golf enthusiasts out there, all just hoping to improve their game by any means necessary, this is a ripe market. So, if you are a golf lover yourself, consider setting up a site on how to lower your score. It could sell clubs, books, videos...discussions could be held with a golf pro invited to help out. Even Real Video could be placed online showing the right golf swings.
10. Self-Defense
How about a self-defense site? It could be self-defense for kids, women, professional women, men, professional men, etc. You get the idea. Pick out a targeted niche market in this area and sell books, videos, and equipment all meant to help people to defend themselves better. With increasing violence worldwide, this is a market that will never disappear. Ezine ideas could be a Self-Defense tip of the week (or day) Showing how to avoid deadly confrontations...a message board could be started on the same subject.
Web Site Marketing is Community Building
I could list just about any and every possible business in this section, because internet marketing is simply community building. Build a community around a specific theme or niche market. Use some of the above ideas in your business to help build relationships with your prospects and watch your sales soar!
Business 11-20: Creating a Free Service
Which comes first...the product or the web site?
A lot of people have the cart before the horse. They have a product they want to sell and they are looking for people to buy it. Do you know how easy it is if you start with the people who want to buy something first...and then offer them a product they WANT?
Just because you don't have a product doesn't mean you shouldn't start a web site. Pick a targeted niche market first...build a site...build Traffic...and then you can either find a product they already want or you can sell advertising space. I would pick a web site with traffic any day over a person with a hot product. "Hot" products are everywhere. Web sites which already have traffic in a specific market are GUARANTEED winners when the right product is introduced to them.
As a matter of fact, I know a lot of success web site models who are earning thousands or tens of thousands of dollars monthly and they don't even have a product to sell. They sell advertising space or banners. They do endorsements of other people's products. Once you have the market, there are dozens of people ready and willing to let you sell their products to your customers.
You could also design a web site giving everything away absolutely FREE with one purpose in mind...build a large community of people who continually visit over and over again. Many people have found this to be true and are creating sites which give away free information, link to all kinds of resources in a certain area, have free downloads, or have software you can use on their site for free.
Build a tool that helps everyone in your market and they will come. Think about some ideas you could come up with in this area. It could be as simple as creating a page that links to major resources in a certain area. Find the best resources in an area and then ask to trade links with them (many of them will gladly trade links with your site). Build up a database of these links to hundreds of different useful sites online and watch your traffic soar.
Look at what Freedback.com did. (You can look at their site at http://www.freedback.com ). This site gave away free forms for people to use on their site. Many web hosts don't allow CGI to run on their site, and freedback filled a need for all of these people being hosted.
Through their service, people could have forms for free on their site to collect information from their visitors. Over time, Freedback has given away over 50,000 of these types of forms and is receiving over 300,000 hits a day on their response page.
They can sell advertising all day long to this traffic. All they have is a FREE service and it has built them a long term residual income of monthly advertising. The same type of thing was done by CGI Resource Index, except they did it by offering links to other sites and free downloads. Take a look at them at http://www.cgi-resources.com/ as they are considered the number one authority on CGI programming on the web. The majority of their income comes from advertising.
All you have to do is target a niche market with a specific subject. We often try to make things so complicated and I want to cut through all of the junk and give you the simple truth of just how simple it is to make money on the web. Here it is in one short sentence:
"Build a Site Which Gives People What They Want!"
You cannot just put up a sales letter and expect to profit. You Have to:
1. Find a market. Look at your local magazine rack to help you choose one if you are having trouble. I guarantee that wherever your hobbies or interests are, there are going to be others with similar interests.
2. Find out what they want. You do this by asking them. Look for message boards or newsgroups which already cover your subject or similar subjects. Do a search for your subject at http://www.forumone.com which lists most of the forums around the world. Then, simply go and read the posts and ask what people want or what they think is lacking in your market online.
3. Give it to them. Once you figure out what people want, give it to them. Design a site which is exactly what they are looking for. Send out press releases, mention it in the newsgroups, trade links with other sites, and start growing.
I don't want to completely oversimplify the process, but in many cases, it is almost that simple. The hard part is in giving them "what they want" part. You may need to find a programmer to create it or someone to write it, but if it is exactly what people want and gives you traffic forever, then it is worth it.
To get you started on this road...here are 10 businesses you could start in this area:
11. Host a Free CGI Program on your site
Be like freedback.com. Find a CGI program everyone needs or wants and start giving it to them. I know of sites now which are giving away Free Classified Sites or Free-For-All Links sites so that they can keep their advertising banner on them. Freedback came up with an original idea. Can you? Go to http://www.cgi-resources.com/ and look at all the programs there and see what you can come up with.
12. Banner Exchange
I know what you may be thinking on this one...there are hundreds of banner exchanges out there. And you know what, you would be right. The internet does not need just another banner exchange, but it does need target banner exchanges for specific areas. You could target all internet marketing sites or all kids sites. Then you give them a 2:1 ratio or higher on banner advertising. Then your banner exchange has the other 50% of the ads to use for yourself or to sell for advertising (banner exchanges are based on this principle).
13. Download Site
You could create a download site for some type of targeted market. It could be for CGI programs, business software, game demos, etc. The major key in this area like many of the others is that you have to develop a unique selling point for your site. Why should they visit your site over the others? It could be that you review each program or that you have a better organization...or that you only include the best. It could also be that you include the most of something. Become unique in this area and watch the traffic soar (another caution though...watch to make sure your web host doesn't charge extra for too much transfer daily or monthly - A download site eats up MB).
14. Games Site
You could do an entire site devoted to codes, tips, and tricks with games. Most of the work would be done for you once you let everyone know you were collecting together all of the codes and tricks for different games. Send out press releases and get listed in magazines and your traffic would fly off the roof. The income for this site would come from game companies advertising on your site. The message board would also become extremely popular and would need separate sections for all of the different games.
15. Business Software Site
Create a Site that lists all of the business software...downloads of demos could be offered along with reviews and a New Product of the month newsletter. Businesses are always seeking that new program to take them to the next level or to do something easier. Plus, you could also do a message board that specifically helps with certain programs such as FrontPage, etc.
16. Resource Site for ANYTHING
You could create a list of resources for ANYTHING. Find a listing of all of the top sites in certain areas full of useful information. The plan for this type of site is to become the starting point for people searching for Collies, Internet Marketing, Copywriting, Dolls, etc. You could also turn it into a specific targeted search engine for your niche market. You only list __________. This is an idea that would also combine well with any of the other ideas in this course as an additional profit stream.
17. Award Site
Decide on an award in a targeted niche market: Maybe "5 star fitness" site given to top fitness sites or "Elite Internet Sites" for internet marketing, or whatever is your specific interest. Design a really well done graphic for your logo. Set up a submission database for people to send in submissions. Then, go off searching for sites who deserve your award. Once you have given away your award and have enough sites linking to you...you can also begin to send out press releases and start getting known in that area. The key to this program is to pick a very interesting title for your award and correctly move in the right market.
18. Consumer Reports
Become a watchdog of the industry...any industry. Do reports on automobiles or money making programs. Review personal care items or exercise equipment. Become a consumer expert in any area protecting and enlightening the consumers in your expertise. The key is to get enough good quality information and reviews to make your site interesting. Then, your revenues will come through advertising or other incomes you may add as you go along.
19. News
You would think that this area would be impossible to get into with all of the news giants out there. Well, it would be...if you were trying to cover everything. You, as a small business, would want to cover one area of interest and collect all of the news that has to do with that area. Think about it. The Drudge report went after gossip online and build message boards and chat rooms around it...becoming one of the top sites on the internet and producing a TV show for the owner.
20. Travel
Exotic destinations...cruises for the millionaires...etc. This is a fun one. You could stay reviewing travel destinations, hotels, restaurants, etc. Find one of the packages where you can become a travel agent and sell tickets (with the actual travel agency handling the actual bookings and money) for different destinations. Actually take the tours and review them. Combine this one with the Watchdog idea above and warn people about deceptive travel agencies and places. Have fun doing your business.
Business 21 - 30: Provide Services To Others
I know hundreds of people who right this minute are making a full-time income online through providing services that other Internet Marketers desperately want and need like: Web Design, Web Promotion, Search Engine Submission, and more.
This business will only expand as time goes on. Every business on the planet is being told that the next generation in commerce is on the web...and they are all heeding this advice. If you start learning and providing services in this area today, your market is bound to grow in the coming months and years as all of the businesses expand onto the web. Don't be trapped in a declining market...move over to the wave of the future in providing Internet services.
Although the information product business can be extremely lucrative (this business along with software probably make up the two Hottest Businesses on the Internet), you can actually make more money in many cases by providing the actual service along with having a product about it.
For example, although a product that teaches people how to get traffic to their site can sell 100s or 1,000s of copies easily on the net, there still would be 1,000s of people who would prefer that you do the work for them. As a matter of fact, using a report/book/audio as a front-end sale about the subject of web promotion can be an awesome way of making dozens of backend sales for your much higher priced "Full Service" web promotion services.
The big disadvantage to offering services on the net instead of some type of product is simply that you only have so much time available to you. Your income is limited to your ability to work more hours. You are still trading hours for dollars.
You could sell hundreds of books this week without that much effort, but you could NOT provide 100s of extra services to different customers without a major shift in your time management. Eventually, if your site and business continues to grow, you will hit a barrier for your time and your income.
The two major advantages of doing a "Full Service" business online are:
1. You will be able to charge a premium price for people to actually have you do the work for them. Many people will have a smaller front-end product such as a $29.95 report or a $97 report and then have their full services at $1,000 or more. For example: You may write a report on "Search Engine Positioning" and sell it for $97. Then, your "Full Service" price may be $150 per month or more.
2. You will continually learn more about your service and be able to create an information product out of your experience. As you can see, information product sellers and service providers need to both see the other side of the coin. If you are currently providing a service now, think about how you can create an information product out of your knowledge to increase your profits in this area and possibly provide even more leads for your service.
What do you do if you don't know how to do any of these services, but you want to start a service business? Start learning. For most of these subjects, you can't just go to a college class and have everything taught to you...you will have to search it out on your own. You need to do five things especially to start the learning process:
1. Find any models of that business online. Do some searches on the search engines and find out if anyone is currently offering that service and start taking notice of what they are doing, what can you learn from them? Some of them even offer "Mentor" programs to teach others. If either one is available, you should take advantage of it!
2. Find information products that deal with the subject. What books, audio's, videos, and software can you find that deals with that subject? You will find most of the successful people online are avid learners...constantly expanding what they know about their subject.
3. Go to http://www.forumone.com and find message boards which discuss your subject. There are thousands of discussion boards online about every subject you can imagine. Find some that apply to your site and get involved in the discussions. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
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