The Opt-In Magic System!

This is the age old question of any business whether it is online or offline. The answer to this is not as easy as you might want and really depends on a variety of variables such as what are you selling, what is the selling price, what is your commission, how long does it take to sell the product, are the commissions recurring or one-time, etc.

Some products can be sold by placing a newspaper ad once a week, while others will need to be sold over the phone or face to face. Some products will take hours to sell and others it may take days or weeks. Before you do any online advertising, make sure you have a way to capture your prospects personal information such as their name, phone and email. You will want all this so you can stay in touch with your prospect so when they are ready to buy, they will buy from you. This is one of the greatest strengths of an Ad-free Autoresponder. You can stay in front of your prospects by permission based emails and when they are ready to buy, you are there.

The bottom line of how to get sales is,  there is no exact science for any one product or service. Marketing and advertising is all about testing different types of promotions and then once you know what works best you funnel more of your advertising budget to that particular type of promotion.

With this said the method of business building that has worked for decades and maybe even centuries is to build a prospect list, so let’s talk about an opt-in or prospect list for a minute so you can realize the value of this aspect of your business. No, the Internet has not been around for decades or centuries, but a prospect list is just as important to traditional businesses as it is for online businesses.

Why do you think so many companies are creating free membership type cards that when used will save you money? Safeway, CVS, PetSmart, all the major airlines and many other companies have some form of a prospect list. They do this so they can send their customers special offers, track their spending habits, reduce their inventory and use Just in Time ordering so they only order what they will need based on the statistics they gather from their customers. It saves them money and it allows them to make more money.

Your prospect list can be a goldmine if you build it correctly. No, you don’t buy leads and think you have a personal prospect list. You can buy leads and send them a message directing them to what is called a capture or landing page. (This is simply a page where you give prospects a little bit of information and the goal is to get them to agree to receive additional emails from you)

Let Me tell you the story of Jeremy. Jeremy is a good friend of mine and one of the smartest online marketers I know. Jeremy started working online about 4 years ago and tried a variety of programs, without much success. Jeremy is as tenacious as I am and he kept at it, reading, reviewing and constantly testing different ways to build his company.

He started in 2004 building a quality prospect list around one of his sites and he offered a very value added site at a reasonable price. In less than 12 months, Jeremy has built his prospect list to over 12,000 people and he is now making a very-very good income online. Jeremy makes more in a month than most people make in a year.

He did not do this overnight, he did not cut corners, he spent a lot of money online, but it all paid off for him in a big way. He kept at it, he did not quit and I am very happy to see him achieve his success he fought to acquire.

You can be like Jeremy, but you have to want to and you have to start now as we said earlier. Building a prospect list can be tedious because it takes time, but there is also the snowball effect when building this list. The more people who subscribe to get your information, the more people will subscribe because your readers will talk about you to their friends and associates and if you give them good information and you do not constantly try and sell them something, they will read what you have to say and at some point they will buy what it is you are selling.

Just to give a point of reference, a well run prospect list is worth approximately $1 per month per subscriber. Now when I say well run, I mean you are not sending a different offer each day to your list. I mean you give people good information they can use and you sell them only things you believe will help them.

Build a prospect list of 5,000 over the course of 12 – 18 months and you can look forward to an income of around $60,000 per year. That is not bad money when you consider you will only work about 90 minutes per day to maintain your list and work with your prospects.

This is another way that you can use a good Autoresponder. You cannot mail this number of people from your Outlook or your PC; you need a professional ad-free Autoresponder where you can send your information and where prospects can opt-in to receive your information automatically and where they can also opt-out automatically. Click Here!

You don’t even have to wait until you have a product to start building your prospect list. Everyone has a story to tell and you can start telling your story to people so they can learn from your mistakes and expertise. Not everyone has the marketing experience I have, so I can offer my expertise in this area. You might have a background in accounting or painting, or collecting old bottles. So you use that information to form a bond with others on the Internet with similar interests. Remember, when you are dealing online, you are dealing with nearly a billion people and out of a billion people there will be thousands who have similar interests to you.

Ah, the trick question to end all trick questions. The answer is nobody knows. Some people get profitable in weeks, some in months and sometimes it takes years. For me, it took 2 years, but I was also going about things very differently than most people, and I also had a large debt to overcome. I built a business from scratch with nothing more than an idea and desire and now I can work full-time online and I don’t have to worry about working part-time jobs or where my next meal is coming from.

But remember, I started in 2003 and it is now 2005. But, this is what I mean when I say to get started now because if you don’t, you will be sitting someplace in 2010 wishing you had.

The best time to have planted a tree was 5 years ago; the second best time is today!

The best time for you to have started building your business was 5 years ago, and the second best time is right now today. Are you going to wait until gas gets to $5 a gallon or your commute is 2 hours or your company goes out of business before you start? Don’t do it! You have to start now and you have to stick with it and you will make a success of yourself.

I was reading an article today where people are paying $300 per month for a seat on a commuter bus. They have to catch this bus at 4:30 in the morning and they get home about 6 at night. Now assuming they only spend 30 minutes getting ready for work, they are spending 14 hours working for 8 hours worth of production. They are losing 6 hours of their life, ever single day. That is 65 days per year that is gone from their lives forever! Now the time is one thing, but they are also spending $3,600 per year just to get to and from work.

If these people had half a brain, they would start working from home, and spend 14 hours a day on their own company and take that $3,600 and invest in advertising. I can guarantee if they did this religiously for one year, they would be making more money online within 12 months than they are now, spending all that time and money away from home and their families.

Granted, not everyone can or will do this, but 65 days lost each year just to get to and from work. This means that over the course of 10 years, they are losing 2 full years of life. This is just crazy and people do this all over the country because they just don’t know any better or they are too afraid of success or they just don’t think about it and nobody has shown them a better way. As you are looking to build your business online, keep this in mind when prospecting. Hit some of the 6 hour commuters with some simple facts and you can grow your business very quickly.

This also depends on the program, product or service you are involved with. If you are selling a high dollar service, and by this I mean something that costs more than $500, then your start up costs will be more than if you are selling a product or service that costs less than $50.

You should plan on spending a minimum of 60% of the cost of your product to get it out in the marketplace when you first start. If your product costs $100, then you plan on spending a minimum of $60 or more to get each sale. If you want to make 10 sales the first month, then you are looking at spending $600 per month in marketing and advertising. This might sound like a lot now, but trust me it will all even out in the long run and you will come out ahead—way ahead.

Take my company for example. I know I am going to lose money for the first 3 months for each new member. I also know that over time, the majority of my members will stay a lot longer than 3 months. Let’s say my marketing cost to acquire a new member is about $67, but over time, each new member is worth several hundred dollars. I know this because I track my ad costs and I know the business.

Look at it this way: If a stock broker came to you and said, "Give me $90 today and I can make you $400 over 12 months", would you do it? Most people would because this is a very good return. The problem is that people cannot see this with their business, but if you spend money to make money and you have a valuable product that will benefit people, then you will make money long term by spending money short term.

So, turn the question around and ask yourself how much money do you want to make? Then work in reverse and figure out how much you are going to have to spend to get to that amount and you will do very well. I know that I could spend $2,000 today and that $2,000 would earn me a net profit over 7 – 9 months of over $9,000. This is almost like printing money because if I want to make $9,000, then I just spend $2,000 and poof; I will get the money I want. So for me to net $90,000, in the next 7 – 9 months, I simply invest $20,000. Tracking your sales, knowing your market and following your plan are keys to your success. You can do it!

In the short term, don’t quit your day job. There are no guarantees online or offline. Just pick up the paper on any given day and you will read about layoffs and cutbacks. Working online is a way to guarantee your own future, but it is not going to happen quickly and it is not going to happen if you don’t work at it.

One of the great things about creating your own business is you have nobody to fault but yourself as to whether you succeed or whether you fail. Some people do not want nor can they handle this type of responsibility. Unfortunately there are many people who only want to blame others for everything bad in their lives. These people have no business working online and you are going to run into many of them as you build your business. No matter what happens they want to blame someone else.

With over 8,000 clients and growing, I know my system works, but almost daily I will get an email from someone who cannot follow instructions or who does not want to read, and they will tell me my system does not work. When I get these people I just cancel their membership because I know it is them and not us and at this point in my online career, I don’t have to deal with people like this.

As you build your downline and start making sales with your program, product or service, you will run into these people. They will join your program or buy your product and then because of their own ignorance they will not be able to do what is necessary to make it work. The best you can do for them is to tell them to practice the following line:

Would you like fries with that burger? Again, they have no business being online and no business trying to build a company because they don’t have what it takes.

1. on your weekend.

2. 9) Be an Otter: If an Otter cannot have fun doing something, he just won’t do it. Make your work fun, make your life fun and make your business fun.

3. 10) Believe in yourself: You are the only one who matters in your business and you are the only one you have to answer to. Yes, you will have customers and affiliates buying from and working for you, but when all is said and done, you are the most important asset you have. If you believe, then anything can happen. But, it all starts with you and ends with you.

The short answer on this is no, not in the beginning. You will most likely start off as an affiliate or a reseller for some company and this is a great way to get started because any company worth a damn is going to make sure you have everything you need to manage your business. They will give you sales letters, banners, an affiliate sales page, a back office where you can track your sales and clients, etc. If they don’t, then find another company. You don’t want to get thrown to the wolves, you want someone to show you the ropes and get you started in the right direction and then you run with the business.

Down the road you will want to get your own unique website address and build or have your site built for you because you will want to have 100% control over all aspects of what you do. Affiliate programs are great, and they are even greater when you totally control all aspects of what you are doing and how you are doing it.

Don’t spend any money that is not absolutely necessary and if you get involved with a company and they tell you that you need a website and they want to charge extra for it, thank them for their time and walk away. Again, there are programs out there that make money off you by selling you all kinds of things you do not need and you cannot use. This would be like Pepsi selling you a drink and then charging you for the can. Yes, you are paying for the can when you get the Pepsi, but the cost is already figured into the price you pay for the Pepsi. If a company thinks you need to have a website, then they should include the cost into your initial fee so you know exactly what it is going to cost you to get involved with them.

Wow, this really is the million dollar question. The answer could be any number of things. You did not spend enough on marketing or you did not test your advertising, so you don’t know what works and what does not. Maybe you are marketing to the wrong audience or you are being too pushy…and the list goes on.

I have people who come back to me and tell me my system does not sell. Well, I know it does and my client numbers don’t lie but they will tell me they have tried and it does not sell. Without exception, when I look in their back office and check their stats, they will only have a handful of hits and I mean less than 10. 10 hits in the online world is like zero, because contrary to what other people are going to tell you, it will take between 400 – 1,000 cold hits to make a sale. And I don’t mean these junk hits you buy, I mean actual people who go to your website and look at your product.

This is why a well run prospect list is so valuable to you and your success. Because a well run prospect list is a warm hit. Going back to what we said earlier that you can make one dollar per month for each prospect on your list. If you have a list of 5,000 clients and you send an ad for a product that costs $30. Out of those 5,000 prospects, maybe 800 will click on the link you send them and of those 800, maybe 40 will buy. This will bring you about $1,200 in profit.

Take these numbers vs. the cold hit scenario as shown above. You get 800 actual hits, 40 sales and $1,200 in profit. 5,000 cold hits, you can expect between 5 – 12 sales or $150 - $360 in profit. Which would you rather have?

Warm hits from people who know you and trust you because you have helped them and given them a variety of free products they can actually use.

To condense what I am saying here. Start building your prospect list today and you will find a much easier road to success tomorrow.

I am a fervent believer in having the right tools for the job. Whether that is a good computer, good online resources, a quiet place to work, a good phone, a pen that writes and paper and printer, etc.

If you are going to work online, get a good computer. You can get a nice computer for around $600 and you can get a really outstanding one for a little over a thousand dollars. Buy a good computer before you even start online. Look at your computer as if you were going to start an airline. You would want the best and most reliable airplane you could afford because you only get one chance with airplanes. Well, if you get a cheap computer or you have an old computer, you are taking the same chances of crashing and burning as having an old cheap airplane.

I remember flying on a now out of business airline a few years ago and the airplane was older than me. This plane made more noises than two cats fighting in a closet and it was the only time on thousands of flights that I did not feel safe. Needless to say, I never flew them again and since they only lasted about a year, I was not the only one.

Your computer is your lifeblood online. Buy as much computer as you can afford and then make sure it is protected with virus software and you have the software necessary to run a business. Personally I use all Microsoft software because they are easy to use and they all work seamlessly together. Some people will not use Microsoft and that is their choice, and if this is you that is fine, but get something you can use to do the work you need to do.

Also, if you have high speed Internet access in your area—get it. If you are trying to use dialup to run your online business, you are wasting countless hours waiting for things to happen. This is like those people I told you about earlier who were losing 65 days per year commuting to their jobs.

Get good online marketing tools as well. Don’t go for the free sites such as free Autoresponders if you decide to build your list. It is not worth it because you are advertising for someone else every time you send a message and your prospect list is not secure.

Remember that running your business is going to cost you some money up front. You have to plan for this and you have to budget for this. You don’t need the most expensive computer or marketing system on the Internet, but get the best that you can afford as it will save you lots of money and time down the road.

Check all your emails and letters and anything else you do online for spelling and grammar. Some of the letters I get look like they were written by second graders. I can accept bad spelling and grammar to a degree from people where English is not their native language, but I cannot stand getting letters where people do not capitalize "I" or they have sentence structure that is terrible at best. Misspelled words and poor grammar reflects back on you and your business.

I have one associate who writes a newsletter and it is very obvious that he does not know what a spell checker is. This guy could be a multi-millionaire by now, and I would bet money that the reason he continues to struggle is because of his writing.

Here is a sample of an actual email I received. I have removed the site domain, and the person’s name, but there is no excuse for this because spell checkers are free in every document program and all the email clients now have them as well. Would you buy something from this person?

Hi My site is stuck in on the promo page wiyh wed address

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I have the image and wording on the site. I wantl my ual

http;//www.--------------------------------

this is the real deal that I will promote,

The bammer is for ----------- and what is the cost

for website.ws/------- ?Banner I don\' want the banner very big.May

be I am missing a few things.i AM NOT SURE..

Get serious, use solid judgment when deciding what to buy and sell. If there is no phone number on the site you are looking at, go to the next site. Businesses who do not give you a phone number are not real businesses. They are out to take your money and then go on to the next person. No matter how enticing their offer, if they will not give you a phone number and will only deal with you via email, leave them and don’t look back.

You can succeed online. I did and I made a lot of mistakes, but I did not quit and I did not get down when the going got tough. I don’t have cable television and I just got a cell phone again after being without it for the last 5 years and the only reason I got one now is for security when I am out with my son.

You don’t need a cell phone and you don’t need cable television, but you do need to get started with your business and spend some advertising dollars to make it grow. This is the tried and true method of promoting any business whether online or offline. If you are going to succeed, then you better follow the tried and true business building philosophies that have been proven to work.

Build your own prospect list! I don’t care if you are promoting vitamins, coffee, microwave ovens or fish worms. Without a prospect list, you are dead in the water. You cannot buy a prospect list, you have to build it. You can buy leads, but you have to get those leads to a web page where they can give you their name, email and other personal information which gives you permission to send emails to them and then you send updates, announcements, special offers, etc.

You don’t blast them with an ad a day, you don’t blast them with the latest and greatest product or service; you don’t blast them with anything! You nurture them and educate them on who you are and how you can help them and you build trust in them. You make sure you have answers to their questions and you support them however you can.

Eventually, they are going to buy something from you because you have gained their trust and you are there to support them. You cannot make money overnight and you cannot build a prospect list overnight. It takes time, it takes patience and it is going to take some money.

Sending people to your affiliate sales page so they subscribe to get information from the company you are selling for is not the same as building your own prospect list. You need to have 100% control over your prospects and not leave this to someone else. For this you will need an Ad-free Autoresponder and a landing page so people can subscribe to get more details from you. This gives you total control and then you can do as we mention above and start educating and getting to know your prospects.

So what are you waiting for? You can buy all the e-books you want, you can buy all the resell rights you want, you can buy all the software and downloads your computer can handle, but if you don’t have anyone to resell those products to, you are wasting your time and money.

Darryl Graham

ISORegister, Inc.