How to get off the wheel of internet marketing

“When you’re done with your next product launch, can we have a nibble together?”

Reader, do you ever get the feeling that you are doing the same thing, but not seeing results? There’s  a story of a man who was in a prison camp, and he kept turning a crank that was attached to the wall. His captors told him that it was his job to grind wheat, and that if he did it long enough and hard enough, he’d eventually earn his release. After the war, his emancipation came. His rescuers took him to the other side of the cell and there he saw it….the crank had NOTHING attached to it. His whole time in captivity, all of his labor was for nothing. Nothing! The man was very disheartened to realize that all of his labor had been in vain. But had it? Do you think that having something to do helped him to cope? I do. And a lot of you are like that too. You spend hours working on dead end tasks, checking likes, and gaining followers, and it feels good. But at the end of the day, you need to ask yourself: What’s on the other side? All internet marketers need to ask themselves this question: Is what I’m doing making me any money. Will it eventually be making money And if so, when. You desperately need the answers to these question. Otherwise, you are turning a dead crank.

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Reasons Why you Procrastinate

We all do it.

But why? Why do we put off doing what we know we need to do?

Let’s cover the “why” and then the “how”.

5 Reasons why you procrastinate

Reason number one for procrastinating:

You don’t really want to do it

Let’s face it, sometimes a task is so gross, so gnarly, so time-consuming or so entirely complicated, that it just cramps our brain even to think about it. This is one of the reasons why some people shove the task to the back side of their brain…it’s just too painful to think about.

 

You want to do it, but you are overwhelmed

Yea, I think we’ve all been at this place. Overload is a key reason for putting things off, even when we know it’s important.

 

 

Procrastination reason number 3.

 

You don’t think it’s a big enough priority to do it now..

“Why do today what can be done tomorrow?”

Many procrastinators think this way. Unless their backside is in flames, they prefer to wait….and wait…and wait. The good news is, many of these midnight hour, crunch-time types actually work better under pressure (which is not very comforting to more rigid-personality type planners, but it works for them).

…or ever

Some people who are accused of procrastinating are not actually procrastinators. It’s just that, they have no intention of ever doing the task. But somehow, they know that society expects them to

Go back to school

Lose 10-pounds or even

Clean that top shelf

So to make people empathize with them, they join the ranks of “someday I’m going to” stop smoking, get rid of this old piece of furniture, or…whatever it may be. Probably, they are not bothered all that much with their habit, weight, or less than perfect lifestyle. But it makes them fit in to complain with the others and set resolutions they have no intention of reaching…or even trying to.

Reason number four:

Sometimes people procrastinate doing something, because they want attention…

We’ve all heard the story of the kid that misbehaves because they are being neglected by Mom and Dad. In relationships, some adults do this, because if their partner never had a complaint, they’d both never talk to one another.

…Or because, they resent having to do it.

This is not to say that the task is something that they dislike, or even that it is something that they wouldn’t cheerfully do, if weren’t for…the grudge. Yes that’s right, many heel-draggers consciously or subconsciously put off a task that they really don’t mind working on, just because they resent being told that they must do it. Sometimes the request is a reasonable one, but the person asked to do it, doesn’t think it’s fair. Or sometimes, the reason that the procrastinator won’t do the task, has nothing to do with resenting the task, but with driving the other person crazy….because of a long standing grudge that they have toward that person. That’s called Passive Aggression, and you can  learn more about that here

How about you; do you ever procrastinate? Would love to hear your comments!

When is FREE a bad thing

So many websites on the internet offer “freebies”. Free downloads, free gift offers, even free vacations.
When you sign up for something free, there is (almost) always a trade off.
Here’s a list of some of these freebies, and their reason for being free.

1. Free Samples.

We’ve all sampled free food at grocery stores with little to no “catch”.  But on the internet, or at trade shows, there is usually something they want in return.

Many places will want you to sign up for a free sample and most of the time, they will indeed send you something free. But along with that free certificate or voucher comes a catch: your information gets sold to third parties who will send you offers that you may, or may not want.

2. Free insurance quote.

 

Steer clear…if you really want a quote, you would do better to call several of the major insurance claim companies, unless you want insurance agents from EVERYWHERE calling you day and night.

3. Free email.

We all know about this, but what most of you don’t know is that many free email accounts have a clause in their “Privacy” (hmmph!) policy, that says they can show your emails to anyone they choose. It’s usually marketers who don’t know you personally and use your information for market research purposes. Harmless, probably unless you just happen to be one of those people who think that your personal emails should be… well,…personal

4. Free information.

This can be good or it can be a nightmare. Most people who send you free information are hoping to keep you “in their loop “ so that you will return to their website and think about buying their product. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will ever visit their website every again, once you get that free download; but they hope you will.

Well, that’s the innocent side. But the very, very invasive side to free information are the people who shamelessly sell your email address to third party vendors who flood your email with unsolicited offers.

It is illegal for anyone to sell your information without your permission, unless they specifically state in their “terms of service” or “privacy policy” that they may do just that. So read the fine print.

Do you have any crazy stories about not really free samples? Would love to hear your story or comments

How to REALLY generate leads, which are really leads, not garbage

You may not be as attractive as she is, but possibly almost as smug once you get this thing right 🙂

Come on, people, talk to me…we all want it…great leads that really ARE leads! Prospects who actually want what you have, want it RIGHT NOW, and have the moolah to get it.

A lot of my readers have the sales funnel thing down. They know how to set up a lead capture form, and they have some website. Technically, their system may be sound. But when it comes to content, and the art factor, there are gaps.

STEP ONE ~ Make Sure Your Website or Landing Page Is The Best It Can Be.

So many people over look this fact, but think about it…if you have a bunch of broken links on your site, if people see “Site Title” or “This is an about page” on your incomplete website, they are not going to think you are for real.

I have to mention this because I see so many blogs that are drop dead gorgeous (like the model) but they have no warmth, no human touch, or webpages that don’t link together in a conversational, topical flow. You need to have a capture form on the home page of your blog, if lead generation is your thing. But less is more…don’t take up all the space on your landing page with a lead form. That screams spam and will lead to high exit rates….which will plummet your rankings.

Instead, You want your capture form to be something your reader looks for, not something they impulsively punch (which always clogs your “filter” full of dead, tire-kicking leads).  Make the capture page, landing page, and or homepage look as inviting as possible.

STEP TWO ~Have a great quality lead magnet.

We all know that lead magnets are a great way to get people to leave their info, but if it’s not a lead that provides value, then your reader will unsubscribe.

Just in case you don’t know, the term “lead magnet” is just marketing lingo for anything that provides your reader with information. But. In only works if its something the reader wants. Like, really bad.

When you are crafting your lead magnet, it needs to be all it can be. Make sure that it’s not some flim flammy lead magnet, but that it really provides inside information about your topic. If it isn’t so good that most people would gladly pay at least $20 for your fresh info, then you aren’t providing enough info, or your info is stale. That is NOT the kind of lead magnet you want to give people. Your lead magnet needs to be the highest quality lead you can give, without giving away too much.

Note for those who sell info products:  I get this question all the time…how do I know how much information to give in my lead magnet, without revealing what’s in my course? If you are concerned about this, it could be that you simply don’t have enough fresh info to go around. So if you are always stressing over whether or not you are giving away too much, then you may need some more info on your topic. Which brings us to our next point:

STEP THREE ~ Always remember….info is free on the internet.

Think about what you are offering…would you give up your own email address to acquire this info if you didn’t have this knowledge? Or would you google in the question? The information you provide has to be something that every one asks, but few talk about.

The purpose of “the list”.

Think about why you are building a list. Why? So that you can keep sending stale info to people who are going to unsubscribe? No, your answer should be, Iam  building a list of people who I am going to develop rapport “.  This is vital because you want them to sense you character, your values and your personality. That’ really is the only way to get more people to buy from you…free info is everywhere, but your reader doesn’t know who to trust.

WARNING….

IGNORE THIS, AND WATCH YOUR

UNSUBSCRIBE RATE SOAR

You shouldn’t go about getting leads so that you can pitch your

product.

Think about this dynamic.

You want their email address.

They want your info.

You want their email address so that ultimately, you can sell to them.

They want your newsletter for info, not for a sales pitch.

The only way they will buy your info product is if it’s something that they can’t get anywhere else…for free. Or, if it’s info that answers the question that they don’t know the question to. Or, they just like you and want to know your take on marketing.

Also, some people just like collecting knowledge.

But it has to be fresh knowledge, or they won’t buy from you.

Here’s the question that you need to be asking yourself if you want to gather leads that actually convert into sales:

What “bottom line it”,  what “get to the point’,  what “sum it all up” answer is my prospect looking for?

Is it “How to get traffic”?  Is it how to solve this or that problem…for good? Is it how to get sales? How to keep their boyfriend/girlfriend? How to lose weight? How to pass their finals? Whatever it is that you are selling, it has to answer a question, or solve a problem. The answer or solution to this question or problem is what you need to give your reader in their lead magnet.

Conclusion: When done right, lead magnets are a great way to gather leads off of the internet. Your info piece must be the highest quality possible, in order to attract leads.  The information you send should be of the freshest quality, meant to instill trust in your reader, and to educate them.

Sometimes it is a delicate balance between providing info, and mentioning your product. You should take the time to educate yourself fully on how to create great meaty, personable articles that pull your subscriber into your world (a.k.a., your blog), ultimately resulting in sales.

I hope this article has given you some ideas on how to craft an information piece which will truly educate your reader.

If you would like to learn more about how to write newsletters (which really contain news ) and create awesome lead magnets including cheat sheets, custom data graphs, and special reports to wow your reader, than check out my tutorial here.

How to Thrive During a Pandemic

How to sell during a pandemic

Sell an Essential service or product

I know, that’s fairly obvious. But what do you do if your service is NOT essentiall? Well, could you make it essential? A quick review may just reveal
that you are indeed an essential service. For example, if you draw portraits for a living, could you maybe take a course in art therapy…and then market drawing classes for those suffering from anxiety? (that would be most people). Or, if you make your money as an affiliate, you could primarily promote those books that people need right now, –like “How to cook, if you never have before”. You just need to be creative.

But now, what if you have racked your brain, and you just can not find a way to make your luxury or fluff product come across as essential?

Offer:

Deep discounts

The more unessential, the more the discount. Smart consumers know that this is the time to rake in the savings due to supply and demand.

Also, If you sell something which is not currently avaivable due to Covid restrictions, such as in person seminars, offer the option of pre registering and give an incentive

Bundle your products

Maybe no one can afford your non essential product, but if you bundle several products or services, your customer may think they are saving a bundle; perception is everything and we all know that psychology is key in selling. Offer several related items in your bundle to sweeten the deal.
Just don’t go too crazy here and throw in too much…you don’t want your product to lose its perceived value. All in all, though, this is the season to
be very generous in your marketing.

Trade

Let’s face it…we’re all in the same boat here. If Covid’s hit you hard, there are hundreds of others going through the same thing. Consider partnering with someone or bartering services you need (like plumbing) in exchange for a free starter website, if you’re a developer.

With a little brainstorming, you can thrive in 2021