You Better Get A Solid Handle On This
I made this mistake early on... and believe it easily cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars.
With all of the different online paid advertising channels available to us today (i.e. PPC, PPV, CPA, CPM, email drops, etc.)... not too mention... all of the different freebie traffic generation opportunities... it's very easy to lose track of which channels, methods and tactics are actually producing money and which ones aren't.
The result is that most online marketers don't really have a true handle on their marketing and sales metrics.
Sure, most know some of the basic metrics like total unique visitors, visitor value, and average sale.
But, when it comes to being able to tell you ROI for each and every dollar and hour invested in all of the various channels and activities, they can't do it.
And because of that, most online entrepreneurs can't make the most effective (and profitable) decisions for their business: decisions based on objective data.
The ultimate end-result of this is a business that is not scalable.
(It's not scalable because they can't effectively invest more and more marketing capital because they don't know where that additional capital should and shouldn't go. And that's a business-growth killer!)
Listen:
If you ever want to have a monster business online, you can't allow your analytics and metrics to get out of control. (If they already have, you need to rectify that ASAP.)
You need to monitor every single dollar invested in your marketing and advertising... and hold it accountable for a positive return on investment (ROI).
If you can't track the ROI of a particular marketing or traffic-generation channel, DON'T SPEND THE MONEY ON IT.
There's no value in spending money on a particular marketing method if you can't track it's performance and won't have any way to know whether to dump it or scale it.
And, you need to know at all times what activities, channels, and traffic tactics are producing profit and which ones aren't... and at what level for each.
Ultimately, the objective (when trying to consistently grow your business) is to find channels and tactics that give you a positive ROI... scale those... and decrease or eliminate the others.
And, you can only do that if you have a solid handle on your metrics and analytics.
The Kung Fu Panda Internet Marketing Revelation
Last week, right after Christmas, I finally got the chance to watch Kung Fu Panda with my kids. If you haven't seen it, and you have little kids, it's well worth the hour and a half. Funny thing is, it was not only a cute flick, but there's a killer internet marketing lesson shared toward the end.
Let me explain...
When I first started online in 2003 I was amazed by some of the incomes I heard gurus earning. I had no idea at that time how the heck someone could be earning 4, 5 and even 6 figures regularly in a single day. It baffled me. And, as I started to dig into the IM world, it actually started to frustrate me a little when I couldn't figure out the "formula".
I started buying courses and studying marketing like a madman. Today, actually, I'm embarassed to admit that I spent thousands on ebay buying up second-hand courses. I guess I owe some "gurus" some purchases. 
Anyway, while studying I became overwhelmed with everything there was to know. I started to think that most of the "gurus" must either be SUPER-savvy marketers or just incredibly schooled in marketing, advertising and business. Regardless, I knew I wasn't any of that and at one point began to doubt my likelihood of success online.
Thank goodness I didn't choose to throw in the towel due to a lack of smarts, super-savvyness, or sheer intellect. Boy would my life be different today!
Some time later, as I got experience online under my belt and learned more about direct marketing, I realized there were principles that could be followed over and over to produce success, and the huge "guru" incomes WERE NOT a product of any super-intelligence, innate skillset or the highly sought-after"secret ingredient".
And, that's what Kung Fu Panda reminded me of. Actually, his dad reminded me...
[SPOILER ALERT]
You see, all throughout the movie, Kung Fu Panda's father... a noodle maker... kept telling his son that what made his noodles so good was this special secret ingredient he used.
And, when Kung Fu Panda, was training... trying to become a Kung Fu Master, he continued to "get knocked down", thinking he didn't have the special, innate ingredient to be a Master. In fact, he almost gave up his dream altogether. Thank goodness he didn't either.
Later on, his dad confessed... with a few giggles... there was no secret ingredient that made his noodles so good.
And, it was after his pop's confession that Kung Fu Panda realized... he wasn't lacking anything. Well, anything other than belief in himself. And, once he realized there was no special, secret ingredient, and he believed he could become a Master, he went on to save his village by defeating the evil Kung Fu lord.
And, the same is true with the other successful marketers you see online. There is NO special intellect or innate skillset we possess. We're just like you. In some cases, less intelligent. As my old boss used to say, gurus put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you.
Fact is, not being super-smart, super-savvy, or loaded with natural technical ability is NO EXCUSE for not going after your dream, and succeeding, as an online entrepreneur.
You only need the desire, and the willingness to put in the time and effort, to get it done.
Period!
There is NO "secret ingredient".
Believe in yourself, believe in your dream, put the time and effort in to learn the business, and more importantly... stay focused on your mission, goals, strategy and tactics.
Stop wondering off and looking for the next latest and greatest technique, trick, or tactic. And, instead, stay focused on the core principles (after you've learned them, if you haven't already) and just push, push, push!
If a panda can become a Kung Fu Master... you can become a successful internet marketer. Actually, a better way to say it... is... if Jack Black can become a successful movie star, you can become a successful internet marketer.
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Added after: I once heard Dan Kennedy say something really profound about gurus, if you will. He said, "...in order to achieve wealth you must BECOME the wizard and BEWARE of the wizard." Think about it.
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This is KILLER!! (For advanced marketers ONLY)
Hey guys... I'm so not about being hypey, but I have to tell you... this WILL add some serious dollars to your bottomline.
It's the strategy of using one-click upsells/downsells following the initial sale of your product.
The old way most internet marketers would try to do an upsell was with an "intermediary upsell" page. This was a wepage that offered an upsell BEFORE the customer actually even completed the initial transaction or went to the order form. It would appear right after a customer clicked on the "order now" button.
The problem with this approach is that shopping cart abandonment is HUGE, let alone on an intermediary upsell page. So, marketers would lose a tremendous number of sales by putting this page in before the actually order was completed.
The other way many IMers do an upsell is on the order form with a check box of some sort. Again, the problem with this is that we don't want to add in anything that can cause friction in the sales process. We want to make the customer feel as comfortable as possible.
Instead, what is SUPER-EFFECTIVE is adding your upsell/downsell pages AFTER the transaction has been completed.
In other words, the customer clicks the order button, they go to the order form for the initial product, the fill in their information and submit the order button, THEN you take them through a series of upsells and/or downsells that only require them to push a single button to add the upsell/downsell product to their order.
The key to this whole thing is that accepting the upsell only requires ONE CLICK and not the refilling out of an order form.
I personally use Infusionsoft for my CRM and shopping cart and had one of our programmers on staff program this to work with the Infusionsoft API. I recommend, for whatever CRM/autoresponder service you use you have a programmer design something like this for you.
You will INSTANTLY see your revenue go up. It's really unbelievable how much better this process works than the old way of doing upsells.
Merlin Mann’s “Inbox Zero” Google Presentation
Merlin Mann has one of the most popular sites on the entire internet when it comes to productivity and "getting things done". If you haven't spent some time on his website, you should (43folders.com).
In the following 53-minute video you'll hear Merlin Mann present his "Inbox Zero" approach to email inbox management. It's well worth viewing for any serious internet marketer.
Plus, if you're interested, you can find a whole bunch of great podcasts from David Allen on his "Getting Things Done" methodology here: http://www.davidco.com/podcast.php
Inspired by Seth Godin’s New Book “Tribes”
Seth Godin's new book, "Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us" has been getting some serious buzz on the Net amongst internet marketers. It really drives home the principle of creating a "tribe" of followers and then nurturing that tribe.
If you haven't read the book yet I highly recommend you pick up a copy at Amazon.
What you'll find below is a 70-page Q&A ebook put out by Seth Godin in response to all of the buzz about the idea of "tribes"
Click the image below to download your copy.
The Missing X-Factor In Most Online Businesses
Recently, savvy internet marketer, Stu McLaren, published a nice little post on his blog about the concept of "Creative Imitation". It's well worth you taking the time to read (after you're done here, of course).
The gist of the article is that creative imitation is a great place to start online, but it's not what's going to allow you to lead your marketplace.
In fact, towards the end of Stu's article, he says specifically, "Creatively imitating market leaders is a good thing in the beginning. It helps you grasp an understanding of what is working in that industry and it helps you get going.
However, for long-term success you need to get beyond creative imitation and start exploring your own unique ideas. Otherwise you’ll always be a follower and you’ll never lead your industry."
I think this is well-stated, however I think it also neglects to mention an additional reason why you need to be sensitive to and very cautious with your use of "creative imitation" when building your online business.
Oddly enough, I also feel this very same 'additional reason' is what holds so many internet marketers back from ever developing a successful business online.
Really!
And, I don't know why more online marketing teachers and "gurus" don't talk about it.
Nevertheless, I will in this post.
Let me explain:
Most struggling internet marketers are NOT having a difficult time building their online business because they lack knowledge in tactics.
For example, when it comes to creating and selling an ebook, it's a pretty straight-forward process most understand.
Right? I mean, here it is...
1. Find a hungry niche that has, and spends, money on their niche.
2. Uncover what information they desparately want.
3. Put it in an ebook or some other format.
4. Create a sales letter with a killer offer.
5. Drive traffic to the site using any one of the many effective means for driving traffic to a website.
6. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Only... for most that simply follow this model, there is no fruit.
So, does the problem lie in the first 5 steps?
Is the issue the tactics being taught?
No.
Not at all.
It's NOT in what's being taught...
...it's in what's NOT BEING TAUGHT where the problem lies.
You see, in creating a successful online business in any niche, besides following the sound tactical steps and process most of us know, there's another crucial strategic element that needs to be addressed.
And, it needs to be addressed right up front.
What is it?
DIFFERENTIATION
In other words, what the heck makes your product different and better than everything else out there being offered to your marketplace??
>> What additional and unique benefits will customers get from you that they won't get anywhere else, with anyone else's product?
>> What's lacking in your competitors products that you've included?
>> What have you done to make sure that comparing your product to your competitors is like comparing apples to oranges?
And, it's that last question that really wreaks havoc with the idea of "creative imitation".
You see, there's nothing wrong with looking OUTSIDE of your niche and marketplace for ideas and innovation.
In fact, that's where true innovations come from - in other niches outside of yours.
However, there is a problem with looking WITHIN your niche and marketplace to "creatively imitate". And, that is... you never differentiate what you offer.
And, without differentiation the end result is that you allow your product (ebook, for example) to become a commodity.
In other words, without differentiation... and without staking your claim on a unique angle for your product, your product gets lost in the sea of sameness.
Without differentiating your product.... even you're POSITIONING of what you're product is... you end up competing in an ocean of competitors (if not now, later on for sure) all claiming and offering consumers the same thing.
Instead, what you want to do is POSITION what your product DOES and IS uniquely in your marketplace.
First, you want to make sure that your product offers unique benefits consumers can't get anywhere else. In the case of an ebook, you'd want the ebook to offer unique information that gives readers unique benefits not offered by competing ebooks. Of course, you want to make sure that those unique benefits are benefits your prospecs want and value.
Second, you want to try to position your product in a unique product category - it's own category. first heard about the concept of creating your own category to own from marketing maven, Even Pagan. With this approach, you're first in your product category and then own the #1 spot. And, as marketing pioneers, Ries and Trout, taugt in their early best-selling book, Positioning, it's better to be first in a product category than it is to be better.
In other words, it's better to create a new category from your information than it is to just be another ebook.
Marketing leader, Rich Schefren, puts it like this, "It's better to be different than it is to be better."
Often this can be done with tweaks in positioning without actually changing the content or the delivery.
For example, by calling your ebook a Digital Manual, you take your product out of the category of ebooks and put it into a new category. Now... even though it's subtle... you're no longer competing with ebooks. Why? Because you're not selling an ebook, you're selling a Digitial Manual.
Or, how about this:
How about you create one or two little videos that go along with your ebook and include links to them within the content of your ebook.
Now, you position your ebook as a Video Manual or Video Book or Video Training, whatever.
The point is... just by changing the positioning of your product to a new category not being claimed by competitors, you're able to create a new category that you now own as the first and #1 provider of.
Add to this your unique content and desirable customer benefits, and you truly have a winning combination.
Again, it's NOT just following the tactics. It's NOT just having good content.
It's having and doing those things AND differentiating what you do so you stand out, have unqiue positioning, own your category, eliminate competitive comparisons, and dominate your niche as the only provider of what you offer!
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Here are some other posts around the Net you may find of value:
“Creative Imitation”–Good or Bad? - There’s quite an interesting discussion going on about “creative imitation”–what it is, and whether it’s good or bad. I just posted a couple of comments on Alex Mandossian’s blog (Jeff Herring’s post), and Stu McLaren’s. ...
“Creative Imitation” Boosts Your Productivity - Here are two interesting examples of creative imitation:. Example 1: In December of 2006 I took Alex’s Teleseminar Secrets Training for the first time. After Module 2 I decided to jump in and held my first teleseminar on Article ...
Business and Marketing Success - Invention Or Imitation? Part 1 ... - Invention or new ideas sound great, but in business and marketing (online or offline) it’s creative imitation that will bring you success. This is what some of the greatest thought leaders, marketers and promoters in history have done. ...
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Rockin’ It With A Membership Site – An Interview With The Creator Of Extreme Member
It's no secret that having a continuity program in your internet business can radically change the cash flow game for you.
It's why you see all of the top earners online launching some type of monthly program (i.e. monthly DVD/CD package, newsletter, membership site, etc.)
It's exactly how to turn an inconsistent source of cash flow in your business into a consistent, steady, predictable source of revenue.
Anyway, my personal friend, and savvy marketer, Shane Goldberg, recently released one of the most impressive membership site packages I've ever seen. And, keep in mind, this is coming from someone who shelled out over $4,000.00 to launch my first membership site with one of the top membership site software applications.
I was so impressed with what Shane created, I asked him if he would take some time to share it with my readers.
So, we got on Skype (he's in Australia) and we spent about 45 minutes talking about making money with membership sites.
However, even if you don't have any interest in membership sites, this interview is still chuck full of gold marketing nuggets and online business-building goodies.
Our discussion of adding value and differentiation online is worth listening to the entire interview alone.
Seriously, it's well worth you listening to this interview.
When you're done you may want to check out Shane's site here: Extreme Member
Listen to the interview below:
From Zero To Hero In Internet Marketing – An Interview
Have you ever wondered how someone... a real, down-to-earth, average guy... goes from making zero online to building a business that allows him to live that sought-after internet lifestyle?
If so, you're really going to enjoy this little interview I did with Damian Lanfranchi.
Damian, just so happens to be the Godfather to my youngest daughter Gabriella. But, he also happens to be the owner of a very successful internet marketing company and a really savvy marketer, in general.
He's truly an example of how someone can start from scratch and in less than 24 months be full-time in the internet game, with a large income and lots of free time. He shares some very practical steps in this little interview of how he actually did it.
For instance, you'll hear:
* How to go from a one-man show to your first outsourced job... all the way to a small virtual team working to build your business everyday!
* How to break-thru and eliminate the one thing that holds most internet marketers back!
* The model Damian suggests all new internt marketers follow. It's very straight-forward and simple!
* Why most internet marketers are being misguided with certain aspects of building their business... and how you can spot this bad advice for now on!
* The one thing you MUST remember when building your business... if you want to remain fulfilled and happy through-out the whole adventure!
* ...and so much more!
As always, there's nothing for sale in this audio and nothing being pitched. It's pure meat and potatoes.
Also, be sure to listen to my recap in the end. I talk about some stuff that's been on my mind and bothering me about the internet marketing community and why I think it's negatively affecting many aspiring online entrepreneurs.
Listen To Interview Here:
Definitely share your thoughts on this interview below. Let me know if you'd like for me to do a part 2 with Damian, and if so, what specific questions you'd like to hear from someone who went from zero to full-time online.
Sneak Peek From The Dashboard Of My Hummer
What a weird time to shoot a little Internet Marketing video for you.
But, I did it... while driving!
Anyway, what you'll hear in this video very few internet marketers know or understand.
It's a tactic that will get you a HUGE list of targeted, qualified BUYERS for your expensive information products.
Take a peek:
(Be sure to watch the whole video because I think it's in the last few minutes or so that I share a very important internet marketing principle.)
What Does This Mean For YOUR Internet Marketing Business?
While flipping through the recent issue of PC Magazine I came across a great little blurb about Bill Gates from the editor-in-chief, Lance Ulanoff.
He was sharing his feelings about Bill Gates and all that he's given to the world of computers and the internet, and he said something that immediately jumped out at me.
Here's what he said:
"Bill Gates's genius was not his grasp of technology. Instead, he understood the market like no one else and knew which levers to pull to advance his products in the minds of consumers and businesses..."
WOW! That's a pretty big statement if you really get it.
It's worth pondering for a few minutes.
Then, when you're done, share what you think the implications that description of what made Bill Gates successful should have on the way an internet marketer approaches their own business. Post your comments below.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts...