Archive | January, 2022

You don’t need major skills to be a drop shipper these days. You don’t need to stock inventory, ship anything, or even guess what might sell.

Heck, you don’t even have to use your own money to pay for the goods.

You can work a couple of hours a day or week, depending on how serious you are.

And frankly the drop shipping method I’m about to show you is so straightforward, a teenager can do it.

Hint: Get your kids started with this when they’re in 8 or 9th grade, and by the time they graduate high school they’ll have a very nice nest egg for college, along with more real world business skills than most college graduates.

Now then… how do you find products? Amazon can give you a wealth of information on what’s selling and what’s hot at the moment.

Go to Google (yes Google, not Amazon) and run some searches such as…

• Most popular kitchen gadgets on Amazon
• Most popular fitness items on Amazon
• Most popular electronic gadgets on Amazon
• Most popular pet products on Amazon
• Etc.

The first few results will be from the Amazon website itself, but don’t stop at those.

You’ll also find articles showing what’s new, what’s selling and what’s especially popular.

Be sure you’re only looking at results from the last 12-18 months – anything else might be out of date, especially if you’re looking at anything electronic in nature.

Make a list of possible products you’d like to sell. Once you’ve got some research done, you should have an idea of what niche you’d like to focus on.

Once you’ve chosen your niche, dig deeper into that niche to find products. You might even choose a sub-niche to make targeting your prospects easier. For example, instead of choosing ‘dogs’ as your niche, you might choose a single breed like ‘Great Danes.’

When you have your chosen niche and your products, go to Shopify and open your own store with their 14 day free trial.

Next, go to Oberlo and sign up to get their free plugin. This is going to make it super simple to add products to your store.

Now add the Oberlo plugin to your Shopify store.

Set up your payment processor. This is probably going to be Paypal or Stripe, or whatever service you are currently using.

Last, go to AliExpress and open a new account.

Once you’ve done that, import your products to your store by using the Oberlo plugin.

Did this sound like a lot of work?

Remember, you only have to set up these accounts once. After that, anytime you want to add a new product, it will only take you a few minutes to open things, grab the product and put it on your site.

Once you’ve done these things, you’re ready to start driving traffic and making money.

If you already have a list in this niche, then that’s your first go-to place to get traffic.

Same way if you already have social media accounts and followers in this niche, you’ll want to promote your store in those accounts.

When you’ve done those things, it’s time to invest a little money and start advertising.

Let’s use $100 as an example. And if you don’t have the $100 to spare, you can always sell something on a site like Craigslist or Gumtree to get it, or just borrow it someplace.

Your goal will be to set up a Facebook page for your store and test ads until you find your winner. Plan on initially spending $10 a day for 10 days to find the ad that gets the sales.

Don’t overthink this or get stressed. If you’ve chosen hot selling products, this really isn’t going to be that difficult.

As an alternative, or in addition to using Facebook, you can also find large Instagram pages in your niche that have at least 50,000 followers and decent engagement.

To figure out the engagement rate, add up the number of likes for their last 10 posts, and then divide that number by 10 to find the average likes. Once you have that number, divide it by the total number of followers to find the average engagement rate.

You’re looking for a bare minimum of 1% engagement. Once you find these pages, send them a direct message asking if they’re willing to promote your product.

Rates for promotion are typically $15 for 50,000, $20-25 for 100,000, and $30-$50 for 200,000. But these rates aren’t written in stone. The higher the engagement, the more you might want to consider paying. And a lower engagement means you shouldn’t be paying as much. Negotiation is key.

Look for the pages that most closely match what you’re selling. For example, if you’re selling something for rose enthusiasts, you ideally want to find a page that focuses on roses, not on gardening in general.

By investing $50 to $100 in Instagram, you should get 2-6 promotions and several sales or more. Use your profits to reinvest in your advertising.

Closely monitor what’s working best, and do more of that. Tweak and test your page for optimal results. Add products, rinse and repeat.

See how easy that is? Yet I know that 98% or more of people who read this won’t do it. Which is good news for you… much less competition that way. Ready… Set… Go!!! 😉

With so many tweets being delivered to every Twitter user, it can be difficult to get your tweets seen and clicked. Twitter has 400 million current active users and growing so it’s no wonder why the average Twitter user’s tweets aren’t seen (but you’re not average)…

Done correctly, Twitter can still be a great source of traffic.

And as you know, if your Tweets aren’t driving traffic, then they’re not doing you or your business much good.

That’s why I’ve compiled this list of 15 ways to get your Tweets seen and clicked on by your followers.

1: Add Images

Did you know that tweets with images receive 18% more click-throughs, 89% more favorites and 150% more retweets?

And you can create multiple images for each blog post, using attractive colors, centered headlines and interesting textures.

Don’t forget to add your brand or URL, too.

For a slew of free design tools, check out this infographic: http://feldmancreative.com/2016/08/free-online-design-tools-infographic/

2: Use Faces

Studies show that few things in print or online media captures people’s attention faster than faces, so why not use them?

3: Use Your Own Face

Don’t forget to tweet your own face now and then, especially if you’re using a logo as your profile picture.

You’ll increase the stopping power of your tweet as well as build more of a personal connection with your followers.

4: Use Brackets

This is a great subject line trick as well – include something such as an afterthought in brackets, like this:

“Love the shoes [too sexy!]”

5: Quote Someone

Twitter users love quotes. They can be funny, famous, timely and so forth. When you come across something inspiring or thoughtful, by all means share it.

And if the quote is over 140 characters, feature the quote in an image.

Here are 20 tools to do just that. http://louisem.com/2573/make-picture-quotes-easy

6: Hashtag Your Topic

Your tweets are usually seen only by your followers. But if you add a hashtag or two, your tweet can potentially be found by others as well.

7: Make Your Tweets Contagious

To get your tweets shared, Jonah Berger, the author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, says to make them viral using any of the following:

• Social Currency – how smart a user looks to others when they share your tweet
• Triggers – top of mind content people are triggered to think about
• Emotion – focus on feelings rather than function
• Public – built to show, built to grow. Think of a brand that puts a red bottom on all of their shoes and you get the idea.
• Practical Value – news you can use
• Stories – tell stories people want to share

8: Add Emojis and Symbols

Non-text characters make your message stand out. If you’re using a smartphone, you’ll find the emojis right on your keyboard.

If you’re on a computer, you can download a Chrome extension or copy and paste Twitter symbols from a Twitter library such as this one. https://www.piliapp.com/twitter-symbols/

9: Ask Questions

Posing questions to your followers is an effective way to engage people.

Be sure to follow up with everyone who answers you so they know you’re listening.

And you can always highlight answers by retweeting them with your response, keeping them alive and inspiring even more interaction.

10: Use Polls

Twitter Polls are a great tool for attracting attention and engaging followers.

Click the “Add poll” icon beneath the tweet box, add up to four questions, and choose how long you want your poll to run.

11: Thank Profusely and Often

When your fellow tweeters have promoted your content or even contributed to it, thank them. This makes you look like a really nice person, plus it’s great for building relationships.

12: Use @ to Get Specific Attention

If you want someone specific to see your tweet, mention them by including their username preceded by the @ symbol.

13: Use an Image to Grab Group Attention

If you want to get the attention of a group of people, include an image in your tweet. Then when Twitter prompts you with “Who’s in this photo?” you can tag the image with up to 10 users without affecting your character count.

14: Use Twitter Cards

Twitter cards let you include additional media types – such as images, videos, audio and download links – in your tweets.

They’re not the easiest thing to use the first time, though, so you might want to follow along with Twitter’s CMS Integration Guide. https://dev.twitter.com/cards/cms-integration

15: Tweet Multiple Times

Tweets go by so fast, many of your tweets will never be seen.

That’s why you want to tweet about that new blog post of yours several times over the course of a few days.

This service lets you increase the reach of your content as you share free links. Here’s how it works:

First you add a branded badge with content within any link.

Let’s say you’re sharing content from Mashable – you simply add a branded badge to the link.

Next, you share your third party content to increase engagement. After all, a link from Mashable will often get more clicks than a link from your own website.

And by the way, this doesn’t just work with Twitter – it works with Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and several other social media networks.

Lastly, your re-shared links continue to carry your recommendations to new audiences, exposing them to your content.

And you can track, measure and get instant insights on the performance of your third party content, too!

Make the very most of your Twitter time by using these little tricks to get your tweets noticed and shared. If you’re going to be Tweeting, make sure that your song is heard!

Do you sell a monthly membership? If not, you might want to consider it.

Here’s 3 reasons to start a membership site:

1. Monthly memberships mean residual income. You sell a membership once and you get paid for it month after month until the customer cancels.

2. Selling a membership generally isn’t any harder than selling a one-time product, yet you can get paid a whole lot more for the same effort.

3. If you offer a trial membership, it’s even easier to get new subscribers. In fact, it can be easier than selling a regular one time product. Yet you can make a LOT more, as this case study will show.

Michael Hyatt has a membership site called Platform University. Twice a year he opens the site up for enrollment. Of course, you can take new enrollees into your membership site as often as you choose, but Michael likes to do it just twice a year – probably because it seems more exclusive that way.

Membership costs $37 a month.

But when his recent launch ended, he decided to offer a $1.99 trial membership to anyone who didn’t take the full $37 a month membership.

So after the one week trial period ended, he sent out an email to everyone who didn’t become a member.

In the email he offered a 7 day trial for $1.99, but the catch was they only had 24 hours to grab it.

That email went out to 40,000 people. 819 signed up for the trial offer.

(If you’re going to do the math to see how much 819 times $1.99 is, you’re going to miss the point. But it’s $1,629)

Of those 819 people, 292 cancelled the membership before it rolled into the $37 a month auto payment.

That sounds bad, doesn’t it?

It’s not. Because that means 527 new members paid their first $37 a month.

At $37 a month, that’s an additional $19,499 of monthly recurring income that Michael never would have had if not for the trial membership.

And things get even crazier, because the average member stays for 17.3 months, which is a lifetime value of $640.10 per member.

Which is to say, that $1.99 trial offer resulted in over $300,000 of possible future revenue.

Wow.

Really, it makes you wonder why he doesn’t just offer the trial membership.

But here’s the thing: By spending a week or even two weeks selling the membership at full price, he really builds the value.

So when he does offer the one week trial for just $1.99, it is such a no-brainer that people sign up in droves.

The campaign to get new $37 members is really a campaign to show people how valuable the membership is, and set it up so that the $1.99 is just too good to pass up.

If he had ONLY offered the $1.99 membership, he would not have properly established the value of the membership, and I don’t think his results would have been as good.

And all of this isn’t even counting the members he did sign up during that week long campaign at $37 a month each.

So how can you use this in your own membership?

First, you want to provide plenty of value inside your membership so that new members stay for a long time. Find out exactly what members want and give it to them. Have a place inside your membership where members can actually request new features to be added to your membership.

Next, really establish the value to prospects. Use lots of testimonials to show how your membership helps members to achieve their goals. You want to build the value so high that the cost of membership seems low by comparison.

Lastly, offer your trial membership for only a day or two before closing it. This gets people off the fence and grabbing the trial before it’s too late. You can always open the trial back up again in a month or two, as you see fit.

Finally, track your numbers. See how many people sign up at the regular rate, how many sign up for the trial, and how many convert from the trial to the regular paid membership

Of course, keep track of how long members stay. Find ways to get them to stick around longer and you will consistently increase your monthly income for even bigger paydays.

One more thing – imagine working your tail off to get your membership up and running. You might invest, say, two months into finding out exactly what people want, setting up the membership and filling it with content, software, etc.

Then imagine four months beyond that – you’ve got hundreds or even thousands of members with more joining. You’re making residual money on people who joined months ago. In fact, every month your income increases. You invest part of that money to continue to provide the content, software or services that members get, and the rest is yours. And life is sweet.

If you haven’t started a membership site of your own yet, what are you waiting for?

Email marketing is one of the best ways to make money online and develop passive income. If you use an autoresponder company (and you definitely should), you can write and store emails in your account that automatically get sent out to your list subscribers, helping you make money automatically 24/7/365 – even while you are sleeping at night.

Your autoresponder emails can contain links that sell products you believe in – either your own products or products you’re promoting as an affiliate. You could choose to store enough content to last a year or more, if you wanted to. Write 100 emails over time, add links to them, and load them up into your autoresponder account. Set them to deliver every few days, or even daily depending on your audience.

How is this passive? It’s passive because these emails will go out to new subscribers at the preset intervals you’ve determined ahead of time. Ideally, you’ll design a list-building funnel that will work for you day and night. So, someone who joins your list today will get your email sequence in order – they’ll see the emails where you teach things and emails where you sell things. They’ll buy from you.

More people will join tomorrow, more people will join a month from now, and more people will join six months and a year from now. Those people will get your email sequence in order. So you’ll have hundreds and hopefully thousands of people receiving your well thought out, well-monetized autoresponder sequence. This can earn you a continually growing passive income.

You could be lounging on the beach, sleeping, traveling, or working on another project altogether and still be earning passive income from your autoresponder series because your emails are being delivered without any further effort on your part, after you set them up the first time.

Does this sound like a dream? There are few things better for online income and building a real business than email marketing. Focus on developing a passive income from autoresponder emails and your time and financial freedom can grow consistently.

More On What Autoresponder Emails Are

As a short refresher, autoresponder emails are emails that are sent automatically by your email autoresponder company. Examples of these include GetResponse and Aweber.

You’ll start by including a Welcome email. This email will go out to new subscribers as soon as they subscribe, after they confirm their email address if you are using double optin. This welcome email will introduce you and give people an idea of what to expect from being on your email list.

You’ll then write and upload additional emails that will go out to your audience at the intervals you determine. You might want them to go out every day at first. Or, maybe just every other day. Or, maybe once or twice a week is better for your audience. You don’t want to overwhelm people with your emails but you don’t want them to forget about you.

Some of your emails will be very informative. Some will focus on relationship building – showing your email list subscribers that you honestly and truly do care about them. Other emails will be monetized, either with links to your own product or products you’re promoting as an affiliate.

More on How to Monetize Autoresponder Emails

Which products should you promote within your autoresponder? I highly recommend that you hand pick these products very carefully. Don’t choose something just because you think it’s going to make you a lot of money. Part of your success in earning money passively with autoresponder emails is building relationships along the way. People have to come to trust you and your recommendations.

So, pay attention to your market and what they really need and want. What are their biggest needs, passions, and desires? It can really help to investigate which products are already selling well, what people are talking about on forums, and what’s on social media.

In addition to making sure the products you create or promote are needed and wanted, study whether those topics and products are actually making money. Sometimes, people are interested in a topic but aren’t really willing to pay for information related to it.

You’re in this business to make money, so it makes sense to follow the money. What’s selling? What has staying power as an evergreen product to promote?

That brings up another topic which is evergreen products vs. trendy products. Generally, you’ll want to promote evergreen topics within your long-term autoresponder sequences. That’s because you don’t know what will be hot a year from now. You want the products you promote to be as fresh and relevant six months or a year from now as they are today.

That doesn’t mean you should never promote trendy products which can potentially be huge money-makers. You will just promote those as broadcast emails instead of autoresponder emails. Broadcast emails go out to everyone at once instead of on a timed basis (based on when someone joined your list) in the autoresponder sequence.

Write emails that are designed to presell the reader on buying the product. Whether it’s your product or an affiliate product, your goal in the email is to get people to that sales page. Not only do you want to get them to click through and land on that sales page, you want to presell them on buying the product before they even land there.

That means knowing what their emotional points are. What are they desperate for? Connect with them on a personal level with the email. Don’t mention the product until their emotions are stirred and they’re reminded how desperate they are for a great solution… the solution you’re presenting to them.

Don’t be shy about including links to the sales page within your email, as well as a call to action to get people to click through your link.

Monetizing autoresponder emails isn’t difficult at all. It’s literally just a matter of linking to the sales page. But the way you do it is important. Pay attention to how email marketers you admire do it. Sign up for other lists in your niche to see how they do it. You’ll find your groove and what works for you.

Testing Different Monetization Options

Since this autoresponder series will be a great asset for you, it makes sense to tweak it to higher profitability over time. If a certain promotion isn’t selling well, try switching it out with something different. Or, take a different angle with the way you’re pre-selling in your autoresponder email.

You might be surprised at what works or how a different way of phrasing things or a different subject line or call to action works. Your skills as an email marketer will improve over time as well.

Even though your goal is for this to be a great passive income stream for you, you might want to revisit your existing autoresponder emails every once in a while to tweak and test so that your passive income ultimately increases over time. The better your conversions, the faster your email autoresponder profits will grow.

Sending Emails in Groups of Three

I highly recommend that you consider not monetizing in every email you send out. Sometimes, the build up is needed to get people really interested in what you’re talking about and selling.

You can do well in groups of three emails. The first email in a series can be one that introduces the topic related to the product you’re ultimately promoting. It can stir up emotions and make people feel the pain they have from an unresolved problem.

The second email in a series can touch on those emotional points and start to reveal the solution. You can do some light preselling in this email.

The third email in the series can be a more specific, hard-selling email that directly asks for the sale.

This type of thing can work well because it builds up to the sale and gets people interested. Send a different series/promotion set of three emails every week or so for a potentially great, passive income with emails that convert far better than average.

Successfully Earning Passive Income by Monetizing Autoresponders

Hopefully, you’re getting really excited about the possibilities here. You can set up many different list building funnels and autoresponder email series that essentially run on autopilot. You can earn a nice passive income this way. Do yourself a favor and invest your time into email marketing, because it truly can help you build a real business and develop a continually growing passive income over time.

There’s a huge difference in sales conversions when someone is excited about a purchase they’re making vs. when they’re surprised by the possibility of a purchase.

Think back to your own history. Has there ever been a product or anything you thought about buying for some time? Maybe it popped up in your thoughts throughout the day, you heard others talking about it, and you were convinced it would change your life, solve a problem of yours, or delight you. When it came time to buy, you jumped at the chance – you couldn’t hit that buy button fast enough. I’m sure it’s happened to you; I think it’s happened to all of us.

The same is true for your audience. That build-up matters.

If they just see your sales page blindly, they might not even read past the headline. They don’t yet have an emotional connection to it. Sure, you try to do a great job with your copy and get and keep them reading—but that doesn’t always work because once they reach a page, if they’re not already presold on the desire to read for more than an instant, you only have a brief time to capture their interest.

It’s so much better if they have an emotional connection already. It’s even better if they already know they’re going to buy before they even see the sales page. That’s when the real magic happens.

I’ve had people tell me that when I release a new product, some don’t even read the sales page. They know it’s going to be a good value so they jump right down to the buy button. That makes me feel great. That’s part of a reputation I’ve developed over time.

But often, it has to do with the preselling I do in my emails. I often talk about projects I’m working on, especially ones I’m particularly excited about (such as the Plug-In Profit Site). I talk about what the projects mean to me and what they’ll mean to the audience.

I have great relationships with the people on my email list. There are some who’ve been on my list for nearly a decade. With this trust come higher conversions.

But that longevity doesn’t always have to be there to do this successfully. You can presell by email and get people excited about making a purchase whether you’re new to business or copywriting or not. You can get people excited about making a purchase before they even see the sales page by using the power of psychology and preselling.

The Psychology Of Preselling

People tend to buy more readily when they’ve already committed to something in their mind.

People tend to buy more readily when they’re reminded of a desperation or passion they have.

People want easier, better solutions to things.

It often takes more than one point of contact before someone will be ready to buy.

What does all of that mean to you? It means that if you pay attention to these things, you can do a great job of preselling by email. You can secure that sale before people even see your sales page. How’s that for something amazing?

Let’s talk about the fact that it often takes more than one point of contact before people are ready to buy. Imagine you buy an Adwords ad and send someone directly to a sales page. They might not have heard of you. The sales page is great, though… are they likely to buy? They might… but your conversions won’t be anywhere near what they could be. There’s no real connection there.

Instead, imagine a scenario where you buy an ad, give someone a freebie so they’ll join your list, and start building a relationship with them by email. You send an email stirring up a problem they have. You send another offering them part of the solution. You send another email handing them the solution on a platter… they’re excited and decide they NEED this solution and are ready to buy before they even land on the sales page.

The latter option is better, right? It’s that relationship and connection that makes the difference. It’s that attention to human psychology that makes the difference.

The Next Time You Sell by Email…

The next time you sell via a sales page, do your preselling by email. It can work well to do a mini series of emails that leads to a link to a sales page and a call to action.

The first email can stir up the reader’s emotions and hit on their problem. Make them feel that pain and pressure so they’ll want to remove it at any cost. Get that thought into their mind and they’ll be subconsciously thinking about it until the next time you contact them.

The second email can restate that pain and emotional need again. This time, hint at the solution.

The third email can present the solution on a silver platter – and the answer is found within the product on your sales page. Include a call to action to buy.

Get people excited about what you have to offer ahead of time. You can really improve your conversions. Learning how to write copy isn’t just about writing a good sales letter, it’s also about writing great email copy.

Examples Of Preselling By Email

Here’s an example for you. This is a very simplified example, so adapt it to fit your needs.

Let’s say you want to promote a product that’s designed to teach stay at home moms how to write a money-making blog so they can start or continue staying home with their kids while bringing in an income.

Email 1:

Subject: Moms who need more money…

Hello,

Having children is amazing – it’s a huge blessing.

You’ve decided to stay home with your children or you want to stay home with them.

The only problem is that there’s just not enough money. It’s next to impossible for a real family to live off of a single income in today’s world.

But you don’t want to miss a moment of your child’s life.

What’s the answer?

I completely understand what you’re going through right now, and it’s one of the toughest things there is.

I think this topic is so important that I’m going to send you another email tomorrow to talk about solutions, okay?

Sign off

P.S. I think you’re going to like the idea I have for you… It could mean the difference between staying home with your baby or not.

Email 2:

Subject: Can stay at home moms earn money from home?

Hello,

Last time, we talked about the fact that you really, really want to be able to stay home with your children.

We also talked about the fact that it’s nearly impossible for most families to survive on just one income.

At the same time, you’ll stop at nothing to be able to stay home with your little one.

What’s the answer?

The answer’s pretty cool… and it can definitely work for you. I’m really excited to tell you this. I actually work with MANY stay at home moms who earn full time incomes from home.

They do it all from the computer.

No, this has nothing to do with those ridiculous (and scammy) fake posts you see on social media that say stuff like “earn $3,000 from month doing nothing!”

There are REAL moms who really wanted to stay home with their kids. They’ve started their own business from home and are now earning great incomes doing it.

There’s actually a ton of different options out there for doing this. You can write, blog, freelance, work as an affiliate, and even create your own products.

All of these can be your path to freedom… your path to getting to stay home with your kids and earn a full time income.

I’m especially excited about one of these options in particular because I think it’s perfect for you. You can do it in your spare time and it’s really a lot of fun.

I’m going to share that business with you next time.

For now, think about what it would mean to your family… and to your children… if you could stay home with them with no stress. What it would mean to you and your spouse to have a second full time income coming in, in your spare time at home.

Until then…

Sign off

P.P.S. Remember to check your email tomorrow, okay? There will be a special message from me.

Email 3:

Subject: Hey mom… here’s your answer for earning a full time income from home…

Hello,

I’m so excited about this because I truly think this can change your life and the lives of your family members.

Yesterday, I shared with you that there are actually a LOT of different ways moms can stay home with their babies and earn a full time income, often in their spare time.

Today, I’m proud to offer you a complete guide on doing this as a part time mommy blogger.

This method in particular is fun, easy, and lucrative. You can do it in your spare time and earn a great income doing it.

I know how badly you want to be able to stay home. I also completely understand how hard it is to do that if there aren’t two incomes coming in.

Here’s your solution… it’s a complete guide that will help you get started. It’s just $7 – less than the price of a couple of Happy Meals.

This could be life changing. After all, your children are only young once.

Grab hold of your future and your income by starting your own lucrative blog from home. This isn’t a “biz op”, this is a true opportunity to make your own path in life.

You work hard, and now it’s time to cash in on it.

Link to sales page

To your success,

Sign off

As you can see, there’s a lot of room here to write emails like this for your own product.

Make these preselling emails whatever you need them to be. The moms in the example haven’t even seen the sales page yet… but they’re probably going to buy, right? It’s the answer to their problems. The click-throughs and conversions on that third email should be quite high because the moms are already pre-sold on that product.

Apply this to your copywriting or promotions and you can dramatically boost your sales.

At this point I’ve mentioned over and over that you should be building a list with just about every action you take in your business. But, why is it so important?

There are several reasons — some include:

• Frequent, easy contact with list members
• Relationship building
• Future-proofing
• Scalability
• Passive income
• Multiple points of income

Let’s go over each of these points in turn.

Frequent, Easy Contact with List Members

It’s really exciting when someone reads your content, comments on your blog, sees your sales page, checks you out on social media, or buys a product of yours.

It’s great… but what if they forget about you and never take another action again?

What if they only ever buy that ONE product from you because you fall off their radar?

What if they love your blog post but forget about you because they have a million other great blog posts they love?

What if Facebook changes their algorithm so that person who “liked” your page never sees another one of your posts again?

Then, it’s not quite so rosy. It’s as if your readers and customers are slipping through your fingers. You need a way to connect with them and keep up with them. You need a way to stay at the top of their mind.

Getting them on an email list is the best way to do that. Get that Facebook liker on your email list and who cares if Facebook changes their algorithms? Get that blog reader on your email list and let them know when you have new posts… and new promotions. Get that customer on your list and gain a customer for life.

People are more likely to buy from those they know, like, and trust. People are more likely to buy when they’ve been reminded to do so more than once.

Relationship Building

If someone trusts you and already likes what you have to say, they’ll be a lot more likely to buy from you. That sort of thing happens over time… once you have a relationship.

How do you get that relationship? It’s hard to build it if you only every have fleeting contact with a reader or customer.

Get them on your list and it’s a whole new ballgame. When you have someone on your email list, you can send them helpful information. You can answer their questions one on one. You can share things that are going on in your life.

Email is simply more intimate and primed for relationship building. You have to use your list in the right way to make this happen, of course, but it can pay off big time when you do.

Future Proofing

None of us know if Facebook will always be the powerhouse it is today. The same goes for other social media sites. None of us know if Google will rank our sites and blogs well tomorrow or if they’ll fall away to oblivion.

How do you future-proof your business? That’s easy… you build an email list.

Your list is yours. As long as you comply with email marketing rules, you’re free to do what you want with your list. You can email them when you want, port your list to a new autoresponder company, promote what you want, when you want, and so on.

Put your business in your own hands by building an email list and making that a main focus, if not the main focus, of your business.

Scalability

It’s important to have an email list if you want to scale your business up. You’re so busy that it’s more essential than ever before to automate where you can (in the form of a list building funnel and autoresponders, in this case) and pay attention to what really works in your business.

Build a targeted email list of thousands of those desperate for answers and willing to spend money in your niche and I can all but guarantee your success. Having an email list allows you to scale up because you can focus on what’s important and always get your offers and promotions in front of extremely targeted eyeballs.

Passive Income

Having an email list can also help you achieve the dream of passive income. You can set up a squeeze page and make use of traffic methods that will work for you day and night. You can pay for this traffic, write articles, create videos, or whatever works for you.

You can then create a freebie offer that you give away on your squeeze page. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 am, people will get that freebie automatically if they sign up for your list.

You can write a series of autoresponder emails that inform and delight your audience. You can write emails that promote products of yours and products you’re promoting as an affiliate.

Sure, you’ll have to check in and maintain your list, but much of your list building and income generation can happen on autopilot if you set yourself up the right way. This is great for product creators, affiliates, etc.

Multiple Streams of Income

Having an email list helps you develop multiple streams of income. You can earn as an affiliate or product creator. You can strike up great Joint venture deals… people are a lot more likely to work with you if you have a responsive email list.

It doesn’t matter what your main form of income is right now, having a list gives you options. And in a business where things are constantly changing and you have to keep up, adapt, and make sure your eggs aren’t all in one basket, email marketing is key.

Build Your List!

Build your list and you’ll build your freedom. And I mean that sincerely. Make list building a main focus of your business and you’ll be building an asset that allows you to steadily grow your influence, and ability to increase your business income and profits on demand.

I talk regularly about skills that are really important to learn if you want to succeed in internet marketing. But there’s one skill that really stands above the rest – copywriting.

Copywriting is the language of sales. It’s when you use the power of your product combined with an understanding of your market and psychology to make more sales.

Learning to write copy is one of those things that seem to really scare people. They feel like it’s a skill that takes years to learn, or expensive courses, or a certain type of person who was born with the skill. That’s not true at all.

You can learn to write copy.

This is something you should really dedicate yourself to. Ideally, you should be able to write your own sales pages, email copy, squeeze pages, and more. Even if you decide you’d rather hire a copywriter in the end, you should have the ability to write copy, make tweaks to existing copy, and know that the copy you’re using is good.

Why is this so important? Why can’t you just write some words on a page and call it good? After all, your product is good… won’t people see that?

In some cases, yes. If you have a really stellar reputation with your audience then you could possibly make great sales even if you have poor sales copy. But, how will you attract a new audience? How will you make sales from those who aren’t familiar with you? How will you know if a little tweak here or a little tweak there could double or triple your sales?

Being good at writing copy is important. Yes, there are other things (like the relationship you have with your audience) that are very important as well. But, this isn’t something you should resist.

Learning to write copy can even be fun. There’s something really cool about the fact that you have the power to persuade with your words. Write your sales page “this way” and you might convert at 1%. Write your sales page “that way” and you might convert at 5% or even much more.

I think it’s very exciting that you can potentially make little tweaks to words on a page and earn a lot more money from the product you’re promoting.

Now, let’s talk about the fact that so many people are intimidated by this process or think they don’t have what it takes. I think the belief that writing copy is hard comes from the fear of something new. You’ve learned to write articles and reports and this is a different type of writing. It makes sense that you’d be a little intimidated by it.

Another part of the fear might come from the fact that it can cost many thousands of dollars to hire experienced copywriters. If it costs that much to hire a copywriter, what business do you have even attempting to learn how to write copy? There’s clearly a lot to it, right? You think it must be very complicated… (it’s not).

I think it helps to think of copywriting skills as being on a spectrum. At one end you have those who are totally new to this and don’t know how to write copy at all, and may not care to know how to write copy at all.

At the other end you have those who have been writing copy for many years. They’ve taken courses, read books, studied under master copywriters, and have written hundreds or thousands of pieces of copy.

It doesn’t have to be one or the other, though—this is a spectrum. It’s not all or nothing. No, you won’t be a master copywriter after one day’s worth of effort. But you can learn how to craft copy that’s good enough to sell. You won’t be a master copywriter after a few months, but you can craft incredible copy that converts like crazy.

It’s well worth it to learn how to write copy ‘good enough.’ It can help you earn a lot more money in your business. In fact, you might find that you very quickly learn enough to write copy that converts even better than the copy you’ve been paying copywriters for.

After all, you know your product better than the copywriter, and you have more passion for your niche and for your product than the person who’s just doing it for the money.

If nothing else, it’s worth it to learn copy because you’ll earn more money. That’s part of the goal of being in business, right? You want to grow your business.

Good copy persuades people to buy. Good copy does something else that not many people think about—it helps you build connections and relationships with your audience.

You might never meet most of the people who see your copy and buy your product. But, your words will help them feel an instant connection. They’ll instantly feel like you understand them and know exactly what they want and need.

Words are very powerful—especially when you learn how to use them persuasively to make sales. You’ll stand out in your niche because your words have that magic to them that keeps people coming back for more.

If you don’t learn to write copy, you’ll never know what your potential for making sales and connecting with your audience is. You’ll never know how far you can take your business.

If you do learn to write copy, you’ll know how to connect with and persuade your audience. You’ll make more sales and keep people coming back for more.

You’ll be able to more fully understand your audience, which will help you make better decisions for your business overall.

Writing copy doesn’t have to be hard or scary. I hope you’re feeling pretty excited about this journey right now. In other segments, I’ve given you ideas, tips, and strategies for easily writing great copy that converts. It’s up to you to get started and use them. Study great copy in your niche, practice, create swipe files you can refer to when you’re writing.

Get good at writing copy and your audience will be in the palm of your hand. You’ll have a skill not many people are willing to learn. Not many people even understand how important this is to learn. You’re at a huge advantage now, so run with it.

Writing a sales letter can be one of the most intimidating things when it comes to your marketing. It’s enough to make you run for the hills… or pray desperately for the budget needed to hire a good copywriter.

I’m a fan of finding the “easy button” for everything I do. If I ever find something to be challenging, I look for ways to simplify it without losing its impact or magic. It’s the same when it comes to writing sales copy.

Writing sales copy becomes easy once you’ve practiced enough. But I’m also of the mindset that it can be easy for you no matter what stage of the game you’re in. Whether you’re new or just looking for a way to more easily write sales copy, I believe that knowing the components of a sales letter can really help you.

When you break it down, it’s so much less intimidating. You can focus on it bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece. Don’t think of it as writing a big, bad, long, sales letter. Think of it as writing the headline, then writing the intro, then writing some catchy bullet points.

I’m going to break it down for you here. Take these pieces or chunks of a sales letter and start writing. First, draw out what the main benefits of your product are. Really get to know the product inside out. Get to know the audience inside out—what are their most important emotions and desires related to the product? If you know those things, you’ll have a running start when it comes time to fill in the blanks of the sales letter.

The Headline

The headline goes at the start of the sales letter. It’s generally written in larger font in a different color than the rest of the sales letter. Consider that you really only have a few seconds to capture people’s attention before they either stick with you and read the rest of your sales letter or not.

At this point, you should have decided what the main benefit of the product is. Generally, you’ll include the main benefit in your headline. There should be a hook there that will take people through the rest of the sales letter. What’s going to stand out and capture people’s attention? Remember that people are really busy, so it should be something that really stands out and it should be something that really means something to people. Most importantly, it will make people want to keep reading because they’re curious.

The headline might be preceded by a prehead and followed by a post head. These will be in smaller font and complement the header.

There are so many different headline styles that you really have to figure out what works for your niche. Take a look at sales letters you’ve bought from yourself. Take a look at other sales letters in your niche.

The Introduction

Remember that this is a true letter to the people of your audience. So, start your letter the way you would start any letter.

“Dear Friend,”

That works well.

There are many ways to follow that, but you’ll do well to start stirring emotions and connecting with the person. Imagine a typical person in your audience and write directly to them.

Let them know that you know exactly what they’re going through.

The Emotions

Remember to stir those emotions. What’s their biggest need and want? What’s their biggest problem?

It’s important to be personal and follow through with the hook you started in the headline.

The Story

The letter is all about them… but part of the way you can connect with the reader is by sharing your own story. People want to feel like you understand them and have been through something similar.

If you can’t share a story of your own, connect in another way. Talk about the people you’ve talked to or worked with.

People love to read stories they can relate to. Stories are a huge part of the way people connect and understand.

The Hint of a Solution

As you weave your story, talk about the ups and the downs. Start to hint at a solution as part of the journey.

The Solution

Outright say that you have found a solution that has helped you (or the focal point of your story). Make it clear that the reader can absolutely have the same solution you’ve found… and in a better, easier, faster way.

The Product

The product is the solution. Now’s the time to introduce it as such. People who’ve read through your sales letter this far are ready for the solution—present it in a way that will make them salivate.

The Benefits

Hopefully, you’ve pulled out all of the main, important benefits of your product. You’ve highlighted the main, most important benefit in the headline as well as throughout the sales letter.

The Bullet Points

Now, it’s time to point out the other benefits of the product in the form of bullet points. These bullet points will stand out in the sales letter and really get people to take notice.

The Proof

People love proof. You can include proof in the form of testimonials, screenshots, data, and more. Overcome people’s objections with proof.

The Offer

The offer really seals the deal. It should be an offer they can’t refuse. Your offer includes what’s included in the product, bonuses, etc. It might include scarcity and limited time offers. Make the offer so good that they can’t pass it up. It should far surpass the expectations they had while reading through the sales letter.

You can also use this section to make comparisons. What would this be worth if it were being sold by someone else?

The Restatement of the Main Benefit

Re-state the main benefit. Copywriters often restate the headline in a different way. Remind people of why they really shouldn’t pass this offer up.

The Guarantee

If you have a guarantee, and I think you should, make sure to include it. People will often be swayed to purchase if there’s a money back guarantee available.

The Sign Off

Give a personal sign off. Remind people that you really care about their results. You might include a P.S. section. Restate the special offer and the guarantee. Make people feel really secure about what they’re buying.

Remember that people often scroll straight down to the bottom of a sales page so you want to have something really convincing here.

There You Have It!

There you have it! If you analyze popular, high-performing sales letters, then you’ll most likely see that these elements are there. Create an outline for yourself using these elements and then fill in the blanks. You’ll find that it’s easier than ever to write a great, high-converting sales letter even if you’ve struggled with it before.

It’s extremely important to understand the difference between features and benefits when you write copy. In fact, not understanding the difference can be death to your sales.

Have you ever read a sales page and thought to yourself that it was just so boring that you couldn’t even force yourself to keep going even if you thought you might want the product? I’m sure you have – we’ve all seen those terrible, ineffective sales letters.

But maybe to this point you haven’t been able to identify what really separates the effective sales letters (the ones that compel you to buy even when you didn’t originally intend to) from those that aren’t at all effective.

Maybe it’s the case that you’re really struggling to write effective sales copy yourself. Maybe your conversions aren’t what you know they could be – people are visiting your sales page but they aren’t reading or buying.

Or, maybe you’re struggling to write a sales letter at all. You know that you’re not yet a highly skilled copywriter and it scares you to even try.

Of all the elements that go into writing an effective sales page, understanding the difference between features and benefits just might be the most helpful. If you understand how to identify the benefits of a product, then all of a sudden things like writing the headline, bullet points, and persuasive copy just start coming together.

It’s about understanding human psychology. It’s one thing to know the features of a product, but it’s another thing to be swayed enough on an emotional level to move forward and buy. You’re not going to tap into those emotions that inspire people to buy unless you understand and pull out the benefits of your product. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

What Are Features?

At the core, features are what something is. It’s the descriptions and stats on a particular product. For example, you can describe a soda can as being red, made of metal, and containing a liquid.

But, who cares? You don’t see Coca-Cola advertising their product that way. Sure, it’s good to know those things and people do make features part of their buying decision. But that’s not what’s going to capture people’s attention in the first place.

If you fill your sales copy full of features and only features, people are probably going to click away unless they were already highly motivated to buy the product.

Yes, features are important to talk about, but only after people are already interested. The first focus, for you and for the customer, has to be on the benefits of a product.

What Are Benefits?

Benefits are what something does. It’s the result of using or having the product. So, in the case of having a Coca-Cola, it’s a crisp, delicious refreshment. It’s something that puts you in a moment of pure pleasure, nostalgia, relief, and happiness. At least, that’s what Coke wants you to think.

You don’t really care that it’s a red can that contains a sweet liquid. You do care that it adds pleasure to your day and gives you the refreshment you so dearly desire.

When you have your list of features for your own product, ask yourself why those features matter. Why does it matter that there’s a sweet liquid in that can? What’s the result people are looking to find?

When you ask yourself why the features matter, what really matters about the product, you can come up with a list of benefits.

The classic way copywriters describe this is “selling the sizzle, not the steak.” People are buying the hole, not the shovel. People are buying the result, not the thing itself. Once you understand this, it will be so much easier for you to write copy.

How to Pull out the Benefits of Your Product

Now that you understand more about the difference between features and benefits, it’s time to learn how to pull out the benefits of your product. I suggest you go through your product and take notes on everything that really matters about your product.

What sets this product apart? Which results are people going to find by going through your product? Write everything down that comes to mind.

After you’ve written your list, go through it again. Ask yourself what really matters… again and again. Dig deeper. If you’re selling a product that will help people make more money, it’s easy to think that money is the result people want. That’s typically not the case.

Money isn’t the real benefit… The true benefit might be freedom, living life on one’s own terms, etc. Keep digging, keep asking yourself what matters most to your audience.

By the way, some benefits will be more important than others. Again, keep asking yourself what matters most – I can’t stress this enough.

You’ll use the top, most important benefit in the headline of your sales copy. You only have a short amount of time to capture people’s attention, so you really want to make it count. Sell that sizzle, get people interested, and then you can start explaining features and additional benefits.

Using Benefits in Your Bullet Points

In addition to using the main benefit within your headline, you’ll probably also want to include benefits in the form of bullet points. Remember that people are typically skimming through copy when they first read it. Even if they’re intrigued by your headline and by the benefit you promised, they aren’t quite sold on it yet.

You want to make it really easy for people to decide that they want to buy after all. Include the rest of the important benefits you came up with in bullet points within your sales copy. Bullet points capture people’s attention. When it’s all laid out there for them, the benefits are clear and they’ll be a lot more likely to buy.

Features Are Important Too…

I don’t mean to make it sound like features aren’t important at all. You actually should include the features of your product. But,they’re not the main focus. And you don’t really want to list the features until people are already swayed by the promised benefits. Don’t leave those out, but don’t rely on them to capture people’s attention either.

I hope you’re really excited by all of this. Understanding the difference between features and benefits can help you sell your products (or affiliate products) so much easier. You’ll be able to write much more effective copy, make more sales, and make better connections with your audience by understanding what is really motivating their actions.

It’s very exciting to have your own business. You get to make decisions yourself, live life on your own terms, and determine how successful you become. We live in a great time for entrepreneurs – it’s extremely exciting, whether you’re new or experienced.

At the same time, working for yourself can be very isolating. It can be hard to stay motivated and have the right mindset when you’re relying on yourself. If you’re finding yourself procrastinating, feeling confused and overwhelmed, and feeling isolated… then the chances are good that the dream of working for yourself isn’t exactly what you thought it would be so far.

The operative phrase in that sentence was… so far.

It can be scary to realize this. Many people dream of working for themselves all their lives. People want to own their own business and dream about how wonderful it will be. But then reality hits. The grass isn’t always greener. It’s not uncommon to run into mindset issues and problems when you work for yourself.

Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to work in isolation, struggling on your own. There are people out there who can help motivate you, help you stay on track, and help point you in the right direction.

You can bounce ideas off of people. You can hire people to hold you accountable and to show you the way. Whether you need a little bit of hand holding or a lot of hand holding, there are people out there who can work with you and help you.

In fact, it’s a really good idea to find a coach, mentor, or accountability partner. In some cases, you’ll want all three. It doesn’t matter where you are with your level of experience or how successful your business is, it’s important to connect and work with others.

What Is a Coach?

First, let’s go over what a coach is. A coach is someone you’ll typically hire because they’re at a higher level in business than you are. They’ve been there, done that, and you’d like to learn how they got to where they are so that you can follow in their footsteps without taking too many wrong paths yourself (Like they may have in the beginning).

They’ll help you take stock of your business and figure out what you should be working on. A good coach will help you apply the 80/20 principle – knowing that just 20% of your efforts are leading to 80% of your results.

A good coach will help you cut the fluff and only focus on what’s most important in your business. They’ll help you stay motivated and help to hold you accountable. They can give you business advice that only comes from experience. This can help you get to where you want to be much more quickly than if you were to do it on your own. There’s something to be said for following in the footsteps of success, and that’s exactly what you’re doing when you hire a coach.

Experience is a great teacher, it’s even better when you’re learning from someone else’s experience, so that you don’t need to make the same mistakes and have the same do-overs that they did.

Of course, as is the case anytime you work with someone else, you have to make sure your coach is compatible with your personality and your needs. Sometimes, your coach will need to show you tough love, and that’s okay. Don’t be annoyed when it happens. But overall, you should really enjoy working with your coach and you should find that they help you get to where you want to be.

There are many different types and styles of coaching. There are business coaches that will meet with you in person. There are others that operate solely online. Sometimes, coaching is offered one-on-one and other times it is offered in a group setting, which will be much less expensive, depending on how and how often you get to communicate one on one with the coach (such as via teleseminar or webinar, email, phone, etc.).

Do some digging and figure out what will work best for you. You can find the ideal coach who will help you earn more money much more easily.

What Is a Mentor?

A mentor is different from a coach in some important ways. A mentor is also an expert who can help you achieve what you want to achieve. A mentor isn’t always someone you hire or pay. In fact, a mentor doesn’t necessarily need to know that they’re your mentor.

There are people out there you admire. You look at their journey and find that you’re on a similar path. They inspire and motivate you. This is a great thing and can help you keep going when the going gets tough. They can help you see things you wouldn’t see on your own.

You can find a mentor by reading blogs, websites, and books. There are people out there who document their journey and steps and invite you along for the ride. This can be highly inspirational and motivational.

You can find a mentor on forums and on social media sites. These are people who are helpful and knowledgeable and who really stand apart from the crowd because of their success and how they help people.

Again, you don’t necessarily have to pay for a mentor. A mentor can be someone who knows they’re your mentor or not. They can be someone you communicate with directly or not.

And for all you know, you might be someone’s mentor if you have some experience and have been helpful to others already.

It can be as simple as you posting a question in a private forum or Facebook group and there they are, giving answers.

I suggest you find yourself a few different mentors. These are people you look up to. These are people who motivate and inspire you. We all need mentors in our lives to help us reach the next level.

The important thing with a mentor is that you should be careful that you do as they do, not just as they say, because there might be a huge discrepancy there. It might also be difficult to determine the difference with some people, so don’t rush to select a mentor just because he or she says they’re doing fabulously.

What Is an Accountability Partner?

An accountability partner is someone who can help you stay on track in business. They might be on the same level as far as business is concerned or they may not be. Really, it doesn’t matter as long as you keep each other on track. It can be helpful to choose someone who’s going through the same things you’re going through.

You and your accountability partner might communicate with each other back and forth, talking about what you have and haven’t accomplished. You might email or Skype each other to make sure you’re on track

You can have an accountability partner that’s online or offline. The only important thing is that you hold each other accountable and help each other achieve your goals much more quickly.

It’s hard to stay on track when you’re the only one who cares about your business. When you find an accountability partner, you both care about each other’s business. It helps you stay connected and on track.

No matter what level you’re on, it can help to find an accountability partner to check in with.

I don’t recommend that you choose a spouse or friend as an accountability partner, because it can cause friction in your personal life if your accountability partner (or you) has to call one or the other out for failure to accomplish certain tasks that you were supposed to.

Your accountability partner should be someone who understands what you’re going through, and the technical language you use. They don’t necessarily have to be more experienced or more successful than you are.

Find Your Coach, Mentor, or Accountability Partner

Hopefully, you’re inspired now and know that you don’t have to go it alone. It can be hard to work for yourself, even when you know you’re finally living your dream.

You’ll achieve whatever you want to achieve much more quickly if you find yourself a coach, mentor, or accountability partner… or all three. There’s no shame in reaching out and getting help. In fact, it’s one of the things very successful people have in common. You want to be more successful, so reach out and connect with someone who can help you.