The Expert List Building Home Study course is way more than a superb way to learn how to build a list. It also has a section where you select the Traffic building methods that suit your skills. We even call this part – “Finding Your List Building Personality”.
We’re not talking Psychotherapy here. We’re focusing on our strengths and talents and building our business on what we do best.
Marlon Sanders is taking this kind of approach here. He is looking at different business models so that you can see what the best one for you is.
Then you focus on that 100% and ignore all else and unsubscribe from all offers and newsletters that distract you from your chosen path.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do -do it with thy might”
How to Evaluate ANY Money Getting System — And Save A Small Fortune In
Time and Money, Plus Get Better Results Faster
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Every week a new barrage of email promotions likely hit
your inbox.
A few are good.
The others I’m not so sure about.
How do YOU see through the hype and get to the truth, so
you know WHAT do do, and what NOT to do?
You’re probably on a limited budget with limited time and
resources to spend on you Internet marketing activities.
How do you be a wise steward of what you DO have?
In other words, how can you get the maximum payoff with
limited time?
First, get to the CORE of the model asap
Any “money getting” system, to use Frank Kern’s wonderful
term, works on the basis of a few models.
When you GET offers in your email box, you have to ASK
yourself, “What’s the core model?” Then you have to apply
rational thinking TO that model to think about it.
1. The “Product Launch” Models
You’ll see screen caps of massive numbers that make your
head swim.
Sometimes these figures come in fast. Like 5 or 10 MILLION
dollars in 30 days, or faster.
Realize that these are extremely complex models based on
herding cats. The cats are the joint venture partners who
all email the same offer during a 1 day to 2 week time
span.
Getting these joint ventures involves highly sophisticated
personal relationships for the most part.
Fact is, if people mail for your launch, most will expect
a reciprocal mailing. And you’ll be obligated whether or
not you believe in the product.
There are also issues with your merchant account getting
frozen due to the unusual influx of funds. Refunds can run
up to 30%.
This isn’t a method for the shy or timid.
Now, you CAN run a product launch model without those
drawbacks. But if you do, your income won’t remotely
resemble the gigantic numbers thrown out in the examples.
First, let me say that the way Jeff Walker teaches the
Product Launch Model is NOT the way it’s often done, used
or taught by others.
I know Jeff and think very highly of him and his methods.
I’m talking here about a more general model of product
launches that has evolved and isn’t necessarily advocated
by any ONE person.
I’m NOT targeting an individual with these comments. I’m
just talking about the overall model. Frank Kern? Cool
guy. Very talented and funny too. NOT talking about Frank
or Mass Control.
I’m JUST talking about a model that is a general consensus
or a standard method of operation that has evolved.
Consider these drawbacks:
a. Product launches can absorb 3-6 months of your time.
So what APPEARS to be overnight money actually took 3-6
MONTHS.
b. You’ll lose ANOTHER 3-6 months doing all the reciprocal
emails you owe pleople.
c. Merchant account issues
d. Refund issues
e. Sales issues
You have one shot to get the product to sell. If you
screwed up your sales letter, you’re a dead duck.
More people flop at this than succeed. But a number DO
succeed. I’m NOT against the model as long as you
understand the GAME you’re playing and you aren’t all
glossy eyed over the big numbers without knowing what goes
into it.
I’ve seen some very good marketers work HARD to get others
to promote a launch for them and end up with paultry
results. I’ve also seen a few unknowns crush it with the
right offer at the right time.
High risk. High potential reward.
2. Affiliate models
In these models, you don’t create a product. You sell
OTHER people’s products. Just think:
* No customer service * No product fulfillment * No
complaints * No hassles
Sounds awesome right?
A lot of beginners get started as affiliates and that’s as
it should be. No problem with that. You’re learning the
ropes.
But you DO need to consider the following:
a. Most of the affiliate checks that are sizeable I see
are based on getting top Google ranking for the product
name about a week before the launch.
This means you need to get good at beating out others for
the SAME product names and you need to to do it in a short
time span.
Just understand what Game you’re playing.
Still, if you ARE going to play the affiliate Game, this
is one of the best ways to play it. You leach off of
product launches and your traffic comes from people
searching for the product name.
The downside is a lot of other affiliates play the same
Game and you’re competing against others who are really
good at this. By the samme token, if you promote a product
launch that fails to generate buzz, no one searches the
product name or the author’s name and you don’t make
diddly squat.
b. Some big affiliate success stories are based on the
list
A lot of times, it comes back to good ol’ basic evergreen
marketing, the kind of stuff I teach.
The person created special reports, got people onto their
email list, built the list OVER TIME and then just did a
big bonus offer for a new product launch.
You’ll see people pull in $30,000 to $50,000 by promoting
a big, juicy bonus bundle to their list for a product
launch offer. BUT that person usually has their OWN
products and a great reputation and relationship with
their list.
Otherwise, the bonus products have no value.
What I’m saying is, what APPEARS to be an affiliate
marketing model is really NOT. It’s a product creation and
promotion model where a list was built THEN used to
promote a product launch via a special bonus offer.
Here’s the CRUX of the issue:
Where will the TRAFFIC come from?
If YOU are the affiliate someone else is paying you a
commission in exchange for YOUR traffic. So where are you
going to get the traffic and how?
Usually the traffic comes from organic seo, which involves
a lot of article writing, web 2.0 sites, backlink creation
and so forth.
c. You CAN build an evergreen affiliate business
1.) In niches, you can build a list off of a pay-per-click
campaign. John Barker from Adwords Blackbook fame is a
master of this.
2.) You CAN build a list without your own product via
giveaways, ad swaps and other methods.
Then you use the list to promote special offers to.
d. TRICKS of the Game — A LOT of times those giant
numbers on screen caps were produced promoting an offer of
questionable value like ringtones or an offer with
recurring billing that is buried.
If the letter doesn’t say WHAT was promoted, it’s probably
because it was an extremely broad product that involved
buried recurring billing.
That means you aren’t likely to replicate the success.
3. Paid Advertising Models
Some of the most dramatic success stories are based on
paid advertising models.
These often involve a high level of skill NOT
duplicatable by the novice or even intermediate marketer.
The BEGINNING media buys can be $10,000+. This fact is
conveniently left OUT of the sales letter.
4. List Building Models
The model that comes closest to my model is the list
building model.
Theses people advocate building big lists or small,
responsive ones. It’s hard to argue with that.
My only caution on these is that a lot of the list
building methods taught are dubious and don’t work.
Your BEST list building comes from creating your own
products and getting people who ALREADY have lists to
promote them via email to their lists. And yes, there
might be some reciprocity involved.
But you can LIMIT this to products and people you believe
in and know are quality.
4. The Evergreen Model
I advocate what I call “The Evergreen Model” because it
has been working for 1,000+ years. You create products and
sell them via a network of sales people. In this case,
affiliates and joint venture partners.
The drawback is getting affiliates isn’t “push button
easy” or crap like that. But it IS doable with attention
and focus.
a. You don’t have to join a coaching program to figure it
out
There ARE details involved, most of which I explain in low
cost products.
b. It relies on a dose of creativity
You need to have a bit of an eye for a topic that will
sell well.
c. You build a relationship with your list
Since the products you sell are created by you, your
customers develop a relationship WITH YOU, not another
marketer.
d. You build over time
A lot of advertising-based models don’t build lists that
grow over time. So a year from now you’re no better off
today.
I like growing an evergreen business where you develop a
list.
============ Conclusion ============
a. Stop chasing rabbits
KNOW what marketing model you’re following and don’t chase
a new marketing model each week.
b. Get good at ONE model
c. Realize no model is perfect
There IS no perfect model. And if the model sounds
perfect, someone is leaving something out. Every model has
an aspect that is less than desirable.
If youre eyes are glazing over because you’re so excited
about a model, you’ve likely bought into hype and a smooth
pitch.
d. Consistency of effort is key
The key is to know your model, focus on it over time and
improve it.
=======================================================
Marlon Sanders helps people with hopes and dreams figure
out how to turn those into reality by selling stuff on
the Internet. http://www.thewritersecret.com
Alex and Kathy
Here's How To Build an Opt-In List
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Filed under business models by on Feb 28th, 2010. Comment. 
Listbuilding puzzles new affiliates and bloggers and it need not.
I am not saying that there is no work involved but it’s hardly Rocket Science to grow your traffic and whether you are driving traffic to a blog or sales page the techniques for producing the traffic are the same.
Here are some straightforward and action orientated ways to grow your list
1. On Page Optimization
When I survey my lists almost nobody asks me how to do SEO. Everybody wants to “make money online” or a little better, “free traffic” but does not seem to “join the dots”…
The way, the most basic and important way to get free traffic is to set up your website or blog to get visitors from Bing, Yahoo and Google.
Some of this set up is on your web page or blog post and some of it is off the page and all of it requires careful keyword research. The main purpose of the keyword research is to be able to plan the site whether blog or not to be well laid out and logical so that visitors and search engines can easily find what they are looking for.
Linking web pages
This means that your categories will come out of analysis of keyword lists and not a random choice! It means that all your posts will be focused on one major keyword and perhaps 2 secondary keywords.
And it also means that each page will have a unique “Title Tag” as well as a unique title.
This is simple stuff and is well known but widely ignored by bloggers who seem to think that being “open” or “cool” is all it takes to be successful.
Actually a well researched and implemented website is all it takes!
More to write about on page SEO soon…
2. Off Page Optimization
Each web page and each post is an island. Search engines do not see “Web sites” or “blogs” they just see web pages with links. You may think that your latest blog post is the “Bees knees” but if there are no links to it no one will see this model of insight and eloquence. The most important links are your own from your on site navigation. Your menu or navbar and the text on it is crucial.
And you can easily add some power to this by putting in extra links.
If you split a long post into 3 parts you can link between all 3 parts to help your readers get the whole picture. This kind of “deep linking” helps your site get thoroughly crawled by the search engines and gets more anchor text pointing to the page too, so the page comes up for extra keywords.
And all this is going on in your own site where you call the shots. The old days of emailing web masters and suggesting reciprocal links are gone. One way links are much more valuable and offering a webmaster some copy with a link to your site is a much more potent method of link building.
3. Recycling Your Posts
We are in a Green age nowadays so recycling is normal. Have a look at your blog or even on your hard drive and see if you can grab some good content and spruce it up to be posted in an Article directory or in one of the free content sharing sites such as Squidoo or Blogger. You can easily build 2 links per article back to your site and you can point those links at different pages and posts. Those links will help people find your site so word the text carefully!
One last point Please don’t just link back to your www.website.com – choose a page so that you link to www.website.com/neglectedpage.html Same principle for blogs
4. Social Bookmarking
You want more visitors to your blog? Well just go to where people are and create a helpful link to your post. And that is in the Social Bookmarking sites.
Caution – read the Terms and conditions and perhaps link to your material under a “pen name”.
Also get a “Bookmarking buddy” and you can help each other get noticed. You can automate this but it must be done with care and only as part of a whole link and traffic building plan.
5. Forum Marketing
We end today with the oldest traffic building method – participating in a forum. Asking and answering questions in a busy forum produces traffic to whatever link you have in your signature file.
This is an evergreen method of traffic generation and is completely free and will always work. ~forums were the original social networking sites before the phrase web 2.0 was invented. They are a super way to build relationships and pre-sell visitors
There we are, 5 action orientated methods to use to build your traffic and your list.
There are many other methods to gain traffic for your website and which ones you choose will depend on your skills and preferences.
Here at “ExpertListBuilding” we talk about doing things according to your “Listbuilding Personality”. This is nothing too psychological just the result of our years of coaching and mentoring.
Choosing and using the traffic techniques that fits your personality and skills is the most important traffic generation technique of all. Following a method designed for other people with other skills is a recipe for frustration and failure.
What is your favourite way to grow your traffic and grow your list?
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Filed under list building, List Building Personality Type by on Oct 7th, 2009. 6 Comments.
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