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As we look at building our online businesses, many of us
acknowledge, early-on, that
we don't know it all. Those
who don't, are almost certain
to fail because they often
attempt to apply techniques
that simply don't work online
- to their online businesses.
The quickest way to online
success is to model those
who are already successful
at what you want to do. It'
s that simple. Of all of the
chores involved in building
your business, marketing is
usually the most critical.
Poor marketing is also the
reason so many businesses
fail. You need to learn to
properly market your business
or hire someone else to do
it for you. I'll give you
a few recommended resources
to help jumpstart your education
in a minute. A second extremely
important skill that goes
hand-in-hand with marketing
is generating publicity. You
can have the greatest product
in the world, but if no one
knows about it, it may as
well not exist. If no one
knows about you, then you
won't make any sales! Let's
look at generating publicity
first... Publicity can take
many forms, and they often
overlaps what many would define
as marketing. For today, I
want you to focus on the most
effective, and often cheapest,
publicity. In fact, this great
publicity is often free. What
we're talking about here is
publicity generated by getting
the media and others talking
about you and your business.
We're talking about the publicity
typically generated through
tools such as press releases
and doing media interviews.
Why is the above type of publicity
so powerful? It's so powerful
because people believe what
others say about you MORE
than they believe what you
say about yourself. So when
you can get magazines, newspapers,
television and radio personalities,
and even online ezines talking
about you, those hearing this
buzz believe it more and are
therefore more likely to go
check you out. A second reason
this type of publicity is
so powerful is because you
can literally generate millions
of dollars in free publicity
if you know what you are doing.
You may not be able to afford
a full-page ad in a major
magazine or newspaper. However,
let the right person know
about your story and that
same publication will be all
to happy to tell the world
about you... and give them
your website url and/or your
toll-free phone number. Learning
to get media attention is
not hard. To make it even
easier, I've arranged for
my friend, Annie Jennings,
who runs a top PR agency,
to help you a little. Her
site is at: http://www.anniejenningspr.com/teleseminars.htm
I gave you the above url because
it is the page where she tells
you of upcoming teleseminars
she's hosting on various promotion
and sales-related topics.
These teleseminars are all
free. While at Annie's site,
sign up for other goodies
she offers including courses
in generating press releases,
creating a platform, getting
on top radio shows, etc. She'll
give you all types of freebies
like audiotapes and coffee
cups. When I first met her,
and she sent me an intro package,
it felt like Christmas :-)
So we'll let Annie turn you
into a "media darling." Then
you can focus on learning
marketing. This is where most
online business people should
probably spend 80% of their
time - not on all of the busywork
that you can get someone else
to do. The highest and best
use of your time is probably
in marketing your business,
not making webpage updates,
writing or even creating products.
You can get freelancers to
do this for you very inexpensively
at places like Elance.com
Marketing is nothing more
than communicating the benefits
of your products or services
effectively to your ideal
customer. It all hinges upon
effective communications,
and your communications can
be greatly improved if you
understand how and why we
interact the way we do with
each other. To get a firm
grasp on that topic I recommend
that you read the book, "Influence,
The Psychology of Persuassion,"
by Dr. Robert Cialdini. You'll
never be the same after you've
read and digest this book.
If you're like me you'll find
yourself reading it over and
over! You can find this book
at online bookstores. Another
solid book on marketing is
Jay Abraham's "Mr. X" book.
This 376 page book distills
several decades of the marketing
know-how of Jay Abraham. The
full title of the book is
"Money-Making Secrets of Marketing
Genius Jay Abraham And Other
Marketing Wizards - A No-Nonsense
Guide To Great Wealth and
a Personal Fortune." This
book is so good that you could
devote six month just to studying
the one book, and you'd understand
more about marketing than
95% of your competitors. This
book is marketed by the Abraham
Marketing Group, but Internet
marketers working with the
group run specials from time
to time. Just watch your email
for one of these specials.
A course that I recommend
that isn't just on marketing
but on developing the proper
mindset is by Dr. Robert Anthony.
It's called "Know How To Be
Rich." In order to run a really
successful business, you need
to properly train your mind.
Many people actually need
to give themselves permission
to be successful. Dr. Anthony's
course was a big "A-ha" for
me and many of my clients.
You can find it at: http://TheInternetLifestyle.com
You'll notice that none of
the resources just recommended
were specifically Internet-marketing-only
resources. That's because
internet marketing is just
an offshoot of marketing,
and most of the principles
are the same. Most Internet
marketers who are struggling,
don't have a good grasp of
the over-riding basic marketing
principles. That's what the
above resources will provide.
Two Internet marketing resources
I will recommend are a private
membership site I've set up,
and a course on how to generate
website traffic. You can find
my site at: http://TheRealSecrets.com
The webpage does a great job
of explaining why you need
to be a member :-) Without
website traffic, your website
basically has the same results
as a billboard on a highway
that no one travels. It produces
no results because no one
sees it. So you do need to
learn how to generate traffic.
For that I recommend the very
indepth, crash course offered
by John Reese's Traffic Secrets.
I've personally gone through
the 13 CD's and DVD ROM's,
and 3 manuals - TWICE. You
can check out this course
at: http://TrafficSecretsByJohnReese.com
It's a little expensive, but
well worth it if you USE what
he teaches. If you aren't
going to use it, then you
should save your money. If
you work your way through
the above resources you'll
be well on your way to building
a massively successful online
business. None of these resources
are something you give a quick
glance and then the magic
happens. They all require
effort. Put in the effort
now and you'll have a very
solid foundation upon which
to build your Internet marketing
business. By understand basic
marketing, and then how the
internet differs, you'll possess
some very powerful, rarely
mastered knowledge. Copyright
2004 Willie Crawford Willie
Crawford is a corporate president,
published author, seminar
speaker and host, tele-seminar
speaker and host, retired
military officer, karate black
belt, network marketing trainer,
and life-time student of marketing.
He shows people how to actually
generate substantial income
on-line using very simple
SYSTEMS. An example of such
a system can be studied and
duplicated at: http://ProfitMagician.com
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