Internet marketing for those who want to make a profit


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ACHIEVE NET PROFITS

"Learn from the Internet Marketing professionals!"

Issue # 8, 22-Oct-2002, ISSN 1447-4956
Copyright 2002 Jason Anderson. All rights reserved worldwide 

http://www.achievenetprofits.com/
/external.html?link=mailto:jason@achievenetprofits.com


IN THIS ISSUE

1. From the Editor
2. Interview - Raymond Johnston Jr
3. Free Item - "7 Secrets to Cash Like Clockwork"
4. Guest Article - Your Perfect Home Business May Be Right In
Front of You!
5. Final Word


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1. From the Editor

Greetings, and welcome to this weeks issue of Achieve Net
Profits.

First of all, I'd like to say thanks to all of you who sent
in suggestions for sending out this ezine. I'm busily
checking the suggestions out, and when things are about to
change I'll let you know. As you can imagine, I don't want
to rush ahead and choose the wrong list host!

On other news, the product for guerilla marketing bombshells
has finally been revealed. I talked a bit about the hype
surrounding the program a couple of weeks ago (in
particular, the hype that got everyone to sign up before
they knew what they were getting!)

The good news is that at least the product seems pretty good
(which I expect is a relief for all those that signed up!) A
members club with forums and new material from Jay Conrad
Levinson every month is nothing to be sneezed at. But is it
worth $80 a month? I don't know. I wouldn't pay it, but
since $80 US is around $160 Australian, you can probably
understand why! =)

The one thing about this that has made me think though is an
article by Mark Joyner. You can read it by visiting:

http://www.scamfreezone.com/forum/config.cgi?read=4737

In summary, Mark says that 2-tier affiliate programs are
dead, and that MLM programs (or Team Fusion Marketing as he
is calling his version) are the way of the future.

Why? In part because 2-tier programs don't reward people for
signing up other people beneath them.

Now some people (obviously Mark included =) ) think this is
a bad thing. Personally, I don't.

By adding more than the second tier, you give the message to
your affiliates that they should spend some of their time
trying to recruit others as opposed to selling the product.

Isn't this a good thing?

Maybe. But not if your affiliates are spending so much time
trying to build their downline that they never get around to
selling your product!

The 2-tier approach sends a strong message to your
affiliates - "yes, if you recruit others you will be
rewarded, but only if they make a sale, and not as much as
if you sold the product yourself".

SiteSell have taken this one step further. With their
affiliate program, you have to sell above a certain dollar
amount yourself before you get any benefit from having
sub-affiliates. If you didn't make any sales in a month, but
one of your sub-affiliates sold thousands of dollars worth
of ebooks, you wouldn't get a cent.

Which is, I think, how it should be. There is no such thing
as a free lunch!

Actually, I will admit that there is one situation where a
MLM approach is better, and that is if you are running a
membership site (like guerilla bombshells). In that
situation, you have to 'buy' the product (and keep buying
with a monthly fee). Since signing new people up and selling
the product are the one and the same, it works very well.

But if I was selling an ebook, or software, or some other
product (not a membership), 2-tier is in my opinion the best
way to go if I was starting an affiliate program.

What do you think? Is 2-tier marketing dead? Is MLM the way
of the future? Have I completely lost it? Let me know!

/external.html?link=mailto:jason@achievenetprofits.com?subject=2tier

But enough of that. Now a quick word about what is in store
for you this week.

My interview this week is with Raymond Johnston Jr. To be
honest I am very appreciative that he took the time to do
the interview. Half way through, he received the terrible
news that he may have to have one of his toes amputated.
Needless to say, an interview was probably the last thing he
wanted to think about! But he battled on to complete it,
and I think you will find the finished interview very
educational.

The free ebook this week is by Marlon Sanders, and is a
great read. It is titled "7 Secrets to Cash Like
Clockwork" - be sure to take a look.

Finally, the article this week is by Angela Wu (who I
interviewed last week). She talks about how you can come up
with an idea for a home business that is right for you!

I hope you find this issue informative and useful. If you
enjoy this ezine, please forward it on to one or more
friends who you think might be interested.

Don't forget that you can view past issues online at
http://www.achievenetprofits.com/archive/


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2. Interview - Raymond Johnston Jr

Raymond Johnston Jr is the editor and publisher of Money For
Hire Ezine ( http://www.moneyforhire.com ). He is a
published writer of short stories, poetry and lately
Internet Marketing articles. He loves what he does because
"it allows me to help others build a future".

 

ANP: How (and why!) did you get a start in the Internet
marketing business world?

Ray: A few years ago when the stock market was doing so
well, I was trading stocks in the morning and working in
online advertising in the afternoons and evening. As the
Stock Market started it's decline, I started doing more and
more ad writing for people in the Internet Marketing field.

After a few months of writing successful ads and reading as
much as I possibly could about online marketing, I decided
to take the plunge. I was helping others become successful
by writing ads, figured I might as well be doing it for
myself.

 

ANP: What did you find was the hardest part when you were
starting your Internet marketing business?

Ray: One of the hardest parts of starting any business is
the amount of work it takes. You have no contacts,
everything you are doing is new and basically trial and
error. What will take you one hour six months from now,
takes you three now.

I see ads all the time saying, I work less now and make more
money. Sure you do, you now have some experience and it
takes a lot less time to complete your daily chores.

I think the reason the majority of people fail at online
marketing is either lack of time to devote or the
unwillingness to spend enough time. It makes no difference
if you are starting a business online or off, it takes a lot
of hours to build a successful business.

 

ANP: What do you feel are the most important traits someone
starting a new business (online or otherwise) should have?

Ray: Well, I think a person has to go into the venture
believing they can be successful and having the persistence
to achieve that goal.

Any new business is going to take a lot of work and there
are going to be many setbacks. You must realize this going
in.

With all of the get rich quick talk that goes around, I
think too many people think they are going to make money
without much effort. It's just not going to happen online or
off.

 

ANP: How long did it take for your Internet marketing
business to start making a profit? How quickly did your
profit increase from that point?

Ray: It actually did not take me long to start making a
profit. But I have lived a few years and have started a
number of successful businesses. I knew what it was going to
take and had prepared myself by digesting as much
information as I could for a few months prior to actually
launching a business.

My income increased at a fairly steady rate. Nothing
spectacular but it increased each month. After a while, it
becomes easier to increase your income. The longer you work,
the more people you get to know and the more opportunities
you will find.

When you first start, it's hard to get anyone to do a
business deal with you. Now I have twenty to thirty offers a
month from people wanting me to join them in some kind of
venture. When you need help the most, it's impossible to get
it. When things are going well, everyone and their brother
wants to work with you. One of the great ironies of life.

 

ANP: Very true, very true! What do you get your most income
from online - affiliate programs, reselling other ebooks,
etc? Do you expect that to change much in the future?

Ray: One of the great lessons I learned from the stock
market was to diversify. There is no where that is truer
than working online. I see so many people who think one
program or one ebook is going to make them rich.

One of the truest statements I've ever seen online was "It's
much easier to make $100 in ten different programs then it
is to make $1000 in one."

I make money in a number of ways. Affiliate programs,
selling ebooks, I own traffic sites, pay-per-click search
engines and a number of other things.

Don't get me wrong. You can't work every affiliate program
that comes along. In fact, one should be very careful of
which ones you participate in. You want the products or
programs to be good ones. Your reputation is on the line and
a good reputation will eventually guarantee success. Of
course it takes work but a bad reputation can destroy you
regardless of how many hours you work.

I will continue to make money from these sources but I will
continue to search for more avenues to create revenue. In
fact I'll be coming out with something new in the next
couple of months. I can't really give any information at
this time but this opportunity came about by someone asking
me to look at their website. I looked and found a tremendous
product. We are now working out details of a partnership.
You just never know where an opportunity may come from.

 

ANP: What has been the biggest mistake you have made in your
Internet marketing business so far?

Ray: That's a tough one. One makes so many mistakes.
Probably the biggest mistake I made was not paying for a top
notch list server for use in publishing my ezine. At first I
tried to go the free route and then when I decided that
wasn't the answer, I went with a cheap service instead of
going for quality.

It cost me more money in the long run to use the cheap
service then it does to use the higher quality service I now
use. Another one of the many lessons one learns through
trial and error.

 

ANP: So how are you hosting your mailing list now? Are you
using an autoresponder service, or are you using a dedicated
mailing list service?

Ray: I'm now using one of the professional List Server
companies. I'm still debating buying the software and doing
it myself but still looking for some more feedback before I
go this route. I'm not sure if the pluses outweigh the
problems.

 

ANP: Has there been any particular ebook, web site,
e-course, person, etc that you feel has given you the most
help in your business?

Ray: As I stated earlier, I spent a lot of time reading and
studying everything I could get my hands on that pertained
to Internet Marketing.

I was very impressed with the work of Terry Dean and studied
everything I could get my hands on that Terry had written. I
also joined his Internet Marketing site and obtained a lot
of knowledge from it. By the way Terry, you owe me for that
promotion. LOL

Pamela Heywood who publishes a great marketing ezine also
helped me a lot. She was there to answer all of the
questions I had. And trust me there were many.

There were other sites and other people as well but those
two were a great influence.

 

ANP: How do you go about attracting visitors to your web
site?

Ray: I use every method I can find. I use pay-per-click
search engines, start/surf exchanges, ezine advertising and
I also use banners. The banners are used more for branding
my sites name but they bring some visitors as well. I
sometimes purchase guaranteed visitors as well even though
one has to be very careful with that method. There are not a
whole lot of services that can give quality traffic.

I also work on increasing links to my site. This is probably
one of the most important things I ever did. It doesn't pay
off instantly but you can sure start seeing the results if
you make it a permanent part of your marketing efforts. Just
adding a few links a week will make a heck of a difference
six months from now.

 

ANP: What have you found to be the most difficult part about
publishing "Money For Hire"?

Ray: The most difficult part of publishing is continuously
finding quality information. There are so many ezines and
newsletters being published that you must provide your
subscribers with quality information or lose them.

There are a few people who write quality articles. Every
marketing zine around is using those articles. If a person
is subscribed to three ezines that are running the same
articles the majority of the time, they are going to either
stop reading or unsubscribe from a couple.

So it's a constant battle to find helpful information that
everyone else has not already published.

 

ANP: How do you go about attracting new subscribers to your
ezine?

Ray: The number one way I attract subscribers is by offering
my marketing courses all over the net. Give the people a
dose of the kind of information you provide and hope it will
make them want more.

I also have a website for my ezine where I try and entice
signups. I usually offer a 'bribe' of some type to join. A
free ebook or marketing course.

 

ANP: It was one of your marketing courses which attracted me
to your ezine originally, so they obviously work =). Have
you tried any of the subscription services that are on the
net? If so, what sort of response did you get?

Ray: I have actually tried a few of them. Results are from
terrible to great. One still has my money and has delivered
one subscriber in three months. Yet another delivers top
notch subscribers with a great retention rate.

One has to be very careful. Ask around and get some feedback
before purchasing any subscribers this way.

 

ANP: With the benefit of hindsight, if there was one thing
you could go back and change since you started your
business, what would it be?

Ray: Besides the use of a quality list server which I
already mentioned, I would have published less frequently
and spent more time looking for quality information for my
subscribers.

When I first started, I was publishing five days a week.
That is just too many days. I was spending all of my time
putting together the ezines. I now publish twice a week and
it gives me much more time to handle other things.

 

ANP: What is next for your Internet marketing business?

Ray: I will continue to diversify more. As I mentioned
earlier, I'm working with another individual on a project
that we will be launching in the next couple of months. In
fact we may be launching a number of projects together.

The Internet Marketing world continues to change and to be
successful, one must change with it. If one stands still in
this business, their business will soon be heading the wrong
direction.

 

ANP: What changes are you expecting in the future in the
Internet marketing world? Do you have any thoughts on new
things that might become popular, or existing methods that
will stop working?

Ray: The biggest change I see happening is the demand for
quality information. A year or so ago, anyone could put out
a newsletter and be successful. Today the number is growing
so quickly and the average person's time is so crammed full
of things to do, you better provide useful information in
your newsletter or on your website or you have no chance of
succeeding. I think this trend will continue.

Free ads are becoming less and less effective and I think
that trend will also continue. Even though I think it's a
great service for newsletters to provide their members with
free ads, I don't think many are looking. People's time is
very valuable and they are looking for valuable content.
Fifty ads, with many advertising the same new "Hot" program
are just not on the time agenda for many to read anymore.

Those who provide original content will continue to be
successful. those who don't are going to have a difficult
time succeeding.

 

ANP: What advice would you have for someone who was starting
out in their own online business?

Ray: Don't expect too much. So many people come in with
unrealistic expectations. Don't expect to build a full time
income with part time hours. It's going to take time to
build your business and it's not going to happen without
some hard work.

Be willing to listen to those who are already successful. I
don't care what business you go into, there are people who
have already learned the tricks that can save you lots of
time and help you succeed. Listen, you can save yourself a
lot of time and heartache.

 

ANP: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Ray.


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3. Free Item - "7 Secrets to Cash Like Clockwork"

Marlon Sanders is a name that most people in Internet
Marketing would know. And for good reason - he is definitely
one of the 'gurus'. Marlon produces quality ebooks, courses
and other training material that will help you on your way
to successes. This is one of them.

The ebook this week is "7 Secrets to Cash Like Clockwork".
It was originally a 7 part ecourse that Marlon produced, but
he has now put it together in ebook form. I have to admit I
prefer it in ebook form - it is much easier to read. Which
is good - the information inside the ebook the usual high
quality that I've come to expect from Marlon.

The theme of the ebook is "Find out what people want to buy
then allow them to get it from you". Which is good advice by
itself really.

Take a look - I think you will enjoy it. You can download it
from:

http://www.achievenetprofits.com/free/7secrets.zip

(sorry, this ebook is PC only).

 


4. Guest Article: Your Perfect Home Business May Be Right In Front of You!

(c) Copyright 2002, Angela Wu

Every week I receive email from would-be entrepreneurs,
asking, 'What kind of home business should I start?'

This is a question that only *you* can answer. Although
it seems like business opportunities are everywhere you
look, there's no reason why you have to limit yourself to
someone else's 'prepackaged' opportunity.

'Biz ops' usually cater to a very limited set of interests
-- nutritional supplements or Internet marketing are common
examples. Instead of trying to force yourself to 'fit' into
one of these opportunities, why not consider starting and
building a business of your own making?

Many successful entrepreneurs are running businesses based
on their personal interests and experiences. You'll be
surprised at how simple ideas can turn into profitable
home businesses! For example, one lady in my neighborhood
creates unique 3-dimensional bookmarks in the shape of
various wildlife -- and she sells them to tourism stores
in the nearby National Parks, among others.

Another example came from a local newspaper. A woman with
a 'knack' for picking out the 'perfect' gift offers a
shopping service: she'll go gift shopping for birthdays,
Christmas, and other special occasions so that you don't
have to endure the stress or the crowds. And she LOVES
to shop!

There are many examples of people who turn their passions
into businesses. For additional ideas, try the 'Secret
Underground Business Plans, Projects and Ideas', available
at: http://homebasedwork.com/cgi-bin/a/t.cgi?bizideas

So how do you go about deciding on a business? Start by
asking yourself several questions:

  • What are your interests? What skills have you learned
    from your current job or your favorite hobbies? Do
    something you love... business doesn't have to be a
    chore, it can be a joy! If you're passionate about your
    business you'll work harder (and have fun while you're
    at it).
  • Are you a 'people-person' or someone who prefers less
    customer contact? There are people who adore talking
    to others and excel at it... these people are far more
    likely to do well with businesses that require lots of
    face-to-face customer contact than people who are
    uncomfortable dealing with strangers.
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses? An honest
    assessment can help you decide which business ideas
    are realistic and which are fantasy. For instance,
    an excellent writer won't necessarily be a great
    proofreader, which requires a high attention to detail.
  • How much time, money, and effort can you realistically
    devote to a business? Every business is different...
    some require more financial resources upfront, while
    others require very little. Likewise, with some
    businesses you may see a profit in very little time
    (ie. dog-walking or an errand service), while with
    others it make take a year or more.

    Take a good look at your skills and your interests...
    Your perfect home business could be staring you right
    in the face. Imagine the possibilities!

    _____

    Angela is the editor of the At Home Workers Express, a free
    newsletter for people seeking to start a work-at-home career
    It offers a practical, hype-free, and informative articles
    on starting a home business or searching for telecommuting
    work. Pick up your free subscription today at
    http://homebasedwork.com/newsletter.html

     


    5. Final Word

    Time to wrap it up for another week, and let you get back to
    working on your business! Remember that you don't have to do
    everything at once - if you do a small bit every day, in a
    months time you will be amazed at what you have
    accomplished.

    I'd love to tell you who the interview will be with next
    week, but that the moment I'm not sure! I have several
    interviews underway, but none of them are at a stage where I
    can say for certain which one will be finished first. I
    guess you'll just have to wait until next week to find out
    =).

    Till next time, take care. By the way, if you enjoyed this
    newsletter, please fell free to forward it to someone you
    know who might also be interested.

     


    "Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about
    something then you have the time to do something about it."
    -- Anthony J. D'Angelo



    Jason Anderson
    PO BOX 812
    Sandy Bay, TAS 7006
    AUSTRALIA

    /external.html?link=mailto:jason@achievenetprofits.com
    http://www.achievenetprofits.com/
    ICQ: 12547327
    Cellphone: +61 407 506 472

     

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Jason Anderson - PO Box 812 - Sandy Bay, TAS 7006 - AUSTRALIA
http://www.AchieveNetProfits.com - /external.html?link=mailto:jason@achievenetprofits.com
Cellphone: +61 407 506 472 - ICQ: 12547327