Hello again,
Michael Rasmussen here and it's time to answer another
set of questions from my readers. You're in that group,
so you get the benefit of the great questions your
peers ask me.
A lot of people wonder why I do this. There are really
three big reasons...
First, I care about whether you succeed or not.
Internet marketing really isn't rocket science...once
you know what you're doing. Before you "get it",
though, it helps a ton to have somebody actually
answer real questions that real people ask along the way.
Second, even after you're an "expert", it's great to
get new ideas from other people. You never know when
an answer to a question will press just right button
in your brain...and boost your profits.
Third, I get literally thousands of emails every week,
and it's impossible to answer them all. So I set up
this system to help me manage email better, while
still giving you the information you need.
So read on, and I hope you enjoy the learning.
CURRENT ISSUE -------------
Last year I released Get More Buyers (you'll find it
at http://www.GetMoreBuyers.com). I put up a blog to
during launch week to get feedback and to answer
people's questions. The response was stunning, and the
most common set of questions were all about how to
start a successful online business. That's also the
most common type of question I get asked every
single day.
In this issue, I'll answer some of the most common
questions about how to get started online. Let's jump
right in...
1) There's so much junk out there about getting
started. What essentials do I REALLY need? (asked by
Jessie Allis)
ANSWER: Yes, there's a ton of junk. Wading through it
can be a distraction. Let me try to simplify things.
First, you need a market to sell to. Not having one is
like trying to set up a business in a ghost town. You
might get some customers, but they won't come around
much!
Second, you need a product to sell. That could be your
own product, or it could be somebody else's product
you promote for a commission (called an affiliate
product). This is what will put money in your pocket.
Third, you'll need a domain. I suggest starting with a
".com" address, because it looks much more
professional. And pick a domain that's your own name,
if it's available, like my MichaelRasmussen.com site.
That will give you a foundation to build on, no matter
what direction you want to go, and will let you build
your personal brand.
Fourth, you need a website. It just makes things so
much easier if you have a site that you control and
can change however you want.
Fifth, you need an autoresponder. This lets you build
a mailing list and keep in contact with the people on
it. That's where your long-term income will come from.
I recommend http://www.AutomateYourList.com. And once
you have your autoresponder set up, check out
http://www.EmailPromosExposed.com to learn how to
write promotional emails that convert like crazy.
Sixth, you should consider setting up a blog at a
separate site. This is a great way to keep your
content fresh, which will get you more free traffic
from search engines. And linking to your main site
from your blog can help your search engine rank for
your main site as well.
Seventh, you'll need a payment processor, which is a
way to take credit card payments online. I strongly
recommend ClickBank, because they're reliable and
secure. They'll also give you a built-in affiliate
program, and they'll handle paying your affiliates for
you.
That's literally all you need. There are other things
that you CAN have, but those are the essentials.
2) How can the "average Joe" get started online?
(asked by Neil Bier)
ANSWER: I get this one all the time. What shocks most
people is that just about everybody who starts an
online business begins as an Average Joe! I did.
The way to get started is to find a market that needs
a product you can offer at a profit. That's as fancy
as it gets.
You can offer a physical product or a digital one. To
keep things simple and low-cost, I suggest starting
with a digital product, meaning one that people can
buy and download immediately.
Here's where I might shock a few readers...
Your first product can be VERY simple. You might write
a brief report called something like "10 List Building
Tips If You're Starting From Zero!"
The point is, find a market, find what they want to
know, then offer it to them. What most people just
starting out overlook is that most of the information
is available for free online.
Use Google to research your topic. Visit sites like
EzineArticles.com to get ideas. Track down sites that
already exist and see what information they offer for
free. Then you can create a relatively short report
that saves people the trouble of doing the research on
their own.
You can hire somebody to write your report, or you can
summarize existing material in your own words. About
10-15 pages should do it.
Once you have your report, you can sell it for a low
price, maybe something like $7. Most people will be
willing to part with that kind of money, since it's
almost as much as they spend on coffee or sodas in a
typical day.
The next trick is to drive some traffic to your
website where you sell your report. The easiest free
way to do that is to write an article and get it
accepted at EzineArticles.com. Target a keyword that
gets okay traffic, but doesn't have a lot competition.
I've never run across ANYONE who couldn't use that
approach to get started. There's no guarantee you'll
succeed, but it's a quick process you can keep
hammering on until you find a winner.
3) With everybody trying to succeed fast in the
Internet marketing niche by making a big splash and
becoming the next guru, how can I make myself stand
out in the crowd? (asked by Sophia Malachi)
ANSWER: There are really two answers to this question.
One option is to avoid the Internet marketing niche.
There really are plenty of other niches out there. Do
some digging on Google or at EzineArticles.com or even
at Amazon.com to find them. Here are some niches that
have been popular (and profitable) for years:
- Personal development stuff, like boosting your self
esteem
- Relationship topics, like improving your dating life
or marriage
- Debt or credit-related topics, especially with the
economy doing so bad
- Health topics, like curing acne or fixing back pain
The list could go on. All you have to do is find a
niche that's not as cutthroat as Internet marketing.
Odds are good that people in those other niches are
even more eager buyers than in the IM space.
But I don't tell people to avoid IM entirely. It's a
great niche, and I make good money there. The
challenge is standing out from the crowd, so here are
a few simple ideas:
- Talk about a NEW topic. If there's a new social
networking site out there, for example, write a report
about how to use it. New information sells great.
- Present your product in a unique way. That could be
doing videos when everybody else does ebooks, for
example, or offering overwhelming value that nobody
else does.
- Offer help to buyers. Lots of people sell IM
products and then abandon buyers to figure everything
out. Simply offering email support for a small fee and
a limited time can make you stand out.
- Offer stuff that works. Not so hard, right? The
market is full of junk that makes money but doesn't
live up to its promises.
And one more piece of advice for standing out...social
proof counts most of all. So give your product away to
some limited number of people and ask them for honest
feedback. That will help your sales presentation be
more genuine and more likely to sell.
4) I know I need a website, but I'm so overwhelmed by
the technical stuff (which I have no experience with).
Can you recommend any short cuts? (asked by Max
Coltharp)
ANSWER: I can understand when anybody says they're a
bit afraid of the technology of online business. But
there's really nothing to be afraid of.
The first thing to keep in mind is that your website
can and should be very simple. You'll need a page to
present your product, a way for people to buy, and a
page to deliver the product. That's it. Three pages
can do the job just fine.
You might want more than that, but that's fine to
start with.
The second thing to keep in mind is that you need to
find a good tutorial about how to build simple sites.
Frankly, I thought there wasn't a really good one out
there, so I created my own:
http://www.MiniSiteProfitsExposed.com
It doesn't cost a dime, so feel free to sign up for
your copy and put it use. The video course walks you
through everything you need to know to set up your own
mini-site, which is a simple site to sell a single
product.
You'll learn how to get your domain, set up your
hosting, create your pages, hook up your autoresponder
and payment processor...everything you need. If you
take the plunge and get stuck on something, don't
panic. You can find a cheap freelancer to help you on
Scriptlance.com, or even have them develop the entire
mini-site for you from scratch.
PREVIOUS ISSUE -------------
And here's a link to the previous issue in case you
missed it. In the previous issue I covered questions
related to selling online. In the end, what really
counts is getting prospects to become customers by
buying your product.
http://www.michaelrasmussen.com/internet-marketing-qa-issue-10/
--------------------
All right, that wraps it up for this time.
If you like getting answers to questions like this,
ask your own question! You can submit your question by
filling out the simple form at:
http://www.michaelrasmussen.com/questions/
Every so often, I'll go through the questions and pick
out 5-6 to answer in an email to people on my lists.
Your questions are what will make this email helpful,
so please keep them coming. I can't guarantee I'll
answer your question, but if the same question gets
asked several times, I'll try to answer that one. So
don't think, "Somebody's probably asked that already."
Maybe so, but it's worth asking anyway.
All the best,
Michael Rasmussen
Forum Moderator
CEO, FreeAdvertisingForum.com
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