Newbs...A Doable Plan For Going From Zero To Hero

[Steven Wagenheim]

Okay, because this is going to cover an overall strategy, this is not going to
go into detail for each part, otherwise this thread would be 500 pages long
and nobody would read it.

The purpose of this thread is to give newbs an overall gameplan for tackling
the IM niche, if that's what they want, and actually make a living at it.

Step 1 - Pick a niche outside of IM. This is a must. You want to sell something
where you don't have to prove that you make money. Otherwise, everything
that follows isn't going to work. Right now you have NO credibility as a
marketer in IM so stay away from it.

The niche you pick doesn't really matter. The only thing that you have to
make sure of is that it is one where there is a demand for a solution to a
problem and the solution exists in the form of a product that you can sell
as an affiliate. Just go to the Clickbank marketplace under any of the non
IM niches and you'll find plenty of things that sell. Get a copy of the
product so you can review it and talk about it intelligently. Refer to my
thread on affiliate marketing tips for this part of the plan.

Step 2 - Document everything that you've done as far as picking out the
product, promoting it, everything. You want to keep a diary if you can.
Don't leave out one step. Track your success from the beginning to the
very end. Make videos of your success. Screw screen prints. Nobody
believes them anymore.

Step 3 - Organize all your notes on what you did to promote the product
and put them in a short ebook. This isn't going to be some TS2 type
product. We're talking about a low end product. Maybe about $17 or so.
You want it to be as affordable as you can make it.

Step 4 - Give it to 10 people to actually use. Let them see how it works.
Ask for testimonials IF it works.

Step 5 - Gather up your income proof and testimonials and create a
short sales page. You're probably not an expert copywriter at this point
so make it short. With a low end product, good proof and solid testimonials,
it will sell. My first product, with no prior experience selling IM products, I
sold for $19.95 and sold 200 copies a month for almost a year because I
was able to show proof that what I did worked. That's all you need.

Step 6 - Okay, now you've sold your first IM product. You now have
credibility in this field. You've now made money, not only from affiliate
marketing, but from selling an information product. Plus you now have a
list of buyers. You did build a list, right? Good. Create your next product.
It doesn't have to be an earth shattering one either. Just put a little more
into it than the first one. You've certainly learned more about marketing
during this time, right? Great. Include it in your new product. Repeat the
process. Give it out to 10 people and get testimonials. Sell this product for
a little more money, starting with your list. But...you're going to go one
step farther here.

Step 7 - Make your list aware that the product has an affiliate program
and that you're giving a generous commission to sell it. At a higher price
point (about $27 to #37) you'll get affiliates if you give them 75% or even
70%. In the meantime, your first product should have created a bit of a
buzz so you should be able to start approaching other successful marketers
to promote your product. Refer to my JV tips that I posted here on how to
do this. DON'T give them a sales pitch. They'll ignore you.

Step 8 - You know have 2 products selling of your own PLUS the affiliate
product you're selling. At this point, you can do several things, but the
point is, you've gotten started. By following a simple affiliate formula,
you've been able to break into the IM niche and start rubbing elbows with
some of the big boys.

This is EXACTLY what I did. Yeah, it took me a while to get to where I am
because I didn't have somebody show me all this. I had to figure it out all
myself. But if I could start all over, I'd be able to complete this whole
process within 6 months the latest.

There you go. A doable plan for going from zero to hero.

And it doesn't involve putting together a high end product that you end
up giving away.

[Ernie Lonardo]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

And it doesn't involve putting together a high end product that you end
up giving away.

Haha I wonder why you said that

Excellent advice Steve just like always. You should change your name to the:
NO-BS-Real Internet Marketer

I hope many newbies follow the plan Steven has just outlined!

[Carol J Smith]

Absolutely superb post. Thanks for this.

Carol

[matthewd]

Steven, excellent advice! This plan will help many people make a lot of money.

[CarbonCopyPro]

Great Post!

[macchiavelli]

How did you go about marketing the book though...thats the hard part.
PPC costs money so I guess you did some article marketing?

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by macchiavelli

How did you go about marketing the book though...thats the hard part.
PPC costs money so I guess you did some article marketing?

The same way I marketed the affiliate product. Just refer to the affiliate
marketing thread that I posted here.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Because I don't hide from anything and never want people to get the wrong
idea about anything I post, I want to address a PM I got in private.

I was accused of being contradictory because of step 7, getting affiliates.

Why?

Because I no longer do this. As a matter of fact, if you recall a post I made
a few days ago, I am totally down about recruiting affiliates for my products.

3 years ago I had a few decent affiliates. Since that time, most either don't
know how to promote my products or worse, have spammed my link almost
costing me my hosting.

Since I am already successful marketing my own products, I don't need
affiliates. I can make it on my own.

But if you're just starting out and want to jump start things, you might
want to take the risk of pimping for affiliates.

Yes, you may get some bozos that will spam your link and get your
hosting shut down. Yes, you will have many who don't do any work at all.
But if you're lucky like I was 3 years ago, you'll find a few gems. My friend
Stephen Crawford sold for me 100 units a month back then. Yes, he moved
on and no longer promotes my products and I haven't found anyone to
fill his shoes since. But they're out there. You just have to go look for
them.

Just because I choose NOT to doesn't mean you should follow my actions,
especially since I've already made it.

Just wanted to clear this up.

[AndrewCavanagh]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Step 1 - Pick a niche outside of IM. This is a must. You want to sell something
where you don't have to prove that you make money. Otherwise, everything
that follows isn't going to work. Right now you have NO credibility as a
marketer in IM so stay away from it.

The niche you pick doesn't really matter. The only thing that you have to
make sure of is that it is one where there is a demand for a solution to a
problem and the solution exists in the form of a product that you can sell
as an affiliate. Just go to the Clickbank marketplace under any of the non
IM niches and you'll find plenty of things that sell. Get a copy of the
product so you can review it and talk about it intelligently. Refer to my
thread on affiliate marketing tips for this part of the plan.

Great post Steven.

Perhaps a few people here could thrash around some ideas on this part of the plan since this is where the whole thing is "make or break".

Also if you got step one right you wouldn't need any of the other steps to make money.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh