The too-little-discussed KEY to consistent profits

[Ken Preuss]

Have you missed it? Chances are you've missed it many times and it could very well be non-existent in your business.

In fairness it isn't talked about nearly enough. However Allen mentions it in some form of at least once in every five of his posts. Have you caught it?

For me personally this 'thing' has been responsible for more sales than most people should be allowed to make in a lifetime, let alone a handful of years.

Make no mistake. I'm no Filsaime, Kern or Schefren. Those guys are in their own league...ahem, because they regularly use this 'thing'.

Yet I can say this. This 'thing' allowed me to personally sell over 2200 training courses for $495 each during a three-year period - courses that were delivered electronically. It also allowed me to sell over 80 seats to another trainer's $50K training (yes, fifty thousand dollars) using only e-mails, simple web page and phone. No direct mail, no sales seminars.

So what is it, this 'thing' that is the real KEY to consistent profits?

Allen recently called it a "cheap leads funnel". Here it is:

To make consistent profits, you need a CHEAP and PROVEN way to consistently get a ton of eyeballs in front of your offer.

If it sounds simplistic that's because it IS. Yet most people focus the majority of their time and energy on everything but this.

This is not about using a dozen different traffic strategies to drive handfuls of people at a time to your site. This is about having a system that brings you hundreds, even thousands of people at a time and inserts them into a sales funnel.

So how do you come up with a cheap and proven leads funnel for your particular market? Simple - figure out what's already working for someone else and apply the SAME fundamental components to your own business.

Look at any major product launch and they are *showing* you their leads funnel. It's right in front of you. Sure, your product and style will be your own. But it's the system and structure that make the difference.

To quote Allen in a recent post talking specifically about a cheap leads funnel:

If I can set up one of those up, I can sell millions of dollars worth of almost anything. Bad copy. good copy, great product, completely turd product - it doesn't really matter, I'll still move product. If the "System" you've set up gets you in front of enough eyeballs you're going to make money, selling some of the most ignorant products I've ever seen. I've seen this live and in living color and know it to be a fact.

Testing what "system" gets the maximum number of eyeballs comes first. If you don't get eyeballs, you may as well quit because the best copy in the world is useless.

Don't take my word for it, take his. Stop focusing so much on the technical minutiae and subtle nuances of your product, service, sales copy, etc. You can always attend to that once you're making a ton of sales.

Instead focus on setting up a cheap and proven leads funnel.

Best regards,
Ken

[flnz400]

Great post! Perfect thread to start a list of those clf's too!

The fastest way I know how to accomplish this is super long tail adwords. This may be outside of the realm you speak of just a bit, but to me, .05 + - /pv is super cheap.

-upside- instant prospects, increase in potential requires only increase in expense, time leverage

-downside- phrase research, tweaking, mistakes are NOT cheap

[Clare Moser]

Ken,

I've been thinking about this same thing after reading Allen's post. The only type of 'system' that I can think of that would get tons and tons of eyeballs would be to create a huge buzz for a product launch using the following methods...

-Create a viral campaign (word of mouth)
-JV with people with big lists
-JV with people with authority sites

I don't really think there's anything else that would generate such a huge influx of prospects unless you have a large advertising budget.

[Ken Preuss]

Originally Posted by Clare Moser

Ken,

I've been thinking about this same thing after reading Allen's post. The only type of 'system' that I can think of that would get tons and tons of eyeballs would be to create a huge buzz for a product launch using the following methods...

-Create a viral campaign (word of mouth)
-JV with people with big lists
-JV with people with authority sites

I don't really think there's anything else that would generate such a huge influx of prospects unless you have a large advertising budget.

Clare,

Good points. Consider that getting a ton of consistent leads cheaply doesn't necessarily require a dime of money.

As you say, a viral campaign is one way. But the key is to get more specific and find an existing business model that has used - better yet, is currently using viral marketing successfully.

A lot of people say to look outside of your industry/niche to find such a model to apply to your own business. I don't agree for one main reason: the customer's behavior within your own niche drives everything.

So if I were you I would be looking for a successful model within your own niche(s).

As for joint ventures - YES! In fact joint ventures are one the cheapest and most proven ways to generate leads in existence. Indeed this is what drives the success of all the major product launches and it's one of the sole reasons I was able to sell those 2200 training courses.

However the key again is to JV in such a way that correlates to the existing customer behavior in your specific niche(s). It's as simple as duplicating what's already working. Unfortunately most people want to reinvent the wheel.

Ken

[Kyle Tully]

Ken your posts are always spot-on and a good reminder of what's actually important in this business.

One mistake I see people making all the time is they simply don't think about the big picture.

Instead of modeling a proven system and then plugging a product into that system, they create a product and then try and duct-tape a business of their own design to the side of it.

[Richard Tunnah]

Hey Ken,
Good post. I agree although I haven't got a traffic system down to a tie yet that doesn't cost a reasonable amount to roll out and/or time.
I agree with JV's however I find that many major players want to see your crudentials before JV'ing with you if you are new in their market. Kind of a catch 22.

Rich

[Ken Preuss]

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

One mistake I see people making all the time is they simply don't think about the big picture.

Instead of modeling a proven system and then plugging a product into that system, they create a product and then try and duct-tape a business of their own design to the side of it.

Kyle,

It's scary how correct you are on this point. In IM or any business, understanding the big picture is far more valuable than the small details. Besides, those can be outsourced.

Originally Posted by richt1971

Hey Ken,
Good post. I agree although I haven't got a traffic system down to a tie yet that doesn't cost a reasonable amount to roll out and/or time.
I agree with JV's however I find that many major players want to see your crudentials before JV'ing with you if you are new in their market. Kind of a catch 22.

Rich

Rich,

One of the keys to JV's is that you don't even need the big players. In every niche there are different 'levels' of JV's - that's what I call them.

For example, the money I made in real estate was not by JV'ing with people who had lists of 50-100K or more.....it was by JV'ing with people who had lists of 2K, 5K, 7K, 10K, 14K, etc.

There are mannnnny people who are eager to JV solid products that are sold well, no matter what your track record. Besides, after the first JV or two you've got a track record.

Best regards,
Ken

[Richard Tunnah]

Sorry Ken I was just playing devils adovocat there. Didn't mean to distract from your useful post. But thanks for replying anyway. []

Rich

[Ken Preuss]

No problem Rich. Glad you played devil's advocate....it makes for a much more interesting discussion.

Ken

[pjs]

Originally Posted by Ken Preuss

Have you missed it? Chances are you've missed it many times and it could very well be non-existent in your business.

In fairness it isn't talked about nearly enough. However Allen mentions it in some form of at least once in every five of his posts. Have you caught it?

For me personally this 'thing' has been responsible for more sales than most people should be allowed to make in a lifetime, let alone a handful of years.

Make no mistake. I'm no Filsaime, Kern or Schefren. Those guys are in their own league...ahem, because they regularly use this 'thing'.

Yet I can say this. This 'thing' allowed me to personally sell over 2200 training courses for $495 each during a three-year period - courses that were delivered electronically. It also allowed me to sell over 80 seats to another trainer's $50K training (yes, fifty thousand dollars) using only e-mails, simple web page and phone. No direct mail, no sales seminars.

So what is it, this 'thing' that is the real KEY to consistent profits?

Allen recently called it a "cheap leads funnel". Here it is:

To make consistent profits, you need a CHEAP and PROVEN way to consistently get a ton of eyeballs in front of your offer.

If it sounds simplistic that's because it IS. Yet most people focus the majority of their time and energy on everything but this.

This is not about using a dozen different traffic strategies to drive handfuls of people at a time to your site. This is about having a system that brings you hundreds, even thousands of people at a time and inserts them into a sales funnel.

So how do you come up with a cheap and proven leads funnel for your particular market? Simple - figure out what's already working for someone else and apply the SAME fundamental components to your own business.

Look at any major product launch and they are *showing* you their leads funnel. It's right in front of you. Sure, your product and style will be your own. But it's the system and structure that make the difference.

To quote Allen in a recent post talking specifically about a cheap leads funnel:



Don't take my word for it, take his. Stop focusing so much on the technical minutiae and subtle nuances of your product, service, sales copy, etc. You can always attend to that once you're making a ton of sales.

Instead focus on setting up a cheap and proven leads funnel.

Best regards,
Ken

Ken,

What an awesome post! I find myself doing the same thing. Focusing on things that are not as important. Or say suspend a PPC campaign until I can "get X done" when I should have it running the entire time. I eventually catch myself and fix the situation, but this is a great reminder!

Peter

[lakshaybehl]

Ken... Once again a good post.

And a real round of applause for Allen.

Here's a hint: If you can integrate your list building with offline traffic generation methods, then I guess its way too simple to generate leads.

Don't ask for moer... A WSO is coming soon.

-Lakshay