Offline Cash Cow Question about Awber

[Bryan Zimmerman]

If you are setting them up on their own aweber account, what is to stop them from just doing it themselves? If they already have a website, they could very easily call their own programers and tell them what to do and really not even pay for it. You could go through everything, show them how it works and once you get it set up they could just run it on their own. Would it not be smarter to keep them as far away from aweber as you can?

Now I know someone is going to say that business owners don't want to mess with it and thats how you'll get around it, but I own a large pool enclosure screening business here in Orlando, Florida. As a business owner, as soon as I found out that I could pay only $30.00 to do it myself instead of $150.00 for someone else to do it, guess which way i'm going to go. I'll be telling my secretary to type up 1 email a week and put it in there for me.

So what would even be the reason to set them up with their own account? The $5.00 a month you'd get on affilate revenue wouldn't even compare to someone just undercutting you like that. Wouldn't it be smarter to set it up on your own aweber account and just manage all the list. They are already paying you a fee of 100-$150.00 per month and if you have 10 businesses paying that your more than covering your overhead most likely with just one account.

Curious to see what some of the people who have been doing this a while have to say.

[Shaun OReilly]

I've been offering autoresponder services to clients for
years and the situation you've mentioned has never
happened to me.

Remember that your clients are paying you for more
than just the technology that an autoresponder offers.

What they are really paying for is your SKILL in being
able to create autoresponders that move their prospects
and customers to take measurable actions.

Most business owners don't have the desire or the skill
on how to use autoresponders effectively - that's what
they're paying you for.

Also, I recommend NEVER putting all client lists under
one AWeber account. Mainly because if one list get's
excessive complaints it could put all of your client
lists at risk of being nuked.

Therefore, I create a fresh new AWeber account for
each and every client.

Dedicated to your success,

*Shaun O'Reilly

[Bryan Zimmerman]

Thanks Shaun, I understand what your saying and it makes sense, i'm just a little biased as to what I would do. Maybe because I know a little more about IM then a local buisness owner and already implemented it on my own business website.

So if you are setting each one up under their own account, who's paying the bill? Do you pay the bill for them each month or do you have the bill sent to them and let them pay for it?

Would still like to hear others experiances with this.

[Shaun OReilly]

Originally Posted by Bryan Zimmerman

So if you are setting each one up under their own account, who's paying the bill? Do you pay the bill for them each month or do you have the bill sent to them and let them pay for it?

When I first started doing this years ago I used to simply
send the client a link to go and sign-up for an autoresponder
account themselves.

However, this made it less of a hands-off operation for
them (which is what most offline business owners want).

Then I moved onto getting their card details and signing
them up for their own account. However, this led to
hassles down the line if their card expired or was declined.

Therefore, my preferred method now is to sign them up
for a separate autoresponder account using my own
card details. Then I simply absorb this minor cost but
it's accounted for in the monthly maintenance fee.

I find that this is a better way to go to make it hassle
free for myself and my clients.

Dedicated to your success,

*Shaun O'Reilly

[AndrewCavanagh]

Originally Posted by Bryan Zimmerman

If you are setting them up on their own aweber account, what is to stop them from just doing it themselves? If they already have a website, they could very easily call their own programers and tell them what to do and really not even pay for it.

If you are taking the time to get to know a business owner, what they want from their business and customizing solutions this really doesn't happen for a few reasons:

# 1: They usually don't have anyone they can call. The idea that small business owners have their own programmer on call is ludicrous.

The idea that they would have a programmer on call who would actually understand how to set up and use an autoresponder effectively is also crazy...if that was the case why don't they have an autoresponder set up already?

The reality is if they have a website they've probably been sold something that does very little as far as sales are concerned and was created by a web designer who knows very little about marketing.


# 2: If you establish the relationship the right way YOU'RE the go to guy with the customized solution for them.

They won't be going elsewhere or trying to go elsewhere.

Even if they do talk to someone else about it they'll quickly realize you're the only person who's really taken the time to get to know them and what they want and who understands how to implement your customized solution.

The reality is they couldn't explain to someone else how to do what you suggest anyway...they're not experts.

They would struggle even to remember the name email autoresponder.


If this kind of thing was going to happen then I think it would have happened to a consultant by now.

I've taught thousands of people in the offline business model.

It's never happened to me and I've never heard of it happening to one of my students.

Put simply...you're worrying about something that has a snowballs chance in hell of happenning.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[Bryan Zimmerman]

Thanks Andrew, thats what I wanted to know as far as how often people have run into that. Makes sense, like I said maybe I was just biased and doing a little over thinking just because I understand the whole process as far as marketing to lists and have implemented it on my own buisness as well.

thanks for the detailed answer!

[dmderoeck]

That's funny, I was thinking the exact thing as Bryan. I'm thinking very seriously of getting offline marketing and it seemed odd that something as simple couldn't be done in-house.

Both Andrew and Shaun hit the nail on the head though. Most business owners don't have the support or inclination to get these things done themselves.

[Charles Washington]

How do you overcome the Constant Contact objection? They are advertising like crazy in my area!

[Bryan Zimmerman]

Originally Posted by shkad14

How do you overcome the Constant Contact objection? They are advertising like crazy in my area!

Not sure I understand what you mean by this.

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by shkad14

How do you overcome the Constant Contact objection? They are advertising like crazy in my area!

Shkad, I posted an answer in the thread you started on this subject...

If you are doing things the right way, it should never come up as an objection. I just finished skimming their site, and they should not be a competitor.

For those who don't know, ConstantContact.com is an email marketing service similar to Aweber or GetResponse. Here in the SE USA, they are flooding local TV and radio stations with ads aimed at small business owners.

The difference between what you should be offering clients, and what CC actually offers on their website, is the difference between a really good auto detailer and a bucket, sponge and wax from Kmart. Both will get your car clean, but one takes a lot more time and elbow grease.

[Mark Riddle]

I guess in theory someone could say they can do this themselves, That has NOT been my experience either.

Selling pools and spas isn't about fiberglass and pumps

Sure someone could ask you why hire you to put in a pool after all the can buy liners online, rent a backhoe, buy a kit from American pool and do it them selves.

One of the other keys here, is that person wouldn't be coming into YOUR store.

That's where the screening process comes in, before you even talk about what you can do for them with marketing.

IF the owner talks about how he built his own shelves and makes his own displays and finds great bargains for everything they do, you thank them for their time and move on.

In base ball, you never throw a pitch until there is a batter in the box.

If the person is a do it all on my own person, they may be a batter, but they haven't made it to the batters box.
(I'm not really a sports person but its a good illustration)

Mark

[tonyscott]

I dream of finding an offline client who thinks that they understand what's involved to promote their business online. If any of them have really tried to do it, they probably only rank well for their own business name and maybe a few of the area specific niche keywords.

Find someone who's been trying to rank for a broad (read big traffic) niche keyword and if YOU have a clue about seo, you have a client for life.

Same goes for autoresponders, but in my limited experience so far, most business owners don't grasp the real potential of a website, much less list building.

The whole offline thing has legs, but from a practical point of view, you're going to have to sell a story, not an autoresponder.

A message to the universe. Please send me potential clients who have a clue.

cheers

Tony

[Chris Endres]

I just wanted to say like Shaun, although I do not have the years of experience he and Andrew do, I still have not seen the objection yet in my area.

What I have found is that the business owners don't even hardly trust the webmasters because of pretty much a total lack of results. The farther you go up the size scale in business the results start to vary widely, but still no one here is screaming satisfaction.

The people I have run into just don't want to add another job to the ones they already have in running their business. They want to buy a solution that actually works.

[exmark05@yahoo.com]

Hello, does anyone have any information on how to set of a email capture page on someone's website,, A link or info? I have been looking all over but i can't seem to find it! If you would email me at Exmark05 at yahoo dot com it would be greatly appreciated, willing to pay

[JRG]

Originally Posted by exmark05@yahoo.com

Hello, does anyone have any information on how to set of a email capture page on someone's website,, A link or info? I have been looking all over but i can't seem to find it! If you would email me at Exmark05 at yahoo dot com it would be greatly appreciated, willing to pay

Aweber has all you need. You set up a list and then it gives you the code for the capture box. I like the lightbox method it looks really nice and does not change the look of the page.

[BlueStar]

Originally Posted by Bryan Zimmerman

If you are setting them up on their own aweber account, what is to stop them from just doing it themselves? If they already have a website, they could very easily call their own programers and tell them what to do and really not even pay for it. You could go through everything, show them how it works and once you get it set up they could just run it on their own. Would it not be smarter to keep them as far away from aweber as you can?

Now I know someone is going to say that business owners don't want to mess with it and thats how you'll get around it, but I own a large pool enclosure screening business here in Orlando, Florida. As a business owner, as soon as I found out that I could pay only $30.00 to do it myself instead of $150.00 for someone else to do it, guess which way i'm going to go. I'll be telling my secretary to type up 1 email a week and put it in there for me.

So what would even be the reason to set them up with their own account? The $5.00 a month you'd get on affilate revenue wouldn't even compare to someone just undercutting you like that. Wouldn't it be smarter to set it up on your own aweber account and just manage all the list. They are already paying you a fee of 100-$150.00 per month and if you have 10 businesses paying that your more than covering your overhead most likely with just one account.

Curious to see what some of the people who have been doing this a while have to say.

I'll make this real simple.

Because YOUR clients are not you.

Why don't Biz owners do their site, blog, direct mail work, etc...

Because they don't know how, nor do they want to do it.

Besides that, you obviously have a lot to learn about Offline marketing. I've been doing this for over 25 years and biz owners don't have a clue about marketing.

You are over analyzing this, STOP.

In addition, do you know how many people here on WF really know how to use an AR properly? I'll guess less than 1%. That's right 1%. And were supposes to be the experts, right?

Let me explain:

• Does your client know how to Write Subject lines?
• Does your client have over 200 Templates for email copy like I do?
• Does your client know how to use his emails to it's maximum potential?
• Does your client know the 3 best days of the week to send an email?
• Does your client know how often to sequence his emails?
• Does your client know what links to include in his Signature?

Man, I can go on and on..............

Your clients know SQUAT!

Not only do I charge big bucks for a setup fee, monthly maint fees, etc... but if my client wants to stop using my services I allow them to buy back their AWeber account for big money. I own the rights, not them.

I've charged as much as $10,000 to get their account back along with my 200 templates and subject lines.