The one thing needed to be successful online (and offline)!

10 replies
Hey Warriors,

I have been running a pretty successful business for the last 3 years and wanted to share what I've learned during that time. Actually, I wanted to give you the one thing that had the most impact and allowed me to make more revenue than anything else. All of the bigger names in this forum know how to do this, and it's the main reason why they are able to consistently make revenue over and over and over again.

Now, before I tell you the secret... I want to tell you what it is not:

It is not passion. Passion for what you do is great, but you won't make a dime if you able to translate that passion into a product or service.

It is not creating a product or service. It doesn't matter how many things you make or promote if nobody is willing to buy them.

It is not SEO. I have a number of niche sites and while they do make me money, they also fluctuate and my success with them is dependent on search engine algorithms.

It is not having a big email list. Tons of people on this forum say that the money is in the list. Yes, there is money in the list, but with the one thing I can make more money from 1 person than I can with a 10K list in most cases (big lists are awesome though).

Okay enough lead in... want to know the secret?

Learn how to sell!

I don't see this talked about too much on the forums - and when it is, it's usually in relation to copywriting. However, there is so much more to selling than just copy. Selling is a mindset that works with every product or service whether they are online or offline.

For example, I sell a lot of my premium Wordpress plugins simply by answering customer support questions a certain way that come from free plugins that I have. I also routinely sell web development services that range from 5K - 15K when my competitors charge in the hundreds (*shudder*).

So... how do you learn how to sell?

There are a ton of resources out there, but let me share some quick tips.

1. Sell something that you believe in - If you are in business just to make money and not to benefit people, you will lose 95% of the time. If you are selling a product or service (even if it isn't your own) make sure that you truly believe in the product and that it is something that you would tell a family member to buy.

2. Realize that selling isn't dirty - This follows from #1. There is nothing wrong with sales. In fact, if you are convincing someone to buy a product that will improve their quality of life, that's a noble thing! Get in the mindset that you are helping people.

3. People only buy for 2 reasons - No matter what you are trying to sell, all of your prospects will buy for one of two reasons. The first reason is for pleasure (e.g. "Buy this trip to Hawaii now and enjoy a relaxing week). The second is to relieve a pain (e.g. "Tired of spending 60 hours a week trying to get your business of the ground? Angry that you can't support your family? Try this push-button automatic method to success!"). People buy for no other reason.

4. Prospects buy because of pain more than pleasure - Why is the insurance industry booming? Why do online backup services do well? Because people don't want to feel pain and will buy to relieve that pain far more than they will for pleasure. If you don't believe me why aren't you in Maui right now?

5. Ask painful questions - The more painful questions that you ask, the more your prospect will see that they have a big problem that only your product can solve. With all of your products or services, have 3 -5 earth shatteringly painful questions that you can ask to make then need what you are selling (e.g. "How much revenue do you think you lost last year because you didn't have a membership site that upsells every customer automatically?")

6. Never give anything away for free - When you give things away for free there is no value exchange and it's human nature to devalue the person giving away the free product or service. What you make is too good to give away for free. Now, does that mean you shouldn't give away a free ebook in exchange for emails? No, there is still a value exchange when someone give you the permission to contact them.

7. Never discount without value exchanges - I have prospects asking me to lower my prices all the time - and the answer is no! Never lower your price without something in return. Think about it, if you are working with a vendor and they lower their price because of your haggling - they have effectively told you that their product isn't worth the original cost and that they are just trying to gouge you. If you are going to discount anything always ask for something in return (guaranteed reviews, testimonials, a service from them, 3 referrals to other business owners, etc). Aside from avoiding the chance of devaluing yourself, it makes them want to deal with your more because by saying no you become the hot girl at school. (note: #4 and #7 alone allow me to charge more than 6x my offline competition and 2x my online competition).

8. Build relationships - When all things are equal, people want to do business with people that they like. When things are unequal, people still do business with people they like. The reason why big lists aren't what you need to succeed is because if nobody trusts you on that list, nobody is going to buy from you. Teach them to trust you by finding out their pains and pleasures and by listening to them - even through your autoresponders.

Anyway, long post short - learn to sell and you will be successful. Find your prospect and convince them as to why they need what you have to offer.


Now, a lot of smarter Warriors can chime in and offer more valuable tips .
#how to sell #needed #offline #online #sales #sales online #selling #successful #thing
  • Profile picture of the author jamesrich1
    I say learn how to market with a good funnel system in place. The most successful marketers use funnels to sell. They just drive targeted traffic. Building a funnel is the most complex process to do online. I would not recommend building your own until you are highly successful using a great funnel built by a successful marketer/s.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nate Maurice
    The funnel is def important..so is knowing how to sell. I think it is important to understand the general collective mentality of your target audience/consumer...I dont mind giving people something for free if it can get them into my sales funnel
    Signature

    Nate Maurice - Coach, Internet Instructor :)

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  • Profile picture of the author dannn1
    Believing in what you sell is essential if you want to build a sustainable business of any kind. If what you are offering genuinely helps customers in some way, then you really can't go wrong in business.

    Coming to the realization that selling is not a bad or unethical thing is also important. If you are confident that what you are offering will help people, then selling the product that accomplishes this is the total opposite of being unethical.

    People who sell useless products and are solely in the game to make money at the expense of others are the ones who are unethical. Don't be like them.
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  • Profile picture of the author elexmedia
    1. Sell something that you believe in
    also...
    1a. Sell something that people need

    A lot of people sell something that they can provide, not something that people need.

    Many people have a mindset like this...
    I have a printer, I should enter into printing business. But, he don't know if there's a printing demand from the market.

    The better mindset is...
    My neighbors need to print. Aha! I should start a printing business.
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  • This is a good list, but I would disagree with the statement, "Never give anything away for free." Giving things away can be a great way to get someone's attention. When Baskin Robbins has their free scoop day, I don't think their ice cream should cost any less when I go back to buy it. I think the idea that someone devalues your products and business because you give something away is a fallacy. If that were the case, then giving something away for an email address would have the same psychological effect on your customers because they don't value there email address like you do. Yes, they are protective of it, but if you break the ice, they will give it to you. Try doing that with their money and see how far it gets you.

    The problem you can see with giving something away is giving it away to the wrong audience. If it doesn't reach the audience that needs your product, then it may be a waste.
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    • Profile picture of the author Karson
      Good ole copywriting or persuasive writing in general works.

      I mean we are working on a digital medium so we have 3 ways to reach people. Writing, Video and Images. Writing coupled with images is probably the most common.

      Gotta know how to use writing and images to appeal to people in a persuasive fashion. Not as easy as one would think!
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  • Profile picture of the author Metrics
    great post!
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    • Profile picture of the author dannyv
      What are some of the best ways to sell your products? It's getting harder and harder with the increased competition, and it looks like everyone's got the same shtick nowadays. What are some proven ways to stand out?
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  • Profile picture of the author williamk
    Banned
    Consistency and devotion is the most important thing in IM. Also you need preservance so that you can go through the initial failures.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mary Davis
    I really like your post. The one thing I would add, however, is FOCUS. It's easy to get distracted and run around in many directions without accomplishing much.

    Thanks for sharing your tips and insight!
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