Marc Rodill

Y'oh, wass up? Marc here.

This is a make money forum, am I right? And there's a lot of people who are clueless as to how to actually do it? Well I'm going to teach you the business model I am going to use, so if you want to know what I know, read more. Also, just so all the cards are on the table, a lot if this isn't MY ideas. It's a combination of my own opinion, and of studying who I think are the "best."

Blunt Tip: If you want to post about how this is not the only way to make money online... then you are 100% right. Please do not waste your valuable time and energy, I already know that what you say is true. This is my just MY view on the best way to do it, cool?

Intro: A Shout-Out to Squeeze Pages

OK - there's been a "big talk" about squeeze pages lately at the forum. On one hand, some people recommend it as the best business model out there, and on the other hand there's others telling you NOT to do it if you don't know what you're doing.

(But still say it works.)

Here's my take:

My favorite business model involves using squeeze pages, plain and simple. Squeeze pages are for the conversion side of your business, but we'll discuss that in a moment.

OK - now that that's out of the way, let's explain the "business model" itself. Remember, if you want to make any sort of lasting income from the internet, you need these things. I did not invent these things either, they are the result of Eben Pagan's ideas. Remember the quote:

"It's not get rich quick... it's get rich forever." I don't know who said it, but it's true.

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Here are the 4 components of the profit-pulling business model:

1. Customers - 40% of your time
2. Conversion - 20%
3. Content - 10%
4. Time Management - 30%

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If you want to start making money this month, you set up a schedule to do these things. And yes, you must have already done your market research first. Yes, you must have already looked to see what products are in demand, and to see what people are buying.

But this post is not about market research. It's about what to do once you know which niche you are going to enter. If you need learn market research, then there are plenty of resources available to you right here on this forum.

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So let's break it down:

|=========[ - BUSINESS MODEL - ]=========|

I. Customers:
This is all about getting TARGETED traffic, or leads, to your business. Without this (people actually seeing your offers) you will not make money. Period. If the traffic is not TARGETED (ie. people who are already PROBABLY interested in what you have to offer BEFORE they visit your site) then by and large, you will not sell as much by a huge difference.

I'm gonna throw this out there (I like shooting myself in the foot): I am not very good at this one. You can drive traffic with articles, do SEO, or play the PPC game. I only know how to write and submit articles really well, and even then it's a grind to do it. The good thing is that you won't have to do it for very long. I am still working on the rest, and have lost my shirt a couple times.

II. Conversion
This is all about turning your traffic... leads... prospects... "friends"... people who are going to put money in your pocket (whatever it is that you want to fricken' call them)... into MONEY.

It's about things like copywriting, pricing, talking to them in a way that actually makes them want to listen to you, getting them to actually READ your offer, making them want to take their money out, etc. Quite simply, email marketing is one of the best ways to connect with your prospects, and will always increase conversion rates when you do it the right way. But more about that later.

III. Content
This is all about WHAT you have to offer to your prospects. Your products, affiliate products, free valuable reports, or free valuable content. It's also about creating content to market yourself. After you've done your research, you then give them what they want.

About Value: When I say give your prospects value, it's all about giving them what they want, not what you think they need. Find out the questions they are asking about their problems, and then find the answers to their problems. You give that to them. It's what they perceive as valuable, and will help you connect with your prospects.

IV. Time Management
This is all about how you manage your time. It's the way you get things done. Find ways to manage your time better, and you'll become successful sooner. It's also about how you take care of yourself... you could be amazed at how much exercise, sleeping enough and eating right can improve your productivity.

Schedule time to work on your conversion process... better headlines, more follow-up emails giving away free tips and tricks, and sending offers. On the other hand, if your tweaking your and you copy don't finish it in the time allotted, get on with your most important task for the day.

|=========[ - END BUSINESS MODEL - ]=========|

That's a killer business model.

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Problem area: Not doing what you are supposed to.

A lot of people get stuck continually tweaking their sales message and copy (ie. on their squeeze page)... when they should be getting more people to their offer instead (ie. by writing articles). You can't make more money if you don't have more people seeing your offers. Plain and simple.

Eben also talked about managing the people who work for you. I'm just going to say that I am not very good at managing MYSELF (yet), and leave it at that. See? I told you I still have a lot of work to do

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So spend most of your time managing your time more wisely and getting more people to your website.

Spend less of your time making sure your content and sales copy is perfect.

(THESE LAST TWO THINGS EVOLVE AND GET BETTER OVER TIME IF YOU CONSISTENTLY APPLY THE FIRST TWO PRINCIPLES).

So the basic formula is:

Traffic --> Conversion --> Trust --> Conversion

Send traffic to your squeeze page, get them on your list, get them to know, like and trust you by the content you provide, and then send them related offers that you recommend. Obviously, if you are JUST starting out, the very first thing you need to do is build the squeeze page.

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Building a List the Right Way:

Keep in mind that the MAIN GOAL of your emails to your prospects is NOT to sell them something. It's to sell them on YOU.

Fact: people like to buy from people, and people buy from the people that they like. If they don't like you they won't read your emails as much, and they'll be less likely to buy what you are offering. And yes, to break down their objections (or reasons) for not buying... you need to build trust.

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It's all about baby steps (courtesy of Frank Kern):

Step 1: Get them on your list.
Step 2: Get them to actually READ your emails
Step 3: Get them to CLICK links in your emails
Step 4: Get them to actually READ your sales page

This is why you (supposedly) "don't build a list" if you are a newbie... as one post here on the forum recommends. Because it's a lot of work to do, and you do NOT continually send offers to your list.

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Let's break down the steps (out of order):

II. To get them to READ your emails, they have to WANT to (you can't force them). You do this by giving them good content in your emails, and free cool stuff that might interest them (content filled reports).

I. Giving away something to make them like you is the SAME as giving away something to get them on your list.

III. To get them to click links in your emails... you guess it! You put good content on the website that might interest them. Killer articles you've written, neat videos, success tips. This way, when the time comes to actually send them to your offer so you can make some money, they will check it out (if you recommend quality stuff and give away quality stuff).

Plus, it doesn't even have to be your content you're giving them in your links.

IV. Keep in mind that the the whole point of the content you're giving them is supposed to make them WANT to learn and KNOW more about what you have to offer. If everything you give them convinces them that (1.) you know what you are talking about and (2.) can probably help them... they will actually read your offer (or if you're really good, skip the sales page entirely and go straight to the order link).

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OK - I'm done. I just wanted to give you guys something to chew on if you want to build a profitable list and long-term asset. Hope that did the trick, and I'll let you know when I do it myself. :-P

Marc Rodill, Cape Coral, Florida

"Smoke cigarettes until the day she died."
www.MarcRodill.com

LMC

Been building squeeze pages for five years...

I love it.

What I love the most, is once you get traffic you can see that little tweaks, even as little as changing font color, can increase conversions by 2 or 3%, and when receiving 1,000's of uniques, this makes a difference.

Good Post.

Marc Rodill

Thanks. Unfortunately I didn't spend only 10% of my time writing it. Haha... whatever.

Marc Rodill, Cape Coral, Florida

"Smoke cigarettes until the day she died."
www.MarcRodill.com

NyceGuy

Wow. Awesome post.

This post is Gold. But one thing that really burns me is that why didn't people comment on it?
Don't get me wrong but a lot of posts that give so much contribution like this ALWAYS gets an applause in form of multiple positive replies and such.

I think a lot more people will actually read and benefit more if you made such posts shorter. I mean there are a lot of things you could have cut off without changing the points you wanted to make.

Most Internet Marketers have gone through heck and back. This article is such an interesting one -- but my opinion is that most people saw how long it is and just clicked the back arrow to check out another post, BUT little did they know what a post they just left.