No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you're still way ahead of anyone who isn't trying.
Very few marketers even make the effort of doing Thank You cards. Should this be part of your everyday routine? Are there tasks that are a "better" use of your time?
Maybe. But, what if, no matter what niche you're in, you just singled out 4 random customers today and just jotted down 4 quick Thank You's? It would take just a few minutes out of your day but put you way ahead of the curve.
You just want to thank your customers for buying from you. There's no "sell", no discount and no hustle. You are just thanking them for their business. They are part of your success. Here are your tools for "Thank You" productivity...
Thank-You Tool #1: WPKunaki
On Robert and Lance's website, MembershipCube.com, as well as their other membership sites, they use a plug-in called WPKunaki, which is an address collector.
When someone joins their membership site, the plug-in pops up and asks for their mailing address and runs it through the address validator. Lance would be really crazy not to be collecting addresses.
It's nice to have it on hand. He can use it for Thank You cards, he can use it to send them webinar or DVD copies as just a quick bonus. He can also use it for geographics to target customers later for Facebook ads.
Thank-You Tool #2: Phone Calls
Sometimes Lance will even call them on the phone.
If someone just bought a $7 e-book from you, they're not expecting anything at all, not even an auto-responder-generated email. So, if you make that call, you're way ahead of anyone else.
If someone bought from you and you contact them the same day, they are going to just be happy and not have any complaints.
Thank-You Tool #3: Send Out Cards
This is a service that will allow you to send traditional cards to your customers. These are NOT electronic cards. They are "paper" cards like you would get at the store so they are very personal, not "mass e-mailed" and they won't go to your customer's spam folder or look like another sales push.
There are also gift options within the Send Out Cards system that you can send to your customer as well.
To learn more about how Send Out Cards can help you personalize your relationships with your customers, go to DoubleAgentCards.com.
Thank-You Tool #4: Google Drive
If you have a Gmail account, you also have a drive account. If you don't already have one, go get one. It's free.
You can create any doc and have it be in your Google Drive, where you can now access it from anywhere.
A good idea here is to keep a journal of different contacts/activities that have with your customers. Here is where you can keep a journal of the Thank You cards that you send out.
"Cheesy" Marketing
You want to stay away from cheesy marketing. Many marketers tell you to look up today's holiday and give your customers a "special discount" for that day (example: a "Boxing Day" discount) or to look up your customers' birthdays market to them on their birthdays.
It sounds like a good idea but all these marketers who teach this have never personally marketed to me on in this way. They've really just posted an occasional sale here and there when they're probably running low in their bank account.
It makes more sense to just sell what you sell and be consistent. You don't have to have sales all the time if you're thanking your customers for being there.
15% won't always buy high-ticket items but they will probably buy things where they can do a payment plan.
Then, your last 80% will probably not buy anything products/services over $20.
If that disappoints you, you can build a bigger list OR you can take better care of your list.
Even if your list is not that big you can still make sales. If you wanted to make $50K/month, would you rather have 100 subscribers and 50 sales of $100 each, regardless of the type of products? Or would you rather have 10,000 subscribers that only purchased $5 items. Robert has asked this of several of his customers and overwhelmingly people would rather work with the first option.
It's not necessarily about getting floods of people but about building a decent size list and really adding value in cultivating relationships with those who want to buy the higher-level products. It doesn't take much to:
Send them Thank You cards (Vistaprint.com for address labels and postcards)
Give them a phone call
Avoid the 3-inch DVD Syndrome
There are small writeable CD's. When Robert was first starting out, he saw these and thought, "Hey, cool I can fit this mini CD into a normal sized envelope. I can record something and send it out and I am going to make so much money."
If no one cares or no one plays it and it doesn't lead to anything it's not going to get you anywhere. In other words, something has to bring the customer back. It has to be intensely valuable and/or make the customer feel very valued.
Some Fun and Creative Marketing Ideas from Robert
One time for an event he took out Facebook ads that were so narrowed and targeted that the ad was basically just showing down to the 1 person he had picked out in Facebook.
For the one person he wanted to see it, he would put their name in the ad and their picture. He did successfully sell seats to seminars just based off this ad.
Another time, he went to Amazon and bought a huge box of microwave popcorn. He left the individual packages all sealed up in plastic and sent 100 of them out with copies of a quick letter. The letter basically said, "Here's some popcorn to watch this movie" and the URL in the letter went to an online "movie" that was pitching a live event. He spent $200 or $300 altogether on this marketing and sold seats to his event this way. It was a good return on investment.
An idea he's pursuing now is to send out copies of his Double Agent Marketing book to his customers along with a highlighter and a letter that says something along the lines of "this book has so much valuable information you'll need an extra highlighter."
Closing Thoughts
Don't do this to prospects or to people you plan to joint venture or network with. Do it low tech. once you start getting fancy it really kind of backfires.
These "Thank You" and marketing ideas are for your current customers, your best buyers and those you want to come back. Do it "low tech." Once you start trying to get "fancy", it really looks cheesy and can backfire. You just want to say Thank You and do something fun for them.
You can always reach Robert at his email via robert@robertplank.com. He would love to hear from you about your business and what marketing you're doing that is working successfully, and is happy to hear your questions. He may even feature your question on the show!
There's a problem with people wanting to take shortcuts to get to that $10K per month level.
We want to get you out of that way of thinking. You have to do 3rd grade before you go to college. If you jump right in without the warm-up, you stand the chance of the whole venture falling in on itself.
You want to do this the RIGHT way.
A lot of people in internet marketing get to that number but without sufficient preparation, they fall into the trap of having to put a lot of money back into the business or maybe have to hire a lot of employees, so when it comes down to it, they're actually "netting" quite a bit less than the $10K per month.
Four Daily Tasks
We've covered the Four Daily Tasks principle before. To recap, it means to take 4 tasks EVERY DAY that you can complete. 3 of them are your longer tasks, your half hour to 40 minute tasks. Then, you complete a "gimme" task that take just a few minutes.
Being able to finish FOUR THINGS EVERY DAY is very purposeful and motivating.
Why "tasks" and NOT "time"? It's not a matter of how many hours you put in per week. That's an employee way of thinking, i.e. "If I make $10 an hour and I put in 40 hrs. this week, I've made $400."
You're not an employee. You're a one man show, a business owner. For you to be successful, it's about hitting milestones.
Your four tasks need to be things that are actually able to be completed that will put you in the position of making money.
Changing your Twitter background doesn't do that. If you're making a membership site, and you've only made 10% of it, that's not complete. If you register a domain name for your site that is a complete task and puts you on the path. If you have set up your membership site that someone can see is complete with a PayPal button, THAT is a complete step.
Attitude Adjustments
When it comes to mindset, one of the most powerful things Robert ever learned was it's either inside of you or outside of you.
If something is not working for you, only one of two things needs to happen: you either change the way you think about it or you change what you're doing.
80% of your problems are in the way you think about them. If your business is not succeeding and you're walking around complaining that "life isn't fair", it's time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something different. If you're buying thousands of dollars of products but you're business still isn't up and running or successful, these 2 things need to happen:
Finish one of the courses that you keep buying. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and start implementing something.
The problem with your beliefs is that your beliefs are set in stone first. Then, you filter the information and facts that you find through that belief system in a way that lets you reinforce those beliefs. A lot of this is subconscious.
If your personal belief is that making money online doesn't work then everything you read or take in that says the opposite, you will ignore it or think it's fake.
What's really scary about this is it turns into an echo chamber. You're going to believe that people who think and talk like you are smarter than everyone else, because you can relate to them better. The problem is that if you're grumpy and you make friends with 5 other grumpies, you reinforce each other's beliefs and drag each other down.
"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." -- Henry Ford
We need to model. We need to look at what it is that we want. We need to find who has it. Then, we need to emulate what they are doing to get there.
Steps On The Path To $10K Per Month
Phase 1: Freelancing. This is your quick way to get from $1k to $2k per month.
Fiverr (Fiverr.com)- a website where you can sell any service that you are skilled at. It doesn't have to be an advanced skill. It can be anything from transcription to voiceovers to converting documents to testing iOS apps. It sounds like you'd have to make a crazy amount of sales at $5 each to get anywhere, but the secret is in the up-sells. Additionally, although it doesn't sound like much, it may work out to be $7 or $8 per hour of work in income, you've now saved the time from having to spend countless hours looking for a job, you can work from home avoiding gas and parking costs, etc.
Uber (Uber.com) – this is like being a private taxi service. This works particularly well if you're in a larger-scale city and can work peak times, like weekends and nights. It is possible to make $1000 or more per week doing this if you can meet those 2 aspects.
Airbnb (AirBNB.com) – a property rental service. You can rent out a shared room, a private room or an entire home. Like Fiverr, there is a public profile rating system so you can see other reviews and know who is trustworthy and who is not.
Ebay and Craigslist (Ebay.com and Craigslist.net) If you're using it and have no plans of using it in the future, sell it!
FBA-Fulfillment by Amazon. This is where you find items that are low-priced and ship them into Amazon and make a profit on the difference between what it's sold for and what you purchased it for.
There's a little more advanced information to this and you can find out all the different ways to use and profit from FBA at Robert's program, www.dropshipceo.com.
Phase 2: Information Products. This is where you can make about $2K to $5K per month.
At some point, you're going to cap out on freelancing opportunities and just not be able to get over that $1K-$2K mark due to time constraints, etc. This is your next step.
First, you want to find a niche. Go to Clickbank.com and check out their "Marketplace." These are all the subjects and topics that people are looking for answers to. These are their "pain points"-the issues that they have where they are willing to pay for products that can help solve them.
Then, you can go to Robert's site, IncomeMachine.com, where you can find out how to take advantage of that niche, how to build a product with video and/or e-books, how to optimize putting together a program for people to purchase.
Once you get on the way with selling your product, you are building a "list", i.e. people who are purchasing your product that you can market to in the future.
As you build up that list, you can then joint venture with other peers in your niche (or a very similar niche) to piggyback on each other in an affiliate-type structure, where each of you benefits from the sale of either one of your products and you're both building lists.
You can also set up podcasts or webinars at this point, where you interview each other, guest blog, etc. This grows and grows.
When you're putting together information products for sale, it's best to go from "idea to implementation" within 3 to 7 days.
Some of what you turn out will be great and some of it may turn out to be duds.
It makes no sense to spend a year or two trying to get it perfect. Just get it out there and your customers' responses will tell you what you're doing right and wrong.
The ones that turn out successful, you can then spend more time revising and improving those or capitalizing on them. Let the duds go. They were just experiments.
As your information product business grows, you can let go of the more time-consuming and less-paying things you were doing to get by, you can step renting your room, etc.
Phase 3: Passive Income. This is where you're getting to that magical $10K per month.
This is the dream that you want to achieve. You need to build a membership site where people are paying to keep engaged with your program in one fashion or another.
Robert's MembershipCube.com will walk you through all the steps to set up a successful membership site.
For example, one of Robert's clients/students, Dr. Charles runs a directory. There's a certain procedure he teaches other doctors. When the doctors buy and complete his training, they get added to the nationwide directory so local people interested in that service can find them. These doctors are paying Dr. Charles monthly to stay in that directory. If they stop paying, they are deleted.
Ask yourself, what sort of service related to your niche would people be willing to pay for month after month? Do you have something where you could also provide a directory that people can pay to join?
Robert also has membership sites that people pay to have access to, such as www.podcastcrusher.com and www.makeaproduct.com. People want to learn how to do podcasting and create e-books because these are items that you can sell that will generate leads. What skill do you have that you can teach people that will provide them with real value?
Coaching
Once you've developed your information product in Phase 2 and a membership site in Phase 3, your next step to that $10K per month passive income can be coaching.
You've developed your DVD on guitar playing in easy steps in Phase 2, then you created a membership site in Phase 3, where you show monthly how to learn in just 1 day all the popular radio hits and started a directory for local guitar teachers.
The next step would be coaching. For a certain $ amount per hour (say $200 per hour), you will get on Skype with your client and walk them through any difficulties they are having or help them with starting their own local guitar teaching business.
Now, you've gotten to a level where you wake up in the morning and have an entire leads list that you can email with future products and services. You're pretty advanced at this point and getting ABOVE that $10K is going to seem a lot easier than it was GETTING to it.
P.S. 5 hours per week to $10K....where'd that come from? Your 5 hours per week is your 4 daily tasks. Spend an hour or less every day on the path to making money. It's fun, things move a lot of faster, and it keeps you motivated!
The Product: This is a solution to a problem. Also called an "information product" The Offer: Is the whole package grouped/stacked in a way that's really "sexy"
Let's Break Down Information Products
Here's a little exercise for you:
Go to ClickBank.com. At the top there is a tab that says "Marketplace." Click on the magnifying glass. It shows top offers on this site. These are real things that people are looking for-i.e., infertility cures, how to play piano, etc. Since people are looking for them, you know now that these are subjects that people are willing to pay for if you provide an "information product" that will help them fix it.
An Information Product can be an E-book, a video, or a PDF file. It just needs to be digital.
An Information Product is a step-by-step repeatable solution to a problem many people have.
Let's Break Down Offers
An offer is how you "package" the Information Product.
Most solutions involve combining 2-3 things, if not more, so those become your "offers."
This is the "extra stuff" that people will find exciting and desirable.
For example, if your Information Product is an E-Book on "How to Play Piano", your "extras" could be that you're going to teach them how to read sheet music or you're going to teach them how to play the most popular 5-10 songs right off the bat. You could include a monthly video meetup (via Skype or Google Hangout) to talk about what they're learning.
Now, they're not getting "just a book." Anyone can go buy a book and they probably already have and didn't find the answers they were seeking. You are here to take it to the next level and give to them what other's didn't.
What Do You Need To Sell Effective Offers? Good Copy!
Here are Robert's "Geeky Copywriting Terms"...
Product-see above.
Features-what it is. In this example, it is an "extra" on how to read sheet music.
Benefits-what you can do with it once you learn it. Once you learn how to read sheet music, you can literally read limitless songs. The benefit is WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT. What people are REALLY looking for is what THEY can get out of your training.
The Hook-what the offer hinges on. This is where you boil down your offer to the coolest thing you have included and inform about it in a short, concise sentence. This is what most of your marketing and your follow up emails and your sales copy is going to hinge on. Most people are going to be sold on the one thing because it's the coolest thing you have going on.
Let's put ourselves in the mind of your prospect . Someone just wants to play the piano. They want the shortcut. Your "Hook" would be: PLAY GUITAR TODAY.
That's an easy way to find a hook-take something that people expect to take months or years to learn and show them how to do it in a REALLY short time.
On his IncomeMachine.com, he teaches the 8 things you need in under 3 days. Shows people how to stop spinning your wheels and get something completed.
The formula is: How to get something big in value for little in money in a short amount of time without a lot of unnecessary stuff and fluff.
The Magic Wand-what would you add into this package if you could wave a magic wand, if anything was possible? It doesn't have to be practical. Think big and open up that creativity.
A Short Little Break for Some Quick Thoughts from Robert
Dunning-Kruger Effect: intelligent people tend to underestimate themselves while idiots tend to be overly confident and very often loud. That's okay. Just rest in the knowledge that if you're quiet but very capable that's okay too.
Facebook: Everybody's Facebook persona is better than real-life. When you see someone on there who's bragging every day, just know that they're more than likely overcompensating.
Thank You: Just say "Thank You" when you receive a compliment. It's that simple.
And, now…back to the show!
Let's Talk About Consistent Passive Income
This is your goal in Online Marketing. You want to get to a point where people are continuing to buy from you but you are not working harder than ever to keep up. The goal is to work less and continue having income and grow and excel.
People make a lot of mistakes in this area. Here's where they fall down:
People think that you can just create a membership site at $5 or $10 a month. They believe they will get 50k customers at a tiny monthly cost who will never remember to cancel it. That's not a way to make money. The way to find real money is to find solutions for people, price it reasonably, have happy buyers on your buyers list and continue to sell to them.
People just load up their site with interviews, articles and tidbits, etc. That's a lot more work for you and it has no substance and more fluff for them. Again, the way to find real money is to find solutions for people, price it reasonably, have happy buyers on your buyers list and continue to sell to them.
People want to give a "bulk discount" or a short "free trial" with a payment later on. That's just gimmick-y. You only want to price low (and it needs to be a high value product) if you're trying to build a list to sell higher-priced products later.
People use "geeky" research tools. Doing all this research on your competitor's blog posts and ads and pricing is not productive. You don't want to look to your competitors just for their pricing. To make this productive, you need to be concerned with what their hook is and come up with something better. The core of your marketing should be fixing a problem your customer has in a unique and fresh way.
People load up their site up with 20 bonuses, 1000 hours of video, etc. No one cares how many hours or years you worked at something. What they care about is "is this solution going to fix my problem?"
People get too close to their offers and too in love with their own stuff. They are so worried about having stuff and more stuff, that they end up just churning out crap. Again, think of a problem you're solving, create a product to solve that problem, throw in some offers that mean something and that you can keep active on a consistent basis for people to continue to buy packaged just as it is.
Okay, I've had enough problems! Let's Talk SOLUTIONS!!
What Makes Good Offers... What You Need to Know:
Not all websites can be recurring membership sites. For ex: "Dollar Shave Club." You're not a startup. You're here to start making money, not invest millions.
You need to solve a real problem 1-30 days. This is why Robert likes FIXED TERM membership sites. It's easier to make the course and sell it over and over again. The average attrition rate for membership sites is 3 months. If you charge someone $10/month and they only stay for 3 months then you've only made $90 and you constantly have to come up with new content to hopefully even keep them on your site. INSTEAD, solve their problem in a shorter amount of time, package it that way, that's what's on your sales and membership page(s) and you can keep selling that same product over and over again for $150. It's easier to sell once than to keep people engaged indefinitely.
Sell what you sell. Sell what you sell at the price you always sell it at and make it really easy for the customer to buy it. No one wants to wait 2 hours on a video for a "buy button" at the end and no one wants to pay $100 today and see it discounted to $50 the next day. Both of these tactics will just annoy potential customers.
Stomach buying from your competitors. That's right, buy your competitor's product. See what they're leaving out and how you can maybe do something better than them. If they're champions, then figure out how you can emulate them.
Eat your own dog food. Use the products you sell. Make it clear on your site to your potential customers that you use them.
The Magic Wand (yeah, it's that important we said it twice!) Do something fantastic. If you're Information Product is teaching them how to have their own membership site, do the initial set-up for them and your information product is how they can "run it."
How Do You Present an Offer?
First is The Core Offer. Tell them how many modules they're getting (the ideal number is 4). Every 60 to 90 minutes they get to the next milestone.
Tell them about the bonuses (which are also digital, like PDF checklists). Then, here is the physical bonuses (it could be anything from a DVD to a handheld video recorder, depending on the product you're starting with and the cost).
The FOUR Questions that will determine what you include in your total offer package:
What do people need to fill in the gaps? Could you send an iPod or camera to record video? Can you hook them up with an adwords coupon to help get them started?
What new problems do they have now that they solved the first problem? For example, they set up the membership site, now they need content. So, now you have a training on how to record and publish PowerPoint content using a video player.
Is there anything that can be a shortcut for them? An external service, a "Done-for-You" or even a simple calculator For example, in DropshipCEO.com, Robert offers a built in software tool that generates an email to all the customers requesting them to leave an Amazon review.
Is there something huge and cool that you could put in the offer that makes them say "Gotta Have It." For example, In Robert's SpeedCopy.com, he includes his huge swipe file.
The "Ultimate Offer Master List"
You need to go "Deeper Focus." Really hone into those things your customer desires.
Template or Checklist or a Swipe File: For example, a Checklist with How to Play Guitar would ask, "what kind of guitar do you have/plan to buy? Do you plan to play acoustic or electric? Did you buy extra strings?, etc. etc. You want to group these in 10-question sections by break-down of the subject. One guy who does real estate includes a swipe file of all of his successful real estate ads
Software (can be Web-Based or External): For example, WPNotepad.com lets customers track their own progress through their program on your membership site.
Or, you could offer a coupon for an external service, like a coupon for Camtasia Studio software.
Or, it could be a bundled service. Customers who purchase the program at WebinarCrusher.com, get automatic account with "GoToWebinar."
"Done- for- You": Just like it sounds... do something for them. If you're teaching them the Amazon FBA program (Dropshipceo.com), offer to make their first call to a supplier WITH THEM.
Go for the Low-Hanging Fruit (stuff that's pretty easy to do)
Mixed modalities: Make audio and/or video for things that are also written. Or, if your Info Product is already in video, provide them with an accompanying manual (use Lulu.com for this)
Resale Rights: This is a right to resell this and that part of your course. Don't sell the entire course. But, you can give sell them re-sale rights on maybe 3 of the videos in the program.
Personal coaching: Statistically, only about 5 -15 % of your customers will actually talk to you. Use TimeTrade.com to put up a special link in your site where they can schedule a time to talk to you. Or, give them access to text you with questions (use a Google Voice number for this). Extra content: interviews with experts. Extra resale rights you bought and re-packaged from a site like Master-Resale-Rights.com. (just don't tell them you did that)
"Go Large" with Enlargement
Extra Live Webinars: like a monthly recurring webinar where your customers can have a Q & A session.
Physical items like DVD's: (use Kunaki.com) or cameras, etc as discussed above
Offer them "community": Facebook Groups or Forums (the tricky part about forums is either a ghost town or a mess that you have to moderate).
Certification Directory: Dr. Charles runs membership sites for different surgery procedures. As part of other doctors paying him monthly for access to the instructional videos, they're part of a directory. Then, when Dr. Charles advertises, and someone seeks him out, they will find a physician near them trained in his methods.
Live event: "I'm going to teach you how to do this at this time and this place" on't offer this without an actual date or hotel booked. Or, you can rent out a smaller space, like a loft (check out AirBNB.com).
"Bundle It": Buy a program from this site and get access to an additional site.
10 Built-In Benefits that Should Come with Every Offer
Proof and results
Customer support
Uniqueness
Up to date
Price
Guarantee refund
24-7 access
Lifetime upgrades
Access to course forever
Community (means what you want it to mean as much or as little as you want)
Robert's Closing Thought: When someone google searches your name what comes up? Make sure it's what you want them to see!
Do you find yourself struggling with when you should be Hands-On vs When You Should Outsource? Robert shows you how the E-Myth can help you make the most effective decisions.
Robert is the author of Double Agent Marketing-a book about how to do the "day job" while starting up a successful online marketing business.
When you're starting an online business, sometimes you have to be in the "Must Have" mode and sometimes in the "Nice to Have" mode and you need to know the difference between the two.
Must Have: an online platform and a product. You won't achieve any income without these two in place
Nice to Have: attractive business cards, pretty graphics, multiple social media accounts
The average person attempting to make money online and failing has nothing for sale. They're focusing on the "nice to have's" which give the illusion of productivity but they are not income-makers.
When you're building your online business, you're in one of two places:
You want to increase your online income or you want to scale back the number of hours you're working on that business so you can spend more at home and doing the things that you enjoy.
People get into online marketing so they CAN achieve having more time to do the things they enjoy. What Robert keeps hearing from these entrepreneurs is that, in order to achieve this, they have to outsource everything.
But, you have to start somewhere and even Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, started by driving packages to the post office himself.
Let's Talk about Outsourcing
You DO have to be hands on when you're first "out of the gate"
People can get discouraged at first because they feel like they are doing all the work themselves and aren't seeing much initial progress.
The solution to that problem is to go for the first shortest path to making money--making an information product.
This will make you a handful of sales but most importantly, you'll start building a list of customers and build a relationship with them. You can start "talking" to them about what they're interested in, i.e. what kind of products will they buy in the future.
Then, you make the next biggest product. You start to grow, you start to raise capital. You won't ALWAYS have to invest 100% of your time in this business but as you grow, you can add "outsourcers."
Why else is immediate outsourcing a bad idea?
You need to know exactly what is going on in your business. You need to know the in's and out's.
"Learn enough to be dangerous."
Let's say you want to develop an app. You need to teach yourself how to get an app submitted, what it takes to market it, and then source code. If you hired out all of this, what happens if you want to add new features or the app developer you used goes out of business? You are locked out of your own product!
This is why YOU need to learn the basics (and even more if possible) so that the future of YOUR business does not depend on an outsourced agent.
Most of the time, the outsourced job will never be done to the level that you would have taken it to. This is not the outsourced agent's business-it is YOURS. So, you end up taking even more time to check on the progress of the work, pay the agent, etc. Then, you feel you have to hire a manager to take care of these things and then you feel the need to oversee the manager. It becomes a vicious cycle. This is where Checklists come into the mix and they are vital.
If you outsource everything, you won't see any profit! If you are constantly paying everyone else to do tasks that you can and should be doing, especially at the beginning of your business, you will not see any profit and therefore you will not stay productive or motivated to keep driving forward.
The E-Myth: One of Robert's favorite books dealing with Systematizing your Business
A. The Fat and the Thin Person Mentalities
a. Everyone has BOTH in their natures. b. It means that one day you wake up and you feel like a fat person and you're on the wrong track so you say you're going to work out, eat right, etc. This generally lasts a few days until you "feel thin" and you fall of track. Most everyone fluctuates back and forth between the two. c. What this means in practical terms is that generally once people get "on track", they take a break and then things go off the rails again. d. What's the solution? Solve a problem BEFORE it becomes one.
i. For example, when Robert and Lance first started out, they had fixed-term membership sites. Initially, they'd get a lot of members but when he looked ahead a few months, he realized their income would drop off a cliff. ii. So, he put new products in place to generate income so that does not happen.
B. The Differences between Workers, Managers and Entrepreneurs
a. Worker-just follows instructions. Does not really care about the business itself. An example would be a support desk employee. Their only responsibility is to take support calls and fix the issues. b. Manager-keeps things neat and organized. Examples are accountants and IT techs. c. Entrepreneur-the "creativity" behind the business, the one generating ideas.
C. Job Titles
a. List out the job titles in your business. Don't go crazy and list 50, just do about 10. An easy way to think of this is "how many hats are you wearing?" b. Examples would be sales copywriter, graphic designer, customer support, product creator, etc. c. Then, you start with the one with the least amount of thinking involved and/or what's the one that if the resulting work is not perfect to you, it would not be the end of the world? THESE are the positions/responsibilities you want to outsource.
D. The Checklist-this is the CORE of our discussion
a. Even though you may not need perfection (as discussed above), you NEED consistency for your business to thrive. b. Think about a hotel. In a hotel, housekeeping comes and changes the linen, vacuums, puts out new water glasses, etc. Although it may not be perfect every time, any single person in that hotel could do it effectively because there is a CHECKLIST that outlines what has to be done in every room. c. Even when you have total mastery over a subject, the execution of it will never be consistent unless you have that Checklist to work from. d. In all of Robert and Lance's programs, they have Checklists that you would personally use. For example, in PodcastCrusher (www.podcastcrusher.com), a Checklist would include:
Use this headset to record
Run a Mic Check
Resize your Frame, etc., etc.
You break down each task into sections so that you can easily outsource pieces of it that you may not want/have time to do. Perhaps you want to create the podcast, but you don't want to do the publishing tasks. If you've created the Checklist for Publishing your Podcast, you can outsource that to anyone to pick up and as long as it's followed, you could have multiple publishers over a period of time and still provide a consistent product over and over.
Let's Talk about An Easily Outsourced Element of your Business
One of the first, and best options, for outsourcing in your business is going to be customer support/help desk.
When you're first starting out, it's fine for people to email you once or twice a day. Oce you get over that volume, it becomes impossible to keep managing those responsibilities and get anything else done.
Robert and Lance used ZenDesk when they first reached that level. It is really cool software that, when people email you with issues, it creates a "ticket" and you can then assign that ticket to a particular person in your organization or an autsource agent to remedy the issue. For example, you may get 3 tickets for people wanting refunds and 2 tickets for people who've forgotten their password. You can now assign those "tickets" to outsource agents who will handle those requests for you.
You can easily find outsourcers/freelancers on oDesk (now called Upwork).
On this website, you can pay someone by the hour to resolve the ticket(s) and you have the added bonus of seeing what their screen looks like while they are working so they cannot overcharge you. You will also need a help desk/customer support system that provides canned responses to certain issues. In reality, you probably really only answer 5 to 10 types of questions, no matter how they're phrased by the customer. Depending on the problem, the customer gets a canned response back asking for further 3-5 pieces of information, then depending on that, the ticket is assigned to the correct person to fix the problem. Because you know about the 5-10 repeat help desk queries you get, you can now "Checklist" your help desk so that any outsourcer/freelancer/employee can take that email and/or ticket and resolve the issue without you having to do it.
What would happen if you died today?
When you're running a business, you have a lot of people depending on you: your family, your business partners and your employees.
You have to think about: If something happened to me today, what processes do I have in place that will keep this company functioning and moving forward?
Use those processes to formulate your checklists!!
Tune in today (in fact, right now) to discover how to "get your head on straight!" Get your business built up to the level you want, as fast as you want, while you're excited each and every day and growing bigger and bigger every day...
Someone who hates you normally hates you for one of three reasons: 1. They see you as a threat 2. They hate themselves 3. They want to be you
Today's program is going to be very different than the normal format because we're going to jump around between real money-making case studies, mindset, mistakes I've made and the things YOU PERSONALLY can do to incrementally improve your business as your income increases and you gain simplicity and clarity along the way -- finish now and revise later!
How do you get the results and the income you want from your internet marketing business?
Tip #1: Self-Actualize
Be aware of the little crutches you fall back on daily that keep you from achieving your goals and keep you from being confident. When someone asks how you're doing, instead of saying "Good", change it up to "Fantastic", "Wonderful", etc…
Also, be aware of these "negative" words, Robert's 3 pet peeves:
Try: sounds like you're not even going to attempt it, whatever "IT" is. It is like you are giving yourself permission to fail. Instead, say "I'm going to do"
Work: sounds like something you don't want to do, like labor. Instead, say "I am (doing) this today", for ex. I am formatting my website today. Use an action.
Start: just like "try." Sounds like you're only going to get halfway done. Instead, use action again, such as "I am meeting a client today about my product."
If you complain all the time, you cement your ideas. If it's your belief that internet marketing is a scam or that you have to make only minimum wage, or someone else has to lose for you to win, anything you discover or new information, will only reinforce that. If information comes in that contradicts those beliefs, you're going to find a mental block/way around it instead of being inspired by it.
Tip #2: The Rule of FOUR: The Best Way of Increasing Productivity
Complete 4 tasks every day. They can be 4 big things or 4 small things but the best combination is 3 things at 45-60 minutes and a 4th thing at about 15 minutes. Fancy planners and endless to-do lists get so bogged down and leave you feeling unmotivated.
Successfully finish 4 tasks today, call it a day, and you are ready to succeed again tomorrow!
Robert's program, www.incomemachine.com, has a Facebook group where each member posts their 4 things for today, every day.
Tip #3: Finish Now, Revise Later: The Substance of Today's Podcast
You do NOT have to wait for something to be perfect. Finish it for NOW and you can make revisions later. What matters is that you have something on the table NOW that you can offer customers.
Why does Finish Now, Revise Later work?
You will start earning money to keep motivated and productive and inspired to keep growing and developing your business.
You can see what sells and what doesn't. You want to concentrate on your best sellers.
It's very important to start selling your product so you can see how people use it. You don't want to keep adding elements to it that people may not use and therefore waste your time and effort.
Example: Netscape Navigator "Blink Tags." Developers did this because it was "fun" to develop-but it doesn't make any money. In the same way, a lot of internet marketers spend entirely too much time on business cards, fancy logos, building Twitter followings, but those things do not make money. Get a product out there that does!
Let's talk about "Backup Creator" (www.backupcreator.com)
This is a WordPress plug-in that allows you to back up your WordPress site, as well as clone it so you can keep using it to make new sites.
This took about 3 days to make and it was not perfect but Robert and Lance put it out anyway because it was finished ENOUGH. It functioned and it did what it promised to do. Along the way, there were little hiccups and de-bugs they've had to make but if they had waited the last 3 ½ years until they thought it was perfect, they would have lost 3 ½ years of income PLUS the opportunity to see what worked and didn't. Along the way, they've made some upgrades and now it's just a matter of maintenance. At time of airing, Backup Creator is powering about 85 THOUSAND sites-imagine if they had lost all that opportunity by constantly waiting to "finish."
Tip #4: Avoid the "Money Zone"
What is the money zone? It is the zone of your lowest to your highest income.
If you are in the "money zone", you are either in a situation where you will make a certain amount of money no matter what happens in your life, which is holding you back AND the flip side of that is when you have an upper limit, no matter what you do, you'll always find a way to self-sabotage getting past that point.
You don't want to be TOO tactical OR too strategic.
Tactical: you're only looking ahead to your next installment, say $100. Strategic: you're planning 10-20 years down the road
The first step to fixing this is realizing you have this mindset and start to think differently. Just TODAY, think about what you can do differently to increase your income NOW.
For example, with Backup Creator, Robert and Lance thought what else can they do to increase money on the success they were already having with this product?
They started the Developer License that people can purchase as an add-on after purchasing Backup Creator. It is no extra work for them to maintain, it is simply a license for buyers to use it with their own clients to keep producing new sites. This is an additional income stream. They thought not just about their next $100, they had ideas of increasing their success, but they didn't get so far ahead that they got bogged down in details and couldn't make another move.
One final thought:
Be very careful with lifetime memberships. You really have to analyze the averages that people pay, how often they renew, etc. You do not want to offer a lifetime membership on a product that people would continue to renew on a yearly basis because in the end you will sell yourself short, have to keep working to add new upgrades and content, and start working on a less by less hourly basis.
For more great guidance and tips on Robert's system, you can also visit www.incomemachine.com.
This will help you get something out there, get to your first $100 or $1000 and get yourself motivated!!
If it's important, you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse. -- Jim Rohn
If you don't build your own dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs. -- Tony Gaskins, Jr.
Join us on today's episode of the Robert Plank Show where we discuss passive income, your point and click online funnel, and more, including:
8 things to give up: 1. self rejection, 2. negative self-talk, 3. criticising others, 4. being a people pleaser, 5. fear of failure, 6. procrastination, 7. holding onto grudges, 8. expecting perfection
Three areas of your business: list, traffic, and offers
I'll admit it, I DON'T have it all figured out! But I'm right there with you when it feels like, as a home-based entrepreneur, no one else seems to be on the same track as you. In today's podcast I'm going to share a few tools with you to avoid burnout, information overload, fear of failure, and more. It's easier to edit crap than air!
(Lots of show notes this time around, please scroll down a little to see the audio player for today's action-packed super-sized episode.)
Self Help Advice You Might Have Heard Before (But Need to Hear Again)
You are your own worst enemy: it feels good to complain, self fulfilling prophecy
"We are what we repeatedly do" (you are what you eat)
"Your income is the average of your 5 closest friends"
Abundance mindset vs victimhood, resentment
"Some people say self help doesn't last. Neither does showering, and that's why we recommend it daily"
"Ask the computer called your brain the right questions" -- the phrasing is important, i.e. HOW can this be done and not CAN it be done
"Get Back on Track" Checklist
Don't share these answers with me or anyone else... it's explained in the second half of today's episode...
Self sabotage: In what way do you SOMETIMES have one foot on the break? (So you can overcome it)
What are you really afraid of and what sometimes stalls you out? (i.e. What if my websites go down, too many refunds, FTC, IRS)
Why did you get started in the first place? (what excited you back then that maybe you lost track of)
What gets you excited to grow your business and do what really needs to be done? (must be a different, better, more detailed and more emotional answer to the previous question)
Based on all this, what do you REALLY want to become a reality in the next 6 months? (a thing or activity, not money)
Simple Solutions to Become Motivated & Productive Anytime You Want
Willpower (iffy and unreliable but happens on occasion)
Take the first step today towards that goal (i.e. make that one quick phone call to get the ball rolling)
Lift app: take multivitamin, go to gym, read 30 minutes (just don't load it up with more than 3 things)
Morning routine: walk or run to "change the channel" in your mind
Mentor where you'll behave yourself (unmuted in a group), and you're looking for a SIMPLE SOLUTION to an EASILY EXPLAINABLE PROBLEM
Countdown timer or record your computer screen of you performing the task you want
Check out today's Robert Plank Show (podcast) where we talk about making money using Amazon... no, I'm not talking about Amazon's affiliate program, Kindle, CreateSpace, or WebStores... this is their Amazon Seller Central program or Fulfilled by Amazon where you can sell any item they have in their catalog (such as books or cookware) OR create your own "gadget" that you buy for pennies and sell for tens of dollars all day long...
Productivity Corner
Those four things you completed today, how much money did they make you?
Don't compare your insides to the outsides of others (your "behind the scenes" vs. their "highlight reel") and beware of someone who never shares their struggles & roadblocks (the most interesting part)
Have an abundance mindset, not scarcity (be careful about bitterness & jealousy) -- there's room for all of us to make money
Cycle through 4DT, accountability partner, calendar, countdown timer, Camtasia babysitter
Feature Presentation (Amazon FBA)
Yes, private labeling with Amazon FBA still works if you live outside the United States because you can send your shipping label to your supplier and they can mail directly into Amazon's warehouse...
Your first sale: list a $0.01 used book plus shipping as a Merchant Fulfilled item
Scanning & thrifting: Visit Kmart, BigLots, Walmart, Costco with the special iPhone app and find something listed on Amazon for 3x what you pay, send shipments in (Fulfilled by Amazon)
Sourcing/private labeling: find their supplier, get UPC code, samples, break even on sales while you grow the ads and reviews, then increase the price for a profit
CLOSING THOUGHTS: If people are making things too complicated for you, they haven't achieved mastery
Check out today's exciting edition of the Robert Plank Show to find out why some people seem to make all the money and others don't -- and of course quickly apply it to your own online business...
QUICK THOUGHT #1: no one wants to buy tips or tid-bits
QUICK THOUGHT #2: gang members make $3/hr (Freakonomics) -- you're not going to get just "one big break"
QUICK THOUGHT #3: You need an Income Machine (niche, website, optin page, autoresponder, blog, sales letter, membership site, traffic) -- just YouTube, Twitter, podcasting isn't going to cut it (it's just traffic that points back to your Income Machine)
Eight Components to Selling a Complete Course
Eat your own dog food (actually use what you sell, i.e. if you're selling an article marketing course, at least have a handful of articles under your name)
Magic trick -- even in the course, something cool that only takes 2 minutes (think Siri or GPS)
Urgent Warning! Don't script your podcasts, blog posts, or webinar pitches... do "THIS" instead! (explained in today's Robert Plank Show)...
How to make more sales and money and present your sales message with almost zero "prep time"
Sell the sizzle and not the steak (and NOT the big box of crap)
Exactly why our course launch about a "3 million word" transcription system flopped, but a "3 minute solution" fixed everything and more
Teach long division, sell the calculator: you don't need 5 minutes to explain your product or course... AND... you can probably make all the sales you need in about 20 minutes... tune in to find out how!
Get all the latest insights with membership sites, passive income, mindset, and more.
About Robert & The Podcast
The Marketer of the Day Podcast interviews entrepreneurs who have been through “the struggle.”
They’ve experienced the headaches of repeat failure, trial-and-error, scaling, delegating, course-correcting, and getting their online businesses to succeed beyond their wildest dreams… and want to help you get to where you need to go.
