I have spent thousands of dollars on products that are out of their league when compared to “Instant Payday Formula“. And, here’s the funny part… It only costs a fraction of what it could be sold for. I have no doubt that a guru can easily sell it for $ 1997 and even at that price it will be worth it. Kim Roach is the real deal.

All the best,
 
Francois

It is amazing how often we as internet marketers do not understand the importance of careful planning. We are constantly looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and we always seem to be chasing after rainbows. There are many types of rainbows and they go by various names… Affiliate Marketing, Cost Per Action (CPA), Product Creation, or Website Flipping to name just a few.

All of these different types of rainbows hold the promise of a better life, an easier way to make money, the prospect of being able to spend more time with your family or to go on exotic vacations at the drop of a hat. And, I am not even mentioning the Porsche in the driveway… That’s obvious.

We buy into the dream of easy money. We believe that great wealth is ours for the taking and is only a couple of weeks away. We are convinced that internet marketing is the real lazy man’s way to riches.

When something does not bring us a lot of money in a short period of time or it seems like too much hard work we simply start chasing after another rainbow.

However, at some point in time all internet marketers reach a crossroad…

We realize that it’s possible to make a lot of money online but that we have been going about it in the wrong way. We finally understand that there are no shortcuts to great wealth and that it takes careful planning. We come to understand that it’s not all about working harder but also about working smarter.

It’s at this point that we truly understand that if we fail to plan we are really planning to fail.

There are no secrets to making money online. It’s all about giving people what they want. It’s about finding and serving a hungry market that is prepared to pay for products or solutions to problems.

So how do we go about it in the right way?

Well, for one we need to be realistic… Don’t complain that you are not making $5,000 a month when you have decided to write articles for other people at $5 an article and you only write 6 articles a day.

You have to reconcile your actions with your goals. If they fit, great! If not, you either have to change your actions or your goals. Complaining does not help.

Back to our example of writing 6 articles a day for $5 per article… So what are our options?

1) Do something else.

Find something more profitable. For example, inside of writing 10 articles for $50, add the articles to a website as unique content and sell the website on Sitepoint for $150.

2) Write more, charge more or work longer. 

If you enjoy writing articles but are hot happy with the amount of money you’re making you have three options:

a. Write more – Work on improving your writing skills so you are able to write more articles per hour. You should be able to write at least 4 articles per hour of about 300 words each. If you charge $5 per article that means you are making $20 per hour. Not very good…

b. Charge more – Do not be afraid to charge for your services. Starting out cheap may get you off the ground, provide you with a lot of work but will burn you out. Once you have established that you are a good and reliable writer, and have the testimonials to show for it, you should increase your rates.

By the way, you may actually get more customers since many people think $5 articles are rubbish and will gladly spend $10 or more per article. If you can write 4 articles per hour at $10 per article you will be earning $40 per hour. That’s a lot better!

c. Work longer – The average person is always complaining that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done… What I have learned is that if you want to get something done you give it to a busy person. Being busy is not an excuse for being more productive.

If you can write 2 more articles per day at $10 an article taking 15 minutes per article it means an extra $20 a day in your pocket. That’s $400 extra per month if you only work Monday to Friday for 4 weeks. Not bad for working an extra 30 minutes a day!

3. Leverage.

There is only so much one person can do in 24 hours. Smart people understand the power of leverage and use it all the time. It basically means getting more done for the same effort. And, getting more done means getting more money.

Let’s continue with our article writing example. You can only make so much money in a day if you charge $5 an article and if it takes you 30 minutes to write an article. Even if you can achieve the impossible and write articles for 24 hours every day without a taking a break you have an income ceiling of $240 a day.

But, assume you can charge $10 an article and can outsource the actual writing part for only $5 an article to someone else how much money can you make per day? How about getting a team of writers together that will gladly write good quality articles for you for only $5 an article? Well, that takes care of your income ceiling!

Writing articles for cash is only one example. The above principles apply to most online marketing money makers. Take product creation as an example. You can write your own report but you can also buy a report with private label rights and turn it into your own product in less than half the time it would take you to write your own report.

Furthermore, you don’t even have to turn a private label report into your own report. Make an audio recording and sell it as an mp3 or submit it to podcasting directories. Make a power point presentation and record it on video. Submit the video to sites like YouTube and include a link to your squeeze page where you will capture the contact details of prospects in return for access to another video or free report, thereby building your mailing list. The list of things you can do is endless.

In closing, focus on only one thing at a time and look at ways you can gain more mileage. Rather try to improve what you are currently doing than jump around from the one thing to the order. Think outside the box. Plan in advance and make sure your actions will enable you to reach your goals.

All the best,

Francois

P.S. If you are still looking for good ideas and methods on how to make money online I highly recommend you get a copy of “The Definitive Job Slayer Warriors Guide”. It contains 99 different strategies! Pick a money maker that you feel the most comfortable with, do your planning, think outside the box and take action today.

On the 12th of September Dr. Mani started a ’24 Hour Heart Kids Twitter Marathon’ and raised thousands of dollars for children with congenital heart defects.

This year his theme was “Passion Purpose Persistence” and he asked me if I would be willing to write an article in support of his ‘HEART KIDS TWEETATHON’ initiative. I immediately agreed!

In keeping with the theme of the event I wrote an article called “How To Make Money Online By Following Your Passion” and since the event has been concluded I thought it would be a good idea to post it on my blog. So, here goes…

How To Make Money Online By Following Your Passion

Many people dream of making money online from the comfort of their own home. If you are one of them I sincerely trust you will enjoy this short article and benefit from it.

Maybe you just want to supplement your existing income or maybe you would like to be your own boss someday and like the idea of working from home…

There are probably hundreds of reasons why people are attracted to online marketing. Let’s face it, the entry barriers are very low and it’s relatively cheap to get started. Chances are you already have a computer and access to the internet!

The key question is… HOW TO START?

There is no shortage of people that will gladly relieve you of your hard earned cash in exchange for some “make money online” information. Still, where do you start? Google lists more than 13,000,000 (yes 13 MILLION!) search results for the exact phrase “make money online” and that does not even include the 22 pages of sponsored links on the right side of the search results!

So what do you do? Do you just click on the best looking link? The one that tells you how easy it is to make $1,000 a day while sipping pina colada’s next to your swimming pool? Want to see some other options? Okay, here you go…

“Generate $5000 to $50,001 daily! New, Easy Online Cash. Join US.” (Actual sponsored link)

“Earn $1,000 Per Day PT/FT – Make Money Online Within 15 Mins.” (Actual sponsored link)

“Join our Team Now & Stop Losing. Start Getting $6K to $60K Monthly.” (Actual sponsored link)

Fact of the matter is that there are thousands of get rich quick scams on the internet. There are also many different ways of earning an honest income online.

Remember that if something seems too good to be true it normally is too good to be true… And, don’t waste your time searching for the “best” way to make money online. There is no best way! If there was we would all be doing it!

You need to find the right way for YOU!

I am often asked by new marketers “Where do I start” and my answer is always the same… It is advice based on my own personal experience that I would not hesitate to give to my own children if there were interested in learning how to make money online.

Here goes…

Find a viable market you are passionate about or at least interested in that’s full of hungry buyers that are willing to spend money online and give them what they want.

It’s really that simple! Let’s look at it in more detail…

“Viable Market” – The market should be big enough!  

How many people will be interested in buying a report on the endangered Miami Blue butterfly? How many copies can you expect to sell every month?

The market must be big enough to make it worth your while!

“Passionate About Or At Least Interested In” – Don’t do something you don’t enjoy!       

Studies have shown that the majority of Americans are not happy in their jobs and would rather be doing something different. In fact, I think this is true in most countries!

If you have the choice to enter any new market why would you consider a market that you don’t like, don’t understand or have no interest in? Why would you do this to yourself? Because the potential money you can make looks promising?

Well, here’s a Newsflash…

You are going to be competing against many other marketers that are passionate about what they do, have lots of knowledge and experience, an established client base, and loyal followers.

Think you can effectively compete with them as a new online marketer in a field that you know nothing about and are not even interesting in? Good luck!

Note: As you gain experience you will be able to enter other profitable markets, even ones you are not really interested in. However, I will not recommend it to a brand new marketer.      

“Full Of Hungry Buyers” – Tire kickers and freebie seekers are not going to pay the bills!

Many people may be interested in a certain topic. However, that does not necessarily mean they are willing to spend money on it! Some markets are simply flooded with people searching for free information. People that have no intention of ever taking their wallets out of their pockets to pay for the information they are looking for.

You need to make sure that people are willing or even eager to pay for what you have on offer.

Note: It is often possible to eventually turn tire kickers and freebie seekers into buyers by giving them free ‘what to do’ information and selling them the ‘how to do it’ part. However, you will be much better off by focusing on selling to hungry buyers right from the start. 

“Willing To Spend Money Online” – Some people hate it!

This part has actually got two components…

The first component is ‘Trust, safety and credibility’ and the second is ‘Nature of the product’. Let’s consider them one by one.

a. Trust, Safety and Credibility

It’s one thing walking into a pet shop and buying a book on how to build an aquarium. It’s a different thing ordering a book online. You cannot touch the book and browse through the chapters to make sure it has the right content you are looking for.

Remember that your buyer may be thousands of miles away and has to feel comfortable buying your product or a product you are recommending as an affiliate. Some people just don’t like the idea of spending money online!   

b. Nature Of The Product

I don’t know about you but I would rather buy my shoes in a shoe store than order them online. I simply like to try them on and walk around a bit before buying a pair.

On the other hand, many people would rather buy sexy lingerie online than in a shop…

Take into consideration that some markets may be huge and have lots of hungry buyers but that does not necessarily mean that they will order online. 

“Give Them What They Want” – Do not make assumptions!

Many people and even large corporations make the mistake of offering people something they need instead of something they want. You may have a great product but unless people want it you are not going to be making a lot of money!

For example, many people need to lose weight but unless they want to lose weight they are not going to buy your product. Many people need to stop smoking but unless they want to stop smoking they are not going to spend money on a ‘how to stop smoking’ product. Clear?

It can be very difficult and expensive to create a market where there is no market despite the fact that you may feel people need your product. Do not make assumptions!

I see this very often in internet marketing… Someone has a great idea for a new product and he is convinced that it will benefit other marketers. He really thinks there is a need for it. He spends a lot of time and money developing the product and ends up selling 10 copies… Very often the reason is that people are simply not in the market for what he has on offer.

There is a big difference between a product that’s ‘nice to have’ versus a ‘must have’ product. 

Play it safe, especially if you are a new marketer. Do your research. Give people what they want and not what you think they need.

Don’t be under the illusion that you need to find something new that people really need. In the words of John Reese “Stop trying to come up with the next ‘Big Thing’. Let other people *Show You* what’s making money. THEN EMULATE SUCCESS.”

Moving forward…

There are many ways you can reach your market and give them what they want. It’s beyond the scope of this article to examine all the options available to you. There are simply too many…

You can build a content rich website, also called an authority site, and monetize it with Google Adsense as well as discreet links to suitable affiliate programs. You can build a one page sales website and promote a report through Google Adwords. If you don’t have any money to invest you can get a free Blogger account. The list is endless!     

The first and most important point is to identify the right niche market. The more passionate you are about this market the better you will be able to serve it.

Here are seven additional tips that can help you succeed…

1) Always try to help people.

Your first aim should always be to help other people. Few things are as important online as your credibility. It takes time to build it up but it can be destroyed very quickly.

Don’t sell or promote junk just to make a fast buck. Don’t promote a product as the best thing since sliced bread when it’s barely average to say the least.      

Always ask yourself if you would sell or promote the same product to your mother. For example, assume you are promoting a product that helps people deal with epilepsy in children. Would you like your mother to buy that product if you were the child suffering from epilepsy?

2) What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?  

What makes your product or a product you are promoting as an affiliate special? Why should people rather buy from you than from anyone else? Do you have a competitive advantage over your direct competitors?

Many markets are highly profitable but also very competitive. You need to find ways that will enable you to stand out from the crowd. Having a USP can give you a huge advantage in the market.

3) Keep an open mind.  

What may be working for other people may not always work for you. This does not mean that you are right and they are wrong.

Internet marketing is not black or white but comes in many shades of gray. Don’t be quick to believe everything you read but don’t be quick to discard it either.  

4) Don’t give up too quickly.

Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, it takes time to build a successful online business. Do not expect great results if the beginning.

Sidebar: You may be surprised to know that most of the people that are today considered as “internet gurus” really struggled for a long time before they made it.

5) Don’t try to be everything for all people.

A very common mistake that it’s nearly always fatal is trying to cover a broad niche from A to Z.

For example, the pet market is very big. But, don’t even attempt to try and cover the whole market. It’s simply too wide! Try to narrow it down as far as possible.

For example, instead of focusing on a very broad niche such as dog owners rather focus on a specific breed of dog and research what type of products or information these dog owners want.   

Visit specific websites, blogs and forums. Have a look at what questions are posted on Yahoo Answers. Do some keyword research and find out what key phrases people are using when searching for solutions online. Try to dig deep!

6) Build a long term business and large client base.    

The most profitable businesses are those that can build up a client base and supply those clients over and over. It’s much more difficult (and expensive) to gain new customers than to serve existing customers.

Always try to find a market where you have the possibility of getting repeat business from your loyal customers. Take the internet marketing niche as an example… I can sell many different reports to the same customer. The one report may be about how to find and research a niche market. Chances are that if my report is very good that the same customer will not think very hard about buying my second report that covers how to build a successful blog or my third report that covers how to get a lot of traffic to your blog, etc.

Here is another example, the pet niche. Let’s assume your target market is Doberman Pinscher dogs. Chances are you can sell or promote several reports over a period of time to the same customer ranging from how to select a puppy, how to ‘house train’ a puppy, how to teach your dog obedience and new tricks, essential dietary requirements, etc. This is just off the top of my head. I don’t know anything about Doberman Pinscher dogs but you get the point.   

7) Always look for golden threads of wisdom.

I often see marketers complain on forums about “rehashed information” that’s included in new marketing reports. Well, what may be old news to them will be brand new to a newbie.

I have learned a long ago to always search for ‘golden threads of wisdom’. Let me explain…    

I have more than 30 books that deal exclusively just with affiliate marketing. Many of these books include information that I am very familiar with. Does this mean I should not buy any more books on the subject of affiliate marketing? No!

You see, what I have found is that even though two books may basically cover the same techniques there is always something I can learn that I can apply to my own marketing strategies. Even if it’s only a short reference to a website or resource that I am not yet familiar with!

A single sentence or paragraph in a report can often give me a massive return on the money I invested in buying the report. This is what I mean by looking for golden threads of wisdom.

It makes no sense to buy the one report after the other report and not to apply anything you have learned. It also makes no sense to completely change your strategy (that you haven’t even fully implemented) with every new report you buy.

I am not saying that you should buy every single report on a topic you can get your hands on! But, remember that online marketing is a continuous learning curve and that you need to occasionally invest in your business. It’s just like any other business.

Remember that by maintaining the status quo you are not really staying where you are but you are actually moving backwards as your competitors move forwards.

Always be on the lookout for golden threads of wisdom that you can incorporate in your own business strategy. Test and monitor the results of everything you do and always strive towards continuous improvement!

Thanks for reading!

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit

So, what is this all about?

Well, recently Allen Says the owner of Warrior Forum posted a challenge that was hard to ignore! He asked a simple question…

“If you were talking to someone brand new to the Internet and they asked you how they could make money in the shortest time possible, what would you tell them?”

At stake was a free copy of Traffic Secrets 2.0 by the ‘Master of Traffic’ John Reese for the top 20 answers… A course that’s selling for $397!

Several top marketers accepted the challenge… In fact, the question got 205 answers! Some of the greatest minds in marketing history participated in the event!

The majority of answers posted were nothing short of amazing!

But, here’s the thing… Working your way through 205 answers is not a walk in the park!

Well, I have some good news for you!

You see… Dean Shainin spent dozens upon dozens of hours reading every single reply, distilling the best answers down, extracting duplicate answers, adding back links to each of the 99 Warrior members profiles that made the grade, contacting members and creating this guide for easy print access in an organized manner.

End result?

The Definitive Job Slayer Warriors Guide – A comprehensive guide detailing 99 of the “Best Of The Best” strategies on how YOU can make money online in the shortest possible time!

And, you can get your hands on this valuable resource for less than what you would pay for a small pizza! Not only that… You can also promote this report for 100% commission paid straight into your Paypal account!

I always say that the best way to succeed online is to help other people! Well, not only will you pick up several gold nuggets in this report for your own use but you will also get a great opportunity to help others!

Here’s the link…  The Definitive Job Slayer Warriors Guide

Check it out!

To YOUR Online Marketing Success,

Francois du Toit

P.S. Don’t be fooled by the low price. It’s a special introductory price and may be increased at any time without prior warning.

Note: The ‘shelf life’ of a ‘how to make money online’ product is often limited. A new report that may be selling like hot cakes today will probably be outdated or old news by next year…

So what do these marketers do to revive their floundering fortunes? Yes, they offer Resell Rights, often followed by Master Resell Rights and last but not least Private Label Rights.

It’s not a bad strategy! Many top marketers swear by it!

However, it can present a problem for the buyers of these rights and this is what this head’s up is all about…

Let me explain by giving you a practical example of something that happened to me today and made me decide to quickly write this post…

I received an email this morning from a marketer offering a limited number of resell rights to a software product he has developed. The name of the marketer is not important…

It’s a great product, he will only sell a very limited number of resell rights and the product may not be sold below a certain price level (I reserve my judgement on the enforceability of this), may not be given away for free, may not be offered as a bonus to another product and may not be added to a membership site.

Sounds like a good deal right? Yes, it is except for one thing… On his main site (from where he is currently selling the software) he states that all buyers of Version 1.0 will get a free upgrade to Version 2.0 when it’s released. However, on his sales letter where he is selling the resell rights he only states that all resell right buyers will receive free updates of Version 1.0.

I contacted him and asked him if resell right buyers will also get a free upgrade to Version 2.0 when it’s released to which he replied that this won’t be possible as he has invested a lot of money into Version 1.0 and developing Version 2.0 has been very expensive.

My dilemma? Should I buy resell rights to Version 1.0 knowing that my customers will not receive a free upgrade to Version 2.0 when it’s released? By the way, if you buy the product from his site it will only cost you $10 more and you will get a free upgrade to Version 2.0 when it’s released.

I don’t think so…

Don’t get me wrong… I am not saying this marketer is doing anything wrong. He has sold many copies of Version 1.0 and with the imminent release of Version 2.0 he is trying to make some very nice additional income by offering resell rights to Version 1.0. In fact, he will fully recoup all of his development costs of Version 1.0 by selling the resell rights to it!

If I was allowed to offer the software as a bonus to another product or use it as an incentive for people to join my list I would not have hesitated in buying it. But, I realized that I would not really be helping my buyers by selling them a product that is soon to be upgraded and where the product creator is in effect penalizing them by allowing me to sell the product to them. Makes no sense… 

Bottom line…

Always be diligent when buying the resell rights to a product, especially a great product! Why is the product owner selling resell rights? Why doesn’t he or she simply offer an affiliate program?

Most importantly…

Don’t make assumptions! If you are not sure about anything ask the seller!

You should always have a good idea what you intend on doing with the product once you have bought the resell rights. You may want to offer it as a stand-alone product, burn it onto a CD and sell it on eBay, offer it as a bonus to another product, list it on Clickbank, give it away to your list, offer it as an opt-in bonus, etc.

One of the biggest mistakes I made when I just started online was to buy resell rights to products without a clear strategy in mind. Most of these products just ended up gathering digital dust on my hard drive and when I finally had a closer look at them they were often really bad, completely outdated, and full of affiliate links. Very often I couldn’t even find my “rights” meaning that I didn’t want to do anything with them because I simply could not remember what rights I bought!

If you are not sure about your rights send the seller an email. For example, “I understand that I may not offer my buyers resell rights but I assume I am allowed to sell it through affiliates. I also assume that there is no restriction on the commission rate I can offer affiliates. Please confirm.”

Tip: When buying resell rights to a software product or script always ask the seller if you and customers will get future upgrades at the same terms and conditions (if any) as his own buyers.

Make sure that you always save the resell rights license as well as any correspondence you had with the seller.

Oh, and by the way, always read a report or ebook, for which you have acquired resell rights, cover to cover. By the same token, always test software or scripts that you bought resell rights for. Your name may not be mentioned as the author of a report or the creator of a software product but if you promote it you have a duty towards your customers to ensure that it lives up to its expectations!

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your comments.

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit

Chances are that even if you have only been involved in online marketing for a short period of time that you already have a hard drive full of Resell Rights, Master Resell Rights (MRR) and Private Label Right (PLR) products. Right? Join the club!

Selling products to which you have acquired certain rights has been a popular way of making money online for many years and will continue to be popular in the future.

Why?

Well, it is a lot easier and quicker than creating your own products and you can sell these products for a 100% profit. Many resell right packages even include sales letters and website graphics. And, resell right packages are often only a dime a dozen.

In fact, I have hundreds of Master Resell Rights that I did not even pay for… I received them as bonuses to other products I bought or ezines I joined. In many cases these products came with a Master Resell Rights License that allows me to sell them, offer rights to my buyers or even give them away for free!

Some of these products are absolute crap. But, I also have many gems!

This brings me to the main reason for writing this post…

How much money have you made selling resell rights products? Not a lot? Nothing?

Okay, I can hear you say “But Francois… How am I expected to make money when other marketers are just about giving the exact same products away for free that I want to sell!” Good point! How do you compete with 100s or even 1000s of other marketers?

Many marketers only know how to sell on price. The end result is that a great ebook or software product that should be sold for at least $47 is being sold for $0.99 on eBay or packaged with 100 other products and sold for $17.

How do you stand out from the crowd? YOU HAVE TO ADD VALUE!

Let me say it again… YOU HAVE TO ADD VALUE! That is the secret!

Now many marketers think that adding value means the same as adding a bonus or bonuses to a product. Wrong! Adding a bonus can be a good “bribe” but you need to think outside the box!

Okay, you are probably thinking something like: “Francois, that sounds nice but all I am hearing is blah, blah, blah… Show me what you mean! Give me a practical example!”

I have never before used one of my own websites as a case study… But, what the hell!

Case study of Impact Web Audio & Streaming Website Audio
 
“Impact Web Audio” is a great software program for adding audio to your website. It belongs to well-known internet marketer Gary Ambrose. Anyway, I am a firm believer in the power of website audio and bought the Master Resell Rights from Gary for $37 on the 26th of April. I registered StreamingWebsiteAudio.com on the 27th of April.

Want to guess how many results Google displays for “Impact Web Audio”… 34,400! Yes, some serious competition! But, that did not stop me and I was also not going to be selling the product for next to nothing like many of my competitors!

Here is what I did… (most of it anyway)

1. Change the header of the sales page.

This is not always necessary but I felt that the header did not look professional enough and I wanted to stand out. (I used Paint.net, a free program, to change the header and it only took me a couple of minutes)

Old Header

New Header

2. Change the sales copy.  

Apart from making some obvious changes such as inserting my own details, I also included a list of benefits under a new heading called “Benefits Of Adding Streaming Audio To Your Website” and rewrote some parts of the sales letter I didn’t like.

I also added the following graphic that I found on Stockxpert.com. It cost me $1.

3. Audio message.

I don’t see how you can sell a software program for adding audio to your website when your own sales page has no audio! Well, I added my own personal audio message (obviously using “Impact Web Audio”) and uploaded it within a couple of minutes.

4. Video message.
 
Instructional videos are very powerful! I wanted to show people, step by step, how to record a new audio message and how to add it to a website.   
 
By the way, none of the other resellers have included a video on their sales page. Based on feedback received from buyers I know that by adding a video I have helped many buyers and avoided several refunds. (I have not had a single refund!)

5. Bonuses.
 
It is not clear from the original sales copy but all buyers automatically receive Master Resell Rights when they buy “Impact Web Audio”. Most resellers don’t even mention this when selling the software… Well, I used this to my advantage and offered Master Resell Rights as bonus!

I also included a very relevant ebook as a bonus and explained how it can help buyers to achieve even better results.

6. Additional web pages.       

In order to appear more professional (good for establishing credibility) and to improve the quality score of my website I also added several new web pages, such as “Disclaimer”, “About Us”, “Contact Us”, “Privacy Statement” and “Site Map”.

7. Clickbank.com

Last but not least, I listed Streaming Website Audio with Clickbank.com.

Note: I was not sure whether affiliates would promote a website that offers buyers Master Resell Rights or whether they would rather just set up their own website and promote themselves… Well, within the first couple of weeks I have several affiliates that are actively promoting Streaming Website Audio and two of these affiliates have already given me multiple sales!

By the way, I am offering my affiliates a 75% commission, the maximum allowed by Clickbank. This means that I am only getting $5.99 from every $27 sale. Does not sound like a lot… But, I have nearly done nothing to promote this site. I have not spent one dime or even written one article! However, I am getting sales all the time!

I need to wrap this up as this post is getting far too long! If you are still reading… Thank you!

As I said earlier in this post, IT IS ALL ABOUT ADDING VALUE.

Remember that value is PERCEIVED.

Very few marketers understand this concept and even fewer know how to apply it… But, it can make a huge difference to your online earnings!

One marketer that understands this concept very well is Patrick Pretty, “Internet Marketing’s ‘Sensational Master Of Eye Candy’” (long story).

He has written an excellent report called “How To Add Value To Products And Make More Money” that I highly recommend. You can visit ValueAddedOnlineMarketing.com for more details.  

Thanks for reading and please take a minute to post a comment letting me know what you thought of this post. I always read all comments and reply to all questions.

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit

What I have observed from many new marketers is that they often get so caught up in specific details concerning a very small element of online marketing that they completely miss the bigger picture.

Based on the above I have created a new video that covers what I believe to be the four basic pillars of internet marketing:

I know many people have a slow internet connection so I have included some notes below in case you have any problems viewing the video…

The four basic pillars are:

* Product
* Medium
* Traffic
* Monetize

I believe that in order to build a strong foundation for your online business you need all four of these pillars…

1. Product

It can be your own product, a product you are promoting as an affiliate or even a product that you have acquired rights to.

2. Medium

You need a way to showcase your product. Your medium can be a website, blog, Squidoo lens or even just writing and submitting articles to article directories. 

3. Traffic

Let’s face it… Without traffic you do not have customers and without customers you do not have a business.  

4. Monetize

Having traffic is great but unless to can convert that traffic into cash it is pretty meaningless.

Only once you have your four basic pillars or foundation in place should you start getting into specific details. For example, what is the point of improving your sales copy or adding adsense to your website when you have no traffic? Why focus on getting more traffic when you know your website is a mess?

There are two other factors that I have not included in the four pillars but which are very important. I have not included them because you can make money online without them but I consider them critical long-term success factors. They are:

* Goals
* Niche

Goals

Your goals will have a direct impact on how successful you are!

For example, do you want to make $100 a day or $100 a week? How much money do you want to make and should this be a recurring monthly income?

Let’s assume your goal is to make $10,000 every month and you are selling an ebook for $10 a copy. This means you need to sell 1,000 copies a month, every month!

Assuming you are selling the ebook from your website and your sales copy converts at 2% this means you need 50,000 targeted visitors a month to gross $10,000 a month.

You may need to adjust your plan, for example establish an affiliate program, add a One Time Offer, add some affiliate products, or revise your goal…

What I find strange is how some people complain they are not making enough money online but when you ask them what their current income streams are you find out they don’t really have anything in place, are doing nothing to promote their product, or are trying to make a fortune selling a cheap $5 report that they have resell rights for that everyone else is giving away for free and that is completely outdated.

Niche

Niche discovery and research is one of the most important but often misunderstood or neglected concepts in online marketing.

You need to find a niche that is right for YOU and take the time to research the niche to ensure that it is viable. I have covered this important topic in great detail in my book Niche Marketing Uncovered and there is no need to elaborate on this point.

Just one comment… There are several membership sites that will provide you with 5, 10 or 20 niche markets on a monthly basis. I honestly don’t think this is a good approach. Trying to make money from a niche that you have no interest in is not ideal.

One example… Article marketing can be a good method to drive free traffic to your site. However, how many articles can you write on a topic that is as interesting to you as counting the warts on your average warthog?

Yes, you can pay other people to write the articles for you. But, it is going to cost you money and may not necessarily be well written.

In order to succeed to need to plan and take massive action!

Here are some steps that will help:

Step 1 – What are my goals?
Step 2 – Find the right niche for YOU.
Step 3 – Decide on your product offering.
Step 4 – Develop your medium.
Step 5 – Drive targeted traffic.
Step 6 – Monetize your traffic.    
Step 7 – Continuous improvement.

So, before you start wondering if it is a good idea to spend $47 a month on Mr. Marketer’s private label rights membership site remember there are no short cuts to building a profitable online business. 

Tip 1 – Use leverage!
 
Leverage basically means getting more done with the same effort. A good example is setting up your own affiliate program once you have developed your own product. Why try to go it alone when you can have hundreds of affiliates promoting your product?

Tip 2 – Over deliver!    

The internet can be a very crowded market place. You need to stand out from the crowd and one of the best ways is to over deliver. Work on exceeding your customer’s expectations and this will set you apart from the vast majority of online marketers.

Tip 3 – Focus on helping people!

Many marketers only focus on how they can stuff more money into their pockets instead of how they can really help people. You will make a lot more money in the long-term if your key focus is helping other people. And, it is a great feeling knowing you are making a difference!

Trust you have enjoyed this post. I am sorry it is a bit long… I tried to keep it as short as possible but did not want to cut out too many important points.

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit 

One of the things that really baffled and confused me when I first started doing online marketing from home, several years ago, was trying to figure out the “right” way or the “best” way to operate.

Like many new marketers I would jump from the one thing to the other looking for the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow… Experience taught me that there is no best way to make money online, there are many different ways!

There are also many different ways of getting your message across to the market and that is what I would like to focus on today.

I am subscribed to many different newsletters and spend a lot of time every week visiting selected forums and blogs in the online marketing niche. Why? Well, first of all, I like to keep up to date with new developments. However, the main reason is not really to learn new stuff but to observe marketing techniques that I can apply in my own business.

I believe in the theory of the “golden thread”. What this means is that I believe no person knows everything and that real wisdom is right in front of us all the time but it is up to us to recognize and apply it.

For example, assume I get an email from a marketer called Mr. Know-It-All. I don’t only look at what he is trying to sell or promote, if anything, but how he goes about it and if there is anything I can learn from his approach.

Very often I will read a long and boring sales pitch and while wondering why I am torturing myself reading such dribble I will stumble upon one sentence that gives me an idea. That one sentence is the “golden thread”, something that can help my business.

The same happens in many forum posts. Mr. Know-It-All will make a new forum post telling members how they can make money doing say article marketing. Some of these posts are too basic or even downright inaccurate. However, I have picked up very valuable bits and pieces of information by looking for the “golden thread”.

Why am I sharing this? Well, we may all be online marketers but we are not all the same. What works for me may not necessarily work for you. However, this does not mean you cannot learn anything from me that will help you. I learn new things every single day, even from complete newbies. And, I am proud to admit it!

Too many marketers try to copy other marketers that they perceive to be successful. Very few of them are ever able to reproduce the same results. Very few!

What is important is not to try and copy other marketers but to learn from other marketers and to apply various bits and pieces of their techniques in your own business.

Let’s take email marketing as an example. Most successful marketers agree that building a list can be your most important asset in internet marketing. However, very few marketers follow the same approach when sending emails.

Let me explain…

Here are a couple of different approaches I am sure you have also observed:

Send your list an email…

- Every single day promoting a different product.   
- For seven days in a row promoting the same product.   
- Only when you have a new product out, for example a WSO.
- Once a month, for example a monthly newsletter.
- Once a week, for example a weekly newsletter.
- etc. etc. etc. 

I see a lot people that work very hard on building a large list but once they have a large list they simply do not know what to do with their list. Often, they don’t do anything!

The same problem applies to nearly every single aspect of online marketing… There are so many different ways, techniques and strategies on how to build a successful online business that it is no wonder new marketers get totally confused.

You have to do what feels right for you, and works for you. It makes no sense to do something just because someone else said you should.   

I believe that learning is an ongoing process. Learn from the experience of others but don’t try to copy a specific model just because it has worked for someone else. Your whole model will fall flat as soon as you have a problem because you do not have the background knowledge and understanding on how to fix it.

It is much better to take what you can from other marketers and to develop your own marketing model. Try different techniques and strategies. Test everything based on your own personal experience. Work on improving your business model all the time and look for “golden threads” of wisdom from other marketers.     

In order to become really successful in your niche you need to stand out from the crowd. You need to find your own voice. Successful marketers like John Reese, Mike Filsaime and Frank Kern understand this concept very well. There are many marketers that make the mistake of trying to copy them but will never achieve the same success these guys have achieved.

Do not try to become the next John Reese. There is already a John Reese and the world has only got space for one John Reese. His business model has worked very well for him and has taken him years to refine. Yet, I am convinced he will agree that it is still far from perfect and that he also learns new things all the time on how he can improve his business.

Rather strive to be the best YOU can be instead of trying to be someone else. Take what you can from others. Experiment with different marketing techniques.   

By the way, a guy like John Reese was not born successful. He had a very difficult time when he just started online marketing. It was not a smooth road at all! He made a point of learning from other people by listening if he could hear any golden threads. However, he became successful because he found his own voice.

There is nothing stopping you from achieving massive success doing online marketing. Nobody can stop you. There is no reason why you cannot become an internet marketing legend in your own right and watch as thousands of others try to copy you. If that is what you want it is within your power to achieve it!

To Your Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit

You see, I really believe that videos can be a very powerful marketing tool, especially when they go viral. Today I came across an excellent case study of just how powerful and profitable videos can be…

The following video, made by Len Foley, called “The World’s First Bionic Burger” has already been viewed close to 1 million times!

According to Len Foley the video is still being viewed between 1,000 and 10,000 times every single day! You would have noticed in the video that he is promoting his website called TheBestDayEver.com – A membership site that currently has about 1,000 members paying $29.95 per month. That is about $30,000 per month!

Although not all of the members joined his site thanks to the “Bionic Burger” video, the video earns him about $11,400 per month in passive, residual income. Not bad when you consider that it did not even cost him $82 to produce the video…

Many people will argue that the conversion rate (views that result into sales) of viral videos are very low, and they are right. However, it is an excellent way of gaining publicity at hardly any cost. Just imagine how much money you would have to spend on Google Adwords to get 1 million clicks!

Now for the best part…

Len Foley and his partners produced an ebook called “Viral Video Secrets” that is currently selling for $47 on ViralVideoSecrets.com. However, you can get this 86 page ebook for free by visiting http://www.viralvideosecrets.com/free/ (Not an affiliate link)

Trust you have enjoyed this case study! If you enjoyed this post and see the benefits of using videos I highly recommend you get your hands on a copy of Kevin Riley’s Recipe For Shooting And Distributing Sales-Pulling Video Commercials (334 pages and nearly 500 screenshots!). You will not be sorry!

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit  

John Reese recently made a video where he stated that selling ‘how to make money online’ information is probably the best way to make money online. He made a very convincing argument… In how many niches can you sell a $7 report, followed by a $47 ebook, followed by a $997 study course to the same buyer?

In how many niches can you make in excess of $1,000,000 a week (or even a day) with a new product launch? Yes, I know it is very rare. But, apart from the IM niche I am not aware of any other niche market that can give you these results, selling information.

For what it’s worth, I agree with John Reese. Many people are saying that the ‘how to make money online’ niche is saturated. I don’t agree. It is a huge and growing niche market. Yes, there is some serious competition and I don’t consider it to be an easy niche. But, if you make it in the online marketing niche you can do very well!

Back to my rant…

What I hate from the internet marketing niche is that it attracts so many trolls and bottom dwellers. People that have never made $1 online but are selling an ebook on how to make $10,000 a day while sipping Pina Coladas at the swimming pool! What rubbish!

I saw a thread this morning on a popular internet marketing forum where someone asked the question “How do I generate traffic?” Not an unusual question, apart from the fact that his ‘signature’ says “FREE Traffic…1 Million visitors each month.” Duh!

I consider the online marketing niche a great way to earn an honest living helping other people. It is a shame that the credibility of this niche is so often compromised by shady marketing techniques, spam, misrepresentation, outright lies or excessive hype.

Look what has happened to the marketing of Viagra! In principle, I think it is a great product. Um, not that I have had any need for it! However, I receive so many spam emails promoting Viagra that I actually hope I never need it!

The same can be said for the timeshare industry. In principle, a great concept. I actually own timeshare and love it! However, I probably receive at least two calls every week from people selling timeshare, trying to convince me that I have won a prize and just need to attend a small presentation with my wife to claim it…

Once again, the bad marketing of the product has compromised the credibility and reputation of the timeshare industry!

Many people have burned their fingers with the online marketing niche. Does this mean there is something fundamentally wrong with the underlying products? Sometimes. However, I think misleading marketing plays a much bigger role!

Can anything the done? Sadly I don’t think there is a general market solution to this problem. You will always find people that can only sell a product through excessive hype. You will always find spammers. There will always be good products and bad products…

My advice to you is to always ask yourself the following question: “Do I feel comfortable selling or promoting this product and, in the way that I am doing it, to my own mother?”

Your main motivation should always be to help other people.

I know there are many marketers that will make a lot more money in the short term than I do by promoting junk and by using misleading marketing techniques. I’m okay with that. I believe in karma. You reap what you sow. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but you cannot escape the long term consequences of your actions.

Do not allow the prospect of easy money to compromise your values, beliefs, ethics, morals or principles. Follow your heart. You will sleep better at night AND make more money in the long term.

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit