What’s the classic Internet marketer’s dream?
Sell nothing, talk to nobody, provide no customer service…
In short: do nothing…and watch the big bucks roll in.
This fantasy – pushed aggressively by an ever-growning army of Internet pitchmen – has probably caused would-be Internet marketers to lose more money (not to mention time and sleep) than the national debt.
Let’s make 2007 the year we all get over it.
Yes, you can make some money collecting traffic and passing it on to others (AdSense, affiliate programs, whatever) to “close” it for you.
It’s a legitimate way to generate revenue, but here’s the key: it’s not a business!
I tried to explain this to folks way back in 1994.
(Maybe you’ve seen the video where I first talked about this.
If not, just go to Google Video and enter the keyword “marketing.” It usually comes us as #2. It’s called the First Internet Marketing Conference.)
Bottom line: In my book, it ain’t a business unless you own the most valuable asset there is on earth: a big list of customers with money in their pockets who are happy to spend it with you.
Any activity that does not result in generating a customer list and a positive relationship with the people on it just doesn’t cut it – for me at least.
Customers are the source…they’re the gold…they’re what makes the world go ’round and if you want to…last as a business…and maximize your lifetime income…the key is to get as close to your customers as you possibly can.
Maybe someday this idea will become common in Internet marketing circles.
And maybe someday pigs will fly, but for those who “get” what I’m saying, consider this…
On the average, for every 100 people who come to your site, 98 leave without doing anything.
They don’t buy, they don’t opt-in, they don’t download anything.
They’re gone – and you don’t know who they are, why they came to you in the first place and why they turned away from your offer – even your snazzy, free, no obligation one.
Think of all the effort and expense it takes to get someone to your site…
Are you really happy knowing that the overwhelming majority of visitors leave your site without taking even the first step toward becoming a customer?
If you’re sane, you shouldn’t be.
If we ran real stores with monthly rent and utility bills and staff and inventories, we’d care a lot more about this.
But because it’s the Internet and everything is free (what a joke that is), we don’t care as much.
Big mistake.
Big expensive mistake.
Big expensive mistake that keeps us running ’round and ’round on the hamster wheel expending lots of energy, but gathering little green.
So what’s the answer?
This year I came across a guy who has one of the most intriguing solutions to this problem I’ve ever seen.
Once you get over the shock of how much sense it makes and “why didn’t anyone think of this before” I think you’re going to find what he’s doing very exciting.
As in a tenfold increase in revenue…from the same amount of visitors. Those are his results and lots of the people he’s taught his method to are enjoying similar gains.
Check it out:
Enjoy!
P.S. It’s a new year. Anything’s possible.
One thing I do at the end of each year is get rid of as much old stuff – books, clothes, outmoded ideas – as I can so I make room for new stuff to come in.
Try it. It’s simple, but it works.
This year throw out the outdated way you look at your customers…and this is one of the best places I know to start:
– Ken McCarthy
P.S. For over 25 years I’ve been sharing the simple but powerful things that matter in business with my clients.
If you’d like direction for your business that will work today, tomorrow and twenty years from now, visit us at the System Club.
Ari is great!
I think he is ahead of his time on the Internet — revealing the importance of “human touch.”
Plus now that he is teaming with Perry Marshall — even better.
I also agree wholeheartedly that your customers are your most valuable asset. It took me a little time to understand that principle.
Now that I do…
I have created a very stable business.
Ethan Kap
I’ve noticed you have a lot of errors in your grammar. Because of that, I WOULD NEVER, AND I MEAN NEVER DO ANY BUSINESS WITH YOU! I’m definitely unsubscribing from your email list.