Autoresponders — Are We Getting Too Personal?
Autoresponders – those automated emails all of us receive on a daily basis — are absolutely essential tools for every Internet or Network Marketer. Having your own set of autoresponders provides you with tremendous flexibility.
You can set up any number of followup emails that can go out to your list any time you specify. You can send out Broadcasts to your list when you want them to see an offer or an announcement right at the moment.
And you can PERSONALIZE your emails.
You can personalize at many points of your email:
The Heading: Bob, This Offer is Specifically For You!
The Greeting: Hey Bob!
The Body of the Email: Ok, Bob… It’s Your Turn to Act!
I won’t argue that Personalization has it’s merits. It can absolutely be effective in making an email seem warm and fuzzy.
But when is enough enough?
Lately, personalization of emails has started to get downright ANNOYING.
My take on this?
Personalization is being WAY OVERUSED by marketers who must think that people on their list are MORONS.
Seeing my name in an email doesn’t impress me anymore. In fact, I pretty much know that when I see personalization in an email, it’s an autoresponder email.
Who’s kidding who?
Is it just me, or has Personalization just gotten plain old phony?
What do YOU think?
To your success!
Are You a “Jack of all Trades” Marketer?
When I think of someone who is called a “jack of all trades”, I think of someone who is very handy, can fix just about anything, and someone I want the phone number of when something in my house breaks (I am NOT handy around the house!).
Yes, I think everyone would agree that being a “jack of all trades” in this sense is considered a very positive attribute.
But is this true in the world of Internet Marketing?
My vote would be NO. And here’s why…
Think of all the ways to market on the Internet
- Pay-per-click
- Video
- Articles
- Blogging
- Squidoo, Hubpages, Wetpaint
- Classifieds
- Ezine advertising
- Forums
- Facebook and MySpace
- Banner advertising
- and likely many more that I’ve forgotten to include
Is it possible to be a “Jack of All Trades” Marketer? Of course.
That would be someone who knows a little about all types of marketing, but alot about NONE.
And that, I believe, is NOT A GOOD THING.
I feel that it’s much more advantageous to be EXPERT in one or two methods of marketing, rather than to spread yourself thin by trying to learn all there is to know about ALL types of marketing. It’s just not possible. And least for me, it wasn’t.
When I first started marketing online, I tried the “Jack of All Trades” approach to marketing. I was consumed with learning every type of marketing I could get my hands on. It was truly all-consuming and wiped me out.
I ended up being mediocre in many marketing modalities.
And expert at NONE.
And then I got smart. I took a look around at the people who were having the most success on the Internet, and it was the people who had SPECIALIZED in one method of marketing, who became branded as EXPERTS in their field.
Those were the people who I wanted to be.
I come from the field of medical sciences, and it is no secret that the SPECIALISTS are the ones who make the big money. The Family Practice doctors do okay financially, and they know a little about a lot (perhaps they are the Jack of All Trades in the medical field) — but it is the SPECIALISTS that are so highly skilled in one area of medicine that they become highly sought after.
And they command the BIG MONEY.
It’s no different in Marketing. Become THE EXPERT or one of the top experts in a certain method of marketing, and you can name your price.
Watch Those Small Roadblocks… They Can Build Up to Become GIANT Obstacles
Any of you who have read my previous blog posts know that I am big on OVERCOMING OBSTACLES.
Sometimes there are BIG OBSTACLES.
- Like Losing Your Job.
- Like Losing Your Home.
- Like Battling Cancer or other Health Issues
But more times than not, it is the SMALL ROADBLOCKS that accumlate over time that end of causing people to quit.
Case in point….. this has been my week.
I have been working very hard perfecting my Google PPC Marketing Campaigns. Finally, I had arrived at my goal of 100 leads per week. I was a happy man.
Then, some low life loser decided it would be fun to hack into my Google account and cause chaos.
Of course, Google immediately shut down my account to investigate.
In the meantime, Google saw fit to charge my credit card thousands of dollars from the hack incident. So I had to fight with Google to get the charges removed.
Still, my marketing campaigns layed dormant, waiting for Google to finish their investigation. I could just “feel” the leads I was losing.
So, engaging my Entrepreneural Spirt, I decided to open a Yahoo account to run some advertising. But wait, the Yahoo Interface is not like the Google Interface, so I needed to spend a couple of hours learning how to navigate their system.
Now it came time to enter my ads. I employed the usual software I use to download my ads into all of my Ad Groups all at once. This is a REAL timesaver. And guess what?
It wouldn’t work with Yahoo. UGH!
So, I just finished a 2 hour marathon manually adding all my new ads to Yahoo. And finally, my Yahoo campaigns are up and running!
And now I just received an email from Google, telling me that my Google account has been reactivated and ready for action.
The moral of this twisted story?
It would have been VERY easy to quit. To just throw in the towel and give up.
But winners never quit.. they find a way around the obstacles.
And winners do one other thing…. at least in online marketing ... THEY MAKE MONEY.
To your success!
This One Very Common Prospecting Mistake Will Torpedo Your Home Based Business Before You Even Get Started
One of the keys to being successful in network marketing is having the ability to quickly and accurately qualify your prospects. People have different criteria in making these important decisions, but it really comes down to one important question:
“Is your opportunity one that will help solve the problems of your prospect?”
Too many people in network marketing make the critical mistake of qualifying people based on how the prospect will add to their OWN business. For example, if Mary comes to me willing to spend thousands of dollars in capital to gain entry in to my home business opportunity, this would mean a huge commission in my pocket. But before I can in good conscience add Mary to my team, I need to assess her needs and wants to be sure that they are consistent with the ability of my opportunity to satisfy them.
Under what possible circumstances would I disqualify a prospect?
Here’s another example.
Let’s say that John comes to me inquiring about my home business opportunity. John tells me he has looked over the business briefly, has the few hundred dollars to enter the opportunity at the lowest level, and is eager to get started.
Before I accept John’s money, I have a conversation with him regarding his needs and wants. It turns out that these few hundred dollars is all John has left in the world, he is unemployed, no immediate prospects of finding work, has no prior experience in network marketing, and needs $3000 in the next 20 days to make his mortgage payment or he will lose his home.
There is no way that I can recommend this opportunity to John, nor any network marketing opportunity that I know of, because I understand how unlikely it would be for John to meet these critical needs.
This is an example of putting your prospects needs in front of your own.
It is critical to get this right.
Putting your own needs and wants ahead of your prospects will almost certainly result in the ultimate failure of your home business.
I make this statement with no hesitation because I firmly believe that the intention of your business will ultimately decide its fate.
If your intention is solely to make a lot of money for yourself as quickly as possible to satisfy your OWN desires, your prospects will quickly realize this and move away from you as a leader who can help them. However, if your true intention is to help others solve THEIR problems and meet THEIR goals, and your opportunity can help them realize these goals, then you have the perfect opportunity for adding them to your team and helping them succeed in their business.
Making this important shift from your own needs to those of your prospects will set you up as a leader to be followed and a person of great integrity. You will undoubtedly make more money in the long run and thus, meet your own personal income and life goals in the process. And there is one more advantage:
You’ll be able to sleep at night.
5 Essential Strategies For Growing Your Home-Based Business Part Time
Hi Everyone,
The following is an article I recently wrote regarding the special challenges that those working their home businesses part time are faced with.
Thought you might enjoy it. Read below….
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We’ve all heard the feel good stories of people who quit their job soon after starting a home-based business to work full time from home. While this should be the goal of all home business owners, the reality is that most people need to continue working at a full time job, at least for a while. This means growing your business part time, a scenario that can often present a very different set of challenges.
There are specific strategies you can use to make sure you invest sufficient time in your home business to reach your goals.
Continue reading this article.
To your success!
Dr. Bob Clarke
Dr. Clarke’s primary business opportunity
The Quickest Path to Becoming a Network Marketing Leader
One of the most common questions I get from new members of my home business team goes something like this:
“There’s so much to learn! What skills should I concentrate on first? “
Before I answer this, let’s get one thing very clear…. and this is critical to get:
Your success in network marketing will be directly related to your VALUE TO THE MARKETPLACE.
What does this mean? It means that the amount of money you make will be a result of how many new members join your business. And how many people join your business will be directly related to the likelihood that people see you as THE LEADER who will help them obtain their particular needs and wants.
That is, a PERSON OF VALUE.
Having said this, I’ve found that there are 3 critical skills that, if learned, will make you the leader that people will jump over walls to join your team.
In no particular order, here they are (along with recommendations of what I consider to be the best resources available to gain these skills):
Skill #1: Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC). PPC is the single most important marketing skill to master in today’s world of the Internet. PPC has changed the way of traditional marketing. Instead of cold calling, making lists of friends and family, and the good ‘ol 3-foot-rule, we now have mechanism to identify people who are searching for exactly what we have to offer. And there are no geographical limitations. But this is not a skill easily mastered, and to enter this market unprepared can cost you big time! Google is the biggest player in this market.
Recommendation: I strongly recommend Mike Dillard’s PPC Domination course, particularly those who are in the MLM or Direct Sales market. Easy to understand videos and exhaustive resources make the PPC Domination course on the best investments for your online business. It is the most cost effective and complete way to learn PPC from the bottom up.
Skill #2: Copywriting. Copywriting, or the ability to write compelling ad copy that will elicit the response you are looking for (i.e. sales) is the second skill that will, when mastered, will add tremendous value to the marketplace and compel people to follow you. This again is not an easy skill to master, and requires a bit of practice to get it right, but there are several online and off line resources to help.
Recommendations: There are a couple of blogs that are tremendous resources for people looking to learn ad copy. The first blog is written by John Carlton, an expert copywriter who started off line and had made the jump to online marketing about as successfully as anyone. John Carlton’s Big Damn Blog is full of tips, examples, and free content that will set you on the path to becoming an expert copywriter. The second blog, Copyblogger.com, is another excellent resource.
If you prefer books, I can strongly recommend Hypnotic Writing, by Joe Vitale. I just finished this book, and it is about as excellent a copywriting resource as you will find. Easy to read, plenty of examples, and includes both online (emails, ads) and offline (sales letters) examples on how to best persuade your readers to take action.
Skill #3: Positioning and Posture. In order to be the leader that people are searching for, you need to have value. We have already established this. But you also need to BE THE LEADER, to know how to position yourself as the person people NEED to join.
Positioning yourself as a leader may be THE most critical skill to learn in order to make BIG money in Network Marketing. You can have all the marketing and business skills in the world, but if you cannot promote yourself in such a way that people see you as the person who can take them to the Promised Land, then you have nothing.
Recommendation: Back when I was looking to position myself as a leader, I asked my upline what he considered the best resource on the subject. He pointed me in the direction of Blackbelt Recruiting, by Mike Dillard of Magnetic Sponsoring. This CD series teaches you step by step how to begin the process of positioning and maintain and grow it as your business expands. This is a can’t miss: Blackbelt Recruiting.
So there you have it, the 3 skills that will put you in to the Top Earner category for any company you represent in Network Marketing:
- Pay-per-click Marketing
- Copywriting
- Posture and Positioning
While it will not be possible to become expert in all 3 skills in the very beginning, this is where I steer my new members when getting started. Even having a basic knowledge of these skills will go a long way to growing your network marketing home based business.
We Met Burt Reynolds Driving A Taxi in Lake Tahoe
Well, it wasn’t really Burt Reynolds, but it sure looked like him.
It was, in fact a man named AJ, pictured here with my wife Rosemary, who turned out to be one hell of an interesting character.
I tell my team members all the time how VERY IMPORTANT it is to attend LIVE EVENTS when they are held. I explain the importance of meeting the leaders of the company, rubbing elbows with people just like them who are successful and attaining the very same goals that my new members have set for themselves.
And I tell them they must get to our Marketing Event because of the cutting edge marketing that is taught and the great discounts that are provided to attendees for those that wish to get advanced training.
All of this is true.
But one thing I NEVER considered was this:
When you travel to a Live Event, you get to meet people from all over the country, many of whom have very interesting and inspirational stories. This was AJ.
We had about an hour cab ride from Tahoe to the Reno International Airport. We were still on a high from attending the CC PRO Marketing Event from the day before, and were eager for conversation. In the cab, Rosemary and I were talking about the event, the atmosphere, the new marketing strategies we had learned, and the great parties we had attended after the event.
Our cab driver seemed very interested in what we were saying, and asked us about our company and our business. It turns out that our cab driver, AJ was not just a cab driver. No, AJ had a very interesting story, and the attitudes and beliefs of an entrepreneur.
AJ told us he had been a stuntman in the movies and TV for many years before retiring before the age of 40. Of course, we asked him what he had been in, and he rattled off such movies as Smoky and the Bandit I and II and The Spy who Loved Me. His TV show credits included Bonanza, Rawhide, The Six Million Dollar Man, and many others.
He told us that he looked so much like Burt Reynolds that he served as his double in many of his movies. Even though AJ was much older than in his working days, we could definitely see the resemblance (in fact, Burt hasn’t aged that well, either!)
His most famous stunt? He told us it would have to be skiing at breakneck speed down the mountain being chased by villains in the James Bond classic, The Spy Who Loved Me. You know the one — he flies down the mountain, chased to the edge of a cliff, only to fly off the cliff, open his parachute, and descend safety below, and skis safety away. For James Bond lovers, it’s a very famous opening scene.
But it wasn’t just his stories that amazed us. We soon found out that AJ was a clever entrepreneur who, having invested his wealth early on in real estate, had been able to retire at a very young age. He continued his real estate investments after retirement, never wanting to work for someone else.
Imagine a young 22 year old getting large sums of money for performing stunts, having the foresight and strength to invest that money rather than blowing it all on material things. Most young kids at that age would be spending it faster than they could make it.
The reason for this story? Be open at all times for stories and experiences that can inspire you to new heights, and the can remind you that you, as an entrepreneur are on the right path to freedom and success in your life.
You never know where you might find it… even in a taxi cab in the middle of Nevada being driven by a Burt Reynolds look-alike.
To your success!
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