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Riches
Copyright 2003 By Willie Crawford
A recent discussion on an on-line
discussion forum reminded me of when I
was involved in mail-order in the early
1970s. My introduction to "income
opp-ortunities" was when I answered
an ad offering a plan for making $100 a
day stuffing envelopes. The ad offered a
plan for $1 and a self-addressed, stamped
envelope. In exchange for my dollar and
envelope I received an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet
telling me to run the same ad and when I
got responses, send them the same sheet.
I kept searching for something better :-)
I soon got involved in mailing out
circulars offering various products and
services. I charged others to mail their
circulars using my bulk mailing permit. I
also charged them for running their ads
in my ad-sheet. It was a world where we
paid to run our ads in each others
newsletter. There seemed to be a lot of
people selling the same opport-unities to
each other.
Fast forward 30 years, and I see many
similarities in some on-line businesses.
That discussion on the forum caused me to
step back and ask a few questions. The
most important question was, "What's
the difference between selling a dream
and helping someone to really build an
on-line business." I see hundreds of
plans/schemes that I'm convinced are not
plausible ways to earn a decent income
on-line. These are the biz-ops where
people are just selling each other the
latest insider information and plans that
promise to make them big successes.
I know that most of these plans aren't
doing the trick because I talk to
numerous people about what really works
every week. I'm involved in several
mastermind groups and also participate in
brainstorming calls. We discuss what
techniques are really growing each
others' businesses. I also get emails
from 20 - 30 people a week who aren't
achieving the level of success they
desire, and they often ask me for
solutions.
I have to first of all admit that I may
not have a ready solution for them.
What's working for me make not work for
them because of differences in my target
audience, difference in my relationship
with my audience, and even timing. So I
spend a lot of time brainstorming with
them... usually for a fee :-)
One of the first realities we must face
is that selecting the right product or
service to promote is perhaps the most
important decision they have to make.
Choose the wrong service.... one no-one
wants, and you're dead in the water
before you start. Yes, you'll get a few
people purchasing your product but not in
the volume you desire.
The second reality that we must face is
that you need a really solid marketing
plan. Promoting your products or services
in an unorganized, scatter-gun fashion
will produce lesser results. You need to
flow out what activities you are going to
use in promoting your business.
Everything needs to be planned out. Then
you need to stick with your plan long
enough to see the results. Plan,
implement, measure results, make
adjustments - that's the
formula.
The third reality that we must face is
that building a thriving on-line business
can be hard work. I've put in many
18-hour days and fell asleep at my
keyboard many times. It takes time to
build a list and to build credibility. I
haven't discovered any foolproof shortcut
to this reality.
Having faced the above realities, I go on
with my clients to look at what they are
doing to build their businesses and how
they can improve them. On the internet it
all boils down to traffic... to reaching
an audience and convincing them that your
product offers the solution to their
wants or needs. That means using the
search engines and email to attract
traffic. It also means learning to write
good copy or getting someone else to do
it for you. I don't see any shortcuts
there. Words sell, and putting the right
words in the right order is a science.
It's something anyone can learn. Poor
webcopy is the biggest problem on most of
the websites I visit that aren't making
any money.
There are literally hundreds of ways to
reach your target audience and attract
them to your website. The first step is
properly identifying who you should be
targeting. That one step allows you to
spend your promotional dollars in the
right place ... the place where you will
get the greatest return. For some
products, and some businesses, paid-for
search engine listings are a great
option. For others buying banners on
other websites (exit popups, etc.) are a
great idea. I gain great exposure by
having my articles appear in others'
ezines and on others' websites. This
takes time to build up momentum though. I
also have an army of affiliates driving
traffic to my sites. This also takes
time.
When I look at my secrets to success,
building relationships with a lot of
prospects over the past seven years has
played a big part. That's just the path
that I took. I've seen people achieve
incredible success in a matter of month,
but I have seen many more fail. The one
thing that I want all of my clients to
ask themselves is, "If it was so
easy to come on-line and make your
fortune, why aren't many more quitting
their off-line jobs and doing it."
That's a very important question to
at-least contemplate.
Hopefully, this article wasn't too
negative. I just see a lot of
similarities between the envelope
stuffing schemes I fell victim to in the
early 1970s and the on-line world today.
Fortunes are being made on-line. It takes
a product or service that people need and
want, and then you have to make them
aware of it. That often takes a lot of
hard work. However, when you finally make
your breakthrough, it will be worth every
ounce of effort. Make absolutely certain
that you start out with the right
products though.
To your success.
Willie Crawford
Willie Crawford
has been teaching others how to
build an
on-line business since late 1996.
Frequently featured in
radio, magazine and newspaper
articles and interviews, Willie
teaches the average guy what the
top marketers are doing but
seldom talking about. For
example, Willie demonstrates the
power of automated residual
income through his system at:
http://ProfitAutomation.Com
Test drive this system now. |
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