This post will be updated from time to time with rules, ideas and quotes. I don’t want to set the numbers like “30 rules or 15 ideas” etc. Watch this list grow…
At the end of the list I will refer to internet marketers who helped to collect these rules. Rules are listed in free order, there are no important or less important.
It depends on time you read them.
” This list is by no means exhaustive – it’s really more the result of a brain storm session when I sat down to figure out why some succeed online while other haven’t succeeded. (by Stone Evans)“
Read on …
- You gotta sell something. I’ve known people who were “in business” for months, yet hadn’t sold a thing. Until you start to sell somebody’s product (yours or someone else’s, doesn’t matter) you don’t have a business.
- Get into profit as fast as possible. If you’re buying traffic, figure out how to make that traffic pay as soon as humanly possible. If you’re outsourcing work, find a way to make that work more than pay for itself. Sure it’s human sense, but I’ve seen a few folks go to a serious debt.
- Make smart investments that pay off. Hiring a coach, finding a mentor, that shows you what you need to know is smart – throwing a few thousand at Facebook ads (without knowing how to do it right) is dumb. Investments are sometimes the fastest way to get your business on the fast track, but you’ve got to be smart about them.
4. Turn lookers into prospects and then into buyers as soon as possible. If this means selling them a $5 dollar eBook, do it. That is the way they can know you, before they will see the value of your advice and will trust you.
5. Upsell. Once people buy the $5 eBook, realize they have greater needs that eBook won’t fill, so find a way to fill that needs and wants and charge more for this ( don’t forget to deliver more value for that).
6. Make it brain dead easy for your customers to sign up. The harder it is, the fewer customers you will have.
7. Competition in your niche is generally great. No competition means you are in the wrong niche.
8. Get to know your competitors personally. Send them email, talk to them on Skype. You’ll be surprised how often competitors can be turned into allies – and the first step is to say hello.
9. Make a new connection every day. This might be your competitors, but it could also be people in similar niches, different niches, affiliates, product owners, etc. Make a list of people you want to get to know and then start contacting them with no agenda except seeing if you can help them in some way.
10. Build a customer list, then create products for them. Building the product first means you’ve got no one to sell it to and puts you at the mercy of affiliates. Building the list first and getting that list toasty warm to your offer means you’ve got sales of your new product (when it launches) from day one and stats to show potential affiliates that totally rock.
11. Your customers are not numbers. And they’re not strangers, either. They are your relations, friends and your next door neighbors. Think of them that way and you can’t go wrong.
12. Watch the hype. A little hype in the form excitement and enthusiasm is okay if you can back it with evidence. Too much hype and no one will believe you, even if what you say is true.
13. Use the element of surprise. When you deliver your product, add something surprising for the customer. When you are paying your star affiliates, send them a bonus surprise – even if it’s just a small Amazon certificate. Always do a little bit more than expected.
14. Treat your active affiliates and JV or ClickBank partners like gold, because that’s what they are.
15. It’s okay to screw up. And fail. And feel stupid. And look like a complete dork on social media. Just learn from your mistake, apologize and keep moving forward. The only people who don’t fail are those who don’t do a thing, and you don’t want to be one of those.
16. Make a list of the 3 things you MUST get done today. Then do them.
17. Do the toughest thing first thing in the morning. What ever it is – running 5 miles or making that phone call you dread – get it done first. The the rest of the day is easier by comparison.
18. It’s not always fun. Sorry about that but it’s true – having your own online business means sometime you have to do things you don’t like. The trick is to suck it up and do it – or find someone to outsource it to. It’s like a journey – to get to your destination sometimes you have to drive through neighborhoods or even whole stretches of road that aren’t fun – do it anyway.
