Most Entrepreneurs Are Leaving Buckets Of Money On The Table… And Putting Control Of Their Business In Someone Else’s Hands.
If you’re marketing on the Internet and you don’t have your own product to sell, you’re sabotaging your own business.
An internet business is no different in this respect than a brick-and-mortar business. If you don’t own the product, somebody else controls your business, plain and simple. If something happens to that company, it can have a dramatic effect on your income.
I know from experience. I live in North Carolina, and Amazon announced earlier this year that they were severing their relationship with all affiliates in North Carolina to Avoid Taxation by North Carolina. I had absolutely no control over Amazon’s pull out of North Carolina.
In today’s market, we see the ripple effect when companies go out of business because of tight credit markets and the recession. It has a negative impact on anyone who is associated with a company that goes out of business. When you sell somebody else’s product or services, your success will always be at the mercy of somebody else’s business.
An example of this was when Chrysler and GM scaled back on the number of dealers in their networks. Although these dealers thought they owned their own business, they were only a sales arm of the manufacturer. They had no control over the total devastation of their business brought about by a decision made by their supplier.
If you’re marketing on the Internet and you don’t have your own product to sell, you’re sabotaging your business.
If for no other reason, you should develop your own product so that you maintain control over your own business. This fact alone should motivate you to create your own product, but if it doesn’t, there are seven other powerful reasons why you should create your own product. We are going to share the first three with you …
First, you can’t expand your marketing efforts through other people…
A very wise man businessman once shared with me that there are only two ways to make money in this world: you either have money which in turn allows you to make more money, or you must duplicate yourself through other people. Affiliate marketing is the way you duplicate yourself on the Internet. If you don’t have your own product, you can’t get affiliates to sell for you.
By having your own product, your old competitors become your new sales force…
Second, if you’re not selling your own product, you face fierce competition from other affiliates.
You’re always forced to ask yourself the following question: how do I differentiate myself from other affiliates who are selling the same product?
In the brick-and-mortar world, competition is a less significant problem. This is because geographic boundaries limit the effect the competition can have on your business. For example, if you have a store in one community, and your next competitor is 60 miles away, he’ll have little effect on your business. But on the Internet, your competitor is only one click away and that can have a huge effect on your business.
Third, it’s harder for you to be recognized as an authority in your niche market…
When you sell someone else’s product, you are just another player in a very large field. From a consumer’s standpoint, it doesn’t matter if they purchase the product from you or from a competitor. Once you create your own product, you take on a new status in your niche market. You will be considered an authority in your niche and that translates into increased sales.
The final four reasons for manufacturing your own product…
You will experience greater profits and put more money into your pocket. Wow, creating your own product could double, triple or even increase your income tenfold. For example:
Assume that you are selling someone else’s product and make a 50% commission, which is equal to $25 per sale. When you sell 1,000 units, your gross profit is $25,000. Now, let us assume that you sell your own product for $50 and keep 100% of the money. If you sell the same 1,000 units, your gross profit is $50,000. You doubled your profit and put an additional $25,000 into your pocket.
But, it gets even better…
You can also expand your sales by setting up an affiliate program. Let’s assume in addition to your own personal sales, you have 10 affiliates selling your program. What happens when each one makes 1,000 sales just like you.
First, you have expenses that weren’t there when you just sold the program yourself. Let’s say that 60% of sales goes to expenses such as commissions and other affiliate costs. You have 10,000 additional sales at $50 = $500,000 in sales. But, 60% or $300,000 goes out in affiliate costs and you net $200,000. The income you derive from affiliate sales is $200,000 and the income you get from your own sales is $50,000 for a total of $250,000. That is a tenfold increase in your net income.
But, it gets even better…
Now you control the price, so let’s say that you decide to raise the price by 10% or $5.00. However, because you raised your price, you actually experience a 5% decrease in business. Your sales are now 950 units at $55.00 which generates a profit of $52,250. Your affiliate sales are also reduced to 9,500 units, which at $55.00 grosses $522,500. After you subtract 60% for affiliate expenses ($313,500) you are left with a profit of $209,000. When you add the $209,000 profit from affiliates to your $52,250, you have a total profit of $261, 250, which is an increase of $11,250 just because you control the price.
But, it gets even better…
When you sell someone else’s product, you are just another player in that niche market. It doesn’t matter if someone purchased the product from you or purchases it from a competitor. But, once you create your own product, you take on an new status in your niche. You become an authority in your niche.
When you become an authority in any niche market, people tend to listen to what you have to say. That translates into increased sales. Isn’t this what you want? You got into business on the Internet to make money. More sales equates to more money!
But, it gets even better…
By having your own product, you add unique content to your website. Google loves websites with unique content. And, because you’re an authority, other websites will naturally link to you. Google also loves websites that have lots of one way links to them. They recognize these sites as authority sites and rank them higher in the organic search results.
If your ranking lands you on the first page of Google, you get more organic leads and this in turn leads to more sales and additional profits. All of this happens just because you have developed your own product.
Authors Bio
For the past 11 years, Randy’s principle business enterprise has been in the top 5 listings on Google for his industry. His list of clients includes the Department of Defense, Department of State, Municipalities, Fortune 500 Companies, College and Universities, and several hundred small businesses.
Today, Randy is using his acquired knowledge to help businesses learn how to grow through the savvy use of internet marketing techniques. His central focus is to take complex online marketing strategies and tactics and break them down into easy to follow step-by-step processes.
Randy has written and published articles on internet marketing strategies to show businesses how to make money online. You can access these resources and learn how you can make more money online at www.InternetMonetizationUniversity.com .
What Everybody Should Know… About How To Increase Sales By Using This Four Letter Word
Last week we talked about “The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” and the marketing principle of “Relativity.” This week we are going to discuss a “Power Word” that has made businesses a fortune. But, what is so remarkable about this power word is that once again we will see how people don’t behave in a rational way when it comes to their buying decisions, but rather in a predictable irrational manner.
There are a number of power words and phrases that you should incorporate into your sales copy because of the effect they have on your prospect. Here are just some of the most powerful selling words and phrases that you should use:
- Free
- Transforming
- New
- Secret
- How to
- Big Mistake
- Three easy steps
- Guaranteed
- Risk Free
- 7 Tips
- Limited Time or Limited Number
- Sale
In this article, we are going to examine the power word “Sale”, because it’s a word that causes people to act irrationally and take action.
Let me share with you a true story of a friend of mine and how this four-letter word helped get him promoted into a senior management position for a large regional retailer. When he started with this retailer, he was in the grocery department of one of the stores in the chain. It all started when there was a contest on who could sell the most candy bars of this one major brand. That particular candy bar sold for 15 cents at the time.
He wasn’t doing so well when he read an article about marking a item on sale, but don’t reduce the price. Instead, raise the price. So, he took the 15-cent candy bars that weren’t selling very well and created a display and put up a big sign that said “Sale – 5 for $1.” What happened surprised even him. He started selling boxes of the stuff even though you could purchase the same item for 15-cents or 5-bars for 75-cents.
That shows just how irrational people are when they see the word “Sale”. But, the story doesn’t stop there. On day, he decided to improve his sign and he drew a squiggly red cloud around the word “Sale”. You would not imagine what happened next. He sold five times the number of boxes than he did with just the word “Sale”. Nothing changed other than drawing a squiggly red line around the word “Sale.”
In the end, he won the national contest, which eventually led to a promotion in his company. Who would have guessed!
Is it rational that someone would buy five candy bars for more money than they would pay at the regular price just because of the word “Sale.” Not at all, but that illustrates the power of the word “Sale” on the human psyche.
So how do you apply this tactic to your Internet marketing business?
People want a bargain and they are motivated to act when they see the word “Sale.” The word “Sale” leaves them with the impression that a product is only available at this price for a limited time and if they don’t act now, they are likely to miss the opportunity.
In your marketing strategy, you should use the word “Sale” or “Discounted Offer To The First 50 People.” It invokes a sense of scarcity, which causes people to act. The word sale has a well-defined meaning in your prospects mind: it means a bargain for a limited time. Act now!
Here is how we have applied this strategy with our Document Imaging software.
Our document imaging software has a base price of 5-concurrent licenses for $26,000. This price is cost prohibitive for many small businesses. Generally, once a year, we send a special onetime offer to our prospects that haven’t purchased a system from us. In virtually every case, they haven’t purchased any document imaging system because of price.
We run a 30-day sale where they can purchase 2-concurrent licenses for $1,200. You would be amazed at how many businesses decide to purchase a system at the sales price. We have them calling on the last day of the sale telling us they are sending a check next day FedEx.
You can see a number of strategies used on our document imaging website at http://www.disusa.com/.
Authors Bio
For the past 11 years, Randy’s principle business enterprise has been in the top 5 listings on Google for his industry. His list of clients includes the Department of Defense, Department of State, Municipalities, Fortune 500 Companies, College and Universities, and several hundred small businesses.
Today, Randy is using his acquired knowledge to help businesses learn how to grow through the savvy use of internet marketing techniques. His central focus is to take complex online marketing strategies and tactics and break them down into easy to follow step-by-step processes.
Randy has written and published articles on internet marketing strategies to show businesses how to make money online. You can access these resources and learn how you can make more money online at www.InternetMonetizationUniversity.com .
