Internet Marketers remind me of Professional Wrestlers.

It’s faked.

Internet Marketers fake their marketing. It’s scripted out just like Professional Wrestling is scripted out.

They both plan their schedule and they both plan in surprises that don’t look scripted.

Now I’m not saying this is necessarily bad. I do it. All the professional Internet Marketers that I’ve talked to do it. People that deny doing it are doing it.

I script out my marketing calendar. Internet Marketers plan their entire pre-launch, launch and end. It’s scripted out and timed to take advantage of people’s tendencies.

It’s up to you to feel how much is scripted. Do you make an intentional mistake and then the next day send an email saying your extending your offer because of the mistake? You’ll have to decide whether you’re comfortable with those type of calls. I can’t do it because I believe it’s unethical and misleading. If I really made a mistake then yes you bet I’ll send that email. But faking it (I believe) will be be seen. People will know you’re faking it. A lot of people know that Professional Wrestling is faked, some of their biggest fans know it and they still enjoy it. But, it’s entertainment. Internet Marketing isn’t entertainment so if you fake it you’ll be seen. You might not be seen by newbies who don’t know any better but you’ll be seen by your peers.

Having a discount the first week, limited quantity, etc. these are legitimate scripting elements. So legitimate that we should be saying business model.

Why don’t Internet Marketers talk about this?

Well, they do. There are courses on it. It’s just not called scripting and it sure isn’t compared to Professional Wrestling.

I got an email from a friend yesterday about the new business she’s in where you “don’t have to sell anything”.

Makes for great sales copy. But, it’s so untrue.

You are always selling. When you are interviewing with a potential employer, you’re selling yourself. When you asking someone out on a date your selling yourself. If you’re married or in a committed relationship you should still be selling yourself or you’ll find yourself alone. And if you have your own business you are selling constantly. Everything you do is selling.

The people that make more money sell. They are good at selling. The people bad at selling are broke. I like having money so I focus on selling. Pretty easy decision.

I sell my stuff on this website. (BTW, check out my book coming out soon PlayProsperityGames.com)

So why do some people think that selling is bad?

They are uncomfortable with what they are offering is the usual excuse. Most people like this are uncomfortable with themselves as well. They don’t like being told no. They are uncomfortable with rejection.

Just remember most people are going to say no. But there are a lot of people in the world. You can’t count on anybody but yourself.

Cruise Ship

I recently went to a seminar on a cruise ship. It was the first time for me to be on a cruise ship.

I found the Carnival cruise ship business model to very interesting. It’s relatively cheap to book a cruise. Like $100 a day and that includes food. But, I didn’t realize how many upsells they would have. As soon as you get on the ship you are upsold an alcoholic drink. I saw many people seek out these drinks as soon as they stepped on to the deck. So all alchololic drinks are extra. Not surprised. Later that night the hallways filled up with professional photographer with fake backdrops. There were lines to get your photo taken in front of fake scenery around the world. I was baffled why this was fun, but there were lines of people waiting to have their picture taken. Having the picture taken is completely free. Getting a print of it is not. Yet another upsell.

Then of course is the onshore excursions. There was a lengthy list of them you could do when we stopped in Mexico. Not a surprise except for the prices. USA prices for an outing in Mexico seemed odd. They also have art auctions which I didn’t get a chance to see. I saw the art and wasn’t impressed, but maybe I’ve been the Louvre once too many times.

And of course onboard gambling.

And it’s a ship, you can’t get off and do something else. It’s a captured audience.

The cruise ship business is the perfect marketing funnel. I’m impressed.

Product Camp Austin 2009, photo by BWhichard

I spoke at Product Camp here in Austin on Saturday.  If you follow me on Twitter (@EagleChris) you saw that I streamed video during some of it. Wifi was very busy with 400+ people tweeting and blogging so at times it didn’t work for me.

I gave a presentation of Twitter For Small Business.  The biggest question was why small businesses should even use twitter. Many feel it’s a big waste of time.

I spend about 30 minutes a day on Twitter.  I use it as a one front end to my marketing funnel.  I don’t make any money directly with Twitter and I don’t know anybody that does. It’s a front end to get people to know you. They then get on a call or webinar you are doing. Or your blog RSS or newletter.  They get to know you more and some of them with buy a product from you.  Twitter is just a create front end and I choose to invest some everyday on it because of the phenomenal growth in social media.  I also enjoy social media. To me it’s a cocktail party where I get to meet a lot of interesting people. Some will get to know me better and some of them will buy my products, but my attitude is to have fun and give out interesting information.  I summed up my social media philosophy at TwitterForSmallBusiness.com in a free report.

The presentation by Jonas Lamis on how he uses Google Adwords to test a business idea was received well. I’m been doing this technique for years and you do really learn quick whether your idea has a market very fast, like a day. Jonas make a great point that this is good for discovery but it’s enough for deep analysis. And nothing happens until you start selling something. That is the real proof.

At another session I learned why link building is still a lot of work.  Check out hubspot.com and buzzstream.com.  I just ran the website grader from hubspot.com on this website and got a great score of 97.9 out of 100. I’m very happy with that.

I’ll be back at the next Product Camp.  Check your local area if they have a product camp near you. It’s great to have a group come together and brainstorm together.

Are you tired of wasting money on marketing that doesn’t work?

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The most important thing I learned at a recent seminar was showing proof.

People are tired of talk.  They are tired of sales text with no proof.  Show the proof and you’ll convince them fast.  Don’t show them and you’re lose them faster.

Proof is what really counts.

Right now Twitter marketing programs are extremely hot.  I get a direct message on Twitter every few minutes about one.  But there is no proof it works when it’s an affiliate program and the person sending me the direct message has 100 people following them.  Let me take that back, it’s proof that it doesn’t work.  I can get an account with the first 2000 followers in a couple of days.  100 is nothing.

P.S.  I started TwitterForSmallBusiness.com to help allevate the spammers selling junk products.  They are ruining Twitter and me and my clients don’t want that to happen because Twitter has been good to us in business.

Or at same seminar I showed my Alexa ranking of this website.  It’s gotten better since them but right now it is #229,850 which is extremely good.  I’d be happy with a bigger number honestly, but I’m very happy where is it right now and would love for it to get better.  I showed proof that I know what I’m doing and I got several clients out of it who are working on getting their Alexa ranking better.  If you would like to do the same call me at 1-512-772-2798.

What proof are you showing?  What elements of your business can you proof that you know what you are talking about?

Show that.

I was doing a free 30 minute consultation with a lady yesterday.  She had me look at her sales website and her marketing funnel.  I made several suggestions on how to tweak her website.  Plus some tips on how to get some traffic.

One of the tips was to turn off Google Adwords.  If your website isn’t converting then spending money on Adwords isn’t going to help.

And I had her turn her frustration of a competitor into a real marketing advantage.  She went from dreading to look at his website to wanting to look at his website to get her next big marketing challenge.  If someone is marketing something in your niche and lying about something you can use that to your advantage and market why that isn’t true and state the facts.  Don’t use names of course and be nice but speak out for what you think is right.

She was stuck and now she has a great next action item checklist.

Are you stuck?  Do you know what to do next?  If so give my free 30 minute consultation a spin.  There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I created a new DVD called Twitter For Small Business.

In it I explain:

• How to stay social on twitter and still make money
• My 90/10 rule
• Best time to tweet
• Best words to use in a tweet
• How to find people in your niche
• Automation tools to auto follow people
• Applications to save you time

You can get your copy at Twitter For Small Business

I will also have a handful of copies at the seminar I’m speaking at this weekend.

With social media you have to resist the opportunity to “hard sell”.  It’s like used car sales people selling during a funeral.  Instead of getting clients, you just made sure that these people will never buy from you ever.  Why?  Because it is a against etiquette to do this during social occasions.  Social media is not so hard lined but close.  I’ve seen people sell right away with an auto message when I first started following them with buy my stuff.  Not cool.  I’ve even seen people harassing others for promoting their products on social networks.

If you’d like to “follow” me, just check out my twitter page and click on follow.  See you online.

It’s not very well known that even big online email marketers are having their email subscription numbers staying pretty flat.  Not much growth.

This excellent article about 1) how much email you send compared to how much money you make, 2) what consumers say is too much email and 3) how frequency is tied to value is worth the read.

Many people complain about getting too much email and will unsubscribe from too many in a heartbeat.  And everyone’s limit is different on your list so you won’t be able to please everyone.  But, if you make your emails valuable by using relevancy, targeting and segmentation you can increase frequency.

Then the tactics he outlines are fantastic.  Everything from specials, benefit emails, extras in same email with sidebar promotions, seasonal, giving people the choice to join more heavy frequency email list will increase your subscriber rate and provide your customers with more value at just the right rate for them.

Check out all the details and the graphics at Email frequency: can you increase it safely?

My mastermind met for the first time in person over the weekend.  Wendi from Wendi.com the famous online hypnotist was in Austin for a workshop.  Wendi invited the mastermind group to her mastermind session after the workshop and the topic of twitter came up.

Twitter is a community of friends and strangers from around the world sending updates about moments in their lives.  Friends near or far can use Twitter to remain somewhat close while far away.  Curious people can make friends.  Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool. Developers can use the API to make Twitter tools of their own. Possibilities are endless!

She has done many test promoting only on twitter and separate tests to her email newsletter list and website.  And her results?  Twitter generated no sales.  I’ve talked to many other business owners and the results are the same.  I don’t know of anyone that makes money using twitter, except for people that sell coaching and other products on social media.  They are doing extremely well.

So is twitter good for business if except for a small group of people that are making money?  Absolutely it is worth it.  It is a fantastic way to connect with people.  I know many people that are using twitter to build a relationship with someone and then later turn that online relationship to an offline relationship and do products together.

Here are just some of the benefits of using twitter with your business:

1. Support – are you having a technical or other issue, let people know on twitter.  It’s better than a rumor going around and if you are the first to address it you can retain control.  Be honest and people will forgive you.
2. Marketing – think of twitter as just another front in.  When you release a blog post or a product or service you can announce it on twitter.  The people that visit your link may opt-in to your newsletter first before buying your product but it’s a good way to promote something.  Just don’t just promote on twitter.  Many people really hate that.  Keep your mix of helpful articles, fun and promotion.
3. Knowledge network – if you follow other people on twitter in your field of expertise you have a huge resource.  A virtual knowledge network to ask questions and help others.  Some people you help may become your customers in the future.  And you’ll learn which makes you even better at what you do.
4. Idea generating – you can ask your followers for ideas for a blog post or even your next product.  Your audience knows what it wants you can simply ask them and deliver it to them.
5. Recruit – need someone to help you with something ask your followers on twitter and you’ll get recommendations.  And the recommendations come very very fast.  I’ve seen this happen many times and answers come in, in seconds.
6. Brand – twitter is just another way to expand your brand.  If you don’t do it someone else will.  I’ve seen many Bob Proctor copy cats on twitter in the last week or two.  I hope the real Bob was one of the first.
7. Networking – business is done by networking.  Much of my business is because someone referred me.  Many businesses are like this whether you are selling a book, class or anything else.  Networking is key and twitter allows you to do virtual networking easily.
8. Feedback – I’ve had a few people give me good honest feedback.  Wendi twittered that she doesn’t follow people that thank every single person who are following you.  I was doing this so I changed that as I was having many many people follow me everyday.  BTW, thanking people to follow you is okay if you are not getting many followers everyday and then you can not do it once you start really growing.

So I know twitter is good for business but I’m realistic about how.  If you need help adding twitter to your website and automating a twitter when you blog give us a call at 1-210-775-2489.

I’m on twitter as EagleChris.  See you online.

Google recently launch Knol very quietly.  Google defines a knol as an authoritative article about a specific topic.  It is kinda of like EZine Articles.  Check it out.

Knol: a unit of knowledge.

Here is benefit of giving out testimonials to companies and people that you really dig.  You get free exposure when they use your testimonial.  Here is mine for TimeBridge which I use every week to schedule my phone appoitments.

Chris Sherrod: “Stop wasting time scheduling time! Use TimeBridge to schedule your next meeting. It’s fast and easy. So far I love the service and it is reducing time me or my assistant spend scheduling appointment times.” — Abundance Unlimited, November 9, 2008

TimeBridge Continues Fast Growth, Now Helping More Than 200,000 Busy Professionals and 12,000 Businesses Simplify Meeting Scheduling.

I’ll admit I’m not the best at judging the size of an audience.  Some products I’ve come out with I just do because I was inspired.  Looks like Seth Godin agress that the biggest problem of marketers.

The biggest problem marketers make is misjudging their audience. The see the size of the market, but not its true nature: Their accessibility and eagerness. Their worldview and motivation. All too often, we say, “that’s Sales’ job.” And it’s true, a superstar salesperson might very well be able to sell to an audience that doesn’t want to be sold to.

Marketers are guilty of hoping for too much from a typical salesforce. In my experience, 90% of the salespeople out there are below average because performance is a curve, not a line. The superstars are hard to find, hard to keep and hard to count on scaling. So that means you must create a product that doesn’t require a superstar to sell it. And the only way you’re going to sell an ad to a [insert difficult marketplace here] is to create a product/service/story that sells itself.

That is why I love telling the story of about the Prosperity Gorilla.  A businessman play a game I write about in my book Prosperity Games.  It’s called Prosperity Scramble.  He writes down several things he loves on individual pieces of paper and put them face down on the table.  He then scrambles them up and randomly turns over two of them.  He now thinks up of ideas based on these two words.  He flipped over giving away gifts anonymously and gorillas.  He loved both of these things.

So he came up with the idea for Gorilla Grams.  He gave himself a week and $100 to see if the idea was viable.  He tried out a full gorilla suit but found it too hot so he put on a suit and just the head, hands and feet.  He then got on a city bus and handed out flyers for him delivering packages, flowers or anything at all.  By the end of the week he had more busines than he could handle and he had to start hiring people.  Two years later he retires to Hawaii.

Be fast like the Gorilla Gram guy was.  Come out quick with and see what the market is like.  If it flopped play the game again and try again.

Seth has some good questions to ask about a market you want to get into at Seth’s Blog: Don’t sell to bar owners.

Here are the results of my survey “What is the single most frustrating problem or fear in your business?

Marketing was nearly half.  I get this question alot and so not surprised.  I make a point to market everyday.  I also blog about it quite often.  One of my favorite ways to market is to write on my blog here at AbundanceUnlimited.com every day.  When I started doing it every day it got me in the habit of always learning, always sharing and many people like what I write about here.  I’ve learned alot from blogging and highly recommend it.

Money, Technical and Motivation were the next most popular.  Many people have no idea how to start in business.  There are so many people out there teaching you how to do this and that, that it is overwhelming.  And I agree.  Why people are teaching how to create websites to people that barely can use a computer seems strange.  In business you can’t do it all.  You need help.  Someone to help in accounting, someone for your technology and support staff to help is the next most important issue book work.  Things that a virtual assistant can help a lot on.  If you worked on learning everything you need to do you will never be successful.  Learn enough to know who to hire.  Focus on what you are good at.

I create websites for clients that want to be up and running quickly with a website, so they can focus on marketing and not get bogged down with learning how to install a website.  The advantages of our websites is that you can add and edit your own content.  In fact I teach you how.  Once you are up and running I’ve available if you get stuck or have a question.

I tell my web client that they should focus on marketing, cash flow and keeping motivated.  The people that are successful in business know marketing very well.  They are not experts on creating websites or adding up numbers.  They are experts at getting the word out.  That is the key.

Here are some quotes from the survey that I think that many of you would agree on:

technical aspects such as how to build a website

I am afraid I can’t get enough financing to complete my project

exposure, getting enough positive, impactful exposure for me and my work.

Lack of self confidence

I get frustrated when I can’t understand a word of what anyone is talking about! I am new to Internet Marketing and honestly, it’s like being in a foreign country – a whole different language. And worse, it’s all in abbreviations which can’t be looked up in a ‘net dictionary’ – even if such a thing existed. (I expect it would be called an NDic or something). Everyone else seems to somehow magically know what these things mean, and it makes me feel stupid.”

“the Technical part. I have to ask and pay someone to do it for me.”

Knowing that my clients need my product, but not being able to communicate that to them so that they make a buying decision.

Advertising, marketing, but I am getting better.

I don’t know what I’m doing.

Being consistent

My most frustrating problem is keeping up with the bookwork, like writing reports.

slowdown

not getting anyone to follow thru with the next step

getting people to buy my product

Not knowing how much cash flow will be coming in next month.

not enough customers

that customs can said no : sometimes frustrated me , because they don’t stop me , and I cannot hear the inside voice of them .I am real estate and I take so much time with the internet , with the visit to the propriety , with email , and maybe can make me lose one month ,and then , they don’t said nothing , like , thank you so much for yours time , and they buy the other real estate house offer…!!!!!

keeping of accurate data

For people concerned about money check out my last podcast about business lines of credit.  If you need help with VA work let us know.  We also offer those services.

I’m going to focus on some solutions to the results of this survey and let you know when I have something to share.

If you have any solutions you want let me know.  I’m here to help your business and mine as well.  I use my own services to further my own business.  So your idea may help both of us out.

I enjoyed this article about brading for small businesses vs. big businesses.  Relationships is what matters.

Branding costs a huge amount of money – something many small businesses simply don’t have. Success isn’t immediate – or even guaranteed… if your first branding efforts fail, you have to try again until you succeed.

But perhaps, as a small business you don’t need to worry about branding at all.

Forget Branding – Build Relationships.

Image by Dplanet:: via Flickr

One of my mastermind members Daniel Topkis suggested on today’s mastermind call to read Cosmopolitan magazine to learn about headline writing.  My initial reaction was to laugh, but I went to Cosmopolitan.com to check them out.  And Daniel is right.  Cosmopolitan has the best headlines.

“10 Dating Truths You Can’t Ignore”

“Fashion That Will Make Him Want To Touch You”

“9 Beauty Tricks You Need To Know”

These are excellent headlines that get you to want to learn more.

And the headline is the most important part of the article.

So I’m going to make visiting Cosmopolitan magazine a regular to do item.  I never thought I would ever read Cosmo.

I love this quote.

If you act small and think big, you are too small to fail. You won’t need a bailout because your business makes sense each and every day. You won’t need a bailout because your flat organization no matter how large it is knows about problems long before they’re too big to deal with.

People that try to act all big and are really faking it concern me.  If you don’t know how much money you are making then you’re just faking it.  It’s amazing how many “big wigs” I’ve seen that due to marketing look huge but are really barely making it and really make all their money on how to market but have never made any money actually doing it.

The closer you are to your customer the better.  Don’t isolate yourself and do get help.

Seth’s Blog: Too small to fail