Hi Friend and Internet Neighbor,
There’s a lot of talk about building passive income on the ‘Net these days. I know lately my email inbox has been full of such promises.
So, what’s the scoop? Are these promises Live or Memorex?
My fine friend I’m about to lay it out and show you five ways you can build a passive income for yourself so you can get more living out of life and stop being a slave to your business.
After all, the reason you started your online business in the first place was to have more freedom, no?
There are several definitions for “passive income”—for example the IRS has one definition. You get another from nearby Gary the Internet Guru not to mention several others along the littered path.
Here’s how I define “passive income.” Very simple: Bust your ass one time; get paid many. Hopefully over and over for all of your skull sweat.
Now if you do it right the first time, not only are you going to be rewarded handsomely, but you’ll free up bucketfuls of time, energy and stress down the road.
So step one on our great quest for doing it right the first time is discovery. Discovery takes the form of knowing who your prospects are, where they are hanging out, and what they want.
This is just plain marketing common sense (or at least should be).
But this is the mega important first step most business owners and would be entrepreneurs leave out. They hit the deck running like a deer, investing huge amounts of time, money, and sweat putting together that “can’t miss” product or service.
Soon after nearly draining their bank account buying Google Ads, setting up fancy websites and hosting, auto responders and all the other things necessary to setup shop on the Internet, they come to a screeching halt!
BAM-right into the brick wall, they realize something very odd: No sales flowing in like expected. Wow, where is everybody? Why didn’t I make any sales? What could be wrong?
The passion wilts like a dried out rose and the time is wasted.
But this doesn’t describe you —the smart marketer! No! It’s because you took the time out to figure out who’s buying what! You know who your prospects are, what their pains are, what their anxieties are and the solutions and relief they’re begging for.
In a nutshell, you did your homework. You made a plan and worked it. You took that all important first step towards freedom. And good things are now beginning to take shape.
Ah ha! Now you positioned yourself as the logical choice. The “go to Guy” who can help them and save the day!
So with this step under your belt, you’re ready to proceed to step number two. And that is creating that unique solution your prospects want (and are willing to drop lots of cashola in your bank account).
Notice the keyword here is “unique”. Maybe you’ve heard it put another way, hence the term USP-after all it’s been around for quite some time.
You’ve seen it defined as “unique sales proposition” or maybe “unique selling proposition.”
Any way you slice it, it’s what sets you apart from the competition. It’s what make you different and greases the sales slide in your favor.
So how do you concoct one of these things for your business? First off, don’t confuse “USP” with “Slogan” as most marketers do.
For my money slogans are totally useless. They add NO value to your bottom line. Further more, slogans can easily be adopted by any other business.
Start crafting your USP by examining your business, product or service. Ask yourself something like this: “Given all the choices available, why should my prospect favor my business instead of my competitors?”
Now list all of the reasons why then start boiling them down to one pithy sentence. You want every word to carry its weight forcing the sales momentum forward.
Try modeling a great USP. This can be an effective way to get the creative juices flowing. But a word of caution: Don’t copy another business’s USP or you’ll just be joining the amateur ranks along with all the rest.
One of my favorite examples comes from a famous pizza chain. By now you’ve heard the story of two brothers who decide to run a small business to put them through college.
One of the brother’s bails on the other. The remaining brother eventually comes up with a USP that rocks the small biz world in a way that completely revolutionizes his industry.
The USP . . . “Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed”
How’s that for a rockin’ USP. Each and every word does its job and brings home the bacon. Period!
Now try your hand at crafting a one or two sentence (at most) USP that will set your business apart and drive sales like mad.
Ok, let’s mush on to step three . . .
Write you ad. What’s that you say? Write the ad first? Yea, you read that correctly.
Again most entrepreneurs are busy creating products, stocking inventory, and such.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Writing your ad before creating your product or service will allow you tie all of your market research together. This allows you to really think about your prospect and what she wants and be able to communicate those benefits effectively.
In essence by writing the ad or sales letter first you’ll find that you’re able to “create the perfect” product or service without holding back.
Pack all the advantages of this perfect solution you’re prospect is silently begging for and see how easy it is to make the sell.
Once you have your rough draft sales letter together let it simmer for a few days or so. Then go back and edit for clarity and power. Read your sales letter out loud and smooth out all the rough parts.
Your sales message should be like you’re talking directly to your prospect—like she’s sitting there in front of you face to face.
Consider most of marketing materials you see today. They’re so impersonal and mechanical.
People like dealing with people not robots. So consider this when crafting your sales messages. Make it personal and see your sales sky rocket. Now you’re ready for step four—testing.
Yea, I know. You hate taking tests. So do I. But this type of testing will fill up your bank account quickly.
Want to know why? Ok, I thought so! The testing I’m talking about here is actually fun once you get the hand of it.
Testing solves most of your questions about “what price should I charge for my gizmo?” Or “how do I know what’s working?”
If simple! You don’t! You test. Testing gives you the answers you need. So test everything! Test different headlines! Test different offers! Test different guarantees! Test different prices!
Tally the results all up and find out what’s working best! You’ll be amazed at what you’ll discover which brings me to step five and that is be ready to . . .
Roll with the punches. Things are changing all the time. This is especially true if you market via the Internet. What worked great last year may not work as well next year. So be prepared to learn the timeless basics of superior salesmanship but be willing to try different ways to deliver your message.
Always keep your prospects and their needs and wants in the forefront of your mind. Take good care of them, treat ‘em right and pay attention to what they want. Do this and they’ll stick with you for a long time.
Part of this will have you developing back end products and services for your customers. (as you should) This is where it gets really interesting and seriously profitable.
You invested a lot of time and money finding that prospect and turning her into customer. Don’t let her down by providing on one simple solution. Have a variety of great products and services that will enhance her life and make her eager to spread the good cheer to others. So let’s go for the gusto and become a total solution for her.
Ok, that's about it for today.
Warmly,
Emette
There’s a lot of talk about building passive income on the ‘Net these days. I know lately my email inbox has been full of such promises.
So, what’s the scoop? Are these promises Live or Memorex?
My fine friend I’m about to lay it out and show you five ways you can build a passive income for yourself so you can get more living out of life and stop being a slave to your business.
After all, the reason you started your online business in the first place was to have more freedom, no?
There are several definitions for “passive income”—for example the IRS has one definition. You get another from nearby Gary the Internet Guru not to mention several others along the littered path.
Here’s how I define “passive income.” Very simple: Bust your ass one time; get paid many. Hopefully over and over for all of your skull sweat.
Now if you do it right the first time, not only are you going to be rewarded handsomely, but you’ll free up bucketfuls of time, energy and stress down the road.
So step one on our great quest for doing it right the first time is discovery. Discovery takes the form of knowing who your prospects are, where they are hanging out, and what they want.
This is just plain marketing common sense (or at least should be).
But this is the mega important first step most business owners and would be entrepreneurs leave out. They hit the deck running like a deer, investing huge amounts of time, money, and sweat putting together that “can’t miss” product or service.
Soon after nearly draining their bank account buying Google Ads, setting up fancy websites and hosting, auto responders and all the other things necessary to setup shop on the Internet, they come to a screeching halt!
BAM-right into the brick wall, they realize something very odd: No sales flowing in like expected. Wow, where is everybody? Why didn’t I make any sales? What could be wrong?
The passion wilts like a dried out rose and the time is wasted.
But this doesn’t describe you —the smart marketer! No! It’s because you took the time out to figure out who’s buying what! You know who your prospects are, what their pains are, what their anxieties are and the solutions and relief they’re begging for.
In a nutshell, you did your homework. You made a plan and worked it. You took that all important first step towards freedom. And good things are now beginning to take shape.
Ah ha! Now you positioned yourself as the logical choice. The “go to Guy” who can help them and save the day!
So with this step under your belt, you’re ready to proceed to step number two. And that is creating that unique solution your prospects want (and are willing to drop lots of cashola in your bank account).
Notice the keyword here is “unique”. Maybe you’ve heard it put another way, hence the term USP-after all it’s been around for quite some time.
You’ve seen it defined as “unique sales proposition” or maybe “unique selling proposition.”
Any way you slice it, it’s what sets you apart from the competition. It’s what make you different and greases the sales slide in your favor.
So how do you concoct one of these things for your business? First off, don’t confuse “USP” with “Slogan” as most marketers do.
For my money slogans are totally useless. They add NO value to your bottom line. Further more, slogans can easily be adopted by any other business.
Start crafting your USP by examining your business, product or service. Ask yourself something like this: “Given all the choices available, why should my prospect favor my business instead of my competitors?”
Now list all of the reasons why then start boiling them down to one pithy sentence. You want every word to carry its weight forcing the sales momentum forward.
Try modeling a great USP. This can be an effective way to get the creative juices flowing. But a word of caution: Don’t copy another business’s USP or you’ll just be joining the amateur ranks along with all the rest.
One of my favorite examples comes from a famous pizza chain. By now you’ve heard the story of two brothers who decide to run a small business to put them through college.
One of the brother’s bails on the other. The remaining brother eventually comes up with a USP that rocks the small biz world in a way that completely revolutionizes his industry.
The USP . . . “Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed”
How’s that for a rockin’ USP. Each and every word does its job and brings home the bacon. Period!
Now try your hand at crafting a one or two sentence (at most) USP that will set your business apart and drive sales like mad.
Ok, let’s mush on to step three . . .
Write you ad. What’s that you say? Write the ad first? Yea, you read that correctly.
Again most entrepreneurs are busy creating products, stocking inventory, and such.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Writing your ad before creating your product or service will allow you tie all of your market research together. This allows you to really think about your prospect and what she wants and be able to communicate those benefits effectively.
In essence by writing the ad or sales letter first you’ll find that you’re able to “create the perfect” product or service without holding back.
Pack all the advantages of this perfect solution you’re prospect is silently begging for and see how easy it is to make the sell.
Once you have your rough draft sales letter together let it simmer for a few days or so. Then go back and edit for clarity and power. Read your sales letter out loud and smooth out all the rough parts.
Your sales message should be like you’re talking directly to your prospect—like she’s sitting there in front of you face to face.
Consider most of marketing materials you see today. They’re so impersonal and mechanical.
People like dealing with people not robots. So consider this when crafting your sales messages. Make it personal and see your sales sky rocket. Now you’re ready for step four—testing.
Yea, I know. You hate taking tests. So do I. But this type of testing will fill up your bank account quickly.
Want to know why? Ok, I thought so! The testing I’m talking about here is actually fun once you get the hand of it.
Testing solves most of your questions about “what price should I charge for my gizmo?” Or “how do I know what’s working?”
If simple! You don’t! You test. Testing gives you the answers you need. So test everything! Test different headlines! Test different offers! Test different guarantees! Test different prices!
Tally the results all up and find out what’s working best! You’ll be amazed at what you’ll discover which brings me to step five and that is be ready to . . .
Roll with the punches. Things are changing all the time. This is especially true if you market via the Internet. What worked great last year may not work as well next year. So be prepared to learn the timeless basics of superior salesmanship but be willing to try different ways to deliver your message.
Always keep your prospects and their needs and wants in the forefront of your mind. Take good care of them, treat ‘em right and pay attention to what they want. Do this and they’ll stick with you for a long time.
Part of this will have you developing back end products and services for your customers. (as you should) This is where it gets really interesting and seriously profitable.
You invested a lot of time and money finding that prospect and turning her into customer. Don’t let her down by providing on one simple solution. Have a variety of great products and services that will enhance her life and make her eager to spread the good cheer to others. So let’s go for the gusto and become a total solution for her.
Ok, that's about it for today.
Warmly,
Emette
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