How do YOU feel when you see secreenshots of marketers earning thirty grand a month when you’re wondering how to pay your mortgage or make sure your kids get a birthday present?
Well popular marketing lore would have you feel motivated to take massive action. My guess is what you really feel like is someone’s squeezing your guts in their fist?
In the past, I’ve wondered how the hell I’m going to pay the bills, and it’s not motivating, it’s just bloody scary. It’s crippling actually because it messes up your judgement and stops you thinking straight.
Being able to think effectively about how to make money online is something you only really get to do when you’ve already made plenty.
Cruel twist of fate or what?
So let’s get right back to basics. I’m going to show you how to make money online. This method is very good to me which is why I want to share it with you. So it’s not theory guys. It’s real and it’s working for me as I write this.
Very quickly before I start I want to say that the reason I’m sharing this is because I’m starting to get some very desperate emails from people. I suspect other marketers are too but I’m very uncomfortable with pretending everything is OK when in reality the global recession / banking crime situation is biting deep for a lot of people.
It’s not hitting everyone and quite honestly desperate times usually mean increased sales for people selling ‘how to make money online’ products, but I want to try to give you a bit of a leg up the ladder.
Why? Well there’s the ‘pain’ of not being able to afford a new car this year, and there’s the pain of watching your family struggle because you can’t quite crack it online, when just an extra few hundred a month would help.
This will work for everyone who gives it a serious go, but I’m writing this post for the guys who’ve emailed me.
It’s about finding a method that works and upscaling it. Sort of like spending a dollar to make back $10 then doing it some more.
I am actively ‘doing’ this method at the moment. It IS putting money into my bank account on a regular basis. It works.
I wrote something similar to this in last month’s Affordable Mentoring Newsletter and got some great feedback from subscribers who are making it work for them.
Get yourself a squeeze page and a free gift. Get yourself a good converting product as an upsell. It’s not as hard as it sounds because they don’t even have to be your product, although your squeeze page will convert better if it’s unique.
Here’s an example. Go to the Google keywords tool and do some research on low competition niches or something similar. Write up in the info in a report or ‘bulletin’ If you can get PLR to a good report you could use that. Even better if you can get rights to give away a piece of software that does it for you.
Software as a freebie converts very well. Once you’re using this method seriously you could have some made.
You need a good quality free gift to get people to opt in to your sq page. Make it something YOU would opt in for. Don’t assume customers opt in for crap if you wouldn’t yourself. That’s both arrogant and stupid.
It doesn’t have to be in keyword research. It could be a freebie about website design, blogging, plugins, SEO or any of the other ideas that make up the ‘make money online’ niche. It really does have to be in the MMO niche. I’ll explain why later.
Then find yourself a good product that converts well. It doesn’t have to be your product. Some of my best systems use 100% commission products from other people, and some use Clickbank products. They’ve done all the work for you – slaes pages, testing etc.
Now put them together.
You put your squeeze page at the front end, and then deliver the paid product once they’ve opted in. I sometimes put an exit splash on the sq page to ‘mop up’ some of the visitors that don’t opt in.
Then either put it in front of an existing traffic stream (I sometimes divert traffic away from my other pages for a while) or visit the Warrior Forum JV section and buy a mail solo mailing. This is why it works best in the make money online niche, because solo mailings are EASY to come by.
I buy a lot of paid mailings.
What you’re really doing here is testing conversions.
If your squeeze page converts at 50% and you get 200 visitors that means that 100 go through to your offer page. If THAT coverts at 10% and the sale price is $17 it means you make (10 people at $17) $170. If your upsell works on a commission other than 100% adjust your figures accordingly.
If you paid $100 for your solo mailing (An average price for 200 clicks is around $80) then you’re $70 up.
Scale up. Times it by 10.
If you spend $1000 on paid mailings you’ll be $700 up. That’s profit AFTER you’ve covered the price of your mailings. In your pocket.
Track your results for a while. Your conversion rates will obviously fluctuate depending on the quality of traffic but I’ve found they don’t waver as much as you’d think.
Slowly scale up, using your profits to buy more mailings. Within a few months you can be investing $10,000 in paid mailings and taking a clear profit of $7,000 a month. Build more systems and do it again, I can build a system in half a day.
I would HIGHLY recommend splitting this over several systems. I earn pretty well from IM but I still get ‘twitchy’ spending five figures on paid mailings if the upsell is a commission product!
Make sure you NEVER send the newly opted in customer directly to an affiliate link. Always run it through a redirect on your site first. That way if the product owner removes the product or starts playing silly buggers in some way you can just divert to another product.
The product by the way MUST be highly relatyed to your squeeze page bait.
The other thing is time. I’d recommend hiring a good virtual assistant to line up the mailings and book them for you. This might cost you $500 a month but it’s well worth it. All they need is to know the is details of your systems and have access to your Paypal account to pay.
You can give them certain powers and restrict others in Paypal. For example you can allow them to pay people but not withdraw money or change settings etc. It’s easy.
While’s your VA is sorting out the mailings you could be looking into SEO. If it’s at all possible you should try to get your site to Google page 1 for low competition keyword so that at least some of the traffic to your systems is free. This is not necessary but it certainly helps.
The ultimate goal (for me anyway) on every system I create is to SEO it to the point where I’m getting a lot of traffic organically and paying for much less. Pure profit. You get rich this way.
of course you can also look into other forms of paid advertising such as banner ads, media buys and the rest as your confidence grows.
This is basically how almost every successful marketer does it. Sure the size and type if system varies – the upsell might be personal coaching or a high ticket course.
But this IS internet marketing guys. Everything else is fluff.
Build a system that converts to a profit and builds your list. Upscale it.
As you become more experienced you’ll tweak and refine it and add other things in there.
But basically once you’ve got something that turns the tiniest of profits you can do one of two things:
1. The wrong way. Most newbies learn how to make $30 a month from their system then move into something else because they think it’s not doing well enough. This is crazy. This will lead to failure unless you’re very clever or very lucky.
2. The right way. Once the method works upscale it. This is what pretty much EVERY successful marketer does in one way or another.
Build your list and profit as you do it. That’s the secret of internet marketing. Everything else is just pretty and shiny.
I’d love to hear your comments, feedback and even your problems. If you’re stuck with anything post it here and I’ll try to help.
Get my blog posts delivered by Email
What a great post and advice Tony!
Marketing online had changed over the past 2-3 years, matter of fact it can be down right hard at times.
One thing for sure is using others lists to make money and gain more subscribers. It works, but one must use care.
I know there are a few sites that list marketers willing to sell spots but many of them are out of date.
Wish there was one good site that list current marketers, you have any in mind?
Thanks again for the excellent advice Tony.
Terry
Excellent post, Tony and there are a few points I want to add or emphasise for other readers:
If you use a PLR product as your giveaway make the time and effort to change the graphics/copy/content enough that your subscriber’s perception is that they are getting both excellent value and something unique. We all want something for free and we especially want something for free that very few other people have…it’s the feeling of being let into a secret club.
Tweak and test all the while but ultimately persist. Hold your nerve and scale up as soon as you are able. $10 profit is $10 you didn’t have before – keep at it and that will soon multiply. When I bump WSOs I sometimes make a ton more and sometimes only get back the cost of the bump plus a little profit – doesn’t stop me doing it again because I am quids in.
Scale out as well as up – build a few of these cash machines as Tony suggests but ensure that you sustain the effort across all of them.
Have faith in yourself and the system. We all need to follow a tried and tested strategy and often the simplest are the ones that work best.
Good luck everyone and keep at it!
Amanda
Hi Terry,
There are always solo ads for sale in the JV section of the Warrior Forums, and you could try safe swaps too (not sure of the URL)
Tony
Thanks for your post Amanda. It does work. The hard part is sticking with it. The whole IM ‘launch’ thing encourages us to flit from method to method, which of course makes money for anyone who launches a product, but totally distracts anyone trying to focus on an income stream.
Tony
Hi Tony
I love posts like this becuase it reminds you of the basics – of what internet marketing ‘IS’. All too often we get wrapped up in the day to day running of our businesses and forget what we’re actually doing and ultimately trying to achieve.
A great way of getting traffic to your squeeze page is to use a WSO. That’s always worked very well for me as you know. In fact the first time I did it I was gobsmacked when I saw so many new subscribers coming in – I’d highly recommend it to anyone reading this.
Thanks again for a great post.
Daniel
This is such timely advice for so many people! I use this strategy a LOT! Not only does it bring in pretty steady income but it also helps me test out a variety of niches to see where I might be able to make more money if I put in more effort. Thanks for giving others hope! -Norene
Read Norene’s comment again guys – it’s gold nuggest – “it also helps me test out a variety of niches to see where I might be able to make more money if I put in more effort”
Hi Tony,
Not a new strategy if you’ve been around in IM for a bit but the stopping point of this for struggling IMers or newbies is knowlegde. i.e. how do you link a squeeze page to a freebie to an upsell, how do I get the freebie or upsell to the customer etc.
This was my first endeavour in IM and because I couldn’t easily figure it out I moved on to something else.
The point is, everything is a struggle when you don’t know how to do it and it’s all very simple when you know how.
Not knocking you at all just pointing this out and if people are low on funds they can’t get the help they would like.
Hi Stuart, Thanks for commenting.
I agree that technical knowledge can hold you up some, but it’s also a rite of passage.
No one is born with the instructions for Aweber tattooed on their arse you know, we’ve all had to learn.
This may sound harsh but you just have to learn how to link a squeeze page to an upsell the hard way – by trial and error, Googling and reading through posts on the forum. Mostly by trial and error in my case BTW.
I do understand your point though. Incidentally it’s definitely NOT a new strategy, and that’s my point. The current climate in IM convinces us that new is best. And it ain’t necessarily so. I’ll take ANY method that brings me forty grand a month mate, new or old.
Again – appreciate the post, thanks!
Tony
This is all greek to me! I wish I knew what all this meant, I’m one of those that dont have start up money and desperately need to increase my income. Not very saavy on the pc but am learning. I’m grateful for your motive tho, most people wouldn’t take the time to try to help anyone like you just did. Thanks.
What do you need to know Rosa?
Tony
Hi Tony,
I imagine this does sound like it’s written in a foreign language to those who are just starting. But that shouldn’t stop them if they want this bad enough. Learn what a squeeze page is, learn how to FTP, learn how to make a PayPal button. They sound much scarier than they really are! There are so many free tutorials out there; Google the topic you need and learn it.
As far as no money – a PayPal account and an FTP client won’t cost you anything. You can find free squeeze page templates and lots of other things free or minimally priced.
We all started not knowing any of this stuff, and I know I continue to learn something new everyday. Believe me, if I can do it so can you! 🙂
Tony, you’re so right about the two ways people can go when they start seeing a tiny profit. I’d like to say I’ve always done #2, but…
Thanks,
Peggy
But, Tony, if the instructions were tattooed on your arse, how would you read them? 😉
Seriously, though, great advice. And, I can tell you it works. I’m actually using this method on one of my sites to promote Tony’s aff program and the sales keep on coming. (100% commission, too, which is sweet).
Thanks!
N
Thank you Tony for your helpful post. I jumped from one shiny offer to another until I started to stick to the squeeze page method you describe, except I just learned about the solo mailing bit from you … thanks.
It’s true that free information is available if you google it but it takes a lot of time that some people just don’t have and there are also helpful newsletters like yours Tony and Peggy’s at very reasonable cost.
Fran
Thanks for posting Nicole – and I have to say if you’re looking for quality content check out Nicole’s blog. Talk about laid back!! for great content.
Tony
Hi Fran
I get your comment about Googling taking time. It does. Absolutely.
That’s why you should only Google the exact piece of info you need to accomplish a specific task. If you’re learning how to cloak a link you don’t need to know anything else at that particular moment in time.
Learn what you need then move on. Then Google the next thing.
Otherwise it becomes a serious waste of time.
Thanks for posting
Tony
PS Nicole asked…
But, Tony, if the instructions were tattooed on your arse, how would you read them? 😉
That’s why most successful marketers have business partners 😉
T
Thanks for the “Gold Nuggets” Tony! I was not aware of the solo mailing opportunities before this post, now I have something exciting and new “to me” to try!
Until now I have avoided the MMO niche altogether for some bizarre reason. I guess I was afraid that I didn’t have much to share in that department, but since I’ve been in IM for 3 years now, I guess I should really reconsider that huh?
Thanks again for the information and also the motivation! 😀
Penny
If there is one “truism” in your comments and post it’s this: too many times, as people like me are looking to earn even a rudimentary income online, we are “enticed” by the Shiny New Thing offered by the “gurus”. The copy is good enough to want you to look at the offer or open the e-amil. But, Tony, what you shared is the best advice, and the best basic advice – work the basic system and test, and test again.
Unfortunately, it is so easy to get overwhelmed, and frustrated, and want to move on – or purchase that “Push-Button System”, “guaranteed to make you money in 240 seconds or your money back – no questons asked”.
Hope is eternal, money is finite.
Thanks for the advice. It is timeless, as well as priceless.
Tony
It’s so true. So easy to forget that building a funnel and driving people through it IS internet marketing in a nutshell.
That’s why I also try to concentrate on helping people learn the basics in the form of basic skills and then the basic formula like you have described.
Great post as usual and it shows you have a heart too
Best wishes
Ian
Great post and this method does work.
I am currently using one of your PLR Products Tony, at my squeeze page as the main hook together with a bonus package of PLR reports, some written by myself and some from Nicol Dean’s free rebrandable reports.
PLR Products DO work as long as you make sure they are of excellent quality ( Like Tony & Nicols)
And to any newbies who need to learn the basics, please let me recommend Tony’s Kickstart Course. No word of a lie, this was the very first course I did about 2 years ago and I learned how to put my very first site up, really, really easily. That is why I still subscribe to Tony and how I found this blog post. And don’t be put off by the fact it was 2 years ago. The basic stuff you need to know is the same now as it was then. ( and by the way, Aweber still gets the better of me on occassions)
Take the time to learn a few new, essential skills. They really aren’t that difficult and focus on one thing at a time.
Thanks Tony
Very enlightening post Tony, I haven’t come across buying solo mailings as a traffic strategy before, I have mainly bought ppc ads. I will be testing out this strategy for certain.
Thanks, Keith.
Tony
I think if i could just get something going even it didn’t ake a lot of money at least it would give you hope and something to look forward to.
Alaways enjoy reading what you have to say in any article.
Vernon
“It doesn’t have to be in keyword research. It could be a freebie about website design, blogging, plugins, SEO or any of the other ideas that make up the ‘make money online’ niche. It really does have to be in the MMO niche. I’ll explain why later.”
Did this get explained and I just missed it? I realize that all IM’ers are not slimy. In the short time I have followed your blog I have found you refreshingly forthright, open and giving. I know you should not confuse where you make your money with who you are, but to me they have always been connected and I don’t know exactly how to separate them.
Thanks
Justin
Hi Justin. A good point. This system works best in the MMO niche because of the amount of solo mailings that are available. It would work in ANY niche at all, but you might have to use media buys, pay per click or banner ads to get the paid traffic.
Thanks for posting
Tony
Thanks Debbie – The Kickstart Course (www.kickstartcourse.com) is currently being updated 🙂
Tony
Vernon said: “think if i could just get something going even it didn’t ake a lot of money at least it would give you hope and something to look forward to”.
What have you tried Vernon?
If you’ve made even the smallest amount from a method it’s probably upscalable.
Tony
Hi Tony,
Great post as usual, I’ve been on line now for quite a few years and the one thing that I still really find hard to get my head around is tracking and checking stats.
It’s just one of those jobs that I can’t seem to get my head around. plus Maths are not my strong point.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
Mike.
Hi Michael
Good point. Start with conversion rates – either for sales or optins. If you use aweber forms they automatically track the conv rate for you. If its for a sales page use Google analytics to see homw many people hit your page. Then look at the number of sales made.
You can work out your conversion rate as a percentage of this. If 100 people hit and you make 10 sales your conv rate is 10%
Doing it this way can get addictive and it becomes interesting rather than a chorse!
Thanks for posting
Tony
Thanks for Info Tony,
Just want to make sure I’ve got this right…
Prospects opt-in at squeeze page for free offer,
after confirmation of email, re-direct to download page(to get freebie),
next, maybe thank you page which can re-direct prospect to a
salespage offer which could be commission site or other unique
offer of my own.
Does this make sense… Am I understanding correctly?
Thanks,
John
Hi John,
Take the optin, but deliver it by email via message #1 in your aweber (or other autoresponder) account.
That way you don’t break the flow and take them directly to the offer. You can do this by filling in the ‘thank you’ field in your aweber optin form. This will take them directly to the offer.
If it’s an affiliate product you just put your affiliate link in the thank you fild in your opt in form. By changing the URL in thos field you redirect your new optin to any offer you want.
Make sense?
Tony
Hey Tony,
The method you talk about is a fast and trusted one that many of us use and it works like pure gold. Just a thought for those out there that are starting out, find a system that works (hint the one that Tony has shown you in his post)and then stick to that system like your life depends on it and you will make money. PERIOD.
Tony just a thought here, why not make a small video series showing this method step by step and then do a wso with it and let your list know where to grab it.
You know you want to 😉 AND it will sell like hot cakes in to the bargain.
John.
Thanks Tony for this matter of fact post.
It’s a well known fact that without traffic your product will not sell itself.
Your traffic has to be the people who really want to buy what you are selling.
In addition to what Tony has mentioned and as far as traffic is concerned I would certainly use the WF (wso).
If a $40 wso gets you 40 subscribers (just for example) and you make 2 sales of a $20 product you would have broken even.
Now if you get your email marketing campaign to quickly build you credibility and trust you will then be able to sell more products (must be good products though).
So $40 wso gets you 40 subs and you now make 4 sales for a $20 product and you have now made a profit of $40. Now you have your email marketing working well Scale things up!
None of this happens overnight. You need to be doing the right things and persevere!
All the best.
Thanks again Tony.
Will
Hello Tony,
I think I’ve got it, please bear with me…
My prospect will get his/her “free ebook etc.” via email at a
later time than when they opt-in.
Their very next exposure after opt-in is … brand new product offer.
Let’s try this example:
I click on link and go to a squezzepage.
I opt-in with my email for a free ebook.
That’s It? (I get my new free e-book after getting
notified by email for a link to it.)
However, After Opting in, I get re-directed to a brand
new offer or an affiliate sales page.
Is my logic correct here?
Thanks,
John
John, Will – you know what I’m talking about guys. Get the system working, scale it up. Stick with it. That’s all you eve need to know about internet marketing
Tony
John Woods,
You’re pretty much there mate. The autoresponder system – I use Aweber – sends the email with the download link to the freebie pretty much immediately.
So by the time you take the new sub to th eoffer page, the email with their download is already being sent to their email inbox.
It’s usually pretty seamless.
Tony
Tony
What BLOG theme are you using? It looks great.
Ian
Great post, Tony! This is what keeps me coming back here time and again over the years – reminders of the basics, the meat and potatoes, the stuff that’s easy to forget when you’re off chasing the latest shiny object or complex project.
By the way – to add to your idea of doing paid mailings, you can also sometimes contact people in your niche who have newsletters and either 1) offer to write a free, unique article for their list in exchange for a short byline and link to your offer/site; or 2) swap articles/content with other list owners in your niche. I find that this works very well with people who aren’t in the IM niche and who might not be so experienced with paid ads but who like the idea of offering something new to their list (which they don’t have to write themselves, giving them a break from writing!) (Another variation on this is guest blogging, where you do a blog post as a “guest” at another relevant blog and promote your own site/product.)
This has worked for me quite well in the self-help/self-improvement niche, spirituality/holistic health, personal improvement and beauty, and in some gadget/technology/software niches.
Usually I just look at all the sites on the first ten pages of Google which serve keywords either similar to mine or complimentary to my own niche – sign up to any free newsletters the sites are offering, read a few issues to see what those webmasters are offering to their lists, then craft a unique proposal to either write a unique article for them in exchange for a link/blurb, or I’ll propose a swap of some kind.
If you get in the habit of doing this you will continue to build your own list base and your own customer list – and you can multiply this over an endless supply of niches!
If you’re not getting results from the webmasters on the first ten pages of Google, start looking at people with signature lines at relevant forums, check out their sites, sign up for their lists, send them proposals. Or use Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever to find like-minded publishers in your niche.
The possibilities are quite literally endless!
Thank you for your excellent report Tony! As you say solo ads are nothing new but it’s been a long time since I’ve given them a thought but now I’m ready to give the system a try …
Fran
Excellent, excellent, excellent!
Tony, the information you give away for FREE in your blog posts is often better (and more actionable) than a lot of the stuff I’ve paid good money for.
Now, if you could just make me get off my arse and start putting more of it into practice!
Thanks, man. Here’s a tip of my wine glass to ya 😉
John R. Cumbow
really interesting but i have a question, where can you bought solo mailing ads?
maybe i’m dummy but you lost me on that point and i have a second question
do you recommend auto-blogging? and if you can teach me, i’m gonna pay you for this