Marlon's Mailbag: "Should have sold the fiance and kept the business"
Published: Thu, 07/09/09
Memo From: Marlon, who else?
Memo To: You be the one reading this
Re: "I got hi-jacked by hype for 9 months"
Hello,
Marlon here.
This just in from my blog:
Hi Marlon,
Your stuff is great - really. Not saying that just for
fluff. I'm ashamed to admit I allowed myself to get
hi-jacked for about 9 months on other hype.
Long story short. I'm going to be 44 in a few days and in
spite of having my own small firm a few years ago, made an
even bigger mistake to get married. Sold my office with a
5 year non-competition agreement to my competitor and
well, let's just say I don't think my competitor could
have done better. Should have sold the fiance and kept the
business.
Anyhow, I've learned many industry insider tips in my
business over the years and since I'm now the sole
caregiver and earner for a sick family member, the long
hours 24/7 in sales is not physically do-able. I can't be
in 3 places at once.
This is why internet sales and marketing appealed to me. I
learned from SBI some basic stuff, and know a bit of html
and a little of a lot of other steps too - just enough to
get me into trouble. Which is why I went back to your
Promo Dashboard.
Very key. Very basic. So basic a person keeps looking if
they missed something.
Today I posted my first banner ads for my product the
Credit Crisis Survival Guide- basically how people who've
been side-tracked by the current economy can get back on
track with home ownership - but also how to make that
purchase work for them and not against them.
And yesterday I wrote a free small mini-ebook about the
Queen of Frugalista - a true story about a woman I met
when I was younger. What she taught me then, applies more
than ever to people today. And if they can combine that
with earning a living on the net .... even better.
So please, a few prayers for me - and from the bottom of
my heart, I wouldn't have completed that e-book I started
9 months ago if your Promo Dashboard hadn't of given me
the kick I needed.
Just have to wait and see what mistakes I've made. So
worried I did it all wrong.
Again, all the best, Angela
PS - I want to use the Credit Crisis Survival Guide as an
opener for helping people become more self-reliant - and
use your affiliate links and banners in a follow-up
special resource review chapter I'll release in a few
weeks. If you have any suggestions or would like to
preview it first, please let me know.
++++++++++++++++++
Marlon's Response
++++++++++++++++++
First of all, if you wanna follow in Angela's steps, you can
snag your own Promo Dashboard at:
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=7_9email
That goes straight to the info and bypasses the squeeze.
If you get it by Friday at 5 p.m. CST, you get a special video
from me that shows how to optimize sub systems as explained
below.
Now, my response:
Angela, first of all, you have writing TALENT. Your words are well
stated. The main thing on the guide is making sure you have
something that will sell it.
I would split test a sales letter vs. a sales video you do in
Power Point or open office and screen capture with Camtasia or
Cam Studio. And first get them on your email list with a
freebie on your squeeze page and follow up with all the
stuff I teach in rows 5 and 6 of Promo Dash.
Put at least 30 emails in the follow up sequence for your product
and then also affiliate products. Make sure to put some top
clickbank affiliate products in that sequence. For your traffic,
run the banners in forums, blogs and also do solo ezine mailings.
Set up an affiliate program.
All of this is spelled out in Promo Dashboard which you already
have. So it sounds to me like you're off to a very good start.
=================================
Angela vs. "Frustrated Marketer"
=================================
There was ANOTHER post on the blog by someone on my list who has
been trying to make it and is thinking of quitting.
There's a VERY stark contrast between the two posts.
I'm going to call this person "frustrated person."
The "frustrated person" didn't mention any of my step-by-step
systems they're following.
They didn't mention a product they created and are selling (which
is what I teach.)
They didn't have a Promo system in place like I lay out in detail
in Promo Dashboard.
All they were is frustrated.
Now, do you wanna be Angela or do you wanna be frustrated?
I understand frustration. It comes from trying things that aren't
getting you results. Come on. I once bought deodorant with all
pennies and had a car that smoked like a bomb.
Wherever you are in marketing, I've been there.
And having been there myself, I know the way out is to LOOK at
what you're trying and what I teach.
I went to "frustrated persons" web site.
There's NOTHING there that I teach.
Nothing.
It's the exact OPPOSITE of the Marlon Sanders' System:
Let me explain the System to you:
1. You find out where your target market hangs out. The forums
they read. The blogs they go to.
2. You create a profile of your ideal target buyer
3. You create "bait" or a freebie that ATTRACTS that ideal
target buyer.
4. You present the bait to the target buyer in such a way that
they join your email list.
5. You follow up with the target buyer with emails that send
them to podcasts, videos, pdf's, blog posts until they buy.
This is the FORMULA you use to turn things around.
Now let me explain something to you, whether you are an Angela
or you're "frustrated person."
This is a SYSTEM.
No System works optimally at first. You have to tweak and test
and adjust.
Plan: You plan out your squeeze page, traffic source or sources,
your follow up emails and conversion tools like audios, videos,
webinars, teleseminars and blog posts.
Do: You do it.
Check: You check and see for EACH STEP in that sequence what
worked and what didn't.
Act: You ADJUST the steps that didn't work very well and IMPROVE
them.
==================
Here is the KEY
==================
This is a SEQUENCE of steps. A system is a sequence of steps.
What you're creating is a SYSTEM that attracts target buyers and
gets them to buy.
There is a sequence of steps in that system. These are called
sub systems.
1. Traffic sources
2. Freebie offered
3. Tools that offer freebie
4. Squeeze page
5. Tracking links for clicks, subscribers and sales
6. Thank you page
7. Cofirmation email
8. Post confirmation page
9. Welcome email
10. Email 2
11. Sales pages
12. Order page
13. Upsell 1
14. Upsell 2
15. Downsell
Now, if frustrated person posted on the blog and said, on step
3, my squeeze page, I'm only getting 6% to subscribe but once
they're on my list I"m getting 10% to buy, so if I can double
my subscribe rate, I have a system that works....
If frustrated person said THAT, then you have something to
work with.
Here is my question:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Out of the 15 steps above, which one
are YOU stuck at? Do you have your
sub system in place for each?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Now, if you don't, how are you going to make this happen?
See, it's one thing to bitch and moan because while others do
really well online, you don't.
That's one thing.
It's another to realize that your business is a SYSTEM. And no
system is optimized at first.
And the path to success is:
1. You break the system down into sub systems
2. You work on each sub system to get it working
3. You fix each sub system one by one
4. You keep doing this until the overall results of the system
gets closer to the ideal result you're looking for
Promo Dashboard covers almost all the above steps. It doesn't
cover setting up your sales letter that in depth. But it covers
most all the other steps.
And it does it step-by-step in detail.
////////////////////////////////////
Yesterday I had 360 subscribers.
Today at 6:54 a.m. I have 62 ALREADY.
/////////////////////////////////////
How many do you have?
I've had 104 autoresponder clicks today ... it's 7:05 a.m. now.
And yesterday I had 1217 clicks on the day.
If you don't like that number, do you know how you change it?
You break it down into sub systems and work on each part.
You split test different freebies and squeeze pages.
You "Do" the Promo Dashboard. You work the system.
If you "just don't get" what I've explained, then here's something
that will bring you to enlightenment.
If you're frustrated or just about to QUIT, or if you are doing
great and just want to do better, then here is what you do:
Buy a book called "Work the System" by Sam Carpenter. It's at
your bookstore. I can't recommend it too highly.
And then, you get to work on your 14-step sales process that I
spelled out above.
It starts with KNOWING where your target buyers hang out at,
what bait is attractive to them and creating a profile of your
ideal customer.
Do you have those steps in place?
If not, when do you want to start?
If you get Promo Dashboard by Friday at 5 p.m., you'll get my
special video on how to optimize your sub systems using split
testing, which is how I do it.
Best wishes,
Marlon Sanders
PS: I'm sending you straight to the info and bypassing the
squeeze this time.
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=7_9email