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August
2009
Staying
the Course under Strained Economic Conditions
Lately
I've been hearing that the recession has reached bottom
and the economy is slowly beginning to turn
around. What does this mean for the small home based
entrepreneur?
Over
the past two years, or maybe even longer, it's been
a rough ride for the small home business operator. On
the other hand, some have done very well. I've heard
that many millionaires were made in the great depression
of the 1930's. How can this help us today?
Well,
it tells us that money CAN be made under severe economic
conditions. The key is to study the market place to
find out what people are still spending their money
on - even in an economic down turn. As an information
marketer, I've seen an increase in interest in money
making opportunities.
Recently
I had a small twelve word classified ad placed in a
national print publication. I've been advertising in
this publication for several years. The ad stated: "DO
ANY OF THOSE MONEY MAKING OPPORTUNITIES REALLY WORK"?
My response was double what I usually get. This tells
me that people are hurting and want to make a little
extra cash. But they also know that there are a lot
of scams out there, and they don't want to get ripped
off.
This
is why it's important, if you are marketing this type
of information to offer a legitimate opportunity.
And
this is why in the last few issues of the "Survival
Tips Bulletin" I have tried to give a sampling
of the information of reports on the "eBay Millionaire
Treasure Chest" CD-ROM.
eBay
IS a legitimate opportunity for the average person with
little or no start up money. You CAN begin to make a
little extra cash. There are people on eBay who prove
this every day. Next we'll continue with this strategy.
Learn
how easy it is to start making money from eBay . . .
http://Go2eBayRiches.com
Staying
Focused on a Marketing Strategy
It
has taken me several years to learn the importance of
formulating a marketing strategy, and then sticking
with it. This is not to say that just because you take
the time to work out a long term marketing strategy,
it's going to work like you think it will.
However,
even if your strategy doesn't work, you'll still learn
from it because you will learn what NOT to do when you
plan your next strategy.
This
is where most people lose out. Too often people give
up and quit when their first attempt fails.
I
have been sending out these bulletins for almost two
years now and it's all a part of a long term marketing
strategy. As I told you before, I was going to put the
first twelve months of these bulletins on a CD-ROM.
I have done this. Now I'm using it as a stand alone
info product This is my own product, based on my own
marketing experience, and when I complete this next
twelve months I will do the same thing.
I
can also create an e-book or hard copy booklet from
these bulletins and also create articles from these
marketing lessons. So you see, I still benefited, even
though I didn't meet my original marketing objectives.
My
only investment to do this was time. I didn't have money
but I did have several years of valuable experience
that could be of some help to those who continue to
read these bulletins, my main goal through these bulletins
is to educate those who are really serious about learning
how the little guy can compete in today's over saturated
market place. Next, I want to drill down even deeper
in my marketing strategy.
Keeping
the Strategy Working
To
keep people subscribed to this newsletter I have to
bring value to the readers. The real value in these
bulletins for you is that learning from my ongoing real
time experience will save you time, money, disappointments
and set backs.
Here
is what you should have learned if you've been following
these bulletins. First and most importantly I hope you
have learned your true value is in YOU and your experience.
This is what you have to offer. There is no one like
you. Once you understand that, all you have to do is
package and market YOU!
Let
me see if I can give you a clear idea of what I'm trying
to get you to understand.
You
may think that you have nothing special to offer. Back
in my early days of mail order, I would sit around and
think "If I could only find a product that no one
else was selling, I could really make a lot of money."
Of course, this was ridiculous, but this is how I thought.
I was looking for a product that no one else was selling.
But in order to do that I would have had to invent the
product myself. Only then would have a product no one
else was selling.
Now,
after all these years, I have figured out how to do
this. But this is not something new. People are doing
it every day. What I have learned to do, and you can
do it too, is create my own unique product, and wrap
my personality around it.
You
can learn marketing strategies all over the Internet
from thousands of people. And you probably receive ezines
on any number of subjects that are of interest to you.
But
there may be certain information products that really
hold your interest. Why is this? It's not always the
information itself that you are interested in. It's
the person that's presenting the information. You are
captured by the personality that shines through in the
product.
Why
do you think that social networks are so popular today?
Because people want to associate with like minded people
and the Internet and social networks have made this
possible on a world wide scale.
Think
about it, when you were in high school or college, you
associated with the people who had the same interests
as you.
If
you keep this in mind, regardless of what you are trying
to sell, you'll have cracked the code to marketing success.
When
Does the Money Come?
The
money will come when you gain the trust and confidence
of people who are truly interested in the products or
services you offer. In today crowded market place, I
truly believe that this is the only way for the small
home business operator to succeed. This cannot be over
stated, you MUST take the time to form a relationship
of trust with your potential customers.
Just
think about this: When you choose a personal care doctor
or dentist, you choose someone you trust and feel comfortable
with. What about the person who cuts or styles your
hair? You just don't really want to do business with
people you don't like...
So
when you are trying to win customers, this is something
you must keep in mind.
This
applies even when you do business through the mail,
or on the Internet. Back during my early days in mail
order, there was one direct marketer that I did business
with on a regular basis. This is because he offered
products I wanted to buy, and his sales letters
were written in a way that were truthful without a lot
of hype. So, every time that I received an offer in
the mail from him I would always read it. And most of
the time, if I felt I could afford it, I would respond
to his offer.
One
of the things I really liked about T.E. Mudry was that
you could count on hearing from him at least three or
four times a year with a good offer.
Also,
from my own experience, if people like the way you treat
them as a customer, they will continue to do business
with you again and again.
This
is why you should formulate your business model around
the interest of your customers.
The
way that you do this is find out what your customers
want.
You
find out what your customers or prospects want by asking
them. You can do this by getting them to fill out a
short survey. To do this, you must offer them something
in return for filling out the survey, we can take a
closer look at how to go about doing this.
Warmly
Greg Bey
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