Central Net Marketing

Hi:

Internet marketers, when making a list of the things they think they need in order to successfully run an Internet business usually include the following:

1. A Web Site

2. Ads

3. Articles

4. Money For Promotion

5. A Product

6. An E-Zine

And the list goes on and on. But 95% of them forget one thing, and it’s probably the one most important thing you need to have if you’re going to succeed.

It’s called credibility.

Instead of trying to define what that is, I’m going to give you a very simple example of how not having it will shoot down any chance you have of being successful.

You’ve just signed up with this great new program. It’s the hottest thing since sliced bread. You’ve got your ads out all over the place. Finally, somebody emails you or even calls you on the phone if you’ve provided them with a number, and they ask you about this wonderful program. And you start telling them all about it. You can’t rave about it enough. And then comes the question that makes it all meaningless.

“How much money have YOU made with this program?”

Do you see where this is going?

Sure, you can lie. But trust me, that lie will come back to haunt you in more ways than you can imagine. Or, you can tell the truth.

What do you think is going to happen when you tell this person that you haven’t made a DIME?

Without credibility you are NOWHERE.

So, the $64,000 question is, how do you get credibility? How do you show people that you ARE a successful person online when you haven’t made a buck?

The answer is simple, but you’re not going to like it.

You’re going to have to go out and make a buck.

If this sounds like a catch-22, it’s not. There are ways out there to make money without having to promote a product or recruit. You just have to find them. My book has a number of ways to get that credibility so that you can show people that you HAVE made money online.

Fortunately, my Honest Income Program ebook, which you can find in my signature, WILL give you ways where you can get credibility and be able to easily promote your business with some degree of success.

The point is, there ARE ways to make money online even if you don’t get my book. Just do a search engine search for online jobs or something like that. Some jobs pay okay, some not so great. You’re not going to find anything that’s knock ‘em out of the ball park.

But, before you can go out hawking your “biz-of-the-week” you will have needed to earn at least a few hundred to a few thousand dollars before you’re going to have ANY chance to get people to believe you.

If you think I am kidding, try getting people to sign up to your program when you haven’t made a cent online. You may get lucky in one out of a thousand responses, but by the time you get your next sign up, the guy you just recruited will be gone because he too didn’t make a cent and got fed up.

I hope everyone will take the issue of credibility seriously. I had no success online at all until I got it.

Trust me, it is the number ONE thing we all need.

Actually, it will do more than that. It will totally change your whole life. If you think I am kidding, here is a real life example of what happened when a fairly successful Internet marketer went from being an affiliate of another person’s products to starting his own affiliate program for his own product. We’ll use pseudo names to protect the innocent and the rich.

John Doe started Internet marketing back in 2003. He really didn’t have a clue to what he was doing and had to learn quite a lot before he finally was able to have some success. He found a product that actually did help him make sales because of its unique form of advertising. He became an affiliate for this product and began to promote it. Because of his ad writing skills he was able to consistently make between 20 and 30 sales of this product each month. He was actually one of the top affiliates of this product on the Internet at the time. He was very proud of himself and quite content with his success, which was generating an income of about $1500 a month. Not too bad for an hours work each day.

But after a few years, John Doe started to get restless. His income wasn’t really going anywhere. He was still making his 20 to 30 sales each month but his own efforts were still only producing about $1500 of income each month. Success was great but John Doe wanted more. The question was, how could he get it?

That’s when he sat down one day and thought to himself, “I’ve learned quite a bit about Internet marketing these past 3 years. Certainly I can take what I have learned and create my own product and my own affiliate program.” So that’s what he did. He put on his thinking cap and came up with a product and created an affiliate program for it.

Naturally, the beginnings of this program were quite humble. After all, nobody heard of this product yet and at first he was on his own as far as promoting it. Well, his first month’s efforts produced all of 13 sales. Not even close to the 20 to 30 sales he was making selling somebody else’s product. But don’t forget, that was an already established product with brand recognition. His was brand new, so it was going to take time.

His second month, again, just from his own efforts, he made 53 sales. Things were really starting to pick up. He was making more sales than ever before with anything else, and all on his own.

And then, it happened.

John Doe got his first really active affiliate to promote his program. His third month he more than doubled his sales to 130. This was just from 2 active people selling the product. This was equal to about 5 months of his sales for the affiliate program that he was simply a member of. He had never seen numbers like this in his life and was in total shock.

But it didn’t end there.

With a couple more affiliates added to his roster of sales people, he made over 200 sales his fourth month. But it didn’t stop there. The sales kept increasing month after month with the increasing number of people selling his product for him.

He was able to quit his original affiliate program that he had been a member of for 3 long years after just a few months of selling his own product through his own affiliate program.

I think this real life example is going to make you see, better than anything else, how powerful creating your own affiliate program can be. The difference will be night and day in comparison to selling somebody else’s product.

The key is spending the time required to design a good product that has value and then promoting it in a way that will bring results. The rest will happen in time.

Explode your traffic, your income, your life.

Internet marketing, running a home based business, making money online, whatever you want to call it, it can be a VERY scary experience and downright expensive.

How expensive?

You can lose your shirt, drive your wife and kids into the arms of the nearest hotel and make your best friend your worst enemy.

In other words, proceed at your own risk.

And what makes the whole process that much harder is that there is so much misinformation on the Internet that people are easily taken in and parted from their money. Hopefully, this article will dispel some of the myths so that you’ll at least have a fighting chance should you decide to try to make a living online.

The biggest lie when it comes to Internet sales is the one that says, “Build a site and they will come.” This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Just having a web site on the Internet is no guarantee that people are going to find it. With all the web sites out there, what makes you think that anybody is going to stumble onto yours without some serious advertising, search engine optimization, and hard work? They won’t. So let’s dispel this myth right off the bat.

Another big lie, that scares people off, is the one that says, “Starting a business on the Internet is expensive.” It doesn’t have to be. Yes, it can be, depending on what it is you want to do. If you’re thinking of becoming the next Amazon.com then you better have some serious bucks at your disposal. But the truth is, to start a modest Internet business doesn’t have to take a fortune. Yes, you will have to spend some money to get started, such as web hosting costs, domain costs and web design costs if you’re not good with HTML, but in comparison to the real world where businesses need thousands of dollars to get off the ground, your costs are a drop in the bucket in comparison.

A lie that you will hear so much is the one that says, “You don’t have to know how to sell to make good money on the Internet.” Think about the total illogic of this. You’re starting a business to sell a product or service to somebody. So how are you going to be able to do that without knowing how to sell? People who tell you this are just after your money.

But one of the best myths is the one that goes like this, “You don’t have to build a mailing list.” This is just laughable. How do you think companies like Sears and Macys make their money? Those catalogues that they send out every month or so are not for show. They’re to let you know what sales there are and to get you into their store to buy. If this method of advertising wasn’t effective then why would the biggest companies do it? This is not to say you can’t make money without a list, but you’re not going to really make big money until you have an in house list of people who trust you to buy from you.

There are of course more myths online but these should give you a pretty good start in the right direction.

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Part 1 – Selecting your Topic

Everybody wants to know WHAT to write about.  What is it that people want to read?  What are the “hot topics” that you know will generate some interest if you write about them.

Even though the Internet has changed the face of the world — how we shop, communicate, do business, research and just about everything else — it hasn’t changed what we WANT.  There are classic (and absolutely TIMELESS) topics that are always going to be hot topics.

Here are ten of them.  If you want to know WHAT people want and WHAT you should write about, then find something related to these topics…

1. Making Money.  This one ain’t ever gonna go away.  You can just go ahead and etch it in stone, it’s here for the long haul.  We all want to make money (if for no other reason than to be charitable and give it away to someone else) and some of us (I won’t mention any names ) are half-crazed for information on how to make money.

If you can show people how to make money (in a legal, moral way, of course) I can assure you, they will buy it.  I guarantee it.

Internet marketing / doing business online eBooks are some of the hottest information products available anywhere in the world.  And for good reason.  People want to make more money.

So, show ‘em how to do it.

2. Self Help / Personal Growth.  Another classic topic for writing is what has commonly been referred to as “self help” or “personal growth.”  People want to improve their lives.  Some struggle with addiction and need help in overcoming the struggle.  Other people have low self-esteem or feel depressed.  Some people don’t know how to deal with relationship problems and want to know how to save their marriage.  The list could go on and on.

I’ll make you another guarantee:  show people how to better their lives and they’ll buy from you.  No question about it.

We all have things about our personalities that we would like changed.  Whether we’re shy in public or have a horrible temper or don’t know when to keep our mouths shut, there are things we’d like to improve.

And that’s an eBook waiting for you to write.

3. Weight Loss / Fitness. Even though obesity and illness are at the highest levels ever, people are working hard to reclaim their health and fit bodies.  Gyms are overflowing with sweaty people and stores are selling out of vitamins left and right.  Health and fitness is a writing subject that you can never go wrong with.

Heck, I’ll be your first customer. )

The point is this:  we, as a society, want to be healthier and we struggle with being out of shape. 

It’s no wonder that diet and exercise is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Might as well get your piece of the pie.

4. Dating / Relationships.  What another great topic for an eBook.  There are dozens of ideas you could use for this one that could each become best-sellers…

How to avoid divorce court.
How to make your marriage last forever.
How to be more romantic.
How to pick the perfect mate.
How to get people to notice you.
How to use online match making services.
How to be a great father / mother.
How to be a great husband / wife.
How to raise great kids.

I mean, we could go on and on and on here.  Play the energizer bunny if we want to.  There are dozens of ideas for this topic and the information sells like crazy.  Why?  Because if we have positive, enriching, growing relationships, we are HAPPIER.  And since we can’t buy happiness in a bottle…

…we buy your eBook instead!

5. Everyday Problems. Let’s face it, we all face problems everyday in our lives.  And often we don’t know where to turn or what to do next.

For example:  If someone is facing foreclosure, do you think they would be interested in finding information on how to avoid it?  You betcha.

I know of one guy who wrote an eBook about BAD BREATH and is selling the thing like crazy.  It’s an eBook on BAD BREATH for goodness sake!  And yet for folks who are struggling with the problem (and I am told it is a common problem — I guess I’ve just been lucky ) they gladly shell out the $20.00 to find a cure.

Everyday problems.  They are a headache for US, but they are a product waiting to be created by YOU.

Think about things that people deal with every day that are annoying and cost money and time.   And help us out for crying out loud!

6. Hobbies and Crafts. Hot selling items in any bookstore or online as e-books, are information products about hobbies or crafts.  People love making things themselves and getting the self-gratification of a job well done.  You could do some quick research on the Internet to see what some of the most common hobbies and crafts are and come up with some unique ideas.

Some might include woodworking, door wreaths, stained glass and any type of do-it yourself information.  Things like improving your golf game, a guide to stamp collecting, antiques and so forth. 

Recreation is a huge part of our lives.  We all like to spend time enjoying a hobby.  And, we spend a lot of money supporting those hobbies as a society (My wife is a major contributor )

Hobby related information products are most always a big hit and certainly warrant consideration when choosing a topic to write about.

7. Recipes.  Talk about a HUGE industry — recipes are IT!  I didn’t realize how big they were until a guy I know started making $30,000 a month selling a recipe eBook!  (That’s a nice chunk of change, don’t you think?) 

I did a bit of research at Google.com, the largest pay-per-click search engine and found out that recipes are searched for MILLIONS of times each month.

Anything getting that much attention is money waiting to be made for an eBook author.  I have plans myself to start tapping into that market.  I feel like I’m throwing away money every month that I don’t have a recipe eBook on the market!

You probably are as well.

Definitely something to look into.

8. UFOs.  I was never a Star Trek fan and I didn’t watch a single episode of the X-Files, but UFOs and unexplained phenomenon are HUGELY popular online.  I’m not sure exactly what the fascination is, but these folks tend to be die-hard fans and are passionate about the subject.

Any group of people who have that much interest is a group of people who ought to be offered an eBook.

9. Online Shopping. What tools are available?  Where can you find price comparisons?  Are there free trials available?  Demos?  Where are the best deals?  Are there any meeting places for like-minded shoppers?  Can I browse?

Shopping is becoming a larger and larger industry online (It already is HUGE) as more and more people are buying online, and as people buy more and more.

Some kind of resource directory for shoppers would be a great eBook, I believe.  How to find trustworthy merchants online.  How to find the best prices.  How to get special deals and discounts.  Etc. Etc.

Tips and resources and webpage links — HOW TO SHOP ONLINE…great idea for an eBook. 

You could even get “nichey” and create an eBook on how to shop for “golf accessories” or “fitness stuff” or “Christian materials.”

Or, if you’re really smart, you’ll create an entire series of eBooks on how to shop for just about anything.  One eBook at a time, for dozens of different categories.

10. Technology. I bought a digital video camcorder.  I brought it home.  I looked at the 300 page manual. 

I had no idea how to use it.

If you had an eBook available summarizing in simple details how to use the various features of the camcorder, I’d have paid you $100.00 for it!

And I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Technology is great — but it can be a bit overwhelming.  And, who the heck has 3 days to read through a manual to figure out how to use the darn thing you bought, even if it isn’t overwhelming to you?  I don’t.

I’d rather pay someone to show me how.

And that’s a market you should consider going after. 

There are hundreds of software programs, video games, computers, electronics, etc. that folks would love to be able to figure out how to use QUICKLY AND EASILY.  So, you write tutorials and show us how it’s done.

And we pay you.

And we’re all happy. )

Seriously, I think this is one of the biggest industries for information products that is currently untapped.  A sharp writer could make a fortune here.

In our next installment, we will walk you through how to generate ideas and research them thoroughy. Be sure to come back and check it out soon!

From Mike Filsaime to Willie Crawford – to our own in house experts, watch for some explosive interviews very soon.