Editorial: How to "Think Success"
By Derek Gehl

If you have been subscribed to my newsletter for any length of time, you should be familiar with my hands-on, "how to" approach to Internet marketing and building a business online.

You may have also noticed that I rarely venture into the intangible, "emotional" side of being an entrepreneur...

... But today I am going to venture into the uncharted territory known as the "Entrepreneurial Mind," in order to help solve a challenge that some of you have described on my blog as the #1 problem currently holding you back.

I think Jeff said it best:

"My biggest problem right now rests squarely between my ears. It's learning to accept the fact that it's OK to succeed.'

Now this may seem like a paradox... But I did a little research on the subject and discovered this is a serious problem that psychologists have been studying since 1915, when Sigmund Freud wrote an essay called, "Those Wrecked by Success."

Freud noted the "surprising and even bewildering" tendency of some people to fall apart "precisely when a deeply rooted and long-cherished wish has come to fulfillment... as though they were not able to tolerate happiness."

Turns out this is a serious problem that afflicts many entrepreneurs, destroying their chances of success before they've even started!

During my research, I came across story after story of entrepreneurs on the brink of success... employees on track for a huge promotion... and even businesspeople who had already achieved massive success -- subconsciously destroying everything they had worked so hard to accomplish.

Now, Jeff, I'm not going to get into the nitty-gritty "psycho babble" that could be used to explain what drives otherwise brilliant, hardworking people to self-destruct... I'll leave that to the professionals. But I will say this (and please note this is only my opinion)...

Awareness is probably your best medicine. If you are aware that you may be cursed with a self-defeating tendency to limit your own success, you need to consciously remind yourself that this tendency exists and develop a system to recognize it, avoid it, and extinguish its power over you.

So what would such a system look like? Simple... here are three steps you can take to 'let yourself succeed'...

1. Envision what success means to you -- then get it down on paper!

You don't have to write an essay. It can be an outline or a list of bullet points that describe what you want YOUR success to be like.

Remember, success isn't just about money! It goes far beyond that. Your picture of success could include time with family, time enjoying your hobbies, time on vacation, etc.

2. Post your picture of success all over your home!

Place it in obvious places around your home, in your office, in your car, etc. Everyday you want to remind yourself of what you want your success to be like. It needs to be ingrained in your mind. Only then will it start to seem real -- and achievable -- to you.

3. Believe you can achieve it -- and live that belief every single day!

Ever since I was a teenager I knew what success looked like to me and since then I have never looked back. That doesn't mean I had the highest grades in high school (far from it, to tell you the truth)... nor did I skip any college parties to study (even when I probably should have!)

Instead, I knew what my success looked like, and I jumped on every opportunity that came my way in order to achieve that success. I took risks, constantly stepping out of my comfort zone, and I never once let myself fall into the trap of believing that I might not achieve it.

Now, Jeff, I am not a psychologist, but I can tell you that chronic self-defeatism is a real problem. If you are going to be successful, you need to train your mind to allow yourself to envision your success, believe in it, and act on any opportunities that come your way -- so you can achieve it!

You can have the best strategies in the world but if you don't believe in yourself, then you'll never apply them. And you'll never let yourself succeed.

Jeff, please don't fall into that trap!

For more information on this subject, here's a great article I found on the CNN Money website:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1996/07/08/214330/index.htm

This article definitely goes into more detail than I am qualified to give. Hopefully it will help you overcome yet another obstacle in your quest for online success!

Until next week...

Derek Gehl

Five email marketing tips to turn those "tire kickers" into eager buyers
By Andrew Mallory

[Ed. note: Andrew Mallory is one of our top Internet Entrepreneur Club experts. To learn more about the Club, please visit: www.marketingtips.com/internetentrepreneurclub]

Derek has asked me to answer the following question, sent in by Susan:

My company sells condo hotel units -- luxury condos in four-star and five-star hotels... To get our more detailed property data sheets, the visitor must send us an email request. We get 100-200 requests a day.

The problem is that after receiving the data sheet from us, we often don't hear from the client again... My question is, should I implement some sort of automated follow-up so that after receiving the property data sheet, the buyer is prompted to interact with us more with the hope that eventually we convert them into a sale?

In a word, YES! Susan, you're in a perfect position to use personalized email marketing strategies to convince your leads to buy from you.

Email is an incredibly powerful communication tool. It allows you to build strong relationships with your leads over time and establish your credibility as an authority in your field.

By sending your leads useful information that helps them make a buying decision, you can reduce their "purchase anxiety." Plus, you can automate the entire process so you spend less time dealing with customer service -- and more time growing your business!

However, the key to effective email marketing is to overdeliver free useful information and create a sense of obligation so your leads feel compelled to buy from you.

This philosophy works just as well in the offline world. For example, I've heard of a shoe store that offers free shoe shines, no questions asked. You can go in there every day if you want to get your shoes shined and the owner will never try to sell you a thing.

However, the shoe shine service is at the back of the store, so in order to get to it you have to walk past all the shoes on display. So after six months of getting free shoe shines, when it comes time to buy a new pair of shoes, what's the first store you're going to think of? The one that's been giving you all those free shoe shines, of course!

So, Susan, in order to launch your fully automated email campaign, here's what you need to do:

1. Get your hands on a GOOD email marketing software program
   
   (The one we recommend is Mailloop. You can learn more about it here: www.marketingtips.com/mailloop)
   
   Make sure the program you choose allows you to merge at LEAST five different pieces of information into the body of an email (more is better), so you can customize your messages as much as possible.
   
   As a point of comparison, Mailloop allows you to merge an unlimited number of details into a single email! You can include personalized details such as...
   
   • First name
   • Last name
   • Email address
   • City
   • State
   • Country
   • Date of property sheet download
   • Products purchased
   • Date of product purchased
   • Answers to survey questions (more about that in a moment!)
   
   ... And so on.
   
   
2. Use a survey to collect as much information from your leads as you can
   
   The more information you can gather about them, the better! This allows you to personalize your emails and make sure they target your leads' specific needs.
   
   I suggest you program your email marketing software to send out a survey to everyone who downloads one of your property data sheets.
   
   Be sure to ask questions that will help you give the best, most personalized service to your customers. The more specific your emails are to their particular situation, the better.
   
   For example, you'll want to know which countries or cities they're interested in buying a condo in... how much they're willing to spend on it... the number of bedrooms they require... if they've ever lived in a hotel condo before... and so on. Then you can set up your automated email program to send them a message whenever a property meeting their criteria comes up.
   
   
3. Divide your list of leads into multiple segments
   
   Here's where you put all of that survey information to good use. Group your leads according to the criteria that allows you to send them the information that best addresses their needs. Then you can send them highly targeted offers that speak directly to each group.
   
   For example, you'll want to send different messages to people who have lived in a condo hotel before, as opposed to ones who haven't.
   
   Which brings us to your next step...
   
   
4. Write a series of personalized emails targeting the needs of each segment of your list
   
   After your leads have downloaded a property data sheet from you, send them a simple follow-up email asking if the property met their criteria -- and if it didn't, to provide you with more information so you can show them properties that better suit their needs.
   
   You could also use this email to point your leads to your survey.
   
   Follow the survey with a series of other emails that deliver valuable, personalized information that tells your future customers exactly what they need to know in order to make a buying decision.
   
   For example, if someone has never lived in a hotel before, tell them exactly what that entails. What are the potential benefits of buying a condo in a hotel? How much will they be able to personalize their space? What are the limits? Can they tear out the carpets or knock down the walls, for example? This is information they'll probably thank you for.
   
   You can also point them toward other information and services they'll find useful, such as:
   
   
   • Reputable mortgage brokers
     
     
   • Reliable moving companies
     
     
   • Easy ways to sell their furniture or put it in storage (if the hotel condo they want to buy is already furnished, for example)
     
     
   • Practical information about the city or country they're thinking of buying a condo in (if they don't already live in that area)
   
   The point is, you want them to view you as a helper -- someone they can turn to whenever they need information and advice.
   
   
5. Keep those emails coming!
   
   Whatever you do, don't just send your leads a few targeted emails then call it quits! You've got to provide them with regular emails offering valuable information, in order to keep the lines of communication open. You want to train them to open your emails -- so when you do have an offer to present them, they'll jump at it.
   
   One thing you might be wondering is, how many emails is too many? And how often is too often?
   
   Well, every market is different. Maybe your list will respond best if you send them messages three times a week. Or maybe they'd prefer to receive a message only once every couple of weeks. That's something you'll have to discover for yourself.

The great thing is, with email marketing, you can easily measure how effective your sales message is. That's because everything is trackable.

If your leads don't open your email, that means you need a more attention-grabbing subject line. If they open your email but don't click through to your salespage, you need more compelling copy in your email. If they click through to your salespage but don't take action, then the problem is with your web site.

You develop a chain of events that you can track every step of the way, so you can discover which links are weakest and work to make them stronger. You end up being able to spend your time more efficiently and effectively, because you know exactly where to focus your efforts.

I hope that helps, Susan! And for everyone else, I just want to point out that these email marketing tips will work for ANY online business. So if you haven't already started building a list of targeted leads for future email campaigns, now's the time to start!