Next is PR. You can use this to build your e-zine, or to directly promote your
product. Or both. Definitely use media coverage to give yourself an edge. It's
free, and it's very powerful. (Most people don't get a fraction of the publicity
they could. Check out the NETrageous Publicity Resource Center for very specific
advice from my good friend, Dr. Paul Hartunian. We've gotten millions of dollars
of free publicity by following Paul's methods. And, Paul used publicity and actually
sold the Brooklyn Bridge - the story is on the site, along with a template for
writing a great news release.) http://www.netrageousresults.com/pr/
Next, consider an affiliate program. A well-run affiliate program can generate
a lot of business at a fixed cost per sale. Once it's in place, it's a matter
of marketing the program effectively. There are several very good manuals available
for doing this.
This is an area that's maturing very quickly.
Then I'd go to sites that have a lot of traffic that target my market. I'd
offer them articles targeted to their readers, and work on possible joint promotions.
GoTo.com (http://www.goto.com/) would be the next step. Their system is quite
effective in generating traffic at predictable costs per visitor.
One thing to keep in mind when using Goto.com is that you don't need to be
number one in the bidding. If you can write a better headline than the first
site or two in the listings, you can get the traffic without having the highest
bid.
Another thing that some people miss with Goto.com is the potential in secondary
keywords. For example, for our Internet ScamBusters site, the main keywords are
things like scams, hoaxes, and fraud. However, at Goto.com, we discovered that
many times as many visitors were searching for computer virus hoaxes, stopping
spam, and urban legends than for scams. Since we have pages devoted to each of
these topics, they made excellent additional keywords. You should have a large
list of additional keywords. Danny Sullivan's http://www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/searches.html
is a great resource to help you create your list.
Remember, you're only paying for actual visitors, so the secondary keywords
aren't an expense. You might even find that they're substantially cheaper for
good placement, and more effective.
Then, if it made sense for my product, I'd hire someone to optimize my pages
for the search engines and do the submission work. Make sure a person does it.
Don't use the automated submission services. Even the best of them won't
come close to the accuracy and savvy of an experienced submissions expert.
Targeted e-zine ads would be my next choice. Look for e-zines that are the
most likely source of prospects and subscribe to them. Read them to make sure
they're a good fit. Ask for references from current and past advertisers. Ads
in the right e-zine can be a very cost-effective way to generate traffic. One
friend of mine generates 100 subscriptions a day to his print newsletter - all
with inexpensive e-zine ads!
I'd look for high traffic niche sites and work out deals for banner ads with
the owners. Many of these sites are willing to sell banner ad space at very low
rates, because the demand for their ad inventory is so low. Often, they're simply
hobby sites. Some advertisers look at these sites as "small time," but they really
can be terrific sources of targeted traffic. They're promoted based on the builders'
passion for their subject, so they tend to develop quality content and very loyal
visitors.
I probably still haven't spent my $3000, other than as pay for performance
results, but that ought to get people going. :)
[Corey]: What is the next project that NETrageous is taking on?
[Audri]: I'm really excited about a new product we just launched that
we call the "$1,000,000 Break-Through Internet Tape Series." It combines three
talks we gave at Jay Abraham's 24-month, highly experimental, $1,000,000 program
called the "Ultimate Live Market Research Laboratory" (ULMRL) with the most provocative,
in-depth interview we've ever done.
For example, one of the talks is called, "How You Can Add At Least $15,000
to $150,000 to Your Bottom Line Without Spending a Fortune, Becoming a Nerd, Losing
Sleep, or Betting The Farm!" One of the Internet strategies brought an entrepreneur
$12,000 in 30 days… and almost all of that was profit. Another resulted in $20
million of revenue - all online.
300 entrepreneurs paid $5,000 apiece to participate in the ULMRL. Six of these
entrepreneurs earned a combined extra $1,000,000 over the last few months by using
the simple Internet marketing strategies and techniques they learned on just two
of these seven audio tapes.
[Corey]: Yes, your program is terrific. My favorite part is your last
presentation. If someone implements just one of the strategies you outline in
that talk they can't help but make 100 times the cost of your program!
(That's a great guarantee, BTW.) And, Jay Abraham's interview with you and Jim
is also fantastic, with lots of excellent advice - and great examples. I particularly
liked your advice on advice on how a small company can compete - and win - with
a company that is a very well financed and/or is selling products below cost.
I highly recommend your program to my subscribers.
[Audri]: Thanks! If they're interested, your subscribers can learn more
about this program at http://www.asknetrageous.com
[Corey]: What else are you working on?
[Audri]: The other immediate project is the seminar in January that
we're co-hosting with Jay Abraham. That's going to be amazing. Jay and Jim and
I will co-moderate the seminar. Andy Bourland, Dana Blankenhorn, Larry Chase,
Declan Dunn, Ken Evoy, Rob Frankel, Paul Hartunian, Cliff Kurtzman, Jakob Nielsen,
Eva Rosenberg, Jim Sterne, and Ralph Wilson will be there, working with the participants.
And you, of course. ;)
We'll also have special sessions with Danny Sullivan on search engines, Marty
Chenard on pricing, and Bruce Roberts on raising money for your venture. It will
be four and a half days of pure, results-focused training. We expect this to be
the most valuable gathering ever on the subject of marketing online. Your subscribers
can learn more by visiting http://www.abraham-netrageous.com/imc/
[Corey]: I understand that e-zine promotions are your specialty. Tell
us a bit about your approach, and what you do that separates your techniques from
all the other e-zine promotional techniques out there.
[Audri]: We wrote the first three reports on e-zines several years ago.
We've been keeping track of all the new systems for promotion as they come out.
Some of the newer ones are really unique, but the principles have stayed the same
right along.
Start off with a good plan that applies common sense, and test everything.
Don't rely on your assumptions until you can prove (or disprove) them in real
world conditions. That's very important.
Of course, we don't ignore the old stand-by methods, like registering with
the various directories, doing ad swaps and paid ads, and submitting articles
to related e-zines and Web sites.
We're not afraid to try unconventional methods. One simple but rather unusual
approach is customized email-on-demand which we're using to boost subscriptions
on the AskNETrageous.com site. We're always looking for new approaches that
can help us to build circulation.
Probably the biggest thing that separates our approach from most e-zine publishers
is that we're persistent. Most publishers do their promotions in fits and spurts,
with no real plan or method. We promote regularly, and we test methodically. Our
e-zines serve as models for thousands of small businesses.
We find the things that work best for each e-zine - they're not the same for
every one - and we keep doing them. Over and over.
[Corey]: What do you like most about running a business on the Internet?
[Audri]: I totally love it. We're 100% a virtual company. We live in
the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, our headquarters are in Maryland,
our customer support is in Arkansas, and we have contractors all over the US.
You can live anywhere and do anything! The Internet moves at warp speed
- and we meet the greatest people. It's the best of all businesses.
[Corey]: What, in your opinion, is the future for small and home-based
businesses on the Internet? What will make it different than it is now?
[Audri]: The picture is excellent - but you must "nichify" and provide
real value. Find the right product for the right niche (or the right niche for
your product) and promote specifically to them. Talk only to the people who you
know already want your product. If the rest of the world ignores your message,
that's okay. They weren't going to buy anyway.
What will be different? I think we're going to see a growth in the seriousness
with which most small businesses approach the Net. Right now we see a lot of people
with no business sense or experience trying to make a go of it and failing. Not
because they don't have good ideas or quality products, but because they don't
know how to think about their enterprise as a business.
I think this failure rate will force a lot of these people to do the work they
need to learn to think like business people. That's going to be good for all of
us. This is happening already, but the constant influx of new people looking to
make their mark hides that a bit.
Part of the problem is the low cost of entry. A lot of people don't take it
seriously because they don't have much invested. That problem will be part of
the cure, too. Since the cost of failure is relatively low, more people will be
able to afford to pick up and start over.
Failure in a brick and mortar business takes a lot longer to recover from.
With careful planning and promotion, you can start a small business online for
less than two months' lease for that same retail store.
[Corey]: We see all the public companies in the news, most of them spending
millions (and losing millions!) - but most of us are small businesses with budgets
in the hundreds or thousands, not millions. Are there any major public companies
that you model your projects after, or do you consider them in a different league
with different ideals and business management?
[Audri]: We did a ton of work with large Fortune 50 companies at MDL.
We sold to the best companies and got an opportunity to work with - and protect
- their mission critical data. So, I'm quite familiar with that world.
I don't really model any huge company. As small businesses, we have the benefit
of incredible agility. We can offer customer service that most large companies
don't.
The biggest thing I think we can learn from large companies is how they invest
in the future. The best companies don't look only at the immediate future - they
can afford to look beyond that and invest in their staff and in themselves. We
try to take that approach.
[Corey]: If our clients wanted to make $1000-$5000 extra in the next
60 days (assuming they have an online business) what generally would you say to
them or tell them to do?
[Audri]: Good question. Here's how I'd go about it...
Step 1: Have a great product, and know exactly who your best prospect is. Who
already wants what you have to sell?
Step 2: Build a Web site that's designed to sell. Make it as customer focused
and easy to use as possible.
Step 3: Promote specifically to your best prospect. Write your ads, articles,
and any other promotional material you use directly to that person.
Step 4: Work from the free promotional methods into the paid ones (see what
we've already talked about above). Start by submitting articles to e-zines and
Web sites that appeal to your best prospect.
Participate in discussion lists or bulletin boards that your prospects frequent.
Use a sig file or tag line on all your posts. Make sure you're posting useful
material, not blatant ads. Be a resource.
Start with low cost ads in targeted e-zines. Find the ones that work, and keep
using them. Reinvest most of your income into carefully expanding your promotional
efforts.
Step 5: Test everything, and keep improving your response.
There's a lot more that we've already covered. With the information in this
interview, most small businesses can get a good start on building a solid base
for their online efforts.
One other thing I definitely recommend. Keep learning.
Do your own research, or pay for the information from people who've done it
already. (I personally do both.) Don't be shy about reinvesting in your business.
The returns are well worth the effort and expense.
[Corey]: Where do you think the Internet is going? How will it affect
all our daily lives? Do you have any ideas on how some of our subscribers can
harness that and profit from it?
[Audri]: I don't believe we can't even imagine where the Internet is
going. It is exploding in all directions, and already transforming everything.
It is effecting every aspect of our lives.
Companies no longer have the luxury to wait and see. Start now. Commit to it.
Do it. Test. Modify. Start again if necessary. Focus completely on your customer.
Own your niche. And win!!
