by: Willie Crawford
Many aspiring Internet marketers hear all of the talk about earning a six-figure income and assume that it's all hype. Some of it is hype, but earning a six-figure income really isn't difficult. I've watched friends generate "six figures" in sales as we sat together in conferences or meetings! Today I'm going to tell you how you CAN do it too. I'm going to give you a system that I guarantee you haven't seen before. It's one I created, tested, and now use extensively.
While I created this system, it's really just adaptations of things we've all seen. That's the beauty of it all. Earning six figures isn't rocket science, - it's just common sense in action.
First of all, the key to earning a higher income is selling more expensive "big ticket" items. You'll notice I market many products in the $497 to $2997 range. Many of these products are offered through affiliate programs and pay from 30-50% commission. It doesn't really take a lot of sales of a $2000 item before you're well on your way to six figures.
Before I share my secret system with you, I should tell you that I thought of turning this information into an ebook or special report and selling it. It's THAT valuable! It's valuable because it works. Proof that it works is the fact that at several recent Internet marketing seminars, I've been the affiliate who sold the most seats :-)
Here's my big secret.... I use off-line methods to drive traffic on-line. I use off-line methods to make sure that my message gets through and gets read. I have two primary off-line tools that I use.
First of all, I use the phone a lot. If I have a contact who has indicated he/she is interested in attending a seminar or buying a product, I'll often call to see if they have any questions. I close the sale on the phone and then sometimes have them go to the on-line order form. Lots of people selling seminar seats outside the Internet marketing niche do this. You should too where practical. Make a phone call and sell a seminar seat that pays you as much as $1000 in commission. It makes perfect sense doesn’t it?
The second tool that I use is snail mail... greeting cards to be more exact. I send out hundreds of these greeting cards to customers, and select prospects. It's a blend of on-line and off-line marketing methods you’ve probably never really considered. I've seen others using postcards but greeting cards have more impact.
Here's my system with the greeting cards:
1) I use a system called Send Out Cards. It a print-on-demand company that offers a number of different plans. The plan that I use costs me less than $1 per card (including first class postage). Basically, you select a card from an on-line catalog of more than 2500 cards, enter your message, enter the addresses, and click send. The company prints, stuffs, stamps, and mails the cards for you.
2) Send Out Cards offers the ability to set up campaigns. You can choose a series of cards to send out at specified intervals. This works just like the autoresponder systems Internet marketers are familiar with. You basically choose the cards that you want to send out, enter your messages, specify the interval for each card, and the system takes care of the rest.
Here's how a power user like myself uses that feature. The system also allows you to upload databases. So I've imported most of my contacts into the system. I've also subscribed many of these contacts to campaigns based upon certain criteria. Let me give you a powerful example, and continue spilling the beans...
As someone who has sponsored seminars and sold lots of seminar seats, I know that someone who lives within driving distance is more likely to attend a seminar than someone who has to fly thousands of miles. How I use that is that when I'm promoting a given seminar, I set up a series of 1-3 cards telling about that seminar and inviting people to meet me there. Then one of the searches of my database that I do is for everyone in the same state, or maybe just in nearby zip codes. I subscribe those people to that greeting card series.
I also know that people who have attended seminars before are more likely to attend other seminars. They've had the "value" proven to them already. So I have a sub-list of people that I know like to attend seminars. I subscribe these people to the card series for a given seminar too.
As you can see, I am selective in who I send these greeting cards to... sometimes. After all, these cards do cost me nearly $1 each to send. However, I don't have to worry about email filters or other deliverability issues. People like getting greeting cards and do open and read them. My message gets through!
3) The greeting card system allows you to upload your own digital images. I use that in two powerful ways! Since it's common practice for affiliate marketers to sometimes offer discounts or rebates, I include those in my cards. Simply use your graphics program to create a "discount coupon." Then upload this digital image to your card to deliver your special offer right into the hands of your prospect. You don't have to worry about them missing the special in your email. It's right in the card that you sent them.
A second way to use this feature is to take a photo of you together with the client or prospect. Then include that photo in cards you send them. This won't work with the campaign feature since you use that feature to keep from having to choose new cards for each individual. In fact, with the campaign feature, you can use "tags" just like you do with an autoresponder, to personalize each card’s message with first name, last name, etc. It's very powerful.
Now, I'm sharing this information with you for two reason. First of all, I want you to see, and understand, how you can actually earn that seemingly elusive six-figure income. It takes just a little thinking outside the box. Secondly, if you follow my advice and sign up as a customer for the greeting card service, I earn a commission. It's a multi-tiered affiliate program that you can sign up for and earn commissions from too.
To get full details on how to sign up as a representative with this company, simply visit:http://SendOutCards.com Click on the link labeled "Income Opportunity" to find out how to become a distributor. Be sure to click on the link at the very bottom of that page to have the commissions explained to you. The system will ask for a referral number there. Enter 2663. That's my referral number.
Back to thinking outside the box... I do sometimes purchase co-registration leads. I don't always use these in the way most people do. I sort the database of 10,000 - 25,000 leads (which is the size batch that I buy) by state. I'm looking for all of the leads that are from an area near the event that I'm promoting. These are leads that are very fresh (usually less than 10 days old) and that have indicated they have started, or are interested in starting, a home-based business. I simply upload those that are near the event and subscribe them to a campaign I set up JUST for them.
I know... you're thinking, that could get expensive. However, let's say that you find 1000 leads in that database that are within a convenient distance for driving to the seminar. If you're making $500 - $1000 for each seminar seat that you sell, you don't really need to make many sales for the campaign to pay off. You just have to "know your numbers" and test small at first. What you’re testing is the wording of the messages and quality of the lists.
When I send cards to these leads, I also include one card in the series that explains how they can profit by getting into the greeting card business. I earn $150 for each new representative that I sign up and fully train. The training is mostly automated. That means I could actually spend up to $150 for each new representative I find and still break even. As you can see, you don't need very high percentages. The greeting card system does sell itself to enough people to make it a no-brainer for me to even mail to purchased leads. Again, you do have to watch the quality of your leads.
This system can be used to sell all types of big ticket items such as courses, video or CD sets, coaching etc. The key there is to mail the cards, generally with a "discount coupon" to people who already know you... your list members. This also means that you need to break with tradition a little by asking for more than just name and email address on your signup forms. On some of my signup forms (from select sites) I do ask for full address and even birth date. Why do I ask for birth date? So I can send them a birthday card of course.
If your prospects see the value in what you are offering, they will often give you their full contact information. You just need to ask for it.
Another secret... the Send Out Card system can be programmed to send a card automatically on a person's birthday, or it can just send you a reminder. It's the ultimate high-touch marketing tool, and secure on-line contact manager, that takes surprisingly little time to use. People like it when you remember their birthdays... sometimes you may be the only one who does :-)
I've just shared with you something that will allow you to totally trounce your competitors. Chances are that even if your competitors are reading this very same article, you can still out market them because most of them won't use this information. It's human nature. Your competitors will see that what I've just shared makes perfect sense, and they'll think “someday.” Meanwhile, you take action and soon discover yourself with more money in your checking account than you use to make all year.
As you can see, making that six-figure income isn't hard. It does take doing just a few things differently from what everyone else is doing. It takes theability to think things through, evaluate the risk, and then take action.
“The ball is now in your court!” If you didn't fully understand the plan, you can email me for clarification. Use willie@williecrawford.com :-)
I've just shared with you one of numerous ways that I "think outside the box" and separate myself from the pack. I'll be sharing a few more at Joel Christopher's and Ted Nicholas' Double Birthday Bash, March 18th and 19th in San Antonio, Texas. I'd love to see you there. You sign up for this mega networking and learning event at: http://WillieCrawford.com/birthdaybash.html
YES - After you've registered, using the url above, send me an email and I'll rebate 25% of what you paid. I do practice what I teach.
Copyright 2005 Willie Crawford