I received an email the other day promoting contests, telling me how I can become a big winner if I know contesting secrets and so forth. Which is true, there really are methods to winning a lot of stuff through contests.

But here’s the weird part… the email was written by a guy in his early to mid-20’s and judging by the language he used, it was also targeted to that same demographic – 20 something males.

What guy in his 20’s is interested in spending hours a day entering contests to win appliances and gift certificates and what not?

I suspect the target audience for something like this is people over 40, most likely female, who have some time on their hands. You could write about how they can enter these contests while they’re standing in line, while on their commute (assuming they’re not driving) while they’re watching television and so forth. And I’d talk about the vacations they can win, the cash prizes, and yes, the gift certificates and appliances, too.

This 20 something marketer will start making more sales when he starts choosing products to promote that appeal to the type of audience he is attracting to his mailing list – 20 something males.

A marketer has to know his or her audience and know what they want, what fits into their lifestyle, and what will bring them the benefits they seek. Keep this top of mind when you are choosing products to promote, and how to promote them.

I’ll bet there is something that is holding you back from greatness in your online business… And if you eliminated this one thing, you’d get more accomplished in a week than you’re currently getting done in a month. And not only would you get more done, but you’d make more money, too. Maybe exponentially more…

I know, because I’ve experienced this myself. There was something holding me back, and at first I didn’t even realize what it was or why it was stopping me from earning as much as I wanted to make.

This thing is in your business, and while almost every online marketer has this same problem, the issue itself differs from one market to another. Goodness, that’s about as clear as mud, isn’t it?

Let me try to illustrate…

Imagine you have a giant hourglass filled with gold nuggets. Any nugget that falls to the bottom of the hourglass is yours to keep, and there is an unlimited supply of gold nuggets at the top.

But here’s the problem: Because an hourglass is skinny in the middle, the nuggets have a hard time falling to the bottom. In fact, those nuggets are continuously getting jammed in the middle, and when that happens, you’re not getting any gold nuggets at all.

The solution is obvious – eliminate the area that is slowing down the flow of gold nuggets. In the case of your business, identify and eliminate the bottleneck.

Let’s say you’re a whiz at creating content, making products and doing social media. But building landing pages, sales pages, websites and all of that is hard work for you. It can take you days or weeks to build a funnel.

There’s your bottleneck! Get a program such as Leadpages or ClickFunnels to allow you to quickly and easily build those pages and you’ve just eliminated your bottleneck.

Or maybe you’re an expert at building pages but you’re terrible at writing content. Hire someone to write content for you or find another way to get content such as curation or maybe recording your own videos.

Perhaps the only thing you do well is social media. Then the answer might be to do social media for other marketers, teaming up with them and even taking a percentage of profits.

The idea here is to determine what you’re good at, what you’re NOT good at, and then find a way to eliminate, outsource or expedite the thing(s) you’re not good at – your bottleneck.

In my case, I was great at creating content, getting product ideas, setting up JV’s and a host of other things, but I didn’t like the technical aspect of building websites, pages and so forth. When I found a way to make it easy for myself, I freed up an amazing amount of time and energy which I then used to focus on my strengths. And when I did that, I literally tripled my income, had more fun in my business and for the first time found the entire experience to be thoroughly enjoyable.

I’d removed the bottleneck, removed a lot of stress and frustration, and replaced it with many more opportunities to build my list, gain new JV partners and make more money.

Find your bottleneck and eliminate it so that you can concentrate on your strengths, and that hourglass of gold nuggets will be replaced by a firehose of income.

I want to clear something up right now. Too many aspiring online marketers have bought into this fairy tale that says all you need is ONE BIG hit and you’ll magically go from broke to six-figures. 95% of the time it just doesn’t work like that. Nor is your online income going to magically grow like “clockwork” on “auto-pilot” with “zero effort” or investments.

Have you heard the expression, “Two steps forward, one step back?” That’s how almost every business grows, including any and all forms of online marketing.

Building an online business isn’t like winning the lottery, nor is it a movie. You don’t get struck by lightning and fall into a pot of gold. Instead, you do an affiliate promotion that costs you $500 in advertising and makes you $400 in commissions.

This is where most people quit. “SEE?! ONLINE MARKETING DOESN’T WORK!”

Baloney.

You earned $400 in commission AND you learned something, too.

You use that new knowledge on your next promotion where you spend $500 again, but now you make $900. You repeat that for a while and you’re making pretty good money, all because you didn’t quit when you lost that initial $100.

Then you’re feeling pretty confident so you decide to expand your list with a solo ad that costs you $300, but you only earn $50.

Nuts!

But now you’ve got a bigger list, and you nurture that list and eventually over the course of weeks or months you earn an additional $2,000 from it.

Yeah!

Then you hire someone to create a product for you, and it’s a terrific product but no one wants it, and you lose $700.

Darn!

But you still have the product, so you break it up into pieces and use those as posts and free reports and combining that with social media you further build your list while promoting a related affiliate product and now you’re earning a cool $300 a week just from that while also watching your list grow.

Wow!

But you need to invest in a better website or software or whatever and there are expenses and so you’ve got to pay those and…

Do you see how this works?

Two steps forward and one step back.

The trick, therefore, is to simply keep moving forward no matter how many steps you take backwards.

If you graph out the growth of online businesses, you’ll find that 95% of the time the line goes up, dips down, goes up, dips down and so forth. But the downward dips don’t mean a thing as long as the overall trend is up.

And if you’re prepared for this and expecting that it won’t be all smooth sailing and that you will have setbacks small and large, then you’ll know enough to weather those setbacks and keep plugging away.

You’ll be far less afraid, too, knowing that it’s normal to have these setbacks. And in my experience, it’s much easier to work when you’re not terrified that your income will suddenly dry up if you make one wrong move.

The vast majority of online marketers experience a series of small successes and small failures, too. They go hand in hand, and that’s okay. Just make sure you either have more successes than failures, or that your successes are bigger than your failures and you keep moving forward.

Really, that’s the only ‘trick’ to online marketing.

You know I love residual income. And you know I think membership sites and newsletters are both outstanding ways to earn residual income. You make the sale once and you get paid for as long as that person remains a member. But there is something different about investment memberships and newsletters.

You might say they are in a league of their own, because the bulk of their profits seldom come from subscription fees.

Have you ever wondered why a millionaire (or billionaire) investor would bother to publish an investment newsletter? It’s not like they need your $99 a year.

And why would any investment expert charge $99 or even $499 for a newsletter or membership if it can really 10x or 20x your investments in a relatively short time? We’re talking about you receiving million-dollar gains in a few short years. All for just 99 bucks? What’s the catch?

Here’s what I think: That publisher wants as many people as possible following his or her recommendations because when they do, that publisher makes money.

Let’s say I run an investment newsletter and you’re a subscriber. I tell you to buy XYZ stock because I think they’re about to get a billion dollar contract with Amazon.

And maybe XYZ will get the contract, and maybe that stock will go to the moon because of it. But even if what I predict doesn’t come true, here’s what happened for me:

Because I bought the stock before I told you and thousands of other subscribers to invest in it, and because all those investors drove the stock price up, I made money. If an investor has enough followers, they can and will influence stock prices simply through their recommendations.

It’s no wonder why that ‘million-dollar’ newsletter costs $99.

I’m not suggesting you don’t subscribe to these newsletters if you have faith in the person making the recommendations. You can still make money, as many people do. Just be aware that the newsletter author is likely making even more money with their recommendations because of you and all the other investors buying into the stock the author already holds.

And if you’re wondering what type of membership or newsletter to start, well… this bit of insight might just help you to decide. 😉

As an marketing coach, which do you think would be easier: A: Taking someone who is earning $1,000 a month and showing them how to earn $10,000 a month, or B: Taking someone who is earning nothing online and showing them how to earn $500 a month…

As you’ve probably guessed, the answer is “A”.

But why is that true?

Because someone who is already earning $1,000 a month likely has systems in place to earn money. They have a squeeze page and maybe a website, they have one or more products to promote and they have a means of driving traffic and a list they can contact.

Most of all, they KNOW that $10,000 a month is an attainable goal because they’re already earning $1,000 a month. They believe it can be done.

But the person who is currently earning nothing likely has no online marketing infrastructure in place. They probably don’t have a list or an audience and they might feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do and how to do it.

More importantly, they’re not entirely convinced online marketing is even REAL – at least not for them. They don’t yet believe they can do it. They want to believe, but their doubts are so great that it’s easier for them to think online marketing works only for other people and never for them.

If you take someone who is earning $1,000 and show them how to earn $10,000, they will be happy. But if you take the person who is earning nothing and show them how to make $500 a month, they will think you are a SUPER STAR and they will love you for it.

And if by chance you are not yet earning anything online yourself, then let me ask you this: Do YOU believe you can earn a full-time income online? Because if you have doubts, it will be that much more difficult for you to find success.

The U.S. elections are over now, but the impact they had on many people still resonates strongly. Thinking I might like to revisit a U.S. show about the White House called ‘The West Wing’, I found it on Netflix and started binging.

The West Wing was a serial political drama series that ran from 1999 to 2006 and it enjoyed a large, enthusiastic audience.

The funny thing is, the #2 actor on the show, Rob Lowe, doesn’t appear in many of season 4’s episodes. And by season 5 he’s gone. Why did he leave?

It’s rumored that he was disappointed the network wouldn’t raise his salary. It seems the $75,000 per episode they were paying him wasn’t enough to hold his interest.

And if you think that was a lot of money… Years ago, Martin Sheen the lead actor was earning $300,000 per episode.

I bring this up for one reason: Are you possibly thinking too small?

I realize it’s good to have realistic goals that are achievable. But if your goal is, for example, another $1,000 per month, what would happen if you make a second goal to be earning $1,000 per week? And then $1,000 per day?

Odds are you are providing as much value to your customers as actors provide to their audience. In fact, if you are teaching new skills then you are providing more value than someone who merely entertains. You’re just not doing it at the same scale… yet.

Please realize that you are indeed worth more than you realize. Think of this as permission to raise your goals considerably, and take the action needed to get there.

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, then you know I advocate testing everything to see what works rather than simply taking the advice of others. In fact, I tell my readers to test what I preach as well. Just because I say something works for me doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you.

For example, let’s talk about bonuses – those things we’re all told to attach to offers to increase conversions. We sometimes spend as much time building bonuses as we do creating the product itself. But did you know that bonuses don’t always increase sales?

And that sometimes they can actually HURT your sales?

I’m not sure why that happens, but I can remember a time or two when I’ve been tempted to purchase a product and then noticed the bonuses. Inside I groaned… “You mean I have to download and read all that stuff, too?” It’s too much, and I close the page rather than make the purchase.

Bonuses can distract from the main product, dilute the main product’s value and even make the whole product package too big and too complicated.

Plus, bonuses sometimes cause confusion or point out a flaw in the product. “Why are they adding the bonus on getting traffic? Oh my gosh, that’s right, I’ll need to get traffic to make this work. How hard is it to get traffic? It must be difficult or they wouldn’t add that bonus. Forget it, I can’t do this…”

This is why the smart marketer tests out each bonus. Try making your offer with and without the bonuses and see what happens. If you have more than one bonus, you might also test having more or less of those bonuses until you find just the right combination or no bonuses at all, whichever converts the best.

And here’s a bonus for you: The next time you create a product, don’t assume you have to make a half dozen bonuses, too. Maybe you can save time and increase sales by simply offering your product as is. Now wouldn’t that be great?

Because competition is a real factor here, I’m not allowed to reveal the exact niche for this case study. Luckily, this method will work in any niche where you can save people money on something they’re already buying. And it will work in a lot of other niches, too, but for now let’s talk about the whole money saving deal.

For purposes of discussion, I’m going to change the niche to air travel, and we’ll assume it’s not during a pandemic.

This person – we’ll call him Vinnie – set up an information email list giving away free info on cheap flights. Again, I’ve changed the niche, but let’s roll with it. When airlines get cancellations, make mistakes and so forth, they sometimes offer crazy good deals just to get the seats filled. Vinnie keeps tabs of these offers and sends his list info that can save them a lot of money on their airline tickets.

But here’s where it gets good: While anyone can subscribe for free, he also has a paid version. The cost is low, about $40 for 3 months or $90 for a year. The savings on just one deal alone can be several hundred dollars, making it an easy sale to air travelers.

The difference between free and paid subscriptions is the free subscribers only get about one third of the deals in their inbox.

Paid subscribers get ALL the deals.

Here’s what’s great about this business model:

•   The content writes itself. All you would be doing is passing along the info that your readers want. Essentially it might sound something like, “Delta is offering 2 for 1 discounts for the next 24 hours for transatlantic flights. Here’s the link to their site.”

•   Readers can easily afford the subscription price. If they have the money for plane tickets, they can afford a $90 subscription.

•   Getting just one deal a year more than pays for the subscription. People who continue to fly do not unsubscribe.

•   Paid members get an ego bump because they have ‘inside knowledge’ they can brag about to others. “My guy saved me $400 on my ticket.”

•   It’s easy to get new subscribers. Since he has a free version and because people want to save money, his conversion rate on his squeeze page is extremely high.

•   Once free subscribers see how valuable the info is and realize they are missing two-thirds of it, upgrading is an easy sell.

He made $140,000 in just the first six months alone. He wouldn’t tell me how much he’s made since, but I do know he bought an expensive new house and he’s hired 3 people to handle most of the business for him.

One more thing: Once he realized how big this was going to become (and please remember, I have not revealed his true niche) he decided to bring on affiliates with a referral program. This made things explode and kept his competition to a minimum.

Here’s what you can do: Be on the lookout for any niche where people need quick, up to date info on something. It might not just be about saving money on a particular item. Maybe they need the latest news or methods in their niche such as investing and so forth.

When you find a good possibility, verify that people are paying money in the niche. Obviously, people pay for airline tickets so that would be easy. And some niches will surprise you. I’ve heard of a guy who is making a killing writing a monthly newsletter about collecting arrowheads. He works maybe 5 to 10 hours a month and pulls in $10,000 in monthly subscriptions in his one man operation.

Create a free version of your newsletter, find where your audience hangs out and get them signed up. Show them why it’s to their benefit to become an insider and upgrade to the paid version.

Learn your numbers and start advertising to scale the entire operation up. Vinnie advertises online and in publications.

Remember to sell your readers other stuff, too. If your niche is golf tips, sell them golf equipment and golf packages. If your niche is dog training, sell them high end dog food and so forth.

This is so simple, you can get started almost immediately, just as soon as you choose your profitable niche.

PLR or private label rights don’t always enjoy the best reputation. Most marketers figure PLR was written by someone who either doesn’t speak English well or has no background in the subject matter. Oftentimes the PLR is cobbled together with a lousy sales letter with amateur graphics and sold as a package to unsuspecting marketers.

Is that how you view PLR? If so, it’s no wonder. Many PLR packages aren’t worth the money which is why potential buyers are leery of new offers. But there is a way to still sell boatloads of PLR to marketers, and it works like this:

Before you sell PLR licenses, sell the product as it is. Launch the product on its own without rights. Sell it to your list, put it on JVZoo or wherever you want. Make no mention that you will be selling the PLR rights to it, not even as an upsell.

The idea is to let it stand on its own. Now it’s tried and tested, there is no question it sells, and it stands apart from every other PLR offer out there because it’s proven.

Wait a couple of weeks and then offer the rights to it. Often the people who purchased the product from you in the first place will be the first people to buy the rights, too, because they’ve seen the product and they value it.

If you want to sell the PLR licenses for a higher price, then simply restrict the number of people who can purchase a license. And you won’t need to convince anyone that your PLR is of great quality because it will already be a proven seller.

We talk a lot about storytelling in marketing, but what’s the meaning of it all? With one simple story – the right story – you can turn an unsuccessful business into a success, and a successful business into a behemoth of customers and sales.

Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts and figures alone. And our neural activity increases five times when listening to a story. Storytelling lights up the sensory cortex in the brain, allowing the listener to feel, hear, taste and even smell the story.

And because consumer attention is the ultimate commodity, it’s more important than ever to tell the right story.

Since the best stories are often not your own, Land Rover tells their customers’ stories. They find people who depend upon the Land Rover vehicle – such as a team of local transport drivers in the Himalayas – and share their remarkable stories.

IKEA uses puns and humor while sharing stories of how their products improve the private lives of their customers. They shared funny stories of how their products are used in the bedrooms and bathrooms of customers with tremendous success.

Sanlam Bank educated South Africans on the importance of saving money by filming the trials and tribulations of a young professional who got paid only in rand coins. These coins were worth about 7 cents in US dollars or .34 pounds sterling. Combining the story telling with valuable personal finance advice earned the video series 900,000 South African views on YouTube and generated 74 million media impressions.

Here’s how to get into the right mindset to uncover your own story. And guess what? It’s in the form of a story…

This guy is walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, “Hey you, can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.

A priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, “Father, I’m down in this hole, can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on.

Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you crazy? Now we’re both down here!” The friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.”

Be the friend to your customers. Jump in the hole with them. Let them know that you’ve been in that hole before, but you know the way out. Tell them your story, show them how it parallels their own story, and then show them the solution.