The REAL Internet Marketing Secrets - by a Novice! by Neil Maxwell-Keys

Forgetting the hype and concentrating on the core steps to internet marketing success
If you have anything at all to do with internet marketing or are looking to get into internet marketing, then I'd like you to hear me out.

I'm NOT an 'internet marketing guru'. I'm in the information publishing business and run a successful publishing company, MK Publications. I use the internet as a tool to sell my products, along with direct mail and mail order advertising. I do this through my popular ezine Product Developer Secrets and my website.

Although it's not my 'area' I've become quite concerned with the amount of emails I'm getting from my subscribers telling me how frustrated they've become with trying to make money on the internet. And asking me for advice.

I'd like to set the record straight and show you a copy of a reply I sent to a guy a couple of days ago (I get a lot of emails like this). What the guy wanted was a step-by-step guide to starting up an internet business and becoming successful. However, he had spent an absolute fortune on buying new courses, videos and anything else he could lay his hands on - to teach him "the magical formula". Everytime a new course came out he bought it. Thinking that this was "the one".

Like most people he became increasingly frustrated and overwhelmed by the amount of information he had. He ended up confused, discouraged and not knowing where the heck to go next and nursing a huge dent in his wallet!

Here's my reply to him and I'm sure those interested in Internet Marketing will get some good value from it.

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"Well, it seems to me that you're looking for some kind of "magical formula" for success in online marketing. What I'd say to you firstly is don't buy anymore books about internet marketing. You already know more than 85% of online marketers out there! You would be much wiser actually spending your money on setting up and promoting your own particular site. Most of the books and courses out there now are just rehashed stuff written by broke people trying to pretend they are 'experts'. Just like that guy you mentioned - he made his money by selling books telling others how to make money before he'd actually made any money himself!

Also you can literally drive yourself crazy with all this information that's available - one person say's do it this way and the next person says do it the other way. You end up going nowhere. I know, I've been in this situation several times and felt like bashing my head up the wall in sheer frustration. It's called "information overload".

What I've decided to do now is not buy another "internet marketing course". I've got several and they nearly all repeat the same thing. The exception would be if somebody with a great reputation (Corey Rudl for instance) came out with a brand new tried and tested killer method for making money on the internet. I only trust the "big guns". The ones out there really making it happen who wouldn't tarnish their reputation selling the same old stuff or ripping people off.

Now, I'll admit I'm NOT an internet marketing 'expert'. I specialise in direct mail/mail order publishing and creating info products and teaching others how to do the same. The internet is just another part of my business. But I'm doing pretty well in my internet marketing efforts - at long last. What I did was go through all my internet marketing courses, tapes and videos (one set alone cost me $2,995 - ouch!) and pick out the exact steps I needed to follow in an easy "bite-sized" formula. I then swore to myself that I wouldn't buy another damn course or book until I made the Internet work for me (i.e. made me money). I decided that any course that I purchased HAD to be purchased through the profits I made solely from my internet marketing efforts. And since I hadn't made a bean from the internet at that point, I had no choice but to just get on with it and make it work.

I suggest you make the same promise to yourself.

Before I give you the steps I came up with. I want you to tell you that what you mentioned about the opt-in list was absolutely spot-on. Engrave this on your brain. The single most important factor in internet marketing success is building your own opt in list. Don't ever forget that. 95% of your time should be spent in building your list. Forget about spending weeks designing fancy looking pop-ups, web pages, learning to program, designing nifty eBook covers, etc. (WHEN you've made money you can pass all this over to someone else to do). Spend nearly all your time building your list. This is vital. The list is so important that if you don't do this then all the other stuff means nothing. It's exactly the same in Direct Mail and it's the same online. That's how you make a lot of money - selling over and over again to your loyal and trusted subscribers. No matter what new fancy techniques, ideas and strategies *they* come up with. This will always remain the same.

Anyway, here's the formula I came up with. There's nothing original about any of the steps and you've probably heard them all before. They're very simple but powerful. And they WORK! But what you need to do is just follow these religiously and if the info you've already purchased teaches you anything extra then great. Use that too.

1/ Find a market of hungry people looking for particular types of information. Pick a subject you're interested in whether it's writing poetry or wrestling alligators! You can bet there'll be others out there interested in the same thing. But you've got to find them first. Use the search engines to find discussion groups on your subject and then read the comments and questions. This is all market research. If you don't find a market of hungry people then move onto the next subject. Try and pick something a little different. I.e. Don't try and teach others how to make money on the internet! (or if you do and this is your area, then put a new slant on it i.e. an internet marketing course for Real Estate Agents or Hair Dressers or Lawyers, etc. "Real Estate Agents: Use the power of the net to quadruple your turnover!" etc).

2/ Decide that you will produce a monthly or preferably twice a month ezine that you will send your list. Decide on what 'angle' your ezine will take. I.e. If it's about cars will you talk about cars in general? Or a particular make and model? Or a particular area of cars such as racing cars?

3/ Think of a suitable domain name and register it.

4/ Sign up with a suitable autoresponder company http://www.aweber.com etc). So that you can start building your list immediately. I.e. you don't have to wait until your website is finished. You just put your autoresponder email in your ads instead of your web address. You could easily have a list of a couple of hundred subscribers BEFORE your site is up and running.

5/ Begin marketing your ezine (building your list) using these strategies:

- Write to other ezine publishers in a similar area and agree to swap ads ("you put an ad in mine and I'll put an ad in yours") - note: this is one of the most powerful methods you can use. - Write testimonials for some of those products you bought and send them to the author making sure your web address is visible in the testimonial. - Post messages on those discussion boards you looked at. But make sure yours isn't an obvious ad (else it'll be deleted!) Offer useful info and then place your web address under your name. - Post articles to article submission sites for free (www.marketing-seek.com / www.ideamarketers.com). - Think up new and creative ways to market your site cheaply - or preferably for FREE! (Like all the methods above).

6/ Build and launch your site. Use templates to look really professional (www.4templates.com) and use a simple program like Front Page to design it. Or go to www.elance.com and find a good company to build it for you whilst you build your list. Hint: Look at other Guru's websites to see how theirs looks and model yours on it. But don't spend ages on it. Your website is there for one purpose - and that is to capture names and email addresses. It only needs to be a form. Professional not fancy!

7/ When you've got a decent-ish sized list. Write to your subscribers and ask them exactly what they would like to see in your ezine and what kinds of things they are looking for. What products do they want? What information on this subject would they like to see? This is all research. But it's very targeted research. The best research you can do. All you need to do is ask them what they want. It's so simple that people don't do it. They try and assume what their subscribers want instead of asking them. Crazy!

8/ Use this research to find a product to meet their wants and 'hot buttons'. Use affiliate directories and sign up for a program that meets these desires (www.associateprograms.com). Then start 'recommending' these products to your list. One word of warning here, though. Make sure you at least review this product before you offer it to them. Recommending a poor or shoddy product will kill your reputation before you've even got going. I try out and thoroughly review every single product before I recommend it.

9/ My favourite! Create your own information product targeted to your subscribers exact wants, needs, desires and 'hot buttons' using the tips and techniques in my newsletter - and make a killing!

10/ Repeat steps 1 to 9 all over again but with a new market, ezine and product!

Look, just stick to that and I promise that you won't go too far wrong. Stop thinking that there's a magical formula out there and that "everyone else is making it" - except you! They aren't. Most people are running around like headless chickens flitting from one 'hot' scheme to another, losing money. Then wasting their money on yet another "red hot" course. Eventually they give up on the whole idea until the next hot money making thing comes along.

What you've just read above is the essence of internet marketing success. I know this to be true because it's working for me and it works for others I've spoken to. The 'gurus' out there would have you believe that there's "one more vital piece in the puzzle" that you desperately NEED. Or that they have been holding back on the "REAL secrets".

They haven't. Follow the steps above with persistence I promise that you'll give yourself the very best chance of internet success."

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I hope you found some value in that reply. And I hope it has saved you some money! If anyone has anything to add on that please write to me and let me know.

Neil Maxwell-Keys e neil@productdevelopersecrets.com w http://www.productdevelopersecrets.com

About the Author

Neil Maxwell-Keys is editor of the "Product Developer Secrets" ezine, the authoritative resource for making big money quickly by creating and marketing your own information products. To subscribe click here => http://www.productdevelopersecrets.com