Quick-Start Method of Making Money on Amazon That's FAST and DIRT CHEAP!

I’m always bumping into someone that comes up with a new Internet marketing angle I never thought of before.  Funny thing about it is that it is usually some young new maverick that has somehow leaped over us older dudes and are on their first million or so.

Ahh… To be young again!

Anyway, if you have a unique way of marketing or making money online, send it to me here and I’ll post it for you and even let you put your URL and other credits with it: elmo033057(at)gmail.com

Using Amazon to Make $500 a Day

I’m about to start selling a few books and reports myself on Amazon, so when I found this piece of marketing advice I thought it was great.  Great timing too. 

The beauty of using this method is that it doesn’t take great skill, you can outsource a lot of it, and it is DIRT CHEAP!  That’s right, you heard my favorite words…DIRT CHEAP.

OK, so this method of making money online involves information marketing by selling books on Amazon.

What you’ll need to do this:

1) A word processor to write your eBook

2) An Amazon account to sell with

3) Time

Extra stuff that would be great to have:
4) Dragon Naturally Speaking Voice Recognition Software. 

Step 1 – Find a Niche that’s selling but small enough that you won’t have tons of competition

I've already written a rather extensive article on how to find a niche, but here’s the fast and quick explanation.  You can use other sites like For Dummies or eBay, but Amazon is my site of choice for niche research.

Go on Amazon and in their search window, click on the drop down menu and then scroll down and click on “Books”.

Click on the drop down menu until you get to "Books"

Once you click on “books” click on the little search icon and it will take you to another Amazon page.  This page should be dedicated to Amazon books.  Scroll about halfway down the page until you get to a section that has all of the Amazon book categories. 

Next, click on the "Search" icon

You’re going to start clicking on these different categories and drilling down into them looking for hot niches and sub-niches. 

For example you could look through the business and marketing books.  Whenever you click on a book category, more categories open up.  So in the “Business” category, you could click on the marketing link and you’d find pages and pages of books on marketing.  Within those pages are niches and sub-niches.  How do you find out which topics are the hottest? Look at the 
comments!

What The Comments Will Tell You…

There are loads of
categories to drill into!

If people take the time to read a book, go back online, log in with their account, and then write an essay or comments, then chances are it is a good book with good subject matter.  Amazon will also allow you to peruse several pages of the book to include the Table of Contents.

That is where you can really get some great ideas for a short eBook or paper.

At this point, you can do one or two things:

One, you can take an idea from the Table of Contents and then surf the net looking for free information on that subject area. 

Two, you can also just go ahead and buy the book from Amazon. 9 times out of 10 you can get the book dirt cheap used on there, and you know how I feel about getting things done DIRT CHEAP!

P.S. In case you want to watch a video on how to use Amazon to find a niche, look at this:

Step 2 – Write a short eBook based on the hot niche or sub-niche.
 

You want to write a short eBook that gets right to the point if you can.  The title should describe exactly what the eBook is about and the eBook should be SHORT and to the point, explaining exactly what you stated in the title.  Around 30 or so pages should be more than enough.

The reason why you’ll want to write a short eBook is because most people are going to want to read exactly what they’re looking for.  A lot of marketers make massive courses because to the purchaser it looks impressive. 

 However, many times it can have the reverse effect.   People see a vast ocean of information and get overwhelmed, so you want to create short eBooks but make sure that the information in them is well written and dynamite.  You don’t want to produce a bunch of useless crap, either!  

How to Get You eBook Into Amazon

Step 3 – Post and Sell you eBook/Kindle Book in Amazon Books.

Actually, Amazon makes it pretty straightforward about the process, and all you really need to do at this point is follow their step by step set up directions.

TIP: However, it should be noted that when you have to write a description of your product, some knowledge of copywriting techniques will go a long way.  This is where many people fail in their attempts at selling products of any kind on Amazon.  Also, make sure that it’s clear in your description that this is a SHORT eBook and let your potential customer know the number of pages in it.

TIP: For starters you may want to write your short eBooks under an alternate name.  This way, you won’t damage your good name or reputation if for some reason people don’t like what you’ve written.

TIP:   Price your short eBook at about $5.00 a shot.  That way you can easily justify a shorter eBook.

The Dirt Cheap Beauty of this Bid-Ness Model

The thing I like the most about this idea is that you can move very quickly with

it.  You don’t need to spend 4 months writing a pant-load of material for a massive eBook.  The $5.00 price point means that people will probably not mind parting with that much money as they would $30 or so dollars.

(Personally I love Bob Bly’s books, but they almost all start at about $30 dollars or so.  I bought 4 of them a month until I realized how much a month I was spending.  Not Dirt Cheap enough...Ha-ha !)

If you do decide to use your real name in this, make sure you've branded your eBook with your name and contact information.

  However, many times it can have the reverse effect.   People see a vast ocean of information and get overwhelmed, so you want to create short eBooks but make sure that the information in them is well written and dynamite.  You don’t want to produce a bunch of useless crap, either!  

Step 3 – Post and Sell you eBook/Kindle Book in Amazon Books.

Actually, Amazon makes it pretty straightforward about the process, and all you really need to do at this point is follow their step by step set up directions.

TIP: However, it should be noted that when you have to write a description of your product, some knowledge of copywriting techniques will go a long way.  This is where many people fail in their attempts at selling products of any kind on Amazon.  Also, make sure that it’s clear in your description that this is a SHORT eBook and let your potential customer know the number of pages in it.

TIP: For starters you may want to write your short eBooks under an alternate name.  This way, you won’t damage your good name or reputation if for some reason people don’t like what you’ve written.

TIP:   Price your short eBook at about $5.00 a shot.  That way you can easily justify a shorter eBook.

The Dirt Cheap Beauty of the Bid-Ness Model

The thing I like the most about this idea is that you can move very quickly with it.  You don’t need to spend 4 months writing a pant-load of material for a massive eBook.  The $5.00 price point means that people will probably not mind parting with that much money as they would $30 or so dollars.

(Personally I love Bob Bly’s books, but they almost all start at about $30 dollars or so.  I bought 4 of them a month until I realized how much a month I was spending.  Not Dirt Cheap enough...Ha-ha !)

If you do decide to use your real name in this, make sure you’ve branded your eBook with your name and contact information.

Danger Will Robinson...Danger!  Danger!

Danger!  Danger!

One other thing that I almost forgot to mention about selling eBooks on Amazon using this method. You can create quite a few of them quickly using this technique.  However there is a big danger here.  

Don’t make the mistake of creating a piece of JUNK.  Because if you create a piece of junk, no matter what pseudonym or moniker you hide under you’ll eventually get a very bad reputation. 

Besides that, you’ll get used to making junk and not quality products for your prospects and clients.

Please leave comments ...God knows I need them!!!

To Your Success!

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

(859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com

Information Marketing the MOST Lucrative of all Internet Marketing Opportunities

Information marketing is probably the easiest and fastest way to build a business on the Internet.  (Already I can hear you say “Duh – Everybody knows that!)  Most people won’t try to make money using this venue and when they do, it is usually done wrong.

However, when you think of it, if everyone were great info-marketers the market would be absolutely saturated.  (Kinda like brick and mortar video businesses back in the 80’s.) 

Not to say it isn't highly competitive in certain niches already, but if you know how to target a hot niche or sub-niche, you can still rake in the bucks.

The Reality of the Info-Marketing Business – or – That Dirty Four Letter Word

I like to frequent forums where IM newbs (slang for Internet Marketing newbies) hang out.  Most of them are wide-eyed optimists, and right out of the starting gate, they make posts like this:

“How can you make $2000 a month selling info-products?”

“Frustrated with trying to make $$$ online”

“I’m totally broke and desperate and need to make good money now!!!”

You know, the usual.

My response to them is:

“Did you think this was going to be different than starting any other type of business?  It requires A LOT of WORK!”

Just like Edison used to say, “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Information marketing IS lucrative, but you have to work it like a madman or woman to make money at it.

Consider What You Need to Do to Make Money

Outside of actually creating the actual product (videos, eBooks, reports, blog posts, etc.) you still have a load of work to do to actually get your product onto the market.

Market Research

Let’s say you’re going to sell a 100 page eBook.  You need to research first to see if there’s a market for it.  If you do it right, it may take you a few days or more of work to find out whether your product has merit. 

The reason I say this requires a few days of research, is because you really need to find out on the front-end of your project whether or not there is a marketable niche.  You need to find out if the market is large enough and hungry enough to buy what you’re trying to sell.

If you watch ABC’s Shark Tank, you’ll see that this is where most enthusiastic and new entrepreneurs fall short on that show.  People come into it expecting to go into business with seasoned, filthy rich venture capitalists on their ideas and products. 

Unfortunately, these venture capitalists are very experienced and business savvy.  If the budding entrepreneurs haven’t sold too many units, or have any existing market data to back up their claims, they won’t get a deal.

As one of the sharks on the show likes to say, “You’re dead to me.”

Marketing Plan

Once you've finished writing, formatting, branding and packaging your product, you still have a crap-load of work to do. 

You've got to figure out how you are going to attract your target market.  What methods are you going to use to attract and keep the attention of the people you want to have as paying customers?

What type of a sales funnel are you going to use? What is your unique selling proposition? If you structure a plan based on the sales funnel model, you’ll need to decide what channels you are going to use to broadcast your message.

Execution

Once you've figured out how you’re going to market your business, you've got to execute it. 

The Most seasoned marketers will tell you to use as many different types of marketing channels that you can manage.  That way, if one channel goes out for one reason or another, you’ll the other channels that you can still promote your business through.

For example, if you are accustomed to using nothing but YouTube videos to promote your product and then Google decides to kill YouTube for some reason, you’ll still have 4 or 5 other channels like social media, blogging, or whatever that you’re still using.

Selling

Once you get your crowd through your sales funnel, you’ll want to set up a sales page.  (Actually the sales page is part of your funnel, but let’s not split hairs here!)

You've got to have a page that convinces your readers that if they don’t buy what you have to offer, life on planet Earth will end.  You either have to have the skill to write compelling copy or hire someone that’ll do that for you.

Delivery

Once you get everything else in place, you’ll need to make sure you've got a way to collect money and deliver the product.  There are all sorts of ways to do this from making on line delivery systems to sending your product directly to the customer by way of snail mail.

Hot Tip #1 - If you have a PayPal account you can sell eBooks online relatively easy.  PayPal will process your transaction, but it will not DELIVER your eBook. For that, you’ll need an intermediary site.

  

There is a site called Upload –N- Pay that you can use as a delivery system.  The setup is fairly easy and you can be running in no time.

Hot Tip #2 – if you want to produce your own physical Audio CD’s or Video CD’s there’s an excellent company called Kunaki that silkscreens the CD and packages it in a nice case.

 A while back, I was making sports videos for kids that wanted to get scholarships for college, and I needed a way to get the video CD into a box.  I used Kunaki because they print on demand.  

I uploaded the video, sent in the case photo and for an extremely reasonable price got my video and case created. 

An absolutely amazing service! Here is their price list: Kunaki’s Prices 

To Your Success!

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

(859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com

Another 5 Ways to Get Traffic to Come to Your Website or Blog

In my last post I gave you 5 dirt-cheap ways to get traffic to come to your site.  If you’re interested, the link to that article is here: Cheap Marketing Methods 

Now, I have another 5 ways you can promote your website that are very cheap.  However, I’d once again like to point out that these methods do require labor or, at the very least outsourcing. 

5 More Ways To Promote Your Website for Free

Reciprocal Links and Banners - It never hurts to send your readers and visitors to high quality websites.  The emphasis needs to be stressed on quality because you want to become a known and respected source of information.  If people come to your site expecting excellence and you refer them to a shabby website that has poorly written information, their stink will probably rub off on you.

Another thing that’s important to consider is that you don’t want to trade links very much.

The other day, I got a request from someone that wanted to trade links with me.  His site was an insurance review site which was totally outside my niche.  Also, I noticed that his site was an Adsense site wherein his site was merely written to generate clicks for Adsense revenue. 

Upon further inspection, I noticed that he had loads of what appeared to be outsourced articles. 

So, I declined his offer to exchange links. 

If you want to read a very well written article on link exchanging, read this article by Michael Bluejay:  Why Your Link Exchange Request Failed 

Donating Your Services to Charity – If you know of a business or charity that can use your products or services, you can donate your help to them.  Not only will you help others in need but they may also point your business out to others. 

My personal take is to help others in need without expecting anything in return.  That’s just the way I am.  I once got an email from a band director that had a trombone playing student that had cancer.  I was operating a music apparel business online and I wound up making a beautiful embroidered jacket for the kid.  I didn't make a dime or any notoriety for doing it, but it sure did feel good to make that student happy.

Put Your Web Address Everywhere – You can place your website’s URL on your car, shirts, business cards, letterhead, as well as any promotional items that you give out for your business.  Also, make sure that you use it in your email signature, eBooks that you’ve written and any communications you use. If you have a bricks and mortar business, make sure that you put your URL on the door of your business, on your menus, receipts, and any other item you use that has your branding on it.

Use Free Classified Ads – There are literally hundreds of free classified ad sites on the Internet.  Many of them service specific countries, so you’ll have to take a close look at them to see what country or area they service.  The downside of using free online ads is there are time limits on how long your ad will run.  You’ll have to go back and check to see if your ad is still running. 

Not only that, but there are a lot of people “phishing” on them.  Phishing is an online searching activity where nefarious people look around on sites where you would place your contact information, and then call you and try to sell you something.  They will also collect your email address and spam you like crazy. 

Here is a brief list of the best free classified sites to use:

Craigslist 

eBay Classifieds 

USFREEADS 

Back Page

Recycler 

Offer a Free Course on Your Website – This requires some effort and time, but if your visitors can get some excellent training, whether it’s audio, video or even a series of lessons, then you can post them for free on your website. 

Years ago, I created an extensive Photoshop course that you can still access today as well as a series on how to make your own blog using Blogger.   It was well received by people that used it.  So put your thinking cap on and think about a video course that you can come up with that is related to your business.  Not only will people come to your site looking for free information, but you can also embed your URL into your videos on YouTube to get even more traffic to your site.

Mark Ellis’s Photoshop Training Videos:

To Your Success!

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

(859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com

Use eBooks to Cheaply Drive Free Traffic to Your Website or Blog

I have written eBooks, and as a marketing tool, they work pretty well.  There are two schools of thought on how to create them.  One is to sit your butt down and knock it off and the other is to hire a ghost writer to make one for you. 

Since most of you are like me (lazy), in this post I’ll tell you how to hire a ghost writer to create an eBook. In the next post, we’ll explore how to write your own and some of the pitfalls to avoid, but for this episode we’ll go the ghost writer route.

What Are eBooks and Why Does Everyone like Them So Much?

Just in case you’re brand new to Internet marketing, here’s a brief description of electronic books or eBooks. You can easily become a publisher without having to print up books the traditional way.

These are electronic books that you can get online and read on your computer.  These are sometimes called .PDF files. (PDF is the file extension that means that the file is basically text and graphics in book format.) You can have great pictures, and text laid out in such a way that makes the book look great, and the book can be as big or small as you want it.

One of the best thing about eBooks is that you could really load one up with pictures and graphics and you’d save a lot of money over traditional publishing because using traditional methods, you’d have to spend butt – loads on money getting full color pictures into a book.

Not only that, but distribution costs are super cheap.  They can be downloaded as file from one place on the Internet to the other, and they can also be sent as an email attachment from one place to another.  You can also sell them from a variety of places online such as Clickbank, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.   

Another super-plus benefit to eBooks is that they can also be Interactive.  Just like the Internet, you can place links to websites and products you’re trying to sell, and you can even embed video into them.  However, the computer that you are reading them on needs to be connected to the Internet for the links and video to work. 

The main benefit of creating an eBook is that no longer will you need to go through a publisher and all of the traditional routes to become an established author.  You can call yourself an author without needing anyone’s backing or permission and you can do all of this for next to nothing.  Amazing!

The Downside of eBooks and How to Overcome It

As I see it, there are two main setbacks to using an eBook.  First, everyone is making them and giving them away.  Some of the best eBooks I have read were eBooks I’ve gotten online for free.  (I’ll leave links to these at the end of this post.) 

However, a lot of the eBooks that are given away SUCK.  Plain and simple. We’re not going to go that route.

The other drawback is taking the time to sit down and write them.  The two disadvantages go hand in hand when overcoming them, as you’ll see in a moment.

 So, let’s tackle both problems at the same time in steps.

Step 1: Identify the Niche You’re Operating In.  If you don’t know what your business is all about, you are in an extreme disadvantage.  You’ll need to figure out where you are and how you’re going to get there.  If you haven’t taken the time to read the post I’ve already written on exploring niches, check it out here: Ways to Find Niches

  

Another method of finding out what your niche is, as well as your unique selling proposition (USP) is to actually sit down and write out a business plan.  The way I wrote mine was I got a copy of Conrad Levinson’s Guerilla Marketing Workbook.  This book is not only a great marketing book, but it will help you write out a fairly decent marketing and business plan.

Step 2:  Gather Resources.  Once you’ve identified your niche, go online and

peruse books and courses in your niche from Amazon, eBay and other book – type resources.  Find out what’s really hot in your niche and start buying and gathering information from them.  If you have to buy books from Amazon, you can get them cheap by buying them used.  You are looking for the absolute best information you can find in your niche.  The best way to determine this is by looking at the Amazon ratings as well as the number of comments that are on the site. 

TIP: Another awesome place to get this type of information from is forums.  Start reading and copying and pasting the best posts, questions and answers you can find from them.  Some of the most incredible advice I've gotten is from forums, so copy and paste your favorite readings into a word processor and keep them.

You’re going to need quite a stack of resources on your subject.

Step 3: Start Reading and Highlighting Your Resources.  Now, take the resources that you’ve been gathering and start reading.  Whenever you find something in them that you think is dynamite or useful, highlight it with a highlighter.  Do this to all of your resources. After doing this, you should have quite a pile of information.

Step 4:  Get reasonably priced writer and have theme write your material.  There are many places on the Internet to find writers that will do your ghost writing for you.  Here’s a partial list of places you can go to on the Internet to outsource writing:

Moving AheadCommunications 

Ghosts R Us – Specializes in outsourcing eBooks     

Fiverr - A unique site that vendors can only charge $5.00 a gig.  

oDesk 

eLance 

Freelancer 

99designs 

Hire the World  

There are loads of outsourcing sites and you’ll need to get used to using the one or two that you’ll feel most comfortable with in order to get your eBook or eBook written.

Step 5: Send your highlighted material to your ghostwriter and have them rewrite it.  Once you have your ghostwriter hired, send them your highlighted books and have them rewrite the material for you.  You are not plagiarizing, but rewriting the material into someone else’s words.  Not only that, but you are picking material from a variety of resources.  So, you are not copying, but using the material you highlighted as source material. 

Step 6:  Brand your eBook.  Make sure all of your marketing information is in the eBook before you give it away or sell it.  Make sure that your Web address, email, business number and any other contact information that you have is in the eBook.

Pretty much, that’s all there is to it.  One thing to keep in mind, you’ll need to check and read the material sent back to you by your ghostwriter.  You don’t want to have your name on anything substandard because you’re trying to build an excellent brand and reputation, here.

To Your Success!

Mark "Elmo" Ellis

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

Free eBooks that are just outstanding:

How to Make MoneySitting on Your A** by T.J. Rohleder

Magnetic Marketing by Dan Kennedy 

Blow Away the Competition Using This Traffic Generating Method of Giving Away Free Content

One of the biggest words in marketing besides “New” and “Sale” is the word “Free”.  If you read my last post, you’ll know that I’m an advocate of “Paying it Forward”.  It’s one of the best things you can do for yourself and others, and a super easy way of building a loyal group of followers as cheaply as possible.

However, before I give you some great FREE ideas, let me just mention that just because you’re giving away something as cheap as FREE you don’t have to make it cheap.  You still need to make your gift as high quality as possible.

Recently, I heard a podcast by a young guy that mass produces eBooks on Amazon. His business model was to pick a group of pen names, (a different one for each niche he was targeting) have someone ghostwrite eBooks for himself - dirt cheap, and then sell them for $5.00 each because there wasn't any pain for prospects in parting with such a small amount of money.

He claimed he was raking in the dough.  Maybe he was...don’t know.

The problem with this business model, as I see it, is he will always have to rebuild his customer base.  People that buy cheap items that are just thrown together probably won’t be back, and probably aren't successful enough to buy anything that you’ll want to sell them later at a higher price. 

That’s just my way of thinking.

Why the Big Boys are Big

The reason why marketing experts like Dan Kennedy can command $300 an info product, or charge $3000 a seat at a seminar is because he DELIVERS super-high quality information, products and services and carries that reputation around with him wherever he goes.  And he’s been doing it for over 30 years.

That kind of clout comes with putting YOUR back into it, rather than hiring a ghost writer to dash out some fast junk. The Dollar Store does well at selling super-cheap stuff because that’s exactly what it is--super-cheap stuff.  

You won’t find Dyson vacuum cleaners that will last for 10 years or more there, because that’s not their niche.  (Of course you won’t find me buying a vacuum cleaner there either, no matter how cheap they sell them.)

Now, I know what you’re gonna say.  “Wait a minute Ellis! You’re telling me on one hand to give stuff away for FREE, but then you’re telling me that I don’t want to have a cheap reputation.  What kind of double talk is that?”

They Already Have the Job

People that want to become teachers go through a gauntlet you wouldn't believe.  In order to become a school teacher in the U.S. you have to go through at least 4 years of college, take a whole battery of certification tests, do your student teaching for at least a semester in a regular school, and then make sure you follow the rest of your certification requirements in the state you’re teaching in. 

In the state of Kentucky, for example, you have to go through an extra year of a state run program.  That program requires you to be observed and monitored by other teacher’s at your school as well as administrators and state administrators.  

By the time you’re done with that program, you’ll have a book full of state forms and lesson plans that’s as thick as a New York City telephone directory.  If you pass all of that, you still have to teach in your subject area for 3 years or take some upper level graduate classes.

Full-fledged teachers don’t make that much money for the first 10 years they’re teaching either.

I remember when I was doing my student teaching in college, there was a professor that was prepping us for that experience.  She really hammered out the fact that she didn't care what the rest of the staff at the cooperative school was dressed like, we had to be dressed to the hilt, very professionally.  She went through the whole laundry list of what women and men were to wear while doing their cooperative teaching.

Some of the students asked why we had to get so decked-out if the rest of the school teachers were dressed more casually.

Her response was quite blunt. “They already have the job.”

So, consider what other professions have to go through just to get started before you start whining, please.

The Reasons to Provide Free Content

•        Your customers, prospects and fans want it, plain and simple. 
• 
  
•        You are trying to establish and prove your knowledge and expertise in your niche. Cheapest way to do it.
• 
  
•        If done correctly, it could be used to provide an online watering hole for your fans to congregate, comment and exchange ideas on a regular basis. 
• 
  
•        If you use offline newsletters, online eBooks and other wonderful vehicles, they could be passed around so you’re ideas and reputation could be spread virally.

The Grateful Dead Goes Live

A real good example of this type of FREE activity actually working, is from the famous rock group the Grateful Dead.  From a marketing perspective, they were unique in many ways.  But one thing stands out that they did which nobody else was doing at the time:  they’d let you record their concerts for FREE.

As a matter of fact, there was an area right next to the mixing board, where the best recordings could

be made called “taper sections”.  This is where people recording their live events could make their own recordings of Grateful Dead’s concerts.

Most music moguls would freak out at the revenue lost, but not the Dead.  They went viral before the Internet. People were exchanging recorded tapes, talking about them, and spreading their fame very quickly, and it paid off handsomely.  Hardly anyone hasn't heard of the Grateful Dead.

Google Gets a Jump on Free

Still don’t think high-quality FREE works? Take a good look at Google.  They have great free services that would take pages to list here.  It’s even been rumored that one of their latest ventures is to provide free Internet services to anyone that wants them, but that’s a future goal I’m not sure will happen.   

Google, like the Medici banking family of the Renaissance is collecting geniuses; there’s a whole battery of tests you’d have to take to get in their doors.  These people work in an environment that does nothing but give them freedom.  

Freedom to think, play around with ideas, and learn more.  People that work for this company don’t want to go home, so they stay and put in many hours. 

They are keen on FREE.  If they’re that smart, perhaps we should follow their lead.

To Your Success!

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

 (859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com

Boosting Your Business and Sales In Facebook with a Great Call to Action!

On my last blog post I gave you the basics of what you’d need to get started using Facebook in your quest to generate traffic for your business.  If you still haven’t read that content, you can access it here:

Dirt Cheap Methods of Using Facebook

Now I’m going to tell you how to get that traffic to move towards your marketing message and eventually your business sales funnel.  There are several things that you will need to do to motivate and influence people in order to get them to move to your sales page or squeeze page. This episode we’re going to focus on…

Using a Call to Action! (CTA)

The first thing you need to do is decide exactly what you want your audience to do.  Basically, you are going to ask them to stay engaged with you.  The whole idea is to get your readers to take several small and easy steps on their way to your irresistible offer. 

This is tricky, because each step along the way must LEAD the prospect in a manner that is non-threatening in a sales perspective. You’re not selling…You’re LEADING!  Once you have them in your sales funnel, there are different ways you can sell to them, but during your multi-step process you’ll need to engage them enough to have them move forward with you.

For example, you've got your Facebook business page set up with articles relevant to your niche.  Every now and then, you could refer to an interesting article on your blog, which in turn has a whitepaper, eBook, coupon or other relevant stuff to offer that’s free.

Take a look at Nature Valley Granola Bars Facebook Page. (My wife’s favorite hiking food!)  About every 5 or so posts, they have a posting similar to this one:

They have a link to their site, which usually has…COUPONS!!!  The next step in the natural order of things is the sale.  Pretty simple, eh?

Hook and Reel

Once you get your prospects to your site or destination, you’ll want to ask them to take the next step.  Depending on your where they are in your sales process, you will either sell them or move them closer to your sale. 

Usually, when the item or items are big ticket, the sales process is longer and probably looks like this:

Facebook page à Blog posts à Free eBook à Small purchase like an eBook ($29.00) à Bigger purchase like a course with videos ($ 100.00) Seminar or coaching sessions ($2000.00 and up).

The ultimate thrill for a marketer of this nature is to get you on their paid subscription because they’ll be making "mucho deniro" from you on a regular basis.

Get Prospects to Act…Fast

Sad but true, if people have too long to think about things, they won’t buy.  A good car salesman knows that the second you walk off the lot to think about it, you won’t be back.  (They call prospects like this “Be-Backs” because they know that you’ll never “be back”.)

So, whenever you give them an irresistible offer to act, you need to put a sense of urgency in there.  In my opinion the subtler you can do this the better.  One of the best examples I ever saw of this was a copywriter that said that for accounting reasons, he wouldn't be able to keep selling his course for a while. 

He went on for three or four pages talking about the course and very subtly, he’d mention that even though he was fighting his accountant for months on this, for tax reasons he wasn’t going to be able to offer it after a certain month and that he wouldn't be able to sell it again for 5 years or so.

I think this is the reason why coupons almost always have expiration dates on them.

Keep it Simple…Smarty!

The last bit of advice is that you’ll want to keep the process of ordering simple.  Don’t give any choices as far as products are concerned, and don’t make the prospect go through too many steps in the sales process. 

The only time you’ll want to give prospects more than one choice is how they are going to pay you! 1-800 numbers, Paypal, Credit Cards, whatever.  The more ways to pay the better. 

To Your Success!

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

(859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com