Here's Marlon's cheat sheet for generating leads online:

 

1. First you need to know how much you can afford to spend
to get someone to join your email list.

 

a. After people opt in, you're going to present them with
an immediate offer, either on the thank you page, or the
page after they confirm their email.

 

I'm going to call this "sale 1."

 

a. Count the total revenue generated from sale 1,
including upsells and downsells

This is the KEY. When they buy sale 1, it's critical you
immediately have upsells and downsells.

 

b. For example sake, let's say after they opt in, you present an
offer for $27 and, on average, including a $250 upsell and $50
downsell (if they decline the $250 offer), you net out $50.

 

If you're converting 10% of opt ins, that is $5 per opt in. Now,
you know you can conservatively spend $2.50 to get an opt in. I'm
going to use this $2.50 as an example.

 

You have to calculate your own numbers.

 

2. Critical points for your name capture (or squeeze) page

 

a. You need to be capturing 10% to 15% minimum. Some of my friends
take this up to 30% on ppc traffic. I've heard higher figures but
they are probably from traffic other than ppc.

 

b. Use a tested headline

 

==> Scan your subject lines for something that did well and pull
from it for the squeeze page.

 

==> If you have pay-per-click ads running, take one that did really
well and turn THAT into a headline.

 

==> Model other headlines you KNOW are working well

==> Look at the posts in forums in your market with very high views.

Borrow those subject lines -- creatively. Model don't steal.

 

c. If you can put together a hot screen capture video or real video,
this will likely increase opt ins.

 

d. Make sure your opt in box is above the fold of the screen, so
people don't have to scroll to get to it.

 

3. Adapt your squeeze page for Google

 

a. There's a nasty rumor that Google doesn't allow squeeze pages.

Search stuff on Google a lot and bookmark ALL squeeze pages you find.

There are still MANY out there that are working.

 

b. Look to see if the successful squeeze pages have links to
content, privacy policies, contact info.

 

4. Start a swipe file

 

a. Save squeeze pages to a squeeze page folder

b. Save hot sales letters to a sales letter folder

c. Save great google ads that you keep seeing over and over to a
ppc folder

d. Save awesome screen capture videos to a video folder

 

5. Run the numbers for pay-per-click

 

If you can spend $2.50 to get an opt in, and 1 out of 10 clicks
opts in, then you can spend .25 per click.

 

===> If you can't realistically get your traffic for .25 click, then
tweak your numbers.

 

-- Add an upsell

-- Add a downsell

-- Add video to boost your conversions

-- Do something else to improve your numbers.

 

6. Test banners on Google

 

a. Banners are a goldmine if you can get ones that convert. Test on
Google site targeting.

b. If they work, test them on Adbrite.

 

7. Buy banners on forums

 

-- Forums can be a little goldmine

 

8. Buy banners on highly targeted blogs

 

9. Track everything

 

You can use hypertracker or adminder. But there is a monthly fee for
those. Automateyourwebsite.com has an adtracker built in.

 

Currently, I use AdtrackZ gold. See my interview with Daegan in
Promo Dashboard.

 

10. Know your tracking software in and out.

 

-- If you can pass variables to it, learn what this means and how
to do it.

-- Learn about sids, tids and the other tracking suffixes

 

11. Have a GREAT freebie

 

a. The freebie you offer on your squeeze page is ALL important

b. The title is everything

c. You can offer something as simple as a 1-page report like Agora
does all the up to a free ebook like Ben Hart does.

d. Steal from your winning subject lines and ppc ads for the title
of your freebie.

 

12. The more robust your back end, the greater your freedom for
generating leads on the front end.

 

a. Start a back-end swipe file where you save product ideas for
back ends that others are using.

b. Create a back-end swipe file where you save videos and sales
letters for back-end products.

c. Study back-end revenue generating sales letters, videos,
webinars and teleseminars. Get the recordings and save them for
reference.

 

13. If all else fails, sponsor teleseminars and webinars where
other sell their big ticket back ends and you make 1/2.

 

Marlon

 

"How To Turn Your Idea Into Money In The Bank"

Who else wants to turn ideas into bank deposits?

 

The other day I was at the mall.

 

I often talk to the guys and gals at the kiosks that sell
stuff.

 

They're usually interesting to talk to. And they understand
sales, so the conversation isn't wasted.

 

I talked to this one guy.

 

He was really into herbs. His booth sold herbal stuff I
believe. Anyway, we talked about sports, bodybuilding and
so forth. He told me he had found an herb that was used
in ancient days to produce testosterone in elite athletes.

 

There's a heck of a story behind it. I won't give it away
here in case he decides to market it. Or maybe I will.

 

Point is, he's working at this kiosk on a small salary plus
commission. And with only one modestly successful product,
he could replace his income.

 

First, he researches the story more completely, pulls out
all the interesting facts he can, fascinating stories and
writes it up into a sales letter.

 

Then, he creates a booklet or ebook and a CD or two about
it. That makes for a nice $47 or $97 ebook on bodybuilding
sites because the U.S. is cracking down on steroids, so
he has a captive market.

 

His back end could be the actual herb if he found a supplier
and could work his way around all the legal entanglements, of
which there are many.

 

Otherwise, his backend is other products from commissionjunction.com
and clickbank.com.

 

Next he goes to bodybuilding web sites, forums and blogs
and buys banner ads and text ads offering a free report
with a catchy title.

"Free Bodybuilding Report Reveals Secrets Of The Greek
gods. Zeus used herbs. No bull."

 

I made that up. You get the idea. Something promising, shocking
with a big benefit.

 

To get the banners made he pays $20 each at 20dollarbanners.com
or wherever. There's no lack of banner designers on the web.

And if you own Design Dashboard, you should be able to do a
decent banner yourself.

 

In the video edition of this ezine, in the past, I've demonstrated
how to do that.

 

The report sells the ebook. The CD or CD's could be the upsell.
He could even do a DVD on how to prepare it, grow it legally
or whatever.

 

The elements are:

 

1. The sales letter that tells an intriguing story

 

2. The banner ads that send people to the story

 

3. The product itself

 

4. The things you sell to people who join the email list or
buy the product. This is called the "back end." In other words,
everything you sell after the initial pitch, whether they buy
the first thing or not.

 

Once you get people on your email list, you just keep emailing.
It's no more complicated than that.

 

The great thing about commissionjunction.com is you can earn
commissions for selling anything under the sun. And I wouldn't
be surprised if you could a commission FOR selling the sun!

Let's run some numbers.

 

1. Assume he gets clicks on the banners for .50 a click

 

2. One out of 100 clicks buys

 

3. That makes the cost to get the customer $50.00. If he sells
the report for $47, he's making money. How?

 

4. When the customer buys the $47 product, you IMMEDIATELY offer
something else for them to buy. This is called an upsell.

 

5. If they don't buy that, you offer something cheaper. That is
called a downsell.

 

6. If they buy the upsell, guess what you do? You offer ANOTHER
upsell!

 

In this case, he could offer some CD's or a DVD showing/telling
more about the product. How to grow it at home or whatever.

 

He could probably find related products to sell as an affiliate.

You want the upsells and downsells to be as closely related to the
main offer as possible.

 

The tool that makes this happen is at:

 

http://www.optimizeyourcart.com

 

You need to have an account with: http://www.automateyourwebsite.com
to use it. That is my private label of 1 shopping cart.

 

It's the thing that takes orders for you.

 

7. Let's say 10% of the people who buy the $47 thing buy a $100
thing that is more advanced. Out of 100 buyers, 10 get the upsell.
That is 10 people times $100 or $1000.

 

So if he sells 200 or 300 a month, he replaces his income based
on one upsell, and not including any downsells.

 

8. If the $100 offer is turned down, he could drop down to
something for $27 or $37 and pick up more.

 

9. He could do an advanced strategy and use forced continuity.
That way, when they buy the $47 thing, they get a free 30-day
trial in his bodybuilding whatever membership or club.

 

After the 30 days it's $27 or $37 or $47 a month. In that site,

he covers other herbal things for bodybuilders, does interviews
and digs up whatever content he can.

 

Out of 100 buyers, 50% to 80% should pay after the first month.
The average person will pay 3 months for a total of $27 x 3 or
$81.

 

Here's a summary of the profit centers:

 

a. Break even on the initial $47 sale

 

b. Have one or more $100 upsells

 

c. Have one or more $27 to $37 downsells

 

d. Have a forced continuity membership site

 

The initial $47 sale pays for the cost of the advertising.

Everything else is profit.

 

Now 2X or 3X a week you send content and one or two promos a week
using the methods in Promo Dashboard to pitch stuff you snag off
of CJ (Commission Junction) or Clickbank.

 

So now you have money rolling in every week. Week in. Week out.

Was that so difficult that somehow little ol' you can't do it?

 

:)

 

That's how you turn your idea into money in the bank.

 

Marlon

 

"How to Start From Scratch And Grow Your Internet
Business Step-By-Step"

The 7 simple keys that make the big difference between
success and failure.

 

How to Start From Scratch And Grow Your Internet
Business Step-By-Step

 

I started my Internet business from scratch.

 

In the early days it was AOL and Compuserve
marketing.

 

Later, the World Wide Web burst onto the scene.

 

If you're starting from scratch, I've been there.

If you're already got "something" going but you
wanna have multiples of that something going,
this article will help you.

 

Key #1: Build your lead generation

 

The heart and soul of your online business is lead
generation.

 

You've gotta have traffic to your site. And you've
gotta get people on your email list and make sales.

 

The most important skill you'll develop is the ability
to generate leads for your business. Never lose focus
on that fact.

 

If you haven't started a daily lead generation activity,
start today. Find something (anything) that generates
leads and get it running.

 

Even if it's only one lead a day. If you've heard the
Promo Dashboard interview with Daegan Smith, you know
he converts 3% leads off of Traffic Swarm.

 

He gets leads off of ezine ads. I personally am going
back to running ezine ads.

 

You can write articles, submit them, turn them into
videos, submit those, record an audio and submit it
to podcast directories.

 

You can post in forums 3X daily with a signature line
offering a freebie.

 

You can run a few pay-per-click ads or buy a banner
on Adbrite.com.

 

Just get started. It IS the engine of your business.

It's everything. Without it you are nothing.

 

Key #2: Add a new skill weekly or monthly

I believe that success in this business is built one
skill at a time.

 

You stack skill sets.

 

Maybe this week or this month you learn to do screen
capture video using Camstudio or Camtasia.

 

Next week or next month you learn to use Dreamweaver,
Sonic Memo or Photoshop Elements.

 

But you keep layering in skill sets.

 

In my Dashboard series, I try to turbocharge people's
skillset stacking. That's my objective. To put it
on fast forward.

 

You need to learn how to submit articles using article marketer or
submit your article. You need to learn how to use tracking links.

There are many skills to learn. Just add one a week and you'll be
rocking in no time.

 

Key #3: Outsource once you have a system

 

I really think some people are getting the cart before
the horse. Once you have something rolling, you outsource
it.

 

It's difficult in my experience to get results by
outsourcing what you don't already have rolling.

First get it rolling.

 

Then outsource it.

 

Key #4: The hardest person you'll ever hire is person
#1.

 

You'll worry and fret about whether or not you can afford
them.

 

If they have talent, you can afford them. If they have
mediocre talent, you can't afford them. If they have
a low level of talent, they'll suck money out of your
pocket.

 

But once you have something coming in, don't be afraid to
pay for help.

 

If you don't, it'll cost you in the long run.

 

Key #5: Never take your eye off the ball

 

The ball is your lead generation. Whether you use an
affiliate program, article marketing, seo, ppc, paid
advertising or viral marketing, that is the engine of
your business.

 

Never take your eye off of it. In Key #1 I said you
build your business by lead generation.

 

Now I'm telling you the secret to staying in business
is to keep the pedal to the metal when it comes to
lead generation.

 

Key #6: The better you convert visitors to sales, the
easier your lead generation will come.

 

You'll find it's easier to afford media, outsourcing
and help the more visitors you convert to sales.

 

Key #7: A robust back end fuels the fire

 

The more you have rock solid upsells in place, the more
you have recurring billing or forced continuity, the
more you have big tickets, the more you sell on the back
end, the more lubrication your business has and the
easier it runs.

 

A skinny rabbit will lose a long race for lack of fuel.

Keep your back end (your repeat business) fat and happy.

Out of all these keys, the most important one is #2.

Because if you keep doing that, you'll eventually do all
the other keys.

 

Leaders are readers. Charlie Tremendous Jones said that
many years ago.

 

And it's true.

 

There's a niche market I'm involved in as a buyer, not
a seller.

 

And what I've noticed is that the people who succeed in
this field are ones who have an awesome skill set. While
some people complain about how hard it is to learn new
things and how tough it is, the winners just keep plowing
away.

 

Some people succeed in business due to genius.

But the surest route to success is to keep plowing away.
Keep learning. Keep doing.

 

Balance your learning and your doing. If you spend 80% of
your time learning, that's likely too much unless you're a
newbie.

 

If you spend 90% of your time doing, you probably aren't
building your skill set enough and sharpening your saw.

 

Have a great week,

 

Marlon Sanders