Marlon Sanders has released the latest issue of ‘Marketing Minute’. The featured article is titled “How A Home-Based Business Rockets From Scratch To $78 Million”. [Article]


Marlon Sanders’ latest article:

How A Home-Based Business Rockets From Scratch To $78 Million

“So Marlon, how did you like the swimming pool?” he asked me.

“Walter, what swimming pool?” I whipped back.

He said, “You open the door in my bedroom and it goes into a room with an Olympic-sized swimming pool that belonged to FDR.”

FDR stood for Franklin D. Roosevelt, the famed President that got America out of the great
depression, according to many historians.

Anyway, I opened the little side door in Walter’s bedroom and sure enough. After you walked through the spa room, there was another room with this olympic-sized swimming pool in it. And you could see the steps and the rail FDR used to lower himself out of his wheelchair into the pool.

You know you’re doing OK on money when you have an ex-President’s pool in your bedroom.

Walter had built a new house. So I was staying in his bedroom in the old one. My purpose there was to write sales letters for him.

Back in the day, I charged per page.

Copywriter’s today would make fun of charging per page.

But they don’t get it.

Back in the day, there were precious FEW copywriters. You could charge however you wanted. My fees at the time were in the top 5% or 10% of all copywriters. Not that I had a LOT to compete with.

So here was this little short guy. Walter “Itsy Bitsy” Hailey. He started out as a failure in selling and ended up making 600 million via a few businesses.

His FIRST successful business sold for $78 million, even though the actual “earnings” of the business were only a few million. He always told me he started it at home from scratch. Of course, he quickly outgrew his home and moved to offices and all that jazz.

Why? Because a really large company stood to make a small fortune from the lead generation system he’d assembled. THAT is how valuable a lead generation system is. In essence, this company paid $78 million for not much more than a lead generation system!

Was it worth it to them? Sure was. They stood to make many more millions from it on a yearly basis.

But all his success boiled down to one thing — having a SYSTEM for selling stuff, whatever it was.

Notice I didn’t just say “being a great sales person.”

You don’t build billion dollar businesses by selling everything yourself. You create a SYSTEM for selling that’s a whole process.

Once you get that System down pat, you can bring in sales people on salary or commission (or both) to do the selling for you.

Lead generation on a consistent basis separated Walter from everyone else. He created Systems that generated tons of leads. All sales people want qualified, warm leads more than anything else.

If you have warm, qualified leads (interested people) then the sales people will come.

One time Walter and I took a walk outside his ranch home up the somewhat steep hill there. I fired question after question about his lead generation System.

I could write a book or two on what I learned from Walter.

But the main thing is that a sales machine does NOT run without a steady flow of leads.

Here are a few common mistakes people make in putting together their lead generation System:

1. Failing to identify the hot buttons of the target audience.

You can’t get people into your marketing funnel unless and until you know what turns them on. Walter knew the hot buttons of his audience inside and out. This is step one.

Just as an example, when Walter spoke at conventions for dentists, he offered a freebie report on a super hot topic if they’d just give him their business card. Almost everyone did because he KNEW their hot buttons.

2. Failing to know in advance the OUTCOME you want when someone enters your marketing funnel.

Walter had a clearly defined path his prospects would go through.

Where are they going? What actions are they going to take? How are you going to get them to buy progressively larger amounts over and over?

3. Trying once or twice to get people into your marketing funnel and then giving up.

Success results from testing and tracking a variety of possibilities over and over. Walter used inbound sales people for this. But in other businesses, he used outside commission sales people.

4. Not knowing in advance the “marketing play” you’re running.

Are you targeting people who are underserved? Overserved? Non consumers? Are you playing offense? Flanking moves? Guerrilla tactics?

5. Using feast or famine lead generation techniques that leave you high and dry after “the big event” is over.

Walter lived and breathed lead generation, just as you should. You just can’t set up too many lead generation systems.

One thing Walter did in his seminar business for dentists was tons of public speaking. This crude lead generation method takes a lot of work but he did it all the time because he knew how critical a constant flow of leads was to that particular business.

6. Failing to split test many variations of your name capture “squeeze” page until you get 50% or more to join your list on a consistent, routine basis.

7. Failing to have a pre-planned, tested follow up sequence in place.

Now, that may sound like a daunting task. But a friend of mine just totally rebuilt his marketing funnel since January of this year. He anticipates doing $70,000 this month, all from consistent, steady lead generation, without product launch mania.

He anticipates being able to ramp up his funnel to $100,000 a month within 6 months. And this guy has been involved in Internet marketing for only 2 years, more or less.

What’s his secret?

Focus on lead generation, Systems and the marketing process.

Just consistent, steady, routine Systems in place.

Who do you want to target?

Why do you want to target them?

Do they have money to buy?

What will you offer them as a freebie to GET them into your marketing funnel?

What marketing sequence will you follow up with to get them to buy?

What are YOU focusing on?

Have you been focusing on finding places your target audience hangs? Creating offers that get them on your list? And then a sales process or sequence that gets them to buy progressively
larger dollar amounts from you?

Some people hesitate to sell larger dollar amounts.

I can tell you from a great deal of personal experience that people will benefit VERY LITTLE from things they pay little for. Psychologically, they don’t value or respect the information.

It’s why I’ll be drastically increasing the price (and value) of my Ateam calls shortly. At the stupid cheap price of $37, I can’t even get my members to show up on the calls.

Why?

Flat out I’m charging too little. You don’t value what you don’t pay much for. You need to realize this and get bold about charging your customers what your products and services are worth — without guilt.

If you don’t value what you sell, how is anyone else going to value it? I’m NOT saying charge for shoddy products. It’s a given that you sell quality products and services.

But don’t be shy about charging for what you sell. Of course, you have to learn the marketing SKILLS that allow you to GET PAID for the great value you offer.

One of my friends used to sell a seminar. He had to raise the price to $5,000 before he could actually get people to DO what they learned. Any price less than that and they didn’t value the info enough to actually do it. They just viewed it as something interesting to think about.

Again, people don’t respect and value what they don’t pay for. Mark it down. Repeat it as your mantra. You know that whole thing about “move the free line?” Yeah, it’s true — on your initial marketing funnel. You gotta do whatever it takes to get people INTO your funnel.

Once they’re there? Charge ’em. Seriously. If you don’t “get that” then you really don’t understand how the human brain works and you’ve got a lot of learning about marketing, psychology and the human brain to do. Now, if you don’t care what people do, or if you
don’t care if they benefit, then yeah, sell your stuff for a song and a dance and be done with it. You won’t help that many people but you’ll get lots of compliments on how cheap you are.

So what secret did Walter have others didn’t?

1. He built lead generation machines.

His Systems generated thousands and thousands of leads from hot, interested prospective buyers (what we in the biz call “prospects).

2. He charged a fair but substantial price for what he sold.

There’s a saying that the trick to having money is to get people to buy from you, or something like that.

I think it was Zig Ziglar who said poor sales people have skinny kids.

3. Walter had a passion for learning

There’s this odd balance between buying information and doing.

If all you do is buy, buy, buy and you never DO, then you’re on the wrong path.

At the same time, you’ll find out that Charlie T. Jones spoke the truth when he said, “Leaders are readers.”

You gotta balance learning and doing. You need BOTH wheels on your marketing machine.

ACTION STEPS

1. Find out who you want to target with your offer.

2. Make an enticing offer to get people into your marketing funnel.

3. Create a lead generation machine to send lots of people into that marketing funnel.

4. Assemble your follow up system to get people to buy from you.

5. Charge for the value you create. Don’t undersell yourself.

6. Split test the living daylights out of your lead capture page!

7. Sell progressively higher-priced products with matching greater value and service.

Marlon Sanders

Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy.”

To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple,to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without all the hype, go to: http://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe

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Marlon’s Marketing Minute

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Marlon Sanders for granting permission to reprint the latest article.

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