Modern Marketing: Mastering Internet Sales

There’s nothing like the Internet when it comes to building community, delivering value to your marketplace, selling products globally and creating avid fans. I’ve had clients make millions in sales online in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, for many businesses, the Internet can be confusing, overwhelming, and a source of delays and technical headaches. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

You know all those technical things you think you need? The latest “plugin” for your website, the fancy graphics, the herd of new “followers” on the latest social media platform and all the rest? You don’t need ’em. In fact, you’re better off forgetting that stuff and never looking back!

This probably runs contrary to everything you’ve ever heard about Internet marketing, so let me explain. There’s one thing your customers care about most, and the Internet is the best medium for delivering it. I’m talking about RESULTS.

To illustrate, get a piece of paper and pen as I take you through the same process I use with my $100,000 consulting clients.

The Results in Advance Time Line

First: Draw a horizontal line across the page like this:

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Next, write “A” at the beginning of the line and “B” at the end.

A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- B

Remember, anyone who considers doing business with you or searches for a product or service similar to yours is doing so because he doesn’t have the results he wants. For example, if a person searches for “lose weight,” it’s probably because he doesn’t have the result he wants, which would be a lean, healthy body. As this relates to the horizontal line we drew, this person with no results is at A on the time line. He needs to get to B. So if I were working with a client who sells weight-loss products, I would have him write “Overweight” below point “A” and “Lean and Healthy” below point “B.”

A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- B

Overweight                                                                   Lean and Healthy

Overweight Lean and Healthy

Next, here’s a strategy your competition is unlikely to know about—one that has made me millions over the years (and led to raving fans and ecstatic customers). When a person goes from point A to point B, it’s always a journey—one with milestones along the way. It’s especially true for your customers and prospects.

To get from A to B, certain things must happen. I call these Milestones for Results. Identifying these and helping your customers achieve them can make you a fortune, position you as a respected authority in your marketplace, and deliver massive value to everyone who comes in contact with you... all at the same time.

Here’s how to turn this concept into money. Identify the four major milestones your customer needs to achieve to get from A to B. It’s important to stick with four of the major milestones and not get hung up on little details that could overwhelm the prospect. So, with the weight-loss customer, my four major milestones would be:

1. Establish your starting point by getting accurate current measurements (weight, body-mass index, body-fat percentage, etc.).

2. Set a safe and realistic goal for the amount of weight you’ll lose and the date by which you’ll lose it.

3. Identify your bad foods and replace them with good foods.

4. Stick to a specific exercise regimen that is designed to burn fat. As you can see, someone wanting to lose weight safely and permanently must achieve these four milestones to get the results he’s seeking. Regardless of your customers’ desired result, they must go through a similar process.

Once we’ve identified the milestones, we need to abbreviate them and place them on our time line, like this:

A -----------I---------------------I------------------------I------------------------I-------------- B

        1. Get real.          2. Set goal.        3. Switch foods.         4. Burn fat.
 

Now that we’ve identified where your prospects are (point A), where they want to go (B), and what they need to do to get there the fastest (four milestones), we have one of the most powerful marketing tools ever created: your completed Results In Advance Time Line.

Why It’s Powerful

Your prospects want, need and practically demand to be educated, helped and nurtured before they buy. Think about it from their perspective:

1. They’ve probably bought something in the past that’s similar to what you offer but didn’t get the desired results for some reason.

2. They’re constantly seeing your competitors’ ads promising them the moon.

3. They have a problem and are seeking a solution, not hype.

4. They’re often suffering from information overload because there’s just “so much out there.”

So instead of finding information to solve their problem, they’ve gotten overblown promises and sales hype—which is where YOU come in!

What if you genuinely helped them get closer to solving their problems before you asked them for money? Thanks to the Internet, you can do this for little or no cost to you. And the beautiful thing about this strategy is that the closer you bring prospects to their desired results, the more they’ll trust you and want what you’re offering.

Get Started

First, you need a clear understanding of your prospects’ specific four major milestones.

Next you need to create a simple e-report (like a PDF document), downloadable audio such as an MP3 or a video that outlines the specific steps they must take to achieve each milestone. I call these reports, audios or videos “money magnets” because you’ll use them to magnetically attract paying customers. After you’ve created your money magnets, you’ll provide simple opt-in web pages that offer each money magnet individually, in exchange for the prospect’s email address.

Once they’ve provided their email address, you email them the money magnet they requested

Any simple customer resource management service can automate this process. I’ve had great luck with OfficeAutoPilot.com.

Now that you have them as email subscribers, send them a different money magnet every two days. (You can email them links to the money magnets directly. There’s no need for them to give you their email address each time.) Money magnets for weight loss might include a video exercise routine, a video showing how to prepare a healthy snack, a recipe PDF, etc.

How to Turn This into Money

Because you help people get the results they want, you’re way ahead of the pack. Just be careful not to destroy all that trust and good will by using the same pushy sales tactics everyone else uses. Instead, use soft sales pitches along with your money magnets.

Here’s how: Say your prospect wants to grow tomatoes and you’re selling a course on tomato gardening. Right after giving them a money magnet moving them closer to their desired results, say something like this: “I hope you’ve enjoyed this report as much as I enjoyed making it for you. If these tips for growing tomatoes were helpful, then you’ll like my new course, Tomato Gardening Secrets. You can find out more by going to my website at TomatoGardeningSampleSite.com.”

You can also include friendly promotional emails on the days you’re not delivering money magnets.

The point to remember is this: As long as you’re helping them move closer to the result they want, your prospects’ trust in you and desire for your products will increase. And if you keep delivering results to them in this fashion, you’ll transform them from prospects to customers to raving fans.