The Internet is a vast electronic world with millions of people online at any one time.
Yet it is all too easy for a person to be online for 10 hours or more a day, even deal with hundreds of emails, and still feel completely alone.
This sense of isolation is bad for your outlook, and even worse for your business.
The good news today is that there is a simple philosophy that will eliminate isolation while increasing the size of your bank account. That idea…
Give… then get.
While some online hold the old philosophy that eBusiness is only about getting all you can as fast as you can, the ultimate “insider secret” I can offer you is this: The people who give are the ones who get on the Internet.
Whether it’s a free newsletter, a mini-course by autoresponder, free videos, a free eBook, or the time it takes to make a phone call, you simply cannot go wrong by giving of yourself to other people.
How can you apply this concept to your business?
Here’s a two-step method to get you started. Once you begin to give something of value to others and develop a reputation as someone who gives, someone who is helpful, you won’t need another step because nature will take it from there.
1. Find a need and fill it.
This six-word formula has been responsible for more business success over the centuries than any other. When you try to sell something, you encounter resistance. When you try to help someone fill his or her need, you find an open opportunity.
How can you apply it? Try this.
First, use your specific knowledge to create an “information product”.
Your information product could be one of many things. Here are some of the most popular formats for information products.
- An article
- A series of articles
- A newsletter
- An eBook
- A video
- A special report
- Or anything you like!
It used to cost money to do these things. Today, you can do each one of the things listed above with zero cash out of pocket.
Now offer your information product to those who need it.
Let’s say that you are a seasoned traveler and know how to travel light. You can get a three-bedroom apartment into an over-the-shoulder bag. UPS drivers ask for your autograph. But you’ve never made a buck based on that knowledge.
Take that knowledge and write an article about how to travel light. Be specific. Tell the reader exactly how you roll up a skirt so that it travels well and doesn’t require ironing. Tell them what kind of luggage you like. Give them tips on how to save time when checking in at the airport.
Now approach ezines that have to do with travel and offer your article free. They run your article and they display a “resource box” at the end of the article listing your name, email address and web site. Soon, new visitors are on the way to your web site. You could even offer a special sale to article readers only!
Who else could you approach to give away your free material? How about web site owners who sell discount airfare, hotel rooms, car rental agencies, local Chambers of Commerce… the list is endless.
In addition to all of this, you can publish your article on your own blog (you really do want to have a blog!) and add it to article directories as well.
Every time your article is run or your eBook is downloaded, your name goes out there.
This is free advertising at its best: the kind of advertising that money can’t buy. Only when you give something away can you receive this type of benefit.
Don’t want to write an article or eBook? Try this.
Try sending an individual email to everyone in your address book. Ask them what it is they need most. Once you find out what people need it’s simply a matter of finding the product or service that will fill that need and providing it to them as an affiliate. If you find a group of people who need the same thing you may want to consider creating a product to meet that need.
Now, rather than approaching people with a particular product to sell, you are approaching them as a welcome friend who can help them find what they need.
You give them your time in tracking down what they need and they buy it from you. A classic win-win.
2. Create joint ventures
People today simply do not have enough time to do the things they want to do. Take the information product you created in step one and offer to give it to someone who could use it to save time.
Ezine publishers are always looking for good, free articles to run in their ezines. They will be happy to include your resource box at the end of the article so you can win too. Include an affiliate link in your resource box and you have instant passive income.
People who sell a product that you have knowledge about would love to give away your free eBook as an incentive. You could even create your own newsletter!
While the possibilities are endless, your time is not. Don’t forget to take action on step 1. Having the material to give is the key.
Many people are yet to realize that the Internet is all about having multiple streams of income. The beauty of the above approaches is this: you put out the effort once, and reap the rewards for months, sometimes years, to come.
Create something you can give away today. Give freely of yourself and you will be rewarded many times over.