Charlie Page here, back with another case study to help you with your internet marketing.
On a daily basis DOE lifetime members ask me questions about whatever is on their mind. I want to share with you some of the questions they’ve asked and some of the answers I’ve given to see if it can help you, too.
A question I get a lot is, “What product should I sell?”
Many people on the internet today want to make money from home because they’ve lost their job or they’re having a difficult time and need to make extra money.
They don’t know anything about the process of internet marketing. They don’t know what product they should sell. They don’t have a particular passion about a specific product.
They think, “I’d like to sell things online. I’d like to work at home. What product should I choose? I don’t know how to choose a product.”
I understand that this is difficult. There are thousands and thousands of products that one could sell on the internet.
I’ve come up with a checklist that I think will help you.
The first thing I talk with clients about is…
What is the size of the market?
You can use tools like Google Hot Trends or Word Tracker to determine how many searches are being made on a particular keyword.
The number of searches is an indicator of how big the market is but not the only indicator of whether you should move ahead. For example, there could be a lot of searches on Britney Spears. People want to hear gossip. That doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to sell a Britney Spears related product to make money.
Once you’ve found a product that you’re interested in, it’s important to go to these sites and do some research about the size of the market.
One of the things that you need is a large market.
It also needs to be a large market that will spend money on products. Once you determine the size of the market, it’s wise to think about the current sentiment of the world.
That might sound like a silly observation. Let me explain: Right now as I write this, we’re in a global recession. Everyone is worried about losing their jobs. Everyone is tight on money.
It’s a terrible set of circumstances for a lot of people. It’s an awful thing. It sets the tone for the thinking of the world right now.
This means that offers for credit repair are going to be more popular now than offers for credit repair were five years ago. It means that a book, for example, about how to save your mortgage from foreclosure will be more popular now than it was two or three years ago.
The world is in a defensive posture right now. That’s the sentiment of the world. As a person who wants to make money online, it’s important to recognize these things.
These security-issue products are very popular right now. The current sentiment of the world is that people are afraid. They’re worried about what the future is going to hold.
They’re worrying about what’s happening now. Rather than worrying about investing and gaining money, people are worried about keeping their money.
Ben Franklin said, “I’m more interested in the return of my money than the return on my money.” That’s the mindset people have now. They’ve seen their 401Ks chopped in half. They want to hold onto what they have.
Very conservative and safe things are popular right now. It’s important to understand the current sentiment of the world. When things turn around and the recession is over and everything is “go, go, go” again then it’s going to be “go, go, go” products that will be popular. You have to go with what’s happening right now.
Don’t overlook seasonal factors.
It’s easier to sell diet and health supplements in December and January than it is in May and June. In May, June, July and August, we’re in swimsuit season.
People aren’t trying to lose weight as much as they were at the first of the year. These seasonal factors are important for many products. They have to do with the way that people consume things.
Everyone can say, “Diet stuff is more popular in January.” Duh, that’s a no-brainer. That can apply to almost any type of business. Think about what people will be doing at a particular time.
Will they have more or less free time? Will they have more daylight? During daylight savings hours sports equipment is more popular.
People can go out and play more sports. During the winter months people can’t go out and play sports as much, they can even go and check out the gold cup betting offers as much as they want. They’re not worried about buying baseball bats, golf clubs or golf balls. They might be interested in buying hockey equipment in the winter. It’s not as much with baseball bats or soccer balls. Consider seasonal factors.
Does the product make sense to you?
You’ll probably never hear anyone say this except for me. I’m crazy enough to say it out loud.
If there’s a product that doesn’t make sense to you, think about not being involved with trying to promote it.
If it doesn’t make sense to you, if you can’t explain it to your brother or sister, a person you meet at work or the person you have coffee with, how are you going to adequately sell it by following some routine that you don’t understand?
I think most people need a lot more education before they jump into the business of promoting products. Make sure the product makes sense to you. If it saves people time because it does a certain thing, or if it helps people make money in a certain way, that’s okay.
If you can’t figure out how this product is supposed to work and you heard that Joe made $75,000 last month doing it and that’s your motivation for promoting that product, I would take a second look.
Common sense is the rule. Your parents were right. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Go for popularity. Don’t be the lone ranger who is forging new territory. Also look at longevity. Selling very popular products by sites and people who have been around for a long time is a winning combination.
Let me give you some specific examples. Frank Kern has been around for a long time. His products are consistently popular. Armand Morin has been around for a long time. He has very popular products.
There is John Reese, Arlen Sanders and Alex Mandossian. Jimmy Brown is one of my favorite people on the planet. He’s very popular. He’s been around for a long time.
Look for products that have been around for a long time and are still popular. The person who is behind it keeps creating new products. That’s an added degree of popularity.
Now you have a winning combination. Johnny-come-lately products are fine. They’re hot. They’re exciting. But will they be around down the road?
It matters because you want to stay in touch with the people who buy the products based on your recommendation. If they’re satisfied with their purchase, they’re going to buy from you or your recommendation again.
The odds are that they will be satisfied with their purchase if they’re doing business with a company that’s been around for a long time. Go for popularity. There’s nothing wrong with jumping on the band wagon. Look at longevity, too.
Look for a low barrier to entry.
Not everyone can afford the $2500 product that leads from one upsell to the next to the $70,000 purchase. It would be great to earn $1,000 commissions.
It would be great to earn $3,000 a day from two sales. People who can spend that kind of money are not around in great quantities. Everyone is trying to get to them.
What are the odds that you’re going to get to them? Maybe you can. Maybe you can’t. It’s more of an uphill climb than it is to sell someone a $97 product.
If you have a 50% commission, you make $50 per sale. You have to look at the barrier to entry. There’s nothing wrong with selling these higher priced products down the road when you have a list of your own, you’re making money and have a solid income.
When you’re first starting out and it’s “let’s make the car payment” time, I look for products with a low barrier for entry. These are products that are easy for people to buy. That’s the name of the game.
You make tons of money selling $20 books. Then people say, “You can’t make any money with ebooks.” I beg to differ. I’ll show you a lot of people who are doing it right now.
The reason they’re doing it is because it’s easy for people to buy. Having a mixture of both is a wise thing.
Try for residual income if you can get it.
Not every product offers residual income. We have thousands and thousands of affiliates with The Directory of Ezines who make good money selling our products.
We pay a high commission. It’s a one-time sale. It’s not a monthly billing thing. These monthly billing memberships are very popular in part because affiliates can get paid every month for doing the work one time.
You do all of the work to sell Joe or Joan on a product. He or she buys the product one time. You get paid one time. That’s one model.
Another model is you do all of the work to sell them the product. They continue paying month after month. Maybe they only stay for three or four months. You get paid every time they renew.
That’s called residual income or passive income. It’s a very popular model. Don’t let it be the defining factor in choosing a product. But it’s an important one.
What about your situation?
Have you been trying to make money online for more than three months? Are you suffering from information overload and you’re not sure what to do next?
If you’ve spent money on programs that promised the moon and delivered disappointment, I understand where you’ve been. I was there about 13 years ago. I’m here to tell you there is hope.
I’m here to tell you that you can go from hype to hope. Keep reading these articles and watching these videos. Try to get information from people who make sense to you.
If you’re inclined, become a member of The Directory of Ezines.
Log on to The Directory of Ezines and take advantage of what you’ve already bought. If you’re not a member yet, I invite you to go to DirectoryofEzines.com and become a member. It’s a relatively low fee. You pay it one time. It’s a lifetime membership. We’ve been online for 15 years now.
The word “lifetime” means something different with us than for someone who’s been online for four months.
Whether you become a member or not, I want you to succeed online. I hope my articles and videos are helpful. I hope you have a great day.
