Over the past few years, there’s been a flood of new people jumping on the Information Marketing Bandwagon.

From e-Books, to sophisticated coaching groups, and all shapes and sizes in between; the Info-Marketing ranks are swelling. Many have been lured by the sweet siren of easy money, blinded by the fool’s promise of gold for the taking, seeking riches without effort; reward without sacrifice.

I get to hear the real stories here on the inside, the real numbers some of these people are doing. And it ain’t pretty. Worse, some of the behaviours are inexcusable.

I constantly see 3 BIG mistakes.

First, a complete lack of understanding about what niche they are really in. When asked about the major players of their niche, many give me the blank stare, caught-in-the-headlights kinda look. They haven’t a clue.

Second, they have no understanding of and no desire to understand and study those who have travelled the path before them; those old timers of the niche, the players that made their fortunes.

Third, unrealistic expectations of success. Look, if it was that easy to slap together a sales letter and bring in the money everyone would be rich. Trouble is, it doesn’t work that way.

So here’s a quick fire plan of attack if you’re thinking of getting into the Info-Marketing arena.

1: Study those in your niche that are doing well. Study the old timers of the niche. What are they teaching? What angle do they take in their promotions? How do they structure their front end? What’s the back end? These are just a few of the many questions you MUST answer if you want to have any hope of success. You MUST thoroughly immerse yourself in what came before and what’s happening now.

2: What core skills do you need? Even with outsourcing, there are a variety of skills you’re gonna need to grow and sustain a thriving Info-Marketing business. Get them! The most valuable of ALL skills is copywriting.

3: Build a team of qualified people to outsource work. For example, website designers, copywriters, graphic artists, third party order taking services, printers etc and so on.

This is the absolute MINIMUM you must do before starting out. There’s plenty of other things needed doing, but they are the basics. And it’s these basics that many are ignoring. In some ways, I blame the people selling their money-for-nothing-lies for this epidemic in ignorance. However, the true answer lies deep in the subconscious minds of those that get sold this crap. Deep down they believe there is a magic pill, an easy road to riches and they desperately defend so-called Gurus, even when their own realities clearly show what they’ve been fed are lies.

To paraphrase Kennedy, they confuse participation with achievement.

Building a successful Info-Marketing business takes time, commitment, marketing funds and a ton of self-belief. Sure there are shortcuts and folks to steer you in the right direction. But it all begins and ends with you. Thinking somehow you can side-skip these fundamental truths is foolish.

POST SCRIPT: A key trait found in most successful Info-Marketers I work with and study is they are all insatiable students; and they feed on a variety of information. Variety is the key word here. It’s important when working in one niche not to become myopic, not to always be looking in. You need to be looking outside your niche for profitable, transferable strategies. It puzzles me when I meet successful Info-Marketers that have given up being students; as if because they are now teachers, there is nothing more to learn.

Flawed thinking.

This is a business that needs constant reinvention. Staying relevant and interesting should be your number one priority.

P.P.S. For more on info-marketing, see my monthly newsletter.Related Posts:

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One thing I stressed at my recent Sales Letter Writing Workshops was “Who” you target is more powerful than “what” you are selling. (By the way, DVDs and workbook of the workshop will be available shortly right here.)

This post is all about selling information products and it all starts with the “who”.

First you identify a growing market with money to spend, and who want what you are selling … in fact, this market has proven this “want” by purchasing previous information products in your subject area.

So you start with identifying a market.

Ask yourself: “Who do I want as customers?”

Okay, to be able to sell to these people we’ve got to know them. Their wants, fears, anxieties, desires, what they love and what they hate and so on. The more you know about them, the more you can empathise with them, the better job you’re gonna do at selling them.

Don’t be lazy here.

Look, you wanna become a top class marketer? Do you really want to make a lot of money selling information? Then…

DON’T IGNORE THIS ADVICE!

So how to you do it? How do you get to know your market? Easy. You immerse yourself into their daily lives.

You read the magazines they read, you get your hands on surveys (located on the net and elsewhere), you study other marketers and find out how they are selling to this market, you talk to people in this market.

If they’ve got trade shows that cater to this market make sure you go. You go online and visit targeted discussion boards. Whew, some of these discussions boards are a hot bed of emotion. Emotions are running wild. And as a marketer, you’ve got to be there observing, taking notes, studying the reactions and planning your strategy.

The best marketers go deep. They know their markets like the back of the hands.

They understand their job is to…

Fulfil Human Desires!

You’ve got to tap into their emotions and stir them all up. And to sell emotionally, you better make sure you know your target market well. If you are going to fulfil their desires, you better make sure what “desires” to fulfil. Makes sense right?

For me, I cut my teeth selling products to the Business Opportunity and Success market, and my research still goes on. Even though to begin with I knew this market well. That’s because I was that market! I used to buy any self-help book I could lay my hands on. (Still do.) Any business opportunity package that I could find. (I don’t any more.) So I know this market intimately!

And this is what you’ve got to do as well … get to know your market intimately!

And many of my clients are the same.

They’ve picked markets that they themselves have an intense interest in. Which is great. But that doesn’t mean you can’t sell to a market that you’re not wildly excited about. It just means you’ve gotta go deeper to find your answers, and you may have to manufacture enthusiasm in your marketing message that ain’t real … unlike myself where the enthusiasm is genuine.

When I’m writing a pitch to my market I’m intensely excited. I get myself worked up. My emotions are running on high. I’m picturing my reader in my mind. I’m getting excited and I can feel her excitement too. It’s like I’m in a trance … a selling trance. Hell, sometimes I even wanna buy the product myself until I snap out of it and realise the product’s mine already!

So study your market … getting a product to sell them is the easy part. Finding a market is what it’s all about. It’s never been about the product … always the market. As an old-time advertising legend said more than one hundred years ago…

“Any fool can make soap. It takes a genius to sell it.”

That sums it up beautifully!

So choosing your market is the first critical stage in your info-publishing career. And it’s where many people freeze. Who the hell am I going to sell to?

There are so many choices and this abundance of choice stops most budding info-publishers in their tracks. There are just too many alternatives.

So what do you do?

You keep your ears open. You take notice of all the ads in the paper. You start reading the papers to find out what’s hot. You buy magazines … heck, you become a regular at the newsagent. Peering through the racks of magazines like an archaeologist searching for buried treasure. You spend time at your library sifting through the trash to find the treasure.

You go online and search google and other search engines.

All these things and more will eventually give you the idea for a market. Once you get an idea, albeit a fuzzy one, you then do your research on that market and find out everything you can about them. Okay?

And hey, if you want more posts on Info-Marketing and how to do it right, leave your comments… I’m listening.Related Posts:

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Information Marketing has come a long way since I first starting selling my “How To Make Money At Flea-Markets” manual back in 1999. (I’ve sure changed a lot too.)

I started small. One tiny ad in one mag, an 1800 free recorded message line, a simple sales letter and order coupon, an info-product; a PO Box, fax and mobile phone to take orders, and I was in business. Back then, I was still working as a labourer; taking orders on the mobile while up on top of a half-finished house, nail gun in hand, swinging off roof trusses.

NOTE: I knew a mobile number as an order number was a RED flag to my prospects, a warning that would have killed my sales. So customers rang a normal number which was diverted to my mobile. (Still used a PO Box though, which was a mistake and surely cost me orders.)

Anyway, the first order came through via fax; my wife Elita and I watching the fax come out and I’m poking Elita in the ribs, acting the Gala; she smiling shaking her head.

I still remember the guy’s name.

Anyway, the first order was a buzz and we were addicted. The Info-Marketing biz has that affect on people. You get addicted to creating products you’ve specifically designed for a certain market, then writing the sales letter and then getting the orders. You get addicted to the lifestyle. You get addicted to the freedom this strange old business gives you.

Even in today’s high-tech, split-second response world, I believe you can still start small and part-time. One simple ad in a targeted magazine, or one simple AdWords campaign and your business is born.

But there are things to watch out for; stuff you should know to maximise your success. (If I get enough feedback and comments on this I’ll continue sharing what I know.)

There is no business like the info-marketing business. What with the small investment needed to start, and the ability to start on a part-time basis, makes easy entry even on the tightest budgets.

That’s why I always encourage my Clients and Members to consider Info Marketing.

And looking back, there was one skill that ensured my success.

One skill that continues to ensure I never go hungry.

One skill I can teach you that almost guarantees you’ll thrive in the info-marketing arena.

Find out all about it by clicking the link below:

http://www.PeteGodfrey.com/salesletterworkshop

Cheers,Related Posts:

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