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PBO INTERNET MARKETING NEWSLETTER
Issue #1
In This Issue:
1. Welcome to the PBO Marketing Newsletter
2. Before You Begin (Part 1): What You Need
3. Before You Begin (Part 2): Organization
4. Editor's Comment: Self-Denial Of Reality & Success
Welcome to the PascalBizOpp (PBO) Marketing Newsletter
Hello, and WELCOME to the first issue of the PBO Newsletter. I am
Pascal FEUVRIER-E your humble editor, and the owner of
PascalBizOpp.com involved with MLM Ops and a few mini-sales sites and
affiliate programs.
This newsletter is designed specifically with the new Internet
Marketer in mind. This means this first issue will assume that you are
new and are in need of some quality guidance in getting your new
business off the ground and, eventually, running full steam. As the
newsletter progresses, so will the information. it will take you from
the beginning to the point where you will be considered a Pro marketer.
This newsletter is by no means an "end all to be all," and it will not
even pretend to know everything there is about Internet Marketing. The
marketing climate on the Internet is always changing, with new things
being presented and learned every single day - for all of us.
When I began with internet Marketing, it was quite difficult.
Obviously, it was made easy for me, and for you, to sign up with
whatever opportunity was presented. However, after that, we were
basically all left to figure things out, with little or no proper
guidance from uplines or the companies we chose to represent. In
short, we really didn't have a place to go to learn the BASICS of
marketing products and/or services. And, obviously, that is the entire
point of Internet Marketing - to make sales through the active
marketing of said products or services. Yes, there are a lot of ebooks
and newsletters, but mainly these are geared toward teaching you
through THEIR affiliate sales links or websites.
The basic point to those
newsletters and ebooks was to make money for the authors - not
really to help the beginning marketer. Furthermore, a lot
of the articles are written for those who already know something about
what they are attempting to do. But, what about the beginner. The
person who saw an email in their box, clicked a link, and decided to
try their hand at an online business? Other than the desire to succeed,
what else was available to these new people in order to HELP them
succeed?
From my own experiences, I found a definite need for a newsletter or
ebook geared toward those beginners - to show them where to begin, how
to train, teach them the TRUTH about what they are trying to do,
instill a little reality, and then take them, slowly, to the point
where they will know how to
market ANYTHING they decide to sell - online or off.
That is what this
newsletter will do. Right from the beginning.
Since there is limited room in each newsletter, I will not be able to
cover as many subjects as I would like without making this newsletter
incredibly long and difficult to read. In each edition, there will be
two or three articles with tips and advice.
Everything placed in this
newsletter will be designed to help you. Although there is
advertising (see right column and very bottom) and some affiliate
links will be present, please know that we will never suggest a
product or service that is only designed to give me a commission. It
is my intention to help you save as much money as possible in the
beginning while learning how to properly build your business - no
matter what you choose to sell.
The advice, opinions, and products/services are not guaranteed to
generate sales for you. That is totally up to you.
Everything presented to you
in this newsletter, however, is guaranteed to be tried, thoroughly
tested, and will help you get to the point of making those sales.
But, ultimately, getting those sales is up to you: what you do, how
you do it, and to whom you market. I will help you gain the knowledge,
tools, and the experience to get you to that point.
We will begin with the
absolute basics, even before I cover how to sell to your target market.
Most newsletters & ebooks cover mostly that subject and forget that
many reading those publications need to know how to prepare. This
first newsletter will have no "secrets" or advice on sales letters,
how to market, where to market, et cetera.
It will focus on what you
need before you begin sending sales letters. The basics in
every sense of the word - right from the beginning.
So, again, welcome to the PBO Newsletter - let's go out and make some
money!
Before You Begin (Part 1): What You Need
REALITY CHECK
The first thing you need is
a reality check. The majority of new people joining
Internet Marketing are lured in by an email, brochure, or other form
of advertisement promising big money if you sign-up to sell a certain
product or service. All kinds of "proof" is given to show that anyone
can make money with their program. Most of these companies will also
imply, or even outright state, that their product or service is the
only one you need to make the kind of money to bring you financial
independence. I'm here to say, right now, that there is nothing
further from the truth. You need more than one product or service to
resell in order to make that kind of money. These companies will also
sell that dream of financial independence by saying you can or will
make such income in a very short time - a month or two, a few weeks,
days, or even hours. This, also, is a blatant lie. Let's take a case
in point -
Microsoft Corporation - everyone knows who they are. MS did not
start with Windows - they started elsewhere, with other
products. Before Windows, there was DOS, for example. Windows
was built as a visual aid to allow end-users (you and I) easy use of
DOS programs through visual interface. Instead of typing in long
command lines to start a program, or part of a program, you only had
to click an icon within Windows. Of course, Windows became Windows
95, then 98, and so on. However, at the time the
IBM-based PC was just becoming popular to the common buyer's
markets, Mac/Apple was predominant. Whom do you think built a
lot of THOSE interfaces and other usable applications? The answer is -
Microsoft. So, they had a line-in on the PC market AND the Apple/Mac
market. Of course, they didn't stop there. Now, there are literally
HUNDREDS of Microsoft products. From programming tools to games, from
computer OS to server software, from website programming tools
to word processing suites . All across the board. And, they did not
get to the point they are at today by focusing on one product or
service. They had, and have, many - all at once. The point again is
that if you want even a fraction of that type of income, or even just
a little extra cash, you
must also focus on more than one product or service. "But,
Mike," you say, "Microsoft makes all their products." Well,
sure! But, not all of it. Quite a huge portion of their software, and
hardware, products were originally built by someone else outside of
their corporation. Microsoft purchased the products, and the full
rights to continued development under their name. DOS, for example,
was the brainchild of someone at IBM (guess who). They didn't see a
need or market for DOS, so Mr. Gates was able to buy it from them - at
what was, considering what happened a few years later, a darn good
price! The reason for the rejection? At the time, the CEO of IBM had
stated that he did not foresee a future where people
would have a need or desire for computers in their home. Well, we all
know what really happened . . .
Back to point - no matter what the company you are going to be selling
for has stated, you cannot make your dreams of financial independence
come to fruition with only their products or services. Yes, with that
company, you might make good money, for a time. But the entire point
of making money is to keep making money - making that income stream as
stable as possible. Literally, one day your product will sell like
hotcakes - the next very little, and soon not at all.
If you are not selling
other products and services to help make up for potential loss, you
will lose that new income stream and watch your financial independence
fly out the nearest window. We will cover more on this in a
future newsletter - for now, take stock in what else you need to begin
making your new business start down the path of profitability.
OTHER THINGS YOU NEED
Below is a list of the other things you absolutely need to make your
business a success, as well as make things a lot easier to manage and
automate.
1. YOUR OWN COMPUTER - a lot of folks use either public, work,
or family computers to do their marketing. The problems with using a
public computer is obvious - your files will always have to be backed
up, plus you might just get into trouble for using so much time.
Business computers are the same, except most people at work have their
"own" computer. However, using work computers for other work not
related to your job can cause you to be reprimanded, suspended, or
even fired. Family computers - this can be a touchy subject. But, all
in all, let's just say that when another member of the family is using
the computer, you can be surprised at the accidental damage they can
cause to your files. Kids, especially. And, the very memory-intensive
games these days can cause some problems with other unrelated files -
perhaps those you need to conduct business.
If at all possible, you
will need a computer just for your work. If not possible
right now, please consider that one of the fi rst things you will do
when you have the money. When your business grows, you don't want it
destroyed by the actions of others.
2. EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE - an external hard drive is usually used
for backing up important files and software - even for backing up an
entire computer. This equipment is VITAL, and even if you don't have
the money at the moment, go find a way to get the money. You never
know what will happen. One day, your computer is doing fine, you shut
down, go to bed, only to get up the next morning to see it doesn't
work. A technician tells you to do a full reformat and that you can't
back up the data already on your drive.
If you don't keep a daily
back-up of your activities, or save your downloaded programs to
another external drive, if your computer needs a reformat (or even a
new hard drive) you will lose that data forever. Perhaps
you can replace your programs by writing to the company (or if you
have a CD), but if you have user lists or mail lists, you cannot
rebuild those easily - if at all.
3. INTERNET CONNECTION - Okay, so you already have one, or you
wouldn't be reading this, right? GREAT! However, as your business
grows, you will be spending more time online. File uploads and
downloads, email (bulk and/or subscribers), uploading and maintaining
your own websites (and you will do this), and so on. All of these
things take TIME - and in business, time is MONEY.
The more time you save
doing certain things, the more money you can make using that saved
time in other ways to enhance your business. You should
have two connections - one dial-up and the other broadband (if
available). Dial-up can be anywhere you want, as cheap as you like. If
your main connection becomes broadband (cable, satellite, and so on),
there will be times when that connection goes down for a time. And, it
will always seem to happen when you want to use it. Have a dial-up
handy in these cases. A dial-up also helps with those wanting to send
bulk email to opt-in or targeted email lists to promo te all or part
of their business. Unless using a 100% stealth service like
Ghostsender.com, you will not want to use your broadband connection to
send this type of email (even to double opt-in lists). If you run your
own desktop mail server or only send mail to subscriber lists (your
private lists), that is safe enough. But, if you send mail like most
people, you will want to use that dial-up also as the medium to do
this. The faster your
connection, the better it is, the more time you either save or can
invest into other parts of your business.
4. PRINTER - if you buy software online in downloadable form,
you will need to print and
keep a receipt for each of those purchases. Saving them to
your hard drive or to your online email box is not enough. Keep saved
paper files of these purchases - you will have to print them for tax
purposes, anyway, when the time comes (proof of purchase).
5. FIREWALL/ROUTER - if you are running a broadband connection
without a firewall or router, your computer is easy prey to be
literally "taken over and controlled" by remote. You can also be "hacked."
When taken over, your computer can perform such wonderful tasks as
being used to be part of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack
(which disrupts normal operations of internet servers). You may have
noted a lot of sites that normally are up and running at any given
time suddenly seem to "disappear" from the Net. This is likely due to
a DDoS attack overloading the server. These attacks are performs by
hundreds and thousands of computers, usually on a broadband connection,
left on all day and night and left unprotected from outside intruders.
Being hacked is not fun, either. Some tiny silly minded people
actually troll the Internet for unprotected computers and servers.
When they find them, they simply access and browse your files. Most of
these idiots actually can destroy
those files by deleting them, corrupting them, adding a virus to your
system, or by ordering your computer to perform a full reformat of
your hard drive. Protect
yourself by installing a router or firewall.
6. ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE - we all know what this is, but not
everyone installs them. Why, I will never understand. Perhaps it's the
"it'll never happen to me, I don't browse underground sites." Look to
#5 above and decide. besides, these days a lot of email deliver the
viruses, and these emails almost ALWAYS come form a friend. When you
open them, you are infected. And, unless you have anti-virus software
installed, you won't catch it until, likely, too late. If you have
anti-virus software, keep it updated every week or two.
You can spend months or
even years building a business, and if not properly backed-up or
protected, it'll take a micro-second to see it destroyed.
7. BROWSERS - this is a bias of mine - use either Explorer or
Netscape. These are from large companies that actively support their
products. Plus, they come with applets, plug-ins, and extras already
built in (or ready to install). There are a lot of other browsers out
there, but really, most websites these days are built for
Netscape and Explorer. When
doing serious business, use one of those two.
8. EMAIL SOFTWARE (for mailing OUT) -
this is one of the most
important parts of any internet business. You may be
thinking you already have this type of software - Outlook, Eudora, and
so on. But, what I am talking about here is what is commonly referred
to as a Bulk mailer.
Bulk Mailers are built to send bulk mail, however they can easily
double as a regular mailer - plus, they are a lot easier to maintain
your private contact lists for quicker contact (my opinion). One of
the best out there is made by Infacta, called Group Mail. Stay
away from the free version - it's junk. Buy the Pro or Plus versions.
I suggest the Plus, since it comes with an array of powerful tools
which are going to become necessary to your business growth. You can
purchase Group Mail Pro or Plus by going to the Infacta website: (http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?B=3937&U=163232&M=1465).
9. EMAIL SOFTWARE (for INCOMING mail) - most bulk mail software
are best for mailing out, but they rarely allow you to download your
email in readable form. If you do not have web-based access to your
email boxes, or simply wish to download your email for reading
regardless of web access, you will need an external mail client - most
computer OS's come with Outlook or Eudora preinstalled.
10. ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE - most people don't think they need
this, but they do and is absolutely vital to keeping good records of
your sales and expenses. Most people starting a small business,
Internet or Brick & Mortar, use their personal accounts to pay
business expenses and make deposits. Tax laws require a full
accounting of all income. if you plan on deducting your business
expenses, you will have to have a full account of those, as well. It's
wise to keep all business expenses tracked separately from personal,
especially if using the same accounts for both. Save yourself the time
every year and keep track of those expenses in software such as
Quicken or QuickBooks. It will also save money, if you have
someone do your taxes every year.
Get a separate account for
business as soon as you are able to prevent conflicts between home and
business.
11. PDF READER -
You will want to read quite a few ebooks while building your business.
Many of those come in PDF format, as do a lot of downloadable software
manuals. The Adobe PDF Reader is free, and can be found at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
12. SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE - this is not necessary in the
beginning. However, as your business grows, you will find using a
spreadsheet to organize your mail lists, for example, very useful. You
should also use spreadsheets to track your sales. Very useful for
spotting trends in your business, as well as tracking sales.
That's the basic list. There are other things you may wish to consider,
but we'll cover those as the newsletter series progresses.
The above listed items and
services are vital to your business if you want it to succeed and
maintain or expand on that success. Have everything above
ready to go, and you are ready to learn about the next subject,
organization.
Before You Begin (Part 2): Organization
Again, I wish to mention that I am well aware that this particular
newsletter is giving away no secrets to successful advertising, and
even no advice on making sales. I wish to point out that without the
proper set-up and preparation to begin your business, you will at
least have a very difficult time making your new business a success.
In all likelihood, however, your new business will fail.
This next article deals with organizing your software and files - it
will be much shorter, but just as detailed where necessary.
ORGANIZING FILES
One of the most common mistakes people make is downloading a new piece
of software, or an ebook, and then filing it away in a "safe" place
for later use. What typically happens is what happens when you
sometimes put down your car keys. You lose the file and a lot of time
is wasted trying to locate it again. Keep all of your downloads in one
place, organized in separate folders. For example, for your business
files in general, make a file called, BUSINESS. Inside that file,
create more file folders for the PARTS of your business: examples are,
email lists, software, ebooks, and so on. For software and ebooks,
divide them up even more by saving the files into their own
individually named folders. This way, you will always know where to go
to access your business files and information.
ORGANIZING BROWSER BOOKMARKS
These should be organized in the same way as described above for
files. However, the difference is that your bookmarks are organized
from a menu in your browser. And,
this is more important to
organize than even software programs and other files.
If you have several affiliate links to products and service for which
you sell, then organize them into the same folder. Divide them up
further, if you wish, by type of program or even by company (some
companies have more than one affiliate program). Make absolutely sure
that your business links are separate from your personal links. And,
if possible, use TWO browsers that allow the exporting and importing
of the bookmark file. I use Explorer as my main browser, backed-up by
Netscape. I export the Explorer bookmark file, import it into Netscape
- so no matter which browser I am using, I will always have my
websites at my fingertips - I won't have to restart another browser
for certain websites. Also, back-up your bookmark file along with
everything else - losing that little file can cause the same problems
as losing all the data on your hard drive (especially if you have
HUNDREDS of sites you use and/or need).
ORGANIZING CONTACT LISTS/EMAIL FILES
You will be using email in your business. As your business grows, you
will also develop and maintain your private contact lists. ALWAYS keep
these lists separate if they have to do with separate businesses,
downlines, or products. If they are email files for bulk offers, then
make sure these are properly organized, as well. Once mailed, either
delete them or move them to another file folder (sometimes you can
mail them more than once - with a different offer). If you keep a
remove file for those requesting removal from your mailings, please
keep that file named so that it is easily identifiable - you don't wan
to accidentally send out to your remove file (SPAM complaints - a lot
of them). if you have lists that you mail for yourself through a
desktop mailer and other lists you will be loading into an
autoresponder, keep those separate, as well. if you mail to each list
on certain dates, be sure to organize them that way, as well.
Keep everything
well-organized to reduce error s and problems.
How you organize your files and bookmarks is up to you - it depends on
whatever system works for you. However,
consider that not
organizing these can cause you a lot of unnecessary stress, and even,
at worst, the loss of income or the entire business. Stay
well-organized, and you will find your time is better managed, which
in turn has a positive effect on the other aspects of your business (such
as producing more income streams).
Editor's Comment: Self-Denial Of Reality &
Success
Most people who jump into Internet Marketing do so because of an ad
they saw on a website, in an ezine, or in their email box. Usually
these ads are for products or services that also have an MLM program
attached where they promise big money. Of course, this gets people to
sign on and try selling the product or service (and thus the MLM), in
hopes of building a downline big enough to be part of that promised
big money.
The biggest problem is that these ads are pure hype. NO matter which
program you are a part of, it won't take you long to realize that big
money will not come easy, nor will it come quickly. Despite what you
may have read or heard, success on the Internet will not come
overnight. There is no such thing as an "amazing new system" that can
deliver incredible riches in a short time. Building a truly stable and
wealth-producing business anywhere (much less the Internet) takes
time, effort, and money.
Too many find this out the hard way - losing a lot of money before
realizing Internet Marketing was not as promised. Most give up and
walk away. But, as the old saying goes, "It isn't how often you fail,
it's how often you use those failures to find your success." Others
jump from program to program, still looking for those elusive Internet
riches.
The very few who bother to look at why they aren't making sales and
money inevitably find out the following is true:
It take money to make money
- to find the best products and services that will help you make your
mark and your business succeed takes money. You buy software, access
to marketing services, as well as other products and equipment which
will better automate your marketing to save you time.
In short, the hard fact is:
you get out what you put in. if you put in nothing, nothing is what
you will receive.
Your own private opt-in list - you will find that you will get nowhere
fast if you continue to rely on buying email lists. Through your MLM,
you will build your own list of contacts. Many people build a downline
and rely on those sales to get them their money. However, did you know
that if you stay in contact with your downline, gaining their trust,
that you can send them offers that will help them make sales (thus
expanding YOUR residuals from those)? This also has the effect of
getting you Affiliate sales commissions from any of them buying your
recommended products. Most people get a downline and ignore them, and
then wonder why they aren't making money, or the money ends up drying
out after a few weeks (at most).
Building a business is
serious and HARD - building and running a business is NOT easy and is
very difficult in the beginning. Many people build a tiny
opt-in list through their downline then walk away when they aren't
rich enough to retire in a few months. Please understand, it takes
years to build a successful business, and a lot of work to keep it
performing to your desired income level. Everyone in this is in it for
the money - you aren't wrong to think that way. But, you must maintain
your lists by frequent contact. Do the work, and the rewards will come
to you. Never put all your
"eggs" in one basket - you know this statement, and you know why it
exists. Eggs are fragile (as is any business). If something
happens to your eggs, likely ALL will be effected. In business,
investing in one only will have you scrambling to replace income
without having others to make up the difference (or get you through).
Take a look at the big names in marketing - do they have only one
website or service/product? No, the biggest names built their
reputations by offering many quality products and services, and
showing others how to properly use them. So you must, too, to start
building your solid, stable business.
General laziness - using your company's pre-written sales letters,
their leads, and anything else they offer, thinking that's all you
will need is plain and simple laziness! You must remember, you aren't
the only one selling this product or service. In fact, you won't be
the only one sending out the same old sales letters using the same
services the service recommends. What do you think happens when the
same person receives the same email from different people pushing the
same product? You, and the others doing that, will be ignored. Plain
and simple. Write your own sales letters, use your own lead sources as
well as the ones provided by your company (if any). Stop relying on
blasting services to get your messages out, use a bulk mailer instead.
In short, take full control of your business. Using those products and
services is not automating your business, it's placing it's future in
someone else's hands. YOU are the only one who cares about your
business - your company cares
about sales (and getting your monthly payment). If you do not perform,
they don't care - they can find many others to replace you. if you
care about your business, find and use your own services - those you
find all on your own. Don't just rely on their services. If their
services are best, then so be it. But, likely, you can find better
services and products elsewhere. You may even find services and
products to push your products that are better and cheaper than the
ones offered by your company. How would you feel if you purchased
Mailloop from your company only to find that you could have purchased
a cheaper product with the same features a LOT cheaper? Sure, maybe
that product doesn't LOOK as good, but hey! If it works as well or
better for less, why spend more? Do the research - it will pay off.
In the beginning, you WILL
lose more money than you will make - this is true for ANY business.
The beginning is the hardest part. Through buying software
and services, as well as access to other products to market your wares,
you will find yourself building up a rather large monthly obligation.
In the beginning, you likely won't have this balanced out by income.
Yet! There is no such thing as starting a business and finding
immediate success. There is no such thing as "overnight success." NO
matter what you think, hear, or think you see, those enjoying "overnight
success" always have a story of peril and hardship about their
beginnings. You don't think
Bill Gates woke up one morning, thought about his own company, named
is Microsoft and suddenly found himself a millionaire, do you?
NO one hears of the small guy pounding away day after day, hour after
hour to find his pot of gold. By the time we hear of these people, we
think it was a sudden success. It wasn't. They worked har d, got to
the point where they had a choice - make or break. We only see the
success, we do not see before.
Sudden riches are for lottery winners - no matter what you have been
shown, told, or have seen, you will not find yourself suddenly rolling
in money for selling your products.
If you are looking for
sudden riches and retirement in a short time-span, your money will be
better spent buying lottery tickets - your odds will be
better, too. Then again, even lottery winner must invest money in
order to win, don't they? It's the same with building a business . . .
FEAR - believe it or not, most people fear success more than they do
failure. It's true! Think about all the excuses we have all used to
keep from doing something necessary to take ourselves to the next
level (in anything). Such as, "I don't have the time," "I don't have
the money," "Why try, it will only fail," "It doesn't sound like it
will succeed," "It's not safe and secure," "It's not guaranteed," and
so on. You get the picture.
Businesses are exactly like children, and you must treat them the
same way. If you do not feed or nurture your child, your
child will die. Simple fact. No matter what you may think or have
heard, your child (business) will not feed itself. YOU must feed and
nurture it. It's based out of FEAR that people use procrastination and
excuses to keep themselves from succeeding. And the only reason is:
success requires more time and money to be spent growing the business
(child); failure requires
nothing - no effort, no performance, no work, no stress.
Pe ople usually choose
failure because it is easier than success. And, that is the
stone-cold truth of business. You never sacrifice for failing, but you
will for success.
There are more points to make, but I think you get the picture.
Building a business is difficult at best - it is not easy. There is no
such thing as building a successful business and then skating on Easy
Street. It takes dedication, investment of time AND money, blood,
sweat, tears. It takes the serious understanding that failure is only
a step to success. The most successful people this world has ever seen
have had more failures than successes. it isn't how many times you
fall, it's how many time you get back up. Use your failures as a step
up rather than a reason to quit, and you will find success in the end.
No matter what you choose to do.
To believe otherwise is only denying to yourself the realities of
business (and life), and thus the denial to yourself of success.
Pascal Feuvrier-E.
pascalbizopp.com
Useful Sites, Services, or Software
SALES LETTER GENERATOR
- creates cash producing sales letters, the same type I have
used to generate over $100,000 in 6 short months. Easy to use, very
affordable, an essential for anyone wanting to create the letters that
pull hits and sales. Check it out at:
http://www.saleslettergenerator.com/.
SUPER AFFILIATE’S HANDBOOK
- learn how one woman, with no business experience pulled
in over $140,000 last year selling other people’s stuff. Perfect for
the diversification of your business - outstanding step-by-step
tutorials and how-to’s that can get you making the money you want in
less time than you may think. Check it out at:
http://pascalbizopp.com/PBO_Opportunity_Super_Affiliate.htm.
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