Where is My Herd? Your Business Needs Subscribers
Ever wondered why subscriptions and lifetime value are two important considerations, as you grow your business?
"School Never Taught Us About Making Money"
Schools were never designed to teach us to be entrepreneurial - they were meant to teach us how to become employees. It's interesting that we were never taught how to manage our money - we were supposed to just get it and get on with it! Maybe you agree that we are missing a vital piece in our education and learning how to manage our money is just as important and more so, than a great chunk of the school curriculum.
Today, we can pat ourselves on the back, because we graduated from school. I am not saying that school is not essential - it is! BUT, dig into what you know right now - if you lost your job and had no money to pay the VISA bill, how would your understanding of "quadratics" or "photosynthesis" help you? We basically have nothing to pull out of the bag which would solve the problem.
In these times of growing financial pressures it's important to have a "plan B". Keep your job and keep learning. There is no reason why learning should stop when you leave school; life is your school and to add to your skills and knowledge is essential.
This book is about improving your business skills and thereby your income potential. To this end, I, the author of, "Paid To Think Business Magazine", am proud to promote a live streaming event in April, with Armand Morin, but you will most probably still be able to get access to the training videos if you are reading this after the event.
"Learn How to Build an Asset"
It's all about learning how to build a business asset - your own contact list. On the surface this might appear as not so critical, but you'll be amazed to learn that when this is done correctly it adds more and more revenue potential for your business.
Of importance is that when you have your list you have someone who is interested in buying your solutions to their problem. They are actually interested in what you have to offer.
Without a list it's more like cold calling and no one really likes that. So your list can produce for you more regular sales, as you provide diverse offerings and the lifetime value of your list rises, if you are able to satisfy your subscribers.
"Want Some More Great Training?"
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3. Legal Disclaimer
We live daily with all manner of risks and we need to face that we entertain
risk by pursuing our daily activities. It is impossible to eliminate risk from
our daily lives and the only thing we can do is to manage it.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE
Creating and operating a business is a risky proposition and no one can
make it safe for you, nor can anyone promise that anything discussed here
will make an income, or that it is right for you. We do not have the
professional expertise to help you make the right decisions for you. We
recommend that you get professional and legal advice before embarking
on any financial decisions and that you regard everything printed within this
book as purely educational.
By using this publication you understand and agree that the information
contained here is for general information purposes only. We do not
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or the information, products, or services contained within this publication
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responsible and will conduct your own research and get your own
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READING OUR PUBLICATION.
If you are not in agreement then you will not read or use this book.
DISCLOSURE
You should assume that the author has an affiliate relationship and/or
another material connection to the providers of goods and services
mentioned herein and may be compensated when you purchase from a
provider. You should always perform your own due diligence before buying
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4. Contents
Introduction
Where is My Herd?
You Are Invited to WebCamp
Find Out What They Want
3 Reports
Why Subscribers Are More Profitable
Catch That Wave
Just the Beginning
Resources
5. Introduction
If you are starting out with no resources and you want to build an income from
nothing, the news is it can be done!
Today we are over-connected and the smart operator wants to gain as much
leverage as they can from the internet and the internet giants that work the web
from profit. You know who they are and the chances are they have information
about you. They are tracking your every move online to see what you do and to
find out how they can sell more to you. In a few short years we have given away
our privacy by using the devices created by the big companies: Google,
Amazon and Apple.
These companies are rich and they have huge resources. Don’t worry if you
don’t have much in the way of knowledge and resources, you can borrow theirs.
Renting their infrastructure at the moment is cheap and you can do it with ease.
They also teach you how. It’s really up to you to stop crying and stop feeling
sorry for what you don’t have and create the positive mindset of an entrepreneur
and project manager.
I say project manager because when you know nothing and you are learning
everything, then you will pay for the service of others to help you do things. If
you have a job then you will be able to do this. If you are in a third world country
which doesn’t have electricity, clean water and internet then this book is not for
you.
You are a project manager. You don’t have to create anything, but you do need
to be able to communicate and you must know what you want to achieve, before
you create a job ad, or post on Elance, the home of freelancers. To tell you the
truth, I don’t want to deal with anyone who is not going to understand me, or
whom I won’t be able to understand.
My English has to be good. I need to be able to plan and articulate clearly what
I’m buying and they have to agree to my written agreement. I’ll also look for
people that have a star rating. I’ll talk to them and make sure they are right for
the job. Plan everything and plan carefully. You’ll make some mistakes – just
make sure everything is legal and that they sign a non disclosure agreement as
well.
6. Where is My Herd?
If you have a product or service currently, then you will be looking for new
distribution channels and ways to get new buyers.
What about if you had an audience first and then you sold the audience what
they wanted? Most of the time people are trying to sell the product or service,
but do not have anyone to talk to.
It was Dan Kennedy who talked about getting a “herd”, which of course refers
to your audience, subscribers and people, who are interested in what you are
selling. Seth Godin talks about “tribes” and Facebook used this idea of creating
groups, which was used by Yahoo first, and now Facebook has more accounts
than some countries have people.
So do you have a Facebook Fan Page? Do you have a subscriber list? Do you
have an audience for your offer that gives a damn? Do you have any control
over your channels of distribution? Getting an audience and remaining in control
is critical. When you start with an audience you’ll get a better idea as to whether
your product or service is wanted.
The internet has come along at the right time and caused a major explosion in
commerce and if you don’t have a website then you are at a disadvantage,
because your message is not being seen 24/7 by more people and far more
frequently, than you can pay for ads. Now with social media you have lots of
opportunities to spin your web. How many webs have you spun?
Unless you are an absolute master at advertising, your ads are probably burning
a whole in your pocket and if this is the only way you know to bring new
customers to your door, then you might lose the game.
Jay Abraham talks about your business “pillars”. These are the structures you
have in place that bring you fresh business leads. They are the channels that
people use to find you and when they do, in the words of Dan Kennedy, you
make them part of your herd.
7. You Are Invited to WebCamp
Live Business Event
Ever wanted to learn how to build a $100 000 income? This live
streamed event with Armand Morin will teach you how to build a
business asset. Click below to register for the event and watch the
video: http://auto-pilot-biz.com/webcamp
8. Find Out What They Want
Is there an audience for your offer? It’s essential to find out before you waste too much
time. Will they subscribe for your free offer? This is a good test. What do they really want?
Here is how you find out. You try and create a list of subscribers by giving away your free
offer. Then you can follow up and ask them what they want. Below are some ways to get to
know your customer:
•Survey your subscribers
•Access forums where your prospects by be found
•Read trade publications on your topic
•Research products in ClickBank
•Research Amazon and in particular books
(Read the Table Of Contents)
Creating Your Offer
To begin with you will give away free information while you are educating yourself as to
what the customer wants. When you know what they want the next step involves creating a
product specific to your customer. Now you can do it all yourself, or you outsource the
whole project. Elsewhere in this edition mention is made of ELANCE, as a place where you
can find an outsourcer for your project.
If you know what you want, you can find someone to make it for you. You are the project
manager and in charge of promotion, rather than the creator. This way you have more time
and energy to think about growing your business – instead of working in your business.
Your product can use a multi-media with text and video or it might be simply a book, where
audio interviews have been transcribed, or used to create the content. The ghostwriter puts
it all together and creates the finished product according to your instructions. The critical
point here is that you do not have to create the product yourself.
9. Don’t try to start your own trend. The smart way is
to jump on a trend and surf it all the way. Leverage is the
one word to study and understand and apply.
Using Leverage
Let me introduce you to ELANCE, where you can outsource your project or where you can
sell your own skills. This allows you to cut your workload and get more done. If you could
pay someone to bring you traffic, subscribers, or customers and do all the jobs you can’t do
well, then you could concentrate on growing the business and sourcing content.
Leverage People
It’s a good idea to write down how you will leverage other people’s talents. This includes
how to make use of experts in your niche that you can invite to joint venture with you on a
project.
Leverage Other People’s Assets
You might not have an offer of your own when you start, but there will be others in your
market that do. You could consider becoming their affiliate and sell their offer and receive a
commission for your sales.
Don’t overlook the fact that you can leverage someone else’s database. You may not have
subscribers, but your competitors will have a database. If you have an offer you can joint
venture with someone and share the profits, or pay them to post your offer to their list.
Lastly, do not overlook the fact that you can leverage the assets of the internet giants,
Apple, Google And Amazon. Inside there are links to reports that show you what to do.
Start an Information Business
If information didn’t sell then there would be no internet giants. The proof is indisputable.
Your first mission is to select your niche if you want to start an information business. One of
the people that has made it to the top of the game by selling information is Dan Kennedy
and he is a good teacher if you want to learn more. Here is how to tap into his wisdom and
teachings.
10. 3 Reports
Amazon
Quickly and Easily Publish and Sell E-books, Reports & Newsletters on
Amazon’s Kindle
Amazing New $7 Report Reveals Step-by-Step How You Can “Partner
With Amazon” and Have Amazon Sell For you!
Get the report here:
https://digitalmarketing.infusionsoft.com/go/7Amazon/a17919/
Make Apple Your Partner
Do you want a partner who has 375 million credit card account
numbers??? Millions of active, credit card-wielding users browse
through iTunes every day, just one click away from making their next
digital purchase.
Apple needs YOUR e-books, MP3, pod casts, and videos to feed this
media hungry mob.
The world's most valuable brand has set everything up for you. All you
need to do is bring them a product. It couldn't be easier! This report
walks you through how to leverage Apple’s assets ands systems step-
by-step.
Get the report here:
https://digitalmarketing.infusionsoft.com/go/pwapp/a17919/
11. If you understand how to leverage people, money and
systems you are writing your ticket to a different life.
Amazon… Google… Apple…
Learning who are the giants on the internet and using their
systems and assets is smart and essential if you want your
business to thrive. If you network and form alliances then you
are also using leverage and one example of a meaningful
relationship in business, is when you get access to someone
else’s customer base.
Traffic to your offer is essential and the following reports outline
how you can create leverage and get more business.
You Tube and Google
This $7 Report teaches you exactly how to Rank Almost Any
You Tube Video #1 on GOOGLE in 3 Days Flat! According to
Compete.com, “You Tube” is currently ranked 4th in the world
in terms of traffic. It’s also the second largest search site on the
web, it runs ahead of both Yahoo and Bing. So its safe to say
that You Tube is HOT right now!
Get the report here:
https://digitalmarketing.infusionsoft.com/go/7youtube/a17919/
12. Why Subscribers Are More Profitable
The simple reason why subscribers are more profitable is that they keep
paying you.
When you rely on getting sales to create an income, you have to keep getting
sales to maintain your income. There is a better business model that helps you
achieve the same, without the expense of trying to get a new customer every time.
It’s the subscription model. Of course the idea is to keep expanding your
customer base - you don’t ever really want to stop trying to get new subscribers.
Is this confusing? Well it won’t be after you select a subscription based business
model and see how it works. Each subscriber that becomes part of your paid
program will generate recurring income each month and that can be a very
profitable situation for you. After having sold a subscription, the money keeps
coming in until the subscriber no longer wants to be part of your program.
In order to keep the money rolling in you need to provide excellent value and it is
much harder for a subscriber to unsubscribe from a service which is intrinsically
valuable to the user. Thus, it’s not about whether this model works – it works very
well, it’s about finding something you can sell that someone else wants and is
willing to continue their subscription.
What about if you are brand new to business and you haven’t got a clue how to get
subscribers? Well the first thing to do is to find someone with a list of subscribers
and then make that owner and their subscribers an offer and split the profits or rent
their list. Now there is nothing from stopping you. You are continuously looking for
people with lists and gaining leverage from list owners.
Lifetime Value of Subscribers
Your subscribers initially may be free subscribers to a newsletter and later will
upgrade to one that is paid. You may have got their subscription by giving them
something for free. It could have been a book, a free trial or some other gift. Now
that they are your subscribers you give them more of what they want.The other
possibility is that they will be buyers of various products that form the backend
sales in your business. These products and services may be affiliate products and
services. Just don’t burn them by presenting offer after offer. Try to build a
relationship and good will.
13. Lifetime Value Wins!
Think about your active subscribers and the revenue that they will create for
you over the years. This is the benefit of increasing your subscribers. The more
you have, the greater the value of your list, in the event that they are active
subscribers. The way to activate them is to present what they want and in order
to do so, you may have to survey or bribe them to tell you. It’s certainly easier
once you have them as part of your subscriber list.
Yes, it’s hard work. Building a list of subscribers takes time. That’s why it’s
worth money to someone who does not have a list.
In the event you sell your business, the subscriber base will definitely improve
the selling price, so get more subscribers! Be generous and they will love you
more. Be relevant and solve their major problem and they’ll stay with you.
15. Money Ideas
It would be nice if someone could guarantee an idea to produce a regular
income stream which was sustainable and low risk. It’s what anyone would
want on their Christmas wish list. Alas, no-risk opportunities do not really
exist, as you will most likely spend time and money finding the right market
and starting your projects. Everything we do carries some degree of risk.
Active in Business
In order to get an exchange of money for your product or service, the buyer
needs to derive value in completing the transaction. This is where you come
in. Your job is to provide an offer that provides value. So in business you are
an active participant. Your marketing educates the buyer as to the reasons
why they should choose what you are selling and that the offer is just too
good to pass up. So you talk up the benefits of accepting your offer.
Passive in Business
On the other side of the coin, the passive business owner invests money and
creates, or uses systems that do all, or most of the work. Learning how to
leverage people, money and systems can make you rich.
Remember the story of Tom Sawyer? Tom was painting a picket fence and
while busy at work he was creating a plan on how to get paid for doing the
work and still enjoy his leisure time. During this time a friend turns up and
sees Tom enjoying himself and hard at work. The friend wants to have fun just
like Tom and can’t resist having a go at painting the fence.
After some negotiation Tom hands over the paint brush to his friend and sits
back to watch his friend do the work Tom would be paid to do.
The internet offers everyone the opportunity to put their business on auto by
providing the infrastructure. It’s up to the individual to make a decision about
what they will sell and create the systems to attract customers, interact with
them, provide them with value and benefits and collect the money.
16. Money Ideas
So understanding how to leverage people, money and systems is your
ticket to a different life. The proof of how successful leverage can be is
observable when one studies the giants, Apple, Google, and Amazon. There
is no clearer example that you can have a business ticking over if you
leverage the internet to build an enormous customer base. Furthermore,
people are eager to use their assets and systems with the hope of getting
paid.
The benefits for the business owner include:
1. Access to the systems 24/7 and 365 days of the year with minimal upfront
costs.
2. They can do other things while their business runs itself.
3. Do the work once and keep getting paid.
The app explosion would not have happened to the same degree if app
developers were not able to leverage the assets and systems created by
Apple, Google and Amazon. A smart entrepreneur would see the potential
and would hire someone to create the apps for the android, IOS and kindle
fire platforms. Thus leveraging the skills of people and using the systems put
in place by market giants. Then they would have an income stream for as long
as buyers purchased the apps.
Control Over Your Business
On the other hand, there is also a lot to be said about controlling your content.
Let’s just say that your business is running on auto and you are leveraging the
internet giants, but you have no subscriber list – is your business in your
control? Certainly, if you have not found a way to get maximum exposure for
your content and are creating a subscriber list, everything you have worked
for is at risk and everything depends on your one channel of distribution.
This is not safe. What happens if you break on of the rules, for whatever
reason and your account is closed – what happens to your business?
17. In order to grow your business you need to find a number of channels and re-
purpose your content, so that you have “more than one iron in the fire” and
multiple channels of distribution. It does mean a lot of work, but think of the
benefits when you can have multiple products and services available all at the
same time, instead of one.
A Growing Business
A growing business is demonstrated by a growing subscriber base, across all
your channels of distribution: websites, blogs, video content and products.
The way to get your subscriber base to grow is to continually create offers –
free and paid, that solve other people’s problems. Get your marketing pieces
out there and start using YouTube to get your message out and create an
audience of subscribers for your products and services.
18. Money Ideas
Selling Information
Here is what you might like
to sell.
Sell Tips
“How To” Tutorials
Teach Techniques – a strategy or process
Create a Course
Examples and Case Studies
Tools and Templates that help to accomplish
a goal
Formats
Audios, Books, Videos, Newsletter, Magazine, Direct
Mail etc
19. Money Ideas
Services From Home
Fitness Coach – personal trainer
Home Maintenance
Graphic Design – design, images and
artistic creations
Marketing for a % of profit
Creating Videos
20. Just the Beginning
Be creative! Do your research and learn as you go. Starting a YouTube
Channel is a very good way to learn all about winning the hearts and
minds of subscribers and creating your new revenue stream.
I invite you to subscribe to Paid To Think Business magazine and read
our latest edition. It will make sense to you and eventually dollars, when
you grow your raving fan base. Entertainment and information are a
happy duo and if you can grab the attention of mobile device users and
make them your subscribers, you’ll definitely have a successful, growing
business.
Go here:
http://www.auto-pilot-biz.com/PTT
21. Resources
Paid To Think Business Magazine
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paid-to-think-business-magazine/id554879840?ls=1&mt=8
Learn more about business trends, tutorials, services and ways to grow your
business.
WebCamp – Learn how to build a business asset
http://auto-pilot-biz.com/webcamp
Subscription Model Presentation
http://www.drivingtraffic.com/final-notice-video-1
Learn more about why you want to be using this model.
Elance
https://www.elance.com
For posting your projects to outsourcers.
Dan Kennedy
http://www.info-riches.com/r/?free=774792
Information Marketing Lessons
"3 Days to Cash Workshop"
http://www.auto-pilot-biz.com/3daystocash
"3 Days to Cash Workbook"
https://liveoutloud.infusionsoft.com/go/3D2Cbook/tutor/
22. I invite you to subscribe to Paid To Think Business Magazine and read our
latest edition. It will make sense to you and eventually dollars, when you grow
your raving fan base. Entertainment and information are a happy duo and if
you can grab the attention of mobile device users and make them your
subscribers, you’ll definitely have a successful, growing business.