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Market Research: Give Your Customers What They Want

When it comes to successful marketing, the biggest problem I see beginners making is focusing on WHAT they are going to sell. Sadly, this is generally a recipe for failure. And the bad part is, this is what makes the most sense. As the quote goes, “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”

In some instances, this may be true. Some of the greatest inventions of our time were new ideas. From the combustible engine to the IPAD, there weren’t people asking for these things. If you asked someone what they wanted before the invention of the automobile, they wouldn’t say a “moving vehicle”… they’d want a faster horse because that’s all they knew.

So, there is a time and place for stretching your customer and changing the paradigm of their thinking. But, in general, you need to focus not on what your customer NEEDS… but instead on what they want.

Here’s the truth about marketing/psychology/life in general:

People don’t go after what they NEED… they go after what they WANT.

Sure, we buy things we need. Like toilet paper, tooth paste, and mouth wash. (At least I hope we all buy those things! ;) But, most of these type products are bought based on price… not status. These types of businesses are “commodity based” models where ultimately competitors get into a bidding war and drive the profits margins down to 2 or 3%.

So, unless you want to sell basic “need” items for peanut profit margins – what else can you do?

The answer is easy…

Sell people what they WANT!

This is a terrible example, but unfortunately I’m going to use it. Have you ever had the displeasure of living with someone or knowing someone who was addicted to hardcore drugs? They would rather buy drugs than take care of their family, they’d steal from you just to get their next fix.

Reason is thrown out the window – they are focused only on one thing – what they want.

Now, I’m not saying you should go and sell drugs by any means!! ;)

What I’m saying is this.

Instead of starting with WHAT you are going to sell… instead focus on WHO you are going to sell to. This makes life a whole lot easier. Take a look at what is already working, at what people are already buying. Then – sell that.

I know it’s not sexy or glamorous and it can be more exciting to dream up the next IPAD… but trust me, it’s pretty exciting when you see sales popping everyday in your bank account.

So, that’s where you need to start at. Decide what people want by doing proper Market Research. Use the Google Keyword Tool (google that term to find it) and you can see if people are already searching for your idea. And if they are, BAM – you’re onto something.

Mike Antoni Manifesto

I’ve had a whirlwind month. I decided to go back to school so I can reach my ultimate dream of getting an MBA degree. It’s not always fun, but it is exciting. Beyond that, I met a girl back in December and as of this weekend, we’re now officially “together”. It’s a rather exciting time to say the least.

And this has caused me to really focus on what I’ve been doing, what I want to be doing, and how I can better serve my customers. (Hopefully that’s you). So, I’m writing this just to sort of reach out to you and hopefully give you a little insight into what I’ve been thinking.

What Makes Life Worth Living Anyway?

If you really are into this whole making money on the internet thing, odds are you have a reason for it. And if you’re like me, it’s just because you like money. Sure, money is awesome. I heard someone say the other day, “I don’t like money, I like the way it spends.” Made me chuckle. But let’s get serious here for a minute.

The real reason you want to work from home, or make a lot of money is so you can do more things with your family, right? Right now, I am really enjoying myself because my business runs even when I’m not around. I spent Sunday at Epcot in Disney with my girlfriend. While I was there having a blast, my business brought money in for me automatically.

Even as I write this from the comfort of my home, I have lots of automatic ways of making money online. And that’s great for me right? I’m gonna make another assumption here. I’d bet you’ve been trying to make money on the internet for a while. You’ve probably bought a lot of stuff and tried a few different things.

But no matter how hard you’ve tried, things just don’t seem to work out for you. And there’s a good reason for that.

Perception vs. Reality (The Internet Marketing Game)

In life, there is no absolute reality experienced by everyone. We all see with our eyes and then use our brains to “perceive” what just happened. That’s why 5 people can see the same car accident and give 5 different accounts of what happened. Sometimes, they can’t even agree on the color of the cars involved!

In reality, (pun intended) perception is what we go by. But how does this apply to Internet Marketing. Here’s how: The “gurus” and the internet marketing stars sell a dream. They don’t mean to. I will be honest and say I even do it myself. I’ve been doing this whole business thing since 2006. So when I say something is easy… it is – TO ME.

But to you, it probably isn’t. But common sense will tell you that you can’t sell something as “hard, difficult to learn, and very time consuming.” Who wants to buy that, right? So, we focus on the easy aspects, the parts that we like doing. But I am convinced that internet marketers put blinders on to the “reality” of the situation.

When we create a new business, we work like dogs. We are putting together all these different pages, contacting vendors, joint venture partners, writing copy, getting graphics done, working on the flow of the sales process. I mean, there is A LOT. But we sort of just “do it”. And guess what? When you’re done with it, everything really does sort of just happen and go “easy”.

But we tend to forget about the work, the hard part…the stuff we do that goes unnoticed by the masses that really creates the money. And this is the part that you don’t get to see and we don’t talk about.

How Much Money Do You Need?

I listen to Tony Robbins a lot. Really love his stuff. And he talked about how most people want to get “rich” when they don’t really need to. They just need to get enough money to cover their living expenses. Just imagine how you would feel if you brought in enough money each month to cover your house payment,electric, water, you car payment, insurance, and gas, food, credit card payments, or whatever else you had to pay for each month.

Now imagine if you could do that without a J.O.B.

Sounds pretty awesome right?

I’ve been able to do that for 5 years now. It hasn’t always been easy. And some years I make WAY more than other years. But overall, it’s been an awesome ride.

A New Way Of Internet Marketing

I’ve really taken a step back and looked at my life. And as I do that, I realize that I haven’t been “living” like I should. What I mean is that I’ve been very work focused. I guess that’s the nature of life in America. We are definitely trained to work. And I’m not saying I’m not gonna work and create like I’ve been doing.

But I am changing my priorities. I’ll be spending a lot more time with my girlfriend now. As a matter of fact, I’ve got a lot of plans (in my head) to travel with her. I’ll spend more time with my family, and I’ll focus on the things I want to do, not just my business.

And I will work less hours than I’ve ever worked before. And I plan on doing it by giving away more value than I ever have before. And I want to pass that value onto you.

I don’t want to go into it all here right now, I’ll put up a page soon to explain everything to you. I’ve got something in mind that I think you will absolutely love. It’s not meant to get you rich, it’s just meant to help you get started, make money, and eventually replace your day job so you can do what you want with your life.

That’s my new manifesto now.

I want to help people do what they want to do with their lives… even when they aren’t sure how.

Here’s How You Can Be Involved

I feel like I’ve poured out a lot in this post. And I’d love to hear from you. Please take a second right now and leave me a comment. Let me know WHY you want to make more money. Tell me about your dreams, about the things you want to do with your family. Tell me about a new love you have in your life… or the love you’ve had for years.

I just want to hear from you and connect with you on a deeper personal level. I want to know what makes you get up in the morning, and what keeps you going.

I want to hear your story. Tell me what you want and what you’re willing to do to get it… as long as you have someone to help show you the way.

I can’t wait to hear from you. God bless!

3 Simple Steps To Internet Marketing Profits

I want to give a quick run down on how you can start making at least part time money on the internet, right from home. I’m amazed as I speak to other people that a LOT of people are catching onto the internet and how it works. Getting a website online isn’t as hard as it once was. Even Grandmas are now signing up to facebook in record numbers.

So, if you’re like most people. You want to make money online without a whole lot of effort. What if there were a way to automate an internet business that brought you in at least $500-$1,000 a month. Does that sound like that would be helpful? Because, with a few little steps you can create an income like that online.

You have to learn a few skills, but it’s NOTHING compared to working a part time job. I think the issue is that most people come to the internet looking to get rich. When in reality, you should be focused on building a part time income. From that point, focus on going full time. Then, you can worry about making 6 figures, then 7…. then retire and go for the house in Fiji.

You get the point.

It’s called the Law Of Progression. And that brings us to step 1.

1) Set a realistic expectation of your goals.

The Law of Progression states that you can’t make your first $100 until you’ve made your first $1. You can’t make $1,000 unless you’ve already made $100. It all starts with that first $1. Then you just duplicate your efforts and go for bigger numbers. So, it’s ok to start small. You should. Stick with what you believe you can do (at first). Then, beat that goal and set something even bigger.

It’s a process you MUST go through to achieve long term success.

2) Get A Website Online And Build A List

This is the one that usually baffles me. 9 out of 10 people I coach come to me WITHOUT  a website. This isn’t good. The difference between an internet entrepreneur and an opportunity seeker is simple. An Internet Entrepreneur has a website (usually MANY websites) and she works on her sites and conversions frequently.

If you don’t have a website, you don’t have a business. At best you have a hobby. That’s why getting a website online is so vastly important to your success. Not having a website is like an offline business not having a physical location. How the heck are people gonna find you?

3) Find SOMETHING TO SELL!!

Call me captain obvious, but I can’t tell you how many people want to start an online business but don’t have anything to sell. If you aren’t selling something, then again… you don’t have a business. If you want to make a profit, you have to sell something. That’s probably the first tenet of business. Selling is important.

A great quote I heard once said, “Until you sell something, it’s all overhead.”

So true.

So, there are 3 simple steps to creating internet marketing profits. Use these 3 steps to get yourself started. The internet is a viable source of income for a lot of people. You have to decide if you’re ready to be one of them.

Marketing In A Recession

is this recession real? how does it affect your bottom line?I’ve been consulting with a local business the last few weeks. I may help them with bringing a lot of their marketing online and getting them on facebook, twitter, and google. The unholy trifecta. But, that’s not what this article is about. I arrived a little early for our meeting and my local business guy was working with a customer.

I had to wait about 5 minutes while he finished up with this client. What I heard was absolutely awesome. It made my day, and perhaps even my whole week. My client’s business is golf. But not just any kind of golf, he actually tweaks golf clubs, heads, and grips and guarantees to take strokes off your game JUST from changing your clubs.

And from what I’ve seen, it works. I’m gonna have to get my clubs out again and get my “tweaks” so I can hit the golf course in style soon enough. But, that’s not what this article’s about either. Here’s what it IS about.

As I waited for my meeting I watched as a couple looked over the clubs, got measured, picked out grips, and got themselves ready to make a purchase.  Remember, they were paying for tweaking a handful of clubs. When the bill came due it was $580. Did the couple flinch and complain about a recession? Did they ask about the unemployment rate? Did they question the price “in this economy”.

Nope. The lady busted out her checkbook and started writing. And when it was all said and done the couple left. And they left happy. They’ll be back in a few days to pick up their new and improved golf clubs.

So, the first question we need to ask ourselves is this one…

Is There A Recession In The USA?

Answer: Technically yes. There is. There, I said it. But that doesn’t mean what you may think it means. No matter the economy, the situation, or whatever, there is always a group of people ready and willing to spend money on what they want. That’s the nature of us humans. Do some people save a little extra money or cut back? Sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn a profit in this market place.

You’ve got to go where the money is. Every market has it’s best buyers. The wealthy, the affluent, the dedicated. The nut. Whatever you want to call him. That’s where the money is. So instead of focusing on those who AREN’T buying, focus on those who are.

How To Make Money In A Recession

You make money in a recession just like you do any other time of economic season. You make sure you have a product or service you’d sell your own Mom and you do your best to make it affordable to the most amount of people possible. Or, you increase the price and you focus on making more money per sale. You really have those two options. Both are ok, but I personally like bringing prices down and increasing the amount of people I sell to.

In the Intenet Marketing industry, where I run several businesses, I am focusing more on providing FREE content up front, really delivering value. And wherever possible, I am making money with advertising and sponsors as opposed to direct selling. This is something I chose to do because I want to get the word out on how to make money in this recession to a lot more people.

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t sell products, beacause I do. One idea I ask myself is this:

What value added service can I throw into this offer to make it a real no brainer purchase for the customer?

In my last product I ended up adding on a complete website setup and install. My customers LOVE IT and it’s something I can do for them. It just takes a little more time, but with my team already in place I don’t have to spend as much in cash.

Calm Your Recession Fears

Whenever I talk with customers or clients, some of them bring up the F word. Fear. They’re scared. And I understand that. Any uncertainty can lead way to fear. But, here’s what’s really important. Don’t focus on what you don’t have. Focus on what you do have. Imagine if you turned on the news and every night you heard this instead of the usual negativity.

Great news tonight. The employment rate today hit 90.8%. More than 9 out of every 10 people are working and being productive.

Wouldn’t that be cool. I’m sure if we started talking about the EMPLOYMENT rate instead of the UNEMPLOYMENT rate, just that would have a positive impact on our situation.

So here’s what I want you to come away with from this article. Out there, everyday, there are millions of people spending money on what they want. They don’t care what the news says. They have a hobby, or a business, or something they want to do and they are willing to spend money on it.

Your job is to sell to these people. There’s money everywhere. As a matter of fact, money never vanishes, never dies. When the stock market goes down, that money doesn’t leave. It goes to the people who bet on it crashing! The same amount of money is here today that was here yesterday. And tomorrow too.

Go after the market you want. Appeal to desire. People are spending money. Why don’t you get in on the action?

Best Internet Business – The 6 Models

The Best Internet Business: The 6 Models

Everyday millions of people come online looking to start their very own internet business. But the problem is that most people don’t know what they’re looking for. Too many people are looking for something that doesn’t really exist. You see, the reality is that an online business is just like any other business. The only difference is that it’s online instead of in the “real” world.

That means that the same principles of entrepreneurship, risk, reward, and ethics apply. But thankfully, the risk can be WAY lower when you choose the correct and best internet business type. I myself have been running a successful internet home business now since 2006. It wasn’t easy for me to get started. I had to learn a lot of insider knowledge to get where I’m at now.

But the rewards of using the internet have been amazing. Most years I can count on a steady 6 figure income because the internet is so large, there’s a greater chance of success. If you think about it, the internet is just a store that happens to be online. That means that literally millions of people can see what you’re selling. And turning a profit can happen really fast on the internet if you setup things properly.

Here’s an example. I setup a brand new website recently, and within 2 days I was averaging $130.00 a day in sales. And here’s the best part…it’s not even my product. I’m selling an affiliate product. That means someone else did all the work and I’m just sending the traffic there. If you’re wondering what an affiliate internet business is, it just means that you act as a traffic source to other people’s offers. Kind of like if you refer someone to buy life insurance from your insurance man and he throws you a few bucks or takes you out for a nice steak dinner.

But before I go on too much, let’s look at the 6 types of internet businesses that are available to you. This list comes from internet entrepreneur John Reese. Each type has lots of crossover, and in many ways you will want to combine these to increase your profits.

The 6 Online Business Models:

1) Blogging (publishing)

2) Affiliate Marketing

3) Information Product Marketing

4) E-Commerce Store

5) Software Business

6) Professional Services

There’s not room to delve into these models in this article, but I will write another article soon covering these 6 models. And we will also decide which model makes the best internet business for you. In the meantime, start thinking about what you want your business to be like because it’s important to your success.

And remember this one important fact – an internet business is still a real business.  But your opportunity to turn a profit is a lot easier online that it is offline. And that’s what draws so many of us to starting an online business. I hope you’re getting ready to dive in soon.