You recall that famous slogan written on a blackboard in the
Clinton war room during the 1992 campaign: "It's the economy,
stupid!" It helped the Clinton campaign stay focused, and a
catch phrase like that can work for you, too.
Imagine this. You have the 10 best Internet marketing gurus
together in a war room to develop a strategy for your on-line
business. You ask them to craft one slogan that would help you
the most and they propose something like: "It's the LIST,
stupid!"
Don't make this mistake in your on-line business--be it network,
referral or affiliate marketing. You might say, "That list stuff
is for those gurus selling their own info products or publishing
ezines." You do what your upline does or your affiliate creator
recommends: promote your opportunity or program. But is that the
smart thing for you to do at this time?
A DIFFERENT MARKETING APPROACH
Michael Southon, one of those on-line gurus, says in a recent
book review:
"On the Internet, it's not the products that make money, it's
lists (products don't sell, lists do)."
I'm going to propose something heretical to many of you Internet
marketers, regardless of whether you are of the network,
referral or affiliate variety. Brace yourselves, now...this
could be revolutionary...especially to your upline.
Don't promote your opportunity or product(s) to the
marketplace; promote your list!
OLD-THINK DRIP CAMPAIGNS
To explore why, let's first look at a very common marketing
approach: email "drip" campaigns to purchased opt-in leads.
A drip campaign is one where you send out a series of
prospecting letters to a list, usually of opt-in leads. Because
it takes multiple impressions to convert a prospect, you "drip"
letters on them over a period of time.
With the exception of custom lead generation programs, those
leads that you purchased did not opt-in for YOUR program or
opportunity. In fact, when they opt-in the leads are usually
told they will be contacted about several on-line businesses.
And the diligent opportunity-seeker may be on several lists.
Your leads are going to be getting a lot of email from competing
programs.
The prospecting letters in a typical drip campaign for an
opportunity are written either by: your upline, you, or a
combination of both.
THE FAST DRIP
Let me use a well-known Powerline program as a real example of
what can happen if you blindly promote your opportunity first
using your upline's campaign. How would you like to be on the
receiving end of a blitz of emails over a 12-day period with
these subjects?
Your account will be deleted! 2nd Notice, your account will be
deleted! Final Notice, your account will be deleted! I'm waiting
to place people under you! Are you ignoring me? Let me explain
Help me, help you! I'm done!
If you want to know more about how Powerline programs work,
visit http://MLMpays.net.
These guerrilla marketing tactics turn off many prospects. Some
of the replies they send you can be downright nasty, too. Even
if they don't opt out of your email campaign, those prospects
will never join you in any business. Period! They just delete
anything you send. In the above example, you have squandered
your "marketing capital" with a heavy-handed promotion that's a
loser in the long run.
In the continuation of this article we'll examine what happens
when you promote your list in the drip campaign. It's available
to you instantly at mailto:list2@RADpays.net.
Jim Rannazzisi is a recent convert to on-line list building. Get
your FREE eCourse and ezine that are unlike anything anywhere.
They build the relationships that build business for you. Visit
http://RADpays.net/st.htm or mailto:jimrazz@RADpays.net.
About the author:
I'm a retired--but not tired--Air Force officer. I've been in
the computer business most of my career in and out of the
service. I'm now a business development manager for a computer
manufacturer working out of my home in Northern Virginia. I sell
servers in the Federal government marketplace.
I've been in and out of network marketing for over 20 years, but
I think I finally figured it out. Build a list first.
