You know, a similar philosophy is used amongst marketers that focus on high ticket items (excluding the bank robbery of course). Rather than go for easy targets, small sales (but a lot of them), they prefer to sell high ticket items that also include BIG commissions.

When it comes to the ‘home business’ or ‘make money online’ niche, if you are promoting a business that requires you to train your new customer, WHO you sell to is everything. Why? Because you’re stuck with your customer. In fact, they become more than just a customer…they are now your business partner, so be selective about the ‘partners’ you choose to work with, as you are responsible for helping them too earn an income.

When it comes to small ticket items you tend to sell to young, financially strapped, “get rich quick” type thinkers. Of course this isn’t to say all small ticket sales are like this but these are the usual suspects. I’ve made plenty of money from small ticket items, but the idea of investing $50 in a business and changing your financial life and achieving financial prosperity is very appealing, it’s pretty unrealistic. Like most everything in life…you get what you pay for.

Bigger Is Better

One aspect about selling High Ticket items is that you typically sell to highly successful person that are used to making Big decisions and Taking action. This is why they are successful.

Think about it…if you are a professional in what you do, then you would prefer to speak to and work with professionals as well. People who understand the level you are at and can easily understand the business model without over complicating it. There will inevitably be things they don’t know such as how to drive traffic, but that they can learn and/or outsource. Regardless, the essence of the business model is the same and these people get it.

You are selling to older professionals who have a track record of success in career or business. These customers usually have plenty of financial resources whether they are liquid, or available in the form of an IRA, 401K, or investment account they can tap into to start a business.

Marketers that sell high ticket items prefer to sell to and mentor this crowd as opposed to the small ticket crowd, and I must say I agree. Although these sales may be a little harder to make, they yield BIG commissions and the customer is much more likely to generate sales him or herself because of their educational and professional backgrounds. If there is a residual feature to your compensation plan, this is critical.

The question is, would you rather sell one hundred $50 items to earn a $5,000 commission, or one $5,000 item to earn a $5,000 commission?

If you’ve ever watched the movie starring Will Smith titled “The Pursuit of Happiness”. You’ll realize there was one major reason he found success in the end. Of course he had drive, determination, focus, and desire. While all the other interns were calling small prospects for easy sales, Will Smith’s character went after the BIG sales calling CEO of major companies. It was tougher to make the sale, but all he needed was ONE.

One of the largest problems we as internet network marketers face is information overload. New marketing techniques, new advertising opportunities, new keywords, technologies, tools, trends, niches…it never ends. The internet is a living, breathing organism that is ever-changing (one of the things I love about it). But, you have to make smart business decisions. You cannot get swept up in the new ’shiny’ things that emerge on a daily basis. Rather, take care of your old toys and they will continue to bring you joy for years to come.

OK. I know that sounds a little crazy but follow me here…

I learned (in my corporate life) about a management theory called the Tomato Plant Problem. The Tomato Plant Problem means that if you try to tend to too many plants at any given time, they will all suffer and eventually die. There is only so much light and water to go around. If you try to water them all, none of them get what they need to survive.

The theory is, to focus on only 1-3 plants at a time. This will allow you to give them the attention they need to ensure they thrive.

Bringing this management theory into my internet business was real game changer for me. Like many others, I was always getting bogged down with email, my blackberry, twitter, new stuff all the time. But I had some things out there that had been producing results for me like clock-work. What happened was many began to slowly deteriorate. My business suffered and so did my income.

I brought myself back to the basics. Back to the same principles I taught my students. Focus on only 2-3 things at any given time and you will develop more skill, see more results, and feel more accomplished.

I implemented some strategies where I only check my email 3 times per day (I tried 2 and it was too hard). I turned off all visible email notifications so I wasn’t distracted. I never check email first thing in the morning. I spend more time on it at night, before I go to bed when I’m winding down.

If you have information overload, or feel like you’re spinning your wheels, remember the Tomato Plant Problem. Take a step back, prioritize your activities (always focus on traffic, list building, and conversions), anything else is typically superfluous and can take a back seat.

Until next time!

Robert

One of my first purchases as a marketer was a book by Yanik Silver titled ‘Instant Sales Letters’. I actually purchased the book thinking I could ’shortcut’ my way to writing effective sales copy…but actually the book educated me in ways it wasn’t supposed to.

I began understanding why Yanik himself had been so successful, and it all began with his ability to acquire the skill of writing effective sales copy and combining it with a sound marketing strategy.

So I decided to invest in adding a new skill to my arsenal — learning to write effective Sales Copy. I’m clearly no expert, but I learned the anatomy of effective copy, psychological buying triggers, and even how to use colors that triggered buying decisions.

When most people think about sales copy, they think about stand alone webpages and sales pages. But in this new world of Web 2.0 and even Web 3.0, sales copy still remains a key ingredient to generating leads and sales.

Sales copy applied to any form of content whether written, audio, or video. There are a lot of smart internet entrepreneurs trying to sell excellent products or business opportunities — but failing! Many of these entrepreneurs are over-looking their copy. It’s not persuasive, it doesn’t flow, and in many cases doesn’t even address the pain points of the reader or tie their solution to the pain.

Never underestimate the power of  a simple page with killer sales copy. Remember, it’s not about looking good, it’s about results.

The key is, finding a balance between a clean looking professional webpage, but inlcuding effective web copy. You cannot assume people can draw conlusions based on pictures and images or that they’ll even watch and entire video or listen to an entire audio.

Be sure to focus on your headline, core message, call your visitor to action with copy…even if it is redundant to the message in your video, images, or audio.

Before moving forward in any online business venture, you should be sure you ready to be a business owner and entrepreneur. You have to be ready to take responsibility for what happens in your business, and the more you hold yourself accountable, the more likely you will carry the correct mindset and be mentally prepared for success.

As an internet business owner, you will be responsible for:

==> Investing your business (start-up costs)
==> Funding your business (i.e. required tools, sites, etc.)
==> Advertising your business
==> Managing your business (i.e. performance optimization, growth, cost reduction, etc.)
==> Staying motivated through tough times
==> Setting your schedule
==> Being a leader
==> Find growth opportunities
==> On and On and On…

You get the idea. Owning your own internet business means YOU will be responsible (no one else) for your success. If you are not ready to accept responsibility for you failures, you will not be ready to accept the responsibility for success.

Be a good business owner, a good coach, a good mentor, and a leader and you will find success.

Tip #2 – Develop Your Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, and Habits

As an internet business owner, your income will be dependent upon your ability to acquire and master new knowledge, develop money-making skills in leadership, marketing, etc., and building sound habits that take your business to new heights.

Tip #3 – Don’t Give Up in your Internet Network Marketing Business

Going back to Tip #1, you have got to accept responsibility for your results, and understand not everything you do will make money or go your way. You MUST be willing to accept losses, even failure, knowing that you are moving closer to success. The likelihood that your first venture or experience will make money is pretty slim. It’s what you learn from your failures that move you closer to success.

Always go back to your “WHY”, rehearse it, understand the meaning behind it and never give up on it. If you climb over the hurdles you will end up on Top. One of the largest reasons the failure rate in the internet network marketing industry and home based business industry in general is so high, is because people give up and quit within 90 days. I don’t know one success story that found success within 90 days. Most took years to find success.

Therefore, it is imperative for you to have a strong desire to succeed. If you’re working by yourself, you’re the only one who can keep you motivated and on task in your internet network marketing business.

PHYSICAL & MENTAL FITNESS IN YOUR INTERNET NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS

In order for your business to prosper, you must be in good physical and mental shape. This is something I learned from Tony Robbins in his Get The Edge series.

Tony stated that the act of movement and physical effort will ensure you’re always moving forward in life, even in business. And it’s true, physical fitness keeps you mentally sharp and gives you the energy to work harder than many others, and since this business is a marathon, you must work smarter and harder than your competition.

You are not able to run your business if you are physically sick and you can’t give your business all that it needs if you are mentally negative.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A POSITIVE MINDSET

A positive mindset is essential to the success of your internet network marketing business. A positive mindset is so crucial because the of Law of Attraction is always at work.I’m not talking about Attraction Marketing which seems to be quite the ‘buzzword’ lately…in referring to the Pure Law of Attraction whereby you become what you think about most of the time.

In simple terms, you tend to get what you expect to get. If you expect to win, you will win. Why? Because you wouldn’t expect to win if you weren’t trying to win, you would expect to lose even though you wanted to win.

So people tend to get what they expect to get. Even if they don’t say it, people know when they should and win they are going to lose, simply based on their actions.

Before you can create a successful internet-based network marketing business, you have to form a clear vision of what you want your business to become and what YOU want to become.

Who do you want to become? Do you want to be a guru? A coach, a mentor, a trainer? Then you better start feeding your brain with success strategies, principles, and marketing expertise you can teach to others.

If you constantly think about having a mediocre business, then you are likely to get that or less.

A positive mindset does not guarantee success by itself, but it will help you a great deal. Plan carefully, strategically, tactically, be patient, and remain positive through everything; and you will become a success.

To your success,

Robert

In this article, I will describe 3 major advantages an internet based has over traditional brick and mortar businesses.

• Time leverage
• Cost
• Mobility
• Income Potential

Time Leverage

What’s the second reason you wanted to start your own business beyond being your own boss? Leverage.

But there are limitations to the amount of leverage you have with most Brick and Mortar businesses. Your employees can only work so many hours in a day. Your store can only be open so many hours in a day. Your store is limited to the local time zone. If you want to be open more hours, you need more employees.

On the internet, there are no such limitations. No employees, no geographical boundaries, and no limitations to the hours of the day your business can make sales. The internet allows you to create “true” leverage in the form of technology.

Think about the evolution of technology in almost any major industry. For example, in the auto industry, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc. all use technology to build more cars, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all with less overhead.

Just imagine if you had a business that allows you true time leverage, where it runs for you around the clock, all over the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Cost

The second major advantage of an internet based home business is cost. I will break these costs down in two categories:

• Start up cost
• Overhead

The startup of a typically, the least risky business model to start up would be a proven franchise system. Anything else is VERY risky. But any good franchise would run you anywhere from $500K – over $2M.
Here are classic examples:

In this illustration, you can see the starts up costs are incredibly high for a proven business model. And frankly, the income potential is rather meager related to the investment required.

For the Average Joe, it may be possible to find a decent business with start up cost of under $100K but the income potential would clearly reflect that.

In addition to the incredibly high start up costs, you’ll also be responsible for the purchase of equipment, rent, insurance, employees, inventory, advertising, and other miscellaneous expenses.
Unlike a traditional business, a solid internet businesses model wont’ require:

• Employees
• Rent/Lease
• Insurance
• Equipment
• Inventory
• Utilities
• Property taxes

Startup costs with a solid direct sales income model range from $300 – $20K. A good model will payout 80% profit on your sales…so just imagine investing $10K or $20K in a business, actually be able to earn your investment back within your first two sales. Most proven business models will also require some monthly expense that can range from $50 – $200 per month. A drop in the bucket compared to the income potential.

The overhead costs associated with running an internet business are virtually non-existent. Outside of advertising, the only major operating costs you have are high speed internet, and a cell phone plan. Since these are expenses the average person already pays for, your overhead can actually result in a surplus credit at the end of the year with the tax advantages of a home business.

Mobility

The number one reason people desire to be wealthy is lifestyle. To be able to do what you want when you want and having the money to pay for it.

With an internet business, you can do what you want when you want, where you want. With a laptop and a cell phone, the world is your office. Internet business offer you complete mobility which is one of it’s most powerful features.

Imagine making money while your vacationing with your family at Disney World or relaxing in Cancun. Or perhaps you want to move to the Caribbean permanently. With an internet business, you can live anywhere you want without impacting your income.

Income Potential

Internet based businesses allow you to earn more money in less time. With systems running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you can earn a substantial income quickly.

For example, assume you invest $10K in a powerful direct sales business model with 60% profit margins to you, and 30% override on your direct team members.

Just two sales per month earns you a healthy 6 figure income. With systems working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s not only possible, it’s happening.

As your skills increase, you could be making 2 sales per week making you nearly half a million dollars ($500K) per year. And that doesn’t include the 30% overrides you begin earning on your team. 

As you can see, leverage a solid, proven internet based income model has no competition in business. There are very few opportunities in the world where you can invest under $10K, and earn a realistic $250K your first year.