Online Marketing Plan or How Teddy Bears Pay $30000/month Rent

I just came back from a family vacation in New York.
Ahhh, New York at Christmas is wonderous. And it was snowing and everything so we had a great time.

Mind you, flight travel with 4 kids that can’t sleep on flights is not the best way to start off a vacation (not by a long shot) but it was all worth it.

I’ll leave the flight story for another time.
What I wanted to share with you is a story of a couple of days before Christmas while we were just showing the kids the great fun stores in Manhattan.

You know, the M&M store, the Disney store ….

In the midst of all the excitement I found myself with all 4 children and my father in law on 5th Ave. in a huge store that sells teddy bears. They sell all sorts of stuffed animals actually but teddy bears are their main thing.

Now my father in law runs a local business in Manhattan so after a while he says to me ‘I don’t get how they manage to pay rent for this place selling teddy bears. The rent is probably $30,000 a month at least’.

I’m not sure how much rent they actually pay but seeing the size of the store and since it’s in a prime location on 5th Ave. I’d bet they pay a huge sum, maybe even more than $30,000.

So how do they do it and what’s it got to do with online marketing?

Well, their marketing funnel is so good I think you need to hear all about it and create one just like it for yourself.

So as we’re walking through the store I notice that at the counter no one pays the $10 or so a teddy bear costs. What I could here were things like ‘oh that will be $69 sir’ or ‘that’s $85 madam’. It seemed no one left the store with just the stuffed animals. They were upselling all the time.

But there were no sales reps anywhere to be seen. All the staff was there to entertain the children and help if asked. No one pushed the sale.

And then my eldest boy, Tom, asked if he could pick a teddy bear just to play with while at the store. The minute I said yes I entered their marketing funnel.

I didn’t realise it yet, but I was knee deep in their buying process. Even though not a sales rep was seen, they had these signs everywhere that steered you along the sales process.

Here’s what the signs in the store steer you towards:

1 – pick an animal
2 – go to the stuffing machine and have a friendly staff person help you
3 – name it and register it so they can have a birth certificate ready when you go to the next step
4 – adopt it (aka take it home and let dad take care of the bill)

But the real marketing genius happens once you stuff the animal.
Next to every stuffing machine there’s a box of small hearts. Just a simple small heart made of cloth.

Once you get to the stuffing machine, the person there stuffs your kid’s animal, takes a heart and asks them to rub it against their own heart so as to give it a pulse, they ask them to kiss it and also to make a wish.

They then take the heart and put it in the animal.

I remember smiling and saying to my father in law that it’s genius – they make an emotional attachment between the kid and the stuffed animal. I remember thinking those poor parents won’t know what hit them.

Because once there’s an emotional attachment, price will be irrelevant.
Once there’s an emotional attachment, the sale has already been made.

It’s a small thing easily missed if you’re just browsing and not taking part in the stuffing.
But that small thing is HUGE.
I was looking at the other parents thinking this, not realising that I was one of them!

Boy was I floored once we decided to get going.
Once we were ready to leave, Tom would not budge without his teddy bear. It took me 15 minutes of convincing to make him let go of all the other merchandise he had for his new teddy bear. We only ended up paying $10 for it, and not $70 with all the merchandise.

But the thing is, he would not budge.

What started as just browsing, looking and having fun, was sealed as a deal when that little cloth heart went into that stuffed teddy bear.

OK OK I had fun too. Their sales process was so amazing and it was so much fun, that I had a really good time.
Yeah I know, it sounds real lame, but I learnt a lot and you should too.

Imagine tweaking your sales process so that when someone gets to your site just to browse, they end up as a customer more times than not.
Imagine tweaking your sales process so that you create an emotional attachment with the people that come to your site.

When you do that, you can charge almost anything. Price will be irrelevant and your sales figures will shoot through the roof.

In many ways, going into that store and seeing the sales process first hand was my Christmas gift.

And now you too understand how they can pay so much rent selling nothing more than teddy bears

I suggest you take a minute next time you buy whether online or not, and try to look at the marketing funnel the store puts you through.
Your online business will thank you for it.

So that’s my Christmas story. How about you? Anything interesting you found out that will help online business? Put your thoughts and comments below

SEO part3 – The Tools I Use

OK, so we’re in part 3 of this SEO series. The first 2 parts were the “what”
and this is all about “how to” or at least, the tools I use for making this happen.

As a quick recap, SEO is all about getting great rankings in the search engines,
which in turn drive traffic to you. You will then need to build your list with that
traffic and start email marketing.

Those are your 3, and only 3, pillars to succeed in internet marketing – Traffic,
building your list, email marketing.

Focus on them and you’ll be well on your way to success in this industry.

Move away from these 3 at your own risk.

You might make it, you might not, but you’ll be wasting you’re time trying to
create something new, when those 3 things are PROVEN to make you succeed.

I think it’s a no brainer which route to go, but hey, it’s your choice.

Got it? Right! Let’s keep moving along.

I’ve compiled a list of the tools I use. Stuff which saves time, money and
frustration. Stuff that I had no idea existed and once I found them I never
stopped using them.

I started this list with SEO specifically in mind, but then I figured I’ll just
go ahead and list all of the good stuff for you in one place.

And just so you’ll know, most of the tools I use are free.

If you have other great tools to share, please add them in the comments.
Maybe I’ll add them to my main list if I start using them.

Ready? Here goes:

FreeMind – mind mapping software to gather all your thoughts and processes in a visual manner. Another online alternative is MindMeister or good old pen and paper

That’s my list. Again, if you have other great tools you use and want to share, please add them in the comments.

So What’s The Big Plan? How Do You Get Results?

That question gets asked a lot and unfortunately, not only by newbies. There’s so much information out there, it’s real easy to get information overload. Even if you get real valuable info and not crap, the #1 reason people fail online is by far information overload.

Most people tend to get their information when it’s offered, especially if it’s free. But if you study the habits of the most successful people online you’ll quickly find that they tend to focus, learning what they need only when they need it.

Rich Schefren talks about this a lot.
So does Alex Jeffreys and anyone else I’ve ever had the privilege to be mentored by.

Don’t disregard them just because that advice sounds simple. They each have training programs that cost
thousands of dollars. Heck, I’ve paid thousands in training.
And these guys know what they’re talking about.

So let me be your guide and make sure you cut out all the fluff and get to the core.

Internet marketing at it’s core is not that difficult. Now, no one said it’s easy but it doesn’t require you to be a rocket scientist to do it.

If you’ve yet to see any significant cash, then you need to simplify and make sure you understand internet marketing at the core level.

Look, I’m an 80-20 kind of a guy. I simplify things, get to their core and find those 20% of things that make up for 80% of the results.
That’s why I’m only going to teach you those 20%. It’s stripped of anything other than the core so you can get to your results faster.

If you really make sure you understand internet marketing, and focus on the core things needed, you will work less, be a lot more effective, and a lot more successful.

Get rid of all the fluff until there’s nothing more to get rid of and then you’re at the core. You are then seeing perfect (as Rich Schefren would say).

So what are the core principals of internet marketing?

Traffic

List Building

Email Marketing

That’s it.

Focus on those 3, make sure you are always working on those 3, and you’ll get the results you’re seeking.

That’s why I’ve made the SEO series for you.
I know I know, only the first 2 parts have been posted. Don’t worry though, the 3rd part will be posted sooner than you think and it will all be filled with specific tools for you to use instantly. The first 2 parts (SEO part1, SEO part 2) were the “what” and the last part is the “how to”.

But the reason I started posting about SEO anyways is because it gets you traffic.

Remember the only 3 things you need to focus on?
Well when you do simple SEO, you’ll get traffic flowing. And the more SEO you do, the more traffic you’ll
get.

I’m going to post that 3rd SEO post that’s all about tools to get you going (these are either free or cost
$5 so don’t worry about that).
Before I move on to the next subject though, I’d like you to add your comments so I can create the content that you need right now to get you results.

Remember my mentors drilling over and over that you need to get information when you need it? well I want to give you the information YOU need and only that.

I don’t want to give you great content that you don’t need right now.
I don’t want to add to information overload.

So head over to the comments section and tell me what you’d like to learn, and I’ll make sure I give you the best resources to do so.

Here’s to your results!
I’ll see you at the top,

SEO – Part 2

I really try and give out great content as well as great applications (especially if they’re free).

I find these to be of use as I go about my internet marketing, and if you’re not using them…
well… you should.

There’s no doubt about it – this will help you out.

And there are only a few key concepts you need to take away,
only a few key tools you need to master
and a whole lot of work.

That’s really all there is to this internet marketing thing.

One of the key concepts you need to understand is SEO. That stand for ’search engine optimization’ or in plain English
‘how to get your site to the top of the natural search results in google, yahoo and bing’.

It’s key because that’s how the majority of people find out about you and ultimately join your list or simply buy through your link.

In my online endeavour I have met a few key players and none of them hates you being taken advantage of, or understands SEO better than Andrew.
He explains it a lot better than I so instead of writing this second part of my SEO series,
I’m about to give you a book written by him that explains it all.

I strongly advise you to print it out, write notes on it and keep it handy.

It’s more than just SEO training. It’s THE blueprint for SEO.

You will never have to buy another ebook once you understand what’s in this one (and this one’s for free).

Like Andrew, I don’t buy any more ebooks. I only invest my money in tools and in finding myself mentors.
That’s my secret one-two punch combination.

So much so that I’ve actually built a tool for using with twitter. I’m so proud of it (especially after learning how well it works for others).

It was hard work, I finally understand how much work goes into the launch and I learned a lot in the process.

The launch of my twitter marketer pro tool is set for the 15th November and I’ll update on how well it goes.

But that’s in the next post (and if you want to check it out yourself head on over to
TwitterMarketerPro.com)

Right now, dive into one of the best SEO blueprints ever. I’d love to
hear your comments on it.
You can download it here :SEO_Chapter2.pdf

And if you’d like to learn of all the tools I use (and most are free) just tell me in the comments.

Exciting: What If You Could Be Mentored, For Free, By Your Idle?

You don’t realize it yet, but this is a post that can change your life forever.
I know it’s a bold statement, but in the next 3 minutes you’ll discover the key to your freedom.

If there’s one decisive factor in reaching success, it’s this: your mentor.

Imagine what it would be like if you could have your idle mentor you.
Forget about price for the moment. forget about their time schedule for a moment.

Just picture it. Your idle coming up to you and offering you the gift of their time and their experience. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Having them sit down with you, share all of their experience with you and show you specifically how it’s done.

Of course you know that no one in sports would ever consider training without a trainer.
No one.
Even world champions that are the best in the world at what they do, still have someone teach them.

Same goes for business – all the wildly successful business owners have a mentor (or several mentors). While most of those struggling do not.

I’m currently mentored by Alex Jeffreys and let me tell you, it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.
He has made me focus on the things that I need to focus on. It starts with planning which is a pain in the $%#%$$#
for me, but I do it because it works. My 12 month plan is all laid out and my goal is to earn $100k in that time.

Last year I made a grand total of… just under $2000. Looking back I wasted most of my time being a busy fool as Alex calls it. Keeping busy but not really going forward.

This year I have already created a powerful new product that launches mid November and that alone will bring me close to my target.

But that’s not all. I have other plans that should start paying off by December.
I’ll tell you all about it in my next posts especially since I believe you can do the same and profit big time.

As you can see I’ve stopped being a busy fool.

Now the funny thing is that I put something in my plan even though it was more of a wish.
I had no idea how to make it happen but I put it in the plan anyway.
What I put in my plan for October 2009 was this: “find a way to work with Rich Schefren”.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of Rich Schefren or not, but he’s been an idle of mine these past 2 years.
See, Rich’s thing is teaching people correct business building principles.
It’s the most unsexy thing you could possibly imagine amidst all the shiny new techniques and bright new products that offer instant success and immediate profits.

Now, even though Rich has a way of sweetening the pill putting his information out in a way that looks really attractive, it’s still a bit dull at it’s core.
But these are the fundamentals you HAVE to use if you want the dream – more time freedom and the money to go along with it.

Rich is amongst a tight few that teach what needs to be taught regardless of the hype surrounding them.
What he teaches is gold plus he has a unique way of taking concepts that work in other fields and adopting them to business building.
And for that he’s been a hero of mine.

So I planned to find a way to work with him and I have no idea how this came to be, but I now have an opportunity to do so!
He hasn’t invited me over to his office (yet) but it’s a start. He is now offering to mentor me – for free!

He’s also lined up a ton of other remarkable people to do the exact same thing for you.

There has never been anything quite like it. It’s as though he wants to change the rules forever. The caliber of people he arranged in the group is mind boggling – Jay Abraham, Robert Cialdini…

There are 53 people in this group. 53 supermen that have been advising companies like Nike, Coca Cola, IBM, Disney, Starbucks… the list goes on and on.
They have been these company’s secret weapons for years and they have now come together to offer the little guy their mentorship – for free.

If you don’t go sign up right now, if you don’t grab this incredible offering right away…
then you’re like those struggling internet wannabees that think they can do it all by themselves – and fail.

Don’t be those guys.

Don’t walk, run(!) and grab a hold of this special gift that’s been given to you.

Just imagine, name your idle and have them mentor you…