Internet Survival Skills 101

Do you know how to copy and paste?

I was on the phone recently and I told the person just to copy and paste the link I had sent him. He proceeded to tell me that he did not know how to do this and that most people did not.  

When I explained that copying and pasting is the mathematical equivalent of 2+2=4 he said, “well all right I’ll Google it then”.  He knows about Google but not how to do the simplest of computer functions.  Good thing they don’t have the TV phone yet because I was shaking my head and rolling my eyes.

Having been born in 1957 I was not raised in a household with a computer (duh).  When I was a child my etch-a–sketch was my laptop.  So unlike my nephew and niece who at birth were given Mac books I had to learn and adapt to computers.

Computers have many functions but for me there greatest function is to be used to market online.   An entire industry has spawned of people working from home and selling goods and services over the internet.  You may ask yourself  “what could I market on the net”?

Well how about an info product?

Do you possess knowledge that others would benefit from?   Look at what a few of the leading info marketing guys like Alex Mandossian, Frank Kern, Armand Moran, to name a few are doing.  They sell millions of dollars in information products per year.

So the question is, why not you?  I’ll bet that the idea of making money from home without the need for physical inventory (or expense) is appealing.  Note that I said “without the need for physical inventory”.  With information products your “inventory” is virtual.

In 2005 I started a company that licensed information products from authors and speakers.  Each time we sold a product the author/speaker earned a royalty.  So what was the cost of my product development?  How about zero.  Then as opposed to shipping CD’s I digitized their product into an electronic file (mp3).   So when a customer made a purchase they instantly received access to the product via the net.

So you have several options to begin your new endeavor.  One is to become an affiliate for someone who has the product and offer all completed.  Usually affiliate programs come with turnkey marketing pieces, landing (also called squeeze page) that has proven conversion numbers, sales letter and on.  Your only task here is to drive traffic to your affiliate site.

Another option is to license existing product and then create your sales system.  There are a number of great info products where the creator simply is not a good marketer.  Here is your opportunity to cash in on their expertise while creating a mutually beneficial relationship.

Then of course your next option is creating your own product.  The benefits of this are many; first of all you own it (duh, again).   This enables you to repurpose the content as you see fit.

Let’s say you have written a book.  Well you can take aspects of the book and create a DVD or CD series; you can create a seminar from its content, perhaps a membership program (online of course), or a coaching/mentor program.   I could keep going but you get the point.  The owner of the content is master of their universe.

Now my question to you is “what if?”  What if there is something I’ve said that sparks your thinking into gear?   If so you’re asking yourself “how do I get started?”   Well grasshopper the answer is simple, start by doing research.  Search the net for info products and see what’s on the market and observe how they are being marketed.  If you decide to create your own product search that topic and see what’s available and how you differ (6 degrees of separation).

Once you have decided on a direction we’ll need to discuss the various marketing methods available to you.  And that my friends will be the subject of my next article.

Till then, let me leave you with this thought from Isaac Newton, “An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion.”  In other words get your butt in gear and take action.