Information Marketing on the Internet by Five Kings

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom ruled by five cool kings who reigned in peace and harmony. The kings, whose names are Salutation, Presentation, Consummation, Perseverance, and Enticement, live in a wilderness filled with wanderers, each one seeking the proverbial pot of gold.

The role of the kings is to guide these wanderers in their quest, because as the visitors get rich, so does the kingdom. The twist is that these monarchs do not live in a fairy-tale, but in a fact-based new book that shows current and would-be information marketers how to launch lucrative businesses on the Internet. So what's the deal?

The kings' story, says Robert Skrob, co-author with Bob Regnerus of "The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing on the Internet," is a parable. "The kingdom is actually a website, and the surrounding wilderness is the cyberspace," Skrob says. "Every wanderer who passes by is a potential customer, and the kings represent the five steps of the marketing process. Just as they have to work together without getting in each other's way, an info-marketer has to include all five steps in the marketing campaign, and follow these steps in proper order."

Thus, King Salutation is the first to greet and welcome visitors to the kingdom. His job description, Skrob explains, is "to make people feel comfortable, and not frighten them away by asking too many questions. And, he doesn't force the visitors to listen to the kingdom's entire history, but, rather, describes it with a few choice words."

Once the visitors ascertain that they have entered the kingdom that is right for them, Salutation helps them over the border and leaves them in the capable hands of his co-king, Presentation, the kingdom's official tour guide. "He is a masterful speaker, capturing the imagination of his visitors," Skrob explains.

"He also knows how to point uncertain visitors in the right direction, convincing them they can achieve all their get-rich goals right there in the kingdom. And, he can even motivate the visitors to remain in the kingdom with small gifts and other incentives." The visitor is then passed on to Consummation, who shows them how to exchange their gold for the objects they seek. He keeps the eager travelers - those who went through two previous kings, as well as those who impatiently scaled the wall to get directly to him - on the right track. "His job is to provide all the information the visitors need to successfully complete their journeys,"

Skrob notes. Perseverance's job is more laid-back, but very important nonetheless: to follow the visitors who depart from the kingdom without leaving any of their gold behind, making sure they know they're always welcome back. He keeps in touch with them with frequent messages and "knows how to be persistent without being a nuisance," Skrob says. The fifth king, Enticement, has the most difficult job of all: he roams the wilderness looking for the specific kind of visitors who are most likely to be lured into the kingdom.

"These people may not know of the kingdom's existence, so they wander aimlessly looking for someone to show them the way," Skrob says. "So Enticement hires agents who search for wanderers the king wouldn't be able to find by himself. These agents send the lost visitors back to the realm of five kings." This parable, which highlights the importance of a well-structured and focused website that attracts, rather than repels, visitors is featured in the book, released in September 2008 as a sequel to last year's

"The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing." "Both books feature profiles of people who became extraordinarily successful on the Internet," says Skrob, president of the Tallahassee, FL-based Information Marketing Association. "When you use a website to market your product, you can make sales anywhere, at any time, without lifting a finger. There's no question that, for any info-marketer, Internet is a great way to make lots of money." And, once info-marketers follow the five kings, they will all live happily ever after.