Ten steps to internet business success – step 9. In these 10 steps you will learn a reliable and repeatable system for making money online. This is not a GRQ scheme. You will need to take action. You will need to do a reasonable amount of work over several weeks. If you’re prepared for that, read on.
If you haven’t already, read step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4, step 5, step 6, step 7, step 8 first.
The approach … identify a real problem lots of people are experiencing right now then find a quality solution you can sell them. Research supply and demand figures as well existing solutions then apply a series of steps to begin promoting the product to your target market.
The previous 8 steps were:
Step 1: Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and by when
Step 2: Identify a real human need that many people have regularly
Step 3: Search for existing solutions/cures/helpful advice
Step 4: Measure the demand for solutions to this need
Step 5: Perform a reality check
Step 6: Do some serious research
Step 7: Prepare the solution to the problem – the product
Step 8: Prepare your website to capture leads
Internet Business Success in 10 Steps (step 9)
9. Collect email addresses and send follow-up emails. So long as you have completed steps 1 to 8 and not skipped some of the more difficult or time- consuming tasks, you will soon have people hitting the squeeze page on your site ready to enter their name and email address.
The quickest and most professional way to create the sign-up box for their name and email, and then send them a series of follow-up emails is to use a system like AWeber.
It will guide you through all the steps in creating the sign-up form, collecting and managing the names and emails people will be giving you and writing the follow-up emails as well as scheduling them to go out one every day or so.
What’s so important about that?
Once people have decided to trust you with their email address you need to follow through with your promise and give them more golden nuggets of your wisdom – from your research remember – in a series of follow-up emails. AWeber is one of the top systems for doing it. There are other options but I tend to avoid recommending products I haven’t personally tried and/or regularly use.
AWeber has unlimited autoresponders – systems for sending follow-up emails – and there’s no limit on mail-outs. The only other system I have had some experience with is iContact. I do not recommend you use that, but it’s up to you what you choose. iContact has limitations on the number of mail-outs you can send and after that it starts costing you more. It might seem cheaper to start with but once you start getting a reasonable number of sign-ups – and that is the idea after all – AWeber is going to be the cheaper option.
Here is a sample of one of the follow-up emails. You might like to use it as a guide to start your own. The [Name] is where AWeber automatically inserts the name your readers entered on the sign-up form.
Hello [Name],
I have spent a lot of time researching back pain and the
primary concern most people talk about is … {you would
put a story here from your research}.Have you spent any time lately thinking about that?
I have had the unfortunate experience of back pain
myself and I can tell you that {product A} and
{product B} are not what they claim to be. {back this up
with some more research and testimonials}.Since discovering this technique {the product} I’ve
been getting great results. I also found that
quite a few others are getting similar results
and some people are really raving about it.Check out the testimonials people have been leaving
about {the product} and if you’re still not sure,
check out {more research here}.Here are two success stories where chronic back pain
sufferers talk about the hell they’ve been through and
how {the product} has helped them more than
everything else they’ve tried before.{insert brief excerpt of success stories here and links to full story}
So let me know what you think about {the product}
and the success it is having over back pain in the lives
of so many long-term sufferers.Yours in pain-free living,
{your name}
Create a set of 10 to 15 emails like this, all a little bit different but all pointing to your chosen Clickbank product via your affiliate link (see steps 2 and 3). Set up the emails so that they go out one per day. AWeber has great video tutorials on how to do everything you need to do to make this happen.
Note: At the end of this 10 step series I might write an e-book with sample text for the other emails if there is enough interest 
Let me know in the comments below. I think I will include all the golden nuggets from the comment streams as well.
When your visitors enter their email address, they get this series of emails over about a two week period. That gives you a dozen or so opportunities to remind them of the great product you have researched.
Assuming you have not only followed the 9 steps but acted on each one, you will begin to have your emails landing in the in-box of your site visitors all over the country and probably many parts of the world. They will relate to you like a friend because it will seem as if you know their plight, their pain, their grief or whatever problem you have chosen to pursue.
It will seem at times as if you’ve been listening in during their visits to their doctor. This is because in your research you took the time to actually listen to real people discuss the real problem. You will have gained their trust and they are going to be interested in your recommended solution.
Be sure that you only sell genuine solutions or your credibility will be shot to pieces and your online success will be small and short-lived.
The product you promote is preferably one you have created – an info-product or even a physical product if you have one – or a suitable affiliate product you have tried or researched and know is good value. I will cover information product creation in more detail when I put these 10 steps into an e-book.
Wow, almost there!
Go to step 10 of 10 steps to building an online business
(link goes live 2 days after date of this post)
Over to you. What do you think of the series so far? Share your thoughts below and help others at the same time.
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Hi Michael
Thanks for the series. You have covered it all comprehensively. Really enjoyed the read. Now to take action and just do it
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavender oil´s last [type] ..Create Impact- Not Traffic Spikes
Patricia, action is the key in every aspect of our lives and even more so with making money online. I see many products promoted to “make $1000 a day with three clicks of your mouse”. Those types of offers are attractive people who are not keen on taking action and tackling hard work.
In any case, I think of it this way. If it takes 4 years at a university to get a degree that leads to me being able to earn money as a professional, it seems highly unlikely that I can spend $127 and click a mouse 3 times a day and make the same amount of money. If it was true wouldn’t we all be doing it
?
Cheers, and thanks for your continued support.
Twitter: alexhardie80
says:
Hi and thanks for this post. I am constantly recommending my clients have subscribe enabled on their blogs and sites. This is crucial to anon interruption marketing approach. Users may like your content but they might not want to read it now, bookmark it or indeed keep having to check back every day. Deliver it to their inbox and it will have a positive effect on your site visits.
social media training shropshire´s last [type] ..The rise of the QR code in social media and what they could mean for Shropshire businesses
Thanks Alex for sharing your experience. It does become a one-way street if readers are not able to easily connect with a blog author. I see you have posted about the QR code. I am still fascinated by the way that coding system holds data. I’m off to read your post …
Hi Michael
This has been a great series of articles on Internet Business success. I am on your list so get them straight to my inbox.
I have really picked up some great extra tips and hints on this journey.
Looking forward to no 10.
While I am here…..
Just to let you know Fran Aslam the renowned EzineArticles Expert Author will be doing a guest article on my site, 15 March 2011.
Fran has got over 190 live articles; she will be sharing her wisdom on article writing, so worth checking out.
I think this will give you some great pointers for anybod writing articles.
All the best.
Zahid
Hi Zahid, #10 is almost ready. Thanks for the tip on Fran. Send me the link and I will add it to your comment when the post goes live. Michael.
Twitter: bryanmch
says:
Hi Michael,
This will be a best seller mate… you sure have put a lot of work into this series.
The optin form is such an important part of any blog … while I am told that aweber is one of the best autoresponders around …I use a different autoresponder which I have found excellent.
Great work.
Cheers
Bryan
Bryan McHeyzer´s last [type] ..Comment on Start the New Year With a Plan by Jon
Thanks Bryan. It has turned out to be a bigger project than I had first envisaged and it will be a valuable sign-up bonus when converted into an e-book. I am in the process of following my own advice
and working on several sites based on this series.
Twitter: sallyneill
says:
Hey Michael,
OMG I must have not been on your blog for ages, I didn’t have a clue what to do when I landed on it, then thankfully it said start here ha ha.
I feel like I got to the party late and missed all the good “stuff” got a lot of catching up to do.
I have to admit I was tempted to switch to Icontact when I seen everyone else doing it but…. I changed my mind and stuck with Aweber.
Really Aweber provide an excellent service and their tracking/split testing tools are a god send, I would never have had so much success with email marketing had I not utlized them.
Aweber gets two thumbs up from me.
Sally
ps. thanks for the cool lil link in your blog sidebar, very nifty!
Sally @ blog hop queen´s last [type] ..38 Year Old Webinar Virgin Seeks Experienced Partner
Hey Sally, I’m glad you made it over. I just love the title of your current blog post – 38 year old virgin seeks partner?! That will turn a few heads although I think I left a word or two out of the title somewhere.
It’s never too late and all the good stuff from this latest post series will be compiled into an e-book for easy consumption.
I signed up with iContact to trial it and was disappointed with the sending limits. I can see that it would get very expensive when your list grows but by then you’re pretty much stuck with your provider. I can see how people would be keen to promote it as an affiliate because anyone who did well and built up a big list would represent big commission dollars for a long time to come. It is an affiliate’s dream product but does not measure up to Aweber’s offering. I wont promote it (iContact) as I wouldn’t personally use the product
. On the other hand Aweber is by far the superior product and I’ll happily promote it.
I was only too happy to provide a link to you in the blogroll. I have linked to people I think are not only genuine and likely to be around for the long-haul but have provided me with loads of value early on when I was starting out.
Kind regards,
Michael
Totally agree on the measure demand. It is so easy to get confused and think you have a market. If you are doing internet stuff and customers are coming to a website, you can use Google Analytics to “read the tea leaves” and determine demand.
Chris@Reputation Defense Online´s last [type] ..Are Facebook Threats Illegal
Hi Chris. GA is such a great tool and it’s free! I don’t use every feature of it but have made a note to go check it out in more detail as a result of your comment. Thanks, Michael
Hello Michael,
Thank you for taking your time and writing all this great steps but now an other problem arises.
Let’s say I did followed all your steps religiously and I already built a list that is somewhat interested in what I want to say, but whenever I send my emails, it arrives in the spam folder or people don’t opened them.
How can someone increase the open rate and also the CTR of your emails?
Also, can you tell us what’s the magic number of emails per month or week should we send?
Again, thanks Michael for taking your time and teaching us how to start an internet business and maybe you can make a guide on how to properly maintain one such business
Alex@Jocuri´s last [type] ..Jocuri 3D
These are great questions Alex. Thank you.
There is no foolproof way of keeping mail out of spam folders. Aweber, my recommended mail provider, allows you to spam-check your emails before they go out. With the guidance provided by Aweber and the tips to be included in the e-book version of these steps you will minimize the number of your emails that end up in spam.
The question of whether or not people open your emails rests largely on the subject line of your emails and how enticing it is to the reader. Remember, these people on your mail list are there because they chose to sign up. They are not total strangers and they have some faith in you being able to provide them with answers.
CTR is dependent upon the wording of the email and how well you address the target problem and show that you relate to your readers on a personal level. With both this and the subject line I recommend testing. You can split-test with Aweber and then after a month, check the stats and work on improving the version of the subject/letter that gets the least opens and CTR. Test for another month and tweak the one with the lowest stats. Testing is key to ongoing and increasing rates of success. Without testing and tweaking you will be leaving money on the table, so to speak.
The answer to your last question will be included in the e-book of this series that will soon be available.
Cheers, Michael
Twitter: simply1software
says:
I believe AWeber is a powerful tool. I haven’t used it yet but I am going to try it. This way brings the visitors back and reconnects them with interesting posts and topics they want to read.
Thanks for posting,
John
John Mak´s last [type] ..Building Credibility is a Must for a Blogger!
Hi John, I just finished setting up Aweber for a client who has just under 3000 on her newsletter list. When we reviewed the old sign-up form/process compared with what she now has with Aweber she could see how she had been missing out on a significant number of potential clients on her list. With the split testing provided by Aweber she will now be able to test the effectiveness of form design, colour, header text, etc and maximise her sign-ups over the next few months.
It is my mail provider of choice. Cheers, Michael
Hi Michael,
This is one very interesting article and one absolutly fantastic e-mail example with all that {} and (), very useful. Using marketing through e-mail is a very important and powerful weapon for getting as many as possible clients that will use your product/services. Thank you for sharing this great article, keep up the good work!
Best wishes,
Cristian
Cristian@Jocuri online´s last [type] ..Jocuri Cu Camioane
Hello Cristian and if you download the ebook once it’s ready you’ll get a few more examples of useful emails to put into your autoresponder
Now I have to go and check to see why step 10 didn’t publish properly. Note to self – make the next series shorter…
Twitter: icebluebanana
says:
Nice one Michael. I especially like the example you gave & your emphasis of only promoting worthy products. Off to read the 10th part.
Have a good day!
mark´s last [type] ..7 Steps to Find Profitable Niche Topics And Generate Passive Income
Hold off on that for a day Mark. I am getting # 10 online tonight
Nothing beats promoting quality. Quantity is only so good and soon runs out if all that your selling is junk and you run out of traffic. With quality, people will not only like what they buy on your recommendation, they are just as likely to tell their friends.
Twitter: qualitylogo
says:
Great series, Michael! It’s concise and easy to understand and I love that you’ve interlinked everything to keep the steps together. By the way, I think it’s a wonderful idea to do an e-book. I’d definitely be down with that.
I hope you have an amazing day!
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Hi Jill, it was in the spam queue like your said. I usually scan that daily as a few good comments have ended up there. Welcome to my blog
. My plan is to have the e-book out later this month.
Hey Michael,
Aweber, out of all the auto responders I believe they are the big boys on the block.
They have been around for a long time and have a good reputation for getting the emails through so you are not classified a spammer. All the email clients know who they are.
Terry Conti
Terry Conti´s last [type] ..Don’t Lose Precious Free Traffic!
They do a good job of managing my lists. I have had a bad experience with them when a client of mine brought across a list from another service. After several attempts to import the list Aweber up and canceled my clients account with no warning. They are ruthless about their integrity and apparently, as it was revealed a little while after that, Aweber thought that the list presented a high risk to their deliverability standards. This might sound like a tough story but it really does show that Aweber is serious about email delivery. I didn’t really agree with their reasoning at the time but rules are rules and theirs are the toughest I’ve come across in the business and I figured that they’re there to maintain high standards.
Twitter: rfcamat
says:
I am getting serious with affiliate marketing and I want to buy Aweber for my pre-selling strategy. I want to promote Clickbank products to earn commissions..
Hi Raymund, if you don’t mind sharing, what method are you using to attract leads to your pre-selling strategy? Clickbank products have worked okay for me in the past but now that I am using this 10 step method the success rate is sure to improve. I used a hit and miss approach before but this targeted process that has structure and purpose is more likely to get better results.
Hi Michael,
This will be a best seller mate… you sure have put a lot of work into this series.
Can you tell us what’s the magic number of emails per month or week
Hi Liam, I’m still working on that as it varies depending on the product and target market. It will be in the full edition e-book. Sorry about the delay, your comment went to spam.
All the tips are really effective and I will surely give them a try , Thanks for sharing
Haley´s last [type] ..Ways to reduce stress
Hi Michael. Thanks a lot for sharing these 10 steps. But to be honest, without any means to offense you my friend, I personally, don’t really like this step. I mean, of course, it’s really efficient to use the autoresponder. But I don’t think many people will like it. If it’s only like “thanks for contacting us” or something like that, that would be fine. But for else than that…I don’t think so. Just my opinion by the way.
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Hey Michael,
I read somewhere that while list building is very effective overall, it is not a good idea to go for it in all niches. More specifically, if your traffic is for problems that need to be solved very quickly, people just want to buy the products, not go through a longer relationship building process. I’m thinking it’s also true for the buyer keywords traffic, while for the broader terms traffic list building could work better.
What do you think?
Alison
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Hi Michael,
It is a very nice and informative post. Thanks for sharing 10 steps to internet business success.This post is helpful especially for those who are new in this field.
waterpearls´s last [type] ..Direct Gardening Coupon Codes
Hi Michael. Thanks a lot for sharing these 10 steps. This post was really helpful. Thankx