The Six-Figure Second Income: How To Start and Grow A Successful Online Business Without Quitting Your Day Job

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 You CAN Get Rich—But Yes, There Is a Catch 1

10 Giant Keep Out! Signs on the Road to Your Online Business Success—The False Barriers 2

‘‘I’m Too Old/I’m Too Young’’ 2

‘‘I Don’t Have Enough Money’’ 2

‘‘I Don’t Have Enough Time’’ 3

‘‘It’s a Bad Economy’’ 4

‘‘All the Really Good Ideas Are Taken’’ 5

‘‘I’m Too Small to Compete Against the Big Guys’’ 5

‘‘I’m No Good with Computers’’ 6

‘‘There’s Too Much Competition’’ 6

‘‘I’m Not Educated Enough’’ 8

‘‘Someone Will Steal My Idea’’ 8

Now For the Six Disabling and Very Real Dangers to Your Online Business Success 10

Real Danger Number One: You Are Easily Influenced by People Less Successful than You Want to Be 10

Real Danger Number Two: You Think You Can Sit on the Couch and Money Will Spew out of the TV 12

Related Real Danger Number Three: You Think that the Only Good Money Is Hard-Earned Money 13

Real Danger Number Four: You Insist upon Staying in Your Comfort Zone at All Times 14

Real Danger Number Five: You Think ‘‘My Situation Is Different’’ 15

Real Danger Number Six: You’re More of an Idea Pack Rat than a Beaver 18

Chapter 2 How to Build a Quick and Profitable Product 21

The Typical Dream Is Useless 23

‘‘I Must Have a Fortress to Protect My Idea from Knockoff Artists’’ 24

‘‘I Must Reach Millions of People’’ 25

‘‘I Want to Be Famous’’ 25

‘‘I Want to Be as Rich as King Midas from the First Invention of Mine’’ 25

‘‘I Need to Invent Something Revolutionary’’ 25

‘‘Inventions Are Things that Are Manufactured in Factories’’ 26

Your First Product Should Be One of These 26

What Problem Have You Solved? 28

What Can You Demonstrate? 29

What Have You Researched on the Web and Discovered? 30

What Are the Best Resources You’ve Found? 34

How Do Things Fit Together? 36

Explore Other Variations on A Proven Theme 38

What Have You Tested? 40

Appeal to Rabid Hobbyists 41

Is This Great, or What? 43

Another School of Thought 44

Avoid This Pitfall 45

Get My Chart 47

Chapter 3 How to Create Content Cheaply and Easily 49

Stage 1: Capture the Raw Content 49

Method One: Sit Down and Write 50

Method Two: Have a Conversation 54

Method Three: Interview People 56

Method Four: Record a Presentation 57

Method Five: Capture Screenshots 57

Method Six: Do a Video Capture of a

Web Session 58

Stage 2: Edit the Content 60

Backup Your Work! 61

Stage 3: Deliver the Content 63

1. Special Report 66

2. Getting-Started Kit 68

3. Home-Study Course 68

4. Sample Newsletter 69

5. Book 69

6. Interview Series Transcript 69

7. Fast-Start Guide 70

8. Pocket Guide 71

9. Checklist 71

10. T-shirt 72

11. and 12. Poster and Laminated Poster 73

13. Calendar 74

14. Game 74

15. Mug 75

16. Information Wheel 75

17. CD 76

18. DVD 77

19. Interview Series on MP3 77

20. Free Video 78

21. Live Event Videos 78

22. Toll-Free 24/7 Recorded Line 80

23. Consulting Hotline 82

24. Teleseminar/Webinar 82

25. Trial Software 86

26. iPhone Application 86

27. Software 87

28. Online Calculator 87

29. Interview Series PDFs 88

30. Free PDF 88

31. Free Audio 89

32. Consultation 89

33. Lunch or Dinner Seminar 89

34. One-Day Seminar 90

35. Consultation (Paid Version) 90

36. Boot Camp 91

37. Live Tour 91

38. Cruise 92

The Excellent Concept of Continuity 92

39. Newsletter 93

40. Membership Site 94

41. Weekly Faxes 94

42. Coaching 94

The Opportunity Engineer 96

Chapter 4 Getting Open for Business 97

The Seven Basic Building Blocks to a Good Web Site 97

Building Block One: You Need to Own a Good Domain Name 97

Building Block Two: You Need to Arrange for Web Site Hosting 108

Building Block Three: Get a Web Site Design 113

Building Block Four: Get an HTML Editor 117

Building Block Five: Get an FTP Tool 118

Building Block Six: Learn How to Accept Money on the Web 119

Building Block Seven: Set Up an Effective E-Mail System 128

Getting Work Done for You 134

Chapter 5  How to Get People to Raise Their Hands 141

Myth Number One: ‘‘It’s All about Traffic’’ 141

Myth Number Two: ‘‘It’s All about Targeted Traffic’’ 143

Myth Number Three: ‘‘I’m Waiting for the Game Changer’’ 144

Myth Number Four: ‘‘It’s All about Cost Per Lead’’ 147

Principle One: The True Measure of a Lead-Generation Technique Is Not Cost per Lead but Instead Return on Investment 147

Principle Two: Lead Sources Have a Half-Life Just Like Uranium 148

Principle Three: There Is No One Single ‘‘Best’’ Lead Source for Everyone 148

Principle Four: Don’t Pursue Prospects—Attract Them 149

Principle Five: Give Before You Get 150

The Moving Parts of a Lead-Generation Effort 151

Step One: Deliver Valuable Information to a Highly Targeted Audience 151

Step Two: Direct Them to a Specific Page 151

Step Three: Reinforce that They’re in the Right Place 153

Step Four: Reinforce Their Decision to Visit Your Site by Giving Them Even More Information 154

Step Five: Explain There’s Even More Where that Came From 154

Step Six: When They Submit Their Contact Information, Instantly Have It Go into Your Database and Redirect Them to a Welcome Page 156

Great Sources for Leads 157

Pay-Per-Click Advertising 157

Key Phrase Techniques 163

Google AdSense 165

Organic Search 167

Getting Found Locally in Google 169

Article Marketing 171

Social Media 174

Blogs 174

YouTube 176

Press Releases 177

eBay 179

Inexpensive and Great Offline Strategies for Getting Found 180

Local Newspapers 180

Free-Standing Inserts 181

Commuter Newspapers 182

Local Clubs and Events 182

Direct Mail 182

Chapter 6 How to Turn Prospects into Buyers 185

Mistake Number One: Ineffective Marketers Confuse Attention with Shouting 185

Mistake Number Two: Ineffective Marketers Boost Their Claims out of All Proportion 187

Mistake Number Three: With Ineffective Marketers, It’s All about Them and Not about the Customer 189

Mistake Number Four: Ineffective Marketers Ask You to Buy Too Soon 191

Mistake Number Five: Ineffective Marketers Do Not Include a Call to Action and a Deadline 192

Mistake Number Six: Ineffective Marketers Further Erode Trust by Creating Fake Deadlines 192

Mistake Number Seven: Ineffective Marketers Speak to Audiences, Not to Individuals 193

The Eight Money Questions: Answer These and Your Product Will Sell 195

Money Question One: ‘‘Why Should I Stop and Listen to You?’’ 195

Money Question Two: ‘‘Why Should I Read the Whole Thing?’’ 197

Money Question Three: ‘‘What Else Do You Have and How Will It Help Me?’’ 199

Money Question Four: ‘‘Why Is Your Solution Better than Any Other?’’ 201

Money Question Five: ‘‘Why Should I Believe Your Claims?’’ 201

Money Question Six: ‘‘What’s It Going to Cost Me?’’ 205

Money Question Seven: ‘‘What’s My Risk?’’ 209

Money Question Eight: ‘‘What Happens After You Have My Money?’’ 212

Chapter 7 Relationships Equal Revenues 215

Autoresponders versus Broadcast E-Mails 217

Four Tips for Building Profitable Relationships Through E-Mail 218

Tip One: Segment for Success 218

Tip Two: Encourage Consumption 219

Tip Three: Become a Welcome Guest in Their Inbox 220

Tip Four: Make It Two-Way Communication 222

Other Ways to Stay Close to Your Customers 223

Chapter 8 The Secrets to an Upward Profit Spiral 225

Step One: Install Measuring Devices 226

Step Two: Determine Why Nonbuyers Don’t Buy, and Adjust Your Site Accordingly 227

Step Three: Test Everything 229

Chapter 9 The ‘‘I’’ Factor 231

Index 233