I recently asked a group of marketers this question: “When you send an email to your list, what’s your #1 goal?” The answers I received were revealing.

Some of the answers I got were…

– To get readers to open it
– To get readers to READ it
– To give some useful info
– To build rapport
– To sell a product

Those are all good answers…

But they’re also all WRONG answers.

Of course you want them to open the email, read the email, build some rapport, maybe give some useful info, but none of these are your primary objective.

So what is?

To get the CLICK.

That’s it.

Everything else is simply in support of that #1 goal, getting them to click the link you send to them.

Ideally, you want to train your list to click your links like (pardon me here) mind-numb robots.

You want them to click automatically – without thinking – because it’s what they always do when they open your emails.

You don’t need to sell the product – the sales page or video you send them to should do that for you.

You don’t need to tell them everything about the blog post you’re sending them to – the post will do that for you.

Your job is simply to get the click.

So how can you improve your click-through rate?

1. Give great information. People will like you and TRUST you if you give them great info that helps them. Clicking the link is just a natural extension of that.

2. Show them the ‘what’ but not the ‘how.’ You might give them a really useful tip on what drives super targeted traffic, but to learn how to do it they need to click the link. And yes, that link goes to a product you want them to buy. You haven’t sold the product in the email, but you have sold them on the method. The product is simply an easy shortcut to using that method to get the result.

3. Don’t always send them to sales letters; send them to fun stuff, too. Show them your blog posts, your videos and even other people’s stuff now and then. Did you see a video on YouTube that taught you something really valuable or made you laugh out loud? Try sharing it with your list. Remember, you want to get them in the habit of automatically clicking your links. And giving them rewards when they do, like useful information or a good laugh, will teach them to do just that.

4. Now and then surprise them with a free product. Your email tells them a method to list build using Facebook. Then you send them to a link that will give them 5 more list building methods. And when they click the link, they see a very short sales page offering the product for FREE. How much do you think they love you right now? And what are the odds they will click more of your links in the future, just in case there’s another free product on the other side?

Of course, your list and your niche may call for slightly different methods. But bottom line, your primary, number one goal of email marketing is ALWAYS to get the click.

Because the more trained your list is to click, the more money you will make in the long run.

This one is so simple, yet diabolically effective… When you first introduce a new product to your list or your blog readers, do you simply pop a link on there with a line of text and hope they click? Of course not. You introduce the product. You tell them what’s good about it, how you use it, why it can change their business or help them achieve their goal, etc.

In other words, you’re introducing the product and warming up your readers BEFORE you send them to the sales page.

Now here’s the mistake I see marketers making all the time…

… when they first introduce the product, they take the time to do everything we just said.

And they make sales.

Then later they decide to promote the product again, only this time they forget a crucial step.

They slap that affiliate link or product link up on social media and figure people will click it and buy the product.

But they don’t click.

Why not? Because there’s no introduction to entice them to click and learn more.

So here’s what you do…

Take the copy you wrote in that email or post that introduces the product, and give it a page of its own on your site. Add your affiliate link or sales link to the bottom.

Now when you advertise the product on social media and other venues, send visitors to your intro page first.

I’ve seen this simple technique increase conversions 4 fold. Use it!

You’re familiar with how lead magnets usually work – you offer visitors a report or some other incentive for joining your list. Depending on your traffic source and the strength of your offer, your opt-in rate could be anything from almost non-existent to 30% or more.

Here’s the problem – EVERYONE and their uncle is offering some type of incentive to get people to join their lists. And because of this, visitors have become more and more cautious about giving away their email address.

So what can you do to increase and possibly even DOUBLE your opt-in rate?

Change things up a bit, like this:

Step 1: Create a dynamite lead magnet with great information on how to do something. For example, maybe it’s a case study: “How Janis Smythe made $4,294 in 12 days using XXX technique.”

If you’re just starting out and you need a case study to use, start Googling. Don’t forget to let the person know you’re doing a case study on them, because in this case you really should get permission first.

Or omit the names and fictionalize the personal details. That works, too.

Step 2: Write an excellent sales page. Yes, you’re giving the report away, but you still need to entice people into wanting it.

Step 3: At the bottom of the page, and perhaps to the right as well, put a download button. That’s right – no opt-in form at this point, just a ‘download it now’ button.

Step 4: Split your report into two sections. The first section is the introduction and overview. What they’ll need to do, how much money they can make and the success they can have, and so forth.

Don’t make direct promises, of course. Follow legal guidelines.

The second half of the report is the payoff, the actual technique and how to do it step-by-step.

On the bottom of the first section, tell the readers that the step-by-step blueprint is in Part 2.

Sneaky, right?

It gets better:

Place TWO links on the last page of the first section – one where they pay $17 to buy the second half of the report…

And a second link where they get the report for FREE in exchange for their email address.

Both links go to the same web page.

Step 5: Create the web page for the second half of the report. Give them the option to pay $17 and the option to get it in exchange for their email address.

You should get extremely high opt-ins using this method. Having the payment button there makes it look like they are getting an extremely good deal by giving you their email address.

And oddly enough, once in a while someone will actually pay for the second half of the report.

There you have it… a proven way to supercharge your opt-ins and grow your business online! Now take this knowledge and put it to use!

You might think the best way to make sales in the online marketing field is to promise a lot of money for very little effort. After all, we see these products that promise you’ll rake in the dough simply by tapping your toes three times and whispering you want to get rich.

Those kind of pie-in-the-sky promises may make for great fairy tales, but frankly your average Joe isn’t buying it.

You know what people say (and believe)… “If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is.”

The fact is, there are folks who make hundreds of thousands of dollars online each year.

Some do it each month.

A few do it each DAY.

So just because it sounds too good to be true doesn’t make it so. But it will scare away a lot of buyers, because they don’t believe THEY can make a ton of money from home.

And those programs that promise the moon for a few clicks? Their refund rates tend to be in the 50% range. Ouch. Plus you’ve got to wonder how well they sleep at night.

So what’s the counterintuitive approach to increasing your conversions in the make money online / internet marketing field?

It’s simple, really.

Tell them they’re going to have to WORK.

Tell them they’re going to have to put in an EFFORT.

And the results they get will depend on what they actually DO.

Obviously any business is going to take work. But if you don’t TELL them it will take work, they will likely mistake you for a scam.

So be honest and open about how much effort it will take. Doing so, you’ll find your products not only sell well, they will also continue to sell for a long time to come.

This won’t make you rich, but it can pay the bills. Basically, you’re going to hire two outsourcers and then sell the websites they build for you. This has been done by at least one marketer that I know personally, and I’m sure many others have found similar success with this business model. Here are the details…

Hire two outsourcers, possibly from the Philippines or anywhere you can get excellent full time help for about $500 each per month.

One outsourcer should be versed in all phases of website building and PhotoShop. Things they will need to do: Install WordPress sites, install plugins, install autoresponder forms, use Photoshop to create website graphics as needed, etc.

The second outsourcer is a good writer, preferably a VERY good writer, able to research and write about most any topic.

This is your team.

One thing to know – work expands to fill the time allotted. So if you give your team two weeks to build a site, that’s how long it will take. Instead, see if they can do it in 2 days.

For what you want done, it should only take 2 days. In fact, for the website builder it should only take one day, and two days for the writing.

Now then, the first site your team is going to build will be for you. It should be an authority blog, containing several posts and an embedded YouTube video or two.

You choose the domain name, let them know what you’re looking for, then let them sort out everything else.

This is going to be your example website. Of course, you can continue to build this site out over time, making it a true authority site. And you can use the outsourcers to do this for you. But first and foremost, you want to treat it as your example website.

Now you launch an offer to build authority websites for other people in the niches of their choosing. You can start by notifying your list of your new service, place in the top marketing forums and branch out to Facebook after that.

Charge whatever you like – $300 is a good price but it’s up to you.

The website will be a unique authority blog in whatever niche they choose, with perhaps 5 posts already written, all the plugins in place, basic SEO, a domain of its own… you get the idea.

You’re paying your team $1,000 a month, so you need to make 4 sales to be in profit.

But realistically your team can build 10 sites a month, spending 2 days on each site and working 5 days a week.

10 sales at $300 is $3,000, minus the $1,000 you pay your team leaves you with a $2,000 profit.

Of course, you can charge more, offer different packages and so forth. For example, your deluxe package might contain 15 posts and cost $700, depending on how good your team is and how well you do at selling the sites.

If you find your team has downtime between orders, you can have them create a product for you, or build sites which you then sell pre-made.

There is some work in getting the sales and communicating the desires of the client to your workers. But it shouldn’t take you more than an hour a day to accomplish this.

And once your other ventures are making enough money that you don’t want to be bothered with this endeavor anymore, you can always sell it as a turnkey business. Sweet success!

I’m about to show you how you can use a big discount, and a case study offer to start selling big ticket services like crazy. This can work for most big ticket items you’re selling.

Maybe you sell SEO services to brick and mortar businesses. Or perhaps you sell coaching over the phone to people who started with a free 20 minute session with you. This works in print as well, but it works even better when you’re actually talking to the person.

Let’s say you sell list building systems to local businesses. You’ve sat down with them, explained exactly what you can do for them and they’re excited. “How much do you charge?” they want to know.

Let’s say you charge $1,000 a month for the service. Tell them you normally charge $2,000, and explain why your service is a tremendous deal at that price. Then tell them that if they will allow you to use them as a case study, you will knock that price in half.

Here’s the beauty of this system:

First, you’ve already primed them for a higher price, so when you offer the lower price, they’re actually relieved and much more likely to say yes.

Second, in the back of their mind they’re thinking, “If s/he is using my business as a case study, that means s/he’s going to work extra hard to get good results.” Which makes perfect sense, because you wouldn’t want a case study that failed.

Third, you can use these case studies to bring in new clients. For example, let’s say you performed a service for a plumber. Now you can contact plumbers in other cities and show them the exact results you achieved in that first plumbing business. When they see these specific results, they are much more likely to sign on.

The same goes for any other service you provide to local businesses, professionals, coaching clients, etc. Show them your ‘regular’ price, then offer the option of getting a reduced price in exchange for allowing you to use them as a case study.

One caveat: In the case of personal coaching (versus business coaching) you might want to change their name in your case study to protect your client’s privacy.

Short and sweet: Are you going wide instead of deep? For example, if you’re in online marketing, are you trying to reach every new marketer out there? This is a huge mistake.

If your niche is gardening, are you trying to reach every vegetable gardener on the planet?

And if your niche is dating, are you targeting every single male – period?

Then you’re going too wide. By appealing to everyone, you appeal to no one.

I once coached a woman who wanted to start a newsletter for parents.

All parents.

Of every age of child, 0-18, who lived anywhere on the planet.

I spent half the coaching session trying to talk her out of this strategy, or rather, lack of strategy.

She could not be dissuaded.

And I never heard from her or her newsletter again. My guess is she’s still stuck working the 9-5 job she was trying so hard to leave.

What should she have done?

Targeted brand new first time parents, or parents of 0-2 year old children, or middle class working parents of annoying teenagers, or adoptive parents, or frustrated foster parents, or…

…you get the idea.

Broad niches will keep you broke and frustrated.

Narrow niches can make you rich.

It’s that simple.

In life and in business, we tend to hate two things mainly: criticism and hassle. And why wouldn’t we? We all want a drama-free life without people telling us what we are doing wrong – that’s human nature. Complaints and additional work can be a bit demoralizing.

However, in business (especially online as vendors of a product or service), whether it is justified or not – we are always at some stage going to have to deal with complaints. And as much as that is something no one wants to face – we must learn that no matter how good we are, everyone has their own level of quality and a different perception of what they want to experience. Plus, things don’t always go smoothly – our connection can be slow, a tool may not work or something may not go to plan. It is alright in these moments for customers to get frustrated. That’s ok.

The only thing you must realize and prepare for is:

1. Complaints will happen and sometimes it’s not your fault.

2. Learn how to deal with complaints in an effective way that serves and protects both you and the customer.

If you don’t accept the above facts – you’re going to get an unhappy customer, leading to bad reviews and counter-productive word of mouth. So, understand that when complaints happen it is not so much about the complaint itself – it is how you deal with it that will be how you are measured by them. That is, not what went wrong but how you treated them afterwards.

Don’t think if you get a complaint online that the world is over and that you are bad at what you do and certainly don’t take it personally. The best thing you can do next in this situation is focus. Focus on what you can do to now rectify the situation. Unhappy customers become happy ones when they have an experience of something going wrong and note that it is dealt with swiftly, professionally and most of all – with care and politeness.

Often we can get so caught up by the insult of a complaint, we can fuel even more complaints with our harsh and defensive reactions. Or we may even not bother to fix it in the way we should because it seems like a pain.

Here’s my recommendation:

Respond to complaints calmly, confidently and completely.

Every complaint is an opportunity to turn around a dissatisfied customer – respond quickly and positively. Remember your brand is easily damaged, and the last thing you want is for people to be actively spreading bad stories about your business. A complaint that is dealt with well can often result in a loyal customer, one that has the experience of how sweet you were when they were quite cross. In doing this (as opposed to getting annoyed with them) gives them refreshed trust in your brand and the confidence to buy again. Why? Because they now know if things do go wrong they will be sorted out quickly.

And that is worth much more to your business, your reputation and bottom line than trying to be perfect. Customer complaints, and your positive and helpful response to them can actually become a strength builder for your business and brand.

Here’s how to make your content timely, highly relevant and super hot, every single time.

Let’s face it – online marketing is and always will be about selling stuff to people. Simple.

The techniques might change (somewhat) and the methods we use become more refined, but it’s still all about selling products and services people need or want.

Keeping that in mind, it’s very simple to write a series of reports on all of the basics.

For example:

“How to start a Facebook Fan Page and get 1,000 fans interacting with your product.”

“How to build a profitable list of 10,000 people in 3 months.”

“How to create products, how to drive traffic, how to use social media, etc.”

You get the idea.

Now then, here’s the trick to making your content super timely and hot:

Watch the news.

See what the latest brew-ha-ha in marketing is.

For example, did Google make yet another change that threw website owners for a loop?

Then your ‘how to drive traffic’ report can be repurposed into: “How to Drive as Much Traffic as you Want without Google”

Did Facebook make major changes to their advertising policy? Repurpose your Facebook Fan Page report into, “How to Get All the Facebook Leads You Want WITHOUT Buying Facebook Ads”

Or for your, “How to make a product” report, you could take the latest marketing trend and write something like this: “5 Products [New Trend] Users are Screaming for That You Can Make in 2 Days.”

In each case, you’ll just go into your word processor file, update your document with the new title, add or change the bits specific to the current news or trend, and you’ve got a hot selling new product to offer.

Put it on ClickBank, JVZoo, etc. Then promote it to your list, or buy enough traffic to get some sales. Your goal is to get noticed by the affiliates, and from there it’s Profit City for you and your evergreen content.

The beauty of this system isn’t just that you can repurpose your best content over and over again. When news of a marketing change or new trend hits, you can get your highly relevant product to market almost overnight, filling a market gap practically the moment it’s created.

Plus, isn’t it wonderful to continue getting paid for content you wrote once, and only need to modify to make it highly relevant again?

One more tip: If you don’t like to write, you can always search for PLR. Then update and tweak it to make it relevant to what’s happening now.

Sometimes one of the most exciting things in life is buying something that has meaning and value to you. You hear about something on television that sparks your interest, or you see an ad on the Internet that puts you into that mode where you just have to buy it. But then you buy it and that’s it – nothing more to it. You simply have the product now…

That’s the way many customers feel when they buy something. That’s also the original way we were taught to sell. A majority of sellers do not make it fun or exciting to buy. They just pitch a product to get a sale, give it to the customer, and hope they buy again. Well this is where we need to step outside the box and let our creative juices flow.

How about start a contest? What will this contest be? What will the prize be? Most of the time, you hear about sales contests, but what about doing it with your customers? Everything is up to you, the seller. Since you are reading this article, I will give you some tips and ideas on how to start a contest.

One contest can be to give a gift to the 100th buyer. This has actually been something in practice for years. One of the best things about this contest is you don’t have to let your customers know in advance. As you may have seen on television, when someone is the 100th customer, balloons, confetti, streamers, and such start falling from the ceiling all of a sudden. Then an announcement is made over the loudspeaker that they are the 100th customer!

Surprise contests will leave people smiling for a long time. They began with the brick and mortar stores. As you are using the Internet mostly for your business, you will more than likely have an email list of buyers. When one of those customers is your 100th buyer, you can reward them as well by making an email blast about it.

Keep in mind too; you should never entice your customers to buy from you in an unethical or illegal way. Be careful of what type of contest you run. There are some dos and don’ts for this. For instance, you do not want to shame another company. You also do not want to bash anyone or say anything hateful. This is for your email list, website, and article directory, whatever you use.

If you are using social media, make sure to check out the platform’s terms of service. Please be sure you understand what you are allowed and not allowed to do. If you violate their terms, they can and most likely will deactivate your account and put an end to your strategy.

Do however, offer special bonuses. When someone buys from you and they win your contest, you can give them a bonus, and also offer unadvertised bonuses. People like the unexpected if it is something that will benefit them in any way.

People get excited about the bonuses especially when it is something they can use. Make sure the bonuses are useful and related to your niche. They should add to the use of a product either by giving the product more uses or make it an extension of what they bought.

These are some ways in which people think it is fun to buy something. Whatever you decide to do in order to make buying from you fun; remember to keep certain rules in mind. You can surprise them or make an announcement. As long as it adds value and people enjoy the product, then you will win over your customer’s hearts.