Throw it Away ----Right in the Dumpster...
We're quickly closing in on the end of the year, and for Audrey and I,
we start a cycle of behavior called "Purge and Evaluate".
Despite it's dietary connotations, this operation is a very important
base of behavior on which we use to fulfill next years goals.
So, I rented a 30 Yard dumpster.
I mean it! We actually walk around our house and get rid of JUNK that we
know we just won't need or don't use anymore. Keep in mind, we also
stock some armor, so there's lot's of shipping containers and other
assorted effluvia that needs to be pitched.
I don't know about you, but I just LOVE the feeling of having a clean
house. You know, when your carpet is vacuumed and the counters are
clear... It makes me feel at ease.
But the real intellectual stuff happens when we sit down with our
notebooks, pour some eggnog, grate some cinnamon and hit the remote
control "On" button for the gas fireplace. Then we talk about what we'd
like our company to become next year.
It's fun - because we are not allowed to censor each other's business
plans for the upcoming year, no matter how silly they become. It's a
time for brainstorming and dreaming. There's a lot of "Wouldn't it be
great if we tried...?" and some "We need to stop doing this...".
Most of all, it's a time for us to dig out last years "Purge and
Evaluate" document and see how we did.
And the results are always fascinating. Here's a bit of them:
1) As our search engine positions increase in rank, we make more money.
2) We find ourselves earning a substantial amount of income from
visitors to our site that use keywords that are not very popular. I.e.
we have customers come to the Armory looking for a "Pirate Cutlass" and
end up buying a Muscled Breastplate.
3) Our little mini-sites, the ones that have nothing but content and
links to our stores, have not only done very well in the search engines,
but the traffic that comes from these sites buys 2 times more often than
the traffic from the search engines.
4) Our affiliate income is way up from 2002. We're finding that it IS
cost effective to create small 30-50 page mini-sites that refer traffic
to affiliate partners.
5) We've signed up with Biz Rate and Deal Time, and in one month have
received 6 orders just for A Squared Armory.
6) Google Ad Words and Overture continue to be a source of income, but
their real strength has been getting a customer onto our newsletter list
so we can market over and over to them.
7) Advertising in very targeted e-zines has earned a profit for our
company 5 out of 7 times.
8) We tried a targeted banner ad campaign on a very relevant, high
traffic web site. We just missed breaking even, and we had a very
attractive discount for first time customers.
9) I've very much enjoyed creating new products (DVD Training, etc) for
niche markets. They have even made a profit...
And a quite a few more pages of other operational related information.
The bottom line? This is what we know we have to do on the Internet
to survive and prosper in 2004.
1) The search engines are always in a state of flux. Google is changing;
MSN is going to build a search tool into their next operating system,
and Yahoo! will eventually switch over to Inktomi. Our goal will be to
evaluate our search engine positions once a month, and optimize as
necessary. We'll continue to stay on top of the latest search engine
news.
2) Our Mini-Sites (the ones that point back to our stores) have been a
surprisingly excellent source of income. We will continue to create them
for keywords and products that we have difficulty ranking well for in
the search engines.
3) We'll be using more and more obscure but relevant keywords in both
our store's content and our affiliate and mini-site content. We want
traffic from folks that use those obscure keywords in their searches
because they convert to buyers very well.
4) It takes about 2 and a half months for our affiliate sites to rank
and start generating income, so we've created an HTML template so all we
have to do is fill in the content, organize the keywords, and publish
the site. They key to our affiliate site income is the number of sites
we have.
5) We will continue to investigate other shopping portals like "Deal
Time" and "Biz Rate".
6) Develop new products in niche markets so that I can assemble an
affiliate sales force to sell them on autopilot, and approach players in
that niche for Joint Venture Opportunities.
But most of all...
We MUST continue to diversify our business. We'd like to add one
additional stream of revenue every 2 to 3 months.
Let me tell you why this is possible for us.
We have adhered to a system of business construction and expansion that
"Purges" the useless steps of our business development.
We do the same things over and over again because they work for us.
Here's an abbreviated list:
1) We must know that there is a good demand for our product and that
the market for it is not oversaturated.
2) We must provide relevant, useful information on every site we build.
3) We must know how to optimize our sites for the Free Search Engines.
4) We must seek link partners to enhance the traffic and rankings of our
sites.
5) We must use the Pay Per Clicks and bid on the hidden values and
off-the-beaten-path search terms.
6) We must have a mechanism to capture a visitor and place them on our
newsletter list (this is SO important).
7) We must follow up with our visitors on that list (I must use the
spell checker when I do so...).
8) On products that are applicable, we must find good Joint Venture
Partners and excellent affiliates.
These same 8 steps have worked for us (almost like clockwork) since we
found out what they were. They are our "The 8 Steps of our Highly
Successful Business Plan".
Now, I realize that each one of those steps requires an education in
itself, but once you've mastered them, they become as routine as
anything else that you do with frequency.
That's the plan for 2004. It's nearly identical to 2003's.
Last week, I told you how I used to "Choke in the Clutch" because my
mind would get overloaded with options and possibilities.
That doesn't happen anymore. It's kinda funny actually... One of my good
friends Don wrote me after he got that newsletter and said "Andy, I have
only known you to be as tenacious as a bull-dog!"
I laughed out loud!
I also talked about Yanik Silver and Jim Edwards Excellent book "33 days
to Online Profits -2004".
This is the book that helped Audrey and I put our 8 critical steps into
place. It showed where to go to get the service we required, how to
write good sales copy...
But most importantly, it gave us an Action Blueprint to follow. Right in
front of us, we have 33 days worth of "Do this, then go here and do
that."
If I were trapped on an Internet Entrepreneurs Desert Island (some call
it AOL), and I could only bring a few Internet marketing books with me,
this would be one of them.
We like this book SO much that we bought the rights to it. People ask me
why I did that, and this is what I tell them:
-- "I think everybody needs 33 Days to Online Profits in their Internet
marketing arsenal. As a matter of fact, it's one of the first books that
I would recommend getting if you're just starting out online.
The trouble is, when folks are in start-up mode, they have limited
funds, and if you purchase "33 Days" from the authors, you have to pay
full price. But, if I pay for the license, I can charge LESS than the
authors do, and pass that savings along to you." --
What I'm saying is, you are not going to see the offer that I'm making
advertised on the Net. It's only for the Subscribers of the YSP
newsletter. And I will never make it part of my normal product line.
It's only for people who are looking for a working, Actionable Blueprint
for their Internet Home Based Business.
I'm off to clear out the Garage. I hope that dumpster's big enough...
Take Care!
