Tue 13 Sep 2005
Are You Down with the Clowns?
Posted by Donna Knight under Guest Articles , Internet Marketing , Internet marketingNo Comments
Intro by Donna Knight This is an article from controversial internet marketer Jo Han Mok. His copywriting style is a lot like Gary Halbert’s. It’s raw, tough-talking and sometimes funny. If you’ve been in internet marketing circles long enough, you’ll recognize the clowns he’s talking about. Don’t let his somewhat offensive manner of speaking keep you from taking his main message to heart though. He’s right. The most successful people online (and off) really do exhibit the behavior he mentions. The clowns may seem successful for a little while then they suddenly disappear, never to be heard from again. For more information, read on:
From the desk of Jo Han Mok 9/13/2005 MEMO: Sales Avalanche
Hi Donna,
I think you’ll find today’s email rather interesting.
You see…
I often get lots of subscribers asking me how it is possible for me to consistently get such startling reponse rates.
This is usually the case after they have done some JV with a supposed big name marketer claiming to have a billion people on his opt in list, and the clown pulls in only 3 sales.
SO the big question is, how do you not fall into the trap of becoming a ‘clown’ like our friend above?
Here are a few pointers.
Power Pointer #1: It’s NOT the size
Despite what women say, size has nothing to do with it. I don’t care how many people you have on your list. I rather have a list of a 1000 people who have spent at least $97 than a list of 3 billion people who have not spent a dime with me.
Power Pointer #2: Give MORE value
Majority of Internet Marketers fall into this category. Every email is a pitch. Buy this, then buy that. Let me promote anything under the sun. Doesn’t matter if it’s garbage, as long as I get my commissions. It’s easy to tell when a marketer is desperate. Usually you’ll get a flurry of emails that will telegraph something like “Hey you know I sent you an email yesterday to buy widget X. Guess what? Here’s widget Y and it’s better than Widget X”
It’s everything or anything. Some thrashy fire sale, some crap software, the newest niche formula, blah blah.
Leave this to the amateurs. Probably aside from sending emails to their list, they have no other means of making dough online.
Don’t, for the love of mother mary fall into this trap.
I’ve been there and done that when I started out. The money is crap.
If you wanna squeeze MAXIMUM profits from your list, you gotta give. Give more, and learn to ‘hold out’ from all that pitching.
If you’re skeptical try it. Give nothing but your very best content for 4 weeks straight and throw in a pitch on the 5th, see what happens.
Most probbaly, people will already be BEGGING you to sell them something in the 3rd week.
Power Pointer #3: Focus
If you want to make the most number of sales you possibly can, do it the PRO way and focus.
Concentrate on ONE product, and have a CONGRUENT message.
Marketing bozos on the other hand will have a ‘buffet spread’ of 72 hour specials alongside with an exlusive ‘buy my ebook and you get my mother as well’ type of offer.
When people are confused, they DOn’T buy.
If you get a poor response intially, try to ‘tweak’ your offer and your marketing mechanisms and see what happens.
Very often, it could be due to one or more variables that you can ‘fix’. For instance, it could be the ‘look’ of the piece, the ‘qualifiers’ in the copy, the price point yada yada. It could be anything, but unless you test and monitor your results, you wouldn’t know.
And last but not least, don’t imitate.
DARE to be different.
If you have your own unique spin on things, do it.
Screw those who don’t like you, and go with your heart.
You can stand your ground and you don’t need anyone else’s permission.
I’ll give you an example.
Most ‘bozo’ marketers online are followers.
They see a ‘fire sale’, they come up with a ‘fire sale’.
They see a ’source code blowout’, they come up with a ‘blowout’.
They see a ‘Private lable package’, they come up with a ‘Private Label Package’.
They see a ‘Content Publishing system’, they come up with a ‘Content Publishing System’.
Yet if you look at them and ask yourself what they ‘REALLY’ do, there’s only one answer. They’re anything and everything that makes money.
That’s cool, but where’s your business longevity?
Where’s your ‘identity’?
Where’s your ‘brand’?
How are people EVER gonna relate to you?
I hope all this is making sense to you.
It’s a long email laced with sarcasm and some dark humor but I’ve been keeping this stuff to myself for far too long.
Time for you to know, and if you dig what I had to say, do every marketer on this planet a favor and forward it to any other marketers you know.
The ‘little guy’ CAN succeed!
Jo Han Mok Midas Touch Marketing
P.s. Don’t take my word for it though. Just look through the emails you get in your inbox and see if what I said is true.
P.P.S. You have full permission to reprint this article as long as you credit it to me ok? : - )
