MarkTse.com Internet Marketing Blog

“You can control what you say, how you say it, who you say it to. Those are just a few of the variables you control as a marketer.” - Marlon Sanders

How to use the “magic question” to turn cannots into cans, boost those click through rates, ramp up in spite of any economic woes and find your inner power

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Featured Article by Marlon Sanders

My mom used to have a saying when she was feelin’ a little blue.

She’d say, “I’m just gonna go eat weeds!”

I’m from a state in the U.S. called Oklahoma. And my mom was a farm girl. That’s an old saying steeped in farmer tradition. But I think it has something to do with going out to pasture where the cows are.

Here are some things that may make you feel like eatin’ weeds”

Here are some examples:

* Well, click through rates are down. It’s just too bad.

* I wish I could do a jv with that person. But I sent them an email and they didn’t return it. Darn it.

* I tried runnin’ some ads. But hardly anyone responded. So I’m just gonna go out and eat weeds.

* I wrote a sales letter but it’s not converting well enough.

* I’m sending out emails but no one is responding.

* I’m making blog posts but Google isn’t sending me any love.

If you feel like eatin’ weeds, then I have an insight that will help you.

In life, business and marketing, it’s easy to get bogged down by what happens TO you instead of making what you want HAPPEN.

I’m going to share a magic question that literally changes everything.

“What CAN I do to GET the response I want?”

You’ll notice the word CAN is capitalized. There are many things you do NOT control. So there’s no power in focusing on those things.

What DO you control?

That’s step one. What things CAN you control or change? These are your LEVERS for change.

You can control what you say, how you say it, who you say it to. Those are just a few of the variables you control as a marketer.

Then the second thing is to focus on what you CAN do to GET the response you want.

People aren’t reading your emails? OK. What CAN you say or do to GET them to read your emails?

The difference is active vs. passive.

When you’re passive, things happen TO you. When you’re active, you focus on what actions you can TAKE to make what you want happen.

You’re the one doing the acting vs. being the one acted upon by forces you can’t control.

People aren’t joining your email list? What CAN you control? What are your levers?

You control who you get to your Squeeze page. You control the message on the page when they get there. You control the graphics.

The main thing is the message. What message WOULD get attention and compel people to join your list?

That question is the starting point of taking control.

Anthony Robbins has a great CD called “The Power of Questions” or something along those lines. It’s simply about solving problems by asking better questions.

The questions you ask yourself determine your focus.

There’s no question that in the U.S. things are in a downturn. You can sink into a passive “things-are-happening-to-me” mindset and feel you have no control.

Or you can control the things you can:

1. Get more people to your web site or Squeeze page.

You control your marketing. Run some ezine ads. Do pay per click. Buy banner ads. Ramp up promotions to your affiliates.

2. Split test your marketing message

The greatest point of leverage you have in your business is your marketing message.

3. Be more compelling

You’re competing for attention. So turn it up a notch or two.

What DO you control? This next week I want you to think about that. Instead of looking at things you can’t control like the economy, focus on the things you CAN control.

That little shift changes everything.

You can either go out and eat weeds like my momma used to talk about.

Or you can ask yourself the “magic question”: What DO I control and what CAN I do to get the response I want?

Marlon Sanders

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Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy.” If you’d like to get on his mailing list and receive tips, articles and information about online marketing, visit:
==> www.marktse.com/recommend/amazingformula/

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You may reprint this free article on your own website, blog, and ezine by reserving the resource box with clickable active links.

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“Knowing HOW to do something has no value if you don’t practice. You have to put your know how into action. That is how you turn know how into skill.” - Marlon Sanders

Hi Fellow Internet Marketer,

Let’s Imagine yourself enjoying your free time while others run your business for you…

And you rake in More Cash than ever!

“YES, YOU CAN GET MORE TIME!”

How can you “get more time”?

You can BUY OTHER PEOPLE’S TIME!

Think about this for just a moment:

- How did Sam Walton sell everything from paper clips to televisions in Wal-Mart stores all around the world?

- How did Ray Kroc sell burgers and fries in McDonald’s fast food joints around the world?

- How did Bill Gates sell software programs in retail outlets all around the world?

Do these guys (and others like them) have MORE TIME at their disposal than you and I? Aren’t they allotted the same 24 hours in every day as we are?

So what makes them different? The difference is they learned the power of leverage. They learned to BUY OTHER PEOPLE’S TIME.

They used 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week and sometimes overtime from OTHER PEOPLE to build their businesses.

I know you are smart, but do you want to be smarter to use other people’s time for your success?

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* Need a person to do ANYTHING for you?

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==> www.marktse.com/cb.php/nocost/blog/

To Your Success,

Mark Tse

P.S: If you join today, you will automatically receive a LIFETIME copy of the Community Service Provider Index (C.S.P.I.). The C.S.P.I. is an additional resource directory of independent contractors who have listed their services (I.E. Ghostwriting, salesletter, script installations, etc.) and contact details for your consideration in upcoming projects. Click here to get it now:

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“The thing that STOPS a lot of people from becoming a producer and a promoter is FEAR of getting it WRONG! You want it all to be perfect, to be right, to NOT make mistakes.” - Marlon Sanders

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Featured Article by Marlon Sanders

How to Go From Being A Consumer Of Internet Marketing
Info Products To Being A Producer And A Promoter Of
Products, Which Is Where The Action And The Money Is

Today’s the day, you know.

The day the magic bullet ends.

I’m not here to sugar coat things.

To candy coat his business and sell you sandcastles, dreams
and illusions of an easy life that doesn’t exist.

Here’s the truth:

The money is in producing and promoting products, NOT in
consuming “how to” info products.

Having said that, last year I spent $37,500 consuming ebooks,
courses, teleseminars and so forth on marketing.

In other words, I AM a consumer.

But dominantly, I’m a producer and a promoter of products.
My job in life is to come up with new products that create
value for my customers and to promote them to the best of
my ability within the time and money constraints I decide
on.

“Marlon, I have SPENT a small fortune. I have BEEN in
coaching programs. I have BOUGHT the course. How come I’m
NOT making any dough?”

Answer: You’re consuming. But are you PRODUCING and PROMOTING?
And are you doing it more than ONCE? Are you out there playing
the Game every day?

Let me explain…

The problem I see a lot of people have is they consume,
consume, consume. But NEVER cross the bridge to creating,
producing and promoting.

Fundamentally, you ARE a creator. It’s a law of life. You
don’t get money from others until you create or possess
some sort of value they want and are willing to exchange
for.

The thing that STOPS a lot of people from becoming a producer
and a promoter is FEAR of getting it WRONG! You want it
all to be perfect, to be right, to NOT make mistakes.

Well, you can throw that out the door right now.

No matter how many courses you buy, you WILL make mistakes,
you WILL waste time, you WILL waste money. Then why do I
buy info products? Because I hate learning curves.

I hate figuring things out the hard way. I like doing it
the easy way.

But people get stuck there also. This program sounds good.
Then the next one sounds better or even more perfect.

Let me tell you what I’ve found — there’s often a difference
between what is SAID and what is DONE. Meaning, people tell
YOU to do one thing while they DO something else.

You’ll notice most Internet marketing teachers DO things
in their promotions they don’t teach. That’s because they
feel they need to 1-up their customers.

They need to have audio tricks, podcasts tricks, video tricks
that are PROOF they have superior knowledge and skill.

When you go, “Wow, that was cool! How did they do that?”
When you say that, you can pretty much bet you’ll never find
out.

I have an issue with that. If I pay you to show me then you show
me something entirely different, yeah, I have a problem with that.
Show it, reveal it, teach it or shut the (#_$ up!

I see a LOT of teachers who have huge, massive results. Which is
totally awesome. And their products are great theory. But they
NEVER reveal their secrets. They never really teach YOU how to
do exactly what THEY do.

They have the cool pdf’s. They have the cool videos. They have the
trick blog graphics. Their video streams perfectly. They have
hotshot designers. They have awesome video editors. They have great
writers.

But they never tell you WHO these people are. Or HOW to create the
PDF graphics. Or how much they PAY the writers or video editors.
Or where and HOW they hired them and HOW specifically they manage
them.

Personally, I think it’s a crock. They teach one thing and DO
another. And everybody acts like it’s all so great what they’re
teaching. Don’t you WONDER exactly how they get their PDF’s
distributed by everyone under the sun? Or how much they paid to
get that video edited. Or WHO did those killer graphics? Or
what the squeeze page really LOOKS like that built that 100,000
list?

Or whatever the case may be. I’m just saying I think you deserve
more.

Anyway, my goal is to “out” many of these methods. At least the
ones that have to do with promoting. You know, some of the real
tricks about how you do the cool podcasts, videos, pdf’s, etc.

You know those trick PDF’s you see with cool graphics? They’re
probably done in Adobe In Design. But you can ALSO do them in
Power Point or Photoshop Elements if you know how.

You know those totally cool video effects? Probably done in Adobe
After Effects. Which is not too hard a program to learn, although
it isn’t for newbies.

I think the test of a guru is NOT how tricked out THEIR list, PDF’s
or whatever is. It’s do they empower YOU to go and do thou
likewise?

Or are they just building their own little kingdom and keep the
secrets to themselves? Like HOW do you get trick graphics like that
on your blog? Who did them and how much did you pay?

Or HOW do you shoot video that looks that good? Or how did you get
those cool graphics on there? Where did you buy those sound
effects?

Now WHAT did that squeeze page look like exactly and HOW exactly
did you get those 200,000 emails on your list?

Whose empowering whom?

Who is performing MAGIC TRICKS and illusions, CHARGING you for the
secrets then NOT taking you back stage and teaching you some lame
basic sleight of hand trick?

This is about YOU.

I want to encourage and empower YOU to become a creator, producer
and promoter.

I want YOU to have cool pdf’s, cool videos, cool podcasts, cool
web graphics. I want YOU to build that nice cash cow list.

Can you TALK? If you can, start doing podcasts as soon as you
can, even if no one is listening. At least you can post your
podcasts on your blog and send them out to podcast directories.

Create and send audio postcards to whatever list you have.

Don’t have a list? Create AUDIO something or the others that
you GIVE away on a squeeze page to GET subscribers.

Can you WRITE?

Then get busy. Spend 30 minutes or 1 hour a day writing. “But
Marlon, I can’t type!” I just talked last weekend to a best-selling
author with many books who types with TWO fingers! No bull.

So if you can write, get your blog up and start doing posts.
Write emails and sends them to your list. Don’t have a list? Write
a free report, promote it and you’ll HAVE a list.

Now, if you can’t write and can’t talk, you better get a business
partner or get REALLY good bidding out jobs on elance.com!

Here’s my simple point:

You’ve gotta find ways to COMMUNICATE with your target audience
and get it going. You get better by DOING. Become a compulsive
DOER. You’ve got to add DOING to your LEARNING.

And the first step to doing that is to get over the fear of NOT
doing it right! The way you DO it right is by getting started
and DOING. Then, when you get stuck or make mistakes go back to
your info products and get help. Or go to a forum and get help.

The money in this business is made by creating, producing and
promoting.

You ARE a creator by design. If you have kids, you’re a creator.
If you sing or speak or write, you’re a creator.

Your creations do NOT have to be perfect. Few are.

They DO have to be something others want to exchange money for!
That’s the criteria. Will others PAY for your creations? If
not, get better at it or create something else. And get better
at the promoting of your creations.

The best artist does NOT make the most money. The best promoter
makes the most money.

Now, a LOT of Internet marketing includes web design. You need
PAGES on the web. Those pages have TWO things — design and COPY.

If you can ONLY learn ONE, learn to WRITE COPY! But I’d advise
you to get decent at both. It gets really frustrating if you can’t
do any web design yourself.

But it gets really EXPENSIVE if you can’t write any copy yourself.

I love graphic design. I really enjoy mucking around with Photoshop,
even though I’m not that good at it.

What I AM good at is writing copy.

So if you can ONLY learn one skill, learn to write copy. Or, if
you can’t write good, learn to sell on TELESEMINARS. Good enough.
Lots of people in this business make great livings pitching products
via teleseminars.

My friend, this is NOT a complicated business in terms of strategy.

1. You target people who are likely to buy and have the money to
buy.

2. You offer them something VERY appealing for free to get them to
identify themselves as potential buyers.

3. You make an irresistible OFFER to get them as a first time
customer and build trust.

4. You SELL them more by sending emails that sends them to podcasts,
video, screen video, webinars or teleseminars.

Let’s be honest…

The FUN part of this business is learning.

The DOING part gets frustrating. It’s a technology business.
Servers go down. Autoresponders muck up. Software NEVER integrates
like it’s supposed to.

There’s a learning curve anytime you wanna do something new.

But THAT is where the money is also.

What I do for money pretty much is remove the learning curve. Take
the pain out of the learning curve.

Anytime there’s pain, there’s money.

But the money is in being a PRODUCER and a PROMOTER.

The challenge is to overcome the PAIN of things not working, of
NOT knowing which product to produce or hot button to put in the
headline or email to write.

And you’ll NEVER know for sure. Gurus don’t know. Don’t kid yourself.
They ACT all certain because people want to buy CERTAINTY.

But they aren’t certain.

There ARE no definitive answers. NONE! Business and life isn’t a
connect-the-dots affair. It’s not the real world.

Real world is you struggle with decisions. Real world is you aren’t
sure. Real world is 7 things don’t work and 3 DO work.

And if you never do the 7 the don’t work, you’ll never find the 3
that do.

Most people struggle under the illusion that gurus make all 10
things work.

Wrong.

Don’t care who the person is. The law of life is 7 things don’t work
and 3 things do. I could cite research done on something like 10,000
projects or experiments that validate this.

To sum up:

1. The money is in producing and promoting, not consuming
2. Consuming helps you shortcut learning curves
3. You’ll make mistakes and get it wrong. Live with it
4. You’ll never be certain
5. When you ARE certain, the rules change
6. You have to try 10 things to find the 3 that work

The people who succeed overcome the pain of doing.

That’s the BIG secret.

They execute. Period. End of story. They do 10 things for everyone
else’s 1 thing. But that’s also where the THRILL is. There’s a
certain THRILL in the doing. A certain adrenalin. A certain
excitement.

You don’t get that sitting on the sidelines. You get THAT playing
the game. You gotta get IN the game and PLAY the game to win.

You get IN the game the moment you start producing and promoting.
And at first, you’ll probably do it wrong. You’ll get it wrong.
You’ll choose a bad target market or a dumb product idea.

It’s just the way the game works.

You get BETTER at the game by playing. You can READ chess books all
you want. But you’ll NEVER be a great chess player till you pick up
a board and get your king captured and you kick yourself over making
a dumb move.

The thrill, the excitement is in the PLAYING. And also the mistakes,
the pain, the learning. You don’t get one without the other.

Now, my new Promo Dashboard takes as much as the learning curve out
of the way as I could. It helps you avoid as much of the pain as
possible.

The purpose of the Dashboards is to HELP you execute. There’s still
holes or things we overlooked. I try to cover everything. But
there’s always something you forgot or didn’t put in.

You’ll still screw up or get stuck on this or that. I’m gonna have
a 60-day forum on Promo Dashboard to help out some.

Yet, this is the process. This is life. It’s not all connect-the-
dots.

It’s more like “be uncertain, not know, do anyway, make mistakes,
do more, some works, do more of that.”

That’s reality.

The thing that gets you buy is passion and a love for what you
do. If you don’t love it, if you aren’t passionate about it, you
have a long row to hoe.

If you produce and promote like crazy in this business, sooner or
later, the tide will turn your way.

That is what I believe.

Marlon

P.S. I meet people on seminars, get a lot of blog posts, etc.
from people who say, “Marlon, I loved this or that Dashboard or
I loved Amazing Formula or used Push Button Letters.”

Or, “I saw you at the seminar and boy were you funny!”

And I love positive feedback. But if you really wanna put a smile
on my face, then this is it: “Marlon, you gave me that push I
needed to make the transition from being a consumer to a producer
and a promoter. Here’s what I’m producing or promoting TODAY!”

I didn’t say you had to make a zillion or whatever. But that you
get it and that you’re producing and promoting, THAT is the thing.
If you do that, then LEARN and increase your skill, do it and do
it and get better at it …..

See, THEN the bux come.

THEN, your ship comes in.

A lot of people want a magic wand they wave and money comes in
the door. They want a magic bullet. The magic system that
can’t fail.

My friend, there isn’t one. Stop looking. Seriously.

The magic is in YOU taking action, and producing and promoting.
THAT is when the good things happen.

As soon as you get a system up and running, you can HIRE people
to run it for you like I do.

That is when the “lifestyle” kicks in. That’s when the “lazy”
part kicks in.

But you gotta get in the Game and get things running first.
THEN you hire people and farm out your systems.

That’s how I’ve not worked a lot in years. I got a system
up and running and then hired virtual assistants and recently
a few employees.

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Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Promo Dashboard.”
If you want to see it, go to:
==> www.marktse.com/recommend/infoproduct/

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You may reprint this free article on your own website, blog, and ezine by reserving the resource box with clickable active links.

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“Every self-employed person, but particularly internet marketers, should spend some time every day with an inspirational or motivational thought. For some, that might be little more than remembering a favorite quotation. Others may find greater benefit from a visualization exercise or meditative opportunity. Regardless of the specifics, the most important thing is creating a successful mindset.” - David Cooper