I LOVE the title of this post! I actually am borrowing it from a very well known copywriter, whose blog I read on a regular basis, and whose last post is the basis of this post… in fact, I linking back to that post for the sake of not wanting to be accused of stealing content.

It sort of ties in with the ranting I have been doing recently about email swaps and growing your list and why open/click through rates are falling from the sky faster than Chicken Little can claim they are and also some of the content within my new report (which you can pick up here)

Most of the content for this post comes from here:

John-Carlton.com

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Howdy…

Nobody’s ever asked me to give the commencement speech for a graduating class.

That’s probably a good thing.  I’m pretty pissed off at the education system these days, and I might cause a small riot with the rant I’d surely deliver….

…Wanna hear my short speech on how to prepare yourself for life?  (I’ve edited this from a recent post I wrote for the Simple Writing System mentoring program.  Lots of great stuff keeps coming out of that gig…)

(Okay, quick plug: Check out www.simplewritingsystem.com to start your own adventure as a high-end sales master…)

Here’s my mini-rant: I’m extremely prejudiced about this subject, of course.  If I ran the world, everyone would get at least a taste of being an entrepreneur.

It will taste bitter to most people.  And that’s fine.  No harm, no foul.  Move on to getting that job with The Man.

But for some… it will be sweet nectar.  A thrill like nothing else they’ve ever experienced before.

Being an entrepreneur takes balls.

But you don’t have to “be” a ballsy kind of person.

You just have to understand how to implement your goals… which requires a little savvy about getting stuff done in the face of opposition and obstacles.  Which is the definition of “ballsy”.  Most of the people successful at achieving goals were not “born” with the necessary guts.

They learned the skill of living life with guts, just like they learned every other important skill associated with the gig.

I OFTEN intervene even with long-time professionals (like freelance writers, or veteran biz owners) who are screwing up their efforts to be successful.

My main advice:  “Stop being a wuss.  Everyone is scared.  The successful ones acknowledge that fear, put it aside, and just get busy taking care of business.”

It really is that simple.

Life beyond childhood is for grown-ups.  If you’re scared, you can take a regular job somewhere, and stay far away from the risks and realities of being your own boss.

On the other hand… if you’ve got entrepreneur’s blood in your veins… and you really DO want to be your own boss…

… then allow the reality of doing so to wash over you, and embrace it.

Everyone is unsure of themselves out there.  There are no guarantees in life for anything… and getting into biz is among the riskiest things of all to do.

A tiny percentage of skydivers will die each year while jumping… but a vast chunk of rookie business owners will fail.

This is why you pursue the skills of salesmanship.  Learning how to create a wicked-good sales message, how to close a deal, , and how to bond with a target market is the PRIMARY weapon you want walking into ANY business environment.

Will you still fail?  Maybe.

But you will NOT fail because you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. If knowing how to persuade and influence can make your business sizzle, then learning salesmanship means you’re armed to the teeth.  Like everything else in life, having the right tools for the job at hand is the best way to put the odds in your favor.

MOST people are not meant to be their own boss.  The world needs followers, too.

Here’s what I tell students in the Simple Writing System, when doubts about their future bubble up:  “Just by diving into the SWS, you have shown that there is something different burning inside you.  No one held a gun to your head and forced you to come here to learn these skills.  You decided to join all on your own.

“Even if you’re not yet sure why you’ve joined us here… you need to understand that MOST people would never even consider doing anything like this.

“Independence freaks most people out.  The thought of standing up and taking responsibility for the birth and success of a business is terrifying… and most will refuse to even entertain the thought.

“This is, by the way, why you should always enter the entrepreneurial world WITHOUT relying on your current crop of friends for support.

“They will not support your efforts.  They think you’re batshit crazy for daring to even consider being your own boss.  They will (consciously or unconsciously) sabotage your progress if they can, and rejoice in your failures… because if you DO succeed, that kills their main excuse for not succeeding themselves.  Most folks believe success is all about luck and magic.  When you dig in and actually do the work necessary to succeed, you piss all over their world view that The Little Guy Can’t Win.

“If you’ve made friends or started a network of fellow travelers here in the SWS, great.  Most entrepreneurs have to operate alone (until they find places like this, where they can find help, advice and coaching).  That loneliness just intensifies the fear and sense of risk.

“But I’ll tell you the truth:  As scary as being independent is…

“… once you’ve tasted it, you’ll be hooked.”

Most entrepreneurs who enjoy even a little success instantly become “unemployable”.  After thinking for yourself, after taking responsibility for your success or failure, after engaging the world fully aware and experiencing the thrill of living large…

… you’re worthless to a boss.  He can’t use anyone who thinks for themselves.

Are you wracked with doubt?

That voice you hear — the one knocking you down, digging a knife into your gut and highlighting your worst fears — is JUST A VOICE.

In psychoanalytic talk, it’s your “Super Ego”… the scolding parent’s voice, the doubter of your abilities, the whiny little bastard bent on keeping you down.

And it can easily be sent packing.

Most people allow others to rule their lives.  Rules and bad advice and grim experiences dating back to childhood somehow become “the way it is”…

… and regardless of any proof otherwise, they will obey that voice until they die.

And yet, all you have to do…

… is acknowledge the voice (”Yes, I hear you, you little shit“), realize it’s not your friend… and lock it in a dungeon deep in your brain, where you can’t hear it anymore.

I speak from experience on this subject.  I was ruled by The Voice Of Doom for the first half of my life.  I didn’t even try to take responsibility for my success, because The Voice told me it was hopeless.  That I was hopeless.  That Fate had nothing but failure in store for me.

Then, I realized that The Voice was actually full of shit.  I proved it, slowly at first, by setting a goal outside The Voice’s warnings… and then achieving it.  And then doing it again.

It’s like superstition.  I used to be the most superstitious guy you’ve ever met.  Literally, my life was dominated by superstitions.

Then, one day, I just decided to see how real those superstitions were.  So I violated every single one of them.  On purpose.  If I had previously thought some action was “bad luck”, I would do it, blatantly, just to see what kind of bad luck occurred.

And, of course, no bad luck ever appeared.

The human brain is crammed with bullshit like this.  Superstitions, bad rules, dumb beliefs, unfounded fears and ridiculous feelings of guilt and shame.

Especially guilt and shame.

You know what a fully functioning adult does?  They don’t approach life believing it should be a certain way, or wish that life was a certain way.

No.  They engage with life the way it really is.  You make your own luck.  Rules sometimes make good sense, but deserve to be broken when they’re clearly stupid.  Belief systems often have nothing to do with reality.  (You can “believe” you’re gonna win the lottery with all your heart and soul… and it won’t change reality one tiny bit.)

Fear is a natural part of our defense system… and it can get out of hand in modern times.

So you need to dig in and get to know your fears.  Some are fine — don’t walk down that dark alley if you’re not prepared to deal with the shit that happens in dark alleys.

Others are bullshit — you had a bad experience once when you were 12, and so what?  Get over it, put on your Big Boy Pants, and re-engage with life.

And shame?  Guilt and shame are useless.  On the road of life, feeling guilty about something is like setting up camp and refusing to move or progress any further.

Instead, try “remorse” — recognize when you’ve done something wrong, clean up the mess, fix what you’ve broken as best you can, and make amends to people you’ve hurt.

And don’t “vow” to do better next time.

Instead, actually DO something to change your behavior or habits.  Promises are bullshit.  Action is the only way to move through life in a positive way.

Don’t promise to do better.  Just do better.  This will probably involve learning something new — a new skill, a new way of dealing with life, a new set of behaviors.

Doing this will set you apart from the majority of other people out there, too.

The modern Renaissance Man or Woman is something awesome to behold.  While the rest of the world increasingly sinks into a snoozing Zombie-state — indoctrinated, fooled, manipulated and played– you have the option of becoming MORE aware, more awake, more alert and ready to live life with gusto.

However, no one is going to force you to do this.

If you want to join the Feast of Life, you have to stand up and earn your seat at the table.  You will not be invited in.  You will not stumble in by accident, or stroke of luck.

Nope.  You must take responsibility for your own life… figure out what you want… and then go get it.

It’s a daunting task for most folks… too daunting to even contemplate.

For the few who know it’s what they want, however… it’s all just a matter of movement and action.

Yes, it can be scary.  Life is terrifying, at times.

It’s also only worth living, for many people, when you get after it with all your heart.

There are no replays on this game.  No second tickets for the ride.

You’re allowed to sleep through all of it.  Most folks do.

If that’s not good enough for you any more, then welcome to the rarefied air of the entrepreneur world.

It’s fun, it’s thrilling, it’s scary, and there’s no safety net below you.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And that’s the commencement speech I’d give.

Put you to sleep, didn’t it.

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So there you have it…

Don’t forget to grab your copy of Change Your IncomeDNA

I loved it and would LOVE to get your take on it…feel free to leave a comment and let me know.

Til next time when I dive back in to getting your list to be more responsive.

Have a GREAT day!

Ron

So I left you in the last post pondering what happens when your open & click through rates in your emails begin (or continue) to plummet and your sales have become non existent.

I see this concern being posed in some of the skype groups that I frequent. People are asking if others are experiencing the same thing. Open rates are down. Click through rates are equally down.

Yesterday I received an email from a fellow marketer that I follow and the theme of the message echoed what I am writing here. He threw out some numbers relating to the size of his list and his open rate and relatively speaking, it was pretty bad. His open rate in the past few months?

Less than 2%

What’s the reason?

I have a pretty good idea what it is, but it’s not the reason that is being bantered about in the chat rooms.

The reason I am hearing in the rooms is that the recession is still hanging on and people are just not spending money right now.

or

It’s the beginning of summer (at least here in the U.S.) and people just don’t spend money in the warmer months.

Everything is being blamed for the lack of opens/clicks/sales except for what the real reason is.

You see, there are a lot of people who have come online looking to supplement or displace their offline income and do it with very minimal effort.

They ‘buy’ into the dream, or at least they sign up for the dream. Whether that be a coaching program or an affiliate program or creating their own products.

One of the first things they are introduced to is list building. The ‘guru’ is telling them the same thing that you are hearing; ‘build a list, build a list’, you’ve got to build a list… and they are introduced to email swaps as a way to accelerate the list building effort.

As I mentioned in the last post, that is a great way to build a list and build it fast but here are three mistakes you may be making and the reasons that your open and click through rates are plummeting and you’re not making any money:

1. Not providing them with access – to You

How many times have you clicked on a link in an email that you have received and it’s dead? It goes no where. 404 error. What do you do?

Well first instinct is to ‘reply’ to the email and let the marketer know. Have you tried that?

Good luck with getting a response!

What you REALLY need to do when setting up your auto responder account is to use an an email address that you monitor on a daily basis your ‘return’ address. That way if a subscriber has a question about ANYTHING in any of your emails (especially your follow ups) all they need to do is reply to the email and it comes into your inbox.

So, provide them with easy access to yourself

2. Not thinking like your customers

Think about when you first signed up to get your first free report… what happened?

Did you get a ‘thank you’ email with a brief introduction to themselves and another link to the download page or did you get nothing?

Go back to that simpler time… what would you want… a nice little introduction to who you’re getting emails from or to get blasted the next day with an email from them ‘promoting’ ANOTHER ‘free’ product that you have to sign up for again?

Think like your customer… take the time to build a relationship with them. Segment your lists a bit and ONLY send out swap/promo emails after providing your new subscribers with some very valuable content or more related free downloads that they don’t have to opt in for.

There are too few marketers out there that do this and if you can do it, you will stand out as someone they will begin to trust and want to buy from in the future.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for once.

3. Being erratic and inconsistent.

How many messages do you have loaded into your autoresponder for new subscribers that will be sent out on autopilot when the subscribe?

2… 3… 10… 20… none?

One of the worst things you can do is to have someone sign up and then NOT send them quality, relevant content… I’m not talking about blasting with broadcasts for your next email swap or offer, but actually taking some time to load up with great content.

Be regular and consistent.

Are you making any of these three mistakes?

Leave me a comment or suggestion below and stay tuned for the next post where I will start going over how easy it is to eliminate these mistakes and having a plan to do it.

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Are you sabotaging your list building efforts without even knowing it?

Or, a better way to ask the question is; in your effort to build your list AND pad your profits, are you self sabotaging your efforts?

Let me explain what I am referring to and also in the same vein, let off a little steam about what I see going on in the IM business.

I am going to guess that you, and probably 99.9% of the people who have ventured into the Internet Marketing realm within the past five years (including myself), have heard over and over again until you are ready to barf is: you need to build a list, you need to build a list…

And that’s true. THE ‘secret’ to creating an income that is going to replace your full time income so that you don’t have to go to work everyday, is building that list.

But…not just ANY list. A RESPONSIVE list. A list of buyers.

You can build a list of 100,000 subscribers and if the overwhelming majority of them don’t even open your emails, how are you going to get your copy read?

Wouldn’t you much rather have a small list of readers who respond to the emails that you send out and purchase from you on a regular basis than a ginormous list of readers who are indifferent?

If you didn’t answer that question in your head with an EMPHATIC yes, then my friend, you might as well just cancel your autoresponder, webhosting and domain registration accounts and go back to your 9-5 ‘workin for the man’ dead end job!

Because you don’t ‘get’ it!

I’ve mentioned in the past that I subscribe to numerous ‘marketers’ lists and I get, on average, a few hundred emails a day. I use these emails as a learning experience.

I typically will skim subject lines and unless one catches my attention, I will bypass it. But if it’s from a marketer that I know provides good content, I WILL open it and read, regardless of the subject line.

Why do I skim subject lines?

I want to see what the others are doing…

what can I learn from them?

What are they doing?

Why are they doing it that way?

Should I be doing the same?

If I see the same subject line from several marketers, it probably means that there is a launch going on for the next new shiny object… I may open one of those and read the copy and click through to the sales page just to check it out… If it catches my interest, I’ll make some notes on it and copy and paste some of the sales copy for future reference.

Do I buy? Maybe… if it will help my business out…

but in most cases, No.

More often than not, here’s what I, and probably you also, see for subject lines…

“Confirmation Required – please save this email”

“Your Confirmed Download Link”

“Re: Your Download”

“URGENT: open immediately (critical)”

“Thanks (YOURNAME), Here is Your Download Link ($XX Value)”

the same subject lines over and over and over again…

Now, I don’t know about you, but unless I have just signed up for someone’s gift or another resource from someone, I know for a fact that these subject lines are attempting to get you to open the email…

and if you want to be really straight forward about it

under false pretenses

I WILL say that almost all of the subject lines above are from email/adswaps. Meaning that two marketers get together and decide that they are going to mail out for each other so that they can ‘share’ and ‘build’ their lists respectively.

In theory that is a pretty decent way to build your list fast. Here’s how it works

Let’s say you have a list of 1,500 subscribers and you are working with a person who has a list of 2,500 subscribers.

Both of you send an email to your respective lists, and depending on the responsiveness, you can theoritically increase your list by a bunch.

Let’s look at that.

You both exchange subject line and copy to send out. You know that your’s is optimized because you have tested it and it converts…

you have tested it, haven’t you?

You get subject line and copy from your fellow marketer and you can only trust that he has done the same… at this point you should, as a practice, go through their sign up process. How are they doing it? Do they have a One Time Offer in place or are they just using default autoresponder pages… maybe they have something set up different than you do and you can implement into your process at some point… the point is, you want to see how they handle the sign up process. Plus, if it’s a decent ebook, you might learn something.

Anyway…

Just taking some basic numbers… you have a list of 1,500 and typically when you send an email out 20% open it. That’s 300 readers who open your email and read it.

Now, let’s presume that out of those 300 people, half of them are interested in the content of the email and click on the link, that’s 150 clicks… and if the other person’s squeeze page is set up correctly and converts at 80 percent, that’s 120 new subscribers for the other guy! Not bad.

So let’s flip it around… he sends and email to his list for your offer. He’s sending to 2,500…20% is 500…half is 250…you already know that your squeeze page converts because you have done everything in Squeeze Pages On Crack! and your page is optimized… guess what? You’ve just got 200 new subscribers! Again, not bad.

These numbers are purely theoretical and are not typical. Your results may vary significantly.
But I think you see the potential with adswaps. You can build your list very quickly if you are exchanging with people who have responsive lists and they are interested in what you have to offer.

BUT, there IS a downside and you may just be self – sabotaging your own efforts:

Most people are NOT copywriters and haven’t got a clue on how to write a subject line much less the content that makes up an email that readers are going to click through. So they are resorting to ‘deceptive’ tactics to get you to open the email and read the copy.

So, you’re going to end up sending out emails to your readers with the subject lines that I have listed above… and your readers are going to become very wary of those subject lines and they are going to stop opening your emails.

What happens when they stop opening your emails?

Your messages aren’t getting read… and what happens when your messages aren’t getting read?

Your click through rates plummet.

And when that happens… guess what happens when you send out a legitimate email with an offer for an affiliate product? Or, GASP! a plr product that you have flipped and have for sale…

You get very few opens…

Sales are non existent or very few…

And if sales are ‘slow’… that means you aren’t making any money… and if you aren’t making any money…

Well, we don’t want to go there, do we?

How do you combat this dilemma?

Come back tomorrow and find out…

See you then