One of the great things about understanding internet marketing is being able to realize when marketing is happening to you.  As marketers, we are marketed to all the time.  If you pay attention to the marketing that’s happening in the world around you, you can get a lot of great ideas about how to run your business.

Recently I became acquainted with a podcast expert named Cliff Ravenscraft over at PodcastAnswerMan.com. I have to tell you, Cliff has what I consider to be a near perfect sales funnel in operation there.

Here’s how I experienced Cliff Ravenscraft…

The First time I heard about Cliff was from an authority in the podcast space, Jason Van Orden, over at InternetBusinessMastery.com. He talked about Cliff as an expert on podcasting gear and I needed some, so I went over to Cliff’s website. That’s the first part of the sales funnel.

I found out that he had an outstanding website with all kinds of excellent free information. It was clearly an authority site on podcasting. After reviewing the website, there was no question that Jason was right about Cliff, absolutely an expert on podcasting gear and podcasting in general, for that matter.

So, naturally I did exactly what Cliff wanted me to -- and you can see from his website that he’s set up for this --  I subscribed to his podcast. After listening to several episodes of his podcast I was completely hooked and knew this was the guy for me when it came to podcasting tech.

So, what did I do?

Well, I bought all my new gear from Cliff.   That’s exactly what he wanted me to do. He’s got affiliate and drop-ship relationships with all of these products and manufacturers that he actually uses.  When I bought the gear, I was so pleased with the free advice that I had gotten from Cliff that I made sure that I bought the gear either directly through Cliff or through his affiliate link.   Pure reciprocity.

To be honest with you, I bought stuff that I did not even know I needed.  I bought exactly what Cliff uses, and I purchased through his links on purpose.

Following that, of course, I needed help setting up the gear. So, what did I do? I bought some online courses from Cliff about how to set up all this complicated new podcasting gear that I had just purchased.

I have two degrees in electrical engineering, so there is no question that I could figure out all of this stuff by myself -- eventually.  But that would take time.  My time is worth a lot more than what Cliff is charging for these products, and I get the additional benefit of knowing the best settings and best configurations that Cliff has been able to determine.   I could do all that, but it would take me FOREVER.

Now, this very important, because it’s something that all affiliate marketers can do. Cliff is an affiliate for great products.  But all products have gaps -- many times these gaps are in the form of training of missing information on how to get the most from the product.

Cliff has recognized gaps between what the customers need and what those products are offering and he is filling them with digital products. This is a key idea for affiliates to grow their internet business and one that Cliff does amazingly well.

What’s Cliff missing? Well, I wouldn’t say he’s missing anything, but of course the next step would be for Cliff to have some massive high end product. Oh wait a minute… this month Cliff is actually offering a soup to nuts podcasting course over at PodcastAnswerMan.com.  It's very high end and everything you need.

Now, I’m not offering an affiliate link for that here, although I’m sure it’s an awesome course. You can go over to Podcast Answer Man on your own and figure out if that’s for you if you’re interested. If you do sign up, be sure and tell my friend Cliff that Mark sent you.

Watching the world around you for examples of great marketing is a good way to get a free education on the things that you can do in internet marketing to improve your own business. Have a great day!

I really like Thai food and Mexican food.  This is a story about both.

I look to some people to learn about internet marketing, and I look to others to learn about internet business.  It's not that internet marketing gurus are not good at teaching internet business and vice versa, it's just that everyone is great at something, and it makes sense to learn from the best people in every area.

Jason van Orden is one of my favorite internet business guys.  One thing I will never forget is a tale that Jason tells about a friend of his that ended up on the wrong end of an investment joint venture.  The guy had a successful business, but after the deal went bad, he no longer owned the business.  In fact, he was forced out.  He lost everything over night.

Well, not everything.  As it happens, the guy had his email list.  He was able to contact his loyal customers, explain the situation, offer value to them (as he always had in the past), and rebuild his business quickly.  When people say "the money is in the list," I think they have it wrong.  The value is in the list.

What About Thai Food

Well, I was eating Thai food the other day and was talking to Ann, the owner (I cannot even say her Thai name - it is beautiful, but I am a native Texan with limited language skills).  Anyway, she had recently tried to sell the restaurant.  When this happened (months earlier) I was sad because I had been eating there for years and the new owners were just terrible.

In fact, the new owners were so bad that they ran off all of the old customers (10 years worth of loyal customers) in a matter of weeks.  On top of that, they apparently did not pay Ann for the restaurant and walked away from the deal after selling a lot of the tables, chairs and kitchen supplies.  Ann was left with a gutted restaurant and few customers.  When I was in there, the place was a ghost town.

What Ann needed was an email list.  If she had been asking for emails for the last ten years, she would have thousands of loyal customers on her list.  Just a simple monthly coupon is all a restaurant needs to maintain a list and drive foot traffic.  Using Aweber, this costs about $20/month.  You don't even need a web site (although I recommend one). 

Ann could have simply sent an email to her list explaining about the Grand Re-Opening and how happy she was to have the resturaunt back. She would have been flooded with customers (me among them). But she did not do any of that list building, so now she has to start all over again building a new customer base.  Ten years of work gone!  It's a very sad story.  Are you like Ann?  Do you have a site without an opt-in?

Then, There Is Mexican Food

I also like Mexican food, and I eat at my favorite neighborhood place as often as I can.  I know the owner there too (Kevin).  Every time I eat there, Kevin catches me up on the progress they are making on their new location.  The new place will be much nicer and will bring more traffic to the business because of a better location.  They are moving in August, and I am a little bummed because it will be further from my house.  Not too far, but definately farther.

I love this particular place, and I like the owners.  So, I asked Kevin when the Grand Opening would be.  I want to eat there on the first day -- to be part of his success.  He said -- we are not sure yet, but we will notify the mailing list as soon as we know!

I am already on the list.  I love it.  I get coupons and drink specials from him about twice a month.  It's just enough to remind me that he is there -- or to offer me free queso with my fajitas or what ever.  See the difference -- Ann just about lost her business and Kevin is able to move his.  All because of email marketing.

Two Lessons For You

Lesson 1:  You better have opt-ins on all of your sites.

Lesson 2: You can probably sell Aweber to people like Ann.  They need you, and you can help them.

I don't really do this because I have a day job -- but you could.  How?  Simple.  Create a page on your site describing how email marketing can help offline business.  Offer consulting, setup, and whatever else you are comfortable with.  Create a 1 page flier with the same information.  A business card would be nice too.

Then, go eat (I am reall good at the eating part).

You to waiter: This place is great!  Is the manager around?  I'd like to compliment him on your service today.

Waiter: I'll be right back!

You to Manager: I just want to tell you that I love this restaurant, and we had great service from Jimmy.

Manager: Thanks, we appreciate your business.

You: Do you guys have a mailing list that I can sign up on so I can remember to come back here.  This was great.

Manager: No, I am sorry.  We don't do email.

You: You're kidding.  You could really get your numbers up with some email marketing.  If you ever want to consider it, give me a call.  I do that sort of thing for a living.  Customers love it.  Here is my card.

Manager: Thanks.  I'll think about it.

You get the idea.

One last thing.  If you want to know what to do with your list after you start it, I recommend Josh Spaulding's email marketing guide called New Age Email Marketing.  It is excellent.

Have a great day,

Mark

Just a quick recap on the week to let you know what I have been working on. Man, has it been a crazy week.

• Attended Aaron Abber's mentoring class. Still getting a lot out of that at very low cost. This is a great value if you want to learn about list building and lead blogging from a pro.
• Logged some time at the Member site over at Coaching With Josh.
• Published a guest post over at Garry Conn's Make Money Online blog on Article Marketing.
• Started work on a super-secret link building experiment (don't tell anyone). I am really not sure about this one. More on this later if it works.
• Worked on integrating Yahoo Pipes, WordPress and phpBay. No luck yet.
• Worked on www.historyofelvis.com. That project needs to be restarted, and I am trying to get it going again.
• Attended the killer Jason Van Orden Podcasting Teleseminar. Will definitely be blogging about that. It was great.
• Started working on an updated MasonWorld Roadmap.  Man, I have be doing this Internet Marketing thing for over six months now, and I am really starting to get an idea about what I want to be when I grow up.  More on that in another post.

There is more to tell, but I am out of time (still doing that day job thing).

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Regards,
Mark

I just spent $27 of my own money.

Those of you that have been following me know at least one thing about me: it is not very often that I will promote something sight-unseen on my blog.

This is one of those times - I am excited about this product.

The Community Magnet Teleseminar

You see, I have listened to almost every Internet Marketing podcast on the planet (well it feels like it anyway). As part of that journey, I have come to know Jason Van Orden -- one half of the Internet Business Mastery (IBM) Team of Jay and Sterling.

Jason is also the brains behind the best Podcast about Podcasting: The Podcasting Underground.

I have gotten to know Jason through his podcasts, and his blog -- and more recently through private conversations on email and twitter. (Note that I am currently the undisputed world-record holder for IBM Podcast Rate of Consumption (PRC) at over 20 podcasts per day).

I've been on the inside. Before the Teleseminar, (when Jason started writing his Community Magnet eBook,) he asked me to review an advanced copy, and I was stunned.

Now, Jason says this Teleseminar is the most important content that he has ever created -- and I agree.

I hope this blog post reaches you in time because I just made a special arrangement to get you a $70 discount on a special teleseminar. Jason's teleseminar reveals how to magnetically attract a following of loyal customers with an easy and inexpensive marketing strategy...podcasting.

Because I'm a partner in this teleseminar, you can attend as an insider guest for $27 rather than the normal $97 list price. But you have to hurry because the call takes place this Wednesday, June 4th.

I have no idea what the actual numbers are, but I think a lot of people get into Internet Marketing because they want to land in the Internet Marketing lifestyle. Everybody wants to be the guy on the beach with a laptop making $4 million a year. Topics around the Internet Marketing lifestyle have been discussed extensively in the mainstream media lately, and the focal point for a lot of the discussion has been the book "The Four-Hour Work Week". (That's a great book, by the way).

Of course it's one thing to talk about the Internet lifestyle of your dreams, and it's another thing to actually live it. So, I was excited to find that Melanie Van Orden had finally launched her much anticipated website about living the "travel lifestyle of your dreams without being filthy rich." She calls her blog JetSetNow.com. The blog is brand-new, but from the looks of it Melanie plans e-courses, podcasts, regular blog posts and an e-mail newsletter. Phew. She'll be busy.

I don't really know Melanie, but I'm familiar with the work of her husband Jason Van Orden. Jason is the brains behind The Podcasting Underground podcast and is also half of the Internet Business Mastery team. If Melanie's stuff is half as good as Jasons, JetSetNow.com will be a blog to watch. You see, Jason and Melanie are currently living in Buenos Aires Argentina, having recently moved there from New York. Their niche is their passion and their blog, and you can follow along with them in their adventures across the globe.

Check it out you be glad you did.