Are You Gonna Produce Or Are You Gonna Consume?
Marlon's Marketing Minute
August 29, 2009
Hello,
Marlon here.
This week's Marlon's Marketing Minute article:
Are You Gonna Produce Or Are You Gonna Consume?
Subtitle: The real answer to why only 3% succeed and how to
know if YOU will be part of the 3% or the 97%.
IN THIS ISSUE:
— The truth about people who complain in forums
— How to know if YOU will be a success at Internet marketing
— The Internet marketing mantra that virtually guarantees success
— The different between a job and Internet marketing
— The unvarnished truth about Internet marketing
— Why some fail and some succeed
— How to avoid becoming a bloated info glut
Feel free to take this PDF and stick it on your web site, blog,
Facebook blog, Myspace blog, Hub Page, Squidoo lens, or Google
Pages.
Put it up and announce it on Facebook, Twitter, your blog,
email, or whatever else you have.
This IS an article people will want to read. You WILL make
sales from the link in the resource box.
If you don't have a reseller ID, just go to:
http://www.getyourprofits.com and sign up. It only takes
2 minutes.
There are 4 ADS at the end of this ezine. You can replace
all THOSE with reseller links if you want.
Marlon Sanders
P.S. After you read today's article, please pass it along
on your blog, email or just to a few good friends.
Then hit me back on my blog.
I personally comment back. Let me hear from YOU!
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=aug22_blog
Go there today to see what all the cool stuff looks like that I'm
showing you how to add today.
PPS: Other marketers ONLY send you good content during their
product launch. I'm with you every week, motivating, inspiring,
educating. Where are THEY when a product launch isn't going
down?
I'm here every week delivering rock solid content based on years
of experience. If you like what you get here, and want more of
it, please pass the word along on forums, blogs and so forth…
that THIS is the ezine to come to for real world marketing help.
******************************************
Marlon's Marketing Minute
Electronic Newsletter
http://www.promotemarlon.com
Vol. 4, #31, August 29, 2009
******************************************
This issue contains:
A. Sponsor Advertisement: I got 500,000 reasons!
B. Announcements from Marlon (Important)
C. Main Article: Pimp out your blog in 4 easy steps!
D. Services You Can Use
Brought to you by: Marlon Sanders – Publisher
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A. Sponsor Advertisement
“I got 500,000,000 REASONS that prove Promo Dashboard will
rock your sales and color your world green”
Who else wants to find out how Ben Hart sold and raised
500,000,000 PLUS hauls in 90 g's a month online — with
only 1 or 2 employees?
That's 500 gazillion GOOD reasons to get the Promo Dash.
Grab my interview with him PLUS get on the Quick Start call
this next week.
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=913ezinetopsponsor
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
B. Announcements from Marlon
==> Do NOT email us for customer support
Do NOT email us for customer support. We are anxious to
serve you at: http://www.getyoursupport.com
We have LIVE CHAT to serve you better. Most people in this
business skimp on this. I don't. Tim is an award winning
customer service person.
==> New forum for AFFILIATES —
http://www.getyourprofits.com
We're just beginning so there aren't any posts yet. But
feel free to break the ice.
==> Give Away “The Best Of Marlon Sanders” to your friends
or list and snag spending cash and prizes!
I've just released “The Best Of Marlon Sanders”
Give it away to your friends or list and snag affiliate
commissions as well as prizes.
==> Download your FREEBIE ebook now.
“The Best of Marlon Sanders”
http://www.bestofmarlonsanders.com
There is a squeeze page. The idea is for you to enter
the email address you actually READ! I'll send out a version
later where you can bypass the squeeze if it bugs you.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
C. Are You Gonna Produce Or Are You Gonna Consume?
Subtitle: The real answer to why only 3% succeed and how
to know if YOU will be part of the 3% or the 97%.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Are You Gonna Produce Or Consume?
Let's get it straight.
All the money in this business is made by being a
producer, not a consumer. Now, being a consumer is NOT bad
or wrong.
But here's the secret: You consume to produce.
Let me share a fact: It's been estimated that 97% of
customers of info products don't make anything. Why?
Because the never produce and promote.
They just consume and make up reasons why they can't do
it, why it won't work for them, why they are different,
why their situation is different, and why later not now is
the time to start.
True story.
This fact is true of ANY info product business where you
are teaching people how to do things. Whether it's how to
invest in stocks, real estate or anything else.
So realize this happens in EVERY industry, not just mine.
It's really crucial that you get this straight in your
head. For one thing, in the U.S., you are supposed to
publish “typical results.” No one does. Why?
Because the typical result is 3%. Now, colleges do fair
slightly better. 80% of the people who graduate with a
degree NEVER work in the field they got their degree in.
So if 4 years of college and $50,000 or $100,000 can't get
people a $30,000 a year entry level job, why is it that a
small minority of people with a chip on their shoulder,
think they can buy a $97 course and with almost NO effort
grab six figures?
Why is that? It makes no sense. That a human being with
intelligence could think that baffles me. People want
something where someone else gives them a defined set of
instructions, they do it with no risk, and they get a check.
THAT is called a “job,” not a business.
You don't push a few buttons and money magically appears
— NOT until you have a list or form agreements with
people who DO have lists. Then, yeah, you push a few
buttons and money appears.
This is not a job. It's a business. And by nature,
business is volatile, uncertain and there is risk involved
and no guarantees. If you can't deal with that fact, keep
your day job. Honestly.
If you're lazy and think you'll make 100 g's a year by
being dumb, stupid, in-informed and uneducated, keep your
day job. But you're about to be fired from there — so you
better have a check up from the neck up.
There IS no room in the world for people who cannot
produce and promote, even if all you're promoting is
yourself at your job.
On the flip side, if you take the number of people who
product and promote at least 3 products with a degree of
intelligence, diligence and effort, I imagine the results
are pretty good, if not really good.
The reason 97% don't get results is 90% or more didn't
REALLY give it their best shot. They stuck a toe in the
water and “tried” just to see if “this thing is real.”
Well guess what?
That isn't how it works.
You don't read one book on chess, and enter a chess
tournament to see “if this book is worth anything.” It's a
skill that takes practice and repetition.
“Yeah, but Marlon, all the sales letters say it's easy.”
Actually, a few do but most by respected, legitimate
marketers don't. They promise to show you how THEY and
maybe a few customers have gotten great results far above
average (remember, the average result is nothing because
people don't implement at all or precious little).
Now, I LOVE being a consumer. I have vast libraries in my
home because I love to read and learn new, exciting
things. And when I speak, I speak from experience. I
prefer consuming to producing.
Why?
1. Things go wrong when you produce.
The software doesn't work, you can't figure this or that
out. Something doesn't work right. That can lead to
feelings of frustration or even feelings that somehow
something is wrong with YOU that you can't figure this out.
But follow me on this: Your FEARS of your own stupid
feelings of failure or frustration. NOT of what it takes
to get things done.
Murphy (Murphy's law…look it up) is a part of any business.
2. Nothing works the first time
Write it down.
It never works out the way you want the first time. If
that wasn't true, then sports teams would only hold ONE
practice session before they played games that counted.
Think about it.
Even the great Tiger Woods and the greatest athletes in
the world practice over and over. Yet, to my absolute
mystery, somehow a few people think they can have the
Internet lifestyle by reading one ebook and working 15
minutes a day.
Please. Get real.
There IS an Internet lifestyle. But you pay your dues
first. You learn, you practice, you test, you tweak and
you learn some more. Now, I've seen that compressed into
literally very short time frames.
My friend Jason Fladlien is 20 months into the Game and
bringing in $30,000 to $50,000 a month BUT he has PRODUCED
dozens of products in that time span and promoted them to
a small list of only a few thousand names (but a list
growing rapidly now).
Doesn't matter you have a small list. THAT is how you
start out. You start out, you produce and you hit singles
or bunts to start with NOT grand slams.
If someone DOES hit a grand slam their first time at bat
at product creation, THAT isn't typical.
Typical is like me — my first products hardly sold. Like
my one on how to avoid TV Repair Ripoff that I advertised
in the TV Guide. If your TV was broke, would you be
READING the TV Guide? Those are the dumb mistakes
beginners make.
It's part of the normal learning process.
Are you a NEWBIE? If you are, you can STILL produce $10
reports, little pdf's or audios you sell, simple things.
Get in the HABIT of producing and promoting and not just
consuming info until you are a bloated info glut.
I got a real problem with people who want and expect something
for nothing. For people who think an ebook or even a coaching
program will magically open the doors to the Internet lifestyle.
You produce and promote.
Like breathing.
Do it over and over and sooner or later you'll pretty good at it
and that's when your luck finds you.
That's when your money finds you.
That's when success happens overnight.
Now it helps if you produce and promote things with the perception
of value that people want to pay for. That helps a lot.
=================== So What DOES Work? ===================
What works is to produce while you consume. Start building
your list, creating and promoting products.
THIS is what works.
Even if you're not competent, even if you make mistakes,
even if you get frustrated, even if you don't feel you
have the right to create a product, even if your web page
is kinda ugly, even if you aren't confident in what you're
doing, even if you don't know everything, even if you
aren't a good writer, even if you sound less than perfect on audio.
NO EXCUSES.
You get your assets busy and you produce and promote.
Produce and promote.
Produce and promote.
Repeat after me.
Produce and promote.
Produce and promote.
It's a mantra.
Say it now. Produce and promote. Produce and promote.
Stop over analyzing.
Stop your second guessing.
Stop making excuses.
This is the ONLY mantra that virtually guarantees your
success….I say “virtually” because not everyone succeeds
— at anything. Not everyone succeeds at golf, tennis or
chess. Business is no different.
But as a general rule, if you persistently and
relentlessly create, produce and promote products that are
wanted and needed to audiences known to be passionate
about buying and spending money, it'll be hard for you to
NOT succeed.
This is the straight and narrow path to success — the one
I have been teaching and preaching since 1998 and before.
This is the EVERGREEN path to success. The money you spend
to learn it won't be wasted because it's a skill.
Producing and promoting never “stops working.”
Back in 0 B.C. people were producing crops and promoting
or selling them. They were producing cows or donkeys or
whatever and promoting and selling them.
This is evergreen.
It's not as sexy or exciting as sending one email and
having 100 g's come in the door. The most read email I've
had recently was the Terry Dean report I gave away about
how he brought in 100 g's by sending 1 email.
Which is all true.
But he had a list of qualified prospects to send that
email to. But it shows that even on my list of people who
hopefully read this ezine every week, people are entranced
with the idea of pushing a button and having their bills
paid for the year.
Get real. Honestly. Aren't we both adults here? Aren't you
aware that the path to success lies in producing and
promoting and not magic. Cavemen believed in magic. In
third world countries where books and education are
lacking, people believe in magic.
But you aren't a caveman, you have books and the Internet
and you're in charge of educating yourself.
So cut the crap, forget the magic and get your assets busy
producing and promoting. And if you don't want to do that,
keep your day job and seduce yourself into believing that
your job is about something OTHER than producing and
promoting, which of course it isn't.
You just don't have responsibility for the ultimate
product and the exchange obtained for it. It's a matter of
what you FEEL you're responsible for.
Those people who go in forms and complain that they “tried
Internet marketing” and it didn't work.
Did they produce and promote? Produce and promote?
No. They tried promoting affiliate products to a really
low quality list they built using questionable, unproven
methods because they wanted to “try it and see if it
works” instead of committing to do it.
So someday when the NEWS hits the fan that “97% don't make
it in Internet marketing,” ask yourself out of those 97%,
how many do you REALLY think followed the mantra 3, 4 or 5
times?
You know why people have jobs?
Because they are comfortable letting someone else do the
hard work of producing and promoting, and they just want
to be a cog in the wheel without much responsibility for
producing and promoting the thing that is actually sold to
the end buyer.
You STILL produce and promote on a job. But you have
defined steps with a known outcome. That's called a job.
An entrepreneur lives in changing markets and an uncertain
world where any one product may or may not sell jack.
That's life. That's marketing.
You can do surveys and market research to put the odds in
your favor. But it's STILL uncertain. They cure is to
produce and promote a LOT! Not a little.
So I got a question for you.
This next week are you ONLY consuming?
Are you ONLY reading my ezine?
Are you making excuses for all the reasons producing and
promoting won't work for you and how you need to wait for
some reason, and why your equipment isn't good enough,
your voice isn't good enough, your writing isn't good
enough, you don't have the confidence and you aren't sure
it'll work.
Or are you going to shut the muck up and produce and
promote?
Really, this choice is yours.
Do you want a job?
Or do you want the Internet lifestyle?
If it's the latter, start producing and promoting.
Marlon Sanders
The King of Step-By-Step Internet Marketing
———————————————————–
Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Amazing Formula That
Sells Products Like Crazy and the KING of Step-By-Step
Internet Marketing.”
To get on his killer ezine list, to get cheat sheets and all kinds
of other goodies every Saturday and during the week, to get simple,
to-the-point Internet marketing know that works real world without
all the hype, go to: https://www.marlonsnews.com and subscribe
Check out all my products here:
(SIGN UP AS A RESELLER, put YOUR reseller URL and ID where
the above link is, post this on your web site and make some
dough for spreading a killer guide everyone will want to
read.)
//////////////////////
REPRINT RIGHTS: You have permission to use the above
article without omission and including the resource box.
You have the right to insert your reseller URL for any
products I mention
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
D. Services You Can Use
(If you want to post this ENTIRE ezine, you can replace the
following links with your RESELLER links)
1. The Marketing Dashboard: Amazing Formula and Gimme
boiled down to icons and step-by-step. Doesn't replace AF
and Gimme but useful. Basically, it spoon feeds all the
things in AF and Gimme. http://www.getitgoing.com
2. The Marketing Diary: Me teaching Matt daily all the
details of the Amazing Formula and Gimme system. This
contains additional insights into The Amazing Formula and
Gimme that you won't find in those products. It's
literally what I taught to Matt in his first 90 days with
me. http://www.themarketingdiary.com
3. After 8 years, thousands of customer emails, thousands of
buyers in virtually every major city in the world (and
many you haven't heard of), 13 web site designs, 4 product
designs, after ebook and CD versions, after endorsements
from major marketers the world over, after hundreds of
marketers and products have come and gone, after attacks
by the world's most notorious criminals, after attempts to
put it under, there is ONE product that remains and stands
tall. There is one product that is stable.
http://www.amazingformula.com
4. Are You Paying Over $10.00 For Hosting? If you are,
you may be getting ripped off. Design Dashboard shows you
not only the basics of doing your own design but really
walks you step by step through setting up your hosting,
autoresponders and shopping cart.
http://www.designdashboard.com
5. LAST CHANCE?
Grab the brilliant video by Adeel Chowdhry on how to mash
together stock video, stock sounds and stock music to create
an attention-grabbing, compelling video you can put on your
sales page, Facebook, Squidoo lenses, Hub Pages, or even
Twitter out to your list.
http://www.PromoDashboard.com
6. Your Own Products?
It's the only step-by-step, A to Z system not JUST for
creating info products …. but that shows you HOW to select
product ideas using my “flanking move” I've built my business
on, HOW to do 12-product surveys with an actual example, that
gives you a tested, proven email & source witha 30% success
rate in getting interviews with experts — PLUS, templates
that would cost your more than the Dashboard to have custom
created! http://www.productsdashboard.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
E. Get the Evergreen Traffic System
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tinu emailed and says she has added new info on social media!
Most All Her Domains Got Shut Down, She Can't Get Out Of Bed Some
Days, Her Hands Swell Up Like Balloons, Her Podcast and Video
Hosting Got Shut Down — And She STILL Snagged 3,579 Average
Visits Per Day In April 2008!
http://www.TurboProfits.com/tracking/go.php?c=7_25_tinue
Evergreen Traffic System is now sold and serviced directly by Tinu
==============================
Copyright 2009 Higher Response Marketing Inc.
All Rights Reserved
[…] reading: Marlon Sanders – Are You Gonna Produce Or Are You Gonna Consume? https://www.marlonsnews.com/713/ […]
[…] Consuming Or Producing? Written by admin on September 3, 2009 – 8:11 am – Marlon Sanders has just posted a great blog post about people who consume information products all the time, but they don’t produce their own thing. He calls it in a very catchy phrase are you a producer or a consumer? […]
Awesome, I was guilty of that myself for quiet a long time! But once you start producing consistently, and get over that bump where you don't get immediate rewards, but once you experience what is possible, it's done. You just have to get over that bump.
[Hey, yes, it's so true. And newbies have to learn to take this step!]
Hi Marlon, You have been posting such good info on your blog, I just had to write and say thank's a lot.
Your latest video is so good I posted a link to it on my blog!
Best Wishes, Ray.
[Ray, thanks! Glad you found it useful and wanted to share it!]
Thanks for this great post Marlon. I feel many people spend too much time in researching the product before starting the creation process and never finishing to create the product. For most niches, things are always, always changing and research is hard to kill… you'll always have new changes with niche topic as new things, ideas and findings are discovered and you'll need to update the product. Look at internet marketing, always changing with some other neat way to get traffic, build your list etc.
Thanks for making us wiser,
Adriel Yapana
[Adriel, you're right. Research is important…but there has to be a limit on it. You only make money when you product and promote.]
Great Advice about the free report. I'm actually working to segue from copywriting for others to being a full time Info-Marketer myself, but I still might use that idea, thanks.
Such a good post.
(and yeah you'Re good at generating action in your blog — and to say that there was an attack – so that the truth doesn't get out — well that's hype)
But the bottom line is — you are absolutely right.
Eben Pegan says speed of implementation is the key to success.
My biggest success online was something I pulled out of my ass in less than a day 🙂
and the scary thing was that — it was a good product.
the best to you,
OLivier
[Olivier, actually it's NOT hype. Adeel Chowdhry had a dos attack last week as did one other online marketer I talked to. And when your web host scratches their head and says they aren't sure they can get your site back up until the barrage on your mysql database stops, what else would you call it? If someone is doing what they perceive as a big launch and your message interferes with their launch, all bets are off. This is NOT a problem for most people in most markets. It wouldn't happen to you in IM unless you have a pretty big list and a big following.]
Marlon,
I read your emails as often as possible and enjoy the information. My experiences in internet marketing have been exhausting and somewhat frustrating as I am self taught in computers and marketing on the net. I had to sift through the garbage to find reputable sites where information was legitimate and no one was standing there with their hand out. You really can't get a free lunch today, especially with most keyword programs. Seo and other programs can cost you a small fortune. So where do you start with nothing? Affiliate marketing was the best place to learn about all this at no cost. The price of a large cup of coffee got you monthly hosting and all the bells and whistles to go with it. Selling your own products is best because of higher profits but you need to learn all the ins and outs of internet marketing first or lose it all. Affiliate marketing is pushed by most companies to help them boost sales. Every marketer out there with products to sell has an affiliate program for their products. Buying into every new launch and clickbank overnight millionaire item will simply break the bank as many have reported. Selling is not for everyone neither is product creation. That's why companies import from China producers and other countries and resell here. Look at Alibaba.com to get a better understanding of this. You want products? They have them. If you want to resell ebooks look up reseller rights.
[Hi John, nothing wrong with that other stuff. But if you want to learn that other stuff, you need a teacher other than me. I teach product creating and selling products. Always have. That's who I am, what I teach and what I do.]
When it comes rite down to it there is really only four ways to make money online or off line.
1,You sell someone elses product.
2,Sell your own products,
3, You can do both.
4,You can have others sell your products.
IN THE ABOVE ORDER
Selling (promoting other peoples) products is a great way for newbies to get there feet wet and learn what marketing is all about.They greatest product in the world does no one any good if you don't know how to promote it.
It will help those who have no idea of how to create there own product to do so.
It will help develope the skills required to discover what kind of product that will sell.
Once one aquires skills, the tools,and there confidence, then they can do both, and have much higher chance of being suscessful at what ever they do.
An inportant thing to remember is that the further upt he latter you get and the more suscessfull you become and more money you make the more responsabilaties you are going to have the more time it is going to consume.
[Chuck nothing wrong with selling other people's products but it only takes a few hours to have your own and you make 100% instead of 50%. And having your own product IS the best way to build your list bar none.]
Great post Marlon you gotta do both, learn and do.
The learning part should be considered as an investment, both in time and money spent on courses etc. But it will only pay off with doing (producing and promoting)!
Best,
Dave.
[Dave, I totally agree. And read the comment by Ron to see the problem. Some people spend and spend and spend and never product and sell. These are the people I'm trying to prevent losing their assets.]
Marlon,am glad we are getting there ! this is what one of my mentors-Yanik Silver refer ed to as the continuity blue print.much as we have to produce,we should opt for producing membership sites.
One of the favorite Net marketing occupations these days is Guru Bashing. Even sales letters are written that promote the notion of some vast, dark conspiracy of evil genius gurus who plot to rob the peasants of their hard-earned money. It's gotten so bad that some sales letter begin with the author proclaiming, "I'm not a guru'. Your excellent article smashes that silly notion because we're all responsible for our own success – or lack of it. There seems to be a huge percentage of the population that wants to blame others and not accept the responsibility for their own lives. Too bad for them.
[Sydney, wow, you really said that SO well! It's really true.]
Hi Marlon, How straight to the point your are, I love it. I like things straight and to the point. I'm an Avon Independent Sales Rep., which means I sell products for Avon but I'm still not promoting anything of my own. My interest are writing poetry which is not in a great demand. But I do want to promote something of my own. I've been online for about 3 to 4 years now and I can not get my customers to order online they rather have me take their orders and delivery them myself, but I want to reach out to a wider network. Avon can be sold all across the globe. I know its not a product of my own but its a start. But my question is how do you promote something you like to do like poetry and make something out of it? I'm thinking like cards or calenders. Would that be a start in the right direction? Just looking for some feedback.
Hello Mr Sandors,
I have been following you for quit some time now and I like the way you mentor.I just came upon a site named Maverickmoneymakers.com and I signed up as an affiliate,and Mack teaches step by step in videos.How to get your Clickbank account,How to set up your domain useing Go-daddy.com,how to setup your host,ect,ect,.I am an affiliate of yours and I just want to get the low down on him.I don't want to be duped again.I am on SSD and get paid once a month which causes me problems because of the bill's I have to pay seem's I just can't get a head.That's why I am here with you,to learn.I have joined so many programs that have not panned out,and my wife says OH NO not anouther program but I will make it with yours,it will just take me some time to set up everything.as far as having your own product I agee,produce and promote.So I am saving up for your Info-Product Dashboard,might take me 2 Months But I will do it.Thank You very much.
Ron Ott
[Ron, I don't know much about Mack's program, so I can't speak competently on it. Here's the answer to your problem. Stop buying stuff. Go create some products and sell them. Stop buying for now. You've bought enough. The reason you aren't making money is you aren't producing products and selling them. Instead, you're buying other products. See you are in THEIR funnel. Do you get that? You make money by getting people in YOUR funnel. Tell your wife, "I've decided to stop buying stuff until I produce and sell my own products and build my own list and start sending out my own emails and start putting up my own sales letters.]
http://feeds.feedburner.com/addthis/community
Marlon,for a cant imagine how you ,Yanik silver,Shawn have brought me up from.And iam now a guru of internetmarketing/globalization/techcruch What can stop us ?
@ Marlon – thank you for that excellent suggestion for a report – I did see it in your comment to Joshua and thought "that's a great idea!"
I actually came by to comment yesterday, but, as you now know your site was down. It was just this post at the time.
As we know, there is no free lunch. But it's amazing how many still believe there is this "something for nothing."
There are ethical Internet Marketers (such as yourself) who continue to highlight that there is a price to pay if you want to be rich via the Internet or via any business method.
Unfortunately there are not enough of them and I think it's because they know people don't want to hear it…. they'd rather consume and believe the dream and then complain about people who put in the work and make good. At the same time people who really want to make money can't simply desert wisdom and common sense and expect to get rich. That would mean the Universe was out of synch – and it never is. It will be a great shame if Internet marketing with all its great potential gets a bad name (or should I say a worse name?) than it has because people have been fed – and have believed – a lie.
I believe you do the Internet Marketing community a GREAT and much needed service by telling it as it is -not as an aside. I hope others follow your lead, however won't hold my breath.
On a famous Internet Marketer's call one day I heard someone ask how they could make several thousand dollars in one week. They were new to IM. And they were serious. The answer they got probably wasn't what they wanted to hear.
@ Robin Lee – I know with Marlon's Info Product Dashboard you can create a product in a few hours… that might be what he's referring to.
[Nicky, marketers don't want unsubscribes and they don't want people complaining on their blogs. AND they need to sell stuff. Work is a word that's KNOWN and proven to KILL sales! Still, I think marketers have got to come forward and step up and tell people 97 percent don't succeed and the reason for that is MOST don't take persistent action on a sound game plan like product creation.]
Love the article. About time someone spelled it out like that.
I have done that in the past and yes the less I produce the more I want to buy. It is the notion that you just need one more thing to succeed, and YES you are absolutely right you do need one more thing to succeed, and no guru can teach you that
COURAGE to take action
David Carreno
[David, really well stated and true. NO ONE likes criticism nor the fear that others will in some way be disappointed with a product It's all a state of mind. Focus on creating and putting your message out there.]
Hi, Mr,Marlon,well Ive read all the comment and mine is sure diferent then all that,beying an VisuelsArtiste Painter and teacher my wish is to get me a website or find one that cant promote my painting and other craft I do and a web that I could give many tips and lessons from a to z in any medium,ho all the dreams I have I kno is not the same as yours cause we dont prodose the same think but have the same tought to do something and Promote it,wish Id have the knowledge you have I would have the biggest web on eart, ahahaha.
[Hi Denise, give people something free like a free online painting or something for joining your email list. You need some kind of incentive to give people to join your list. Use Robert Plank's Action Comments to put a delayed popup on your blog that gives people the reason to join your email list. AFTER you get them on your email list, send them emails about your paintings and give them special offers to buy. See if you can find SOMEONE who sells paintings or crafts via email who you can study and emulate. You could even do videos where you show paintings and talk about them. Then you send out links to those videos to your list. And that is how you SELL your paintings. So 1. Get people on your email list. 2. Send out emails 3. Send out videos where you show your paintings and sell them.]
Right between the eyes Marlon.
But here's the problem for hucksters:
The truth is that it's ALL hard work. But the reason that this is NEVER EVER stated anywhere in the IM community by the newbie conmen, in their sales letters, posts and ads is that then no one would ever buy their schmucky stuff LOL!
(No Marlon my man, I don't include you in th 'huckster class)
Jonathan
PS. I know the feeling – MY site is also out of action – big server issues at the host Kiosk dammit.
[Jonathan, I loved the graphic design on your site. Ummm, Adeel C. got hit by a d.o.s. attack also. You may be having the same thing. May not be your hosts fault. I think marketers need to speak up and tell people they aren't going to get rich by pushing a few buttons or buying 1 ebook and doing a 20 minute thing once. Or by sending one email to the list they don't have. You know, Internet marketing is an awesome thing. I love it. It's a great thing to do. And it's true I've worked very little the last 7 years….but I have staff and I paid my dues in the years BEFORE the last 7.]
Hi Marlon,
Product and Promote is my new mantra. Thank you, thank you, thank you … I'm sad to say that you were talking directly to me. Good thing is that I heard you loud and clear.
Question: If I don't have a product of my own just yet and want to produce one quickly. I've got a lot of PLR stuff – can you give some tips on using PLR?
Thank you for the Enlightenment.
Robin
[Robin, the thing on PLR is you need to add to it…say add camtasia videos to it. Or add custom content to it. Just selling PLR on its own can get you in hot water. My great friends and genius marketers Robert Plank and Jason Fladlien had a plr membership site called traffic badboys that was ONLY $7 a month and you got a TON of plr stuff. If you search it in Google, they got WHACKED HARD over it by a few very tough critics. Personally, I thought unfairly. But both Jason and Robert would tell you it wasn't their best product. Here's the thing…did you know you can create your OWN product in 2 or 3 hours?]
And that last should be "produce and promote," put in the time… but product works too.
Produce and Promote – it's all you need to know, really.
I thought your newsletter on Saturday was the best I'd read in a long time (and your newsletter is excellent).
If I call to mind any of the people who've made the Internet lifestyle real for themselves (and others) they are producers and promoters.Every single one of them. It really is that simple. They use affiliates to extend that promotion, but they are the producers. The affialites are the sales people but they don't own the product.
Everything else is a means to an end – either to increase the promotion or the production.
There is no overnight get rich quick, but some simply don't want to hear that and prefer to think of the Internet as a gold rush of easy riches – soon to be theirs with little effort on their part. Right now Social Media is the newest "hot thing" that's seemingly going to make people millionaires overnight.
Product and promote, put in the time and effort and reap the results… basic business rules that never change. Thanks for the down to earh newsletter. Keep it up!
[Nicky, I'm glad you posted because there's a minority but vocal amount of people STUCK on the easy riches thing and they bait Internet marketers into hitting that theme over and over. There IS no something for nothing. Not now. Never will be. It's the universal law of exchange. By the way, I'll make the suggestion to you I made to Joshua. There's a demand for a report on how to hire copywriters at ALL price points and how to do it effectively. And then there's different kinds of copy where you need different kinds of writers.
Anyway, I realize I'm selling the steak not the sizzle here. But if some marketers don't have the guts to stand up and tell people the truth and that you have to produce and promote to be in this business long term, I think there WILL be a price to pay down the road when people get disgruntled because all the fads and gimmicks fizzle out on them.]
Someone had to tell the truth.
I'm a copywriter, and I always tell my clients that think they don't have a back-end, that they are in an optimum position.
Many of those advanced affiliate techniques are based on PRODUCING info that pre-sells or compliments other people's products. That makes creating JV's, irresistible offers to buy through your link etc.. infinitely easier.
Affiliate marketers need to fully own the role of Info-Marketer.
I'm not surprised someone tried to suppress the truth. Keep keeping it real.
Thanks
[Joshua, I think you said that better than I did so I believe you ARE a good copywriter! May I suggest you produce a report "How to hire and work with a copywriter and get great results regardless of your budget." And then you explain the different price tiers of copywriters, when you should hire, how to get the best results and so forth. You refer out copywriters in different price tiers than you're in and ask them to do the same for you. A lot of people WANT a copywriter but maybe think they can't afford one…..one of my friends thought it cost $100,000 to hire a top tier copywriter and was shocked to find out he could get a top talent for $15,000. Others have a budget of $200 to $1000 and need advice and guidance on that kind of budget. Then there's the $2000 to $5000 price range.]
Marlon … you are …
"A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS"
No wonder the online masters of deception are filling their pants!
You're still the best, a voice online worth listening to, one of the ONLY voices worth listening to online.
I still love you man!
Alan
[Alan, you have my phone, right? Call me sometime. Or I'm on skype and Twitter.]
"bloated info glut" I love it, sounds like great cartoon character – I imagine an overweight ant eater 😛 Great article, all very true, "Produce and Promote" I will sticky note that to a spare piece of monitor space.
Zara x
[Hi Zara, how are you? I do appreciate you sharing here because I wasn't sure if this message was too advanced or hard core for my folks. At the same time, it's the truth so I felt obligated to tell it.]
Marlon,
You say it how it is! That's what I love about your message. People think making money online is magic. It's simple, but it ain't easy. It's not easy because it takes commitment, persistence, and a winning attitude and most people quit before they "deserve" success.
The successful people that I know, all paid their dues, including myself. You have to be determined to make it happen.
You must believe it before you'll see it! Then take massive action.
[Ryan, yeah, simple but not easy. There IS a difference. I think it's easier now than ever before. But still, it takes effort and time. It's not some ultra hard undertaking, or it doesn't have to be. But it does take more than snapping your fingers and money shows up.]
People like to tell stories about what they would done differently when they first started out and I'm no different.
I knew about building lists and using pre-sell devices when I first started with the IM niche. I started making affiliate sales almost from Day 1
My advertising gig at the newspaper still paid more
You see, I never really new how easy and cheap it was to create products, get affiliates and build customer lists until Mike Paetzold and I started working together.
So what I would have done differently when I first started was PRODUCE and PROMOTE as you suggest. I would have been able to quit my day job sooner
[Jerry, I'm sure your words will inspire some here. Thanks for sharing.]
Marlon:
I get lots of emails from marketers claiming they are making a killing from:
1- Adsense or adwords
2- CPA network referrals
3- Clickbank (not their own product)
4- Various affiliate programs
I can't understand how any of these people are producing anything. It seems to me, all these people do is promote. Are they just deceiving us about their incomes? Or are they making money without producing a thing?
Thanks. Steve
[Steve, I stand for something. That thing is called EVERGREEN. Promoting affiliate products is fine. And, the best way to sell affiliate products is to sell your own product to build your list. And sell affiliate products on the back end. Now, unless I'm mistaken, you're referring to people SELLING YOU PRODUCTS on how to do all those other things you just mentioned. So in other words, they ARE doing what I'm talking about.]
Hey there Marlon or shall I say King of Step-by-Step Internet Marketing?! Nice brand by the way…
…and if that's the First ever King of SbSIM, you got a pretty nice position 😉
(I mean who really remember the second guy who fly across the Atlantic?)
And let that be the most valuable marketing lesson in itself – be the first in a category or produce one and be the first!
You're really a GEM Senior!
Can't really imagine how the Web will be with all the fluff and thrash being stuffed daily… Heck! I'm guilty of this one but I knew I made a mistake.
And I knew what I need to do next – thanks to you 😉
And personally, I'm putting you up a notch from my all time favorite – Jim Daniels (but just a bit lower than Harvey Segal).
Thanks King (hey, I like that already)!
[Hey Nezrul, your post made me laugh. Harvey's a wonderful mentor. If I've helped put you on the straight and narrow path or help you stay there without distraction, I feel I've served you well. At the end of the day, you hope to serve well and touch a few lives along the way.]
Hi Marlon,
Thanks for the great info.
After following your newsletter for several months along with other
posts from you, I have researched much deeper into product creation.
I feel to have a pretty good grasp on the concept.
A while back you had mentioned we needed to learn to effectively
drive traffic before creating products.
In your opinion, What traffic driving method(s) would you suggest we
try to master for promoting our products we will be creating?
Thanks,
Ben
[Ben, good question. I'll try to answer that in the future. Yes, you can
drive traffic to a squeeze page and build your list while you are creating
your first product.
You product products and promote or promote and produce products.
It's like breathing and you can start on either end.]
.
Wow!
That's what I said to myself after reading your ezine – and immediately shared it with my followers on Twitter. After thinking about it for a while, I realized this was a message my email subscribers needed to hear – so I did what you said, and shared it with 2,000 of them too 🙂
Jay Abraham, at a seminar, once mentioned the 3 types of people at any event:
* Those who are serious about business – and are very successful (the folks who 'produce and promote'
* Those who are learning about business – who are on their way, and will get there sooner or later
* Those who are PLAYING at business – who get fulfillment just from CONSUMING, and will never 'produce and promote' their own stuff
I'm sure your message will help move quite a few people from the third group to the second, and in time, to the first.
Thank you for sharing it, Marlon.
All success
Dr.Mani
[Hi Dr. Mani, appreciate you sharing here and I hope everyone checks out YOUR new product. You're doing what I've been talking about and have for a long time.]
Hi Marlon,
Admittedly, I belong to the 97% of consumers who buy stuff from smart marketers like you who are listed on John's gurudaq.com and just either sit on them or hope for the next offer to be like you say – switch me over to be among the 3%, like magic .. hah n LOL, n of course won't happen unless we join, like I just did : FreeLottoMagic, n that too may not work!
But, joke's aside I do want to start and stop enjoying my consumer ride, so if you will be the mentor that should appear when the pupil is ready, then I shall start by reading all of this site and contact you when I have a valid question. Yes, Ewen and Fiona have done it from my end, so why not some simple-ton like me? Thanks for your wake-up words of wisdom, it's about time I face reality and start hitting more balls to get to the elusive hole on the green.
With best regards,
vivien
aka auntie-v
to my other kids
[Vivien, the words may sound harsh. But producing and promoting is the path the success in this business.]
Hi Marlon,
Do you really think everyone has to make products, meaning being a producer.
Can people not just sell other peoples products? Even make a living from it.
You look at the real world, one has a store selling cloths, another is selling hardware etc. None of them made the goods, yet they make a living.
There are many people on the internet selling PLRS etc. In short, selling other peoples products.
Even a lot of the "Gurus" have their own things to sell but, they still sell and promote just about anything new and worthwile that comes out.
Now Marlon, you don't do that. I have often wondered why Marlon is not sending me email about all that new stuff.
Now do not get me wrong, I know what you say is valid, we all should have our own things to sell. Though, not everyone is cut out to produce. If I could write like you Marlon, I would have a lot of stuff to sell already made by me.
I never went to school to learn english, I come from Germany, what I know is all self-taught.
Now don't come with Ewen Chia, please.
I am a long subscriber to Ewen and bought a few things from him.
He is a darn good marketer, I'm paying him money every month.
[Hermann, I like Ewen a lot. In fact, I'll interview him shortly. So you are paying Ewen monthly for a product he produces and promotes? So unless I'm mistaken Ewen does exactly what I wrote in the article and has been doing it all along … with precision and flair I might add.]
This comment came in on the wrong article. So I'm reposting it below. It's from "Bizzy"
PRODUCE and PROMOTE. Ouch !
That article cut to the quick. I have written those words: PRODUCE and PROMOTE , taped them to the top of my monitor. I thought I was old enough and wise enough, NOT. I am done with buying the latest and greatest ebook and software program to make it in the ‘game’. I make a very good living off-line by selling my employers products = PROMOTING. The owner says I am the PRODUCER
for his company. Either way, only one way to look at it at the end of the day, PRODUCE and PROMOTE. I have enough knowledge and software (some yours) to ‘make it’ in internet sales. As of this very instant, no longer am I a wish, hope, gonna do it, haven’t done it, kind of person. I WILL have a web site up and working in the next 48 hours, even if it is butt ugly, as I realize it can and will be fine-tuned over the next weeks and months. I have PRODUCTS that have a ‘want factor’ , based on keyword research. I have to PROMOTE my ideas to create the revenue streams that lead to the lifestyle I desire. Let me see if I got this right, to be successful, especially on the internet, all one has to do is PRODUCE AND PROMOTE? On an ongoing and consistent basis? I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it………..
Now I’m off to GO GET IT !!!!!
Thank You Marlon for your extreme words of wisdom and motivation. Sign me out, The Producer.
Bizzy
Thanks Marlon for "Produce and Promote".
I've been wanting to post something similar in a popular marketing forum for a long time to the whiners and complainers, but there's no way I could say it nearly as eloquently and concisely as you did.
Of the small percentage of people that actually DO try to make something happen, a large number of them get bogged down thinking they're not good enough as witnessed right here in some of the comments on this blog.
To you guys I'll repeat what my dear friend and mentor, Willie Crawford keeps drilling into my head…
"Don't worry about getting it perfect, just get it going!"
The first time you upload a webpage and make it live, is the worst it'll ever be. The first time you put a new product in front of the public, that's the worst it'll ever be.
My daddy always said, "You can't catch fish without a line in the water."
By the same token, you can't be an info-product publisher without producing a product.
Once you get your product out there, and find out for sure it'll sell, then you work on making it better.
When you have a saleable product, with a sales page that converts, then you can get affiliates to sell it for you, and that's when you really start to grow.
Then you produce another product, get it out there, refine it, hook up your affiliate force, and move on.
Oh, wait a minute! Marlon's been telling us that for years, hasn't he?
To all you people that really want to do something and are afraid you'll fall short, I'll leave you with this.
"You can't let the fear of losing keep you from playing the game!"
Thanks again, Marlon!
Michael
[Michael, appreciate your comments here. And you gotta love Willie. Great guy]
"You don’t push a few buttons and money magically appears."
How true and if you treat it like a real business and take action, learn and practice, practice, practice and understand that failure is going to be part of the process and your best teacher.
That's why testing is so important and will save you a fortune in time and money.
Being a succesful internet marketer takes alot of time, marketing skills, tools, knowledge, and add real value to your market or niche. that is the internal "Hot Button" that you see everywhere online.
I’ve personally owned and operated extremely successful multi-million dollar companies both in the real world of retail and now online.
At the age of 19 I started a wireless company from scratch, with no prior business experience and became a “Master Dealer†in the cellular world and top dealer in the state of Florida for companies like AT&T Wireless, Voice Stream, Nextel and a few others.
And I did this in less than 3 years because I was always marketing and doing! It was a priceless journey.
How, you ask? OK, here’s the missing link and the key to it all … ready?
It’s The 8th Wonder of the World … called LEVERAGE!
I modeled and leveraged my relationships and paid the price to be pro-active and sought out mentors in my field, to guide me at lightning speed to accomplish my goal of becoming the most successful wireless dealer in my area… and I literally dominated my market for 10 years!
Just as Marlon says, to Produce and Promote is what seperates you, me, Marlon and everybody else from making money or not.
I've always been an entrepeneur and
I found my niche and boiled it down to exactly what I could offer to create value.
I spent a fortune on training and bought so much information that I fell into the trap of constant learning and I was afraid and overwhelmed that my site / product wasn't perfect.
Even though I knew marketing I didn't have any, zero, computer skills and FEAR was the monster that stopped me from pulling the trigger everytime.
My main website is a perfect example. I teach and operate this site strictly to help people invest and make their money go to work by watching my own portfolio.
It's a basic site with a short 2 minute bootleg video of me revealing how I make huge returns on investments.
That site is not perfect, but it works and is easy to understand and clear.
If you want to see for yourself you can check it out at http://www.scottrobinsoninc.com and I practice what I preach.
You will see how I use Leverage and teach anyone how to get the same results I do no matter what your investing experience is … That's the value I give away for free.
[Scott, thanks for your post and insights here. You're promoting in your post. But you did it with subtle style, so I liked it.] And promoting yourself, your products and your web site IS what it's all about.]
hey marlon
i read your 'post ur qns…' email before the actual produce and promote email.
So i was actually going to ask you that if im not really a good writer, and that im a chinese who doesnt really speaks very good english or sound very nice to be recording videos, what can i do?
But after reading the post, i think thats not an excuse haha.
So i have a website about increasing productivity course which has been sitting on the shelves for very long becos i doubt the value of it…(sales page is up, so-called the writings for the product is done)
I will just promote and learn as my first selling info product!
I have one question here:
What if you think that your product doesnt commands much value? As in its not a really comprehensive product about the niche (productivity), what can we do to make it more marketable.
By looking at other competitors' salespage, im like fulfilling less than 50% of what they have, plus the 'p.s.' which they have, its like my product is lacking the meat.
I know the possible things might be to create them into videos, getting interviews?, add in bonus ebooks from plr places, add in personal consulting?…
Regardlessly, i will take it off the shelf and activate it!
[Hey, very good questions I'll see if I can answer those sometime. Look at Ewen Chia…he doesn't speak real clear English and look how much he sells. Or Fione at FioneTan.com. I know people who can't talk English at all but hire people to do videos for them.]
I want the truth but I can't handle the truth. You hit the nail on the head and if you read the fine print on the infomercials you will see results NOT typical. I have been a consumer for a long time and thanks to Marlon's products, I have produced some products and am on my way to promoting them. This article is great for anyone in any industry that is stuck in neutral. Thanks Marlon. Hiram
[Hi Hiram, thanks for posting here. Glad you are producing and promoting!]
Hi Marlon,
Produce and Promote is right. All the excuses are largely invalid.
I've been guilty of some of them and realized recently that they all have to go. Your letter today helped greatly to solidify that resolve.
I have a couple of questions though about promoting:
1) What is the best and right list building approach? (I think I know the answer but would like to have it confirmed by you).
A very important subquestion would be the mechanics of it, i.e. where to start and the step by step. (I know you bill yourself as the step by step #1 guy and I don't doubt it).
Which of your courses if any focus on list building?
I find a lack of concise and newbie proof information on the subject. The 5 to 8 steps articles which are to be found and rank well in search engines don't give enough info for someone just starting out.
Nearly everyone says that list building is easy, gives a lip service to it and leaves the subject. Or they say it is a too big subject, give a few lame points and leave it at that.
2) I really do want to promote your excellent letter-articles and don't have a clue how to change the links at the bottom of the letter.
I tried first what I could think of and it didn't work. I know it must be very simple so can you point me to where I can find the info?
Keep up the good work. I like it more by the letter as you keep churning them up.
Vance.
[Vance, great things you brought up. We'll produce some instructions on changing the links and make them available.]
Hi,
For those of you who tried to post comments and couldn't because the blog was down, I apologize. We have 3 dedicated servers. Someone REALLY didn't want this message to get out and apparently attacked the server our blog is on. I do apologize.
Some people just can't STAND the TRUTH about why they haven't made money or why they've lost it and they'll try to drowned out the truth.
Some people like to blame others for their lack of success. But those people have to look at their own production and promotion of products.
Typically, they never produced products. They tried only promoting affiliate products, often without list building or if they built list, the source of traffic and quality of subscribers was highly questionable.
Marlon
A friend of mine has been bugging me to move up to the next level with a "breakthrough" product.
How would you define "breakthrough"?
John 😉
[John, one that breaks through the noise and takes you to another level of jv's, recognition and visibility which translates into the ability to serve a substantially larger number of customers than you did in the past. That would be subjective as measured by you. But Michael Masterson in Ready, Fire, Aim (the book) talks about Tipping Point products and that's the type of product I'm referring to…one that tips.]