They say only 5% of people succeed in making money online.

[John Guanzon]

Here is why,

Ever go up to a random person on the street and ask them to buy something from you? Maybe, but for the most part this won't work, because you know they may ignore you or worst get upset. Well believe it or not, most people that first start trying to earn money on the web start by doing just that! And guess what? They get ignored. Well I bet if you went up to a family member and asked them to buy something you would have a better chance of selling that item to them rather than the random person.

Reason?

There is a relationship there and hopefully some trust. So how do you build a relationship, better yet trust with a "potential" buyer? For one, do not throw a "buy this or sign up for that" in their face. How do they know that they can trust you? Try instead to offer them a free service, something that they would be interested in. It does not have to be alot just something that they would appreciate you offering to them. It could be as simple as advice! That is a start that you can not go wrong with, you have gotten their attention and possibly their appreciation.

Then what?

Make sure you can follow up and stay in contact with them, through a forum, emails, chat, anything! Continue to offer them your service, maybe just so you can answer any questions about what you offered them. You will find that this approach will give you a group of people that will be more receptive to what you want to sell. The second part of this is to continue not to throw your wares into their face, rather figure out a way to dangle it in front of them, as your relationship and trust grows with them, their chance of buying your product will increase. Focus on the person you plan on selling to, not the sale itself.

John Guanzon

[jcorkern]

i have never used a list, and i do ok. I believe that finding "targeted" traffic to your site is way more important and this basic principle has never done me wrong.

When i ran my SEO company(which was recently sold), my first few customers were hard to get, but after that i was easy, but i targeted people who were actively searching for my service.

Getting people who know they have a need (pain they want fixed), the rest is easy sailing as long as you produce.

someone who does a search for " bad credit mortgage refinance" must need money. someone that has troubled credit, if you can cure the pain, you have a good chance of converting.

If they search for "mortgage" or "loan calculator" then your chance of converting are a lot less. This is looking for general information and are usualy at the start of the buying cycle. I had a client that wanted his web design site to rank for "web design" and i refused to do it for him, I put him up for phrases that has qualities that hint of someone looking for a designer and now he turns clients away.

This is why adwords breaks the bank for most people and they have poor at best conversions.


the key to internet sucess in a nutshell is getting the "Right" visitors. Brad Callen's website "myweddingfavors.com" is a prime example.