Here's an excerpt from internationally known marketer
Dr. Jeffrey Lant's brand new 18th book:
"The 10 (woefully common) mistakes killing your Internet business and what to do about them."
Attend today's live webcast and get your copy of this awesome profit guide FREE ($29.95 retail value).
Now here's that excerpt...
Woefully Common Mistake #3: Making Bricks Without Straw.
Did you ever see Cecil B. DeMille's cinematic epic "The Ten Commandments"? It's a grand piece of moviedom. One scene in particular is relevant to this woefully common error.
At one point the evil Prince Rameses orders the slaves of Israel to make bricks without straw... and yet not fall a single brick behind their quota! The Israelites know this cannot be done, because they lack an essential component of success: straw.
They are, in short, missing a necessary tool.What differentiates man from his fellow mammals is our ability to fashion tools to achieve our ends and to make our lives easier. So it is for the 'net tools you must have to succeed. Try to achieve success without them, and you are making bricks without straw. Who is the least intelligent: the animal who cannot fashion such tools or the animal who can... but chooses not to?
In this connection, here are 3 tools you must have:
1) content management
2) prospect management
3) newsletter management
-- Content Management
One thing you must know about the 'net is that it is a constantly changing environment. This is one of its essential attributes. When you have the right tools your site need NEVER be outmoded, out-of-date, obsolete. It can always be current, timely, and up-todate.
This is where Content Management comes in. With it you can easily make changes to your website if and when required. You will have a tool which enables youto keep your message to the world fresh. Without it youface a groaning burden instead of a necessary task which can be done promptly and easily at any time.
-- Prospect Management
We all know who the most important people in yourbusiness are -- your prospects and customers (who are future customers). These are the people who provide the funds which keep your business growing and prospering. The question is how do you arrange them for best continuing results?
A good prospect management system (such as the one developed for
Worldprofit clients by our resident tech wizard George Kosch) includes these capabilities:
- A calendar which enables you to date all transactions
_ ability to add prospects- ability to designate and differentiate different prospect types
- prospect email department- stock prospect letters (remember, most people, possiblyincluding you, don't like to write and aren't very good at it)
- the ability to create custom prospect letters
- a good and easy-to-understand Help file.
Because of the critical importance of prospects to your business, you'll be using your prospect management system daily. Make sure it's easy to use... or your life will be miserable.
-- Newsletter Management
Every successful online business has a newsletter (or"ezine" as they're called on the 'net), and you will have one, too. Why? Because ezines are the easiest and least expensive way to get your message to your customer base. I know! I send half a dozen newsletters out EVERY day... and have, as a result, grossed millions of dollars over the years. To achieve such results, you need the right tools... and you must consistently use them.
Your newsletter management system must have
- the ability to easily add and edit text. This includes the ability to color text, select the right size type, all the editing features from bold to underline, etc. When you are fashioning your message and itspresentation... you are like the maestro at your podium. It is essential that you have what you need,frustrating beyond words when you don't.
- the ability to keep, store, and easily call up past issues. You will certainly want to re-use text when ever necessary. This feature is a great time savings.(Note: Creating easy-to-use newsletter templates is a great benefit,)
- A program that automatically adds removal instructions to every ezine you email.
- the ability to show how many subscribers were emailed and the date and time.
- a crucial feature which ensures that all subscribers (no matter how many times they subscribe) will only receive one copy of each issue. The vital importance of newsletters (which must be emailed on a consistent schedule) cannot be over stated. Thus, the importance of the newsletter management program you use also cannot be overstated. Don't try to run your online business without the best.
