Introduction
Let me start by saying what this guide is not. It is not:
* A list of “get rich quick” schemes
* A guide to participating in pyramid schemes
* A list of multi-level marketing schemes
* A list of business opportunities
* A guide for creating a successful business in the long term
* An attempt to get you to sell my products as an affiliate
That’s right: unlike virtually all of the other guides you’ll find on the Internet about
making money fast, this one won’t tell you to do it through questionable,
unreasonable strategies; or through a business opportunity that will incur a loss
in the short run.
In fact, this guide is the opposite of that. It focuses on how you can make money
in the short run–legally, and by using reasonable, easy-to-follow methods. It
won’t tell you to incur losses, to make large investments up front, or to be patient.
This guide is designed for people like you: people who need money now; and
can’t wait for some business opportunity to work itself out.
With that said, let’s get into the substantive content. In the next 21 mini-chapters,
I’m going to tell you how you can make money online and offline in a short
amount of time and without risking any large investments in the process.
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Method #1: Hold a Firesale
If you’ve been involved in Internet business for several years, you’ve probably
seen your fair share of firesales. Some companies do it before going out of
business; while others do it as a part of their normal sales cycle.
If you’re in a bind and need some cash fast, then holding a firesale is probably
one of your best options. Of course, if it were easy or obvious how to do this,
then everyone would do it successfully; and there would be no need for a guide
such as this one. But this isn’t the case. Here’s what I personally suggest you do
to ensure that your firesale is successful:
Step #1: Pick a Demographic Before You Start
Before you even begin, it’s a good idea to pick a demographic to sell to. If you
don’t know who your target audience is before you get started, then it will be
impossible for you to select the right things to sell to them; and it will also be
impossible for you to pitch to them in a relatable way.
Step #2: Develop a Truly Attractive Firesale Package
If you currently have a large product line, then this stage shouldn’t be terribly
challenging for you. All you’ll have to do is select a handful of your products,
bundle them together, and then sell them for a fraction of the normal cost.
On the other hand, if you don’t have your own product line, then this part could
be a little more challenging. You’ll have to actively seek out products that offer
some type of resale license, bundle them together, and then sell them at a tiny
fraction of the normal combined price.
Step #3: Compute the Savings
Once you’ve assembled a large package of goods and have selected the firesale
price, spend some time to determine how much it would cost an individual buyer
to assemble all of these products (with normal—not resale—licenses). You can
then present this figure repeatedly in all of your advertisements.
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Step #4: Pitch Your Firesale
Again, if you have your own product line, website, and autoresponder list, then
this step will be relatively easier. In this case, you should start by pitching your
firesale to your existing customers. As an added incentive, you might offer to
make it even cheaper for people on your email list.
A good place to start is by creating a salespage for your firesale. Be careful to
detail exactly how much buyers will save, so that they understand exactly how
good the deal is. Also, include full descriptions of every product they will have
access to after buying.
If you don’t feel comfortable writing copy, that’s perfectly fine. You can always
hire someone from Elance to write the copy for you. Alternatively, you can spend
some time on copywriting forums; and look for people who are marketing their
services there. These individuals are more likely to have a strong background in
marketing principles and copy-writing in particular (whereas those on Elance may
be good writers, but not know much about marketing).
Once you have a salesletter, your next step should be to make a pitch to your
email list. This will require you to write some short email copy. Here, you will just
want to be brief, avoid the appearance of spam, and keep the tone of a letter. A
good approach is usually to say something like the following:
=============
[Name],
I don’t usually do this, but I’m holding a firesale this week. I’m going to sell my
entire line of products for a mere 10% of the normal price. The catch is that I’m
only going to allow people to buy at this price on Friday. If you want a chance to
get in on this incredible deal, I suggest that you check out what I’m offering at
[firesale URL] and make sure to come back on Friday.
I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Yours,
[Name]
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=============
Again, the idea is to avoid something that appears too overtly salesy. Instead,
you want to pitch it casually as an opportunity, but with a time limit and an
associated sense of urgency.
On the other hand, if you don’t already have a list and a line of products of your
own, it’s still a good idea to start by creating a salesletter; however, your
approach here should probably be different.
One good way to create a firesale salesletter for products that are not your own is
to setup countdown clock on the page; and then incrementally add the items that
will be part of your sale over time. For instance, on day one, you could add three
pieces of software that will be included in the firesale to the page. On day two,
you could add a bundle of 200 ghostwritten articles that will be included. And so
on.
The goal of this exercise should be to get people in the habit of returning to your
site daily, so that your firesale successfully builds anticipation until the final night,
when your sale will begin. By this time, if you did a good job, hundreds of people
will have seen your sale; and will be ready to buy.
As far as the actual promotional process goes, you have several options if you
don’t already have a mailing list:
1. Adwords. Since your goal is to raise money fast and since the firesale will
only be available for a limited window of time, Adwords is probably one of your
best options when it comes to marketing. Remember to use multiple campaigns,
to carefully write your text ads, and to limit each campaign to narrowly-focused
set of keywords and keyphrases.
2. Joint Ventures. Find other business owners who have large, active lists.
Offer them a very high commission if they participate (i.e. on the other of 50% or
75% of each sale). This will not only help you from the sales that they bring in
directly, but it will help you indirectly by raising your status by association.
3. Post on Forums. While most forums will prohibit you from directly
marketing your products through a thread, most will allow you to include a
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signature that markets your products. You can do this in all large, relevant forums
that you frequent; and when you do, make sure that you include the date of the
firesale in your signature, so that forum members gain a sense of urgency.
Summary
A firesale can be one of the easiest ways to make money fast online; however, if
you don’t manage it correctly, you could find yourself spending hundreds of
dollars on products without any real return to speak of.