There has been a tremendous response to the first article on what to sell during a recession and it has sparked a number of interesting conversations. One of these conversations revolved around the topic of how people who have filled their lives with luxuries like expensive cars, clothes, club memberships, etc. satisfy their urge for luxury when they lose the means to support the habit.

The answer to my question is: Little Luxuries!

My wife calls it “Lipstick and Lacy Underwear Time.” When women who normally buy Coach handbags and Prada shoes fall on hard times, they console themselves with ‘affordable luxuries’ like expensive lipstick and lingerie. They are able to buy something expensive for its product category, but the category itself is far cheaper than what they have been buying - so they can still lead that life of mini-extravagance without going bankrupt.

There are hundreds and thousands of these ‘affordable luxuries’ that people will turn to during the hard times. Gourmet coffee and candy treats tend to do well. Magazines about expensive lifestyles also sell. Memberships in places like CostCo will be on the rise as people look to get a little more for a little less. Trader Joe’s affordable gourmet foods will satisfy the urge for many. And other low-cost luxuries like sunglasses, watches, and (of course) lipstick and lingerie will become the focal point for people looking to ‘treat themselves’ to a little something special.

How To Capitalize On The ‘Little Luxury’ Mindset

The best way to capitalize on this mindset of ‘little luxuries’ is to simply rewrite the marketing copy for the things you are selling right now. Position your existing products and services as ‘affordable luxuries’. Encourage people to ‘treat themselves’ to your products because they are far more valuable that what is being charged.

Simply re-framing the perception of your product can shift the mental gears of your customers and give them permission to spend a little money with you.

Of course, you can also create products that are designed to supply many of the feelings of luxury at reduced costs. Or, you could simply reduce the costs of buying your products.

Another tactic that may work instead of lowering prices is to allow payments to be made in installments so that the initial cost of purchase is much lower.

I am responding to the recession with a special low-priced offer of some of my best selling products designed to help people create and grow their own information publishing business.

Instead of waiting until ‘things get better’, I want to help people develop the skills to ‘make things better‘ by starting a new business. Information publishing is a very inexpensive business to start and the profit potential is significant. I make money from it every day - so I know what I’m talking about.

The ‘Recession Buster’ Package is On The Way

I’m working on a special “Recession Buster” package that is going to put together an amazing collection of products for walking anyone through the process of starting up their own information publishing business. It will be available to subscribers of the IM Insights newsletter in a few days. (Only newsletter subscribers will receive this offer, so subscribe to the free course using the form on the right side of this web page to get the sale announcement. You’ll get an awesome e-course too!)

Keep watching your emails, the ‘Recession Buster’ package will only be available for 4 days. So, you’ll need to move fast to take advantage of this amazing deal (over 75% off of my normal sales prices.)

Real value is created in our economy when people like you and me create new and valuable products and sell them to others who need them. As our businesses grow, we pay for things like payment processing, web hosting, and software. We also hire bookkeepers and other folks to manage our business. We purchase computers, video cameras, audio recorders, and more to create new products to sell. And, the list goes on.

In short, it’s people like you and me getting to work that will ultimately start rebuilding this shattered economy. I hope, through the “Recession Buster” package, to help you get a jump start on doing your part without breaking the piggy bank in the process.

Don’t let a recession get you down. Let it inspire you to create instead.

If you are listening to the podcast version of this article, visit us on the web at www dot go-to guy enterprises dot com to sign-up for the newsletter and receive our powerful e-course titled “The Six Secret Weapons of Power Persuasion.”

The financial news is pretty clear these days: The United States economy is in a deep recession and the world economy is coming along for the ride. To many, it seems like a bad time to try and sell products online - but they couldn’t be more wrong.

An interesting thing happened on ‘Black Monday.’ As the bottom fell out of the stock market and trillions of dollars in investor wealth vanished into thin air, I actually had a pretty good day in my information publishing business. I made sales as an affiliate, I sold some products from my own product line, and I earned income from ads on my various blogs and websites. (Of course, I lost plenty of money on my investment portfolio!)

People may change their focus and priorities during a recession, but they don’t stop buying things.

When people are feeling ‘rich’ and there is plenty of cash and credit floating around, you don’t have to try hard to sell products. Even lazy marketers can make a few bucks riding trends and copying other people’s marketing methods.

But, when fear grips the markets (and people’s wallets) you have to have spend a little more time and energy to find or create the products that will sell.

What Will People Buy Right Now?

Think for a minute about what your friends and family are discussing right now when it comes to the economy and their jobs. Many are probably trimming back spending on ‘luxury’ items. Others are trying to stretch the useful life of products they have been just throwing out and replacing in the past.

Instead of a new car, it’s new brakes on the old car. Maybe you know someone who is learning to cook and bake from scratch to avoid the cost of expensive pre-packaged foods in order to stretch the grocery money a little further each week. You may even know people who are scrambling to trim their lifestyle and sell off non-essential items in their homes to keep up the payments on a house after their spouse lost a job.

In every one of these cases and more there are opportunities for smart marketers. Information about car repair, selling on eBay, and meal planning are easy sells in a difficult economic climate. You can also teach people how to make things for themselves to save money (think knitting, sewing, crochet, woodworking, etc.)

There is also a huge market for ‘frugal living’ resources. These folks may not like to spend money on store-bought cleaning products, clothes, and packaged foods, but they will buy inexpensive info products that teach them how to make their own versions of popular products for pennies.

Plenty of people are in desperate need of credit and budget counseling too. It is amazing how few people actually know how to create a household budget and use it. I don’t know many. You can get away without this kind of knowledge when times are good, but when the money pool dries up, these are the skills that keep you from going bankrupt. If you know anything on the subject, now is the time to get that information into a product.

The ‘Recession Buster’ Package is On The Way

I’m working on a special “Recession Buster” package that is going to put together an amazing collection of products for walking anyone through the process of starting up their own information publishing business. It will be available to subscribers of the IM Insights newsletter in a few days. (Only newsletter subscribers will receive this offer, so subscribe to the free course using the form on the right side of this web page to get the sale announcement. You’ll get an awesome e-course too!)

Keep watching your emails, the ‘Recession Buster’ package will only be available for 4 days. So, you’ll need to move fast to take advantage of this amazing deal (over 75% off of my normal sales prices.)

Real value is created in our economy when people like you and me create new and valuable products and sell them to others who need them. As our businesses grow, we pay for things like payment processing, web hosting, and software. We also hire bookkeepers and other folks to manage our business. We purchase computers, video cameras, audio recorders, and more to create new products to sell. And, the list goes on.

In short, it’s people like you and me getting to work that will ultimately start rebuilding this shattered economy. I hope, through the “Recession Buster” package, to help you get a jump start on doing your part without breaking the piggy bank in the process.

Don’t let a recession get you down. Let it inspire you to create instead.

If you are listening to the podcast version of this article, visit us on the web at www dot go-to guy enterprises dot com to sign-up for the newsletter and receive our powerful e-course titled “The Six Secret Weapons of Power Persuasion.”

The latest buzz in the Internet marketing world is the concept of Integration Marketing. Mark Joyner recently started a web community around the concept and wrote a book as well (you can get a complimentary copy of the digital version of the book when you register for a free account at the website.)

So, What Is Integration Marketing?

Like many things that Mark Joyner has written about in the past, Integration Marketing is a concept that seems very simplistic on the surface, but has profound impact when used properly.

Integration Marketing involves the integration of one marketing process into another. This can be as simple as placing a promotion for a related product on the download or thank-you page of a product you just sold. You can also place your offer into the download pages of another company’s product.

In the Internet marketing world, there are many examples of this. During the recent launch of Traffic Secrets 2.0, Frank Kern gave a free DVD to every customer who purchased the course. This DVD was included (integrated) directly into the course package and introduced Frank Kern and his marketing approach to every customer of that course.

Mike Filsaime did the same thing during the recent ‘giveaway launch’ of his ‘7 Figure Secrets’, but cross-promoted other products of his own. The resulting promotion made him a small fortune. His Traffic Fusion course includes a product called HyperJava that is a tool which is 100% focused on giving its users the ability to quickly and easily integrate their marketing into the marketing efforts of other people.

When you anylize Mike Filsaime’s business, you quickly realize that many of the tools and products he has created are designed to get his marketing integrated into other people’s promotions. There is a very good reason why his business generates 7 figure sales every year.

But, Integration Marketing is not limited to Internet marketing businesses. One extreme example that Mark Joyner gives of a successful integration is Microsoft. The pivotal deal that launched Microsoft into the massive company that it is today was the agreement they made with IBM to supply the operating system to the first personal computers.

Every new computer came with the software installed. IBM spent millions of dollars making and marketing personal computers, but when you turned one on, the Microsoft logo was what you saw on the screen. However, the real genius of the deal was that Microsoft retained the rights to sell upgrades directly to the users (who were now on their customer lists at IBM’s expense) and the right to sell the operating system to other manufacturers.

Microsoft integrated themselves directly into the marketing systems of all the major personal computer manufacturers and profited massively.

How Can You Profit From Integration Marketing Today?

The 2 easiest ways to profit from Integration Marketing are to make sure you have promotions for other products integrated into the thank-you and download pages for your existing products. Then, look for people selling compatible products and approach them with offers to promote your products on their sites.

If you register for a free account at IntegrationMarketing.com, you will get access to a ‘Deal Board’ where people can advertise opportunities for integration or products to integrate. Mark Joyner seems to be working hard to bring the power of integration to the masses.

Keep Your Eyes Open For Integration

One of the best ways to develop creative integration strategies in your business is to watch what others are doing. Whenever you sign-up for something or make a purchase online, watch out for integrated promotions. When you see a clever tactic, make a note for future reference. Look deeper than download and thank-you pages too. Pay attention to ‘guest speakers’ at conferences and bonus chapters in books.

If you are listening to the podcast version of this article, visit us online at www dot go to guy enterprises dot com for more Internet marketing insights. Don’t forget to sign up for our free e-course, “The Six Secret Weapons of Persuasion.”

Establishing Value For Your Products is a critical objective in the product launch process. When your product sales page goes live, you don’t want your potential customers still wondering about whether the product is worth the price. At launch time you want them clamoring to get a copy before you sell out or raise the price. If your customers need to mortgage their home or sell a kidney to buy your product, they need to know in advance so they can free-up the cash and not miss out on your limited offer!

The process for establishing the value of your product is not very complicated. It relies on something psychologists call ‘perceptual contrast’. That’s a great big fancy label, but it basically means that if I show you something expensive first, and then show you a lower priced item second, the second item will seem like a bargain. As long as both items are similar, your mind will compare them when deciding the value of the second item. Your mind uses the first thing it sees as the benchmark for evaluating what comes after it. (There is a really cool experiment you can run on your friends that demonstrates how perceptual contrast works - check the bottom of this article for more details.)

To put this into practice during a launch, you start by establishing a very high value for the ‘benefits’ of the product you are selling. If a customer saved $10,000 dollars using your training, you can establish that the ‘real’ value of the training is $10,000 (at least for that customer.) If there are other people teaching something similar at a higher price, talk about how much they charge, and explain that this person’s customers are getting a good deal because the training is worth much more. This has the double benefit of showing that you are a nice likable person because you said generous things about a competitor.

Any time you have a chance to use a third party voice to state a value for the type of product your are selling, work it into the sales copy - you want to continually re-enforce the value of the product. When you solicit testimonials, always ask for details and numbers.

A common tactic is to wait until after you’ve hooked your prospective customers into wanting your product and then, as your launch date approaches, you can reveal that the product is ‘only’ going to cost $97 while still delivering the same quality as the far more expensive options. Your $97 price tag will seem like the most amazing bargain in the marketplace. A secondary benefit is that keeping people guessing about the price will encourage them to do just that. They will visit forums and blogs and speculate about how much you will actually charge - this provides more buzz in the marketplace and helps 3rd party voices re-enforce the value of your product.

That’s the process. Demonstrate the value of the results. Discuss the value and price of similar products in the marketplace, and then mention your price and compare it to reinforce the value.

Now, here is the cool experiment you can run on your friends. Fill three buckets with water. The water in the middle bucket should be room temperature. Fill the second bucket with very cold water and the third with very warm water. Have your friends place one hand in the cold bucket and the other in the warm bucket and leave them there for a few seconds to get acclimated. Then, have your friend place both hands in the middle bucket and describe the temperature of the water.

Your friend’s mind will interpret the information from each hand relative to the temperature of the bucket it was in before. The signal from the hand from the cold bucket says the water is warmer than room temperature and the other side says it’s colder - but your friend also ‘knows’ that both hands are feeling the same temperature water.

Catch their reaction on tape. It should be good for a few laughs (specially if your friend has had a few beers!) If you get it on tape, put it on YouTube and post a link in the comments here!

If you are listening to the podcast version of this article, visit us online at www dot go to guy enterprises dot com for more internet marketing insights.

You hear a lot of talk in the marketing world about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is an entire industry online. But there is an even more powerful strategy you can use to get traffic to your websites. I call it Search Result Domination (SRD) and don’t hear nearly as many people talking about this idea.

When you apply SEO techniques to your website you find yourself getting one or two pages from your website showing up in the top 10 results. Even if you have lots of secondary pages on your domain that are relevant, Google will filter them out of the results. Search Result Domination techniques work to place web pages whose content you control into many or all of the top 10 search results. Imagine the increased traffic and sales you would get if 5 of the top 10 results on a search pointed to pages you controlled. The pages would all be on different domains, so Google wouldn’t filter them out. Each page would point back to your primary site and pre-sell people on the content being offered.

Dominating the Search Results isn’t that hard in most markets. You write some content on the topic (or hire a writer) and use that to create lenses at Squidoo, marketing articles on eZineArticles, blog entries at www.Blogger.com, Wordpress.com, MySpace, Facebook, ScribD, Hubpages, Wikidot, and a host of other sites. Create a video on the topic and blast it across the Internet using services like Traffic Geyser (these can be simple slide shows with narration if that’s all you can do.) Create a podcast from your blog posts using a service like Odiogo (or by recording the audios yourself) and then list your podcast in every podcast directory you can find. Turn the articles into a free report and list it at every ebook directory site you can find.

The end result of working this way is that a searcher will go looking for your keywords and the results page will come back with mostly your pages. Those pages will steer people to your main site where you can capture leads and make sales. They will act like a giant net that you throw into the Internet to scoop up prospects and pull them into your site where they find the answers they were looking for and the products they need.

I’ve used these tactics to quickly get sites I’m working with ranking for my primary keywords. First the offsite pages get listed (I got a Squidoo page to number one in Google in 3 days this way) and then later the target page slowly overtakes the pages on 3rd party sites. Over the long term, I have several related pages on various domains which are all promoting my main page. Coupled with videos, this can happen in hours rather than days.

Give this tactic a try and let us know your results (or, if you already practice SRD, share a few tips from your experience.)

Don’t neglect your SEO work. But, once you have your page titles, headlines, page link structures, and header tags properly set up, move on and start dominating the results pages.

If you are listening to the podcast version of this article, we invite you to visit us online at www dot go to guy enterprises dot com. Leave a comment and let us know what you think about this topic.

My personal Internet marketing story can be traced back to a blog entry I read back in December of 2005. Professional blogger Yaro Starak had written about how you could make money creating niche content websites with Adsense ads on them.

I had been toying with the idea of creating some sort of Internet based business for several years, but hadn’t figured out how to get started. Yaro’s article laid out a logical and accessible approach that seemed attainable. So, with no market analysis or research I bought a couple domain names and started experimenting.

At the same time I setup a blog and wrote about my experiments.

After one year of researching and experimenting with my niche sites, I had earned less than $30 from my efforts and spent at least that much money trying to earn $30. I was not a raging success in the world of marketing.

As depressing as my initial results were, those experiments were not wasted. I learned a huge number of valuable Internet skills which became foundational to my later success. I learned about web design, SEO, ad optimization, how to setup a Wordpress site and more. I also discovered that the blog I created to document my experiments (and also to write about other projects I was doing and advice I was giving) was far more popular than any of the niche sites I had created.

Along the way I had also found a number of excellent e-books on various aspects of Internet marketing. I had to wade through a lot of junk to find the gems, but I found them. The pivotal book for me was “5 Bucks a Day“, by Dennis Becker. I discovered it during a special offer sale he was running at the Warrior Forum (the 800 pound gorilla of Internet Marketing Forums.)

I had been learning dozens of business plans that seemed like legitimate methods for earning money online, but I hadn’t focused on any one thing long enough to get real traction in my business. Dennis’ book is all about focus and breaking down your efforts into small manageable projects designed to earn a little profit consistently. Over time, you build a portfolio of profitable projects that adds up to significant income.

My newfound focus wasn’t the only benefit I got from Dennis’ e-book. He also started a membership forum for all of the people who bought “5 Bucks a Day.” And, it was there that I experienced the first of many $100 paychecks.

As a member of the forum I got very active helping other members and sharing my personal experiences in the world of marketing. All of the knowledge and skills I had aquired became the foundation for helping others. I answered questions about adding video to websites and how to record better audio. I jumped in with tips for people building Wordpress sites. And, I offered detailed reviews of new e-books and software I purchased.

All the energy I put into giving valuable information to fellow forum members paid off in the excellent reputation I was earning. I became a respected member of the community and struck up a few friendships as well.

I continued seeking out new information about Internet marketing. One e-book I came across was “Niche Marketing on Crack,” written by Andrew Hansen. One night I bought the book, devoured it, and jumped on the forum to offer up my opinion of the content.

Dennis is very generous toward the members of his forums. If you provide valuable information in a review and include a non-affiliate link to the sales page, he doesn’t have any problems with members including an affiliate link as well. I included an affiliate link in my review of “Niche Marketing on Crack.”

Over the next several days I answered many questions about the e-book. Some people I encouraged to buy it and others I recommended look elsewhere for the help they needed. As with any product, it was not right for everyone. As a result of the helpful information I provided and the good reputation I had built up, the majority of the forum members who decided to buy the e-book used my affiliate link.

That review earned me $206.80 US in commissions over the first 48 hours after I wrote it in February of 2007. Over the next 4 months I earned an additional $129.25 US. That was my first real taste of marketing success.

For a guy who hadn’t earned a fraction of that amount for all of the work he had done over the previous year, the experience was an adrenaline rush - I was really hooked.

A short while later, Dennis opened another membership forum called “Earn 1K a Day.” I joined in a heartbeat and put the same kind of energy I had spent at the “5 Bucks a Day” forum into this new venture. It was the foundation for my biggest success to date, my “Rapid Website Development” video training series which has generated more than 10 times that first success before it has even had a public launch.

Due to the increased focus on specific aspects of my business, even some of those initial bumbling efforts at marketing have begun to generate small but steady profits and have opened up new opportunities. This blog is an offshoot of the work I did on my first blog. And, of course, I continue to invest in my education to help push me to the point where my publishing business generates enough revenue to support my family. I invested in a copy of John Reese’s “Traffic Secrets” course, Mike Filsaime’s “7 Figure Code“, and (most recently) Frank Kern’s “Mass Control” course.

The most satisfying aspect of all of this is the fact that I’m funding the growth of my business and my ongoing education with revenue from my business and not credit cards and income from my ‘day job!’ (Okay, technically I did charge Frank’s “Mass Control” course on a credit card before I had the money, but I’m hard at work finishing up 2 projects which should earn me all of the money I need to pay that one off - and what I’ve learned is definitely worth the effort.)

So, that’s the story of my first $100. How did you earn yours? Leave comment below and share your story.

If you are listening to the podcast version of this article, we encourage you to visit us at www dot go to guy enterprises dot com. Make sure to share the story of how you made your first $100 doing Internet marketing.

Recently I was participating in a conversation about ‘thinking outside the box’ and shared a story that happened when I first started working on an automotive assembly line. (How I ended up working there after college is a story in itself!)
More on Rethink Your Tools

I don’t know if this qualifies as truly outside of the box, but I did one project where I used several ideas that I learned in slightly different ways than they were presented to me.
More on Thinking Outside The Box For Internet Marketing Success - Amazon Deal Finder

I have a friend who is a fiction writer. We were talking today about ideas for promoting a book she is writing. She writes in a variety of genres, but the book in question is in the ‘chick-lit’ category - at least that’s what she calls it. I came up with these suggestions:

Blog - This one is pretty obvious. She already bought her name as a domain and I’m setting her up with a WordPress blog. The focus of her blog will be on the world of a fiction writer, with news about her projects and signings, etc. I recommend she actively write about the book and drop hints and teasers about the story to build interest.

Book Website - She is also buying the name of her main character as a domain. These types of books tend to result in a series of novels, with fans of the character becoming built-in audiences. For starters I recommended she make this a sales site and offer free advance chapters to people who sign-up for her mailing list. Later she can make it more of a fan site with a discussion forum and ancillary products and content.

Forum and Group Recruiting - I recommended that she start looking for forums and discussion groups with fans of this genre as well as fans of similar books. I told her to offer a sample chapter for people who join her mailing list and to mine that list for possible advance readers who would help generate buzz for the official release.

Blog Recruiting - My suggestion here is to find a number of bloggers who write about the genre (or even specific book series that have a similar tone) and recruit them to become advance readers. Feeding them advance copies of chapters and checking out how often (and what) they write about the book. Following up with those who are vocal fans will help with generating buzz for the release.

Those were some strategies that came to me today. If you have done this type of marketing before, leave a comment and tell me what’s wrong or missing from my list.

Andrew Seltz
The Go-To Guy!