UpSide Down Marketing

By Terry Dean

The normal business process is to have a product, start looking for prospects, and make the sale. Guess What? Normal businesses also don't work very well!

Let's turn business upside down!

If you would really love to have a radical change in your business, you are going to have to make some radical changes in your methods.

One definition of insanity that I feel is especially appropriate for business owners to understand is, "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting to receive different results."

If you continue to run your business in a "normal" way, you will always be limited to "normal" results.

If you want to have "exceptional" results in your business, you are going to have to put "exceptional" methods to work for you.

If you are like 99% of internet marketers I know, I will venture to bet that you have a web site & product and that your biggest problem is building the traffic to your site. I will also bet you aren't making very many sales!

What happens if we turn this process upside down?

What happens if we choose to find the prospects first...build a relationship with them...and then find a product that they Dream about?

Everybody online appears to have a product. How many of them have an audience?

It is kind of funny...I always have people emailing me that they have an awesome product they want to sell to the world. They just can't get anyone to visit their site.

I rarely ever have anyone saying, "I have too much traffic and I just don't know what to sell." When they do email. I can guarantee you that those people are the easiest people in the world to help.

If you have the traffic, all you have to do is ask them what they want. Then, find it for them.

If you have a product, we have to figure out a way to get traffic to your site, set up the sales process, and start making sales.

I am not saying this isn't possible. We do it all the time. What I am saying is that it is the wrong way to do business on the net.

Let's turn it upside down.

Instead of starting out with a product, let's start out by figuring out what it is that you are passionate about. What is it that is exciting in your life and that you have experience and skills in?

What is it that gets your fire burning? Way too many people have decided to just follow the pack instead of being creative and coming up with their own ideas.

Since the rest of the pack seems to be slowly moving away into oblivion (Over 95% of internet sites are losing money), shouldn't you make a change of direction?

Once we figure out what it is that you love, let's decide where you can find other people just like you.

Use the internet networking tools at your disposal...

Go to http://www.forumone.com to do keyword searches of forums you can visit on this activity.

Go to http://www.dejanews.com to do the same for newsgroups.

Visit http://www.liszt.com to find all the mailing lists which deal with this topic.

Start visiting and subscribing to everything that has to do with your topic. Start participating in the discussions which go on at these sites.

Find out what people are talking about the most in your subject. Which element is the most popular? What is it that everyone is looking for online? If you don't find out by visiting these groups, start asking some questions.

Spend some time at these sites...Start visiting web sites which come up in the discussions. Make a list of things which each web site has - and what it doesn't have.

Once you know what it is people are looking for (from your participating in the discussion groups) and have found out what it is that is lacking in most of the sites...You now know how to get started. You can start building your business on Your USP (Unique Selling Position).

Design a web site, or even better, hire a professional to do it for you. Make sure that every part of it though deals with your chosen theme.

Note: I am very wary of giving specific examples in this article, because every time I do I get dozens of people emailing me that they are going to do exactly what I wrote about. Instead of following the theme of my article though, they all just want to set up the business I gave an example of.

In this article, we are discussing the strategy itself, not any specific business or industry. If you take time to start following what I am telling you here, every part of it will become clearer as each step is taken.

Start having automated traffic tools such as free information, your own discussion group or a specialized postcard site that deals with your theme.

Build up a community atmosphere and then invite visitors from all the groups you have been participating in on a daily basis. Instead of trying to sell them something, just invite them for the solutions which you have for free at your site.

Get the discussion group going on your site by picking a "Hot" element of discussion that you keep seeing come up on the other boards. Have a specialized discussion group instead of just a general one if you want to achieve high traffic from it.

Start up an Opt-In list where you will send out updates and free information on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

At this point in time, you want to focus on building up a close relationship with your visitors. You have not even chosen a product to have on your site yet. You are just building relationships and loyal visitors.

After you have started building up this group, you can actually ask them what it is that they want. Then, find it for them.

Either have it developed yourself or find someone who has it already. Then, do a Joint Venture with the product owner and endorse the product to your list and your visitors.

Let them know how you sought out and found the best _______ on the market for them and how you negotiated the best deal possible (10% off, A Free Bonus, etc.).

Note: This has to be real. You really do have to do your homework and find them the best _________. You really do have to negotiate and try to get the best deal possible for them. Don't let an ounce of deception come into play in any part of the process.

Watch your responses and sales skyrocket. What might have been a 1% sales response for the original company now becomes a 10% response from your entire list of friends.

Once you have the traffic and the list, It isn't hard at all to find the products. They will constantly be knocking at your door.

Would you rather be the person sitting back with his choice of people to work with or do you want to continue to be someone with a product looking for a customer.

The average web site may not operate this way, but do you want the results of the average web site?

Turn it upside down!