2 Ingredients You Need to Have a Successful Online Business
You want to have a successful business?
In this article I’m going to tell you the ONLY two things you need to focus on to make that happen.
But there are a couple of assumptions I’m making so let me tell you what they are first.
First, I’m assuming that your definition of success involves making money. If you want to keep it great. If you want to give it all away, ok. Just as long as you want your business to make money…
The other thing I’m assuming is you understand that by reading this article you’re not guaranteed to make any money. Chances are high that you’ll just skim through it then move on to the next business article you come across.
I don’t mean that as an insult. I do the same thing.
There’s way too much information floating around. And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to write this. I appreciate brevity.
Don’t take 2,000 words to tell me something when you can do it in 700 (or less) you know?
I recommend you save this article. If you ever feel stuck or you don’t know what to do, come back and review it. My goal is to remind you how simple this whole thing is. And understand that simple doesn’t mean easy.
So let’s get to it.
Successful Online Business Key Ingredients
To have a successful business you need two key ingredients.
- You need a list of prospects.
- You need something to sell them.
That’s it?!
Yes my friend…that is all business is. You find a group of people with a common problem and you solve that problem by selling them a solution.
You can add different tools to the mix that will help you find the right people and get your offer in front of them but it’s still just a spin on the two steps above.
But remember, it’s not easy…
So let’s talk briefly about the first problem you’re going to face when you try to build your list of prospects.
Prospects for Target Marketing
Most of you are probably thinking that problem you’ll face is actually finding your list of prospects. But this is actually not a problem at all. It is a symptom of a bigger problem.
The bigger problem is in not knowing enough about who your prospects are. Once you’re clear on the specific type of person you’re looking for and more importantly, what their problem is…finding a list is the easy part.
You can contact list brokers, target Google searches, advertise on specific websites and/or use Facebook to find the exact people you’re looking for.
When you’re trying to understand WHO you’re selling to, you’ll want to refer to this quote:
“People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.” – Blair Warren
This one quote tells you everything you need to know about your prospect.
Here are the things that you need to be able to describe, in details BETTER than your potential customer:
- What is their dream?
- Why did they fail at achieving that dream and what did that feel like?
- What are they afraid of?
- What or whom do they NOT trust?
- Who is their enemy and why?
If you understand these components, you can build the right kind of list easily.
Then you get to sell them something!
And let’s talk about how you do that.
Important Key of Selling
For this we’re not going to talk about sales channels like email, direct mail, etc… We are instead going to talk about selling itself. What it is and what it isn’t.
Imagine you sell shoes. Not just any shoes. These shoes were designed specifically to help hikers cover a lot of ground without ever getting blisters. You actually had them created because you used to get blisters all the time which ruined your hikes.
Now imagine you are sitting next to the beginning of a long trail that’s about 50 miles long. You see someone walk up with their backpack and all the gear they’ll need for a 5 day hike.
But on their feet, they’re wearing flip flops!
You know immediately that if they don’t change their footwear, they’re going to have a miserable time. They may even have to call for help if it gets to the point they can’t walk.
You walk up and share your experience with the trail. You talk about how there’s a huge incline a mile in and where the best water spots are along the way. And you let them know that there’s no way they will make it in their flip flops.
Luckily, you have a pair of your special hiking shoes in just their size.
But the hiker doesn’t believe you. She thinks you’re trying to rip her off.
Wouldn’t you do everything you can to convince her that she needs your product?
THIS is what selling is. That’s how you do it.
It’s not about tricking people. And it’s not about being dishonest.
It’s about overcoming people’s initial objection and predisposition to say “NO” so that you can actually solve their problem. That’s it.
Crafting Your Techniques In Selling
Over the years different selling techniques have been created and honed to help increase the number of people who buy what you’re selling. For example, there are people who have methods for copywriting, video, designing sales letters, how to use your voice to sell over the phone, etc…
These are all techniques that can help you do the actual selling.
If you need more help on learning to sell, I recommend you study copywriting. It’s the most valuable skill you can learn.
The best book ever written on the topic is Breakthrough Advertising. If you just read the first three chapters over and over, you’ll be set.
I also recommend you download my upsell templates called The Post Purchase Double Stack.
You can see how to take what you read in Breakthrough Advertising and apply it to copy in your business.
Anytime you feel like you’re losing your motivation or you feel stuck, come back to this simple reminder. At the end of the day, business is just finding a list of prospects and selling them something.
It’s true for online and offline businesses.
It’s not easy. But it doesn’t have to be complicated either.
