How'd They Do That? Learn from the Experts

A while back, a friend of mine reluctantly went to a psychiatrist. Being very intellectual, and not really wanting to get involved in psychotherapy, my friend instead became engrossed in figuring out what the psychiatrist was doing during their sessions, and why, to the exclusion of hearing anything he had to say. While I wouldn't recommend that strategy in a psychiatrist's office, it works well if you want to learn online marketing.

Even the seasoned pros watch and learn from each other. The best internet business ideas don't just appear out of thin air. They evolve, as people emulate each other and try to improve on each other's methods.

Signing up for several top-flight affiliate programs, or simply subscribing to newsletters and getting on the mailing lists can be a real education. Watch not only what they do, but also how they do it. You already know he's trying to sell you something, so why not learn by watching how the process works?

Read between the lines on the best internet business web sites you can find. Take note of the fact that most of the top marketers tell you several times on their sales page what their product is about, and then they summarize it again at the bottom. Like a good public speaker, they tell you what they're going to tell you, then they tell you, and they wrap up by telling you what they told you.

Notice that most of them put an order link three or four different places in the middle of the sales pitch, just in case you can't stand it any more and have to order right away. Of course, the order form is always at the bottom of the page, too, where we all expect it.

Notice the difference in styles, but also the style similarities between the best internet business marketing experts. These people wouldn't be at the top if they didn't know how to write good ad copy, or at least know how to recognize the best copy writers and hire them to "tune up" a web site.

Notice how they enumerate all the benefits of their product for you, leaving nothing to your imagination. Notice that most of the top guys offer very few, if any "bonuses" with their products. They try to sell you on their product, not the "$800 super e-book package" someone else will give you absolutely free just for trying their $10 product.

Sign up for the newsletters of several top marketers. Do they put sales pitches in the newsletter itself, or do they use a "soft sell"? Do they include little or no sales content? Watch what they do, and how they do it.

If you're on the subscriber list, you're also on the autoresponder list. Notice how often you get messages from them. Notice the tone of the messages. Are they friendly? Urgent? Do they sound desperate to sell you something? Try to focus on the "process" of the messages and their sequence, rather than on the "content". Notice how they build their relationship with you, and build their income with "back end sales".

We all have to start somewhere. Learning from an expert and imitating their methods won't assure you of success, but it sure beats floundering for years learning slowly, if at all, by trial and error. To paraphrase a popular slogan, "make yours the best internet business it can be" by learning from the experts.