Seven Unique Advantages of an Information Marketing Business

Have you always wanted to start your own business since the days of your childhood lemonade stand?  Not sure what business to focus on especially in today’s market?  Did you know that the Information Marketing Business has seven unique advantages over any other proven business models?

Unique Advantage 1: There is a low barrier to entry. You can start with very little money.

When I was in the restaurant business, each store cost us about $150,000 to $200,000 in equipment and tenant improvements for the location. It was a lot of money just to get in, and none of it was guaranteed to succeed. We never knew whether the location would be a winner and we’d be able to break even or recoup our money. We were only hoping we would make a profit.

There is a very high barrier to entry for traditional, brick-and-mortar businesses. With information marketing, you can start profiting virtual within the next 24 hours. You can turn the faucet on and profits start coming in.  It won’t be much at first, so don’t quit your day job, but it’s possible to start generating revenue extremely fast.

Unique Advantage 2: Tremendous leverage.

You can replace a lot of manual, repetitive tasks that you would traditionally have to do with things that can be automated and delegated in this business. This is unlike the restaurant business where working with customers and answering their questions is done every day. In the information marketing business, this can be totally automated.

And the best part is as your business matures and becomes more sophisticated the easier it will be to handle most of the things automatically.

Unique Advantage 3: Low amount of customer interaction. You don’t have to spend much time responding to clients.

In group and product programs, you can create an extremely successful and profitable business and impact a lot of people. This is the key. Many of you have a passion for what you do. You want to change the world and help a lot of people. You can help a lot more individuals when you are not bogged down solving the problems of one specific, problematic customer who demands a lot of your time. You can never satisfy them.

With an information marketing business, you can minimize or eliminate customer interaction. Only your best customers will be getting access to you. Another benefit is that your income doesn’t stop when you stop working with clients. This is a big issue for many professional consultants, coaches, speakers and therapists.

Unique Advantage 4: You don’t need a staff.

This is one of those misconceptions. I will tell you that most successful information marketing businesses do have employees. The more successful they get, the more employees they have. Some have actual employees and others have virtual assistants or independent professionals working with them. They build large teams that allow them to grow faster.

But you can start in your spare time with just one staff member.  You.  And  when you grow, and hopefully you will grow fast, you can add additional people to your team. They don’t have to work with you in your office. They can work remotely.

Unique Advantage 5: It can be done out of your home office. You don’t need to rent space.

When I first started my business, the most comfortable place to work was my couch. I had my laptop on my legs, my legs on an ottoman, and that’s how I was typing my messages and did the recordings for my first few products.

Picture me sitting on my couch in my living room just enjoying my environment and creating something that, to this day, generates revenue. I didn’t have to get up and go to work, drive in traffic, or deal with unruly coworkers or rude and demanding bosses. It was all out of my home office.

To this day, I run my business out of my home office in Irvine, California. My in-house team consists of myself, my wife and my assistant and I have a team of virtual assistants, audio technicians, and web designers.

Our business is very big and sophisticated, but we didn’t start this way. It started very, very small. My goal is to show you exactly how to do it, assuming you don’t know anything, you have very limited resources and you don’t know technology. That’s how I want to help you get started, step-by-step.

Unique Advantage 6: Huge profit potential.

This happens for two reasons. First, information products and programs have humungous markups. Something that costs you $1 can be sold for $10, $20, $100, and in some cases even $1,000. Your hard costs are very low and your profits will be very high.

Find The Lesson And Move On

Today’s article is more of a business vs. networking lesson but important nonetheless… I’d love to hear your feedback and stories as I know many of you have had to find the lesson and… move on.  Enjoy!

When I was a newbie entrepreneur I received some very wise advice from a mentor which was this:

“Gina, you’re in a leadership role now and that means that you’ll need to grow some thicker skin. Some people will love what you do even when you screw up…and you WILL screw up. Others will be indifferent and some will dislike everything you do no matter how hard you try. Don’t take it personally. When things go wrong, look for the lesson and move on.”

My response at the time was a deer-in-the-headlights stare… blink… blink…!!  That one went way over my head at the time.  I mean seriously… who wouldn’t like me and what I do and I certainly didn’t plan to mess up any time soon!

The message started to become clearer the day I received my first taste of negative feedback… I had unknowingly disappointed a customer, and I mean really disappointed them. They were not going to let me live it down.

Worst of all, I was blind-sided (really, I was just blind!)… I had no idea they weren’t happy until that very moment!

Being inexperienced, my initial reaction was to take it personally. Everyone was supposed to like me – right?  I couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.  What am I going to do?  I’m such a screw up… spin, spin, spin some more…

Wow… did I have a lot to learn

Over the years, I’ve made mistakes in business and in life. We certainly don’t intend to mess up, but to err is human, right?  Well, not in everyone’s books unfortunately but that’s okay. It ‘IS’ okay to make mistakes and to fail as long as you’re always adjusting your course as a result. You must fail forward so that you are always learning and growing and doing better.

It does still amaze me though how a random negative comment or a moment of error can throw me completely off course and into a rant of self criticism!  The difference today is that I can recover from it immediately and you can too!

If and when it happens to you, here’s some tried and true advice to get you back on track quickly!

The first thing you must always ask yourself is:

What are the facts here? Is what they are saying true? (“They” meaning the person you received a complaint or criticism from and, your very own inner voice)

Based on your answer to this first question consider the following…

A.     If it is true… Accept it. It is what it is. It is in the past and cannot be altered. Set an intention to learn from it and ask yourself “What can I do to make up for it? “What can I do to ensure it doesn’t happen again?”

B.     If it is not true… forget about it and re-focus on the many positive comments you’ve received.  The positive always outweighs the negative.

Everyone has bad days in business (and life).  Everyone makes mistakes. Unhappy customers, miscommunications and errors can and will happen.  They’re not fun at the time, that’s for sure, but don’t be so hard on yourself… its okay.

The key is to do the very best you can from the start; to acknowledge mistakes that occur and to always fail forward by finding the lesson within that enables you to do better in the future.  Refocus on the positive as quickly as you can and think about developing thicker skin for tomorrow.

To your success!

Get Your Complimentary Gifts and More Than $10,000 in Bonuses!

In support of Dr. Joe Rubino’s vision of raising the self-esteem level of 20 million people, I’m writing to tell you about an irresistible offer that includes over $10,000 in f.r.e.e gifts!

Dr. Joe Rubino is one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic of Self-Esteem and the best-selling author of “The Self-Esteem Book: The Ultimate Guide to Boost the Most Underrated Ingredient for Success and Happiness in Life.” He is committed to raising the consciousness of our planet by assisting millions to elevate their self-esteem level through his life-impacting Self-Esteem System.

See  http://www.TheSelfEsteemSystem.com/now.

So, he’s put together an awesome list of f.r.e.e bonuses to reward those who purchase this life-changing book.

He’s also offering you a complimentary insightful audio called “7 Steps to Soaring Self-Esteem” and a no cost 1 year membership in The Success Achievers’ Club ($129 value) just for checking it out.

To read about the f.r.e.e bonuses valued at more than $10,000, go to http://www.cprsuccess.com/selfbonuses and learn how you can help raise the consciousness of the planet by elevating your own self-esteem or the self-esteem level of those you love.

Then, pick up your Free Self-Esteem Audio and Success Club Membership for fr^ee at  http://www.TheSelfEsteemSystem.com/now

Want More Referrals? Get a CAT

Okay, I confess! While I am a cat lover, the title is misleading But stay with me here because I do have a great lesson to share…

CAT is actually an acronym I like to use for Client Attraction Tactic.

A Client Attraction Tactic is a method used or a course of action followed in order to attract new and prospective clients.

One of my favorite CATs is Finding Solid Referral Partners.

Being purposeful and proactive when it comes to increasing your referral business is your key to attracting more and better clients. The actions you take will determine how quickly and easily you can attract new business.

Here are some essentials when looking to develop solid referral partners:

1) Before you set out to find referral partners, you need to know what a perfect referral is for you.  In order for someone to refer business to you, they need to know what you do and what it is you’re looking for. You want to be as specific as possible and communicate your needs in a way that makes sense to your referral partners.  Good communication skills are key here (on both sides!).

2) Next, create a list of complimentary not competing businesses who service the same market. These are logical, win-win referral partners for you.  i.e. a bridal shop owner and a florist are a good example…same target market but complimentary product/service.

3) Now you need to connect with the businesses that you’ve identified.  It pays to have done your research so that you can communicate the value of developing a referral relationship in a way that demonstrates what’s in it for them.

4) Build good will and trust by adding value to their business thru referrals, introductions, testimonials and more…What goes around comes around.  Be the example and give them a reason to want to reciprocate rather than sit back and wait for them to pass referrals to you.  Ask what their needs are and be sure that you understand.  Be willing to give in order to receive.

5) Understand that referral marketing takes TIME.  Mutually beneficial business relationships must evolve from contact to credibility to trust before it can become consistently prosperous.

Finding “good” referral partners takes time, work and some trial and error.  The key word is “partner”.  It’s important that you focus on developing win-win relationships with people you like, trust, who have a giving attitude, and who understand what it means to be a team player.  Being proactive and preparing in advance will increase the likelihood that you will connect with like-minded and motivated potential referral partners.

Happy Networking!

All Right! We Have a WINNER!!

The Grand Prize winner of an awesome, highly coveted 32BG iPod Touch and One Year Membership to The Networking Masters Inner Circle is…

Heather Jacobson

Congratulations Heather!! You are a Buzz-Ability Champion!!

Heather did such a grand job of creating buzz for us… we’d like to return the favour and encourage you to visit her awesomely creative sites at:

Desperately Seeking Sanity
http://www.desperatelyseekingsanity.com
I love giving home made gifts — which one of the kids would you like?

Desperately Seeking Wordpress
http://www.desperatelyseekingwp.com
The Geek Behind the Beauty

And…

http://www.heatherjacobson.com

The Build Your Buzz to Win Contest was a lot of fun and, since we’re such a creative lot over here stay tuned for more fun and camaraderie – in the name of networking of course – on the blog in the days and weeks to come!

Until then… Happy Networking!

Gina & Steve Bell,
Co-Founders,
The Networking Masters

September Inner Circle Mastermind Teleseminar: Fearless Networking with Dr. Joe Rubino

Networking Insiders have more contacts, confidence and clout!

Monthly Inner Circle Mastermind Teleseminars are just one of many valuable business boosting benefits you can enjoy as an exclusive “Networking Insider”. For a limited time, get 3 months membership for the price of one! Click here to learn more.

September 2008 Inner Circle Mastermind Teleseminar: Fearless Networking

September 17, 2008 at 1:00 pm CST (12:00 Noon PST, 3:00 pm EST)

Dr. Joe Rubino, author of The Self-Esteem Book and CEO of The Center for Personal Reinvention is our special guest expert this month. We will explore how you can boost your self esteem and eliminate the fears surrounding networking!

High self-esteem is the most essential element for achieving top-level success, happiness and fulfillment in life. At least 85% of the world’s people suffer from diminished self-esteem. No wonder so many wannabe leaders quit when the going gets tough.

What would it be worth for you to:

o dramatically increase your self-esteem level,
o heal all painful past experiences and relationship challenges,
o have the ability to identify all of the challenges that are keeping you stuck in your business and in your life,
o and move forward into a bright and inspiring vision of success for the future with clarity and positive expectation?

What if you had a magic wand that you could wave over your life to correct all the wrongs, heal all the pain, and attract to you and your business happiness, fulfillment, abundance, rich relationships, and success?

All this is possible IF you know the secrets to attracting peace, personal power, business success, rewarding relationships, and limitless joy to your life.

I will share all of these secrets and many, many more with you in what I expect will be one of the most valuable, most insightful conversations ever conducted on the topic of increasing self-esteem.

Listeners will learn:

1. To understand the correlation between high self-esteem and success in business.

2. To learn some effective ways to elevate one’s self-esteem

3. To learn the secret to living a high self-esteem, upset-free life

4. To gain insight into what is necessary to heal and complete one’s past, assess one’s present state of affairs and design one’s future in choice

Pssst! Whether you are new to networking or an entrepreneur who really “gets” how important networking skills and technology are for results in your business, consider how much information, motivation and advice you can take in when you attend your next teleseminar.

Are you a Networking Insider in good standing?

If you’re not a member yet, you can join us now by clicking here so you can take advantage of this business boosting mastermind call and many other member goodies.

Already a member? Just login to the Inner Circle Forum and enjoy the benefits of being a member of this exclusive group today like networking tips only seen there.