The Importance Of Credibility

Tahir:
I come from an offline background in sales, sales training and consulting. But I've pretty more always been involved in business offline at several point. I've helped turn companies from start up enterprises into multi-million dollar organisations.

But I don't want to waste any time on this call without sharing a learning experience with the listeners, so I'm going to focus on thing with your permission, Terry, from my background - but as a learning point for people, if I may, rather than just ramble on just about my background.

My 1st taste of business was 21 years ago at the age of 17. I started a business importation oil paintings from Hong Kong and Taiwan. These were brilliant. The two types of paintings I concentrated on were Old Master Copies, and Portraits painted from photographs. And I knowing so galore lessons from that 1st business that I've ne'er forgotten to this day.

Let' me explain quickly how.

Firstly, I tried merchandising the old master copies. These were faithful reproductions of the Anglesey Lisa, the Sunflowers, any celebrated creative person of yesteryear... if they painted it... you could get a painting reproduced.

Of course it wasn't the original... but it was an original, painted entirely for you in oils on canvas.

The trouble was... I knew nothing just about art and celebrated artists, and once it came to it... neither did most another people. So finding person who truly appreciated what I was merchandising was actually difficult.

And I was door-knocking back in the day... I didn't have a shop, or place to display... I had one example of a painting... and a catalogue of the several paintings that I had to offer.

And once I came across person who knew art... they quickly accomplished I didn't have a clue just about art or what I was merchandising myself... so the credibleness and the sale went straight down the tube. So I distinct to concentrate on the another side... portraits from photographs.

So in a shell I'd send the photograph off, and 3 weeks later, I'd obtain the painting, which was a true likeness to the photograph with the canvas rolled up in a tube and hand delivered by the postman.

I knew that what wow'd folk was once they saw their own portrait painted in oils on canvas, so I wanted to target two markets primarily. Weddings and Students graduating from university.

But I had several major obstacles...

1) I couldn't driving and didn't have a car.
2) I had really little in terms of money.
3) You cognize several 17 year olds look older than their age... I was a 17 year old that wouldn't have taken myself seriously if I'd seen myself now, at the age I was back then. I mean I looked actually young, and it's hard to get folk to part with their cash if they don't take you seriously - I looked like a school kid who should be doing a paper-route, not like person who should be asking folk for $200

That was lesson no. 1 - no credibleness = no sales

So I knew that I had to build the credibleness factor, so I asked my bank manager if I could have a photograph taken with him, and bring in a local newsman to take that photograph and write a story in the local newspaper just about me and my oil paintings business.

So that's what I did, and once the story appeared I took a cutting of it from the paper... so that I could show people... that look this actually is me, this is my business and that they could trust me that this was all legit and above board, and I wasn't just asking them for their money and a photograph and promising them thing in return 3 weeks down the line.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, armed with just my newspaper clipping and bundles of energy, driving and enthusiasm. I complete up acquiring signed contracts with 3 universities... to offer the portraits from photographs to their graduates after graduation day - But here is the biggest mistake I made.

All the literature I had prepared was targeting the students, and mail-clad out to the students after graduation. And do you cognize wherever it all went? In the bin.

Why? Students didn't want to buy portraits of themselves... they'd rather spend that money on drinking brew and partying...

The folk I should have been targeting were the parents of the students. I had the wrong folk opening the right message, targeted at the wrong audience.

And that was my 1st and biggest lesson in business. A cock up on a grand scale with no second chances.

And as far as business and devising money are concerned, do you cognize what has changed in those 21 years, Terry, from the story I've just told you?

Nothing...

You need to cognize your market and you need to build your credibility. And that doesn't mean you have to be an established expert that everyone recognises, though doubtless that is what you should be working towards... it just means that your website shouldn't look like it's been thrown together by a 10 year old on a free hosting account.

If you don't treat yourself and your business seriously, you won't get any sales. And once it comes to acquiring traffic? You could have the better product in the world, but unless you cognize exactly who the cash paying customers are for your product or service, and target your message to them...you won't do any sales, regardless of how galore folk you throw your message out to.

So that was my 1st introduction to the earth of business, and over the 21 years that followed, I still ready-made galore mistakes, but knowing from each one as I went on and became better at recognising mistakes, and patterns and scenarios before they bestowed themselves.

And I took those learnings and started portion others... a mistake is a mistake... it doesn't matter what business you are in, which industry you are in...or what product or service you are selling.

And a proved strategy is a proved strategy, despite which business you are in, which industry you are in or what product or service you are selling.

So to sum up, from that start and over the next 21 years that followed until now, I've been taking away those mistakes and distinguishing the proved strategies in everything I do.

One Way Street - Going The Wrong Way

Terry:
You've put together a course that is quite several than thing else I've seen online. Instead of the relax on a beach, activity in your underwear, buy 2 or 3 Ferraris type course, this one is a sensible, level headed approach to devising several headway online.

I want to see thing from your website that actually sums up what's happening to folk online.

"Which Would-be YOU Prefer:
A Brand-New Mercedes Or A Second-Hand Bicycle?"

Before You Answer: See several scenarios below...

Scenario #1:

You are sitting in a brand new Mercedes. It has all the gadgets that you could want and you've bought several elective extras to add to it... Ahh... this is going to be the envy of all of your friends.

The trouble is you are stuck in a ne'er ending traffic jam and can't do any headway despite the cost of your fancy car.

The salesperson told you that you could get great speed and great mileage too... but at the moment you aren't acquiring any of that.

Not because it's not capable of doing those speeds or mileage... just because you hadn't planned on there being a traffic jam or so galore another obstacles in your way.

Right now - ne'er mind your planned destination - you can't even as see past the rear bumper of the car in front of you!

And to do matters worse... in this virtual world... there is NO escape from the traffic jam and you're going to stay stuck in it forever - but no-one has told you that yet... so you look uneasily at your watch... Time is ticking on...

Scenario #2:

You are in the same virtual earth riding your second-hand bicycle on a clean sunny day.

You've been weaving and bobbing your way through obstacles in front of you all day long and with borderline effort.

On your way through the gridlock, you offer a friendly smile to a man sitting in his brand new Mercedes... he doesn't look impressed. He's in a Mercedes - you're on a bike - and he gives you an "On-Your-Way-Bicycle-Boy... What-Do-You-Know?" kind of look.

And so on you continue...

Whilst all the traffic is caught in the traffic jam trying to come forwards, you notice a little side street... most of the traffic is going in the same direction - but it seems to be heading nowhere... so you decide to venture into the little side street and find yourself coming out on a wondrous clean road with no further obstacles.

You look up and see a sign-post:

Looking across the road you see a similar sign inform in the opposite direction...

But traffic is only one way on this road... no-one EVER looks back.

You quickly catch up to one of the another travellers on this road and you say, "Hey... shouldn't we tell them just about this route?"

He replies... "They wouldn't believe you even as if you hit them over the head with with it son... we've tried galore a time... now we just enjoy wherever we are... and let them continue thinking they can find out how we got here."

www.TheNightmareEnds.com

I think that actually sums up your approach to the online earth and I applaud you for taking the stance you have.

Something else you've taken a stand on is the niche-marketing trend. Most computer network marketers tell you to find a niche and launch a product into it, you say don't bother. Why is that?

Niche Marketing Lies

Tahir:
What I refer to specifically as being a waste of time, is launching an info-product into a niche, unless you already have an authority website delivery in lots of free traffic for you from folk in that niche.

But as far as creating a product for a niche market and trying to launch it... nice luck... you'll put a lot of activity in for little or next to no reward whatsoever. Now I cognize that sounds harsh... but hey... I actually believe that to be the reality and here is why.

If I was to ask anyone on this call to name a top computer network marketing guru... they could probably name dozens... If I was to ask them to give me a will list of JV partners... galore would-be name the same names.

But let's go outside of the IM niche.

Who is the top guru for dog owners online? Who are going to be your JV partners promoting for you on a launch to dog owners?

Who is the top guru for golfers online? Who are going to be your jv partners promoting for you on a launch for golfers?

So your 300 page ebook will sit there with no exposure and no sales....unless you can convert the big list owners in IM to promote your book just about knitting to their mailing list.

When most folk can't get them to promote their latest book just about computer network marketing to the their mailing lists... what chance has person got asking them to promote a book just about knitting or golf or crochet or thing else to their list? Once was the last time you saw them promote one?

The only time you will see them promote one, is once it has merchandising rights that they are looking to sell on to you.

So whilst those in the IM niche have their million dollar launches... they push folk to the niches outside of IM telling them that's wherever the money lies... but stay firmly inside the IM niche.

Now remember, if you can create a high ranking website with lots of search engine traffic, great... go target a niche... but if you are looking at creating an ebook or info-product to sell... don't believe the nonsense just about creating a book to sell to that niche... because it will be in PayPal purgatory forever without hardly any sales and surely no big major launch. That's a fact!

Unless you can convert another computer network marketers with big lists to promote it to their lists for you.. in which case you'd have been better off creating an ebook for computer network marketers in the 1st place.

But these are several important truths folk are ne'er told.

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