Petey's Pipeline E-zine

Issue #5

August 11, 2003

Business First Editorial Pay it Forward
The Third Degree Interview with Harmony Major
Guest Writer, Not Ghostwriter Willie Crawford Facts about On-line Riches
Random Ramblings and Miscellaneous Musings Competition and Saturation
Write Thinking "Out There" is Nowhere
Preview of coming distractions Reflections in a prophet's eye

Business First (Editorial)

This issue is late because, blast it, we got blasted by the blasted w32.blaster.worm, on Monday, and couldn't stay logged onto the 'Net long enough to get anything accomplished (this blasted thing may or may not cause any permanent damage, but it does cause a lot of grief). By the time we were able to effect a cure it was late, late, late, and brain death was imminent.

If the blaster worm has invaded your Windows-based computer, you already know that you can only stay on-line for a few minutes before your computer shuts down automatically and reboots. Fortunately, there is a cure. You can lose the worm by clicking on the link, below.

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.blaster.worm.htm

It takes a few minutes to download the cure, so you'll have to hurry. If your on-line session terminates before the download is complete, you'll have to do it again. It's best to get your ducks lined up before you try to knock them down.

Once the worm is purged, run the Microsoft updates. Problem solved!

Pay it Forward
by Phil Hanson

The concept of pay it forward, amply demonstrated in a pretty good movie of the same name that stars Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, has its origins in karma. As many of my readers know, karma forms the basis of my philosophy: What goes around, comes around, and, conversely, what comes around, goes around. (The latter, however, only goes around if it's something good. If it's not, the buck stops here. There's no point in perpetuating misery.)

How does one pay it forward?

The process is a simple one. All it requires is that you do something for each of three strangers that will make a positive difference in their lives. You must do this unbidden and without the expectation of reward. The only stipulation is that each of your beneficiaries must also do the same—make a difference in the lives of three total strangers.

As each person becomes the benefactor of three others, the ripples spread outward. The numbers grow exponentially, and soon, your gifts will be returned to you because, to some of these people, you are a total stranger….

Pay it forward. You can do it on-line or off, in big ways or in small ways, but do it. When you make a difference in someone else's life, you also make a difference in yours.

Pay it forward. You have the power to change the world.

The Third Degree (Interview with Harmony Major)

At publication time Harmony's interview questionnaire hadn't been returned to me, but the blame is mine alone. I've been late in getting the questionnaires out due to commitments that make heavy demands on my time. As soon as I receive Harmony's completed interview, I'll paste it into this spot and update the page on the server. Sorry for the delay.

Guest Writer, Not Ghostwriter

Willie Crawford, publisher of Limitless Marketing E-zine, is an Internet marketing and promotions consultant (williecrawford.com) who's been running a successful on-line business since 1996. There's a forum on his Web site, and an extensive articles archive, too.

Some Facts about On-line Riches
by Willie Crawford

A recent discussion on an on-line discussion forum reminded me of when I was involved in mail order in the early 1970s. My introduction to "income opportunities" was when I answered an ad offering a plan for making $100 a day stuffing envelopes. The ad offered a plan for $1 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. In exchange for my dollar and envelope I received an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet telling me to run the same ad and when I got responses, send them the same sheet. I kept searching for something better.

I soon got involved in mailing out circulars offering various products and services. I charged others to mail their circulars using my bulk mailing permit. I also charged them for running their ads in my ad-sheet. It was a world where we paid to run our ads in each other's newsletter. There seemed to be a lot of people selling the same opportunities to each other.

Fast-forward 30 years and I see many similarities in some on-line businesses. That discussion on the forum caused me to step back and ask a few questions. The most important question was "What's the difference between selling a dream and helping someone to really build an on-line business?" I see hundreds of plans/schemes that I'm convinced are not plausible ways to earn a decent income on-line. These are the biz ops where people are just selling each other the latest insider information and plans that promise to make them big successes.

I know that most of these plans aren't doing the trick because I talk to numerous people about what really works, every week. I'm involved in several mastermind groups and also participate in brainstorming calls. We discuss what techniques are really growing each other's businesses. I also get emails from 20–30 people a week who aren't achieving the level of success they desire, and they often ask me for solutions.

I have to admit, first of all, that I may not have a ready solution for them. What's working for me may not work for them because of differences in my target audience, differences in my relationship with my audience and, even, in timing. So, I spend a lot of time brainstorming with them, usually for a fee.

One of the first realities we must face is that selecting the right product or service to promote is perhaps the most important decision we have to make. Choose the wrong service—one no one wants—and you're dead in the water before you start. Yes, you'll get a few people purchasing your product, but not in the volume you desire.

The second reality that we must face is that you need a really solid marketing plan. Promoting your products or services in an unorganized, scatterbrain fashion will produce lesser results. You need to flow out which activities you are going to use in promoting your business. Everything needs to be planned out. Then, you need to stick with your plan long enough to see the results. Plan, implement, measure results, make adjustments. That's the formula.

The third reality that we must face is that building a thriving on-line business can be hard work. I've put in many 18-hour days and fallen asleep at my keyboard many times. It takes time to build a list and to build credibility. I haven't discovered any foolproof shortcut to this reality.

Having faced the above realities, I go on with my clients to look at what they are doing to build their businesses and how they can improve them. On the Internet it all boils down to traffic, to reaching an audience and convincing them that your product offers the solution to their wants or needs. That means using the search engines and e-mail to attract traffic. It also means learning to write good copy or getting someone else to do it for you. I don't see any shortcuts there. Words sell, and putting the right words in the right order is a science. It's something anyone can learn. Poor Web copy is the biggest problem on most of the Web sites I visit that aren't making any money. (Editor's emphasis.)

There are, literally, hundreds of ways to reach your target audience and attract them to your Web site. The first step is properly identifying whom you should be targeting. That one step allows you to spend your promotional dollars in the right place, the place where you will get the greatest return. For some products, and some businesses, paid-for search engine listings are a great option. For others, buying banners on other Web sites (exit pop-ups, etc.) are a great idea. I gain great exposure by having my articles appear in other e-zines and on other Web sites. This takes time to build up momentum, though. I also have an army of affiliates driving traffic to my sites. This also takes time.

When I look at my secrets to success, building relationships with a lot of prospects over the past seven years has played a big part. That's just the path that I took. I've seen people achieve incredible success in a matter of month, but I have seen many more fail. The one thing that I want all of my clients to ask themselves is, "If it's so easy to come on-line and make a fortune, why aren't many more quitting their off-line jobs and doing it?" That's a very important question to at least contemplate.

Hopefully, this article wasn't too negative. I just see a lot of similarities between the envelope stuffing schemes, which I fell victim to in the early 1970s, and the on-line world today. Fortunes are being made on-line. It takes a product or service that people need and want, and then you have to make them aware of it. That often takes a lot of hard work. However, when you finally make your breakthrough, it will be worth every ounce of effort. Make absolutely certain that you start out with the right products, though.

To your success.

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Willie Crawford has been teaching others how to build on-line businesses since late 1996. Frequently featured in radio, magazine and newspaper articles and interviews, Willie teaches average people what the top marketers are doing but are seldom talking about. For example, Willie demonstrates the power of automated residual income through his system at: http://ProfitAutomation.com Test-drive this system now.
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Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings

In part one of this series, we examined how shakeouts took their toll on smokestack economy businesses, citing examples from the trucking industry to prove our point. In part two, we showed you how, and why, the same causes are affecting on-line businesses in the same way. Now, we'll show you how saturation and competition are affecting 'Netrepreneurs in the on-line marketplace.

Competition and Saturation
by Phil Hanson

Many—perhaps most—people who've started Internet businesses did so because they were led to believe they could become fabulously wealthy in a very short time by doing very little work. E-biz pioneers (today's gurus) became wealthy because they sold a scarce, valuable commodity (Internet marketing information) to a large and hungry market.

Though it often pertained to a wide variety of marketing techniques and e-biz strategies, the message touted by the gurus was invariably the same: Do what I do and you, too, can become filthy rich. Aspiring Internet entrepreneurs saw the message and believed it. They spent their money to acquire the knowledge, and the gurus became rich.

From the group of people who actually applied the techniques and strategies they'd learned from first-generation gurus, a second generation of gurus soon emerged and they, too, became rich.

And so it has gone, each succeeding generation of 'Netrepreneurs marketing the same recycled information to a new generation (and to each other) as was espoused by the previous one. What isn't generally recognized by newbies or admitted by the gurus is that, with each new generation that begins e-business based on commonly accepted e-business models, it becomes increasingly difficult for latecomers to thrive and survive.

The proliferation of on-line businesses that are marketing information products aimed at helping others to start on-line businesses that do the same thing is causing saturation in the marketplace. While a certain level of competition is good for both consumers and businesses, too much competition is bad for everyone. When competition creates a glut, profitable business comes to a standstill.

As a result of saturation, many on-line businesses will fail. In the future, those who want to achieve or maintain on-line business success will have to work both smarter and harder to stay ahead of the competition.

In the meantime, the shakeouts continue.

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If you have ideas, opinions or commentary of your own regarding this subject, why not share them with Petey's Pipeline readers?

Submit your thoughtful, thought-provoking comments to editor@perfecttext.com. .
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Write Thinking

"Out There" is Nowhere
by Phil Hanson

We've all seen it. A writer writes a pretty good sentence (or not), then ruins it (or further ruins it) by adding "out there" to it.

Read the following sentences (quoted from real Web pages, advertising copy, newsletters and e-zines):

"See, what I've found is that all those people out there who claim that they are marketing experts are just that—marketing experts."

"Look at some of the best sales letters out there."

"Did you ever have one of those days when there was just one product out there that you wish someone would give away for free..."

"I wanted an "alert window" because of all the pop-up blockers there are out there."

"There are lots of excellent affiliate programs out there and even lots more affiliates."

"You can use any number of low cost ebook compilers available out there."

"…you may use any of the link tracking services out there."

Now, go back and read the sentences again, this time leaving out "out there." You see? There's not a single instance where leaving "out there" out of the sentence didn't improve the sentence. This is also true of many hundreds of other sentences that include the term "out there."

As a sentence modifier, "out there" wasn't a good idea the first time it was used. Why do some Internet writers think that using "out there" to death will make it any better?

Preview of Coming Distractions

Issue #6, due out on August 25th, will be smaller than usual (and probably late, too). Work on the new house is almost finished and I start moving next weekend. During the move I expect to have some downtime, but for how long is uncertain. I'll try to get back up to speed as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Disclaimer

The articles appearing in Petey's Pipeline E-zine are based on information believed to be true at the time of publication. Neither Perfecttext.com, Petey's Pipeline E-zine nor their publisher assume any liability or responsibility as to the accuracy or efficacy of any information, products or services that are submitted, advertised or rendered by contributors to Petey's Pipeline E-zine. While we make every effort to screen out scam artists and bogus offers, you should still do your homework. Caveat emptor!

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