"You May Not Have What It Takes"

I was pretty shocked to receive this in my email this morning.

It certainly made me open the email. Would you have done the same? I guess so since you're reading this.

Turns out it was from Jay Kubassek, Car bon Copy PRO Founder and CEO. He's a very successful online marketer and entrepreneur. He doesn't pull his punches either, getting straight to the point.

What he's trying to do is to scare away 97% of the people who come to our websites to check out the opport unity. And I believe he's doing it for three very good reasons.

1. To protect people from themselves. Most people (the 97% who end up failing) don't have the
"teachability" or "willingness" or determination to understand and then put the teaching into practice.
Car bon Cpy Pro is not about "get ri ch quick." People who are looking for that may be very disappointed, whether they join C C Pro or any other Internet Bus~iness.

2. To protect the people already in C C community. You see there's a strong alignment between people and their sponsors and others in the 'Pro community. Sponsors invest a lot of time to help new people get started and to grow, while also building their own busi~ness. So that's why there is an application process and the need to show commitment on joining.

3. To protect the brand and its values. The ethos is about giving back. To colleagues, to the market and to our local communities. Our mission is not just about what we can get out. It's about how we can help others. To do that we need firstly to be successful and then to have the mindset to give to others.

I respect these values. I've seen them in action. I've benefited from the coaching of very successful people who are willing to share the latest tips about online marketing, about running a business and personal development.

I am still learning, and, since I subscribe to the 'Lifelong learning' principle, I hope I continue to learn for the rest of my life. It's also in my nature to share with others. Maybe with you. You decide.

Mark.

Lead generation - the importance of a Sales Funnel

Online or offline, any business needs to be generating a continuous stream of leads. Just as high-street retailers need foot-fall - people coming through the front door of the shop - so an online shop needs visitors to its store. An even if your business doesn't take money online for sales the web is still a very effective method of lead generation. Developing a sales funnel makes your lead generation more effective.

All customers, or potential customers, are not the same. They may well have different problems that they want to solve, where your product or solution can help them. They may take a different approach to buying, different timescales, and need different levels of reassurance, to pick just some differences.

Creating a sales funnel with products or solutions at multiple price-points increases the probability that the prospect can find something that meets their needs and budget. The early stages may actually not be a purchase at all, but a registration for some information or communication.

The cost of acquisition of new customers can be reduced, by offering many choices and many ways for them to engage with your business, rather than a single decision, to buy or not to buy.

To provide some numerical examples:

If you generated 1000 visitors to your website for £100 and converted 1% to make 10 sales the cost of acquisition would be £10 per sale.

However, if you provided multiple offers the same 1000 visitors might produce the following spread of results:

• 10 sales for product A as before
• 5 sales for product B
• 2 sales for product C
• 25 downloads of a white paper or report - with email addresses you could follow-up
• 10 registrations for an educational auto-responser sequence - with email addresses
• 5 registrations for a webinar - with emails addresses you can follow-up

And so on. So, your £100 marketing spend has now generated a much greater return, with more short-term sales for different things and different price points, and also produced email addresses that you can market to subsequently, for people who may not be ready to purchase from you just yet, for whatever reason.

Structuring and developing your sales funnel like this is just one way to maximise your lead generation activity develop and grow your business.