TANSTAAFL

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." ~ Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988), American Author

Welcome to Create Value or Die... or as I affectionetly call it CVoD. If you just joined us let me tell what this site is all about... CVoD is a platform to discuss my time tested model of value driven Internet marketing.

It's not the only way to market online, it's just the way I think it should be done.

Why?

Because I've seen it make millions. Hundreds of millions over the last 7 years.

I've called this "Direct Mail on the Web", some call it the "Free Content Model" but for the purposes of this blog it's CVoD. What am I talking about?

Here it is in a nutshell:

Step One: Create Value
Step Two: Give It Away
Step Three: Build An Email Opt-In List
Step Four: Build a Community
Step Five: Convert Names to Buyers
Step Six to One Hundred: Test, Test, Test!

Give what away? My content... free?

That's right...

Free... but don't think of it as a give away, think of it as creating value for your business. Online you must Create Value or Die. (CVoD)

We are not giving away value with no expectation of something in return... we are giving up something of value and what we get is something of value—an email address. An extremely valuable business asset that we use to build an email list.

"How much should you give away?"

Give everything you can think of, and only hold back premium information. Look at it this way in the context of your web site... if the information on your home page doesn't change, why would someone come back?

Ahh... but give them something of value each time they visit and they come back... they stay... they come back again... they buy... they buy again.

Better yet, send them interesting information via an email newsletter and you keep up the relationship on your terms. Plus, if this means you need to come up with new idea or services or products—good! It will only improve your business. It will make you develop a deep and profitable "back-end".

As you build their trust with an email newsletter, your free names will move closer to purchasing something from you.

Many business owners see only up-front dollar signs when they formulate their online strategy. They cannot see why anyone would offer all of this great information or these services for FREE. They want to charge people to access tips and information or charge a membership fee for visitors to participate on their site. This owner asks "How can I make the most money with my site?"

The question that should be asked is... "How can I best serve my market?"

Don't focus on the short-term sale. Concentrate on the long-term benefit to the business. The money is in the name, and marketing to its lifetime value.

Will you earn more money selling your Special Report? Or will you earn more money giving your Special Report away free AND building a large mailing list of people who are specifically interested in your topic. A list that you can market your high-end services to on a long-term basis? We hope the answer is clear to you.

Your goal should be to serve your market. To create value and strategically organize your information and your offers so that you are able to funnel your visitors directly into your mailing list.

Do what makes sense. Instead of what makes quick cents. Like I said, CVoD.

AP

PS - Google topped four billion searches in May 2007, up from 3.8 billion in April. The Google-Monster continues to grow... God bless 'em.

As an FYI... here are the top U.S. search engine rankings by search share. (Provided by Nielsen//NetRatings)

Google, 4,033,277 - (56.3%)
Yahoo, 1,540,949 - (21.5%)
MSN/Live, 605,400 - (8.4%)
AOL, 381,961 - (5.3%)
Ask.com, 142,418 - (2.0%)
My Web Search, 61,784 - (0.9%)
Comcast, 34,908 - (0.5%)
EarthLink, 33,461 - (0.5%)
BellSouth, 30,122 - (0.4%)
Dogpile, 26,295 - (0.4%)
Other, 275,365 - (3.8%)

“We [Microsoft] don't have a monopoly. We have market share. There's a difference.” ~ Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft

Google is the next monopoly...