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Keeping Your Personal Info Safe

Do you know exactly which companies and websites that have access to at least some of your personal information (like your address, credit card details and social security number)? Most of us don't, and it is only going to get worse as more of our daily lives move to the web. This chapter will go over a few of the steps you can take to make sure your personal information doesn't fall in the wrong hands.
Be careful when submitting your info

The first step in ensuring your private information remains private, is always thinking twice before submitting it anywhere online. Whether it's your credit card number, your birth date or social security number, you should always ask yourself the following before hitting the 'submit' button:

Is this a company or website I know and trust?

If it's a well-known, established website, you're probably safe. What you should be really careful about is submitting your info to websites you've never heard of before. If you're the least bit suspicious, make sure you do some research in Google before going ahead and submitting your info. Make sure you're looking beyond the first couple of pages, as sometimes shady companies employ "reputation managers" that fills those first pages in Google with bogus articles to make the company look good.

Could this be a phishing attempt?

Even if you know and trust the website you're using, you need to make sure you're actually submitting your info to them and not to an imposter. The easiest way is checking the URL bar. For instance, if you're about to submit your credit card info to Amazon, and the URL bar doesn't include ".amazon.com", you should be highly suspicious.

If you're not sure what the URL should look like in a particular case, do a Google search for the company and check the URL in the results. The domain name is the important part here. Keep in mind though that there are clever ways to get around this check - some phishing attempts have been known to open the real site in the browser, and then use a popup window to actually gather the information (so it looks like it's coming from the real site).

Is the connection encrypted and secure?

Most browsers will display a small "lock" icon in the URL bar when an encrypted (SSL) connection has been established with a website. That guarantees that no middlemen can intercept your sensitive data on the way from your computer to the website. If there is no lock icon, and you're about to submit personal or financial information, the best advice is to just not do it. It's not worth the risk.

As you've seen in the "Keeping your website safe" chapter, implementing SSL is not that costly or difficult, and there's no excuse for websites anymore to not use encryption. Also keep a lookout for invalid certificates - the browser will usually warn you when one is detected, in which case you should think twice about submitting your info.

Have I read the privacy policy?

Yes, privacy policies are often long, dry and almost impossible to read without falling asleep. They are, however, important to at least skim through if you care about protecting your personal information. This is where you'll learn exactly what a website can (and will) do with your info. If they will be selling it to a third party, or exposing it publically, this is where they'll have to disclose it.

Usually you have to agree to the terms and privacy policy when you first register on a website, but the truth is that most users never read them. That is also partly the reason why many users have no idea what's happening with their personal information.

Social media

Consider restricting access to your profiles

Unless you've really thought about it and know what you're doing, you should consider locking down your social media profiles and make them accessible only to people you know. Even if you would think you're only sharing non-important bits and pieces that no one cares about, the truth is that when every little update is put together, it can paint a pretty detailed picture of your life, habits, friends and family. In the wrongs hands, that information can be used for a number of malicious purposes. People have been blackmailed or even lost their jobs over things they've posted on social media, and the worst part is that something you've posted two years ago can come back and bite you at any time. In this case it's better to be safe than sorry!

Beware of imposters

There have been many cases where someone has gotten a message from a close friend, asking for personal information or money, only to later find out that it wasn't from the friend at all. Someone had hacked their social media account and used it to scam their friends, exploiting the fact that people trust their friends and aren't suspicious when talking to them on social media.

If you ever receive a suspicious message like that, perhaps written in a tone different from how the friend usually writes, consider asking them a few questions only they would be able to answer. That way you can double-check and make sure they're really who they say they are. If their response doesn't convince you, don't hesitate to report the incident to the website staff. Otherwise the hacker may just keep going through the friend list, and their next victim might not be wise to these tactics.

Storing information safely

Avoid storing sensitive documents on your computer

The truth is that there are no guaranteed secure ways to store information on your computer. Even if you store your documents on an encrypted drive, a hacker may be able to spy on your activity to capture your encryption password, or read your files while they're open and unencrypted.

However, if you employ the advice given in the "Keeping your computer safe" chapter, and store your most sensitive documents on an encrypted USB stick, you'll be almost completely safe. Don't forget to unplug the stick when you're done with it, and store it somewhere safe (perhaps even in a safe). Now, if you're working on top secret documents or you're developing a cure for cancer, you may want to keep your computer completely offline to be 100% safe.

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The Survey Method is a potent way for collecting leads that are right on the money. It relies on a very powerful psychological tool to quickly and easily gather contact information from the survey participants. Best of all, the subject of the survey is directly relevant to the product or service your business is selling. Therefore, each contact you collect through this method is already warm and ready to become your customer. Here's how it works.

Let's face it; most people are interested in themselves. While they wouldn't want to admit this fact to anyone, it's still true. Because of this, you, as a marketer, can indirectly appeal to their vanity, and obtain their contact information, through the use of a simple survey. Let's take a look at an example.

Let's say you're offering a product based around Kindle publishing. Your target audience for this product is, obviously, people who want to earn money through writing. Most writers are interested in reading and in other authors, so you fashion a simple survey designed to tell the participants of the survey which famous author they are most like. This survey appeals directly to the desire of your target audience to become an author and, as a corollary, be a famous author.

Designing the survey is easy. Simply Google "online survey software" and you'll find dozens of results that will suit your needs. The software itself will automate both the creation of the survey and its packaging. All you have to do is come up with eight or ten clever and funny survey questions, the famous authors who'll be the result of taking the survey and whether you'll be asking for content information prior to taking the survey or after.

In addition, you also want to provide each participant with the option to share the results of their survey on Facebook and other social media. If they do, their list of friends on that social media outlet will get a message that says "Hey, I'm Edgar Allen Poe. Who are you?" with a link back to the survey, so that anyone who receives this message can take the survey and share the results as well.

Once the survey is complete, you post it on your business branded Facebook account (if you don't have one, create one) and direct traffic to that post through the usual means (paid Facebook ads, social media channels, etc.)- This traffic will mean that people will begin to take the survey and share the results. These shares will generate even more traffic to the survey. Every person who takes the survey will provide contact information directly to you. In addition, a high percentage of these people will be die hard readers and closet authors. Thus, when you send an offer regarding your Kindle publishing product to these leads, it will convert like crazy and your sales will go through the roof.

As long as you make the survey relevant to your product or service, you can repeat this process over and over again, with spectacular sales resulting out the leads you've generated.

Takeaways for This Section

The Survey Method is so powerful because it indirectly appeals to the participants vanity and fantasies;

A survey is extremely easy to put together using online survey software;

The survey you produce should be relevant to the product or service you will eventually be selling to the participants;

Make sure that you allow the participants to "share" their results through social media outlets.
Free Bonus on Related Products

When someone buys something, they are already psychologically in a place where a) they have decided to take action on a problem, obtain help to satisfy a need; and b) they have decided to spend money to achieve this end. When you offer a free bonus on a related product that someone has already decided to buy, or has already bought, you take advantage of this mental state and are easily able to establish trust, obtain contact information and, eventually, make sales. Here's how it works.

Your bonus can be anything, a pdf guide, a video or a report. You need to find another marketer who has a product closely related to the subject of this free bonus. This marketer will want to include your bonus in their sales funnel because it's a bonus. They provide a benefit to their customers, as well as drive sales, at no cost or effort on their part. You bonus is then offered as an extra on the original product's download page in exchange for the buyer's contact information. The idea is that because they have already purchased the original product, they will absolutely want an additional product that helps them obtain better results when they use this purchase.

When you offer a free bonus on a related product, it's a win/win for you as a marketer. Your bonus provides extra value to the original marketer's clients. This establishes goodwill and trust between you and both parties. In addition, in order to obtain the bonus, these clients have to providing contact information. This contact information provides you with a boatload of solid leads who are already interested in what you have to sell.
Takeaways from This Section

Using a free bonus on a related product produces excellent results precisely because the two products are related;

People who have already purchased one product are very willing to take advantage of a free product that enhances their use of the original purchase;

Your bonus establishes trust between you and the marketer selling the original product;

Your bonus establishes trust between you and the clients of the marketer selling the original product;

You grow your sales list with every client who takes advantage of the bonus and this means greater future sales for you.

Conclusion

We've taken a look at some extremely innovative ways to generate leads. These methods have been tested and are used by countless successful online and offline marketers to achieve stunning success product after product, year after year.

Why? Because these strategies work to produce high quality leads for very little upfront work. These leads, when used correctly, are money in the bank. If you're in the business of making money, then you owe it to yourself and your bottom line to put these methods to work for you today.

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So far we covered a lot of essential background information that is necessary to laying the groundwork for a close. Now we are going to move on to the meat and potatoes and talk about the actual close itself. The process itself is deceptively simple. There are no secrets or tricks to doing it correctly. Despite this, there are an amazing number of salespeople who drop the ball right here on the goal line.

The essence of a successful close is knowing when to ask for the customer's business. Like asking someone out on a date or to get married, there is no "right" time. Instead, you have to plan your moves and feel out the situation before you pop the question. Your instincts have as much to do with the chances for success as anything else. An ill-timed close is about as uncomfortable for all involved as an unwanted marriage proposal.

Again, you have to do your homework. If you've laid the proper groundwork, knowing when to close is a breeze. The moment to do so will come naturally and inevitably as day following night. However, if you get lazy and you don't do your prep work the moment to close will never occur naturally or otherwise. You will have to try and force the close from an unwilling client. This forced action, more likely than not, will lead to a failure to close. So, let's take a quick look at those prep steps one more time.

First, focus on the prospect and their problem, not on you and your need for a sale. The sales process revolves around the customer. You, the salesperson are there for one reason and one reason only - to facilitate the solution to the customer's problem. That's your purpose. That's your role, nothing more and nothing less. If you solve the customer's problem, you close the sale.

Second, listen to your customer. If you listen to your customer, you get to know your customer. If you know your customer, you have the opportunity to develop a relationship with them. This relationship, in turn, leads to increased trust. Finally this trust increases the chance for a successful final act to the sale cycle.

Additionally, when you listen to your customer, you are learning both the nature of their problem and how they want you to solve that problem. These two pieces of information are critical to a successful close and your customer, more often than not, will hand them to you, but only if you shut up and listen.

Speaking of shutting up, when it's time to close shut your mouth. Simply smile, ask for the customer's business as if it's a foregone conclusion and wait. Don't say another word. Far too many inexperienced salespeople have talked their way out of a close by failing to shut their mouths. You don't need to be giving the customer any further information at this point. If you've done your job and focused on and listened to the customer, you've already acknowledged their problem and offered a solution. Give them the opportunity to accept that offer.

Finally, once the customer agrees, seal the deal by forwarding any necessary paperwork promptly. Remember there is no deal until the ink is dry on the bottom line of any contract. Also, don't be afraid to ask for referrals from your customer. A satisfied and happy customer will be more than willing to give you referrals or recommend your services to colleagues. These referrals and recommendations can yield valuable new leads and we all know how important leads are to the sales process. Don't be afraid to ask.

Takeaways for This Section

Timing is of the essence when it comes to a successful close. If you've done your job, your instincts will tell you when the moment is right to "pop the question";

A salesperson is a facilitator and nothing more. A closer knows this and brings his or her focus to the customer and their problem, not onto their need for a sale;

Listen to your customer and develop a relationship based on trust. This will pay dividends when it comes time to close;

Listen to your customer some more. They will tell you their problem and how to solve that problem. Armed with that information, a closer is unstoppable;

Smile, ask for the customer's business and shut up. If you've done your job, the outcome is guaranteed and needs no further help from you;

Follow up after the close with any paperwork to legally seal the deal. Also ask for referrals and recommendations. They are an excellent source for new leads.

Sales Myths or What Not to Do

Now that you know pretty much everything you know to become a more successful closer, you need to take a look at a couple of sales mistakes. These are things that you should never do if you want to successfully close a deal. These are the mistakes that many unsuccessful people make time and time again. If you don't want to become the anti-closer, avoid these missteps like the plague.

Your Brochures and Website Don't Matter to the Customer

Sure you probably have all kinds of handouts and online information available for your customer to peruse. Don't mistake these materials for actual salesmanship. Anyone can read a brochure to a customer or direct them to a website. If the brochure or website was all the customer needed to purchase your product or service then you'd be extraneous. You are the bridge between the customer and what you are selling. The sales materials are there simply to generate leads and attract interest. You are the motive force when it comes to generating sales.

Make Sure That You're Talking to the Right Person

You put a lot of time and effort into making a sale. You got to know the customer, and established trust by focusing on them and not on you. You listened to the customer and noted their problem and how they'd like that problem solved. Now, when it comes time for the close, you belatedly realize that the person you've been dealing with for all this time is not the person who is able to make the final decision regarding the sale. Talk about wasted time and effort. Figure out who calls the shots when it comes to saying yes to your sales pitch ahead of time. You'll end up with a lot more money in your pocket and a lot less egg on your face.

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If you've been following the "buzz" around Google Hangouts, you will have heard many people talk about how it's the next big thing. Hangouts offers a lot of functionality and features, for example text messaging, 1-on-l video chat and screen sharing, but for video marketing purposes you're probably mainly interested in the webinar features.

Using Google Hangouts allows you to accomplish the same things as other webinar software, only free of charge and by a trusted name. There is a limit to how many people that can talk/present at the same time (currently 15), but an unlimited number of viewers can watch your presentation concurrently using Hangouts on Air.

Give Google Hangouts a go if you're currently shopping around for webinar solutions - it may be exactly what you're looking for, and the price is certainly right!

Takeaways

Basic video marketing is producing interesting, useful or funny videos and uploading them to sites like Youtube with a link back to your site

Video marketing works for almost any niche, but you may have to be creative to find what appeals to your intended audience

Webinars are "seminars held over the web", and they're great if you're trying to establish yourself as an expert in your field

Regular webinars can bring in a steady source of free traffic once you've built up a following

Consider trying Google Hangouts if you're interesting in holding webinars, as it's free and offers lots of advanced functionality while still being easy to use

Joint Ventures

A joint venture (or "JV") in the online marketing world is when you team up with other marketers, sharing/trading resources or skills for mutual gain. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination, and the deals you're able to strike with fellow marketers. Here are a few of the best ways to use joint ventures for traffic generation:

Ad swaps

This is what many marketers think of first when they think of joint ventures. An "ad swap" is when another marketer allows you to send out an offer to his e-mail list, and in return you allow him to do the same with your list. This is an excellent way to increase your reach without paying anything at all. You're not limited to swapping with just one other marketer either; you could even do one ad swap per week with different marketers to ensure you're getting a steady flow of traffic to your offer or website.

The potential downside to ad swaps is that quite often it will be "hit or miss". You'll find that some marketers you team up with have high-quality lists that yield great results, while others may not bring a single click if you're unlucky. The best way to avoid this is working only with reputable marketers who you know will deliver what they promised.

If you don't have a list of your own but still want to take advantage of another marketer's list, you can pay them for the privilege. This is called "solo ads", and is quite popular but not really considered a joint venture.

Thank you-page cross promotions

Another popular type of joint venture is to cross promote each other's products on "thank you-pages". A thank you-page is the page a user sees after opting in to a newsletter or purchasing a product, and this is usually prime advertising space since the user is already in an action-taking mode. Present them with another great offer and there's a good chance they'll jump on it. On your own thank you-page you'll place an ad for another marketer's product, or an opt in form for their e-mail list, and he will do the same for you on his page. Done correctly, you'll both benefit and get increased visibility with practically no downside.

The one risk you're taking is that the person you're teaming up with isn't getting as much traffic to his thank you-pages as you are, in which case the whole deal may seem quite unfair and you'll probably want to cancel it and look for someone else. Again, it's a good idea to only try this with reputable marketers that can be trusted.

Give away bonus products

A powerful method to get new e-mail subscribers to your newsletter is creating a small but valuable product and offering it as a free bonus to other people's customers. Like this:

Customer buys a product from Marketer A

Customer is offered a free bonus product created by Marketer B (that's you)

To get the free bonus product, customer is required to opt in to Marketer B's e-mail list

The marketer who's selling the product in the first place will often be happy to get an additional bonus he can offer his customers, and you're getting a steady stream of fresh e-mail subscribers who are proven buyers, without paying anything at all!

Cross promoting in different media outlets

We've already covered things like blogging, video marketing, webinars and social networking in this guide. Now, what you may not have thought of is that all of these can also be used in a joint venture, in addition to bringing you direct traffic. For example, say you host webinars regularly. You could promote your JV partner in one of them, in exchange for him promoting your offer to his Facebook fans. Or, if you partner up with a famous blogger, he could write a blog post about your product in exchange for you recording an instructional video for him (if that's your thing).

Turn the joint venture into a real partnership

Maybe you're great at building websites or creating products, but you're not as good at actually driving traffic to them. That's when it may be a good idea to make a deal with another marketer, where you each focus on your strengths and share the profits. Some marketers with big e-mail lists can send thousands of clicks to your products, which could make each of them huge successes without you having to spend any time or money at all on traffic generation. Of course you'd have to share some of the profits though, so it's not a 100% free technique, but still quite beneficial and a great idea that works in many situations.