Now maybe you’re thinking that I’ve oversimplified it by saying internet marketing is “simple”.

You’ve tried and tried but haven’t yet succeeded… haven’t yet found that missing element.

And maybe you think, “Sure. This stuff works for Ray Edwards because you have already made your money… and you already know all the gurus… and you have a big list.. and blah blah blah…”

Here’s what I can tell you.

I meet every couple of weeks with a high-profile marketing buddy for lunch, to brainstorm and share ideas.

I also meet with a small group of Internet Marketers here in Spokane once a month. There’s about a dozen of us who get together.

And what I’ve discovered is that no matter what fancy tactic you may try…

No matter what new “system” you use…

No matter what new whiz-bang software comes out…

And no matter how good that new “Marketing Course” is…

IT’S ALWAYS THE BASICS THAT SELL.

Market.

Product.

Persuasion.

The basics.

Simple. Not always easy – but always simple.

How do you keep yourself focused on the basics in your business (or in your life)? Share below, please…

Things got all stirred up here in Ray-land this past week, what with my post about the “gurus”. In today’s podcast I talk about what that was really all about…

As always, if you have feedback or suggestions I’d really like to hear from you.

Call in your questions or comments to our new, fancy “request line” at (509) 713-2679

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

A lot of different kinds of people read this blog.

From time to time, I am asked some version of the following question: “Why do you write the blog, and what exactly is it you do for a living? How do you make money?”

For those who are curious, here are some answers…

Why I Write This Blog

While I doubt this question can be answered completely in a few simple sentences, I can at least give you a fairly accurate, if somewhat incomplete answer. Here are a few of the reasons why I write every day:

• I write because I feel compelled to write. There’s something about expressing my ideas on paper that leaves me calm, cool, and collected.
• I write to prove that I know I’m talking about (and lest you think that is a shallow motivation, please note that this is not about ego gratification: it’s about the development, training, and getting of clients and customers.)
• I write to develop a relationship with my readers, to dialogue with them, and to learn from them.
• I write to develop material for my books. My next book will be published in November, and I have plans to publish no less than four books next year. If I wasn’t writing every single day, it would be difficult to keep up such a grueling publishing schedule. My books, incidentally, are a key component of my marketing machine and designed to feed into my overall strategy-everything I do is designed to build credibility, establish my expertise, train and develop potential client and customers. You would be well-advised to pursue a similar method of operating.

How I Get Paid

I do very little direct work for clients these days, preferring to work in partnership with other entrepreneurs, and to develop my own business properties. However, I do derive a substantial amount of income from the writing of copy for clients, and the giving of advice to clients. The reason that I say I do “very little direct work” is because I do a lot of work for a very small number of clients. This is by design.

When I started in the business of writing direct response copy, and providing consultation services, I juggled as many as 8 to 10 clients at a time and produced a voluminous amount of copy. This quickly took a toll on me mentally and physically, so I raised my prices so that I could devote more quality time to fewer projects. It’s a course of action I recommend to anyone who’s interested: I promise you it’s a healthier, more profitable way to do business.

Now, because I know this next is the question that is really on your mind, I will answer it… with some misgivings. Maybe this is a mistake – time will tell. I’m  sure I will attract some criticism because of what I’m about to reveal. So I guess I will just pinch my nose, jump into the deep end of the pool, and see what happens. Here’s what I charge…

Profit Strategy Retainer: $120,000 and 10% of gross revenues.  This usually means I’ll be helping to manage a product launch or similar campaign for a client with an established business and track record. This arrangement typically lasts for a full year. For those who can’t afford this kind of arrangement…

Profit Strategy Coaching: $12,000 per year,  payable in advance.  This is a small group of hand selected coaching students, whom I deal with by telephone and Internet almost exclusively, helping them create profit architecture for their business that is superior to what they may have been able to achieve on their own.

The Apprentice Program: I also oversee a small number of apprentice projects, which means copywriters who have been trained and approved by me do the actual writing work for clients who are seeking my advice but cannot afford to pay my direct fees. I have oversight on the copywriting project, offer critique and direction and final stamp of approval for any work that is done, and this proves much more economical than having me do the work directly. Even though this allows me to work with more clients, there are still only a limited number of these projects I can oversee, because my schedule is very full.

Information product publishing: I produce a number of information products, training programs, and online classes each year. These training programs and products are offered at a variety of price points, delivery methods, and time intervals. This is the area of my business that provides me with the most leverage, and is also the area of my business under the most scrutiny at the moment. I’m developing a strategy for expanding and multiplying this particular income stream.

Book publishing: my first business book will be published in November of this year, and as I’ve mentioned previously I will be publishing no less than four books next year. This is a new arm of my business endeavors that is designed to bring more clients and customers into our marketing funnel, and I’m pursuing it with a vengeance. Don’t be deceived; this is part of a larger strategic initiative, and should not be attempted by the faint of heart nor the ill-prepared. Publishing books as a sole means of producing income is not a very good way to make a living. In fact, it’s a very good way to stay broke and frustrated. However, publishing books as part of an over-arching strategy for building a financial empire, however, is a very good way to make money. I’m sure I’ll have more to say on this in the near future, but for now the overview should suffice.

That’s probably enough self-revelation for the time being.

I get lots of questions about these sorts of things almost constantly, so I’m offering this posting as a bit of an experiment: if you’re truly interested in knowing more about how I run my own business, I’m happy to share (up to a certain point). However, I don’t want to be boorish and spend too much time talking about myself-so you’ll have to let me know whether you want more of this kind of information or not.

Did you miss any of the delicious, helpful articles I cooked up for you this past week? Well, don’t worry about a thing — I’ve assembled an encore serving of each and every one, just for your convenience.

How To Get Famous And Make More Money The single easiest way to increase your own legend, get more work, and make more money. The best news is, all it costs is some work on your part!

The More Bigger Thinking Podcast In this audio podcast (we publish a show the first and third Tuesday of each month) I deal with the Enemies of Bigger Thinking, and give you some tools you can use.

The Inception Guide To Marketing Sure, Dom Cobb can steal people’s ideas right out of their dreams in the new movie Inception – but he also has a lesson to teach us marketing types. And this is the article where I lay it out for you.

Something to Believe In There’s value – and longevity – in your convictions. And you can do well by doing good. Who knew?

Do You Really Want a Four Hour Workweek? What if you actually achieved the “four hour workweek” ideal – would you actually be happy? Or would you be miserable?

There you go. That ought to give your brain cells a right good workout. See ya Monday!

If you haven’t seen the film Inception yet, don’t worry.

There are no spoilers here.

But there’s an important lesson in the movie for marketers and evangelists alike.

In the film, Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is talking about the act of “inception” – planting an idea in another person’s mind.

Here’s what Cobb says:

“What’s the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.”

What this means to marketers (or to anyone who wants to spread their ideas) should be obvious: once you have planted an idea in the minds of your audience, it’s very, very difficult for that idea to be dislodged.

This is why, for example, in a courtroom there is an advantage to telling your side of the story first: the weight of the idea you planted in the jury’s mind is hard for your opponent to overcome.

The more powerfully and indelibly you can imprint your idea on a large number of minds, the more influence you have. This is the “secret” behind clichés, stereotypes, and proverbs.

For instance, the advice “look before you leap” is a powerful way of simply and briefly summing up a powerful idea, and that maxim influences many of us when we are about to make a crucial decision.

The only way to counteract a powerful idea like “look before you leap” is with another idea just as powerful: “he who hesitates is lost”.

Your goal as a marketer should be to plant your ideas early and often.

Here’s the takeaway:

1. Formulate your idea simply and memorably (“Delivering Happiness”, “Getting Things Done”, “Unleashing the IdeaVirus”).
2. Put your idea into distributable form.
3. Encourage the free and massive distribution of your idea.

I know… the question burning in your mind is, “But how do I make money doing that?”

Good question – with many answers. Three short ones:

1. You make money explaining the idea. (No matter how simple it is, people will always want you to explain it, and they will pay you to do so.)
2. You’ve told people what to do (your idea) – now tell them how to do it (and charge them).
3. Leverage the Authority gained from spreading the idea into other, profitable jobs, gigs, and businesses.

You should charge more for whatever you sell. And you should be unapologetic about it.

That’s true for probably 80% of the students and clients I deal with, and for 90% or more of businesses I encounter along life’s way.

“But Ray, my business is different.”

Aargh!

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times from clients and students in some variant form: “I can’t charge a high price for my product, and I can’t use direct marketing or info-marketing techniques, because my product is different. It’s a commodity. It’s physical, it’s not an info-product. I have a lot of competition. Blah, blah, blah…”

Balderdash.

I learned a long time ago (from Dan Kennedy) — your business is not different.

If you feel you can’t charge a premium for whatever it is you sell, you have failed to differentiate your offering… you have failed to show the value of your widget/idea/service over your competitor(s)… and you have perhaps simply failed to have the backbone to say, “This is how much it costs.”

Case in point: The Big Green Egg grill.

The company that makes this thing is not a client of mine, but they exhibit the qualities I look for and do my best to instill in my clients: a committment to good marketing, to having a premium product, to charging a premium price, to selling to a base of fantatical customers, and to using good info-marketing and direct marketing techniques to support said practices.

They sell barbecue grills for $1,000.

That’s not a typo.

In a world where you can buy a grill for $9 at the drug store, or $30 at Target, these guys sell grills for anywhere from $350 at the “cheap” end to more than $1,000 at the high end. And they have plenty of add-ons and upsells too.

You could learn a lot from the Big Green Egg guys.

Worth studying and thinking about how to use the same ideas, techniques and approaches in your business – no matter what you sell.

Because, despite what you may think… your business is not different.

Maybe you’ve seen the new movie, Predators.

The plot is simple: humans find themselves on a planet that is a game preserve, and the humans are the prey. They’re being hunted by aliens for sport.

This is how most of us feel about marketers. We feel like we are the prey, and the marketers are the hunters. Merciless, weird hunters who are not really interested in our pain, our fear, or our lives.

That’s why people are drawn to marketers who actually care about the people they sell to. It’s why company’s with high standards of excellence, customer service, and integrity enjoy long-lived success.

From the marketer’s viewpoint, it look like this: it’s the difference between being a predator – or being the shepherd who protects and cares for the flock.

Which one are you? And if you don’t like the answer, here’s a follow-up question: which one will you be today?

It’s another “On The Road” Edition of the show… recorded “live” in the Copywriting Motorhome somewhere in the hills of South Carolina.

Today we talk about the “BS Lies That Hold You Back”, “Loser’s Limp”, and my favorite new internet gizmo.

Resources Mentioned In The Show

• Web Copywriting Explained
• Apple iPad

And once again, if you have feedback or suggestions I’d really like to hear from you.

You can call in your questions for next show at (509)624-2220 … just tell my receptionist you need to leave a VOICEMAIL message for Ray.

UPDATE: Call in your questions to our new, fancy “request line” at (509) 713-2679

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

I’m thinking bigger about my business – and my life — than ever, and you should too.

Why?

To put it simply: nothing of great benefit to anyone was ever created as a result of thinking smaller.

“Bigger” may refer to a simple matter of scale in terms of dollars (as in revenue & profits). It may also refer to something even more grand…

Bigger ideas with more leverage. Bigger ways to benefit more people. Bigger opportunities for others (not just for your self or your company). Bigger projects that extend beyond your own lifetime, abilities, talents or resources.

Yes, I’m talking about the life of your business – and also about the business of life.

What do I mean specifically? How am I myself thinking bigger? Here are some of the projects/ideas/intentions on my own drawing board now:

• Growing my own company beyond my “virtual team” and myself.
• Working with larger businesses to leverage my marketing methods for their greater benefit and profit — and my own.
• Creating a way for smaller companies and individuals, who in the past could not afford to work with me, access to my advice and thinking. Making it affordable without draining my time, energy and resources.
• Offering “done for you” services on a wide, duplicable scale.
• Ramping up my bi-weekly podcast to a weekly; perhaps even expansion back to my old roots by placing the show on radio stations.
• Developing training systems for small businesses and entrepreneurs that can be facilitated by certified, territory-specific representatives.

That’s just a smattering of what I’m cooking in the back kitchen at Ray Edwards International, Inc.

The most important thing about all this is not what bigger plans I’m making, it’s about the reasons why.

That’s the real “big thinking”. Some of my reasons why:

• Making the highest and best use of the talents, skills and opportunities God has given me.
• Breaking the spirit of poverty, lack and insufficiency that plagues America (and especially the American church).
• Enabling people to enjoy the freedom that comes from a pursuit of personal wealth based on passion and purpose.
• Creating a business that makes as many other people wealthy as I possibly can.
• Creating a legacy that will last across generations.
• Writing books that my great-grandchildren can read and thus know something about the heart of their great-grandfather (and for the record, I don’t even have grandchildren yet.. let alone great-grandchildren – I’m thinking 100 years into the future!).

Those are reasons that fuel my fire, inspire me, and give me reasons for doing things that mere material gain could never do.

I believe this kind of thinking is the right – the responsibility – of every breathing person.

So how about it? Are you willing to join me in thinking bigger? If so, I’d love to hear how you plan to do it – so lay some wisdom on me in the comments here.

Sunday is Independence Day in the USA.

We celebrate our decision to become an independent nation.

Our Founding Fathers were willing to fight for that independence. In fact, they were willing to die in order to gain it.

Question to ponder: what are you willing for fight (and possibly die) in order to gain?

And if you can’t think of anything… why not?

Might it be worthwhile coming up with an answer to that question?

And at the risk of repeating myself from earlier this week: if you can’t figure out what this has to do with business and marketing, you’re just not thinkin’ hard enough.

Have a great weekend.