Way back in 2003 I heard Jonathan Mizel describe something which literally blew my internet marketing mind.
He called it “The Unlimited Traffic Technique” and the essence of it was this: IF you’re the guy/gal who makes more money off a web visitor than everyone else in the market, AND you offer a very generous affiliate commission, then most of the traffic in that market should tilt in your favor.
For example: I make $25 per lead, everyone else makes $10. I offer a $12.50 so the other merchants say “why the heck should I bother with customer service, cost of goods, shipping, product development, and all these other hassles when I can make $2.50/lead more with Glenn for doing NOTHING but sending him the traffic?”
See what I mean?
And that’s what Dan Kennedy means when he says you need to “engineer the economics of your business so you can PAY MORE for a lead than everyone else in the market”. (This is contrarian to say the least… while every other business is trying to pay as little as possible, obsessing about efficiencies… you figure out how to pay MORE and you can dominate the market)
IF you can reach this position, the experience is literally mind blowing. Because whereas you previously had to beg for joint ventures, eek out a profit on exhaustively optimized advertising, or expend eons of precious time on search engine optimization or social media… all of a sudden everyone needs YOU.
It’s like holding a glazed ham in a room packed with Doberman Pinchers… you’ve actually gotta take care to protect yourself, they come at you so fast.
BUT (there’s always a “but”, isn’t there), what I want to talk to you about today is the PRACTICALITY of owning and controlling this dominant position in a market.
Because while it all sounds wonderful in theory, and it’s DEFINITELY something we should all be striving for, in practice, it’s pretty damn hard to get to. (I’ve only REALLY done it once, and am just now putting the finishing touches on my second grand slam)
Here’s why it’s much harder to do than it sounds (followed by the SOLUTION which finally hit me in the face like a monsoon in the desert).
First of all, it’s only natural for we left-brained-electron-chasing-internet-marketers (that particular breed which clings to the seductive fantasy of having computers suck money out of cyberspace and deposit it by the millions in our electronic bank accounts) naturally gravitate towards AD/LANDING PAGE/SALESLETTER OPTIMIZATION as the quintessential solution.
Friends, I’m here to tell you it is NOT!
Which is not to say you shouldn’t be testing and tracking to optimize your conversion like a wolf on the hunt. (You definitely should).
But in the end, especially if you’ve done your research, most systems reach a point of diminishing returns on your optimization effort.
For example, if you start with a 25% profit and you test and tweak the hell out of that system, you can frequently get it to 150% or 200%. Not too shabby, to be sure, and you can definitely build a business on it, … but it’s usually not enough to fund the unlimited traffic phenomenon.
Because many competitors will be optimizing their sites too.
To fund the unlimited traffic technique, you’ve really got to be making at least twice as much as compared to everyone else.
And the much faster way to get there, I’ve finally learned after years of pain, isn’t so much by optimization, but by turning your business into a REAL business… one which cultivates repeat customers, and offers a multitude of ultra-high end solutions.
In other words, where everyone else is trying to sell ebooks and information products, you hammer the market with a high end, guaranteed, done for you service with a continuity component. While they’re going after $100 or even $1000 of profit at a time, you go after a lifetime value of $25,000.
To quote a line from a bad remake (of a great movie)… “There IS no defense!”
Of course, optimization plays a role in this pursuit. But it’s not as much of an economic role as we’d all like to think. We’ve all got the dream of finding “just the right ad” or “just the right headline” and then striking it rich, when the truth is, we should be thinking about “just the right OFFER” and “just the right BUSINESS STRUCTURE”.
Because, if I’m making $25,000 from a customer, does it really matter SO much if I pay $10 vs. $20 per lead?
What matters is I figured out how to make $25,000 per customer.
Now, optimization DOES help us figure that out, because every test gives us more insight into what the market really wants.
But optimization is just a cog in the wheel… it’s a part of the process, it’s not the goal in and of itself.
Optimization is a necessary but NOT sufficient condition for achieving the ultimate goal – unlimited traffic and market domination.
It took me a LONG time to learn this.
At first I was obsessed with my click through rates in Google, and with a psychotic energy not dissimilar to having to master Asteroids and Ms. Pacman as a child, I learned how to get more traffic at a lower cost.
Then I transferred this obsession in to learning how to CONVERT the traffic (using my research systems, etc).
Now, you’d THINK that should be the end of the story…
Because TRAFFIC x CONVERSION = $$$ Right?
Not quite.
And that obsession almost killed me.
Because while Traffic x Conversion DOES generate money:
Traffic x Conversion x High Ticket Items x Repeat = FORTUNE
So here’s the real take-away.
Given a basic proficiency with traffic and conversion, you get a LOT more leverage, by focusing on the second half of the equation! (High Ticket x Repeat)
This usually means giving up the fantasy of getting 24 hour a day massages while someone feeds you bon bons and money is electronically deposited in your bank account.
It means embracing a real business, where you deliver high end products and services, and require some assistance to make it all run.
I really wish I knew this 5 years ago when I came onto the scene.
Because in my own struggle to relinquish this fantasy, I believe I may have erred in encouraging others 🙁
I’m sorry!
But there it is in plain sight for you above. And I’ll say it again so you can tell your Mom something really important this Christmas (and make sure she’s listening, will you?):
Traffic x Conversion x High Ticket Items x Repeat = FORTUNE
Given a basic proficiency with traffic and conversion, you get a LOT more leverage, by focusing on the second half of the equation! (High Ticket x Repeat)
Have a Happy Holiday Everyone, … I’ve got GREAT things in store for you next year!
Dr. G 🙂
