Monday, [11:16] AM
Dear Friend,
Did you know there’s a little known search engine with abso-frickin-tutely HOOOOYUGE amounts of traffic?
As a matter of fact, it has so many daily searches, it almost rivals the 800 lb. gorilla, Google.
It’s true!
And it ain’t Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com (does anybody even use that anymore?)… or any other traditional search engine.
In fact, in an official presentation to their richest, cigar chomping, top hat wearing, Monopoly game guy-looking, fat cat investors… it was ceremoniously disclosed they process upwards of 2 B-B-B-BILLION searches per month!
And that, according to reliable estimates (since Google keeps their exact numbers a secret)… would make it…
The 2nd Largest Search Engine In The World!
And it gets even BETTER…
Most of the people on this search engine aren’t just freeloading losers living in their mothers’ basements looking for free stuff.
Nope.
They specifically use this search engine in their insatiable quest to actually BUY something.
So to recap (and REALLY get your greed glands working overtime)…
- It’s the 2nd largest search engine in the world… (Some days upwards of 60 million searches a day!)
- Most of the searchers are actually looking to BUY something…
- If you know how to work the system… you can get a much cheaper cost per conversion than Google Adwords.
Look, if you’re not using this search engine, you’re really missing out on a big, never-ending, constantly renewing, evergreen source of new customers.
Sounds good, huh?
I bet I’ve got you really curious and practically begging me to reveal this search engine/customer acquisition secret, right?
Well, if I were a typical guru, it would be about this point where I’d start my month-long series of sales pitches building up to the launch of my new $2,000+ course.
Don’t get me wrong… I COULD create an entire course on profiting from this secret search engine.
I’m definitely considered an expert. I’ve been using it since July 15, 1998.
By the way… an interesting bit of Doberman Dan trivia:
Many of the current “guru du jours” were still in elementary school getting wedgies and mercilessly beaten in dodge ball back in 1998.
But I already had a decade of kitchen table entrepreneurial experience under my belt, had been making money in self publishing and mail order for several years… and making money ONLINE for 2 years back in ’98.
If you were selling stuff online back in 1996, you were definitely considered a pioneer.
But I don’t go around beating my chest about what an Internet Marketing pioneer I was.
The truth is… I was practically clueless about it at the time.
I just took what was already working for me in mail order and applied it to this new media called the “Internet”.
That model worked really well for me back in those pioneer days.
In fact… it still does!
Anyhoo… back to my big search engine secret…
Even though I’ve been an expert in profiting from this special search engine for over a decade… as recently as last week, I learned something totally new that is REALLY going to pay off in a big way…
I discovered how to use video to increase the number of searches I get… and also increase my conversions.
So when is my expensive course coming out?
Are you kidding? I’ve got too much on my plate as it is.
So how about I just reveal it (somewhat reluctantly) for FREE?
Why “somewhat reluctantly”?
Am I having a hard time making my mortgage payment this month and need to sell you something to cover my nut?
Not at all.
I’m doing OK this month, thanks for asking.
Let me explain why I’m “reluctantly” giving this info away… and why I think…
“Free” SUCKS!
It’s quite simple…
Things given away free aren’t valued… and usually aren’t acted upon.
So even though I’m going to reveal a simple and inexpensive customer acquisition secret that can make you a small fortune… most likely you won’t ever do anything with it… because I gave it to you free.
You simply don’t have any skin in the game.
I’m actually doing you a disservice by NOT charging you for it. If you pay for it, you’re much more likely to implement because you’ve got some skin in the game.
So, yes… I realize I’m “casting pearls before swine”… but I’m going to do it anyway.
See, I know in my heart of hearts, there’s SOMEBODY out there who one day is gonna “get it” and become very successful with all these marketing nuggets I reveal in my blog.
Maybe even use them to start a kitchen table business for cheap and finally escape a decades-long, dead end, life draining, soul-sucking slavery known as a J.O.B. (Journey Of the Broke).
It’s THAT hope that motivates me to keep writing this blog.
So even though for your own darn good I SHOULD be charging for it, I’m going to continue to give it away free.
Now let me share my search engine secret with you.
The other day, I was looking for a hard to find music book. I immediately went to my “go to” source… the secret search engine I’ve been talking about where I’ve found numerous priceless treasures…
eBay!
Betcha never considered eBay a search engine, did ya?
Well, with over 2 BILLION searches a month, I’d say it qualifies.
And like I said before, these people are almost all searching to BUY something. THOSE are the kind of searchers I like!
Back to my music book search.
Here’s what usually happens on eBay…
- I find what I’m looking for and have several (sometimes HUNDREDS) of different sellers I can buy from.
- I find one with a good price and excellent feedback from other buyers.
- I bid on the item or use the “buy it now” button, if the seller made that option available.
- I receive the item, am satisfied with the transaction and promptly forget all about the seller… NEVER considering him for any future purchases.
Instead, for any future related purchases, I start the whole process over again.
And that is pretty common practice for most buyers on eBay.
It’s a “front end” machine. The sellers never try to capture a customer’s info… or do anything to promote further back end sales. They just rely on a (hopefully) never ending parade of new customers just buying on the front end.
Hmmmm… come to think of it, that’s exactly what 90% of business owners do, too.
That’s like busting your butt year after year, mining with a pick axe and shovel, tossing aside huge deposits of gold, silver and diamonds so you can pick up some old copper pennies.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
But here’s what one smart business owner is doing…
First of all, he recognizes the massive number of people searching on eBay for the items he sells… so he has lots of listings there.
And he’s not charging top dollar.
He’s smart enough to realize that eBay can be a massive customer acquisition media… so he can sell things at break even (or maybe a slight profit) to get new customers “in the funnel.”
Smart, smart, smart.
He also realizes if he doesn’t do something to keep this new customer in his “herd”, all his work will have been for naught. The customer, even though he’s happy with his purchase, will forget all about the eBay seller and will just start the whole eBay search process again when he wants to buy a related product.
Think about it. Can you remember the name or any other details of any sellers you’ve bought stuff from off of eBay?
Probably not.
So here’s what this eBay seller did to keep me in his herd and make sure I come back to him whenever I want to buy more music books and other related products.
He simply stuffed what we call a “bounceback offer” in the box he shipped my product in.
Here’s what it looked like:
This guy is using the first sale on eBay as a way to get a new customer in his “funnel” and direct him to his website for ongoing back end sales. He offers incentives to go to the website like an ongoing discount, special offers, special orders for hard to find stuff, etc.
Could this bounceback offer be improved?
Sure… but it’s a million times better than NOT sending a bounceback offer, which is what most business do.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
And it was good enough to get me to bookmark his site and order something else… so this simple bounceback offer did its job.
All this is good stuff… and this business owner get’s a Doberman Dan “gold star” for being a smart marketer… but here’s the the most important and smartest thing that happened as a result of this eBay transaction…
He Got My Snail Mail Address!
And if he’s a REALLY smart marketer, he’s going to start sending me a direct mail pitch, catalog or hard copy newsletter at least monthly.
Yes, Buckwheat… I’m talking about good old fashioned snail mail.
In spite of all the high tech stuff, social media, Web 2.0 (or whatever version we’re supposedly up to now), direct mail is still the most effective way to make back end sales to your existing customers.
And if you’re not making back end sales pitches to your customer list every month with direct mail, you’re choosing to leave about 40% to 50% of your profits on the table.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
If you want to make maximum money in minimum time (and who doesn’t?)… capturing e-mails is like mining for those copper pennies… but capturing snail mail addresses is…
Mining For Gold, Silver and Diamonds!
Depending on your auction fees, product costs and conversions, it’s very likely this little eBay secret I shared today could be more cost effective for you than Google Adwords.
Gasp! More cost effective than the great Google Adwords?!
Yeah, it very well could be.
But even if the cost per conversion is the same or even a little more, you could look at it as just another “leg” in your multi-legged marketing table.
The more legs you have, the more stable your business.
If you’ve only got 2 or 3 legs you’re always at risk of falling.
Or the very WORST possible situation… you only have ONE leg (Google).
It’s impossible to have any stability with only one leg.
You may THINK you have a business… but you don’t. You only have a temporary way of making money that could be 100% shut down at any moment.
If I were in that situation, I wouldn’t sleep until I had at least 3 other legs going.
In fact, I COULDN’T sleep if I only had one leg.
Look, I don’t want you to stay awake at night worrying yourself to death because you’re one-legged.
That’s why I shared one of my secrets with you today.
By the end of the day today, you can quickly, easily and inexpensively add another predictable and reliable “leg” to your marketing for more stability.
And sleep better at night.
I sincerely hope you found that helpful.
Pleasant dreams!
All the best,
P.S. I really enjoy writing my blog.
This blog is my way of giving back and sharing all the most profitable lessons I’ve discovered over the years.
I’d continue writing it even if I never made another dime from it.
But it’s pretty cool I do make money from it. I get paid doing something I love!
Would you be interested in that? Making money blogging about a topic you’re excited about?
You don’t even have to be a very good writer. If you can write a simple e-mail, you can make a nice profit from your own blog.
Click here to discover how to start making money from your blog almost immediately.
