| If you will stay with me a while, I am going | | | | in repeat business, the raise is actually a |
| to tell three related stories and then make a | | | | lot more than that.Story number three also |
| point...I promise!Story number one goes back | | | | happened recently.A few months ago, I was |
| to the days when I was a truck driving | | | | looking back at some web sites I created back |
| instructor. Many new truck drivers are very | | | | in 2000 and 2001, when I first began teaching |
| cautious, and even frightened at first. It | | | | myself html. They were pretty basic, but had |
| is not unusual for a student driver to drive | | | | a lot of good content. I hadn't promoted |
| verrrry slowly. However, one young lady was | | | | them in a couple of years, so I loaded them |
| going at incredibly slow speeds in all | | | | into a search engine submission program I |
| circumstances, and nothing I could do could | | | | have, and fired them off. A couple of weeks |
| get her to speed it up a little. She | | | | later, they generated a nice little batch of |
| constantly spoke about never having made any | | | | inquiries, several of which resulted in |
| real money in her life, and this gave me an | | | | sales. After a few weeks, this tapered off, |
| idea.One day, I said, "Shirley, how would you | | | | so I brushed them up and shot them off again. |
| like a $4,000 a year raise?"She said she'd | | | | Again, more inquiries, more sales. The |
| love that, so I went on. "The company is | | | | increase isn't all that big, but it's |
| going to pay you 25 cents a mile when you | | | | averaging about one and a half sales a week. |
| start driving full time. Let's say you can | | | | Since I made $60 on average per sale, that's |
| safely improve your speed and efficiency by | | | | about $90 per week. That's a little over |
| 10 miles per hour. You will easily drive 50 | | | | $4,000 a year more than before.I said there |
| hours a week or even more. That's at least | | | | was a point to all this, and here it is. Two |
| an extra 500 miles a week. Over the course | | | | points, actually.First, in my own experience, |
| of a year, even if you only did that 65% of | | | | and in all the internet marketing and network |
| the time, and took a two week vacation, you | | | | marketing courses and literature I've |
| would still make an extra $4,000.00 a year or | | | | studied, the importance of testing, |
| more."After that, Shirley speeded up quite a | | | | reviewing, and refining your advertising and |
| bit and turned into a fine driver.Story | | | | marketing strategies is of paramount |
| number two happened a few days ago.Several | | | | importance. Sometimes simply changing an |
| years ago, I put my daughter, a single | | | | attitude, a technique, a wording, a process, |
| mother, in one of my downlines, created a | | | | or something else may be what it takes to |
| couple of web sites for her, and from time to | | | | generate or rejuvenate a successful |
| time promoted them as well. One means of | | | | process.Second, complacency is a killer. You |
| promotion involved a Pay-Per-Click search | | | | must always continue to strive to achieve |
| engine. Normally, I would send all visitors | | | | maximum performance. Sitting back and |
| to my sites, but at the start of each week, I | | | | saying, "There. That's done. Now I can |
| would switch the traffic to one of her sites | | | | quit." will eventually result in failure more |
| until she got a couple of sales, then I would | | | | often than not. My wife is a fairly |
| switch back. Now, for various reasons, which | | | | successful, semi-professional online poker |
| would take too long to describe here, this | | | | player, and every time she thinks she's got |
| cost me about $100 a week out of my | | | | it all figured out, she realizes that she has |
| advertising funds. Her two sales would net | | | | to go back over everything she thought she |
| me about $40 in commissions, so my net loss | | | | knew and refine it even more to stay on top |
| for doing this was $60 a week.One day, it | | | | of her game. Every time she sits back and |
| came to me that one of her sites was | | | | figures she's got it down to a system, she |
| immensely popular at a certain traffic | | | | faces an opponent or situation that requires |
| exchange, but she didn't have internet access | | | | her to go back to the drawing board, despite |
| and I didn't have the time to get the | | | | her knowledge, skill, and success.So, take a |
| requisite number of clicks needed weekly to | | | | look at what you're doing. No matter how |
| generate the two sales. However, I WAS able | | | | successful, or unsuccessful it may or may not |
| to buy a sponsoring position for her at $35 a | | | | be, review it, refine it, revise it, retry |
| month. This made her two sales at a cost to | | | | it...massage it and thump it. Who knows? |
| me of a little over $8 a week. Commissions | | | | Maybe it will give you a $4,000 a year pay |
| from those two sales was still $40, but now I | | | | raise...or more!The author is retired from |
| made $32 a week instead of losing $60. | | | | the Army after 21 years of service. He has |
| Additionally, I used the $100 I had been | | | | worked as an accountant, purchasing agent, |
| spending on her on my own sites, netting two | | | | optical lab manager, restaurant manager, |
| additional sales a week for me. I made about | | | | instructor and long-haul, over-the-road truck |
| $60 per sale, so that was $120 plus the $32 | | | | driver. He has been a member of Mensa for |
| for an increase in revenue of about $150 a | | | | several years, and has written and published |
| week. If this works only 60% of the time, I | | | | poetry, essays, and articles on various |
| make over $4,000 a year more than previously, | | | | subjects for the last 40 years. He has been |
| and still shove some business her way. Since | | | | an active internet marketer since 2000, and |
| over half the sales to new customers result | | | | now makes his living online. |