BusinessNews Publishing - Summary: DotCom Secrets: Review and Analysis of Brunsons Book

Book Abstract

Online businesses which are struggling normally assume they have a problem getting enough traffic to their site or converting that traffic when it does show up. That's not usually the real problem, however. More often than not, websites which are underperforming have a funnel problem.

The best way to organize an online business is to build a good sales funnel which consists of some bait (B), front-end offers (FE), mid-funnel offers (M) and back-end offers (BE). To optimize the funnel, you'll also need three good strategies for Traffic, Product and Communications.

If you can organize your funnel so you can spend two- to three-times more than everyone else to acquire customers, your online business will become exponentially more profitable.

"Ultimately, the business that can spend the most to acquire a customer wins."

Dan Kennedy

"When you implement these secrets, you will transform your website from a flat, two-dimensional company into a three-dimensional sales and marketing machine that allows you to outspend your competitors, acquire an almost unlimited number of new customers, make (and keep) more money, and most importantly, serve more people."

Russell Brunson

About the Author

RUSSELL BRUNSON is the owner of DotComSecrets.com Inc., a marketing consulting firm. He started his first online company while he was a student at Boise State University. Within a year of graduating from college, Russell Brunson sold more than a million dollars of his own products and services working from his basement. For more than 12 years now, he has been consulting with other online companies helping them grow their traffic, increase their conversion rates and make more online sales. Russell Brunson is a graduate of Boise State University.

The Web site for this book is at www.DotComSecrets.com .

Important Note About This Ebook

This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book. This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, view points and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.

1. Funnel Principles

While the online world may look like an entirely different beast altogether, the fact is the same methods direct marketers have been using for years to win customers work just as well online as they do offline. Like an iceberg, It's what's going on behind the scenes with your funnel that counts.

Direct marketing has been around for many years and is a well-known entity. To make offline sales, the steps direct marketers have traditionally taken are:

• Advertisers run a small classified ad to get you to ring a 1-800 number for a free report about something.
• They send you a sales letter disguised as a free report which sells a low-ticket product.
• When you buy the low-ticket product, they also include another sales letter selling a high-ticket product and so on.

The online method for making sales is often touted as being revolutionary but when you break it down, the online method is very similar:

• Online businesses offer you something for free in order to get your contact details so they can continue to market to you.
• Instead of using 1-800 numbers and reports, you get emailed information about what's on offer in order to whet your appetite.
• Over a period of time, you enter the company's sales funnel and get offered a low-ticket item to start the relationship. If you buy that initial low-ticket item, you then get offered items which have more value and higher price points. You gradually get used to doing more and more business with the online entity and build a level of trust they will deliver value.

So the marketing methodology is still the same but old media tools have been replaced by new media tools:

Regardless of whether you're using old media or new media, the things you have to figure out in order to market your services or products are the same:

• Who are your dream customers?

  You don't have the time or resources to try and sell to everyone so you need to figure out who are your dream clients. Many companies develop buyer personas for the clients who will best appreciate what they have to offer. You should do the same.

• Where can you find them?

  They will already be hanging out somewhere online and that's where you want to be to attract their attention. Identify what they read and their common interests.

• What kind of "bait" will appeal to them?

  You next clarify what kind of gift you can give your ideal clients to attract their attention. This might be a book, a CD, a DVD, an audio recording or something else. Figure out what they would love to get.

• What result do you want to give them?

  The last piece of the puzzle is to clarify what you want to achieve for your ideal clients when they buy what you offer. You clarify in your mind the value you seek to deliver through your products or services. Clarify where you ultimately want to take the customer as they do business with you.

The reality is a new customer probably won't walk in the door and immediately want to pay you $1 million for an initial transaction. Instead, they will want to do a low-price transaction with you as a test. If they receive value for their money, they will naturally progress to buying higher-ticket items. In anticipation of this, you also need to build a value ladder of products.

For example, a dentist's value ladder might look like this:

The dentist might offer you a free teeth cleaning consultation (1). While you're there, he may suggest you get your teeth whitened (2) and sell you a teeth whitening kit for $100. He may also suggest you get retainers (3) for $1,500 and think about some other cosmetic work (4) in the future which would cost $3,000. He also might schedule you for six monthly checkups (at $60 per visit) to keep your teeth in good shape.

The same applies online. You need to build a value ladder for where you want to take your online customers. The value ladder will usually start out with a free offer (if the customer will just cover the shipping) and then as customers receive value, they will just naturally progress up the ladder towards your higher value (and higher price point) offerings.