How to build your online business/customer base!
I have been in the online space for a number of years now and it seems that a lot of people have the following question: How do I build my online business?
With this article, I will discuss the concept of three buckets. I recently learned this from my friend Jacob Caris. The concept of three buckets was so clear and easy to follow that I thought that it would benefit others who are trying to build their online businesses. I feel that my business has suffered because I did not have the clarity of this concept. These principles will help you even if you are new to building your online business and no matter what niche or product you are promoting,
There are a lot of articles, videos and offers out there about attraction marketing, provide value, provide value, provide value. I would like to respond to that by saying that value without purpose is useless. Yes, provide value but all of your value must have a purpose. If you just keep providing value with no plan, no focus, no backend to the information you are providing, you will burn out and will not make sufficient return on your investment (ROI) to stay in business. This is where shiny object syndrome comes in and you begin to question the platform and the product. If you are able to monetize your process and you have clarity of purpose then you will be in profit and you will have a ton of fun with your business.
BUCKET #1:Â The Product
We are going to reverse engineer the process. Many people start with their content and just throw in whatever offer they think will be a good match. They do not really know the product or the benefits to their subscribers/customers. I think that customers can feel that disconnect and then they do not continue with the process. I am recommending that you start with the product and really study it.
Learn about the benefits and features enough so that you can discuss it with confidence. This gets easier with practice. The product that you pick should have a high-ticket offer on the backend or take people up a value ladder. I explain what a value ladder is in this article. The reason for this is to make sure that you are in profit. Usually, the front end sales may or may not cover your advertising expenses.
If you do not have a high ticket offer then most likely you will either break even or even lose money on your promotions. It’s ok to start with a low ticket/free offer to get people in the door. Then there should be a value ladder that will progress your customers through the sales process enough that you are able to not only provide excellent value but also make an ROI. So…initally you may lose money but as your customers flow through the process the profit is made on the back end.
BUCKET #2:Â The Sales Process
You need to have a sales process in place. This process can be email marketing, messenger, text messages, webinars, etc… What every process you are using needs to lead your interested audience through a process (sales funnel). This sales process will weed out those that are not interested and continue to provide relevant information to those that are interested. Now for those that are not interested maybe they enter a different sales process for a different product. Just because they were not interested in your offer de jour does not mean that they will not be interested in other products. You have done the work to “attract” these people, now don’t lose them.
BUCKET #3: Content
Ok, the third bucket is your content. Your content can either be paid or free. Some of the paid methods are Google/Bing ads, or social media paid ads. Some of the free methods are creating YouTube videos, blogging, or posting in Facebook groups (in a non-spammy way). The goal of your content is to build trust/goodwill with your audience and to have a call to action (CTA). You need to prepare people for the sales process. In order to do this, your content needs to have two things. 
1: Your content needs to address any false beliefs that the person might have. For example, I don’t have the money or I can’t sell a high ticket offer. I can relate to this one because for years I have tried to make my business successful by just promoting free or low-cost items. This was just because I was uncomfortable with the money aspect. It is only just recently that I have gotten over this. What I have learned is that it is much easier to sell 1 high-ticket offer over 100 free/low ticket offers. The profit margin is much higher. (Just as a guideline I consider high-ticket to be anything over $900).
2:Â Stoke the fire as to why they should purchase.
These two things can happen together or separately. The easiest way to do this is to make two columns on a piece of paper. On one side write down possible objections and on the other side write down the benefits/possible transformation that can occur it they buy. Write your story and build on both one and two.
Your content should also be RVL (results, value or lifestyle based).
R:Â Results
The results do not have to be your own. If you are new and have not made any sales yet then use the results of others until you have your own. Here is an example. My friend Jonathan made 2 huge sales in 1 week.
V:Â Value
The term value has been greatly overused. But, the value can be anything that gives someone a mental shift or an emotional reaction. If you can make someone smile, laugh, that is value. It does not need to be complicated.
L:Â Lifestyle
Lifestyle does not mean just pictures of fast cars and lazing on the beach with a frothy drink. Lifestyle means showing people that you are a real person. People want to see your journey/transformation.
In closing: if you understand the process and your three buckets are full, it won’t matter what product you have or what niche you are in. The sooner you have clarity and focus, become a leader the sooner you will be able to build your online business successfully and get paid.
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