Dear Friend,

I'm frequently asked, "Is selling Internet marketing how-to products a good business to be in?"

The reality of the Internet marketing (IM) niche is a little depressing… and we marketers (well, the HONEST ones) would be well served to seriously reevaluate if we want to be associated with it.

Let ole DD do his infamous "tell-it-like-it-is" thang and reveal what I've discovered from my brief little foray into creating and selling products in this niche.

For an honest "non-guru" guy, things are NOT all that great in the IM niche … and getting worse.

In fact, a few well-connected insiders have secretly told me that many of the big names have seen their "guru" businesses crash and burn over the past couple years… and most have taken MAJOR hits in income.

On the other hand, I'm in a mastermind group with an entrepreneur named Mike who has done it the RIGHT way, in my most humble (but accurate) opinion.

Mike doesn't sell IM products. He sells info products about marketing and business improvement to REAL business owners. In most cases, that's brick & mortar (B&M) business owners.

97% (or more) of "online business owners" don't even really have a business. They're just wannabee wimps (hey… alliteration!) who aren't making any money…  and probably never will… for a variety of reasons. Numero uno being they're wannabee wimps who only DELUDE themselves into thinking they're "online business owners" because they've bought some over-priced bright shiny object (B.S.O.) IM products and put up a WordPress blog.

Now, the B&M business owner market can be a pain in the ass, too… but for other reasons:

1. They're almost ALL brain-dead stupid about marketing. Mention "direct response" and they look at you like you have two heads.

2. A lot of them are highly skeptical because almost every alleged "marketing expert" who has extracted or is currently extracting money from them is actually just a media rep selling some type of advertising.

And the "marketing experts" who have parted them from their money are ALSO brain-dead stupid about marketing.

The B&M guys can be a tough sell because all these previous "marketing experts" sold them B.S. that NEVER produced any ROI for the poor old B&M owner. And even if it DID, the B&M guy wouldn't know it 'cuz he has no clue how to track his advertising and measure the ROI.  Hell, he doesn't even know what "tracking" means… and neither does the "marketing expert."

So those are a few hurdles to overcome.

Now, the GOOD things about B&M biz owners:

1. They didn't just dream up some half-assed idea yesterday, invest $200 in Google Adwords and decide to go into business. They actually had to invest some real thought, planning, time and SIGNIFICANT cashola to go into business. In other words, they're REAL biz people… and they have some serious skin in the game to make sure their deal actually brings in income.

2. They're accustomed to paying 4 and sometimes 5-figure monthly expenses… mortgage/lease, salaries, big insurance bills, big utility bills… and God knows what other gummint license fees and extortion.

3. They usually have a big cash flow… and a little "wiggle room" on what they can invest it in month to month.

4. Again, I refer you to item #1 in the "pain in the ass" reasons. But because they ARE near brain-dead stupid about marketing, that represents a HUGE frickin' opportunity for us'ns. (See the premier issue of The Doberman Dan Letter for a complete plan on how to capitalize on this… almost immediately. Shame on you if you're not a subscriber!)

See, a good marketer understands that many B&M biz owners, because of their marketing ignorance, are sitting on an absolute GOLD MINE… and don't even know it. You can be a mini Jay Abraham and easily help them mine all that undiscovered gold, keeping 10% to 25% (or more) for yourself.

And that's EXACTLY what you'll discover in the the premier issue of The Doberman Dan Letter… which you'll get as a new subscriber… along with a whole bunch of other cool money-making bonuses.

Knowing what I know now, if I were looking to start an info products business with BIG potential income…

…in a HUGE niche…

…where I could sell at price points of $200, $500, $1,000 and more…

…in an evergreen market…

I'd go after B&M biz owners.

(I knoweth of what I speaketh. I've done exactly what I'm describing quite successfully… 3 different times.)

The IM niche?

Meh.

An honest guy or gal ain't gonna last long there. Your honesty just can't compare with their lies… and all the alluring fantasies of "push button riches."

Let the IM con men deal with all the whiny wannabee wimps. (There I go alliterating again!)

I think you'll make a lot more money, be much happier and sleep a lot better selling REAL products that really work… to REAL business owners.

All the best,

Monday, 9:41 PM

Dear Friend,

None of my usual Doberman Dan "banter" today. I have something very important and urgent to share with you and I need to cut to the chase.

Here's the deal:

A lot of business owners are struggling right now.

Maybe you, too.

And if something doesn't change soon, many of these business owners will not even be in business next year.

And that bothers me… especially because it doesn't have to happen.

See, for most of this decade many biz owners were doing pretty well with even just mediocre marketing.

That all changed in 2008… and the mediocre marketers started dropping like flies.

But there ARE a small group of business owners prospering right now in spite of the bad economy. These are the business owners who know a few simple techniques and secrets, when done correctly and consistently… can cause SUBSTANTIAL increases in your sales and profits.

And if YOU want to prosper and grow your business nowadays, it's CRUCIAL you discover and implement these secrets.

So I've set up a special teleseminar to reveal some of these secrets. I'm calling it…

"Make 2011 Your Best Year Ever!"

If you run ANY kind of business… online, offline direct response, freelance copywriting, consultant or you own a traditional brick & mortar business…it's CRUCIAL you attend this FREE teleseminar.

You'll discover some quick-to-implement secrets and techniques that can boost your income FAST.

I've found most business owners are working themselves silly to only make HALF (or less!) of what they were making just a few years ago… while unknowingly stepping over low hanging $100 bills that are just BEGGING to be grabbed.

I'm going to show you how to grab that low hanging (and profitable) fruit… quickly and easily.

My co-host for this free teleseminar is Mr. X from my recent seminar in Orlando.

Mr. X, aka Markus Allen, is going to reveal the jealously guarded secrets of some very successful "under the radar" online marketers. This is stuff you can easily add to your internet marketing arsenal to DRAMATICALLY multiply your online sales.

Markus showed me just one of these secrets a couple days ago and I was utterly mesmerized. I discovered a HUGE gaping hole in my website, leaking THOUSANDS of dollars… and I was completely unaware of it.

Just this one little tweak Markus showed me is going to provide a nice little five-figure raise next year… and it took me all of five minutes to implement it.

And that's just one of MANY things we're going to share with you.

If you want to get more customers, make more money and GUARANTEE 2011 is your most successful year ever… you simply CAN'T miss this FREE teleseminar.

Update: Our Thursday night teleseminar has come and passed. And it was just awesome. (But hey, I'm biased.) The recording is available for paid members of my "Doberman Dan" Secret Archive. Markus and I are doing a more comprehensive seminar on each and every Saturday in January… to participate, click here to get our "Low Hanging Fruit" business-boosting strategies…

All the best,

Dear Friend,

Here's something you can use right away to bring in a quick cash flow surge.

Click here to download a PDF of the mailing piece featured in the video.

All the best,

Dear Friend,

They say first impressions are lasting impressions.

If that's true (and it probably is) you better make a darn good first impression with your prospects.

If not, they just might go elsewhere.

I'd like to share a recent experience I had.

Now technically, this wasn't my first impression with this company. But it was the first time I've communicated with them by phone.

They provide a really cool service… and do a GREAT job at a very low price.

And they're super fast. In fact "48 Hours" is part of their name. I still can't believe they do what they do so quickly… literally within 48 hours or less… and are able to do it so cheaply.

I've spent a bunch of money with them and will continue to do so.

But check out my first impression of them by phone:

[media:http://dobermandan.com/audio/DD bad cust-service example.mp3]

To me, that guy sounds like he's either pissed off, really tired, bored… or maybe was born without a personality.

He may be great at his job, but he is NOT the guy you should have answering your phone or speaking with customers.

To their credit, the lady I eventually spoke with had a very pleasant phone personality and handled everything just fine.

But if this were my first impression of this company, it wouldn't be a good one.

Remember my Clients Suck post where I talked about the copy only being a small part of the success of a promotion?

Imagine dropping 50,000 pieces of direct mail only to have the phone answered like this. And when the response is less than stellar you blame it on direct mail.

The problem isn't direct mail. It got hundreds or thousands of people to call.

The problem was having Mr. Surly answer the phone.

EVERYTHING is marketing!

Disney even considers their janitorial and housekeeping staff as part of their marketing.

Any interaction with a prospect or customer is part of your marketing… and it better be good.

It's pretty stupid to invest thousands or millions of dollars getting prospects to call you, visit your website, or come into your location… only to hand them off to some apathetic, crusty employee who acts as if it's an inconvenience and an interruption to deal with them.

Every single employee who has contact with your prospects and customers better know where their bread is buttered. They better understand that because of the customer, they can feed their family and put a roof over their head.

Any employee who doesn't get that… or has a personality like the guy on this phone recording… should be kept far away from your customer… or fired.

Or go to work as a civil servant.

Only your best and brightest should be allowed to interact with your prospects and customers.

And that's my most humble (but accurate) opinion.

All the best,

– Woody Allen

Wednesday, 9:27 PM

Dear Friend,

I knew it would happen eventually.

Something would try and stop me from publishing one video a day during my 30-Day YouTube Challenge.

I have to admit… yesterday it was pretty darn inconvenient.

But TODAY was a bitch.

Yesterday I was suffering from a really bad allergy attack and just felt awful. I felt even WORSE after taking some allergy medicine. The only thing I felt like doing was going back to bed.

But I got up and did my morning routine… 33 minutes & 33 seconds of guitar practice, followed by 33 minutes & 33 seconds of writing copy.

After that I answered e-mails, returned phone calls and did another 33 minutes & 33 seconds working on copy.

Later in the day, I did my Kitchen Table Business protege coaching webinar… all the while feeling like I was going to pass out at any minute. (I don't know which is worse… the severe allergies or the side effects from the meds.)

Even though it was inconvenient and I had a long list of things to do… I'm glad to say I also got my YouTube video edited and posted.

Today was a different story.

I felt pretty good… until spending the entire afternoon in the doctor's office and getting some really bad news.

The only thing I felt like doing was coming home and going to bed. That would be a normal response under the circumstances.

But a commitment is a commitment.

So in spite of feeling really crappy… I spent the next two hours shooting and editing my video.

Then due to some weird technical glitches during the upload to YouTube, I was forced to spend an additional unexpected 2 & 1/2 hours importing the video into iMovie a second time and re-editing all over again.

And now an extra 45 minutes writing this blog post.

It all reminded me of Woody Allen's quote.

He didn't say "success is showing up when it's convenient and you feel like it… and you're in perfect health and everything is going your way."

No, he simply said you have to show up.

I can tell you from experience it's almost NEVER convenient. And many times… actually, MOST of the time… you won't FEEL like doing what you need to do.

See, when you make a commitment to grow or better yourself in some way, sooner or later something – a situation, inconvenience, illness, a person (usually it's a family member or friend) – is going to come against you to try and stop you.

A loser makes excuses.

A successful person keeps his commitment.

So I expected this would eventually happen. I just didn't know it would happen so soon.

The important lesson here is… in spite of how bad you may feel… and how inconvenient it may be… and how much you don't FEEL like doing it… you keep your commitment.

And because there are so precious few people like that… this one secret alone can make you an extremely valuable and HIGHLY paid guy or gal in the business world.

Oh yeah… the video below will show you how to make a lot of money, too.

Even if you're just a hack copywriter or rookie direct marketer, you could easily be making 5 figures a month VERY quickly.

All the best,

Dear Friend,

I have lots of respect for brick & mortar business owners.

They've got big cahones.

The amount of investment, debt and commitment it takes to open a brick & mortar business would scare away most lesser mortals.

But most of them are completely clueless about how to market their business.

So here's a tip I've used to DOUBLE sales for brick & mortar businesses lickety split.

All the best,