It’s Time Web Marketers Grew Up

Twenty years ago, if you had told me that one day I’d be able to reach millions of prospective customers without paying a penny in printing, postage, or lettershop fees … and without paying through the nose for print space or TV and radio time … I would have smiled and backed away from you v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

I would have instantly pegged you as a lunatic. But I would have been wrong. Thanks to the Internet, we actually can do it. And that’s huge.

When I write a direct-mail package, I know my client is going to have to cough up an average of $550 to send it to every 1,000 prospects in his universe. That’s $55,000 for 100,000 potential customers. And $550,000 for 1 million.

On the Internet, you can post a website with your sales message for 500 bucks. And then blast a million e-mails to drive folks to your site for next to nothing!

So, yeah. The Internet is huge and cheap. Just like the hypesters say it is.

And, yes, marketing on the ‘Net can make you a bundle. I know lots of Internet marketers who make tens of millions — even a hundred million or more — every year.

But there is a bit more to it than that …

The Web is growing up. It’s time Web marketers did too.

Frankly, most Web marketers have been spoiled rotten. Sorry guys, but you know it’s true!

For more than a decade, the fact that your medium was brand-new and your prospects were wide-eyed has allowed you to get rich without having to think much about your sales copy.

So, you’ve written the copy yourself. Or cheaped out by hiring neophytes to write it.

As a result, 99 percent of your copy is so weak it would have long ago sent any direct-response mail marketer into bankruptcy.

Now, with the Internet maturing and becoming more competitive, amateur night is over.

The costs associated with driving prospects to websites are rising. The average ‘Net consumer is growing wiser and more skeptical. And, suddenly, many Web marketers are in the same boat as their peers who use other advertising media — desperately searching for ways to boost response.

This presents a dazzling opportunity for Web marketers! Because if you make the effort to hire a good copywriter, you’ll be miles ahead of your competition. And you’ll be setting yourself up to skyrocket the amount of money you’re making now.

The other day, I was studying a series of websites from one of the nation’s most successful Internet marketing companies.

This company has all the high-tech talent and infrastructure it needs to dominate its industry. It has hundreds of employees who are experts in the nuts and bolts of Web marketing. One word from the prez, and they can conceive a new website before 10:00 a.m. … have it written by lunch … and have it designed, programmed, and making sales by quitting time.

In short, the owners have built a Ferrari of a company. But instead of paying for high-octane fuel — compelling sales copy created by proven professionals — they’re pouring cheap kerosene into the gas tank!

If they ever try sending their sales copy out via snail mail, they’ll be lucky to recoup 10 percent of the money they spend on postage!

Nevertheless, on the low-cost Web, their crummy copy generates nearly $100 million a year in sales. And they’re laughing all the way to the bank.

But just because they’re getting rich doesn’t mean they’re smart. On the contrary, it’s proof that ignorance truly is bliss. Because if their copy didn’t suck, they’d be making $1 billion a year instead of a lousy $100 million.

Unfortunately, the company’s copy will probably continue to suck. And the owners will continue to leave 90 percent of their sales on the table. Because they just can’t bring themselves to pay a top copywriter a commission on the increased sales he or she could produce for them.

So, in hopes of helping any reluctant Web marketers reading this see the error of their ways, allow me to offer this simple, one-second test …

What would YOU rather have? 100 percent of $100 million? Or 90 percent of $1 BILLION?

If you said “100 percent of $100 million,” you may as well stop reading this. Get your resume in order, and prepare to go to work for someone else.

Because your company will soon get its head handed to it on a not-so-silver platter.

But if you instantly recognized that paying a top copywriter 10 percent of sales and settling for 90 percent of the increase that stronger copy could bring you is the smarter move … because IT WOULD MAKE YOU NINE TIMES RICHER … do this …

Go to the head of the class. And call one of those copywriters. NOW!

P.S. Even if you plan to hire copywriters to write your sales copy, you should study copywriting yourself. At the very least, you must be able to recognize great copy when you see it. At Early to Rise’s Info-Marketing Bootcamp this November, I’ll teach you everything I’ve learned about copywriting during my decades-long career. And I’ll be joined by a dozen other experts in Internet marketing, search engine optimization, social media, and much more. You’ll discover everything you need to know about starting and growing your own Internet business. Find out more about Bootcamp here.