Position Your Business for *Massive* Growth

How would you like to seriously ramp up your profits and launch your site to new levels of wealth online?

You can... joining the ranks of other successful Internet marketers who are making in excess of $100,000... $500,000... even MILLIONS of dollars per year!

To start creating this kind of mind-boggling wealth online, you just need to ask yourself one simple question: "How?"

Too many Internet marketers make the mistake of focusing on what they're going to sell, instead of how they're going to make money online. And the answer to how to generate massive wealth on the Internet lies in choosing the right profit models.

That's why I want to look at some of the most straightforward ways to make money on your site... and then dive into the more advanced (and lesser-known) strategies that can catapult your business to new revenue levels -- and create real wealth instead of just "income."

The Three Basic Models for Generating Income on the Internet

Let's start at the beginning, with the basic ways you can get online and start making money:

1. SELL A PRODUCT ON YOUR WEB SITE:

Becoming an online merchant and selling a product on your web site is by far the most straightforward -- and obvious -- way to earn an income online, which is why it's also the most common.

With this profit model, every time you make a sale you earn a profit... and the more sales you make, the bigger your profits grow.

The key to success with this model is to sell as much product as you can while maintaining a healthy profit margin.

2. SELL A SERVICE ON YOUR WEB SITE:

If you provide a service rather than a physical product, you can absolutely make money selling it online even if that service can only be delivered offline (e.g., landscaping).

Your web site will allow you to reach a much wider audience and give prospective clients loads of information about you, your experience, and the service that you offer.

And if you offer a service that can be delivered online (e.g., web design), so much the better -- you won't be limited by geography.

The main disadvantage of selling a service online is that your income is limited by your ability to take on new clients and the time it takes you to deliver the service. There are only so many hours in the day!

3. GENERATE LEADS FROM YOUR WEB SITE:

If you already have an existing offline business, then you should act right away to develop an online presence for it!

Using your web site as a way to drive traffic to your brick-and-mortar business is a great way to expose your business to a broader audience and beef up your offline sales.

The benefit of advertising online for your offline business is that you can capture a much wider audience.

More and more people now turn first to the Internet to get information about a product, service, or company -- and to help them make informed decisions -- before going shopping offline.

It's also much cheaper and more effective to advertise online than it is to advertise offline!

In this profit model, your revenue comes from leading your site visitors to your offline location.

You can definitely make money with any of these three models -- and they're an excellent starting point -- but if you want to get fantastically wealthy, you need to have more than one way to make money from your site.

Most web site owners focus on "transactional" income -- the income from a one-time sale of a product or service. But the problem with this type of model is that the relationship ends with the sale of your product or service.

To really explode your profits -- and turn income into long-term equity -- try adding more TYPES of income to your business...

ADVANCED PROFIT MODEL #1:

Rapidly Multiply Your Profits with a "Recurring" Income Source

An extremely powerful way to make serious money online is to sell a product that will generate a *steady stream* of income -- from every customer who purchases from you!

There are a number of powerful methods for incorporating recurring revenue into your existing model...

* Generate "continuity" income:

With the continuity model, your income comes in pre-authorized payments on a schedule for an ongoing exchange of goods and services.

Membership to a gym or a members-only web site falls under this category. Once you create an initial interest in your product or service, you'll have a nice ongoing revenue source.

* Create "renewable" income:

Renewable income is generated when your customers agree to repurchase your product at a later, agreed-upon date Here's why this type of profit model is so powerful:

A subscription guarantees you income over an agreed period of time. Plus, it's very often renewed when that time is up.

If you sell a monthly magazine, for example, a yearly subscription guarantees the sale of every issue over a year... and if your subscription item is valuable to your subscribers, there's a very good chance that that the subscription will be renewed over and over again.

Do you see how this is more beneficial than the one-time sale of a single product, service, or lead?

* Sell "refillable" products:

Generate an income source that will always be replenished by selling products that need to be refilled at regular intervals (e.g., ink for a printer, or vitamins).

If you sell toner for photocopiers, for example, your customers will need to buy more toner as long as they want to continue using their photocopiers!

And as long as you can convince your customers to keep purchasing their refills from your web site, you've got yourself a nice source of recurring revenue -- without having to constantly put in all the time and effort of acquiring first-time customers.

* Create an "ascension" income strategy:

This strategy (made famous by American Express) involves charging for different levels of membership or "premium" programs. This is an extremely effective way to ramp up your income for a couple of reasons.

For one thing, it rewards your best customers publicly -- not only appealing to their ego, but also providing a basis for a stronger relationship with those customers over time.

And the other major benefit is that you can capture sales from people who, for whatever reason, are not ready to commit to a higher-priced membership level.

Maybe they aren't familiar with your site, so they're understandably cautious about spending large sums of money on your products or services. Offering a lower price point lets these customers "test the waters" before diving in to purchase your big-ticket items.

Once you've impressed these customers and they're sure of your credibility, they'll be much more likely to upgrade to a higher-priced membership level at a future date.

Can you see how, right off the bat, incorporating these strategies provides a revenue stream that far exceeds the profits of a one-time sale?

When you only sell one product or service, you always need to be focusing on getting first-time sales if you want a steady income. But if you can add a replenishable income source to your business, those first-time sales become an ongoing source of increasing wealth!

ADVANCED PROFIT MODEL #2:

Increase the Purchase Value of First-time Customers... BEFORE They Leave Your Site

Now let's look at a quick and easy way to *immediately* increase your revenue from first-time customers by 20% to 30%...

It's called "upselling," and it's a highly effective strategy of offering one or more products at the point of sale that will enhance your customers' main purchases.

You've already convinced your customers to purchase from you -- so it requires very little extra effort on your part!

And generally, once people have made the decision to buy, they are much more receptive to other offers... if you catch them while they're in a buying mood!

In fact, our testing shows that a whopping 30% to 55% of people will purchase a second product!

However, in order for this strategy to be effective, you must make sure that what you're offering is related to your main item. By all means, offer some specialty tea if you're selling a teapot -- but don't try to sell tea to someone who's purchasing Mustang motor parts!

As long as you offer something that's directly related to your main item, you can easily -- and instantly -- increase your revenue from that sale.

ADVANCED PROFIT MODEL #3:

Maximize the Value of Your Existing Customer Base to Skyrocket Your Revenue

Remember: Your first-time customers always cost you the most.

Instead of spending all of your time, money, and energy drawing more first-time visitors to your web site, devote more time to the relationships you have already established with your current customer base!

Your current client base is a gold mine... In fact, "backend" sales to your existing customers can increase your revenue by 30% to 50%. That's why it's so important that you follow up with everyone who purchases from you!

So how do you reach your existing client base?

One excellent follow-up strategy is to use AUTOMATED SEQUENTIAL OFFERS to draw buyers back to your site. E-mail your customers after the initial sale, thanking them for their order, asking them if they have any questions... and offering a related product.

Another strategy is to use e-mail to to send new offers and special promotions. You can target your e-mail communications to customers based on their history with you.

For example, you can send a special promotion to all your first-time customers. Or, you can send a "thank you" promotion to your long-term repeat customers. In each e-mail, include an offer for a product or service related to their initial purchase.

Not sure what you can offer as a backend item? Here are just a few ideas:

* Offer a related product they're likely to be interested in

* Offer more of the same product

* Offer an upgrade to the initial product

* Offer a service that assists with the use of the product

* Offer a service to apply the product for them

* Offer information to improve the use of their product

* Offer other people's products for a commission

Make sure you time your offers for maximum success. Send out your follow-up offers 3, 7, and 10 days after the initial purchase. These are the times when new clients are most likely to make a SECOND purchase.

If you're not following up with your customers, you are literally leaving 30% to 50% of your revenue on the table!

ADVANCED PROFIT MODEL #4:

Expand Your Reach on the 'Net and Generate Massive Revenue by Starting an Affiliate Program

How would you like to improve your search engine rankings and exponentially increase your reach on the 'Net -- and your revenue? Well, if you start an affiliate program, you can do just that.

Developing an affiliate program is an incredibly powerful way to market your product or service online. If you aren't familiar with how an affiliate program works, it involves allowing other people to promote your products or services for you.

And the best part is that you don't have to pay them a penny unless they send you a sale!

It's not difficult to set up an affiliate program, and the benefits of doing so are enormous:

Your affiliates can send you a great deal of traffic. Using banner ads, text links, and e-mail promotions, your affiliates can send droves of people to your web site.

Your site can skyrocket to a top ranking in the search engines. Not only will you acquire a host of inbound links from your affiliates, your content will spread to the far reaches of the 'Net... resulting in a drastic rise in your search engine rankings.

You can reduce your advertising costs. Since you'll have reams of highly motivated affiliates selling your products for you, you won't have to spend money driving traffic to your site.

The key to getting the most out of your affiliate program is to attract the attention of highly motivated affiliates by offering lots of incentive: generous commissions, and tools and resources that will help them to succeed.

ADVANCED PROFIT MODEL #5:

Form Strategic Alliances with Other Businesses to Ramp Up Your Profits, Expand Your Skill Set, and Offer Your Customers High-quality Products and Services

Forming partnerships and joint ventures with other businesses for a share of profits is a great way to ramp up your income in a major way.

For one thing, when you combine your skills, products, services, and resources with another business, you create new streams of revenue and profit... and expand into new markets.

You also bring added value to your existing customers. The key to getting the most out of a strategic alliance is to seek out products or services that complement yours and will benefit your visitors, and then approach the companies that provide those products or services.

Ask them if you can recommend their products or services on your web site for a portion of the profits. Most companies will gladly agree to this arrangement. After all, it's no risk for them if they have to pay you only when you refer a paying customer.

One of our clients, Bert Ingley of VGSportsInc.com, has experienced huge success with this model.

Bert sells video game strategy eBooks, and he recently entered into a lucrative joint-venture relationship with the company that makes the video games many of his strategy eBooks are based on.

The video game company is going to advertise his strategy guides on its site in exchange for a small cut of his profits.

It's a win-win situation that's going to generate a LOT of extra revenue for Bert!

ADVANCED PROFIT MODEL #6:

The Most Profitable Thing You Can Sell Online...

All of these strategies are surefire ways of creating wealth online... and now I'm going to tell you how you can increase your profit margins even MORE in ALL of these revenue streams.

The most profitable thing you can sell online is INFORMATION! An "information product" could take the form of a "how-to" eBook, members-only resources, or even sofware.

Why are information products such a hot commodity?

* They're easy to create

* They cost *nothing* to reproduce

* They can be delivered instantly

* They can be set up to be delivered automatically

* Information is the #1 reason people come online!

Just think. It doesn't even cost you anything to ship or store... In fact, once you have your information product, you can fully automate the entire sales and delivery process using software like eBook Pro (http://www.ebookpro.com) and Mailloop (http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop).

Then, just sit back as the orders roll in, without you lifting a finger!

Final Thoughts

Your business model is your lifeline to bigger profits on the Internet. So by all means start out by selling a product or a service, or by driving traffic to your offline store. But don't stop there...

Take advantage of recurring income and think of ways you can incorporate a refillable or renewable product into your business to create a steady stream of profits.

Offer related "upsell" products at the time of an initial purchase to increase the base price of your main product or service.

And whatever you do, don't miss the opportunity to generate up to a 50% increase in your revenue by following up with your customers and getting those backend sales! Focus on building strong relationships with them that will encourage MULTIPLE purchases in the years to come.

Last, harness the power of selling information online! Info products are a perfect fit for all of these business models -- whether as your main product, an upsell product such as an eBook, a follow-up product, or a renewable product.

It's not only the most profitable thing you can sell, you can also automate the entire reproduction and delivery process... and literally walk away!

Don't be afraid to mix it up. Create a diverse blend of income streams that will add up to one MASSIVE revenue stream... the kind that will keep growing and building wealth.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet businesses that make $100,000 to $2.5 Million (or more) per year. To get instant access to all his most profitable marketing campaigns, strategies, tools, and resources that he's used to grow $25 into over $40 Million in online sales, visit: http://www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.html