This is something quite often asked by those just starting out in their online venture.  The train of thought goes a little like this…

“I’d really like to join an associate program, but I don’t have a website. Can I still make money?”

If you’re new to Internet marketing this may come as a bit of a surprise to you but the most money isn’t made by people with websites…

It’s made by people with lists. It is often stated that “the money is in the list”.  You may or may not have heard this statement but the reason it is one of the more credible statements you will ever come across, is simply because it’s true!

If you have a great list full of people who trust your recommendations then you’re on to a winner as you really can sell to these people again and again.

To further emphasis the point, think for a moment about this question…

What are most savvy internet marketers doing with their websites?

Answer: Turning them into lists. (“join my newsletter”, “join my associate program”, ”become my customer”, etc, etc).

So going back to the original question, “can I make money without a website?” The simple answer is yes you can!  In fact you can make an absolute fortune without a website – as long as you have great lists.

Question: If I send bulk email to webmasters after harvesting their email addresses, am I spamming?

Answer: Well the simple answer is yes. But…

You should try to ignore the phrase “bulk email”. The recipient doesn’t know if you sent 1 or 1,000,000 emails. So it’s not the numbers sent that are important, it’s the intent.

If you send one sales pitch to someone you don’t know, that’s spam.

If you send 1,000,000 emails to people who have opted into your mailing list, it’s not spam.

See how the numbers are irrelevant?

OK. Here’s the gray area… if you send a personalised, researched email to a webmaster whom you don’t know, it could be perceived as spam, but most likely won’t be. No business exists in isolation. It is fair to say that if everyone started out their business not being able to email people they didn’t know, or receive emails from others they didn’t know, not many business would actually get off the ground.

There is nothing offensive about receiving personalised, tailored Emails. However, there are still some people that may object to even this unsolicited contact, so limit the numbers you send to each day.

If you’re trying to strike up relationships with people you haven’t had previous contact with, here is some advice worth consideration…

Only send a few emails a day (this is so that your ISP and Webhost won’t get upset in the event that someone does complain).

Only send well planned, tailored, personalised and considerate emails to people whom you consider will be interested in your offer.

Most importantly, only send emails you wouldn’t mind receiving if you were in the recipient’s shoes!

I do.

Tons of them!!!

But, like the saying goes… “you show me someone who doesn’t make mistakes, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t doing anything”!

Let’s face it. Mistakes can happen for many reasons… incompetence, ignorance, tiredness etc etc.

Sometimes you realise you shouldn’t have made the error, sometimes it was unavoidable. But, the one certain fact is that life is full of mistakes!

It’s what you do after the mistake that’s important. Do you consider what you did, what the results were and how to make sure the mistake doesn’t happen again?

Do you learn from the mistake?

If you do, you’re using your mistake as an asset. If not, you’re throwing away valuable lessons which could improve your business…

That led me to thinking about an interesting quirk in the human psyche that the salesman was trying to tap into. We are all susceptible to “time sensitive” triggers. You will have come across these triggers on most internet marketing websites.

The offer of an additional bonus or incentive if the customer orders there and then… on the spot.

It happens in other areas too…

Imagine your local supermarket. You want to buy a regular pack of batteries. The batteries are there, the size is right, the price is right, so why do you buy a multi-pack?

Because there was a “limited time” special offer! You were persuaded to buy three times the number of batteries you wanted for a special discount as long as you ordered right then.

It really is fascinating; it must be rooted in our psychology. The fear of losing out on a great deal and the pleasure of thinking you’re getting a bargain…all in one!

This is a topic that should be of great interest to any internet marketer and we would love to hear what others think about this concept, especially if anyone has increased their sales dramatically by applying this to their on-line marketing…