Opportunities are everywhere.
You just have to know how to find recognize them.
They are all around you.
Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.
-Ann Landers
Yes, you actually have to do stuff in order to get stuff, there is no free lunch.
It’s in “the doing” that we find either success or the ever stubborn frustration that comes from not finding success fast enough.
Sometimes we get pessimistic about our odds of making it online and it feels like we’re wasting our time. This is when we want to give up and quit.
The truth is maybe you are wasting your time.
Maybe you aren’t.
Here’s an easy way to tell.
If you are still reading this article then you are no time wasting quitter.
Congratulations.
You are probably someone who’s interested in learning how you can turn that frown upside down.
You want to learn how to make lemonade when all you have is lemons.
Here’s what I mean.
Last December I was promoting the third and final information product that I released in 2012.
I knew if I could get a “BIG” blogger to help me with my launch then my odds of success and profit would increase dramatically.
I started reaching out to the BIG bloggers who I noticed following me on social media or had re-tweeting my articles earlier in the year.
To each I sent an email that looked very similar to this:
Subject: Time sensitive Need your help.
Hello A LIST BLOGGER,
I’m contacting you because you are one of the TOP bloggers around and I noticed we follow each other on twitter @FreedomMMC. I also enjoy reading your blog; so far my favorite post is your article on “How to use an example title when making a point.”
However, that’s not why I’m writing you today.
I’m hoping that maybe you could review or provide a reaction or quote on a new product that I’m launching for the holiday season.
The product:
1. Is all about what I proved THIS year works at making money online.
2. Helps people get the gifts they really want, and earn extra holiday cash
3. Benefits charity as 10% of all proceeds go to help children in need.
I call it the Win-Win-Win Trifecta. If you are available let me know and I’ll send you a link. I would love to hear your feedback. Also you can earn a 50% commission (CLICKBANK) if you choose to promote as my thanks for helping me out. This is a time sensitive special offer that expires soon.
If you are available please reply and I”ll send you the link.
Please let me know if you have any questions, if you could help me out it would be tremendously awesome, fantastic and spectacular.
Thanks
Darnell Jackson
YourOnline.biz | Twitter | Google+
With all that said this letter FAILED miserably or it was a stunning SUCCESS.
It all depends on how you look at it.
- More than half of the emails I sent, I’d bet didn’t even get opened.
- More than half of the responses I received I know declined my offer.
That’s where I found the opportunity.
Even though I didn’t get the answer that I wanted I was successful at starting a conversation with an influential blogger.
This is why I say you have to be successful to be successful.
I already knew who they were and now they knew who I was.
I sent them an email and they replied, this meant we are talking.
Now what should I do or say now that I made my best offer and they said, NO?
I went back to my plan.
From the very beginning I understood what the possible reactions would be from the email and I planned a counter reaction in advance for each one.
Before I clicked send on the email I already knew:
- The decision making process I was using was systematic, not emotional.
- What my next move would be. If they agreed then I would do XYZ if they declined then I would do ABC.
This gave me the confidence of knowing my approach was objective and logical.
I mentally accepted that the results would be factual and the only thing that I should worry about is managing the process.
As Stephen Covey said, “Sharpen the sword”.
In other words, refine the process by discarding what doesn’t work and emphasizing what does.
I was prepared and ready to make adjustments for re-use in the future like:
- Email copy – The email above isn’t the best written sales letter in the world. I wrote it in like 20 minutes and I sent it with the errors and all.
- Timing. – More advance notice before the launch is a good thing.
- The “known unknown”. – Be open to making adjustments based on feedback I haven’t heard yet that I know is coming. Be open and responsive to constructive criticism.
How I turned my rejection frowns upside down.
I knew more bloggers would reject my offer than would accept it, the question remained what should I do about it?
A. Nothing. Just move on to the next idea.
B. Ask them why they said NO and risk coming off like a desperate begging blogger, a DBB?
C. Make them a better offer.
-My choice C.
Here’s how I made a better offer that actually got accepted:
#1 – Get connected first.
As I stated above I only reached out to bloggers that were following me or had re-tweeted articles I shared on Twitter or Google+.
I did not approach bloggers who didn’t reciprocate in some way earlier in the year.
I believe this works because even though we haven’t met they are familiar with who I am.
Obviously, I must have made an impression somewhere or else they wouldn’t be following me or re-sharing my posts.
How did I get them to follow me you ask?
Actually I can’t be 100% sure without asking them but here is what I did over a period of several weeks in 2012:
- I followed them and the people they followed on social media. I mostly use Twitter and Google+ I rarely use Facebook I’m not a big fan.
- I shared their best stuff. When they published interesting articles I re-shared.
- I also commented on their blog posts. I tried to really add value with my comments.
- I subscribed to their email lists.
- I just basically got connected and involved with what were doing in a real way.
#2 – Prepare your offer.
As you are developing your offer pay attention to what you see them promoting on their blog.
This will tell you in advance how they will respond and also give you clues on what you should offer before you ask.
- Do you notice the bloggers you follow promoting any affiliate products?
- Have they done any reviews on new products in a while?
You need to pay close attention to these details if you want them to help you promote something.
If you knew better you would do better. Make it your business to know.
#3 – Prepare your counter offer.
Here is where the gold is hidden.
The fact remains you’ll get more NO’s than YES’s that’s just how it goes.
What, you think a fisherman catches a fish every time they cast their line? No.
The successful entrepreneur knows how to convert NO’s into “well maybe’s” and then finally YES’s.
I focused my counter offer on what I knew all bloggers want and NEED and that is free promotion.
So whenever a blogger declined helping me promote my new product I replied with a better offer they couldn’t refuse:
- Interview.
I would reply with a quick message asking them if they would be willing to share knowledge with my audience.
I would always make my counter offer fun and easy for them by asking questions that they would be interested in discussing.Example: What would you do differently if you had to start everything over from scratch tomorrow?I tried to ask only thought provoking questions that everyone could relate to.This is effective because the truth is everyone likes to talk about themselves especially the people who have been successful.Have you ever heard Donald Trump talking about Donald Trump? Yeah, I think you get my point. - Feedback.
If they declined my interview offer I would ask for feedback that I could use to get better.I would simply ask them to offer some feedback on how they perceived I could improve or what constructive criticism they could offer that would be beneficial to an up and coming blogger like myself.When you come at people directly like this many times they will respond in kind.Where I’m from they say “real recognizes real” so be genuine and you’ll stand out in any crowd.Some of the feedback I received was HARSH but ALL of it was useful and since it was coming from successful entrepreneurs I considered it “free consulting” These folks normally charge big bucks for this type of advice.
Using this exact method I was able to land an interview with a top rated blogger who’s been earning over $100k per year since 2006.
He didn’t promote my product but he did promote my article featuring his interview.
I was also able to get another highly respected and well read blogger to write a review just in time for my product launch.
That’s right.
I asked a blogger if he would promote my new product and he ended up publishing an full review article of his own featuring my product.
I was blown away.
In summary I learned you can reverse rejection if you:
1. Don’t Quit. Refuse to acknowledge or recognize failure and commit to doing the work that’s required to improve your system.
2. Fall forward. Look for opportunities when you don’t get what you initially ask for. You may find exactly what you NEED.
3. Use strategy. Know your options and decisions in advance so you won’t stress over what to do when it counts most.
Now its back over to you.
Have you ever turned a negative into a positive in your internet marketing career? How did you do it?
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