Why Are All of the Gurus Sending Out Retirement Emails Right Before 2010?

Have you heard the one about the guru who said he was retiring? Yes, it’s starting to sound like a joke to many marketers who learn from those who have paved the way for our success.

It seems like it’s the trending thing to do – send out an email that says you’re leaving Internet Marketing, followed by an email that gives a last chance to buy sale, ending with a “let me clarify” email.

Why is this happening? For some, who follow in the footsteps of their competitors, it’s just a case of mimicking others to be part of the same crowd. For the rest, it’s an opportunity to make a large sum of sales right before switching gears into something else.

Growth of your business means you’ll frequently be reassessing your opportunities and pursing things that make you more money, with less effort. Some marketers have speculated that these retiring gurus are just burned out, or have made enough money already.

Make no mistake about it – they don’t believe they can ever make enough money. That’s why they run these last ditch sales and make widespread announcements that they’re going to now be doing something else.

It’s the start of a new phase of branding for them. Some of the gurus are moving away from instructional teaching because the expectations have risen by consumers and they now have to work harder to keep refund rates low and meet the needs of those who purchase their products.

When you have more marketers entering this niche to teach, it cuts away at their income – and more people expect freebies and hand holding than they did five years ago. So if a marketer finds a way to outsource the development of technical tools that help marketers, like a keyword research tool they can sell, it makes sense to cash in on something like that where they retain their reputation as a leader in the IM niche, but not as much is required of them to succeed.

If a favorite guru of yours has announced that he or she is retiring, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It’s highly unlikely that their leave of absence will be as final as you might believe from the wording of the last email they sent out.

It’s also highly probable that the next trend you’ll see in 2010 is the “I’m coming out of retirement just for this one quick guide because it’s something you must see” trend. And you can laugh when it happens because you’ll have known it was coming all along.

12 Top Traffic Conversion Secrets

Getting viewers who click and pass on is no more productive than window shoppers at the mall. You make money online when you capture that traffic and convert the “lookers” into “buyers.” Sounds simple, right?

Well, it is if you pay attention to the details. Here are 12 traffic conversion secrets that even a newcomer to Internet marketing can do:

1. Refine your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). What makes your product different, special, better or more desirable? That’s the USP. Now get the answer to that question down to one or two concise sentences.

2. Sound friendly, not slick. Your sales copy needs to sound like one friend excited to tell another friend about a great buy. Avoid sounding like a high-pressure infomercial.

3. Ask for help. Give the viewers a reason to interact with you by asking for their opinion on a survey or product rating. You get useful information and keep them thinking about your product longer.

4. Simplify the offering. If you have three different products to sell, use three websites. Don’t make the mistake of trying to offer too much at once. This might work for major retailers, but they already have a brand and a following.

5. Leave some open space. Prepare a sales page that’s easy to read with wide margins. You don’t have to fill every inch. Leaving some white space helps the reader to better focus on the copy.
6. Brag openly. If your product has a good rating or endorsements from satisfy buyers, then let them brag about the product for you.

7. Cast with plenty of bait. In your sales letter and squeeze page, put out the “bait” for your offer over and over. Don’t skimp on bait. Better too many offers than not enough to convert that buyer who is still uncertain.

8. Find problems. Even after your sales page is complete, keep thinking about other problems that your product can solve. You might get a hint of new ways to promote your product by asking buyers how they use the product.

9. Use moderate highlighting. Yes, highlights draw visual attention but too many highlights or excessive colors frustrate online readers.

10. Package deals are popular. After presenting your USP, sweeten the offer with a package including several free items as part of the “Buy Now” deal. Limited time offers create a sense of urgency for the buyer to act.

11. Ask for the order. An old principle of sales that must never be ignored – ask for the order, ask again then ask again. You can’t ask too many times.

12. Say “Thank you.” Have a gracious, personal sounding, “Thank you” email with the order confirmation. It never hurts to show good manners and buyer appreciation!