Is Belcher Back?
For the 10,000th time NO!
About every six months there is a big stink about me coming back to the internet marketing training space and about every six months I have to write a post like this.
I am NOT re-entering the training space, period.
This time it all started when I agreed to speak for FREE, with nothing to sell at a local marketing event here in Austin.
To all my fans and former students, I’m sorry but I am way to busy marketing to teach marketing. To my “anti-fans”, sorry to disappoint you but you’re wrong again.
Here are some clues you can look for in the future that will tell you if I have re-entered the internet training business.
1) I’ll ask for your email. Obviously I can’t be a bigshot internet guru without a list.
As you can see there is no way to subscribe to on any blog I have, there’s a reason
for that, I don’t want or need subscribers in IM because I’m not in that business.
2) I’ll have IM products for sale. As you might have noticed, it’s impossible to buy
anything from me in the IM space. My older products are out of date and I am not
making any new ones. The only things I sell are a few eBooks on Amazon (soon to
be free on Google books) I give the few hundred dollars these make to 3 charities,
Kiva.org, St. Jude’s and a children’s charity in Houston.
BTW : There is nothing you can buy from my books either, you can’t even
subscribe.
3) I’ll promote other peoples products. If your are one of the 3 people who still write
anything I write you’ll notice a few things. #1 I never promote anything. #2 I only
write or speak for FREE! I don’t think there s a law against free speech, at least not
yet.
4) It would be big. If I ever do return to this space, and I won’t, It would be big. The
last time I did this I built a list of 150,000 in 3 months, and hundreds of thousands
watched my videos and read my social posts. If I where to come back, you would
know it.
So what am I doing? Import export mostly, a green products manufacturing business, a little local food biz and some software development. I am much happier that I was teaching and I only have to be responsible for my own success.
I do appreciate all my former students who have been so kind to keep in touch.
The thing I find oddest is that meanie bloggers who seem to who want to silence me, also champion free speech. Can someone please explain that to me?
What little I share in this space is 100% free. I think from now on I’ll just talk about country music and beer. Those are the only two other subjects I’m an expert at, and there are no beer haters.
Perry
P.S. One last thing. Regarding how much stuff I’ve sold. I have been selling online since 1997, that’s 14 years. My very first company was co-owned with a $500M a year company, so if I hadn’t sold at least $56,000,000 worth of stuff by now, in 14 friggen years, that would be pretty pathetic don’t you think?
It’s actually a much bigger number.
How Much Money Does It Cost To Start a Business
How Much Money Does It Cost To Start a Business?
So I opened up my Perry Belcher e-mail today and I’ve got this message from a guy this question:” hey Perry, How much money does it cost to start a business?”
After always being an advocate of the term “there is no dumb question” I don’t know, I may have to change my mind on this one.
Asking me how much money is going to cost for you to start a business is like asking “how much a bag of groceries”. It all depends on what’s in the bag.
If you’re strapped for cash, service businesses are usually lowest costs to start, because you can trade your time and skills for money. Often, depending on the type of business that you enter you may have little or no start up costs.
Retail and manufacturing businesses are cash hogs. These are two businesses and you better not start without a bankroll, that being said, there to the easiest businesses in the world to sell if you make them work.
Right now manufacturing is the fastest-growing sector of the US economy. If China continues to raise the value it’s currency the products are going to become more more unattractive US buyers, and with political unrest, the US could easily raise tariffs on Chinese goods and fundamentally price them out of the market.
Retailing, the first business I was ever in, is very tough nowadays. In my opinion, unless you’re manufacturing or importing the products that your retelling you’re going to get eaten up by national retailers.
The Walmart’s of the world, Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond and the Gap are all retailers that import their own goods to sell in stores. This cuts out the distribution chain, and gives them giant margins. So if you’re trying to compete by buying from a wholesaler that’s probably paying more for the goods he’s selling you than one of these major retailers you’re pretty much screwed.
The food businesses usually where people’s minds go next ” everybody says I’m a good cook maybe I’ll start a restaurant” Anytime you ever hear these words realize it $50-$200,000 is about to disappear out of someone’s bank account.
Being a good cook does not a restaurant make. Restauranteurs have to be some of the most cost-conscious, negotiating business minds on the planet to actually make that proposition work.
Between food cost, staff, and real estate most restauranteurs only get to keep between 2% and 5% of what they take in as profit, so you can see you have to sell a metric ass ton of hamburgers to make a living.
- A side note in the food business, I have made a lot of money in the mobile food business. I own several hot dog carts, and heve successfully ran a lunch delivery service, snow cone stands, ice cream shops and another a number of other specialty food cart businesses, heck one summer I made over hundred thousand dollars with a lemonade stand at a union station Mall in St. Louis.
These businesses are very different from true brick-and-mortar restaurants.
Basically if you’re wondering how much is it going to cost start your business, you’re probably getting way ahead of yourself. Firstly decide which business you want to be in, if any. The truth is that this is a really only for about 2% of peopleshould ever own a business. That’s the amount of people who are typically successful in business out of the entire population.
Time for you to speak up:
If you have ever started a business before, tell us about it, tell us how much it costs start, and how quickly you got a return on your investment. It might help all these other folks who are thinking about starting a business.
Just common in the area below. Thanks, Perry Belcher
Arrested for no tip
Couple Arrested for No Tip
This falls in the category of WTF: A couple in Bethlehem, PA was charged with theft for refusing to tip a waitress for what they say the service sucked.
The two college students had dinner with a group of friends and said the service wasn’t worth the 18% mandatory gratuity.
For starters, they waited almost an hour for an order of chicken fingers and fries, had to find their silverware for the table, and had to get their own drinks.
So when the $73.00 bill arrived at their table, they paid for the food, drinks, and tax but stiffed the waiter the $16.00 tip.
When they explained their reasons to the bartender, he called police, (jerk-off) and they were arrested.
“Nobody wants to be forced to pay a tip or get arrested for terrible service,” explained Leslie Pope, who was arrested.
“I understand that we did not pay the gratuity,” said John Wagner, who was also arrested. “But it was a gratuity. It’s something that’s not required.”
The cops charged everyone in the group with theft because the gratuity was part of the actual bill, now they will ALL have an arrest record, no matter what happens in court.
Land of the free, and the home of the brave. We better wake people.
Tell me what you think.
21 Step Salesletter Formula
A few years ago I read an article by David Frey called the 12 step foolproof sales letter formula. This formula has literally made me millions of dollars over the last few years.
Many thanks go to David, a brilliant marketer from San Antonio Texas.
Over the past few years I’ve added a few points today this formula, and I like to share this with you now.
I kind of feel like I’m painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa by doing this, everybody asked how you write sales letters, and video sales letter so well. This is the exact formula to follow.
I’m working on a new book on the subject and would love all your feedback questions and comments. I’ll be answering all these personally to please fire away.
Here goes.
21 part sales letter formula
1. Call out to your audience
2. Get their attention
3. Backup the big promise headline with an quick explanation (SUB)
4. Identify the problem
5. Provide the solution
6. Show pain of and cost of development
7. Explain ease-of-use
8. Show speed to results
9. Future cast
10. Show your credentials
11. Detail the benefits
12. Get social proof
13. Make your offer
14. Add bonuses
15. Build up your value
16. Reveal your price (pop by button)
17. Inject scarcity (if any)
18. Give guarantee
19. Call to action
20. Give a warning
21. Close with a reminder
I also added my part copy test that I asked myself when I finished any new sales piece. You really should do this the day after you finish your sales letter or video sales letter, after you have had a chance to read or reread it out loud.
By the way that one tip is really important. You should always read every completed sales piece you ever write including e-mails out loud preferably to another human being. It will probably improve your copy at least 100%
Eight-part copy test
1. Did you grab your readers by the throat your readers with your headline?
2. Did you clearly explain that you understand the problem?
3. Did you show them so much proof that they can’t possibly doubt what
you had to say?
4. Did you show features and benefits to your offer that included the word
so in each line?
5. Did you ensure your prospects that your product will be very very easy
to use?
6. Did you ensure to your prospects that your product would work very
quickly to solve the problem?
7. Did you clearly explain the pain of the experience by not accepting your
offer?
8. Did you demonstrate incredible value in your offer so much so that your
prospect would feel stupid by not buying your product?
Chapter One (Rough) of my new book up for review…
Hey Guys,
I just finished a rough or the intro to my new book and linked a copy here for you guys.
Go ahead, pick me apart.
Click the link below to get the first chapter PDF
I’m gonna give away the entire book here in PDF, during the edit process.
Feedback is appreciated. – Perry
Are Schools Distroying Our Kids Minds?
This video totally opened my eyes and I hope it will yours. If you have kids in grade school right now you really HAVE to consider what is happening to the worl around us. Our kids will be siolving problems that don’t exsist yet with technologhy that has not even been invented yet. You have to face that most of what they learn in school today is useless.
We HAVE to full the gap if our kids are going to have any shot.
Tell me what you think.
Google’s Blacklist 100+ Words You Can’t Say on Google
2600 Just released over 100 words that Google seems to HATE. Sites using these words are being sand boxed left and right. Yep, thye pillar of free speach (Google) has decided to be it’s own little FCC of the internet. Check out the list here.
The funniest paet is whats cool and whats not. You cant say white powder, for instance but black powder is A-OK. NeonaZi is a no-no, but not “Nazi” or “Fascist” or “Ku Klux Klan” – go figure.
Guys, Google is getting pretty big in the britches. Who’s gonna say enough. Us thats who. It’s the only way.
Tell me what you think, if your not to sure they’ll block it.
Perry Belcher: How to Import from China
I have been importing goods from china for almost 15 years now and it really amazes me that more internet marketers don’t do the same. It’s amazing how easy it is to be profitable and truly bring value to people.
I remember at the very first of the dot-com boom the big buzz was that the business world would be changed forever because the supply chain would be slashed. Basically, manufactures and importers could sell their goods directly to consumers without the distribution channel eating up all the profits and driving up the costs.
It never seemed to happen on a large scale.
I’m here to tell you it totally works! Imagine you sell hand dryers, like the kind in restrooms. These things are like $400 retail but from my supplier in China there $34 bucks!
I can sell them online for $199, or 50% off retail, and sell 100+ every month, just with simple PPC.
Here is my biggest rule.
Is the product something that would be hard to find locally in a good size town. If you can’t find it at home where do you look? Yep: GOOGLE!
I’ve had success in the past hand dryers, stanchions (look it up), sausage grinders, liquid fillers, key control cabinets and a bunch of other weird niches.
Take it from one who has hung up his info product boots, physical products are where it’s at, and they always will be.
PLUS: I sold my last physical products site for over $250,000 when it was just 9 months old. People understand buy low and sell high.
If you guys seem interested in this subject, let me know and I’ll write more about it.
If you have a niche in mind tell me about it below and I’ll give you my thoughts (worth about 2 cents)
Happy Importing, Perry
Perry Belcher – Home Alone
After a full week I am home alone. Wife’s out of town, kids away, even the dog is still at Pet’s Mart (I’ll pick him up in the morning) I have to say it’s kinda nice, but I wouldn’t want to get use to it.
While the noise of a full house and the hassles of the day usually drive me crazy, I know I would hate this 100X more. I can’t imagine it.
The week went well, I learned some really cool stuff and had fun with some old friends.
Tomorrow all will begin to return to normal, dog comes home in the morning, wife in the afternoon, kids on Sunday and church with mom. By then I’ll be wishing I was in my cave.
Maybe I’ll have the good since to remember how lonely and cold it is… home alone
Perry Belcher gets a facelift
perrybelcher.com facelift
Hey There,
I have neglected my old friend the blog. While I have a lot of other properties online this one has been with me a long time and it deserves a little spit and polish.
I installed the brand new WordPress 3.0 and Frugal Theme 3.5 for the dress up. This will be a ton of work but probably worth it.
I’ve been spending 20-30 hours a week in SEO research lately so I’ll be testing it a ton here. Talk about some brain twisting crap, this seo crap is driving me crazy. I might share some of my test data if I get the results I’m expecting.
If you stop by say hi. Just because I don’t teach any more doesnt mean we can’t still be friends.
See ya soon,
Perry Belcher
4 Comments