What to do?

[Laurie Rogers]

I'm a pretty seasoned marketer (read my intro post) but took long hiatus due to some complicated and serious issues .... I've got access to over 40,000 people on FB that I have built relationships with for over the past 3.5/4 years, they are a completely untapped market and I really want to see them thrive. I am part Native American (Ojibwe) .... these people really trust me and have opened their lives and hearts to me .... but I need to take into consideration that they are a VERY poor community and I need people to respect that and the fact that their trust is not gained easily. I do help them a lot on social issues so they listen to me but with this being such a sensitve issue I'm not sure where to start as most can not afford $15 plus a years worth of hosting (ie: $66 at fatcow) ....... so what to do and where to start?

Peace
Laurie
Co author Ezine Resource Guide, Featured Writer DEMC.

[Tanner]

Well if you are not worried about monetizing them yourself and you wanted to help them get started making money online, then a good idea would be to teach them the Bum Marketing method as it requires no investment and they can start making money fairly quickly.

Other than that, your market is not a good fit for traditional internet marketing products.

[citrus]

You are trying to help them make money, right? Your post did not explicitly say it, so I'll just assume you meant to say it.

I would start with a couple things: bum marketing like Tanner said, but also IM fundamentals (mindset, relationships, basic IM stuff like autoresponders and affiliate marketing, etc.). I'd teach IM fundamentals to get them started on the right track. The reason I'd go with bum marketing is because it's cheap and relatively easy.

BTW, a .info domain at Godaddy is a buck. The first month of hosting at Hostgator (with a coupon code) is a cent. You'd want to use this .info as a redirect...they're not so good for money sites or squeeze pages. Or, if you want, you could even go with a Blogger/WP blog or a free web 2.0 like Squidoo for bum marketing.

To begin with, I would just teach them how to create good articles, how to keep cranking them out, and how to create a steady flow of sales. As their capital grows, I'd tell them to invest in an autoresponder service so that they could start building some assets instead of making those one-time sales.

After that, I'd tell them to keep growing their lists and teach them new ways of doing so. At that point, the last thing they'd probably need to know would be "List Control" type stuff - as in, how to sell more stuff and maintain/build goodwill with subscribers at the same time.

Of course, that's only one way of doing things If you were to do this though, maybe you could put together some kind of free training program...a membership site, teleseminars/webinars, etc. Then tell them all to "hey, go here to learn how to get into a better financial situation."

Curtis

[Shaun Lee]

Like everyone suggested, I'd suggest Bum Marketing (Article marketing) too.

Everything else to do it is free (except the Internet fee, etc.)

-Shaun

[Laurie Rogers]

Thanks for the input, I was planning on putting a newbie section on my new site with a bunch of tutorials and such, so this would fit in perfectly. I have also been working on a book that is targetted towards them. I didn't start out with much money but was fortunate enough to make really good contacts and partnerships with JV's, so I never dismiss anyone's potential and some things are little easier to access now with pre paid credit cards etc. I am not saying all of them would be able to do it obviously, some people in general don't have the patience for this type of work, but it is clear to me that some of them do and would just need the right guidance to get things going.

[Tanner]

Sounds like you've got the right idea, and I agree with not dismissing anyone, you just never know whose gonna shine.

Since you are writing a book for this crowd you could develop a "system" for these people. Something like a no money down system that teaches them how to make money with no money (bum marketing) then teaches them how to reinvest that money to start building a business (hosting, aweber, etc).

That would be a great resource for someone in the situation you've described. Not only that, but once they do start making money, you will have built that trust with them and you can then start to market other products to them.

[Imran Naseem]

How much are you charging them? What is the actual niche?

Are they prepared to spend ?

[citrus]

How much are you charging them? What is the actual niche?

Are they prepared to spend ?

Read the op Imran...these people have zero money to spend and Laurie here is trying to get them out of their financial holes.

[Martin R Butler]

Hi Laurie,
In my opinion, people on the breadline probably wouldn't want to know how internet marketing,autoresponders, hosting ect works. I would personally introduce them to ebay trading as an introduction into generating money.

The system is already set up with customers on tap with money in their pockets, you just need to teach them how it operates and the basics of supply and demand and they can grow at their own pace with no worries of large start up costs and it is acheivable for any beginner.

[Laurie Rogers]

Hi Laurie,
In my opinion, people on the breadline probably wouldn't want to know how internet marketing,autoresponders, hosting ect works. I would personally introduce them to ebay trading as an introduction into generating money.

The system is already set up with customers on tap with money in their pockets, you just need to teach them how it operates and the basics of supply and demand and they can grow at their own pace with no worries of large start up costs and it is acheivable for any beginner.

Hi Martin, thanks for the suggestion, however eBay is not my niche at all. I fiddled around with it some what way back in the day, but to be honest it wasn't my thing. I am strictly info products and a writer-a-holic as Mike would confirm lol