Principle #1: How the Secret of Persistance Can Help Earn High Profits Selling Web Hosting.

So how do you actual-ly get hun-dreds of clients to pay you every month for you to host their websites, email services, domain names, and other internet services?

I will reveal the secrets in these series of letters.

The principal of persistance seems too obvious, but therein lies the secret. It is like laying diamonds all over a parking lot. People would assume they were broken glass because if it was so valuable others would have already picked them up.

I used this secret in my small hometown of Sheridan, Wyoming, (see Tim's Home Town Stories).

This is how I built a janitorial business in this little town. You will see how these principals can easily be converted to building your own ISP business.

Upon first examination there were many reasons that I could not succeed:

1. With a population of 13,000 people, it would seem my opportunties were limited for building a business.

2. Worse yet my chosen field of business, janitorial, had an abundance of worthy competitors.

3. My competitors were well enforced with uniforms, brand new painted trucks, powerful equipment, and a trained work force for cleaning and marketing, and an extensive advertising budge.

4. There were only 1000 businesses total in Sheridan, Wyoming, and many of those were home based and would not require a janitorial service.

5. We were in the middle of a national recession, and it did not seem that 1981 was a good time to start a business.

5. I had no advertising budget, no equipment, very little professional training with cleaning systems and chemicals, no uniforms, a beat up old truck, and $17.00 worth

of pop bottles.

This surely was a formula for failure. But there was one more thing that I had: Persistance.

My plan was to make one index card for every business in town, and then to contact every single business one time per month.

The first time I contacted every business, just by chance I found 3 people unhappy at that moment with their janitorial contractor and decided to give me a try. I found $300.00 per month worth of work.

After contacting the businesses I would separate the cards into these catagories:

1. Those that I felt would never have use for a janitorial service.

2. Those that already had a janitorial service but did not want to change to a new service.

3. Those that did not have a janitorial service but could probably use one.

4. Those that had a janitorial service but indicated that they may change services in the future.

I continued to call catagories 2 to 4 one time every month picking up a new contract or two each time. I always made notes on the cards to refresh my memory, and after 6 months of doing this most of the local business owners started to get to know who I was.

I overcame the fact that I did not have a advertising budget for radio, direct mail, or newspaper by going directly to the person that could hire me each and every month.

After a few months I had enough money to buy a uniform for a more professional look and rented a small office for $50.00 per month. I also printed some business cards with my new address and business name. Now when I visited the owners or called them on the telephone I had a place to refer them to. But remember, I did not let the fact earlier that I did not have these things stop me from persuing the business anyway.

By being persistant I consistantly got "lucky" by calling just at the time a business owner was considering a new janitorial service. But persistance is what created this luck for me.

If I had not been calling every month I would never have become "lucky."

After two years of following this system I had obtained $18,000.00 in monthly contracts. After watching me grow for those two years, two of the three major competitors offered to sell their business to me.

I suspect they started panicing after they saw me chipping away at their businesses and consistently taking their clients.

They did not know the secret that I did for if they had they could easily have counter attacked me using the same system.

You can use this secret of persistance. You can even use this same method of contacting prospects on a systematical basis.

STEPS FOR YOU TO GET STARTED MARKETING YOUR ISP BUSINESS

1. Using your computer or index cards, (computers are much easier of course), start contacting either via telephone or in person door door, your local businesses.

2. Ask them who is in charge of their website. Ask questions and take notes.

3. Offer to host their existing or future website.

4. They may not be ready for you to server them at this time, but contact then again in 1 month just to let them know you are still available.

5. Divide your cards into these catagories:

a. Those that you believe would never have use for internet services.

b. Those that already have internet services but do not want to change to a new service.

c. Those that do not have internet services but could probably use them.

d. Those that have internet services but indicated that they may change services in the future.



Then contact catagories b to d every month. Of course keep adding new contacts each month.

Using this secret called "persistance" soon you will be building your own Internet Service business to great heights!