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One of the big challenges to doing a good job of negotiating is that often you don’t feel in control of the situation – you believe that the other side has all of the power. This of course is not true, because if it was then they would not be preparing to negotiate with you. They would just tell you what to do and you would do it. See? Now doesn’t that make you feel better?

So here’s a secret: power is not real. It only exists in your mind and so it is what you think it is. If you think that you are powerful, then you are. If you don’t think that you are powerful, then you won’t be. Sales people have known for a long time that negotiation is a process of information discovery. During this discovery process you learn what your sources of power for this particular negotiation are.

A long time ago, a researcher named Dr. Chester L. Karrass discovered that power is simply a state of mind. Those who think that they are powerless will negotiate weakly even if in reality they do have power. Those who think that they have power will negotiate from strength even if they really don’t have any power.

The take away here is to get yourself in the right state of mind BEFORE you start to negotiate. Once you start the negotiations make sure that you keep your ears open so that you can discover your real sources of power. Then go out and make it happen!

Each and every day we are surrounded by opportunities to negotiate. Whether you realize it or not, you are negotiating all day every day at work, at home and elsewhere. Take a minute and reflect upon a typical day in your life. You probably have negotiated with a customer, a supplier, your boss, another department or another employee. Then you go home and negotiate with your spouse, your children and your pet. Let’s face it, you have even been negotiating through traffic on your way home! It never ends!

So, here are some questions to ask yourself. How well did you do at your last negotiation? Was it successful in terms of your desired outcome? Did you feel good after the “deal was done?” How can you become a more successful negotiator? What tips can be learned to achieve more satisfactory and longer lasting results so that you do not have to confront the same hurdles over and over again?

Well, to begin with you need to understand some of the fundamentals. The starting point is your own approach to negotiations. If you view negotiations as “win-lose” transactions, they may feel good to you in the short term if you are the “winner”, but over time reality will set in that the outcome was unbalanced, and not necessarily fair to the other party. You soon will come to the realization that the other party was not satisfied, and as a result, they will continue to negotiate with you to gain back what they think they have lost. If you do not believe it, just think about bedtime negotiations with your children. How often do they try to gain additional leeway? How about the last time there was a decision to be made about which movie to see? Still cannot relate? Think about the last time you tried to get your pet to do what you wanted. How many attempts did that take before your pet agreed or you just gave up?

The key to a successful negotiation is to ensure that each party recognizes they have had to make concessions and that they have gained some concessions from the other party. In other words, at the end of the day, both parties should feel as though they may have given up some things, but they also have gained some concessions in return. Only then will you have the foundation for a long-term successful relationship that benefits all involved parties.

To learn more sign up to receive my audio series on negotiating tips. Also sign up to receive notification when new articles are posted that will provide you powerful negotiating tips and insights to make you a more successful negotiator.

As a list builder you have to make the choice between promoting affiliate products or self-created products. Did you know that the top product creators in any online marketing niche are making twice as much money as the top affiliate marketers?

That brings us to an important question: Wouldn’t it make more intuitive and logical sense to create and sell your own products if you could make twice as much money? I’m really being conservative here by saying that you can “just” make twice as much. The reality looks different. Many affiliate marketers aren’t just making less money while promoting products of other marketers, they aren’t making a name in their niche either.

Let’s compare this scenario to product creators. If a product creator builds a list by feeding his subscribers valuable information (from self-created reports), he is not just banking 100% commission, he is building a brand at the same time. This is what makes the biggest difference in your online business and on your bank account.

Here is a real life example of how this may look and work: Let’s say you’ve a decent sized list of 3,000 subscribers. Every time you send out a product recommendation 3% of your list buys which comes down to 90 people. The product sells for $27 and pays a 60% commission to affiliates (this is the standard for Clickbank products). You make $16.20 per sale and $1,458 total. Not too bad, right? Yes, but let me give you another example…

You’ve a list of 3,000 people and are only promoting your own Ebooks and coaching programs. We assume exactly the same as in the affiliate promotion example, but this time 4% of your list buys (this is a very realistic percentage). In this instance you make $3,240 profit meaning you doubled your revenue by selling your own product.

It may sound that a 4% conversion rate is an unrealistic number. However, that’s not true. As a list builder your goal is to build trust with your subscribers and by doing so more and more people will buy your products and coaching programs. If you are really doing things right and aren’t too greedy, you should be able to get a 5% conversion rate for low-priced products, and a 1% to 2% conversion rate for high-end programs (like a $500 coaching program).

So write down your own list building and product creation strategy.

How many products will you create a month?

What will you do to generate an ongoing flood of new leads?