How do you go from being a door-to-door salesman to being one of the most significant internet marketing phenomena in the world? Frank Kern knows how to get there, and he’s been teaching people the “secrets” of his success for years. As one of the earliest internet marketers, Kern has seen the industry change and evolve, but his own start was a lot simpler.
Learning The Ropes in Marketing
As a door-to-door salesman in Macon, Georgia, Kern realized there was a lot of power in learning marketing. These earliest steps into becoming a salesperson taught him the basics of copywriting and selling.
During his time as a salesman, he discovered Tony Robbins and the self-help guru changed Kern’s life trajectory forever. He started learning Robbins’ method of climbing the ladder through mail-order tapes.
Success Comes Through Determination
Kern’s road to success wasn’t easy. One of the things he tells many of his mentees is that the road to success depends on being determined and keeping an eye on the goal or prize. It’s only by keeping track of your goals that you can become successful.
Kern has faced several hurdles in his journey to the top, including being sued by the Federal Trade Commission. Yet despite all this, he overcame the barriers thrust in front of him and learned from the problems he ran into.
Don’t Reinvent The Wheel
One of Kern’s earliest steps into the world of online marketing was his Instant Internet Empires course. Kern bought up the digital rights to several books, packaged them into a course, and sold it to those who wanted to learn how to make the internet marketing engine work for them.
Kern’s exploration of this method of earning money online also taught him a great deal about publishing rights. Eventually, he worked out the bugs and even managed to convince the FTC that this business wasn’t a pyramid scheme. It set the stage for further expansion.
The Art of Copywriting and Closing the Sale
One of the skills Kern has leveraged for his business is that of a professional copywriter. As a door-to-door salesman, he learned the core of what makes people decide to buy a product. It helped him craft his message to his audience and get them interested in closing the sale.
As an author and copywriter, he’s done a lot of work to develop and promote what he knows works to those who follow him. Some of his peers compare him to a proto-influencer, an influencer before the term was even a thing. His lessons can impact many new internet entrepreneurs and set the stage for their later success.
Building The Ultimate Offer
One of the things Kern is famous for is the development of an “ultimate offer.” You can think of it as “an offer you can’t refuse” that you can develop with additional products or information that the buyer wants or desires.
At the core of the ultimate offer is something Kern calls “Close-stacking.” He suggests entrepreneurs look at products or information that are adjacent to what their core product is. Then, collect these resources and put them into a package the buyer can leverage for their success.
Offering Multiple Paths to Success
Another of Kern’s signature moves is developing alternate paths to get to the same goal. He’s already proven through his methods and what he’s done that internet marketing works, but the details of each system he offers vary.
At the heart of the programs he offers is his experience as a world-class direct-response copywriter. His marketing copy supports many of his course initiatives and shows that solid copywriting for your brand is crucial to landing the sales you need.
The Ideal Audience Is Crucial
What makes Kern’s approaches to marketing so good? Is it because he’s an expert at convincing people to close a sale? Kern himself says that if he could do it, anyone can, and he suggests the reason is that he has a gift for finding the right audience.
Again, as a copywriter, Kern knows that the key to getting a sale is finding the people who want a product. He suggests that instead of opting for the scattershot approach that many marketers aim for, a streamlined business that understands its audience has a better chance of success online.
Don’t Expect Your Business to Run Itself
Kern is highly critical of courses or influencers that talk about a business running itself. As someone who has run multiple companies, he knows that no business runs itself, and anyone trying to sell that as a message is lying to themselves.
Instead, he’s a fan of showing how hard work and determination can help anyone achieve the things he has. His courses provide his mentees with actionable strategies they can use immediately and start earning money from the Internet.
Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme
Many people have compared Kern’s teaching methods to a get-rich-quick scheme, but Kern disagrees with this estimation. He espouses the idea of hard work and dedication to the craft of sales. His students have seen massive success using his methods, and Kern doesn’t promise things he doesn’t think he could achieve himself.
In fact, Kern underlines that his methodology for success is not “the easy way.” He describes it as more direct and focused than most other ways top make money on the internet currently available to people. What sets Kern apart is that he doesn’t sell his students dreams but gives them real, tangible things that they can implement on their own.
A True Success Of the Internet Age
As with all entrepreneurs, Kern has had his ups and downs. Yet he always says that once you’re dedicated to an outcome, anything is possible. He states that the first set of tapes he got from Tony Robbins was instrumental in his current level of success, and his teaching is just a way to give back to the community of aspiring entrepreneurs.
Kern shows us that success is achievable, but it’s not something for the faint of heart or those who will give up at the slightest sign of discomfort. Making it in the world requires pushing through that discomfort and learning from your mistakes.