Every sale you make is a sale you have somehow purchased. And once you get your mind around this, marketing will become a lot easier.
Free traffic? There is no such thing. Maybe you didn’t spend money to get the traffic, but guaranteed you spent time.
Sales from affiliates? You spent time recruiting them and you are paying them a commission on each sale.
Sales to your own list? You bought those customers from the method you used to get them on your list, warming them up, getting them to trust you, etc.
You are always investing SOMETHING to make a sale.
Which is why, if you haven’t already, you need to learn to make $1.50 on every $1 of advertising you spend. By spending money on proven methods to get sales, you can rapidly scale up.
You spend $1,000 on Facebook ads and make $1,500? Congrats, you now have a sustainable business. Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat.
This is the ultimate goal – to stop spending your time and start investing your money to get sales.
After all, you only have so much time, and every minute is precious.
But when you can make money every time you invest money – NOW you are truly a marketer, and that six and seven figure business is just around the corner.
Let’s say you’re building a sales funnel to promote a new weight loss program.
Your lead magnet should detail ways to lose weight. But here’s the key – make these methods painful. Discouraging. Problematic. Complicated. Etc.
Maybe you give them a diet that’s difficult to follow. Or a workout plan that’s enough to make an athlete cry. Whatever.
It should be something that will definitely get the job done, IF they follow it.
But they won’t want to, which is the point.
Because then you will ‘save the day’ by offering them the ‘easy solution.’
Which is, of course, the program you are promoting.
This way you get the exact people you want to enter your funnel (people who want to lose weight) and you prime them to grab your easy solution, because otherwise it just seems too difficult.
This works for almost anything. Do you sell software? Make your lead magnet about how to manually get the same result your software will provide for them automatically.
Do you sell a book writing service? Tell them how to write a book in excruciating, pains-taking over the top detail. Remind them at the end of every chapter that you are there for them if they want to do what so many others have already done, and hire you to write their book for them while they go about their merry lives.
You get the idea.
Make your lead magnet helpful but painful. Then offer them the easy, fast solution they really want.
I recently saw a video clip of a heavy set young woman running behind a car.
The car’s trunk is open, and a young man is sitting in the car’s trunk facing the running woman. In the man’s hand is a stack of one dollar bills, and as the woman chases the car, the man repeatedly hands the woman a one dollar bill. If she keeps running, she gets more dollars. If she can’t keep up with the car, she gets no more money.
Is it realistic to do this every time she goes running? Probably not.
Which raises two questions:
First, what will motivate you in the short term to just get started on your next project? What will get you moving right now?
And what will keep you moving in the right direction over the long haul?
For example, if your goal is to write a book, then maybe treating yourself to a night out once you have your outline completed will get you started. But you can’t treat yourself to a night out for each milestone, can you? Maybe you can. But more likely this won’t continue to motivate you.
So what will keep you moving over the long haul to achieve your big goals? If you’re like most people, it’s focusing on the reason WHY you’re doing what you’re doing.
Take a moment and see your future once you’ve completed the goal. Is the picture motivating? Good.
Now keep replaying that ‘reason why’ in your head over and over and over again until you reach your goal.
This is what motivates people to do great things – focusing on that big reason of WHY they are doing it.
Ok, this is a rant but it needs to be said… I got another email the other day from someone lamenting at how darn difficult it is to start and run an online business. He went on and on about his struggles, challenges, problems… how he didn’t have anyone to sit right there and show him step by step what to do, that he had to read BOOKS and watch VIDEOS to learn things… He was literally convincing himself that he couldn’t do it.
This man is a friend of mine. He’s 42 years old, has a good job, a college education and a lousy attitude.
Finally I got sick of his whining and I sent him this note:
“Dear Peter,
What I’m about to say, I say with love and the deepest of respect.
I want to tell you about a 14 year old boy named William Kamkwamba.
William was born into poverty in a small Malawi village in Africa.
Because of a crippling famine, William was forced to drop out of school since his family could no longer afford the tuition. To further his education, William used his spare time to study books in the village library, where he evidently learned some stuff all on his own.
His village had no electricity and no running water. So at the ripe old age of 14 and using what he learned from those books, William built a wind turbine out of blue gum trees, bicycle parts and scrap.
This turbine along with future turbines William built powered his entire village.
Next, William built a solar-powered water pump to supply the first drinking water to his village.
Of course, William had many advantages you do not. He didn’t have decades of life experience like you do.
He didn’t know that things were supposed to be hard. He didn’t know to complain. He didn’t know that what you learn in books is useless.
You’re smarter than William. You know how hard it is to get motivated when you already have drinking water, food, a home and so forth.
And books – you know how difficult it is to read and learn from those silly things. After all, the only thing in them is the knowledge of experts who’ve already done the things you want to do.
You know how hard it is to move that mouse and tap those keys.
Starting an online business? You know it’s impossible.
But William… he didn’t know any of those things.
And at 14 he brought power and water to his entire village all by himself.
Maybe you could ask William to show you how to build your online business…
You hired someone to do some writing for you. Problem is, the writing itself isn’t exactly what you’re looking for. Or maybe it’s just not written well, or you need some changes…
Or perhaps a marketing colleague has asked you for feedback on their writing, and frankly you hate it.
What can you do to help the person make the appropriate changes, without offending them?
Try making it about you and not about the writing.
For example, instead of saying, “The chronology is confusing,” you tell them that you got confused by the chronology.
Instead of, “The dialogue sounds too contrived,” tell them you’re having trouble relating to the dialog, and give them a specific example of what you mean and how it could be changed.
By making it about you, you’re not insulting the work or the author. You’re simply offering your own experience of the writing.
This helps no matter what you’re critiquing – software, artwork, a website, etc. You can also use the phrase, “Have you considered…” to make a suggestion they can think of as their own.
Business is a people sport, and you must develop skills to successfully communicate with and offer honest and sometimes painful feedback to others while maintaining rapport if you expect to be successful.
Apply some of the tips above and be sure to give feedback without hurting feelings… Of course, these same strategies can be helpful in your personal relationships as well. 😉
There is an American expression that if you are starting at the bottom of something and working your way up, then you are, “Low man on the totem pole.”
A totem pole is a Native American sculpture that is generally quite tall, with carvings of animals, symbols and people stacked one on top of the other.
But Native Americans are smart. They know that on a 30 foot pole, no one is going to see the top carvings very well.
So they place the most important person or carving on the BOTTOM.
That’s right – if you’re on the bottom and just starting out, you are the most important marketer in the room. Do you know why?
Because everything is wide open for you. You have the chance to do anything you want, target any sub-niche, become an expert in any topic and so forth.
And you have the opportunity to turn the niche completely on its head and make it your own.
Being new is a positive. No one has pegged you as the “So-in-so” guy or gal yet. Your reputation is pristine. Your future is incredibly bright. And there are no limits to what you can achieve.
So if you’re new in a niche, then celebrate – you are indeed the “Low wo/man on the totem pole!”
Next time you write a headline, see how many of these you can incorporate.
Self-interest – This is the obvious benefit that keeps the reader on the page, reading what you have to say. For example, “Revealed at Last – 13 Perfectly Legal Ways to Make Money in Your Pajamas”
Believability – Placing some kind of ‘proof’ in your headline. For example, “Diabetes Cured in 2 Weeks – A Chicago Hospital Confirms Shocking New Remedy. No Pills, No Surgery, No Prescriptions” In this case, the third party evidence dispels skepticism and keeps the reader’s attention.
News – Anything targeted and newsworthy tends to work really well. For example, “Warning! Don’t Even Think Of Calling Your Broker Before You Read This Startling Report about What’s Happening in The Market Right Now.”
Curiosity – This might in fact be the most compelling force in human nature. The best headlines build curiosity to the point where the reader is forced to look within the article or sales letter to quell their curiosity. For example, “What Never to Eat on an Airplane.”
Quick and Easy – If you can offer a quick and easy solution to a pressing problem, let them know in the headline. For example, “Lose a Pound a Day Just by Eating this Fruit.”
The more of these qualities you can combine in your headlines, the better they will tend to work and the higher response you’ll get.
I was looking through an old copy of the magazine ‘Wildlife Art’ when I saw an ad for limited edition prints for a particular artist.
At the top of the ad were thumbnails of 5 of his previous works, and each one had the words, “GONE” in red ‘stamped’ on top of them.
The headline read, “Joe Smith’s limited edition prints are the most endangered species.”
Next was a big image of the print they’re currently selling, and underneath that was the sub-headline, “Better get this one before it’s gone.”
Of course, this got me thinking how this same technique might be used in IM. What if we showed images of our last 5 programs (assuming they are no longer available) and then used similar wording to indicate that time was short and customers better act fast?
It’s definitely something to test – and I think it could be quite effective.
It could be done with affiliate products as well, if you show the product creators previous offerings that are no longer available.
In another copy of Wildlife Art, I found this headline: “Only .000042% of the world’s population has the chance to own this.”
Showing prominently is a picture of the planet to bring home the point that so few people will get to own one of these limited-edition prints.
If you are selling a product with a finite number of copies available, this could be extremely effective wording.
Or to put it another way… if you normally sell $5,000 of products a month, and you increase that amount by just 20%, you’re selling an extra $12,000 of products per year.
Here are some tips to make it happen painlessly and nearly effortlessly:
1: Offer additional offers on the order form, after they start to put info on the form. By waiting to make the offer until after they’re begun the checkout process, you greatly increase the odds they won’t abandon the cart and they will take the extra offer.
2: Let them know that customers who bought product “X” also bought product “Y.” You can do this before the actual sale, during the checkout process or afterwards in an upsell or follow up.
3: Another way to word the “X” and “Y” product proposition is this: “Successful [investors] who bought “X” also bought “Y”, and as a result saw an additional [12%] increase in [profits.]
4: After the sale, send them an, “Important Alert: Because you bought “X,” you get to try “Y” at a preferential rate. Because it will do [benefits] we highly encourage you to try it immediately. And with our no excuses guarantee, we’ll take all the risk and you get all the benefits.”
5: Make a deal with another product owner to sell one of their products on the order page at a steep discount. “Special Bonus for my customers ONLY: When you order right now, you can add [Joe’s Colossal Traffic Course] that normally costs $299 for just $19 more.” You make more money and Joe gets to add to his list of buyers.
6: Add a subscription bonus into the sales package. “When you buy today, you get a [3] month free subscription to [The ABC] membership. If you like it, do nothing and you will be billed $29 a month starting in month 4.”
7: Add a subscription bonus with no auto-billing. If you have a subscription – such as software – that people love and get addicted to, you might add it as a free bonus without the auto billing. People use your free subscription, get hooked and then they have to subscribe to the paid version when their trial runs out.
8: Offer an upgrade to a premium version of your product, such as a physical copy that is mailed to them, or a deluxe version that includes tutorials, case studies, etc.
9: Marketing test bump: At the end of your offer and before the purchase, because they are a first time buyer (or whatever reason you want to use) and you want to ensure their success, you’re going to let them also have “X” product, which usually sells for [$], for only [$]. This works really well when the second product provides help in implementing the first product. For example, if your product teaches someone how to build a website, the bump could be a hosting package or a WordPress theme.
10: Add an interpersonal, interactive experience. For example, you might offer an upgrade that includes live conference calls or even live one-on-one coaching.
11: If applicable, offer continuous updates for a certain period of time for a larger price.
12: If your price is big, offer to take payments. For example, you might offer to take 5 payments of $99 instead of one payment of $447 for your course.
13: Offer templates as an upgrade. “It took me years to develop this, to learn exactly what to do, say, etc., and it’s made me [$x], but you can have it for only [$].
14: Offer a critiquing service as an upgrade. For example, if you’re teaching coding, website building, copywriting, how to create a dating profile that works, etc., then offer to critique their work for an added fee.
15: Offer advanced training in the form of teleseminars, webinars, live in person seminars, etc. And by the way, you don’t have to be an expert – you can get experts to do this for you. For example, if you’re selling someone else’s product, ask them to do a live webinar for your buyers.
BONUS Method: Presell a product you’re about to launch. If you’ve got a related product that’s coming out in the next 1-3 months, offer it at a discount to your buyers today. This method is so powerful, Jay Abraham used it to sell $2.5 million of a subscription that didn’t even go live for 6 months after he started promoting it.
Method #1 is the method chosen by nearly all online marketers, and it goes like this:
You have a great idea. A terrific idea. The idea of the century.
Or just a good idea.
In any case, you think about it. You do some research. You talk to your friends and see what they think.
And then you go for it.
You execute the idea, make the product or service, and wait for people to buy.
Except that they don’t. No, it’s not your marketing – your marketing is fine.
No one is buying because you are just one more bit of noise in a very noisy world.
You’re just one more person trying to sell something.
And they don’t have time for you.
It’s nothing personal. It’s reality.
Then there is method #2:
You have a great idea. You do some research, talk to your friends and so forth.
You decide to go for it.
But you don’t start with making the product or service.
Instead you focus on finding the audience and building a list.
You build a list of a few hundred people interested in this exact thing.
Then you build your product, and you tell your list.
And your list pays attention to you.
You are no longer an interruption in their day.
They asked you to email them.
And they buy.
You can even use this list to tweak your product, validate your product, presell your product… Do you see how powerful this is?
Here are two examples of putting this method into action, courtesy of Video Fruit.
Case Study #1: 250 subscribers and a $10,000 product launch.
John buys a WordPress theme from Michael Hyatt. John realizes the theme is difficult for new users, and people could use help with it.
So John creates an email list around this theme, and then creates a course on how to use the theme.
He got 250 people who were interested in getting help with Michael’s theme, and sold $10,000 worth of the product.
From the time he thought of the idea to the time his product launch ended was 30 days.
The product itself was sold for 7 days.
Imagine if you got the same results and repeated this every month.
Case Study #2: 2,000 subscribers and a $325,000 product launch in 90 days.
Katherine wanted to create a journal that boosted productivity. So she built a list around the topic of journaling for productivity, and created and sold her journal. From start to finish it took her 90 days.
She launched on Kickstarter but used her list to jumpstart the campaign. Thanks to her list, her campaign received $40,000 in 4 days from her list, and the campaign took off from there.
She succeeded because she didn’t try to get everyone on Kickstarter to buy her product. Instead, she focused on her email list, and once she got them to buy, everything else fell into place.
Building your audience first, and then creating the product to sell to them has tremendous advantages.
Plus it’s just plain easier than building the product first, and then trying to find an audience.
Here’s what to do:
Choose your niche – something profitable with lots of interested people, like health and wellness or self-improvement or business.
Choose your sub-niche – the small niche within a niche that you can be the master of, making you the sub-niche ‘leader’ if you will.
Create an offer they crave – this will be your lead magnet to attract people to sign up. NOTE: Sometimes it can be as simple as an announcement list that will tell them when the solution to their problem is available.
Cultivate relationships with your audience. Keep your readers interested by continuing the conversation you’ve already started.
Cultivate real relationships with your peers, so you might gain access to their audiences later.
Validate your idea or offer with your subscribers, to make sure you’re on the right track. Ask for feedback and make any adjustments you see fit.
[Optional: Do a pilot run selling a very limited number of copies at a discount, to get feedback and further refine your product.]
Launch when you have enough subscribers to make it count. The actual number will depend on your topic and niche. You saw from one of the case studies above that it can be done with just 250 subscribers if the topic is narrow enough.
Does this all sound somewhat backwards to you? We’ve been conditioned to think we should make the product first and then find the customers.
But if you do it the other way around, you’ll know in advance if you’re on the right track.
And when you do launch, you’ll be making sales from Day 1, which is far better than launching, then scrambling to get traffic, and finally realizing you’ve wasted your time.
The next time you have a great idea, give this technique a shot.
There is no reason in the world why you can’t have your own $5,000-$10,000 launch in 30 days if you follow this plan.
