You don’t have your own product yet and you want to make some money promoting affiliate products. But if you promote affiliate products via email, there is a better than even chance that you are making at least one of these mistakes and it’s costing you money. Imagine if every time you promote a product, you make more money with no more effort because you stop making these mistakes – wouldn’t that be worth exploring?
1. Promoting A Product Without Knowing Much About It
Just because other people are promoting a product doesn’t necessarily mean that you should, too. If you don’t know what it is that you’re selling, it makes sense that you’re going to do a lousy job of promoting it. “Hey, buy this product because other people are buying it so it must be good.” What kind of a recommendation is that?
That’s why you want to either get a review copy from the merchant prior to launch, or buy the product yourself. Then spend time actually using the product. Pick out 3 to 5 things you love about it and highlight these in your promotion.
BONUS:
By reviewing the product prior to promoting it, you’ll discover if it’s something you want to stake your reputation on. After all, if you recommend a shoddy product, your list isn’t going to be happy and your reputation will take a hit. Promote enough shoddy products and you’ll need to change your name and build a new list.
2. Using The Same Promo Copy Everyone Else Is Using
It’s the day of the big launch and you copy and paste the same email a hundred other affiliates are sending to their lists – do you really think your readers aren’t on some of these other lists as well? When they see you’re just a cookie cutter of everyone else, they’re going to recognize your emails as junk and hit the delete button. Even if they are interested in the product, they’re going to find someone else to purchase it from who’s already used the product and can give them the insider’s perspective on what to expect.
When you write your own emails, you stand completely apart from the crowd. While the cookie cutter emails are being ignored, yours are getting read and receiving clicks. Write your own promotional emails with your own unique personality and slant, with sincerity and belief in what you are saying, and you will outperform other affiliates with lists larger than your own.
3. Not Adding Value
Always think of what you can add to the product to produce more value. For example, you can add a product of your own as a bonus, or do a coaching call for everyone who purchases. You might start a mastermind group to help the buyers implement what they learn in the course, or even create a new product to give them as a bonus (which you can then sell to others.)
Always think about how you can add value. Many times it can be as simple as adding a 10 page report or 5 minute video on how to do something step-by-step that is called for in the product. And be sure the value you add is directly related to the product you are promoting. If the product is how to grow magnificent roses, then a report on the best places to buy rose fertilizer would be perfect, while a video on how to plant asparagus wouldn’t make a lot of sense.
4. Sending Nothing But Affiliate Offers
If you want your emails to get open and read, you’re going to want to mix a good share of content in with your promotional emails. No one likes to be sold to over and over again, yet everyone enjoys getting news, how-to’s and insider advice from a trusted friend. Be the friend, and make sure at least 2/3rds of your emails contain great info. This will build a relationship between you and your readers and also get your promo emails open and read.
5. Hard Selling Instead Of Pre-Selling
As an affiliate, your job isn’t to sell the product – that’s the sales page’s job. Your job is to get your readers warmed up to the idea of what the product can do for them, so that 2 things happen: First, they click the link in your email that leads to the sales page. Remember, you’re selling the click, not the product. And second, when they click that link they are interested, eager and possibly even excited to discover more.
6. Not Being Memorable
We touched on this earlier when we spoke of delivering lots of value to your list in the form of content. When you’re known for delivering value, your emails are much more likely to be opened and read. But just having great content isn’t always enough to make you stand apart from the crowd. You also need a hook: Something that makes you memorable to your readers so that each time they see an email from you, they remember exactly who you are and why they should open the email.
If you’re like most marketers, you probably assume you already stand out because you know how different you are from other marketers – but do your readers know this? From the day they join your list, you should in some way differentiate yourself. It could be by using a nickname, such as Mr./Mrs. Overdeliverer. Or it could with your own brand.
If you have another profession, you can use that as your hook. One fellow I know was a school teacher and he still refers to himself that way even though it’s been years since he stepped inside a classroom. Another marketer is known as being unorthodox (to say the least) and yet another is known for his hair and his barefoot running. These are all hooks or associations that make them stand apart in their subscriber’s minds from all the other marketers sending them emails.
Employ some of these hard-fought lessons in your own marketing, and you’ll save yourself years of trial and error, and quickly get on the fast-track to higher profits in your affiliate marketing business.
Every time you turn around, there’s another guru offering a high ticket item that will save the day and put a fortune in your pocket – but will it? The thing about selling information to Internet marketers on how to market is that they are effectively creating their own competition – training others to do what it is that’s making them rich.
Now, if you were going to train YOUR competition to compete against you and try to take away your business – would you tell them everything? No way. For that matter, would you be tempted to tell them things that were – shall we say – not exactly true? Possibly. Here are 4 common myths the “experts” would love for you to keep believing…
Long sales copy always out pulls short sales copy. Not true – if you’re selling a low ticket item ($5 to $30) then short copy will often out pull long copy – especially if you state the price UP FRONT rather than trying to hide it at the bottom. If you’re selling more expensive products, then long copy does out pull short copy.
Video sells more than written copy. Not true – split testing of squeeze pages shows that the pages without video nearly always out pull the ones with video. Moreover, sales pages with just video and no copy tend to not do as well as sales pages with copy and no video. And a combination of the two really needs to be split-tested, because it could easily go either way. Don’t assume video sells – depending on the product and the video itself, it can hurt as much as you think it might help.
You should split test everything. Yes, as we just mentioned split testing is great – but only so long as it doesn’t slow you down. When you’re just getting started, the last thing you need is to delay your actions until you’ve split tested everything down to a science. Better to roll out that sales page today and begin making sales now than to wait until it’s perfect. Do split test, but don’t make it a priority. Taking action, rolling out new products and building your list should be your priorities. Get the money coming in and then focus on improving your systems.
Affiliate marketing is the way to go. Think about this – do you want to compete with a hundred or a thousand other affiliates to sell a product – or do you want to sell your own unique product that no one else on the planet can offer? By creating your own products, not only do you eliminate the competition, but you also build a relationship with your customers who come to know you, trust you and love your products. And once this happens, then you can sell them all the affiliate products you like.
Never be afraid to question anything anybody tells you – including me. And always look at the possible motives that might lie behind a word of advice. As my grandfather used to say, “Follow the money!” If someone is teaching you how to compete with them, odds are they’re not only omitting key information – they may also be leading you astray.
You purchase a product for $9 and you can’t wait to download it and see what’s inside.
But instead of a download link on the next page, what do you get?
A @#$%& upsell!
Okay, admittedly the upsell looks pretty darn good. And it will make your life easier, too. So you spend the $29 and get the upsell.
Now to go to the download page…
What the ___?! It’s ANOTHER upsell!
This one is $200. Which is a shame, because it looks so enticing. If only it were cheaper…
…you click on the ‘no thanks’ link.
And on the next page you see the same upsell minus the live coaching for only $49, so you grab it!
Finally you’re on the download page and you cannot wait to open up all your goodies and get started.
What just happened?
Did the product seller bamboozle you into buying more products than you really wanted?
Did he annoy you with all the upsells?
Or did the seller provide you with additional opportunities to get the benefits you want, or solve your problem?
You’re probably saying yes to all three questions, and that’s okay.
When upselling is done properly, the seller is truly providing the customer with additional, faster or easier ways to get the benefits they seek.
For example, they might sell a book on how to do something.
Then they offer software that does that thing for you.
Then they offer a done-for-you solution where you don’t have to lift a finger.
And you might be thinking that it would be nice if the seller were to tell you about these options up front.
Good point. However, if the seller told you about Product A, Product B, Product C and Product D, and if the seller further told you that you could get a combination of (A and B) or of (A and C) or of (B and D) or of (A, B and D) and so forth, here’s what would happen:
You would get confused, and rightly so. The more options you have, the less likely you will choose any of them.
And if you don’t choose any of them, then you’re not going to solve your problem or get the benefit you seek.
In reality, the seller is doing the buyer a favor by only showing one option at a time.
By only revealing one product at a time, the decision making process is greatly simplified and looks like a simple series of yes and no decisions.
You get through the checkout process FASTER this way and go on your merry way. If faced with all the possibilities at once, you would likely put the decision off until you forgot all about it.
When You’re the Seller
“The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5 – 20%. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%.” – Marketing Metrics
Now then, let’s look at it from the seller’s point of view. After all, this is a marketing newsletter and our primary goal is to make sales.
You make a low end offer to your customers. Maybe it’s a $9 ebook, or a $14 piece of software, or whatever.
You are offering your least expensive product that will 100% deliver on its promise, regardless of whether or not your customers buy anything else from you.
But you don’t stop there – you also offer them additional help, knowledge or tools to get the job done. They don’t need these things if they’re willing to put in the time and work themselves.
But if they want faster results, less work, personal help or an easier solution, then they are free to buy exactly that in your upsells.
They can say ‘yes’ or they can say ‘no,’ it’s totally up to them and you are twisting no one’s arm.
Of course, you are encouraging them to take those upsells. And not just because you’ll make more money, but also because you know they will be happier in the long run with the better solution.
If your goal is to truly have happy customers, then it’s time to stop thinking that $9 e-books are going to do it.
Yes, for some of your customers a $9 ebook is all they want.
But for a surprisingly large number of customers, they want more. They want better, easier and faster. And they want help, too.
And if you don’t offer them what they want, then they will go elsewhere to get it.
Buyer’s High
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.
The reality is, the hardest thing you will do online is get a new customer. To get that customer you’ve got to have a combination of some or all of the following: A web presence, a good reputation, products, sales pages, blogs, social media, affiliates, a list and so forth.
You work hard to get that customer. And what’s the easiest way to increase your revenue? It’s not to get new customers, but instead to sell more to your current customers.
And perhaps the best way to do this is through upsells.
You gain their trust with that first small sale. They say, “Yes!” I’m willing to take a chance with you, here’s my money.”
They are now on a buyer’s high. They feel good. They’ve already made a small commitment to you, which is the PERFECT time to ask for a bigger commitment in the form of a bigger purchase.
Yet time and again I see marketers who refuse to offer upsells.
Maybe they feel like it is somehow deceptive or manipulative to make additional offers after a sale is made.
Not true. Your initial offer is a stand alone, complete product that needs no other product to work. The upsells simply enhance the buyer’s experience.
Most companies do upselling in one form or another. These are companies that rely on their bottom lines to pay thousands of workers and keep hundreds of stores open.
“Would you like fries with that?”
“Would you like the extended warranty?”
“Would you like the deluxe options package on your new car?”
“Would you like someone to deliver your new furnace and install it for you?”
“Would you like our annual service contract that ensures your furnace and air conditioning are always in tip top shape and working when you need them?”
“Congrats on your new pet – would you like the cage, food, dishes, toys, bedding and litter your new pet needs?”
And so forth.
If you’ve got reservations about offering upsells, I’d like to suggest you ditch them once and for all.
Crunching Numbers
Let’s say you’ve got a $9 product and you’re selling 5% of people who hit your sales page.
1000 visitors result in 50 sales of $9 each, or $450.
That sound you hear is me yawning.
But you add an upsell for $47, and 30% of your buyers take the upsell. That’s another $705 in your pocket.
You’ve now more than DOUBLED your profits, simply by adding that upsell.
But wait, there’s more…
You offer a coaching program. Because you’re fairly new to coaching, you decide to make it affordable – $299 per month for 3 months.
And you offer the coaching to all of your buyers, not just the ones who took the first upsell.
Result? Only one person takes the offer. But $299 per month times 3 months is $897.
Now instead of making $450, you’ve earned a total of $2,052 on those 1,000 visitors.
It takes the EXACT same effort to drive 1,000 visitors to your sales funnel, regardless of whether or not you have upsells in place.
But the difference in results with upsells can be staggering – in this example you’re earning literally four times the money for the exact same traffic-driving effort.
Yes, you have to put those upsells in place.
Yes, you’ll have to fulfill the coaching duties with a phone call each week.
But still… you can now duplicate this feat every time you drive another 1,000 visitors to your site.
And of course you don’t have to offer coaching, because you can make your upsells anything you want.
Coaching, however, is something you should consider. It is highly lucrative and your students usually become your very best customers for life, as well as your best testimonials and social media evangelists.
Attracting Top Affiliates
Keeping in mind the numbers we just used in our example, let me ask you this:
If you were an affiliate, which funnel would you want to promote – the one where you get 50% of $450?
Or the one where you get 50% of $2,052?
If you want to attract affiliates, and especially if you want to attract TOP affiliates, you must have one or more upsells in place.
Otherwise you will never be able to compete with the other product owners who have upsells.
The Self-Liquidating Offer
Using our example above, let’s say that you’re not using affiliates.
Instead, you’re buying traffic to send to your funnel.
It costs you roughly $500 to send 1,000 highly targeted prospects to your sales funnel.
This means that without the upsells, you are losing $50 each time you send 1,000 visitors to your website. You better find a cheaper source of targeted traffic, work on improving your conversion rate, or both.
But if you have the upsells in place, then every time you spend $500, you make $1,552.
Tell me this: How many times will you spend $500 if it makes you a profit of $1,552?
Every day, right?
And even every hour if there is enough traffic to be bought.
When you have upsells in place, you can purchase high quality traffic and still make money.
You don’t need to rely on affiliates for your income. You simply turn on the traffic faucet and watch the profits pour in. THIS is how internet fortunes are made.
No, it’s not sexy. It’s not glamorous. But it sure does work.
“But I don’t have additional products to offer as upsells.”
No problem – offer coaching. If you know your topic well enough to create a product, then I guarantee you also know it well enough to coach someone.
Yes, the first time or two is scary, until you realize that coaching simply means helping the person get the results they want.
You are helping them – via phone, skype or email – to do something that you already know how to do.
How simple is that?
Another possibility for your upsell is to offer a ‘done-for-you’ solution.
For example, if you’re selling software, then you can install the software for them. If you’re teaching them how to do something, you can do it for them, and so forth.
Another option is to offer a related affiliate product that compliments your front-end offer.
For example, if your front-end offer is on how to drive traffic, your upsells could be additional traffic generation methods, how to increase the conversions you get on that traffic, a software that helps to drive traffic and so forth.
The point is this: Offer… SOMETHING as your upsell.
Mind you, I’m not saying to offer just ANYTHING. It’s got to be in alignment with your front end offer and it’s got to be useful, wanted and high quality.
Remember, your reputation is at stake.
If you offer junk for your upsell, customers will get angry. And if customers get angry, affiliates will be upset with you and won’t promote for you again.
12 Upselling Tips for Maximum Profits
1: If you can’t figure out what to upsell, consider cross-selling.
With upselling you’re generally offering something directly in line with the initial offer. With cross-selling, you’re offering something in the same niche, but not exactly related.
For example, if you’re selling a product on how to build your own WordPress site, an upsell would be to build the site for them.
A cross-sell might be to offer a product on how to get paid to build WordPress sites for other people, or how to drive traffic to your new site.
2: Don’t be pushy.
Make it clear that all they have to do is click the “no thanks” link to continue on without buying the upsell.
3: Test upsells.
Some will work far better than others, but you won’t know which ones are the best until you test.
4: Use stats and testimonials.
If 94% of your customers are thrilled they bought the upsell, let your new customers know.
If you have testimonials for your upsells, use them.
If you don’t have any stats or testimonials, poll your customers and get some.
5: Use urgency.
Do something with your upsell that makes your customers fear losing out on the deal.
For example, maybe you offer them a special price that is good only while they are on that page.
Or perhaps it’s a product that is only available to buyers of the front-end product.
6: Use ‘fear of missing out.’
If you can show that your customers get far better results when they buy the upgrade, don’t be afraid to say so.
Your new customers will fear missing out on the ease and massive benefits of the upsell if you play this right.
7: Use a countdown timer.
This is a timer that counts down how long they have to decide to take the upsell.
Usually you want to give them 10 minutes, unless your upsell page is particularly long or short.
Test using the countdown timer against not using it. Odds are it will improve conversions, but you won’t know for sure until you test.
8: Offer a bonus to the upsell.
Make the bonus highly relevant with a high perceived value, and it will likely increase sales dramatically.
Test one bonus against another, and using a bonus versus having no bonus on the upsell page(s).
9: High perceived value versus cost.
If your upsells look like they’re worth a great deal more than they cost, your conversions will skyrocket.
For example, I bought the rights to a 2 year old $499 course for $300.
I used that course as an upsell, stressing that several thousand people paid $499 for the course, but today, for the next ten minutes, they could grab it for just $37. It sold like gangbusters.
10: Offer a second chance via email.
Assuming you’re not using a countdown timer on your upsell(s), offer a second chance to get the upsell via email.
Let them know the second chance expires in “X” number of hours.
11: Don’t forget down selling.
If your new customer doesn’t take the $99 version, follow up with a $49 version.
You’ll be surprised how many of the down sells you sell.
12: Get sophisticated.
If they don’t take upsell #1, you send them to down sell #1.
But if they do buy upsell #1, then you send them to upsell #2, and so forth.
Bottom Line
Upsells aren’t sexy. They don’t always have a terrific reputation. They will annoy a small percentage of your customers. But…
They can turn a money losing business into a money generating powerhouse.
Imagine never having to worry about attracting affiliates again, because you can buy all the traffic you want.
Imagine deciding you want to make more money today, so you simply buy more traffic.
Imagine having an online machine generating cash for you, 24/7.
Frankly, I don’t know why any marketer wouldn’t have upsells in their sales funnel.
And cross-sells and down-sells, too. It just makes good business sense.
It’s amazing what a little personalization can do to increase sales…
Quick example: You go into a store looking to buy something. A salesperson helps you, but you leave without making a purchase. You go back a week later, and the salesperson greets you by calling you by name.
How do you feel? Maybe respected, appreciated and memorable? And do you want to do business with someone who cares enough to remember your name? Of course.
When Coca-Cola introduced Coke bottles personalized with people’s names, sales jumped 2%. Now I know 2% might not sound like much, but to a company as big as Coke, it’s huge.
Personalization – when used properly – can double your conversions. Here are 10 ideas on how to personalize not just words, but actual images – and how you might use these ideas in your own business…
1: Inactive Customers or Subscribers:
Re-engage with customers and even subscribers who are no longer active.
For example, for customers who haven’t made a purchase in 90 days, or subscribers who haven’t clicked a link in a month, send them a photo of you in front of a whiteboard looking sad.
The whiteboard has a simple mathematical equation with your business name, minus their name and a frowny face, like this:
Your Business Name
– Your customer’s name
☹
2: New Customers and Subscribers:
Create life-long customers and communities by taking the time to welcome someone when they join you. For example, you might send them a picture of you holding a sign that says, “Welcome Paul!”
3: Product Sales:
When your customers buy a product that you are shipping out, keep them engaged by sending them an email with a picture of their package. This keeps them excited and tells them it’s on the way.
Bonus: Get a clear shot of the address label, and it will help them to confirm their shipping address before it’s too late.
4: Webinar Attendance:
Get people to show up for your webinars by sending them a personalized reminder email in the form of a photo of a handwritten note, or of you standing next to a whiteboard with the written words, “Are you coming to the webinar, Joan?”
This will capture their attention, be far more memorable and do more to get them on the webinar than the standard email that webinar services send out as reminders.
5: Cart Abandonment:
Send out a photo of an empty box with their name on it, such as, “Order for Bob Smith.”
This emphasizes the sense of loss in not ordering, and will get some of your customers to come back and finalize their purchase.
6: Text Messages:
If you use text messages for following up with customers, how about adding an image of a newspaper that features their name and the reason for the follow up?
It’s guaranteed that you’ll have their attention.
7: Customer Anniversaries:
Send out a personalized image that contains congratulations on their anniversary – perhaps the anniversary of purchasing a product, subscribing to your list, joining your membership site, etc.
You’ll make them feel special and important.
8: Upsells:
This is a brilliant idea that can put serious money in your pocket almost immediately – send out an image letting your customer know they forgot something.
It might be a picture of the upsell they didn’t take, along with words such as, “You forgot something John! (It’s our best offer).
9: Certificates:
Do you offer any kind of courses or online training?
Send out personalized and official looking certificates of completion with their name, the training level achieved, the date, signatures and seal.
10: Online Order Confirmation:
When someone places an order, send them a photo of you and your team with a sign that welcomes them by name. It might say something like, “Welcome to the family, Aaron.” Make sure everyone in the photo looks especially happy.
Now then, you might be saying: “Sure, this is all well and good and I can see how it will help me to retain customers and make more sales, but who has time to do all this?”
Good question. The answer is, you do – if you get PicSnippets.
PicSnippets creates personalized images for marketing, sales and customer follow-up. You can create your PicSnippet and use it on nearly any platform such as Infusionsoft, ClickFunnels, Shopify, ManyChat, Klaviyo, FixYourFUnnel and more.
Put personalization to work in your business and get ready for your customer engagement and sales to reach new all-time highs!
I know a guy who lives in a remote part of Oregon.
He’s got a long scraggly beard, dresses in jeans and flannel shirts, and drives a new car.
By day he fishes and hikes.
By night he visits with his friends in the bar, or kicks back and watches TV.
He takes several long vacations each year.
He hires someone to do his yard work and maintain his house.
He never works – because he doesn’t have to.
And he’s lived like this since the 70’s.
Did he inherit a lot of money? Win the lottery? Rob a bank?
Nope. He grew up poor, never went to college, and hasn’t worked since he was 22.
What he did do was write a hit song. Just one.
And that song continues to pay him residuals to this day.
He did something once, and is still getting paid for it all these decades later.
So there you have it. Just write a hit song performed by a very famous person, and you are set for life.
What’s that? You don’t write songs?
Okay, then you might try the online marketing version of this residual game.
It’s called make a ‘sale once, get paid for months or maybe even years.’
Of course we’re talking about residual programs, and there are two basic ways you can profit: Promote someone else’s program, or create your own.
If you’re promoting someone else’s residual program, you’ve got several benefits.
You never have to create membership content or maintain and update the software as a service
You never have to worry about customer service concerning the program
You don’t have to create the sales page, the membership site and so forth.
All you do is send traffic and profit. That’s it.
Pretty sweet deal, right?
And don’t be fooled by the first month’s commission, either.
For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide between promoting Program A and Program B. Both programs are converting at the same rate.
Program A pays out $50 one time on a $100 sale.
Program B pays out $15 each month on a $30 sale.
Members of Program B tend to stick for a long time, because the product is something they need for their business. In fact, the average customer retention rate is 7.2 months, which is fantastic.
With Program A, you make $50. But with Program B, you make $108.
As you can see, if possible you want to find out how long the average customer ‘sticks’ to the program.
Software as a service tends to retain people for longer periods of time, assuming the software does what it’s supposed to. Hosting is a great example of this, because once people set up their website with a host, they tend to stick with that same host for years or for as long as there is no problem.
However, there are many information oriented membership programs that also retain members for a good long time as well.
To find residual programs you might want to promote, you can begin by Googling, “affiliate residual programs.” You’ll find lists full of them – more than you can ever promote yourself.
But having your own program can be even better, if you’re willing to put in the work.
You can have affiliates promote it for you, making hundreds and even thousands of sales you would never get on your own
You can make a lot more money – a LOT more money
You can build a stable of affiliates who like and trust you, and will promote future programs for you.
But…
You have to create the program. And make no mistake, there is work involved.
If you’re selling software as a service, then you need to have the software developed, tested, tweaked and hopefully glitch free when you launch.
If you’re selling informational memberships, you’ll need to create a membership site and add content to it on a very regular basis.
And in either case you’ll need to deal with customer service, building the sites, writing the sales letters and so forth.
That said, it’s not as difficult as it sounds.
For your first membership site, I recommend you keep it simple. Find a target market that is eager for great information on their topic.
Then create a newsletter targeted to this market. Write the sales letter and newsletter as though you are speaking to just one person. Keep the price low – so low that it’s a no-brainer.
See? Not so hard after all.
If you’re going to do the work of bringing customers to a sales page, why not get paid for it over and over again?
Imagine this: One year from now you are earning money from not one, but twelve different residual programs.
Month after month you get checks for work you did six months or even a year ago.
How great will that feel?
If that feeling excites you, get to work and go make it happen!
Your customers are bombarded daily by the same types of offers – so how can you stand apart from the crowd?
Let’s take the online marketing niche as an example: Everyone is proclaiming to have THE product that will enable ANYONE to make a million dollars this year, or more.
Prospects are confused because there are simply too many choices. What they need is some relief from the continuous barrage of similar looking offers.
Here you come, offering not to sell them the latest greatest program, but instead help them to solve the problem they have right now.
What is their immediate problem? It’s not making a million dollars this year. But it is learning how to make enough money to quit the job they hate.
You offer a Facebook group that is aimed at replacing their salaries and allowing them to quit their job.
Finally, they found someone who is meeting them where they are, instead of tying to call them to the top of Mt. Everest. Because let’s face it, when you’re not making a dime online, making a million bucks seem about as likely as scaling Everest with no prior training.
Instead of being one of many gurus, you position yourself as the guy next door who works on cars and does gardening, and also happens to have a thriving internet business. Sure, you’ll teach them what you know over a few cups of coffee and some good conversation.
Now who wouldn’t jump at that?
There’s two elements at play here:
First, you’re breaking down that sky-high goal into something people truly believe they can achieve.
Become an Olympian athlete? Not likely. Lose 20 pounds and feel and look better? Yes!
Date the hottest models on the planet? No honest man is going to believe that. But be able to get dates with the nice women they meet through their work or hobbies? Now that they believe.
Second is your own positioning. Instead of being THE Diet Expert or THE Dating God or THE Internet Marketing Guru, you are a normal, everyday person.
Think about who you are – stay at home mom? Nutritionist? Astronomer? Astrologist? Doctor? Airplane mechanic? Crafter? Gardener? Cat lover? Write down the things you like the most about yourself.
Now how can you incorporate that into your chosen niche? You might be the cat lady who teaches diet and nutrition, or the shade tree mechanic who also teaches bodybuilding. Or maybe the prolific gardener who also teaches online marketing.
Whatever the case, use your own life to differentiate yourself from the crowd.
By doing these two things – starting with goals your audience believes they can achieve and being a person they can relate to – you’ll stand apart from any competition.
Your message will become crystal clear and people who need your message will flock to you. You’ll also be much more memorable as the ‘sky writing physical trainer’ than any of the other thousands of people teaching physical training online.
And there’s another benefit as well.
People will believe you because you come across as human. You show your mistakes, and you talk a little bit about yourself.
What you don’t show is ridiculous claims, Lamborghinis, mansions and yachts parked on tropical beaches.
We talk about targeting the right people for your product, but just how valuable is it to know your audience?
Here’s a quick case study of a deodorant that became a top seller through nothing more than pinpoint targeting of its customers:
In Brandwashed: Tricks Companies use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy, we learn how Axe Deodorant took over their market through targeting.
Unilever executive David Cousino tells us that Unilever first analyzed the potential male deodorant user by breaking men down into six profiles:
The Predator — He takes advantage of drunk girls, and lies about his job and where he lives
Natural Talent — Athletic, smart, and confident. He doesn’t need to lie to score
Marriage Material — Humble and respectful, he’s the sort of guy you want to bring home to Mom and Dad
Always the Friend — He always hits that glass ceiling
The Insecure Novice — He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing, and things get awkward fast — the geeks and nerds
The Enthusiastic Novice — He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing, but he’s outgoing and tries valiantly anyway
Based on these six profiles, they chose to target the ‘Insecure Novice,’ since these are the guys who need the most help in getting women.
And frankly, this is the target market that could most easily be persuaded into buying a product – ANY product – that could potentially help them get over their nerdiness and get the woman. Or women. Lots of women.
The next step was to create the ads. Research showed that the ultimate male fantasy isn’t to have just one woman at a time – it’s to be irresistible to several sexy women at once. (Seriously, did they really need research to determine this?)
That’s why the TV ads proclaim that if you use Axe Deodorant, you will get the chicks. ALL the chicks.
The result?
Axe came out of nowhere to be the #1 male antiperspirant / deodorant brand.
Notice they weren’t targeting EVERY man. They didn’t target married men, old men, men who could already get women on their own and so forth. They targeted ONE demographic – men in their 20’s and 30’s who were nerdy and had trouble getting women.
But in the process, they had a great deal of crossover into the other groups as well.
This is an added benefit of targeting that most marketers don’t realize. They think in order to get the biggest share of the market, they must target everyone.
But when you target everyone, you tend to get almost no one. Paradoxically, when you target one specific group, you tend to get customers from all the other groups as well.
One side note: In this case, Axe’s marketing worked almost TOO well. High school kids were completely dousing themselves in Axe, thinking they would get every girl in class to fall all over them.
Instead, school districts complained of kids reeking of the cologne-like smell.
How could Axe have fixed this? Perhaps by cautioning its users that because of the power of Axe, a normal amount was actually more effective than going full coverage.
Instead, Axe backpedaled a bit from their original campaign, and sales declined.
Which is another lesson – when you find a target market that works for your product – or better still, you target your product to the right market – don’t change what’s working.
Here’s what you can do:
Make a list of potential target markets for your next product.
From that list, choose the market – or demographic – you want to target.
Create a profile of ONE person in that market – this is your ideal customer.
Tailor your product and your message to that one person.
Dance around your office as you see the sales come flooding into your in box.
Stop targeting everyone and start targeting your ideal customer. Once you do, it will become clear how you should market, where you’ll find your customers, and how to get them on board. And yes, your sales will almost certainly increase.
Nearly every day someone approaches me about doing a joint venture because as you know, joint ventures are a marvelous way to get your product in front of a lot of people.
Better yet, getting your joint venture partner’s recommendation can significantly increase both sales and sign ups onto your own list. But that’s the good news – the bad news is anyone with a list gets approached day in and day out by numerous JV seekers, and the vast majority of those requests are either ignored or rejected.
So how can you be the one who receives the coveted “yes” answer next time you approach someone for a joint venture?
Here are 4 techniques that I’ve found work especially well…
First, make your initial contact all about the joint venture partner and NOT about you. Instead of telling them what’s in it for you, tell them what’s in it for them. I don’t know how many times I’ve received emails that go something like this: “I need you to promote my new product to your list because then I can make sales and add people to my own list. Oh yes, and I’ll pay you 50% commission.”
Whoopee. Can you imagine the excitement a list owner feels when receiving an email like this? There’s a reason this type of email doesn’t even get a response. Look, everyone is tuned into that same radio station you’ve heard so much about, WIIFM: What’s In It For Me? A list owner can get 50% in commissions anytime and anywhere without having to do a joint venture.
This is why it is imperative that you stand apart from the crowd and offer the list owner something far more valuable than 50% on sales. Think for a moment – what is it that you’re really good at? Is it writing articles? Building squeeze pages? Writing sales copy? Social Marketing? Whatever it is, offer your potential JV partner your service in exchange for promoting your product, along with a good commission.
For example, if you’re good at writing articles, offer to write a dozen or more on the topics of their choice and pay them 50 -70% commission on sales. Now this is an offer that is likely to get their attention. Sure it’s going to take you some extra time, but so what? You’ll be making sales, building your list, and most importantly, forging a relationship with your new JV partner.
Second, consider giving away all of your commission on the front end product. If your product converts well and sells for a good price, this will get the attention of many list owners. You’ll capture their attention even faster if you also pay immediate commissions or set it up so that commissions are paid straight into their PayPal account.
Why would you give away all of your commissions? You’re not. First of all, you’re building your list with buyers, and buyers are wonderful indeed when it comes to promoting other products in the future. In fact, it’s been estimated that one buyer on your list is worth as many as 35 freebie seekers in terms of future revenue. Second, by placing a one time offer in the sales sequence you can also make money up front. You can either keep 100% of the commissions on the OTO, or split the commissions with your partner.
Third, treat your JV Partner like someone more important than an affiliate. Set up a deal in which several JV Partners and yourself contribute products into one big product package, and then launch the package just as you would a product. Divide the commissions accordingly and everyone wins because everyone promotes to their own lists, ensuring there is plenty of exposure to the offer. Plus, each participant grows their own list full of new purchasers of the event.
Another possibility – work together to create a new product. This doesn’t have to mean the two of you sit down in a room together and hammer out the product. Rather, each of you would complete certain portions of it on your own as a collaboration. For example, you might write the intro, they write the outline, you fill the outline in, you create the video and they write the sales letter (just an example, it will differ wildly for everyone.) You can even do a collaboration with 3 or more JV Partners. Just think – the more partners involved, the more lists you can promote your new product to.
Fourth, warm up your potential JV Partner before you pop the JV question. Instead of immediately asking them for a JV, ask them for an interview instead. Or ask if you can promote their latest product, or ask if you can write an article about them for your blog, etc. In other words, see what you can do to help them first. If you are sincere about this, the law of reciprocity will kick in, and sooner or later they’ll want to repay the favor. That’s why when you ask them down the road to promote your high quality product, they probably won’t even hesitate to say yes.
Okay, But What Do I Write in My JV Proposal?
That first email to a potential JV Partner is scary, isn’t it? What should you say? What shouldn’t you say? Will they reply? Will they think you’re some schmuck hayseed from the sticks?
First of all, don’t worry about getting rejected. Everyone gets rejected now and then, and online it’s usually a simple matter of being ignored. If this happens, realize that they may not have seen your email and send it to them again. Be nice, be respectful, and be persistent. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose by asking.
But there are ways to greatly increase your chances of getting that JV by simply doing the right things in your email. What I recommend…
Be personal, warm and friendly. Imagine you’re writing to your mother or father – you’d go out of your way to be polite.
Reference something recent they’ve done. Maybe it’s their latest product or blog post – mention something about it so they know you’ve actually read the post or purchased the product.
Play to their ego. Praise the post, product or whatever it is that you’re mentioning. NOTE: Praise it in a direct, specific and honest way. Don’t just say, “Great post, man!” Instead, say something like, “Thanks so much for the video creation tips – I’m going to follow your advice because I’ve learned first hand that your methods work.” A general compliment works too if you’ve been reading their content for awhile and can say so.
Get to the point. Don’t write 3 pages on your personal history of Internet Marketing. Get to the crux of your communication, which is your proposal.
Propose your plan. Again, don’t waffle and don’t digress. Get to the point and let them know what you’re suggesting.
Be an authority. This isn’t the time to brag or boast, but it is the time to let them know that you’re experienced. JV Partners aren’t looking to hold your hand, they’re looking to do deals that put new buyers and new money in their pocket.
If you’ve got proof, use it. For example, if you’re proposing a collaboration on a traffic product and you’re good at getting traffic, show them a link to a few screenshots of your traffic. You’re putting their mind at ease that you know what you’re doing.
Outline the deal without a lot of detail. If you’re proposing they keep 100% on the front end and 50% of the back end, say so. Don’t tell them which hosting company you use or what hours you work.
Ask. Ask them for feedback, to do the deal, whatever. Close with a call to action so that it’s super clear the next move is theirs and you’re looking for a response. Again, you’re not dictating – you’re simply being professional in a warm, friendly manner.
Send and wait for a response. Don’t expect them to fall all over themselves in gratitude that you wrote. If the answer comes back negative, write back and tell them thank you very much for considering it, and you look forward to an opportunity to perhaps work with them in the future. Don’t rant or rave or get nasty – the last thing you want to do is slam the door on future opportunities.
If the answer comes back as anything other than a no, then odds are it can develop into a definite yes, but only IF you don’t fumble the ball. The typical response you get back is going to be for more information. Provide it and answer any questions they give you. Keep in mind that the things they are likely looking for in a potential JV Partner are…
Confidence and professionalism. Do you know what you’re doing? Are you capable?
Experience. What is your experience as related to the topic of this JV? What are you bringing to the table?
Trustworthy and reliable. Will you do what you say? Can they trust you?
As to what a JV Partner is looking for in the JV itself…
No huge time commitments. Big commitments are scary and stressful, small ones are much less so. Don’t ask them to write a 300 page ebook for your JV – it isn’t going to happen.
Enhanced reputation. Is this a quality product that provides lots of value? Or are you looking for the quick buck?
More buyers for their own list. If you can bring buyers to the table, you’ve got a powerful motivation for them to participate.
Money. Of course this is often (but not always) a motivator – how much money might they make in relation to the time invested? However, don’t assume this is their primary motivation. A good marketer knows that growing their list of buyers provides far more income on a long term basis than making quick money today. And no decent marketer wants to make a quick buck if it risks their reputation with their list.
Next you will iron out the details, go above and beyond the expectation of your partner every chance you get and run the best Joint Venture you possibly can. Hopefully it is a great success. And no matter the outcome, there is still one more step to take before you’re done, and that is to thank your JV Partner in a memorable manner. Why? Because many marketers do several JV’s a month, and if you’re not memorable, they may not say yes the next time you ask. Do a little research, find out what they like, and then send it to them. Does he like cigars? Is she partial to good coffee? It doesn’t have to be expensive because it’s not about the money, it’s about saying THANK YOU!!!
Believe me, I still remember a JV Partner I worked with 5 years ago who sent me a very nice gift in the mail. And even though we’ve since lost touch, were he to contact me today for another JV, I would almost certainly say yes. And for him (and for you), that’s like money in the bank.
There was once a very sexy commercial on television with the line, “If you want to capture someone’s attention, whisper.” Of course it showed a beautiful woman whispering into a man’s ear – and it was also false advertising. Can you guess why?
Because it wasn’t the whispering that was capturing attention – it was the pretty lady. Why is it that sex will capture attention every time, and what (surprisingly) works just as well as sex at pasting your prospect’s eyeballs to your website? Here’s what I’ve learned:
Humans have 3 brains in one – the analytical, thinking brain; the emotional brain; and the primitive, reptilian brain. It’s that primitive brain that cares about one thing – survival. Its job is to constantly monitor the environment for 3 things: Anything it can eat, anything it can have sex with, and anything that will hurt or kill it. That’s it. It’s a non-stop monitoring system for survival of the individual and the species, and because it’s simple, it’s also brain dead easy to capture its attention.
Simply use images or word pictures that bring thoughts of sex, food or danger and your prospect cannot immediately look away. Yes, it’s that simple. If you have a picture of an accident on your site, people will stop and look. They HAVE to. It’s no different than when they’re driving by a car accident: They’re unable to keep themselves from slowing down and looking to see the danger. That’s also why so many movie scenes involve chases, danger and violence – Hollywood knows you simply cannot flip the channel when it’s catering to your primitive brain.
Next time you want to rivet your reader to your sales page, see if you can add in some sexy elements, or some food, or even a sense of danger. They won’t know why they can’t tear their eyes away, nor will they care. They will, however, think their intense interest in your page must have something to do with the contents, and thus they will be more inclined to linger and possibly take the action you desire. Become irresistible to your readers – try catering to their primitive brain as well as their emotional and analytical brains and see what happens.
No worries – this is completely honest and ethical, and it’s a great way to begin sending free traffic to your new website.
Diverting traffic from other websites is one of the easiest methods of gaining free traffic. Ideally, you’ll want to “steal” this traffic from high traffic websites, because the more traffic your target sites get, the more traffic you can siphon off and send to your own site.
Look for high traffic forums and blogs that are directly related to your own niche. Ideally you want forums and blogs that have high traffic and also allow you to place a link to your website in every post you make, either in your signature file or in a clickable link.
Now then, you want to make as many intelligent posts as possible – thereby sharing your link several times or more – and do it in as little time as possible. The goal here is not to spend all day making forum posts, but rather to get in, make your posts and get out so that you have time to take care of other tasks related to your business.
Set a timer and search for specific posts that you can quickly reply to. For example, if your topic is SEO, search out the SEO threads rather than trying to answer a thread on content creation. You want to give short, concise, intelligent and helpful answers.
When your timer goes off, don’t close the forums. Instead, reset the timer because this time you’re going to create your own posts on these same forums. Search the forum for a thread that was super popular a few months ago, and start a new thread on a similar topic, only with your personal spin on it. This should get the posts responses piling up fast and furious, and will give your signature file plenty of views.
Be sure to check back on the threads you started at least once per day to answer some of the responses you received. If you continue posting daily in forums and on popular blogs, you should get a steady stream of people visiting your site. And while they may not be coming in droves, the ones that do show up are highly targeted and ripe for adding to your email list. Be sure to capture as many of them as you can by offering great content and a juicy reward for joining your list.
BONUS: If your niche is non-marketing related, find active posters on blogs and ask them to place your link in their signature file for a month for a fee – perhaps $25. They’re already posting, so it’s no extra effort for them and it’s great targeted traffic for you.
ADVANCED: Hire someone to post for you. If you outsource to the Philippines, for example, you can get someone to post on forums and blogs for you every day at a very reasonable rate. Not only does this free up your time, but because this is all they do, they can make far more posts than you ever could. One note: Until you are fully confident in their abilities, do not let them start forum threads in your name.
There you have it…
4 ways to “steal traffic”, and grow your online business; all without breaking the bank! 😉
