Product Creation

011: Create Physical Information Products with Kunaki, CreateSpace, Kinkos & Lulu

February 1, 201347 Comments

Discover how to branch out into the real world and sell your information products as physical, high-ticket items!

"How to Create Physical Infoproducts" FREE Report

Topics covered:

  • How to publish short reports on the fly with Kinkos.com
  • How to upload a simple Word document to Amazon CreateSpace to become a published author
  • How to print workbooks and manuals on demand using Lulu
  • Instantly sell physical audio CDs or video DVDs using Kunaki and a few ultra low cost tools
  • And more!

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003: How to Create an Information Product in 48 Hours and Sell 1000 Copies

October 13, 20123 Comments

If you'd like to explain something once (in a few minutes to an hour) and get paid over and over again, have fun doing it, stop trading your time for dollars and start trading your brain for dollars, then you need to create an information product. You need to use your information business to either function as its own passive autopilot income or to build up your service-based active income.

"How to Create an Information Product" FREE Report

Topics covered:

  • What's a typical day or week like for me?
  • PRODUCTIVITY TIP OF THE DAY: do it because you WANT to
  • The "WWHW formula" for instant product creation (Why, What, How, What-If)
  • How you'll always win finding a common need plus a hungry crowd
  • The "1 product 1 solution" strategy that never fails
  • How to create a PDF report, how-to videos, a live webinar class, or membership site using simple repeatable systems
  • THOUGHT OF THE DAY: are you leaking content out your ears yet?

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Is It Evil to Have an Upsell?

March 11, 2012103 Comments

You know what an upsell is, right? You buy thing #1 from me, I offer you thing #2 that's related but NOT required for thing #1 to work...

Lance and I released our "Backup Creator" WordPress plugin 6 months ago -- click a button, it backs up WordPress. Click a different button, it restores WordPress somewhere else... and it's now protecting over 20,000 WordPress sites!

  1. Some people bought "Backup Creator" for $7, some for $17, $27, $37, and $47
  2. We promised 1 years of bug fixes and "updates" but not "upgrades" (new features) -- important difference
  3. We recently released a "Backup Creator Ultimate" version that includes auto backup, FTP backup, FTP restore, and a few other things
  4. Anyone who buys today for $47 doesn't have a choice between the old "Backup Creator" and "Backup Creator Ultimate" -- they get Ultimate
  5. Anyone who already paid $47 for "Backup Creator" gets Ultimate for free
  6. Anyone who already paid $37 upgrades to Ultimate for $10, anyone who paid $27 can upgrade for $20, etc.

Most of our customers were thrilled that we released a new version with new features. Only a couple of people had complaints.

I want to share those few complaints with you and put this out in the open just to make sure we are "doing the right thing!"

Here's what's been said:

  • "If I upgrade now for $40, and pay $47 total, I lose my $7 early bird discount. I'd be no better off than anyone else"
  • "Many of us who Beta Tested your software spent quite a bit of time chasing down problems and reinstalling updates on all our blogs. I think you now have a wonderful product and will make a lot of money. I would suggest you reward all those who helped you get there."
  • "I have been getting all these emails telling me how great the update to back up creator was going to be when the only update was that you wanted more money from us........... Sorry guys IMHO you blew this"

Those are actual unedited quotations. I thought long and hard about airing this kind of "dirty laundry" in public but I really want to know what YOU think.

I'm honestly not upset, or bitter in ANY way... just asking you personally, did we do the right thing releasing a new version, or should we have stuck to our "original" version that only backed up and restored, and did nothing else? Please post your response below...

Edit: From now on we will be sure to be 100% clear with the updates policy, and if we do offer an upgrade path for our software in the future, we will make it a "flat rate" or find some way to make sure those early birds keep their early bird discount. Thanks again for that discussion!

How to Make Your Words Sell: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

November 25, 201182 Comments

Is it okay if I share with you the ONE formula that appears everywhere, again and again... and if you keep it in your back pocket every time you assemble a sales letter, create a blog post, make a product, send an email, and even deal with everyday relationships, you'll always win?

If I share this formula with you, will you check and make sure your web pages pass the test so you can convert as many people as possible?

I hope you've heard of this formula, and it's this: attention, interest, desire, action...

Every time you put out any piece of writing, video, or even live presentation -- run it through this filter. Here's what I mean...

  1. Get someone's attention using a shocking statement or headline
  2. Build interest by agitating your problem or setting up a question
  3. Setup the desire for your solution by revealing it and explaining it
  4. Tell people what to do now by telling them to take action

If you've even given (or read) a course, presentation, sales letter, or any other message that was missing an opening, seemed to "linger" too much on a problem, jump into a solution without addressing it, or had everything right except the end -- it was probably neglecting one or all of the above steps.

And I want to multiply your conversion rates by making sure you follow these simple rules. You can get as creative as you want as long as you follow this four step formula. Check it out...

ATTENTION:
Sales Letter Headline or Blog Post Title

When I write blog posts, I like to split the title into two parts: what I'm talking about (the feature), and the result of it (the benefit)... just look at my last few blog post titles here:

  • Specialized Knowledge: How to Make $50 (or More) Every 5 Minutes, All Day Long, By Clicking a Few Buttons (Just Like I Did at Age 17)
  • Speed Copywriting Explained (Assemble a Web Page That Gets People to Buy From You In the Next Few Minutes)
  • It's Simple, So It Must Not Work: How You Too Can Make Several Thousand Dollars in a Weekend
  • Website Backup: Keep Your Site Safe, Instantly Clone Your Blog, and Get Things Done Anywhere
  • The Accordion Method (And Now You Never Run Out of Content Ever Again)

Now I have blog post titles that are both short, and long!

With sales letters, it's even simpler. The headline isn't necessarily the title of the web page we're on, it's just the HEADER that gets us to continue reading...

Think about the first thing you want to say to your visitor to keep them alert, on your web page, and hungry for more. Whatever you say should answer "most" of these questions:

  1. What's in it for me? (promises a clear benefit)
  2. What's my problem or solution? (without giving away your product yet)
  3. Why should I even listen to you? (get attention either with a question, challenge, or shocking statement)
  4. Is this newsworthy? (something new and unique that's worth reading about)
  5. Do I have a reason to continue reading? (does it lead to another thought?)

Yes, I'm saying that your headline should contain all of these items...

More often than not I'll have that headline big, red, centered, bolded, and in quotes at the top of that web page, but what's more important than the formatting is that the WORDS are impossible to ignore. For example:

  • "How I Made an Extra $101,934.10 In 80 Days From 4 Low Ticket Products (With Zero Traffic and a Tiny List) Using One Very Special Piece of Affiliate Software..."
  • Backup, Clone, Protect... WordPress Plugin Makes It Simple For You To Backup, Restore And Protect Your WordPress Blogs And Sites Anytime You Want With Just A Few Easy Clicks...
  • "How Would You Like My Instant Formula For Creating High-Impact, Persuasive, Converting Sales Letters in the Next Few Minutes?"
  • "If You're Feeling Completely Overloaded, Unorganized and Feel Like You're Always Running Out of Time..." You Need to Get a Grip on (and Control of) Your Time Management Skills!

And I'll usually add a subheadline that COMPLETES the thought that the headline first created. Why? Because it gets people reading further down, and then further, until the next thing you know, they've read the whole sales letter all the way down to the buy button.

INTEREST:
Problem or Big Picture

You've got my attention, but I'm not ready to buy your product yet. And even if I was, I need to know you can actually UNDERSTAND and SOLVE my problem... which is why you need to tell me what problem I'm having and how can you really help me solve it...

I need to stress here that we're not introducing your product yet. I see too many sales letters start off with, "I want you to buy my product right now." You're jumping the gun.

This is the STORYTELLING section. Introduce the problem so that I have to find out how it ends -- with the introduction of your product.

You should probably answer these questions:

  1. Who are you and why are you qualified to help me?
  2. What exactly is my problem and what's the "difficult" solution?
  3. What do I need to know and what issues did I not even consider yet?
  4. Why are you better than anyone else?

Check out the deck copy for "Membership Cube" to see what I mean...

For the last several years internet marketers have told you how easy it is to setup your membership site and get a flood of people paying you every month for your services, your expertise, and your information. But there are just a few problems...

It's Not As Easy As "They" Say It Is...
These Are The Same People That Told You
"All You Need Is a Website"

  • Where will you get the content for this membership site?
  • How will you get people into it, and keep them from dropping out?
  • What software will you use for the membership, and what plugins?
  • What the heck will you do next?

How Did That Work Out For You?
I Can Tell You From My Own Personal Experience:
Membership Sites Are The Best Thing
To Ever Happen To Me!

It IS possible to profit from a membership site as long as you make the right decisions. But don't worry, we've already made the tough decisions for you in our simple step by step system.

I'm confident in those steps because these are the same steps Lance and I have implemented to create 20 membership sites -- 19 of those sites were created in the past 12 months. And guess what, they've all made money: some as little as $2,000 and some well over $100,000.

Do you see what we're doing? We're educating our prospect about why membership sites are so valuable and differentiating from the competition (especially membership software that doesn't come without training) and saying, you need to listen to us.

One reason I really like telling a story in copy is that it doesn't feel like an ad. But far too many copywriters get stuck on the story, the whole sales letter is one long story, and people still don't know what they're buying. That's why you need to get to the third stage WELL BEFORE the halfway point in your copy...

DESIRE:
Solution or Exact Offer

At this point, you'll reveal YOUR product in that sales letter, meaning a huge headline with the name of the course or item, and a graphical representation, it's just that simple. If I can't easily tell that you're selling an ebook, or video course, or membership site, or physical seminar, or physical item -- in under a minute just by scrolling through -- then you need to make it clearer.

In the "interest" stage you've already done the clever storytelling... now you need to tell me what it is you want me to buy:

  1. What's the exact name of your product and what's in it?
  2. What's in each module, why is each module important and why is it given in the order you show it?
  3. What bonuses are you giving me?
  4. What is each component worth on its own? (dollar value)
  5. What is the total value of this product you're about to give me? (total up the dollar values)
  6. What actual price is it going to cost today? (much lower than the total value)

You'll want to end the "desire" stage by listing everything people get in a two-column table... first column, the name of the module they're getting; second column, the price tag on it.

It may seem tedious to total up each $197 or $297 price tag on your individual modules to get a total of $2,217.00, but believe me, it'll look way more impressive when you then DROP the price to $97 or $47 or $27. Very few people do this on sales letters, but they need to!!!

It's super important that you lay out the ENTIRE offer in the "desire" section. Yes, even the bonuses. Lay out the ENTIRE offer before you ask for the sale, including bonuses.

Have you ever noticed that on some sales letters, you scroll to the bottom, then scroll back up to look at something, then back down? That's not good and when I do that, I notice it's usually because someone got my attention, laid out the story, the entire offer, even showed the guarantee and asked for the sale -- and THEN introduced bonuses! Big mistake.

Now people know we relate to their problem and have the credibility to solve it, we've revealed that product and explained our offer -- and at the end, listed everything in the package and revealed the price... what's left? People will know to order on their own, right?

Wrong! Every time I specifically tell people reading a blog post, sales letter, or email optin form -- to fill out the form, conversion rates go up. We can never make it OBVIOUS enough...

ACTION:
Why To Buy (or Comment) Now

This is probably the most cookie-cutter part of any sales letter, but it's still important. You need to tell me:

  1. What's your guarantee? (30 days or 60 days? Can I get my money back for any reason?)
  2. What price are you charging? (state it again, make it as simple and clear as possible)
  3. How do I order? (i.e., "click on the button and pay $97 to JumpX LLC")
  4. What are the technical requirements to run your product? (i.e., Adobe Reader, Windows Media Player, WordPress)
  5. How soon until I receive your product after downloading? (i.e., instant delivery)

In an optin form we're asking for their name and email address, in a blog post we're asking for a comment (easy to get if you ask a question at the end of your blog post), and on a sales letter we're asking for people to buy.

The Entire Formula Revealed

I know that was a lot to take in, but here's the whole AIDA formula laid out for you:

  1. A1: What's in it for me? (promises a clear benefit)
  2. A2: What's my problem or solution? (without giving away your product yet)
  3. A3: Why should I even listen to you? (get attention either with a question, challenge, or shocking statement)
  4. A4: Is this newsworthy? (something new and unique that's worth reading about)
  5. A5: Do I have a reason to continue reading? (does it lead to another thought?)
  6. I1: Who are you and why are you qualified to help me?
  7. I2: What exactly is my problem and what's the "difficult" solution?
  8. I3: What do I need to know and what issues did I not even consider yet?
  9. I4: Why are you better than anyone else?
  10. D1: What's the exact name of your product and what's in it?
  11. D2: What's in each module, why is each module important and why is it given in the order you show it?
  12. D3: What bonuses are you giving me?
  13. D4: What is each component worth on its own? (dollar value)
  14. D5: What is the total value of this product you're about to give me? (total up the dollar values)
  15. D6: What actual price is it going to cost today? (much lower than the total value)
  16. A1: What's your guarantee? (30 days or 60 days? Can I get my money back for any reason?)
  17. A2: What price are you charging? (state it again, make it as simple and clear as possible)
  18. A3: How do I order? (i.e., "click on the button and pay $97 to JumpX LLC")
  19. A4: What are the technical requirements to run your product? (i.e., Adobe Reader, Windows Media Player, WordPress)
  20. A5: How soon until I receive your product after downloading? (i.e., instant delivery)

I hope that pushes you in the right direction with your...

  • Sales Letters: Attention-grabbing headline, interesting story, desirable offer, and order button as the call-to-action
  • Webinar Pitches: Start with a big promise (attention), demonstrate something live on the call (interest), explain your offer (desire), and tell them where to buy (action)
  • Email Marketing: Send an "attention" email hinting at a problem, an "interest" email agitating that problem, a "desire" email introducing your solution and URL, an "action" email with just your URL... and repeat the process
  • Information Products: Start each chapter of your report with a bold claim (attention), give them the big picture (interest), explain the step by step process (desire), and end with an assignment (action)

So what's the verdict, does your sales letter pass this 20-point checklist? (It's okay if it doesn't yet.) What's the URL to it? Go ahead and respond with your answer below.

The Number 1 Way to Create Your Next $97 Or Higher Training Course

July 2, 201012 Comments

I really do want you to succeed and the way I made the change from a college student with no money to someone who had a residual income was by phasing out freelancing and creating info-products.

Freelancing is good to start off but you definitely need to establish yourself as an authority in your niche and make a product that people can buy that has your name on it that proves you know what you're talking about and teaches them what you know.

I have made all kinds of training courses about PHP, webinars, list building, WordPress and more and I want you to do the same in whatever niche is your favorite with these simple steps.

Step 1:  Four Part Outline

You can take any problem and solve it in 4 steps. If you take it in even more steps, you aren't solving it simply enough. Let's use creating a website as an example. Here's 4 steps: Get a domain, get a web host, set up a WordPress blog, write your first post. How about writing a sales letter.

Have a headline that tells a story, list benefit bullets, explain features, then demand a call-to-action. If you're explaining something to someone, the best way is in 4 steps. No more, no less. Figure out how to solve a problem in 4 steps.

Step 2: Audio Dictation

Most people hate writing. I have gotten to the point where I liked writing but still it's not my favorite thing to do and I know that I could speak more consistently and faster than writing. I'm pretty sure you are the same way. Hence, you know your subject well enough that for each of the 4 steps, you can explain at least 3 things about it. Let's go back to the webpage example before where I said you need a domain name, a web host, a WordPress blog, and content.

When I explain how to get a domain name, I could tell people why you should only stick with dot com, how to decide on the perfect domain name that's not too long but is also short and explains what it is you're going to be offering.

I could tell people which registrar to get their domain and then what to do after, which could – this is into the second part, the web host – how to choose a web host, how to register with this web host, how to set up automatic billing, how to connect that domain name to the web host and how to get support from that web host and so on.

If you can talk for even 10 minutes about each of these 4 things, that's a 40-minute audio product. That's almost a complete CD. Chances are that especially on some of the advanced topics, you might talk for longer than 10 minutes, and if you can speak for an hour, you're doing great.

Step 3: Sales Letter

From that 60-minute audio, I'm sure you can find lots of things to talk about, reasons why your audio is the best, what people can expect to get out of the audio when they're done and why you are the most authoritative person to listen to. Your sales letter doesn't have to be that complicated.

If you can list 10 good reasons why people would want to buy what you have to offer, you can take some of the better reasons, turn them into sentences, take the really best reason, turn it into a headline, add an order button, and you have a basic sales letter.

Now, all you have to do is promote it to your list and to high-traffic areas, like forums, and get a handful of initial sales. Now, what re you going to do with that money?

Step 4: Reinvest Into a Transcript

Every minute that you speak is about 150 words of written material or a little over half a page.

That means your 60-minute audio is going to be over 30 pages in length. That's a complete report.

If you can add in things like bullet points or checklists, the report will be even longer, but the point is you now have a book and an audio book to distribute digitally, and that means that if your audio was only $10 or $20, now that it is bundled with the written version, it is now $30 to $40.

(Optional) Bonus Step #1: Membership Site

You do want to get that price point to $100, don't you?

Then put it all into a membership site. The simple fact that people can come back into your membership site for eternity, even if they lost their password, is worth slightly more. I have bought CDs of software before that charged me an additional $5 to have a lifetime download area. In this case, don't give people the choice, make them purchase access to this membership site where they will receive your report, your audio, and lifetime updates.

At any point in the future, if you decide to sit down and speak for 10 minutes, that is a bonus that can be found in your member's area. That means at this point, you now have your membership site priced at $50 or $60.

(Optional) Bonus Step #2: Live Q&A Bonus After Six Months

Now, here's the final step towards getting people to the $100 mark. There's something weird about the price point between $50 and $100 and that's why people don't really by in that range. If someone is willing to buy or pay you more than $47, they're probably willing to pay $97.

Don't bother pricing at $57, $67, $77, or $87. Just skip right to the $97 mark. I only price in this range if I am steadily increasing my price to $97.

Because you're a marketer, you could price your training at whatever it's worth and whatever you want. What I like to do is offer a live Q&A or a question and answer bonus, people can ask me any question they want for an hour or 90 minutes.

Once that's done, I will put the recording in the member's area and now, that member's area contains a report, an audio, additional bonus audios, and a Q&A video webinar recording, which is all worth much much more than $100 but just because you like your subscribers so much, you are going to price it at $97 and that price will be a bargain and that's why you take one idea and turn it into a $97 or a higher training course.

If in the future you want to increase the price beyond $97, throw in some live training and make it a webinar course.

Is this the way you create your $100 training courses? What is your method? Please explain it to me...

How to Create the Perfect Information Product and Make Money Doing It

June 13, 201013 Comments

I know you have at least one idea for a product. Maybe you haven't made a product yet or you've made many products in the past.

How do you know that your big idea is something that everyone else is going to pay money for? We're going to figure out right now if your idea will be profitable in two stages – the research stage and the creation stage.

Stage 1: Research

I don't believe in doing more than 30 minutes of research to figure out if your idea will make you money. I say this because I know of too many marketers who have spent a month or 6 months or a year researching as an excuse not to do anything. Let's spend 30 minutes and figure out if your idea is worth it.

The first thing you should do is check forums. What's the hot topic inside the #1 forum in your niche? When I go to my favorite marketing forum, I find that the threads with the most replies are about articles, membership sites, and ClickBank.

When I go to my favorite programming forum, most of the replies are about PHP frameworks, WordPress plugins, and outsourcing.

Don't bother making a report about something unless it's a hot topic that a lot of people in your small niche are talking about. I'm not a believer in going mass market unless you have a lot of money to invest. If you're just starting out on a niche, start in the niche.

Now that you know what everyone is talking about, figure out what people are paying for. You have friends in the same niche you're in, right? What have they all bought recently? What big launches are going on in your niche? What have you personally paid for? There's no point in getting into a niche unless people are willing to spend a bare minimum of $100 on you.

I have bought products showing me how to make a software outline, how to write faster, how to create video, how to make audio products, and they have all accelerated my path towards getting things done.

The final part of your research now that you know what people are talking about and what people are buying is finding out what your competitors are doing. Go to Google and search for the niche you're in.

If you are thinking about creating a course on how to sell on eBay, search the forum you're on for the word "ebay." Search Google for "eBay eBook," "eBay guide," "eBay course," "eBay video." Go on amazon.com and look for books in that niche and DVDs in that niche as well. This is good because not only does it show you what areas to target but also what your price point should be.

You should match your price point fairly well to your competitors but price slightly higher, that way you will have a higher perceived value.

Stage 2: Solve It

Now that you've done your research, you should know how to adjust your idea to deliver the best solution by answering people's questions on forums, figuring out what they're paying for and duplicating or doing the job better than your competitors. Now, it's time to create the product.

I have never spent more than a few days making a simple lead generation product, and by lead generation, I need a product that's $100 or cheaper. Your product will be a lot better if you write it without distractions and write it as fast as possible. You can always go back and make version 2.0 later.

What's more important than spending or wasting a lot of time on creating a product is to add your own "how to" information. I can go online right now and find lots of tips and advice about placing an eBay ad.

I can find lots of videos on YouTube showing me the mechanics of placing an eBay ad, but I want you to show me what makes an eBay ad profitable. I want you to tell me exactly what steps I should take from start to finish from having something to sell on eBay to actually placing the ad and making the sale and what to do after that.

Also think about what simple problem can you solve for them. For some people, an eBay problem might be that they cannot get people to read their ad.

The sooner you make your info-product not just "how to" but also problem and solution-based, the more people are going to benefit from your book, the better reviews it's going to get and you'll have an easier time making a sale. And finally, what success stories can you gather from the people who use your product?

Here's something to think about. If someone has not yet bought your eBook or home study course, all they have to go on is your pitch page or sales letter.

That's why you need to make your sales letter as best as it can possibly be and the way I like to make a sales letter better is to gather testimonials or proof and show that on the sales letter – so, people who have not yet bought can see that others have benefited from this training.

And that's how you're going to create the perfect info-product and make money doing it. First, researching it in forums by what's making money, what your competitors are doing, and then create that product by offering your own unique how to, solving a problem, and gathering success stories from those people whose problems you have solved and place it back on the sales letter.

Did this help you make your next info-product? Where have you been lacking?

In the research stage or in the creation stage? And how will you get better? Leave me a blog comment below right now while it's still fresh on your mind.

Don’t Tell People Everything You Know

June 11, 201012 Comments

I am going to tell you something right now that I hope will get you over that hump of making your next information product. It should also change your minds about what your customers are actually paying for and what information you should be giving away.

My mentor for many years was a guy called John Calder. He was really arrogant (which is a good thing!) and the best piece of advice he ever shared with me was, "Don't tell people everything you know."

But what does that mean?

Leave Room For A Sequel!

Here is something to think about: How come every movie you watch does not end with all the characters dying? Because there is a chance that the movie will get a sequel and that some or all of the characters can be in movie number two.

The same is true with your report creation. Do you try to put everything you know about a certain subject in one report? Sure! Can you put EVERYTHING there is to say in that report? Of course not!

A great example is my "Time Management on Crack" report. This is something that started off with me just explaining how I get things done, how I'm so productive. Then, I later added in formulas for writing, for blogging, for video creation and so on.

In fact, it has now tripled the size and got ten times' as much information - and I am still adding to it! But is that my only product about time management? Of course not!

Lance Tamashiro and I have a Membership site all about time management called, "IM Productivity Secrets." I also have a report called "100 Time Savers" that lists 100 quick and easy things you can use to save a minute a day.

Even though "Time Management on Crack" is the best report anyone could ever get about time management, I do have a prequel to "Time Management on Crack," called "100 Time Savers" that is at a lower price point and gets people ready for the main course, and I have a sequel to "Time Management on Crack" called "IM Productivity Secrets" which is a monthly membership site that contains ongoing training. And none of these products have any overlap.

You don't have to give away every single thing you know, because you might have a Volume II of your product.

Keep It Simple!

Here is the next thing to think about: Do you know how your cable internet gets from your computer out into the world? Probably not. I don't know either. But I still can USE my internet.

Do you know how your power company pumps electricity into your home? I don't either. But I still know how to turn on a light switch.

I can teach subjects, such as time management, without knowing exactly how psychology works, or how everything in my brain works. People don't have to know all the details.

My copywriting report, "Fast Food Copywriting," doesn't explain every single facet about copywriting, because I don't KNOW everything about copywriting. What I do know is how to accomplish a task. And that is all you really should be explaining in your paid materials, is how you accomplish a task and how other people can do the same thing you do.

I have many home study courses teaching people various things about PHP and WordPress. All I do is show how to use a certain script or WordPress plugin, and how to tweak it. That's it! Do I explain in every single report exactly what a function or a variable is? Not necessarily. I just show how to put those things into action.

And that leads me to my final point about not telling people everything you know: You deserve to get paid for your expertise.

Here is a really easy formula to decide what information you should charge for, and what to give away. If the information you are teaching about your subject is a step-by-step "How to" process, people should pay for that. But if all you are sharing is a simple tip, that is free article content or blog post content.

Inside "Fast Food Copywriting," I explain my step-by-step process for copywriting. But I also have hundreds of articles about copywriting that explain simple ideas like a headline or bullet points.

In "Time Management on Crack," there are five productivity levels you can master. There are also over 28 formulas when it comes to article writing, report writing, copywriting, and more.

I share my general time management advice in articles and in my blog posts. But the "How to", the Step-by-Step, people have to pay for that.

I hope you are now ready to knock out that next article or report - because guess what? You don't have to tell people everything you know!

Did this blog post help you? Tell me in what way... that comment form won't bite.

Top 21 Ways to Ruin Your Business

March 3, 2010100 Comments

A split test of mine recently finished and the conversion rate increased from 2.21% to 3.92% by changing JUST the headline -- but not even the words on the headline... the COLORS!

Imagine that, an additional 14 signups to a "$47 every 2 weeks" membership site -- an extra $1400 monthly passive income -- from such a small change.

Why does this happen?  Why does split testing even work?

I'll tell you why... it's because: Continue Reading »

Keep it Shippable, Stupid!

December 10, 2009150 Comments

This is something I was thinking about presenting at my next live seminar...

But I'll share it with you here anyway!

It's something that most people who teach "productivity" leave out, and I see marketers FORGETTING this over and over again, even though they should know better.

This is "supposed" to be a programming concept but when I worked with other programmers, almost none of them knew about this, let alone implemented it...

It's Keeping Your Stuff SHIPPABLE!

I'll explain.  Think about the order you see items (as a buyer) in a "fully optimized" sales letter... Continue Reading »

4 Reasons Not to Have a Membership Site, Plus 8 Reasons You Should Start a Membership Site

October 29, 2009102 Comments

A couple days ago I asked my list if they had a membership site yet... I got 300 responses to that question and I want to share the results with you right now:

  • 165 people, or 54.8% own membership software
  • Out of that half that owned membership software, 89 people or 53.9% have at least one paying member
  • Total, those 89 people who had a profitable membership only accounted for 29.6% of the responders

So Strange!

Some of these people paid $197, $297, even 4000 bucks for a membership script but only half of them are doing anything with it.

So let me share with you a couple of reasons that stopped me from creating membership sites (I've created 19 of them in the past 12 months... and only ONE before that time period!)

Continue Reading »

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