Category Archives: Building Your Authority

Case Study – Now NOT To Handle A Membership Site Cancellation (And What To Do Instead)

As you know, a Membership Site, SAAS or some kind of business where people pay monthly subscriptions is usually seen as far more valuable than one where people make one off purchases because the income tends to be more reliable. You can start off each month knowing roughly how much you will earn based on the previous months’ income, plus new subscribers and minus cancellations.

In addition to buyers being happy to pay a higher earnings multiple for subscription business than for other businesses, banks like lending for subscription businesses and Venture Capital investors are more comfortable funding them if you want to raise capital

That’s why one of your main goals is to keep existing subscribers happy with great content and/or services, while doing everything you can to attract new subscribers.

Of course you are going to have attrition because people will cancel their subscription for a whole bunch of reasons, and you are never going to know why unless you ask them. Even then, some people aren’t going to tell you the real reason. They just aren’t.

How NOT To Treat Your Membership Site Members

With this background, I thought I’d share an example of how NOT to respond to somebody who cancels their subscription to your product or service.

As you know, I am an active trader and I’m a member of a number of large trading and investing Facebook groups. My own Facebook group has about 3,400 members, with around 800 of them active participants.

I’m always on the lookout for products and services to help other members with their analysis and trading education, and when I find something truly worthwhile I share it in my group and sometimes in other groups where that is allowed.

For the last few months I’ve been subscribing to a trading service from a guy who thinks very much like me. He’s had pretty good results overall, and I was relatively happy with the updates he was sharing.

Thing is I prefer to do my own analysis, and the outside influence from him was becoming more of a distraction than a benefit. So yesterday before my next month’s payment was due, I cancelled my subscription.

A few minutes later, I received this message from the owner (I’ve redacted his details to protect his identity):

Membership Site

As you can see, his message is highlighted and reads, LOL you let the volatility get you didn’t you? Probably overleveraged too?

Now sending a message like this to someone who’s been a trader and investor in markets for over 25 years is about as arrogant and condescending as somebody can be. It is the sort of thing that can undo months or years of goodwill with just 12 words.

I was pretty shocked, but here’s the initial reply I sent back:

membership Site

I was initially just going to move on but after getting over my initial shock that somebody who knows nothing about me could make such a ridiculous and uninformed assumption based on zero evidence, I thought this might be a teaching moment that could help him in the future.

Here’s the message I sent a few minutes later:

Membership Site

As you can tell, I was a little pissed off but I wanted to point out it’s not a good idea to make assumptions about why people do anything. There is never any upside to doing that, there is only ever downside.

A few minutes later I received this reply:

Membership Site

I was speechless…

So Let’s Pull This Reply Apart And Examine It Step By Step

In the first line he writes: “I’m pretty sure I hit the nail on the head”. So right up front he is calling me a liar. So far he’s off to a great start if he wants to lose any future business from me.

In the next few lines he doubles down: “I need to get rid of novice emotional traders. You folks are just too draining, always needing babysitting during every correction, always overleveraging despite my best efforts to stop you from doing that.”

The arrogance and patronising superiority dripping from these few lines is breathtaking. He is saying that anyone who cancels their subscription, regardless of the reason, is a stupid, clingy newbie who isn’t worth his time.

Nice…

Then he brings it home with this clanger: “Better to just clean out these people. I can’t teach them and I can’t prevent them from destroying their portfolios no matter how hard I try.”

Talking down to one person like this using terms such as “You folks” and “these people” is never going to endear them to you. As you can imagine it’s more likely to infuriate them.

Again, there’s zero upside to doing this.

I didn’t reply back because any further correspondence seemed futile at that point.

Product Launch Formula Quiz

So What Can You Learn From This?

1. Only Good News By Email

Only ever use email for GOOD News. If you have to share bad news or something negative with somebody else, do it in person, on the phone, over Skype, Zoom or some other way you can do it personally.

That way people can hear your voice inflections and tone, (and potentially see your body language and other non-verbal cues), and you can deal with misunderstandings immediately so things don’t go pear shaped.

There are countless ways an email message can be mis-read, misunderstood, misconstrued, or mis-interpreted which can turn an innocent communication into a relationship destroying disaster.

Remember, only Good News by email

2. The customer is always right (even when they are a pain in the arse or wrong)

There are going to be numerous occasions when you’d like to unload on a customer or client because of something they said or did. The way to handle it is NOT to write a message like the one above and then blast it back while you are angry or emotional.

By all means, you may want to write a message expressing your anger and frustration and why the customer is wrong, why he is a moron or why she is a complete dumb-arse. That’s fine.

The important thing to remember is once you’ve pounded out a message like that, walk away, take a breath, calm down, and then DELETE it.

Then either leave the issue alone, contact the person personally, or write a more constructive message (more on this below).

It doesn’t matter what type of business you are in, but particularly if you have a Membership Site, SAAS or other subscription business, losing a customer can end up being very expensive.

Second And Third Order Consequences

We always have to consider the second and third order consequences of every decision we make, so let’s do a hypothetical example based on the situation we’ve been discussing.

After receiving the message pointing out my character flaws and explaining how I suck as a customer, what are the potential Second and Third order consequences that could come from that?

Probably nothing positive, that’s for sure.

If the person receiving a message like this is an angry keyboard warrior (which I am not) your reputation could be trashed online to the point you may not be able to recover. Social Media has given everyone a megaphone and some people just love to spread bile, hate and negativity wherever they go.

I’m sure you know what I mean.

A disgruntled customer can:

  • Leave a negative Google Review which can permanently destroy your reputation
  • Trash talk you in Facebook Groups, on Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and any one of dozens of other Social Media sites. Depending on how determined they are, they could potentially reach millions of people with a negative message about your business and there’s often nothing you can do to stop the bleeding. You could find yourself ‘Cancelled’ with no recourse. If the mob comes for you they don’t care about facts or logic or inclusion or diversity or anything like that. They just want you destroyed.
  • Report you to all types of overbearing Government Regulators who love prying into the affairs of businesses looking for any kind of potential malfeasance so they can prosecute and shame you
  • Burn through hours of time for you or your customer support people in an effort to rectify their grievance, regardless of how minor it may be

As I said, there is plenty of downside. No upside.

On the other hand, by finding our exactly why a customer cancelled their subscription (or asked for a refund), you have a great opportunity to remedy any issues and reactivate a subscriber or sell them something else, either immediately or in the future.

What Are The Potential Second Order Consequences?

First up, a reactivated customer is going to immediately start paying you again, and for a digital subscription business such as a Membership Site the cost of adding one more member is basically zero. The entire amount is profit because you have no marketing or fulfilment costs. It’s probably the closest thing to free money you can find.

Next up, a happily reactivated subscriber who feels heard and appreciated is likely to share their positive experience on Social Media and could potentially generate a lot of new subscribers for your business.

Let’s Do Some Numbers

Let’s do some basic numbers based on a $50 per month subscription being shared with members of my own Facebook Group.

To start with there’s $50 per month which equals $600 per year from my subscription.

Then if I share the service with my 3,400 Group members and over time 5% of them decide to join, it could lead to $600 per year multiplied by say 170 members = $102,000 per year

Third Order Consequences

But it gets even better when we look out further.

If we apply a multiple of 5 times revenue to this amount to work out the increase in the business’s value from reactivating this one customer and gaining their referrals, we get $513,000. This increase in the business’s value is an true asset that can be leveraged even further.

In our trading example, let’s say the owner goes to a financier or bank and has a line of credit approved for 50% of that $513,000 which is $256,500.

As we all know, the stock market has a habit of rising for periods of time and then crashing every few years. The great thing is traders and investors know that after every crash, the market always recovers and eventually makes a new high.

What if our trader waited for the next crash and then ploughed the $256,500 in funds from the overdraft into stocks that are now worth half the price they were a few months ago or even less, knowing they will eventually recover?

This Can Become A True Wealth Building Opportunity…

Now this is only one option for leveraging the increased value of the traders business just by being good to customers and not being an arsehole when somebody cancels their subscription.

Other options could be bringing in Venture Capital partners to fund future growth, or selling part of the business to generate a bit payday, or creating a Hedge Fund, or any number of other ideas.

A Better Idea

So now you’ve seen the potential opportunity of NOT burning customers with sanctimony and condescension, what would be a better option for working with a subscriber who cancels their membership?

What if we started by thanking the subscriber for their previous business, found out why they cancelled (or why they asked for a refund), and then went out of our way to restore and even strengthen the relationship?

What might that look like?

Well, it could start with an email saying something like this:

___________________

Hey Rocky,

First of all I’d like to thank you for being a subscriber for the last 6 months, I truly appreciate your business.

I noticed you’ve just cancelled your subscription and I wanted to reach out personally and make sure everything is okay. I try really hard to make the newsletter as helpful as I can, and I apologise if the things I’ve been sharing didn’t suit your needs at the moment.

So I can improve the newsletter and make it more relevant for you, I’d really appreciate you letting me know what made you decide to cancel your subscription today.

Please be as frank and honest as you like. I truly want to know how I can improve the service to meet your needs.

To let me know why you cancelled and what we can do to improve the newsletter, please hit reply and share your thoughts.

Thankyou again for giving us a try,

Warm regards,

Rocky

P.S. I’m really serious about hearing back from you, and I will read your feedback personally. Please hit reply right now and let me know what made you decide to cancel and how we can improve.

___________________

Not everyone is going to reply, but many people will. When you hear their feedback you (or somebody on your team) can work with them to personally overcome any issues and in many cases reactivate them again.

Maybe you could offer them a bonus for coming back on board, or a reduced rate, or personal coaching from somebody on your team, or extra training and support. Whatever they need, offer it to them if it’s within your power.

Remember, every subscriber you reactivate is potentially worth thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to you over time. Make people an irresistible offer to reactivate their subscriptions and watch the cash roll in.

I hope you have found this post helpful, and if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments below or get in touch using the contact page.

Thankyou for reading,

Warm regards,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to create a Perfect Product is a great start, but you also need a way to generate sales in a consistent way. Running a Product launch is a proven way to not only build your list, but generate Social Proof and make a large number of sales quickly. To learn how to launch your product successfully, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. List Warrior will show you a proven way to use free software to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create The Perfect Product 
Creating a product that is perfect for your audience does not need to be difficult. How To Create The Perfect Product shows you how to build high value products your audience will love one after the other. Click Here.

3. How To Attract Buyers To Join Your Launch List So They Can Purchase Your Perfect Product.
Once you have created your Product Launch List and your Perfect Product is ready to go, you need to attract people into your world so they can buy from you. One Minute Free Traffic gives you a proven way to attract buyers with ‘Automated Traffic Machines’ so you can send those people to your optin page, your sales page, your Facebook Group or anywhere else you choose.    To learn more Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

How to Earn $20 in 20 Minutes With Any Topic, Niche or Hobby

Disclaimer: If you purchase PLF through my affiliate link I may receive a referral fee from Jeff Walker, however you will pay no more to purchase the program through me than if you went directly to the Product Launch Formula website. If you would like my personal help as you create your first launch using the PLF process, check out my PLF Bonus offer here.

The Most Profitable Implementation Of Product Launch Formula I’ve Ever Seen

A Product Launch is a multi-step strategy you can use to generate an enormous amount of sales in a very short period of time. A launch helps you to stand out from all of your competitors who are using traditional marketing by creating an event for your customers and prospects to participate in and share with their family and friends.

The release of the new Top Gun movie was a perfect example of how to use a Product Launch to generate over a Billion dollars in box office receipts in just a few weeks.

Another tremendously profitable implementation of the Product Launch Formula process recently turned a group of company founders into multi-millionaires or even billionaires. Here’s how they did it…

Using A Product Launch For A Nasdaq Listing

A short while back a new company called Snowflake was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Nothing special or ground-breaking about that you might say. But the way the promoters attracted media attention and developed awareness in the community to the point where there was literally a feeding frenzy as shares went on sale today is a case study in what to do right and something we could all model on a smaller scale.

Here’s the back-story: Snowflake is a SaaS (Software as a Service) company that helps businesses move their brick and mortar and non-internet businesses to the ‘Cloud’. This is a mega-trend and any business in that space is being valued much more aggressively by the market than other types of businesses.

Bear in mind the company is apparently losing money hand-over-fist, has never made a profit, probably won’t make a profit for several years even if everything goes right for them, and according to some analysts was valued at around 100 times sales.

This is astonishingly expensive. Yes the company is growing strongly, but they also have huge competition from Amazon, Google, and many other behemoths with long track records of killing startup companies before they reach critical mass.

Product Launch Formula Quiz

When the promoters issued the most recent batch of shares (which was just 10% of the company’s total available shares) they priced them at $120 each. Today as the stock listed they opened at $270 and traded as high as $316 before falling back to close at around $253.

Because the promoters and founders still hold 90% of the shares in the company, the high price of the shares listed on the market makes their shares much more valuable today than they were yesterday. I would imagine they are cracking the champaign corks at the moment.

I’m sure there were a lot of other things going on behind the scenes (just like any Product Launch) but here are some of the most obvious:

Their Use Of Mental Triggers

Jeff Walker discusses Mental Triggers at length in PLF. There are about a dozen of them that will move the needle in a launch. Here are the ones Snowflake used to create such wild success:

Social Proof – Commentators on CNBC have been excitedly discussing Snowflake for the last few weeks, talking about how many big and experienced investors the company already had on board and how these people wouldn’t have been interested if the company was a dud.

Authority – The company has the Worlds greatest value investor, Warren Buffet, as an early stage investor. By highlighting the fact Warren was a shareholder, they company use his authority to entice other investors to invest when the stock was listed today.

A Bargain – Warren Buffet is a ‘value investor’ which at it’s core means he doesn’t buy things that are overpriced. The fact he saw ‘value’ in Snowflake undoubtedly encouraged other big names to throw their hats into the ring. This is regardless of the fact the company is a Technology stock priced insanely high for anyone buying today. If Warren’s in, others want to be in too.

Scarcity – The fact that only 10% of the company’s shares were listed created immense scarcity. Most of the commentators on CNBC applied for shares but none of them were allocated any. This is additional proof of the scarcity of the shares. And everyone knows that when something is scarce it is more valuable.

Liking – The founders and senior promoters were regularly wheeled out by media organisations to discuss their plans for the company. The people interviewed kept saying all the right things and making all the right noises, so it was hard not to like them.

FOMO – Fear of missing out is a powerful motivator, especially when combined with genuine scarcity. The talking heads on the various media channels were relentlessly pushing the line that Snowflake was going to be the years biggest IPO (Initial Public Offering or Stock Market Listing) and it was the biggest software IPO EVER. The constant chatter whipped potential investors into a lather and their fear of missing out led the stock price to rocket right from the opening bell and say much higher than it might have without the help of those in the media.

These are just the obvious Mental Triggers Snowflake used with great effect to use the Product Launch Formula process to generate millions (billions?) of dollars in additional wealth for founders and employees overnight.

Of course there’s no guarantee any of us will ever do something like that, but the mental triggers combined with the other elements of the PLF process have worked for thousands of years, and will continue working in the future.

IF you’d like to see how the PLF process has worked for other entrepreneurs and business owners, you can do that by checking out these 60 Case Studies. By watching the ones that interest you, you’re probably going to have some ‘ah-ha’ moments of your own.

So check out the Product Launch Formula Case Studies page here and let me know what insights you had while watching other people using the process in their businesses.

Warm regards,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to create a Perfect Product is a great start, but you also need a way to generate sales in a consistent way. Running a Product launch is a proven way to not only build your list, but generate Social Proof and make a large number of sales quickly. To learn how to launch your product successfully, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. List Warrior will show you a proven way to use free software to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create The Perfect Product 
Creating a product that is perfect for your audience does not need to be difficult. How To Create The Perfect Product shows you how to build high value products your audience will love one after the other. Click Here.

3. How To Attract Buyers To Join Your Launch List So They Can Purchase Your Perfect Product.
Once you have created your Product Launch List and your Perfect Product is ready to go, you need to attract people into your world so they can buy from you. One Minute Free Traffic gives you a proven way to attract buyers with ‘Automated Traffic Machines’ so you can send those people to your optin page, your sales page, your Facebook Group or anywhere else you choose.    To learn more Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

How to Earn $20 in 20 Minutes With Any Topic, Niche or Hobby

Disclaimer: If you purchase PLF through my affiliate link I may receive a referral fee from Jeff Walker, however you will pay no more to purchase the program through me than if you went directly to the Product Launch Formula website. If you would like my personal help as you create your first launch using the PLF process, check out my PLF Bonus offer here.

How To Change The World With Your Book

Recently as Jeff Walker continued his training lessons in his Product Launch Masterclass, I received an email from an author and the answer I gave him could also help you to change the world with your book.

Now I personally feel his book is something everyone should read, but for it to have the maximum Impact, its message needs to be in the hands (and minds) of as many people as possible BEFORE the US election in November. It is literally that important…

In other words, wide distribution is critical and time is short.

With this in mind, I’ve copied in the essence of the message I sent him below, while removing any identifying information about the author or the topic to protect his privacy.

Here’s what I told him:

_______________

I agree the message in your book is critical for people to hear right now and should be available to as many people as possible. The US (and the rest of the West) is certainly heading down the wrong path. It is so sad to see such a wonderful country being torn apart like it is.

And what happens in the US eventually moves around the World…

Because millions of people need to hear your message before the election or the dark side is going to win, you will need some large and influential partners to help you promote your book and get the message out to enough people to turn the tide in the election in just a few weeks away.

You could do the normal book launch with book signings and interviews to sell a few thousand books (and make a few dollars) before the election, but because time is so short the opportunity for massive change will be lost.

The other (and much more powerful) strategy I see after listening to your interview where you said your mission is greater than selling a few books would be to find those large and influential partners and let them give their audiences a free copy of a downloadable PDF version of the book in exchange for those people joining an email database.

This could have many immediate and long term benefits, including:

  • Because most people don’t realise how dire the situation is, you might be able to get your book into the hands of enough people before the election to make a profound difference in the results once people realise how high the stakes are.
  • By asking people for their email address before they can download the PDF book, you could build a list of potentially millions of people with likeminded beliefs. I would imagine a group of people like this with a strong leader such as yourself could move mountains.
  • Many of those people would be interested in hearing from you on a regular basis and possibly supporting your cause, donating to your work, and/or buying all kinds of products and services you chose to recommend in the future.
  • A large email database could also help you to create a huge social media platform from which you can influence even more people.

Personally, if I had a message as important as yours and a limited amount of time to make meaningful change, I would be using the this second option.

Having said that, I’m not the best person to help you at the moment because I am going through my own launch and working with a couple of other people helping them with their businesses as well.

I’m not sure whether it fits your budget or not but Jeff Walker has opened up his Product Launch Formula training (PLF), and part of the membership includes to an Alumni group where you can find product launch managers and other people who can be on your launch team.

Jeff discussed this and the other things included with PLF in today’s third live Masterclass call (you can watch the replay here in case you missed it).

I apologise for not being able to personally help you right now, but I hope what I have shared with you here has given you some ideas for making the most of your book launch and getting your message out to as many people as possible.

I’d love to hear how things go.

Warmest regards,

Rocky Tapscott

____________

As you can see, when getting a book with an important message launched but time is critically short, you can go the ‘normal’ way and make a few dollars in book sales but fail to have a meaningful impact…

Or you can defer earning those few thousand dollars, make a massive impact, position yourself as an expert and authority, and build yourself a global platform from which you can instigate real change.

The choice is yours.

Which option would you choose?

Warm regards,

Rocky

Product Launch Formula Quiz

P.S. Being able to create a Perfect Product is a great start, but you also need a way to generate sales in a consistent way. Running a Product launch is a proven way to not only build your list, but generate Social Proof and make a large number of sales quickly. To learn how to launch your product successfully, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. List Warrior will show you a proven way to use free software to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create The Perfect Product 
Creating a product that is perfect for your audience does not need to be difficult. How To Create The Perfect Product shows you how to build high value products your audience will love one after the other. Click Here.

3. How To Attract Buyers To Join Your Launch List So They Can Purchase Your Perfect Product.
Once you have created your Product Launch List and your Perfect Product is ready to go, you need to attract people into your world so they can buy from you. One Minute Free Traffic gives you a proven way to attract buyers with ‘Automated Traffic Machines’ so you can send those people to your optin page, your sales page, your Facebook Group or anywhere else you choose.    To learn more Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

How to Earn $20 in 20 Minutes With Any Topic, Niche or Hobby

Disclaimer: If you purchase PLF through my affiliate link I may receive a referral fee from Jeff Walker, however you will pay no more to purchase the program through me than if you went directly to the Product Launch Formula website. If you would like my personal help as you create your first launch using the PLF process, check out my PLF Bonus offer here.

How To Generate Lots Of Product Launch Traffic From Guest Blog Posts

In this post we’re going to discuss how to generate lots of product launch traffic to grow your launch list using guest blog posts that other people be excited to publish for you.

One really good way to drive traffic to your lead page is by guest blogging on highly related websites. For example, you can offer “Part 1” of an article on the blog, and then in your article byline you can encourage people to get “Part 2” of the article (or an expanded report or video) by joining your list.

Now the whole key to this strategy depends on creating a blog post that people really want to read. If you can’t get your audience’s attention then they’re never going to even read down far enough to see your links and calls to action.

So, with that in mind, check out these tips for creating guest blog posts that people in your audience really want to read…

Start By Doing Thorough Research

When you’re using guest blogging to drive traffic to your website, there are three types of research you need to complete. Specifically:

1. Research the prospective guest-blogging opportunity. Make sure you’re publishing on a popular, high-quality blog. If it gets a lot of visitors and they are engaged (e.g., they comment on the content, share it on social media, etc.), then that’s the type of blog that will give your content a good amount of exposure.

2. Research the blog to see what the owner publishes. Take some time to read through the archives to see what type content the owner seems to like. For example, if the owner likes tips articles with GIFs, then you may consider sharing information in that format too.

3. Research the audience to see what they like. Finally, be sure to do your regular market research to see what your audience really wants to know about. If people are buying content on a particular topic on sites like ClickBank.com and Amazon.com, then it’s a pretty good bet that they’ll read about that same topic on their favorite blog.

Here’s the next tip…

Product Launch Formula Quiz

Create a Fresh Angle

Chances are you’re sharing information about a topic that others have covered before, right? So, what you need to do is offer this information in a fresh, unique way.

Most writers offer “step-by-step” information. You can do something similar, except create a formula around the step-by-step process. For example, if you’re teaching people how to write a sales letter, you might create a five-step formula around the acronym S.A.L.E.S., where each letter of the acronym corresponds to a step. E.G., Step 1, SHOWCASE Benefits, Step 2, AGITATE the Problem… and so on.

Capture Attention With Your Title

Your article title is one of the most important parts of your post. If the title doesn’t capture attention and arouse interest, then no one is even going to read the rest of your article. That’s why you need to create an intriguing benefit-driven title.

For example: “5 Weight Loss Tips” is a descriptive, but boring title.

Let’s rewrite it to showcase a benefit: “5 Surprisingly Easy Ways to Drop the Fat Fast.

The key here is to figure out what your audience wants and how that overlaps with what your article is about, and then highlight that benefit in the title. Whenever possible, use powerful words such as: surprising, you, new, amazing, fast, easy, quick, simple, how to, proven, secret, revealed, discover, guaranteed (and similar words).

Choose Simple Yet Bold Graphics

If the blog you hope to publish on includes graphics in articles, then you’ll want to add value by inserting graphics too. Be sure to choose simple, relevant graphics with bold, eye-catching colors.

For example, you might include a picture of a dog in a dog-training article. A cute puppy with a brightly colored ball on a white background is going to be more effective than a picture of multiple dogs on a busy background (as it takes the viewer a few seconds to decipher what all is going on in the picture).

TIP: Be sure to include a benefit-driven caption alongside the graphics, which will help pull skimmers back into your content.

Next…

Create Engaging Content

You’ll want to make sure you create content that keeps your reader hooked and reading right to the very end (so that they see your links and call to action). Check out these tips:

Employ a Conversational Tone

No one wants to read a dry, textbook style content. Instead, use a light, friendly, conversational tone. This newsletter is a good example of using a light tone to engage readers. Notice how I don’t use college-level words in this posts when “everyday” words will do. If your readers need to haul out a dictionary to understand what you’re saying, then you’re going to lose your audience.

Engage Readers on an Emotional Level

People are going to be more willing to keep reading if you engage them emotionally in some way. For example:

• Tell a story about someone’s niche mistake or how they overcame a problem. This arouses interest and builds rapport, and perhaps even motivates/inspires readers.

• Share a really unique tip, fact, case study, example or other piece of information. If you make the reader say “wow,” you can bet they’ll keep reading.

• Arouse curiosity. For example, you may build anticipation in the article introduction to hook readers and keep them reading. E.G., “In just moments you’ll discover a crazy-simple way to create your next infoproduct – it won’t cost you a cent, and you won’t have to create it yourself either! Curious? Read on…”

Next…

Utilize Plenty of White Space

Use short paragraphs and sentences (rather than a wall of text). Again, look at this series of posts as an example of content that’s easy to consume since it’s formatted for easy readability.

To Sum Up

The key to making the most of your guest blogging opportunities is to create engaging, high-quality content. If your readers like what they see in the blog article, then you can be sure they’re going to click on over to your lead page.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

Warm regards,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to create a Perfect Product is a great start, but you also need a way to generate sales in a consistent way. Running a Product launch is a proven way to not only build your list, but generate Social Proof and make a large number of sales quickly. To learn how to launch your product successfully, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. List Warrior will show you a proven way to use free software to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create The Perfect Product 
Creating a product that is perfect for your audience does not need to be difficult. How To Create The Perfect Product shows you how to build high value products your audience will love one after the other. Click Here.

3. How To Attract Buyers To Join Your Launch List So They Can Purchase Your Perfect Product.
Once you have created your Product Launch List and your Perfect Product is ready to go, you need to attract people into your world so they can buy from you. One Minute Free Traffic gives you a proven way to attract buyers with ‘Automated Traffic Machines’ so you can send those people to your optin page, your sales page, your Facebook Group or anywhere else you choose.    To learn more Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

How to Earn $20 in 20 Minutes With Any Topic, Niche or Hobby

Disclaimer: If you purchase PLF through my affiliate link I may receive a referral fee from Jeff Walker, however you will pay no more to purchase the program through me than if you went directly to the Product Launch Formula website. If you would like my personal help as you create your first launch using the PLF process, check out my PLF Bonus offer here.

18 Different Lead Magnet Ideas To Fuel Your Product Launch List Growth

One of the big keys to growing your Product Launch list is to offer an enticing lead magnet. If you don’t offer something that’s both valuable and in-demand, no one is going to even bother joining your list.

Many marketers tend to think of reports or ebooks when they think about lead magnets. And while those are often good options, and they are included in this list, they are by no means the only option.

Indeed, I encourage you to think about what other types of lead magnets you can offer because people are so used to seeing reports and ebooks as lead magnets, that offering something else is often a very welcome change.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at 17 different lead magnets you might consider offering, along with examples of each…

A Quiz Or Assessment

A Quiz or Assessment is the perfect lead magnet for many types of businesses because it allows your audience to self-select and segment themselves into groups based on their needs and desires.

A Quizzes and Assessments are especially good for segmenting prospects during a product launch (Jeff Walker does this during his Product Launch Formula launch) because it allows you to create customised marketing messages that position your offer differently for each segment of your audience.

E.G., “QUIZ – Are You Ready To Become A Published Author?”

A Discount Coupon

One of the benefits of offering a deep discount as a lead magnet is that you’re attracting buyers. Tire kickers don’t tend to join a newsletter just to get a coupon. (However, you may be attracting people who only purchase discounted offers – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.)

For example: “Join now to get 50% off [Specific Product]!”

Ebooks And Reports

One of the keys to offering an ebook or report is to avoid calling it an “ebook.” That’s a word that tends to have a low-value connotation. Instead, refer to it as a guide, white paper, special report, blueprint, system, or similar.

E.G., “Download this proven weight-loss system now!”

Videos

Videos tend to have a higher perceived value than regular text content. This is particularly true when you make full use of the video format, such as by demonstrating how to do something (versus a slide-show video or plain talking head video).

For example, you might give dog owners a video that shows them exactly how to teach a dog to sit.

Audio Recordings

Audios tend to have a higher perceived value than text. And again, this is particularly true if you offer a lead magnet where having an audio is particularly beneficial. For example, you might use an audio to teach people a foreign language, or to provide a guided meditation.

Membership Sites

You can offer access to a “vault” site, an ongoing monthly membership site, or a fixed-term site. It’s best to offer either a fixed-term membership or ongoing membership, because this gives you an opportunity to deliver ongoing content via email. Because people are expecting to receive ongoing content from you, this lets you build relationships with your members and promote offers for products and services.

Webinars

The advantage of a webinar is that you not only have a high-value live event, but you can then offer the recordings.

E.G., “10 Tips for Repairing Your Marriage and Falling in Love All Over Again.”

Courses

The idea here is to offer a multipart course by email, which helps train your prospects to open the emails they receive from you (and lets you showcase your really good content).

E.G., “The Five-Step System for Crafting Cash-Pulling Sales Letters” (where each step is one “lesson” in this course).

Product Launch Formula Quiz

Access to a Group

Here you offer access to a forum or Facebook group, which might include peer support and/or group coaching.

For example, you might offer dieters access to a private Facebook group where you do weekly challenges, offer group-coaching, and let members encourage and support one another.

Apps/Plugins/Software

Here you offer some sort of software to help people accomplish a task faster and easier. One benefit is that the more useful your app is, the more people will use it. In turn, they’ll see your links and calls to action often.

For example, you might offer an app to help runners track their miles/times to determine how well they’re progressing over time.

Worksheets

Here you can help people get clearer about problem, or help them decide what steps to take.

For example, “The Home Buyer’s Worksheet: How Much House Can You REALLY Afford?”

Templates

Here’s another tool to help people get a job done faster and easier, as people just need to fill in the blanks.

E.G., “The Ultimate Sales Letter Template.”

Swipe Files

Here’s where you provide a list of ideas or other items for inspiration. For example, you might offer a collection of sales letter headlines, which will inspire copywriters and help them come up with their own headlines.

Checklists

Here you offer a set of steps to help people complete a process or achieve a goal.

E.G., “The Career-Builder’s Checklist for Landing the Perfect Job.”

Cheat Sheets

This is a one-page summary that includes as many steps, tips and ideas as possible about a narrow topic.

E.G., “The Product Launch Cheat Sheet.”

Planners

Here’s where you teach people how to do something within a specific timeframe.

E.G., “The 30-Day Guide to Starting Your Own Home-Based Business.”

Mind Maps

A mind map is a non-linear way of presenting information, which some people find to be more useful than a typical list of steps. This works best for multistep or complex processes.

E.G., “The Home Seller’s Mind Map.”

Process Maps

This is a map that leads people through a step-by-step process, including what to do at different decision points.

E.G., “How to Decide Whether to Outsource.”

Gear Lists

Here you provide a list of gear or resources that someone in the niche might need.

E.G., “The Definitive Gear List for Membership Marketers.”

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many different types of lead magnets you can use to build your list. As always, do your research to find out what your audience wants, and then create a high-quality product that’s irresistible to your target market.

In our next post in this series, we’ll turn our attention to getting traffic…

Warm regards,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to create a Perfect Product is a great start, but you also need a way to generate sales in a consistent way. Running a Product launch is a proven way to not only build your list, but generate Social Proof and make a large number of sales quickly. To learn how to launch your product successfully, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. List Warrior will show you a proven way to use free software to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create The Perfect Product 
Creating a product that is perfect for your audience does not need to be difficult. How To Create The Perfect Product shows you how to build high value products your audience will love one after the other. Click Here.

3. How To Attract Buyers To Join Your Launch List So They Can Purchase Your Perfect Product.
Once you have created your Product Launch List and your Perfect Product is ready to go, you need to attract people into your world so they can buy from you. One Minute Free Traffic gives you a proven way to attract buyers with ‘Automated Traffic Machines’ so you can send those people to your optin page, your sales page, your Facebook Group or anywhere else you choose.    To learn more Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

How to Earn $20 in 20 Minutes With Any Topic, Niche or Hobby

Disclaimer: If you purchase PLF through my affiliate link I may receive a referral fee from Jeff Walker, however you will pay no more to purchase the program through me than if you went directly to the Product Launch Formula website. If you would like my personal help as you create your first launch using the PLF process, check out my PLF Bonus offer here.

9 Blog Post Ideas For Driving Traffic To Your Product Launch

No matter what kind of launch you are preparing for with the Product Launch Formula process, a blog is going to become your go-to resource for driving traffic to your website, both while you’re preparing everything, and during the process of releasing your product or service.

And if you have a blog, then you are going to need a good deal of content to engage with readers and keep them coming back.

But this is were many people get stuck…

It can take a lot of time to create the volume of content you’ll need to drive significant traffic to your blog.

Of course you can outsource it, but it can take a lot of money to get others to create the type of quality content needed to position you as an expert. So regardless of whether you create it yourself or pay others to do it for you, creating content is a big investment…

But there are a number of shortcuts you can take, and to get you started, here are 9 blog post ideas you can use to create awesome blog posts in 10 minutes or less….

1. Create Blog Articles Out Of Private Label Rights Content

The first hack is to buy some PLR (private label rights) articles that you can edit or make slight tweaks to so they are unique and up to your high standards, and then post them to your blog as your own.

Alternatively you might copy excerpts out of PLR ebooks or reports and then post these as articles on your blog. Either way, it takes just a few minutes to create unique, valuable content and post it for your readers to enjoy.

Here are 2 more ideas for using PLR to create content:

  • Have a PLR video transcribed at Rev.com to create an article or a series of articles for your blog. You may even be able to buy these sorts of transcripts as part of a package, or you can create your own using Rev.com

TIP: This is especially easy if the video includes slides, because you can simply write your article from the content contained in the slides.

  • Compile several pieces of PLR content to into blog posts that are entirely new. For example, you could take parts from three or four PLR articles and weave them together to create an entirely new article

And speaking of excerpts…

2. Repurpose Excerpts From Your Products

Taking excerpts from your existing products is a super-quick way to create any number of blog articles. The other benefit of this strategy is that you can quickly insert a pitch at the end of the article to promote your product launch’s lead magnet.

There are 2 ways to use these types of excerpts:

1. The first way is to simply pull the excerpt directly out of the product, add an introduction and a conclusion, and post it to your blog.

For example, let’s suppose you have a report that gives people 9 ways to cut calories. You can take out 3 or 4 of these strategies to create your article, then at the end you can invite people to join your launch list to get more great ideas.

2. The other way is to cut some of the content out of the excerpt so people will want to join your list to get the rest of the details.

Let’s take the example of the report with 9 calorie cutting strategies again. You might excerpt out all 9 ideas, but you remove some of the details. This way readers will get an article that tells them what to do, but they don’t get the exact instructions of how to do it. They’ll need to join your launch list to get those exact instructions.

Next…

3. Driving Traffic With Valuable Link Lists

People LOVE link lists because when done right, they help them save time when finding valuable information on a topic or subject they are interested in.

A link list can come in a variety of formats, including:

• A gear or equipment list. You could list the most valuable tools and resources you personally use and recommend to others. A list like this can save beginners a lot of hassle, because they don’t have to do as much research, and you can save them a lot of valuable time and money by helping them get it right the first time.

For example, you might list all the WordPress plugins you use on your blog. Or if you’re writing for weight lifters, you could share your goto list of all the “must use” supplements.

• A list of the top niche related free resources. Here you might link to videos, reports and expert’s blog posts, along with other free sources of content that will help your readers achieve some specific goal.

• A list of the best value paid resources. In this case, you could write a short review for each resource to let people know who can use it, why you prefer it, and its benefits.

• A list of the best free and paid resources. As an example, you could create “The Top 10 Resources Every Day Trader Should Read.”

The point of creating these lists is to save your reader time by doing a lot of of the research and legwork for them. As you’ll know yourself, it’s much easier to get quality recommendations and content all in one place from someone you trust, instead of having to find products and sources from all over the place.

These days having someone they trust separate the wheat from the chaff is a blessing for most time-poor, overwhelmed consumers.

Next…

4. Do Recaps Of Your Popular Recent Posts

The idea here is to build an “in case you missed it” list of your best or most popular blog posts of the last few weeks or months. Rather than just listing those blog posts, you could curate your own best content across platforms, including your social media accounts and newsletters, and put it into one place (on your blog).

Another way to do it is by curating your most popular content based on a very specific topic.

For example:

  • 6 Blog Posts That Will Change the Way You Think About Trading The Markets
  • The 3 Posts Every Skiing Beginner Ought to Read
  • The 5 Keys to Improving Your Baseball Score

To put this together, just write an intro to the post, list the resources along with a short paragraph explaining why people should read each one, and then wrap it up with a succinct conclusion and a call to action (like joining your product launch list to get more info maybe…)

Next up…

5. Driving Traffic By Interviewing Experts In Your Market

Interviewing other experts a great way to create content fast: just let them create hyper-targeted, relevant content for you.

To get started, create a list of questions and send it to potential interviewees by email and let their answers become your article. In exchange, your guest gets a byline with a link back to their site.

Here’s an example email you could send to arrange these interviews…

Subject Line: Hey [name[ I’d like to feature you on my blog

Hey [First Name],

It’s [Your Name] here and I run the popular [type of] blog over at [your domain]. Thought I’d drop you a line because I’d like to interview you and feature your interview on the blog.

The interview is just [small number] questions, so it would only take about [small number of minutes] to complete.

In return, you’ll get a byline in the article and link back to your site, along with exposure to the [number] people in my audience. I’ll also send a link to your article to my [number] of newsletter subscribers to maximise your exposure.

If this sounds like a great way to showcase your business to a targeted audience, just reply back and I’ll send over the questions right away.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Warm regards,

[Your Name]

——-

This is important: the easier you make it for someone to comply with your request, the more likely they will say yes. So don’t expect your interviewee to spend hours answering questions. Instead, send a few quick questions their way so they can answer them in just a few minutes. Then if you want more info, send a couple of follow up questions.

Here’s why you want to keep it simple…

Once a person has answered your first few questions, they’ll tend to feel invested and committed to your project. So if you ask for 10 more minutes of their time to answer a couple additional questions, they’re quite likely to agree.

Here’s a great example: Bob Serling only asks his interviewees to answer ONE question, and it’s this:

“What’s your favorite business building strategy or technique that’s working well for you or your clients right now?”

Can you see how succinct and powerful that is?

It allows his guests to go anywhere their imagination takes them, while keeping them focused on only sharing the best ideas.

The added beauty of this approach to driving traffic is you can bask in the ‘halo effect’ of association with other experts in your market, and some of them may even become your Joint Venture partners during your launch.

6. Tweak One Of Your Previous Articles

The next idea is to comb through and find the most popular articles in your existing content, tweak them to freshen them up, and republish the new version.

Some examples might be:

  • If you’ve published a list of 10 tips previously, excerpt out 5 of the best tips, expand on them for clarity, and republish the new article
  • Update one of your older articles with new information. You could include new research that has come on the scene since you originally published the article, and let your newsletter subscribers know about the updated information
  • Maybe you’ve changed your mind about a product, idea or another topic? Go ahead and update an older article with your revised opinion and ideas

Those are just 3 ways you could take your existing content and quickly turn it into something new. If you get a little bit creative you may be able to come up with dozens of new articles from your old content.

7. Turn Your Existing Content Into A Powerful Infographic

Another great way to quickly create valuable content is to change your existing posts, videos and articles into a different format. And one way to do this is by turning them into a infographics.

Here are 3 examples of articles that would make good infographics:

  • An article discussing multiple ways to generate more subscribers to an email list
  • An article explaining how muscle confusion works
  • An article that talks about different household pests and how to eradicate them using organic or natural pest control methods

Just make sure your infographics include social media buttons next to them, because these are the kind of content people love to share with others.

As an example, because being able to create irresistible offers is so important to the success of your launch and your business’s future, I took an article I’d written earlier and created a Free Cheat Sheet that shows you how to create the perfect offer.

8. Ask For Content From A Product Vendor

Do you promote products or services an affiliate? If you do (and you should), a great way to quickly get your hands on some free content is by asking the product vendor to create it for you.

Your first stop is to check the merchant’s affiliate centre if they have one available (most do). That’s where the vendor has likely given affiliates all sorts of content, often including blog posts, videos, White Papers and successful ads.

The thing is, you want your content to be unique, right?

So don’t just go straight to the blog post category and copy and past those articles into your blog, because all the other affiliates are likely to have done that. Instead, look through the other content provided such as reports, emails and similar.

Look for something suitable, and then ask the vendor if you can modify it to use on your blog.

If you don’t find what you like within the affiliate center, then write to the vendor and ask for an article. The key here is that vendor is more likely to give you content – especially your own exclusive content – if you’ve already proven yourself by making a few affiliate sales.

TIP: Here’s a powerhouse combo you can use to promote affiliate products while getting unique content for free: ask the vendor if you could interview them.

Most product owners will be happy to get the exposure and extra sales. You can post a text interview, or you might even consider interviewing the vendor during a short webinar or podcast.

9. Create Multimedia Posts

Up to now we’ve been talking about how to quickly create text articles. However, you don’t need to write a single word if you don’t want to.

Instead of writing, pick up a camera to record a short video on a topic your audience will find helpful.

TIP: You can also just turn on a microphone (I use a Blue Yeti and it’s awesome) to do a quick podcast. You don’t even need expensive editing tools. A simple tool like Audacity will let you capture and edit audio for free.

You can get the latest version of Audacity at http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/files/

For example:

  • Use your smart phone and just spend 5 minutes talking about your top 5 weight loss tips
  • Film yourself at home trying out and reviewing a new product
  • Give a live on camera demo, such as how to teach a dog to come when he’s called
  • If you’d like to demonstrate something on your computer screen, such as how to set up an email autoresponder message, then use screen-recording software such as Camtasia (PC) or Screenflow (Mac)

Then just upload the video to YouTube.com (so you get greater exposure), and then post the embedded video on your blog with a short intro and summary, along with a call to action at the end.

Cool, you now have 9 blog post ideas for driving traffic to your product launch. And because you’ve made it this far and stuck with me, I wanted to reward you with a bonus idea that can really help you to create content quickly.

So here goes…

10. Copy And Paste Your Email Messages

One very good and often overlooked source for articles and other content are from your own email messages. Here I’m talking about 2 things:

1. If you broadcast an announcement, article, run a promotion or deliver other content to your mailing list, then put that same content on your blog as well.

TIP: Tell your newsletter readers you’re posting the content on your blog, and then encourage them to click through and discuss the topic.

You get many benefits from this.

  • Your email open rate and click through rate will improve
  • Your ISP will see your readers interacting with your messages and will be less likely to block their delivery
  • And the more your audience interacts with you, the more they are going to get to know and trust you, which should mean more sales over time

2. If you reply to a customer’s comment or question and you realize it would make a good post, then post it as an article. Of course you won’t use any of the customer’s identifying information, but you might say something like this at the beginning of the post…

“Nearly every week, the same question seems to pop up in my email from people just like you. Check out this post and see if you’ve been wondering about this topic too…”

To sum up…

As you can see, you don’t need to spend a lot of time or money creating great content to drive traffic for your launch. All you need is ten minutes or less, and you can have blog posts ready to go one after the other.

I’m betting you could create one of these awesome blog posts right now and get it up right away. Go ahead and see for yourself just how easy it is to create content quickly using these 10 ideas.

As you can see, the list you build during your product launch is going to require lots of visitor traffic, but having that list will give you the perfect springboard for creating a profitable, long-term, sustainable business for yourself and your family. To learn more about everything to do with launching your own product or service, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

Talk soon,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to create a Perfect Product is a great start, but you also need a way to generate sales in a consistent way. Running a Product launch is a proven way to not only build your list, but generate Social Proof and make a large number of sales quickly. To learn how to launch your product successfully, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. List Warrior will show you a proven way to use free software to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create The Perfect Product 
Creating a product that is perfect for your audience does not need to be difficult. How To Create The Perfect Product shows you how to build high value products your audience will love one after the other. Click Here.

3. How To Attract Buyers To Join Your Launch List So They Can Purchase Your Perfect Product.
Once you have created your Product Launch List and your Perfect Product is ready to go, you need to attract people into your world so they can buy from you. One Minute Free Traffic gives you a proven way to attract buyers with ‘Automated Traffic Machines’ so you can send those people to your optin page, your sales page, your Facebook Group or anywhere else you choose.    To learn more Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

How to Earn $20 in 20 Minutes With Any Topic, Niche or Hobby

Disclaimer: If you purchase PLF through my affiliate link I may receive a referral fee from Jeff Walker, however you will pay no more to purchase the program through me than if you went directly to the Product Launch Formula website. If you would like my personal help as you create your first launch using the PLF process, check out my PLF Bonus offer here.

How To Recruit Your Competitors BEST Affiliates To Promote Your Product Launch

When it comes to using the Product Launch Formula process to run the most successful launch, one of the keys is to recruit your competitors best affiliates for your own affiliate program so you can have other people sending you their best customers who then buy your product.

The hardest part of this process is recruiting GOOD affiliates who know what they are doing, who have an email database, and who are prepared to add you to their mailing schedule.

That’s because the top affiliates aren’t just sitting around waiting for opportunities. They don’t have to, because so many great opportunities come across their desks every single week.

So if you want to build an affiliate program that’s full of serious marketers who have a proven track record, and who know how to drive targeted traffic to your product launch, you’re going to have to go out and compete for the attention of these in-demand professionals.

These affiliates will already be making tons of sales for your competitors, and you’ll need to recruit them and get them to do the same for you.

But how?

Let’s start with 5 great ways to find your competitor’s most valuable affiliates…

1. Look For Product Reviews And Pre-Selling Content

The first step is to search Google for the names of your competitor’s products along with search terms such as “review” or “comparison.”

The reason is pretty clear: affiliates are most likely to be the people putting up product reviews and comparisons, and that makes this a quick and easy way to find those affiliates.

TIP: By doing this, you’ll also know which affiliates are good at search engine optimisation (SEO). If the same affiliate is able to hold multiple key rankings for a range of competing products, that’s a pretty good sign they will be able to drive traffic your way as well.

You’ll want to do is search Google for the titles of your competitors’ lead magnets, as well as the titles of their articles, blog posts and their other content. You could search for excerpts out of articles that link to the affiliates main content.

Where do you get this information?

One good way to do it is by joining your competitors’ affiliate programs, because you’ll have access to the promotional content they create for their affiliates. Then you can search for the titles and excerpts from this content to uncover affiliates who are actively using that content to promote offers.

And checking our your competitor’s affiliate programs will also give you insights into how you can make your own products and services even better. The fact is the best affiliates go where they are rewarded the most. And if your offer is absolutely crushing it, they’ll naturally gravitate towards you anyway.

Because being able to create irresistible offers is so important to the success of your launch and your business’s future, I’ve put together a Free Cheat Sheet that shows you the 3 Steps to creating the perfect offer. To make sure you don’t miss anything as you develop your offer, Click Here

And now that you’re logged into your competitors’ affiliate centers, you’ll also want to check out this next idea…

2. Check Your Competitors’ Product Launch Leaderboards

Here’s a quick and dirty way to know who your competitors’ BEST affiliates are: look for the people who win their affiliate contests.

Of course you’ll most likely need to be a member of your competitors’ affiliate programs to get access to this privileged information. But once you’re in, you should be able to see leader boards for both past and current contests. If you compare these boards across a range of competitors, you’ll see which affiliates consistently promote product launches and drive sales.

3. Join Affiliate And JV Facebook Groups and Forums

The next way to find your competitors’ affiliates is to visit the places where they all congregate online. In other words, participate in the affiliate forums and social media groups.

Specifically:

• Go to Facebook and use the search box to uncover groups using words such as “affiliate”, “affiliate marketing”, “jv”, or “joint venture”.

• Search Google for affiliate forums. You can search for terms such as “affiliate marketing forums” and “affiliate discussion”, “JV forum” and “joint venture forum”.

• Look for joint venture networks. Again, use Google to easily uncover these platforms in your market. For example, “stock trading affiliate network.”

Once you find these platforms, join the biggest and most active ones. Then follow the conversations to get an idea of which affiliates are promoting which offers, and which affiliates tend to be the super affiliates in your niche market.

4. Follow The Flow Of Money

Another way to find out who’s generating the big sales for your competitors is by checking to see who is running ads for them. If an affiliate is consistently placing paid advertising for a product, that’s a great sign that they’re making money with those ads.

Here’s how to find these advertisers:

• Search Google for your competitors’ product and brand names. You’ll naturally find reviews and other content using this method (which is very helpful), but you’ll also be presented with text ads. These ads may go to lead pages if affiliates are using a two-step advertising process, or other content that’s designed to get you to click through to the merchant’s site. But whether one-step or two-step, this strategy will give you an idea of who is promoting what in your niche.

• Check niche sites that accept advertising. Then take note of who’s placing the ads, because these could be your potential affiliates.

TIP: Sometimes it’s hard to decipher an affiliate link to know who is behind it. Here are two tips that might help:

1. Check to see if they are using a redirect URL. Many affiliates redirect their affiliate links through their own websites. If they do, visit the domain to see if it’s clear who owns it. If not, run the domain through a whois search such as www.whois.com.

2. Run a search for the affiliate link (or even just the affiliate ID). If it’s an affiliate who is direct linking, then search for that link in Google. If the link isn’t a tracking link, then there’s a good chance the affiliate has used it in other promotions, such as on his own website or blog.

Next idea…

5. Keep A Record Of The Highest Selling Products

The idea here is simple: some of the top product owners in your niche are often your competitors best affiliates too. That’s because these vendors have used product launches and paid advertising to build big email databases of prospects and customers.

You probably already know some of the top sellers in your niche, and some of your biggest competitors could become your top affiliates. Once you draw up your list, you can add to it using these two tips:

• Check marketplaces such as Clickbank.com and JVZoo.com. These affiliate marketplaces often rank products based on popularity, so it will only take you a few minutes to determine which are the best-selling products in your niche on that platform.

• Use JVNotifyPro.com to keep track of the big product launches. The marketers who are rolling out the biggest launches will probably also have the biggest customer lists in your niche.

There you have it – five good ways to find your competitors’ affiliates. If you use all of these methods, you’ll be able to easily uncover all the super affiliates operating in your niche, as well as dozens of other really good affiliates who can help you build sales in your product launches.

Which brings us to this important question…

So, How Do You Recruit These Proven Performers?

As we’ve discussed, these top affiliates get a bunch of great promotion requests crossing their desks every week. That means that just saying, “Hey, wanna make some great commissions?” isn’t going to get their attention.

Because of all of this competition, you need to have a standout product and create what Jeff Walker calls a “Crushing Offer” before the top affiliates will promote for you.

Here are tips for making it happen…

Build Relationships With People In Your Market

People like to do business with people they know, like and trust. So when an affiliate gets two identical offers from two different vendors, the odds are they are going to join the vendor they already know, like and trust. That’s why it’s a good idea to build relationships first before beginning your recruitment, especially when you’re trying to recruit super affiliates.

Here are three tips for building these relationships:

• Do something for the other person first. For example, if the person has their own product, sign up for their affiliate program and make some sales for them first.

• Interact with them online. Make helpful, thoughtful comments on their blog that help their community. Connect with them on social media. Send an email to them to talk about a recent newsletter issue or blog post. The point is, just start talking to these potential super affiliates so you get to know each other.

• Make a name for yourself in the niche. If you create great products and build a good reputation for yourself, people will naturally start approaching you. They’ll know you and trust you through your authority and reputation. This means you don’t need to necessarily go out into the niche and invest a lot of time building one-on-one relationships, since everyone will be eager to work with you when you approach them, but it will take time to achieve this for yourself.

Next up…

Give Your Competitors Best Affiliates Free Access to the Product

You should never hesitate on this point. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling a $17 ebook or a $997 home study course that’s shipped to the customer’s door, you MUST give your potential super affiliates access to the product.

First, any affiliate with their salt isn’t going to promote a product without reviewing it thoroughly themselves. And secondly, since you are approaching this potential affiliate, you need to give them access to the product as a gesture of goodwill.

Don’t make your potential affiliate ask for it, and certainly don’t expect them to pay for it. Just send access at the same time you’re sending your recruitment email.

Which brings us to the next point…

Offer Your Affiliates Something Extra Special

If your goal is to recruit the top affiliates in your niche, it’s a good idea to give them special perks that you don’t offer everyone else. This includes benefits such as:

• A higher commission rate
• Exclusive bonuses for their customers
• Exclusive discounts for their customers
• Special personalised landing pages
• Instant commissions, daily commissions or weekly commissions
• The opportunity to promote the product before everyone else
• Higher commissions on upsells and backend sales

To get you started, here’s an example of the email you might send out to a prospective affiliates (especially ones with who you’ve built a relationship):

Subject: New product – Thought you’d like to hear about it first…

Hi [First Name],

I’m just about ready to launch a new product, and I wanted to be sure you heard about it first. That’s because I think it’s a great fit for your audience, and I’m also offering a special commission rate if you come on board to promote.

The product is called [name of product], and [describe in a sentence or two what the product does – in other words, why would this person’s audience want this product?]

Here, you can check it for yourself: [download link to entire product]

Right now the sales letter is pulling a [%] conversion rate in our initial testing, so this is already proving to be an in-demand product that gives you the potential for a lot of sales.

And here’s the best part: you’re getting a special “inner circle” commission rate of [%] – that’s a full [$amount] in your pocket for every sale you make.

What’s more, you also get [insert any other perks… exclusive promotional opportunities before the affiliate program is open to the public, special discounts, etc].

I’ve taken the liberty of setting up your affiliate account. Here’s the info:

[affiliate link]

[affiliate log in info]

Once you log in you’ll get access to all sorts of emails, articles, banners and other ads and creatives you can use to promote this product.

We’re launching on [date] – are you in?

Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything I can do for you to make promotions easier…

[sign off]

P.S. This is going to be a big event… I hope you’re a part of it!

A Few Parting Thoughts

If you’ve always wanted to enjoy the benefits of a big product launch (including a big list-build, massive exposure, increased authority and huge profits when done right), or you just want just get the increase in sales that only a really good super affiliate team can deliver, then finding and recruiting the best affiliates in your market is the key.

And finding your competitors’ most productive affiliates and persuading them to promote your product launch too is a fantastic way to do this is.

This crash course has given you the exact step by step plan for doing that. So what’s your next step?

Get started and work through each step to start finding those affiliates, because recruiting just ONE top affiliate could add hundreds of prospects to your email database and thousands of dollars to your launch profits.

That means the sooner you get started, the sooner you could have a big JV launch under your belt, which is the perfect springboard for building a profitable, long-term, sustainable business for yourself and your family that will allow you to prosper for many years to come. To learn more, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

Talk soon,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to create a Perfect Product is a great start, but you also need a way to generate sales in a consistent way. Running a Product launch is a proven way to not only build your list, but generate Social Proof and make a large number of sales quickly. To learn how to launch your product successfully, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. List Warrior will show you a proven way to use free software to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create The Perfect Product 
Creating a product that is perfect for your audience does not need to be difficult. How To Create The Perfect Product shows you how to build high value products your audience will love one after the other. Click Here.

3. How To Attract Buyers To Join Your Launch List So They Can Purchase Your Perfect Product.
Once you have created your Product Launch List and your Perfect Product is ready to go, you need to attract people into your world so they can buy from you. One Minute Free Traffic gives you a proven way to attract buyers with ‘Automated Traffic Machines’ so you can send those people to your optin page, your sales page, your Facebook Group or anywhere else you choose.    To learn more Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

How to Earn $20 in 20 Minutes With Any Topic, Niche or Hobby

Disclaimer: If you purchase PLF through my affiliate link I may receive a referral fee from Jeff Walker, however you will pay no more to purchase the program through me than if you went directly to the Product Launch Formula website. If you would like my personal help as you create your first launch using the PLF process, check out my PLF Bonus offer here.

The #1 Key To Having People See You As An Authority

If you’re an author, coach, consultant or any other kind of expert or business owner considering using a Product Launch Formula style of launch to start or grow your business, and you want people to see you as an authority here’s a big secret…

Your potential prospects (and of course your existing audience) are really just looking for one thing: someone trustworthy they can follow. As marketing expert Dan Kennedy is fond of saying, “Most people are walking around with their umbilical chords in their hands, looking for somewhere to plug them in”.

I think Dan nails it perfectly. Most people have been lied to, deceived and disappointed so many times, they’re looking for a strong leader in the field who can actually help them. They’re looking for a true authority who will deliver the results they want.

And if you’re using Product Launch Formula as the basis of your launch, positioning yourself as the expert who can deliver those results will not only increase your sales for your Seed Launch and your Internal Launch, but will make it easier to attract affiliates and JV partners for your JV Launch.

The beauty of using the PLF process is that Jeff Walker’s Sideways Salesletter technique allows you to prove you are an expert in your topic while not coming across as a high pressure sales person who’s just trying to flog a product or service.

It’s not surprising when you think about it.

Just take a look around your market and you’ll see a whole lot of experts and authorities all promising to help people to achieve their goals or solve their problems. The problem is many of these authorities are giving inaccurate and/or conflicting information. This confuses people, and  quite often they end up getting analysis paralysis.

So if you want to stand out from the crowd and be seen as THE preeminent expert in your market, here’s what you need to do:  write / share / teach with confidence.

Convey an air of authority in everything you share with your visitors. Because when you present yourself as a strong leader and it’s clear you can get people results, they will naturally want to follow you.

Plus when people trust you because you’ve helped them by actually helping them, you create the type of relationship that generates big payoffs for both you and your prospects and customers.

So how do you write or speak in a way that naturally conveys authority? The easiest way I know of is by using these two techniques…

#1: Convey Confidence

Some people feel like being too blunt with the facts can appear abrupt or even rude. And so they tend to share information in a way that comes across as weak or lacking confidence. When that happens, no matter how subtle, people are naturally going to turn away. We humans are hard wired to want to follow strong, confident leaders.

Let me give you an example…

Let’s suppose you walk up to two random people on the street and ask them for directions to the nearest petrol station, and here’s what they say:

Random Person #1: The nearest petrol station is the Shell on Allen Street. Go three blocks North, take a right at Allen Street intersection, and you’ll see it on your left.

Random Person #2: I think the closest petrol station is on Jones Street. Or it might be on Estelle Road. Head down this street for around four or five blocks, and you’ll see them on a side street. Not sure which one. Hope that helps.

So which person’s directions would you be more likely to follow? If you’re like most of us, you would take Person #1’s advice, because he seemed confident that he knew what he was talking about (even if he didn’t have a clue :-).

The point is you should be doing the same when you share information, especially your pre-launch content, with people. Be confident, be clear, be consistent, and avoid fluff, filler and industry jargon.

Speaking with authority because of your knowledge and experience leads to being recognised and respected as an authority. And people are much more lily to buy during your launch (and afterwards) if they see you as the solution to their problems or as the leader who can help them achieve their goals.

#2: Give Reasons Why

A lot of experts can give others directions for completing some task, but they don’t explain WHY the task should be completed in that specific way. And that’s why when the reader runs into conflicting information from another source, they don’t know what to believe.

That’s why you need to tell your readers WHY they should follow your specific advice.

For example, some health experts tell us that doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is the best way to go. But others say you should have a small meal first.

So if you’re advocating one of those options to your readers, you’ll bet much more traction as an authority when tell them WHY you’ve made that specific suggestion. And to remove any doubt yours is the correct option, you should back your opinion up with scientific data.

Again, your goal here is to show people that it’s not merely that you THINK a particular course of action is accurate or best, but that you KNOW it is the solution from personal experience.

Explaining the reason why shows that you UNDERSTAND not just the correct steps to achieve their desired result, but the way things work so that the steps you suggest are the right steps to take.

To Sum Up

If you are preparing for a product launch and you want to be seen and respected as an authority in your market, then you need to start writing and presenting information with authority.

This means:

  • Be confident when you share information with your audience (don’t waiver or second-guess yourself)
  • Share good information that helps people by actually helping them (don’t leave the best ideas out)
  • Offer reasons why what you say is THE solution

If you do these three things correctly, you’re sure to see your authority increase and the relationships you have with your prospects grow in a positive way, which can only help to increase your product launch profits.

And to learn more about creating authority before, during and after you use Product Launch Formula to launch or re-launch your product or service, check out Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Masterclass here.

Talk soon,

Rocky

PLUS: When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to grow your business using product launches:

1. How To Build A Profitable Launch List.
Building an email list is critical if you plan on doing a launch for your product, service or business. My 1-2-3 List Building Cheat Sheet will show you how to build a responsive list of prospects who are ready to buy from you during your launch. Click Here.

2. How To Create A Signature Product Out Of Thin Air In 72 Hours Or Less
Creating your product does not need to take weeks or months. My 72 Hour Product Creation Guide shows you how to build high value products or bonuses one after the other in 72 hours or less. Click Here.

3. How To Outsource Your Product Creation And Make It Hands Free.
Outsourcing the creation of some or all of your products and bonuses is a great way to save your time for the more important (and more fun) things you’d rather be doing. Grab my Hands Free Outsourcing Cheat Sheet to learn more. Click Here.

And don’t forget to check this out 🙂

Jeff Walker’s free Product Launch Formula training.