Category Archives: Product Creation

How Would You Sum Up Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula?

Leave a reply

To tell you the truth, back in 2008 when I first hit the order button to purchase Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula training, I was shitting myself.

The Australian Dollar was weak against the US dollar, and because I had failed at so many things in the past, I had no reason to think this would work either.

PLF was by far the most expensive information product I had ever bought (and I’d purchased just about everything) but there was just something about Jeff and his approach that gave me a glimmer of confidence that maybe this time it would work.

So I ordered the big box of CDs and DVDs and Manuals (no online learning much then) and waited for it to arrive from the United States.

It took a couple of weeks to get here and by then I was going through the worst case of buyers remorse I had ever experienced.

Anyhow I pushed down the fear I was feeling and dug into the DVD training and put together a rough and ready Product Launch for a training program I had cobbled together, priced it at $37.00 (it was easily worth 10 times that but I was desperate) and launched it to my tiny list of people new to this ‘internet marketing’ thing.

I did a LOT of things wrong and blundered through the 7 day launch sequence but by the end of the week I had earned enough to recoup the cost of Product Launch Formula and had a few hundred dollars left over.

I was hooked!

There’s nothing like the confidence you get when you finally see something actually WORK as advertised.

The First Product Launch Is The Hardest

I’ve used various techniques Jeff teaches in PLF over and over again through the years and every time the process gets results.

Sometimes average, sometimes extraordinary.

Can you fail if you grab Jeff’s training and follow the instructions?

Yes you can. In the private PLF Members Facebook group there are often people who post that they launched this or that and made zero sales.

It’s gut wrenching to see these stories, but it’s wonderful to see how the community rallies around the people who share their stories. And once the PLF Coaches, the Support Team and other PLF owners have helped them out, just about everyone who had thought they had ‘failed’ ultimately succeeds.

So What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

The PLF Process works extremely well, but sometimes as humans we just don’t implement it correctly. There are a few common reasons for a launch to not work initially. Here are a few of them:

  • Maybe we get bogged down and go into a tiny niche that doesn’t have passionate buyers (we call this a starving crowd)
  • Maybe we go too broad and are trying to compete with huge corporations with unlimited marketing budgets (they’ll eat us alive if we do)
  • Maybe we don’t find out exactly what problem our audience wants to solve, or the solution we think they want solved isn’t something they will pay for (some things just aren’t emotionally ‘felt’ enough for people to pay for a solution)
  • Maybe we just miss on the messaging in one or more of our Pre Launch Videos or emails and we don’t resonate with our audience
  • Maybe it’s one of a hundred other problems…

The great thing is we can compartmentalise everything in our launch and by testing work out where we went wrong. For example:

  • If we don’t have people joining our email list, it means our Lead Magnet is missing the mark and we need to try a different approach or offer
  • If people join our email list but don’t click through to our Prelaunch Content our email messaging needs some improvement
  • If people click through from the emails to our Pre Launch content and don’t finish watching or reading, we are not connecting with their most intense pain or desire (Perry Marshall calls this going for the ‘Bleeding Neck’)
  • If they are watching all of the Pre Launch content but don’t buy our offer is not strong enough (a ‘Hell Yes!’ offer will make up for a lot of mistakes made earlier on during the launch)

Naturally there are smaller steps within each of these major areas and they can all be tested, but the thing I’m trying to impress upon you is that just because your first ‘Launch’ didn’t give you the result you were expecting, it ain’t over.

The Product Launch Formula process includes so many fail-safe features that you can do nearly everything wrong and still make some sales. As you go through after your first launch and clean up the areas where your process fell down a little, you make the next one better and the next one even better again.

Creating A Product Or A Business And Launching It Using Plf Is A Journey, NOT An Event

Does it involve work? Yes, but nothing of value is ever created without work.

Does it take commitment? Yes, you have to keep going through the roadblocks until you reach the end.

Is it life-changing when everything comes together? YES!

Would You Like My Personal Help With Your First Product Launch?

Now a lot of affiliates are offering all sorts of ‘Bonuses’ as a way to ‘Bribe’ you into purchasing Product Launch Formula through their affiliate link.

Virtually every ‘Bonus’ is a bunch of additional CONTENT you need to go through to extract any real benefit.

PLF is big enough as it is without having even more (often off topic or useless) stuff to try to work through. What other affiliates offer is usually a ‘Crap Stack’ of redundant information or overpriced junk that will have little practical value over and above what you will learn in PLF.

That’s why I’d like to do something different. Something that will actually HELP you to succeed with Product Launch Formula.

If you decide you would like to invest in PLF and you do so through my affiliate link (this one here) and your purchase is credited to me, you can have up to 3 1-hour Live Zoom Meetings with me personally where we can strategise your launch, review your Pre launch Content and email sequences, troubleshoot any problems, or I will help you anything else you need so you can kick it out of the park with your first launch.

I don’t need to tell you how much this personal help could be worth. Probably a lot more in the long run than a Crap Stack of additional content you will never get around to using because it will just distract you from the core PLF training.

Anyhow, if you would like my help for your first product launch, just order PLF through one of the links on this page and then let me know by emailing me at rttgemails@gmail.com

I’ll keep an eye out for your order and as soon as it’s confirmed by Jeff Walker we can get together to start strategising your launch.

I’m really looking forward to working with you if you come on board PLF through my affiliate link.

You got this!

Warm regards,

Rocky Tapscott

P.S. If you would like to chat on the phone or over Zoom before ordering (we only have a few days before the launch closes), please text me first on +61418788482 (Australia) or email me at rttgemails@gmail.com and we can discuss whether Product Launch Formula is right for you.

15 Of My Favorite “Splinters” To Create From Your Product Launch Content

So far in this series on creating the components of your product for your upcoming product launch, we’ve looked at what product Splintering is and how to use it to boost your product launch profits…

And you’ve learned 6 ways to splinter off products to both increase your front-end sales along with the back-end sales of your core product.

But there are still a lot of additional ways you can put this “product splitting” idea to work for you.

In this post, you’ll find 15 of my favorite “splinters” to create.

Let’s run through some Product Launch Content Splinters…

• Reports. This can be short, perhaps only 7-15 pages long.

For example, you might create a report about choosing the right shoes to help promote your marathon-running course, or perhaps you’d offer a report about cleaning a carburettor to go along with a classic car restoration course.

• Swipe files. Here’s where you provide a collection of materials for someone to use as inspiration.

For example, you might give a collection of headlines to a copywriter, or action verbs to people who’re writing a resume.

• Templates. You can save your customers time by providing “fill in the blank” templates.

For example, you might offer sales letter templates for copywriters, or survey templates for those doing market research.

• Worksheets. The idea here is to provide worksheets to help customers accomplish some specific task.

For example, you might offer a budgeting worksheet for those who’re trying to get rid of debt, or an exercise worksheet for those who want to lose weight.

• Interviews. This can be an interview with you, or it can be an interview that you conducted with another expert in the niche.

Examples include interviewing me about how to create products people want to buy, or interviewing a bestselling novelist about how where they get their book ideas.

• Q&A sessions. You can think of this as a list of frequently asked questions in your niche.

For example, you might offer a Q&A session about how you as a marketer plans your day, or perhaps you’d offer questions and answers about meal planning for a diet program.

• Checklists. These tools help people take action.

Examples include a checklist for setting up a website, or a checklist for applying for a job.

• Mind maps. These give customers a non-linear view of some process.

Examples include a mind map depicting how to write a novel, or a mind map about how to get healthier.

• Infographics. These are graphical representations of data, which makes large chunks of data or complex topics easier to digest.

Examples include an infographic describing exactly how metabolism works, or an infographic about how to improve conversion rates.

• Demo videos. Here you can show how your product works, or how to do some specific task.

For example, you might offer demo videos of specific kettlebell exercises for a strength training course.

Another example is a demo video showing how to teach a puppy to sit for a dog training course.

• Audios. People love listening to MP3s while they’re driving, working out, gardening and so on.

You might excerpt out a portion of your product and offer the audio.

Examples include inspirational quotes for a self-improvement course, or a guided meditation for a meditation product.

• Spreadsheets. These are tools for helping customers keep track of something, such as business expenses for a business owner, or workouts for a bodybuilder.

• Calculators. These could be any tools that perform a specific task, such as a loan calculator to go along with a home-buying course, or a calorie calculator for a dieting course.

• Legal documents. You’ll want to get an attorney to create these, of course.

Examples include a freelancing contract or a privacy policy for a website.

• Plugins. These are tools for WordPress blogs, such as an SEO plugin to go along with a search engine optimization product, or a split-testing plugin to help sell a course about improving conversions.

And this isn’t even an exhaustive list – if you can sell it and if it goes along with your main course, then you can splinter it off into a $7 front end product.

A few closing thoughts for creating your Product Launch Content…

Whew – at this point I bet your mind is just swimming with great ideas for ways to start using splintering in your business.

As you’ve discovered, there are a whole lot of good reasons to do it, from quickly increasing your profits to being able to build a hot customer list rather than merely a lukewarm leads list.

Best of all, there are just so many ways to use splintering to grow your results from your product launch.

In fact, you discovered six proven ways to do it inside this series of posts.

No matter what you’re using a product launch for, or what product your selling, there’s a way to use splintering to boost your profits.

So you know what you need to do next – pick out one method and put it to work for you.

And do it as soon as possible, because I think you’ll really like the results!

Warm regards,

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.

Six Surefire Ways To Put Product Splintering To Work In Your Product Launch

So at this point after reading the previous post on using product splintering in conjunction with your product launch, you have a pretty good idea of how the process works.

But what you need now are specific ideas that you can put to work to boost revenue in your information business.

Here are six of ‘em for you…

1. Splinter bonuses

Including bonuses along with your core product is an important way to both fill any gaps in the core content, and increase the value you are offering during your product launch. Splintering off reports from your core product is a simple choice, because you can quickly and easily create a call to action at the end of the report to up-sell your main product or a package of related information for a higher price.

For example:

  • Sell a bonus cookbook for $27 to help sell a $197 diet program.
  • Sell a report about perfecting a golfer’s grip to promote your main video-based golfing package.

2. Splinter membership content

Some people balk at purchasing a membership, because they’re not sure if they want to keep paying a monthly fee if the content isn’t up to par or if they don’t have tome to consume everything provided.

That’s why splintering out some of the content to sell separately works to sell the main membership site.

Selling content (like reports or videos) works best, but you can sell access to any content or any part of your site.

For example:

  • Sell one month’s worth of training materials separately from a four-month fixed-termmembership course.
  • Sell access to a private membership forum as a way to promote full access to a membership site once people see how good the interaction with other is.

3. Splinter excerpts of your main product

The idea here is to excerpt out chapters of your book, modules in your video course, or other portions of your products.

For example:

  • Offer the first three chapters of a tomato-growing guide for $7, with a call to action at the end of the excerpt promoting the full course.
  • Let’s suppose you have a 24-module video course about online marketing. You can pull out four modules or so and sell them separately. The way I’ve done this is to sell a module that allows buyers to make money immediately from what they learn, and this puts them into a frame of mind where they’ll happily pay for the full course because it’s basically free for them.

4. Splinter your curriculum from a training class

Let’s imagine you have a class that lasts a week, a month or more.

During this class you provide training materials (curriculum), as well as one-on-one coaching.

You can offer the training materials at a low cost, which will entice people to purchase the full class in order to take advantage of your personal coaching.

For example:

  • People who purchase copywriting curriculum will want to buy the full course so that they can get personal sales letter critiques.
  • Customers who purchase weight-loss training will want to purchase the full class so they can get personalized coaching to help them plan their diet and exercise program.

5. Splinter features of a software program

The idea here is to create a “lite” version of your software, which has fewer features than the full version.

Naturally, some people who like the lite version will want to upgrade to the full version.

For example:

  • You offer an autoresponder service. The lite version can only handle 500 subscribers, so buyers will need to upgrade once they reach that level.
  • You offer meal planning software that counts calories, as well as macronutrient breakdowns (carbs, fats and protein) in each meal. The lite version counts calories but not macronutrients, so buyers will need to upgrade to the full version when they get serious about eating healthy.

6. Create additional splinters

While typically you simply splinter your existing product, another thing you can do is create products for the specific purpose of using them primarily as $7 or $19 pieces of “bait” to generate a small up-front income while enticing people to purchase the full product. (You can then add these products to the main offer as a bonus.)

So there you have it. 6 surefire ways to put product splintering to work for your business either before, during or after you’ve finished your product launch.

Now there are a whole lot of different ways to put this idea to work for you, and in our next post, we’ll look at some of the best ones.

Until then, take care,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to bundle things together to create irresistible offers is so important to the success of your launch that I’ve put together a Free Cheat Sheet that shows you how to create the perfect offer. To make sure you don’t miss anything as you develop your offer, click here to grab your Free copy of The Perfect Offer Cheatsheet

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.

Double Your JV Product Launch Profits With Product Splintering

The money you make directly through a JV product launch is just the start of the profitable opportunities you have once you’ve made all those sales with the help of affiliates and JV partners.

That’s because the most valuable asset you end up with from a launch is the email database you build from all the options your partners send you.

Why?

Because not only can you continue to sell your core product to those prospects after the launch, but you can “splinter” off all kinds of smaller products and sell them to those people who either didn’t want or need the bigger product you launched.

Here’s why “product splintering” is so effective as a followup to your JV product launch…

If you walk into just about any regular restaurant in most cities, and you’re likely to see a page somewhere in the menu that lists the restaurant’s ala carte offerings.

Sometimes you may see these offerings listed under different names, such as “Sides” or even “Light Appetites.”

But in all cases, this is the part of the menu where you can order something like a bowl of soup, a basket of fries or an English muffin.

You see, typically these items come with a meal.

The English muffin goes with your bacon and eggs. The fries go with your burger. The soup goes with your sandwich.

However, restaurant owners quickly figured out that they could make a whole lot more money by offering these items separately to patrons who didn’t want a full meal.

This is referred to as product splintering, and it turns out that restaurant owners aren’t the only savvy business folks on the block.

You’ll see product splintering everywhere you look.

  • For example, you can buy a pair of shoelaces by themselves without having to buy a whole new pair of shoes.
  • You can buy ski poles without buying skis.
  • You can purchase a computer hard drive without having to invest in a whole new computer.

And product sellers do it because product splintering is a great way to make more money without having to work any harder.

And the best news of all…

As we discussed, you too can use product splintering to slide more money into your pocket every day of the week with your information business.

It doesn’t matter what you’re selling or who you’re selling it to, because product splintering will work for you. (And just a bit later you’ll get plenty of ways to use it in your business.)

Let me give you an example…

Example:  Take a look at The Simple Copywriting System and you will find a very good course that helps people to quickly create high converting sales copy for any product or service.

The Simple Copywriting System is a “splintered product” from my Online Marketing Masterclass.

Look at the difference…

This gives me an opportunity to sell a lower-priced product to people who…

1. Aren’t willing or able to pay for the $97.00 product.

2. Are ONLY looking for “sales copy” products to buy.

3. Don’t yet fully trust me because they don’t know me.

4. Don’t even know about the Online Marketing Masterclass.

And so forth.

Once they buy the lower-priced Copywriting System course, I invite them to upgrade to the $97.00 Online Marketing Masterclass course, even offering to credit them their $27.00 purchase toward the $97.00 purchase.

Many upgrade and I turn $27 into $97 just like that.

But even for those that don’t upgrade, people spend $27 with me when they would have spent ZERO.

And you can do exactly the same thing with YOUR products.

Or if you don’t already have a bigger product you can “splinter”, you can go the other way and use what you learn in The Profitable Product System to create the “splintered” products first, and then package them up into a big-ticket program you an sell for a bunch of money during your product launch 🙂

Either way, you and your customers win…

Talk soon,

Rocky

P.S. Being able to splinter and bundle things together to create irresistible offers is so important to the success of your launch that I’ve put together a Free Cheat Sheet that shows you how to create the perfect offer. To make sure you don’t miss anything as you develop your offer, click here to grab your Free copy of The Perfect Offer Cheatsheet

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.

Product Launch Outsourcing – Managing Your Outsourcing Projects

So far in this series on getting help with your product launch, we’ve covered…

…knowing when and what to outsource, how to write a compelling ad to attract the most qualified people, and how to recruit the best person for your needs.

In this message, we’re going to look at Step Four: Managing Your Product Launch Outsourcing Projects

Once you hire one or more people to complete a job, it’s up to you to manage the project.

Here’s what you need to know to make everything go more smoothly:

• Make your expectations clear. Same as when you’re writing a project ad, you need to be clear about your expectations.

For example, if you prefer files to be delivered in a Zip file, let your freelancer know.

If you want them uploaded to DropBox, be clear about it.

Your freelancer isn’t a mind reader, and you’ll get better results when you are very clear about what you want.

• Explain what you like and want more of. When your freelancer does something the right way, let them know you’re really happy with the work and that you want more work in that style.

For example, if you hire a video producer who adds a “doodle style” demo to a video that you really like, let them know what you liked about it and that you want more videos like that.

• Let them know how often you want updates/communication. Some people prefer daily updates, some prefer every other day, some are fine with weekly or twice-monthly updates.

You need to be clear upfront about what you want.

TIP: You may ask for more frequent updates in the beginning, and then request less frequent communication once you and your freelancer have established a good relationship.

Be sure your freelancer knows you’re always available for questions, and let them know to alert you immediately whenever there is a problem or potential problem.

• Provide the required resources and information. In other words, give your freelancer the tools he or she needs to complete the job.

For example, if you’re asking your freelancer to write an article, provide resources with the facts and other information needed to complete that article.

• Consider giving a bonus for exceptional work. This bonus might come in the form of a direct financial reward on top of the regular payment, which is the preferred bonus for most freelancers.

However, in some cases you might give your freelancer a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant or another surprise reward for exceptional work.

• Praise good work along the way. Obviously, your freelancer is doing the work in exchange for money.

However, frequent praise for good work can make the project feel much more rewarding for your freelancer.

TIP: Praise for good work helps build a good relationship between you and your freelancer.

In turn, a freelancer may make special accommodations for you in the future, such as scheduling your projects first or giving you an unexpected discount.

• Be cordial and specific when tweaks are needed. From time to time your freelancer may not complete the work exactly as you envisioned.

Your first step is to go back to your brief and written communications to check if you were clear about what was needed.

Then politely let the freelancer know what specific tweaks you need to complete the project.

TIP: If the fault rests with your communication, then take responsibility for not being more clear, pay for the necessary corrections, and vow to do better in the future.

• Be aware of time zone differences. In addition, ask your freelancer their preferred hours for conference calls and other communications.

For example, someone may have a six-hour time difference from you, but they may be night owls or early risers who work much the same hours as you do.

TIP: If you’re hiring someone from another country, be aware of holidays, power outages and other circumstances that may affect your freelancer’s regular work days.

Also, if you’re in the United States and you hire someone from a country like Australia, take note that while you’re right in the middle of your Friday, they’re already into Saturday (and thus they may not be working).

• Complete the project with appropriate feedback. Here you should mention both the good things, and the things you want changed for the future.

Then be sure to follow up with a prompt payment to close out the project. (In other words, once your freelancer has delivered the final project, review it quickly so that you can make the final payment promptly.)

One last tip: if you’re using an outsourcing site, then communicate through the channels provided on the site.

This offers you some degree of protection in case there is a problem, plus it helps ensure that you’re not sending emails back and forth that may end up in a bulk email folder or otherwise get lost.

Now let’s wrap things up…

Closing Thoughts

Now that you know the four-step process for finding, hiring and managing people to help you with your product launch or with ongoing business activities, you too can start enjoying the results soon!

While the entire process can take some time upfront to comb through candidates to find the ones most suited for your needs, it’s time well spent.

So get started on the process today, and start reaping the rewards of hands-free outsourcing!

Warm regards,

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.

Product Launch Outsourcing – Evaluating And Hiring Freelancers

In this previous post, we looked at how to create a compelling advertisement that will attract the most qualified outsourcing candidates to help you with your product launch outsourcing.

Today we’re going to look at Step Three: Evaluating And Hiring Freelancers.

Because you’ve crafted such a good ad, you’re probably going to attract plenty of people offering you a variety of bids and turnaround times for your project.

So here’s how to evaluate your options…

Step 1: Check the Freelancers’ Feedback

If you’re hiring through a freelancing platform like Upwork.com, then you’ll have access to his or her ratings and feedback.

The key is to look for multiple good ratings from multiple people over an extended period of time.

That last part is important.

Sometimes freelancers who are new to a site can gather a lot of great ratings in a short period of time, such as a month or so.

They look like stellar candidates. But then, for a variety of reasons, the quality of their work can start to suffer, and/or and their delivery times can blow out substantially.

That’s why you want to look for someone who has a long, established history of providing great work, which demonstrates their professionalism and attention to detail.

TIP: Plug the freelancer’s name and/or company name into Google to uncover still more information about his business history, professionalism and quality of work.

Next…

Step 2: Browse the Freelancers’ Portfolios

Next, you want to make sure the freelancer does good work.

Take a look at samples of their work, and see if they matche your expectations.

If you don’t see a sample in the portfolio that is similar to what you’re doing, ask for one.

Step 3: Ask These Key Questions

As you evaluate freelancers, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Did the freelancer send a personal reply along with his bid?

Many freelancers bid on every project without even really understanding the project, and then they send generic responses along with their bid.

If a freelancer sends a personalized response that includes details about the project, that shows you they’ve read and understood the project.

2. Have they completed projects similar to the one you’re proposing?

f there is a certain type of skill set required to complete your project, then be sure your freelancer has experience.

For example, if you’re creating an games app for iPhones, then make sure your developer has experience creating both iPhone apps AND game apps.

3. Are there any red flags warranting choosing a different person instead?

For example, if your Google search reveals that a freelancer has complaints from his business partners, that’s a red flag that he may eventually get complaints from customers too.

Go with your gut. If it’s telling you something isn’t right, believe it.

Next…

Step 4: Review the Candidate’s Rates

You don’t want to shop around based on cost alone, which is why this is not the first step of this process.

Once you’ve created a smaller list of the highest-qualified candidates, then review their pricing to see which of these people fall into your budgeted range.

You can then hire the most qualified candidate within that range.

So now you know how to evaluate and choose the most qualified outsourcers.

But there’s one more critical thing you’ll need to know if you want to get the best results, and that’s how to manage your projects without taking up too much of your time.

And that’s what we’ll be covering for you in the next post.

Warm regards,

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.

Product Launch Outsourcing – How To Advertise For The Best Candidates

In this previous post, we looked at how to know if you should be using outsourcing some of your product launch projects, and what tasks and jobs you should be handing off to other people.

Today, we’re going to cover Step Two: Advertising To Attract The Best Candidate

Let’s get started…

If you want to attract the perfect, qualified people to your position, while repelling those who are unlikely to be a good fit, then you need to create a specific and detailed project description (or what’s called a brief) if you want to get the best results.

Here are the sorts of details to provide when you post parts of your product launch outsourcing project on a freelancing site:

• The scope of the project. Be specific about what the job entails. For example, list exactly how many words you need for a report, or how many minutes of video footage you want.

• Deadline. You can list your preferred project-delivery deadline in your ad. If you have some flexibility, then mention that as well. Later you and the freelancer sign an agreement that includes a deadline you both agree on.

• Project milestones and goals. If this is a big project, then you’ll want to outline when you expect to receive certain pieces of the project. Many people tie their payment terms into these project milestones so they don’t pay up-front for work that is never completed, or is of substandard quality.

• Delivery format. For example, if you’re hiring some to write articles, then let the freelancers know if you want them in a .txt file, .doc, .pdf or something else. (Note: It helps to be flexible, because you may miss working with a really great freelancer simply because they’re not using your preferred tools.)

• Usage of the completed project. If your freelancer knows how you’ll use the work, that may affect how they create it. For example, freelancers will create Search Engine Optimised  articles differently than pre-selling articles if that’s what you specify.

• Specific expectations. For example, do you expect your freelancer to give you a daily update via email? Or do you need him or her to jump on a once-a-week phone call? If you have these sorts of expectations and requirements, let the freelancer know upfront.

• Exclusive rights for a completed project. You should be very clear (and it should be in the contract) that you get exclusive rights to the project once your final payment has cleared. You don’t want stuff you paid for turning up all over the internet after the outsourcer sells it to other people.

• Encouragement to ask questions. Sometimes freelancers don’t want to “bother” you with questions. Be sure your freelancers know they can and should reach out any time with questions and clarifications.

• Payment terms. Here’s where you list how much you’ll pay for the project, how you’ll pay (e.g., with PayPal) and when you’ll pay. Generally, most freelancers prefer to work on a 50% down, 50% on delivery for smaller projects. For larger projects, you may create milestones tied to payments.

• Examples to use as a role model. It’s helpful to show your freelancer specific examples – not for copying purposes, but to show your freelancer the “flavor” you want. For example, you might show your content writer an example of two or three articles you really like.

• Company mission, vision and philosophy. This helps your freelancer create work that matches the company mission. For example, a customer service rep can answer inquiries in a way that matches your company’s philosophy.

• Preferred skills and abilities. This is particularly important if you’re hiring an assistant for a variety of tasks. Be very clear about they need to be able to do, what types of software they must be comfortable using, and so on.

It’s a good idea to look at other projects posted on freelancing sites to get a feel as for what types of ads get the best results.

Let me give you an example. Let’s suppose you’re posting a very simple job for five blog articles.

Here’s an example…

———SAMPLE AD———

Wanted: Skilled writer to create five blog articles about organic gardening.

You should have experience writing about gardening topics, and be able to produce samples in this niche. I’m looking for someone who can create entertaining yet educational articles that will engage readers. Some sales or copywriting experience is a plus, but not required.

Length of articles: 1000 words each (so this project is 5000 words total). I’ll provide you with titles, outlines and three to five research resources for each article. Here are the five topics: [insert topics and descriptions of each of the five articles].

Examples: Please see my blog at [yourblog.com] for examples of the style and quality of work I’m looking for. If you can meet or exceed this quality, then please bid on this job.

Style: Please check my company’s mission statement to understand how we operate. You’ll need to write articles that reflect this mission, when appropriate. [Insert mission statement or link.]

Deadline: Prefer to have these articles within three weeks, but I will make an exception for the right person.

Payment: Full payment upfront through the site’s escrow service, which you’ll receive once I approve the final work. Exclusive and full rights to the work will transfer to me once final payment is received.

Expectations: Once you begin the project, please send me daily updates to let me know how things are progressing. I prefer if the project is delivered in a .doc file.

Budget: [insert a budget range here]

If this sounds like something you can do, send me a link to your portfolio along with your bid. I look forward to hearing from you!
__________________

If you write a good ad or project description, you’ll get lots of really good people wanting the job…

So, now you know how to write a compelling ad, to attract qualified outsourcers to help you create some or all of your product launch content, or content or tasks for your general business needs.

But before you can choose the right person for your job, you’ll need to know how to evaluate and hire best candidate.

And that’s what we’ll be covering for you in the next post in this series.

Warm regards,

Rocky Tapscott

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.

How To Outsource The Product Launch Stuff You Don’t Want To Do

If you are considering using a product launch to quickly grow your business, one of the best things you can do for your sanity is to learn how to make it as hands-free as possible.

In fact, this goes for everything you do in your business.

If you can outsource the stuff you don’t want to do, the stuff you don’t like to do, and the stuff you don’t know how to do, you can focus on the more important stuff that helps you to grow and prosper.

Now if you’ve never done any outsourcing before, you might be scratching your head.

How, exactly, do you go about figuring out what to outsource, and then finding a good freelancer to complete the tasks?

That’s what this series of posts is about.

Over the next 4 posts, you’ll discover a four-step process which includes:

1. Determining Your Needs.  In this first post I’ll be explaining where, what, and when to outsource for your business.

2. Advertising Jobs.  Then in the next post, you’ll learn how to write a good job description to make sure you get what you are paying for.

3. Evaluating And Hiring Freelancers. In the 3rd post in this series, you’ll learn how to screen candidates and pick the best freelancer for your project.

4. Managing Projects.  And in the forth post, I’ll give you some battle-tested insights into making sure your projects go smoothly.

OK, now let’s walk through the first of these four parts of the process…

____________________

Step One: How To Determine Your Product Launch Outsourcing Needs

There are three questions to ask yourself to help you determine needs.

Question 1: When should you outsource?

Here are three good times when you should consider outsourcing a task:

• When you don’t have time to do the task yourself. Perhaps you have other work, family and social obligations. Or perhaps this is a low-value task, and you need to free up your time to focus on high-value tasks. These are good times to outsource.

• When you don’t know how to do the task yourself. Maybe you don’t know anything about it, so it would take too long and there would be a big learning curve. Or perhaps you just don’t know how to do it well, meaning a freelancer would be able to offer a better end result.

• When you don’t want to do the task yourself. Ever notice that you procrastinate on things you really don’t want to do? Don’t force yourself – just outsource the task to someone who’ll cheerfully produce a great end result for you.

In other words, if you’re stuck and not moving forward very quickly, then outsource the task.

Which brings us to the next question…

Question 2: What should you outsource?

The sky is the limit when it comes to outsourcing.

Let’s look at a quick list of common tasks:

• Content creation. This may your product launch content (including pre-launch content and email sequences, and even the product itself), ongoing newsletters for both prospects and customers, blog posts, social media posts, PDF reports, ebooks, video scripts, and more.

• Social media management. Your freelancer may create and post traffic generation content on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. They may also help you develop an overall social media launch strategy, depending on their skills and experience.

• Graphic design. This includes web graphics, video presentation graphics, product graphics and more.

• Planning. Here you can hire an expert to help you plan and strategize various parts of your launch and/or other parts of your business, such as marketing or your launch sales funnel.

• Data entry. This sort of task is a great one to outsource, as it’s a low-value task (which frees up your time to focus on high-value tasks), and it requires very minimal skills to complete.

• Customer support. You can hire people to both answer phones and deal with inquiries sent through your help desk. This may be a permanent position, or you may hire people temporarily during expected influxes (such as during your product launch).

• Video editing and production. Most product launches are video based these days, so unless you have skills and experience with video production, this is a task that’s best left to someone else.

• Administrative assistance. You can hire someone to help you with a myriad of day to day jobs, from research to content creation to data entry and more.

• Research. A competent freelancer can help you do market research, product research and more. Your freelancer might give you a report of their findings with links and data, or they may find the resources and let you interpret the data. It all depends on their skill set.

• Traffic generation. Generally, this involves hiring multiple experts to focus on their area of specialty (such as media buys, affiliate marketing, SEO, pay per click, etc).

• Copywriting. A sales letter or ad can make or break the success of your product launch, which is why it’s a good idea to hire a professional copywriter to create these materials for you.

• Legal services. Here’s one area where you should absolutely hire a professional. This includes creating policy documents for your site, reviewing agreements, helping you incorporate, and other legal issues that come up.

• Transcription. If you plan to include videos, audios or webinars as part of your product, you can pay somebody to transcribe them into text very inexpensively through Rev.com.

• Order fulfilment. If you’re shipping physical products, or you need to manually deliver digital bonuses for an affiliate promotion, you can hire someone else to take care of fulfilment.

• PowerPoint® presentation. If you do slide-share presentations for webinars, videos or conferences, you can hire a professional to make your presentation look great.

• Lead generation. This person can help you set up your lead page, tweak it for good conversions, and drive traffic to it.

• Installations and set up. A good freelancer can help you with everything from installing a WordPress blog, to installing complex ecommerce systems.

• Email marketing. You can hire someone to help you create your launch email sequence, as well as better autoresponder sequences that boost your open and click-through rates, meaning you’ll sell more through email.

• Accounting. A good accountant can save you money by ferreting out tax deductions that you didn’t even know about.

• Public relations. A good PR person can send out compelling press releases and land media interviews during your launch so you get additional publicity and exposure.

• Blogging. You can hire someone to create content for your blog, handle blog comments, and publish content on a regular basis.

• Document formatting. You can hire someone to format your Kindle book, ebooks or other documents, which will give your readers a great first impression.

• Affiliate recruiting. You can hire an affiliate manager to find, recruit and motivate affiliates.

• Search engine marketing. This includes SEO (search engine optimisation) as well as PPC (pay per click) marketing using platforms such as AdWords.

Next question…

Question 3: Where you should outsource?

You can cast a wide net by using one or more of the following methods:

1. Post a project to a freelancing site. This includes sites such as Guru.com, UpWork.com, and  Fiverr.com

This is the method I recommend in this report, since you get access to freelancer ratings, as well as some amount of protection through most freelancing sites.

For example, some sites run an escrow service, which protects both you and the freelancer.

2. Search Google. For example, you might search for “ghostwriter” or “software developer.”

Be sure to check the organic results as well as the sponsored results (ads).

3. Ask for recommendations from trusted sources.

This includes your colleagues, mentors, and other associates.

You can also ask on business and marketing forums or Facebook groups.

So now we’ve covered the first step in getting started with outsourcing, your head might be spinning with all of the possibilities 🙂

But before you race out and start hiring, you’ll need to know how to create a specific and detailed project description (AKA a brief) in order to find the most qualified person for the job and to get the best results.

And that’s what we’ll be covering for you in the next post.

Warm regards,

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.

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.