There’s always a lot of talk on how to recruit affiliates to promote your products, right? But what if instead of recruiting affiliates, you TRAIN affiliates?
That is, announce you’re offering affiliate training once or twice a month, live on a webinar. The training is free, come one and come all. You put out the call, and then using your own products as examples, you train them in how to make money by promoting affiliate products, especially yours.
This reminds your list month after month that they can make money promoting your stuff. It also builds loyalty, since you’re giving free training on how to make money doing this. And it forges partnerships between you and your affiliates. When they can speak to you on the webinar, or at least ask their questions and hear your voice, you’re building rapport. At the very least you will most certainly sell more products to those who attend your trainings because they now know, like and trust you.
And in addition you will begin building your own army of affiliates to promote for you all over the web and reach people you could never reach on your own. It’s a win-win all the way around, and it will only take you a couple of hours a month to do this.
There’s more to making money from your list than simply getting people ON your list. In fact, it’s once they’re on your list that the real work begins.
Because you not only don’t want them to unsubscribe, you do want them to actively look forward to hearing from you, to open and read your emails, and act on your suggestions.
Your subscribers will stay on your list if you are giving them value in the ways that they need. Tricky, huh? Because how do you know what it is that they need?
You will learn from a feedback loop
The answer is to create a feedback loop. They can tell what they want to learn and what they want to buy from you. This way you can design your products and services in a way that is exactly what your readers want.
You can get this information by using a survey to ask them for their number 1 questions on the niches or topics your list covers. SurveyMonkey.com can do this for you free.
Or you can write a blog post that asks readers to give you information on what they currently need. Be sure to specifically ask them to comment, and reply back to their comments.
Encourage comments and reply to them
Commenting back encourages even more readers to comment. Because they realize you are really paying attention to what they say.
A third option is to ask them a question in an email. It might be after your main email message. Or the entire email might be you asking them to answer your question. Ask them to “hit reply right now” to send you their answer.
You want to condition your list to work with you, to give you the information you need so that you can help them. Think of it as a team effort – you’re asking what they need, they’re telling you, you’re creating it, they’re giving you feedback, etc.
It’s not about selling and more selling. It’s about offering your subscribers what they need, whether it’s in the form of free or paid content. And as long as you’re doing that, they will not only remain on your list – they’ll also become fans who enjoy reading your emails and buying your products.
Bloggers, email marketers, copywriters, and writers of all genres. How do you keep your readers coming back for more?
By utilizing that literary gem, the cliffhanger. I’ll show you how to use cliffhangers and teasers to increase your sales, but first a little background…
We’ve all been caught up in a story only to realize it was continued in the next chapter, installment, episode or issue. And wouldn’t you know it, they ended the present installment right when something HUGE was about to happen!
A TV series called Dallas ran in the 1980’s. One of the main characters was JR and in the last episode of the season JR was mysteriously shot.
That set up a nationwide who-done-it and you could see on billboards and marquis of all sizes almost everywhere. The burning question in most everyone’s mind was, Who shot JR?
When Dallas ended their season with “Who shot JR?” it was all people talked about for the entire summer. Heck, that was over 3 decades ago, and people still refer to it today.
But what if they had shown you who shot JR before they ended the season? It’s likely no one would even remember that JR got shot at all.
What? Next Chapter? Maybe!
Just this morning I was reading a work of fiction in which one of the main characters realized he was about to be ambushed when POOF! It was the end of the chapter.
And wouldn’t you know it because the next chapter addressed an entirely different plot line of the story. Thus leaving me in suspense until I can return to my reading.
It is the suspense that keeps us watching the movie or tuning in each week to the television show or watching the News at 11. Because of that teaser they threw at us earlier in the evening that said, “Is your holiday turkey safe to eat?
Find out at 6:00,” or “Is the water you’re drinking causing you cancer? Find out tonight at 11:00.”
When writing a sales letter, promise to teach them something they really want to know. But first let’s delve more deeply into why they need your product.
And when writing blog posts, either throw out a teaser at the end that sends them to another blog post or sales letter. Or use the JR method and leave them hanging until your next post.
This technique is your new bestie
Cliffhangers and teasers can be your best friend when it comes to getting your emails opened, your sales letter read and people hanging on your every word. And if you look closely, you’ll notice I even deployed this technique in the first paragraph of this article.
You don’t need a humongous budget when you begin outsourcing. What you do need is the knowledge of HOW to get the best online workers possible.
After all, no matter how much work you outsource, it’s still your business and your reputation on the line. Not to mention the fact that better work equates to better profits, both short and long term.
Doesn’t it just make sense to find the very best people possible to work in your business?
Whether you are a seasoned pro at outsourcing or you’ve never hired anyone to do anything before, here are some proven tips. When you apply these tips, you will move your business forward with the least amount of hassle and the highest return for your money.
Clarity about the project
1. Be absolutely clear on what you want to be done. Whether you are posting a job or giving instructions to someone you’ve already hired, tell them step by step exactly what you want them to do.
The people doing the bidding can easily envision exactly what they’re doing and how long it will take. Lastly, if you are paying by the hour then this will save you money.
Your worker doesn’t need to take the time to figure out how to accomplish what you want to be done.
Be clear in your instructions
2. In being clear, consider writing out what needs to be done in a step-by-step fashion. Or you could make a video showing them exactly what to do.
This way you are not only showing your present worker what to do, but you’re also creating a blueprint for future workers to follow. In addition, if there is a hole in your plan it will become quite clear when you’re going through the steps necessary to achieve your goal.
You need a contract
3. Have an agreement or contract between you and the worker you hire. Things you might include are:
– Work you need to be done (Detailed description of what is expected)
– Deadline for the work to be done
– Payment arrangement (Amount to be paid, terms, method of payment, etc.)
– Copyright (You’ll want it to be crystal clear that you own all copyrights)
– Non-disclosure (Your worker is not to reveal anything that goes on inside your business, etc.)
Research your prospective hire
4. Check out your worker prior to hiring them. Check out their portfolio, references, feedback, etc.
You might also Google them. Try to get an idea of the kind of work this person does and whether or not they meet deadlines. Also important is how well they communicate with you.
Starting small reduces the risk
5. Start with something small and work up from there. If you’ve never hired someone before, choose a small job first.
It makes it easier for you to get your feet wet. Starting with a small job first also minimizes your risk allowing you to experience something wonderful.
Enjoy the feeling of someone else handling that small chore that you don’t enjoy doing anyway.
Give them a larger task
6. Find the workers who do well with the small jobs and then give them bigger tasks to do. Rather than hiring someone for a large project, let them show you what they can do with a small one first.
They’re testing the waters with you too, finding that you do indeed pay on time and you’re someone they can work with. And you’re finding out what kind of work they do, if they meet deadlines, and if their style meshes with yours.
If it’s a good fit, offer them more work and bigger jobs. If not, move on.
This is a big and important tip
7. For any big job, you don’t want to pay all at once. For example, rather than paying all upfront or all when the job is done, you might pay 25% upfront to get started.
Pay them another 25% when the job is half done, and pay the last 50% when they finish the job. This provides them with plenty of incentive to keep working, since they know you pay and there is more money to come.
Plus, if the work isn’t to your satisfaction, you can stop the work before you’ve shelled out too much money.
Share contact information
8. You need to share your real contact information so they know how to contact you if they have questions they can’t find the answer to. It’s important that they and your project not get stalled simply because they’re missing a key piece of information.
9. Tell them to keep in touch daily. You might ask them to send you a report at the end of the day detailing what they accomplished on the project.
Or they can share any challenges they’re facing and of course, any questions they might have.
Mutual respect is important
10. Keep your work relationships professional. That is, don’t hire your best buddy because he needs the work – you’ll only end up with problems.
Also, if someone you hire is really nice but not performing, you’ve got to set aside your feelings and deal with the situation from a business standpoint. This is, after all, your livelihood.
11. Let your workers know exactly what you expect and give lots of feedback. Don’t make them wonder if they’re doing a good job, tell them.
Be cautious and don’t just pick out the one mistake they made in the 100 articles they wrote for you. Also, tell them what they did right and let them know you appreciate their work.
Positivity and understanding go further
The more positive feedback you can give, the harder they will work for you. When it becomes necessary, the easier it will be for them to accept constructive criticism as well.
12. If you think you might change your mind, let them know ahead of time. For example, you decide to take a project in a certain direction, all the while wondering if you shouldn’t be doing it differently.
You let them know might be changing things halfway through, and if it comes to pass they’ll be ready for it.
Communication with respect is huge
13. You always treat your workers with the utmost respect. It goes without saying, but I will anyway: Just because they’re working for you doesn’t mean they are less than you.
You being respectful of your workers will yield you 10–fold in goodwill and hard work. Think back to when you had a boss – who did you go the extra mile for?
Do you want to be the boss who yelled and screamed and put you down? Or the boss who was positive, treated you with respect, and brought out the best in you?
You be the good boss and you will have workers who are loyal and ready to set aside their other work to get yours done faster and better.
No doubt you’ve been told to avoid using “hype” in your copywriting and sales messages, right? And I’ll bet there have been times when you’ve closed a sales letter page because the hype was too ridiculous for words. But when it comes to defining hype and especially to determining how much is just right, the water gets murky and no two marketers can give you the same answer.
That’s because “hype” is subjective. One prospect’s perception of hype is another prospect’s perception of just the right sales message to get them to buy.
In addition, you need some hype to sell. No hype equals no excitement, which means no sale.
Here’s what I mean:
Sales message example #1: “This system is for sale for $33.33, here’s the order button.”
Now you’ve got to admit, that’s hype-free. It’s also benefit-free, boring, and will capture the interest of just about nobody.
Of course, if the system is already well-known and you’re discounting it to 5 bucks, you’ve made a sale. But if you’re selling a good product at a reasonable price, you’re going to have to turn on the hype.
Here goes:
Sales message example #2: “This Revolutionary New System Cuts Your Work in Half While Tripling Your Productivity.”
Not bad, and certainly worthy of further investigation if you’re interested in getting more work done in less time. And yes, there is hype for sure, especially in the words “revolutionary” and “new”.
Just not so much that it raises red flags and causes your prospect to tune out.
Sales message example #3: “The Easy System that Earns You a Thousand Dollars a Second with NO Work.”
Looking at the words themselves, there isn’t much in the way of hype. We didn’t say it’s the greatest system in the world.
Or that everyone loves it, or that there’s never been anything like it since the beginning of time. However, is it believable?
No. And therefore, the promise is just so much hype in the ears of the prospect and doesn’t offer enough substance.
Hyped? I don’t think so. This message offers a specific benefit in exchange for a specified amount of work – 5 hours.
The amount doesn’t sound unreasonable because we’ve all seen examples. A few hours of work result in a monthly income of several hundred or even a couple of thousand dollars per month.
Most importantly, the reader isn’t being promised something for nothing, which will ALWAYS instill doubt in a prospect. It sounds honest, it doesn’t sound hyped, and it’s completely plausible.
What have we learned from these examples? Plenty. First, if you don’t use some hype you’re never going to sell much of anything. People need to get excited before they’ll whip out their wallets and they need to see a clear benefit to making the purchase. They WANT to be fired up, they want to feel their heart race a bit and experience that adrenaline rush of getting a great deal. The better you can extrapolate how the features of your product will benefit the consumer and improve their life, the more likely they are to click the order button.
Second, be believable. Making wild claims is the ultimate in hype – and if you can’t back those claims with rock solid absolute undeniable proof, you’re better off not making those claims at all.
Third, be specific. “Make $2,000 a month!” sounds much more like hype than “Earn $2,078.55 a month.” Why? Because the specific number is more credible, as though it’s already been done. “Type Faster” doesn’t mean much, but “Type 15 Words Per Minute Faster after Just 4 Lessons” tells the prospect exactly what to expect. Non-specific claims and rounded numbers just naturally sound like hype, regardless of whether or not they’re factual.
Fourth, tell them what the catch is. This goes right back to being believable, because if you tell someone they can get a great benefit, they immediately want to know what the catch is. Often this equates to price, but if you can show a different catch, such as “5 hours,” then you take their mind off of price and onto the question of, “What do I need to do for 5 hours to make that $1,439 a month?”
And by the way – normally an article like this would start out with the definition of hype, but I wanted to save this gem for the end. Here’s what hype really means:
Hype: Verb meaning to stimulate or excite
Hype: Noun meaning extravagant or exaggerated claims
As you can see, hype is good so long as we strive to stimulate and excite, rather than exaggerate or stretch the truth.
Regardless of what you’re writing, whether you’re writing a blog post, an article, or a sales message. Your copy should sound personal and relevant to the person reading it.
You don’t want to sound like you’re writing a textbook to a class of students or a news article to the masses. Instead, your tone should be similar to a one-on-one conversation with a friend.
So how can you achieve this “tone of a conversation” with a friend? With a little research, a healthy dose of imagination, and the writer’s trick below, you will learn to write interesting copy.
Try this writer’s trick to help you
This is one of those tricks that natural writers do without thinking and makes their copy interesting. The rest of us can learn this trick with just a little practice and persistence.
What you’re going to do is create a “persona” of your ideal reader and their lifestyle. For example, if you’re writing a sales letter, use one of your customers and their demographics as the persona framework.
Hopefully, you have a good idea of who your customers are and what they want from life. And if not, you might want to engage in some research to find out what their age group wants.
Now write a bio for your customer with the goal of answering these questions: Is your customer male or female?
What is their age and where does he/she live? Decide what is their occupation and what are their likes and dislikes? What are their desires and what are their goals?
You get the idea that you’re creating this person just as if they were real and sitting there in the room with you. Picture them in your mind, or choose a photo from the Internet so you can see them and even talk to them.
Create a conversation with your persona
Now for the fun part: Make friends with this customer. Imagine having a face-to-face chat about your latest product or the blogpost you’re about to write.
What do you tell him or her and what questions do they have? Do they understand what you’re saying, or do they need clarification?
If you’re thinking you can’t do this then it simply means you’re out of practice. All children have imaginary conversations in their heads and you did as well.
This is your chance to let your subconscious mind go to work. Fill in the words your persona would say to you in a conversation.
You’ll be surprised by what you discover because you’re opening the door to the knowledge you didn’t even know you had.
Time to write to your persona
Now then, once you’ve got a good sense of who your persona is, go ahead and write. Write that blog post or article or sales message directly to your persona just as you would write a personal letter.
When you are writing, you will write as if it is just the two of you having an intimate conversation.
And if all of this sounds terribly silly, don’t worry. Just try it.
You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much better your writing can become when you’re writing to that one specific persona.
Here is a bonus that can happen
As you get to know your persona better and better, you might try asking him or her questions. Then quietly listen for the answers.
Your persona may even tell you why your marketing is falling short. Or how to market your product for more sales, and even what product to create.
Create another persona with a different lifestyle
Once you’re well acquainted with your first persona, consider getting a second one that is quite different from the first. For example, if your niche is Internet marketing and your persona is a 50-year-old male.
He’s looking to make extra money to sock away for retirement. Well, your second persona might be a 22-year-old looking to earn a full-time living online as fast as possible.
Perhaps you choose a newly divorced 35-year-old mother of 3 trying to make ends meet.
These personas will make your writing come alive and be more interesting to your readers. You will also access useful and sometimes brilliant information and insights.
The insights you receive might take you by complete surprise and also significantly add to your bottom line.
When you’re struggling to write your latest blog post, you probably don’t want to have to worry about SEO, too.
There is one theory that says you shouldn’t. After all, if you start focusing on SEO, then you won’t be writing the best content possible for your audience.
But is it really an either/or type of situation? It would be nice to get free Google traffic from your articles and blog posts.
So without going crazy about how to structure your writing, what to add, and what to leave out.
With that in mind, here are a few tips from the pros on how to do exactly that:
1: Your Writing Needs to Be Excellent
The content should be unique, high quality, and written to professional standards.
Do this, and Google will likely reward you.
If any part of you is interested in buying those spun articles that were prevalent years ago – don’t even think about it. Don’t even consider using them simply to pad out your website.
Google will look for them, Google will find them, and Google will penalize you for them.
(This sounds like a Liam Neeson movie…)
2: Longer is Not Necessarily Better
One popular strategy is to write a longer, more in-depth piece than anyone else. But it’s never that simple.
If you look at the web pages that have you beat in the SERPs right now, you can see for yourself how good they are and how long they are. But are they well-written?
Do they answer the questions that customers are having? And do they understand what searchers are looking for?
You might be able to beat them by being more succinct and to the point. If you can convey the information in fewer words without losing anything, then do it.
Any searcher will tell you they’re after the info, not a super long article because they have nothing better to do with their day.
That said, don’t write short just for the sake of fitting onto a mobile screen. Shortchanging your reader isn’t going to cut it, so remember to tell the whole story.
3: Write for People, Not Bots
True, your grammar and style should be the best. If it’s not, get yourself an editor who knows what he/she’s doing – it will pay dividends in the long run.
When you’re writing, ask yourself who your audience is and what their pain is. If you can put yourself in their shoes, you can write a better piece that your audience loves.
When you’re doing your keyword research, focus on your audience. How big is your audience, where are they, what do you know about their demographics and what should your content be about?
Get the answers right and you’ll know how to write your copy.
Don’t write according to something Yoast SEO tells you. Millions of people are already doing this.
Instead, write according to the rules and advice here. And write for PEOPLE, not SEO plugins. You should start seeing better results.
6: User Experience Still Counts
An enjoyable read is a much better experience for your audience than some dry-as-dirt academic paper.
Likewise, having a page that’s easy to read and understand is crucial, too.
Make your headline big, your sub-headlines clear and easy to understand, and make sure your content is easy to navigate.
Bottom Line: Write with your READER in mind, not the search bots, and you’ll likely do fine (actually, much better).
Sometimes when you sell within a post, it annoys people. But no one is upset at a P.S. at the end that says, “Hey, go check out my related product here.” In fact, most people appreciate that.
Almost nothing is better than having your own product. Because you not only keep 100% of the sale price when you sell it – you can also get affiliates to sell it for you.
Thus you’re simultaneously building your list and bank account through the efforts of others.
How To Create Your Own Products
So how do you crank out products quickly and easily that people are hungry to buy? I’ve compiled a list of proven methods.
None of these should take you longer than 7 days, with most taking only a few hours.
Search Amazon for authors in your niche. Authors are often eager for the chance to share their knowledge and plug their latest book. And so they’re open to being interviewed.
And on Amazon, you can find an author on just about any niche topic you want to pursue.
Look for authors on ClickBank. ClickBank is divided into niches so it’s easy to search. Choose your niche and look at the gravity of each product within that niche.
Be looking to find something with a high gravity (100+). This means that the product is selling well, and this might be a good person to interview.
Do case studies. This is a bit different because instead of interviewing your subject on his expertise, you’re asking specifically how he/she did one particular thing.
2. Use What You Know by Recording Your Own Tips and Tricks.
You may not think you have skills that others want to learn, but odds are you do. Maybe you know how to write a great blog post in 10 minutes.
Or how to lose 50 pounds in 3 months, or how to swap out the engine on a ’57 Chevy.
You can either turn this knowledge into a report or ebook or record it as videos or audio. Once you start breaking down what you do step-by-step, you might be surprised at how much you know.
And if there’s a market for what you know, you’ve got yourself a viable product.
Don’t ever discount your own knowledge. For example, if you’re in the internet marketing niche and you’ve only been working in it for six months.
You still know things that people who are just starting out don’t know. Those things can be turned into your own unique product.
Have you written a bunch of articles and blog posts? Maybe you’ve got enough there to create your own book.
Do you have videos that you’ve made, audios, etc? Can you package this content into a product? Repurposing your own content is a great way to make a completely self-created product very quickly.
4. Co-Create a Product with Someone Else.
Team up with someone who has the skills you don’t and vice versa. Perhaps you’re a good writer and they have the knowledge.
Or you have the personality to make the videos and they have the background in the niche. Decide in the beginning what needs to be done and who will do what, and the deadline for completion.
The benefits here are two-fold. First, two heads and two sets of experience are better than one.
And second, by working as a team you are accountable to each other. Also, the product is likely to get created quite quickly with no procrastination or stalling getting in the way.
So that’s 4 ways to create products super fast. Get inspired, take action and you can have your own product created and selling online within the next 7 days, or less. Go for it!
