Archive | June, 2022

I know a guy who lives in a remote part of Oregon.

He’s got a long scraggly beard, dresses in jeans and flannel shirts, and drives a new car.

By day he fishes and hikes.

By night he visits with his friends in the bar, or kicks back and watches TV.

He takes several long vacations each year.

He hires someone to do his yard work and maintain his house.

He never works – because he doesn’t have to.

And he’s lived like this since the 70’s.

Did he inherit a lot of money? Win the lottery? Rob a bank?

Nope. He grew up poor, never went to college, and hasn’t worked since he was 22.

What he did do was write a hit song. Just one.

And that song continues to pay him residuals to this day.

He did something once, and is still getting paid for it all these decades later.

So there you have it. Just write a hit song performed by a very famous person, and you are set for life.

What’s that? You don’t write songs?

Okay, then you might try the online marketing version of this residual game.

It’s called make a ‘sale once, get paid for months or maybe even years.’

Of course we’re talking about residual programs, and there are two basic ways you can profit: Promote someone else’s program, or create your own.

If you’re promoting someone else’s residual program, you’ve got several benefits.

• You never have to create membership content or maintain and update the software as a service
• You never have to worry about customer service concerning the program
• You don’t have to create the sales page, the membership site and so forth.
• All you do is send traffic and profit. That’s it.

Pretty sweet deal, right?

And don’t be fooled by the first month’s commission, either.

For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide between promoting Program A and Program B. Both programs are converting at the same rate.

Program A pays out $50 one time on a $100 sale.

Program B pays out $15 each month on a $30 sale.

Members of Program B tend to stick for a long time, because the product is something they need for their business. In fact, the average customer retention rate is 7.2 months, which is fantastic.

With Program A, you make $50. But with Program B, you make $108.

As you can see, if possible you want to find out how long the average customer ‘sticks’ to the program.

Software as a service tends to retain people for longer periods of time, assuming the software does what it’s supposed to. Hosting is a great example of this, because once people set up their website with a host, they tend to stick with that same host for years or for as long as there is no problem.

However, there are many information oriented membership programs that also retain members for a good long time as well.

To find residual programs you might want to promote, you can begin by Googling, “affiliate residual programs.” You’ll find lists full of them – more than you can ever promote yourself.

But having your own program can be even better, if you’re willing to put in the work.

• You can have affiliates promote it for you, making hundreds and even thousands of sales you would never get on your own
• You can make a lot more money – a LOT more money
• You can build a stable of affiliates who like and trust you, and will promote future programs for you.

But…

You have to create the program. And make no mistake, there is work involved.

If you’re selling software as a service, then you need to have the software developed, tested, tweaked and hopefully glitch free when you launch.

If you’re selling informational memberships, you’ll need to create a membership site and add content to it on a very regular basis.

And in either case you’ll need to deal with customer service, building the sites, writing the sales letters and so forth.

That said, it’s not as difficult as it sounds.

For your first membership site, I recommend you keep it simple. Find a target market that is eager for great information on their topic.

Then create a newsletter targeted to this market. Write the sales letter and newsletter as though you are speaking to just one person. Keep the price low – so low that it’s a no-brainer.

See? Not so hard after all.

If you’re going to do the work of bringing customers to a sales page, why not get paid for it over and over again?

Imagine this: One year from now you are earning money from not one, but twelve different residual programs.

Month after month you get checks for work you did six months or even a year ago.

How great will that feel?

If that feeling excites you, get to work and go make it happen!

Your customers are bombarded daily by the same types of offers – so how can you stand apart from the crowd?

Let’s take the online marketing niche as an example: Everyone is proclaiming to have THE product that will enable ANYONE to make a million dollars this year, or more.

Prospects are confused because there are simply too many choices. What they need is some relief from the continuous barrage of similar looking offers.

Here you come, offering not to sell them the latest greatest program, but instead help them to solve the problem they have right now.

What is their immediate problem? It’s not making a million dollars this year. But it is learning how to make enough money to quit the job they hate.

You offer a Facebook group that is aimed at replacing their salaries and allowing them to quit their job.

Finally, they found someone who is meeting them where they are, instead of tying to call them to the top of Mt. Everest. Because let’s face it, when you’re not making a dime online, making a million bucks seem about as likely as scaling Everest with no prior training.

Instead of being one of many gurus, you position yourself as the guy next door who works on cars and does gardening, and also happens to have a thriving internet business. Sure, you’ll teach them what you know over a few cups of coffee and some good conversation.

Now who wouldn’t jump at that?

There’s two elements at play here:

First, you’re breaking down that sky-high goal into something people truly believe they can achieve.

Become an Olympian athlete? Not likely. Lose 20 pounds and feel and look better? Yes!

Date the hottest models on the planet? No honest man is going to believe that. But be able to get dates with the nice women they meet through their work or hobbies? Now that they believe.

Second is your own positioning. Instead of being THE Diet Expert or THE Dating God or THE Internet Marketing Guru, you are a normal, everyday person.

Think about who you are – stay at home mom? Nutritionist? Astronomer? Astrologist? Doctor? Airplane mechanic? Crafter? Gardener? Cat lover? Write down the things you like the most about yourself.

Now how can you incorporate that into your chosen niche? You might be the cat lady who teaches diet and nutrition, or the shade tree mechanic who also teaches bodybuilding. Or maybe the prolific gardener who also teaches online marketing.

Whatever the case, use your own life to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

By doing these two things – starting with goals your audience believes they can achieve and being a person they can relate to – you’ll stand apart from any competition.

Your message will become crystal clear and people who need your message will flock to you. You’ll also be much more memorable as the ‘sky writing physical trainer’ than any of the other thousands of people teaching physical training online.

And there’s another benefit as well.

People will believe you because you come across as human. You show your mistakes, and you talk a little bit about yourself.

What you don’t show is ridiculous claims, Lamborghinis, mansions and yachts parked on tropical beaches.

We talk about targeting the right people for your product, but just how valuable is it to know your audience?

Here’s a quick case study of a deodorant that became a top seller through nothing more than pinpoint targeting of its customers:

In Brandwashed: Tricks Companies use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy, we learn how Axe Deodorant took over their market through targeting.

Unilever executive David Cousino tells us that Unilever first analyzed the potential male deodorant user by breaking men down into six profiles:

• The Predator — He takes advantage of drunk girls, and lies about his job and where he lives
• Natural Talent — Athletic, smart, and confident. He doesn’t need to lie to score
• Marriage Material — Humble and respectful, he’s the sort of guy you want to bring home to Mom and Dad
• Always the Friend — He always hits that glass ceiling
• The Insecure Novice — He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing, and things get awkward fast — the geeks and nerds
• The Enthusiastic Novice — He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing, but he’s outgoing and tries valiantly anyway

Based on these six profiles, they chose to target the ‘Insecure Novice,’ since these are the guys who need the most help in getting women.

And frankly, this is the target market that could most easily be persuaded into buying a product – ANY product – that could potentially help them get over their nerdiness and get the woman. Or women. Lots of women.

The next step was to create the ads. Research showed that the ultimate male fantasy isn’t to have just one woman at a time – it’s to be irresistible to several sexy women at once. (Seriously, did they really need research to determine this?)

That’s why the TV ads proclaim that if you use Axe Deodorant, you will get the chicks. ALL the chicks.

The result?

Axe came out of nowhere to be the #1 male antiperspirant / deodorant brand.

Notice they weren’t targeting EVERY man. They didn’t target married men, old men, men who could already get women on their own and so forth. They targeted ONE demographic – men in their 20’s and 30’s who were nerdy and had trouble getting women.

But in the process, they had a great deal of crossover into the other groups as well.

This is an added benefit of targeting that most marketers don’t realize. They think in order to get the biggest share of the market, they must target everyone.

But when you target everyone, you tend to get almost no one. Paradoxically, when you target one specific group, you tend to get customers from all the other groups as well.

One side note: In this case, Axe’s marketing worked almost TOO well. High school kids were completely dousing themselves in Axe, thinking they would get every girl in class to fall all over them.

Instead, school districts complained of kids reeking of the cologne-like smell.

How could Axe have fixed this? Perhaps by cautioning its users that because of the power of Axe, a normal amount was actually more effective than going full coverage.

Instead, Axe backpedaled a bit from their original campaign, and sales declined.

Which is another lesson – when you find a target market that works for your product – or better still, you target your product to the right market – don’t change what’s working.

Here’s what you can do:

• Make a list of potential target markets for your next product.
• From that list, choose the market – or demographic – you want to target.
• Create a profile of ONE person in that market – this is your ideal customer.
• Tailor your product and your message to that one person.
• Dance around your office as you see the sales come flooding into your in box.

Stop targeting everyone and start targeting your ideal customer. Once you do, it will become clear how you should market, where you’ll find your customers, and how to get them on board. And yes, your sales will almost certainly increase.