Archive | January, 2023

You’ve got a DYNAMITE idea for a new product and you can’t wait to get started on it – or maybe you already have. Then it happens: You see that someone else has beaten you to the punch and released a very similar product just last week. What should you do??

At this point many people will simply fold. They’ll scrap their product idea and begin a search for a new idea.

Then there’s the successful marketers who wouldn’t bat an eyelash just because someone else released a product like theirs. They would go ahead and finish their product and release it as soon as possible.

Do you know why? Two reasons: First, a successfully selling product on a particular topic means there’s room for another product on the same topic. And the reason there’s room is because of reason number 2: People who are deeply interested in a topic don’t buy just one book or just one course – they buy everything they can get their hands on.

In fact, the person who released their product ahead of yours did you a favor, because you can now see how well their product is selling. You can look for the information holes they forgot to fill and you can be the one to create a better product. You can also see what their price point is and act accordingly. If they’re priced at $17, you might want to shoot for a higher price and provide a much higher value. On the other hand, if they are selling their product at several hundred dollars, you can choose to become the affordable alternative.

So the next time you’ve got a great product idea and someone else beats you to the punch, you might want to thank them, and get excited!

One more thing – don’t be afraid to approach the other product developer and suggest doing a deal together. They might also be open to becoming your affiliate and sharing your offer with their list and customers. Yesterday’s competitors can become tomorrow’s partners.

Remember – competition can be a GREAT thing when you’re marketing online.

A coaching student recently emailed with a problem you may have encountered yourself – your sales funnel just isn’t working nearly as well as you’d like it to. Fortunately, there are proven techniques you can use to increase any sales funnel’s pulling power, from the ads you place, to your squeeze page, your blog, your sales letters and on your backend.

Here’s 17 simple ways to increase the effectiveness of your online sales funnel…

1. Ask for action. Whether it’s a Facebook ad, solo ad or a banner, a squeeze page, a sales page, even a blog post – ask your reader to take the next steps and do what you want them to do. Keep it simple and make it easy to take that action, too.

2. Always offer free information, such as blog posts, articles, reports, podcasts, videos etc. to establish yourself as an authority who can be trusted, as well as someone they just plain like.

3. Describe your lead generating free report in a way that makes it every bit as enticing as a $100 paid product.

4. Show a picture of your report or product, and don’t skimp on this. Get a good graphics designer to create a cover that looks like it belongs on the bestseller list.

5. Spend a lot of time choosing just the right title. Whether it’s a blog post, a free report or a product, give it a name or title that creates curiosity or implies a big benefit. If you can do both, you get major bonus points.

6. Include your address on your squeeze page and your sales page. Make it super easy to find on your blog. A real address (preferably with a real phone number) tells people they can trust you.

7. Use your head shot photo everywhere you can. Unless you look like an ogre (and trust me, you don’t) it’s better to have your face seen throughout your sales funnel. This makes you a real person to the prospect, not just some faceless person trying to take their money. Spend time choosing just the right photo, and even use social media to help you pick the one that makes you look like the likeable, trustworthy person you are.

8. When offering discounts, use a dollar amount, not a percentage. For example, $10 off converts better than 10% off.

9. You know those dashed lines they put around coupons? Thanks to conditioning, those lines also work online for getting attention and making sales. Try using them on your order page.

10. Give the order page “coupon” a headline that affirms positive action – ”Yes, I want to lose 30 pounds in the next 60 days.”

11. Give the customer 2 or 3 choices – perhaps a starter option, a full option and a deluxe option. Price the deluxe at slightly more than the full and you will very likely increase sales dramatically.

12. Try placing a less-heavy dashed line around your banner ads as well to stimulate response.

13. Use a direct headline – one that promises a benefit or stresses the offer of free information while invoking curiosity. Test your headlines. Test test test. Then test some more. If this seems tedious, get your VA to do it.

14. If you don’t have a VA, consider getting one. S/he can be doing the little stuff while you focus on improving your funnel.

15. Giving away a free book or consultation? Or is your price crazy low? Put it in the headline.

16. Offer a bonus unlike any other. For example, everyone offers a free ebook, recording, video, etc. Instead, offer something tangible like a real book. Have it shipped via Amazon. Obviously this bonus will only be offered on higher priced products.

17. Offer a free sample. Yes, this is old school, but it works. Offer a free 30 minute consultation, or a free chapter, or the first 3 videos of your 15 video series. If you deliver what you promise and make them want more, you’ll get sales.

One last thing: If you’re already doing all of the above and your sales are still lower than you like, you’ll want to take a look at the big picture. Is your offer a good one? Is the product something people are willing and even eager to pay for?

All the marketing in the world won’t do much to help a lousy offer. If the problem turns out to be the offer, the question to ask is whether you’re charging too much or is it simply something people don’t want? And then take the appropriate action.

Above all else, don’t give up, because the only people who truly fail are the ones who throw in the towel at the first sign of trouble.

One of the hazards they never bother to tell you about when you become an online marketer is brain fog. You know what I mean… you’ve been sitting at your computer for 10 minutes or 10 hours when you realize your brain is moving slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

And you know if you could just get your brain in gear, you could get a ton of work done today. But despite that 5th cup of coffee you still can’t seem to focus. What’s a marketer to do?

I take a cue from Nelson Mandela when this happens and I take a walk. If the weather is good, I get some sun on my face, too. Taking even just a 10 minute brisk walk outside can do wonders for your brain, and 20 is even better.

Did you know that making a habit of writing backwards with your non-dominant hand can create an abundance of new connections in your brain that make it work better, faster and more creatively? Leonardo Da Vinci filled entire journals with mirror writing – and you have to admit, the guy was no slouch when it came to intelligence or accomplishments.

Doing things that you don’t normally do, such as taking up a new interest or hobby, will also awaken sleeping parts of your brain. Make it a point to learn a new skill so well, you can teach it to others.

Try going to bed earlier. Most people don’t get enough sleep, and this is one of the biggest causes of brain fog. Sleeping in until noon isn’t good, either. As they say, moderation in all things. Get up at a decent time, drink water and exercise, and then get straight to work.

Take a mid-afternoon nap. Thomas Edison was a prolific napper and look at what he accomplished. And Winston Churchill – despite running a powerful country during a world war – set aside hours each day just for himself to nap, bathe, dress and eat in peace.

Take risks. If you’re taking a risk, it’s going to be something important to you. If it’s important, you’re going to have an enthusiasm for it. And if you’ve got enthusiasm, brain fog tends to vanish. Henry Ford believed that if you’re going to fail, you should do it fast and learn from it. In other words, stop dreaming and take some action. No one who base jumped off a bridge ever felt like they had brain fog at that moment.

Cut out the sugar. The more sugar you eat today, the more tired you will be later today and again tomorrow. It’s not worth it. No doubt you’ve seen the studies that suggest sugar is as addictive as cocaine. It makes for a great headline, but the bottom line is sugar is addictive and as we’ve known for years, it’s bad for you, too. Go 21 days without your favorite sweet tweets – whatever they may be – and see how you and your brain feel.

Bonus: When you cut out the sugar you’ll not only feel better, you’ll look better too. They did a double blind study where men were asked to rate the attractiveness of women. Those women who did not eat sugar the previous day were rated as being more attractive than those that did. Sugar not only makes you and your brain sluggish – it can also make you less beautiful or handsome.

Make health such a big priority in your life, you end up creating a product in the health niche and sell 100,000 copies. Why not? It’s been done before and it will be done many more times because there will always be people who are willing to pay to get their health and energy back. So let them pay you.

See what happens? I start out by writing a few ways to combat brain fog when you’re stuck behind a computer for too long, and I end up creating a new product.

It’s good to be an online marketer, don’t you think? The ideas are everywhere and the market for solutions never ends.

Now put away the candy and go take a brisk walk to clear your head. Then come back and get to work on building your online empire!