An Interesting Discovery
Through a recent fascinating discovery, I have come across a captivating story shared by an individual with extensive record in launching digital products online.
This story unfolds through a series of letters that I plan to share with you here.
The letters provide a unique perspective from someone deeply entrenched in the world of digital product launching, offering insights and insider knowledge that are truly invaluable.
Whether you’re considering creating paid content or starting an online business, these letters are bound to offer something new and enlightening.
I will present these letters exactly as they were written by our seasoned product launcher – one letter at a time.
These are the genuine confessions of someone deeply immersed in the art of launching products online.
Get ready for a journey unlike any other. Sit back, fasten your seatbelt, and prepare to delve into the world of a Pathological Product Launcher.
Create, Package, Release.
In 2015, my perspective on digital product launching changed when I started studying a professional marketer.
Prior to that, my launches were taking too long with not enough payoff, making me question the sustainability of my efforts.
The process seemed overly cumbersome with numerous tasks to handle.
However, this marketer simplified the digital product launch into three basic steps: Create, Package, Release.
This revelation was eye-opening because it stripped away the unnecessary complexities I had added to the process.
By creating a product that solves a problem, packaging it with a sales page and marketing materials, and releasing it to targeted traffic, success could be achieved.
This simplified approach resonated with me, reminding me of Einstein’s quote about understanding something well enough to explain it simply.
This marketer’s teachings, including time compression and affiliate recruitment strategies, were invaluable.
But the core concept of “Create, Package, Release” has the potential to propel anyone to great success in digital publishing.
The power of simplification, when properly understood and applied, can lead to significant achievements.
Rule of Mirrors
When starting an online business, one quickly learns the crucial role that content plays in driving success.
The internet thrives on fresh, engaging content to keep things moving. Staying relevant in a fast-paced market requires a constant flow of new content.
Personally, I realized early on that I couldn’t keep up with churning out content day after day like a machine.
I needed to find ways to maximize the value of my content and make my presence known in my niche without burning out.
One strategy that has been incredibly effective for me is what I call the Rule of Mirrors.
It’s a simple concept that has helped me generate income and maintain a strong online presence.
The Rule of Mirrors essentially states that for every piece of free content you create, there is a paid counterpart, and vice versa.
This concept of mirroring allows for leveraging your content in different ways, creating options and opportunities for monetization.
Just like Einstein’s groundbreaking Theory of Relativity challenged traditional views on gravity, the Rule of Mirrors challenges the way we think about content creation and monetization.
By looking at familiar concepts in a new light, we can uncover innovative ways to maximize the value of our content assets.
Instead of simply releasing content and moving on, we should view each piece of content as a valuable asset that can be leveraged in multiple ways over time.
By creating options for additional content based on existing pieces, we can expand our offerings and reach a wider audience.
For instance, a free YouTube video can be repurposed into a paid special report or a video walkthrough, creating new revenue streams from existing content.
This approach not only adds value to the original content but also opens up opportunities for upselling and cross-promotion.
In essence, the Rule of Mirrors is about maximizing the potential of your content by creating complementary pieces that enhance the overall value proposition.
By thinking creatively and looking beyond the obvious, you can unlock new possibilities for monetization and growth in your online business.
Many times, if you write an article, record an audio, video or produce any other kind of content, you put it out there and move on. It’s inefficient thinking.
The problem is that it disrespects the fact that the content you created is an asset. Assets can be leveraged in multiple ways for years.
Not only that, it ignores the fact that with every piece of content you create…
…you also create an option for an additional piece of content.
For example, if I created a youtube video teaching you 5 ways to get more traffic to your website, I could then create a 15 page special report that takes those 5 ways, expounds upon them and adds 6 additional ways.
I could sell that special report for 10 bucks. I could promote it with my free youtube video.
I could add an upsell. That upsell would be simple. I’d take the special report and turn it into a mind map.
I’d then record a video of me walking people through the topics on the mind map.
So the information is the same, however the access has changed.
It all started with a free video, but we already have turned that into 2 paid products that we can promote with the free video.
That’s the power of the Rule of Mirrors. That’s the power of asking a question, and that’s the power of thinking outside the box.
Toma and the Free Line.
In the realm of online marketing, establishing Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) crucial for success.
Just like well-known running shoe brands come to mind when thinking of buying new shoes, businesses must strategically position themselves in the minds of their target audience.
This can be achieved through consistent advertising or by providing valuable free content on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok.
While paid ads can be effective, they can also be costly and risky for beginners.
Therefore, focusing on creating and sharing free content is a more accessible strategy for building TOMA.
However, a common concern is how to sell products or services when giving away valuable information for free.
This is where the concept of the Free Line comes into play.
The Free Line represents the boundary between free content and paid offerings.
It’s essential to determine where this line lies and what the difference is between the two types of content.
The key is to provide valuable free content while also identifying opportunities for more in-depth, paid content that offers additional value to customers.
As someone who creates both free and paid content, I approach the Free Line on a case-by-case basis.
I aim to provide solutions to real problems through free content, while always considering what the paid version of that content could offer.
This may involve adding more detailed information, multimedia components, or exclusive access to enhance the value for customers.
Ultimately, the goal is to make a meaningful impact on the target audience and effectively differentiate between free and paid offerings in the online business landscape.
I don’t mind solving real problems with free content. But every piece of free content I create always comes with a question as well.
What would the paid version of this content look like?
If I create a 21 minute Medium story that teaches people how to specifically make money using a particular platform then…
I want to know in my mind what the paid version of that article would look like?
Maybe I would go into more detail on each step. Maybe I would add a video presentation and a mind map.
Maybe I would change the access from personal use to private label rights.
There are a lot of ways I could go with it, and it’s completely reasonable for me to have a dedicated way I would do it (a system,) but the point is this way of approaching the free line gives me freedom with my free content.
The fact is when you move the free line up, in terms of value, your market will subconsciously move up the value of what’s on the other side of that line.
It doesn’t mean that every piece of free content you put out needs to be some kind of ridiculous epic mAsTeRpIeCe of VaLuE…
…it just means that you have the freedom to take your free content in almost any direction.
It’s about options and flexibility.
The Offer is the King.
The offer is the King. And nobody is more important than the King.
But what is this elusive “great offer” scenario? How do you create it? How do you automate the process?
Well…like many things that can make you a sh*t load of money, it’s hard to quantify. Let me list the parts of a great offer and explain them:
One) The product itself – Is it good? Does it solve a problem
Two) The USP – What is the unique selling proposition? How is this different from a thousand other products that advertise the same problem solution.
Three) The Bonuses – what are the extras you are stacking to compliment the product?
Four) Identify The Target Market – Your sales page should clearly identify who this offer is for.
Five) The Rationale – Why are you offering this product right now? With rationale you are usually giving them a reason why you are saving them time, saving them money, making things easier for them, or making them money.
Six) The Discount – This is self explanatory. However it is important to have a “why” when you discount. With my products I have 3 price points:
- a) The retail price, which is the actual price, but I rarely set products at this.
- b) The standing discount, which I usually leave products here on an experimental pricing basis. It is flexible and can change. However, it is always below retail. The reason is the testing of price points.
- c) The launch discount, which is the lowest possible price I will go that I use during the 4 day launch cycle of my products when they first are released. The reason is the launch being an event.
Seven) The Guarantee – It is important to have a very clearly defined refund/guarantee policy in place that is clearly visible on your sale page, and it is important to honor that. So don’t overextend yourself with an outlandish guarantee. Be fair and be ethical. In terms of “the offer,” the guarantee should be as good as you can make it to stack value in the eyes of your prospects.
Eight) The Urgency – The fear of loss is always greater than the promise of gain. So adding some kind of scarcity to your offer is essential. It would be foolish not to do this.
Nine) The Payment Options – Payment options is how someone is going to pay for your product or service. It matters because not everybody has access to the same payment options. That can be a barrier to entry. Also when you are dealing with mid-ticket and high-ticket products this can include payment installments.
So if you look at these above parts, you can see how this could be followed and repeated over and over to great success online.
The problem?
Every one of those parts is a discipline in and of itself. They require practice and study to get them right, and even when you feel like you have them right…
…suddenly the market shifts and you will have to adjust. What was right with discounts 3 years ago suddenly doesn’t make sense today.
Guarantee policies change based on risk and trends.
The usp alone. I could spend hours talking with you about that one particular discipline. How to come up with a good USP?
In the world of low ticket products I judge a USP for my product based on two things:
First) Does it solve a problem for my market? It’s fine if this problem has been solved before. The world never gets sick of another pizza place.
Second) Does it show potential affiliates something a little different that they haven’t seen before? This is important. How is it different? This is the heart of the USP.
I’ve made a lot of money selling digital products over the years and at different times in my career I have put emphasis on the wrong things.
When I started, I had a major emphasis on the product. It was all about the product.
Then I remember when I put all this emphasis on the sales page and the copy, and I became obsessed about conversion rates in my funnels.
I’ve been doing this for years so I could give you a lot of examples…
…but the point is once I started focusing on “The Offer” and respecting the fact that the offer is king…
A Lot of that other stuff just didn’t matter as much.
A good offer can be sold almost effortlessly on an ugly sales page with not so great copy.
A bad offer is hard to sell no matter WHAT you say on that sales page.
The offer is the King, and nobody is more important than the King.
The 3 Parts To A Successful Sales Page.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Yeah, that’s quoted all over the place. You hear people saying it all the time. However, many people don’t know where it comes from.
It was a woman by the name of Mary Ann Evans who said that when she wrote a book called, “The Mill and the Floss” way back in 1860.
However, you won’t find her name on the cover of that book.
She used a pen name, “George Eliot” because she felt at the time, women writers were not taken seriously.
It’s ironic if you think about it, because she was in a roundabout way saying that she believed people WOULD in fact judge her by her “cover.”
They were words of wisdom though, whether people follow them or not. And they are especially important for the topic of sales pages and sales letters.
For years I have tried out different styles of sales pages.
I have done them myself and I have spent lots of money hiring graphic designers and copywriters to do them for me.
I have split tested until I was cross-eyed and tested so much that at one point I was literally running multiple sales pages with every single launch I did, right from the beginning just for the purpose of testing.
You know what I figured out after all that testing?
None of it really mattered that much. The offer is the king. Not the sales page and not the sales copy. The offer.
Now I run the same style sales page for pretty much all of my offers. It’s a very streamlined approach. I’ll explain it to you here.
As far as the page design, I go simple. Solid color background with a white framed box in which the sales copy sits.
Lately, I have been very keen to use “post-it note” yellow as my background color because…
…well the theory is that I’ve never seen a post-it note stuck to a wall that I didn’t try to at least casually read.
Maybe that matters, probably it doesn’t. I think the solid color is important so that it draws people’s eyes to the words and away from the background. That’s about it.
Now, the copy.
For me, the copy breaks down into 3 simple parts.
Part 1) The Captivation – that is to say whatever people see above the fold in the first 10 seconds of hitting your sales page. That would include the first 10 seconds of a VSL.
Part 2) The Convincing – this is the stuff in the middle. The features, the benefits, the why, the what, the who, the when.
Part 3) The Purchase – This is basically making sure that you have enough buy buttons in place, and that they work.
Now, when I do a product launch I am looking for at least a 10% conversion rate on the front end offer if I am running warm traffic.
By warm traffic I mean traffic from my email lists and referral traffic from affiliates.
If I’m not getting 10% then I’m wasting traffic and I need to figure out where the disconnect is happening on my sales page.
I’ll tell you where the disconnect happens 9 out of 10 times though.
It’s the Captivation. There is something within the first 10 seconds of them hitting your sales page that makes them confused, or makes them think this offer is not for them.
You have not conveyed your USP properly with that headline and that “above the fold” area. If my conversions are lower than 10% I do two things…
First, I’ll make sure I have enough buy buttons and make sure they are working right.
But more importantly, I’ll adjust my headline to try and better convey my USP.
Listen, the headline needs to be simple. If you get too wordy with a headline you will lose people.
“This Secret Traffic Source Can Get You Visitors NOW!”
Is better than…
“After 19 Days Of Testing, I’ve Finally Discovered A Largely Ignored Traffic Source That Can Potentially Get You Free Traffic Today!”
People skim more than they read when they aren’t even sure they are interested in what they are looking at.
So the name of the game with The Captivation is impact. You must create impact.
People commonly make the mistake of reworking their entire sales letter when their conversions are not meeting expectations.
IN my opinion that is a complete waste of time and energy.
It’s almost always going to be the captivation that needs adjusted. So that is where you should spend your time and energy on the sales page.
Making sure that the captivation portion of the sales letter is conveying your offer in a simple and impactful way, is critical.
Thoughts on Sales Funnels.
I can tell you several things about sales funnels that might help you, especially if you are new and feeling a little intimidated by the process of coming up with a bunch of products for the funnel…
…after you’ve just spent a good amount of time on the initial product. I get it.
However, like so many things in this game, I have found that the sales funnel is about perception. How do you see it?
With a sales funnel it is important to firstly remember it’s not just about adding more products, it can also be about changing the access of the front end product.
For example, if I have a 25 page special report on traffic getting as a front end product, could I not turn it into a mind map and do a video presentation walking people through that mind map?
Of course I could.
Then I could rip the audio of that video presentation, go over to a website like Descript(dot)com and have the audio transcribed by A.I. in mere minutes for free.
And now I have…
A video presentation, an audio mp3 presentation, the transcripts from the video presentation, and the actual mind map itself, which can all come together to create my first upsell. That’s OTO1 of my funnel.
Now, I can take away everything but the audio presentation for a passive learning experience, and that can become my first economic downsell (DS1,) for those on a conservative budget.
I’ve just turned 1 product into 3. Same information, different access. But I wouldn’t be done, personally. I’d like to have 7 products in total.
That’s just my personal preference. Some people go less, and some go more.
At the OTO2 spot, what if we offered a PLR license on the front end offer and on the OTO1?
That would come together easily because these products are already done. We just need a new license for them.
That’s OTO2 done and now we have 4 products.
Of course, we can take away the license on OTO1 and just offer a PLR license on the front end and this becomes an economic downsell at the DS2 spot.
That’s 5 products.
Now, at the OTO3 spot we could offer a live 3 day workshop. What would we be covering? Everything we talked about in the front end product and OTO1.
The difference is that it’s live. People have the ability to ask questions right there and spend time with the creator of the product.
So again, the access has changed.
At the DS3 spot, our third economic downsell, we could offer replays of our 3 day live workshop. It’s like they get to be a fly on the wall at the workshop.
Now of course, they don’t get to ask questions, but they still get to hear everything that happened.
It’s a nice fit for someone who wanted to attend that workshop but it happened to be a little out of their budget.
And as simple as that, we have created a 7 product funnel, by only changing the access of information on the front end product.
Another thing I am very fond of when it comes to sales funnels is utilizing PLR membership sites like Bigproductstore(dot)com or IDPLR(dot)com.
With sites like these I can easily put together bundled themed packages that can bring value to the customer, and I don’t have to spend a lot of time creating them.
For example, I could have used PLR bundle packages at the OTO2 and DS2 spots if I wanted to. Think about it. We have a 25 page special report on traffic getting.
Well…if they care about traffic, they probably care about list building and email marketing as well.
I can use a PLR resource to put together a “tool kit” of list building and email marketing courses and resources. That could be an easy OTO2.
Then I could create another tool kit for DS2. This time I’d probably look for some DFY lead magnets, or some templates.
Something DFY that makes their life easier and speeds up their time.
But the point is, bundle packages come together easily and can really create nice OTO’s in a funnel.
The next thing I’d like to talk about when it comes to sales funnels is the idea of a linear sales funnel. So far you’ve heard me talking about upsells and downsells.
However, that is not the way to maximize profits, or best serve your customers.
Ideally, I DO NOT want this business of FE, OTO1, DS1, OTO2, DS2, OTO3, DS3.
And by this I mean, they buy the front end and they are offered OTO1, if they say no to OTO1 they are offered DS1 but if they say YES to OTO1 then they skip to OTO2, and so forth.
It’s fine if you are running short on time and need to get the funnel together quickly, but you WILL lose money.
It’s far better to remove the downsells and run ALL upsells. SO it would look like this:
FE, OTO1, OTO2, OTO3, OTO4, OTO5, OTO6
By running it this way, customers are exposed to every single offer in your funnel. They will be offered OTO2 whether they buy OTO1 or not. It wasn’t that way with DS1.
So this is a better way to maximize your earnings. To run this way though, you can’t just take away parts of your upsell to create a downsell.
You need to have 6 different products.
It’s really not hard to put together either. Especially after you launch a few products and start to build infrastructure for your online business, with all these assets.
The last thing I’d like to talk with you about when it comes to sales funnels is the idea of a sort of standard funnel that would save you time and speed up your process.
For example, currently I work hard to publish a new product every month. The only new thing that I create in my funnel is OTO1. The rest of my funnel is the same for every launch.
The thing is, if you are launching digital products, you are probably focused on a particular niche.
Well, every single niche has its perennial problems the market in that space ALWAYS cares about.
I call that “playing the hits.”
I’m in the internet marketing “MMO” space.
My market is always going to care about traffic, they are always going to care about list building and by extension email marketing, they are always going to care about DFY services and content, and they are always going to care about new information in the niche.
So with that in mind, it is fairly easy to put together a sales funnel that focuses heavily on front end congruence at the OTO1 spot and then “plays the hits” at OTO2 through OTO6.
There is a lot we could discuss when it comes to sales funnels. From price to scarcity to size to software…
Continuity.
One thing that people are always intimidated by in online business is membership sites. They shy away from doing them because of a few reasons.
First) They feel like starting a membership program is going to be too time consuming and a major commitment. That doesn’t sound fun.
Second) They feel like membership programs require a lot of technical ability to make happen.
Questions like “how do I handle the recurring payments?” and “How do I lock the content down?” come to mind.
Third) What do I put in there every month? I don’t have anything new to say that often! Too much pressure!!!
There are other reasons, but those are the big three that I run into.
Listen…
This is the truth. A membership program or some form of continuity is the financial foundation of online business.
It’s the basis of how you create sustainable online wealth.
Having that foundational amount of income that is predictable month in and month out is what allows you to take risks, it’s what allows you to not work under so much pressure, and it’s what allows you to take breaks when you burn out.
But how can you make it happen easily? How can you make it happen without a giant time commitment?
How do you do it without essentially creating a whole lot more work for yourself?
Well, good continuity programs, in my opinion, have always been about leveraging what you are already doing, so that you don’t create more work for yourself.
I’ll give you an example.
Let’s pretend you are an absolute beginner in the “Make Money Online” space. You haven’t accomplished anything, but you still have something you can leverage.
It’s your experience. You are trying lots of things. You are buying lots of shiny objects and you are consuming a lot of information about “how to make money online.”
You could literally start a “Learn Out Loud/Accountability Club.”
The way that would work is, every month you could jump on a live call and just talk about what you did that month.
Everything you tried, what worked, what didn’t work, what direction you are moving with your business, what you have read, new information you have learned.
At the same time you can let members of the club speak and talk about what they are working on and trying to accomplish.
The recording can live inside the members area as content for future club members.
The beauty of a club like this is that you don’t have to be an expert. You are always the expert of your experiences and that is exactly what this club is leveraging.
This is a simple $10 a month club that anyone can do, no matter how new they are.
As you gain more experience in your niche, the club becomes less “learn out loud” and more of a group coaching style club.
But the real beauty of this club to me is that it leverages something the newbie is already doing.
That’s the key. That club is only going to take someone an extra hour or two a month to do the live call.
Another example.
Personally, I have ran several membership programs in my time online but the one I am currently running goes like this:
First) I give them a new product every month. That’s easy because I publish a new product every month anyway. I just give it to my membership club first.
Second) I give them a DFY content package every month. Again this is easy, because I have membership with several PLR websites that I can acquire DFY content.
Third) I do a group coaching call every month. This is a call where members can pick my brain and ask me questions about how to move their online businesses forward. I don’t create a presentation or come to the call with pre-existing content to talk about, so I don’t have to prepare. It just leverages my current knowledge.
So if you consider this club, you can see how it doesn’t take me very much time to do and I am severely leveraging work I am already doing or resources I already have access to.
That’s the key with continuity. Leverage work you are already doing.
I believe the low ticket membership program is the backbone of any good online business. Why?
Easy. It’s very predictable. And in the world of supporting yourself and your family from online business, surprises are bad.
I’d rather have a thousand people paying me a dollar a month than one person paying me a thousand dollars a month.
With a thousand people, I can easily predict a percentage will come and go each month, but the bulk will remain. It makes for a very predictable income stream.
As far as the software is concerned there are lots of options out there, from free and simple to expensive and complicated.
I think the absolute easiest way to go is a simple paid newsletter.
I think the best way to promote a membership program is to send warm traffic. That means your email list and inside sales funnels of low ticket products.
That’s why I bring up continuity here. I think every good sales funnel has some form of continuity in it.
If you want to launch digital products, you need to figure out about the continuity sooner rather than later.
Mid-Ticket Solutions.
I think that every good sales funnel has some form of continuity in it, that is no question.
However, I also believe that every good sales funnel for a low ticket product has some kind of mid-ticket offer in it.
Now just to be clear, I have heard mid-ticket described at different price points by different people. It’s a very subjective term. For me though it goes like this:
Low Ticket – Anything less than 50 bucks
Mid Ticket – 51 through 500 bucks
High Ticket – Anything over 500 bucks
I have known people who consider a thousand dollar product a mid ticket offer. That’s not the world I live in though. I don’t see things like that.
The mid-ticket offers that I use in my funnels are generally at the $97 price point or the $197 price point. And they generally involve one of three things:
One) They could involve some kind of limited group coaching scenario (like a 3 day workshop) so direct access to the expert.
Two) They could be replays on a live workshop which would be a significant training (in depth style)
Three) They could be a service, like some kind of boosted affiliate commissions opportunity.
With these mid-ticket style products it’s usually always about in depth training, limited direct access to me in a group capacity, or service.
Generally, I like to over deliver on the mid-ticket products, and this is a really good place to upsell your membership OR a high ticket program.
With a mid-ticket offer, as far as in depth training is concerned, this is not the place for brevity.
Brevity is important in training, don’t get me wrong, but there is a time and a place for brevity.
The mid-ticket offer is not the time or place, in my opinion. This is the place for over the shoulder depth. This is the place to dig deep on subjects.
This is where you go into the real details of what exactly you are trying to explain to them.
I personally, still try to avoid simple things like how to open a Facebook account or something like that.
If it’s something easily looked up on youtube, like a simple technical thing, then I try not to go into that stuff too much.
Sometimes you need to, but I try to keep the technical basics to a minimum. Just my personal preference.
When you are first getting started, creating a mid-ticket offer can be hard. You don’t feel like you have enough experience at anything to make it.
Sometimes it’s better to roll with a really nice bundled PLR based training or template package for a low end mid-ticket offer, until you have a little more experience under your belt.
You can always affiliate with someone else’s higher ticket program on your download page to increase revenue on the launch.
Another thing to remember is that it doesn’t have to be perfect.
None of this stuff has to be perfect. It just needs to solve a problem. That’s what matters. The people who are buying your products don’t care about perfection.
They aren’t perfect and they don’t expect it out of you.
What they care about is solving their problem. The problem they bought your product to solve.
If you go into it knowing it doesn’t have to be perfect, and you can adjust things based on how they are performing…
…there is really nothing to fear. It’s not a zero sum game. Things get adjusted all the time. That’s really the only way you get things right, ultimately.
The Value of Brevity.
I think one of the hard things about digital publishing and marketing online is the fact that things are always changing.
For example, this idea of brevity.
Essentially that word means you don’t take a long time to do something. If it’s writing, you use concise and exact wording.
If it’s a video, you keep those videos short and to the point.
Well, today, brevity is a form of value. Especially on low ticket products or free content.
It’s one of those things that has changed since I first started working online.
I remember in 2016, I could put out a 10 video workshop for free in exchange for email leads, and people would absolutely love it.
Now?
Nobody would opt-in for that. It’s too long. People would think, “Oh man, 10 videos? I don’t have time for that. Can I get the cheat sheet version?”
So yeah, brevity matters.
If I am creating a low ticket product and it’s a written special report, I’m trying to keep that sucker at 25 pages or less. People can handle 25 pages.
If it’s video training, I want it clocking in at about an hour. By that I mean if I take all the videos in my course, I want them to add up to about an hour of training.
People are very conscious of time these days. Just because they bought your low ticket product, doesn’t mean they have really committed to watching it or reading it.
You have to remember, it’s a low-ticket product. They have only committed to skimming it. They wanted to see what was in the box.
There was a curiosity factor to them picking it up.
That means you have to create an impact in the product. You want to make sure they actually get value from it.
If you don’t accomplish this, then they won’t be looking for emails from you, and you won’t extend the life of your customers.
So as a paid content creator today, you always have to be aware of brevity on the low ticket stuff and the free stuff. It’s important.
As we move forward, it might become even MORE important, or maybe it shifts the other way.
You just have to keep your finger on the pulse of your market and adjust to what is happening.
If I was a betting man, I’d say it will become even more important as we move forward.
Always leave a little room for stories and rapport building but be conscious of how long your stuff is.
Make sure you are getting to the point fairly quickly and creating impact.
Traffic.
People still feel like their biggest problem is traffic.
Heck, many people feel like their ONLY problem is traffic.
However, you know, I’ve done quite a bit of consulting and coaching over the years, and I have found that traffic is rarely the only problem people are having.
Not always of course, and there is some really bad traffic out there, so finding good traffic can be challenging sometimes.
But what I have found is that most people who say traffic is their problem, actually have a few other problems that they need to figure out.
People are ready to jump into paid traffic solutions FAR too early, and far too eager to throw their own money at problems that they really aren’t ready to solve.
I believe that when you are first getting started in digital publishing, it’s a really good idea to build your business using free methods until you start making some money, and you understand what your business is and how it works.
Also, when you finally are ready for paid ads, operate under an ad spend budget, even if it’s only $100 a month.
That money should come from your business revenue, not your own pocket.
If your business cannot afford $100 a month in ad spend then you have no business running paid advertising in my opinion. Notice, I said “your business” not you.
It’s a simple benchmark that assumes your business is making some kind of regular income.
Many might disagree with me, and many more might say I’m talking about moving too slow, but I am speaking from experience.
It’s very easy to just lose money and get frustrated with solo ads and paid traffic if you don’t know what you are doing. I think there are levels to this game.
YOU have to crawl before you can walk.
Everybody wants to start out as a level 60 dragon slayer. It’s nonsense.
It’s unrealistic, and you’ll be exploited by b2b traffic businesses who will be more than happy to take your money.
Anyways, I’ll tell you the best traffic source on the internet. That’s a warm email list.
But how do you get this warm email list?
In my opinion, plan to spend your first year launching 6 to 12 lot ticket products with funnels. That will build some infrastructure for your business.
Create some assets for yourself and boost your authority in the space.
More importantly though, it will build a customer email list for you. That is the most important thing you can do.
Launch these low ticket products from an affiliate friendly platform like WarriorPlus, CLickbank, or JVZOO.
This will allow you to build an affiliate network and drive referral traffic to your sales pages.
The next thing I would suggest is utilizing Youtube and Facebook. They are literally the biggest websites in the world behind Google.
Your market is absolutely represented there.
Consider the fact that Youtube gets 35.1 BILLION visitors a month. It’s the second most popular website in the entire WORLD, only behind Google.
Consider the fact that Facebook gets 19.5 BILLION visitors a month. It’s the third most popular website in the ENTIRE WORLD, only behind Youtube and Google.
I want to put it in perspective for you how significant these websites are for free traffic and audience building.
Facebook get’s a lot of slack right now as of this writing. People are all talking about Tik Tok being the big Facebook killer and how Facebook is dying.
It’s nonsense. These people don’t look at numbers.
Consider that the 4th most popular website in the world is Instagram (which facebook owns) and it gets around 6.6 BILLION visitors a month…
The 5th most popular website in the world is Twitter, and it gets around 7.1 BILLION visitors a month…
And then the golden child of today, Tik Tok, which everyone is talking about gets around 2 BILLION visitors a month.
I mean, look…
Facebook is literally getting more visitors a month than Tik Tok, Instagram, and Twitter combined.
These platforms are just not on the same level as Facebook, let alone Youtube.
So my point is when it comes to free traffic, if you are just getting started and trying to make a name for yourself, you should seriously consider publishing free content consistently on Facebook and Youtube.
That’s just my opinion, but it’s backed by my experience and numbers. Of course, believe what you want and do what you want, but if you want to see what I see…
All you need to do is open up Google trends and compare these platforms for popularity.
Open up Similar Web and check the traffic numbers of these platforms. Numbers don’t lie. Hype is sometimes just hype.
There is nothing wrong with the new kid on the block and of course you have to roll with whatever feels most comfortable to you as far as getting free traffic from social platforms.
All I’m saying is, for me personally I like to see the entire picture when I am creating strategies for my business.
The whole picture is that Youtube and Facebook are rock solid from month to month, and pretty much all markets exist in these two places.
I’m not going to give a bunch of specific traffic tactics here, because you can easily find traffic tactics for YouTube and Facebook (not to mention a bunch of other platforms) right on Youtube.
But speaking generally, yeah if someone was just getting started, I would plan my free traffic strategies around Facebook and Youtube.
I would utilize live streaming, and I would put a focus on building my email list.
In Closing I Would Say…
First, I just want to say thank you for taking the time to read this report. I hope it helps you move your business forward a little bit.
I really enjoyed writing it, and that brings me to a point that I want to make before I close this out.
Do you remember at the beginning of this, I was telling you how I was tapping this report out on my useless phone at the base of the Appalachian mountains?
That’s love. That’s ambition.
I have a love for this subject. I have a fire in my belly to get better at what I do. For me, it feels like it’s never enough.
No matter what I might accomplish, no matter what goal I may reach, it seems like I am always on to the next thing.
I believe that no matter what insight I can provide to you, none of it will matter unless you have that fire and ambition and love.
If you take nothing else from this report, I hope you take from it that you will do the best and thrive the most in life when you find something you genuinely care about and leverage THAT to make money.
The other thing I would say is that action always wins the day. I have seen so many people thrive online from taking relentless action on mediocre ideas or concepts…
…and on the flipside I have seen SO MANY really smart people just kind of meander around learning and coming up with ideas that they never really execute on.
They pretty much get frustrated and go nowhere, just from not taking enough action. So make sure that you are executing on the things you learn.
There has to be a balance between learning and productivity.
Anyways, I guess that’s it. I mean, there’s always more to say, but this lays a great foundation for getting started in the world of digital product publishing.
Have a good one and good luck in ALL your ventures!
