Author Archive | Edward Rodriguez

Work expands to fill the time allotted – and even more time beyond that – if you don’t have a hard deadline. Thus, if you make it a goal to finish your new ebook in 3 months, at the 3 month mark you’ll either just be finishing, or worse yet you’ll realize you’re only halfway done. If, however, you had a hard launch date, then you’ll have the book ready. Deadlines are a magnificent thing – they give you permission to ignore the email, ignore Facebook, turn the phone off, tear yourself away from the video games and television and actually get your work done.

So how can you create a product in a short amount of time? By doing two things:

First, set a deadline that is almost impossibly close, such as 10 days from right now.

Second, hold yourself accountable on a massive scale. That is, call up your best marketing buddy and schedule a live webinar with him or her to sell your new product. Now promote the webinar heavily.

Guess what? For the next 10 days you’re going to move heaven and earth to get your product finished for that webinar, and on Day 11 you are going to party!

First, you’re going to be celebrating the sales you made on the webinar.

Second, you’re going to be looking forward to all the sales you will make in the future with your new product. In fact, you’re going to take the momentum that webinar created and use it to contact other marketers and set up more live webinars for their lists.

Third, you are going to feel fantastic. That new product that you thought would take 3 months of your life only took 10 days!

Fourth, you’ve now got a system for not only getting products done fast, but also getting your first sales the moment the product is completed for an immediate payoff.

How great is that?!

Short and sweet: If you’re making good money coaching others to do or accomplish something, then you can probably double the money you make without much effort.

It’s sort of a recycle and reuse kind of thing, where nothing in your business goes to waste.

Let’s say you spend time coaching people on how to start their own businesses. You show them the sequence, how to get things done, how to outsource, the shortcuts, the little things they need to know and so forth.

But consider this: There are other marketers who want to get paid for coaching, too. Except they don’t know where to start or what to do.

So you also coach other marketers on how to do coaching.

You let them in on all your secrets of how to get clients, how to work with clients, how the whole process works and so forth.

I suppose you could even let them listen in on your coaching calls. If you do, you need to let your students know someone else is on the line.

And whatever you’re charging your regular coaching clients, you can probably about double for your new students who are learning how to become coaches. Again, it’s up to you.

You’ve got a skill – coaching – that others want to have. So why not become a coach’s coach?

You can give your future coaches templates for their sales pages, techniques for getting their first clients and ongoing support. And for this you can easily charge $5,000.

Even if you just take on two new students a month who are learning to be coaches, that’s an extra $120,000 a year.

I mentioned this to a friend, and he’s a bit snarky. He wanted to know, “If you’re coaching students, and you’re coaching coaches on how to coach students, couldn’t you also coach people on how to train new coaches that teach coaching?”

Actually, yes. But that might be taking things a bit far. 😉

You already know all about scarcity. The scarcer something is, the more people want it.

That’s why we use deadlines to entice customers to buy. Without the deadlines, people would put it off and then forget about it.

For decades savvy store owners have used this trick. By limiting the number of items a person can purchase, they increase the number of items sold.

But I wonder – are we using this to maximum advantage online? Yes, we sometimes limit the number of copies sold. Yes, we use deadlines and then promise not to sell any more after that deadline.

But what if we used it in a slightly different way…

Imagine you have different levels of participation in a product launch.

For example: You will sell only 10 copies at $2,500 each that includes actual coaching and one-on-one time with you for 12 weeks.

You’ll sell only 100 copies at $1,000 that includes group coaching for 12 weeks.

You’ll sell 200 copies at $500 that includes the “done for you option,” which is also included in the higher levels, too. But there is no coaching at this level.

And you’ll sell 1,000 copies that don’t include coaching or the done for you option.

Then you place counters on your site that tell how many copies of each have sold.

Yes, this will take some guts. After all, what if something doesn’t sell? But that’s also the fascination factor, too.

People will continue to revisit the page just to see what’s selling.

And what happens when there are only 6 or 5 or 4 copies left of the highest option? Suddenly they’ll start selling FASTER.

The last copy or two will likely FLY off the shelf.

You’re adding a new brand of scarcity, a higher level of fascination and interest and accommodating people’s needs.

You might think of this as a new way of upselling, or a more transparent method than using one time offers. It’s up front, honest, and lets people decide ahead of time what they want.

And if they don’t act fast enough, they will miss out, too.

You’ve just finished writing the sales copy for your new product. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to test your copy BEFORE you actually send prospects to it?

Because think about this – if you send 1,000 people to your sales letter and NOBODY buys, you’ve just wasted all that traffic. And if you spent money to get that traffic, you’re out that investment.

Even if it was free traffic, you’ve still burned your chance to sell them on your product. Odds are, even if you do rewrite the copy, they’re not going to go back a second time and read it again. (Unless you offer some kind of incentive, in which case you might be able to bribe them into taking a second look.)

If only there were a way to know ahead of time whether your copy is good or not… Wait, there is!

Here’s what to do – turn off the phone, sever your Internet connection and refuse to be distracted for the next hour.

Now then, imagine you are the prospect. You are thinking like the prospect, feeling like the prospect, experiencing the same issues, same problems, same questions as you prospect, etc.

Put yourself in their shoes and reread your letter from start to finish. Do not spend time making corrections or anything else – simply read the letter as though you are a prospect considering buying this product.

Finished?

Now rate how well your copy accomplishes the following, assigning a number 1 – 5 to each element.

1 means “Practically non-existent”
2 is “Room for serious improvement”
3 means “Not horrible, but could be better”
4 is “Strong”
And a 5 indicates “You positively NAILED it.”

Ready? Here we go…

Does the headline instantly grab your attention? _____

Does the lead-in compel you to read further? _____

Are the headline and lead-in completely believable? _____

Is the headline and lead-in combo likely to resonate powerfully with a significant number of your prospects? _____

Does the headline and lead-in combo offer powerful benefits? _____

Does the spokesperson establish his/her qualifications beyond doubt? _____

Do the emotions you experience while reading the first few paragraphs compel you to want to read further? _____

Is the prospect given a reason why he or she must read this, and must read this now? _____

Does the copy read like a conversation between two friends? _____

Is it clear that the spokesperson truly has the best interests of the prospect at heart? _____

Are the product’s benefits fully explored? _____

Are the emotional reasons for purchasing fully developed? _____

Does the letter entertain and inform as well as sell? _____

Is the price fully justified? _____

Is the guarantee prominent and does it restate the benefits? _____

Is there a compelling reason why the prospect should immediately make the purchase? _____

Is there a sense of urgency? _____

Do you feel yourself getting more and more excited as you move through the letter? _____

Is the call to action compelling enough that you would feel silly for not ordering immediately? _____

Is the prospect told exactly what to do next, how to order and how s/he will receive their product? _____

If you were a prospect, would you make the purchase? _____

Scoring

21- 50: Stop right there. Do NOT use this copy until you make significant changes.

51 – 65: Not good, but at least you’ve made a start. Now go back and make the adjustments your letter needs.

66 – 80: Not bad for a draft, but not good enough to use unless you just don’t have the time to fix it, OR your offer is so compelling ($100 cars, for example) that it doesn’t need a strong letter.

81 – 95: Looking good. A little tweaking here and there can still improve your conversions.

96 – 105: Congratulations! Maybe you should be writing copy for a living!

Blogging can be a great way to position yourself as an authority and create customer loyalty – if you’re willing to devote the time necessary.

Follow these 9 Tips for Better Business Blogging and you’ll be more successful!

1. Forgo the advertorial dribble. Decades ago some bright entrepreneur realized that if he wrote his sales copy to look like an editorial, he’d get more readers and more sales. Thus we entered into the age of the “advertorial,” and it still works in print publications. Where it does NOT work well is on your blog.

Yes, by all means advertise your products and services on your website, but don’t be devious about it. Don’t make it look like an article when it’s really a self-promotion – it annoys your readers and makes them feel let down when you’ve got them thinking they’re going to learn something new, only to discover they’ve got to pay to get it.

Thus, do not title your blog post, “Revealed: 35 Ways to Drive Traffic” and then reveal nothing about driving traffic except the order link to your new product. Instead, title your blog post, “Revealed: 5 Ways to Drive Traffic,” and then GIVE them the 5 ways. At the end, let them know that if they’re interested, you reveal 30 additional methods inside your product and give them the link. They’ll respect you for this, and because you’ve given them good information and demonstrated that you know what you’re talking about, it will actually INCREASE your sales.

2. Be the authority. This goes along with Tip #1, because when you’re dishing about all the latest updates in your industry rather than spending all your time promoting yourself, you become the expert in your prospects’ eyes. And who do people want to do business with? The expert. Who can charge more for their products and services? Again, the expert. Offer up the latest news along with plenty of how-to articles and your readers will come to like and trust you, and thus want to do business with you.

3. Educate, inform and inspire. Whenever possible, use real life stories to inspire your readers. Nothing sells like success, and people love to read how others have overcome the same challenges they’re having. Whenever you’re stuck for a blog post idea, just think, “What do my readers want to know? How can I help my readers and give them value?” Watch the forums for questions that pop up – this is an excellent source for ideas.

4. Show your personality. Building reader loyalty takes time and more than just great information – it also takes personality. Let your own unique style shine through in your posts, and don’t be afraid to reveal insights about yourself, and to even be controversial when it’s called for. Nothing rallies readers like a good controversy, and nothing makes readers more loyal than if they know you well enough to think of you as a friend.

5. Promote your blog. It would be great if you could write it and people would come, but it’s seldom that easy. Use your own network to promote your blog by letting them know each time you’ve made a new post. Guest write for other blogs to promote your own blog. And always ask people to share your blog with others.

6. Ask readers to reply. The more active your blog is, the more appealing it is to new and old readers alike. Always ask your readers to leave their comments on each of your blog posts. You might even consider running a contest to see who can write the best response, and give a prize to the winner.

Whatever it takes to increase comments is something you should consider. Not only does it make your blog appear that much more active and universally liked – it also provides a sense of ownership to each person who takes the time to leave a comment. The more they comment, the more likely they are to tell others about your blog and to return to your blog in the future. And be sure to respond to your reader’s comments so they know they’re being heard and appreciated.

7. Don’t blog unless you really want to. Blogging is a commitment, and while it might seem exciting and fun in the beginning, writing a new blog post every day or two can get old, especially after the first couple of weeks when you feel like nobody’s been reading it. If you’re not sure you can keep a blog rolling, consider writing guest posts for other blogs, websites and email newsletters. Every publisher is looking for new material, and being the guest blogger or writer puts you in front of an entirely new audience of prospects each time.

8. If you’re guest blogging, write a GREAT resource box. Offer them something intriguing with tremendous value for going to your site, and then deliver above and beyond their expectations. This is an excellent method of increasing your list of prospects and becoming well known in your niche.

9. Interview the big dogs. Interviewing others in your niche not only produces great content – it also provides you with powerful contacts and access to their readers when they mention the interview to their own people. So go ahead and ask others in your niche for interviews – the worst they can do is say no, and you’ll be surprised how many quickly say yes. Remember, they want to increase their own readership as well, and it’s a tremendous ego boost to be sought out and interviewed as an expert in their industry.

If there is a Tip #10, it is this: Have fun. Whatever it takes to make your blog writing fun is what you should do, since your enjoyment and passion for your topic will shine through in your posts. The more fun you’re having writing your blog, the more enjoyable it will be for readers to visit and linger.

So yes, have a blast, add humor, don’t be afraid to hold yourself up as an example to your readers, (both good and bad,) put your heart and soul into it, and go for it!

You already know how important content is for communicating your message, getting traffic and making sales. But you might be overlooking a few things that make your content truly great…

Write for your readers, NOT for the search engines. Sometimes we get so caught up in optimizing our content for SEO that we forget we’re really writing for our readers and not Google. Create content that is useful for people, that helps them, educates them and entertains them. Make SEO your second priority in writing your content, not your first. Otherwise your traffic isn’t going to get past your second paragraph before they’re closing your site and moving on to someone else’s.

Write for your readers, NOT for a certain platform. Today all we hear about is social media and everyone wants to know what to put on Facebook, or what to Tweet and so forth to make money. Again, this is the wrong approach and if taken it will cost you. Instead, identify what your users want, and THEN consider which platforms are best for delivering your content. It’s not about Facebook, YouTube, your blog and etc., it’s about giving people what they want.

Don’t be a control freak. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that all of your content must be published on your website so you can stay in control of it, but that thinking will only limit the number of people you reach. Instead, build your content to travel so that it can be downloaded, embedded or shared – thus capturing many more eyeballs and driving those eyeballs back to your site. Think of your content as ambassadors traveling the world to tell others about you, and sending those people to your site. The more your content travels, the more people it will reach, and the more traffic it can then send back to you.

Be fruitful. Are you writing one article or one blogpost a week? Try stepping it up to one a day, or even more. Release as much great content as you can, and don’t get stuck in one rigid rut, either. Develop a range of different content and see what garners both the most eyeballs and the most response. Pay attention to user feedback – they’ll tell you what’s working, what they love, and what they want more of.

Be open. So you planned a series of videos on topic A, and during the second video you mentioned topic B, and people went nuts asking for more information. What to do? Simple – give them what they want. You can finish your series later if you like, but right now you’ve struck gold and you need to mine it for all it’s worth. Give them great content on Topic B, interview an expert or two on that topic, offer them affiliate products on that topic, and so forth. Sometimes we hit pay dirt when we least expect it, and the most foolish thing you can do is NOT jump on it immediately. Money loves speed, and customers love to have their desires satisfied NOW.

Don’t create your content and run. When you make a blog post, go back and ANSWER the replies you get. When you Tweet, stay on Twitter to respond to the responses you get, and so forth. Your follow-up interaction says as much about you as your content, and if you do it right, it says that you’re not just looking to make a fast buck and you DO care about your readers. Which is not only the classy thing to do – it’s also the most profitable in the end.

A hermit lived high on a mountain top above a township, and every day as the people below him scurried around, doing their daily tasks, the old hermit would watch.

He had everything that he needed on his mountain, there was plenty of food and supplies, he had a small vegetable garden near his cabin, and he kept a few animals to supply his needs, near a rock pool filled with water that flowed down from further up the mountain.

His life was quiet and content, after breakfast and his morning chores, he would make his lunch and take it to the rocky outcrop where he could sit and watch the activity in the town below.

The town was a long way down, the people running around performing their daily deeds seemed like ants to him, but even through all the bustle and busyness it seemed so peaceful. It looked to him like a great ballet or dance.

He watched the activities in the town every day, finally he decided that he would go down to the town and experience this beautiful ballet for himself. He took his coat and started down the mountain. As he descended, he started to hear strange noises, the closer he got to the town, the louder they became.

Finally, he reached the foot of the mountain. The noise here was almost deafening, everywhere he turned there were people rushing around doing tasks he couldn’t even begin to understand, as he tried to walk through the streets, he was getting pushed and jostled by the crowds of people.

He could not understand where the peaceful and beautiful ballet had gone.

Unable to take it anymore, the hermit fled from the town, back to the safety of his mountaintop. Arriving home, he went to the outcrop and looked down again upon the town, to his amazement the beauty and silence had returned. He could still see all the ants rushing around below, but there was no noise anymore, all the screaming sounds and mixture of voices were gone, replaced with the serene silence he had always heard before.

He sat down and stared in amazement, asking himself how could such peaceful beauty come from such noisy chaos?

In our lives and businesses, we’ll often feel overwhelmed by what’s going on around us, but is it really the stressful pressure-cooker we believe it to be? When we feel overwhelmed, our natural response is to give up, to break down. But instead whenever you feel those times approaching, try to step away from the daily issues and look back at them from afar.

Often, you’ll find that the situation or decision that you have lost control of, that is stressing you out, when you step away from it and see it without all the other clutter, it’s not half as bad as you think, and often when you view it from the outside (looking inwards) you can see the solution clearer than you would when you’re right inside the problem.

Each day, take a moment out, step outside of your business, your problems, find your ‘mountaintop’ and look down on your life from there.

It’s all about your perspective, when the one you have isn’t serving you, simply get up and go to another side of it.

So, you’ve decided to start a home based business. Congratulations, and welcome to the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship. While there is a lot to learn, your effort will be worth it. The thrill of growing your business, the freedom and flexibility to set your own hours, and the possibilities of ever-increasing financial rewards are all wonderful reasons to start a home based business.

Now that you’ve decided to start your business, you might be wondering “How can I get it off to the strongest possible start?” These 7 tips will help:

Set up a separate working space in your home. It doesn’t matter if this is a small bedroom, one part of the garage, or a corner of the living room. I used to work out of my closet. The important thing is to have some space that you can designate as your working area. This will give you the space and room you need to craft your dream.

Stock your working space with materials. This sounds basic, perhaps, but one underlying element of success is that you have easy access to the tools, materials, and other resources you need. Gathering everything close by also keeps you from wasting time searching for it, so this step can be considered a time management strategy, too.

Speaking of time management, your third step is to define the parameters of your business. What days and hours will you work? When will you do your marketing? When will you provide services or products to clients? How will you keep all of this straight?

Balance action with planning. One of the most common pitfalls to successful entrepreneurship is getting too caught up in action without enough planning. Stated another way, this means that you confuse “being busy” with “working on important projects.” The best approach is to plan your next couple of goals and then work backwards to create step-by-step action plans to reach them. Once you have the plan, then it’s time to take action.

Network like crazy. One of the fastest ways to grow any business is to make connections with other people. Be sure to share your passion and enthusiasm with others at every opportunity. Let people know who you are and what you offer. Remember, people can’t buy if they don’t know you’re selling.

Present a professional image. If you want to be treated professionally, present a professional image. Set up a separate bank account for your business. Install a separate phone and fax line. Create professional marketing materials. Be courteous and pleasant in all your customer-facing interactions. Basically, be someone people want to do business with.

Automate your business as much as possible. Granted, you are just one person (right now) and might have a lot of extra time to take care of all the details. This might work for now, but won’t work into the future as you get busier and busier. It’s best to set up automatic systems and processes right from the start to free up your time to concentrate on the most profitable activities.

Working at home can be a dream come true for many people, and these days with computers and the internet, it’s more realistic than ever before. That said, building a business requires strong prioritizing skills and self discipline to take action toward your goals. If you have these qualities and are committed to doing whatever it takes to be successful, the dream of working from home can soon become your reality.

Next time you write a headline, see how many of these you can incorporate.

Self-interest – This is the obvious benefit that keeps the reader on the page, reading what you have to say. For example, “Revealed at Last – 13 Perfectly Legal Ways to Make Money in Your Pajamas”

Believability – Placing some kind of ‘proof’ in your headline. For example, “Diabetes Cured in 2 Weeks – A Chicago Hospital Confirms Shocking New Remedy. No Pills, No Surgery, No Prescriptions” In this case, the third party evidence dispels skepticism and keeps the reader’s attention.

News – Anything targeted and newsworthy tends to work really well. For example, “Warning! Don’t Even Think Of Calling Your Broker Before You Read This Startling Report about What’s Happening in The Market Right Now.”

Curiosity – This might in fact be the most compelling force in human nature. The best headlines build curiosity to the point where the reader is forced to look within the article or sales letter to quell their curiosity. For example, “What Never to Eat on an Airplane.”

Quick and Easy – If you can offer a quick and easy solution to a pressing problem, let them know in the headline. For example, “Lose a Pound a Day Just by Eating this Fruit.”

The more of these qualities you can combine in your headlines, the better they will tend to work and the higher response you’ll get.

If you have the same offer with the same amount of traffic but you double conversions, then you’ve just doubled your sales and profits, too. Here are 3 methods to do just that.

1: What’s in a Name? Everything

You pour your heart and soul into a blogpost, article – even an entire book – and nothing happens.

No one reads it. No one comments. No one shares it on social media. No one buys your book.

Yet the content is excellent, it’s well-written and it’s entertaining.

People SHOULD be reading it.

So how do you fix it?

9 times out of 10 it’s as simple as changing the title.

That’s right – relaunch with another title and see if you don’t do a whole lot better.

I know of one fellow (retired now) who spent his career finding under-appreciated books, buying the rights and retitling and re-releasing them.

He made a fortune doing this before the Internet blew up.

So go back and find your content that didn’t do as well as it should. Polish it off, do any necessary updating, and most of all give it a new title that is irresistible.

You just might have a new best seller on your hands.

2: Stop pushing your customers

BUY THIS! DO THAT! DO IT NOW!

“This is the greatest so-in-so ever and you will fall in LOVE with it, even though you don’t even know what the heck it is yet…”

Let’s face it – in the name of brevity and enthusiasm we tend to tell our customers what they should be doing and how they should be doing it.

We have their best interests at heart – don’t they see that?

Actually, no they don’t.

Imagine someone standing on the other side of the room from you.

They’re screaming at you that you should do what they say.

What’s your reaction?

My reaction isn’t fit to print, so I won’t.

Now imagine that same person smiles at you across the room, walks over, extends their hand and introduces themselves.

Next they start talking about this problem they have. That’s funny, it’s the same problem you have. And they sound just like you. They even have the same thoughts about the problem, the same worries and fears that you have.

How do you feel? Like you just met a kindred spirit perhaps?

They invite you to walk with them, and without even thinking, you are right there with them, side by side, going for a short walk.

By the end of the walk, they’ve shown you how they solved their problem. You’re elated. There is a solution! You ask if you can buy the solution and they graciously sell it to you.

What just happened?

Instead of feeling like someone was trying to command you to buy something, you voluntarily bought it because you wanted it.

All because they came over to where you were, talked to you in your own words and then walked with you to the solution.

That’s how truly great sales work. You don’t shout from the rooftops or across the room.

Instead, you go to where they are. You feel what they’re feeling, say what they’re thinking, and become a kindred spirit. Then you gently guide them to where you want them to go.

Use this technique in all of your sales materials and I guarantee your conversions will at least double, if not triple.

3: $40,000 a Month via Phone

Why do you suppose you see so many $10 products, and so few $10,000 products?

It seems like it would be harder to sell a $10,000 product.

But what’s easier – selling 1,000 $10 products, or just ONE $10,000 product?

Odds are, it’s going to be much easier to sell one big product than 1,000 small ones.

John Chow opted to sell the big products and it paid off big time. In just 2 years, he grew his blog from $0 in revenue to more than $40,000 per MONTH.

To do this, he worked a whopping 2 hours per day.

And he didn’t even do his own selling. Instead, he licensed a phone team to sell big ticket items for him.

If you want to sell big ticket products, I would highly suggest hiring or licensing a professional phone team. They’re going to be able to convert prospects at a much higher rate than you can through online marketing.

Offer a free product that totally ROCKS to get the prospect’s information.

Work on building that relationship and let your phone team do the rest.

And in two years? If you follow in John’s footsteps, maybe you can be making $40,000 a month as well.

These are three very different methods that all have the same end goal – to increase your conversions on everything you sell. Use them wisely and the sky is the limit!