Marketing Confidential » target market

List Building Power Methods

John — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:37:04 +0000

The more subscribers you have on your list, the more you are likely to earn a good income from that list. That's why it's important to invest time and money into building a targeted list, or lists.

Here are a couple of the methods that I use to build my own lists..

The Article Marketing Power Method

Create a three part article. Part one should be distributed to as many article directories as possible and, where permitted, have "Part One" in the title.

Your "Part One" article should then link to "Part Two" which you publish on your own website or blog. At the bottom of "Part Two" you should position an optin form that must be completed before the reader can continue to "Part Three".

Be sure to keep the best information back for "Part Three" but give them enough information in parts one and two to encourage them to click through to the next part.

The Pay Per Click Power Method

This takes a little bit of time to set up, but it's well worth the investment in both time and money when it's implemented properly.

Choose highly targeted long tail keyword phrases for your PPC adverts and be sure to set your maximum cost per click and campaign budgets so that you limit your expenditure (You don't want to bankrupt yourself within the first couple of days). Your PPC ads should offer a free white paper, or special report, and should "sell" the click to your landing page.

Invest in an attractive and appealing landing page that draws the reader in with a strong headline and a clear call to action. Be sure to emphasise the benefits of subscribing and stress the real value of the white paper or special report that you are offering in exchange for their name and email address.

Remember, first impressions are important and your white paper, or special report, should be well presented and of high quality.. especially the content. There are lots of good PLR materials available on which you can base your white paper or free report and, if you use PLR, be sure to add your stamp to it so that it reflects your personality and demonstrates your professionalism and expertise.

Obviously, your PPC advert drives targeted traffic to your landing page and, when the visitor has confirmed their email, they will be redirected to a page with the link to download their free white paper or special report. However, This offers you with a great opportunity to.....{+}

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The Power Of The Free Report

John — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:38:24 +0000

I've recently seen a number of people suggest that giving away free reports is no longer worth the time and effort.

I have to disagree!

There are many ways that you can benefit from the publishing and distribution of free reports:

Building your brand
Establishing your credibility as an expert
Building your lists
Traffic from links within the report
Income from embedded affiliate links
Increase in link popularity
Potential boost in your page rank

Creatingt a free report doesn't have to be either time consuming or expensive. Although the better the quality of your report, the more likely that it will be downloaded.

One of the most effective methods of creating a free report is to base it upon material with private label rights. Simply edit the source document, add your name and, if possible, improve the presentation of the report with a professional looking template.

It's also worth noting that once a book has been created and distributed, your work is done. It's a 'set it and forget it' type of operation. Your free reports will be out there, providing backlinks and generating traffic.

Here's a list of 24 sites where you can submit your free reports:

One place that deserves special mention is:

Scribd.com which is becoming increasingly popular and has proven to be a great source of targeted traffic.

Of course there are ways of boosting the exposure of your free reports.....{+}

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Don’t Create Your Product Until You Know It Will Sell!

John — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:05:00 +0000

If I had a dollar for everyone who had told me about the great idea they had for a product, how they'd invested lots of time and hard earned cash in development, only to discover it wouldn't sell.. I'd be incredibly rich!

My response to these folks is simple.. Don't spend a penny on product development until you've tested the market. In fact, don't develop anything until you know what your customers really want.

Here's my proven approach to validating an idea that you think might have potential..

1. Consider your idea in terms of benefits. List every single way that you think your target market would benefit from your product.

2. Choose what you believe to be the top three benefits and write a single headline for each of your three primary benefits. Then turn that headline into a question.

3. Set up three landing pages each with the headline and a short survey with a maximum of five questions. My "Survey Cash Machine" script (Free for Premium Members) was designed for product surveys.

Your questions should be designed to discover if the respondent would be willing to buy the product, the format in which the product should be provided and the price that they would be willing to pay.

4. Set up a split test with AdTestPro (Free for Premium Members) or a similar script to deliver the three pages and then use a Pay Per Click service such as Adwords to drive targeted traffic to your landing page.

5. After they have completed the survey, ask them to opt-in to an early bird notification list to qualify for a special pre-launch discount.

6. After they have confirmed their subscription, send them to a relevant One-Time-Offer. If you don't have an OTO, send them to a presell page for a competitive product through your affiliate link.

7. When you have enough data, analyse the results to uncover the features and benefits that your target audience are willing to pay for. Then create your product to that specification. (Don't get carried away and over-engineer the solution - stick to what your potential customers have asked for)

Important: This is the point of no return. Do not under any circumstances go ahead with any product development unless and until you know with absolute certainty that there's a real demand for a product and that people will be willing to spend cash for it. Remember, you job is to solve people's problems and deliver the solutions to those problems as benefits.

8. Before you launch your product to the public, set up basic pre-launch sales copy with a conditional offer. Notify your survey list that they can get a discount on condition that they test/use the product and give you a review and/or a testimonial.

9. Bring your sales copy up to standard, add your testimonials and launch your product.

By following the above strategy, you won't need to create your product until you already know the exact features that it should include, precisely how it should be positioned and you'll have a small list to kick start your initial launch.

By monetising the back end of your survey, you'll also generate profits even before you create your product. And, if your survey demonstrates that your product is a no-go, you'll probably at least break even on your PPC costs.

Download links:...{+}

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Are You Segmenting Your List?

John — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:49:03 +0000

I've seen many Internet marketers cringe when they think about face-to-face sales However, I can tell you from personal experience that in some ways it's a lot easier.

Think about it for a moment..

When a potential customer walks into a store, the sales person can size the prospect up before approaching her. The sales person observes things like:

The person's emotional state. Are they confident, are they withdrawn or worried looking?
Where do they head towards. What specific products do they seem to be looking at?
The prospect's body language, facial expressions and other nonverbal communication.
What are they wearing? Do their clothes match your target demographic? Business dress, smart casual, scruffy?
What the prospect says about the product to others (e.g., if she came in the store with friends/family).
What the prospect says to the sales person.
And so on.

When you're face to face, you can quickly answer the objections the prospect raises. When you're face to face, you can mirror the other person's language and body language to help build rapport (which translates directly into more sales).

But you can't do any of that online, right?

Of course, a good copywriter can predict some of the objections and answer them in the sales letter. And yes, sometimes prospects will email you with questions, which gives you an opportunity to close the sale.

But how can you "size up" a person who lands on your sales page? How can you "mirror" their language and way of thinking to build rapport with them if you never actually talk to them?

By segmenting your list

Let's get to it.....{+}

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