The other day, out of nowhere, one of my coaching clients blurted out:

“Hey, I think I want to be able to send out offers to a list of subscribers like you do…  can you help me with that too?”

You see, the reason he said “too” and the reason I said “out of nowhere” is because, like the proverbial “too many irons in the fire” brain, he really didn’t have a focused reason to ask it, as a) the question didn’t relate to what I was coaching him on and b) he didn’t understand what the purpose of a list is in the first place.

After asking him a few questions, it turned out he’s been carrying around this pretty head-shaking, comical belief that list-building means “marketing” and that marketing means “pitching.” (Ah, Joe, I dig ya, dude, for giving me the green light to rip on ya some).

“What makes you think that I, or anybody under our LWL umbrella for that matter, uses opt-in lists as the email version of an advertising and pitching channel?”

I heard the long pause… he knew he’d stepped into something he thought, somehow, someway, that he’d be able to tip-toe out of. So, Joe took a deep breath and preceded to continue what he started:

“Aaaaah, a-hemmm, well, I guess I was just assuming, since everybody else who sends me emails sends me offers, that you guys do too.”

This, unfortunately, is the typical advice given to current-day, green-around-the-ears affiliate markers and anybody else who just wants to “make money online.”

And, like I told Joe, I’ll say it here too:

When you equate an email to an eyeball, the same way that Dot Com’ers did in the ’90s, you end up missing the ‘secret distinction‘ that most newsletter PUBLISHERS “get.” It’s the adoption of some time-proven principles that can take you BEYOND just being a so-called marketer.

The person who labels himself a marketer (and “just” or “mainly” a marketer), more often than not sees an email (and a name) as a target. A hit-or-miss part of the equation that’s gotta be in place to make a sale. It’s not far removed from the “one night stand” mentality.

The person who doesn’t like labels, but just a business that serves — through value-added products or by delivering focused newsletter-style content that synergistically leads into unique, usable products — sees email as a relationship. An ongoing way to communicate his/her interest, experiences, and knowledge. It’s not far removed from wanting to ‘marry the reader’ into his/her world.

But, therein lies either the disservice or the magic.

I explained to my curious, ambitious coachee that this is often where marketing stops and publishing begins.  Many people attempt to bring a reader (a subscriber) into their world, either for all the wrong reasons — by not being upfront about why they are — or by not even delivering what the subscriber subscribed for in the first place.

Actually, Heather wrote a post about this distinction, as it relates to congruency and integrity.

But, I’m going to pass along some quick rules — ah, nah, more like guidelines — that Joe asked me to write up so he could better understand how to command attention, interest and desire with  readers:

== Cont’d ==

♦ First thing to figure out is what you’ll be using an opt-in form for. Is it to give away a “preview” of a product, in the way of a report, audio, video, etc?

If it’s going to be put on a product-specific landing page, for the sole purpose of keeping people in the marketing pipeline, be upfront about that.

In other words, don’t call that campaign or list a “newsletter” if you’re mainly going to use it to “time drip” follow-ups and reminders to purchase that product. There’s nothing wrong with this approach. My advice, if you’re going to set it up for this purpose, is to create a serious of autoresponder emails that go out automatically, and ensure those emails KEEP the focus on moving the subscriber/prospect to customer.

I can’t begin to tell you how many lists I got on, to check out a person’s product offer, only to be emailed about something, sooner-than-later, completely not related to the reason the landing page was set up.

♦ Learn to teach what you know, instead of share what you’ve found. When you use the product-specific landing page technique above, preface your call-to-action with some personal knowledge, life stories, and something that the prospect can resonate with.  Share an opinion, pass along some wisdom and then subtly transition into the reason your product will solve a problem they may have.

Better yet, have multiple opt-in forms whose sole purpose is to ‘prove your worth‘ upfront, as it relates to what that ONE website or product can do for them.  If they opt out, have your email system/software direct them to a custom page that says something like:

Hey, FIRSTNAME… no offense taken.  I know my XYZ product doesn’t make sense for everyone on the planet.

I’m confirming that you’ll no longer receive updates and follow-ups about XYZ product. Also, I wanted to make sure you know that I write an ongoing XXXX newsletter that promises to ________ ( fill in a few benefits).

It’s not a product-driven list. If you join it, I promise I won’t fill your brain with endless pitches or advertising drivel. There is no set publishing schedule, either. We will only write commentary, add a resource link, or upload news items when we have something provocative, progressive, and potentially profitable for you to peruse.

Well, I’m passing on some of our secrets here. And, the last paragraph above is actually part of the verbiage we use ourselves to transition people who don’t want to learn anything about a specific product over to our “No-Limits Living Newsletter“.

You can see how we structure that newsletter HERE (one of our weekend updates).

If a subscriber goes through your cycle of  product-specific emails, doesn’t become a customer, and ALSO doesn’t opt out, then here’s where you can get creative.

Obviously, they still like what you have to say, and probably have an interest related to your product or niche.  Make one of the latter emails in the series an email that essentially tells them that you “Give Up.” Explain to them that you’re scratching your head wondering why they haven’t become a customer yet. Tell them that, if they choose to stay on XYZ list that you’re going to lay off on your own product-specific updates, but you’ll occasionally send them a few intriguing offers from friends of yours. Tell them you understand that these other related products / services may be a better fit for them.

Which brings me to the next and last guideline…

♦ Be a trusted resource — a connector, an expert, a researcher. People buy you, not endless hollow, non-personal emails about unrelated product launches and income-earning deals.

Meaning, people need to know your Killer Value Proposition BEFORE they’ll even pay attention to your name (the one that shows in the FROM: field in their email inbox) or care about your subject line.

If you’re doing MORE impersonal pitching than offering up your experiences, stories, resources, tools, ideas, and passion, do you think they’ll care about your NEXT email?

People care when they know you care.

So, my final thought is that the affiliates who perform the best for us are the ones who have a loyal following. Their readers see them as advocates for their success, their interests. There’s a common bond.

These affiliates sell because they really don’t sell. They’re instead going out of their way to research, write, and serve by being genuinely fascinated by our products/services that they have an interest in themselves, and products/services that they feel serve their subscribers/readers.

—-

LWL Worldwide Inc
Publisher, upcoming  ‘LWL Wealth Vault’ & ‘Renegade Money Guide’

* Amongst many other products that help
you think outside the box and live a
no-limit life.

So, as promised a few days ago via my email broadcast (it’s linked here if you didn’t read it), I’m going to share with you how CAUSE MARKETING comes into play via social media.

First, it’s important to NOTE that my definition and description of “cause marketing” isn’t going to be the same as the standard, dry academic one you may be aware of:

“the type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a ‘for profit‘ business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit.”

Nope… instead, what I’m talking about here is all about your REASON for communicating with one of your lists — your open statement of “here’s why this newsletter (or blog or list you’re asking people to join) exists.”

I can’t begin to tell you how many people online confuse “pitch marketing” with “endorsement teaching” (hell, sometimes I think some folks are trying to be the Billy Mays of Email).

Yeah, sure, I get it — I just made up the phrases above; yet, when you look at how the two words in “quotes” go together, you can begin to see the word play and WHY your readers  either run to OPEN your email or instantly CLOSE  it.

We’ve got some affiliates wondering WHY their conversions were LOW on our recent Interviewing Unwrapped promotion.

Yet, when I go to look at WHAT they’ve been saying to their readers in the recent past, and HOW they’ve been saying it, the commonalities between 4 to 5% sales conversions (which several affiliates achieved) and 1 to 2% conversions (which several affiliates achieved) are pretty clear.

The higher conversions come from lists where the writer, publisher, or marketer spends the majority of their time TEACHING WHAT THEY KNOW about a very narrow and niche-specific topic.

Let me ask you something:

If you create a landing page, or have an opt-in form on a blog, where the verbiage is all about how you’re going to teach “traffic techniques,” yet you pitch MORE THAN you teach, or you rarely give away your “traffic generation” knowledge, what d’ya think your subscribers are eventually going to do?

Uhmmm, let’s see: possibly wonder about your intentions, what your agenda is, and just who the hell you are?

Or, if you’re constantly pitching stuff that’s not really related to traffic-generation, what could be the ultimate backlash from the reader?

Let their fingers do the walking to the DELETE key?

Yup, probably.

Here’s the rub about all this:

I constantly see more and more UNFOCUSED pitches and canned endorsements about others’ products (including ours) — products that don’t sync up, resonate, or jive with the “marketer’s” list.

Whether it’s the need to be seen as one of the cool people who jumped on board a “buzz-filled” dated launch, or whether it’s just about fast cash, in the long run the shotgun strategy is going to do more harm to your business (hopefully that’s how you look at cultivating and nurturing a list of readers).

I do believe Dave Vallieres said it well when he said:

“A lot of online email newsletters are well nothing but sales machines — full of hype — or pure fiction. Here’s a fact: Of the 372 IM email newsletters I subscribe to, only 12 provide any kind of factual, un-biased advice or news about Internet marketing. I’m not making a judgment here, but those are the facts.”

And, of course, like Dave, I’m NOT slapping the verbal ruler at any LWL affiliate(s) in particular.

What I am saying, however, is this:

It doesn’t matter how spectacular, mediocre, or even bad a publisher’s sales page is (er, forget that — I know we need to present somebody with a proper offer and have compelling reasons to look at that offer); if you’re not open and clear with your list about what they should (and will) expect from you, it’s all a moot point.

If you’ve got a GENERAL “internet marketing” list and you’ve been explicit somewhere along the reader’s opt-in path about you being their advocate, their researcher, their investigator for QUALITY products… then, FIRE AWAY and strictly present them with offers.

Yet, do it with YOU behind the pitch. There’s a reason, by the way, I mentioned Billy Mays above.  He wasn’t the most-liked, most respected pitchman on T.V. just by chance.  He became famous and fabulously rich for one reason ONLY:

As his partner,  Anthony “Sully” Sullivan, said last night on the Discovery Channel’s tribute to Billy:

“He was the most authentic guy I know, only pitching products that he had a passion for. Everybody could see and feel how genuine he is on camera. It’s like he came alive in your living room.”

In other words, like Billy, if you are gonna “pitch” (sell your brains out), do it for all the RIGHT reasons — to serve your subscribers and customers by finding informational products that can make their life better, easier, happier, healthier, and more prosperous!

Now, as promised, here’s the excellent blog article about how someone with 2000 Twitter followers can be more powerful than a person with 25,000.

The article will give you two specific examples of how cause marketing (my version) endears YOU, your specific interest, hobby, or fascination, with readers who actually DO want to cheer you on and LOOK at you as their expert and advocate.

Talk soon… actually, I’ll talk to you tomorrow via a  QUICK video tour of some of our new “Affiliate Tools” associated with our product line-up.

LWL Worldwide Inc
Publisher, upcoming  ‘LWL Wealth Vault’ & ‘Renegade Money Guide’

* Amongst many other products that help
you think outside the box and live a
no-limit life.

I got this video from Bob Burg, who eloquently points out that providing value (to customers) does NOT equal being taken advantage of.

BELOW the video, the link will take you to, how shall I say… a much more direct and raw version of this topic and it’ll also give you some views on why your customers aren’t always right.

First, check out the hilarious video:

*   *   *

Now [ time to be SERIOUS] —  if you’re a publisher, or someone who sells your own products, here’s a marketing lesson you need to listen to carefully…

* * * * * * *

I see this all the time — from affiliates, publishers in our peer group, and even a few of our past business partners.

Yes, when a customer, subscriber, or even JV Partner whines, or gives unsolicited advice (in the form of complaints) on the changes that should be made, or feels victimized by a good ol’ fashioned marketing strategy, SOME MARKETERS CURL UP IN A BALL ON THE FLOOR WITH THEIR THUMB IN THEIR MOUTH.

Look, if you’re working with passion, connecting with people to move your mission forward, and just plain in the business of business (i.e., feeling good about exchanging your value in the way of money), you’re ALWAYS gonna offend someone.

It’s the way life works. Sorry, I just can’t put on rose-colored glasses (I’d have to go borrow some from one of the metaphysical marketers I know who have a few spare ones) and spin this in a pretty way for you.

The TRUTH (the reality): You can’t please them all!

Some marketers and teachers I know — especially the ones I encounter within the spiritual growth and metaphysical arena — can’t handle the thought of having an upset or disappointed subscriber / customer.

Look, thicken-up, keep things real, and understand that everybody isn’t going to agree with, or like, you.

And, that’s a good thing — the more you can polarize the crowd, the more loyal your followers are, the more money you will make (and, if you feel that that isn’t your key goal, you’re fooling yourself – REMEMBER: money only comes to the person who is serving with honor, commitment, and a sense of congruency with Who they are and Why they’re doing what they’re doing).

Don’t change something on your website, modify a marketing model, give into a refund policy, or even offer a new service just because one, two, five, or ten people ask, whine, or judge you.

A fellow marketer Heather and I know once told us:

“There will always be depressed, unhappy, and jaded people in this world that feel they need to voice themselves or tell you how you need to treat them. They think they are smarter than you, and will do what they can to prove it. Just realize that they spend a majority of their time looking for attention and majoring in minor shit. Yes, it’s okay to call a spade a spade, regardless of how evolved or spiritual you think you’re supposed to be.”

Here are a few unconventional (but potentially profitable) truths to start stomaching:

Customers Aren’t Always Right!

Challenging customers is part of sales. If we want to prescribe the right solution, we must get to the truth with our customer. Sometimes customers don’t start out telling us what we need to know. Sometimes customers lie to us. To get to the truth, we must challenge our customers.

Hal Rosenbluth, CEO of Rosenbluth International (a corporate travel agency), took this truth to heart and wrote an excellent book about it called: Put The Customer Second – Put Your People First and Watch ’Em Kick Butt.

And, if you don’t have employees, revise his book title for your own slogan: Put Your Business FIRST, Your Customers Second.

I know that’s not going to sit well with some of you reading this, but the simple fact is that when I say “customer” in the above title, I’m referring to the troublesome, irritable, miserable ones. They don’t run your business. You run your business. Get it?

It’s Okay To Tell The World Why You’re Great!

I have nothing to say about this that Dan Kennedy already hasn’t said.

Here’s an excerpt from his book, The Ultimate Success Secret:

“General Patton was viewed by many of his peers as a shameless, egotistical promoter. Madonna, throughout her career, has been sneered as a no-talent self-promoter. Brandon Tarkitoff. Donald Trump. Richard Nixon brought himself back from utter, unparalleled disgrace to respected status as an astute elder statesmen through an aggressively implemented, thorough strategy of self-promotion.

“And let’s add the adage, ‘There have been many statues erected to honor those highly criticized, but very few statues erected to critics.’

“You really have two choices. You can choose to stick your nose up at the promoters, criticize them and criticize promotion, view it as unseemly, as beneath you, as crass, and stand around grumbling about it. OR you can get good at it and use it to create influence, prominence, prestige, credibility, celebrity, career and financial success. It is your choice.”

And, if you’re inspired now to learn more about the virtues of shocking your bad customers, being a couthful self-promoter, and having conviction with your plan of marketing, read what Robert Ringer has to say about For The Love of Making a Ripple.

Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

*  *  *

If the embedded video above buffers — stops and starts — 
watch it via this page instead

———————————————

Get Your Launch Link by Logging In Here

Or

Want Your Link to By-Pass The Landing Page ?
( see video above )

LANDING PAGE:  http://www.ProfitWithInterviews.com

Want to Refer and Earn ?

Sign-up HERE or login if you’re an existing LWL affiliate:
http://www.lwlmedia.com/aff-login

We started out of the gate yesterday morning with excited abandon — unbridled enthusiasm for kicking off a training site that will:

>> Show anybody, regardless of experience, how to create profit-pulling QUALITY content through the power of conversation.

>> Give as many insider strategies and proven tips as possible (without giving away the farm) to as many people as want to KNOW how to work once and get paid over, and over, and over.

Yet, the rub is this:

Interview-driven products ONLY have viral, word-of-mouth pulling power if the “conversation” holds depth, energetic impact, and spontaneous revelation.

Listeners, in other words, want to walk away from the time they’ve spent “listening” with information that wasn’t rehearsed, recycled, or filled with fluff.

WHEN YOU DIRECT YOUR READERS TO HEATHER’S PRE-LAUNCH TRAINING SITE, I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THEY’LL LEARN…

——-

>> HOW TO DRAW ACTIONABLE INFORMATION OUT OF THE PEOPLE THEY INTERVIEW.

———————————————-

Today, Wednesday, June 3rd, via the training site, you’ll hear “The $50 Million Dollar Man” (a.k.a. Joshua Shafran) tell you precisely why people need Heather’s training and upcoming PHYSICAL package.

By the way…

In REGARDS to ENDORSING an A-to-Z course about “interviewing” over say the next “marketing tactic” course of the week, here’s how we look at that:

We have an ideology that simply goes like this:

Life is part of a continual process of exploration with not just ourselves, but with “others” too.

And when you strip away all the fluff, hyperbole, and timid behind-the-computer communication, you’re only left with fresh, candid, uncensored conversation.

That basis is the root for nearly everything we do — and that’s because secrets are discovered, ideas are created, thoughts are provoked, and answers are revealed during the course of asking the right questions of the right people.

So whether you’re talking interview, candid discussion, or formal consultation, the art of conversation is what sows the seeds that the greatest a-ha moments spring from.

It’s truly where life is designed, and without skipping a beat, it’s the very same reason this week-long pre-launch training is being conducted.

I think you’ll find HUGE “Thank Yous” from your readership for introducing them to this.

———

You can all pre-written email, articles, and your affiliate link inside your ACP:
http://www.lwlmedia.com/aff-login

*  *  *

If the embedded video above buffers — stops and starts — 
watch it via this page instead

———————————————

If you’re NEW to our centralized affiliate program, here’s how payout works:

>> If you have a balance that is over $200, we pay once a week (on Fridays).

* For the once-a-week to apply to you, you must be willing to be paid via PayPal, in lieu of a check.

>> If you have a balance that is less than $200, we pay out every other week (on Fridays).

Regardless of your balance, our pay cycle is just like ClickBank’s (you can expect a payment once every two weeks); however, we’re ALSO rewarding top producers by paying them once a week.

We’re BIG proponents of product-driven INTEGRATION here.

We know the more a publisher endorses something of ours, based off the merits of the product and how it syncs up with  the theme and niche of their site/newsletter/blog, etc., the more valuable the relationship on a long-term basis.

So, we’re giving a little something… something EXTRA — a WEEKLY payday — for our affiliates who continually produce sales, due to ongoing efforts.

There are many things you can do to make that work for you (i.e., an addition of a LWL-powered product in one of your customer autoresponders; thank you page links, etc).

Give me a call if you want to brainstorm and get creative.

“Where’s The Commission % Per Product?”

One of our new affiliates asked the above question, and it just dawned on us that we didn’t have that % displayed inside our ACP (Affiliate Control Panel).

Once logged into your ACP, read the heading titled “Commissions” for the instructions on where to find it.

NOTE: some of our products, like Renegade Growth Pak, are a BASE product with MULTIPLE upsell offers attached to it… so, the upsell product/memberships aren’t displayed as a listing inside your ACP, because they’re automatically tracked AFTER the initial base sale.

June 2nd – “Interviewing Unwrapped” Pre-Launch:

We still have some Sponsorship spots open.

And, if you want some exposure on our Pre-launch blog, be sure to add your “Voice” to our call-in lines.

Click Here to Read About It (affiliates only)…

It tells you, chapter-by-chapter, precisely the EXTREME value of her upcoming product and why it’s probably a perfect fit for your list. If you teach your customers and subscribers how to blog, how to podcast, how to do video marketing, how to create membership sites, how to do teleseminars, or how to create info-products, this product fits in perfectly because interviews are a natural way to use those tactics for excellent results.

Let’s go find Heather and see what she has to say:

If the embedded video above buffers — stops and starts — 
watch it via this page instead

———————————————

Login Here To Get The 23-page JV Partner Report

To see Barry d ownload it, watch this screencast:

]]> http://lwlmedia.com/news/heathers-secret-war-room/feed 0 http://lwlmedia.com/news/renegade-growth-pak-2-ready-to-promote http://lwlmedia.com/news/renegade-growth-pak-2-ready-to-promote#comments Sat, 02 May 2009 04:21:07 +0000 admin http://lwlmedia.com/?p=273 From The Desk of:
Barry Goss

If you like passing on CONVERSATION (audio and transcript-based) that is revealing, deep, profound, and outside-the-box… our newly revamped RenegadeGrowthPak is the PERFECT product to promote.

Collectively, Heather and I have interviewed close to 250 teachers, coaches, and mentors over the past four years.  We filtered out the ones that we felt take a contrarian, critical-thinking, very DIRECT, accountability-driven approach to spiritual transformation, manifestation, and self-growth.

This product converts EXTREMELY well. It offers access to the AUDIOS of 3 flagship renegades and then offers ADD-ON items (upsell offers to additional renegades) AFTER the initial purchase.

If you’re an existing LWL Affiliate, click the link below to access the link that’ll give you COMPLETE DETAILS on this promotion, including four 10-minute videos that lay out the compelling benefits of endorsing this product.

If you haven’t signed up yet, just use the APPLY HERE link shown on the right hand side of this site.

We look forward to working with you as the weeks and months go by.

Click Here to Access the RGP Promotion page (affiliates only)…

We’ll be with you next week about the release of two new very unique, highly-anticipated PHYSICAL products you can promote, assuming they make sense for any specific list or customer base you have.

Speaking of that, it’s rare, we’re finding, that affiliates are spending time segmenting what they do or do NOT send to people.  In excerpt #2 below, you’ll hear more about that.

First, the introduction:

In 2005, a world-class copywriter, a high-paid marketing consultant, and a Guerrilla Marketing teacher got together to discuss seven steps that, when and if implemented, would produce a seven-figure business.

The recordings of these calls are still much-talked-about in the world of Internet Marketing, and you can listen to TWO excerpts that we feel will CATAPULT your online business and affiliate commissions, due to a few tweaks in how you “think” about your subscribers.

Both these excerpts RELATE to the impromptu message Barry gave a few days ago on “Cause Marketing.”

POWERFUL EXCERPT #1: (10:08)

POWERFUL EXCERPT #2: (6:57)

If you’re an existing (approved) affiliate — you ARE one if you’ve been sent a WELCOME email and/or you can log in using the instructions on the next page — click below to gain ACCESS to the entire recordings.

Click Here to Access All The Recordings (affiliates only)…