Before I share my point, here’s a major update regarding this blog:

1. I am too busy on my recently launched site (not related with online marketing) so you will just see me write a new post twice or at least once a week. To make up for it, I’ll make sure to give you articles that is really informative and worthwhile.

2. I’ve been asking my other website’s visitors about their biggest problem on their online business and generating traffic comes on top of the list. So I’ll be posting more on this topic and probably would change the whole structure of the site accordingly.

I think that’s about it…now on with the topic – The New FTC Guides Governing Testimonials and Endorsements.

If you haven’t read about it yet, here’s a link to the FTC’s site: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

Before moving on, I just want to say that what you are going to read here are just my personal opinion. This should not be taken as a legal advice. I am not a lawyer and neither know a lot about laws (I’m not even based in the US!).

Before taking any suggestions, you should first approach your lawyer. Plus, if you do not agree with my site’s TOS, please leave this site now. : )

Whew…a very boring paragraph to read right? But you’ll be seeing a lot of those in the near future so you just might as well get used to it.

I assume that you have read the new guide on the link I gave you above, if you haven’t or is too lazy to click and even glimpse on it (like most people do), you can continue reading…just don’t take it out on me if your business get busted later on.

As you know, these new rules will greatly impact all online businesses that have testimonials (results-driven and income claims – yes, now you can’t use the most effective type unless you include a disclaimer that states the average typical result of  your buyers) and those that are doing endorsements and any product referrals.

Here’s what I have to say:

1. Testimonials.

If you are one of those that do use “specific” results-driven testimonials or post income claims/ proof, you should consider changing it. Unless you want to put a disclaimer after each testimonial stating the average typical result of your buyers which, for most if not all, is pretty embarrassing.

Here’s why:

No matter how good your products are, your average result will always be really really low. A really high quality product with an income proof of $5,000 per month and with customer testimonials showing a result of $1,000 in the first month, may have an average result of $00.01 or probably less.

And it’s not because the claims or testimonials are fake, its because a lot of buyers (we’re talking about 80%+ here) will not finish reading it, will not even follow the information, and will not take any action at all. I’m guilty of it…and I know you are too.

For example, this “Buffettology” book that I purchased two years ago. I haven’t finished reading it until now. I remember reading the first chapter but after that, I just put it in my pile of unfinished books. Why did I bought it? It’s because it’s the current “craze” way back then.

How many ebooks, books, e-courses, etc. do you have in your hard drive? How many of those you actually finished reading and took action til the end?

My solution:

Use other type of testimonials. The one’s that are pretty general and doesn’t convey your customer’s results like “Hey Ricz, I really love your product. Looking forward to purchase another one from you.”

If you really want to use “results-driven” and income claims testimonials, you just have to find a way to state the disclaimer and reveal what your average “typical” result really is in a way that it doesn’t devalue your product.

2. Endorsements/ Recommendations

FTC wants you to fully disclose to your website visitors the real relationship between you and the products you promote/ endorse/ recommend. If you earn any compensation from it (commissions, paid reviews, etc…), you need to tell them. Transparency is key.

My Solution:

This one won’t really affect your sales if you do it right. If you’re targeting other niches (not the make money online/ internet marketing niche), you don’t have to worry about it at all. Of course, disclose to your website visitors that what they are clicking is your affiliate link and that you are receiving a payment from recommending it. Non-IM guys won’t really mind it at all.

If you are in the make money online/ internet marketing niche, find a way to make them buy from you and not from other sources. You can do this by offering high quality bonuses that complement the product your promoting. The only way that they can get these bonuses is when they get the product from your affiliate link.

To reiterate, please don’t use this as a legal advice. Always consult your lawyer regarding this and don’t think that you can get around with this new rule. Do your best to always comply!

I would love to hear your opinions about this new rule. If you have something in mind, you can freely do so by replying below. : )

Others who read this post also read:

• August 31, 2009 -- Getting Ideas For Your First Info Product (1)
• August 25, 2009 -- How To Become An Expert In Your Niche (1)
• August 10, 2009 -- Don’t Be Sold! (1)
• August 1, 2009 -- How to Write a Sales Letter That Really Sells (5)
• September 9, 2009 -- Split Testing Basics (2)

“The Money Is In The List”, that’s what almost all the internet marketing gurus say and you will hear it as long as you are doing online marketing. It may be a cliche, but this is really the truth. Having a big list is a major advantage to internet marketers when it comes to promoting their products or someone else’s products.

Several courses out there focus on how to build a big list…but having a big list WILL NOT give you any money online if you don’t communicate well with it.

Email marketing is one of the best free online marketing methods. However, you have to know some things in order for it to work right.

Here are some basic email marketing tips to get you started:

Avoiding Spam Filters

Email marketing is getting harder and harder these days as the information technology grows – with all the spam filters and certain restrictions of major ISPs. So having a knowledge of what triggers a spam is a really good arsenal to take along on your internet marketing journey.

1. Don’t send unsolicited email.

Unsolicited emails will most likely end you up with a major complaint and so prepare to get hit by your ISP really hard. You don’t want to ruin your reputation because of a single mistake would you?

Only send emails to people who really want your information. These are people who signed up in your opt-in form and gave you their contact information.

2. Avoid spam filters that several ISPs use.

The filters being used by these ISPs isn’t perfect. It’s only a system after all. Even if you send non-spam emails to people who opted in with you, it will likely end up being not delivered because of these spam filters.

The system have no way of accurately checking if your email is a spam or not. It targets the words you use in your emails as well as the subject line. Every system has a flaw, so is these spam filters. Sometimes, it takes a word completely wrong and mark it as a spam, even if it isn’t.

There are hundreds and thousands of words that are technically considered as “spam” words so I can’t tackle it in this post. You can, however, search for free email score sites and have them check and give your emails a score.

One example of this site is this – http://www.mailingcheck.com/spamassassin-score/.

Make Your Subject Line Stand Out

No matter how good your email content is, it will not be read if it doesn’t have a captivating subject line.

Treat the subject line as your main headline in a sales page. Make it interesting enough to get your subscribers attention. Read through some emails that you have in your inbox. Take a note of those subject lines that really get you want to open it.

One thing you have to avoid is to write a subject line that will mislead your subscribers. Do this and see your unsubsribe statistic shoot up fast.

Create A Well Structured Email Body

This is your chance to get your subscribers to do the action that you want them to do. Aside from making the body of your email informative and interesting, it should have a good structure.

Write the body of your emails as you are writing a sales copy. Include an intro, a body, and a conclusion with a strong call to action.

These are just some of the things that you should do in order to communicate well with your list. The most important step you should do consistently is to deliver high quality information with your list regularly (don’t just send hard-pitch emails!). Mixed it up with your promotions.

Email marketing is not just about making money, it’s about making a long-term relationship with your list.

Others who read this post also read:

• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• August 31, 2009 -- Getting Ideas For Your First Info Product (1)
• August 25, 2009 -- How To Become An Expert In Your Niche (1)
• August 10, 2009 -- Don’t Be Sold! (1)
• August 1, 2009 -- How to Write a Sales Letter That Really Sells (5)

You’ve done choosing your target market, finished researching it, and have chosen a niche that is profitable and unsaturated. Now, you’re ready to create your first info product!

You think the researching part is over? WRONG!

A niche marketer knows that a seemingly lucrative market may not be what it seems after doing product research. After finishing this step, you will find out your target market’s “true potential” – its value may be a lot less or a lot more than you originally thought.

Product research is one of the critical steps you should take as a marketer as it could dramatically increase your chance in dominating your chosen market. This will uncover hidden profitable niches within your chosen niche. Niche that are with  less competition but the same profitability.

Know what your market wants!

Where to get your info product ideas:

• Online Methods:
  • Amazon.com – gives you detailed search results and allows you to browse by subject, watch product trends, sort by best selling titles and more. Look for the best selling titles and subtitles of your chosen niche. You can check the preview of the book you like to based your product on and take note of its table of contents.
  • Magazines.com – provides top categories and ranks titles. Check out the best selling magazines and check its contents. What titles are doing good? Is there a niche within your target niche? Do your research!
  • Community forums – participate in forums within your niche. Know what people are looking for. What problems do they want to be solved? Make sure that the forum is active and has many members.
  • Short Course Catalogs – this is a great idea for upcoming trends. Look for online class directories like “The Learning Annex” and look for courses that are selling fast. You can also look for seminars and events as well.
• Offline Methods:
  
  • Magazine Racks or Stores – look for related magazines in your niche. See if it’s been around for some time. Check for its contents and read the articles. This can give you an idea on your product’s topics.
  • Book Stores – just like magazine stores, check for the best selling books on your local book store. Take note of the nature of how these books were titled and how you can use it to your product.
  • Passionate People - open your radar when someone talks about your niche passionately. This people can be found at parties, at seminars, or at conventions. Listen to how they talk to each other. What are the common problems they’re having and where are they spending the most bucks.
  • Television Programs – watch programs that have general interest topics. TV programs are driven by trend so watch out for something like “The next fastest growing hobby in the US” or “The next big thing in your market”.

Focus on creating one product at first. You can add some bonuses if you want, to increase its value. Bonuses such as products that can complement what you have to offer based on what you have researched.

You now have a wealth of information in your arsenal. Use it to construct your marketing plan and create an info product that will surely sell.

Others who read this post also read:

• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• August 25, 2009 -- How To Become An Expert In Your Niche (1)
• August 10, 2009 -- Don’t Be Sold! (1)
• August 1, 2009 -- How to Write a Sales Letter That Really Sells (5)
• September 9, 2009 -- Split Testing Basics (2)

Want to be an “expert” to make a lot of sales online? Or you just want to market and brand yourself to have more exposure?

Either way, here are some steps you can follow to become an expert in any niche:

1. Find some forums in your niche and establish yourself as an expert.

Help people out. Don’t just reply, open new threads for each topic you want to tackle. Reply and post with excitement and don’t limit the content you give. Bring all you know in a forum and people will start to follow you and look up to you as an expert.

2. Flash your proof or evidence whenever possible.

When you email your list or members, include pictures of you at a marketing event. If you have a picture with a very known expert in that niche, show it to them as well. Tell them how you and a certain someone met, conversed and established a partnership.

Share your stories of success to your subscribers. Don’t just tell them that you earned this amount of money in this amount of time, tell them how you did it and how it worked. Show some proof by including statistics and income statements. You can also put this in your blog. Which gets us to number 3….

3. Create a blog with your name

Get yourself a domain name. Just like this blog of mine, RiczSabido.Com. Send your list or newsletter subscribers to it often. If you have a product of your own or have an upcoming product launch, post it on your blog as well. By doing this, you are also marketing and branding your name.

Make sure you also place photos of yourself and with other well-known experts on your blog. Strive to create a community of marketers around you by encouraging people to post comments on your topics.

4. Use a redirect tool when promoting your products or affiliate products.

When you have a domain with your name, you can promote while embedding your name on the links. For example, if your product URL is www.my-resources.net, you can brand your name with it using a redirect tool (a software or a script). Instead of www.my-resources.net, you use www.yourname.com/recommends/productname.

This is powerful and can give you a lot of great benefits. People will easily remember you because of it and most of the time, they will check your site after seeing the product you promote (this always worked for me.)

5. Associate yourself with “gurus” or well-known people in your niche.

Go attend some seminars, mingle with them and establish a relationship. You need to be genuine here. Offer assistance, hear them out, share them your thoughts, and so on…Treat them to a lunch or dinner. Remember, you’re making a friend here, not a business partner. Nurture relationships first then the partnership or business will follow!

Becoming an expert in your chosen niche isn’t that hard. It just takes time and a lot of relationship building. In today’s business, it’s not what you know that really counts, it’s who you know.

Others who read this post also read:

• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• August 31, 2009 -- Getting Ideas For Your First Info Product (1)
• August 10, 2009 -- Don’t Be Sold! (1)
• August 1, 2009 -- How to Write a Sales Letter That Really Sells (5)
• September 9, 2009 -- Split Testing Basics (2)

There is no difference between an online business and an offline business when it comes to its ability to capture great success from poverty…to rise from rags to riches…to produce extra ordinary results in just one move.

Most of the things offline are approached like things online. Even marketing and sales.

Many of the so called “gurus” or those well known online marketers use marketing techniques that has long been used by offline marketers. These marketing techniques are just repackaged and reengineered to fit in the online marketing world.

The result? Big income!

I have been offered hundreds of products online as well as offline. Been sold to every product you can imagine. I have attended seminars with sales pitches thrown in between breaks. Some of it I was sold, some of it failed.

As a result, it became natural to me to see a sales pitch coming at me even if it’s still a mile away.  Today, I don’t buy anything in my online business based solely on a sales page. In short, I can’t be easily sold. I became immune with the sales pitches and techniques applied in a sales letter.

Now, I only buy things based on the features, quality and price of the product, whether if it will help me on my current goals. I learned not to make any decision to purchase a product just on the pitch itself but to research the product well.

In an online business, it’s hard to sell to a person immune to these copy writing and marketing techniques. A person who will ignore the long lines of a sales letter, avoid the hype, pass through the pitch and just purchase based on what the product is truly worth.

Unfortunately, most of us doing business online are not like this. Most of us are swayed effortlessly by great copy writing techniques. Especially the new comers or newbies. They are easy prey to these sales pitches and will be sold one after the other.

All I have to say is this – don’t be sold! Avoid the hype, extract the facts, and do your homework!

Yes, several of those hyped products online are most likely earning people money…but probably not you, it’s the people selling them!

At most times, if not all times, you are being sold opportunities. Most of the sales page will not tell if the product is right for you. It will be more structured in a way you will be sold and less structured in a way that you will be educated.

What can you do? Do what you think is right for your business.

Can the product help you bring closer to your goals? Is it inline with your objectives? Don’t just be sold!

Others who read this post also read:

• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• August 31, 2009 -- Getting Ideas For Your First Info Product (1)
• August 25, 2009 -- How To Become An Expert In Your Niche (1)
• August 1, 2009 -- How to Write a Sales Letter That Really Sells (5)
• September 9, 2009 -- Split Testing Basics (2)

Trying to make money online with affiliate marketing? Are you seeing no results with your affiliate marketing campaigns? Don’t worry; almost 95% of the marketers are in the same situation as you are right now. And it’s not your fault. It’s either the gurus have not given you a sure-fire way to success or you’re just following the wrong system.

I’m going to share with you the most important lessons that I learned during my first few months as an affiliate. Use this as a road map to get your affiliate marketing campaigns on the right track.

Affiliate Marketing Road Map:

1. Always Have an Opt-In Form in Place

Even if you’re just starting out, always practice to include an opt-in form asking for the email addresses of your visitors. Put this on all of your affiliate/ squeeze pages.  Make your visitors opt-in by giving away gifts such as free reports, mini-courses, ebooks, and so on. The key here is to make the gift related to the product you are promoting and should be of high quality and unique.

Getting their email addresses can help you make a sale from customers that were not prepared to buy immediately. This allows you to follow up with them as long as you like. You can also offer new products and refer them to more of your affiliate programs in the future.

2. Avoid Stuffing Your Affiliate Web Pages with Ads

Visitors will leave your site if it’s full of different ads. Take the extra time to create separate web pages for each of the products that you promote. On that particular page, you should focus on only one product. Make it simple. As much as possible avoid putting two to three different ads on a single page.

Don’t give your visitors too many distractions on your site. Instead create a clean, easy to navigate and informative affiliate site. Your only goal is for them to take your desired action, which is either opt-in on your form or click on your affiliate links.

3. Choose the Right Products To Promote

Just because the product has the highest payout or commission doesn’t mean it’s the perfect product for you. Of course, having a good payout and high converting product is one factor, but if you’re new to affiliate marketing, what you should look for in a product should go beyond its profitability.

Before choosing an affiliate program, you should ask these questions to yourself:

• Is the product something you would buy and use for yourself?
  • Always promote a product that is of high quality. Promoting sloppy products can really hurt your credibility in the long run.
• Can you sell the product given your available resources (time, money, knowledge?)
  • Remember, even if you opted to promote using free traffic tactics, this will still cost you in terms of time. Choose a product that will fit with your current resources.
• Is the payout of the product higher than the cost of getting one sale?
  • Simply ask the product owner for the conversion rate of the product. If you know this, you can compute how much it will cost you to earn a sale. It really depends on the advertising medium that you will use.

4. Buy the Product That You’re Planning To Promote and Actually Use It

It’s extremely easier to sell a product that you have tried for yourself. Spend time and money to try the product out and study it as much as you can. You’ll be glad that you did in the long run.

If you have used the product to its full capability, you can quickly tailor your promotions to connect with your site’s visitors. You will be viewed as someone who they can trust because you promote using the knowledge you gained from actually using the product and not just for the sake of making money.

If you can’t buy the product, ask others who have used it. Before promoting a product, I always ask the owner if he/ she can provide me a test copy for affiliates. And at most times, the owner will be more than willing to give you one.

Plus, you can create a guide for the product in pdf or video format and use it as your bonus. You can know more about bonuses by reading my post, making more money online using bonuses.

5. Rework the Sales Materials Provided To You

If you want to stand out from the rest of the affiliates promoting the same product as you do, you need to take this extra step. Especially if you are promoting internet marketing or make money online stuffs. You will be bombarded with several emails having the same subject line and content from different marketers. Would you open it all up? Heck no!

Add it up with Google penalizing duplicate contents and you’ll be sure that that web page will never see the light with all of those web pages having the same content that you have. (In case you put up a page for that product and copied all the sales materials given to you on it). Mix in your creative juices and add your twist on all of the sales materials (of course you don’t need to edit the banners or images) and you’ll be rewarded with a higher click through rate and make more money online.

6. Your Job is To Promote So Don’t Sell!

Leave the selling to the product owner. That’s why they have a sales page for their product. Your job as an affiliate is to promote the product by providing information. Pre-selling is entirely different to actually selling the product. By pre-selling, you give the right amount of information to the prospective buyers with the objective of drawing them in.

Intensify their interest to the product you’re promoting. Satisfy their hunger for information regarding the product but don’t give them all they need. Make them want more information. This will actually lead them to the product owner’s sales page.

7. Dedicate, Commit, and Focus!

If you lack even one of these three, you are guaranteed to fail sooner or later with affiliate marketing. Don’t be enticed with the promises of several affiliate programs out there. Sometimes the problem isn’t the system that you’re following, its YOU. Don’t jump from one program to the other unless you think that you have given enough time and effort to the program you’re currently promoting.

Once you have chosen the right product for you, dedicate and commit yourself by studying the program and the products you’ll be promoting. Once you started promoting it, focus on making a sale. Don’t just give up without exhausting all your resources. Almost all affiliate programs need ample amount of time before results kick in.

Follow this road map and you’ll be way ahead of several other marketers online. There is one final turn that I want you to take though. And this is to know the right mindset of an internet marketer. Without it, you could follow this road map all day long and yet still feel lost at end.

Believe in yourself that you can do it and follow this fail proof affiliate marketing tips.

See you at the top!

Others who read this post also read:

• July 27, 2009 -- Making More Money Online By Utilizing the Power of a Bonus (2)
• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• August 6, 2009 -- Choosing The Best Affiliate Marketing Network Program For You (0)
• July 29, 2009 -- Why Affiliate Marketing Is Still the Best Online Business Model (0)
• September 24, 2009 -- Time Management For Internet Marketers (1)

Writing an irresistible sales letter for your product is one of the major obstacles on your internet marketing journey. How to write a sales letter that can actually get you a sale? By simply following a structured format. A format left by top internet marketing copywriters and is used and followed by several marketers online.

Sales letters are very structured things. Go and study some of the sales letters that you thought were good. Go back to the sales letters of products that you recently purchased. What made you buy it? By reading a lot of these good sales letters, the structure will be more and more evident to you. And once you learn that format, you’ll find yourself creating sales letters that really sells one after the other.

How to Write an Irresistible Sales Letter

Know Your Market

This is the most important step on writing a good sales letter. Make a research on your target market: know who they are, what they do, how old they are, etc…. After building a list of about 15-20 of these, you can get a feel of what voice should you use in your sales letter that would really connect with your target audience.

Use The AIDA Formula

• Attention – your sales letter should capture the attention of its viewers.
• Interest – after you capture the attention, your sales letter should bring out their interest on the topic.
• Desire – you should intensify their desire as they go along with your sales letter.
• Action – the primary objective of your sales letter should be to make your visitors to take action.

Structure of a Good Sales Letter:

• Headline – where you put the first equation of AIDA formula, Attention. The most important part of your sales letter. This is your chance to grab their attention (and it’s imperative that you should). Tell them the biggest benefit that they will receive from your product. Provide it to them as a solution and how can it help them. Create as many sub-headlines as you like if you have several benefits to state.
• Intro – the second part of AIDA formula should be placed here. Peak your visitor’s interest and draw them in. Identify with your target market. This is your first opportunity to build up a relationship with them. The perfect place to create and relate a story.
• Main Body – this is the place where you should state the problem and intensify their desire. Can have several parts such as:
  • Credibility building – tell them why they should listen to you. Show your proof. Compile a list of achievements that can boost up your credibility like testimonials, statistics, a screenshot of your income, before and after pictures, etc…
  • State the problem and intensify it – you should know the primary concern of your target market and intensify this in the process. Tell them the consequences of not solving it earlier, what other harm can it cause to them, and so on… Just don’t over exaggerate. You do want to provide facts and not just plain assumptions.
  • Providing your product as the solution – it’s important that you position your product as a solution after stating and intensifying the problem. Restate the problem then focus on what makes your product unique and so special and what does it take to finally solve their problem.
  • Stating the benefits – this comes after stating the solution and should be in bullet point format. One bullet point = one benefit. A good bullet point has these two things: your product feature and its corresponding benefit. This is where you can pump up the value of your product.
• Testimonials – insert customer testimonials in-between. The most powerful testimonial: results driven. It should talk about specific results that they achieved through your product. A good testimonial should overcome an objection.
• Bonuses – this can increase the value of your product. The most important thing to remember is that the bonus should complement what you offer. Two to five bonuses seem to be the magic number.
• Price Justification – one technique I like the most is doing price comparisons. You have probably seen a sales letter using this. The most used comparison is the coffee comparison type. Example: ”For just a cup of coffee a day you can……”. Other types: results and time justification. Justify your price and make it look like it’s a bargain.
• Your Guarantee – take out the risk from your customers. Offer them a guarantee. State that they have this number of days to try your product and if they are not satisfied, then they can have their money back. The longer you offer a guarantee, the higher your conversion will be. Refunds are normal. If you are worried about getting a lot of refunds, you shouldn’t if you have a good product. I’ll discuss how to minimize refunds on my future posts.
• Call to action – the final piece of the puzzle. Summarize all of the features and benefits, and then ask them to take an action.  Be sure to make it easy for your website visitors to order. Your call to action should be easy to find. Put it on all visible parts of your sales letter. After the intro, main body, testimonials, and so on… Always put a P.S. (Post script) after the end of each sales letter and include another final call to action. Post scripts are the most read part of a sales letter aside from the headline.

Follow this simple structure and I guarantee you that you will have a sales letter that can make you lots of money in the long run. How to write a sales letter that can compete with the big players out there? By doing it again and again. Practice! You might not get it the first time, but you will get it right and be efficient at it if you keep on doing it.

Write your first sales letter, make it live, drive traffic to it, and then tweak and refine as you go.

Others who read this post also read:

• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• August 31, 2009 -- Getting Ideas For Your First Info Product (1)
• August 25, 2009 -- How To Become An Expert In Your Niche (1)
• August 10, 2009 -- Don’t Be Sold! (1)
• September 9, 2009 -- Split Testing Basics (2)

You can make more money online by doing simple things on your current line of products. One of that is product slivering.

So what is product slivering and how it can make you more money online?

It is simply making sub-products or sub-niches of your most popular product, making it more targeted to a particular market. It’s a technique used by most large companies out there. I’ll use one international company as an example – Coca Cola. Its main product line Coke has produced several sub-products such as Coca Cola Zero, Diet Coke, etc…

In a shopping mall, most of the stores that you went through are owned by just one management company.  Why not put all of their products in just one big store?

Because only a few will buy.

Retailers, particularly those specialty ones, have found out that by slivering their products, not only can they earn more money in one single mall, but customers are actually willing to pay more for these products.  Here’s another secret…You can actually charge premium prices to products if your customers believe that it was made for them!

Now what does product slivering has to do for your online business!

The answer: So much

Product slivering is easier if done online. If you’re selling digital products, then there’s no problem slivering it. Most digital products such as ebooks have chapters or are divided into sections. You can divide each chapter and sell it individually at a lower price. Or you can also separate each section and make each section target a particular niche.

You will have several sub-products to sell to different markets. You can now make the complete ebook the upsell of all of its sub-products at a premium price. There are a dozen ways of product slivering; the only limit is your imagination.

Google Will Reward You For Slivering

As I mentioned earlier on my post at Google Adwords Fast Track, Google changed because it wants its users to have the best surfing experience. They want them to find exactly what they are looking for.

In using Google Adwords, Google rewards you for slivering your products into sub-niches. The more relevant your products are to the keywords the user searched, the more Google will love you. End result: you pay less yet you also rank higher.

If you don’t take the time to sliver your products, aside from suffering a high cost per click rate, you will also get mediocre conversion rates. Imagine driving a highly targeted traffic to a general landing page. Your conversion would suck because the targeted traffic you’re sending is looking for a very specific product and not the general one that you’re offering.

If on the other hand, you slivered your products so that you had a unique product to offer for every targeted prospect, then expect to have some really good conversion (up to two digits)!

Recap – How Product Slivering Can Make You More Money Online:

• Higher conversion for your products.
• You can have several targeted sub-products coming from only one main product.
• Google will reward you with a high quality score: less pay per click cost and higher ranking

Product slivering is a method that can be applied to any online business. The big internet marketers use it and almost all online businesses utilize it. Increase your online income and make more money online by slivering your products!

Others who read this post also read:

• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• September 3, 2009 -- Email Marketing 101 (0)
• August 31, 2009 -- Getting Ideas For Your First Info Product (1)
• August 25, 2009 -- How To Become An Expert In Your Niche (1)
• August 10, 2009 -- Don’t Be Sold! (1)

What do the internet marketing guru’s know that the other 90% of the marketer’s don’t? What do you need to reach the same $50,000+ per month income (or at least achieve half of it) that they are living right now?

I am not an internet marketing guru…and I don’t want to be one. However, I learned a lot from these gurus on their product launches and some of their high priced courses. I followed some of these internet marketing gurus’ campaigns and would like to share some of the things that I learned from it (if I share all of it, it would take me days to finish this post).

Guru’s Secret #1 – They Don’t Just Build a List

List building is one of the most overused phrases by almost all marketers online. I don’t mean that you should not build a list, what I want you to do is don’t JUST build a list, focus on building a strong buyer’s list.

I know most of the guru’s have several lists but these lists would only fall into two major categories: a prospects list (the freebie seekers are here) and a buyers list (where the real money is made). Focus most of your time on the buyers list because these are the people who have money and have a higher chance of making a second purchase from you.

Guru’s Secret #2 – They Have a Napkin Sized Business Model/ Plan

You don’t have to build a multiple page business plan to succeed in internet marketing. Sometimes keeping it simple is more effective.

Internet marketing gurus can write down their entire business model/ plan on the front side of a napkin. What do your business plan look like? Eliminate those extra lines and use the K.I.S.S strategy.

Guru’s Secret #3 – They Don’t Focus on their Front-End

When I was starting out last year, I would allocate most of my time on the first sale. Guru’s don’t. They even give their front-end or their first sale away for free or only for a buck. How do they earn from a free or almost free product? By implementing a well-planned product funnel.

A product funnel looks like this:

As you can see, the entrance to the funnel is very wide. You should drive all of your traffic here.

An internet marketing guru’s product funnel will always have three levels: the front-end, mid-level, and a back-end.

Front-end products are low priced ebooks, courses, softwares, etc… with a price range of $5-$30. Mid-level price range is usually from $100-$400+. One example is a home-study course. The backend product, which is where the guru’s make real money, ranges from a thousand to ten thousand dollars. This can be private seminars, one-on-one coaching, etc…

Guru’s Secret #4 – They Harness the Power of Continuity

Continuity is king. I’m sure you have heard of that phrase. Your business model should include residual income as this will give you a solid stream of revenue, even if you decide to take a vacation.

Go back with the product funnel diagram. As you drive traffic to your front-end product, your mid-level or the up-sell should be where your continuity program lies. Include it as a bonus. This way, you are making your continuity program a forced one and not an optional one. However, please clearly state this to your buyers.

Explain what will they get (in this case the free trial to your continuity program), the amount that they will be charged in case they still want to continue after the trial, and how can they cancel from it.

Several internet marketing gurus have implemented this technique since the start of this year (2009). One example is Russell Brunson’s DotComSecrets program. They would offer you a free CD, together with their continuity program which is a membership site. Another example is Anik Singal and Amit Mehta’s PPC Classroom. They gave away a free CD about their membership site, PPC Classroom 2.0, and yes, a free trial to it too. Mike Filsaime has three launches that have continuity in it (his monthly newsletter): Butterfly Marketing Script, Traffic Crusher, and Niche Crusher.

There are three types of continuity:

• Physical Products – Monthly Magazine, Newsletter, DVD or CD Series
• Membership Sites – Yearly, Monthly, Weekly subscriptions
• Software Applications – monthly fee for the use of the software

The key to this technique is quality. Make sure that your product can and will satisfy your buyer’s expectations and needs. If you don’t have a continuity program in place, you’re wasting a lot of money. Remember, continuity is KING!

Guru’s Secret #5 – They Don’t Put All Of Their Eggs In One Basket

Internet marketing products are very volatile in nature. Certain products can give you thousands of sales last month but can only give you a few hundred this month. Never stop from just having one product.

A guru’s new product launch may give him $60,000 in the first month, but he won’t expect that income level to stay any longer. That’s why after a successful launch, they are back with they’re planning board and think of their next launch.

Never put all of your efforts on just one product. Internet marketing is changing and evolving really fast. Be dynamic!

Guru’s Secret #6 – They Are All Fast Action Takers

This is also part of being dynamic. Don’t be a perfectionist on your promotions or products. Your product may never see the sunlight if you try to polish all of its angles. All internet marketing gurus know of the phrase “Ready, Fire, Aim!” and they practice it all the time.

Whatever your plans are, practice to put something up online as soon as you can and just aim and refine it as you go. Just make sure that you have tested all of its functions, checked all its grammars and the graphics are aligned the way you want it to. You don’t want to make your product look like cheap, but at least get something out there and just learn and tweak along the way.

Now that you’ve seen an internet marketing guru’s mind, all that’s left is for you to take action! Even if you read posts like this every day, it won’t make you money. Spend the most of your time in turning what you’ve learned into gold.

Others who read this post also read:

• October 12, 2009 -- My Take On The New FTC Rule Concerning Online Marketers (1)
• August 31, 2009 -- Getting Ideas For Your First Info Product (1)
• August 25, 2009 -- How To Become An Expert In Your Niche (1)
• August 10, 2009 -- Don’t Be Sold! (1)
• August 1, 2009 -- How to Write a Sales Letter That Really Sells (5)

On my last post, Video Marketing 101, we talked about the importance of video marketing and how your “money” videos should look like. On this post, we’ll go one level deeper – I’ll teach you how should you create your videos, the one major component that you don’t want to miss, and to where you can submit it.

Tools You Need To Create a “Money” Video

Creating your videos should not be that hard. You don’t need high end equipments and other costly stuffs to make a “money” video. You don’t even need to shoot yourself (for those who are afraid of speaking in front of a camera.) What I’m going to teach you only needs a software application, your ideas, some background audio and your voice (if you have a recording software).

There are several applications for creating videos, some are free, and some are paid. The free ones are Windows Paint for creating your slides and Windows Movie Maker for editing and creating your videos. Paid applications are Microsoft Powerpoint and Camtasia (the internet marketer’s choice for screen recording software).

If you are serious on marketing your products using videos, then go with the paid applications as it contains a lot of features and functions that the free ones lack. But I highly suggest to just use the free software first as it is sufficient enough to create your first “money” video.

The Most Important Components of Your Video

One of the most important parts of your video is the call to action on the last slide. Treat it as an advertisement. You should also have a slide that summarizes all the strong points before the call to action slide.

One more component to consider is your video length. If you’re just promoting a product, then make your video short (as short as a minute or two). Making it longer than that makes it boring to your viewers since the purpose of your video is just to promote a particular product. Your videos can be longer only if you’re giving content to people (like my example on the teaser video).

Video Creation Guide (or more like slide show creation)

1. Create a story board for your video – this is the script that you will use in each slide.
2. Type each line in your script in Windows Paint by using a text box and saving it as jpeg format or make slides of each line on Microsoft Powerpoint. This will result in one or two lines per slide. I usually use just one line per slide.
3. After creating all the slides, create your video by using the video software applications. Put the slides in order, add some special effects if you want to, add a background audio if you don’t want to record your own voice, and that’s it. Your video is now ready for submission.

Final Touches for Your “Money” Videos

Now that your video is ready to upload in video websites, your next task is to search for keywords. You should spend a decent time for researching the keywords that you will use as the title for your videos in the video websites. It’s not enough that you create a “money” video; you should target the best keyword for its title as well.

If you don’t research for the right keywords to use, your videos will not rank high enough if your keyword title has too much competition or you won’t get enough searches if you pick a keyword title that is too specific.

I have a free keyword software on my other site, My-Resources.Net. If you want your keyword research to be faster and easier, you can download the free internet marketing software here.

The Final Step: Submitting Your “Money” Videos

There are several video websites on the internet. You can probably find several dozens of these sites using search engines. However, you might want to focus on the sites that bring most of the traffic.

Here is my favorite list of video sites:

• YouTube
• Google Video
• Dailymotion
• Flurl
• Spike
• Facebook
• Blip
• Howcast
• Metacafe
• MySpace
• Revver
• Vsocial
• Veoh
• Viddler
• Photobucket
• Yahoo

Just remember that you need to have the “http://” on every link that you will put on these video websites. This will make it clickable and will be easily read by search engine crawlers. Also, don’t forget to put at least 6 keywords as its tags if it’s available.

And that’s all you need to know about the basics of video marketing.

Create your first “money” video, optimize it for it to rank higher and faster, submit it to video websites, and as you make money online, don’t forget to share or bookmark this post. =)

Others who read this post also read:

• July 16, 2009 -- Video Marketing 101 (2)
• August 15, 2009 -- Forum Marketing 101 (1)
• September 3, 2009 -- Email Marketing 101 (0)
• August 1, 2009 -- How to Write a Sales Letter That Really Sells (5)
• July 24, 2009 -- How To Make More Money Online By Slivering Your Products (4)