How To Run A 48 Hour Special – Part 1
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Product Ideas From NERDS
Need an idea for a new product?
As an alternative to hanging out at ClickBank
Marketplace (link) why not spend some time where “nerds” hang out?
Most of these guys and gals have ZERO marketing knowledge and frankly when
they have a good marketing idea they tell EVERYONE.
A few good places to troll for software, ebook and training ideas include,
http://code.google.com/soc/2008/
http://sourceforge.net/
– look under ” Browse Software” for ideas.
Another great place for finding ideas are online forums with a “twist”.
Here is my twist.
1. Register as a member (free).
2. Search for terms like, “How”, “Where”
The results will spawn many great ideas.
Often the replies give an indication of broad interest.
Last idea.
Sifting through “Press Releases”.
They have a convinient search box on the home page and you can quickly find
out the “buzz” in any industry.
- Michael.
Five words that can save you a fortune…
Making fancy videos requires a few bits of equipment.
Recently I needed something to add to my collection of ‘gizmos’ and took along a friend on my gizmo shopping spree.
“Watch this!”, I said.
I picked out the item I wanted.
Snagging the attention an elusive sales clerk was probably the hardest part.
As we approached the register (friend in tow) I asked casually,
“Do you offer a discount?”
There was a slight pause in his step. I winked at my friend.
“Actually, yes we do. Let me see what I can do” , he replied.
A few minutes later, ‘gizmo’ in hand, my friend who was initially horrified at my behavior laughed.
“I haven’t seen that done before”, she said.
Memorize those 5 words. Try them. The worst thing they can say is, “No”.
Don’t believe me, then check this article out from the New York Times. (link)
- Michael.
p.s. For the record the item was a “popper blocker” (link) — I got it at 25% off retail!
Rant: Order Link Boo Boo’s
Yesterday I went shopping online for a high-priced item.
The item or ‘thing’ isn’t important.
What was interesting was how hard some people make it to buy from them.
Some examples.
1. “Call this phone number to order” — I did and got stuck in voicemail HELL!
2. “To order FILL OUT THIS FORM” — 25 fields before I order. You’re kidding, right?
3. “To order call 555-5555″ — I did and no-one called back.
And so the saga went.
My suggestion, “find someone non-computer savvy and give them the task of ordering from your site”.
Ask them to explain what your site offers.
Ask them to go through the order process.
Listen to their questions.
This simple exercise could be worth a small fortune to you.
Wanted: This Could Be Important To You.
I am looking for someone to help test out some new marketing methods I have pioneered at my expense.
I’ll pay to promote your business, you keep the revenue but I get to see how well my methods work and I can use these results as ‘proof’ my methods work.
There is a slight catch!
I want to try these methods on marketing SOFTWARE not ebooks, CD or DVD’s.
The software must be your own unique product. It can be a hosted script or a PC product.
If you are interested then reply in the comment box below.
The comments are moderated and won’t be published.
I will contact you privately.
The Secret Tool Behind My Videos.
I use video extensively in my product creation.
Of course, for screencapture you can’t go past Camtasia but often I need something more powerful and flexible to edit ‘live action’.
After buying almost EVERY P.C. video tool on the market I found ‘Sony Vegas’. In the U.S. you can pick up the product for under $100 and this software works flawlessly.
I have bought ALL the other tools, Magix, Pinnacle and a bunch that are no longer sold and Vegas is by far my favorite.
Once I edit my footage I either burn it onto CD/DVD or load it onto Youtube.com
And for those of you that have started using Youtube.com as an excellent lead generation source… here is how you get your video rendered into the site.
Sales Page Screenshots In A SNAP!
If you’ve seen some of our sales pages you’ve seen our use of screenshots.
There is a fantastic tool we use to create these screenshots and today I am going to share it with you!
In fact, this tool ‘rocks’.
It is called, “FastStone Capture” and you can find it here,
http://www.faststone.org/FSCaptureDetail.htm
The best part is that it is, “Freeware” or FREE!
I have even used this tool to create whole products but I’ll leave that for another post.
Sometimes I am on the phone and instead of describing what I see on the screen I just email or send over the image using this tool.
- Michael.
p.s. Do you have a favorite tool? Post it in the comments field for others to see.
A Method Of Finding Info. Products Of High Quality
If you are already a an experienced niche marketer, I want today to share with you a really good resource for, “Finding products that are of high quality, convert well, and profitable”. This is also really useful when researching niche markets.
The site I am talking about is, http://www.cbtrends.com/
I use this link to find new products and when I want to see how well a particular product is doing I go here.
Often I will send traffic to an already developed site as an affiliate to see what kind response I am likely to get.
In future posts I will share more about niche marketing but for now check this resource out and see what is already working well.
Great Marketing Ideas Are Born In The Past
One of the great ways to learn about marketing is to study past advertising.
Here is a great resource I highly recommend.
It is called, http://www.hardtofindads.com/
They offer a free login to do searches and get close-ups of the scanned advertising.
When I am searching for an idea or inspiration this is one of the site I use.
Building Proof And Other Bedtime Stores
I want to spend a few minutes today on the subject of PROOF.
When it comes to offers your customers have a legitimate degree of skepticism.
WHY?
Maybe they bought something worthless in your market.
Maybe they fear their spouse giving them another lecture about that ‘gizmo’ which didn’t work!
Maybe they think you look odd, strange or funny.
It is your job as a marketer to demonstrate that your product works and gives results.
You see they (your customers) don’t really care that you have bills to pay.
They really only care about the results your product offers.
So, how do you build proof?
The first part is you use story telling (true stories) about the results your existing customers have with your product.
Then you weave in social proof.
What is social proof?
Well, most commonly you can use testimonials.
You’ve already seen those text boxes in a gazillion sites before.
But if you’ve been following this blog maybe you should consider video testimonial — yesterdays post was about in inexpensive Video camera.
No fancy production values. Just your regular Joe saying something nice about your product.
Photographs of customers holding your product smiling helps.
So does a photo of you!
Yes, people want to see YOU.
See me… yes, the photo on the top right hand side of this blog.
It helps build trust even if I don’t ALWAYS wear a suit and tie.
So, start thinking today how to use stories and social proof in on your web site.
The results will thank you.