At 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, I logged into the forum and checked a discussion thread about refunds.
At 8:30 p.m. I launched a special report called "Refund Profit Secrets", with an email to my list.
By 8:30 a.m. on Friday, I had made 16 sales, and added $136 to my Clickbank account.
What happened during this 24 hour period? It's all inside the 'Infoproduct Profit Blueprint' - and it's yours free!
I'm going to share the exact steps, thinking and process planning that went on behind the scenes yesterday - so you too can use it to plan a project, create your own information product and start profiting from it. It's all done by tapping the very same resources on this forum we all have access to.
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STEP #1 - CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOPIC
Niche research can be a tough task. You've probably heard it said that the best way to find a hot selling product is to look for a problem many people are facing, and then offer a solution.
One of the best ways to do this is through online forums, especially busy ones like the Warrior Forum.
It's hard to detail the best way to conduct such research, but here's what I do. Visit the forum. Look for 'hot' threads - discussion topics that have the folder icon on fire by the left, or ones with a huge number of page views. As a rule of thumb, if a discussion has over 400 views in a day, or over 1,000 views in 3 days, it's likely to have potential.
As you gain experience in a niche, you might even latch on potentially viable topics simply by seeing the title of the post and studying the nature of the responses other members offer. As an example, even though I have little experience in it, I sense there's going to be some demand for a product showing how to avoid having your MySpace.com account deleted.
When you see the same (or similar) questions being asked on the forum, instead of getting annoyed, see if there's an opportunity you can tap. Study the nature of the discussion each time around - and see if any questions are common, if any issues keep cropping up regularly.
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STEP #2 - PLANNING OUT YOUR PRODUCT
At its core, an information product is judged by one thing, and one thing alone - the quality and usefulness of the information inside it. Not by the fancy packaging, not by the method of delivery, not by the fancy graphics or glitzy programming... but by the stuff it offers.
And that's good news - for you
If you have useful information, insider tips, practical experience or extensive knowledge about the topic under discussion, you probably have the kernel of your information product.
And even if you don't have it, but know WHERE to find the information, you're looking good!
Before taking the next step, think about the topics, questions, issues, problems cropping up in the discussion. With my report about refunds, I identified a few core issues:
- what's the best way to offer refunds?
- how to deal with cheats and serial refunders?
- can refunds be turned into an advantage?
Based on my own experience from a decade of selling info-products online, I also added a few things like the psychology behind a refund, the reasons why people might consider requesting a refund, and added the solutions I've built into my own business that has helped lower my own refund rate.
This entire process shouldn't take too long, especially when you're planning a short report. For a full-fledged ebook or ecourse, this process might take a bit longer - but still not more than an hour, tops. After all, all the research material is right there in the forum, within the discussions that attracted your interest in the niche!
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STEP #3 - CREATING THE PRODUCT
This part is as easy or as difficult as you make it out to be. To me, writing comes easy. I wrote the entire report in one session lasting a little under 2 hours. You might find it easier to dictate and have it transcribed (or even offered as an audio product), or ghostwritten by someone else for a fee.
You don't have to leave the forum to do that either - there are many good writers who can help out right here in the membership!
If you aren't writing from personal knowledge or experience, you might spend some time doing research and reading, online or in your local library. How long you take to do it depends on your expertise, knowledge and depth of material you expect to share in your product.
Once you've finished writing and editing, if it's a report, I like to present it as a PDF document. A cool feature in the new Apple OS allows me to convert a file from TextEdit into a PDF document with 2 clicks - after formatting the file, click on PRINT, and then SAVE AS PDF! That's it, you're done
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STEP #4 - GETTING FEEDBACK - AND TESTIMONIALS
One of the coolest things about the Warrior Forum is the amazing folks who will review your creation, offer constructive and extremely valuable feedback, and quickly give you lovely testimonials (if they are happy with what you've created) that you can use on your sales letter.
Ask for suggestions and critiques of just about anything - headline, sales letter, graphics, product - and you'll get willing, useful and very insightful responses.
One word of caution, if you've never done this before... be very specific about what you're looking for, and by when. There have been many times, early on, where I've only ended up giving away samples of my ebooks with little to show in return - because I wasn't clear about 'end points'
Here's a sample of what I posted in the private 'Warrior Alliance' forum about this report:
quote:
Need Review +/- Testimonial... By Tonight
If you've got a few minutes to spare right now, I'll trouble you for a small favor.
I just finished a report about refunds and dealing with them - and need some feedback and testimonials for the sales letter.
I'm posting a WSO and telling my list later on today, and would like to give out FIVE review copies to anyone who can quickly go through it and offer feedback/reviews/testimonials I can use on the letter -
And Do It Very Soon - Before The Day Ends
The report is 22 pages long, and will take around 45 minutes to read. It's about dealing with refunds and turning them into profit centers.
If you'd like to be a reviewer, just post a note here, or send me a PM, or email me - info (at) ________ .com (with REVIEW COPY in the SUBJECT line)
Thanks for your help, sorry for the short notice, and in case I've got 5 reviewers before you contact me, I apologize and will give you an extra special deal when I launch
Thanks again.
All success
Dr.Mani
It got 5 reviewers within an hour - and ALL of them sent in reviews which now grace the WSO sales letter...
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STEP #5 - CREATING YOUR SALES LETTER AND PROCESS
The nice thing about this approach is that the sales letter practically writes itself!
While you're researching your material, you'll already know your prospect's hot buttons... their biggest worries, toughest problems, most difficult hurdles. If you address them in your sales letter, it's sure to convert enough of them into buyers.
The major issues in the discussion thread will become your copy bullets. The biggest 3 or 4 things will go into your headline. The problem becomes your lead-in to the sales letter. All that's left is to throw in the price, guarantee and sprinkle in testimonials - and you're done!
If you want to do this even better, include an opt-in form and create a multi-part autoresponder sequence or a PDF booklet that offers a sample of your information.
Then, set up your payment processor to accept credit cards, test out the entire process, and you're ready to roll.
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STEP #6 - START SELLING YOUR INFORMATION PRODUCT
If you have a list (subscribers, clients, previous buyers), you could launch the report to them first. It's always nice to get a few quick sales under your belt - and it validates your decision to pick that niche to go after.
It also gives you a chance to test the sales letter and process, fix any major glitches. What's worse than having a non-converting sales page is driving a huge flood of traffic to it!
Once you're reasonably satisfied with your sales conversions, it's time to ramp things up - and offer your finished info-product to the audience that's most likely to snap it up... the forum audience that first pointed you in the right direction!
On the Warrior Forum, the nicest way to do this is by posting a Warrior Special Offer. This works for you in many different ways:
1. WSOs usually generate many sales - you'll feel good about it
2. WSOs give fellow Warriors a good deal - so you're helping folks who help you
3. WSOs are closely watched by big JV partners - if you're selling something hot, you'll find it easy to land JV deals
4. WSOs will let you get the critical numbers you need to approach super-affiliates and JV partners - without spending a fortune on PPC or other advertising
There's a fine art to posting good WSOs - and there's a ton of education right there in the forum itself!
Take a close look at the popular promotions. They are the ones with the highest number of page views - over 350 is good, more than 750 rocks!
Analyze the headlines. Several things are common across the popular ones. Make sure you include each of those elements in the headline/title of your WSO. Far too many good offers don't take off because not enough people LOOK at it. Your headline is CRITICAL here - make it catchy and compelling. Principles of copywriting apply here - it's great practice to writing ads.
Notice also how the different offers use advertising copy to build interest and excitement in the product - and use this technique in your own offer.
There are new rules for WSOs - and they are CLEARLY spelled out in a PDF document Michael Tracey has placed in the forum. Follow it to the T - or watch your WSO die without seeing the light of day!
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STEP #7 - RAMP IT UP
Once you've got a HIT, run with it!
Try all the marketing tactics you'll learn about on the forum. There is enough material in here covering just about every element of marketing to keep you busy for a long time. Keep trying and growing.
Joint ventures are a great way to extend the reach of a hot WSO launch. So are exclusive affiliate promotions - pick the big players in your niche who are Warriors and invite them to help you promote.
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What's GREAT about using this technique?
Just this... if you're willing to work fast and furious, you can have your product ready, tested and validated, all within 24 hours!
With this speed, you can test 3, 4 or even more products EVERY WEEK! Just imagine - you can CRUSH any competition who will take weeks, if not months, to get this far.
And with over 40,000 posts every year, there's enough research material to hunt out hot niches for a long, long time.
It's why I look at the Warrior Forum as my GOLDMINE. The rich ore is right here - all you have to do is mine it!
There are several hundred fortune-making products around the Internet that began as seeds on this forum - and you too have just the same access to this rich material as I do.
The difference is in how you will use it. Will you drop by the forum, chat aimlessly, chew the fat, trash and bash a few folks, or idly flip from one discussion to another - till another day rolls by without getting you closer to where you want to go?
Or will you change over to a pro-active, niche-hunting, fortune-building, opportunity-seeking approach, where every minute spent on the forum is invested in either growing your knowledge, extending your network or researching future products and promotions?
The choice is yours to make. Whatever it is, I wish you every success.
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THIS SHORT GUIDE IS "HELPWARE"
It's a term I first learned from the late Jim Wilson of www.JimWorld.com - a visionary and one of the most inspiring online marketers I've known and learned from.
It means this - if you liked what you just read, pay for it...
BY HELPING A FELLOW WARRIOR
Any way you like. Lend them cash. Help out with their sales copy. Offer your resources or experience. Whatever.
Jim taught me the principle of helping others first. It has stuck in my head since then, and done wonders for my success online. It will yours too!
Follow the discussion on this post at the Warrior Forum at http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=90322 - click hereTechnorati tags: Technorati Tags:
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