Internet Marketing Tools
March 10, 2010
As an information marketing afficionado, I’m always looking for the latest and greatest internet marketing tools. Not just for myself, but for all of the folks that read my ezine and rely on me for advice. This would include my proteges who I do a lot of work with in exchange for a piece of their action.
There are certain tools on the internet that everyone who sells info products should have. Here is my list. It’s not comprehensive, but I wanted to give you the top 4 that I use!
1. WebMarketingMagic – This program is the backbone to my online internet marketing system. Without this program I’d be out of business. It helps me run the entire back end of my info product business. In addition to allowing me to send out my ezines, it has an ad tracking program, an affiliate module, a split tracking system and a variety of other features that are crucial to anyone who markets anything online. If you don’t already have it, I suggest you visit the site and sign up for the free trial!
2. UltraCheapDomains – You can’t be a serious player on the internet without having a place to register domain names. I’m now up to over 500 domains. Most of them have content and are selling something. I suggest that if you want to register domains, THIS is the place to go. If you’re registering and maintaining more than 50 domains a year, it behooves you to go to Sell Domains for Profit and set up your own domain sales store.
3. Keyword Research – If you’re a serious marketer, you’ll have to have at least one if not two or three programs that help you with your keyword research. Unless you know what words people are using to search by, you’ll get nowhere FAST. I use both the Google Free Tool for looking up keywords and I also have a yearly subscription to WordTracker. These are both very worthwhile for you to do as well.
4. Spying on Competitors – Everyone who sells info products needs to know what their competition is doing. It is a long and time consuming process to do this by visiting each competitors site. Instead, go to a place I call, CoolSpyTool.com. This will give you a chance to find out as much as you possibly can about your competitors. This gives you the information you need to know about the people you compete against.
Those are the four basic internet marketing tools you must have as an information marketer. If you don’t, you’ll have serious problems marketing your business and succeeding in this increasingly competitive online environment.
Information Products Bulletin
February 22, 2010
Here is an information products bulletin. There is only one way to make it BIG in the selling of info products. That is to give people what they want. I don’t care how good a product you have or claim to have, unless your customers are in the “mood” to buy, nothing will be sold and no money will be made.
How do you make sure that you are producing info products that people will buy? You need to ASK THEM! This seems so painfully simple, but asking people what they want, producing it and then selling them to the people you asked seems like such a simple formula.
Do you need to be asking people in a FORMAL survey situation? Not at all. You can be asking people in a variety of ways. Some of them formal, but many of them informal.
Whenever I get a customer or potential customer who sends me an email, I always answer them and ask them a question. It may appear that I’m just a nice and caring guy (which I am) but I’m also very interested in finding out through this informal means, what I should be producing next.
Every time I’m a speaker at a seminar or event, I always sit with some of the attendees, NOT the other speakers. Why? Because I want to find out what people are interested in buying. This is the best FOCUS GROUP you can have. A group of highly motivated people who have paid money to attend an event who will give you a very solid idea of what you should produce and sell to them.
If you are really motivated, it’s also a good idea to pick up the phone and make some outbound calls to both prospects and customers to find out what they need. Then see if you can produce a product or service that will give them the ANSWERS that they need.
So the information products bulletin is this: LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS! Don’t think that you know what people will buy. Ask them and then produce what they tell you they want and need. This will give you the highest probability of success.
Nothing is better than producing information products knowing in advance that they will be sold. That’s the absolute best way to do business.
Follow these guidelines and your sales of info products will go way up. I look forward to seeing you at the next event or seminar I do to hear YOUR feedback!
How to Sell Information Products on the Internet
February 21, 2010
I’ve been selling information products for over 25 years. For half of that time, all of that marketing was done OFF line. How things have changed because of the internet! There are so many things I can do now that were impossible before all of us started selling on the web.
In the “old days” we used to sell primarily using direct mail. The nice thing about using direct mail was that everything was trackable. Similar to what we can do now with something like Google Anlaytics, we were able to know our numbers very well.
For an OLDTIMER like me, here are some of the reason why I love selling info products on the internet.
The thing that I love is the fact that now I sell digital products almost exclusively. There was nothing that I hated more than seeing a UPS truck going in the wrong direction. That would mean that someone had taken the time and effort to pack up and send a product back. I can’t tell you how much this angered me. Every once in a while the return was legitimate, but more often, someone had taken the product and copied it before they sent it back.
Digital products make me feel better. IF someone returns a product, there is no physical product to return. All they do is email me and request a refund. There is no physical product to return. I feel less “taken” when I suspect that people have been playing games with me.
The second thing I love about selling products online is that tracking is a lot easier. You could track everything when we were doing direct mail, but it took a lot more effort. Google analytics has made that much easier.
The third and biggest thing for me has been that my business has now become 100% portable. The only thing that still requires physical delivery are DVDs and videos. That won’t be the case for too much longer. As soon as everyone has a super fast internet connection, videos will also be digitally deliverable and practically so.
As much as some people may pine for the OLD DAYS, I’m glad that those who sell info products are now in a position to do their business virtually anywhere. This makes the business a lot more fun and interesting. You can be sitting under a palm tree on a Caribbean Island or on top of a mountain somewhere.
Selling information product on the internet is the way to go!
Information Products Suppliers
February 21, 2010
There are a lot of people, like me, who create info products for others to sell. This being the case, you can legitimately call me and the others who do this SUPPLIERS. I have no problem with someone using this term for me. I’m sure that many of my information marketing colleagues wouldn’t care either.
As someone who creates a lot of info products, I try and make my products great. I also try and make them easy for others to sell. How? By making sure that the products I create are simple and easy to follow for those who buy them. Also, I try to price them so that they are attractive to those who would consider selling them.
In my case, I do quite a bit of licensing. There are two sides to those of us who supply information products to others. One is the product itself and the other is the pricing of those same products. I like to offer those who buy my products three different types of licensing options.
All of them are valid options. I’ll talk about licensing in another post. For now, let’s talk about the product itself and pricing in general terms. People who don’t produce products themselves are always excited to find great products to sell to their own lists. These are products that give the users a very specific blueprint on how to do something.
People who buy info products from people like me are very interested in what the key metrics are. The first and most critical metric is your closing ratio and average visitor value. For illustration, let’s say the product we are talking about is a digital product that costs $100. If for every 100 visitors you average 4 sales, your closing ratio is 4% and your average visitor value is $4/visitor.
Anyone who is selling products want to find products that produce the highest visitor value. This number dependent on a few factors. The first factor is how good the copy on the site is. The better the copy, the higher the average visitor value. If you have an inexpensive product, you need to close a lot higher percentage to get a higher visitor value.
The MOST critical element in this whole equation has to do with how well the product MATCHES the list that you have. The better the match, the more you’ll sell.
Keep these various items in mind as you consider the info products that you buy from others to sell to your list.
Great Information Products
February 19, 2010
Great information products are those which both entertain and inform. Whenever I’m asked to critique an info product, I am always amazed at how 95% of them have just ONE of these things working in their favor. They are either extremely entertaining or packed with content. usually NOT both.
Your key to success as someone who sells info products is to make sure that you deliver both of these elements when you do YOUR info product. Great information products are those that sell a lot of units. It’s kind of similar to a great movie. If a movie is to be truly great, it has to have great material and sell a lot of tickets. No one can make the claim that their information product is truly great unless tons of people are buying or have bought it.
As someone who has been marketing and selling info products for many years, I take a lot of pride in the products that I produce. I’m not saying that everyone of my products has been great, but certainly ALL of them have been good. It’ funny how you KNOW when a product you’ve produced is great. You can just feel it.
Information marketing is a business that many people attempt on a whim. Many of them dip their toes in the water having heard that you can make a lot of money in the business. And, if done correctly, that’s 100% accurate. BUT, the key to making really good money in the information products business is to continually deliver HIGH quality products to your niches. This comes from great research, understanding the needs and wants of your market AND the X factor.
What is the X Factor in information marketing?
That’s the little something extra that you bring to the table with your products and services. This is what makes both a truly great information product and a great info product marketer.
You can no longer afford to be just “good enough” in your niche. You have to deliver more than what they expect and do it with panache! The key to my longevity in this business is understanding what my market niche wants and needs. I do this by keeping my ear to the ground constantly. Listening to what people are saying and what they want.
There is no shortcut to delivering great info products, there is only hard work and dedication to the market you serve.
Information Products Business Plan
February 16, 2010
Any and everyone who markets and sells information needs a plan. A business plan. Selling info products is thought by some to be a simple game that requires little planning. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a REAL business and requires a REAL plan.
As I see it, here are the steps you need to include in any business plan for your info products business.
What market will you try and sell to? You need to come up with a very specific target group. The best way to do this is to figure out what keywords would precisely target the group you are “going after.” For this blog, my exact group is INFORMATION MARKETING. This is exactly the group that I am seeking to find, talk to and sell to.
There are a variety of paid tools you can use to do this. There is also our old friend Google who can get you 95% of the way there with a free tool. I suggest you start with that one. It just makes the most sense. Go to Google’s keyword tool.
The next step in your plan is to figure out exactly what this target group needs and wants. Do NOT try and shoehorn what you sell into this position. You should be selling what your target group indicates that want and will buy. How to find this out? The best way would be to survey this group. If you already had a list of people in this target group, it would be easy.
Without that list, you’ll have to find someone who is already selling to this market and assume that they have done their research. This is certainly not the ideal way to do it, but it will work in a pinch.
Your next step is to decide what form the group would want to have the products produced in. Are they the types that would prefer audio, video, book or ebook?
After you’ve decided that factor, you’ll now need to get to work producing the products themselves. When you’ve gotten to that point, you have now officially entered the market. You’ve graduated from the planning stage to the implementing stage.
Information Products Training
February 15, 2010
Anyone who sells info products has to find creative ways to get people to visit your site and buy your products and services. One of the best ways to do this is to provide “samples” of what you do for free. Years ago, I used to do a lot of teleseminars. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of webinars. Given that much of what I need to teach and train people is online, it makes sense. It MAY for you as well. Depending on what field you’re in.
The webinars I do are geared to helping my proteges do a better job. These are individuals I’m working with on a variety of different information products and sites. Recently, I’ve opened up these events for my entire list to sit in on. Every Wednesday evening, for about an hour, I give my proteges advice. The information is incredibly valuable to everyone. That’s why I decided to let everyone in on it.
I send out an email to my list a day or two before to let everyone know about the upcoming webinar. If you ever use either teleseminars or webinars to promote your own products and services, here are are some great ideas for you.
The idea of “allowing” people to listen in or watch your coaching of others is a great idea. People love voyeuristically watching you teaching someone else. Another interesting twist on this is to ask people NOT to tell others about these events. This usually produces exactly the opposite result.
People can’t keep secrets. Telling them to keep a secret is a sure way to get the word out to everyone.
Try it yourself and see if it works for you in your market!
Information Marketing and John Edwards
February 12, 2010
This blog title may sound like an unlikely pairing. You may be asking: What the Heck does John Edwards have to do with info products and information marketing. Good question! Let me explain.
John Edwards would be in much LESS trouble had he actually come forward and told the truth about what happened to/with him. Yes, it would have made a presidential bid impossible. Yes, he still would have lost his marriage, BUT, it would have gained him a few ounces of credibility.
The problem with information marketing folks is that when people get caught telling a lie, they tend to obfuscate. They dance around the problem and never “fess up” and come clean. We live in a very forgiving country. The best way to handle mistakes that you make in this field is the same way you should handle it in every field: TRUTHFULLY!
We ALL make mistakes. Some big, some small, but none of us are perfect.. I would submit to you that people will actually trust you more when you screw up and then admit it.
I have a personal example. A trusted friend told me about a PILL that you put in your gas tank a number of years back. He SWORE to me that he was getting an additional 8-10 miles per gallon using this “magic” pill. I bought it. Hook, line and sinker.
Then someone on my list ILLUMINATED me with the facts. Facts are a terrible thing for the wrong person. In my case, I read the information he sent and decided I had been duped. I went to my large list of ezine subscribers and apologized for being an idiot.
Many people sent me emails thanking me for coming clean and admitting my blunder. People will always forgive if you explain what happened and it makes sense. Information marketers AND Tiger Woods need to learn a lesson from this.
Info Products Systems
February 11, 2010
When you decide to put together an info product in ANY field, the first thing you have to do is decide on what system you’ll use. I have my system that I teach to others that I suggest that YOU use when you do it. I start from the point where you have already decided to go ahead with the creation of your information product.
Step 1: Create a very detailed out line of the product you have in mind. There are two primary ways to do this. First, is to do this all on the computer using a standard outline. Many do this and it can work very well. The other option is to put every idea you come up with on an index card. Then when you’ve exhausted every topic you can think of, group the cards together based on topic, then put all of the (now) stacks of index cards into order.
Step 2: Decide on What TYPE of Info Product to create. This means deciding on whether or not you’ll use audio, video, a book or ebook or something else. You decision should be entirely based on what makes the most sense to the person who will “consume” your product. If you are dealing with a concept that needs visual representation, then audio would not be an option.
Step 3: Create TWO Websites. You’ll need to have a sales site AND and authority site to sell your product. Sales sites are no longer favored by Google and are virtually impossible to get ranked. Yes, you’ll need to put a sales letter page together, but don’t rely on it to get traffic. You’ll need to have an “authority” site to gain you credibility and GOOGLE JUICE.
Step 4: Tweak both of your sites. After you get the sites up, use someone like Sabrina Brick to make sure that WHEN people do visit your site that you have the highest closing ratios. Without that, traffic is useless.
Step 5: Consistently write blog posts, (like this one) and put up videos to support both your authority site and your sales site. The key here is to do the blogging and YouTube videos frequently. This is what will get people coming to you.
Step 6: Have a method of upselling people AFTER they buy your initial product. A one time sale is NOT what you’re after. You’re trying to get people to buy from you forever.
Do the above 6 steps and you’ll be well on your way to success as an information marketer.
Information Marketing Gurus
February 7, 2010
There are a lot of so-called info product gurus out there. The problem is that most of them are fraudulent. They paint a picture of something that few if anyone can do. These folks try and make it sound so easy. Trust me, the truth is it’s not.
But, if you follow the correct advice, it’s possible for you to make a very handsome living.
Don’t believe OUTRAGEOUS claims. If it sounds to good to be true, IT IS! Trust your gut. Listen to people who don’t try and BS you. Don’t expect to make a million bucks by the day after tomorrow. Be satisfied to make a good deal of cash over time.
If you’re interested in working with someone in the field of info product marketing, ask to speak to three or four of their clients. Get their feedback. It’s easy to get one or two people to LIE about what you can do for someone. It’s tough to get a whole bunch of them to keep a secret.
Be skeptical. Don’t trust numbers that aren’t your own. Keep that in mind for the future. If you’re curious about a particular person, feel free to email me and ask me about a certain person.
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