Fred's house in sunny and warm Las Vegas
I'm John Soares, one of the participants at the workshop. My current information product is: Writing College Textbook Supplements: The Definitive Guide to Winning High-Paying Assignments in the College Textbook Publishing Market.
www.WritingCollegeTextbookSupplements.com
About These Notes
I took these on my laptop throughout the two-day seminar. They were intended for my own use and are not comprehensive. For example, I didn't write down many of the things I already know. However, there is a lot of good information here, including many of the web addresses Fred discusses.
I am a professional writer. However, what you get here are the notes I made for myself, so they do not follow the rules of grammar and punctuation.
The Handouts
Three handouts guided the information presented:
- How ANYONE Can Build an Info Product “Empire” in 7 SIMPLE Steps (you can get this one by going to: www.TheProductGuru.com)
- Random (But IMPORTANT) Thoughts About Internet/Information Marketing - www.fredgleeck.com/cheatsheet
- Fred Gleeck's Funnel System (also available at the same site as the first item)
Mailing lists and databases--buying/getting email addresses:
mailings.com
MDR.com
Recommended Books:
Talent is Overrated - Colvin
Outliers - Gladwell
Happier – Tal Ben Shahar
164K people on Fred’s list
10,000 hours for world-class proficiency, assuming proper training and practice
- Deciding on a Niche.
- Write the Copy for Your Product.
- Create the Product.
- Put up a Website.
- Drive Traffic to the Site.
- Convert the Visitors to Buyers/Opt-ins.
- Sell them More and More of your Products.
Bird feeders: keep squirrels away--$7 e-book sold 35,000 copies
Use Google adwords:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Research niches by doing keyword searches to see number of clicks
Look at sites selling similar products
Do competitive analysis:
sites from handout 1
get traffic numbers of my competitors
also use www.alexa.com
Produce both timeless and time-bounded products
Can address short-term fads, but also need the have-around-forever products
Funnel:
appeal to all modalities of learning
Must decide what type of product will serve my market
sell other's products as an affiliate if:
(1) the products are good
(2) I don't (yet) have similar products
www.WebMarketingMagic.com -- private license; many others use it under different names
www.InfoSocia.com - create own private Facebook; people pay $39 per month; like a paid version of NING but more complex and not free
Business caulking--find gaps in business models and create products to “caulk” the gaps = find a niche.
www.FredGleeck.com/kevin/
free mp3 from older conference
Screen capture video can be good in a product if appropriate for my market.
Paypal account: have misspellings of my name.
Funnel:
give something for free--they know I’m good and knowledgeable
sell inexpensive and trade up
Fred’s top: seven-day intensive info product creation and then JV with students
Bob Bly: Copywriter’s Handbook new edition--dedicated to Fred
Jeffrey Lant: cash copy
www.SuperFastTweak.com $497 Sabrina Brick
Don’t try and do it yourself. If you do, have someone TWEAK it for you
Very few people actually test copy:
use google analytics
test: headline, price, salutation, bonuses, opening paragraph, P.S., offer itself
test at least a couple of prices, a couple of headlines
Analytics does Teguchi multi-variant testing: will tell me which headline, which price, which bonus optimizes sales if I have three headlines, three prices, three bonuses
can increase sales 3x-4x
www.BipolarCentral.com
Fred’s “student”: does very well with this site
www.CompleteInternetMarketing.com
Fred and Terry Dean
Mr. D is creator of www.bipolarcentral.com
Google alerts: check my own name to see where and how I’m appearing in the news and on websites.
www.FredSentMe.com
Fred’s affiliate stuff
www.CompleteInternetMarketing.com
Fred’s latest info product -$97
www.fredseminarspecial.com
Licensing:
resale license
other types of licenses
E-mail to list:
80% good content
20% sales
Won’t make as much money by doing things honestly and ethically; the others will have an advantage
Need to find other producers of information; I can introduce my list to them as an affiliate. Find people I think are ethical and good.
Sound recording: small room with carpet and comforters on the wall.
Recording:
Marantz PMD 660; records onto flash card; can record MP3 and other formats; MP3 is fine for voices; 128 Kbps is good quality; costs $500;
Fred uses iTunes to create the actual file once he pulls it out of the Marantz;
Garage band software--can’t go longer than 33 minutes
B and H photo www.bhphoto.com Kendall Scott--audio guy--say Fred sent me
I can also record directly to my hard drive; don’t need a Marantz
Must have a very good microphone; don’t want too good; it will pick up everything.
Sound Soap: a product that allows me to eliminate a certain frequency range.
Shure 58A is a good mike: around $100
XLR cabling--inexpensive
mike stand from Radio Shack
www.ExpertInterviewer.com -- how to interview properly
Ways to do it:
1. sitting in a studio (worst)
2. live event
3. interview
teleseminar
www.freeconferencecall.com - decent audio quality
“That-2” separates voice of me and person calling in--I can do a volume adjustment--make it louder; JK audio www.jkaudio.com
Skype: call around world for free; plug-in to record calls; but unreliable right now; sometimes drops the call
After lunch
People need differing levels of help.
1. Some will take a basic product and run with it.
Others need more help.
2. Group coaching--seminar.
3. Individual coaching.
www.ConsultwithFred.com send him $500; get 90-minute consult
Best when they come to me; when I come to them I’m on the weak side of the power equation.
Use Fred’s www.LunchwithFred.com and www.ConsultwithFred.com sites and copy the site
If I find a site I like: “view source” and take code, plug into browser
Coaching: to get started, do it for free; but say what it’s worth and ask for testimonials
Sam Visnic:
came to boot camp
he’s blogging--had success (Yaro Starak materials)
optimized his blog entries around long-tail keywords that he found through Google
He gets 100 hits a day
www.endyourbackpain.com/blog
posts videos to Youtube; also has Facebook site for his videos
want links/bookmarks back to my site for SEO; so put those links on Web 2.0 social sites
Youtube clips really made the difference for him
He’s one of Fred’s JV/revenue-share clients
His joint ventures with other information product creators: he gets 10% of income; they send check every month; he’s an equity partner
Video:
Want video only when it’s truly useful
David Frees - video releases - dfrees (at) utbf (dot) com
Always have an extensive outline and a storyboard--what it will look like
Flip video:
- video quality is good
- audio quality inadequate
- good for video testimonials
Must know how to light properly
Get a good tripod with a floating head--allows you to move up or down--costs $300
If turning into a DVD we need higher quality
High Def not needed for web information products
Need a decent camera: $500 digital should be fine
BH recommends a Canon; may be at Costco
Canon $279 at Costco; must have external mike--check to see if it does
Google search: brand and model number and review--check reviews (www.ConsumerReports.org--$20 per year)
First time do it with someone who knows what to do
Local cable TV or community college to do it cheaply
If video is too slick and professional, people may not trust you
megalynx 7 duplicators for CDs and DVDs--see on ebay
Eventually people will buy video digitally, download it, and burn a their own DVD--will take 18 months before this happens = late 2010
audio already there--people will download mp3 and burn to CD or listen on mp3 player
www.CDROM2Go.com will create prepackaged thumb drives with content; put my logo on them; can be sampler I can give to people, or sell
Want all video to be in flash format--will work on all computers
Camera must have external jack for microphone
Want to use wired mikes, not wireless; XLR connector best; mini OK, but diminishes quality
David Hamilton the Web Marketing Magician works with Fred; knows about doing technical stuff on Web, including shopping carts – www.WebMarketingMagician.com
www.kunaki.com produces and mails CDs and DVDs
http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonS3/2006-03-01/ - stores large videos for download to customers
Some Internet marketing people try to wow with numbers; best to be understated--Bly makes 300,000+ per year
Testimonials:
more specific the better:
detailed info on what they gained
full name, town and state, website, and e-mail
Video testimonials are best
need not get releases
but tell what it’s for and get permission in front of witnesses
Sell my items on ebay
If someone copies my stuff and tries to sell it, send a cease-and-desist order
Fred’s info boot camp--$3K, will eventually be far more
current price matches current demand
Fred’s new book, out in 2010: Sell Your Brainpower
Seminars
See his book on information marketing
When he speaks at a conference for 1-3 hours, he condenses all this stuff
Use his websites as templates for my sites
Web Marketing Magic makes 5 figures per month
www.UltraCheapDomains.com makes $1000-1500 per month
Think about software I can get involved in that will continue to make money
Membership sites
www.InfoProductCentral.com
Does good numbers: venture with Fred and Bob Bly
www.TheSpeakingSchool.com - improv-based speaking seminar taught by Fred; $5K for one week www.WhereIMakeMyMoney.com - breakdown of Fred’s income
Day Two
Seminar:
do product pitch about 50%-plus into the seminar
one-day: just before lunch break
two day: just before lunch on second day
two price options: lower-priced option and a higher; adjust the prices as needed
Website stats that are important:
1. # unique visitors
2. conversion rate for sales
- 100 visitors; $100 product
- 3% conversion if three people buy
3. e-mail capture rate
4. average visitor value: amount made per average per customer
Data that any joint-venture/affiliate partner will want
send my Google analytics data as screen capture
one brochure site and then a separate domain for each product
more sites means better SEO (search engine optimization)
may also have separate site for a products I’m an affiliate for
PPC: don’t pay more for PPC than I make in the long run in sales--at least break even
PPC--Fred isn’t getting good results anymore; still useful for testing
Web Marketing Magic shopping cart:
- ezines
- ad trackers
- shopping cart
- credit card processing--get Dave Hamilton to integrate for you--the merchant account
- autoresponders
- only need Web Marketing Magic and merchant account
Get misspellings of my domain names, especially if I become famous.
3% is a great closing ratio.
Closing rate depends on price of product and other factors.
Pop-up for people who are leaving: The Seven Most Important ... for free so I get them on my list
www.TrythisDomain.com to find good domains that have just expired
Affiliate commissions may only be 10% for some industries/activities; a $10,000 program may only pay 10%; they’ll always give less than their marketing cost of acquisition of a customer. Ask what they pay their sales people--what commission to get one person to sign up.
I can be an affiliate for Web Marketing Magic:
split is 50% to owner of software; 30% for me; 20% for Fred
www.ItsJustaParody.com
www.BillionsInMinutes.com
Can also do offline to drive traffic
Paid:
Primary: Google adwords PPC
Set up now with $25
http://adwords.google.com/
Be careful to set a daily limit
lots of tools and tutorials
Want to be in positions 4-7, not first three; people will be click-happy for the first 3 [??]
Google and Yahoo adtools will tell me who is paying for which terms and how much they pay
My bid order determines my order on the right side of Google
Algorithm: the better my ad, the lower my cost
Adwords for Dummies is a good book
Use PPC to determine interest in topic:
click-through rate on Google page
percentage that give me question about topic in exchange for free e-book on the topic
www.PayPerClickSearchEngines.com
many of these engines are cheaper per click than Google
Alexa
Spyfu
both let me know how much traffic my competitors get
www.CoolSpyTool.com
Offline traffic:
advertise in niche magazines
Only do niche markets: what my target audience reads religiously
Start with a classified ad to see if magazine works
Can also send a postcard to people with website address
www.SellYourBrainPower.com - Fred’s new book; out later this year
John Kremer, friend of Fred, 1001 Ways to Market Your Book
Driving traffic to site with unpaid offline
PR is best
www.FindingLoveOnlineBook.com a free book
give away to make money as affiliates to online dating services
next Valentine’s: big push to get people to site; find love of your live for free
press will pick up on it
Dummies Guide to Press Releases: good book
Distributing press releases
distribute press releases online in Google
see list of sites
www.PRWeb.com
Blogs: best way to get people to site without paying for it.
actually a subset of SEO
organic search results: search results that aren’t paid for
do google search for important keywords in my niche
do blog posts with these keywords
www.WordPress.org
buy theme if necessary
SEO: want my site to be converting well before do SEO; don’t want to lose customers
Get misspellings of my domains, or other domains that I want to do affiliate sales for.
www.SpeakingforMillions.com
See for pop-up language
Afternoon
www.FredGleeck.com/ezine goes back to August 2004
Fred’s blog is very focused on business of info marketing
Fred’s ezine--Insights: 6-8 times per month; contains a mix of business with personal information; often controversial; means he gets read more
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday best days for email and ezines
Fred and Bob have done 45 audio programs; they own jointly; each can do what they want with the programs
Copyrights: with no written agreement, the person who actually does the videoing or audio taping owns the copyright; if I hire someone, make sure we have a work-for-hire agreement
ezine: pure text
Fred’s moving toward blogging more
www.FredGleeck.com/cheatsheet = random thoughts page
Need tracking mechanisms = Google analytics
test as discussed above;
also test audio on site;
Fred doesn’t like auto launch; make it user option to turn on and off
In general, people getting better results with video on the site but sometimes it hurts; test it
shouldn’t be longer than 2.5 minutes
tell them what I’m going to tell them; tell them; then tell them what I told them
Test headline, price, bonuses, PS, salutation, first paragraph, audio or not, video or not
Terry Dean picture with dog pulls very well
Usually have just one shot to sell or opt-in
Freebie for opt-in: Seven Things Information Marketers Must Do During The Recession, for example
When ask for opt-in, give good reasons why they should subscribe
e-mails: test titles for response rates
Infosocia.com will be Fred’s business social site; Facebook for social/personal
www.InfoSocia.com - George Tran infosocia/1shoppingcart creator--his personal site
Evan Williams Twitter founder on CharlieRose.com
Twitter: an ethical way to get somebody’s contact information; I can click on someone’s followers and get their name, then follow up to get their contact info
Fred has 125 Twitter followers, an exclusive list; he doesn’t go for 20,000
Fred packs and mails his products himself for SOME things
Philippines and India have best English speakers for virtual assistants
Ask on Facebook or Twitter for VA recommendations
Craigslist is an option for finding help
www.Craigslistsuccess.com --site Fred is putting together a how to advertise more effectively on Craigslist. 20 pages for $7. Not yet up.
Do 50 such products at $100 per month = $5000 per month
Fred looks for small money every month rather than occasional big paydays; also good for tax purposes
After click “order,” need to keep selling so they follow through
Jim Caldwell $1 billion in infomercial sales; Fred’s ex-partner
In 2004 Fred called all his customers personally (by phone) after they ordered
Best time to sell more is when they are already ordering; they already have the credit card out
Just be “positive, upbeat, and charming”; don’t be pushy
Must deliver the product as quickly as possible
Make at least part of the product downloadable, preferably all downloadable
Faster I deliver, the more likely they will order again
Product must be easy to use and understand
I want my buyer to think the product is worth far more than what they paid
Problem client: block them in my shopping cart so they can’t buy more
Better 50 products with modest monthly sales than needing to hit the occasional home run
Fine to sell as an affiliate; find good product and build good site with good domain; drive traffic to my site
www.SpeakerFulfillmentServices.com
Fred’s rolodex: www.TheProductGuru.com
$77 product download; $127 for CD sent; charge much more for CDs because they take time and money to send
Most people are either dreamers or doers; rarely are they both