March 23, 2007
Motivated, but broke and misguided
How are you Woody?
I'm not sure if you are getting this, but what the heck I'll give it a shot anyway.
I've been trying to reach online success for over a year and a half now and I have nothing to show for it.
I am currently in foreclosure and nearing bankruptcy because I'm so much in debt that creditors are constantly bombarding me with calls and mail.
If it wasn't for my wife I would probably be doing something stupid to get rid of this mess.
I'm not writing to you for any sympathy or any handouts.
I am simply looking to you for some advice.
I am a very motivated person who is currently broke and misguided and has no intention of giving up his dream of having my own online business from home because in the outside world I have very little chance of resucitating my career and I refuse to go work for someone else making them rich while I struggle financially. I'm 40 years old so I need more to my life than just that.
I need to control my own career by having my own business and I know that having an online business would be ideal for me in many ways.
After reading some of your posts I clearly realized you are no joke and you tell it like it is. Some of the information you have provided is unlike I've heard from others.
I'm willing to scrap all of the other crap I have gotten involved in or planned to get involved in if I can get some direction from someone like you.
I have nothing, so if you were in my position based off your experience online what can I do to start making a few hundred dollars a week? I would be totally happy if I were making 300 to 400 bucks a week consistently to start. I realized early on the get rich overnight stuff is crap and all the other crap that is out there I know is mostly bulls**t. Making 300 to 400 a day in my future would be a nice goal to reach, but right now I need to help my wife out and 300 or 400 a week would be enough to do that.
I'm desperate, so I'm hoping you can give me something tangible that I can work with.
Unfortunately, my career outside of this was in Office Systems Management.
Just another word for Administrative work, so I can't use that to make money online.
I was hoping to position myself to sell other's products, programs and services to make it easier for me not to have to come up with creating my own product.
If I were to go that route and the fact that I'm broke what would you suggest I do?
I know you are a busy guy, but please give me some of your wisdom:-)
Thank you very much in advance.
PS - I've made all the online and offline mistakes someone can make, so I have been learning from my mistakes but being tapped out makes it difficult to recover from my mess.
Regards,
Name Withheld
I would like to commend you for taking the first step and simply asking for help. I also appreciate the fact that you have granted me permission to post your request and my answer for other readers to view.
That's big. If someone here resonates with you, then I suggest you all 'hook up' via the comments section of this post. You will see why I say that in just a minute.
Since you have no money, that's how I will proceed with this answer.
1. What do you know something about? What are you passionate about? Can you write a 20-30 content dense report on that subject? I would like to see you go to market fast, thus keep it short, dense, and get it done in 1 day.
2. Write a sales letter. Here's the short path to that…
Find another infoproduct based on your topic. Swipe their sales letter. Run the headline through Glyphius 2007, score it (if you are not familiar with this, check out http://www.glyphius2007.com. Don't worry about the price, send me your address and I will ship you a copy. I'm a reseller and have several copies here on my desk).
Rewrite that headline and score it again… you will need a higher score to move on. Keep writing until that score is higher. Swipe the bullets and do the same thing.
Is this unethical? I don't think so… but that's really up for you to decide.
3. Once the sales letter is ready, create a simple thank you page. The sales letter and thank you page should take 4-6 hours. This will be day 2. Add a DHTML lead capture form on your home page. Begin writing an autoresponder sequence. Have at least 1-2 messages ready to go at launch. Shoot to add one more message each day.
4. On day 3, apply to Clickbank. This is $50… if you need $50, just let me know. I have found that even broke people can come up with $50.
5. Once Clickbank has accepted your product, you are now tapped into a very large and active affiliate base. This is key (affiliates), but how to you get them to promote your product?
You will do the following:
A. Obtain 10 new affiliate accounts with Clickbank (these are free).
B. Begin posting relevant comments in blogs using one of your affiliate links.
C. Begin posting relevant comments in forums using one of your affiliate links in the signature.
D. Use StumbleUpon.com with your affiliate link.
E. Use Squidoo.com and make a lens with your affiliate link.
F. Pick up the phone and call all related merchants and ASK them to promote your product. Give up 75% of the commission to these affiliates. How will you find their number? Whois.sc (domaintools.com).
If you are willing to do the work, chances are you are capturing leads and making a few sales. Once some sales have been made, use that money to buy a multivariant testing tool such as http://www.muvar.com or http://www.kaizentrack.com. Set it up and work on increasing your sales conversions. Conversions are the KEY, focus on that.
Once your sales letter is performing well, use that money to:
A. Take your wife out to dinner.
B. Spend some money on MSN and Google. When spending money on PPC, make sure you promote your product with your affiliate links. The reason being is that Clickbank rewards you in their marketplace by increasing your listing position based on the number of sales generated. Affiliates looking to promote products look at the number of other affiliates successfully promoting your product. If 90%+ of your sales are from 'affiliates', chances are you will get noticed. Btw, top listings in major Clickbank categories are making between 400-600 sales PER DAY. That should be incentive enough to use this strategy.
Now, you need to think about your backend. I would ALWAYS say to focus on this at the time of product creation, but you are in a rush and time is of the essence. Survey your customers, find out what they want, and just create another product that fills their desire.
There you have it. I'm sure I could come up with some other suggestions, but this was off the top of my head.
There are a lot of smart affiliates on this blog, if you have additional suggestions, please leave them in the comments section.
Woody
Filed under Copywriting, Information Products, Marketing Strategy, Traffic
Comments on Motivated, but broke and misguided »
Motivated, But Broke … Sounds soo familiar
Woody you are a champ
all the other IMs wouldn't even bother to answer this plea.
I feel with the guy - I'm in the asme boat & have taken everything in you suggested
Thank you again Woody
Cagey
Woody,
Love the blog so far. Wondering what you thought of the Google considering going CPA news?
IMHO, that could be pretty cool from a whole bunch of different angles. I
Either that or they are gonna F*#$ it up like they did Adwords with google slapping. I love their intent w/the slapping- to give the good user experience. But, try explaining that stuff to clients who don't do this stuff full time. Not easy.
Beavis
Hi Beavis,
I think it's good news for some of us that know how to make money with these offers. I make CPA Empire, Azoogleads, HydraMedia, and Modern Click a LOT of money.
But offers are limited and offers expire quickly.
Maybe Google can change that.
My only concern with Google is their ability to bonus. I promote through these various companies because they offer much more value to me than just a paycheck.
I can talk to my account rep and find out the hot offers.
I can ask for higher payouts when the conversions look right.
I can ask for trips, cars, boats, and who knows what else when certain commission levels are obtained.
Not sure if Google will be that personable.
Woody
I predict the CPA will fail miserably for Google.
CPA networks require human relationships … human to human. Google is human to computer. Their solution to virtually every issue is algorithmic.
Woody, have you been able to get Kaizen track to work properly? The videos suck and I feel like I'm being taught by Count Dracula.
Hi John,
I use Muvar exclusively. Kaizen is the only other one I've received feedback on that was worth something. It's also inexpensive, thus the referral.
Woody
John,
We shall see if it fails or not. If they are going for the big players, then they will HAVE to deal at a personable level. Meaning they better assign me an account rep I can call and who will give me the info I want, when I want it.
Woody
As this works (and i'm sure it will) you could be writing a story of Woody as super-hero creating other Super-Heros. (with or without selling a program) this is pure Gold, dude.
Rock_on — Woody:)
i too feel for the guy who is broke.One year and nothing to show for it.Now let me see if i can follow your instructions.I will need your help with the Glyphius 2007 but can give my details in your private email.Thanks for taking your time to give us Hope.
I've tried KaizenTrack. It is a bit harder to learn the system but it's the most powerful software. And I've heard rumours they are coming with a web2.0 hosted software.
Brian
So… I'm searching the Web, high & low, even opening spam emails, and opting in to everybody's LIST to review every sales pitch & opportunity out there to find something that will FINALLY work for me. WHY??? Because, I'm in the same exact position as this guy who wrote the HELP email. Only difference is I've been scratching the bottom of the barrel since 2003. Living in the hood, just surviving… I'm out of work, not cause I'm lazy, but because I just know that something HAS TO work for me as an entrepreneur. I've read countless ebooks, joined countless programs, and heard strategy after strategy. Problem is… even though I understand the 'systems' and 'process' of building wealth, I'm in major debt and have almost no capitol to start with. I'm sick of diggin deeper into the hole, and I don't wanna resort to illegal or immoral enterprises. I read your response Woody, and I'm just wondering, if you would help me as well. To be honest… I'm desperate for income, but I'd rather do something honest & moral than resort to crime and violence like so many of my friends who are either in prison, dead, or have no soul anymore (sellin sex & drugs).
I'm willing to do the work, I just don't have the money!
Thanks,
Elliot (from the Bronx)
Hi Woody,
Great post. I think the affiliate thing is a brilliant idea. To me (and this is personal preference) I wouldn't do it because it just doesn't feel right to me.
Does that mean anyone else shouldn't do it? Hell no! If it works and you feel good about it then go for it!
Secondly I would say that your advice is spot-on except - find a niche that people are already selling information products in (but only one or two) - that way you know there are people paying cash for (and can check out your competition, like Woody said). I'm sure Woody knows about this but he forgot to emphasize it, whereas a bad market isn't much good to anybody. Particularly when you're starting out and aren't a "master marketer" yet.
Finally, though it's great to want to make some cash online, there is no shame in having a job to keep your head afloat. If you really are in that much debt then I would get a job and work on IM in your spare time. Yeah it'll be a lot of hard work but let's face it, there are 16 hours in a day (not including sleep time) and working full time won't occupy more than 12 of them (including travel, eating, etc etc). That means 4 hours every day (and all day on weekends) to work on your business.
Anyone who says it can't be done just doesn't know how to manage their time properly. Lots of people make decent amounts - ie. a full time income - with IM part-time (Google Dr. Mani).
I think it's great you're stepping up and taking action, but the truth is a successful business takes time to build even if you know exactly what you're doing.
There seems to be a mentality in some newbies that it's the fault of other marketers, scams and so forth that they're broke. It's crap. If you're broke it's your fault. This isn't China, we're a capitalist society and everyone can get a fair go. Even if you live in a very poor country and have no money, it's your fault for getting in debt.
The point of this realization is not to go "oh I'm a terrible person", because you're not. You just ****ed up a few times. Everyone does it. However, realize that if your situation is going to change then it must be done by you. Waiting for a special software program - or even money - is silly.
This business can be done completely without money. Go to the library, log on to the net, bam, you're in business. It's a hell of a lot easier and faster when you have money. But lots of people can make a few bucks online with Bum Marketing or whatever. Then use that $50 or whatever as capital for a BUSINESS.
Anyway that's my rant for today. You don't need Glyphius or anything like that to succeed in this biz. Saying "I'm not succeeding because I have no money" is crap. If you aren't succeeding you are either doing something wrong or not working hard enough (or both).
My advice - keep asking people to review your site/approach/whatever. Action their suggestions. See if that makes a difference. And stop buying stuff… Every MAJOR and VITAL piece of info I've learned I've learned for free. Products can give you a great new idea which can make you heaps, if you are already experiencing success. If not they just muddy the waters.
-Dan
If you can hear the dull thumping sound it's just me kicking myself for not finding this site before. The advice is amazing although obvious in retrospect. But all the best advice is! I am gonna keep coming back here and applying as much as I can. Thank you so much for this terrific source of advice.
Go Woody, Go Woody.
Go Woody, Go Woody.
Go, Go, Go.
Go Woody, Go.
Black Hat / White Heart
Woody, you have so much to give and teach!
Hi Woody and The Anonymous Writer who requested help,
First of all, this blog is refreshingly sincere in such a "snake-oil" industry like Internet Marketing.
Kudos for that.
Next, to the person who requested help, my suggestion is that you move forward with Woody's suggested plan with complete dedication, faith AND intellect.
My only suggestion is that, WHILE doing this, you take necessary steps to preserve your financial/credit history as much as possible at this point. This stuff can come back to bite you in the future, even if you're making real money later on.
I'm saying this because I'm now making tons of money on the net - often more a day than most people make a month - and yet I still have to bend over backwards just to get a mortgage, deal with the bank, etc.
It's ironic that I'll usually make more in that month than the pencil-pushers at the bank will do in a year, gross. But the reality is that by "playing by the system" and its rules, you can create more options for yourself, as well as the money you're making - or the money you'll BE making.
Credit comes in handy later on if you want to do real estate projects, get funding from private lenders, etc.
It doesn't have to take up too much of your time, just arrange a short meeting with a legit financial adviser through this process. There may be some options available to you that you aren't aware of at the moment - even if you're broke.
Also, talk to an Attorney to see if there's any legal action available to you in regards to your current creditors, especially if there's some harassment going on.
In general, use the FTC's whitepaper on building/repairing credit as a guide when determining who to work with, or what to do in your situation: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre03.pdf
Now, aside from that stuff, and to add to Woody's suggestion, it's very important to note that your product MUST be in-demand.
The amount of demand surrounding a product will determine how well it's going to sell.
This means that you'll be in a competitive market - and that's a GOOD thing!
Contrary to popular belief among marketers (inexperienced ones), if your market has tons of competitors, that means in most cases that it has even MORE customers willing to pay for its products. In addition, the amount of long-tail keywords (diverse and targeted traffic) and the sheer volume of potential backend profits will allow you to literally drive 1000 times more traffic and profits using an IN-DEMAND product, as compared to a "micro-niche" product with few competitors.
Just a thought.
An easy way to do this initially is to simply browse the marketplace at Clickbank and see what's popular in different categories.
Then, based on THAT knowledge, choose a topic that actually interests you, and then proceed with Woody's advice.
Remember that recruiting affiliates is highly VIRAL. Get one or two "big players" to promote you, and all of their competitors will as well.
Eventually, your product might even become the "staple" for affiliates and publishers in the niche.
Then you're golden
Sincerely,
- Chris
Ditto the Kudos -
Thanks again, Woody!
re: a couple of points Chris makes:
I started a profitable online business
while unemployed, living in the 'student ghetto',
and using the free computers at the school and public libraries. It cost zero to startup; at the time I used a
free site from Tripod, and drop-shipped a physical product
only after I was paid first
Still going strong (at http://GiveawayVacations.com )many years and many more sites later.
Also, remember Woody's statement, "…top listings in major Clickbank categories are making between 400-600 sales PER DAY."
That's a HUGE CLUE
Yes, you CAN do it!
Best of Success,
Stephan
Hello Woody!
I have a question regarding the lead capture form that you mention in the main post. Shall it be a floating pop-up, or is it better to use the regular type of form, built into a page? I see that many marketers are using these floating forms.
Thanks!