Online Business
Are You Covered? (A Guide to Setting up a Legitimate Business)
Mar 6th
I am the worst blogger in the entire blogosphere, World, Galaxy, Universe and probably the multi-verse. If you are looking to make money from, or learn how to blog for a business, then you don’t want to be paying attention to what I do on this blog. I post at all the wrong times (like late Saturday night in the UK) I hardly ever search engine optimize these posts/this blog and I hardly ever ping it or anything like that. I am already a few sentences into this post, and the keywords in the title haven’t even been mentioned once!
If you’ve been reading this blog long enough though, you know it’s just a place for me to document my journey from rat race worker to, self-employed successful entrepreneur. So far, I have achieved self-employed entrepreneur status, but the biggest piece of the puzzle is still missing; the “successful” part. As I go a long though, if I learn something cool, valuable or worthwhile, I will also make a post about it. This is one such post. Today we’re going to talk about covering your ass and it will be particulalry useful for those of you who reside on the European side of the pond in the UK.
We’re going to talk about professional insurance, the use of mailboxes, registering businesses and covering your ass legally. If that doesn’t sound fun to you, that’s just tough, because you really need to hear what I have to say. Let’s get stuck in.
Hosting Survey Results and a Guide on Market Research
Jan 14th
Hi folks,
In this post I am going to share with you the results of my recent web hosting survey, divulge how I am doing the rest of my market research and what tools and resources I am using, and then finally I shall be begging you to fill out my survey if you haven’t or pass it to a friend if you have! It’s going to be a good one, so let’s crack on!
So in my last post I threw up a link to a market research survey about web hosting. It consists of four questions and all are multi-choice questions as well I believe. I thought I’d take a moment to share some of those results with you. I’ve had a couple dozen responses so far, but ideally, I am looking to reach a hundred. With that said, you can still take the survey by going here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YPPQZ83
In the mean time, let me give you a picture so far of what I have found with the limited results I have.
There seems to be three things that are of the utmost importance to people buying hosting:
- Price
-Features (cpanel etc)
- Bandwidth and storage
These are the out-and-out front-runners at the minute, and to be honest I am surprised. Having done a little work in and around a hosting company last year, I fully expected customer support and it’s availability to be a much bigger player in this research. The last hosting company I worked with was having MEGA issues with support and was struggling (and still is) to keep up.
But here is how I explain that. All of the people who have responded on my survey thus far have used and do use hosting at some point. This seems to suggest to me that the kind of person filling out the survey is a webmaster, who has at the very least some experience of buying and using hosting. This kind of person doesn’t care particularly about an army of support staff working all night waiting for their call, what they’d like is a simple hosting service which delivered on it’s promises, was reliable and at the same time affordable. The last hosting company I worked for conversely had a lot of customers who had never used hosting before and this was their first purchase.
So, I am still looking for some more people to fill out the survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YPPQZ83) but I already have some valuable information going forward. Customers broadly speaking fall into two categories; those who have bought hosting before and those who have not. Those who have bought before expect three core fundamentals from the service (as they rightly should) and the people who have never purchased before need a little hand-holding and guidance through the process. I know what that is like and appreciate the frustration.
If I go ahead with any hosting-related venture I’ll cater for both by focussing my energies on delivering the core three fundamentals of the service whilst at the same time setting up a comprehensive support structure for the newer-comers to the service. I’ll probably do this with free hosting video tutorials explaining the whole process, setting up a comprehensive FAQ section and setting up a seven-day a week email support system which will answer all queries (ideally) within one day.
I still need to go further with this though and gather some more data as I am falling short of my 100 person target on my survey. So, to try and get into the mind’s of my prospects I am doing a little more abstract research around the edges as well, and I am going to explain how I have gone about doing that in this post so as to perhaps help guide some of you with your future market research.
Firstly I am using our old friend the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to help me. I go there and type in a really generic keyword like “web hosting” or “hosting” into the keyword field and I arrange the results by average monthly global searches (in order of highest to lowest). If you are playing along with me as I go a long here, you’ll see the keyword “web hosting” gets 5,000,000 searches per month globally. The local search volume for me (UK) in December was around 550,000 searches. This gives us an indication that this market, and consequently the webmaster market is absolutely staggering and HUGE (no wonder the gurus are pocketing impressive amounts of dosh).
I then go deeper into those results and look for the long-tail keywords. This probably could all be done faster with a tool like Market Samurai, however I am a man of habits, and I am really comfortable with the Google interface now and like doing it this way. I look at the long-tail-keywords as they give me an indication of what my potential prospects and customers are thinking about.
For example; “cheap web hosting domain name” gets 4,000 searches monthly. This tells me there is a small segment of the market looking for some VERY specific packages. They want cheap web hosting and a domain name (probably a free one). These guys are highly targeted prospects, and although lower in search volume, they represent an excellent chance to make some money if you get the right offer in front of them at the right time.
I do for this for an hour or two and make a list of around 10 keyword phrases and use this to get a picture of the market and what certain segments of that market are specifically looking for.
If I am feeling REALLY fancy I look at the demographics of the visitors of some of my competitors and take a look at some of the sites my prospects might be visiting as well, and I do this using websites such as Quantcast and Alexa. This not only gives me excellent data about my target market, it also tells me where they are visiting and what they are interested in online. As a result, this gives me some ideas on where I should be advertising on the Google Content Network and banners ads.
So there you go, that should give you some insight on to how I am conducting my market research and what I have found thus far. I hope it has been helpful to some of you out there. The fact remains I still need some more survey data! I wish I could reward you with a commission or something for ever person you got to fill-in my survey. Thinking about it, if I had the time and money (I don’t) I could probably setup some kind of CPA offer to do that.
In reality what I REALLY wish I had done was actually made a good effort of doing the Rat Race Lab Newsletter and delivered a load of free valuable content in order that you the subscriber might have felt compelled (through the laws of reciprocity) to fill out my survey and pass it around. Kicking myself n0w. Hindsight is always 20/20 and there’s no point dwelling on it.
If you havem’t filled out my ridiculously easy and quick survey yet, then please do here —–>http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YPPQZ83
If you have filled it out and know some one who could also fill it out then please send them that link, it would mean the World right now to me. I’ll be back with an update on things pretty soon and share with you some of my findings etc.
Take care of you and yours.
Tear Your Idea To Pieces
Oct 17th
I’ve been talking to some real assholes recently, and that’s been a good thing. I have spoken to one asshole in particular today who is meant to “help us”. I have to admit, as much as I dislike them, I grateful for the time we had and the discussion we took part in.
You see for the last few days (and in particular today) I have had my ideas and vision ripped to shreds metaphorically right in front of my eyes. It’s frustrating to try and talk to people who aren’t coming from the “same place” as you. I literally have a head bzzing full of ideas. I think these ideas are on the money on timing, relevancy and have so much potential. This week I have been forced to get some of those ideas out in the open, onto paper and out there into the ether. It has been productive, a lot of fun, it’s helped me clarify some things but has also backed me into a corner I have had to fight my way out of.
You see today’s advocate was representing the Devil. Let’s just say this person has some experience in the “business industry” I want to go into and I had an hour long conversation with this person. The idea was to share my idea and see what help they could offer. It turned out they ripped the idea to shreds and really beat us over the head with their “facts” and experience. I left that particular discussion with a lot of questions in my head and self-doubt. I had to start looking at the idea objectively, I had to look at my plan objectively, and I was forced to look at my ideas through some one else’s eyes. It was difficult and sobering, and it nearly ruined my day.
But don’t forget, that before speaking to this person, I was VERY fired up about the idea and even during my discussion with this person, I argued my case/cause with conviction, enthusiasm and certainty. This lady ruined my attitude and outlook for approximately three hours. But I have done my research, I believe in myself and those around me, and believe in these ideas. I ripped down my dreams and then built them up again. I was forced to tear my idea to pieces, find the weaknesses, and the holes in the theory. After that, I started to repair that damage, I fortified those weaknesses and I plugged those holes! What did I get out of it? The determination, motivation and a refined model to move forward with. Perfect!
I am looking forward to not writing in such cryptic terms in the close future, but for now, here’s what you should take away from this…..
Article marketing, blogging, video marketing, SEO, PPc; it’s all cool and they all bring in the cashola, but when it comes down to it, business is hard, challenging and will punish you. For the first few years, you may work harder than you have ever worked your entire life, but 5-6 years down the line it will really pay off. But how do you get through the tough stuff when there is no money to withdraw, a mountain of work to do, and you still have to make more and more sales to repair the damage?
Answer: Do something you love.
Make sure the business model you chose, works for you, you are passionate about it, you are committed to making it work, and when it does, make sure you will be inspired and motivated to MAKE it work. Don’t re-invent the wheel. I am not saying you have to be defined by what you do, I am just saying do something because it’s a good idea, adds value to other people’s lives, you enjoy doing it, are passionate about it and WANT to do it.
Do what’s right for you and implement the business model you’ll get up to work for everyday even when the money is slow.
Don’t chase the money, chase the dream.
Get Good at One Thing
Oct 5th
I am in a reflective mood today.
I didn’t really intend for this to be a personal blog, so I will try and stay on the “business” topics as much as I can. Having said that, I want to say that after breaking my foot (through forgetting how to run properly) and breaking up with my girl friend in the last week. I have found myself getting very reflective and approaching my life, plans and business in a new light. Bare with me here, because I truly believe that there is a relevant and worth while point worth taking from this spiel I am about to create:
I broke my foot, I broke up with the girl I loved, and I find myself spending some time back with my family during a very lonley part of my life. The injury affects my ability to socialize and keep busy, and the break up with my girl friend has left me feeling pretty sad. It has been an emotionally and physically demanding week but it has also been bitter-sweet. My brother, who has been subjected to a number of life threatening operations in his time, turned 18 on Friday. I went back home to celebrate with him and it was an emotional time for me, my Dad and Mum. It was a great weekend for my two younger brothers who perhaps did not appreciate what a miracle it is for him to be with us today.
Having been on a roller-coaster ride this weekend, I find myself very disconnected and thoughtful. I have been able to look at a number of things in a very objective manner. I like to think that after all the mental clutter of the last week, I have finally cleared my mind and I am able to think clearly. I accept that the unusual events of the last week may still be causing my thinking to be a little hazey but bare with me as I share with you a quick story and insight that I think might help you.
Get Good at One Thing!
Last week the office was a buzz about a competitor in our digital marketing industry. Our financial guys thought this might be a cool business to add to the company portfolio. They signed the NDA’s and checked out the business model. I am not party to all the information, but what I do know is, the business model of this particular company was VERY simple but was generating turnovers in the millions after a couple of years of running. They got good, famous, competent and known for doing ONE very simple thing, that they replicated over and over, and over again. They found a formula that worked, scaled it up and profited BIG TIME from it. Smart cookies.
The thing is, it is the same for everyone else. Don’t over-complicate things. Just keep them simple, focus on one thing, get good at it, get known for doing it and make money from it. Once you have got that formula down, move into other things, but only once you got the bread and butter down and sorted! Do that one thing first that makes you money, expand and exploit it and move on.
Why Are They Better Than Me?
Let me take an egotistical moment here. I believe myself to be some one of average to just above average intelligence. I have a degree in law from a very good University in England and I consider myself thoughtful and analytical. I keep up-to-date on current affairs and do my best to research things I involve myself in as thoroughly as I can. I am a creative person and a morally-balanced person (I like to think). I am not any different to a lot of other people I know, and if you are reading this, you might be able to relate to this in some way.
Let me speak candidly, despite all the above, I have not been able to turn into a business project into a solo raging success yet. There are school drop outs, and dare I say it, IDIOTS (I have met them) out there who are doing a lot better than me, who are seeing a huge more amount of success than me. People who have taken more risks and opportunities than me are winning and making a killing. Have you ever observed similar patterns?
There are two reasons for this:
1. My morals prevent me from selling some of the crap to people that others are pedaling. I could not sleep at night doing what some of these “millionaires” and “internet gurus” are doing. I really couldn’t. And this moral code and my ethics prevent me from making A LOT of empty meaningless dollars.
2. Thinking people find it very tough to make a success of schemes, plans and business ideas. A thinking/educated person often weighs up risks and constraints, and often decides the risk is too great and the returns not high enough to embark on some ventures. They weigh up the pro’s and cons, they recognize they have a lot to lose and often decide it is not worth it. Some one whose back to the wall, or has little to lose does not waste time pondering and thinking conceptually about the idea, they just do it. This is not always a good thing, but it works and there is a lot to be said for that.
I often think too much, over-complicate things and think too long about them. Others are keeping it simple, basic, perfecting it and just doing it. That is the power of getting good at just one thing.
Don’t over-think it.
Identify your dreams and chase them.
Keep it simple, get good at it, replicate and dominate!
That is the business lesson I am taking away from this week, this month and this year. What do you think? Do you agree? Feel free to leave some comments below.
I am off to go get good.
Pro Blogging Is Tough
Sep 22nd
So it might not seem like it when you read the posts and content on this blog, but I am actually paid to write on a very successful and highly viewed blog. Lately however I haven’t been producing much content for it. You see I don’t like ghostwriting, I find it tough, particularly when writing for some one’ semi-personal/business blog. You have to find their voice and reflect it in your tone and the way you write/speak.
For example, the blog I write for is in the Internet marketing niche. I have a lot of thoughts stories and opinions to share on that topic, which is why I created this blog! I can write daily on the subject, maybe even hourly, and I have been posting three or four articles a day to this blog lately. I don’t find it difficult and I really enjoy it. I have done my best to keep this blog as neutral as possible, i.e. this isn’t just a blog about me, and it certainly isn’t my personal blog. However, my thoughts, feelings and opinions have a huge influence on the kind of content I post, because I am the sole contributor to it at the moment.
When ghost writing though, I am writing for some one else and AS some one else as well. My opinions and thoughts differ on a variety of subjects within this industry to those of the blog owner. I cannot voice these thoughts and tell MY stories because I am representing some one else. This is a huge limitation on my ability to blog as blogging is an inherently personal activity.
It is so easy for me to come up with an “okay” blog post on this blog, because I know what I want to write talk and speak about. It makes sense to me to say the things I say. I can chrun out content like there is no tomorrow. But ask me to do some more of the ghostblogging, and I freeze. I dedicate 2-3 hours just on one blog post to make sure the content looks and reads correctly. It drives me up the wall some times!
Professionally blogging on other people’s blogs is a tough thing to do, and requires a skill-set I am not sure I have. For blogging to be at it’s best, it HAS to be un-resrticted and un-censored in my opinion. Something to bare in mind if you are planning on hiring content writers for your blog.
Rant over.
A Warning You Need to Read: We’re The Bottom of the Food Chain
Sep 21st
If you’re dabbling in Internet marketing, affiliate marketing, information marketing, offline consulting etc. In fact if you are dabbling in any kind of business model discussed in the Warrior Forum (this includes what I am doing, blogging!) then I have got some bad news for us all. We are the bottom of the food chain. The very bottom. And these are the words of one of the UK’s top PPC and SEO experts that I was talking to the other night.
Check out these two companies:
The above two companies are just two very fine examples of online advertising, marketing, design and consulting at it’s best, and these two companies are both based in London, compete at the very top end of our industry and are responsible for marketing some of the most recognizable brands in the UK and internationally. And there are dozens of companies just like these down in London (a commercial hub of activity Internationally).
In fact, there are literally dozens of these companies in nearly all major cities in the UK doing this kind of stuff, at a much higher level than many of the “guru’s” that are supposedly guiding us in this industry. What is more, there are even some larger companies based in the North East of England who operate a high level as well.
They’ve got online marketing and advertising down to a well rehearsed co-ordinated activity. It is run as a proper business. Most affiliate managers in our industry would not be able to cut it in a junior affiliate manager position on 18k a year if they tried. The software it involves, the reports that are required, the strategies they employ. It’s a huge science.
What is more, a lot of the London companies have got access not only to the best customers, but they also have access to senior figures in the search engines via meetings and organizations such as the UK SEO Council. So now, they’re getting their information from the greatest sources on the planet when it comes to SEO and PPC.
How can small enterprises and entrepreneurs survive with this level of competition?
Well there is always room for small business, but my prediction is this. As online marketing gets a lot more popular (and all the figures indicate that we’re only at the start of this upwards curve) then more money is going to be injected into this industry. More prime domains, search engine spots and keywords are going to be eaten up by the big boys at the top of the food chain. What is more, the more money that surfaces in this industry, the more legislation will be introduced and taxes. The bottom end of Internet marketing is reasonably lawless and unregulated (particularly in the UK but not so much in the USA thanks to the FTC). This won’t last forever. Things will get harder, and soon all the crummy one-page websites selling ebooks with fake testimonials are going to drop like flies (and this is no bad thing).
If you are selling your ebook online, you are NOT doing Internet marketing, no matter which half-whit self-proclaimed guru tells you. You are digitally self-publishing, you are in the business of publishing. You use Internet marketing as one means of selling that product. But the chances are, if you have been getting information from the wrong places, then you are not doing it well, or maybe even right. And if you chose to remain small-minded and ignorant of the big boys out there, and the competition you are going to get eaten alive.
Think and dream big. Make sure the sources of information you rely on are credible and stand up to scrutiny. Aspire to be something more and you will move your business forward, and you may just have an undertaking on your hands that may compete with the big guns in London.
Just remember though, we’re at the bottom of the food chain and the fairy tale won’t last forever.
150 + Online Web Resources
Sep 15th
Hi team.
Just a quick one. I put together what I am calling a “Resource Report” a short time ago. It’s just a list of 150 free resources to help people build and promote their websites. There isn’t a single affiliate link in there, so I am making zero money from it. I just thought it might be a useful resource for a lot of webmasters/bloggers out there, so I thought I’d make it available here.
And no, there is no need to sign up to my newsletter to get it either. Just hit this link and it will start downloading: Download The Resource Report
It’s a pdf in a zip file. You might need some software like winzip to unzip it and get the good stuff, but it’s all fairly straight forward. If you find it useful, hit me up on email or leave a comment letting me know if it held any value for you. If not, no worries 
Lazy Information Marketing- $14,000 in a Week
Sep 10th
If you cottoned on to the idea that information marketing can be very powerful then you might be interested in this story. It’s about a friend of mine who sold nothing but thin air and a promise, and made around $7,000 which was half of the $14,000 owed to him after the revenue for that WEEK was split up between himself and his business partner. I watched him do the whole thing and thought you might like a little inside scoop on how you could do it yourself?
Thought you might. Lets get into it.
What Did He Sell?
Nothing.
Well thats not strictly true, but when he started selling his product he actually didn’t have a product. He had no content at all. He had a vague idea of what he was going to do, but he didn’t know any of the specifics.
He was selling a coaching course which he was going to deliver as a webinar. He signd up to gotowebinar and got a month’s free trial and ran the whole course on there. He had an idea about what he was going to teach and refered to it slightly in the sales page, but he had not prepared any content or items. All he had was a concept and made a promise to teach people this principle. That was it. Real simple.
When people purchased they signed up to a sign up page (an aweber list) and they were sent an online survey asking them when was the best time for them to take part in a live webinar. They collected and analysed the the results from the survey and determined the times when the most amount of people could attend. They prepared a few slides on powerpoint, but most of the content was screen cam of them browsing the web and actually showing the people the system LIVE!
They then recorded the webinars, emailed them out to people, and they are selling the recorded webinars in a couple of weeks time (my reliable sources inform me). So not only did he make good money quickly, he is going to sell that content all over again and make a lot more.
On top of that, as an after-thought, they also setup a member’s only forum. Pretty nifty when you put all that together isn’t it?
How Did He Sell It?
He and his associate in this venture sold it as a special offer on a forum, and made little reference to the content of the coaching, but provided testiomonials from previous successes, showed income shots (social proof) told them what the coaching course would do for anyone who attended (i.e. make good money using free traffic etc). It was reasonable copy, but I was amazed how well the course sold considering how vague they were about the content.
They promoted it using the forum, twitter and a couple of small email lists of a few hundred people.
How Much He Sell For?
$147. Not bad huh?
They did about 6 week’s coaching for this, two sessions (on average) a week.
Conclusion
I just gave you a blueprint for a new information product and showed you exactly how to sell it.
Now you might not be ready to do something like this, but I hope this post does two things.
1. Show you how easy it can be to create products, revenue streams and content.
2. Inspire you to start thinking of your own ideas for your business.
To your success and till next time.
Alex, out.
How to Earn Money Online With Your Back to the Wall
Sep 9th
How do you earn money online when you REALLY need to? This is a pretty big and important question, because so many people who buy “make money online” questions are asking it A friend of mine asked me about the other day. He has just taken some time off work, but still has some big bills to pay. Due to the nature of his job and leave, he has sacrificed some salary income for this time off. He asked me how I thought he should go about making money online in such a short amount of time (around two weeks).
I shared with him some thoughts I had, based on what I know about his skills etc, but this question got me thinking about what I might do, so I thought I’d make a really quick post on some of the ideas I brainstormed when putting the question to myself.
1. I have talked about the “product launch dominator” method in one of my past posts, whereby you become a high-performing affiliate very quickly for an up-coming product launch. The trouble is, you may not find a product you want to promote at the right time if you are in a race against the clock, so that doesn’t always do you any good, and it’s not a guaranteed way of generatin income.
2. I am into Internet marketing, so I might create a PLR package, or offer my services on the Warrior forum as a sepcial offer. This isn’t for eveyone, and will only really work for people who have built a reputation on the forum and actually contributed to it. The WSO section fo the Warrior Forum is not a virtual ATM machine for any and all aspirational online entrepreneurs or would-be scammers. I really believe that the Warrior Forum is a valuable informational resource and should be treated with the utmost respect.
3. If I had a blog, website or web presence of any significane or value in a niche, then I would be well tempted to go and sell some ad-space on it. It’s not something I have done a lot, but it is certainly something I would consider.
4. I would work VERY hard to create an excellent digital information product and start selling it like there was no tomorrow. I’d give out review copies to get some testiomonials for social proof on the sales page and to generate some buzz and depending on the market i might consider selling on the Warrior Forum and Digitalpoint (whilst always keeping within the rules). If I didn’t have money for PPC, I’d dedicate my time to running an effective article marketing campaign to drive as much free, qualified traffic as quickly as possible to my sales page.
Ultimately though, the business model isn’t too important. Working out how to make money quickly comes down to a three-step-process.
1. Assess what assest you have. What are you good at, do you have a website or an email list? What can you leverage quickly?
2. You have to work out the exact figure you need to raise, and the time you need to do it. Divide the figure by the number of days it will take, to work out how much on average you should be earning a day.
3. Wok hard. If you really need this money and need it quickly, then the time for excuses has long passed. Get your head down, and get working. Work full days, long days and some nights until you get the results you need. Once you have worked hard, you’ll reduce your workload and work time by figuring out what works, and dedicating more of your time on the processes that work.
Ultimately, blood, sweat and tears with a little bit of strategy is what will get you money when you really need it and your back is up against the wall. No one gets successful through being lazy. I guarantee it.
If you have any ideas, thoughts or experiences with this kind of thing, leave a comment below with your thoughts ideas and experiences.
Take care.
Primark: A Lesson in Marketing
Aug 30th
My girl friend took me into the local Primark store this bank holiday weekend and I can only describe it as a fashion dest feeding frenzy! For those of you that don’t know, Primark sells trendy, yet non-designer clothes and really low-cut-prices. Recently they have been in the spot-light for the exploitation of foreign labour to achieve these rock-bottom prices, but that is what Primark is popular for. Clothes that you could happily wear and would cost you next to nothing.
I have probably only ever been in 3 or 4 times in my life, and a couple of those times have been with my current girl friend. She wanted to show me a top I might like. I couldn’t really pay much attention to it. I was too busy surveying the retail chaos surrounding me. Clothes were everywhere. Where that had once been neat ordered arrangements of garments, shirts and jeans, there was now just a scattered mess of devastation where people had been rifling through the clothes looking for the right sizes. It was crazy. Only the strongest survive such encounters. I couldn’t believe A) how many people were in the shop and B) the state of the shop (as a consequence of A).
Reasonable quality and cut prices attracts a flood of business to nearly any high-street retail store. The format is simple in that shop, and has remained so for years. No hugely flashy advertising or new marketing gimmicks. No re-branding or pretentious nonsense. Primark has just earned itself of being well priced for the stuff it provides. It is cheap, cheerful, but most importantly, it’s bloody popular!
Provide wearable clothes at a price anyone can provide, and have excellent opening hours on a weekend, and the shop floor will turn into a riot, and the laws of the jungle will prevail!
How cool would it be to have that kind of brand loyalty, that kind of raving fan, and riotous spender on your website, shopping on YOUR website? Just imagine as well, your reputation earned you many more of these raving fans, and spend-happy lunatics who came flooding to your site for a great deal? That is partly the success of ebay and amazon, again, living proof that “cheap” is a powerful word when used right.
Is it the same in information marketing? A friend of mine (Alex Shelton) twisted my arm to make a product with him. We also teamed up with Paul Simpson and came up with a video course and ebook (we also provided some webinar training) which we thought was guaranteed to take any newbie, to 4-figure business person in a few months, selling their own information products. We really thought we had simplified and broken down the process into a science, and blueprint that anyone could follow. Then, for the kicker, we decided we’d sell it at a rock-bottom price. None of that over-hyped spiel of “this could have sold for 297″, we just priced it at $17.
I was so proud of this product and still believe it is quality content, that any beginner or intermediate business person online could benefit from. I even divulged advanced Joint Venture tips as well, which I had never shared with anyone before! When we launched our Warrior Special Offer, I was excited! I really thought people would get a lot of value from what we were offering, and the price was so low I was sure people would take advantage of the offer.
This wasn’t the case though, and the sales were no where near as good as we had hoped. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement! We under-priced, over-sold and got our marketing mix all wrong. It was the equivalent of Primark trying to claim they were selling Gucci and Armani products for £10. It’s just crazy!
Lesson learnt. I’ll take this information and apply my learnings to my next venture, hopefully with considerably more success. I’ll update you all on it’s success or failure in the near future.
Take care.
