.com
What’s Working Now The latest online marketing and recruiting secrets for home business owners
Issue 1, March 2010
WWN
in association with
Daegen Smith Brings New Meaning To "What's Working Now" As He Get's You Passed The Google Adwords Slap!"
Share The Results On 5 Of Their Real-World Split Tests With You! page 18
How To Turn Twitter Traffic Into 'Lots-o-Leads' With Your Blog!" page 8
Introduction
The Most Valuable Publication
In Network Marketing…
Hi, Mike Dillard here, I’m unbelievably excited that you’re a new member of “What’s Working Now”, because you’ve just discovered the most valuable publication in network marketing. I know that might sound a bit cheesy – and that I could be a little biased… But rest assured, it’s the title that I bestow upon this publication because it’s true, and I’m sure you’ll agree after today. I can’t tell you how much I wish there was a newsletter like this 10 years ago, when I was getting my start in this incredible industry.
It’s like a direct line straight into the minds and hearts of some of the most successful people in network marketing, whose only goal is to help you, and your team succeed. Think about it… Getting the LATEST, REAL-WORLD training and advice from DOZENS of leaders like Todd Falcone and Mark Weiser, who will teach you the latest techniques in recruiting over the phone.
Ann Sieg and Mike Klingler who will share their words of wisdom on attraction marketing, leadership, and online marketing.
Ferando Ceballos and Raymond Fong who will reveal the latest search engine optimization techniques you can use to get tons of free traffic. Ty Tribble who’s going to teach you how to absolutely kill it with blogs.
And finally Daegan Smith – who’s on the cover of this issue of WWN.
2
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
Daegan is an absolute master at discovering and testing the newest, and most effective online traffic strategies out there, which is why we asked him to be your instructor for the first 3 issues of WWN.
And your training begins TODAY, with a TWO HOUR webinar he recorded just for you, that will take you by the hand, (in detail that you can’t believe!), and show you the latest techniques that he’s using to kick some serious tail on Google Adwords, all while the rest of the industry struggles to get passed the dreaded “Google Slaps”.
(You’ll find a link to in the coming pages, along with much, much more).
And as for me, I’m 100% focused on providing you with the information, tools, and training you need to rock it in 2010. It’s going to be a CRAZY year. Most of the people around the world are going to take a pretty big hit. We… as entrepreneurs have the opportunity of a lifetime to prosper, But the margin for error is thin.
As a subscriber of “What’s Working Now”, you’ll have access to information about the economy, and marketing strategies that NO ONE else will hear about from me. Period. While the rest of the world is left to waste their time, money, and efforts GUESSING, you will always know exactly “What’s Working Now”. So WELCOME! And thank you for your leadership!
Mike Dillard
What’s Working Now
You're in for a rare treat my friend… In this webinar just for WWN subscribers, I've literally packed more specific pay per click lead generation strategies in this 1 hour 40 minute training session, than you'll find in an $1997 pay per click course. During this 3 part series, I’m going to teach you…
How to get at least 103 pay-per-click leads per day, in less than two weeks by copying exactly what you see me do. This training was created right after I created my very own Google Adwords campaign for "Maximum Leverage", and in the time span of two weeks, I took that campaign from scratch to over 204 leads each day, while paying only $2.18 per lead! (You can’t even buy leads that cheap from a lead vendor!) If I can do that in 2 weeks, you'll surely get to the 103 lead per day mark after you see me open that EXACT campaign and show you ever single thing I did to create those results. Here's what you’ll see in this video… •
The history of pay-per-click marketing and some of my major mistakes.
•
How to "think" about PPC marketing in a different way, that will allow you to create massive immediate traffic. • What campaign and offer you should lead with… • How to set up your account for the “content” and “search” networks. • The different types of keywords, and EXACTLY where to find them. • How to set up your PPC landing page so Google loves you, gives you a high "Quality Score", cheap clicks, and keeps you “Slap” free! • How to keep your leads cheap using what I call "Thresholds". • Where to start placing your ads for the cheapest leads possible. • How to increase your daily lead flow 20%, by simply transferring what's working now to BING and Yahoo! • An ingenious strategy to track both your leads and sales by keywords that will drastically reduce your cost per lead. • How to maintain your account for the long-term to keep it productive and profitable!
...Now!", so stop what you're doing, click here and sign into your back office, and watch your training NOW!
"Daegan Smith has been helping regular people escape the J.O.B. world for the last 5 years by sharing his own pragmatic and results based "version" of online home business success principles referred to as "Maximum Leverage" to get your complimentary copy of the "Maximum Leverage" Online DVD Bootcamp ($47 Value - 100% Free) head to:
www.MagneticResources.com/Daegan
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
3
Marketing Critique
This Month's Marketing Critique: How To Convert More Of Your Blog Visitors Into Free Leads! Some Not-So-Obvious Ways To Improve Your Opt-In Rates... You Shocked Me... When I first announced this "competition" I was expecting to see the worst blogs in network marketing, but I was more than impressed by every blog I had a chance to personally check out. You guys rock!. The Lucky Winner
Kurt Henninger, was our lucky "winner" but you win too because we can all learn from Kurt's critique. Many of these tips are generic to marketing with blogs, so you'll be able to follow this advice to the word, no matter what your niche is.
Of course, the "name of the game" is to start generating leads and making money with your blog as fast as possible, so this will be the sole purpose of this critique. No advice will be given out of purely personal preference, but only because it will help you build an online marketing system that pays for itself. With that said, let's take a look at Kurt's blog. What's He Doing Right?
As it turns out, Kurt is doing a lot of things right with his blog, which leads me to suspect he's bought a few good courses along the way. •
4
Opt-In Form: He placed it on the right hand side of the page. He also has opt-in forms in his content too, which is a great idea to test as long as you don't overdo it. It won't take much for Kurt to start getting more leads.
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
By Jason Better
•
Valuable Content: Kurt's giving away fantastic content here, he even has video. The problem is, he's stuffed it in all the nooks and crannies like a squirrel hiding nuts. So it's not easy to find. All he really has to do is move it around a bit.
•
Blog Template: Flexibility Theme is one of the more professional themes you can buy, and it should be relatively easy to find a designer who can customize it too. So Kurt made a really informed decision here. Some people get really hung up over picking a template or designer, but Hurt hit the ground running.
#1 - A Professional Tune-Up
Even though I love the theme, I'm willing to bet that a professionally designed header on this blog would lend more credibility to Kurt. As a rule, people only glance at your blog before they read or run, so you should optimize the space at the top of your blog. Keep it simple, but consider hiring a designer for those special touches like your header. As for copy, the headline and leadline on the current banner could be tweaked a little. I would consider a sans-serif font to make it easier to read. It's a small touch, but his blog will also display better in older browsers. Yes, there's actually people out there who are still using Netscape. The tagline: "Cutting Edge Network Marketing Training To Help You Generate Tons of Network Marketing Leads For Free" is going to scare away a lot of people. So I would rewrite that so it sounds less like a sales pitch. Remove the words "cutting edge" and "tons". Something like: "Network Marketing Lead Generation On A Budget" would resonate with a larger market. I'm not saying to use those exact words, but you get the idea.
Marketing Critique
#2 - Marketing With A Shotgun
Kurt's using the "shotgun" approach to marketing, so I would advise him to specialize in one aspect of lead generation to set himself apart from the "me too" marketers. For example, lead generation through pay-per-click, video, or article marketing, as opposed to trying to be everything to everyone. If you build on your strengths, it's hard to go wrong.
#3 - Blog Architecture
If you visit Kurt's site, you'll notice that he has a row of links on the top of his blog that will bring you to a bunch of pages. This isn't necessarily a bad idea, but it's expensive real estate, so I would suggest using them for an bio page and link architecture. By link architecture, I mean that Kurt should use these pages to post links to his blog posts instead of using them for
content. So if he posts videos regularly, then one of his top links would say "Videos" and then the page would be an index of links to his videos which he would periodically update as new content was added. This is a technique that Ferny Ceballos calls "Silo Pages". It makes it easier for your readers to navigate your site, gets you more page views, and it's awesome for SEO too. Now, what should Kurt do with the content he's hiding under those links right now? Well, I'm glad you asked. I would simply republish this content over the course of the week. Keeping blog posts where blog posts "should" be is one of the safest ways to organize your site. It also saves your readers a headache.
#4 - Copy That Sells V.S. Copy That Smells
This is where I bond with Kurt because I've been there. It's okay if you're here too, but Kurt is making a smelly MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
5
Marketing Critique copywriting mistake in his opt-in form copy. "Who Else Wants To Learn How To Tap Into The Internet And Easily Generate 30+ Leads Per Day For Their MLM Business And Create Cash On Demand With The Push Of A Button?" Now, I'm not saying this "swipe file" approach doesn't get results, after all, it's what all of the "experts" tell us to do, but I'm willing to bet that Kurt will have way better results if he rewrites that headline in his own words.
Now, Kurt is a strong writer but classic headlines like "Who else", or "They Laughed", "Do You Make These Mistakes" smell like a salesman with too much cologne. When in doubt, lean on proof instead of promises. As for the opt-in form itself, move the full text and the opt-in form above the "fold" of the page so people don't have to scroll. This will almost certainly boost your response. Kurt has an arrow pointing to his form, which is cool. Arrows have been proven to increase opt-ins, but it shouldn't get in the way of moving your form higher up on the page. As always, test and measure the results before you make a final decision.
#5 - An Offer You Can't Refuse
One of the easiest ways to boost your opt-in rate is to work on your offer and this is something I really like about Kurt's site. He offers a seven day course and that's a great start. So the first thing I would suggest, is to switch up the offer a little and track results. Kurt's really good with video, so I would like to see him offer a free video as his opt-in gift. Then if that works, consider making it into a seven day video course. The important focus here should be giving away your best secrets so that you earn the trust of everybody who opts-in to your list.
#6 - Pump Out The Content
Kurt is doing exceptionally well with his content strategy and he's already getting consistent "retweets" so I don't want to mess with a good thing, but he's working too hard. He has content hidden under all of the top links, and he even has one 6
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
post with multiple videos. So my biggest suggestion for Kurt would be to break up his posts. The more content you have, the better, but if you spread it out then you won't have to work so hard. Trust me, you'll need this extra time to build relationships and comment on other people's blogs too.
#7 - The Return Of The Invisible Man
Kurt's not a bad looking guy, but you would be hard pressed to tell from his tiny mugshot. Always remember that people only do business with people they trust. And one of the fastest way earn this trust is to show people that you really do exist with a few pictures of yourself, family, friends, and adventures. At a minimum, you should have a decent size mugshot on your blog. In Kurt's case, all he needs to do is make his bigger.
#8 - Google Isn't Always The Best Bet
I think it's cool that Kurt is trying to monetize his blog with Google Adspace, but it's probably not worth his online real estate right now. For instance, there's affiliate programs or even funded proposals like Magnetic Sponsoring that have a higher payout than Google Adsense. So it just doesn't make sense to use that six inches of space for a few cents a month when you could be paying your bills with the right affiliate offer.
#9 - The Magical Ingredient
One last tip, is not something that Kurt is "doing wrong" but it is something that's missing from his blog entirely. This is probably the biggest mistake that everybody is making online, and even the experts get this wrong. What is this "magical ingredient"? It all boils down to one five letter word: proof. These days people are skeptical, especially in our industry. They won't listen to you until you prove that you care, that you know what you're doing, and that you're a stand-up guy or gal.
Marketing Critique
“It all boils down to one five letter word: proof. These days people are skeptical, especially in our industry. They won't listen to you until you prove that you care, that you know what you're doing, and that you're a stand-up guy or gal”. Quick Blogging Tip
If you have testimonials, credentials, or expertise in almost any area then you should post it in plain site on your blog. I've talked to people who have dozens of testimonials but they have nothing on their blogs. I've even seen trained professionals trying to market themselves online without mentioning that they've coached million dollar business CEOs. It's crazy. Almost everybody makes this mistake. I know a lot of people are worried about the FTC, but if you follow their guidelines, which are plainly stated on their website, then you'll do just fine. So let's wrap this up and get moving... I gave you actionable tips that can boost your "opt-ins" and help you get more leads than ever before, but you might have glossed over this, so I'll take a second to put it into a checklist you can refer to at your leisure. Kurt got a lot things right, but nobody is perfect. So here we go. •
Think about hiring a designer for the details like headers, opt-in forms, and graphics.
•
Focus on one niche like copywriting, pay-per-click, video or lead generation.
•
Plan your site out and work on link architecture by building "silo pages".
•
Write like you're speaking to your buddies at the mall instead of "selling".
•
Test out a new opt-in offer and measure the results - keep what works.
•
Keep pumping out valuable, conversational content.
•
Consider adding a "Retweet" button to your blog posts.
•
Add a clearly visible "mugshot" to your home page.
•
Make your opt-in form obvious and easy to use.
•
Don't waste any space on your blog - it's valuable real estate.
•
Pump up the proof, credibility, and authority elements
I would like to thank Kurt Henninger for being such a good sport. Sometimes a "critique" feels like a bashing but leaders like Kurt are always looking to improve their game. I can't wait to see what he brings to our industry in the years ahead.
Connect with Kurt at Better Networker HERE
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
7
Ask The Expert
Ask The Expert! "How To Turn Twitter Traffic Into 'Lots-o-Leads' With Your Blog!" I have been blogging about Network Marketing since October of 2003 and get thousands of visitors to my site each day. Some people call me the # 1 blogger in the world on the subject of Network Marketing and Google has been nice enough to back that up by listing my blog # 1 for “MLM Blog” and # 1 for “Network Marketing Blog”. I occasionally get asked how I became the # 1 blogger in the world on the subject of Network Marketing and a top 100 Small Business Blogger according to Blog Rank and the answer is simple really: “I posted more blog articles on the subject of Network Marketing than anyone else”. Not long ago I actually counted the number of blog posts that I have made since 2003 and it’s well over 4,000 (that’s nearly 2 blog posts a day, 7 days a week for 6 years). It’s not that I am the best writer in the world or that I know more about the Network Marketing industry than anyone in the world. It’s the consistency that made me # 1. I’m not telling you all of this to brag, I am telling you this because I have figured out a way to shortcut the process of getting laser targeted traffic to your Nerve Center (“also known as a Wordpress Blog or Marketing Hub”). No longer is it necessary to write multiple blog posts a day, five days a week and then hope and pray that Google will bless you with a little search engine love. In fact, I am going to show you exactly how you can get dozens of laser-targeted readers to your site almost
8
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
By Ty Tribble
immediately. This is so good that I haven’t even shared this stuff with my family. All I can say is that I owe a lot to Mike Dillard. Mike’s original MLM Traffic Formula has helped me add thousands of names to my list every few months and when he asked me to share “what’s working now”, with a select group of leaders, I jumped at the chance.
“Be Prepared To Literally Freak…”
What I am going to share with you is a result of countless hours of studying the leading minds in Social Media and Internet Marketing. Before I spill the beans on this insane method of marketing, I want to remind you of something that is probably the most important piece of the puzzle, yet rarely talked about. Please remember, the whole purpose of marketing online is to develop relationships with more people, faster. It’s all about the relationship. You are flat out kidding yourself if you think that you are going to build a long-term residual income without developing relationships. Relationships are not automated. Always remember that there are people on the other end of that computer screen and your job is to make friends and offer incredible value. Fair enough? Now, (lecture over), I am pretty much assuming at this point that you have access to Mike’s MLM Traffic Formula 2. If you don’t have it, go get it, NOW!. I won’t be going into the details of your own Wordpress Nerve Center that Mike and Tim Erway describe in MLM TF2, but your Nerve Center is a vital piece of your online marketing puzzle.
Ask The Expert have to write the content. You will have to write a little, but it’s so simple, my 12 year old can handle it for me.
Let’s start with three basic fundamentals. You must learn how to do these three things if you expect to get any results online: 1. How To Generate Free Targeted Traffic Through Social Media. 2. How To Drive That Traffic To Your Nerve Center/Marketing Hub. 3. How To Capture The Traffic By Giving Away Something Of Value In Return For A Name and Email Address. Ready to learn how you will accomplish those three things? This is not difficult, but some might view this technique as a bit complex so let’s break it down in simple terms: •
I’ll teach you how to gain laser-targeted Twitter followers that are desperate for quality content in their niche, which, by the way, happens to be your niche too.
•
Next we are going to learn how to find targeted, socially proven content to post to your followers that will attract clicks like bees to honey. Believe it or not, you won’t
•
The Twitter link will lead to your Nerve Center where you will capture some of the traffic with a niche offer that appeals to your laser-targeted Twitter followers.
I really hope you are grasping what I am sharing with you because this might be the most powerful method I have seen to find qualified business partners and customers in my 6 years of Internet Marketing.
How To Find Laser Targeted Twitter Followers The most beautiful thing about Twitter is that it's all “open source”, meaning the data on the site is available to everyone. Let’s look at two great ways to find the right people to follow on Twitter: First, follow people who are following someone in your niche market. For example, if your niche is “Network Marketing on the Internet”, Mike Dillard and Ty Tribble might be two great
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
9
Ask The Expert people to follow in that niche. However, as important as following Mike and myself, you’ll also want to follow people who are following us. There is a good chance these followers are following us for a reason. They are interested in the same niche. So, follow the followers of leaders in your niche. This works well for any niche market. Second, search Twitter for people who mention keywords that make sense for your niche market. Let’s say that you are creating an eBook that discusses the finer points of gourmet coffee. You can search for people that mention “gourmet coffee” and follow those people. I recently heard that Twitter has 95 million users: an incredible opportunity to find people within your niche and add value to their lives, don’t you think?
How To Find Socially Proven Content To Give To Your Twitter Followers, Establishing Your Expertise Within Your Niche
Remember to always post a link back to the original article in your post and it would be a good idea to find some type of picture that relates to the article and post that too. I have had the content authors actually thank me for linking back to them and commenting on their article. Remember, these authors are human. I complimented their article and their overall blog. Their content is socially proven as popular because PopURLS and Alltop only post the most popular content and you are literally able to draft off of their content popularity by posting a link on Twitter with an interesting Tweet, driving the traffic to your Nerve Center. I have been getting 40 to 100 clicks back to the articles that I post using this technique. If you find ten articles a day from those two sites (and there are plenty of other sources to find content), you might have 400 to 1,000 visitors ton your Nerve Center.
This is probably the most “ninja” part of this whole technique. I am going to show you where to find high quality, socially proven niche content that you can share with your followers on Twitter.
These Nerve Center visitors are laser-targeted to your niche and if you create an offer that is appealing to them, you will capture some of that traffic on your own list or offer (such as Magnetic Sponsoring). Then you can continue building the relationship at a different level by asking questions and offering your help.
We are going to drive the followers to your Nerve Center as a bit of a gateway to the content …and the author of the content will actually thank you for doing it!
It took me years of consistent writing on a near daily basis to get 1,000 visitors a day to my blog and with this technique, you can shortcut that process to months and in some cases weeks.
I know this is crazy stuff, so let’s break it down… You know your niche and if you are doing this right, your niche is the same niche that interests your Twitter followers. So it’s as easy as finding articles at Alltop.com and PopURLS.com that are interesting and focused on your niche. Alltop is a site that lists top blogs on all kinds of subjects and PopURLS lists the most popular links today on several different sites.
Ty Tribble is an Internet entrepreneur and Work At Home Dad who lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife, Richelle and two children, Emma and Tyler. Ty has been featured in Entrepreneur and Success From Home magazine and is considered by many as the # 1 blogger in the world on the subject of Network Marketing and was recently listed among the Top 100 Small Business Bloggers on the web.
Here is the “ninja” part: Instead of posting a link directly to the content, you are going to post that link on your Nerve Center along with two unique sentences created by you. The first sentence talks about what you like about the article and the second sentence talks about what you like about the author of the article.
Ty has created tens of thousands leads on the Internet by using blogging, social media and web 2.0 and loves to train others to match his online success.
10
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
You can connect with Ty on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/tytribble or find out more on his web site at http://www.TyTribble.com
Words Of Wisdom From An Online Mogul
Your Vital Role as an Entrepreneur...
By Russell Brunson
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
11
Words Of Wisdom From An Online Mogul
In the May 2007 issue of Entrepreneur magazine there was an article that said: In the future, innovative entrepreneurs will fix the healthcare mess--and cure cancer while they’re at it. They’ll solve the global warming crisis and uncover a new fuel made entirely of a blight on the Earth, like mosquitoes. They’ll invent multipurpose facilities where their kids can take gymnastics or piano lessons while they pick up their dry cleaning, get takeout dinner, design their latest products via a 3-D video game, and in their downtime, figure out how to conquer al-Qaida. It then went on to say:
… experts and visionaries see entrepreneurs as key to the next wave of innovations in industries from transportation (air taxis, anyone?) to nanotechnology.
As an entrepreneur, you have some key roles in our society. If it weren’t for entrepreneurs like you, we’d all be in a lot of trouble. Just think, who is it that pushes the creation of new products and services? The entrepreneurs who are building businesses and trying to create profits to grow their companies are the ones who are innovating and creating new value for people. Who is it that creates jobs and helps stimulate the economy? If it weren’t for entrepreneurs who build businesses, then millions of people around the world wouldn’t have jobs. And my favorite part of being an entrepreneur is the duty that we have to earn as much money as possible, but also to spend as much money as possible! Yes, just think, if it weren’t for entrepreneurs making and spending a lot of money, the economy would screech to a halt. Just think how many jobs are created when you buy a new house, or purchase the car of your dreams. I remember right after 9-11, the government came out and said that as Americans we need to go out there and start buying products and services to help stimulate the economy. The money our country spent after the war helped keep us out of a lot of bad problems that could have happened.
12
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
So take pride in knowing that you have an obligation to society to make AND spend as much money as possible! Now, what I wanted to focus on during this article is what you, as an entrepreneur, should be doing in your business. A few months ago I had a chance to go out to dinner with Rich Schefren when I was in Florida filming an infomercial. He asked me, “Russell, what is it that you do all day in your business?” I told him about how I manage my employees, answer emails, work with programmers, help fix broken sites, work with designers, and on and on and on… He then asked me something strange. “Russell, in your ideal world, what would you do all day?” I then went on to discuss the two or three things that I really liked about my business. He then told me about what he spent his time doing all day, and it was awesome to see that he just focused on the 2 or 3 things that he was best at. After flying back home, I realized that I needed to make some changes because my business was running me, instead of me running it. I’m sure that a lot of you are in a similar situation right now. So the first thing I did was go back and re-read the E-myth by Michael Gerber. This book is the key foundation point for learning how to be an entrepreneur the right way. In the book Michael talks about how most entrepreneurs get caught up working in their business and not on their business. He then talks about how companies like McDonalds created systems that they can plug people in to do the tasks of the business. It was about then that I sat down and realized what the three core responsibilities of an entrepreneur are: Get Specialized Knowledge
Unfortunately in most businesses, the entrepreneur who starts the business usually has a specialized skill set that is needed to run the business. So they get caught up doing that thing and because of that spend most of their lives working in the business. The big key to making the type of money you want and deserve is to take yourself out of the equation. Your job as an
Words Of Wisdom From An Online Mogul entrepreneur should be to get the specialized knowledge to help your company grow. You should be the one studying books, going to seminars, visiting other companies, networking and doing the things that will teach you how to work on your business. As an internet business entrepreneur, you’d be focusing on learning things like: • • • • •
Analytics and Conversions Traffic Generation Marketing Business Product Development
Create Systems
The second step after you have the specialized knowledge, is not to go and start applying it to the business. This is where almost everyone goes wrong. They learn a new concept and immediately jump right back into their business. What you are supposed to do is take that knowledge and quickly create a system - a system that you may initially do yourself, but it’s vital that you can perfect and, then hand it off to someone else to run for you. This is how you keep your business from becoming something that you are working in. It makes it possible for you to step out of your business so you can focus on working on it.
Now, the best way to create solid, step-by-step systems is by using a software program called Camtasia (see Resource section on page 22). Camtasia will take screen capture videos of your computer screen so you can teach the system you just created in video format. When you hire someone or want to pass off this step in the system to another employee it will be ready for them in video format to watch and learn. Take Action
This is the one step that keeps more people from being successful than anything else out there. The problem that
most people have (especially those running online businesses) is they get so caught up in the learning about business that they never start the building part. It’s essential as the entrepreneur to quickly take action and implement new ideas fast. I strongly believe the reason why most people don’t take action is their fear of failure. There is a quote from Theodor Roosevelt that has had a dramatic impact on me my whole life and given me the courage to run, jump and try things even when they are probably going to fail. He said: It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. As the entrepreneur in your company, you have to be strong. You are the one who has to take the risks to put yourself out there and fight to succeed. Not many people will understand what it’s like to be you. They don’t know what it’s like to work with no guarantee of a paycheck. They don’t know what it’s like to fail over and over again. They don’t know what you have to go through to build up something you believe in. But they will also never know what it’s like at the end when you win. And that is why the entrepreneur will be remembered. You’ll be remembered for the value you brought into the world. You will be remembered by the jobs you created and the lives you changed. It’s not an easy road, but it’s definitely worth it.
- By Russell Brunson, President of DotComSecrets.com
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
13
Split Testing Revisited
Split Testing Revisited...
In every issue of WWN, you'll get access to the latest results for valuable split-tests that we've just run online! Splittesting is THE fastest, and easiest way to produce more leads, and make more sales online and you can apply these same results to your marketing efforts immediately!
It's one of easiest ways to get more leads, make more sales, and dramatically cut your marketing expenses but almost nobody takes full advantage of it. So here's what you need to know to get started today. Imagine living in a time when your vegetable garden is the difference between turning a nice profit, or living like a pauper... If you don't find some way to grow those vegetables, your family will have a hard winter. We'll assume that you can't buy more land or seeds because you're stuck with a limited budget. So you're not about to take any silly risks.
Sure, you could use all of your money to hire help, but eventually you'll max out your budget. Or you can buy some fertilizer from Jebediah down the road, but he's charging an arm and a leg for a pile of bull. Let's say you're a shrewd fellow, and you notice that some months your vegetables grow faster than others. In a stroke of genius, you figure this has something to do with water. So you devise a clever but primitive experiment. You break your garden into two identical gardens - side A and side B. Then you decide to water side A twice as much as the other. Of course, you do this in the moonlight, so none of your neighbors think you're a kook.
14
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
By Jason Better
After one month, you notice that side A of your garden is now producing 80% of your growth. So next year, you water the whole garden, and start to test different types of seeds. It isn't long before Jebediah wants to know your secret. Amy-lou down the road is showing more interest in you, and her husband is jealous. Meanwhile, you're laughing all the way to the farmer's market counting your vegetables and you're a very wealthy man, or woman, all because of a simple A/B split test. Well, that's what split testing is. It's nothing more than the "scientific method" applied to marketing. It's hands down, the easiest and cheapest way to make more money by doing less.
Old School Split Testing
In the old days, split testing was largely done with "keyed ads" and coupons. What the old timers would do is write a "code" that their prospects had to use. It could be a phone number, mailing address, or coupon, or quite literally a code they had to mail in. The important part being that it could be tracked and measured in some way so that they knew how well their marketing was doing.
Split Testing In 2010
These days, you can do all kinds of fancy testing I wouldn't even have the space to get into here. Things like "taguchi
“
Split Testing Revisited
Basically anything that you can change on your webpage or marketing can be tested. And although a 1% improvement in results might not be much by itself, when you add them up they make millionaires. No kidding.
testing" or even ABC split tests with sophisticated software. But at the heart of it - it's like our little vegetable garden.
Frequently Asked Questions About Split Testing Q: What should you test?
The short answer is, you should test everything, but the reality is you won't have enough time in a year to do this. So test the things that make a massive difference first.
Things that make a big difference...
Your Offer: Giving away a bonus on your lead capture page could dramatically boost the amount of leads you're getting. Along those lines, changing your offer from an e-book to video coaching could very well double or even triple the leads you generate in a day. This isn't something to brush off, but you'll only know for sure if you test. Your Traffic Source: This is something a lot of marketers forget to test but it's at least as important as your offer. You may find that leads from one PPC ad convert better than another almost identical ad, or that print advertising outpulls online advertising two to one. Nobody knows for sure, until they test. Your Headline: This is another one of those things that can make a big difference in very little time. Deleting or adding even one word can sometimes have a dramatic impact on the success of your marketing. So this isn't something you should take lightly. Your Response Device: If you send your traffic to a website instead of a phone number then you'll notice a big difference in the amount of leads you generate. Now
”
chances are, the phone number will outpull the website, maybe not, but it's something you have to test.
Your Guarantee: The longer your refund period is, the less refunds you will get. I know this is counter-intuitive but it's one of those things you have to test if you're trying to use your own funded proposal to generate leads. Your Testimonials: Even though the FTC has cracked down on what you can and cannot do with testimonials, this is still one of the best ways to improve your conversions. The fact is, people won't buy from you unless they trust you. Proof elements like testimonials are one of the easiest ways to earn this trust. There's really so much more, but man, this article would be five hundred pages long if you got me started. Then I would have to package it with a DVD and charge you $197 for it. So let's keep this short and free.
Tiny Things That Make A Big Difference In Response
Sometimes it's the little things that make a huge difference in your bottom line. I can't get into every little detail here because you could literally test anything (and I mean anything) but you might find that some of these pack a powerful punch. • • • • • • •
Your background color The size and color of buttons Your opt-in form design Autoplay of video or audio Pictures of satisfied prospects The color of headlines Adding or removing subheads
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
15
Split Testing Revisited • • •
Making borders thicker or thinner Adjusting the width of a sales letter Using indents or dropped capitals
Basically anything that you can change on your webpage or marketing can be tested. And although a 1% improvement in results might not be much by itself, when you add them up they make millionaires. No kidding.
• •
leads per sale clicks per sale
And of course... •
the source of your advertising
A lot of software will track this for you.
Q: What should you be tracking?
Q: What software should I be using?
Quick tracking checklist...
We've found that Google Website Optimizer is a good choice for most tracking needs. Google Website Optimizer will do a/b split testing, which is suitable for most applications, and the best part is that it's free. So it's hard to go wrong with that.
You should be tracking everything. The next time you're in McDonald's, or Wendy's take a moment to look around. Fast food restaurants are perfect examples of this policy. They'll count every slice of cheese and every hamburger that gets wasted. They'll get their employees to punch in and out with time cards. They'll even track how fast cars are moving through the drivethrough. It's enough to put the average business owner to shame. But if you want to know exactly what you should be tracking, here's a handy list.
• • • • •
cost per lead cost per click cost per sale exposures per click clicks per lead
But now we brought up the question of question of which service to use, and I have to say that can be a confusing decision for anybody. I mean, there's always a million people promising the moon but only a few people ever deliver.
If you want to set up a free account you can go to... www.google.com/websiteoptimizer
To get started with Google Website Optimizer, visit their section of the Google help center here
“Google website optimizer will do a/b split testing, which is suitable for most applications, and the best part is that it's free”
16
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
Split Testing Revisited Q: Why split test when I can drive more traffic to my site instead?
If you think back to our vegetable garden, our farmer was living on a budget and couldn't buy more land. Well, buying more traffic for your website will almost always cost you more than improving your "land" with split testing. You have to keep in mind that changing a headline or even the color of your background is free while traffic sources are an investment in cold hard cash. So with split testing your overhead stays the same, while your profit margins continue to grow. Q: How much should you spend?
The short answer is: "Whatever it takes!" I've worked with business owners who are terrified to spend 80 bucks to run a Google Adwords test. I'm sorry, but that's just plain stupid. The whole point of marketing is to buy prospects, customers, or leads at a discount. So you should be willing to pay whatever amount of money you have to acquire a new prospect so long as that price doesn't exceed your breakevens.
"Your object in advertising is to buy new customers at a price which pays a profit." --Claude C. Hopkins
Q: Do I Have To Be A Copywriter?
This is a good question, and while I don't think you have to be a copywriter to test sales letters, opt-in forms, videos and so on, it helps if you at least know some of the basics of good copywriting. When it comes down to it, a lot of the marketing you'll be doing online will involve text of some kind and even videos need scripts unless you're a natural salesman. So I'll say, "no" for now, but I have to urge you to study copywriting if you really want to see amazing results in online advertising.
Q: What have you guys tested?
We've actually tested just about everything under the sun with some really interesting results. We've shared some of these tests before, but I still think it's fascinating to look at what little changes can do. Here's some of our results. •
We've tested an old-style web sales letter versus a modern looking sales letter with video, and we found that the video with copy out-pulled the text only version by an insane 50%.
•
We changed the size of fonts on headlines with amazing results. In one test, a size 16 font outpulled a size 24 font by 32%. I don't know about you, but that blows me away.
•
We tested the effects of various background colors on the conversion rates of our capture pages. Navy blue, Sky blue, and light grey. To our surprise navy blue background decreased conversion 70% over the white background! Whereas the light blue increased conversions by 16%.
•
We tested a red "buy now" button against a standard blue hyper text link one. The blue text outpulled the red button by 11%! I never would have guessed.
In many cases, you won't be able to predict the results, even experts struggle, but every time you test you'll know a little bit more about your prospects and what gets to respond to your advertising. Last Words About Testing...
There's only one sure way to find the answer to almost any question in marketing and advertising and that's to make a simple A/B split test. If you think that sending out surveys, holding meetings, or wishful thinking is ever going to help you attract more leads then you're floating in a bubble and I promise you - it will pop. Jason The Better Networker
Jason Better is an active blogger and founding member of BetterNetworker.com. You can find more great copywriting and network marketing tips on The Jason Better Blog at JasonBetter.com. MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
17
Ryan and Perry's Split Test Results
Share The Results On 5 Of Their Real-World Split Tests With You!
By Jason Better
Hey, you'll love this. Ryan Deiss and Perry Belcher have agreed to share some of their "top-secret" split test results with us. This almost never happens, so you'll want to take crazy notes or at the very least, print this out and highlight whatever strikes your fancy. This is too cool. Here's 5 Split Tests That Will Probably Make Your Brain Explode...
Split Test #1 -- The Color of Testimonial Headlines
What if you could boost your sales by a 25% just by changing the color of your testimonial headlines? Yeah right! I mean, do you think money grows on trees or something? That's absolutely ridiculous. It couldn't possibly be that easy to make more money. Or could it?
Actually it is. Ryan and Perry wanted to know if changing headlines on testimonials would make any difference at all. They were blown away when they discovered that placing a red headline on all of their testimonials increased their conversions by a whopping 34%. If your brain hasn't exploded yet, then it soon will.
18
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
Ryan and Perry's Split Test Results
Split Test #2 -- Which Font Gets More Sales?
Okay, here's where people start to yell and scream at each other. Some people will swear up and down that fonts with little feet on them like Times New Roman (serif fonts) will always outpull fonts that don't have feet like Helvetica, Tahoma, or Arial (sansserif fonts). Well, in a way, they're right, but only offline. It all comes down to readability. It's easier to read a sans serif font online then it is to read a font like Times New Roman. So that bumps up the number of people reading your ads, which most often leads to more sales. There's exceptions to this rule. I mean, if your copy really sucks then you don't want anybody reading it and you'll probably have better results with a serif font. But in general, you want people to read your writing and Perry Belcher and Ryan Deiss have actually tested this. They've discovered that changing all body text to Arial 12 point font will show a readability increase of 31%-36%! I think that's incredible, don't you?
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
19
Ryan and Perry's Split Test Results
Split Test #3 -- What's Under Your Post Script?
The experts say that the P.S. or post script is the second most read part of your sales letter next to the headline. So it really shouldn't surprise anybody if small changes here would yield massive results. But what if you didn't have to change the text at all? What if you could simply copy and paste a block of text under your P.S. and instantly boost your conversions by 10% to 20%? Sounds like sorcery to me, so I don't blame you one bit if you don't believe me, but Ryan and Perry discovered that placing a testimonial under their P.S. increased their conversions by 19%!
Split Test #4 -- Buying Options
What if the old school marketers are dead wrong about some of the basics? I mean, it's a well known "fact" that you get more sales and opt-ins when you reduce the amount of choices that people have to make, right? It only makes sense. But what if ignoring this advice led to a 32% increase in conversions? That's exactly what happened when Ryan and Perry offered customers the option to buy using a payment plan instead of making them pay it all at once. But here's the funny thing. Only about 17% of the customers who bought actually went with the payment plan. They decided to pay the full amount instead of breaking it down, and they did it even though they wouldn't have normally purchased the product at full price. I don't pretend to know why people do the things they do, but that makes my head spin. 20
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
Ryan and Perry's Split Test Results
Split Test #5 -- Pick Up The Phone!
"Old school" marketing blows chunks. I mean, who wants to pick up the phone and bug strangers? Not me, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to do it either. Mind you, some people are making loads of money by doing exactly that. So I wonder what would happen if we just tossed out our "Buy Now" button entirely and forced people to call us to order. I bet we would get less orders, right? Wrong.
When Ryan Deiss and Perry Belcher placed an 800 number on their site and took phone orders, it increased their conversions by an incredible 30%! Now, try doing that by simply changing a few words around. It's not likely going to happen.
How Will This Make Me Money?
If you're like me, then you want to know how this is going to make you money or get you more leads. So you're probably wondering what these split test results have to do with you. Well, here's what I think you should take away from this whole thing.
You Should Test Everything You Possibly Can!
You have no idea how much money you are leaving on the table right now. You might be missing out on 80% of your profits because you think you know what your market wants when the truth is, none of us do. You can run surveys, pick up the phone, and network with your market face-to-face and still be proven wrong by a split test.
If you would like more information about Ryan Deiss and Perry Belcher's amazing split tests and marketing wisdom Click Here for the goldmine
MARCH 2010
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
21
Resources
Resources
www.techsmith.com/cam tasia Whether you’re ready to put together your first screencast information product or just graduate from Jing, Camtasia is the standard for creating, editing and annotating self-authored audio-visual content. You’ve already watched of ton of training materials produced through Camtasia, now it’s your turn to start producing professional presentations and sharing your value.
www.ezs3.com Not sure how to host and share your audio or video series? Don’t pay too much for bandwidth and hosting fees. Combine Amazon’s S3 hosting with their EZS3 service and you have an incredibly inexpensive way to host your video and audio content. It also makes sharing your content easy, as Amazon provides customizable players, which can be embedded anywhere on the web. Many of your favorite courses are hosted by EZS3.
22
WHAT’S WORKING NOW
MARCH 2010
Month after month, we come across many different sites and resources that allow us to grow our business. Here are this month’s best…
www.dropbox.com
Need to keep files synced between your computers?
Tired of the hassle of sharing large files via FTP?
Dropbox makes backing up your data, file sharing, syncing your files across multiple computers, and archival backups as easy as using Window’s Explorer or Finder through its extremely simple interface.
Plus, you can get 2 Gigs of space in the free account.
WWN What’s Working Now
What’s Coming Next Month:
Mike Dillard share the latest on the economy… Are we all DOOMED!? How to make sure you always profit and prosper whether it’s a ‘big bang’, or a ‘big bust’… How and “what” to sell in a weak economy…
Daegan reveals “Part II” in his incredible training series that will teach you…
How to build ultra-profitable, and rock-solid affiliate relationships… How to crank up multiple streams of income, while building your downline… How he recruited over 3,800 customers and distributors - just via EMAIL! And a few secrets to valuable, we can’t even print them here yet…
Russell Brunson fills you in on how he took his business from the basement to the big-leagues, creating an 8-figure empire!
More “Real-World” Splittest results that will help you bring in more leads, without spending more money!