Category: Business

3 THINGS YOU MUST DO WHEN CREATING A LEAD MAGNET

Posted on by Alastair Walton

With a killer lead magnet it’s possible to build your list in no time at all.

On the other hand, a poor lead magnet can result in a conversion rate of zero…

…plus a whole lot of wasted time and effort.

This is why you need to think hard before doing anything. To get you started, here are three steps for strategically creating a lead magnet that converts visitors into customers.

1. Pinpoint your target audience

Who exactly are you trying to attract?

The answer shouldn’t be, “everyone.”

You want to choose a specific market and then laser target that market. Think of it this way: like a real magnet, your lead magnet should both attract and repel. This means you want to focus on your ideal customer, not just anyone. After all, trying to sell someone who isn’t qualified is almost pointless.  

2. Come up with an ultra-compelling offer

You need to come up with an offer that your prospect absolutely cannot refuse.

It should be so compelling that they immediately enter their email address.

What’s more, most people know that if they sign up you’re going to send them marketing messages. This often puts them off (even if they can unsubscribe). This means your offer has to be compelling enough to overcome this objection. A good way to do this is to think of something that helps to solve the prospects problems. You can also write down a list of common customer questions, then brainstorm ideas for a lead magnet that answers those questions.

3. Have your follow up sequence in place

Your lead magnet is only one half of the equation.

Your follow up sequence is the other.

Remember, most people won’t buy the first time they encounter your product. This means you need to have a follow up sequence. Ultimately your lead magnet should guide people toward the product or service you’re selling. At the same time you need to educate customers, provide the information needed to buy, and take into account where they are in the buying journey.

More tomorrow:

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

HOW TO ATTRACT SUPER AFFILIATES TO YOUR OFFER

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Making money online is simple right?

All you have to do is put together a grand slam offer…

…find affiliates…

…and wait for the money to roll in.

The problem is that it’s slightly more complicated than that.

Finding super affiliates – the type of people who make 100’s of sales per day – can be tricky.

But there is a way to remedy this.

The secret is simply to hold contests and give bonuses.

You see, this is something which every successful product owner does (especially when it’s launch time). The reason why it works is because affiliates can make a lot of extra money from contests and bonuses. In fact, when choosing an offer, most will make their selection based on what type of extra’s they can get. After all, bonus money is basically free money, and you’d have to be an idiot to turn it down.

This is basically what you have to do to attract the best of the best.

Now, not everyone can do this.

Not everyone has the budget to give away iPhones or whatever.

But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on this method.

Amazon vouchers for small amounts are just as good.

And as time progress you can increase your budget for contests and bonuses.  

See you later,

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

BORING LEAD MAGNETS SUCK! HERE ARE 18 IDEAS THAT WORK BETTER THAN EBOOKS

Posted on by Alastair Walton

When you say lead magnet most people think of the standard EBook or, “report.”

And while these work well…

…you can do better.

For example, here a 18 exciting ideas for lead magnets.

1. Checklists

Whether you want to lose weight or sell your house there are certain things you need to do. These steps can be turned into a downloadable checklist.

2. Cheat sheet

Do you have a list of tips or hints? Compile these into a virtual cheat sheet.

3. Case studies

How have other customers benefitted from your products or services? You can answer this question by providing case studies. Simply describe how customers solved their problems by working with your company (and don’t forget to include statistics which illustrate their success).

4. White paper

A white paper is basically the marketing equivalent of an academic paper. They are highly detailed and research orientated reports on an issue your prospects are facing. The purpose of this is to help them understand complex topics and present yourself as an expert on the subject.

5. Quiz’s

The reason why this method works so well is simple: no one can resist a good quiz. A quiz also helps to educate prospects and weed out unqualified leads.

6. Video

Let’s face it: most people don’t like to read. This means videos are often a better choice than EBooks. They are also useful if you want to demonstrate your product. What’s more, videos can be used to introduce yourself and build a connection with prospects.

7. Webinars

With webinars you can give live presentations to customers. This can take the form of tutorials or interviews with other experts.

8. Courses

If you have a large amount of information to share then why not break it down into a course? This can be delivered through automated email sequences over a period of days or weeks.

9. Discounts

Offer a promo code in exchange for their email. This type of lead magnet is almost guaranteed to work.

10. Free samples

Free samples are great when you’re selling something physical (and can often convert into sales down the line).

11. Contests

Prospects can enter the contest by signing up to your list. This method also work to get shares on social media platforms.

12. Free consultation

Offering free advice is a powerful technique for people who run service based businesses. The value of this is that the prospect learns something, but needs to become a customer to get the full picture.

13. Free events

Many products or services are best sold in person. A good example of this are houses, classes, or seminars. Events are also a good way to get to know your prospects before selling them.

14. Free trial

Giving prospects an opportunity to try your service may convert them into buyers. This works especially well when combined with a time sensitive offer.

15. Demos

If the prospect would benefit from seeing your product demonstrated then consider this.

16. Gated information

You may have information that customers need to see before buying. This can include things like price lists or schedules. Instead of giving them this information, make them sign up for it. A big benefit of this method is that it discourages unqualified prospects.

17. Samples

In some industries, prospects may want to see your previous work. You can make this available for download in exchange for their email address.

18. Printed material

Do you have a book, brochure, catalog, or other printed material? Offer these in exchange for the prospects email and address.

No matter what method you use just remember this:

Your lead magnet should be packed with real value and benefits for your prospects.

Giving away what is essentially garbage will not help to convert anyone.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

DO REFERRALS ACTUALLY WORK?

Posted on by Alastair Walton

What’s the most powerful form of marketing?

Strangely enough it’s not social media, paid advertising, or even email marketing.

No, one of the greatest selling tools is simply word of mouth referrals.

You see, many people buy products or services because they saw them advertised…but we also ask our family and friends for help and recommendations…and have a tendency to believe and act on those recommendations (think about it: you’ve probably done this more than once in your life).

Whether it’s finding someone to fix your car or choosing which movie to watch…

…we tend to listen to the advice of people we respect.

But how do you implement this into your marketing mix?

After all, it’s not as if you can run a word of mouth campaign on social media.

The answer is to be excellent at what you do.

In fact, you should strive to be the absolute best.

Be so good that you create raving customers who are fanatical about your products.

You also need to position yourself as the greatest expert who ever lived…

…and have enough credibility to back this up.

There’s also one final thing you can do to generate word of mouth referrals.

And that’s to simply ask for them.

Making it easy for customers to recommend you should result in a nice sales bump.

More importantly, you won’t have to spend money attracting these customers…

…or put in any extra work.

Until next time.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

A SNEAKY SEO TIP FOR PRODUCT OWNERS

Posted on by Alastair Walton

When buying something online what’s the first thing that people do?

This is simple:

They look for reviews.

For every product under the sun there are dozens and dozens of reviews sites.

Some of these focus on hundreds of products.

Others are highly specific.

For example, let’s say you’re thinking about buying something called, “One Minute Abs.”

In this case you’ll Google One Minute Abs Review.

What happens then is that a bunch of sites pop up.

And the first on this list will probably be oneminuteabsreview.com

These sites are built to take advantage of these types of searches.

That’s why the URL is always an exact match keyword.

(Anyone who has done affiliate marketing probably knows about this technique).

As a product owner you can also take advantage of this.

How?

When getting ready to launch your product (and once you’ve settled on a final name) buy the URL of that name plus the word review. Setup a blog and write your review. Add more pages related to the product and a sign up page for your list. Finally, write an about page and start building backlinks to the site. The idea is that when you launch your product and people start looking for reviews…

…your site will be the first search result.

If you do this right you’ll get dozens of additional sales, maybe even hundreds.

Remember, most of the people who buy your product will first look for reviews…

…and this is a great way to take advantage of that.

Something to think about.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

WHAT I LEARNT FROM WORKING FOR LEXUS

Posted on by Alastair Walton

I used to work for a Lexus dealership:

It was a major dealership in down town LA.

This work mostly involved creating Tweets out of stuff their marketing guy sent me.

90% of these Tweets involved some kind of special deal or discount.

Stuff like 10% off your next oil change and so on.

It was either that or the announcement of some new car or event they were holding.

This is important for anyone who owns this kind of business.

You see, there’s no reason to subscribe to your Lexus dealerships Twitter account. In fact, I’m sure that very few people who drive a Lexus actually have a Twitter or even visit the site. But by Tweeting out deals you give people a reason to subscribe or at least occasionally check the account. If you owned a Lexus and wanted to save money on running it then you’d probably do this.

The point is that discounts and deals are a powerful marketing tool.

They’re a great way to drive engagement and get people to subscribe to your social media.

They’re also a great way to market to pre-existing customers…

…and are a tool you should use even when business is going well.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

THE SECRET METHOD FOR MAKING MONEY FROM CROWD FUNDING SITES

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Do crowd funding websites really work?

More importantly, can they generate money for your project…

There’s no easy way to answer this.

Instead, today I want to talk about looking at crowd funding from a different perspective.

You see, here’s what you need to realise about crowd funding websites…

They shouldn’t be seen as a way of getting money.

It’s better to view these websites as a marketing tool.

When you post a project the aim is to get as many backers as possible, right?

But what you have to understand is that these are also a list of potential customers.

Your backers are essentially people who have raised their hands and said YES I want this.

The point is that you should experiment with using crowd funding as a marketing tool.

Take one of your products and post it on a crowd funding platform.

If doesn’t matter how much money you raise…

All you want to do is see what type of response your get.

After a certain period announce that your funding goals have been reached.

Then release the product and see if your backers actually buy it.

If you’ve done everything right a certain percentage of them should do this…

…which will ultimately result in a nice little sales bump.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

DO VSLs REALLY WORK?

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Once upon a time VSL’s (i.e. video sales letters) were the hottest thing in marketing

It seemed as if everyone was converting their sales letters into videos…

Dozens of marketers were selling products they claimed could create the ultimate VSL.

This was the new revolution in internet marketing and couldn’t be beaten.

But here’s the real question:

Was this really true…

…are videos better than sales letters?

Unfortunately not.  

You see, VSLs didn’t actually convert any better than ordinary sales letters. Not only that, a lot of people were complete idiots when using them. They thought creating extremely loud, auto-playing videos that went on for an hour (or more) was the way to convert visitors. Not only that, many of these videos had NO interface whatsoever. You couldn’t pause, fast forward or rewind. What’s more, some people would only show the buy button halfway through the video – or worse near the very end. So while internet marketers claimed these videos converted like crazy the reality was they DIDN’T.

In fact, most VSLs were highly annoying and only retards would sit through them.

This brings me to my point.

The thing with VSLs is that it’s really about who you’re selling to.

They work great for trash products bought by idiots.

But these are also the people who will ask for a refund five minutes after purchase…

If you’re looking for a better class of customer then stick to a sales letter.

Personally, I’d rather sell to someone who’s going to make the effort to read what I say.

Bottom line:

There is nothing inherently special about videos.

They DO NOT have the ability to magically hold someone’s attention.

Sales letters are just as good.

And when done right they are infinitely more powerful.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT (QUICKLY)

Posted on by Alastair Walton

There was a time when I was massively overweight.

Obviously I wanted to do something about this.

(After all, no one wants to be FAT).

But, like most people, I found it extremely difficult to lose weight.

Despite starting a serious exercise program I struggled to make progress.

Then I read one of those stupid, “5 tips to burn fat” articles that are plastered all over the web.

One of those tips was keeping a food journal.

In case you don’t know, this is basically a diary where you write down what you eat.

I did this for a month then looked back over the entries.

After reading these I was both stunned and appalled.

The amount of food I ate was incredible.

Not only that, almost everything I ate was junk food.

I basically lived on garbage like chips, pizza, hot dogs and fast food.

At this point I immediately changed my eating habits.

And from there on out started steadily losing weight.

What’s the point of telling you all this?

Simply that if you want to change something start tracking it.

Whether this is spending less money, losing weight or learning a new skill.

By tracking your habits you will immediately take control of them…

…and start to gradually improve things.

After all, to quote management guru Peter Drucker…

“What gets measured gets managed.”

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

HOW SOCIOPATHS MANIPULATE PEOPLE

Posted on by Alastair Walton

Many years ago I knew this guy who was (I’m 100% convinced) a real life sociopath.

This person was unbelievably shady and manipulative.

I could tell you hundreds of stories about the sketchy things he got up to.

The funny thing about this guy is he always, always had a sob story.

These stories were endless.

And after dealing with other possible sociopaths I realized something.

Elicitation of empathy is basically the primary form of manipulation used by these people.

From the get go they will attempt to tug on your heart strings.

There’s always a story they use to make you feel sorry for them.

And once you give in that’s when they pounce.

Another good example of this is homeless people.

Now, I’m not hating on the homeless.

Many of them have genuine problems and cannot fend for themselves.

But what I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t be naïve.

A lot of these people are absolute predators.

The guy who tells you about his pregnant wife who has to turn tricks so that they can survive…and…who incidentally also has brain cancer…well…there’s a good chance he’s lying.

The bottom line is that you should be careful around people with sob stories.

Always keep your guard up.

Yes they may genuinely need help.

But a lot of the time you’re dealing with a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Cheers,

Alastair Walton

P.S. The elicitation of empathy is the primary technique used by sociopaths to manipulate people. If you’re dealing with someone who always has a sob story…well…there’s a good chance they may be bona fide sociopath.