Author Archive | Hassan Ko

This is a great approach for someone who is new in their niche and wants to build a reputation and list while still making really good money.

I met this guy who is fairly new to the internet marketing realm. He’s no expert or guru and yet he’s making about $12,000 a month from the start.

He realized that it’s a lot easier to sell a $1,000 product one time than to sell a $10 product 100 times. For one thing, the customer service for one person versus 100 people is like night and day. For another thing, it’s so easy to give stuff away rather than sell it. He’s sort of sneaking under people’s radar with this method.

He runs promotions, free WSO’s, advertises on Facebook, has a Facebook Group and so forth. And on all of these platforms, he’s giving away his stuff.

People opt in to his list just like you would expect, and then they’re presented with an upsell, again just like you would expect.

Except… here’s where it’s different – he even gives away his upsell.

I know, how crazy is that?

Then he gives his list tons of stuff for free, too. His subscribers open his emails (his open rate is INSANE) because they know he’s always giving them awesome content FOR FREE.

This builds trust like you would not believe. His list isn’t all that big yet, but it doesn’t matter because his subscribers LOVE him.

Then once a month he opens a limited number of slots to work directly with him on a one-to-one basis at different levels.

He offers email coaching, personal coaching over Skype once a week, and even a higher level of coaching. His prices run from about $250 to $3,000, depending on the package.

Like I said, this guy is new to the internet marketing realm – he just started about a year ago… Yet he’s bringing in about $12,000 a month with this model.

He never promotes affiliate products, only his own stuff. And he gives away everything but the expensive products.

What a great business model!

Okay, I’m not going to pass judgement – good or bad, on what I’m about to reveal.

Some would say this is 100% ethical, and I won’t argue. Others will say something that involves cuss words, and I won’t argue with that, either.

I would just like to point something out, and whether you use this information for your own protection or to increase your own sales is up to you.

Fair enough?

I was sent an email claiming that this person wanted to make my sales for me. In fact, the exact words were, “You will make sales for doing nothing, guaranteed!”

Yeah. Uh-huh.

So, I read the email (mostly for laughs, but… you know) and clicked the link.

Mind you, the person who sent this is no slouch. He’s been around. He’s probably made a boatload of money. And I’m sure this promotion alone is making him another boatload of money. But I digress.

I was sent to a page with a recording from a webinar (which I did not watch.) Beneath the webinar replay, after the usual, “We’ve already sold 15 and there are only 5 left” comments, it said:

“We’ll promote Bob’s top selling product for 7 days to our 200,000 subscribers using your affiliate link.”

“We will send at least 3 broadcast emails per day for 7 days using YOUR affiliate link promoting Bob’s best selling product. You will receive 100% of all sales made through your link.”

Ugghhh. Whenever I read something like this, I always think that if there’s sales to be made, then they sure as heck won’t be using someone else’s affiliate link to make the sales.

This emailing they want to do is a bonus for buying the product in the webinar. And I’m sure it’s an expensive product.

Let’s see… if they send out my affiliate link 3 times a day for 7 days to 200,000 subscribers, that’s a possible 4,200,000 exposures of my affiliate link to their readers. Right?

Nope.

Here’s where you need to read the fine print. Or in this case, the print that’s found way… Way… WAY… down at the bottom of the page.

Oh-oh, what’s this??

“Your affiliate link will be put in a rotation system with a maximum of 20 links for the entire 21 email campaign over the full week to our 200,000 subscribers, promoting your link.”

Forget the 4,200,000 exposures of your affiliate link. We’re now back to 210,000 exposures.

Big difference, wouldn’t you say?

I’ve no doubt they will make sales (of whatever is being promoted on the webinar) to people who think they’re going to have their link promoted 3 times a day for 7 days to 200,000 subscribers.

And yes, they did come clean later on the page. Is it deceptive? Like I said, I’m not judging, just providing information.

One last thing… do you think they’ll be sending out 3 emails per DAY promoting the same product for SEVEN days to their best, most active subscribers?

Or let me put it this way… would you?

Or would you send the emails out to the ‘dead wood’ on your list – those subscribers who haven’t opened an email in six months or a year?

I don’t know who they’re sending the emails to – yes, it could very well be their hottest, best subscribers.

And yes, they could have inadvertently ‘forgotten’ to let customers know up front that they would only be receiving 210,000 mailouts, not the 4,200,000 it’s made to look like. But it sure does make you wonder.

In my view, it’s best to be honest and up front. Tell your visitors what you’re going to give them, and what they can expect, and then deliver. In fact, over-deliver. Do this, and you’ll do just fine building a business online and anywhere else you setup shop.

If you don’t have time to write 6 or 7 emails each week to send to your email list, try this method instead: Pick out several evergreen products that you know and trust and can promote to your list for months and even years to come… For example, choose your favorite hosting service or autoresponder if you’re building in the online marketing niche.

Write 4 emails for each of these evergreen products. They can be stand alone emails or a sequence with each email building on the previous one, whichever you prefer. Put a link in each email to the product or service you are promoting.

Place these sequences into your autoresponder and schedule them to begin going out as soon as someone joins your list.

However, cue these emails so they only go out on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Monday and Wednesday are reserved for new emails you write, promoting new products.

No matter when a new lead signs up, they start on the email sequences you’ve programmed, but they never receive them on Monday or Wednesday because this is when you send out your new, live emails.

Now you’re only having to write two emails per week.

Once you get used to sourcing products to promote and writing the emails for them, you have a choice: You can either send more live emails and fewer autoresponder emails, or you can use some of your new emails as automated sequences (assuming the products stay relevant and available.)

This method is a great way to ease into emailing 6 days a week, and it’s perfect for the person who is currently working a full time job but looking to quit as soon as the online income is high enough.

It’s also perfect for the new marketer who takes a long time to write an email. No worries, you’ll get faster with time.

Try this method and see if it doesn’t take some of the email writing pressure off of you.

This might be the most important word in the copywriter’s arsenal, ranking higher than even “free,” “new” and “savings.” Do you have any guesses as to what this word is? …

We’re talking about the word “you.”

Using the word “you” gets your prospect’s attention and keeps them reading. It’s vital that your reader regards herself as the target of your message, and there is perhaps no better way to begin that process than to use the word “you.”

Your goal is to build a relationship with your prospect, as in, “We.” But paradoxically, the best way to build the relationship is to talk about “You” a whole lot more than you refer to “we.”

Think of a conversation with someone new. If you allow them to do the talking while you listen attentively, they’re going to think you’re the greatest conversationalist in the world.

But if you talk about yourself, they’re not going to think nearly as well of you.

And this goes for anyone. Imagine meeting a world leader you respect, and they show interest in YOU. How great would that be?

But if they ramble on about themselves (as you would expect they might) you’ll be happy to have met them because it makes for a great story, but you won’t be walking away with the warm fuzzies. And that’s somebody well known and regarded.

When we come to our prospects, they often don’t know us from Adam, or they only know us from some emails and blog posts. Certainly, we’ve never sat down over a cup of tea and gotten to know each other.

That’s why, if your goal is to put prospects first, it’s best to have the “you’s” far exceed the “we’s.”

It’s the “you’s” that matter to prospects. They’re your workhorse for communicating your message and include all derivatives such as “your,” “yours,” “yourself,” “you’re,” and “you’ll.”

I wonder if I can use all 6 of these in a sentence or two…

“You will love seeing how happy your family is when you get this product for yourself. You’re simply going to be overjoyed at knowing from now on, the world is yours and you’ll be able to do anything you want.”

Okay, maybe it is possible to overdo the “you’s” and all the derivatives, but not by much. When you’ve written your copy, go back and see how many you’s there are.

Then add some more, changing “we” and “I” to “you” whenever possible.

Then read the copy out loud, and unless the amount of “you’s” seems crazy, you’ve probably got it about right.

People care more about themselves than anything. This isn’t to put people down – not at all. It’s simply the way we’re wired for survival, and you can use that knowledge to get your prospect to pay attention to your message.

What else makes “you” so powerful? For one thing, it addresses your readers directly. In effect, it says “Hey you,” which is much harder to ignore than “Hey somebody.”

Say “Hey you” in a crowded room and a lot of heads will turn. Say “Hey somebody” and a few heads might turn.

Think about conversations you’ve had. When you say the word, “you,” doesn’t the other person pay closer attention? “What do YOU think?” “Are YOU going to that event?” “I hope you’ll enjoy this restaurant – what do you think of the decor?”

When people say these things to you, they get your attention and involvement. After all, they’re interested in your opinion. They’re interested in the things you do. They have something to tell you that will make you happy.

That’s the goal of you-oriented copy. Address your audience directly, personally and in terms of their interests. Be conversational and “you” will pop up in the copy naturally.

Newsweek used the exact same subscription solicitation letter for nearly two decades. This is the letter they sent out to cold prospects, asking them to subscribe.

If they used the same letter for nearly 20 years, then clearly it was effective – so effective that no control could beat it. Why did it work so well? Perhaps it’s because the word “you” was used nearly 30 times on the first page alone.

More than 100 million copies of the letter were mailed, a testament to its effectiveness.

When you write your sales copy, don’t forget things like benefits and having a great offer. All the “you’s” in the world won’t overcome a lack of a great offer and awesome benefits.

But if you have something to offer your reader that is truly beneficial, focusing your message on your prospect and using the word “you” can mean the difference between mediocre sales and a control sales letter that continues to make sales for a very long time to come.

Have you ever met someone who was an idea machine?

You give them a problem to solve, and in just a few minutes they’ve come up with half a dozen creative ideas.

In fact, you can ask them anything, and they’ll give you enough ideas to keep yourself busy for weeks.

But… wouldn’t you like to be that idea machine?

Just one idea – the right idea – can be worth millions. The problem is, in order to have that million dollar idea, you first need to have hundreds or thousands of ideas that aren’t as good.

Case in point: Imagine you never work out, and then one day you’ve got to lift a heavy object off of your own chest or you’ll die.

If you’re weak as water and can’t lift that thing, then you’re a goner.

But if you’ve been exercising your muscles, then you can throw that object across the room and go about your life.

Your brain works much the same way as a muscle.

If you use it daily, it’s sharp and ready to tackle whatever comes its way.

But if you just park your brain in front of the television all day long, it’s going to be weak as water, too.

And when you need it most, it’s going to fail you.

James Altucher says that when the gun is to your head, you either figure it out or you die.

Think of the times in your life when you hit bottom and you were forced to come up with ideas.

The worse the situation you’re in, the more motivation you have to come up with some great ideas.

But if you haven’t been using your brain much, then it’s going to be difficult.

That’s why it’s important to exercise your brain right now, because ideas are the currency of life.

When you become an idea generating machine, you’ll be able to solve any problem (almost).

No matter what situation you’re in, you’ll have a ton of ideas. If you need to make money, you’ll come up with 50 different ideas, and so on.

Here’s a process the aforementioned Altucher recommends for turning yourself into an idea machine:

Get a waiter’s pad, or any pad that fits in your pocket.

Sit quietly – maybe in a café somewhere – and read an inspirational book for ten to twenty minutes.

Then start writing down ideas. Any ideas. All ideas.

You’ve got to write 10 ideas.

Yes, ten.

Pick a subject and come up with ten ideas. Maybe it’s 10 ideas for a book you want to write.

10 ideas on how to get a better job or get a raise.

10 business ideas.

10 ideas on how to meet women (or men.)

The first 5 will be easy. 6 is a little harder. 7 through 10 might feel like they’re going to break your brain.

But… what if you can’t come up with 10 ideas?

Then come up with 20.

If you can’t find 10 ideas, then you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to come up with PERFECT ideas.

Forget perfect.

Forget trying to top the ideas you already wrote down.

Focus on coming up with BAD ideas, and your brain will relax.

You’ll have fun.

Creativity will flow, and you’ll be surprised at what you think of.

Do this exercise every day.

EVERY day.v
At the end of one year, you’ll have 3,650 ideas.

Hopefully you’ve acted on a few of them.

The point is to exercise your brain so that no matter what happens in life, you can find the solution.

But how do you act on an idea?

By taking the first step.

Here’s Altucher’s favorite example of acting on an idea:

“Richard Branson didn’t like the service on some airline he was flying. So he had an idea: I’m going to start a new airline. How the heck can a magazine publisher start an airline from scratch with no money?

“His first step. He called Boeing to see if they had an airplane he could lease.

“No idea is so big you can’t take the first step. If the first step seems to hard, make it simpler. And don’t worry again if the idea is bad. This is all practice.”

The ten ideas exercise is my favorite brain exercise, but I encourage you to do other brain exercises as well.

Choose exercises that help with memory, increase creativity, or somehow enhance your cognitive skills.

Pick what works best for you, because it helps if you like what you’re doing.

If you dread something it will never be a daily habit, and the whole idea is to be consistent in striving to reach your goals.

You have the potential to achieve great things, and to do something extraordinary, whether it’s in your online business or something else.

And achieving the extraordinary is more possible than ever before, thanks to the technologies and knowledge we have today.

However, it’s also easier than ever before to get distracted, too.

So, how do you stay focused? And how do you ensure that you are making progress every single day?

By taking a lesson from other successful people who have reached their goals.

There is a common fallacy in our culture known as the ‘overnight success.’

Someone achieves something great, and because this person was previously an unknown, people say s/he achieved this success seemingly overnight, out of thin air.

But as you might expect, it actually takes years to become an overnight success.

If you ask any entrepreneur or actor who made it big, you’ll find they worked hard for years before achieving their goals.

Think about this: You’re an actor, going up for a major role. If you get it, this will be your big break.

But you’re up against another actor for that same role.

This actor has been taking acting classes for 10 years, taking part in local theater, auditioning for every part possible, and taking every job she’s offered.

You’ve been ‘acting’ for 10 years, too, but in that time you really haven’t done much.

You didn’t take any acting lessons.

You didn’t participate in local theater.

You didn’t audition for a part unless you ‘felt like it.’

Needless to say, it’s the other actor who gets the part and becomes an ‘overnight success,’ all because she’s been working hard for a decade to get ready for this exact moment.

I’m going to share something with you right now that is life-changing.

However, since you’ve probably heard this before, you’re also likely going to dismiss this.

That would be a grave mistake.

What I’m about to impart will make the difference in a life of mediocrity and stellar success, and it’s this:

Every single day, without fail, determine the ONE thing you need to accomplish to move forward on your goal, and DO IT.

If you can only get one thing done, what would it be?

Ask yourself this question every night before going to bed, and again the next morning.

If you get just ONE thing done, what should it be?

The key here is to focus on importance, not busy work.

Contacting ten possible new clients is a step forward. Clearing your desk is not. Yes, it might be important to have a tidy desk, but how does that advance your goals?

There is the story of the professor who holds up a glass beaker in front of the class. The professor fills the beaker with large rocks all the way to the top, and then he asks the class if the beaker is full.

“Yes!” the students reply.

Then the professor pours small pebbles into the beaker that fit all around the large rocks. Again, he asks the class if the beaker is full.

“Yes!” comes the reply.

Finally, the professor pours sand into the beaker, which fills in the gaps around the pebbles.

Now the beaker is full.

But what if the professor had put the sand in first, or the pebbles in first? Then the professor could not have fit the big rocks into the beaker.

The things you need to do to advance your goals are your big rocks. You’ve got to do these things first, or they will never get done. If you focus your efforts all day long on sand and pebbles, you will always be busy, but you won’t accomplish anything.

Choose one thing per day, the one BIG thing you can do to advance your goals, and do that thing first, no matter what.

A marketers we write headlines all the time, whether it’s for a blog post, an article, an email, a sales letter or an ad. As you know, the better your headline, the more people will read your words and possibly take the action you seek.

Here are 15 ideas for headlines. Next time you’re stuck for what to write, simply refer back to this page. In fact, you might want to print it out and tack it up next to your desk.

15 Profitable Headline Ideas:

Give news using words such as “new,” “introduction” or “announcing.” “Introducing A Painless Way To Remove Skin Lesions Forever.”

Use numbers and statistics. “Unprecedented 88 Miles To The Gallon.”

Make a recommendation. “The 3 Niches You Must Be In NOW.”

Ask a question. “What Do Successful Marketers Have That You Lack?”

Tie in to current events. “How This Year’s Election Provides You With A Unique Investment Opportunity.”

Give the reader a command, telling him or her to do something. “Try This Weight Loss Snack And See If It Doesn’t Taste Exactly Like A Decadent Candy Bar.”

Use words that paint a picture. “How To Be As Muscular As Arnold Schwarzenegger In His Prime.”

Tell a story. “The Bully Laughed When I Fell To The Ground, But He Wasn’t Expecting What Happened Next…”

Create new terminology. “New Wixor Method Instantly Doubles The Conversion Rate On Your Website.”

Caution them. “How To Avoid The Costliest Mistake You Can Make In Building Your Online Business.”

State a startling benefit. “Get Your Own Virtual Assistant For Just $5 An Hour.”

Tell them your amazing offer. “Everything You Need To Make Your Own Beer For Just $29.”

Make a comparison. “Get Twice As Many Widgets For Half The Price Of Our Competition.”

Use a testimonial. “Before Taking This Course I Was Broke… Now I’m Debt Free And Financially Secure.”

Make a seemingly contradictory promise. “Eat As Much As You Want And Still Lose Weight.”

Ernest Hemingway began his writing career as a reporter for the Kansas City Star.

When he won a Nobel Prize years later, he credited his success at writing to what he learned from his cub reporter’s style book, namely:

1. Use short sentences – Easier to read, easier to understand, easier to capture the interest of people with short attention spans.

2. Use short first paragraphs – Today it would be advisable to make most if not all of your paragraphs short.

3. Use vigorous English – Use active, energetic, bold words rather than a meek, passive voice. For example, “We’re breathlessly racing to the finish line” rather than “We’re on our way to the finish line.”

4. Keep it positive – Yes, you really do catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Hemingway also had his own tips for great writing, many of which easily translate to creating content for the Internet:

1. Write in the morning. 3 things happen when you write every morning. First, you’re writing when you’re fresh and likely to do the best work. Second, you’re getting your writing out of the way so that you can do other things the rest of the day. And third, you are creating a habit that will see you through to creating tons of great content.

2. Write while standing. When we’re seated at our computer our blood tends to drain from the brain. Activity, be it standing, pacing, knee bends, jumping jacks, etc. stimulates blood flow and brings much needed oxygen to the brain cells. Want to be more creative? Get more ideas? Feel more energetic? Then try standing when you write.

3. Love writing. You can’t force yourself to do something day after day that you dislike. But if you can fall in love with writing, you’ll find you wake up eager to rush to your computer and see what you compose next.

4. Keep track of your progress. Hemingway kept a board on his wall on which he kept a daily tally of how many words he wrote. You might keep a tally of how many blog posts, how many articles, how many pages of your new ebook, etc.. By keeping this tally in plain sight, you cannot fool yourself as to whether or not you’re doing the work.

5. Be in love. Maybe you can’t always control it or will it into being, but if you can fall in love with another person, or a passion, or simply with life itself, then you’ll find you have far more to say and you’re much more passionate about saying it. It’s as if the muses smile down on you and the well of creativity overflows – even if you’re writing something as simple as a blog post or article.

As Hemingway himself said, “It was necessary to get exercise, to be tired in the body, and it was very good to make love with whom you loved. That was better than anything.”

You work hard to get traffic to your blog or website, and you provide great content they can use. Yet you’re not getting as many of your visitors to join your mailing list as you would like, right? Be sure you’re not making any of these common conversion mistakes.

1. Not placing your opt-in form on every page. Don’t hide your opt-in form, place it on every single page of your blog or website.

2. Not placing your opt-in form above the fold. The optimal location for your opt-in form is nearly always above the fold, on the right side of the page. In addition, you might also place it at the bottom of each of your articles or blog posts.

3. Not having a strong call to action. Tell them exactly what you want them to do. “Fill in your email address and click submit.” Leave nothing to guess-work or chance.

4. Not giving them a strong incentive. Make your incentive so enticing, many of your readers would consider paying for it if you weren’t giving it away in exchange for their email address.

5. Not making your form and offer big enough. Make your opt-in form and offer big enough and bold enough that it cannot be missed, even by a casual surfer. Use colors that contrast well with the rest of your website, but don’t use anything annoying or flashing – that can actually reduce conversions.

6. Not using a testimonial or endorsement in your opt-in offer. A one line quote from an industry expert about how much they enjoy either your opt-in incentive or your newsletter can lend a tremendous amount of credibility to you and your offer.

7. Not testing. Test your offer, test the colors, test the language/copy that you use, test everything. Nothing is as important as building your loyal list of followers, and testing is the best way to be sure you’re not losing new subscribers every day by presenting the right offer in the right way.

In testing, changing some of these common mistakes has increased subscriber opt in rates by 35% or more. Put them to the test on your site and see what they do for you!