As most of you know, our GPS Coaching program has been a smash success…
Hundreds of entrepreneurs just like yourself are finally blowing through their constraints and moving towards record profits in their business.
One of the most popular segments of the program is the annual Q and A sessions, where I get on the phone and let GPS members fire away with any questions they may have regarding marketing and business building.
And so far, we’ve had some killer sessions–so good in fact, that we’ve decided to let our blog readers in on them.
Over the next few days and weeks, we’ll be posting some of the best questions along with my answers. So without further adieu, let’s dive into the first question…
CALLER: You’ve normally used the "blogging and report" style of launch in the past with great success. But you mentioned earlier that you may use a different style in the future. Can I ask what you’re planning to do differently?
RICH: First off, there are a lot of benefits to incorporating a blog with the release of a report. Because many people won’t link to an opt-in page. But they feel safer linking to a blog page that talks about the report.
So I’ve benefited greatly from people linking to these types of blogs. And the result has been a tremendous amount of traffic to the download page coming from these links.
Plus, there’s the added benefit of the positive comments on the blog about the report. Like I talked about in the Attention Age Doctrine 2, these comments get spidered by Google and turn up high in the rankings for related keywords–which gives us more exposure, driving even more traffic and more downloads. Very, very powerful.
However, to answer your question, we’re going to test a different method in the future–one that I think will be highly successful. And here’s how it works…
In our research, we’ve found that the Web 2.0 community is fine with registering for a toll, application, or template, but they’re just not crazy about opt-in boxes.
So I’m going to take the report and give it away for free with no opt-in whatsoever. All you have to do is download.
Inside will be a variety of links to shortcuts, templates and tools that are closely related to the content and offer an "expanded version" of the report.
To get to these goodies, you have to click on a link that takes you to a different page. When you do, you’ll see the "extra". But then the page quickly grays out and a light box will appear, saying you have to be a registered user of the site to access it.
For example, in the Internet Business Manifesto, I could easily add a link in the report that takes you to a spreadsheet or a program that helps you establish the value of your time by imputing a few numbers. But you must register to have access.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: Won’t forgoing the opt-in substantially reduce the size of the list you’re trying to build? Personally, I don’t think so. And here’s why…
This new method will allow you to get greater penetration into the market because your report can be in more places. Plus, you can give your affiliates copies of the report with their affiliate links imbedded, which can even widen the net further.
My belief is that this could actually result in more opt-ins. And in talking with my good friend David Merriman Scott, author of "The New Rules of Marketing and PR", he agrees. In fact, David estimates that we may get up to 50 times more downloads with this new model.
Now, I don’t know if that’s going to happen (I’d LOVE it if it did!). But what I do know is that by not requiring an opt-in and having the affiliate links embedded in the report, I can go to practically any blog that makes money with Adsense and have them give it away for me.
And even if we do a remotely poor job, they’ll still make money by allowing people to download our report. Because people will stay on their site longer, increasing the chances of getting clicks on Adsense and other affiliate offers. So they get to give away something valuable for free AND make a few bucks while they’re at it.
Hope that answers your question. Let’s move on to the next caller…
Pretty cool, huh?
We’re still tweaking the details, but we’re very excited about utilizing this model and seeing what result it brings.
In the meantime, let me know what you think of it in the comments below, okay? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. Keep an eye open for more Q and A posts in the future. We’ve got some REALLY good stuff lined up.
And don’t forget to add your comments below regarding your thoughts on this new direction we’re taking. I’ll be watching…and who knows? I may just chime in from time to time.
Looking forward to your feedback…
Someone once said, “Never meet your heroes. They’ll only disappoint you .”
And that’s been true to a certain extent. I’ve had the privilege to meet and chat with several people who have been a hero of mine in either a business or personal sense, and most of the time I came away discouraged
But in this case, the exact opposite happened–I came away INVIGORATED.
Ask any top level marketer what their 5 favorite business books are, and 9 out of 10 will have Robert Cialidini’s “Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion” in there somewhere.
This book has become required reading for marketers and business owners. It provides a fascinating insight into your prospect’s mind, revealing scientific principles behind how we process decisions and the factors involved in making them.
Cialdini’s works have had a HUGE influence on my business, and are an integral part of what I teach. So when he agreed to an interview with me this past summer, I was absolutely thrilled. .
Dr. Cialdini and I talked for over an hour about a variety of different topics, including social media, testimonials, blogging, continuity programs, and his new book titled, “Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive.”
And as a gift to my blog readers, I’ve made the audio of this interview available to you absolutely free at the link below.
I can’t tell you how pumped up I was when I finished this interview. It was one of the most thrilling hours of my life, and I’m grateful to Dr, Cialdini for giving me his valuable time. He’s always been (and still is, thankfully) a true hero of mine.
And if you enjoy it as much as I did, let me know your thoughts in the comments below, okay?
To Higher Profits,
Rich
P.S. On a different note…the machine is cranking up for a massive launch coming in a few weeks.
So make sure you’re checking back to this page. Because we’ll be delivering a BOATLOAD of highly valuable (and totally FREE) content that you won’t want to miss.
Mark my words–this fall, EVERYONE will be talking about the ultra-powerful tools we’re about to unleash. And if you’re checking this page daily, you’ll be the first to know about it.
So bookmark the blog right now–and keep an eye out. Because things are about to get VERY interesting.