33% found this document useful (3 votes)
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Autopilot Cash Funnels

This document provides an overview of creating and selling information products online. Section one discusses how information products are highly profitable as they can be created from home and sold digitally without physical inventory. It emphasizes finding a target market and creating products to serve their needs. Section two covers finding profitable niche markets and topics by leveraging existing skills and interests. It provides examples of exploring Amazon to find product ideas. Section three discusses researching the target market and product. Section four outlines steps for creating the product such as organizing chapters and the writing and editing process.

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hui ziva
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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33% found this document useful (3 votes)
1K views75 pages

Autopilot Cash Funnels

This document provides an overview of creating and selling information products online. Section one discusses how information products are highly profitable as they can be created from home and sold digitally without physical inventory. It emphasizes finding a target market and creating products to serve their needs. Section two covers finding profitable niche markets and topics by leveraging existing skills and interests. It provides examples of exploring Amazon to find product ideas. Section three discusses researching the target market and product. Section four outlines steps for creating the product such as organizing chapters and the writing and editing process.

Uploaded by

hui ziva
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 75

Table of Contents

Section One –
Prepare for Action

Information Products Rock………………………………….. Page 3


Know Your Market…………………………………………………. Page 5
The Number 1 Habit for Making Money Online……. Page 7
Take ACTION – Procrastination Killers & Productivity Page 9

Section Two –
Finding Profitable Niches

Finding Profitable Niches …………………………………….. Page 18


What are you passionate about…………………………… Page 19
Leverage existing skills………………………………………… Page 20
Amazon – the Great Big Idea Generator…………….. Page 22
The Amazon Marketplace…………………………………….. Page 22
Go One Step Deeper……………………………………………… Page 23
Going Undercover at Amazon………………………………. Page 26
Connect With Your Market……………………………………. Page 28
Amazon Affiliates – Use Your Statistics……………….. Page 29
The Affiliate Networks…………………………………………… Page 30
Magazines are Amazing………………………………………… Page 35

Secton Three –
Researching Your Product

Researching Your Product & Making Notes………….. Page 48


What’s Your Market Asking You to Create? ......... Page 50
Leverage Your List with a Survey…………………………. Page 52
Build Authority into Your Work……………………………… Page 52

Section Four –
Creating Your Product

Creating Your Product…………………………………………… Page 58


Organizing Your Product Chapters ……………………… Page 58
Time to Start Writing …………………………………………… Page 60
Editing Your Product – Ready, Fire, Aim ……………… Page 65
Fonts & Formalities ……………………………………………… Page 68
2
Section One
Prepared for Action

3
Information Products ROCK!
Infomarketing is arguably the most profitable businesses on the internet.

You find a market, you create a product and you get paid over and over
for that same product – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Informarketer extraordinaire, Dan Kennedy, said everyone should get


into infomarketing. That you should learn a skill, become an expert and then
sell your expertise through information products.

Why? Because it’s so damn profitable.

The internet allows you to can sell information as a digital download –


with no physical product to create and nothing to ship – the biggest expense is
the few days you spent creating the product.

No stock, no employees and no boss.

Every now and then I rock on over to Bob Bly, Marlon Sanders and
Jimmy D. Brown’s websites to check out their catalogue of information
products. Made from the comfort of their home (or Starbucks) these products
give them complete control over their income, their hours and let them do
what they want, when they want.

No more working for ‘the man’.

Got a bill to pay? All you have to do is flip open your laptop and start
pounding those keys, create a new information product and start selling it. I
hear Bob Bly did exactly that to pay for a dentist bill!

Infomarketing lets you make money from your kitchen table, regain
control over your life, your income and lets you live how and when you want.

It’s certainly the lifestyle for me 

4
What You Have To Do
The business model is simple… it’s so simple most newbie marketers
think there most be more to it so they keep looking for something more
complicated.

They stumble upon the truth, then get up as though nothing had every
happened and carry on looking for something more complicated.

Here’s what you do:

1. You start by finding a market to sell to.

2. Then you ask yourself “How can I serve this market?”

3. Ask “How can I access this market?”

4. Then think about how you can follow up with a 2 nd, 3rd and 4th
product.

You start by finding a group of people gathering online with a problem.


You find out what problems they are having and listen to the questions they
are asking. Then you create your product to access the market and fulfil their
needs.

When you’ve sold your first product you follow up with a second, third
and fourth product. You first product gets you started, gets you known and
builds a list of contacts and customers you can market to again and again at
the touch of a button.

It’s the future products that will make you the most amount of money.

Let’s get started…

5
Know Your Market
This is my second attempt at creating this product.

First time around I got distracted and lost focus.

The product was taking over, getting out of control and taking me places
I'd never imagined. So I stopped and started again – from scratch.

Why?

Because this product is not about me or what I want to explain...

It's about YOU! And what you want to learn.

Lesson number ONE....

Create Products Your Market are Already Asking For


You have to create products that answer your market’s questions. And,
sometimes, those questions will be silly things because your market doesn't
understand the problem they have... so you have to give them what they want
and SNEAK in a little of what they need.

“Find out what they want, sneak in a bit of what they need
and give them what you sold them.”
- Paul Myers

Example: Over the years I've met hundreds – maybe thousands of


people – who come to learn self-defence against various forms of
attacks. Men, women, teenage boys and girls all scared of violence.

Unfortunately their looking for physical techniques – how to punch or


kick harder and ninja skills to disable a gang of armed attackers that
doesn’t exist.

What they really need to know is their safety is largely due to their daily
habits.

They need to learn simple stuff like awareness of their surroundings,


learning to spot and avoid trouble and how to talk yourself out of a fight
before it becomes physical.

Only then do you need to know how to strike and hit hard, hit first and to
be furious.

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As a martial artist I teach them the techniques they want to learn and
sneak in the 'awareness and avoidance' training they really need.

When you're creating products the first step is learning to listen to your
market and creating products they need and they're looking for.

Learn to listen and understand your market first... create the product
second.

Creating the product is easier (since you're simply answering real


questions) and selling it is a synch because they’re already asking for what
you’ve made them.

7
The Number 1 Habit For Making Money
Making your own products is without doubt one of the quickest and
easiest ways to start making money online.

I can't think of any business easier to set up from home – a real kitchen-
table business – anyone can start no matter your age or level of experience.

A lap top, an internet connection and somewhere comfortable to work


from… if you don’t like your kitchen table, take the Marlon Sanders approach
and go sit in Starbucks for a couple of hours everyday.

When you’ve had your daily quota of coffee – it’s time to pack up for the
day and go do something a little more fun. Living the internet lifestyle is about
balance and doing the things you want to NOW and not in 6 months, a year or
5 years time. Your internet lifestyle and early retirement begins now – don’t
put it off 

The barrier to entry is low, the set-up costs are low and the earning
potential is unlimited.

And it all begins by learning to...

Get Your Buy Buttons Up!


Might sound obvious to you or I but a lot of people never figure out the
number #1 way to living the internet lifestyle comes from SELLING some thing
to somebody.

Next time you hear someone say “I can't make money on the interweb”
find out how many “Buy Now” buttons they have out there and how many
people are clicking those buttons.

I can guarantee the answer is “Not many” and… er… “None”.

Your income is directly related to the number of “BUY NOW” buttons


you've got out there and how many people click on those buttons.

Get 'em up FAST!

Stop Trading Time for Dollars!


The real big motivation for me – when it comes to creating – information
products is you've stopped trading time for dollars, pounds, euros or whatever.

Trading time for dollars caps your income.

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You'll only every earn number of hours x pay per hour and end up trying
to squeeze more work into a 24 hour day that’s already far too short.

You need to learn about leverage.

When you learn to leverage every hour, every subscriber on your list,
every buyer who’s spent money and your joint venture relationships to their
fullest...

You’ll work once and get paid for years to come, you’ll send an email and
watch money pour into your account and you’ll take time off work and still
make money.

Now It’s Time to “Name THAT Marketer”


For a long, long time I busted my what-sits to build my list and promote
other peoples products. I focused on affiliate marketing.

It took a while but I soon learned the most successful marketers aren’t
just affiliate marketers.

They are product creators AND affiliate marketers.

Name someone you like and follow who teaches internet marketing and
how to make money online – name that marketer – and now ask how they
make their money online?

They’re never ‘just affiliate marketers’ or ‘just product creators’.

Most successful internet marketers know that creating products will make
a lot of money, then they find JV partners, recruit affiliates and build a list of
subscribers.

If you think…

Selling your product = money

And building a list = more money

Plus finding JV Partners and affiliates = even more money

… then you’ve got yourself a fairly big money making machine.

In fact if you focused on nothing more than creating (and acquiring) a


catalogue of products, building yours list and finding JV/affiliate partners…
you’ve pretty much got a business in a box.

Creating a product is your first step.

9
Take Action – Tips to Get IT Done!
Everyday I read a new email about #1 Reason for Failure but right up
there – at the top – has to be getting started and then finished.

Doing something badly will always get better results than doing nothing
at all.

I don’t know anyone NOT GUILTY of starting and failing to finish so stop
beating yourself up right now and start making a commitment to yourself to
get your product up, running and selling.

Me… I’m better when I’m desperate and scratching around trying to find
out how I can best pay my tax bill. When I’ve got too much time and not
enough urgency… I mess about, get distracted and fail to focus.

Let me tell you about a fighter I know called Danny.

Man that boy can eat, drink and party like anybody I know. He can put
on over 28lbs after a fight because he’s got nothing to train for and nothing to
focus on.

But when he’s got a fight coming up, when he’s prepared to throw
punches, kicks, knees and elbows at someone (and they’re doing their best to
hit him back) he trains like a monster. He trains hard out of necessity to
survive the battle of the ‘nerves’, the adrenaline and the fear of failure in the
ring.

Maybe you’re the same?

Late Copywriting Legend – Gary Halbert - sums it up well in his


newsletter, just substitute the word “message” in the quote below for “product”
and you get the idea.

"Gun-to-the-head-thinking" can get you out of a jam or tough time. If


someone had a gun to your head, and to save your life you had to craft the
best message you could, what would you say?
Source:
http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/Newsletters/zfzs_pearls_of_wisdom.htm

Often it’s not really the work that’s the problem… it’s our approach and
mindset towards getting it done.

A while back I was listening to an NLP audio by Jason Fladlien (he’s a bit
of whizz-kid when it comes to getting things done fast) and he was comparing
typing to hitting the keys on a cash-register.

If you can ‘frame’ your work differently – perhaps thinking of that you’re

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not typing words onto your computer screen… you’re adding zero’s to your
bank balance then maybe you’ll get more done.

Maybe that’ll work for you?

And other times all it takes is discipline and determination – tell yourself
to shut up, turn the TV off and just crack on – you are after-all your own boss.

How to Overcome the Fear of Failure


The other week my girlfriend and I set out to buy paint for our new
home. We walked up and down the aisles of the paint store for about an hour
trying to imagine what colors would look best in our flat – both fearful that
we’d pick a color our friends might laugh at.

It’s funny how we create objections in our mind, problems that don’t
really exist and then let them stop us achieving our goals.

Really we should have thought differently about failure. So what if we


picked an odd color our friends didn’t like or made fun of. It’s our flat, our
personal touch and – if it really was that bad – we could always repaint it.

Next time you’re worried about failing because you pick the wrong niche,
create the wrong product or spent too long working on a project task ask
yourself –

“So what? Can I survive? Will I come back stronger? Will I learn from
the experience and bet better next time?”

Someone once said to me that if I wasn’t failing online with some


projects then I wasn’t pushing hard enough or doing enough. Learning to fail
fast is an important part of business – find an idea and get it up fast. If it fails
then so what? You’ve not wasted too much time or money on it and you can
move on to the next project.

Plus you got experience (something no amount of money can buy you)
and a product you can give away for free, sell as PLR or use as a bonus for
future projects.

Procrastination Killers…
“In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority
actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a
later time.”
- Wikipedia

I recently bumped into some guy who did a Double-Ironman competition!

11
That’s 224 miles on the bike, 4.8 miles swimming and a double marathon
(54.4 mile run)! It took 40 hours for him to complete it.

He talked about the winner – a Marine – he chatted to during the event.


The biggest single difference between the Winner and Losers was Mindset.

The Marine got on with it. While everyone struggled up the hills, he just
battled through. When asked how he did it, he replied “The quicker I get it
done, the quicker I can get home.”

Simple.com

We’re all guilty of checking our emails, reading forum posts and checking
out multiple offers (all promising wealth). I know I’ve spent many an hour
‘working’ when all I was really doing what ‘reading about worki ng’.

Just get on with it… the faster you get things done, the faster you’ll be
enjoying the results.

Time management is a big player in overcoming procrastination.


Stop sitting down for Ironman-like hours on your computer. Instead work
solidly for short periods of time – 30 minutes to an hour is fine – then reward
yourself with a break.

This has the added benefit of giving your unconscious mind to work,
come up with solutions and ideas you’d otherwise not have thought of.

When you’re done… you’re done… down tools and pack up for the day.
Spend time doing what you enjoy and live the lifestyle you dream of NOW.

PPPPPPP… Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Pi** Poor


Performance.

Learn to plan your work and work your plan. Map out your projects, put
realistic time frames in place and then stick to them.

Once your project is planned – create a weekly and daily plan.

Don’t find yourself turning on your computer and thinking “What am I


going to do today?!” That thinking, that deliberation leads t o procrastination…
you’ll put off the important stuff that makes you money.

When you sit down at the computer you should know exactly what you
have to do, how long you have to do it and then get it done! You sit down with
a clear purpose and ‘begin with the end in mind.’

If you fail to achieve your daily work it’s either because you didn’t focus
or you were unrealistic. Try keeping a diary with a record of what you have to
do and the progress you’ve made.

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Me… I keep a Notepad file and at the end of everyday I update it with
what I’ve done today, what I’ll do tomorrow and if I’ve achieved my goals for
the day.

It’s nice to scroll down and read past-entries. It’s a little like keeping a
food diary… you never realize how ‘bad’ you’ve been until you look back and
see how many days you ended up messing about, reading emails and checking
forum posts – instead of taking forward steps.

Perfection… doesn’t exist so stop trying to get everything perfect!

I remember a story by Dan Kennedy about the guy in a warehouse who


spent ages trying to tape a box up neat and tidily for shipping.

Then you had his colleague who simply wrapped the tape ‘round the box
and got them done twice as fast.

“Good enough is good enough!”

Learn (and have the discipline) to set timescales… get the work good
enough and then start selling it. This becomes your Version 1.0.

When your product is selling and you’ve got feedback from the
marketplace you can invest some more time, improve the product and release
Version 1.1, 1.2… 2.0

Think about all the ‘New, Improved’ detergents, toothpastes and recipes
released on a regular basis. They’re simply newer versions of the same, old
product… improved and re-sold to the same hungry market.

Software firms get this concept and release a version of their product
and then release subsequent updates. Sometimes they even release a product
with bugs they didn’t know about… until the market tells them… so they fix it
and still make millions!

Not only is this a quicker way to release your products… it’s a great
reason to keep in touch with your buyers, interact and ask questions… then
build a super-successful product based on real user feedback.

Quick Tip: Ever read a forum where they review a product?


These are goldmines of information where you’ll find real user
reviews pointing out the good, the bad and the ugly aspects to
the product.

You’ll read the pains the market are experiencing (in their
own words and vocabulary), what they liked and disliked about
the product and how you can tap into the marketplace.

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Someone beat me to it… is another great reason to NOT do
something!

So there’s another product already out there… maybe it’s been out for a
while, maybe they got it out days before you.

So what!

When you find a hot, hungry market you’ll never reach the entire market
and you’ll never satisfy their desire to consume new information. Hot markets
are so big there will always be a percentage of people who’ve never heard of
you and want to find out more.

How many weight loss DVD’s can you think of that teach the same
thing… they’re just endorsed by a different celebrity?!

Of course it’s nice to be different, to be unique and be first BUT in a


hungry market NEVER let the fact that someone got there first put you off.

Instead ask yourself…

1. Are they’re negative reviews I can fill with my product?


2. Do I have personal experience that will make your product different?
3. Is there a unique angle or twist I can highlight and sell?
4. Do reviews and feedback on my rival’s product reveal new product
ideas?
5. Do I have a solution that’s quicker, easier, more complete or more
ethical?

Rival products come out all the time and raises everyone’s game. Don’t
let competition and the fact that someone has already ‘done it’ put you off.

Failure to Finish Projects


Writers block, analysis paralysis, boredom and overwhelm are all reasons
for NOT getting your projects finished.

If I’m staring at a blank screen wondering what to write and where to


start the best thing (in my opinion) is to simply start writing… anything. As
you type the words will start to flow naturally but first you have to start typing.
It’s where the magic begins (don’t ask me how).

Not sure who said it but “Write fearlessly and edit ruthlessly!” is the best
way to cure writer’s block (same goes for video and audio courses – simply
edit out the fluff). Just start writing and get your thoughts down – you can
come back and edit it later.

This is a great technique for squeezing in 10 minutes work here and 10

14
minutes there when life is getting tough and everything seems to get in the
way.

There are times you’ll feel overwhelmed with work and analysis
paralysis sets in. This is a simple 2 step process to help you conquer it once
and for all.

First, prioritise your work – if you’ve a choice of writing an eBook or


formatting the look – write the eBook every time because it’s the content that
makes you money! If you’re wondering whether you should create graphics or
get your buy button up then get the buy button up – it’ll make you more
money.

The second tip is to ask yourself “What should I do?” Instead of


always doing what you want to choose the tasks deep down you know you
should do and will make you money.

Same can be said of food. There are the foods you want to eat and the
foods you know you should eat. When it’s time to choose ice -cream or an
apple… you want the ice-cream but know you should eat the apple.

9 times out of 10 you’ll pick the right task.

And if you’re still not sure, maybe it’s a toss up between two equally
important tasks – should I create the product or write the sales letter – then
give yourself 1 minute, flip a coin, roll a dice… just pick one and TAKE
ACTION!

Now you’ve got no excuses not to start working on your new product.

15
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Set yourself a goal and start small. Don’t go crazy and decide to write a 200
page report with video and audio…

Instead create a short 20 – 30 page report on a specific topic and make a


promise to yourself to get it done this week.

Treat this as a confidence builder – you have your own product to sell,
giveaway to build a list and get feedback on.

You can sell it cheap to see what the demand is like, how happy your buyers
are and discover for yourself that’s it’s not really that hard.

When I created my first product and sold it for $17 I was scared to death of
refunds… two year later it’s still selling and I’ve not had a single request for
any money back. That means I need to raise the price somemore!

16
Section Two
Find a Niche & Make
Sure It’s Profitable!

17
Finding Profitable Niches
There’s an MMA School in Baltimore run by an Internet Marketing
Millionaire called Lloyd Irvin. He has one of the best, most envied and most
controversial grappling teams in the States.

Why?

Because he has a system – a checklist if you like – to stack the odds in


his fighters favour and it works time and time again.

Master Lloyd used to study old video tapes of the best grapplers on the
planet. When he watched and studied these athletes as they moved from
beginner, to intermediate, to top-level competition athletes he discovered
something amazing…

They all did the same thing…

Now when I say the 'same thing' I don't mean the same techniques but
there was a fundamental similarity happening no one else had noticed.

He discovered they don’t do fancy tricks, they don’t use a gazillion


techniques and they didn't need magic bullets or push-button systems.

They ALL had good basics and MASTERED one skill in particular.

If they were winning competitions as a beginner with arm locks... they


won competitions at intermediate and professional levels with arm locks.

If they were winning competitions with chokes... guess what... they won
with chokes at beginner, intermediate and professional levels.

Master Lloyd decided that everyone in his competition team and school
starts by getting good basics and when they discover the ONE SKILL they're
good at...

… they MASTER it.

If you've never made a dime online you need to take this away – learn
the basics of internet marketing and get good at one thing in particular.

The Niche Profit System


Profitable niches are all around you. Ask yourself “What is the one thing
EVERYONE needs?”

Until recently I'd no idea how much commission people made selling

18
furniture, fridges and freezers and then realized everyone needs a bed,
everyone needs somewhere to sit, everyone needs fridges and freezers!

There are mass markets all over the place, market s so broad they
literally target everyone. And each market has a wide variety of individual
niches within them.

It's better still when the niche has repeat buyers. Our throw-away
society means we're more likely to buy a new washing machine in 5 – 10 years
than keep it for 25 years plus... which keeps the sales team in commission
until retirement.

It's why health, wealth and relationships are the three BIG markets and
so attractive for business.

We all need money, we all need to look after our health (and will have
health problems) and we all want to have long-term, fulfilling relationships
with a partner.

If you're not sure where to start (and you think you might procrastinate)
then pick a big, proven market like health, wealth or relationship. Within each
market there are lots of sub-niches for you to target, profit from and expand
into.

Here are five questions I always ask myself before getting involved in a
market or niche.

1. Is there paid advertising?


2. Are there a variety of different affiliate programs
3. Are other affiliate promoting products
4. Are there continuity or high ticket products on sale
5. Are there magazines for the subject

Answer “Yes” to all five questions it’s a good sign there’s money to be
made and the market is tried n’ tested.

What Are You Passionate About?


There are two schools of thought on making money with your passion.
One schools says it's a great way to start because you're doing what you love
which means you're more likely to stick with it and see it through to the end.

I couldn't agree more.

The other school says go where the money is because passions aren't
profitable. Good advice provided you can STICK it through to the end.
Once upon a time I was heavily involved in the Forex niche building
review sites and reading up on different trading systems s o I could pre-sell
them effectively.

19
It bored me to tears and I ended up with some finished projects and a
fair few that remain unfinished (still on the to-do list) to this day. I made
some good money but it was just like having a job!

The passion vs. profitable niche question is actually very easy.

If your passion is profitable then follow it whole-heartedly and go for it!

A lot of people choose to start internet marketing because they hate their
job, they hate the daily commute, hate their boss and don’t earn enough
money.

Thing is… if you ‘go into internet marketing’ and end up in niches that
bore you to death – simply because they’re profitable – then the dream
lifestyle can soon start to become very job like.

If your passion isn’t profitable then make a list of what you’re good at. It
might be a skill you use at work, at home or something you were good at in
the past. My uncle works in the auto industry but as a 20 something he was
always building stuff with wood out in his shed. That’s a skill you can leverage.

Leverage Existing Skills & Expertise


The quickest way to enter a market and build your business is through
leverage – I guess it’s a bit like learning a language.

I’ve a good friend who’s a great linguist.

He learned English from his father and Spanish from his mother. He was
well ahead of the curve at school when we all had to learn French. The
similarities between Spanish and French meant he was leveraging his existing
knowledge and he passed his exams in less than half the time everyone else
did.

The quickest way for you to get started is by asking yourself “What skills
do I already have?” What area’s have you experienced first hand and could
offer advice on?

Don’t be scared to think outside the box and don’t exclude life-skills.
The other day I was flicking through old cover issues of Parenting magazines
for ideas and kept coming across two subjects.

1. Dealing with temper tantrums


2. Helping fussy eaters

Two life skills I’m sure many mothers and fathers have first hand
experience at and managed to deal with. And even if you’re not a parent or

20
your children were ‘delightful’ I’m sure you could very easily research either
topic and create a report very quickly.

Quick Tip: If you find yourself doubting yourself or


questioning whether or not you’re qualified to provide
the information you’re not alone!

Remember expertise is relative. On a scale of 1 to 10 if


you’re a level 5 then you market your product to people
at level 1 - 4.

It’s no different to the Science teacher at primary


school, high school or university. They’re all qualified
to teach at different levels and you should think the
same.

Learning to leverage your skills and knowledge is a fundamental skill as a


marketer and can help you find success much, much faster.

21
Amazon! The Great Big Idea Generator
Magazines, top selling books and that infamous store – Amazon – are
some of the best research tools out there. When people spend money on
magazines and books they’re spending money on information.

Sometimes it’s “hard information” on how to do something.

Sometimes it’s softer information, more entertaining or what you might


call “infotainment”.

A lot of hobby magazines and books fall into this category.

Let’s surf on over to Amazon because there are few retailers better when
it comes to displaying the HOT topics people are paying for – and importantly –
paying for online!

The Amazon Marketplace


The Amazon marketplace is amazing. There’s so much information
available it’s scary. It’s important to start thinking laterally, looking for angles
and markets you’d otherwise have missed.

Here’s what I mean.

I’ve gone to Amazon.com and on the right hand side of the page I’ve
clicked on Digital Games & Software > Game Downloads and then clicked
Browed Bestsellers at the top of the page.

I’ve never even heard of this Bestseller called Crysis 2.

22
This is a market I’d never even think of and simply browsing markets
opens your eyes up to opportunities.

Computer games like Crysis 2 are an interesting because you know the
market has spent money to buy the game and you know they spend that
money on the internet. Two good signs!

I know there are online communities, forums and lots of people looking
for cheats and walk-thru guides to help them finish the game faster. If you’ve
ever played a video game and got stuck with no idea how to bust through…
then you know the feeling!

If you’re into Farmville – game that went viral through Facebook – then
you may not realise there are some very well heeled Internet Marketers who
created products on this game and sold them through Clickbank.

And…

Believe it or not there’s already


a Crysis 2 guide on Clickbank!

It’s hard to tell how well the


product is selling and only further
research will tell you how big the
market is but…

If you’re a gamer (or know


someone who is) then I’d recommend
scouring Clickbank for Video Game
products selling like hotcakes. Maybe
you could make your own?

Go One Step Deeper at Amazon.com


Amazon isn’t just a great place to get ideas on information that’s selling…
it’s a great way to start building your product and see what your customers are
REALLY thinking.

It’s vital you keep in touch with your market – after all – they’re the ones
spending money so learn as much as you can about what they’re doing, saying
and thinking.

I’m always looking for niches and take short-cuts through the book and
magazine sections to have a quick glance at headlines and niches. There is
always a range of magazines on Home & Garden.

Shoot on over to Amazon…

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It’s no surprise Amazon have there own busy Home & Garden section
and as you browse through you’ll see the number 1 best seller is on
“Downsizing, Decluttering and Simplifying” your home.

I was instantly drawn to number 4 in the best sellers called “31 Days to
Clean” for two very simple reasons.

First reason… it looked like an easy product to recreate. I’m absolutely


confident that with some decent research I could easily come up with some
great tips on house cleaning.

Tips to make cleaning easier, faster and look at myths and old-fashion
methods that have been forgotten. Looking for practical ideas I’d never have
thought of by myself and information that shocks, surprises, entertains and
sets off light bulbs in peoples heads. While cleaning is seriously dull to me… I
know a lot of people obsessed with keeping their homes pristine and perfect!

Second reason… this is a great example of a “List Product”. We’ll go


into List Products more a little bit later but there is no order or sequence of
events. You could simply go and find 52 of the best cleaning tips out there and
stick them in your book.

Plus these are really easy to format and organize (when compared with a

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step by step guide that must be compiled in an easy to read yet logical
format).

You could experiment by organizing the tips by room, by product, by


problem or simply mix them up so you alternate between the fascinating, the
extreme, disgusting and boring.

Quick Tip: I’m fortunate enough to still have a living


grandparent who remembers what it was like to go to
school barefooted through fields. A couple of years back
I got her talking about her life - she never told us
because she didn’t think we’d be interested - and WOW!

Some of the most amazing stories I’ve ever heard and I’m
99% sure if I sat her down I could get some great tips
and techniques they used in the past to clean their
homes. Cleaning tips that didn’t cost money (because
there was none) and how everything was done without fancy
detergents and liquids.

There experts all around you - you just got to start


asking questions and bring up topics in conversation.

Here’s another two list type products doing well at Amazon:

 Stress Proof Your Life (52 Brilliant Ideas)


 Boost Your Memory (52 Brilliant Ideas)

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Seriously… these products ain’t rocket science and they’re making
somebody some easy money!
Going Undercover at Amazon!
I’m into my fitness training… so it puts me in a perfect place to connect
with members of that niche. It’s my hobby, my career, my passion and (best
of all) it’s profitable.

Cyclists, golfers – we’re all the same – we’ll spend money on equipment
and ways to improve our game. Sometimes we’ll have equipment worth more
than our car in our car!

My dad’s the same… this niche is huge!

So strolling over to the Amazon marketplace and going through Best


Sellers in the Sports section I find a book on Barefoot Running.

This is cool because I know Barefoot Running is hip, trendy and running
shoes that mimic the barefoot retail at well over $100. Might sound odd that a
barefoot runner buys shoes but they’re a good way to bridge the gap… plus
they’re pretty cool.

Everyone loves a gadget and this is the runner’s equivalent!

Here’s how we go ‘Undercover at Amazon’ and let them do the hard work
for us!

The product page for books usually has


a nice big “Click to LOOK INSIDE!” option
at the top right side of the book cover.

Inside you’ll get to look at the table of


contents and even read some of the pages.
This is perfect “Inside Information” on the
authors thoughts on what’s important and
what people want to read.

The Barefoot Running has a


particularly nice layout with sections and
chapters. This is where you need to start
thinking about specific problems.

You don’t need to create a whole book you can always find a section
(ideally the hottest section) and focus your product on that and nothing else.

Section II and Section III of “Barefoot Running” really grab my


attention…

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Section Two deals with “How to” elements of barefoot running.

This is what everyone brand new to barefoot running wants to read. On


an expertise scale of 1 – 10 these are the people at < 5 and you just need to
be slightly ahead of them to create your product.

Section Three is cool because it’s about running FASTER! It appeals to


the competitive side and egotistical nature of people, emotions get involved
and that’s good for selling 

I’d like to highlight chapter 6 because it mentions Vibrams and halfway


solutions. These are the shoes (eg. Vibram Five Fingers) and there’s a definite
case for making affiliate sales here if you reference them in a Barefoot Running
digital product.

Imagine creating a product on “How to Start Barefoot Running”. You sell


the product and you build a list. Inside the product you can use affiliate links
and in your emails you have endless possibilities for reviews and
recommendations of shoes, equipment and other information products.

That’s a cool business to be in!

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The affiliate sales aren’t even limited to shoes. You could recommend
vests, shorts, supplements and some very expensive watches and heart rate
timers (several hundred dollars a piece).

You could even give away a short report on Barefoot Running simply to
build a list you can market affiliate products to, survey and later create a full -
paid for product to sell.

Amazon Helps You Connect With Your Market


This is big, bigger than most give credit
for. You can read customer reviews at
Amazon.

They’ll tell you exactly what they liked,


what they didn’t like. If the product was any
good and even recommend alternatives.

You can really connect with the market


here and don’t forget to learn their language
too! Look at the words they use – the jargon,
the slang – if you learn to speak their speak
then selling your product will be 10 times
easier.

The top right review catches my eye as


it talks about the pain of injury and
remember if you find negative reviews this is
something you can try to do better in with
your product.

Amazon Affiliates… USE Your Statistics!

I’ve been an Amazon affiliate for some time, setting up little mini -sites
reviewing and pre-selling bestsellers, hot sellers, the movers and the shakers.

It’s a nice income and I highly recommend it.

One of the great things about Amazon is it’s so good at converting people
into buyers and it’s extremely rare shoppers buy just one product.

My Amazon sites promotes electrical products and below is an image of


what some of the people who visited Amazon after coming to my website
bought.

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The items ordered include 5 different information products

1. Microsoft Money 2006 for Dummies


2. One Yard Wonders
3. Serger Secrets
4. Sew Serendipity
5. Brazillian Jiu Jitsu

Information products that teach you ‘How to’ do something and


information I’m sure you could easily create in text, audio or video format.
Plus you can check out the real user reviews to find out the negatives and then
create your product but do it that little bit better.

Quick Tip: The best and easiest information products are


those specific to a need. Don’t think you have to create
an entire product on Microsoft Powerpoint!

Instead create one specific to internet marketers who


make PowerPoint presentations and want to improve the
quality of their screen capture videos, make them look
more professional or do it faster.

Find a market and then tailor it to a specific group of


people.

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The Affiliate Networks
“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”
- Albert Einstein

If you’re stumped for ideas, worried if you’re thinking profitably and in


need of inspiration… affiliate networks are a great place to get your mind
moving.

Clickbank is a popular place to start simply because it focuses on digital


downloads – information products – unlike many of its rivals which also sell
physical products.

There is no hard, fast rule as to what is and isn’t selling, there are many
variables including how professional the product vendor at Clickbank is. They
could have a fantastic product and have simply failed to market it right. Or
they could have a poor product and an amazing marketing system in place.

When you visit www.clickbank.com the first thing you need to do is click
on the market place. This will take you to all the products listed.

Click on a Section and Subsection on the left hand side of the screen and
you’ll have the most popular products listed in front of you. The image below
shows the Health & Fitness Section of Clickbank which is always topped by
products helping people lose weight, get a better looking stomach or build
muscle.

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My advice is not to restrict yourself and keep an open mind. Scroll
through the different categories, scroll through the different products and try
using the search function to see what catches you eye and read the sales
pages.

With the economic difficulties and riots happening around the world I
tried typing “survival” into the search box and came up with some interesting
results!

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There have always been people predicting the break down of society and
the end of the world. Looks like the market is being catered to as there are
many products on surviving just about
anything on Clickbank… cancer, divorce,
marriage and 2012.

Having just lived through riots in the


UK I’m sure there are many people looking
for help on how they survive and stay safe if
more riots occur.

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The sales pages for many Clickbank products are a great resource to
research your market.

Remember it’s all about being specific.

Instead of creating a guide on survival you can create a guide on survival


for the wild, the outback, urban riots or self-defence and home invasion.

Every country is different and you can market your product to specific
countries too.

As I scroll through the sales page for “Survive Anything” I notice a box
showing the four key components of the course.

.
All of these have the potential to be standalone products. When I look at
the rioting picture above I know my key concern would be my own personal
safety, self-defence and protecting my home.

Have you experience back-packing or trekking and know all there is to


know about sourcing and cleaning water then you’re an expert here.

Are you any good in the garden? Do you grow your own crops, have
your own chickens and feed your family from your own land? People want to
learn that stuff!

Or are you a dab hand when it comes to solar power and creating your
own energy supply from home? This is a growing issue!

Of course Clickbank isn’t the only affiliate network worth checking out.

Whenever you come across an idea simply head on over to your favourite
search engine and type in your main keyword with “affiliate” or “associate”
afterwards.

Here’s a few places you might want to check out:


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Associate Programs by Allen Gardyne
http://www.associateprograms.com/

Associate programs is a resource I discovered when I first started online


and Allen Gardyne has been making money as an affiliate since 1998. This is a
great place to find affiliate products and start your research.

Click on the ‘Affiliate Programs Directory’ for a listing of lots of different


products.

Affbuzz and Offerbuzz


http://affbuzz.com/offerbuzz/

Affbuzz and Offerbuzz are resources I rarely hear anyone talk about. It’s
a website the aggregates and rounds up a lot of the affiliate and CPA networks
out there.

A lot of the offers listed are CPA networks offering payouts for leads (not
sales) and may make a great, additional revenue if you add the occasional
(and relevant) link inside your product.

More Niche
www.moreniche.com

A great place to find product ideas in the ‘desperate category’ and while
these are all physical products… an information solution is also an option.

Not my niche but the male enhancement niche has products on most
networks (including Clickbank) and I noticed a bonus for one of their products,
called Male Xtra.

Check out the product image below:

34
When you buy MaleXtra you don’t just get the physical product… you al so
get a stack of information of information products.

This bonus material is likely to have been tested to improve conversions


of visitors into buyers and all of these have the potential to be stand-alone
products focused on a specific problem.

It might not be your niche either 

35
Magazines are AMAZING!
When I first discovered this… it blew my socks off.

Now magazines are information products and cross over into


entertainment – or infotainment! You wan to learn, enjoy and be entertained
by the content.

Magazines got this down to an art… they create infotainment products


and if they’re not profiting then they’re not going to print and you won’t be
seeing them in your local store!

Check this image search I did using Google for Men’s Health Magazine …

You can do it for Cosmopolitan, Parenting Magazine, Classic Toy Trains…


and you’ll see clear themes running through them. In the image above there
are three different editions all using the same “Get Back in Shape” headline.

Find a recurring theme (and it isn’t hard with mainstream magazines)


and you’ve got a winner. When I did the same exercise for Classic Toy Trains I
kept coming up with the layout of tracks, towns and scenery. For Parenting
Magazines it’s usually temper tantrums and fussy eaters.

These recurring themes are SELLING issues by the thousands.

I’m sure you get the idea when it comes to magazines. Plus their
information is rarely complete, thorough or even written by an expert. They

36
simply touch on a handful of hot tips to wet their readers appetite.

You on the other hand can take one of these headlines and create a
much more substantial product specific to that topic very easily. Next time you
see a Men’s Health magazine pick it up, have a read and see for yourself they
only really scratch the surface of a topic.

37
Stay Switched On To New Niches!
Trends & Fads
As a martial arts enthusiast I like to laugh at the latest fad for Mixed
Martial Art (MMA) style workouts. Then I realize people are bored with their
current routines, they appreciate the strength and conditioning fighters have,
they like their physiques and they want to look like these fighters.

Without joining an MMA club, sparring or getting hurt.

These adverts have been running on television and (thanks to


remarketing) follow me around on the internet as I browse forums, websites
and Facebook. There is even a Wii Fit Mixed Martial Arts workout routine.

This is a niche any experienced martial arts instructor or personal trainer


could easily go into. Again you can be even more specific.

For example: create an MMA style workout for people who want to gain
muscle, or lose fat, or get lean and toned or – maybe – want to get fit enough
to try a real MMA class but don’t have the confidence right now.

Identify those emotions, connect with your market and find out what’s
really driving them.

Bill Boards & Advertising


When I drive through the city I see adverts on buildings and buses
selling specific supplements for Male and Female Health – there’s several hot
niches right in front of my eyes I can tap into.

Google +
This year we’ve seen the launch and release of Google + and products
have already been released and sold. All the creators did was spend time
doing the dirty work, finding out how Google+ worked, reading the terms
service and put it into an easy to read layman’s guide.

Could you have done that?

Now you’ve identified some niches you need to run some profitability
tests on them!

38
Is Your Niche Profitable?
Unless you’re super-scientist and psychologist – Dr. Glen Livingston –
you probably don’t have a formula for determining how much profit there is to
be made from a niche.

But you can stack the odds in your favour by running through some key
questions and making sure you get a ‘Yes’ to the majority.

1. Is there paid advertising when you Google your main keyword?

If people are paying for advertising that is a sure sign there is money to be
made somewhere! No one is going to pay to advertise if they are losing
money.

2. Are there magazines devoted to the subject?

As you’ve already seen magazines are only produced if there is money to be


made and the market is passionate. Not only does it demonstrate your
niche is alive, well and spending money – they’re a great source of
research.

3. Do the market meet online (ie. forums and blogs)?

If your market is meeting online and searching for a solution using the
internet then they can be accessed through SEO, paid advertising, forum
signature links, affiliates and through social media.

4. Can you create multiple products in that market?

The hard part is making your first product and getting your first buyers. It’s
also the most expensive part in terms of time and money but your second
product allows you to LEVERAGE these assets.

After your first product you’ll know your market better, you’ll have feedback
from your buyers, you have the contact details or your buyers and it’s
easier to create a new product in the same market than a new product in a
new market.

Choose a market that lets you create multiple products that can all be sold
to the same people (eg. Bigger biceps, rock hard abs or double your bench
press could all be sold to the same Muscle Building Market).

5. Are there competing & related products to mine?

It’s good if there are competing products too. If you’re creating an ebook or
video course… there should be competing ebooks and courses – the market
should be interested in buying information.

39
6. Are there affiliate programs (networks and privately run)?

Like competing products – affiliate promotions confirm there are buyers –


but better still affiliate products give you a ready supply of alternative
products you can sell to your customers. An additional revenue stream to
diversify your income!

7. Is there more than one affiliate program?

If there’s only one affiliate program out there I’d be worried! You don’t just
want to promote other products as an affiliate – later you want to recruit
affiliates to sell your product for you.

If there aren’t many affiliate programs then there is a good chance there’s
not too many affiliates either!

8. Are there high ticket items or continuity programs?

Finally… not many people get rich selling low-priced items. The presence of
high ticket items and continuity programs demonstrates a market willing to
spend LOTS of money so you can start small by selling your first product
and scale up towards bigger, more expensive products, packages and
coaching (or sell someone else’s if they have an affiliate program)!

If you don’t want to create your own high-ticket items or continuity program
then at least you can plug into someone else’s and profit from their
hardwork!

A Note on Continuity: The best thing about a job is the


regular pay cheque. Week in, week out you get paid for the
work you do.

The internet’s a funny beast and building regularity into your


payments is a critical part of becoming a full-time marketer.

Creating your own membership program or promoting someone


else’s is the closest thing you’ll get to a regular income
online and one of the best things to build into your business
before quitting your day job.

40
WHAT TO DO NOW?
Short list 10 different niche markets you’re drawn t o… don’t fuss, don’t sweat
just pick 10 that catch your eye, interest you and get ready to do a little
profitability check on them.

If your niche turns out to be a winner… great… if it’s not what you’d hoped for…
don’t worry! Remember this is your first attempt and you’re going to get
started fast by creating a short report to ‘test’ the market.

We don’t want to fail but don’t be scared to fail and learn to fail fast!

Most marketers are in 2 or 3 different niches and quite often the niche you
start out in isn’t the one you’ll finish up in. Life has a funny way of taking us
to places we’d never imagined (did you for one moment every think you’d
become an internet marketer?)

Use the checklist above to find out if your niche has potential and shortlist the
3 niches that are both profitable and appealing to you.

Then pick one of them… the other two can sit on the sidelines for later 

41
Beware of the InfoProduct Pawn Sharks
I know a pawn broker who gets a kick from buying old and valuable
jewellery from desperate old women with no idea what it’s really worth.

They come into his shop and share with him their family’s inheritance. He
stares at it, shakes his heads and tells them “I’m really sorry… it’s not worth
much at all. I’ll give you [insert modest sum here] and I’m not even sure I’ll
be able to sell it.”

He gives them their money – they leave his pawn shop – and he walks
out back with a great story on how “Some old dear came in with a lovely bit of
jewellery… I told her it was only worth [insert amount]… it’s worth [pick a
figure much, much bigger]!” and then claps his hands with a great big smile
upon his face.

Believe it or not there are marketers online doing something very similar
but it’s not your jewellery they want – it’s your product.

They’ll scour the internet and affiliate networks like Clickbank, they’ll
email their list and advertise on forums. They’re looking for your product and
they want to buy it dirt cheap.

You see they know there are tons of products created – good products in
hungry markets – where the product creator (vendor) just couldn’t sell them.

Why?

Because the vendor didn’t think that far ahead.

Don’t become a victim and end up selling off your hard work to someone
else only to see them turn a profit and change their own life for the better!

If you were going to open a coffee shop - hopefully the first thing you’d
ask is where! Where do you find an army of coffee drinkers you can drop your
shop in-front of and have then come and go… all day… every day?

Those three words – location, location, location – spring to mind.

Well selling online needs – traffic, traffic, traffic – you have to be able
to access your market online and the more you can access… the more money
you’re going to make.

Before investing the time into researching and creating your product stop
for a moment and consider how you’re going to get the traffic you need to sell
your product.

It’ll save heartache later!

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The Only Two Types of Traffic
Traffic is easy because there are only two types.

Free traffic and Paid traffic – don’t make it harder than it is!
Chances are you’ve stumbled across both while checking to make sure
your niche was profitable. And if product creators are using both – free and
paid – traffic sources then you’re onto a good thing.

Let’s start with everyone’s favourite traffic source… the free kind.

Free Traffic Sources


Organic Search Engine Traffic

The best free traffic source for me has been organic search engine traffic
– Google in particular. For one of my reports I managed to pick up an exact
match domain (www.yourkeywordexactly.com) and it ranks #3 in Google for
that keyword.

For zero work it’s been the easiest traffic and sales I’ve ever got and it
feels good however your sales are always going to be limited by the traffic you
can get to your sales page.

If only 1000 people are searching for your keyword every month and
you’re ranking #3 in Google then you’ll only ever get a % of 1000 checking out
your page.

Search Engine Optimization isn’t my speciality and other than buying


exact match domains, optimizing my site and building backlinks I know very
little. The www.warriorforum.com is wealth of knowledge and you can get all
the information you need there for free.

A couple of kind chaps there once checked out my site and did a critique
of my sites on-page SEO and came back to me with suggestions – experts
trying to boost their reputation and credibility helped me for free – good for
me, good for them.

Make the most of the good guys on these forums.

I also recommend checking out www.SEOmoz.com who’s daily blog


updates might be a bit overwhelming but they know their stuff and are always
monitoring Google updates (and the best ways to overcome them).

Article Marketing

Since the Google Panda update a ton of people said “Article marketing is
dead!” Truth is article marketing is boring (at least to me) but certainly not
dead.

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Good content aimed at your users will never die – I’ll stick my neck out
here – it’s not going to die in my lifetime 

The great thing about great content on sites like Ezinearticles is it will get
shared around the internet and many of the good folks who share your article
will leave your links in check.

Some won’t… it’s a tough life… but many will.

One of my sites gets roughly a 3rd of its traffic from articles that have
been shared around the internet by people who have legitimately taken my
article from Ezinearticles.com and published it on their website with my links
intact.

Something I’ve noticed is the articles most likely to be shared are those
written enthusiastically - not professionally, not overly technical - more like the
trashy newspapers and magazines.

I guess they’re more entertaining and it comes back to providing


infotainment.

Forum Signatures

Most forums let you add a signature which is beneath all the posts you
make. Posting on forums is a good way to build your reputation, get backlinks
to your site and you will get traffic to your sales page but the volume of traffic
is hit or miss.

It depends on the readership of the forum, your profile and reputation,


how frequently you post and the quality of the posts.

It is a good way to start out but forum signatures can become a real time
vampire and suck hours out of your day (plus you might get distracted while
you’re posting)!

Fiverr.com

It’s possible to sell eBooks and product on Fivver but be careful not to
devalue your product by doing so. You may decide to create an shorter, taster
version you can sell for $5 on Fivver and inside the shorter report include links
promoting the full-version.

Blogging and Blog Commenting

Hot niches have busy bloggers talking about their latest findings, gossip
and new trends in your niche. Blogging (as it was intended to be used) builds
a community and is good for the search engines too.

44
Write good articles, post them to your blog, stick them on
Ezinearticles.com, comment on other people’s blogs and bookmark all of these
and you’ll quickly become a part of the community.

If your niche is your passion – this is easy – if not then you could
outsource this or perhaps allocated 30 minutes per day to blogging just to
build up a base level of traffic.

Of course you’re goal is to always get people back to your site, onto your
list or clicking on links to find out more about your product – don’t forget that!

Joint Ventures

Joint venture relationships are a good way to strike up friendships and


boost your business. The hardest part for many is getting started and
approaching people.

First off don’t be silly or unrealistic and start asking massive names in
the industry to promote your product and help you out. The best way to build
relationships online is by helping others out first.

Here are some ways to get started:

1. Private Message and get to know people you’ve helped or commented on


together on the same forum threads. If you think the same and agree
with each others comments you’re already on the same wavelength.

2. Start blogging about an authority you follow and promote their products
as an affiliate – you will get noticed and it makes approaching someone
easier.

3. List owners ask survey their list and ask for feedback – when they do –
provide it and help them out. You’ll start to stand out.

4. Keep busy and treat your online adventures like a business – if your
income, your mortgage and paying the bills was purely based on the
internet would you want to deal with someone who treated it like a
hobby?

5. Get involved with adswaps where you promote their free offers to your
list and they promote your free offer to their list. You’ll find you ‘click
better’ with some marketers than others and who knows where this can
lead!

Remember when you approach someone for a Joint Venture partnership there’s
a good chance you’re not the only one who has asked them. Think about what
makes you so different?

45
Affiliates and Associates

The biggest and best internet marketers I know of use Joint Ventures and
affiliate partners to a huge degree. You can get affiliates to promote your
product several different ways.

1. Add a link at the bottom of your sales page for affiliates they can click on
to find out more.
2. List your product on an affiliate network like Clickbank.
3. When someone buys your product let them know you have an affiliate
program they can join to earn back the money they just spent.
4. Approach the owners of websites who promote rival affiliate products
(they may want to change or diversify).
5. Contact other product owners (your rivals) who will probably have a list
they can promote your product to.
6. Create a new product teaching people to be an affiliate and then
recommend they start their affiliate marketing career promoti ng your
product.

The list is endless and, like speaking to Joint Venture partners, it takes a
little tack and patience when approach real people.

Everyone is busy but the easiest way in my opinion is to make sure your
affiliate program is visible to everyone, the commissions are good and the
product converts to sales!

Push Button Traffic – Your Email List

We’ll talk about building lists later on. An email list is push button traffic
and a whole lot of power. In less than 200 words and by pushing ‘send’ you
can have traffic pouring on your offers for the next 24 hours.

Make sure you are always building your list, keep in touch with your
subscribers and build a deepening relationship with them to keep it responsive
and active.

Paid Traffic Sources


First off – there really is no such thing as free – it usually costs you time
and effort. My dad has this notion that I should fix my car because then “it’s
free” when

a) I’ve no idea how to fix my car and…


b) It’s quicker and easier to pay someone to fix my car and…
c) If I spent that time working on my business I’d earn the same or
more than the amount of money I’m paying someone else to do
the work (without the stress of making a mess of it)!

Solo Advertising

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Forum Advertising

Adwords & Pay Per Click Networks

Banner Advertising

Facebook Advertising

47
Section Three
Researching Your
Product

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Researching & Making Notes
It’s time to roll up your sleeves and start researching your niche market.

But before going any further, take a step back and remind yourself “Good
enough is good enough.” It’s very easy to get caught up in research, make
pages and pages of note then get bored and put your project aside.

Keep an eye on your time and be disciplined.

It’s better to have to go back and get some more information than it is to
do hours and hours of research, end up with material you never need and get
bogged down in a world of overwhelm.

Your first task is to get ‘just enough’ information to get a first draft
together and see what your product looks like from there.

Organizing Your Information


You’re going to start with a process of accumulation.

Accumulating information and compartmentalising it as you see fit.


Don’t get hung up on the detail right now. Just collect relevant and useful
information, put it where you think it should go and get your product
underway.

You can always change it, move it and amend things later.

Here are my two favourite ways to collate and organize the information
for my products.

Make 10 Word Documents Called Chapter 1 - 10


You create 10 word documents – one for your table of contents and
introduction, one for your conclusion at the end – the other 8 are going to be
your chapters.

10 is a good number to start with. You can always make it longer or


shorter, just be careful not to get overwhelmed by the work at hand.

With 8 chapters all you have to do is write 500 – 1000 words per day and
you’ve got a 10 – 20 page product done. You can always come back and add
more to each chapter later but your first goal is to get it done and see what it
looks like.

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1. Create a new fold for
your product

2. Create 10 individual Word


documents for your table
of contents, each of your
chapters and summary at
the end.

3. Paste all your research


into the appropriate file
and treat each chapter
like a separate article.

As you research information you’ll start to recognise themes and these will
become your chapters. Copy and paste the information your find into the
relevant Word Document and keep them organized.

You may be tempted to use one large Word document instead of 10 and
to scroll through chapters. In my personal experience it gets very difficult, you
get lost and it’s hard to keep track of where you are.

With 10 individual files you can visualize your product as 10 articles 500
– 1000 words long. Focus on one chapter/article and get it finished. You keep
everything separate in nice, neat little piles to work on.

Use a Mind Mapping Software


This is my preferred method because it’s very easy to get a top-down
view over your work and move things around. You have the benefit of
breaking your work into smaller chunks (like using 10 different Word
documents) but with the additional benefit of being able to see everything in
one place.

There is a screen shot from one of my mind maps below.

You can see I’ve created 10 chapters and added my notes and research
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into branch. Many of the components are based on questions people have
asked on forums and blogs around the internet.

The nice thing about Mind Mapping Software is the ability to see
everything and move information about. You might start with something in
chapter one and later decided to move it to chapter four – all you have to do is
drag and drop it.

One tip is to use either the Word Document method or the Mindmap
method because if you use both it’s a little like wearing two watches that both
have different times.

You really want to keep all your information together as best you can and
work on each segment, each chapter individually with 100% focus until they’re
finished.

If you’re interested in trying Mind Mapping Software the image above is


the free version of Xmind and Freemind is a totally free open-source
alternative.

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What’s Your Market Asking You For?
This is easy. You stroll on over to Google and you type a question with
your keyword into the search engine and hit return.

Scroll through the results and what you’re looking for is forums, message
boards, blogs and social interaction where real people are meeting online and
asking for help.

If you don’t find anything first time, don’t forget to use Google’s
‘discussion’ and ‘blogs’ settings to narrow down your search results.

Click More on the left hand side of the screen…

Click on Blogs or Discussions

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Forums and discussion boards are great because people will share
they’re innermost secrets online, even with a stranger, simply because there is
no embarrassment online. You can hide behind a computer screen, use a fake
name, fake location and be anyone you want to be.

As you search keep an eye out for posts on Amazon, Yahoo Answers and
when you find a blog, make sure to read the full post and ESPECIALLY the
comments. This is where the real action takes place.

Copy and paste all the questions people are asking.

Copy and paste all the answers people are replying with.

It’s important that you copy and paste simply because you’ll see the
language, jargon and words people in your niche are using. This is important
when you write your sales copy because you want to connect with future
buyers, build rapport and for them to trust you.

When you copy replies to answers I’d try to remain impartial to the
advice offered. Some will be good but there will be a lot of ‘misinformed’
individuals out there. Take note because this is a great way to find a
combination of real world information gleamed from experience as well as the
myths circulating the world.

Information from real world experience and breaking myths are both
great for including in your sales letter as well as interesting information for
your product.

Don’t Forget Social Media!


Real world conversations are already happening on Twitter and Facebook.

Find online and offline businesses building relationships through


Facebook and Twitter then listen in and see what people are saying. I recently
discovered a new tool called Tweet Grid which is a great way to search and
listen in to Tweets already happening.

You’ll find random tips, trails to good sources of information, myths and –
again – you listen in to real world conversations. What people are saying, the
problems they’re having and the EXACT words they use to describe those
problems.

Leverage Your List with a Survey


There’s a Pay Per Click expert called Jim Yaghi.

Once upon a time, he and his colleagues discovered a lot of people were
searching online for lessons in Arabic. They set up some simple adverts on

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the internet and started driving traffic to a squeeze page, built a list and
started to watch what happen.

Turns out these people – from around the world – weren’t interested in
learning Arabic for tourism. They were interested so they could read Arabic
scriptures.

What a huge difference!

The same market but two different niches:

 How to learn Arabic for tourism


 How to learn Arabic To Study Scripture

If you’ve already got a list in your niche, go and survey them right now!

If you’ve got a Twitter or Facebook followers, send them to a survey and


find out what they want to know right away. This will save you a ton of time
and make your product uniquely different!

If you’re familiar with list building, Facebook or Twitter why not start
building your list (or followers) right away starting now? You can still work on
your product and then tweak and adapt it as you get feedback.

Your market, your feedback is coming from the people you’re going t o be
selling your information to! Think how much easier it will be to sell your
product when you already know EXACTLY what they’re looking for!

Build Authority into Your Work


The other day I had someone tell me that Bruce Lee was 99% muscle.

I raised my eyebrows and smiled politely. As the guy carried on talking


he said that Bruce Lee had 1% body fat. He’d obviously decided to work
backwards and deduced that if he had 1% body fat the other 99% was muscle.

No bone, no blood, no veins, no organs… Bruce Lee was 99% muscle and
1% body fat 

Be sensible when you do your research, don’t take everyone’s word ‘as
expert’ and remember in most instances (this goes for newspapers and
television reports too) the information you read is only someone else’s opinion.

Separate Fact from Editorial Opinion

Blogs, forums and messages boards definitely have their fair share of
experts, people who’ve been around years and are often more than qualified to
give advice. Find those forum experts – the one’s others respect – and read
their posts, their replies and their opinions.

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Find out what’s right, what’s wrong and what’s misunderstood.

Find established websites offering information and offering services. You


can find a wealth of information on the websites of companies who are using
this ‘soft information’ to educate and build trust with new clients. This is
especially useful for the health niche where research papers and medical
journal are referenced.

Websites providing real reviews on products in your niche (think Amazon


and not affiliate review sites biased by making the sale) are another great
source of information.

Check Your Book Shelf!

If you’ve decided to pick a niche you’re already an expert in or


passionate about then there’s a good chance you have a stack of books on it
already.

If you don’t have books on the topic just ask some friends, buy them or
go visit the library!

As I glance over at my bookshelf I see row upon row of books on martial


arts, self-defence, fitness, microbiology (my old profession), business and
personal development.

Here’s an example for you…

Martial artists are scared about Staph infections. They pass around the
gym, they can happen to anyone – famous fighters have had to pull out of
competitions because of infections – and they are potentially life threatening.

I know martial arts and I know microbiology.

Clickbank already has more than one digital product on Staph Infections
and I’m sure the other networks do too!

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A quick Google search reveals a fair few forum threads about Staph
infections amongst martial artists and it seems it’s a question that crops up
virtually every year!

Right now I’ve got pretty much everything I need to make a product.

I’ve forum posts with questions and advice – some will be good and
some will be really bad. The bad advice is GREAT because it’s a chance for me
to debunk some myths around the infection.

I’ve got personal experience in Microbiology, a University Degree and a


stack of books on the topic. My girlfriend still works in Microbiology I can chat
to and I’ve had friends down the gym with Staph Infections. I can ask them
what the doctor said and the frustrations they had (ie. not being able to train).

The final thing I would do is buy the product to get a feel for how long it
is, how well written it is and the information inside it. I can find weaknesses
and improve them, I can add value where it’s lacking and I can even learn
from it – reference it – and promote the rival product inside my own.

The hard bit is having the discipline to sit down, compile and create the
product this is where you have to remind yourself about the money, the
lifestyle and the holidays you’ll be having in the sun!

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WHAT TO DO NOW?
It’s time to research your product and compile your data. The most important
thing is that you build your product around the questions your market is
already asking.

This will make your product unique and easier to sell.

1. Decide whether you will use Word Documents to make your notes or a
MindMap to brainstorm your product.

2. Check Forums, Blogs, Twitter and Facebook to find out what your market
is asking. Note their fears and frustrations – all the emotions that are
driving them to search for their solution.

3. Look for recurring problems lots of people are experiencing.

4. Copy and paste the answers of these questions into your notes and look
out for the real experts and common myths or misunderstandings in the
market.

5. Find genuine authorities on the subject through their website, your books
or the library you can check the quality of information against and use in
your own product. It’s a good idea to reference this work.

6. Buy a rivals product to find out how they’ve laid it out and structured.
The quality for the information, the size and format it uses. Does it
include any audio or video training?

7. Don’t collect too much information. Keep a note of your references


because you can always go back and get more information if you need
to.

Remember: You’re not creating an all encompassing product that covers


everything. Focus on a specific problem you can sell through a short report
you can build upon later.

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Section Four
Creating Your Product

58
Creating Your Product
While it might not feel like it… when you’ve complied your research the
hard work is done. All that’s left now is to organize your information and write
out your notes.

This is also the step where many end up with a half finished product.
Stick a picture on the wall or put a post-it note on your computer reminding
you WHY you’re creating this product. The time, the money, the lifestyle or
simply because you hate your job.

If you find yourself thinking negatively – kick those thoughts out of your
head - they won’t help you and they’re only getting in the way. I like to give
my head a quick shake, re-focus and then get back to work.

My girlfriend sings the Indiana Jones theme tune to motivate herself –


each to own I guess.

As you write out your notes remember think of this as your first draft.
Don’t fuss and don’t worry about editing as you go. That will only slow you
down. Instead get into the grove and just start typing.

Organizing Your Product Chapters


Information products can be broadly divided into four different types of
layout listed below:

1. List
2. Step by Step
3. Frequently Asked Questions
4. Alphabetically

The most common format you’re likely to be using is number 2, the step-
by-step guide.

List Products

The most obvious list products are “The Worlds 50 Richest People” and
these are good product ideas in themselves. Some niches lend themselves
well to this – Top 100 Traffic Methods Online or 10 Ways to Lose a Pound of
Fat a Day.

Instead of a singe traffic generation technique you know about… you


could share your best 25 ways to get 100 visitors a day to your website. You
can list the methods randomly, you could start with the hardest and finish and
finish with the easiest.

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You want to motivate your readers to keep reading and you can do this
by starting strong with your best methods, then you add in the less popular
methods and then you finish strong so your readers go away “pumped” and
ready to take action.

If you look after children, work from home and have to stop-start
frequently then list products are really good to try because they’re easier to
pick up where you left off.

Step by Step Products

Most products fall into this category and it’s the one we’ll focus on for the
most part. How to build websites, chicken coops, raised flower beds, garages,
sheds or learning how to pack on extra muscle.

Step by step guides you follow in a logical order and the secret is to
make it as clear as possible what action the person needs to ta ke after each
section or chapter.

Recipes are probably the clearest example and a very good model to
follow. You have to make them ‘idiot proof’ so anyone can follow them while
(at the same time) cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Imagine a gardening book for beginners who’d like to grow their own
vegetables. You ask the keen gardeners you know, you check forums and see
the most commonly asked questions and problems are.

You can ask gardeners what they’re top tips for new vegetable growers
would be, what mistakes they made and what they would do if they were to
start from scratch.

Then create a product where you type the question and then answer it .

Alphabetically

The A-Z of Judo sits on my bookshelf and runs techniques in alphabetical


order. Or a cook book where A is all the recipes whose key ingredients are
Aubergine, Apples and Almonds.

Baby names, dog breeds or the A-Z Guide to a Richer Life. There’s not
much more to say!

Time to Start Writing


Whether you create a list, step-by-step, FAQ or alphabetical product will
largely be determined by your niche and the information you have.

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The great thing about lists and alphabetical products is you can just get
on with writing them – each section is a small chunk – and you know exactly
what is going into that chunk (eg. All the word beginning with A will go into
the A chapter).

When it comes to creating a step-by-step guide you have to think of your


chapter as a miniature version of your entire product. Each chapter will go
through the points – step by step – and where possible in a logical order.

It definitely helps to have a structure to stick to. If you’re an


experienced article writer it may be that you use what already works for your
articles for your chapters.

Until you find your own system try this…

Step 1 – What’s in it for me?!

As nice as it would be – not many people just get on with something until
they know what’s in it for them. Your reader might be motivated by money,
power, relationships or make a contribution to others that makes the feel good.

Or maybe they’re really lazy and just want reassurance they can do this !

It helps to start your product and each chapter by explaining “Why” they
should do what they’re about to read.

It’s good for you too because if they understand “Why” they’ll feel more
motivated and be more likely to use and apply your product. That’s good for
testimonials, future sales and your karma 

Step 2 – Give a quick overview of what they’re about to learn

Instead of going in cold – give your readers a quick overview of what


they’re about to learn. You don’t have to go into detail, just give them a bird’s
eye view of what lies ahead of them.

It’s a good idea to whet their appetite and make them a litt le curious so
they want to find out more and remind them again about the end result to
keep them motivated and on track.

Plus it’ll give them a skeleton they can flesh out as they work through
your product and deepen their understanding.

Step 3 – Your Step-By-Step Product Structure

This is where you organize your notes and thoughts. In the same way
that you have organized your chapters in a sequential order… organize the
information you’ve collated into a logical order than flows.

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To start with you simply need to cut and paste, move your information
around and get ready to start writing it out in your own words.

This is how I organized information into a step by step plan for


this product and then I simply flesh out the individual components
with notes and personal experience.

1. Motivate and give a reason why


2. Give them an overview
3. Reveal step two
4. Reveal step three, four, five etc etc
5. Add relevant examples, references, stories or pictures
6. Summarize
7. Give them an action to take

Remember to relate back to your market. If they’re beginners remember


to break everything down, step by step and don’t worry about it being too
simple. If your audience already know a section then they can skim through to
the parts they don’t know. It’s better to be thorough then it is to assume your
reader already knows.

Greg Davis (the Super Affiliate Rockstar) once told a story about writing
sales letters. A friend of his writes sales letters for products and then sits a
potato in front of the computer.

If the potato understands – it’s good to go – if the potato doesn’t


understand then he starts writing the sales letter again.

It may be a silly and patronising story but it’s good advice to make zero
assumptions and break everything into their most basic element so everyone
can understand. No one will ever complain your product is ‘too clear’ or ‘too
easy to understand’.

Step 4 – Add Relevant Stories, Examples, Quotes or Pictures

If you’ve ever read a sales letter and got sucked in there’s a good chance
it’s because of a compelling story. One of the most common stories on sales
letters in the Internet Marketing niche is “I was broke, now I’m not – If I can
do it, you can too”

If I’m honest I don’t quite understand why stories are so powerful even
though I love going to movies which are stories. And I appreciate that much of
our ancient history, myth and legend are all stories passed down from
generation to generation until eventually they were written down.

Just accept stories create pictures in our minds and we’re wired to tune
in. When you come across stories, case studies examples, quotes or pictures
make sure to use them. They add value to your content, if they make
understanding it easier and put information into context .

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It breaks the text up, makes it more enjoyable to read and memorable
too. If people enjoy your product then they’re more likely to talk about it,
recommend it and buy future products you create.

Stories, examples and case studies enhance your text, motivate your
readers and make it different from the instruction manuals you’d expect with a
washing machine!

Step 4 – Summarize your chapter and give them help with the tough
parts

One of the best bits of advice I ever read for article writing was as simple as
this:

1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them (the introduct ion)
2. Tell them what you want to tell them (the body)
3. Tell them what you told them (the conclusion)

A summary at the end of your chapter is the perfect place to put everything
together, round it all and tie everything together as a neat little package. We
don’t have the best of memories so it’s also a great place to remind people of
the most important points and what to do next.

I learned (or learnt) from Jason Fladlien.

Add some coaching in your product. If you know your market and you
know their pains and frustration there’s a good chance you also know exactly
where they’re going to stumble.

For internet marketer’s the biggest problem is always taking action and
following through to the end. It’s why you have to remind them constantly to
take action, finish their products and not to get drawn away by shiny new
objects like a moth to a flame. That the money is in making progress.

Finish your chapters by picking some of the biggest stumbling blocks


they’re likely to overcome and reveal what they need to do to overcome those
hurdles.

What To Do If You ‘Can’t’ Write

“Write fearlessly, edit ruthlessly…”


- Source Unknown

As you sit down to write your mind may well go blank.

You might sit there wondering where to start and what to do… relax,
don’t worry just open up your Word processor and get ready.

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Legendary copywriter, Eugene Schwartz, set a timer for 33 minutes and
33 seconds and then just sit there…

… with nothing other than a screen in front of him until his mind got so
bored his mind would simply start to work.

Start to “write fearlessly” it doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to


be grammatically correct… just write based on the notes you’ve made for that
chapter. Don’t think too much (you’re only tidying up the notes you’ve already
written out) and just start typing.

Minimize the amount of time thinking “What next” by sticking to your


step by step product structure.

Open your Word Document up, start writing and explaining why they
need to take this course of action, the run through the step-by-step guide and
finish up with a summary and overcome the stumbling blocks they’ll likely
encounter.

Stick to a plan, a routine and a system that eliminates ‘thinking time’ and
lets you get on with taking action.

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WHAT TO DO NOW?
“Writers write, actor’s act and fighters fight”
- Geoff Thompson

As a product creator and internet marketer I hope you appreciate that


the next step is to start writing out your notes and creating your product.

With your niche chosen and your research done – now is the time to start
fleshing out your product. Simply start adding your information together…
start to write (video or record) ruthlessly… leave the editing until later… it will
only slow you down.

Get into the ‘zone’ it’ll take a moment or two and let the words start to
flow naturally. Don’t allow your concentration to break until your timer goes
off or you’ve completed your goals.

If you can complete your product in one day… GREAT!

If it takes a few days then keep writing, stay disciplined and stay
focused. Make a commitment to yourself to get it finished as quickly as
possible – stick a post-it note on your fridge, your mirror or the ceiling above
your bed.

Do whatever it takes to get your product finished.

Make a commitment to write a chapter a day per day (or if you’re aiming
for a 25 page report simply write 5 pages per day and it’ll be done in 5 days).

Have focus, have discipline and remember… writers write, actors act,
fighters fight and product creators… create products!

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Edit Your Product – Ready, Fire, Aim!
Michael Masterson wrote a book called “Ready, Fire, Aim – Zero to $100
Million in No Time Flat” it’s a good book and worth reading.

The majority of us see an opportunity, get ready, aim… aim some more…
keep aiming and by the time we’re ready to take action the opportunity (or
enthusiasm) has been and gone.

It’s definitely true that we all spend too much time thinking,
contemplating and then failing to hit the target or even pull the trigger. We all
need to think Ready, Fire, Aim.

For that reason a lot of very successful marketers out there will
confidently create a product in one sitting and then sell it, no editing and
minimal proof reading. I remember buying one for over $50 where one of the
chapters was half repeated later and even had some notes to his virtual
assistant still in it.

It bugged me a bit and it’s not my style but it highlights what I’m talking
about. Personally I think you owe it to your readers to have at least one proof
read of your product but just don’t waste too much time fussing.

Here’s how you edit your product.

Read it out loud and hear the words flow.

When you come across extra words and sentences that don’t make sense
or blocks of text that are just too big – edit them.

Be ruthless with your editing.

If you’ve really been writing fearlessly then there’s a very good chance
you’ve got too many this, that, like, if, but, what, when and other filling words
that do nothing. They’re the written equivalent to umm, ahh and errr.

Cut them out and make your sentences short, active and punchy.

Keep your paragraphs short and relevant.

I’m not author, no trained writer and I know my writing is FAR from
perfect but I also know that long sentences, long paragraphs and big blocks of
writing put people off.

I’d rather irritate a few with one line sentences than huge paragraphs!
Especially if you’re product is likely to be read on a computer screen.

Use your computer’s spell check and grammar check to iron out the

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creases. If the odd their, there and they’re get mixed up… don’t fret.

You’re readers are paying for a solution not an English lesson.

Proof Read and Edit Once – Edit NOT Rewrite!

This is my Achilles heel and every time I create a product and go to edit
it I find myself ‘re-writing it’. If you find yourself doing this… STOP.

Accept that you’ll never be 100% happy with your product, you will
always want to change it and neither of those facts will stop it from selling.

The other day I read about this guy who’d finally finished his product
after a year working on it. A year! It’s probably perfect and I really hope it’s
good because if his first product – his market test – fails then that’s a whole
year down the drain.

Only after you have sold your product, only after you have received
feedback and you’re confident it’s worth the extra time and effort can you
improve it further. This is where you tell yourself “Ready, Fire, Aim!”

Package it up and get ready to start selling!

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WHAT TO DO NOW?
First off… let me say that some really respectable internet marketers go
with their first take. They create the product and start selling immediately.

Personally, I recommend editing your report a day or so after you’ve


finished it - especially if you’ve started and finished the report in just one day.

If you edit it immediately you will fail to see mistakes because everything
is so fresh in your mind. The information you’ve compiled may read and sound
right to you but give it 24 hours and you’ll notice silly words and sentences
that don’t roll off the tongue too easy. They’ll even be parts that don’t make
sense!

Right now you’re trying to build yourself a loyal fan base who like your
information and want to buy from you again in the future. The very minimum
you owe them is to spell check and read through your product at least once.

1. Leave your product 24 hours before going back to edit it.

2. Read your work out loud and clearly – it’s amazing how you read
sentences in your head fine but they sound cumbersome and awkward
when reading them loud.

3. When you edit don’t start to re-write your product - good enough is
good enough - and big changes can wait for version 2.0

4. You will think of extra information and tangents as you edit your work.
Have a notepad to hand and jot these ideas down… they can become
upgrades to your work or give you ideas for brand new future
products to sell.

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Fonts & Formalities
It drives me crazy when people say you must do X,Y and Z to your
product to make it sell or look professional. Let me give you an example:

One marketer once said to me “You should always have a professional photo of
you in your product. Not one with your girlfriend, wife, sitting at your desk or
whatever because they’re unprofessional”.

Here’s why that’s wrong.

Because it’s all about YOUR market and it’s all about testing and they are
(ultimately) interested in them – not you!

Some tests on sales letters discovered that pictures of you with a dog
increased sales! I don’t know why, it just did. If you got a picture of you and a
dog on your sales letter, why not use the same photo in your product? Saves
time, effort and procrastination!

I’d rather take action and creating a useable product you can sell first
and play around with later. That’s a lot better than worrying about finding a
professional photographer so you can stick a nice picture in your eBook!

The most important thing about your product is you want people to find
it easy and enjoyable to read.

Arguably the biggest factor here is the fonts you use and the layout of
your product.

Strangely enough it’s a component your readers are unlikely to notice.

What I mean is they may find it hard to read something or notice their
eyes are getting tired and not realized it’s because the font used was not
designed for a specific purpose like headlines, sign-writing or novelty.

Imagine reading this font! For a long period oF time… sucks right?!

More on that later so let’s start at the beginning of your product.

Table of Contents

It might sound obvious to include a table of contents but I’ve seen many
an eBook and real book without a table of contents. Ultimately it’s down to
you but I strongly recommend you provide one so your users can quickly skim
through your information.

Not only does it help them build a mental picture of what’s coming up in
the chapters ahead it’s also useful for speed readers who can digest the

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information faster.

With a little bit of imagination you can give your chapters interesting
names (or write them like a “How to…” bullet point). This is a great way to
increase curiosity and encourage your buyers to actually read and enjoy your
information.

Font Sizes and Styles

I don’t know where he gets his information from but Michael Campbell is
a master when it comes to techie stuff like this.

If your report is likely to be read on a computer it makes sense to use a


font designed to be read on a computer screen.

Try one of these three:

 Georgia
 Trebuchet MS
 Verdana

When it comes to font size – 12 – is always a good option although you


can go bigger if your market is a little older. Of course your readers can
always zoom in if they’re reading on their computer screen although they may
prefer to print it out.

Picking the right font and the right size is probably the most important
thing you can do for your reader!

Headings, Sub-Headings and Body Text

It’s never a good idea to go ‘over the top’ with different font styles.

Again, three is the ‘magic number’, you can use one font for headlines,
one for sub-heads and one for the main body of your text. Once you start to
use more it starts to interfere with readability.

Keep your documents clear and clean – focus on content over style. One
of the reasons Thesis is such a popular Wordpress Theme is because it allows
you to present you content very clearly… if your eye is not being drawn to the
text then it’s being drawn elsewhere. You product is the exact same.

One of the fonts I like using for headlines is Impact. It stands out really
well but isn’t good for creating a book with. If you do use Impact don’t use it
BOLD because the words start to blur together.

Author Introductions and Biographies

There are some internet marketers who always open with the same story

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of how they went from zero to hero online. When I know the marketer, have
bought several of their products and heard the story several times over – it
bores me to tears!

However I remember listening to a story by Terry Dean. He used to


always open seminars and products with ‘his’ story of how he went from Pizza
Delivery Driver to internet marketer. Then one day he stopped telling his story
and his income started to drop.

It might be boring, you might have buyers who already know who you
are… but you’ll also have people who don’t know who you are, need to be
inspired and need to know they should listen to you.

Opening with your story is a great way to bolster business, connect with
your market and brand yourself. If you’re going to use an author introduction
make sure to add a photo too (it’ll help your market remember you and put a
face to a name when you contact them again in the future).

Graphics, Pictures & Covers

Many products will have a front cover with either a graphic book cover or
a flat cover that has been designed to increase the perceived value and buyer
satisfaction.

A little like professional PDF templates.

Flat covers are a nice complement to your product but second only to the
information inside it. Your buyers will only see your front cover after they’ve
bought the product and started to read it.

Graphics, pictures, headers, footers and eCovers are part of a bigger


overall picture based around testing what helps generate the most sales and
least refunds.

Once upon a time someone told me a picture of your digital product on a


squeeze page will increase conversions. The reason is simple. It creates the
feeling of a real product you can hold in your hands – like a book.

Squeeze Page Definition: A squeeze page is a lead capture


page designed to capture the personal details of your
visitors so you can contact them in the future. At the
very minimum this is usually an email address and can be
as much as your full name and postal address.

So I decided to test this and had one squeeze page with an image of my
special report and one without.

During tests the image actually lowered conversions of visitors to


subscribers. The image was bad for my business!

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I’ve also known product vendors talk how they had nice header and foot
graphics designed – not to increase conversions on a page – to please and
attract the affiliates who will send the traffic.

The header and footer reduced sales BUT it was worth it because they
got more affiliates and more traffic.

Ecovers often increase ‘perceived’ value of your product and make a


downloadable product look like lots of REAL material. That $97 course that
comes complete with 10 DVDs, 16 CDs and 5 manuals is actually just a bunch
of electrons saved on your computer.

It’s not a physical product, you don’t have anything delivered to your
front door and (for a time) it might feel like you’ve got ‘nothing’ for your
money. The images of the package on the sales page create a visual
impression that can stack the value and may help your sales.

Remember to think about your market and what they are likely to
respond best to. Some markets may not care about fancy stuff while others
may crave it.

Remember this all comes second to creating your product and is


something that can always be added later!

Promote Products Inside Your Product

Create a product littered with affiliate links and you’ll alienate your
readers. Create a product which references useful tools and sources of
information that is relevant and you’ll do just fine.

The websites, products and services you refer to should enhance the
experience and complement your product.

Better than promoting other people’s products is promoting your own. If


someone bought your product and they’re happy with your product then you’ve
become a trusted source of information. It’s better to promote your own stuff
(not just for profitability) and easier to sell to a happy buyer.

If you promote someone else – well your buyer now has to start a NEW
relationship – may be cynical and ‘not sure’ to start with. That’s a slight
barrier to making the sale.

Plus you’ve just added your buyer to someone else’s buyer list and now
you have to compete with that person for your buyers attention!

How do you promote your other products? Easy!

A full-page advert before your content and at the end of your content is a
good place to put these adverts. Since you know your market well you should

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create adverts that complement the product they’ve bought and is well suited
to the market.

Jimmy D. Brown does this exceptionally well in his infoproducts. If


you’ve created a product on anger management then you could promote your
8 week membership course – highlighting all the benefits – at the beginning
and end of your anger management product.

This is a great way to provide more value and a better service to your
customer as well as making more money per buyer.

Did You Know: Last time I looked there was an anger


management membership site on Clickbank? There’s a niche
for you and a desperate one because anger gets a lot of
adults and children into a lot of trouble.

Another good place to promote your other products is using a short line
of text that draws the eye and generates curiosity in the footer of each page.

All you need to do is create a captivating line that builds curiosit y and
include a link in your footer.

Add Text Boxes, Indents, Bullets, Bolding and Italics!

While I’ve already talked about using three different font styles or
heading sizes to create your report… at the end of the day it’s YOURS so you
can do what you want. Just make sure it’s always easily readable.

A nice way to add to your report is with text-boxes, indents and quotes.
These make elements of your text stand out from the main body of your
product.

I’ve used a few within the chapters in addition to some short lists and
bullet points to make information a little easier to read, break up the text and
hopefully make it easier on the eye.

Unfortunately this isn’t something you can test – it’s an individual ‘thing’
– you have to gauge for yourself based on what you like to read and how you
like information laid out.

Different ways you can highlight and improve your information

1. Add a list and use bullet points.


2. Include text boxes (these are called Johnson boxes on sales pages) and
add colour to them.
3. Use italics, bold or underline – be careful not to overdo it – otherwise
your readers will simply switch off to them and they’ll lose their effect.
4. Indent your text and change to another font style.
5. Include quotes and put them in italics, centre the quote and make sure
to add the person who said it.
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Don’t forget to use examples, definitions, case studies, proof, references,
quotes and stories to improve readability. These are all examples of items you
can add in text boxes or indent and change the font. They’ll improve
readability and make your work different.

How to Create a PDF


Not all Word programs are created equal! From what I can gather many
of the newer versions all have the ability to select “Save As” then select PDF
and your computer. Make sure you always keep a .doc format you can edit
and PDF version you can package as part of your product.

Open Office is a free alternative you can use to “Export” your files as
PDF. Again make sure to keep your files as an .odt (specific to Open Offi ce), I
recommend saving a .doc file you can use with Microsoft Word and the .pdf file
you’ve just created.

There are other free pdf creators out there including Cute PDF. You can
download it for free and install in on your computer. Using Cute PDF you have
to select “Print” and instead of choosing your printer you choose “Cute PDF”. It
converts your document to a pdf format and asks you where to save it.

There are free online pdf converters you can use. These can distort the
layout of your document so make sure to check the formatting and layout
afterwards.

Professional PDF Templates

As time goes on and you want to brand yourself, stand out from the
crowd. Increase the perceived quality of your product and buyer satisfaction.

In the words of Brad Gosse – “People want things presented to them


nicely. Otherwise the iPod would be a black box with a headphone jack.”

Nothing to worry about right now – just something to consider when your
product is selling and you’ve seeing results.

There’s an example of PDF templates here at the Warrior Forum for


Internet Marketers – read the post and click on the link with the two PDF
examples: http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-special-offers-
forum/213911-private-label-rights-ez-ebook-template-package-12-a.html

Now it’s time to sell your products. If you want to know


how to do it step-by-step you’ll need the Profit Magnet
Launch Report. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

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