A few years in to running my fitness business, I began to notice changes around the industry. People were starting to come out with things called eBooks and information products, they were selling them online through their website, and they seemed to be making a killing. I would hear story after story of these guys pulling in tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, over the period of a 5-7 day launch.
Needless to say I was intrigued.
So I spent months and months putting together a very solid eBook. I spent many sleepless nights putting together a sales page, integrating it with a payment processor, and all the other technical work involved. When I finally had the entire product finished, and all the systems to order in place, it was time to drive some traffic. I remember getting so excited. "Man, this is going to make me rich just like those other guys," I would think in my head.
Boy was I naive.
I paid for some Facebook ads, and drove them to an opt-in page where people would exchange their email address for a short e-report similar to the topic I covered in my eBook product. At least that was something I did right.
I ran that campaign for a while and did outstandingly well getting email addresses. Another plus.
Now it was time to sell. I wrote up a few seemingly clever emails, scheduled them to be delivered over the next 5 days (the first one was going out that following morning), and called it a night. I couldn't wait to wake up and see my account full of countless orders.
I rolled out of bed, eyes still foggy, and logged in to PayPal as quickly as I possibly could that early in the morning.
And what did I see?
Zero. Nada. A big, fat goose egg.
I made zero sales.
"Oh it's just the first day," I told myself. "I'll let the other emails kick in, that's where the real magic is after all."
At the end of the 5 days, what was the result?
Well I managed to makes sales...two of them.
I didn't understand. I thought I had studied the right way to do it, every little detail.
Where did I go wrong?
This story is all too common with people new to internet marketing and starting an online info product business. They think they can whip together an email list real quick, slap together a product, and shove it down someones throat; becoming rich in the process.
Not only should you not feel satisfied with this, it just flat out doesn't work. After my above failure, I got desperate. I needed to know what I did wrong. I knew other people were making good money doing this, why not me?
After hunting down some of the worlds most successful info product business creators, I grilled them on what it takes to truly be successful in the business. And after I learned the truth, I started to see significant success in my later info product creation.
Here's what I learned.
1. These are people we are dealing with, not robots- A lot of newbies entering the info business think too much about the technical side of things: product creation, payment processors, autoresponders, etc. and forget that the most important part is to realize that you are dealing with people that need help with something. They are looking for you to either teach them something they want to know, or help them with a problem that is keeping them up at night, which leads me to number 2...
2. Provide VALUE to these people- Don't make the mistake I did, and simply collect email addresses and then slap together a bunch of emails that pressure them to buy from you. I just proved to you it won't work; they don't KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST you yet. So help them with their problems first for free, through your blog, email newsletters, free eBooks, podcasts, free video series, or preferably a mix of all of those. This will lead you to...
3. Create fans- I always hear people say the cliche "The money is in the list," and "The list is king." Although I see where they are coming from, I don't completely agree with them. The list isn't worth shit if they aren't avid fans of yours. If you provide extremely valuable information, you make it ENTERTAINING, and you do whatever you can to help people (meaning you answer every email, social media comment, etc.), you will connect to people, and those people will become avid fans of yours. And not only do you get to help more people, but these people will become your number 1 paying customers
4. Build desire and excitement around whatever your selling before you actually sell it- Never sell to your list in the first email when you let them know about the product. This is when you will hint about the program, maybe even show a little sneak peak, and build anticipation over what you are offering. Do this for the first couple emails, and you will suddenly find that people are contacting you practically begging to buy from you. It's weird how that works, but that's psychology.
5. Make sure that you effectively translate the value of your offer-Let them know how truly valuable your product is. Compare it to how much it would normally cost to hire you one on one. Price out how much each and every component of the product would cost separately, to show how good of a deal they are getting. If you can, include PLENTY of testimonials from happy customers. This will only reinforce how great of a product you have and build desire.
6. Finally, have a call to action and urgency- Let them know the consequences of not taking advantage of the offer. Maybe they'll miss out on making money, or losing weight. Whatever it is, let them know that they are missing out. Let them know the tremendous benefits they will receive if they do take advantage. Remember to also create urgency. Maybe the price will go up after the first week, or you will completely close the program or product to everyone after the first week, and it won't be available again for another 6 months. Give them a reason to take action immediately.
Keep all these tips in mind when you are ready to launch an information product and you'll avoid all the terrible mistakes I made when I began.
What are you waiting for? Head over to jeremysandow.com for even more awesome marketing stuff!