Robert Plank

Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes

A split test of mine recently finished and the conversion rate increased from 2.21% to 3.92% by changing JUST the headline -- but not even the words on the headline... the COLORS!

Imagine that, an additional 14 signups to a "$47 every 2 weeks" membership site -- an extra $1400 monthly passive income -- from such a small change.

Why does this happen?  Why does split testing even work?

I'll tell you why... it's because:

Most People Are Confused About Which Way to Go!

It's the same reason why parking lots have signs that say "lock your doors."  Why airports have signs everywhere you look.  Why you have to put the silly red arrow on squeeze pages and literally TELL them to enter their name and e-mail address.

People are easily distracted, and it's up to you to explain what you want from them.

Think about how many times you see this on the internet in a single day.  When you go to YouTube, it recommends about a billion videos all around you... and you end up clicking on video after video without even realizing.  You end up with a bunch of open tabs... and you end up watching some other YouTuber's video.

Split Call-to-Action!

The days of "putting AdSense ads next to the order button" are gone (good grief), but now "multiple order buttons with payment plans" are all the rage.  Or even worse, "the P.S. with a different URL at the end of the e-mail."

Come on guys, don't give me a choice between four payment buttons.  Don't let me choose between paying it all up front or doing a payment plan -- most of the complaints and refunds come from the payment plan crowd anyway.

But with most people, the craziness doesn't stop after I buy from you.  Even after I paid you money... you're confusing me with the WORST two-letter word ever invented:

"OR!"

You could do this... OR you could do this... more choices.  Don't give me so many choices!

• You've setup your squeeze page, so you can promote it using AdWords... OR you can post on forums... OR you can get joint ventures
• You want a membership site, so you can use aMember for it... OR you can use Wishlist
• Choose one of these three methods of writing a sales letter
• Learn Windows and open up your favorite programs in one of six ways

Are you kidding me?  I have to choose?  Just give me the best way possible!

Even if you HAVE to tell people multiple ways to do something, like with a multi-part course, just give me the easy solution first.  Then tell me what's the "slightly tougher" solution to complete after I've finished the first one.

Do me a favor and stay away from giving me the "top 21 ways" in your training calls.  Instead, reduce it down to 4 or 5 things... you probably struggled coming up with all 21 anyway.

And then position those 4 ways as step 1, step 2, step 3, and step 4... remove the choice.

Today's Question: Are you guilty of the "top 21" syndrome?  How are you going to fix it?  Comment below and tell me... I'm not going to give you a choice, just comment.

Reading time: < 1 minute

This is something I was thinking about presenting at my next live seminar but I'll share it with you here anyway...

It's something that most people who teach "productivity" leave out, and I see marketers FORGETTING this over and over again, even though they should know better.

This is "supposed" to be a programming concept but when I worked with other programmers, almost none of them knew about this, let alone implemented it...

It's Keeping Your Stuff SHIPPABLE!

I'll explain.  Think about the order you see items (as a buyer) in a "fully optimized" sales letter... Read More »

Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes

A couple days ago I asked my list if they had a membership site yet... I got 300 responses to that question and I want to share the results with you right now:

• 165 people, or 54.8% own membership software
• Out of that half that owned membership software, 89 people or 53.9% have at least one paying member
  
• Total, those 89 people who had a profitable membership only accounted for 29.6% of the responders

So Strange!

Some of these people paid $197, $297, even 4000 bucks for a membership script but only half of them are doing anything with it.

So let me share with you a couple of reasons that stopped me from creating membership sites (I've created 19 of them in the past 12 months... and only ONE before that time period!)

Read More »

Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes

Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes

Be sure you're registered for the product creation call on Wednesday, July 1st at 5:00 PM Pacific. I can't stress this enough:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/408406978

But I have a confession to make before the call.  The price of this course will be $997.

To be honest, I'm scared.  I have charged $997 before, but never for an e-course.

Then again, most of my courses are $200 to $400 for a four week course, and this is an 8-week course, so it's really not that big of a jump.

I also remind myself that when you join this course, I'll show you how to create a 7 dollar product to sell FAST.  How to create a freebie to build a list for that product.  How to create a $27 and $97 product.  How to establish a $27 a month membership site with almost no extra effort...

Plus, you get all the list and traffic in place to get some consistent sales.

Just one of those seven things would be worth $997 on its own.  Even back in the day... I'm talking 2003 and 2004, I'd get an idea for a product, whip it out in a day or two, post it in the right community and pull out $400 overnight with no list.

400 bucks overnight... and then the product was still mine to continue marketing! Read More »

Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes

Today I'm asking you why the heck is your product (if you even have one) so freaking identical to everyone else's?

To be honest, most people think all they have to do to create a product is write some stuff in Microsoft Word, save as a PDF, and setup the thank you page and sales letter.

And guess what... they're right!

The good and bad news... most people stop there. Let's just say that's good news because when you put a tiny bit more effort into your product, you can rise above the rest of the crowd.

The first thing you can do is add a pre-sell funnel.  All you need to do is write a couple of articles based on the content of your e-book.  Flip to three random pages of that 10 or 20 page manual, think about what it describes, and write that thing it describes as a question.  Then answer it... there's your article.

If writing an article is hard for you, then pay somebody $10 per article to write a question that answers it.  Do that four times and you're only out 40 dollars.

Or even better, buy private label rights that allows you to turn the information into a free e-course (only if it's stated in the license) and setup your follow-up sequence in just a few minutes.

Don't even overthink it. Create a four-part follow-up sequence in Aweber, plus one additional follow-up asking people why they haven't purchased.  Create a quick PDF report using EzineArticles.  Use that PDF as a bribe to get people to opt-in on a squeeze page.

That way even if they don't purchase immediately, you can keep following up with them, automatically.

Speaking of private label rights, something else I do if I feel worried about getting sales... is buy a private label rights product in my niche, and tack it onto the offer as a bonus.  (We even discussed this in the PLR Copywriting class last night.)  Bam, you've just doubled the value of your product.

Now get this.  The easiest, fastest, and CHEAPEST way to enhance your product's value is to hold a webinar. I tried launching an e-class ONLY on webinars a few months ago, but the launch bombed.

Do you want to know why?  Because most people are CHICKEN about hosting their own webinars!

But the funny thing is, those people that actually overcame their fears and did it, admitted that once that actually tried it, it wasn't that hard.  And using the proper shortcuts, these people became affluent in webinar hosting in just a few short weeks... when otherwise it could have taken months or years.

You simply can't argue with 50 products created in 28 days... especially when 11 of those were made on the same day!

I'm thinking about hosting a new product creation class. With all the products I've launched, plus the fact that I've co-hosted a product creation class before, and even spoken about the subject live, makes me more qualified to teach it than just about anyone else.

Add to that the fact that my webinars get people to actually go out and DO stuff, and you quickly realize there's no one else who can teach you and make you do it like I can.

Would you guys have any interest in taking a product creation class from me?  Even if you've already created products, just to pick up the shortcuts (especially those I've picked up in the last six months), absorb new confidence and skills (like making webinars), and being accountable to take action and finally get that product out there?

Comment below with "yes" or "no"... "yes" meaning you'd join an 8-week product creation class if I offered it.

As your reward, I'll redirect you to a signup page where you can get on a free live webinar with me on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 to find out how to make a product a day...

Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes