Robert Plank

Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

I just launched Hypnotic PHP on Thursday, so how did it do?  $3,308 in 24 hours... and $4,574 in 48 hours, that's how it did!

Out of the 962 people who actually clicked through my e-mail, 211 bought.  That's a 21.9% conversion rate on my untested, half assed full of typos sales letter that I wrote in a few hours.

From those $17 purchasers: 141 of them accepted my $7 upsell containing 7 more videos and scripts (Urgency Tactics) ... 66% conversion rate there.

So the grand total was 352 sales for a total of $4,574... $4,320.56 after fees, but the number of sidetracked sales of other products, made up for those PayPal fees.

So why the heck didn't I do a dimesale or anything like that for this launch?

You don't ALWAYS need to repeat the same freaking exact process when you launch a product!

I used to have people complain about my dimesales (because they couldn't get in at a low price fast enough), this time I had people complain about the LACK of a dimesale (because he's used to getting in at a low price).

I haven't given up dimesales, but the effort that goes into pre-selling my list a few days ahead of time is a lot more valuable than doing all the steps to make sure my dimesale works correctly.

You don't ALWAYS need a dimesale offer, just some kind of scarcity.  Mine was really low-key... you get in now for $17, but after 48 hours it's $27.  No countdown timer, no ticker counting the number of sales... just a simple offer.

If you were on my list you got the Email Marketing on Crack videos that explained it...

• Day 1: Tell your list something's going on sale at such and such date and time.
• Day 2: Explain the biggest benefit.  (48 hour notice)
• Day 3: List out the rest of the benefits.  (24 hour notice)
• Day 4: Tell them you launched it.  (3 minute notice)
• Day 5: Tell them it's the last chance to get in before you close the doors or raise the price

That's it!  It's not rocket science. I only started applying this after people told me the dimesales didn't give them time to read the sales letter.

But when I replaced the dimesale with standard scarcity, I still made the same amount of money with less customers -- which means less support.

I know some of you guys might cry and say, "Yeah right, you couldn't have done that without your big mailing list..."  How do you think I built that mailing list up in the first place?  Product launches on forums to build my list.

One final tip about pre-selling your list: Have the product ready to go before you start pre-selling it.  I see lots of guys promote first and then end up having to push the launch date back.

But me, I used those few extra days to whip up an irresistible upsell offer (the extra $7 videos and scripts).  90 minutes of work netted me an extra $707 on that promo. 

Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

As Dave Wooding said to me in an e-mail, "You must be doing something right."  Michel Fortin just promoted my Fast Food Copywriting product to his list which was awesome.  Terry Dean, Karl Barndt, Frank Kern, Glenn Turner, and David Deutsch all bought it from me!  How did that happen?

Heck, even Mark Joyner e-mailed me directly, and from his advice I changed my offer.  The original offer was $24.95 e-book and videos, with a before the sale OTO for a $97 product, and if they say yes to that, another OTO for a $247 product.

On Mark's advice, I made it a simple $24.95 sale but after the sale I hit them with a $217 upsell (upgrade to the $247 product), and if they say no to that, a $69.95 downsell (upgrade to the $97 product).

That changed the conversion rate from 2.5% to 5.9% on the front-end... thanks Mark!  And yes, the back-end is still converting (Cialdini Consistency).

What else have I been working on?  As soon as I got back from Affiliate Incubator, I bought Traffic Geyser and wrote 7 articles a day for two weeks.  99 articles, 99 PowerPoints made out of the articles, recorded into 99 videos with Camtasia.

Call-to-action at the beginning and end of the video, and my URL is the very first thing in the video description... very important.

If you remove the creativity and are super-motivated like I am when I write crappy sales letters that only convert at 5 percent, banging out an article in 7 minutes or a sales letter in an hour is no big deal.

I queued everything up so I post one ezinearticle and blast one video everyday on autopilot.  Sometimes I guest blog with a link to the YouTube, sometimes I'll copy a random ezinearticle to goarticles.

The results are hit or miss but it brings in just enough money to justify the one hour of writing and 30 minutes of video recording per day.  (One day, three different articles brought in three $19.95 sales I wouldn't have had otherwise.)  I'm just building backlinks for now.

That's what I've been up to this month, switching from 80% product creation and 20% marketing to 20% product creation and 80% marketing.

How much of your time is spent on product creation and how much on marketing?  What do you do for the marketing... videos, articles, PPC, forums?  Please share in the comments below. If I don't get 15 comments to this post (instead of the usual 10) I'm closing my Traffic Geyser membership and giving up video marketing altogether.

Reading time: 4 - 6 minutes

I'm attending the Affiliate Incubator seminar next week (Sept. 25th - 27th 2008) in Dallas, Texas. I'll probably learn lots of things about promoting stuff as an affiliate.

Affiliate marketing is pretty cool, you don't need to worry about product creation or customer support, you just send traffic to the vendor's page and then get your commission.

My own products sell the best to my list ($2000 to $4000 launches all the time) but I have been known to send $500 e-mails on a regular basis. Recently, I promoted the legendary Ben Prater's "iPhone Secrets Exposed" package.

That landed me 8 sales on a $397 product with 50% commission. You do the math... that's 1500 bucks from a couple of e-mails, probably 20 minutes of work writing the follow-ups. Those e-mails were so good that Ben incorporated them into his sales letter.

Let me empty out my brain with what I know about affiliate marketing already...

Affiliate Tactic #1: Have a List Already

It's simple, you can't expect any big profits unless you have a list of leads you've built yourself and more importantly, qualified buyers. Write up a quick 10 to 20 page report, record at least 20 minutes of videos and price it at $7 to get lots of buyers. Make sure to capture an e-mail address after the sale.

If you can get just 100 people to buy that $7 report, you can safely assume you'll score one affiliate sale... if you promote a complementary product to that list.

Affiliate Tactic #2: Think of Something They Didn't Think Of

I learned this one watching Todd Gross promote affiliate products. He promoted a product called "Floating Action Button" ... it's just what it sounds like, shows a hovering box that moves as you scroll. My Action PopUp script does the same thing.

Instead of giving people the usual sales pitch about popups, he showed how cool it was to place a YouTube video on the floating button, giving your sales pitch in the corner WHILE they read your sales page, and you urging them to click the order button.

All I see Big Jason Henderson do when he promotes affiliate products... records a video of himself (either screen capture or talking head) going over the benefits, then he watermarks his affiliate link to the bottom of the video and blasts that video out to YouTube, Revver, Vimeo, all the video sites.

When I promoted "iPhone Secrets Exposed" I just thought of what Ben left out of his sales letter...

E-Mail #1: You should be in a SPECIFIC profression... i.e. iPhone programmer instead of a regular programmer. No URL yet, just warming them up.

E-Mail #2: Code iPhone apps to get a recurring income on subscription fees... I just looked at Ben's bullet points and asked myself, "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME when I create an iPhone application?"

E-Mail #3: Are iPhones an untapped resource? What would you do if you invented YouTube, MySpace, before anyone else. If you don't code an iPhone app is it like letting the next Facebook pass you by.

E-Mail #4: Statistics to blow them away. There are this many iPhone users, this much profit from the AppStore, this many applications (low competition).

That's it. I could have fired that off as one e-mail but I spaced it out into several.

This tip goes without saying: Don't promote the same launches as everyone else and don't use the samea cut-n-paste affiliate messages as everyone else.

Affiliate Tactic #3: Proper Redirects

Don't promote your naked affiliate link. Get a simple script to send traffic from a link like http://www.robertplank.com/recommends/some-affiliate-program so it's not totally obvious you're using an affiliate link.

Actually what I really prefer is, I register a .com domain and use that as a redirect. It's only 8 bucks, and I've got some really good ones. For example, Jason Fladlien's 7 Minute Article product is on a domain name called "InstantContentCreation.com" ... but I grabbed up 7MinuteArticles.com and redirected it to my affiliate URL.

I'm sure Affiliate Incubator will have a lot of newbie-oriented info like, promote recurring products... how to calculate the Clickbank refund rate or statistically decide if a product is worth promoting... how to make a squeeze page and a viral report. How to add your own crazy bonuses "Gary Ambrose" style.

But if I can find out just one thing I don't know, the trip will be worthwhile (just like everything).

What's your FAVORITE affiliate marketing tactic? I mean marketing AS an affiliate, not MANAGING affiliates... we'll get to that later.

I need ten comments on this post... add yours below... or I might stop creating products for good, and only promote affiliate offers.

Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes

If you've been following my blog at all then you've probably heard of the ten comment rule... any time I make a post, I ask for 10 comments from my readers... or I'll stop posting forever.

I just applied that to my marketing to gather testimonials for a product.

Nope, I didn't offer a bribe for testimonials, I didn't give away free copies in exchange for a testimonial.  (Good way to make sure you never hear from those people again.)

I simply said: I need ten testimonials from SOMEONE... any of my current customers... for version 1.0, and I'll release version 2.0 to EVERYONE.

I Had My Ten Testimonials Within 48 Hours!

It's tougher to get ten people to do work, even if it's 30 seconds of work (writing a testimonial), than it is to get them to pay you money.

I brought in ten sales of Action PopUp no sweat, just by mentioning it in a blog post.  I wanted reviews, not sales.

The only thing I needed to do was: end my blog post with a clear call-to-action (what action I wanted you to take), and my goal (what had to happen for the challenge to end).

It's Not Difficult, But So Many People Miss That Point

You have a blog with zero comments on every entry, end the blog post with a reason you want people to leave a comment.  End with a question.  Give people benefits about why they should leave a comment... what's in it for them?

Use your blog to build a list and send those people to new posts when you write them.

I'll see marketers add a FeedBurner chicklet to their blog, so they've built up their RSS subscribers... but they can't e-mail them... gross!  The only contact they have with these people is when they add to the blog.

Now you can't tell your readers... check out this post one last time if you haven't left a comment yet.

You can't follow-up and market to RSS subscribers the way you would to an e-mail list.

To be honest, if I didn't get my 10 testimonials by today, I would have asked my list again... I would have hit the weekday crowd instead of the weekend crowd.  I would have put up a talking head video begging someone... anyone... to leave me a review.

With every blog post you should be "selling" some action that benefits you at the end.  Leave a comment under the blog entry, or visit the URL I'm talking about.  One of those two.

If You Don't Think You Can Get Ten Testimonials...

Try a "five testimonial" rule.  You only need five testimonials to release the next chapter, update the next version, launch the next product... whatever the goal is.

Have a clear call-to-action... don't say, "Testimonial please."  Say, "What was the one thing you liked the most about it?  On what URL did you set it up?  What was the one stumbling block that ALMOST didn't get you to buy and how did you overcome it?"

Interview your customers one on one via e-mail and use their responses to piece together a testimonial. After I got my 10 testimonials I went back through all my e-mails, blog comments, and forum posts and pieced together an additional 7 testimonials for a total of 17 testimonials on that page.

Oh yeah, I released Action PopUp 2.0 to all version 1.0 buyers so you can add popups to WordPress blogs with just a few clicks... thanks for the testimonials I needed.  Even Michel Fortin posted that blog entry to Twitter.

Was that ten testimonial rule a waste of time?  No one needs a call-to-action at the end of every blog post, right?  I bet your blog is chock full of zero-comment entries with no call-to-action in sight... am I totally right or am I just a jerk?

Please, answer me below because if I don't get ten comments under this entry... I'm moving this whole site into a paid blog. 

Reading time: 2 - 3 minutes

This message is for my Action PopUp customers only... you need to read this if you want an updated copy.

As you know, exactly one year today -- on August 15, 2007 -- I released the first version of Action PopUp, the first popup ever designed for opt-in forms.

It's an unblockable on-exit lightbox popup that submits your e-mail subscription form in the background... so you can place them anywhere and not lose a sale.

Guess what... I'm releasing version 2.0 of the product. It still has all the cool pop-up features you've grown to love: you can customize colors, size... and show some crazy unique special effects...

Now it also works as a WordPress plugin! You upload a folder and activate a WordPress plugin, and you can create just about any kind of popup just by clicking around.

No editing code or config files... just clicking around on stuff.

If you know me then you know I give free updates for life on all my products.

So how do you get a copy?

Let's call this the ten testimonial rule (instead of the ten comment rule)...

I need 10 reviews for Action PopUp 1.0 for my customers, and then I'll release version 2.0 to everyone.

If you own Action PopUp 1.0, could you comment below and tell me:

• What site you use it on...
• Why it appeals to you (Easy install? Do you run PPC ads and want your click payments to go the extra mile? Cool noticable effects?)
• What feature you personally liked best about the product...
• Why others should want it...

Just answer each one of those questions in a sentence each (heck, only answer one or two questions, I don't care). Just give me a review I can use, good or bad.

Once I have my ten reviews I'll release Action PopUp 2.0 to everyone who bought the first version... use it super-easily as a WordPress plugin!

The new script works just as well for normal sites as well (like forums, sales letters, anything!)

Please post your review below...

Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes

The weekend before last, I launched WordPress on Crack... a set of video tutorials (5 hours worth) showing you how to write your own WordPress plugins... most of them easier to write than a standalone PHP script because you don't have to deal with most of the install, data storage, and templating issues that you'd normally deal with in PHP.

It also included three bonuses: Techie Howto WordPress by Joel Holtzman, Install SEO WordPress by Pawel Reska, and Advanced WordPress by Quentin Brown... also videos.

Total, the WSO grossed me over $8,000. Yes, $8,000 from one launch... that didn't involve any joint ventures or any advertising aside from a single forum post and a mailing to my list.

Here is a quick video from last Thursday showing the $7,000+ balance in my PayPal account (this is when the sale was still going on):

I sold 33 copies at 13.33 ($439.89), 33 copies at $16.66 ($549.78), 88 copies at $33.33 ($2,933.04) and 88 copies at $44.44 ($3,910.72). The last 12 discounted slots are selling at $66.66, so far 3 are gone ($199.98). That brings our grand total to: $8,033.41.

Take away a couple hundred dollars in PayPal fees, plus the cost of obtaining the resale rights to the bonuses, but you can add those back in when you accounted for "sidetracked" sales... getting my name out there caused people to buy a few more of my products.

"WordPress on Crack" made May 2008 my best month EVER! Even beating out June 2007 where I made $3,000 in a day. In May 2008, I made over $14,000 from PayPal (before fees). For the ENTIRE month, taking into account fees, Clickbank and day job income, I cleared over $16,000... in one month.

How did I do it? Easy. I acted like a marketer. I had something to market so I wrote a sales letter for it that explained everything (so many people post a WSO with nothing but a payment link... or even worse... a "buy me a beer" link... and wonder why it doesn't sell).

I created a product relevant to my e-mail list so I could market to that list. I gave them a unique offer -- the limited quantity -- which was something I actually tried last year with Push Button PHP and you know what? It pissed people off just as much then as it does now.

I had so much traffic going to that offer (opt-in list of 11,500 subscribers -- most of them paid) that the offer closed up quickly and people got angry because they couldn't get in.

Some of my subscribers told me they were unsubscribing for life because they were used to getting everything for $1.00 and could buy in at any time they wanted.

I had people saying I shouldn't resort to gimmicks because the product should sell on its own.

Guess what, most of the people who said that would never have bought anything from me over ten dollars, and have probably never done any serious marketing on the internet.

In 2008 alone, I've posted 31 special offers and earned $62,000. In the past 12 months? Fifty Warrior Special Offers!

I stick to one project at a time, I put myself under time constraints -- like having to get in my car to go to my day job or come off of my break.

I act like a real marketer... I try to over-deliver, and not in that generic cliched way. I added an e-book, scripts, and videos, and went out and bought resale rights to augment my original product.

I followed up with my list every day throughout the launch explaining what the price was that day. I hit them with a different angle every time and saved each mailing so I could use it as an automatic follow-up later. You know what people always say... it takes an average of 7 follow-ups to make a sale? How come almost NO ONE follows that rule?

What's your opinion on this situation? Was I wrong to limit the number of sales? Or was I a smart marketer by taking a WSO that would have normally made me $2,000... and turned it into $8,000?

Please take a moment to comment below.

Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

I've been in Austin at a conference for the past couple of days.

You have NO idea how it's been because I don't have access to a computer... I haven't been on one since last week!

I don't own a laptop... I spend too much time in front of a computer as it is, why would I want to bring one with me? Plus, I travel light... just one bag to avoid baggage claim. And there is all that fuss with airport security where they have to inspect the laptop separately.

How the heck am I talking to you then? Automation. I wrote this blog entry before I even got on a plane. I scheduled it to post sometime during my trip.

I scheduled a timed mailing to my opt-in list. It said to check out this blog post, so it could get traffic, comments, and sales of some of my products.

When I get a product ready for launch, I'll write the sales copy before it's even finished so I can post a WSO and get it approved... then I'll pay when it's ready to launch.

I recently launched a video series called Head First PHP. I bought up rights to an existing product and made it my own by recording daily videos.

Instead of recording long 20 to 30 minute videos, I recorded them 5 minutes of video at a time. This allowed me to space these out into "daily" videos.

The secret is... I'm not actually recording just one of these a day. I recorded them all at once, uploaded them all at once, wrote some quick autoresponder follow-ups for each day saying, "Hey... check out today's video" ... with a link to the video.

I put in an afternoon of work... and the effect is that it APPEARS I'm diligently providing updates every single day. That's pretty cool, right?

This and last month, I've been documenting my work using Camtasia videos and have been able to split up all my work into 10 minute tasks.

I'm ALMOST at the point where I can do all the work I need to do ONE day of the week (after I get home from my day job) and the everything is automated for the rest of the week.

When I first started out, I did a lot of freelance consulting and product launches. I focused very little on list building and automation. The result was that I would make $2000 one month and $200 the next. My income was very unreliable.

Now that I am writing follow-ups and blog posts weeks in advance... now that I'm following up with prospects and customers every single day automatically... I've noticed that I measure my income on a daily basis, not a monthly one. It's reliable enough that I could quit my day job if I wanted to.

Comment below and tell me: Do you have automation in your business? Timed follow-ups? Scheduled mailings? Business systems?