Tag: e-class
I Am Done: How to Finish Everything You Start, and Then Some
If you have been inside any of my training courses you probably see the phrase "I am done" showing up a lot in the comments, especially in the "Challenge" posts.
Whenever you teach somebody something, it is in both your best interests that they go ahead and complete that task - isn't it? It is one thing to get people to PROMISE to complete something; but it is just as important that they come back and tell you when that has been finished.
And that is why, when I offer membership challenges, I always tell people to come back and post "I am done" in the comments. That way I can easily do a search and figure out who has finished and who hasn't.
So How Do You Know That You Are Done?
And how do you make sure that you finish as many things as possible? First off, only focus on one project at a time. You might have to change your thinking. I know that for a long time I had many different projects going. When I was finished High School, I was taking AP Tests, going to school, working on a long-term programming project, creating products of my own, and writing my own books. I had about five or six projects going on at the same time - and I had to switch gears so often that I hardly got anything done!
If I had spent just one week finishing the book I was working on, I wouldn't have to think about it ever again. If I had then turned my efforts to finishing the script I was working on, the program, I'd be done! If I then focused all my effort on the large project, I'd be done!
So don't leave things unfinished because you underestimate how much effort it takes to switch between tasks.
Also, set a deadline for everything you do. You know yourself; you know how long something is going to take you based on how focused you are on it. If you have to record a set of five videos, and you know you can only record one video a day, it will take you exactly five days - and that becomes your deadline.
It is important, though, to have not just a DATE-based deadline, but a TIME-based deadline as well. Don't say something is going to be finished "next week"; tell me it is going to be finished "next week, Wednesday, at exactly 4.30pm."
And to make sure that you HIT your headlines, keep what you have shippable, so that you can be done at any time. This means that when you are recording that video course, if you can get away with only having three videos, and that is Version 1 of your course; and Version 2 contains five videos, then you can meet that deadline without having to stress about it. You could launch the product with just three videos instead of five, if you had to.
And finally...
Don't Tell People Everything You Know!
Look at the way Apple launches new items versus the way Microsoft does: Microsoft announces things years in advance and always misses their deadline; while Apple keeps their new stuff secret until it is perfected and it's ready to go.
You don't have to announce every single thing you are going to launch because you might not end up launching all of them - and then you appear to be unreliable and a joke!
Those are the ways you are going to get more stuff accomplished in less time: By only having one project at a time and finishing what you start; having a time-based deadline; keeping it shippable - and don't announce everything you know.
What is your best productivity tip to get your tasks finished? Leave me a comment below telling me right now.
Behind Schedule
I've been so behind schedule ever since I came back from the Warrior Event seminar in Austin. I have a ton of blog posts outlining a bunch of the stuff I learned... just be patient.
I've "only" put together 8 1/2 sales letters and recorded two e-classes. An e-class with me is approximately 30 daily episodes, each episode is about five minutes.
I make it a point to handle a finite number of projects at one time. Absolute maximum is four. The number I want is one. I usually end up working on about two projects at a time.
The problem when you promote stuff as an affiliate: you are the same as everyone else!
Why not add some of your own stuff as a bonus -- check out script number 7 of Top Secret PHP to learn how to modify OTHER people's pages and add your own affiliate bonuses.
I bought Kevin Riley's Recipe for Post Product Launch and was so impressed with it, I put together a PowerPoint presentation and recorded a Camtasia video of me dictating it.
When you buy that product through my affiliate link, I add you to an autoresponder and send you another five minute episode every day for a month.
It appears as if I'm putting 20-30 minutes a day into the class, recording the video, uploading it, sending out the e-mail message... when really, I recorded all the videos in a couple of hours and wrote all the daily follow-up messages in under an hour.
Think about recording PowerPoint videos the next time you promote an affiliate product.
People hate work and like having things laid out for them. It's easier to watch a little bit of video every day then try to crack a book... that's too much like school... yuck, I'm having nightmares already!
Just make a separate slide for each page to keep things simple. Make three bullet points for each slide summarizing the main points. Print out the entire book out on your printer.
Record your video and read the text word for word. When you have something of your own to add, just wing it.
When you're done with each page, pause the recording and see how long you've recorded. If you're close to five minutes, save the video and start a new one.
Why five minutes? Because Camtasia allows you to save to MP3 audio and those will be your CD tracks.
That's right, you just added even MORE value to your own customized affiliate product because you have the daily videos people can watch every day... and you've given them audios so they can burn them to a CD or to their iPod.
I've done this with one affiliate product and one product I bought rights to.
You could produce the video into a DVD as well if you felt like it.
I know many of you are resisting me here. But think about this... don't you want to be considered an expert in your niche? Every time you see someone speak on stage at a seminar... either live or when you watch it on a DVD... do you wish that was you presenting?
There is also that added bonus that after you read an entire book allowed, you become an expert on that subject. You know it backwards and forwards. If someone asks about a subtopic in that book, you could explain EVERYTHING!
This is how you will get to to that point. Not just by creating the video products but by getting lots of practice in, being an instructor.
I know you would rather host a seminar, charge $1000 per seat and get 50 attendees and make $50K in a weekend than launch a lousy $27 e-book and try to make that same amount of money over the course of a few years.
Am I right?
What do you personally do to differentiate yourself as an affiliate? Do you offer personal consultation? Bonus products? Daily videos? Something else I haven't thought of? Please, share with me... I need the usual ten comments.
p.s. If you want those videos, check out:
www.PostProductLaunch.com
DON'T purchase from that site just to see how I roll the videos out. I have no what I'm doing. I really suck.
Only check out that product if you're interested in grabbing new affiliates AFTER your product is initially launched, you want to know how to properly host your own seminars, turn customers into promoters, blah blah blah... 🙂
