Welcome to, what I believe to be, the BEST issue of the Accelerated Niche Profits newsletter so far. This issue is going to blow away any other internet marketing publication – free OR paid. Inside there are an abundance of incredible freebies, a mind-blowing guest article from underground niche marketer Rod Cortez, a completely unique article from me about the application of psychology to internet marketing and how you can use six fundamental psychological principles to get people to do almost anything you want them to.
Right, let’s get going…
“How I made $2,271.64 In 3 Days” (Guest Article From Rod Cortez)
Note: I came across this article a long time ago and I knew I just had to share it with my most valued subscribers. I emailed Rod to see if he’d allow me permission to publish it in this newsletter, and being the great guy that he is he has kindly allowed me to do so. The only thing he asked me to say was that it’s an old article so some of the links may not be working. Leave your comments about this article at the end of this newsletter. Anyway, I’ll leave it to Rod to explain now.
Hi there,
I could easily write a 100-150 page report on how I did this. I’m going to go through how I did this step-by-step and will try to be as concise and clear as possible.
Step #1: Niche Research - I wanted to find a niche where I knew people were spending money over and over again. I first thought of topics that were close to home. Aha….I was very good at dating. So good, in fact, that I was helping other men how to do it for a fee. My friends kept telling me to write a book about it. But I wasn’t sure. Mind you, this was over 3 years ago but this is the same process I use today. Again, I cannot give away all the details, but this is the crux of it.
Keyword Elite had not even been coded yet when I first did this. So I used the free Overture keyword research tool as well as Wordtracker.
a))
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
The max bid tool:
http://uv.bidtool.overture.com/d/USm/search/tools/bidtool/
Google Sets:
http://labs.google.com/sets
Webmaster’s Tool Kit:
http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/keyword-research-tool.shtml
And I also used Jeff’s Adword Analyzer, which still kicks some pretty good ass:
http://adwordanalyzer.com/ (Nope, I’m not an affiliate).
b)) First looked at keywords with 25,00 - 120,000 monthly searches and then checked how much they cost. Adword Analyzer, Keyword Locator, and Keyword Elite are great tools for this. There are other tools that work really well also, but these are the ones I use and the ones that have earned me a good living.
Typed in all the keywords that were on the first page results. I then looked at the competitors on both the natural results and the PPC results. I then go to each of their websites, subscribe to their newsletters or free reports if they have any and I take MASSIVE amount of notes on what they are doing right and what I can do better. And I always find things that I can do better or at least with a slightly different USP (aka as a “hook”).
Step #2 - Feasibility Study: - Does this niche have potential to make me a profit? There are literally dozens of different approaches I can take here, some of them are very complicated and involve a lot of math. But who would have thought that one of the simplest approaches has proven to be one of the most effective.
I join 2 to 4 of the top affiliate programs in the niche. I set up a landing page and start sending PPC traffic from Google and sometimes even Yahoo Search. I aim for at least 100 visitors per day and factor in a 1% sales conversion rate and a 5% refund rate. If I break even after 1,000 visitors, then I know I have a winner. Think about it. If the commission is 50% and I’m making some money, imagine how much better it would be if I had my own product.
Sometimes I still go forward with a project even if it is NOT profitable because I know if I keep even 75-90% of all the profits and add a back-end strategy I can make money. I realize I am over-simplifying this process but this should get the creative juices flowing.
Step #3 - Product Creation: After using anywhere from 100 to 3,000 keywords, depending on the niche, price point, and average cost per click (ACPC) I decide to create the product. I either research it myself (recommended if you’re on a tight budget) or I hire someone to do it. A quick way to create a product is to find someone in your local area to interview and make a podcast out of it or an audio CD or a DVD, which you can sell more since it has a perceived higher value.
Step #4 - Sales Copy: I then set up a squeeze page, very much like the one at www.doubleyourdating.com and make it almost irresistible for people to opt-in. I create an initial 5 to 10 series of emails to EDUCATE my visitor. I also send out one broadcast about once or twice a week to stay in touch with those in my autoresponder system who have already gone through the 5 to 10 lessons. This is just to get you started. I really try to write enough emails to cover 6-12 months where they receive an email from me every 1 to 2 weeks.
This will bring in sales like clockwork once you’ve hit momentum (which means the point where you have enough emails in your responder database where people just start buying. I refer to this as your autoresponder mutual fund because it is an ASSET that you can later sell for big money to large corporations. Think an email list of 10,000 people is only worth 5 or 10k? Not even close. Companies are willing to pay top dollar for a quality list.
So I set up a squeeze page, then a thank you page to remind them to check their email, and I have a link on the thank you page that says “click here to continue” so that they can be directed to your sales page. I’ve seen too many squeeze pages that neglect this….and it’s costing them the immediate sale for those that are “desperate buyers”.
Step #5 - An E-mail Autoresponder Series: Now the squeeze page isn’t there just for show. I will take anywhere from 25 to 50% of the content in the ebook or other infoproduct and I’ll use that content to create a series of 5 to 10 lessons. Here’s a trick that I learned from one of my mentors. While I might only have ten lessons, I also do a broadcast to my list 2 to 4 times a month.
If the broadcast is a timeless form of useful content, I simply ADD it to my already existing autoresponder series! So by the time 6 months goes buy, guess what? You’ve now got an added set of emails that will last at least 6 months! What does this mean for you? You’ll be making sales from people who might take that added 10, 15, or even 50 contacts from you before they buy from you.
For whatever reason they were not READY to buy from you when they read your sales copy. I still have subscribers who’ve been with me for more than a year tell me, “I plan on buying your ebook someday, when I’m good and ready.” And many of them do. How long should your responder series go until? As long as possible. How many days in between the series? Well, I’ll leave that up to you to test because it varies. Usually I’ll space the lessons every 2 to 4 days and then once the email lessons are up I’ll add a broadcast once a week or bi-weekly.
Staying in touch with your list and giving them freebies such as teleseminars, free reports, free podcasts and videos…..go a LONG way in building trust and REPEAT buyers.
Step #6 - The Ten Dollar Broadcast PDF Report: While I was making some sales with my lead product, an ebook. It took me about 90 days of using PPC advertising to build a list of 2,200 double, opt-in prospects. So I decided to spend a day writing a 65 page PDF report that covered 5 important subtopics in this niche (dating advice for men, which as you may know is a very crowded and competitive market place).
I sent out the broadcast around 6:07 pm PST / 9:07 EST on Sunday. And today is now Tuesday late at night. The report cost $10 and after Paypal fees I made about $9.31 for each sale. So far I’ve had 244 sales! Now, that’s pretty high. During those 90 days that I was building my list I also did the following:
1. Sent my entire list a free 45 page field report that basically shared a night on the town on how I picked up on this incredible woman at a nightclub. Because it was a TRUE story it came across that way in the report.
2. I held a free teleseminar, which I didn’t even record, and gave away even more free and valuable content. This allowed my subscribers to hear my voice, my personality, and created more of a bond with many of them.
3. I sent approx. 6 to 10 articles, each covering a very SPECIFIC topic. I got the topic ideas by simply sending out a broadcast using my Aweber account asking them what their #1 issue what with dating women. They told me and I delivered the articles.
Now I’ve got a small confession to make, I didn’t send out that broadcast to the rest of my 8,000 plus subscribers that I had built using another dating niche website. So that’s going to go out as soon as revise and add even more content to the original $10 report. So I’m going to send that revised report to the existing buyers which will also keep my refund rate really low (so far not one single refund yet).
I’m also going to hold a surprise teleseminar for those customers and I’m going to spend 2 hours answering their questions and expounding on that report they just bought.
I haven’t even pitched them my $227 CD audio course, but I’m confident a good % of them will buy it because I’ve given them so much value. I know I can crank out a new report every month if I wanted to and duplicate these results. But I’d rather create a membership site than do that (it’s smarter and creates even more residual income).
I just wanted to share this success from one of my niche sites. If a dummy like me can do it, so can you. I realize that this whole process actually took me 90 days, but I want you to look at the context on why I’m willing to actually lose money sometimes while building my list using PPC. If I’m close to break even and I have back ends such as competitor’s affiliate programs or a high ticket back end then I’ll go for it.
As you can see, as your list gets bigger you can even send out a $10 report and you’ll capture all those people that would not initially spend any money on your 24.95, 27.77, 39.95, or 47 dollar ebook. This ten dollar report also netted me more subscribers to my newsletter, a few more ebook sales, and a couple higher ticket back end sales. But the $2271.64 figure is my net profit after expenses, but not after taxes. Even so it’s a good chunk of change for a couple days of work.
Keep your eye on the prize and don’t believe people when they say PPC doesn’t work at all. I’m living proof and this is just one niche that I’m in. You CAN do it.
Warmly,
Rod Cortez
P.S. Pardon misspellings and grammar, it’s late and my dyslexia is at it’s worse late at nihgt….(did that one on purpose).
Now, that was good stuff and I bet it’s got your imagination running wild with the possibilities?
Here’s the ultimate simplification of this process just for even greater ease of understanding:
- Find a niche where people are already spending money.
- Create a squeeze page to collect opt-ins.
- Promote affiliate products to start generating income.
- Provide incredible value to your subscribers.
- Create a rock solid product and sell to your subscribers.
- Funnel your buyers into more expensive products, such as audio and video courses, personal mentoring and seminars etc.
- Wash, rinse and repeat.
That is a fantastic business model and I’ll be talking more about it over the coming weeks.
Here’s a great free video which shows the importance of providing incredible value first. It includes real life examples of how “giving it away” provides immense profits in the long run.
Click here to watch the video.
A Whole Bunch Of Incredible Freebies
I love sharing freebies with you guys because I often get really nice “thank you” emails from many of you, which gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside 
So here are a whole bunch of free reports, videos and audios for you to enjoy. These aren’t your regular products that you find everywhere else for free. Some of these I have almost exclusive permission to share with you.
Grab Your Lifestyle – This sells for $10, but I’ve secured you special V.I.P access to get it for free.
How To Get 1,000 Super Responsive Subscribers In 30 Days – Incredible one hour interview reveals the simple steps to get 1,000 super responsive subscribers in as little as 30 days. (This is a MUST get).
How To Make $250,000 With Just 30 Emails – Fantastic video reveals the ninja tactics to score big joint ventures with almost anyone.
How To Make As Much As $21,096.32 In 30 Days By Giving Your Best Secrets Away For Free – Get this free report and discover the fastest way to online success, written in a way that anyone can understand.
The Quick Cash Escalator Video – How to make fast online profits and start living the dream internet lifestyle in just 56 days from scratch.
Profit 13 Ways – Last but not least, this is a great direct download that reveals how you can boost your profits in 13 different and highly simple ways.
The Psychology Of Persuasion & Its Applications To Marketing
I’ve just finished reading a great book called ‘Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion’. It explains the psychology of why people say “yes” and how to apply these understandings.
The author, Dr. Robert Cialdini, identifies six universal principles that you can use to become an expert persuader.
As a wannabe psychologist I’m really interested in the psychological applications to marketing, and have derived my own applications of these six principles to business online.
Principle #1
Reciprocation
If you do a favour for someone, they are more likely to do one for you. An obvious application is when approaching JV partners. Often you have to go the extra mile to secure JV partners. 50% commissions just doesn’t do it anymore. Now you have to offer favours, such as creating some free content, offering a reciprocal mailing to your subscribers or even cash rewards.
Principle #2
Commitment and Consistency
People like to be consistent with their actions. If they commit to something in writing or orally, then they are more likely to honour that commitment. This is my least favourite of the influence principles, but one part of the book stood out. Big companies often run newspaper ad campaigns which ask people to write 100 word “testimonials” for their product. They often ask for the testimonial to start with “Why I like…”
Participants receive the chance to win huge cash prizes. Those that enter know that, in order to win, they have to write a fantastic testimonial and mention the major benefits of the product. Those who submit these testimonials consequently experience the “magical” pull to believe what they have written and make them more likely to purchase the product.
Principle #3
Social Proof
People like to do what they see other people doing. They especially tend to do what similar others are doing. Women tend to want to do what other women are doing, men tend to want to do what other men are doing, and kids tend to want to do what other kids are doing.
Testimonials on your sales pages are obvious applications of the social proof principle. Perhaps it’s also important that the testimonials are from people within your target market. If you have a product targeting middle aged women and you have a testimonial (no matter how glowing) from a 70 year old man, it may even be detrimental to your sales.
Secondly, phrases such as “Best Selling Gardening Guide Of 2009” may help to boost sales. Remember people like to do what others are doing. If they see that your product is the best selling in your market, they’ll automatically assume it’s the best.
Principle #4
Liking
This is an obvious one. If people like you, they are more likely to buy from you. Simple as that. You can make people like you by injecting your personality into your emails, your articles and your sales pages. In fact, I tried to do this in my most recent sales letter for Accelerated List Building.
Providing incredible value for your prospects, subscribers and customers will also make the liking principle much more powerful.
Principle #5
Authority
Again, this is pretty self-explanatory. Authority figures are trusted more. Who would you rather buy a cancer prevention guide from: Joe Bloggs or Dr. Joe Bloggs?
The latter, I expect.
Principle #6
Scarcity
This is a really effective tactic. It’s used in all the major launches. How many times have you seen a sales page state that “Only 1,000 copies will be sold”?
Perceived scarcity encourages demand for a product. Offers that are available “for a limited time only” are highly effective in generating quick sales. The fear of missing out on something also motivates people to buy.
Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion is a fantastic book with a massive number of applications to online marketing. You can pick it up on Amazon for about $15 I think.
Something You Should Definitely Get
I hope you’ve liked all the freebies I’ve shared in this email, but this one isn’t free 
Nonetheless, it is INCREDIBLE.
You know I only recommend incredible products from respectable marketers, and this is perhaps the best of the bunch.
It’s called Project New Web.
It’s fantastic value for money and it’s changed the lives of many people. If you get it and implement it, you’ll find it hard not to seriously grow your business.
Get the full scoop here.
The Race To 1,000 Copies – Challenge Update
You may remember I have a competition running with my girlfriend, Daisy, right now. She challenged me to sell 1,000 copies of Accelerated List Building before 2010 begins.
For every copy under that I sell, I owe her £1. So if I only sell 800 then I owe her £200. For every copy over that I sell, she owes me £1. So if I sell 1,200, then she owes me £200.
I won’t hold her to it if I win, but I know she will!
That’s why I have to win, and here’s how you can help me.
Firstly, if you haven’t got your copy yet but want it, then head over and get it HERE.
Secondly, I have a 100% commission instant Paypal payment affiliate programme. You can join up, start selling Accelerated List Building and generating nice Paypal payments for you.
One marketer, Richard Legg, did a promotion about a week ago and he recently emailed me to let me know that the salespage converted at around 9% for him and he also got a few sales of the $17 one time offer. This meant that for every visitor he sent to the salespage he made about $1.
You can do the same!
Become an Accelerated List Building affiliate by clicking HERE.
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve enjoyed this issue. Remember to get all your freebies. Plus leave a comment to let me know what you think. Feel free to ask any questions, too.
I just have one final favour to ask you.
I’d really appreciate it if you made a quick Tweet to your Twitter followers recommending the Accelerated Niche Profits newsletter. It will only take 15 seconds of your time and would help me immensely. Your followers may also thank you for it!
Here’s an example Tweet you can use:
@JamesPenn runs a fantastic niche marketing newsletter. You can get it at: http://www.AcceleratedNicheProfits.com
Thanks a lot and keep your eyes out for future newsletters and emails.
Talk soon,
James Penn