Marlon Sanders has released ‘Sell Products Like Crazy eZine’ August 28 volume 1 issue 6. Read Sanders latest article titled “Top 10 List Of Newest Tools You Can Use To Sell Your Products And Services Like Crazy Online”.


Marlon Sanders has released ‘Sell Products Like Crazy eZine’ August 28 volume 1 issue 6.

Marlon Sanders’ latest article is reprinted here.

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The 10 Newest Tools You Can Use To Sell Your Products And Services Like Crazy Online

In this article, I want to give you the 10 newest tools and tricks people are using to sell products (and services) like crazy.

If you like this article, then you’ll love the next edition of my MILCER’S newsletter, because I’m going into a lot greater depth on these exact same points.

I have a lot of content here, so let’s dive right in:

Tool #1: Get people to give you permission to email them more often using a pre-announcement subscription form.

You’ll notice that most of the big promotions are using pre-announcement lists. The FIRST person I ever remember doing this was Terry Dean. Some of you don’t remember Terry because he “left the fold.”

The reason you do a pre-announcement list is that it lets people raise their hands and gives you PERMISSION to email them more frequently than you do your regular list.

I think with most email autoresponder services, if the person is already on your main list, they won’t have to subscribe again when they join the sublist.

Double Confirmation = A 2 step process someone has to follow to get on your list. (Sign up, then check email and confirm the request.)

Sublist = A list that is separate from your main list.

Somewhere on my hard drive I have a script that would subscribe people to a sublist if they just CLICKED a link. I wonder how THAT would work vs. sending people to an sign up page where they have to re-type their name and email?

If that scripts still around, I’ll post a link to it in the MILCER’S blog.

Tool #2: Turn your launch into an event

This is Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula. Hey, I JUST went through the videos on the cd’s he sent me eons back. I didn’t realize he’d went really in depth into the whole system.

I remember WAY back at the old Boulder Colorado seminars I did with Jonathan Mizel and Declan Dunn. Back then, Jeff was on our panels. I didn’t know Jeff’s business but I can see Jonathan REALLY had a good reason for puttin’ him on the panels.

By the way, at those old seminars the ATTENDEES included Ken McCarthy, Cory, Yanik, Jim Edwards and many other luminaries of the day. It seems like a really, really long time ago.

Anyway, the idea is that by doing a lot of things before the launch date, you create a bigger launch. That’s why you see the PDF’s released in advance, blogs and so forth.

Tool #3: Use blogs to carry on a conversation

Blogs are a conversation. I haven’t really “seen the light” on these things until now. Usually, I’m an early adopter. In the case of blogging, I haven’t been. The concept is that you can carry on a conversation, get social proof in terms of feedback posts and, in general, have another way to communicate with your customers.

One of the most FRUSTRATING experiences I had was something simple: How do you customize the header graphic to YOUR look and branding instead of using the default headers on blogger or whatever software you’re using?

I’m gonna post a video on that in Milcers too.

Oh, and the other thing that took some figuring out was how to put the blogger files on your SERVER. For some reason, blogger seems to just delete blogs sometimes. I don’t know why. Our whole video blogging blog that Matt did just flat out disappeared!

We neglected to have it set up so that the files were all put on OUR server. So Matt had to recreate the whole thing from scratch. What a WASTE of time.

I’m gonna have Matt or Lisa post a video on how to do that in Milcers too. These little tricks are HUGE time savers.

A lot of people are using Word Press as their blogging tool over Blogger. I guess I’m behind the times on this. For my purposes, as long as I can customize the blogger header and save the files to my hard drive, I’m OK with Blogger until I find some other compelling benefit to switching to Word Press.

On the other hand, Blogger has been really, really slow this weekend and Word Press has a lot more options, templates and such from what I read. So maybe I WILL try it out.

We did our own custom template for Blogger but then we couldn’t get the comments to work. One of the main ideas of the blog is to allow people to INTERACT, so the comments are really important.

Geez! See, THAT is why I haven’t jumped into the blogging pool head first yet. Anyway, we got that all fixed up, and I’ll probably post our “fix” either to Alist or Milcers.

By the way, if you search “wordpress tutorials” in Google, you’ll find THIS site:

I realize you may think, “Oh great. One more thing to learn.” But actually, Blogger is super simple and easy to use. My problem is that I HATE doing routine things. And that includes posting to a blog.

So I’m gonna have to assign it to Matt. I STILL have to hire a local customer service person. Whew!

The deal is, we’re putting all our time into creating two NEW, totally KICK new products that are ever so SECRET.

Tool #4: Video Blogging

Alright. You’ve heard us talk about it. And I’m a really POOR example of what should be done with video blogging. Until I get our new service person hired and trained, I just can’t pull Matt or Lisa away from doing the NEW products in order to spend the 30-60 minutes it takes to post the video blogs.

You might be wondering why don’t I do that MYSELF?

Believe me, I hear that ENOUGH from Matt! See, the thing is, my team works. I don’t.

I read. That’s what I do. I spend hundreds of hours reading to find ONE simple way to explain something to you.

See, anyone can teach something COMPLICATED. But it takes hundreds of hours sometimes to find a SIMPLE way to explain something that could be ever-so-complicated.

I know you’re thinking:

a. You are NOT photogenic. b. It sounds like a pain in the neck c. You may not like watching video yourself d. You sound like a dork!

Here’s the deal: When you see someone do this RIGHT, it’s the most powerful bonding tool you can imagine. OK. I realize you may not CARE about bonding. You want SALES! You know, sell my freakin’ products like crazy!

You’ll just have to wait till I get my service person hired and we start cranking out some videos they way they should be done. THEN you’ll get it.

No one in our market other than Jim and Ed are doing this right. And Jim is so great at it, you probably feel like you could never do THAT. And Ed Dale is so personable, you KNOW you aren’t that likeable! He’s like a teddy bear or something.

But what if you could see an example of a down-to-earth dude who doesn’t have Jim’s amazing pizzazz nor Ed’s aw shucks teddy bear charm? And he still SUCKS you in and makes you WATCH the videos on the basis of the content and disarming delivery?

I promise you. When you see it, you’ll go, “Hey, I could do THAT!” And in terms of bonding with your audience, it’s very powerful. Yeah, I know it’s one more thing to do. And I’m not one to preach on THAT point since I’m negligent. STLL. Doesn’t matter. It’s something no one else understands or is doing so you can get a sizeable advantage by doing it.

You can hang out and wait to see what I do. Which will be VERY different from what Jim and Ed do. Or, n the meantime, tell you what:

I’m gonna send EVERYONE who has bought VBlogSecrets and everyone who snags it this week the MOST INCREDIBLE example of a guy who is doing it EXACTLY the way it should be done.

He is NOT in our industry. And he isn’t some “male model.” He uses natural lighting far as I can tell. It’s just folksy and down home. Just the way it SHOULD be done.

I’m gonna do a little write up and send out his web site to all my Vblog Secrets customers.

Oh, someone also asked why we emphasize Quicktime Pro more than flash. I have to admit, flvproducer (flvproducer.com) by Jim, Mike and Tracy sure does make it easier. I gotta hand it to ’em. They really came up with a handy dandy product there.

The deal is, HOSTING. You can use Quicktime Pro with regular hosting accounts because it has this really nifty way of playing the video as soon as you click the start button. And you usually don’t get buffering problems.

In contrast, in our tests with flash, we haven’t had good results playing it off a regular server. Most people, I believe, are either using a dedicated server or a flash video host, which isn’t cheap.

The disadvantage of Quick Time Pro is the player is NOT installed as a default on the IE browser, so something like 15% of the people have to download it to play your video.

In Vblog Secrets, Matt talks a lot more about these issues. But for doing video on the cheap, to the best of my knowledge, you’re better off with Quick Time Pro. I do not know of a way to use flash on a standard shared server and have it play almost instantly when you click start and not have buffering issues.

What you HAVE are pre-loaders that pre-load a portion of the flash movie while you sit there waiting. They’re very annoying. That leaves you with getting streaming media hosting at exorbitant prices or using the THIRD kind of server no one talks about.

It’s not a shared server. It’s not a virtual private server. It’s not a streaming media server.

The BIG SECRET of flash video is NOT how do you convert video into flash. It’s how do you HOST it. And the big LIE is that you need very expensive streaming media hosting.

Fact is, you don’t. This is a “hush-hush” secret no one is talking about. It’s a very hard thing to actually figure out because of all the smoke-and-mirrors you’ll hear over the phone from streaming media companies in general.

They “buffalo-ing” people by throwing out all these smoke-and mirror arguments that are b.s. There ARE only three legitimate reasons I know of for using streaming media servers. And none of those have anything to do with making your video start immediately on click, nor with preventing buffering issues.

What’s more, once you get one of those streaming media accounts, it’s CRAZY. They wanna SOAK you to convert your video for you.

You should see the conversion fees! Guys and gals, some of you should start a business doing this. The fees are really high end. It’s amazing what they’re getting for stuff that you can do with Sorenson Squeeze or another program.

Really, if you’re liking what I have to say here, you should really get Vblog Secrets. We expose a lot of stuff and give you the straight scoop.

Tool #5: Solve the video testimonials problem for people who are on 56K connections.

How are THEY going to watch a video that takes 30 minutes or an hour to load? Video testimonials are extremely powerful. But what do you do about the people who cannot watch them?

I’ve not seen anyone else think through this problem. So I may only publish it to Milcers or the Alist. Or I’ll reveal it in another issue of the “Sell Products Like Crazy” ezine. We’ll see.

Oh, what they hay. I’ll do in NOW!

Here’s the thing: People on 56K connections can’t watch those 2 and 3 minute videos. What about them?

It’s a simple, elegant solution that is so common sense, you’ll say, “Hey, I knew THAT!” But if you go around and LOOK at sites, you’ll see almost no one is doing it.

SOLUTION: Transcribe the video text and put it in an html link that opens up in a new window. That way, your 56K people can READ it. PLUS, the people who would rather READ than WATCH can read it.

Which leads to…

Tool #6: Use multiple media not just one.

Reading is great. Personally, I’m a READER. I very seldom prefer watching video to reading unless it’s a camtasia demo. And even then I like it to get to the point FAST.

But not everyone is like ME. See?

Some people like audio.

Some like video.

Some like to read.

That’s like NLP 101. NLP = neurolinguistic programming for u newbies.

This is why I created the DirectMailBux.com System. So you can add postcards and direct mail as an additional media you use to communicate with your customers – without spending an arm and a leg to do it.

In my estimation, one of the BIGGEST wastes are full-color postcards with fancy pictures. Yeah, they’re nice as a change-of- pace. But that is NOT what’s gonna get you the most bang for your buck.

The wave of the future is using blogs, audio, video, direct mail, voice broadcast, newsletters, PDF reports and other media to get your message across in as many ways as you can.

Tool #7: Hand written notes on web pages

You’ve seen us do it on our pages. Some others are doing it. What I like best are the hand written notes in the MARGINS. But I also like the hand-written guarantees and even hand-written notes at the top of the page.

Tool #8: Johnson Box at the top of the page

This is a little square at the top of the page leading into your sales letter that summarizes your offer. Actually, it isn’t NEW. It’s old as the hills.

But it still works and you don’t see a lot of people do it. What we tend to use this for is our deadline on a special offer because the box makes it stand out.

Tool #8a: Countdown timers of when the new product will be released.

That’s a cool anticipation tool popularized by Jeff Walker. I have no idea who FIRST used that idea online. But Jeff has proven it works. You put a little countdown timer on a web page. And then when the offer goes live, that page becomes the sales letter.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about I’ll try to accommodate and use one before too long. I’ll also find some good countdown timer sources and post them in MILCERS.

Tool #9: The video upsell

Mike Filsaime did the most incredible version of this I’ve seen on his offer for the $97.00 ebook and then on the thank you page, he had the upsell video where he walked you visually through the whole course.

But I don’t think he had a PDF or transcript there. I really think a new standard (now that I’ve published it HERE first) will be to ALWAYS offer a transcript of the video for the 56K people.

Tool #10: The video pre-announcement opt in.

Brad Fallon is using this right this very minute. You’ll find it in your email box soon if you haven’t already.

The incentive to opt in to the pre-announcement list is to get video case studies. I *think* that was Mike Long’s idea. If it was, congrats on a great idea Mike. If it wasn’t, oooops, I just gave you credit anyway.

Opting in to get the video case studies is really a cut above (and much more valuable sounding) than opting in to get a report or PDF.

However, I thought that Rich Shefren took the PDF to a new level with his slick use of graphics (which wouldn’t have looked nearly as slick had my friend Dave Fry not given Rich the advice to re-do ’em).

Or that’s what Dave tells me. And he’s my bud, so I gotta go with his story. The graphics really added value to the PDF.

By the way, if you didn’t PAY ATTENTION when you read the PDF, there was basically no content in it. It was a problem induction. You know, selling you on the problem.

It always amazes me when people read a problem induction that creates the need for a solution and feel like they “learned a lot and got content.”

That’s the way the Emyth is by Michael Gerber. The whole book is a problem induction and if you want the solution, you take advantage of the consultation offer at the back.

And don’t you know that in your bonus consultation they’ll probe for even MORE pain? You don’t sell people giving away all your information for nuthin’.

—
Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy.” If you’d like to get on his mailing list and receive tips, articles and information about online marketing, visit: http://www.sellproductslikecrazy.com

Table of Contents

A. Announcements from Marlon

B. Main Article: “Top 10 List Of Newest Tools You Can Use
To Sell Your Products And Services Like Crazy Online”

C. Services You Can Use

D. Controversial Viewpoint Of The Month

E. Funny Stuff

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