Hi steve,
I sent this email to my students last week, but it's just too good for me not to share it with you.
A couple of warnings, though:
1. Yes, this email is on the long-ish side. It'll absolutely be worth your time, though. I promise.
2. There's a very special (and very time-sensitive) gift for you at the end. Make sure you read this today, so you don't miss it
Okay, let's dive in!
This story starts in the very beginning of my time online, before Firepole Marketing even existed. Back then, the idea of membership sites was all the rage. The idea was that, instead of building product after product, you would just create a membership site that people would sign up for once, and then pay you for every month, until forever.
Sounds good, right?
Well, I almost went down that road, and if I had, I might not be writing this email to you today, because the reality of membership sites isn't nearly as rosy as the fantasy.
The guy who set me straight was a guy named Russell, who lived in Boise, Idaho.
He started his first online business more than a decade ago, when he was still in college, but it's more than his success that made me pay attention to what he was saying; I found that I could just relate to him, in a way that I couldn't with the other gurus of the day.
Partially, it was because he was a young guy (just a little older than me), with a young family (like I aspired to have); I remember he had a photo of his wife and kids on his desk in a lot of his videos.
And partially, it was because he shared about his background as a wrestler, who still dreamed of going pro - something that the former martial arts instructor in me could relate to.
Marketing Lesson #1: People connect with other real people a lot more than they connect with gurus driving Porches to their mansions in Ja Lolla. ;-)
Anyway, back to membership sites.
Unlike most of the gurus who were selling the "set it and forget it" dream of getting people into a membership site and then billing them monthly until they die, Russell was singing a different tune.
A few things that he taught me back then:
Marketing Lesson #2: Membership sites are exhausting.
The flip side of billing people every month until *they* die is that you've got to create great new content every month until YOU die!
And if you want to build a quality, solid business, well... that's pretty hard if you can never stop focusing on content for your membership site. ;-)
Marketing Lesson #3: Selling continuity is *really* hard.
This is the part that so many marketers overlook: selling a recurring subscription to ANYTHING is really, really hard...
...because people understandably don't like the idea of being committed to pay for something monthly, until forever!
Now, that isn't to say that you can't sell a monthly subscription; there are lots of software products, services, and yes, even membership sites that do it successfully.
But it's a lot harder than people think it will be.
As a frame of reference, selling a $497 product is a lot easier than selling a $47/month subscription. And it isn't even worth it, because...
Marketing Lesson #4: Average memberships end after 3-4 months.
Yup, that's right - while the fantasy of recurring monthly subscription payments sounds great, the reality is that the average membership site subscription only lasts 3-4 months before people decide they've had enough, and cancel.
Now, of course, this is an average; a lot of people leave after a month, which means that a lot more stick around for longer.
And there are some great exceptions to this rule; my friend Carol Tice and her Freelance Writer's Den comes to mind, for example.
As general trends go, though, the average lifespan of a membership is only 3-4 months, which means that the customer lifetime value isn't anywhere near what it needs to be in order to be worth the trouble of selling a monthly membership in the first place!
But if these ongoing "continuity" offers weren't as viable as the other gurus were pretending...
...what was the alternative?
Russell called it "micro-continuity", and then people started calling it "fixed-term-continuity"... which is just a fancy way of saying...
...training courses!
In other words, people sign up, get the course, make a few payments, and they're done. No long-term strings, happier customers, and more money in your pocket.
In other words, it's a win-win-win.
And that's what set me on the path to create courses, and build the multi-million dollar business that I run today.
And I never even thanked Russell for setting me straight.
He was in more of the hard-core "internet marketing" space, and I was focused more on serving the coaches, authors, bloggers, and changemakers that now make up our community of Beacons...
...so after a while, I just lost track of him, and didn't even think about him for several years.
But then, last year, I was invited to be Obi-Wan Kenobi on my friend Marisa Murgatroyd's Online Business Superhero Summits, and Russell was one of the other presenters (he was He-Man, Master of the Universe).
Here's the whole lineup; I'm on the bottom left, and Russell is right behind me:
(Also on the lineup were Ryan Levesque as Bruce Lee, Neil Patel as Batman, Jason Fladlien as Superman, Lisa Sasevich as Queen Elsa from Frozen, and others).
Marketing Lesson #5: If you want to bring top talent onto your event, it helps to make it fun, and dress them up like superheros. ;-)
Now, I'll tell you, steve, that was a real "I have arrived" moment for me.
Not because of the star-studded lineup, although that was cool, but specifically because here I was, shoulder to shoulder (in cartoon form, at least) with the same guy that I had looked up to all those years ago.
I guess the Superhero Summit was what put me on Russell's radar, because a few months ago, I got a Facebook message from a guy named Brent on his team.
(This wasn't necessary with me specifically, because I *do* answer all my emails, but most people don't, and I appreciated the strategy for getting around that.)
He said that Russell wanted to send me a gift, and asked for my mailing address.
Marketing Lesson #6: If you want to reach someone who isn't responding to his emails, a direct message on Facebook will often get through. And if you want to get someone's attention, tell them you want to mail them a gift. ;-)
I gave him my address, and then didn't think about it again, until a few weeks ago, when a Fed-Ex parcel arrived for me.
Marketing Lesson #7: Getting mail opened is hit-or-miss, but everyone opens Fed-Ex envelopes. If you really want your message to get read, put it in a vehicle that everybody opens!
Inside the package was a review copy of Russell's new book, Dotcom Secrets.
Now, I'll tell you what happened next, but first I want to say something: I get a *lot* of books in the mail. It's a basic fact; the more people you lead, the more people will send you their books, in hopes that you'll promote it.
So anyway, this wasn't that unusual an occurrence, and honestly, my first thought was that "Russell is a hard-core internet marketer... how good can this book really be?"
But it was Russell. I owed it to him to at least give it a shot, so I figured I'd spend 5-10 minutes to flipping through it.
Which I did, and then I was hooked.
The first thing that caught my eye was the diagrams, showing exactly how to map out the components of different marketing funnels.
Like this one, for a basic product launch (this caught my eye, because I was in the middle of planning a product launch at the time):
There are dozens of these diagrams in the book, and each comes with pages of explanations on exactly how to implement each step along the way.
I was blown away, and ended up spending hours studying Russell's new work, from cover to cover. And right now, the book is sitting on my desk as a reference.
Now, I promised you a gift in this email, so here it is: Russell's doing a free + shipping offer for his book, and I strongly, STRONGLY recommend you take advantage of it.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is probably going to be the best business book of 2015, and the ideas inside it will be directly responsible for making me several hundred thousand dollars this year.
It's that powerful, and that valuable, and I absolutely want you to have it.
And because of that, I'm going to do something a little bit crazy:
I'M GOING TO GUARANTEE SOMEBODY ELSE'S OFFER!
If you order Russell's book, and you don't think it's absolutely amazing, just email us, and we'll refund the shipping charge.
That's how impressed I am with this book, and how much I want to get it into your hands.
Oh, and if you want to see how much I stand behind this book, visit the book order page, and scroll about halfway down - my video is to the right of these bullets:
>>> PLUS: Get all 4 of the 'AC Identities'... PLUS: Get all 7 of the 'AC Storylines' that I use in my business and the businesses of my clients to turn their mediocre sales into windfall profits... - pg. 67
>>> Why I model 100% of my selling emails after day-time Soap Operas... and you'll see firsthand how effective this 5 part email marketing strategy really is in driving sales (no matter what product or service is being sold...) - pg. 73
>>> The 'secret' behind 'open loop' email marketing to increase Email Opens and drive sales... (HINT: If you watch TV then you've seen this trick in action and already know it works...) - pg. 74
>>> Is your campaign not performing like you'd hoped? Check out my Top 5 'Variables of Success' to find out what your campaign is missing... (This works in any niche...) - pg. 102
(Russell's got a whole page-by-page breakdown of what you'll get in the book, so go check it out!)
Here's what the book looks like, by the way:
Now, just one more thing before I sign off and let you go order your free book:
Russell's got several up-sells coming after the book.
You don't have to take them (though the value he's offering is very solid), and to be perfectly honest, they're a bit aggressive for my taste.
But here's what you should absolutely do:
1. Go order your free copy of Russell's new book
2. Watch the up-sell process carefully (it's the most well-designed book up-sell process I've ever seen, and whether you buy any of the stuff he offers or not, you should experience the whole thing carefully, just to understand what works)
3. Take the stuff that interests you, but don't feel pressured (I'm a testament to the fact that Russell's stuff is excellent, though, so consider this my endorsement)
Just do it quickly, because this offer won't be available for too much longer...
Go get it right now, while the book is still available.
And have a great week,
Danny Iny
Firepole Marketing
P.S. Not interested in hearing about free book offers? Just click this link, and I won't send you any more of them.
I'm not interested in hearing about free book promotions
Personally, I think that's a silly move (because who doesn't want great free books???), but whatever the reason (maybe you exclusively like audio?), I understand.
Just remember, there's value to be had in any learning opportunity, even if it's unrelated to what you're trying to do right now. ;-)
P.P.S. In case you're wondering, you're receiving this email because - as a member of our Beacon community - you're entitled to receive these complimentary updates about valuable training opportunities from Firepole-approved online experts. If you no longer wish to receive emails about ANY of our partner updates, click on this link:
Unsubscribe me from ALL Firepole-approved partner updates
P.P.P.S. As I'm sure you know, sometimes when I tell you about something on offer from one of our partners, I do it with an affiliate link, which means that if you end up buying something from them, I'll earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you, of course). Other times, I just use a direct link, and won't get paid anything. Either way, affiliate commissions represents a very small portion of our business revenues (less than 5% in 2014), and I'd jeopardize your trust in me by pointing you towards something I don't believe can help you.
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