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Mani Sivasubramanian
"Hey" "Guru Name Here"
You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.
You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.
Plus, you have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, and an internet connection for only one month.
You no longer have your big guru name or JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you're an unknown newbie.
What would you do, from day 1 to day 30, to save yourself?
Joe Kumar
Mani Sivasubramanian – EzineMarketingCenter.com
Heart Surgeon… Ezine Expert… Web Marketer… Bestselling Author…
There’s no question about it. Dr.Mani is different. That’s the reason he is one of the “99 Purple Cows” chosen for outstandingly remarkable marketing by Seth Godin, of “Permission Marketing” fame. See http://www.b--different.com
An Assistant Professor at one of Asia's largest hospitals for children, Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is a specialist heart surgeon, who has been involved in treating over 2000 kids with heart birth defects over the past 8 years. On the Net, he works to raise funds to help poor children receive expensive medical care. See his efforts to raise awareness about Congenital Heart Defects at http://www.CHDinfo.com/chdaware/
Author of a widely praised ebook on managing emotions, Dr.Mani has touched the hearts and lives of many thousands all around the world. "The Emotion Prism" at http://www.EmotionPrism.com and Dr.Mani's three weekly email newsletters - 'Motivating Mondays', 'Wishful Wednesdays' and 'Frugal Fridays' at http://www.EmotionPrism.com/almanac.htm - will help you find direction and focus in a fast-paced, confusing and rapidly changing world.
Publisher of 9 different email newsletters reaching over 15,000 subscribers in total, Dr.Mani is an expert at using ezines for marketing with explosive impact. His contrarian views on email newsletter strategy are best revealed in his brand new power-eClass, "Ezine ANTI Marketing"
Dr.Mani is founder of the Ezine Marketing Center at http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com
With 7 rich years of experience building a popular ezine marketing website that Alexa ranks among the top 30,000 on the Net, dozens of instructive articles published on reputed websites and several thousand dollars worth of web-based sales each year, Dr.Mani is just as skilled at Web Marketing as all the other stuff he does - and as you've seen, those are quite a mix!
His latest project aims to raise funds by December 2003 to sponsor heart surgery for 50 poor children needing a life saving operation. To achieve this goal, Dr.Mani plans to sell 7500 copies of his $29.97 ebook, “The Emotion Prism”. See how you can help him at http://www.EmotionPrism.com/helpus.htm
Answer – By Dr. Mani Sivasubramaniam
Day 1
The scientists at NASA said it. The families of my little patients, kids with heart birth defects, PROVED it.
"Failure is NOT an option"
So if I suddenly lose all my money and find myself deep in debt with just 30 days to repay, the first thing I'll do is reaffirm this truth. And tell myself:
"Only a loser thinks of failure. A winner looks on it as a temporary setback"
I will decide to succeed. Experience has taught me that this, over all else, is what will determine the outcome of my next 30 days of intense activity, all the hard work and networking.
I will decide to not just succeed, but do it wildly. Make enough money NOT just to repay my bills but to become financially secure, comfortable, with some left over to do good, to help others who need helping, to make a real difference to people I come into contact with.
Because I know that…
“It takes just as much effort to think BIG as it does to think small!”
I will also decide to work hard. Very hard. Instant success is attractive, worth dreaming about. But that’s all it’s good for – dreaming about!
Success that means something, that lasts long, that is permanent and sustained, demands effort to back it up. It’s not just what you get at the end of it that matters, it’s what you become in the process. As someone famous said: “Life is a grindstone. Whether it wears you down or polishes you up depends upon the stuff you’re made of.”
And a core secret to achieving my goals lies in an inner belief that I can do it. Once I get to this frame of mind, I have already won. All that remains to do is execute my plan.
The first step to doing this is to take stock of my assets. What do I have that can be used to earn money fast, before this month runs out? What knowledge can I use? What resources can I tap? Which people can I approach for help?
I will take a sheet of paper and make a list – that’ll be my ‘scorecard’. Completing this first step will give me confidence. With all of these things on my side, I’m sure to succeed.
The next step is to decide upon my action plan and chalk out a time-table.
Since I need the money fast, and have little else than my vast marketing knowledge, I must choose something I can find or create quickly and then sell to people at high profit margins. The best choice for me would be to package a bit of my knowledge into an information product and sell it. The reasons are easy to understand:
I can create the product myself
Info-products have very high profit margins (usually 75% to 90%)
I can keep all (or most) of the profits
I am in control of pricing and distribution
I can sell it over the Internet at a low marketing and delivery cost
Having made that decision, I now need a broad outline and a more detailed day-by-day plan.
Here is the blue-print I created for myself:
Research and create an information product – estimated time 7 days
Identify and sign up a group of potential customers – on-going
Locate the best tools and services to get started – 1 day
Build a process to advertise, sell and deliver to customers – 3 days
Find partners to spread the word far and wide – on-going
Devise multiple streams of income – 1 day
Choose back-end offers to multiply profits – 2 days
Think of ways to help others in the process – 3 days
Have a higher purpose that drives all efforts
Whew! That took a bit of thinking.
Now that the broad outline is ready, I need to break down each step into component parts, and then decide how I’m going to schedule each task.
I’ll also make a list of all the tools and resources needed to execute this project. Some parts of it will require special and sophisticated software and services. Earlier, I would have worried about finding the money to pay for them.
Not any more!
Because I know, from experience, that many of the top people doing business on the Internet are not just innovative and hard working. They are very, very generous.
I’ll tell them about my problem, explain how I’m going to get over this crisis, and ask them to offer me their product or service to help me get back on my feet. I’m convinced almost everyone of them will give it to me free – just as I’m sure I’ll pay them back when I earn the money from my info-product sales.
This is just one area where my experience as an Internet marketer counts. Earlier in my career, I’d have hesitated to ask. But after reading Jack Canfield’s wonderful book, “The Aladdin Factor”, my view has changed. Asking really is powerful. I’ve received some FANTASTIC gifts from some truly remarkable people – simply because I asked.
James Martell gave me his “Affiliate Marketing Handbook” to review. It costs $149 to buy. I paid nothing! On request by another famous marketer (who seeks to remain anonymous), marketing legend Mark Joyner gave me his “Farewell Package” worth $997 – for free!
Yes, asking has truly awesome power behind it. It all depends upon my purpose and drive.
I spend some time thinking over my higher purpose in life. What will I do AFTER this crisis passes? How will I implement my Grand Plan to give back in return for what I have received?
An hour passes in quiet reflection.
At the end, I reach a conclusion. I’ll tell you all about it at the end of this story – because it is what I’ll continue doing for a long time to come…
Then I go to bed, all excited about working my plan.
Day 2
I wake up early, fired up and ready to go.
Today, I will
Choose a topic to create an info-product
Prepare an outline, including points to cover and questions to answer
Start building a list of potential customers
It is possible to create an info-product about anything.
But for the greatest impact, I need to make one that will have many eager and willing buyers. People who have a problem, are keen to find the solution – and happy to pay to receive it.
Since the easiest product to sell is one that solves other peoples’ problems, the first issue is to find what problem they want solved! In the words of Zig Ziglar: “You can have all that you want if you give enough other people all that they want.”
One of the best ways to get started is to visit discussion forums and email lists related to my topic. As a specialist in email newsletter marketing and founder of The Ezine Marketing Center at http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com , I’ve chosen to create an info-product in my area of expertise – Ezine Marketing.
So I’ll head over to the busiest, most active forums in this area, starting with the Warrior Forum, Tony Blake’s Entrepreneurial boards and Willie Crawford’s discussion forum.
A word of caution. Online marketing is a very competitive area. If you lack experience in this field, you’ll be much better off trying to solve problems in a non-marketing field, one where you have some experience and knowledge.
Back to my plan.
I’ll spend the rest of the day browsing through the posts in the forums, searching through the archives of previous posts. I’ll have a text editor program like MS Word or Notepad open on my computer desktop. Each time I notice a question being asked about a problem faced by one of the forum members, I’ll note it down in the text editor. I will save this file into a folder named “Problems”.
When I find many responses to the post, or see that it has evoked a lot of interest on the forum, I’ll make note of it in my file. These ‘hot’ topics will hold the key to my fortune!
I’ll also scan the replies posted by other forum members and discussion list participants. Whenever I find something helpful to the problem being discussed, or a link to another website offering a solution, I’ll copy it into another file. This will be stored in a folder named “Solutions”.
The amount of helpful and incredibly valuable information offered for free on online forums is unbelievable. One could make a fortune simply packaging other people’s experience into a book!
In fact, that’s what I’m about to do J
In a third file, I will also note down the names and email addresses (where available) of the most active forum participants. They will be potential partners when I launch my product.
And in a fourth file, I will record the name and email address of every participant who has posted a response to the problem being discussed. These will be likely prospects to buy my product when it is ready to sell.
By the end of the day, I will have with me:
A list of problems needing answers
A collection of helpful resources and ideas about solving the problems
A group of forum and discussion list ‘opinion leaders’
A set of prospects likely to be interested in my info-product
The last thing I will do today is select a topic to base my info-product on. After some debate, I hit on the one real hot topic I notice several people asking about – and very few answering! I’m convinced that I’ve found a winner concept.
But has someone else, too?!
I’ll soon find out. By carrying out a search for any other products or services currently available that solve this very problem. It is much easier to create a product to dominate an under-served niche than to compete with an existing one.
A quick search on the major search engines and online marketplaces like ClickBank confirm that no one else is selling a similar product. If there is one, I’ll briefly research it to see if it
Offers a complete solution
Is attractively priced
Has a powerful sales process
In case it fails in any of these areas, I still may consider competing head on.
Now I’ll take some time off to relax and refresh myself.
Day 3:
My progress can’t be logical. It has to be a bit haphazard. Remember, I only have 30 days to succeed at this project.
So the next step I’m taking is to start building my list - by collecting email addresses of interested prospects.
How can I do that?
First, I’ll buy a domain name (I can get one for just $8.88 at NameCheap.com) and host my website on a low-cost or free web server. There are many available. Later, when some cash comes in, I’ll move to a better system like Host4Profits.
Then I’ll put up a basic web page. All it will have is:
a brief description of my product
a list of its BENEFITS to anyone who buys it
the launch date (10 days from now)
a form to collect names and email addresses from prospects
I’ll ask them to leave their name and contact email address so that I can let them know as soon as the info-product is ready. As an added incentive to get people to sign up to my email list, I’ll offer either
A special discount on the price when the product is ready
A free sample preview
A related info-product as a free gift
After this, I’ll construct a powerful short ad that I’ll use as my signature in all outgoing email messages and on all posts I make on the various discussion groups and online forums. Here’s an example:
Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian
See How One Joint Venture Generated More Than
500 NEW Customers In LESS Than 2 Weeks!
Free report reveals all...
jvreport@ezinemarketingcenter.com
The next step is to begin to generate curiosity and interest in my soon-to-be-released product.
I’ll go back to the forums I visited yesterday and answer a few of the questions related to my info-product’s topic. By limiting myself to 3 or 4 posts on each board, I’ll avoid being seen as a spammer, yet get visibility to my target audience.
Each time, my approach will vary. In turn, I will:
Answer simple questions asked by other members
Offer a free giveaway
Announce a contest to win a free copy of my product
Ask questions about my topic
Seek suggestions and ideas for the completed product
I’ll continue to do this for the next week, building a relationship with other forum regulars and gaining exposure for my product via my signature file.
And as members click on my subscribe link, I’ll also slowly build my list – a highly targeted list of perfect target customers!
Day 4
Today I’ll try and locate potential joint venture partners and sound them out about a deal. I am slightly restricted by the fact that my info-product isn’t yet ready – but not much. After all, I can still:
Inform them about the product
Highlight its benefits
Tell them the price
Offer them a share of the profits
Ask for suggestions and feedback
I’ll start with the list of forum and discussion list leaders I collected in the last 2 days. My initial contact will be with a short email message asking if they’ll be interested in a joint venture partnership to sell an info-product that solves a specific problem. I’ll offer them a copy to review soon, and invite them to reply if interested.
Then I’ll work on setting up an Affiliate Program. To keep the work minimal and manage the program hands-off, I’ll go with ClickBank. The one time sign-up cost of $49 is well worth the features, and is one expense I’ll indulge myself.
This online service offers a built-in affiliate management system that handles all aspects including processing payments by credit card and online checks, redirecting customers to your website for delivering the product digitally, tracking and paying affiliates a referral commission – all done automatically.
Next, I’ll go to the various Affiliate Program directories and search for the best categories to list my program.
In case you’re wondering why I’m doing this BEFORE even creating the product, the reason is simple. All the listing and registering services take some lead time to generate results. So by doing this before-hand while I’m creating my product, I’ll be building a sales force which will be ready and raring to go as soon as I announce my product release!
Day 5 to 10:
I will spend the next 6 days actually creating the info-product.
The steps to doing this are flexible. I prefer to research for information online, draft an outline listing points to be covered and questions to be answered. Then I’ll write a few sentences about each point, fleshing out the draft. Finally, I’ll polish up the content, add some graphics and resources, format it attractively and package it.
One way I will focus on creating multiple streams of income is by offering the information in multiple forms. Different folks learn in different ways. You may prefer to learn by reading. Another may like to listen to the lessons. Some may like downloadable files with instant access. Others opt for a shipped product they can touch and feel.
I’d like to give them all an option to buy my product – even sell them TWO or more forms of it for more money!
For my info-product, I will offer the following versions:
ebook
audio tapes
audio CD
downloadable audio files
tele-seminar
eClass
Each version will require minor tweaks to the way the information is presented, but can be done rather quickly after the core product itself is created.
For the ebook, I prefer the Adobe PDF (portable document format) for the main reason that it’ll be accessible to people using either a Windows PC or Apple Mac computer. Earlier, a disadvantage of PDF ebooks was that they couldn’t be re-branded with affiliate links. Now PDF rebranding software is available – one of the best is ViralPDF.
The audio products will require some extra effort, but services are available that will handle most aspects of product creation and delivery for you. Cafepress.com offers a CD creating and drop shipping service on demand, at a fraction of the cost of the product. Downloadable audio files may need special software. Maybe I’ll work these into the backend products, after some sales are made and cash trickles in.
Day 11
Today, I’ll do some work that’ll ensure backend profits will explode the effectiveness of my marketing for a long time to come. You see, I’ve not just limited my target to getting out of debt – I’m in this for the long haul. I’m going to get up, and get running again.
And help others too.
I refresh my memory by looking at the list of backend income streams I planned on the first day…
Sell affiliate products from within my info-product
Sell re-branding rights to my info-product
Sell reprint and master reprint rights
Offer a paid-subscription ezine on a related topic
Sell other related products by follow up email marketing
Get customers to join my affiliate program and sell to their lists
I’ll spend a greater part of today looking for related products and services I can offer my customers. They’ll have to offer affiliate programs with a decent commission – less than 50% for digital products is probably not worth taking the trouble for.
If the ones I find are relevant, I can mention or recommend them in context, as a part of the content of my info-product itself. This is far more effective in attracting interest from the reader than an obvious advertisement or stand-alone review.
By using rebranding software to create my PDF ebook, I can offer to modify the ebook for partners by replacing all these affiliate product links with their links – for a one time fee.
I can even sell reprint rights to my info-product – normally these are priced at between 5 and 20 times the price of the ebook version of the product.
And there are some products that aren’t very closely related to the content of my info-product, yet are likely to be of interest to my customers. Chances are good that they’ll order these through my affiliate link.
For this, I will create an automated sequence of follow up email messages using an autoresponder service like Aweber or GetResponse that will be sent out at regular intervals after they buy my ebook.
In this sequence, I will also include an invitation for customers to sign up to my affiliate program and then promote it to their own customers and friends. This way, I will multiply my efforts to market my info-product and reach a wider audience than I could on my own.
Day 12 to 14
Now that I know what my product actually looks like, I can build my sales material. This will include:
A direct selling website, with killer sales copy and listing of benefits to the buyer and a strong call to action
A collection of powerful ads, short articles, interviews and reviews that pack a punch, for use in my own campaign and by my affiliates and partners
Graphic banners and buttons to use as advertising tools
I will spend the most time on my website sales letter, making sure it is powerful enough to get a response rate of at least 2.5% to 3% from visitors - if it is much lower than this, joint venture partners may not be keen on helping me promote it.
In the midst of this sales material creation, I will also keep dropping into the forums and discussion lists to respond to a few messages. But now my focus will change slightly. In my signature file, I will drop more overt hints about my info-product. I’ll build curiosity by using cryptic messages. I’ll create anticipation by mentioning a launch date.
And on just one occasion on each forum, I’ll post an offer to give away a limited number of free copies to the first few responders – in return for their feedback about my product, and a testimonial that I can use in my sales copy. When it comes in, I’ll weave these testimonials into the website and other promotional material.
Day 15
Before starting work for today, I’ll take stock of my progress. I have managed to:
Create an info-product
Find related products and services to offer as back-ends
Identify and contact Joint Venture partners
Set up payment processing and order delivery systems
Create a sales website and ads for my product
Put an affiliate program in place
Now all that’s left to do is announce the info-product to my newly built list, affiliates, joint venture partners and online forums.
I’ll spend the rest of today doing this – and then relax a while.
Before getting on to the task of finding new joint venture partners, contacting them with an offer, following up on getting my offer in front of their list, making sales, marketing backend products to my new customers… and then repeating the process over and over again!
I did tell you it was hard work J
And finally, a word about my higher purpose – and how it is relevant to any plan to success.
Maybe you, like many others, measure success by the number of dollars that’ll be in your bank account. But that alone isn’t enough. Equally important to the overall experience of success is the way you accumulate that balance, and what you intend to do with it.
I created the momentum for a 30 day plan to Internet Success, and stayed with it, because of the overwhelming motivation provided by my higher purpose. And that is to help raise funds to sponsor the cost of surgical treatment for 50 children with heart birth defects over the next 6 months.
What I’ve detailed here is a real life story, with a little creative imagination. The info-product is real. It’s called “The Emotion Prism – How to be Happy, When you’d rather be Sad” – http://www.EmotionPrism.com It sells for $29.97, has an affiliate program, I have a target to raise $7500 for charity before December 2003 using sales from this ebook. Details at http://www.CHDinfo.com/chdaware/
That is my higher purpose. What is yours?
Find it – and online success will taste so much sweeter!
This article is supplied for information purposes only and, as experienced in this subject matter as the contributors are, the material herein does not constitute professional business advice.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and the contributors are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
The reader is advised to consult with an appropriately qualified business professional before making any business decision. The contributors, Joe Kumar and JoeKumar.com do not accept any responsibility for any liabilities resulting from the business decisions made by readers of this article.
copyright © Joe Kumar and JoeKumar.com
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