In this video we explore one Twitter strategy and the question is, is it “Sleazy” or “Good Business”?

Watch the video and then let me know what you think in the comments:

The problem was, a few affiliates who were in the audience got a little excited and emailed their list BEFORE the site was actually finished!

Let’s just say that it caused a little “panic” during the lunch break.  Here’s a quick video of Armand scrambling to get the site up

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM2XUlLldxk[/youtube]

www.FreeIMNewsletter.com

]]> http://myideaguy.com/armand-morin-launches-internet-marketing-newsletter-sort-of/feed/ 2 http://myideaguy.com/leverage-the-phone/ http://myideaguy.com/leverage-the-phone/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:43:50 +0000 Stu McLaren http://myideaguy.com/blog/?p=461 Let’s face it, every small business owner has a phone but are they really using it to it’s full revenue generating potential?

Probably not.  In fact, when we ran our “Most Overlooked Business Tool” contest, there were LOTS of people who guessed the phone.

So why don’t more people use it to make money?

Here’s my answer:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE0zyzPEz0s[/youtube]

Teleseminar Secrets Preview Call:  www.PreviewTeleseminar.com
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The feedback was AWESOME!

However, the selections were all over the place and there wasn’t a clear winner. That’s why I’ve decided to give a little more detail regarding this service in the hopes that it will give you the information you need to make a clear choice regarding the name.

Find out more in this brief video explanation and then cast your vote!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGE0XyO-5pQ[/youtube]

Cast Your Vote!

[poll=5]

Here’s the answer:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC-qKDoQGq4[/youtube]

www.MailBoxWasher.com

“If You Can’t Keep Up, You’ll Be Left Behind”

Several speakers including Rich Schefren and Jeff Walker spoke about the importance of producing high quality content and how that will play a bigger and bigger role in your marketing process.

But Jeff also said one more thing that caught my attention…

He said, “Content alone, won’t be enough”.

That’s when he revealed the other “ingredient” you need to include if you want to maximize sales…

Content + The Pass It On Factor

This basically means you need to give people something to talk about. If you don’t, you’ll lose people.

If you do, then they will tell everyone.

So what are some good examples of this balance between content and the “pass it on” factor?

This one from Armand Morin certainly fits the bill:

[flv]http://www.generatorsoftware.com/affiliateblog/wp-content/video/relaunch/final 032.flv[/flv]

See The Video Optin Page

After watching this video, it’s easy to see why it’s getting an 82% optin rate. It contains a high “curiosity” factor which is compels people to want to learn more.

It also works well because the video is of tremendous quality.

So what’s the moral of the story?

1. Create great content.
2. Package it with a reason people would want to pass it on.
3. Test and tweak.

If you haven’t done so yet, I highly recommend you watch the video above just to see this process in action. It’s a fascinating case study of psychology and marketing combined into one.

Sometimes, it can be hard enough coming up with content for a stand alone product let alone doing it on a monthly basis!

However, there are several strategies that can dramatically help you speed up the process – especially if you are running a membership site because many of these strategies rely on your members who are creating the content for you!

Ryan Lee who is arguably one of the greatest “Membership Marketers” online (he runs over 25+ membership sites simultaneously every month) has just produced a new video where he shares a variety of his strategies for getting content created very quickly.

Even if you aren’t running a membership site, I found many of his strategies helpful for creating content for new information products, articles, blog posts etc.

Take a look:

At about the 7 minute mark, Ryan shares a strategy I have used during high level brainstorming strategies. I learned this technique from a very highly paid inventor/marketer named Doug Hall of the Eureka Ranch (www.EurekaRanch.com).

This technique can be extremely effective for generating fresh new ideas because it utilizes random stimuli and sparks regions of the brain that probably wouldn’t normally be engaged. Plus it gets you away from the “same old”.

After watching the video and hearing Ryan suggest this a big smile came on my face because I have never thought about using it to generate content ideas for a membership site – it just shows how sometimes even when we “know” what to do we never really “know” what to do!

Anyway, the video is full of many other great ideas and it’s a perfect source of stimuli for generating your own content ideas – especially if you are thinking about running a membership site.

Do you use any techniques to help you generate ideas for new content?

If so, share them below by adding your ideas in the “Comments” section.

I asked everyone on my email list what they thought of my logo for my new membership site.

Well the results were very lopsided and the majority of the people agreed… GET RID OF THE LOGO!

I was disappointed at first because it meant I had to redesign the membership site, the 40+ videos we had already created and a bunch of other things.

However, I definitely think the new logo is a lot better and I’m proud to finally share it with you…

I think it’s clean, fits with my overall brand and doesn’t look like the “hammer and sickle” (blush).

The membership site is now getting close and I’m really excited to start giving you some previews. The business tools contained in this membership are AMAZING and I can honestly say that this project has been one of my most favorite to work on.

Why?

Because there are so many resources that I’m adding to the membership that I’m using in my business everyday and they are saving me a TON of time, making my life a lot easier and yes, some are helping me make more money.

It’s been a blast finding the content for this membership site.

Here’s what I’ve discovered…

When you personally enjoy and benefit from the product/content you are creating, then your excitement and passion naturally comes out.

…PLUS…

You can’t wait to work on the project!

You automatically want to make it the absolute best for your customers and that’s the mindset you want to have.

I’ve never created a membership site before and although I haven’t launched yet, I can already see the benefits…

• All the content I add each month can (and will be) turned into individual products.
  • A membership site forces you to get your butt in gear and get that content created. It’s the best coach you can have!
• It’s recurring income!
  • When you create individual products, sales can be somewhat sporadic. Some months will be a lot better than others but quite often it’s hit and miss. Membership sites change all that.
  • They create consistent, predictable income every month – you only make the sale once and yet it pays you over and over again.

• It’s a much more valuable asset.
  • Having a membership site is a lot more profitable short-term AND it’s much more attractive for investors should you ever want to sell your business down the road.
  • Think about it, you not only have the content of the site but the customers AND regular monthly income

A few weeks ago I personally met with someone who gave me a great deal of insight about how to take my membership site to an even higher level.

His name is Tim Kerber and he’s the CEO of www.Membergate.com (a high end membership management software application).

I had never met Tim before but I had the pleasure of getting to know him during dinner after I spoke at Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula Workshop.

Tim was there because Jeff has been helping him with the launch of a new product he is rolling out (you can see what they are doing by going to their website here).

Once we got talking we found out we had a lot in common and I really got to appreciate Tim’s genuine approach to business. He’s just a down to earth, nice guy who really takes care of his customers.

For example, even if you would like to purchase his membership site software, Tim actually calls you to see if it’s a good fit with what you are doing.

Many times he’s turned away a lot of business just because it didn’t make sense for either the customer or for his business (he doesn’t allow customers to use his software for things like pornography, gambling etc.). He’s not in business to make the quick buck and I think we can all appreciate that.

Anyway, during our conversation we were exchanging ideas about marketing and product launches when I told him about the membership site I am about to launch.

That’s when he told me to go and watch some videos that he recently created.

After viewing the videos, my income goals instantly grew!

My original goals for this site were to generate roughly $20,000/month. Now they are much higher.

Why?

Watch this video and you’ll get a glimpse of what I mean:

Part way through the video I think you’ll realize (like I did) that it’s important to continually ask yourself this one major question…

“How Can I Turn My Product Into A Recurring Income?”

It’s a major shift in mindset but it will add a HUGE amount to your bottom line.

So here’s the lesson:

1) Listen to your customers (that’s what I did and now I have a much better logo – even if I was stubborn in the beginning!)

2) Create products that you actually enjoy yourself – it’s more rewarding, fun and you’ll end up creating better products in the end.

3) Think about turning your “one-time” product into a membership site. Recurring income is much better, more stable and you end up creating a better relationship with your customers because you connect with them every month.

For a free video on how to turn your knowledge into a recurring income then make sure you watch the video above. If that link doesn’t work then click here.

BTW – do you have any experience with membership sites either as the owner or as a customer?

Let me know what you like about them, don’t like about them and what you would do differently by adding your comments below in the section where it says “Leave A Comment”.

Besides being a brilliant marketer, he’s just a good human being.

Let me give you a personal example as well as a 12+ minute video that John just released…

If you rewind back to December of this past year when we did the 2007 Online Secrets Telefundraiser to raise some money for a poor rural village in El Salvador, John eagerly accepted our invitation to be on the call.

We were just so grateful because along with the other great marketers that we had on that call including Alex Mandossian, Armand Morin, Mike Filsaime, and David Frey, we knew that their schedules were crazy and hectic (it was close to Christmas) and we figured that they wouldn’t be able to make it.

Still, they made the time to help.

That in and of itself was a rewarding moment for me because it demonstrated that even though all these guys make millions of dollars every year, there’s still that “human side” to everyone.

The money is great but the human connection can be (and is) much more satisfying.

However, that wasn’t the end of it for John.

Not only did he join us on the call and deliver over 90 minutes of killer marketing content but he also sent an ENORMOUS amount of people to that call. By doing so he single handedly raised thousands and thousands of dollars for this trip which helped SO MANY people.

You can see a picture slide show of the trip here.

He’s a class act all the way through and in his recent video he gives another demonstration of this in action.

As I sat and watched the video, my mind was racing but there was also an awkward feeling at the pit of my stomach.

I knew what it meant.

The lesson in John’s video hit home for me and I’ve since challenged myself to find a way to “raise my game” – especially with my customers.

I’ll admit, the last few months I’ve felt like I’ve been in a funk (even though I have a tremendous amount of things going on including new products and services).

It’s that thing called “the comfort zone”.

I’m in it right now.

It’s comfy… but it sucks!

My creativity levels are low.

My motivation is low.

My ability to get stuff done is low.

The comfort zone kills all progression.

That’s why John’s video was the kick in the pants I needed.

Thanks John!

Enjoy the video

Watch the video and post your comments below.

Take care.

Click here to watch the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs interview.

It was interesting to see the reaction of Bill Gates when Steve Jobs was asked about the widely popular Mac commercials and specifically “PC Guy” but I think at the end of the day there is a tremendous amount of respect between the two.

With so much history (including the early days) shared between Bill at Microsoft and Steve at Apple, I found it fascinating when they started to take a trip down memory lane and talk about some of the decisions that were made in the beginning.

Watch the video and enjoy!