Category Archives: Product Creation

Ready Spaghetti SEO And Blog Promotion Report

By | Published April 7, 2011

Since I haven’t been posting every day I also haven’t told you the results of March’s Ready Spaghetti SEO challenge.

The goal was to get a video ranked on the first page of any Google search result. It turned out to be easy, if you picked the right keyword.

I only created 2 videos before noticing I was on the first page of Google for the search term… well, I don’t want to tell the world because I don’t want to lose it. (But it really wouldn’t be hard to figure out with some sleuthing.)

So one video got on the first page… how’d the other one do?

Continue reading »

Also posted in Ready Spaghetti | Tagged , , , | View Comments

Self Discipline And Time Management

By | Published February 21, 2011

Ryan Healy just posted that he plans to release one product a month for the rest of the year starting March 15th. That’d be 10 new products. I think that’s a great challenge to oneself and I encourage my readers to think about joining him.

If you’re up to it, leave a comment on his post publicly declaring you will do the same: Copywriter Burn Out and “The Big Push”

If you do decide to join him in the challenge, let me predict your biggest obstacle. And also the most obvious one. Finding the time.

How do you find the time to create a new product every month when you’re busy working a day job? (And that includes me, even if I am a freelance copywriter.)

As my therapist* would tell me, you have to set boundaries.

In the past I’ve mentioned that limiting my work hours turned out to be one of my top 3 productivity tips. I’m more productive when only allowing myself to work inside of a well defined 4 to 8 hour window.

For example, if I promise myself I will not work after 4pm, I’m actually more productive than if I allow myself to work until 7pm, 10pm or 1am. By setting a limit, I get more done in less time.

AND it’s easier to leave my work behind when hanging out with friends and family.

I’ve used this technique successfully to create products as well. Lately I’ve been giving myself a 30 minute to 1 hour window in the morning to work on my latest product… and ONLY my latest product. I don’t work on anything else, and I don’t work on the product outside of the window.

This creates boundaries that help me make significant progress on my product AND continue to bust out work for my copywriting clients.

If you do choose to take Ryan up on his challenge, or you just want to finish your next product like me, follow this advice to give yourself a fighting chance:

1) Block out time in your day to work on your product and only your product.
2) Make it the same time everyday so you get used to the routine.
3) And don’t let yourself work on the product outside of this window. If you need more time, then plan ahead to give yourself a larger window.

Best of luck to you and I hope to see your comment on Ryan’s post. I see Tom Brownsword has already shown interest!

* (I don’t actually see a therapist for therapy, I just date one. But I’m certainly not knocking seeing a therapist for any reason. I think it’s good for everyone!)

Also posted in Business Tips, Productivity & Success | Tagged , | View Comments

How To Attack Any Niche Starting With A Squeeze Page

By | Published April 22, 2010

Are you thinking about diving head first in to a new niche?

Then here’s some well timed advice.

Start small, and grow.

That’s my preferred method. Another method would be to throw your life savings at a market before you know if you can make it profitable.

Yikes!

I don’t think so. Instead start small and borrow from businesses that are already established.

For example if you want to move in to the weight loss niche, you’re going to have your work cut out for you. It’s competitive. Doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but it’ll take work.

Do you really want to pay $10k – $20k for a new weight loss product and sales letter when you’re not even sure you’ll be able to find the traffic in this highly competitive niche?

That approach is all wrong.

Instead, let’s take a smaller, incremental approach that will actually make your business stronger in the long run.

Instead of creating a product, start with a squeeze page. And start driving traffic to the squeeze page.

This does a few things.

One, you start collecting email addresses which will be good if you release a product in the future.

Two, you get experience trying to drive traffic to a site in this niche. You might find it too hard for you and give up (which would save you the cost of creating a product).

And three, you’re likely building back links to the page which are ALWAYS useful, even if you decide to move in another direction or sell the site to someone else.

But Wait… There’s More

You ALSO will have an opportunity to test different headlines and angles with your squeeze page.

The results you get back from these tests can tell you what type of product to create.

For example, if your Internet Marketing squeeze page always performs best when you mention Private Label Rights, what type of product are you going to create?

Starting with an inexpensive squeeze page is a great way to test the market while still building the foundations of a new business.

Plus As You’re Building Your Business You Can Borrow From Others

If you don’t have $3,000 to hire a copywriter, you can send your leads from the squeeze page over to someone in the same niche who HAS paid for a copywriter in exchange for a commission.

This probably means signing up with a site like Clickbank where you can find Internet businesses in your niche ready to give you a commission for sales you send their way.

Try picking 2 or 3 products from Clickbank and rotate who you send your traffic to. You’ll soon get an idea of which business is the most profitable…

…and now you have a model to follow.

I can help you get your first squeeze page up, find an affiliate product to promote and write your promotional materials. Just fill out an application here.

Good luck and happy business building.

Also posted in Business Tips, Copywriting Tips, Internet Advertising Tips, Squeeze Pages | View Comments

How To Find A Quality Domain Name For Your Site.

By | Published February 16, 2010

Just about any money-makin’ plan you might pick online requires that you start a web site. And if you’re like me, you’re starting new sites all the time.

So I wanted to share with you how I, as a copywriter, find the perfect domain name.

Pretty much every word in the dictionary is taken. There are plenty of two word combinations available… but the most obvious ones are usually taken. A lot of what’s left over doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense without good marketing.

MySpace.com, FaceBook.com and YouTube.com might seem like self explanatory domains to you now… but if you didn’t know what the sites were. They’d be a mystery.

Those two domains are a good example of what’s left.

BUT… those domain names aren’t bad at all. I just helped a client find the perfect domain name for his new product. It’s two words. Easy to remember. Easy to spell…

Well, why don’t I just go ahead and tell you my rules for selecting domain names.

1. They must be extremely easy to spell. Short words like… cat, hat, free are great. Stuff like “genius” isn’t good. You may think it’s easy to spell, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to mess up.

2. I like to avoid double vowels between words, and sometimes double consonants. For example, giveeasy.com is a domain name that I once considered, but that double “e” in the middle. It’s a little confusing. This can happen with consonants when double l’s or t’s get involved.

3. Less than 3 words. You can get away with breaking this rule every now and then. But in general, keep working ’til you find something that doesn’t take an hour to type in.

4. Benefit-laden. IF POSSIBLE, it’s great to have a domain name that states the benefit of your product or service. Why? Because the domain name can act like an ad for your site. It’s almost like a headline!

I bought a domain name a while back called snackawaypounds.com. Check out that benefit. Putting a benefit in the domain ALSO helps people remember the name.

Ok, those are my 4 biggest tips for selecting domain names. I could have said, always go for a .com. But you should know that.

Also posted in Business Tips, Internet Advertising Tips, Squeeze Pages | View Comments

Secrets To A Champagne Product Launch

By | Published February 12, 2010

If you want to start a successful online business, here’s what you need to do…

Create A Product
3 Quick Ways To Judge Your New Product Idea

Create A Squeeze Page
Should You Use A Squeeze Page?
7 Steps To A Successful Squeeze Page
Ballooning Squeeze Page Conversions With Winning Audio Scripts

Send Traffic To The Squeeze Page
Clixsense – Penny Traffic That Converts
A VERY Telling Conversion Story On Twitter

Send Subscribers To An Awesome Sales Letter On Launch Day

Stephen Dean’s Copywriting Services

Also posted in Copywriting Resources, Squeeze Pages, Traffic | View Comments

3 Quick Ways To Judge Your New Product Idea

By | Published February 11, 2010

Raise your hand if you’ve ever come up with a product that was a dud…

People who are just beginning their business pursuits often forget to check if there’s a market for their “hot idea” before they create the product. This can lead to a waste of time, energy and a lot of money.

While there are more thorough ways of checking if your product has an audience, here are 3 quick ways to get a general idea of the demand.

1. Spyfu.com. This site lets you analyze pay-per-click data similar to what the old Overture tools used to do. Just type in your keyword and you’ll instantly see how many people are placing ads for that keyword, how many clicks they’re getting on average, and what it costs to run an ad.

If you see a website is running ads for a few months at a $1.00 click, you can be relatively sure they’re making a profit from that market.

2. Amazon.com’s Magazine Section If you can find a magazine that’s focused on your market, chances are there’s enough people out there to support a product for this business. After all, there’s enough to support the magazine…

3. http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm. The Clickbank marketplace lists tons and tons of information products. Search for your keyword and look at the results.

If you see products similar to your idea, check out the “Gravity” number. The higher the number, the better the product is selling. Compare the number to other known hot sellers and you’ll get a decent idea of how popular that market is.

Also posted in Business Tips | View Comments

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