You know I love residual income. And you know I think membership sites and newsletters are both outstanding ways to earn residual income. You make the sale once and you get paid for as long as that person remains a member. But there is something different about investment memberships and newsletters.
You might say they are in a league of their own, because the bulk of their profits seldom come from subscription fees.
Have you ever wondered why a millionaire (or billionaire) investor would bother to publish an investment newsletter? It’s not like they need your $99 a year.
And why would any investment expert charge $99 or even $499 for a newsletter or membership if it can really 10x or 20x your investments in a relatively short time? We’re talking about you receiving million-dollar gains in a few short years. All for just 99 bucks? What’s the catch?
Here’s what I think: That publisher wants as many people as possible following his or her recommendations because when they do, that publisher makes money.
Let’s say I run an investment newsletter and you’re a subscriber. I tell you to buy XYZ stock because I think they’re about to get a billion dollar contract with Amazon.
And maybe XYZ will get the contract, and maybe that stock will go to the moon because of it. But even if what I predict doesn’t come true, here’s what happened for me:
Because I bought the stock before I told you and thousands of other subscribers to invest in it, and because all those investors drove the stock price up, I made money. If an investor has enough followers, they can and will influence stock prices simply through their recommendations.
It’s no wonder why that ‘million-dollar’ newsletter costs $99.
I’m not suggesting you don’t subscribe to these newsletters if you have faith in the person making the recommendations. You can still make money, as many people do. Just be aware that the newsletter author is likely making even more money with their recommendations because of you and all the other investors buying into the stock the author already holds.
And if you’re wondering what type of membership or newsletter to start, well… this bit of insight might just help you to decide. 😉
As an marketing coach, which do you think would be easier: A: Taking someone who is earning $1,000 a month and showing them how to earn $10,000 a month, or B: Taking someone who is earning nothing online and showing them how to earn $500 a month…
As you’ve probably guessed, the answer is “A”.
But why is that true?
Because someone who is already earning $1,000 a month likely has systems in place to earn money. They have a squeeze page and maybe a website, they have one or more products to promote and they have a means of driving traffic and a list they can contact.
Most of all, they KNOW that $10,000 a month is an attainable goal because they’re already earning $1,000 a month. They believe it can be done.
But the person who is currently earning nothing likely has no online marketing infrastructure in place. They probably don’t have a list or an audience and they might feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do and how to do it.
More importantly, they’re not entirely convinced online marketing is even REAL – at least not for them. They don’t yet believe they can do it. They want to believe, but their doubts are so great that it’s easier for them to think online marketing works only for other people and never for them.
If you take someone who is earning $1,000 and show them how to earn $10,000, they will be happy. But if you take the person who is earning nothing and show them how to make $500 a month, they will think you are a SUPER STAR and they will love you for it.
And if by chance you are not yet earning anything online yourself, then let me ask you this: Do YOU believe you can earn a full-time income online? Because if you have doubts, it will be that much more difficult for you to find success.
The $500 figure is arbitrary. Depending on the size of the promotion, you could gain an extra $100 to $2,000, or a whole lot more. Here’s how it works…
Anytime you promote a product, whether that product is yours or an affiliate product, consider adding a one-time deal for your own personal email support for an additional fee. For example, you’re selling a $47 product that teaches buyers how to train their horse. You offer your own personal email support for a fixed length of time to answer any questions they have that are directly related to implementing the information in the product.
The biggest obstacle many people face when learning something new is putting it into action. Having someone they can lean on for guidance can be tremendously helpful both from a psychological as well as a practical viewpoint.
Things to know:
1: You most likely won’t be overwhelmed by questions because only 10 – 15% of people who pay for your support option will use it. People have the best of intentions to use the products they buy, but as you know yourself, people get busy and things get set aside.
2: You’ll be getting paid for something you probably already do, especially on your own products. If people already email you with questions about how to implement information you teach, the difference now is they will be paying you for your answers.
3: Many of the questions will be the same. This is helpful for you in two ways – first, you get to discover what’s missing in the product. For example, if you forgot to include how people will take payments in the system you teach, you’ll know to add it to your course. If it’s an affiliate product, you’ll find the holes and have the option to either create a bonus that covers the missing areas, or even create your own, more comprehensive course.
Second, it’s helpful that people tend to ask the same questions because then you can write the answers once and copy and paste them each time the question is asked. Or you might create an FAQ to send out, or even create an FAQ page you can refer people to. This will greatly cut down on the number of questions you receive.
4: This does not undermine the pricing of your personal coaching. Think of answering questions about a particular product as being a FAQ, not a coach. Your answers will be shorter and more direct, and they generally won’t be tailored to the person asking the question since you don’t know their situation. You’re giving bite-sized answers, not in-depth personally-tailored step-by-step coaching. For that they need to upgrade to your much more expensive coaching program.
5: You’ll set a time limit, and if you want, an email limit. You’ll answer their questions for a set period of time, such as 30, 45 or 60 days. You’re not offering email support for the rest of their lives. Emailed questions are only taken if they are directly related to the product. And if you want, you can limit the number of emails they send to you to one per day. This last one sounds unnecessary and it usually is, but one time someone decided to write to me 4 and 5 times per day. Ever since then, I place the one email a day limit in my offers. You can also limit the number of questions per email to 1 or 2.
6: If you’re selling an affiliate product, you’ll need to be familiar with the contents of that product and how to implement what it teaches.
7: You don’t need to be an expert. The questions are coming by email, which means you can take time to look up anything that you don’t already know. If the answer isn’t in the product, use your friend Google to find it. And if the question is beyond the scope of the product, recommend another product to fill their need. For example, if they’re asking how to get traffic but that’s not covered in the product, suggest your own traffic course or one that you are promoting. If you’re giving them an affiliate link, say so.
Bonus: You’ll build rapport with the people who send you questions. Plus, you’ll demonstrate your ability and willingness to help them, too. When you follow up with these folks and offer your coaching program, you’ll find that some of them are not only receptive but also eager to grab the opportunity to join your more expensive program or service to receive even more help.
I’ve probably made this sound harder than it is. Realize that most people who buy the upgrade don’t use it, and those who do use it will email you 2 to 5 times with questions. It’s actually an incredibly easy way to make some extra money when promoting anything, and it’s an awesome stepping stone to your high level coaching as well.
On a whim I opened my spam folder today to see if I’ve been missing anything. The answer is I’ve missed a LOT. Here are some of the highlights…
1: Text to Speech Videos are Annoying
Not all spam is spam. Sometimes someone you recognize turns up in your spam folder. In this email I clicked the link to the video he recommended about “What So-in-so taught Such-in-such About Success.”
The video was only 2 1/2 minutes long but I couldn’t make it past the first 30 seconds. Stock photography slides and text to speech software made it unbearable to watch. If he had used a real voice to narrate the video, I likely would have stayed to the end.
2: You Can Buy an Award from a Well-Known Magazine
I am soooo tempted to tell you the name of this business magazine, but let’s just say that you almost certainly have heard of it. In this email they are giving helpful instructions on how to apply for their Best in Business Awards.
You can choose from 37 (yes, THIRTY-SEVEN) different industry categories in 3 different company stage categories and 3 different company size categories. You can apply to as many categories as you like, and each application costs you just $345 dollars. Oh yes, and they will be choosing multiple winners in each category, so your odds of winning something are pretty good. In fact, I suspect EVERYONE wins.
I took a look at the application – at 3 pages long it’s not exactly extensive or comprehensive. Something tells me they are far more interested in collecting application fees than finding the Best Businesses. And yet any company that buys wins one of these awards will be able to flaunt it for recognition, brand exposure and credibility purposes.
Yes, I know this has probably been happening for decades and maybe I’ve been a little naïve, but somehow I’ve thought these awards were supposed to MEAN something.
3: I Won a Free Lottery Ticket
Yeah. Right…
4: Some Marketers Think I Don’t Have a Life
I’ve noticed that some (many?) marketers vastly overestimate my attention span, free time and interest in watching their sales video. I’m reminded of a Mark Twain quote:
“I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.”
Marketers: take the time to remove the drivel and fluff and sharpen your message into something I WANT to watch or read. Please.
Here’s the email that caught my attention: “We’re about to start the LIVE training where you’ll see first-hand how you can tap into email lists of 150 MILLION consumers and target any offer you wish.”
Yes, I know it sounds too good to be true, but I was curious, so I clicked the link.
What I found was a headline and a recorded presentation 2 hours and 40 minutes long. Nothing else. No bullet points to entice me to watch the confounded video. No copy to tell me why I need or want to invest nearly 3 hours watching this behemoth. Just a counter telling me I had 7 days, 10 hours and 51 minutes to… do something. I’m not sure what.
If you want me to watch your sales video then you’d better give me some great reasons WHY I want to watch it. Tell me what I’m going to learn in the video, what benefits I’m going to get even if I don’t take your offer, and yes, tell me there will be an offer, too. Even though I already know that, I like you to come clean about it up front because then I can start to believe the other things you’ve told me, too.
And another thing – I GUARANTEE that no recorded sales video needs to be 2 hours and 40 minutes long. Cut the beginning introductory B.S., get right into the meat, give me 3 to 10 awesome how-to’s that I can immediately use and then make your offer. Tell me up front what I’ll discover in your video, make it enticing, keep the video to 60 minutes or less and I promise that unless my house is on fire, I’ll watch it.
5: Turning Affirmations into Questions can Speed Your Success
This is something I already knew but I appreciate the reminder.
When you say, “I am thin and healthy,” your mind naturally argues with your affirmations like this: “That’s a lie! I’m fat and sick and I know it!”
Instead of making statements, ask yourself questions such as, “Why is it so easy for me to be thin and healthy?” When you ask the question, your mind works with you to find the answers. “Because I eat small portions and I take walks every day!”
6: Bootcamps Are Still Awesomely Profitable
Okay, I’ll admit up front that this email was poorly written but it still got the message across.
Essentially a big name – a VERY big name – in marketing was giving a bootcamp that was starting TODAY. The big name would kick off the event and then hand it over to others to perform the actual teaching. Smart. His name sells the event but he’s no longer having to do the work himself.
Attendees would not only learn what they need to do to vastly improve their marketing systems; they would also be DOING the work during the virtual bootcamp.
This is awesome for a couple of reasons. First, the attendees will immediately have something to show for their money, making it much easier to upsell them to something higher priced later. Second, you don’t need nearly as much content for your bootcamp. If half of your time is spent letting the participants do work, that’s time when you don’t have to be teaching.
I suspect their goal here is to give a taste of their big and expensive marketing/coaching program to their best prospects – people who have already spent $197 for this bootcamp. I’ll bet they close 30-50% of them on upgrading (just an educated guess).
The first bonus takes no extra work for them because it’s recordings of the live event. The second bonus is a monthly live Q and A, the perfect place to gently upsell those who didn’t buy into the expensive program at the end of bootcamp.
Please notice what happened here: Reading a single email in my spam folder reminded me (and maybe you, too) of an entire business model that is super easy to implement and highly profitable, too.
7: This Marketing Guru’s Email Account Got Hijacked
I can’t name names here, but a certain marketer’s account apparently got hijacked. (Either that or he’s entered the sex trade industry.) While his emails used to be all about getting traffic, making online sales and so forth, now his emails are offering me dates, sex and… well, you can use your imagination for the rest.
The thing is, this didn’t go on for just a day or two. It continued for two WEEKS. I cannot imagine the damage this has done to his brand. Personally, I can tell you that while his emails used to land in my inbox with no problem, they are now all in my spam folder, even though he has gone back to talking about internet marketing.
Folks, you might want to protect your email accounts like your business depends on it. Because it does.
8: I Won More Lottery Tickets
In fact, I won over a dozen lottery tickets in the last 5 days alone. I had no idea I’m so lucky! Good thing I checked my spam folder.
9: Completely Over the Top (Sometimes) Works
Marketing messages aren’t about what we want to tell our prospects, but rather what our prospects want to hear from us.
In the interest of always learning, I subscribe to lists outside of my own interests and online marketing. Because what’s working in, say, dating might also work in another niche.
This email in my spam folder is selling a program to single women who want to find love. To me it’s completely over the top and borderline ridiculous, but I know it’s probably working because I get emails with this sort of language all the time.
I’ll paste a portion of it here:
“I’m about to show you a DANGEROUS text that you really only want to send to guy… …
if you are READY for him to fall head over heels for you like love-sick, high school crush.
Just one TEXT and even a guy who blew you off before can become obsessed and won’t have the willpower to stop himself from chasing you.
==>Discover it HERE
The text might appear a little silly at first…
But the reason it works is it pumps up a man’s adrenaline, urging him to keep chasing you over and over.
This will even work when he is currently obsessing over another woman…
Because it immediately awakens a fresh enthusiasm of DEEP LOVE for you that’ll make him completely forget other women.
And every bone in his body will be aching to earn your heart in ways you’ve only see in movies.
If you haven’t seen this yet then this is going to be a game changer for your relationship.
==>Dangerous Text – Are You Sure You Want Him To Chase You This Hard?
Putting aside the… ugh… language of the email, the basic message is this texting program is so incredibly effective that we need to warn you it might be TOO effective.
Imagine you’re selling a traffic program – “This program is so effective we have to warn you that your site might crash and customers who desperately want to buy your product might email you night and day until you sell it to them.”
If you’re selling a weight loss program – “We cannot warn you enough that this program is so effective, if you do not stay within the limits prescribed then you will lose weight TOO FAST and no one will recognize who you are, and security guards at your job may arrest you for impersonating, well… you.”
If you’re selling a gardening vegetable fertilizer – “Warning!! This is the one product that will pump up your pumpkins to the size of a house and make your neighbors get a restraining order on the 30 foot tall sunflowers blacking out their view of the sky.”
Ha! I love that last one.
10: How to Bring Everyone Back to You
An email from a favorite source – James Altucher – landed in my spam folder. In it he gives 11 pieces of advice, and here’s my favorite:
Make Everyone Else Look Good
I had a professor once who said he didn’t care if anyone knew who he was. I didn’t understand. He said, “If my students become famous, then I’ve done a good job.”
Make your boss look good. Make your spouse look good. Give all credit to your employees. If you are always the source of “credit” then everyone will come back to the source.
Strong people don’t put others down. They lift them up.
And that’s awesome advice I’m going to carry with me and use.
And now you know what I learned from snooping in my spam folder today. Have you checked yours lately?
Because competition is a real factor here, I’m not allowed to reveal the exact niche for this case study. Luckily, this method will work in any niche where you can save people money on something they’re already buying. And it will work in a lot of other niches, too, but for now let’s talk about the whole money saving deal.
For purposes of discussion, I’m going to change the niche to air travel, and we’ll assume it’s not during a pandemic.
This person – we’ll call him Vinnie – set up an information email list giving away free info on cheap flights. Again, I’ve changed the niche, but let’s roll with it. When airlines get cancellations, make mistakes and so forth, they sometimes offer crazy good deals just to get the seats filled. Vinnie keeps tabs of these offers and sends his list info that can save them a lot of money on their airline tickets.
But here’s where it gets good: While anyone can subscribe for free, he also has a paid version. The cost is low, about $40 for 3 months or $90 for a year. The savings on just one deal alone can be several hundred dollars, making it an easy sale to air travelers.
The difference between free and paid subscriptions is the free subscribers only get about one third of the deals in their inbox.
Paid subscribers get ALL the deals.
Here’s what’s great about this business model:
• The content writes itself. All you would be doing is passing along the info that your readers want. Essentially it might sound something like, “Delta is offering 2 for 1 discounts for the next 24 hours for transatlantic flights. Here’s the link to their site.”
• Readers can easily afford the subscription price. If they have the money for plane tickets, they can afford a $90 subscription.
• Getting just one deal a year more than pays for the subscription. People who continue to fly do not unsubscribe.
• Paid members get an ego bump because they have ‘inside knowledge’ they can brag about to others. “My guy saved me $400 on my ticket.”
• It’s easy to get new subscribers. Since he has a free version and because people want to save money, his conversion rate on his squeeze page is extremely high.
• Once free subscribers see how valuable the info is and realize they are missing two-thirds of it, upgrading is an easy sell.
He made $140,000 in just the first six months alone. He wouldn’t tell me how much he’s made since, but I do know he bought an expensive new house and he’s hired 3 people to handle most of the business for him.
One more thing: Once he realized how big this was going to become (and please remember, I have not revealed his true niche) he decided to bring on affiliates with a referral program. This made things explode and kept his competition to a minimum.
Here’s what you can do: Be on the lookout for any niche where people need quick, up to date info on something. It might not just be about saving money on a particular item. Maybe they need the latest news or methods in their niche such as investing and so forth.
When you find a good possibility, verify that people are paying money in the niche. Obviously, people pay for airline tickets so that would be easy. And some niches will surprise you. I’ve heard of a guy who is making a killing writing a monthly newsletter about collecting arrowheads. He works maybe 5 to 10 hours a month and pulls in $10,000 in monthly subscriptions in his one man operation.
Create a free version of your newsletter, find where your audience hangs out and get them signed up. Show them why it’s to their benefit to become an insider and upgrade to the paid version.
Learn your numbers and start advertising to scale the entire operation up. Vinnie advertises online and in publications.
Remember to sell your readers other stuff, too. If your niche is golf tips, sell them golf equipment and golf packages. If your niche is dog training, sell them high end dog food and so forth.
This is so simple, you can get started almost immediately, just as soon as you choose your profitable niche.
PLR or private label rights don’t always enjoy the best reputation. Most marketers figure PLR was written by someone who either doesn’t speak English well or has no background in the subject matter. Oftentimes the PLR is cobbled together with a lousy sales letter with amateur graphics and sold as a package to unsuspecting marketers.
Is that how you view PLR? If so, it’s no wonder. Many PLR packages aren’t worth the money which is why potential buyers are leery of new offers. But there is a way to still sell boatloads of PLR to marketers, and it works like this:
Before you sell PLR licenses, sell the product as it is. Launch the product on its own without rights. Sell it to your list, put it on JVZoo or wherever you want. Make no mention that you will be selling the PLR rights to it, not even as an upsell.
The idea is to let it stand on its own. Now it’s tried and tested, there is no question it sells, and it stands apart from every other PLR offer out there because it’s proven.
Wait a couple of weeks and then offer the rights to it. Often the people who purchased the product from you in the first place will be the first people to buy the rights, too, because they’ve seen the product and they value it.
If you want to sell the PLR licenses for a higher price, then simply restrict the number of people who can purchase a license. And you won’t need to convince anyone that your PLR is of great quality because it will already be a proven seller.
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, then you know I advocate testing everything to see what works rather than simply taking the advice of others. In fact, I tell my readers to test what I preach as well. Just because I say something works for me doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you.
For example, let’s talk about bonuses – those things we’re all told to attach to offers to increase conversions. We sometimes spend as much time building bonuses as we do creating the product itself. But did you know that bonuses don’t always increase sales?
And that sometimes they can actually HURT your sales?
I’m not sure why that happens, but I can remember a time or two when I’ve been tempted to purchase a product and then noticed the bonuses. Inside I groaned… “You mean I have to download and read all that stuff, too?” It’s too much, and I close the page rather than make the purchase.
Bonuses can distract from the main product, dilute the main product’s value and even make the whole product package too big and too complicated.
Plus, bonuses sometimes cause confusion or point out a flaw in the product. “Why are they adding the bonus on getting traffic? Oh my gosh, that’s right, I’ll need to get traffic to make this work. How hard is it to get traffic? It must be difficult or they wouldn’t add that bonus. Forget it, I can’t do this…”
This is why the smart marketer tests out each bonus. Try making your offer with and without the bonuses and see what happens. If you have more than one bonus, you might also test having more or less of those bonuses until you find just the right combination or no bonuses at all, whichever converts the best.
And here’s a bonus for you: The next time you create a product, don’t assume you have to make a half dozen bonuses, too. Maybe you can save time and increase sales by simply offering your product as is. Now wouldn’t that be great?
Would you like to know how the highest-ranking affiliates are making their sales?
Here’s how to find out:
Research the top selling evergreen products at places like JVZoo and Warrior Plus. See who is winning the leaderboard competitions and then get on their lists.
You might have to do a little Googling to locate their sites, blogs, squeeze pages or whatever, but it’s not that difficult.
Join their lists and then watch their emails.
You’ll see how they warm their lists as well as the exact email sequences they use to sell products.
Don’t copy their emails word for word, but do study them and figure out what makes them work. Then write your own.
You’ll have email sequences for all of the best evergreen products, written in styles that you already know convert. Plug them into your autoresponder and make sales!
I once knew a marketer who wouldn’t lower his prices no matter what. He lived in constant terror that old customers would be mad that the course they bought last month or last year for $197 now cost $97. Heck, they might even demand a refund of the price difference. I’m pretty sure he imagined that every one of his customers was sitting at the computer just waiting for the price to drop so they could complain.
News flash: They weren’t.
And I’ve known plenty of marketers who wouldn’t raise their prices. Again, they were afraid of angering customers and losing business.
But Dan Kennedy’s first advice to almost every business owner is to immediately raise their prices. Most of his clients balk at this and some are so opposed they even throw a fit. But Dan wears them down until they acquiesce, and guess what happens? The sky doesn’t fall down, customers don’t disappear and the business starts making a whole lot more money.
As marketers we bring our own psychological ‘money baggage’ to the business. All those things we were told as kids about money can still cause us problems, and it’s usually our business that pays the price.
Next time you want to raise or lower your prices, you might refer to this list to find a way that makes both you and your customers comfortable with the process.
1: Timing. If you want to permanently raise prices, first make sure that your customers are happy with your product or service. Use the good feedback, reviews and testimonials when you explain your new pricing.
2: Sound the Alarm. Before you raise your prices across the board, consider telling EVERYONE that it’s going to happen. While some marketers prefer to make as little noise about price increases as possible, other marketers take advantage of the situation by telling the world that if they want the lower price, NOW is the time to jump in.
3: Add or Subtract Something. You can justify raising or lowering your price by adding or subtracting something from your offer. Maybe you add another product – such as an older course you stopped selling – to the mix to justify an increased price. Or if your product’s sales are dropping, you can remove one of the bonuses – such as coaching – and lower the price to make it more accessible to everyone.
4: Bundle. Offer discounts if they purchase more than one item.
5: Play with Numbers. Let’s say you sell a tangible product. You offer 10 units of a product for $100 but you want to raise the price to $115. Add two more, different-sized packages such as a 5 pack for $75 and a 3 pack for $50. This makes the 10 pack look like a good deal, even at the higher price.
6: Add fees. This only works with some product categories, such as gym memberships, mortgages, cars and so forth. But it can be possible to add in a ‘fee’ for signing up. You can call it an administration fee, set up fee or whatever you choose. If fees are standard in your industry, then it’s certainly an option.
I’m not fond of fees, but they can be especially effective as incentives when you offer to waive the fee if they join today. It’s like having a sale without having a sale, if you know what I mean. Yes, that is a gray area, but something to think about.
7: Improve the Offer. Do you want to sell your $197 course for $297? Update it and add some new content, making the old version look obsolete. Let the buyers of the old version know they can upgrade to the new version for whatever fee you choose (in this case, $0 to $100).
8: Change Sizes. If your product’s size can be adjusted – more or less of a product or service – then you can change the price accordingly.
9: Schedule Price Increases. If you schedule your price increases in advance – such as every January or July – and you let customers know about your schedule, they won’t be surprised or upset.
10: Target a Different Demographic. If you find you need to significantly raise your prices, consider targeting a different customer base altogether. For example, maybe you’re helping yoga instructors with their marketing and you realize they don’t make much money and thus can’t pay you much money. Switch to plumbers, dentists, chiropractors or lawyers and you can likely double or triple your prices without doing any extra work.
Last thoughts: If you’re raising your prices, it’s best to plan ahead. It doesn’t turn out well if you tell your customers you’re going to raise prices just once this year only to discover you have to do it a second time before the year is over.
If you lower prices, such as when you have a sale, then there might be a previous buyer or two who notices and sends you a disgruntled email. Write back and offer them a free electronic product of their choice. It costs you nothing and they will likely be happy that you responded to their concern.
Let me preface this by reminding you that the greatest selling tool in all the world isn’t the internet, or sales letters or sales videos or even word of mouth. It’s stories.
Stories sell like nothing else because we are hard wired to listen to and love stories. It’s in our genes. There was a time when storytelling could literally save our lives. Think of a primitive man coming back from a hunt and telling everyone in camp the story of how ‘Bob’ was killed by a saber tooth tiger in the sixth valley to the south.
Do you think anyone would venture into the sixth valley to the south after that? No way, because they knew the story of how Bob got killed by the tiger who lives there.
Now then, here’s how to get experts to practically write your blog posts for you AND get them to do it in story form:
Ask them a question that invites a personal story.
For example, your blog is about investing in commodities. This week you want a blog post on pork futures (I’m making this stuff up right now) so you send out an email to every commodities expert you know of, asking them about their most memorable pork futures story. It doesn’t matter if they made or lost money, you just want to hear their story. A dozen of them write back and you put those stories together into a post.
You’re doing a few things here:
First, you’re getting experts to weigh in on an interesting question, which means you get to ‘borrow’ on their credibility, making you look good to your readers and customers.
Second, you’re doing this in story form, and since people love stories, they are coming back to your blog every week for more of these stories.
Third, you’re building a relationship with these experts. Sure, some of them won’t respond to you, but others will be eager to share their stories. And down the road, who knows what might happen. They could end up promoting your product to their lists, or asking you to do a JV, or even becoming good friends with you.
Fourth, blog posts like these tend to get shared on social media which brings in more traffic.
Fifth, your experts might also share your posts with their followers. “Hey, my hog futures story is featured in this post, check it out.”
The trick here is to phrase your questions in such a way that it invites personal stories.
And don’t forget to ask your readers the same questions. Sometimes it’s the everyday guy or gal you don’t know who has the best story – the one that makes your article go viral or even get referenced on other major sites.
