To:	Real Estate info-product marketers
	From:	Ken Wade Ocala, FL
	Re:	Product Launches, Affiliate Marketing & Making Money

 

Greetings!

“Are gurus getting tired of sending their lists
to squeeze pages with forced opt ins???”

I couldn’t believe it when a fellow guru posted this question on the JVUpdate service just weeks ago, in the midst of some hot and heavy product launches!

But it was no surprise that an inquiry like this finally demanded to be acknowledged.

Questions and problems with Product Launches have increasingly become ‘Topic # 1’ in the back-rooms and hallways of real estate JV events. Mostly, they’re hushed conversations; no one wants to rock the boat... but (nearly) everyone privately bitches about them.

I responded. Little did I know…

My email reply would ignite a powder keg.
(Read It Here)

Within hours, dozens of other JVs weighed-in,
publicly and privately. Nearly all agreed...

...it was time to dump
the hype and look at the numbers.

Because there were a couple product launches in-progress – and the drumbeat of frustration was snowballing, I sent a follow up email the next day to calm things down – and defer discussion until there was a break in the launch activity.
(read the follow-up here)

 

There was a lot of public and private support for what got started... and some negative blowback as well... generally in the form of:

Frankly, some things are inevitable, and it was only a matter of time before affiliates wised-up and stopped recklessly promoting any launch that came down the pike.

It was also inevitable that some ill-informed launch sponsors, literally buying into the hype, would eventually lose their shirt --and their reputation -- in the process.

We’re starting to see that already.

The real estate info-product market has changed.

The appetite for the same old stuff has faded.

Public awareness has grown jaundiced.

While the product launch CONCEPT works, the same old monkey-see-monkey-do launch implementation tactics are failing.

But there’s good news!

There ARE solutions!

One example: On any given day – I’m passively sponsoring 5 or 10 or 50 fully-automated ‘mini-launches’ for myself... and have been doing it that way for a long time.

I don’t spend a single dollar on promotion, or an hour of my time on execution. (I don’t even keep track anymore – or have any involvement whatsoever, except to make sure the money’s still coming in and that my subscriber list is still growing.)

I can show you exactly how I do it!

... and help you develop a sustainable business model.

The future for “the new decade” of product launches is bright, if you know what to do and what to avoid. Just don’t buy in to the fallacy of “What’s good for one is good for all.”

I’ve spent many hours on the phone helping many of you launch your own product.

I love helping others, especially when they help me... but there’s just not enough time to keep doing one-offs; having the same conversation over and over with each new friend.

At the risk of trying to ‘automate’ personal relationships, the main purpose of my (now infamous)...

...was to do just that!

I simply wanted to automate the process of:

1) Sharing some insight, tracking results and research with you,
2) Have a candid peer-group discussion with you, and
3) Develop a mutual business relationship with you.

Look, I’ve had world-class analytic and business training, spent years in the internet marketing trenches, was the first real estate guru to even do an internet product launch (back in July, 2006).... and manage to do some things exceptionally well (the benefit of being a left-brained analytic geek!).

I absolutely suck at doing many other important tasks (the curse of being a left-brained analytic geek!).

Lucky for both of us...
we complement each other!

Over the last couple years, I got out of my ‘comfort box’ and invested heavily in formal Networking and Mastermind groups. It was great on so many levels, especially meeting most of you.

I was floored at what exceptional speakers/promoters and natural born marketers most of you are! Seriously, I bow down with respect, and wish I could have a fraction of your abilities!

But becoming an internet-marketing powerhouse requires a radically different skill set!!

Acquiring a radically different skill set requires first getting enough information to know what you don’t know.

These are serious times for marginal performers.

As the started progressing from ‘idea’ to ‘action’ - a few things became apparent, primarily:

• It is intended for an exclusive group of individuals who are actively in the game and already promote third-party products to their subscriber list. That means some level of access control.
• The discussion needs to be kept confidential; out of public hands. This is inside information intended to elevate everybody’s game, not some kind of expose’ that demeans anyone, or our industry in general.
• It needs to be a mind-share process with an efficient two-way communication system; disjointed emails are too hard to follow and keep up with.
• The issues first raised about ‘launches’ are all interrelated to your operations, goals and KSFs (Key Success Factors) – They go way beyond first/last cookie, forced opt-ins and alternative launch solutions.
  

Look at the topics below. It's way too much for a single report.

It became clear that...

Product Launches might
be the least of your worries.

Here's the initial chapter outline.

Running Your Business

• What’s your Business Model (Citrus Stand vs. Auto Mechanic)
  
• Your plan for a declining market (you haven’t seen the worst)
  
• Branding (it’s what you are)
  
• Best Scripts & Services to Automate Your Operations (what I use)
  
• Building Your Own Automated Webcast & Perpetual Launch System
  
• Automated JV Recruiting (How I do it w/ no JV Manager)
  
• List Building (How I consistently get 70% - 90% opt-in rates)
  
• A/B Split Testing (if you aren’t doing it – you’re fired!)
  
• Reciprocal Marketing Games (‘A’ list vs. ‘C’ list)
  
• Are you Prepared for the $5 Trillion Cut in Credit Card lines?
  
• Internet or Die (growth in a declining market)
  
• Automate Everything (How I do it w/ one V.A. – and trade stocks all day)
  
• Bigger is not Better (Overgrown Forehead Theory, running an efficient ship)
  
• Diversify (leverage your skills beyond real estate)
  
• Email Delivery Strategies (text, HTML, subject lines)
  
• See Yourself as Your Customer Sees You (browsers, email, junk filters)
  
• Customer Relationship & Retention (content & frequency of emails)
  
• Video Marketing (do funny videos make them like you?)
  
• Affiliate Marketing Networks (Clickbank, etc.)
  
• There’s Another World of Investors (they’ve never heard of any of us)
  
• Social Media – Web 2.0 Marketing (could use little help here!)
  
• PPC & SEO Marketing (one strategy does NOT fit all)
  
• V.A.’s and Outsourcing (When, Where & How)
  
• Make Your Product a BizOp (increase sales, retention and subscriber growth)
  
• Hidden Cost of Your Webinar Service (how I doubled conversions)
  
• How to Automate, Automate, Automate (then automate the automation)
  
• How I got up to 2,000% monthly ROI w/ postcards (and other offline strategies)
  
• Much More!

Promoting Others’ Launches

• The fallacy of higher sales conversions (you’re not in a vacuum)
  
• Reciprocity & Relationships (or are you just buzz fodder?)
  
• Future Direction for Launches (evolution of the Internet Marketing space)
  
• When you should promote
  
• Are Forced Opt-ins Necessary? (why most Big Dogs don’t promote in that game)
  
• Taking your list to the Party (but leaving empty-handed)
  
• First Cookie Strategies (Zargonics & trickery)
  
• Last Cookie Strategies (don’t do the heavy lifting)
  
• Product Launch Theory (and where it breaks down)
  
• Do you really want to compete against everyone else? (WIIFM)
  
• Webinar Strategies (LIFO, it’s who you know))
  
• What does your customer think? (Should you care?)
  
• Getting Paid (Can you believe this even has to be discussed?)
  
• Tracking Your Competition (playing to win)
  
• Smoke, Mirrors and Hype (How ‘bout a little respect)
  
• Early Signs of a Troubled Launch (where’s the beef)
  
• Why you can’t rely on test conversion stats (controlled conditions)
  
• Reciprocity (what do you bring to the table, get it in writing)
  
• Don’t be rushed (just because they are)
  
• Review the Product (lessons hard learned)
  
• Real Time Reporting & Access to Detail (can you see inside)
  
• Why would you want to compete against 80 other JVs?
  
• Big Hat – No Cattle (B.S. Detector)
  
• Know your metrics (revenue/email/month, improving each step of the funnel)
  
• Big List/ Small List Strategies (How I get top 10 w/ a small list and no bonuses)
  
• Getting Credit for ALL Your Traffic and Sales (how to check, what to avoid)
  
• Much More!

Sponsoring Your own Launch

• Why make them opt-in? (over and over and over)
  
• Hiring Consultants (vs. automation and DIY)
  
• One-offs vs. Rolling vs. Perpetual
  
• Event risk - Reputation Risk & Losing Your Shirt
  
• Relationships and Reciprocity (Who doesn’t want 80 JVs promoting you?)
  
• Prizes & Budgets (run your own sensitivity analysis first)
  
• Posting Stats and Back-office Accounting access
  
• 1-Click Up-sells (scripts, best practices & mistakes)
  
• Social Proof - JV Blogs, Customer Blogs (don’t do it ass-backwards)
  
• Paying Your JVs (Can you believe this even has to be discussed?)
  
• Product, Funnel and Testing (Don’t blow your one opportunity)
  
• K.I.S.S. (examples of complex failures)
  
• Cancellation, Refunds, Charge-backs & Sales Floor
  
• Much More!

The ‘topics list’ has grown significantly beyond what you see above; no doubt you’ve got many others.

Your very survival may depend on how you automate and position your business. Whether or not (and how) you participate in launches is merely a sub-set of the bigger picture.

From a management consultant perspective, focusing on promoting launches without first looking at your business model is like focusing on a low fat diet while you’re undergoing open heart surgery.

If you aren’t already Internet-centric, you may not even be around long enough to see this real estate cycle through to the other side – and you’ll certainly lose market share.

The breadth and depth of topics we should be collaborating on makes it impossible to cover in a single report. It would take months to compile, be way too much content, and lack the iterative dialog process where we all gain from the collective wisdom of the group.

So here’s the deal...

 

Mastermind Group – Summary (Show)

 

Sign-Up Now!

• Complete the JV Enrolment Form below & Submit
• Complete the Short ‘set-up’ questionnaire linked on the Thank You page
• Remember to CONFIRM your email double opt-in (or you won’t get messages)

We’ll be in touch via email after you complete the set-up Questionnaire!

Warm regards,

 

Ken Wade
Ken@RealEstatePress.com
Direct: (353) 307-7211

P.S. – I certainly don’t have all the answers, but will gladly build the infrastructure and share what I do know!

 

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