2-days, $200 = Extra $2500 Per Month
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Landing Pages
Forget for a minute things like click through rates, ad placement and keyword phrases.
Those things are important for one reason and one reason only: to get people from point A (Google) to point B (your sales process).
SIDE NOTE: It really helps to get questions from you, because I just do what I do and sometimes I’m too focused on the “wow” material to recognize some readers need things I “just do”.
OK, so we’re talking about what REALLY matters to a marketer and that is conversion. If you don’t convert, you make no money.
There’s buyer traffic, shopper traffic and info seeker traffic when it comes to people doing Google searches. And I’ve added a fourth type of traffic to this list, but it doesn’t apply to Google so I’ll leave that to another post. This is the type of “BIG” traffic you hear people talking about, but making it work isn’t as easy as some would have you believe.
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Now, I STRONGLY believe that you should ALWAYS be focused on building lists. And, you can go about list building with all of the above. At the least, with a list, you should be able to double your conversion rates with a decent follow-up effort. Plus, if they don’t go for this offer then there other plenty of other offers to be made – or you can leverage those lists for joint ventures, etc.
X
Have a question you want an answer to? Leave a comment. If you don’t want your comment made public, that’s cool - I’ll answer it without posting your details.
Sales Are Easy, Profiting Is Hard?
I’m doing some market research at the Warrior Forum -
I put up the question, “What do you love about Adwords, and what do you hate?”
The first response fits here perfectly:
“Making sales with Adwords is easy - profiting is hard.”
There are some things .X. is friggin’ lousy at - for one, I’m a disorganized mess.
What I’m good at, though, is looking at a situation and seeing solutions. I used to have to work at that - now it’s natural.
And to do it requires getting out of the box and recognizing what the existing paradigm is.
Internet marketing is changing so fast that you can’t hold on to old paradigms - it’s no different than holding onto a concrete block in a swimming pool.
The old Adwords paradigm is the Google Cash paradigm; spend one dollar on ads and work at making 2 dollars or more in return.
It’s not legendary fable that there was a time when it was easy to make six to eight dollars for every dollar spent - now, I regularly make 2 or 3 dollars on those campaigns - but you better expect the trend is going down on the profit margins.
Because of this old paradigm, most Adwords marketers (at least the affiliates) are finding it harder and harder to make money. Then you have tools like Undercover Profits coming out which basically exposes those . . . and you get the picture.
People are dying here.
So here’s the shift you need to make now - ...
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Black Books Blog Changes
Based on the number of people who’ve registered for this blog in the last 24 hours, my guess is you’re probably wondering what’s going on here.
“X, what’s the deal?”
I’ve promised a couple of projects this year that just aren’t getting done like I want them to - plus I’ve found a new love in blogs. Now that I “get” Wordpress, I want to do more with it.
There are things I’m happy to share with the public in an open access blog. There are other things that I think have a value to them and instead of delaying the release of that material until I have enough good material to put out a book (I currently have 4 books in various stages, plus a membership site) I’ve decided to start posting more often, with even higher quality content here.
At this point, it’s just an experiment and that’s why I’m only asking $17 per month to give you complete access to the blog. I assure you that I will be posting more often and the content will be what you’d expect for paid material from X.
I’ve set the bar low enough for you that there isn’t any real risk. And for me, I’ve set the bar a little higher so I have a compelling reason to share more ideas, more often here.
Maybe you’d prefer to spend your $67 per month on Google Nemesis where you’ll read second-hand, hacked up versions of what I’ve written about in the past. Or maybe, you’d prefer to get it fresh from the source.
By the way, $17 per month will only be available for a limited time - I fully intend to provide more value than that. But let’s prove it first. NOTE: If you join for $17 per month NOW, you will only pay $17 per month for as long as I do this.
To become a member, you just need to register with my blog and then make your payment through PayPal, which you’ll be prompted to do when you login. Simple as that.
All the best to you - X
Affiliate Marketing With Adwords
Here are some PPC / affiliate marketing tips I left on the forum for Renegade Affiliate Copy ( a service from John Hostler that I recommend HIGHLY ).
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I’ll offer some tips, since I know a little about making money with affiliate marketing and PPC.
1. Ads
Think in terms of AIDA and adding value.
Most ads out there being run by affiliates who’ve read books like Affiliate Project X and Day Job Killer are absolute garbage.
What do I mean?
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Google Slap
Google has taken the turn.
The “100 PHDs in white lab coats” have been replaced by cheap, outsourced ESL labor.
I have no problem with ESLers - I do have a problem with them making decisions for my business based on a clear lack of understanding of MY business and their attempts to interpret Google’s rules. Don’t tell me “Google Slap” will improve my ROI - people click on my ads and always have. People take the actions I want them to take at my site. I have tracked and tested this for years and I do what I do because it is PROVEN TO WORK.
In short, X is feeling the pain of being Google slapped after years of running my business the way I want to run it and Google should mind it’s own damn business.
While Google KNOWS NOTHING about actually selling a tangible good online - just scraping other people’s content and selling ads on it - they think they know what’s best for my ROI. You know what Google? You might know algorithms, but you don’t know crap about my ROI - I wouldn’t do what I do if my ROI wasn’t great.
Since Google is and has been an important source of traffic I have to adapt to what the system will give me, just like everyone else. Failure to do so is stupid. What this means in my case is something inevitably devious - a way to work the system. And you better believe I’m ready to work their system and give them the finger - nobody beats X when it matters. That includes Google.
What have I changed about my approach (that I’m willing to share now - and unfortunately I can’t share much anymore without some wannabe “Rockstar” or tag-along X ripping it off and putting it in “their” ebook. Just wait and watch after I unleash my next offer - there will be a ton of new copycat products soon to follow. To be honest with you, this has pissed me off to the extent that I was going to leave this niche until John Hostler reminded me “This niche really needs some people who care about producing good value for the customer.” I agree.)First, Google does like blogs. I have been converting all of my sites over to blogs anyway and the same basic setup I use has gone from poor quality scores to great quality scores.
The lesson? Just like in the days when I was heavy into page generator sites, you want to make “things” appear to be something other than what they are. To be somewhat more clear, when I did page generator sites the scraped content was the first thing read by the spiders but what the human eye saw was a relevant and targeted article on a page that looked great (most of these sites ARE STILL ranked and ranked well). The human eye really didn’t NOTICE the scraped content on the page - it wasn’t the focal point of the page.
NOTE: Once a domain has been slapped it’s all but dead with Google. Build your new campaign on a new domain name.
Second, my theory is that Google is pushing advertisers towards the content network. Traffic to the search engine is finite and they’ve probably grown the majority of what they can - traffic to the rest of the Internet has far greater potential. So far it seems anything goes on the content network and I’m making that traffic work just as well as Adwords search network did a year or two back. In other words, with the right approach it works great.
If you want to hear more about what I’m up to and what’s working for me, plan on attending the Internet Marketing Super Conference June 19-22 in Las Vegas. I’ll also share one of my recent “Smack me in the side of the head” revelations about where the BEST affiliate programs to promote can be found. I can’t believe I didn’t realize this years ago but it’s the one thing every super-producing affiliate campaign I’ve ever run over a long period of time has in common.
The Affiliate Black Book
I’ve written a ton of material that could end up in the Affiliate Black Book - now the challenge is to whittle it down.
Tentatively here’s a peek inside:
1. Dirty Little Secrets for Using OPP as Your Front End
2. The Unappointed Affiliate Manager
3. The Appointed Affiliate Manager
4. How to Have Affiliates Send You Traffic Even When You Have No Product
5. The Sneaky Ad***** Trick
6. Top-Secret Tricks and Little-Known Tools
Basically, the point of this book is how to take advantage of affiliate marketing beyond just making a few bucks here and there on commissions.
If that’s the only thing you’re using affiliate marketing for then you’re really missing the big picture (at least that I see).
I’m also working on a membership site project with a mega-geek programmer from Microsoft. I mean “mega-geek” in the nicest way.
I’m motivated to get both of these projects out by June 1 . . .
X
Godin Tells Google About Adwords
Interesting presentation by Seth Godin to Google about why he thinks Adwords works.
Raw X Having Bitch Slappin’ Fun
I have a bunch of video piling up from presentations I’ve done - lots of great unreleased material. I’m kicking around the idea of releasing a DVD mini-set - or putting the video up in a membership site.
This material isn’t as pretty and polished as the Black Book DVDs but it’s like getting some killer basement recordings from the Beattles that nobody’s ever heard. Some of the material is redundant, but every presentation I’ve ever done has been totally unique - no “Hey, this presentation raked in back of the room sales so I’m going to do it every time I get in front of a group” crap. That’s not why I do presentations - I actually want to give people material they can use.
One of these videos was recorded yesterday. It was meant to be an “Adwords Basics” for a local group of IMers and ended up going in all kinds of crazy directions.
I decided to do a “basics training” because even though there’s a glut of Adwords beginner info available - even Google’s own training - there’s “something” too many people aren’t getting. This is literally true to the point of me giving people keyword phrases, telling “go run this ad on these terms” and they’re not getting the results I get promoting on the EXACT same terms.
So that video is an introduction to Adwords from the perspective of an advanced Adwords guy. I mean really, you don’t show a guy a few basic moves and then throw him in with the wolves. You need to know what the wolves are thinking and how they approach the game or you’re going to get killed.
DON’T GET CUTE WITH X - I WILL DESTROY YOU
The best part of the whole presentation was discovering a competitor getting cute, running an ad on my turf. Real time, in front of this group, I bitch slapped this fool. I can’t wait until he sees how I’ve replaced his ad, using his URL and planted a major facial on him in the process.
Let’s be clear on one thing - X has been quiet on the teaching front for a while. We’ve seen a lot of Adwords “gurus” pop up since I came out with the Adwords Black Book and a lot of them have tried to emulate my style, stole my material and generally disrespected The Master.
Well, The Master has taken notes and I’m here to say - loudly and publicly - any mother fucker who wants to take me on in the Adwords game better come ready and fully loaded. I’ll take on anyone, anywhere, anytime - and I will destroy their ass.
Rant aside, brothers and sisters, break out your Adwords Black Book - break out your DVDs and go pick a fight.
“How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” - Tyler Durden
The way you get REAL good at anything is to call out the best of the best and to see what you’ve got. If you win - then you know what you’ve got. And if you lose, you learn something and you don’t make the same mistakes again.
X
Ad Writing Tips And Shortcuts
Don’t Miss Out on This
“Are You Freakin’ for Real?!” Offer
. . . Really, Click This Link
The Copy Cat Approach
Because I have the mad skills to write a great ad I don’t do this for the reason others do it.
Marketing is a game of mental warfare. Remember that. It’s a game of influence. It’s a game of attention. It’s a game of planting the seeds of ideas until those ideas add up to something powerful enough that another human MUST take action.
So here’s why I copy ads - I love getting in my competition’s head and nothing pisses an Adwords marketer off more than having their ad copied (and it’s totally legally – and, like, I’m totally not a lawyer, you know).
The Adsense Site Approach
I advise building “Adsense sites” around the successful PPC terms you use. Sure, you can make a little change with Adsense (and you can smoke crack too).
But, I like building these sites and using tracking software like Adsense Detective that tells me who’s ads are producing clicks in the world on content network advertising.
You and I can GUESS which ads do well; seeing actual click data, however, is a crafty trick you’ll only learn from a world class asshole like me.
If All Else Fails, People Love to Have Their Fears, Doubts and Suspicions Aroused.
Life sucks, everyone’s a cheating, thieving whore. The government’s corrupt, athletes are juiced up freaks of nature, and that Paris Hilton . . .
Misery, my friends, loves company. Don’t underestimate just how miserable 90% of the population is.
But I hope I’ve made the point this can either be well done or butchered beyond belief.
Don’t Lose Sight of Your Objective
I have observed that most people write ads without giving much thought (MUCH? Come on - they aren’t giving a fucking ounce of thought to it) to the objective of the ad. Is it to generate clicks (and spend as much money as possible)? Is it to sell a product? Is it to sell a free download? Is it to gain a subscriber?
The answer may seem so obvious it’s stupid to even waste space with such an asinine question.
Think again hotshot.
The objective of your ads is to get THE RIGHT people from point A to point B – from Google to your site – who will take the next action you wan them to take.
For X, the next action is usually to optin. No selling, no attempt at the exchange of money, occurs until AFTER that event. If I’ve attracted THE RIGHT PEOPLE then once we’ve established a relationship I show them the goods.
If you ain’t clear, you gonna get rung.
I see too many people jump on the latest scheme like “Is This a Scam” (a weak knockoff of my “Don’t buy until after you read this revealing review” approach) and while that probably used to generate some clicks, what frame of mind is that person in when they click?
Oh, shocker, I’m on a hyped-up-to-hell sales page wondering if this is a scam or not.
Yeah, brilliant.
Oh, Some Basic Stuff
You have four parts to an ad and each can be utilized to PUSH THE SEARCH TOWARDS ACTION.
First of all, you must understand the frame of mind a searcher is in when they do a search. A search is the desire for information pushed forward by some degree of pain and discomfort.
I think I’ve shared this somewhere before: entertainment - ALL ENTERTAINMENT - is an escape from reality. Really - who wants to watch TV when they could be in a state of orgasm? They don’t. They watch TV to get away from the misery and boredom of current reality. And they search for much the same reasons.
So . . . you have two things to consider. One, people search because they have questions and they want answers. What is Internet marketing? Do people really make money doing this? If they do make money, what are the best programs for teaching how to do that? OK . . . everyone seems to like this program, what’s the best deal I can get on it?
Do you know the questions in the mind of your targets? You better.
The second part of this equation is entertainment. Your job is to answer questions and to do it in an entertaining manner. If you had all of the answers and you were on fire about what’s sitting on your plate right now, would you be reading this blog? If you had a super-hot member of the sex you get revved up about getting nasty with ripping at your clothes right now, would you be reading this blog?
Sometimes you want to go right to the point - and sometimes you want to take people on a detour from reality. Because people don’t buy products - they buy illusions they hope become realities.
OK . . . back to the basics of ad writing.
Headlines best practice (but not the only) -
Your search terms with a question mark . . .
Internet Marketing?
Description best practice -
Do a search on “adult dvds” for great examples. State your USP whenever possible. Get to the point. Tell people what they want to know, need to know, that answers the questions you’ve identified in their head.
They’re looking for something and if you are not getting clicks then what you’re saying isn’t what they’re looking for (or you have failed to create a new question in their head).
Remember - a click on a link means “I have a question and I want an answer”. Fail to hit on the question they have, they couldn’t care less about your answer (another term for this is, uh, relevance).
Destination URL best practice -
This is highly underutilized real estate. I went crazy on this in the Black Book DVDs. There’s still tons of www-keyword.com real estate available out there. It works. .org is also a good route - people trust .org and .org is almost always available.
Content Network
I was going to stop but I can’t - not yet.
I’ve been addicted to content network advertising lately. It’s a different beast. Using the Adwords 180 approach (think page targeting instead of site targeting) I’m running ads on pages that promote competitor products. A good idea, you know.
But being the insidious bastard that I am, I don’t just write a standard ad. No. I’m on a page written by an affiliate promoting another product right? And the poor damn schmuck, he puts Adsense on the page because he thinks he’s going to make a few extra bucks.
So here’s what I do . . . with his glowing testimonial in hand, I write my ad -
I Recommend This Highly -
Product Y Is Good, but Product X is
Better for WHATEVER THEIR ISSUE.
www-mysite.com
Now, after the reader has read how great Product Y is, on behalf of the author I’m telling the reader “Here’s something even better”.
I don’t think “evil” is the word. No.
OK - I’ve given you more than enough to get jacked up about for one day. Now get to work (or give an IM guru the finger, eat a scone . . . and then get to work).
X
PS - Don’t forget about the Black Book DVDs offer. Get em now, pay for them later and save a ton. Quanties? They’re more limited than you know and I’m not duping ANY MORE. NEVER.
