Entries from April 2010 ↓

If you run in IM (Internet Marketing) circles at all (take that literally or figuratively, it works either way), you’ve probably heard Mike Filsaime is releasing his Butterfly Marketing Script to Open Source.  What’s that all about? Is it genius or stupidity?

Butterfly Marketing was a huge product for Mike.  I can’t tell you all about it. Not because I’m sworn to secrecy but because I never bought it. Lots of folks did though and lots of folks made some good money using it. Lots more never made a dime. But that’s not Mike’s fault.

In any case, I wanted to take a moment to examine what he’s doing NOW with a product that is well past it’s prime.  He’s giving it away. Does that mean it is now worthless? Not at all. As far as I know the system works as well as the day it was launched. So is Mike foolish for giving it away? It’s not the first foolish thing Mike has done. I know that for a fact.

Several years ago Mike was struggling to make a decision – whether to quit his job to pursue IM full time. He was making more in IM than his job paid  but he loved his work. And his job was a pretty good one. He was a sales manager for a large auto dealer and also ran the co-op marketing program for a dealer association. But there was a price.

He was commuting several hours a day on top of working something like 60 hours a week and THEN working in IM in his “spare” time. He asked folks in the Warrior Forum if he should quit his day job. Not being one to hold back my opinion, I sent him an email and cut loose.

I thought he was being foolish and I told him so. My point was not so much that he should quit his day job, though IMHO he should have, but of all the time he was spending working. I know he was married. I wasn’t sure about kids, but come on… there’s more to life than work. Even for me!

Anyway he did quit. We’ve emailed back and forth a few times on different subjects but I daresay he wouldn’t know me from Adam should I call him today.  I say that just so you don’t think I’m putting on airs about “who I know”.  So what about offering his flagship Butterfly Marketing for free?

Not so foolish as far as I’m concerned. As a matter of fact there are some valuable lessons to be learned from this.

Sure, Mike is giving this away free. And yes, it IS valuable, at least to those who will take action. But don’t you think for a minute, Mike will give this to you without an offer. And this is where his genius shines.

After you give Mike your name and email (he has mine 2-3 times over) he’ll add you to a list and send you to a special offer page. There you will have a chance to join his development group and adds a huge bundle of bonus items all for $200. I said “not thanks”. And here’s an obvious twist I’ve never seen before…

Mike takes you to a second page with a reduced price offer. Nothing special here, I HATE marketers hawking a markdown after I refuse full price. But Mike did something I thought was smart…

He cut some item out of the bonus as well as the price cut. Not only that but he also showed you what you  were missing. Genius.  And it makes you wonder why you never thought of doing that. I do it all the time with copywriting quotes.

I never quote a price and then offer a lower price for the  same work. Why should I do that? When I price something, I price it fairly (in my eyes) and offer good value. If I were to offer, say a 10% reduction for the same deal, I might as well say my quote was overpriced. So what do I do?

If you don’t like my price, I offer less for less money. And that is what Mike does here. He sticks by the original value he offered but made something less pricey available for cost conscious marketers. Good stuff.

Now it’s my turn to do something “foolish”.

I’m still not buying. Why?

Because I do not need the distraction of the Butterfly Marketing stuff. My focus right now is on building my copywriting business. To that end I am not even offering a link to the script. I’m sure if you pop Mike’s name and Butterfly Marketing in Google, you’ll find it.

God bless,

Andy

P.S. I’m putting the finishing touches on my Case Study Primer. I wanted to have it done by now but alas, it was not to be.  If you want both the new report and my current one on web site mistakes at no charge, subscribe to my blog alerts now.

P.P.S. And if you need a quote, feel free to contact me, I still have openings on my schedule but you need to allow a minimum of two weeks in advance. Use the contact form to the right or call me directly at 443-254–3703.

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Famous words for almost anyone who’s ever been fishing. For those of us who like to fish – those words are music to our ears. So what’s all that got to do with getting more business? Lots in a figurative sort of way…

You see, in order to get that fish, you’ve got to get a bite. To get the bite you’ve got to bait your hook. You don’t have to be a genius fisherman to know it’s a whole lot easier to catch fish with bait than without. The same principle works in sales… using what’s called a “bait piece”.

The good news for those of you who hate fishing is in sales you never have to try to put a yucky squirmy worm on a hook to dangle in front of customers. I’ve never tried that but I somehow think it may not work so well. Nope. In sales your bait piece usually comes in the form of a special report, a white paper or a case study.

There are other possibilities but these three are common. I offer one to prospective subscribers – my “5 Reasons Folks Flee from Your Website Like Extras in a Godzilla Movie” report. By the way that report will soon be pulled and offered as a paid product. More on that in a moment.

Your bait piece accomplishes a number of good things…

1) Your bait piece establishes your authority on a subject
2) It helps you develop a relationship with prospects
3) It helps you collect contact information

Most of all your bait piece persuades prospects to raise their hands and say “I’m interested”.  And that’s the whole point of  offering a bait piece to begin with.

As with fishing, hooking one is just the beginning. We’ve all heard about the one that got away. It’s always the big ones too. One you “get one” you need to build on that success and develop a relationship with your prospect. But that’s another subject. What goes into a good bait piece?

First it should be about something your prospects want to know about.  And it should be an area where you have some expertise.  Take my  “Why Visitors Flee” report for example…

It offers 5 solid ways you can entice folks to stick around and/or come back to your website. They are all simple to put in place and work very well. But if this was a blog about scrapbooking, would anyone coming here care? No.

That said, while I believe the report is very good and useful to anyone who has a web site, it may not be the best thing to offer you, kind reader, as you came here because you are interested in good copy. So, you see, even “I” can make what might possibly look to some folks as a teeny weeny boo-boo. Oh all right a MISTAKE! There. Happy now?

Back to our report – case study – white paper – whatever form your bait piece will take – it should be of interest to your visitors. Really this is ALL it has to be on the cover. Why?

Because they don’t know what’s inside until they “bite”… right?

Now the bait piece itself should be good stuff – after all you don’t want your “catch” to spit the bait out… right? But in reality the quality of what’s inside is an unknown until they open it. And once they do…

Here is your chance to shine. Like I said offer great information – show what you know about the topic. Don’t be afraid to cut loose. (The information silly, not the fish!) If you offer a service, don’t be afraid to tell them exactly how it’s done. By  all means, if you have trade secrets, keep them secret. But most folks will see all that goes into your work only to realize it’s far more complicated than they thought.. and hire you because you obviously know what you are doing.

Now about my own bait piece.  I’ll be replacing it in the next few days with a new report. Current subscribers will get the new report so if you subscribe before I put up the new one, you will get  BOTH reports (hint, hint). The old report will still be available for a nominal fee.

Plus I’ve got a few more on the drawing board. New ones will be made available to subscribers at no charge.

God bless,

Andy

P.S. If you need a case study, white paper or special report – contact me for a free no-obligation quote. Call 443-254-3703 or fill out the form on the right and I’ll contact you.

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