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This newsletter is long overdue.  I haven’t put together an update and summary of our most beneficial information since the middle of October!

First, I need to have a quick rant about my strategy session with Frank Kern’s office.

Strategy Session with Frank Kern’s Office

I just finished a strategy session with a gentleman from Frank Kern’s office.  I didn’t even know Frank Kern had an office, let alone a staff.  Part of me still feels like it was a scam, but the conversation and information provided was all spot-on.  Plus, the call was one-on-one.  Either way, I learned a lot and am very thankful for the insight that was provided.

The Goal of the Strategy Session

The goal of the call was to get me to purchase a course on how to sell big ticket coaching and training info, and the person I was speaking with took a genuine interest in my business.  I did not buy the course and the person did not pressure me to do so.  The sales process used was very efficient and effective – very straight forward, actually.

Underneath the hood there was definitely a seasoned sales process, so well-tested and applied that it was barely noticeable: intro, learn about my roadblocks, summarize my roadblocks back to me, explain the opportunity that I am missing, provide awesome insight, breakdown a process to smash my roadblocks, upcoming course looking for decisive people, you might be a good fit, price, big discount for buying now articulated beautifully.  In 60 minutes this guy went from a stranger to a 41% closing ratio on a $8,000 8 week coaching program on how to sell big ticket items.  I know his conversion ratio because I asked him straight up and he gave me a straight answer.

My Biggest Takeaway from the Call

One of my biggest takeaways was a fresh and more focused perspective on the content I create.  He did a little research on me before the call and was shocked that I am giving away my 51 page Rocket2Profit eBook for free.  When he asked me why I am doing so on the call, my response was “because I want to.”  I have questioned my decision before, as the eBook cost me a pretty penny to produce and I did invest a great deal of time writing it (as did my colleague Lou).  I could have sold the eBook for $297 or more, but I chose not to because I wanted to break the mold and provide massive value at no cost.  Lou, being the good person that he is, backed my decision.  A small but growing group of infomarketers are doing the same thing: “opting to give great quality no-pitchy content away for free or for a very low cost.  This concept can be traced to nurture marketing principles, and likens itself to the methods of tending crops: there is a time to water, a season to grow, another to prune, and then the harvest.

Now is not the time to harvest, now is the time to help people survive so they can thrive when the season changes!  Plus, thanks to an evolution in the way the internet works (mainly social media) it is possible to stack ‘em high and sell them low.  Before social media, SEO’s were dominating the search engines.  They still are, but thanks to social media, good news and information can travel fast, thus evening the playing field a little between the black hat SEO practitioners and a genuine marketer.  Affiliate relationships still play a major factor in sales, and the big list networks are like a mafia, but one can tap into the effect of making a difference in their prospects and customers lives and asking them to tell people about it.

Up until now, I have struggled to categorize my content, putting it into the all encompassing bucket of “online marketing”.  The issue is that I don’t just cover online marketing, and the category is to broad to explain the value proposition (I don’t feel the category does my content justice).  What I learned on the call is that I provided information on “Cutting-Edge Business Development Strategies and Modern Marketing Systems.”  Alleluia!  I have been looking for those words for months now.  It just goes to show the power of having a mastermind group.  Everyone needs perspective, and perspective is definitely a success accelerator!

Spotlight

How to Turn a Video Email into a Marketing Tool

A video email by itself is a great way to communicate effectively, but if that video email doesn’t have a call to action that’s easy to follow (meaning: they don’t have to type the URL into a search engine to find what you’re talking about, rather there is an easy clickable link to the right of your video email message), then your audience is less likely to take action.

jiveSYSTEMS members can create multiple sets of exit links to be used in combination with their videos, through the user interface (no coding required).  In this post, we created a screencast to show you how easy it is to create exit links for your video emails using jiveSYSTEMS.

Integrate Infusionsoft with GoToWebinar Using InfusionCore WebinarSync

You can now integrate Infusionsoft with GoToWebinar using InfusionCore WebinarSync.  An Infusionsoft web form can now be configured to auto-submit the GoToWebinar registration form.  As an Infusionsoft user, all I need to do is send a post to HTTP server with the GoToWebinar ID, which is as simple as adding a tag to a web form (it is in the same drop-down menu).

My Webinar Series

I am doing a webinar series all year.  The events are free to attend.  I explain “cutting-edge business development strategies and modern marketing systems” on the presentations.  My goal is to do a new webinar each week.  I am working towards my goal: right now I am averaging one webinar each month.  I could hit my target of one webinar each week, but I do not want to sacrifice the quality of the content or dilute the experience.  I invest a great deal of time fine tuning the presentation to enhance learning by using quality visuals, repetition, sequencing, and more.

The events last around 45 minutes and I open them up for 15 minutes of Q&A at the end.

Blog Posts You May Have Missed

Better and Faster Encoding for Your Video Emails

Our system was always fast, but with the launch of the tri-transcode feature (creating 3 video files for each video email you upload or record so your video will stream on iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, and Android devices) our system got bogged down.  So, we ported our encoding to a new system that is much faster (it can encode 3 files in less time than our old system took to encode 1).  For those of you who are watching closely, the system also provides additional settings which enable us to improve the video quality.  We are not working on adding HD resolution to our system, even though HD is more valuable from a marketing perspective.  Instead, compatibility via the tri-transcode and a universal player were our first goals.  This is because someone must first be able to see your video email on whatever computer or device they are using before they care whether it is HD or not.  HD also carries with it a large file size that has issues streaming on slower internet connections and mobile devices (meaning: it is overrated).

Video Marketing Strategy: ‘Broadcasting’ and ‘Narrowcasting’ — Apples and Oranges: You Decide?

One perspective is that these two ideas are simply different.  The other perspective is that marketers should leverage both strategies.  Broadcasting one’s video aims to generate greater awareness.  Narrowcasting aims to generate action.

Can a small business combine the two strategies effectively?  In this post, I explain the major differences between the two approaches and offer perspective on whether or not they can be combined.

This post is a must-read if you are using or intend to use use video email and/or web video to promote your business.  An understanding of these two buckets can shape a marketing campaign and improve the results ten-fold.  Based on your budget and time restrictions, you may need to choose just one approach.

One Bag to Carry Everything (Camcorder, Laptop, and Clothes), Yet Small Enough to Use as a Carry-On

Being a utilitarian at heart, I love it when I can buy one thing and have it serve multiple purposes (e.g. my blue jeans and black t-shirt are suitable for almost every occasion; our Infusionsoft handles everything from email marketing to order processing and beyond).  I started this post looking for a backpack to carry my laptop and clothes, along the way I discovered that bags were available that will carry my camcorder and tripod also, and that they were better quality.  Bonus!

Find Out How Joe “The Inn Keeper” is Using Video Email Marketing

This post is a direct cut and paste from a three-email thread that transpired between Joe “The Inn Keeper” and one of his contacts.  Joe was kind enough to share the thread with us.  The links in the email messages are live!  This thread is a great example of how you can leverage video email to add a layer of depth to enhance a text based email communication.  For the record, I have visited New Orleans, I stayed in Joe’s Bed & Breakfast, and it is beautiful!

Closing Thoughts

Many wonderful people have emailed me with questions, taking me up on the offer I present in every email that I send, and I have done my best to provide them with answers.  I have been receiving lots great feedback, so I know I am providing valuable assistance:

Thank you very much!  I’m glad I asked before I made the investment.
–Steve Baker

Thanks for the webinar yesterday. I enjoyed it and learned a lot.
–Dan Conrad

Will, all I can say is “Just Excellent”! Excellent in all aspects: I believe in the talk:  “Engage, Inform, and Inspire”. I have participated in many, many webinars, and yours is the first to walk the talk.
–Paul Gothier

To date, I have published over 200 blog posts and have answered more than 400 questions via email or blog comments.  If I didn’t write blog posts and answer questions, I might be considered obsessive because I spend over 20 hours per week sifting through online marketing news and information and testing new tools.  It is a full-time job to keep up with the times.

The web is expanding rapidly and quality information is hard to find.  The cause for this is, shockingly enough, the way the search engines work.  Quality, unbiased content is hard to find because it usually doesn’t rank high in the search engines.  The content that ranks high is usually from sources with a vested interest in selling you something.  These sites pay SEO’s to generate backlinks to their pages which are designed to get you to buy something.  Pareto’s principle applies: 80% of the sites that rank well are compromised, 20% are quality sources of information.  Even social media is compromised.  To find good quality content, leverage those you trust and your extended network.  Question people that have thousands of twitter followers without good reason (e.g. they are a celebrity) and companies that appear on page 1 of the search results for popular keywords.  Look for people and companies that are middle of the road for information that is real.  The more polish something has, the more likely there is a vested interest is behind it.