I Learned Some Huge Internet Marketing Tips Over The Holidays

35 replies
I essentially took 2 weeks off over the holidays. I spent time with friends and family and recharged myself. I also watched a lot of old movies on cable--I love the oldies. Now, the marketing tips I learned didn't come from the movies I watched, they came from watching the same commercials over and over, night after night.

A lot of the commercials and informercials dealt with weight loss, exercise equipment, cosmetic products, anti-aging skin creams, kitchen appliances, etc. In watching these commercials I realized that the vast majority of advertisers used the same gimmicks over and over. Some of these gimmicks included...

...ramping the price down from some outrageous initial price point to what then, by comparison, seems like a heck of a deal

...offering to break the price down into smaller monthly payments

...offering to send you two of the products for the price of just one if you order in the next 30 minutes

...mentioning that this is a "30 day risk free" offer. You pay nothing for 30 days except shipping and handling

So I thought about how we might all implement some of these strategies in marketing our own products online. Here is what I came up with for one of my own products. Feel free to copy, modify, and use my ad copy for your own products as you see fit.
======================

Order Mike McMillan's new 365 page Big Book About Nothing today. It normally sells for $1,675, but the first 50,000 customers who order will get Mike's special discount price point of only $297! The ebook is a .doc file filled with 365 blank pages. Every day as something important happens in your life--you fill in the details so that by then end of the year you have full documentation of the events important to you.

But wait, Mike has decided to break this price down into 60 monthly payments of only $4.95 to make it affordable for everyone! And, if you order in the next 30 minutes, Mike is going to send you a second copy of his Big Book About Nothing for free. You just pay an additional $57 in shipping and handling for this digital product.


Mike's Big Book About Nothing Volume II is about to be released. Info provided with your order.

DISCLAIMER: Due to pending FTC suits this offer is void in Texas, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Arizona, all states east of the Mississippi, all states beginning with the letters W, U, N, S, K, I, L and P, American Samoa, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Uzbekistan, Inner Mongolia, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, The Falkland Islands, Haiti, all countries the equator runs through, any country in which 1968 Dom. Romane Conti costs more than $2,000 a bottle, and any country south of 47 degrees S. latitude in which a total lunar eclipse has occurred on a Tuesday since the first burning of the great library at Alexandria in 48 B.C.
======================

So what do you think? Can I use the above copy to mastermind a Jeff Walker style major product launch? Maybe a WSO? I'm working on it as we speak!

Okay, I have hyperbolized my silly ad above, but the guys laying out big bucks for 60 second or 30 minute ads do know their stuff.

Breaking a larger price down into 2-3 smaller payments probably isn't a bad idea. Ramping a price down from one that is outrageously high to a lower one--that's common practice on many sales pages.

Super-sizing your offer? Rather than offer 30 days of access to a membership site, how about up-scaling it to 60 days if the visitor orders today.

The TV advertisers are also good at breaking their message up into bite-sized pieces to make it easy for viewers to keep up. And they keep things moving constantly to prevent boredom. How's your sales page doing in those areas?

Yup, the big TV advertisers spend tons of money to get their messages in front of us. Only the strong survive so the commercials we see over and over again must be working. Maybe we can learn some things from these guys. What do you think?
#holidays #huge #internet #learned #marketing #tips
  • Profile picture of the author Antonios
    You sure have a talent for copywriting!

    Yep, these people know what they are doing.

    I was an Encyclopedia Britannica salesman and they gave you the exact sales pitch you needed to glue the prospect to the offer.

    Any changes you made to it, you lose a sale.

    Even apparently insignificant changes.

    The prospect had been presented with the offer before?

    Warning: don't skip one single script, or you will lose the sale.

    Repeat it as though the prospect had never seen the presentation.

    That's the logic of salesmanship: there is no logic.

    Emotion is the in thing.

    Sincerely,

    Antonios
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  • Profile picture of the author magicmarcus
    lol one word... moleskin notebooks

    well that's two words but you get the point.

    $15 for a book about nothing...

    the value of the object means nothing compared to what others value it as and what value it brings to their lives.

    for example i feel that i get more creative ideas having graph paper notebooks which are 5X the price of regular ones... but i can make cool notes and charts and stuff on them so i gladly pay more.

    by the way... cool little commercial on there
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    • Profile picture of the author jwardz
      Originally Posted by magicmarcus View Post

      lol one word... moleskin notebooks

      well that's two words but you get the point.

      $15 for a book about nothing...
      That so made me laugh. My son just bought one.

      Hey, the ad reminds me of the 'snake oil' salesman's pitch. There are certain rules to good salesmanship and you could probably sell that "big book" and the upsell with that pitch!

      Joan
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  • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
    Awww man where's the order link?!

    I wanna buy it
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  • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
    And shouldn't you say: order now, Order now, Order Now, ORDER Now, ORDER NOW!!
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    • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
      Dang, I knew I forgot something Angela! The ordering link. No wonder my sales have been slow . Hey Angela, I checked out your blog in your sig file. Great song--I nominate you for Internet marketing entertainer of the year!

      Antonios I always suspected the things you mentioned were true. Yup, emotion is the thing!

      Magicmarcus...
      You said, <<the value of the object means nothing compared to what others value it as and what value it brings to their lives.>>

      Ain't that the truth!
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Morgan
    Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

    I essentially took 2 weeks off over the holidays. I spent time with friends and family and recharged myself. I also watched a lot of old movies on cable--I love the oldies. Now, the marketing tips I learned didn't come from the movies I watched, they came from watching the same commercials over and over, night after night.

    A lot of the commercials and informercials dealt with weight loss, exercise equipment, cosmetic products, anti-aging skin creams, kitchen appliances, etc. In watching these commercials I realized that the vast majority of advertisers used the same gimmicks over and over. Some of these gimmicks included...

    ...ramping the price down from some outrageous initial price point to what then, by comparison, seems like a heck of a deal

    ...offering to break the price down into smaller monthly payments

    ...offering to send you two of the products for the price of just one if you order in the next 30 minutes

    ...mentioning that this is a "30 day risk free" offer. You pay nothing for 30 days except shipping and handling

    So I thought about how we might all implement some of these strategies in marketing our own products online. Here is what I came up with for one of my own products. Feel free to copy, modify, and use my ad copy for your own products as you see fit.
    ======================

    Order Mike McMillan's new 100 page Big Book About Nothing today. It normally sells for $1,675, but the first 50,000 customers who order will get Mike's special discount price point of only $297! The ebook is a .doc file filled with 365 blank pages. Every day as something important happens in your life--you fill in the details so that by then end of the year you have full documentation of the events important to you.

    But wait, Mike has decided to break this price down into 60 monthly payments of only $4.95 to make it affordable for everyone! And, if you order in the next 30 minutes, Mike is going to send you a second copy of his Big Book About Nothing for free. You just pay an additional $57 in shipping and handling for this digital product.

    DISCLAIMER: Due to pending FTC suits this offer is void in Texas, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Arizona, all states east of the Mississippi, all states beginning with the letters W, U, N, S, K, I, L and P, American Samoa, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Uzbekistan, Inner Mongolia, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, The Falkland Islands, Haiti, all countries the equator runs through, any country in which 1968 Dom. Romane Conti costs more than $2,000 a bottle, and any country south of 47 degrees S. latitude in which a total lunar eclipse has occurred on a Tuesday since the first burning of the great library at Alexandria in 48 B.C.
    ======================

    So what do you think? Can I use the above copy to mastermind a Jeff Walker style major product launch? Maybe a WSO? I'm working on it as we speak!

    Okay, I have hyperbolized my silly ad above, but the guys laying out big bucks for 60 second or 30 minute ads do know their stuff.

    Breaking a larger price down into 2-3 smaller payments probably isn't a bad idea. Ramping a price down from one that is outrageously high to a lower one--that's common practice on many sales pages.

    Super-sizing your offer? Rather than offer 30 days of access to a membership site, how about up-scaling it to 60 days if the visitor orders today.

    The TV advertisers are also good at breaking their message up into bite-sized pieces to make it easy for viewers to keep up. And they keep things moving constantly to prevent boredom. How's your sales page doing in those areas?

    Yup, the big TV advertisers spend tons of money to get their messages in front of us. Only the strong survive so the commercials we see over and over again must be working. Maybe we can learn some things from these guys. What do you think?
    Hey Mike, hope you fine.

    In my holidays i printed some reports on paper, and went through them. There is stuff you read which you miss when reading the ebook version.

    Anyway, nice post.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Mike - I think the disclaimer font is still too large - and it should be gray text rather than black. Black is too easy to read and we don't want that to happen.

      Don't forget to charge for shipping the second "free" copy. I think shipping costs for an ebook would be about 17.95...each. That would be the slow-boat-to-China-shipping but you can offer the expedited shipping for only $9. more...each.

      kay
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  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

    I The ebook is a .doc file filled with 365 blank pages. Every day as something important happens in your life--you fill in the details so that by then end of the year you have full documentation of the events important to you.
    Wow - where can I get this book? You have not included an order link!

    Will
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  • Profile picture of the author markowe
    Also, creating the appearance of demand - those infommercials with a studio audience that waves money in the air, don't know if they still have those? So a little graphic of some sort on your sales page that constantly blinks to indicate 'another sale being processed' - never thought of that Nice ideas, though I consider a lot of that stuff unethical or even downright dishonest. Like, I thought there were laws about claiming a 'sale price' - there are in the UK, you cannot claim a discount price unless the product has been on sale for the claimed full price for a certain period, something like that.
    Still, these ideas are good for thinking about the psychology of buyers and leveraging that in an ethical way, I see you spent your Christmas profitably . And you got a vegetable steamer and an ab-flexer out of it too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Roey Pimentel
    Dear Mike,

    Thanks for this post - I LOVE your disclaimer! :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Bicycle Cat
    I would love to buy this book...

    Great advice!
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Don't let this McMillan guy fool you folks, he can't count without taking his shoes off. Check the bold type...

    Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

    Order Mike McMillan's new 100 page Big Book About Nothing today. ... The ebook is a .doc file filled with 365 blank pages.
    It's not a 100 page book or a 365 page book. I know because I bought it and printed it out. It printed out to just 80 pages, which happened to be the exact number of sheets of paper I had in my printer. I know because I just filled the paper tray and that's what it holds.

    The book broke my printer too. When I added more paper it just started printing the book all over again. In fact, I went through 3 reams of paper before I ran out of paper.

    I appreciated the blank pages though. It makes it so much easier to read. That's the only reason I'm not asking for a refund.

    PS - I rarely watch TV, but I appreciate your ideas. Thanks my friend, and welcome back.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Dennis -

      But it's so practical as the paper can be recycled.
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      • Profile picture of the author Charlotte Jay
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Dennis -

        But it's so practical as the paper can be recycled.
        Ditto what Kay said. You should advertise this book as eco-friendly
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    • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
      I have read all of your comments. Thank you much! Below is my modified ad which reflects your suggestions.

      Order Mike McMillan's new 365 page Big Book About Nothing today. It normally sells for $1,675, but the first 50,000 customers who order will get Mike's special discount price point of only $297! The ebook is a .doc file filled with 365 blank pages. Every day as something important happens in your life--you fill in the details so that by then end of the year you have full documentation of the events important to you.

      ORDER HERE

      But wait, Mike has decided to break this price down into 60 monthly payments of only $4.95 to make it affordable for everyone! And, if you order in the next 30 minutes, Mike is going to send you a second copy of his Big Book About Nothing for free. You just pay an additional $57 in shipping and handling for this digital product.


      ORDER HERE

      Download a sample chapter here to make sure it is right for you!
      ORDER HERE

      Mike's Big Book About Nothing Volume II is about to be released. Info provided with your order.

      ORDER HERE

      DISCLAIMER: Due to pending FTC suits this offer is void in Texas, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Arizona, all states east of the Mississippi, all states beginning with the letters W, U, N, S, K, I, L and P, American Samoa, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Uzbekistan, Inner Mongolia, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, The Falkland Islands, Haiti, all countries the equator runs through, any country in which 1968 Dom. Romane Conti costs more than $2,000 a bottle, and any country south of 47 degrees S. latitude in which a total lunar eclipse has occurred on a Tuesday since the first burning of the great library at Alexandria in 48 B.C.

      By the way, the ever diligent Dennis Gaskill noted that I had a discrepancy in the page counts in my original ad. He said I couldn't count without using both my fingers and toes. Point noted Dennis.



      Got my socks off and did the counting correctly. Yes, Dennis, there are a total of 365 pages. Sorry if my foot shot ruined your appetite for lunch. Dennis, I can always count on you to keep me honest .
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      • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
        Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post


        By the way, the ever diligent Dennis Gaskill noted that I had a discrepancy in the page counts in my original ad. He said I couldn't count without using both my fingers and toes. Point noted Dennis.



        Got my socks off and did the counting correctly. Yes, Dennis, there are a total of 365 pages. Sorry if my foot shot ruined your appetite for lunch. Dennis, I can always count on you to keep me honest .
        What are friends for, Mike! I'm just glad you didn't have to use any other body parts for counting -- no telling what kind of picture we might have gotten.
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    • Profile picture of the author mgpweb
      Originally Posted by DogScout View Post

      Ha, thats great! The reviewer would of thought the book was a misprint when he received it!
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  • Profile picture of the author Angela Wills
    LOL this is a fun thread!

    And I appreciate the nomination for Internet Marketer Entertainer of the Year, yes!

    I'm kinda dreaming one day I'll be in demand as the keynote 'singer' for some IM conferences with all expenses paid, hehe. I might need to write some more songs tho..
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Can I get a review copy?

      tks.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    Jill, like my ad said, I was only planning on selling 50,000 units. I sold out last night. When new copies come in I'll put you on the list. If you wouldn't mind, could you post a testimonial here after you go through it?

    By the way, as a bonus I will be including a 30 minute blank Mp3 file with the new copies. So, for those who would prefer audio books to printed ones--I think you'll enjoy that feature. --Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
      Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

      Jill, like my ad said, I was only planning on selling 50,000 units. I sold out last night. When new copies come in I'll put you on the list. If you wouldn't mind, could you post a testimonial here after you go through it?

      By the way, as a bonus I will be including a 30 minute blank Mp3 file with the new copies. So, for those who would prefer audio books to printed ones--I think you'll enjoy that feature. --Mike
      I really think you should add 3 hours of "blank" video to sweeten this deal even more and to help all the newbies out there
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    Mohammad, my blank book isn't for newbies--strictly for advance users! Kidding. Yeah, I might have to do that, ha. --Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author CMCarlin
    The direct response industry is so fascinating to me.

    In my alternate life, I help run the call center side of things.

    Yes, I know all the bag of tricks that the guy on the other end of the phone shows you when you finally do call the 1 800 number to lose weight/have better sex/build muscle/attract woman/never get sick

    I love sales. I've learned so much about human psychology and what makes people buy from the DR industry.
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    • Profile picture of the author halmo
      This is the best thread I have read in the Warrior Forum. I especially like the disclaimer, and the $57 shipping and handling fee for the DIGITAL product.

      Do I have to pay the $57 for a review copy?
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    D.G. said...

    What are friends for, Mike! I'm just glad you didn't have to use any other body parts for counting -- no telling what kind of picture we might have gotten.

    Yikes
    I actually tried that first, scared myself, and decided to go with the foot.

    CMCarlin said,
    I've learned so much about human psychology and what makes people buy from the DR industry.

    Nice to meet you CM! You said a mouthful. The sale doesn't take place on the sales page or on the phone. It takes place in the prospective buyer's head. If you can't get inside their head, if you can't grab them at the emotional level, it's tough to sell them. There's a book for ya to write CM--one about the psychology of selling. Sign me up for the first copy! --Mike

    Halmo said,
    Do I have to pay the $57 for a review copy?

    Nope, I'll get you and Jill both a review copy. The second edition is at my publisher. As soon as the proofreading and editing is done I'll get you a free copy. Please don't tell others or everyone will want one.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      decided to go with the foot
      Wise move - hard to go far without it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

      .

      The sale doesn't take place on the sales page or on the phone. It takes place in the prospective buyer's head. If you can't get inside their head, if you can't grab them at the emotional level, it's tough to sell them.
      Wanted to make sure everyone saw Mike's words of wisdom there. That, in a nutshell, is the single most important key to good converting sales copy, IMO.
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  • Profile picture of the author WD Mino
    Hi Mike,
    Happy new year.

    Love the post. You're right these commercials do sell and sell big maybe we can learn something you certainly got the wording down I would like to sign up for version 4 with videos audio transcript and of course the free shipping please:p
    -Will
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  • Profile picture of the author LetsGoViral
    OP, good job. I thanked you, so I can always come back to this thread and get some nice ideas to implement in my sales letters.
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  • Profile picture of the author daviddson
    Hello,
    Sir these tips are really very helpful. i have many sites and i want to promote them and these tips will really help me.

    thanks!!
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    Angela Wills said,
    I'm kinda dreaming one day I'll be in demand as the keynote 'singer' for some IM conferences with all expenses paid, hehe. I might need to write some more songs tho...

    Your song was cool. Hey, stranger things have happened girl! I've got a connection in the music industry! I'm the one on the left



    Will said,
    Love the post. You're right these commercials do sell and sell big maybe we can learn something you certainly got the wording down I would like to sign up for version 4 with videos audio transcript and of course the free shipping please:p

    I'll hook you up Will. I'm thinking I may outsource the creation of Volume IV. I'll get back when done! Happy New Year to you too Will!

    Your advice is always right on Kay! Thanks mgpweb, Sambeni, Dog Scout, Charlotte, BicycleCat (I've gotta know more about your nickname) Antonios, magicmarcus, matt, halmo, CM, Will, markow, Roey, jwardz, James, Mohammad, and my buddy Dennis as always. --Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    Onash,

    Sure, how about if I send you a "blank" check as a refund? Ooooh, not sure if that's a good idea! Thanks Onash. --Mike
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