Sell or Give Away to Make More $$$

Eric - once again, thanks a ton. This is starting to become more clear, and I'm getting a better idea of how I can integrate these ideas with what I already have setup (as I do have some customers to my continuity program already).

A little more follow up, if you don't mind (I like to make sure I completely understand things - esp since I don't know IM as well as I need to)...

FINALLY somebody has said this. I've been studying IM for a while now (obviously with less than stellar results), and I've had this real gut feeling that a lot of what I was reading was IM info from IMers to other IMers - esp about selling IM products...again to other IMers. I just wasn't seeing much in the way of "Here's some great IM info, and here is how this dude who has a (insert favorite non-IM topic/niche here) website has made some bank with it."

I had a gut feeling there was a difference in how a lot of this IM info I was reading would be applied outside of the IM world.

This is the kind of info I need! ;-)

Ok - here is what I had originally been thinking. The book is fitness info, but not enough (necessarily) to put together your own complete programs. It has a section on all areas of fitness, and tells how to train them individually. The section on program design has some real basic info, but will still be kinda...vague (for lack of a better term). At the end of the book, there is a real soft-sell mention of my monthly workout programs.

I had originally planned that when you buy the book, you get a month free of the continuity program. Then, you're automatically enrolled in the paid version of the continuity. If you don't want it, cancel whenever you like. (It'd be done through paypal, and this is pretty easy). Don't over-promote the fee for the continuity program. I've seen this done several times before. "Buy XYZ now, and get a month of ABC free!" Then, you see (not necessarily in 'fine print' per se, but somewhere in the order process) that after the month free, you're automatically enrolled in the continuity program, but there is 'no obligation', you can 'cancel at any time', etc.

The continuity program has several freebies (for use with the workouts and such) up front - you'd get that with the free month. Then you start paying.

But, you're advising to *not* have forced continuity. Instead, sell the book, and point people to the continuity. Offer a free month, then they pay.

I kinda know how people in this niche/industry (whatever you want to call it) think. They'll read the book, and then email the hell out of me asking for help on how to design a program.

Quick example - a buddy of mine has a very thorough book on kind of the same subject, only his is more technical (my book is purposefully going to be written for the 'regular guy' who just wants to understand everything w/o feeling like he's reading a textbook). His idea w/the book was to "teach a man how to fish" (so-to-speak). At the end of the book, he gives a sample plan that lasts roughly 8 weeks. His goal was for people to use that sample plan as an example, and then, using the info that was in the book, develop their own programs.

What's the most common question I've seen asked of him? "What do I do after I'm done with the sample plan?"

See what I mean?

So, what if I sell the book, and give them one free month of the continuity program - sans freebies. Then, try to sell them on the paid version of the continuity program. Now they'll get the freebies and such. No free trial, though - you get that with the book.

Then, that gives people a reason for going ahead and purchasing the paid programs, too.


Dumb question - how does this work? I put together a guide/blog post/ebook/whatever, give it away, and let others put their name/logo on it to give away on their site? How does that end up pulling in traffic for/to me? I don't get how that works...

I agree. Honestly, I'm not that into doing personalized stuff. Unless I'm getting paid *really* well for it, it takes up too much time. And how I've positioned myself thus far (in addition to addressing the martial arts crowd) is to appeal to the 'regular guy', b/c that's what I am myself. No hype, no crap, no gimmicks, no overpriced XYZ - just real info that works. And personalized stuff - to make it worth my while - has to be expensive.

*shrug*

I hear you. I always thought all the 'bonus' stuff was kind of a crazy idea, anyway, for 2 reasons - 1 - if ABC bonus has a 'value' of $(insert price here), how come nobody is actually *selling* it for that much, and 2 - if your product is really good, why do you need all this tag along stuff (which may or may not be worth a damn) to sweeten the deal?

I wouldn't do it online. People would actually have to travel to me and I'd hold a seminar. It's a lot more common than you'd think in this industry. There are more BS certifications than you can shake a stick at. That's one of the reasons I'd never do one - b/c they're BS.

Thanks again for all your help - this has been some truly invaluable info!