Giving It All Away, Maybe

11 replies
I have a product whose sales have not met my expectations. One reason for that is that I haven't put a consistent and strong enough effort to market it.

Though I have not had any complaints from buyers, someone I had review the product for me felt that it could be organized better, and I concur.

At the moment, I have two options. One is to re-organize the product and put a stronger effort into marketing it. The other is to re-purpose the product.

One factor that will go into my decision is timeliness. As time goes by, the more the product will need to be updated.

As far as re-purposing goes, I have two options. One is to break the product down and use it as blog content. I can stick up AdSense and also promote other products in the niche. The other is to give the product away to build my list.

If I did the latter, there is a portion of the product I would likely exclude from the free version, as I think I might be able to stick a blurb in the product that if you want this stuff, you can buy it for $17 or something.

If I do decide to give it away (as opposed to re-doing it), is there any value here for other list owners in the niche? That is, approach some list owners and offer them the opportunity to be among the first (or first) to give away my product? Or, since I'm doing this to build my own list in the same niche, would this simply be something that doesn't really benefit them at all? They could earn a commission on that $17, but that's probably small potatoes for many list owners.

I should also mention that the product does contain affiliate links to other products. So, maybe that will be a downside for other list owners too. Unless maybe I make a trade-off that I can set up a special download page for their subscribers where they won't have to join my list to download the product?

Just kicking around ideas here. If I do give it away, obviously it needs to benefit me in some way. I'm not going to just give it away for the sake of giving it away. On the flip side, I understand that any list owners would need to benefit as well.
#giving
  • Profile picture of the author tomcam
    What's interesting is that you don't sound passionate about it, and it seems like it's a bit of an albatross. That alone tells me you should move on. Some ideas.
    * Stop strying to squeeze every possible cent out of it and just give it away, as is. Forget this "I don't want to take the time to improve it, but if I give it away I'm going to cripple it" mentality. Want to make other list owners love you? Just give it to them.
    * Turn it into a site and sell on Flippa or here.
    * Release it as PLR as a WSO
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  • Profile picture of the author Sean Donahoe
    Hi Dan,

    One thing you can do is allow the list builders to insert their own affiliate links in the text but make sure it leads to your site and upsells another product or service you provide in that niche.

    Another thing you can do is covert it to videos and increase the perceived value of the product as a "Version 2" with more content, more focus and some nice bonuses. Then give away version 1 (even cut down if needed) as a pre-seller to upgrade to the enhanced version.

    Another twist on that is to use some PPV campaigns to get some signups for the cut-down version one as a nice freebie then upsell (at a discount) to the video version 2.

    There are lots of things you can do with a "Failed" product to breath life into it. As long as there is a market for the product and people who have a need for the information it contains then you should be able to tailor it to their needs and wants and get them to open their wallets.

    Good luck and hope these ideas start your own mind churning.

    All the best

    Sean
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Dan, I doubt if we're in the same markets (just guessing from your sig file), but for me, I'd consider giving something of value to my list even if it came from a competitor, especially if you didn't force them to sign up to get it. I've had a switcheroo pulled on me before, so I'd probably want to let them download it from my site so I'm sure of what they are getting unless I knew the person well enough to trust them. If it were too cluttered up with affiliate links that would be a drawback, not necessarily a deal breaker, that would depend on the content and how the affiliate products were presented. Basically the affiliate links would have to look natural to the content, rather than a thinly disguised pitch-fest.
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  • Profile picture of the author Manda
    Hi Dan,

    If it what I think it is you've got a HECK of a lot of great content there.

    I would be inclined to make a smaller paid product and use the rest as free content to get people interested.

    Manda
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      If it were too cluttered up with affiliate links that would be a drawback, not necessarily a deal breaker, that would depend on the content and how the affiliate products were presented. Basically the affiliate links would have to look natural to the content, rather than a thinly disguised pitch-fest.
      I would classify them as being natural to the content. It's along the lines of here's what this is, here's what you would use it for, if it sounds like something that would fit into your plans, here's where to buy it.

      Originally Posted by Manda View Post

      If it what I think it is you've got a HECK of a lot of great content there.
      It probably is what you think it is and THANKS!
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  • Profile picture of the author hushy
    One thing you might want to do is have someone reorganize your web page. If it looks to cluttered and not organized people won't stay. You would buy a new car that was muddy and slimey would you?

    The most useless products on the planet are selling. WHY? Mainly marketing, So you might want to have some copy writers write something up for you there.

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr. Enthusiastic
    Dan, you say that the information is disorganized and becomes less valuable over time.

    To my mind, the best scenario you gave is to put it up on a blog.

    People expect blogs to have material that's current when it's posted, but might eventually become obsolete.

    People also expect blogs to have an assortment of content in different categories, without much organization.

    If people might be really confused you could have a "start here" page pointing out a particular path through the postings.

    Since you don't seem that excited about trying to refresh the material and aren't certain what it's worth, I'd suggest you use it to attract attention and build a list.

    Without reading the material it's hard for me to give more specific advice. This is my impression based on your summary hints.

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Hey Dan,

    I'm thinking out loud more than anything here. How much traffic are we talking about here? How much effort has gone into improving conversions? It might not even be the product, it could be the pre-sale (if there is one) or your sales funnel.

    RoD
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      Originally Posted by Rod Cortez View Post

      I'm thinking out loud more than anything here. How much traffic are we talking about here? How much effort has gone into improving conversions? It might not even be the product.
      Not enough traffic to form a statistically valid assessment of the conversion rate.

      I haven't put as strong an effort into marketing it as I should have. So, the traffic hasn't been that large and has tapered off since I first released it. (I did more promoting when I first released it than I have subsequently.) I do have about 100 affiliates, but I suspect many of them are probably doing not much more than putting up a link somewhere and crossing their fingers. Not one of them has signed up for my mailing list for affiliates, so I'm thinking I probably don't have any super or top affiliates promoting my product. I say that because I think top affiliates would probably join a list to at least see what else might be available to them in terms of promoting the product. Even if not, I would think that top affiliates would drive more traffic to my site than what I've been getting.
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  • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
    Niche?..

    Just a broad guide, you don't have to get specific...

    Peace

    Jay
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      Originally Posted by JayXtreme View Post

      Niche?..

      Just a broad guide, you don't have to get specific...
      It's broad enough to be specific... I'll send you a PM.
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      Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!

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