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my unorthodox theory on online success (What Are Your Thoughts?)

by KennethYu
9 replies
Hey,

I just introduced myself to the Copy Warriors. Now I want to introduce myself to all warriors by adding massive value on my end.

First of all, just a little about me. I'm an award-winning ad creative turned million dollar copywriter turned full time online marketer. I'm endorsed by marketing greats the likes of Mark Joyner, Drayton Bird and Greg Jacobs, among many others.

So today, I want to unveil a powerful secret that may seem like a shocker to you.

The product launch world is beginning to be filled with clunkers. Yet the ones that are successful end up working like gangbusters. So here's the key question:

What makes Mass Control the million dollar launch it is?

What makes Product Launch Formula, the Magic Bullet System and WP Mage the massive successes they are, when so many other similar products fail and die?

I personally believe the answer lies in breakthrough branding and positioning.

You may argue that many of these marketers are big names, but you have to remember that they were not as famous when those products came out. They didn't have the credibility that they have today.

As a result, they live and die based on the strength of response to their products, and the response was stellar.

Why? I believe they branded and positioned their product in a way that makes them desirable to the marketplace while creating a "cool factor".

As an ex-adman who's entire life was the propagation of big brands, I can see these Big Boy principles at play. The name truly makes all the difference.

I mean... If Product Launch Formula was called Email Copywriting, that will probably shave off 90% of the sales.

If Stompernet was called E-Commerce SEO Secrets, they probably could kiss their 8 figure launch payday.

If WP Mage was called Autoblog {Insert Adjective Here}, do you think it will do half as well?

Think about it. The MNCs invest BILLIONS into branding and positioning strategies. The gurus who make it big do the same. For far too long we underrate positioning because it didn't seem to have immediate bottom line value.

I think it's time to transcend our work-at-home roots and start playing on the next level.

What are your thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Comments most welcome.
#branding #online #positioning #product creation #product launches #success #theory #thoughts #unorthodox
  • Profile picture of the author Linda_C
    Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

    ...I want to unveil a powerful secret that may seem like a shocker to you.

    The product launch world is beginning to be filled with clunkers.
    Beginning to be???
    The product launch world has always had lots of clunkers.


    Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

    Why? I believe they branded and positioned their product in a way that makes them desirable to the marketplace while creating a "cool factor"....

    I mean... If Product Launch Formula was called Email Copywriting, that will probably shave off 90% of the sales. If Stompernet was called E-Commerce SEO Secrets, they probably could kiss their 8 figure launch payday. If WP Mage was called Autoblog {Insert Adjective Here}, do you think it will do half as well?

    I have been in marketing/advertising for over 20 years - 14 of them online. I have worked with big corporations and small businesses, Hollywood celebrities, WWE (back when it was WWF) and solo entrepreneurs.

    What I have learned is that not everyone can or will or wants to play "on the next level." There are many who don't even know what that means.

    For example, there are people who don't know the difference between a brand and a logo. And people who think a name "is" a brand. A name isn't a brand. Once upon a time, McDonald was a surname, not a fast food chain. And there was a time when people would have asked what the heck a Nike is.

    Yes, I believe names can help with branding, but a name isn't branding, either. Stompernet is a powerful name, but Danny Sullivan didn't do too badly with "Search Engine Land," despite that it's rather vanilla as far as creativity goes.

    But, branding is more than the name. Branding is about what happens in the consumer's head. We can try to influence it, but the bottom line is that the way we RUN the business and the customer's experience makes as much difference as any of the elements we try to engineer, like name, logo, etc. If Stompernet had put out weak products like half the "seo" garbage on the Internet, a powerful name wouldn't have helped for very long.

    There are people who will never "get" this, and there are people who spin brands and images out of thin air like it's second nature. For some, it is.

    My experience is that there's no such thing as "small" business, only small thinking and small thinking affects businesses of ALL sizes. There's lots of dinosaurs in pin striped suits, too, refusing to see changes happening right in front of their eyes.

    Likewise, thinking big also is seen in businesses of all sizes.


    Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

    I think it's time to transcend our work-at-home roots and start playing on the next level. What are your thoughts?
    Some already have. Some do. Some never will.

    Welcome to WF.
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    • Profile picture of the author KennethYu
      Well thought out answer Linda. Nice to meet you.

      Originally Posted by Linda_C View Post

      I have been in marketing/advertising for over 20 years - 14 of them online. I have worked with big corporations and small businesses, Hollywood celebrities, WWE (back when it was WWF) and solo entrepreneurs.
      I'm such a WWE fanboy. Must be quite an experience no?

      Originally Posted by Linda_C View Post

      What I have learned is that not everyone can or will or wants to play "on the next level." There are many who don't even know what that means.
      Agreed. One needs to be exposed to high-level biz strategy to gain insight into this corporate world. What I find interesting is the IM industry is anti-corporate to a fault, yet you need corporate principles to scale to a million dollar success.

      Originally Posted by Linda_C View Post

      Yes, I believe names can help with branding, but a name isn't branding, either. Stompernet is a powerful name, but Danny Sullivan didn't do too badly with "Search Engine Land," despite that it's rather vanilla as far as creativity goes.

      But, branding is more than the name. Branding is about what happens in the consumer's head. We can try to influence it, but the bottom line is that the way we RUN the business and the customer's experience makes as much difference as any of the elements we try to engineer, like name, logo, etc. If Stompernet had put out weak products like half the "seo" garbage on the Internet, a powerful name wouldn't have helped for very long.
      That's true. The user experience is REALLY important. However, a good name really helps in term of leaving a stellar first impression. Position yourself at the finish line, I say.

      Originally Posted by Linda_C View Post

      My experience is that there's no such thing as "small" business, only small thinking and small thinking affects businesses of ALL sizes.
      Well said. I think the first step is to think of your website as a biz. Most people don't. Most people want to make money without the first clue that when you enter the money-making realm, you enter the realm of hard-nosed business. Anything else is fantasy.
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      • Profile picture of the author Linda_C
        Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

        Well thought out answer Linda. Nice to meet you.
        Thanks, Kenneth. Nice to meet you, too.


        Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

        I'm such a WWE fanboy. Must be quite an experience no?
        It was, for sure. They are such a great example of marketing. I mean, really... "men in costumes, fighting choreographed fights" - who would even think that's a sound business idea? lol. Just goes to show the power of marketing, no?



        Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

        What I find interesting is the IM industry is anti-corporate to a fault, yet you need corporate principles to scale to a million dollar success.
        So true. Many people (especially entrepreneurs) don't seem to grasp the difference between rebelling against what a faction "stands for" and their "methodology". The methods may be sound even when the operation and/or intent is corrupt.

        It's kind of like teenagers rebelling against their parents without stopping to figure out what they're even rebelling against. The era of Enron and others hitting the news with tales of corruption and greed and fraud intensified the anti-corporate culture - but the corruption isn't the sole defining factor. Fact is, anyone running a business needs to learn how to grow a business. Yes, that can be done ethically and without corruption, but it still needs to be done. But, I'm preaching to the converted... lol.



        Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

        That's true. The user experience is REALLY important. However, a good name really helps in term of leaving a stellar first impression. Position yourself at the finish line, I say.
        Very true. The problem (especially in IM and MMO) is when people hire someone to deliver the pomp and presentation and fail at follow through. They deliver the front end experience, but not the satisfaction that the presentation implied -- more commonly known as the product failing to deliver on the promises of the sales page. lol.


        Originally Posted by KennethYu View Post

        I think the first step is to think of your website as a biz. Most people don't. Most people want to make money without the first clue that when you enter the money-making realm, you enter the realm of hard-nosed business. Anything else is fantasy.
        So very, very true.
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  • Profile picture of the author LB
    Honestly, many of the "big name" brands of the internet marketing world have succeeding in creating a brand in my mind...unfortunately with a strongly negative association.

    Years ago some of these players were churning out some good stuff, but now many of them are just phoning it in. From what I hear about the sales numbers of some of the latest launches, I'm certainly not the only one who feels that way.
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  • Profile picture of the author allenjohn
    "Autoblog {Insert Adjective Here}"

    Damn! I called mine "Niche Blogs Auto Profit".... time for a rebrand

    All the best, Allen
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    • Profile picture of the author Zanti
      First, welcome to the forum Kenneth. A very interesting and thought provoking post.

      I think the product world has pretty much always been filled with clunkers also. We just don't hear as much about them unless they're associated with a big name.

      What we do hear about are the once small players that make it big. I would suggest that of each one that has "made it big" (relatively speaking) there are many many more who have succeeded that we don't hear a lot about, but who are living the kind of lives they desire.

      I think one of the real secrets behind those that have "made it," has to do with having a plan, a system, creative vision, and being innovators or very early adapters and the willingness to take risk. Building their brand was part of their plan.

      I agree with Linda that branding is more than a name. Being in S.E. Michigan, I think a big part of the Detroit 3's problem came from thinking their "name" was the brand. They forgot about as Linda put it above, it's "what happens in the consumer's head...how the business was run...and the customer's experience..."

      And then the big one, "refusing to see changes happening right in front of their eyes."

      The Detroit 3 have learned their lesson, I hope, that a brand is more than a name.

      I prefer to look at branding in a holistic way. One's name (or product name) is one part of your business that is intimately interconnected and explicable as the other parts of your business.

      Brian
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      • Profile picture of the author Kevin Riley
        So ... Edsel Online Marketing would not be a good name? Back to the drawing board.

        BTW, I totally agree. I've always done best with my most unconventional names (er, Recipes anyone? and a lunatic in a chef's hat on an IM guide?).
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        • Profile picture of the author Niky Ray
          I feel that campaigns suffer from "suffocating professionalism". It's rather frustrating to see a massive market, such as the internet marketing field, using the same, old, worn off strategies and chew on the same "killer" templates most of the time. I would really appreciate a breath of fresh air brought in by the top league. I am sure that there are brave marketers who take the risk and experiment with novel ideas, but I want to see more of this innovative stuff being created by copywriting super stars. A little thinking outside the box wouldn't harm anyone, I suppose.
          I totally agree that positioning is a key factor to any launch or campaign.
          Logos and brands are powerful tools, but they can't replace a quality product. However, I wouldn't choose between the two. A lousy copy on a good product is as bad as the opposite to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author theemperor
    Interesting. I think the name of your product does matter. I'm guilty of using bland names for products in the past. You need to capture the imagination with the naming of a product. Well deinitely in the IM niche you do.

    That "HOIST" ad springs to mind for SEO I though it was a great way to describe the product of hoisting you up the rankings, even though their method may be the same as any other link building package.

    In the IM niche we expect hyperbolic (BS for short) names for products. Perhaps the real skill is outside the IM niche where a balance needs to be struck and the target market clearly defined.
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