25 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
25 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

New product creation..need some advice please

by countrygal
22 replies
Hello all,

I have been a lurker here for a while but am now ready to jump in.

Currently, I have one ecommerce site (selling a physical product) which was the introduction to the great www, and have published one e-book via Kindle in a " how-to" category.

Now since I'm reading all about "evergreen" categories I have started writing an e-book about weight loss, since I myself used this method to lose 40 lbs.
My hesitation lies in the fact that I am a bit of a recluse so want to use a pen name, as I also live in a small rural area...I don't want "fame" just fortune

Question: will this still be accepted by the public and how to convey the fact that I am using a pen name and don't want a photo, publicity, etc.? I don't wish to be dishonest but still need sales copy.

Also, I am not a medical doctor it's just plain ole me writing, without any scientific studies, etc., just another variation that worked for me and some of my friends.

Question: Still saleable?

In terms of selling and marketing this, I would love some opinions on how best to market this e-book? There are no physical products to up-sell such as special supplements, etc., just the book itself. Is this something that would be best suited to be sold via my own website and marketing efforts or would this be of interest to affiliates? Is there any rule of thumb on how one could determine what potential sales might be? Considering a price point of $12.95 but would be open to suggestions as this is new territory for me. It would have a professionally designed cover, be well laid out, well written, etc and average length.
Any other thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated, especially from those who are familiar with marketing to this specific niche.
Thank you very much. This is my first time posting in forum so I hope the format is correct.
#advice #creationneed #need advice #product #product creation #weight loss category
  • Profile picture of the author havplenty
    Well if you have something that works (40 lbs is a lot of weight and many people would pay good money for information on how to make that happen). The potential for making a lot of money is great.

    bringing it to market will take some effort and you mustn't rush it. The marketplace is saturated right now with lots of stuff about how to lose weight. from your description it sounds to me that your rustic connections and shyness are your biggest selling points. Certainly it it will have more believability if it comes directly from you.

    I understand that you are reluctant about being the 'face' of this product in which case a partnership with an established marketer might be the way to go. That's just one suggestion of course, there are several other things you could do to bring it to market, but how you craft the message will be crucial.

    My ultimate advice is to go for it! If there's true value there then selling it for $49.95 or even $69.95 won't be a problem. People will spend the money to help them lose those stubborn pounds--you just have to make it believable and give real value.
    Signature
    Why This Simple Technique Could Make You $1000 A Month Easily
    Smart Marketers Pay Less Than $4 For Web Hosting! How Smart Are You?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910430].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author countrygal
      Dear haveplenty,
      Thanks for taking the time to respond with your thoughts.
      I do like the idea of teaming up with an established marketer.
      Do you have any suggestions about how to go about finding a reputable, experienced person?
      I understand I could post this offer in the WSO section but am not sure how one goes about sifting through to find the best match.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910839].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author havplenty
        Originally Posted by countrygal View Post

        Dear haveplenty,
        Thanks for taking the time to respond with your thoughts.
        I do like the idea of teaming up with an established marketer.
        Do you have any suggestions about how to go about finding a reputable, experienced person?
        I understand I could post this offer in the WSO section but am not sure how one goes about sifting through to find the best match.
        Your head must surely be spinning with this rich ocean of advice poured over you.

        Anyhow, I don't want to add to the volume of advice too much other than to recommend that you have a dig through the WSO section and look at marketers who have done well selling information in your market (weight loss). You could also track down a few vendors (the accessible ones) on Clickbank who've done well selling weight loss products.

        An excellent example of such a partnership is "The Diet Solution Program." Isabel was the protagonist (the shining before and after example) for the weight loss story being packaged and the guy reading the script for the video was essentially the marketer. Such a thing could perhaps work for your product.

        Good luck,

        Hav
        Signature
        Why This Simple Technique Could Make You $1000 A Month Easily
        Smart Marketers Pay Less Than $4 For Web Hosting! How Smart Are You?
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7913963].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Ernest Simon
    Nothing wrong with using a pen name and you definitely don't need your face shown off. Credibility is what matters.

    Your intention must be to help people loose weight, to end their overweight suffering.

    1) Get a domain hosting and autoresponder.
    2) Make the exact book you will be selling ready for sale.
    3) Take the step one off it and make a short report.
    4) Put a sqeeze page on your domain, offer the report in exchange for name and email.
    5) Set up an autoresponder campaign... Email them daily with a tip or a short step. On the 5th day you will sell.
    6) Write the salespage for your main ebook and write a few promotional emails: prelaunch, launch, second chance, last chance...
    7) Offer a personal or group coaching as an upsell. Then email market the coaching to those who bought the ebook. People buy coaching because it gets results.

    8) Email your list asking what problems they have and create a new product solving that.


    Aftwr implementing the steps you focus on sending traffic. Every new person would get entire mailing capaign sent out daily despite when they joined and that would generate you autopilote income.

    Next you would use the credibility you gained by helping those people to go further into the market.

    I can't teach all this process in a single post so if you'd like to study this further then message me.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910483].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author countrygal
      Dear lincher,
      Very good comments and plan of action-thank you.
      Do you have any suggestions as to pricing ?
      Thanks.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910845].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Ernest Simon
        Originally Posted by countrygal View Post

        Dear lincher,
        Very good comments and plan of action-thank you.
        Do you have any suggestions as to pricing ?
        Thanks.
        free offer >> low ticket price (20-50$) >> hight ticket prices (200$ in depth training, 100$ monthly coaching, membership site, 1000$ coaching program and so on.) You can have multiple high ticket options.

        Another trick is to have a sales page with a price set to 10k$. Then offer the same as special offer for 1k$. This gives you more value as people will think about you as high ticket seller rather than low.

        And about coaching... all you really need is a weekly group q n a call. And also accountability capaign through email. Like you send an email every other day asking how did the next step go. You can even hire someone to send these emails.

        And as for training... most if the info will already be shared through the ebook. And you only need coaching because it produces action. Not many people will take action after reading ebook, but many will with a coaching.

        You can even record the new content, or write it down and send to new customers and as time goes, you won't have same old questions, but rather none at all. And it will only take a few hours monthly to run it.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7912128].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author countrygal
          Lincher,
          thanks for the ideas.
          One other quick question, do you think that coaching is possible if I'm not ready to show video, etc showing who I am?
          I would prefer to remain private so just wonder about whether or not people would have a high enough degree of confidence to commit to more money, etc.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7915511].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Eutaw
            Originally Posted by countrygal View Post

            Lincher,
            thanks for the ideas.
            One other quick question, do you think that coaching is possible if I'm not ready to show video, etc showing who I am?
            I would prefer to remain private so just wonder about whether or not people would have a high enough degree of confidence to commit to more money, etc.
            You do not have to show yourself in a coaching/video scenario.
            I attend a few stock trading webinars and the guy is never seen ( I know him personally) to the group. He sells an expensive coaching course ($2,500) and he too has remained behind the camera. It works for this industry ...maybe will work in your niche. Hope this helps.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7916008].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by lincher View Post

          free offer >> low ticket price (20-50$) >> hight ticket prices (200$ in depth training, 100$ monthly coaching, membership site, 1000$ coaching program and so on.) You can have multiple high ticket options.

          Another trick is to have a sales page with a price set to 10k$. Then offer the same as special offer for 1k$. This gives you more value as people will think about you as high ticket seller rather than low.

          And about coaching... all you really need is a weekly group q n a call.
          Did you actually read the original post at all, Ernestas?! The question relates to someone who is planning to write a book about her successful dieting. What on Earth are you talking about, here, with your "multiple high-ticket options" and "sales page with the price set to $10k"?! The last time I looked, Lithuania was one of the Baltic republics, not part of another planet altogether?

          Originally Posted by lincher View Post

          did you like my post?
          No, of course not: it was completely irrelevant - having absolutely nothing at all to do with the question asked. You'll have to do a lot better than that, if you want anyone to take you seriously and click on your link.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7924945].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Matt Kendo
      I would suggest going ahead with a pen name if that's what makes you feel comfy. No need to explain that it's a pen name. However, I would suggest, assuming you will be trying to rank the website for some lucrative keyword, that you create social media accounts with this pen name, so a youtube channel, facebook profile, twitter and google + especially.

      Now that you are able to rank your good keyword and sell your product, one super easy way you could have another product to sell would be to create another product, I'm thinking a video, that explains how you researched, created, marketed and sold your Ebook.

      There you go!
      Signature
      Visit Matt Kendo's Free Targeted Traffic!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910912].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Make sure it is not saturated because there are so msny bh sites that distribute new stuff as soon as they get released. Protect yourself from this.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910510].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author countrygal
      writeaway,
      Sorry but I don't understand what you mean by "protect yourself" ...do you mean to be sure to copyright my material...or is there something else that would be advised?
      Thanks.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910850].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
    Sell higher than $12.95. The minimum you should even bother selling an ebook for is $19.95.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910584].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author countrygal
      Thanks Curtis 2011 for your thoughts on pricing.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910853].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author vickybabe
    Originally Posted by countrygal View Post

    In terms of selling and marketing this, I would love some opinions on how best to market this e-book? There are no physical products to up-sell such as special supplements, etc., just the book itself.
    Mate do yourself a favour and create an upsell for it. This could be a quick video course, a more in depth, over the shoulder look at the product. If there is an exercise program, these could be made into videos as an upsell. Their is plenty of ways to create an upsell for your offer. It is a know fact that oto's convert very well, and if you don't create one or two, you will be leaving a lot of money on the table.

    Any serious marketer swears by upsells. Another good idea is to decide what you will be doing with the buyers list before you launch the product. What i would do is create a high ticket back-end product, and use email followups to sell that product.

    Doing all of the things above will bring in more money for you, more affiliates, more sales, more happy customers. And it saves you from just sending random broadcasts about other weight loss products.

    There is a bit for you to think about, hope it helps
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910629].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author countrygal
      Dear vickybabe,
      Thanks for your ideas...yes I can see how I should consider an upsell.
      I'll have to give it more thought.
      Please explain what the term "oto" means?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910863].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Matt Kendo
        Originally Posted by countrygal View Post

        Dear vickybabe,
        Thanks for your ideas...yes I can see how I should consider an upsell.
        I'll have to give it more thought.
        Please explain what the term "oto" means?
        OTO means one time offer, as opposed to monthly recurring payments
        Signature
        Visit Matt Kendo's Free Targeted Traffic!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7910915].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author torrent
    Pen names can certainly be useful for marketing purposes.

    Some of the largest names in internet marketing have used them. I believe these to be accurate:
    Yanik Silver = Jacob Zilberbaum
    David DeAngelo = Eben Pagan
    Michael Masterson = Mark Morgan Ford
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7922302].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Ricky Allen
    Hey Countrygal I Pmd you about working with you on your weight loss idea.

    If you cannot PM me back drop me an email to ricky.s.allenatbtinternet.com
    Just change the at to @ of course.

    Ricky Allen
    Signature
    http://www.charityshopprofit.com/
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7924917].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PolicyMaker
    I'll suggest Develop Product...Make sure to get a good copy-writer for Sales Letter...and Launch on clickbank...with all relevant aff-support resources...
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7935465].message }}

Trending Topics