Local Business Blog 33 - Digital Main Street Media

by Bradley Waldrop on January 2, 2017 Leave a Comment

Could There Really Be a Secret Ingredient That Allows You to Sell The Most Absurd Thing for a Premium?

There were a half a dozen of us sitting in the conference room of Mojo Coworking space in the bohemian town of Asheville, North Carolina when Harry Shaffer walked in and said the most absurd thing I think I’ve heard since 1989…

[dropcap]As[/dropcap] we embark on our journey together to build sustainable businesses – I have a confession to make. This isn’t going to be one of those courses where you hear perfection at every corner or have a shortcut to success. But, it is a series that is rooted in lessons learned in building wildly successful absurd cottage businesses – growth strategies for local companies & profound results for mega-million dollar operations as we turned them around.

Laying the Foundation

There’s a comment section in everyone of these posts – that means you get a chance to get your questions answered & you get a chance to sound off as to why these strategies don’t work for you. I’m human and make mistakes too – but I’m here to show you what’s worked for me before and what can work for you too. It takes work – lots of it. But, this series gives you the power to take control of your business’ future – right now.

…So Back to the ‘absurd thing’ I heard…

I used to run one of the most active Lean Startup Circles in America. This was like a “Shark Tank” without the money. A bunch of us business hacks would sit around the table, listen to business ideas and give our advice on how to get a business launched quickly – with as little capital as possible & while minimizing entrepreneurial wanderings. The concept is simple.

Develop a minimally viable product (an MVP for short)
Test the MVP with a key demographic
Make adjustments to fit the feedback
Lather – rinse & repeat.

So – you can probably picture my face when Harry Shaffer said he wanted to build carbon fiber sitars – sell them to the professional sitar players around the world & sell them at 3x the cost of the closest competitor (an all natural alternative). You see, Harry had found an audience that had a specific problem and the only way to solve it was to build a premium product – all on a shoestring and without a real plan.

Well, we about laughed him out of the place – but you can see for yourself – Harry’s been wildly successful with a simple website and a manufacturing process in his home. He’s got a waiting list a year long. Boy – were we wrong!

What I learned from the Sitar…

It doesn’t matter how outlandish your idea is for your business. It matters how much passion you have and if that passion intersects with your skill set and a need in the market. That’s it! Passion will drive you through the tough times and get you through to the other side. But… smart moves along the way are going to shorten your trip to success and that’s what we’re laying out here.

What’s next?

In the next post – we’ll take a look at how we can align our passion – skill & the market to be sure you’re hunting in a target rich environment.

>> Next Post – Destroy Your Business Plan

by Bradley Waldrop on December 19, 2016 Leave a Comment

How to Build a PPC Compliant Landing Page

If you’re going to drive traffic to your site with PPC campaigns, then you’ll need a PPC compliant landing page. As you scale your business, you’ll want the flexibility to drive traffic to any page, so rather than focus on the simplest approach by choosing email drops or the like, build out your page with the following pieces:

PPC Compliance Item No. 1: Logo in Header

To help your reader realize where they’ve landed and to confirm the advertiser’s identity, most PPC platforms require a logo in the header or near the offer. Rather than attempt an unbranded page, use a subtle logo (to keep your viewer focused on the offer).

PPC Compliance Item No. 2: Clickable Logo

Pay per click platforms like their users to be able to get to the main page of special offers. So, a clickable logo that leads back to the main brand of the company is a must. Since some landing pages are hosted on 3rd party sites, having this clickable logo go to the home site and even to a contact me page or other supporting offer or information is generally a good idea anyway.

PPC Compliance Item No. 3: Detailed Opt-in Expectations

When your user is presented with an opt-in offer, be clear what your intentions are with their information. If you intend to keep it to yourself and only send related content, then be clear and do it.

PPC Compliance Item No. 4: Footer Navigation

Giving your user the ability to get back to the main site, contact you directly, read your privacy policy and possibly get to an FAQ page is not only PPC compliant, but helpful. So many people are trying to hide behind a blank page these days when business is person.

PPC Compliance Item No. 5: Detailed Headline with No Extraordinary Claims

Avoiding extraordinary claims in the headlines will go a long way in protecting your landing page and account from being banned by PPC platforms. Using headlines like “See How I Got….” is substantially better than “This Gives You…”.

PPC Compliance Item No. 6: Clearly Defined Immediate Action

This is just a call to action that’s clear. It’s typically a form or button that clearly states what’s going to happen. I might suggest you use something like “Watch This Now”, “Get Immediate Access”, “Get Your ____”. It’s simple, but it’s also required. No to mention – it’s great for increased conversions.

PPC Compliance Item No. 7: Privacy Policy Near ALL Opt-in Buttons

You must have a clickable link to your entire privacy policy near every opt-in button. This is in addition to that found in the footer. By doing this, it helps engender trust too. So, don’t worry about it and just do it.

PPC Compliance Item No. 8: Visual Representation of What They’re Getting

If you’re giving away a cheat sheet, show a picture (without all the detail), if you’re giving them a video to watch, include a screen shot of the where’re their headed. This provides a clear expectation and doesn’t hide behind a blind offer. Using these technique, you’ll typically get more optins too!

PPC Compliance Item No. 9: Disclaimer for Major Claims

Any major and extraordinary claim you make needs a disclaimer. If you need an example, just got to Jay Abraham’s page and use it as a guide.

[VIDEO] Watch as We Create a PPC Compliant Landing Page in Less Than 25 Minutes:

Disclaimer: Rules for each of the PPC platforms change without notice. Please double check this list against their requirements before moving forward.

by Bradley Waldrop on December 16, 2016 Leave a Comment

Step-by-Step Guide to Highly Profitable Sales Funnels

I thought I’d lay out for you the 5 wickedly simple steps to a highly profitable online sales funnels – no matter the niche – your experience level or your list size! After you complete these simple steps you’ll have a ‘business in a box’ – just add traffic and you’re off to the races!

Step 1. Creating a Squeeze Page

The most critical step in the entire sales funnel is the initial squeeze page. This page allows you to test your offer idea and collect contact information from future customers. The key to this page is to provide a clear message to your potential customer through a cleverly devised headline and subheading. Below is a simple screen shot from one of our most successful squeeze pages.

[STEP BY STEP VIDEO] Here’s a step-by-step process using a clever tool to make a PPC compliant page in less than 25 minutes.

Step 2. Redirect Subscribers

Once your potential customer has opted into your list, send them to the page that has the information or product that you promised in your optin. However, unlike most squeeze page developers, I would highly recommend that you provide a marketing message within the educational or “try before you buy” materials and give them an opportunity to buy. This process then becomes your customer captivation page (the first sale to new customers). Below is an example of the customer captivation offer we send our subscribers to.

The page above is simple – and effective. There isn’t any reason to make this page too complicated. Also, we reveal the sales offer after we get to it in the video sales letter. This gives us an opportunity to educate first and then pitch at the end. But, by the time they get to the pitch, the product sells itself.

Step 3. Send Customer to Check Out Page

When your potential customer chooses to purchase, you can send them to a highly optimized sales page. You can use any number of services to do this (PayPal, Stripe, JVZoo, WooCommerce, SamCart, ThriveCart, etc.). Check out our high-converting check out page below.

Step 4. Send Your Customers to a Thank You Page in Your Sales Funnel

After your customer purchases the initial offer, send them to a thank you page that offers a reasonably priced upsell (think… “you want fries with that?). Doing this will dramatically increase your success and boost your profits. No matter your offer, be sure to include a “no thank you” link on this page to allow your customer to redirect to the page that delivers on the first purchase or sends them to a downsell offer (test them to see what’s best).

Step 5. Rather, Rinse & Repeat for a Highly Profitable Sales Funnel

Now that you have created your simple – yet really effective funnel – send traffic – test and scale. Once you have this part of the funnel worked out, you can add more upsells for mid-priced offers and registration for webinars or in-person offers for higher ticket items. That’s it! You’ve now got a business in a box.

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