Eric's Tips

LESSON #53: Payment Processing Solutions for Online Businesses

Eric — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:08:33 +0000

In the previous few lessons we’ve been looking at how to create a sales letter.
But a sales letter isn’t going to sell anything for you unless you’ve got a way of accepting money…

(Watch this video…)

Main points:

You need to accept online payments to be successful with this business model.

When it comes to accepting payments for your products online, in general I would AVOID…

- Money transfer services (like Western Union)
- Alternative “currencies” (like E-gold)
- “Offshore” banks and payment processors

Payment solutions I would recommend…

1) Merchant Account

-Also requires a Payment Gateway (ie. Authorize.Net), and possibly a shopping cart.
-Beware the horror stories and choose a good provider.
-I recommend PowerPay

Advantages:
- Pay less fees (in many cases)
- More control (upsells, processing, ownership, interface, etc)
- Ability to process offline payments. (Mail, phone, etc)

Disadvantages:
- Responsible for credit card security.
- Can be difficult to obtain outside of the US.
- Can be more complicated.

2) 3rd Party Payment Processor

I recommend PayPal

Advantages:
- It’s convenient.
- They handle the security.
- The fees are reasonable.

Disdvantages:
- They can freeze or close your account.
- Not accepted in all countries.

Why might PayPal freeze or close your account?
- They suspect fraud.
- They suspect spam.
- They perceive your product to be a violation.
- They perceive you to be high risk.

How can you stay out of trouble with PayPal?
- Play by the rules.
- Provide everything they ask for.
- Notify them if you’re going to be doing high volume.
- Ask them if there is any additional information you can provide.

What can you do if your account gets frozen or closed by PayPal?
(Please see video for how I recommend handling this kind of situation)

3) 3rd Party Vendor/Reseller

Technically they are “selling” your product.

I use and recommend:

- 2checkout
- Clickbank

Advantages:
- It’s convenient.
- They handle the security.
- Some have integrated affiliate programs.
- Some accept PayPal in addition to credit cards.

Disadvantages:
- Usually have higher fees.
- Many of the same risks as other payment solutions.

Regardless of which solution you choose…

It’s good to have a backup payment solution.

Offering two payment solutions (ie. credit card or PayPal) can boost your conversions.

Be sure to take care of your customers and avoid credit card chargebacks.

Action step:

1) Choose at least one payment solution.

In the next lesson, we’ll create a payment button and a thank-you page!

As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.

Have a great day!

LESSON #52: Outsourcing Copywriting

Eric — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:29:32 +0000

In the previous lesson we talked about how to write a sales letter. But what if you don’t want to do your own copywriting?

No problem! You can outsource it…

(Watch this video…)

Main points:

There’s a difference between a good copywriter and a good content writer.

See basics of outsourcing in Lesson #39

Four ways to find a copywriter…

1) Freelancer websites

Elance.com, Guru.com, Rentacoder, etc.

Expect to pay $100 - $1000

Advantage = Cheap
Disadvantage = Lower quality

Tips for hiring a copywriter from a freelancer site:

-Use an English speaker from an English speaking country (or native to your language).
-Be very clear about what you need. (Idea: tell them to sign up for these lessons and watch #51)
-Get samples of sales letters they’ve written (not just writing samples).
-Check for plagiarism (www.google.com, www.copyscape.com, www.scanmyessay.com)

2) Hire a known copywriter

Expect to pay $300 to $25,000+

Gurus: John Carlton, Michel Fortin, Vin Montello, Ray Edwards, Mike Morgan, etc.

Some top Internet Marketing copywriters: Kevin Rogers, Jesse Forrest, David Raybould, Matthew O’Connor, John Hostler, Chris Elliott, Eric Holmlund and hundreds more.

Here is a list of copywriters from the Warrior Forum: Copywriter directory

Recommended LOW COST copywriter: Nicholas Cole

3) Find a good sales letter and ask who wrote it.

Look at well-ranked products on the Clickbank marketplace: http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm

4) Partner with a copywriter

-Offer up to half of your profits.
-Works best if you’re an expert in your niche and you have a great product.

Recommended Resources:

Low Cost Sales Copy
Outsourcing for Internet Marketers

Action step:

1) Get your sales letter done.

Once you’ve got your sales letter done, it’s time to get it online and start making sales. We’ll be talking about payment solutions in the next lesson.

As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.

Have a great day!

LESSON #51: How to Create a Sales Letter

Eric — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:13:19 +0000

In the previous lesson we talked about the basics of copywriting. Today we’re going to take a closer look at the art of crafting a sales page, including the elements of a successful sales letter…

(Watch this video…)

Main points:

Note: In the video I go into a lot more depth for each point.

Long copy vs. Short copy

- The reason marketers use long copy is because it works.
- Traditionally, long copy has almost always outperformed short copy, but things are changing.
- Online sales letters are moving toward personalization and interactivity.
- Read The Death of the Salesletter, by Michel Fortin
- A new free tool to see how visitors interact with your sales letter is Visitor Spy

AIDA = Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

Here are 17 elements of a successful sales letter (please see video for many details):

1) Pre-headline

2) Headline

As mentioned in video: Clayton Makepeace headlines webinar | PDF of webinar

3) Deck Copy

4) Greeting

5) Opening paragraph (hook)

6) Who are you and why should they listen? (credibility)

7) State the problem

Key: You want them to FEEL the pain.

8] Give the solution to the problem (your product)

Key: Benefits listed in bullet points.
Key: Proof.
Key: Overcome objections.

9) Testimonials

-Be aware of FTC rules.

10) Make the offer

-It should be an irresistible offer.
-You need to have a “reason why” it’s so irresistible.

Keys: Urgency and Scarcity

11) Reiterate the value and state the price.

12) Throw in some bonuses.

13) The money-back guarantee.

14) Ask for the order. (Call to action)

15) Order box.

16) Closing/Signature

17) P.S.

Tips for formatting and structuring your sales letter:

- Use subheadlines. (Important! Must stop scrollers in their tracks)
- Use Johnson boxes.
- Leave a lot of white space.
- Black text on a white background.
- Use a simple clear font.
- Do some text stylizing but don’t overdo it.
- Keep the background basic.
- Use Some Graphics. (Recommended: Ecover Engine)

Advanced Tip: It is possible to do the sales letter first then outsource the product based on the sales letter.

Recommended Resource: The Copywriting Pack

Action step:

1) Write your sales letter (unless you’re outsourcing it).

Optional: Do a video sales letter. See lesson #41 for video info.

Salesmanship is key! See also resources listed in lesson #12.

In the next lesson we’ll talk about outsourcing sales letters and other writing tasks.

As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.

Have a great day!

LESSON #50: Introduction to Copywriting

Eric — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:23:11 +0000

In the previous lesson we talked about pricing your product. Now we have to communicate enough value in order to persuade prospects to buy the product, and the way we do that is through copywriting…

(Watch this video…)

Main points:

The perceived value in your prospect’s mind must be equal to or greater than the price… otherwise they won’t buy it.

You need to actually deliver the value. We’re not learning copywriting for the purpose of selling junk for inflated prices.

Copywriting is using words to promote something. You can use copywriting to communicate value through written words, audio, video, etc.

The objective of copywriting is to get the reader to take action. (If you’re selling something, your objective is to get them to buy it.)

Persuasion vs. Manipulation

Persuasion is influencing another person to take action, with good intentions, through ethical means, and for a mutually beneficial purpose.

Manipulation is influencing another person to take action, with selfish intentions, possibly through unethical means, and primarily for the benefit of the manipulator.

- The difference is in the intentions of the person doing the influencing.

- I believe it’s possible to be an ethical marketer, and I practice and teach persuasion– not manipulation.

Two ways to get your sales copy:

1) You can outsource it.
2) You can do it yourself.

Outsourcing - see basics in lesson #39. We will be covering outsourcing copywriting in-depth in lesson #52.

Recommended Resource: Low Cost Copy

Two ways to write your own copy:

1) Become a great copywriter and write expert sales copy
2) Keep it simple and write amateur sales copy

(See video for detailed explanation and benefits of each)

Four-step formula to sell anything:

1) This is who I am.
2) This is what I have.
3) This is why you need it.
4) This is how you can get it now.

(See video for details)

Recommended Resource: The Copywriting Pack

Action step:

1) Study copywriting. (This is going to help you in your marketing regardless of whether you write your own sales letter or not.)

In the next lesson we’ll be taking a closer look at the elements of a successful sales letter (after which you will write your own sales letter if you have chosen to do so), then in lesson #52 we’ll talk more about outsourcing, for those of you who are choosing to outsource the task.

As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.

Have a great day!

Update About the Belize Orphanage Water Project

Eric — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:09:57 +0000

I’m back from my second trip to Belize, and I’m happy to report that it was a success.

Thank you so much to all of you who participated in the online fundraiser. We were able to pay for the well to be installed at the orphanage, plus give a significant extra donation. So far we have given over $36,000 to various missions as a result of these fundraisers.

I will be posting lesson #50 within the next couple days. In the mean time, here are some pictures…

Drilling the well…

This is the pump that we brought down with us. You should have seen the look we got from the customs official when they opened Nate’s luggage and out slid this huge bomb-like apparatus…

Nate working on the pump…

Village children…

Villagers utilizing a water catchment that was provided by my friend’s organization…

A trip to the hardware store in downtown Punta Gorda, Belize

Again, thanks to all who helped make this happen!

You can see some more pics on my flickr account, including a rather large tarantula, and what I ate for dinner

Have a great day!