I pay close attention to user behavior on our websites. Mainly because opinion is just opinion as far as conversion, funnels, so called “best practices”, etc.

Most people have an immature view on what’s really happening with their website analytics. Most website owners know what their conversion rate is, how many unique visitors they have, etc.

This is all basic information and gives people a warm/fuzzy feeling inside when they can spit these figures out quickly, but at the end of the day, those figures mean nothing.

You have to get to a point where you not only KNOW that data, but you have to take it to the next level and make educated decisions on what to DO with that data. Avinash Kaushik explained it perfectly in his latest book when he said…

“Combining the why (intent, motivation, and so forth) with the what (clicks, visitor counts) has to be the cornerstone of any successful actionable web analytics program”.

Notice Avinash used the word ACTIONABLE when he was speaking about how to have a successful web analytics program. You not only need to know the why and what, but you need to have a plan of action once you get that information.

I’ve been doing some testing with ClickTale for a while now…

This service has been around a little while but I finally decided to use it. In my opinion, this tool is one of the most important tools I’ve ever experienced on the internet for understanding user behavior. If you combine this, with Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer as a small business person and start taking this stuff seriously you can start making so much more money it’s crazy.

I highly recommend to everyone here that you shift away from the latest and greatest persuasion and marketing techniques that are being pushed on the internet. All of that stuff can be found in books from Amazon and learned very quickly with some daily reading discipline.

Having a product, having good direct response copy, and having traffic are the cornerstone to a successful internet based business, we all know this. But WHAT next? Your next step should be drilling down and figuring out the best way to survey, communicate, build products for, and service your list/customers.

So after saying all that, the big “secret” to making MORE money online is you need to go much deeper within your market. You’ll make so much more money by implementing what I just talked about and learning that than you ever could with a new monthly subscription or marketing product. A new monthly newsletter is NOT what you need to hit the next level.

P.S. If you install ClickTale on your site and actually WATCH what people do on your site, most people reading this post will finally believe at last that copywriting is a DISTANT 4th compared to LIST, PRODUCT, and PRICE!

90% of our readers skim, and FAST! And that’s not just my market.

Read comments (1)

I hope 1ShoppingCart pays attention to this blog post because this fix is so easy to make.  I’ve already called them about this problem and there’s still no fix. Why? I have no idea.

Here’s the deal… When people use the E-Check function in 1SC there needs to be a simple text change.

Click on the attachment below, do you see the problem?

The problem is that the wording is confusing for the consumer. Marketers may not think so but customers do think so. Why in the world would you ask someone to enter a “Transit Number” in the box but call it a “Bank Routing Number” as the example?

This is usability 101 and will cost you money if you use 1SC.

I just started using 1SC so I have no connections over there. But if anybody reading this blog post does have some pull over there, please bring this to their attention.

Thanks!

Read comments (4)

Most people I know think when you use autoplay videos on your website it makes the visitor mad and encourages them to leave your site.

Well after much testing I’m finally convinced autoplay is the way to go. At least in my niche. I’ve done extensive split testing over the last 12 months on autoplay vs. no autoplay. Autoplay has won 6 out 6 extensive testing rounds.

I’ll show you 2 of my latest tests here:

 
“Original” is the autoplay version. And “Combination 1 - Variation 1″ is the no-autoplay version. So what’s the big takeaway here?

The big takeaway here is to never assume anything in your marketing. You simply can’t take opinion as the final word in today’s competitive online marketplace. You must get out in the trenches and run tests, create new ads, and constantly be doing and creating new “stuff”.

Opinions are like… well you know the rest. Happy testing!

Read comments (2)

I want to explain my mindset as far as tracking online advertising is concerned. So many people overcomplicate this issue. They think there’s some “secret” formula. Well, there’s not.

People make millions of dollars simply by sticking to this little system. This is not complicated. Just follow my simple system and you’ll be golden.

I’m assuming that you already know how to find website owners to promote for you, so let me share what most people do.

Most people simply send the owner’s email list to a standard link on their webpage, and try to sell them whatever it is they sell. It’s not good, but that’s the basic system for most people.

Here’s the right way to set up your promotions.

1. Contact the website owner with your joint venture proposal. I personally always offer a 50/50 split of sales minus shipping costs. I recommend that you do the same.

2. Stress to the website owner that there’s absolutely no risk for him. All he needs to do is simply press “Send.”

3. Always set up a special URL for the website owner. If everyone knows the owner by name, and his name is John, you could simply have it this way: www.yourwebsitename.com/John. Make sure to always personalize your link for the list owner.

4. Take the link you’ve just created and cloak it with Adtrackz. It will look something like this: www.yourwebsitename.com/Johns-Friends. That will obviously redirect to /John. You’ll want to know exactly how many people have clicked on the link in the email that was sent. Don’t count on your internal analytics program to track this information for you. This is too critical.

5. On the actual landing page, which is www.yourwebsitename.com/John, make sure to address his specific list in the headline. For example, say something like… “Special Offer Available Only to Friends of John!”

6. Create a new ID for the product in your cart that is specifically set up just for John. So if you’re selling lawn mowers, make sure to have the description say, “Lawn Mower Special – John.” This also reinforces the idea to the person who’s checking out in the shopping cart that it’s truly a special deal that’s not available to anyone else. Believe me. He will scour the entire website price checking, double checking that he is getting the best deal possible.

7. Create a backend offer just for buyers from John’s list. Offer another special on the backend. You can either keep 100% of the profits or let John in on it. It’s up to you.

8. Go through your sales letter, and look for places to personalize the letter so the visitor really feels special. Anywhere you can use John’s name or bring up that the deal is just for John’s list, do it. And always leave the original price very visible. The reason you’ll want to do that is because it gives you a reason to mark it out and put the “special” price next to it to reinforce the special offer.

There you have it. It’s so easy. By following this simple 8-step system, your next promo will go smoothly, and you can track exactly how many clicks and exactly how many sales came from those clicks.

A lot of people who have big lists think they’re sitting on gold. The sad reality is that most of them have no clue how to nurture the relationship with their list. This makes for a non-responsive list. I’ve seen it time and time again. Someone has a 30,000 or 50,000-person list, but if you actually track the CTR you can’t even get 2,000 clicks. It’s sad.

So make sure to track everything from start to finish, and you can’t lose.

Read comments (1)

I live in South Carolina so you know the Democrats are pounding me hard with direct mail pieces.  Check this latest one from Hillary Clinton…

Notice how they have a picture of Hillary looking directly at you with a warm smile.  And look at the picture they used for Barack Obama.  Hillary’s camp used a picture where he’s looking not at you, but at something far away.  Kind of like he’s “dreaming” or “hopeful”.

I have a feeling the picture they used of Obama and the text under his picture that says “A Record of Hoping for Results” was very well planned.

Get ready for one of the nastiest political seasons in recent memory. 

Read comments (6)

I’m going to show you how to save 50% off every information product you buy and save an enormous amount of time while you’re at it.

But let me first set the foundation because without this, there’s no point in buying any information product ever again.

I do believe that constantly consuming good information, whether it’s marketing, financial, health, etc., is very important. But even more important is how you separate the actionable information vs. the crap that’s out there.

Unfortunately, most of the online marketing information is crap. Here are the two biggest reasons why…

1. We have “top marketers” helping unproven newbies become Internet marketing “consultants.” This is terrible news for the good-hearted people trying to build a real Internet business. They’re trusting advice from those who have no business giving advice. I feel sorry for anyone who entrusts the success of his or her business to someone who can’t even make $10,000 per month online.

2. The amount of rehashed business-building information that’s circulated depresses me. I work with newbies and experts all the time, and almost all of them are so confused by the so-called “secrets” to success. Fortunately, I set them straight before they enter a world full of fake businesspeople who only focus on positioning themselves as experts as opposed to actually proving themselves with real-world results.

Learning how to market effectively and successfully requires that you strategically plan the way you consume information. Today will be the last day you’ll ever invest the full price into an information product just because you feel it’s the next hottest thing. Beginning today, you can save 50% off all information products if you integrate three important concepts into your business education.

So… let’s dig into this concept quickly. Here is my process for consuming information, implementing information, saving 50% on the information I buy, and deciding whether the information is applicable to me or my business.

1. How I Consume Information

I’ll make this quick because that’s exactly how I consume information. If I buy something, I consume it in 30 days max. If I’m not able to consume it that quickly, it means that someone died or I got lazy. Under all other circumstances, I just make sure I get it done.

2. How I Save 50% On Every Information Product I Buy

This is very simple. I’ll give you a specific example of how I do this. I bought Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula. When it arrived at my house, I put it on eBay not long after to force myself to go through it as quickly as possible. When you have a seven-day auction, guess what? You have seven days to get off your butt and get through it. I bought the course for $997.00 and sold it on eBay for $580.00. That’s how I save 50% off information products. I buy them, consume them, and sell them. One of the big keys is to buy at the product launch, go through the material quickly, and sell it fast while the material is still “in demand” in people’s minds.

3. How I Decide Whether Information Is Applicable To Me Or My Business

Yes, most information, especially on the Internet, is regurgitated crap. It can sometimes be hard to filter all the bad information from the good. This is why I recommend not getting caught up in the hype. Marketing and business processes at the core are simple. The key is to put these simple processes in motion and stay consistent. So to get a specific example and to piggyback off the Product Launch Formula course I bought, I’ll explain how I break the information down.

Once the course arrives at my house, I open it immediately and determine how I want to “attack” it. I do this by shutting my bedroom door and popping the first DVD in my player. I lay in my bed with a notebook and a pen. I then watch the DVD with the remote control close by. When I find gold, I hit “pause.”

When I hear something that I can apply specifically to my business, I write it down in detail. Unfortunately, much of what I see is fluff. I find, on average, about 85% of all marketing information is unnecessary filler since it’s all stolen from about 100 different hardcover books written between 1910 and 1998. That’s why I find most of these products extremely boring.

But when you already have a money-making business, it is possible to integrate techniques from these information product creators into your own way of doing business. That’s what I’m specifically looking for.

Please understand that you’re not buying these products for a life-changing breakthrough (this can happen, but it’s very rare). You’ll never get that for the most part. What you are buying them for are techniques you can integrate quickly into your business so you can see results.

And contrary to what you’re sold/told, some of these “secret” techniques will NOT work. But some will, and that’s why I still purchase information products. Sometimes there’s a nugget of gold hidden within the fluff, so I’ll continue to buy smart, consume quickly, and sell the information to someone else while the product’s still hot.

Read comments (3)

I want to relay a proven e-mail marketing tip for you today. This won’t take long, but it will be worth taking the time to read. Here’s the deal… Any time you write an e-mail message for your niche, I want you to ask yourself, “Would my grandma do that?”

Here’s a quick example of a little technique that I believe will boost your e-mail open rates and I’ll explain why.

Let’s take your subject line. Most people capitalize the first letter of each word in their subject, which looks like this…

Subject: The Sale Starts Tomorrow Get Ready!

When you do this, you look like a marketer. Your goal is to never appear as a marketer, ever. What I want you to do from now on is try your best to become part of the family. Do your best to blend in with your e-mail subscriber’s grandma, cousin, sister, brother, and the rest of them. Write like a normal human being. To do this, you’ve got to start now. And you can start by changing your subject line to this….

Subject: The sale starts tomorrow, get ready!

You may not think that not uppercasing each word doesn’t matter but it does. Ask yourself, would your grandma, brother, or sister send you an e-mail where the first letter of each word is all uppercase?

So do me a favor and split test this. See if I’m right. Once you’ve done that, move on to your closing. Would your grandma, brother, or sister say, “Thanks for your time,” “Warmest regards,” or “Yours truly?”

Nope.

Try just ending your e-mails with your name.  Or simply say, “Talk to ya soon.”  Quit being so stuffy, and for goodness sakes don’t end with “Sincerely”.

Remember, your goal is to be a part of the family and to build a deep relationship. When your e-mail hits their inbox, you want them eager to read what you have to say because you only send important stuff that looks like it’s from a real, down-to earth human being who cares about their success… not trash and affiliate offers all the time.

Try it. I think you’ll be VERY surprised.

Read comments (1)

I just published a short 5-page report that explains exactly how to get juicy success stories without paying ripoff fees.

Click here: http://rickybreslin.com/autosuccess.php

Read comments (0)