Follow Along: Trying To Make My Wife's Product Profitable (26)
Hey guys!
So I figured I'd make myself accountable on here and document my efforts.
It's something a bit different on here since (at this stage) it's not about affiliate marketing for me. It's about making my wife's weight loss product convert and be profitable for affiliates. We're not actively recruiting affiliates until this happens.
So, here's what we've done...
At the end of last year we 'finished' developing our own Clickbank weight loss program.
It has about 80 members so far, most of which have come from her own mailing list. We initially sold it at $147 and then dropped to $97. We now running a 'hidden' offer where if people watch a 'sneak peek' video they get the full program for $67, otherwise it's $97 for the training and 12 months of private forum support.
What I'm trying to do a.k.a our goal...
I want to send targeted cold traffic to the offer and see how it's converting with people we don't have an ongoing relationship with.
I spoke to a leading copywriter in this niche and he advised us to get 2000 views of the video from cold traffic to get the conversion data, so I'm trying to do that.
That leads me to Facebook and Bing advertising which I just started this week.
BING
So far I've spent $300 on Bing sending 440 clicks mostly using two ads, the latter just running today.
Ad 1: 354 Clicks - 85,416 IMP - 0.41 CTR - 6.44 Position - 0.63 CPC
Ad 2: 34 Clicks - 2,174 IMP - 1.56 CTR - 3.28 Position - 1.20 CPC
I've made two sales at $67 each from the first ad and that's it.
FACEBOOK
So far I've spent just $70 on Facebook, sending 121 clicks and no sales.
The best ad I've made up so far has a CTR of 0.172% and a CPC of $0.40, so I've a lot of work to do.
At the moment I've been sending traffic straight to the homepage which tries to push them to click to view a video sales letter.
What I've learned so far...
I really should be sending this traffic to a squeeze page to collect emails before sending them to the offer and a subsequent followup sequence.
However, many affiliates won't send their traffic to a squeeze page as they're afraid of losing credit for the sale.
So, I need to get the cold traffic thing sorted.
What I need to learn...
I'm grossly ignorant of PPC and find it all a bit overwhelming. I don't mind being overwhelmed as I have literally self-taught for all aspects of our business. The problem with PPC is that it costs money 
Watch this space.
Any advice appreciated.
Edit: The product/page is here: http://factsaboutfat.com. We're still working on 'free' content creation on the blog as well as creating an email follow up sequence for those who enter their email on the forms on the blog.
Hi,
I'm a noob, but maybe a link to the site? I'm sure a few folks here would click through and tell you their thoughts about the landing page. One thought from your description, is to have the video start upon visitor arrival without a click. A lot of Clickbank products have this feature, and it gets the visitor to interact with the page right away. Also, maybe some better targeted keywords? Sixty+ cents is a lot per click on Bing.
Originally Posted by miax
The video auto plays already.
I've noticed yesterday that the countdown timer on the OTO doesn't work in Safari or Firefox, but it does in Chrome. So I need to resolve that issue as it looks more like a distraction than a scarcity tactic.
I've seen a LOT of weight loss products over the years. Its a tough market. One thing that I can tell you is that if you don't come in with a UNIQUE angle you probably won't make it. A straight "lose weight" program don't really stand a chance imo. Study the top weight loss programs in CB and you'll see what I mean. It also make it incredibly tough to sell because if you don't have a unique angle you are simply competing against big brands - especially with paid traffic.
Originally Posted by deondup
The good news is there has been two more sales tonight
I need more statistical data from cold traffic, but that's 5 sales in 306 plays of the sales video. From what I'm told, if you're getting 1% in this niche with cold traffic, you're doing well.
I think I could do better with the sales video, but I'll leave it as it is for a while.
I'd also love to to test a different funnel, one where we pitch the book on its own, then upsell the video/mp3 versions, and then upsell the private forum support and turn that into a monthly fee. I think that could be more profitable in the long run, and I think by separating the support from the package, people will value it more.
What I need to do is figure out how to get cheaper clicks from Bing and FB!!
If you have time, take a look at this site:
http://www.fatlossfactor.com/new/
It's got a high gravity on Clickbank, and has the 'auto start' on the front page.
You'll need some long tail keywords on Bing ("pregnancy weight loss" instead of "weight loss" or "lose weight"). That should get your costs per click down.
I suggest you read the book Cashvertising twice and then go back to your landing page. Its missing a lot of the basics of direct response marketing - and you need to pull out all the stops for weight loss products.
Originally Posted by miax
Thanks for the tip on the keywords. I have about 9,000 keywords in my campaign. Is that too many?
Originally Posted by deondup
Essentially it's a weight loss product for those fed up with traditional diets. Should we push that slant more on the LP? My wife has an aversion to anything too gimmicky. It took me years just to persuade her to develop her own product (she's a dietitian).
Thanks for the book recommendation. Bought.
Others, please feel free to chime in, but yeah, I think 9000 keywords is too many. I think that the advice from deondup is sound. Pick your specific angle, then I'd start with 100 keywords around that niche. Once you've got those together, then you can always add more. I think that the angle is key. Everyone is selling a weight loss product, but if you target a specific group/angle, you might be able to corner that market. It might seem like you are limiting yourself, and you are, but if you have the product for women who need to lose over 30 pounds/mature women/asian women/etc, etc., you might get more clicks from those women (and your affiliates will be able to target better).
Originally Posted by miax
"Increase traffic by adding x,xxx potential new keywords. Click here to view"
In fact, I've got one right now. Should I just ignore these then?
I'll weed out the keywords today. What's the process? Those that are irrelevant obviously. What other things should I look for? Should I kill off those costing over $1.00/click, or even $0.50/click?
I spoke to my wife about the angle thing last night. I suggested we should target women looking to get in shape for a certain date. That's a highly motivated market, but she's unsure if she wants to go down that road. Thoughts?
this is the stuff I like to see.... because not everyone is an affiliate.
some of us have our own offers...
i spoke with a friend who owns one of the top CB weight loss offers... he told me just get it converting then do some media buys on high traffic sites.... pretty much what they did for it.
you need a more defined ANGLE aka HOOK with the video... especially in the beginning... 1 trick I used to lose 5 inches and 10 lbs of fat in just 2 weeks.... something like that to hook the reader right away.
also if you're doing cold traffic for selling products, i think 97 might be too high..... all the weight loss offers on CB are like 40-60 for the front end.
also the accent might be an issue... havent seen big offers using a UK accent... something to note.
Originally Posted by dconstrukt
I spoke to one of the leading copywriters in this niche just two weeks ago. He has a portfolio of getting several top CB products to the top spots. He told me that 1-2% from cold traffic is a good conversion rate. I was surprised at this. I thought it would have been around 4%.
As to the angle...
We chose the domain (Facts About Fat) because my wife likes the idea of educating people. But, this is maybe limiting us? Like I said above, perhaps we should build something more commercial sounding with a defined angle? I've said to my wife about the possibility of taking this into the local community as well, in which case it would be helpful to have a good name. But, I could be getting ahead of myself. I'd just hate to work on a domain and create content around it as well as a product and then later realise it's limiting future growth and have to start again. I like the idea of an event-based diet, because that's what really motivates women to lose weight - weddings, birthdays, holidays, etc.
I have another video sales letter in my mind, different approach/angle, but I'll use something similar to what you said within the first few lines.
As to the price...
We're offering 12 months forum coaching support, that's why the price is higher. However, I have another funnel in mind that would present a lower cost ebook version first, then try to up sell on multimedia material, and then another upsell to the coaching. This would probably be more profitable, but I promised the copywriter I'd test this copy with cold traffic first.
As to the accent...
I've talked about this with several people. I thought it would bother some people, too. But, others aren't so sure. I suppose in some ways it might be disarming with the unfamiliar, getting a bit more attention from some people. My wife is stubborn, though. When we talked about it she refused to have another voice represent her. However, she might consent to an angle where it's like a client talking about their experience with the product. That way we can use another accent. I've seen some successful VSL's do this.
If you throw 'weight loss' into Google keyword search, you'll find 800 choices. Pick one, then develop some long tail keyword phrases around that target.
I did a quick Bing search on keywords. For an exact search for 'wedding weight loss', you should be paying .05 per click. Bing loves to offer you lots of broad, untargeted key words that make them money . You'll want to ignore them. Out of 100 suggestions, there might be two or three that are worth getting for your targeted search. On Bing, I try to pay no more than 15 cents per click for any keyword, and personally, I like an exact search, not a broad one. If you're paying $1 per click, your keywords are probably too competitive (for example, you're competing with Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers).
I wouldn't worry about limiting future growth. Putting up a second website with different angle is only a $10 proposition. Own your niche. If you have the diet plan for wedding weight loss, then focus on getting every bride in the world signing up for your plan. Later you can adapt your plan for 'high school reunion weight loss', 'holiday weight loss' or whatever else. Of course, your future affiliates will love having a specific angle to work with as well.
people dont want to be educated about fat.
they want a magic pill that removes fat for them.
educating them means work.
studying means work
reading means work.
make it easy. show them the magic pill solution.
do the coaching as an UPSELL.
get them in first. then upsell after.
your high front end on traffic who doesn't know you, is, IMO, screwing you. There's a reason why every other weight loss offer on CB is similarly priced.
also... with the wife thing.... simple.
if your offer is making 6 figures a year with another persons Voiceover.... is your wife going to return the money because she wasn't the voiceover?
no
exactly.
I had this same conversation with clients when I did web design (they wanted the sites their way vs what was going to work better)
i'd tell them to check the ego at the door. its marketing, you gotta do what works. :-)
I'd say the idea of pushing a niche/event-focused angle is killer for a vertical like weight loss.
Look at "Positioning" by Al Ries and Jack Trout - you're far better being the #1 "Diet for Brides" than being the #25 general-purpose diet.
And that's not exactly a small niche - there's enough money there to buy you a few yachts.
Originally Posted by dconstrukt
The guy who does the voiceover is user of the product, and the whole thing is like a testimonial of sorts.
It's not that she has an ego that she can do it better. It's about integrity and honesty. She's very protective of her image and personal brand. If she's got training videos in the backend with her and her accent, she feels it's deceptive to have an American say in the vsl, "Hi, I'm Melanie...". I suppose it's finding the balance of what works and what you're comfortable with.
And at the moment, even with a lacklustre LP and VSL, it's still selling. It just could do better.
What about going for events in general, e.g. Deadline Diet or the like? That way you can target birthdays, weddings, parties, etc.
P.S. @dkonstrukt. I love the way you're collecting emails before people view your video. How is that working for you? Also, I see you're using Wistia. Are the analytics good? Is it much more expensive than, say, Amazon S3?
i know the guys.... yes its a testimonial style, but only because THAT ONE WON THE SPLIT TEST.
if some random other one won, they'd use that.
point is they use what works.
fatloss factor, they don't care about their image and brand?
oh wait... plimseur doesn't ether
cuz both of them use voiceovers.... heck, most of the top offers use voiceovers. (something to think about).
as far as it selling... as somone who's sold both weight loss and dating info products, weight loss is 100x easier to sell than dating info products.... people are used to buying weight loss stuff... shittier copy gets better results in weight loss than dating.
you need to be able to buy traffic and convert it profitably.
if you can't do that you need to keep testing.
on IID... we're always testing various funnels... not sure which page(s) you saw.... sometimes we send direct to the vsl.... sometimes optin.... gotta test to see what works.
wistia has the best analytics for video... which is key when testing vsl's.... to see drop off points etc.
more expensive than s3 but its no comparision when testing vsl's.
Having previously put all my different ads into one campaign, yesterday I took a different approach and set up five new campaigns with four different demographics. However, all the ads were exactly the same in each campaign except using different images.
In all my ads so far I've been targeting women only. While I've read numerous posts on here giving advice for targeting men and what works for high CTR (girl in car, etc), I've read little about targeting women.
With all the ads I've run so far, I've discovered that certain images of women can be as effective with women as weird images, or pictures of certain foods. This probably isn't surprising as when it comes to weight loss, women are probably as visual as men are in the dating niche.
A good CTR (so far) seems to be between 0.1 - 0.2. I'm not sure if that's any good in this niche, but I'll keep testing.
I've a bunch more images to test today, but I'm wondering if FB is any good for pushing for a high-ticket sale. I think a better investment of my time would be in collecting emails, but I want the data so I'll keep pressing on with this.
Incidentally, I'm finding this follow-along very interesting! I have the odd product or two myself, and I've been meaning to get back to promoting them more heavily - so this is a fascinating discussion right now!
caurmen,
I'd LOVE to see more about how to roll your stuff out if you OWN the offer.
like if there's any differences between doing it as an affiliate or if you own the offer.
btw... einspeare - probably wanna test out a bunch of images
Originally Posted by caurmen
Originally Posted by dconstrukt
Update:
So after running more ads on facebook and then analysing the data from those that hit the site, I decided to pull the plug on facebook for the moment. I still believe there's potential there and with some of the ads I managed to get some inexpensive clicks, but they're never going to buy, which was what I suspected all along.
However, since I made a few sales from Bing last week and after reading through redrummr's Bing thread, I figured I'd concentrate my efforts there.
So, it's 9am Tuesday morning and I've just finished setting up a new campaign with 43 sales specific keywords along with the broad match modifier. The campaign I set up last week has thousands of keywords given at Bing's suggestion. I'll be more careful and strategic with my keywords going forward. I've about 80 more here to add, but I'll let these 43 run for a day or two. I want to see how the BMM works out before adding more KW's.
Einspeare-
As a copywriter who's written the salespages/videos for 12 #1
selling Clickbank products in various markets, I can tell you the
most valuable piece of advice you might get for sending your
own traffic - ALWAYS capture that traffic first. Send them to a
lead capture page, then sell the product to them through an
autoresponder sequence.
Doing this, you'll typically get around 3 times the conversions
you'd get versus sending the cold traffic directly to your sales
page.
Yes, it takes longer to get the data and to pay off... but it pays
off big in almost every circumstance.
Hope that's helpful.
-David Raybould
Hi David,
Obviously when driving our own traffic it's in our power to send them to a squeeze page first, which is what I'll do once I get a couple thousand clicks to the LP.
It's helpful to have this emphasised, though.
Thank you.
raybould's post was money...
Check out ispionage.com Its free for the first group of data, but costs money if you want more. PM me I can let you get more data with my acct. if you need to.
Don't really have anything to contribute here but it's a really interesting read so I've subscribed to follow. I hope you crack it. Good luck!
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