Stone Evans

Pssst… I know you’ve probably never done this, but I have. I’ve sat down and binge watched a whole bunch of episodes from one series on Netflix, and yes, I enjoyed it. There, now that I have my confession out the way, I have to tell you what I’ve been thinking about lately. Why is it that we binge watch shows on Netflix, but we dole out content to our readers like it’s bread crumbs? And scarce bread crumbs, at that? Think about it – you want to learn something new. Maybe you want to learn everything you can about video marketing. So you start looking, and you find a great article on a website about this exact thing. The site even offers to send you an entire email course on video marketing and you sign up. Problem is, you want the rest of the course NOW. So you keep searching, and you land on other sites and read other articles and watch other videos. And you forget all about that first site you were at. A day later you get an email – installmen...

When you’re an expert, you command respect in your niche. People listen to you, they pay attention to what you say and most of all they buy your products. Being the expert in your own niche is like writing your own ticket to freedom. Granted, you’re never going to become “The Expert” in a massive field such as weight loss. But niche it down to “Weight loss for new mothers” or “Weight loss for brides-to-be” or Weight loss for video gamers,” and you can indeed become the expert in your niche. I was reading Russell Brunson’s new book, “Expert Secrets,” and it starts out by giving some examples of just how easy it is to become an expert. When Russell was in college, he tried internet marketing but failed. Then on spring break when he was bored out of his mind, he and a friend decided to build a potato gun. The thing was, they didn’t know HOW to build a potato gun. It just sounded like fun. So they started doing so...

A certain percentage of new list subscribers will unsubscribe from your list almost immediately. They’ll get the lead magnet you offered them and then POW! Unsubscribe. You’ve got to wonder why. Are they afraid you’re going to sell them something? Maybe. If you’re building a list of online marketers, you’ve really got to wonder about their thinking. After all, don’t they want to learn about marketing? And isn’t getting on other people’s marketing lists a good way to learn? Anyway, here is the trick to reducing these immediate unsubscribes no matter what your niche is: On the letter that new subscribers get, remove the word “subscribe” and all of its variations. You know the ones: “Thank you for subscribing,” or “You are now subscribed,” or “If you did not subscribe, please click here,” etc. Whether the word is coming from your autoresponder or from you, get rid of it. Talk about the lead magn...

Every sale you make is a sale you have somehow purchased. And once you get your mind around this, marketing will become a lot easier. Free traffic? There is no such thing. Maybe you didn’t spend money to get the traffic, but guaranteed you spent time. Sales from affiliates? You spent time recruiting them and you are paying them a commission on each sale. Sales to your own list? You bought those customers from the method you used to get them on your list, warming them up, getting them to trust you, etc. You are always investing SOMETHING to make a sale. Which is why, if you haven’t already, you need to learn to make $1.50 on every $1 of advertising you spend. By spending money on proven methods to get sales, you can rapidly scale up. You spend $1000 on Facebook ads and make $1500? Congrats, you now have a sustainable business. Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat. This is the ultimate goal – to stop spending your time and start investing your money to get sales. After...

Let’s say you’re building a sales funnel to promote a new weight loss program. Your lead magnet should detail ways to lose weight. But here’s the key – make these methods painful. Discouraging. Problematic. Complicated. Etc. Maybe you give them a diet that’s difficult to follow. Or a workout plan that’s enough to make an athlete cry. Whatever. It should be something that will definitely get the job done, IF they follow it. But they won’t want to, which is the point. Because then you will ‘save the day’ by offering them the ‘easy solution.’ Which is, of course, the program you are promoting. This way you get the exact people you want to enter your funnel (people who want to lose weight) and you prime them to grab your easy solution, because otherwise it just seems too difficult. This works for almost anything. Do you sell software? Make your lead magnet about how to manually get the same result your software will provide f...

I recently saw a video clip of a heavy set young woman running behind a car. The car’s truck is open, and a young man is sitting in the car’s trunk facing the running woman. In the man’s hand is a stack of one dollar bills, and as the woman chases the car, the man repeatedly hands the woman a one dollar bill. If she keeps running, she gets more dollars. If she can’t keep up with the car, she gets no more money. https://i.imgur.com/V4Kq2bk.gifv Crazy? Maybe. Effective? Only in the short term. Is it realistic to do this every time she goes running? Probably not. Which raises two questions: First, what will motivate you in the short term to just get started on your next project? What will get you moving right now? And what will keep you moving in the right direction over the long haul? For example, if your goal is to write a book, then maybe treating yourself to a night out once you have your outline completed will get you started. But you can’t treat yourself...

Ok, this is a rant but it needs to be said... I got another email the other day from someone lamenting at how darn difficult it is to start and run an online business. He went on and on about his struggles, challenges, problems… how he didn’t have anyone to sit right there and show him step by step what to do, that he had to read BOOKS and watch VIDEOS to learn things… He was literally convincing himself that he couldn’t do it. This man is a friend of mine. He’s 42 years old, has a good job, a college education and a lousy attitude. Finally I got sick of his whining and I sent him this note: “Dear Peter, What I’m about to say, I say with love and the deepest of respect. I want to tell you about a 14 year old boy named William Kamkwamba. William was born into poverty in a small Malawi village in Africa. Because of a crippling famine, William was forced to drop out of school since his family could no longer afford the tuition. To further his educa...

You hired someone to do some writing for you. Problem is, the writing itself isn’t exactly what you’re looking for. Or maybe it’s just not written well, or you need some changes... Or perhaps a marketing colleague has asked you for feedback on their writing, and frankly you hate it. What can you do to help the person make the appropriate changes, without offending them? Try making it about you and not about the writing. For example, instead of saying, “The chronology is confusing,” you tell them that you got confused by the chronology. Instead of, “The dialogue sounds too contrived,” tell them you’re having trouble relating to the dialog, and give them a specific example of what you mean and how it could be changed. By making it about you, you’re not insulting the work or the author. You’re simply offering your own experience of the writing. This helps no matter what you’re critiquing – software, artwork, a website,...

There is an American expression that if you are starting at the bottom of something and working your way up, then you are, “Low man on the totem pole.” A totem pole is a Native American sculpture that is generally quite tall, with carvings of animals, symbols and people stacked one on top of the other. But Native Americans are smart. They know that on a 30 foot pole, no one is going to see the top carvings very well. So they place the most important person or carving on the BOTTOM. That’s right – if you’re on the bottom and just starting out, you are the most important marketer in the room. Do you know why? Because everything is wide open for you. You have the chance to do anything you want, target any sub-niche, become an expert in any topic and so forth. And you have the opportunity to turn the niche completely on its head and make it your own. Being new is a positive. No one has pegged you as the “So-in-so” guy or gal yet. Your reputation is ...

Next time you write a headline, see how many of these you can incorporate. Self-interest – This is the obvious benefit that keeps the reader on the page, reading what you have to say. For example, “Revealed at Last – 13 Perfectly Legal Ways to Make Money in Your Pajamas” Believability – Placing some kind of ‘proof’ in your headline. For example, “Diabetes Cured in 2 Weeks – A Chicago Hospital Confirms Shocking New Remedy. No Pills, No Surgery, No Prescriptions” In this case, the third party evidence dispels skepticism and keeps the reader’s attention. News – Anything targeted and newsworthy tends to work really well. For example, “Warning! Don’t Even Think Of Calling Your Broker Before You Read This Startling Report about What’s Happening in The Market Right Now.” Curiosity – This might in fact be the most compelling force in human nature. The best headlines build curiosity to the p...

Next time you write a headline, see how many of these you can incorporate. Self-interest – This is the obvious benefit that keeps the reader on the page, reading what you have to say. For example, “Revealed at Last – 13 Perfectly Legal Ways to Make Money in Your Pajamas” Believability – Placing some kind of ‘proof’ in your headline. For example, “Diabetes Cured in 2 Weeks – A Chicago Hospital Confirms Shocking New Remedy. No Pills, No Surgery, No Prescriptions” In this case, the third party evidence dispels skepticism and keeps the reader’s attention. News – Anything targeted and newsworthy tends to work really well. For example, “Warning! Don’t Even Think Of Calling Your Broker Before You Read This Startling Report about What’s Happening in The Market Right Now.” Curiosity – This might in fact be the most compelling force in human nature. The best headlines build curiosity to the p...

I was looking through an old copy of the magazine ‘Wildlife Art’ when I saw an ad for limited edition prints for a particular artist. At the top of the ad were thumbnails of 5 of his previous works, and each one had the words, “GONE” in red ‘stamped’ on top of them. The headline read, “Joe Smith’s limited edition prints are the most endangered species.” Next was a big image of the print they’re currently selling, and underneath that was the sub-headline, “Better get this one before it’s gone.” Of course, this got me thinking how this same technique might be used in IM. What if we showed images of our last 5 programs (assuming they are no longer available) and then used similar wording to indicate that time was short and customers better act fast? It’s definitely something to test – and I think it could be quite effective. It could be done with affiliate products as well, if you show the product cre...

I was looking through an old copy of the magazine ‘Wildlife Art’ when I saw an ad for limited edition prints for a particular artist. At the top of the ad were thumbnails of 5 of his previous works, and each one had the words, “GONE” in red ‘stamped’ on top of them. The headline read, “Joe Smith’s limited edition prints are the most endangered species.” Next was a big image of the print they’re currently selling, and underneath that was the sub-headline, “Better get this one before it’s gone.” Of course, this got me thinking how this same technique might be used in IM. What if we showed images of our last 5 programs (assuming they are no longer available) and then used similar wording to indicate that time was short and customers better act fast? It’s definitely something to test – and I think it could be quite effective. It could be done with affiliate products as well, if you show the product cre...

When you get a complaint from a list member about an autoresponder email you sent out, you’ve got options. You can dwell on it and let it ruin your day. You can take the time to answer it – and if you think it’s a legitimate complaint, go for it. But if it’s just some knucklehead blowing off steam, here’s what you do: They almost always will simply hit ‘reply’ to the autoresponder message they are complaining about. Simply scroll down, find their unsubscribe link, and click it for them. Future complaints from this individual? Gone! How do you feel now? Great! Now get back to growing your business. :-)

Last month we covered how to create the perfect lead magnet that expertly targets your ideal audience and makes them want to join your list. This month we’re going to cover how to create the landing page or squeeze page where you send your visitors, so they can sign up and get the lead magnet. After all, even if you create the hottest, greatest, most magnificent lead magnet ever, it won’t mean a thing if your squeeze page scares people away. Next month we’ll cover how to get as much traffic as you want from Facebook. Because once you have learned all three of these skills, you can literally go into any market and create a list building machine in just days. Better still, you can take it one step further and build a complete product funnel behind your lead magnet , offering a tripwire (low ticket) offer, followed by your main offer, followed by a big ticket item. In fact we are going to cover all of that in month 4 of this series. So let’s start at the beginning...

Why sell $10 of stuff when you can sell $20? Or to put it another way... if you normally sell $5,000 of products a month, and you increase that amount by just 20%, you’re selling an extra $12,000 of products per year. Here are some tips to make it happen painlessly and nearly effortlessly: 1: Offer additional offers on the order form, after they start to put info on the form. By waiting to make the offer until after they’re begun the checkout process, you greatly increase the odds they won’t abandon the cart and they will take the extra offer. 2: Let them know that customers who bought product “X” also bought product “Y.” You can do this before the actual sale, during the checkout process or afterwards in an upsell or follow up. 3: Another way to word the “X” and “Y” product proposition is this: “Successful [investors] who bought “X” also bought “Y”, and as a result saw an additional [12%] in...

Last month we covered 3 ways to list build that are working especially well this year. If you missed the article, you might want to go back and see how to build your list with Facebook Live Videos, Guest Posting with Upgrades and Hosting a Virtual Summit. Today we have three more list building techniques that are working really well this year. And before we get started, I just had a thought: What if you implemented all 6 of these techniques in the next 60 days? Can you imagine just how fast your list might grow? Hmmm. Something worth thinking about. And definitely something worth doing. That’s because if your list isn’t growing, odds are your income is either stagnant if you’re lucky, or diminishing if you’re like most marketers. The fact is, there are two kinds of customers who tend to buy the most stuff from you. One is the fan who will buy most anything you recommend or create. The second is the new list member who right now thinks you’re hot stuff. And ...