Direct Response

 In a down economy, marketers will discover new and creative ways to sell : discounted products, free trials, and biz opp offers have worked best.

Here in Philadelphia, one of the craftiest (and shadiest) campaigns I’ve seen is actually ran by a panhandler named Jeremy Murphy.

Most campaigns setup by panhandlers are complete failures.  The marketer often looks dangerous, disheveled, drugged out, or just downright fraudulant.

Meet Jeremy Murphy, one of the most prolific direct response marketers I’ve ever met.  Jeremy earned a whopping $132,592.00 in 2010.  How?  Playing on the hearts of people in buying mode.

Here’s how Jeremy did it:

1.  Placing his ad in the right place:  Jeremy’s ad is positioned at a high traffic intersection right outside of IKEA. He catches people who are in buying mode. After inhaling the magical IKEA aroma and getting a “great deal,” consumers are in ultra buying mode.

2.  Winning their hearts:  Jeremy’s ad states “Father of 2.  Need food.  Just laid off.  Please Help!  God bless.”  Conveniently located on the ad are pictures of his children.

3.  Playing the part:  When you pull up at the traffic light, Jeremy is donned in respectable blue collar clothing.  He holds a stern look of a man with his pride and dignity in tact.

4.  Strong call to action:  Jeremy stands there waiting for someone to help.  He is noticeable yet does not look at the cars.  He just stands there tall. When you call on him, he quickly tells an emotionally driven story and states “anything you can give is a blessing,” placing the onus on you to take action.

The first time I saw Jeremy I gave him $50.  This is something i just never do!  Yet his story was so genuine.  The vibe I got from Jeremy was so sincere. The guy really looks down and out!

Three months later I went back to IKEA and low and behold Jeremy was still there.   Only this time Jeremy had moved to a higher traffic location.  I started laughing to myself, son of a bitch, he got me.

I pulled over in the parking lot, took at my video camera, and put it on super zoom aimed right at Jeremy.  In 1 hours time, this guy collected $82.  Doing some basic math:

$82 an hour
x 7 hours a day
——————-
$574 a day
x 200 days a year
———————-
$114,800 a year – pure profit

This guy is killing it!

So I decided to approach Jeremy for an interview for DirectResponse.net. Reluctant at first, Jeremy eventually confided that he has been doing this for the past 6 years.  He travels from city to city, positioning himself by IKEAs.   This year he noted that he only did $132,590.  In 2005 he said that he almost doubled that – “the economy is hurting us all.”

While Jeremy’s practice is totally unethical, it is highly effective.   Position your ad in high traffic places, catch consumers in buying mode, and appeal to their hearts – not to their logic!

How do you generate sales in direct response marketing if you don’t have credentials?  I’m talking about the muscle builder with no testimonials.  The magic vacuum without a celebrity endorsement.  The law office with no clients.

Follow these 4 easy steps and you’ll close em’ every time:

1.  Discover your customer’s thumbscrew.

2.  Exacerbate it.

3.  Introduce an easy solution/cure.

4.  Price it to sell.

As Seen On TV is a master at this process.   Every product listed on their website follow it.  Case in point, the Kangaroo Keeper:

1.  Discover you customer’s thumbscrew:  Women hate having a disorganized purse that they have to spend hours sifting through just to find something.

2.  Exacerbate it: “Got a disorganized purse?  Is your bag a bottomless pit where you can never find what you want?  And is changing handbags a constant hastle?”  A perfectly posed question immediately hitting the customers thumbscrew.  Hell yea women can’t stand having a totally disorganized purse, just ask my girlfriend! 

3.  Introduce an easy solution: “Introducing Kangaroo Keeper.  The incredible bag insert that holds over 70 items and keeps everything neatly in place with no clutter.   It easily fits into all sizes of bags and purses making changing bags simple and easy.

4.  Price it to sell: The Kangaroo Keeper presents a hefty solution for just $19.95.  Consumers will buy at this pricing point and aren’t likely to fight hard for a refund.   More to come on pricing psychology.

Voila, economies of scale.  As Seen On TV sold over 300,000 Kangaroo Keeper units.  Estimated cost of the product is $.50.  Average profit on shipping alone is $4.  Without factoring in the cost to advertise this product, As Seen On TV made over $6,900,000 on this campaign!

Yankelovich, a market research firm, estimates that a person living in a city 30 years ago saw up to 200 ad messages a day, compared with up to 5,000 today.

Getting buried by the dreaded N word? (Normal)
 
Create an air of controversy, just like the Axe marketing team has done.  Axe hit the bulls eye with the extreme “sex sells” ads.   You know the exact commercials, but do you know why?  Axe rents space in your mind because they dared to be controversial.    

Risky?  Absolutely!  Just ask “Up Yours” 7up – what friggin douche bags!

Of course there’s always gonna be haters.  All that usually means is that your ad is effective, really effective.

Keep your finger on the pulse of your campaign.  The sales volume tells all.  

Here’s a few controversial angles that I’ve approached in the past:

- Take an unorthodox political stance 
- Create silence followed by a really loud, crazy sound or event
- Use super hyperbole
- Create a cult like following
- Have a controversial superstar endorse your brand

Is George Foreman a big, fat, N?  He’s anything but Normal . That’s why people noticed him when he started the Foreman Grill.  If he wasn’t such a controversial boxer, then he’d just be a big fat N!

There’s an art to controversy.  Take it too far no one will listen to you – you’ll get pegged as a zealot or radical.  Too little and you’ll get pegged as timid.  

Be Loved, Be Hated, But Never Be Ignored!

I always get a good laugh when someone comments to me that I must have had some really good luck to get to where I am today.  LOL, if they only knew.  Luck actually had nothing to do with it.  Indeed, my success appears to have come overnight to the naked eye.  Last year at this time Rich Gorman had a fledgling consulting business that was virtually unheard of.  Just one year later our client list includes 5 of the largest advertisers in the world with 8 figure monthly budgets.

So how did we do it?  Actually it’s pretty damn easy, so long as you’re willing to take on the mentality that you’ll do whatever it takes to succeed and refuse to get deterred by roadblocks.  When a brick wall comes within your path either drive around around it, climb over it, or run right through the motherfu**er!

Here’s how I created the facade of an overnight success:

1.  Act As If

This is a big one.

Nobody, I mean nobody, wants to work with someone that’s just getting started out.   If you’re tight on cash, go out and buy just 1 nice outfit for the big meetings.  It’s important to look the part that you want to become.  Take the mentality that you will achieve the success that you’re shooting for, act as if you have already achieved it.

2.  You’re Required to Work Your Fucking Ass Off

The simple truth is that very few people are willing to make the personal sacrifices I’ve made to get to where I am today.   There’s a lot of excuses out there to choose from.  i.e.  You have to attend your kid’s basketball game?  Go have fun at the game, just make sure you have your bases covered before you go.  If the game is really that important to you then spend the night before working your tail off  and get back to work after the game.  Are you 9-5ing it?  You’re extinct!   Vacation time?   Screw vacation time, you’ve launched a new business with the odds stacked against you.  Work your ass off!

3.  Accept failures and keep going

The U.S Small Business Administration estimates that over 50% of small businesses fail in the first 5 years due to the following:

- Lack of experience
- Insufficient capital
- Poor location
- Poor inventory management
- Over-investment in fixed assets
- Poor credit arrangements
- Personal use of business funds
- Unexpected growth
- Competition
- Low sales

You are surely to fail in a number of the areas listed above.   It’s vital that you recognize where you’ve fallen short.  Study it and make sure not to repeat the same mistake again.   Then move on.

If competition is beating you out, recognize that your strategy is flawed.   Get back to the drawing board and devise a new strategy.   Low sales?   Focus on what the other top dogs in your industry are doing.   They’re hitting sales for a reason.

I recently worked with a company that created a spray product for men.  These guys were adament that their product was the best product on the planet.  While it may have been, the way their landing page converted certainly was not indicative of a good product.  After they blew through their first media buy they realized that their targeted CPA was NOT where they wanted it.  Instead of making changes to their website so it would convert better, they started pointing fingers.   They crashed head first into a brick wall that crossed their path.

4.  So much depends on reputation, defend it with your life

Your reputation is the cornerstone to your success.  Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides.   Make your reputation unassailable.

Setup Google alerts on your name.  Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them.  Things happen in life.  A pissed of consumer might go online and blog about you or your company.   Retain companies like Reputation Changer.   Other successful people have entire firms devoted to protecting their online image.

5.   Re-create yourself

Do not accept the roles that society foists on you.  Recreate yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience.   Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you.   Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions.

When creating DirectResponse.net, I had a totally unique design crafted that would garnish the attention of our readers.  Does your website define you?  Do you dare to be different?

6.  Make Your Accomplishments Seem Effortless

Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease.  The all nighters and weekend work hours must be concealed.   i.e.  Today is Sunday and I’ve been steady at work since sunrise and will keep going till well past sunset.   It’s key to resist the temptation to reveal how hard you work – it only raises questions.   Teach no one this trick or it will be used against you.

In order to get to where I am today I’ve toiled relentlessly behind the scenes.  Last winter I was working 18 hours 7 days a week.  Nowadays I can’t get away with that, as I have full custody of my daughter and am in a serious relationship (love ya babe ).  If you’re in a similar situation,  define your workhours and go at it 110%.  .ie. Today my girlfriend is with family and my daughter is sledding with her grandfather.  Instead of sitting around watching football games I’m cranking out some serious work product.  Getting ahead of the curve, woot!

7.  Turn Setbacks Into Comebacks – Make No Excuses

This year my daughter’s mother was tragically killed in a car accident, I had 2 court cases, one of my largest clients lost his merchant account, and a thousand other things came up that were totally unexpected.   Turn setbacks like this into triumphant comebacks.

I ended up gaining full custody of my daughter, enrolled her in a blue-ribbon school, and stopped paying childsupport.  I won both court cases and my client ended up achieving a new merchant account with unlimited processing.  What a comeback!  Woot!

8.  Play the Perfect Courtier

When you find yourself on the fast track to success, I can’t stress how important it is to recognize those that are superior to you.   The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everyone revolves around success and political dexterity.   He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner.  Read Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People.

9.  Enter Your Industry With Boldness

If you are unsure of a course of action for your business, do not attempt it.  Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution.  Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness.  Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity.  Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid. – 48 Laws Of Power

10.   When Reaching Out For Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to Their Mercy or Gratitude

When getting things started up you will need the help of those around you.  Do not bother to remind people of your past assistance or good deeds.  They will find a way to ignore you, trust that.   Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with them, that will benefit them, and emphasize it out of all proportions.  They will respond enthusiastically when they see that something can be gained for themselves.

11.  Pose As A Friend, Work As A Spy

Identify the top 2 players in the industry that you’re entering.  Learn everything there is to learn about them.  Where do they advertise?  How do they market?   Who handles their processing and fulfillment?

Knowing about your rival is critial.  Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead.  Hire their past employees.  Better yet: Play the spy yourself.  In polite social encounters, learn to probe.  Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions.  There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

12.  Use Absence To Increase Respect and Honor

Once you’ve started hooking the top clients out there, disappear for a day or two.  Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear.  Once you are established with a client, temporary withdrawal from them will make you more talked about, even more admired.  You must learn when to leave.

Recently I atteneded the ClickBooth.com party at the Affiliate Summit East in New York.  A lot of my clients were with us in the VIP room enjoying hors d’ourves.  It was close to 1am and everyone was starting to get really comfortable.   I looked at my watch and woops, it’s time to leave.   Value is created through scarcity.

13.  Master The Art of Timing

Your clients are always observing and judging you.  Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time.  Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually.  Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to success.  Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

- Several ideas from this article came directly from one of the best books ever written, The 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene

The price you pay per click on on Google is largely dependent on the CTR, or Click Through Rate, of your ad.    The more people  click on your ad the more money Google makes off of you.  Therefore, to incentivize advertisers to create better ads, Google lowers the cost per click in accordance to the number of clicks received.  Additionally Google will rank your ad higher on the page at no additional cost.

One of my clients owns a hair regrowth clinic.  His ad was ranked 7th on the first page of Google for the keyword “hair loss treatment” with a CPC of $5.00+.  This client had over 300 keywords running  in 1 ad group!  If that doesn’t raise a huge red flag with you then listen up closely.  At most, I mean the very most, you should have a maximum of 3 or 4 keywords per ad group.  Why?   Because there’s no such thing as a 1 size fits all advertisement in the world of PPC.  PPC is very expensive.

I went to town on my clients campaign, reducing his CPC to $1.43 and increasing his ad position to the #1 spot on Google.  Here’s how:

1.   Create a new ad group per every keyword you target.   This takes a long time to do but is totally worth it.

2.   Use the keyword in the title (or part of it depending on the size) and use the entire keyword string in the body.  When consumers search the keyword online, the keyword in your ad automatically bolds.  The ad will stand out amongst the other ads, and the likelihood that a consumer will click increases.  Why?  You’ve made their life easier by not making them strain to see your ad.  Trust is already created before they’ve clicked.

3.  Deliver the right message concisely.

4.  Add telephone numbers to the ad.  If you’re setup for 24/7 calls, let them know.  That creates trust.

5.  If you’re accepting orders online, add the Google Checkout Shopping Cart.  That alone will double your CTR.   Check out GNC.com, stands out a little huh?

Everyone knows that PPC advertising is overpriced and nowhere near as productive as media buys.  i.e. We recently placed an online media buy for a reputation management firm.  The firm was backing out at a CPA of $75 per lead with approximately 10 leads a day on a highly targeted PPC campaign.  When we placed our media buy, the CPA dropped to $8 and we brought in around 30 leads a day.  Gamebreaker?  Unequivocally yes!!!

Through years of trial and error, I’ve narrowed media buys down to an exact science.   Here are the secrets to media buying:
        
1.  Buy Direct

Ad networks such as Pulse360 provide quick and easy access to high traffic websites like Weather.com.  The problem is that the ad networks charge a hefty premium on these placements.

The way around this is to buy direct.  Contact the sites you’re targeting and pose as an advertising agency.  Get your business license and setup a website that appears legit.  By purchasing direct from the website your costs go way down.  
 
2.  Target High Traffic Sites

If your offer appeals to the general public, then targeting high traffic general sites is a great way to bring in thousands of leads a day.  Product offers such as the Dish Network, middle range cost vehicles, and diet products do well on high traffic sites that appeal to the general public.  One of the best sites is WhitePages.com
      
3.  Create ads that draw attention

Your ad needs to stand out from the rest.  Add animation and use colors that will garnish the attention of your readers.  Yellow and red are the best contrasting colors to use in an ad, just ask MsDonalds.  If the website has a black background, use bright colors, and vice versa.

Make sure you ad is above the fold, meaning that users aren’t required to scroll down to view it.  You want to get in front of the consumers eyes as soon as they reach the page.

4.  The Higher The Relevance

The more relevant the site you advertise on, the better the results.  Reputation Management companies often advertise on sites such as Scam.com or ComplaintsBoard.com.  Why are pages like this relevant?  As you guessed, it’s because every person and company that’s listed there is likely interested in having their name cleared.  These sites rank very easily on Google and can literally destroy one’s online reputation within minutes.  Hence, individuals frequenting these pages are highly interested in cleaning up the mess.

Find the relevant sites for your offer and buy the inventory.  If the CTR isn’t where you need it at, try different creatives.  In the wolrd of media buying, it’s all about split testing and split testing.  

It took me over a decade of headaches and a lot of money to discover these 4 secrets to media buying.  It took you less than 5 minutes            

If you’re like me, you receive hundreds of emails a day from people wanting to work with you.  You want to respond to them all, but at the end of the day there’s just not enough time.  In a few hours I’m driving to my office (on a SUNDAY!) to pour through a few hundred emails from potential clients.  Amongst these emails there are 5 things that I look for to prequalify the client:

1.  Capitalization – We only work with well capitalized clients.  The opportunity cost of guiding another to build a successful campaign is very high when I can do it myself, therefore it has to make financial sense.  

2.  Willingness to follow advice – I avoid clients that attempt to challenge my advice at every corner.  If you know what you’re doing so well, then it doesn’t make sense for you to bring on thr Direct Response team to assist you.

3.  Tenacity – It takes time to get a campaign profitable.  Expectations need to be set in reality from the beginning.  Many of my clients turn profit on their campaigns within 2 months. Others take longer.  We seek clients who are in the game for the long haul, not overnight success.

4.  Ethics – It’s really easy to cut corners on campaigns by doing things like adding false testimonials or deceptively advertising your offer.  I require my clients to have legal counsel review and approve their pages before launch.  Scrupulous direct reponse marketers make sure that their offers adhere to Visa/MC/FTC guidlelines prior to launch.   

5.  Respect of a Busy Schedule – Clients that are busy and understand what it’s like to be busy are the best types of clients to have.  Stick to scheduled meeting and don’t email unneccesary stuff.  One recent client of mine started adding me to his email strings with several other unrelated topics.  Before I knew it my inbox had 20+ emails a day with nonsense from this client.  Come on man!

If your potential client meets this criteria from the beginning, then email him back. If your’re not sure of an area, email him to vet further. If the potential client fails any one of the above criteria, drop him summarily. Better to be upfront and honest in the beginning than to waste your time in the future.           

When I think about it, I still get that feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I was chatting with a man with a teeth whitening offer about the changes he needed to make to his website. The conversation was going well — he loved all my ideas and was ready to rebuild his site.

I started getting excited, thinking I had found my next project. I was already putting together his proposal in my head. Then he uttered those dreaded words …

“I’d love to sit down with you at the show and pick your brain sometime.”

I didn’t know what to say or do. I felt my face turning red and I stammered out an excuse about getting back to him when I checked my calendar.

Requests for “brain-picking” are rampant in any business, and they’re never fun if you’re the one whose brain is being picked. It used to happen to me so much that I found myself becoming resentful.

Every time I spoke with someone new I heard a little voice in the back of my head saying “Ugh, I bet they’ll never hire you, they just want a bunch of help for free”.

That little voice was not very helpful for landing clients.

If you’ve ever been in this situation, there is a way to turn this around. There is a way to handle these situations with grace and without frustration.

There’s even a way to make those freebie requests go away — or, even better, turn into paying clients.

It is your job, and your job alone, to set appropriate boundaries and clear up what you’re happy to give for free and what you charge for.

That might be hard to hear. But if you want to move through these situations with grace (and encounter them less often) you have to stop placing blame — and start making it a policy to get paid for your time.

Sound impossible? It’s not. Here’s how:

1. Take full responsibility

The most important thing you can do is stop being angry at the prospect for asking.

Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. If you were given the choice between getting a new computer for free or paying for the same computer, you’d pick free every time — and you’d never think about the company who doesn’t get paid for the sale. Why would you?

I know free is my favorite price for everything.

It is your prospect’s prerogative to ask for your time for free. Let me say that again — it is their prerogative to ask.

In fact, they’d be missing a golden opportunity if they paid for something when they didn’t have to. You can’t blame the prospect for taking the smart route.

You’re also missing the subtle compliment that goes with being asked for advice.

When someone asks you for your time for free, be grateful that they view you as someone who can offer valuable advice. Gary Vaynerchuk constantly says how grateful he is to get thousands of emails a day — he doesn’t take it for granted that every one of those people thinks that he is worth taking time out of their life to write to him.

Everyone asking for your time is already “sold” on you to a degree — they must be or they wouldn’t be asking you for more! Instead of viewing them as a dead-end cheapskate, see them as someone who is so invested in you that they’ll either be a potential client or a source of referrals.

2. Clearly establish your service offerings

Sometimes people ask you to work for free because you haven’t given them anything to buy.

When I offered CRM integrations or media buy placements I didn’t have any packages for ongoing support. I charged clients a per-project fee, and considered the project done when the client signed off on the design.

Invariably, people would contact me after the project was officially “over” with some tiny request — things that literally took 5-10 minutes of my time. Crafting a new invoice for this small request seemed silly, yet all of these requests were starting to seriously eat up my time.

I started to feel like I had to provide free service for life for each one-time purchase, and I felt like people were taking advantage of me when they asked for these small favors.

Looking back, I can see that they weren’t taking advantage of me. The issue was mine. I should have had a clearly-defined ongoing support package to offer in response to those requests.

That would have made things clear — either you had purchased my ongoing support or you hadn’t. As it stood, everyone was in the grey zone.

If you don’t like people asking for your time for free, but also don’t have any sort of well-defined offer in place to charge them for that time, the blame falls squarely on you.

3. Decide what you’ll give away …

What are you willing to give out for free?

This is where content marketing is your friend, because you offer plenty of valuable free resources like your blog or newsletter.

It also may be appropriate to do brief introductory phone calls, or host one group in-person session per month for people who are interested in working with you.

Whatever it is for your business, get clear.

For the record, you do not have to offer any time for free. It is possible to get hired without any kind of free consult beforehand if you do a great job building the relationship ahead of time with your content marketing. In my business people sign $5,000 contracts with me without any kind of free introductory consult.

4. … but don’t assume that free advice is all they want

We often make the mistake of assuming that someone isn’t willing to pay just because they ask to “pick our brain.”

Again, they’re asking because we all love free. That doesn’t mean they’re unwilling to pay, it means they’re hoping they won’t have to.

They’ve expressed interest in learning more from you, which means they are a potential client and should be treated as such.

Remember that you are in business here, which means that you exchange value for money. Don’t let “free” become your default mode. It is your job to take the lead.

If you lead them down the free path that’s exactly where they’ll go. Lead them down the customer path instead.

5. Respond with confidence

Here’s a script for how to handle someone asking you for coffee or lunch to “pick your brain”:

I’m glad to hear you’re interested in getting deeper into this. The next step is my one-hour consultation. Would you like me to tell you how that works?

Notice that you’re asking permission and putting the prospect in the driver’s seat.

You’re also using the clear service offering that you established in step two. You’re not explaining why you’re charging, because there’s no need: your time is valuable. That’s a given. Even if you’re not used to thinking of it that way yet, get used to responding to these queries as though you are.

If they want to hear more about your consult, that’s great! You have the green light to sign a new client.

Some people will backpedal and start saying they’re tight on money. Here’s another script you can use in that scenario:

I completely understand, you have my card so just get in touch with me when you’re ready. You can also take a look at the articles on my blog if you’d like some more general advice that can tide you over until you’re ready to embark on this project.

What you don’t want to do is hedge, waver or discount. Stand firm with full respect for your business and you’ll find that the prospect will share that respect.

Hold firm and freebie requests will fall off

You’ll notice that the people at the very top seem to struggle with this topic less, even though they get the most requests.  Does your attorney or accountant charge you for their time?  Naturally you should do the same for your clients.

Why? When you’re clear and confident in what you offer, paying for your time becomes the natural progression.

Get clear, get confident and start being honored by those “freebie” requests. That’s how you become an expert that always gets paid for their time.

When the consumer submits her credit card information on your site, the golden gates of opportunity are thrown open.  Your customer is in buying mode and is ready to buy more, if only given the right offer.

1.  Use Complimentary Offers

 
Find offers that compliment your offer.  i.e. If a customer just purchased an eCig from you, send them to a page that sells a teeth whitener.   Consumers often buy eCigs to stop smoking regular cigarettes, and cigarettes cause yellow teeth.   Another example is P90x and Colon.  A consumer who just purchased the P90x exercise program wants to lose weight.  Attach a colon offer to help them flush the built up toxins. 

2.  Free Trials – Hard Sale 
 

If you just sold the customer a hard sale, then offer them a free trial on the next page.  Free trial offers convert higher than all other campaigns in direct response marketing.

3.  Free Trial – Free Trial

 
Visa/Mastercard regulations no longer allow direct response marketers to sell more than 1 free trial at a time to consumers.  Historically, overly agressive direct response marketers were signing customers up for 2 or 3 free trials after initial purchase, which resulted in massive chargebacks and loss of mids. 

The way around this regulation is to post affiliate banner offers on the confirmation page of your website.  Use trusted affiliate networks such as CXdigital, Health Converter, and Azoogle.  Make sure the offer is a complimentary offer.   Although the conversions aren’t nearly as high, you’ll still see a significant number of customers buying. 

4.  Call Center Upsells

 
We work with several call centers that will contact your customer withing 1 business day of purchasing.  During the call the rep will confirm the customers information - which helps to identify affiliate and consumer fraud- and upsell products.  A lot of call centers my clients use sell membership programs.   Please email me at impact @ directresponse.net and I’ll introduce you to a few call centers. 

5.  Email Marketing

 
Use aWeber of iContact to build your email lists.  As soon as a customer fills out the call to action form you need to collect that customers data.  Use LimeLightCRM to filter the customer data into your email software.  Create 2 categories: partials and customers.   If the partial purchases, send them to your customer list. 

Partial List: Send out special discount deals to the partials.  These consumers ARE SUPER INTERESTED IN YOUR PRODUCT.  They took their most precious commodity, TIME, to fill out the call to action form on your website.  CLOSE THEM.  Shoot them emails with major discounts.  Who cares if you shrink your margin from 200% to 20%, just capitalize off of the partial.  “Get them to sign on the line in which is dotted!” – Glen Gary Glen Ross.

Customer List:  This group has spent their hard earned dollars on your offer.  You’ve done a fine job in bringing them in.  This list is gold so long as your product maintains the perceived value you initially created during time of purchase.  Shoot an email blast out with new complimentary offers every other week.   Don’t start blowing up their inboxes every day, that will only cause spam complaints and unsubscribes.  When you have new offers or other affiliate offers that make sense to this customer demographic, send them out.  If nothing exists, hold off on the emails.  It takes years to build trust and seconds to break it.

Welcome to the official online direct response marketing blog.  I created DirectResponse.net with one goal in mind – to teach you how to crush your competition.  In the world of direct response marketing, second place is the first loser.   With rising media costs and a lowering barrier to entry, there’s no longer a place for a “pretty good campaign.”  You’re either the best or you’re nothing!  It’s that simple.

DirectResponse.net is geared toward the seasoned online direct response marketer.  If you’re a beginner you may get confused by the dr vernacular used on this site.  Please reference these 3 sources to learn a little more about the industry:

1.  Clickz
2.  ShoeMoney
3.  Hub Spot Blog

Chances are that you will lose in this game.  Over 98% of online direct response campaigns fail within the first year.  That’s a staggering number!   During the past 10 years, I’ve witnessed guys make hundreds of millions of dollars only to lost it all and go to prison – usually due to greed.  On the extreme other end of the spectrum, a lot of people have entered the game and lose their ass - usually due to lack of tenacity.

There’s a happy medium to all of this, where you can earn millions, crush your competition, and avoid going to jail or losing your house!  That happy medium is one that my clients continue to enjoy on a daily basis, and one that you too will enjoy as we learn more about how to crush it in the online direct response industry!