Why I Stopped Using Funded Proposals

by tduff on September 1, 2010

About 18 months ago I stopped using funded proposals…for a few different reasons.

This post will likely create a bit of controversy…a good thing – I want your feedback and thoughts on this so don’t forget to leave a comment below and let the community know how YOU FEEL on this topic.

First, let me backup and clarify what a funded proposal is…

When you have a lead capture (squeeze page) and a prospect hits “submit” giving you their details…they’re next taken to a sales page offering a product (usually a digital download of some sort) that’s relatively inexpensive. Say $30-$50.

So, let’s say you’ve got a capture page that discusses how to naturally lose weight. Visitors would go to your page, submit their details, then be presented with an offer to buy a series of weight loss videos, maybe a recipe ebook or different exercises for x dollars.

Great concept and for someone who’s just getting started don’t get me wrong…this is a GREAT way to generate an income and help pay yourself for your time, efforts and $$ spent while driving traffic to your data capture page.

The vast majority of those who throw in the towel early on and call it quits in network marketing do so because they haven’t generated an income or at least not enough to cover their product costs.

I’ve been using funded proposals since early 2005, in 2 different industries (MLM and swimming pool maintenance). I later expanded the funded proposal concept into a few other niches and here’s what caught my attention…

1. Here’s a screen shot of an Aweber campaign where I didn’t use the funded proposal concept – my initial open rates were in excess of 80% and at the 7th email it’s pulled back to 54%

Here’s a screen shot of a campaign with a funded proposal associated with it…

As you can see there’s a clear difference in the open rates (same emails, same exact email sequence using 2 different aweber accounts). This screen shot is a campaign that had a sales letter after the optin on the data capture page.

Listen up…

As a marketer any “input” you add to your marketing process will ALWAYS have a change on the “outputs”. It’s our job as marketers to identify what those are and to look at all the variables involved…sometimes, it’s not obvious – as in this case, further digging was necessary. The unintended consequence was my open rates were lower…meaning fewer people that were actually part of my community. This also reduces the size of audience when I would share content and share offers as well.

2. This is a business of “relationship marketing”. Yes, we’re using technology to help us leverage those relationships and create efficiencies instead of “traditional” network marketing techniques being taught.

If the objective is to build a relationship with our community, provide an immense amount of value and to solve problems, a funded proposal, for me, became out of harmony with my core objectives. I didn’t want to be the guy at the party being introduced to people and immediately opening up my trench coat and saying, “Hey, look at my stuff…it’s for sale…BUY IT NOW!”

Think about the process of a prospect going to a capture page..then immediately being taken to an offer. If you were at a cocktail party and your spouse was introducing you to the boss for the first time would you say, “Hi there! Check out all this cool stuff on me…I’m selling all this stuff you might be interested in…come closer and check it out”.

Not likely. Your spouse (and the boss) would likely look at you like you’ve lost your marbles or something. It’s just not a cool way to introduce yourself.

I wanted to take a different approach…follow my lessons, learn from my free information…then, buy my stuff. Now, I have a relationship BEFORE they’re introduced to solutions and I’m not the guy with the heavy coat at the cocktail party that everyone’s talking about and avoiding like the plague.

In closing…look at all the variables in your marketing campaign. Inputs can create a domino effect on everything else and have impacts across the board – have you meticulously analyzed every aspect of your campaign to see if there’s anything that may be out of alignment with your core objectives and what you’re looking to accomplish?

I’m sharing this example of funded proposals and why I stopped using the concept to share a bigger message. Sometimes, we believe we’re doing the right thing…for the prospect and our business, but after looking at all the variables involved, things get cloudy and we need to reevaluate certain actions. Sometimes these things are completely unintentional – at the time, I didn’t realize my open rates would drop substantially…nor did I want to be considered as “the guy with the trench coat…so we need to run!”

With all of that said, for newer people…just getting started I believe they should be using funded proposals. Once you have a name and an associated “brand” in the industry…you may want to reconsider at that point. Certainly food for thought.

It’s an effective way to create income and offset lead costs…even get paid while you’re building your business. Just know…there are consequences.

I’m curious as to your thoughts on this matter…let the community know where you stand on this…

Here’s to greater understanding,

Terry Duff

P.S. The greatest asset you possess is YOU. Don’t jeopardize your brand, reputation or anything else associated with it.

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2 Great Sources Of Traffic To Your Site…

by tduff on August 24, 2010

There’s no doubt about it…the money’s in the list – or more accurately, it’s in the relationship that you establish with those on the list.

The reality is without a list an offer can’t be made (well, you can make an offer, but you wouldn’t have an audience) :)

List + Relationship = money in the bank.

This is where a lot of networkers struggle…and I personally believe this is the most important aspect of any business.

Lead generation…there are a lot of ways of generating leads, but today I’m going to break down a few effective ways to generate more leads while keeping the investment low…or even not spending a dime.

Warning: Even though there are several ways of getting traffic without spending a dime, there is NO free lunch. Your time…your most valuable asset is being used – so while technically it doesn’t cost you anything out of your wallet…there is a cost associated with “free” traffic.

1. Video Distribution: Doing short videos are a GREAT and free way of getting targeted visitors to your website. Realistically you can do a video (with powerpoint and camstudio.org -or Camtasia, which has a lot of cool features) in less about 20 minutes from top to bottom. Sprinkle a keyword phrase in the title and description and submit the videos to YouTube.

Videos are really a gift that keep on givin’…

In a blog post I did a while back, I break it down into a 7 step process – click here for more specific instruction on video marketing.

2. Article Marketing: This is hands down, bar none, my MOST favorite form of traffic. I’ll explain why in just a second…

Article marketing is nothing more than picking a topic that you have knowledge of (or you’re passionate about) and writing 300-400 words about that topic…then make sure you’ve got the keyword phrase in the article about 2% of the time and make sure it’s in the subject line.

For example…let’s say you were writing an article about “how to lose weight” – well, that topic’s too broad and way competitive…so, here’s an alternative. Either identify a subset of that niche or choose a keyword phrase that’s less competitive…say, “cannot lose weight”. Just taking a quick glance at the Google External Keyword tool (excellent free tool), I can see it has about 5400 monthly searches…and it only has 33,400 competing websites.

Here’s what I mean…

When you find a keyword phrase that you think is a good fit for an article, before you start writing about it, take that keyword phrase and put it in parenthesis at google.com – the number of results it comes back with will tell you how many other sites are competing with that keyword phrase.

I like to see less than 40,000 competing sites. You can go higher, but low hanging fruit is ALL OVER THE PLACE. This isn’t a game of working harder…pick up the low hanging fruit and get page one search results on Google (and the other search engines too).

One of my ezinearticles.com accounts…

EzineArticles.com Image

2248 FREE URL clicks. I didn’t pay a dime for them. And I’ve only got 41 articles in this account!

Here’s why article marketing is tough to beat from a bottom line results stand point…

Look at the process one goes through before they’ve become a lead.

They do a search online…looking for a solution to a problem they have.

They come across your article and click on it.

They then continue to read/scan 300+ words.

They click on the link inside your resource box which takes them to your squeeze page.

They then decide to either submit their details or leave the page empty handed.

They already have a vested interest…they’ve already spent at least 5 minutes on YOUR STUFF!

2 things take place with good article marketing…

1. Your conversion numbers from prospects to leads is SUPER HIGH…typically above 50% because by the time they get to your capture page, they’ve already invested a fair amount of time/energy. The likelihood of them leaving empty handed is pretty slim.

2. Even more important than number one…a greater percentage of leads become BUYERS – also as a result of what they’ve gone through. My products line ranges from about $30…up to $2500.00 – the greatest % (by a long shot) of the buyers (especially for the high end coaching) comes from article marketing.

A little elbow grease goes a long way.

I wrote an 11 page report that covers all the ins and outs on article marketing – if this is a source of traffic that you’re considering (and I would HIGHLY recommend), check it out right here…

Just remember…article marketing is about being consistent. It’s not about shooting a handful of articles out there and watching the leads pour in. Try to write 3 a week…every week. It won’t take but a couple of months and you’ll consistently be generating leads daily from those articles.

As with any source of traffic…ONLY focus on that source of traffic until you get proficient at it. Ramp it up, then either outsource or do it yourself and add another stream of traffic.

Far too often, I’ll see one tackle a form of traffic only to throw in the towel 2 days later saying, “it didn’t work”. I probably sound like a broken record, but your ability to generate leads and create an audience IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF YOUR BUSINESS.

No audience = no revenue. Doesn’t matter how good you are as a presenter, your ability to write good copy doesn’t mean anything…you get the idea.

Site traffic should resemble an octopus…

Multiple Streams Of Traffic...Tentacles

Multiple Streams Of Traffic...Tentacles

Oh, and don’t don’t forget to share your thoughts and submit a comment!

All the best,

Terry

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