My #1 money making secret is Research.

#2 money making secret  is contrarian advice

Know what #3 is?

“Let the market change you as a person”

Here’s why this is so important.

Everyone TALKS a good game when it comes to equating marketing with empathy for your prospects and customers.  But truly empathizing with another human being means:

• making yourself vulnerable…
• being open minded and willing to change cherished thoughts and long held opinions…
• letting yourself FEEL the other person’s pain, joy, heartbreak, and despair…
• truly, deeply, and wholeheartedly absorbing their stories and desires into your soul…

It means changing as a person.  (Really)

It means that in at least some small but significant way you’ve yielded your ego to the other person, let your values disintegrate, and then put yourself together again better and stronger.  (A psychological term for this is “regression in the service of the ego”)

In fact, I only really know that I’m ready to go INTO a new market when I feel that I’ve been changed as a person.

I’ll give you a few examples to drive the point home, and I’ll show you how this translates into money making marketing insight.

HOW A SCUZZY LITTLE RODENT MADE ME A BETTER PERSON:

I have to admit I originally got into the guinea pig market as a purely mercenary marketing experiment (my first successful internet project).  I didn’t have any long standing love for the furry little creatures.

In fact, I basically thought of them like my mother did… “scuzzy little rodents with hair”  (I brought one home from summer camp when I was nine without telling her… that’s when I first heard them characterized in this charming way)

But I knew I could never ethically and honestly market guinea pig care books if I held onto those feelings and beliefs.

So I got myself a guinea pig (actually Sharon bought it for me for Valentine’s day in 2004) and started cuddling and playing with it every day.

But that didn’t really do it for me.

Still seemed a little scuzzy.  Still seemed like a rodent, even though it  occasionally made me laugh.

But then I started INTERVIEWING guinea pig owners (as in, you know, actually talking to people… like we OLD people used to do way back in the dinosaur era before computers), asking them WHY they wanted a guinea pig in the first place?

A surprising number of them said something like this “Because I got my little 7 year old Suzie a hamster last year and it died after just a few months.  She was devastated, and it rocked the whole household.  I heard Guinea Pigs live longer and I want our family to have a better experience.  I want my little one to learn how to nurture and care for another living creature, and to  successfully reap the rewards!”

This hit me in the heart.

I’ve got a little nephew who means the world to me.  At that time he was only three.  I remember how upset he was when his pet fish died.

Suddenly a guinea pig was no longer a “scuzzy little rodent with hair”, and I wasn’t an uncaring adult with no use for them.   Now the little monsters were a vehicle of love, and a means to help create children who would responsibly pass love on.

What could be more important?

This immediately crystallized the USP for me: “Guinea Pig Secrets Which Can DOUBLE Your Guinea Pigs Life”

Then I just had to seek proof to support it.

Turns out there are about a half dozen little known guinea pig care FACTS which can double the average lifespan of a piggie. (AS A SIDE NOTE: You’ll be amazed just how ignorant the average market is, and how much blatantly wrong conventional wisdom gets passed around without scientific backing.  You can almost always find facts to support a better outcome in any market!)

What you feed your guinea pig, the litter you use, how you insulate them from stress, etc. CAN actually double their life expectancy.

The real killer, it turns out, was that most veterinarians didn’t realize that guinea pigs had a different type of bacteria in their gut than cats and dogs.  As a result, giving a guinea pig the same antibiotics as you’d give a cat or a dog can easily kill him.  So veterinarians were frequently killing these little pets by accident, can you imagine?

Let me TEMPLATE this process so YOU can repeat it in YOUR MARKET:

1) Dig deep into the market with surveys, research, and other online intelligence (like I teach in the Hyper Responsive Club)

2) TALK to people.  Go out and meet them.  LIVE the same problems your market is living

3) Know yourself.  Let yourself feel how the market is changing you.

4) When you get “hit in the heart”… when a deep feeling of change comes over you, know that you’re onto something which is probably the core of what your USP needs to be

5) Formulate your USP

6) Find proof to support it. (Intriguingly, there’s almost always proof available.  The thing is, hardly anyone really digs this deeply in most markets, so there’s LOTS of gold available for the taking)

I hope this is getting you to start thinking.

Have you let YOUR market change you?

How, specifically?

You should be able to articulate it in as much detail as I did above.  If you can’t, it means you need to spend more time IN your market, talking to them, smelling them, living their pain.

Food for thought.

For SERIOUS thought,

Dr. G

PS – The weight loss (emotional eating) market definitely changed Sharon.  She realized that these people were out of control and hysterical because nothing they could do THEMSELVES seemed to work for them.  They really needed someone to do at least part of the work FOR them.  That was a real problem, because overeating is usually something people really need to make a conscious decision to change.

But then she realized that HYPNOSIS could give people the head start they were looking for… that’s what would truly relieve their feelings of panic about their eating and bond them to her in a stronger way than ever before.

So she did nothing less than spend the whole summer getting certified as a hypnotist.  (My wife does NOT mess around once she makes up her mind)

Here’s a very fascinating little MP3 we recorded for the weight loss market about hypnosis for weight loss.   She’s already using it effectively with her clients.   (SIDE NOTE: If you happen to be interested, take her up on it in the next few weeks before she gets too busy… she’s offering lower rates to jump start that part of her practice.  Contact info at the end of the audio)

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I’ve got the weirdest job in the world.

It’s true!

Because, you see, I get paid gobs of money to talk to myself.   I spend a LOT of time alone in my room, staring at the computer, recording Camtasia videos, MP3s, etc.   Of course, I’ve also got REAL businesses, and of course, I’m not really talking to myself, I’m talking to thousands of people.

But still, if a Martian were to land and observe what I was doing, he’d see a great big hairy guy sitting in his room and talking to himself.

Which couldn’t be farther from what I set out to do as a psychologist… (I really thought I’d be spending my days in a room listening to other people talk to themselves)

Anyway… sometimes it makes me a little “loopy”

(The Rocket Clicks team is great, and always interested in talking to me… but they’re in Milwaukee and, truth be told, Rob Sieracki is such an amazing Chief Operating Officer and partner that Jeff and I really don’t have to do that much anymore)

So I suppose this is a part of the reason I’m pushing the coaching program more seriously now.   (Get on the priority notification list at the bottom of this page if you’re interested … a limited number of slots will open tomorrow and, from experience, will go very quickly) I find that the people who’re willing to work my systems seriously via the coaching structure I’ve set up are some of the nicest, most interesting, (and most respectful of my time and boundaries)  people I’ve met in my years as an internet marketer.

Plus,  sometimes it’s just plain nice to worry about someone else’s business instead of your own.

I dunno.

Maybe I really am nuts.

I really should be DOING more than teaching, if money was my primary goal.

But I’m gonna do this anyway, at least for a while.

Hope you’ll take me up on it before I change my mind

Ryan, one of my most successful students, is also offering to coach a limited number of people through my systems for a little more than HALF my personal rates.   (Get on the priority notification list at the bottom of this page if you’re interested … a limited number of slots will open tomorrow and, from experience, will go very quickly)

Here’s a VERY SHORT MP3 (13 minutes) where Sharon and I discuss my personal neuroses, and how they can benefit you.

Enjoy

Unlike everyone else, I urge people to have the patience to do their research and competitive intelligence thoroughly and precisely, so they’ll have the RIGHT INPUTS for their tests, to maximize the probability of results.

But here’s something I haven’t talked much about, which I really should (but Howie beat me to the punch)…

“Testing Juice” is a limited resource.  We only have so much traffic and money to pay for it, and every test we do eats some of it for a while.    Accordingly, it’s vitally important to PRIORITIZE your tests correctly.

Howie Jacobson, author of Adwords for Dummies, has developed an excellent paradigm for doing just that.  In this MP3 interview (and accompanying slides) you’ll hear him walk you through it.

Of course, I won’t hide the fact that this is also a blatant attempt to get you to attend Camp Checkmate via my affiliate link (which entitles you to the EARLY BIRD pricing if you order soon, even though the deadline’s passed). But as always, both Howie and I took extra special care to ensure the content itself should be immediately valuable to you.

Enjoy!

Dr. G

Things which Google themselves point out in the depth of their documentation…

Which have dramatic implications for how you manage the content network… it’s a real paradigm shift.  Without question, it’s the most valuable thing I’ve learned about Adwords this year, and it’ll only take you 15 minutes to go through.

Highly Recommended,

Glenn

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PS – The thematic shift Jered presents is entirely consistent with the focus of my hyper-responsive club.  Essentially, you need to start thinking THEMATICALLY, which requires you to more tightly define what your entire site is about than ever before.  In fact, one way of understanding Quality Score is a recognition that if you don’t take the time to clearly outline your exact place in the world of keyword conversations, Google will define it for you!

I’ve thought long and hard about the best way to define your space, then conquer it with focus and determination in Google (both Search and Content) and beyond.   This is NOT  a technique or a fad, but a set of principles you implement with a step by step over-my-shoulder system.

I’m implementing one last price raise on February 26st, jumping from $77 to $97.   So if you’ve been on the fence following me, consider this your limited opportunity to LOCK IN YOUR RATES FOREVER.  (Note: I never raise rates on active members ) Beat the $20/mo Price Increase (2/26/10)

Enjoy

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Me too.

And I’m convinced it’s just another instance of  ”confuse and conquer”.

That’s why I asked Ty Price, Director of Ecommerce at RocketClicks.com (and now also a partner in the business)… to spell out in Plain English exactly what’s involved in getting free traffic, especially for PPC based websites.

Ty’s kind of like a “Buddha” around the office.  He has an uncanny knack for remaining calm in the face of any “urgent” business situation,  and a particularly friendly and easy way of simplifying supposedly complex issues.

So enough with all the SEO Voodoo already.  It’s not so complicated… listen to this FREE MP3 and you’ll be able to explain it to your 7 year old.

Enjoy,

Dr. G

PS – If you’d like a consultation about SEO for your business, please contact Rocket Clicks below.

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LIARS.

A Darwinian economy creates ruthless temptation to lie, exaggerate,  distort, and mislead.  And the PPC auction puts that on steroids.

Every time you look at the results of a split test you’re faced with a moral dilemma.   Because the majority of the time, strengthening your claim beyond what you can actually deliver raises your click through and conversion.   And sadly, outright lying raises it stratospherically.

Of course, the smart marketer knows that lying creates only trial, not repeat. (It can also lead to being married to a big smelly guy named Bubba, and spending a lot of time lifting weights in the yard)

So what’s an ethical marketer to do?

I’ve known Chuck Batson for years, have had dinner with him, and in my judgment he’s one of the most ethical marketers around.  Chuck  operates in a market you’d think is more traditionally known for honesty and compassion… the vegetarian/vegan/raw-food world. (Which means, you know… he refuses to eat fried kittens and stuff, no matter how good they taste)

But he’s up against LIARS too.

Thankfully, he used my old How To Double Your Business course (predecessor to the hyper-responsive club) and found an honest way into the market, but he’s only making a few bucks and because he works full time as a programmer, he can’t seem to find the time to expand.

I really like Chuck, respect his values, and appreciate what a dedicated customer he’s been for almost 4 years.

Listen carefully and you’ll learn a few things about dealing with the Liars in your market too!

Dr. G

PS – Chuck asked a few very valuable questions towards the end about the difference between free and paid content.  It’s definitely worth listening to the answer if you’re following my model.

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But what about getting higher scores on keywords which are already performing for you?

What about moving from 6s and 7s to 9s and 10s?

And more importantly, how do you maximize your PROFITABLE IMPRESSIONS on keywords which are already performing well for you?

Other than Google, I think perhaps no one knows better than Rob Sieracki, recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer at Rocket Clicks.

If you’ve got even one keyword which runs profitably in AdWords, I guarantee you’re going to kiss me for putting this interview together. (No complaints about the beard please)

Enjoy!

Dr. Glenn

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I mean, there’s exact match, phrase match, broad match, expanded broad match, and now “automatic broad match”.  Throw in negative exacts, negative phrases,  etc. and you’ll have an aneurysm.

Jerrold Burke is a Senior Analyst in the PPC department at Rocket Clicks.  He proactively contacted me to suggest we do an audio which clarifies how to leverage Google’s fuzzy logic in SEARCH.

Most importantly, in this short and free MP3, we concentrated on Automatic Broad Match, the broadest of the broad.  It’s a feature still in Beta so you won’t yet see it in all accounts, but we’re pretty sure it’s coming down the pike for everyone.

If you happened to have opted into the Beta in 2008 and forgotten about it, you might find you’re dripping money when you look at your Search Query Report (or you might be pleasantly surprised to see the opportunities)

Here’s how to manage the Beast…

Enjoy!

Dr. G

He’s also the host of “PPC Rockstars”, a weekly pay per click podcast with some truly valuable guests and marketing gems.

David not only agreed to an exciting interview for my listeners (36 minute free MP3 below), but also graciously donated his content advertising book (and this is a REAL, meaty book with detailed examples) for you all to freely download.

Enjoy!

Dr G

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