Month: May 2009

As I write this, there have been 178 comments in reply to the email and blog post I did a couple of days ago, with my offer of taking a few people and teaching them about product launch for free.

That’s both surprising, and then again not surprising when you stop to think about it.

I want to do this for you for free, but I feel you’ll learn better and the information will stick harder if you don’t get the next part unless you really want it and are prepared to work to get it.

Make sense?

From the comments that have been made, a lot of people (this may include you) actually want to know more about the whole selling online thing, and maybe you don’t trust what you’ve been sold and told in the past.

(Some people have even questioned my right to teach because they don’t know me yet – it’s a fact that I don’t blow my own trumpet as hard as some do in their attempt to be heard. You can look at me as being quietly confident in what I do.)

So. I can see that many want to know more than just product launch.

I can also see that some didn’t read what I’d written properly, or maybe just got caught up in the moment. 😉

Just to repeat myself… My offer is to teach a few people about product launch (and associated areas) in return for doing a few tasks for me. It won’t cost you anything other than your time.

I expected maybe 30 people to come forward, and that seems a reasonable number to me given that I have to hand out tasks and check that they’ve been completed, as well as create the learning material – a task I haven’t even started yet.

Seeing nearly 6 times that amount has made me stop and think.

Here’s my dilemma.

#1 – I’d like to take on board everyone that wants to do it.

#2 – I don’t have the time to handle everyone through the learning and tasks. Yet.

#3 – I don’t think that everyone that wants to do it is ready for it. You may or may not agree.

Let’s take a quick look at each of these.

#1 – I don’t like to disappoint people and I bet you don’t either. I’d really like to be in a position where I can put you through this and see you come out at the other end in a much better place.

#2 – I’m currently not geared to deal with more than a few people. I see this as a learning process that will evolve over time into a sausage machine. Eventually anyone will be able to sign up, and get their first bit of learning followed by their first task. If that task is completed successfully then the next section of learning will be made available and so on.

#3 – Reading some of the comments, many people aren’t ready to take on board information about doing a product launch. Here’s a simple reality check. Ask yourself these two questions and exclude yourself if you answer no to either of them.

o Do I have a product ready (or nearly ready) to be released?
o Do I understand how to write good sales copy?

In addition, ask yourself this.

o Do I have a mailing list in my target niche?
o Do I have a good number of potential JV partners in my niche?

These last two aren’t absolutely vital as it’s possible to build buzz and do a launch without them. But if you want to do a big launch then it really does help if you have a mailing list and JV partners. 😉

I hope you now understand where I’m coming from and that you won’t be mad at me if I don’t pick you for the first wave.

Yes, I’ve decided I’ll do this again, and probably the second time around will be better than the first. So don’t be too disappointed if you don’t get first dibs.

And to make you feel a bit better about it all, in the meantime I’ll release some free videos and reports that cover other topics that I know you’ll want to learn about.

So what I’ve done yesterday is I’ve asked Paul to install CMS Anywhere (our upcoming Content Management System still in development) on two sites.

The first site will be free tutorials for everyone and aimed at newbies and intermediate marketers. Tell your friends if you have any. 😉

The second site will be more advanced stuff and will also be free, although you’ll get tasks to complete. You’ll be invited there after joining the first site, but please don’t tell anyone about it if you are.

Neither site yet exists other than domains I registered a while back which have since sat there doing nothing. Yeah I used to do that too.

Okay?

The next step is the selection process for the first wave, a task I’m not looking forward to.

What I’ll first do though is ask you to sign up to a separate mailing list to keep things clean and give me an easy way of contacting just those people who are interested, so that I don’t keep bothering those who aren’t.

Then you can tell me some more about yourself and why you want to learn about product launch or if you think you might want to start on something a little less challenging.

I’ll let you know about this in the next couple of days or so.

Thanks for your patience, and I hope you’re as excited about this as I am. Make no mistake, this is going to be an exhilarating ride for all of us, and it doesn’t matter whether you do product launch or something else, you’re still going to get a lot out of it.

-Frank Haywood

I’ve just made a snap decision.

Sort of.

It’s been building up for a while now, and something I’ve just read has made me say “Right, time to blow the lid on this.”

So here’s the deal. I’m going to teach a SMALL group of people to recognise when a product will do what it says it does and to understand when they’re being manipulated and how.

In the process, you’ll also learn how to do a product launch yourself. And you’ll learn how to sell your own products with the right actions and words.

This is SCARY stuff, and it cost me thousands of dollars and countless hours to learn.

I’m not going to charge you anything.

But, I AM going to ask you to do a few tasks for me as we go along.

They’re not difficult, and everything I ask you to do will also be a good learning experience in itself. You’ll be able to perform these same tasks for yourself and apply them to your own business.

Okay?

There’s also a proviso or two. I need to know that you have the right skill set to begin with.

I need to know you:-

o Are proficient in the English language.
o Can write. Both harder and easier than it sounds.
o Are independent and have a “can do” attitude. If I give you a task, you will get a good description of the task, but you will get NO help from me and I WON’T answer your questions – I don’t have the time to hand hold. You have to do this on your own.

In addition and ideally, but not necessary:-

o You would know basic HTML. No CSS required, just an understanding of basic formatting of web pages. This would include the use of FTP.
o Be able to do simple graphics editing using either Photoshop or GIMP.
o Know how to install WordPress, and add plugins and themes.

That’s it.

You can treat this as a “Super Internship” where the payoff is you learn various vital new skills and also how to do a product launch.

In summary, you’ll learn stuff and you’ll be given tasks to do by both written instruction and video.

What this isn’t in any way, is coaching. If you want me to coach you then you’ll have to pay me, and I’m not taking coaching students at the moment.

This is free, and some of the stuff you’ll learn from me no one else will tell you let alone discuss. It’s a bit shady, and it’s a bit on the dark side.

But it works.

There can only be a limited number of spaces. Let’s say 30. That’s all I’m going to take.

I’ll give you more details in a few days when I’ve thought it out some more.

In the meantime if you want to show your interest and get a “foot in the door” or ask any questions (while you can) then you can do so by leaving a comment.

-Frank Haywood