Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

In today’s Internet marketing world we are so used to seeing those long sales pages with a huge list of testimonials including plenty of smiling faces, sometimes audio and even video comments endorsing a product or service or person.

The last few days I’ve been preparing my first draft of the sales page for Blog Mastermind in preparation to hand it over to my friend Will Swayne for a review, who knows copywriting better than me, and then to a paid copywriter for a final review (apparently copy is important or something!).

In some ways I think having a long-form sales page is a necessary evil when it comes to selling online. I realize a lot of people will join Blog Mastermind just on the back of knowing me and sampling my work. They will probably scroll straight to the first “join” button and sign-up, ignoring all my carefully constructed copy. That’s great of course, yet I can’t simply launch a product with a page that says “join” on it because I’ll be loosing a lot of potential clients.

There will be those who come to Blog Mastermind with little prior relationship with me, or with certain sticking points they have to move-past before they will join. It might be looking for a money-back guarantee, or a demonstration of proof that I actually make money from blogging, or a further explanation of how blogs make money in the first place. All these issues need to be addressed in the sales page, along with all the other classic sales page triggers that copywriters know and utilize as staples of their craft.

Many people hate long sales letters, I’ve felt similar feelings at times myself, but the fact is, when you need to address all the possible concerns or questions a potential customer has, the long sales page is a stable performer. I could on about the long sales page, including some interesting evolutions I’ve seen coming from the Ari Galper/Perry Marshall clan, but I’ll save that for another article. Today I want to talk about testimonials.

Inserting Testimonials

Yesterday I spent a good chunk of time on an activity that was, well, a lot of fun. I was reviewing all the great things my readers had said about me and sent me as testimonials and then adding them to my sales page, along with all their smiling face photographs.

Here’s a snapshot of the people featured as testimonials for Blog Mastermind:

All these wonderful people provided comments for me to use as endorsements for my work and it’s a wonderful feeling to read them all and know they will help so much with the success of Blog Mastermind.

I have to admit I’ve been skeptical of testimonials before, but now that I’m actually adding genuine feedback from real people, which was provided just because I asked for feedback (no incentive), I can see how powerful they really are. My sales page would be empty without them and heck, even I’m interested in joining Blog Mastermind now - that Yaro guy seems to know what he’s talking about based on what all these other people have said ;).

How To Gather Your Own Testimonials

If you are considering releasing your own product or service online then you must understand the importance of having genuine testimonials. It’s vital to understand that testimonials are not just given because you ask for them, they come from months or even years of building a relationship and adding value to people’s lives.

My testimonials came from people who have read this blog for years and subscribed to my newsletter for just as long. They know my work well, have been influenced and benefited from what they learn from me and as a result are willing to “give something back” in the form of a testimonial when I ask. What’s great about this is that these people genuinely benefited from my work so the testimonials are that much better - you can feel the authenticity (or at least I can!).

Authenticity is very important for testimonials to be believable and it’s important that you start fostering relationships now because you never know when you might need to call on the support of your friends to help launch a product or endorse what you do.

In a lot of ways my sales page, including the testimonials, is the culmination of years of work. As a static point in time it may have looked easy from an outsider’s point of view for me to get feedback - I just emailed and wrote a blog post asking for testimonials - but it was only easy because of years of work.

You have to start planning for your future too, so start building relationships now.

Yaro Starak
Testimonial Giver

[ Add Your Comment | 4 Comments ]

Wow…It’s been a long time coming, but the wait has been well worth it and I’m sure you will agree with me.

This coming Thursday, 21st of June 2007 at 7AM eastern USA time and 9PM eastern Australian time, the doors will open on my mentoring program, Blog Mastermind.

(Fingers crossed anyway!)

You can check out the countdown timer now at BlogMastermind.com.

For the two people who don’t know what Blog Mastermind is yet, here’s a brief rundown -

Program Features

• It’s a mentoring program to teach people how to use a blog to make a full time income working a couple of hours a day.
• It’s based on what I have done for the past 2.5 years of blogging to grow my blogs to the point where I am making a stable $4000-$6000 per month on the back of a few hours of writing each day.
• The program includes audios (I’ve just finished off a 10-part, 5-hour, Master-The-Mindset audio series strictly for members only), videos, case studies and e-lessons. I’ll be adding heaps more resources as the program continues.
• Members also get direct access to me, a personal blogging mentor, to ask questions, which I will respond to in audio recordings for all members to listen to.

If you don’t have a blog yet then I’ll make sure that you have one within the first two weeks of joining my program.

If you do have a blog already then you are in a perfect situation to start taking action immediately and really grow a successful and profitable blog.

I hope to see many of the familiar faces from readers here at Entrepreneurs-Journey in the mentoring program.

Remember, the release is this Thursday and there will be an incentive to join early, so please stay tuned.

Great Free Resources

In the meantime, if you have not already done so, here’s some of the great resources I have made available in the lead-up to Blog Mastermind you can study now. If you found any of these resources valuable then I know you will love Blog Mastermind.

• The Blog Profits Blueprint (in audio and text)
• How I Make Money Blogging Video
• The blogspot blog case study video

Yaro Starak
Blog Mastermind Mentor

[ Add Your Comment | 23 Comments ]

I’ve just finished creating the welcome materials for Blog Mastermind students and the program will launch this Thursday (more on this in my next post).

If you currently blog or have an email newsletter or website about making money from blogs, or blog tips, or Internet marketing or online business or any topic related to professional blogging and making money online, then I have the perfect affiliate opportunity for you.

The Blog Mastermind Partners Affiliate Program pays out recursive commissions of $20 per sign-up. That means you earn $20 every month a person you refer remains a member. If you sign up 20 people into the program then you earn $400 USD per month, every month, as long as your referrals stay in Blog Mastermind. If you refer 200 people then you make $4000 per month!

I’m focusing my energies on helping my students become professional bloggers, who earn a full time income from blogging part time, and making sure they receive tons of value as members of Blog Mastermind. All you have to do is use the materials I provide for affiliates, including the Blog Profits Blueprint, as free giveaways, to educate people and provide heaps of free value.

It’s really a no-brainer when you can recommend a great report like the Blog Profits Blueprint as a free resource to your readers or members, and potentially make money for doing it!

This Thursday the doors open to Blog Mastermind. During the days leading up to and following the release the buzz will be big and many of my current partners will promote. It pays to get in early and promote frequently if you want to earn maximum commissions.

Obviously I only want you to do what you feel comfortable with, and I appreciate any support you can provide me, but to really get the best results the next seven days are the money-days for affiliates. You should get busy and plan to post and/or email several times this week or at least once on Thursday when the program doors open.

To become a Blog Mastermind partner affiliate you just sign up by clicking the link below and filling out a short form. You will will then be given your unique affiliate tracking links and all the promo tools I make available to my partners.

To sign-up click here:

http://www.blogmastermind.com/partners/

I look forward to working with you and if you need any assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Yaro Starak
Blog Mastermind

[ Add Your Comment | 2 Comments ]

Here’s a lesson in how to get someone to link to your site - send them a personal video.

Darren Barefoot sent me a personalized video, which had my name and everything in it, concluding with a recommendation to check out some crazy videos at the getelastic.com site.

I wouldn’t normally link to something like this just because someone recommended them to me, but the videos are clever and the approach took some effort, so I feel like I should reward Darren.

The videos are short parodies of the online commerce world showing what would happen in the real world if common themes online were to occur offline.

Here’s one example:

You can get the rest from Get Elastic

[ Add Your Comment | 10 Comments ]

After publishing the Blog Profits Blueprint I received a lot of requests from readers who asked me to review their blogs. Obviously I can’t respond to everyone, but one person in particular, Mike Bonsall, has a blog that I think is typical of a lot of blogs online, one I thought was perfect for a case study.

I just sat down and recorded a 16 minute video run-through going over what I consider the major issues to address at Mike’s blog called In My Humble Opinion. Since the main recommendations I have for Mike are the same for a lot of other bloggers out there, I’m making this review case study public, with Mike’s permission of course.

I strongly recommend any people using the blogger (blogspot.com) system watch this video. I don’t cover every single improvement I could think of, but I do focus on the major points. This case study shows that it’s not “simple” to build an effective blog, yet sometimes it only takes simple changes to turn a hobby site into a serious blog.

Click here to watch the video

[ Add Your Comment | 48 Comments ]