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Advice, guidance, pointers, feedback and critique, please.

MHolland

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Fellow TMF Community Friends,





I’m starting this thread in hopes of being able to provide some knowledge to those that might find it useful through the dialogue that’s generated here as well as being able to figure out my next steps, going forward.




The Beginning & Intro





I read TMF sometime mid-2013. Before I even reached half-way through the book my Fastlane “idea” was born in my mind! I remember the excitement and just couldn’t wait to put the book down so that I could start my project! Thanks MJ for planting the bug in my mind! I’m ever so grateful.


Very soon after I had finished reading TMF for the second time I got down and dirty. Within a short couple of weeks, my baby was online! I started a somewhat niche business in the trucking industry that offers info to companies looking for opportunities to grow their own freight transportation operations. The information that I provide to these businesses is in the form of a downloadable directory of information.


In no time at all, (about 7 months), I was able to attain G-machine rankings of page 1, rank 1 AND rank 3 AND rank 6 AND rank 8, etc. (all on the same page), for multiple keywords. For some keywords, I even rank higher than some of the industry’s giants, (i.e. FedEx, UPS, etc.). For other keywords my site appears on page 2 and so on. All of this, with ZERO paid advertising – amazing what the internet can teach us to achieve in just a few short hours!


The higher the search results I crawled up over time, the higher the number of downloads I got, (obviously). However, my pageviews-to-downloads conversion ratio was, and is, nothing to write home about. As per my calculations and forecast, I thought for sure I’d see the number of downloads in the thousands, (if not in the tens of thousands, considering the number of transportation companies out there that could use my info, which are in the millions). However, I was only able to manage a few hundred downloads in a year. I suppose a lot of this would have to do with my pricing model.


I started selling the download at $299, then at $149 (for most of the year), and now at $29 considering the 2014 edition is now obsolete. When the 2015 edition is released in a week or so, it will be priced at $149. Although the total dollar amount isn’t much to brag about, the total ROI in one year is in the region of 5,590%+ return on investment, considering the whole thing cost me approximately $475 to put together. Well, actually I didn’t really pay the $475 from my pocket, technically...I had put some ads on free classified ad sites and presold bits and pieces of the info before the launch of the site for around $700 via PayPal. Part of these earnings is what I used to pay for the ensemble.




Current Situation





My current situation is that I have 400+ customers that have downloaded my product and this number grows daily and steadily, albeit slowly.





The Big Question





My big question is: Does anyone have any pointers/advice on how to get each and every one of these customers to now want to spend around $200-$250 monthly, (subscription model)? As in, what could be a no-brainer up sell after they’ve downloaded the e-directory of information that helps these folks grow their businesses?


The dilemma that these folks have is that they just don’t know “how”. They resort to the G-machine and punch in keywords such as, “..how do I grow my freight transportation business?..”. They then find my product and download it. They’re all looking for the magic pill. Once they have my info in their hands, however, they’re still lost because they either don’t know what the next steps are or simply lack the confidence to just pick up the phone and dial. Or they’re just lazy and simply don’t want to do the work.


FYI – in my industry there are many websites that sell subscriptions for $90 - $350 monthly with the promise of connecting freight with truck. I’m not trying to become another one of these sites.





My Strengths





Cold Calling


Freight Sales


Negotiating


Dispute Resolutions


New Business Development





The Constraints





Whatever the next steps are, the ultimate result(s) need to be achieved, for the most part, hands-off.





Any advice, guidance, pointers, feedback, questions, critique, etc. from you all will be most highly appreciated. Thanks all for making this such an awesome community of like-minded individuals!




 
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axiom

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Without knowing too much about your business, I'd say a subscription content deal could be a good option.

You say they want the magic bullet, yet they are still in the dark about actually implementing the things you taught them. So what I'd do is create a membership-only site/guide that gives them a few steps they need to take every week to grow their business. You would basically create an outline for them and they would follow it for their respective businesses for a period of time--say, 6 months.

You would guarantee them that at the end of the six months, they will be at X revenue. Following the six months, you could possibly continue the subscription with a useful forum (like this one) or just weekly exclusive content.
 

MHolland

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Thanks axiom, I do like this model a lot. Only trouble is the guaranteeing of X amount of revenue in a given time frame. As in, you can lead a horse to water but you can't force it to drink. Most folks are just plain and simple, lazy. So even with a step-by-step guide they may or may not implement the steps necessary to achieve the desired (guaranteed) results.
 

axiom

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well after the six months or whatever one of two things will happen:

1. They have followed your plan (assuming its quality) and have successfully started their freight business.

or 2. They realize its not for them. I can tell you for sure that the lazy ones will drop the whole thing before six months which will not reflect poorly on you.

You may not want to give a concrete monetary value guarantee, but make sure they know that if they follow your program to a tee, they will be successful
 
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MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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how to get each and every one of these customers to now want to spend around $200-$250 monthly, (subscription model)?

Dunno, can you provide $200 in value every month?

FYI – in my industry there are many websites that sell subscriptions for $90 - $350 monthly with the promise of connecting freight with truck. I’m not trying to become another one of these sites.

Perhaps this is an area you really should look into, specifically the weaknesses of existing providers-- it's a proven area where customers are willing to pay.

Glad to hear TMF sprung you into action.
 

MHolland

Contributor
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Dec 26, 2013
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Thanks MJ. Can I provide $200 in value every month..? Hmmm..now you've got me thinking!
 

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