by Patricia Mayo

I’m breaking all the rules in my product launch - but I’m willing to bet my results will be better, and longer lasting, than anyone who does it the “traditional way.”

Photo by Maira Kouvara

The “things” traditional online marketers say you need, like a list and a website, are spot on, but the way they say you should build it is way off.

If you know anything about building a list, you know that at the beginning of it all is the “squeeze page.” I don’t use a squeeze page the way most people do. I let you see more information. I let you navigate through my site.

I am doing everything I can to be as transparent and available as possible. And I’m not just using my transparent squeeze page to draw in subscribers, either.

The Power of Empowering

It’s no secret that I’m no fan of traditional online marketing. Sure the mold works - if you like duping people instead of empowering them.

You may think “but I give them all the information in that massively long sales letter. How am I fooling anyone?” Let me just get a show of hands for how many people actually read everything on those sales letters.

…hmm. I’m not seeing any hands. Maybe next time I should do this over a video conference call, but I doubt the results would be any different.

My point is, it doesn’t matter if you’re telling everything in the sales letter, nobody is going to read the whole thing. Most people skim the headline then scroll down to the bottom to see if they can afford it, and if they can maybe they will read some of the benefits - and that’s it.

…because you don’t let them do anything else.

A Customer for Life

That product and what it provides isn’t the end-all be-all to the story. With the advent of the Internet has come the advent of the Prosumer - people who want and need to know all about you and your company before they buy.

The logic of it is - if you’re honest and socially responsible, chances are this and future products will actually deliver on the promises in an economically and environmentally sound way.

Prosumers realize that when they buy from someone, they’re not just buying one product - they are helping you stay in business. They are helping you produce more of the same. They are encouraging your behavior, and forwarding the production of more products like the one they bought.

Photo by Stephanie L.

If they can trust you, if you can become their favorite expert in a given area, they don’t have to do all that research again. They will become a customer for life - and isn’t that what you really want?

Foundations of Transparency

In order to truly build a customer base that really loves you and everything you do - you have to be 100% transparent. However, all the ways they tell you to build a list and sell stuff online goes completely against any idea or hope of transparency.

I’m breaking all the rules on purpose. My version of what most people would call a squeeze page for Crystal Edict: Virtual Clones actually allows the visitor to navigate around my site. Granted the site is not done yet, but you get the idea. Also, over to the right on every page of ComHacker, you’ll see a signup box for that same mailing list.

I also have a survey on what people think about virtual assistants. At the very bottom, you have to input your email address before submitting. This doesn’t automatically subscribe you to anything, but I got the idea to see if I could capture those people anyways.

Interestingly enough, more people are willing to do a 4 question survey than sign up for an email list. Just goes to show how jaded people have become thanks to traditional marketing.

For the first one that wasn’t on my list, I just sent out your default opt-in message. Stupid me, it didn’t work. Then I decided to add in a link to my transparent squeeze page and the 5 methods of contacting me that I give in every single message for the list (including a phone number, with the best times to reach me).

I also gave a reminder that the list and free ebook will help them get better results from their virtual assistant even if they already have one.

I’ve had a 100% conversion rate since making those changes.

I’m Going Offline Baby, Yeah!

Photo by Nevit Dilmen

Even with all those efforts, I know a lot of people are still falling through the cracks. So I’m going to give away even more free stuff to draw even more people in - free t-shirts for all my Twitter followers when I reach 1,000, for instance.

The secret key is what will be in that package. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but it has the potential to blow up my list server because the recipients will love the idea so much.

I’m also going on a speaking tour with gift packages and direct mail - the works. All of this for a free ebook. Why?

Because it is my brainchild. I love it and I want a lot of people to benefit from it too. Of course, I also want to expose a lot of people to my business, and get their feedback on building even more highly useful things on highly effective communication just for them too.

I don’t just want to help people - I want to help a lot of people. And I want to do it the honest way.

P.S. You can thank Mike Davis for encouraging me to write this.

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Trisha, @mayobrains on Twitter