Biz Ops are dead? Now what ?

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bulletpointe

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Jan 6, 2010
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I realize I am opening my ego to looking like a total idiot writing this post and after reading countless "... you idiot - and wtf" replies I am opening my arms to wickedfire - and ready for the heat.

Super long story cut down:
• I heard of a "friend of a friend" who was making 300K a month selling "information" (biz op memberships) online.. how to make money with real estate, etc.
• I researched it, and after having some success starting small businesses - I developed a pretty good program on how to start a business: : http://thestartingpointe.com/
• Getting sign ups: I first went to Hydra, and they helped me strip down my page because... "starting a business sounds hard, you need to have an offer that sounds easier and anyone could do it".
• I then re-branded the content, and changed it to: http://www.thestartingpointe.com/ir_screen.jpg
• Hydra was on it's way down - and was no longer accepting biz ops - I think it was the backlash of the "goggle money tree" deal.
• I took it to ML and finally launched Dec. 27th, 2009. I was shut down Jan. 3rd by my merchant provider. It was the whole MC and Visa meltdown. (great timing - I know)
• I realized my conversions were alright - but I was competing with other offers (and publishers inventory) - who were "hiding" the small print. My small print wasn't so small - Example of small print: "If you don't cancel in 14 days, you will be billed __.__ a month, etc.) I was super naive, I get it.

Finally my questions and options:
1. Are Biz Ops and continuity offers totally dead?
2. Should I just sell my programs like an eBook?
3. Is the CPA (straight sale $14 and up) and affiliate marketing model relevant?
4. Should I make the site free - collect the data, and become a publisher?

Any advice on how to get this thing to make money would be great.

BTW, great forum - I enjoy it, and have learned from it. I just wish I would have known about it in 08! I would specifically like to see comments from Mike Krongel's from Copeac - as he is an active wicked fire member.
 


Most likely you will not get a serious answer here. Start your research all over again and see where the trail of money takes you.
 
I don't think bizop is dead, but it will definitely mutate over time. Just like any competitive industry.
 
Wanted to PM you some info on someone who can help you, but your post count is too low. If you are interested, email me moltar at moltar dot net. I know a company, where I used to work at, that helps with offer setup and hookups.
 
kingofsp said:
As long as people are greedy and lazy, bizops will never die.
Click to expand...

This. It's an evergreen market like health & fitness, beauty, etc...

As for what to do, have you considered offering your program as a straight sale?

If you're dead set on continuity and can't get merchant account to work with, perhaps check out Clickbank. Last I checked they'll let you run continuity and they have a great affiliate base.
 
Thanks for the quick replies.
re: Straight Sale - $30+: Any good offer samples to see how they are wording the "fine print" - and what is the competitive CPA on the table?
re: Lander - yeah that second page got a bit hectic. Here is the first page - a little cleaner.
re: monopoly monies- got the idea from those Directv ads where they put Ben Franklin head on people. - "show them the money", right.
re: eBook - ideas to push it? Affiliate CPA, mailers, banners, SEO ?
ir_firstpage.jpg
 
Re: Straight Sale
Yeah, I would consider a straight sale... but it would be easier from
a customer service / back end side to just sell it as a pdf rather than
have it be a membership sit. Sell it and be done with'em.

THE NEGATIVE: People may want the "updated" info - that comes with membership
sites...

Again, not sure - are other straight sales - still membership access driven sites?

Thanks
 
Bizops will seriously never die. People are always going to look to make extra money just like they are going to want to lose weight and want to get ripped.
I'm just curious, are you actually selling a product? You could always offer the product free after subscription and promote other bizops.
 
bulletpointe said:
Re: Straight Sale
Yeah, I would consider a straight sale... but it would be easier from
a customer service / back end side to just sell it as a pdf rather than
have it be a membership sit. Sell it and be done with'em.

THE NEGATIVE: People may want the "updated" info - that comes with membership
sites...

Again, not sure - are other straight sales - still membership access driven sites?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Offer it as a PDF. Even better, go for a printed version/manual. Throw in a CD of yourself reading the manual to increase perceived value (read: charge more for it).

Now you have their physical mailing address and can send them offers through the mail (i.e. you're basically marketing in a vacuum and conversion rates will be through the roof provided your front-end product isn't shit).

Next, upsell them for a CD of the month program (continuity) during the checkout process instead of a membership site in the $19.95-$29.95 range where you send them updates/interviews/whatever every month and hit their card.

Profit hard. A good friend of mine does the above (CD of the month) in a different market and banks ~ $100k/month on the continuity alone.

There are many ways to skin this cat. You just have to get a little bit creative.
 
I think that is the essense of what I explained to OP in the email.

Treat your front end sale as "bait" to qualify the lead/buyer. Once you convert, then build rapport and upsell, upsell, upsell! Upsell via one touch upsells/one time offers, email auto responders, direct mail, and phone. Squeeze as much dollar as you can. Then sell the lead to a similar, but not directly competitive market.
 
Biz ops will always be around, selling people on their dreams is the essence of advertising - and everyone wants financial freedom.

Although if you have to ask these questions here on a forum I don't think you're ready to become an advertiser.

There's a bit more to it making a landing page, then charging customers $X and paying affiliates $Y - for rebills you need your CRM, Fulfillment, Load Banlancer, Fraud Detection, Multiple Merchants etc etc.

As for the straight sell - there's definitely lots of money in that still - check out hot Clickbank offers. Your best bet for that would be hiring a good copywriter for $X,XXX and do long copy, split test the shit out of it, upsell them to membership and then monetize on the backend.
 
Long copy huh?
Do those convert better than a heavy graphic landing page? I always thought these things looked super cheesy - but maybe that's why the work...

Also, yeah being an advertiser was more complicated than expected.. I spent $$$ on CRM (Infusion Soft), researched TMS, have multiple merchants (power pay, etc)... and in the end it never ended re: tracking, fraud, etc.

A couple people have mentioned ClickBank... is it really worth it? I looks a bit saturated... and every Joe puts up a long copy - how to get rich page. Do "real" publishers really use ClickBank?

Also, I haven't come across any new biz op offers that look interesting. ML is still running Robert Allen (Ivan Blog), Copeac doesn't look like they have anything with a high CPA, and Azoogle just has the guys who put keyboards and coffee on there lp's.

Is there a Biz Op out there that looks good? (or should I say... Anything out there converting?)
 
bulletpointe said:
Long copy huh?
Do those convert better than a heavy graphic landing page?
Click to expand...

No way dude... the less words the better. Personally, I won't buy anything online if the landing page has more than 100 words on it. Even offline it's the same. Whenever a salesperson starts talking to me, I tell them to shut the fuck up and start flashing images on index cards in front of my eyes. If the pictures are good I buy, if not I bail.

P.S. "Real publishers" only push zip submits and berries - the rest are just posers.
 
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