Tips and Tricks

5 Hacks For Connecting With Influencers

October 3, 2017 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Relationships with influencers are critical to your content brand’s success: they help you expand your knowledge as well as open doors to new opportunities.

Some of my biggest successes are directly tied to the relationships I’ve built and fostered along my journey. However, reaching out to influencers and building relationships with new contacts can feel overwhelming.

You may feel uncertain about how to go about it, and even question whether you’ll get a response to your initial efforts.

I’ve been there, believe me.

That’s why I want to share five powerful hacks that helped me build relationships with some of the most influential content marketers and productivity experts on the planet.

#1: Interview Influencers On Your Podcast

Both my Breakthrough Success Podcast and virtual summits have allowed me to interact with some of my niche’s top influencers. Interviews are a brilliant excuse for asking for an influencer’s time 🙂

Not only do you get to ask questions and interact with top influencers, you also get to provide your audience with valuable content.

Combine that with the fact that podcasting is a growing and less-tapped-into industry than blogging, and you’ll begin to wonder why more people aren’t doing it.

I currently publish an interview every week, but I am formulating a plan for daily episodes. And my knowledge stores will only grow as I interview more and more influencers – it’s amazing what you can learn from a single interview with a top influencer.

#2: Collaborate With Influencers

As I plan my blog content, I consider which influencers can provide relevant advice, resources or opinions, and contact them well before the publication dates.

I often work on the copy first, and then copy and paste submissions into the post to craft a more engaging article. Once the post is published, many of the influencers I mentioned will end up sharing the blog post to their own audiences, expanding my reach.

If you’re pressed for time, you can simply mention the influencers by name while you’re writing the post, and then let them know you’ve included them in the post once you publish it (and be sure to provide a link).

Some will share it and others won’t, but having at least some influencers share your content is a thousand times better than having no influencers share your content.

#3: Do The Influencer A Favor

The more you give someone, the more willing he or she will be to return the favor. But keep in mind these small favors will change according the influencer.

Some influencers (like me) would love a positive review for their podcasts (here’s mine). Other influencers would prefer you leave a 5-star review for their latest book. Writing a guest posts for the influencer’s site is also a viable option.

Determine which favor holds the most value for a particular influencer, then offer it without expecting anything in return.

If you approach relationships in this manner, it won’t be long before an influencer voluntarily provides you with something in return (if you have to ask, start with something small).

#4: Ask Meaningful Questions

Top influencers love shepherding other people through the path they once traveled.

Gary Vaynerchuk has an entire podcast dedicated to helping others. Want to get on Gary’s radar? Ask him a really good question.

Nearly all influencers recall a time in which they spent countless hours trying to figure things out. When they see other people in a similar situation, they naturally want to lend a helping hand.

Influencers enjoy steering people in the right direction and providing that little nudge to keep them moving forward. And they like it even more when people act their advice.

This is the starting point for repeat interviews and a much greater relationship.

#5: Be Everywhere To Them

You can’t be everywhere for everyone, but you can be everywhere for someone. What’s everywhere for someone mean?

Simply focus on the places where your special someone spends the majority of his/her time. This is why television ads used to work (and why now they are less effective).

Today, people spend more time on Facebook than they do watching tv, which is why social media ad spend has greatly increased over the years.

But that doesn’t mean you should try reaching an influencer with an ad. Rather, you should seek out the places they’re engaging with their readers.

Do they reply to tweets? Do they respond to blog comments? Are they posting a lot on LinkedIn?

These are the places where you need to be. Like, share, and comment on everything they post. Mention their social media handle when you share their content and eventually they’ll notice you.

For example, I notice the people who repeatedly share my content on Twitter more than anyone else in my audience. While I write with my entire audience in mind, I can match names and faces with the people who consistently share my content on Twitter.

Find the platforms most frequented by top influencers who share your mindset.

In Conclusion

Connecting with influencers is as easy or as difficult as you make it. The beginning stage may feel difficult, but as you continue, you’ll have a much easier time connecting with influencers and building relationships.

The ultimate hack not mentioned above is that once you build all of these relationships, you can ask for referrals.

Once I have over 30 speakers for my virtual summits, I ask them if they know anyone else who would also be a great speaker for the summit. They usually make intros and that alone makes relationship building much easier.

What are your thoughts about these hacks for building relationships? Have any tips for us? Do you have a question for me? Sound off in the comments section below.

Case Study: How To Read 30 Books In 30 Days

September 19, 2017 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

After my first year of college, I decided to do something different over the summer—read a lot of books.

I used a portion of my Monthly Performance Reports to put my reading lists on full display. While I normally read 5-10 books in a given month, the summer days allowed that reading list to morph into 30 books every month.

I didn’t take time off from my business during this time. In fact, I dramatically increased the amount of books I read while preparing to lead a Content Marketing Success Summit, one of the biggest projects of my life up to that point.

In this blog post, I’ll share my story so you can reap the benefits of reading 30 books every month without feeling overwhelmed by work, your personal life, or anything else.

#1: Have The Books On Hand

Before I began my 30-book per month reading journey, I knew I needed to have all of the books readily accessible. So, to put it bluntly, I went on a bargain buying spree.

I knew that by the time I finished reading any given book it would be filled with notes and underlines, so I didn’t mind buying used books (as long as they didn’t have any underlining or highlighting included).

My adventure began on eBay where some people are desperate to part ways with their books. Because the bulk lots included anywhere from 10-20 books per order, I bought books at a rate from $1 to $4 per book depending on who was selling them.

And all of these books were LEGIT, not aged books that are no longer relevant. In fact, I published several books before social media taught me the marketing tactics that work today (often overlooked in the new age of digital marketing).

If you prefer to read books on a device, you’re all set. You can buy all of your books in a few clicks. I prefer reading paperback editions, which is why I decided to purchase books in bulk on eBay.

Buy in bulk

The only problem with book lots is that you don’t get to choose the books on offer; I have multiple copies of the same books because they were a part of a bulk order.

But eventually I learned about Thrift Books, which help you avoid that problem as well as enjoy a wider range of choices and ridiculous bargains.

You may think it’s not worth going through the trouble to find book bargains, but if you want to read 30 books per month, that’s 360 books every year.

In a worst case scenario, saving an average of $10 per book (very possible with book lots and Thrift Books) results in a savings of $3,600 every year!

Don’t Read Word-For-Word

Once you have assembled all of your books, it’s time to read them. But don’t read them in the traditional word-for-word style. Sure, you’ll absorb all of the material if you do, but it will take a longer period of time before you move onto the next book.

When I read books, I skim through them for the most pertinent information. If there’s a section that explains how to create a Twitter account, for example, I skip it because I already have a Twitter account. There’s no need to waste time reading things that you already know.

Similarly, when I buy a productivity book I skip through familiar tips like setting deadlines, 3-Year Plans, and how to set SMART goals. Unless the author shares these common tactics with a very different flavor, I skip to the next part of the book.

Skip Entire Chapters

Not only should you skip over things you already know, you should also get into the habit of skipping portions, or even chapters, of books containing information you don’t want to learn. For instance, I don’t want to learn much about Vine because Vine is a dead social network.

And yet, many of these books have entire chapters dedicated to Vine. Some books are dedicated entirely to the social network. Just remember that information that was once relevant may be outdated today.

You can also skip chapters outlining tasks you don’t want to perform. For instance, I’ll skip a chapter in a podcasting book about editing episodes because I already have a trustworthy freelancer who edits my podcast episodes.

Skipping that chapter allows me to move to the next chapter sooner and, ultimately, to a new book.

Write In Your Book

For a long time I resisted writing in my books, especially signed copies. While I rarely write in books, I often underline with a pencil.

Underlining important points in each of your books makes the re-reading process easier. After all, you have a plan to re-read the best books, right?

At the beginning of each month, I go through my favorite books from the previous month. I skim through what I underlined, and brainstorm ideas. I commit a few hours of one day to this task.

Underlining important text makes this process much faster as I can literally skip hundreds of pages of content. I only focus on what I’d underlined previously because my past self regarded only those points as important.

A Technicality On Book Length

One thing to remember when reading 30 books in 30 days is that book length matters. It’s much easier to read 30 books that average 200 pages than to read 30 books that average 600 pages.

When dozens of books are delivered to me in one day, I start by reading the shorter books first. It’s likely a good thing that I read Tools Of Titans before I began taking my reading goal seriously.

I like reading the shorter books first because finishing a shorter book gives me the dopamine rush to start reading (and finishing) another book.

Get a string of small wins, and it won’t be long before you can read the occasional 400-600 page book with ease.

It It’s Not Scheduled, It Won’t Happen

If you want reading to become a habit, you must schedule it into your day. I schedule at least one hour of reading time every day.

You should also choose one day a week to dedicate entirely to reading books, no professional work. I designate Fridays as my reading days. And even though I spend several hours reading books on Fridays, it doesn’t feel rigorous. Why? Because Fridays feel like a day off from work.

It’s important to find what works for you, but don’t forget that if it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen.

Turn Your TV And Surfing Time Into Reading Time

Professional work can take up hours of your day, but so can TV and internet surfing. You need to eliminate digital surfing from your life because you’re simply watching life happen instead of making life happen. Spectators watch, superstars perform.

The average American watches 32 hours of television every week. If we all switched from digital surfing to reading self-development books, the world would truly be a better place.

The next time you want to watch a marathon, the last episode of a series, or reruns, crack open a book instead. Repeat the process with other bad habits, and with greater intensity, and you’ll have no problem reading 30 books in 30 days.

In Conclusion

Reading 30 books every 30 days will dramatically expand your knowledge and open the door to a variety of possibilities. Reading all of these books requires a mindset shift and the elimination of bad habits. And, of course, the 30+ books you’ll need on hand before you get started.

What are your thoughts on reading 30 books every day? Have any good book recommendations for us? Please share how you plan to implement this habit into your own life. Sound off in the comments section below.

How To Stay Organized On Your Computer

September 7, 2017 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Computers have transformed the way we work and have allowed us to reach new levels of productivity.

However, extreme usage (and in some cases reliance) on computers can actually HURT our productivity.

In fact, we cause most of the technical headaches. Saving numerous documents and photos eventually slows down a computer, a problem that can only be solved with a massive clean up or a new computer.

Another problem is the actual creation of documents, making it a struggle to find information in a timely manner.

Part of the reason we buy a computer in the first place is to create documents and save photos. So if we try to care for our computers by not creating documents or saving pictures, its primary purpose is essentially lost.

But we must also consider the ways in which many of us organize our work and documents — all stuffed into one folder. When, if fact, organization has been proven to boost productivity.

It’s easy to think that organization is limited to your desk space and the room you work in. But it goes much further than that, beginning with your computer.

Here’s how you keep all of your emails and other important stuff organized on your computer.

#1: Reduce Clutter

The more cluttered your computer, the more difficult it is to find the document you are looking for, which shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.

Our attention spans resemble that of a goldfish, and when the internet (and Facebook) is just a click away, a day meant for work can quickly turn into meaningless hours of surfing the web.

I use the size of the icons on my computer’s dashboard to determine if I have too much clutter. If I must squint or move closer to see what certain documents are, I have too much clutter.

If my desktop is filled with too many pictures, documents, etc., I have too much clutter. Reducing the clutter reduces distractions.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, and a thousand more distractions.

#2: Use Folders To Group Documents

This is probably the best tip. I can’t emphasize this one enough.

When you save things to your desktop, you will see them each time you log onto your computer. This is when it’s easy to get distracted by screenshots and similar items saved to your desktop.

To avoid this, I group all of my screenshots into folders.

If I didn’t use these folders, my entire desktop screen would be filled with screenshots galore.

This isn’t just a way to keep your desktop clean, you can also group together important documents according to theme, client, work type, etc., to stay organized.

One of my folders, for example, is titled “Podcast.” Within that folder are the seven documents I use to keep my podcast organized.

Instead of keeping all of them on my dock (and having super tiny app sizes), I put them all in one folder on my desktop.

That not only saves me space, it also makes it easier to find all of the other documents I need.

And when I need those podcast documents, they are all in one place and super easy to find.

#3: Flag Important Emails

When you get emails that you can’t respond to immediately, or need to refer to again later, flag them. That way, you can find them more easily later on.

The only problem with flagging emails is that if it becomes too much of a habit, you’ll have an inbox overload. Try to relegate them to emails you need to respond to, and be sure you do it within a reasonable amount of time.

I recommend spending 30-60 minutes in your inbox at the time of day when you usually feel least productive.

For example, I never go through my inbox in the morning because that’s when I am at my peak level of productivity. When I do happen to see an important email in the morning, I flag it.

I always make a point of checking my email in the afternoon, just before I take a break. I respond to all of the flagged messages before checking my inbox for new messages.

#4: Make Each Flag Mean Something

When I decided to start a podcast, I needed guests.

Barely knowing what I was doing, I sent a bunch of emails to people who would be a great fit for my podcast. Naturally as more people agreed to participate, I became more excited about podcasting.

But I quickly lost control of my inbox.

Which guests were awaiting confirmation of time and dates? Which guests needed the initial questionnaire? Who did I need to follow-up with?

My mind was dreaming of the possibilities but running in circles trying to keep everything organized. Then I figured out what to do:

I started assigning a meaning to each flag.

When I receive a guest confirmation, I assign that email an orange flag.
Once time and date are determined, I change the flag to blue.
After the questions are submitted, I make the flag purple.

Once the podcast episode ends, I remove the flag and add the guest’s email address to a custom spreadsheet.

I also share a link to the episode with the guest and make a mental note to stay in touch (the relationship doesn’t end when the episode is over or even weeks after it’s published. It never ends).

#5: Put Everything Else In A Miscellaneous Document

You may have noticed the Misc folder on my desktop screenshot.

If there’s a screenshot, document or download that doesn’t belong anywhere else, that’s the folder it goes into.

That folder has hundreds of screenshots and pictures that would otherwise take up my computer’s entire dashboard, leaving it an unorganized mess!

In Conclusion

The traditional definition of getting organized involves having a neat workspace and working in a clean room.

But if your computer is unorganized, you might as well be working in a room filled with clutter with piles of paperwork covering your entire desk.

The worst part about an unorganized computer is that it’s extremely easy to get distracted – our computers provide us with virtually infinite options.

Any website is a click away. Pictures on our dashboards can distract us at a moment’s notice. And important emails can easily get lost in the shuffle.

But all of that is more likely to happen if your computer remains unorganized.

How do you organize your computer? Have any tips or stories for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

How To Turn Content Creation Into Content Marketing

July 29, 2017 by Marc Guberti 4 Comments

No one questions the importance of content for a content brand. Without content, content brands wouldn’t exist. The critical question surrounding content revolves around how much time we should spend on content creation versus content marketing.

As the theory goes, every minute you spend creating content you’ll lose on content marketing. But what if I told you that theory was completely wrong?

You can engage in content creation and content marketing all within the same minute. No, that doesn’t mean allocating 30 seconds for each task. Certain tasks fulfill both the creation and marketing components of successful content brands.

This is what Andy Crestodina referred to as the ‘gray area’ during my Content Marketing Success Summit. Andy explained that certain tasks fit both the creation and marketing parameters, tasks that we tend to separate as if they were oil and vinegar.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the gray area so your can create and market your content at a much faster pace.

Content Creation Gives You Marketing Ammo

You can’t market content unless you create it. But you can take the same piece of content and republish it on multiple platforms. It’s commonplace to see top content creators republishing their blog posts on LinkedIn, Medium, and elsewhere.

Each time someone in your preexisting audience shares your content – regardless of where they share it – it will lead to more people viewing that content.

If your blog posts, LinkedIn posts, and Medium posts each get 500 daily visitors, then you have a total of 1,500 visitors. And it only takes 5-10 minutes to republish already written blog posts on those platforms to see a big traffic increase.

As an added bonus, republishing your content on LinkedIn and Medium creates viral potential as more people engage with your content. This will put you content in front of a larger audience that you wouldn’t have reached on your own.

And when you publish on LinkedIn and Medium, you should include calls-to-action to drive people back to your blog.

At the start of one of these posts, use the anchor text, “This post was first published on [name of your blog].”

And at the end of your post, lead people to a relevant landing page (based on the topic of the content the visitor just read) that asks for the visitor’s email address.

You can also link to older blog posts throughout these posts to lead people back to your existing blog content. Just make sure these older blog posts are relevant to the topic your visitors are currently reading.

This model supports the idea of creating as much content as possible, assuming you have at least a decent sized audience on LinkedIn and Medium.

Influencer Outreach

Andy went into great detail about influencer outreach during our interview.

Basically, you contact several influencers and ask them for their opinions, recommendations, or a quote. This is content creation and marketing at its finest because you get thousands of words of content and influencers who will be happy to promote the post since they’re featured in it.

I leveraged this tactic for my blogging tools post. I asked dozens of influencers for their recommendations and 22 influencers came through. The post itself surpassed 4,000 words (and I added around 400 words at most).

Talk about an unfair advantage!

Other people basically wrote my content for me, and then more people marketed my content for me.

Granted, I did have to reach out to many people and copy and paste their content into the blog post. But many connections, combined with the power of HARO, made the mission easy to accomplish.

You don’t have to turn your entire post into other people’s opinions, quotes, and recommendations. But you can incorporate information from at least three influencers into your content.

Contact each influencer and see if they can provide 100-500 words. I typically ask for 100-250 words (unless it’s just a quote) because I want to make it as easy as possible for an influencer to provide me with free content (and share it with his or her audience).

If you can’t get the influencers to participate, you can hunt for quotes by reading their blog posts, watching their videos, listening to their podcasts, or reading interviews. You can then tell the influencer you mentioned him/her in your latest blog post and you may get a share, or at the very least some appreciation.

This strategy also allows you to build relationships with influencers so that in the future they might agree to be guests on your podcast, speakers at a virtual summit, etc.

For these relationships to work, you must get off the WIIFM Station (what’s in it for me). Only connect with influencers if you want to create a win-win atmosphere. My two favorite ways to build healthy relationships with influencers involve blog content and podcasts.

Incorporate Internal And External Links

Both internal and external links are important for SEO. Internal links lead people to your older blog posts. These links help keep people on your site longer as well as decrease your bounce rates, two metrics that are critical to your blog’s search ranking.

Internal links also drive LinkedIn and Medium readers directly to your blog, which allows you to keep these readers’ attention longer.

You can also connect certain blog posts together into a series. This requires readers to read all the posts in the series to get a complete overview of what you’re trying to achieve with your content.

External links to authority sites within your niche will allow you to piggyback on these sites’ search engine rankings. Search engines will recognize that you link to authority content. And the algorithms will assign more authority to your own site.

External linking is a long-term game. But you can immediately see the impact of internal links. And, if continued, they result in even sweeter results over the long-term.

In Conclusion

Content creation and marketing are both critical to the success of a content brand. While both involve a significant time investment, you can tap into the gray area of creation and marketing and feed two birds with one scone.

This time-effective route, combined with delegation, will make it much easier for you to grow and sustain your content brand.

What are your thoughts about the gray area? Do took have any other content creation and marketing hacks for us? Want to ask a question? Sound off in the comments section below.

5 Hacks For Writing Blog Posts Faster

July 7, 2017 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Writing blog posts takes time, effort and commitment.

You need to think up an engaging topic and headline, write an outline and the actual post, proofread and edit, then publish and promote your post before starting the entire process again.

But there are unconventional ways to hack the writing process and speed things up. Here are five ways to write your blog posts faster:

#1: Write On Your Smartphone

Just to clarify, I always prefer to write blog posts using a computer, but that isn’t always an option.

In fact, I’m writing this post in TJ Maxx. Why? Well, it’s not because I enjoy shopping (I find what I need and get out as quickly as possible), but today I am in the company of people who like to browse.

So instead of idly slouching against a wall, I decided to slouch against a wall and write the post you’re reading now. This way, the time I spend inside the store is actually productive.

Now I’m not saying to go shopping just so you can write blog posts. However, you can use moments of waiting as opportunities to begin, add to, or edit a post.

Certainly I could write much faster on my computer, but if I finish the post here in the store I won’t have to write again later today.

I could go on and on about this method because it’s the one I’m using now, and use often when I’m waiting, but let’s move on to the next hack.

#2: Get Your Videos Transcribed

Some people may be natural talkers but not natural writers. It takes more brain power for them to write than to talk. Just talking about your topic will help it flow out quicker and easier.

Not only that, but you can spend a few minutes dictating content that would take 30 minutes or more to write.

Talk about a time saver! And you’ve also got a YouTube video to boot. You can even turn it into a podcast episode using the MP3 file.

#3: Hire A Ghostwriter

Sometimes the fastest way to get your blog posts written is by not writing them at all! You can have one writer, or a team of ghostwriters, write your content for you.

I still haven’t hired ghostwriters for content creation, but I learned a lot about how it works after hosting the Content Marketing Success Summit.

Bascially, you can give a ghostwriter an outline of your blog post’s topic and he or she will write it up (you can also ask that they make suggestions for topic ideas).

Keep in mind it’s important that ghostwriters are familiar with your blog and writing style so they can write in a similar voice.

This ensures your content is consistent (without having to write it yourself). Why not focus more of your time on other areas of your business?

#4: Accept Guest Contributions To Your Blog

When you are first starting out, you may not have a budget for ghostwriters. To remedy this problem, you can invite people to contribute your blog.

You basically get free content. All you have to do is give credit and let the contributor link to his/her site and other essentials at the beginning or end of the blog post (whichever you prefer).

The best way to find contributors for your blog is by looking at blogs in your niche that accept contributors. Then ask the same contributors to contribute to your blog.

The people who contribute to your blog will naturally share their posts, so you’ll get more exposure for your blog.

Also, as more people contribute to your blog, other contributors will contact you and ask if they can contribute content for your blog.

In the beginning, getting contributors to your blog will involve sending many emails to bloggers. But as you get more contributors, the snowball effect will eventually kick in and new contributors will contact you with their ideas.

#5: Memorize The Keyboard

Do you know where the “q” key is on your keyboard. Did you have to look down to find it?

Looking down at the keyboard takes time. Although it may only take a second to look down and look up, that action makes you type slower and temporarily removes your focus from writing the blog post.

The seconds you spend looking down at the keyboard as you write each sentence and each blog post quickly add up to minutes and hours.

To make up that time, you must memorize the keyboard. Your WPM (words per minute) will skyrocket and you will be less susceptible to distraction.

Any moment that your fingers aren’t moving quickly on the keyboard, you are susceptible to distraction.

So now that I’ve sold you on the benefits (or, at least, I’m hoping), here’s how you master the skill.

Start by memorizing all of the key placements for a single 4-5 letter word. If you can type the word “blog” with your eyes closed, you have memorized the locations of 4 of the 26 letters on the keyboard.

If you then memorize the word “each,” you have memorized 8 of the 26 letters on the keyboard.

Now typing a word like “beach” comes second nature as you’ve memorized the placements of those letters.

This is a simple exercise that will allow you to write blog posts faster. This one method has saved me countless hours of time.

In Conclusion

I’m wrapping up this blog post in yet another store. I didn’t bother looking for a table or taking out my computer. I simply wrote all of it on my iPhone.

Since the keys are located in the same places, I had no problem effortlessly typing words by memory.

Think about how many blog posts you can write while waiting for something or someone.

Think about how much time you can save with ghostwriters and contributors.

Think of how cool it is to not write them at all!

What are your thoughts on these hacks to writing blog posts faster?

Have any hacks for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

Until next time,

-Marc

5 Easy Hacks That Will Double Your Sales

June 27, 2017 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

I’ve spent the past several weeks planning and orchestrating a virtual summit, so it’s been a while since I wrote my last blog post.

In the near future, I will offer a training course that goes deeper into the parts and process. But for now I want to share what I’ve learned about how to increase revenues, which was one of the questions I asked myself continuously as I organized the summit.

After all, a virtual summit is a huge undertaking, so its success was foremost in my mind. By asking myself several key questions throughout the process, particularly how to double my sales, I discovered several hacks that I’d never utilized for my business.

I realized early on that I’d been missing out on some great opportunities: if I had used these sales hacks earlier, I could have made thousands of extra dollars!

#1: One-Click Add-Ons

I’ve seen several marketers use this strategy. Basically you offer a main product and entice customers to pay a little extra for added value.

This is similar to the upselling model at fast-food restaurants when the cashier says, “Hey, you’ve already bought the hamburger. Wouldn’t you like a side of fries to go with it?”

That’s what the one-click add-on does (minus the body fat).

Now, if you’ve been to a virtual summit, or know the marketing behind it, you know that the All-Access Pass is a popular product choice.

Here’s how I incorporated the one-click add-on strategy into my virtual summit – in addition to the All-Access Pass, notice what else I offer on my sales page:

The Blog Post Promotion Blueprint is a mini training course I created for summit attendees who are looking for added value. Not everyone will opt in to the add-on, but just one click takes the order from $97 to $124.

While I am still in the early stages of the summit process (no partners have promoted it yet), the one-click add-on has already increased my summit revenue by 17%!

So even after the Content Marketing Success Summit (CMSS) has ended, I will continue incorporating one-click add-ons into future initiatives.

#2: Thank You Sales Page

I turned my Thank You Page into a Sales Page, and something magical happened – I got more sales! Here’s the background:

Most Thank You pages say something like, “Thank you for subscribing. The free gift will arrive in your inbox soon.” Some Thank You pages suggest a few blog posts to read while you wait for your free gift.

But I decided to go straight for the sale. After thanking people for joining the summit, I lead them to a video and a link to my sales page.

Here’s what the confirmation looks like:

I transition from “Thank You” to “Here’s my product” with “but first…”

You can use the “but first…” transition regardless of what business you are in. “Let me ask you a question” is also a universal transition into a sales pitch.

#3: The Evergreen Deadline

The evergreen deadline is critical to the success of a Thank You Sales Page. It combines a stacked offer with a sense of urgency.

The evergreen deadline creates a stronger sense of urgency than the “Cart Closes at Midnight” email. Here’s why…

When you reach my Thank You Sales Page, you’ll see the previous image in the confirmation I sent, but you’ll also see THIS:

I set a 15-minute timer for the $47 special. If you buy the All-Access Pass within the next 15 minutes, you get it for $47. If you wait, the All-Access Pass price jumps to $97.

This is a great way to increase sales even before your summit begins.

And to further increase the likelihood of action, I include the following for All-Access Pass customers:

Twitter Marketing Domination Course ($197 value)
My Productivity Cheatsheet ($47 value)
Boost Your Productivity NOW Course ($147 value)
A video tutorial on the prep work for this summit ($97 value)
Outsourcing Mastery Course ($97 value)

The total value adds up to $585, not including the All-Access Pass itself, which now seems like a steal.

But why stop there? This next piece is extremely important for the evergreen deadline. If anyone buys the All-Access Pass for just $47, I also throw in a personal audit of their website, which usually costs hundreds of dollars.

This offer doesn’t apply to the $97 All-Access Pass customers, so if you want it, you have to buy the All-Access Pass on the spot.

See how much urgency that creates?

#4: Host A Webinar

I believe that ‘not hosting a webinar earlier’ is Biggest Mistake #2 for most people, which comes right behind ‘not starting an email list earlier.’

I’m hosting webinars for CMSS. Not only because I want to, but also because I told every speaker and affiliate that I’d be hosting one. That’s one way to make yourself accountable 🙂

While this post doesn’t explain how to host a webinar, I’ll point you to two valuable resources:

First, I got to interview Jon Schumacher in Episode 39 of my Breakthrough Success Podcast. He shared a vast amount of knowledge about generating massive profit from webinars.

Second, I recommend Russel Brunson’s Expert Secrets for crafting the perfect webinar. The title of the book suggests a deep dive into becoming an expert (and it definitely delivers), plus he literally provides the PERFECT blueprint for creating a highly profitable webinar.

Right now, you can get Russel’s book for free if you just pay for the shipping.

#5: Get Sponsors

This is more of a double-your-revenue tip, but if you double your sales, you theoretically double your revenues.

I wish I’d spent more time pursuing sponsors for CMSS. I contacted a few sponsors later in the game than I should have, but I still generated a fair amount of revenue.

In my opinion, pursuing sponsors is a very underrated way to make revenue.

With that said, my general method for pursuing sponsors is different from writing sponsored posts or using sketchy tactics. You can and should pursue sponsors for a virtual summit or podcast as well.

Want to see the true potential of getting sponsors? Check out this case study in which Brian Appleton explains how he made over $20,000 from his summit with sponsorships alone.

In Conclusion

We all want to double our sales. And once we do, we want to double our sales again (or triple them).

These five hacks will allow you to double your sales and revenue with your existing audience. Once you get these hacks down, you can then focus on generating more traffic.

I got all five of these sales hacks down before I asked anyone to promote my summit. Now that I’ve got the system in place, I’m looking for affiliates to promote my summit. You can become an affiliate for my summit here.

What are your thoughts on these sales hacks? Have any others for us? Sound off with questions or suggestions in the comments section below.

Until next time –

Marc