Zero Cost Marketing Strategy: JV Partners

Yesterday, I told you about a really cool way to brand yourself as an expert and market your website WITHOUT spending cash.

It was all about ZERO COST media exposure.

Today, I want to share with you my other zero cost marketing technique. It's so simple and so easy that you'll kick yourself when you hear this...

Ready for it?

It's...

... JV Partners

*Slap your forehead*

Yeah, simple, right?

You see... I got my start as an affiliate. I promoted music and DVD burning software on commission, and even paid for cold pay-per-click traffic on Google and Overture, which no longer exists (yeah, this was a decade ago!).

I know the life of an affiliate.

So I also know that a great affiliate creates the buzz and gets the traffic for me. Affiliates spend their cash in exchange for a handsome commission.

Win-win-win.

That's why I would give my affiliates enough of an incentive to promote me, and boy did they promote!

It's a great way to get higher search rankings, without having to pay for an SEO ninja. You need to do this!

But how do you attract affiliates and JV partners?

It's a lot easier than you think.

HERE'S THE GENERAL PLAN:

1. I individually approach affiliates and JV partners.

The keyword is INDIVIDUALLY. Carpet bombing affiliates with generic emails is your ticket to the trash. You have to be compelling and genuinely interested in others, NOT yourself. 

Remember: It's all about what YOU can do for THEM...  not the other way around.

2. I give partners a strong incentive to work with me.  

This could be in the form of prizes, bonuses, extra commissions, and - of course - an outstanding product.

3. I make affiliate's lives easy.

This means I give them the promo templates, videos, and setup all accounts and links for them. The easier it is for them to promote, the more likely they actually will.

4. Contact potential partners regularly.

Then what I would do is spend a day or two a week contacting 15 potential partners via email. Do this every week, and you'll forge some awesome partnerships... and get a SHED TON of  free marketing. That's yet another ZERO COST marketing technique.

Cool, eh?

To your success,

Ronnie Nijmeh
PLR.me

P.S. Next week, I'm going to be hosting a free workshop all about ZERO COST MARKETING. My guest is Dan Hollings, who is most famous for marketing "The Secret" movie on a ZERO dollar budget... which ended up grossing $300M!!

You'll really want to be on this ZERO-COST live workshop.

Pre-registration begins now...

Zero Cost Marketing Strategy: Media Attention

Yesterday I told you about some of my EXPENSIVE failures.

It really struck a chord with my readers. Thanks for your emails and comments on my blog!

Today, I want to tell you about one of my Top 2 ZERO COST marketing successes. These are little techniques I've put to the test over the years that have cost me ZILCH but brought in the dough.

Here's #1:

MEDIA ATTENTION.

Yup, good ol' fashioned media helped me establish a name for myself and branded me as the go-to expert.

I've been on national television, radio, and print, and each time, I saw a spike in traffic. It was awesome.

But you know what's even BIGGER than that short term spike? 

The PERPETUAL credibility boost of being able to say that you've been "featured on national TV."

You become the REAL DEAL.

People tend to trust people who've been interviewed on talk shows and the news. It's a real trust factor.

So when prospects see the recordings of my media appearances months and years later... it STILL brings me that instant trust, respect, and credibility. 

That's the beauty of ZERO COST marketing, baby.

Those short media segments live on forever on my about page, on my sales letters, and so on. You can't beat that - and you can't buy it. 

If you tried to buy this kind of exposure via paid traditional advertising, it'd cost tens of thousands of dollars - or more.

I got it free. Cool, huh?

So how'd I do this?

Well, I created my OWN buzz. I branded myself as an expert, posted lots of valuable content on my site, and positioned myself as an excellent interview candidate with my own "media" section on my site.

That's it. Really.

Nothing special. Just a bit of strategic work.

Top 3 Marketing Failures

Most people don't hear about my failures...

Yup, I've failed. I've spent thousands of dollars on so-called "marketing" that BOMBED.

Here are a few shining examples...

The $11,000 Website:

Back in 2005, I spent $11,000 to have a dinky little website created from the ground up. Yes, 11-freakin-thousand. That was deadly stupid.

It was supposed to take 3 weeks, it ended up taking 3 months and it was absolutely disgusting. The site never really got any traction and I had to dump it soon after.

Count your blessings that WordPress and almost all themes and plugins are free - and amazingly easy to use.

The Dud Mailing List:

In 2006, I rented a physical mailing list and sent out 2,000 postcards for one of my non-IM businesses. Total cost was around $3,000 for the cost of the list, printing, and mailing. It was awful.

The company I bought the list from was selling old addresses and it resulted in zero sales. I couldn't get a refund and I was burnt. Hard.

The Big Backlash:

In 2010, I hired a big named guru consultant (the guilty will remain nameless!) to use his "proven" marketing technique... Paid him a $2,000 advance.

Turns out his "proven" formula ain't so proven. It caused a HUGE backlash with my customers and I had to back-peddle immediately. Bad news.

Why am I telling you this?

Because every good business owner goes through these poopy times. Schtuff happens.

I'm telling you this because these were MAJOR learning lessons. Lessons that I learned the hard way so you don't have to.

But with all of these expensive failures, there have been some amazing ZERO COST successes.

Tomorrow, I'll share some of my amazing ZERO COST marketing stories with you.

To your success,

Ronnie Nijmeh
PLR.me

P.S. What are some of your expensive failures? Chime in below...

Even sweet dreams can turn SOUR - My affiliate marketing story

I want to share a story with you that I've never revealed before.

This all began over a decade ago.

You see... I got my start online in 1999 selling other people's stuff.

My best-seller was a DVD movie backup app called "DVD X Copy" that I was selling as an affiliate -- you may have heard of it, it was INSANELY popular.

The commissions were great - $50-100 a sale - and it was as easy as selling candy to starving kids. The buzz around the product was massive. And it was earning me literally thousands of dollars every month.
I was one of their TOP affiliates... I had my own affiliate manager and everything was like a dream.

But even sweet dreams can turn SOUR.

You see... the movie studios don't exactly like the idea of people copying DVDs, so they sued the company. (Duh!)

A few months later, the legal bills piled up and the company went BANKRUPT.

Literally overnight, the thousands of dollars of unpaid commissions over the last two months went poof. 
I was never paid, and I knew I never will be.

That's life in affiliate world:

The product owner is KING...
...and the affiliate has ZERO CONTROL 
AND ALL THE RISK.

Don't get me wrong... affiliate marketing is VERY lucrative. And I've never stopped promoting other people's stuff. No way.

BUT --!

I had a BIG realization... If I wanted to REALLY survive online, I needed to smarten up.

No more relying on products I had no control over...

I needed my OWN product. 
Pronto.

That was one of the major catalysts for creating my own publishing business. Creating info products that I can sell as my own... then leveraging the power of affiliates to help spread the word.

I was now KING.
And you can be too... with your own product.

To your success,

Ronnie Nijmeh
PLR.me

P.S. Don't think this AFFILIATE HELL can still happen?
Think again.

Two of my students are going through this ugly pain RIGHT NOW...  but thankfully they have a coach guiding them through their very first product.

How to Sell With Stories

Stories sell without selling.

That's why people are addicted to movies, sitcoms, comics, and anything that makes 'em feel warm and fuzzy. 

Even though they're chalked full of overt product placements and undertones of hypnotic persuasion, you can't pry people from a good story. 

It's gripping...
     Exciting...
           Edge-of-seat grabbing --!

Within mere seconds, you can ride an emotional roller coaster of ups and downs, full of tears, laughter, and triumph over incredible odds.

Take my SIX FIGURE CLUB students for example.

Each have gone through their own personal struggles, and have overcome incredible challenges.

One person has lyme disease... another has a stutter... another is a pizza delivery man by day, life coach by night.

Each of these are amazing experiences and struggles that make GREAT stories.

Stories that NEED to be shared.

I betcha didn't realize that...

Your story is what makes you unique...  it's what puts you at the TOP of your industry.

And nowadays, with so many scummy so-called "goo-roos" out there, your story has become necessary to establish trust, respect, credibility, and likability.

You see...

When you master the art of story telling, you can sell WITHOUT selling. 

Instead, you sell by SHARING. And sharing is 100x easier than hard selling.

So here's my challenge for you today:

1. Take some time to share your story to your ideal customers.
   
   
2. Talk about who you are, what you've overcome, and how your wisdom from the school of hard knocks can help them.
   
   
3. Identify with their hopes and dreams... fears and failures... and show them that you can help them get the desired results that they deserve.

You can share your story in the form of a 3 minute YouTube a video, a webinar, or an email broadcast...

Do whatever it takes to share your experience with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and email list.

    Everyone has a story.
   What's yours?

To your success,

Ronnie Nijmeh
PLR.me

P.S. Struggling to figure out your story?

I have a workbook that will help you uncover your strengths and stories... that way you can identify with your target audience.

It's all about developing your 'Secret Sauce' to sell with stories.

P.P.S. Share your story in the comments section below!