I had a few subscribers asking how I’m getting others to build my mailing list, so I put together a White Paper on using Ad-swaps to leverage the mojo of your competitors and allies. This is a sample chapter from that report.

You can download the entire report with unlimited giveaway rights for free at the end of this post.

What is an Ad-swap?

An Ad-swap is a mini JV where you find somebody with a similar (or complimentary) business within your niche and agree to share your subscribers. But you don’t just give away your database of subscribers because besides being illegal, it just isn’t cool. And email marketing is all about being cool and respecting your community. Instead, you both agree to send an email to your community promoting each others site.

Because the traffic comes from a personal recommendation, I’ve seen optin rates as high as 83.4% on some of my pages. It’s the perfect way to leverage somebody else’s Mojo and step into the place where your target audience is already hanging out.

The beauty of ad-swaps is that you don’t need your own product and you can use a simple 3 page website to get started. In fact if you just use single optin, you can get away with just 2 pages.

How Can I Find Ad-Swap Partners?

If you’re in a specific niche like golf or weight-loss, the best way to find partners is by contacting product owners directly. (email, facebook, twitter, forums, telephone, skype).

But if you are in the IM space, there are several awesome resources to get started:

My favourite is Safe-swaps because it’s totally automated and it’s super simple to learn how the process works and to find partners to swap with. The only drawback is the slight lag time between accepting the swap and getting it set up, but if you batch process your swaps a week in advance, you should be able to get it all done in a couple of 15 minute sessions each week.

Dimitry has recently been adding some awesome new features to the site to keep improving it. I love to see a developer listen to his customers and continue to tweak the site as it grows – it shows a real commitment to providing an awesome solution. And caring.

2. I also use a private skype group which is invite only. It’s perfect for chatting too so you get to work the mojo a bit more. And it’s very good for quick last-minute swaps if you have some empty slots. To get involved in the group, you need to be invited but if you drop me a line, I should be able to get you in. My skype name is published in my member profile at Safe-swaps.

3. Talk to people. If you find somebody who you like to swap with, ask them to recommend other people who they’ve swapped with before. Ask at offline events.

15 Ways to  Swap like a Pro

The get the most out of this stuff and make the best use of your time, follow these simple steps.

1. Have a slick, smooth and well-oiled optin process (optin-confirm-thankyou) and make sure you include a paid offer in the funnel.

2. Make an awesome & original offer. Too many people use the same PLR or affiliate offer so you have to stand out. I find that software has a really high value and helps you stand out. If you do decide to use PLR products, customise them to make them original – change the graphics, add some bonuses etc.

3. Only promote a site that you love. Never recommend a poor resource just to increase the size of your list. But sending your subscribers to an Awesome resource will actually build YOUR credibility and trust.

4. Track your clicks. It’s important that you monitor how many clicks you give AND receive. An easy way to do it is with the tracker links available inside TE toolbox (although TE toolbox is designed for traffic exchange users – the “tracker” function is perfect for monitoring email ads and you can even use it to track conversions through the sales process right to the thankyou page).

5. If you use Safe-swaps tracking clicks is part of the automation so you can check the clicks right inside your dashboard.

6. Keep it simple – use a plain looking site that simply states the offer and includes an optin form. Avoid tacky graphics with dollar bills flying out of computer screens. Those sites have never been cool and it’s such a hype-driven metaphor. Stay classy. Here’s an example of one of my funnels.

7. Be organised. Write 2 or 3 sample emails that your partner can choose from and be sure to include the unique tracking link for each new adswap.

8. Be courteous – never even expect a response from somebody, let alone a positive one. We are all busy and there is a chance that if they don’t respond, they didn’t even see your message. (That’s why I like Safe-swaps and Skype).

9. Keep a diary. Take notes of who you swapped with, how successful it was and any other notes that will help you improve. Record which ads were most effective, who you’d like to swap with again and why, in addition to those that didn’t work out so well. Use the Pareto principle to repeat the stuff that works and gives the greatest results. Ditch the stuff that’s not worth the effort.

10. Make it easy for your swap partner and give them a reason to mail for you. Make the process simple and fast by providing as much as you can upfront to avoid emails back and forth.

11. When organizing an ad-swap, include a link to your offer.

12. Include a direct link to your download page so they can check your product

13. Include your sample emails so they can go ahead and get set up without having to contact you again (make sure you include the right tracking link).

14. If you have an affiliate program, offer commissions – that’s an added incentive and if the offer converts, they will mail again and again as an affiliate, without expecting another email in return.

15. Be cool. Sometimes you’ll have problems. Somebody might forget to mail out or could have a problem with their autoreponder. Sometimes you’ll make mistakes and forget to mail, things break and people can get things wrong. Just don’t get freaked out by it. People can easily get annoyed instead of trying to fix the problem. Remember to always be courteous and fair. And always do the right thing.

Be First to Download & Rebrand the White Paper

You now have full distribution rights to this white-paper. You can sell it for any amount or give it away to build your mailing list. You could even use it for ad-swaps. The only condition is that you do not alter the report in any way.

To really take advantage of this white paper, you need to replace the links with your own so you can get the kudos and earn affiliate commissions when you give it away.

I’m giving away just 10 copies of the rebrand rights and there’s only 1 way to get ‘em -

Leave a comment below telling me why you deserve to be the first to get access to the full report and rebrand rights. The best 10 comments will win and I’ll announce the winners by email

[UPDATE] Thanks for all your awesome feedback. I’ve decided to open this up so everybody gets a copy plus rebrand rights for a limited time only.

Click here to access the rebranding software →

* Don’t forget to leave a comment below telling me what you like most about the Ad-Swap White Paper.

Aweber already has some pretty sweet web form templates but they’re still a bit too stylized for my liking.

I wanted a simple horizontal form to fit with the style here at Silicon Shovel so I created this CSS optin form for Aweber. I had a couple of people ask how I did it, so I’ve created an html file containing the optin form source code so you can give it a spin yourself.

Why Just Collect an Email Address?
I’m only collecting emails (no names) because I want to increase the signup rate and I really don’t need your name to send you cool stuff.

In fact, I was recently looking through my subscriber database and found that over 10% of names were either entered incorrectly, plain nonsense or just plain profanity so using them in emails just looks wrong. Besides, most of my blog readers know all about auto-responders anyway so using names in emails doesn’t really impress anybody anymore.

Styling The Optin Form

It’s styled using inline css so if you’re a code-ninja, knock yourself out and tweak it as you want. But if you know just enough code to be able to break it, I’d just run with it. Why bother screwing around with it when I’ve gone and done it all for you?

You can always change the button text if you want though. And to make it work you MUST ENTER YOUR OWN aweber LIST NAME and FORM CODE that you can get from your Aweber account (It’s the 10 digit number).

These are the rest of the bits you can / should customize

They’re marked up in the attached html file that you can just load up to your server.

<!–1–> 10 Digit Aweber Number (ESSENTIAL)
<!–2–> This is your list address (eg.YOURLIST@aweber.com) (ESSENTIAL)
<!–3–> You can also change the confirmation page URL although I like the aweber video option that’s already there
<!–4–> You can add an optional tracking code here to monitor optins using this exact form
<!–5–> Change the submit button text

Get the source code here or preview the html file

Let me know how you get on and if you have any questions, just add them below. And don’t forget to click all the shiny social buttons to spread the mojo on digg and twitter and stuff.

It’s a harsh truth, so I’ll just spit it out and you can get over it.

….Nobody cares about you.

Nobody cares about your business, your shiny new tool or your amazing report. They just want to know why exchanging their time or money for whatever you have is the best course of action. Right now.

In fact, even that’s not enough. What they really want to know is how you can fix their problems – how you can help to cure their acne, talk to girls, confront their boss, become richer, smarter, better at chess, choose a wine, service their car or look 10 years younger. No matter what your business, you need to address problems. Give your customer what she wants.

And here’s the key – ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ are not the same. It’s far easier to give somebody something that they absolutely want. It’s difficult enough convincing yourself that you should buy that sensible Volvo when you really want the Aston Martin. Can you imagine how difficult it is trying to convince your audience to do the things they need to do?

It’s human nature to base our actions – buying decisions and commitments – on what we want, gut feelings and instinct. It’s controlled by our primeval brain, we can’t help it. Only later do we start using logic to rationalize our decisions. The logic comes last so using logic to address the market won’t work. You need to work on the desires first.

Of course the best approach is to help those desires (gut feelings) converge with the needs (logic). When they are one and the same, everybody wins. The customer gets exactly what they want, and (because they need it) there’s no “buyers remorse”.

You can be happy for bringing some mojo to the equation and in return you get the profits and the kudos.

The bottom line – research your market and solve a problem. Give and ye shall receive. exponentially.

Are you going fast enough?

1. Your competitors are racing to the same goal every day. Are you competing? Will you make it?

2. Your customer wants your stuff. In fact, they want it yesterday. Are you there?

3. Anybody can make a million dollars. In fact, you have a good chance of earning a million bucks in your lifetime. But do you really want to wait that long?

How about $1m in a week? a day? an hour?

Impressive? Oh yeah.

Impossible? With the right levers – anything is possible.

Want to build a huge list of subscribers? like 10,000?

How long will that take you?

Can you think of a way to do it in half the time?

Still think going fast enough?

….Just a thought. What are yours?

How much do you love what you do?
How far will you go to get what you want?
Do you care?

Really?

(stick with this video through the opening ad – I promise it’s worth it)

If you’re gonna crush it, you need to know whats going on in your game. You gotta be all over it.

That means keeping track of the conversation that are going on all over the web. Here’s how to do it with 2 free google tools….

Are you on top of your game? Do you know what your competitors are talking about – what they’re saying? and how they’re saying it?

]]> http://siliconshovel.com/how-to-use-free-google-tools-to-crushit/feed 3 http://siliconshovel.com/3-words-for-a-better-2010 http://siliconshovel.com/3-words-for-a-better-2010#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:34:17 +0000 Marc http://siliconshovel.com/?p=270

New year, new decade and another opportunity to reflect and plan. A brilliant learning experience.

Of course I already have a lot of specific measurable goals for 2010 – I resolved to streamline my business and focus on a handful of key concepts. Then I stumbled across Chris Brogan’s post on 3 words to guide you – a brilliant thought exercise to address resolutions and plans for the forthcoming year.

I whittled down my shortlist of 19 and came up with these:

1. Leverage (but revised)

Everything comes down to leverage, usually using other peoples assets for your own benefit but that’s a little selfish and doesn’t quite sit with my new business ethos of altruism. My plan is to leverage any asset I can for the benefit of others. So in 2010, leverage stands for giving.

2. Team

The biggest struggle I experienced during 2009 was speed of execution. I have ideas coming out of my ears so that’s not a problem. Even picking the best ideas to implement isn’t too difficult, but the speed of implementation is my greatest handicap. Working solo (and part-time) it’s impossible to remain competitive and provide the level of service and value that I envisage. Solution – build a team.

3. Systems

I am now thinking about my business from a much higher level – I’ve trimmed back a couple of sites and now I can really see where everything fits together. Every site, blog post, email broadcast and Youtube video now has a specific purpose as part of an overall strategy to build my business. I have lofty mid and long-term goals and only by taking a 20,000 ft view can I realize the opportunities.

I urge you to give this a shot – it’s a brilliant way to sharpen your mind and tune into your goals.

What 3 words will help you focus your business in 2010?

Please leave your comments below.

Thumbvu is a new site developed by John Guanzon designed to help build your mailing list as well as your social mojo.

I hooked up with John for a sneak skype interview before the official launch and you can watch it here for free. No optin required, just pure content. Of course I’m giving away a special bonus for anyone who registers through the Silicon Shovel link – just read the intructions below the video.

The official launch date for thumbvu is 5th January 2009 but you can pre-register before then and you get exclusive access to an interview with Jon Olson, a true mastermind of the traffic exchange industry.

Click this link to REGISTER FOR THUMBVU

Silicon Shovel Bonuses

When you join thumbvu using the link above , you will receive a bonus of 2,000 credits at Jetstreamtraffic.

If you take the upgrade at thumbvu, I’ll match it with an equivalent Club Class upgrade at Jetstreamtraffic.

To claim your bonus, just leave a comment below (use the same email address as you have registered at Jetstreamtraffic – it will be kept totally private). If you have any concerns though, you can also leave a support ticket.

Of course, I’d love to read your comments on thumbvu and if there is anything else I can help with, please let me know below.

I recently posted my blog disclosure policy so the FTC police don’t abseil through my bedroom window at dawn-break and put me in prison to keep in-line with the recent FTC regulations recently enacted upon bloggers. Since I’m based in Ireland, I guess I didn’t really need to do it but I saw it as a perfect opportunity to help build trust (that sounds a bit weird doesn’t it? like I have something to hide – I don’t).

Most of my customers are based in the US anyway and just like the can-spam laws, it’s probably best to consider the FTC rulings as universal. Legally, not essential – just good ethical business.

If you’re looking for some more erudite information on the subject, check out what I’ve been reading to bring myself up to speed:

1. Most importantly, you should really read the official FTC press release regarding the rulings on affiliate disclosure and testimonials.

2. It’s pretty interesting (and entertaining) to read Frank Kern’s account of how he almost lost his shirt when his honest affiliate program backfired and his business was dragged through the mud by the FTC.

3. If you prefer to listen to an audio, Jim Edwards also conducted this interview with Rich Cleland, a FTC honcho.

4. Amongst the big bloggers, Brian Clark wrote a pertinent piece on leveraging your disclosure to build trust with your audience. David Risley published a similar piece on the opportunity presented by the ruling for those who are prepared to go further than simply towing the line. Yaro Starak created a simple 8-point checklist to ensure that your sites meet the laws laid down.

5. Tim Ferriss published a catch-all statement to disclose his affiliations and even provided a bunch of images that you can use if you choose and John Jonas translated the FTC ruling into simple-speak aimed specifically at bloggers.

6. Paul Colligan siezed the opportunity to relaunch his PaulRecommends.com blog specifically for promoting his affiliate marketing links with full disclosure and transparency. A smart move that I’m sure will become ever more prevalent amongst affiliate aiming to market through a strong customer relationship.

7. Finally, if you want to spend a little cash on learning about the FTC decisions and display a trust badge attesting to your sites’ compliance, Attorney Kevin Houchin has released a product explaining how to make your business FTC compliant . Obviously that link there is hardcoded with my affiliate ID so I’ll get a kickback if you buy it. To be honest, I haven’t even tried it myself so I’m not in a position to offer any advice that might influence your decision to buy.  But James Holmes grilled Kevin in a brilliant podcast interview to explain how it can help clear up some of the finer points of the FTC statement.

Whilst thousands of marketers are scampering away in fear of the FTC’s December 2009 decisions, I genuinely welcome the changes because it simply spurred me on to write this long-overdue post on disclosure.

I am a true believer in full disclosure because transparency always wins out in the long run.

Affiliations – Brass tacks

As well as promoting my own sites, I sometimes suggest products as an affiliate and I might make some cash when you buy using my links. If you are unsure or I haven’t stated any affiliation, just assume that every link is an affiliate link and you can’t go wrong. If that makes you uncomfortable, fair enough, just please don’t buy through my link. That being said, I’d like to disclose how I select products to review / promote…..

Primarily, I write about products that I have tried out myself and found that they solved my problems. The product comes first and if it has an affiliate program, then that’s gravy. Faced with a choice of two programs that are equal but where one would give me more of an affiliate commission, the greedy (human) part of me might make me sway towards the cash. My more ethical side would say that I’d present a neutral stance, focus on value, and leave the decision to you but that’s subjective anyway.

I will always try to present the most objective point of view I can but we are all human and our perception of value can differ. Be responsible for your own decisions. At the end of the day, I want to recommend the right products for you because if  I don’t help solve your problems, I have failed.

Testimonials

Testimonials are a little trickier. Subjective, opinion-based feedback is 100% acceptable to the FTC but fact-based quantitative feedback isn’t. It is no longer acceptable to present an image of a 12-stone man holding out the waistband of a massive pair of jeans and disclaim “results not typical”.  Instead, you must state the actual typical results that the average person should expect. This exacting level of reporting is near impossible (in fact there are probably data-protection laws that prohibit the use of such info).

The easiest thing to do is to avoid results-based testimonials altogether. However, based on the Pareto principle, it is safe to say the the average result approximates to zero. Most people who purchase a product will never implement it and will never see any results. Ergo – zero output.

Where do I stand? – exceptional results take an exceptional people. That’s why we’re not all brain-surgeons and nuclear physicists. But if you want to succeed at anything, you have to be better than average.

Disclaimer

I am not a lawyer and have not sought the advice of a lawyer on this subject – to me it’s just common sense. Don’t sue me.

PS. If you think that’s fair, unclear or totally misleading please let me know in the comments below. And if you think I’m simply digging a hole for myself, please chime in and save my ass.