Saturday. A cool one here in Southern Germany.
Could some of you on the East Coast of the U.S. PLEASE send some hot weather to this side of The Pond? Thanks…
The project I’ve been working on this week () is moving forward. Not following my own advice, I chose a project that is going to take me longer than a week to complete. However, in the process, I also have an idea for a small, inexpensive report that I’ll be able to write and (probably) sell for some quick cash.
First, I didn’t do the steps that I mentioned in this blog post in the order that I listed them. My main reason for that is because my partner on this project is extremely busy this month (he’s traveling to three conferences alone) and I simply don’t want to bother him any more than necessary. If I can do it all in one email (and do it correctly), it makes it easier for him.
So far, I’ve done the upgrade to Rapid Action Profits and have figured out how to make the affiliate program go “live”. I haven’t done it yet because I don’t want it active until all of the parts are in place. I should have the affiliate tools ready by tomorrow (more on that in a minute), at which point I can plan the rest of the sequence.
As much as I’d like to give it a try, I’m not going to do a conscious re-launch in the style of Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula, which I own. Some of the elements have worked their way into the project, to be certain, but consciously doing a launch using his system would set me back quite a bit — and I do want to get this wrapped up in the next couple of days. Technically, I should be done with this by tomorrow (Sunday), but it’s going to take a bit longer, primarily because I can’t plan or estimate to save my life. Not yet anyway!
To prepare the affiliate tools, I printed out a copy of the transcript from the interview and went over it with a fine tooth comb. In doing so, I highlighted what I believe to be the main benefits of the product, which I’ll work into the affiliate materials. I may also do a few quick tweaks to the sales letter, but again, at this point doing anything other than a few changes would set things back farther than I’m willing to do.
As I was reviewing the transcript, I found ways to add value to the product by expanding on some of the things that we talked about during the interview. I could also use them as the basis for a separate product if I wanted. At this point, while I haven’t completely decided what I want to do with this material, I will use at least some of it to make the current product better.
I also came up with the idea of taking what I’m doing and making a case study out of it, then making it available. I’d most likely use this to get a list of buyers (I would charge a small fee for it).
It’s also going to take a bit longer because of an upcoming product launch. I was asked to proofread a copy of a product that, as it turns out, is going to be launched in the next week or two. The person launching it has developed a good reputation in certain markets and the product itself is going to be the subject of at least one, if not more, major joint venture (JV) networks. So I think it’s going to be a good candidate for getting slightly sidetracked.
I do want to try promoting the product (it’s good and I feel comfortable doing so). I also want to use the launch to test a couple of other systems I’ve been reading. Since the launch date is coming up soon and the system requires a few days lead time for it to kick in, I’ll need to press forward with this now instead of waiting until the current project is 100% ready. The good news is that there will be another project on this blog. The bad news? The complete system is a 30 day system, so it will drag on a bit longer than I’d like (but I think that the system is worth testing).
And one final word: I’m going to start going back through old posts and if it relates to a particular project, I’m going to add a “Project Whatever” label (where “Whatever” will be the name of the project). I may also add the week and year to the label, i.e. “Week 24, 2008″ (the current week). That will give anybody who wants to research old posts the ability to do so by project name and by approximate start date.
But I won’t be doing that right away since there’s lots to do… And an admin paperwork snafu also needs to be cleared up. I’ve given myself two weeks to get that done (by the end of June), so that’s also going to cut into my free time.
And so it goes…!
–Tom