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It has now been 4 days since Mike Filsaime released The 7 Figure Secrets and if you have been watching and learning you should now know the best sales process for a low priced product.
Let me tell you what I have witnessed since launch day.
First of all there have been some huge discussions on the Warrior Forum about forced continuity programs and Mike’s sales process. Here’s one thread started by Mike:
http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=251044
I found that a lot of people seemed to be complaining about Mike’s sales process.
UNBELIEVABLE!
“How dare you try and sell your products to me Mike. What do you think I am? A marketer like you”?
The way I see it is if these sales processes upset people why are they trying to learn marketing in the first place?
Please try and understand that if you want to be successful online (and you do or you wouldn’t be reading this) you need to watch what other successful marketers like Mike are doing very closely. He has had over 7000 sales of The 7 Figure Secrets so far and I bet he tops 20,000 before the 10 day offer closes and will probably earn well over a million dollars from this launch so I would call that a success.
Here’s what I will learn from this launch.
As you know I am now shipping physical products myself on CD Rom. As I bought The 7 Figure Secrets from Mike I am now waiting for a physical product to be shipped to me. Will Mike try and sell me more products? OF COURSE HE WILL and I will be taking what I learn from Mike’s sales process to hopefully improve my own sales process and MAKE MORE MONEY.
‘If You Can’t Stand The Heat Stay Out Of The Kitchen’
If you hate seeing:
- Tons of Emails From Marketers
- One Time Offers
- Forced Continuity Programs
- Downsells
- CrossSells
- UpSells
- Having to ‘Opt-In’
- Having To Receive ‘Junk’ In The Mail
Then the bottom line is I believe you still have a lot to learn and you need to learn fast because the way I see it is if you don’t like the idea of getting sold to you need to get out of marketing.
It’s the same when you see people moan about certain marketer’s in the forum’s. You see stuff like ‘I un-subscribed right away after he did that’.
For every list they unsubscribe from they have just lost the chance to learn more from that person.
I must be on about 300 lists, even marketers whose techniques I don’t approve of and I would never ever unsubscribe from any. Why? Because I want to watch other marketers (good and bad) try and sell me their products or affiliate products so I can become a better marketer myself.
I am learning new techniques every day, some good, some not so good. And with Mike Filsaime I believe by watching him I am learning from the best.
So please please please if being marketed to upsets you change your mindset and don’t let it upset you. Once you do that you will probably learn more from watching others than any course could teach you.
Good or bad please share your comments. What do you think of Mike’s sales process. Did it upset you or did you learn from it?
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20 Comments
Pat Graham
June 9, 2008I am not on nearly as many lists as you are, even though it seems like it sometimes. I agree with your logical approach to watching and learning from successful product launches.
They are a great source of current, “right now” courses in how to make money online ourselves, if you watch the processes and the techniques used, rather than getting irritated by the sales pitches. Those sales pitches are mini-lessons on how to sell on the Web, if you look at them with an open mind.
Pat Graham
ghostwriter-x@att.net
Mark Jarmel
June 9, 2008John,
You said it perfectly. If someone is serious about becoming an Internet Marketer they need to have the mindset of a student. They need to understand that they’re in an ongoing learning process.
You did all of us a favor by focusing us on “watch and learn”. That was exactly the right mindset to have. Learn from the best. Sure, I didn’t personally care for Mike’s umpteen OTO, downsells, and crossells, but I understood he was making a ton of money from them. Heck, I even went for the extra ten bucks for his copywriting workshop.
“Watch and learn”… it was a cheap, and valuable education. As copywriters say, “Steal from the best”.
Mark
Dan Ferry
June 9, 2008John,
I thought the upsell was a bit pushy, but you can’t argue with success. It’s no different from commercials on TV, or QVC.
Dan
Tommy McLaughlin
June 9, 2008Here is my 2 cents,
I knew that given that I was been advertised a ‘loss leader’ product that there would have been some sort of upsell or One Time Offer to compensate the costs of the first product I would be receiving free.
As previously mentioned I signed up via John for the offer, who to his credit stated upfront the ‘forced’ acceptance to some of Mikes Products.
A lot of marketers did not … Will John have lost sales/sign ups because of his honesty …. probably …
What Mike is doing is nothing new …. companies do it all the time… I will give an example … I am getting married on 21st June 2008… like most men, my better half is the wedding planner … with it comes as I have found some insomnia … my soon to be wife gets up at 3am, (can’t sleep table plans, flowers, dresses etc) … turns on tv … flicking through tv channels comes to the infomercials/Shopping Channels …..
Orders a Swiss Fitness Ball, exercise dvd etc ??? at 3am in the morning!! … order now you will get this that and the next thing….
Here is the upsell to get the fabulous ‘how did I live my life without it and manage before buying this product’ you will receive another fitness DVD in 30 Days with more great exercises … only an additional 9.95 !!
My Soon to be wife to operator …. I don’t want any more dvd’s,
Operator .. No problem, just call the number that comes with Swiss Ball and cancel additional DVD’s
I tell my wife to be she is off her rocker and remember to cancel DVD.
What has happened, she has received 2 DVD’s so far since paid an additional 2 x 9.95 for the pleasure!…
I was in Sales & Marketing for near on 15 years … and with everything it is a numbers game …
How many out the projected 20,000+ sign ups will remember to cancel the subscriptions?
How many will plan to cancel and on receiving the Magazine decide not to or like the membership and continue subscription?
The projection was in sales was to try and sell one in three …
Everyone has choice’s if you do not like the methods don’t buy..
I look it from the opposite view ….
I am receiving three quality products from Mike for $12.00
I will learn a great deal from products, I will if I decide to cancel the subscriptions and outlay is $12.
Don’t forget I have also received near on $3,000 worth of bonuses from John and having just a quick look through will make me money a lot more than the $12 outlay.
If I cancel everything from the upsell, who wins out of it … me and I only spent $12…
Or maybe I will end up like my wife to be ??? …..
Time will tell …
Only you can make the choice …
Cheers
Tommy
http://www.powersellersriches.com
http://www.powersellers-niches.com
GettingAheadInLife
June 9, 2008Absolutely spot on John…
We need to be learning from the Mike Filsaime’s or get out of the game.
Buying the 7 Figure Secrets is an incredibly cheap way to learn the ropes. Heck Jeff Walker sold Product Launch formula for nearly $2,000 and Mike Filsaime is teaching us for less than $10 !!
The people that are moaning shouldn’t be in this game… their thinking is all wrong… Mike is providing incredibly cheap education. Watch him and learn.
Good on him if he makes a squillion dollars from this. I’ll model him in another niche and make my own squillion dollars.
Cheers
Ian McConnell
Getting Ahead In Life
Daniel Howard
June 9, 2008Hi John
I totally agree with what you are saying, and for those who don’t like the heat in the kitchen then stay out like john said, ok the $29.99 monthly fee is not what a lot of people will want, but he make it clearly that you can canel anytime.
The valuable stuff that mike filsaime gives you for just shipping is quite imaginable to us marketers, because there is are things in here that can take business to a whole new level, and is full of great ideas.
Ow and thanks to this ”TOP MARKETER” for those of you who are stugging to create your first product and website, ”JOHN THORNHILL” has created everthing for you a Website, affiliate page, 7 day mini course for your subscribers (top content) and the complete product already done for you. and a lot more… Now that what i call over delivering bonus.
Thank you john
PS, I picked my bonus up and it is fantastic
Ray Johnson
June 9, 2008As I said in my last comment here John, it’s all about learning from others – no need to reinvent the wheel
You did it, I do it – and we’ll ALWAYS do it, that’s how the world advances…
Provide value to get members – offer continuing and fresh content to retain the members, or in Filsaime’s case, to keep the income coming in!
No rocket science required.
I guess it’s similar with your Mentorship monthly John?
Regards
Ray
John Tan
June 9, 2008Yeah I agree with you John that we need to learn from successful marketer. I won’t deny the successful for Mike Filsaime for this launch.
But for me as a customer, I do not enjoy the sales process. I find that it is a bit complicated just to order a ebook.
That how I feel and does not mean it don’t work.
John Tan
Phil Davis
June 9, 2008Hi John,
I got the free stuff from Mike and opted into the membership and subscription knowing that I can and probably will cancel them. I did it for the learning aspect but I have to say buy the 6th upsell, downsell, optin, upgrade, get the digital version I was feeling pretty abused and taken advantage of.
It was all way too much. I can appreciate that Mike and his affiliates will make lots and lots of money but at what cost to the very customers he allegedly values. You and I both know that only a very, very small percentage of the buyers will even get their $7.95 worth of value out of it.
I know that is not really Mike’s problem but the psychology of the forced optin, the upsells and downsells and “got to have it now” feelings left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I wonder how many of the buyers will not cancel their subscriptions for months and months while the magazines pile up and the membership languishes unused?
This poses a very big question of the ethics and moral issues of selling to those you know will not use or gain anything from the products and services. This is an example of a successful marketer that I do not want to emulate or model. I hope Mike enjoys the stuff he buys with the money he earns this way, I for one would not feel really good about it.
One man’s opinion…
Phil
Jeromy
June 9, 2008I agree John,
I think perhaps people get upset because they think they are trying to be fooled?? But Mike, and most marketers, don’t pitch in this fashion to confuse or fool, they do it because it works and it separates the ‘bulls from the cows’. He makes it clear that he is going to sign you up for his monthly mailing, he also makes it clear that you can cancel at any time. There are offers such as this across the board, so why would it bother anyone. There is no trickery, no games, nothing really to get upset about. Its you tried tested and true marketing method that works and is (or should be) clearly understood.
I actually like this type of approach because it gives one an oportunity to review a marketers product/material for VERY cheap. Once you have reviewed that product, you will have a pretty good idea if that marketer is bringing value to the table. If he is, well you have yourself another pro to watch and learn. If not, well what have you lost really, $10 for shipping? Is that really something to complain about? Look at a product/service from a risk assessment.
What am I risking by purchasing this product? Shipping cost,
What might I gain from this product? Knowledge and tools,
I have a very small list of internet marketing pros that I watch, John here being one. Mike has been another that I have recently become aware of and so far in my internet travels I haven’t heard anything bad about him.
Give the man a chance before throwing him in the fryer.
Thanks John,
Jeromy
Randy Smith
June 9, 2008Personally – I find it all very amusing.
On the Warrior Forum so many are complaining about the Forced Continuity….and yet it’s as old as the hills…
The difference I think – is that Mike has been tarnished with the same brush as those who do it in a sneaky fashion.
Mikes offer was upfront….and as for upsells and downsells etc…. Has no-one ever bought a Domain name for goodness sakes?????
GoDaddy must have around 16 upsell offers before you can JUST get the domain you wanted … and we never hear the masses complaining..
I said on my blog – I didn’t have a problem with Mike’s offer – as it was upfront, you could see straight away what you were signing for, I even told my reader to come here and use your affy link John, as your bonuses were more than worth any hassle of saying no thanks to multiple offers…
My only gripe was that he didn’t use paypal – which he explained in the warrior posts as to why he didn’t.
People seem to forget that Mike was a Salesman in his former life – so he knows things that everyday people don’t…… and yet, here they are complaining at being shown valuable lessons…
It’s as if they want to say – fine – we know you know your stuff – but please now change into people like us who earn nothing so we can all feel better about the world….LOL
Now let’s all write to Love Films or Blockbusters or Readers Digest … and tell them how mad we are about them using Forced Continuity! 😉
pmsl
Seriously – the big lesson is that FC works – just don’t be sneaky with it!
Randy
http://www.MoreMonthly.com
(Oh it’s a membership – excellent value, but flippin heck – you pay every month…hehe)
Sue French
June 9, 2008Hi John,
Wow, 300 lists! How do you keep up with them all? I am finding I spend far too much time compulsively reading mails – compulsively, because I must read them otherwise I might just miss out on something important.
I personally found Mike’s upsell, OTO, forced continuity process rather long-winded and was a tad confused by the time I reached the end of it. I can understand the process, though, and did look on it as a learning experience,thanks to your “watch and learn” posts.
The process obviously works.
Thanks for your great advice, John.
Cheers
Sue
DesDrec
June 9, 2008I agree with you John. Mike is clearly a leader in this field and why not learn from the best I say. It’s not down to the marketer to lead the customer by the hand and highlight each and every detail on the sales page. Most of us are educated human beings who can read. It’s up to the customer to take responsibility for what they sign up for.
I’m not saying it’s ok to hide elements of the FC, but what I am saying is that as marketers we’re here to make money ethically, and not try to persuade our customers NOT TO BUY.
My 2cents
Cheers,
DesDrec.
Mark McWilliams
June 9, 2008That was some debate over on the Warrior Forum! While I visit the place everyday, I tend not to watch many threads! But after heading back over to find it’s not been locked, I can almost see why!!!
So clicking on the no button each time I was offered an OTO was maybe a little boring and a bit of a pain, but I looked at it from the point that I was receiving a lot of value for my $12 I spent on shipping. (Purely because it’s coming to the UK!)
I made perfect sense of what the WHOLE offer was and knew that I could call up Mike’s office and ask that they stop the billing for the magazine! *It’s not rocket science, and will take a matter of minutes!* I’m looking forward to my package arriving at the front door, and delving into what I’m sent!
Now this example might be a little rough, but I believe it’s the same kind of principle! Let me begin…
We have ‘ProductA’ which happens to be a membership site. It’s been online for a good year now and hase received rave reviews from marketer’s alike. The marketer who owns ‘ProductA’ decides that he’s wanting to do some kind of promotion to attract potential new members.
What does he do?
As I see it, one of the ways is to offer a month free. You signup knowing that the first month is free, but ALSO know that you’ll be billed every month after UNLESS you cancel. (Funny that, cause that’s what Mike said and it was clear as a whistle!) So during that month you decide that you’d rather not receive next months. You do what’s required to cancel your membership at ‘ProductA’ and that’s it.
In my eyes there are people treating Mike like dirt, but at the end of the day he knows how to market products and make money. I’ve learn’t a thing or two…and so has John by the looks of things!
Awaits the best deal of 2008 coming through my door! 😀
Thanks
Mark
Thomas, W of pond
June 9, 2008At least people know they need to cancel or continue a membership fee, I opted in on a succesful marketers list and purchased a dvd. In the fine print somewhere on pg 3 of agreement was the charges that would be on my credit card if I do not cancel. Blackhat tactics?
I guess he told me about it but who reads all those agreements?!?
Simon
June 10, 2008Wow, just finished reading the thread on the warrior forum, took over 2 hours.
At the end of the day, apart from Mark Joyner, Mike is probably the most respected internet marketer of all. He has always been up front with his products and this was no different.
He’s shipping a physical product and making a loss with it and people are not expecting an upsell?
I personally could not see anything wrong with the way it was marketed. I signed up on the first day and knew exactly what i was getting. Yes it was FC, so what. Was it hidden ? Not to me it wasn’t. I can read and do have a very small ounce of common sense.
I think what was a breath of fresh air was the way John marketed it as well. Instead of lambasting us with emails about this ‘must have product’, he totally changed the angle and made it into a learning exercise, one lesson in which we could all use if we want to make any money in this game.
I also agree with staying on all lists. Many marketers use different tactics, we can learn from them all, good and bad. I may not read all the bodies, but I do take note of many of the headlines used.
Thanks
Simon
Rhonda
June 10, 2008One of the things I learnt from all this was, not to upsell or oversell too much, as it’s alot for people to take in all at once!…and that’s my own personal opinion, which may not be everyone elses, but just because I saw a negative, doesn’t mean I didn’t learn any positives!!
Even though I know there is a hell of alot to learn from this experience, and it’s no wonder the guy makes millions, I found the whole thing to be extremely overwhelming!
I had windows opened up all over my screen!! lol (maybe it’s my inexperience, who knows!)
As you say John, you learn good and bad from these type of marketers. I’m not complaining about the fact it overwhelmed me, as I still get not only good and bad experience from it, but a ton of information for $12!!!
I must admit though, quite seriously John, I was more interested in getting your free stuff than his!!! hehehehe
Roosevelt Cooper
June 11, 2008Hi John,
I’ve known Mike since early 2004. If you go to his main web site and look at his site map, I own or are a member of at least half the sites on that list if not more. I estimate I have probably spent several thousands of dollars to Mike’s company directly or from a product he recommended as an affiliate. However, I’ve earn tens of thousands of dollars in income as a result of the information I’ve learned and I know I haven’t even applied 95% of the information that I have at my disposal. Mike Filsaime is the real deal.
Regarding the sale process, I don’t have a problem with it. Give me a break, we are all adults here. As a marketer you have every right to make me an offer. I can choose to accept the offer or I can choose to reject the offer. However, I’m not going to sit here and cry and complain just because you made me an offer. I mean, come on even McDonalds ask you do you want fries with that or do you want to supersize your meal?
I agree with you completely, if people call themselves marketers and have problems with upselling, not only should they get out of marketing, but they should go GET A JOB and stay there. They have no business whatsoever anywhere around the entrepreneurial world.
Roosevelt Cooper
http://www.web204mlm.com
-YES my web site has a free offer and YES there is a up sell when you sign up!
Fred
June 12, 2008Wow.. 300 lists??! I have a long way to go…
Thanks for sharing.
Fred
http://twodollars.biz/fred
Omar Martin
June 12, 2008I agree whole-heartedly with Randy. C’mon people,this is sales & marketing we are talking about here. Mike’s offer was in black and white. Absolutely nothing hidden. The debaters and complainers are just freebie seekers that will never really be successful. All businesses require an investment. You can Deal with it and grow or complain about it and watch the rest of us grow. You choose.
Mike is obviously a master of “Raising Impulse” and using the F.I.G.S. … To be a true sales expert, one must be. It’s the foundation of what I teach at http://www.HighPerformanceSalesSecrets.com And trust me, its much easier and more profitable to learn it and use it than to whine and complain about it.
To Your Success,
Omar Martin
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