Highlighting the Good Stuff

Like most people, I learn a great deal from other people every day.  Sometimes, they set out to teach a lesson.  In other cases, I pick up some great ideas from watching the way other people are doing things.

I decided to make a point of occasionally highlighting some of those lessons and where I’ve picked them up.  Today, I wanted to address someone who’s well-known in Internet marketing circles who may not be on the radars of many freelance writers, Travis Sago, the “bum marketing” guy.

How to Get Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend Back

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been approached about creating content in the “get your boyfriend/girlfriend back” niche.  There are several info products out there on the topic and they convert well.  It’s a buying niche and, as you’d expect, it attracts many affiliate marketers.

The king of those products is “The Magic of Making Up,” from “T-Dub,” a pseudonym of Internet marketer Travis Sago.  I can’t vouch for the product–I’m not part of the dating scene.  But I can vouch for the fact that Travis’ sales copy seems to do the trick.  If you run the available Clickbank numbers, the refund rates are surprisingly low, too.

A good niche.  A product that buyers don’t return.  Working copy.  That sounds like a recipe for success, right?  Well, it might be.  However, it’s Sago’s method of building a massive crew of affiliates that’s really interesting to me–and that’s probably the key to the product’s position as a market leader.

Creating a Salesforce

Sago popularized so-called “bum marketing” a few years ago with a completely free set of lessons that could ostensibly turn any “bum” into an Internet marketing moneymaker.  Sago’s approach, which has undoubtedly been tweaked to remain up-to-date, advocates creation of distribution of short articles optimized for relevant long-tail keywords with resource boxes designed to move traffic to a pre-sell for a product or directly to its sales page (via a redirect from a TLD in the case of EzineArticles.com submissions).

I think it’s fairly obvious that the core “bum” model isn’t the best way to build a business online.  Sago doesn’t claim that it is, either.  It is a way to start generating sales in a hurry, to test markets and, for boot-strappers, to start generating a some working capital to expand operations.

Anyway, Sago provides completely free instruction on the basic methodology, which includes a working way to go about things without spending a dime.  Like any smart marketer, he’s more than willing to point his list members to other products (for which he is an affiliate, natch) that will help them to refine their techniques and to up their profits.  However, the core system is solid and it works even if you don’t spend a penny.  The information isn’t groundbreaking, but he explains it well and it’s given a number of people their first taste online moneymaking.

At some point, after his mailing list of trained “bum marketers” had grown, he supplied a great deal of additional free information designed to help them tackle the “get your boyfriend/girlfriend back” niche.  He sent free keyword lists, set up a system for subscribers to receive free daily articles on the topic, etc.  He turned his “bums” loose to promote his “making up” product and the results, based on publicly available data, have been fantastic.

Countless product creating Internet marketers provide affiliates with tools to promote their products.  Some even provide some information and/or links to help newbies learn about effective affiliate marketing.  I tend to believe that Travis’ success in this niche hasn’t stemmed just from providing some handy tools, though.  It’s been a result of training people to go from rank beginner to competent article marketers.

That’s worked on a number of levels.  He’s trained folks up in a non-product specific manner, which encourages a level of trust.   So does the fact that he’s supplied the instruction gratis.  When someone who has shown you a way to make money points you in the direction of a product and gives you additional tools to promote it, it’s hard to resist.  As noted, he’s coupled that with copy that converts and a product that seems to meet its niche’s needs (or at least its  perceived needs).

He seems to have created a win-win situation.  He’s making money from the sales and so are the bum-trained affiliates.  If the product is helpful, it’s a win-win-win, for that matter.

Instead of competing for attention among successful affiliates, Sago’s put himself in the enviable position of creating his own understandably loyal cadre of affiliates.  It’s extremely smart.

Effective Messaging

I don’t actively promote Sago’s relationship product as part of my marketing efforts, but I do read his emails.  He’s also doing very well in that department.  You’d think his folksy, “I’m a regular guy from Arkansas” voice and messaging might fail to resonate with some people, but its consistency and the sense of authenticity works.  Most of us have an aversion to the snake-oily world of many Internet marketers, but Sago comes off as a genuine, excited “good ol’ boy.”  While some marketers make you feel greasy after reading their emails, Sago’s leave you with the feeling that you’ve just been pitched by someone who doesn’t want to screw you and who really, really believes every damn word with every fiber of his hillbilly heart.  He genuinely seems to want others to do well.  I’ve talked to a few people who’ve been incredibly impressed with his follow-up with individual affiliate questions, etc., as well.

FYI…

So, what’s with the Travis Sago lovefest here?

I’m not making a dime off of it.  Nor am I trying to do so.  As noted, I don’t actively promote the product and I don’t have an interest in growing his mailing list.

I don’t write for Travis and we don’t have any projects in common.

I’ve had one interaction with Travis, several years ago.  It occurred to me that there was a way for bum marketers to improve their bottom line by repurposing articles that failed to produce sales, creating a simple “insurance policy” for “bums.”  I put together a rundown of the method and ran it by Travis before offering it for sale.  He was nice enough to give it a thumbs-up and an endorsement–without asking for a penny in return.  My little one-afternoon brainstorm made me about $5,000 and I think the fact he vouched for it played a large role in that.  So, my interaction with him has been positive, but it’s not like we’re close friends or anything–our relationship consists of a few emails back and forth.

Lessons Learned

The motivation underlying this post stems from what I think almost anyone doing business online can learn from Travis.

• He uses quality free information as a means of developing a following.
• He has a top-to-bottom system in place.
• He’s managed  a consistent, authentic and extremely positive persona.
• He knows how to effectively write emails and to handle and use his mailing list.
• He’s found hungry niches and knows how to pitch to them.

Whether you’re in the business of selling products or services, it’s worth taking a good look at how he’s doing things.  Writers should take note of how he’s using free content, good emails and solid sales copy to produce results.  I don’t mean that in a “write like that” way, either.  It’s more a matter of seeing how he’s using various content forms as part of a cohesive system…  I know that a lot of people don’t care for this sometimes bombastic part of the Internet marketing world with its red headlines and in-your-face-make-a-stack-of-cash messaging, but the underlying pattern he’s built is a nice model to study.

Two quick notes: First, I’m not vouching for the products he’s promoting.  I haven’t read his relationship ebook.  He could be a complete flake, the next Dr. Phil (which may be redundant with “complete flake”) or a true relationship genius.  Second, I thought about getting in touch with him before publishing this, but opted not to do so.  If he happens to stumble upon this and would like to comment, that’d be great, but I didn’t want to make this post look like it was some kind of buddy-buddy thing.