But when I see the tech media oohing about a 3rd Party captcha service that uses ads, I feel I can add something to the discussion.

4 or 5 years ago one of the best though slighly naughty Adsense tricks was to slap a adsense advert right next to the submit button of any forum form. People make mistakes and occasionally click by accident, or at least the ads get seen.
Worst case scenario was you at least got an advert impression.

Microsoft have a patent application for using advertising as part of a captcha from February 2008, as pointed out by Tim when that application was made public a year ago, and he felt he was being squeezed out of the advert captcha market.

Tim’s solution is slightly younger than Microsoft’s patent, launched commercially in December 2008 to existing customers.

However the concept of tying a brand to a captcha goes back at least 5 years to this post.

Your Captcha Adverts In Action

This is what the output from the Captcha Adverts WordPress plugin looks like.

This is what the Microsoft patent shows

This is what the Solve Media captchas look like.

I would hope the Solve Media (pending) patents are related to turning a captcha advert into an advertising network, and not based on a 5 year old concept that isn’t theirs.

Captcha As Part Of Sales Funnel

In practice for many sites captcha adverts are a terrible idea unless they are part of the site’s own sales funnel.

• You don’t or shouldn’t show a captcha to members – you have their email address confirmed
• Many sites are moving over to using a shared comment management system despite the synchronization issues and potential privacy issues. Again a vastly reduced need to use a captcha.
• The primary reason to use a captcha these days is at the time of account signup.
• If your site doesn’t gain tons of comments, a payment based upon completed captcha’s is fairly pointless.

A far better scenario is to use a captcha that is either part of the lead acquisition funnel, or to increase awareness for an advertising message that is shown immediately after the captcha is completed such as a one-time offer.

I am sure there is a value to the advertiser – the problem is for most publishers they should be integrating their own messaging, not 3rd party advertising.

Media Memo state

Playing along so far: Advertisers including Microsoft (MSFT), GE’s (GE) Universal Pictures and Toyota (TM), and publishers including Meredith (MDP), Tribune and AOL (AOL).
AOL is also an investor in the company (previously named AdCopy), via its AOL Ventures arm. Other investors, who have collectively put something like $6 million into the company, include First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures and angels like Chris Dixon, Roger Ehrenberg, Aydin Senkut and Shervin Pishevar.

Captchas for users who are not logged in for most media publications should be to enhance lead acquisition.

But how about for logged in users?

Captcha For Logged In Users

Completing a captcha is a one time event that is currently looked on as a barrier, when it could be turned into a reward for interaction.

Imagine members (maybe even non-members) could give answers to questions related to the content or other recent events for a prize, but they could only enter by commenting. Blogs run giveaway competitions all the time which reward entry points for placing a comment, though it isn’t really as scaleable as it could be, and the presentation needs to be refined.

For non-members such a competition could be the first step in a subscription funnel.

More on Techmeme but most of it seems like reworked press releases plus a video using Vimeo (who are not for commercial use)

I am not sure what drove me to sign up as a JV partner with Dan, though the following factors almost certainly played a factor.

• Supreme confidence in the value of his product just oozes out of the videos he produces (there are lots of them)
• Lots of professional landing pages – it is obvious he has spent a lot of time working on them
• A great JV Opportunity but to be honest I would highlight this anyway… you will see why in a moment

Unobtrusive Marketing

I have spent a fair amount of time since I signed up with Dan chatting with him on Skype – his commitment to his JV partners is exceptional, but I am sure that has also lead to significant improvements in his sales funnel as affiliates give him direct feedback.

We have all seen various improvements to sales funnels over time, and a lot of what Dan is doing will seem very familiar. The overall design of the landing pages, the opt-in etc, but Dan has added a few of his own twists that take things to a new level.

What is special is that the things Dan has added are smart and unobtrusive, but still catch the eye and achieve the desired effect – many of them he has coded himself.

It is a rare thing for me to see something and immediately reach for Skype and ask “Where did you get that script from?”

Long Term Commitment To Success

I am going to swipe a small excerpt that Dan sent out in one of his JV emails – if you are a successful online marketer, this is the kind of email that might make you emotional, because you can almost see before you a guy that is just about to hit a home run.

******************************
1 Year In The Making!
******************************
Someone asked me the other day if I am starting to get excited, because launch is getting so close. I find it hard to put into words how excited i am getting. To give you an idea, I have been working on this project since September last year. 20 hours a week at first, then 50 – 60 hours a week for the last 9 months… and it finally feels like it’s within reach. So am I excited? What do you think?

The fact that I am so exited is only part of the contributing factor to me not sleeping at night. The other thing is the fact that I am on the other side of the world to pretty much everyone, and I spend hours on the phone. Amongst other things, I have spent ages on the phone making sure that I will be able to handle a huge launch in every respect.

The Personal Touch & Proof

There is nothing quite so powerful in establishing relationships with a JV partner than a personal greeting. The one I received from Dan was remarkable, not because of big promises of huge commissions, special access or anything else you might normally expect – the greeting I received was really personal, and at the same time provides me with something more valuable than even a $2000 boxed product… proof

I have been given permission to publish whatever I like, but here is just a small excerpt.

Thanks for coming onboard with TheBossBuster launch. Just thought I’d drop you a quick hello and welcome, and also let you know something that I learned from you that is going to make me a lot of money (and already has done alright for me).

Ok so that grabbed my attention but on its own isn’t much to go on, lets grab a few more snippets…

Originally I bought viral inviter, and was going to use that on my site. After ■■■■■■■, and ■■■■■■■, I went looking for another solution. What I found was a solution on your site, where you can just pass parameters to gmail, hotmail etc, and do effectively the same thing straight through them. This has a number of advantages over viral inviter (which I am sure you are aware of, so I won’t tell you how to suck eggs).

Yes I have ■ out some of this. I will quite happily criticise an application on specific technical issues that represent a risk to my readers, but I am not going to address other aspects that may be hearsay, or subject to specific circumstances.

But I digress…

So long story short, when I tested this with one of my affiliates, I made ■■■■■■■. I was also getting people to do some social networking referrals, but most of the extra was from the emails. The best bit about this is ■■■■■■■, so it doubled my income! Now I am rolling it out on this major launch, and I expect it will make me 6 figures!

I am keeping exact numbers confidential but suffice it to say most people would be able to live for an extra month on the additional income made on one relatively small test.

Now I can’t give you any specific reference, but a frequently quoted figure is that a Tell-A-Friend script, even some of the “viral” ones with features copying Facebook & Myspace rarely add more than 10-20% additional subscribers.

For a tell-a-friend implementation to double Dan’s income, and notice he was specifically tracking the emails compared to social media referrals, that is a huge revenue increase… from one of my blog posts.

Dan absolutely nailed the best possible way to encourage me to write something… providing me with some proof that helps me with any future product launch.

Tell-A-Friend Implementation

Dan didn’t just take an idea from my blog and implement it, he ran with it adding nuances that work so well, he doubled revenue.

Here is just a small part of his Tell-A-Friend page

This Tell-A-Friend implementation I endorse fully (though I did agree to disagree on a couple of details)

• No password is requested
• It is bullet-proof – it doesn’t even use APIs
• Email deliverability is most likely much higher than other solutions
• Emails are sent from a “natural environment” that the end user is familiar with
• Dan figured out a way to even add incentives that are delivered automatically
• The incentive system is multi-tier, rewarding people who refer more friends

Ultimately it is better than anything I have seen used by 6, 7 even 8 figure online marketers, and in many ways better than what is used by Facebook, Myspace and other social networks.

There are a whole load of other smart things he has added to the page that work very well, but I don’t want to spoil it for you for when you sign up to check things out.

It isn’t perfect (but pre-launch doesn’t officially start until Monday)

• The page needs a privacy statement
• A few trust marks could probably boost conversion even more
• I have encouraged Dan to change the way videos are being streamed, but more on that at a later date

Exit Strategy

This is what prompted me at 3am to immediately fire up Skype and contact Dan this morning (there are some advantages with him being in Australia)

• We have all seen corner-peel ads – they are effective to a degree
• We have seen automated “live support” robots on exit, which we all know are fake
• More recently the fashion has been to redirect to a new offer page, opt-in or other alternative, which is often confusing for me which button needs to be pressed to actually stay and read the damn things, I don’t know about anyone else.

What Dan has implemented is different… unique, apparently he coded it himself, and it was quite simple to do

It grabbed my attention as a geek, but I am sure it is something that would grab the attention of any audience, though it is something you would want to split-test extensively – it is something that can be split tested very effectively.

Just watch what happens on the page when you try to exit before opting in…

I am sure the code is very similar to a Page Peel, but the effect is quite different.

Video Use

Dan has made some great use of video in his prelaunch to JVs, keeping them informed on a regular basis. This is one thing I have strongly urged him to tweak however, but more on that at a later date.

I am not going to say he has done things better than others, but he has used video extremely well at every stage of the sales funnel that I have seen so far, and for regular JV updates.

JV Tools

Dan is quite proud of his JV Tools area that is pretty effective – plenty of preprepared emails and banners without the usual long confusing page. I can’t remember the last time I just used even part of someone else’s copy but that is just me. I tend to highlight things in a different way.

Smart Autoresponder Pages

This part isn’t quite unique, I know Big Jason Henderson sells a similar script, but it was very well implemented and no doubt increases email confirmation rates significantly as it is “smart” specific to each email service.

Product Fit For Your Audience?

Who knows, Dan is running a 2-tier affiliate program using Delavo which is fairly robust and has some interesting features in itself. I know lots of affiliates who love it.
The product is a little risqué for some territories, sports arbitrage, but Dan certainly seems to know what he is talking about, and the videos I have seen suggest he is an exceptional teacher – of course he provides a solid guarantee as well.

Apparently he has tested in multiple niches with some quite interesting results.

The Purpose Of This Post?

• Above all, I think Dan has been working his #$%^ off for months assembling this launch
• I love people taking action based upon my blog posts – Dan isn’t the only one who has seen remarkable success, but there is a danger in bragging about things like SEO. I want you to see Dan’s Sales Funnel
• I believe the product might be of interest to some of my audience.
• I love 2-tier affiliate programs and I know some of my readers are a great match. Sign up to JV with Dan

(Note: I will add in the links to the squeeze page on Monday, but you can navigate your way through easily enough – I wouldn’t want to be accused of emailing early for the launch)

Something else to avoid is any mention that you might benefit financially from just an opt-in – the problem there is disclosure, and as more and more launches include a pre-launch opt-in competition with prizes, especially in the internet marketing niche, affiliate program managers are going to specifically have to allow, and encourage disclosure.

Bonus Delivery Hurdles to Overcome

• You are rarely notified about an opt-in – there is a feature in Infusionsoft to allow notifications of opt-in, but most affiliate program managers switch this notification off. Even if you have selected it as on, there doesn’t seem to be a way to control it within the Infusionsoft affiliate interface, and preferably send the email to a different email address than other notifications and mailings.
• Forget about manual processing – as your business scales, manual processing of an opt-in to give a bonus just isn’t possible.
• Circumvention - if you are offering something of value, you don’t want it to be delivered on a directly accessible thank-you page that is indexed, or could be passed on
• Excessive friction – you want if at all possible to avoid adding any process that could go wrong, cause support questions, frustration, etc.
• Lock-in – Preferably if you do this, you want to do it with a marketer who in some ways offers a lock-in of leads that are sent – currently you can’t do anything for back-end promotions of 3rd party products effectively (well unless it is Clickbank), but at least you want them to use that email address for it’s primary intention… to sell your lead their products, so you make money.

Benefits Of Bonus Delivery

Higher opt-in rates – if you can give something of suitable vale, preferably complementary, there is a good chance your readers might opt-in to someone else’s list to get it.

Complementary – what you offer could be complementary to their launch materials, improving the sales process, magnifying “results in advance” and giving you a reason why you are mailing… you really do care about the success of your readers, don’t you?

Tracking & Automation – for slightly more advanced users, if you can get someone to take action, even if it is signing up to a list belonging to an affiliate partner, that is valuable information that can be processed using the automation rules of various autoresponders – business intelligence allows you to segment your lists more accurately, better determine offer choice, or can even steer product development.

Can be turned into a JV bonanza – with smart rebranding or cross-marketing of bonus products, you could potentially gain additional subscribers, covert others to make promotion materials on your behalf, and make more money from multiple streams of income.

Live Example

Over the last week or so, I put together a demonstration system that took relatively little coding and provides me with simple interfaces to automate bonus delivery.

At the same time Howie Schwartz was in the middle of a launch and I knew I could create a fantastic bonus that would complement his launch, so I have been burning the midnight oil.

IM Remarkable Bonus

Some Key Features

• The report isn’t your normal affiliate freebie – it is 50 pages, and was a significant time investment.
• The system isn’t dumb – you are required to submit the correct key
• The whole system can be rebranded – a JV partner could send traffic to my site, and gain 100% referrals to Howie – great excuse to send an additional email, plus help people more.
• The Twitter “tweet” links later in the process are rebranded as well so any viral effect, JV partners can gain a benefit.
• It would take me about 2 minutes to add additional unadvertised bonuses to the backend
• I haven’t asked/forced an opt-in – I didn’t want to add a negative element for JVs
• I didn’t ask for a password to retweet about the site

It is simplistic, there are still some holes, but it is something that anyone could set up.

Take a look at http://nicheexposed.com & http://bonusitem.com

What I want to impress upon you is… if possible… you should endeavor to confine your selling efforts to…

Players With Money!

Why? First of all, it is easier to sell something to someone with money. It’s an obvious fact that person has the money to buy what you’re selling. If you’ve got a $500,000 house for sale, it doesn’t matter how appealing the house is if the family you’re pitching it to has a pitifully low total income.

But there’s another fact you mustn’t overlook. People with money usually means they also have an important character trait most of the “sheep” out there don’t possess. Namely…

They Have The Ability To Make A Decision!

And… without talking it over with their spouse, their lawyer, their CPA, or their mommy. Usually, people with money got their loot because their lives are filled with independent thought and movement. These people with a high Halbert Index also possess another rare commodity. Namely… the ability to recognize true value. In other words, yes, it’s true these people are easier to sell than Joe Average but… only if you offer true value!

Reflect, for a moment, on what I sell. This would include a high-priced, rather arrogant newsletter, expensive seminars, expensive videos, audios, printed information packages, client services, etc. Who won’t buy my material? Basically, stupid, lazy people who relate its value to how much it weighs and how much “bulk” they receive. Who does buy my material? The answer is easy…

Players With Money!

From the archives of the great Gary Halbert, in a letter titled “The Halbert Index“

Powerful thought provoking stuff that precedes what many top level online marketers aim to achieve today, though many were themselves students of the great Gary Halbert. Do take the time to read the complete article, in fact you could spend days insides Gary’s archives.

I can’t resist one further quotation

I think the original letter was written back in 2003 – the idea of internet marketers promoting high ticket items is nothing new.

Some of the traits of higher ticket products

• Higher customer satisfaction
• Lower support costs
• Higher retention
• More repeat business

What Does It Take To Get There?

• Research A Niche
• Keyword Research
• Research Potential Products
• Create Products (preferably using outsourcing)
• Setup an effective sales funnel
• Generate traffic
• SEO
• PayPerClick (PPC)
• Buzz marketing and Linkbaiting
• JV Partners & Affiliates

Alex Goad has been a reader of my blog for about as long as I have been writing it, and I have a great deal of respect for him. He has achieved phenomenal success over the last 12 months with a number of successful Clickbank products that have become successful not because of hype, but quality. I actually had a chance to be part of one of them in the past, but it would have been hard to condense things whilst still provide the depth of information I felt obligated to provide.

That being said, I still wanted to see what Alex created before considering a mention here, let alone encourage people to buy it.

I believe I am one of the few who have actually had access to a large chunk of the materials, though many were still in draft form.

One important segment that Alex has included is on Traffic Funnels or more importantly Sales Funnels, and he has written one of the best explanations I have read about why a traffic funnel is important, and how they should be set up.

Well at least in part…

I have monitored almost every major product launch over the last year, and even the experts are leaving a huge chunk of their potential subscribers and profits to chance.

As for bloggers, there is a gaping hole in the sales funnel, and it is not at the end where the sales are made. Even if you manage to gain a minimal commitment in the form of an RSS subscription, hot prospects quickly turn cold.

I am one of the worst offenders

Technological Hurdles

Basic list building on a blog isn’t too technically complicated, but there is a lot more that can be done to enhance the process and build fanatical readers and boost income, though many of the tools such as membership scripts often need to be jury rigged to achieve any level of back-end coordination.

Even the most experienced pros effectively separate the list building mechanism from the blog. Whilst that might be suitable in the internet marketing niche, there are better ways of doing it.

Players With Money Bonus

Over the last few months I have been designing what I believe will be the “perfect funnel system” for blogs, whether for conventional bloggers looking to boost their subscriber base, for affiliate marketers, and yes… it will also add a totally new dimension to major product launches.

I have spent a lot of time ensuring that it is the right product for the market

During the next week I intend the development to start… I might need more than one full time programmer working on the project, and I intend it to be sold on a recurring membership basis.

Anyone who orders Players With Money and joins the program for at least 2 weeks will be entitled to free membership even if you eventually decide that it isn’t the right product for you and ask for a refund. That is the level of trust I have in Alex’s product.
It is a Clickbank product, so the refund period is a lot longer – you will have absolutely no risk

At this time it will only be for WordPress, and I am going to try to make it affiliate system neutral, so whether you are dealing with Clickbank, Paypal, PayDotCom, IDevAffiliate, InfusionSoft, 1ShoppingCart or other system, either as an affiliate or as a product creator, you will be able to benefit.

The aim of the system in a nutshell

• More links
• More traffic
• More subscribers
• More sales
• More profit

One of my biggest negative traits (other than possibly fulfilling Alex’s requirements in the video) is that in some things I am a perfectionist – it has taken me a long time to finalize the design, but hopefully that will ensure a premium product.

p.s. As an added bonus, you will also get to be in on the initial beta test and become launch partners. It is a beast of a system, and intended to be insanely viral.
p.p.s I am going back through historical affiliate transactions and also including those who have supported me or trusted my advice in the past (those I can track to an individual), though I feel you will also benefit from Players With Money, I do know how to treat my customers and future affiliates like gold.

Terms

I am going to get there in the end, but I currently can’t fix a delivery date. It will be a major undertaking – if you qualify as a “Player With Money” based on the definition from Gary Halbert and repeated in Alex’s video, this won’t concern you.

Also to conform with Clickbank terms (how many affiliates offering bonuses even know these rules, let alone comply with them)

1) The bonus offer is not the responsibility of ClickBank or of the seller of the primary product.

2) ClickBank will not honor any refund requests that are based on non- delivery, quality, or functionality of the bonus materials.

3) I have always listed my contact information and any issues regarding bonus delivery, bonus functionality, or bonus quality must be addressed with me, not with ClickBank or the seller.

Further Reading

My thought process has continued since I wrote these articles, but you might find them enlightening – they also provide some level of proof as to how much time I have already invested in this project.

Why Blogs Suck – an in-depth rant on blog subscription rates and the inefficient sales funnel process they create.

10 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Sucks – damn another rant, but again I delve into traffic and sales funnels.

I am quietly confident that this will be the most valuable bonus offered by anyone for Players With Money but it will require your patience and trust.

Update: Just to be sure

When you arrive on the payment page for Clickbank having followed my link you should see something like this showing at the bottom of the page, with the affiliate ID “Nommus”

If you have any queries just let me know, I am even available on Skype a lot of the time.

I will be monitoring the Clickbank account for transactions, and they provide contact details, but to be sure after your purchase it might be a good idea to forward me a receipt using my contact form.