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As an experiment, I'm currently cooking my own site (for a different market) using the parrotsecrets.com recipe (as it was described in Robert Cringely's post).

As an experiment, I'm currently cooking my own site (for a different market) using the parrotsecrets.com recipe (as it was described in Robert Cringely's post). If people are still interested in this, I'll make sure to post the results to Hacker News, including all of the relevant data such as anonymized traffic logs, financial results, etc.

tocomment 17y ago
I feel like this change on the information products "flagship" kind of invalidates the whole business model. (Maybe I'm just freaking out though)
- ryanwaggoner 17y ago
  It doesn't...the business model is to sell stuff to a niche market. He's still doing that, but he's either determined that getting them on his list and selling to them over time converts higher overall, or he's testing to see if that's the case. I wouldn't be surprised if it does...opt-in rates for cold (but targeted) traffic on squeeze pages like that can be north of 30%, compared to a good sales letter conversion rate of 2-3%. That's a lot of people who have given you permission to send them valuable info and offers for your product(s). Many people won't buy until they have multiple contacts with the offer. Hook them with a free offer, give them value over time, and then sell them your product.
ryanwaggoner 17y ago
I would really love to hear more about this. What phase are you in? Are any other HN folks experimenting with this after reading the original ParrotSecrets story?
- markerdmann 17y ago
  Yesterday I received the first 12 pages from the ebook author. I found her on Elance, and I'm paying $800 for 30 pages. Elance was very effective: I received over 30 bids for the project, several of which came from extremely qualified writers (including two PhDs). While I wait for the book to be finished (another 3 weeks), I'll be working on building the site and planning the marketing strategy. If you'd like to discuss it in-depth, Ryan, feel free to contact me via email or Gtalk.
  - smountcastle 17y ago
    So how'd you find your niche?
- whatusername 17y ago
  Just wanted to second this. Please post some of your results - when you get them.
bravura 17y ago
Once you have the product ready, how do you sell it? Using adwords or Affiliate marketing? If affiliate marketing, how do you find your affiliates? ClickBank?

tocomment 17y ago

I feel like this change on the information products "flagship" kind of invalidates the whole business model. (Maybe I'm just freaking out though)

ryanwaggoner 17y ago
It doesn't...the business model is to sell stuff to a niche market. He's still doing that, but he's either determined that getting them on his list and selling to them over time converts higher overall, or he's testing to see if that's the case. I wouldn't be surprised if it does...opt-in rates for cold (but targeted) traffic on squeeze pages like that can be north of 30%, compared to a good sales letter conversion rate of 2-3%. That's a lot of people who have given you permission to send them valuable info and offers for your product(s). Many people won't buy until they have multiple contacts with the offer. Hook them with a free offer, give them value over time, and then sell them your product.

ryanwaggoner 17y ago

I would really love to hear more about this. What phase are you in? Are any other HN folks experimenting with this after reading the original ParrotSecrets story?

markerdmann 17y ago
Yesterday I received the first 12 pages from the ebook author. I found her on Elance, and I'm paying $800 for 30 pages. Elance was very effective: I received over 30 bids for the project, several of which came from extremely qualified writers (including two PhDs). While I wait for the book to be finished (another 3 weeks), I'll be working on building the site and planning the marketing strategy. If you'd like to discuss it in-depth, Ryan, feel free to contact me via email or Gtalk.
- smountcastle 17y ago
  So how'd you find your niche?
whatusername 17y ago
Just wanted to second this. Please post some of your results - when you get them.

bravura 17y ago

Once you have the product ready, how do you sell it? Using adwords or Affiliate marketing? If affiliate marketing, how do you find your affiliates? ClickBank?