How can I convince JVs to mail my launch?

“If you want your launch to stand out, you’ve got to sell it.”

How can I persuade JVs to mail my launch?

Writing a good JV page helps.

No, after that. I can get JVs to sign up. I mean, more’d be great, but what I really want to know is how to get the ones who HAVE signed up to actually mail.

Oh, OK. Well, there’s a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is ‘better marketing’.

No, my marketing’s pretty good already. We’re launching an amazing product, the funnel’s tested and the copy pulls really well.

No, not better marketing during your launch. Better marketing ABOUT your launch.

I think maybe we’d better go for the long answer.

Sure. First off, you need to think about affiliates’ motivations when they sign up, whether they’ve grabbed a link or signed up to your JV list. Some affiliates are very discerning about what they sign up to and only do it when they’re pretty certain they do want to promote. Some affiliates are trigger-happy and sign up to stuff with an enthusiasm normally reserved for drunk solo-ad clicks. If you’re a more discerning affiliate, it can be a big mistake to think everyone works like you do.

OK – so you’re saying I haven’t got their commitment, I’ve just got their attention?

Exactly. And attention is good, but you need to build on it. You’ve got to convert it into interest, desire and action.

You make it sound like I’m trying to sell them something.

You are. You’re selling them your launch. You’re selling them the fact that your launch isn’t just something they can promote, it’s the BEST thing for them to promote. Just like you get your customers excited about your product with a prelaunch, you should be trying to get your affiliates excited too.

So how do I do that?

There’s a simple 3-step strategy for building excitement that works on everyone. 1: tell them they’re going to get something cool. 2: tell them when they’re going to get it. 3: keep telling them. It worked on you as a kid coming up to Christmas, and it’ll work on your affiliates coming up to your launch.

Can you give me a bit more detail on that?

Sure can, Virginia. You got your affiliates to sign up on your JV page by showing them all the cool stuff your launch was going to deliver: the amazing product, the hot commissions. So you’ve already done 1 and 2. Your job is #3. Keep in touch. Take every opportunity you can to remind them about why your launch is going to rock.

I’m already posting in the Skype and Facebook groups.

I’m sure you are, and so’s everyone else. But you’re probably posting up just general notices, right? Date, time, commission. Maybe something about how it’s going to be AWESOME!!1!

Well, yes. What’s wrong with that?

Nothing’s wrong with it. But those posts get attention, not engagement. You can build engagement through Skype and Facebook as well, but the most high-impact route will be to run a mailing campaign. That’s what your JV list is for. They’ve already shown interest either in this launch or one of your previous ones, and you can get in touch repeatedly.

I’m not sure. I can’t just keep e-mailing ‘look at my launch, it’s awesome’ every day. That’s just going to piss people off.

Actually, you can, and it won’t, as long as you’re smart about it.

Spill.

Look, there’s a lot going on with your launch. You know how exciting it is – you’re in the centre of it. Affiliates aren’t involved in the same way, so you’ve got to get them involved. Let them know when you hit every milestone, and every time, relate it back to why this milestone means they’re going to make a ton of cash. You got beta tester feedback? Show it to them, tell them about the new features you’ll be adding people have asked for. You’ve got your sales page back from the designer? Give them a link, and explain all the cool stuff your copywriter’s put in there that’s going to make your conversions insane. Every event is a new excuse to mail, and every excuse to mail lets you remind your affiliates why your launch is worth promoting. Every mail you send gets you more attention, and puts you at the front of your potential affiliates’ minds. And the more attention you’ve got, the more they’re thinking about you, the more likely they are to hit ‘send’.

OK. So how often should I mail?

As often as you like. This is just like any e-mail sequence – you’ve just got to stay interesting. As soon as you start to be boring, people will stop opening your mails. Realistically, every day might be a bit much – the more mails you send, the harder it is to find new, interesting things to say. But you can still mail a lot more often than you might think.

And this’ll make everyone who signs up on my JV page mail for me?

Everyone? No. There’s always people who’ll find an offer that better fits their list, or who are just too lazy or disorganised. More than you’d otherwise get? Absolutely.

It sounds kinda like a presell.

That’s because that’s what it is. If you want your launch to stand out, you’ve got to sell it, and marketing is marketing. You do this stuff all the time. It’s just a different audience.