DotCom Secrets

by Russel Branson

  FRONTEND FUNNELS

  FUNNEL #1:

  TWO-STEP, FREE-PLUS-SHIPPING

  The Two-Step Funnel works really well for the free-plus-shipping offers we discussed earlier. The first page typically has a video using the Who, What, Why, How script you’ll see below. Then the page asks visitors, “Where should I ship this?” They fill out the shipping address form (that’s step one) and then move on to step two where they fill in credit card information for the shipping and handling charge. It’s important that you mention on the first page that the buyers will be charged for shipping and handling. Otherwise, it’s very unethical, and you’ll upset your customers before they even have a chance to get into your Value Ladder, which is never a good idea. As we mentioned before, adding an order form bump on step two is a great way to increase frontend revenues. Now, not everyone who fills out step one will fill out step two, so I capture the email address on the first step. That way, I can follow up with them later and ask them to go back and fill out the rest of the form.

  After the visitors fill out the second step and click the submit button, you take them to a special, one-time offer (OTO), which presents an opportunity to upgrade the order. I’ll explain the psychology behind how to structure your offer for the OTOs when I share with you the sales script we use. Figure 14.1 shows one OTO, but often we’ll have two or three upsells and downsells in our funnels, so you don’t have to limit yourself to just one additional offer.

  The psychology behind this funnel is amazing. People are more likely to fill out the first step because they don’t see a long form asking for credit card information. Then once they do get to the credit card form, they keep filling it out because their brains are already committed to the process. Interestingly, I often find conversions to be higher on step one than on a regular email squeeze page, even though I’m asking for an entire shipping address instead of just a short email. This is probably because receiving something physical in the mail has a higher perceived value than receiving digital information via email.

  You can see a live example at www.DotComSecretsLabs.com.

  THE WHO, WHAT, WHY, HOW SCRIPT

  This is the script I typically use with the Two-Step Funnel. Inexpensive offers like free-plus-shipping items usually don’t require a long, involved sales letter. You need to hit the main selling points and build credibility as quickly as you can. Just create a little video, answering these four questions, and maybe add in a text version on the page. Present step one on the order form, and you’re all set. This is a short and simple script that answers the main questions likely on the prospects’ minds as they look at a low-end offer.

  Who: Who are you? Introduce yourself very briefly.

  “Hi, I’m Russell Brunson, founder of DotComSecrets. “

  What: What do you have? Introduce your product or offer briefly.

  “I’ve got a free DVD that’s going to show you_________________.”

  Why: Why do they need it? Explain the benefits of the offer.

  “If you’ve been struggling with_, then you need this

  DVD because it will ___________.”

  How: How can they get it? Walk them through the order process so they know what to expect.

  “Just fill out the form on the side of this page. Let me know your shipping address, and I’ll send it out right away. “

  The Catch: Tell them why you’re offering this product for such a low price. People always think there’s a catch. So instead of avoiding the topic, let them know, in clear terms, that there is no catch.

  “There’s no catch. I’m doing this because ___________. All I need for you to do is to help with shipping and handling charges.”

  Urgency: Explain why they should order this product right now.

  “I only have a very limited number of copies, so don’t be left behind.”

  “This offer ends at midnight on ___________. Don’t wait. “

  Guarantee: Reverse any risk in ordering the product.

  “If you don’t love it, I’ll refund your money, and you can keep the DVD.”

  Recap: Remind them what they are getting and why.

  “One more time, here’s what you’re getting:__.”

  Let’s Review: The Two-Step Funnel is great for converting cold traffic and getting a visitor to qualify as a subscriber and buyer. The sales process is short and sweet because you’re selling something at the low end of your Value Ladder.

  Up Next: Now, after they have made the initial purchase, use a different script to sell the special, one-time offer. Let’s look at that script now.

  THE OTO SCRIPT

  OTO stands for One Time Offer. It’s a special offer you make to people who just purchased a product from you. We use this script for the OTO on all of our offers (not just the Two-Step Funnel), so know that you can and should use this script for any upsell situation. In the past, I would try to use a longer sales process in the OTO, but I never had great conversions with the longer version. It wasn’t until my team wrote our script so that the focus is more on confirming the initial purchase and then quickly convincing them to say the second yes that we saw dramatically better results. Usually this OTO video is only three to five minutes long, yet it will close people on price points from ninety-seven dollars to two thousand or more.

  Now, one of the keys you need to understand before you use this script is how to structure your OTO. Getting the second yes is 80% offer structure and 20% script. So here are a few guidelines to make sure you structure the offer correctly.

  Rule #1: Don’t Sell More of the Same Thing. This is the biggest mistake most entrepreneurs make when it comes to upsells. They try to sell more of what the customer just bought. Instead, if the customer bought an ebook titled How to Lose Weight by Juicing, your next offer shouldn’t be another juicing product. In the visitor’s mind, he has already scratched that itch, so offering more of the same rarely works.

  Rule #2: Don’t Sell a Random Product. The next worst thing to selling more of the same is to sell a random, unrelated product. I see this all the time. Yet, if there is no logical connection between the frontend product and the upsells, you will kill your conversions. Rather, structure your upsell offer in one of these three ways:

  Sample Structure #1: The Next Thing. This is my favorite way to do upsells. If a guy just purchased your book, How to Lose Weight by Juicing, what is the next logical product he needs to buy from you to reach his goals? He just secured a way to learn how to juice (so that itch is scratched). But remember that he is juicing to lose weight. So, outside of juicing, what else will help him to accomplish his weight-loss goal? Is it a weight-training manual? Would he be interested in a cardio-related product? Those types of offers will convert well because it’s the next thing the new customer needs in order to accomplish his core goal. This is what my team did on the backend of our DotComSecrets Labs book. The frontend product sold conversion secrets to a buyer obviously interested in Internet sales, so the two upsells were related to traffic and then sales.

  Sample Structure #2: Do It Faster. If you have a way, a tool, a technique, or a software program that complements the initial offer and helps the customer get results faster, then the “Do-It-Faster” upsell is the right type of offer. The one key point to remember is you do NOT want to say the initial program won’t work without this upsell. There is no better way to upset your new customers than to tell them that what they just bought from you is incomplete without buying more.

  Sample Structure #3: Need Help? This type of upsell pushes people farther up your Value Ladder to your high-end offers. It presents a way to get specially tailored insight from you. Here we are asking the buyers if they want help implementing what they just purchased on the frontend.

  Now that you understand proven ways to structure the upsell, let me show you how to use the OTO script. Below is a pattern of dialogue you can use to create your own OTO script. While you should tweak the language to match your individual offer, try to follow the order I have p
rovided. I already organized the crucial elements for you, start to finish.

  Confirm Initial Decision: It’s important to put any possible buyer’s remorse to rest by reinforcing the decision to purchase the initial offer. It’s also important to make sure you keep an “open loop” at this stage. We used to say things like, “Congratulations, your order is complete,” before we made the upsell offer, but this language closed the sales loop. The prospect’s brain was thinking, I’m finished, and it was hard to get that second conversion. But once we changed that language to, “Wait! Your order is not yet complete,” the sales loop remained open, and our conversions went up. Why? Because subconsciously the reader was still open to being sold on something else. Pretty cool, huh?

  Congratulations on purchasing ____________. Your order is not quite finished yet.

  Smart => Why: Tell the buyer he’s made a great decision by making the first purchase and why.

  You’ve made a smart choice, and here’s why . . .

  You ordered this because you wanted __________, and that’s exactly what it’s going to do for you.

  3x 2x Question: Ask the buyer if he’d like to speed up his results. How would you like to get three times the results, twice as fast?

  How would you like to get ___________ (results) in ___________ (time: days or weeks)?

  Exclusive: Explain why this OTO is not for everyone.

  This offer is NOT for everyone. We’re only making it available to you because you proved you’re an action taker when you took advantage of ____________(initial offer). So I’m going to make you a special, one-time offer that’s only available right here, right now.

  Results, Fast, Speed: Explain that this OTO will complement the original purchase by delivering better results, faster.

  What I’m going to share with you right now will help you to get the results (fill in the results the customer is wanting) you’re wanting in half the time.

  The One Thing: Here you need to find the One Thing in your product that is the key to the buyer’s success. This part is often tricky because it is tempting to explain everything about the offer. But if you do that, you will kill the sale. You need to figure out the One Thing that is the most valuable and will yield the best results. For example, in my OTO selling my “Perfect Webinar” system, I have over twenty-four hours of videos. But instead of telling the buyers everything they will learn, I focus on one thing, a special close the video demonstrates called “The Stack.” I explain what it is, how much money it has made me, my results, and what type of results the buyer can expect from this “One Thing.”

  I have another product called ___________. I don’t have time to go over everything inside of the product because we could be here for hours, but one of the strategies inside that will give you the results you’re looking for FAST is ___________ . Let me explain to you what it is and how it can help you. (Insert explanation.) And that is just ONE of the things that you’ll learn with this product.

  Future Pacing: Help the buyer imagine achieving goals faster and with greater ease.

  Can you imagine what your life will be like when you have ___________ (the One Thing)?

  Call to Action (CTA): Tell the buyer how to order the special offer. So click the button below right now to add __________to your order.

  Guarantee: Reverse the risk he may be feeling with a guarantee. I guarantee ___________ or ___________ .

  Value Stacking: Add in valuable bonuses. Here’s a trick for creating bonuses: take the most valuable part of your product—the thing people want MOST—pull it out, and offer it as a free bonus. People can’t resist getting the thing they want most of all for “free.”

  If you act now, you’ll also receive ___________ , (worth $_______), for FREE.

  And ____________.(worth$________),for FREE. And __________, (worth $_______), for FREE . . .

  Scarcity: Give them a reason to order right now! Make this a truly one-time offer.

  This ___________ (product name) is available on my website for ___________ (higher price). But right now, you have this ONE CHANCE to get it for only_. This one-time offer is only available right here, right now. When you leave this page, it’s gone forever.

  Second CTA: Repeat your call to action.

  Don’t miss your chance to _________faster and easier than ever. Click the button now.

  Testimonial Rush: Add in testimonials about your product—more is better.

  Don’t just take my word for it, take a look at what others are saying. . .

  That’s the framework for the OTO script. Now, just like the other scripts, this is a guide to show you the path you need to lead your customers down to put them in a state where they will purchase. You have some freedom to add in your own personality. Remember, your Attractive Character is essential to making these scripts come to life. So use the script as a guide, but insert your own personality for maximum conversions.

  FUNNEL #2:

  SELF-LIQUIDATING OFFER

  Typically, we use the Self-Liquidating Offer (SLO) Funnel when we are trying to sell a product that’s priced anywhere from twenty-seven to ninety-seven dollars. The main goal is to have this frontend product cover the expenses of buying traffic. You hope to break even. That is why we call it a “self-liquidating offer”— because if you structure it right, you won’t have any traffic costs, and your upsells become pure profit. In general, a free-plus-shipping offer will lose money on the frontend offer, but will use the upsells to break even or even make a profit. In contrast, SLOs should break even before any upsells.

  First, you’re going to attract people with a free video, report, ebook, or other lead magnet on your squeeze page. Typically, my “bribe” to get them to give me an email address is something that I’m going to show them on the next page in a video or a sales letter. Then, once the visitors subscribe to your list, they land on your SLO page, which sells your core offer. This is generally a video or a long-form-text sales letter, presenting your SLO using the Star, Story, Solution script described below. Because the price point is so much higher than a free-plus-shipping offer, you normally have to use a longer script to get your visitors comfortable enough to make a purchasing decision. That is what the Star, Story, Solution script does. On the order form, you can add an order form “bump,” and then take them into your OTO sequence using the same OTO script I gave you earlier.

  I love the Star, Story, Solution script because it helps to introduce your new visitors to your Attractive Character while you are selling them your product.

  STAR, STORY, SOLUTION SCRIPT

  I didn’t invent the concept of the Star, Story, Solution script. I first heard it when I was interviewing a guy who had made one hundred million dollars in twenty-three months selling supplements. He said there was a script he used to sell all of his products. The script formula was so simple! First, you need a star (I call this person the Attractive Character), then you need a story that agitates a problem, and finally you need to provide a solution (your product).

  I thought it was a powerful format, but it took me almost ten years to figure out how to frame each section of the script. After I figured out how to lead a prospect through each section, I was able to build out a framework that my companies (as well as hundreds of our clients) use over and over again.

  Sometimes it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all the pieces in this script—there are forty-four! But take it one piece at a time, and you’ll be fine. Each piece can be as short as a sentence or two, while others might be longer as you find places to interject your true stories, which define the Attractive Character. Just think of the forty-four pieces as stepping-stones along the path to the sale. You can write as much—or as little—as you like for each piece. If you follow the script, you’ll have a great sales letter by the time you get to the end. Let’s go through the scripts for all three sections: star, story, and solution.

  SECTION 1: STAR

  1. Pattern Interrupt: This is usually the first thing prospects see. It’s importan
t to grab their attention, get them out of their current environment or activity, and suck them into your sales copy. This isn’t always easy to do! But using a pattern interrupt helps. Here’s an example of a successful pattern interrupt we used for our pornography addiction product:

  It happened again, didn’t it? To you . . . or someone you love.

  I know your story . . .

  Everyone’s situation is different, but the results are usually the same...

  Often the “core-desire questions” in step two can also work as my pattern interrupt. I’ve seen a lot of people who will start their sales videos showing a strange picture of an unusual object, and then say something like the following:

  “What does this strange turtle have to do with your_? I’m going to show you in this video, but first. . .”

  2. Core-Desire Questions: Through a series of questions, you get prospects thinking about the things they desire most. These questions move the brain to the topic you want to discuss, which is the outcome or results they wish they could achieve. Here’s an example of core-desire questions from one of my ListHacking products:

  I’ve got a quick question for you . . .

  Have you ever wanted to work from home?

  Own your own business?

  Come on . . . you know you want that lifestyle . . . the one that everyone talks about . . .

  Where you can work from home in your underwear . . .

  Or on a beach with your laptop . . .