In this episode of Info Product Mastery, I sit down with copywriting legend, John McIntyre, and we discuss email marketing, copywriting, and his new business RageHeart.

[00:35] Adrian talks about John and how he listened to his podcast, The McMethod Podcast and learned all about copywriting.

[01:26] Adrian asks John to talk a little bit about his personal history and his beginnings in copywriting. 

[03:24] Adrian remarks on how copywriting has taken John around the world and also how in the age of the internet if you have a skill you can market, you can work from anywhere.

[05:04] “Success in anything requires knowing how to persuade people..” - John

[07:13] “I just thought copywriting was an ephemeral skill..” - Adrian

[08:25] John discusses the importance of understanding people in writing copy.

[10:30] John explains why he started his podcast.

[12:50] Adrian wants to know why John switched over from Drip to Berserker.

[18:24] Adrian talks about the million dollar Google Docs program. One of his favorite things John has shared through his email list.

[19:22] Adrian wants to know what John’s favorite pattern interrupts are.

[21:00] “The copy is only part of the thing….maybe the problem is the market, or the offer that you’re making…” - John

[22:05] John talks about PersuasivePage.com and how they do great and innovative work in copywriting.

[25:35] John introduces his new business RageHeart.co, and explains what it is. 

[28:37] “If you can explain someone's problem to them better than they can explain it they will immediately trust you” - John

[29:36] John discusses how while everyone is trying to work on themselves, approaching self help and healing via the nervous system has totally changed his life.

[31:27] “This somatic stuff, this nervous system stuff is doing the same thing” - John commenting on his use of plant medicines and the parallels with somatic therapy.

[32:38] RageHeart is a combination of Somatic therapy and plant medicine therapy branded in a different way than your typical self-help type therapies.

[33:28] Adrian talks about his own life challenges and struggles and how he overcame them with similar therapies to John.

[37:35] “If you think about what holds people back…it’s fear, it’s doubt…all of these things relate to the nervous system..” - John on how doing the work to make yourself better will actually make your business more successful and happier in general.

[41:39] Adrian agrees with John about doing this s

In this episode of Info Product Mastery, we have Justin Ferriman on the show, former CEO of LearnDash, the premier WordPress plugin for creating and selling online courses.

[02:11] Adrian asks Justin what his inspiration for LearnDash was initially. 

[03:45] Justin talks about starting his blog and beginning to capture emails.

[05:04] Both PyImageSearch and LearnDash were acquired on the same day. Adrian remembers how he and Justin’s path have a lot of parallels. 

[06:06] Justin discusses the benefits of LearnDash and why people should use it.

[07:42] “In a sentence I just feel like Wordpress allows you to own the content…” - Justin

[08:59] Adrian agrees with Justin about the benefits of Wordpress over something like Udemy, and gives some examples of how he was able to make custom offerings.

[10:54] “Do shorter...concise…or longer, more in depth courses tend to do better in terms of sales?…” - Adrian

[15:14] Justin talks about breaking out content into several courses versus one huge course.

[16:27] “A combination of video and text will go a long way…” - Justin on what kind of formatting does best on LearnDash.

[21:01] Adrian wants to know from Justin if gamification is a good strategy, or is even still a thing.

[22:08] “The point of gamification is to create a sense of commitment…” - Justin

[24:37] Justin talks about what’s keeping him busy now that LearnDash has been acquired.

[26:36] “The point of GapScout is to leverage the best of AI and machine learning….to then spot those gaps you can go after in your business….” - Justin

[27:01] “I love taking customer reviews…and turning those into headlines and copy..” - Adrian

[28:04] Justin describes a “great little sales hack.” 

[29:40] “The target market for this are people like you and I….the solopreneur…the small business trying to compete against the big guy” - Justin on GapScout

[30:44] Pain points and negative experiences with other brands can be used as a way to market.

[32:50] Justin points out that anybody that is creating an online course should do market research. 

• LearnDash
• GapScout
• PyImageSearch

In this episode of Info Product Mastery, I chat with Johannes Kettmann about his website, Profy.dev. We discuss tactics and techniques to regularly produce content, improve your email list conversion, and build a profitable info product company.

[01:25] Adrian starts by asking Johannes why he wanted to start React training.

[02:55] Johannes talks about why self taught developers have a hard time finding their first job.

[05:42] Johannes designed his React job simulator to help students learn the way he did, on the job. 

[07:22] Adrian asks Johannes about his price points for the membership to his site.

[08:20] The initial launch of Johannes’ product converted reasonably well, but the most recent launch was much lower but with a bigger email list. He wants to know why.  

[11:23] After learning a bit about where the traffic to Johanne’s site comes from, Adrian talks about consistency in content marketing, and how he breaks the work down into “seasons.”

[13:10] “I’m batching all of this, so there’s zero context switching with all of this.” - Adrian

[16:31] Adrian gives one of his key workflow optimizations. 

[21:11] “You can be immensely more productive by reducing the number of hours you work in a day.” - Adrian

[22:12] Adrian asks Johanne about his LinkedIn activity.

[25:59] After Adrian suggests looking to LinkedIn for audience building, Johannes talks about struggling to find an audience online because of his narrow focus.

[28:05] After talking about his goals and what he might need help with, Adrian asks what email opt-ins Johannes is currently offering.

[30:45] Having gone over Johanne’s specific email opt in’s, the guys get more specific on the actual blog post content and what they contain.

[32:46] Adrian gave some tips to Johannes on how he can get more opt-ins on the email list and how he can also get more segmentation by making some changes on his blog posts. Johannes agrees that more segmentation is needed because his open rates were low.

[33:53] Adrian introduces the concept of a shadow newsletter.

[35:11] “If you already have a library of quality pieces, there’s no reason you can’t…reuse that.” - Adrian

[36:48] Johannes has one last question. His parental leave is almost over and he wants to know if there is anything he can do in the short month he has for “quick win.”

[38:14] “Put your Github URLs behind an email opt-in.” - Adrian

[41:12] “It does take time, and it does take that discipline to create that content.” - Adrian on focusing on the long term goals. 

In this episode of Info Product Mastery, Adrian sits down with Austin Church and they discuss the path to transitioning from freelancer to content creator.

[00:29] Adrian introduces Austin Church.

[01:45] Austin comments on his career trajectory and how unexpected it has been.

[03:31] “It’s funny now, I guess I’ve come full circle..” - Austin

[06:08] Looking back, Austin realizes he was always headed towards being an entrepreneur. 

[07:45] Adrian discusses how interests change and how after working on something and succeeding, he desires to move on.

[08:55] Austin looks back on his journey and realizes his wide variety of interests can be a danger as an entrepreneur. 

[11:04] “Because entrepreneurship is so intertwined with personal development, you have to constantly check in and ask, Do I still want to be doing this?” - Austin

[13:08] Austin talks about his current work with Freelancecake.com and his journey there as a freelance creative.

[15:00] “What do six figure freelancers think and do differently…” - Austin

[17:25] In 2018, Austin rolled out a coaching program where he talked about the four P’s: positioning, packaging, pricing, and pipeline.  

[18:04] “There are certain…shareable advantages…that are available to those of us who sell creativity.” - Austin

[19:48] Adrian discusses the most underrated leverage of all time, the power of saying “No.” 

[19:48] Austin continues discussing the power of no and what he calls “disciplined simplicity.” 

[22:17] “I have to address the root cause of saying yes so often and that is scarcity mindset” - Austin

[23:19] Adrian asks Austin  what advice he would give freelancers who want to eventually make the switch to being full time content creators.

[25:35] “That paradigm shift….I’m actually trying to grow two businesses at the same time.” - Austin

[26:19] Since selling products will be new to most freelancers, you will be prone to making mistakes just like when you were first a freelancer.

[26:43] “I talk about three paths to diversified income…..value based pricing…….scaling into a micro agency….or digital products. It’s amazing to me… that very accomplished people….almost without exception…do it the wrong way.” - Austin

[29:28] Freelancers who are frustrated with what they’re earning…it’s gonna go back to….positioning, packaging, pipeline, pricing.” - Austin

[31:13]

In this episode of Info Product Mastery, Paul Millerd comes on the show and we question the default path to work and life.

[00:40] Adrian introduces Paul Millerd and how much he loved his book The Pathless Path.

[02:59] “I have this sense that something is off…….and writing for me was really this search for my own truth..” - Paul

[04:24] Paul gives a synopsis of his coming of age, his early career, and how he landed in entrepreneurship.

[06:56] Paul discusses his discontentment with the traditional path.

[08:52] “Have my principles won out against this environment, or have they been undermined?” - Paul 

[09:40] Adrian asks Paul to define what he thinks of as the default path.

[10:44] “A vast majority of people….don’t have the energy to crush it…” - Paul

[13:07] Adrian talks about his early career work obsession and why he was chasing success by working himself unsustainably. 

[14:41] “Since everyone else is doing the same thing, you don’t realize you’re becoming this…way.” - Paul

[16:00] “Alright, it’s 5, 6 o'clock…I’ve been working like 12 hours straight…I’m gonna walk down to the bar…..” - Adrian

[17:08] Adrian asks Paul how he developed the courage to break from the typical cycles in the midst of  criticism.

[19:38] “I was using the story of freelance for the first year, but I had no idea what I was doing…it was really scary..” - Paul

[20:19] Paul discusses the way that some people are still critical with his way of life even though he has been able to find some success.

[21:22] “My need to question things is what has led me to this” - Paul

[22:08] Adrian asks Paul to define success.

[24:02] “Success very practically for me is, can I keep this journey going without harming the people in my life?” - Paul

[26:13] Adrian references Jordan Peterson talking about the hero's journey and “slaying the   dragon.” 

[28:39] For someone starting a career at times in the past, you did have to put your head down and “trust the company and keep working.” (Paul)

[30:21] Paul introduces his concept “Ship, Quit, and Learn.

[33:19] Adrian talks about being self-employed and having the ability to make your own schedule and create the life you want versus being forced into a particular schedule in a traditional job.

[35:30] “I’m very good at non-work” - Paul

[39:25

In this episode of Info Product Mastery, we have Andrew Connell back on the show. We continue our conversation on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and dig into the numbers from AC’s previous Black Friday sales.

[00:44] Listener Rashat shares some feedback about IPM from Germany.

[02:45] AC is back to share some more specifics on his experience with last year's Black Friday and what he might do this year.

[04:06] AC dives into talking about last year’s Black Friday sale.

[04:32] AC gives the context of what his business is.

[05:40] Adrian explains the “V” shaped sales curve that typically happens during a sale like Black Friday.

[09:48] AC lists some things he struggles with for Black Friday sales.

[12:15] “I don’t like the idea of re-opening…an extra discount on Monday……” - Adrian responding to one of AC’s questions about how to handle BF sales across the weekend.

[13:15] “If you’re concerned about the weekend, I feel like that’s a perfect opportunity for segmentation.” - Adrian talking about how to segment your audience and specifically business versus individual customers. 

[15:35] After the first sale on either Thursday or Friday, every day until Monday is just a continuation of the sale. 

[16:25] It’s ok to give business customers some extra time to purchase using a discount if they have special billing requirements.

[17:32] Adrian talks about handling individual customers who are asking for a discount after the sale is over.

[20:08] Adrian goes over a coupon code idea AC suggested for late customers and why he doesn’t like it.

[21:25] “Don't try to get too gimmicky with it…just follow the plan.” - AC

[22:37] AC sells to a lot of businesses or to business people who are doing this for their job. He asks Adrian if they should be treated any differently. 

[24:29] “With personalization, a little bit goes a long way” - Adrian

[28:43] AC talks about his plans for this year's Black Friday sales changes.

[29:59] Adrian explains what a reverse sale is.

[31:23] AC discusses not running cold ads over the weekend of Black Friday.

[32:28] Adrian talks about conversion rates using cold versus retargeting ads.

[34:42] “Black Friday is a launch event for a discount…you really want the money to be spent on a warm audience.” - AC

[35:45] “You were probably spending..10x…20x….more than we were…” - Adrian responding to AC’s ad budget compared t

In this episode of Info Product Mastery, Andrew Connell and I discuss whether or not you should run a Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale.

[00:53] Adrian and AC begin discussing today’s topic, their experience building and selling Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

[01:18] Should an info product creator run a Black Friday sale?

[03:05] These are international sales days. People from all over the world participate, and they are conditioned to buy during this time.

[04:04] Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be a large portion of your entire year's income.

[05:28] “It’s Black Friday, it’s almost like this global holiday for sales.” - Adrian

[05:58] The first key to success is planning it ahead of time, including letting people know ahead of time.

[07:59] Email and support is very important for this period of time. Those replies can be an instant sale.

[08:47] Be ready to pivot if something happens.

[09:52] “Do you have a blueprint you follow every year?” - AC to Adrian. Adrian then breaks down this typical plan.

[11:53] One of the best tactics can be to create scarcity with pricing. 

[13:13] AC shares his experiences trying to mirror what he saw Adrian doing, and his own insights as well.

[14:30] AC shares a specific tactic that he did differently from Adrian.

[15:54] “Shut off all of your ads…..once Black Friday starts..” - AC

[17:23] “I’d almost treat Black Friday like a launch event” - AC

[19:15] AC prompts Adrian about whether he does the same thing every year or not in terms of the specifics for Black Friday sales tactics.

[19:43] “You need to align the entire business behind this…event.” - Adrian on preparing for Black Friday.

[20:56] The guys discuss a full takeover style email opt-in and why they don’t like it.

[22:31] Sales can be V shaped during the weekend, meaning most sales happen at the beginning and the end. 

[23:46] “We actually spent Saturday and Sunday doing a lot of education…” - Adrian on the days between.

[24:44] After giving some email advice, Adrian recommends including a countdown timer and why.

[27:25] “Newsflash, they’re getting a lot of email from everybody on that weekend..” - AC on being afraid to send too many emails.

[28:58] Adrian discusses ways he creates scarcity in the digital world.

[29:41] Some tactics work too well. Adrian r

In this episode of Info Product Mastery, we chat with Greg Park, Psychology PhD turned developer, now trying to build info products.

[00:54] Adrian describes what today’s episode is about with Greg from Traitlab.com.

[01:43] Greg had initially emailed asking about personal coaching sessions. Instead, Adrian thought it would be better to make a show out of it and help more people at once!

[03:03] Greg talks about what led him into info products after working on a PhD in Psychology.

[05:55] Adrian remarks on Greg’s transitional story, and how just because you aren’t in the tech field initially doesn’t mean you can’t transition into it.

[06:17] Greg describes what Traitlab.com actually is.

[10:50] “In your case, it sounds like you have…a broad range of users..” - Adrian on Traitlab

[11:35] Adrian asks Greg how he’s building his email list.

[14:04] “It’s good to see that SEO aspect is working for you…and I’d encourage anyone listening to this….go the SEO route.” - Adrian

[15:12] After looking at the site, Adrian noticed that there were no pricing links on the main page. It seemed unclear as to whether this is a paid product or not.

[16:03] “From a psychological perspective, put that pricing link at the top.” - Adrian

[17:59] Greg responds to Adrian about why the pricing is not on the main page, and how he has tried to give each page on the site one job.

[18:58] Since Greg gets a lot of people signing up for the free plan, but not opting in, Adrian suggests getting rid of or reducing the number of the free product to possibly reduce the noise.

[19:18] “The danger of running a free plan..is you get too many people in the door” - Adrian

[22:31] Adrian talks about options for taking it one step further once someone opts in, and how you can learn about your audience.

[23:50] After learning more about your customer, you can use that information to customize your info products to each customers experience.

[25:01] Adrian suggests connecting to LinkedIn possibly or some other social media and embedding the results of the data. Also extending that thought into the free profile that can be shared already.

[28:44] “I feel like there is a sweet spot…between having something that is shareable and still holding some of the information, and keeping it into the paid plan..”  - Greg responding to Adrian on ways to entice folks to opt in.

[29:18] Adrian discusses the headlines on the website, and how the don’t feel user journey focused, because maybe he doesn’t know who the target customer is.

[32:31] Recording the way users navi