On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I interview my good friend, copywriting expert, Ray Edwards. Ray and I go way back. I first met him when I was still working for Tony Robbins. At the time we were in need of a killer sales letter for a big product we had just created, and Frank Kern, a master at online marketing, suggested we reach out to Ray.

As it turns out, hiring Ray to write the sales letter was one of the best decisions we ever made because he nailed it. The sales letter Ray wrote converted really well; every time we used it, our sales were through the roof!

Copywriting is something that a lot of my clients have questions about, and I have to admit that it doesn't come naturally to me; I have to really work at it! But it's a super important skill to master because impact and revenue are directly tied your ability to write great copy, so I invited Ray on the show to share his wisdom in this area with all of you. I know you won't be disappointed!

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• One of the first things you need to learn if you want to start a business or create a second income stream

• The gene you do NOT need to be born with in order to be a good copywriter

• Why you need to do more than just write great content

• What your value-add content should always have

• How to know if you're giving away too much

• How to create a lot of content in a short period of time

• 4 Rules of Writing

Key Takeaways

• All the emails you send should have a "promotional" element to them

• Every email you send should include a link

• The brain doesn't differentiate between an actual experience, and a vividly imagined experience. Therefore, help your readers vividly imagine doing what you recommend, and the outcome

• Listening to what your audience tells you is the best way to know what questions in the emails you send

• The copy you write needs to be scanable. You can accomplish this by using bolded headers, bullet points, and so on

This episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, is the second Ask Amy episode. This is a new feature that I've added to my podcast. As I mentioned in episode 30, every other week I’m going to be answering your questions all about online marketing, Facebook marketing, Facebook ads, webinars and email marketing.

If you have a question, I likely am going to have an answer for you! All you need to do is go to amyporterfield.com/askamy and leave me a recorded message. Your question just might be the very next one I choose for the show!

Here's the question for this episode:

I'm a huge fan of your podcast and your content. . . My question is I've noticed that the Facebook layout has changed and things have moved around a little bit. Is there anything I need to know about this new layout to help me maximize my impact and exposure on Facebook?

This is a great question, and is very timely since Facebook is rolling out the new Facebook Page layout, and if you don’t have it already, you’ll be getting it soon. If you don’t yet have it and want to see what it looks like, you can check it out on my Facebook Page, http://facebook.com/AmyPorterfield.

Let’s start at the top, and I’ll break it down for you!

Stats Located on the Right

In the new layout, to the right of your cover photo, you’ll see the following stats for the week:

• New Page likes
• Overall post reach
• Unread messages (This will be blank if like me, you don’t use the private message button)
• Notifications, which includes clicks, likes, shares and comments on each of your posts

How to use this information: On a weekly basis, track these numbers in an Excel or Google spreadsheet and pay attention to whether or not you’re making improvements in these various areas.

Tab Management

Beneath the cover photo you’ll see tabs. The tabs are like the boxes that were across the top on the old layout. When you click on them, they take you to custom apps inside your Facebook Page.

All of your tabs won’t display across the top, but you can change the order of them to position them. You do this by clicking on the “More” dropdown menu, and clicking on “Manage Tabs” as pictured above.

I wouldn’t spend too much time on tabs, because unless you’re using Facebook ads to drive traffic to the tabs, they don’t convert well because most people never go to your Facebook Page, but instead, likely see the majority of your posts in the newsfeed. If you do want to use tabs, be sure to use ads to drive traffic to them.

Scheduled Posts

If you schedule posts directly from your Facebook Page, in the new layout, you’ll see a notification that says, “Scheduled Posts,” the number of posts you have scheduled, and when the next scheduled post will be published.

I love this feature because since I schedule my posts directly on my Facebook Page, I can now easily see where to find the scheduled posts, and can quickly view and edit them.

The About Section

It’s important to be strategic with how you use the “About” section of your Facebook Page. As you can see from my example, I put a link to a free webinar, to help grow my email list. Other types of lead magnets such as eBooks, cheat sheets, checklists, and so on work as well.

In addition to that, I also put a link to my website in the About section. One thing to be aware of is that this option is not available if your Page is a local business.

Pages to Watch

One of the coolest features about the new layout is found inside of Insights and is called, “Pages to Watch.” This feature provides a great opportunity to see what’s working for other Pages, specifically Pages that also attract your ideal customer. This can give you some great ideas about what you can do to increase the engagement on your own Page.

You’ll find this feature on the Overview tab inside your Facebook Page Insights. Scroll down, and you’ll see an area that says, “Pages to Watch” and from there you can manually add the Facebook Pages that you want to watch.

Top Posts from Pages You Watch

Once you’ve selected some Pages to watch, inside of Insights, on the Posts tab, you’ll be able to see which posts from the previous week were the most engaging, and you can model what they’re doing. For instance, if you see that they’ve asked a question that got a lot of engagement, you can think of a similar type of question to ask your audience, and then pay attention to whether or not you get a rise in engagement as well.

One thing to be aware of is that when you add a Page to watch, the admin of the Facebook Page will get a notification that their Page has been added, but they won’t know who added it.

On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I dive into launching your programs, your products, your services online. The great thing is that I dove into this extremely important conversation with the pioneer of all online marketing launches, Jeff Walker. Jeff is known for a system he created called The Product Launch Formula and is truly one of the top internet marketing experts and leaders.

He tells a great story of how he got started, and to get the full scoop, you’ll need to listen to the interview because I wouldn’t be able to do his story justice, so for now I’ll just say that before he started his first online business, he had never ran a business before. He had absolutely zero sales training and no marketing skills.

He jokes that he was always the kid that couldn't sell more than one bag of donuts for the Boy Scouts fundraiser every year and that one bag was usually purchased by his parents.  So as you can see, sales and marketing didn't necessarily run in his blood from day one.  He was an average guy who made an extraordinary impact on many people's lives and continues to do so through his teachings.  That's why I am honored to have Jeff on the show today.

Before you listen to the interview, I want to share one more thing with you and that is that Jeff just wrote a book called, Launch: An Internet Millionaire's Secret Formula To Sell Almost Anything Online, Build A Business You Love And Live The Life Of Your Dreams, and for a very limited time, you have an opportunity to get the book for free -- you just have to pay for shipping and handling -- and in addition to the free book, he’s throwing in a bunch of free bonuses. To get the free book and bonuses, go to amyporterfield.com/launch.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• How I met Jeff and how my life changed as a result of meeting him

• Tony Robbins’ response to the information Jeff shared with him

• Jeff’s failure in the corporate world, and his stint as a stay-at-home dad

• The day Jeff's wife's cry for help shook him to his core

• The amazing story of how Jeff went from being unemployed and desperate to making a million dollars in less than an hour

• Success stories from those who started small and grew big

• How dropping hints can build anticipation before a launch

• The launch that brought Jeff’s wife home

• How Jeff figured out how launches work for many different types of industries

• How to know what your customers need from you

• Jeff's view on your email list

• The decision I personally made that totally changed my business

• And so much more!

Key Takeaways

• Dropping hints about something to come is a great way to build anticipation before a launch

• Successful product launches aren’t magic, but are based on how the mind works, and pull people in

• Done right, people will eagerly anticipate your next move and look forward to everything you do

• There are 3 core sequences in a launch:

  • Pre Pre- Launch, when you agitate the market and get people interested

  • Pre-Launch, when you build value through videos, blog post, and social media

  • Open Cart, when you actually start taking orders

• It’s important to find out what people’s hot buttons are and then create products that meet those needs

• There are three types of launches that part of the Product Launch Formula:

  • Seed launches, when you start with no product (and in some cases no list) and you get paid before you even create the product

  • Internal launches, where you do a launch just to your list

  • JV launches, which are more complex and therefore should not be your first launch

• You must focus on building assets in your business, and the most important asset you can build is your email list

This episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, is extra special because it is the very first edition of the Ask Amy segment that I'm adding to the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast.

Every other week I'm going to be answering your questions all about online marketing, Facebook marketing, Facebook ads, webinars and email marketing. If you've got a question, I likely am going to have an answer for you! All you need to do is go to amyporterfield.com/askamy and leave me a recorded message. Your question just might be the very next one I choose for the show!

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• Something I've been struggling with lately
• Why my style hasn't always served my customers
• The push back I've gotten regarding how I teach Facebook marketing
• How overwhelming and scary creating a marketing plan can be when you're first starting your business
• The importance of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone
• Why you should look at Facebook differently
• And so much more!

Here's the question for this episode:

I just launched my website officially at Easter. I took your advice, I put a Facebook sweepstakes on the right side bar, and the resort I work at allowed me to give out a fantastic package, they're really helping me out and it's going really well. In the first month, I've got about 130-something likes and I just love to see that, but I want to keep the momentum going. I want to know what the next step for me might be, whether it's Facebook ads or whatever you think would be the most efficient thing for me.

Key Takeaways

• Anytime you get new leads from Facebook, it's important to be ready to nurture those leads.

• Follow up with your new leads with a weekly email, with the focus initially being on pure value, instead of selling.

• After 4-6 weeks of pure value, select one opportunity to  promote. Send 3-4 emails that talk about this opportunity. Be sure to make those emails about them, rather than about you and your offer.

• Work on sharpening your copywriting skills. This is important even if you plan to hire someone to write them for you in the future.

• If people don't purchase, put them back into a value-add sequence, and when you're ready to promote again, go back to 3-4 emails about an opportunity.

• Use Facebook ads to drive traffic to a lead magnet rather than to a sales page. The goal of ads is to grow your email list. This is how to turn your efforts into profits.

• Even though it's hard to get organic reach on your Page, it's still important to provide good content for the people who see your posts.

• Email is more intimate than Facebook, when you really understand how to use email.

• It's useless to have a big email list if you never use it to promote.