(Image: X-ray Delta One)
Some of you have no doubt noticed that I’ve been experimenting with advertising for several months, whether at the top-right, through skyscrapers in the sidebar, or even under posts on a rare occasion.
It’s been a learning experience. Sometimes, it doesn’t turn out totally awesome. Case in point:
I think I can do better. I also have an incentive: the new book, The 4-Hour Body. But then I realized, I think you all can be FAR better. Collectively, I think you can be AWESOME.
So, I’m running a competition. Here are the prizes:
1) The fantastic North Face Prophet 65 Trekking Pack (Retail: $319)
2) A round-trip anywhere in the world Star Alliance airlines fly (or $1,000 cash)
3) All 4-Hour Body revenue via ads on my site for two weeks (potentially every post ever written), using your Amazon affiliate code. Untold riches.
4) Fame, public credit, and eternal glory for being the best.
The deadline for the competition is next Wednesday, 10/20, at 10pm PST. It pays to get started as soon as possible. Here’s the idea…
The Basics
1) Create an ad or a few ads (can be text only) for The 4-Hour Body.
2) Optional but encouraged: Test your ads
3) Post your best four or fewer ads as pics on my Facebook fan page. If you did testing, indicate what you did in the pic description or in the pic comments. Deadline for submissions is next Wednesday, 10/20, at 10pm PST.
4) Of those submitted, I will test “a bunch” (technical term) of the best on this blog using split-testing. I’ve heavily biased towards those that have been tested. I’m also biased towards early submissions, so don’t worry too much about someone copying you.
5) I’ll do a follow-up post describing the process, real-world results, and top 3-5 performers for each ad type. I am happy to link to your site or company site if you are among the top performers. This is valuable.
6) If your ads perform the best, not only will you get glory and recognition for being the best, I’ll also use your ads (subject to my approval) on the blog. The kicker: for the first two weeks, I will use your Amazon affiliate code, which means you get all of the affiliate revenue.
The Details
1) Create one or more ads for The 4-Hour Body.
The sizes are 300 x 250 (seen at the top right of this blog) and 468 x 60 (which would go at the bottom of every blog post on the site). These sizes can be seen here. Text-only ads are absolutely allowed, but they could only appear at the bottom of posts.
Create one or both sizes (or text). Do so from scratch and/or using the book cover, elements from the book cover, any of my Flickr photos without a copyright attribution in the description, or any of my YouTube videos without someone else’s copyrighted material in them. Of course, feel free to use any other materials or images you own or are legally permitted to use (including stock images that are royalty-free or licensed).
In other words, text, display images, and video are all OK, but they need to be static unless the reader clicks on something.
Keep them R-rated or less, and use your common sense (nothing racist, etc.).
2) Optional but encouraged: Test your ads, even just a little.
If possible, test your ads on your site or through an ad network (Google Adwords, Facebook, wherever) to determine which have the highest click-through and (ideally) conversion. Please link to The 4-Hour Body on Amazon if possible, and that’s my request if using any book elements or my materials above. Of course, feel free to use your own affiliate code.
Here’s a note on Amazon affiliate code and PPC, from reader Tyler:
If you look at amazon’s FAQ for PPC
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/promo/paidsearch
One of the Questions/Answers is:
“Q: If my paid search advertisement directs a user first to an interstitial page, then to http://www.amazon.com, http://www.endless.com, or http://www.amazon.ca, will I earn advertising fees?
A: No. However, if you place paid search advertisements to send users to your own website, and then your website displays links to http://www.amazon.com, http://www.endless.com, or http://www.amazon.ca in accordance with the Operating Agreement, you may earn advertising fees for qualifying purchases made by users who click on your paid search ad, click through to your site, then click through to an Amazon site.”
Essentially, how I understand this is that you can’t have a PPC that leads to your website and then automatically re-directs the “clicker” to Amazon.
But, you can have a landing page with a big picture of your book cover with a link that like “buy it now” or “more info”. One would probably want to make the image of your book, also an affiliate link when clicked.
If you need an alternate landing page for testing, besides Amazon or your own landing page, please use this blog post.
How do you test “conversion”? Look at actual book sales. Use your Amazon affiliate ID (get one here, if needed) and see which ads actually convert to sales. That dancing gorilla or Swedish swimsuit model might get the most clicks, but what actually moves books?
If you can prove conversions another way, go for it.
3) Post your best four or fewer ads as pics on my Facebook fan page. Once you become a fan on the page by “Liking” it, here’s how you submit your ads.
In text: To upload a photo to my page, all you need to do is click the ‘Attach: Photos’ icon on the wall. Select the photo, then hit the ‘Share’ button.
4) I will test the best of these on this blog using split-testing
5) I’ll do a follow-up post describing the process, results, and top 3-5 performers for each type, linking to their sites as credit.
6) If your ads perform the best, you will all the goods and recognition described at the beginning of this post, including all Amazon affiliate revenue for your ads throughout my entire site for two weeks.
The Deadline and Fine Print
The deadline for ad submissions on this Facebook page is next Wednesday, 10/20, at 10pm PST.
This competition is void where prohibited, blah, blah, blah. If you’d be doing something illegal, in bad taste, or that would cause your ancestors to cry, you are not allowed to participate. Es tut mir Leid.
I really look forward to seeing what you can do 🙂
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
I want to enter! 😀 This is great, Tim!
Hey Tim,
Having actually done the same kind of very brief/minimal time investment training I’ve got pics of myself I’d like to use in the ad. Is this OK? Unlike stock photos, it’s actually of someone who works out less than 4 hours a month, so I figured that’s even better.
Hey Drew,
Absolutely totally OK. Please go right ahead. Look forward to seeing it!
Best,
Tim
Wowzers! What an amazing contest idea! Time to get to work…
Thanks for the great incentives TIm!
– Josh
I think I will try this out. If there is not age demographic, something with Justin Bieber would certainty get a high CTR if the ads were targeted the tween girls.
Also, I have been dieing to know your Adsense results.
This is by far the best contest I’ve seen to promote a new product. You are not only going to have hundreds of people create banner ads for you for free. Your also going to have hundreds of people testing them and driving sales during their “testing phase.”
Smart.
I’m entering.
Can we get pics of you and pics of your book?
Thanks, William. I hope it’s both fun and productive. Please see the links in the post to my Flickr pics and also the book cover.
Good luck!
Tim
Yo – fun, can we use rich media, and do you take DART tags? 🙂 seriously
Hi Chris,
Great question. I don’t even know what a DART tag is 🙂 Have no idea, I’m afraid. If the ad kills it and it’s easy to implement/code DART tags, I can probably find a way, but I don’t want to make any promises, considering I’m a Luddite…
Best,
Tim
Game on dude!
Awesome idea and great way to crowdsource your marketing…i tip my hat to you
This is awesome!
I’m no graphic designer, but I’ll give it a shot. What’s an easy way to resize images to an exact size without distorting them?
If you don’t want to use Photoshop, etc., here’s a ghetto approach, but it works: http://www.skitch.com Take a screenshot and then drag as needed to resize. Then drag to desktop. Done.
You need to search for the Constrain Proportions option from the menu of whatever photo editing software you are using.
Instructions for photoshop.
Click on image, image size, then put a checkmark in CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS.
Now type in a new Height and Width and it will resize without distorting or ruining the image.
Good Luck 🙂
I’m not going to jump on board with this one (I’m not a designer), but I love the idea, Tim. Great salesmanship! Looking forward to checking out the results.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
Hey Tim,
I think that the amazon affiliate program does not allow people to use PPC to drive traffic directly to amazon’s website. So in the testing phase, you can’t have a google ad that when click directs the “clicker” directly to amazon.
-Tyler
Hey Tyler,
Thanks for the note. I’ve added another option in the post. If you have any suggestions for how to otherwise test conversion (perhaps an intermediate landing page with “buy now” that leads to Amazon?), I’d love to hear it. Or you can keep it for yourself 🙂
Best,
Tim
Won’t let me upload an image onto your page. ;( Not sure why.
Really? Hmmm… Let me look into that, but you should be able to. There’s a decent chance you’d have to become a “fan” first or “like” the page to submit a pic. I’ll investigate further…
[Edit: Once you’ve become a fan of the page, here is how you can post a photo: http://bit.ly/bdeAh0 ]
Can Canadians win the prizes? I have no doubt about the competition.
Hi Katie,
I’m keeping this one simple. If it’s illegal for some reason, no. I’m offloading the responsibility to the contestants on this one. If you win and no one calls me or writes me from the government, then you’ll get the prize.
Tim
Got it to work! For some reason when I added the caption, it would not upload, but when I uploaded the image itself it worked fine. I added the caption after. Strange, but at least I figured it out.
Hey Tim,
So you want 2 Print Ads and 2 Text ads or is it just the 2 Graphic Ads?
1 x 300 x 250
and
1 x 468 x 6
One or more, whatever you like. One format or all formats. Totally up to you and your time/interest.
I had to share…I noticed on the amazon page under “Active discussions in related forums” this forum:
If you eat your own poop what are the consquences? 182 1 hour ago
http://www.amazon.com/tag/health/forum/ref=cm_cd_dp_rft_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1EO24KZG65FCB&cdThread=Tx1OBXIE0OVBH7D
Does the new book answer this question Tim?
LOL… gotta love the Amazon forums. My book doesn’t answer that, but I can tell you. The consequences are: you eat your own poop. That’s punishment enough. Gotta love that someone’s putting together a pro and con list, though. A market for everything…
Dear Tim,
I am just adding to the fan base to say how much I like your writing and ideas. It’s inspired me to start my own blog of stories to share with others, lots of amusing true accounts. Already 590 hits in 3 weeks. I finally joined facebook and twitter, but want advice on how to get the word out even more and beyond those who know me. Any help/advice? Keep living extraordinarily!
Wow! Brilliant campaign, Tim.
Tim, you are a genius. And I’m not kidding.
If I come up with any good ideas, I’ll be entering… if not, I’ll definitely follow the continuation of this experiment. It’s going to be amazingly interesting to see how many people are going to participate and the type of ads they are going to create.
Bravo!
why not just run a contest for someone to write your next book for you while you are at it?
this is spec work.
spec work devalues the potential of design and ultimately does a disservice to the client.
If you want to learn more, http://www.no-spec.com is a good resource.
“Spec work” like 99Designs is here to stay and will only become more widespread. I’m sorry, but people will need to compete globally and adapt their business models accordingly.
M has a good point. This is yet another case of readily available technology flooding the market with mediocrity. It started with desktop publishing. All of the sudden, anyone with a computer and a laser printer could call themselves a graphic designer, simply because typesetting tools became affordable. It did not take long for all manner of crap to be produced by people who knew little more than how to use a typewriter.
The trend has continued into other areas as well. It’s great to have powerful tools which enable people to do things they could not have done previously, yet one of the drawbacks is that those with little training, and often even less natural talent are working cheap, or in the case of this contest, free, and the buyers are often as not, getting second and third rate work. What’s good about that?
Tim, you’re fond of nice cars. Let’s say Ferrari has a “competitor” in Burkina Faso, who can make what they claim is a comparable car for 1/3 the price. They’re using battery-powered arc-welders handled by barefoot teenagers who haven’t wielded anything other than a sledgehammer before last week. Somehow they manage to build a vehicle which -looks- like a poorly executed scale model.
Which one do you want in your garage? How should Ferrari (or graphic designers) “adapt their business models accordingly”?
The under-valuing of creative services is not new, mostly because the left-brain customers rarely understand or appreciate the process. If the designers are lucky, they get some respect, and the work is not diluted to the point where the creators wonder why they were hired in the first place. Ask any industrial, graphic, interior designer or architect. Every one of them has a nightmare story or three. Then of course, once the work is done, the client may or may not pay for the work.
And now, it’s a free for all, spend many hours doing work on spec, “client” gets the value, at no cost. If a designer’s work is not among the chosen, they’ve lost several day’s work, if not more, staff time and overhead costs, and have nothing to show for it. How do you suggest they pay for the requisite continuous training, really expensive software, and hardware to run it, office to house it etc. if they are constantly chasing lowballers who want something for nothing?
If I’m not mistaken, isn’t that exactly how mega-enterprise Chicken Soup for the [pick something]’s Soul works? I mean… “exactly”?
1. Hold a writing contest for the best stories about “being a grandma” or whatever.
2. Pay the “winners” of your contest $1,000 for their work, in exchange for your ownership thereof.
3. Publish all of the “winning” works in a common volume with a catchy name.
4. Market the book effectively.
5. Smile a lot.
Don’t try to change the way the world works, find a way to profit from how you already know it works. Gravity can be your friend or your enemy, depending on how you choose to use the inevitable constant that surrounds us.
Wow. That’s a pretty good contest for a graphic designer like myself to enter…
Besides the affiliate $, would be nice to win the plane ticket since I’m in the process of selling everything I own to travel the world (departing in January 2011).
Any issues with a conduit toolbar?
Hi Pat,
I assume you’re talking about this?
http://www.conduit.com/Toolbar/Benefits.aspx
If you can tell me how it benefits my readers, I’m all ears, but it’s not clear to me. If it isn’t a real value-add, and if it hijacks their browser somehow, I’d prefer not to use it.
Thoughts?
Tim
Although example ad is admittedly obscene and distasteful I had to laugh because I worked with that company in my late teens and modeled for them when they were only a start up for years! Small world…
Anyways, great idea for this contest! Sounds like fun 🙂
It’s funny to me that you’re running this being that I’m going to be running a similar contest aimed at video production (being on video, i’m good at…being behind the scenes…not so much)
I’ve already got some ideas flowing…are there any themes/ideas/concepts that you’re opposed to? Maybe things you’ve already tried or even just personal pet peeves?
What a great way to introduce a book with social media. My favorite part is your willingness to make it financially compelling for the winners. I am looking forward to how this plays out. Great idea.
Here is a real world example of Tim “outsourcing” advertising campaigns. It is a brilliant idea. He gets hundreds of people to do the marketing for him, create the ads and test them. He in turn only pays for the ones that can be used on his site by giving them prizes. It really is a great marketing approach. Tim is the master at this.
Awesome contest. I really wish I had design skills – without them, I don’t think it’s worth my time to enter.
I’m jealous of whoever wins the 2 weeks of Amazon affiliate revenue!
There is nothing to say you can’t outsource design. Here’s one good outlet: http://www.99designs.com
Awesome idea Tim!
A couple of questions:
Any ideas on how to test the designs on limited funds, I am a poor penniless student *sad face*?
Also can we submit design ideas that are not perfect due to lack of photoshop experience, and explain what we had in mind in the comments?
Thanks, and can’t wait for the book!
Hi Robbie,
Feel free to be creative. If you poll 200 students, that’s testing. Do whatever you can. For the ultimate ad, I would need something that I can test without modification, so you might have to find a partner in crime at your school with some Photoshop experience 🙂
Good luck!
Tim
Tim,
You may want to allow your book cover on flickr™ to be downloadable for anyone wanting to use your cover elements.
– J.
Tim,
is it ok to create a Flash banner?
To post it on your Facebook page, can I just host the swf on my web server, and post a link to it on your FB page?
Great contest!! I think I’m on!
Re the above (Robbie) , Test it on your friends and Family,
if you have a site put it there (see what Tim is doing here, free advertising)
When you order a Coffee ask the person serving you which of these two pictures (carry it with you) they like better..
Micro testing is easy, fun and free.
I ought to really enter this one and with testing too.
Today is the first day I have ever started testing any ads, and am trying very hard to disconnect my ego from it.
More power to you, very creative thinking Tim
Wow, amazing contest oppportunity
If you guys need some ideas for cheap testing, search around for “adwords vouchers.” You can often buy them for pennies on the dollar, but many hosting companies give them away when you buy a $6 to $8 hosting account. Check them out before you sign up for adwords. A $100 voucher should give you a little data.
Tim you are a genius.
Can we direct people to Amazon.co.uk for testing?
F.Y.I.
Don’t need Photoshop guys; lets go nuts.
http://www.cloud-canvas.com
or
http://www.pixlr.com
Tim,
I’m definitely entering the contest, and props on yet again figuring out a way of getting more for less!
Daniel
Ah-may-zing. I’m on it! 😉
Genius idea – I’ll have my team create the winner!
Hi Tim,
A follow up to your reply, regarding amazon.
If you look at amazon’s FAQ for PPC
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/promo/paidsearch
One of the Questions/Answers is:
“Q: If my paid search advertisement directs a user first to an interstitial page, then to http://www.amazon.com, http://www.endless.com, or http://www.amazon.ca, will I earn advertising fees?
A: No. However, if you place paid search advertisements to send users to your own website, and then your website displays links to http://www.amazon.com, http://www.endless.com, or http://www.amazon.ca in accordance with the Operating Agreement, you may earn advertising fees for qualifying purchases made by users who click on your paid search ad, click through to your site, then click through to an Amazon site.”
Essentially, how I understand this is that you can’t have a PPC that leads to your website and then automatically re-directs the “clicker” to amazon.
But, you can have a landing page with a big picture of your book cover with a link that like “buy it now” or “more info”. One would probably want to make the image of your book, also an affiliate link when clicked.
In terms of how to make the landing page, I would probably just make a one page landing page that is a subdomain of an existing domains or as a blog post on a sites. However, with the blog post option the traffic that you drive to the site might get distracted with the blog.
Hope that helps.
-Tyler
Thank you very much, Tyler! I’ll put this in the post itself.
Tim,
Where will the ads be used? Here on your blog, or elsewhere?
Obviously, the target audience matters in creating an ad that converts. Here on your blog, for the most, everyone knows and recognizes you; Therefore, an ad with your likeness in it may work better.
I would like to participate, but need to where the ads will be in order to come up with what I think will work best.
Also, are you having any “special offers” in the ad? Like : Order through here get “this”! And would you consider a blog post that includes excerpts or teasers from the book, so that I could put something along the line of “Free Sneak Peak!” in the ad? In doing so, the blog post would act as a squeeze page or pre-sell of sorts… Because I doubt that the Amazon or BN pages would be the best copy to persuade action.
Thanks
Will be used here on the blog. No special offer for now.
Great idea! You got my creative juices flowing and got me motivated. Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Ghana, Tunisia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Oahu/Maui, San Francisco, Denver, Miami here I come…
Tim, as far as advertising on your site goes, what about something like BuySellAds instead of Google ads? Seems like you could have a lot more control over the content and the pricing.
It probably wouldn’t give the same level of stats as Google Ads, but you could more easily avoid an unwanted “blow me” ad popping up 🙂
Anyway, I just recently ran into recently it while looking for advertising options myself, so I thought I’d pass it on.
thanks for recommending us Dan! One of our CPM units in the top right 300×250 zone would be perfect. Tim would be able to set his own CPM priced a bit higher than AdSense and then phase out AdSense as he sells higher quality direct ads via BSA, all while not losing any AdSense revenue.
I just realized the brilliance in this. It goes right along with 4HWW. Its a Dan Kennedy DR experiment.
I would recommend that people use Google Ad Manager, on their blog/site to split test with if you are trying display.
Laughing to myself that everyone thinks this is about design….buwahahaha.
*runs to the laboratory to start scheming*
Hi Tim,
Great idea. If I am going to create an animated GIF, how would I
submit it on Facebook?
is there another way to submit?
Hi Mike,
I’d suggest a still and then a link, but I’d prefer ads that don’t autoplay, if possible. BUT, if you make an ad that really performs well, please feel free to drop it up there.
Best,
Tim
Tim…
Is the purpose of this ad to:
a) Appear only in the sidebar of your blog, or;
b) Serve as a banner ad on ad networks to promote your book?
The optimal ad is going to depend on the location.
Thanks Tim.
Hi Max,
Good question. The plan was to use it on the blog (sidebar or bottom of posts), but I’m not opposed to using it on a content network. For the competition, it’s the blog, but if you test something that really kicks ass on the content networks (proven through testing), I’m sure I can think up something fun to send you 🙂
Best,
Tim
One more thing Tim…
If the answer to my question is (b), the way you are currently going to test for the best ad – i.e. testing in your sidebar – won’t be the best performer on the ad networks.
Is it worth changing the scope of the test to find the best performer?
Max
p.s. I can really go to town on this if you change your contest rules to test on, for example, the Google Content Network, as opposed to your sidebar.
lol… tim…. you outsource everything !
Hope you get someone to read posts and then advise you of ones you may want to reply to…. 80/20 the world dude 🙂
Hi Tim- quick question, what is the typeface for your book titles? Thank you!
Hi Jen,
To be honest, I don’t know. I think the 4HWW font may have been done in-house, but I’ve seen people replicate it. Sorry, I’m not sure!
Best,
Tim
Hi Tim,
I loved your idea…you basically created your own one-time 99designs.com, very clever!
Anyways, I’m up for the challenge and sumbitted myself 2 banners but it seems that facebook will not accept the animated gif (flash-like’ images)
any suggestions?
I can suggest a quick fix by uploading it to any tiny image shortener (tinypic.com and other similar sites) and post it in the comment area next to the image on facebook (to let you and everyone) see the full animation.
Cheers,
Yonatan
Hey Tim, quick question:
which site(s) do you plan on using the ads on?
thanks.
Hi Rob,
For now, I plan on using them on the blog.
Thanks!
Tim
Very cool to offer this out Tim—
What are your thoughts on ‘guerilla’ marketing techniques?
Hey Tim –
I’ve created a few web banners, but the Facebook page doesn’t seem to be able to upload my JPEG. For the time being, I’ve posted my project on my personal website here:
http://cargocollective.com/drewpalmer#702590/4-Hour-Body-marketing-campaign
In the meantime, I’ll just keep trying. Maybe it’s just a glitch…
Mike,
People are selling guerillas ?
I think that Don Draper’s ad exec job is safe — but submitted for your amusement (I’m not quitting my day job):
http://www.4hourscreenwriter.com/2010/10/new-four-hour-book-by-ferris-available.html
The 4 Hour Body – Get Fit By Working Out 4 Hours A Day 🙂
Hey Tim,
Have you considered that the 4HWW and the 4HB are two different niches of people? And that you may need to offer some free content that does 2 things: A – offers a great value added tip for people to try out and B – contains very targeted marketing to draw the connection between health and achieving the 4HWW lifestyle or business?
I consider taking control of one’s health, a prerequisite or at least co-requisite to achieving a true 4HWW lifestyle but I’m not sure others would share my view point even though It appears you do.
I would love to design a piece of free content for you and work with you to create an opt-in sales funnel. If your open to the idea let me know, I think it would create a much better conversion % (while being totally automated) than a simple click through ad.
Anyways awesome contest you are a master of social testing and sourcing! Can’t wait to read the new book.
Some designers and marketing experts might say your contest is unfair, an attempt to get quality work for free.
But I’m in favor of it, Tim. I personally won’t have the time to enter, but it could be a good opportunity for someone else.
You have the clout that could make this a good investment.
And that’s what it is for anyone who enters. An investment.
Anytime someone is doing work for free, personal boundaries can get tricky.
I know far too many designers who have entered contests like these and get bitter after not winning for all the “free work” they did.
So, I’m wishing you lots of happy contestants, who appreciate this opportunity and understand they are entering by their own volition.
Kisses.
Amy
I am a salsa dancer[not a pro] but tomorrow I will take my first Argentinian tango lesson.
As a world champion and as what you represent how would you proceed if you were starting from zero.
If male, focus on good footwork and a strong lead. If female, practice with good males who can also teach the basics of the female follow.
Good luck!
Tim
Well since we’re talking about ads and marketing!
Could anyone please vote for my friend’s band to win band of the month? It’ll honestly take 6 seconds, and I promise this isn’t spam. I’m Jon and I write at the Titan Project. We’re at a tie and today’s the votes end at 10pm pacific time.
Go to: http://sf.thedelimagazine.com/snacks
Vote: Commissure
I’ll love you guys forever!
If you’re looking to do PPC testing you can usually get much cheaper (but much fewer) clicks at alternative networks (e.g. 7search.com)
I think people got you wrong…
The advertisement part of it is obviously very cool, since you’ll get some creative ads out of it.
But more than that people…
This is a brilliant marketing campaign! What better way to promote your new book than have people participate and basically promote the book to their friends, site visitors, or readers through testing the ads.
Not only do they contribute and get the benefits, experience, and other perks, but you get a creative ad and tons of buzz during the “testing” phases.
Or maybe I’m just looking reeeeaaallly deep into it.
Either way… cool idea man.
Still playing drums?
Working on the drums! Thanks for the comment, John 🙂
Tim,
I just learned that you’ve been working on playing the drums. How much experience and/or progress do you have, exactly? I may have some possible insight I can offer in order to help you find the “shortcuts” you’re looking for. I’ve been playing for about 11 years now, and I was self-taught. I discovered a good bit of shortcuts that I think I could teach anyone that was interested in learning them. They’re the kinds of things I wish I would have learned much earlier in my process that may be of some use to you, in case you’re interested. I have some videos of me playing on Youtube if you’re interested in checking them out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83DyGt_wdyc (Length1:47)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMCwgrt8Bds (Length 7:59)
I’m by no means the greatest drummer on Youtube, or anywhere else, for that matter. But I do have quite a few connections, and some that I consider to be the greatest drummers in my rather finite area. But I do think I have a few shortcuts that are exactly what you’re looking for. Specifically, how to make rolls on the toms sound fuller and faster than they really are (using a double bass pedal and snare doubles), how to make beats sound fuller than they really are (using syncopation), and how to identify basic fundamentals in a song so that you can “jump in” and figure out the rest of the song as you go, without sounding like you don’t know what you’re doing (I use this ALL the time for song’s I’ve never played before, much less ever even heard). All of it takes practice, of course, but it certainly could shave years off of a developing drummer if used correctly.
Hopefully I hear back from you. I couldn’t find a blog where you talked about drums specifically, and I’m not sure if you still check this one or receive updates to it. But it’s the only place I could find where you mentioned it on here.
Jason
Hello I want to tell you that today I did my first advertising on tv. earn money, crossing my line of comfort and learn.i havent experienced,but i am so happy and i want to share it with all and especially with tim ferris whose educations have marked me and of which I continue learning
Just a lil suggestion.
You’re going to be getting a lot of mileage from this post.
I think a few more prizes or dare I say it, even better prizes might be in order, as the utility to you (massive) and outlay (i.e. $1319 and probably the same with the site rev for two weeks.) might not be quite in sync
Will be fairer (strong word there) and motivate more people (win-win) and give more people who enter feeling like they have a shot at getting something.
Tim,
There is an install. Does not hijack browser except for looking for update at launch. (Chrome is not yet supported.)
Benefit to users is direct line between you and your follower vs. other media (RSS, email, Twitter)
Benefit to you, direct line to those opting in. Icons and images can be added/removed by you (or staff) for cross marketing/interesting reads and links to all your products.
Guess this is just another way to connect with your users, separate idea from the current Ad contest.
Can I copy your original blog post announcing the book to use as a landing page?
Sure thing. Go right ahead.
Can I use that photo of the guy meditating that you used in the blog post first announcing the book?
NM, just got beat to the question.
A tip to readers, multiple Google Adwords campaigns leading to the same landing page (or even top level domain) puts the campaign owners on the Google’s ban list. Google can even put the landing page/domain on permanent ban.
Just an heads up in case anyone thinks of using an adwords campaign to send traffic here or amazon.
Cheers!
I get this message when trying to upload my submission on Facebook.
“There was a problem with the image file.”
Does anybody know what’s the problem?
Tim,
this inspired me to foray into the bloging universe: [click on name for URL]
Like John, I think the competition’s great… but the motivation behind it is the key for me! The benefits you can get from using this type of promotion, and from thinking at a different level are fantastic.
I know you’ve used this approach before, but this is the best, and most complex I’ve seen. (do you play chess?)
Well done.
Cocksy
Hey Tim, after battling with Facebook for 2 hours I couldn’t mange to upload images, keep getting that error message. I posted my submissions under “links”, the images are hosted outside of facebook, I hope you don’t mind.
Hi Gilles,
No problem. Is there any chance you do a ScreenFlow capture and send to jenny.rabun-at-gmail.com so we can take a look? So sorry for the trouble.
Thank you,
Tim
This may have been a problem with Mac’s running the latest OSX Software(10.6.4).
I had the same problem but it looks to be resolved now (may have been some quirky facebook/mac error).
I just tested it again with a regular picture file. Images upload fine.
I’m sorry I am very new to all of this and I checked but I didnt see this question. I love the blog and I love the book, I’m totally on board with your philosophy on life and I’m determined to only work 4 hrs a week and live life…
How do I test my ad???
Ive never tested before but I’m interested in learning how!
Hi!
This is Jack from Italy; i have a question but I don’t know how to contact you…so i’ll write it just here:
I’d like to translate your article “How to Lose 30 Pounds in 24 Hours” in italian and post it on my brand new blog, obviously with links to your site and article; can I?
Sure, if you link at both the top and the bottom of the article, not just the bottom. Ci vediamo 🙂
Tim
Tim,
It would be rad to have The 4-Hour Body fonts to make an ad. Got ’em?
Or can you at least tell us what fonts you used?
Cheers,
Brian
Vancouver, BC
Hey Tim,
Great contest – I’m in.
I wound up building a landing page at 4hourtest.com so that I(we) can get some metrics.
If you have problem with that – now would be a good time to let me know.
I am going to wait a few hours until I post my ads. I want to make sure the new url is resolving across most ISPs first.
Positively,
Dave
So these will be the affiliate ads for the 4 hour body book..very interesting idea.
Tim,
Great marketing idea. Outsourcing advertising. Is there a way I can outsource my 4 hour body? 🙂
Can’t wait to read the book and tell my friends about it.
Hi Tim, You wanted a banner I’m guessing – but here’s a less-conventional approach in that it’s low-tech (but still technically an ad): http://bit.ly/98kRd2
Rationale for this being that it’s designed for mainstream demo, rather than the early-adopter/tech-geek demo you’ve already secured. Mainstream demo is more skeptical against your claims and Especially when it comes to new health ideas which have over-inflated somewhat.
You’ll notice in that I’ve added hints of criticism, as this only bolsters the article’s credibility in the eyes of a wary reader.
You have nothing to lose by sending this to a mainstream blogger or news publisher you know – please just add kudos to @nickgreentweet
Thanks. Nick
Thanks, Nick. Much appreciate the drafting, and I agree that mainstream is where this ultimately needs to go. That said, I’ll leave the testing up to you 🙂
Best,
Tim
Well written Nick.
Can I copy your bio sketch from timferriss.com and/or the About the Author from the Amazon book page to use in a landing page?
Hey Tim,
A complete OT question, but possibly related to the material in 4HB. When you do resistance training, how to you maintain a uniform level of resistance over a full range of motion without using a Nautilus-type solution? You cite Arthur Jones a lot, but seem to use free weight gear like kettlebells. Does uniform resistance even matter?
What is the big deal with advertising?
I see ads all of the time. But realistically, these guys who come up with genius ads have poor and inferior products that unltimately lead to the demise of their businesses. Slick ads do not really hold any weight with people. They may come in a buy something. But having repeated customers is not sustainable when companies offer empty promises and poor products.
Why bother with ads? Just give away the cheap and generic products and services being offered.
Any chance you can post a link to a “vector” (Illustrator?) or high res version of the book cover? I’m sure everyone would like to use these elements at varying sizes in their ads, without compromising resolution quality.
I think I have a crush on you.
Read 4hww. “The opposite of happiness isn’t unhappiness, it’s boredom” was the one thing that made me act. Freakin’ sweet aha-moment. But, I also realized that
1. I can’t outsource my homework
2. And I can’t make a total disappearing act from school
But I upped my grades in all subjects and they gave me permission to take one-week leaves from school every month.
So, and my cheeks hurt from all the smiling, these past months I’ve been practicing French in Brussels, German in wonderful Berlin & I spent a week alone in Spain, watched Barça play live (!) and brushed up on my Spanish.
In two weeks, I’ll be heading to Tokyo – to go visit my dad and learn Japanese. Thank you. Gracias. Merci. ??????. I’m living the life I wanted since I was 4. Multiple languages, travelling alone, practicing gymnastics, watching live-soccer and I will never end up in the old-rich-mindset after graduation thanks to you.
So thank you, Batman.
And sorry I went all attitude-of-gratitude on your ass. But thank you :P. Och tack så jävla mycket. Jag tror jag älskar dig haha.
Thanks, Yanjaa! BTW, I love one of your blog posts and will be sharing it with the world later tonight 🙂
Un abrazo,
Tim
Increible: ganas fans, recibes ideas y generas tráfico tanto en el blog como en facebook. E incluso ventas, sobre todo que se hable del libro.
Lo increible es que participemos!!!! Y lo hicimos
Por cierto ¿Cuenta la productividad? ¿Quién lo ha hecho más rápido?
2 horas!!!
What is your intended target market for this book? Is it the same as 4HWW or are you trying to break into a different market segment? I could guess but it would be better to hear it from you.
Google is advertising $75 in free advertising credits.
Hopefully this link works… https://services.google.com/fb/forms/adwordscoupon/?site=adwords-hp&utm_term=areyouthere&utm_source=en-ha-us-remarketing-adwords-hp&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=en
if not try deleting everything starting at the question mark.
Good luck testing!
Howdy Tim, just wondering if I could get any more specific information on the book other than what was on the amazon page. I’m specifically interested in the duration involved in “how to lose those last 5-10 pounds (or 100+)” .
Also its mentioned that you can lose more fat binging than a marathon runner, but later on it says that you can bing without fat gain (although I guess both could be true, since marathon runners probably don’t have much fat to lose, haha). Is there actually fat loss involved with binging, or was that a play on words? Any specifics you could give would be great (although I understand if your concerned about the legality of weight loss claims …)
I look forward to the book!
Hi to all of you,
primarily I am addressing all of the readers (sorry Tim). I am facing a problem with the sale of our product. We have a great PR. The price is set right. The market exists. I do not understand why it does not convert? The ads proved to be useless.
Thx for ideas 😉
Have a great week, and if you are in Slovenia drop me a line 😉
@Tim need to try our Teran http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teran
Coach Tim…
Congratulations On Your 4HWW “Brain Enema”…
Coach carter…
Coach Tim…
You Said That In June 2004 That You Had A Nervous Breakdown…
What Were Your Symptons, Etc.
Please…
Thank You…
Coach carter…
Tim, outsourcing everything like a champ!
Posted my ads on your facebook wall by uploading a picture onto your wall, but they are not showing up in your photo album. How do I get my ads to show up on your photo album?
Jonathan Kung
Great idea Tim! I maybe jumping on this a little late, but coincidentally my birthday is on the 20th….perhaps a little extra motivation.
Great Thinking here Tim. Should be interesting to see what people come up with.
Just an opinion I am not a huge fan of the book Cover. Seems too basic for such an interesting and power packed book?
But I think the blurb is perfect.
🙂 Ahora yo SÉ que te adoro ¡Estoy tan emocionada!
Tim, as always, brilliant marketing and thanks for the opportunity.
Just a note, like Jonathon mentioned above, it appears some photos added to your wall are not showing up to ‘photos added by others’ (maybe just a computer thing on my end, but I noticed a few other good ads that showed up on your wall, but not in that album), so check the wall too 🙂
Question: Anyone know of a good place to test image ads quickly without having to wait for approvals? Text ads are doing well, but image ads still say ‘under review’ on Google (and Facebook is different size)?
…or if anyone has a high traffic site in an appropriate niche and wants to test, that could work too (you’d keep the Amazon affiliate $, I’d just want to see how they convert…
if interested, you can see 4 of the 8 ads by scrolling to bottom of post after clicking my name)
Thanks.
Thanks for the heads up, Patrick. I’ll look into it tomorrow!
Best,
Tim
Well I’m late to the game, and I haven’t tested.. But I put together a few using a spin on a headline that I saw once. When I saw your book, it was the thing that first popped in to me head.
Cool contest. Good luck to the winners. There are some great ads there.
I saw your book, it was the thing that first popped in to me head. —- which book you want to mentioned?
The 4-Hour Body
Hey Tim, Enjoyed the call yesterday man. Listened to the replay last night. I just caught this blog post and am a little late jumping on board but really want to be involved. I stayed up half the night working on a domain and landing page. I had a dentist appointment this morning, just put two ads on facebook, trying to put two more up on google, and then have to go to Memphis, Tn for work. (1 and a 1/2 hour drive) Not jumping on board out of laziness! Just missed it. Hopefully I will have some good results to report back. I am tracking on Amazon and set up analytics on chartbeat.
Talk Soon,
Brandon