My Muse - and the steps I took

[Live Free]

Before starting this, I had zero experience in Internet Marketing, Web Design, etc. I decided to follow Tim's strategies pretty much to the letter. As it turned out, I was made redundant 6 weeks ago, so getting this up and running is great, I can't wait to replicate the system on another 5 - 10 muse ideas.

I tested the price locally and sold only 2 at the price I wanted to charge ($157) and 12 at the price I am now charging ($97). Once I get better at marketing this, I might bump the price up. I should note here that I am a bona fide expert in the field having worked 15 years in the industry.

I paid an Elance provider to do a logo, banners, and graphics for my E-book cover - cost $170 all up.

I purchased a Wordpress template called wpeasysalesletter for $18.99.

I arranged hosting (justhost) for $36 per year for two years and also purchased 3 domains (one for the product, one for an information feed in site, and one to keep competition from taking it) - cost $45 for 2 years.

I uploaded my sales copy and spent quite a bit of time tweaking it.

I arranged E-junkie and Clickbank to take care of my downloads and payment processing. Cost $5 per month for E-Junkie after my 54 day free trial expires (and I give 55% commission for Clickbank Affiliates who sell my product)

I made 5 different sets of Google Adwords and am currently testing various combinations to see which headlines/ads attract the clicks - already this has helped me refine my headlines in the website.

And now, I have a live Muse up and running at

www.retailprosperitysystems.com

I still have to invest in Aweber or similar for an automated opt-in/ newsletter list, this is work in progress (not sure if I want to use Aweber, would prefer something that doesn't cost more and more as the list gets bigger).

Feedback will be gratefully accepted, as I am 100% new to this.

Cheers

[Caesar_X]

Nice work!

Did you feel the WP theme was worth the money?

[Live Free]

Nice work!

Did you feel the WP theme was worth the money?

It is a little buggy but watching the video on the sales website and learning how the special aspects of the theme worked did help. There was no Read Me or instructions sent with the Program, so it took a bit of trial and error. And although it is a little buggy, I think it was money well spent. My alternative was going to be hiring an elance provider for $100- $150.

So yes, overall, well worth the money.

[FreedomFinder]

Awesome job Live Free! Very inspiring. What do you mean by you tested the price locally?

[Live Free]

Awesome job Live Free! Very inspiring. What do you mean by you tested the price locally?

Hi, By testing locally, I mean I tested it off the internet. So I did seminars with retailers and offered the product for sale at the end.

Now the challenge is to drive traffic to my site (quality traffic).

[MajorTom]

My initial reaction was that your web ad was too long. I changed my mind after I began reading it. While I didn't read the whole thing, I found the offer very attractive, and I don't even have a retail business. My only critique, and this is very minor: I'm not sure I would have used the moneybag graphic (or any graphic) more than once. You might replace one copy or the other with another photo -- a stack of money perhaps?

If you (or anyone) need a good source for free stock photography, try stock.xchng (www.sxc.hu). Yes, it's a foreign site, and you have to register to use it, but it is an excellent resource. I have relied on it heavily in my work as a marketing manager for a small nonprofit over the past couple of years, and I can assure you it's safe to use. Most images are completely free. Others require payment and/or a photo credit. It is important to read the individual requirements for each image via the link that appears on the image's detail page. Anyone can post their work on the site, so quality ranges from talented amateur to professional. (Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with stock.xchang, and I'm not being compensated to recommend it.)

I'll close by saying thanks for posting an account of how you executed your project. It is very helpful to see the actual vendors used and what it cost you. Good luck with your muse. I hope it succeeds!

[Live Free]

I had someone else let me know they thought the 'buy now' was a little over done, and confirmed I should not use the same graphics. This has been amended.

I appreciate your feedback and I may just use those stock photos for my next muse.

On the topic of this muse - I have discovered getting it online is the beginning, not the end, of a process. I now need to "build credibility" and drive long term traffic to my site outside of PPC.

I am making one Squidoo lens per day, have joined the Twitter and Facebook revolutions, joined ezine articles and am writing on a few different topics. I am building a blog/resource site outside of my sales page, on a different domain. I think the hardest part of these steps has been writing a short bio of myself!

Now to really go out on a limb, I am looking at buying a retail store, and using it as a case study for a second sales page. I will make it profitable, document each strategy/step, show the real financials to prove it works, and then flip it for a strong profit. It means a couple of months of hard work, but flipping Retail Stores is a fun way to make big money. Maybe that can be the subject of my next muse...

[Cade]

fyi. the link does not appear to be working or is it just me or did it move ?

[The_Cynic]

Worked fine for me

[lookgreatmakemoney]

I am a newbie, can you explain about how you bought a domain to keep the competition from taking it? I don't understand? thanks!

[FreedomFinder]

I am a newbie, can you explain about how you bought a domain to keep the competition from taking it? I don't understand? thanks!

Just go to GoDaddy.com and you can purchase any domain that's available... Once you buy it, it's yours, and no one can take it from you. :)

[Live Free]

I am a newbie, can you explain about how you bought a domain to keep the competition from taking it? I don't understand? thanks!

I didn't just get the domain for my muse, I also bought other domains close to the actual domain as well, so all up, I purchased a number of domains.