I’m not sure about you, but I am often very skeptical when a new product is launched that feels very similar to a previous one.

How many “How to use Adwords” products can you have?

Have you had your fill with SEO or traffic products?

Are you interested in purchasing another product connected with listbuilding or recruiting JV partners?

I realize that each may have some info in it that another doesn’t have, but unless you have actually put into action all of the tactics from a previous one, then it is doubtful that you actually need another.

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The Sequel
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In Hollywood, sequels are rarely successful even when the first film has been a blockbuster. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones and more recently some of the action hero films, but that is generally the case.

In the internet marketing arena, the opposite seems to be true. Just in the last year, we have had:

Product Launch Formula 2
Traffic Secrets 2
Stompernet 2
Blogging to the bank 3
Clickbank domination 3
Affiliate Project X/Day Job Killer/Google Nemesis

and many others that have actually been built on the success of their previous release.

In fact, with the last example that I gave, each release has actually been more successful than the last!

I think that the difference from Hollywood is that these were more or less updates of the previous course and it is human nature to always want the latest gadget, gizmo or info.

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Copycat Products
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Here is a strange one. There have been some notable launches over the last couple of years which have been identical or nearly identical to other products.

I am hesitant to name and shame, but it is not unusual for a cheaper version of a product to hit the market within weeks of the premium version being launched.

One great example is that annoying script which you see when you try to shut down a salespage and you get a second chance to buy.

First came Save-A-Sale by intellichat where they were not selling it, but taking a proportion of sales saved.

Then David Guindon came out with Virtual Smart Agent which put the power into the merchants’ hands as they only had to pay once (excellent script which I often use)

And since then, many other versions have come out of the same script, mostly not as good, but fairly usable in many cases.

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The Evergreen
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The evergreen is something that you don’t see so often, but in my opinion you should see a lot more.

Especially in our industry, people are so obsessed with the new shiny object that many high quality products fall by the wayside.

I would love to see certain high quality products staying evergreen, but unfortunately that does not seem to be what the market is asking for.

Take Butterfly Marketing for example.

(As a disclaimer, I am not a user or a customer so don’t take this either as a positive or a negative about the actual product itself)

Here is a product which has made hundreds of people thousands of dollars. It has created many success stories.

Not only that, but it has been updated many times and had many new functions added on to it.

Not only that, but if you ever buy almost any of Mike Filsaime’s products then you will almost certainly have an opportunity to buy it as part of the backend.

So what’s my point?

What Mike Filsaime and his company has done is to create a product which doesn’t become outdated in either his or his customers’ minds. For that reason, it carries on selling and probably will for many years to come. As part of his 7 Figure Code presentation, he showed the percentage of his profits that come either from Butterfly Marketing or as a by-product and the figures were remarkable.

Do you have a product like this or that could be transformed to be like this?

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The Relaunch
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In my mind, the relaunch is very similar to the evergreen product, but with a slight twist. There is actually one happening today which I wanted to tell you about anyway, so will use it as an example.

Alok Jain is relaunching Project Quick Cash.

It is a collection of 5 underground money-making techniques that has made Alok and his customers a ton of money.

These techniques are quick and easy to implement, require zero or a very low investment and can be used to make easy Affiliate and/or Adsense income.

But let’s take a step back…

This product was launched about a year ago and sold thousands of copies. Part of its success was due to the fact that everything was explained in a detailed, step by step manner with screenshots where required.

The nature of the product made it appealing to newcomers and advanced marketers alike.

Last year, it was sold successfully at $77, which is quite a price but due to its hard proof still managed to sell well.

So, what Alok is doing is reducing the price by a whopping $50 and relaunching it.

So, why is he doing this and why is he assured of a success?

1. The value of $77 has already been established in the marketplace meaning that when people are paying just $27, they feel that they are getting more for their money than they are spending.

2. There are thousands of people entering the marketplace every day meaning that there are plenty of new potential customers. By relaunching, it means that PQC will gain a massive exposure to this marketplace.

3. Part of the previous success was the amount of proof that Alok was able to give not just from his own efforts but also of other marketers who are trusted in potential customers minds. For example, both Jonathan Leger and Dr Mani did case studies showing how they were able to generate traffic and revenue very fast as a result of Project Quick Cash. On the relaunch, there is even more proof as previous customers are also able to show their successes. Also not the updated screenshots.

4. Following on from 3, it has been proven that his methods work both by previous customers and also by himself and his friends. One of the strongest displays of proof are when someone else says it.

5. The fact that it is relaunching is almost proof in itself of the solidity of a products. For example, did you ever hear of Pipeline Profits or hundred of other dud products that disappeared because they were full of false promises?

Anyway, I thought that it would be interesting to look at a few different methods of creating and selling products. I am sure that I have missed something vital out in my overview, so do feel free to comment below if you have any other ideas.

So what do I want from you?

1. If Alok’s product does sound interesting, or you want to see how he has put the process into place, then go to:

http://www.clarifywithben.com/recommends/pqc

2. Please leave me a comment below with your views, the more controversial or outspoken the better, especially if I don’t have to edit it so that I am not sued for libel…

3. If you have a blog or a related website, please can you choose a post from this blog and give a link to it.

Keeping it real in an unreal world,

Ben Shaffer
HelpDesk: http://www.replytoben.com