When we started promoting Monthly1k, we sent out a super targeted email to 30,000 people. (That’s a lot btw.)
I was waiting for the dollars, accolades and success stories to roll in…drum roll please…
And only 30 people bought 🙁 That’s a .1% conversion rate which is SUPER disappointing.
I’m Noah Kagan, things always work out for me, right?
This time I had to figure out what was wrong. I already knew that “How to Make a $1,000 Business” was making a huge difference for the customers that bought it. People were making $1,000+ a month just like the course promised.
But the conversion rate on the email wasn’t working. I had to figure out the problem then fix it.
What to do?
Normally, we would start swapping out email text, a/b testing subject line, etc. I call this “adding car parts to a Honda.” It’s still a Honda, buy a faster car if that’s what you want.
Ultimately, I had to understand the root of the problem.
Why didn’t people buy and what CAN I do about it?
So I decided to do a survey…but it was WHO I surveyed that proved to be the most helpful.
I emailed people who:
1- OPENED the email
2- CLICKED the email
3- BUT did not buy.
That totaled over a few hundred. Jackpot.
You can see the exact survey here http://okdork.com/firstdollar-survey (feel free to make a copy for yourself and use/modify it.)
These people showed some interest in buying it but it wasn’t enough. Why not?
I asked four questions:
A) Were you at least interested in buying? Yes or NO
B) Be specific about your answer
C) What’s holding you back from starting your business?
D) Should we make our support sumo do a dance video?
I deleted the responses from anyone who was NOT interested in buying immediately. I can’t help people who don’t want to be helped.
The most FASCINATING response was from B.
Then I sorted the top reasons (by frequency) of people who WANTED to buy but didn’t.
The top four reasons were:
1- I’m afraid.
2- Will this work in my country.
3- How will I know that this will work.
4- I’ve failed before, what’s different this time.
This survey produced insane returns for the product. Those who were interested in using How to Make A $1,000 a Month Business to start their own businesses provided the answers.
Here is how I used the survey to better serve customers
#1 I used the customer’s LANGUAGE on the landing page. It’s not about my words but how the potential customer is thinking about starting their business.
#2 We reordered the page so that the top questions people were asking were being answered in the most logical progression.
#3 We added answers to the questions that people were asking but we were not addressing.
#4 The “Failure Olympics” was added to address the fear that people kept stating about their fear of failure.
#5 We added more individual support and accountability to help people when they hit tough times.
This one survey literally changed the product overnight.
What does that mean for you?
If people aren’t buying at the level you think they should…
USE this EXACT survey to figure out what you can do to help people to buy it.
38 responses to “How One Survey Created Insane Results”
Hey Noah – would you be willing to share the email template you used to get people to respond to your survey?
The questions look great, and I’ve tried something similar in the past, but I keep getting super low response rates.
Hi Noah, this article is really awesome. I liked it too much. Lots of web analytics tools are great at telling what happened but not good at ‘Why’. That’s why Qualitative data is so much important to get into the mind of the customers to understand the ‘Why’. I more to understand customers intent is by using the search box and track it using your analytics tool. Lots of the time we think that we know what customers want but that’s rarely the case. Rather than projecting our own thinking what a customer want, let the customer say – Hey i came to your website and can’t able to find this or that. Now can create related content or sell related products. It’s also too much important to use 3 simple survey question on a regular basis on our websites to understand the ” Task Completion Rate”. Here is the article by Avinash Kaushik on the 3 greatest survey questions ever – http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/the-three-greatest-survey-questions-ever/
Had a question about how you make the correlation between people who opened/clicked and those who continued to make a purchase. Are you doing an excel compare from an 3rd party ESP export against your ‘customers who purchased’ list shopping cart export?
Since tracking an email campaign source against revenue in Google Analytics wouldn’t give us individual address information easily for survey distribution.
Hi Noah
Great post as usual,i arrived here from your email newsletter.
Now what i really do care about is that can it really be applied in one’s own country.
I mean the barriers to entry might be the same,but people’s readiness to pay over the internet is not yet there in a country like Egypt whether for a physical or digital product.
So how can one make sure that a viable internet based business that runs on online payments scheme be applied successfully ?
Thanks Again,,,
Hi Noah, super stuff. Question though: did you get only a few hundred opens & clicks on you first email to that 30K list? Or am I reading it the wrong way? That would be like 1% of people who opened and clicked, right? Curious about those numbers, and about the same numbers in your second time around. Btw, I know I’m commenting on a 1.5 year old post, but hey, that’s what ya get for recycling it to my inbox today 🙂
As one of the Monthly1K.com people, this is what helped me deciding:
a) Limited places: I didn’t want to miss it, but I didn’t want a too crowded place.
b) Customers from Europe: I am from Europe and I want proof that this wasn’t just a US thing. A guy that successfully completed M1K from Croatia (or similar) mitigated that doubt.
c) The 60 days refund. I didn’t claimed it, I am still lagging in M1K, but it helped me to try without “risks”.
d) Different case studies: I want to do a digital product, but I want to learn cross skills to do a physical products too.
“Here is how I used the survey to better serve customers
#1 I used the customer’s LANGUAGE on the landing page. It’s not about my words but how the potential customer is thinking about starting their business.”
Awesome Noah!
Which copywriters have you learnt from? 😉
The biggest reason I decided NOT to join is because the, “Only x number of spots remaining!” banner seems disingenuous. I’ve visited the site on several occasions and each time the numbers appeared to be completely random.
Fabricating scarcity to generate a fear of missing out made me want to run far away.
Definitely understandable.
It is fixed and we only allow a certain number of people in each month.
Hi, I am on the mailing list and thought I’d leave a comment (because I was asked).
Thanks for the emails and information, it is greatly appreciated. I am currently doing a course that should help guide me to create my own business and when I finish that I will definitely check out Monthly1k.com again and review the specifics as I think that I could definitely benefit from using the information rather than just consuming it.
Thanks again Noah and team!
Paddy
Hi,
What a super helpful and super generous post. One very quick question…
You said:
I emailed people who:
1- OPENED the email
2- CLICKED the email
3- BUT did not buy.
This may be very easy to some, but how can one know who opened and who clicked? This may be simple for internet and marketing geniuses (I’m not either). Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Ethan
Ethan,
Your question is a bit old so you might have the answer but here it is.
All email service providers worth using provide these stats. Aweber, MailChimp etc etc.
Basically each email has code that tracks – generally like a ‘pixel that fires’ or image that is downloaded (but can be other stuff) when an email is opened. Basically the download of the image confirms open. Images are not downloaded until you open an email.
Clicks: Add a tracking link to the link
Hope this helps,
It’s crazy how we assume that even the top leaders in a field always have success… when in fact they can fail like anyone else. I don’t know why it’s surprising but it is.
I guess that’s why so many people never achieve their goals: they fail one time, 2 time and think they are just not cut for ti and quit
Hey Noah – I know this is going to have little to do with the survey approach, but I wanted to share my small implementation inspired by you.
After reading your sumo jerky story, I had to try myself. So, I bought PaleoPackage.com, created a video with the guidance of VideoFruit.com, and launched 5 minutes ago.
Let’s see how I do. Thanks for the inspiration.
David
PaleoPackage.com
Noah, this is a brilliant piece of engineering! It makes me think that selling is extremely easy.
The only prerequisite that I’m seeing is that you have to have an emailing list. Is this correct?
First, I am basically in awe of the landing page.
Second, the only thing that stood out to me as a potential confusion was the time involved. I get that time’s always an issue, and I should just make the time, but how much time do I need for this?
You answered the “I want to start this snowflake-business and therefore my concerns are so unique that this course is not for me” by providing success stories.
Also most people in entrepreneurship have their fair share of courses so the “Can’t say we didn’t warn you” bit got me as well.
May I suggest a new blog post Sir (Yes)ah Kagan?… How about, “How one Blog Post Led to Thirteen More…”
It’s only fair to post some sort of warning about the addiction one may develop from reading your blog…
On a real note, thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge and experiences. I have thirteen pages of fresh notes… which is more than I ever took in college for a given lecture! Thanks again Noah.
Namaste.
Not likely the most powerful, but something that I noticed that I think is a subtle yet effective detail:
“If you were going to tell a friend to start a business, where would you tell them to go?”
The friend part. Not sure what technique that is, but I feel like I’ve seen that used before.
Hey Noah,
Thanks for another great article!
I’m so very tempted to jump in and try the “How to Make A $1,000 a Month Business” program.
Before long I think I’ll convert. I need to sit down and read all about it properly first — see if it’s right for me.
Keep up the amazing work!
Cheers, Luke
What I liked in the page was that all call for action buttons had words specific to that section (Join the movement, Validate your idea), but linking to the same sign-up form.
I think I have no time and money for the course now, as I find it hard to fit everything in my day and struggle to keep up. That must be the reason, why I find your sentence “at your pace” talk to me.
I am already in the mood of getting started (I need to set aside some money though), so I was like nodding while reading the whole page “yes, that’s for me”.
I’ll show you the process how I got closer and closer to signing up.
– I can’t recall how we first connected
– then came a call to try the stranger challange from failure olimpics, 5 most popular ones would get 100 dollars. I acted quick, took the challange, got many likes, and won that hundred bucks. It was quite an experience, both the challange and getting a prize.
– signed up to some of the free Apps
– I attended the creativeLIVE course. Did the tasks, chatted with people, got the feeling… I loved it.
– Now we have a facebook group you made for us, with creativeLIVE fellow participants, where we can share ideas and support one another. That’s quite an experience.
So, I got a lot from you for free so far. (Even real money!) You forced me to nothing. I love that, but I could translate it all as just your way of acting nice to get clients.
What worked for me is not even on the page. It’s seeing you live on camera for hours, and deciding you’re a nice guy. One that I can trust. Reading the page with this in mind makes all the difference.
I think the heading and description is the most powerful part. 1. You don’t set expectations too high: Learn how to make $1K. Not $1MM. No “get rich quick” scheme. 2. You give a personal commitment to help the customer along the way. You don’t know how true that is until you read all the details, but it comforts the reader.
Basically, you set a reasonable goal and make a personal guarantee, and this is the first thing you read on the entire page. The rest of the stuff just backs it all up.
I signed up and purchased the Monthly $1K course a few months ago. I’ve already made back my investment (and then some). I’m working on growing a business I love (Online Personal Styling with KurateStyle), which I validated through the course.
I’ve validated several business ideas, which alone has saved me hours, days, and even weeks from my life.
Just some of the things I’ve gotten from course:
– How to get over your own fear of failure
– Business idea flow
– Validation techniques
– Growth and marketing
– Sales training and skills
– Revenue generation from validated ideas
– Continued support and resources from Noah and the Monthly $1K Facebook group
Noah gives one-on-one support, calls you out on your excuses and also gives you the motivation, courage and resources that you need to succeed. He is personally committed to the success of each person in the course.
Access to the Facebook group of the Monthly $1K group alone is worth the investment. From validating to finding new, online resources, access to the group is priceless.
For me, the most powerful part of the page is the layout. The site basically gives you a look at exactly how the program is going to unfold. A lot of other products miss the boat on this one and leave you wondering. Not only that, but there are specific stories from people/insiders that are relevant to the potential problem areas from a buyer’s perspective. It’s just brilliant.
The most powerful part of the monthly1k.com page is the menu of stories of testimonials.
For example, just now I saw an update on the front page with “Self-branding.” That caught my eye, whereas the “Digital Product” testimonial and others didn’t interest me that much.
Also: I just saw the 60-day guarantee. I think this should actually be higher on the page. “If you put in the work, we guarantee you will have a business bringing in $1,000 per month.” That’s pretty damn confident. I think it should be the first thing following the 4 choices of testimonial stories.
Nice job. Congrats on the turnaround…it has to feel great helping people realize their ideas.
Your monthly1K webpage has a lot of good info on it, so I imagine different parts will resonate with different people. The part that spoke to me was Phase 2: Validating Your Idea.
Many people have ideas of businesses they could start (me included), but narrowing it to the one you should focus on is difficult and a bit scary as you are cutting off other options. If the course can help me validate which idea to pursue, then it would be worth it.
I will be completely honest. I’ve opened your ad MANY times and have thought about buying the program MANY times. The first thing I see when I open your ad is YOU… THEN, I look left and see the writing “How to make $1k/mo”. This goes against normal eye movement of graphics ads using the Z method.. that your eye NORMALLY looks from left to right. However, your bright smile and pink shirt command immediate attention. Sooooo..
When I see YOU FIRST, then I see ‘how to make $1k/mo’ I put the two images together in that order and think this is now about ME at all.. its about YOU and how YOU will make $1k/mo. Even the title says YOU, not ‘me’.. You don’t mention ‘me’ until the subtitle question, which is small, light gray, bland, boring and uses the words ‘failed’ twice dispite ‘trying’… So my low self esteem kicks in and says ‘I’ve tried, and I’ve failed.. more than once (at least twice, like the number of the words ‘failed’ in that line). The text under that is also light gray.. It does not jump out at me at all. After reading ‘failed’ twice and the word ‘trying’ (not DOING/achieving).. I don’t even have the desire to read the rest.. it looks bland, boring and I’ve already failed twice so why should I try?
But for the sake of comment, I will read it this time (I have never read it before). Ok.. it needs the word HOW.. This seems like a no brainer to me… if you just say ‘learn to find’.. that sounds like WORK.. like HUNTING for a needle in a hay stack.. like a treasure hunt to nowhere with stupid clues… show me HOW I will find the right idea!
“Learn [HOW] to find the right idea..” Ok.. I hate this paragraph… I don’t even want to read it. It is so light/drabby… etc..
Suggest use bullet points.. anyone can go read a book with paragraphs (most of us have read so many we are sick). How are you going to help ME? I get the How to make $1k/mo, but why are you insulting me that I can’t make more than that?… Sorry but this just beats on my self esteem, not lifts it up to make me want to give you my money, let alone ‘try’ to not ‘fail’ again. And not to be rude.. but the pink shirt screams gay… Unless you are targeting gay people, I would put on something more nutral and not in your face.. better yet, use someone else.. again, it looks like this is helping YOU, not me. If you are going to keep a pic of you .. which is fine, cuz you ARE a total handsome devil…
Suggest:
I will help YOU make $1,000 a month, or MORE!
I will show you how to:
-Find the right ideas
-Validate those ideas to ensure success
-Start or enhance your business with minimal spending
-Make your business work for YOU!
-Have fun while doing it
As a bonus I will share the best taco recipes as well as wickedly funny ways to eat them!
Hooray for Tacos!
Moving on…
What kind of business do I want to start? Hum.. none of those.. so obviously you can’t help me. Next.
Ok, I just skimmed thru the rest of the site.. I really don’t like it. Its drabby, boring, not exciting, and way too much reading..
Based on what I know about you from other material, videos, interviews, etc.. this is what I THINK you are offering:
-A sounding board to bounce your ideas off of
-Help (with your team of taco eating experts) to narrow down ideas or channel ideas to possible profit-land
-Assistance (thru tools you will provide) on how to test, validate, etc.. to ensure success with minimal work/$
-Provide tools for setting the business up (lists of what to do in order, spreadsheets, templates, marketing tools, etc)
-Constant kick in the pants/fire under ass motivation techniques to push, support, and encourage learning and growth
-Scratch head with me and provide ideas/suggestions IF a “Plan B” is required.
This (above) is a program I would probably sign up for and buy in a heart beat.. TO ME.. it sounds like you are now respecting my time by not making me read a 42 page website (which makes me think your program is just more ‘content/book’ material I’ve already read a million times BECAUSE I’ve TRIED and FAILED TWICE…already, thank you for the reminder! Hahah..
But the above bullet points sound like you are really trying to help point me in the right direction and you are holding my hand, so to speak, and most importantly, you are NOT LEAVING ME.. if something doesn’t work.. you/your team, won’t leave me stranded by the road.. you will point out that I do, still, have another thumb! Haha
Anyway.. You asked for what the most powerful part of the page is.. I would have to say your gay pink shirt that makes me think of girly cotton candy.. all fluff. Sorry.. just being honest.. but hey.. I LOVE you and really do enjoy your mailings, videos, interviews, etc.. I loved your Creative Live class… super emotional, super REAL.. it rocked!
I only spent so much time on this because I really do love what your doing (or trying to do) to help people.
BTW, I know this is a really long comment. Did you really read this whole thing? Or would have preferred just the bullet points of my suggestions? Just check’n. 😉
Best part of the page is the copy, unsurprisingly. It’s honest and encouraging, which sets the tone for the course.
Thanks.
Thanks Noah,
I found this email in my inbox this morning and it was the perfect read to start my day. As usual, you break it down while making it seem so easy, when it is not. I’m creating surveys now and this was such a great help! Thanks so much! I have not committed to the 1K group yet mostly due to price but it may be what I need….
One thing (of many) the page does extremely well is overcome the “This might work for ___, but I want to ____” objection right away with credible stories from different types of businesses.
It’s the Roger Bannister mentality. People think something is impossible until they see that someone like them has done it. Within a year after Bannister ran the “impossible” 4 minute mile, so did 24 others.
This is awesome stuff! Thanks a lot for sharing.
What stands out to me is there’s a call to action with each point.
I think the page does a great job of conveying the breadth of the course, mapping out a 1-2-3 path while also helping people feel comfortable that it will guide them over the hump of getting that first $1,000.
I know we held off on charging for *waaaay* too long because of fears about charging, and I think the phase three heading (Getting To $1,000) is super comforting for people in that position.
The non-US examples. Can we have more of those please?
I found out about the program not by email, but because I somehow stumbled across AppSumo and that was the promotion being headlined. 98% sure the link was from Tim Ferriss’s website.
It’s sort of funny, because once I spent the money it absolutely changed my mindset and FORCED me to focus on making my own business. It’s like once I personally took a hit to the wallet, that’s when it made me eager to do the program and get out of the garbage situation I’m in right now in life.
Honestly, the 1k sales page has been in my swipe file for months now, and I keep coming back to study it. There’s so much to love, and this post was really eye opening for me. I have a lot of friends in marketing and UX who point to the page as an example of “long form + design done right,” so I’ll definitely be sharing this with them.
As to the Q about the most powerful, I’d say that, in practice, that depends on who’s reading. If I’m worried about failing, the Failure Olympics will be the part that speaks to me. Likewise with the other sections.
So I guess the most powerful aspect is that you were able to quantify the relative importance of certain objections and answer them in order of importance.
Anyway, thanks for posting this – I was just working on a similar survey, and you’ve saved me some headaches.
I noticed several changes (answering questions potential customer may have) but the change that I noticed the most was that there are now only 2 payment options as opposed to the 3 options that were available before. I assume this was done because 3 options made the decision more difficult. Even though the full one time payment saved money, it probably made the potential customer pause long enough to just walk away. Interesting how that change probably created more customers.
Hiya Noah, I would love to check out “Monthly1K.com” – except none of your links to it seem to work?
Good catch. Fixing.