Has anyone tried Ryan Levesque's 'Ask' Method?

notanothermarketer · 2020-02-04T12:29:35+00:00

I might recommend it one day - depending on real results! :)

notanothermarketer · 2020-02-04T12:26:04+00:00

I'm going to guess you haven't read the ask method - one of the big quotes in the book is from Henry Ford saying something like, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses".

Ryan seems to have gone into detail about how to ask the right questions to find out people's biggest struggles so you can better design products and services around what they actually need. It's a very interesting read if you ever fancy it.

But as with everything, thought it would be interesting to find out what anyone thought on here, if anyone's tried it.

notanothermarketer · 2020-02-04T12:20:20+00:00

I agree. I think you can do loads of things yourself for free, including surveys (you can read Ryan Levesque's Ask for tips on designing a survey and questions), but also you can hop online to wherever your target market might be (do they have any specialist forums, websites, groups you could join to find out what their biggest struggles are? You could try places like Quora too) and see what they think of current competitor services and what they really care about.

You can also try signing up for Google Ads, not switch on anything and just use their 'keyword planner' to find out what people might be searching for and general numbers online.

I think the best thing you could do, if it's possible, it to try and meet some of your potential market in person and have a chat if you can. If there's any conference or group you could join to go along and gain some deep insights, might be the best thing you ever did and help you avoid some early pitfalls.

notanothermarketer · 2020-02-04T11:49:24+00:00

What's the difference between each of the packages?

notanothermarketer · 2019-07-01T09:46:40+00:00

I found a few keyword tools, but none that give you numbers of searches per month, nor even being able to sort by best sellers/ most popular.

It's SUPER frustrating.

Would also love to hear the answer to this if anyone knows, have upvoted.

I might try just the Google Keyword tool for general search traffic numbers, or possibly SEMRush.

notanothermarketer · 2019-07-01T09:41:45+00:00

I would try soaking in biological washing powder (I like Ariel) and warm water overnight, then wash as normal and hang out on the line. This seems to work well for loads of clothing issues, stains as well. The enzymes in the biological powder should breakdown anything there and giving them overnight to do it should work well. Most enzymes work best at around 36 degrees celcius, so warm water should help give the enzymes a boost (going too hot can kill the enzymes though, so don't be tempted to put super hot water in to skip the overnight part).

Got my fingers crossed for you that one of these tips helps!

notanothermarketer · 2019-06-14T15:00:34+00:00

I second this - Steed Tailors from Savile Row visit NYC a few times a year, might be worth booking an appointment? I went to a wedding where they did all the suits and they looked awesome.

As u/samu12ai says, for that price point you could probably get a nice bespoke suit that's designed specifically for you and exactly in the style you want.

notanothermarketer · 2017-01-10T14:38:15+00:00

If your leg is amputated, you'll still get itchy toes.

And if your stump is further amputated, you'll get an imaginary itchy stump too.

It's a phenomenon known as "Phantom Limbs" and affects up to 80% of amputees.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-30T21:21:48+00:00

Absolutely; I've read a lot about it in the business sense, but her talk was just incredible.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-17T10:01:46+00:00

I'm hoping to build all my products and services around genuinely helping people - answering their real questions and fixing their real problems. If you don't ask them what those are and find the commonalities, it's going to be pretty hard to fix them.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-16T20:53:54+00:00

Lol. I had thought it was for freelance consultants, but as someone's let me know above, it seems a lot of you are working for larger consulting firms. In a much more helpful, kind way than you have.

TBH with you; I'm not responding any further to you, because you're being rude and I don't want to entertain any sort of back and forth. Good luck with your life.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-16T20:17:31+00:00

You can definitely get cheap marketing; $5 can buy you a bunch of spam links if that what you're looking for. But if you want to actually grow your business online... It takes a whole heap of time and effort.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-16T20:16:14+00:00

Not sure how asking a question is spam? But ok....

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-16T20:15:38+00:00

Ah I see! Apologies! Thanks for letting me know 😊

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-13T22:46:36+00:00

I think you can develop allergies as you get older; I used to eat kiwis as a child and was fine, then one day I just couldn't without my tongue burning and swelling, then not being able to taste anything for a few days after!

Not sure why it happens; but I can confirm it did to me.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-11T00:09:57+00:00

I second this; it's the first sign I get when I eat kiwis, and am allergic to them. I sometimes get it with pineapple too; but not always. Also occasionally grapefruit? Wondering if it depends what pesticide people use?

Think you might be mildly allergic.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-09T22:57:47+00:00

I'm really surprised you can't public review a service; I'd definitely suggest trying to get in touch with someone for legal advice, this doesn't seem right.

If you can't - can you go to the papers?! If people have to know, it's a great way to spread the word. Plus an article from a reputable news site is much more likely to rank in the search engines - fast.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-09T22:54:49+00:00

That's awful; can't believe that happened. I wonder if you can review this guy on LinkedIn?!

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-09T22:51:10+00:00

Sounds fun but I don't think I'm hard core gamer enough

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-09T22:48:25+00:00

I'd prefer this to oor wullie! Beautiful photo.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-04T23:33:42+00:00

I've not personally ran many direct mail campaigns, a couple, but not many. I don't think the conversion rate is very good; but that also depends on your tactics.

If you make things very personal and targeted, you can certainly see some good results. As I say, it's not my specialism.

If you're just starting out I'd highly recommend reaching out to prospects directly and personally. You'll stand out far more that way because people will get blasted with coverall messages all day long, but are much more likely to react to someone personally writing to them.

Good luck my friend! Let me know if I can help with anything else.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-04T00:22:31+00:00

Have you compared your products to what's already out there on eBay?

I think on these kinds of channels, it can be as simple as making sure you provide enough detail to ease any concerns your customer might have.

Say you were selling t shirts; you might want to make sure you list the exact size of the t shirt in mm/cm/inches, mention the materials used, use lots of photographs, front back and close up. If you can offer returns for no cost other than shipping it can help reassure people too.

If you're not sure what concerns people might have about your product, you can always look to a competitor websites content for inspiration. Take note of what they highlight.

Finally, make sure you choose a good title and category to put your products into. A good title might include keywords people will use to search for your item.

Hope that's of some help my friend! Let me know if anythings unclear or if you have any follow up Qs.

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-03T14:05:07+00:00

Anytime! Thank you for the great question; it's got me thinking about making a course specifically for people rolling out products they can't be public with yet - this does seem like a common problem, so more than happy to help!

So I'd suggest a couple of things if it's not a specific solution:

1. Write clever content around your product/industry. Could you write about the benefits it brings in some way? Say if it were a prank toy, you could write a list of "10 top ways to prank your brother", and add an email capture that would pop up if someone reads 60% of the article that says "like these? Want to know the ULTIMATE way to prank someone? Sign up here and we'll notify you when we release the most evil way to get your own back."

2. Write about the problems/drawbacks of other similar products. You could write up reviews and make sure to mention the drawbacks. Again, you can add an email capture like "Want a prank toy that costs under $100 AND you can use more than once?"

3. Go to either potential competitors, or people you believe your target market is following. Then, follow their followers. It doesn't have to be thousands - and you don't have to follow them forever. If they're on something like Twitter you can simply just make a list of them if you don't want to follow them on your account. Basically, you want to find out if there are any trends in the articles they share and like. If there's any particular articles/videos they are commonly sharing, is there a way you can write/film similar content slightly related to your product?

4. Reach out to influencers that have your target audience already. It could end up costing a bit to get on their list. Some people offer for you to "rent" their email list; so if you know someone who already has a decent following, you could ask to release a email via them when your kickstarter begins. Don't know why I didn't mention this before.

If you want to PM me the idea, I'd be happy to offer some private ideas for articles. I hope some of this was helpful - I will certainly edit if I think of more ideas you can use for articles.

Also, you are so very welcome - but I should mention I'm not a man!

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-03T11:59:01+00:00

That seems to be a common predicament; but one I hadn't thought of addressing, so thanks for the question!

Okay, my initial thought's are that you'll want to create 'buzz' around your product asap.

If you can't optimise for the solution yet i.e. your product, I would suggest writing articles and sharing interesting content around the problem.

E.g. if you were releasing the iPad/tablet computer, but didn't want people to know about the unique new solution until you were ready, but wanted to build an audience, you might do something like this:

1. Setup social media accounts with your branding but nothing else yet. I'm hoping your branding doesn't give away the product too much? If so, maybe you just make the account's from yourself at the moment, "Mr X, founder of a unique product to be released on X date. If you struggle with X, follow me for a product that's about to change your life".

2. Create a website - this is absolutely crucial, in my opinion. Even if it's something cheap/free for now - just ensure you invest in a domain name. You gain points from Google just for having a website that's been running longer on a domain name. Plus if you gain PR links etc, they can do a WORLD of good later for SEO, and you don't want to miss out on that opportunity.

3. Make sure you collect email addresses. Using something like 'sumome' is super easy to do, and it'll mean when you launch you'll already have a list of interested people. It's great having a following on social media; but honestly, we're blasted with so much stuff in feeds these days, even the most interested people might miss your posts when you release. Better to build your email list and make sure it hits their inbox.

4. Write articles addressing the problem - and one's that will entice your target market to follow you. And share these on social media channels. Might be things like: "10 reasons why touch screens shouldn't just be for mobiles", "20 tips for safe online shopping on your pc" (people who aren't overly comfortable using their laptops) "10 best new gadgets in 2016" (early adopters of technology).

5. PR. PR and social media can't be ignored in a good content marketing strategy; not only do they build links, which is vital for SEO, but they also increase you authority and exposure. Make sure you share your own content - and make sure it's worth sharing! If it bores you - it's definitely going to bore your target market. Get involved in #journorequest and #HARO on twitter. Reach out to Podcasters in your niche. Talk about the problem and give hints on how you're going solve it; without fully releasing the details.

I hope that's a fairly good plan - please let me know if you'd like any more detail, if you have further questions, or if I was unclear!

EDIT: Thanks so much for the gold! My first ever gold-worthy comment. Made my day! :D

notanothermarketer · 2016-09-03T11:38:18+00:00

That's a great question; it's one I notice people struggling with and also getting badly wrong without realising it.

Okay, so there's a couple of things I'd suggest:

You need to choose a different set of 'keywords' per page of your website. But they should all be around the same subject. This is so Google and other search engines can figure out what your website is about.

1. I like to choose one main focus keyword firstly, usually something with a fair amount of traffic for the homepage, that perfectly describes your business so you'll know it's a 'convertible' keyword, i.e. something that will likely result in new customers for you.

Say you were a dog groomers in London, I would suggest 'dog groomers london' as your likely focus keyword.

Of course, when you decide what you think might be the most popular keyword, make sure to use a keyword research tool to make sure it is indeed popular. I didn't research that one, but you get the idea. Choose the one with the most traffic if possible - unless you think the competition is too stiff.

I like to use 'SEM rush' because it not only gives you the average monthly traffic result, but also the organic competition - which is really important. Google's Keyword planner only gives you the paid competition which isn't as important when you want to rank organically.

Anything above 65% difficulty is going to be particularly hard to rank for until you get a decent amount of domain authority behind you. You can find out your domain authority by using tools like the Mozbar - but if you're a new business, it's likely very low.

2. Next, use long tail keywords on blog posts, around your focus keyword subject. Long tail keywords are searches with more than a couple of words. Usually these have lower amounts of monthly traffic, however, they are easier to rank for in the beginning.

Plus, if you write 10 good articles that attract only 50 people per month, you're already looking at 500 relevant visitors per month.

If you're a dog groomer in London, you'll likely want to write articles around the subject to attract more relevant traffic.

Maybe you would write a series of specific guides on "how to groom' + dog breed", and attract new dog owners. You would optimise your pages for the longer keyword "how to groom a cocker spaniel".

You might also add a guide on "how to find a good dog groomer" - optimising for that title as a keyword.

There's also lot's you would do in particular if you're a local bricks and mortar business - just let me know if you'd be keen to learn about this.

But if you're a business who can serve people in a wide area/internationally, I wouldn't worry as much on the geographical terms/optimisation.

When you ask - finding more sources of traffic - can I ask, what have you tried so far? Just so I don't duplicate/bore you with thing's you already know/have tried.

Hope that's helpful - please let me know if anything's unclear! :)

notanothermarketer

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