100-Point GTD Checklist (and a great example of pull marketing)

02 Mar 2007 Jay (Jason Van Orden) 9 Comments

I came across a great GTD (Getting Things Done) resource. It’s a checklist to find out how well you’re implementing the principles of GTD. There are several things to be learned from this page.

What’s Your GTD Score?

First, it’s a great resource and review for anyone interested in the GTD productivity system. Review the checklist and determine your score.

A Magnet for Traffic and Inbound Links

This checklist is an excellent example the kind of foundation content that becomes a traffic magnet for your blog or site. People love checklists. Content like this is often called “link bait” (which is not as derogatory as it sounds). It’s the kind of content that web sites and blogs love to link to. It’s the kind of content that people like to submit to social networking and bookmarking sites.

All of this adds up to a lot of inbound links. The more inbound links you have, the higher your search engine ranking and the more traffic you get. Do you have strong foundation content on your site/blog that people will want to use, share and link to?

The Email List Optin

Notice that he has an email list right at the top of the email. If this was my site, I would provide the first 50 points of the checklist and then have people submit their email in order to get the other 100 points.

The Call to Action

Finally take note that this content is being used as pull marketing to find new coaching clients for the author. This method of marketing does several things for the author:

1. Brings targeted prospects towards him on their own terms (rather than him having to interrupt the prospect that may or may not be targeted)
2. Establishes his expertise
3. Begins a relationship of trust with the prospect
4. Makes his call to action more effective
5. Makes it much easier to close the sale when someone calls

I would put the call to action at the top as well as at the bottom. Regardless, this is an excellent example of what every business should be doing to attract new clients.

The Offer

Notice that he offers (at least at the time of writing this post) a session. This is something to entice leads to contact him. I also like that he attributes a value to the offer ($175). The only thing I don’t like is that it costs him time whenever a prospect contacts him. Whether it’s worth making this offer depends on how many of these inquiries he gets. Also, if he’s mart he offers more of a “what to do” session for the freebie and then sells them on signing up for more to get the “how to”.

I’m not saying that the free session shouldn’t offer valuable info, just that you have to structure it right to get maximum conversion of new paying clients. I do this with new podcast consulting clients. I give them a free evaluation of what they need done and by the end of the conversation they just want to hire me to make it happen.

This post is in: Recommended Resources, Traffic Generation

9 Comments Leave a Comment


I’ve been a fan for awhile, so I decided to dedicate a blog post to publish a review of your podcast. Ya’ll have also convinced me to buy GTD because it sounds exactly like what I need to get my stuff in order.
Thanks for what you do, and I’m looking forward to the next episode.


Hi Guys,

I’m a fan too. I wanted to trackback to the GTD article, but couldn’t do it. Is it me or you ?

love the show.


I am new to podcasting, but I swear you once had streaming audio on the site. No more?

Thanks.


Trevor,

We still have podcasts with streaming on the site. We have just started blogging as well. If you look through the archives you will still see posts with streaming audio. Thanks for listening.


Hello Jay,

I heard you talking on a recent podcast about the many administrative tasks taking up too much of your time and not allowing you to focus on being the ‘manager’ of your business instead of the ‘technician’.

You mentioned hiring a VA (virtual assistant) to relieve you of these administrative tasks. I heard about AssistU about 10 years ago when I was doing some research on telecommuting. I’ve watched them over the years and also watched this industry grow. I decided to join the VTP (virtual training program) late last year as it was the best program I could find.

I’ve put some links below to the home page of AssistU and a link to information a potential client would want to know about an AssistU-trained VA. There is also a link to the International Association of VAs for you as well.

I invite you to take a look and see if a VA is right for you.

I’ve enjoyed your podcasts and hope to start listening/reading to others you have recommended.

Best Regards,
Lynn

http://assistu.com/
http://assistu.com/client/client_why.shtml
http://www.iavoa.com/


Lynn,

Thanks for the information. I’ll take a look at those links.

Jay


Thanks for the plug and the analysis!

The great thing about the checklist I made is that it took off without any marketing whatsoever on my part. I had intended to make it into an offering in the future, but the internet waits for no one!! :)

And yes, there could be more and there will be more on the way with the checklist. I’ve been working on creating more killer content and a better marketing strategy to offer more value to people while benefitting me.

I disagree with withholding 50 of the checklist points though. Net people want information to be free, so my strategy is give away my best information for free, but then help people who want to go further and actually implement it with more detailed courses, 1-on-1 coaching, etc.

Happy Productivity!

~Duff


@Duff,

Yes many “net” people want info to be free, but are the people who wouldn’t give you an email to get the other 50 tips the people that will become clients….probably not.

Ultimately, you want to attract people will do business with you. Even with 50 free tips, you are providing HUGE value up front. The people who will become your clients will be more than happy to give you an email address in order to get the other 50 tips. The first half of your list is more than enough to prove your value and the value of your info. Is your goal to attract as many “net” people as you can or is it to attract customers. The people who think “everything online should be free” are not the ones that you want on your list.
Jason


Hello everybody, my name is Damion, and I’m glad to join your conmunity,
and wish to assit as far as possible.

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