Failure is the opportunity?

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again, only this time more intelligently.”

Henry Ford said that.  And sure it makes sense, but there is something in that quote that is implied, yet not spoken.

That is to say that it hints at a frustration in failing.  Something that you have to fight against. 

Something that you have to be mindful of to stay motivated.

If not, then why would the quote even exist.

Ford is telling us first that when we try again, we have to learn from our mistakes, but he’s also telling us…

…that we have to try again.  Don’t lose hope.

And it’s a great quote.  But it’s hard when you fail a lot at anything.  Online business and marketing are no different.

Paid content and digital products are no different. 

And when you are first getting started, or even if you have been at it for years but have had very little success…

…it can be extremely frustrating.

It’s a lot of work to put a digital product together.  

You have to come up with a USP, create the product itself, build a sales funnel, write a sales letter, and some promotional content…

…a lot of moving parts.  And if you get little to no sales?  Well that can be pretty darn frustrating.

Failure is not fun.  Testing and not getting the result you are looking for is not fun.  Experimenting is only fun when you win.

And when people try and try again, they can find themselves in this kind of cycle of failure.

But what if I told you that there were frameworks for digital products that significantly increased your chances of getting more sales and making your paid content almost irresistible to people.

Let’s imagine for a moment that when you launch a digital product, you have a 50/50 chance of getting the kind of sales you desire. 

What I’m talking about is increasing those odds to 90/10.

I’m talking about significantly increasing your chances of getting sales, just based on the kind of products that you are creating.

ANd listen…

…Below, we are going to be getting into these frameworks.  They are repeatable.  They are easy.  And they are proven to generate success.

They are CYCLE breakers!  The failure cycle that is.

So buckle up, Buttercup. 

The first Cycle Breaker…

I want to talk to you about a special kind of product that you can create that will increase your chances exponentially of getting sales. 

It’s what I spoke to you about previously.

A Cycle Breaker product.  That is to say the kind of product that BREAKS the cycle of failure just by its very nature.

I have 12 of them I want to talk to you about over the next several sections, but today I want to talk with you about just one.

This is “The From Scratch” product framework.  And I bet you’ve seen this style of product before. 

Heck you have probably even purchased a few products like this.

Not only that but I bet you have consumed some free content that follows this same premise.

So what is it?  How does it work?  How do you create it?

Cycle Breaker 1: The From Scratch

Well it’s pretty simple.

With “The From Scratch” product framework you simply pose the question:

What if I had NO [enter niche relates resources here]?  How would I [enter goal you wish to accomplish here]

An example:

What if I had no resources, no list, no money, no network, no help of any kind?  How would I start a new business?

Another example:

What if I had no access to a gym, no extra money, no equipment and nothing but a Walmart to shop at?  How much weight can I lose in 30 days?

A third example:

What if I got dropped off at a town I’ve never been, in a foreign country, where I didn’t speak the language?  How would I go about getting a girlfriend in less than a month?

So in all three of these examples you see the basic structure of “The From Scratch.”  You are taking a particular problem that many people in your niche struggle with…

…you remove all your resources…

…and you show them how you would go about solving that particular problem.

Why does this increase your sales, just by its very nature?

The product is promising not to teach people directly, but instead SHOW them what you did.

Not only that, but the product also removes any advantages that you might have over your prospects. 

This makes them feel like they are going to watch you do something that they should be able to replicate as well.

Finally, this product produces spectacle. 

When you start removing things that generally people like to have when they are going to overcome that problem…you get people’s attention.

And the best part about this Cycle Breaker, which is something it has in common with ALL the Cycle Breaker frameworks, is that it is repeatable. 

You can easily revisit this “From Scratch” premise often.

Not only can you solve multiple problems using it, but you can revisit the SAME problems year after year. 

The reason why is because things change.  Tools change.  The internet changes.  Problems can change.

Also keep in mind this can be adapted easily for FREE content.  Consider the Discovery Channel’s show, Undercover Billionaire.  In season 2 of that show…

…I saw Grant Cardone bet 1 MILLION Bucks that he could build a million dollar business in 90 days with nothing but $100 and a truck.

That is the From Scratch Cycle Breaker formula in a nutshell.  Adapted for a television show.

You can use this to get more sales. 

Watch me…

SO yesterday I was telling you about the “From Scratch” product framework. 

I explained it to you, told you why it works, and why it’s so powerful at increasing sales.

Today I want to add to your Cycle Breaker Toolbox though.  What’s the second framework?

Cycle Breaker 2: The Case Study

The Case Study product provides over-the-shoulder, verifiable proof that you did something that works to solve a particular problem, and not only that…

…it gives a step by step demonstration.

With this framework you are “showing” not just teaching.  The promise is that they are going to see YOU accomplish it, not just hear you talking about it.

And believe it or not this style of product doesn’t just have to be video.  It can also be done via a written report. 

Generally it is accompanied with lots of screenshots.

And I have even seen it done via audio.  With audio, descriptive detail is necessary.  Think storytelling here.  You are walking them through a story. 

Step by step what you did, problems along the way, etc.

The bottom line with The Case Study is this promise of showing people NOT how to do something BUT how YOU did something and the result YOU achieve from doing it.

Now does this style of product take longer than just banging out a quick special report on a subject?  Sure it does. 

YOu actually have to take the trouble of DOING the thing.

The exception to that is if you convey something you have already done. 

If you can walk people through something you have already done, then you are not only saving time, but still getting that “cycle breaker” benefit…

…of having a product that is extremely captivating.

I know a marketer who was going to run an affiliate marketing promotion a while back. 

He decided to record everything he did for the affiliate promotion.  Including his final results.

Then he released that affiliate promotion as a video case study style product.  It did extremely well.  People loved it.  And it was easy for him to do. 

He was already going to do the affiliate promotion.

He just had to record what he was doing.  People love this In-the-trenches style of case study and often they are the easiest to make.

So think about it.  Do you have a few case studies that YOU could do?

Outsourcing Results

The next product framework I want to talk to you about is extra special.  Not because it’s something sneaky that you haven’t heard of. 

In fact, I bet most of these cycle breaker frameworks…

…you might have heard of, but you just didn’t realize why they were so powerful.

But this next one is extra special because it allows you the power to create a product about whatever subject you like, whether you are an expert or not.

That’s right, I’m talking about being able to outsource experience.  So what are we talking about here?

Cycle Breaker 3: The Interview Product

With the interview product, you come up with the problem you want to solve in your niche, and you interview an expert or multiple experts about it.

I knew a guy who ran a Youtube channel called “Mike From Maine.”  And his whole thing was doing interviews on his channel. 

He liked to interview digital product launchers about the products they were releasing.

Well after a while, he decided he was going to launch his OWN digital product.  And do you know what he did?

He released a product with about 10 interviews in it, all product launchers teaching their secrets of product launching.

On his sales page he could easily talk about big time results, because he was basing that off of results that the people he was interviewing had gotten.

The product was great, and it came from someone who had never launched before as far as I am aware.

Imagine that.  Someone who had never done a particular thing, selling a product about that particular thing, and providing REAL value on the subject.

That’s the power of the Interview product.

ANd it doesn’t have to be 10 interviews.  I’ve seen people just do 1 interview and package that up into a product.

The key here is that the focus is on the problem solved, NOT on the person solving it. 

This is different from celebrity interviews that you might do because you know someone’s name will attract people.

These interviews focus on the experience and the expertise of solving a particular problem.  So remember…

…the names don’t matter.  The results that they have achieved are what matters.

How do you find these experts?  How do you approach them?

Well you look for the major players within your niche.

You look on Amazon for the people who have wrote books about the problem you have chosen to solve with your product.

You look on Youtube for people who have recorded videos about this problem and how to solve it.

You email them and ask them if you can interview them about the problem. 

Let them know that it’s for a product, so it will be in front of buyers, offer them the ability to promote what they like during the interview.

Everybody who is trying to grow a business on the internet is interested in exposure.  So getting these interviews can be easier than you think.

Another thing you can offer is 100% affiliate commissions on sales they generate if they are interested in promoting.

I could go much deeper into this subject but it might be beyond the scope of this email. 

The point here is that The Interview product framework is a tried and true way to create products on whatever subject you like…

…and to be able to outsource the results. 

And when you can talk about those results on your sales page, it’s going to increase the curiosity, the captivation, and the interest in your product.

And sadly, that’s where we will bring this one to a close for today.  Think about this one and consider taking action. 

Interviews might be outside of your comfort zone…

…but you need to understand something.  Getting to the next level of success will ALWAYS take you outside of your comfort zone. 

You need to get comfortable outside of your comfort zone, if you want to win.

A new hotness…

As I write this to you, the internet is ablaze with chatter of artificial intelligence.  Everyone is talking about it, everyone is interested in it. 

They are either interested in it because of opportunity, or because of fear.

But regardless, it’s been that way for the last couple of years now.

We are in the midst of a bonafide A.I. revolution, and rest assured it IS the conversation that is happening in people’s minds.

So it is always easier to enter the conversation that is already happening in someone’s mind, than to try to shift their focus to something else. 

That being said…

…I want to tell you about the next Cycle Breaker product framework.

Cycle Breaker 4: The Let A.I. Guide Me

This product documents the journey of achieving a specific goal by precisely following A.I. generated, step by step instructions. 

You are essentially letting A.I. tell you how to solve a problem…

…and then recording what happens.

This kind of product is a cycle breaker because it already has a built in interest for people. 

They find it captivating that you are using A.I. to solve this problem.

Why?  Because THEY too can use A.I.  It’s kind of another version of the “easy” button.  And they are already thinking about A.I.

Also, it implies simplified execution. 

Having this artificial intelligence tell you what to do, takes away the burden of worrying about whether or not you have the steps correct.

You just do what it says.  And the problem should get solved.  No different than flipping a burger at your local Burger King, right?

That’s the draw.  That’s why it’s captivating.   They want to know if it would actually work for someone before they try it.

This is essentially a case study product with an A.I. twist to it.

Example A.I. prompt:

I’m going to do an email list-building challenge where I start from zero subscribers with no existing audience or assets, and my goal is to build a high-quality email list. You will be deciding every step to get there. I will do as you say. First of all, you need to pick my niche, target audience, and the platform I should start on.

Now anyone can enter the above prompt into Chat GPT and get some marching instructions from the LLM. 

After that, you just do what it says, record it, and turn it into a case study product.

Imagine the headline on your sales page:

A.I. just told me exactly how to build my email list!  The results were outstanding!  I recorded everything.  Follow over my shoulder while I show you what happened!

Maybe that could use some work, but you get the point.  It’s captivating.  You can use something like this for any problem in your niche.  Give it a try and see what you think.

Immersion and the double dip…

The next cycle breaker that I want to talk with you about is great because it allows you to “double dip” so to speak. 

Let me explain what it is, then I’ll explain the “double dip.”

Cycle Breaker 5: The Live-Immersion

With the Live-Immersion framework, what you are doing is having your customers get tangible results right there with you. 

So it would be like a live workshop or a sprint…

…where you have a defined amount of time.  Maybe that’s a week, maybe it’s 12 weeks, maybe it’s 3 days. 

And you have a very specific goal you are trying to help them achieve by the end.

Example:

The 12-Week Continuity Workshop.  After these 12 weeks you WILL have a working membership club with paying customers!

Another example:

The 3-Day List Building Challenge.  By the end of this challenge you will have started your email list, and be well on your way to growing it exponentially.

The Live-Immersion works because it is making a promise to solve someone’s problem.  A hand-holding type of promise. 

That can be a very powerful thing…

…especially to people who have experienced failure trying to solve this problem before.

I know marketers who ONLY do this style of “live workshop” exclusively.

It’s a great framework because once you have done the workshop, you can sell the replays as a course…and THAT is the double dip. 

You don’t just get paid from the workshop…

…but you also make money sustainably from the sale of the replays, which have value for months and even years into the future.

About shock and awe…

The military has this strategy known as “shock and awe” in which they use overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force with the intention of leaving an enemy…

…unable to react effectively or execute a counteroffensive.

But that has been adapted for marketing as well.  And in marketing it is very similar.

Much like the military, with business, the shock and awe strategy revolves around using a powerful, memorable, and often unconventional approach to capture attention and create a lasting impression.

The aim is to overwhelm the audience with a positive experience and make the brand stand out from competitors.  And you might wonder…

“But how can I do that?”

And that leads us into our 6th Cycle Breaker product framework…

Cycle Breaker 6: The Toolbox 

One way to create shock and awe with your prospects is to create a product that would essentially produce many resources. 

It appeals to their utilitarian sense of value.

But what kind of things go in a tool box?

You already know the answer.  Anything useful to people trying to solve the problem your product is supposed to help them solve.

For example:

The Paid Ad Toolbox: 50 Proven Facebook Ad Templates, 25 Proven Viral TikTok Video templates, and 25 YouTube Shorts Scripts, all PROVEN to generate attention and GET you NOTICED!

Another example:

The Side Hustler’s Bag of PLR Tricks: 200 pieces of PLR in 25 different niches!

In both of these examples I am using big numbers to attract people.

Multiple solutions for one problem.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but people underestimate its effectiveness. 

The main thing you need to do here is to figure out what number is going to actually “shock and awe” people.

It’s different for everything.  That is a matter of perceived value, and it will be up to you to figure that out.

But this one comes together quickly, especially if you are using PLR resources, and works great to get you some sales.

2 by 2…

Cycle Breaker 7: The Ultimate Shortcut 

With this style of product, what you want to do is think about your niche and a specific problem in that niche. 

Then you identify the one most impactful action, principle, or “80/20” strategy that will get your prospects the most RAPID results possible.

You proceed to then build your product around that one idea.

Example:

The Ultimate List Building Shortcut:  One single tactic that you can start implementing today to start building your list within the hour!

Another example:

The Great Money Hack of 2025:  How I earned an extra $2,000 a month just by adding one under the radar free online tool to my business!

Okay, you get it.  It’s all about isolating one very important tactic that will help people get results.

Cycle Breaker 8: Proof In Advance 

With this one you create a free or low-ticket product that delivers a tangible “mini-win” or demonstrates a core principle to the customer BEFORE they make a purchase or a larger purchase.

The win will build trust through direct experience.

Example:

How to Get Your First Affiliate Marketing Sale Today!

Another Example:

Need to build an email list?  I’ll show you how to get your first 10 leads in the next 10 minutes!

Okay, that’s two more very powerful cycle breakers, effective because they both promise very quick results to problems that people in your market are facing.

Another 2 for you…

Well we are truly moving right along now.  We covered two powerful cycle breaker product frameworks yesterday…

…and I have two more of them for you today.  SO without me rambling on too much, let’s get right into it.

Cycle Breaker 9: The Reverse Engineer

With this one you deconstruct a publicly proven success to reveal the underlying principles, strategies, and “why” behind its effectiveness.

You will be offering ACTIONABLE blueprints from existing wins.

Now keep in mind this doesn’t have to be from your own personal successes. 

You can study other businesses, and analyse where and how they succeeded.

This kind of product can benefit from the brand recognition of the product or business that is being reverse engineered.

Example:

How These 5 Companies went from ZERO to a MIllion Dollars in less than 12 months!

Another Example:

This Lazy Woman Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Days Without Lifting a Finger:  A Complete Step by Step Blueprint!

Okay, moving on…

Cycle Breaker 10: The Common Mistakes

This one, like many of these Cycle Breakers, is very straight-forward and yet because of that people underestimate its effectiveness.

What you do with the Common Mistakes product framework is take the most common mistakes people are having in your niche or in your particular email list, and solve those in the product.

I know a marketer who asked his email list what their number one problem was, trying to start an online business.  He got hundreds of replies. 

He tallied up all the responses and came up with a list of 13 problems that kept…

…coming up over and over again. 

He took those 13 problems and wrote a physical book called 13 Obstacles and proceeded to sell it to his email list at $150.  Limited edition.

That was an amazing success for him but it was grounded in the idea of solving the specific problems that his market was already talking about.

Example:

Thirteen Obstacles: 13 MAJOR REASONS PEOPLE COULD NOT ACHIEVE ONLINE SUCCESS AND HOW TO FIX THEM!

Another Example:

SUDDEN IMPACT:  The 10 Biggest Reasons People Struggle to Lose Weight and How to Overcome Them TODAY!

Alright, that’s 2 more cycle breakers for you.   But we aren’t done yet.  I still have more. 

Early movers and shakers…

Have you ever felt like you were late to the party? 

Like maybe if you just would have gotten started with something earlier, or invested in something on the “ground floor” then everything would have been perfect…

…but you waited too long.  If you’ve felt that way, trust me, it’s totally normal.  Everybody has felt that way at some point or another in their life.

And it produces in us a desire to know about the newest opportunities.  The secret ingredients that nobody else knows about yet. 

We’ve all heard the stories of this person or that person getting in on the ground floor…

…lucky break just right there at the beginning of something, and BOOM now they are a QUADRILLIONAIRE! (kidding) but you get it. 

We’ve all heard those stories.

And that’s why the next cycle breaker I want to talk to you about is so powerful…

Cycle Breaker 11: The Platform Potential

With the Platform Potential, you are going to be revealing a specific, emerging, or under-the-radar online platform or resource with untapped potential for producing a desired result.

This cycle breaker is leveraging curiosity and the desire for an “early mover” advantage.

Example of what I’m talking about:

Fat Stacks: The New Online Wealth Formula Nobody Knows About!

(This is a title to a product that was about Substack at a time where it was growing fast and had 11 million visitors a month.  As of this writing a few years later, Substack currently gets over a 100 million visitors a month.  SO the opportunity was in a growing platform that people could take advantage of for traffic, list building, and multiple ways to monetize.)

Keep in mind that with the Platform Potential the trick is to not reveal too much on the sales page. 

The sales page needs to be fairly blind for this to work.

The SECRET is generally the platform or resource itself and how to use it. 

So with your sales page you talk about what it can do for them, you talk exposition, you talk about benefits but you don’t reveal WHAT it is exactly.

Another example:

Free Resource that Will Make Just About Any Marketing Graphic You Need in Minutes!  From E-Covers to Banners.  Make it Look Professional FAST at NO CHARGE!

The above persuasive bullet is speaking about Canva.  A free online graphic design tool that anyone can use.

Now would creating a product around Canva work as a Platform Potential product?

Not in the internet marketing niche it couldn’t.  It’s too widely known.  Everybody uses it. 

But it might be in some other niche, where creating graphics is important and the market is not quite as sophisticated.

And let me be clear here.  I am referring to the Eugene Schwartz definition of market sophistication here. 

I’m talking about that level of “buyer awareness” in the marketplace.

But you get it.  And let me tell you something.  This particular Cycle Breaker…

…you could literally run your business on the back of nothing but this.  The Secret’s Business.  Many have before and many will again.

Unaliving the sacred cow…

sacred cow (noun) – an idea, custom, or institution held, especially unreasonably, to be above criticism (with reference to the Hindus’ respect for the cow as a sacred animal).

When you are being ignored by the general masses in your market, one of the single greatest things you can do to grab some attention is to “kill” a sacred cow.

Let me explain.  Every market…every niche…has beliefs that are consensus.  Widely held ideas that most people believe to be true about a niche.

Things like, “the money is in the list” or “content is king.”  A few more…

“More traffic = more sales.” or “You must post daily on social media.”

These are widely held beliefs in the internet marketing niche.  Every niche has them. 

And if you start putting out an opinion that goes against that widely held belief…

You are going to get more attention.

So how does that idea translate to a Cycle Breaker product framework?

Cycle Breaker 12: The Non-Consensus Stance

With the Non-Consensus Stance you are presenting a collection of contrarian views and actionable steps in a product form that challenge conventional wisdom in a niche.

It draws attention through its polarization of a known problem and railing against traditional means of solving said problem.

The key here is to not be “non-consensus” for the sake of being non-consensus. 

You really need to believe in the things you are saying, and they really need to work.

Example:

When You Should FORGET ABOUT Building an Email List!

The above headline would be a great way to begin a piece of content about knowing your target market. 

Because if you DON’T know your target market, building the email list would be worthless.

Example 2:

How To SPAM Your Email List Multiple Times a Day and Have Them Begging For More!

In this above example, I’m talking about spamming an email list.  That’s not really looked upon highly in many marketing circles.

However, if you write engaging emails that get people’s attention and create impact, I know for a fact that they will look forward to your emails, no matter how much you are mailing them.

So again, it’s an example of having this non-consensus opinion on a subject that kind of has a bunch of “sacred cows.” 

Don’’t be afraid to kill the sacred cows.  Just be genuine about it.

So what happened?

A Brief Recap Of Our 12 Cycle Breakers

Cycle Breaker 1: The From Scratch

Cycle Breaker 2: The Case Study

Cycle Breaker 3: The Interview Product

Cycle Breaker 4: The Let A.I. Guide Me

Cycle Breaker 5: The Live-Immersion

Cycle Breaker 6: The Toolbox

Cycle Breaker 7: The Ultimate Shortcut

Cycle Breaker 8: Proof In Advance

Cycle Breaker 9: The Reverse Engineer

Cycle Breaker 10: The Common Mistakes

Cycle Breaker 11: The Platform Potential

Cycle Breaker 12: The Non-Consensus Stance

Woah…that’s a lot covered there.  Remember, these are frameworks for content. 

Whether you choose to make that content paid or free, these cycle breakers are adaptable and powerful.

Good times…

I’ll tell you when it came to deciding which of these powerful frameworks to talk to you about over these last 13 items, I had trouble choosing. 

But ultimately these 12 we went over together are perfect…

…and sharing them with you had me as excited as a bee in a flower shop!  ANd let me be honest here…I did tone down that little simile there.

Bee in a flower shop?  Naaa…what I wanted to say was a fat kid in a candy store, but I thought I might offend you, lol.

Anyways, the point is I was glad to share them with you and I hope they help.  But now the message that I need to tell you.

The important part.

It’s actually pretty simple.  These content frameworks have been responsible for making many people millions of dollars.  Billions in some cases. 

That is how much power they contain.

And the information I shared with you, while it might be good…

…is useless without action.  Just as action without knowledge can be pointless, learning without action is equally hopeless.

You must execute.  That is the bottom line.  Nobody can pull the power out of these Cycle Breakers for you. 

It’s all coming down to you and you alone to take action.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said something that I think about often.  He said:

Do the thing, and you will have the power.  – R.W. Emerson

And over the years, that has served me very well.  So don’t read this and move on.  Print this report out, make a plan and get into it!