If you’re reading this any later than Thursday 10th March, the chances are the links below won’t work – but hopefully the case study still makes sense.

A couple of days ago in my post on Obliquity and the Branson Effect I mentioned that Greg Habstritt was launching an online training product called the Authority Formula.

Given that one of the main things I talk about is Authority Marketing and establishing yourself as an authority in your field, in some ways this product could be seen as a competitor to my services. So I decided to take a look behind the scenes a little.

I signed up as an affiliate (which means that if anyone buys Greg’s product after coming to it from a link on my site, I get paid a commission) and that allowed me to get updates on what’s going on with the launch.

The launch consists of 4 videos in sequence. It’s what’s known as a “sideways sales letter”. Instead of a normal long sales letter where you read down it to find out about the product, what it can do for you and eventually how much it costs – the sideways sales letter scrolls “in time”.

So in other words the first part that would be in a sales letter is in the first video – essentially grabbing your attention and warming you up. The next videos give a bit of insight into the things you’ll be learning. Then the final video lays out the full program and eventually shows the price. Each video is released a few days after the previous one.

It’s a neat way of doing things. Instead of forcing people to read a humongous long sales pitch – you drip feed it over time – rather like you would if you were building a relationship face to face. It’s the way most high end products in the Internet Marketing field are sold online these days – and it’s being increasingly used in other markets. There’s no reason why it can’t be used to launch consulting, coaching or other service products.

Of course, it relies on people being willing to come back and watch each video in succession. That means each video has to be valuable in and of itself. If the content is weak – you won’t come back for the next one. But if the content is good, not only will you keep coming back, it will build your desire for the product and your confidence in its quality.

And it generates “buzz”. If people find the videos useful they’ll tweet them or mention them to their friends. It’s no coincidence that there’s a comment system below each video that allows people to comment on Facebook about the videos.

And since you hand over your email address in return for access to the content and to get reminders when the next video is available, it also builds the email list of the person doing the launch. So even if you don’t buy anything now, if the content was high quality, you may well buy something in future.

So the question is: how good is the content in the Authority Formula launch.

My assesment is “not bad at all”.

It’s not groundbreaking or revolutionary if you’ve been in the marketing field for a while. But as I’ve said before – it’s not silver bullets that drive success in marketing – it’s the simple things done consistently well. What Greg covers in the videos, he covers well.

Video 1 is “The Branson Effect” (click here to see it). It’s an introduction to Authority, why it’s important – and the importance of focusing on an area you have a passion for if you want to become an authority. For me, this is a core principle. It’s only by having passion for something that you’ll have the dedication to put in the time to become an expert at it.

Video 2 is “The Million Dollar Multiplier” (click here to see it). It talks about what it takes to become an authority, and about how to communicate what you do in a way that resonates with potential clients. This is a very simple principle that’s been covered many time in marketing courses – but so many businesses get wrong. Greg teaches it well.

Video 3 ia “Your Biggest Questions” (click here to see it). Literally a fireside chat with Greg where he answers questions people have asked in comments to the previous videos about Authority.

Video 4 is “The Blueprint Revealed” (click here to see it). Where Greg goes through in detail what’s in his Authority Forumula Blueprint. I really liked this video – it showed me all the things he believes you need to do – from getting your mindset right to your market positioning to building your perceived authority ro packaging and promoting your services. It’s really comprehensive and looking through this highlighted some gaps in my own marketing. So well worth looking at.

There are associated PDFs and online tools with each module. You’ll probably have to “opt-in” by giving yoru email address to get access to the videos.

Please note – the shopping cart to buy the product will go live on Thursday – and at that point the videos will be taken down – so if you want to watch them you need to head across to the site now.

So overall I’m impressed – and a little jealous as I was thinking of developing my own Authority Marketing product later this year.

Now I can’t vouch for the actual training product itself as I haven’t seen it (my inside affiliate status didn’t get me that, sadly). But the launch materials are excellent, easy to understand, and well targeted at professionals and entrepreneurs who want to use a strategy of building their authority in their marketplace to succeed.

More importantly – this is a good case study to learn from. There’s no reason why new consulting, coaching or other professional services can’t be launched in this way. By creating high value previews you can build up excitement and buzz about your new service – while building your own credibility in the process.