“Start to Profit” – A Success Story

Guest Post by Erin aka NetKickStart

First, I'd like to thank Lynn for inviting me to tell the story of RAP Bank with you. We had the chance to meet in Atlanta earlier this year, and she's a wonderfully down to earth person who clearly cares about each and every one of us.

I say us, because I've been a long-time follower myself and more recently joined her Elite Member roster, many of whom I also met at NAMS.

Perhaps the primary lesson, and indeed the way Lynn does it herself, is to take a project from "start to profit". This slogan of hers is a constant reminder to remain vigilant, put on the blinders, and see things through to their natural conclusion...

And so, having arrived at the P for RAP Bank, I thought it'd be fun to have a look at the S and the long, hard, journey in between. Which isn't to say our work is done. Not at all, but in tech-speak, the proof of concept has done just that.

It's a Go, big time. 🙂

It all started a couple years ago with my purchase of Rapid Action Profits (RAP). {cue the wavy lines} I'd just completed my vegan cookbook, and after a few months using a hosted solution was ready to step it up and offer my affiliates instant commissions. Now, instead of waiting until the end of the month, my affiliates could see the results of their promotions immediately - every other sale would go directly into their PayPal accounts!

I had no idea I'd soon be creating add-ons for RAP. As a programmer by education and trade, my own customizations to the software turned out to be useful and salable to others as well. In February '09, I was one of the tens of thousands laid off by Corporate America. Rather than seeking to return to the fold, I've stubbornly pursued my entrepreneurial dreams, and in Atlanta, after countless hours on the phone and Skype in the intervening year, I finally met the man himself, Sid Hale, creator of RAP. A very smart marketer and an all-around good guy.

So, that's a little of my story as a solo software developer. Somewhere along the way, the one I actually set out to tell begins. I had written a WordPress plugin designed to interface with one of the most well-known of the RAP Addons, Membership Plus, and wanted to have the author, Bill Ortell's imprimatur. We got to chatting on the phone and haven't stopped since! LOL. Thus began the business partnership that's seen several other monster addons and now RAP Bank.

The core users of RAP form a fairly tight-knit community. The support we all give each other and any new folks in the forums and on Skype are unrivaled for a software product. One thing that's always been missing though, as much as everyone tries to keep each other in the loop about new promotions, is a single location to go to where all such instant commission products can be found, compared, shared, etc.. This is especially important for product owners and affiliates in the non-IM niches.

As Bill and I talked, we soon discovered that each of us had envisioned creating such a marketplace (indeed, I'd long ago purchased the domain name with this idea in mind), but the task was monumental, too much for one person, and we'd both seen others fail in their attempts. With ideas flowing and excitement renewed by a strong partnership, we decided to tackle it once and for all. We cleared our plates and double-mindedly put all our energies into the half year coding frenzy that followed.

These were hard months, as no new income streams were being created during this time, and we both had to go on faith that it would be as well-received as we all thought (we communicated regularly with Sid and later, as the beta itself was launched on March 5th, 2010, with other big name marketers, most of whom approached US).

The official launch was April 1st, and it was no joke. By then we already had 1800 members and several hundred products, and both numbers continue to climb at a steady pace. One of the many reasons for this success and quick adoption was how easy we made it for RAP owners to get their products listed on RAP Bank. We designed a free addon that makes it push-button simple to automatically have all the products on a domain pulled into RAP Bank where the owner can further categorize, add images, and rewrite the descriptions, as they wish.

And for affiliates, we made the entire marketplace, and any page therein, cookie-able. So, you could send someone to a list of products by category or even by search term, and if they go on to purchase, you'd get credit for the referred sale on the vendor's site. Furthermore, if they register with RAP Bank on your recommendation, you are locked in as their "sponsor" so no matter how long it takes for them to upgrade, even with others referring them in the meantime, you get credit for that recurring membership (or any of the other RAP Bank label products or services).

We continue to improve, enhance, and add features daily to the already long list. In fact, just one week into April, we added a viral twist to our official WordPress plugin, and in so doing found it better for everyone to remove the $47 price tag and make it completely free via a click-sharing model.

There are more great things to come; our list is jam-packed. The response has been amazing, and it's clear now the sacrifice was worth it. Lynn's message of focusing on single project completion has borne fruit for me, and it can for you too...

Erin, http://netkickstart.com