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PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION -- for V3.2 of RAP

INTRODUCTION

1.0 GETTING STARTED   Now over 40 pages long!

1.0.1 Planning your site
1.0.2 Installing RAP
1.0.3 Configuring RAP
1.0.4 Creating One Or More Product Definitions
1.0.5 Structuring Your Site
1.0.6 Embellishing Your Site
1.0.7 Inviting Affiliates and/or JV Partners
1.0.8 Traffic Issues 1.0.8.1 Affiliate Redirects
1.0.8.2 What about your own redirects?
1.1 Planning your site
1.1.1 What more does RAP offer?
1.1.2 What Goes In The Document Root? (new for V3.2)
1.2 Embellishing Your Site
1.2.1 How RAP Works
1.2.2 RAP Template Files
1.2.3. WYSIWYG Editing Challenges
1.2.3.1 How To Get Around Salespage Editing Problems (new for V3.2)
1.2.3.2. Template Variables
1.2.3.3. Image Locations
1.3 RAP's Template Structure

2.0 MULTI-PRODUCT AND PRODUCT-UPGRADE OPTIONS
2.1. DOWN-SELLS
2.1.1. EXAMPLES

3.0 PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL SALES OPTIONS
3.1 MULTIPLE SALES OPTION
3.2 WHAT TO EXPECT?
3.3 EXAMPLES
3.4 LEVERAGING A MEMBERSHIP (new for V3.2)
3.5 HOSTED RESELLERS (new for V3.2)

4.0 MAGICAL AFFILIATE LINKS
4.0.1 Background
4.1 A Problem Lurking In Ebook Paradise
4.2 The Solution
4.2.1 Use One Common Domain
4.2.2 Install RAP and Configure It To Use Shared Affiliates
4.2.3 Install Each Product
4.2.4 Set Up A Product As “My Catalog”
4.2.5 Install Redirect Script Into Your Root Folder
4.2.5.1 Do You Want To Capture Their Contact Info?
4.2.5.2 What About A Back-End (OTO)?
4.2.6 Use Unique Domain Names Forwarded To Your Products
4.2.7 Visitors Must Register As Affiliates
4.2.7.1 How Do They Get Registered
4.3 Further Promotional Options

5.0 REPLICATING WEB SITES

6.0. BASIC SALES MODELS
6.1. BASIC EBAY SELLER
6.2. BACK-END MEGA-HITTER
6.3. $7 SECRETS BASIC MODEL
6.4. $7 SECRETS + OTO
6.5. TRADITIONAL INFO PRODUCT

7.0 PROFITING FROM GROUP PROJECTS (new for V3.2)

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

This ebook evolved from a short report that explained how I addressed a specific problem for a client using the Rapid Action Profits (RAP) sales script.  This problem required an innovative solution for handling affiliate sales that seemed like it should be possible, although it was anything but obvious.

I figured it out and documented it so others could benefit from it.  Then I started to get questions from readers asking, “Will it work thisaway” or with some different criteria, products, or assumptions.  After a while, a whole new set of patterns began to emerge in my thinking about how to configure RAP to deal with different situations.

So I decided to expand that initial report to encompass the larger patterns now obvious to me.  In the process, I hope that they’ll help you configure a web site that can best fit your particular needs.

I cover some basics just to be sure everybody is on the same page, such as installation.

In case you might be wondering, this is not intended to replace or even have much overlap with the RAP User’s Guide.  Here’s an analogy:

Consider buying a bicycle.  There’s a User’s Manual you get with your bicycle.  It talks about setting it up, caring for it, and it may even have a few basic suggestions on what to do with it.  But if you think about some of the applications where you could use a bike, you’ll end up with quite a list.  Here are some I thought up in just a few minutes:

• Riding for fun

• Riding for exercise

• Commuting to work or school

• Around-the-block vs. across town

• Cross-country rides

• Racing on asphalt

• Racing on dirt paths

• Racing in forested areas

• Riding in moist, humid, and rainy environments

• Riding in snow

• Riding in summer heat

• Motocross-style riding

You can probably double the size of this list without much trouble.  The thing to notice is that you'll never find a "User's Manual" that comes with a bicycle that covers all of these topics.  Yet any given bicycle rider is virtually guaranteed to be interested and/or involved in two or more of these particular applications -- that is, how they use their bike.

Now, think of a script like RAP in this manner.  RAP is a script that falls within an ill-defined category of products that can be roughly described as shopping carts.  It has the following properties:

• Single sales page

• Opt-in form (optional)

• Buy-now button(s)

• Integrated payment processing

• Various options for up-sells, down-sells, and cross-sales

• Direct and immediate protected fulfillment of a digital downloadable product

• Support for affiliates and immediate affiliate payments

• Tell-A-Friend forms

• Direct support of multiple products on the same domain

It also supports four independent ways of allocating payments:

• Affiliate commission rates

• JV Partner commission rates

• Support for both 1-tier and 2-tier commissions (separate rates)

• Equity Partners (up to two)

And there's even a wild-card function in it: Shared Affiliates

All of these different options are like buying a bicycle that comes with 47 different accessories to adapt it for any imaginable situation and environment.  But, sadly, the RAP User's Guide merely discusses what these features are, how they work, and any rules that apply to them.  It gives little information on HOW TO USE THEM -- that is, how they fit into a bigger picture.  How to apply RAP is left up to you.

I've written this book to begin to address this larger issue, and I'll expand it as RAP evolves and more application patterns turn up.

Most of what's covered in here requires that you set various options in a specific way.  If you're not sure what the options are or where they're found, please refer to the RAP User's Guide.

I’ll include small screen snapshots here and there, but it'll work best if you learn your way around the rap_admin pages.  If I'm teaching you to drive in your car and I say "slow down", it doesn't work very well if you need me to explain what the brake pedal is, where it's located, which foot to use, and how to apply pressure, every time I want you to slow down.  Similarly, when I say something like add a product to your RAP siteI'm not going to go through the litany of things needed to do that.  I'll just refer to specific settings that you need to set one way or another.  The rest will rely on you knowing, for example, how to find and manipulate the brake pedal when I say "Slow down!"