Uncensored Direct Marketing

If you’re selling products online, you can really benefit from listening to this episode. Host Maria Sparagis, payment solutions expert and sales conversion consultant, shares quick and actionable tips to understand consumer behavior, minimize declined transactions, and improve your conversion rate. Even if your approval rates are at 95%, there’s still room to get better. Explore and utilize your payment gateway’s capabilities, make some tweaks, and easily get better conversions in a thriving global marketplace.“Conversions don’t stop when you get to the checkout page. Actually, that’s where the real work happens.” - Maria SparagisIn This Episode:- Understanding the decline messages- Cascade initial transactions from different processors- Know your merchant category code (MCC)- Offer different payment options - What ACH can do for your conversion- Why you should charge customers in their local currency- Update your VAU and MAU, fraud settings, and velocity checks- How to craft a reattempt strategy- Utilizing subscription salvage services and middleware softwareConnect with Maria:- Maria Sparagis Website: http://mariasparagis.com- DirectPayNet Website: https://directpaynet.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariasparagis- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/directpaynet- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directpaynet- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariasparagis- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/directpaynet

Are you looking for inspiration or someone with a message that speaks to you? This podcast aims to inspire and educate, to encourage people to carve their own path, take risks, and pursue their passions. In today’s episode, Maria Sparagis shares her adventures as a young Greek immigrant, the risks she had to take, and the many lessons she needed to learn to get to where she is now. Who is Maria Sparagis, and why should you listen to what she has to say? Before establishing DirectPayNet, Maria used to work for the adult entertainment empire Mansef Inc. (now known as MindGeek), owners of brands such as Brazzers and Playboy. It’s where she developed her skills in affiliate marketing, sales, customer service, and merchant accounts/payments. Her experiences make her highly capable of offering merchants valuable insights on how to increase revenue while mitigating risks. Interestingly, Maria is trilingual, speaking English, French, and Greek. She is also an avid runner and yoga enthusiast. Stay tuned and be inspired. “As competition becomes bigger and bigger, you take chances.” - Maria SparagisIn This Episode:- Who is Maria Sparagis- Maria’s initiation into cold selling and entrepreneurship- A taste of customer service- Learning the art of negotiation while traveling the world - Maria’s venture into affiliate marketing - Payment processing and working with merchant accounts- Building skills in an unlikely place- Shifting into the UK market with a different product offer- How Maria met her first client- The birth of DirectPaynet, Maria’s boutique payment firmConnect with Maria:- Maria Sparagis Website: http://mariasparagis.com- DirectPayNet Website: https://directpaynet.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariasparagis- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/directpaynet- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directpaynet- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariasparagis- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/directpaynet

Are you running your own business? When is the right time for you to find a business partner? Do you write your own copy? What does it take to craft a copy that converts? Maria’s guest, Julian Reyes, will answer all these questions and more. Julian had an interesting childhood, from being a product of psychological experimentation to becoming a “juvie,” then bouncing back to being an actor to emerging as what Maria refers to as “One of the Best Copywriters in the Universe.” Listen to this entertaining episode and pick up golden nuggets of wisdom as Maria and Julian exchange thoughts on scaling your business, dealing with affiliate traffic, and writing a great offer. “No matter what stage you’re at, find people that might be able to help you, give to them, and get things back.” - Julian ReyesIn This Episode:- Who is Julian Reyes- Being a Lone Ranger Vs. Having a Business Partner- Why do you need to drop the “labels” to achieve your end goal- Copywriting trends and the next steps for an entrepreneur- Julian’s strategy in creating a great offer- How to anticipate failure points and build a structure to deliver great output- How do you leverage your payment processor- Mitigating risk in affiliate marketing- Puerto Rico: It’s the place to be!Connect with Julian:- New Crescent Media Website: https://redcrescentmedia.comConnect with Maria:- Maria Sparagis Website: http://mariasparagis.com- DirectPayNet Website: https://directpaynet.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariasparagis- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/directpaynet- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directpaynet- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariasparagis- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/directpaynet

Are you looking for ways to start or grow your online marketing business? In today’s episode, Maria invited Digistore24’s Performance Marketing Manager, David McMenomey, to share some helpful tips. David, affectionately referred to by his closest colleagues as “McMoney,” created multiple offers and businesses online that have generated millions of dollars. He became a marketing expert using affiliate marketing, direct response advertising, and data-driven optimizations, growing companies like Microbe Formulas to become top elite, powerhouse brands. Stay tuned as he talks about his journey from failure to success and learn the simple process of building a successful online marketing business.“Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to take a risk and create something different and beautiful.” - David McMenomeyIn This Episode:- David shares his top 3 strategies for beginners - Affiliate marketing basics- How to position yourself when you’re just starting out- Copywriting basics: How important is the email subject line (the “hook”)- Learn from David’s journey in the online marketing space- What are the trends in affiliate marketing- David and Maria’s tips for vetting affiliates and top offers- Where do you get support as an entrepreneurJoin David’s Academy:- The Secret McMoney Formula: https://www.digistoreacademy.comConnect with David:- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmcmenomey(Note: Maria can also connect you to David)Connect with Maria:- Maria Sparagis Website: http://mariasparagis.com- DirectPayNet Website: https://directpaynet.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariasparagis- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/directpaynet- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directpaynet- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariasparagis- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/directpaynet

Ready to grow your online business in 2021? If you’re wondering what you can do to improve your sales conversion and keep yourself competitive, this episode is for you. Stay tuned and learn how to grow your conversion 5 to 10% by doing simple things that won’t cost you extra money. Today, Maria shares her Five Needle Movers -- quick and little changes to your process that will help increase your revenue. If you don’t know Maria just yet, she is the President of DirectPayNet, a company that offers international merchant accounts and consulting for high-risk online businesses. Listen to Maria’s unique perspective and gain insights on the products that are converting, what works and what doesn’t, and finding powerful technology or features that you can use to your benefit.“Make sure you're able to let your customers pay in the currency and payment mode they want to pay.”- Maria SparagisIn This Episode:- Why you should offer dynamic payment modes- Testing your check out page and making it easy for customers to navigate- How to take advantage of the tools included in your payment gateway - Always offer complementary products - What’s with subscriptions, bundles, upsells, and conversion rates- Bonus tip: Livestream Selling, an exciting trend in 2021Connect with Maria:- Maria Sparagis Website: http://mariasparagis.com- DirectPayNet Website: https://directpaynet.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariasparagis- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/directpaynet- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directpaynet- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariasparagis

DISCLAIMER: Please note this episode was recorded before the legal issues for PornHub arose. I do not condone, nor encourage non-consensual or illegal production of adult content.I will have an episode shortly discussing the legal implications and my thoughts on the victim's claims.Are you an online marketer wanting to grow your business and bring in more sales? Then you’re going to get so much value from today’s podcast. Justin Goff, the co-founder of Copy Accelerator and one of the most successful people in the direct response space, joins Maria to discuss the future of direct response marketing during the global pandemic. Stay tuned and get ready to learn how you can take advantage of the opportunity in direct response marketing. “Focus on one offer, one traffic source. You don’t need five products; you just need one product.”- Justin GoffIn This Episode:- Justin offers insights on the future of direct response marketing- How to have the right mindset to survive and thrive in the current market condition- Maria shares how she got into the direct response space- Lessons from working with merchant accounts- Little tweaks on your checkout page that can increase your sales conversionAbout Justin:Justin Goff is best known for helping marketers and business owners to convert their offers on cold traffic. He grew his own supplement company from zero to $23 million in sales in just under three years by focusing on cold traffic growth.After selling his supplement company in 2017, Justin now helps some of the biggest names with their marketing like Golden Hippo, Dan Lok, Agora Financial, V-Shred, 4Patriots, Mike Geary, Danette May, Six Pack Shortcuts, Natural Health Sherpa, and more.Connect with Justin:- Website: https://www.justingoff.comConnect with Maria:- Maria Sparagis Website: http://mariasparagis.com- DirectPayNet Website: https://directpaynet.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariasparagis- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/directpaynet- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directpaynet- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariasparagis- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/directpaynet

Hosted by Maria Sparagis, president of DirectPayNet, and payment solutions expert for entrepreneurs in the high risk industries of supplements, dating, business opportunities, gambling and more. On this podcast, Maria shares her knowledge on how to reduce decline ratios, add thousands of dollars to your bottom line with a few simple conversion hacks, and maximize revenue while keeping your high-risk merchant accounts happy and healthy. As a cryptocurrency advocate since 2012, Maria will also share her knowledge on the digital currency markets. Maria has worked with several high level entrepreneurs in Direct Marketing including Christian Hudson, Julian Reyes, Jeremy Schoemaker “ShoeMoney”, Mike Chang and many more. She has been featured in American Banker, Vice, Inside Bitcoins, Coindesk, and Yahoo. Connect with Maria mariasparagis.com or directpaynet.com