I’ve had several clients that were making the exact same mistake. In each case, as soon as we corrected it, we saw an increase in profits…almost immediately.
And this mistake is very common online. You might even be making it yourself…at least some version of it.
If you are, it’s costing you, sometimes quite dearly.
The mistake is forgetting that being in business is about making sales of your products and service OR the products and services of other companies you represent (as a partner/affiliate).
Everyone has heard about moving the free line and giving more and more stuff away for free, but they’re forgetting the SALE that comes at the end of the process.
Whenever you’re putting away something to give away, you must FIRST figure out where the end goal is. Where are you leading them to? What can you give to them that leads them in this direction?
For example, if you sell a software program, you can give a limited version of it or a version that has a limited time frame to it. Obviously this leads people who want the software in the direction of making a purchase.
If you sell an autoresponder service, you could have a series about how to build a list. They will obviously need an autoresponder service to manage the list they’re building. You’d also show examples of the list building INSIDE of the autoresponder service you’re offering.
But What Is the Big Mistake?
The big mistake here is many beginners (and more advanced as well) FORGET to ask for the sale.
The clients above had built an opt-in page where they gave away their freebies. And then they had an email series that CONTINUED to give away free materials. And they were wondering when they would magically make some money.
How could they make money? They weren’t making any offers!
All they had were giveaways. And when they finally had an email in their series that made an offer, people were ANGERED because they were trained to expect everything for free. How dare they all of a sudden ask for money…even after providing all this value?
Using free content of any type requires PLANNING from day one. Where is your prospect currently at in their thinking process about your product or service? What do they need to believe and know to make a wise purchasing decision?
Your goal with free content is to get them from point A (where they’re at now) to point B (what they need to know to make a wise purchasing decision).
Along this path you’ll provide them with useful but incomplete content that helps them solve related problems. As mentioned above the autoresponder service could teach about how to build a list. OR if you were selling an information product on writing to your list, you could ALSO teach exactly how to build the list.
You can see from either of these examples that you’re solving one of your prospect’s problems while creating a new one. Because they have a list, now they need to know how to host the list and write messages to the list.
When should you first introduce your offer?
From what I’ve seen in hundreds of different businesses, the offer should be introduced from day one. You should have a link to it right on your freebie you give away at the beginning. And almost every email should again push them back to the offer at the end.
This doesn’t mean you have to be hard selling at every opportunity. You don’t, but you should continually point how the material you’re providing them with is intimately connected with what they’ll find on your site. Each free item leads them a step closer to what you offer.
Don’t lose site of the end goal…of where you’re taking them.
The common mistake these clients had made was not even mentioning they had something to offer till weeks down the road. They pretty much kept it hidden, and it led to prospects feeling “betrayed” when it was announced as they thought everything was just out of the kindness of their hearts until then.
You’ll find the first 30 days of a new subscriber is a vital time…so if you’re holding off on making an offer till later you’re missing out on the time your prospect is most EXCITED about what they’re looking for. They came to you because they have a problem they need a solution to.
Help them solve that problem.
The exception to the above is during a product launch. They can’t buy the offer from the beginning. BUT you can still let them know what’s coming. You can drop hints and share elements of what will soon be available.
You can tease them with the upcoming benefits…till they’re eagerly awaiting the day they can hit the “buy now” button.
You’ll find that on a well done launch the sales page/sales video on the site itself is almost made irrelevant, because the selling has been done before anyone ever reaches that point.
They know the offer. They’ve heard the case studies. They know about the guarantee. It’s all been shared drip-by-drip over time to them…until all they have to do now is click “YES.”
Be Direct When Asking People to Buy
A 2nd mistake rides right along with this one…shying away and apologizing when asking people to buy.
People say statements like “I’m sorry, but this paid resource…”
What are you sorry about? Don’t shy away from offering a product or service that will improve the lives of your customers.
Be bold about it. If your product really improves their lives, then it’s your duty to let them know about it.
You’re stealing from them by hiding the benefits they could have had. While you were beating around the bush and wasting their time getting to the point of the whole shebang, someone else moved in and made the sale. And the product/service they sold may NOT be as beneficial to their lives as the one you would have offered them.
They lost out because you weren’t upfront about the benefits they could have had.
Remember that next time you shy away from the sale because you don’t want to offend anyone .
Maybe you won’t offend anyone and maybe everybody will like you, but you’re still stealing benefits from their lives that they could have had if only you had been more direct.
If you want to take your business to the next level…and you’re really serious about making money online…then you need to be a member of the Monthly Mentor Club. I provide free content and information through my emails and blog regularly, but I always expand on it and show exactly how to improve your results in the paid membership.
This month we’re covering exactly how to improve your conversions of visitors into sales along with 30 ways to add more proof to your offers. It goes out in just a few days. And you’ll want to kee pthe 30 Proof Points checklist on your desk from now on as it will add additional results to everything you do (websites, blogs, emails, webinars, etc.). Don’t miss it…
