Archive | September, 2018

You already know that adding bonuses to an offer can increase your sales. But did you also know that the wrong bonuses can actually DECREASE your sales? That’s because it muddles the offer and confuses the customer.

Here’s the 4-part test I use that almost guarantees I choose the right bonuses every time:

1. Does the bonus have a high perceived value? Or a value the prospect cannot determine? Answer yes to either one and it passes the first test. For example: If you’re selling investment advice, then offering a video of insider’s investment tips from the author of the product can have a very high perceived value, while offering an investor’s dictionary (information that can be found with a quick Google search) would have a very low perceived value.

Another example is offering an ebook that currently sells for $97, versus one that sells for $5. Be sure to show them the actual page where you are selling the $97 ebook, and also make sure no one else is selling that same ebook elsewhere for less.

2. Is the bonus unique? Offering a special ebook written by you is unique, so long as you haven’t sold the resale rights. Offering a resale rights product available all over the Internet is not unique. TIP: You can refashion a PLR product into your own unique product – with a unique title and cover – so even though the info is not entirely unique, it does appear as though it is. Is this ethical? I’ll let you decide.

3. Is the bonus relevant to the product being offered? If you’re selling a coffee maker, then a coffee bonus is relevant. Same thing if you’re selling coffee and you give away a free coffee maker (one company made a fortune doing exactly this.)

At a loss as to what to offer? Look at your main offer and then ask, “What’s missing?” It might be a set of instructional videos, or a way to double the effect of the main product. Or perhaps it’s personal coaching, or a webinar to answer questions and help the users get the most out of the product.

4. Is the bonus desirable? The more people want your bonus, the greater the number of prospects who will purchase your offer – sometimes just to get the bonus. For example, if you’re a well-known copywriter, you can offer to polish one of their sales letters as a bonus when they purchase your $997 course on how to write sales copy.

Apply these bonus hacking tips when you create your next product, and you’ll sell more!

For every big success story I hear about marketing on Facebook, I also hear several stories of, ‘Oh, I tried that, but it didn’t go anywhere so I gave up.” So does marketing on Facebook really work? Without a doubt it does – Facebook is the most visited website in the world, and getting seen can mean a big boost to your list building and your sales.

But the key is to have a game plan for how you’re going to build, brand and market yourself on Facebook. With that in mind, I’ve put together this list of tips to get you moving in the right direction.

1. Create a page. Sounds simple, right? It is – the problem is marketers get confused and they start a profile instead of a page. If you want to market your business on Facebook, a profile simply won’t cut it. Pages are meant for businesses and they are much more effective at getting your message out there.

2. Promote your fan page. First, place your fan page URL in your email signature. Now every time you send an email, it’s another chance for people to find your Facebook page.

Next, blog about your fan page. Don’t just ask your blog readers to like your page – instead, give them at least one compelling reason why they should (bribes work well, but it could be any reason, so long as it resonates with your readers.

Now, add a “Like” box to your blog or websites. Get the plugin code for the Facebook Like box. Place this code on your website’s or blog’s sidebar. You can get more details and the plugin code here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/page-plugin/

3. Cross promote your page. By posting on other fan pages using your page’s user name, you get a visible link to your page with each comment.

4. Consider getting some Facebook ads. It’s easy, you can spend as little as you like, and you can target your campaigns to only those people who are likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

5. Promote your page on Twitter. First, place your fan page URL on your Twitter profile background. (Note: Only those using the web based version of Twitter will see your background, but this can still be plenty of eyeballs.)

Second, Tweet about your page. Ask your Twitter followers to like your fan page. Again, offering them a good reason why they should like it will increase your response rate.

6. Why should people become fans? We’ve touched on this, but it’s important: Give people a great reason to become your fan. Maybe it’s to get discounts or updates. Maybe it’s a free video, ebook, etc. Just make sure it’s something that motivates immediate and swift action.

7. Add your page URL to YouTube. Do you create videos to promote your business? Then by all means add your fanpage URL link to your videos, either at the end of the video or at the beginning of the video description.

8. Post frequently. If you forget about your fanpage, your fans will forget about you. Post once or twice a day with good info, updates and questions. Don’t make it all about you and your products. Instead, post about events, news, your industry and so forth. And whenever you can, inject a little humor into the mix.

9. Ask your fans to like your content so it gets shared on their walls. You can’t ask every time, but now and then is fine. When they like your post, more people will see it, which can lead to more fans – always a good thing.

10. Speaking of questions: Get your fans involved with your page by starting discussions about your products and services or industry news. What’s the best way to start a discussion? Simply ask a provocative question your fans cannot ignore. If you get stuck on what to ask, use the fill in the blank kind of question, such as, “If you could have any job in the world, it would be ____.”

11. Do not become a troll victim. Now that you’re starting discussions, remember to remain professional at ALL TIMES, with no exceptions. If you are perceived as quarreling with a fan, it won’t matter if you’re right – it will only matter that you lost your cool and you look like a real dope. And if things look like they may get nasty, offer the fan a private way to contact you (phone or email, for example.)

12. Forget the “I” and focus on the “we.” Much like writing a sales letter, making Facebook posts should be all about “we,” not I. For example, “We reached 500 likes today, thank you everyone!”

13. Remember to use plenty of photos and even videos. Written words are great, but videos are better and photos tend to get shared. So incorporate a variety of mediums into your Facebook communications.

14. Be thankful. This one takes a little time, but it’s well worth it. Thank each new person who likes your Facebook page. This will really make you stand apart from the crowd. After all, how many people have ever personally thanked them for a Like? You might very well be the first.

15. Relax. Facebook is not the place for a suit and tie kind of personality. Instead, be fun, be casual, be funny and make your fanpage an entertaining, inviting place to be.

16. Brand your page. That large image on your timeline needs to ROCK. It should effectively communicate the message you want to send to your fans, so spend some time getting it just right. (Size it as close to 850 x 315 pixels as possible for best viewing.)

17. Keep track. Use Facebook insights to discover when people are most engaged with your content. This way you know when to post to get the maximum effect. https://www.facebook.com/help/search/?q=insights

18. Encourage people to return. Facebook Offer Ads allow you to offer special incentives when people visit your page. Create new and compelling special offers regularly and let your followers know about it, and you’ll get many more repeat visitors. https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1446432849003728

19. Keep it short and sweet. Want to capture the most eyeballs? Keep your posts to 80 characters or less. Longer posts tend to be skimmed, and shorter ones tend to get read.

20. Pin your posts. I’m not talking about Pinterest here. Rather, Facebook allows you to “pin” a post to the top of your timeline. Use this to showcase something important, such as an upcoming event or a dynamite testimonial from a celeb in your niche.

Them more important tip of all: Get to work. None of this will help if you don’t get busy and use it to promote your business on Facebook!

You spend an hour writing a great email and no one clicks the link. Or you create an ad of some sort (banner, Adwords, blurb for your website, etc.) and no one clicks. Now what?

Here are 13 ways to make your ads and your emails generate more click throughs…

1. Ask for the click. Tell the reader to “click here to continue” or “click here to get the details.”

2. Offer something for free on the other side. If they know they’re going to get useful information for free, rather than simply hitting a sales letter, they’re more likely to click. (You can, of course, include great info right inside your sales letter.)

3. Make it easy to visualize what they’ll see. When someone goes into a restaurant for the very first time, they may experience a bit of trepidation because they don’t know what to expect. But when they’ve been there before, they’re much more comfortable because they already know what they’ll see, what the place is like and so forth.

Ads and emails act as the doorways to your restaurant, or in this case the page you want your prospects to go to. The more you can help them visualize what’s on the other side of that door and look forward to experiencing it, the more likely they are to click your link.

4. Describe what’s on the other side of the click. ‘Blind clicks’ (those ads that don’t give you a clue what’s on the other side of the click) don’t do as well as ads and emails that make it quite clear what the reader can expect on the next page.

5. Display a picture of the benefit of clicking. Are you going to show them the secret to roses the size of dinner plates? Show them a photo of exactly that.

6. If you are offering a freebie on the other side (such as an ebook for joining your list) make sure the freebie has a great title that both entices and implies real value. “Free Dating eBook” won’t cut it – “22 Surprisingly Easy Ways to Get Dates With Gorgeous Women” will.

7. If appropriate and your email is in html, try placing a ‘coupon’ within the email. Or try placing a coupon border around the ad. These dashed lines attract attention and imply savings, thereby stimulating response.

8. Talk about the value and benefits of what’s on the other side of the click.

9. Put a benefit in your ad’s headline or email’s subject line. “How to solve your low conversion problem.”

10. Ask a provocative question, such as “Are you tired of fighting with your spouse?”

11. Ask an informational type of question. People want to know the answer to questions, so ask them something, such as “How do you put the love back into your marriage?”
12. Be direct. If you’ve got a great offer for them, don’t beat around the bush, just come straight out of the gate with it. “12 miniature roses for just $32, shipping included.”

13. Give them useful information. For example, your subject line might be, “7 Ways to Eradicate Mold.” Then inside your email you give them the first 6, with the seventh one being your link to your product. If it’s an ad, then the link goes to the list of 7, with the seventh one linking to your product.