No Thanks, I Don't Need Extra Help

#1:  Your Happy Customers Want More

Selling lower ticket items is a great model and absolutely nothing to sneeze at. Most of my products are low ticket. It's an easy way to get a lot of the customers through the door and give them a taste of what you have to offer. Of course, since you're delivering stellar content and guidance, they're going to want more and the more they already enjoy your material, the more willing they'll be to invest larger amounts into their education with you. 

In short, your happy customers want more, so give it to them! 

#2: You Have to Sell Less to Make More 

This is a simple math equation, but in addition to having to sell less to make more, it's often easier to sell a higher ticket product. When you sell low ticket products, you always have to make up for it in volume. If you have the list, advertising dollars or affiliates to help you do that, it's certainly doable. 

When you only have to sell 10 products at $197 to make $1,970...that seems a whole lot more doable than 115 sales at $17, doesn't it?

#3: Make it As Easy as Possible

So how do you differentiate between a $17 and a $197 product? How do you convince your customers it's worth the investment?

Well, there are a lot of techniques you can employ, but one thing you should focus on is making participating in your program as easy as possible. What can you do to get them to results with the least effort possible? Nobody wants things difficult, so figure out what you can do to do some of the work for them. 

Here are 3 ideas to get you started:

Include Templates: If you're teaching them to reduce their debt, make budgeting templates, fill-in-the-blanks letters to creditors or whatever they need to accomplish the goals for your course. 

Add Interaction: Making your course interactive provides built-in accountability and they're more likely to take action. Whether it's talking with you about their progress or participating in a community related to your program, when your student feels like they have someone waiting for them to take the appropriate steps, they are more likely to take them. 

Do Some of the Work: Offer done-for-you components, where applicable...and charge a premium for them. If you're offering a weight loss program, offer custom menus or exercise plans. Depending on how much you're already charging for the program, these extra services might be at a higher membership level or can be offered as an upsell. 

#4: High Ticket Customers are AWESOME!

Talk to anyone who has sold high and low ticket products and they'll tell you their high ticket customers are almost always more easy going. Oddly enough, people who pay less often have higher expectations, are less patient with any issues that may come up and can be a royal pain in the butt. Obviously, that's not everyone...but it's a generality that always seems to ring true. 

It's likely because the people who are willing to pay more also see greater value in what they purchase. Someone who is only willing to pay $17 for your expertise doesn't really value it...and they're more likely to have higher, and often unrealistic, expectations. 

In short, selling higher ticket products can make your life a whole lot easier and your business much more lucrative. 

#1: Train Your List:

If you want your list to accept and take action on your promotions, teach them to be  accustomed to promotions.

In the privacy note below your subscription box, write something like: “We will only use your email address to communicate with your regarding [x]-related topics and offers.”

BAM – You’ve told them you’ll be giving them offers.

If you want, you can also remind them in your welcome email that you’ll be sending them offers. You can tell them how you like to do review products on your reader’s behalf and alert them to any products that might be helpful or to stay away from.

Again – Now they know you’re going to send them promotions. They can unsubscribe right away if they’re not happy with that.

Then, most importantly, regularly send them offers so they expect them. Don’t hide behind the excuse, “I only have 100 people on my list so I haven’t sold anything to them yet?”

WHAT? Again, your list is made up INDIVIDUALS. Whether it is 100 individuals, 2398 individuals or 100,000 individuals, doesn’t matter. Every member of your list needs to be accustomed to the way you sell to them.

Imagine, if you decided you were going to wait until you hit 1000 subscribers before you sent a promo. That means the first 999 people on your list will be receiving no promotions for a period of time. That is NOT how to train your list to expect promotions. Do it from the beginning.

#2: Get to Know Your Subscribers

I mean REALLY get to know them. No, you’re not taking them to dinner, but still getting to know them. Here’s how:

• Pay attention to which links they click on in your emails (and track your links!). Whether they are clicking to read/view content, take a product recommendation or sign up for more information, pay attention.
• Take note of which types of products they are buying through your links.  Note which products flop and which seem to get a lot of response.
• Invite them to submit feedback on your blog on a certain topic. The response you get can be incredibly valuable and give you insight into your readers.
• When your readers do comment on your blog, take the time to click through to their websites. See what they are talking about, what their problems are, what products they are buying. Do this on a regular basis and you’ll come to understand your typical audience even further.
• Survey Them: Now, I think surveys do have their place, but never rely on this alone. I think taking note of BEHAVIOUR is far more powerful. When you create a survey, people get to answer how they THINK they will behave or how you want them to answer . Thing is, people often behave in ways that are very different from how they say they will / do behave.

#3: Don’t Forget Your Thank You Page

Your thank you page is a priceless piece of real estate, so use it! I'm not sure what it is, but people seem to like to follow directions when they hit a thank you page. When someone hits your sign up thank you page, don't waste that space. Offer them a product, a discount, free trial or show them another part of your site you'd like them to see.

#4: Subject Lines Matter

If your emails are top notch, your subscribers will be waiting for them, but this doesn't mean you can get away with dull subject lines.

“Newsletter #18, Volume 8, Issue 1”

...doesn't cut it.

YAWN!

The only job of a subject line is to get your reader to open the email...that's it, so I personally don't really need descriptive subject lines either.

Let’s say we’re selling a potty training guide. I wouldn’t use a subject line like:

"Potty Training Guide"

Sure, it does mean that you're more likely to have those readers ALREADY interested in a potty training guide open your email, but most of your readers won't know (yet) that they really want a potty training guide.

It is the body of your email whose job it is to convince your readers they need a guide...not your subject line. Again, you only need your subject line to get your reader to open the email.

In a case like this, I'd use something like:

"This will help with the frustration..."

Now in this case, if your readers are parents of toddlers, they can very likely relate to frustration and the subject line is more likely to capture interest. Being a parent is a joy, but there are definitely frustrations with all kinds of things along the way.

So, they open the email and you talk about and relate to that frustration...and then they feel like someone understands them, knows what they need and are more likely to make the purchase.

#5: Call to Action Each Time

To further train your list to do what you want them to do, make a goal to have a call to action on each and every email. That doesn't mean you have to send them to buy something each time, but ask them to do something.

Some calls to action can include to:

• Click a link to read a blog entry
• Click a link to complete a survey or to leave a comment
• Click a link to read an informative article
• Click a link to claim a freebie
• Click a link to read a review
• Click a link to enter a sweepstakes
• Click a link to read a sales page
• Check their email on Tuesday, for example, as you'll be sending another email with further information on a topic, product, etc.

#6: Email Your Customers

It’s always surprising the number of people who sell products through PayPal buttons and never bother to collect the emails of their customers.

Here’s the thing, your CUSTOMER list is even more valuable to you than your SUBSCRIBER list…and you probably know why.

It’s because your customers have shown that they are willing to open up their wallets and buy something from you. Add to that, if they enjoyed your product and customer service, they are much more likely to buy from you again.

Someone who is a subscriber and simply a prospect, can potentially be a customer…but you are more likely to get positive results from an already satisfied customer.

So start treating your customers differently from your prospects. Make special offers, discounts, etc. for them or allow them to purchase products before anyone else.

A little TLC goes a long way.

#1: Write Simple Emails:

Your email writing efforts needn’t be complicated. In fact, in my experience they should be kept really quite SIMPLE because it’s easier and because your more likely to get more results. If you’re busting your butt trying to publish a full-blown weekly newsletter, really consider giving yourself a break.

Think of it this way. People are busy and with few exceptions, experience email overload. Why load them up even more?

Keep your messages short, simple and focused on one thing or a couple things at a time. This allows your readers to quickly absorb your message and decide whether or not to take action on your call to action.

Many people think that if they offer more content, more sections, etc…they are more likely to provide something that appeals to more subscribers. But from our experience (and from the reports of many others), MOST of your readers aren’t reading past the first section of your ezine anyway. The lower down the content appeared in my, the less people took action on what you want them to do. Whether it was to a click a link for information or to buy a product, if the information isn’t in the first section, the response tends to diminish.

Why work so hard if very few people are paying attention?

Overall, you want your readers to be trained to respond to your calls to action. And if you’re just adding extra stuff hoping to capture a few extra people, I suggest cutting out the fat and putting more effort into that first section.

#2: Keep Your Writing “Personal” 

Email is personal communication. It’s generally one person to another. Follow that model in your marketing.

Imagine yourself writing to one person and use language that you’d use if writing to just one person at a time. Don’t address your readers as a group. For example, “I know many of you…”  Address your subscriber as that one important individual they are. The language is far more powerful.

For example, if you write: “I know many of you are looking for a…”

As opposed to…

“I know you are looking for a…”

Which do you think is more powerful? In the first case, your reader can immediately exclude themselves from the offer because you said “many”. That might not include that particular reader. In the second instance, you are stating it directly to your intended audience.

You may be sending out your email to thousands of people, but each of your subscribers is reading it one by one. Address them that way.

#3: From Line is Important:

Who is your email from? If you want to establish that personal connection and gain trust, the from line should have your personal and full name. You can use your company name if you want to build that reputation, but try to include a personal name with it, if possible.

#4: Keep Your Email Address Consistent:

Emails end up in junk folders or get filtered altogether. It sucks, but it happens.

One way you can curb this is by using a consistent email address for all your mailing list communications and getting your subscribers to whitelist you or add you to their address book.

#5: Email More Often:

Here’s another easy way to get over the obstacle of being afraid to do pure promotional emails. Just email your list with content more often, so when you slip in regular promos…the amount of content they receive in comparison still prevails.

Remember, you don’t have to write big fancy ezines with all kinds of sections and departments, just short simple emails that provide good value to your readers. Basically, instead of bombarding them with a ton of information all at once, you’re now giving it to them in bite-sized chunks.

Of course, you need to test out the volume of email your list can bear, but if you’re providing stellar stuff…I bet they’ll want to hear from you more often.

#6: Research Everything:

Your readers will appreciate your promotions, especially when you take the time to research and review everything thoroughly. In fact, your readers will come to expect you to do a lot of the hard work for them…but don’t worry this work is profitable for you!

If you are known for your research, your readers will wait to see your opinion on something and will want to know what you recommend. It’s a big, but profitable responsibility.

#7: Honesty is the Best Policy

When you do your research, report it in an honest way and that will solidify your reputation with your readers even further.

When you investigate a product, avoid coming back and telling your reader’s it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread…because not everybody eats the same kind of bread.

Sure, you might think the product is really terrific, but break it down for your readers and identify:

• Who the product is for (ex. beginner rose gardeners only).
• What problems you personally see the product solving.
• Any potential drawbacks of the product.

Don’t be afraid to share any constructive negatives because that makes your promotion REAL. For example, you can tell them that the baby stroller you’re recommending doesn’t come with a drink holder, but the other features totally make up for it. Besides, an attachable drink holder can be purchased at very little extra cost.