15 ways to kick your sales into high gear

If your sales are a little on the slow side, you need to
polish your promotional skills and fire up the marketing
machine. This is the first of a two part article with a
total of 30 tried, tested and proven techniques to kick your
sales into high gear! Here are the first 15 techniques.

1. Use a PS and PSS after your signature. In the PS,
summarize the key benefit. In the PSS restate the bonus or
reason for ordering right now. Only your subject line is
more important than your PS!

2. Vary your subject and medium. If you send out a monthly
email promotion, vary the subject line. One month, your
subject line could read 'Hi! It's Jake.' The next month it
could read $1.99 special for the first hundred responses.
With your 'Hi! It's Jake' subject line you could send an
article with tips that will help your customers with common
problems. Your '$1.99 special' could be a direct ad. By
altering the format that you send, (article one time, ad the
next) you will get more prospects past the subject line and
into your email.

3. Mail your customers on a more frequent basis. If you send
your customers a promotion once a month, double it. Send
them a promotion every two weeks.

4. Use add-on sales. The best place to get an add-on sale
is just before your prospect places their order. Include two
buttons or links at the bottom of your order form, one for
ordering just the product and one for ordering your product
with an add-on. Here's a quick example. You are selling an
ebook you have written called Marketing. Your add-on is a
Lifetime upgrade.

a. At the bottom of the order form you include a text link
that says 'Click here to order Marketing for only $19.95.'

b. Directly underneath, you place a second text link that
says 'Click here to order Marketing, including your Lifetime
Upgrades for only $29.95.

c. Place a short paragraph after the button, explaining
all the benefits of ordering the Lifetime upgrades as well.
After the paragraph, place the Lifetime Upgrades order link
again.

5. Upsell to a better product. If you are offering free
autoresponders, upsell your customers to a better version of
your product. Quick example. You offer a free, quality
autoresponder which sends a single message. If your customer
upgrades to a 'Gold' autoresponder for only $2.95 per month,
they get an autoresponder which can send up to ten, time
delayed messages.

6. Use current events to propel your sales. If the inflation
figures have just risen again, offer an 'Inflation Buster'
promo.

7. Offer additional products. After you have sold your main
product (with an add-on) keep in contact with the customer
and offer additional products. You can sell more add-ons or
upgrades that compliment the original purchase, or completely
new products.

8. Offer a payment plan. If you are selling a big ticket
item, offer to split the payments into three or four easy
installments. Installments can be spread over weeks or months,
depending on the size of the purchase.

9. Offer special promotions. Holidays like Christmas, Easter,
and Valentine's Day are perfect for special promotions.
Anniversaries and birthdays also give you a perfect excuse to
contact your customers and offer them a special promotional
deal.

10. Include a deadline. By including a deadline, customers
are more inclined to make a purchase sooner. It is human
nature to leave things to the last moment, so make sure your
deadline falls within a short period of time after you send
your offer.

11. Use incremental deadlines. If you run a monthly special,
offer to include an extra bonus, plus a FREE gizmo and a
lifetime upgrade if they order before the end of the first
week. In the second week of the campaign, offer an extra
bonus, plus a FREE gizmo, only if they order by the end of
the week. In the third week, they get an extra bonus if they
order by the end of the week. And the fourth week, they get
the product with no bonuses.

12. Use the take away approach. This works well in conjunction
with the incremental deadline approach. Tell your customer
that if they don't order today, they will miss out on the
fabulous lifetime upgrade offer.

13. Make the purchase easy. Make it easy for customers to
purchase from you by offering alternative methods of payment.
Some people don't feel comfortable placing their credit card
number online. Make sure you offer the option to pay by check.
Include a printable fax/mail order form that they can print
out and send to you by snail mail or fax.

14. Give guarantees. Make sure your product comes with a 100%,
no questions asked, lifetime, guarantee. People love to feel
secure when ordering. If you stand behind your product 100%,
you give your customers the security they need.

15. Sell to categories. If your product is selling well with
work at home moms, try selling to Small Office Home Office
(SOHO) owners. If you find that your product is popular with
accountants, try a promotional campaign directed to this
category of customers.

There are an unlimited number of techniques and tactics that
you can experiment with to drive your sales through the roof.
When you have success with a particular promotion, keep
polishing and experimenting until it is worn out and then
experiment with something new.

In the second segment of this report we will look at another
15 ways to kick your sales into high gear.

Good luck and God Bless.