Is It Harder to Make a Sale Now?

29 replies
Is the economy making it more difficult to get sales now?

I have a product for which I've had a site up for about two years. It had a sales page but I didn't have the product finished yet. When I noticed the site getting traffic, I added a list where people could sign up to get a notification when the product was available.

The product was listed as going to be $39.95. I had maybe a half dozen people sign up on the list. Now, this was a site I didn't promote. I had intended to have the product finished much sooner, but got working on other things.

So, anyway, I figured that with the traffic I was getting with no promotion and people signing up on the list, I thought there was good potential there. So, I wrapped up the product and put it up there. And, I listed it at an "introductory" price of $7.

I figured, hey, if people are interested at $39.95, they should snap it up at $7.

But, since putting it up, I've had around 200 visitors and no sales. The only inquiry I've had is from someone (not a potential affiliate) asking for a free copy.

I would have thought I'd be getting 2-4 sales out of 200 visitors, especially at $7. This is just discouraging, especially when I've had around 18-22% (or higher) conversion rates on some of my sales pages in the past.
#harder #make #sale
  • Profile picture of the author gsport11
    Price it close to its true worth. If something costs $7, it may appear to be of low value.

    Test various sales pages, altering one or two variables at a time. It will take many more visitors in order to get reliable results.

    You might give a few copies away in order to get some honest testimonials to be included in the sales page.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
    I have found products priced below $20 sell better than premiums.

    Having said that I am doing well with some premiums too. Just depends on positioning.

    200 hits is no real indicator of average conversions FYI
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  • Profile picture of the author phil.wheatley
    I have a product in the guitar niche, I've changed nothing about the site, still getting the same traffic, but where I was getting one or two sales a day, I now get one a week. I think you could say that some niches will get affected more by the Credit Crunch than others.
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  • Profile picture of the author DavidO
    You're bound to hear a range of experiences depending on different markets, price ranges, etc. but I'm experiencing a very tough time with a well-established product that's been on the market almost 4 years. Conversion is running at less than one-half the long-term average.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Dan, this is what it comes down to and I don't think it's price, though that
      could be a factor.

      Is it something that really solves a burning, serious problem?

      I stress this now more than ever because yes, times are tight...but...if you
      have something people really want, they will buy it.

      My income, though I now only work a few hours a week, compared to last
      year at this time, is only down by $8,000.

      Last year I was working 14 hours a day and created many more products
      and did many more promotions.

      The money is there if you have something that people want.
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  • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
    Is it harder to sell right now?

    NO

    Do you need to connect properly with your visitors to make sales right now?

    YES

    This has always been true...

    People will buy stuff that they WANT, much more readily than they will buy stuff that they NEED.

    I'm not making light of your stats, Dan... but 200 is not a number you can use to gauge the effectiveness of your funnel for this particular thing...

    We're having our best year so far.. aside from a few blips and tweaks that have been required, our sales have been on the up all year. Completely in-line with out projections, although we have had to increase the output of work a little bit to account for various anomalies (i.e. The UK Postal Strike affecting amazon sales etc)

    Drive some real traffic, and track further results... would be my choice.

    Peace

    Jay
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

      200 hits is no real indicator of average conversions FYI
      Originally Posted by JayXtreme View Post

      I'm not making light of your stats, Dan... but 200 is not a number you can use to gauge the effectiveness of your funnel for this particular thing...
      200 has long been my magic number. Generally, if I don't have any sales after 200 visitors, the product's a dud.

      Originally Posted by BIG Mike View Post

      No idea what the product is (maybe post a link to it?) or what else might be wrong, but people are buying, especially items with reduced prices and perceived higher value. I've got several colleagues seeing the same thing I am (different markets), so it's not a fluke for us.
      It's in the self-help niche.

      Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

      Is it something that really solves a burning, serious problem?
      I don't know that it's a "burning, serious" problem, but it's one a fair amount of people have and for which they'd like a solution.
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  • Profile picture of the author Handsome J
    Defining a proper value proposition is the key. I definitely see a shift in how payment options are presented for high ticket items. A few of the big names here you see shifting to multiple payment options to enable better sales penetration (for example Jeff Walker, Frank Kern, etc). Though they present products worth many thousands of dollars, the market eagerly purchases, and likely in most cases has better penetration due to the options for payment. While a $2k hit up front hurts, break it down to the ridiculous 7 x and you feel more justified in dropping that kind of money, as it doesn't "hurt" as much. I don't think its any harder to make a sale. If people want what you got, then they will justify purchasing it. Make the purchasing options easier in a time where family's are stretching their dollars, and you still stand to do well so long as you provide a legitimate value in what you offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author StevenSaliba
    Hey Dan,

    I know that it is discouraging to send to 200 hundred visitors to a sales page and not get a sale. I have had an opt-in page that converted at 5%. Sometimes sales pages don't convert that well. What I do when that happens, is add a few tweaks to the page by changing the coloring/copy of the pages. I would highly recommend that you pick up a copy of "Web Copy That Sells" by Maria Veloso. It is filled with golden nuggets. People will always buy, if you position your offer the right way to the right audience.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      600 visitors. 0 sales. Is it officially a "dud" yet?
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      • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
        Hi Dan,

        I couldn't tell from your posts, but maybe the traffic you ARE getting is not of the converting kind.

        I'm sure you already have, but if not, check out the keyword phrases you are ranking for. Are those people really looking to buy something?

        If so, then it may be a dud at 600, but if not, add some more pages targeting some buying keywords! And tweak your existing main page(s) to hit for those buying keywords as well.

        Hope that helps!
        Allen
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        • Profile picture of the author brchap
          Either the product is a dud, or the audience is a dud. Either way, change something.

          I don't have as much experience in IM as some of the other warriors here, but I'm considered a "success" in the real world. And, I have to say that the same ideas that work in the brick and mortar business on the corner still apply to the same theories apply here in the etherworld:

          Find a THIRSTY crowd
          Sell them a glass of whatever they are thirsty for
          Sell them a second (bigger) glass

          Yes, I stole that from a book I read once... but, doesn't it boil business down to it's basic essentials so eloquently? It doesn't get any simpler than that.

          How this applies to you is easy. Either you haven't found a thirsty crowd, or you are not trying to sell them what they are thirsty for.

          A quick word about your pricing: Back when I first started out on the computer consulting business (my day job), I priced my services way too low. Although I was charging only $40 per hour, prospects would call, ask my prices and then tell me they would call back after they've called around a bit. Then, one day, someone told me to raise my rates. I thought he was crazy, but decided to try it... just to prove him wrong. Well, after going up to $60 per hour, my percentage of closed sales when up. Later, I went up to $80 and I pulled in even more clients. Long story short, I charge almost $120 per hour now, and business has never been better... even in this "down" economy.
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          • Profile picture of the author RMC
            Maybe you're just not hitting on what they really want or rather how they want it sold to them.

            If you continue getting nothing, you can always convert it to a free front end to get more opt-ins and try different backends as an affiliate until you find what is selling within the crowd.

            Also, you can usually do a high quality free front end, and then do a brain dead over the top value of the same topic in the form of an OTO. I can see as high as 9.5% with those types of offers.
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          • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
            Originally Posted by Allen Graves View Post

            I couldn't tell from your posts, but maybe the traffic you ARE getting is not of the converting kind.
            I've only done article marketing for this product on EZA. Maybe I need to try some others...

            Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

            I've noticed more success this year with the "traffic > opt-in > sales pitch via email" route vs. "traffic > sales page" route. I think people are being a bit tighter. Of course, it depends on the niche and how hungry the buyers are, as others have alluded to. Just thought I'd throw that out there, since you already mentioned having built a small list from that same page. Perhaps you could offer a trial version or whatever the equivalent would be for your particular product in return for signing up to your list. Then hit them up via email for the whole sh'bang.
            That's a good point, though, in this case, I'm not sure how I would implement it. Originally, this was going to be a single book, which is what it is now. Then, I developed a plan for it to be a 10-12 book series, which I would sell as one product. As a standalone product, I am running out of ideas for blog posts, articles, list content, etc. I'm basically milking what I have for all it's worth.

            As a 10-12 book series, there are many more ideas for content I could come up with. But, the problem there is that I don't want to market something that doesn't exist, at the risk of promoting "vaporware". It would take a lot of doing to get that 10-12 book series done, and if the sales aren't there, it's not going to be a high priority.

            Originally Posted by brchap View Post

            How this applies to you is easy. Either you haven't found a thirsty crowd, or you are not trying to sell them what they are thirsty for.
            In my situation, I think that it may be that I have a thirsty crowd and what I have is water. If they want coffee, I have water. If they want tea, I have water. If they want Tang, I have water. If they want Kool-Aid, I have water.

            So, I may be painting with too broad a brush. (Yeah, I know, mixed metaphors...)

            A quick word about your pricing: Back when I first started out on the computer consulting business (my day job), I priced my services way too low. Although I was charging only $40 per hour, prospects would call, ask my prices and then tell me they would call back after they've called around a bit. Then, one day, someone told me to raise my rates. I thought he was crazy, but decided to try it... just to prove him wrong. Well, after going up to $60 per hour, my percentage of closed sales when up. Later, I went up to $80 and I pulled in even more clients. Long story short, I charge almost $120 per hour now, and business has never been better... even in this "down" economy.
            Been there, done that. I just priced this one at $7, figuring I'd get some quick, early sales.
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        • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
          Originally Posted by Allen Graves View Post

          I couldn't tell from your posts, but maybe the traffic you ARE getting is not of the converting kind.

          I'm sure you already have, but if not, check out the keyword phrases you are ranking for. Are those people really looking to buy something?

          If so, then it may be a dud at 600, but if not, add some more pages targeting some buying keywords! And tweak your existing main page(s) to hit for those buying keywords as well.
          I don't know. This one just messes up my MO. As an affiliate, I'll promote products and then hone in on the ones that sell. Create more content, target more keywords, look for more buying keywords, etc. It's easy to just pass up a dud. But, when the dud is your product...

          Granted, I am shooting in the dark a bit, as there's an issue with my stats that my host is working on, so I don't have access to that data right now.

          But, I am looking at past performance, that is how the site did when the product was not available. If people signed up for notification of when a product would be available for sale, that indicates that I am getting people in the buying mood. And, since I'm targeting those same keywords I did before, I should see comparable results.

          131 of those visitors came from affiliates; the rest came from me. I don't know what kind of traffic affiliates are sending me, but I would think the 400+ I've gotten on my own would be comparable to what I was getting before.

          My gut is telling me maybe this might be something that'll work better bundled with something else rather than sold on its own. I'll have a better idea, of course, when my host gets the stats fixed.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
        Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

        600 visitors. 0 sales. Is it officially a "dud" yet?
        Are you refining the sales process? I can't tell you how many times I initially had a "dud", but after refining the the sales process I've turned it into a winner. Sometimes it meant offering a kick-a$$ freebie. Sometimes it meant adding a loss leader followed by 2, 3, 4, or 10 back end offers. Sometimes it meant adding a one-time offer. Sometimes it simply meant changing / refining the sales copy. Sometimes it meant eliminating certain keywords or adding others. Sometimes......ok, I'm sure ya get tha picture.......

        While 600 visitors is a decent sample, my questions to you are, are you split-testing? And are you refininig the pre-sale / sales process?

        Lastly, sometimes I raise the price and make less sales, but make more net profit.

        RoD
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        • Profile picture of the author TheBeatles
          Banned
          Some niches like Wealth, Health, Relationships will always sell because these are important niches where there are many people DESPERATE for a solution.

          If you have a starving crowd...the economy won't matter a jot
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  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    I've noticed more success this year with the "traffic > opt-in > sales pitch via email" route vs. "traffic > sales page" route. I think people are being a bit tighter. Of course, it depends on the niche and how hungry the buyers are, as others have alluded to. Just thought I'd throw that out there, since you already mentioned having built a small list from that same page. Perhaps you could offer a trial version or whatever the equivalent would be for your particular product in return for signing up to your list. Then hit them up via email for the whole sh'bang.

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    Yea - stats are so important to have and work with.

    Maybe you could just give it away for free to build yourself a nice self-help list????

    I did this with a stop smoking ebook I wrote and it turned the site into a real income generator!

    Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnlee04
    All story has it's own owner but none the less the reality comes in to make sales right now is more difficult than ever before. Traffic? Yeah lots of them but they are all wishing for freebies.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      If you want to leave your price at $7 initially, I'd consider tweaking the "reason why" and add/edit elements of urgency and/or scarcity.

      You could also give away a free chapter to your list subscribers.

      Another thing to maybe try is keeping the regular price but take only $1 now and bill the rest in 30 days. This keeps the perceived value high, helps those tight on funds, and makes the offer more irresistible.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post


    I figured, hey, if people are interested at $39.95, they should snap it up at $7.

    But, since putting it up, I've had around 200 visitors and no sales. The only inquiry I've had is from someone (not a potential affiliate) asking for a free copy.

    I would have thought I'd be getting 2-4 sales out of 200 visitors, especially at $7. This is just discouraging, especially when I've had around 18-22% (or higher) conversion rates on some of my sales pages in the past.
    There goes. You answered your own question. It's all a mater of
    perception. People thought that it couldn't be worth much at that
    kind of price. I would almost guarantee that if you placed it at
    $37 you'll see an increase in sales.

    I think more people are buying things of VALUE that they think they
    are getting a deal on. Other things have gone down in sales. You
    have a place a lot more value into your products these days to get
    the sale.

    -Ray Edwards
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    • Profile picture of the author JAIDEEP2959
      Can I know which method you are using to get traffic ?

      It may be reason of no sales.
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    • Profile picture of the author Franck Silvestre
      Exact. People are ready to spend a LOT of money for valuable stuff. However, I found it's better to get people in your sales funnel with $10-$40 flagship products. Don't be afraid to over deliver, and LATER down the road, offer the big bucks product.

      Anyway. If people are subscribing to your list, they are interested in what you have to offer.

      Here is what to do:

      1. test, split test and carefully look at the results.

      2. Ask your subscribers what they want.

      3. Rinse and repeat this two.

      Important: Never fall in love with your product because this can kill your business.

      All the best,
      Franck

      Originally Posted by Raydal View Post

      There goes. You answered your own question. It's all a mater of
      perception. People thought that it couldn't be worth much at that
      kind of price. I would almost guarantee that if you placed it at
      $37 you'll see an increase in sales.

      I think more people are buying things of VALUE that they think they
      are getting a deal on. Other things have gone down in sales. You
      have a place a lot more value into your products these days to get
      the sale.

      -Ray Edwards
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      >> HOT WSO: Six Figure Solo Sellers <<

      Winson Yeung said: "...Definitively A++ recommended WSO"
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
        Originally Posted by aboutalhah View Post

        Important: Never fall in love with your product because this can kill your business.
        That's basically page 15 of one of my other books (different niche).
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  • Profile picture of the author Dana Forsythe
    November is a slow month for sales usually
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      Well, that was dumb. And karma can really bite you back sometimes...

      As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I had a small list for this product. Sent out a notification that the book was now available. No sales.

      Checked my lists today, and I had a spam complaint! This was a 100% double opt-in list. I never added anyone manually. The only way to get on was to subscribe and then confirm.

      So, anyway, I checked the message I had sent just to make sure I had put unsubscribe directions and all that jazz. Yes.

      You know, I think I've complained in the past when "gurus" use the "oops! wrong url!" trick. Well, that's where karma comes in.

      You see, when I typed in the URL for the site where they could buy the book, I used the wrong URL. On top of that, I used an URL for a site that was completely unrelated. And that site didn't have introductory pricing as promised in my list message either.

      Thus, I am assuming, the spam complaint.

      And also the reason for the lack of sales.

      So, this time, I am going to send out the message with the correct URL. Really.

      And, I'll also have to use the "oops... wrong URL!" spiel.

      Karma. Don't mess with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    Let us know if you see any activity!
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    Every day I check the obituaries. If I don't see my name there, then I know it's going to be a good day!
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    • Profile picture of the author egordon
      It's not the economy, it's your offer. You remove your own responsibility in the matter when you blame outside circumstances. When stuff doesn't sell, the offer is usually to blame.

      Are people buying this type of product on some other site? If yes, where? How is it being sold? Have you *confirmed* that IS indeed selling?

      Are the prospects who signed up for it initially (and then had to wait) stale? It's possible. You make someone wait too long and they go find solutions elsewhere. It's happened to us all at one time or another.

      Above all...give up the "economy talk". You're a marketer. Be loud and proud, and turn your thumb back at yourself when it doesn't work. Own it. When our stuff doesn't sell, it's usually because we aren't listening to what they WANT...and giving it to them.

      E
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