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What if... we matched our bonuses to our products?

by R Hagel
45 replies
Yesterday I was doing a little research, looking at sales pages for diet books. Then I came across one that just left me scratching my head...

The main offer was a diet book. The bonus was a "make money" book.

Of course we all know what happened. Right before this marketer launched his product, he realized that people say you should toss in a bonus. But the marketer was tired. He'd been banging out this product for weeks. So he couldn't be bothered to create another product.

His solution? Tap into the gold mine of resell rights products he had sitting on his hard drive.

Except...

There weren't any diet books on his HD. No matter. He'll just use a "make money" product as a bonus, because everyone wants to make more money.

Well, it didn't quite work. IMO, it just cheapened the whole offer. And it caused a "speed bump" in the sales letter (which is never a good thing), because I'm sure I'm not the only reader who wondered what a MMO book was doing on a diet sales page.


So here's the point -- whether you're offering a bonus or an upsell, you'll have better results if:

1. The bonus or upsell is targeted -- that is, it appeals to same niche market.

2. The bonus or upsell compliments or enhances the original purchase.



***

Examples...

Example 1:

Diet book + MMO book = crap.

Diet book + recipe book = me likey.



Example 2:

Copywriting book + traffic generation book = eh. So so.

Copywriting book + writing great headlines book = much more targeted.



Example 3:

Burger + drink + upsell offer of a cat collar with a bell = huh?

Burger + drink + offer of "do you want fries with that?" = Yes, please!


***

Again, offer bonuses or upsells that enhance and compliment the main offer. That means your bonus/upsell shouldn't be an after thought -- you should be planning it at the same time you plan your main product.

Cheers,
Becky

P.S. This seems like a "common sense" item, but I've seen it so many times lately that I thought I'd throw out this common sense reminder.
#bonuses #matched #products
  • Profile picture of the author Lisa Gergets
    Becky, I must commend your dry snarkasm...actually, I LOVE it! LOL
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

    Example 3:

    Burger + drink + upsell offer of a cat collar with a bell = huh?

    Burger + drink + offer of "do you want fries with that?" = Yes, please!
    Did you ever think the reason burger joints don't offer cat collar upsells is because most people prefer dogs? Huh? Didja?

    Why do you think it's called McDognalds anyway?



    Seriously: Good post! :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Bainbridge
    I agree in that offering unrelated bonuses and free gifts makes you look amateur and imo is more likely to turn people off than to push them over the edge to buying by giving them extra content, if you really have nothing to give then just don't offer a bonus and save your pride and your reputation.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Becky, I'm in full agreement with you...

      As a corollary, I'd like to offer this:

      If you have to attach a dollar value to your bonus, at least be realistic.

      Don't tell me that the PDF of "Scientific Advertising" I can get from dozens of places for free using a 30 second Google search is worth $97.

      Don't tell me that the PDF of "Think and Grow Rich" you found via the Project Gutenberg site is worth $47 when I can get a print version for $10 or less and the same PDF for free.

      All you do when you pull stuff like that is tell me that either you don't know what you're doing, or you think I'm an idiot. And I am not an idiot, so...
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      • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
        In following up on what John said (great point John) what I do when
        valuing the bonus is actually look to see what that PDF is going for elsewhere,
        OR if I can't find anything (has happened to me before because of some of
        the off the wall stuff I come out with) I'll use the following formula.

        Yeah, this is a little off the wall, so bear with me.

        I'll look at what one of my main selling books goes for and then calculate
        how much the info in that book generates me in income each month.

        I'll take the income and divide it by what I'm selling the book for.

        So, let's say I'm making $3,000 a month from the info in a product that
        sells for $47.

        That means I generate $63.83 for each dollar spent on the info.

        I then look at the bonus book and the info in it and look to see how much
        money I make from THAT info.

        Let's say it's $500 monthly. I'll take that $63.83 and divide it into the
        $500 and come up with $7.83. So I might say the value of the book is
        $10 to bring it to round numbers. That's what I would feel would be a
        fair evaluation.

        Naturally, if I am including bonuses valued in the $10 to $15 range, then
        I am going to have to include quite a few of them to make the package
        as a whole attractive.

        This is why I actually include very few bonuses with my main product. I
        know it goes against every rule of copywriting, but I'd rather do that than
        toss in something that is totally irrelevant and cheapens the whole offer.

        Anyway, that's my 2 cents on the subject.
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        • Profile picture of the author Lance K
          Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post


          This is why I actually include very few bonuses with my main product. I
          know it goes against every rule of copywriting...
          I must have missed those rules. :p

          I agree though with the "fewer is better" approach when adding bonuses. Keep them relevant and unique for best results. For added punch, you can make them limited as well.
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          • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
            Lisa -- dry snarkism? Where? :wide-eyed innocent look:


            Dennis -- my dog approves of your post.


            Submp3s:

            if you really have nothing to give then just don't offer a bonus and save your pride and your reputation.
            There's almost always something a marketer can add. It might be a free report or product. Maybe a tool or other software. Maybe a checklist or resource. Maybe free coaching/consulting. Or maybe even just access to a private forum.



            John -- yes! Those bonuses worth a gazillion dollars -- especially when you see the same tired bonuses everywhere -- just devalue the whole enchilada.



            Steve, that's an interesting way of valuing bonuses. Also:

            but I'd rather do that than
            toss in something that is totally irrelevant and cheapens the whole offer.
            Exactly.

            I love the offers where you want to take advantage of the offer BECAUSE of the bonus. Now that's a good bonus.


            Lance:

            For added punch, you can make them limited as well.
            Excellent point! That's a great way to introduce scarcity without limiting copies of the main product or selling the offer at a discount.

            Cheers,
            Becky
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            • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
              As far as what Becky said about always having something to add, she's
              right.

              Let's say I don't have a physical product for an offer, but say the offer
              is a book that teaches product creation. What I'll do is offer to look over
              the person's first digital product and evaluate it...free of charge.

              Or something like that.

              You can always offer your time if you have nothing else.
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              • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
                Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

                You can always offer your time if you have nothing else.
                Yep. And the interesting thing about offering your time are these two factors:

                1. It has a high-perceived value, so it really adds to the offer.

                2. Relatively few people actually take you up on the offer.


                Cheers,
                Becky
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          • Profile picture of the author lipstickchick
            I actually changed my mind about buying something last week after skimming through the 20 or so bonuses. I got to the point where I thought to myself "I'm never going to find the time to look at half that stuff". So I walked away from it.

            It wasn't a big ticket item. Maybe for an expensive item you need bonuses to push "some" people over the edge? but for a less expensive product a long list of bonuses drags it down?

            Lori
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          • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
            I absolutely hate it when people give you bonuses supposedly worth ten times the cost of the actual product - talk about insulting my intelligence.

            Oh, and the ones who say "this bonus was created just for you and you can't get it anywhere else - Value $197". How do you determine a value if you haven't sold it before?

            I don't have a problem with bonuses in general, if they are related as Becky mentions, but is there some sort of copywriting "rule" that says you have to put a "value" by each one? They are almost always completely made up or grossly exaggerated at best. Most of the time it just makes me feel that the marketer is F.O.S. and turns me off paying any attention to them at all.

            Tina
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            • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
              Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

              Oh, and the ones who say "this bonus was created just for you and you can't get it anywhere else - Value $197". How do you determine a value if you haven't sold it before?
              Exactly, that's why I said (in my second post) that I let the exclusivity be the draw in those cases. That works as well as naming a reasonable value for it, and it works better than over-inflating the value.
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              • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
                In the IM niche there seem to be a lot of affiliates who like the $1997 tag for bonuses they give away. Now really, if the bonuses were worth that much, what are they doing selling a $27 product with the bonuses attached?

                Even a lot of the big Clickbank vendors use tons of PLR stuff as bonuses on their sales pages. And it isn't targeted all that well to their sales offer.

                R. Hagel, this is just an idea, but I'm sure you've got good writing skills and you say you want input for ideas on good PLR packages.

                You mentioned the Dieting niche. Have you ever thought of putting together a 10-12 page mini-book targeted to that niche and including a non-obtrusive promotional blurb for a product you have that would be of interest to people in the niche?

                Then offer it for free to site owners in the niche as a free, targeted bonus for their opt-in forms or sales bonuses. You give them content and they give you promotional distribution for your blurb at the end of your publication.

                You can also offer it as a bonus for those in the niche with big lists to use as a bonus download in their newsletters to subscribers. I have done this before with some pretty big list owners and it works.

                I've had luck using only a link to a squeeze page in my promo on the last page offering a free download when they sign up. Not only are results fast once their mailing goes out, but they can be sustained because not everyone reads the emails immediately.

                It is sort of a deferred payment on your work driving them to a squeeze page, but deferred payments can be great. And of course you can market to your opt-ins over and over. Just a thought. My Best--Mike

                P.S. Try going to ezinearticles and finding top authors in the various categories. Authors with a ton of articles in a category usually have good lists and you can approach them. Or--just scroll through CB categories for sales pages in the niche. Rather than just sending them an email, I subscribe to their list and get a physical mailing address from the bottom of the emails. Then I send them a snail mail letter giving them some info on the product and a link to download the bonus product. I get a better response rate doing that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    I probably write 90% of the bonus products I include with my products. Sometimes they're specifically written for a product; other times they are other commercial products I sell. For example, with a $57 product I might include a related product I created that I sell for $17 or $27. Thus, I can point to the sales page and show exactly what other people are paying for the bonus as a stand-alone product, plus they can read a more lengthy product description if they want to, since I don't usually include more than a couple paragraph telling about the bonus products. I want the focus to stay on the main product.

    If I write a bonus exclusively for a product, I don't even put a price on it. I just tell people it was written exclusively for the product and isn't available anywhere else. The exclusivity works just as well as a price-based bonus. Even when I use one of my other commercial products for a bonus, it has exclusivity because you can't get my bonus products from any other source since I create them myself.

    Always, the bonus relates to the product. On some more expensive products I use free lifetime upgrades as one of the bonuses. It instantly increased sales for me. Of course, to be notified of a product upgrade, you have to remain on my mailing list. How else would I notify you a free upgrade is ready? When someone gets a free upgrade, they're usually pretty receptive to a new offer, especially if it also includes free lifetime upgrades. I don't really send marketing emails to the upgrade lists, I don't want to abuse the free upgrade idea, but I make sure I have something else to sell when an upgrade notice goes out.

    @ Becky - my dog approves of your dog approving of my first post about dogs...doggone it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris W. Sutton
    Now you tell me Becky! I could have used that advice when I wrote my last ebook on "How To Become A Priest in 12 Easy Steps" with my bonus being "How To Find The Best Herbal Viagra!" Where were you when I needed you?

    Take care!
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  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    You complain too much, Becky. Just take your "How To Stop Snoring" and your "10 Ways To Paint Your House Really Fast" bonus and be glad they're also teaching you how to breed small dogs. Geez!
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    It's kind of funny, I just got an email from Trend Micro that relates to this thread. Here's the deal:
    Trend Micro's Internet Security and H&R Block at Home 2009 Deluxe Federal + e-file.
    The products don't really match up, but at least the tax special is timely.
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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post

      In the IM niche there seem to be a lot of affiliates who like the $1997 tag for bonuses they give away. Now really, if the bonuses were worth that much, what are they doing selling a $27 product with the bonuses attached?
      No kidding.

      Think of car sellers like BMW who offer free oil changes and maintenance to people who buy a BMW. Maybe they should just sell the oil changes and maintenance and give the car as a nice free bonus.


      R. Hagel, this is just an idea, but I'm sure you've got good writing skills and you say you want input for ideas on good PLR packages.
      You must be thinking of someone else who's looking for ideas on a PLR package (wasn't me). But I'm listening...


      You give them content and they give you promotional distribution for your blurb at the end of your publication.

      You can also offer it as a bonus for those in the niche with big lists to use as a bonus download in their newsletters to subscribers. I have done this before with some pretty big list owners and it works.
      Great idea. I've used a similar idea, except I traded bonus content with another publisher. So my partner distributes my bonus book alongside his offers and I distribute his bonus book.

      Here's a tip to super-charge this tip -- agree to also co-promote each other via backend emails. That's because there's a certain percentage of people who won't even open up the bonus (and sometimes not even the main product). The stuff piles up on their hard drive, so they'll never see a link buried in a bonus product. However, they'll read their emails -- so they will see backend promos via email.


      Cheers,
      Becky
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      • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
        R Hagel said....

        Think of car sellers like BMW who offer free oil changes and maintenance to people who buy a BMW. Maybe they should just sell the oil changes and maintenance and give the car as a nice free bonus.
        +++++++++

        True story. When I was probably ten years old my grandfather sold cars at a Chevrolet dealership. And this shows how a clever headline can stick in your mind for half a century. Anyway there was a sign in the front window with a picture of a hat. The sign read: Buy this hat and we'll give you a free car !

        Of course in fine print it said average retail price of hat is $2,300. (Believe it or not that would buy you a new car back then.) Same idea. --Mike
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        • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
          Originally Posted by mikemcmillan View Post


          True story. When I was probably ten years old my grandfather sold cars at a Chevrolet dealership. And this shows how a clever headline can stick in your mind for half a century. Anyway there was a sign in the front window with a picture of a hat. The sign read: Buy this hat and we'll give you a free car !

          Of course in fine print it said average retail price of hat is $2,300. (Believe it or not that would buy you a new car back then.) Same idea.
          I love it -- the headline's job is to get attention, and I'm sure that one worked like gangbusters!


          (Course I'm sure the FTC would crack some heads together today for a headline like that, but it does get you thinking about ways to draw attention.)

          And BTW, the fact that you paid attention to it when you were 10 is funny. A marketer-in-the-making before you even hit puberty.

          Cheers,
          Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
      Hmmmm...Dennis, This would totally depend on how you tied those together.
      DO YOU PLAN TO SEND YOUR TAX RETURN FROM AN UNPROTECTED COMPUTER? GET THE HIGHEST RETURN ON YOUR TAXES, AND PROTECT YOUR MONEY, NOW!!

      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      It's kind of funny, I just got an email from Trend Micro that relates to this thread. Here's the deal:
      Trend Micro's Internet Security and H&R Block at Home 2009 Deluxe Federal + e-file.
      The products don't really match up, but at least the tax special is timely.
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  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

    Even when I use one of my other commercial products for a bonus, it has exclusivity because you can't get my bonus products from any other source since I create them myself.
    I've done the same thing. If you're going to take the time to create a product -- and you want to offer a bonus -- it's kind of nice to have a bonus not available anywhere else. That way the bonus truly adds to the offer.

    (Not that offering RR products are bad. It depends on the product and if it's a good fit.)





    Originally Posted by lipstickchick View Post

    I actually changed my mind about buying something last week after skimming through the 20 or so bonuses. I got to the point where I thought to myself "I'm never going to find the time to look at half that stuff". So I walked away from it.
    Another great point! Sometimes having a gazillion bonuses doesn't cheapen the offer -- it overwhelms the buyer.





    Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises View Post

    I absolutely hate it when people give you bonuses supposedly worth ten times the cost of the actual product - talk about insulting my intelligence.
    This is turning into such a great discussion that I'm going to start charging access to the thread. Just $10. As a bonus, folks get to read Tina's post. Get it while you can, this bonus alone is worth $100!

    Cheers,
    Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author Bjarne Eldhuset
      ...instead of saying:
      "bonus a is a $97 value"
      "bonus b is a $27 value"
      "bonus c is a $47 value"
      "bonus d is a $67 value"

      ...why not say:
      "bonus a compliments the main product this way"
      "bonus b is something I have not written about in the main product, but you should read if ___ and ___"
      "bonus c is for those of you that just can't seem to ____"
      "bonus d is perfect for those of you that ____ "

      I think the bonus should have another benefit than a $ value. The real benefit should be in how it compliments the main offer. And that benefit should be possible to display in another way than to stick a dollar value beside each bonus. Or why not do both?
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      • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
        Originally Posted by Bjarne Eldhuset View Post

        I think the bonus should have another benefit than a $ value. The real benefit should be in how it compliments the main offer.
        Exactly.

        And that benefit should be possible to display in another way than to stick a dollar value beside each bonus. Or why not do both?
        Good point.


        ***

        Maybe it's time for some more specific examples of complimentary bonuses (or upsells)...


        Example 1: You're selling a "make money online" product to others who're in the IM niche. The bonus or upsell can be resell rights to this product.


        Example 2: You're selling a "how to remodel your bathroom" product. The main product is a book with pics of the procedures. You can offer a bonus (or upsell) video that shows how to do certain techniques the right way.


        Example 3: You're selling a book about how to do article marketing. As a bonus, you can offer a critique of your customer's resource boxes.


        Example 4: You're selling a high-priced home study course. As a bonus, you can offer a free offline workshop. (Which also makes for a nice opportunity to pitch backend offers.)


        Example 5: You're selling a book about how to start blogging. You offer a pack of exclusive WP themes as a bonus.


        Example 6: You're selling a diet book. Your bonus is free access to a private forum where you post recipes, tips and motivation, and members support one another on their weight loss journeys.


        Example 7: You're selling shoes. You offer an extra pair of shoelaces and some shoe polish/cleaner as a bonus.



        Again, remember -- these also make for nice bonuses to give away if you're an affiliate for the product (e.g., a way for you to add value to an offer).

        Cheers,
        Becky
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  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    Chris -- LOL! Well, do come back with a case study and let us know how that bonus is working out for you. I have a feeling a very small percentage of your buyers are going to take action on the priest thing.


    John, you caught me. But really, I'm just peeved that the order page mentioned the "How to Go Green in 10 Easy Steps" bonus, and I didn't see it on the download page. False advertising. Humph.


    Dennis -- I wonder if they filtered their email list by country, first?


    Cheers,
    Becky
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    Wow, you sound like you know this stuff.

    Keep talking like this and maybe some day you can be a guru. Or guruette, or guruess, uh...I'll get back to ya on that
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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Thanks, Matt...

      Originally Posted by Matt M View Post

      Keep talking like this and maybe some day you can be a guru. Or guruette, or guruess...
      Nah. I'll just stick with playing one on TV.

      Cheers,
      Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
      She's just being modest, Becky has been a guress (?) ever since I first came online, and that was back in 2002

      Cheers
      Kim

      Originally Posted by Matt M View Post

      Wow, you sound like you know this stuff.

      Keep talking like this and maybe some day you can be a guru. Or guruette, or guruess, uh...I'll get back to ya on that
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      • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
        I think I finally got the point of this thread.

        By doing the proper research, we can combine all of our niches into one!

        I'm going to start writing my hottest material ever:

        "How to Make Money while Losing Weight Effortlessly by Using The Hidden Power of The Secret"

        JV Partners you can start lining up now... I'll take any kind of free offers you want to attach to this baby, because they will all work.

        On a more serious note, I've seen plenty of those strange offers to. When I'm researching on some topics, it always amazes me to see the strange combinations people put together.

        (R.Hagel - I'm sure glad you did not hit the infraction button.)
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by Kim Standerline View Post

        She's just being modest, Becky has been a guress (?) ever since I first came online, and that was back in 2002

        Cheers
        Kim
        Yes. I was being sarcastic

        Another case of my inability to convey certain nuances in language due to the lack of being able to use body language and facial expressions.

        For someone who is not labeled "guru" she sure knows more than the branded gurus. Most of the Gurus don't teach this or 90% of the other things one should know about marketing to be successful.

        So this is yet another case when a "non-guru" is doing more teaching than the "Gurus".

        Matt
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        • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
          Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

          So tell me -- is this is a membership site offer?
          I have a membership site, but that's not what this is about.

          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          Dennis, I can think of a couple of reasons you might do that...

          > It's a chance to build a raving fan base, with people telling others how they bought this one product from you and you keep adding great stuff to it. If even a small percentage of those people are active in social media, they can tell a lot of people in a hurry.

          > Which would allow you to raise the price of your offer and still have it be a great value. After one price increase, it could create some urgency for others to get in on the offer (and the growing stream of goodies) before the next price increase.
          Bingo on number one! That's one of the reasons.

          Guess number two is close. The product is actually part of a much larger and more comprehensive product I'm working on (Becky, you reviewed the sales copy for this future product). I'm selling individual modules as stand alone products while creating the big product. So in a way, I'm letting customers pay me to make the main program. When it's finished it will have a killer affiliate program to go with it that I'm sure hundreds or perhaps thousands of satisfied customers will jump on, not to mention professional marketers.

          And there are other reasons...

          1) In order to be notified when an upgrade comes out, a customer has to stay on my upgrade mailing list so I can let them know a free upgrade is available. If they remove themselves from the mailing list I can't notify them and they'll probably miss the upgrade.

          That ensures nearly everyone will stay on the list indefinitely. Having said that, I do not send typical marketing emails to this list, I don't abuse the reason they're on it. But having them on this list leads to another reason...

          2) When these customers get an email from me that there's a free upgrade ready, all they have to do it download it, they're pretty happy customers. For the most part, the only time I send emails to this list is when I send out an upgrade notice. I always make sure I have a new product to tell them about when I send out an upgrade notice. Believe me, they are in about as receptive a mood as can be after receiving a value packed upgrade. If the new product also has free lifetime upgrades, you can imagine the conversion rate.

          What I'm actually doing is building an extremely responsive list of proven buyers. Every single subscriber is a proven buyer of a fairly expensive product - there are no tire kickers here. General mailing lists are nice, and can be very profitable, but this kind of list is special.

          I'm actually thinking about offering free lifetime upgrades on all my new products. So far I've just done it on my two most expensive products, but the results have been great. My refund request rate is less than one percent on all my products combined, but I've never had a refund request for these two products. I think the upgrade policy has something to do with that even though these two ebooks are higher priced than most.

          There you go!
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  • Profile picture of the author stockutopia
    Becky, funny you should mention this subject...... I actually went to that site and loved everything about his product until the bonus came..... I hope evyone in my niche is as smart as him
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    I think we all (or mostly) agreed on the ideas here, so now let me throw a real monkey wrench into the discussion.

    I sell a $97 course. One of the bonuses is free lifetime upgrades. I just bought the PLR rights to a video course that complements my course. The video course sells for $197 (it's good, ten videos each over an hour long and no fluff). I'm giving it to my customers that purchased the $97.00 course, so they're getting a bonus that costs more than the course did. And over time the bonuses will keep piling up while they pay nothing more.

    Given that scenario, you have to admit that it is certainly possible for the bonuses to be worth more than the main product. You also might wonder why I'd do that.

    There are many reasons. Let's see what you folks think they are, then I'll tell my reasons later.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Originally Posted by stockutopia View Post

      Becky, funny you should mention this subject...... I actually went to that site and loved everything about his product until the bonus came..... I hope evyone in my niche is as smart as him
      Hi Aaron,

      Do you mean you liked what you were reading on the sales letter until you got to the part about the bonus? Or do you mean you received the actual products and bonus, but didn't care for the bonus?





      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      Given that scenario, you have to admit that it is certainly possible for the bonuses to be worth more than the main product. You also might wonder why I'd do that.
      Hi Dennis,

      This is one case where it's all in the framing. I can see where you could load someone up on bonuses -- and instead of it cheapening the offer, the prospect perceives it as getting a great deal.

      Lifetime membership sites come to mind.

      Heck, even the War Room is an example of this. The first few posts are worth the admission price in there, yet new stuff is added all the time.

      So tell me -- is this is a membership site offer?

      That's my first guess. I'll let others throw their guesses in too if they'd like.

      Cheers,
      Becky
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      • Profile picture of the author stockutopia
        I never bought the product, I went to his site to see what other people in my niche were offering - his sales letter was pretty good, but when the bonus offers came up - it cheapened the whole website - why would the average consumer want to learn how to make money online?
        the average consumer wants to work, go home , eat and sleep
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        http://stores.ebay.com/stockutopia
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        • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
          Originally Posted by stockutopia View Post

          I never bought the product, I went to his site to see what other people in my niche were offering - his sales letter was pretty good, but when the bonus offers came up - it cheapened the whole website - why would the average consumer want to learn how to make money online?
          the average consumer wants to work, go home , eat and sleep
          Oops, sorry, I was reading your original post before I finished my first cup of coffee this morning. (Wake up first, then post! lol)

          Now I understood what you meant. And I'm betting we saw the same sales page, because it was in a niche that you and I have chatted about before.
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  • Profile picture of the author stockutopia
    we definately did see the same sales page - LOL
    have a great day - I'm off to the gym
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      This may or may not have been brought up but I think it's worth repeating
      even if it has.

      Too many product creators are concerned with making sales and nothing
      else. Quality of the product be damned. Just slap it together and ship it out.

      What they fail to realize is that eventually, word will get around that their
      products are crap and the sales will dry up. Certainly you won't get any
      repeat buyers.

      I can't tell you how many people on my list have purchased 10 or more
      of my products because I pay attention to detail and care enough about
      the quality I put into them.

      Sure, you can put together a load of crap and attach it to an over the
      top sales page that'll bring sales in by the bucketful...but don't expect
      it to last forever.

      Eventually, even the sheep figure out that you're a wolf.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Dennis, I can think of a couple of reasons you might do that...

        > It's a chance to build a raving fan base, with people telling others how they bought this one product from you and you keep adding great stuff to it. If even a small percentage of those people are active in social media, they can tell a lot of people in a hurry.

        > Which would allow you to raise the price of your offer and still have it be a great value. After one price increase, it could create some urgency for others to get in on the offer (and the growing stream of goodies) before the next price increase.

        [Side note: Two of the scripts I rely on heavily were purchased early in their lives with lifetime upgrades, and both currently sell for about 4X the original price I paid. Both also have more functionality than they did when I bought the initial releases. Think I'm happy with my purchases? Think I'm shy about recommending them? )
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        • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
          Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post


          Too many product creators are concerned with making sales and nothing
          else. Quality of the product be damned. Just slap it together and ship it out.

          What they fail to realize is that eventually, word will get around that their
          products are crap and the sales will dry up. Certainly you won't get any
          repeat buyers.
          Yep. You can sell almost anything to people... ONCE. But if you don't deliver the goods, the repeat sales and referrals disappear.

          Actually, the person who threw a "MMO" product in with a diet book did make me question the quality of the diet book. If they were so lazy that they couldn't even be bothered to create a complimentary offer... well, what else were they lazy about?





          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          > It's a chance to build a raving fan base, with people telling others how they bought this one product from you and you keep adding great stuff to it. If even a small percentage of those people are active in social media, they can tell a lot of people in a hurry.

          > Which would allow you to raise the price of your offer and still have it be a great value. After one price increase, it could create some urgency for others to get in on the offer (and the growing stream of goodies) before the next price increase.

          That's an excellent reason! Now that I think about it, I see lots of those examples floating around. Some people even start off offering the service or product for free in order to build up a raving fan base. About the time everyone wants in is the time they attach a price tag.


          OK Dennis, there are a few guesses for ya. Are you going to spill the beans and let us know your thoughts?

          Cheers,
          Becky
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
    You mean people actually DO offer some MMO bonus for a niche specific sale item?

    You cannot be serious.


    Holy Retarded Batman!


    {shaking head}

    please tell me you're joking
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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Originally Posted by MichaelHiles View Post

      You mean people actually DO offer some MMO bonus for a niche specific sale item?

      You cannot be serious.
      I'm serious -- no joking.

      And then when I was trying to find the link to it again, I ran into another unusual pairing. A diet book... with diet bonuses... plus an "improve your memory" product thrown in for good measure.

      What the... ?

      In this case I wondered why the person didn't just stop with the related bonuses. Why throw in the unrelated one?



      ***

      Kansas Dragon,

      When I first saw the big headline (without seeing who wrote the post or even seeing what the post was *actually* about), I thought someone was randomly spamming this thread. LOL!
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      • Profile picture of the author Bjarne Eldhuset
        Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

        I'm serious -- no joking.

        And then when I was trying to find the link to it again, I ran into another unusual pairing. A diet book... with diet bonuses... plus an "improve your memory" product thrown in for good measure.
        Maybe the diet had the side effect of slimming the brain to a degree where that bonus was needed?
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
    Dear lord... the stupid... Please make it stop.
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