About That Big Pile Of Cash You’ve Been Leaving On My Table…

[BIG Mike]

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the forum today – I got sidetracked by someone who wants to sell high-ticket items instead wasting time on all of that “Nickel and Dime” stuff, which he’s having trouble making sales on anyways.

For some reason, that really kind of bugged me - got me wondering how he hoped to sell them when he couldn't even do it on a smaller scale.

So, let me start by saying that I’ve got nothing against selling high-ticket items on the front or back–end of the sales process. In fact, it’s the ideal sales funnel really, IF, you’ve got the reach, are targeting the right people and know what the hell you’re doing.

I’m always amazed though, at those who sneer at the idea of promoting low-cost products for additional revenue, as if it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. For me, that’s a bit too rigid…and not necessarily very smart business, given the current state of the world economy.

As part of your overall IM business, having a few extra revenue streams from low-end product sales is nothing to sneeze at. If you do a good job automating the payment processing and order fulfillment mechanism, you’re basically only incurring a once off expense of your time, perhaps a domain name registration fee and maybe even a cheapo hosting account.

If you’re promoting your own products, then of course you’ve got the development cost as well, but again, it’s once off – not recurring. So what you’re really doing is making up the difference in volume sales and if it’s entirely automated, you’re not putting any extra effort into it at all.

Assuming you’re doing everything right, selling low-cost, good quality products extends your market reach considerably, enables you to build a list for future “High-Ticket” deals and meanwhile generates a considerable amount of positive cash flow for you and that is something everyone can use. The best part of it is that it’s infinitely sustainable – demand for low-cost goods and services are at an all time high right now.

Find a decent low-cost product to promote, throw up a decent mini-site and send some decently targeted traffic to it. It’s going to convert higher than you might expect and again, doing it on autopilot makes it a cherry revenue stream. Rinse and repeat and you can boost your monthly earnings and have the cash flow you need to tide you over between sales of those high-ticket items.

Again, I’m not disparaging the idea of selling high-end products …I’m simply pointing out that in addition to it, you shouldn’t overlook other potential revenue streams just because they involve low-cost products.

Companies like Wal-Mart and IKEA make this the cornerstone of their business models, on a relative scale. IKEA for example, provides real value at reasonably low costs compared to other furnishing manufactures and distributors. Walmart of course is the king of discounters, and what allows them to do so is the automation involved in their supply chain (makes for an interesting study if you’re into that kind of thing).

So I guess I’m curious about what you think – do you sneer at the idea of selling low-cost products or do you include them in your overall online marketing efforts? Why or why not?

[GeorgR.]

i saw YOU selling $7 kicka$$ products like hot cakes, so its not a question.
PPC is another story, there must be ROI. However, too expensive makes less sales.

[WritingMadwoman]

All of my products are low cost so far ($37 max) But I do promote some higher cost affiliate products. I have to say that I get many more sales on the lower cost products (my own or aff). Those bigger commissions are nice but they don't seem to be as consistent as the lower ones. I don't really spend a lot of time promoting them though, so maybe that's why.

Wendy

[Pete Egeler]

You hit the old nail on the head, Big Mike. Nothing wrong with having a steady stream of low-ball products while you're getting ready for the "big time".

I've made some pretty darned good cash selling low-cost products. (Good ones, that is.)

Pete