Copyright 2006 Willie Crawford Do I have "stupid" stamped on my forehead? Do you? I ask that question because sometimes Internet marketers seem to act as if we do.
What am I raving about? I'm raving about the tactics and techniques desperate Internet marketers sometimes use to sell us things... especially big ticket items. I can ?sort of? understand the marketers using these techniques. What I have a hard time understanding is why we fall for them over and over again.
Almost every time that there is a big ticket product launch, marketers feel the need to put together huge bonus packages in order to get us to "bite." The huge bonus packages are sometimes "worth" 20 times what the basic product is worth. Too me, that points to two fundamental problems:
1) The marketer takes advantage of our basic weaknesses, pushing our buttons, and causing us to stop thinking rationally.
2) The marketer either doesn?t believe in the product enough, or is not skilled enough to sell the product on its own merit.
Let's examine both of those problems in more detail.
First, the marketer is usually taking advantage of the ONE weakness that seems to cause more Internet marketers to stop thinking than any other. That weakness is greed. A skilled marketer can simply put together a package that is so HUGE, and so ?valuable,? that many potential customers simply stop thinking.
What should you be thinking anyway when you see one of those huge packages? You should ask yourself some basic questions, such as "How can he afford to give away $20,000 worth of products when he's only selling a $997 product?" Another factor that you should question is if you need, or would use, much of the stuff in those huge bonus packages. Examine how much of the stuff you used from the last gigantic bonus package that caused you to whip out your wallet. If the answer is "none" or "very little," then that should weigh heavily upon your decision as to which bonus package you go for... if any.
When you look at one of those huge bonus packages, you need to realize that a stack of useless "junk" is worse that worthless. As you spend time going through that stack, you are actually distracted from the projects that you should be focused on. Instead of moving forward towards completing that big project, you are often sidetracked and derailed!
Let's get back to how they can afford to give away so much stuff, when their commission on one of those big ticket packages is 50% at the most, but more often 40%. The answer is that they can afford it because they offer you stuff with high perceived value, but very low hard costs. They also often offer you stuff that has never been sold before. That brings up a bit of an ethical issue. If something has never been sold before, at best the value that you can attribute to it is just a figure you've pulled out of thin air. I submit to you that a value pulled out of thin air tends to be "inflated." Pun intended.
It makes absolutely NO sense to give away something that costs more than the commission earned... unless it's made up on the backend. If you look at a bonus package and can't figure out what the angle is, then the value is probably exaggerated. Yet, many of us get so caught up in the hype that our thinking simply shuts down.
Let's move on to problem number two. Often the marketer is motivated by the money, and NOT what the product can do for his customers. Sometimes, sadly, that?s because the marketer has no clue what he's selling. He's never physically examined the product. Since he's never examined the product, he can't possibly be 100% confident that the product is right for you. To ease his guilt, he pluses up the package in case it's not all that he expects it to be.
There's a simple solution to this problem that I offer to all of my readers who are also affiliate marketers. NEVER sell anything that you haven't actually taken a look at. Buy the product and dissect it! In some cases you can even get a free sample. I do this with every product that I market. If I'm sifting through Clickbank and notice a product that I think my market would love, I either buy it, or drop the product owner an email asking for a free sample. In the majority of cases, they have given me free samples of their products ;-) Especially if it's a digital product, and they're convinced that I may be able to "move" a few copies, they'd be foolish not to.
There are a few instances where you can't examine the complete product before recommending it. An example is a product that I'm currently promoting by Ewen Chia called "The Super Affiliate Cloning Program." The reason I haven't examined the full product is that part of it is seven weeks of live teleseminar training. I spent many hours examining all of the parts of the product that were available though.
Given my moral obligation to only offer my clients something that will genuinely improve their lives, I didn't use the fact that not all of the program was complete as an excuse though. I dug deeper on other fronts. You see, there's always evidence as to the quality of a product.
In the example above, the product is a course, and live training, designed to teach buyers of the course to become super affiliates. So, then my question became, was the person who created the course qualified to teach this.
I'll let you in on a big "non-secret" here. Many people in the Internet marketing world teach things that they have never done. They do what is often referred to as "fake it until you make it." The problem with that is that, since they are really clueless, they often unknowingly teach BAD information. Their customers buy and follow this misinformation, and when they follow the teachings, they are doomed to failure.
Since Ewen is teaching people how to be a super affiliate, it stands to reason that there should be evidence that he is a competent enough affiliate to sell more affiliate products than your ?average? affiliate. After some digging, I discovered that Ewen has made in excess of $1.4 million dollars in affiliate COMMISSIONS in a period of less than 5 months. Furthermore, he provides proof of those earnings.
"How did he do that?" you're probably wondering. Obviously, it wasn't selling $27 ebooks. Ewen is very good at marketing big ticket items. He?s so good that he's consistently among the top sellers during most of the big ticket product releases in the Internet marketing arena. John Reese, Mike Filsaime, Marlon Sanders, and many others who offer big ticket items, readily share that Ewen is one of their top affiliates.
Marlon, who has NEVER publicly endorsed any other products (other than his own) boldly endorses Ewen's product. He not only did a video testimonial, he did a 43 minute teleseminar where they examined some of Ewen's methods, and why they are so effective. Knowing Marlon personally, and how much he cares for his affiliates and customers, that was enough to sell me.
Notice that only after considerable research did I personally become convinced that "Ewen's system was good enough to offer to my clients. That's because I am very protective of my clients. I've earned their trust, and deeply care what happens to them. I have this saying that "No man has the right to play with another's dreams." Many marketers, who will offer their subscribers anything for a buck, don't seem to live by that rule. I do, and I guess that's why many of my subscribers refer to me as "The Most Trusted Guy On The Internet." You can read what they are saying about me at: http://TheMostTrustedGuyOnTheInternet.com/blog/
In case you're wondering if I offered a bonus when marketing Ewen's program. The answer is yes. Because of market pressures, from others offering huge packages of "JUNK," I felt compelled to offer something too. In brainstorming, I came up with the bonus of one years membership in my "Virtual & Real World Mastermind Group." This group meets every other Wednesday night via telephone. Any time that I am speaking at a seminar, we also have a 2-hour get together at the seminar location.
What value did I put on my bonus? I didn't. I'm putting my clients in a group of like-minded, serious, affiliate marketers, and then facilitating live and virtual gatherings. In these groups we'll not only discuss things Ewen teaches, we'll discuss other affiliate marketing techniques that we've tested, along with the results. The potential value of this is at-least six-figure. However, for the person who does nothing with it, the value is zero!
I resent marketers that treats me like I have "stupid" stamped on my forehead so much, that I simply refuse to treat my clients that way. That's why I don't offer "junk" bonuses. That's why I try extremely hard not to use hype. That's why I actually advise some of my clients, who ask me about certain product I market, NOT to purchase them. Again, it all goes back to not toying with another man's dreams... and also to treating people the way that you?d like to be treated.
I hope that this article actually leads to you adopting some of my philosophies. I also hope that it causes you to stop and think. I do encourage you to check out Ewen's system, and if it's appropriate for you, to join my bi-weekly "Virtual & Real World Mastermind Group." Check out Ewen's system at: http://EwenChiaUncovered.com
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Willie Crawford has been teaching Internet marketing for over 9 years. Take advantage of his uncanny insights and unusual candor by subscribing to his free, information-packed newsletter. Also visit his top-rated blog. Do both at: http://WillieCrawford.com/blog/
