Posted on: 07 December, 2001
Author: Richard Wall
Read this article and I'll give you 109 Killer Reports onInternet marketing! Yes 109 FREE bonus reports just for readingthis article!Does that sound familiar?Internet marketers have gone 'free mad'. F... Read this article and I'll give you 109 Killer Reports onInternet marketing! Yes 109 FREE bonus reports just for readingthis article!Does that sound familiar?Internet marketers have gone 'free mad'. Freebies have theirrightful place in the online marketing bag of tricks: 'subscribeto my Ezine and I'll give you a free eBook' and 'order this andI'll give you a bonus product' are often used to great effect.However, many Internet marketers seem to have 'lost the plot.'If you have a sensibly priced product with a money-backguarantee, do you really need to pack in 10 'bonus products' tosell it?I nearly added another eBook to my library last week. My cursorwas hovering on the 'Order Now' button but I decided not toclick. Guess what put me off? Too expensive? No, the price wasfine. Not enough freebies? No. There were too MANY freebies andby the time I got to reading about how 'Bonus #9' would change mylife, I'd lost interest in the eBook I was about to buy. My stateof mind had shifted from enthusiastic to suspicious.The perceived value of the eBook I was about to buy got lower asmore and more bonus products were added to the deal.Imagine an offline retailer, who normally sells a chocolate barfor 50 cents, with a special offer: '3 bars for the price of 2.'Or a travel agent with an offer on a vacation: 'book today andget 20% discount.' The offline marketing world is full of dealsand offers - because they work. And of course, they work onlinetoo.But what would you think if the retailer had said: 'buy thischocolate bar today for 50 cents and I'll give you 5 bonusproducts: a cigarette, some gum, 2 paper clips, last month's freeads newspaper and a comb'? You'd think he was out of his mind -all you wanted was a chocolate bar.On the Internet - at least at the home-based entrepreneur end ofthe market - an unwritten law seems to have crept in which saysthat to get the sale you need to bundle in lots of free products.It's a fine line between adding value to your products andDEVALUING them. I'm selling my own eBook for $15 and yes, I throwin a free eBook as a bonus. But there's only one AND it'scomplementary to the eBook I'm selling, not just complimentary.The free eBook is a useful and relevant bonus. If I was to loadup the offer with 5 other bonus products, it would make the wholedeal cluttered and unnecessarily 'generous'. I would get fewersales.Until very recently I also included the sales pitch 'buy my eBookfor $15 TODAY and I'll throw in a free eBook.' I've taken out theword 'TODAY' because I don't have any plans to withdraw the freebonus tomorrow (or the day after for that matter.) If you DO havea real price rise around the corner or a genuine limited periodoffer, that's fine. However, many of the Internet marketingoffers I see include something like 'order by this Friday, 19January.' and when I see the same ad the following month it says'order by this Friday, 9 February.' JAVA scripts and suchlikehave allowed Internet marketers to invent a new concept: arolling 'this Friday.'Oh, and have you seen the 'buy this eBook for $29.95 TODAY andI'll give you a marketing course worth $1,495 absolutely FREE'offer? Does the prospective customer really perceive the freemarketing course to be worth $1,495? I don't think so. The word'credibility' springs to mind!Finally, if you want the 109 bonuses I promised, I'll try andfind some of the free 'Killer Reports' I've acquired over thepast few months. Now, let me see, which folder did I save themin...? Article Tags: I'll Give, Free Ebook, Bonus Products Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com