Christmas Day...

Welcome to Flo's Home Biz & Fun




It's Christmas day, please take a moment for a Soldier's Version "The night before Christmas". This poem was submitted by a Soldier stationed in Iraq.

Send it to your family and friends for a reminder of the man that's in war at this time of year, it's very touching!


Be safe !!!

4-Triggers Will Explode Sales

Welcome to Flo's Home Biz & Fun

In today's article, Jim Edwards talks about the 4 main motivators or triggers that cause people to throw their mental "switch" and buy from you right now!

So if you want to understand WHY people buy and how to use it to make more sales yourself, read the article...

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Why People Buy Anything Online
- by Jim Edwards
© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
www.TheNetReporter.com
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There’s a mental "hump" over which everyone must jump before they buy anything online. It doesn’t matter what you sell, every single customer must throw a little switch in their minds before they pull out their credit card to buy. What makes them throw that mental switch? Anyone who buys anything online does so because of 2 basic emotions and one (or more) of four basic buying motivators.

People buy 99% of everything sold online for one of 4 basic reasons.

First, they buy because of money.

They buy based on how much money they can make or save as a result of purchasing. In fact, making money is the number one reason people buy just about any "info-product" online.

Now, you might say, "My product has nothing to do with making money! How does this help me?" Well, could you put a spin on your product that would help people save money or make money?

For example: if you sell anything to do with golf (equipment, videos, clothing, etc.) you could add a report that explains how to get more business by playing golf with clients. I bet Realtors, insurance agents, and investment advisors would buy whatever product you sold just to get the bonus report about making money while playing golf.

The second reason anybody buys online involves time and effort.

People simply don’t have enough hours in the day to get everything done. They buy products in the hope of saving a few minutes or alleviating some mundane task.

Saving time and effort is one of the reasons software sells so well online because people hope (sometimes in vain) to offload tasks to their computer.

Show people how your product saves them time and reduces effort and you’ve got a great angle to help increase sales.

The third reason people buy online is to escape either physical or mental pain.

Online pharmacies succeed, even though they represent a risky proposition, because people with physical problems need medicine and can’t afford to get it any other way (adding mental anguish to the mix).

One way to position your product or service to alleviate pain is by explaining how you take the worry out of the transaction. Explain how others put all the risk on the customer while you actually remove it through your guarantees, testimonials and proof that your product delivers as promised.

The fourth biggest reason people buy online revolves around the promise of increased popularity and social success.

Why do you think people buy stylish clothes, perfume, books on how to pick up women, or acne treatments? They buy these, and thousands of other things, because they want to feel better about themselves and operate more confidently in social situations!

You can help increase sales of just about any online item by explaining to your customers how smart they’ll look or how they can brag about the money they saved. No matter what you sell, take a little extra time to explain to your customers how they will look good and feel smart purchasing from you.

No matter which of these four buying motivators you invoke, two emotions will intensify their effectiveness: "fear" and "greed."

Normally fear in online selling revolves around fear of loss. Offline retailers try to invoke fear of loss by holding sales (deadlines with financial incentives), but they hold sales so often they lose much of their effectiveness (example: the weekly furniture ads on TV declaring once in a lifetime deals this weekend only).

Online, you can effectively use fear of loss by threatening to raise the price at any time, only offer a limited number of bonuses, or only make an offer good until a certain date.

Greed will also intensify the buying motivation by giving people a self-serving reason to buy now. Greed can be as simple as telling them how much money they can make / save as a result of making a purchase now as opposed to waiting.

But greed can also take a more emotional form where customers covet the feeling they’ll get by making purchase. Whether it’s a good feeling from buying a loved-one that perfect toy or gift, or the feeling of smug satisfaction from snagging one of the most popular gifts this holiday season, consumers are greedy for both material and emotional gain. Explain to them how they can satisfy their greed and you win!

Now, you might say, "Gee Jim, this sounds great, but I don’t see how all this comes together to sell online. Give me an example!"

Okay, let’s take one of the most mundane yet competitive items of the Christmas season: gift cards.

Everyone sells them, yet the marketing for gift cards both online and offline absolutely stinks. Retailers hawk gift cards by either hanging them on a rack or putting a button on their website that says "We have gift cards." Yet every single one of them misses an opportunity to cash-in with gift cards if they would just explain to people why they should buy in terms of the four motivators.

In fact, gift card retailers make the oldest and most fatal mistake in all of sales: selling on features rather than on benefits.

In other words, they try to sell based on what the gift cards do (let someone pick what they want) rather than on what gift cards do for the person who buys them. Gift cards actually help you save on gas (save money) because they don’t necessitate you driving all over town trying to chase down a gift (save time / avoid wasted effort) the person you’re buying for may not want anyway (mental pain of rejection). In fact, a gift card from a store your friend or loved one really likes will make your gift the most popular one under the tree (social success).

You can increase your online sales just by shifting the emphasis off what the product or service does and onto what it does for the person buying it, along with putting your message within the context of as many of the four main reasons people buy as you can.

Then, by intensifying your prospects’ desire through the effective use of fear and greed, you can truly explode your sales over the competition.

All it takes is a little bit of careful thought, some basic explanation to your customers, and the motivation to do a tiny bit more that others are willing to do in their marketing.

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To your success

7-Steps To Launching...

Welcome to Flo's Home Biz & Fun

Today's article by Alexandria will walk you through the seven steps she used for her own product launches. Whenever you come up with a new product, program, or service, don't be meek about it. You need to do a LAUNCH that generates a buzz and a ton of "cha-ching"!

Enjoy the article!

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"7 Steps to Launching a New Product,
Program, or Service... for TONS of Sales"
by Alexandria K. Brown The E-zine Queen
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When I teach one of my Online Success Blueprint Workshops, the section that gets my attendees most excited is when I walk them through an actual product launch.

What's a launch?

It's when you release a new product, program, or service for the first time to your mailing list. A launch is a super opportunity to rack up a TON of sales in a short amount of time.

I basically have seven steps to a launch. In my workshops, I walk through them in great detail and include actual examples and results. But to get you started, here's a brief description of each step and how it works. You can do a launch for any service, product, or program, but for the sake of this article, let's assume we're talking about a product.

1. Drop hints in your ezine beforehand.

Before your product is even ready, start getting your readers curious and excited! Drop hints that something big is on the way and what the benefits are. For example, "I'm working on a brand new product that could help you easily double your sales this year. I can't say anything about it just yet, but you'll know the full story on October 1."

2. Create your sales letter and thank-you pages.

Again, you can do these steps even before your product is ready. In fact, many experts recommend you write your sales letter BEFORE you even create the product. After your sales page, you will need a page to send people to once they purchase -- the "thank you" page -- where they can also download your product if it is digital.

3. Set up the product in your shopping cart.

Log-in to your shopping cart program and set up your new product name, price, and the thank-you page URL. Don't forget to add on shipping or sales tax if applicable. I hope you use a shopping cart with all these capabilities! (I use, love, and recommend QueenCart.com.) Then stick the product link on your sales page.

4. Send out a solo mailing to your customer list.

When everything is ready, it's time to start your promotions! The first people I alert about any new product are those who have already bought from me. It's my most responsive list, and this will be your most responsive list, too. Keep this email short and sweet. Your only objective is to drive them to your sales page, where they can get the full story. To make your customers feel special, give them a special discount or bonus that's just for them. And give them a deadline to respond by.

5. Send out a solo mailing to your ezine list.

I do this a few days after I promote to my customer list. Same idea, different list. Got it? Good. : )

6. Let your affiliates know how to promote this new product.

After I launch my product to my own lists, I let my affiliates know that I have a new product they can promote! Send them an email with the details, their individual affiliate link that gives them credit on any referred sales, and even ad copy they can paste into their ezines or websites. Don't forget to mention how much commission they get per sale. (I do this all through QueenCart.com.)

7. Promote in your ezine on an ongoing basis.

Once your launch is over, don't let your product wither away and die! Keep the momentum going. Make sure you highlight it on a regular basis in your ezine via ads or articles, and that it's also easy for visitors to find on your website.

BONUS TIP: Give them a reason to buy today!

People are so busy these days that they will put off ANY decision possible. So, you will ALWAYS get more sales when you give people a reason to buy NOW and not later. For example: Put a time limit on your offer or have a limited quantity available.

© 2005-2007 Alexandria Brown International Inc.

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Alexandria's Small Business Marketing Blog.

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Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," publishes the award-winning 'Straight Shooter Marketing' weekly ezine with 22,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at www.EzineQueen.com
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Have a great weekend!