Going… Going… Gone
Internet marketers wonder why people have such a hard time trusting them. They think it is because of the anonymity of the net. And to some degree that is true. But as a customer myself, I can tell you my problem is hype. My problem is slicker than ice sales pages. Sure people are persuaded to buy with advertising. But just imagine if everything you bought came with a sales page.
Straight up from the ground. This secret vegetable will give you a perfect figure and perfect health. It is so secret we can’t even tell you what color it is. We can tell you this. It has negative calories. Yep, you spend more calories just by the action of chewing this than the vegetable actually has. Etc.
And can I just tell you how sick and tired I am of promotions that threaten if you don’t buy now you will never get the chance again? Are you kidding me? You spends hours upon hours and dollar after dollar developing a product, launch it and then pull it after a few days or weeks? Okay this makes sense if you are selling a PLR (private label rights) package. If you sell it to everyone it will have no value. Still I wonder just how many times these packages really are sold.
Then there is the sister ploy, buy now or pay more tomorrow. That one really irks me. There is only one legitimate reason I can see to make this offer. If you roll out a promotion to your subscriber list at a “you are my loyal customer” friendly price. But more often than not, the discounted price is used to create a buzz. Get a massive bunch of money in your account and create a huge buzz among affiliates. Hours, days or weeks later, when your affiliates start promoting the product to their lists, the price goes up.
Or worse yet, the price never goes up. It was just a ploy to force you to action. I hate those sales pages with the prices crossed out … it will not cost you $197 or $97 or even $47. You can have the latest and greatest for just $27! Newsflash! If he really thought he could get $197, he would be charging $197. But in fact, there is so much competition in his particular niche he has a much better chance of reeling you in at $27.
There is nothing inherently illegal or immoral in these ploys. It just seems like a snake oil slick way of doing business. This is my opinion. I can understand sales and inflation. A perennial best seller may go up in price over time just as everything else goes up in price. And there is nothing wrong with a discount sale. I get a newsletter from a marketer who has a madness sale once a week on the same day. She offers “x” amount of her regular product at the crazy one day price of $5. When they are gone at that price, they are really gone. The next day they are back to $47 or whatever the regular price may be.
In my business I am trying not to insult the intelligence of my customers. I am trying to persuade them with the real value of my products. Sure a lot of hyped products really do have value. I just wish they were offered in a more dignified manner.
By the way, the secret vegetable is celery.