Author Archive | William Martin

Here’s an experiment for you to try. If you don’t already, get a year’s worth of issues of any one magazine. If possible, make it a business magazine such as Entrepreneur. Now go through each issue of the magazine and see which full page and half page ads repeat month after month, and which ads are only there for one month before they disappear.

Notice the difference between the two types of ads. The ones that appear once and never appear again tend to be feature based and devoid of emotion. The ones that appear month after month are benefit and emotion based.

Why is that? Because ads that run month after month are working. Those that run once and never run again aren’t working. And ads that only highlight features without benefits or emotions do not work.

Now then, there are hundreds of different emotions and you can’t hit every one of them in your ad. So which are the very best to target? According to author Robert Imbriale, you can’t go wrong when you include as many of these 5 motivators as possible into your sales process:

Fear. Fear of missing out, fear of making a mistake, fear of loss, fear of failure – all of these things can work in your favor to get the sale. Show your prospect what will happen to them if they don’t buy your product. A life can completely change and take an entirely different course simply by making the right decision at the right time. Let them know how your product can make that difference, and then show them how awful it would be if they didn’t take that next step.

Every market has a set of fears that is shared by a large percentage of your prospects. If you have the solutions to those fears, or even to just one of those fears, you simply need to tap into the fear and use it to market your product.

For example, use news stories to tie your product in as the solution to a fear. You might use the story of a man who once had everything, got laid off and is now homeless. “Don’t let this be you. Buy our course on how to start your own business today and never worry about your future again.”

Love. Are you surprised? Real, genuine social contact is at an all-time low. Most people don’t even know who their neighbors are. Families are no longer living close to each other. Television and the Internet have become a poor substitute for human contact.

More than ever people need a sense of connection, and you can provide that connection in a myriad of ways. Have a video blog (vlog) where you speak directly to your audience. Host calls and interviews. Create a community around each product, through a Facebook page or forum. Do live calls where people can ask you questions. Become the expert in your niche that your prospects feel they KNOW, and you will get their business.

Example phrases to use:

• Join us
• Meet people just like you
• Be a part of
• Connect with others

Want to take it even further? You’ve heard it a million times – sex sells – and it does. Incorporate a sexy message into your marketing and sales will go up.

Words to use:

• Join us
• Meet people just like you
• Be a part of
• Connect with others

Free Things and Hot Sales. This one needs very little explanation – everyone loves to get a great deal. So for example, if you can offer your latest product on sale with an older product thrown in for free, you’re probably going to make a lot of sales.

Give something away to build your list. Give something else away to get referrals. Give away tidbits of good info. But don’t give away the store. Offer special deals that are time limited – if they snooze, they lose. Your customers will learn to buy quickly or miss out – a good way to combine hot sales with the #1 motivator above – fear.

And one of the most potent of all freebies – the free (or nearly free) trial. Let them try your $197 product for just $10, and then 3 easy payments of $67. Or your monthly membership for just $1, and then $39.99 a month starting in 30 days. Yes, you’ll get cancellations, but you’ll also get a great many sales, too, as more people get to experience your product and decide they want to keep it.

Easy Money. You’d think this powerful motivator couldn’t be applied to every business, but if you try, it’s nearly always possible. For example, if you’re selling a dating book for guys, you might talk about how much more confidence they’ll have when they’re able to date beautiful women – confidence that will greatly enhance all aspects of their lives, including their ability to make money, get a promotion, etc.

If you’re selling an organic gardening guide, you might mention that with their greatly increased yields they’ll have tons of produce to sell beyond what they need for themselves. And of course organic produce is in high demand, so it’s a money maker. If you’re selling a weight loss product, you might talk about how much more energy and confidence they’ll have, leading to more productivity and better opportunities, and so forth.

Be their fairy godmother and make wishes come true. Everyone has dreams. Everyone wants something. Show your prospects – better yet, prove to them that you can grant their wish when they purchase your product, and you’ve got the sale.

Don’t believe it? Think of the one thing you want more than anything else. Now imagine I can prove to you that you can have that very thing, and the way to get it is to simply purchase and use my product. What’s it worth to you to make your dream come true? Probably just about every cent you have.

Here’s your task: Find a way to incorporate four or all five of these motivators into your next sales piece, and watch your response soar!

Quickly now – why do people buy from you? “Find a need and fill it, and you’ll be rich,” right? Probably not. People rush to buy what they want, they often delay to buy what they need. Think about it…

Look at food – does anyone need spicy nacho corn chips? No. They need fruit, vegetables, grains and meats. They don’t need corn chips or snack cakes or cookies or candy. But what do they buy? Junk food. LOTS of junk food.

No one needs fast food, either. 5 minutes of planning in the morning and you can pack a nutritious lunch that’s actually GOOD for you. But what do millions of people do? They stand in line or sit in a drive-thru to buy a meal that is likely to make them feel bad, both after they eat it and again when they step on the scale, all because they WANTED the fast food. They didn’t need it. They would be better off without it. But that doesn’t stop them from going out of their way to get it because they WANT it.

Now then – are you selling to people’s wants, or their needs?

They need to brush their teeth, they want to have a sexy smile. They need to add gas to their car, they want to get to work without being stranded by the side of the road. They need to make money, they want to be rich without working. They need to lose 50 pounds, they want to have the energy to keep up with their kids during the day and still connect enthusiastically with their partner at night.

Are you in the Internet Marketing niche? Marketers need to get traffic, have products to sell and maintain an outstanding reputation online. But marketers WANT to make more money, have more time, worry less, work less, stress less, and be the envy of their ex-coworkers and a hero to their family.

See the difference?

Success is found when you sell what people WANT, not what they need.

You’re about to Skype into a potential JV partner, or talk to a big affiliate on the phone, or meet your fellow marketers at a conference. Making this connection is important – it can mean the difference between years of working together to build your businesses, or not. So, what can you say or do to make them trust you?

Should you try to impress them and wow them with your expertise? Should you be funny and outgoing? Or act like you’re extraordinarily successful?

Really, the answer is none of the above. That’s because the first step in getting people to trust you is to show them how interested you are in them.

Let’s say you’re about to speak to a business prospect. Decide in advance how you’re going to feel about this person. Before you even meet, choose to find them interesting, intriguing, loveable and kind. When you do, you’ll be making them feel as important as they are.

Ask to hear their story. “So tell me how you got to where you are.” Let it come across in your words. “That’s fascinating, tell me more about that.” “I love hearing your story, tell me what happened next.”

Make your energy and your words positive because no one likes to be around negative people.

Another example: When you see who’s calling on caller ID, get happy and think how fascinating they are before you answer the phone, especially if you’re initially annoyed at the interruption.

Creating a positive experience for the other person will naturally lead to the connection you seek.

Connection occurs in those moments when someone else feels understood by you. When they feel that you “get” them. You might use phrases such as, “Me too!” “I thought I was the only one!” “I didn’t realize you enjoy that, I like it too!”

In that “me too” moment, you help that person remember that they are not alone in this world, and that there is at least one other person that “gets” them.

The more “me too” moments you can create, the more points of connection you create.

Here are more tips for creating connections that get people to trust you:

Get permission before offering them your advice. They might be simply telling you their story and not looking for your feedback, so don’t assume. Invite them to consider whether they want you to participate. You might say, “That’s really interesting. I have an idea that might be helpful to you, would you like me to share it?”

In sales, the word “no” is seldom respected. So ask permission before making a presentation of any kind: “It will only take 5 minutes, if you don’t mind my taking that time to share this with you.” Asking permission shows respect and indicates that you think of them as an equal, not someone to be dominated.

Ask for feedback. When offering them information, ask what they think and how they feel about it. “I’d love your thoughts. “Can you tell me your opinion?” “I feel strongly about that, how do you feel?” “What would you do in a situation like that?” “Have you ever done something like this before?”

Be helpful, even if they’re not ready to buy right now or do a joint venture or promote your product right now. Share resources with them, introduce them to people who can help them, and find ways to be an asset to them, not a liability.

Using these methods you’ll build connections, trust, and you’ll grow your network exponentially, thus growing your business.

There’s only one thing you need to sell as an online marketer, and it’s not your website or your blog posts or your products. It’s you.

Why do more people buy products from another list owner or blogger than you?

Because those people trust that person more than they trust you.

This doesn’t mean you’re not trust worthy – not at all.

It just means they don’t know you. They don’t know your name, or if they know your name they don’t know what you stand for or if you’re just like them.

To get someone to trust you, you have to get them to like you.

To get someone to like you, you have to be like them. People like people who agree with them.

Just look at politics and you’ll see what I mean.

But don’t get confused – I’m not saying you should take a poll, see what people like and then try to be that person.

It won’t work because you cannot and will not please everybody. It’s impossible, and you shouldn’t even try.

Instead, you should be a bigger, brighter and BOLDER version of yourself.

Form your own opinions. I don’t mean read an opinion you agree with and then be a parrot – that’s what everyone does.

Instead, start thinking for yourself and forming your own opinions. Then vocalize those opinions in your emails, your blog posts and your videos.

When you do, here’s what will happen:

Some people will think you’re annoying as can be. They’ll even tell you this. They’ll stop reading your blog or they’ll unsubscribe from your list. This is good. This is what you want.

Because at the same time, other people will take notice and say, “Hey! That guy or gal is right! What else do they have to say?”

These are your followers, your tribe, your customers for life. These are the people who will buy a product simply because you point to it and say, “Buy this.”

They will buy because they like you. They will like you because you are like them. And they will trust you because they like you.

Be yourself. Don’t be aggressive or arrogant, but be vocal about your opinions. Build your tribe. Your tribe will LOVE you. Ignore those who don’t love you.

This is how you sell yourself. And once you can sell yourself, you can sell anything you want to sell.

If you already sell your own products, you can double your income in no time at all by adding new price points to your marketing funnel. You don’t even need to create any new products – just new services that take very little of your time. Here’s how it works…

Let’s say you’ve got one or more products in the $20-$50 dollar range that teach something you’re good at. And for this example, let’s say that your product is a book on how to make a website super user friendly so that people stay and buy, rather than getting lost and confused and leaving. (This is a major market, by the way. Hint hint.)

In addition to your book, you can add a personal 1 hour consultation for $97 to $197 to look at and give feedback on one of their websites.

You could also offer to be on retainer for a certain fee per month to check each of their websites monthly and point out the changes they need to make. This fee would depend on the number of sites they have and are adding each month.

You could further offer a coaching service in which you train people to be usability experts and charge others for their services. In this case, you might charge $1,000 or even $2,000 a month for 3-6 months to make them experts.

Whatever your niche is, odds are you can add additional service-type programs that will easily double the amount of money you’re already making.

If you sell just 5 $97 one-time consultations a month, that’s another $5,820 a year.

If you sell an ongoing service at $297 a month and you’ve got 12 clients, that’s $42,768 a year.

If you take 4 new coaching clients for 6 months at a time, twice a year at $1,000 a month, that’s another $48,000 a year.

And none of these services have to take a lot of time. In the case of the 1 hour consult, obviously it’s an hour. And your real money here will be derived from upselling one of your more expensive consulting or coaching packages.

If you’re a consultant, you might be spending a couple of hours a week on each client. If you’re a coach, you might spend an hour a week on the phone, and answer their email questions 3 to 5 days a week.

And notice that you didn’t have to create any new products to do this. You’ve already got the knowledge and expertise – you’re simply offering more of it in a highly personalized manner. Your clients get tremendous benefit this way, much more so than they could by simply buying your book.

You’re happy, your clients are happy, and here’s a bonus: Anyone that you personally work with – even if it’s only for an hour – is far more likely to buy your products in the future, regardless of price.

Do you plan to release a $997 product in six months? Offer your customers personalized attention that greatly benefits them, and you will hit the ground running with sales when you launch your expensive product, guaranteed.

Take a few minutes now and think about what you can offer your existing and future customers that A) Provides them with a tremendous amount of value and B) You can perform in a minimal amount of time. Then quickly write up a page explaining your new service, send it to your existing customers and add it to your sales funnel. You could be making new sales in less than 24 hours.

Alright, some of you are going to say I’m over simplifying and others will simply disagree, but after years of being super serious about my business, here’s what I’ve discovered:

Everything in life – EVERYTHING – is actually a GAME.

You know how you sit down with a few friends to play cards or a board game, and there’s always that one person who takes the whole game WAY too seriously? They’re getting mad and frustrated when things don’t go their way, they’re celebrating like it’s New Years when things go right, and half the time they can’t even follow the conversation because they’re too busy concentrating on the game.

Yeah, that person.

Well guess what? I’ll bet you that when it comes to Internet Marketing, you are that person.

If you’re taking every decision so seriously, then it might as well be life or death. Exactly how should you word this email? What color should your header be? Should you promote this product at 6a.m. on Tues, or at 9a.m. on Wednesday? And so forth.

These are choices that should take seconds.

Yet I was agonizing over each one like it was a declaration to declare war.

I thought I had to nail every decision and make it all perfect. Nothing could be left to chance. If it took me a week to decide something, it’s because that’s how long it should take.

Wrong.

Now I flip a coin. Seriously. If I need to make a decision – but based on all the facts I have I can’t decide – I flip a coin. Sort of like rolling the dice in a game. Because you know what? It’s better to take the wrong action than no action at all.

Sure, fast decisions can turn out to be bad ones. But guess what? So can slow decisions. But no decision at all? That will get you nowhere, fast. Every kid who rides a bicycle can tell you that it’s far easier to change direction once you’re moving. But if you’re sitting still on that bike, you’re not going anywhere.

And the long term difference between good and bad decisions isn’t even in the decision itself, or the results it produces. Instead, the difference is in how you react. If you make a bad decision and then confine yourself to bed for a week, that’s not going to help.

But when you play marketing like a game, a bad decision is simply telling you to move in another direction. You shrug off the bad choice, glad that now you have more information to head in a better direction this time.

Laughing at your bad choices is a good idea, too, because it’s a game. It’s all a game. LIFE is a game.
If you’re down two goals in football, do you over think what to do next? No. You get the ball and start moving it down the field. If you encounter something new and surprising in a video game, do you shut it down? No, you try different things and see what works. At most you pause the game, go online and find out what to do. It takes you 5 minutes at most before you’re back in the game, fully armed with the knowledge you need to win.

Any difficult obstacle you face can be thought of as a game. And just shifting your mindset to game mode can make all the difference.

I had a friend years ago who went to military boot camp. He looked at the whole thing as a game, and afterward he reported that boot camp was one of the easiest things he ever did. Other people in his camp took the training so seriously, they were literally getting sick from fright. Same boot camp, two different mindsets.

I had another friend in the U.S. who was facing an IRS audit. Scary stuff, and let me tell you, he was deeply frightened and ready to do anything – including signing over a big check – to make it go away. Then he changed his outlook. Now instead of quaking in fear, he declared, “It’s a game, me against them. Let’s see how we can win this.” His fear vanished, he took action, and at the end of the audit the IRS paid HIM.

Do you want to start an online business? Launch a new product? Approach 25 gurus in the next 25 days? Make it into a game and 4 things will happen:

First, you’ll relax – and people do their best thinking when they’re relaxed.

Second, you’ll have fun – and people do their best work when they’re having fun.

Third, you won’t feel stressed – at least not the negative kind of stress – and you’ll literally live longer and be happier.

Fourth, when it’s all done and regardless of the outcome, you’ll be eager to do something else because you’ll want to have even more fun in your game.

“Yeah, but this is serious business and I’m a serious person!”

Really? Or is that simply how you choose to look at things and who you choose to be?

Life is a series of choices, and one of the biggest choices we make is deciding how to frame what we’re doing.

Me, I choose to make it a game – one I can’t wait to get up and play each morning. A game that just happens to also make me money. Lots of money.

How about you?

Regardless of what people might think of the Walmart we know today, there is a lot to be learned from Walmart’s founder Sam Walton. In fact, if Sam were starting in business in 2020, he would almost undoubtedly be starting that business online.

So what can we glean from the guy in the old pickup truck who loved retailing?

Don’t worry about what others say about you. At JC Penney’s, his first full time job out of college, the personnel director told Sam, “Walton, I’d fire you if you weren’t such a good salesman. Maybe you’re just not cut out for retail.” No one remembers that man’s name, but Sam built an empire no one is likely to ever forget.

If people are telling you that you’re not cut out for online marketing, just remember Sam and smile.

Go with your strengths. Sam wasn’t good at accounting, he had poor organizational skills and he was hopelessly disorganized. But one thing he could do really well was build a team of people who could handle these things for him.

Focus on your strengths and outsource the rest.

Build relationships. In college, Same wanted to be student body president, so he discovered a trick that he would use for the rest of his life:

Sam made friends everywhere he went, and you can do the same thing online. Talk to everyone in your niche because you never know who is going to be your next customer, your ally, your promoter, your affiliate or your next joint venture partner.

Be a learning machine. Sam never stopped reading books and taking courses because he understood that the next great idea could come from anywhere.

Choose 5 or 10 proven online marketers to follow, and then read everything they write. Read a marketing book each week, and develop a curiosity for everything related to your field. Keep an open mind and know that your next great idea is hidden right in front of you – you just have to uncover it and act on it.

Learn from your competition. When Sam bought his first store, he realized the store across the street was doing twice as well. So Sam spent time everyday checking out his competitor to see what he was doing, right and wrong. Later he checked out Kmarts, who were ahead of him at the time. Then he visited the headquarters of other retailers who didn’t consider him to be serious competition. Little did they know…

Carefully watch and analyze what other online marketers are doing right and wrong and learn from them. Make friends with them. Ask questions. Bribe them, buy their courses and do whatever it takes to find out what’s already working.

Continually experiment with your business. Sam was continually applying what he learned elsewhere to his stores. Said Sam:

Learn something and apply it. Make it your mantra: Learn something – innovate. And test, test and test some more to see what is working best. In no other business model in history has it been easier to innovate, test and discover exactly what is working and what needs improving than in online marketing.

Don’t reinvent the wheel – adapt it to your own use. According to Sam, “…most everything I’ve done I’ve copied from somebody else…”

There are plenty of proven online marketing business models you can choose from, so don’t think you have to invent the next revolutionary thing. Instead, take what’s already working and make it even better.

Make mistakes and then move on. Sam didn’t understand the terms of his first lease or how to buy a business. He borrowed money and went into debt to overpay for a failed Ben Franklin store in Newport, Arkansas. After 5 long years of grueling work and long hours, he had quadrupled sales and he had the most successful Ben Franklin store in the region. That’s when the landlord booted him out to give the store to his son to run. There was nowhere else in town to locate Sam’s store, so he drove across four states looking for a new location. He found one in Bentonville, Arkansas and started over.

It’s okay to get it wrong the first time. In fact, you’re probably going to make mistakes and that’s terrific, because it means you’ve started. You’re moving, you’ve got momentum and you’re making progress. Mistakes aren’t roadblocks, they’re bumps in the road to success.

Don’t dwell on your mistakes. Says Sam about being thrown out of his own store, “I’ve never been one to dwell on reverses, and I didn’t do so then…. I know I read my leases a lot more carefully after that, and maybe I became a little more wary of just how tough the world can be …. But I didn’t dwell on my disappointment.”

Every moment is a fresh beginning and an opportunity to take what you’ve learned – good and bad – and use it to your advantage.

Enjoy the process and your victories. In his autobiography, which was written on his deathbed, Sam wrote, “Walmart No. 18 … opened in 1969, and it marked our return to Newport … nineteen years after we had basically been run out of town. By then, I was long over what had happened to us down there, and I didn’t have revenge in mind…. As it happened, we did extraordinarily well with our Newport Walmart, and it wasn’t too long before the old Ben Franklin store I had run on Front Street had to close its doors. You can’t say we ran that guy—the landlord’s son—out of business. His customers were the ones who shut him down. They voted with their feet.”

Sometimes success can be a long time in coming, so remember to enjoy the process and the victories along the way. There were 17 successful stores prior to No. 18 and no doubt Sam enjoyed them all. At first, even your smallest successes should be celebrated, whether it’s your first website, your first sale, or your first $10,000 day.

When it comes to success, Sam Walton may have said it best:

Expect to succeed, act as though you are already successful, do the things you need to do to succeed, and the rest will take care of itself.

A product launches and sells hundreds or even thousands of copies. As an affiliate, you can make about 50% commission. But wouldn’t you like to keep ALL of the commission on the sales you make?

There is a way to do it. And while it’s not well known, the fact is it’s done far more often than you would think. Here’s how it works:

Savvy marketers approach product sellers and offer to buy the rights to their product. This might be a product that didn’t sell well through no fault of its own; for example, a great product with poor marketing. Or the product might have been a robust seller, but it’s no longer a hot commodity (which only takes about 3-4 weeks in many markets.)

If a deal is struck, the purchaser of the rights sells the product just as he would if he were an affiliate. However, he’s actually (and secretly) making ALL of the money. The product owner sold the rights and now receives nothing on each sale. That can be a good deal for a product owner, since they get a lump sum up front. But if you’re good at marketing, it can be a bonanza for you. It’s like having your own product, except with a guru’s name attached and ALL of the work done for you.

If the cost is a worry for you, then start small. Choose a product that’s been on the market for a while so you can get it for less money. Don’t purchase exclusive rights, just rights for yourself. Doing this, it’s possible to buy rights for a very reasonable rate.

Don’t add your name to the sales page – keep it just as it was so the product creator appears to be the seller. Simply replace the payment button and support desk link with your own.

If it’s in the budget, hire someone to optimize the site for keywords based on the product creator’s name. This can potentially get you sales when someone searches for the guru or the product.

Use a domain name that sounds a LOT like the original product name. And then get busy marketing, because all of the profit you make is yours.

These are without a doubt the biggest mistakes new marketers tend to make when it comes to copywriting…

Lie #1: Good copywriting uses lots of exclamation points and over-the-top jargon a 5 year old wouldn’t believe.

“This Brand New Revolutionary Never Before Seen Blah Blah Will Explode Your (Bank Account! Abs!! Sex Life!!! Etc.)” Seriously, who really wants their abs to explode???

“This Revolutionary Once In A Lifetime Opportunity Is Only Available To You Because You’re So Damn Handsome, But It Will Disappear In 10 Minutes And Then You’ll Be Ugly Forever!!!” Okayyyy…….

“This Incredibly Awesome Majestic Indescribable Super Secret Opportunity That Only The Super Duper Uber Wealthy Rich Know About Can Be Yours Because This One Rich Nerd Guy Decided To Spill The Beans Because He’s Really Angry At All The Other Rich Jerk Guys!!!” Yeah, who doesn’t believe that?

If you think you need exclamation points, it means you really need a thesaurus. Writer Henneke Duistermaat gives some great examples of this. Instead of “It’s big!” Try “It’s enormous.” Instead of writing, “That was brave!” Use, “That was heroic.” Finding the right words instead of lazily using exclamation points makes your writing more persuasive and tantalizing.

And forget wild promises and over the top worn out phrases. Instead, try being honest and genuine, like you’re talking to a friend over tea. Your sales copy will get noticed and read because it sounds like it’s coming from a real person and not the worst possible version of a used car salesman.

Lie #2 – You can simply ‘swipe’ your way to copywriting success.

Just rip off other writers, substitute your product for theirs, change a little bit here and there and call it good, right? Yes, it will save you time and yes, you might make some sales.

But to be truly successful and to BE a success (two different things, btw) you need fresh thinking and honest copy.

Because unless you are selling the exact same product to the exact same customers, ripping off someone else’s copy won’t provide the sensational conversions you’re looking for.

Telling your own story in your own way will.

Think about every blog that you read on a regular basis. Could someone else write those blogs and have them be the same? No. If someone tried to rip them off, would they be as successful as the original authors? No.

Once you master copywriting you’ll have a tremendous amount of power to write your own paychecks because you will be the source of new ideas and perspectives that resonate with your customers and create buying frenzies.

Lie #3 – Copywriting is super simple, once you know the ‘secrets.’

That’s right – just spend $997 for my latest course and in no time at all you’ll know all the secrets of the pros and you’ll be a copywriting savant.

Actually, no. No there are no secrets and you won’t become a copywriting wiz overnight.

The fact is, there are a multitude of books and courses that will teach you about copywriting. But there are no real secrets except this – there is no substitution for practice. And more practice. And more practice after that.

Hopefully this won’t sound too sentimental, but great copywriting is about one thing: Caring.

Caring for your customer, caring that he gets the best possible solution to his problem, caring enough to see to it that you make every effort to get that solution in his hands.

It’s about empathy and stepping into your customers’ shoes. Seeing life from his or her perspective. Living with the problem they have, knowing what it’s like to desperately want the solution.

You can’t outsmart your prospects. What you can do is be one of them so you can talk to them and counsel them as they would want to be talked to and counseled.

When you learn how to do that, you’ll be a great copywriter indeed.

The more you discover about why people buy your products, the easier it is to influence them to buy more – or to persuade prospects to become new customers.

Plus, the more of these reasons you can fulfill with your copy (without going overboard) the better your odds of making the sale.

Here then are a dozen of the most powerful reasons why someone might buy your information product.

To make money. This one is easy; sometimes you’ve got to spend money to make money, like buying a course on how to invest in the stock market, or how to start a business. In fact one of the easiest ways to make a sale is to show that your prospect’s small investment can be turned into a much bigger return.

To save money. Buying a water filtration system can save a person hundreds of dollars over buying bottled water. If your solution saves money, show them how much. If you teach how to make money, show them not only that they can make money with your product – they can also save money by not making stupid mistakes. If you sell dating products, show them how finding the right person quickly will save a fortune in dinners, movies and bad dates.

To save time. Instant coffee, fast food and done for you solutions all fall into this category. So does anything that shortens the learning curve. If you sell courses, this one can be big. Do they want to build a business in six years? Or buy your course and build it in 6 months?

To feel important. No one needs a Rolex or a Ferrari, but they feel better about themselves when they own one. Status is hugely important to some people – why else would they spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on a purse or a pair of shoes when something from the discount store would work just as well?

To make it easier. Let’s say you sell a big course on how to get a certain result through a series of steps. Yes, they could do everything you teach in the course – or you could offer to do the work for them for a price. They won’t have the hassle of doing it themselves, and they can be certain it will be done right.

To feel good. This one is broad and encompasses a lot of things. We feel good when we pamper ourselves. We feel good when we do something for someone else. We feel good when we’re furthering our education or providing for our future. Really, no one buys something to feel bad. The question to ask yourself is how does your product make your customer feel good?

To move us closer to our goals. Whether those goals are basic like food and shelter, or more grand like taking over the world, we will buy almost anything that will help us get whatever it is that we want most.

To move us away from pain. Whatever that pain might be – physical, mental, emotional – people will buy if they think it will help to ease or erase the pain.

To be superior. Granted, few people openly admit they want to feel superior, yet almost everyone does. This is why people buy products they think are ‘cool’ or will make them look good, like tattoos or fast cars. They’ll buy things simply because they’re new or upgraded, or because they’re better versions than what their friends have.

To keep up. People will buy something because everyone else has it and they don’t want to be left behind. Look at smartphones. The more people had smartphones, the more pressure there was on everyone else to get one, too. If your product can reach a tipping point of popularity, people will buy it simply because others have bought it.

To be a good fan. Football fans buy giant foam fingers to show they’re fans. Collectors of Coke products will buy anything that has a Coke name on it. People who love Apple will stand in line to buy the latest gadget. Followers of a particular blogger will buy that blogger’s new book without hesitating. If you can build trust with your community, you can get them to buy products simply because you recommend those products, whether they’re your products or someone else’s.

It’s on sale. Or scarce. Or both. Customers will sometimes buy things simply because they’re a good deal. If you don’t believe it, check out any black Friday sale – people line up to buy stuff they didn’t even know they wanted until they saw it was going to sell at a cheap price. People are also much more likely to buy if they think they’re going to lose the chance to buy because of scarcity, or the chance to buy at this low price because the price is about to go back up.

Bonus Reason: Because you orchestrated a marketing campaign that took away all of the risk and provided so many benefits, they couldn’t help but buy your product. And when they bought it, they did a little jig in front of their computer or holding their phone, because they were so happy they got it!