Money Daily Blog

Posted on Wednesday, 15th April 2009 by ste52

Has this ever happened to you? You’re browsing online, reading a few of your favorite blogs, following some links – and suddenly you find yourself on an ebook sales page. It promises guaranteed results; there’s a sale on, but only till midnight today; the offer is strictly limited to the first two hundred buyers…

…before you know it, you’re clicking that “buy now” button and paying upwards of $50 for something that you never knew existed before, when you never had any intention of spending any money.

What just happened? Chances are, you fell for one of the internet marketers’ favorite tricks. (They, of course, call them “sales techniques”.)

So how do those internet marketers try to persuade you to transfer your hard-earned dollars into their own pockets … and how do you resist? Read on to find out…

Trick 1 – Appealing to Your Emotions
All forms of persuasive writing use this technique but internet marketers are especially good at it. They know that sales aren’t really based on customers rationally weighing up the pros and cons of a product – we tend to buy based on an emotional reaction.

For example, a common marketing method is to open with a “pain” story – something which you really don’t want. (Re-read the first two paragraphs of this article for an example!) And then, having created a potentially false or overblown need in your mind, they’ll try to sell you a solution.

Beat the Marketers: Ever heard that you shouldn’t grocery shop on an empty stomach? It’s a good idea not to shop online when you’re feeling emotional. Whether you’re insanely excited about the new business idea you had in the pub, or in despair over the state of your finances, you’re likely to fork out a fortune for unnecessary information products.

Keep a cool head, and promise yourself that you’ll sleep on it before making any decisions. Your mood will have changed in the morning – and if you still want the product, you’ll know it wasn’t just an emotional reaction.

Trick 2 – Promising Free/Vastly Cut Price Extras
How often have you seen something like this on an ebook sales page?

If you reached this point and you do not want to make the purchase, I strongly suggest you to leave, as these bonuses will surely convince you: …. Total Bonuses’ Value: 346.8 $
(from http://www.zero-seo-ebook.com/ - scroll a bit more than half way down).

What you’re supposed to think is that the kind internet marketer is giving you a huge amount of amazing extra value out of the sheer goodness of his/her heart. Well, you’re a more charitable person than me if you really do believe that.

The sole purpose of this little trick is to convince you to buy. All those ridiculous dollar values? They’re completely invented. The information is only worth what you get out of it – and chances are, those over-hyped ebooks aren’t going to be all that great.

Beat the Marketers: Whenever you see something which looks like a can’t-be-missed deal, ask yourself this simple question. If the marketer really could sell each of those ebooks or special reports for $49.99 each, why isn’t he?

Remember that a ton of stuff you don’t want isn’t added value – it’s added clutter. If you just want one straightforward ebook, go for the most reputable and valuable product you can find – not the one which offers the most freebies.

Trick 3 – Scarcity
We’re all more prone to buying when we think something’s likely to run out. Internet marketers play on this by telling us that “only the first 500 people will get this ebook for $50”. This encourages you to make a snap decision, when you’d otherwise have waited.

The one time when this is legitimate is for online courses, which often have limited membership to ensure that participants can have a fair amount of attention. When you’re buying any sort of downloadable information product, like an ebook or audio book, the idea of scarcity is ridiculous: ebooks can be copied ad infinitum!

Beat the Marketers: If something’s limited to the first 500, and you really want it, make yourself wait at least a day. Even if the marketer pulls the product (and they won’t), do you think they’d really refuse to take your money if you emailed them and asked to buy it?

And keep an eye on those products which are going to get pulled after a certain number of sales. Chances are, they’ll be back on the market soon enough.

For example, back in August 2008, Copyblogger reported that:

Buy SEO School Today… Because It’s Gone Tomorrow
SEO School has been out for a couple months, and it’s sold really well. To avoid a customer service meltdown, Naomi is taking the ebook off the market tomorrow (that’s Friday, August 8th).

… but take a look at this page. Yup, SEO school is still on sale.

(Note – I have a huge amount of liking and respect from Naomi from IttyBiz, and I believe she genuinely changed her mind and her business model for SEO school – but she is an excellent internet marketer!)

Trick 4 – Limited Time Only
Have you ever noticed the amazing coincidence that whenever you go to an internet marketer’s sale page, the “time limited” offer just happens to expire at midnight of the current day? There’s usually a counter ticking away those precious seconds while you can still buy, buy, buy at the cheap price. Some marketers don’t even bother with a counter, they just put in a line of text like this:

Order before Midnight tonight, , and you’ll get Rapid Thin at the Special Price of $37.00. This price is only guaranteed until Midnight.
(from http://www.rapidthin.com/ - about two-thirds of the way down the page).

I’ll let you into a secret – this is a complete and utter trick. The web site is simply programmed to show the current date, whatever day you visit. Unconvinced? Pay repeat visits to the sales page. Does the price and offer ever change? No – but the expiry date does.

Beat the Marketers: Don’t get pressured into buying just because something’s time-limited. Again, if you decide you do desperately want the product after the sale’s over, try emailing. How many marketers are going to turn down a sale? (Remember, information products cost virtually nothing for them to produce – almost everything you pay them is pure profit.)

And treat those ticking counters and “only till midnight tonight” offers with the contempt they deserve.

So there you have it – the four top tricks that expert internet marketers use, and how to resist. Have you ever bought something that just didn’t live up to the hype? Have you been rushed into buying because of some dubious time- or customer-limited offer? Let us know in the comments…

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