-•- HomeOfficeDigest.com Newsletter - Issue 253 -•-
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THE HOME OFFICE DIGEST NEWSLETTER
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BE YOUR OWN BOSS
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Selling online isn't limited to just ebooks! If you want to open a
store online you shouldn't limit your options, do what you love to 
do! If you're interested in something, you could be a great store 
owner for that product. For example, if love scrapbooking you can 
open up your own store. You probably already visit a lot of other
sites that sell this type of product, you've already got a decent
working knowledge of the things you'd like to sell, and you could 
easily write up a few articles to drive traffic to your site. The 
best small business websites don't just sell, they inform as well.
Using the scrapbook example, you could give people a few unique 
ideas on how to mount photographs, and then give people a link to
a product that would make that task easier. You may end up with a
slow start, but after you build up a decent client base you might
end up with a growing group of repeat customers. It doesn't have
to end there! Affiliate programs work just as well, if not better
in this type of business. If a local scrapbooker buys something 
from you and are satisfied, they would be very likely to tell a 
friend about it, and even more so if you offer them an incentive
to do so. Another advantage of getting into a smaller market is 
that advertising can be much cheaper. Webhosting costs a fortune 
to advertise because there are so many competitors, but with the
more specialized types of businesses you could use banners and a
newsletter to advertise at very low cost. This is of course just 
a single example, but should illustrate what you can do if you're
willing to set your mind to it. As a fringe benefit, you may see
a few freebies come your way and you'll end up paying dealer cost
for the things you enjoy anyway!


FEATURED ARTICLE
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ONLINE SALES CLOSE SECRETS
by Doug West

One of the biggest problems in any type of sale is the
close. With one-on-one salesmen, getting them to ask for the
sale is one of the hardest things to teach. In online
selling, where words are the salesman, many times you see
the same problem - the writer never asks for the order or
business! Do you make that mistake in your marketing?

There are as many ways (perhaps even more) to ask for the
sale with the written word as there are in person. But, you
Must ask for it! Here are some examples:

The Assumed Close

With direct in-person selling, this is one of the big ones.
Forget the old adage about never assuming anything, when it
comes to selling; just assume that your prospect is going to
buy. For example:

"Well Bob, all we have to do now is process the order and
get you started today!"

You can say that in person, and you can also use it in
writing. With the personalization feature in your follow-up
responder, you should address the person by name, and ask
for their business. Tell folks Exactly what you want them to
do next:

"Click Here and fill out the order form. Once you have done
that, you will be redirected to a page where you can get
(download, set up, call, or whatever the case may be) your
hands on the product and get started Now!"

The Internet really speeds up the process with Real Time
ordering, and instant downloads. Many times a live sales
person has to wait for the home office to ship your order,
but when dealing with digital products, the transaction can
take place instantly! Use that to your advantage in closing
the sale. 

"Let's get you set up right now Bob!"

The Option Close

Some net marketers will disagree with me on this one. Some
studies do seem to indicate that online you need to give
them one choice, and one choice only. Any more than one
choice will detract from sales, or so the philosophy goes.

I'm not sure that I fully buy that theory. The option close
works so Extremely well with mail order and one on one
sales, that there has to be a way to use it online
successfully. 

The simplest option close works like this "Bob, do you want
the blue or green today?" Most of the time you will only
have one choice (i.e. your ebook or digital product), but
there are other choices you can offer. Many of the net Gurus
that say to only give your visitors one option really have
more than one and don't realize it. For instance, maybe they
don't buy your book, but they sign up for your free
newsletter - that is an option! Or how about "Will that be
VISA or MasterCard?" That is an option!

Perhaps you want to give them the option of Pay Pal or some
other form of payment. That can be your option. Really the
option is a form of the assumed close. When you ask, "will
that be Pay Pal or 2checkout" you are assuming they are
ready to buy and giving them an option. 

Fear Of Loss

Nearly all pro online marketers use this fear of loss close.
"If you don't order today the price may go up and the
bonuses will be gone." You have seen this everywhere online.

Here is another example of the fear of loss close: "If you
are not serious about earning online income, then this
product is not for you". What this does is take it away from
them. They fear that if they don't act they are not going to
be a part of your wonderful team and offer. You can no doubt
think of many other Fear of Loss type closes.

It all comes down to asking for the sale, and giving your
prospect a reason for dealing with you "Now" and not later!
One thing is for sure, if you don't ask for sales, you
probably won't get any!

---------------------------------------------------
Doug West is the editor of Opportunity Investigator. He has
been interviewed in many of the top home biz publications
like SFI magazine - (see http://kosoma.com/DougWest.htm ).
His affiliate program provides members all the tools you
need to succeed online.==> http://209.61.158.154/close.htm


DOWNLOAD OF INTEREST
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I've recommended Swish before, and now there's a bigger and better
version available! Swish is a program that you can use to create 
eye-catching Flash animations even if you've never done it before.
Swish has been wildly popular over the past two years and during
that time they've been reading user comments, taking suggestions 
and now they've released SWISHMax. SWISHMax picks up where Swish
left off. Now you can create advanced animations, use mouse clicks
to perform actions in your Flash, all without the need to know a
single piece of Flash programming code. If you run a website and 
have even considered adding a Flash animation, intro, or even an
entire movie to your site, SWISHMax makes it easier than ever! I
absolutely love this program and think that anyone who designs or
owns a website of their own must have this. There is a 15-day free
trial of this program, so don't download it before you think you 
might use it, but if you've got a site in the works by all means
go ahead and get it now. You can find the download of interest at
http://www.swishzone.com/. I personally think the examples on the
site don't even come close to doing this program justice. Do you
want to have text fade in and out? Zoom in on your logo and then 
make it explode into pieces? Maybe you'd like to scroll a feed of
testimonials on your site? Whatever special effect you'd like to 
use, this program can do it with just a few clicks of your mouse! 
I really can't say enough about this program, it's taken Flash to
a whole new level. No longer are required to read book after book
and spend years mastering Flash, Swish makes it possible in just 
a matter of minutes.


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