The SBI Mall

I was going to release the contents of this post as a paid report. But since I love my fellow SBIers (mmuuaaaahhhhhh muuuaaaaaahhhhh), I am going to just post all the preselling strategies I know here. Be sure to read it ALL. This is some good stuff, even if I say so myself.

The basics first – What is Preselling and why do you need it?

First, you don’t just need to presell when you are promoting products as an affiliate. You also need to presell when you are selling your own products, if you want great results.

In short, whenever something gets sold, whether by a merchant, or you as the product seller yourself, preselling will greatly enhance the results.

And the buyer will end up feeling much happier about the purchase as well. As a result, there will be fewer refunds as well as a higher number of repeat purchases. Win-win all around!

As SBIers, we all know what preselling is. But if you need a refresher…

Here’s a quote from my website-squad.com site that explains it better:

When visitors first arrive at a website, the site is like a stranger to them. It’s the job of the website to turn itself from a stranger into a friend in the eyes of the people that visit it. Because these people are going to buy from a friend, not from a stranger. They will follow the recommendations of a friend, and an expert, not someone who is trying to push stuff down their throats.

Pre-selling is how you make your visitors like you. Pre-selling is how you establish yourself as an expert in the eyes of your visitors. Pre-selling is why they think you are their friend, not a salesperson. Pre-selling is why you will ultimately be able to sell successfully.

Put very simply, it’s everything that you do to create an open-to-buy mindset in the minds of people. Things that you do before the selling even begins. Things that happen before your visitors are even aware that they are going to buy something from your site.

Only after you create an open to buy mindset, can you make your visitors buy anything. And what do I mean when I say “open to buy?”

An open to buy mindset is when a person is willing to consider buying something from you. Not necessarily this product or that service, but something. When the guards are down. When the resistance to a sales effort is at its minimum. When they have started trusting you because of your obvious expertise.

Hopefully that gives you some idea about preselling and what it is. It will get clearer as you read more.

But so far you have read nothing new. So let’s change that, and tell you some of the ninja stuff. How to use different preselling techniques depending on your niche, the product you are going to presell, your audience, and so on.

The right technique when used properly will greatly enhance the amount of money you make. Feel free to mix, match and adapt as you feel appropriate.

Here goes…

Preselling technique #1 – Establish yourself as the expert

This is one we all know about. When your site visitors think of you as the expert on the topic you talk about, they will follow your recommendations. You are saving them the time to do the research themselves, because you have already done it for them, and because of your obvious expertise, can make better judgements about what is best for them.

Use this form of preselling for things that are directly related to your site’s topic. For example, if your site is about fishing, you can recommend fishing equipment. If your site is about food or recipes, you can recommend utensils, cooking equipment, and so on (it’s a waste to recommend recipe books on food/recipe sites, IMHO – but do recommend recipe books when your site is NOT about recipes… read below to learn when).

Preselling technique #2 – Create desire/intrigue in their minds

When you create a desire for a video camera in their mind, for example, they will just buy the one you link to. It doesn’t matter which brand you recommend. Because right at this moment, they are not looking for a Canon, or Nikon, or whatever. They just want something that can capture those special moments with their growing kids.

Use this preselling technique to recommend stuff that is not directly related to your site’s topic, but one that they will enjoy, or find useful. For example, you could recommend a camera on a parenting site for new parents. Or a recipe book on a site about pregnancy (what to eat during those nine months that is nutritious AND tasty).

Preselling technique #3 – Be in the same boat as your visitors

Reena: Damn, I hate this pimple on my nose. How do I get rid of it?

Teena: I don’t know man, but Leena had that once, and she used Cream Poo Poo from the Shame Poo company and it seemed to work for her. You can try that if you want.

Reena: Gotcha, dude.

(OK, so I don’t know how to talk like a girl. Sue me, I’m a guy! )

Anyway, you can use this form of preselling when you are not actually an expert on something (or don’t want to portray yourself as an expert), but have still picked up some real life experience on the subject – either your own experiences, or others.

Preselling technique #4 – teach them how to do something

This is a very effective thing to do, wherever it can be done. Basically, you teach them how to accomplish a task, and not how to use a particular tool or get the most out of a book, etc. After you have taught them how to do the task manually, you can mention a neat tool that can automate much of the job and can make their life easier.

If you have ever read the Affiliates Masters Course ebook, you have witnessed this superb strategy in action.

Use this technique to presell products that are directly related to your niche, and where you have a lot of experience. In particular, use it for things that solve the problems your visitors have to struggle with consistently.

Preselling technique #5 – Teach them how to use it

This is another variation of teaching to presell. If the product or tool you recommend is complicated or hard to use, you can teach your visitors how to use it.

Use this form or preselling when your visitors already know about the product either because you have told them, or because they read about it elsewhere.

Preselling technique #6 – Point out a couple of minor flaws in the product

No product is perfect. There are always places for improvement, or minor shortcomings, even in the best of breed products.

Most affiliates just keep singing the praises of the products they recommend. But when you talk about both the good and bad sides of the product, you come across as much more honest and trustworthy.

Of course, each time you point out a flaw, remember to show how it’s a small issue that can be ignored, or give them a workaround.

Example: I found their technical support is not really 24 x 7. If you call them at night, they rarely pick up the phone. But then who needs to call them in the middle of the night anyway? Except night owls, of course!

Use this form of preselling for products that your visitors were going to buy anyway. But your honest recommendation will give them a reason to buy through your link.

Preselling technique #7 – Tell them stories

As the saying goes in sales circles, facts tell, stories sell.

We all know how SiteSell encourages their affiliates to tell their online story on their sites, to presell SBI! effectively. And on their own site, SiteSell uses case studies to show how SBI! can be used by people from all walks of life. So in this case you see both affiliates and the merchant using stories to sell/presell.

This is a technique that can be used on all kinds of products.

Preselling technique #8 – Subtly imply that they are a loser if they don’t use the product

Don’t say it out loud, of course, just get the idea inside their heads.

Example: All smart people use SBI!, and others just want everything for free, not realizing the value of their own time and efforts, foolishly wasting years of their lives unsuccessfully trying to build an online business. You should use SBI! too. All smart people use it.

This is a very subtle technique and very easy to mess up. For example, I probably messed up big time in my example above, because I used the word “foolishly,” which is too strong for a preselling message. Preselling must always be subtle. This is what makes it different from actual selling.

Use it with extreme caution and only if you are sure of what you are doing. And even then, get the opinion of a few people before putting it up on your site. Your commissions are going to be affected by this. If you do this well, you could be rolling in money, but if you mess up, all your hard work goes to waste.

This technique is best reserved for products that you really have a lot of faith in.

Preselling technique #9 – Show them everyone else wants it

This is another ninja technique. Keep yourself and your opinions out of the picture here. Just show/convince them that everyone else is getting the thing.

If everyone else is watching a particular movie, it’s hard to resist seeing it yourself. If everyone is listening to a particular album, it’s hard to resist checking it out. Hey, it’s cool to look nerdy these days. Check out these thick glasses. And don’t forget this pocket calculator to complete the look.

Preselling technique #10 – “Dropping names”

This is another ninja technique when done right. Keep mentioning a product subtly while talking about something else. Keep planting the seeds of this idea into their heads while you talk about something else. Do it at every opportunity.

The reason why this technique works so well is manifold. First, repetition plants it firmly in their heads. Secondly, when you are talking about something else, they are not expecting you to mention product X all of a sudden, so their guards are down. Third, because you never really ask them to buy product X directly, they think it’s THEIR idea to buy it, and are much more willing to buy.

For example, when people ask me about my web design work, they are usually already presold by the time they contact me, so unless I goof things up big time, I already have the deal. This becomes possible only because of the preselling job my site does. That way I have very little “selling” to do myself, which I suck at anyway.

(Did you see how I managed to mention my web design services in the above paragraph while talking about preselling? And if you remember, I also managed a reference to website-squad.com at the beginning of this post. If you see it mentioned a few more times, and you need a web design job done, and think of me, will you think it’s my idea or your idea to hire me? )

(Another note: I don’t do web design any more, so please don’t think I am using this technique on you here. I only used it as an example. Please don’t contact me for web design work. I don’t do web design any more.)

Bonus Super-Ninja Kick-Butt Preselling Technique (for those who made it this far)

This technique will put you miles ahead of everyone out there.

Create a small report (7-10 pages) about a topic related to the product you are trying to presell, and sell it for 99 cents.

Why 99 cents? Because you want them to get in the mood for shopping. You are not trying to get rich selling this 99 cents report, of course.

The whole point of preselling is to get them in the open to buy mindset. And a report that appeals to them and costs just 99 cents or 50 cents or whatever does just that. It gets them in the mood to buy. And once they are in the mood to buy, they will buy more, including the product you are ACTUALLY trying to sell/presell/recommend as an affiliate.

So on the thank you page for your 99 cent report say, “Gee, thanks for buying my report, and here’s an awesome product I would like you to check out. If you use it, you will go to sleep fat, wake up thin, and won’t even have to think about it. And I can personally vouch for this product. It’s really good.”

I am not saying the price of the short report must be 99 cents. It should just be low enough to make it a no brainer for your visitors. The actual price depends on your target prospects and the main product itself.

Use this technique for products that can be bought on impulse, and are related to your site’s topic.

There, that’s it

What do you think? Now go and use these techniques to make more money.

And can you spot which techniques I am using in my blog (whichever post that may be)? Even though I am not going to try to sell you anything, at least in the foreseeable future, I have still done a lot of preselling all over this blog. Can you tell me which technique I used, and in which post? Let’s see who finds the most. The winner will get a free copy of my kick-butt non-existent product that I would be mentioning here if I had something to sell to you. (Assume for a moment that there IS an actual product mentioned here, though.)

Comments, please?

Important: Please post any questions in the comments below, and I’d appreciate if you don’t contact me privately via email. If I answer a question via email, only you get the benefit, but if I answer it here, everyone benefits. Plus someone else can offer an answer, suggestion, or perspective that is even better than mine.

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