When To Sell The Premiums Instead Of The Main Product
If you’re a copywriter worth his salt, you should be on the mailing lists of several “big shots” in the copywriting industry and getting direct mail from them on a regular basis.
For example I’m on the mailing lists of all the big name direct marketing health companies such as Health and Healing because that’s the niche I’m in.
Well, if you’re on the list long enough you’ll start getting direct mail selling newsletter subscriptions, and if you look closely you’ll notice something very subtle yet incredibly powerful.
They’re selling the premiums – NOT the main product!
And there is a very clear cut reason for doing this. It’s quite simple actually.
You see, with a newsletter – you’re getting different information each and every month. And obviously since you’re only writing them once a month, you won’t know what the people will find out in the next few months – especially in the financial and health industries since new information is coming out on a regular basis.
And since you can’t sell people by saying “well just trust us that you’ll be learning a lotof great information in the coming months” – you instead make some incredibly powerful premiums (AKA bonus reports) that your magalog or whatever medium you’re using is focused on.
And you sell people on the premiums instead, because with the premiums they’ll know exactly what they’re going to learn.
Another Reason To Sell Premiums Instead Of The Product
Now normally – selling a premium instead of a newsletter is a great idea. However sometimes you can also sell the premium instead of the main product when the main product sucks.
I don’t see this happening all that often, but if you come across a main product that sucks and the premiums are great, you might think about split testing and selling the premiums more than you sell the main product.
Just as in newsletters, you would talk about all the benefits of the premiums then say something like “and when you purchase “product name here” today – you’ll receive these super-awesome bonuses as my personal gift just as a thanks for trying it out!
(obviously you shouldn’t say “super-awesome” bonuses…unless of course the voice you’re talking in is that kind of bubbly personality!)
If you want to see an example of this, I HIGHLY recommend going out and seeding yourself on a mailing list of one of the “big name” businesses in whatever niche you’re in. Usually they sell newsletter subscriptions via magalog or a similar medium, but you might see them coming in different packages as well.
You can also try to look for different newsletters online, but it might be a little harder than getting yourself on a direct mail companies list.
