Internet Marketing Professionals: Dec 3, 2007

The latest type of specialized sales offer to hit the internet is called the "One Time Offer" or OTO for short. They are a fairly new way of generating income from sites as opposed to the "Mini-Site" type sales pages. They are mostly found as a means of monetizing some portion of a free or low-cost service such as new giveaway sites.

Since One Time Offer's only appear once they work their magic on the human psyche. This one chance to buy gives the illusion of some exclusivity. At the same time it is telling the visitor "You only have one chance and then I'm withdrawing my offer forever".

This is professional sales 201 or what we used to call the "take away" close. The concept is the visitor will purchase because you have made them an offer but now you are "taking it away". This works on the human greed factor - if you offer something and then tell me I can't have it then I want it even more!

Savvy visitors have found that they can go back and sign up again, using a different email address, and give themselves a second chance to snap up the offer. Unless someone is using a "cookie based" system it takes away the "One Time" part of these offers. A cookie based system will only let you see the offer one time - and that's it!

In some cases the One Time Offer is only shown after the purchase of a particular product. In those cases it is considered an "upsell" or in some newer cases a "downsell". The theory here is that since a customer just spent money with you he/she is more likely to spend more and/or to get back to the One Time Offer they would have to make another purchase. However, there are even ways around this. One of the easiest is to just use your browsers `history` button and relocate the offer page and jump back to it.

Now that we have established how that exclusivity can be limited, or easily sidetracked, how then do One Time Offer's manage to make so many sales? The primary reason they work is by carefully crafting a truly irresistable and enticing offer.

The leading factor in all successful One Time Offers is the strong copy and the "big discount" offered. The other strong factor lies in the sheer volume of the products offered at the OTO pricing.

The simplest method to build One Time Offers is through the use of a "squeeze type page". Typically this is a webpage displaying some ad-copy detailing a product/service/software program that the customer will get for free. In order to get any further the visitor must enter his/her email address and name. This added benefit is what makes these so popular as they are an excellent list builder tool!

There are many good squeeze page generators on the market. Just do a search on "Squeeze Page" and you will find several sources.

One Time Offer's can, and are, being used as part of larger sites. These sites typically have full blown membership areas that require registration and a password to access.

One very popular method being used is to create a One Time Offer with an affiliate program the customer can sign up to. This creates additional income traffic to the site as every customer is invited to become an affiliate and spread the word - for a potential commission. The new affiliate only has to promote their "affiliate" link to earn commissions on every one time offer purchased by new visitors.

If you have any rudimentary web page building skills you can easily build a this type of site without buying any software. Here is all you REALLY need:

- A simple sign up page using a sign up box provided by your Autoresponder service.

- A second page that has your One Time Offer with payment button from an affiliate payment system such as PayDotCom or Clickbank.

- A third page that is the download page for the free product offered if the customer elects NOT to take advantage of the OTO.

- A redirect script that "cookies" each visitor so that they are re-directed on subsequent visits.

This above example is of course a rudimentary way to build a simple yet effective site using a One Time Offer. The customer would only need to create their affiliate link with PayDotCom or ClickBank in order to promote your site. You of course would also need to provide full instructions and all of the relevant promotional material to them. One of the latest tricks is to offer the affiliate program option only to those who have purchased your OTO. This can be another BIG benefit of your OTO purchase offer.

When it comes to building the one time offer itself, your page will just need to list the product's, your offer price and, of course, some ad copy clearly stating the page will only appear one time. Then you need to include a purchase method (order button) and a link for the visitor to bypass the page if they opt to NOT take you up on your One Time Offer.

The most powerful method is to build sites using a fully scripted environment that will handle affiliates, the downloads, and the One TIme Offers. The most notable scripts on the market right now are the "Butterfly marketing" script and the "Motivated marketing System".

One Time Offer's have become THE way to profit from free sites. However, you could just as easily use them to monetize one of your existing web pages that uses sign ups and/or memberships.

Michael Domeck is a trainer who has been mentoring students for three years in how to build their very own internet businesses. He teaches them to build their own successful internet businesses from the basics all the way through to producing steady incomes.

Check out the biz-profit-tools.com site to get more free information. Sign up to receive e-mail notification as more free resources are posted to the site and get your FREE copy of his latest book Massive Passive Income.

The recent boom in affiliate marketing has spawned such a mass of information, get rich quick schemes and conflicting advice that for the novice it can be a daunting experience that will put many off from setting out at all in this potentially lucrative business. However, it does not need to be this way. Here I present to you some of the most useful pointers to developing a successful affiliate income as four 'must do' tips:

1. Have a professional, user friendly website.
Given that affiliate links can be placed just about anywhere these days you could be excused for thinking that you do not actually need your own website. How wrong you would be. A professionally designed and built site that contains plenty of information about the products it promotes is essential. Information or content is generally what your visitors are initially at least searching for. If that information interests them it may well promote a sale. People need to be enticed into clicking on your adverts with original, interesting articles, reviews and information. Get this right and you have won half the battle. Navigating around the site should be easy,efficient and logical too. Make it easy for your visitors to find what they want.

2. Freebies!
Offer your visitors something for nothing. Giving away newsletters, e-zines and newsletters for nothing other than the potential customers email addresses in exchange is actually a very good deal for you. You can follow these up by offering them further information, links and special offers. This will keep them interested and could lead to sales now or in the future. Remember your fiercest competitors will be doing just this and it would be professional suicide not to match or exceed their efforts. Likewise keep an eye on your competitors regularly to check what they are doing. In other words try always to stay one step ahead.

3. Traffic Building.
Do everything within your power to drive traffic to your site. All marketers know this. You must look at all the possibilities for getting people to visit your site. Some of these methods can be expensive such as using advertising services and buying links. However there are other less costly methods that can be equally lucrative. Write articles for newsletters and E-zines such as this one and include a link to your website. The search engines love this type of free advertising and will reward you in their rankings. Of course you will also be exposing your knowledge and authority of your subject and this will lead of course to visitors who come to your site trusting your good judgment and reputation. Therefore ensure that the content they read is relevant, informative, up to date and well written.

4. Originality
What are your main competitors offering, or more accurately what are they not offering? Find out what the gaps are in the market and target them with your campaign.This is not to be confused with focusing upon something peripheral but it does mean looking for something that whilst popular has not yet been marketed aggressively. This will give your site a certain edge over other affiliates. Try to develop too, your chosen niche in an innovative way on your website too. Originality of graphics, including clever use of typography or unorthodox layout techniques, video links,imaginative use of colour and distinctive, memorable logos all can create the interest that can hold your visitors attention long enough to get that sale and just as importantly get them to return for more.

There are of course many other ways to get your affiliate business off to a healthy start but remember that good marketing is something which is in a constant state of flux. It will be important not to rest on your laurels, because this is a line of business in which your main competitors will be watching your every move for sure!

My articles are always focused on subjects that I have experienced or are in the process of experiencing. I offer my views from this standpoint and do not purport to be an expert. I do hope though that a part or a whole of anything that I write may be of interest or help to others. If you wish to find products and services to help you set up in affiliate marketing or other personal development resources please visit: http://www.nocloudstoday.com

For Health related articles and products visit: http://www.ihelpyouquit.com

Internet Marketing Professionals

Monday, December 3, 2007

The ABC's of OTO

affiliate marketing - Success Secrets For A Sales Bonanza

About Me

Links

Previous Posts

Archives