How To Increase Your Profits By 40% Or More With No Extra Work!

Before I expand on the above heading, I do have a slight confession to make - you will have to do 'some' work for this process to work but I promise it really isn't much and the long-term benefits can be absolutely incredible :-)

The process that I want to discuss in this article is 'upselling'. Upselling may be a method of marketing that you already use in your own online business but if not, I am sure you are familiar with the process.....

Let me give you a couple of 'real world' examples of the upselling technique:

1. You visit your favourite burger joint (McD's, Burger King, wherever, they all use upselling). You order a burger and you are asked, 'Do you want fries with that?' Assuming you say 'yes', the next question is, 'Large?' A high percentage of people will go for this option because for some reason it is easier to say 'yes' than 'no'. You will probably then be asked if you want a drink and again, if you want it large.

2. If burgers are not your thing, how about a visit to your local bookstore? How many times do you see the piles of 'three for two' books? Of course you can buy just one book but if you find another two that you like, you get one free so that's surely a better deal right?

Both of these are examples of upselling and as you will have worked out, upselling is quite simply a marketing method used to persuade your customers to spend more money than they had originally intended.

However, there is more to it than just forcing a few extra dollars/pounds out of your customer's pocket. You see, for upselling to work properly, there has to be something in the deal for both parties. This means that the customer has to benefit too. Indeed, the upsell has to be attractive to the customer in order for them to even accept it. To take the book example above, it is no good offering a pile of 'three for two' books if there is only one title that is popular or a new release - they all need to be good titles that people will want, otherwise the customers will just buy the book that they were originally interested in.

So how does upselling transfer to your Internet business?

Usually it is as easy as adding an additional 'upsell page' in between your normal ordering page and your payment page. This is especially easy with eBooks and other digital products but there is no reason why it cannot be applied to any product being sold online.

I personally use upselling on most of my websites and in a number of different ways so it is probably as easy to look at how I use upselling as this will help you to begin to apply the technique to your own website business.

I use upsells on my eBook sales by directing the customer to an upsell page after they have decided to purchase one of my products. A typical upsell will be to offer the customer the chance to purchase both the eBook that they are interested in plus one or more associated eBooks for a heavily discounted price. I ensure that the discount is considerable as this makes the deal far more attractive for the customer but involves me in no extra work if they decide to go ahead with the upsell.

With my membership sites, the upsell is slightly different and subscribers are offered the chance to make a large saving if they opt to pay for an annual subscription rather than month by month. Again, a great deal for the buyer but no extra work for me.

Upselling is an extremely simple concept yet incredibly effective. On average, 40% of my customers opt for the upsell if it is offered and I have seen situations where as many as 70% of buyers upgrade to the upsell offer.

Remember, the key to successful upselling is to give the customer a superb deal - it isn't all about forcing that extra bit of cash out of the buyer's wallet. If you don't offer great value and quality products, your customer will end up requesting a refund. But if you DO offer them a bargain then you will have a happy customer that will buy from you again and again.

To put a cash value on the power of upselling, just consider the following comparison for a moment.....

You offer a product for $20 and 100 people buy it. Your income is $2000.

You offer a product for $20 and again, 100 people buy it but this time buyers are offered an upsell which costs $40. 40% of buyers opt for the upsell offer. Your income is now $2800 - a 40% increase!

How much extra work would be involved in handling the second scenario above? None really. If you are selling a digital product then there is no extra work but even if you are selling a tangible product, you are shipping to the customer anyway so how much additional effort is required to put the upsell product in the same package?

Powerful stuff and if you are not using upsells already, you really should be.

Copyright 2004 Richard Grady

About The Author

Richard Grady has been helping ordinary people earn online since 1998. He writes a free newsletter which is published every two weeks. To subscribe (and claim your free gifts), visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/newsletter.html

In The News:

pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Internet Marketing Help

If you're looking for Internet marketing help you've come to... Read More

My Top 7 Favorite Ecommerce Tools

When you make your living on the Internet, you sometimes... Read More

How Your Hobbies Can Help You With Your Business

Everyone has a hobby or interest that they have a... Read More

How SPAM Sells Sex, Greed, and Survival

The unsolicited email people react to most is what yells... Read More

Triple Your Profits Easily With The Right USP

Convinced you have a fantastic idea for your online business... Read More

You Gotta Think -- Strategic Internet Marketing!

Have you ever been lost in the woods - wondering... Read More

Website Sales: 10 Exploding Ways To Intensify Your Website Sales

Are sales at your website weak?Have you tried different types... Read More

Book Yourself Solid Tip: Cash In On The Brilliant, Creative And Quirky You!

What do Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Robin Williams have... Read More

Don Quixotes Post Humous Virtual Expedition - Filling The Black Holes In Cyber Space

Perhaps the online community today is not so different from... Read More

10 Ways To Increase Your Ads Efeectiveness

The current climate on the internet is very unfavourable to... Read More

The Paradigm Shift of Internet Marketing

There is a trend going on in the world of... Read More

Great Ways To Obtain Link Popularity

I hate reciprocal linking.It is such a hassle. Even specialized... Read More

Dont Tell Me What I Cant Do!

Have you ever watched ABC's hit TV show Lost? My... Read More

If You Build It They Will Come - Not Without Web Marketing!

I'm sure everybody has received an email from a company... Read More

Online Advertising Techniques

Online advertising is necessary for your computer business to grow.... Read More

No-Holds-Barred Conversations with Dan Lok - Part 2

Question: How to deal with ultra skeptical offline or be... Read More

Health Effects of Internet Marketing

It may not rank as a killer like heart disease... Read More

Internet Marketing and Leveraging the Power of Networks

Creating a network -- meaning a community of users --... Read More

Why Test?

Marketing should be treated like a science. If you are... Read More

Double Your Revenues with Joint Ventures

The best way I know of to multiply your online... Read More

The 2 Step Lead Generation Machine

Cold calling doesn't work, it's no fun and often you... Read More

SEO 101... These Tags Really Do Matter

In search of the coveted search engine traffic? Yes? Then... Read More

To All Internet Marketers - How To Get My Business

More and more people are realizing that the Internet offers... Read More

Book Yourself Solid Key #4: Produce A Powerful Personal Brand That Sets You Apart

Copyright 2005 Michael Port & Associates LLCWould you rather be... Read More

Some Practical Guidlines for Getting Involved with Internet Marketing

This article addresses the 'how' and 'when' of getting involved... Read More

Joint Ventures - 8 Incredible Ideas to Boost Your Web Business!

A joint venture is when two or more businesses work... Read More

Just Ask! Using Surveys to Improve Your Business

Just ask!You can learn useful information about your business, customers,... Read More

Why Real Estate Agents Need Their Own Website

It is difficult to for a real estate agent to... Read More

3 Services Your Online Business Cant Live Without

It doesn't make any difference if you're promoting your own... Read More

Shopping Search Engines, The Benefits and Explanations

The Shopping Search Engines are a new breed on the... Read More

How To Find Deep Discount Pro Online Marketing Tools

You can't row a boat without an oar or build... Read More

Make Your Internet Marketing Easier With Niche Marketing Keywords

If your home based business depends on niche marketing, keywords... Read More

Harness the Power of the Internet

Whether you're a service business working to obtain clients, a... Read More