Why Aren't They Buying?

By Michael Southon
Posted Thursday, February 3, 2005

You've polished your sales page over and over againuntil it's gleaming with benefits. You're gettingplenty of traffic. And still - no sales.

What's wrong?

It could be the recession (although that's debatable).

With thousands of people losing their jobs each week,consumer confidence (and therefore consumer spending)is down.

But on the other hand, if thousands of people arelosing their jobs, there is without doubt a growingarmy of people out there who are looking to theInternet to make their living.

But let's leave aside the recession, and look at twoother reasons you may not be getting sales:

(1) People very rarely buy the first time.

You must have heard the statistics - people have tosee your product an average of 7 times before they buyit. When I cast my mind back to the marketing eBooksI've purchased, in each case I saw those booksadvertised for months - on websites, in newsletters -before I bought them.

So if you want to make a sale, you must find a way tostay in contact with your visitors - and bring themback.

The easiest way to do this is to offer your visitors afree subscription to your newsletter.

Another way is to offer your visitors a freeautoresponder course that educates them about theproduct or service you are offering. Create a seriesof 5 emails about your service or product and put themon an autoresponder that provides automated follow-up.

Getresponse is a free service that allows you up to 20follow-ups (you specify the intervals between eachmessage):

(http://www.getresponse.com/)

The point here is that if your visitors leave yourwebsite without taking anything away (a free versionof your E-Book, an autoresponder course, yourNewsletter), you've probably lost them for good.

(2) Allow people to feel they already own it.

If you give your visitors the feeling of what it wouldbe like to own your product or service, they're muchmore likely to buy.

Here's a real-life example of this principle (a ratherdisturbing one).

It's a well known fact that if a burglar can see intoyour house, they are much more likely to rob you thanif they can't. Why?

Because by seeing into your house, the burglar hasalready 'owned' it psychologically.

If a burglar can't see into your house, you are muchless likely to be robbed (you can't psychologically'own' what you can't see).

Here's another interesting fact. If your house hasbeen burgled, there's a very high probability that thesame burglar will return - 6 or 8 weeks later. Why?

Again, it's the same principle. The burglar has seenthe inside of your house - and has psychologically'owned' it.

It's because of this same principle that car salesmentry and get potential customers to sit in the new car.Once you've smelt the inside of that new car, you'remuch more likely to buy it. You've imagined owning it.

So give your visitors a free download of one or twochapters of your E-Book, or a free trial period ofyour service. Let them imagine what it would be liketo own it.

About the Author
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this simple technique to build a successful online business. Click here to find out more: (http://EzineWriter.com/)