Increase Your Internet
Sales with Free Trials
If you're selling
a product or service on the Internet, one of the best ways to increase your
sales is by offering a free trial, also know as a teaser, demo or limited
version. By enabling your potential customers to review your
product and providing them with an easy ordering process, you can increase
your sales considerably.
Free trials are not exclusive to software programs. There are many ways you
can offer a free trial no matter what product or service you're offering.
For example, if you've written a book, consider offering it in an electronic
version, better know as an eBook. You can include your entire book
within the eBook and choose to lock out certain chapters.
In order for your potential customer to gain access to these chapters they
will be required to purchase the full version. You can include an order form
and instantly take orders, right through your free trial eBook. When you
receive an order, you simply send your customer a predefined user ID and
password that you set up when you create it.
To learn more about publishing an ebook, click on the following link to download
a very informative ebook titled, 'eBooks: A Complete Guide to Publishing.'
This powerful ebook will take you step by step through the entire publishing
process:
http://www.ebookstarter.com/download/es_ebook.zip.
This ebook requires that you have a Windows operating system and Internet
Explorer installed on your system.
You will also need an unzipping program. If you don't have one, you can download
a trial version from
http://www.winzip.com
If you're not familiar with ZIP files, you can find a tutorial here:
http://www.web-source.net/zip_basics.htm
The key to increasing your sales by using a free trial version is to offer
your product for download from your website and allow it to be freely
distributed. Provide some valuable free information, but save your most important
information for the unlocked version. Make your locked chapters sound very
intriguing and create curiosity. Tell your potential customers what they
will receive by purchasing the full version, provide a complete list of all
the benefits, and provide them with an easy ordering process.
To further increase
your sales, provide your potential customers with instant gratification.
You can completely automate your entire ordering process simply by using
a CGI script. There are scripts online that will allow you to make your product
available for download, take the customers order, approve it right online,
send your customer a password and send you a confirmation of the order, all
completely automatic.
CGI Resource Index -
http://cgi.resourceindex.com/
After you've created your product, consider setting up an affiliate program
for massive distribution. There are many affiliate scripts available to assist
you in running your own affiliate program.
The Affiliate Program -
http://theaffiliateprogram.com/
ProTrack -
http://www.affiliatesoftware.net/
If you're selling a service on the Internet, you can offer your potential
customers a free trial as well. For example, if you offer a search engine
submission service, you can provide your customers with a limited free submission
to the search engines.
To increase your sales and entice your customers to purchase your full service,
in addition to submitting their site to your full list of search engines,
you could also ensure their pages are optimized for the search engines, provide
a resubmission service every month for a year and provide your clients with
a free report of each submission process.
Prior to doing your customers last submission, contact them and inform them
that their submission contract will expire soon. Tell them how they can renew
their submission process and provide another enticing offer, such as "If
you renew your submission contract before (date) you will receive a 30%
discount."
This type of free trial will not only increase your current sales, but it
will promote future sales as well.
The possibilities are endless. By offering your potential customers something
of value for free, providing instant gratification, and an easy ordering
process, you can dramatically increase your sales.
Copyright © Shelley
Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design
Mastery.
http://www.webdesignmastery.com
And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book.
http://www.ebookstarter.com
Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips
and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing
Strategies."
http://www.web-source.net
You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print,
in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author
bylines are included.
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