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Increase
Internet sales with free trials
Written by Shelley
Lowery.
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
immensely.
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.
A
good program to assist you in creating an Ebook is WebCompiler. http://www.webcompiler.com/
This
program will compress your HTML documents into a self-contained "executable"
file. This HTML may be a web site you've created or HTML you've specifically
prepared to be compiled into a downloadable .exe file for distribution. This
.exe file is a completely freestanding program and requires no installation.
When clicked on, the program instantly opens your book on your client's desktop.
In addition, WebCompiler will enable you to lock out certain pages of your Ebook
or an entire directory.
The
key to 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.
-
SuperScripts - http://www.superscripts.com/
- 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 CGI 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
entice your customers to purchase your full service you can, not only submit
their site to your full list of search engines, but you can create doorway pages,
insure their pages are optimized for the search engines and provide a resubmission
service every month for a year. In addition, 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 soon be expiring. Tell them how they can renew their
submission process and offer another enticing freebie such as, "If you renew
your submission contract before (date) we will also submit your site to over
1000 Free For All Sites."
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.
About
the Author
Shelley Lowery is the Webmaster of Web-Source.net - A complete resource portal
for the Internet entrepreneur. The site assists the entrepreneur in developing
a serious Web presence by providing a wealth of free information, resources,
tools and content. http://www.web-source.net
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