Ok, before we get down to the benefits of selling Big Ticket Items,
we had better define what a Big Ticket Item is.
A Big Ticket Item is any product or service that sells for more than
$500 or $1000.
Or, at least, that's my definition.
The truth is, the definition of a Big Ticket Item really depends on
where you are starting.
Maybe you already sell E-Books or some other product for between
$17 and $97. Or maybe you think $200 to $300 is a lot of money.
My point is, the definition of Big Ticket depends a lot on your
perspective. For now, it just helps to use the simple definition
I have provided.
Now, maybe you are completely happy selling E-Books or other lower
priced items. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact,
every really successful marketer has a range of products that they
sell or use as lead generators. Robert Allen calls this multiple
streams of income.
Now, let's take a close look at the BIG Benefits to selling
Big Ticket Items.
Benefit #1: Sell Less Product and Make More Money!
An example will help. Let's say you sell an E-Book for $17.
How many E-Books do you have to sell to make $5000?
The answer is 295! That's a lot of E-Books!
Now say instead you sold an information product that consisted of
6 CDs and instruction manual. And it sells for $297. How many
copies do you have to sell to make $5000?
17 copies!
Or, to take this a bit further, say you had a complete home study
system which included 20 CDs, 20 DVDs, 3 training manuals and 1
Year of Free Access to a Membership Site. How much would that be
worth? How about $1499? How many of these systems do you have to
sell to make $5000?
ONLY 4 copies!
Note: if you are selling as an affiliate for someone else's product
then it may take you slightly longer since you are making less money
per sale than if you owned the product.
But the point is that you can sell much less product and make
more money!
Benefit #2: The Money is in the Backend!
If you ask anyone who has been really successful in the marketing
business where the money is, they will tell you it's in the backend.
What does that really mean? It means you're not going to get rich selling
E-Books or other Low Ticket Items!!! Sorry, it's the truth.
You need a strategy to build relationships with your customers that
move them from being prospects to customers. Initially that means they
will buy some low priced item from you. Once they come to trust you as
a customer, some of them become highly valued clients when they purchase
Big Ticket Items from you.
Joel Christopher calls this the Profit Pipeline model.
And Ted Nicholas says you shouldn't even launch a lead product unless
you have a medium or big ticket product ready to follow it up with.
Benefit #3: Your Net Profit is Substantially Higher!
Now, I admit that net profit depends on the product you are selling.
But, for Big Ticket information products, real estate or other unique
and specialty items, your profit is usually much larger than on a
low ticket item.
E-Books are cheap to create. Production costs are zero on a digitally
downloaded E-Book. So, your sale on a $17 E-Book is almost pure profit.
But, the creation and production costs of a similar Big Ticket information
product, although higher, are still pretty low. Really, just the cost of CDs,
DVDs, and their cases, binders, burning the CDs or DVDS and printing out
your hard copy information. Maybe $30, and that might be on the high side.
So on a $1500 product your net profit is $1470!!!
Benefit #4: Big Ticket Products Have Higher Perceived Value
And not just due to the price tag either. The products are generally
more comprehensive or represent a substantial investment on the part
of the customer, both in terms of time and money.
So even though product creation and production costs might be low,
perceived value is extremely high.
And many extremely successful marketers including Joel Christopher
and Ted Nicholas have found that physical products are perceived to
be of even higher value than digital products. E.g. response rates
were higher when selling an actual hard bound book as compared to
its digital equivalent.
Also, product returns are actually less with Big Ticket items because
the customers themselves are more invested in the product. It's easier
to admit you made a mistake and return a low ticket product than to
admit a mistake on a big ticket item.
Benefit #5: Customers are More Likely to Actually Use and Benefit from
Big Ticket Items
Benefit #5 is closely related #4. Since the investment by the customer
(cash, time and emotional investment) is so much higher for a big
ticket item, consequently, so is their personal level of commitment to
actually use the product and benefit from it!
After all, as product creators and marketers, we are supplying these
items so that people will actually use and reap the rewards from
our products.
Benefit #6: Big Ticket Customers Go on your Most Valued Clients List
These are the folks who have typically bought a low ticket item from you
already. Not always, but usually. The fact that they are purchasing a
big ticket item from you now indicates that they are putting a lot of
trust in you and your product or service.
These people are also the most likely to buy from you again and again.
And, they have the capital to do it. If you are not already doing so
you should have a specific sub list of your customers who are big
ticket item purchasers. Joel Christopher calls this sub list his
highly valued clients list.
Existing clients are also your best source for future business.
Dan Kennedy has said that he became a millionaire by selling to many,
many people. But he became a multi-millionaire selling to a much
smaller, select group of his existing customers. That was Dan's
big ticket sub list!
Treat the people on this sub list very specially. They should be
getting your some of your most valuable information and unexpected
bonuses, for FREE!
You should also give them first chance at other high ticket items
you have, create or endorse.
They have shown you their trust, make sure you show them you
appreciate them.
Benefit #7: Once You Develop the Big Ticket Mind Set You
Can Do Anything
The leap from selling a product at $17 or $49 or even $99 to
selling a product at $999, $1599, $2499, $4999 or even $1M is
a giant one. It requires a shift in mindset and perspective.
But, once you make that shift, there are no limits! It is then
only a matter of scale.
Plus, once you have that paradigm shift, it is also reflected
in all other aspects of your life.
Confidence, imagination, belief, personal power are all
increased and improved!
Benefit #8: Return on Investment
Financial planners, stock traders, business people all think
about return on investment or ROI.
Return on investment is simply what you think you are going to
get out of the investment based on what you put in.
Many investors and business people won't invest in equities or
projects unless they think they can double or triple their
investment.
The investment might be money, services or time and labor.
Face it, You're going to do one or more of the following
activities. Write a one page sales letter, create a direct mail
campaign, create a website, hook up a shopping cart, drive
traffic to the site and basically do all the other things we
do as marketers!
And that's going to happen for every product you sell!
Wouldn't you rather sell a higher value, higher priced,
huge profit margin, big ticket item than a $17 E-Book?
Copyright © 2006Chuck Daniel -- All Rights Reserved.
Chuck is a former Microsoft software designer and program manager who spent more than a decade happily working on Email for Microsoft Exchange Server and on Integration for Microsoft CRM. Admittedly a seminar, workshop and information addict, Chuck left Microsoft to pursue his interests in personal development, internet, direct and information marketing and to promote and work for charitable causes.
Chuck Daniel
chuck@likemagicmarketing.com
Would You Like to Make BIG Bucks
With BIG Ticket Items Online?
http://www.bigtickethomestudy.com
http://www.bigticketblog.com
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