In parts one and two we’ve covered your list and your customers. This post is all about your next resource – your long term customers. At this point in the series, hopefully you can see how the resources all overlap and each one is important in its own right.
Long Term Customers Into Affiliates
So, firstly, let’s take a look at what you’re going to do with your long term customers in regards to turning them into affiliates. Understand that when we talk about this, it may not be suitable to do so depending on your product. Turning any one of these resources into affiliates is especially important in the world of online marketing software or info selling, because after all, affiliate marketing is at least 20% of the whole picture. That’s a huge chunk.
Well after telling you that I’m going to have to turn around now and tell you straight up that turning your long term customers into affiliates, (or trying to) is a bad idea. Remember, these people have already spent their money with you, and have seen your affiliate offers several times. Many of them will be on your list receiving the ads for your affiliate program solely, as we talked about earlier. For this reason there is absolutely no need to hassle these people directly with anything unnecessary.
Remember, this group has already spent a whole lot of money on your stuff, and if you want to keep them coming back, every time you contact them it has to be your best work. You need to be giving them something that they want, not just sending them ads ads ads. Also keep in mind, this particular list of yours should be the least numerous, but the biggest spenders.
Some of these people may come along to you and buy two thousand dollar product after two thousand dollar product. You can immediately see how valuable they are.
You can also see through a little math how much more devastating it is to annoy anyone on this list or cause them to leave for any reason. Granted, you may argue there’s plenty more out there, but this is where most of your advertising funds are going. Getting people to buy your products that are going to be bringing you in a mighty profit in the first place isn’t a short or easy task. Be very careful what you do with this list. This is going to be the long running theme in this section about your long term customers.
Long Term Customers Added To Your List
So how about turning long term customers into your list? Well, like I mentioned earlier, they are already on your list and most have generally followed the natural process of things, so there’s no persuasion needed to that end. The problem comes when approaching them with your next products. What do you do? Remember in effect these people are a list in themselves, just think of them as your super high quality list as opposed to your standard, high numbers low return one.
Again, be very careful what you do with these people, and if you do mail them, make sure they first know they’re valued and give them something for a free, also consider handing out discounts for future products, a reward scheme if you will, but remember to let them know why. Because they’re valued. People like to feel valued, but if you don’t tell them they are, then they’re just going to assume you’re another person, collecting more e-mail addresses, and sending them more ads.
Long Term Customers Back Into Customers
When it comes down to sending them ads when trying to sell them something else, things get a little more questionable. Do you start them in a system again, from the very beginning, or do you get them right in at the high priced end? That’s exactly what I want to touch on right now. Turning your long term customers back into customers that first will purchase an entry level product, then be sold onto the full product. Do you, or don’t you?
Well the answer is both a yes and no. I would suggest, for starters that you get them information out about your shiny new high ticket product. This is a great way to start getting some feedback before the masses start promoting and coming through the system onto this high priced product. Remember they’ve already spent their cash, and if your product was good, they already trust you and listen to you, and if your sales letter is good, you don’t need to go through all that again, it serves no purpose.
The only time I would suggest that you start them from scratch all over again, is if it’s been a long time since you’ve contacted them, or if you’re going to be giving them something valuable for free therefore increasing the trust, and their feeling of special-ness further. For example, you’ve seen all those deals about people giving you bundles of stuff for free that’s apparently supposed to be worth so much cash, so what’s to stop you playing on that?
If you want to build trust with your long term customers further, if your intro product plays too bigger part in your final high ticket product further down the chain than you can’t afford to waive it, then give them your intro product. No, I’m not talking about something free that was free anyway, I’m talking take the $20-$60 out of your pocket that you’re paying out in high commissions anyway from the intro product, and give it to them.
How often have you been given something for free by someone you bought something off of only to see them selling it later as a real product? How special would you feel as a valued customer to pick this up and watch another ad come through on a standard list the same day selling the brand new product you got free? Pretty special I’d imagine. I should say if you’ve succeeded in general in creating a form of bond with these people, then they’ll start thinking you’re worthwhile. It’s not for us to decide who’s worthwhile and who’s not, it’s the other way around. When this happens though, you’ll find more people start talking to you, mailing you, calling you, and some pretty interesting stuff happens, in the form of…
Long Term Customers To JV Prospects.
Turning your long term customers into joint venture partners, small or large, long term or short term. Keep in mind that this isn’t by far your most effective way of generating joint ventures on a small scale, (ad swaps, list access etc) or even on a large scale (full blown partnerships of products, each playing a specialized role), however, you’d be surprised what happens when you start talking to people. This report for example wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for that factor alone.
Look for the signs that the long term customer that is contacting you would be a viable target for a joint venture offer, whether they mention they have a large list of their own, or on occasion you just get talking, and if it’s with the right person, you might just find yourselves pulling some great ideas out of the bag together. Watch out for this, because it can, will and does happen more often than you may believe. See you in Part 4!
Would you like to know the exact system I am using in my online business?
