The Art Of Selling Online

Granted, the method of selling online is relatively new in the history of commerce, and there are certain unique strengths and weaknesses related to online commerce that did not come into play just a few years ago. Selling online is still selling, and the principles have remained unchanged down through centuries of business transactions.

One of the biggest complaints about online sellers is that the vast majority of them seem to think only about closing the sale.

Because of the universal reach of the Internet, it’s easy for some online sellers to feel they can hide because they’re not looking the buyer eye-to-eye over a counter in a retail shop. Buyers likewise also feel less secure because they can’t see the seller face-to-face, and they usually cannot visit

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the store in person and reassure themselves of the legitimacy of the business.

These unscrupulous online sellers really have no regard for the customer; they value only what the customer can do for them, which is adding dollars to their bank account. It is quite possible for an online seller to build an entire business model on one-time sales rather than building a list of satisfied clientele who come back for repeated purchases.

That’s the danger awaiting online sellers – the bad reputation of a few.

Other online sellers – the kind you want to be – couldn’t be more different. They really do want to do the right thing, and they’re aware of the need to provide honest value to their customers. Their desire is to provide significant value to the buyer at a fair price, but they sometimes struggle to communicate that value. Their heart is in the right place, but they have difficulty reaching out and convincing the buyer that they’re different than the other group.

No business can succeed without a seller convincing a buyer to pay.

Even if your heart is in the right place, you’ll have to develop the art of convincing people that you have what they need if you want to succeed in your online business. People browsing the Internet today have the attention span of the Middle Eastern customers walking down a dusty street, scarcely glancing at the vendors who shout for their attention. Online sellers must hold the attention of potential buyers and convince them that the products they are selling really can help them

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solve their problems and can do it better and cheaper than anyone else’s product can. What you are selling simply must be better, and you must also believe that it is better and be able to communicate that.

Whatever your product or service, you must be able to convince the buyer that what he gives up in return is less than the value he’s getting by making a purchase from your online store.

It’s your job to create the need, or at least to magnify it, so that you’re standing ready with your product or service just as soon as the buyer is convinced of his need.

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Chapter 2: Show Customers the Value

A well-known quotation goes like this: «I don’t mind buying; I just don’t like being sold.» That expression rings true for a lot of Internet buyers. They don’t mind buying more, even high-ticket items, if they feel they are getting more value than they’re giving up. Whether it’s $5, $500, or $5000, there’s a buyer at each one of those price points if you, the seller, can convince him that he will get at least double his money back from the purchase.

It’s not the dollar amount per se; it’s the amount of expected return.

It’s not about selling cheap, low-ticket items but about remembering that buyers always want more than they’re willing to give.

You have to show them very clearly the value of what you’re offering. It’s the classic distinction between features and benefits. Features are things that a product can do, but benefits are what those features can do for the buyer. You need to focus on the benefit to the buyer by showing exactly what the buyer will be able to get by purchasing your product.

Today’s Internet shoppers are savvy and skeptical. They’ve seen all kinds of gimmicks and scams and may have lost money in the past. With such a high level of skepticism, Internet buyers today must understand clearly what the product can do for them before they are willing to pull out their credit card.

Focus on the benefit to the buyer by showing exactly what the buyer will be able to get by purchasing your product.

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There must be a reasonable match between the values the product is offering and the price that customers are being asked to pay. If there’s too much of a discrepancy between the two, buyers will be suspicious. They’ll think either that you’re trying to scam them if the price is too high, or that there must be a trick if the price is too low. You can’t really blame them, because there are many Internet marketers who are employing all kinds of unethical strategies just to get the buyer to click on the Buy Now button.