Increasing Your Sales When Times are Tough
Posted On: 2009-09-14
Here in Australia we've been relatively untouched by the global financial crisis when compared to other countries. Sure we see a few empty shops and factories around the place, unemployment is up a little but here people are still spending money and consumer confidence is way up.
Of course I know that's not the way it is in other parts of the world and even in America things have not begun to turn around just yet. Over where most of you guys live times are definitely still tough and in our industry plenty of people are struggling to make sales. Traffic numbers are falling and people aren't spending on adult products like they used to but that doesn't mean you should be giving up.
Instead of giving up think about the situation that so many of your potential customers are in and look at ways of connecting with them and using that connection to sell to them. Actually you don't have to think too hard or look too hard for ways to connect because a major opportunity to connect is right there in the facts that I've just mentioned.
If you really want to sell to as many people as possible rather than just playing the numbers game ... a game that must be getting harder because the numbers are dwindling ... the you have to connect with them. You have to get them to believe that you understand their situation ... that you have empathy for them and that you are there on the site to help them.
Now that's not a marketing approach that's been all that popular here in adult online. There have been a few forward thinkers such as Voltar who have suggested that if you really want to make sales then you have to connect with the people who hit your sites but that message has largely gone unheeded.
Instead of using what's known over in mainstream as persuasion marketing ... selling by establishing that connection with the people who come to your site and using that connection to make sales ... most people in adult have relied totally on push marketing. Push marketing is all about ramming the marketing message down the throats of all those who visit the site and relying on the numbers to generate an income.
So how do you establish that connection in these tough times? Well as I said a few moments ago, it's not going to take a lot of thought or searching for a connection because it's right there waiting for you to grab it with both hands.
The connection is the fact that times are tough ... yes that's the connection you need to use with people who are hitting your sites looking for porn. Many of them may have purchased memberships in the past but now they're being more careful with their money or perhaps they don't think that they can afford to buy a membership in an adult site.
So tell them that you understand that times are tough and that's why you're recommending whatever the sponsor's site is that you're promoting. You can tell them that they're going to get great value for money when they spend just a few bucks to join the sponsor's site ... they're going to get access to x number of sites that contain n amount of content and it's going to satisfy their craving for the best porn that they can find.
And the clincher is going to be the price so be sure that you find a sponsor who is offering a low joining fee. Sure, they may not pay as much commission as some of those sponsors who charge members more but the chances are that you'll make a lot more sales with that low-rate sponsor than you will with others who want to charge more.
It's hard to believe but some savvy marketers suggest that in hard times like these it's easier to achieve good sales results than it is when the good times are here. They suggest that when people have a lot of disposable income there are plenty of products clamoring for their attention and buyers don't mind spending their money to get what they want.
But when times are tough and people are being more careful about what they buy the price point for a product becomes much more important and the focus contracts from a wide range of products right down to those that are less expensive.
So if you're finding that times are tough and your sales are fading then think seriously about connecting with the people who are coming to your sites and offer them what they can afford to buy. You just might find that your sales do improve even though times are tough.