The “Test Ride” - An Age Old Preselling Tactic

OK, this is going to seem like a dummy smack for some, and rehash to others, but this is how I'm going to break it down to you...

Think about the experience you would have if you were to go buy a car. You go there with the intention of buying a vehicle because you need one. There's no question about that. But of course, you know how car salesmen are. Their job is to put you in a car, by any means. They want you to 'sign and drive'. I'm not here to knock car salesmen and dealers. They have a hustle just like I have an online hustle.

But at the end of the day, they gotta get people into cars. So, they feel you out, and get to know you a bit, and see what it is you're looking for, and how much you'd be able to afford on your budget. Once they levy all this information out in their head, talk of financing the car kicks in. The customer gets defensive in the back of their mind, and gets kinda scared, because they hate credit, of course.

So what does the salesman do? Time for a test drive!

They let the car sell itself. What better way to sell a product than to let the person USE IT? If a person REALLY likes the car after the test drive, they'll have a connection with the car itself, and will start rationalizing ways in their mind, to afford the expense of the vehicle. They start talking about getting a second job, they start digging up a down payment just so they can finance it...you know how it goes.

The same goes for internet marketing. The biggest launches in internet marketing history let you sample the product before you invest the $197, $497, $997 into it. You get videos, you get audios, you get ebooks, blog posts, case studies galore...and you get it for free, right?

Hello?! This is a common example of the “test drive”!

People always want to talk about how they dumped so much money into seminars, DVDs, workshops, ebooks, mastermind groups, etc. But in the end, they were invited to sample the product, and they wanted it enough from getting a 'taste' of it that they rationalized ways to come up with the dough to fork out.

I've personally done that, SEVERAL TIMES. I used to get the 'pre-launch' phase of products, and they were really just samples of the products that they were ultimately selling. I like what was going on, and I'd start thinking of ways to give up the rent money to buy it. I would say to myself...hey, this program is going to make me SO much money anyway, so I'll recoup my investment real soon. You know what? I'm sold!

And the product owners are grinning all the way to the bank. It's their ultimate goal to get a specific amount of money from you. And they know that a long boring sales speech is going to drive people away. So instead of doing a traditional launch with the long sales letter and the other crap, they simply let you try out the product.

So, why aren't you letting people test drive your product? If you have an ebook with 8 chapters, give out 2 of them to your list or your prospects over a period of time. If you have software, get a shareware software enabler, and turn it into a 'trial version' of your software.

If your product is good enough, it'll sell itself. Letting your product 'do the talking' shows your prospect that you have the utmost confidence in your product. People like buying from people they only feel comfortable with. What better way to make your customer feel better about a purchase than by letting them try it out, without you pressuring them to buy?

Just let people try it out, and make the decision for themselves whether or not they really want it bad enough after sampling it. The only thing you'll have to do it carry your sacks of money while you're laughing all the way to the bank.

So, if you're an affiliate marketer in the online marketing field, how can you let someone 'test drive' a product that's not yours?

Have you ever thought of publishing a report that displays a need for your affiliate product? People do it all the time! Give out a report that's relevant to the topic of your affiliate product, and find a way to implement the use of the product with the content.

For example, you want to promote Affiliate Elite, which is a software that helps you find super affiliates on the internet. So, why not write a report all about the importance of recruiting affiliate marketers? That way, you can recommend Affiliate Elite within the report as the 'all in one' solution to finding and recruiting affiliates...especially after you give them a good reason why they should.

There you have it. A simple pre-selling tactic that any affiliate/internet marketer can use now to sincerely profit from any product they release or promote.

BTW, be sure to check out my friend Dylan Loh's Clickbank Profit Machine. He shows you other ways in which you can truly profit from your internet marketing and affiliate marketing projects.