Using Mini-Courses To Establish Credibility and Pre-sell Products

From: Hans Klein
Cyberwave Staff Writer


Dear Subscriber,

Just imagine what you could accomplish if you had a professional staff to work one-on-one with each of your prospects. To answer each and every one of their questions and train them in what they need to know to make an informed purchase decision.

Do you think you could increase your sales and get an unbeatable advantage over your competition? You bet.

Just like a salesperson working with a man getting ready to spend thousands of dollars on a wedding ring who knows little or nothing about what to look for, or a car salesperson talking to a first time car buyer, you may be surprised to learn that you can have the same type of interaction with your customers on the internet.

But, with one small difference…

Using electronic communication, you now have the ability to follow-up with your prospects anytime you want and as often as you desire without employees. All it takes is the power of a mini-course.

You see, mini-courses are just like having a professional electronic staff to train, educate, and sell your products or services to prospects.

Many of you are probably already familiar with common 7-day e-courses delivered through email. They are a very powerful tool if used effectively since they close sales to prospects who remain unconvinced after they read your sales material.

Well, as you are about to discover, you can use a mini-course to do a lot more. Use it as a weapon to capture more sales and build strategic relationship (where you are seen as the authority figure) with your prospects.

Why should you use mini-courses in your online business?

There are two main reasons:

1. They increase your credibility by positioning you as the authority. And, with this new “student-teacher” relationship, your prospects begin to trust you as they are guided to the best purchase decision.
   
   
2. They help you close more sales by pre-selling your products. When your customers understand exactly what your products do for them, then they are more likely to make a purchase.
   

Best of all, mini-courses do all of this on autopilot by communicating with your prospect one-on-one using technology. You don’t need to hire a huge staff. With that said, you won’t see any difference in your sales, until you learn…

How to get your prospects to sign-up for a mini-course…

Each mini-course you create should be designed to take the customer by the hand and guide him or her into buying a specific product or service, just like you were working with him or her one-on-one.

So, when you have a mini-course, you are after those who are most likely to buy. If you have multiple products, you will need an mini-course for each one.

A very successful use of mini-courses is Ken Evoy’s “Sitesell University” halfway down the page at: http://www.sitesell.com.

These courses bring in potential prospects for all of his paid products, and are largely distributed through a network of affiliates.

This has created a large viral “buzz” effect throughout the web. With mini-courses you gain a powerful weapon to help your affiliates sell your product – especially, to those skeptical of being “sold” to.

You see, when you are not “selling,” but “helping,” you bring in a lot more folks to your business who would otherwise have been turned off from just your sales message.

There are three main ways to get your prospects to sign-up:

To increase your subscriber rates you must keep in mind…

For every customer who asks for help, there are many more who won’t. It is your job as salesperson to make sure ALL of the prospects’ potential concerns and objections are addressed, as you don’t know which one is going to keep them from buying.

That is why it should be a top priority of yours to get qualified prospects to enroll in your mini-course. It should not be overlooked in importance.

For example, let’s say we run a hosting company. Many of the folks that hit our web page aren’t going to have a clue about what they need to look for in a host.

So, we would be sure to make these visitors aware of our mini-course that educates them about what they should be aware of (emphasizing the points we’re strong in).

Of course getting your prospects to sign-up is a good first step, but it means nothing if you can’t successfully deal with…

The single biggest obstacle of mini-courses

If you can’t get your mini-course to your prospect, and get them to read it, then you’re out-of-luck. All your work has gone to waste.

And with spam filters preventing email from getting delivered and your prospects busy schedule, you can’t take these issues lightly. But, don’t worry. There are a number of easy strategies around it.

Let’s talk about distribution methods

The primary way to distribute a mini-course is through email. To successfully use email there are a few considerations you need to keep in mind. Let’s take a look:

1. Short emails often have a better chance of getting through spam filters. So, you may want to deliver your course by sending a link to a Web page or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files. The drawback of this option is that it may be difficult to encourage your readers to devour your lessons with fewer benefits in a breif teaser message.
   
   
2. Have a superior white listing system. Once you’ve gotten the sign-up, then make sure your prospects know why and how to white list emails from you. Tell them before and after the sale about how to white list your product with their e-mail system. In many circumstances it is worthwhile to even have a link on your thank you page that says, “Did you get your mini-course” and have that lead to a white listing page with instructions.
   
   One such example of this being used is at: http://scienceofgettingrich.net/. This site relies on email as a vital component for sales. For non-tech savvy audiences this is a smart addition (as they don’t understand the problem, until it directly affects them). Additionally, this site even sends the requested e-book twice to make sure the subscriber receives it.
   
   
3. A powerful strategy when using double opt-in is to offer a valuable bonus and only deliver it through email once the subscriber verifies his or her subscription. This not only increases your double opt-in rates, but also makes sure the subscriber white lists emails from you.
   
   

Now, email is one option.

But, what about the power of RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. To use it, your readers must pick-up a copy of an RSS reader they can find at a place like http://www.cnet.com or on a search engine. A couple of free examples are at:

• http://www.FeedReader.com
  
  
• http://www.RSSReader.com
  
  

RSS allows you to deliver content to your readers with ease. No sign-up forms and no hassles with emails. Just tell your prospects how to grab a reader and input your feed (blogging software creates your feed for you).

Then, you can give them updates anytime you want. They are updated instantly as long as their RSS reader is turned on.

Additionally, you don’t have to deliver written content. You can also deliver MP3 files, or even video files using Podcasts and Videocasts. These options are great for quickly putting together mini course content and explaining how your product or service works.

Next, you must implement…

Ad copy strategies to your mini-course read

Your prospects are busy. They likely have jobs, kids, friends and family to spend time with. So, taking the effort to learn about something new is not easy. You’ve got to sell them on it. Here’s how:

First, let’s talk about the Zeigarnik effect. In 1927, Bluma Zeigernik a Russian psychologist was eating at a Vienna café when he noticed a waiter remembered every single order from dozens of customers at a time before he delivered the food to their table. However, once he delivered the food, he could no longer remember what each customer had. For him the transaction was complete.

This led Zeigarnik to perform experiments that showed people remember unfinished tasks better… and even more… are motivated to finish the task.

So, how can you use this to get folks to
read your mini-courses?

It’s easy. Never finish the transaction, and keep your reader suspended at every stage because there is more to come. Tease them about future lessons, about what to expect in lessons they are reading, and tempt them read each future issue.

Don’t hesitate to implement it in everything you do. Your lessons will not only leave a greater impression, but you will increase your readership as well.

Next: Load them up with benefits. Before you begin every lesson sell them on why they should consume it. Tell them about the information inside and what it will do for them.

Additionally, you should empathize with your prospects’ problems before you begin your lesson. Establish a rapport with them and let them know you’ve got them in mind during today’s lesson. Let them know they don’t have worry about being frustrated anymore. Everything is taken care of.

Finally, make your course interesting. In most circumstances it is fitting to bring in your personality. Let the customer know you’re a real person. Give your opinions, and share your ideas… exactly like a salesperson would do with each customer one-on-one. Stories to help illustrate points and make reading easy are always powerful tools.

How to make your course do its job

To establish yourself as the authority and close more sales, there are a few strategies you need to keep in mind.

First, the single biggest flaw you can make with an e-course is to give away the whole store. You don’t want to give away the entire solution to your customer’s problems if you’re selling a product to solve that problem.

Doing this will murder your sales. Instead, give your customers a taste of having their problem solved. Make them desire what it would be like to not have to worry anymore and sleep calmly at night.

For example, if you’re selling a book on weight loss, you may review the problems the customer has. But, you would not give away too much as to your solution. Your product is the solution to the problem, not the mini-course

To make your prospects taste it, they must fully understand it

Think about it. If your prospect does not fully grasp the power of what you’re offering, they can’t desire it. To make sure you fully educate your prospect, cover all potential sales objections in your mini-course. Let them know that you are guiding them to a wise decision.

You are getting your prospects to understand the WHY of needing your product. If you’re selling BMWs, then you want your prospect to fully understand why it simply is not cost effective for him to go with a cheaper brand.

Conclusion

Mini-courses don’t just have the power to close one-time sales (like most 7 day e-courses are designed for). Rather, they are a way to bring in new customers, while positioning you as the expert. This means your short and long-term sales will go-up.

Additionally, with more educated consumers, you are creating more opportunities for profit. That’s because when your customers recognize you as the expert, you don’t have to try as hard to sell them on your latest projects. Your credibility is already established – for quicker sales.

For example, let say you have dozens of old courses left in your house that you’ve just uncovered and you want to move them. With a loyal group of customers, you can quickly create an offer to get rid of them quickly and easily since your customers already recognize you offer a quality product.

Not using mini-courses means ignoring a powerful communication process that informs and guides your customers to the right buying decision.

Show your customers the best option for them as clearly as possible to make sure they don’t leave. Be the guide and expert to close more sales and win more loyal customers.


Sincerely,


Hans Klein