Hopefully we are all adults
here, so let's talk about sex for just a minute. No, I'm not talking about porn
sites, I'm talking about taking a look at what I call 'Bedroom Marketing' and
applying the same principles to Internet marketing.

I don't care if you're a
female or a male. Play this scenario out in your head:

You walk in the door and
yell "Honey, I'm home. Take off your clothes and jump into bed because I
really want you and I know that you want me too."

I don't know how things work
around your house, but over in my neck of the woods it's going to be "No Sale".
And why would you expect anything different? Let's take a look at what was done
wrong.

1. This was a high-pressure
   attempt to "make the sale" without any regard for the other party feelings, or
   state of mind.
   
   
   
2. It was assumed that the
   other party was in mood to "buy" and the pitch did not give them any other
   option but to say "Yes" or "No" when a "maybe later" would have given the
   desired results.
   
   
   
3. There was no attempt at
   rapport building (OK, Dr. Ruth doesn't call it "rapport building", but you know
   what I mean).
   
   
   
4. There was a failure to
   build the other person's interest and excitement level over the offered "product
   or service".
   

So, if you wouldn't expect
that kind of approach to work with someone who hopefully loves and trusts you,
why in the world would you think it would work with complete
strangers?

You know what I'm talking
about. We've all received an email that says something like:

"Wow, I just discovered
the most amazing program. My sponsor has only been in for 14 days and he's
already made $144,000!!!!!!!!! This is so good, trust me I know a good thing
when I see one. THIS IS NOT A SCAM!!!!!!!!! Just click here and pay a one-time
$19.99 NO SPONSORING!!!!!!!! I'll help you make money. This CAN'T
FAIL!!!!!!!!!!! Just sit back and let the money roll in!!!!!!! I joined Monday
and already I've made over $200!!!!!!!!!!"

The so-called marketer blows
this ad out to 155,000 Safelists, FFA and Classified sites, and maybe SPAMs a
few news groups along the way. Two days go by and no sales. The Marketer quits
in disgust and tells everyone that Internet Marketing is a scam and no one is
making any money. "Trust me.", He says "I know, I tried."

You think I'm exaggerating?
One of the sites that I own is a target=_blank>Safelist Autoposter. We sell membership for $4.99 per month
and our members can automatically post their ads to hundreds of safelists, with
hundreds of thousands of members who have agreed to receive them.

Anyway, whenever someone
cancels their subscription we automatically send them an email containing an
Exit Poll form. We offer them the chance to win $50 in return for telling us why
they quit (we also recommend one of our target=_blank>other sites that may be better suited for them, but that's
another article). We learn a lot about how to make our program better, but we
also get to scratch our heads in wonder over responses like this one:

"I've been a member of
your site for 10 days now and I haven't sold a thing. The Internet is full of
thieves and liars and you're just one more of them."

Out of curiosity, I checked
the sales letter he's been sending. Here's what he wrote:

"You are paying too much
for your long distense service. Send an email to (address deleted) and see HOW
MUCH IT WILL COST YOU with mine."

Ok, let's take a look at
what he did wrong besides failing to run his spell checker.

1. He made a high pressure
   attempt to "make the sale" without any regard for the other party feelings, or
   state of mind. Not only was it high pressure, but it held his offer out in a
   negative fashion when he said
   
   "Send an email to (deleted) and see HOW
   MUCH IT WILL COST YOU with mine."
   
   Sheesh, at least he could have
   said "how LITTLE it will cost you."
   
   What he did was the equivalent of
   saying:
   
   
   

   
   

   "Honey, I'm home and I'm
   dirty and sweaty and I had a garlic and onion sandwich which I'm still burping
   up every five minutes.
   
   Take off your clothes and jump into bed because I
   really want you and I know that you want me too."

   
   

   
   

   Sure, that's a home run
   proposition waiting to be hit out of the park.
   

   
   
2. He assumed that his
   prospect was in the mood to "buy" and did not give them any other option but to
   say "Yes" or "No" when a "maybe later" would have given you the results he was
   seeking.
   
   In fact, he really didn't give them any option at all when he
   said:
   

   
   

   "Send an email to
   (deleted) "
   

   
   

   No one in their right mind
   is going to respond to an offer from a total stranger and give that stranger
   their email address. It's no wonder he didn't make any sales.
   
   

   
   
3. He didn't take any time to
   build a rapport. He tried (and failed) to pull off a slam-bam-thank you-m'am (or
   whiz-whirr-thank you sir) and fell flat on his face. Try walking up to someone
   in a bar and saying "Hi, are you hungry or horny" and see how well you
   do.
   
   
   
4. He failed to build an
   excitement level over his product or service. He didn't even build a mild
   curiosity level. In fact, his letter doesn't even rate a twitch of the right
   eyebrow.
   
   

Hmmm, does all of this sound
familiar? I wonder what would happen if he tried that on his spouse when he
arrived home from work? No nookie there I'd bet, and no sale from his ad
either.

I see so many people fail in
their attempts to advertise their product or services. A lot of them tell the
same story as Mr. No Nookie in the example above. Keep this in mind -- Even
though the Internet offers an instant medium for reaching people all around the
world, the basic laws of sales have not changed. In order to close the deal you
must:

1. Eliminate any high
pressure attempts to make the sale. Stop using hype and, for Pete's sake, use
the exclamation point sparingly! Not only is an educated prospect more likely to
buy, but they are also more likely to refer others to your site, and they are
more likely to respond to future offers that you make to them.

Give the
customer an option of saying "No". Some truly interested prospects just won't be
able to buy right now for a variety of legitimate reasons. Make sure that you
offer them the opportunity to join your e-zine or newsletter, or sign up for an
autoresponder series. Do something that gives you the opportunity to stay in
front of that customer until they are ready to say "Yes".

2. Go slowly and get your
prospect into the mood to buy. Don't rush in there and yell "Give me your
money". Take the time to determine what the reasons are that someone will buy
your product and weave those reasons into a word picture that elevates the
prospect's curiosity and enhances their buying mood.

3. Build a rapport with your
prospect. People want to be talked to, not at. Show them that you are a friend
and a expert in your field by EDUCATING them and not SELLING them. Combine this
step with step #2, and you can write as long of a sales letter as you need (but
not ONE WORD LONGER) without fear of losing the truly interested
prospect.

4. Create a level of
excitement over your product or service by explaining how it's going to change
their life, or save them money, or make them look more attractive, or whatever
your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is..

What works in the bedroom
works in the market place. Try it!

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About the Author

Len is a professional copywriter and Internet marketing consultant. Visit his site at www.CopySurgery.com