How To Use Your 'Back End' For Marketing
Copyright © LuAnn Elliott 2003
Exactly what is 'back end' marketing?
Simple. It involves printing your business ad on the back side
of your shorts and walking seductively though town so that you
draw everyone's attention. Now obviously, bikinis rate better
results than flower print polyester cut-offs, but you have to be
pretty brief with your message.
Ok, Ok, I'm kidding. However, there probably ARE some
people out there who could use such a strategy effectively.
Real back end marketing is a little harder to define, and while
it's definition is not quite as colorful, it can be more profitable.
Back end marketing involves the use of a non-direct marketing
vehicle to promote products or services through referrals.
Now, that may not be the 'official college professor' definition,
but it will work to get my point across.
For example, giving away a free e-book can be a non-direct
marketing vehicle. People download it for the information it
contains. However, if that information also contains references
to other products or services that will earn money, that's
marketing on the 'back end'. Check out the free e-book
directory at http://websuccesscentral.com/free/index.shtml for
examples of how this works.
By non-direct, I mean that the e-book does not directly solicit
sales of these back end products itself. It may be your main
purpose in writing the e-book, but the actual content of the e-
book does not solicit sales of the back end products. It merely
makes reference to them and provides links to further
information.
As well, it doesn't matter if the e-book itself sells for $29.95
and was not given away for free. The $29.95 is 'front end'
profits and any money made from referrals to other products
in the e-book is 'back end' profits.
Ok, now that we understand what they are, how do we go
about using them?
First off, make referrals. Use every opportunity you have
to link together every product you offer. Here's some examples.
*Include references to products inside informational materials.
*Offer existing customers the chance to receive free product
updates and announcements of new products.
*Refer product purchasers to your affiliate program for the
product they just received. Or offer them re-sell rights.
*Refer new affiliates to a full list of all your products.
*On your sales page for product A, offer an e-course on a
related topic that also includes references to product B.
Second, do what you can to make those links into a perpetual chain.
Why stop after one purchase? Make additional referrals or
provide further information immediately. In other words, once
you have someone's attention, try your best to keep it indefinitely.
Third, give your initial non-direct marketing vehicle a means of
continuation.
Say you give away a free e-book. Once a person downloads it,
encourage them to give it away to others. Even offer them
incentives of some kind to tell others about it. By allowing
others to benefit from your free e-book in some way, they'll be
more likely to refer others to it.
This is what's called viral marketing. The further any marketing
vehicle can go without you, the better. And all the while you can
be racking up back end profits without having to strut your stuff
out on the street.
Which for many of us is a good thing!
The more you think about this concept, the more you'll realize
what can be done with it. I've given a few examples of back
end marketing in this article, but I'm sure with a little
creativity you'll be able to come up with a lot more ways to
take advantage of it.
Put your back end to work. You may be surprised what it can
do for you.
LuAnn Elliott is the publisher of Web Success --
Your ONE STOP BIZ EZINE!
http://www.websuccesscentral.com
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