Website mistake #39 - some bonus blunders

There are many mistakes related to this topic alone. But, before we can talk about the mistakes, let's clarify what we mean when we are referring the word "bonus" for an online business.

By most definitions a bonus means "something extra which is given as an incentive". In most cases this has some monetary value. This is also true in your online business, but many think of a bonus as something you give your employees or yourself. In this case we are giving the bonus to our customer.

When creating our online sales process we add incentives (bonuses) to increase the value of an item which our customer is buying. So let's talk about the mistakes that generally occur when using this strategy.

The first would seem obvious - and that would be NOT offering a bonus at all. It's not always needed but, in most cases, it does entice the potential buyer because they are getting a two for one type offer.

The second mistake would be that the bonus or bonuses that you are offering have nothing to do with the product you are selling. Imagine the confusion if you are offering an information product on "Buying Your First Home" and you offer a bonus of "10 Tips to Stop Smoking Now". This could actually confuse the buyer not help the sale. You want to think about what bonus you can offer that would accentuate the primary product you are offering.

In this example it might be something like "10 Secrets to Reduce Home Energy Costs". That would make sense because, as a first time homeowner, they are getting ready to spend a lot of money and you are giving them an added bonus of how to save money in their home.

Another mistake is not revealing the value of that bonus item. Yes, they will think "Oh cool, I get this bonus." But if the bonus has a stated value it will increase the overall value of your total offer that much more. Be sure to elevate the price of the bonus just to make it seem a better deal. Don't use your hard cost. Use terms like "real world value"; "retail value" or "sold online for $$"

Yet another mistake that is often seen when including bonuses on your website is the fact that there is no image to help your visitor visualize what that product looks like. Many say well it's a digital product how do you show that? Easy, you create a digital representation of that item. If it's an ebook create an ecover. If it's an audio create an image with a CD or Album cover. If it's a bonus membership site show a membership card. The visual display increases the perceived value of the bonus and makes it more real to the buyer.

And that leads to our final mistake related to bonus items which is not describing what the bonus is. Just giving the title, an image and the value is nice, but don't rely on just the image to explain what they are getting. Don't leave them guessing that it's an ebook or a physical book or a CD or mp3 audio. Give them a description such as: "This 75 page ebook reveals 10 essential secrets to reduce your utility bills with very little effort." Be sure to keep it simple though, as you don't want to deter from the sales process. Give enough information to help increase the value.

Of course, by offering digital bonuses or products this gives you a great opportunity for upselling the digital product as a physical CD for a little bit more.

To receive your free copy of the Frank Deardurff and Bret Ridgway's special report "The 7 Biggest Website Mistakes Online Business Owners Make" visit 50BiggestWebsiteMistakes.com

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Is offering a bonus item the new art of internet marketing?

In recent times, the style of selling Internet Marketing (IM) products online via affiliate marketing has taken a new twist. Granted, marketing through Email is still the predominant method, but this works only for affiliates who have built sizable lists of subscribers. For newer affiliates with no lists, writing reviews is the popular marketing choice.

Nowadays, an affiliate would publish a dedicated review website to promote each IM product. Typically, this site would contain a blog with a handful of posts sprinkled with product affiliate links. Invariably, bonuses will be offered to sweeten the deal, so that website visitors are enticed to click those links to buy the IM product, thus earning the affiliate commissions.

It appears that review sites offering bonuses is a workable method. Many potential customers are attracted to such offers and often spend time comparing which sites provide the best "deal". This is a likely step done just before committing to the purchase. It is not so clear, however, if these customers spend a similar amount of time, or more, to read the different reviews and assess the suitability of the product.

Strangely, the quality of the reviews do not seem to matter much. If you do a quick search for any popular IM product, you could find a large proportion of review sites that do not go deep enough. On some sites, their reviews read like the reviewers have not actually used or even seen the products in question; mostly, they are simply rehashes of product sales letters and other marketing materials.

As the author has noticed, this tactic of giving bonuses has spilled over to other product niches. A notable example, almost a hilarious one, is the promotion of a Forex product by giving away an eBook on abs building. Hardly a relevant item for the Forex trader looking to improve his trading; in such a case, the freebie might actually turn away the customer.

Should such a development in review sites be worrying? Visitors ought to put much faith in the reports they read, since these reports say they are product reviews. But some sites are just so narrowly focused in ringing the cash register that their tendency is to pile on the bonus offers. It then becomes a numbers game, both in terms of quantity of bonus items and their total dollar "value".

Without doubt, offering bonus items is now a popular form of Internet Marketing. But are these items necessary for the customer? Do they add value in terms of complementary or supplementary functions for the purchased products? Considering that they were given away, are they even useful at all?

The author believes that buying a product on the merit of its review is a stronger case than buying for the sake of freebies. Should competing reviews be of similar quality, then the purchase decision may be swayed by how the free items fit into the overall use case of the product. Scrutiny of the bonuses should be performed, not just sizing up their perceived dollar values.

Of course, favoring one website or reviewer over others can be a good choice, especially when the favored party has gained sufficient customer trust, garnered loyalty and built a strong online reputation. Like in the "offline" world, word of mouth and recommendations go a long way to reward such reviewers and website owners. Indeed, it remains valid that good old marketing truth still triumphs, even on the digital frontier.

Mark Etin is an Internet Marketer and avid watcher of online business developments, in particular SEO, Affiliate Marketing and website design.

For examples of good quality product review websites, read the Instant Income Cash Machine review and an excellent Forex product review.

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Understanding the Growth of on-line Bingo

Over the past decade or so online bingo has become an internet phenomenon. Some say that online bingo is the best kept secret in gambling. There are more people playing bingo online than go to the movies in the USA.

There are three main reasons why bingo is so popular. The first is that bingo is so simple to play and so easy to understand. Secondly, it offers all the thrills and spills that all forms of gambling offer. The last reason is that it is a sociable game. The people playing meet, chat, and support each other whilst they are playing. They build social and emotional bonds that emphasise the experience that is bingo.

These key reasons why people play bingo have been replicated in the online environment. The hugely successful transition from land to online has brought millions of people into the wonderful world of online bingo. Research has shown that the majority of people who play online bingo tend to be female, middle-aged and describe themselves as homemakers. This varies greatly with all other forms of online gambling, which tend to be populated by younger males with disposable income.

Bingo is one of the most popular games in the world, where land-based bingo generates between 70 billion dollars and 90 billion dollars in revenue worldwide every year. One of the most wonderful things about bingo is that it is such a sociable game. It is a great opportunity to get together with friends and play a game that doesn't require much concentration. Having said that, and despite its simplicity, the anticipation and build-up toward bingo in every game makes it a very exciting activity.

So how has this very sociable game become so popular online? The answer is, due to its simplicity although there are several types of software for running internet bingo games. This means that there may be small differences between how one game plays out and how the next one plays. In general, however, they will accomplish one thing - to give you a good time and maybe win some money! Some games online require you to download and install special software before you can play. However once the software is downloaded, then you, the player, can play the game whenever you want without having to visit the bingo web site. You will of course still need to be connected to the internet.

Other games are available to you without having to download any software. These games are played on your browser and are accessible through the game operator's website. Like most forms of online gambling which are available on the internet, bingo is available to play freely or as pay-to-play formats. If you want to play for money, it is sometimes advisable to try out the free games which are available, just to get the hang of it, before you commit any money to the games.

Pamela Mitchell has contributed to numerous sports betting sites and has authored several 'How To' articles at Betting Today [http://www.bettingtoday.co.uk] addressing topics that include online bingo [http://www.bettingtoday.co.uk/online-bingo], online poker and casino games.

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