Backend Marketing - More Profits For You!

You're in business to make sales, right? So why not take the extra steps to get as many sales as you possibly can? I'm talking about 'backend sales'.

Most businesses focus on front-end sales, that's normal, but what most businesses fail to see is that it's the backend sales where the most money can be made.

Having a good assortment of backend products means you can constantly market new products to your clients expanding your business a lot further.

Even if you have come up with a 'miracle' product bring in instant cash its pay day can run out. You can have a thousand customers who buy your $50 product that makes you $50,000, and that's great for awhile, but your profit on that one product will diminish over time. You need to keep the momentum going with backend sales.

No matter what type of business you are in, or whether you market your products online or offline, the backend offers are the ones that determine whether you are going to make simply marginal profits or staggering ones.

But don't confuse 'backend' with an 'upsell', they're not the same. An up-sell means suggesting a higher priced product or service for a customer considering a purchase. The products or services you provide your customers with after the initial sale are referred to as 'backend'.

Backend products can be your own or they can be things like 'Private Label Rights' or ' Master Resell Rights' products, in fact both of these work very well as backend products because of the 'how to' content they provide.

Here's an example of how a backend sale would benefit you...

Let's suppose you have an information product that you bought resell rights to for $98 and you want to resell the product for $37. You then run an ad for $200 and you make 10 sales.

10 sales is $370 minus $98 = $272 minus the $200 ad = your profit $72

Without having applied the 'backend' concept, your net profit would only have been $72 for 10 sales. However, if you offer these 10 customers with a backend product or service, which sells for $150 and let's say only 30% of these customers purchase, you will make another $450 ($150 X 3 customers). Overall, you will make a profit of $522 ($450 + $72).

So even if you do not make much profit from your initial sale, you can completely make it up with your 'backend' sale.

Remember the saying "there's gold in your list"? This refers to marketers who have created multi-million dollar empires by selling, not similar things to different customers, but different things to the same list. All wise email marketers make good use of their lists with backend sales, that's because it's often easier selling to an existing customer than it is to a new one.

Methods for promoting the 'back end' sale.

Work out your backend marketing strategy by suggesting a product that aids in the performance of a product your customer has already purchased from you. The key to higher profits is to recommend a product that has better performance than the one just bought ...it might be more expensive but it should be even better.

I think Amazon is a good example of how backend sales work. When you're shopping for a book they display related books. You might even like the suggestion and go for both the books, even though you set out to buy just one.

Here are some promotion ideas...

-Use your "thank you" page of your website endorsing a backend sale or try mentioning the back end item along with the purchase of the actual product and add an attractive discount.

-If you use a thank you email when a product is purchased, include a promotion for your backend product(s). A thank you is always good business etiquette so why not use it to its full potential.

-A great idea for new customers would be to give them a gift item along with their purchased products. Use this opportunity for back end endorsements as well.

-Reward regular customers with new products special promotions. Do this with an offer that allows loyal customers to buy them with a discount before they are available to all.

-Your website should contain an area for user up dates for things like product updates, new items, bulletins and special offers. This is another excellent place for promoting your back end promotion to regular customers.

-Your newsletter or bulletin should always include back end goods as well as your latest website updates. Keep your newsletter content innovative and novel. This keeps your customers interested in your site and your offers.

- Do you sell electronic items that are downloadable? Try including links to other related electronic items and back end goods for higher revenue.

If you have been developing a line of your own products, backend marketing can be an easy way to increase your profits. Follow it up with good 'after sale' services. You could also get into a partnership with a company that can ably provide you with good backend products.

Choosing Backend products

Before even choosing your backend products, be sure that your primary product is a quality one. No backend strategy will work if you offer your customers junk, so take care to offer products or services that reinforce your customers confidence that their needs are of the utmost importance to you.

When recommending backend products or services it works well to select things that somehow aid your customers with the purchases they have already made.

For example, if you just sold a customer a car cleaning kit, turn around and offer a discounted set of 'chamois' or a 'how to' manual that offers 'secrets to finding a good car mechanic', or something of that nature.

Don't underestimate the power of backend selling. If your primary product provides you with 20% of your profit, proper backend marketing can bring in 50-% - 80% of your business profits.