You’ve Hit A Brick Wall - The Psychology of Selling Digital Products.

What happens when you develop a product, get approval from JVZoo, Warrior Plus, ClickBank or put it on your website but yet to have made a sale? Or maybe you saw something that sells well in one market, so you try it in your market and nada. No sale. You think you have a good product, you worked hard at it and after all you got approval. But approval doesn’t mean that you make sales. So, what could be the problem? Well, here are a few hints.


1. Do you have an audience for your product?
Contrary to public opinion people don’t buy for your reason’s they buy for their reasons. A corollary to this is ‘we don’t sell anything, people buy.’ Unless we understand why people might want our product, we won’t sell anything. We can market the heck out of it, but people will still not purchase. No matter how much we have invested both personally and professionally, if you don’t have an audience for your product you are not going to sell it. This can be an emotional let down but it will be a lessoned well learned as we move onto the next product.  

2. Are you solving a problem that people want solved?
I learned this many years ago when I had an excellent tool for measuring knowledge worker’s effectiveness along eight distinct processes. The product was tested worked well and I used it to assess over 200 individuals with specific reference to their openness to learning. I knew it worked. But when I went to sell it, I found some disturbing results. I didn’t sell one Profile. Not one. When I did a bit of research, I found that:  

• The term ‘knowledge worker’ was unknown in my marketplace.
• It wasn’t a problem that owners and managers wanted to invest in (even when I pointed out all the benefits for them and their company).
• Owners and managers were focusing on technical and, in their mind, more practical training. I missed the boat as it was shipping out. A missed opportunity.
• My approach was based on rationality and not on emotionality (see #4 below).

I put it down to I didn’t do my homework. I had a product looking for a solution, rather than a solution looking for a product.

3. Are you using the right keywords?
Keywords are words or phrases that people type into search engines to find what they are looking for. For example, if you were searching to buy an eBook on goal setting, you might type something like, ‘SMART goals,’ ‘aspirational goals,’ ‘personal goals,’ ‘goals that work’ ‘how to write goals,’ into Google or YouTube. Even though your phrases consist of more than one word, it is still considered as a keyword.  

4. Are you presenting with emotion?
People buy for emotional reasons. This is related to people having a problem that needs a solution. For example, they may be frustrated, stressed, discouraged, anxious, or concerned. These emotions point to ‘pain points’ so your copy needs to address ways that alleviate the pressures or the ‘pain’ they are feeling.  

5. Do you appreciate the difference between marketing and selling?
Marketing is about educating your audience about your product and what it can do for them. Selling is closing the deal. Often we don’t prepare the marketplace for the product and just expect that people will buy. This is particularly true when you are introducing something new to the marketplace. Number 2 above is a perfect example of this. I tried to sell before the market was ready for my ‘great’ solution.

6. Do you know the difference between relationship selling and transactional selling?
The latter is straight forward selling, for example. “I have a headache (my problem) do you sell aspirins (solution)?” “Yes, they are right over there on the second shelf.” This is a simple quick sell.  
A relational sell is long term and a bit more complicated. Most internet marketers have a list that they have nurtured for a long time before selling anything. They have developed a relationship with their customers or ‘buyers’ even though they haven’t met them. In other words, they warm up their customers before selling a product. This is particularly true if you are selling using Facebook.
 
Using Facebook is all about relationship selling and requires much preparation before attempting a sell, even then the call to action is often soft rather than a hard sell.  My experience is that friends buy on Facebook only if I have known them before hand or I have become friends with people I never met after a lot of likes, loves, and comments. Really you can’t do ‘transactional selling’ on Facebook unless you are prepared to spend a lot of money on ads and even then it is iffy.


7. Have you done your market research?
Here we need to clearly understand who we are marketing and selling to. Your product might be the best thing ‘since sliced bread’ but if you don’t have a market for it you won’t sell it.  

• So - What are your demographics? Is your product for men, women, or children? What age group? What interest do they have for this type of product? Have you done a Google, Facebook or You Tube search for trends? Can you find any ‘buying history’ for your type of product?  
• Some internet marketers throw things out to the world, hoping that something will stick. This is fine if you are prepared for a ‘no sale’ experience, or if you have lots of money for ads and even then it still might not stick.  

8. How do you Brand your product?
There are many things about branding that are important, but here are a few points that filter to the top.

• Are you branding yourself and if so how are you doing this? On Facebook, YouTube, Website? Is your profile presentable and friendly. Is your personal picture friendly looking?
• Are you known among internet markers? How long have you been in the marketing business? Have you established relationships with them? Can you partner with them?
• How have you packaged your product? Does it look good? Do others think it looks good? Have you tested it to see if others like it?
• Do you have a website? What do your analytics look like? How many hits are you getting? Does it present your vision and purpose? Are you marketing your product on your website?
• Do you consistently post on social media and on your website?

9. Don’t get discouraged.
Keep to your vision. Keep working on your goals. And, keep developing products based on lessons learned.

There are very few internet marketers who have succeeded the first time and many internet marketers give up just before they find their own ‘secret sauce.’ Statistics show that 90% or more don’t make it. And many of those that don’t make it fail to realize that they are within an inch of making it.

Again, based on my real-life experience, I have developed over 50 training products and delivered some of them once because a company wanted it. I thought ‘boy this is a good training program for others.” Unfortunately, they didn’t go anywhere.
 
Yes, this can be discouraging but don’t let it get you down. Affirm yourself that you are on the right tract, continue to share your experiences with others and they will help you, find an experienced coach who will guide you. Build on your experience, tweak your product or begin another based on what you have learned. The bottom line, internet marketing as a solopreneur can be a lonely undertaking but it needn’t be because those with more positive experiences are willing to help.
 
By the way whatever happened to that Profile product I tried to sell in #2 above. I regrouped. I did more work in preparing the marketplace, repackaged it, and in the meantime used the product in my own practice. Owners began to see how it could be used in their company and after a couple of years they began to buy. Funny how that works eh? 

If you wish to receive a free eBook on Branding CLICK HERE.

As always, keep well, stay safe and become the person you were meant to be!
Your personal growth and development matters.

Thanks for reading,
Richard.
 

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