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Are You Giving Away Too Much?

Guest post by: Lisa Sasevich

Article Overview: Bonuses are very important and you should definitely include them with your offer. But rather than spending time and money creating new products, take a look at what you're already offering. Often there are real jewels hidden in your package that you could take out and

Are You Giving Away Too Much?

Ibelieve in generosity, as you know, but some of you are giving away too much. Here's what I mean. Let's say you've just received an offer to speak. What's the first thing that you think? If you're like many people, you think, "Oh, I have to go out and create some new bonuses!" And then you start running around, creating new products: recording new CD's or writing a special report, booklet or even a whole book!

In short, you cost yourself a fair amount of money, create a lot of unnecessary stress, and, perhaps, worst of all, the creation of all of those bonuses completely pulls you off track from focusing on your sales.

Bonuses are very important and you should definitely include them with your offer. But rather than spending time and money creating new products, take a look at what you're already offering. Often there are real jewels hidden in your package that you could take out and offer as a bonus. Your bonus may already exist, but you've got it tucked away in the package, where people can't see how extraordinary it is.

And when you tuck away that amazing item, you may be hiding from your prospects the very thing that will make them say YES to your entire package - on the spot!

A great example of that was a client of mine who came to work with me before speaking on Dan Kennedy's stage.

Originally, this client was going to include a manual in his package on how to have your virtual assistant implement the system that he was selling. It was a valuable item, but it was hidden among 27 other bonus items that were included.

I looked at his package and I thought, "Hmm...as an entrepreneur I probably wouldn't buy this because I wouldn't have the time to implement it. BUT if you gave me this little manual, and all I had to do was give it to my assistant for her to implement, that makes me want to buy the package. That is gold!" So, we pulled out that manual and made it the Today Only Bonus.

On Dan's stage that day, my client made more than $200,000 in 70 minutes!

Other valuable bonus items you can include are:

A private strategy session with you or someone on your team.

This serves two purposes. It helps you sell more up front and it helps you upsell on the back end because now you have built in a chance to talk with that client to identify their future needs.

A ticket to a live event you're having.

If you hold an event that provides value while also offering opportunities to register for future programs you offer, why not include your new client in the event? After all, he or she has already displayed a willingness to invest in your work.

Ask yourself, "Is there something I'm including in the main dish of my offer that is really special and getting lost there?"

I recently worked with a photographer who was including re-touching photos in her packages. We asked the question above and the light bulb went off. Now she offers her three photo packages, and if they invest TODAY, they get the re-touching done free. After today, re-touching is $100 per photo.

Big results really can stem from seemingly simple but savvy actions. I see it happen every day when people implement the simple Invisible Close strategies that I teach.

So, take a look at what you're offering and see if a valuable bonus is hiding in plain sight. With a little bit of adjustment, what you're already giving may be more than enough.

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Article Tags: sales, selling, Selling offers, speaking



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Re: SES Toronto Next Week - In that case, how about the following? Track: Get Me Up to Speed * State of Search Marketing in Canada Track: Practical & Actionable * Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions Track: Advanced * User Search Behavior * Social Media Success * Web 2.0 & Search Engines * Giving Credit Where It’s Due: Which Campaign Sold What?
Connecting with Influential People - Thanks Martin! In "The Little Black Book of Connections", Jeffrey Gitomer suggests the following ways to connect with influential people (page 106): -Third-party introductions (best method). -Writing and publishing content. -Giving seminars/speeches so you can be perceived as an expert in your field and leader. -Attend social and business events. -Say or ask something powerful by doing research ahead of time. -Engage them by offering something of value first. Gitomer also stresses the importance of making more friends as well.
Your Intial Mistakes Business - Hi, When I started my business I had made a lot of mistakes initially. These helped me in learning the art of the trade and today when I look back, I feel that these mistakes were quite silly. I had made my learnings then and those learnings have helped me time and again. Some of the mistakes I made were - i. Wrong Time Management ii. Wasting money on glossy Brochures and Business cards iii. Believing what they taught me at school was 100% correct iv. Giving too much when it was not required...... I would like to find out what have been your faltering moments in Business when you had started and what/how did they help you grow. Regards
Partnering for the wrong reasons - Well I guess the 2 biggest fears/mistakes are: 1.) Partnering with someone just because you trust them (i.e. a close family member or friend) and more importantly, need his/her money to implement YOUR unique idea. 2.) Giving away too much (in terms of company shares) too soon. For instance, let's say you gave away 50% of your company shares to a friend who was mainly just an investor who paid for more than 70% of the initial startup costs. You do more than 70% of the work, and the company becomes successful and you're able to repay all of your debts. Then going forward, you're stuck doing the majority of the work still, while you investor friend has been repaid in full and sits on his/her laurels because of the initial written agreement didn't require him/her to help out as much. What would you do then?


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