Showing me a set of high-quality gears, the salesman mentioned that they were two ounces lighter than gears of lesser quality, and they were actually a little bit stronger. Apparently they drill holes in the gears to make them lighter, that, amd they are made from a higher grade of steel.

The lower priced gears prices were $29; the higher quality product sold for $119. Ironically, to buy the better product meant coming up with $45.00 more per ounce for gears that actually weighed 2 ounces less than the ones for $29.00. I asked a few more questions before deciding that, for my purposes, their was not a significant enough difference between the two products to rationalize springing for the higher priced gears. Clearly, they were being marketed to the more up-scale customer. Apparently, they carry the lower priced products as a way of introducing and selling the more expensive products.

Even though I opted for the cheaper parts, the bike-shop experience started me thinking about the importance of targeting & diversifying my products to achieve more sales.

If a product is targeted correctly, it isn't any harder to sell a more expensive product than it is to sell a cheaper one. In fact, fueling the customer's perception that there is a suitable product for their needs, builds trust, and frequently may be the key to actually selling your product. Since there are all kinds of people wanting all kinds of products, it's important to understand how to match up the product with the potential customer.

Let me give you an example: I sell several marketing courses online. Two are targeted to the serious or experienced Internet Marketer. Two additional courses are targeted to less experienced beginners, that is, people who are not willing or able to afford to take full advantage of the high end courses. I offer several similar, yet different products to serve a wider variety of needs. The products I sell are listed below.

INTERNET MARKETING TRAINING OVERVIEW
      http://www.smithfam.com/news/!education.html

The following two product should illustrate my point:

THE INTERNET MARKETING CHALLENGE
This is a membership-only website, that earns our highest recommendation! The Internet Challenge is a insider marketing membership program which was developed by a team of successful Internet Insiders, who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars from their own online businesses. Here, the experts share their own personal tips through several marketing forums. In addition you can join their up-scale Re-seller Program free, and earn some of the highest commissions in the industry.

READ THE OVERVIEW HERE
      http://www.smithfam.com/imc/

REQUEST A SERIES OF EMAIL MESSAGES
      http://www.smithfam.com/ai/imchallange.html

TARGET & DIVERSIFY
Rather than depend on one product to sell to everyone, diversify your product line so you can increase sales. Don't misunderstand me-- I'm not saying sell everything to everybody, obviously that's impractical. Choose a small niche to start with, then gradually create content. You will eventually discover products that appeal to sub-groups within your niche.

For example, I coached a kids track club to five national championships using the principals of targeting & diversification to reduce the risk of overuse injuries. I created a computer program that required that each kid understand, and then write down the purpose of each workout before starting. I learned that strategic rest was at least as important to long term performance as the workouts.

In the same way, what you don't do can actually be more important than what you do. Likewise investors and gamblers can tell you about how they use strategic diversity to smooth out the risks, while simultaneously stabilizing their income

Carefully plan your business direction. Write down your reasoning before every important decision. You'll be surprised how helpful it can be in determining where you are and where you want to go with your business. The more you know about your customers the better you can create useful content to serve them.

Creating targeted content will attract your product line. If you focus on the content you will naturally be drawn to specific products, buy them, try them, and allow your reports help direct your sales positioning. Rather than directing your content let your content direct you.

When I was a kid I learned that it's sometimes more satisfying to be a key player on a unknown team than a bench warmer on a major league team. Sometimes Less is More. My guess is that you will come to the same conclusion.

Best Wishes

Bob

The Best Programable Follow-up System Available Today
      http://www.smithfam.com/autoresponder.html

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