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Here’s the marketing tip from the issue that’s just been sent to subscribers:

Make Your Offer Irresistible by Using Loss Leaders

Supermarkets understand the value of a “loss leader”: it’s a product that you sell at, or below cost, in order to sell more products and generate a profit from those products.

About a year ago an eBay PowerSeller hired me to develop a marketing campaign for him, and I decided to go with loss leaders.

He was horrified. “With the costs of packaging and postage, I’m LOSING money”, he screamed.

“I told you you’d come out ahead on this one, and you will, BUT you need to be patient,” I told him.

I was so sure that the loss leaders would work for him that I made a $100 wager with him. I don’t usually gamble, but I knew I was on a sure thing. :-)

I won the bet. Not only did he bulk his mailing list out to 10,433 people within a month, but he also made five times his usual margins. The people who bought the loss leader products also bought other products.

Note: you must charge something for your loss leader. Don’t give away freebies. In most cases you’ll just get people who would never have bought from you anyway.

Top Words Marketing Tips

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