The Art Of Pre-Sell
How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay
What if you put in time and effort to create a product to sell, but no one buys?
Trying to sell a product or service is a slightly terrifying ordeal. What if you've put your hopes and dreams into a product and are left with nothing to show for it?
To be perceived as an expert you need a product or service
So you go through all this work to create your product or service, launch it, and sit there with expectant eyes to see results. You don't want to sell just a few products–you want to sell at least a decent amount to justify your efforts. But imagine, nothing happens. The results you anticipated simply don't materialise.
After all the anticipation for the big day; after all the time and effort of preparing for the big day; after all the hopes of this launch giving your business a boost, you only sell one, two, or maybe none.
You start questioning yourself. Did you mess up the pre-sell? Or was the product the problem? You feel lost because you don't know where things went wrong, why they went wrong, nor how to fix them.
If only you had a reliable, well-tested system in place to prevent the let down
A step-by-step guide that would give you clear directions to know what to do, when to do it, why you should do it, and how to do it. That way you'd have confidence during the whole process–every step of the way. To be able to release something for sale and have it quickly sell would be a huge confidence booster that you're on the right track.
Presenting The Art of Pre-Sell: How To Get Customers To Buy, Long Before They Pay
The simple reason why customers don't tend to buy products and services quickly, is because they need time. Time to think, evaluate, mull over, discuss. And having a pre-sell system in place gives them this time. But if it were simply a question of time, everyone could talk about their product or service in advance and expect a customer stampede, right?
The Art of Pre-Sell shows you that timing is just one element. There are several elements along the way, some tiny, some bigger, that you need to put in place to create the reliability factor of customers desperately wanting your product or service on the date of the launch.
You don't have to be popular or extremely successful to pre-sell efficiently
Let's face it, our world has gone back to the year 1920. Back in 1920, most people lived in distant places. To get any kind of marketing or advertising was incredibly difficult.
And today we've come full circle. Facebook, Twitter, Bitter, Litter and all those squillions of sites have pretty much ensured that the audience is incredibly torn up into tiny bits. Because customers are so dispersed, it's important that you're able to sell your product or service to an extremely small list.
But how small is small?
Back in the year 2009, we had a list that bordered around 20,000 subscribers (wait, wait, this story gets better). And we needed to launch a copywriting course online. So we did what we'd always done. We did the freebies, did the teleconferences, blah, blah, blah. And guess what? Four people signed up after spending weeks of promoting the event.
Four? Yes, four.
We'd been in the business for 7 years already; had a rock-solid reputation; were (and still are) amongst the top 100,000 websites in the world. And we got 4 people. And yet, in 2013, that very same course sold out in 25 minutes! We did no joint ventures, no affiliates, no advertising, no publicity. And our list consisted of just over 400 people.
Granted those 400+ people are members of 5000bc (our membership site), but there's where the but, but, but stops.
- In 2009, the Article Writing Course took weeks to sell out. In 2010, it took 55 minutes.
- In 2008, the California workshop took weeks to fill a room of 35 people. In 2010, we filled 70 seats in a week.
- In previous years, ebooks would sell at their own pace. In 2010, we sold $50,000 worth of a single product over a weekend.
It was a lightbulb moment!
At that moment, we figured out we didn't need the entire list. We didn't need to do what everyone else did. We needed just a few people who were interested in our product. And the best part is they didn't need to be interested to begin with. We could, with our system and patience, cultivate that interest, so that on the day of the launch things would work out like we'd expect. Yes, we'd cracked the pre-sell code!
Let's take a look at what's in the Art of Pre-Sell Book itself
The Critical 5 Steps involved in pre-sell
It's easy to believe that pre-sell is just a matter of making this big announcement, and then launching your product or service. That's not true at all. Pre-sell involves five distinct steps which, when rolled out, cause the customer to desperately want your product.
How To Correctly Announce Your Product/Service
The technique most marketers use to sell an idea is to bulldoze the customer with endless pitches. And yet, a product or service announcement doesn't require you to be this maniacal desperado. Learn how a product or service can be announced with no fanfare at all, and still get amazing results.
Juggling The Details of the Launch
Launching a product or service is incredibly painful if you don't roll it out systematically. Most folks go through sleepless nights, because they don't know or realise how many intricate details are involved. If you know the details in advance, you can plan your launch backwards, giving you lots of time to get lots of sleep.
Launch Day: What To Expect
If you do things right, a product or service will launch almost flawlessly. Or will it? We've made quite a few mistakes over the years, and you'll learn what to expect on launch day. The run up to the launch is nerve-racking and so is the day itself. You'll need to know what to do and how to go about making your product or service launch a success.
Examples of Pre-sell: Service/product/training
When reading a book, you can quite quickly understand a concept. However, then when it comes to applying it to your business, the plan kinda falls apart. This is because you may not have inspiration from your specific field. This book contains examples that are both from big and small companies. From companies that just stick to products, and with those that handle services. And if you train or do workshops or courses, those examples abound too.
The Downside of An Instant Launch
Most people are in a hurry when they have a product or service in hand. Having slogged through the creation stage, they're now keen to sell the product as quickly as possible. That's not what smart companies do. Smart companies orchestrate (yes, orchestrate) a launch so as to get maximum attention and sales on the day of the launch. Launches done in a hurry, often end up as damp squibs and don't get expected results. So how do you get results within limited time plans?
The Bonus Mistake
Most of us know that bonuses are often the tipping point when launching a product. A client is more likely to buy your product or service if you have an enticing bonus. Yet, by the time you're ready to launch your product or service you're exhausted. So you either put in a shoddy bonus or delay the launch. Both are mistakes. So how do you avoid them?
The Waiting List
An incredibly important part of the launch is the waiting list. Without a crowd swarming around you to buy your product or service, it's a lot harder to make any sort of sale. So what are the elements involved in the waiting list? And how do you create one like Joe Pilates did (yes, the same Pilates exercise) early in the last century?
Real Case Studies
It's one thing to understand a concept like pre-sell, and quite another to see case-studies and examples of how it's rolled out. In this book, you'll not only get the steps involved in pre-sell, but also real case studies. Best of all, several of these successful case studies aren't to massive audiences, but to audiences as tiny as 400 people.
A Secret Weapon: The prospectus
It's one thing to have a sales letter. But what comes before the sales letter? Yup, it's the prospectus. A prospectus, correctly put together can do almost all the sales for you, without seeming the slightest bit “salesy”. What are the elements of the prospectus? And how do you ensure you don't miss out on this “secret weapon” that almost no one seems to use?
How to use media
You may detest watching video, images or audio and just prefer text. But you are not your customer. A successful pre-sell is going to involve a combination of audio, video, imagery and a generous amount of text. Learn how to keep your media non-boring so that your audio, video or text stands out from the rest.
Credibility Issues (When You're Unknown)
When you're a known entity, it's easier for clients to buy from you. But what if you're an unknown? Can you still pre-sell your product or service? The answer is yes, you can.
Implicit, explicit and embedded pre-sell
There are three types of pre-sell. When do you use each type? And where do you use them? And how does each type work in tandem to create that excitement around a product or service launch? Most folks only work with “explicit” pre-sell, but there are tons of opportunities to embed your pre-sell and get no resentment at all from your customer.
Some Frequently Asked Questions:
So does pre-sell work for even the tiniest audience of say, one person?
Pre-sell is pre-sell. It's not restricted in terms of size. The concepts apply to a single person, just as it would apply to an audience of 10,000. However, as you already know, the larger the audience, the greater the chance that your product or service will result in the sales that you're expecting.
It's not that an audience of one person won't result in the sale. It's just that one person may not be in a position to buy at exactly the time you're selling. Pre-sell is not a magic trick. It's a method to create anticipation which ends up in a client buying into your offering. It works with a small audience, just as it would with a big one.
But what if I still need to create my product or service? Shouldn't I start later?
The whole point of pre-sell is to start right away—even if you don't have any product or service. In fact, the earlier you start, the more the anticipation builds up as you get closer to the sale date. Some of our courses/products/services have been in the pre-sell for a year or two years in advance. If you're not ready with your product or service now, you don't have to be ready. In fact, in almost every instance, at Psychotactics, we're never ready with the product or service.
So how conceptual or theoretical is this product?
Well, let's put it this way: I personally don't like long-winded blah-blah in a book. If you've read any of our books, bought any of our products or attended any courses/workshops, you've found that there's this obsessive need to create steps that not just work, but are doable. The steps matter, but the ability to execute it easily is far more crucial. And that's what you'll find with this product too. No blah, blah, blah—just solidly good stuff that you can, and should execute!
Alia Thabit
USA
YES. This product is solid gold. It is pricey.
I was determined to buy this book because Sean had done such a good job of pre-sell (even though he thinks he didn’t).
He posted excerpts in the copywriting course and in the cave, and had been drawing attention to his own presell of everything for several months. Plus he asked me to do a Target Profile interview, and sent me drafts of the sales page as he built it, so I felt involved and protective of the project.
I’ve only been in a cave for a year, but have already seen a dramatic jump in my business. When he talked about how much of a difference it had made in his own business, I knew that even though the price was high, I would make that money back in short order by using this method.
As I skimmed through the book the first time, I found numerous strategies that I could employ with almost no effort.
I recognized them from Sean’s own efforts, and it became glowingly clear to me how I could do these things in my own business and how seamless and enjoyable it could be.
I love the casual chattiness of it.
Pre-sell is the exemplification of the concept that marketing is the transference of enthusiasm from one person to another. I love that you can talk about the fun thing you are doing, the idea you have about something you might do later, and people get caught up in that. I have certainly seen it work on myself, and I am delighted and stunned to see it work on others when I do it.
Three Benefits of this product
1. Like all of Sean’s products, it’s a system. That means that if I follow the steps, it will work for me just as it works for him (well, maybe it works better for him, but he has more practice).
2. It’s scalable. It works for small or large projects, and Sean makes it clear just how deep you have to go depending on the size of your project–from idly dropping a whimsical thought to producing a full-blown prospectus, everything you need is in the book.
3. There are lots of options. Each section is broken down into multiple approaches, and each approach is a strategy all by itself, so there are many, many ways to use the system, depending on your preferences, business, project, or time frame.
I would recommend this product because:
YES. This book is solid gold. It is pricey–for a book. But you can clearly see the bones of the course it is to become. The great thing about Sean is that he doesn’t hold anything back. He’s not keeping the best parts for himself–he’s giving it all right here, in this book, for anyone to read, for anyone to use, for anyone to benefit. From that perspective, this book is a steal.
It’s comprehensive, crystal clear, and instantly actionable. It is chock-full of examples for all kinds of products and service, including a revolutionary chapter on samples. If anyone implements just a fraction of these ideas, the effectiveness of their campaigns will skyrocket.
This feels like what I have been waiting for. It’s a dream system.
One reading gave me a such sense of confidence and possibility, that I felt instantly relaxed and began looking forward to the rollout process.
The morning after I finished the book, I wrote a sales pitch for a Kickstarter project and thought Pre-sell!
I posted a chatty Facebook update about my project. All I did was talk about how excited I was by my project, and posted a few points my book would cover. I never mentioned price or encouraged anyone to buy. Within half an hour, I had dozens of excited accolades. So I made an event page, and posted the link in my thread. Within a few hours, over 75 people had joined, sharing the event and inviting their friends.
Not bad for an hour’s work.
Thank you, Sean for such a concise, accessible little gold mine. My copy will get plenty of use!
Holly Chantal,
USA
I hadn’t launched a new program for a couple of years and was nervous about how this one would go.
I bought Pre-Sell because while I’ve watched Sean launch his programs with fantastic results and could try to analyze what he’s doing, having a step by step system to follow seemed like it would be a whole lot easier.
Within a month of purchasing the book I launched my new program and sold even more copies than I expected!
And the whole process was completely natural for me and even strengthened my relationship with my community.
What I loved about this book was that there were “easy” pieces I could implement right away because I was on a short timeline, and then there are more involved (and more effective) pieces that I can add into the process for the next go around.
And that’s one of the best parts of Pre-Sell – once you’ve created your materials (samples, your prospectus etc.) you can repurpose and improve on them for next time. PLUS, you learn more about yourself and your product during the process which I feel is also very important.
If all of that isn’t valuable enough, even just getting a peek into the inner workings of how Sean runs his business is always a treat. When reading any of his books I always take away a new way of thinking. And those new ways of thinking always help me grow my business which is why I will happily buy just about anything he offers!
Pre-sell helps you create a wave of anticipation with your clients. After which you are able to roll out the pre-sell system with a clear, focused plan. And yes, things will go wrong. The book shows you how to handle many, if not most of those situations. The biggest curse of selling is unpredictability. Will the product or service sell, or not? Marketing a product for weeks takes a big toll. With pre-sell, you begin to see clients buying into your product or service within minutes of you putting out the sales page.
What’s Inside?
Most books are dull because they don't use graphics, cartoons and captions. The use of the above elements makes the reading of the books a very pleasurable experience. Sprinkled within the chapters are lots of examples so you can get ideas for your own business. Plus there are always detailed summaries that give you a bird's eye view of every chapter.
Russ Schoen
Mindgarden Innovation,
Chicago, USA
Before I even finished the Art of Pre-Sell Book, I made a pre-sell announcement to my network about the creation of my first digital info-product.
I was a tad skeptical that I wouldn’t get enough out of the pre-sell book that would justify its price (it isn’t cheap).
What I got out of it was way more than the price – in fact now that I have implemented it, I probably would have paid double (shhhh, I shouldn’t say that)!
Why?
Because after delaying and procrastinating for more than 2 years about creating and selling some digital info products for my business, I found that the practical tips and steps in the pre-sell book created an incredible amount of momentum for me and kicked me into high gear.
Before I even finished the book, I made a pre-sell announcement to my network about the creation of my first digital info-product.
Within a week of making my announcement, I’m proud to say I completed my first digital product. For me and my business this is a huge step forward. The pre-sell book was a huge gentle kick in the butt that I needed to get moving and share my gifts with the world.
Specifically, here’s what I liked most about the pre-sell book: being able to walk away from reading the pre-sell book having a clear understanding of the elements that make up pre-sell and having some bite-sized steps that I could implement was worth the price of the book/audio.
A couple other benefits I enjoyed:
1) Having this book is both written form and audio form helped me grasp the content as I first read the book and then I listened to the audio numerous times throughout the week.
This helped reinforce the key concepts in my brain.
2) Throughout the pre-sell book, there are numerous tangible case studies that bring the elements of pre-sale to life. Specifically, in learning about samples, I had a bunch of ideas of how I can grow my business
3) The book is so rich in content, I can see myself re-reading it multiple times in the next few months and years – each time taking out at least one specific idea that will help propel my business forward
Bottom line, I would highly recommend the pre-sell book to anyone looking to take their business to the next level. The only caveat I would make is to get the biggest value out of the information, take action and put some of it into practice.
And finally, I’d like to just say this, what I love about the pre-sell method and what Sean teaches is that you can “sell” without being “slimy.”
Finally, I’ve found a philosophy around selling products and services online that resonates with me, that I feel I can implement while maintaining my integrity.
Thank you Sean for the pre-sell book and all the great work you do!
What This Product Is About
- Why you need to remove the Buy-Now buttons on your sales page when pre-selling
- How a waiting list can create scarcity (and how to systematically build a list)
- The rules of scarcity (and the methods to create scarcity even with a product that's easily available through the year)
- How to pre-sell in an extremely short time frame (and how to manage a longer time frame)
- How to create fast-buyer bonuses which cause your sales to spike madly at launch time
- Why uniqueness is critical to pre-sell and how to find uniqueness by going through a ‘feature-writing' exercise
- What to do if you're not able to deliver your pre-sold product/services on time (it happens, you know)
- Mistakes we've made at Psychotactics (and how you can avoid them)
- How pricing affects the length of the pre-sell (and how to judge the pre-sell based on the price you're charging)
- The 3 Biggest Excuses for pre-sell (recognise and overcome these silly excuses)
- How Hollywood, big-retailers, major publishing houses etc. have perfected the art of pre-sell (and what you can learn from them)
- Why pre-sell will save you a ton of time and energy (that you can spend on yourself and your customers themselves)
- Why you don't need an army of affiliates or joint ventures when you execute a solid pre-sell
- How to segregate your “members” or “priority customers” when pre-selling (and why it's a mistake to ignore this advice).
What This Product Is NOT About
- This book isn't about pummelling clients with every possible method. It's not sell, sell, sell at any cost.
- It's NOT about having this huge rollout mechanism that involves an army of affiliates, joint ventures, advertising etc.
- It's NOT about greed. While you can use the concepts to create a sizeable revenue, if you're endlessly greedy it's better to avoid buying this book.
What’s Unique About This Book?
No doubt you have, or will run into some sort of “launching a product” or “formula” online. All of them depend on an army of affiliates, joint ventures, advertising, publicity etc. In order to get quick results, these “formula-folk” have to depend on all kinds of gimmicks.
At Psychotactics, we have one or two joint ventures in a year. Not a scrap of advertising. As you can imagine our Facebook or Twitter feed is quite unused as well. We don't depend on this hoopla-nonsense, and neither should you.
The difference between the system at Psychotactics and any other marketer (pretty much on the planet) is that we don't depend on the tactics and strategies of push, push, push.The pre-sell strategy has zero-hoopla and that's why clients keep coming back time after time to buy products/services and events. You too can do the same—and without the hoopla.
You're dealing with a system that doesn't depend on the outside world to succeed. It doesn't need you to sell your soul, or to even have to deal with anyone other than your clients. And it shows you how to succeed
Smiley Psychotactics Guarantee
What if the product isn't good for you? This product is guaranteed for a whole month. If for any reason (and you don't have to give a reason) you don't like the product, you can ask for a full refund. And we'll refund your money with a smile.
Bonus: How To Create Tiny Sales Pages Quickly!
Pre-sell is critical in getting a client warmed up to buy your product or service, but eventually that client has to get to a sales page. When we started out, I'd get all busy with work (and creating new products and courses), but have no time to create the sales page. That's when we had to figure out a formula to quickly put a sales page together.
Not a long sales page, but something that can be put together in an afternoon (or two). Without the tiny sales page we were hampered a great deal and this problem of writing detailed sales pages is an issue for many clients. With this bonus—only available with the Premium option, you can create tiny sales pages and put your product on the market without further delay.
How do I purchase the The Art of Pre-Sell right away?
The product is on sale now. Scroll down a bit to get to the payment button. However do read this first:
1) What This Product Is NOT About
– This book isn't about pummelling clients with every possible method. It's not sell, sell, sell at any cost.
– It's NOT about having this huge rollout mechanism that involves an army of affiliates, joint ventures, advertising etc.
– It's NOT about greed. While you can use the concepts to create a sizeable revenue, if you're endlessly greedy it's better to avoid buying this book.
2) This product consists of a book and six audio files
It is meant to get you from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, without all the fluff in between.
| The Art of Pre-sell | Regular | -Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-sell Book (PDF) |
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| Pre-sell Audio Files—A complete set of six audio recording (mp3) |
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| BONUS | ||
| The Tiny Sales Page Template (Valued at $300) |
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| Special Price | US$ 469 | US$ 479 |
Pay safely with any of these options
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| Single Payment Option | US$ 469 |
US$ 479 |
| 2 Installments Option | US$ 249*2 |
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Sean D’Souza
P.S. Pre-sell was and continues to be like a magic trick for me.
Before I had pre-sell, I just took so much more time and effort to sell anything. And I was always afraid I had to resort to some sort of hype or hoopla. With pre-sell all that effort has reduced dramatically. You'd want to have the same techniques and you'll see how it works for you, no matter what business you're in.
Questions?
If you have questions, please email me directly and let me know how I can help.
