People decide to start an online home business for a lot of different reasons, some of which include enticing sales copy and promises of wealth.
Our emotional response to a sales page is what "hooks" us, and the need to be led by someone we hope will show us the way to a no-brainer cash cow with an endless stream of $100 bills is what makes us pull out our credit card faster than you can say "compound interest."
You could try to stop this expensive, never-ending need to buy with willpower, but that's easier said than done. When a timer is counting down the seconds until the offer ends or when there is a fast action bonus that you are sure you need. Or, even worse, the price goes up every second, so the longer you wait, the more expensive the item becomes. No kind of resistance will work.
All of these are great ways to market something if you are the seller, but if you are the buyer, they are a nightmare.
When you buy the latest viral software or Adsense templates, your credit card takes another "hit." When you add the latest article site's monthly membership fee and the new gurus coaching programme, your credit card shivers and gasps for air.
Yes, folks, once you're "hooked" by the marketing machine, there's not much you can do but give in and buy. Or isn't it? Here are 7 ways that have been proven to work, and I know they work because I've used them myself:
- Figure out what you want your business to be. This is one of the most important things to me, so I always come back to it. If you want to write information products, you don't need the newest gadget software. Focus, focus, focus on the vision you have for your business, and don't let anything get in the way of that vision.
Stop. It's true that the price of the item is going up as you watch, but stop and ask yourself, "Do I really need this? How will I use it in the next 24 hours?" If you don't know how you'll use it right away, I'd say you don't really need it right now.
- If your curiosity is really killing you and you have to open and read the email, stop and let your rational mind take over BEFORE you click that link to take a look. Tell yourself you're just looking and that you'll read the whole sales page TWICE before you buy.
- Don't put your email receipts in a separate folder. It's easy to forget about that $27 ebook or $8 domain you bought. Leave all of your receipts for that month in your inbox. It is important that they stay sealed and unopened. You'll be surprised at how many "purchase receipts" you end up with, and it will definitely stop you from buying things.
- Find a business that doesn't require any extras! Internet marketing is such a big field that it's easy to think you need to buy all the newest products for your business. Find an online business that has almost everything you need. That doesn't mean you'll never have to buy anything else. It just means that you don't need as much and can be more careful with your money.
- Delete the email and don't even read it. When you're stronger (you'll know you're stronger when you stop salivating when a new email offer comes in), open the email and unsubscribe from all these mailing lists you're on.
- Go through the whole sales page. TWICE - Studies show that long sales copy is effective. I think the only reason they work is because we are too lazy to read them, so we go from the top of the page and the headline straight down to the fast action bonuses and click the "Buy now" link. If you think you really need this product, read the sales page at least twice from beginning to end. To be sure, I say it four times.
Working online or running a business from home can lead to having too much debt on your credit cards.
If you are fairly new to internet marketing, there is still time to save yourself. Reread my 7 ways to avoid credit card overload, or print it out and hang it on your wall as a reminder of what you need to do to survive online.
If you've been doing internet marketing for a long time and have bought more online than you've ever sold, my advice is to step away from the computer, put down your credit card, and put your hands behind your head.
