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Selling an E-Course BOR

Lisa Braithwaite

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My question is regarding how to sell an e-course as a BOR item. How can I sell something in person that is only available electronically? Each session of the e-course will be emailed weekly for seven weeks. Should I have a form for people to fill out and mail back (which I'm sure is the worst idea)? Any suggestions for making this work?

-- Kathleen Gage

I have successfully sold e-products BOR by having an order form available for my audience.

Since I know that when one has a captive audience, and if we give a great presentation, and the audience has already invested money they likely will spend more, I decided to offer one of my eBooks for sale.

At the end of my presentation I made the offer and sold over $2,000 of my eBook. Fulfillment was done when I got back to my office.

-- Laura Benjamin

I have an e-course that I do not charge for, which may make a difference to you, but here goes:

I include the info on my feedback form, along with check boxes for folks to sign up for my ezine, my snail mail Quarterly Journal, "refer me to journalists, refer me for speaking engagements," etc. If they check the box for the ecourse, I sign them up the same way I do if they subscribe to my newsletter, once I get back to my office.

If there were a fee for this course, I would include a credit card signup section on my feedback form or accept checks on the spot, rather than expect them to send the form back to me later.

However, I do include a "Fax this form back to me at xxxxxxxxx" statement at the bottom of the form, just in case they walk out with it and want to send it in later on. I do get some of those after the fact, but very few.

-- Patricia Wiklund

Jeanette Cates had a great idea for me...

Have a little pamphlet made up with the product description and the URL on one page, in two versions: one without the links for the sales table, the other under the table for buyers with the links on the pages.

People like to have something to take home. Of course, the product description only has an order form that directs them to a sales page.

I have also printed up all the products that are in the package and have a huge binder with them on the table so folks can really see what they are getting. I use blank CDs with labels so folks can also see those parts of the package that are audio rather than printed.

It does seem that there is a bit of a move back to hard copy products. Personally I do want mine electronically, especially the audio, as it saves having to get them all onto my computer so I can port them over to the iPod.

-- Bill Conerly

How about making up some envelopes, inside each is a sheet with instructions and a password (different password each envelope). Then sell the envelopes.

-- Resli Costabell

Put section 1 of the e-course on a CD, which you will sell to them at the back of the room.

Contained also on the CD should be instructions on how they can access the remaining sections of the e-course. Maybe you set up a Web site page where they can register for the remaining portion of the e-course.

And once they are registered an auto-responder can send them the remaining portions of the e-course based on how you have the auto-reponder set up.

Here another idea I've done...

I call it the grocery store marketing technique.

Give everyone in the audience you speak to a time-sensitive coupon which instructs them to go to your Web site for the product at a discount.

By giving them the coupon, you're not selling -- it's a gift.

This is the same techique grocery stores use to drive people to their stores by a specific day and time.

-- Denise O'Berry

Simple. Burn it to a CD. Sell the product on the CD. Works for me.

For your order form, create a tip sheet and add your newsletter signup (if you have one) on one side and the order form on the other.

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