How to Drive Your Conversions Sky High with a Bonus Stack, Even if You Think Your Product is Good Enough Without it

Bonus gifts offered during the sale of your product are like the free drinks and food you get in a casino…

Everyone knows WHY the casino does it (Hint: It’s not because they’re generous or concerned that you aren’t getting enough sustenance), but no one complains when it’s offered because NACHOS.

Adding bonuses to your Video Sales Letter (VSL) offer may, at times, feel like a cliché that you’d like to be rid of. But the fact is, your viewers are EXPECTING you to offer bonuses.

And, like it or not, adding bonuses to your offer WILL increase your conversion rate.

So, if you’re thinking that, maybe, because your product is SO amazing and the price is SO reasonable, you can do without the bonuses…

Stop that right now.

Make or Break

Fine! My offer needs to include bonuses! Do we REALLY need to have an entire article on the subject?

Oh, indeed we do.

There is a huge chasm of conversions and credibility found between tacking on a few random freebies that are ultimately ignored by your viewers and strategically-selected bonuses that get your audience salivating.

Even the way the bonuses are presented makes a huge difference.

In a previous article, we talked about some of your viewers still being on the fence over whether or not to commit to a purchase (See: What Is Your Product Worth?). Well, the right bonus stack can often be the deciding factor for them.

That said, even if you totally agree and want to get started collecting content to offer in your bonus stack immediately, you may have these very relevant questions that first need resolution:

•  Where do I find bonuses to add to my offer?
•   How much should my bonuses be worth?
•   Should I create my bonuses myself?
•   What kind of bonuses will truly add value to my offer?

We’re going to answer ALL of those questions before the end of this page!

Great Bonuses are Relevant and Objection-Busting

What is the difference between bonuses that receive a collective “meh…” from your audience, and bonuses that are so juicy and full of value that people will want to buy your offer for the bonuses alone?

Scale!

Your bonuses must be epic. However big you’re thinking, go even bigger.

Let’s say your offer is for an awesome, limited edition, electric guitar. Which of these bonus stacks do you think will get the attention of your audience?

See the difference? I don’t even need to tell you which bonus stack is going to be more appealing. It’s blatantly obvious.

If you’re worrying about the cost of providing epic bonuses, naturally you need to make sure that you’re not giving away all of your profits. A little creativity goes a long way with this kind of operation.

• In this example, the two-hour lesson is a group session that you host on a specific day via SKYPE. That costs you nothing but time.
• The guitar tutorial books are eBooks you’ve previously produced yourself and you deliver digitally in PDF format. That costs you next to nothing.
•  The one year’s free membership to YouCanPlayGuitar.net is a deal you’ve worked out with the site owner who is happy to get your customers into their continuity program. The cost to you is zero.
• And the picks, strings, wall mounts, and mini-amps are all drop-shipped by a supplier with whom you’ve worked out a deal. It costs you less than $50 per customer for the package.

Bonuses don’t have to be expensive to produce to have a high value in the eyes of your customer. So, think big, be generous (don’t give them one guitar pick, give them a whole packet!), and then figure out a way to include that bonus at a minimal or zero cost to yourself.

Notice as well that the bonuses, rather than being self-serving or random, speak to specific interests or even objections that are relevant to your audience.

• All the while you were describing the amazing features and benefits of your guitar, your audience may have been having thoughts such as…
• I don’t know how to play an electric guitar.
• I wonder if I can buy a tutorial book or get some private lessons?
• Where am I going to keep the guitar safely – I don’t want it to get damaged.
• Will I need an amp? I wonder how much they cost?
• I wonder what kind of extras I’ll need? Probably some strings and some picks.

But because you’ve cleverly anticipated these questions and objections, you’ve been able to put together bonuses that resolve all of those issues.

Bonuses, when stacked correctly, do far more than just add value to your offer…

They also reduce your customers’ resistance to making the purchase!

Cannibalize Your Product

Another method for creating bonuses that works well if your preparation time is short and your funds are limited, is to slice off pieces of your main offer and repackage them as bonuses.

For example, if you’re selling an info product that consists of ten modules, you could repackage your product as seven modules, and turn the other three modules into three individual bonuses.

This approach may not be as satisfying and effective as finding or creating true bonuses, but it’s infinitely better than having no bonuses at all.

Now that we know WHAT your bonuses are going to be, the only thing that’s left is to understand how to PRESENT them for best effect.

Plot Point #24: The Bonus Stack

We call this section of your VSL presentation a Bonus STACK, not because it’s a stack of bonuses, but because we present the bonuses individually and stack them one at a time.

The formula for presenting each bonus is as follows…

Bonus Name + Feature + Advantage it gives + Benefit + So You Can

Each bonus should get its own slide summarizing this information. For example:

Once you’ve described the bonus, show a slide containing your main product and, below it, your first bonus.

Next, show a new slide describing your second bonus.

Then, go back to your main page which now shows, your main product, your first bonus, AND your second bonus.

Cut to a new slide describing your third bonus.

Go backwards and forwards so that, each time you jump back to showing your overall offer, you stack another bonus onto the pile.

It feels a bit over the top the first time you do this, but it’s a powerful way to emphasize the epic nature of your offer. Every time it looks like you’re done, you throw on yet another bonus.

Plot Point #25: Benefit of the Benefit

Once you’ve finished stacking your bonuses, show a summary slide of everything that’s included in the offer and briefly run through the list.

If you have a bonus that has an element of exclusivity, this would be a good time to ramp up the scarcity. Highlight the item and use it as a reason why this offer is only available for a limited time.

For example, in the earlier example, you might explain that the bonus of one year’s free membership to YouCanPlayGuitar.net is only available through this offer and that you can’t control when it’ll be withdrawn. Once you get the call, you’ll have no choice but to remove this bonus from the offer.

Finally, run through the list of items on your offer a second time, but this time put a dollar value next to each item. Say something along the lines of…

“If you were to purchase this item individually, it would cost you…”

Plot Point #26: Total Value of Package

This is the crescendo… the peak… the grand climax! The complete bounty of your offer is now on display.

Your audience now knows exactly why everything on this page is so desirable and why it will answer their prayers.

They now know how much it would normally cost them to purchase each individual item.

And now, with a final flourish, show them the total of all the values combined.

That’s the normal, everyday price of your product, and the individual value of every bonus, all combined into one, epic dollar amount!

Try not to get too carried away with this exercise. Especially if some of your bonuses are exclusive and the dollar amount you assign is an estimation. It can be tempting to ramp up these estimated values to the point where the total value becomes somewhat ridiculous. But doing this can actually diminish the effect.

If the gap between the total value and the price you’re going to ask people to pay is too great, to the point where it seems unbelievable, this strategy loses its power.

Aim for a total value that is approximately 4-5 times greater than the price you’re actually going to charge.

***

But you’re not going to reveal the true price just yet…

Really? Even at this point, we’re going to delay even further?

That’s right. But not, you’ll be pleased to learn, for much longer. In fact, we’re going to do so in the very next article in this series.

But as with everything else we’ve covered so far, we’re going to learn how to reveal the price in a manner than maximizes its impact and thus the desirability of your offer.

How would you feel if you could deliver your VSL all day, every day, without ever being in the room? Pretty great, yeah? Well, guess what… You actually CAN with EverWebinar! Check it out now for the lowest price point you’ll ever see.