The secret is in the 'Curiosity Factor' - you must always provide useful and educational information, but here's the trick, don't give away too much upfront in your article. The idea is to give the reader just enough to whet his/her appetite and make them hungry for more.
If there are two parts to a problem then solve only one part in your article. If you're reader is interested and wants to know more 'their curiosity ' will lead them to your resource box. And if you have a strong compelling message in the resource box, then 'their curiosity ' will lead them to click on your link to visit your website, subscribe to your newsletter, subscribe to your 5-day course etc.
This system will have your prospects giving you they email and money without them even knowing it!
A sales funnel is a system that you set up to guide your prospects to your product and have them so enthralled with your every word that they will pull out their credit card and give you money just so they can read more of your words. You can use this system whether you're selling your own product, a resale product, or a product as an affiliate.
The funnel starts with an informative article dealing with a subject in the product
you're promoting. Let's say I'm promoting an ebook about how to make money with affiliate
programs. I chose this topic to highlight because I know lot's of people market affiliate products, even if they have their own product.
The article would be titled something like "Top 10 Shortcuts to Making Quick
Profits With Affiliate Programs".
In the article I would list shortcuts number 10 to 5. I would just give enough information so the readers would be able to make use of the it. At the end of the article I would tell them that they could get the top 5 shortcuts in full detail at my site.
In the byline after the article I would put this. "Your Name" makes money as an affiliate marketer using powerful proven techniques. Learn some of his techniques at http://yoursite.com.
The readers could use my information but it left them wanting to know more. They click on my site in the resource box and learn what I promised them in the article.
I also provide more information on my minisite about making money as an affiliate. I entice them once again using the useful but incomplete technique but this time they will be asked to sign up for my autoresponder course to learn more.
Once they sign up for my course, I once again use the useful but incomplete method to get them to come to the salesletter of the product I'm promoting. By the time they see the salesletter they have already witnessed my immense knowledge in the area of affiliate marketing. I have given them so much information without mentioning the product.
In the end, when they see the salesletter, they read it just to get the features and benefits. There is not need to hard sell them because they've already been sold through my funnel.
Many new marketers make the dreaded mistake of taking the visitor straight to the salesletter. Even if the salesletter has utterly the best copy of any salesletter out there, the conversion rate will always be a lot higher if the prospect is put through the funnel.
