Anyone with a bit of savvy in this industry will tell you that it’s much easier to generate increased sales from existing customers, i.e. cross/up-selling, than it is to find new customers. It is one thing to get the standard sale, but its far better to super-size that sale.Up-selling is a technique which is widely used in the industry, and indeed is a solid way to make more cash. Here are a few reasons why up-selling is a good idea:

Create solid partnerships: Up-selling as a sales technique, between companies who have decided to work together, creates good business partnerships in general. If both companies’ products go hand-in-glove and have what I call “susceptible traffic,” then a profitable long-term partnership could well be in the making.

Widen the range of products you offer: People need variety, especially in this business. Increasing your product range by promoting others’ sites can only be a good thing for your retention ratios, re-bills, conversion rates, and your signup value in general, which brings me to…

Increase your signup value: Offering content other than your own means members will spend more time on your site and are likely to hang around longer. The longer they hang around the higher your signup value becomes.

Keep it transparent and honest: The whole point of up-selling and cross-selling is to keep members longer and increase sales. Being honest with your surfers is one key to achieving this goal. Make sure they’re aware that the “up-sell content” is a separate charge to the one they paid to join your site. And where possible, bundle the deal to make the overall charge (membership to your site and up-sell site) cheaper than the two memberships bought separately.

Up-sell public = targeted public: A surfer looking to sign up for more content which he found in your members’ area is definitely a “preferred customer” because he is in an environment that you can mould to his needs. Let’s not forget also that if he’s already a member at your site, then you know his credit card is good to go. “Cha-ching,” I hear you say!

For example, let’s take a Webmaster selling VirtuaGirl in his members’ zone. The surfer decides not to sign up straight away, but instead prefers just to download the free striptease demo. Nine times out of ten, that’s a future sale, as the demo will tease him every day, right from his desktop, into becoming a member. The demo acts as a sort of safety parachute; if the sale doesn’t come today then thanks to the demo it will eventually come.

To summarize, most people visit your site and leave, never to return. The ones who stay and buy are very motivated, and this should be used by selling them as many products as possible. With up-selling you take advantage of the buying frame of mind that the person has after having decided to buy. He’s in a “buying mode”. All resistance is lost, and he has given in to his desires. It’s so easy to sell him an additional product.

Up-selling can instantly multiply your profits. You might well go from just getting by to living comfortably, and from living comfortably to rolling in wealth. The choice is yours!