This question seems to be popping up everywhere these days. But if you think about it, they are both equally important. They both depend on each other to make the final sale. A good product without a good sales page is worthless, likewise a good sales page with a poor product equals many refund requests and a bad reputation.

Creating your sales page first can help you in creating your product. One of the main items in a sales letter are the bullet points, what I like to call the backbone of the sales page.  When you try to create the bullet points you are creating a list of benefits the customer will receive by buying your product or service. Many times people will get to this part and think about what benefits could be included and say to themselves , “That would have been a great benefit if I had included it within the product. “

Another benefit of writing your sales page first, you can improve both the product and the sales page.

Now let’s talk about creating the product first. I like to think of the sales page as a description of your product. If you create a product that is above and beyond any other product out there, then it will sell itself.  This makes it easier to create a high converting sales page.

Here is what I do, I create an outline of what I want the sales page to include, and as I go through these steps I am brainstorming for added benefits that I could use in the product. Then I create my product and go back over the sales page outline, making improvements along the way.

If you think about it, both are equally important in the sales process. If you have absolute respect for your potential customers, you will take the time to do this step by step. And remember, if the sales page isn’t convincing enough, it’s not going to convert at all. On the other hand, if you have the best sales page and the product is not that good at all, then you will have many who do purchase asking for a refund and your reputation will take a major downturn.

I look forward to your thoughts on this, post a comment and let me know.

During stressful times like this recession, with the economy down, most companies lower their prices, which could result in lowering the value of their product or service.

What many customers do during stressful times is take less risk. They don’t always go for lower prices but lower risk items. Brands they already know and are familiar with.

What we, ourselves understand is that selling during stressful times is about risk. Customers will often buy much more expensive items during these times if they perceive them as less risky.

In keeping this in mind, I strongly suggest that instead of lowering your prices; eliminate the risk the customer would be taking. In your salespage or advertising copy eliminate the customer’s nervousness and any risk associated with buying your product or service.

These times are tight for companies too. Pursue twice as many customers and eliminate the pressure by reducing the sales push. For example, if you are using email advertising, buy a package with a much bigger audience, but zero in on half of those leads.

If you take a look at successful companies that prosper during stressful times, they are more focused. They chose fewer opportunities reach more people and put more resources to their products and in return they outsell their competitors and they win.

In reality you can only afford to pursue opportunities you know you can win. What I’m saying is, pursue fewer opportunities and increase your benefits and resources for the customer. Focus on the ones that you know you can win.  The sure bet.

Let’s recap, eliminate the pressure you would put on your customers, eliminate their nervousness about buying your product or service, and focus on the sure thing – the opportunities that have worked for you before. If you do all this, then you too will succeed.

I’ve been reading Darren Rowse’s Problogger.com for years now, and I still have no idea how these people can actually make their living blogging. We’ve all heard the names of people doing it—Karen Armstrong’s dooce.com is now covering her mortgage. Andrew Sullivan is periodically the subject of bidding wars among top publishing companies. Ariana Huffington is The Goddess of Online News, and we, the little people, are the “peasants” who are trying to just get started. These guys are proof you can make money doing simple activities—but it takes work to get there.

            Some of you have read article after article about how to make money online, have gone through all of the necessary steps and are still not able to pay for your own gas. Don’t worry or lose heart just yet: online money making is generally a self-sustaining business and, as such, will take time to build. You might find a handful of writing or programming gigs here and there at first, but eventually you will find a rhythm and, once and for all, be able to wave that terrible phone service job you’ve been working since college a final “good riddance”.

            The get-rich-quick guys shouldn’t deter you from your course. The ads claiming to make you into a millionaire from clicking on some surveys or reviewing ads are really working you towards their own ends and, as such, should be avoided. There are, on the other hand, a handful of legitimate work-from-home and online writing search engines and job boards that get good results for the aspiring online moneymaker. That’s really just to get you started, of course, but eventually you’ll find your own way.

            Of course, you might be the sort of person who’s just looking to supplement your income with online ways to make money. Lucky you! You will, after having read this, learn to avoid these click-to-pay sites and look to places that have genuine need of content. There’s also the eBay route, but that’s a long slow building process as well, and at least this particular writer has no idea how you’d start seeing profits off of that.

            So, yes, there are multiple ways to make money online, but you have to keep in mind that nothing comes quickly. Also note that, considering there is such a wide array of choices in terms of what you can do to make money online, you should carefully consider each that you find to see whether there’s a match for you.