Why give away bonuses? Because prospects wants to feel smart for getting better part of the deal.  And giving them more than they expect does that.

Ideally, you can use these bonuses to build urgency and scarcity into your sales letter (see the next section for more on scarcity). But even if you don't use them that way, bonuses can really sweeten the deal for your prospects and push them over the edge, right into purchase mode.

Myth: Bonuses Can be Junk

WRONG! Your bonuses should be valuable products that could be sold in their own right.

They should have a high perceived value, and should complement your main product. For example, if you are selling products about affiliate marketing, you might give away a bonus about article marketing (which drives traffic to a website) and email marketing (which builds a long-term customer base). They all work together, and the information in one enhances the others.

Myth: Give Away Just One Bonus

You should give away four to six bonuses. Of course, this means that if you are creating your own information product, you have to create not one, but four to six products! Don't worry, there are ways you can do this quickly.

* You could repackage PLR (Private Label Rights) or public domain products
* Give away MRR (Master Resale Rights) products
* Give away easy stuff, such as a list of top secret links
* Slice parts of your main product off (like a list of suppliers you'd included in the Appendix) and repackage as a separate product.

And it goes without saying that your bonuses should be downloadable products, such as e-books, audio guides, or software that won’t cost you anything to produce and distribute.

Myth: Sell the Product, Not the Bonus

Bonuses need to be sold - hard. You should take the same care with the copy for your bonuses as for your main product. For example, it is critical to give your bonuses names as attractive as your main product. People are drawn to bonuses with phrases like "Secrets," "Insider information," "My little black book," "My personal Rolodex," "What your competition doesn't want you to know" in the title.

Give your bonuses an estimated price, and add up their total value. It should come to more than the price of your main product.

Give them a bonus your customers really want and, because the only way to get the bonus is to buy the product, the bonus will encourage them to buy the product.

Remember, you want your customers to see the bonuses and think, "Well, I’m going to order anyway, because this is a great product, so I might as well order it now and get these bonuses (which look well worth having). I’d be stupid to miss out."