by Monique Harris
 

Many writers aspiring to achieve fame, often look towards the
Net to locate magazines and newspapers which accept freelance
articles. With its many directories far and wide, writers can
fandangle the search engines, and find publications on nearly
any topic.

However a step beyond that popular threshold, lies an even
more profitable path which can elevate a writers customer base
AND notoriety in the marketplace... The creation and sales of
special reports.

Special reports are typically 5-20 pages long, informationally
rich on a specific subject, and can sell for up to $50 (or
more), depending on the complexity of the topic. According to
Evan Neufeld, practice director of research firm Jupiter
Communications, the top reason why people are online is for
the information - making a product like special reports a hot
impulse item.

Be forewarned though, knowing that information sells online
is no substitute for understanding the sales process. I'd even
venture so far as to say that knowing how to get prospects to
purchase your products is 99% of the battle. While only 1%
comes from the actual writing.

So how does one go about selling a special report online?
The easiest option is to have resellers do the bulk of the
work for you. Taking this route allows you to have multiple
sales outlets, without having to shell out hundreds, or even
thousands of advertising dollars. Plus it allows the reseller
to offer a value added service on his or her Web site. It's
a win-win deal for both parties.

Here are the steps you can take for creating your report
reseller program:

1) Produce at least three different special reports, in the
same topic range, so resellers have a choice of what they
can offer.

Let's say you decide to write and sell special reports for
dog owners who wish to have their pets featured in canine
contests. One of your special reports could focus on grooming
the dog, another could have instructions for teaching a dog
tricks, and the last one could give an overview of the contest
industry.

With the variety, you're more likely to attract a mix of
novices and semi-experts, instead of one or the other.

2) Obtain software to track your resellers progress.

Your resellers will want to know when a sale has taken place,
as a result of their referral. And this is a very fair demand,
considering they're giving up precious Web space to take a
chance on your goods.

Affliate Link,
<http://www.affiliatezone.com/al_13/affiliates.cgi?67>, is
a relatively inexpensive software program that enables your
resellers to check on their sales stats 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. With no intervention from you, this program
automatically monitors the resellers Web site and 'follows'
each visitor from the time they enter the site, until they
make a purchase.

This is a very attractive, and necessary, part of running a
reseller program.

3) Have advertising ideas for resellers.

Work closely with your resellers to determine how they can
best advertise your special report. As a matter of fact,
before you even bring in a single reseller, you should do
a test run of several different advertising techniques to
determine which ones work best.

Whatever you do though, refrain from relying strictly on
banners, like everbody else does!

Depending on how long your report is, you might consider
allowing resellers to post excerpts on their Web sites.
Providing resellers with testimonials for your special
report has always proven to be a good sales tools online.
Write short articles that pertain to the same topic as
your special report, and let them be used in the resellers
e-zine. The more ideas you can provide, the more you
increase their chances for sales.

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