Have you ever wondered how upsells work?
If you don’t know what they are..
An upsell is basically a higher priced product you offer someone after they’ve already committed to buying a lower priced product.
And I think I just found one of the oldest examples of an upsell… literally being developed in real time.
I found it after reading Charles F. Haanel’s book "The Master Key System."
You see…
Charles F. Haanel was not just a personal development teacher – he was also the head of one of America’s largest conglomerates at the time, the Continental Commercial Company.
He was a master businessman and marketer in an era before ‘marketing’ existed.
Check out this ad that ran in the December 1924 edition of The Nautilus magazine:
The last sentence is most important.
‘Send for a Master key booklet which will be sent without cost or obligation of any kind’.
Yes, that’s a 100-year old lead magnet!
But there’s more.
Within four years of running this lead magnet Charles ran a new ad in October 1928:
This time Charles Haanel not only began using an order form…
He’s asking for ¢10 for the same booklet he used to offer for free!
By this point he’d sent more than a million copies of the booklet which upsold readers to the 24-week correspondence course called The Master Key System.
Records say Haanel sold 200,000 copies of The Master Key System this way.
It blew my mind. 🤯🤯
For the three books in my Marketing Secrets trilogy I offer them for free (I only ask for shipping and handling) and then upsell the full trilogy together with a workbook…
For a long time the Expert Secrets book was my best-converting funnel – for every ‘free’ copy sold we were making $80 because so many people bought the upsell on the next page.
Accepting even a small payment is crucial for a successful upsell.
A free booklet doesn’t convert as well.
So yes.. you’ve just seen a proto sales funnel being developed 100 years ago!
It was just AMAZING to see Charles F. Haanel come to the same conclusions a century ago as we found after thousands and thousands of split tests!!
If you want to read The Master Key System itself then I’ve got a copy waiting for you.
You’re not just getting wisdom from the ‘father of personal development’...
But from one of America’s greatest marketing minds too!
All active Secrets of Success members get two credits every month that they can redeem to unlock exclusive courses and content in our author library?? In fact, The Master Key System from Charles F. Haanel is inside…
Here’s how to get it!
Talk soon,
Russell Brunson
P.S. Not a Secrets of Success member yet? I'd love to send you your FREE Secrets of Success Kit that includes a copy of "Think and Grow Rich" and two UNPUBLISHED books from Napoleon Hill. After joining, follow the steps above to find The Master-Key System inside your members area.
Have you watched the mini-movie that started the "Secrets Of Success" movement yet? If not, take 17 minutes today to see what all of the buzz is about:
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