I have also successfully used many expired coupons. Yet I have never seriously considered that companies that issued coupons were lying to me. I considered it "good customer service" and made it a point to patronize those places more often.

It is true that expiration dates do not magically change on coupons like they can on internet, and some companies do enforce expiration dates. This aspect may be what erodes customer confidence for tech-savvy people.

"What about everyone else?"

If your offer appears on a one-page "sales letter" website or on a separate page of your website devoted to your product (where there are no informative articles or interactive programs to encourage return visits) very few people are likely to come back to find out if your offer is in fact still there.

If nobody ever comes back to your website after their first visit, your offer is not a lie. They can not receive your original offer past expiration date.

If you don't get purchase (or at least an email address) during that first visit, you will not make a sale. Offering an extraordinary offer with an expiration date will help you make more sales because it gives people a reason to act now rather than putting it off and forgetting about it.

"I collect email addresses - how can I still use an expiration date?"

If you offer a special report, free email course, or other promotional offer to visitors to your website, you are collecting valuable contact information. You can afford to have a later expiration date (say, in a week or two). Send three or more reminder letters to those who haven't responded to remind them of offer.

Another tactic would be to offer an extraordinary offer expiring immediately and to follow up by offering a scaled-down product for less money.

My most successful promotions have used expiration dates on offers made through my newsletter, Busy Marketing Tips. (After expiration date, I have always changed my website to reflect my "regular" price.) My sales letters without expiration dates have sold little or nothing.

Believe me, expiration dates are a powerful sales motivator!

You can use expiration dates any way you feel comfortable with, but USE THEM! They are a powerful sales technique you can't afford to ignore.

Say...

"You will be pleased to discover..."

Instead of:

"Our staff is experienced..."

Say...

"Your questions will be handled by qualified, experienced people..."

Instead of...

"We guarantee that our product will..."

Say...

"You will love XR250 model, or you will receive double your money back!"

Does wording make more sense?

When you write a sales letter, copy for a website or email, put yourself in mindset of reader of your letter. You should constantly say to yourself:

"What's In It For Me?"

It's oldest lesson in sales. Maybe you've heard it this way: "What's radio station everyone listens to?"

"WII FM" (What's in it for me?")

If you aren't consistently telling reader what's in it for her, she won't read your letter, brochure, email, etc.

To help you get best results with your copy, here's something you can do that I learned from one of my teachers.

After writing your copy, go back and highlight each-and-every "I," "we," "our," and "us." Then, re-write each sentence with a "you attitude."

Let your prospects know you care about their interests. Speak in terms of benefits they will receive. Tell them what is in it for them. Because, they do not and will not care about you, until they know how much you care about them.