Matter what type of information, e-books, packaged books and/or DVDs or downloadable videos, the demand for such products among the public seems insatiable. That's great for those who create and publish such products, and it's equally good for the affiliates that promote them. The amount of money that changes hands each year in online sales of informational products reaches into the billions of dollars. Many affiliates earn a handsome living promoting informational products without ever handling the direct sale of anything themselves.

A relatively recent innovation has made it possible for publishers and affiliates who market such products to increase their profits even more - the one-time offer, or OTO. The one-time offer is a sales page that the customer sees after he or she makes the initial purchase of the e-book or video. That sales page offers the customer an additional related product, usually at a significant discount from the usual selling price. Often, the product advertised in the one-time offer is a more expensive product that the one initially purchased.

Despite the higher price of a product the customer wasn't even looking for, a surprising number of customers make the decision to purchase the one-time offer product.

Why do one-time offers work?

The seller has earned the trust of the customer through the sales page for the initial product.

The discounted price of the second product appeals to the customer, who probably would not buy the product at full price.

The limited ?one time only?aspect of the sales page forces a quick decision.

While one-time offers can be quite effective, there is no guarantee that they will work. The seller cannot expect success by offering just any product as an OTO. Products offered via OTO should be related in topic or function to the first product, should represent a good value via the discount, and should not be something that the customer could buy somewhere else at a later date. If all of those conditions are met, the one-time offer will likely be successful. Otherwise, the customers will simply dismiss the OTO sales page as another piece of junk to be dismissed with the click of the mouse.

With proper selection of products, an effective sales page, and proper pricing, a one-time offer can be quite effective at improving profits for both publishers and affiliate marketers of informational products.