It’s a beautiful thing to watch a great salesman do his job.

I used to work at a men’s clothing store in the eighties with this fellow named Bob. An unsuspecting customer would walk in and from the moment he said “Hello” until the moment they walked out the door -arms filled with purchases- Bob never left them.

Even when the patron was changing in the dressing room, Bob was there outside selling to him. The customer would step out to view himself in a new suit and Bob would be at the ready with shirts, ties, belts, socks and shoes to match. If the patron expressed a doubt or question, Bob would have an answer. If he tried to argue, Bob would pacify him and turn things around back to selling.

"Don't let your surfers wander with their thoughts. Don't give them enough to bust a nut before they finish your tour."

Bob never allowed a customer to be alone until they exited the store. He was the quintessential salesman and he wasn’t even on commission.

When you create the tour for your paysite, be like Bob. Make sure that every page, image, button and bit of text is chock full of selling goodness. Don’t let your surfers wander with their thoughts. Don’t give them enough to bust a nut before they finish your tour. Make them understand that the goodies hidden behind membership are the answer to their sexual fantasies. Keep them clicking all the way through the sign-up process.

The most important point when it comes to building a successful tour is load time. A slow loading page is death. A slow loader is comparable to a shop without a sales clerk. Surfers/shoppers will not wait around for your graphics to load. They’ll just move on to another site. A page should never take longer than 35 seconds (on dial-up connection) to fully download, period.

Also take into account that sales text should always load first. Whether your text is embedded into graphics or stands alone, insure that the tour copy loads first.

As far as the layout of your tour is concerned, make sure your surfer is served with an easy-to-comprehend design. All navigational links/buttons should appear within the viewer’s browser window, without having to scroll down. Display JOIN, MEMBERS, FREE TOUR and NEXT links prominently. Don’t leave your surfer hanging. Don’t force them to search for the tour.

When it comes to the images you use for your tour, use the best you can find. Make sure the images fit the theme of the site. If your paysite is for leg fetishists then don’t waste space with pics of breasts. If your paysite is interracial make sure the images reflect the content. Your tour images are evidence of your member’s area. They absolutely must exemplify what a new member will see if they pay for a subscription.

However, you should seriously consider censoring the images in your tour. Cover genitalia with a star graphic or censor block or pixilate such areas. You want to tease in a tour.

The colors you use for your tour should blend with the theme of the content. A babe site won’t sell if the tour pages have black backgrounds and red lettering. A bondage site with pastel colors isn’t very convincing. As well, the colors on your page shouldn’t deter your selling effort. Make sure fonts come in colors that show up. Blue text on a gray background will disappear.

Your tour images are vital but the text is the real seller. Display sales text in a way that forces the surfer to read it. Embed sales copy onto images. Think where the eye will go and make sure there’s text in that space. Use positive phrasing in your sales copy. Play up the benefits of membership. Tell the surfer about your vast collection of images, video and games. Tell them about updates and about the quality of the content. Explain the value of membership. Tell your surfer what they will get and make it sound like a gift from heaven. Don’t lie. Don’t mislead. Tell the truth but tell it effectively.

Like Bob, don’t let the surfer go without one last chance to sell. If the surfer decides to leave, pop an exit console. Give them an option to join another of your site or one of your sponsor’s. Take them to a free site that you made to sell your product. Pop an exit console that appears to be a parting gift. Fill that console with links that make you money.

Be like Bob. Hold the surfer’s hand every step of the way. Be there at every second of the sales tour. Don’t leave them alone to wander aimlessly. Take control. It takes more than content to sell a paysite. It takes a salesman.