How to Explode Your Database Marketing And Back-End Sales To Increase Your Bottom Line Profits
Set up multiple simultaneous marketing campaigns with database marketing automation email software that get results exploding your internet business marketing while growing multiple optin lists, prospects consistent follow, increasing Back End Sales, and bottom line profits.
When you don't follow up your prospects or customers with additional information, you are allowing valuable customers and prospects to skip from your grasp, go to your competitors, and satisfied their needs, at the expense of what should have been you're your profits.
Those are customers that may have been very interested in your products, but simply lost your information, or were too busy when your information was sent. Some customers will purposely wait to see if you find them important enough to follow-up their inquiries. When they don't receive a follow up message, they take their business elsewhere.
I don't know about you, but just about everyone doing business on the Net been in that position, because of failing to automate their follow up. Though it's been found that customer follow up at preset times with pre-written messages, dramatically increases sales.
The exception, those who automated their marketing campaigns, their list and database management, and automated their follow up with personalized email marketing software; and, they dramatically increased their back end sales and bottom line profits.
But, just as important as the increase of sales and profits, is the time saving features of marketing automation, as is the case with email marketing, the single most important aspect of database marketing and back end sales.
Other benefits of doing internet business with email marketing automation is the ability to follow up with prospects, while following through collecting leads, prospects, and customers email addresses and personal data, from a target market; growing an opt-in list of subscribers, managing multiple lists as a list server, and setting up multiple marketing campaigns with unlimited autoresponders.
Regardless of the spam problems of these days, email still remains most effective medium for:
? Keeping customers posted on new products and specials
? Ongoing personalized dialogue with website visitors
? Proactively getting customer satisfaction and testimonials
? Prospects follow up and requesting more information
? Keeping track of all contacts and email communication
? Introducing new products to your contact database
? Motivating and training your employees and associates
? Educating your customers and prospects
And the list could go on and on with no other limitation than the marketer's creativity and imagination, or the email marketing automation software he's using to automate his customers follow up..Automated prospect follow up is the solution to selling more on the Internet, and specifically, for more back end sales. There is a wide range of email marketing automation software on the market now a days, some more sophisticated, easier to use, and more expensive than others.
To make a good selection of the wide range of available choices, there's a minimum of features you must consider. From the marketing stand point the minimum features would be: automated database management and list server for multiple list management; manage and track, import and export, contact data from-and-to its database; and multiple autoresponders for sequential follow-up.
As important, is the ability of data merge for personalized email to potential customers, prospects, newsletters subscribers, clients, colleagues, organization members, affiliate or associates, and network marketing downlines; and, automated add and remove contact data from its database.
Other than the above, the software should allow for the seamless input of prospects on the front end, and when they come out the other end, they have all the information they need to make an intelligent decision to buy, to join an affiliate program, or sign up to a Network Marketing downline.
From the technical point of view, the software should feature: the capacity to operate sending email through your regular ISP server, or through its own integrated mail server to by pass your ISP servers, and avoid using up its band width - this is a must feature if you have a list of more than 1000 contacts.
Other important technical features for the email marketing software of your choice would be, the capacity of sending email through multiple simultaneous threads (at least 10 threads), at a sending average rate of 15 emails per thread; and an email address verifier, to verify new contacts email addresses and keeping your list clean from those entering a fake email address only to download your bonus.
Finally, the email software must have the capacity to handle the entire user unknown, undeliverable, and bounce back messages. This feature is very important to keep a clean list, and avoid being filtered by the ISP's servers as Spam, because of too many undeliverable taking up their band width.
With an email marketing and database management software with all the above features, a Marketer or internet business operator you can set up, operate, and manage multiple programs, multiple marketing campaigns; and, also running multiple special offers, simultaneously and effortlessly.
For Netprenuers with an affiliate program, or into network marketing, this kind of software can help training associates, affiliates, and downlines, via email, on subjects such as distributor handbooks, marketing materials, or instructions for a quick jump start.
Finally, if you're an e-publisher, this software provide the capacity for multiple broadcasting of newsletter or ezines; as well as to automatically submit article to hundreds of ezines editors at once..
Automated email and database management automation could afford business owners and marketers the means to capitalize on the full power of the internet, by consistently following up on customers, prospects, affiliates, and downlines; and, launching multiple and simultaneous marketing campaigns, while dramatically increasing their back end sales and bottom line profits.
Email marketing automation generates interest, traffic, and sales for an online business; and, its just amazing the amount of work and time that it saves. I cannot imagine someone marketing or doing business on the internet without email marketing automation software like this.
About the Author
Dr. Charles Longsworth, Ph.D., a consultant on marketing automation systems that works, and publisher of "Automation Gazette" his official voice since 2000. For free consultation visit http://www.internet-business-automation.com/emda Subscribe at http://www.internet-business-automation.com/agsubscribe 6 gifts when you join.
Course Internet Merketing Online
Who You Trust and Who You Dont!
For the last couple weeks I have been running a 5-minute survey of marketing trends. Several hundred people have given their input.
[If you haven't taken the survey yet, do it. Your input is important and will help me know what you need to succeed in your own business: http://All-In-One-Business.com/5-minute]
It has been eye-opening.
Two of the questions dealt with who you trust and don't trust for online business information. I am amazed at what is shaping up.
I expected several people to all be pretty much equal for "who you trust," yet one person is currently getting 25% of the votes- and no one else has over 5%.
The same thing is happening on the "who you don't trust" question: While almost everyone mentioned is getting a couple votes, one person is getting 33% of the votes.
I guess those two have made their mark-either for good or bad.
[By the way, as soon as the survey is closed I will give you the names of both of them. If I mention them now, it might skew the results. You can get a full copy of the survey results by taking the survey. You will be re-directed to a page where you can sign up for the results via email. See the link above.]
Here's the application point for the rest of us:
We all are building our online reputation-either good or bad-every day. If you are working at affiliate marketing, you are building it with your web presence, your newsletter, your personal emails.
If you have your own product(s) you are also building it by the quality of the product, the timeliness of your customer service, the value of your expertise.
Everything you do is ultimately available to almost everyone else. You never know when a personal correspondence or customer service email will be posted to a forum. You never know when the person who sends you a seemingly rude email may also hold the key to your future success.
The message: Build you business through grace, integrity and diligence. I guarantee it will pay off.
I have put together a resource of "cut and paste" customer service emails for you to modify and use in your own business. Using these can not only build your positive reputation, they will also save you time. You can pick them up here:
http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/customerservice
Kevin Bidwell is owner of http://www.all-in-one-business.com
Kevin just finished a complete report on building a passive income. Grab your copy here: http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/passive
Course Internet Marketing Online
How to Start an Internet Business
The first thing I must say is it's a mine field out there, and you must take time to look at what it is you are going to do in your business.
If an affiliate program is your choice then make sure that it pays down 2 levels and is well established, and pays you a good commission for your work!
There are a number of things to take into account at this point, what amount of time do you have to dedicate to your new online business! Why do I ask this question, because it's all too easy to jump at several opportunities when you only have the time to do justice to one.
Remember if you are serious about making a living online pick one opportunity and run with it, use the resources and tools listed to help you max out the best from any opportunity you join, and then when you start to get results, and you will, apply the same system for as many business opportunities or products as you like!
So where do we start, well you need to choose for example an affiliate program then we need to take it to market. Now this is where things get interesting. How do we do this! There are some things that you must have if you are going to have any success online!
These are the tools to your trade/business!
1. A sequential autoresponder, now I don't care where you get one but this is a must have for your business. So get one and work with it until your 100% happy using it. You will need this kit to build your opt in list! (Your subscriber base to your ezine)
You pre load the AR with messages or articles, set the delivery times say once a week and everybody on your list gets that message it's that simple!
If you build an opt in list of about say 3000 people then you are in a position to create an income on demand when you like! Once a month send out an email to your subscribers with your latest product or opportunity, Expect a responce of about 2% to 5%. Now if we take this at 2% that's 60 and let's say you make $20 per sale that's $1.200.00 or 60 people in your new business. If it was 5% well I'll let you do the maths but I think you get the point!
Do not underestimate the power of an autorespondar once set up correctly it's the single most powerful tool to build your online business.
2. Web site, now this is a controversial subject because you don't need a web site to build an opt in list, but you will need to have one soon to promote your product or opportunity, get a quality web host account with 500 megs of disk space and 10 gigs of monthly transfer rate.
If you don't have the skill to build your own web site, don't worry there are a number of software packages out there that do all the work, you just need to do a bit of typing and click the mouse a few times and that's it!
3. Advertising, now whether it's free or you have handed over your hard earned cash for it you must be able to track it's performance.
Just imagine you have 20 ads on the net all different how will you know what ads are working! Quite simply put, if you don't have an ad tracker you may just as well stand on the top of a tall building and throw your money off!
One more thing you might not know, and a question that I am asked more than any other "how can I build an opt in list quickly"
You need leads and plenty of them and here's the deal you buy them it's quick and easy!
By using a co-reg paid for service you can put your list building on autopilot, you will pay on average about $150.00 for 500 subscribers that will be added automatically to your autoresponder!
Just before I go there is one more thing, I recommend using a web based autoresponder so no matter what happens to your PC you will not lose your data, that data is critical to you it's your cash generator and you can access it from any PC!
An online business is not difficult to run you just need to get the basics right, and that's it your on your way to success on with your internet business.
It doesn't matter what business your in the methods are the same.
A word of warning if an opportunity sounds to good to be true, then it probably is!
Happy Hunting, and here's to your success!
Ken Smaile, Can help you to start your own online business in less than 24hr! drop by my website get your F-R-E-E subscription to my 7 day autoresponder email marketing course: how to start an internet business
Course Internet Marketing Online
A Powerful Selling Tool on the Net - 3 Factors To Apply
The Internet is a powerful selling tool. Never before has itbeen easier to start a business, be able to reach out toliterally millions of potential customers and make yourbusiness succeed.
The Internet also offers us new tools to succeed. Emailmakes communications instant whether across the street oracross the globe. Websites act as virtual storefronts,allowing us to stay open 24/7. Newsletters like this oneinform, educate and even give us an occasional smile.
Yet time has taught us that there is much more to successthan simply having a web site or using these tools. Time hastaught us that the fundamentals of selling haven't changed, even if the tools are state of the art.
While these new tools may change the WAY people buy, ithasn't really changed WHY people buy. Here are three factorsthat will help you approach people in a way that persuadesthem to buy from YOU.
1. People aren't ON the Internet. They ARE theInternet. The same rules that apply at a Gap storeshould apply to your store. Is your site courteous andinviting? Does your site say in clear terms that youknow your stuff and that people will get smart answers?Give yourself a checkup today.
2. People buy online just like they buy offline. Ifthey are buying an impulse item, they'll click thru andspend a buck. If it's a bigger ticket item, they'llshop around. Which are you selling? Is the look of yoursite appropriate to what you are selling? I don't wantto buy designer chewing gum and I won't bank at a sitethat looks like it should be selling gum. Would you? Iwant to buy the stuff I usually buy, but I don't wantto leave home to do it. Are YOU meeting my need
3. People buy what they need, when they need it and canafford it. The key is to give people information thatconnects with what they need. The good news is thatpeople need the same things they have always needed.Which of us doesn't long for more time, more money, better relationships with family and friends? The moreyour message is aligned with these needs, the betteryou will do.
The world is a big place and it doesn't turn on a dime.People will still buy cars just before vacation time and domost of their Christmas shopping about 10 minutes beforemidnight on Christmas Eve. Don't buck the trend. Understandand USE people's existing buying habits to your advantage, and kick your online efforts into high gear.
1. Your site must be couteours and inviting . Say in clear term and people get smart answers. Free training how to design your own website and the others business strategy, visit us at: http://www.baliglobalmarket.com
2. Your website must be appropriate to what you are selling. The example of the best store site, visit us at: http://www.tinyurl.com/5dhuy 3. To give people information that connect with what they need. The best example of shoping site that offers many information that connect with what they need. Visit us at: http://www.tinyurl.com/5dhuy
Course Internet Marketing Online
When Internet Marketing Gurus Sell Their Souls
If you're just getting started in Internet Marketing, you may be awed by the amount of "Internet Gurus" out there, each one making millions of dollars (or so they claim) and for some reason seem more than willing, for a fee, to teach you their biggest, most intimate secrets.
Well, I believe in one thing - "If it sounds too good to be true, it most probably is!"
While I have no doubt about the specialized skills and techniques used by these gurus, it can get a little too frustrating simply getting tangled and lost in all their hype, and find almost no value at the end of the day. Hype - that's one thing I agree these guru's are really good at. For some of them, unfortunately, hype is the only thing they're good at.
So the question, for those who are trying to master Internet Marketing, might be:
1) Can I learn anything from these gurus without paying money?
2) Who's real and who's not?
3) Whose Internet marketing methods should I follow?
Question 1: Can I Learn Something for Free?
Most Internet guru's have opt-in newsletters on specialized subjects like website marketing, Pay-Per-Click advertising, search engine optimization or whatever specialized skill they have "mastered". Almost all of them try to convince you to subscribe to their newsletter in return for some kind of "breakthrough" report, and promise to deliver "valuable information" weekly or monthly to your email address. Sounds great...
Here's what happens 2 weeks later - You realize that the "breakthrough report" is the same old regurgitated information which you can find almost anywhere. You might also realize that the "valuable information" almost never comes without any hidden agenda. The "valuable information" usually turns out to be a soft-selling ad (sometimes even blatant advertisements) for the guru's latest products or paid seminars, or even worse, some other Internet marketer's products.
I'm not trying to shoot down any marketer here, but the irony is in their teaching. Almost all internet gurus would advice you to offer valuable, free information that benefits other people. Profits, as they say, is secondary to actually helping people and making a difference in their lives. Give before you take....what a load of BS!
How come they don't practice what they preach? Of is that how the "Internet Marketing Game" is really played? Surely, nobody minds receiving ads and promotions, as long as there is a fair deal of free information being offered.
Fortunately, not all Internet marketers are the same. There are still some jewels to be found, and they offer some great information in their newsletters, which they unselfishly offer for free, such as:
1) Vishal Rao (http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com) talks about starting and managing home based businesses.
2) Mike Cheney (http://www.magnet4web.com) talks about building an effective and efficient business web site.
3) Jill Whalen (http://www.highrankings.com) talks about Search Engine Optimization.
4) Allan Gardyne (http://www.associateprograms.com) is the authority on affiliate programs and affiliate marketing, with an award-winning newsletter.
Of course there are many more good marketers out there, and you'll have to get through several bad ones first before you get to the good ones. It is not necessary to subscribe to every Internet Marketing newsletter just to hope for nuggets of gold that may never come. Instead, give the gurus a "trial" month, and if you don't find anything of value from them, just unsubscribe from their mailing lists.
It will only be a loss to them, not you.
Question 2 : Who's Real and Who's Not?
To answer this question, you really have to "get around" the Internet a lot. Take part in Internet Marketing forums where you will definitely find topics on info-products, seminars and software offered by these gurus, and see what others are saying about them.
Forget about all those blaring testimonials that the gurus compile on their site. After visiting several guru websites, you may start to find the same faces and names, helping each other out by giving testimonials which are seldom backed by proof. Forums are where the real testimonials are.
If you find yourself browsing the Internet a lot, trying to find good value for money, then you'll need the Alexa toolbar. What this toolbar does is that it gives you an idea of the popularity of the website you're visiting. Secondly, it allows you to see who the closest competitors are, giving you more alternatives to choose from. Besides that, it also displays reviews and ratings given by others who have visited the website or used any product being sold via the website. This is where you'll find the "not so beautifully polished" opinions and testimonials.
- Alexa Toolbar : http://www.home-business-association.com/rd/alexa/
(Alexa is owned by Amazon.com. If you're concerned about installing toolbars on your computer, make sure you adjust the privacy settings accordingly)
You may also want to consider this site:
- GuruDaq : http://www.gurudaq.com
Taking on a Nasdaq-like approach, this site lists all gurus according to ratings and 'stock price'. Although I would advice you to take it more for its entertainment value than actual recommendations, perhaps this site will allow you to get a glimpse of "who's who" in Internet Marketing.
Question 3 : Whose methods should I follow?
Honestly, nobody's. At least not word-for-word of what is thought in their newsletters or ebooks. The important thing to realize is that you need to develop your own technique to be really successful. The guru's don't teach you everything, anyway. They almost always feed you the crop but keep the cream for themselves. In other words, no one really tells you the "hot money-making secrets". They only teach you their not-so-secret money making facts.
There are many places you can get reviews on internet marketing ebooks, but be warned that most will be biased in one way or another. Here's a good downloadable PDF resource on ebook reviews, distributed with the permission of the author:
- "Web Promotion Products Exposed" by Mike Cheney:
http://www.magnet4web.com/WebPromotionProductsExposed.pdf
Its really up to you to learn some tips and tricks of the trade from Internet gurus, but set out on your own course. In order to be successful in anything, you need to do your own thing. Be original in your approach, whether it's writing sales letters, doing email marketing, writing articles, pay-per-click or search engine optimization, and the world will take notice.
It is also important to realize that before you go around shopping for all kinds of "how-to" material and software, you need to get a good grip of what your business really needs. You'll need to develop a strong, specific and detailed business plan before you set out on a quest to improve your knowledge on that are critical to the success to your business. Here are some good resources for writing effective business plans:
- http://www.home-business-association.com/rd/bplans/
- http://www.bplans.com
When you know what your business truly needs, you're more likely to recognize the exact type of internet marketing method you'll need to study and master. Don't just look to someone who has sold their soul a long time ago to guide you to the path of success.
That's just wishful thinking.
About the Author
Gobala Krishnan is an internet marketer and home business owner with SFI Marketing Group. Visit his site at http://www.sfidreamteam.com to start your own Internet based home business today, and get a free kick start package, one-on-one coaching and a clear, proven system to earn a six figure income. Article reprint info available at http://pub.gobalakrishnan.com
Course Internet Marketing Online
Advantages Disadvantages Of Internet Marketing: The Good The Bad And The Ugly
The Advantages Disadvantages Of Internet Marketing are many.
A few Advantages Disadvantages Of Internet Marketing are:
* It's on the internet so it's low cost
* Very fast
* And you can reach a global audience
However it:
* Can leave the businessman feeling isolated
* Hard to tell if people are lying because you can't see their face
* And you can be overloaded with information.
There are more Advantages Disadvantages Of Internet Marketing, but I wont cover them all in one article. However I will focus on a few important ones.
Positives:
Low cost:
The internet is made up of electrons, so there is not really anything physically to grab hold of like in a brick and mortar business. This considerably reduces your costs as you don't really need many materials or buildings. Just a computer with world wide web capabilities : )
Very fast:
A great advertisement I saw once said "If you were an electron, you would be there by now". This was an ad at an airport. It's referring to the internet. It's made up of electrons so it's VERY fast. Click a link, and you could be looking at an Australian website, click another one and you could be in America. If you wanted to get information any other way from these countries, you may end up having to go there.The world wide web eliminates the need for this. Go any where you want with the click of a button.
You can reach a global audience:
By this I mean, you don't have to set up shop somewhere and sell to the locals. You can set up an online shop, and sell to anyone in the world. This means a huge increase in potential revenues and a fraction of the cost it would take for you to set up shops all over the world.
Negatives:
Can leave the businessman feeling isolated:
This is very common. Because the world wide web is faceless (In most cases), it can appear cold and inhuman. This can leave you feeling isolated and very inward. Not a nice feeling at all. Everyone likes to socialize and meet people, but in this case, its quite difficult to, in business anyway.
Hard to tell if people are lying:
There is so much information on the world wide web now, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between crap and quality. A lot of the crap is targeted at newbies. Here's an example "Make money fast by doing NOTHING", sound familiar? I bet you've had a ton of emails saying something similar.
Information Overload:
Once again we get to the part of there being a lot of information on the world wide web. There can be too much good information too. There can be a lot of competition for an industry, this can leave you more confused than if there were presented with loads of crap. You might not be able to tell who to chose. If you are a veteran of the net, you wont have much to worry about, however if you're a newbie then this is a problem.
The above are the positive and the negatives. Overall, I would definitely say that if you can do business online, then definitely do it.
By Stephen Warren, the creator of http://www.marketershandbook.com, the completely FREE guide to marketing online, with useful articles and links.
Course Internet Marketing Online
Outsourcing Your Web Marketing
The online world is constantly evolving. You may be thinking about outsourcing your Web promotion to an expert who is immersed in this world as their fulltime occupation, rather than trying to acquire this knowledge yourself, and cope with the pace of change in-house.
So, what should you look for in a consultant, and what guarantees can you expect?
Choosing The Consultant
The consultant should ask a lot of questions about your business and your objectives. They need to be very clear about the specific goals of your site. Do you want as many visitors as possible (as in: "We get millions of hits on our Web site"), or are you more interested in attracting qualified leads? Are you selling products? Are you looking for new customers, sign-ups for your newsletter or events, media coverage, etc.
It's possible that there could be different markets for each of your objectives. The consultant should show that they clearly understand the demographics of the audience you want to attract. This includes whether your markets are currently online, whether they are comfortable using e-mail, etc. It's also important to clarify any restrictions on your marketing - for example, if you're only targeting specific locations.
The key to effective Web marketing is to have a comprehensive, integrated plan that focuses on where your markets "hang out" online. It's absolutely not enough to concentrate your efforts on search engines - that's a passive rather than an active approach. You want to reach out to your potential visitors, not wait for them to come to you. And, you want to ensure that your offline marketing includes your Web site - up to a third of your traffic can now come from real-world sources.
So, the consultant should propose to you a wide-ranging plan (assuming that's appropriate for your goals) that includes:
* Search engine strategies
* Paid (bid for placement) listings
* Review sites and directories
* Linking with other appropriate sites
* Advertising / e-zine sponsorships (depending on your budget)
* Online public relations opportunities
* Integration with your real-world marketing
Effective Web marketing must also include an e-mail strategy. The consultant should include in their proposal some ideas for targeted, personalized (and fully opt-in) e-mail that is compliant with all State and Federal laws. This requires a contact database that you can use to select out the different audiences that you might have for these messages. The consultant should also be able to help you create this, if required.
And finally, the consultant should explain how they propose to evaluate the success of any marketing campaign against your goals and objectives. Marketing is an ongoing process, during which you'll learn a lot about your site and about your visitors. This knowledge should be analyzed and used to tweak your site and refine your business strategies. A good consultant will be able to work with you to achieve this.
What Guarantees Can You Expect?
Let's be very clear - there is a distinction, which often gets blurred, between sales and marketing. The job of a marketing consultant is to bring qualified traffic to your site (or in other words, into your storefront). Completing the sale is then a separate challenge.
Marketing is also a very gray area, in which it's difficult to provide cast-iron guarantees of results. This is particularly true in the area of search engine optimization, since the search engines are so unpredictable. In my opinion, if a consultant promises you "top ten placement" you should be very wary - it's possible that they are using tactics that could be classified as spam - soon if not now.
And that can really hurt you - I have a colleague who was banned from Google because he hired "experts" who used this type of approach.
Obviously you do want to check that the consultant has a good track record, and that they can provide references from other clients. I believe that good Web knowledge and proven online marketing tactics are as important as an in-depth familiarity with your industry.
In setting your contract with the consultant, it's important to have a mutual comfort level with your goals, expectations and budget. There are many opportunities for free promotion online, but if you're prepared to spend some money, you can potentially build your traffic faster. Since building awareness of a site takes time, perhaps a minimum six-month period would be advisable, but with appropriate get-out clauses for both parties.
Conclusion
Good Web marketing is a team effort! Hire a consultant who you feel very comfortable with, who asks lots of questions to really understand your business and your goals, and who seems genuinely interested in promoting you. But then be prepared to work with them - respect and consider their suggestions, and allow them to be creative in their approach.
© Philippa Gamse, 2003. All rights reserved.
Philippa Gamse, CyberSpeaker, is a Web strategy consultant and professional speaker. Check out her free tipsheet for 23 ideas to promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html Philippa can be reached at (831) 465-0317.
Course Internet Marketing Online
I Want To Be An Online Marketer!
Where do I start if I want to be an online marketer? Tough question, huh? There are lots of ways to begin your way on the bumpy journey. Just make sure you are aware that it WILL be a bumpy ride.
First things first: do a lot of research. Find out what kind of thing
appeals to you most. It could be affilate programs, mlm`s or maybe you
like the idea of selling other peoples products for a commission etc.
There are a ton of options, and 1000 times more hype. This is why it`s so important to do as much research as you can before starting out. Sure, you can go the long way round, which is how a lot of us start out, but that`s even more of a bumpy ride...hehehe
Ok, so lets say you`ve decided on where you want to start. You don`t have a product of your own, so you decide to sell other peoples information products, just as an example. Don`t make the mistake that so many people do, by trying to sell something you haven`t personally tested.
Put it this way: Who would YOU prefer to buy from? Someone who knows absolutely nothing about the product they`re selling? Or someone who has had firsthand experience with the product they`re selling? You know it`s person number 2, right?
So test the product first. Learn everything there is to know about it. If people can trust you to give an honest opinion, they`ll be back for more. Great way of getting contacts AND repeat customers.
Now you need a website. Sure, get a free site in the beginning. People might not take you real serious, but at least you get to test and play around with your site until you`re ready to pay for one. Owning your own domain name adds credibility to your site, and there are plenty cheap hosts out there, so do that as soon as you feel ready.
Make a real fast-loading splash page from which to sell the product. You don`t have long to catch a potential customers interest, so make it fast and interesting.
Don`t fill the page with a ton of waffle. Give the most important information. What can the person get from using the product? Why is the product exactly what the person needs? What is the price etc. Give people a way to pay immediately, in case they REALLY like what they see, there and then.
If you have a LOT of information, give them a link to a "more info" page, maybe with pics and payment options. Get a small popup where people can sign up for your contact list for notices on future products. Give them a freebie in exchange for their name and email address.
Oh look, you`ve suddenly built yourself a contact list! No "leads" to buy from uncertain sources, no "harvesting" email addresses, no bugging friends and family. You did it! Now you need to keep in touch with your contacts.
Why not send them a mail asking for a little more info. Maybe a poll on what type of things they`re most interested in? If you know what your contacts are looking for, then you have something to work with. You can find whatever they need, test it out, and when you`re happy with it, say "Hey, I found something I think you may like!"
Narrow your focus. Don`t try to be "everything" to "everyone", you`ll just end up spreading yourself out way too thin. Find what works for you, what excites you, and work from there. Yes, I said "excites". We all need a bit of excitement in life, right? So why not work with something you`re excited about? If and when it stops working for you, drop it and move on.
Remember, you can do this with all kindsa programs, not just information products. It all depends on what appeals to you most. Just give it a reasonable amount of time, and stick with it. If it DOESN`T work, then hey, you`ll have learnt some things on the way, and you`ll be more ready to carry on to the next thing. Don`t give up, be determined and disciplined,and you will find the way.
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Course Internet Marketing Online
Should you be selling a product or a service?
The Internet is primarily used to communicate, entertain,
educate and research. It is thus no wonder that
nonperishable, information-intensive products - including
computers and software, books, travel, consumer electronics,
magazine subscriptions - are the most popular online
products at present. Content-rich sites, subscription-based
sites to advertiser-supported sites focusing on a wide range
of topics, have been sprouting all over the Internet.
Services such as hotel reservation, air travel and
investments have successfully translated themselves to the
Internet.
Unique services such as Online driving schools have been
prospering. Some states in the US have set up online payment
sites for Government services. Residents of a state can log
on to a common site to pay all bills and other expenses,
such as parking tickets to the local/County courts.
However, all kinds of services cannot be run entirely on the
Internet. The Internet is less effective when face-to-face
selling is needed to close a deal. The Internet can give
lots of preliminary information that's useful in setting the
scene for the closing. But the actual closing takes place
offline - i.e., not on the Internet.
Products can also be marketed and sold successfully on the
Internet. The kinds of products and services that sell best
on the Internet are those that take advantage of the
convenience of the Net. Remember that convenience is the
primary reason why consumers flock to the Internet in the
first place. People can shop any hour of the day at any
site. They can avoid crowded stores, irritating sales
clerks, and even avoid pickpockets.
Offbeat or unusual products and services often attract
online attention and sell strongly. You would generally not
try to sell items people can get at the corner store. Thus,
few toothbrushes are sold on the Net; the same thing with
daily food and beverage purchases. But special cheeses, rare
cigars, Turkish plates, long-aged wines, even diamonds, can
and do sell on the Net.
Most products sold by catalog and mail order also sell well
on the Net. However, people tend to buy only those products
that could be shipped at a reasonable price. Higher shipping
costs diminish the price competitiveness of online products
and turns-off a lot of potential buyers. In fact, high
shipping costs is the primary factor that discourages people
from buying online more than any other single reason. An
Ernst and Young report shows that 53 percent of online
shoppers are concerned with shipping costs that are too
high, compared to only 19 percent who are concerned with
credit cards being stolen.
As an online merchant, you have to work out the advantages
as well as disadvantages of selling either products or
services. However, in the recent past, online services have
known to flourish. Nevertheless, if you chose to sell
products you need to rethink your product offering if the
total costs of the product and the shipping are higher than
what is offered elsewhere.
Take some time to evaluate your products or services. There
is a growing market of potential customers on the Internet,
you just need to offer the products and services they are
looking for.
Creating effective Ads
Online advertising on the Internet leaves a lot to be desired. We have ads that emulate Windows-warning boxes. We have pop-ups and pop-unders. All of these are developed with the intent to make people notice them. However, most of them only end up irritating them. Advertisers, especially those with small budgets, can't afford to waste money on ineffective buys. In order to optimize your advertising buys, you need to concentrate on improving your creative.
Here are some tips that might help:
Step 1: Define clear goals of your advertising campaign
The most important aspect of any advertising campaign is to have a clear objective in mind. You may be targeting a specific group of people, your initial aim may be to target at least 1000 internet surfers and so on and so forth. Have a well defined, clear purpose.
Step 2: Identify the most effective sites for achieving your goals
Sites that are most relevant to your product or service will, more than likely, be your best bet; but also consider larger sites or networks that can target the audience you're trying to reach. They can be very cost-effective. If you have multiple products or services that appeal to various target markets, you'll have to consider sites that reach all those various segments.
Step 3: Craft your message to fit the needs of the audience you're targeting
This comes down to understanding the audience of the sites you're advertising on. The message you use on a technology site to appeal to technologically savvy customers won't have the same appeal for visitors on a small-business site. Focus your campaign.
Step 4: Content of your Ad
Pay particular attention to the content of the Ad. The content should be such that it clearly distinguishes your product or service from your competitors’. Have a catchy headline. The headline is probably the most important part of the Ad – It is the customer puller.
Step 5: Formulate the specific promotional messages that correspond to your goals
The promotional messages should concentrate on the major selling points of your product or service and have a strong call-to-action.
Step 6: Make the desired action clearly visible
This certainly doesn't mean the desired action should necessarily blink, bounce or do flips, but it should be visible within an accepted format for the media you're using. In the case of the Internet, underlined text links, "click here" text entry boxes, and pull-down menus are all ways you can make the desired action clearly visible.
Step 7: Design the ad so it looks like it belongs on the sites where you're advertising
For instance, you may want to use the site's font faces in your text, color schemes in your background, font color choices overall, and emulate images where appropriate. Try to conform to the environment so potential customers visiting the site don't gasp in shock when they see your ad.
Step 8: Produce multiple versions of each ad
Create three or four versions of each ad, changing the promotional message, call-to-action, font faces and color schemes. This is especially important if you're doing price testing or gauging reaction to specific promotions. By splitting your advertising buy among the various versions of your creative, you can then start to optimize your buy based on the message that works best.
With these tips, you will not only be able to create an ad, but you will be able to create an effective ad that does what it is supposed to do – sell your products and services.
Talk to you soon!
Warmly,
Yayat Hidayatna
Please visit me
Internet Marketing Information
making money
