In this article I will discuss how important is it to build community websites rather than straight forward sales pitches. Selling online is about bringing people together, not about stuffing products down your visitors throwts and expecting them to buy from you.
We have conditioned our minds all of our lives to accept advertising billboards, radio ads, newspaper ads, commercials, and all sorts of other advertising materials wherever we go. The same applies on the internet. This "conditioning" has enabled us to see past all the ads and look directly for the pertinant information that we are seeking.
People who are new to the internet are more likely to click on your ads for no apparent reason but to simply search and keep searching. Others that have beed online for years now, tend not to pay attention to as many ads on a daily basis like they used to.
If you are serious about making money online without having to spend too much of your budget, create a "community online". It is in our nature as human beings to want to belong, or to be involved within a community setting. Communities come in all shapes & sizes and are not limited to gender, race, nationality, or religion. A community can cater to whatever topic you wish and welcome whomever you desire.
Same concept applies to your website!
Building a community within your website is the key to increasing your business, keeping visitors coming back, and keeping your advertising budget in the bank. Show your visitors that you aren't just here on the internet to sell them something. For example, we (Smartads), we are here to teach what we know about internet marketing. By teaching, we too learn more, gain more business, and attract new visitors.
RESIDUAL TRAFFIC IS THE KEY!
As i've always mentioned to my clients & readers, getting people to your website is the easy part. Anyone with a $500 credit card can get traffic to their website, it's keeping them there and getting your visitors to come back on their own time is what makes owning a website a dificult proposition.
Visitors always come back to communities they can relate to!
I always to go back to internet marketing communities online like:
www.webpronews.com
www.sitepronews.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
and so on... There are many internet marketing resources available for business owners. We are fortunate to have access to the vast amount of resources that we do, in order to increase our business & to increase our knowledge.
More resources online also increases competition. There are literally millions of websites out there and many of them might possibly be your competitors. Without building a community, people won't remember who you are, or what it is that you do. Infact, if you are spending all of your money on banner ads, pay per click advertising, affiliates, and other marketing areas online, and at the same time you aren't paying attention to increasing your home base, when your advertising budget runs out so too will the bulk of your traffic.
If your website isn't good enough, your sales won't be good enough. Granted; building a website can be very time consuming but just remember that you don't need to create an empire over night. Just a little here, a little there, and before you know it, it all adds up to something you can be proud of. Over time, your website traffic will constantly be increasing.
PLEASE NOTE: If you stop advertising, your traffic won't grow. Growing your website is all part of the whole plan.
What do we need to create a community website?
You always want to add extras to your site that interest you. By doing so, you will also attract people with similar interests and help to bridge the credibility gap online.
You can always add these to your website:
* Personal blog
* Helpful tips
* Mini-ebook courses (on how to be a better client for you)
* Other people's articles
* Chat forum (requires a lot of maintenance & promotion)
* Free business directory listings
* Family albums for users
* Fun online questionnaires
* Mind benders
* Games
* Contests (with actual prizes)
* "How to" articles
* Government resources
* Local community resources
* Support local companies & vice versa
I think we can now get a sense of what building a "community" website means. The key is to take your industry (even if it is boring), and teach someone about what it is that you do. The internet allows us to take in more information than we could ever imagine. There is always someone out there who wants to learn about your industry.
The key is to add on a little at a time. Talk to your web designer. Try and find unique little ways to build a community website online. Ask people what they look for within your industry. After time, you will know what it takes to keep creating more for your company online, and your wallet will love you for it.
Just remember the more you build, the less your advertising budget will be when you get there. Just keep it up until you get there, don't give up on yourself, your company, or your future.
I hope you've enjoyed this article!
Jumat, 30 April 2010
Kamis, 29 April 2010
A Business Directory Just Isn't Enough Anymore!
A Business Directory Just Isn't Enough Anymore!
By: Martin Lemieux
Do you own a business directory? Are you having a tough time beating your competition? This article will help you towards leaving your competition far behind.
The idea here isn't about getting as many business directory listings as possible. The idea we need to create is about more community within your directory.
I always like using a "saying" I learned from network marketing: "I would rather utilize 1% of a hundred people's effort, then utilize 100% of my own to market my business." If you keep this in mind, there is nothing you can't be successful at.
With that in mind let me be quick to point out that, I am not talking about creating an affiliate program. Those come a dime a dozen and can be bought. What we need to do is create something larger than ourselves. I am talking about taking our directory and improving everything involving people.
GENERAL DIRECTORIES ONLINE:
For these types of directories, it gets a little harder to create a community people can relate to. This is only true simply because the more broad your audience/visitors are, the harder it is to target your resources.
Here are some ideas you can use for a general directory:
- Create a blog and use it to feature some new listings within your directory. Maybe even offer a review of some kind.
- Offer the ability to add a logo or image attached with the listing in order to personalize it more.
- Give people the ability to submit more information than most of your competing directories out there.
- Make sure to include a detailed search function.
- Create an online questionnaire on tips to improve the directory. Use these tips right away.
- Email everyone within your directory maybe once a month outlining all of the new listings posted online for that month.
- Make sure to have a "news" page so that visitors can see what's new.
I think you get the idea now. The whole point is, there is no limit as to how you can expand "around" your directory listings in order to increase the value of your directory online. The more you give back to people, the more they might tell their friends about your directory.
TARGETED TOPIC RELATED DIRECTORIES:
Whether your directory is targeting the local business community or you are targeting the international health community, having a directory that is more content specific will make it a lot easier to create a community based website.
Here are some ways to better your targeted directory:
- Create a forum detailing all of the topics within your directory so that people can discuss issues or tips within those categories. For ex. If you own a local business directory, create a forum to allow local business owners to discuss business related issues, hot commercial real estate properties, special deals on office equipment, etc.
- Create a news section that outlines some local news & events within your community. This will especially help to bring more local visitors to your directory and expose your listings further.
- Offer weather & traffic reports within local community directories.
- Add a feature page where you actually interview one directory member (maybe once a month). This will help people to get more familiar with the members of your directory and it will also help promote your directory. People who are submitting to your directory may only submit just for the chance to get interviewed about their service/product/expertise.
- Add a blog with your experiences related to the topics of your directory. This will help in two ways:
1) People will be able to relate to you and feel more connected with you.
2) People will begin to respect what you are doing and may tell more people about your directory since they are starting to feel that your directory is more people oriented instead of just simply getting the most listings in the world.
- Add related tips to the industry. The internet is full of reprint articles for your website. I am 99.9% sure you can find articles related to your industry. Maybe start a newsletter for members of your directory and send them tips on their industry. Who doesn't want to learn more about their industry!?
In Conclusion:
As you can see from above, by simply taking some ideas here, and implementing them within your directory, you will be well on your way towards creating a more community-based directory. This is very important these days as more and more directories like yours are popping up everywhere.
Let's not forget about search engines. They too are increasingly rewarding communities more than they are rewarding simple directories online. The more resources and content you add around your directory listings, the more valuable they become in the end and the more traffic you will get.
The more valuable your listings are, the more visitors will be willing to come back from time to time and possibly tell their friends about it. You never know what will make it or break it but, all we can do is try our best to increase the value of our increasingly popular online community.
By: Martin Lemieux
Do you own a business directory? Are you having a tough time beating your competition? This article will help you towards leaving your competition far behind.
The idea here isn't about getting as many business directory listings as possible. The idea we need to create is about more community within your directory.
I always like using a "saying" I learned from network marketing: "I would rather utilize 1% of a hundred people's effort, then utilize 100% of my own to market my business." If you keep this in mind, there is nothing you can't be successful at.
With that in mind let me be quick to point out that, I am not talking about creating an affiliate program. Those come a dime a dozen and can be bought. What we need to do is create something larger than ourselves. I am talking about taking our directory and improving everything involving people.
GENERAL DIRECTORIES ONLINE:
For these types of directories, it gets a little harder to create a community people can relate to. This is only true simply because the more broad your audience/visitors are, the harder it is to target your resources.
Here are some ideas you can use for a general directory:
- Create a blog and use it to feature some new listings within your directory. Maybe even offer a review of some kind.
- Offer the ability to add a logo or image attached with the listing in order to personalize it more.
- Give people the ability to submit more information than most of your competing directories out there.
- Make sure to include a detailed search function.
- Create an online questionnaire on tips to improve the directory. Use these tips right away.
- Email everyone within your directory maybe once a month outlining all of the new listings posted online for that month.
- Make sure to have a "news" page so that visitors can see what's new.
I think you get the idea now. The whole point is, there is no limit as to how you can expand "around" your directory listings in order to increase the value of your directory online. The more you give back to people, the more they might tell their friends about your directory.
TARGETED TOPIC RELATED DIRECTORIES:
Whether your directory is targeting the local business community or you are targeting the international health community, having a directory that is more content specific will make it a lot easier to create a community based website.
Here are some ways to better your targeted directory:
- Create a forum detailing all of the topics within your directory so that people can discuss issues or tips within those categories. For ex. If you own a local business directory, create a forum to allow local business owners to discuss business related issues, hot commercial real estate properties, special deals on office equipment, etc.
- Create a news section that outlines some local news & events within your community. This will especially help to bring more local visitors to your directory and expose your listings further.
- Offer weather & traffic reports within local community directories.
- Add a feature page where you actually interview one directory member (maybe once a month). This will help people to get more familiar with the members of your directory and it will also help promote your directory. People who are submitting to your directory may only submit just for the chance to get interviewed about their service/product/expertise.
- Add a blog with your experiences related to the topics of your directory. This will help in two ways:
1) People will be able to relate to you and feel more connected with you.
2) People will begin to respect what you are doing and may tell more people about your directory since they are starting to feel that your directory is more people oriented instead of just simply getting the most listings in the world.
- Add related tips to the industry. The internet is full of reprint articles for your website. I am 99.9% sure you can find articles related to your industry. Maybe start a newsletter for members of your directory and send them tips on their industry. Who doesn't want to learn more about their industry!?
In Conclusion:
As you can see from above, by simply taking some ideas here, and implementing them within your directory, you will be well on your way towards creating a more community-based directory. This is very important these days as more and more directories like yours are popping up everywhere.
Let's not forget about search engines. They too are increasingly rewarding communities more than they are rewarding simple directories online. The more resources and content you add around your directory listings, the more valuable they become in the end and the more traffic you will get.
The more valuable your listings are, the more visitors will be willing to come back from time to time and possibly tell their friends about it. You never know what will make it or break it but, all we can do is try our best to increase the value of our increasingly popular online community.
Rabu, 28 April 2010
Autoresponder Leads - Create A Customer Base Quickly
Internet marketing is a competitive industry and if you expect to succeed, you will need leads to help establish a customer base. Without new customers, you will not make money and you will not stay in business long. You can get thousands of autoresponder leads that will help you contact interested individuals and increase your customer base dramatically. Attracting visitors to your web site is the best way to make sales and earn a steady profit. It is not enough to get your web site indexed and listed by the major search engines. You must aggressively seek new customers and keep in contact with your established customers.
It is now possible to get literally thousands of fresh leads instantly. You may have mixed feelings about autoresponder leads due to the issues surrounding spam and unsolicited contact. You will be relieved to learn that you can get leads that will put you in touch with only those who have specifically requested information about internet marketing business opportunities. You will be able to see the IP address and the time that the request was made and contact these people immediately. You will increase your web site traffic and a certain percentage of your new contacts will subscribe to your mailing list and/or purchase your products.
You can easily gain access to new leads and add them to your mailing list. You mailing list is one of the most important aspects of your business. Of course you must provide quality products and superior customer service, but you must also keep in touch with your customers and actively seek new customers. Autoresponder leads are a great way to give thousands of prospective customers information about your business.
It is now possible to get literally thousands of fresh leads instantly. You may have mixed feelings about autoresponder leads due to the issues surrounding spam and unsolicited contact. You will be relieved to learn that you can get leads that will put you in touch with only those who have specifically requested information about internet marketing business opportunities. You will be able to see the IP address and the time that the request was made and contact these people immediately. You will increase your web site traffic and a certain percentage of your new contacts will subscribe to your mailing list and/or purchase your products.
You can easily gain access to new leads and add them to your mailing list. You mailing list is one of the most important aspects of your business. Of course you must provide quality products and superior customer service, but you must also keep in touch with your customers and actively seek new customers. Autoresponder leads are a great way to give thousands of prospective customers information about your business.
Selasa, 27 April 2010
5 Proven Methods To Gain and Retain Customers for Your Online Business
Here is the basic rule of every business: you have to sell things to earn money. Salesmanship, or the art of closing a sales, therefore, is of ultimate importance for any business venture. After all, we can't expect any earnings if we don't make any sales.
Winning customers is essential for the success of your enterprise. And this is absolutely true for online businesses too. In fact, winning customers online has its pros and cons. The good news is that the entire world is your market, and you could potentially reach more people through the World Wide Web. The disadvantage? The Internet offers a more impersonal channel in our dealings with people, making it more difficult to gain their trust and favor.
So what can you to do then? Fear not, dear friend. As with everything else in life, you should try to accentuate the positives to compensate for the negatives. Here are 5 methods by which you could gain a good number of customers, and keep them for a long and profitable business for you and your family.
1. Always deliver quality goods or services.
There is no better vehicle for our business message than our products themselves. Consistently offering things that are more than worth our customers' time and money will brand us as enterprises that are committed to quality products and services. This would only serve us well in future dealings with the same clients. Additionally, this would make our clients as advertising vehicles for our business as well, as they would spread the word about the excellence of our service to people belonging to their network.
2. Always try to over-deliver.
People love receiving more than what they paid for. If you consistently give them some extras, their minds would be conditioned to trust your business for future transactions.
3. Provide bonuses.
In addition to the product you're selling, add some more goods that would perk up the package. Do this in a manner that you will make your customers aware of the value of the bonuses if they were otherwise purchased. This would definitely increase the worth of your product, and such would make it more favorable for a successful sale. Additionally, your bonuses would foster good will with your clients, and this could go a long, long way for future orders.
4. Build relationships.
The importance of building good relationships with your customers cannot be undermined. As we've discussed earlier, the Internet is a rather informal venue for personal dealings. So try to humanize your approach so that your customers can relate to you as someone who is more than just a business provider, but also as a friend.
5. Make use of a mailing list.
A mailing list is an Internet marketers number one weapon. By capturing the contact details of people who may not have been interested with their current offer, they will be able to condition the same people for future sales. And this could serve their businesses well for quite a long time, as one successful sale can beget another and another after that. So invest on an excellent autoresponder service and prepare those follow-up messages well. Take good care of your subscriber base, and they will take good care of your business in return.
Winning customers is more than just luck. It entails a lot of strategizing and good planning. Retaining customers involve the same level of commitment as well. In the highly competitive world of online marketing, trust plays an integral role in achieving our goals. Try your best to win your customers' trust. Take care of it. And for sure, this trust would fuel good business for you for many years to come.
Winning customers is essential for the success of your enterprise. And this is absolutely true for online businesses too. In fact, winning customers online has its pros and cons. The good news is that the entire world is your market, and you could potentially reach more people through the World Wide Web. The disadvantage? The Internet offers a more impersonal channel in our dealings with people, making it more difficult to gain their trust and favor.
So what can you to do then? Fear not, dear friend. As with everything else in life, you should try to accentuate the positives to compensate for the negatives. Here are 5 methods by which you could gain a good number of customers, and keep them for a long and profitable business for you and your family.
1. Always deliver quality goods or services.
There is no better vehicle for our business message than our products themselves. Consistently offering things that are more than worth our customers' time and money will brand us as enterprises that are committed to quality products and services. This would only serve us well in future dealings with the same clients. Additionally, this would make our clients as advertising vehicles for our business as well, as they would spread the word about the excellence of our service to people belonging to their network.
2. Always try to over-deliver.
People love receiving more than what they paid for. If you consistently give them some extras, their minds would be conditioned to trust your business for future transactions.
3. Provide bonuses.
In addition to the product you're selling, add some more goods that would perk up the package. Do this in a manner that you will make your customers aware of the value of the bonuses if they were otherwise purchased. This would definitely increase the worth of your product, and such would make it more favorable for a successful sale. Additionally, your bonuses would foster good will with your clients, and this could go a long, long way for future orders.
4. Build relationships.
The importance of building good relationships with your customers cannot be undermined. As we've discussed earlier, the Internet is a rather informal venue for personal dealings. So try to humanize your approach so that your customers can relate to you as someone who is more than just a business provider, but also as a friend.
5. Make use of a mailing list.
A mailing list is an Internet marketers number one weapon. By capturing the contact details of people who may not have been interested with their current offer, they will be able to condition the same people for future sales. And this could serve their businesses well for quite a long time, as one successful sale can beget another and another after that. So invest on an excellent autoresponder service and prepare those follow-up messages well. Take good care of your subscriber base, and they will take good care of your business in return.
Winning customers is more than just luck. It entails a lot of strategizing and good planning. Retaining customers involve the same level of commitment as well. In the highly competitive world of online marketing, trust plays an integral role in achieving our goals. Try your best to win your customers' trust. Take care of it. And for sure, this trust would fuel good business for you for many years to come.
Senin, 26 April 2010
10 Extremely Effective Ways to Increase Your Sales
The following are 10 simple yet very powerful ways to increase your sales significantly:
1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer. You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell. You could follow-up with them regularly. The goal is to begin building a relationship with your customers so you need to keep in constant contact with them.
2. You could upsell to your customers. When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale. They could just add it to their original order.
3. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price. This will turn one sale into three sales.
4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply the sale you just made.
5. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products. You could include an ad on or with the product for other products you sell. You could make sales for the reproduction rights and sales on the back end product.
6. You could cross promote your product with other businesses' products in a package deal. You can include an ad or flyer for other products you sell and have other businesses selling for you.
7. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a coupon for other related products you sell in the package. This will attract them to buy more products from you.
8. Send your customers a catalog of add-on products for the original product they purchased. This could be upgrades, special services, attachments, etc. If they enjoy your product they will buy the extra add-ons.
9. Sell gift certificates for your products. You'll make sales from the purchase of the gift certificate, when the recipient cashes it in. They could also buy other items from your web site.
10. Send your customers free products with their product package. The freebies should have your ad printed on them. It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc. This will allow other people to see your ad and order.
There you go. The great thing about these powerful strategies is that you can implement them immediately. As I said, they are easy to start using but the outcome could be a substantial increase in your conversion and/or buy rate which is the ultimate goal. It is extremely important to make your customer and/or prospect feel special and to provide them with additional value-added items that will keep them coming back.
1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer. You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for other products you sell. You could follow-up with them regularly. The goal is to begin building a relationship with your customers so you need to keep in constant contact with them.
2. You could upsell to your customers. When they're at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale. They could just add it to their original order.
3. Tell your customers if they refer four customers to your web site, they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price. This will turn one sale into three sales.
4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply the sale you just made.
5. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products. You could include an ad on or with the product for other products you sell. You could make sales for the reproduction rights and sales on the back end product.
6. You could cross promote your product with other businesses' products in a package deal. You can include an ad or flyer for other products you sell and have other businesses selling for you.
7. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a coupon for other related products you sell in the package. This will attract them to buy more products from you.
8. Send your customers a catalog of add-on products for the original product they purchased. This could be upgrades, special services, attachments, etc. If they enjoy your product they will buy the extra add-ons.
9. Sell gift certificates for your products. You'll make sales from the purchase of the gift certificate, when the recipient cashes it in. They could also buy other items from your web site.
10. Send your customers free products with their product package. The freebies should have your ad printed on them. It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc. This will allow other people to see your ad and order.
There you go. The great thing about these powerful strategies is that you can implement them immediately. As I said, they are easy to start using but the outcome could be a substantial increase in your conversion and/or buy rate which is the ultimate goal. It is extremely important to make your customer and/or prospect feel special and to provide them with additional value-added items that will keep them coming back.
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)