By
Bob Pardue
Online
Success for Internet Business
7 Strategic
Methods to Make Internet Marketing More Profitable For You
Internet marketing
doesn't have to be difficult. This page consists of seven methods you
can use to make your web site more profitable. You may
use these methods to start an online business or to bring more
customers and profits to your present online business. To bring more
profits to your site, you must first learn ways to promote your site
in a way that will bring results when marketing online.
Putting up an
Internet site is just like building a store in the middle of nowhere. You've
got the store, but no traffic!!! Here's where a marketing edge
pays off. You must now figure out a way to get the traffic coming.
They're not coming to you so you're going to have to go get them. You
can do just that using some of these marketing tips.
1. Finding Your
Target Market
Your online business
should provide a product or service that a certain target market
wants. Believe it or not, there are some products and services that
don't do very well on the Internet. One of the most important things
to know about your business is who your target market is and if
they are on the Internet. These two pieces of information could
determine your success or failure with your online business. So, first
of all, find out what type of person would become a potential customer
and if they are online. This will give you a definite Internet
marketing advantage.
Once you've
established that your target customers are on the Internet, you can
begin promoting your site to those target customers. Before designing
your web site, ask yourself the following questions:
A.
Is the price reasonable for my product or service?
B.
Is my web site designed to provide information or to just sell, sell,
sell? (Internet customers are looking for information, not
advertising.)
C.
Is my web site too flashy? (Make sure your Internet site looks like a
business and not a fly-by-night advertisement.)
D.
What type of guarantee can I offer to establish trust with my
customers and remove the risk?
E. Do
I have testimonials to offer? (A testimony from a past customer is one
of the most powerful tools in selling products or services.)
F.
Is my Internet site address on all of my printed materials such as
business cards, ads, flyers, envelopes, invoices, etc.?
G.
Do I want my Internet business to become a success?
2. What is Your
Customer Looking For?
Marketing on the Internet requires
you to put yourself in your customer's shoes. You will reach many more
customers if you will become the customer yourself. If you were to
accidentally stumble onto your own site and were a potential customer
would you stay in the site to see what it has to offer?
The right headline will bring big
profits! To insure that your home page will be results-oriented,
the headline at the top of the page should offer some type of benefit
to your potential customer. You only have about a couple of seconds to
keep that customer in your web site. Remember, at the click of the
mouse, they're gone forever! Your company name is not
your headline unless your company name offers some type of benefit to
the customer (e.g. If "Own Your Car at a Low Price" is your
company name, then it can also be used as your headline. But, if
"Sam's Used Cars" is the company name, do not use it.) The
headline is the most important part of the page. It will determine
whether the customer stays in your site or not. Make sure that your
headline offers a benefit to your customer, demands an
action from your customer, and is compelling enough to read on.
Special
Note: You can also test different headlines on the Internet
to see which one is working. The wonderful thing about the Internet is
that you can change your web site as many times as you want at no
extra charge. This enables you to try different headlines, promotions,
products, and services. It's great! So, take advantage of the
opportunity to increase your traffic and profits. You can get more
tips on writing headlines that pull by going to our Headlines
Help Hotline.
3. Fill It Up --
Move 'Em Out!
Online marketing should be packed
with benefits for the customer. You're still thinking
about the benefits that you can offer, right? Hope so. Now that you
know who your target market is and have a compelling headline, you're
ready to "fill it up with goods." Your web site is
almost identical to having your own store. If you owned a brick and
mortar retail clothing store, what would you fill your store with?
Probably clothes; and plenty of them! Your store would be made up of
different styles, designs, sizes, and combinations, and would offer
related accessories to meet other needs. Your online business should
do the same. To have an effective online business, you must offer
plenty of information, benefits, and extras. Your customer likes to
feel that there is great value in logging on to your site. Offering
free information and benefits of your product or service to your
customers helps them to feel more like they're in a store - "Just
Looking"! If there is enough information and added value in your
site, the customers will not feel as though you are just there to sell
them something. They will know that you are sincere and that you are
in it for the long haul, not just for a quick buck. Building this type
of relationship with the customer will bring sales, repeat business,
and referrals. Earning the confidence and respect of your visitors is
still the best method for successful Internet marketing.
4. Become a
Success "Borrower"
Remember the old saying, "If you
want to be successful, do what successful people do.."? This is
exactly what I would suggest you do on the Internet. This stuff is not
that difficult ... It's easy! Visit Internet sites that
you know are successful and model your Internet site after these. You
can get more specific and choose a business that is similar to yours
and targets the same type customer as you do. You may not do
everything identical to that company's site, but it will give you some
great ideas. When you visit the site for the first time, ask yourself,
"What is it about this site that makes me want to own their
product or service?". Use the same techniques in your own web
site design and you will be miles ahead of your competition and much
closer to online success.
5. Establish
Credibility
In addition to giving customers the
many benefits and advantages of your product or service, you also want
to give your company credibility. To establish
credibility, you can use testimonials from past customers, other well
known company names that are affiliated with you, and a strong
guarantee.
When it comes to marketing on the
Internet, the guarantee is one of the most powerful ways to
close a long hard sell. Your guarantee should be the one final thing
that makes your product irresistible and risk-free. The stronger the
guarantee, the better! Many company owners are afraid to use
guarantees. The perception is that too many customers will take
advantage of it and send the product back. To the contrary, that's not
the case at all. Over and over, companies that have tested very strong
guarantees ended up with less complaints and returns than those who
offered none at all. The guarantee compels the customer to buy, but is
often forgotten once the customer receives their product or service.
If you are offering a good, dependable, and useful product or service,
you can and should use the strong guarantee. (Remember, you can test
this on the Internet at no extra charge.)
Extra
- Credibility of your online site can also be established by placing
your company name, address, phone, and e-mail address on each page of
your site. Every page in your site should continuously be marketing
your company name.
6. Getting
Up-Close & Personal - You Can Do It!
Keep it personal. Think about it.
Country music radio stations all play basically the same type of
songs. What makes one station more popular than others? The Announcer!
The presentation and introduction of the music along with the
personality of the announcer counts. Talk to your customers as if you
were face to face with them. Each sentence or link that you place on
your Internet site should be written directly to the customer with the
focus being on them, not yourself. This makes the customer feel as
though he/she is the top priority in your site. It also places an
actual person behind the scenes of your company, not just a computer.
Another way to keep it personal is to
write a brief summary about yourself and employees and how the company
was started. You may even desire to place pictures of yourselves on
that page (put a face with the name). As in any business, people
trust who they know.
7. K.I.S.S. (Keep
it simple stupid)
When marketing on the Internet, make
it quick and simple for your customers to buy from you. It's amazing
how some Internet sites are very compelling, interesting, and are
selling fantastic products, but you couldn't buy them if you
wanted. It's not only a waste of time and effort, but is also a
disappointment when you get ready to buy something that you really
want or need and can't do it! That's why your site should offer a
simple way for the customer to purchase your product or service.
On your Internet site, the customer
should be able to click straight to the purchasing page from each
product or service that he/she has chosen. When the customer gets to
the purchasing page, there should be several options to purchase the
product such as by fax, credit cards, mail in, call in, online order
form, etc. Check each purchasing option often to make sure that it is
functioning properly. This is critical
because you could lose many sales just by the order
form being "out of order." If you are not clear about how to
set up an e-commerce solution (accepting credit cards, etc.), you can
have an experienced company do it for you. Accepting
credit cards online is not rocket science. Go
here to see how you can easily have your company accepting credit
cards and, at a very reasonable price (about $40 per month).
I hope these 7 steps will help you to
become outrageously successful in your Internet marketing journey. Be
sure to check out our other free
marketing articles as well. But, if you're really serious about
becoming extremely successful online, take a look at Insider
Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet . Tons of
success tips in this detailed Internet marketing course. I highly
recommend it.
Resources:
- Insider
Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet
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credit cards online
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