Profitable Internet Marketing

Funny us humans the more you are told you can’t have something the more you want it. The more exclusive the more desirable.

And so it is in this world we live in, exclusive, precious, short supply and limited availability cause us often to behave in what we describe as irrational behaviour.

Look at the Olympics well over subscribed, but the 100 metre final where that limited number of seats created such demand amply demonstrated obsessive behaviour by individuals that most likely never watch athletics.

An offer in your emails to your subscribers or on your website demand more than a good deal. Think about this, if you can get a deal on a new product with 50% off at anytime for the next 10 years is it. Deal? Don’t think so.

But create a timed window where the primary deal is only available for a short period and you create a demand.

But what is the true effect of the one day deal? Does it bring Brand loyalty to the table? Maybe. What about new customers and long term at that?

So whats the point? Why give away a wacking great big discount when that buyer may not stay loyal?

Basically you should consider the one day deal as nothing more than an acquisition cost. You likely won’t make any money on the deal, but left with no prospects coming to try your wares you will be unlikely to increase your customer base.

So is a one day deal any good for your business? Why not? Seems to me you can’t lose.

With literally hundreds of clients I often hear that “Sales could be better”.

My answer… “”What are you doing about it?”

Look, there is no point in you complaining that business is bad and you have a lack of sales if you are really not making an effort to stimulate sales and breathing life back into old products and services. There is some value to someone somewhere. But how do you bring those sales in? What makes the difference?

Well, let’s start at the beginning of the entire process…… I mean way back to the very beginning.

The idea, the concept, the sourcing of materials and the entire creation began way before you put it on sale. No matter what your selling, you need to enthuse to those around you as the salesman did when you first made the decision to offer the product or service.

Your customers need to feel that enthusiasm you have…. let me take an example.

Let’s say that you sell a product or a even an old established service. whatever.

A problem existed or a perhaps a process is more complex than it needs to be.

What we tend to do as individuals is talk about the issues that we face and wish to find better solutions for; so start that one to one discussion with your customers. Go back to the start discuss the issues that faced you or your customers.

Do this in a short email to your contacts, prospects, customers, etc.

Then follow up a week later with a new email but this time talk about the solutions that have been found… again on that one to one basis, ideally as personalised as possible. No selling.

Keep it simple, fairly short and above all keep the conversation going. It’s that type of conversation that you would have over the dinner table or when out for a drink with a close friend. Literally type as you would speak if you were face to face with a friend.

Now you need to send email number three… So this next email talks about what you believe will solve the problem or what offers a better solution to what you currently do now. Talk about the solution that you’ve found, recommend and why.

All that is left a week later would be to tell them where you found the best offer.

You see … building up a relationship and talking about an old product or service is actually quite easy really.

So why not start going through your products and services and start at the beginning too. Who knows… your sales might increase!

Oh…. and next month do the same again … choose something else to talk about.

In the UK we are currently in the grip of not one but two full blown bank holiday weekends. People are warmed by beautiful, sunny, warm summer days in Spring.

Everyone feels good, bar-b-ques, boats, sea sides and country walks all over the British isles, traffic on the internet understandably slow.

Last weekend we visited lovely country villages and browsed through quaint shops and streets. There were people walking about with small fancy purchases, small gifts, lovely items for the home and friends.

As you walked from one shop to the next you noticed how relaxed and happy everyone was. Money freely being spent because the mood and atmosphere had been set. There were loads of tea shops, cake shops, pubs, restaurants and other food establishments which found themselves busier than usual.

Of course the world then came to a halt as William married Kate with all the pageantry that the British can muster and are so good at.

The press reported that there were 1 million people on the streets of London watching the procession and over 5000 street parties around the country.

So what does this have to do with internet marketing?

Well lets consider a graph and see these two weeks as spikes on the footfall going into local businesses.

As I said, last weekend I visited many small shops during that first bank holiday weekend. Not one of them asked for my email address. Not one of them offered their website address to me and not one said … “please .. take this voucher and buy from me online”.

Local and small businesses have got to wake up to the reality that they can smooth that line. They had so many opportunities to keep in touch with me.

They could send me a special voucher to return to that coffee shop for a free cake, they could email me about special hand made crafts, gifts for brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts…. the list goes on.

I heard over these two weeks business owners complaining that trade had been killed by the two bank holidays and yet I heard employees welcoming the wonderful additional break that the country enjoyed.

There is always an opportunity to market your business, wholesalers could have set up stall in markets, could have done promotional deals, taken part in joint ventures, the list goes on.

Right now the country is feeling good…. let’s hope it continues, but remember you need to be prepared to help yourselves too.

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© pimdesign.com

Often when trawling the internet I wonder why website owners choose to place menu and navigation items where they do.

I mean lets face it they could place them on the left, right, top bottom or even in the middle of the page… so what makes the website developer place them where he does?

It may seem uninteresting but as most people read left to right it stands to reason that the most important thing you want to say should be in the top left of the screen, so why oh why do site owners place Home on the top left of a site when you arrive on the Home page?

At last though I came across a few well designed websites with examples of good navigation.

The first one of all places is the www.royalmail.com website.

They’ve actually got it! They actually lead you through the site and make the important bits sit in the right place.. take a look…. and that’s not all take a look at www.marksandspencer.com their priority is not the Home page either… they too have it right.

Gosh even www.orange.co.uk have it right.. take a look they believe that most of their customers just want to check their bill.

When you design a new site ask yourself what you really want your customer to click on in the top left hand corner of the page, the hottest spot of any site. Who knows maybe you’ll actually see an increase in sticky activity to the site.