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Zoe Price |
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Internet Business/Internet Business |
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2008-03-09 |
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What is it the makes people buy?
It's an interesting question but just imagine if you had the answers. How would you market differently? For starters, you'd save a lot of money because you'd know exactly where to spend your advertising budget.
Knowing the one (or more) thing that makes people buy, instantly gives remarkable power to all your marketing messages. Knowing what how to inspire and convince your prospects and customers to purchase ANY product or service you sell, at anytime... and whenever you want them to, is the key to a long term, hugely profitable buisness. There are two words that describe what we are talking about. Those words are
** Psychological Tactics **
Two of the world's top online marketers narrowed down the list to the Top 21 Psychological Triggers that make people want to buy. It's a fascinating analysis of over 89 case studies of these powerful tactics in action. This report can be read online for your information.
So once you know what makes people buy, how can this help you make more sales? There are some techniques that work very well which are mentioned below.
People want to 'buy' something, not be 'sold' something and knowing the difference between the two will mean many more sales to you. Giving away free information which in turn leads to a sale is a way of getting your customers to buy from you instead of you selling to them. Although the end result is the same for you, you have a much more loyal customer who, over time and with good customer service, will buy from you again and again.
If you break down the reasons why people buy, it has been said that there are just two very basic reasons why people buy anything. Fear and greed. Fear is a very powerful motivator behind a purchase. For example, people buy life insurance as they are worried that if they die, their family will not have enough money to live on. Another example of fear is when an offer has a limited time. The fear is that if they don't buy now, the offer may expire with them missing out, so to avoid that, they buy on the spot.
These two motivators can help you build your sales message. Make sure your prospects are under no illusions they do not want to risk their families happiness buy not buying your product here and now.
Greed is the other factor and can be just as powerful. For example, if there is an offer of investing a small amount of money and in a short period of time that money could be doubled, then greed would be the motivator behind any potential purchase.
However, it is well worth pointing out that people are much more savvy now and will not fall for something that sounds too good to be true, but greed is a powerful emotion so can be used to help sales.
Please make sure though, that with both of these thoughts in mind, you keep your product, service and sales message ethical, legal and moral. Just because you have an idea of how to press the 'buy' buttons, never scam anyone, never lie, never mislead and never do anything you would not like done to you. Always aim everything you do to building a quality, long term business. If you behave in any kind of underhand way, your customers will realise and never come back to you. Also remember that bad news travels much faster than good news and before long, your website will be ousted and you will not have a business worth marketing.
That said, there are many people out there who want to buy what you are selling. As long as you can get in front of those people with a legal, ethical and moral sales message which is effective and helps your prospects make the decision they want to make, you and your customer will both be happy.
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Joe Heller |
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Business/Sales |
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2007-10-04 |
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The question I am asked most is this. "What can I immediately do to dramatically increase sales and build my business?" Whether you run a entrepreneurial enterprise, there are just four ways to build any business. You must either: (1) Increase the rate that you acquire new customers; (2) Increase the size of sale to each customer; (3) Have customers buy from you more often (shortening the sales cycles) (4) Reduce attrition to increase your customer's lifetime value. Ideally you should work on all four. Let me know of your experience with these revenue builders and your story could show up on these pages. One final note; in order to increase your sales – you must become an avid student of lead generation and marketing strategy – the high-payoff items for necessary to succeed in business. I've developed a toolkit that gives you powerful 1-2-3 lead generation techniques that can skyrocket your success. You can find it on my site http://www.TrustCycleSelling.com. Click on Trust Cycle Selling program to learn more. It's a great resource from my personal library for yours. Dedicated To Multiplying Your Sales; (c) Joe Heller, All Rights Reserved Worldwide Biography: Joe Heller is one of the most popular, in-demand speakers today on lead generation, sales and marketing topics. Over 22,000 people a year sit spellbound as Joe delivers more "actionable content" per minute than any other speaker alive. For more information go to http://www.keynoteresource.com
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Scott Deane |
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Business/Careers |
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2008-05-05 |
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Increasing sales output is the primary way which businesses can increase their overall profitability and market share ratios. This is why employers from a variety of different sectors such as the finance, banking, medical and IT sectors have a high demand for sales professionals who have the skills and experience they require. Keeping consistent levels of good sales performance is never an easy task even for the most experienced corporate sales teams. At some point or the other, sales professionals will need a mechanism or a coaching service through which they can maintain motivational levels and increase their total sales output. Graduates who are looking to enter the sales industry will find that employers will hire them only if they are convinced that they can add value to their sales force. One way of convincing employers of this is to undergo comprehensive sales training. A graduate selection and sales training company which specialized in recruiting and training graduate and graduate calibre individuals can significantly aid the prospective sales job applicant. Such companies will be able to expedite and streamline the whole process if finding a suitable sales job role. The best sales consultancies of this sort will also build and maintain effective working relationships with their corporate clients. This will ensure that they have an in-depth understanding of the operational and organizational requirements of their clients. Furthermore, in many respects, graduate trainees will also need a kind of on-the-job training after they have completed their standard formal training. The reason for this is because such extensive training will enable them to immediately settle in their new roles. It will also allow them to begin making effective contributions to their respective organizations. The problem here is that there are very few sales recruitment consultancies which offer comprehensive training and extensive post-recruitment training services. Many firms and companies simply would not provide investment outlay required for this type of training. Hence, the help which a top notch sales consultancy can provide to a graduate or graduate calibre sales job applicant cannot be overemphasized. The extensive sales training programs offered by agencies are sure to increase a candidateâ€TMs chances of securing some of the best sales jobs on the market. A variety of post-recruitment services also help guarantee a successful career in the long run. Regardless of what sort of sales job a candidate is looking for a field sales or business to business sales job, the services of a top flight recruiting agency can provide them with effective assistance.
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4 |
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Internet Business/Internet Business |
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2008-01-01 |
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In order to increase web sales one of the most important key factors is actually getting visitors to you website. There are several companies that can help you do this from advertising agencies to SEO affiliates. And, they are all capable of assisting you in increasing traffic to your website.
With the use of Internet advertising banners this targets the visitors directly to your site and therefore generates web sales. These banners are used to entice visitors and allow them to click on the banners to be redirected to your website that the banner is actually promoting. Most companies will offer a package such as ten dollars per one thousand banner impressions on various other websites. This isn’t bad considering all of the people who are on the Internet these days.
Some advertising companies now, with the use of upgraded technology can generate anywhere from thirty thousand to sixty million visitors to your website. These are awesome statistics, and it is possible if you find the right one.
Another recent form of increasing web sales is through SEO this is search engine optimization and it is definitely effective. What happens really is that keywords are put into the search area and the SEO takes over. Today there are dozens of different factors why this type of marketing tool should be used.
Many marketers are realizing just how valuable SEO is, and most are now doing all their marketing through SEO. It’s the search engine that is versatile and useful for almost everything. While some search engines aren’t nearly as effective for the increase of web sales. Especially if it is a new website, with new products just starting out.
Advertisers should expect terrific results with a greater impact after using the SEO system. However, there are still competitors that disagree. Yet, everyone is going to tell you they are able to increase your web sales better than the rest.
In this case simply do the research, look it up on the Internet and you will find that literally those who are going with SEO engines are generating traffic to their sites, which is increasing web sales for them.
Even pay per click has tried to run with the marketing industry and the different types of advertising for websites, but however it seems as though SEO is still on top even with pay per click in the running.
Search engine marketing reaches more people than ever before while at the same time, there are more web sites that are needing the generated traffic to their web sites for the simple idea of increasing their web sales.
In doing outward opinion tests on people who use the Internet over the last six months almost all of them said they were happier with search engine results than simply clicking on banners or other advertising as a means to find a web site. So you see the real value lies with the search engine of course.
Most of the new web sites being created on the Internet today, are deciding to go with search engine systems such as SEO for the simple reason that they need traffic to their new web site. Other wise without the generation of traffic they won’t increase their web sales and the web site itself will suffer great loss. In fact, some will cease to exist before they really have a chance to get started in the marketing industry of the Internet.
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Kevin Sinclair |
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Business/Advertising |
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2008-02-26 |
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Be honest. The reason you are reading this article is because you want to increase your sales by no less than 80%! The headline grabbed your attention and pulled you in. Two things probably went through your mind as you glanced at this headline. The first thing is that you expect to increase your sales. From there you begin to imagine all the benefits you'd receive from those increased sales - greater finances, and an improvement in your quality of living.
A headline is more than just a descriptive title. Research shows that 80% of what you are trying to convey in a sales letter can be expressed in a well written headline. The other 20% of your message is spent in supporting or giving the details of that headline. It then becomes clear that beginning with the right headline increases the effectiveness of your sales letter by 80%.
Most individuals are not just looking for facts and statistics. They are searching for solutions to issues that involve their daily lives. Superficial information does not have the same effect on emotions that information that offers personal improvement does. A good headline can point the way to something that can bring gain or prevent loss. The headline, - 80% Increase In Your Sales!- promises more than an increase in sales. It can be the long sought after solution to a troubled financial situation.
A compelling heading will greatly increase your success in any type of marketing media. Whether you are emailing a potential client, posting an ad in the paper, adding to your web page, or writing an article, a convincing headline will encourage your reader to explore the possibilities you are offering.
There are some effective tools you can use to write some very persuasive headlines.
One tool is swipe filing. Swipe filing is creating templates from the files of well known and acknowledged headlines. These are some you may be familiar with:
Are You Too Busy _____ To _____?
Free _____ Reveals How To _____.
Free Report - How To _____
Who Else Wants a _____ In Just _____ Minutes a Day?
How Any _____ With _____ Can Benefit From A Little-Known, _____ Secret.
Look for headlines in books of famous headlines or watch for them on line. Once you've built up a collection of headlines, all that is necessary to create a great headline is to choose the appropriate template and fill in the blanks with your own information.
Other headlines that would have been equally effective for the title of this article:
"An Amazing Discovery Tripled My Conversions"
"The Midas Touch That Turned My Sales Letter Into A Golden Goose."
"What You Can Do TODAY To Turn Lackluster Sales Copy Into Cash Delivering Machines!"
Another useful tool is creative brainstorming. Start by listing all the benefits and features of the product or concept you are offering. Focus on those that will have the greatest impact on peoples lives, and then sum them up in single sentences. Write twenty different headlines and then choose the one you feel best describes what you are offering.
With this knowledge you should be able to come up with some powerful headlines, bringing more attention to yourself and to your product. Now it's time to go out and bring in that increase.
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Derrick Collins |
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Business/Business |
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2008-05-05 |
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In today's economy with the rising costs of employee benefits and increasing pressure from international competition, U.S. manufacturers are looking for every advantage they can get. This is one of many reasons that the use of independent manufacturers' reps, also known as sales reps, is becoming a more popular option for them. First, manufacturers are able to save a tremendous amount of cash by alleviating the expense of health & retirement benefits that comes with hiring employees. For example, the median annual salary for a full-time sales representative employee in New York State is $60,000. In comparison, the average cost of an employee's health and retirement benefits in New York State is an additional $15,000, roughly 25% of the employee's actual salary. Even if your company has only one sales rep for each state within the U.S., it does not take long for these expenses to add up. When retaining the services of independent sales reps, manufacturers don't pay for their health and retirement benefits. Second, independent reps work on commission. And they are only paid a commission when they complete a sale. This eliminates the expenses incurred by employed sales personnel who may be underachieving as they've grown comfortable with their salary, but lost their motivation. Simply put, if independent sales representatives want to support themselves, they need to make sales – many sales. That is the best type of motivation sales reps have to perform or even, over achieve. Third, recruiting independent reps costs you, the manufacturer, a fraction of what it costs to recruit and train your full-time employees. Many companies spend thousands of dollars advertising in local newspapers, on radio and expensive web sites such as Monster.com. Maybe you're one of them. If you are, you probably discovered that these employment ads -- buried among thousands of other job postings -- are only seen in one specified city. Then, you are left with the time-consuming task of weeding through endless applicants that, many times, do not even meet your job requirements. In contrast, there's a Web site called http://www.manufacturers-representatives.com . It provides its manufacturer clients with one nationwide resource (that includes over 200 clearly defined industry categories) where they can list their sales opportunities. The Web site also goes a step further by pre-qualifying applicants for you. You select the minimum requirements for your sales opportunity. If an interested sales rep does not meet your minimum requirements, they are not able to submit their online profile (or resumé) to you. This service is completely free to all sales reps. For manufacturers, it is the most highly targeted and lowest cost recruiting option available anywhere online or in print. A 30-day free trial allows manufacturers to post their sales opportunities at no cost and see if sales reps respond. When they do, http://www.manufacturers-representatives.com sends an e-mail to the manufacturer indicating the rep's background and qualifications. This allows them to gauge interest in their sales opportunity. From that point, in order to access the contact information, manufacturers need to subscribe to the service. There are 4 subscription options starting as low as $55.95 a month with a 12-month commitment or $99 for one month. This is definitely a much more cost-effective option when compared to a cost of $399 for monster.com. What Industries Use Independent Reps Manufacturers from virtually every industry are utilizing independent sales reps today. Any industry that utilizes sales personnel is able to take advantage of the vastly growing population of qualified independent reps working around the country. At manufacturers-representatives.com, a sampling of some of the 200 industry categories they serve includes: Aerospace Apparel Automobile Beauty / Fashion Construction Finance / Insurance Health Care Industrial Small Business Sporting Goods Transportation Utilities Businesses of All Shapes and Sizes Manufacturers of all shapes and sizes are utilizing independent sales reps. Manufacturers-representatives.com currently serves a diverse group of clients ranging from small start-up businesses to multi-national Fortune 500 corporations. Regardless of the size of your company or the industry you are in, the advantages of utilizing a sales force of independent reps remains the same – save on advertising, recruitment, training, benefit package expenses and more. Not Just for Manufacturers While manufacturers have been the first group of businesses to take full advantage of the still untapped potential of independent reps, service-based businesses are also beginning to jump on the bandwagon. Whether you are selling office cleaning and maintenance services to marketing and web site design, companies like yours are utilizing independent reps to help them expand their reach, increase their clientele and therefore, their profits. Post your sales opportunity for free on this one-stop nationwide resource and let http://www.manufacturers-representatives.com help you create a powerful sales force with a cost-effective and convenient way to recruit and pre-qualify experienced independent sales reps. About Manufacturers-Representatives.com Every day, http://www.manufacturers-representatives.com connects Nationwide manufacturers from All Industries with Thousands of independent sales reps who are actively seeking new product lines. With more than 30 years of sales, manufacturing and web development experience, the management team fully understands the needs of both manufacturers and independent sales representatives. Online since 1997, the New York-based company consistently works towards networking manufacturers across the United States and Canada with qualified manufacturers reps. For more details, visit the web site at http://www.manufacturers-representatives.com
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Scott Deane |
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Business/Careers |
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2008-05-05 |
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If you are in sales, you know that your performance is your reputation. If you have been struggling with sales performance and you would like to change your current standing in sales work, you have come to the right place. It can be difficult to find a sales job that will provide you with the money, as well as the perks that you desire, if you don’t have all the information or education that you need to display an outstanding sales performance record. If you have a great opportunity and you’re ready to learn some new things about how you can succeed in the sales world, the right recruiting agency can give you all that you need. Sales professionals should speak with friends, search the Internet, and contact recruiting agencies in their area to find the best career path for them. There are a number of characteristics that define a good sales recruiting agency. Sales recruiting agencies need to have a long roster of business connections, which ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for the discerning sales person. As well, agencies need to be committed to the excellence of each of their applicants. This means an evaluation of applications, coaching on interview techniques, and a commitment to continued professional development beyond the first day of work. Finally, sales recruitment agencies need to be responsive to the around-the-clock needs of their applicants. Agencies need to have hotlines, direct e-mail, and other means of contact. When you enrol in our training programme, you will find that ours is a program that is very unique and doesn’t require you to be a graduate with tons of degrees. Instead, the ideal sales recruiting program is all about training those with a great personality to increase their sales performance. The best agencies provide one-on-one assistance and coaching, instead of the seminar-style approach of other agencies. At the end of certified sales recruiting programs, agencies feel confident in helping place you with one of many top companies that they work with, so that you can get on the road to a great career where your sales performance is always top of the line. If you have a great attitude, you’re ready to learn from the best, and you really want to increase your sales performance, all you have to do is get in touch with a recruiting agency. As was mentioned earlier, they will always work with people who have little or no experience, as long as they have a great personality, attitude, and the same commitment to excellence as they have for recruiting.
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8 |
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Tina Rinaudo |
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Business/Advertising |
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2008-05-05 |
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Printed Mugs are great promotional tools that can market your products and attract people towards your company. These products are very effective in promoting your brand and informing people about it. It attracts consumer to the company quite easily which helps in increasing the sales of the company. In order to attract consumers to your brand, it is important to create brand awareness and inform people about your company. Until and unless people are not familiar with a particular brand they may not trust it and buy products from the same. Therefore it is important to inform the consumers about the company and its products so that they can trust the company to provide them with quality goods and services. The printed mugs are economical promotional products that can be used as promotional gifts and can be gifted to the target consumers to inform them about the company. A number of companies and organisation use these promotional mugs for promoting themselves and increasing their sales. The name and the logo of the company are printed on these promotional mugs. Other information may be added to the printed mugs so that the consumers can get to know more about the company. These printed mugs can be gifted to the target consumer on special occasions or as free promotional gifts. This in turn would attract them towards the brand and help the company to increase its sales. Thus these printed mugs are quite useful and effective gifts that may be used by any one for promoting his brand. The promotional products require little investment while the returns on these investments are much more than the investments. Whenever the consumers use these printed mugs, they are reminded of your company and they are easily attracted to it and its products. Since these printed mugs are useful promotional items, they are used in our day to day life easily. They are visible to everyone easily and thus are more prominent. Others can easily get to know about your brand through these promotional items which can attract them to the company and help you to increase your sales. There are different types of printed mugs available easily these days, which may be used as promotional products and gifted to your clients. There are earthenware mugs, plastic mugs, glass mugs, bone china mugs and other various kinds of promotional mugs which can be used for promoting and advertising oneâ€TMs brand. To make your search easier, log on to www.yesgifts.co.uk. The website provides a selection of printed mugs and other promotional items in different shapes and sizes. Choose any of these promotional products and advertise your brand with style. At yesgifts.co.uk you can be assured of getting of getting good quality products at the most reasonable price.
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gurpreet singh |
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Business/Marketing |
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2008-03-27 |
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The Internet has changed how people do their business. Even small business owners are able to reach global market inexpensively nowadays, selling anything from apparel, collectibles, to computer software, service and coaching.
The core of every business is sales. Many of the strategies to increase sales offline are applicable online, but not all of them. On the Internet, everybody can effort to fail fast and learn from it. Better still, after years of testing and tracking what works online, people can just learn from other people's experience and cut the learning curve tremendously.
Here are 5 of the surefire ways to increase sales:
1. Establish a sound affiliate program
If it is just another affiliate program, then don't expect to have different results. Focus on building a sound affiliate program, with the tools and materials to support affiliates to promote a program easily. After all, affiliates work like clockwork and should be seen as a team. Provide them with the right promotion tools and they will more likely promote the program.
Give the customers an option to join the affiliate program after purchase. Satisfied customers are one of the best marketing for any business. Spread the good words through word of mouth. Best of all, they are paid just for doing that.
2. Follow-up after first purchase
The hardest task in any business is acquiring the first sale. Make sure that capturing customers' name and email addresses are the least information gathered from a sale. With that information in hand, follow-up with existing customers, probably through an automated mechanism like timely autoresponder.
This effort has been proven to decrease refund on products and increase customers' satisfaction. Every once in a while, mention a related product that might be of interest to the customers. Write a review and provide real results. Such promotion is extremely inexpensive, but very effective in practice. The product can be anything, including an affiliate program.
3. Use up-sell technique
Just before a customer check out to the payment gateway, prompt for optional upgrade to the better, bigger, or nicer product for a fairly steep discount, preferably not available elsewhere.
A certain number of customers will choose the option, which translates into additional sales, almost without additional effort.
4. Provide discount coupons
Coupons urge customers to come back and shop. Promotional coupons work for both advertising and some forms of joint venture. Customers love to know that they get lower price for what they buy. Coupons make it so real and tangible.
5. Cross-promote with other related products
There is no limit as to how this could be accomplished. Joint venture with other business or even competitors is feasible as long as it brings a win-win situation.
One example would be to give away sample of other product or service as part of the whole package. As long as the sample is relevant to the customer, this promotion could only be seen as an added value instead of pure advertising.
There are many other tactics to increase sales but above tips have been proven to work again and again. Choose one at a time and take action. Good luck.
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Mark Willinger |
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Business/Business |
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2008-03-14 |
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If there were a way to improve your sales by $85,000 a year between 2008 and 2011 despite a struggling market would you take advantage of it? To help demonstrate what I mean I am going to present you with two different scenarios that can occur in your business. First, for the sake of argument lets say you have 20 employees and at some point 10% of them decide to leave, not because of your lack of management but just because they feel it is time to move on and have received better offers. This is a situation that you do not have much control over, you could offer them more money but more than likely you would have to over pay them to win them back and therefore become less profitable in the long run. You now have 18 employees but the need for 20, how would you react? Second, lets assume that your company is in the Building market, and housing starts are down (which they are) and we will use the same 10% for comparison purposes. Theoretically, that would mean that your company has lost 10% of its business. Again because this is an external market factor you have no control of the situation. How would you react? If I were a betting man I would wager that for the first scenario you quickly answered I would hire 2 new employees, increase the workload or some combination of the two. Yea that was pretty simple, in the second case however my guess would be that you are not quite sure what to do. The point is that in both scenarios you have little or no control over the situation, however in both cases you have control over how your business reacts and it is that reaction that can make you money. There are several options to improve your profits in the second scenario, but here is my suggestion. Research emerging markets, look for products that are still in the introductory or growth stage of the product life cycle which have huge potential sales. One example is composite decking, expected to grow more than 10% a year through 2011 to nearly 1 billion lineal feet sold, according to The Freedonia Group, Inc. Check out your local market and see how many decking contractors you find. In my market the number was 20% that of total builders. That means there is a lot of opportunity for your business to succeed in this emerging market. Even if you were already in the composite decking market, that 10% increase in demand would cover a nice chunk of the losses due to housing starts and imagine the potential sales you could gain if you are not in the market at all. It is important to get into the market now and establish yourself so that you can gain future referrals and establish a strong reputation. Do not wait until 2011 when it is too late. Here are some tips about marketing composite decking. Remember that it is much easier to maintain because it does not need sealed and in fact in long run can be much cheaper due to the maintenance costs of wood decking. Another point to bring up is that it is more environmentally friendly than wood. Make use of the “think green” trend as a selling point. There are two points of difference the consumer cares about, but also make sure to stress that it looks like real wood, a similarity that the customer will also be concerned about. Composite decking is just one example of an emerging market; you can conduct your own research and find many other income opportunities to help improve your business. Think about all the customers you have done jobs for since you started. Were they happy with your work? Did they ask you what else you did? These are people who could potentially be ready for a new addition like a deck. You have accomplished the most difficult part of the sale, gaining their trust, so why not use that to your advantage. The cost of acquiring new customers is never cheap and when the economy is down it can become tough so use your resources contact past customers and expand your business. See how I calculated $85,000 per year and calculate your own potential sales. Visit Our Site for More Articles Good Luck - Mark Willinger
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11 |
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Mike Leinweber |
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Business/Advertising |
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2008-05-05 |
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Websites need traffic to survive. Where does this traffic come from? From continuous marketing efforts. Marketing strategies may include keyword analysis, search engine optimization, reciprocal links, advertising, PR campaigns, online tools, widgets, and cross-media blending. Make the money you put into your website count, and make sure people can locate your page. While not a long-term answer, you can buy website traffic which will probably set you back up to $1 for a hit. Begin by looking at successful sites. Look at their server log files, which will give you ideas on how to increase traffic and where to find it. Popular search engines are generally the source of the majority of targeted website traffic for internet sites. Another significant portion comes from linking from other sites that have high traffic, or from a large assortment of smaller sites. Analyzing the patterns of incoming traffic on a busy website is not as important as figuring out how to duplicate its performance to increase your search engine rank. Generally your incoming linkage will automatically increase as traffic to your website increases, which in turn increases your search engine rank. They work together in a cyclical nature increasing each other and continuing the cycle. When examining the log files of search engines to figure out how high traffic sites obtain so many hits, one will find that the range of keywords or phrases that register certains sites can wide. This creates a greater number of hits. To increase traffic on a site the site owner will use a domain name that is itself a keyword. Pages will definitely rank higher if they follow this strategy. Now that you know the main reason behind popularity, you can apply it to increase traffic to your website. You need to make a significantly higher number of web pages with a wider variety of related keywords, and then optimize for several major search engines. Using specialized tools you can generate or fill any number of web pages with specified keywords in the exact places within the content and adjust their density. Once done, a quick page analysis will show whether your current rank has improved. People have discovered many different avenues to find websites, things such as word of mouth, following online links, or perusing magazines. However, the main source for discovery of websites is invariably through search engines websites and their search results. Without search engine traffic, there is no way that your site could survive, if you removed it you would have nothing. There is no more effective and affordable means of marketing online. Getting the content of your product up is only half the job. The other half being closing the sale with your buyers once they arrive and are interested. Presentation and visibly on your site is key.
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Jo Mark |
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Writing Speaking/ebooks |
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2007-09-10 |
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Making a purchase is an emotional activity. When browsing among a number of sale items, most people will most often choose the product that makes them feel the best. How you feel about something is an emotional response. Some words or phrases cater to these emotional needs more than others. Sitting on that sofa is so comfortable and cozy. The car you are considering will impress the neighbors. That item for the home looks just perfect with your surroundings. People buy things to satisfy their emotional needs and make them feel good. By using emotional power words in your titles, ads, emails, and sales pages you will entice more people to buy your product. As proof of this, from which ad below would you prefer to make a purchase? Ad 1) Sale, sale, sale! Free bonus – today only! Buy 1 tube of XYZ Skin Cream, get 1 FREE! Rub it in and you can feel it releasing all the tension in your body. Makes you feel so relaxed, you’ll think you just had a massage! Fast delivery, Free shipping! Your complete Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back – no questions asked! Ad 2) Two tubes XYZ Skin Cream – no charge to ship. Both of these ads are selling the same thing. But, if you are like most people, you would prefer to buy from ad number 1. In that ad, all of the key words from the list below are used. Try using some of these words in your ads, sales pages, and emails and watch your sales increase! 1. Use the word "fast". People like immediate gratification and want fast results, fast delivery, fast ordering, etc. We value our time more than our money. 2. Use the word "discount/sale " in your ad. People like bargains and are more inclined to buy something on sale. Using a time limit on your sale (today only) makes people more inclined to buy it now. 3. Use the word "you/your" in your ad. Design your ad in a normal conversational tone. People will subconsciously believe that you are talking directly to them. It makes them feel important and more inclined to buy. Please excuse me now; I have to finish up here. You see, I saw an ad for this new XYZ Skin Cream that I’ve just GOT to order... DEVELOP YOUR OWN PRODUCT AND MAKE BIG MONEY! CREATE YOUR OWN EBOOK IN 3 EASY STEPS! Order NOW for your FREE BONUS! Visit http://www.milliondollararticle.com/ezebook.html NOW! For free downloads and information on making money with articles, go to: http://www.milliondollararticle.com We offer tons of information on generating income by writing articles. Visit us today!
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13 |
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Danny Wirken |
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Business/Business |
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2008-05-05 |
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Selling used to be so much harder than it is, but more effective! In the early days of trading, people faced each other, convinced each other, exchanged wares and were all happy about the transaction. Some would fail but most did not. Why? Because those who bought something had help in finding what they wanted. The one who sold, responded immediately to inquiries and challenges. In the end, both buyer and seller are happy. Letters came in handy for many sellers, especially those who had a lot to say and a lot to show. But then, let’s face it – this phenomenon also gave birth to the term “junk mail.” Sales people did less talk and spent less on personal appearances but very few of these letters got favorable responses, or any attention at all. Why? You guessed it – no personal touch. The recipient of the letter did not have anyone there to answer questions. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, little did he anticipate the power of reaching people so far away with the sound of the voice. To people who sell, this was a goldmine. Dial any number and offer your products. This provided a bigger market, yet it also increased the chances of rejection. The basic flaw here is obvious – the cold calls are shots in the dark. There is no initial interest on the part of the person called. If the prospective customer made the call, then it’s a different story altogether. There is the interest and a sale can be pursued. There is something lacking though – the visuals to show your products. Enter the age of the Internet. Letters became emails. Phone calls became chats. But wait, there’s more! This new technology gave the selling person more ammunition in the form of reports, histories, profiles and the ability to engage in conversation and use visuals at the same time. Yes, chats convert more visitors into customers. In buying, people are driven by want. A lot are driven by need. Consider your web-store as an actual store – where people can come in, take a look and buy. Note: they come to you, hence, there is interest in what you offer. Put in the personalized service that a salesperson presents through live chat. After a little talk, your visitor starts deciding to buy. A little more nudge, and their in – hook, line and sinker. If your salesperson is good enough, that customer will come back for more. Your Customer Service Representatives (CSR) is converted a talking box that can lead your visitors to what they need (better yet, to what they want). And, viola, a visitor becomes a customer! Many online stores have implemented this live chat system into their web-stores and the result is definitely positive. Higher sales figures come from the increased conversion rate of visitors to customer. Before chatting was involved, 98% of visitors leave the online stores without making any purchase. That 2% does sound very dismal. After incorporating the live chat sales support system, some web-stores reported up to 25% conversion rates. So think, wouldn’t you rather be making $25 instead of just $2?
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14 |
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James Murray |
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Business/Business |
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2008-05-04 |
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Many studies have proven that radio is a good medium for product advertisements. People listen to the radio for entertainment, usually to listen to the latest music or to their favorite radio program. In between the program, advertisements on products and services are being played. For many years, this has been the trend in advertising. But now that the radio medium is almost behind the audio-visual medium, the TV, and the Internet, other marketing strategies have to be employed to continue the benefits of advertising through audio. It is then that the benefits of using music on websites were discovered. Before, music on the Internet was just available in downloadable forms as mp3. Even through hosting downloadable music on their servers, companies were able to get much traffic on their sites. And everyone engaged in Internet marketing knows that website traffic plays a big role in boosting product and service sales. However, there had been a problem with illegal music download in which artists, musicians and record companies have lost millions of revenues. Then, came the popularity of Internet music streaming. Unlike the former, radio streaming does not allow download of the music files. Thus, the copyrights of the artists and record label owners are protected. So, how can this be done? There are several ways to stream audio from your site. First, is to stream a radio program from your site or blog. You can find free affiliate programs that allow you to stream their radio content from your site. What will this mean to you? This means that your site will have new audio content every time it is visited. What's even great is that the content is being updated even without much effort from you. In this case, what you needed to do is to signup with an Internet radio station and have the link embedded on your blog or website. Another way is to stream mp3s. To do this, you just need to upload your mp3files on a server and add the files' links to the page. When the link is clicked, the browser opens a media player window and plays a file. However, since the file is in mp3 format, it may also be downloaded. Downloading music files without the authorization of the copyright owner is illegal. Therefore, if you will be using this type of streaming, make sure that you have the appropriate permit to do so. A third way to add audio to you blog or website is to stream music through organizing playlists. Playlists are m3u files, which if downloaded, will not play music if offline. Using this process, however, can be complex. Here is a short instruction on how to do it. 1. Save your mp3 or wma file on the server. You may skip this step if you know that the file exists on another server and know the link to that file. Make sure that the link has a .mp3 or .wma extension. 2. Open your text editor and type the path to the file. Include the http and the file extension. Repeat this step until you have included all the links to the files that you would like to be included in the playlist. 3. Save the playlist with a .m3u extension. 4. Upload the m3u file on the directory where the music files are hosted or to your server. 5. Open your html editor and embed the link to the m3u file. Through this, you can also set if you want to have the playlist to autoplay if someone visits your site of if you want your visitor to control playing the music. You can also set the volume level. After the code is embedded on the html file, and whenever your site is visited, the songs in the playlist will be buffered, streamed and played one after another. If your playlist has several songs, the user can skip forward or go back a song in the playlist using the media player controls. Doing this setup works for many website owners. Through this you can customize the type of music being played on your site. You can even play recordings related to your product to boost product awareness. It requires knowledge of html to be done. But if it will be the best way to increase traffic to your site, why not request assistance from programmers. After all, having audio on a website is a proven way to increase sales. There are some good internet programs at my atclickbank website............See link kelow.........
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15 |
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Don Fletchinger |
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Business/Advertising |
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2007-08-28 |
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Imagine that you're someone who has just purchased a product or service after reading a well-written and persuasive sales letter. You pay the price of the product or service and eagerly await the product's arrival or to speak with a representative about using the service. Finally, the product arrives, or you're used up your service hours and you have not reaped any of the benefits touted in the flashy sales letter. Even worse, the product you purchased was broken or not satisfactory when it arrived and now it's going to be a hassle to replace it or get a refund. If this were you, how would you feel?
Potential customers are often wary about purchasing a product or service based only on a sales letter or advertising promotion because there are no implied guarantees. The product can be damaged upon arrival, the service can provide little help, or the product or service is just not worth the price the customer might pay. There is one trick you can use to reduce these fears on the part of the potential customer. Use a guarantee in your sales letters and marketing promotions that allows customers to shed the risk they would normally assume when making such a purchase.
A guarantee can be in several forms. You can guarantee free replacement if a product is defective, additional free services if a client is unsatisfied with the service you have provided, or even offer to refund the entire purchase price of the product or service if the customer is not completely satisfied. When you offer a guarantee, you are creating goodwill and confidence in your product or service. Many potential customers think, "Why would they guarantee their product or service if it didn't work as well as advertised?"
When you offer a guarantee to customers, make sure the guarantee is risk-free. This means that you should not attach any strings to the guarantee. Some companies require that a product be returned unopened or in its original packaging in order to receive a full refund. If you've had the product for a month or two, and you've already thrown out the packaging, this can present a problem. Then you're stuck with a bad product and an emptier wallet. Do you think that customer will buy from you again? Making your guarantee risk-free means that you don't require customers to meet any conditions in order to receive the refund, replacement, or free services.
This is a marketing tactic that can create quite a lot of trust from customers. People are more likely to buy from businesses that stand behind their products and services than from businesses that are hard to deal with and inflexible if a product is damaged or a service has not benefited the customer. By offering a risk-free guarantee, you are telling your customers that you care about their experience with your business. You are also giving customers an easy way to solve problems, rather than making them go through a difficult process. This can even create repeat business from satisfied customers for years to come.
Once you've mastered the art of using risk-free guarantees, you may see an increase in the number of inquiries generated by a particular advertising campaign or even in the number of sales that result from that campaign. If you see results, it only makes sense to keep this tip in the front of your mind as you develop advertising promotions in the future.
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16 |
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Cheryl A. Clausen |
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Business/Sales |
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2007-07-29 |
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A satisfied customer is nearly worthless, but a loyal customer is priceless. If you want to increase sales today and every day your objective is to develop all loyal customers. A satisfied customer is more than likely a one time sale whereas a loyal customer is a lifetime sale. A loyal customer chooses to do business with you over all the other options offered by your competition.
Have you ever had a particular business that you chose to frequent even though there were other options? That’s why loyal customers are priceless because they will do repeat business with you year after year after year. Plus they will send countless other people to do business with you. Just imagine how much your sales would increase today if you had a loyal customer base right now.
One of the biggest ways loyal customers help you increase sales today is through the qualified referrals they supply. A qualified referral is someone your customer has talked to about you and asked to call you. When you get calls from qualified referrals that don’t result in business either you aren’t a match, or you have a lot of opportunity to improve your sales skills.
Another way your loyal customers help you to increase sales today is through the strategic alliances they help you to establish. Strategic alliances are relationships formed with other businesses that work with the same type of client base, but aren’t in competition with you. When you are able to form a strategic alliance based on the recommendation provided through your client you in essence have a whole new Rolodex of people who are likely to do business with you.
There’s no question loyal customers are the key to increased sales today, but how do you develop loyal customers? You earn loyal customers by: seeking to understand them and their needs, helping them to discover the best option for them, working with them not telling them what to do, connecting with them on a personal level and always making them feel special, and appreciating them and their business by maintaining and sustaining a relationship.
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17 |
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RE Writer |
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Self Improvement/advice |
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2008-02-18 |
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Residential real estate investors have probably realized by now that they are going to be able to 'clean up'. With so many people having to face short sales, foreclosure and often the loss of their credit rating, the rental market is going to expand. This is reinforced by the fact that it has been predicted that 2008 will see even more foreclosures and short sales than 2007. The Chicago-Sun Times put a positive spin on the realty situation when they wrote that "amid negative reports, some real estate veterans see opportunity". They may have been referring to the fact that developers in Chicago are already planning more multi-family units in the area. Going through the ordeal of losing your home is a terrible and a traumatic experience. Most probably, those who went through it will not want to consider becoming home-owners again for a long time - if ever. This means that after the initial shockwaves have passed and they leave the safe haven that they fled to (maybe Mum and Dad's or a friend's) they will be looking for a rental home. They will probably feel the need for the permanence of a long term rental, and reliable long term renters are the best type of tenants for investors. This 'flood' of new rental clients is good news for people who are holding rental properties, as demand can often push up rents. It is also good news for investors. A glut of homes on the market has been slowly bringing down the median price of a house. The opportunity to buy more bargain-priced property is out there and it makes sound investment sense to pursue it. According to a study put out in 2007 from Harvard University, the majority of the country's rental property owners are not the mega corporations that we might expect, but private purchasers. Individuals and married couples own over 19 million of the rental units, and corporations and business partnerships own the other 16 million. It was also reported that condo sales and rentals are expected to be the next big boom. This indicates that there are many ordinary people who may be ready to invest in some of the cheaper deals on the market. Cheaper deals include foreclosures and short sales. However, even traditional methods of sale through real estate agents are offering 'cheaper deals'. This is because the average home owner who wants to sell their home, must stay competitive to attract buyers. Staying competitive is determined by the simple law of supply and demand. Wherever and whenever there is an over supply of anything, including homes for sale, the market price will inevitably drop. All of the information, predictions and current climate are pointing to opportune realty investment chances right now. This applies to almost all areas of the US. Realty reports show that 19 out of 22 metro real estate areas in the US have suffered drops in realty value and activity. The ripe investment situation is even further boosted by the fact that mortgage rates have dropped a full point since December 2007. Eventually it will come full circle; as the demand to buy cheaper homes increases, the law of supply and demand will prevail, and house prices will start to edge up. Joe Pinto, one of the top-producing agents in the Chicago real estate industry. With over 10 years of experience, Joe brings professionalism and hard work to help you in the sale or purchase of Lincoln Park condos. For more information, visit Joe at ChicagoHomeEstates.com.
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18 |
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Cheryl A. Clausen |
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Business/Sales |
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2007-07-29 |
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The quickest way to increase sales today is to focus on the right things. The right things to focus on for immediate sales are: your marketing, your selling process, and your customer loyalty system. These 3 key areas will lead to more sales today and in the future.
The right marketing sets you up for increased sales today. Traditional marketing is ineffective for the small business owner/service professional. Your marketing needs to be very focused in who you are communicating to, the message you are communicating, and the low risk call to action that gets your ideal prospects reaching out to you. The better you understand your market the easier it is for you to develop a marketing plan that results in qualified leads entering your sales funnel.
Hard sell tactics do little to help you increase sales today. You will increase sales today when you change the focus of your appointments to helping the buyer to discover the best solution for them. When you take that approach the buyer is actively engaged in the sales process and working with you to identify the best option for them.
Loyal customers increase sales today and every day in the future. Loyal customers provide repeat business, qualified referrals, and help you to develop strategic alliances that open the door to even more customers. When you have loyal customers you are looking at the life-time value of a customer who does repeat business with you over and over again rather than a one time sale.
Focusing on the right things helps you to increase sales quickly and easily. Focusing on the right things increases sales today because you set appointments with the right people, when you hold the appointment you are starting a long-term relationship, and that long-term relationship results in more appointments with other right people.
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19 |
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Rod Low |
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Business/Marketing |
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2007-07-11 |
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The following are four major ways to up-sell your existing customers. Note: In our example, let's assume you are in the media business. · Sell more of what your customers are already buying. Each of your existing customers have certain buying habits. Ideally you will have accumulated data that allows you to reference both the specific items they purchase as well as their frequency. With this information, you can offer additional products and services in which the customer has already proved to have an interest. For example, sell other music CDs featuring your customers' favorite recording artists, or send your customers a newsletter announcing new releases. · Sell complementary products and services. Your business may have products and services that can be sold in conjunction with other products and services. These items are often an easy up-sell that can be made at the point of purchase. For example, when a customer buys a music CD, you could offer them a CD carrying case or a storage tower. · Introduce noncomplementary products and services. Your current customers posses a degree of trust in your business, and this can be converted into sales of products and services that are not directly related to the customers' existing purchases. For example, a customer who typically buys music CDs can be introduced to videotapes and DVDs that provide access to the latest in recorded movies. · Offer new products and services that your business has added. As your business adds new products and services, these can be offered to your existing customers. This can be done without your having to convert these customers to your business, as they already like your business and how it operates. For example, if your media business adds media equipment, such as CD, video and/or DVD players, these can also be offered to existing customers. If you want to learn some Power Principles of Maximizing Your Business Success for FREE, subscribe to my FREE Newsletter by visiting http://www.ministryofbiz.com/eproducts.html
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20 |
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Sherese Duncan |
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Business/Marketing |
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2007-08-13 |
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5 Easy Ways to Boost Business Profitability I hear it almost everyday, "Sherese, can you help me come up with some great ideas to make more money?" Making more money is wonderful, but what about making a profit? Maybe this is what entrepreneurs are really thinking but the word profit is not used very often so I'm not convinced. It's time to change your mindset from making money to making profits! Listed below are some quick ways to boost your profitability which will definitely lead to more money. 1. Set the Right Price I know a lot of entrepreneurs out there who are undercutting their prices significantly in order to close deals or get clients. This is a mistake if you're not selling at the right price. Let me give you an example of a basic calculation: Company A sells Service B at a retail cost of $130 per hour. The cost of services performed (the raw cost) is $60 per hour. Company A adds 30% on top of that cost which gives them raw cost + 30% cushion profit at $78 per hour (they round this number to $80). The company decides they will sell at a 50% profit margin for this service through the end of the year to achieve their revenue goals. Now, in order to maintain their profit margin of 50% based on selling at least 10 of these services a year, they mark their raw cost + cushion up by 50% . This gives them a retail cost (client cost) of $120 per hour. So what does this mean? In a negotiation situation the company has about $40 wiggle room. Meaning, their raw + cushion cost is $80/hr and their retail cost is $120 per hour; therefore if they need to offer a deal to get the contract they will never fall below $80/hr. This will ensure they will maintain some profitability. I know, it's a lot to understand. But it's important for you to understand it now before you lose money by not setting the right price. If your not sure what to do send me your questions. 2. Upgrade and/or Revamp Your Target Market I say this all the time, your target market is the CORE of your business, without them you have no business. I've had to upgrade my target market at least twice over the last five years. Not necessarily because I had the wrong target market but mostly because the market mindset and availability of resources changed. All of a sudden there were 10-15 new competitors in the marketplace! This suddenly changed the marketing landscape and it also changed my target markets access to good resources. I'm not saying you need to change who you target but maybe you do. Sometimes you can sell a great product but to the wrong target market. To begin the process, start with a simple survey to your current client and prospect database. It may reveal more than you bargained for. 3. Streamline and Focus Your Efforts I suffered from work overload my first 3 years in business. I'm sure you can relate. As entrepreneurs, we get engrossed in the day to day tasks of running the business. Not only that, we have to secure clients so we can keep our doors open. Sometimes you're running in circles and not sure where you will land. In my fourth year of business I think I had created at least 5 new services and 4 new products. Guess what? Not one of them made me any profit. I made enough money to sustain the business but I was pulling my hair out in the process. Sometimes taking the time to focus only on one or two items and making it the best it can be can increase profits instantly. I suggest taking some time to think about the one or two services or products that you offer that bring in the most revenue. Take those and make them even better, after they've been updated you can raise the price! 4. Update Your Prospect List This is a big one. When's the last time you purged your prospect database? I did this last year and it resulted in 3 new clients in just 5 days! The size of your database will determine how long this will take. Start by just cleaning up: go through your list and update contact information. The quickest way to do this is by sending out a nice group message asking for updated information and include a question about staying on your distribution list. It will look something like this: Hi (prospect/client name), I have your company information on my VIP contact list. I wanted to send a quick note to make sure our products and services are of interest to your company. Please take a few moments to answer the following two questions: 1. Would you like to remain on our list? If not, please let us know why. 2. Do you currently have a resource for (your solution here)? Thanks for your continued support, Regards, Name Here ***** This is just a rough version but you get the point. You can add more fluff and more praise if you like; I personally like to just get to the point. As you add new prospects to your database make sure to schedule them for your yearly clean up notice. 5. Use Your Intellectual Capital and Offer a Free Telecourse Telecourses are a great way to promote your business and increase your newsletter subscribers as well. Not sure what a Telecourse is, click here. So how do you create a program? For example: let's say you sell widgets and your client base loves using the widget. You can offer a free Telecourse on how to get the most out of your widget. Sounds to easy, but it is. Not sure what I'm talking about? Take a look at http://www.teleclass.com. They have many courses on a wide range of subjects. I use this service to promote Efficio's Telecourses. It's inexpensive and it can bring your target market to your doorstep. **If you do this make sure to promote your course to your updated prospect list and post on your homepage. These are just a few ways you can boost profitability. Try and think of others based on your business and target market. All you have to do is change your words from make more money to make more profits!
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