How To Get Qualified Visitors to Your Site

How To Get Qualified Visitors to Your Site

by: Denise Ryder

Having an eBusiness isn’t just about getting gobs of people to your site and hope that a number of them buy. Having your little web counter screaming 50,000 visitors a day doesn’t mean กjackก if no one buys from you. It isn’t about the quantity of your visitors itกs about the quality.

Steve Boutelle has realized this and it sparked this question from him…

Steve Boutelle here . . . LOVED the article on ethics! something thatกs definitely a major part of any truly successful business practice. Iกm sending in my Marketing question here it is:

What are your top proven recommendations for getting qualified, targeted visitor traffic to your site that will continue over the long term?

Great question and one that is on the mind of every eBusiness owner กout there.ก

I know you are probably looking more for the ‘tacticsก to put into place rather than going back and regrouping a bit and we will get to the tactics but first things first…

The main thing that has to be on your mind is to stay focused. When you first get into an eBusiness you have to do your homework. What I mean by that is find out what people want and need and then build a business around meeting those needs.

You CAN’t BE all things to EVERYONE. It just doesn’t work. What you need to be is the กexpertก per se in one or a group of related needs/wants and build your business around that.

When you are กfocusedก you will see that a great many things come together for you. You will find that you aren’t spending gobs of money on traffic generating systems, with the hopes of getting กsomeoneก to buy. You will have a better idea of where those people are and become more proactive in your marketing strategies and budget spending. There is a huge difference in terms of marketing dollars and success rates when you go from a mass marketing approach to a targeted approach ;o)

Go back and look at your web sites and look at it from the shoes of a visitor and see what they see. That little exercise will ALWAYS give you a lot of information in figuring out why people aren’t buying and what needs to be adjusted.

So…first thing in getting long term targeted traffic is to stay focused and try not to be everything to all people. Meet the needs and wants of a targeted market and not the masses. One you know your target market and what they want then the following kicks in for you as far as specific marketing tactics is concerned…

1. List building I have sprouted off here continually about the NEED to have a list (or several lists) of your own. A list that is separate from your affiliate programs so that it can follow you wherever you go. If you have a focus then of course your lists become more focused as well. You will have a list of people who have a want and need for your products/ services as opposed to just a bunch of tire kickers who aren’t really sure what they want or need. Does that make sense??

Your business should have more than just one list. You can have a general list (ie, a subscribers list for your newsletter perhaps), and it should also have specific lists built around sales of certain products and services you offer. If you are in the health and nutrition market and sell several different products in the line, then for each product your sell, those customers become targeted to that product. You can then look at that and make targeted lists from that and act accordingly.

List building, as I said above, is THE KEY. You have the ability through your lists to be specific and target only those who want and need your products/services.

2. Advertising once you know your market and who needs what you have, in the process you find out where they hang out. When you know what newsletters and forums they go to then it makes things easier for you. Again, you are focused with respect to your marketing and are going into newsletters that speak directly to your target as opposed to the masses. Prime example here…

ProfitSpace focuses on marketing and copywriting tactics for the eBusiness owner. My target market for ProfitSpace is eBusiness owners.I can’t tell you how many classified ads I receive from people who are selling health and nutritional products. A person who is selling H&R products specifically is targeting people with health issues. While yes I am sure that there are eBusiness owners with health issues, they aren’t in the frame of mind to read about it in a marketing newsletter. They are looking for business help. That person selling these products would have generated far better response by going to a newsletter which targets health related issues.

You NEED to target your advertising to fit the newsletter you are advertising in. If you are SELLING health products then go to a health related newsletter. If you are trying to build a downline for your mlm then fine, stick with a newsletter geared towards business.

Another thing about advertising that will certainly help you in building long term targeted traffic. DON’t SEND A PERSON TO YOUR SITE, send them instead to a no cost eReport, eBook or eCourse that ties in and relates to your target/focus. REMEMBER if you don’t have a list then you are basically shooting yourself in the foot. You WANT the email address and the name of the visitor…you DON’t WANT them to go to your site, see what you have, hope theyกll bookmark you and come back. They won’t do it.

Let me give you an example of what I mean…

In the case of Mariangie who is promoting telecommunication products. Instead of placing a typical classified that leads a person to her site, she writes a no cost eReport on, oh…say…how to save money on your monthly cell phone charges and writes a classified promoting that report. BINGO she has a name and email address of someone who has a need to save money on their cell phone. You can go much farther in terms of marketing with a warm body to market to as opposed to marketing to a ghost ;o)

See how that works??

So…look at the focus of the newsletter you are advertising in and make sure it reaches your target market…AND…lead a person to a report or some other list generating tool…NOT TO JUST your web site ;o)

3. Articles I can’t tell you how effective writing articles has been for my eBusiness (actually, yes I can!!). Articles RULE!! For one issue all eyes are on you, you take center stage. Writing articles as it relates to your business is a fantastic way of generating trust and rapport, and gives you credibility. We mentioned about about targeting your advertising and articles work in much the same way. Find those newsletters who reach your target market then write good, informative articles that ‘talk to them.ก Share your knowledge and they will come and see what you have to offer, sign up for your reports/courses and spread the word about you.

I know that many people will not write an article because they feel they aren’t writers. กDon’t eat that Martha, itกs ca ca!!ก Anyone can write a simple กhow toก article. Just do up an outline for yourself and use it as a guide to gather your thoughts and then just take your กhow toก process and put it into steps for people to follow.

Articles not only promote you and your site in a subtle way but the Resource Box provides you with the PRIMO classified ad spot there is in the newsletter. See people will read your article, understand what you are saying and THEN read who wrote the article. Thatกs where the resource box comes into play because that is essentially your ad. There they find who wrote the article, your site address and then of course an incentive to get them on YOUR LIST…by offering a them a no cost report ;o)

Keep in mind that that ONE ARTICLE can reach more people than you could ever possibly imagine. You aren’t limiting yourself to just one newsletter…you can send that very article to several publishers within your TARGET MARKET and reach tens of thousands of people all at the same time. The great thing about using articles is the fact that it doesn’t cost you a cent..just takes a little time in putting your knowledge to paper…oh, I mean to disk ;o)

4. Develop your own information products Why rent if you can own. What I mean by that is why use someone elseกs information products when you can quite capably write your own and use it to itกs full advantage. Developing your own eReport, eCourse, or eBook provides you with SUCH AN ADVANTAGE. You can use your own knowledge and create a product and then leverage your marketing through the efforts of others…AND like articles reach far more people than you can possibly imagine.

Now if the mere thought of developing your own info product really scares the heck out of you…well first off, don’t let it. If you are writing articles then you can do a little formatting change and turn a group of articles into a report or course very easily. However, if that STILL makes you feel like a deer caught in the headlights, then your have an alternative. In terms of using information products in your marketing…opt for the reprint or customization rights ALWAYS.

Why??

Well, because as I said above you use these products to leverage YOUR marketing efforts. Yup, you didn’t write the course youกre using but your links and advertising is weaved throughout the particular course. When people who subscribe via your web form for the course will always know who they received that course from because your advertising is throughout, NOT someone elseกs. It just doesn’t make sense to work hard at marketing a course and then NOT have your information somewhere inside. Why are you doing that to yourself?? If you are going to spend time and energy in marketing a product make sure that it leads to YOUR LIST and IT HAS YOUR INFO inside at least. If you are allowed within the confines of the license then let others give YOUR COPY of the product away and leverage your marketing through their efforts…but DON’t let someone else ride your coat tails without getting something out of it.

Do you see how that works???

I offer an eCourse and offer customization licenses, so people have an option. To me as the author it makes no difference if you opt for the license or not…it is still a win/win. The person gets to use my course to build their list so they are smiling. In that regard the win for me is that I am leveraging my marketing through their efforts and because they didn’t buy the customization license ALL MY ads and links remain in place. Now if they took the time to see just how this works and what they can do to change it around a little they would see that by spending the $6.95 in the long run that ecourse just turned the tables for them. They STILL get to use the course as a list building tool AND they also stand to get hits by being able to add their own offers each day for the duration of the course. PLUS, by offering THEIR CUSTOMIZED version of that course to others to use for their list building…they have just turned the tables again by using the efforts of those who are using that course.

I can totally appreciate the fact that eBusiness owners have been through hell and back and have been burned many times by products and/or services offering them the moon. I understand the reluctance to spend money…HOWEVER, in the case of purchasing an eCourse or eReport customization license that gives you such a winfall of potential…it just makes for smart business ;o)

Ok, we have gone over four tools for help you gain targeted traffic. Now the other part of Steveกs question involved กlong term.ก Well, it stands to reason that if you keep up with the article writing, developing new information products are at least using those that are out there to YOUR full advantage, and using classified advertising the right way…that the long term will follow. This isn’t rocket science and YOU DON’t need a degree in marketing to pull any of these off successfully. All you really need is to be persistent and consistent ;o)

Every eBusiness owner needs to start with some form of marketing strategy or foundation. These four tactics will certainly give you a good solid foundation. Once you have them in place and they are pulling for you, youกll then be able to look at the other tactics like paypeclick search engines and give that a shot. The point that I want to really stress is the fact that if you start with the four tactics I mentioned above and they will always be working. Then as you progress you add new tactics, test them and if they prove to be beneficial then you add them.

It does take a bit of time and effort to see the rewards, but they will happen…just stick with it and don’t give up ;o)

About The Author

Denise Ryder is a Marketing Coach writing from her home office in Northern Ontario (Canada). She is publisher of ProfitSpace Newsletter (http://www.profitspace.com). Download her no cost 7Day eCourse กHow to Guarantee eBusiness Success…Before You Even Get Startedก http://www.profitspace.com/success/index.html

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 19, 2004

by Denise Ryder

How to Stand Out From The Competition

How to Stand Out From The Competition

by: Julie Martin

We have all seen the numerous ขclonesข of websites out there. Each one promises ridiculous profits and each one is nearly identical. Is it possible to sell the same things these sites offer and retain your individuality? Yes!

For an example, let’s step outside and take a look at a typical minimall. These stores all look the same. Many of them sell the same items, and somehow they manage to stay afloat. How? One of the easiest ways to stand out from the competition is to offer something that customers can’t find anywhere else.

The old adage, ขthe grass is always greener on the other side,ข can apply very heavily to an EBusiness. More and more businesses pop up every day and chances are, someone else will be selling the exact same item. The only way to stand out from the competition is to research the competition.

By using popular search engines, such as www.google.com and typing in keywords similar to your own keywords, you can get a very good idea of who exactly is out there. Visit their websites, see what they offer and see if you can improve the service, offer something different or make your site more appealing. You can use Alexa, www.alexa.com, an internet ranking site, to see which one of these competitors is pulling in the most visitors. Once you have got an idea about the competition, you can start taking steps to plan your site around them.

The best way to get an edge on your competition is to offer something for free. You can do this without any cost to your business if you offer free information.

Ebooks are an excellent way to accomplish this. There are several free ebooks available on many different subjects. You can offer a free download with the purchase of your product. This means there is absolutely no expense to you, and your customer feels that they are getting more value for their dollar. In today’s economy, that can mean everything in keeping your business afloat.

When offering free information, try to tailor it to the product you are selling. For example, if your ebusiness sells plant seeds, you can offer a free ebook on planting methods and care of the plants. If you can’t find an ebook out there that is right for your product, it is very simple to create your own. All you need is an idea and you are well on your way.

You can offer other free products as well, such as screensavers, a subscription to an ezine, or coupons towards the customer’s next purchase. Your options are pretty endless when it comes to offering something for free.

The next step in standing out from the competition is seeing what they do and finding out how you can do it better. Customer service is the most important facet of running an ebusiness. If the competition doesn’t offer a tollfree number for customer questions and support, you can easily add one to your existing phone line. There are numerous answering services you can employ to handle this for you as well. You can use autoresponders to answer customer’s questions about your products almost instantly, which can give you a definite legup on the competition.

Building an online community is a fantastic way to increase your customers and keep them coming back. You can install a message board on your site very easily with little or no cost. Message boards give you a very easy way to keep in personal touch with your customers and allow them to interact with one another. Each time they come back to check for more messages, they will be visiting your site and seeing your products. It is only a matter of time before these visits convert into more sales and increased revenue for your site.

It is possible to run a successful ebusiness, even one that is identical to several others. You will need to take the time to research the competition and tailor your business accordingly. The small investment of time spent doing this will increase your returns dramatically.

About The Author

Julie Martin is the publisher of ขThe Iscaweb eZineข a weekly eZine dedicated to increasing your online profits, no matter what you are selling. Julie also uses the ขPlugInProfitข system to GREAT effect!

To subscribe to the eZine, or to learn more about the PlugInProfit system visit: http://www.iscaweb.com

This article was posted on August 16

by Julie Martin

Get Viral…

Get Viral…

by: Denise Ryder

Hey, using eBooks, eReports and eCourses is a fantastic way to build a list.

You can use these things as an กincentiveก for joining your affiliate program, as a ‘thank youก for visiting your site, a กbonusก when someone purchases a product/service from you. The possibilities are endless!!

Many eBusiness people use them, however, some are making TWO HUGE MISTAKES when they do use them. Here is what they do…

1. They upload these things to their site and publish the download link WITHOUT capturing an email address and name.

The WHOLE POINT of using this กstuffก is to build a list. YOU CAN’t MARKET TO A GHOST!!! Instead of uploading your items to your server and just publishing the download link, work smarter… Set yourself up with a minisite where you can direct people to and for the PRICE of their email address and name, they can have the download link sent to them.

NOW you have a warm body to market to AND you know what they are interested in.

2. They don’t take advantage of customizing eBooks, etc with THEIR OWN links.

You want your marketing efforts to pay off for YOU. If you are giving away an eBook with someone elseกs links in it then all your marketing is paying off for the person whose links are inside. WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT??

There are tons of people out there falling into that trap. However, right now YOU’re my concern. If they want to not bother spending a little extra and purchase a customization license thatกs their downfall. Actually, we want those people because if they distribute our eBook with our links inside, great…they are marketing for us.

But YOU..no, no, no my friend. You are into working smarter…not harder. So ensure that if there is a customization license and if you can afford it, then upgrade to it. Get your links, site name, url and in some cases ads in the books, courses and reports you are giving away.

THEN encourage those who do request your reports, etc to give them away to their networks, downlines and associates. Your links and info are laced within and when people open it they see YOU and THATกS WHAT YOU WANT ;o)

Here are two products which have customization licenses available, which won’t break the bank.

1. กHow To Turn A Simple Sign Up Process Into An… Unstoppable Income Stream.ก (eBook) http://www.profitspace.com/book.html

2. กHow To Guarantee eBusiness Successก (eCourse) http://www.profitspace.com/success/cust.html

A กminisiteก is included so all you have to do is paste in your autoresponder address or web form and you are good to go.

Viral marketing is the most cost effective marketing tool we have. An eBook or eCourse laced with your links inside can end up in more places than you could dream possible, and of course reach on your own.

Use viral marketing to its FULLEST and get it pulling for you and your ebusiness ;o)

About The Author

Denise Ryder is a Marketing Coach writing from her home office in Northern Ontario (Canada). She is publisher of ProfitSpace Newsletter (http://www.profitspace.com). Download her no cost 7Day eCourse กHow to Guarantee eBusiness Success…Before You Even Get Startedก http://www.profitspace.com/success/index.html

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 19, 2004

by Denise Ryder

Take Advantage of the Internet Power

Take Advantage of the Internet Power

by: A.M. Shelmani

The Internet has become a huge market place, and the recent explosion in online retailing and ecommerce prove it. Merchants now have access to a world wide consumer base (no longer limited by their geographical location). People have become comfortable buying on the Internet and are looking for products from all over the world 24 hours a day think of the different time zones. The total number of Internet users now stands at about 500 million and it is estimated that by the year 2005, this number will triple. Imagine this number of people in the world as your prospect customers or ecustomers to be precise. This is a very powerful concept!
Anyone with a computer and access to the Internet with basic skills can setup a home based business and tap into this huge market and sell virtually anything they wanted right from their home or anywhere they have Internet access.
Many have taken advantage of the Internetกs power; they are working at home using the Internetกs many work at home opportunities. You don’t have to quit your job to start your own home business.
So what ebusiness can you start? how much money is needed to start?
Before being a huge market place, the Internet, since itกs inception, is the place for Information. People surf the big net looking for Information even when they are looking for a product to buy online, they are looking for Information on that product before they buy it.
There are many home ebusiness ideas you can explore. It all depends on how much time and money you want to invest to start your own small ebusiness. The key is to start very small with as little money as possible. Anything come to mind? you got it; selling Information is a great idea that cost little to no money to prepare into an eproduct and sell it.
Selling Information or eproducts has many advantages. You won’t need products to stock, no warehouse, no office space, no employees, no merchant accounts, no shipping (instant delivery), and you don’t need to go open your store every day. You can go to work if you like and let your small ebusiness run virtually unattended. Selling eproducts is the perfect fit for the Internet.
Your eproduct can be in the form of ebook that is downloadable instantly or it can be in the form of membership based website where you setup a protected directory with your HTML pages in it.
You are not limited by a certain type of Information product. You just need to think about one that will fit the reality of the Internet. For example, you might be a programmer. You can sell your knowledge in programming plus develop your own application software and sell it. Actually, you wil have an edge here since Information products come only second to Software products in terms of demand and sales.
Another way of using Information to generate income is to become an affiliate with as many companies as you choose. You can setup a free website about needed information and put your affiliation links for people to click on. The more visitors to your site, the more money you get from commission.
You can work your way up to becoming what is called a Super Affiliate. Super Affiliates make thousands of dollars each month by choosing the right affiliate program once their web sites reach traffic count of thousands of visitors every month.
It is not as easy as กbuild it and they will comeก, but is certainly possible. If others could do so can you.
The key here is to get as much knowledge about starting your own eBiz as possible. As the saying goes, กknowledge is powerก very true, but กknowledge with ACTION is much more powerfulก. Your action should be fast for example: more and more search engines are starting to charge for web site submission. Some are still free, but not for long so you need to act fast.
How much money is needed to start?
Not a lot, there are one time fees and recurring fees. You may choose to create your own ebook, and to do that, you will need ebook compiler software at a one time fee of as little as $29. Your domain name and hosting fees which are anywhere from $50 to $100 annually, are about your only recurring fees. If you choose to setup a membership site, then you can choose not to buy the ebook compiler software thus reducing your startup costs. Thatกs about all the money you will need to pay. The Information itself will be coming from your brain unless you elect to resell other peopleกs eproducts given the proper resell rights.

About The Author

A. M. Shelmani is an ebusiness consultant with ebizyourhome.com. Their website is setup to help people start their own ebusiness providing them with useful resources from FREE eBiz articles and ebooks to FREE web page templates and technical support. www.ebizyourhome.com

This article was posted on May 24, 2004

by A.M. Shelmani

How To Implement EBusiness Solutions Successfully

How To Implement EBusiness Solutions Successfully

by: Nowshade Kabir

Getting your business processes online is not an easy job! According to Gartner Group, a renowned research firm, a full 75 percent of all ebusiness projects fail due to poor planning and unrealistic expectations of new technology. The productivity gains and cost savings promised by ebusiness solutions are often lost not because of the technology itself but because of improper management of their implementation. In most of the cases, when a massive ebusiness solution installation goes wrong, the management of the business is to blame. Failure to understand the scale of the project, oversimplification of the project, inappropriate expectations and lack of resource commitment are few of the mistakes made by management that debilitate the implementation and use of the systems.

Pitfalls of Ebusiness solutions installation process

A large distribution company has decided to use a new online supply chain management solution. The people – those who were supposed to use the system – were quite skeptic about the ability of the system, as they did not have enough knowledge and had very little or no training in using a similar system. As a result, it took over a year for the company to bring the solution to its full operation. Productivity suffered severely. The final implementation cost came out to be several times more than initial budget. A large number of companies are reporting to face similar difficulties with the implementation of their ebusiness solutions.

The problems that occur while a company tries to implement ebusiness solutions, most likely, include:

Senior managers do not spend enough time and efforts to learn and understand the solutions. As a result, they have no idea how their workers will adapt to this new solution; and fail to set forth quantifiable objectives for them in terms of efficiency and productivity. The end users do not receive required training. As a result, treat the new solution as an added burden rather than a tool to increase efficiency and productivity. In many cases, IT infrastructure is not uptodate enough and lacks power to support the new solution. Due to inadequate understanding by the management of the ebusiness solutions that they plan to adopt, often, the time and money allocated to the project are far less than required. Often the advanced Internet based ebusiness solutions require to be integrated with portion of old systems that the company is presently using, which in turn, sometimes generates software and system incompatibility. How to avoid pitfalls

Ebusiness solutions are sophisticated systems that encompass significant areas of the company and its relationship with customers. That’s why implementation of these projects should be carried out according to detailed plans.

Preparation

Create a well developed scope. In creating the scope involve all endusers of the solution, not only the technical and business model experts. Get answers to the questions like:

What is the single most important goal that the company is planning to reach thanks to this solution?

What critical problems the solution is meant to solve?

Are the time and money spent justifies its implementation?

What are the implementation milestones?

How you will know that you have reached those milestones?

Once you got all the relevant people of the company involved in the process, choose an implementation taskforce of experts from all required sections. This team should be responsible for developing the implementation plan. According to this plan assign resources and deadlines. Upon completion of each stage of implementation get senior management involved in order to review the progress.

Education and Training

Education should cover the ขwhyข side of the solution and training the ขhowข side.

Identify the people that required getting trained and educated.

Define objectives

Define training and education criteria and select syllabus

Set the evaluation method

Conduct the actual learning process

Assess their progress

Implementation

Implementation of the solution should take place according to the strict predefined stages.

Upon completion of each stage of implementation get senior management involved in reviewing progress. Conduct reality check!

How does the solution meet your expectations so far?

Is it doing what it’s supposed to do?

Do you need to revise any of your priorities?

Once the implementation is over, set up a thorough post implementation meeting with the taskforce and the relevant endusers. The important thing here is to identify if everybody involved with the project is satisfied with the result or not.

In order to successfully implement ebusiness solutions, it is very important that you fully understand the technologies behind it. If require hire a consultant and work closely with her. In the long run, this might save you substantial time and money.

Here are other things to remember:

1. Ebusiness solutions are mere tools. Don’t expect them to radically change everything that you learnt about business processes.

2. Ebusiness solution implementations like any other project require strict step by step project management.

3. Before considering an ebusiness solution, make sure that there is a sound business need to get it. Emarketplace, Private exchange, Business portal are few of the ebusiness solutions that help you attracting new customers and markets. These solutions also allow streamlining many of the vital business processes. In your ebusiness strategy these solutions should be at the top of the list.

4. Keep track of the new technologies and keep an eye to your competitors’ ebusiness strategies. Ebusiness is an extremely fast moving segment; you should be ready for changes and embrace them whenever it’s necessary.

About The Author

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he has wide experience in Business Consulting, International Trade and Web Marketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace with solutions to start and run online business. You can contact him at mailto:nowshade[at]rusbiz.com, http://ezine.rusbiz.com/archivenews.html?nl_oid=43

This article was posted on September 15, 2004

by Nowshade Kabir