7
Internet Marketing Mistakes Which Are Destroying Your Business
By Linda Overtstreet
Below are 7 Mistakes which you can
constantly see many Internet businesses making over and over again. Each of
these mistakes can easily cost your business thousands or tens of thousands of
dollars yearly.
As a matter of fact, I see many internet
businesses out there that have next to no chance of success because a couple of
these problems are at the very heart of their business.
If your business is built on a weak
foundation, there is no way it will be able to produce maximum income for you
even if it does somehow survive.
Mistake #1: You
have a short-sighted vision.
Do you have a long term plan for your
business or are you just trying to make it through the month?
I know marketers who have a 1 year plan, 5
year plan, 10 year plan, and even a 50 year plan for their business...What does
your plan consist of?
A lot of people are making fun of Amazon.com
because of the fact that they lose an average of $3.00 per book that they sell.
Do you realize though what their long term plan is?
Every single day they are using their large
financial backing to take up more and more of the book market share. They are
quickly becoming the most well known bookstore on the earth...and every other
bookstore is beginning to feel the pressure from them.
I am definitely not suggesting to you that
you need to start losing money to gain customers, because most of us small
businesses just couldn't afford that tactic. What I am suggesting to you is what
you learn the lifetime value of a customer.
It is 7 - 10 easier to sell a product to an
existing customer than it is to sell to a new customer. How are you building the
relationships with your current customers? Are you seeking out and finding new
products that meet other needs and wants they might have? Are you treating your
current customers as your most valuable asset in your business?
Mistake #2: You
aren't willing to think outside the box.
For many internet marketers, they only see
two types of advertising. Number 1 for them is free advertising such as free
links, free classifieds, newsgroup participation, and more. Secondly, they see
paid advertising such as banner ads, offline advertising, and paid links.
What about finding people in your business
to endorse your products or services to their customers and splitting the
profits? Jay Abraham and Mike Enlow both list this as the most powerful
marketing tool in existence...do you even know about it?
Press releases can get traffic to your site
almost overnight if you have something that people want or need...have you
worked with the media to get some Free traffic?
Have you considered setting up your own
affiliate program? This is the quickest and easiest way to expand the sales of
any successful product or business. Let other people start selling it for you!
Mistake #3: You
have fallen in love with the wrong product.
Have you fallen in love with the wrong
product? It is interesting to note that in the Internet Marketing Conference,
where a Dozen Top Marketers gathered recently together to discuss the recipe for
marketing success, one of the main reasons for failure that they all agreed upon
was...falling in love with your product or service.
I understand that your product may be your
baby, but you will have to be willing to give it up if it isn't what the market
wants. Every day the world market is changing and you have to be changing right
alongside it. It may be that demand for your product is declining...if so, are
you willing to give it up and find a product people want?
Start asking some questions of your web site
visitors or ezine readers. Ask them what it is that they want. What is it that
they are looking for? You may find out that you have been barking up the wrong
tree and trying to sell them something that they don't really want (Even if it
is what they need).
You will go broke trying to sell people what
they need...if it isn't what they want! The actual statistics are that only one
out of every seven products turns out to be a winner. Go with the odds and be
willing to change if your market WANTS something different.
Mistake #4: You
don't have a Unique Web Position.
What makes your site different than everyone
else's? Why should they visit you instead of somewhere else? Why should they buy
from you instead of the competition?
If you can't answer those questions in one
quick sentence, then you don't have the type of UWP you need to succeed in
today's worldwide business environment
Spend some time and visit the competition.
What is it that you do better than them? What is it that you offer different
from them? For example, in the internet marketing sites out there, so many of
them are only me-too sites. What are you going to do to make yourself different
than the rest? Is it better prices, better services, free stuff, quicker
results, etc.?
Mistake #5: You
haven't researched your market enough.
Do you know what it is that your market
wants? Have you ever taken the time to go back to your customers and ask them
why they bought from you in the first place? Have you spent time in discussion
groups, mailing lists, and newsgroups to find out what problems people may be
having or what they are looking for?
If you don't know why people buy from you,
how can you target them correctly or write a sales letter that will hit their
hot buttons? I will give you the answer to that one...you can't do it.
Concept is more important than ad copy.
Coming up with exactly the right concept (or angle) for your product will make
OK ad copy sell like crazy. A poor concept could never be made profitable even
by the best copywriters out there.
Mistake #6: You
aren't dealing with people as individuals.
Don't talk to everyone...deal with
individuals. I believe in automating as much of the sales process as possible,
but there still comes the time that you have to deal with people like people. We
run the numbers on our sales statistics, but people are not just numbers.
Always remember the human element. Those
aren't just email addresses out there. They are real live individuals who have
wants, needs, and desires just like you. Deal with them that way.
Be willing to help...Be willing to give away
free information...Give away free samples...Be someone that people like.
Mistake #7: You
give up too soon.
This almost goes without saying, but many
individuals give up too soon. I have seen hundreds of individuals make some of
the mistakes above on their sites, lose a little money, and then give up in
disgust believing that the internet just doesn't work.
I am not just dealing with your entire
business either. Sometimes people give up on advertising too soon. They don't
test it enough. Instead of believing that a certain web site isn't a good place
to advertise or that a certain ezine doesn't bring in responses for you, did you
try editing your ad first. I have seen ads double, triple, or even have as high
as 10 times or more effectiveness on the same sites just by a couple of changes.
What do you do now that you know these 7
deadly internet sins?
Read through them...Take them to
heart...Make changes in your business if needed. Don't just walk away from this
and say, "That was a pretty good article." Use it and let these tips
help you in your business.
Then, email me about it. I want to know if
this article helps you or if there is anything else I can do for you. Send an
email to Linda@wealthhere.com anytime.
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