Print Article for : Laying The Foundation Vocabulary

Your Online Guide » Internet » Internet Marketing Online

[L141]Laying The Foundation Vocabulary

by Abe Cherian, Abe

The problem with this operational focus is that it is easy to lose sight of what could be done in the business to make it run better. The business will only prosper in the long term if you devote a lot of attention to improving how the business works and increasing its capacity.

Spending a lot of time working on the business, makes it grow in the long term. Business growth is sustainable and things just keep on getting better. If necessary, get other people to work in the business. Working on the business should be your top priority.

Failure to work on the business causes it to become trapped. It is almost like the business gets stuck in a box. The business is unable to dynamically take advantage of opportunities. And it fails to adjust to a rapidly changin g environment. Eventually, the business starts losing its competitive edge. A one way downhill trip becomes almost inevitable.

Most businesses fail or under perform because business owners spend too much time working in their businesses. And not enough time working on their businesses. The biggest fall out is during the first year. 29% of new businesses never make it into their second year. And 65% of businesses close their doors within the first 5 years.

Research shows that the biggest cause of business failure is the lack of a Strategic outlook. People who start businesses tend to be very focused on operational issues. The preoccupation with working in the businesses causes an almost exclusively Operational Focus.

The lack of a Strategic outlook means that little attention is paid to laying the foundations that business success is built on. Because Strategic Action is not taken in the business, it stagnates. And gradual decline follows. Even if you get through the first five years, you aren't home and dry yet.

Many businesses that manage to get through the first five years, also lack that all important strategic outlook. For them, a different set of problems arise. Initiating strategic outlook enables business techniques you will need to become successfully occupied for the foundation, which is the first building blocks of any business.

If you're new to internet maybe you haven't come across the phrase "the money is in the list" yet. You will soon enough but what does it mean? Well quite simply it is estimated that for every subscriber you get to your list. If you market to them correctly, you can generate $1.00 per month. If you have 10,000 subscribers that's $10,000 per month.

Let's not pretend that this is a cake walk though. List building doesn't happen overnight and it doesn't happen without a lot of hard work.

It has been said that internet marketing is easy and by one definition it is. Get someone to your site or blog, tell them about a product they'll like. They buy it and you get paid.

However, making that happen requires a high degree of knowledge, understanding, skill, focus, hard work and a solid foundation on which to build your online business.

List Building for Beginners - Staying Power

Where does that foundation start - with list building? No, before you can think about building a list you need to identify a niche. That part of the market that you intend to serve. So we start with market research (yawn - my least favorite thing to do). Under no circumstances can it be ignored though.

The market must have potential and ideally that potential should deliver short term as well as long term benefits. By this I mean people want to buy things now (not necessarily from you) and they will buy more of the same or similar things in the future. You just need to get your share. You do not want to build a list of one time purchasers.

List Building for Beginners - Spending Power

You want to target a market where money is being spent. As I write this article I notice that Coach handbags and purses are incredibly popular. I learned this by visiting eBay Pulse. Another great resource is shopping.com which has a top searches page. You can also check out places like internet forums.

List Building for Beginners - Pulling Power

Pulling Power refers to the messages you will send to your list subscribers. I know we haven't got to the list yet but it is an essential part of the market research process. It's all well and good getting people on your list but if you've got nothing to follow through with you'll be losing a lot of sales. There is a hot selling product right in the tattoo market. I was initially quite excited about this as it was very innovative. I didn't pursue because I couldn't think of, or identify, any back end promotions from which to generate additional sales.

Once you have identified a niche that you like and established that it has staying power and spending power you need to work out how to communicate effectively. The best way to do this is to find a forum about your niche and check out the questions being asked. If there is an FAQ section even better. Identify say 10 questions and you can use these to form the basis of your follow up marketing messages.

With this work done you are now well positioned to move our list building project forward to the next stage.

Article Source : Pg. 123

About Author

Both Abe Cherian & Michael Page are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Abe Cherian has sinced written about articles on various topics from Prospects, Marketing and Business Plan. . Abe Cherian's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.

Michael Page has sinced written about articles on various topics from Forex Guide, Personal Finance and Anger Control. Mike is a full time internet marketer who loves helping others to succeed for themselves.Did you find this article useful? List building can be a challenge for the newcomer. Sometimes it is just easier to model what others have done to succeed. Visit th. Michael Page's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.