1. Far Cheaper and Much More Flexible Than Print Advertising
The Internet is extremely different from print advertising in that space is cheap, your advertisement is accessible for a longer period of time, the content can be changed without having to ask someone to do it for you (if you use a content management system) and you can potentially reach a wider audience. For more information visit to :www.social-marketing-secret.comThis is not to say that you should not use other forms of advertising at all - You can use it to entice people to visit your website and find out about your company and potentially open two-way communication between the potential customer and a sales person.
2. Market Expansion
The Internet has allowed businesses to break through the geographical barriers and become accessible, virtually, from any country in the world by a potential customer that has Internet access.
3. Diversify Revenue Streams
A website is not just a medium for representation of your company; it is a form of media from which everybody can acquire information. You can use this media to sell advertising space to other businesses.
A recent trend has risen where businesses feature their very own directory of complimentary services, where the visitor can search for information on a business that will enhance the use of your service. The business sells complimentary businesses a listing in their directory. A good example is a catering company featuring a directory with businesses such as event co-ordinators, electronic equipment rental companies, etc.
4. 24 7 365
No more turning customers away when its time to close shop, putting up a note saying "closed for public holiday", or leaving an irritating message on your answering service specifying your trading hours - tell them to visit your website for information they are looking for.
5. Offer Convenience
It is far more convenient for a person to research a product on the Internet than it is to get in a car, drive somewhere and look for or ask someone for information on a product. Also, a potential customer won't have to judge a call centre agent to determine whether he/she has their best interests in mind, or just wants to make a sale. The potential customer can visit your website whenever they like in their own privacy and comfort, without the stresses and distractions that exist in the "real world".
Your website is a self-service medium - for example, instead of having to wait in a long cue to pay your TV Licence, you can now do it electronically through the TV Licence website.
6. Add Value and Satisfaction
By offering convenience, a point of reference and that touch of individualised customer service, you ultimately add value to your offering and your customers experience a higher level of satisfaction.
Your website can add value in other ways too, by featuring tips, advice and general interest content you can "entertain" your customers. This will also help them remember you better.
7. Standardize Sales Performance
By looking at which approached / pitches have worked in the past and those which have not, you can produce the ultimate pitch and use it with your website, so that you use it on every customer. No more training of sales people and waiting for them to get a feel for your line of trade.
8. Improve credibility
A website gives you the opportunity to tell potential customers what you are about and why you deserve their trust and confidence. For more info login to:www.outsource-beginners.comIn fact, many people use the internet for pre-purchase research so that they can determine for themselves whether a particular supplier or brand is worthy of their patronage, and won't take them for a ride.
The Internet also allows for Viral Marketing - where your website visitors spread positive word-of-mouth about your business - your customers do your marketing!
The next step is getting website visitors and getting them to join your list.
You may have heard that the money is in the list. Absolutely true. The problem is less than 10% of Internet marketers know how to build their list. So let's discuss this all important topic.
The majority of your success on the Internet is due to generating traffic and getting those people to join your list. It's rather easy to do this. Here's how...
STEP ONE: Adopt the mindset that list building is the focal point of your business. In other words, put all your effort into getting people to opt in to your list. Everything you do should have this single end in mind.
STEP TWO: Create a lead capture page. All the traffic you generate should be driven to this lead capture page. Which is nothing more than a web page where you advertise a free report, audio, video, mini-course or ezine about a topic your market wants to know more about. I prefer promoting my ezine.
Finally, start marketing the opt in page. A number of website marketing methods exist. They all have their good points and bad points. Below are the ones I like.
Okay. So let's tackle article marketing. What you do is write up a simple article that is several hundred words long. No more than about 700 words. Include a resource box with a link to your website. People who click on that link will be taken to your lead capture site.
My suggestion is that you write up and submit one to three articles per week. The more the better. Don't do manual submission because it's tedious and you won't reach all the directories. Get some kind of submission service or software to do this for you.
Most ezine take advertising. They are like online newsletters so a lot of them get all their revenue from advertisers. You can place either classified text ads or send out solo emails.
Keep in mind, the name of the game is to drive traffic to your lead capture page. So your ezine ad is nothing more than and ad for your lead capture page and the free offer you have there.
The idea behind joint ventures is to leverage someone else's list. This has to be done in a mutually beneficial way. They promote your lead capture page and free offer and you promote theirs.
Joint ventures work when there is reciprocation. In most cases, you can't expect a joint venture partner to promote your free offer if you can't promote something for them in return.
Another huge point: Do something every day to drive traffic to your lead capture page. Consistency is the big key to growing your list. The more you focus on traffic generation the bigger your list will get.
In the next article in this series, we'll discuss how to make money from your list.
Both Babbu & John Anghelache 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.
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