Everyone wants to make a success of their internet business. But there are millions of web site businesses and very few of them make a healthy profit. Let’s look at the structure of a successful internet business and see how we can use it to make our own business successful.
Products: Every good business needs a group of products. You can find these from three areas:
* Make your own
* Buy in products and resell them
* Sell other people’s products as an affiliate
Potential: There is a very famous saying in advertising “You don’t sell the steak – you sell the sizzle.” What this means is that you sell what your products can do for your customers. In other words you sell the potential for a better life/career/business/income that your product can provide. Please be careful not to over sell your products. Your sales letter and web copy must be accurate and reflect the actual benefits of your products and services. This does not mean you should be unduly modest, by all means make big claims, but make sure you can prove and demonstrate anything you promise.
Promises: What guarantees do you offer? Be they price, return on investment, return of purchase price etc. People are understandably wary of purchasing unknown items from web sites – so provide a secure process with a return guarantee. Similarly when asking people to sign onto your ezine promise them that you will not spam them.
Pricing: Pricing is important – too expensive and you will lose purchasers. Too low and people will think that the product is worthless or too good to be true. People are unlikely to purchase a product at above $100 without knowing you and your business quite well. This is generally believed to be the cut off price for an impulse buy.
Perception: You must take time to ensure that your potential customers see you as both an expert in your field and trustworthy. You can do this with your web site and sales copy and by ensuring that your name is well known around the internet.
Consistency: Ensure that wherever and whenever your potential customer comes across your name, web sites or products that are always consistently the same. Look at how MacDonalds does this worldwide. Build yourself a good brand image by using the same design functions and the same product naming conventions – hence our PowerPacks.
Confidence: Make your customer feel safe to purchase from you by using a secure environment, a well known payment processor and autoresponder service. Don’t spam your list and don’t send to many emails. Ensure that you do not come over as needy or aggressive in your interaction with your customer. Never ever ask for financial or personal information that you do not need.
Credibility: Build your credibility by offering samples of your work, pointing out past and current achievements and printing honest and checkable testimonials.
Communication: In order to show that you are a real living person behind your products and web site it is important to keep up regular communication with your customers and potential customers. You can do this by:
* Using an autoresponder service with regular and relevant messages.
* Having your contact details such as email and telephone number on your site and correspondence.
Competition: Always keep in touch with your competition, what they are doing and what new products are being sold. Ensure that you keep your prices and products up to date and continue to seek out niches and market demands that you can soon fill.
Keep your P’s and C’s in mind and your business should be a success! Good Luck.
Source by Lee Lister
