Internet
Marketing
7
Internet Marketing Mistakes Which Are Destroying
Your Business
By Terry Dean
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 Direct Mail Bootcamp, where a
Dozen Top Marketers gathered 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 Terry@bizpromo.com
anytime.
Terry Dean, a 5
year veteran of Internet marketing, will Take You
By The Hand and Show You Exact Results of All the
Internet Marketing Techniques he tests and Uses
Every Single Month" Click here to Find Out
More: http://www.netbreakthroughs.com
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