Stop Slacking and TAKE ACTION!!: Tid-Bit-Tips For Online Success

by Anthony L. Davenport

Do you want On-line Success?

If you want to succeed online, you have to do something. (Advertise, Market, Joint Venture, product development) Doing something and failing is a lot better than not doing anything at all.

You see if you make a mistake you will still be able to learn and improve on your efforts--If you do SOMETHING. If you do Nothing you will never have the benefit of hindsight and will not be able to improve on anything-- and you will always be at the starting point.

Learning from your mistakes lets you improve whatever you fell short on the first time around: eMarketing, website design....anything.

Are you held standing still by this mind set? I know I was. It's true that today we have available to us much more eMarketing information than there ever was a few years ago, and the number of 'Top Money Makers' selling their "secrets" to success is steadily increasing. So it is quite understandable why so many people wait to start any new eBiz project.

We all suffer from this 'information analysis paralysis' or 'IAP' for short (this is just what I like to call it ^_^ ).

This simply means that we as eMarketers and eBiz owners are bombarded daily with information on how to run our businesses. All this information tends to make any marketing decision hard to conclude. Since we really don't know what will work and what won't, and again we are afraid to make mistakes...(making a mistake is not failing, it's the start to success)..

People are scared to make mistakes and they want to succeed with as little as possible. So with all this information available we tend to think that our margin for error should be non-existent. With all these eBooks and Courses on how to succeed online coming from people who actually did it (or so they say),we have no excuse to make mistakes or fail. right?

I know it was this mind-set that froze me into an IAP case for almost 2 years. Always searching for a sure-fire marketing plan/opportunity. Never actually getting around to implementing anything because something that seemed better always came out..Well what I found is... We are all human beings, we all make mistakes, some are more talented than others in certain parts of life and there is no 'Pie in the sky' 'SURE money maker'... ...Ya, I was disappointed too. (But if you find one let me know ^_^)

Now I will be one of the few that will admit, I don't know everything about eMarketing.

But I am willing to share with you some tips I’ve picked up on the way. Below are a few eMarketing techniques that have not only worked for me but for more Highly successful eMarketers as well

Just a reminder, you and I are two different people so just because something works well for me doesn't mean it will work the same for you. This is true both ways, If an eMarkeing technique works horribly for me, doesn't necessarily mean it will won't work for you... ..you determine your success, and the way you do that is by trying something, then IMPROVING your efforts and results.

just a note, these are not going to be in any order... I am writing them down as they come to me ^_^..

1) --Marketing to Targeted News groups--

I think this is SO important especially if your just starting out, or if your trying to start a NEW advertising campaign.

First go to Google.com or Yahoo.com and check out newsgroups for you niche.. in the search engine or directory..

Once you find your appropriate site...to get some quick targeted traffic: post a quick letter asking for these people's thought on your site.

Make sure that you don't come off as a newbie eBiz owner.. Establish in your post that you are a semi-successful eBusiness and just revamped your website and information layout. Tell them you added new content, products, etc. And you have been reading the post in the newsgroup and have come to respect many of the members opinions---so you would like their opinions on your site's 'new layout.' then toward the end of your post tell them to ask themselves when they are viewing your site:

Is the message clear?

Can you navigate the site easily?

What didn't you like about it?

Can you offer any suggestions?

At the end of your post leave you URL address, and a quick description of your site---your "sig file" (for those who don't know: a "sig file" is a little message at the end of your article/email/post that contains your site URL and a description of your site, products /services or new promotions.)

Once you have done this, Continually search and post informative articles in newsgroups your niche hangs out at.. and ALWAYS include your "sig file" at the end of each article this will ensure you a nice stream of TARGETED traffic. Note: make sure your "sig file" is only a brief descriptions, 3-8 lines long..DO-NOT make it into a blatant advertisement... you will lose credibility doing this.

Another note: this is a great way to get targeted traffic to your site, but don’t rely just on this method alone. as in most cases this is a long term traffic provider that will provide targeted prospects, just don’t expect any HUGE numbers...this is just a great place to start...

2)---using Pop-Ups to get subscribers---

First off if you don't have any kind of regular mailing from your website--a newsletter, eZine, product announcements anything..then your losing money.So start one now.

Now when a visitor comes to your website, looks around..then leaves, you will never see them again, so you need a way to get their email addresses for follow-ups.... and if you do have a sign up section for your eZine.... it's most likely that you're losing potential subscribers...who are then potential customers.

You have to make it easy for a visitor to subscribe... or they wont do it...face it people are lazy.. so by adding a pop-up/pop-under/exit pop up, anything.. you will definitely increase your subscriber response at least 300% overnight because you have made it that much easier to subscribe, no kidding!

3)----Viral Marketing----

This works extremely well if done correctly... though it may take a little time to get going.. when it does the response is usually "WOW".

The way to do this is create an information product or buy one you can 'brand' with your sales links..an eReport or small eBook (usually pertaining to your products.. or a problem your products can solve).. and give it away for free..telling the person you gave it to... ...to give it away as well. (telling them they can give it away as a bonus or incentive to build their own list)

when you create the product you make it so it has links all inside of it to your web-site/products you promote...... so the more people give it away the more your message is exposed to the marketplace..

Another way to go Viral is by writing quality articles, Posting them on newsgroup forums and telling the members they can re-publish it freely in their own eZines as long as they keep your "sig file" attached and whole.

This is a VERY powerful Fr~e Advertising method.

4)---Pay Per Click Search engines-----

This is a Must for targeted traffic...

But you must be careful because if you don’t know how much you can afford per visitor you can easily spend all your money ...Very quickly... Here is something you can learn in any business class:

First you have to figure out how much each visitor is worth to you. how you do this is check your:

1-Total sales over a period of time..

let's say over 1 month you sold 20 products

2-Gross Income for that one month..

20 products at $50 = $1000

(I wish you more sales than this, but for the sake of examples I want to keep the numbers round)

3)-Net Income:

calculate what you have left over after your ebiz expenses.

$1000-100=900 for hosting/ads etc.

4)Check your server logs for the number of UNIQUE VISITORS over that month.(note: your sever log is a file kept by your hosting server that records how many times some one views a certain page on your site, if you don’t already have access to it ..you can contact your hosting company and get it)

Secondly, Find how much each visitor is worth to you based on the above information...

1) Figure your conversion rate:

Unique Visitor/ Total number of sales=Conversion rate lets say you got 3000 visitors that month..

so 3000/20=150

all this means is every 150 visitors you usually make a sale.

2)Check your Net profits per sale:

Gross Profits - eBiz Expenses/Total number of sales=Net profit per sale

so: $1000 - $100/ 20 sales= $45 per sale.

3)calculate how much the visitor is worth.

Net $$ per sale/Conversion Rate= Visitor's worth

so: $45/150=0.30..so 30cents per visitor..

if you bid higher than this per visitor you will be losing money.. so try to keep it alot lower than that...

The way to do this..is to stay away from the highly competitive keywords in search engines.. go for the more obscure neglected words..