Killer Internet Marketing Errors – How to Avoid Them – Internet-Marketing
Killer Internet Marketing Errors - How to Avoid Them
With 95% of all Internet businesses failing, it is important to find out what actually works and what doesn't. Most online business failures can be attributed to one or more of the following marketing errors:1. Free Domain Hosting. Failure to obtain and use your own domain name gives your site visitors a poor impression of you and your online business. With domain registrations under $10/yr., there is no good reason not to have your own domain name.2. Poorly Constructed Web Sites. Your web site is an extension of you and your online business. It should be attractive, professional and easy to navigate. Using a lot of white space between paragraphs makes it easier for your visitors to read your message. Include links at the top and bottom of every page so that your visitors don't get lost. It is a good idea to have a friend or business associate review your site and provide feedback.3. Lack of Good Web Site Content. Offer your visitors free, valuable information and not just a sales pitch. By offering free, valuable information you will establish credibility and make your site visitors feel you genuinely care.4. Unsecured Credit Card Processing. Be sure that the page on which you ask site visitors to input confidential credit card information is secure. Secure order pages will have "https" in the address bar. With identity theft on the rise, your customers may be reluctant or even refuse to leave credit card information on an unsecured order page.5. No credit card processing. Eighty-five percent of all online purchases are made with credit cards. Shoppers like being able to "whip out" the plastic, complete their order and leave your site knowing the product is on its way. There are a number of companies who offer credit card processing for a very small setup fee and no monthly charges. You can expect to pay a little more per transaction to these companies but you only pay when you make a sale. This is in contrast to the traditional merchant accounts that typically require completion of a lengthy contract, credit checks and monthly fees.6. No Privacy/Policy Statement. Having a "privacy/policy" page on your site is pretty much expected these days. Visitors to your site look to see what they can be expect from you in the event there are problems. What is your return policy? At what phone number can you be reached? What happens to the visitor information input on your site? Is that information sold to others or kept confidential within your company? These are just a few of the questions that might be addressed.7. Failure to build an "opt-in" email file. Failing to collect the names and email addresses of your site visitors is like throwing money away! Your "opt-in" list will be the means by which you stay in touch with your potential customers. Most visitors will not buy on their first visit to your site so you must keep your name and web address in front of them on a regular basis and keep them coming back to your site until they purchase your product/service.For Secrets Successful Internet Marketers Don't Want You to Know visit http://www.greenfriday.com?source=eza.Bernie Alexander is an author/internet-marketing specialist who has spent years testing various marketing strategies and products.Warning! This product will shock you. Visit http://www.snoop4me.com?source=eza
Lesson #5: Four Easy Ways to Kill Your Business Using Your Autoresponder… And How to Avoid Them – Email-Marketing
Lesson #5: Four Easy Ways to Kill Your Business Using Your Autoresponder... And How to Avoid Them
The importance of building an opt-in list over spamming (a.k.a., using unsolicited commercial email) is something that I can never stress enough. You must avoid it at all costs!That and more can kill your business!NEVER use your autoresponder for spamming in any way. You can lose your account, pay fines, get locked out from your ISP, lose your website and, above all, get jail time.It's a serious matter that must never be overlooked. Sure, you may stumble onto someone who says they can help you spam without getting caught. But please remember this...The reason you want a smart autoresponder is to expose your sales message more than once to your prospects in order to create trust, credibility and believability.So, why would you do something that literally contradicts that very notion? Spamming is good if it's done once. That why spammers must keep spamming in order to stay alive!Spamming is Like a DrugSpamming is like a brief high... If it works (and it rarely does), it only brings a small cash infusion in the short term. That's all. You have to remain unknown, cloaked, hidden.Then you have to work, and work, and work... Non-stop!On the other hand, if you build an opt-in list of eager, highly targeted prospects, you only need to work once... That's it! You can spend the rest of your time growing your business.Here are four seemingly easy ways of using your smart autoresponder that can kill your business really fast...NEVER email a list of non-targeted email addresses picked at random (such as by using software to "harvest" email addresses posted on the web).NEVER buy lists of email addresses from unknown list brokers or suppliers (many of them offer thousands of names on CD-ROMs, are often useless and are known as outright scams). Trust reputable ones only.NEVER email any contact unless you have their explicit permission to do so (and that includes adding email addresses in bulk to your autoresponder database!).NEVER share your own opt-in list to others, since their spam will kill your business even if it wasn't your fault!
Spam can get in a lot of hot water, plain and simple.Why "Opt-in" and Not Spam?As you know, using responsible email marketing to grow your business can help you save loads of time, fatten your bank account and give you an astonishing return on investment.Instead of using spam, think about starting a legitimate opt-in list of targeted prospects, and then turn them into life-long customers by consistently keeping in touch with them.Spammers usually don't care if the people who receive the message are really interested or "not" in their offer. That's why they tend to send an inordinate amount of emails...... All with the hope that they get a few "bites."Look at it this way...If you shoot a gun in the air (or in the dark), you will seldom hit a target. That's why you have no choice but to keep shooting and shooting... Until you finally do hit it (if ever).With an opt-in list, however, look at it as your target... It's right there, before you, easy to hit (and hard to miss). Your chances of hitting your target are drastically higher. Right?The absolute best way to protect yourself from complaints and disgruntled email recipients is to build an opt-in email list and sending email to only those people who asked for it.Spammers are often enticed to carry out their unethical (and illegal in some places) practices because email is free and fast. But if you remember, it lacks the third "F:" Focus.If You Lack Focus, Be Prepared...Spammers with such an attitude find out the hard way that it's really very costly, even dangerous. In fact, some of the recipients can make the spammer's life quite miserable!From complaining to your ISP or web host, to sending mail bombs, nasty viruses and even significant threats - from hacking into your computer to causing physical harm!Plus, nowadays many recipients are members of a variety of anti-spam groups that arm members with tools for tracking, reporting, filtering and even stopping spammers' attempts!Of those, the most popular one is CAUCE (i.e., the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email). They have created a number of tools, such as blacklists, now used by most ISPs.Finally, keep in mind that email software (and "add-ons") are making it more and more difficult for spam to reach its final destination, from sophisticated filters to complaint reporters.Less than a half-percent of people will get your spam!Save Time, Effort and Money!Building an opt-in list has a number of advantages. Sure, you can build trust with and sell a lot easier to a list of targeted people. But in addition, responsible email allows you to:Send email offers to a group of people who know you, expect your emails and want to do business with you.Achieve greater sales, even from a small list, since it is targeted (and will get through most email filters since your newsletter is added to the recipients' "whitelists").Not upset anyone since they have given you their permission to email them, as well as not get in trouble with service providers since no one is complaining.Not waste time, money and energy on buying and setting up email cloakers, spam-friendly servers, fake email accounts and useless bulk email software.And, above all, not waste time constantly looking for a new ISP (and moving your website from host to host) because your last one closed your account!If you're putting those people who asked for more information via an autoresponder into an opt-in list, make sure they know: 1) they're subscribing and 2) their email is kept private!Treat your subscribers like gold... They're your lifeblood!Minimize complaints by making it as easy an as transparent as possible. In other words, tell them what they will get from you, how often and how easy it is to stop it at any time.In fact, adding a privacy policy on your website or near your web form (or accessible near your autoresponder link) will increase the likelihood of getting people to join your list.It can be as simple as this...---------------------------------------------------
PRIVACY POLICY: Your email address is safe with us. We promise never to sell to or share with anyone, for any reason, your personal contact information.
---------------------------------------------------But if you want to create a more complete privacy policy web page (and perhaps have a link to it near your web form), here's some information you might tell your prospects...WHAT information is being collected (such as email addresses, names, phone numbers, etc).WHY the information is being collected (tell them that it's for a free report, ezine or whatever, and if you plan on adding their information into an opt-in list for sending periodic announcements or special offers).WHEN that information is being used (tell them exactly how often do you plan on emailing them).WHO will be using (or accessing) that information (while you should be the only one, here you might include staff, service providers, partners, etc).WHERE the information is actually stored (tell them that the information is also secure from hackers)And HOW to remove or modify that information (tell people exactly how they can update or change their details, or remove themselves from your list).
Bottom-line, make your opt-in list safe and secure for both you AND your prospects. The more you do, the greater your profits will soar! Be responsible and use commonsense!Make it Personal!Finally, try to personalize your email messages. Personalization increases trust and confidence. But more importantly, it also shows that your message was voluntarily asked for.Personalized messages get the attention of readers and can dramatically increase the readership. In fact, readers will be more receptive and attentive to your marketing message.Whether your message is a plain text message or HTML, you can easily add personalization tags in the message: like the reader's name, address, email addresses or even website!Personalizing your messages will increase your sales!For example, put the reader's first name in the subject line. First, it will show that the message is wanted and not spam. But second, studies show that it will actually be read first!Next, personalize the message content! That way, you not only give the reader content that's relevant to them, but also give your message a more trustworthy and credible "feel!"Ultimately, realize that personalization not only increases readership, response AND revenue, but it also increases the chances of it reaching its final destination in the first place!Avoid being filtered out as spam!Learn more about internet marketing, search engine marketing, email marketing go to internet marketing and website promotion.
Entrepreneurs – 7 Business Mistakes You Must Avoid – Top7-Or-10-Tips
Entrepreneurs - 7 Business Mistakes You Must Avoid
Many mistakes can be made in business and if you are able to avoid some of them by reading and taking note of these warnings, then the time taken to put these together will be worth while. Here are some business mistakes that are common to many entrepreneurs..
No plan
Many people go into business without any plan at all. The old saying that "if you don't have a plan you won't know when you've got there" still holds true today. You need to set up a business plan and that plan will contain other subsidiary plans such as a marketing plan, a finance plan, a sales plan, etc. Be flexible
If you have a business idea and you are looking at developing that into your business, then be prepared to change and be flexible. Sometimes the original idea needs some fine-tuning before it becomes commercially viable and profitable for you. By all means stay with your dreams, vision and ideas, but be flexible and allow yourself the luxury of discussing those ideas with professional advisers, as well as those who have already done it before. Make sure you know your customers
Every business must have customers. If you don't have customers you won't have sales. If you don't have sales, you won't have profits. If you don't have profits you won't have a business. Make sure you are aware of your customers as well as your competitors. You need to know your customer's preferences, as to the services you can provide. Unless you know your customers well, it is difficult for you to know what to supply.You need to know what their requirements are. You need to find a bit more about their buying patterns and you need to be aware of your competitors so they don't take your customers away from you. Also provide good customer service. The short answer to customers is, work hard to get them and when you've got them, keep them by providing quality products, service and good support so they won't consider going anywhere else. Watch your cash
Ensure your cash position at all times allows you to make decisions and pay for the requirements of the business. The saying that "cash is king" still holds true today because if you run out of cash your business will come to a "screaming halt". You always need to maintain sufficient cash in reserve to meet emergencies and to pay staff and to pay for goods and services.This means that the fact you have a lot of stock in the warehouse or a lot of equipment or other assets, does not guarantee you will not fail. If you don't have cash you will definitely fail because most people don't' look kindly on being paid for their goods and services with your stock or plant or equipment. People want cash. Work with good staff
Make sure you employ good people. Motivate and train them so they are happy in their work. The result will be increased productivity and work satisfaction. Be patient and persistent, and insist on a high standard of work from your staff. Motivate, encourage and coach if necessary, as well as pat them on the back when that's needed. Some psychologists go so far as to recommend that the staff need a cuddle now and then, but that is probably going a bit overboard!Make sure you have good morale in your workplace, because that will result in high productivity and high profits for the business. If the business is doing well, ensure that the staff know about it and praise them for it. The best confirmation of your satisfaction with your staff will be when you share some of that increased profit with them by way of bonuses and other benefits. Always seek advice
Listen to good advice. The person who thinks they know everything is headed for disaster. Being a lone ranger does not entitle you to a medal and you will find most people are prepared to talk and help you if you ask. Also be aware of the fact that you cannot do everything yourself, based on the knowledge you have. Others also have expertise and something that takes them five minutes to explain could take you a couple of days to figure out on your own. Be realistic
If you are in business, you need to live in the real world. You need to watch your business performance. Control your expenses. Look at ways of increasing your income. Continually monitor how the business is going and how the staff are performing. Have a reserve of cash in the bank for a rainy day and plan ahead all the time, rather than waiting for disaster to happen.
Copyright 2005 StartRunGrow
http://www.startrungrow.comStartRunGrow (http://www.startrungrow.com) is a global online information organization that specializes in creating, developing and marketing business help information specifically with the aim of "making business easier" for entrepreneurs around the world. The StartRunGrow objective is to become a dominant player in the business help arena providing end to end solutions for the millions of small and medium businesses worldwide who continue to struggle daily with the difficulties of starting, running and growing a successful business.