How Knowing Your Customer via Direct Marketing Helps Your Online Business to Prosper – Internet-Marketing
How Knowing Your Customer via Direct Marketing Helps Your Online Business to Prosper
What is direct marketing? Put simply, direct marketing is a process of recording information about your customer's response to a planned marketing activity.Increased computer usage has allowed direct marketing to evolve and to rise dramatically. For your online business, to begin with, you design your sales letter or craft your emails to elicit a certain response. You then test and track your customer's feedback by the actions (or inaction) that he/she takes. The tracking process is easily accomplished via coding your online campaigns and can be fully automated.As you gather more information about your customer's online behaviour, you are able to tweak your sales ad accordingly.In a nutshell, the internet makes it possible for you to track your individual online communication with a customer and to know what happens over time.With direct marketing skills, you will be able to acquire and retain your customers. There is less marketing wastage as you know what, how and where to roll out your online marketing campaign for the best response. Having good knowledge about your customers will definitely put you ahead of your pack!So what are the qualities that constitute a good online customer? He/she is:* Open to your offers.
* Repeat buyer.
* Buyer of your front end / back end products.
* Easy and low cost to maintain.
* High revenue dollar value per acquisition cost.
* Loyal to you.
* Swear by you!The reverse is true of a poor online customer. He/she is:* Not open.
* A complainer.
* A single transaction buyer.
* An easy product switcher to your competitor's.
* Not loyal.
* Quibbles a lot on price.
* Expensive to acquire and expensive to maintain.
* Low revenue dollar value per acquisition cost.How then, do you pinpoint a good customer against a bad one? What kind of information do you need to know about your customers? Here are 8 critical but very basic information that you must gather:1. Who are they?
2. What do they buy?
3. When do they buy?
4. How do they buy?
5. Why do they buy?
6. Where do they buy?
7. Are they satisfied?
8. What is their buying power like?One way of getting the information that you need is to simply conduct a survey on your mailing list. Hot tip! Make it easy for your subscribers to fill up the survey and give them an incentive to do so!The same pareto principle should apply to your online business: the 80/20 rule. The principle just means that 80% of your sales are generated by 20% of your customers.If this is the the case, instead of spending huge sums on customer acquisition, it may be a more prudent measure to spend resources on knowing and understanding more of this 20% segment. Cultivate good relationships with this 20% segment and reward the customers here for staying true to you. (Again, this knowledge is only possible if you have surveyed or kept track of your entire customer base.)All in, having happy, loyal and satisfied customers will result in a business that prospers. And you can achieve this through direct marketing and knowing what, how and where to please your online customers!Evelyn Lim is the publisher of weekly newsletter "Mapping You to Success". She aims to equip her readers with skills to acquire multiple sources of online income. To subscribe to her newsletter, please visit http://www.e-BizMap.com.
Or, read her blog "Online home business journals from Singapore" at http://www.EvelynLim.com for more information.
Take the Direct Route to Internet Gurudom – Internet-Marketing
Take the Direct Route to Internet Gurudom
- Are you tired of chasing down publishers just to get a few of your articles distributed?
- Do you wonder where those Article Announce emails you faithfully send out *really* end up?
- Is the monthly search for fresh email newsletter content giving you premature gray hairs?Well, friend, I have good news.Now, there's a way to instantly reach scads of appreciative readers who can't wait to put your content on their "categorically-correct" websites!Now, instead of putting in hours of O/T the night before your Ezine release, you can locate five high-quality articles to share with your readership audience in less than fifteen minutes.How will you do this?Just sign up for a membership account at EzineArticles.com.Go on, do it. Do it before somebody else takes your rightful place as the next internet guru in YOUR field.Why choose EzineArticles.com?- Because you'll be well-represented by a team of quality professionals.
- Because your articles will be indexed for streamlined distribution to the right audience.
- Because you'll meet a great group of Article Afficionados, Article Readers and Article Advocates who can teach you everything you ever wanted to know about The Right Way to market your brand of excellence on the World Wide Web.Are you still reading this? Enough already! Stop floundering around, and instead take the direct route to Internet Gurudom.Go Forth and Write Articles.Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.Dina Giolitto is the author of ARTICLE POWER: Create Dynamite Web Articles and Watch Your Sales Explode... a comprehensive 49-page manual covering every aspect of article marketing on the web. Learn about article marketing, copywriting and more at http://www.wordfeeder.com
Wholesale Scrapbooking: Should You Start A Direct Sales Scrapbooking Business Just The Discount?-Hobbies
Wholesale Scrapbooking: Should You Start A Direct Sales Scrapbooking Business Just The Discount?
Have you ever thought about signing on with a scrapbooking direct sales company,
just to get the discount on your own supplies? It can be a great way to get your
own product at a discount and meet other scrapbookers, but it's also important to
read the fine print. Here are seven of the most important factors to consider:1. Style of products. The most important factor to consider is whether that the
product line fits with your style and budget. If you are big into embellishments,
make sure that the product line encompasses this. How often are new products released?2. Discount levels. What is the discount for Instructors/Consultants? Is there a
special plan and/or personal volume requirement for scrapbookers who are joining
the company "just for the discount?" (often referred to as "Hobbyists.")3. Monthly minimums. What kind of personal volume is required on a monthly basis?
If you decide to design custom albums for clients, can you use the discounted
products in these books? (If the answer is yes, this is a great way to expand
your profit margin on scrapbooks you create for others.)4. Initial investment. What kind of cash outlay will your start-up require?
Look closely at the company's joining fee and/or the cost of your business
starter kit. Is there a deeper discount on products purchased at start-up?
Start-up product packs are often significantly reduced to help new Instructors
with their initial inventory needs. Are these product packs available for Hobbyists, too?5. Does your sponsor welcome Hobbyists? Make sure that you aren't going to be pressured
to build a business if that's not your intention. Ask your potential sponsor if she
welcomes Hobbyists onto her team (and make sure that she knows you are one.)6. Team education. One of the perks of joining a team of scrapbooking instructors is
the education you'll get in scrapbooking. Scrapbooking instructors are very often creative,
talented women who like to share their knowledge and techniques. Ask your potential sponsor
about team layout galleries and scrapbooking education or opportunities that the company
provides. Are these resources open to both Hobbyists and Instructors?7. Growth potential. Can Hobbyists with this company become instructors? And what are the
requirements for making this transition? Many people are surprised with how easily a
scrapbooking direct sales naturally unfolds when they become a source for exclusive in-demand
supplies.If you are currently considering a direct sales opportunity, feel free to forward this set
of questions to your potential sponsor. And good luck finding the company that's just right for you!About the author:
Susie Cortright is the creator of the award-winning online magazine Momscape.com as well as a
Team Captain for a rapidly growing new direct sales scrapbooking company (and she
welcomes Hobbyists on her team): http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/business.htm Visit her
scrapbooking site and sign up for her free weekly scrapbooking newsletter here:
http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking or join her scrapbooking club:
http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/scrapbookclub