Marketing/Internet
Studies by experts such as Dr. Jakob Nielsen have shown that when software or websites "break," many users blame themselves. "It must be something I did," customers think. And then they give up on the task in hand, which, if it is spending money on your site, isn't good for you.
Take a ride around your town and you'll see it on signs everywhere you turn. Self-absorbed... inner-directed... and completely without benefit to the reader.
Yes, rankings are important for getting your website noticed for targeted keywords and search phrases. But that's only the beginning...
To get your customers to feel this way, make sure you put your marketing message in front of them in as many ways as you possibly can.
Regardless of the Web analytics solution you choose, get something going today. Tracking website usage is critical to measuring results, understanding your website visitors, and growing your business.
Life happens - and it often gets in the way. But how many websites actually take that fact into consideration?
Ask most experienced direct marketers "What's the best price to charge for my product," and the answer will be: whatever the market will bear.
Basically, you take a problem with your product - in this case, slow service - and redefine it as a benefit for your customers.
"I believe ETR's response to the question about e-mail list brokers was misguided. Yes, one may rent an e-mail list. It is, however, to the best of my knowledge, a federal crime to use such a list.
Michael Masterson tackled in his recent article, "How Long Should a Sales Letter Be?" You may have agreed with him that long copy wins - but not all of your fellow ETR readers did.
If you've got an Internet business, I've got a secret to getting your business to leap forward: Get offline.
The rapid growth of high-speed Internet connections has given birth to one technology in particular that you need to be focused on: Video.
My friend Brian forwarded me an article espousing the benefits of "double opt-in" versus "single opt-in" for people signing up for e-mail newsletters. Single opt-in requires them to sign up. Double opt-in adds an extra step...
The purpose of a great headline is to get your readers' attention. And the purpose of the remainder of your sales letter is to get your readers to buy your product or service. But if there is a disconnect between what the copy promises and what the product delivers, you're going to have dissatisfied customers who feel betrayed.
Spammers have made life tougher for Internet marketers. Anytime you send an e-mail to a subscriber to your e-newsletter, you have to navigate a maze of spam filters and wary readers.
Conclusion: Doing a critique OR work on spec for a potential client who has not asked for it seems, on the surface, a sensible approach to marketing your professional or technical services. But it is not.
Having top-notch customer service doesn't necessarily mean you cater to your customer's every whim. But it does mean that you should always be thinking about how you can enhance your customer's experience.
There's a revolution brewing on the Internet, and it doesn't matter whether you are a retailer or a restaurant owner, a service provider or a professional, a hard-goods merchant or an information marketer, or anything and everything in between.
Take a cue from Zappos and make "over-delivery" a common practice in your business.
If you've got a search box on your website (and you should), you have the opportunity to make your business even stronger than it already is.
The folks at Disney itself clearly haven't forgotten one of the oldest marketing axioms: The best customer is your current customer.
To a new website owner, that kind of offer can seem irresistible. The idea of all those submissions, all that potential website traffic, and all that potential new business, for a relatively low price, can sound like a great deal.
The long-term future of real estate looks bright, so try to stick with it. In another six months or a year I expect the market to bottom.
Try out your products at different price points. Then go with the price that brings in the most customers.
I learned the following principles the hard way: through nearly four decades in the trenches. They have served me very, very well - and if you abide by them, they'll do the same for you...
Mixing business and charitable objectives in a company's mission statement has always seemed a little goofy to me.
"Ideas are easy, doing stuff is hard....
On my own sites and in my communications with customers/subscribers, I try hard to keep my personality at the forefront.
You may feel very strongly that your website should look a certain way. But the fact is, it doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what your designer thinks, either. And it doesn't matter what your webmaster thinks. What matters is what your customers think.
No matter which medium you choose to market your product, the vendors you deal with are going to try to talk you into spending money on various gimmicks - all under the guise of generating a higher response from prospective customers.
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