Work Yourself Up!

What’s Your Customer Worth?

Do you know the economic value of each customer who buys from your site? If your answer is, $47 or $95 or the price of your product, then that’s the wrong answer! You just identified the value of the first purchase.

A more important number to know is the “lifetime value” of a customer.  Did you know that you’ll spend five to seven times more money and more effort to gain to a new customer than you would to get another order from a current customer? 

That’s a general rule. For some products, prospects may need even more contact and visits to your site before they click the order button. Nurturing your customers is an important way to increase your overall sales.

You’ve already built rapport with the customer so when you send a new product pitch, the customer wants to know what you have to offer. Finding quality products from trustworthy sellers can be a challenge, so buyers who received a good product in a timely manner backed by a solid guarantee are satisfied and they’re more likely to buy again.

To keep your customers buying, don’t flood them with just any offer. Make sure that you send product offers that match the customer’s prior purchase type and overall price range. Some customers like to download information products while others want to receive CDs or DVDs.

You need to know those preferences so that you offer what a customer is most likely to buy. The worst thing you can do is flood their email inbox with every type of offer. Before long, customers are deleting them without reading your messages.

You want a customer to see your email and say, “I want to see what’s new today!” That’s the kind of response that means a long term buying relationship. What sets you apart from other Internet marketers is in the way that you nurture connections with your customer.

Send out the occasional free item as a “customer appreciation” gift. You’ll really stand out if you send a free gift that’s not part of an order. This is another way to remind a customer to drop back into your site and see what’s new.

Let your customers market for you by offering a discount or bonus item when they recommend a friend who purchases your product. A loyal, repeat customer is gold – treat them as the valuable asset that they are to your online business.

A Customer Centered Business

An old adage in sales is that “the customer is always right.”  Over the years as retailer grew large, profit margins faded and experienced salespeople grew scarce, there seemed to be less interest in the customer.

People grudgingly accepted the lack of customer service as the price they paid for cheap products. They complained, but they bought anyway because that’s just the way it was. Online shopping, while distant, is more customer centered than many local retailers.

To develop a rapport with customers in a virtual environment, online marketers had to establish trust and they did it with money back guarantees plus fast delivery. This customer-centered approach not only created trust as planned, but also caused a surprising number of customers to ignore the local stores and shop at major retailers’ online sites.

As a developing Internet marketer, you can learn from this brief history.  You want to position your product as user friendly and open for refund. Granted, this is easier with downloads and information products than with shipped products.

But even shipped products that offer guaranteed, no questions asked refunds actually have fewer refunds because the consumer feels free to try to return it if they’re not satisfied. Before the sale, you want to provide ample information about the product - including several photo views if appropriate. 

Think about the questions a buyer might ask and have the answers ready before the question arrives.  An easy way to provide this information is with an expanded FAQ (frequently asked questions) page. Make sure there’s a link to the FAQ page from each product page.

If your product requires assembly after delivery, post an extra copy of how to assemble it. Even better is to post a video showing and telling how to do the assembly. Another great idea is to post videos showing alternative ways to use the product. This gives buyers options that they might not have considered.

To be consumer-centered means that you can be reached easily. Post your email (or that of your customer service center) and a phone number or SKYPE name. If you are the “Customer service center,” send those emails to a designated email box and answer them promptly.

If you can’t, at least set up an autoresponder saying that you received the customer’s email and are working on the solution. The more ways you can be contacted, the more the customer feels at ease that you aren’t hiding in some unreachable corner of cyberspace.  You can’t shake hands with your online customer, but you can create an ongoing buying relationship by demonstrating that you’re a customer-centered online marketer.

Information Product Dos and Don’ts

Information is a key element for Internet marketing, but never let this your passion for the topic get out of control.  The more you’re emotionally invested in your information product, the easier it is to make this mistake. 

If you create an amazing eBook on a topic that fascinates you, don’t assume it will sell. Unless you identify your market and know how to find that market, you’re wasting your time. Savvy Internet product marketers don’t even start writing an eBook or choosing an affiliate product until they find an interested market.

Have you ever encountered a struggling student trying to sell magazine subscriptions by going door to door? He has something to sell, but you aren’t interested.   So he spends hours searching for one customer at a time and missing the mark more often than making a sale. 

What if he took a different approach and went to doctors’ offices, businesses or auto repair shops to sell magazines to places where customers had to wait and needed entertainment? That’s targeting his market to willing buyers.

In online marketing, you can do this much easier with a few mouse clicks.     Start by listening into the conversation in your niche. The “conversation” is found in discussion forums and Web 2.0 sites that are dedicated to the niche topic.

What questions are they asking? What information is difficult to find? What new twist do you pick up on using a product or concept already on the market?  The answer to any of these questions can be the perfect start for identifying and developing an eBook.

Next, check out ClickBank eBook selections. Look in the section that best relates to your niche. What eBooks are offered that relate to this topic?  Did you find existing eBooks that answer     any of the questions you found from your conversation research?

If there’s an eBook that works, then consider using it as an affiliate product.  You can use this product in your initial campaign, and then develop your own eBook that expands on this information or takes the information in a different direction.

While you’re researching, check Amazon and eBay to see if there are comparable information products. And what does a Google search show? You’re likely to find other marketers who are using similar information products. 

Scan a dozen websites that use these products.  You might find other products on their sites and see how they are presented.  Copy these URLs for future reference to use in marketing your eBook directly to these sites.

If you just want to write about your obscure hobby, do it in a blog and a few people may read it. But if you want to sell information products, locate potential buyers and sample their interests before writing or marketing an eBook. That’s the way smart marketers use the power of the Internet to literally make money while they sleep.

Need Money for Your Online Business?

One of the big advantages of marketing your business online is that, compared to doing something offline, it doesn't take as much money.  You can do a lot with some time and effort.

But if helps if you have money.  You can outsource a lot of the work, get more done, and get where you want to be faster.

If you need money for your online business, you should take a look at Prosper.  It's perfect for the self-employed, because the money comes from people just like you...people who understand what you are doing through.

Take a look via the link below and let me know your results...

Are You Betting Everything on One Product or Income Stream?

My post a couple of days about about Amazon vs. Lightning Source got me thinking...  I see way too many entrepreneurs with a business based on one product or income stream.  This is the reason why it's such a big deal when Amazon drops Lightning Source.

How many people do you know who were making a killing with Google Adsense, only to have it all taken away when Google changed their search results, shut down the account, or changed how the game was played.

It happens all the time...  Ebay just changed its policy on selling products which are delivered online. No more ebooks, no more software, or anything which is instantly downloaded.

Makes me wonder what the people, like this guy, who were making a killing selling downloads, are going to do now that they can't do it anymore.  Sure, they can package everything up and mail it, which is probably a pretty smart idea, but will that hurt sales?

Bottom line, whether you're involved with Adsense, anything related to SEO, Ebay, or ANYTHING, you need to diversity.  You never know what will happen and it's a huge risk to put all your eggs in one basket.

Would you invest all your money in one stock?  Probably not.  But that's exactly what you're doing when you've only got one product or means of income.

Can a Guy with a Wife and Family Start a Business?

Is starting a business impossible when you've got a wife and kids?  Escape from Cubicle Nation asks the question and has some thoughts and suggestions for people trying to do it...

Agree with the advice.  And I can't speak from experience on this issue, but I'm going to chime in on the discussion anyway.

I'm a single guy.  I'm 35 and has had my own company since 1995.  I worked odd jobs for the first 2-3 years, including stints as a phone psychic, a UPS guy, the orderly at a mental institution, and various sales jobs.  I'd work a job, save up a few bucks, quit, try to do it on my own, and eventually have to go back to the job world, when I ran out of money.

I was miserable and this made it very difficult for me to be in a relationship.  In fact, the fact that I was so unhappy and difficult to deal with during this time was one of the main factors in killing off a relationship I'd been in for six years.

Eventually, it became time for me to make the move and do it for real.  My resume was a synonym for trouble.  People didn't want to hire me, because they knew I had no interest in sticking with them for any length of time.  So I walked out of my final job, knowing that I didn't have the option of going to get another.

I don't know that I would have been able to do it with a wife and family...especially in a situation where they were expecting me to bring in all the money.

And I don't know that I would have put other people into the situation that I was in.  Any of you who have started a business know that the very beginning, especially on your first business, isn't always the best of times when it comes to income, time, and relaxation. 

Can you really take the risks needed to start a successful business when you have others to worry about?  I'm interested in hearing your stories about your situation when you started things.

Now for something which I'm sure will piss a few people off...

I definitely wouldn't have been able to do what I did had I been married to somebody who expected me to bring in all the money, but didn't want to help me do it.

I know a lot of male entrepreneurs and am always amazed at the number of them which have stay-at-home wives that don't get that working for yourself if a two-sided coin and refuse to help with anything that is business related.  Yes, you can vacation any time of the year.  Yes, you have opportunities those with a job working for somebody else don't have.  But, unless you want to go broke, you've got to put in the effort when it's time to work.

This means answering the phone, fulfilling orders, creating products, doing marketing, etc. 

I see my friends, who feel stuck in their relationships, not wanting to choose between the work they love and the women they married.

is this a way to live? 

These guys are having trouble keeping an existing business going.  Can you imagine starting up something in a situation like this?

Things would be much improved, for both parties, if they'd work together.  Even somebody who doesn't "get" the business can answer phones to take messages or help with local deliveries, such as taking things to the post office.

The smallest things like this would cause a ripple effect, leading to more money and time for the husband...which I'm sure would come back to the family.

Again, curious to know how you started your business and what your situation was like.  And I'd like to know what your situation is like now.  How are you balancing work and home responsibilities?  Feel free to share below.

The Best Way to Make Money Online

Here's a recent inteview I did with Wendy Wallace of DesireToGrow.com.  In it, I talked about starting my online business in the early 90s, what I've learned about doing business since then, and how I've been able to not only maintain things for so long, but grow them.

Wendy asked me a lot of questions about the best way to get things going, especially when you're under the stress of money or similar situations.  I feel this is a very important aspect of being successful both online and offline, so take a listen if "money stress" is something that you deal with in your life.

After you're done listening, feel free to post any comments or questions below.

Want more?  A couple of things for you...

You can get more insight into my mindset within my new book, Ask, Believe, Receive - 7 Days to Increased Wealth, Better Relationships, and a Life You Love. If you're into self-development material such as "Think and Grow Rich" or similar books, you'll like this one.

For those of you who are interested in more of a "business" process, try my workbook, Quit Your Job (and Never Go Back) - How to Create, Start, & Market an Online Business for Under $500 in 30 Days or Less.

Building an Effective Business Plan

Getting started with a business can be a very difficult process. The average person only has a very limited amount of time during the day in which they can work on their business. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of startup businesses fail within their first year. Most entrepreneurs fail at what they do because they simply don’t take the time to draw out a business plan.

If you’re going to build a business you absolutely have to create an effective business plan. Starting an online business is no exception. If you are reading this because you are desperately trying to start your own online business, then today might be you’re lucky day. Today I am going to share with you a surefire plan to get your online business off of the ground.

The first thing you are going to need to do is to uncover some sort of problem or need within a target market. This is your market research phase. You’ll need to spend some time hanging out in forums, discussion groups, and networking sites to get a feel for your target market. A target market is anything like pet owners, single working moms, archery enthusiasts, artists, etc. Just about every target market you can think of has some kind of online community like a forum.

After you have spent some time studying a target market online you will eventually discover some kind of common problem or need. If you decided to target artists, for example, you might discover that many artists have a hard finding employment. This could be a problem you could try to solve.

Once you have discovered a common problem within a target market you will have actually completed the most difficult step. The next step will be to find information that help solve this problem. Your ultimate goal is to put together an information product that solves the problem you discovered within your target market. Selling information online is fantastically profitable and owning your very own information product is the best way to start making real money on the internet.

If you discovered that artists commonly had problems finding employment you would then want to uncover information that helped them find employment. The trick would be to find out how artists seeking employment can find employers who want to hire them. By doing a little more research you could easily uncover such information. This information would then become your product. You know exactly what your target market needs, so selling your product is easy.

Many online entrepreneurs are scared to create information products because they are not very good writers. Admittedly, it does help to have a writing background but not being able to write very well should not stop you from creating your own information product. There are many highly skilled writers online who can write your information product for you. All you have to do in most cases is provide them with the necessary research.

There will always be people who have problems and these people will always be willing to pay for information that promises to solve that problem. Selling information online is the best and easiest way to start an online business. Best of all, creating and marketing information products is sustainable business model that can easily build you a fortune if done correctly.

Internet Marketing and Piracy

As most of you know, I am primarily known for my work in the music industry.  And as most of you know, it's been a pretty big deal to the industry at large that folks can now easily download music using P2P and torrent sites.

But now, with better technology and online access which is getting faster and faster, the issue of piracy has moved from music to other forms of entertainment and intellectual property...such as online marketing.

How will the IM community respond to this?  Will people still pay $2000 for a home study course when they can get a digital version of the same thing for free?

And is making a copy of something the same thing as stealing?  This site doesn't think so...

Thoughts?

Successful Entrepreneurs Set the Course and Stay On It

Somebody once told me, "Entrepreneurs are quick to make decisions and slow to change them."

I agree with this.  All too ofter, I see people changing up their course of action, without giving things the proper time needed to actually work.

For example, one week they're be working on Ebay, while the next week they'll be doing something with Google Adsense.  And the week after that? Who knows?

With that said, I think it's important that you find a business which is a good match for you.  This should be fun, so you want something that is both enjoyable and fits into your schedule.

Over the next month or so, I'll be posting information about various ways to make money online.  If you're looking for a good "match" that will both make you money and be enjoyable to do, I hope you find this information helpful with making that decision.  But if you're already working on something, please don't let what I'm saying detract from what you're currently doing.  If you can work it in your current business model, use it.  If not, skip it.

To summarize...  Let's say I post some things about Ebay.  Can you sell your current product on Ebay? Or, can you create or license a new product quickly, which will allow you to generate leads for your current product?  If so, do it.  But don't drop selling apples via your own site to sell oranges on Ebay.