Whether youre plugging a real world business or selling something online, you have a right to expect results. If youre not getting results, its probably because you have made some common online mistakes when it comes to marketing.
Its tough to make a commercial website pay off these days. Unlike personal or vanity websites who are happy to get a $15 check from Amazon once every couple of years, people who want to do serious business online expect to get a return for their investment. Whether youre plugging a real world business or selling something online, you have a right to expect results. If youre not getting results, its probably because you have made some common online mistakes when it comes to marketing.
Most commercial websites have never heard of the golden rule of selling: LESS IS MORE! They try marketing too many products on their site and target an audience thats just too diverse to make any individual item or service a success. This breaks another rule of selling: TARGET YOUR CUSTOMERS. Targeted selling is always the most successful.
If a customer comes to a website looking for a computer to purchase, thats what they should find. A welcome page should feature four or five of your hottest selling items (not loss leaders). If you want to sell them, dont add ten thousand other links on the page for computer accessories, books about computers or banners for affiliate programs related to computers. If you also market accessories, make a one click link to another page with your top selling accessories. You will NOT sell MORE by offering numerous items on your page.
People staring at a computer screen who are ready to buy lose patience very fast. The more they have to click, the less sales youll make. Keep product descriptions short and to the point. Ask yourself, what do most people who buy my products want to know about them? The answer is what should go into your description. Your payment method should also be fast and easy. If people have to wait for confirmation emails, deal with complicated shopping cart systems or face other buying hassles, theyll go elsewhere.
CLICKS are your enemy! Every time a potential buyer has to click on their mouse for more information or to checkout, youre going to lose customers. The idea is to KEEP THE CUSTOMER FOCUSED ON BUYING. A clicking customer is a confused customer. Eventually, theyll just give up and look for an easier place to buy. Statements about privacy, payments, shipping, shipments and terms of the sale should all be separate and no longer then two or three short sentences each along side of your products. Be sure to place your contact information in a prominent place. People hate searching for email addresses or phone numbers.
If clicks are bad, POP UP ADS are worse! If pop up ads are a part of your marketing plan, you have been given some very bad advice. There has been a real backlash against pop ups over the past couple of years and those who use them can be sure of losing up to half of their customers. People are simply disgusted with over-advertising online. Even using a pop up as people leave your site can mean the difference between being saved under their favorites for future purchases, or losing what might be good repeat or first time business.
Search engines, word of mouth and reviews have become the best way to get visitors. Email marketing is a thing of the past. If you want to have an opt-in list for customers that want updates on your products or services, thats fine. But dont make the mistake of using email to get customers. People hate unwanted email advertising. Instead, use a good submission program to get your site noticed by the search engines. Submit your site to reviewers who recommend sites offering a good deal. Offer free, short articles on how to better use and get the most out of the products or services you sell to ezines who have audiences interested in them. You can get a free list of article sites where editors look for free content at http://bkspeaks.cjb.net
Most sellers stumble over their own marketing philosophy. What sounds good and seems to make sense is not always what works in the strange and almost unpredictable world of online marketing. Stop thinking about how to make customers buy more and start thinking about how to sell more!
About the Author
A native New Yorker now living in Arizona, Bill Knell is a forty-something guy with a wealth of knowledge and experience. He's written hundreds of articles on a wide variety of subjects. A popular Speaker, Bill Knell presents seminars on a number of topics that entertain, train and teach. A popular radio and television show Guest, you've heard Bill on thousands of top-rated shows in all formats and seen him on local, national and international television programs.
Party dress codeajay patsThis article will help you drive away party jitters.
Banish pre-party jitters about attire with our quick reference to dress codes for social events.
Black Tie means formal. Men wear tuxedos, women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.
White Tie means ultra-formal. Men wear full dress, with white tie, vest, shirt and cummerbund. Women wear long gowns.
Formal usually means the same as Black Tie, but in some trendier cities like New York or Los Angeles, it could mean a black shirt, no tie with a tux. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.
Ultra-formal means White Tie. Men wear full dress, with white tie, vest, shirt and cummerbund. Women wear long gowns.
Black Tie Optional means you have the option of wearing a tuxedo, but it should clue you into the formality of the event, meaning a dark suit and tie would be your other option. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.
Black Tie Invited means you have the option of wearing a tuxedo, but it should clue you into the formality of the event, meaning a dark suit and tie would be your other option. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.
Creative Black Tie leaves room for trendy interpretations of formal wear. He can go more modern with a tux -- maybe a black shirt, no tie. She wears long or short dresses or evening separates (maybe a long lace or sequined skirt with a sleek cashmere sweater).
Semi-formal is the trickiest of all dress codes. Usually it means that tuxes are not required, nor are long dresses. An evening wedding (after 6 PM) would still dictate dark suits for him, and a cocktail dress for her. Daytime semi-formal events mean a suit for him and an appropriate short dress or dressy suit for her.
Cocktail Attire means short, elegant dresses for her and dark suits for him.
Dressy Casual usually means no jeans or shorts. Similar to business casual, but a tad dressier.
Casual generally means anything goes.
Informal can mean the same as casual. However, when associated with a wedding or other special event, some form of decorum and good taste should prevail. A dress for her or a nice pair of slacks and shirt for him are informal, but respectful of the event.Visit http://venturemall.tripod.com for free greetings and gifts.
About the Author
Ajay Patole is a qualified management professional working as sales manager and runs a site 'Venturemall',a cool hangout to play money games,buy and sell in auctions,date and photochat.It is available at URL http://venturemall.tripod.com and newsletter to rediscover true colors of life at http://www.topica.com/lists/venturemall.Also he runs a community 'Venturecon', for entrepreneurs which is available at URL http://groups.msn.com/venturecon.
How to Have a Sane Summerjacqueline haleTransition into the summer smoothly and enjoy yourself in the process
Summer is such a wonderful time of year. It brings back fond memories of hot, lazy days spent at the pool or on the beach. It felt so good to be young, out of school and responsibility free. The sun never seemed to set and the warm smell of the barbecue permanently filled the air. What a time it was!
But now that you're an adult, you may find that summer is a bit more stressful than you once remembered it. You might have kids of your own and those kids will soon be out of school. More than likely that will throw off the household routines causing you to become reactionary and creating a situation in which too much is forgotten in the madness. Your house may feel as though it is spinning out of control. And suddenly those fond memories you have of your own summers may turn into wishes that your kids' summer will end as suddenly as it began.
But deep down you want your children to experience that same magic of summer that you once knew. It's just that you also want a sane and somewhat controlled three months. You can have both. The trick is to organize or perhaps reorganize your life, your schedules and your routines. So be ready. Plan ahead. With a little forethought you can easily cruise into summer with your sanity (and your household) in tact.
1. Assign more chores to your kids. Now that so much of their time is freed up they can help out a little more. Don't overburden them. Just give them one or two extra responsibilities per week and watch your stress level come down.
2. Plan ahead for summer camps. If the kids will be going, figure out what they'll need now. Make a list. Watch for sales. Get the necessities before they are required and smoothly transition into the summer.
3. Devote one or two days per week to taking your kids someplace fun. Summer is the season for beaches, amusement parks, lakes, picnics, water parks and the like. If you don't set aside at least one day to enjoy these activities, you may never get to them. So go and be a kid again yourself.
4. Keep you bags packed. Create beach bags, pool bags, baseball bags, picnic supply bags, and park bags filled with everything you'll need for one of these activities (except the food, that is). Doing so will make prep time quicker and easier. When that happens, you may just be up for doing these things more often.
5. Buy tons of sunscreen and keep it everywhere--in your car, in your purse, in your bags (see above) and in your home. Store a separate bottle in each location so that you never have to think about it and so that it's always handy.
6. Determine menus ahead of time. With your normal schedule disrupted it's easy to get involved in other things only to remember at 6:00 p.m. that your family must be fed. Use the crock-pot, barbecue or simply take advantage of the hot weather to serve cold sandwiches. Whatever you do, the time to think about it is now, not when you're out and about enjoying the longer days and lazy evenings.
7. Establish new routines for this time of year. For example, Saturday and Sunday might be cleaning days. Monday grocery shopping. Tuesday the beach, Wednesday the laundry, Thursday the gardening and Friday the picnic day. Just remember to leave (or schedule) plenty of time for fun because that's what summer is really all about.
8. Let it go. So the house isn't immaculate. So the laundry is piling up. Summer only comes around once a year and it provides precious few days for creating a lifetime of wonderful and happy memories. Don't lose perspective. Giving your kids a summer to remember is by far the most important thing you have to do.
9. Try to adjust your workday. There's nothing worse than being at the office when the sun is up and the weather is warm. Go in earlier so you can leave earlier and enjoy as much of the day as possible.
10. Stay on guard. Part of summer fun is spending time around pools, beaches, lakes and rivers---prime locations for potentially fatal accidents. Have fun but keep your family safe. Looking away for only a second or two can cause a lifetime of regret. If you must walk away ask another adult (that you know and trust) to watch your kids while you're gone. DON'T ASSUME they will automatically do it. Too many drownings could have been prevented by much less assuming.
Jacqueline McLaughlin Hale is a CPA and the editor of Between Friends: Resources for Mothers http://www.betweenfriends.org and http://timetipsformoms.com Both contain household hints, time management tips, articles on organization, parenting, money management, career, self employment, self improvement and more! Subscribe to its FREE monthly ezine, The Balanced Woman. Visit today!
About the Author
Jacqueline McLaughlin Hale is a CPA and the editor of Between Friends: Resources for Mothers (http://www.betweenfriends.org) Between Friends is a website dedicated to helping women balance their responsibilities so that they can make more time for themselves. It does this by providing tips, tricks and tools for household hints, parenting, budgeting, self-improvement and more! It also offers a FREE monthly ezine: The Balanced Woman. Visit today!