Writen by Mike Wyman
It sounds easy. Build a website, sell products, and watch the sales roll in. Better be sure your web hosting is prepared for the massive influx of traffic as you start your way down the road to riches. But, it's not that easy is it? How can you build a viable business through your website? There's not an easy and quick way to do so but it can be done as long as you consistently treat your customers with the best possible service you can. Oh yeah, and never give up.
With the millions of people surfing the web every day, it's easy to think that all you need is a small slice of that traffic to make your website a massive success. Your website is a virtual store that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so why wouldn't you be instantly successful? The reality is that it's quite difficult to get people to come to your site. Sure, you may have a nice influx as soon as you launch based on a press release or some form of publicity. But, not only is it difficult to get people to your site in the first place, it's often even harder to bring people back. Combine this with the fact that a purchase is made sometimes only after repeated exposure to any marketing and product and you will find your prodcuts aren't exactly flying off the shelf.
Considering an email newsletter is one way you can add value to your customers and an incentive for them to come back to your site. Most of us have heard about these newsletters and while it looks pretty simple, most of us haven't considered the best way to manage and develop your mailing list. Try some of these ideas to help build your traffic, build trust with your customers, and hopefully make your site more profitable.
Tip #1: Offer and incentive to encourage signups for your newsletter.
People love free things. If you can offer a free product, service, or information as an incentive to gaining new signups, your chances are much more likely you will grow your list quickly and effectively. Not only that, you now have the opportunity to up-sell your customer either now, or down the road. If you place your free giveaway on another landing page that is only revealed when your customer signs up, you ensure that your customer will visit this page for sure. Whether you offer additional products that can be purchased, or simply place some Google Adsense ads there, you increase your chances of making some money.
Tip #2: Send your newsletter on a regular basis.
Ideally you should send your newsletter every week and on the same day each week. You want to create value for your customer but you also want to keep your website 'top-of-mind' with everyone on your list. By doing so, you increase the chances that your customers will come to your site the day your newsletter goes out. Don't be concerned about sending out too many newsletters by doing it weekly. If you provide consistent and good information about the types of products you sell, you have nothing to worry about. Surely you will have members request to have their name taken off your list but don't be discouraged.
Tip #3: Provide high quality content in your newsletter.
This is probably the hardest part because week after week it can be frustrating trying to find original and useful content for your members. You don't want your newsletter to be a hard sell because that will just lead to unsubscribing. This is not to say that you can't mention some products here and there, just don't go overboard. The point of your newsletter should be to build trust in you as living person and to bring people to your site each week. Once your members come to your site, that is the time for selling.
Building your list will take time but if you use these three tips, it will pay off in the long run. Don't be surprised to have your customers emailing you for more information once you build up your trust by treating people with your best service and providing good information. While it's not likely you will be wildly successful overnight, it will happen as long as you keep at it and don't give up while giving your customers what they want.
Mike Wyman is co-owner of the singles dating site http://www.DateAGolfer.com, the perfect place for golf singles to find their golfmate. He also runs http://www.PuttingForPar.com, a site specializing in the sale of personalized golf ball markers which make a great golf gift.
0 comments:
Post a Comment