1.) Products & Services – Your products and services must be quality products that you would be proud to offer your Mom. There’s nothing worse than providing a shoddy product that you as the owner wouldn’t even purchase. Your product represents you and your business. There are millions of whole sale companies and quality products to resell or create your own. Do not settle for less than the best!
2.) Web Site – Your web site also represents you and your business. If you have very little web site design experience consider hiring a professional web site designer. There are many excellent web site designers who offer reasonable rates and quality services. Spending the money for web site design will save you time and frustration down the line as you pour advertising money into your business only for your potential customers to come to your web site and turn away because of the unprofessional appearance. Keep that in mind before using a free hosting company. If you can’t afford roughly $6.00 a month for hosting exactly how good is your business doing? Image is everything.
3.) Newsletter – Every online business must offer either a newsletter or mailing list that gives the owner an opportunity to follow up with its customers. Newsletters also serve the purpose of announcing specials, updates and important news. Newsletters also can provide additional income by selling ad space.
4.) Stickiness – This is a MUST have that many, many online business owners do not fully utilize. You must offer ways for your customers to “stick” to your web site. Examples of fun sticky offers are contests, games, downloads, tell a friend offers, etc. Give your customers a reason to come back and they will time and again.
5.) Signature Line – As business owners we receive countless emails per day. We also send countless emails per day. It’s so easy and it only takes a few minutes to add a brief, catchy signature line at the bottom of outgoing emails. The email recipient will not be able to resist clicking on your web site url just to see what your business is all about.
6.) Offline Marketing – Do not be fooled into thinking that just because you’re an online business you cannot advertise offline. By displaying your url on promotional flyers, license plate frames, your url posted on your vehicle, newspaper advertising, mass mailings and benches you’ll further increase your exposure. You name it you can promote your business through it.
7.) Articles – Everyone’s an expert on something. If you’re a business owner than it would stand to reason that you are an expert in your business. You can write articles with a brief resource box at the bottom informing others as to how to have a business like yours of their own, how to find items like yours, how you do the services you do, whatever it is there are articles about it. The more you become known as an expert in your field your recognition will grow and as a result increase your business.
8.) Affiliate Program – Ask yourself this question; Is it better to spend hundreds of dollars to marketing your business yourself or have others to market your business for you? We all know the answer to this question is to hire others to market for us. By recruiting affiliates you have more people working hard to promote your business, drive traffic to your site, increase your exposure and make more money for you and your affiliates. Five, ten, fifty or even hundreds of affiliates can do so much more work than you can ever do alone.
9.) Specials – Specials should be offered often and generously. If you launch your business offer a special, if you update your web site offer a special, if you overloaded with inventory offer a special, if the sun is shining today offer a special. Your customers love to save money, give them the chance.
Remember, you are ultimately responsible for your success or failure. Not your competition, not the President or the economy, but YOU! With hard work and quality services at the best prices you’re success is inevitable.
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