Are you effective?
It’s a good question to consider. If you could look into the lives of the average person who has an online business, you would find very few of them making any real money–even some of the ones you know by name.
Why is it that one six-month old website does $10,000 in business each month while another is still struggling to break $2,000 after three years? The answer is simple: The first site owner works effectively while the second does not.
Effectiveness is the single most important predictor of success in any business, and it is certainly true on the web.
Here are some tips which will increase your effectiveness and profits:
1. Use Leverage
When I was in eighth grade science, I learned how using a lever and fulcrum could allow a child to move a boulder.
The same principle works online.
There are activities you can do once and reap benefits (sales) with very little continuing effort. Here are some of those activities:
*Recruiting new affiliates for your program
*Recruiting new sub-affiliates for other programs
*Setting up a co-branding subscriber agreement
*Automating a routine part of your business
*Writing an article which will eventually fit into a book
*Creating a relationship with another successful webmaster
These activities will pay off again and again.
2. Apply the 80/20 rule
I have a friend, I’ll call him Mark. Mark has an exceptional website–it haS tremendous potential, providing a great niche product. It has everything going for it.
So why is Mark going broke?
Mark is going broke because he spends all of his time adding new features, performing customer service, tweaking his already exceptional website.
Though he has a customer list in the hundreds and a prospect list in the thousands, he never sends out an email.
So Mark is working 80 hours a week for less than minimum wage.
Effective business owners put their efforts where they will produce sales. In-effective business owners major in the things that do everything EXCEPT produce sales.
So, what produces sales? One thing: Marketing.
Effective business people spend 80% of their work time marketing and 20% doing everything else until they have too much business to spend that much time marketing.
3. Focus Your Attention on the “RIGHT” Customer
One mistake web business owners often make is focusing their efforts on marketing to the wrong areas. As a result, they end up using precious resources for meager returns. Here are some ways you can focus your efforts:
*Market new products to your existing customer base.
Where a promotion to your subscribers might only yield a 2-3% return, the same promotion to your existing customers might yield over 20%.
*Market to PWM.
PWM stands for “people with money.” One of the reasons Eric Aafedt of InvestmentHouse.com is so successful is he targets people who are not just willing but able to pay $150+/month for a subscription. If you target people with money, you will be able to command a premium price for your own product or service.
*Be willing to lose time-wasters.
This is a touchy subject, so I will try to handle it with kid gloves.
Everyone who has an online business with any traffic at all runs into time wasters. Time wasters fall into one of a couple categories:
-People who Complain about Everything
This group of people is never satisfied. Each time you send out a newsletter or promotion, they immediately write you back with their latest criticism. Sometimes they call.
While every complaint should be dealt with in a gracious and often conciliatory manner, when you find a subscriber who constantly complains, they need to be removed from your list. You do not need the emotional aggravation of dealing with this type of person on a consistent basis.
-People Who Unreasonably Demand Your Time
My students are always my top priority. They paid tuition to take my course and deserve my time.
People who are genuinely interested in my offers are my second priority. Often these people write with very specific questions which I am more than happy to answer. I know before I was willing to spend a significant amount online I would expect my questions to be answered.
But there are also people who visit my site and then expect me to give them expert help for free. While I actually choose to help as many of those people as I have time for, I also have to limit that time. My students and prospective students deserve the majority of my attention.
If I find someone abusing the free help I give, I remove them from my mailing list.
Want to be truly profitable and effective in your business? Make sure to Use Leverage, Apply the 80/20 Rule and Focus Your Attention on the “Right” Customers. While these three pointers will not guarantee your success, they will help you become much more effective in running a profitable business.
Kevin Bidwell is owner of
http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/cg-bin/at.cgi?a=274293
Kevin just finished a complete report on building a passive
income. Grab your copy here:
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