Archive for March, 2010

If you are starting your own business. You have to create a business map. Business map is just another name for creating a business plan. It’s just that Map is easily accessible and understood than a complicated plan.

Technically you should think and plan for next 12 months.

Think about…

1. What are your goals?
2. What are the key factors that stands against your goals?
3. What are the key factors that’ll help your goals?
4. What is your projected result in next 12 months (In terms of customers, profit, income etc)?
5. What is your core message?
6. What kind of products you are going to sell?
7. How are you going to promote your stuff?
8. What marketing techniques you are going to use?
9. What is your client profile and demographics?
10. What kind of existing products and companies you are competing?
11. How you can utilize a chink in armor of other companies marketing strategy?
12. What kind of media you’ll utilize in generating footfalls?
13. Are you going to use web site as one of the revenue generation tool?
14. How you’ll get traffic to your web site?

This is just a small list of questions that you should be asking yourself and trying to find answers for.

You should at least study for “Core Message”, “Client Profile and Demographics”, “Analyzing your Competition” and “Your major marketing strategy”. All of this will help you create your “USP – Unique Selling Proposition”. USP can play a major part in your business success.

You should remember this is work in progress. As you start working and growing your business, chances are you’ll change the main profile and strategies. These are not written in stone, so don’t worry about them. This is just a good start up profile you should at least study.

80–90% of website owners spend almost all of their time trying to get traffic. You’d be surprised to see how much of this traffic actually sticks. After doing lots of research (my own websites and others), I saw, at least 70–80% bounce rate of the traffic that comes to your website.

The bounce rate gives you an idea how much time they spend on the webpage and how deep they checked your website. The bounce rate here is way too high and they never clicked away the moment they landed on the wesites. Bad thoughts that.

What makes people stick to your website?

Before I answer this, let me ask you a question. What is more important – A unique visitor or Repeat visitor.

In normal set of conditions, website owners would like nothing more than unique set of visitors.

But in this scenario, I’d prefer ‘repeat visitors’.

Why Repeat visitors make you go ga-ga?

Repeat visitors means, they have already been on your site. Now, they came back for more. The more communication channels you create between you and your reader, the better your chances to sell them. The best thing about them is that you don’t have to spend any money/time as much for any unique visitors.

They liked your website, or your message or your content or god knows what, but they liked it. They are back for more. Wouldn’t you like to take this chance to cement a long term relationship with them?

In this long term relationship you’ll be able to sell them more and more. Can you think of elements that can help you create this long term relationships?

How these elements can get you repeat visitors?

Everything comes back to your content and how you present them. Your content will take shape in many forms from just text to Audio/video or email content. You have to build your content in a way which brings back your readers many many times.

To do this, you have to focus on “most wanted response”.

The term most wanted response was coined by Ken Evoy, a marketing genius in his own right. Every page in your website should have “Most Wanter Response (MWR)”. 

In MWR, all you have to focus on “What your reader should do when he comes to your webpage”. Notice I said, webpage, not website. Why? Because they can only surf website page by page.

At every page you have to decide what response you want them to make?

Do you want them to subscribe to your list?

Do you want them to follow a certain link?

Do you want them to buy something?

Or Do you want them to take another action?

So exactly what this will do?

First thing it focuses their attention to something you want them to do (or going to do anyway).

Second thing it kicks off any goofs, who are there just for a joy ride.

Third thing, it starts to filter different type of visitors.

Do you think all of this work will be pain in the neck? Of course it’ll. It’s your business, if you don’t do it, then who will?

Remember when readers are there, get them to act.

If you need any marketing help/advice, then click here.

Then you are not alone. Let’s face it, with the ever changing internet and information overload, it’s almost impossible to decide what works and what doesn’t. When it comes down to internet marketing. I personally believe in KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

My method or simplified idea is based on 3 sub ideas.

1. Attracting Traffic, leads and clients.

2. Building Relationship with your prospects.

3. Selling to your prospects and make them keep coming to you.

No matter what techniques you use, they’ll come under the above 3 points. Now what I highly recommend you to pick a simple technique that you can follow (for each steps). You should focus on ONE technique and master it.

For example, If I am good with using blogs to build, attract traffic, then I should spend as much time as possible with blogs. When I’ve master one technique, I’ll move on to learn new ways to generate traffic.

This is how you should attempt to learn internet marketing. Otherwise, you’ll end up with plethoras of techniques and won’t have any idea what to do with them. In last 6 years, though I know tons of techniques, but I’ve mastered 5–6 different ways to do it. 

Selling is all about building relationship with your prospect. If they don’t know you or about your product/service. They’ll never buy from you. In any case, if they do buy, chances are they’ll shop somewhere else for next time.

That’s why my 2^nd step is about Building relationship. And that’s before we start selling to them.

3^rd step you have to worry about is selling them and make them keep coming to you again and again. If you are able to follow the 2^nd step, then you won’t have problem with selling.

Again, the idea of using one technique work wonder in this step. I can write powerful emails and sell my products. It took me about 6–8 months of experimenting before I succeeded in using emails as tool to sell.

So, Of course there is a learning curve as you can see. But it’s worth every second.

So what you can do now?

Simplify your marketing plan and implement it. No need to find out 100 different techniques to build traffic or sneaky little tricks to sell your products. Be Authentic, Be Yourself.

If you need any help with any of the steps above, you can always ask. I can help you with marketing strategies or may be guide you in building relationships or write your sales copy.

One of the crazy thing you’ll find in internet marketing is a set of people I call “SEO pretenders”. I call them because that’s what they are.

Though I don’t claim to be SEO expert or pretend to act like that in forums, I’ve been doing SEO for last 6 years. I have seen ups and down and have a foot in the SEO market. When people see how much SEO people are charging, they also put up their shop.

Before I talk about some things that are used by SEO pretenders blatantly, I say “SEO is expensive, no doubt about that”. That’s why Shop around and look for people who know what they are doing.

1. Crazy Hosting prices – SEO pretenders literally murders your bank account by charging exorbitant prices. For most small business, you won’t have to worry about too much traffic. Often these pretenders talk about services(and functions) they provide with the hosting and charge HIGH prices.

It completely depends on your website material, if you are going to need expensive servers or not. In most cases spending 100 dollars a month for server is way too much.

2. Mind boggling Web design charges – Mind you, we haven’t even started talking about SEO and you have already emptied your pockets by now. Again small business does not need any complicated design.

Most pretenders use “Personalized website” as slogan and charge Super high prices. When you can easily put up a template and get a personalized template for around $1000 (or you can spend less than $100 to get a general template and get it personalized).

Again the problem is all about knowing the right information, right people. Of course most business owners rather spend money than doing the research (that’s why I recommended right people).

3. SEO practices – White hat, black hat or Grey hat – Which color do you wear?

If you are asking about SEO plan, then do ask for what kind of Hat your SEO expert wears. Almost all of SEO guys are pretty much in Grey category and are very good with black hat too. Those who claim they are White hat are just liars.

For those who doesn’t understand about hats –
White hat SEO – Good practices accoridng to google, yahoo.
Black Hat SEO – Bad practices frowned by google, yahoo.
Grey Hat SEO – middle path, very fine line to walk.

If you talk about techniques, it’s better to ask for 2^nd opinion about hats. I normally say, most good SEO spend their time with Grey hat walking a very fine line. But they often tone down their skills and dabble in white hat for the sake of their client’s website.

This is part where people charge for arm and leg. That’s why I am highly recommending you to ask for second opinion. If you need second opinion, You can ask for my help for SEO. Someone who has been doing SEO for last 6 years can give you far better 2^nd opinion.