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New
Years Resolutions
By
Jim Fleck
As with the
beginning of any new year, we all should make a few resolutions and
do our best to stick to them. Below are eight resolutions that you
should seriously consider making a commitment toward if you want
your Internet business to succeed in this new millennium.
1. Buy Your Own Domain.
Yes, you can make
money using one of the free servers out there, but your customers
will feel much more comfortable buying from you if you own your own
domain. Visitors who notice that you are on a free server may wonder
if you’re just another fly-by-night company and think twice about
ordering from you. Owning your own domain will also give you a
little more control of search engines, which will help potential
customers find you.
And be very
careful when selecting your Web hosting company. You don’t want your
site to be up one day and down the next. Chances are that potential
customers won’t come back to your site if they can’t order from you
when the urge hits them. Don’t be afraid to ask for references and
test their technical support department before making a commitment.
We've found the
features, price and customer service great at Allen Says (Marketing
Warriors) Host4Profit. Plus you can win a trip to the Bahamas. Check
them out at:
Host4Profit
2. Start Your Own Opt-In E-mail
List.
Did you know that
the majority of sales come from opt-in e-mail techniques? If you
look at the stats of some major Internet players, you will notice
that the most aggressive e-businesses have an opt-in e-mail list and
regularly send offers, sales, solo ads and more to their list.
So the best way
to start making money with your own products or as a member of an
affiliate program is to start an opt-in e-mail list.
There are three
different ways you can run an opt-in list:
You can use
e-mail software to run your list. This works great when you have a
small list, but once you have more than 1,000 names, it becomes
increasingly difficult to manage mailings.
Another solution
is to use a list server. The problem with a list server is it will
cost you around $400 and you can’t personalize your mailings.
The final way way
is to use a CGI program. There are several out therewhich can send
HTML e-mail messages, personalize the e-mails with the name of the
subscribers, and best of all, can handle all of the subscribes and
unsubscribes automatically. If you want to read up on
THE
BEST EMAIL MARKETING book on the Internet in my opinion...click
here.
3. Target One Specific Theme And
Market.
Don’t try to be
everything to everybody. You need to pick one specific target market
and focus your marketing to only that market. Don’t sell
website design and Pokemón trading cards on the same site. Pick one
main product and maybe one or two other products that are similar or
can be used with the main product.
The key to
success is focusing on one market at a time. You can make money
selling just about anything online if you know how to market it
effectively. Choose a product that you enjoy talking about or
using. Then, learn how to position it correctly and get the right
traffic to your website, and you’ll probably be successful with it.
4. Create At Least One Of Your Own
Products.
You can make a
significant amount of money from affiliate programs, but the biggest
profits almost always come from selling your own product or
service. Create a report, book or audio tape about something you
enjoy, like a hobby or something you have accomplished in your
business or personal life.
Or find a product
that is currently only being sold locally or through traditional
advertising and make a deal with the product’s owner to become the
exclusive online dealer. You could create a service from something
that you have learned how to do well, like developing websites or
writing newsletters for people.
Once you have
your own product or service, you can then offer an affiliate program
for other people to sell it for you. Plus, it’s much easier to
develop backend products based on your original product, such as
tape sets or how-to videos.
If you are in
need of products fast and don't want to spend the time, money,
blood, sweat or tears creating one, send me an email to
products@instantprofits.com telling me what you're
looking for and I'll get back to you.
5. Develop Multiple Traffic Sources.
You need to use
many different sources of traffic to market your products. Place
free classified ads on sites like Yahoo, submit to search engines (Check
the #1 Best Selling Search Engine Product On The Internet), use
pay-per-click search engines like Goto, submit articles to e-zines,
and find people who will “recommend” your product in their
newsletter.
If you rely on a
single source for traffic, you could find yourself up a virtual
creek if that source changes their policies or goes out of
business.
We'll be showing
you what we're doing for our clients in the coming days, weeks and
months via the newsletter.
You've also got
to track all the different sources of traffic. Here's what Jeff and
I use.
The Best All-Purpose Tracking Software.
6. Develop Multiple Income Streams.
Your business
needs to have more than one stream of income. Many of the most
successful websites are making money in a dozen or more different
ways. Participating in affiliate programs is one good way, so is
building a solid line of backend products.
The smart thing
to do is build strong relationships with your current customers. You
will find it infinitely easier (and cheaper) to sell something to an
existing customer than to go out and find a new customer.
7. Make A Commitment To Your Own
Education.
Being a good
marketer also means you must be a good student. You should learn as
much as possible from those who went before you, then copy the ideas
and methods that have worked for them consistently.
Purchase books
and videos which will help you learn how to market
effectively. Paying the best marketing geniuses top dollar for their
insight and knowledge will be significantly less costly in the long
run than the multitude of mistakes you would probably make trying
everything on your own.
And don’t forget
to poll your customers to find out exactly what they want from a
business like yours. If you don’t give customers what they want, why
should they come back to your site?
8. Make A Commitment To Family.
The sole purpose
of having a business, whether it’s online or not, is to support the
lifestyle that you and your family desire. Make a commitment to
involve your family in building your business around that lifestyle.
Try to use as
much automated technology as possible to keep your business running,
so it won’t rely on you always being there. The Internet offers the
best possible atmosphere for doing just that. Find a good
autoresponder, use real-time processing, deliver products digitally
whenever possible. The goal is for your business to have a life of
its own, not to run yours!
I'd also like to
add that we're trying to build a "family" with this website. A
"Family of Entrepreneurs". Members helping Members. So, keep that in
mind when you're on the site and lend a hand if you can. Thanks.
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