First Step Marketing

Although mail-order exists, it is relatively small and undeveloped. The potential for growth is great. The market includes people who have neither the time nor the inclination to go shopping, as well as people living outside the major consumer centres. Read the rest of this entry »

Copy others

A successful business in an unsaturated market may sometimes be copied. However, it must be copied well: there is a real risk that you will neglect to copy one or more important elements of the original success. Remember that successful small businesses tend to attract clones, so it is likely that other people will take advantage of the opportunity. An increase in competition drives down prices, and profits begin to fall. If this happens, the business may only exist for a short time. Read the rest of this entry »

Secrecy

Be careful about disclosing the details of your planned business to people. As soon as you disclose an idea to someone, you run the risk of it being used by that person. While it is important to research your idea by questioning people, it is usually possible to do so without revealing too many important details. Where this is difficult, you may want to draw up a secrecy agreement to be signed by anyone with whom you discuss your plans. A short, plain-worded document gives you recourse to legal action should a breach of faith occur. Read the rest of this entry »

The ideas listed below are useful, only if they are an integral part of a larger, carefully co-ordinated marketing effort. Some ideas may be unsuitable for some types of product or service; some may clash with certain images; and others may simply be too expensive. Remember that the poor execution of any one of the ideas will render it ineffectual at best and harmful at worst. Read the rest of this entry »

The most important point to remember when promoting your business is that you should never make a promise that you cannot keep. Although you may make a few quick sales this way, your customers will be dissatisfied when they get less than they expected to get, and as a result, your reputation may suffer. It is a much better idea to under-promise and over-deliver. Read the rest of this entry »

Give-Aways

Online merchants have been using a variation of this idea for years—give something free, then sell something. Although this idea is not new to commerce (businesses have been using loss leaders for decades—selling products below cost to get shoppers into a store) it’s the right formula for the Internet.

A good example of this strategy is the free virtual bouquet that many flower sites offer visitors. Come to their site, send a free virtual bouquet via email and perhaps become a paying customer of real flowers in the future. In a similar vein, you can send a virtual greeting card to anyone on the Net by using many of the greeting card sites. Read the rest of this entry »

Online publicity is an important element of your marketing plan if you’re to rise above the noise level on the Net. But getting that publicity is not easy—it takes a lot of work, and can be froth with dangers. It takes a lot of planning and preparation and is definitely not a one-shot effort. A well-thought-out publicity plan gives your eBusiness the kind of portrayal you want in the media and your community. Over the long haul, good portrayal generates good credibility for your eBusiness.

The goal is to generate important coverage of your eBusiness at exactly the right time and in exactly the right place. Read the rest of this entry »

Surprise Them with Shipping Costs

Shoppers don’t like surprises. Before you put your customers through your order taking process, let them know what the actual shipped price of their order will be.

You can do this in one of two ways. First, present the customer with the full amount of his order before you ask for his credit card. If you can’t have offer that calculation, then have complete shipping and handling charges listed on your Web store—and make that list easy to find. This is even more critical for your international customers.

If you want to sell to international customers, then you have to let them know it. Give them the international shipping costs before they reach your order form. Read the rest of this entry »

As you approach the building on day one, your first balloon is popped. People are not lined up waiting to get in. On entering, you find there are no messages on the answering machine, and two hours later the only call you receive is from your spouse asking how it’s going. As the first day ends your revenues are just under ten bucks. A quick glance at your budget shows that your expenses for that day were closer to a hundred.

Now is not the time to question what went right or wrong. The fact that anybody bought anything from you today may be a great sign. The question you should be looking at is, “What did I do today? How did I spend my time?”

If you spent a great deal of the time watching the traffic go by, doing useless paperwork, or watching soap operas, you should probably get a copy of the employment section of the want ads for tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.’

Promoting the sale

You have provided dynamic, written material, you have had a successful appointment and the potential client seems pleased by what you have to offer. However, he or she is wavering about giving you the business project and, as always, you realise that you have hungry competitors wanting the business, too. In this case, a special offer on your part can make the difference. It says, ‘I really want your business.’

The essence of sales promotion is that it must be easily understood and relevant to your product. It will seem ludicrous to consumers to receive a free embroidery kit if they are buying a puppy! With this principle in mind, let’s look at some examples.

Promotional techniques

In hairdressing you can promote your business using hairdressing products. In fashion, you can use accessories or perfumes. With books you can offer membership to a book club. Your offer must always sound right and be related in some way to your product or service. Here are a few types of special offers you can consider; they represent some of the best promotional vehicles I’ve seen in the past few years, with the exception of competitions, which I have included for discussion only. Read the rest of this entry »