A few weeks ago I have discovered a whole new breed of marketing mindsets and superior techniques. The power that this form of marketing has is amazing. People can go from ‘zero to hero’ in just a few days. Thousands of dollars, pure profits, aren’t rare when you start using this new marketing technique.

Before I explain to you how this works, let me tell you a background story…

Do you have friends or parents who don’t believe in making money on the internet? Most likely you have, because every internet marketer stumbles on resistance. The block they form for you is about to be transformed into a new motivating source of energy.

A lot of people tend to give up on internet marketing, when they have to keep telling their friends and parents that they didn’t succeed yet. Some of you will be laughed at, others will have their spouse or parents yelling at them to get a ‘real job’. Those people from a mental block for you because you’re getting tired of them.

But it’s negative force can easily be utilized as a positive force to begin experiencing success as an internet marketer. It can give the final push in the back that you needed so hard. A wonderful key to profits is laying there all the time. Why don’t you use it?

Through all the negativity they send to you, you can really succeed, and I’m about to tell you how.

We’ve now identified the problem, the one bump in the road that stops you from earning an income on the internet. And to transform the problem into a driving force behind everything you do, you have to change your mindset. When you change your mindset, everything changes.

Learn how to think like a successful person. Always keep

those irritating parents or friends in mind, and work to prove them the opposite. You have the ability to prove them once and for all that you’re better then they think.

You are better then they think!

It may sound awkward, but it’s true. Everyone can earn a nice income at the internet, even you! Anyone with a passion or hobby, motivation and free time can start an online business. You just have to put in the energy, only your efforts will bring in money.

Now that you’ve learned that, choose any person in your life who thinks you’re nothing, and that you can’t earn an income from the internet. Picture that person as vividly as you can, and write down everything she accuses you of.

Then comes the final step… Put in all your efforts in proving him or her the opposite of what they said to you. Let them know, through your work, that you’re not a loser and that you can earn a nice income.

Do whatever you can, do it fast and smart.

Aggressive marketing is based on this mindset. When you’ve a goal to work to, people to prove to they’re wrong – you got an enormous motivating force in you. That same force will work with you. With it you will write much stronger salescopy, put in more time and effort into promoting your products.

Overall, you can’t lose when you use aggressive marketing. It’s the number one force that got me my first online profits. If you want to learn more about aggressive marketing and other marketing techniques, subscribe to my free newsletter at the link below.

Dave Origano is author of “Motivation & Inspiration” and “Momentum Based Marketing”. Visit his website for more articles, reviews, blog and his newsletter at http://www.MrOrigano.com.

We all agree one of the most important parts of any business is Sales. We also know that to get sales we must advertise to let potential customers know of our offerings. When writing a business plan you must have a clear and concise picture of how you will generate sales for your business if you are to attract favorable loans and proper capital to succeed. I cannot impress upon you enough of the importance of these sections in your business plan. So much so that I want to offer you this sample to assist you in writing your business plan for your next most important entrepreneurial endeavor.

You will need to print this article and then read the paragraphs below and of course modify them to fit you business model. Carefully describing how you will go about your sales and which methods of advertising you will use to bring in your customers. Then construct your own Sales and Advertising Sections for your business plan. My sample is for a mobile car wash business that is a franchise and is pretty straight-forward, it will give you ideas and insights to complete your own. Continued Success.

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Sales

We will initially use direct sales as our primary sales technique. We will casually walk into businesses and offer our services. Other forms of initial contact will include fax marketing, e-mail, flyer distribution, car wash fundraisers and car wash free-bee give aways. We will follow the franchisor’s recommendations on sales lines that are updated periodically on cassette tapes. We will play these tapes in our work trucks so all crew members can close sales and up-sell customers instantly in the parking lots and offices.

We will also follow the franchisor’s pricing policies. When we find something that works extremely well in our territory we will push those services. It is in the Franchise Circular and Franchise Agreement that we must charge no less than $5.00 for a basic exterior car wash. The other prices can vary. We

intend to retain the highest possible profit in the services we provide. We want repeat customers, so we will find a happy medium for our clients (supply and demand).

For promotions we will continually:

Give out car wash door prizes at civic group meetings, bingo nights, chamber of commerce, etc.

Plan car wash fundraisers at least once per month for kids.

Fax out car wash discounts on poor weather days.

Sponsor civic programs such as Neighborhood Mobile Watch Program, Arson Watch Program, etc.

Advertising

Our advertising will be extensive. Our franchisor will help us achieve additional market penetration up to 1.2% of the population (based upon a population average of 40,000) for every truck we are using. Their advertising help will include some of the following:

Bidding On Government Accounts

Direct Mailings of Previous Customers

Fax On Demand

Fleet Sales Campaigns (Every Three Months)

Internet Home Page Referrals

Radio Packages

We will spend our local advertising dollars very carefully on things like: Booster Club programs for youth sports, flyers and inserts in newspapers. All of our flyers will have local advertising on the reverse side. This will offset most or all of the printing costs. Our franchisor has proven over and over that these are the best forms of advertising for mobile automobile services.

Marketing Funds Distribution Breakdown

Insert Chart.

Media

Free publicity has always been easy for those companies that have new concepts and flair. Our company will have ultra high visibility. Our truck(s) will be bright yellow, have large signs and perform high profile car washing fundraisers for non-profits groups. Our crews will be high energy young men and women. Here are some of the places we will submit pre-written stories and press releases:

Chamber Of Commerce Newsletters

Contractor Newsletters

Large Company Newsletters

Local BBS Bulletin Boards

Local Cable Companies

Local Industry News

Local Newspapers

Local Radio Stations

Real Estate Multi-Listing Books

Our franchisor will custom make public relations material in the event our preinstalled press release files in Microsoft Word are not applicable to the given situation.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

WHY ARE YOU WRITING THIS BROCHURE OR SALES LETTER?

A great deal of money is wasted each day putting out useless sales and marketing material. Material that was written for the wrong reason or the writer forgot its purpose after he started writing it or fell in love with his own words.

The single purpose of any marketing communications is to get the reader to take action. That action may be to request additional information or to phone in or send in an order. Before you write any marketing document be sure you are clearly focused on this point. As you write each sentence and each paragraph, constantly ask yourself whether what you are writing will get your prospect to act.

It is easy to get sidetracked but don’t fall into this trap.. Your purpose is not to tell the readers how clever you are or how great your company is to try to entertain your reader. Your only objective in writing this material is to get your prospect to:

1. Send in or call in an order. 2. Obtain more information, if that is your intent.

So, before you write your material, write down its purpose and then stick to it.

The focus should always be on the prospect, not the writer!

All of us are barraged with direct mail pieces every day. Have you noticed how many of them, even in the opening paragraph, miss the point which is you the reader and your needs.

Here are two examples. Both were written by magazines with the purpose, I assume, to get the reader to spend advertising dollars. You decide which one is doing the job.

I. Avertiser’s Introductory Special

Advertiser:

The XYZ Magazine is a monthly national mail order newspaper which is circulated by mail… Our readership of 1,000,000 are mail order responsive subscribers, Opportunity Seekers, Investors, Salespeople, etc………………………

2. Looking For A Fresh Start?

Millions of Americans have a dream, and that dream is to become rich and successful in an exciting, lucrative business of their own — What better way than to start through classified advertising.

When you receive a sales letter or brochure that focuses on you, don’t you take notice and get further into the material?

Make it a practice, at least until you become more experienced to scan each and every promotional piece that is sent to you. You will quickly establish the difference between effective and ineffective material.

Some Research Will be Helpful

Writing the right material but directing it to the wrong person is fatal. Don’t you get annoyed when you get addressed as married when you are

happily single? Don’t you hate it when you get material for homeowners when you live in an

apartment? When customers get material that has absolutely nothing to do with their needs or interests, it gets thrown out.

Know who you are writing to and what that person wants. How can he benefit by what you have to offer. One way you can accomplish this is by picking out those classified or display ads that resemble what you want to sell. Then send in for more information. You soon learn how the product is being marketed by different companies.

The very best way to write material that reaches the prospect is by writing to one person rather than writing for mass appeal. It will keep your style easy and friendly.

Lethargy is human nature and overcoming it will be one of your greatest challenges. Most of us are lethargic by nature. If we can do it tomorrow or nest week, why not. People feel if they don’t take any action they cannot make a mistake. Every marketer has the formidable challenge of overcoming theses “Non-action Tendencies.”

The anxiety/fear syndrome can be effectively used to overcome the above. For example: “This is a limited offer.” This offer must be exercised by date. Be believable in what you are saying. Consider using testimonials, government studies, well known research, etc. to aid you in making your point.

For example, research pertaining to the start of any enterprise indicates that before any business can be started, someone initially has an idea and then at some crucial moment takes the first step. It is when he translates the mental commitment into a physical act. This may be the purchase of a book, report, franchise, distributorship, going

out and looking for a site for a retail outlet. etc.

This is why you see so many marketing documents how the marketer uses this fact in trying to overcome the resistance of inaction. There are many other ways you will think of in overcoming this resistance.

Features of you product or service such as how fast you deliver something, what color it is,, how it can be assembled are far less important to the buyer than benefits are to him.

The benefit of sitting on you new outdoor furniture, on your patio on a warm summer evening and enjoying a cool beer are far more important than the fact that this outdoor furniture is constructed of the finest material,, comes in four different colors, is delivered in 10 days and has a 30 day money back guaranty.

All you have to do is to watch the car commercials, of the manufacturers, not the dealers. What is the last time you have seen one that gives you much, if any information on the car. What do you see in many of these T.V. car commercials? Beautiful women, healthy looking young men, a beautiful sunset on the Pacific Ocean, and wonderful background music. The shiny new car, of course, is part of the scenery. But none of it really has anything to do with what a car provides, transportation, reliability, performance, etc.

There are many way in which you can turn features into benefits by carefully weaving it all together. The fact that this lawn furniture you are selling is delivered in just 10 days brings the benefit of sitting on it, on a summer evening so much faster to your buyer.

Making an Offer and Asking for the Order

It is a mistake to leave it up to the prospect to take action and when to take it. If you leave it up to your prospect what to do and when to do it you may never get the order. He will have many distractions after he puts your offer down. The more time goes by the less likely he will send an order. So give him a reason why to take action NOW. You have already told him why he will benefit by your product.

Your prospect already has decided that he needs what you are offering because of the great benefits to him. Now, give him a compelling reason why he should act, now.

Making the Various Pieces of Your Material Fit

Your sales letter, your brochure, etc. must fit. Since you wan t to do a better job than your competitor and this takes time and effort, chances are very good that whatever you create is worked on over a period of time. The brochure may be created one week and the sales letter a few days later. Make sure that it all fits and complements each other. Stick to your original outline which should be written down before you ever get started.

Some Final Thoughts

After it is all done give it one more review. Wait a couple of days and read it again. Then ask these questions: Is it directed to the prospect or is it about me. Is it of benefit to him? Am I making my strongest benefit. Research indicates that the recipient of a direct mail piece takes about 8 seconds to decide whether to read on. So, give it your very best shot right at the start.

You are satisfied it is the best you can create. If you have come to that point it is important you get someone else confirm that for you. This should be someone who does not have a material interest in your offer.

When you create great marketing piece and it gets you the results which you planned for — more orders, more revenue and more profit– you will feel very good. Getting there is half as difficult as it may seem. All it takes is a little practice and a little more practice…Don’t forget patience!

Copyright 2004 by DeAnna Spencer

Are you content with your advertising budget?

Schedule a coaching session with Frugal Solutions Expert, DeAnna Spencer.

She will design an affordable online advertising plan for you.

Contact her by sending an email to deanna.spencer(at)gmail.com

Visit this small business resource for more information.

There is a lot of talk online about Internet Marketing “Gurus”. So what exactly is a “guru” anyway?

The dictionary definition of guru is as follows:

1) A spiritual teacher.

2) A charismatic leader or guide.

Okay. Now what does this mean in terms of The Internet?

As far as I can tell, both of these definitions do apply to Internet Marketing in that once a person gets hooked on a particular “guru” it’s almost like a religious experience.

You buy all the eBooks; you buy all the “recommended” products; you buy all the software you never actually get around to figuring out how to use; you wait anxiously every day for your gurus email, so you can suck in all that new information.

You start to visualize yourself “making money while you sleep” while suppressing any thoughts about the real amount of work it actually takes to pull off this kind of success. I call this the “newbies dream”.

Is it a religious experience? Perhaps, but my advice is this: if you are following a “guru” and keep falling into the “newbies dream” it would be much wiser to stop immediately and think carefully about what you’re doing because unless you’re actually applying what you’re “learning” there is no guru on earth who can help you.

So how does one become an “Internet Marketing Guru?” There is no doubt the way to get this label is to make lots of money (I mean LOTS!) and to “help” others learn how to do the same thing. But is making money the only thing that people are obsessed with on the Internet?

No, but sometimes it seems that way, especially if you are someone who has decided to try to figure out how to make some money online. Once you make that decision, something very eerie begins to happens. You immediately begin searching for ways to go about reaching your goal and before long, you find yourself under the spell of one guru or another.

Now, if you’ve discovered a guru that teaches you everything you need to know about making a living online, then congratulations. There are a few out there but they are not always easy to find. Unfortunately, for many of us, the search for the “Ultimate” guru was never ending when we started online.

The reason? Because there are so many classifications of “gurus” — you’ve got “semi” gurus” — “self-proclaimed” gurus — “I’m not a guru yet, but I will be soon so you’d better buy my new eBook if you want to succeed” gurus — “I’m going to sell you every product out there” gurus — “You’d better buy this deal now at this low price because you’ll never get this chance again!” gurus … and so on and so on.

Since I’ve been studying how to make money on the Internet I’ve realized there is only one correct way to do it, but

there are many variables to that correct way. You can become an affiliate marketer, you can offer a service, you can sell digital products, you can get involved in MLM and “business opportunities”, and you can also lose yourself a lot of money trying figure out how to do things the “correct” way.

The job of a Guru, as far as I can tell, is to help you make money the correct way. However, if you’ve come across some of the “self-proclaimed” or “I’m going to sell you …” etc. type gurus and try to follow their methods, what you end up getting is “information overload” and a very big headache trying to find your way through it all.

So what is the best approach when following an Internet Marketing “Guru”? For me, it’s determining first where I’m at on the learning curve and then seeking out specific information on a need-to-know basis that will get me to the next level without causing too much confusion. If your chosen Guru is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at you, the danger is you will get so frustrated and confused you will just give up.

Don’t do it! Just be careful. Internet Marketing Gurus tend to care about one thing — selling their product to as many people as possible. And you know what, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that … they are not babysitters and they are definitely not responsible for your inability to find your way through all the confusion.

The bottom line is to carefully choose your “guru” or mentor or whatever you want to call them, because they are probably an essential part of the learning curve. If you can stick to one or two good ones, all the better. Jumping from one to the next to the next is guaranteed to give you a massive headache and, in the long run, jeopardize your chances for success.

I won’t name names here, however, if you are interested in my review of “My Favorite Gurus” go to my website at http://www.zxcomm.com/gurus.htm. This is where I name names and give you a quick and honest review of the best of the lot.

Remember, not everyone has the talent, desire or stamina to become an “Internet Marketing Guru” but you know what? You don’t have to be one to make a living online. If fact, millions of people all over the world quietly make at least a portion of their income from their Internet businesses. If that is your ultimate goal, it is doable if you have patience and a keen desire to succeed.

Glenn Cutforth from Zxmaxx Communications at http://www.zxcomm.com has teamed up with Asian Marketing Tigers Jo Han Mok and Ewen Chia from Midas Touch Marketing to create a Simple, yet utterly Devastating Internet Wealth Building System that even a “klutz” can master at http://www.creatingwealth4life.com

Money is the only thing that motivates a salesperson, right? Well, maybe it is time to give your sales staff a little more credit.

If you are like most sales managers, you were probably promoted to your current position because you were a great salesperson. But can you remember what motivated you to work so hard? Was it for the hope of advancement? Was it your loyal determination to help the company succeed? Or was it your fiery, competitive spirit that made you want to outshine your colleagues?

Understanding your sales staff requires that you remember your own experiences as a salesperson and the roots that got you where you are today. Use your past incentives to motivate your salespeople, but also recognize that everyone is different and will respond differently to the same incentive.

Like your customers, your staff is made up of a variety of personalities, with unique factors that influence how and why they make a sale. Each take something a little bit different to really get their “A game” out of them. Understanding these differences will help you to create a diverse game plan that will motivate all your sales people by sparking each individual’s desire to succeed.

It is best if you cover multiple motivational styles in all that you do. With salespeople you will find that many are motivated by recognition, achievement or just plain competitiveness. It is best that, in addition to money, you provide other outlets to motivate your staff.

These alternatives may be more effective than just monetary incentives.

Think about it. When a salesperson receives money as a reward, where does that money go? Typically the money goes into a checking account and is used to pay bills. That is not memorable at all.

When you supplement your compensatory form of motivation with something a little less traditional, your salespeople will remember that far longer than any monetary reward. They will remember it longer because it will mean more to them; it is more important. After all, which is more memorable: receiving a paycheck, or being awarded with a prize or special recognition?

The extra level of importance and sentimental worth that is placed on these supplemental forms of motivation is the key to the effectiveness of your salespeople.

So the next time you sit down to try to find a better way to motivate your sales staff, get a little creative! Run a contest to spark their competitive spirit, or help them see their individual efforts as an important part of the company’s larger goal. Whatever you do, make it big and make sure everyone has something to gain from it. Post these goals and give them a lot of attention. Your staff will draw from your excitement and will easily find the motivation to gain the incentive and to make that sale.

Tom Richard is the founder of http://www.TrainActive.com and also produces a free weekly ezine. Please visit his website for more information.

Sales is all about negotiating. You are negotiating from the first word out of your lips on a cold call, to the moment that you touch the contract with your customer’s wet signature on it.

Whenever you are listening to a prospect tell you about something that they want or complain about a problem that they want you to help solve, do not be too quick to agree.

If you do, you risk losing your leverage.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that you are selling photocopy machines. Your prospect tells you that he believes his monthly costs for copying are too high.

So far so good – here’s a prospect that has a pain that you can sell to.

You ask him to tell you why he believes his costs are too high.

Your prospect starts to tell you all of the reasons why he thinks his costs are high, and what he believes the solutions to the problem are. He tells you what sort of new services or equipment and capabilities he needs.

He goes on for 5 minutes or more talking about this.

Being a sales professional, you are most likely what we call a “people person”. Most people in sales have a high need for approval from other people. We thrive on interaction and strokes from others.

During his 5+ minutes of speaking you are naturally inclined to give verbal and physical cues to encourage him to keep talking. You are unable to just sit there like a wooden statue. You feel a normal need to reciprocate the communication in small but noticeable ways.

With a high need for approval, you are likely to encourage your prospect to continue talking by giving positive verbal and physical cues. As he is speaking you nod your head occasionally, you say things like “Yes”, “OK”, or “Right”.

This is where many of us get into trouble.

By using such positive cues, you are subtly telling your prospect that you can solve their problem, or that you can give them what they want.

Why is this bad? In our example here, you don’t want your prospect to know just yet

whether you can solve the problem. You want the focus to stay on him, his problem, and the consequences of it.

If you let on that you can solve it too soon, then you give up your leverage. He *wants* to know whether you can solve his problem.

And once he knows that you can solve his problem, he’ll want to know pricing, terms, customer references, etc. The focus will be on you (instead of on him), and you will have lost control of the sales call.

He’ll disassociate from his emotions around his problem. It is at this point that the prospect starts to get intellectual, and tries to figure out how to game you, how to get what he wants out of you at the best possible price.

You want to keep the focus of the sales call on the prospect and his pain so that you can find out more important information. You want to what know his budget is, what his decision approval process is, and you want to see if he’ll make me a reasonable commitment to you if you can solve his problem.

So instead of giving positive cues while he is speaking for 5 minutes about why his copying costs are so high, give neutral cues.

Encourage him to keep speaking by using words and phrases like “continue”, “tell me more”, “interesting”, “wow”, and “I hear what you are saying”.

What you want is to empathize without agreeing. If you agree to soon, then you give something away without getting what you need in return.

Practice this anytime you are negotiating with a prospect.

In other words, practice it all of the time.

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown’s sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) can get a little tricky, but I’ll try to make it simple. By now you’ve probably heard the term yet may not fully understand how to use it effectively, if at all. That’s because every “Tom, Dick and Mary Marketer” have done their best to make it more complicated than necessary.

The hardest part of calculating CLV is figuring out exactly what your customers’ “lifetime” really is…. and the only accurate way to arrive at that number is by getting, storing and analyzing your customers’ data. Period. If you’ve been in business for a while, this should be easy to get, but if you’re a start-up you’re going to have to estimate this based on industry standards.

Although there are several ways to arrive at CLV, the easiest is to calculate:

1. The average length of time a customer stays your customer

2. The number of transactions that an average customer will have with you during that time and

3. The average dollar amount per transaction

Multiply these together and you’ll arrive at a usable number. But remember, junk in, junk out… so make sure your original numbers are accurate!

Once established, you can use your CLV as a benchmark for developing a realistic customer acquisition (or retention for that matter) budget. For example, let’s say you find out that your average customer:

1. Stays with you for 5 months

2. Purchases something from you 3 times per month

3. Spends an average of $2 per transaction

In this case your average CLV would be $30. Based on this, it would be foolish to spend even $20 to gain one customer… you’d be left with little, or no, profit (unless of course, your margins are outrageously high). On the other hand, your customers may hang in there for 22 months, spend $20 per transaction and purchase from you a greater number of times. Since your CLV would be much higher, you could afford to pay more to gain a customer. Again, the specifics differ widely and there are many factors to consider, Also note that this does not include any costs associated with preserving this customer relationship. In the real world these must be included.

It is crucial that you understand your CLV and use it to guide your communication decisions! (A good book on this subject is Donald Lehmann and Sunil Gupta’s, “Managing Customers as Investments”… visit our website, www.StrategicMarketingAdvisors.com for a review and ordering information.)

3. Your specific goals, such as:

* Acquiring “x” numbers of new customers

* Increasing the number of current customer transactions

* Increasing the length of time your customers remain your customers

4. Proposed media costs and actual/forecast response and sale rates (you can find these out online or from any reputable advertiser)

Once armed with this information, you’ll be in a good position to choose. Here’s an example of how

this might work. Let’s assume the following:

* I am a widget retailer

* My goal is to get 1,000 new customers this year

* I will get 200 customers whether I do “anything” or not… (for example word-of-mouth, walk- ins, etc.)

* That means, I need to acquire the remaining 800 using some form(s) of advertising

* I can spend $40,000 to “buy” these 800 new customers

* My CLV is $40

* After careful consideration, I decide to conduct a direct mail campaign

* Based on my careful research and experience, I know that I can sensibly assume that 1%

of my audience will respond by calling (called a “response rate”) and that 80% of the responders

will become new customers.

* Given this forecast and my goal of 800 new customers, I know that I’m going to have to mail out

100,000 sales letters.

* As luck would have it, the cost to create, print and mail one letter is 37 cents (using 3rd class

postal rates) which comes to $37,000… leaving me with a $3,000 “fudge factor”

So, let’s see where I stand…

1. The campaign cost is well within my budgeted amount of $40,000, my forecasts are reasonable based on industry standards and experience, and can realistically accomplish my goals. So everything is perfect, right? Wrong.

2. 800 customers with a CLV of $40 will result in revenues (over time no less) of only $32,000! That’s called a losing proposition!

What should I do?

1. In the short term, find out if there are less expensive advertising vehicles that may bring you similar results.

2. Find ways to reduce the direct mail costs without sacrificing response and sale rates (e.g. one color vs. four; lighter paper stock).

3. Identify ways of increasing the sales rates (for example beef up the offer; send to more people – you’ll get economies of scale this way so the per piece price will drop dramatically and you’ll acquire more customers)

4. Offer added products to increase your customer’s average transaction amount

5. Institute robust retention programs aimed at increasing the longevity of your average customer

Although this is a very simple example of how CLV works, it clearly demonstrates how important understanding it is to your business. Without considering CLV, you’ll be shooting in the dark – potentially wasting thousands of dollars and commiting serious, or even devastating, blunders.

Mary Eule specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses get and keep profitable customers. Formerly a Fortune 500 marketing executive; founder of two successful small businesses and award-winning speaker, Ms. Eule is President of Strategic Marketing Advisors, LLC. and co-author of a new book, “Mandatory Marketing: Small Business Edition”.

She has a BA in Journalism/English from the University of Maryland and earned her a master’s degree in marketing from Johns Hopkins University. Log onto her website: http://www.StrategicMarketingAdvisors.com for free articles, newsletter and helpful marketing tools, tips and templates… and/or to purchase the book.

Getting customers in your site should always be ranked as high as the importance of the quality and the excellence of the product and the services you provide. They should go hand in hand in providing your customers the satisfaction they get in exchange for the money they have paid for them. For more help visit to: www.build-huge-list.com. Customer service should as well be as fantastic so that the customers are provided with the same satisfaction.

One of the ways you can combine marketing and customer service is through opt-in marketing. With an opt-in list you get the opportunity to introduce your site and products on a good time basis. Opt-in marketing strategy is a marketing strategy that is virtually low cost and not time consuming. Here, you get the consent of your website visitors to subscribe to your newsletters and other promotional materials such as catalogs and free promotions.

Opt-in marketing uses your list of subscribers to send e-mail to. These e-mails will contain the materials you will send to your subscribers. It is essential that you present your promotional items in a manner that will catch the interest and the eye of your subscribers to keep them wanting for more. The best way to do this is to provide fun, entertaining and informational articles.

Well written articles full of content and useful information will help in building your list as more subscribers will be enticed your list. When they have read the samples of your contents in your sites, they will be intrigued as to what will come next. Subscribing to your newsletter will offer them a glimpse of what you have to offer next.

Many sites and companies have captured the importance of articles and this also aids in search engine optimization. As more people are heading towards the internet for their information needs, serving the right information to them via articles in your site will increase the flow of your website traffic. With more traffic, the percentage of your sales will grow. More sales turn into more profit.

There have been the rise for the importance of well written, information enriched and keyword packed articles for the content of their site as well as for newsletters. These articles provide the information many are

seeking in the internet. If your site has them, more people will be going to your site for information and research.

Well written articles would also boost your sites reputation. If they are filled with many information you will be regarded as well informed and an expert on the subjects that you tackle. Your articles must be well researched so that the people will trust you. When you have gained their trust, they will always come for you for their needs on that subject.

In connection, you must write articles or commission them to tackle subjects that are closely connected with your type of business. If you have a site for a medicine tackling a certain disease, your articles must be about the diseases. Or if you sell materials for home improvements provide articles with those themes. Most articles searched for are tips, guidelines, methods, manuals and such. If you provide these articles to your customers and you have their trust, they will always go to your site for help and advice as well as for your products.

With the loyalty of these customers, they may subscribe to your opt-in list to receive all the information you have. If you provide them with the answers for that need, they will be happy to be receiving your newsletters as well as other promotional materials to keep them well informed. Others may even forward your newsletters to other people when they find a certain article interesting.

You should provide links in your newsletter so that when other people are reading it and wants to read more, they may click on the link and go to your site. With the articles you have in your site that are good, they may decide to sign up as well for your opt-in list. This will build your list and make it bigger.

Make sure to keep your subscribers happy and interested in your newsletters and promotional materials. Keep on posting and writing good articles for your site and newsletter. If you are not interested in writing them or if you just don’t have the time, there are many available well experienced and knowledgeable writers available to help you out. This is an investment that will pay for itself in time.

What every business has in common is that it needs customers. Sounds a little basic but what do you really know about yours? Do you know who they are, what they like, where they hang out, what they do when they’re not working? And if you know these things, are you targeting your sales message to your best customers? And if you are, are your new customers becoming good customers, buying again and again?

In this months issue we start a brand new series all about customers that will help you answer all of these questions and make your Internet Marketing more effective and profitable.

Customers – Who Are Yours?

Who are your customers? Do you know who your best customers are? Do you know how much they buy, and when they buy it? Do you know how they use your web site?

How you gather the information to answer these questions can be a bit of a complex process. The clarification involves discussions between your sales and marketing departments, the web designer that built your web site and an amount of data analysis. Your marketing department should be able to clearly define who your best customers are and this should be backed up by sales data from your sales department. The web designer should be able to engineer a system to track the online behaviour of those customers.

What you need to identify first are your particular customer types. Customers fall into distinct categories. There are your most loyal customers, the ones who always buy from you and/or put in sizable orders. There are the sometime customers, those who purchase regularly from both you and your competitors and therefore have the potential to become better customers. There are the occasional customers who infrequently buy from you, particularly sale or special offer items. There are former customers who no longer shop at your web site and there are the browsers, those who have visited your web site but have never bought from you.

You can create a winning online presence by understanding how your customer base breaks down across these categories. The rule of thumb is the best 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of revenue.

How To Categorise Your Customers by Profitability

· Finding your top 20 percent of customers.

To determine your top, average, and lowest-performing customers, rank customers by total sales over the past year. Create a cumulative total sales column, starting with the highest-revenue customer. Develop a cumulative total sales percentage by dividing the cumulative total sales by total sales for the year. You can now easily identify which customers generated what percentage of total sales and simply identify your top 20 percent.

· Determine whether customers are profitable.

To analyse these figures further you can determine a customers true worth by looking at their profitability rather than just their sales figure. It is worth calculating this figure if you market differently to different sections of your client base, as they will therefore have different associated costs. A customer is truly profitable when the revenue they generate exceeds the fully loaded costs (i.e., production costs, marketing, and overhead associated with servicing this customer).

A profitable customer = customer revenue — (production costs + applicable marketing costs + allocated overhead) > 0

As this analysis shows, all customers aren’t created equal. To increase your profits, you must target your marketing to those segments with the greatest profit potential.

How This Should Translate To Your Internet Marketing and Web Site

· Enhance your relationship with your loyal top customers. At a minimum, acknowledge the importance of your loyal top customers, who comprise around the top 20 percent of your customer base.

Regardless of the software used, information extracted from the analysis of your web sites performance should help improve your marketing. Some of your best customers may always visit a certain area of your site. That may mean it should be featured more prominently on the site. Your best customers might use certain services

on your site. These should be featured in your marketing. They might look for more information on certain products. Maybe you should feature that information in your sales efforts.

Use special touches to delight these customers and humanise the relationship. Consider creating a rewards scheme or a special by-invitation-only offers for your very best customers. It can enhance the cachet of being a preferred customer. Don’t forget that these customers also tend to refer other good customers.

· Improve marketing to “Sometime” customers. Many of these second-tier customers, the next 10 to 20 percent of your base, have the potential to become loyal top customers. Develop programs to make them feel special without sizably shrinking your margins.

· Maintain promotion to the “Occasional” customer. Constituting about half your list, these customers will often purchase for the same reasons they did before, barring any change in either your offering or their circumstances.

· Manage bottom-tier “Former Customers” proactively. The bottom 10 to 20 percent of your customer base probably hasn’t recently purchased. You need feedback to understand why. Did they only purchase a gift? Did they have a bad experience with your company? Develop a plan to market to or drop these customers by segment.

Former customers can still be profitable, implement or extend a customer win-back program. Based on customer feedback, test different offers to restart purchasing. You already have their contact information and they already know your brand, so acquisition costs tend to be less than for a totally new customer. Every win-back creates a second customer lifetime value.

· “Browsers”.These are a slightly different kettle of fish as they are not yet customers. The topic of converting these browsers into customers is covered in depth in our series of DIY Internet Marketing Guides available here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/diy_internet_marketing_guides.html and will also be touched upon later in this series.

Ensure no profitable customer is left behind by tailoring your message to meet each customer’s needs and potential. All customers aren’t created equal and understanding the dynamics of your customer base is critical, especially as online retailing matures and growth rates slow. Finding ways to maximize the value of each profitable customer relationship is even more critical to maintaining business momentum and maximising your Internet Marketing activities.

Is your web site driving high quality, targeted customers to your business? Our proven Internet Marketing solutions make your web site work harder for you. For a complete range of Internet marketing and advertising resources to improve search engine positions visit Enable UK.

Stop losing customers to your competitors and make more money from your web site TODAY http://www.enable-uk.co.uk

To catch up with previous issues of this newsletter, visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/internet_marketing_newsletter_.html

Coming next month:

· October 2005 – Customers – Attracting Them.

Coming up in the rest of the series:

· November 2005 – Customers – Attracting Them – Part 2 – Out of the Box Ideas

· December 2005 – Customers – Converting Your Browsers Into Customers

· January 2005 – Customers – Keep Them Coming Back

· February 2005 – Customers – How To Reactivate Them

Till next month.

Enable UK

Internet Marketing Information and Resources

Make your web site work smarter!

Web: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk

Email: info@enable-uk.co.uk

If you have any questions about any of the topics raised or any other Internet Marketing issues, feel free to email me at Newsletter@enable-uk.co.uk I do my best to answer all emails or to cover the issues in future editions of this newsletter.

Feel free to forward this newsletter provided that it is sent in its entirety with all links intact.

To use this newsletter in any other format, please email for permission to Newsletter@enable-uk.co.uk

Internet Marketing Tips Newsletter is a monthly publication of Enable-UKCopyright © 2005 Enable-UK.

Is your web site driving high quality, targeted customers to your business? Our proven Internet Marketing solutions make your web site work harder for you. For a complete range of Internet marketing and advertising resources to improve search engine positions visit Enable UK. Stop losing customers to your competitors and make more money from your web site TODAY. http://www.enable-uk.co.uk

Being familiar with your competitors is a valuable tool when you decide it’s time for a new logo. Normally, your company will be competing directly against companies similar to yours; sometimes the competition will be much larger than you, and other times your company will be striving to beat out other small businesses. Regardless of whom you will be competing against, it’s important to think about where you want to position your company in your market.

For example, a lawn care company may want to position themselves as the affordable, reasonably priced alternative that offers just what you need with no nonsense, or perhaps you will decide you want your coffee shop to be very specialized and target higher income customers that demand more. On the other hand, you may want your real estate agency to focus on local residents in your community rather than people moving from out-of-state.

Considering these things can go a

long way when it comes time to design your logo. Decide where you want to fit in the competition. Do you want your company to look ready to go head to head with competitors by looking mainstream, established and competent, or would you rather stand out by being unique, specialized and exciting?

These ideas and messages can be portrayed through good logo design, so it’s important to let your designers know where you want to fit in your particular market. Doing so will help the designers see the same vision you have for your company, and you will be surprised how words that describe your company can be portrayed visually. A fitting logo will help you as you prepare to position yourself against tough competitors.

Jonathan Munk writes articles for major Logo Maker companies such as http://www.LogoWorks.com and http://www.LogoMaker.com

For more information about LogoWorks visit Statesman.com