ProBizTips Newsletter
** ISSUE #254 **
August 4th, 2003
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Hey!
Good Day to you and I hope your day is going well so far! :)
Welcome to all our new subscribers this week and I hope you grow
to love us as so many have ... we couldn't do this without you!
I had a great time visiting family last week and almost hated to come home! But of course, I missed you guys ... so I'm happy to be home and sleeping in my own bed.
My Aunt Linda (who had recovered from breast cancer last year) was a "ball of fire" ... always has been, always will be. No matter what life has thrown her, she has persevered through it all. She is truly an inspiration to me. :)
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In the meantime ... sit back, relax and enjoy today's issue!
Your Friend,
Diane Hughes
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| ProBizTips Feature Article |
Are You Walking the Talk?
by Diane Hughes
I saw a television commercial the other day. It actually made me laugh out loud. It wasn't funny "ha ha," it was funny ironic. A local telephone service provider was singing its own praises about what wonderful service it provided. "Yeah, sure!" I thought. I used to live in the area that this particular provider covered, and I know for a fact their service is anything but wonderful.
Many online business owners commit this same sin. They make a point to tell their visitors what exceptional service they'll receive, how quick they'll be responded to, how innovative their products are, or a hundred other promises. Then, when a complaint comes in, or phone messages are left, nothing happens. They don't walk the talk.
How many times has it happened to you personally? You ordered a product or service from the 'Net. You had a problem or a simple question. You called the customer service number (or sent an email) and. nothing. How did you feel? Most likely irritated, frustrated, and taken advantage of.
Yes, it's extremely popular to give claims of customer service right now. The 'Net has suffered from "Wild, Wild West" syndrome far too long and surfers are demanding the attention they deserve. However, simply making claims will do you more harm than good.
Don't promise what you can't deliver. Before putting claims of any kind on your site, consider these tips:
1. If you say your product/service "will" do something, make darn sure it does. every time!
2. If you offer "24/7 service" be prepared to answer emails or phone calls cheerfully and graciously at 3:00am when someone overseas phones you.
3. If you make claims of giving "100% satisfaction guaranteed" refunds, get ready to fork over the money without asking any questions whatsoever. "I wasn't satisfied" is all the customer has to tell you to take advantage of your offer.
4. UNDER promise and OVER deliver. If you "think" you can get back to customers within 24 hours, tell them it will take 48 hours. This way, when you call them sooner, they'll be thrilled with the attentive service you offer.
5. Stop and think. Before putting any claims on your site - service, delivery, refunds, product features, service benefits. ANY claims - have an outside party check behind you. Does it work? Is it fast? Are you cheerful? Will it actually wake me up, start the coffee, and heat the water for my shower all at the same time? If not, don't put it in your copy.
Online customers have had enough. They are paying more attention online and expecting more from the Web businesses they deal with. Above all - use ethics, manners, and good common sense in your business dealings. Stand behind what you say. When you do, you'll find the profits from your long-term relationships and the increase in your reputation will far outweigh any short-term sales trends.
---------------------------------
Diane Hughes is an accomplished Internet entrepreneur and editor
of the popular ProBizTips Newsletter. Subscribe to her newsletter
for more tips, tricks, and secrets of the trade -- plus get
HUNDREDS of eBooks, software, and tools just for subscribing!
http://www.marketersdream.com/diane
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BizTips by Dr. Kevin Nunley |
What Finding Elizabeth Taught Us About Solving Difficult Problems
I live in Salt Lake City where, thankfully, missing teen Elizabeth Smart was found alive recently. By now you've heard the details of how the girl was apparently abducted by a local eccentric, then seen multiple times around town dressed in odd disguises.
Finding Elizabeth was a near obsession for residents here. Everyone knew what she looked like and everyone was watching for her. Volunteer searchers who didn't even know the girl walked neighborhoods looking in bushes, sheds, and knocking on every door.
So how could we have not noticed Elizabeth when she was walking around in public right in front of our noses? Even people who spotted the suspected kidnapper and called police never imagined the young girl with him was Elizabeth.
Most of us mistakenly thought this case had sadly turned out like so many others. Residents and media alike focused on all the wrong scenarios.
Good solutions to tough problems often hide right in front of you. So many times we give up too soon. We think the situation is hopeless when the answer is right there all along.
This is a lesson we can apply to every area of life and business.
Get help from people who don't think like you. Ask kids, members of the opposite gender, people outside your industry, foreigners, anyone who might approach the solution from a different direction. The answer often lies in that one place you never thought to look.
That's a lesson many of us learned here in Salt Lake. It was a great week.
------------------------------
Kevin WRITES your professional copy--web site copy, sales
letters, ads, press release and more! See http://DrNunley.com.
Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or 801-253-4536.
What You MUST Understand About Your Web Numbers
by Alexandria K. Brown
Two years ago, when I first started selling online, I focused on doing what I did best: generating useful content that people would want to pay for. But I quickly learned that selling a product online required me to have to learn about ...
...my Web statistics.
"Yuck! Why should I have to do this?" I thought. "I'm not a numbers person. Such small details! I want to spend time on big ideas."
Then after a few months of poor sales, I realized I needed to learn more about my numbers so I could learn how to improve my results. (You can't improve something that you can't measure.) After getting acquainted with my statistics, I not only realized that this information would help me immensely, but I was relieved that it wasn't so hard after all. It was just unfamiliar.
There are four types of basic "Web numbers" I want you to understand. Don't worry -- if I can handle this, you can too!
1. Sales
HOW MANY SALES are you making? This should be easy to determine on your end.
2. Unique Visitors
HOW MANY PEOPLE are visiting your site? To know this, you'll need to know your number of unique visitors.
Do NOT confuse unique visitors with "hits," which refers to number of graphics downloaded. (For example, if you have a Web page with 10 graphics, 10 hits would equal one visitor.)
Your Web host may already provide some stats you can access, but many of these programs are hard to understand and only track hits. If this is the case, it's well worth it to use a low-cost outside tracking service such as WebSTAT (www.WebStat.com) that will show you your number of unique visitors.
3. Sales Conversion Rate
Here's where we start with some math. Take your number of sales during a given time, and divide it by your number of visitors during that time. We'll walk through this in a minute.
4. Value per Visitor
This tells you how much each visitor is worth to you. It's basically your selling price times your conversion rate.
Let's Walk Through It Together
Say Suzy Q runs a site that sells a special report on how to teach your dog to do a back flip. The report sells for $20.
Last month she had 50 online sales. Her Web stats show that during that month she had 1,500 unique visitors.
First let's figure her sales conversion rate -- sales divided by visitors. 50 / 1,500 = .0333. We'll round it down to .03. (If we're talking about percentages, that's about 3%. Or 3 sales for each 100 visitors.)
Now, let's determine her value per visitor.
The report sells for $20, and we now know that her sales conversion rate is .03. So .03 x $20 = $.60.
That means each visitor is worth 60 cents to Suzy, whether they buy or not.
(Here's a longer way of doing this but it may make more sense to you: Based on Suzy's current conversion rate, she makes an average of 3 sales per 100 visitors. 3 x $20 = $60. So for every 100 visitors she makes an average of $60. $60 / 100 visitors = $0.60 per visitor.)
This number tells Suzy how much it's worth spending to get a visitor to her site. For example, if she decides to advertise on a pay-per-click search engine, she knows that $0.60 is the maximum she'd want to bid.
(For a beginner's guide to pay-per-click search engines, see my article at www.ezine-queen.com/payclick.htm)
FR*EE Calculations Template
Would you like a free fill-in-the-blanks template to help you make the calculations above? I've put one together for you! Send a blank e-mail to ali-39796@autocontactor.com and you'll receive it automatically.
What to DO With Your Numbers
First of all, look at your unique visitors. If your numbers aren't as high as you'd like, work on attracting more prospects to your site via your e-zine, search engine listings, advertisements, articles, etc.
Then look at your sales conversion rate. If it's around 2-3%, you're doing pretty well for online sales, according to what many Internet experts share. Some months my conversion rate has been as high as 6%, but it typically hovers around 4%. Some marketers with hot products have reported conversion rates up to 10 or 20%. (Hey, it gives us something to shoot for!)
Aim to continually improve your sales copy and your sales offer to boost your results. Keep a log of what changes you make and when you make them so you can see which factors help or hinder your sales. (There's a place for these notes in that template I created for you.)
Don't Sweat It
This may seem foreign to you right now, but once it becomes familiar, you'll actually have fun with it. And there's more where this came from, once you're ready!
---------------------------------
Online marketing coach Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen,"
is author of the award-winning tutorial package, 'Boost Business
With Your Own E-zine.' To learn more about this step-by-step
program, and to sign up for FREE how-to articles and FREE
teleclasses, visit http://www.EzineQueen.com/
**We're interested in your comments, questions, and suggestions.
Do you enjoy this ezine? Do you have an Internet marketing or
e-commerce related question? If so, feel free to submit it to us.
We may publish your question and response in the next issue.
ProBizTips Tip of the Week |
3 Ways To Make Your Web Site Sticky!
by Larry Dotson
1) People Want A Social Life
Offer your visitors a free community. People like to have a place where they can have discussions with others on a particular subject. You could even create multiple online communities. For example, if you were selling gardening tools, you could have a message board to discuss gardening tips and a chat room about picking the right gardening tool.
2) People Want New Information
Supply news stories related to your site. People want current news on the topics they are interested in. You could also include new "how to" articles. For example, if there is a hot or popular news story going on, you could somehow relate it to your web site's theme.
3) People Want Enjoyable Experiences
Allow your visitor's experience to be an enjoyable one at your web site. Provide easy navigation, fast loading graphics, search options, etc. You could offer online games that are related to your web sites theme. You could offer prizes to the highest scorers too.
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>> 7 Hidden Psychological Secrets
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One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world did I do today?" "Yes," was his incredulous reply. She answered, " Well, today I didn't do it."
