The Essential Rules of Marketing

1) Do You Provide Great Customer Service?

One thing that will drive your customers away faster than anything else is poor customer service. This ranges from taking an eternity to answer your email, to shipping delays. You need to respond quickly, especially when it comes to email. In our "hurry-hurry" society people will not wait to hear from you for very long before moving on to the next guy.

Do you have your email address on every page of your web site?
Nothing irks me more then having to dig through a site just to find an address to ask a question. Do you offer a toll free number so they can contact you?

The more ways you give people to communicate with you, the better.
Many companies fail online due to shoddy customer service. Don't be one of them. By offering excellent service you'll stand out from the crowd and build better relationships with your clients. Remember it's easier to re-sell to an existing customer than it is to find a new one.

2) Who Are You and What Do You Do?

Identify your company and your products on the home page. Don't make people "dig" down into your site for the answer. They won't; they'll just leave.
Also, make sure you describe the benefits of your service or product right away. For example, will it save time or money? Make you thinner? Is it easy-to-use? People don't care about you, they want to know "what's in it for me?" Tell them and tell them fast, or risk losing them. Sales are generally made on emotions. If you don't trigger any by giving them a good reason to buy from you, they won't.

3) Are you Charging the Right Price?

If you charge too much, no one will buy. If you charge too little, people will think there's no value or that there's something wrong with your product or service. (And they still won't buy.) Before you set your pricing, make sure you do a little research into your competitor's backyard. That way, you'll have a better idea of where to set your pricing.
Don't forget about "perceived value." Anything you can add on in the way of free bonuses or free shipping will go a long way in convincing folks to buy. With the enormous amount of freebies floating around online, it shouldn't be too hard collecting a few that relate to what you're selling that you can give away with every purchase.

4) Does your Copy Sell?

Make sure your text helps motivate your customers to make a purchase. Sprinkle "powerful headlines," "calls to action," and plenty of testimonials from happy customers throughout your pages. Remember that people read differently online; they skim. Make it easy for them to catch the main points and benefits quickly.
Also, offer a few different payment options and make it easy to place an order. If they have to jump through hoops, you'll lose the sale. "Simple" and "Easy" is the way to go.

5) Is your Site Designed with your Target Market in Mind?

Does the look of your web site cater to your target market? You need to know demographics of your intended audience before you even begin the construction process. Know your market's demographics such as age bracket, income, education, and whether they are mostly male or female. If your site is geared towards teenagers, it needs to look fun and hip (save the sophisticated look for their parents). If your audience is middle aged businessmen you'll need a more corporate look. Make sure you keep your core audience in mind when choosing your fonts, site colors, and any graphics.

If you remember to incorporate these basic marketing principles into your web site, you'll not only have a site that looks good, but actually does what you intended it to do all along: Sell!

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