Applying Internet/Online Marketing Principles for Webmasters

[$5 submissions]

Sometimes, when program owners ask me how they can make their online businesses succeed, I point them to the basics below which I've customized to their needs.

Pls feel more than free to add to the following tips and guidelines.

+++++++++


Research and emulate what your competitors are doing.
There's a big difference between merely copying and emulating. Many of your competitors seem to do the same things because they have found a method/process that works for them. However, instead of just merely copying what they are doing, make sure to understand the THEORY and REASONS behind the process and CUSTOMIZE it to your niche/promotion channels/ and existing methods.

Create a marketing/content strategy and EXECUTE IT.
Most businesses fail since they start only with the DESIRE of the business owner to "make it rich." Start from your desired outcome and backtrack-laying down concrete steps along the way. Critique these steps. Is it realistic? What are the costs and time involved? Research whether the steps are already being executed by somebody else. Analyze their model. Ask around.


You are selling an experience--BE the surfer.
Whether you make your money through TGPs/MGPs/Link Lists/Gallery Submissions/Bulk Mailing you are selling an experience. Put yourself in the shoes of your surfer without any preconceptions. Be bold and take risks with starting from zero. Recreate their experience with your materials. Is the message you are trying to convey clear? Is the content you are presenting consistent with what you are trying to sell? Is the layout/text helping you make a decision whether to buy or enter your email address? Finally, right down a "holistic" feeling that you get navigating through your site. Compare this with a friend's impression and use these observations as blueprints in reinventing your site/message strategy.


Be sure your website presents a UNIFIED feel.
There is nothing that kills a sale more than a jumbled and disjointed message. While you can put differing interactive elements in your site or teaser text on your pages, the end goal must be solitary. Make sure all the elements lead to that goal....which is a sale, email signup, or download.


Tell a story instead of dictating to the reader.
Selling is the art of seduction. The difference between seduction and brute force is the delivery of the message and the willing participation of the recipient of the action. Tell a story that reverberates with your surfer. Have them be part of the process that leads to the sale. How do you do this? Interactivity and teasing. Use text that asks questions and opens the user up to the possibility of taking the next step.


Who are your users?
Find out more about your users' clicking habits and replicate this throughout your site once you find which of your textual cues they respond to the most.
(We did this with webmasterlabor.com and saw sales expand by 120%)


Customer Service lets you be the shepherd instead of the sheep led to slaughter.
The key to successful sales is the skill of LISTENING to your clients. Surfers make it loud and clear what their preferences are by clicking out of your site. Study their clicking patterns. Ask for their interaction in reviewing your content. Ask them to rate your materials. Use this information to recalibrate your text and content. (Webmasterlabor.com changed some sections and service offerings resulting in bigger bulk packages)


Make your site an information resource for its target markets. Becoming a trusted resource of high quality information for your customers is of tremendous value to your business, in addition, it can help win your company free press and word-of-mouth/mouse.
Face it, many surfers today go to free sites/tgps/email cluster groups to look at FREE content. Give them this content but create a holistic experience where they equate a quality experience with your site. After you have loyalty, add on "fresh site reviews" and other advertising materials that leverage your user credibility to translate into sales.
(WebmasterLabor.Com enhances its affiliate page with tips on how to market our services thereby providing webmaster visitors with concrete promotion methods. Beats just giving them a linking code.)

Test. Test. Test.
Just like in life, most things aren't done 100% right the first get go. Expect to change your site frequently. Remember, it is not what YOU think is right that counts, it is what your MARKET thinks is right. So pay attention to your traffic patterns. If certain pages are too deep and are not getting hit, play with your architecture and be ready to drop them if it still does not get traffic.


Ask. Ask. Ask.
Put contact information in your pages. Listen to your users. Their comments are your blueprint to making more money.


Outsource your manual labor.
The tasks above require your abilities as a MANAGER. You cannot fully plan out and execute strategies that will eventually earn you more money if you get bogged down in day to day tasks that have peaked out in terms of income. Think in terms of opportunity costs. You can focus only on whats 2 feet ahead of you and muddle along making the same amount of money or you can take the long view and invent/pioneer/plan your way to a higher level of business. Outsourcing companies like WebmasterLabor.Com help make this possible by doing daily tasks for cents on the dollar while you plan and make the deals needed to take your business to the next level.

I hope you enjoyed this article and feel free to duplicate it and forward to your friends or paste to your webmaster resource sites.


(c) WebmasterLabor.Com Open license--feel free to distribute in original, unedited form!

[hova]

Thats a quality post, thanks!

[$5 submissions]

Originally posted by hova
Thats a quality post, thanks!

Thanks, hova!

[Theo]

$5 submissions, i love you

i try to figure how can we use your services,but still havent find a way since they arent close to what we do.

[mule]

Great stuff, Gene

[sexsup]

Very instructive reading

[chemicaleyes]

A great read, good article Gene. will be adding this to URLSX.

[Anna_O]

Good post

More posts like this on GFY please

[Paul Markham]

A lot of very good points made. The overall message I get is respect. Respect for your client and your industry.

In the future the people who treat both with respect will be those left to enjoy the fruits. Those who think this is a game, an easy buck and the surfer is a fool to be fleeced, will be gone.

[$5 submissions]

Originally posted by chemicaleyes
A great read, good article Gene. will be adding this to URLSX.

Thanks, Mike!

[rabbit]

i love your posts Gene, they are very informative. iI always take the time to read them

rabbit

[fyrflygrl]

What a great read! Thanks WebmasterLabor!

(yep, using this in an upcoming newsletter)



Fyrflygrl

[Webmistress Pookie]

wow i love finding these informative nuggets on GFY. i'm copying and pasting these into my notes tonight as most of them pertain to my business. thank you $5 submissions

[adultvisitors]

good

[Gabriel]

(hitting Control P)

I like having this stuff at hands reach. Good post.

[Scherfi]

now what is that on gfy?

great job! very interesting!

[Strife]

Another informative post by $5 submissions

[DamageX]

Originally posted by hova
Thats a quality post, thanks!

One of very few like that on GFY lately.

[Doctor Dre]

Great post man ... I totally agree . People need to be more innovative, bring new ideas

[eroswebmaster]

interesting post man...thx.

[Tight]

That's great!

I know where to outsource when I need some.

[$5 submissions]

Originally posted by eroswebmaster
interesting post man...thx.

Thanks, Eros.

[$5 submissions]

It happens

Originally posted by Scherfi
now what is that on gfy?

great job! very interesting!

[Rorschach]

Good copywriting there.... interesting and creative spam... 9/10. Would have been better with bold subheadings and you should have gone the whole hog and stuck a link at the bottom.

[$5 submissions]

Thanks for the backhanded compliment but I believe the article applies to most people's business models.

Originally posted by Rorschach
Good copywriting there.... interesting and creative spam... 9/10. Would have been better with bold subheadings and you should have gone the whole hog and stuck a link at the bottom.

awesome article 5dolla

let me tell all you ppl, 5dolla knows his shit

WWW.WEBMASTERLABOR.COM !

[MrIzzz]

nice.........good read

[SetTheWorldonFire]

A lot of dickheads out there can really learn from this post.

You all know who you are

[Living For Today]

great thread thanks mate.

[hyatla]

very nice. wish I've seen it earlier. Many lessons learned the hard way...

[hoe_vender]

good stuff

[cashman]

good post

[$5 submissions]

Originally posted by hyatla
very nice. wish I've seen it earlier. Many lessons learned the hard way...

One good thing that arises out of learning things the hard way is you don't forget your lessons. Sometimes when people tell us something we easily forget it. However, when we learn it the hard way, the pain of the cost, time, and effort lost makes the lessons hard to forget.

[Rorschach]

Originally posted by $5 submissions
Thanks for the backhanded compliment but I believe the article applies to most people's business models.

Just messing with ya mate. Good read.

[$5 submissions]

You're welcome, Pookie.

I'll be posting more business-related articles. Most will debut first at http://www.urlsx.com and then posted on boards.

Originally posted by Webmistress Pookie
wow i love finding these informative nuggets on GFY. i'm copying and pasting these into my notes tonight as most of them pertain to my business. thank you $5 submissions