7 Ways To Make Money Using Nothing More Than Your List
An opt-in list can be quite crucial to any site or internet based company. Even for a small venture such as a niche profit site an opt-in list can make a world of difference and also add some extra income for your pocket. Rarely would you see an e-commerce site, big or small, that is without an opt-in list.
An opt-in list allows for a company to market their wares and site via an e-mail. With an opt-in list, a site and a subscriber consents to sending and receiving a newsletter from your company. Through this, you can keep your subscribers abreast of what is currently available in your site as well as whatever is coming out.
And because there is mutual consent between the two parties, any mail sent to the list is not considered as spam mail. There is a great number of successfully read promotional materials such as catalogs, newsletters and such that are sent because the subscribers themselves have signed up for them, meaning, they do want to be sent those items.
Improve Usability of Your Website
February 20, 2009 by The Passion Diva
Filed under Marketing, Tips
No matter how brilliant your website design is, if it is hard to reach the content of your site then your site is as useful as an empty shell. Here are some tips to improve the usability of your website to ensure it serves its functions optimally.
The first method is to make sure the typography of your content is suitable. If you have large blocks of text, make sure to use CSS to space out the lines accordingly. The longer a single line of text is, the greater the line-height of each line should be. Also, make sure the font size of your text is big enough to read easily. Some sites have 10-pixel-tall text in Verdana font; while that may look neat and tidy, you have to really strain your eyes to read the actual text.
Make it easy for visitors to find content that they want on your site. If you have thousands of articles on your site and a certain visitor wants to find one single article from that pile, you have to provide a feasible means to enable visitors to do that without hassle. Be it an SQL-driven database search engine or just a glossary or index of articles that you have, providing such a feature will make sure your visitors can use your site with ease.
Ensure that your site loads fast if you do not want to lose visitors. Most internet users will leave a website if it doesn’t load completely within 15 seconds, so make sure the crème de la crème of your website is delivered to the visitors as soon as possible to retain their attention.
Last of all, test each and every link on your site before it goes online. There is nothing more effective in tarnishing your professional image than broken links, so be very careful about that.
Turning Around an Unhappy Client
January 2, 2009 by Terricarey
Filed under Tips
Customer Support is a large part of what I currently do as well as what I have done over the last 20 years. Of all of the things we have to do to make a business run, attending to the customer is one of the most important. Without the customer, there would be no business.
Over the years of dealing with clients – and being one myself – I have learned that customer satisfaction really is key. This is so with any business, but especially true in the online world. Jeff Bezos, the Founder and President of Amazon.com, said, “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”
The University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index listed Internet retail in 2007 as having an 83% rate of customer satisfaction. That means that 17% of our customers are walking away unhappy! Often an unsatisfactory experience is due to simple misunderstanding. These situations can easily be resolved by reassuring the client that their problem will be taken care of expediently and also, will not be repeated. Customers want to be dealt with on a personal level. Take on each case as though you’ve put your arm around that person and made their problem your problem.
So what key strategies do I follow?
#1 Respond promptly. Nothing burns a customer more than having to wait for a reply. The longer they stew, the harder it is to diffuse their anger. A quick reply denies them the advantage of saying they “tried to contact you several times with no reply”. This only justifies their stance and puts them even more strongly on the defensive. Even if you need to tell them, “I received your request and am looking into the issue. Thank for your patience”, you will have given them your respectful attention. Now the ball is in your court.
#2 Listen. Find out what the customer is really asking for. Let them vent and then reiterate what it is they want. It should be your aim to please. You will not only be securing a customer, but gaining credibility. J.C. Penney said, “A happy customer is your walking advertisement.”
#3 Empathize. As far as the customer is concerned, you are the company. Be as real and personable as possible.
#4 Commit. Benjamin Franklin said, “Well done is better than well said.” Avoid making promises you can’t keep. Tell the customer what you plan to do and then do it. If you aren’t certain of something, assure them that you will find out.
#5 Offer incentives to stay. Go above and beyond what the customer is asking. People inherently feel that there should be some compensation for their inconvenience. An apology doesn’t always wipe the slate clean, so add a peace offering.
Here are 10 tips for dealing with those unhappy customers:
Finally, look at the unhappy client as a guide to where you need to improve. Their feedback is an invaluable resource. Their issue resolved is one step closer to 100% customer satisfaction.
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates
4 Crucial Things You Need To Do To Build your List
Online marketing may have developed a sudden surge these past few years, but many in the know how have felt its rise even from way then. As more internet based businesses are put up, the need to develop new marketing skills and knowledge based on this new medium have arisen. More and more marketing strategies are being discovered and developed to cope with the changing face of business the business world.
The demand for online marketing tips and strategies have drastically grown and a new form of business has been born, internet marketing strategies. While there are companies that are all too eager to help your site and business build a clientele for a fee, there also many ways that can spread the word about your sites subsistence in a more cost free way. One of this is Opt-in email marketing, also known as permission marketing.
5 Things To Consider When Publishing A Newsletter
Providing a newsletter for your opt-in list subscribers provides many benefits in terms of driving traffic into your site as well as boosting the sales and profits of your site and company. This is a marketing ploy that will not hugely dent your marketing budget and will not also require many man-hours in developing this project.
With a newsletter, you can inform the public about your company and products as well as services. You can keep them posted and updated about what’s going-on with your company as well as many of your promotions and offerings. With these, you keep on reminding your subscribers that you are still here and is willing to offer them good deals and services.
