- How a "Sales Funnel" Really Works
The metaphor of a "funnel" is an appropriate way to look at the process of selling. At the top of the funnel, the widest part, we feed in unqualified prospects. As part of the sales process, we winnow away at the unqualified prospects, gradually qualifying them until customer come out of the small end. Not unusually, what comes out the tip of the funnel is a smaller flow than what goes in.There are two dynamics of the sales funnel that need to be understood. The first is that the funnel, containing both unqualified prospects as well as those that are more qualified, needs to be viewed as a whole – that is, the sales process – the funnel – works on all prospects in the process. This means that a sales person or a sales organization has to address each type of prospect. Jim Cecil, an expert in on "nurture marketing" estimates that 60% of all leads will eventually buy if followed up on properly. But all too often, leads that might be productive are dropped after only four ineffective contacts. Haste makes waste.The second dynamic is that of how - How to Increase Sales Page Conversion Rates
If you're expecting to do business over the internet, "conversions" are the name of the game. A conversion is a prospect that has been converted into a customer.The problem in converting prospects into customers is that there are several factors to deal with. The most important are list (or audience), offer, and presentation. On any sales page you create these are the factors: what are the characteristics of the visitor looking at it, what offer have you made to them, and how is it presented.Obviously, the more relevant the content is to your visitor, the more likely they will act on a compelling offer. But this means you have to be selective in the types of visitors you attract. You can do this by driving traffic to your site that is targeted through carefully selected email lists or market-specific ads in print or web publications - How to Write a Sales Page (Just the Basics)
If you're in internet marketing, writing a sales page is an important skill and one that you'll use over and over again. While each person may have their own particular style of writing, it is important to make sure that your sales pages have a few specific ingredients. For example, any good sales page should have the following:A selling headline. Your headline should do three things – identify with the reader, include or hint at an offer or benefit, and tease the reader to read more. A good example might be: "Still don't have the search engine rankings you want? Here's your answer…." - Importance of Testing and Tracking
How do you test? The classic method is A-B testing. We want to test offers. We divide the list into two 500-name segments by selecting every other name for one list, and alternating names for the other. We mail Offer A to one segment and Offer B to the other. We compare results to determine which offer works better. Offer A gets 4 orders. Offer B gets none. We now know something more about the list. Using this type of split testing, you can test almost any attribute of a promotion. Want to test a price? Offer A and Offer B. Want to test a layout? Layout A. - The 4 Key Elements of An Internet Marketing Strategy
If you're marketing goods and services using the internet it's easy to get confused by all the technology and buzz words. Don't despair. Today's light-speed marketing still has the same basic elements as the old marketing – just a new way to describe it.A successful internet marketing strategy has only four components. These are as follows:Markets. You have to know who your market is. Actually, on the internet, this is a bit more difficult than in an old-fashioned retail store or even a traditional mail-order business. On the internet, finding the right market for your goods is going to depend on some combination of keyword advertising, email list development and strategic use of blogs or similar sites.Offers. Offers are exactly as important as in traditional marketing strategies. No offer, no sale. On the internet, you may only get
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