Team Business

  7 Things You MUST DO to Successfully Sell on the Internet- Part 22

   By: Jim Eastman

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Welcome back to "7 Things You MUST DO to Successfully Sell on the
Internet"

We've been talking about how important it is to use tracking
codes to test your marketing efforts.  In this issue will list
some of the different things you want to test.

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What To Test
--------------

Ideally, you should test everything. But testing does take time,
so start out with those things that are mostly likely to improve
your results.


Headline 
-------- 
The first thing you should test is your headline. 
This is the most important.

After all, the headline is the first thing your visitor sees when
he visits your web page, sees your ad, opens your email, etc. If
your headline doesn't "grab" the visitor, he's gone ... probably
forever.


Your Offer 
---------- 
Your offer includes the product itself and any additional 
incentives, like bonuses, guarantee, discount, etc.

Vary the offer by adding more bonuses, different ones, a better
guarantee, stress different benefits, etc.


Price
------ 
Don't assume that a lower price will mean more
revenue, or even more sales. In some cases a lower price gives
your product a lower "perceived value."

For instance, why do some people spend literally hundreds of
dollars for a handbag made by a foreign designer, when they can
get a perfectly good one at the local thrift shop for under a
dollar?

Perception! Some will think "If it's cheap, then it can't be any
good." Even the word "cheap" itself carries negative
connotations.

So when testing the price of your product, start at the high end,
and gradually lower it until you start to reap diminishing
returns.

And don't just measure the number of sales. Measure total
proceeds.

Let's say your product costs you $20. Now if a given number of
visitors to your site produces 50 sales at a product price of
$45, but only 35 sales at a price of $65, which is the better
pricing? Remember, the cost of the product to YOU remains the
same ($20) either way.

50 sales X $25 profit ($45 - $20) = $1,250 35 sales X $45 profit
($65 - $20) = $1,575

Your net profit is greater when you price your product at $65
even though you get fewer sales.


Ad Copy 
--------- 
Experiment with your advertising copy by
stressing different benefits, more and/or different customer
testimonials, or in a different location, the "P.S." at the end
(if you're not using a P.S. then start using one now), time limit
discount, long or short copy, and so on.


Layout 
------- 
Test different graphics, positioning, colors, and
fonts ... but keep it simple.


Subscriber Forms 
---------------- 
You'll recall that in a previous issue of this
mini-course we talked about making it your priority to get
subscribers? You can also improve the subscriber rate by testing.

Try ...

* Different wording on the signup forms

* Different placement of the signup form

* Different kinds of pop-ups and hover-ads

* Different timing of hover-ads (i.e. how long before they
  appear)

* Different incentives to sign up ... more and/or different
  bonuses, reports, or free software
  

Email 
------- 
Don't limit your testing to web pages. You'll be
sending regular mailings to your prospects and customers.


Whenever you link to your website in one of your emails, use a
tracking code. Better still, use a different tracking code in
each email. That way you'll not only know how many sales your
email campaign is producing - you'll know which email is
producing the most sales.


Is the 3rd email in your series producing a lower conversion
rate? Calculate that conversion rate, then rewrite it and replace
it. After awhile, calculate the conversion rate again and
compare.

And don't neglect to use tracking codes in you unscheduled
mailings as well. Test different subject lines, openings,
closings, "P.S." and experiment with both long and short copy.


eBooks, Reports, Courses 
------------------------ 
If you publish
information products of any kind that link to your website and/or
product ordering pages, use tracking codes for your links. You'll
know what kinds of results they're producing instead of having to
guess.

Of course in order to track sales, conversions, or anything else
you going to need tracking software.  In the next issue will talk
about what to look for when selecting a tracking program.

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About The Author:

About the Author

Jim Eastman is support contact for MakeMyBizFly, a complete e-
commerce solution for the Internet marketer. For more information
visit: http://makemybizfly.com/q.php?adminid=3&tid=679

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