I know how to get a blank stare from just about any e-commerce web site owner. All I have to do is ask them about their web site marketing plan!When I ask them about their web site marketing plan, I get that look. First the eyebrows go up. Then the eyes glaze over for a minute. And then the stammering begins.
“Uh, well, you know – I have my URL on my business card.”
“I, ah, I’m going to start an e-mail newsletter.”
Some of them may even mention something about “search engines.”
But practically no one has a plan! And you know how the old saying goes: “Failure to plan is a plan to fail.”
Most small business owners I talk to are frustrated. They think their web site is a big waste of money. An “online business card.” A “marketing expense” that doesn’t return any of its investment.
And no wonder:
You’ve spent thousands on a pretty web design. You shell out dough each and every month for web site hosting. You may even be paying a webmaster to update the web site regularly. And month after month, year after year, the sales barely trickle in.
Marketing your web site is frustrating. It’s confusing! So we end up doing what all of us do when we’re frustrated and confused: deal with it “later.” And later never comes.
Know what? It’s not your fault! No one ever taught you how to market on the Internet, this new medium. (They sure didn’t cover that in my marketing class when I was in school.) And there’s all that hype on the Internet – so called web marketing gurus who’ve made millions online. But guess what? The only thing they’ve ever sold is reports and e-books on – what else – “how to market on the Internet.” They’ve never packed and shipped a box or ran down the street after the UPS guy.
But what if there was a formula you could follow, a step-by-step guide to creating an online sales machine?
After 10 years of marketing and selling on the web, I’ve boiled it down to a winning eight-step formula. This formula works for any web business, for any product from amber gemstone jewelry to zebra-print home accessories. In a nutshell, the eight no-fail steps of this formula areDefine Your Goals: With no clearly defined purpose, your web site can’t succeed. Be specific with each goal, adding both an amount and a timeframe.