Anti-social internet marketing is a critical flaw that will destroy even the best, most creative sales strategies. If you do not build relationships and follow up on them --through personal interaction and automation -- you will spend most of your time either a) repeating trivial tasks that can either be completed exponentially faster with the help of other people or b) plodding away on a course that will never result in sales conversions.
Building and maintaining marketing relationships will help you do the following:
1. Avoid wasting time and money on outdated products and services that are no longer valid in the internet marketing world.
2. Create massive contact lists of people who trust you and want to buy your products and follow your advice.
3. Diversify and maximize your sources and quantities of leads.
4. Setup joint ventures that will generate immediate sales for you and add potential buyers to your long-term customer database.
5. Explode your backend sales from follow-ups.
6. Increase your credibility with potential buyers.
Many internet marketers fail to realize that personal interaction is in fact the catalyst that allows internet businesses to make that jump from expensive to profitable. Rather than seeking this medium to boost their sales, they assure themselves that the internet is an isolated, anti-social medium, where people do not need connections to succeed.
Again, this is a critically-flawed system of thinking. Without personal connections, you will not succeed with any internet business.
Here are some ways you can increase your sales conversion numbers by integrating personal interactions into your marketing strategy (you may already use some of these):
1. Keep your reciprocal links directory--but also actively seek links for your main page and your other content pages. You can do this by finding related websites on search engines and then personally emailing the webmasters. Explain what you like about the website -- and how your link would fit in with what they sell. Also include where you plan to link back to their site.
Make sure all of your emails are personal. Do not make it look like you sent out some spam robot to hammer every webmaster with flattering, form-letter reciprocal link requests. This will not work.
One prominent link from a high-PR, high-traffic website can potentially reap more sales conversions for you than 100 reciprocal links that are locked away with thousands of other link prisoners in the dark depths of some website's dungeon of a directory. Just think of the time you could save! So do not be stingy, offer partner sites good link positions. If your sales copy is good enough to pull profits, then you do not need to worry about links stealing potential sales from you.
In addition to getting you more productive reciprocal links, this strategy will also allow you to develop important relationships that can later result in profitable joint ventures or even free product exchanges.
2. Encourage your database of customers or mailing list -- or whatever you use to contact potential or previous customers--to interact with you on a personal level when you market a product or service to them. You need to be very honest with your customers if you want them to trust you. It is fair to say that people are generally dissatisfied with programs they opt-in to and information they purchase over the internet. If you have a product that has actual value, then you should have no problem explaining any questions they might have, which will relieve the general queasiness related with internet purchases. If you do not believe in the product you are selling enough to field questions about it, then find or make one you have enough confidence in before you apply the ideas outlined in this article.
Scientific marketing tests have repeatedly proven that an increase in contact (and therefore trust) correlates with an increase sales. The more you personally contact and talk to your potential customers, the better chance you will have to make a sale. In the process, you will also help people who are in your database by giving them more information about the product or service you are providing.
3. Join a large internet marketing community and participate in the discussions. This is hands-down the most effective way to shape a marketing plan. You will get the chance to discuss important issues with people who have succeeded and failed trying the same exact plans you want to use. You will also be able to quickly find out what methods are outdated and which are still valid--which is direly important to know when you own a business in the most dynamic market place in the world.
In addition to this, you will be able to generate sales by attaching a signature with a link to your website or affiliate gateway below each of your posts.
Again, interacting with other marketers--whether it be through emails or forums--can get you involved in joint ventures and free product exchanges, which will cut back your advertising costs and boost your sales. Forums are one of the best places to do this.
So, to reiterate:
1. You greatly inhibit your success by limiting personal contact with other marketers and potential customers.
2. There are three major ways to improve your marketing methods and results through personal contact: personally-emailing webmasters for mainpage links; encouraging your database to contact you--and then following up with any questions they have; and joining a large internet marketing community.
If you follow these simple steps to increase your personal contact with buyers and marketers, you will see an increase in growth and sales. I use these methods to make money--and I encourage all my affiliates to do the same.
Copyright 2004 Isaiah Hull
Isaiah Hull is the CEO of an internet marketing and business-building business. He is also the publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter and a member of the top Internet Marketing Group in the world, the Internet Warriors. To receive step-by-step training, a free profit-pulling website, and a membership to the Internet Warriors, click here to learn how you can begin working for yourself by working with Isaiah: http://www.workathomerightnow.net/pluginprofitsite.html
