My Web Marketing Basics

To start with

Digital & Electronic Products – Unbeatable in Quality and Price!

Web Marketing has become a sophisticated and creative way to promote (and sell) a product or service to the largest number of potential buyers, regardless of the physical location of your (brick and mortar) store. In fact, depending on the product or service you’re selling, you may not even need a brick and mortar store or “offline” establishment because marketing on the Web requires neither.

You can literally begin doing business on the Web with just a few simple tools which I refer to as Web marketing basics. First you’ll need a website or blog. Second, you’ll need web hosting in order to get your website or blog on the Web (Internet). And third you’ll need traffic (or visitors) to your website or blog so that your product/service can be exposed to potential buyers.

What & how to promote

The Web marketing basics mentioned above apply to would-be web marketers who already have a product or service to sell but need Web exposure. However, if you do not already have your own product or service but still wish to start your own Web marketing career, you’ll need to add a fourth step. Promote and sell other people’s products/services. You can do this by joining affiliate networks such as Amazon.com, clickBank, LinkShare, Covert Commissions and other similar affiliate networks.

Once you have your basics, it is time to start promoting and competing against other web marketers (and there are many), so a big part of your new job/career as a Web marketer is learning (getting training, tutoring, etc.), optimizing your website/blog, tweaking your message (adding content to your website/blog), and advertising your business (product/service) which is necessary to drive more traffic to it.

Startup costs

So what will it cost (you knew there would be a cost, right?) to get your business up and running with just a few Web marketing basics? The answer is: Not much, if you use the right sources. Creating the website or blog cost nothing if you have some knowledge of HTML. Web hosting cost less then $10.00 per month for 4 websites if you deal with the right Web Host.

Traffic to your website/blog – although the most costly of the basics – could be less than $100.00 if you are willing to work hard and learn a little more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and prepare (optimize) your website/blog so that it appeals to the search engines (Google, Bing, etc.).

A lesser cost startup

Let’s face it, even if you have to shell out $100.00 to start a new career in web marketing, it’s a lot less than starting a brick and mortar business in your local business district which could run in the $Thousands or $Tens-of-Thousands.

Recommended Tools & Resources:

A complete overview of the tools and resource package, including FREE training on website/blog creation and the use of basic tools, can be seen on display at CovertCommissions.com.

Get started now… Free!
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Build Your Own Dynamic Self-Management Sales System

Selling is natural

Sometimes the thing you have been searching far and wide for is hidden in plain sight right in your own tool kit. One such resource is a Self-Management Sales System which you certainly have the ability to create from your own experiences, knowledge base and accumulated data.

Whether or not you had previously accepted the premise that selling comes natural to all of us, believe me it’s true. Why? Because each of us has a unique ability to sell his/her “self” to anyone else when absolutely necessary. Some of you just don’t do it every day. Having said that, read on to identify the keys to building your own dynamic self-management sales system.

Competencies & performance metrics

Identify your essential competencies and performance metrics. If I asked you to list all the essential competencies that YOU are in control of – the ones that are absolutely critical for you to be successful in your sales position…could you do it? For example…

Essential Competency or not?

  • Converting conversations to appointments? (yes it is)
  • What about filling out paperwork? No! (That’s a related task)
  • What about closing ratio? (Sure it is).
  • Degree of success in turning a first appointment into an opportunity? (absolutely)

Get the picture?

Now, if you truly want to adopt a self-management system that will work FOR you – not against you, you first have to “access” what is an essential competency and what’s merely a related competency. To do this, sit down and list any sales metrics and performance numbers that are inter-related to your competency numbers and your desired revenue results. (Hint: “Sales Cycle” and “Average Revenue” per sale are two.)

Business diagnoses

Can you diagnose your Business on a single sheet of paper? If I ran into you on a train or in an elevator, would you be prepared to tell me what you do (and how it benefits me or those I know) – in under 1 minute… That’s called your 30-second commercial. Most people don’t have one, yet everybody needs one.

One way to understand more of the obvious benefits your products and services bring to the table is to start to view and diagnose your business more scientifically. You will also see how the numbers work and which areas are most important to your short and long-term success.

 

Ask yourself…What happens if your closing ratio reduces by 30% and your average revenue per sale increases by $2500? How does that affect your desired results?

Write your competency measurements and sales metrics on a sheet of paper. Calculate ratios in line with competencies and average numbers in line with your sales metrics. Assign your revenue object or quota. Play with the numbers and ratios to see how they are inter-related and how they affect each other.

The magic number

Calculate your “magic number.” Not setting enough new appointments on a routine basis is like a colony of subterranean termites slowly eating away at the foundation of most sales organizations. The reason for this is because most of us do not identify how many new appointments are needed on a weekly basis based on individual competency numbers and performance metrics. That’s like diagnosing with blindfolds on.

Every one is different; we all have a “Magic Number.” And it’s personal to only you. If you routinely achieve it, you will routinely meet your desired results. Since it is a dynamic number that changes from week to week, it’s important to understand how it is inter-related with other competency ratios, performance metrics and desired revenue results. It’s important to include your “Magic Number” in your self-management system.

The napkin rule

Train to work pursuant to the “Napkin Rule,” which simply means, putting aside all those sales automation systems for 30 days and keep track of your essential competency and performance metrics on a single napkin. Compute updates daily. Store the napkin in your pocket. When the napkin fills up, transfer it to a legal pad to show month to date.

Have nothing else on the legal pad except your essential competency ratios and sales performance metrics. After 30 business days, transpose the legal pad metrics to your favorite computer software spreadsheet, and track it for 90 days. This simple but powerful “Napkin Rule” will help you become the CEO of your business.

Numbers tell the story

Oxygen. Money. Done! Any questions?

Run your numbers, don’t run after quota. In other words, concentrate on your numbers instead of your quota so you can diagnose performance trends before a revenue crisis. Then you have the power to institute strategies and tactics for immediate recovery. Here’s why:

Reaching and exceeding sales quotas consistently has very little to do with product, pricing and competition. But it has everything to do with “Process.”

Identify the core competencies that are necessary to be successful in your sales routine. Then train to Powerful Routines to increase your ratios of effectiveness. Document these meaningful business metrics and review them weekly. Build a simple but dynamic self-management system and outperform your peers and competition while assuring your revenue success.

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