Calling It Quits - No Sales
| Category: Selling Techniques | Date: 2002-05-14 |
Calling It Quits - No Sales!
Recently I came across a number of individuals who were calling it quits - due to a lack of sales.
They had tried running an internet based business for 6 months to a year with very little success.
Now they were off to try something else - in the offline world.
They either emailed me directly to tell me they were quitting, or they left posts on discussion boards that I frequent. Why were they unsuccessful at operating a business and how could things have turned out differently?
One of the questions asked by one of these people was "Are we all just trying to sell each other the same thing?" This reminded me of when I was selling booklets through mail order nearly 30 years ago. There were hundreds of "ad sheets" where you could place a small ad offering different products for as little as $1.
Some of these ad sheets were loaded with thousands of these ads - many offering the same thing.
Most of them offered plans for making money by using classified ads.
Most of these plans sold for $1 to $5. One that I remember specifically was a plan to receive 100 envelopes per day each ontaining $1. You had to pay $1 plus a self-addressed stamped envelope for the plan. When you received the plan it told you to run an ad offering the same plan for $1 in as many ad sheets as you could afford. When you got an order, send them a copy of this "plan." I had to ask myself if many of us in internet based businesses are not on such a treadmill.
After much thought I was happy that I could answer - NO!
If your site is nothing more than the internet equivalent of an ad sheet (a banner farm) then you will not make much money.
A certain formula for failure is:
(1) Sign up for 10 affiliate programs.
(2) Sign up for a free website.
(3) Put together a few pages on this site saying "Here are a few good moneymakers" and having 4 or 5 banners on each page.
(4) Submit these pages to the search engines and wait for traffic to arrive.
(5) Bulk email to 5 million people saying "Here is a great site that you must check out."
(6) Place a few notes on discussion board saying here is a really great site you must check out.
(7) Place a few ads in ezines, using all capital letters and exclaimation marks, saying here is an easy way to make a million dollars.
(8) Wait for the money to roll in.
But.... A formula for success is:
(1) Come up with your own product or service, or sign up for a few affiliate programs offering products that you know are NEEDED. This is a crucial step - if you dont do your research here, you have destined yourself to fail before you even start. You Must Offer Something That Is Needed and Wanted!
(2) Put together a website that offers free information or services. Excellent examples are sites such as Searchengine Watch or SelfPromotion.Com.
These sites offer priceless information or services and get tons of repeat visitors.
(3) Place a few links or recommendations to your affiliate programs on some pages.
(4) Promote your site using as many ethical ways as you can, as often as you can. It takes constant effort.
(5) Maintain contact with your regular site visitors through a newsletter, discussion board, or regular email site updates.
(6) Periodically re-evaluate the affiliate programs you feature to see if they are working for you. If not, ask why and consider going to different affiliate programs or coming up with a product or
service of your own.
(7) Make it easy for customers to order your products or services by accepting payment in as many different ways as practical.
(8) Advertise and promote your business enough that you have some name recognition. People buy from people they know, trust, and like. This takes a little time and money!
Look closely at the two formulas above. One guarantees you will fail at an online business - the other guarantees that you will succeed. I have seen them both in action. The first plan is used far too often with dismal results. The second plan is the very one that I use with tremendous success. Heres to your following the right formula
and succeeding.
About the Author
Willie Crawford is a marketing consultant, promotion specialist and popular writer. His website at contains over 160 articles on internet marketing as well as a very active discussion forum. Visit today and begin learning what really DOES work in building your business.
willie@williecrawford.com
http://www.williecrawford.com
Recently I came across a number of individuals who were calling it quits - due to a lack of sales.
They had tried running an internet based business for 6 months to a year with very little success.
Now they were off to try something else - in the offline world.
They either emailed me directly to tell me they were quitting, or they left posts on discussion boards that I frequent. Why were they unsuccessful at operating a business and how could things have turned out differently?
One of the questions asked by one of these people was "Are we all just trying to sell each other the same thing?" This reminded me of when I was selling booklets through mail order nearly 30 years ago. There were hundreds of "ad sheets" where you could place a small ad offering different products for as little as $1.
Some of these ad sheets were loaded with thousands of these ads - many offering the same thing.
Most of them offered plans for making money by using classified ads.
Most of these plans sold for $1 to $5. One that I remember specifically was a plan to receive 100 envelopes per day each ontaining $1. You had to pay $1 plus a self-addressed stamped envelope for the plan. When you received the plan it told you to run an ad offering the same plan for $1 in as many ad sheets as you could afford. When you got an order, send them a copy of this "plan." I had to ask myself if many of us in internet based businesses are not on such a treadmill.
After much thought I was happy that I could answer - NO!
If your site is nothing more than the internet equivalent of an ad sheet (a banner farm) then you will not make much money.
A certain formula for failure is:
(1) Sign up for 10 affiliate programs.
(2) Sign up for a free website.
(3) Put together a few pages on this site saying "Here are a few good moneymakers" and having 4 or 5 banners on each page.
(4) Submit these pages to the search engines and wait for traffic to arrive.
(5) Bulk email to 5 million people saying "Here is a great site that you must check out."
(6) Place a few notes on discussion board saying here is a really great site you must check out.
(7) Place a few ads in ezines, using all capital letters and exclaimation marks, saying here is an easy way to make a million dollars.
(8) Wait for the money to roll in.
But.... A formula for success is:
(1) Come up with your own product or service, or sign up for a few affiliate programs offering products that you know are NEEDED. This is a crucial step - if you dont do your research here, you have destined yourself to fail before you even start. You Must Offer Something That Is Needed and Wanted!
(2) Put together a website that offers free information or services. Excellent examples are sites such as Searchengine Watch or SelfPromotion.Com.
These sites offer priceless information or services and get tons of repeat visitors.
(3) Place a few links or recommendations to your affiliate programs on some pages.
(4) Promote your site using as many ethical ways as you can, as often as you can. It takes constant effort.
(5) Maintain contact with your regular site visitors through a newsletter, discussion board, or regular email site updates.
(6) Periodically re-evaluate the affiliate programs you feature to see if they are working for you. If not, ask why and consider going to different affiliate programs or coming up with a product or
service of your own.
(7) Make it easy for customers to order your products or services by accepting payment in as many different ways as practical.
(8) Advertise and promote your business enough that you have some name recognition. People buy from people they know, trust, and like. This takes a little time and money!
Look closely at the two formulas above. One guarantees you will fail at an online business - the other guarantees that you will succeed. I have seen them both in action. The first plan is used far too often with dismal results. The second plan is the very one that I use with tremendous success. Heres to your following the right formula
and succeeding.
About the Author
Willie Crawford is a marketing consultant, promotion specialist and popular writer. His website at contains over 160 articles on internet marketing as well as a very active discussion forum. Visit today and begin learning what really DOES work in building your business.
willie@williecrawford.com
http://www.williecrawford.com
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