Characteristics Of An Effective Sales Letter

Imagine yourself applying for a job, and imagine that you are up against fifty other applicants, how will you catch the attention of the interviewer? How can you possibly stand out among a sea of other applicants? You have to consider plenty of factors to achieve your goal. You should dress impeccably, present a breath-taking resume, and most importantly have the right attitude.

In my opinion, the same thing applies to online businesses. You have to dress up your website to make it attractive, which will grab your visitor’s attention. Always remember that there are several key factors to a successful online business. One of the most important that one should consider is the sales letter. For your site to stand out among the rest you have to write an effective sales letter. An effective sales letter can be the only weapon you need to win the war in online marketing, provided that you have a product/service that is in demand by the public.

Here are the characteristics of an effective sales letter:

1. Attention grabber. When we read a sales letter the first thing that we notice will be the big bold headline on the top most portion of the page. The headline usually comes in three colors red, blue, and black. These colors are said to be an effective attention grabber. If your sales letter fails to grab the attention of your visitors, then it is unlikely that they will read the rest of the letter. The main purpose of the letter should be described in the headline. Your readers should be able to get the gist just my reading the headline.

2. A sales letter should be convincing. One of the most important factors of a good sales letter is that it should be able to convince people. If your sales letter is not that convincing then chances are, they will navigate away from it within a few seconds. A good sales letter should be able to explain the benefits consumers will get if they avail of your product/service. Convince readers that what you offer will solve whatever problems they currently have. Convince readers of the value they will get from your product/service.

3. Reassure the reader. Reassure your reader that what they are about to buy will work wonder for them. Potential consumers want the assurance that they will get their money’s worth if they choose to purchase your product. A money back guarantee is also a good way of assuring customers that they are in no financial risk. Knowing how to take all the risk away from prospective customers can make or break your online business.

These are important factors that you should consider in you sales letter. Merge these characteristics into the sales letter you will formulate and no doubt sales will increase.

Selling During Recession

So we have talked about how good it would be to start a business with the current economic situation. I mean as compared to not doing anything at all having your own online business will be better. So after you have established your business let us focus our attention on the consumers.

Not only is it a gamble to start a business during an economic slump it is also tough to close sales. Even the most seasoned sales person will tell you that it is not as easy as it used to be. So how can we close those sales and increase profit? Her are some ways that can help us achieve that goal:

1. Do Not Devalue Your Product. It will be pretty normal that you slash off prices or offer special discounts on your products. Discounts actually work as a double edged sword, there are times that it is favorable and times that it is not. When you offer a huge discount on your items, customers might think that they were overpaying at the regular price. Also they might assume that the product is so cheap because there’s something wrong with it. Instead of slashing prices, you should contemplate on offering additional services — such as longer guarantees or additional technical support. Through this buyers will feel that they are truly getting their money’s worth.

2. Stay calm and focus. One of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur might do during a recession is to panic. Being too aggressive or too hungry to make that sale might result to customers getting scared or worse turn-off. Instead of hysteria, offer calm, focused solutions, keep your cool. As an online entrepreneur, you have to invest your time on research. You need to find out your customer’s biggest challenges and threats potential these people face. From thereon shape your headline to assure them this product / service that you are offering will minimize those threats they feel.

3. Do not forget your existing customers. It is important that you acquire new customers however; you should also look after your existing consumers. Make sure your existing customers know their business is valued and appreciated, and spend as much effort reaching out to them as you do contacting potential clients. Your existing customers will get you through an economic downturn that is how important these people are.

A thing such as the recession is indeed and real pain if you ask me. However, it is up to us how we view it, it may be some blessing in disguise. Let us be positive and keep our fingers crossed eventually everything will get better. If you are one of those people who took advantage of the recession and started an online business, I sure hope these strategies can help you somehow.

Hurdles That Keep You Away From Success

Building an Internet Business has its good and bad days. Of course if it were that easy everyone would have dove into it right? Online and offline business will always have their share of ups and downs. However, there are three things that will without a doubt kill your chance of building a profitable online business.

In this article, I will discuss three things that will eventually end your online empire.

1. Lack of goals. Solid goals are the foundation of a successful business. You cannot gauge how far you have come unless you have specified your goals. As an entrepreneur, you will not be able to hit a mark that you do not have. However, it is usual that many new Internet entrepreneurs will attempt to start a business without taking the time to set goals for their business. As a newbie, you do not have to be one of those people, take the time to set your goals, long and short-term goals should be specified.

2. No plan of action. Once you have set your goals, how are you going to attain those goals? Specify how you will achieve the goals you have set. Things will not happen on themselves, you actually have to do something from your end to make things work. There has to be action taken in order for progress to occur.

3. Watch out for surfing. Yes you have indeed came up with attainable goals and a great plan action for you internet business but then you are caught up with surfing. Believe me I am one of those people who wasted countless hours surfing the internet for stuff that are no use to me. I have a feeling every internet entrepreneur have experienced this one time or another. Time passes by quickly so do not waste it on things that will not bring in profit to the business.

Now that we have pointed out the three mistake entrepreneurs make let us try to avoid these. The success of any business, online or offline depends on the person running it. Once you know the things that should be avoided, steering your business to success will be pretty easy.

9 to 5 Job versus Online Business

At 9.4 percent and climbing, the unemployment rate is higher than it’s been in a quarter century. This follows the unusual period from 1997 to 2007, when the annual rate averaged 4.9 percent. The new normal will be much higher. “We’d better get used to 7 to 8 percent unemployment for years to come,” Gross said recently. “We are just not going to be able to put all these real estate workers, investment managers, and Wall Street types back to productive work.”
One could debate whether those investment managers were actually doing productive work, but what is not debatable is the link between growth and unemployment. Slower GDP growth means slower employment growth. And, importantly, financial workers account for less than 10 percent of total job losses. The people who have been really hammered in this downturn are lower on the economic food chain — factory workers, retail clerks, and young job seekers. From: Moneywatch

What are views on this article? I honestly do not know whether to feel happy or sad about it, I mean it is a good thing that things are starting to settle down a bit. However, the aftermath of the recession is still felt all throughout the world. Indeed the impact was massive. So what option does it leave us especially the unemployed? From my point of view, I see two options here: (1) search of any jobs available, it really does not matter what it is and (2) start you own online business and gain independence from capitalists.

Both options I have mentioned sound good right. So let us weigh the pros and cons of each.

Having a regular job. Since the choices are quite limited, there is a chance that you will land a job you do not like, or a job that is not within the spectrum of your specialty. If you are hired to do a job not of your liking, take it from me that within months or after a year, you will be handing in your resignation letter. I know this because I have experienced this countless of times already.

It’s not all disadvantage of course having a stable job also has its advantages. You have a regular source of income. You are sure that you will be paid, also as mandated by the government you will also receive benefits fitting an employee. Not only that, when you have a job that you really like there is every possibility that you will excel on it. Hence, there is room for career growth. It also gives you a feeling of self-fulfillment.

Starting your online business. During the first few months after you have put up your business, do not expect profits to rain, not yet. According to some online entrepreneurs, visible results are usually seen after a year. If you are unemployed and you do not have any other source of funds then that is a disadvantage for you. It will require a lot of patience and hard work for your online business to grow.

One significant advantage of having your online business is that you can be your own boss and keep what you earn: As an owner of an online business, you choose what to sell and when to work. Take time off when you want to. You do not have to answer to anyone, all this while your online business continues to work for you. With the great reach that an online business has, you will earn more than you ever thought possible as opposed to what you would get as a salaried employee.

Another thing to consider is that all of the components of your business are virtual and therefore controlled directly from your computer. Convenience is a big reason why some people are able to succeed in online business.

With that being said, which would you choose? It is entirely up to you, you know that. A friendly advice from someone who has been employed I actually would prefer having my own business. Forget about the start-up cost because it really does not take that much to put-up your online business. Like what I’ve said countless of times before, plan and work towards it. The online industry is huge enough and I am sure anyone will find his right place on it.

An Online Business for $5,000 (or less)

Yesterday, I talked about lay-offs and some tips to start your online business. Since we are on the subject of starting a business, let us consider one important factor and that is the CAPITAL.

Let us face it that given the current economic situation there will be a few people who would consider starting a business. But what if you did not have a choice? I mean what if you got laid-off and no one is currently hiring. What would happen to you then? You can’t just sit around the house and wait for companies to start hiring again right? That might take forever. So the best way to get through this situation is to start your own business.

Some people who lost their jobs actually started to set-up their own businesses online. The capital that you need to start an online business is minimal as compared to a brick and mortar set-up. After all, an internet-based business grows our marketplace to a global one. Customers will flock from all sides of the world that is how the online business works. For as little as $5,000 (or less) you can actually start that business online.

What can $5,000 do for your online business? First and foremost, I have to tell you this DO NOT SKIMP ON DESIGN. As what I have said in my previous blogs, design is what captures your visitor’s attention even before they actually see what you are selling. Work with a seasoned designer who understands the following:

• Site design
• Site architecture
• Internet-marketing techniques (SEO, PPC landing pages, blogging, and social media)

Shy away from excessive advertising or anything that detracts consumers from the actual content of your website.

Customers also like the idea of being able to leave a feedback on your products/services. This is their way of communicating with other site visitors / consumers. For this aspect of your website you can either choose Joomla or WordPress. Both programs are modular and allow you to add plug-in components to make your site consumer-driven.

One important thing that some online entrepreneurs forget is that they have to MAKE IT EASY. It is important that a shopping cart is easy to use. An ideal shopping cart should contain everything, which a general user demands or desires. In addition, it needs to be fast and simple to operate; saving users' time and meet their needs and demands.

To save on start-up cost, your site can accept PayPal payments, which takes up 3 percent of your sales fees. Make your customers feel secured by integrating SSL certificate into your system.

“When customers visit a website to make an online purchase, they want to know who they'll be paying and that the personal information they submit to the site cannot be intercepted. This is the purpose of an SSL digital certificate.

Use of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and a digital certificate enable a web browser (your customer) to communicate securely with your website, assuring the customer of 3 things:

1. That the website really is who it claims to be.
2. That credit card numbers, etc are encrypted and cannot be intercepted.
3. That the data sent and received cannot be tampered with or forged.”
From: Modwest

The price of SSL certificate ranges from $20 to $1000. This is not a bad investment if you want to protect your customers’ information.

With that being said, $5,000 (or less) can actually go a long way. Let me just remind you that the return of investment will be entirely up to you as the entrepreneur. There are different strategies you can follow to increase your online sales. Truly, being unemployed is a blessing in disguise because it gives us the independence that we always wanted. All it takes is the right attitude to make things happen!

From Unemployed to Entrepreneur

Job cuts, corporate restructuring, head count reduction, and layoffs they all mean the same thing. It means people losing jobs. This is truly life changing and such a dramatic event for some. Being one of those unemployed is difficult; it offers very few opportunities even for the most talented individual.

The road to entrepreneurship is not that easy even in a stable economy. As an online entrepreneur, you have to be cautious and alert with the changes around you. Here are some tips that you have to know to transition from unemployed to business owner:

Take time. The day that you are laid-off is day to start anew. Of course, it is human nature to feel anger and despair when faced with this particular situation, this is normal. Take a few weeks to adjust to your current situation. Assess personal skills. Now more than ever is the best time to assess your skills, experience, and passion to see if your business idea will go well with your situation. If plan to plunge into a venture that is all too new to you, the learning curve and expense will be more. However, if you are going to choose a field wherein you already have an experience in, it will be much easier for you. Through this, you will also save start-up cash that your business needs.

Check your account. You need to set-up a business and personal budget to see if you can cope with a six to twelve month loss of income. It will be convenient for an entrepreneur to rely on personal funds coming from severance and savings. Online businesses can be started with limited capital.

Set-up a timeline. It is helpful to set a realistic timeline to start the company. There are two types of starters in my opinion. Some people tend to be planners; they only start something once they have every information possible. For the take action types, do not run and start but spend more time in the planning phase. Both are fine, the important thing is you have a clear timeline for everything.

Remember losing your job can often be a blessing in disguise. If you feel strongly motivated, take this as an opportunity to set your own independence and do what you always wanted to do. The work may be longer and the pay fluctuating, but in the end, the new-found freedom will be all worth it!

Ways to Strengthen your Online Business: Strategy 3

Having an army of people advertising your product is the best way to boost sales. That is what an affiliate program does. This is wherein you have a network of people marketing your product/ service. Now, this is not your regular promo people that you have to pay on a monthly basis. These are people whom you pay a commission with every sale that they make. Basically you only pay when there are results, no results means no pay.

Here are some reasons why you should consider an affiliate program strategy for your business:

1. Automated advertising campaign

Affiliate tracking software is the perfect marketing gadget because you use an automated advertising campaign that will market your product or service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Everything will be done automatically!

2. No sale, no pay

The best part of using an Affiliate Program to market your product / service is that you do not have to pay anyone unless a sale is made. Imagine that hordes of people are advertising your product and they work on straight commission, and the beauty of it: NO HIRING PROCESS INVOLVED!

3. Fringe benefits

This is one benefit of Affiliate marketing that is not really noticed by many people. Even if a customer does not purchase your product / service there is always a chance that they will subscribe to your e-zine or better yet they will bookmark your site. Remember that you only pay affiliates for every sale, so without spending money you get traffic for free.

It is true that affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful ways to market your business. If you want to have a successful online business then be sure to think of starting an affiliate program. Starting an affiliate program is really easy all you have to do is place a page on your site that invites people to apply and by approaching websites you have the same target market as you. You can easily manage the program yourself; there are several affiliate softwares to choose from and one of them is AssocTRAC. This software will handle the entire process from tracking affiliate sales right through paying commissions.

An affiliate program is very effective strategy for generating massive new traffic and multiplying your sales with little effort on your part. This has been proven successful time and again by different online businesses.