| |
| |
|
Internet Marketing Information |
|
|
|
The Tao of Web Marketing
A few months ago I was watching a stream meandering back and forth across a flat plain in a high mountain valley. The stream reached it's destination - a small lake - but only after dozens of loops and curves. It occurred to me that Water and clever Web Marketing have something in common - they both follow the path of least resistance. Let me explain. Your first contact with a future customer usually starts with an email. It could be an Ad in an Ezine, it could be your Resource Box at the end of one of your Articles, or it could be your Signature File in your correspondence. But in the chain of events that leads to a web sale, an email is the point of greatest resistance. Why is that? Firstly, your future customer is reading your message offline. She or he has to fire up their modem before they can buy your product. And that requires effort (and expense). Secondly, if your message is in an Ezine, it's probably one of a dozen other messages all clamoring for attention. Thirdly, whether your message is an Ezine Ad, a Resource Box, or a Signature File, you've probably had only a few lines to explain why your widgets are so good. So if an email is the point of greatest resistance, what is the solution? The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism (pronounced 'Dowism') - also known as 'The Watercourse Way' - gives us the answer. Taoism tells us to be like Water and follow the path of least resistance. Water flows. It is soft and moves easily around obstacles in its path, instead of attempting to go through them. Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice. (Tao Te Ching, ch. 78) "What is the path of least resistance in an email?", I hear you ask. Offer something free! Successful web marketers know this already. I recently did a survey of the Resource Boxes of fifty well known Ezine Writers. Over 90% of them were not trying to sell anything from their Resource Box. In fact, an overwhelming majority were not even trying to get a click-thru to their website - they were simply offering a free subscription to their Newsletter. In other words, they were more interested in building a long-term relationship than they were in making a quick sale. When I started out on the Internet, I was pretty impatient. I certainly didn't want to the follow the path of least resistance. The path I had in mind was more like the flight of an arrow - straight to it's target. But the statistics suggest that most web sales are not made like that; on average your customer will have to see your message seven times before he or she buys your product. So next time you plan your marketing strategy, why not take a lesson from Water and follow the path of least resistance? ------------------------------------------------------------
MORE RESOURCES:
Internet-Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Take the Direct Route to Internet Gurudom - Are you tired of chasing down publishers just to get a few of your articles distributed? - Do you wonder where those Article Announce emails you faithfully send out *really* end up? - Is the monthly search for fresh email newsletter content giving you premature gray hairs?Well, friend, I have good news.Now, there's a way to instantly reach scads of appreciative readers who can't wait to put your content on their "categorically-correct" websites!Now, instead of putting in hours of O/T the night before your Ezine release, you can locate five high-quality articles to share with your readership audience in less than fifteen minutes. How A 7 Year Old Boy Discovered The Secret To Niche Marketing Success Niche marketing enthusiast.. 12 Steps to Creating a Business Online "E-commerce"A word pervading our society, making headlines around the world, and causing the stock market to rise and fall with startling ease.It seems every business news story centers on some technology company's "DOT-com" or "DOT-bomb"!With all the positive and negative hoopla, business owners of any size company can throw up their hands and feel the "E" world has left them behind. Dealing with Refund Requests - Internet Marketing I think we all cringe and dread when we open our mail box and see that dreaded "Refund Request" in the subject line. And I guess we dread it for a number of reasons. Cheap & Easy Online Marketing A successful online business takes more than a website?a lot more! When I ask people if they have an online business, many people tell me they are creating their website. That's good news except I get the feeling they think that is all they have to do to have a successful online business. Online Business Success: Its All Within Your Grasp Despite any failures or slow starts you may be experiencing or rebounding from right now, don't focus too much on the people you listened to who may have contributed to your current state.We all rely on "experts" to get ahead. Niche Marketing - How to Find Your Perfect Niche Market If you don't find a niche market for the product or service you offer, you will have a difficult time being successful. Most newcomers who wish to do business on the Internet often market to everyone they can find with the expectation that everyone will do business with them. Make Use of the Signature Line in Your Email Think about it, how many emails do you send out every day? How many of these forwarded jokes, pictures, stories etc do you receive every week?Why not put your email to work for you?! Add a link or two to your signature file. Mine looks something like this:~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SusanneI am a Work at Home Mom Wannabe http://www. Think Outside The Box: Home Internet Business Ideas Imagine never having to leave your home to work. Not having to deal with traffic, office politics, annoying co-workers, or pretentious bosses make excellent arguments to working out of the comfort of your own home. Network Marketing Online - The Method Network Marketing online works by giving you your own online store and leaving it up to you to get people there. By doing this the company save millions a month in advertising. Strategic Internet Marketing Is Planning Strategic Internet marketing is a way to define your potential market. Before you build a website or Internet business you must studying your potential customers, examine your competition, and explore your opportunities for success. e-Marketing Strategy: 7 Dimensions to Consider (the e-Marketing Mix) What is e-Marketing?e-Marketing is still quite a controversial subject to talk about, since no one succeeded to unify the various theories around it; however there is one thing upon which there is no doubt - that e-Marketing first appeared under the form of various techniques deployed by pioneer companies selling their products via the internet in the early 90's.The frenzy around these new marketing techniques created by e-tailers and supported by the internet rapidly gave birth to a new dimension of what we knew as Marketing: the e-Marketing (electronic Marketing). Online Marketing: Math or Myth? The numbers are supposed to be big in online marketing, but are they significant in the online marketing of music? Clearly, we need someone with 'Net experience to set a few things straight. Scott Meldrum is a businessperson and musician with a dry wit and a background in bulk mail. Holiday / Vacation Time But What About Your Online Business? For many of us, it is time to start thinking about packing our suitcases and jetting off on our summer holidays/vacation. When I had a 'normal' job, this was a time to get out of the office and completely forget about work for a couple of weeks. I Don't Smoke, But I Love a Good .sig! .sig, or "Dot Sig" as it's affectionately known, stands for "Signature File" and is the text and (usually) other contact information placed at the bottom of email or other computer-based correspondence. New Form of Click Fraud Discovered If you use PPC advertising and are in a highly competitive market, you can't afford not to read this.You already know that if you're adventurous enough to run your own pay-per-click advertising campaign--e. How to Make Money with Your Own Internet Business Many people fail to realize how they can really make money with any internet business and wonder around online joining the next best craze online. This article hopes to address the key things that one has to do to make money with any internet business and lift your spirits somewhat with a clear roadmap to online success. The Psychology of Online Selling Why do we buy things? Well, some thing are out of necessity; we need food and water to survive. But which food do we buy? You see we do have a choice, which means we make decisions to buy one kind of food against another. Using An Autoresponder To Manage Your Email Campaigns Automatic RespondersWhether your e-business is planning to launch an email marketing campaign or simply in need of handling demanding email inquiries, rapid email response to inquiries is a customer service essential. Ideally, customer email inquiries should be answered within a 24 hour period. Free Marketing = Effective Marketing According to Google.com there are over three billion web pages online today.
|
|
|
|
|
