Sales and profits are the life blood for your home based business on the web and are crucial for any enterprise, for that matter, whether it’s online or off the Internet. However, the tactics used for driving traffic to your website are very different and, in many cases, much cheaper than some of the strategies you would use to attract customers to your corner store on Main street USA.
The Internet marketer is always trying to devise unique approaches to bring more potential customers and more interested people to their online offers. By “more interested” of course we mean targeted toward our products or services on our home page.
Here are five such stratagems which I like to believe are distinctive when compared to the more traditional methods used to boost sales and profits on the Internet today:
1. It has been my experience, both online and in the normal every day world, that people enjoy humor. We shouldn’t take things so seriously all the time. Try to inject some wit into your blogs, your articles and your website in general. For example, implement a “joke of the day” feature on your site or just relate something funny that happened in your life or to someone you know.
Your visitors will appreciate the effort and, who knows, if they enjoy your stories they may come back on a regular basis to look for more. Remember, people are more likely to do business with you if they’re in a good mood, and if they’re dower when they arrive why not make them happier before they leave.
2. Involve your visitors in the sales process. Make them feel important to the process, which of course they are, by being interested in what they think and feel. You can accomplish this by asking thought provoking questions which arouse feelings and emotions which will help motivate them to buy.
Remind them of fond memories growing up by asking about a certain product they used as a child or, if they’re older, ask about something your parents enjoyed. Warm feelings and happy memories are strong motivators no matter what the situation.
3. Make the sales process a little more personal for your visitors by drawing their friends and families into the equation. Ask what they believe their friends would think if they purchased your product? For example, if you’re selling cars you could ask, “what would your Dad think if he saw you driving down the street in this brand new Porsche?”
Would your best friend be impressed if they saw you in these $300.00 Italian leather shoes? What other people think are serious influencers in the final decision making process and you can use this to your advantage.
4. Always make a great first impression. Your home business website should always look professional and well cared for by using specialized web design, graphics and content. Emphasize customer service at every opportunity by following up after the sale, by providing discounts and bonuses and by implementing a yearly customer appreciation day to show your gratitude to your clients. A professional attitude and appearance combined with stellar customer service will go a long way toward closing many sales and increasing profits.
5. Brainstorm different ideas for creating additional income streams for your home based business. For example, if you’re business theme is providing Internet marketing products for your customers and you’re into article writing you can combine your editorials into an e-book to sell on your website. You could also sell the reprint rights to your articles and or any reports you’ve created.
As you can see there’s no shortage of techniques you can employ to help enhance your home business sales and profits. Whether they’re more traditional Internet marketing techniques or more off the wall and unique tactics the end result is what matters most. And always remember to leave’em laughin’, so here goes, courtesy of the late great Rodney Dangerfield:
I asked my old man if I could go ice-skating on the lake. He told me, “Wait til it gets warmer.”
I remember the time I was kidnapped and they sent back a piece of my finger to my father. He said he wanted more proof.
This morning when I put on my underwear I could hear the Fruit of the Loom guys laughing at me.
A girl phoned me and said, “Come on over. There’s nobody home.” I went over. Nobody was home!
A hooker once told me she had a headache.
I was tired one night and I went to the bar to have a few drinks. The bartender asked me, “What’ll you have?” I said, “Surprise me.” He showed me a naked picture of my wife.