Vision Of Success

According to a new report from eMarketer, women have taken the lead in online use.

The report “Women Online in the U.S.: A Growing Majority,” states that women currently comprise of 51.6 percent of the U.S. online population. And that number will continue to increase over the coming years.

What does that mean to you as a small business owner? Women are now becoming more Internet savvy. They are starting to realize the potential benefits of doing research AND making puchases online.

I can definitely relate to that. I have done the vast majority of my holiday shopping online for the past two years. I catalog shop for my whole family, find exactly what I want at the price I want, and complete my purchases online. And I’m becoming the norm.

As more women find the time savings advantages the Internet offers, the Internet will continue to grow as a major marketing method.

What are you doing today to begin to reach women? Is your website a brochure, or is it a functioning sales tool?

Lori

What if

you spent one hour online, posting to message boards, and you made contact with someone who could become a strategic partner?

What if

that strategic partner helped you create a joint campaign, and you were able to get your information in front of 2000 new people - all great customers of your new partner?

What if

only 1% of those contacts turned into quality customers for you?

What if

out of those 20 new customers, 2 of them ended up being repeat customers, and an excellent referral source for your business?

What if

you could find 4-6 strategic partners this year?

Play the “What if” game every day. You’ll be amazed at how your business will grow.

Lori

So what’s it going to be in the future? Ezine. Or blog.

If you have been reading any business material, you know that blogging is coming on strong. And for good reasons.

1. Blogs exist online. Ezines are sent via email, which can be knocked out of the system by spam filters.

2. Blogs have a heavy pull to get people back in to your website.

3. Blogs are becoming very media friendly. PR people love blogs. The media loves finding information quickly that is relevant to whatever they are researching. Within minutes, a reporter can find relevant copy, and make a connection with you. That’s not possible with standard ezines.

So what’s the answer for you? If you’re familiar with my writings, you know I’m a strong proponent of try and test. Online I try everything, and test to see how it works. I’ve had my ezine for several years, and will continue to do so. Blogging is the natural next step. I’ll be working both together to see how they work. For you? Try a little of both, and see what works for you.

Lori

I was talking to a client yesterday about landing pages, and it made me realize how many people don’t understand what a landing page is or how it works for your website. So I thought I would share!

A landing page is a page created to focus on one keyword for your company. Maybe it’s a product. Or a new service. Or a new training package you are offering as this month’s special. Whatever it is, your goal is to boost sales and page views of that particular product/service.

So let’s pretend you’ve just released a new product, ABC Software. Your goal is to get ABC Software in front of as many people as possible during the month of May. Because you are a software company, you already have a product catalog filled with other software products. But for the month of May, you want to focus on sales of ABC Software.

This is the ideal candidate for a landing page. Create a page specifically for ABC Software. Fill it with all kinds of good, quality text referring back to ABC Software. Then make sure your keywords, metatags, descriptions, etc are also focused only on ABC Software.

Lori

I read an interesting article at profitguide.com today. It talked about the 7 trends that would impact your business over the coming 5 years.

As technology increases, can we use technology to track our customers individually, and offer customized services just for them?

The answer is overwhelmingly yes. Not to do so will mean death to most small businesses.

In the world of Wal-Mart marketing (average customer service and marketing techniques), the ability to customize services for specific customers will be a definite plus for small businesses. It will guarantee your place in the hearts of your customers.

But keep in mind you will have to continually offer your customers way beyond the norm. Anticipate what they want and have it waiting for them. Create promotions and sales specifically for certain customers. It’s easy to do with today’s software systems.

Client-based relationship marketing is here to stay. The sooner you start tracking your customers behavior, and anticipating their sales needs, the quicker your company will grow!

Lori