One of the most important things that you can do for your business is to build an email list. Period.
In the internet marketing circle there is a saying that you’ll hear on an all too regular basis…
the money is in the list
Now whilst this phrase has become synonymous within the online marketing community most traditional “bricks and mortar” businesses who have an online presence with a traditional corporate website – seem to almost completely ignore this most valuable of online strategies.
I have found that around 90% of businesses do not capture leads on their website, instead they spend most of their time trying to “flog” to the visitor – this is a huge mistake that is costing most businesses tens (even hundreds!) of thousands of pound in lost revenue each and every year.
Why?
Because according to just about every survey or report you read; between 90%-98% of online visitors are looking for information, they are not looking to buy. Did you just hear that? I’ll say it again “90%-98% of online visitors are looking for information, they are not looking to buy”.
Ok, you might be thinking “oh please, not another statistic”?
Well, I’ve got some news for you – for once the statistics are right! I know it’s a rarity but it’s a proven fact. I have built hundreds of websites and coached and trained hundreds of business owners , and on every single occasion I can categorically say that most people aren’t ready to buy right now.
So let me now give you my golden tip for online success for today…
Stop focusing on the on the 2%-10% of visitors that are ready to buy today and start focusing on the 90%-98% of visitors that are somewhere further down the decision making chain.
This one tip will bring your business huge success in the short, medium and long term.
Think about it. You can let all your competition beat each other up, fighting over the buyers for today, whilst you’re busy helping the buyers of tomorrow, next week and next month instead. Not only that, you’ll be building a relationship, educating and gaining trust with them – so if and when they eventually are ready to buy, you’ll be their natural choice. Simple isn’t it?
It is incredibly simple, but all too often I hear resistance from business owners with objections like…
- how on earth can I do that?
- it’s too complicated?
- I’ll lose sales!
Building a lead capture system into the online and offline marketing efforts of your business is a straight forward process and is something that I cover in my free online profit tips series.
Typically I would close the post off about now but not today. You see, this strategy is so very important for your small business. I’m going to drum it into you again…
Most business websites make 2 fundamentally huge mistakes -
- Their websites are built to sell to visitors – when instead they should be helping them.
- Their websites talk mostly about themselves – when instead they should be talking about the needs and wants of their customers.
DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE!
Remember that by changing the emphasis of your site to helping the visitor, rather than selling to them you’ll end up being able to capture the email addresses of targeted, interested leads and build relationships with them automatically, using a tool called an auto-responder.
In my next post I’ll be covering some of the best ways to get these valuable leads and prospects into your list, but for now let me sign off and remind you that – The Money is in the List! 
Incoming search terms:
- www maquinas-tragaperras info/magic-princess html
In starting up a new business, I was given a gloomy outcome. 40-60% of income will go to the government. In addition I pay taxes every year on any equipment I buy for inventory tax. That is before insurance for health or liability or hiring help, saving or just paying the bills. So in order to make a profit I have to mark up the price too high to market myself. It is easier to just get a job paying min payment than to put the effort into starting a new business. I don't see how any new business survives. Yet without new businesses our country can't survive.
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Matt thought you might of heard of “The Big Small Business”? It essentially explains practical methods to leverage the internet and your company website to create small business success measured in both business growth and increased revenues. A large part of this book focuses on how to utilize social media outlets such as blogs, wikis, and member driven sites to market your service and/or products to grow your small business website.
It’s worth a read if you haven’t seen it already.
bye for now.
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What free service(s) do you use for building/maintaining an email list?
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Great article. I am writing a book about successful businesses I coach. One of the chapters is on “Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks”. One of the things mature businesses may lack is the ability to think entrepreneurially (i.e., identify new business opportunities). However, some companies are great at this and have this built into DNA. So what’s my point? It’s that building a list is the single most important thing you can do online.
Bye for now
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