.:RIMproInsider:.

by Ron Knowlton

It was early Saturday morning when I scrambled out to the garage to try and find the strawberries that I’d bagged up in the summer and put away into the “deep freeze”.

When I opened the freezer door, there was a three-inch-thick band of ice around the rim of our “frost-free” freezer, preventing the door from sealing properly.

Inside were jumbled bags of corn on the cob, zip-lock bags containing cheddar cheese, aluminum-foil-wrapped blocks of hamburger, and ice cream bars scattered from end to end.

I dug through the glob of stuff, hoping to find the strawberries quickly.

But it was almost like digging a tunnel to China. As I dug through one pile of stuff, I descended into the next pile. Some of the stuff was left over from when we purchased the freezer - I was sure. No one had bothered to clean it out or to organize and straighten it!

After 45 minutes to an hour of moving stuff around, I finally found the bag of frozen strawberries - but spent the next 15-20 minutes putting all the stuff back into the freezer.

And by then, my fingers were almost numb from the cold.

It was definitely an experience I did not want to repeat right away!!!

MARKETING LESSONS LEARNED FROM A FREEZER?

I actually learned a valuable lesson or two from this experience!

So, here goes - lessons learned from the “nightmare freezer” in our garage:

1) If you can’t find it, you can’t have it!

From a disorganized freezer - if it’s really hard to find stuff - you probably won’t!

Afterall, who wants to spend 45 minutes to an hour digging through stuff to get what you want?

Most people will lose interest and leave.

That’s why your sales copy needs to be interesting right from the start. And don’t make it sooooooo long that your customer slogs through the whole thing to get to the meat.

Because he or she probably won’t stick around that long. Your customer has better things to do with his or her time!

2) If you have a disorganized freezer - or in this case a website - you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Why? Because if it’s really hard to find the important stuff - forget it! Who’s going to spend the time?

Make sure your web site is:

Well organized!

Do you have a lot of web pages that a visitor would need to spend hours to discover and explore - that really lead nowhere and do not produce a desired result from your customer (such as a sale or a subscription to your newsletter)?

If you’re selling a product or service, you want each page to lead toward your order page - with no detours or distractions!

If yours is a content site - then you want a well-organized site map - or similar method - so your visitor can easily find relevant pages … which leads to …

3) Make sure you have a method where site visitors can quickly find your most important pages. “Get the ice off the rim”. Make sure everything functions properly!

Like a door that seals properly is important to a freezer functioning properly - a properly functioning order page is just as important to your web site! You don’t want your customer entering credit card information only to get an error page!

Your website and/or your sales process should be simple and easy to understand. Otherwise your customer will leave in frustration!

4) Remove or update old web pages. If there is a three-inch thick ice ring around the rim of the freezer, obviously some maintenance is needed - the ice needs to be removed so that the freezer will function properly!

If you have a build-up of old web pages that you haven’t checked or viewed recently - you should perform this task soon - removing old files from your web site - that perhaps are no longer used - or where the links are no longer relevant and not even functioning properly! When is the last time you checked those three year old files (or even the six-month old files)?

5) Check your links!

Imagine a visitor coming to your site and then clicking on links that come up with a “page not found” notice. How impressive is that?

Visitors may leave thinking that the site is no longer active or that the information posted is no longer relevant.

They may even think the webmaster has gone AWOL! (In other words - abandoned the site.)

Not the impression you want to create!!!

6) Organize everything. Sift and sort and place into the proper folders. If you can’t find it, do you really think your site visitors will be able to find it.

Sift and sort and place things where you (and web site visitors) can easily find things!

To make sure I would not repeat the freezer experience again, I grabbed a blow dryer and a metal scraper and worked at the 3- inch ice rim around the freezer, until it was all removed.

Then I found some large plastic bags and sorted items and placed them into the bags. I had one bag reserved for meat. In there, I put the zip-lock bags of chicken, the aluminum-foil- wrapped hamburger, and the zip-lock bags of cheddar cheese.

In another large bag I placed all the plastic bags of fruit we had set aside in the summer - so we could enjoy them in the
winter.

And yet in another large bag I placed the half loaves of bread we had frozen - because we knew we wouldn’t use them up fast enough before the bread would go bad. This way we had a ready supply of bread.

It took me all of about two hours to do all of this. And with that, our nightmare freezer problem was solved!

And … come to think of it … the “nightmare web site” problem as well!!!

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Ron Knowlton is a former journalist and the founding editor “Articles To Boost Your Success Online!” Subscribe to the Soaring Profits Success Ezine! Like a free monthly internet marketing course by email! Eight great lessons each month! Subscribe

by Ron Knowlton

It’s human nature to trust, to believe.

Little children come into this world trusting and believing. It’s when someone is dishonest that they start to disbelieve and to distrust.

And adults really aren’t that much different when you stop to think about it.

When you are told one thing and discover something else to be the truth - what happens?

A caution sign and warning lights flash in your head.

You realize that anything you hear next must now be filtered and proven.

Why? Because you don’t want to be fooled again!

Then you start to look around. You wonder if others are being truthful and honest with you.

When you find someone who is honest and truthful, something sticks.

You soon come back for more. You begin to value the relationship.

But going back to the example of the little child - why does the little child trust her parents?

Because they usually tell the truth.

And if parents don’t tell the truth, then what happens?

The child starts to look for others in her life who are telling the truth and who she can trust.

Is it really any different in business?

At first we trust because we want to believe.

But once we discover dishonesty - then we begin to filter and disbelieve. We begin to look elsewhere for the truth.

If people trust you, if they believe you, if they know you are honestly there to help them, they will buy from you!

There is no great secret to this.

They will value your word. They will look to you for advice.

And not only that, but they will reward you openly for it with their sincere praise!

And then you may win the greatest prize of all in business.

They will tell everybody about you!

Their friends, business associates, their family members, their neighbors.

And these people will believe in you too!

Can you see the magic in this?

Your honesty, your truthfulness will build your business.

Your lack of honesty will break you!

Honesty sells! Believe it!

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Ron Knowlton is a former journalist and the founding editor “Articles To Boost Your Success Online!” Subscribe to the Soaring Profits Success Ezine! Like a free monthly internet marketing course by email! Eight great lessons each month! Subscribe

by: Michael McLaughlin

Not getting the satisfaction you want from your AdWords account? Want to make more money by spending less?

Google AdWords has made many businesses successful by providing them with a great deal of highly targeted traffic for as little as 5 cents! Yet many webmasters and advertisers are incompetent when it comes to using AdWords efficiently. After $100 in losses and having many failed campaigns, I have learned how to solve many of these setbacks, so I have put together a list of the 4 steps required to come out on top.

1. Design

Decide how the layout of your ad will present itself. Next consider what you want to be included in the title and what facts or catch phrases you want your visitor to know before they decide to spend your money by clicking on your advertisement. Don’t be a fool and get your ad disabled, please be sure to follow all of Google’s rules and regulations on there editorial guidelines page.

Many computer owners are just learning how to purchase using the miracle of the internet and even more people do not understand that when they click on those Google ad’s they are spending someone’s money just by clicking on it. They also don’t understand that most of the pages that they are going to be clicking on are product pages trying to sell them something. Many aren’t even interested in spending any money no matter how convincing your sales pitch can be. Though, this depends on what they are searching for. To avoid this simply yet destructive problem merely put the price of your product directly into your ad.

2. Brainstorm

This is where my downfall began, I selected few keywords and in turn received little traffic, and the traffic I did receive was very expensive! To avoid this start off by taking the position of your possible customer. If you were searching for the product that you sell, what would you, as a customer search for? Do that now and make a list of as many search phrases and keywords you can think of. Don’t be afraid to use Google’s keyword tool, though I found that this isn’t too helpful.

After you squeezed out as many words you can, glance over them and determine what words and phrases can be combined to form a new one. Simply come up with as many words as possible. Once you get started its easy and you should come out with around 250 keywords. Review this list and delete some of the keywords that are “out there” and wouldn’t produce targeted traffic.

3. Optimize

Never waste your money using Google’s suggested cost per click; it is 10 times higher than necessary. Many advertisers do not understand that there click through rate effects their position to the same degree with how much they pay per click. To make this easier to understand here is an example: if you pay 5 cents per click for the phrase ’shopping cart” and your competition pays 10 cents and has a click through rate of .5%, to surpass this person in position you need to double your click through rate to anything above 1% yet you are still paying half of what he is! For keywords that are less targeted to your product or purpose yet still effective I suggest pricing them to nearly half that of highly targeted keywords for a rule of thumb.

Now that all your keywords and pricing is in place, set your daily budget lower than you plan on spending per day for now, this way incase it’s a failure you don’t lose that much. Let your campaign run for a few days, but before you do make sure you set up conversion tracking. Watch what keywords perform well and convert to conversions, and delete the ones that cost you nothing but money. If at first you don’t succeed try try again.

4. Experiment

As you watch the performance of your keywords and Ad groups you should continue to try new things. Change one word in your ad and compare the results to previous, trust me one word can and will make the difference; whether positive or negative that is for you to discover! If you are having trouble finding an ad that gets enough clicks to avoid being disabled brainstorm again and create as many ads as possible, even if they are terrible they will give you new ideas. Pick your favorite three and create a new ad group while comparing the results to your other ad groups.

If you do not find success after following all of these steps, what you’re doing isn’t wrong it’s what you’re trying to sell. To determine if your product is assured to fail ask your self this question: is this product helping someone or is it just another great idea? Chances are if it’s a great idea people aren’t searching for it, or in desperate need of it.

Continue to track and modify your keywords and Ad groups while watching your sales and popularity excel!

About The Author
Written by: Michael McLaughlin at http://www.webmastershed.com – webmaster forum, for more articles by this author please visit: http://www.webmastershed.com/articles or email
michael@webmastershed.com

By Tom Kulzer
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Your web business probably gets product inquiries from potential customers around the globe. Inquiries come via e-mail and your web site, and you try to send information to each hot prospect as quickly as you can. You know that you can drastically increase the likelihood of making a sale by satisfying each person’s need for information quickly!

But, after you’ve delivered that first bit of information to your prospect, do you send him any further information?

If you are like most Internet marketers, you don’t.

When you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him. Often, a prospect will purposely put off making a purchase, to see if you find him important enough to follow up with later. When he doesn’t receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.

Are you losing profits due to inconsistent and ineffective follow up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process - it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

Consistent follow up gets results!

When I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the “List Technique.” I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company’s latest news as a follow up piece. I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me. While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn’t a very good follow up method. Why isn’t the “List Technique” very effective?

The List Technique isn’t consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have “big news”.

List Technique messages don’t give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can’t make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you’ve just moved your headquarters?

List Technique messages convey a “big list” mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

What follow up method really works?
Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you’ll need to develop your follow up messages. If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!

Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Phrase each of your final 1 or 2 follow up messages in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn’t yet placed an order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is to high, the product isn’t the right color or doesn’t have the right features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By this time, it’s unlikely that this person will order from you. However, his feedback can help you modify your follow up letters or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)

The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as their content. You don’t want one prospect to receive a follow up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions!

Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors’. You will make the sale!

Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don’t want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least 4 days apart.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow up - don’t you want to be one of the few to get it right?
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Tom Kulzer is the President and CEO of AWeber Communications.
Less Work - More Sales. http://www.aweber.com

Back from Hawaii and into more than a foot of new snow. What a change.

Despite a pretty small turnout for the PRISM Business Across Borders Conference, it was a very valuable conference for those who attended.

For those of you who wanted my powerpoint and notes, you can download it here.

Back in the saddle now. Losts of good posts this coming week.

Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.
Jim Rohn

A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.
Steve Jobs

A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one.
Henry Ford

Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.
John D. Rockefeller

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.

So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.

Management is about Human Beings. The task of management is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant. This is what organization is all about, and it is the reason that management is the critical, determining factor…

…Management must enable the enterprise and each of its members to grow and to develop as needs and opportunities change.