1. Give your prospects extra incentives so they will order quicker. It could be free shipping, a faster shipping option, free gift wrapping, etc. Another common example that we have all heard of is buy one get one.

2. Make your small business look big on the world wide web. Design your web site using professional graphics, ordering systems, organized layouts, etc. It's obvious, if you look professional more people will come to you.

3. Attract a lot more customers by giving them clear ordering instructions. Give them all the information they need so they can complete their order easily. People hate nothing more then having to go back and ask for help becuase it wasn't explained right in the first palce.

4. Give your customers buying incentives so they'll make repeat purchases. Offer them discounts, free gifts, bonus points, etc. Give them a reason to come back to you and buy again.

5. Tell people about your site whenever you get a chance. Those people will tell other people and so on. It's a cheap way to multiply your advertising. Word of mouth spreads very fast and the more places you advertise the better off you are.

6. Write and send press releases for your web site. Use a strong headlines, make it newsworthy, and tell the journalist why their readers would like it. Think big and think of the greatest reasons for why your business exists.

7. Use a lot of headlines on your web site and ezine. Some types of headlines are free offers, questions, problem solvers, sales, and statistics. It makes it seem like you are offering more and you can give a better first impression.

8. Design graphics, templates, buttons and banner ads for other sites. Allow people to use them in exchange for your web link on their home page. Make good relations with other web sites and advertise for each other, it could benefit you alot and you may get some good deals.

9. Use time saving promotional software. You can automate your search engine submissions, posting to online classified sites, etc. Automatic submissions are so much better then doing it the manual way one by one, you'll never finish and just waste time.

10. Advertise your online business by dressing in clothes that are imprinted with your ad. It could be a T-shirt, ball cap, coat, etc. We've all seen people dressed like that, wether it be for a construction business or McDonald's.

I'm online for much of my business day, which means I get to visit many, many websites in the process of helping my clients learn how they get more clients online. I'm also asked to provide feedback about the effectiveness of websites, and as I specialize in working with owners of service businesses, I see several common website mistakes made over and over again by service companies.

If you want to get more clients from your website, here are the first 5 mistakes to avoid:

1. Business appearance as a nameless, faceless corporate entity. I just want to scream when I can't find any information on the person/people behind a company, and my preference is to be able to have a visual representation (photo) of the people with whom I'm about to do business. One of the key components to your success as the owner of a service business should be the quality of service you personally provide, whether you're a chiropractor, website designer, pest exterminator, accountant, or printer.

People don't do business with business cards or websites -- people do business with other people. How can someone get to know, like, respect and trust you in order to decide to do business with you when they can't peer behind the corporate image? I realize many smaller business firms employ this strategy to appear bigger than they actually are to their client base, but I prefer being able to pick up the phone or drop an email to someone I personally know within a company to help me solve my problem, rather than trying to penetrate a faceless corporate facade.

2. Lack of a clear call to action on the home page. Have you ever been to a website and been completely overwhelmed with all the directions you can go from the home page? I have, and I become so frustrated that I leave in short order. Or, perhaps you thought, "This business sounds like one I'd like to stay in touch with -- what do I do next?", and you can't find the answer to that question anywhere on the home page of the website. The most effective call to action you can have on your home page is to offer something for free (ebook, ecourse, newsletter, survey results, report, toolkit) that is so attractive to your target market that they will give you their name and email address to receive your offer.

Many times the call to action is to telephone or email the business for a free consultation. I think that call to action is effective to some degree, especially if someone is shopping for an immediate solution to their problem,. Overall, however, I think people want more time to make a decision about doing business with you in terms of determining your credibility and making a decision about whether or not they trust you before deciding to have a personal conversation with you.

Expecting someone to call you upon first meeting you (viewing your website) is not very realistic. However, if they've seen enough on your site to want a little more, there's a greater likelihood of them parting with a tiny bit of info (first name and email address) in order to get a better experience of you anonymously and without a great commitment. Once you have their contact information, they have become a prospective client and you can market to them as you would to any other prospect in your business.

3. Little website content that demonstrates your expertise. I often visit websites in which the company boasts how proficient they are at solving my problem, but when I look for proof of what they know (articles, resources, recorded content), I come up empty-handed, as the website is simply an online brochure describing the company's products and services. If you've been in business for awhile, you've got a good idea of the problems that your customers face.

Don't look upon providing information on your website as giving away your solutions for free -- think of it as developing a better-educated consumer for your services and products. Will you lose customers because they read your information and implemented the solution without hiring you? That's possible, but most prospective customers are unable to do it on their own and will need your expert assistance to help them solve their problem.

4. Inability to "test" your service at less expensive price points. Many service companies expect that their website visitors will part with a large sum of money to hire them just after meeting them. This rarely happens, unless your prospective customer is in an emergency situation. For example, if you're an exterminator and someone has just discovered his home is infested with termites, he may part with $1200 upon meeting you if he's confident that you can quickly and reliably solve his termite problem.

However, this scenario isn't realistic for those of use providing optional purchase-type services, like coaching, training, consulting, website design, printing, etc. Potential clients like to "buy in" at lower price points to "test" your expertise and reliability before handing over $5000 for a year-long consulting contract, for example. Andrea Lee, in her book, Multiple Streams of Coaching Income, http://www.msoci.com, suggests several price points in the creation of your marketing funnel:

a. free/complimentary/gift (like the free report you give away on the home page of your website)

b. $4.95 -$50

c. $50 - $200

d. $200 - $500

e. $500 and greater

Creating services and/or products at these various levels will help prospective clients "sample" your expertise at a price point that's comfortable for them, and you, as the business owner, can "move" them through your marketing funnel until they buy your top-level service. By creating different price levels, you've increased the number of prospective customers that have benefit of your expertise.

5. Missing or hidden contact information. You've visited a website several times and think that the site offers the ideal solution to your problem. However, you've got one question to ask before making your purchasing decision. You seek the location of the company, the phone number, or an email address, and all you find is a contact form to send your question. Website owners are often reluctant to have their contact info readily available on the website, as they fear having their email address harvested by spammers, or having their phone number added to a telemarketer list.

What keeps you up at night?

It’s a good question for you to ask yourself once in a while. For most eCommerce entrepreneurs one of the answers is the thought of revenue lost as potential customers abandon your web site without buying. That’s 97.4% or so of your visitors, according to the accepted industry average conversion rate. Are you confident that your site converts visitors into customers at the best rate possible? If so, you’re probably getting a better night’s sleep than most.

If not, you’re probably tossing and turning, thinking about ways to increase web site sales. You might think you have already tried every little conversion rate optimization tip or trick. Do you have a strong “Call to Action” benefit? Have you ever tested different messaging with tools such as split A/B landing page optimization? The web is always changing. Unless you are sure that there is no room for improvement, its clearly time to consider how you can take your website to the next level to increase online sales with a value added promotional benefit.

1. Bait your prospects with the right cheese.

Online shoppers are more sophisticated today. You should assume that your prospects will evaluate three to four competitors before deciding to purchase. You need to stand out and provide the right bait to get your prospects to stop and buy at your site, rather than move on to a competitor.. In some cases, merchants need to find a special kind of cheese that will get the mouse to click on certain shipping options or up-sells. Getting creative in what bait you use is what will increase conversion rates if you know what type of cheese will make that mouse click.

2. Create a value-added offer.

Sometimes you need to go beyond your product line to find a potential partner that could benefit from a cross promotion. Some gift items can be presented as bonus offerings that would bring a high perceived added value, such as. Free prepaid phone card giveaway with a volume discount. Such an item could even be co-branded as a special value-added thank you gift.

3. Offer free gifts that creates buzz with word of mouth publicity

Think of a gift or promotional item that prospects will keep on them at all times such as inside their purse or wallet. Giving this item away is what creates the word of mouth publicity buzz for increased “buzz”, brand awareness, and ultimately more Internet sales. The example of a free co-branded phone card giveaway is a great way to get your customers to carry your brand at all times and increase repeat orders and referrals. Gifts like free prepaid phone cards are especially effective because they are designed for repeated use. As a result, the customer will be exposed to your brand for the seven plus times experts say are necessary before a prospect is ready to convert to a sale or reorder. It’s also likely to more than carry its weight in word of mouth publicity for referrals.

5. Create a personalized benefit

Always look for ways to personalize your offer. Instead of “we” or” I”. talk to the customer individually as “you”. Make your prospects feel special, elite and make it personal in any way possible when giving away a value added benefit. Personalize your gift when possible and find a partner with whom you could cross promote a co-branded personalized items.

6. Give away a high perceived value item:

Offering something for FREE is always nice. But the word “free” can carry negative connotations. You always want to keep the perceived value of any gift or offer high.

Example:

Get a free prepaid phone card online with your order today

Vs.

Receive a complimentary prepaid phone card worth more than 1 hour of free calling to the U.S. and many other countries as a personal thank you gift for your order today.

Grab your prospects today, and give them an incentive to buy on your site. Now its time for you to find your special “cheese” that will get your prospect’s mouse to click on your personalized high perceived-value benefit.

If you run an online store selling products, such as tools, jewelry, makeup, gifts, clothing, or any other products, you make more money when you sell more products. Since the objective of any business is to make money, online store owners know that the more products they sell, the more money they can make.

"How can I sell more of my products online?" is one of the most common questions I hear from my clients is. Here are several tips that will help you sell more of your products online and generate more revenue:

- Show off the products in the best possible light. When people buy a product, they want to know what the product looks like. If someone is buying a couch, they want to be able to see if that couch would fit with the rest of their furniture before actually buying it. If someone wants to buy a piece of jewelry, they want to see what the jewelry looks like before buying it.

Therefore, the best way for you to convince your web site visitors that your products are right for them is by showing the products in the best possible light. Have high quality, detailed pictures of your products on your web site so that people are convinced that they need your product as soon as they see it.

- Make your web site easy to use. If someone comes to your web site to purchase your products, make sure they can find exactly what you are looking for. Your web site should have clear and concise navigation that is exactly the same on every page of the web site.

An easy to use navigation ensures that your web site visitors find what they are looking for on your web site and purchase it.

- Optimize web site for search engines. Another good way to drive more customers to your web site and increase your online sales is by optimizing your web site for search engines. Search engine optimization is the process of modifying web page content and meta-information to improve the search engine ranking of the page. Meta-information includes certain HTML tags (title, heading, emphasized text, keyword and description meta-tags), as well as the internal (links between pages on the same site) and external (links between pages on different sites) link structure of a web site.

Optimizing your web site helps you improve your search engine rankings and drive more targeted traffic to your web site.

- Create a blog to promote your business. A blog is your business diary, in which you share the information about your business, your new products, different ways of using your products and much more. Your blog is an excellent tool to let the world know about your business and your products, to connect with potential customers and promote what you have to offer.

In order to bring the most online traffic and make money with your blog, make sure that your blog consistently and create blog posts that are of interest to your past as well as potential customers. Regular posts that are interesting to read is what will keep your readers coming back and buying from you.

The Internet is a great place to sell your products. When you know how to market your business online, you bring more web site traffic, get more product sales and make more money.

If you have been on the Internet for any more than a minute you probably have a pretty good idea that Google is the monster of all search engines and can drive you tons of targeted traffic for free (and free traffic is definitely the best kind ;-)

With that said, Google is constantly coming out with new tools for us marketers to take advantage of and the one I want to address today is "Google Sitemaps". I want to answer two important questions about Google Sitemaps that I am constantly getting:

Question #1: Will Sitemaps help increase my rankings?

Answer #1: Now, I get this question all the time and the only logical answer I can come up with is YES! Chances are pretty darn good that if Google releases something and you use it, it could only help, not hinder, your rankings! (Remember Blogger.com... yup, the fastest blog sites to get listed in Google! Go figure!)

Question #2: What exactly does a Google Sitemap do?

Answer #2: Well here it is... any time you add new content to your site or your blog, you're going to want Google to include the most up-to-date version in its listings. In the past, this meant waiting for Google to index your site all over again... but since Google runs on its own agenda that could be next week... or next month... or next year. You never knew and it was extremely frustrating.

But finally Google has solved this problem with Google Sitemaps!

By using Sitemaps you can proactively tell Google every time you update your site so Google knows exactly when they need to come back and reindex it. And best of all, it's free!

Think of it as sending Google an invitation to visit your site every time you change it and add new information. This is particularly useful for blogs or other newsy web sites that are updated regularly.

Through Sitemaps you will get:

Up-to-date search results presented to your target market, so they can access the very latest information on your site.

In-depth reports that show you which pages Google has visited and when, so you can make sure they index all your most important content.

Here's a quick five-step guide to walk you through the process of getting your site registered with Google Sitemaps, so you can start using it right away.

Go to Google's "Add URL" page to submit your site, if you haven't already done so. (You can find it at: http://www.google.com/addurl.)

Check to see if Google has indexed your site by typing "cache:http://Your Web Site" into your browser's search bar and hitting "Enter." A saved version of your web page will appear, along with the date and time that Google last visited it.

(For example, if I wanted to see when Google last visited our site's homepage, I'd enter the following: "cache:http://www.marketingtips.com")

Go to Google Sitemaps and sign up for an account. Then follow their instructions to add your site or sites to your new account.

Once you've submitted your site to http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps, there's a very quick and easy process you can use to resubmit our site to Google every time you add new content. Simply take the following URL and customize it by adding your URL to the end of it: www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/ping?sitemap=http://%3A%2F%2F For example, if I were doing this for our main site, the customized URL would look like this:

http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/ping?sitemap/ping?sitemap=http://%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketingtips.com

Paste the customized URL into your browser's address bar and press "Enter." Then save that URL in your favorites or bookmark folder and simply click on that bookmark every time you update your web site or blog.

And that's it! Once you've got your web site submitted, you can check how often Google drops by to index your pages. You can even see which pages Google is visiting to make sure they're all getting indexed. This will help you drive more traffic to your site from Google.

Many small businesses today are undecided whether or not they should have a website to allow customers to purchase products online or further advertise their services. After all, building a website takes both time and money and hiring someone else to do the job for you costs even more. Some business owners may even think that since their company only consists of an employee or two, they really have no need for an online presence. Still other companies may not even want to sell their products online. What one factor do all of these businesses have in common? Believe it or not, they can all benefit from having an online presence. Fortunately today there are web builder tools available that allow even those with little technical skills to design their own website. Best of all, these web builder tools are available at a cost that is affordable to anyone. With options like these, there really is no reason why you shouldn’t have a website to promote your business.

If you think your business is too small to need a website, think again. Even a small business run by just one person can benefit from an online presence. The more people you promote your products and services to, the more sales you are likely to make. Without a web presence, you are losing out on valuable customers. Just like large corporations, small businesses need customers in order to make a profit. If you don’t have a website, you are losing sales to other companies that offer a product similar to yours. Sure building a website will take some time but it will be well worth your effort. There are several small companies today that make the majority of their profits from online sales. Your small business could very well be one of those companies in the future. Why not take the time today to see what types of web builder tools are available? Even though you don’t have to be a Webmaster to use these tools, you can still have a professional looking website that gives your company online credibility. How your site looks to the public is almost as important as the products you offer.

Even companies that do not wish to sell online or those that feel their products would be difficult to market online, can still benefit from using web builder tools to design their sight. First of all, there are not too many products today that aren’t being sold online. With the emergence of bidding sites such as Ebay, even larger items such as automobiles and real estate are being sold. Ecommerce in many cases has become the way to do business. By using web builder tools to design your own site, you can start cashing in on some of this online revenue.

Business owners who don’t wish to sell online may feel a website is a total waste of time and money. However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. All businesses can benefit from online marketing even if they don’t sell online. By using web builder tools to design a professional looking site, you are making your available products or services known to the public. Just because customers cannot use their credit card to purchase online from your company, many will still be inclined to contact you if you present your products in a professional manner. By giving out your company contact info such as email, fax, phone number, and physical address, customers have a number of methods in which to contact you. It is always a good idea to list your street address even for customers who are located out of state or in a different country. When people see this it often makes them feel more secure about ordering from you. Once customers have contacted you about purchases, you can then make payment arrangements for products. You may wish to receive checks by mail or take their credit card information over the phone to process orders. Some customers may even be within driving distance of your business. By having a website designed with web builder tools, you have made your presence known to customers both in your area and across the country. No matter what your type of business, web builder tools can help you design a site that will increase customer revenue.

In today's world, it seems that almost any topic is open for
debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was
quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were
settled are actually still being openly discussed.

1. Trade links with other web sites. They should be
related to the subject of your web site. Instead of
trading links, you could also trade banner ads, half
page ads, classified ads, etc.

2. Start an e-zine for your web site. When people
read each issue they'll be reminded to revisit your
web site. They'll see your product ad more than
just once which will increase your orders.

3. Form an online community. It could be an online
message board, e-mail discussion list or chat room.
When people get involved in your community they
will regularly return to communicate with others.

4. Write articles and submit them to e-zines, web
sites and magazines that accept article submissions.
Include your business information and web address
at the end of the article.

5. Give away an electronic freebie with your ad on
it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away.
This'll increase your ad exposure and attract people
to your web site at the same time.

How can you put a limit on learning more? The next
section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that
changes everything.

6. Combine your products or services into one big
package deal with other businesses offerings. You
could share a web site and advertise the package
deal; which means double the traffic.

7. Submit your freebie to the online directories that
list your particular item or service for free. If you're
offering a free e-zine, submit it to all the free e-zine
directories on the internet.

8. Participate on message boards. Post answers to
other people's questions, ask questions and post
appropriate information. Include your signature file
at the end of all your postings.

9. Exchange classified or sponsor ads with other
free e-zine publishers. If there is a huge subscriber
difference between e-zines, one can run more ads
to make up for it.

10. Post your ad on free advertising areas on the
internet. You can post it on free classified ad sites,
free for all links sites, newsgroups that allow ads,
free yellow page directories, etc.

There are several reasons to start an online business.

· You hate your job or boss.
· You want to make more money.
· You want to spend more time with loved ones.
· You want more freedom.
· You love the Internet.

If you are like me, it’s likely all of the above reasons you are considering an online business. If you have been considering an online business, you probably get overwhelmed by the amount of information. You may even be a little suspect of the many offers out there. I don’t blame you. Imagine it the number of email offers as well as teleseminars represented the number of people at you door, you could not get to your car!

I believe the best way to achieve success online is to build confidence and momentum by gaining small steps of accomplishment. I’m sure that you have seen claims of making $10,000 in a week or something similar. Sure it is possible, but not likely next week. To get to that mark, you will need to make $10, then $100, and then $1000 a week.

If you are just starting, you should invest only a small amount of money and gain some success while learning. There are many affordable options. Here are some of the things you should look for in a package:

Help with Traffic: You need a legitimate way to get qualify preferably targeted traffic to your site.
Conversion: Advice to turning your web traffic into sales is key to your bank account. Sales copy help can save time and make money.
Consider eBay: Ebay is an excellent & easy way to start online because of the tremendous traffic & structure eBay provides.
Web design- you may know html or you can find templates to enhance your sites appearance.
Automation- time is money to everyone. Make sure time-consuming small task are automated by a system in place.
Attitude- online business is simple, but not easy. You are sure to have some frustrating moments and a positive attitude will do wonders for you.
Affiliate- maybe you need helping selling your product or service. Perhaps you can sell the product or service of others. Maybe both. Affiliates are a great way to expand sales.
Search Engine Position- although it could take some time, getting placed at the top of search engines could bring all the traffic you can handle.
Marketing advice- participate in forums & read what various experts are saying so you can effective marketing you web site.
Ezine- publishing ads in online magazines (ezines) can bring in quick sales.
Banners & Pop-ups/ unders- when use correctly can bring efficient.
Blog- Learn to use web log to express your opinion & position yourself as an expert.
Protection- various tools can be used to protect your web copy, links, & code so others can not easily copy your success.

The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” was never more true. In the digital photography era photos can be used in more types of media than they could have before. Not limited to paper prints they can be used on web sites, in emails, in cellular phones, projected in presentations and more. When selling products online photos are a powerful tool that you must use. Here is how.
Web sites that do not include photos are boring. For example imagine that you are looking to buy a new MP3 player. After searching for “mp3 players” you land on a web site that offers a new MP3 device. The site has a lot of information: specifications, user guides, capabilities descriptions and more but it does not have any photos of the device. You are most likely going to skip that site and move on to the next one.
This behavior is common to most consumers especially in this era of immediate gratification and impatience. Consumers do not want to spend time reading and figuring out what you are trying to sell. They want to see a photo and get a short snippet of what the main features of the product are and what the price is..
Just taking photos and adding them to a web site is not enough. Good photos can add a lot to a product image but at the same time bad photos can really damage that image. Here are some tips and concepts that can help taking good photos that in turn help selling products online:
Variation: Take more than one photo. Show the product from many angles: zoomed in and zoomed out and in different positions – for example if the product is a clamshell-phone you should show it both in the opened and closed positions.
Quality: The photo quality must be as high as possible. Don’t confuse quality with file size or resolution – we refer here to photographic quality: Follow the rules of good photography, use a tripod if long exposure is needed make sure the photo is not overexposed or underexposed and that it is not blurry.
Background: It is very important to shoot with the appropriate background. Usually you would stage a background that is in contrast with the product and that has no details or distracting objects that can catch the viewer’s attention. Make sure that the background is a matte color and that it does not reflect light. For example when taking a photo of a black computer mouse and keyboard use a white or light gray background.
Show details: Emphasize the product details. Every product has unique features or important details that you would like to draw the viewer’s attention to. The best way to do that is to take close-up photos of those details. You are not limited to physical details for example when selling an MP3 player that has long battery life take a close-up photo of the player’s LCD screen displaying the time left “13 playing hours left”. Such a photo conveys credibility and is much more powerful than the product battery life specifications text.
Support the product description: Take photos that support the textual description of the product. For example if the text claims that the MP3 player comes in three colors: black, silver and red show three photos of the player in those colors.
Convey physical attributes: If your product has unique physical attributes that you would like to emphasize take photos that convey them. For example if the product size is important use a known size object in order to help the viewer visualize the size – take a photo of the MP3 player next to a quarter coin to show how small the player is. It is much easier for viewers to visualize and understand measurements if they are put in reference with objects they know very well. This is much more powerful than specifying inches and ounces in a textual specification.
Keep file sizes small: Keep the photo file size small. When viewing a photo on a computer screen low resolution photos are more than enough. In most cases a VGA (640X480) picture is all that is needed and such a photo file size can be 50Kbytes or less. It is important to keep this in mind and not be tempted to put high resolution big photos files. Such big files load slowly on the viewer’s computer and in most cases the viewer will get frustrated from the slow response and would just skip to the next site.

You have been working on a product for over a year now, and are finally ready to unleash your product on the world. However you do not know the best way to try to sell this product to your consumer. You have a feature set, but you just can not put the rest of the words together in a way that will lure prospective customers to purchase your product. Here are a few tips to writing a sales copy that sells.

1. Create an Attention-Grabbing Headline – If you do not write an attention-grabbing headline in your sales copy, then you have almost no chance to get someone to stop and read about your product. The internet is flooded with millions of products for sale, so if you do not write something to make your product stand out, you will never realize the potential of your product in the marketplace.

2. Write in a Persuasive Style – Your sales copy must be written in a persuasive style. Remember that you are trying to persuade someone to buy your product. You can not just sit back and give consumers the facts. You have to try to tell them why their lives would be better if they purchased your product. Since you can not tell them face to face, your sales copy must do the persuading for you.

3. Clean and Easy to Read – Make sure that you write your sales copy on a white background with black font that is easy to read. Your web site might contain many other colors, but you want to make sure that the potential customer can read your sales copy easily.

4. Use Sub-Headings – Most people only read the headlines of a sales copy. If you use sub-headings, then you will at least get the person to read more information about your product. This will give you more chances to wet the appetite of the potential customer, and give them a reason to read your entire sales copy.

5. Close with a Call to Action – Like all persuasive writing, a sales copy that sells must have a strong call to action. You do not want to tell the consumer that your product is the best thing in the world and then leave them to make a decision about it. You want to tell them to buy your product now, or they are going to regret it. Tell them that without it they will be missing out on something special.