Why do so many companies fail to make money online?

Here are three of the biggest mistakes they make… read on to discover what they are and how to avoid them.

Have an amazing day!

Best wishes,

Marie-Louise Cook
Editor – Daily Marketing Bulletin

Why Companies Fail Online

Although the internet is a massively powerful marketing tool, too many companies still struggle to achieve any kind of meaningful success. Where do they go wrong? And most importantly, how you can you avoid making the same mistakes?

1. They don’t understand the importance of the ‘opt-in’ list

Your ‘opt-in’ list contains the email address of people who want to hear from you, who have asked to receive emails from you. Never stop compiling it. It’s hard but it’s not complicated. You should ask every customer to join your list and ask everyone who visits your website to join your list. You should ask for it wherever you possibly can because the list is the key to success on the Internet.

2. They don’t communicate with their list

People on the list have indicated they want to receive more information. You must send everyone on your list regular short emails (about a half page long) with a fascinating subject line. You should have a hyperlink on that email through to your website. Your website can be as long as you want it to be. Don’t make it too short however because visitors won’t feel they have sufficient information to make an intelligent purchase decision.

3. Their website is poorly designed or maintained

Most websites fail because the business owner hasn’t planned it properly. You have to ask yourself: “What do I want on my website? Do I want to sell things? Do I want to provide information? Do I want to direct people to my showroom?”

The content must be compelling so that visitors stay and want to return in the future. Make it interesting enough so that they refer other people to your website.

Although your website shouldn’t be weighed down with snazzy graphics (because they take too long to load), the design of your website is crucial. People spend a matter of between three and five seconds looking at your website and then decide whether to stay or leave. The design is what helps them to make that decision.

Provide opportunities for people to register and participate on your website. It might be to take part in a sweepstake, to register for a newsletter or to sign up for a special report.

Use auto responders so that you can follow-up requests from your customers or potential customers in two hours or less.

When you put a website up, it is invisible and the only people who know it is there are the people you tell. You must promote your website offline as well as online.

A website needs constant nurturing, updating and attention.

Conclusion

If you pay attention to the three key elements you’ll make money on the Internet and you’ll spend hardly anything. The keys to success online are the quality of your opt-in list, the quality of your content, the speed at which you get back to people, the change that people see in your website and the personalisation. Look after these key areas and watch your sales soar!

Discuss this bulletin by leaving a comment below.

Subscribe to the SuccessTrack Blog and receive the Daily Marketing Bulletins by email or via your favourite web-based reader.

(To subscribe go to the top of the right-hand column of this page.)