Coaching For Success
Posts tagged The Internet Business Coach
Email Is Still A Major Force In Internet Marketing
Jan 24th
While it’s a fact that your internet business now needs to take advantage of social media much like we humans need the air that we breathe, especially where consumers’ buying decisions are concerned, a recent study has revealed that there’s still life after social media where internet marketing is concerned.
E-mail Is Still Thriving
According to this study, conducted by ForeSee Results looking at e-retail data compiled over the Christmas shopping season from the top 40 retail web sites, it seems the top retail sites still get most of their traffic from those tried and true warhorses, search and e-mail. In fact, a full 19 percent of respondents stated they visited a retailer’s online store after they’d received a promotional e-mail from that retailer. Another 8 percent ended up at the stores as a result of search engines and a mere 5 percent came as a result of visiting social media networks such as Twitter or Facebook and recommendations they received there.
Social Media Growing In Importance, But….
Various studies have been conducted that show the growing importance of social media and recommendations made on those platforms when it comes to consumers making their purchasing decisions, but as far as driving traffic to web sites, there’s little doubt that e-mail marketing still rules.
So, while adopting new internet marketing strategies such as social media is vital to a company’s overall search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign and ultimately its success online, this study makes it clear that more traditional methods of marketing, such as e-mail, should not be abandoned totally in favour of newer media, however sexy and attractive they may seem.
As much as social media is growing in importance as far as online retail sales are concerned, it’s definitely not the main driving force behind sales at the moment. A common theme among the top online retailers surveyed is the use of multiple marketing channels, both old and new, and achieving a balance between the use of those various channels.
Web Site Functionality v Price – And The Winner Is….
The results of the study were compiled from almost ten thousand responses, and the study focused on four primary areas – content, price, website functionality and merchandise. It turns out that one of the major takeaways from the study was that consumers put more value on website functionality than price for the most part. Something to bear in mind when considering redesigning your internet business site or building a new one.
A UK internet marketing consultant can provide the expertise you need to take your e-mail marketing campaigns and use of social media internet marketing campaigns to new heights, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at The Internet Business Coach
How to Plan, Play and Win Online
Nov 3rd
Lots of people start an Internet business lured by the promise of quick riches, cash on tap and more business prospects than they know what to do with, but the truth for most people falls far short of the hype. This does not mean I am implying that riches cannot be made or that there are not millions of prospects because I am not, the truth is that most people starting online follow the bandwagon, suffer from information overload which stops them from being effective or plain old analysis paralysis (analyse everything so never get anything done).
Most good offline business throw all common sense and principles they learnt offline in the bin when they go online and forget that the same principles they applied to their offline business can be applied to online businesses with a few enhancements. The most important of these offline skills that a new Internet business can apply to their business is a SWOT analysis.
For those of you that do not know what it is a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is a common strategic practice in the business world. It is a valuable tool and it can be an extremely useful in assessing the status quo and future direction for your business. So it’s important to use S.W.O.T in every business you plan even online.
You should consider all the elements: -
Strengths: – This is what you are bringing to the table, your strengths, what makes your business stand out differently to your online competition. If you have done no research of your competitors how do know you are offering anything different. However your strength does not have to be a difference in product for instance it can be in quality (hint: never base your difference on cost, cheap is not always best and people do not necessarily want cheap). This step should never been under estimated and should be performed to analyse your strengths so that you can grow your business online (Knowledge is power).
Weaknesses: – This is often the hardest part for business owners because most of the time they tend to be blind to the bad parts of their business or the way they work/do business. Now some of you are probably saying you do not have a business yet so this does not apply to me – word to the wise IF YOU are new it doubly applies to you, Why you may ask?
– My question: – how do you grow so your business has strength?
– My answer: – by looking at the possible weakness that can stop you from being successful of course, if you never factor these in you will never understand why your site does not work or worse why you are throwing good money after bad.
We all have strengths and weaknesses and these can translate into the way we do business, but by being honest with yourself and identifying your online business weaknesses you can take essential steps to ensure your success.
Opportunities: – Identifying an opportunity may be the best reason to take action; as soon as you find an opportunity that currently fits with a model you can use or understand in your area of expertise you can apply it and take action now. Opportunities will not wait for you to take action it will just go to the first past the post (your competition will not wait for you, neither will the opportunity). It is really important to quickly analyse whether that opportunity is the right fit for you an example could be you have found a unique niche (place, position) for your online business product or service, if so you need to explode it now so that you can take full advantage of it. Remember you need to assess every possible opportunity regularly for your business growth.
Threats: – Sounds awful doesn’t it! But its not that bad a threats is often in form of competitors, however change in consumer behaviour or economic issues can also be major threats. Some threats may already exist in your business that you are aware of, others may become real threats in future to how you operate online. All threat types need to be researched in order to optimise your long-term strategy for the future safety of your business. Don’t let the threats you identified prevent you from taking action, if anything they should encourage you to take action in a specific way as they have helped you identify which direction to take to ensure you are heading for a successful online business.
Every successful business or person who have made their fortunes online have learned to use and problem use a S.W.O.T analysis in one form or another to grow their business and save it from current and future threats. The old adage ‘if it ain’t broke then don’t’ fix it’ truly applies to SWOT analyses it is as important online as it is offline and should be a must use tool to aid you in your online success, if you are not sure how to perform a SWOT analysis and would like some help do use the contact form on The Internet Business Coach homepage for help.
Welcome to the IBC Blog
Aug 21st
Welcome to the Internet Business Coach’s blog. We would like to firstly welcome all visitors to our site and ask them to please ask any questions they would like answered. If we get enough people ask the same question we will try to address it in an article to help you.
