UNDERSTANDING WHY WE SHOULD MEASURE RESULTS

We measure advertising results so that we can learn how to not waste our money and to learn how to get most bang for our advertising dollar.

Return On Investment or ROI is key measurement utilized to determine value of our advertising.

It is best to show in an example how ROI is measured.

Cost of Newspaper Advertising: $150 Number of Items Sold As a Result: 60 Retail Price of Individual Item: $ 10 Profit on Individual Item: $ 3

Gross Income on Items Sold: $600 Gross Profit on Items Sold: $180

In this example, you have spent $150 to make $180. Your ROI is 120%.

Cost of Radio Advertising: $ 300 Number of Items Sold As a Result: 50 Retail Price of Individual Item: $ 20 Profit on Individual Item: $ 6

Gross Income on Items Sold: $1000 Gross Profit on Items Sold: $ 300

In this example, you have spent $300 to make $300. Your ROI is 100%.

Utilizing these two examples, you can quickly discern why and how we are calculating ROI.

Now, some people would consider both to be good investments of their advertising dollars. In fact, many believe that so long as their advertising generates enough sales to break even as radio example did, then they consider investment to have been in their future rather than their present. So long as you do not lose money on transaction, then you should at least be willing to continue with advertising medium that was used.

However, over time, you might find that newspaper advertising will continue to provide 120% ROI. If that is case, then your newspaper advertising should take more of a center stage in your advertising efforts so that you can develop more profits which can be used to increase your dollar investment into your advertising.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TRACKING YOUR OFFLINE PROMOTIONS

With this introduction, you should now have available to you knowledge necessary to introduce tracking into your marketing efforts. Those who take time and effort to advertise and track their results will benefit more than you can imagine.

Truth be known, a single person with a dream today started every big corporation in world many years ago. Each of these corporations grew from a fledgling operation to a economic powerhouse by tracking and tweaking their Advertising ROI.

Every corporation and small business who will remain in business through long term will be tracking their advertising and promotional efforts today. It is an investment into their future success. If you make same kind of investment of time and cash resources, you too will be making an investment in your future success.

Most of these web applications will have a readme.txt file included with it. If it does, please read it. If it does not, don’t worry, this section is for you.

You must upload files to your server as plain text. If you are using FTP to upload files, then you must tell your software to upload files in ASCII format. If you are using your web file manager, then files will automatically upload correctly.

Once file is on your server, then you must change file permissions.

Files with extensions .php, .cgi, or .pl are executable files and there permissions must be set to 755. Files with extensions .cfg, .txt, or .html must have their permissions set to 644. Files and folders that will be written to must have their permissions set to 777. Files with no extensions can be classified as any of above, so check readme.txt file.

755 defines an executable file. 644 defines a read-only file. And 777 defines a writable file.

Once files are on your server and permissions are set correctly, application you have placed on your server should work for you just fine.

LOCATING PRE-MADE SITE TRACKING SCRIPTS

Probably one of best resources for locating pre-made scripts is: http://cgi-resources.com/

A good starting point for this discussion is: http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/articles/links/cgi1.html

AWStats is a good application for site tracking, but one I have that I like best is HTTP-Analyze which can be found at: http://www.netstore.de/Supply/http-analyze/

HTTP-Analyze is a bit on expensive side, so it may not be your best bet just yet.

If after reading this article you still fear task of installing a pre-made script on your server, then you might seriously consider remotely hosted site tracking software. If you opt for this route, be sure to buy pro version of software offered. If you don’t choose paid version, you might find your own competitors having access to your site tracking data! That should not be an acceptable option to you.

THE PURPOSE OF SITE TRACKING

With site tracking software running on your server, you can review how many people came to your website and what URL’s they might have used to find your website. You can also see where your visitors have come from, when they came, how long they were on your site, at what page they entered and left your site, and much more.

This is kind of information that will help you to determine with some certainty how effective your advertising is and how profitable your advertising can be.

Operating without tracking data is tantamount to operating a business with intent purpose of failing.

I truly want you to succeed with your online business. I know deep down in my heart that more people who find success online, greater my own chances for remaining profitable over long haul. *A rising tide floats all ships.*