Copyright [C] 2002 Shahnaz Rauf, snzeport.com

1. Develop Trust – Think about it... you don’t just buy, you buy from specific shops. If some days those shops... Your shops are closed for some reason, you wait for them to re-open. Yes... you don’t just go to any hair dresser, you have your very own specific hair dresser or clothes shop, or even coffee/ diner. You aren’t satisfied with anything less.

Why do you do so- Usually it is because you feel they are sensitive to your very special needs and their services are meant just for you. Hence you believe in them totally... even to point of accepting price hikes without a murmur.

So Win your customers trust:

- Do not be cold/ impersonal... be warm and outgoing.

- Do not sell outright and show you are after their money.

- Inform them honestly and make them feel that you have their well being at heart.

- Be Sensitive to their needs and advise sincerely.

- Make them develop a sense of belonging to your inner circle – this is a very powerful motivator... you belong to a culture/ country/organization/ system of belief and you are fiercely loyal to it. So make your customers belong to you.

2. Repetition is key To Advertising success- keep repeating your ads until people notice you. They begin to develop an image/aura about you. Then ultimately their level of awareness reaches a crescendo where they simply can’t ignore you any longer. Yes their psychological gear shifts forcing them to try you out or burst.

Yes... you need to be seen everywhere at same time and create a ‘buzz’ about yourself. The concept that your sales message needs to be seen at least 7-10 times before it sinks in holds true even today. This also works towards developing trust... Since you are advertising so aggressively, logic follows that you are getting sales and you must be good.

3. Strategic Planning- Before you can launch your satellite... Oops! Website into cyberspace you need to plan... yes you need a rock solid advertising strategy. You need a:

It's obvious that lifestyle and business processes are shifting towards a much greater dependence on digital media - people are traveling less due to cost issues and ever-increasing speed of business is underscoring usage of Internet for information and research. If you're a small to medium sized business chances are that you've probably cut your marketing budget significantly - by eliminating or scaling back tradeshow attendance, trade magazine advertising and/or direct mail in favor of response driven marketing on web that can be deployed faster and more cost-effectively than traditional marketing methods.

Capturing leads from a web site generated by opt-in e-mail, newsletter inserts, text link advertising and/or other forms of pay per click marketing is still absolute best way to generate leads that are quantifiable as soon as they are generated. You have ability to easily track where lead came from and via what interactive advertising process; assuming this has been setup for you by your interactive ad agency or with online publisher. And, there are typically no lead times like more traditional marketing processes - we've created and deployed campaigns (creative, media buy, testing, ROI analysis, etc.) for our clients in 3-5 working days in some cases.

There are some pitfalls to web-based lead generation and follow through that you need to be aware of as you deploy an interactive campaign. Here are five of most important "gotchas" that you need to think about as you build an interactive lead generation program around your web site: