Trial and Error + Persistence = Successful MarketingWritten by Diane Hughes
A few honest and successful Internet business owners will attest to fact that they have made countless marketing mistakes. Many of them will admit that they didn't get it exactly right on first try. However, practically all will tell you that - without gumption to take calculated risks and persistence to follow through - they would have never developed a truly successful online marketing campaign.Let me encourage you to take a few calculated risks with your marketing. Extend your comfort zone, so to speak. Step out of norm and take a leap of faith every now and then. What am I talking about? Mainly, that most small business owners are very, VERY conservative with their marketing programs. They decide to spend a little money on ezine ads, purchase least priced classified they can find, run it one time, get no response and quit. It doesn't work that way. Not only will that strategy fail almost every time online, it will fail offline, too. One proven principle of marketing is: repetition breads remembrance and remembrance breads sales. You may not realize this, but it takes an average of 7 times of being exposed to your product or service before average consumer even notices that you exist. Not before they buy... before they even recognize you at all. Running one classified ad simply isn't going to help. Because cost of advertising can get to be a bit expensive, many small business owners cringe at thought of spending more than they *think* they can afford. However, if your current strategy isn't giving you an acceptable ROI, it's time to change.
| | LOOK FOR YOUR NICHE MARKET IN PLACES YOU WOULDN'T EXPECTWritten by Bryan Kerrigan
Anyone who has ever succeeded in doing business on Internet has discovered importance of finding their niche market. Finding your niche market means discovering which product or service to sell, and then locating people that are interested in buying it. While finding your niche may be difficult at first, once you've found it and established a loyal base of customers, you're definitely on your way to success.Much of difficulty in finding your niche market comes from trying to find a niche that isn't already flooded with competitors. They key is to find an area that has customers ready to be served, who aren't already being served by hundreds of others. You may think that you have to offer run-of-the-mill products to attract a decent number of customers, but that's not really true. Each person is different from next, and each has his or her own specific needs and interests. If you can find a need or interest that lots of people share, no matter how strange it seems, you can find your niche. As I'm sure you're aware, there are dozens of Internet stores out there offering general merchandise, gifts, etc. Most of these stores offer good products at decent prices, sure, but they're all over place. There are simply too many of them for a small company just starting out to find a real niche. To be successful, you have to be different enough that a ton of other people aren't selling same thing, but "normal" enough to find a relatively broad customer base.
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