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LET'S TALK
BUSINESS
Ten Ways to Boost Your Online
Sales
If you want to amplify your Internet sales, attending to small
details can make all the difference. Regardless how special your
product or service may be, in order to magnify your profits, it is
wise to apply a broad marketing strategy.
Here are ten strategies you can implement without destroying your
marketing budget.
1. Secure your reputation as a fair and trustworthy business by
dealing with customer complaints immediately. Give refunds when
requested, and if appropriate offer a discount or free gift to
restore consumer trust.
2. Offer discount coupons periodically to increase your customer
base. Everyone likes to get a discount, and if you make one small
sale it could lead to several big ones.
3. Collaborate with another business so you can offer a valuable
product free to your customers, such as a vacation certificate.
4. Provide a solid guarantee. This will underscore the excellence of
your product or service, and remove customer hesitation about
placing an order.
5. Increase your sales by providing incentives to customers. Even if
you don't use an affiliate program, you can offer a free product to
customers who bring in a certain amount of buyers.
6. When you have sales or specials, always explain why and put on a
time limit. If your products are always on sale, the perceived value
could go down.
7. Offering free trial periods for a service can clinch sales from
customers who may be noncommittal. This is a no-risk venture for
them, and potentially a high-reward one for you if you have a
quality service. Alternately, some businesses offer an extremely
cheap trial period, as little as a dollar or two. This way, a
monetary transaction has been initiated that the customer can renew
at the full price if the service is satisfactory.
8. Know exactly who your target audience is and address them
accordingly. Make visitors feel like you know them and their needs,
and they will be more likely to buy.
9. State your delivery timelines as accurately and honestly as
possible. If your services are quicker than your competitors, this
will be seen as a huge advantage for many buyers.
10. Tailor your product and your web site specifically to the needs
of your customers, not to your own tastes. Your purpose should be to
discover what your customers want, why, how they best respond to
sales information, and how they like to complete an order. After you
have tended to the many small details, the larger picture should
become more clear. And more profitable.
About the Author:
Todd Kenovas is Marketing Manager for Webways Media, the PPC
marketing resource. See
http://www.webwaysmedia.com for more information.
RECIPE
Summer Squash with Jalapenos
Ingredients:
Butter
1 large onion -- diced
1 large tomato -- diced
2 jalapeno peppers -- seeded and diced
6 slices mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper
8 small yellow summer squash -- thinly sliced
Directions:
Melt enough butter in large frying
pan to lightly saut?© onion, tomato, and jalapenos. Drain off excess
butter. Add squash and cook until beginning to get tender, but still
crisp. Cover top with cheese, turn off heat and cover pan. Serve
when cheese has melted.
HEALTH
Quit Smoking Permanently
Although smoking is known to be extremely unhealthy, many smokers
who decide to quit have an extremely hard time. There are a lot of
methods to use, so don't give up if you fail at first. Keep trying
until you overcome this nasty habit. You are harming not only
yourself, but anyone you come in contact with. A word of advice:
talk to your doctor about quitting before you start any program.
Most people who make up their minds to stop smoking decide to go
cold turkey. This means that one day they just stop.
Unfortunately, it seldom works. Strong willed people tend to think
they can make it, but will power has little to do with the
process. Nicotine is among the most addictive of drugs, which can
cause you severe withdrawal problems. Some people are successful
for a while when they quit cold turkey, but generally they start
again soon.
Another popular method is to slowly wean oneself of nicotine
through the use nicotine gum or patches. The directions for the
use of these products are found on the packages, and a number of
people have found this to be a successful method to quit smoking.
The gum and patches allow you to wean yourself off at your own
pace. Follow the directions on the package carefully. Make an
appointment with your physician to go over you plan in depth.
Although this method eliminates the craving for nicotine it does
not satisfy the hand to mouth habit that smoking established.
Smoking is usually a physical, mental and emotional addiction.
Your doctor might prescribe medication to help you kick the
smoking habit and addiction to nicotine. Discuss your options with
the doctor and try to use the method with the fewest side effects
and best success rate. Don't ever make the mistake of taking
another person's medicine as it might interfere with something you
are taking.
Quitting smoking is a lifelong process. Many people find the
social habit of smoking hard to beat long after the nicotine
addiction is gone. You may need to temporarily alter your
lifestyle while trying to quit smoking. For example many people
enjoy a cigarette with a drink with friends. This social habit can
be difficult to break and you may want to avoid any of these
pitfalls for a while when you are still in the process of getting
over the nicotine habit.
If you smoke you should see your doctor immediately. Quitting now
can add years to your life and help you avoid many diseases that
can be contributed to smoking. Do yourself a favor and start
quitting today.
Brad Sellers is the webmaster for
Smoking O!, the web's
premier resource for information about Smoking. For more articles
on Smoking visit:
http://www.smokingo.com/articles
TIPS FOR CAMOUFLAGING SKIN IMPERFECTIONS
Continued from last week. Concluding Part Today
Women with significant skin imperfections: port wine stains,
scars, pigmentation irregularities, and rough skin frequently ask
the experts at NeoStrata, makers of the CoverBlend line of
corrective cosmetics, how to best camouflage those imperfections
to achieve more natural-looking skin.
The CoverBlend team prepared the following tips for specific
camouflaging challenges to help women achieve the most natural
looking effect possible and gain confidence and self-esteem in the
process.
7. Challenge: Creating symmetry
Tip: Camouflaging is an ideal way to create a balance or symmetry
on the face when needed to correct imperfect lips, eyes, etc.
Once the area is camouflaged, you can redefine uneven lips by
drawing a corrected line with a lip pencil and filling in with lip
color. The same technique can be applied in the eye area and
eyebrow using an eye or eyebrow pencil.
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