Grrr! Why Arent I Making SALES?!

Selling online can be very difficult, more difficult than in the 3D world because you do not get any personal contact with your customer. People cannot just browse like they do in a store, they cannot offer feedback, and it is hard to build and maintain trust throughout the entire online sales process. What compounds this difficulty is the fact that most online marketers have absolutely no experience in the field of advertising and sales.

Evaluate Your Sales Process
There are many aspects that effect your sales process online and it is possible to track the effectiveness at each stage:

Phase 1 is your advertising. The first step is just to get people to your site.

To measure your traffic you must have some kind of statistics for either your web site or integrated with the ads you place, such as ad tracker URL's.

If you can't get people to your site, you must alter your advertising methods or, more likely, your ad copy, there is no way around it. Whether you are using free or paid advertising, a good ad will get clicks (at least some). Remember that no matter how good an ad looks to you, if it doesn't do it's job, it is useless. Keep a log of the ads you place along with where and when; don't use ads that do not produce results once they have been given a fair chance.

If your ads never seem to draw visitors, make improving your ad writing skills a priority right away. Today there are many resources available to help you learn to write a better ad, including ebooks, live personal ad writing workshops and ad writing seminars.

To be sure that WHERE you are advertising is not the problem, it is best to get recommendations from other online marketers for advertising sites and tools that produce results. This will save you the time and frustration of trying them all out for yourself. It will also allow you to stay focused on your offer rather than spending your time searching for ways to promote it.

Look for recommendations in marketing chat rooms and ask for their results or find a reputable marketing information site that will give you plenty of free information along with their proven recommendations.

Affiliates without control over their web site need to pay special attention to getting traffic. Presumably the offer you are selling includes a web page that sells, after all it sold you.

If you find that you are driving targeted traffic (not just click exchange hits) to your affiliate site, but not making any sales, you need to reconsider your offer: does it really have such a wide public appeal? Maybe new competition has arisen that has made your offer less of a value? Have you given people enough time to consider your offer and have you followed up? Be objective.

Phase 2 is your web site copy and navigation. Are people coming to your site and looking around, or do they click away immediately?

To find out, it is best to have web sites statistics that include the path visitors take once they get to your site, but you can get an idea about this by studying your web site statistics even if they do not provide this type of information. You know which page(s) you are promoting, are people looking at other pages as well?

If not, you must alter your web site copy, design or navigation. There are several places now where you can have your web site reviewed for free by other internet marketers. This can be very valuable information; learn from it to build a site that makes visitors feel confident enough to buy from you.

Also, be sure to send prospects directly to the page that contains the information you promise in your ad, it will make their visit quick, effective, and memorable. If you advertise a particluar product, send them to that page directly, rather than landing them on your home page and trusting that they will navigate to where you want them to be.

Affiliates can experiment with sending prospects to pages other than the main page (if provided) to see if that makes any difference in their sales ratio.

Phase 3 would be your order process. Are people looking around, going to the order page and then leaving?

Here again, you need comprehensive web site statistics. If you do not have site paths statistics, pay close attention to the number of hits each of your pages receive. If you see that many people go to the order page, but do not buy, you will have to either rewrite your text to clear up misunderstanding, lower your price, display payment options more clearly, or implement some other change that makes the ordering process quicker and easier.

Try to capture email addresses with a contest, free product, report or newsletter so that you can follow up with potential customers.

Of course, affiliates would have no control over the ordering process with a replicated site. I think this is important, so I will say it again: If you find that you are driving targeted traffic (not just click exchange hits) to your affiliate site, but not making any sales, you need to reconsider your offer: does it really have such a wide public appeal? Maybe new competition has arisen that has made your product less of a value? Have you given people enough time to consider your offer and have you followed up? Be objective!

Don't Guess!
When you are having trouble generating sales, you need to track all of your activity (and the activities of your visitors) to pinpoint where the trouble lies. Only then will you know where you need to make changes. Without this kind of information, you are just guessing and that could be worse than leaving it alone.

Cathy Wagner, online business expert and owner of onestopinternetbusiness.com, will help you reach your goals faster with hands-on marketing guidance and support, personalized for you own unique business. You can save hundreds of dollars and countless hours of frustration when you know how to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls.

---

Top 5 Characteristics of Great Salespeople

I am a big believer that great salespeople generally realize... Read More

More Customers! Less Work!

Wouldn't it be nice if there were an inexpensive method... Read More

Selling - Always Go for Top Money

If you've ever flown economy class on an international flight... Read More

The 6 Secrets To Sales Success

There is no magic pill, trick, teqnique, system or secret... Read More

Do You Want To Sell More? Then Stop Trying To Be Everything To Everybody!

I know you've heard this a thousand times, but from... Read More

9 TIPS: Dont Sell Me - Persuade Me

We all have something in our past we believe someone... Read More

3 Hot Ways To Crank Up Your Sales

1) QUICK FOLLOW-UPSWhen you make your first sale, follow-up with... Read More

A Sale in 30 Seconds? Its all in the Greeting

It has been said that a customer makes a decision... Read More

Less is More: Quick Tips to Improve Your Sales

I'll be brief. If not ? I'll negate my own... Read More

Sales 101: Asking for the Order

"Ask, and you shall receive", a biblical principal that offers... Read More

Increase Your Sales With an Incredible Offer

What are you selling?Coaching? Consulting? Professional services? A product? Information?To... Read More

How To Write A Solution - Savvy Sales Letter to To Get Clients

Too many sales letters are shaped into paper airplanes and... Read More

Do You Want Fries With That? - Using Suggestive Selling to Increase Your Sales

Suggestive selling is a powerful tool that can increase your... Read More

How to Build Rapport in 7 Seconds!

I had my first official sales training by a man... Read More

Get Tough

You deal with rejections, frustrations, disappointment, and possibly disrespect on... Read More

How To Improve Your Sales Skills

One of the biggest problems for many business owners is... Read More

How To Get Clients To Take Immediate Action

Are you tired of excuses? Looking for a persuasion technique... Read More

The Art of Backend Selling

The art of backend sellingThe backend sale can be more... Read More

7 Steps to Selling Artwork

Selling arwork is easy when you follow a road map.... Read More

Unlocking the Myth of Hypnotic Communication

Unquestionably when the word hypnosis pops-up in a conversation or... Read More

Three Secret Keys to Persuasion Magic

Just a few critical distinctions can supercharge your communication skills:1... Read More

Make Your Referrals Count

Just because we receive a referral, it doesn't mean that... Read More

The Myth of the Natural Born Sales Wonder

When I researched the field of using personality inventories to... Read More

Sales Training - What Is a Disguised Implied Need?

Have you ever been in the position where you are... Read More

Nine Competencies of the Complete Sales Professional

Have you ever tried to explain to someone what you... Read More

Secrets to Getting in Front of Your Best Prospects

As a salesperson, your ultimate goal, of course, is to... Read More

Why Sales People Are Creating Their Own Objections

I'm about to reveal the biggest secret to growing any... Read More

Are You Risking The Relationship for the Sale -- And Then Losing the Sale Anyway?

Losing a sale can be disheartening, especially if you lose... Read More

Close More Sales With This Very Simple 3 Step Sales Process.

As Financial Services Sales Professional you need to build trust... Read More

Top 5 Low Cost Ways To Get More Sales Leads And Sell More Without Cold Calling

Cold calling may now be outdated. People have become defensive... Read More

Its All in the Questions

Contrary to many of the books on how to be... Read More

Qualifying vs closing

The art of effective question asking (qualifying) determines the effectiveness... Read More

Dramatically Increase Sales With The KISS Test

We've all heard the term KISS at one time or... Read More