|
Are you an online marketer?
Or do you simply promote affiliate programs? Marketing
is truly the most misunderstood word in use today on
the Internet. Let me see if I can clarify this issue
just a bit.
In Marketing 101 at your local university, marketing
is actually the process of Product, Place, Price and
Promotion.
PRODUCT
No business can exist without a product or service
to sell.
In a nutshell, entrepreneurs are the people who believe
in a product, service or idea, so much that they are
willing to invest their lives into the development of
their dream.
Historically, every major corporation in the world
was started by an entrepreneur with a dream and the
drive to make it a reality.
However, there comes a time in the life of every
corporation when those who fear the gambling nature
of their founder, squash the entrepreneurial drive that
made the company a viable concern in the first place.
The entrepreneur will either submit to the careful nature
of the stockholders, or he will be forced to leave the
company he created.
The only entrepreneurs who withstand the pressure
to move more carefully are those who have maintained
majority control over their companies.
PLACE
In the offline world, place is defined by location.
On the Internet, place is defined by domain name and
the web hosting service chosen.
Both online and offline, place can make or break
a company without respect to the quality and value of
the product, service or idea.
PRICE
Selecting a price is determined first on a basis
of whether the company wants to be seen as a discount
or a value company.
Take for example Wal-Mart and Staples.
Wal-Mart is the lead discounter in the marketplace.
Staples on the other hand is the specialist in office
supplies.
Both sell a significant number of office supplies
despite the fact that the lowest price can usually be
found at Wal-Mart. As a value dealer, Staples can afford
to charge more for their products than Wal-Mart.
So the question for you is whether you want to position
your company as a discount or value company.
Testing has shown that products and services can
be sold at any number of prices and still reach a significant
number of people.
The challenge of selecting the best price for your
product or service will require a certain amount of
testing.
UNDERSTANDING THE PRICING EQUATION
Let's assume we are selling a product. Let us also
assume that we know that the product can be sold for
$10 or $50. Let us also assume that if the price dips
below $10 or rises above $50, then the product sales
fall off significantly.
Our challenge is to determine the best rate at which
to sell our product.
Testing has shown us that we can sell 1000 items
a week at $10. Testing has also shown that we can sell
500 items per week at $50. And testing has shown that
we can sell 650 items per week at $45.
At $10, our projected weekly earnings are $10,000.
When we sell the product at $50, we know that we can
earn $25,000 per week. Most importantly, we know that
we can earn $29,250 when our product is priced at $45.
With the imaginary testing we have done on our imaginary
product, we can easily see that selling our product
at $45 per item will earn us more money over the long
haul.
Thus, when we make the decision for a national rollout
of our product, then we will price our product at $45.
Of course, this is a very simplistic analysis of
the point I am trying to make. Though simple, I believe
this analogy will help you understand the methods of
developing a product's prices.
PROMOTION
Promotion, on the other hand, is the process of notifying
the consumers for your product or service of your availability
to serve them.
Methods of promotion vary distinctly and should be
arranged to meet very specific goals.
As with product, place and price, promotion should
not be left to chance. You should test every ad, every
media, and every price point to determine the best bang
for your promotional dollars.
HEADS UP!
If you are an online promoter or marketer, please
factor in the most important element concerning the
cost of your promotions.
What element is that? Your time!
Value your time at a certain dollar amount, and figure
in your time into the cost of your promotional accounting.
I say this because too many online promoters lose
sight of this concept and spend 20 hours to generate
one sale while using free advertising. Even if you rate
your time at the federal minimum wage, then you will
have invested $105 of your time for one sale that might
only net you a gross sale of $45!
ARE YOU TRULY A MARKETER OR ARE YOU JUST A PROMOTER?
Most people who run a business on the Internet call
themselves marketers. Yet, most of these same people
are really just promoters wrapped in the label of a
marketer.
True marketers do not promote without a lot of advance
work. They spend time planning, testing and measuring
their actions and results to get the most out of every
dollar spent and earned.
Entrepreneurs finesse the art of marketing as they
build their company into a major enterprise.
If you are a promoter who does not keep an eye on
the total marketing equation, then you are bound to
fail.
If you do call yourself a marketer, then do what
a professional marketer does. Make sure that every dollar
spent is spent well. Make sure that every dollar earned
is put to good use. Market well so that when the people
of the next generation look at your life, they will
see a fine example of a successful entrepreneur that
they will strive to emulate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans will help you setup your very own money
making
website today that's 100% ready to take orders and pull
in
MASSIVE PROFITS for you right now...GUARANTEED! Plus,
you'll get
your own pre-written ezine-in-a-box customized and setup
for you
absolutely free WITHIN 24 HOURS!! Get started immediately
at:
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-6902
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Reprinted with permission from the Plug-In Profit
Site
Free Website Builder.
|
