Easy Steps To Easy Sales

Becoming familiar with all the possible ways to market a
product or service online is half the battle of running a
successful e-business.

The other half of the battle is discovering the steps you
can do that will lead to an online sale.

There are limitless possibilities on how to make a sale
happen, beginning with the initial awareness to an actual
purchase.

This is the fun and inventive part of online marketing. It is
important to realize that the steps you lay out for an
online sale can be just as ingenious as the method of
advertising itself.

To help you better understand what an online sales process
is, consider the activity of "linking" from site to site and all
the discoveries you can make along the way.

The steps leading to an online sale is the "linking" portion
of online marketing.

Most people just let this part take it's own course, waiting
for the orders to come in. But a smart e-business
entrepreneur will shape and control the steps to an online
sale to encourage more business.

As a way of demonstrating, I will show you a plausible
example. But, remember, this is just one of possibly
"hundreds" of online sale processes that can be developed.

EXAMPLE

Step 1 - Set Up An Internet Resource

The sites that receive the most amount of traffic are usually
"Internet resources". If you create your own site of a useful
resource, you too can encourage a large volume of site
visitors. On your Internet resource site, you can advertise
your products or services free.

If you are smart, you will post a notice on the site saying
who "hosts" it. Include this in your ad copy as well, so
that visitors know your products come from the same
person who created the resource site. A good
reputation can go a long way.

You can also list your Internet resource in search engines,
directories, and through reciprocal linking.

Step 2 - Send Out A Press Release

A press release is more likely to be published if it relates
to a general Internet resource than if it is for a private site
only.

Step 3 - Public Announcements

Your press release is transformed into articles or
announcements in various media. This begins a steady
stream of traffic to your resource site.

Step 4 - Visitors Become Familiar With Your Site

As the weeks go by visitors will become familiar with your
site and will enjoy the benefits your resource offers them.

As they become more comfortable they will begin to
explore other areas of your resource site. This is where
your ads come it. They will click these links or banners
to find out about your products or services.

Step 5 - Visitors Become Customers

If your product or service is marketable you will begin to
make online sales from the volume of visitors to your
resource site.

Notice how all these steps work towards getting online
sales. It is rarely ever a one or two-step process.

When you begin to have a greater understanding of the
"process" of getting online sales, then you will be able
to develop your own processes.

EXERCISES

Now, as an exercise, write down one process that leads
to an online sale in your e-business. Write it down exactly
like the example above.

Study it carefully. Can you improve this process? Can you
make it more intriguing? How about developing it further.

Now, as a second exercise, create a NEW process for
making an online sale in your e-business, using the
resources that are available on the Internet, as well as
your imagination.

What do you think? Will it work? Would you like to give it
a try?

Repeat these exercises until you have a collection of
online sales processes.

STEPS TO SUCCESS

Once you get good at developing a process for making an
online sale, you will begin to make real steps towards
a successful e-business.

SUGGESTIONS ANYONE?

If you have a successful online sale process that you would
like to share with me, send an outline to:
mailto:steps@humming.biz.gq.nu

If I get a significant response I will write a follow-up article
on these suggestions and share them with others.