E Strategy : e marketing is not enough

Your e-business strategy

Most of the affiliates were in a hurry to set up their own e-business; however, after one or two weeks, they are disappointed of their financial result.

Professional affiliates business MUST have an e-business strategy. Do things correctly and you will succeed.

This article will help you to set up a long term profitable business; moreover, if you master essential concepts, you will understand how does “business area” really work and it will be easier for you to make good decision.

I - Why do you need e strategy?

At first, I want to precise Marketing is not enough to ensure long term profitability of a business.

Marketing only uses potential created by strategy. Without any potential, you will not be better than your rivals.

Be leader in a field; it is the one way to survive and to ensure long term profitability of your e business.

II - What does business strategy really consist of?

Business strategy consists of creating a competitive advantage from your competitive strength; we will see it in details later.

It is time to settle your e-business strategy.

III - One strategy for your main business and for each product you have to promote.

You need to set one strategy for your main business and for each product you have to promote. Your main business, of course, consists of promoting or advertising merchants sites’ products as an affiliate.

It means, you can have different strategies or the same strategy for your main business and for each product you promote.

IV - Master SWOT analysis

SWOT stands for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This tool will allow you to know more about your e-business area.

A. At first, settle business opportunities:

These following questions will certainly help you:

Why did I decide to set up an affiliate business? (it is in connection with your main business strategy)

Why promoting or advertising this or that product is interesting?

All your answers are good and in the end, you should have a very long list.

B. What requirements do you have to satisfy?

Before taking benefit from business opportunities, your market or State will certainly have some requirements you have absolutely to satisfy.

For example, if you want to attract many visitors, your web site have to be famous on the web and recommended by professionals or well ranked by Google. And Google have also some requirements if you want to be ranked on first page results.

So, take time finding out all requirements you have to satisfy.

C. What about your strength?

Your strength consists of ressources you have to take benefit from business opportunities and to satisfy all requirements.

As usual, these following questions will help you to estimate your strength:

What ressources do I really need to take benefit from opportunities and to satisfy requirements?

What ressources do I really have at my disposal?

In general, there are three kinds of ressources:

Financial ressources (how much do you have?)

Material ressources (computers, desks etc)

Human ressources (your skills etc.)

D. Watch over Threats:

Threats are things which can restrain you from taking benefit from business opportunities or satisfying requirements.

Threats are things which are in connection with your outside business environnement.

What things can restrain me from taking benefit from business opportunities or satisfying requirements?

For instance, bad reputation of casinos on the web (people think online casinos are a trick)can make things difficult if you advertise online gambling.

E. You certainly have some weaknesses

Weaknesses are also things which can restrain you from taking benefit from business opportunities or satisfying requirements.

However, weaknesses are things in connection with your inside business environnement.

Maybe, you do not have enough skills about your product.

V - Choose the suitable strategy:

All this above information will allow you to select the suitable strategy, for your product for instance, between the three basics strategies:

To provide products or services at the lowest costs

To bring more Values to your clients than your rivals (diffferenciation)

To focus on a category of market

A. Providing products or services at the lowest costs:

In e business, it simply means that you are going to advertise or sell the cheapest products on the web.

So, the choice of your partners (merchants sites) depends on your e-business strategy.

B. Bring more "Values" to your clients than your rivals

"Values" are things which are really important for your clients; it means, you have to consider you clients’ point of view and not yours.

If some nice pictures are really important for your visitors, so bring more Values than your rivals by allowing visitors to download for free some nice pictures.

C. To focus on a category of market:

For instance, you decide to create a blog only dedicated to women who are between 20 and 25.

It will allow you to satisfy better than your rivals your market needs.

Focussing on a market is really interesting because it allows you to use and to focus all your ressources to satisfy better your target market.

We have just finished with first step of e-strategy. Maybe it seems something easy and evident; but you have to learn it to know it.

All these above steps were necessary to create your competitive advantage. Your competitive advantage answers to the question: Why will they buy our products or visit our web sites rather than our rivals’ products or web sites?

VI - Do you know your competitive strength or force in a field?

You are certainly the best or have some specific aptitude in a field; for instance in your business area, you are the best designer or the one who can speak Spanish.

Your competitive strength consists of things you have more than your rivals.

VII - From your competitive strength to your competitive advantage

If you are the best designer in your business area and people do like nice web sites with nice pictures, they will certainly visit your web site rather than your rivals’ones.

You need to convert your competitive strength to your competitive advantage it means to something which is really important for your customers.

If you are the one who can speak spanish in your business area, people will certainly buy your “Software to learn Spanish” rather than your rival’s one because you are credible; as you can speak spanish, you certainly recommend a good product.

From now one, keep in your mind that business strategy consists of creating your competitive advantage (the reason why clients will buy your products or people will visit your web site rather than your rival’s ones) from your competitive strength

You can get some professionals tools as "Site Build It" to help you to make your e-business a success; Site Build It is a package provided by "professionals" in the order to help people to become an high level affiliate.

You can reach the web site at http://sitesell.com/affiliates-tools.html

What about professional marketers' opinion?

It is time to listen to professional Marketers

You can get SBI at: http://sitesell.com/affiliates-tools.html

Social Marketing: increase your conversion rate

Social Marketing to increase your conversion rate

I - Conversion rate is more important than traffic

To bring traffic on your web site will allow you to let your visitors know about the products you want to promote, to advertise or to sell.

Search Engine Optimisation, link building etc are technical concepts most of the affiliates easily master.

But “to turn on visitors” it is to say to convince these ones for instance to buy your partner’s products or to subscribe for any services is not something easy and evident.

In general, Web distribution does not allow you to deal face to face with your visitors.

Your commission depends on your conversion rate; high level affiliates are people with a conversion rate more than 3%. THEY ARE FEW ON THE WEB.

It is time to learn more about social marketing in the purpose to improve your conversion rate.

II - Trust and Marketing

Good marketers are people who stay close to their clients or web sites’ visitors. You have to give a reason to your clients to trust on you; be more than a seller or an affiliate for your visitors. Help them, give them satisfaction, and take care of them.

Do it sincerely, never use “automatic mail reply”; people do appreciate it when we send them a personal message with their name, when they can feel we are really in touch with them.

III - First important point: avoid disappointing your web site visitors

Build a web site with pertinent contents; how do you feel when you can not find information you need on a web site. Do you have an open buy attitude? Do not build web site just in the order to monetize it. Give satisfaction to your visitors and money will follow.

Social marketing begins by creating a close relation based on trust, confidence; when you provide useful information, you win your visitors trust.

And when people trust on you, they are “more open” to buy for example products you propose. Trust will certainly increase your conversion rate.

IV - What about social networking?

Nowadays, Facebook, MySpace etc allows people to create some social networks. The first target of a social network is to communicate with others and to stay close with these ones.

So use your own social network to discuss with others; talk about their hobbies as old friends.

Make real efforts to know them better; share photos (why not), news, fun stories with others etc

Are social networks marketing tools? Social networks are social marketing tools so use them mainly to socialize.

When you get close enough with your social network’s members, talk about your web site(s) or products you distribute without insisting or exasperating.

Easier to convince people you know so make efforts to lose your “unknown status”.

V - Your professional qualifications:

Build a web site talking about a concept for which you have professional qualifications; you will be more credible; credibility is a very important notion in social marketing.

So, let people know that you are the right men qualified to recommend products you sell.

VI - In a word, have a social life:

Get more friends day after day; leave some comments on others webmasters’ web sites. Subscribe to communities on the web and take part in web events.

Be the man or the woman who can take more than one hour to answer mails from his or her friends.

You will see that talking about your web site or products/services you sell will be less formal and more than a “commercial discussion”.

You will not need anymore to try to convince people to buy your products; they will be self convinced.

Conversion rate is a very important concept and makes the difference between low and high level affiliates.

Big businesses with professional web marketers assist their affiliates; they provide professional marketing packages as Site Build It in order to help affiliates to increase their conversion rate, their financial result it is to say to become an high level affiliate.

Market Niche : how to find it?

How to find your market niche ?

I - Why do you need to find your market niche?

Web is a very competitive market; when you are not good at e-strategy and internet marketing, your e business "cannot survive".

You often need to find a market niche where you can be the leader; it is the one way to insure your e business long terme profitability.

But, to find a market niche is not something easy or evident; you should follow a methodology to make things easy.

II - Step I: What do you like AND know?

You market niche will wholly depend on your character, on WHAT YOU LIKE AND WHAT YOU KNOW.

Your market niche should be your passion; but it also should be something you have learnt, something you master, something you know.

At first, make a list of things you are fond of.

For instance, what kind of music do you enjoy to listen, what is or are your favorite sports; do you like polar or comics etc.

Make a very long list (brainstorm ideas).

And then, select "things you know"; for instance, if you like watching basketball match, are you also a player or do you have "enough knwoledge" about "basketball topic".

At last, choose one you like the best, it will be your "general market niche concept".

III - Step II: Widen your basic idea

Ok, you really like basketball and at the same time you are a good player. But it will not be your market niche.

Your web site will talk about "health tips for basketball players" or "exercises to increase your jump at basketball" etc.

Your market niche should be something specific.

IV - Step III: how many visitors will you probably get?

Use Google adwords keywords tool to know how many visitors will you probably get.

5 000 visitors a month is acceptable; that is why we call it a market niche, few visitors and few competitive web sites.

You have to check how many competitive web sites will you have in your market niche; just use Google search engine.

Repeat this process untill you find your market niche.

You can also launch a new concept on the web and the one thing you have to do is to promote this one.

These three simple steps should help you to find your market niche.

Site Build It will certainly helps you more; It is a package which helps people to become an high level affiliate thanks to professional marketers' lessons and tips.

What I can do for you is to give this link: http://sitesell.com/affiliates-tools.html

Online jobs: work at home

Online Jobs : some information you need.

I - What opportunity does Internet give to job applicants?

Internet in general allows people to find all information they need about a topic, to create a social network, to send e-mails etc.

Nowadays, online jobs are the new concept on the web. The possibility to work at home seems to be a reality

Everybody has his/her own opinion about online jobs : the following article will help people who are really interested in theses ones.

II - online jobs: a reality or a trick

Online jobs does exist on the web.

There are several ways to work at home; only advertising talking about quick way to get rich is a trick.

Current businesses use Internet to advertise and/or sell their products or their services and they need people (YOU) to help them in their marketing plan.

Online jobs are a kind of WIN WIN relation between YOU and YOUR PARTNER (We will see it in details later).

III - Online jobs advantages and inconvenients :

Online jobs allow people to become their own boss; your income wholly depends on your effort. You are the one responsible of your career success.

However, online jobs require self discipline and working hard if you want to succeed; online jobs can put people under pressure.

IV - Online jobs: make the good choice.

Here is a list of online jobs, and according to your profile, you have to choose one which will suit you.

A. Affiliation program:

It is a WIN WIN commercial relation between an affiliate (YOU) and a merchant site.

You have to advertise and/or sell merchant sites’ products or services; you will get a commission depending on your sales volume.

Among online jobs, affiliation program is still the best way to make money online. You can use your web site, e-mailing or your social network to advertise and/or to sell your merchants sites products by sharing a link for instance.

But, affiliates should be good at internet marketing, search engine optimization, e strategy if they really want to succeed with affiliation program.

Let us continue our online jobs analysis.

B. Online Gambling :

If you are good at probability and at mathematics in general, so this online job is for you.

All you have to do is to play and to win. Yes, you will certainly have fun but IT IS RISKY.

Casinos are not not on the web to share money.

C. Online jobs: sell e-books

Write some interesting e-books and sell these ones online.

It seems easy but you have certainly guessed that to become a “famous author” on the web is something hard: you will need a lot of patience, persistence and a lot of talent in a field.

E-books prices depend on their quality.

D. Sell your own web services:

Nowadays, webmasters need many tools to check and to increase their web site traffic for instance, to know their web site page rank or to host their blogs.

If you are good at computer science (especially in xthml, php, javascipt etc.), you can create you own web services.

V - How much will I probably earn with online jobs?

It depends on your knowledge, your experience, your tools and on what you want to do.

For instance, some affiliates only earn $ 50 within 3 months but others can earn more than $ 5000 a month.

Make a good decision before beginning.

Your success only depends on you and on your tools.

If you decide to become an affiliate, Site Build It is a package which helps people to become an high level affiliate.

You can reach the web site at: http://sitesell.com/affiliates-tools.html