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Learn What Smart Entrepreneurs Know About Online Marketing

Guest post by: Michael Farrell

Article Overview: Just 2 years after knocking its archrival Circuit City into bankruptcy, big-box BEST BUY is itself “on the ropes, reports Mike Farrell with aspenIbiz. Read this short post to learn what you must do in the New Economy as you do NOT want to be someone else’s showroom and you will not win a price war with Amazon.

Learn What Smart Entrepreneurs Know About Online Marketing

Just 2 years after knocking its archrival Circuit City into bankruptcy, big-box BEST BUY is itself "on the ropes." Late 2010, the retailer revealed earnings and market share losses that sent investors stampeding to exits. As of late May 2011, the stock was off its high by 21% and trading at a meager 9X earnings. The WSJ says "investors should not assume Best Buy just needs to recover. Threats are likely to worsen ...", notably including Amazon's relentless growth, beating every discounter's discounts, producing an overall 66% increase in its sales of electronic products.

In TV sets, for example, Amazon market share tripled in one year. One industry analyst says consumers are using Best Buy as Amazon's showroom. In a business where everyone sells the same products, and the consumers are savvy about them, it is hard to have a unique selling proposition and you find yourself in price wars.

You do NOT want to be someone else's showroom and you will not win a price war with Amazon anymore than you will with Walmart.

What to make of this?

Promoting, advertising, marketing, and selling now require a much higher level of sophistication today than ever before and you must have an online presence for your business.

The fact is, it is no longer a question of IF you should get your business online but How Fast can you get it online.

In the next 1-2 years, smart entrepreneurs and business owners, that are profitably using the Internet, will see their sales erupt like a volcano while those who stand on the sidelines will watch with frustration as their businesses lurch forward at the speed of a glacier.

Here are several Critical steps to claim your share of the $329 Billion, and rapidly growing, Internet Cash Cow.

The first step is to drive targeted TRAFFIC to your website. There are many ways to do this including Pay-Per-Click such as Google's AdWords; Joint Ventures (getting partners and affiliates to promote your products and services to their list; Search Engine Marketing; Article Marketing; Press Releases; Social Media like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube; Blogs; and Offline to Online using letters and postcards to drive traffic to your online business.

So what do you do with all that traffic? The second step is to build a HERD, some call it a Tribe, others call it their Leads list. You get visitors to your website to exchange their contact information such as name and email address for a gift such as a Free Report or Online Video.

The most successful Internet entrepreneurs are the most diligent about building a big list of prospects and customers. Any smart marketer will tell you it is rare that a visitor will buy from you the first time they see your website and that it takes an average of 7 online contacts before a prospect buys something and becomes a customer.

Another huge advantage of building a large list is that it puts you in the toll both position. There will always be marketers who are willing to pay you to send an email message to your list promoting their product ... you could make a large sum of money by simply writing an email message and clicking on the send button. A large list puts you in a position to generate cash on demand.

The third step is CONVERSION as you will not make a dime until you convert prospects into customers and that is what conversion is all about. By applying some basic, and advanced principles, you will be continually learning how to boost your conversions and your conversion rates will soar.

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Article Tags: Conversion, Herd, HomeBased Business, Internet Marketing, Make Money Online, Mike Farrell aspenIbiz, Online Marketing, Traffic



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