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How To Use Surveys In Your Business
How To Use Surveys In Your Business
As the article title suggests, you’re about to get a crash course in surveying your audience.
The more you know about your audience, the more benefits you can provide for them in the form of…
- Better content
- Better products
- Better customer service
And so on.
And the more benefits you provide for your audience, the more profits you generate for yourself. Win-win!
So, with that in mind, here’s a crash course in developing and distributing surveys that benefit both you and your audience. There are five basic steps involved…
Step 1: Determine What You Want to Know
Step 2: Define Who Should Take the Survey
Step 3: Develop Your Questions
Step 4: Distribute the Survey
Step 5: Decode the Results
Let’s take a closer look at each step…
Step 1: Determine What You Want To Know
Your first step is to determine what are the most important things you want to learn about as a result of this survey. For example:
- Do you want to know why visitors don’t take action on your site?
- Do you want a better understanding of what your prospects want?
- Do you want to know how to improve your products?
- Do you want to know who your audience is in terms of demographics?
- Do you want to know how to boost customer satisfaction and retention?
TIP: While you may want to know a LOT of information, it’s a good idea to focus in on a few high-impact questions, as shorter surveys tend to generate more responses.
Step 2: Define Who Should Take The Survey
Now that you know what type of information you’re seeking, the next step is to determine WHO should take your online survey. Namely:
- Visitors to your site?
- Prospects who’ve joined your mailing list?
- Customers who’ve purchased something from you?
- Customers who’ve purchased multiple things from you?
It’s important that you define this, as getting your survey into the right hands will help you get the most accurate information.
TIP: Who you want to take the survey should be directly related to what you want to learn from the survey.
For example, if you want to know how to improve a product to increase customer satisfaction, then your survey would need to be completed by someone who has purchased the product.
Step 3: Develop Your Questions
Now it’s time to develop your survey. It may be short, medium or long – but keep in mind, shorter surveys (even as short as one question) will get a higher response rate.
The big key here is to make sure you’re doing two things:
- Focusing on high-impact questions. For example, use your survey to discover what your audience’s pain points are and what they want.
- Avoiding the use of leading questions. You don’t want the way you ask the question to skew the responses you receive.
Next…
Step 4: Distribute The Survey
Your next step is to choose a surveying tool and then distribute the survey to your audience.
- Option One: For simple one-question surveys, you can simply have people email you their answers.
- Option Two: For longer surveys, you can use a tool like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms as a quick Google survey, or something similar.
When it’s time to distribute your online survey, be sure to get it in front of a targeted audience.
For example, if you’re surveying customers ONLY, then send the survey to all the customers on your list (and exclude anyone who hasn’t purchased anything from you). This is a good tactic to find ways to boost customer satisfaction.
Or if you’re surveying prospects in your niche, you might use paid advertising to get your survey in front of a highly targeted market (both in terms of specific demographics as well as topics that interest them).
And finally…
Step 5: Decode The Survey Results
What you need to know here is that you’re looking for patterns.
While an individual’s answer may give you an interesting insight that you hadn’t thought about before – and perhaps it is something you’ll explore further at some point – ultimately, you’re looking for patterns that are shared across multiple people in your market.
Now you can take this information and apply it throughout your business. For example:
- You can create better products that solve your audience’s biggest problems (if you know what those problems are), which increases customer satisfaction.
- You can create more compelling sales materials that address your audience’s problems and how you can help solve them, which boosts conversions.
- You can create content that really resonates with your audience (delivers the solutions they need), which boosts engagement and conversions.
- You can improve your customer experience across your website, which increases customer satisfaction.
Let’s work through an example…
If you know your dog-training audience’s big problem is that their houses are beginning to stink because their puppies are having so many accidents, then your products and content can do two things:
- Teach people a better way to housetrain their puppies fast to eliminate the problems.
- Give people recommendations for using enzymatic cleaners, which make the house smell better and cover the scent so that dogs don’t smell it and “mark” it again.
You’d then use your sales copy or other content to specifically address the pain point.
E.G., “There are few things worse for a pet owner than being embarrassed to invite someone into your house because your puppy has been having so many accidents. Yes, you know your house possesses the faint smell of old urine stains – but it seems like no matter what you do, you just can’t get your puppy housetrained. You’re frustrated – maybe even feeling like you’re at the end of your rope. But I’ve got good news…”
And now a few parting thoughts…
Your Next Step
And there you have it – you just discovered a simple five-step system for using surveys to create more benefits for your audience and more profits for your business.
Your assignment is to take what you’ve just learned to start planning an effective and useful online survey campaign.
This is a really beneficial (for your audience) and profitable (for your business) strategy, yet one that many business owners overlook. Don’t make the costly mistake of guessing what your audience wants (and hoping you’re right) when you can know for certain.
Surveys are a great way to get to know your audience, get busy creating the exact products they want and need, and get busy reaping mutual benefits for you and the people you serve.
By the way, if you want to learn about 5 lucrative online business models you can try, from affiliate marketing to FBA/eBay and more, check out the featured resource below for a free report that covers 5 online business models that you can choose from. Pick one and get started today… 😊
How To Overcome Fear Of Change
How To Overcome Fear Of Change
Someone once said that death and taxes are the only two unavoidable things in life. They got it wrong – they forgot to add change. The third one is unavoidable. Nothing in life stays the same because change is an inevitable part of any natural cycle.
We’re often taken unawares by change and shocked when it happens. We’re afraid of it and resist it vehemently because we fear the unknown.
How It Holds You Back
A good example to illustrate this type of fear is technology. It’s become an integral part of our lives and most people are comfortable using it. In fact, some people are unable to function without it.
However, there are others who resist it. They insist on using traditional tools like notebooks and ledgers, paper invoices and manual accounting. They know the bare basics of computers and cell phones but just aren’t interested in upping their tech skills.
People who don’t like technology are in fact resisting change, in this case, our increasing dependence on technology. They regard this change as a total upheaval of the familiar lifestyle that they’re comfortable with.
A person who fears change isn’t likely to advance in their career with poor technical skills. In a world where digital tools make so many processes faster and easier, their productivity will suffer drastically.
Change can often be good and even life-changing if you’re able to look beyond your fear of it. High achievers and great people embrace change and see it as a challenge. For them, change is an opportunity to grow and achieve bigger successes. That’s what makes great people great!
The fear of change is linked to fear of the unknown and the unknown signifies risk. Risk, as we discussed earlier, links to survival. Therefore, the fear of change is sometimes very strong, especially in times of political or economic turmoil.
Action Steps
Here are a couple of quick action steps you can take to stop fear of change from holding you back.
Try New Things
Engaging in experiences that are new to you helps you become more accepting of change. It trains your mind to process that the unknown isn’t always bad. In fact, it can be amazingly fun and stimulating. You also have full control over what you choose to try.
This conditions your mind to be more comfortable with change. The key is to engage in new and different experiences like traveling abroad, which allows you to experience different cultures and engage with different people.
Trying new cuisine, learning a new language, or taking a class also helps ease your fear of change. The point is that what you choose to try should be something completely new to you, so, get creative! Make the rounds of your local ethnic restaurants, take a martial arts class, or sign up for singing lessons. As long as it’s something totally new, it’ll work.
Get Uncomfortable Once In A While
Next, up the level of trying new things by doing what makes you uncomfortable. Public speaking is a great example of this. For most people, giving a presentation or speaking in front of an audience is as uncomfortable as it can get! That’s the whole point of this exercise.
Another example is having a conversation with a particularly obnoxious person such as a chronic complainer or cynical hatemonger – and staying calm and collected. Attending a church service if you’re non-religious can be very uncomfortable as well.
Trying things that scare you also falls into this category. A wild roller-coaster ride or bungee jumping, deep-sea diving… we all have certain things we’ve never considered doing because they frighten us. Even trying them once will go a long way towards breaking your fear of change.
Overcoming your fears can be very liberating but is often difficult, and one of the most difficult of these is the dreaded fear of rejection, because nobody wants to be rejected and laughed at do they?
Fear Of Rejection/Ridicule
This fear is related to emotional pain and trauma. For some of us, it has its roots in childhood, where we experienced some form of abuse or bullying. These types of experiences and the negative emotions associated with them are often repressed. They continue to fester inside, causing fear of rejection or ridicule.
How it holds you back
One of the most dangerous consequences of this fear is that we can become obsessed with seeking approval. As a result, we may stifle our individuality and personal opinions to ‘conform’ or ‘fit in’. This could be very detrimental to personal growth and creativity.
Even worse, the desire to avoid ridicule or rejection can drive us to compromise our values and beliefs. In other words, we sell ourselves out. What’s more, we know it and feel terrible about it. This can lead to self-hate, one of the most toxic emotions of all.
Action Steps
Here are a couple of quick action steps you can take to stop fear of rejection from holding you back. Overcoming this fear will be a major step forward in your life.
Surround Yourself With The Right People
These are family members, friends and colleagues who totally love and accept you as you are. They see all your brilliant qualities and are generous with encouragement and support.
Surround yourself with as many of these people as you can. They’ll give you the confidence and self-worth to deal with criticism and rejection and accept that you just can’t please everyone.
Stand Up For Something You Believe In
Find a cause that you’re passionate about such as the environmental crisis, world hunger or animal rights. Educate yourself on the topic and join an advocacy group.
Speak about your cause to others and try to enlist their efforts. This applies to your political, religious, and moral convictions as well.
You don’t necessarily need to advertise them to all and sundry but don’t be afraid to speak up and defend them with courage and conviction.
Overcoming this fear can have a big impact on how you live your life, and what you can achieve, so it is well worth trying to conquer this.
And remember, nobody can make you feel rejected without your permission; you can reframe these occasions and nip the feeling of rejection in the bud.
Let’s look at one more fear that may be holding you back from living the life you want.
Fear Of Responsibility
The fear of responsibility is directly related to the fear of failure and the fear of risk. Some people also fear responsibility because they don’t like to be held accountable for their actions. They prefer to blame others rather than honestly confront themselves.
How it holds you back
This fear can hold you back professionally because you gain a reputation as someone who shuns responsibility and therefore, has no commitment or dedication to their career.
Taking full responsibility is the mark of leaders and high achievers. They hold themselves fully accountable for their actions and the outcomes of their decisions. They quickly jump in to fix mistakes and address emergency situations rather than waste time blaming themselves or others.
In your personal life, the fear of responsibility can be extremely detrimental to relationships. You may delay important decisions like marriage or starting a family. You may experience a painful breakup or lose potential partners because you’re seen as someone who shuns commitment.
Action steps
Here are a couple of quick action steps you can take to stop fear of rejection from holding you back.
Fix Your Flaws
Train yourself to become more responsible by honestly identifying your flaws and reflecting on them. You may tend to interrupt others in conversation or not listen actively. You may tend to gossip. You could be holding yourself back by seeing yourself as the perpetual victim.
We all have personal flaws that we can work on to improve. Whatever your own may be, make the intention to fix them and become a better person. In the process, you’ll realize that taking responsibility feels great!
Learn To Apologize
People who fear responsibility often find it hard to apologize for their mistakes. Commit to apologizing when you make a mistake or feel that you’ve offended someone.
Any simple apology will do. For example, “I’m sorry if that sounded rude, I didn’t mean it to be” or “I’m sorry for not responding to your email promptly but I was having a hectic day.”
There’ll be opportunities every day to make an apology so take advantage of them as often as you can.
Don’t worry, it gets easier over time. And again, you’ll feel great about having the integrity and honesty to admit you were wrong.
Make Promises And Keep Them
Never commit to something unless you can keep your commitment. This is an integral part of learning to take responsibility.
Failing to follow through with promises is the quickest way to lose respect or even important people in your life.
Stop Blaming Others
Don’t take the easy way out by blaming others, even if they are wrong. Stay alert to this negative reaction because quite simply, it’s not going to fix anything.
When something goes wrong, ditch the blame game and look for ways to set things right. If you feel that someone needs to be made aware of a mistake, you can explain to them later what they did wrong and how they can avoid it the next time around.
Likewise, stay alert to your feelings of perpetual victimhood. Be brutally honest with yourself because you know that the world isn’t out to get you.
If you are being treated unfairly or victimized in some way, only you can change that. Own up to the fact that you can take control of your life and change any negative situation.
As you can appreciate, changing the way you think can have a huge impact on your life, and if you want to know more about developing an inspirational mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
The Five Costliest Business Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
The Five Costliest Business Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
You’re rolling along, building your dream business… when WHAM, something takes you by surprise.
You’ve made a mistake.
Maybe it was something you didn’t think was important, or maybe you just overlooked it accidentally. No matter what the reason, the end result is the same…
The mistake is going to cost you.
Maybe it’ll cost you time. Maybe it’ll cost you money. Maybe it’ll cost you frustration. Maybe it’ll cost you credibility. It could be anything, but you can be sure it’s going to cost you something.
Doesn’t exactly sound like a dream business, does it? Right. And that’s why you’ll want to pay attention to the following five costliest business mistakes… and how to fix them.
Take a look…
Mistake 1: Not Doing Market Research
Sometimes business owners get really excited about a product idea. And when they get excited about it, they assume that a whole lot of other people (AKA customers) are going to be just as excited as they are.
So then, they imagine huge product launches that are going to help a lot of people and put more money in their pockets in one day than they used to make all month.
Except when the big day happens, the sales don’t come. And along with the lack of sales comes a sinking feeling for the business owner who realizes he wasted a lot of time and money creating a product that no one wants.
Don’t make this mistake. You can avoid this by doing two things:
- Do your market research. Finding out what people are already buying and then creating something similar (yet better) is one of the surest ways to make money. As the saying goes, “build a better mousetrap.”
- Test your ideas. If, despite your market research, you’re not sure an idea is going to fly, then test it on a small scale before you invest a lot of time and money.
For example, create a “lite” version of a product. Instead of creating a 20-lesson course, start with a low-cost report. If it sells well, then a full course on the same topic will likely sell well too.
Next…
Mistake 2: Not Creating Segmented Email Lists
If you’re not building lists at all, that’s a HUGE mistake. But it’s also a mistake to build lists without segmenting them. That’s because once you segment your lists, you can send out highly targeted content that results in higher conversion rates.
Sidebar: In other words, you’ll be sending content (a mix of free information and offers for paid products) that is of greatest interest to those receiving it.
Here’s how to segment your lists:
- Separate your prospect list (those who have never purchased from you) from your customer list (those who have purchased from you).
For example, there is no reason to continue sending emails for a particular paid product to those who have already purchased it. You can send offers for a related product to those people.
- Segment your prospect list according to the free offers they’ve downloaded or accessed.
For example, if a prospect has accessed a free offer, it shows they are interested in the subject matter of that content (as opposed to other topics they have not yet shown interest in).
- Segment your customer lists according to the paid products they’ve purchased.
For example, if a customer has purchased a product, they are likely to be interested in purchasing a related product on the same subject, especially something that provides a way to speed up results or provides advanced information.
TIP: Make use of your autoresponder tools, such as by segmenting your list according to if someone opened your last email.
It’s very simple to set up segmented lists if you’re using one of the major autoresponder services, so it’s a good idea to get started from day one.
Next…
Mistake 3: Neglecting Your Sales Copy
One of the most profitable skills you can acquire is to learn
the art and science of writing good sales copy.
This skill even comes in handy when writing other content, such as blog posts, social media posts and email newsletters. The better copy you write, the more reads, clicks and conversions you can expect to get.
Two quick thoughts on this…
- Offer hope, not hype. In other words, don’t try to play marketing mind games with people by preying on their emotions and forcing them into a bad buying decision. Offer them genuine hope that they can solve their problems, reach their goals or enjoy their interests.
- Offer help, not hype. In other words, effectively communicate to your audience how your products can meet their needs. Your objective is to convince them that you really can help them. You don’t have to coerce people to buy something that really will benefit them. You just need to show them that this is true.
The point is, it’s a good idea to start learning how to write effective copy.
Mistake 4: Titling Products As An Afterthought
There are a whole lot of prospects who are going to make decisions about buying your product largely based on the title of your product. It’s true. Your title can make or break the success of your product. And that’s why you want to be sure to spend time creating good titles.
Keep these tips in mind:
- Brainstorm multiple titles. Then pick a few of the best ones and test them. You can do these tests fairly quickly (such as in a weekend) by sending large amounts of paid traffic using sites such as Google AdWords and even Facebook advertising. Just be sure you hold all other variables constant across your ads, with the only difference being the title of your product.
- Present a big benefit in your title. (E.G., “How To Get Your First 1,000 YouTube Subscribers.”) Your audience needs to know what kind of result your product will help them achieve as a result of using it.
- Use attention-grabbing words in your title. Examples of these “power words” as they are sometime known include: you, how to, new, simple, discover, revealed, instantly, quickly, fast, and easy.
- Arouse curiosity whenever possible. (E.G., “The #1 Way To Lose Those Stubborn Last Few Pounds.”)
- Use titling templates to help you brainstorm titles even faster. You can search for these at Google. (Ex. “product title templates”)
Next…
Mistake 5: Becoming A Perfectionist
Putting out good quality work is important. You always want to over-deliver to your customers.
But being a perfectionist is a way to waste time
without helping others or making money.
Because here’s the thing…
If you’re a perfectionist, then the various pieces and parts of your business will NEVER be good enough. You’ll endlessly tweak products, tweak sales letters and tweak ad campaigns… without ever releasing any of them. And that means you’re not getting results for your audience or your business.
Here’s what to do instead:
Tweak on the fly.
This means putting forth your best effort in all you do, and then releasing it to the public. Let your audience vote with their feedback and their wallets.
You can track and test the parts of your business (like sales letters and ad campaigns) to find out what your audience responds to. Sending customer satisfaction emails and surveys is another way to find out the likes and dislikes of your audience.
And then you can make tweaks with the confidence that your tweaks are going to produce great results.
End result? You can help other people and make money even while you’re still “perfecting” your product, copy and ad campaigns.
In other words…
- Don’t try to make things perfect before you release your product.
- Do try to make things perfect after you release your product.
(Or as close as possible to perfect.)
Do you see the difference? One gets your product out there helping people and earning income, while the other option does neither.
In a nutshell…
Aim for excellence in everything you do before others see it,
and aim for improvement in everything you do after others see it.
Now, let’s wrap this up…
Conclusion
You can be humming along, thinking everything is going great – and then it can all come to a screeching halt where you’re getting really poor results. Fortunately, if you follow the advice above, you’ll be able to avoid some of the costliest business mistakes.
Do the right things. Don’t do the wrong things.
By the way, if you want to learn about 5 lucrative online business models you can try, from affiliate marketing to FBA/eBay and more, check out the featured resource below for a free report that covers 5 online business models that you can choose from. Pick one and get started today… 😊
7 Life-Wrecking Dangers Of Procrastination
7 Life-Wrecking Dangers Of Procrastination
Putting things off from time to time may not cause too many problems in your life. On the other hand, chronic procrastination can consistently jack up your stress levels. It lowers your self-esteem and can cause severe mental and physical health problems.
The negative effects of procrastination can range from something as simple as missing a deadline on an important task, or it can be something more long-term, such as a missed opportunity that kills a dream.
Some of us may be lucky enough to identify our procrastination habit in time and may be able do something about it.
For others, it can have long-lasting effects that resonate throughout their lives.
The reasons that people procrastinate can be incredibly varied and they may not always obvious. Sometimes, it is a hidden fear that we don’t want to acknowledge, or it could be simply not wanting to do something because it just doesn’t motivate us.
Here are 7 life-wrecking dangers of procrastinating you should remember the next time you are thinking about delaying some action or task you know you need to be doing today.
1 – You Lose Valuable Time
Odds are you already feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day. Why procrastinate and make the situation even worse? The most fleeting and valuable commodity you have is time. It can’t be replaced.
Procrastinators often look up with deadlines staring them in the face at the last minute and think, “Where did all the time go?”
When you have to fly around at the last minute trying to cram a few days’ worth of work into a few hours because you’ve been procrastinating, you realize that you’ve wasted precious time that you can’t get back.
2 – You Miss Out On Valuable Opportunities
Any time you do one thing, you are costing yourself the opportunity to do something else. Putting things off until later, when later finally arrives and you absolutely must take action, doesn’t allow you to be free in case a wonderful opportunity arises.
Procrastination doesn’t allow you to answer when opportunity knocks.
3 – You Never Realize Your Full Potential
Studies show that if you procrastinate once, you’ll do it twice. Procrastinate a couple of times, and you begin to plan procrastination into your regular routine.
The people who create their dream realities make effective use of their time.
When you waste time and put things off, the results you finally achieve are watered down and rushed.
Everyone has incredible potential inside them, and when you lazily and continually “wait till later”, you kill your inner desire to better yourself in one way or another.
This means you rob yourself of living the greatest and most fulfilled life that you possibly can.
4 – You Sabotage Your Career And Relationships
Procrastination is the enemy of efficiency and productivity. When you put things off in the workplace, you kill your chances of advancement. You might even get fired.
When you consistently procrastinate in a relationship, you’re telling the important people in your life that you simply don’t care. This means you run the risk of damaging, or even permanently ruining, relationships that are important to you.
5 – You Crush Your Self-Esteem
Low self-esteem and procrastination are comfortable bedfellows. When you put things off and put things off until you have to rush around at the end and get them done, you feel bad about yourself.
You wonder, “Why can’t I just do what I need to do?” You ask yourself, “Why can’t I take action in the pursuit of things that are so important to me?”
This leads to thoughts that you deserve failure, since you must obviously are programmed for poor performance and a lack of motivation. This low level of self-belief and self-esteem leads to more procrastination, and a very unhealthy mental cycle develops.
Negative emotions like self-hatred and self-doubt create stress, and stress is at the cornerstone of all chronic disease. It is in this way that …
6 – Not Meeting Goals
Procrastination seems to become a major issue when we start to think about setting goals or wanting to achieve or change something.
Don’t get me wrong; you really may have a strong desire to change, but you just find it impossible to take that vital first step.
This can be incredibly confusing and frustrating; you might find yourself thinking, “Why is it so difficult to go for something that I know I want so badly?” Only you can answer that; you’ll have to explore a little deeper to try to find out why you are resisting and effectively sabotaging your own personal growth.
We set goals because we want to have a better life, and these can be business, career, relationship type goals. If you don’t even attempt to reach these goals because of procrastination, you reduce the possibility to better your life.
You need to find what the root cause is behind your procrastination, especially if it’s preventing you from achieving your goals, or you may never attain them and you may be losing out on some of what life has to offer you.
7 – Procrastination Can Quite Literally Kill You
You may think that statement is a little harsh or “over-the-top”. Actually, it isn’t. People who procrastinate constantly make poor decisions. You put off going to that doctor’s appointment, justifying your decision by saying that you probably won’t be able to afford his bill.
You find excuses for putting off exercising all the time. You know you should eat better, but you can always start your new diet tomorrow.
Aside from the poor mental health that comes from a lack of self-esteem, procrastination can lead to physical health problems that have serious consequences.
Stress is related to the top preventable causes of death. Procrastination is a powerful stress booster. Put off taking care of your physical health for years, and you increase the odds that you’ll die from a serious illness or disease.
Stop procrastinating. It’s a killer, a job and relationship wrecker. Putting off important tasks and responsibilities leads to so many negative results. Chronic procrastination can make it virtually impossible to live a life of fulfillment and success.
And remember, one way to beat procrastination is to stay focused and many people struggle with this. If you want to learn more about staying focused, check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 😊
Five Keys To A Successful Online Business
Five Keys To A Successful Online Business
If you are going to be successful in any area of life, including business, there are two basic ways to achieve what you’re after…
Do the right things.
Don’t do the wrong things.
In other words, you want to do those things that will make a way to a successful outcome, and you don’t want to do those things that get in the way of a successful outcome.
So, let’s take a look at five keys to a successful online business…
Get The Right Mindset
You’re not an employee anymore – you’re a business owner. And that means you need to start thinking like one.
Keep these tips in mind:
- The buck stops with you. No matter what happens, you’re ultimately responsible. Don’t blame business partners, freelancers, or anyone else. You’re in charge now.
For example, if your business is going to generate revenue by serving your audience well, you’re going to need to personally make sure that things get done well.
- The day doesn’t end at 5:00pm. This doesn’t mean that YOU need to be sitting at your desk monitoring your business 24/7. However, it does mean that you need to put systems and staff in place to take care of things when you’re not able.
For example, install an app on your website to let you know if it goes down so that you can get it back up and running ASAP.
- Work smarter, not harder. You’re not trading time for dollars anymore. That’s why you need to plan a business that lets your income grow even when you’re not sitting at your desk.
For example, installing an evergreen autoresponder series lets you make sales the hands-free way.
Next…
Prioritize Customer Service
Just read a few Yelp reviews, and you’ll quickly realize the reason people either stick with a business or leave it boils down to customer service.
You can have the best products in the world… but if your customer service stinks, your customers are going to vow to never do business with you again. Not only that, but they’re going to tell their friends too.
That’s why it’s so important to make customer service a priority.
Here’s how:
- Be sure your website is user-friendly. A good customer service experience begins with a good experience on your website.
- Make your customer service easily accessible. Don’t make people jump through hoops (such as registering for a help desk) in order to contact you.
- Answer all customer service inquiries promptly and professionally. And if you have customer service staff, train them to do the same.
TIP: Create a “knowledge base” with a set of professional, pre-written responses to common inquiries (I.E., frequently asked questions) that is posted at your website. This will allow for instant, hands-free customer service in many cases so your audience doesn’t even need to contact you.
Next…
Build A Strong Brand
A brand isn’t just a logo and a slogan.
Instead, it’s a driving force for your entire business. It’s the FEELING you want your customers to experience when they use your products or think about your business. It’s how you set yourself apart from your competitors.
And it’s the way you create “top of mind” awareness, so that your prospects and customers think about your business even when they’re not directly looking at one of your ads.
How do you build this kind of powerful brand? Follow these best practices:
- Create a brand around a feeling. Then be sure every part of your brand (from the colors to the slogan) are designed to generate this feeling. Think about the following brands: Disney, FedEx, Coca Cola, Nike and Compassion. What feelings come to mind? Things like happiness, empowerment and empathy among others.
- Design a slogan that sets you apart from your competitors. This unique selling proposition may flow directly from your mission statement and should be aligned with the feeling that you want your audience to experience when they think about your brand. E.G., “We try harder.” (Avis rental car company.)
- Integrate your brand thoroughly. This includes on your website, in your sales letters, within your product packaging, and in all content. Be sure your customer service staff is trained on how to reflect your brand in their replies.
Next…
Grow Your Business Every Day
Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint. And that means that taking small, consistent steps every day tends to produce big results. As such, make it a habit to do something each and every day to grow your business such as:
- Find a new place to purchase an advertisement.
- Create a blog post.
- Post on social media.
- Develop a new lead magnet.
- Send an email to your list.
- Develop a relationship with a new joint venture partner.
- Create a limited time offer.
- Craft a rebrandable report for your affiliates to give away.
- Post a video on YouTube.com.
- Develop a free webinar.
And similar tasks. If you take these sorts of steps consistently, you’ll see your business grow consistently.
Test Everything
A truly successful business isn’t built on gut feelings and guesswork.
If you want to create a higher return on investment with everything you do, then you need to start testing the various parts of your business.
This includes:
- Testing your ideas. For example, before you create a big paid product, you might start by creating a free offer on the same topic. If the freebie generates a lot of interest, then it’s safer to invest your time and money in developing the larger paid product.
- Testing your ad campaigns. Many platforms (such as Facebook or Google AdWords) include built-in statistics so that you can determine which ads and which keywords deliver the best results.
- Testing your emails. Most of the bigger autoresponder services tend to include built-in statistics, which makes it easy for you to track and test your emails. Pay particular attention to your subject lines, the overall offer, and your calls to action. You’ll also want to do some testing to find out what days and times of the day work best for sending offers.
- Testing your sales letters. Factors such as the headline, overall offer (including price) and call to action tend to have the biggest impact, so focus on testing these items first. You can use a tool like SplitTestMonkey to start testing your sales letters.
Now let’s wrap things up for now…
Conclusion
Creating products, building lists and driving traffic are three important pieces of a profitable business – but they’re not the only things that will drive your success.
If you want to grow a truly successful business, then you’ll also want to be sure you have the right mindset, you prioritize customer service, you develop your brand, grow your business every day, and test everything.
And, of course, never lose sight of this…
You’re in business to serve your audience well.
Ultimately, you want to generate benefits for your audience and profits for your business.
This will happen as you dedicate yourself in every area of your business to helping others…
- Solve their problems,
- Reach their goals and
- Enjoy their interests.
Once you do these things, then you’ll be able to take your business to the next level to provide even more help and earn even more income.
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