Internet Marketing Blog

A few weeks ago, I walked into the office of a new client. Their VP of marketing told me that they were in a very difficult situation…

They were being overwhelmed with the number of website visitors that had contacted them. Now they didn’t have enough sales people to follow up with all these new contacts.

In the past, they usually had about 10 – 15 people sign up and attend their events. However, this time, they had almost 100 people attend the event.

So what was the difference?

They had changed the way that they get website visitors to make contact with them – based on our recommendations.

Do you want to know what they did?

We have recorded some free videos to show you. Go ahead and watch them (they are pretty short):

Watch Free Videos

The videos also tell you what to do with the new contacts so that you do not waste the time of the sales people. The complete system automates much of what sales people usually do. This way, the same number of sales people can get more business with less effort.

Watch the videos now…

If you have any questions, let me know by contacting us or replying below.

Calvin Close
Wise Internet Solutions
- Professional Website Design and Internet Marketing

We have just completed Stage 1 of the new Pine Tree Festival website. This website will continue to evolve as the time draws closer to the festival.

A lot of people start a business with a great idea. Other people that are already in business set out to develop a new product or service that they are sure will sell.

Do you have a product or service that you want to sell?

Save yourself truckloads of money by doing a simple thing – find out if people want it. One quick way is to “ask Google”. Google provides a free tool that will give you an answer in a minute. It is called the Google Keyword Tool:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Type in the product or service that you want to sell and see how many people search for this every month. Make sure you use generic terms rather than your product / service name (ie “soft drink” rather than “Acme Cola”).

If it is a local or regional service, then include the name of your town, state, etc in the search term.

Calvin Close
Wise Internet Solutions
- More traffic. More Contacts. More Sales

Wise Internet Solutions is pleased to announce that our newest client is Mill Pond Kayak, LLC.

Mill Pond Kayak provides guided kayak tours of Watson Pond in the George L Smith Park near Twin City, GA.  This is a great outing for school groups, scout troops, church groups, reunions, or family and friends.

Be sure to visit their temporary website at www.millpondkayak.com

Thank you Wesley for the opportunity to assist Mill Pond Kayak grow your business using the internet.

Calvin Close
Wise Internet Solutions

Have you ever compared TV commercials to websites?

I did, and I realized that effective websites are much like effective TV commercials. The problem is that most websites are not designed like good TV commercials.

Take a look at this video:

If you want to find out why most websites are like this “mock” commercial (and how to create websites that actually generate sales), go to:
www.WiseInternetAdvice.com

Enjoy,

Calvin Close
Wise Internet Solutions

We have release a new Free Video:

Free Video Reveals the #1 Secret Most Small Businesses Will NEVER Know About Generating Leads And Making Money On The Internet…

The video tells:

• How to create a real “direct response” site whose purpose is to generate leads (most of your competitors are unaware of these secrets–and are leaving HUGE amounts of money on the table!)
• The best “bait” to get people to give you their information so you can follow up (this is where you can REALLY build your business into a money-making machine!)
• Why you should NEVER trust a designer to create your website (sadly most people don’t pay attention and end up creating a site that just sits there and collects “digital dust”!)
• The secret to getting your customers to pay you each and every month (Best Part? This strategy can be “cut and pasted” into any industry!)
• The one thing you MUST have on your website if you want to grab your prospect’s attention (this is the MOST important lesson on this DVD!)
• An exclusive case study into the 3 WORST websites and why they are leaving money on the table (don’t do this to your website!)
• Case studies into 3 websites that bring in a barrel-full of leads for their respective businesses (this is a million-dollar education in itself!)

Watch Free Video On Internet Marketing for Small Business Now

Regards,

Calvin Close
Wise Internet Solutions

Now that you have an idea of how (and whether!) your company will operate online, it’s time to really step back and analyze your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats — that is to say, perform a SWOT analysis. This is a well-known technique perfected more than forty years ago and still in common use today. There is no better way to analyze your company!

You can further break this analysis down into a consideration of the internal and external attributes of your company. Strengths and weaknesses are considered internal — that is to say, they are attributes of your company or business itself. Opportunities and threats are considered external — that is, things that can help or hinder you originating from beyond your control.

What you want to identify are your company’s (or your business plans):

• Strengths: What is going to be helpful? What do you have going for you?
• Weaknesses: What are some potential problems or flaws in your business or plan?
• Opportunities: What are some favorable conditions and trends that may help you succeed?
• Threats: What are the negatives that might have an impact on your company’s performance (competition, economic climate, etc.).

A SWOT analysis, if conducted realistically, can give you a very clear idea of whether your company is viable. If it is, it can help you predict problems, smooth out your plans, and gain a greater understanding of your challenges in the future.

Once you’ve done this to your company, you can also perform a SWOT analysis on your marketing campaign. For example, you might come up with something that looks like the following:

• Strengths: Product addresses a well-known need, should be able to attract people’s attention
• Weaknesses: Product does not necessarily stand out from competition
• Opportunities: Targeting a niche segment of the population for whom the product will hold greater appeal
• Threats: Competition from similar products already existing online

From this sort of analysis, you’ll be able to make stronger decisions about your product, your company, and your marketing strategies — online or off.

This article is an extract from our free guide, “How To Increase Profits By Taking Your Business Online“.

Download the free guide in full at:

http://www.wiseinternetsolutions.com/html/website_design_free_guide.php

Calvin Close
President
Wise Internet Solutions

Assuming that you’ve decided on a product that will work for an online business, you’re probably beginning to wonder how on earth you’ll get paid for online purchases. Fortunately, it’s actually a pretty simple process in this day and age.

The first thing you need to know, though, is that you MUST be able to accept credit cards. When eBay started out, most sellers accepted personal checks or money orders in payments. The buyer would have to send off the payment and wait for the check to clear before the seller could ship their item. These days, eBay will not even allow you to list an item unless you provide an electronic means of payment.

Don’t panic, though — there are three very simple methods that will allow you to accept plastic online:

1. PayPal

PayPal is the world’s most popular method of making online purchases for a reason: it’s easy, safe, fast, and doesn’t have any monthly fees or sign-up costs. With PayPal, the buyer submits their credit card information to PayPal, a known and trusted organization, rather than you, who they don’t know. PayPal then processes the transaction on their behalf and immediately deposits the funds in your PayPal account. You can then withdraw them to your personal bank account.

The benefits here are obvious: safety, ease of use, and speed. The only downside to PayPal is that you will end up paying a percentage of your profits in exchange for their services. Keep in mind, though, that you’re not likely to find a company that does this sort of work for you out of the goodness of their hearts.

2. Google Checkout

Google Checkout is becoming increasingly popular with online merchants. Most people are familiar with Google and instinctively trust the name since they know it’s, at least, a real company. Furthermore, Google allows customers to shop a wide variety of participating stores and organize all of their purchases at once.

In practice, Google Checkout works similarly to PayPal, and its fees are similar as well. That means that you can feel free to offer both of these as methods of payment on your site, since you won’t be charged unless someone uses them.

3. Merchant Accounts

For some businesses, the old fashioned methods are still best. A merchant account at your local bank will allow you to accept credit card payments (online or otherwise). This is a particularly good option if your business is not conducted solely online — if you plan to do some selling in the physical world or if you want to do phone business.

Unlike PayPal and Google Checkout, merchant accounts come with monthly fees, but conversely they carry lower transaction fees. Most online businesses start with PayPal or its equivalent and move onto a merchant account if necessary.

This article is an extract from our free guide, “How To Increase Profits By Taking Your Business Online“.

Download the free guide in full at:

http://www.wiseinternetsolutions.com/html/website_design_free_guide.php

Calvin Close
President
Wise Internet Solutions

Whether you’re an established business or just getting started, there are a number of things to consider when deciding if your business is right for online sales. Basically, there are five questions you have to ask yourself:

1 Is my product reasonable to ship?

Keep in mind that when you’re working with online sales, your product has to get to the customer. In the case of a digital item, such as a computer program or ebook, that makes online sales ideal — you simply email the product to the costumer. If you’re dealing with a physical item, you’ll want to look into shipping costs and methods before you start.

Also keep in mind whether your item is one that just doesn’t lend itself to shipping. Fragile and breakable items, while fine to ship, do take more care in packaging. If your business grows rapidly, you’re going to spend a lot of your time on shipping. And some items — especially large, bulky ones — just aren’t worth the cost of mailing them. So if you’re selling second hand washing machines, you might want to stick to a local market.

2 Can my services be reasonably provided outside of my regional area?

 There are some services that cannot be provided to people that are physically located some distance from the provider. An example is a lawn mowing service. Other services can be provided to people across the country or even across the world.

3 Does my product appeal to a wide variety of people?

If you’re dealing with a service or product with limited appeal, then while you still may want a website, you’re probably not going to waste a lot of time or money on online advertising. If you’re selling products or services that only appeal to people in your city or county, the internet is not going to help you generate more sales.

4 Do you have information that you can sell?

 There are many businesses that have information within their organization that people would actually be happy to pay for. If that information was written as a guide or produced as a video, it could be sold to a very wide audience. For example, a real estate agent knows how to increase the sale price of a home. If that information was put into a guide, people would be willing to pay for it.

5 How competitive is the market?

Go to Google (or any reliable search engine) and plug in the name of your product. For example, if you’ve created an ebook on how to survive losing your job, type in “survive losing job.” Once the search results come up take a look on the right hand of the screen. That’s where you’ll find the PPC advertisements that your potential competitors have purchased.

Spend some time browsing the competition and answer yourself honestly: do you have what it takes to stand out from the crowd?

On the other hand, NO competition isn’t always a good sign, either — it could mean that there’s simply no market for this sort of product.

Consider this your market research. It’s essential that before you embark on any online business venture you carefully consider these five questions!

This article is an extract from our free guide, “How To Increase Profits By Taking Your Business Online“.

Download the free guide in full at:

http://www.wiseinternetsolutions.com/html/website_design_free_guide.php

Calvin Close
President
Wise Internet Solutions