Archive for Commercial Markets
May 19, 2008 at 1:05 pm · Filed under Commercial Markets
Homebuyers are an interesting study. Watching people make their home buying decisions has brought me to the conclusion that every decision that every one of us makes is based in emotion. You heard me, it’s all about the emotion. Before you deny what I am describing to you, let me begin with me.
Painful as the revelation is for me, even I as a Naval Academy graduate, retired Navy pilot, and home inspector extraordinaire, make decisions based on emotion. It took some bridging for me to get there, but I am there.
Have you ever had a feeling in your gut about a decision? A hunch? That’s emotion. We make decisions that reflect how we feel about the event or expect to feel when the outcome is completed. People, especially those that are highly educated and technically trained, rarely realize and usually never concede that their decisions are based in emotion.
Before discussing the particulars of the emotional responses, I will admit that logic does play a role. What ends up happening is, after the near immediate emotional response and decision, the backfilling of logic begins. Logic is used to make the emotion seem reasonable.
Emotional responses as I see them fall into two broad categories. The first is the desire for pleasure and the second is the avoidance of pain. When we are contemplating a decision, we weigh the balance of the desire for and probability of a pleasurable outcome with the fear of and distain for pain.
What real estate agents are faced with is responding to issues presented as logic that are truly emotions. It takes a tremendous talent to listen to the logic, but hear the emotion. What are people really saying? That is the challenge.
Find and understand the emotional issue and you can keep any deal together. This thought applies no matter if your role is buyer, seller, agent, or inspector. Ultimately, you must seek to understand why people feel as they feel in order to fully comprehend what they really mean in what they are saying.
Not long ago, I inspected a home for an electrical engineer, a very bright and successful individual. The home had a beautiful swimming pool in the backyard. Our intrepid engineer had out his digital tape measure and was measuring the distance between each electrical receptacle along the rear exterior of the home. He would measure, then ponder, measure more, and then ponder more.
Finally, he approached the real estate agent and me announcing that there was an unsafe condition relating to the unequal distance between the electrical outlets. He then spouted large quantities of electrical engineer babble and finished with, “I’d be shocked if this were not a code violation”. I wanted to respond with “No sir, the code is intended to prevent you from being shocked”, but decided that “hmmmm” was a better response.
After much debate and some real listening, the man’s issue had nothing to do with electrical engineering or the National Electric Code. In his mind, he had the perfect place for his lounge chair, but there was not a receptacle adjacent to that location for him to plug his radio into! He was laying logic, however flawed, on us in order to justify his demand that a new receptacle be added.
Listen to the logic, hear the emotion!
Wally Conway is President of Florida HomePro Inspections, and has been featured regularly on HGTV’s “House Detective”. Wally has recently written a book entitled “Secrets of the Happy Home Inspector”, available at GoHomePro.com or Amazon.com. As a speaker, writer, instructor, and host of The Happy Home Inspector radio show every Saturday at 3 PM on WOKV 690, Wally blends the right amount of up-to-date information with just the right amount of humor, insight, motivation, and real-world application. Visit WallyConway.com for more information!
May 7, 2008 at 10:36 am · Filed under Commercial Markets
Where do I find them? How do I use them?
Discount vouchers are also referred as discount codes, promo codes, coupon codes and promotional codes.
Discount vouchers are redeemable for online purchases whilst in the checkout of the store. Discount vouchers cannot usually be redeemed at High Street stores, although occasionally some retailers will allow this.
Discount vouchers can give you the following:
- a percentage off your order value
- specific discounts on certain products
There are generally two types of discount vouchers. One requires you to insert the discount code (discount code, promo code) in the checkout section. The other one is a retailer link code which will automatically apply the discount at the checkout for you.
Discount vouchers have expiry dates. Online retailers set voucher expiry dates as they want to, so make sure that the discount is still valid. If it’s not you might need to search another discount voucher.
Where to find discount vouchers
You can find discount vouchers by searching (use search engine) for the required product and/or the type of product followed by any of the terms - discount voucher, discount code, promo code or voucher code. This search should bring up a few sites with valid discount vouchers and you should bookmark these for future use. One such site for discount vouchers is www.discountshoppinguk.co.uk who specialise in the UK retailers.
There are many more reputable sites out there - so get searching get saving with discount vouchers!
May 6, 2008 at 9:21 am · Filed under Commercial Markets
Virtually all online marketers have attempted lots of schemes and programs. Most online marketers have dropped a load of bread attempting to get going. But most online entrepreneurs have just quit. In point of fact, merely one in a hundred of internet entrepreneurs ever pull in enough income to retire from a 9 to 5 job.
The good news is that though most internet marketers don’t make it, each internet marketer can succeed.
The number one step of every single achievement on the internet is a goal. Whether that goal is a C note every 4 weeks or a good retirement income, you are required to write your plan out.
To reach that goal, you should lay out some sensible steps in getting to that goal. You could begin with a goal of ten dollars every 4 weeks. Then fifty dollars a month by the third month and one hundred dollars a month in a years time.
If you are trying for a million dollars a year, then you ought to set your goals quite a bit higher. However either way, you just have to write down your plan and try to attain it.
With any program, you ought take note of your advancement. As you near the second month, note the difference between your progression and your goal. At this point you need to analyse your advancement. Look at your profit versus what your goal was.
If you did not earn as much as your goal, ascertain why. Are you using the wrong affiliate program? Are trying to get traffic to your affiliate the wrong way?
On the other hand, if you reached your goal, analyze how it happened. Remember, you will be attempting to ramp up your income within a few weeks. Look into what you did right. Try doing better the next time around. And try to repeat the things you did well and expand it.
If things are going even better than you expected, you will have made even more than your goal. In that eventuality, you also must to figure out the reason. Then you will want to increase those methods you used.
Now take some time; look back at your goals. You may need to adjust the amounts of money and time periods to a lower goal, or set the goals even higher.
In any case, you will find yourself part of an exclusive minority. You will be part of those actually making good money on the internet.
Ron McCluskey has been marketing online since the early eighties.
Need some great free afilliate tools? Check out Affiliate Treasure Hunt
You can find these articles and more at Monthly Affiliate Income
April 13, 2008 at 6:27 pm · Filed under Commercial Markets
There are many horror stories about affiliate programs and
networks. People have heard them over and over again, that some
are even wary of joining one. The stories they may have heard
are those related to illegal programs or pyramid schemes.
Basically, this kind of market does not have real, worthy
product.
You do not want to be associated with these schemes. It is
obvious you want to be with a program that offers high quality
product that you will readily endorse. The growing number of
those who have joined already and are succeeding immensely is
proof enough that there are reliable and quality affiliate
programs out there.
Why participate in an affiliate program?
It allows you to work part-time. It gives you the opportunity to
build a generous residual income. And it makes you an owner of a
small business. Affiliate programs have already created lots of
millionaires. They are the living testimony of how hard work;
continuous prospecting, motivating and training others pay off.
If ever you are deciding to join one, you must take note that
you are getting into something that is patterned to what you are
capable of. This will be an assurance that you are capable of
doing anything to come out successful.
How do you choose a good affiliate program to promote? Here are
some tips you may want to look over before choosing one:
1. A program that you like and have interest in. One of the best
ways of knowing if that is the kind of program you wish to
promote is if you are interested in purchasing the product
yourself. If that is the case, chances are, there are many
others who are also interested in the same program and products.
2. Look for a program that is of high quality. For instance,
look for one that is associated with many experts in that
particular industry. This way, you are assured that of the
standard of the program you will be joining into.
3. Join in the ones that offer real and viable products. How do
you know this? Do some initial research. If possible, track down
some of the members and customers to give you testimonial on the
credibility of the program.
4. The program that is catering to a growing target market. This
will ensure you that there will be more and continuous demands
for your referrals. Make inquiries. There are forums and
discussions you can participate in to get good and reliable
feedbacks.
5. A program with a compensation plan that pays out a residual
income and a payout of 30% or more would be a great choice.
There are some programs offering this kind of compensation. Look
closely for one. Do not waste your time with programs that do
not reward substantially for your efforts.
6. Be aware of the minimum quotas that you must fulfill or sales
target that is too hard to achieve. Some affiliate programs
imposes pre-requisites before you get your commissions. Just be
sure that you are capable of attaining their requirements.
7. Select one that has plenty of tools and resources that can
help you grow the business in the shortest possible time. Not
all affiliate programs have these capacities. Make use you
decide on one with lots of helpful tools you can use.
8. Check out if the program has a proven system that can allow
you to check your networks and compensation. Also check if they
have it available online for you to check anytime and anywhere.
9. The program that is offering strong incentives for members to
renew their membership each time. The affiliate program that
provides continuous help and upgrades for its products have the
tendency to retain its members. These things can assure the
growth of your networks.
10. Be aware of the things that members are not happy about in a
program. Like with the ones mentioned above, you can do your
checking at discussion forums. If you know someone in that same
program, there is ho harm asking if there are many downsides
involved.
Have a thorough and intensive knowledge about the affiliate
program and network you will be promoting on.
Knowing the kind of program you are getting yourself into will
make you anticipate and prevent any future problems you may
encounter.
April 5, 2008 at 11:41 pm · Filed under Commercial Markets
The Internet is great at leveling the field for businesses. Where else can you put up a site and immediately compete with huge companies on an international basis?
What It Is
E-commerce, clearly termed as web commerce, basically means selling of merchandise or services over the Internet with electronic transactions and also through a secure network. E-com is not merely buying and selling or providing services but it is also a method of advertising and marketing through an electronic system as well. E-com also means facilitating the progress of commercial transactions electronically. Right now e-com is a well-established technology in all major countries. In most cases internet marketing requires you to have your own E-commerce store for maximum return.
Requirements of an E-commerce Store
Building an online store is not an easy job. Software is required that can manage customers as well as their needs. E-commerce software should be able to handle inventory, shipping and handling costs, taxes, dispatching and payment processing of client’s orders. You may encounter many options when setting out to build an e- commerce store. Before choosing any of them it is important to have a clear view of your requirements. Technical requirements might include coupons, tracking systems, customer login options or any number of other things. Other requirements include what type of impression you want to provide to your valuable clients.
Study the Sales and Marketing Cycle to Determine Your Needs
Before you opt for any of solutions for building e commerce store, study the basic model of e commerce that represents the entire sales and marketing cycle. The first building block of this cycle is audience in which you define what type of customers you will target. Second are commodities, in which you characterize the types of products you will put on the market. Third is customer support where you will answer the questions and offer solutions to clients’ or potential clients’ problems. Next are advertising, marketing and endorsement where a business promotes the products or services. Then there is transaction processing, the most important technical phase of the cycle, which will handle orders, taxes, payment processing and order delivery. Transactions may be automatic or manual. In manual processing you have to enter credit card information manually through an offline terminal. In the case of automatic processing a client’s order form will be setup with a program that processes and charges the credit card for you. After that there are post-deal services regarding how you provide solutions and services after the sale. Last but not least is brand name with which you will create a distinctive business image to correspond with customers. Nobody is going to pay attention to your online store unless something catches their eye.
Research Your Options
Once you have defined your needs, you can then begin researching your options. There are two basic paths you may follow when building an e-commerce store - either buy ready made software or build a custom system with components and parts according to your requirements and budgets.
Flexibility
Some business firms offer gifts and well placed impulse products for better marketing approaches. This requires an e-com solution to be flexible enough to allow various give-aways, coupons and promotions. Also, if your product comes in a variety of models or styles, with different options and different prices then you must communicate these factors and portray them distinctively in your online store. A true businessperson will certainly follow the patterns of his or her usual clients as well as those who directly visit the site. Web statistic tracking tools can be a great help to this end.
Ease of Use
Some e commerce stores are very easy to use and require only a few minutes to learn while others are more complex with so many features that they can be overwhelming. Being able to see a demonstration of software before buying it is a great help to determining ease of use.
Scalability
Being able to grow with your company is very important. If you choose a very simple solution now, then require a more robust solution down the road, you will lose time converting your store. If the URL structure of your store is not consistent, you can also lose search engine rankings by changing e commerce solutions. Therefore, it is important to choose an e commerce solution that can grow with you. For example, some stores owners may not want coupons in the beginning but then down the road decide it is a good idea. Some stores may also have limits on number of products, inventory control and tracking that down the road will be very important.
Security
Of utmost importance to online stores is transaction security. The priority for any business firm should be secure transactions. Thanks to Netscape for introducing SSL (secure socket layer), data can be protected by online store owners. SSL is an encryption technology that encrypts a message and the receiver decrypts it by using RSA security. To enable SSL on your web server you need a digital ID (a form of identification that will recognize you). Many web hosts provide SSL installation for anywhere from a few bucks to a few hundred bucks per year.
Overall, you want flexibility, ease of use, security and scalability in your store. Research your options before you make a final choice, and whenever possible, get a free trial of your solution before you buy.
Halstatt Pires is with the Internet marketing firm - www.marketingtitan.com - a San Diego Internet marketing and advertising company offering automated web site systems - www.businesscreatorpro.com - create web databases, e-commerce sites, business lead management systems and more.
