Risk Doesn’t Always Equal Success. Why Good Web Businesses Sometimes Fail and Mediocre Ones Succeed.

As a fellow entrepreneur, I understand taking risk.  That’s our life, isn’t it.  Putting everything on the line for that one chance of being successful, of making it on our own.  It’s sort of like going to Vegas and putting it all on black.  However, merely having a good concept and taking the risk to start your own internet business doesn’t mean you are going to be successful.  As you know, it takes hard work, sacrifice and dedication.  Unfortunately that’s still not enough.

You may have the best product or service in the world but if you can’t successfully market and sell it, you’ll never achieve the success you dreamed of.  Sadly, this is a common story among entrepreneurs, great ideas don’t always bring about success.

A lot goes into marketing and selling a product or service online.  Despite what others may say, there is no secret formula or magic bullet for online marketing.  Every situation is different.  What works in one situation may not work in another.  However, basic sales and marketing principles remain the same, even in internet marketing.  What varies, is how they are applied to each situation.

Even with sound sales and marketing principles, the chances of hitting the mark immediately are slim.  To be truly successful, it requires a lot of testing and refining of your marketing to see what resonates with your customers.

Here is the approach I take in marketing a product or service online:

1. I start by taking the time to fully understand the product or service.
2. I find out who the target customer really is- the demographics of the target market and even deeper what motivates them (the psychographics).
   1. I do this through:

• Surveys to existing customers and website visitors.
• Interviews with existing customers.
• Online focus groups (if time and budget allow).
• Analyzing the web stats.

1. I check the process.  Does the process work properly or is it broken?
   1. I do this by taking a step back and looking at the website and the sales process from a visitor’s point-of-view.  I look at simple things like:

• Do all the links work?
• On the homepage or landing page, is it clear what the company is and what it sells or offers?
• Is there a compelling reason to read more or click through?
• Is the site easy to navigate?
• Do the product pages have a good description of the product?
• Is it easy to buy from the site?
• Is the visitor asked to take action, is there a call-to-action?
• Does the check-out process work and if so, is it intuitive?

1. I then test small changes to see if there are improvements in the site’s goals such as conversion rate and average sale.  For example, I might run an A/B split test on the headline on the landing page to see if one converts better than the other.
2. I refine.  Based on the results of testing I make refinements and continue the process.

Being an entrepreneur can be difficult but it’s also very exciting.  I hope I can help you make your web business a huge success!