:: Mail 06 ::

Hello again Name and welcome to Getting to grips with ‘Net Culture'

This is a short but need-to-know lesson.

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Life is different on the net. Everything is faster (well it's supposed to be!), people expect openness and above all, the reader is in control.

The key to selling online is to foster an illusion that the reader IS in control while carefully steering them in the direction you want.

It's worth remembering that the internet's purpose is not primarily commercial. You may know that it developed in two areas – academia and the military before becoming a cult amongst techies and a mainstream
medium in the late 90s, early ‘noughties'.

The culture that developed in the early days and still survives is one of learning, sharing, giving, action and irreverence.

How does this affect your business?

1. It means being generous with your information – the more you give, the more valuable your site will become to your customers.

2. There are huge opportunities for sharing customers and business. By building links with other sites and creating affiliate marketing relationships or joint ventures, you can get and give value to your customers and related businesses. ‘Co-opetition' describes the ‘abundance mentality' of the net well.

3. Word spreads quickly on the web. If you let people down, the whole world can know about it in seconds. It's important to acknowledge mistakes and rectify them quickly.

4. Price is as big a factor online as offline and very easy to research. You need to monitor your competitors' pricing closely and be aware of price comparison sites like www.uswitch.com and any discussion forums related to your market where price could be discussed.

5. Make sure you acknowledge communication and purchases by automating customer messages. You need a tool called an autoresponder to do this.

A marketing expert I've mentioned before, Corey Rudl, really opened my eyes about this...

Corey tells a salutary story about how, when he was just starting out, he avoided automating -- everything! And it nearly killed him.

At first, he worked "regular" hours, but then as his business grew, his e-mail snowballed out of control until he was working from 10 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. every day!

That's when Corey "hit the wall"...

But fast-forward to today, and Corey's making a whopping $7.6 million in online sales. And $2.2 million of that is from e-mail marketing!

And you know how he did it? He automated his e-mail using an extremely powerful piece of software called "Mailloop" that he had custom built.

Now Corey is offering this software to other "regular" business owners -- like you and me -- so we don't get trapped in this vicious cycle, and so we spend our time "growing" our businesses instead of "running" them.

If you're in the same boat, or you're planning to grow your business BIG, definitely check out Corey's software here :

I know it's made a world of difference in my business, and I'm confident you'll see the SAME increase in profits and sales.

Adapting to the online world

The other aspect which you must appreciate is the nature of online commerce and communication. Everything is quicker now.

The pioneers, those that didn't implode, have trained people to expect instant acknowledgement of purchases, 24 hour ‘customer service', swift fulfilment, interactive experiences and active involvement in their sites.

Amazon is a classic example. It invites customer reviews of books, DVDs and CDs, prompts suggestions of other products you might like according to the selection you've made and has built an innovative affiliate distribution system that now embraces cars and all manner
of consumer goods.

The Amazon model is appearing everywhere. So you mustn't think that just because you're running a small business you can't, and won't be expected, to provide a similar experience.

Businesses that fail to meet the expectations of online customers won't last long. The online world is if anything, more demanding than offline. It's harder to build relationships and there's no physical contact. Your brand, and the way you manifest it in EVERYTHING YOU DO, which we'll discuss later, will be central to your strategy for keeping your customers.

That's it for now.

All the best,

Paul
paullock@incisecomms.co.uk
www.incisecomms.co.uk
+44(0)870 420 3181

NOTES

1. Please forward this course to anyone you think might find it useful, whether they're just considering starting an online business or already running one. To get the email, they can sign up in less than 10 seconds at http://www.incisecomms.co.uk

2. As a reader of my course, you're my most important critic and commentator. I welcome all reader feedback. Email me anytime at paullock@incisecomms.co.uk

3. If you really don't find the course useful, then reply to this email with the subject field 'unsubscribe'. I'd appreciate any feedback.

4. Lastly, I've taken every care to check the information and advice I give. However, I regret that I can't be responsible for any loss that you may suffer as a result of the advice or from any omission or inaccuracy. This disclaimer also applies to 3rd party links.