In the first post (Adding a Revenue Stream to your website). I included sell a product as an option. Then i followed this up with an updated post (Adding a Revenue Stream, Updated). I brought the idea to the top of the list and focus on the idea of an electronic product, and expanded to the idea of adding further products and making the site easy to use and easy to buy from. I want to expand on these ideas even more now, and hope that you will find this a useful place to start in adding a product to your own site.

The first place that you want to look to giving some time in adding one or more products to your website is creating a plan to do so. While in theory it is possible to just take a product and put it up for sale, this is hardly the way to build a valuable place to bring customers. So while the plan does not need to be really structured or overally detailed there are a couple of good ideas that you should include;

• Does the product fit – If you have a website or blog that is about starting a business, then selling a weight loss e-book is probably not the best idea.
• What sort of product is it – Are you looking to sell a physical or digital product? Will it be a product of it’s own or have accessories?
• How will you sell the product – Will people buy online via your website? Will it redirect to another site? or, Will people purchase it offline in stores?
• What future potential is there – Is there potential to offer follow up products, or add-on’s later on. Or will this be just a single one off product without much scope to offer more later on.

Even if you do not answer these questions within a plan as such. It is worth being able to actually answer them though. This will give you at least a good idea at where you are starting from and what you may be able to do in the future.

What about if the product does not meet some of the above points. Well all is not lost really, however it could potentially be setting up roadblocks that you may not want to or may not need to deal with. Selling a product that is completely different to the topic of your website is immediately a hurdle. People very rarely will go looking for something they want on  site that is about something completely different. Additionally it will lead people to question the validity of what the product is being sold as, if it can actually provide what is promised.

Depending upon the type of product that you are offering and the way you have your website set up can make a big difference in how sales will flow through. A dedicated landing page which is aiming to sell the product, will sell both physical and electronic products. However Often electronic products will sell better, as there is the ability to offer the benefit of instant gratification. Which can be a big selling point. If you can create the need to have something, within people, and then provide it instantly once they pay, you are likely to generate more sales, then if you are able to create the need but, it takes time to get it to them.

Finally being able to create a product that inevitably leads to another product, you can create later on, can generate plenty of return sales. As such you do not want to put everything into a product the first round. In other words, if you want to write an e-book, you may be better off writing a short report to start with maybe 20-30 pages, and selling this first, to test the market. Then you can either follow it up with a full e-book or maybe a second 20-30 page report. Continually building upon your base.

Adding a product to your website can be the most profitable way to build an income from the internet. While there are some benefits from creating websites with advertising and such. These ways of making money often require much more time and money then they will generate as a return initially. The best thing about products is the ability to tweak the offer, know what you are promoting. Where often with advertising on your site, the advertising it can be far from know what will be shown.

TRACKING YOUR CUSTOMERS

The essential first step is to find ways to track, where your customers are coming from, how often they purchase, and any number of other key points that you feel will provide a benefit for you in looking to grow the loyalty of your customers. Some of the simple ways that you can track your customers are through your marketing (tracking return from marketing). Or another way if possible is to include customer details on invoices. Or finally through a short customer survey.

ONCE YOU HAVE THE DATA

Once you have put in the effort to track your customers, and to find out some information about their buying patterns. You need to actually put the data to use. Of course how you do this will depend upon what data you have managed to collect and what you want the eventual outcome to be. But for example if you tracked where you customers were coming from you may find that you are getting 80% from one source and as such better utilize your marketing dollars. Or maybe you have found a way to track how often the customers purchase, by looking at this trend you may be able to rearrange your marketing to increase the frequency of purchases.

OTHER METHODS

While you should be looking for ways to track different aspects of your business, there are other methods which can not only help you track your customers buying activities but also help to encourage them to purchase from you over a competitor.

• Discount card – Customers love a discount. You can find any number of ways to provide this type of card, maybe give them to your best customers, sell the card for a nominal fee, or give them away in a weekly business card drawing. Whichever way you choose to do it, you need to make it so that the card shows reasonable value to your customers, while not impacting your bottom line to greatly. For example, customers will not see a 1% discount as good value (unless maybe your products are high ticket items), where as offering a 20% discount will potentially impact your profit a lot. Often 5-10% are good points, or maybe a fixed dollar amount off when spending a certain about maybe $5 when you spend over $50.
• Rewards card – This type of card can be a little more flexible and help to encourage customers to purchase over a longer period or more frequently. Often they are cards with spaces for a set number of purchases, and a space is filled in for each purchase over a certain value, and when the card is filled a reward is available. For example Every purchase over $10 gets a stamp, and when the card is filled with 10 stamps, you get the reward of a $10 gift card to spend in store, or a free bonus on your next purchase.
• VIP Newsletter – Rather then offering a card some business prefer to offer special offers, just to a select group of customers, or this can even be anyone that wishes to join the list to receive the newsletter. What this often help to do is share products with customers who may not have otherwise known about a specific product or may allow you to promote product more frequently to your customers. You can include vouchers, or other newsletter only offers to ensure that customers have some motivation to take action. The only warning is that you do not want to send information to frequently.

While it can be quite a task to build your cusomter base, it is often easier to sell to an existing customer then to gain another. The added bonus is that often a small discount or reward for loyal patronage, can cost your business less then the marketing costs involved in gaining a new customer.

Interacting with your customers is often one of the most important part’s of your business, and one of the parts that makes the difference between repeat customers or not. It can also make the difference between how well you connect with a client, there is a definite difference between an email communication a phone call and a face to face meeting.

Meeting new clients can also be much easier when you make contact in a direct person to person instance. So you may be asking if i do not have an office how do i meet these new clients in person. There are a couple of ways.

• Join local groups – Things like the Chamber of commerce, or Toastmasters, may have people or businesses within your potential target market as members. Attending or joining these sort of groups are ways to meet new potential customers.
• Attend Networking events – These are events purely designed to connect people, so attending these events may again have people that are within you potential market attending as well.
• Tell everyone you meet – When you meet people have a fairly specific definition of what you do ready to share. Don’t drone on to long, but something that gets interest and lets them know what you do, in around 30 seconds, may gain you interest. Just don’t forget your business card.
• Create your own events – It will take work, and require some extra effort, but you can create your own networking event or local business group and create a network of contact not just for yourself, but for the other members or attendees that you get along.

They may be fairly simple idea’s and they may be the same sort of things you have thought about doing, but it really comes down to the pure fact thinking about it, does not solve anything. You need to get out and actually do these things, for them to benefit your business.

I realized that this was an issue when i slowed down my usage of Twitter. With the way that things were going with work, and the different hours that i was doing, i did not have the time or motivation to jump on Twitter as much as i had. Over the last two months this saw a drop in traffic of about 16%. Which is no huge deal, it could even just be normal fluctuation.

So far this month things have been moving along nicely, with a week off work, I was looking at a fairly good come back on traffic. This was for me assuming that i maintained how i was traveling so far for the month for the remained. Well, that was where things were. Late yesterday my Twitter account was suspended, with no reason, no explanation (to date) and no recourse but to send a support ticket. Which i did.

Reading the rules, i know i have not blatantly done anything against them, and cannot see a single one that would have been an issue at the actual time of the suspension. Even checking the @spam account of twitter shows no reference to my account.  At this point it is going on close to 15 hours that i have not been able to perform any actions with my account, and the effect is showing, followers are down, and as i am sure you can guess no activity means nothing good usually.

Now at this point i do not know what sort of affect even a day will have on traffic, but i know that over the period of a month for me it will have a drastic effect. Unless i can replace it somehow. Which is not a task i envy looking at, right now. I mean yeah there are plenty of places to post links, to build networks and such. But pretty much every option i see a few months to develop it to the level that i was at with Twitter.

While i can understand a need to be vigilant, and to keep a close eye on people abusing the system, i see almost every day anything up to half a dozen if not more accounts that deserve to be suspended for major violations of the rules. As opposed to accounts being banned that it does not even appear to be something specific if anything more then an accident even. Of course if they can offer some valid reason why my account was banned, i will more then happily accept the consequences.

So anyone that relies on Twitter as their sole source for traffic, start now, look for something else to use for getting traffic to your site as well, so that you are not left open to a potential problem like this.

The first point is when you initially are talking with the client about the product. There will often be point within the process where asking for the order will generate the sale. Watching for these points and trying to close the sale can solve the problem all together. The earlier in the process you can close the sale the easier it will make the over all process. However you do not want to put to much pressure on the potential client either.

The second point is if you cannot make the sale in the first contact, you need to follow up with the prospect, within a reasonable time frame. It is quite important to follow up or you are pretty much writing off the sale as not that important. This is because it is much easier for someone to buy something, not just when they are interested in buying but you are interested in selling it to them.

What this basically comes down to is that if you are not interested in following up the sale process. Then what do you believe will create enough of an interest with the client to actually follow up and purchase. But of course yes there is a certain number of people that will follow up and purchase no matter, however by being proactive and following up yourself you can greatly increase your chances of a successful transaction.

Following up the sale though should not mean being a pest to the client.

• If you need to provide a quote, then you should do so in a timely manner, i would suggest within 1 business day, or what is feasible considering the client and size of quote.
• Once you have submitted the quote a follow up call could be made within 1 more business day just to ensure that the client has received the quote and to see if they have any questions.
• Finally give the client 4 to 5 days to review the quote and give them another call. This call could be made with the intention to answer questions and close the sale.
• Remember though, that you need to pay close attention to everything the client tells you. For example if the client request a quote to present to their board in 2 weeks time, then you may not find it very useful to call them 4 days after you have confirmed they received the quote. However calling maybe 2 and half weeks later could be more positive, and in this situation may even require another call later, as more questions may arise once they have present the quote to the board.

If you are providing a product or service where you have the opportunity to extend an enquiry from the first encouter then it can really be worth taking the time to work out your plan or attack, in how and when you will follow up with every client.

1. Fixed Phone – While having a fixed phone without having a fixed office is possible (a second phone line at home) it can still be achieved without really having a fixed phone. A 1300 or 13 number could be connected to a mobile phone line, or a VOIP option could be setup via a home based internet connection, or mobile internet if you use it.

2. Mobile Phone – Using a mobile phone for a business number can have advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is that it makes you appear more contactable to people as mobiles are often seen as being something that you always have with you. In comparison though, a mobile number can be seen as not as permanent, for the same reason, because it is so easy to get a new mobile number with a prepaid phone.

3. SMS – Not something that is overly common, however it is another option that many people are comfortable with using. Depending on the business and the way you present this contact method, an automatic response, or manual response could be set up.

4. Email – With many of the latest mobile phone’s email access is better then ever, so really there is no excuse not to have email. Even if you do not use email via your phone, you need to have it there available for people to contact you. If you don’t have email already get an account that matches your website, (eg. yourname@yourbusiness.com.au). If you have a website it is essentially very easy to have your own email address with the same address.

5. Fax – For the most part email has taken over from the fax machine. However many people do still use fax machines for sending orders. So while you may have your business setup for entirely email based contact, you can never discount the potential need of your customer to be able to contact you how they are use to.

6. Web based chat facility – Because you are working with no fixed office, you may find that it is hard to do the regular sales things. Like responding to potential customer questions when they are browsing, or just talking about the product options. There are a number of options available for chat systems that can be built right into your website, which will enable your potential customer to contact you live and ask a question or request other details. These can be a powerful presales tool, but can take a little bit to get working optimally.

7. Web based contact form – While you are more then likely going to have your email address on your website, it is good to also include a contact form which can be filled out and submitted from your website. While the difference in time to send an email and fill in this form may seem minimal, having both options just makes it appear easier to get in touch.

Whether you are using any or all of the above, or maybe even some other options, you need to ensure that they are visible as often as possible, on your website, your business card, and your marketing materials. If they cannot be found then it does not really matter how many options you have, people still will not contact you.

Now to get things straight, i don’t want to give the impression that getting customers is easy in any respects. In most respects, it is the most brutal part of business, and can be a great challenge. However putting it in the following comparison might make my point clearer.

When you have for example a retail store, you want to sell a product, you advertise it and set up a display. People can come in and look at the product maybe see it working, and buy it easily. If you compare this to trying to do the same with No Fixed Office, then you have a world of difference. You can advertise the product just as much, however you don’t have somewhere for people to look at the product except for a certain range of images you may be able to provide. To show it working requires video, and it is still limited to only what you believe people want to see. Then you need to have a way to compel the potential buyer to contact you to purchase or purchase online without any input yourself.

So the comparison really comes down to in a retail store you have ways to interact to increase the opportunity of a sale. While with No Fixed Office, you need to create compelling reasons and avenues to interact with the customer to convince them to purchase. Keeping just a range of static sales pages on your website may make the occasional sale, however it often wont inspire potential customers to the extent you would like. So you need to create a dynamic interaction with your customers, and there are a few ways that you can do this.

TWITTER (www.twitter.com) – sharing product information and tips relating to your product, in direct response to your customers is something you can often quickly do with twitter. In fact you can build conversations around your business and product, with people both interested and not so interested in your product.

CREATE A BLOG – A blog can be great way to add value to your business. It allows you to potentially create a valuable source of on going updated product information that your customers potentially will want to keep coming back to read. With a blog you can allow your customers to interact with your business more by commenting and questioning what you may say in your posts. But it also allows customers who find what you share via your blog interesting to follow along and find out when you release new products or have a special coming up.

LIVE PRE-SALES – While it is not always possible with No Fixed Office to directly speak with your clients unless they initiate the contact. It is possible to give them more ways to contact you. One way is to make use of what is normally a support system, which allows customers to initiate a live online chat based conversation with you. Of course you have to be online and signed in for them to be able to do this. However if you are going to be on the computer working anyway, then it gives them one more easy way to get in touch and ask that one little question, that may be stopping them buying.

These really are just a few ways that you can really improve the way that you potentially can interact with customers to incrase the chance of creating an actual sale. The more that you can make use of when you have no fixed office, the more you really can benefit from the overall use of many different technologies that can make it maybe not as easy to make the sale but can definately improve your chances.

While working without an office, no matter what you are selling marketing becomes the only way that customers are going to be able to find your business. This is because even though you may be working from a table in a cafe, or at the beach, you no longer have the potential of location to generate business. Either of these locations is far from ideal for setting up a shop as such, and even though a lot of people may be passing, the sales potential just is not there.

This being said there are a few basic marketing items that you really need to implement to make it as easy as possible for potential customers to see your offer, contact you, and do business with you.

HAVE A WEBSITE

Having a website for your business is the most important first step. The website effectively becomes your shop front not just to the world, but if you operate at a local level, more so to the customers. If a customer cannot see what you are offering then how do you expect them to want to buy your product. A website is literally the lowest cost and easiest way to do this.

However you need to follow up creating a website with marketing to promote the site. If people don’t know the website address, again how are they going to find it, while they could use a search engine the goal is to make it as easy as possible for them.

BUSINESS CARDS

While technology has taken over many area’s of your business, the good old business card is still an essential component of your marketing toolbox. The primary consideration is that the is that they be of excellent quality, having a poor quality card is almost worse then none at all. Your other consideration is to make them stand out, a slightly different size, colourful, or just something different. Finally be sure to use both sides, you wouldn’t create a tri-fold brochure, and only get one side printed, so why your business card.

BUSINESS FLIER

While you potentially receive marketing fliers or brochures from other businesses every other day. This particular type of flier is a little different. You can choose to include some product’s and pricing if you wish but the main focus is to introduce your business to your prospect. Include things like a blurb about your business, what your business offers (as a overall view), and even a picture of yourself or the people that make up your business.  Additionally include all your business contact details, especially your website.

DIRECT MAIL

Many of the conventional methods of advertising will not work when you are not a conventional business working from an office. Where most businesses can easily send out fliers, catalogs or direct mail and have customers then essentially come to them, you need to be aware that when you send out marketing especially direct mail you are moving the customer to take action to contact you. This is most easily done with direct mail, because of the nature of direct mail you to some extent have more time to get the customer interested, and more potential to convince them to contact you.

However this being said if your marketing material is poor to start with then you are still not going to get a great response. Also don’t forget to include your website on any direct marketing that you send out.

ONLINE MARKETING

While you may be aiming to operate your business on a local level, you should not discount the potential of extending your market further afield. This is what the whole point of having no fixed office should be is to extend your market reach beyond your regular means. Since you need to have a website as your shopfront anyway, then why not promote it to more then just the local businesses, through your business cards and fliers.

Take the next step and make use of the online opportunities available, through programs like Google Adwords, and social networks, to connect with potential clients and bring in more of the people that you want to deal with that are not right in front of you.

IN CONCLUSION

Marketing is an absolutely essential part of having no fixed office. If you were to start your business and do no marketing whether you had an office or not would make little difference. Having an office or store depending on the location you may be able to to build your business purely on passing traffic. However this is not something that you are ever going to be able to do with out any fixed location, if you do not market your business.

So when it comes to helping people remember a business card is the absolute easiest way to do this. It can include all your details, your website, your mobile phone number, maybe a number for a messaging service as well as your email address.

Because business cards are so inexpensive don’t skimp, for the actual potential they offer even spending $200+ on 1000 cards is not a big expense. It basically comes down to 20cents per card, for often a long lasting reminder of your business.

Once you have business cards you need to make sure that you give them out. Give the cards to everyone that you see, even family and friends. People that you meet in the street, anyone that wants one really, as well as the people that dont want them. Just get them out there to as many people as possible, and watch your business grow. Just remember, that getting a lot out and then doing nothing for a few weeks wont help either it needs to be a continual on going effort.