Dear friends,
Asslam O Alaikum:

My name is S. Najam Aziz Ahmed. I basically work for Muslim Commercial Bank and mainly operate www.ApnaKarobar.com as my part-time internet business. This is the first time, I'm writing to you through www.ApnaKarobar.com's newsletter. I'm going to provide you valuable information regarding "Maximizing your Sales using Internet Marketing tools & tips". This is, of course, not a small issue and it is not possible to cover it in one article. In this article, you will learn some basics and I'll weekly send some really important articles and tips that will help you to maximize your sales and promote your business successfully.

Important Note: I recommend you to print this email, so it will be easy for you to read it properly and have a record of this email series.

Every businessman wants:

• Maximum Sales & Higher Earnings!
• to know the powerful, effective & result-oriented ways to market the products or services.
• to know the marketing strategies and tools that really work
• to save precious time and automate the common business tasks

It is time to find out. This email series will help you: 

• to Increase sales via Internet
• to Save your time with Business Automation tools
• to effectively market your products or services
• to find targeted & potential clients via Internet
• to learn the successful internet marketing tips
• to advertise your business with Email Marketing and a lot more useful business & marketing tips.

You may already have a web site that is not giving you the results, as it was supposed to. This program will help you to optimize your existing web site in a way that will really promote your business and bring more and more sales.

Many businesspeople ask me “Why I need a web site?” I give them not only one or two reasons, but 18 original reasons:

18 Original Reasons to bring your business on the World Wide Web (www)        

1. To Establish a Presence

Approximately 500,000,000 people worldwide have access to the World Wide Web (WWW). No matter what your business is, you can't ignore 500,000,000 people. To be a part of that community and show that you are interested in serving them, you need to be on the WWW for them. You know your competitors will.

2. To Network

Passing out your business card is part of every good meeting and every business person can tell more than one story how a chance meeting turned into the big deal. Well, what if you could pass out your business card to thousands, maybe millions of potential clients and partners, saying this is what I do and if you are ever in need of my services, this is how you can reach me. You can, 24 hours a day, inexpensively and simply, on the WWW.

3. To Make Business Information Available

What is basic business information? Think of a Yellow Pages ad. What are your hours? What do you do? How can someone contact you? What methods of payment do you take? Where are you located at? If you could keep your customer informed of every reason why they should do business with you, don't you think you could do more business? You can on the WWW.

4. To Serve your Customers

Making business information available is one of the most important ways to serve your customers. But if you look at serving the customer, you'll find even more ways to use WWW technology. How about making forms available for subscription, or have your customers remaining balance status available to check etc. All this can be done, simply and quickly, on the WWW.

5. To Increase Public Interest

You won't get Spider magazine to write up your local shop opening, but you might get them to write up your Web Page address if it is something new and interesting. Even if Spider would write about your local store opening, you wouldn't benefit from someone in a distant city reading about it, unless of course, they were coming to your town sometime soon. With Web page information, anybody anywhere who can access the Web and hears about you is a potential visitor to your Web site and a potential customer for your information there.

6. To Release Time Sensitive Materials

What if your materials need to be released no earlier than midnight? The quarterly earnings statement, the grand prize winner, or any immediate news? Well, you sent out the materials to the press with "The-do-not-release-before-such-and-such-time" statement and hope for the best. Now the information can be made available at midnight or any time you specify, with all related materials such as photographs, bios, etc. released at exactly the same time. Imagine the anticipation of "All materials will be made available on our Web site at 12:01 AM". The scoop goes to those that wait for the information to be posted, not the one who releases your information early.

Sometimes, information changes before it gets off the press. Now you have a pile of expensive, worthless paper. Electronic publishing changes with your needs. No paper, no ink, no printer's bill. You can even attach your web page to a database which customizes the page's output to a database you can change as many times in a day as you need. No printed piece can match that flexibility.

7. To Sell Things

Do you consider the telephone the best place to sell things? Probably not. You probably consider the telephone a tool that allows you to communicate with your customer, which in turn helps you sell things. Well, that's how we think you should consider the WWW. The technology is different, of course, but before people decide to become customers, they want to know about you, what you do and what you can do for them. Which you can do easily and inexpensively on the WWW. Then you might be able to turn them into customers.

8. To make pictures, sound and film files available

What if your product is great, but people would really love it if they could see it in action? The album is great but with no airplay, nobody knows that it sounds great? A picture is worth a thousand words, but you don't have the space for a thousand words? The WWW allows you to add sound, pictures and short movie files to your companies info if that will serve your potential customers. No brochure will do that.

9. To Answer Frequently Asked questions

Whoever answers the phones in your organization can tell you, their time is usually spent answering the same questions over and over again. These are the questions customers and potential customers want to know the answer to before they deal with you. Post them on a WWW page and you will have removed another blockage to doing business with you and freed up some time for that stressed phone operator.

10. To Stay In Contact With Salespeople

Your employees on the road may need up-to-the-minute information that will help them make the sale or pull together the deal. If you know what that information is, you can keep it posted in complete privacy on the WWW. A quick local phone call can keep your staff supplied with the most detailed information, without long distance phone bills and tying up the staff at the home office.

11. To Open International Markets

You may not be able to make sense of the mail, phone and regulation systems in all your potential international markets, but with a Web page, you can open up a dialogue with international markets as easily as with the company across the street. As a matter-of-fact, before you go onto the Web, you should decide how you want to handle the international business that will come your way, because your postings are certain to bring international opportunities your way, whether it is part of your plan or not. Another added benefit; if your company has offices overseas, they can access the home offices information for the price of a local phone call.

12. To Create a 24 Hour Service

If you've ever remembered too late or too early to call the opposite coast, you know the hassle. We're not all on the same schedule. Business is worldwide but your office hours aren't. Trying to reach Asia or Europe is even more frustrating. But Web pages serve the client, customer and partner 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No overtime either. It can customize information to match needs and collect important information that will put you ahead of the competition, even before they get into the office. Orders come in while you sleep.

13. To Allow Feedback from Customers

You pass out the brochure, the catalog, the booklet. But it doesn't work. No sales, no calls, no leads. What went wrong? Wrong color, wrong price, wrong market? Keep testing, the marketing books say, and you'll eventually find out what went wrong. That's great for the big boys with deep pockets, but who is paying the bills? You are and you don't have the time nor the money to wait for the answer. With a Web page, you can ask for feedback and get it immediately with no extra cost. An instant e-mail response can be built into Web pages and can get the answer while its fresh in your customers mind, without the cost and lack of response of business reply mail.

14. To Test Market New Services and Products

Tied into the reason above, we all know the cost of rolling out a new product. Advertising, advertising, advertising, PR and advertising. Expensive, expensive, expensive. Once you have been on the Web and know what to expect from those who are seeing your page, they are the least expensive market for you to reach. They will also let you know what they think of your product faster, easier and much less expensively than any other market you may reach. For the cost of a page or two of Web programming, you can have a crystal ball into where to position your product or service in the marketplace. Amazing.

15. To Reach the Education and Youth Market

If your market is education, consider that most universities already offer Internet access to their students. Books, athletic shoes, study courses, youth fashion and anything else that would want to reach these overlapping markets needs to be on the Web. Even with the coming of the commercial on-line services and their somewhat older populations there will be nothing but growth in the percentage of the under 25 market that will be on-line.

16. To Reach the Specialized Market

Sell fish tanks, art reproductions, flying lessons? You may think that the Internet is not a good place to be. Well, think again. The Internet isn't just computer science students anymore. With the 500,000,000 and growing users of the WWW, even the most narrowly defined interest group will be represented in large numbers. Since the Web has several very good search programs, your interest group will be able to find you, or your competitors.

17. To Serve Your Local Market

We've talked about the power to serve the world with a Web page. How about your neighborhood? If you are located in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad, there is probably enough local customers with Web access to make it worth your while to consider Web marketing. A local restaurant even takes lunch orders through the Internet! But no matter where you are, if the big client has Web access, you should be there too.

18. Tiny Budget & Rapid Growth

This is only possible on the WWW to start and promote a business with tiny-budget & rapid growth of income…

 “Online Sales” It’s a little different than real-world selling…

Here’s just a small portion of this advice, which can help anyone trying to make sales online. If you keep these in mind as you are creating your sales literature, whether it will be email or web page copy, you will make more sales.

1. You must always attract a prospect’s interest with an innovative and interesting title or first sentence, while avoiding the temptation of using copy like this: “Become a millionaire in 14 days.” Overly sensational headlines are a big turn off, especially online, where the prospect is a little more intelligent and sophisticated. Instead, get their attention with headlines like one I use. It reads: “Thousands of businesses closed their websites last year. Here’s why they failed…”
2. Always focus your copy on solving your reader’s problem or making something easier for them. This is the key to successful selling. If your product or service cannot enrich the life of your prospect in some way, they will not buy it. Make it crystal clear to them how you plan to do this and what they have to do to take you up on your offer.
3. The best way to sell in cyberspace is to first educate your consumer with free assistance and then gently guide them to your offerings. And when they get there, give them a reason to buy that very moment. You can do that with a special bonus or other added incentive. Remember, once they are gone they may not be back. Make your offer so appealing they can’t refuse it!

A KEY COMPONENT – YOUR FREEBIE…

When placed on the internet, your sales literature will usually use one of two formats.

These consist of:

1. Web Pages
2. Email Messages

In order for both of these to do their job successfully, you must get people to read them. Although there is a lot involved in selling online, if you start by following rule number one you will be ahead of the game.

What is the rule one?

Always Give Away Something for Free!

Unless people have a motivation to click to your sales message, most of your prospects will not read what you have to say.

Here’s a perfect example of this in action:

Were you enticed by the offer of this free subscription to ApnaKarobar? Did it make you want to investigate a little further? Hey, you subscribed it and you’ve got this email, haven’t you? It must have been somewhat effective. The reason I offer it for free is to spread the word about my business.

In addition to teaching you how to succeed in your own online business, offering this free subscription gives me an opportunity to show off my expertise and possibly gain a few more potential prospects and customers.

Now, of course you can’t go around giving everything away for free, but you can make your readers stand up and take notice. That’s step one. Simply using the word Free is your sales literature can do wonders. Of course you have to back that up and actually give away something of value.

Whether it is a free subscription to your email newsletter, a free software program or even this very e-book, if you can give it away for free people will remember you.

Now that you know how to get the attention of your prospects, let’s move into some methods of reaching them in droves…

MARKETING STRATEGIES THAT WORK…

What online marketing methods really work? Bulk email? Banner adverting? Email advertising? Discussion group participation? Search Engine Submission?

The list of possible solutions goes on and on. And , I’ve tried them all, believe me. Although I don’t have room in this email to go into details on everything I’ve tried, I will reveal one method that works head and shoulders above anything else. What is this powerful income generator?

Your own “email newsletter” or “ezine”.

An email newsletter or ezine is simply a regular email message that you send to anyone who asks for it. It delivers free, helpful information to your customers and your best prospects. The “information” can take on the form of industry news, web resources, discount specials or anything your heart desires.

This is definitely one of the best proven online marketing method I have used since 1999. And best of all, it’s virtually free to publish one!

Why would you want to? That’s simple. Here are just a few reasons…

1. Your customers and prospects won’t have to find you or your web site. They’ll constantly be “in touch” and in tune with your business. You can keep them side by side of new products and services as they become available. Whether it’s a new product you are introducing or a service you are adding to your existing web site, your newsletter is the perfect place to announce it.
2. Publishing a newsletter is the cheapest form of promotion you’ll ever find. Unlike traditional newsletters, there are no printing or postage costs so you can publish as often as you like. Try sending out a catalog by postage every week without going broke!
3. Since the cost of publishing an email newsletter is near zero, you can offer free subscriptions. This insures a steady flow of new prospects for your products and services.
4. Educating potential customers and prospects is an excellent way to market your wares. What better way to educate them than through your free electronic newsletter? You’ll be proving your expertise in your field and establishing credibility with every issue.

A PROFESSIONAL WEBSITE WITHIN ANYONE’S REACH…

During the first year of my Internet business, I made one big mistake. I waited almost for six month to start building my web site.

My email marketing campaign was effective, but not nearly as effective as when I combined it with a professional website. Why? Here’s the main reason…

Many people will delete an email message if it does not contain a URL where they can “anonymously” investigate your offer. With all the unsolicited email on the net, folks don’t like to risk being added to yet another list without their approval. That’s what they’re doing when they email someone they don’t know.

However, if they are invited to a URL and are presented with a professional web site, they are likely to stick around. You just earned a prospect.

It’s really quite simple… you NEED you own website!

So how do you set up a professional web presence? Simple…

Here’s a checklist of tasks you’ll need to complete:

Register your own domain (A Must)

This will give your business an internet established presence. Too many marketers skip this crucial step. The Rs 900/- yearly fee is a small price to pay for professionalism. If you’re serious about your business, don’t skip this step.

Don’t use unusual words, phrases or ellipsis in domain name. Choose an easy-to-remember name that also describers your products, services or expertise.

Get your own domain and paid web hosting services. Free domain and free hosting (with a lot of banners or popup windows) doesn’t leave good impression on your web site visitors about your business and professionalism.

Build the site

If you have the webmastering know-how, try to build it yourself. If you prefer to outsource your design work, be sure to hire a professional designer. Tell them you want to see examples of their work including unique logos, working scripts and more. You want a site that you will be proud to direct people to. Also, be sure to pack your website with helpful information so people will stick around!

Host it

Be careful here. I’ll discuss it later.

Planning Tips for your Website

Once you enter the planning stages of your website, you will need to include some proven components.

Key Component # 1

Be sure your main page contains a clear objective and an invitation. Let me explain this…

When someone comes to your site is it obvious how the site can help them? After all, they probably came looking for help. I have visited many sites that look great, but fail at this key component. If I find myself trying to guess what is in the home page should clearly define why it is there and invite visitors in for more.

Key Component #2

A signup form for free, email newsletter or product/service updates. An email newsletter is a cost effective way to stay in touch with your prospects. It is also the single most effective way to hang onto your visitors. Getting traffic is tough, don’t let visitors get away without offering to stay in touch! A simple fill-out form will allow you to add their email address to your private in-house list.

A key tip here… Don’t ask a lot of questions in your subscription form. They may be interested in your newsletter but may shy away if they have to reveal too much information about themselves. A lead is a lead. Ask for their first name and email address only. If you scare them away, they may never be back.

Key Component #3

Secure credit card ordering. This is a MUST at every site that is designed to make money. I won’t go into the pro’s and con’s of commerce enabling a web site. The fact is, there are only Pro’s. Quite simply, you are missing the boat if you think you can get away without this.

E-Commerce enabling a website is as simple as getting a merchant account and hooking up a secure server. Sites without these components are being left in the dust.

MISTAKES:

Mistake #1: Using someone else’s domain name.

Does the first impression your site makes look like this… www.somefreewebspace.com/user/ or is it more professional and established like this www.yourcompany.com

Think about it for a second. Why are so many companies offering free web sites to anyone who wants them?

Answer: To get traffic to their sites!

Smart companies realize that giving away freebies is a great way to attract visitors. So go ahead and take them up on it. Build as many free sites as you want! But link them all to YOUR site. A site with YOUR OWN domain name.

If your company won’t spring for its own domain name at Rs 900/- a year, your potential customers will definitely think twice before they buy from you. Plain and simple. Even if just one or two are scared away, you’ve lost more than the yearly domain cost already!

Mistake #2: A large, slow loading home page.

A fellow marketer recently wrote to me asking why his site was not generating income. I visited the site and it was beautiful. Probably the best site I’d seen in a year. So why was it a dud?

It took 3 full minutes to load! Very few people will wait that long. Perhaps the small percentage of users surfing the web on a T1 or faster connection will view this site, but you can’t gear a site toward so few users. A good site loads fast for all surfers.

Check your site load time at www.submitplus.com today. If it loads in 20 seconds on a 28.8 modem, you’re fine. If not, cut down the graphics and try again!

A slow loading home page can also be a result of a page that contains too much information. Visitors should not have to scroll down endlessly to view your home page. If your main page contains too much information, simply break the information up into several pages.

Mistake #3: Failing to promote!

This one is a classic. For too many business owners pop a site up on the web and cross their fingers. In order to grow traffic, you need to promote it. How?...

Well if you have an advertising budget, spend money. this is the easiest way to promote a site. Buy banner ads on busy sites, sponsor email publications and reorder every avenue that is effective.

If you do not have much of an advertising budget, fear not. You can generate traffic for free. I’ve being doing it for years. My favorite methods are article submissions, ezine advertising, search engine positioning, and my associate program just to name a few. If you’d like to learn how to emulate these methods, just spend a little time tat the related web articles. Nothing is held back in the articles. Anyone doing business online will find some real, useful information.

In closing…

Remember, your web site is the first thing your online prospects see. It is the very heart and sole of your online marketing campaign. Make a lasting impression!

Just keep reading my articles and refer to them as you go along. Have faith in yourself, work hard, and you may be surprised how easy it really is to maximize your sales using Internet…

If you ever have any questions about online business, you’re invited to email najam@apnakarobar.com and I’ll do my best to help you!

Yours sincerely,

S. Najam Aziz Ahmed
CE, ECom Worldwide
www.ApnaKarobar.com