October 21, 2008
How Many Buttons Do You Have Out There?
How many times have you heard someone say that the money is in the list?
I remember hearing that many years ago. Most people think it's about having a list of subscribers, building a relationship with them and then using that relationship to persuade them to buy different products.
I guess there are people who still do that.
However, the money is actually in your customer list!
Many people take the short term approach to marketing, they look at one sale at a time. They focus on building a subscriber list. WRONG!
The smart folks - Yes, I'm hoping you are one of them - realise the importance of having a system that converts prospects into subscribers, subscribers into customers and customers into repeat buyers.
I wonder if you've ever calaculated the cost of acquiring a subscriber? Have you ever worked out how much you have to pay for each of your customers?
Hint: If you use paid advertising methods such as PPC, Co- Registration, Ezine adverts, etc. then it will cost you at least 50 cents per subscriber. It costs roughly ten times more to get a customer.. let's say $5.
So why on earth do people see the first sale as the last step in the process? It's just plain dumb!
Who in their right mind would spend $5 to get a customer who buys one product for $27?
OK, we're smart right? We know how important it is to follw up with that customer, we know that it's a LOT easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to buy a new one.
There's no trick, or secret, to getting lots of customers. It's really very simple.. You just need to get as many "Buy Now" buttons as you possibly can in front of your target audience.
I'll give you a minute for that to sink in…
Welcome back! Yes, I know, it sounds to easy. And it is. There are lots of places where you can position payment buttons and they don't all have to be on your websites.
Consider.. Positioning offers on your blogs, making special offers in forums (where permitted), offering coupons to your subscribers and postioning related offers on thank you pages after a subscription or a purchase.
By the way, Michael Rasmussen has a free video that explains how to get more buyers, it's well worth taking a look.
Filed under News by John
Comments on How Many Buttons Do You Have Out There? »
Great subject to tackle. No matter how many times you hear this one, we all need this reminder.
Sometimes we look at another marketers mouse trap and think that they have an easy task of making sales. Many times we don't see their back office which promotes heavily to those that have already purchased maybe months ago. This makes it much easier for them when they have a new product launch.
Thanks for the reminder.
This was a great post and I enjoyed reading it. Its so true for those of you reading it. The money is in the list however this list needs to be of repeat buyers. There are a few on my list that will buy once and then wont ever buy again. However there are many that order once and are so happy with what they bought and the support they have gotten *follow up* That they return over and over again to order more. Some have already spend over $500 with me! This is where the real money is.
Great post, thanks for sharing your view.
I personally take every single customer as a precious asset. Even a one time customer is money to me because that customer may still share to friends her experience and I know how important and powerful word of mouth is.
@fredkzk
I agree with Fred. Every client is an asset to me. The best advertising is word-of-mouth — referrals drive the greatest clients my way. While buttons and lists are invaluable for many, I've not yet gone that route. Why not? Because I find it rather annoying when others do it to me. I believe in sharing — if I help you get what YOU need, I will also get what I need in the process. Making me jump through hoops to acquire a small kernal of information which I may or may not find useful is annoying to me. I don't have that kind of time. And I hate opening my mailbox to a long list of pushy offers — offers resulting from my one-time request for information of some sort. At least when I go to the store I can examine what I buy before I pay for it.
Perhaps I'm a bit old-fashioned. But good service beats hard sell in my book any day of the week.
Yes I work as hard as I can to keep a customer as a repeat customer. Great blog post. Constant contact with your customers is one of the smartest thing a business can do.