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HERE COMES BUSINESS..

Can you handle it?

By Dr. Kevin Nunley

Once your on-line business starts getting attention and pulling in sales, your work load will increase. Customers will ask questions, orders will fly in, and e-mail will invariably start to stack up. Much of running a successful Internet business has to do with knowing how to use e-mail well.

Use a signature (sig) file on all of your e-mail messages. Thirty million people use e-mail every day, so it makes sense to pack your messages with a special dose of promotion. A sig file is a four to six line message at the end of your e-mail. It contains your business name, a brief line about what you do and what benefit you bring to customers, your website address, and your contact info.

A sig file can be a good and acceptable source of advertising when posting to otherwise non-commercial UseNet Newsgroups. Find a newsgroup that discusses your area of expertise. Post a message offering useful information or answering a question. Your sig file can direct people back to you and your website for additional help.

Handling the rush of response. Now that you have done all this promotion, don't be surprised if you wake up to find your e-mail box brimming with questions and orders from dozens or hundreds of customers. You will need an informed and organized way of smartly working leads and sales.

Follow-up is key to selling. Some customers need seven to 10 contacts with you before they buy. This can increase sales 50%. If you are busy answering e-mail from a flood of new customers, it can be hard to find the time or remember to keep up with those you have already made contact with. Fortunately, e-mail offers a nearly free way to repeatedly follow-up with interested prospects.

Let "smart" autoresponders do the work for you. These simple online gizmos send your sales information to anyone who sends an email to your autoresponder address. The autoresponder then sends your customer additional messages and reminders at intervals which you determine.

A prospect could get your free report on day one, your sales letter on day two, and your special price list on day three. A week later your autoresponder could send them a reminder with another message set to go out next month. All this is done automatically without you ever having to lift a finger.

E-mail programs like Eudora and Pegasus let you quickly route messages into files on your computer. I keep three files titled "Waiting for Order," "Fill Order," and "Bill 'Em." You can also set up templates with answers to questions you get all the time. Instead of typing the same answer to a question over and over, you can click a button and the answer appears. This saves you many hours otherwise spent doing e-mail chores.

Market, test, market, test. Few if any ideas work perfectly the first time. Look at any failures as learning experiences and as steps you take toward success. Test your products, services, and marketing. Analyze the results, make adjustments, and try again. You can track the effectiveness of advertising by directing respondents to a special email address or web page. For example, have them reply to info12@yoursite.com or www.yoursite.com/info12 ("info12" could be your code for the ad you placed in a specific e-zine).

STAKE YOUR ONLINE CLAIM!

The Internet is so hot and so unstoppable that leaders in Washington, D.C. are actually having to take steps to slow down the economy. The Net is not only changing the way we do business. It is also changing the way people live their lives all over the world.

Most importantly, the Internet levels the playing field. You no longer have to get a major bank loan or sell millions in stock to build your home-based business empire. Anyone working from home can have a part-time or full-time business earning a steady income on the Internet.

Even if your home-based business is already working well on the Internet, look for ways you can extend your online activities to this global networked community. In the near future, all businesses could be online. Make your move NOW to stake your claim on the bustling Internet frontier.

IT'S FREE!

You can get just about anything you need to run your home-based Internet business without paying a cent. Most of the promotional and administration tools mentioned in this article are offered online at no charge.

Get FREE website space at http://www.tripod.com, http://www.homestead.com, and http://www.xoom.com. These services also include easy programs to help you build your website, even if you have no experience.

http://www.SendFree.com offers up to 20 FREE autoresponders and runs your ad at no charge on their big autoresponder network.

Get FREE "smart" autoresponders that automatically send up to 10 return messages at: http://www.fastfacts.net , http://www.zinfo.net , and http://www.smartbotpro.net

Gary Christensen's big FREE list of e-zine editors looking for articles: http://www.site-city.com/members/e-zine-master.

Use Kate Schultz's FREE e-zine builder to quickly turn out a professional e-mail newsletter at http://www.e-zinez.com It even lets you include your ads and tips.

Top sites for FREE promotional and e-commerce ideas: http://www.BizWeb2000.com, http://www.WilsonWeb.com , and http://DrNunley.com

Send your classified ad to over 2,000 free sites with one click at http://www.adlandpro.com

Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice and copy writing for businesses and organizations. Read all his money-saving marketing tips at http://DrNunley.com/ Reach him at kevin@drnunley.com or (801)253-4536.