2011 your best yearAre you ready for your best year ever?

If you are looking for your best year…start off right with the BEST choice for affiliate marketing:
http://www.MaximizeCommunications.com/cmd.php?Clk=4050493

Many online marketers felt some pain in 2010.  The recession was in full effect and prices of any commodity type product took a beating. 

If you weren’t do any testing and optimization you likely saw your conversion rates drop as well throughout the year.  

Prices have dropped (which is both a good and a bad thing).  It’s good for consumers as increased competition is almost always good for consumers. 

For business owners, that drop in price sometimes hurt margins if they were tight to begin with and made advertising tougher.

Wow…that’s a pretty negative picture for 2010, and I don’t want to leave it there.

I’ve seen some amazing increases in some client businesses.  We had some big breakthroughs of course such as adding in video, consistently providing more proof on websites, and using research to reveal missing elements in marketplaces.

But most of the increases have come from simple optimization.

We improved conversion by testing new approaches.  We added to the initial sales value with upsells, stronger offers, and higher ticket services.  We made more sales with stronger email follow-up, webinars, and even direct mail.

In other words, the biggest boosts came from the concentrating on the basics of marketing.

1. Generate more customers.

2. Increase the average ticket size.

3. Sell them more often.

Those are the basics I learned from Jay Abraham years ago when I first started online.  And the more competitive business gets (with higher ad costs), the more you go back to relying on these 3 methods.

All the trends I’ve seen from conversion rates and sales have shown the past few months have been picking up higher than it was earlier in the year.  So we can expect this increase to continue into 2011.

How can you best take advantage of it?  Concentrate on those basics…and do everything you can in each of the three areas.

#1 – Generate More New Customers

The goal here is break even.  You want to generate as many new customers as you can at break even WITHOUT you being required to do the work.  In advertising, this means expanding your marketing and optimizing the ads you’re using to get you to break even off this first sale.

If you’re using “free” methods such as seo and social media, you need to find ways to have others doing these for you (and then the fees you pay here become your advertising expense).

What are the best ways to generate new customers now? 

Put together your best offer…an offer that screams value (and this doesn’t always mean cheap – it means great value for what you provide for the price). 

Then test it in multiple forms of advertising.  Focus heavily on the PERFECT customer profile.  I find for example in ad networks I rarely use any type of run of category.  Instead I focus in on very specific websites that have my best customers on them. 

It’s the same issue with your affiliate program.  A good affiiate program isn’t about thousands of affiliates.  It’s about 5 to 15 great affiliates that target the right customer for you.  They already have your customers on their site or on their list.

Build the relationship with them and make them an offer they can’t refuse. Remember if you simply are shooting for break even on the front you could give 100% commissions if needed. 

Or you could even spend some money to have unique content developed for them and pay 50% commissins or something similar.  Be willing to invest in these sales.

#2 – Increase Average Ticket Size

Every time someone suggests higher ticket products or services to help people make more money, the instant objection is Walmart sells lower ticket products and does well.

We don’t have the margins Walmart does, but that’s another discussion.  But Walmart DOES increase their average ticket size.  How many people walk into a Walmart and just buy ONE item…the lowest priced item they sell?

Not very many.  Instead they end up with a cart full of items.  Even though they’re all low ticket items, they’ve increased their average ticket size quite a bit.  And that’s even before someone gets to the checkout aisles and has a multitude of other small add-ons they could toss in. 

What are you doing to increase your average ticket size?  Do you offer upsells?  How about basic and deluxe versions of your product?   What about a higher ticket done-for-you option?

#3 – Sell Them More Often

How often are you following up by email?  Can they find you on social media? 

How about special events such as telesummits and webinars?  When was the last time you ran one of these for your audience?

Have you contacted them OFF the internet such as picking up your phone or sending them something in the mail?  It’s actually quite amazing what you can achieve with these offline contacts. 

If you don’t offer additional related products and services, then partner with others.  The people I work with who have the best incomes almost always seem to have some new promotion going on almost every month.  Some of the items are theres.  Others are a promotional special.  Still others come out from a jv partnership.

Are You Looking For a Way to Do All the Above?

If so, join NAMS (Niche Affiliate Marketing Systems).  In just a few weeks we’ll be holding our virtual workshop which you can participate in from the comfort of your own home. 

You get access to 20 top instructors all focused on helping you earn more money online in 2011…than you ever have in the past.

Plus, for a limited time, you not only get access to the virtual online workshop in January, but you also get to participate in the upcoming live event.  You get both for the price of one…at much less than the price of most internet marketing products and conferences.

Check it out today:
http://www.MaximizeCommunications.com/cmd.php?Clk=4050493

Please note the above is my affiliate link as one of the speakers at the event.


Terry Dean
Terry Dean

Terry Dean has been in full-time internet business since 1996 and has helped thousands of entrepreneurs get started online through his articles and products. He lives in Ocala, Florida with his wife and 2 dogs. Find out more about how his step-by-step courses can help you today.