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Internet Marketing Techniques -
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How To Make
Your
Internet Business Website Customer Friendly
Copyright
© by John
Baril
As an affiliate
marketer, or someone with an
Internet business website, how much you thought have you given to the
psychology of buying and selling?
If you get the
psychological aspect of selling
wrong, you will most likely struggle to make a profit online. Buying
and
selling products on the Internet may seem to be a very impersonal
process, but
actually it is not so. People respond emotionally to the subtle
messages that
your website gives out, for better or for worse.
I'm not just
talking about design and layout,
although those are important factors, but specifically about the words
you use
and the way you present yourself and your information on your website.
What you need
to bear in mind is that while
people enjoy shopping and increasingly so on the Internet, it is
important for
them to feel in control of the process. One thing that people hate is
the
sensation of being sold to. On the other hand, people buy products and
services
for emotional reasons and then rationalize their decision with some
kind of
justification, such as, "I need it because..." or, " This is
very good quality for the price", and so on.
This is just as
true when people buy affiliate
products or join subscription-based affiliate marketing programs as it
is for
any other product.
So how can you
apply this knowledge to the way
you sell your products on your Internet business website?
First of all,
stop trying to sell your stuff to
your visitors with a hyped up sales pitch, especially if you have no
training
as an Internet copywriter. Trying to sell, when not done properly,
always
sounds false and is off putting to the reader. Most likely you will
simply
frighten away the very people you want to sell to.
What you need
to do is come at it from the point
of view of your potential customers. As they have come to your website
looking
for information, give them what they want. One of the advantages of
affiliate
marketing is that you are not limited to selling just one version of a
particular product, so it makes sense to provide the customer with some
helpful
information about a selection of the products available. Your aim
should be to
write editorial style content which is not obviously trying to sell.
This works well
for affiliate products such as
web hosting, where there is a wide range of competing services and a
vast range
of confusing information. You will probably make more money by
reviewing three
or four different services and bringing some clarity to what is on
offer than
you will if you tried desperately to sell just one service.
By positioning
yourself as the customer's friend
and adviser, you will go a long way to win their trust and respect. For
example, do not downplay the weak points of each particular product on
offer.
Make it clear that you have used and tried all of the products that you
are
describing. Talk about the cons as well is the pros, and describe the
whole
process of buying and using the product from first contact with the
sales page
to after sales service.
Within your
Internet business website, do not
write in a corporate or pseudo-professional style. A friendly
conversational
style works much better. Talk directly to the reader, put yourself in
her shoes
and make liberal use of the word "you" in your web copy. Show your
visitors that you are a friendly and approachable person by posting a
photograph of yourself on your website.
The unspoken
message you want to convey on your
Internet business website is that you care for your readers and you
want the
best for them. Make it easy for them to contact you with questions by
posting a
contact form in a prominent position on your website. And when anybody
does
contact you, be prompt to reply and helpful in the advice you give.
By presenting
yourself and your products in this
way, you are giving your readers the freedom and confidence to buy from
you
without the unpleasant feeling that you are only trying to sell them
something.
Indeed, since you have taken so much care to look after their
interests, your
customers will feel positively warm about buying from you. And if you
provide a
good follow-up service, you will most likely be their first choice when
it
comes to buying more products in your niche market.
Buying and
selling on the Internet is a personal
and emotional interaction. If you get the psychology of buying and
selling
online right, you stand to make a lot of money from your Internet
business
website.
I
wish you the best of success,
John Baril
Copyright © John Baril
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