Become Irreplaceable To Your Customers

Become Irreplaceable To Your Customers
Andy Stetzinger
05/08/07

Developing a list of customers can be a tedious task. While there are programs and systems available that will make getting a list of customers easier, they all fall short at the same place: retention.

Retention. Keeping your customers. Keeping your list strong and active. Keeping them engaged.

We've already shown you how to increase your footprint online, and how to drive repeat relevant traffic to your website. All the techniques we shared with you, if employed properly, should be resulting in an increase in traffic to your website, and an increase in signups to your list.

Having a list of thousands of people does you no good if nobody on that list is reading your message, purchasing your services, or actively doing whatever it is you want them to do. If there is little to no participation on your list, examine your results, and try to find out why.

Tell you what... I'll save you the effort. The reason your list is dead is simple: You have the wrong people on your list.

They signed up for a very good reason. It's just not the reason you wanted them to sign up for. The concept is simple: I think my list is a list of people who want to know how to raise happy llamas. I think people signed up to learn all about that, so I push products on Raising Happy Llamas to my list.

Problem is, nobody is buying. The majority of them signed up for a completely different reason. Did I put them on the spot? Are they doing it as a favor to me? Do they want to know what I am up to? Are they just so cheap that they all they want is free information and nothing more?

Yes.

Truth is, it doesn't matter why they signed up. What matters is how you convert their behavior into something you want to see. Discounts, freebies, give-a-ways... they may or may not work - you won't know unless you try.

Of course, the easiest way to know why people signed up for your list and what they want out of it is to ask them.

When I teach my classes at a local continuing education facility, I start the class by asking them what their expectations are. What do they want out of the class. I also find out what type of business they're in. I gather as much information about my students as possible. Then, I simply tailor my class to suit their needs.

The core information of the class doesn't change. It's still whatever it is I am teaching. However, the encapsulating information changes. My packaging changes. It's whatever the students need.

The same applies to your list. Your fundamental business won't change - but how you present the information to your customer base might. It should. It should cater to their needs - it's simply another means to an end - the end that you want them to find... it doesn't matter if it's a sale, a sign up, a phone call, whatever it is - you simply change their perception of what it is you're giving them.

By changing the way you present your information, you become an asset to your customers. They can't - and won't - live without you. Just as over half of America wakes up and has their coffee, your customers will wake up and check their email inbox for the latest from you.

Want to know exactly how to become irreplaceable to your customers? That's coming up in the next installment... so, just check back in.

~Andy
KeyThing Marketing Technologies

Using what you know is the Key Thing

Using what you know is the Key Thing
Scott Dennison
05-03-07


As we have done each month for the last few months, Andy and I are laying out the critical and powerful lessons to take your internet business from where it is - to where you want it to be.

Today, I want to summarize and wrap up the things we have recently shared as it relates to the relationship you establish with visitors, the content you offer them and how that affects your search engine positioning.

Many of our readers have bought into the idea shared by Dan Kennedy, that our goal in business should be to make a sale to get (and hopefully keep) a customer. Other businesses think the reason to get a customer is only to make a sale. Then they go about trying to repeat the process to make another sale.

But developing a base of customers who buy from you over and over again is a great way to provide for your retirement. To put your kids through college. To ensure that your business provides for your needs.

Like so many other aspects of successful business, earning repeat business is a philosophy.

So if your objective is to develop relationships with customers, and you market online, then valuable content (valuable to your niche market anyway) needs to be your stock in trade. As much as possible, that content should be free.

Further, you should seek to establish and maintain patterns to the days you update your content as most humans live their lives around patterns and cycles. If your newsletter arrives like clockwork on Thursday - more people will read it regularly. They might even come to expect it, and that is an indication you are breaking through.

Best of all, if you use free content to attract traffic, you feed them regularly on schedule and the customers return to your site again and again, this will send a clear message to the search engines about your popularity and relevance.

And ever since high school, who hasn't wanted to be just a bit more popular? Now you know how to accomplish that objective just a bit easier...

~Scott
KeyThing Marketing Technologies