Many of my clients simply like to have their products sit obscurely for sale on their websites and do nothing to make their list members or website visitors aware of what they have for sale for fear of offending their visitors or subscribers. If someone is going to be offended because you're trying to sell to them, then just let them go. You don't need a list of tire-kickers who want to sponge all the free info that they can from you and never buy anything -- you'll never be able to stay in business that way.

I have to chuckle when I do a promotion and get an email from someone on the list who chastises me for "daring" to sell to them and notes that they much prefer to "decide" when they want to buy something from me and then they threaten to leave the list. I just respond that I'm sorry that they feel that way, but unfortunately I'm not a trust-fund baby, and that my hard-earned information has the same value as any info that they might get from their car mechanic, doctor, attorney, or accountant, and I've never seen any of those professionals give away what they know.

Creating a sales mentality means that you need to acknowledge that you're in business to make money through selling and that your customers need to become accustomed to having you sell and seeing things for sale all over your websites. This is no different than the trait needed for success if you were to own a brick-and-mortar retail establishment. You can still provide free and valuable information to your visitors, but reserve the right to take that info, create a unique packaging and title for pieces of info on the same topic, and put it up for sale.

4. Acknowledge that people will pay more for convenience and instant delivery online.

Many times, as I'm trying to help a client determine the price for a product, they' object to the price I suggest because they compare it to a physical product that can be purchased in the local bookstore or online bookstore for less. The "buy it now and give it to me instantly" mentality that is prevalent among online shoppers dictates that you can charge a higher price for an electronic product than a physical product because the shopper can fulfill his/her need for instant gratification and receive the electronic product in mere seconds. Wouldn't you rather do that instead of having to get in the car to make a trip across town to buy the product or waiting a few days for the delivery of a physical product from an online store?

And, people will pay for convenience. I recently spoke with a client about selling her content that was ready available in various locations all over the Internet. She was concerned that no one would pay for the product since it was currently available online at no cost if someone were to look hard enough. I told her that many of her customers didn't know it was available online, and even if they did, they would have to invest a great deal of their free time to gather all the info in one place. Few of us have that luxury of time today. For most of us, if it's easy and convenient and will save us some time, we'll buy it.

5. Plan your business growth around your marketing funnel.

Independent service professionals shouldn't live on the sale of their services alone. Trust me, at some point in your business, you won't want to do that any longer. You need to create a marketing funnel of your products and services that range in price from free to very expensive and base your marketing strategy around that funnel. Your online business success will depend upon people being able to "sample" your expertise before deciding to purchase your service.

Remember that it takes 7-10 "touches" before a prospect will turn into a customer. Give them several ways to experience your expertise, all the way from free to expensive, with any number of price points and options in between. Keep your marketing funnel in mind in all that you do and strategize how every new activity, whether that's creating a new product, writing another article, offering a new service, or being a guest on a radio show fits into your marketing funnel.

By adopting these 5 Internet Marketing Mindsets into your daily marketing mantra, you'll be well on your way to positioning your online business for many years of success!

Copyright (c) 2006 Donna Gunter

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