Hi all, Its been a while since my last post as I am now back at my daily job and time has been tight. Being off work for so long has made me appreciate time itself, especially now where my free time has just been slashed to a couple of hours a day. However, this has made me more determined to accelerate my efforts in order to return back to the free and easy lifestyle.

I have spent a lot of my time doing research on many aspects of marketing and it really does surprise me on the various ways in which you can ‘strike it rich’. If all sources are right then we would all be millionaires within the week…but as we know..all is not gospel by many many marketers.

I have started to categorize marketers into 4 bands in which I think I can understand each level,

1. Already successful (Guru’s) – Not always the best to follow as there seems to be a lack of personalization from many them. I try to find their latest offerings and follow suit, these guys know what sells and they always appear to be high end products. I guess that the small bucks appeal to the small marketer have all but dissappeared but they are still wise to follow.

2. Reputable Marketers – These are the people who I believe can help me succeed to the next level. They have new products on a regular basis and at reasonable cost. They use the latest techniques to invite subscribers, A help desk which they personally answer and have a down to earth approach which is refreshing to find.

3. Newbies - This includes many marketers who are trying to make the grade and appear to be succeeding in their ventures. More concerned about proving their worth rather than making a quick buck. I watch these people with great interest as they work their way up and finding out what they have done to reach their current level.

4. The wannabies - Offer anything they think will rake in the cash without doing the research or desires of the customer they are trying to reach. I watch these closely so I learn how not to make the same mistakes as I believe they are making.

I have also changed a lot of my email settings to segragate each into their own folder enabling me to work to my system. Right or wrong I think I stand the best chance if I do it all this way.

Everyone has their own way of researching but I hope this gives another option which could be implemented to your way of thinking. Let me have your comments as I would like to know your thoughts.

By reading this blog post I am assuming you are a fellow marketer like myself, trying to make a living selling goods or services in this massive superstore called ‘www.The Internet’.

Over the last few years I have learnt so much about the in’s and out’s of online marketing and made many many mistakes, both large and small but all important in attempting to be the best I can at what I do. To me the importance to being a success is not about getting in there first with the next big product launch and mailing the world, his wife & even his dog about it just to get a few bucks into your PayPal account. It’s the trust and respect I can achieve by giving customers what they want not what I want them to have.

Ok! this may slow down my aspirations of being a multi millionaire by the end of the month but hey, I’m in this for the long haul and I genuinely get a great feeling when I know my efforts are rewarded via ethical marketing and trust. I’ll never make a great salesman, I’m too honest for that, I’ve dealt with many sales reps here in the real world and although many are great at what they do there are as many who just want to get the money and run.

The main point of this post is to relay the importance of your customers in every aspect of your day to day running of your online empire..no matter how large or small. You will never achieve your goals without your best assets..Your customers, respect & honesty. Here are a few of things you should do in order to gain any decent level of success online.

If you selling goods or services online then you need customers to make money, It’s obvious. So it should be equally obvious that if you have a satisfied customer then that person will want to do business with you again and the odds are that the person will tell someone else how good you were to do business with.

However, if you treat a customer badly or without respect over one little conflict or request then that person will probably never do business with you again and you can bet that person will tell a few others how bad you are to do business with. Getting bad press is so much easier than achieving good press. So here’s  how to keep your customers…

Respect….
The place to start is to treat all of your customers like gold. Treat them well always! You should give them respect and your personal attention all of the time. There is no exception to this rule. These are the people who give you THEIR money, without them you would not make any money at all in marketing. Always remember this!

This part is crucial, there will be sometimes when you don’t feel like being nice. Some people are not nice or reasonable and border on being total jerks and there’s no doubt you’ll run into more than your fair share of people like this. This includes people who accuse you of cheating them, people who don’t seem to understand what you tell them and the worst kind (IMO) are the people who think you and the rest of the world owe them big time!
It’s your job to be the greatest business owner ever and do everything within reason to try to make every single person happy. However, if it gets to a point where you simply can’t continue helping someone because they are just impossible, then move on. It will happen BUT just make sure you are polite and respectful no matter what the customer does. Do not give them any ammunition to bring your reputation into dispute.

Over-Deliver….
It’s amazing how customer problems drop dramatically when you over-deliver to them. For example, you promise your customers a bonus gift if they buy a specific product. They buy the product and you give them three bonus gifts. That’s over-delivering.
Always do it. By doing this simple step you will be building unbelievable customer loyalty and you’ll also cut-down on most of your customer problems before they even happen.

Follow-Up….
Following-up with your customers is a great marketing move and a ‘must’ to retain customers, yet most people just don’t do it.
All it involves is a quick email and nothing more. A few days after someone buys something from you just send them a brief email thanking them for the sale, if everything is okay and if they have any questions for you.
Remind them that you are there for them and then say another thanks and end the email. Do not try to sell them anything else, not at this time. You can send another email a week later, but make sure you first send one email that’s just a “thank you”.

So those are the key tips to keeping your customer base. In short just remember these 3 things:

1…You need to always be nice to your customers
2… You should always over-deliver with all your products
3… Always follow-up on your sales.

If you do these three things, you’ll find that your customers will remain loyal and just as importantly, they will let others know just how good you really are. I aim to be around for many years and if I can gain a great reputation like many other marketers.. John Thornhill, Sharleen Raven, Adeel & Bobby to name just a few then I will be ecstatic.

Here ends the lesson

How you would like to meet and communicate with other internet users, especially ones that share the same views and beliefs as you do? If you would then you may want to think about joining a social networking website, if you haven’t already done so. When it comes to easily finding and communicating online with other internet users, social networking sites are, perhaps, the best way to go.

If you are interested in joining a social networking website, the first thing that you will need to do is find a network to join. You can easily find a number of networks by performing a standard internet search. For the best search results, you may want to search with the words social networking or social networking websites.  In your search, it is likely that that you come up with a fairly large number of different networking sites.  Popular sites that may be included in your search results may include, but will not be limited to, MySpace, Orkut, Yahoo! 360, FriendFinder, FriendWise, Facebook, and Classmates.

Once you have made the decision to join a particular social networking website, whether or not it is one of the ones mentioned above, you will need to need to register with the site.  Even free networking communities require that you go through the registration process. Once you are registered, you should be able to start communicating with other community members.  Before you start communicating, you may need to develop your online profile or profile page, depending on the networking site in question. Although it may seem easy enough to create a profile, there are many internet users who are unsure exactly what they should and should not include.

Perhaps, one of the most important things to include in your online website is your picture. While a personal picture is optional, it is ideal. Many internet users enjoy taking to someone that they can see in their minds, without a picture this is difficult.  If you are looking to use social networking websites just to meet new friends you may not necessarily need to post a private picture, but you may need to if you are looking to find love online. When it comes to internet dating, many individuals will not even view an online profile if a picture is not included.

In addition to your photograph, you may want to include your name.  Now, when it comes to your name, you need to be cautious.  You are advised against giving your full name, especially if your profile or profile page contains a personal photograph of you.  In addition to your name, you may want to put down your location.  As with your name it is important to display caution.  Your picture, your address, and your full name can be dangerous, especially if it falls into the wrong hands. As much as you would like to fill your social networking profiles with personal information, you are advised to think about your safety before anything else.

You may also want to include information on yourself. This information may include your hobbies, issues that are important to do, your likes, and your dislikes.  With many social networking websites, including MySpace, you will find that there are preset profile fields for this information. In addition to preset questions or categories on your likes and dislikes, you may also find additional information, including fun questionnaires.  Many social networking websites will ask that you describe your favorite color, your goals in life, your most embarrassing moment, and so on. As with your other personal information, it is important to stay as vague and possible and not use any full names, especially real ones.

By keeping the above mentioned points in mind, you should not only be able to create an online social networking profile that is filled with valuable information, but you can do so while staying safe at the same time.  Your safety on the internet is in your hands, that is why it is important to think about safety, as well as internet popularity.