"There has got to be a better way!" I silently plead to myself. Hour upon hour of posting to classified ad sites, ffas, message boards, search engines, and newsgroups has garnered only a handful of visitors to my site. Tired and discouraged, I drive relentlessly forward hoping that all my efforts will some how pay off.
Now, 3 years later, I look back upon my earlier days on the net and shake my head in slight self-contempt and think, "WHY, WHY, WHY did I waste so much time?!?"
Focused solely on immediate results and instant financial gratification, my early days were driven by quick profits. Sure, I might have earned an easy dollar, and yes I may have acquired few sales here and there. However, looking back, I now know that my present and future losses are FAR GREATER than any temporary gains I may have received.
For one, I lost the privilege of working with the many of the numerous talented individuals I came into contact with. I lost the ability to share in their wisdom and resources. I lost the ability to establish a relationship and build trust with them. I lost the ability to earn their repeat business. I lost many potential "customers for life."
Through my years of experience on the net thus far, I've come to realize that it is the long-term customer or "customer for life" that will support you and your Internet livelihood. Develop a long and trusting relationship with a customer, and they will accept your offerings over and over again. "Customers for life" will put food on your table and money in your pocket.
If I could magically go back into time and start over again, I would focus on these 4 things to creating long term customers:
1.Name capturing via a newsletter or mailing list- So I could follow up on my customers indefinitely.
2 Branding my name and my abilities - Instead of the one shot advertising the old way (classifieds, ffas, etc.), I would focus my energy on branding my USP (unique selling proposition) through article submissions, press releases, search engines, forums, and so on.
3. Give first then prove my worth - I would share everything I could to help people solve their problems, free of charge of course. I would want to show people that they could trust me to help find solutions to all of their marketing problems. I would do everything in my power prove to them that I AM their problem solver.
4.Offer my e-wares - Only after I established a certain level of trust with my customers, then and only then would I offer my e-wares. I would offer it to them until they buy, die, or asked to be removed from my list.
Today' rapidly changing market demands that you take a long term approach to customer generation, support, and retention. Today's Internet e-wares quickly become tomorrow's e-relics, as your hot product or affiliate program is soon ancient history in internet time.
Survival in this constantly changing environment requires that you build a long steady stream of customers who want to buy from you. Do this by capturing your customers' information, branding your current USP, becoming your customers' problem solver, and earning their trust and respect. Become passionate about your customer's needs, and they will support your ever prospering internet career.
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