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Are You Afraid To Sell?
Relationship marketing. It's the backbone of a successful online business. Fail to forge online relationships and your business will suffer. Simple enough concept, right? But what does "relationship marketing" really mean? Simply put, it refers...
Time Saving Tips for Harried Website Owners (or, Going Online While Simplifying Your Life)
It's a situation many entrepreneurs inevitably find themselves in, after the first few months of doing business online. First they build a website designed to attract the attention of millions of people. But when the first of the millions start...
What Happens When You Submit Articles To Ezines?
What's an article anyway, and why would I want to submit one to an ezine? That was a two-fold question and will require two answers. An ezine article is usually composed of approximately 500 words on a single subject that would be of interest to...
Where Do YOU find Your Contacts?
This is a question I have been asked over and over again. It`s quite simple to answer, too. I chat! That is basically all I do in my pursuit for getting contacts. I find people via chats, be it chat downloads, yahoo, get paid chats, msn messenger,...
Why Some Web Sites Sell and Others Don't
Why is it that some web sites help sell products and services while most languish in obscurity and only serve as a drain on finances? Web sites are relatively low in cost to build and manage, and have worldwide reach. They can help you grow your...
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The Tao of Web Marketing
A few months ago I was watching a stream meandering back and forth across a flat plain in a high mountain valley. The stream reached it's destination - a small lake - but only after dozens of loops and curves. It occurred to me that Water and clever Web Marketing have something in common - they both follow the path of least resistance.
Let me explain.
Your first contact with a future customer usually starts with an email. It could be an Ad in an Ezine, it could be your Resource Box at the end of one of your Articles, or it could be your Signature File in your correspondence.
But in the chain of events that leads to a web sale, an email is the point of greatest resistance.
Why is that?
Firstly, your future customer is reading your message offline. She or he has to fire up their modem before they can buy your product. And that requires effort (and expense).
Secondly, if your message is in an Ezine, it's probably one of a dozen other messages all clamoring for attention.
Thirdly, whether your message is an Ezine Ad, a Resource Box, or a Signature File, you've probably had only a few lines to explain why your widgets are so good.
So if an email is the point of greatest resistance, what is the solution?
The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism (pronounced 'Dowism') - also known as 'The Watercourse Way' - gives us the answer. Taoism tells us to be like Water and follow the path of least resistance. Water flows. It is soft and moves easily around obstacles in its path, instead of attempting to go through them.
Nothing in the
world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.
The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice. (Tao Te Ching, ch. 78)
"What is the path of least resistance in an email?", I hear you ask. Offer something free!
Successful web marketers know this already. I recently did a survey of the Resource Boxes of fifty well known Ezine Writers. Over 90% of them were not trying to sell anything from their Resource Box. In fact, an overwhelming majority were not even trying to get a click-thru to their website - they were simply offering a free subscription to their Newsletter. In other words, they were more interested in building a long-term relationship than they were in making a quick sale.
When I started out on the Internet, I was pretty impatient. I certainly didn't want to the follow the path of least resistance. The path I had in mind was more like the flight of an arrow - straight to it's target.
But the statistics suggest that most web sales are not made like that; on average your customer will have to see your message seven times before he or she buys your product.
So next time you plan your marketing strategy, why not take a lesson from Water and follow the path of least resistance?
About the Author
Michael Southon shows webmasters how to boost their Traffic and increase their Sales. Download the FREE version of his popular new E-Book: http://www.theezine.net/ezinewriter.html
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| Ezine Article Submission - Submit Your Best Articles For Massive ... |
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| The Ezine Directory |
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| e-zine-list: John Labovitz's e-zine-list |
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| Ezine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| Ezine Directory |
| Home | Sign-up for your Free listing | Link to us Code | TOP 100 Ezines. CATEGORIES ... ezine directory. link exchange with us ... |
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| Browser based email list management, ezine hosting, and campaign ... |
| Browser based email list management, ezine hosting, and campaign software. Keep in constant contact with clients and potential customers. |
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| Splendid E-zine |
| Splendid: Daily music reviews, articles, interviews and more. |
| www.splendidezine.com |
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| OS/2 e-Zine - The Best OS/2 Reading Anywhere! |
| Monthly magazine with reviews, articles, and discussion forums. |
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| E-ZineZ - The Handbook of Ezine Publishing |
| An ezine directory, free ezine builder tool, ezine tutorials including everything you need to know to start publishing an ezine or email newsletter. |
| www.e-zinez.com |
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| EzineUniversity - Free Online Training for Ezine Publishers |
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| Ezines |
| E-zines directory with categories of free ezines, newsletters, email magazines and online publications. |
| www.web-source.net |
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| My Favorite Ezines - The Family Friendly Ezine and Email ... |
| The best family friendly ezine and email newsletter directory providing education - motivation - inspiration and marketing support. |
| www.myfavoriteezines.com |
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| Tattoos.Com Ezine Front Page |
| Historical information from the tribal art of Borneo to the wood block prints of Japan. Alphabetical listing of studios around the world, events, ... |
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| Welcome To Ezine.Com! |
| Welcome To Ezine.Com! Welcome Page For Ezine.Com ezine online magazine electronic magazine zine e-zine ezines eziner ezining. |
| www.ezine.com |
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| Ezine Information |
| What makes your ezine hot stuff? With literally thousands of ezines online ... We all have ezines that we love to read and learn from but that doesn't mean ... |
| www.dtguide.com |
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| Asian American Movement Ezine |
| Asian American Movement Ezine is a radical and progressive zine on Asian American politics, art, history and culture. |
| www.aamovement.net |
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