One of the greatest and most timeless of principles in marketing, as in life … is don’t reinvent the wheel. This short phrase applies practically everywhere you see a sales strategy being implemented.
When it comes online sales, you’ll often see people building on the successful formulas of others, if not outright plagiarizing them. You’ve probably also read all about the claims of online business owners and affiliate marketers making six figure incomes in their sleep while doing it.
The internet is flooded with such stories, though there are a percentage which are quite real because they applied this principle.
That includes having a plan, and it’s not as difficult as you think. However it does require a bit of patience, persistence, and preferably a small budget to start. If you’re excited to get started, we’ll reak it all down in seven basic steps. The following roadmap can help guide you into the romised land of sales enlightenment.
1.) Identify your niche market. If you’re starting fresh, take some time to review a couple different areas of interest. When you narrow them down, start collecting all the research data you can because it will come in handy down the road. The research you do will likely show what niches have more ‘hungry’ buyers than others.
2.) Watch your competitors. You’ve already picked your market niche, so it’s time do some browsing to see who else appears on those first pages of Google. Look for the terms that buyers might be searching on. Look at their websites, sales copy, look for any imperfections you might be able to capitalize on.
3.) Choose the right product. Search physical suppliers or create something you can deliver
digitally. Some great e-commerce ideas for consideration are online electronics and phone accessories websites, all of which can be quite profitable. Alternately, you might want to become an affiliate for an existing product.
4.) Run split tests of products and creative. It’s best not to overspend, keep all your tests small and targeted. Mix different variables to help reveal the winners. Note that this will pay off
dividends in the long run, though many skip doing it because of impatience and time constraints.
When you find a winning campaign it’s going to pay for itself many times over!
5.) Create and plan your strategy. This doesn’t need to be anything complex or time-consuming.
Create a quick mind map, draw a blueprint, or outline the strategy you can follow chronologically.
Use your calendars wisely and mark your deadline dates so you keep the motivation levels high.
Note the pros and cons to the various strategies you are employing. Don’t be afraid to change course when necessary.
6.) Reinvest and scale. Now you’re headed in the right direction and seeing some positive R.O.I.
This might include buying more inventory, using more drop shippers, or even building companion products to existing ones. You might even consider expanding to other websites in the same niche. The takeaway here is that you’re continuously setting the bar higher and maximizing the returns.
7.) Get automated. Look for third party services that can assist you with the routine work so you can focus on growing sales. From autoresponders or WordPress plugins to fully automated sales funnels, there are plenty of ways increase sales on autopilot while decreasing the time spent behind the computer.