Remember 2001? Tweeting was reserved for birds and a Web site was an afterthought for most businesses. Affiliate marketing was hardly a viable career option and most of us still dialed up to the internet. It seems like so long ago.
Recently I was reading one of my wife’s old business books from college titled “Understanding Business”. In the section about entrepreneurship, it offers tips for attracting customers to an ecommerce site.
Saying that Web-based businesses were “still in their infancy,” the book offered tips for these baby ecommerce sites, ranging from Web design to customer care. The amazing thing is that all of the tips are still relevant today.
In spite of, or perhaps because of, all of our innovations online, the simplicity of what was true eight years ago is still true today when it comes to selling and customer retention online.
I’ve paraphrased some of the book’s tips that are still true today for both affiliates and merchants.
1. Keep it simple. Don’t require plug-ins that some people might not have. Avoid unnecessary graphics and special effects.
2. Provide value. The more information you have, the more likely people are to buy.
3. Make buying easy.
4. Display certification. Be secure and show it.
5. Post a privacy policy.
6. Be accessible. Give prospects a phone number, email, fax, and physical (NOT P.O. Box) address.
7. Get it right the first time. Merchants, note this: Customers who receive the right order on time are more likely to buy from you again… and your affiliates will love this.
8. Respond quickly. Immediate response gives the customers a sense of support and service (and importance).
9. Keep track of what’s selling. As a merchant, you have to analyze buying trends and habits to help plan inventory. Don’t run out of something that is selling. This upsets customers and affiliates alike. You have to know conversion rates too.
10. Build a support network. The book says “build relationships with other Web-based entrepreneurs.”
While forums were not as popular then as they are now, the advice still rings true. Participate in forums like ABestWeb.com, AffiliateTrust.org or others. Read, learn, and share. Attend conferences like Affiliate Summit. Meet with other affiliate marketers in your area. Becoming a part of a community will not only help you with your business, but will also help alleviate some of the loneliness that sometimes comes with being an affiliate marketer.
Thinking back to my own beginnings in online business in 2003, not much has really changed. Email is still my primary means of communication, but as always, I prefer actually talking to someone.
The data still doesn’t lie. If one header outperforms another, it wins, no matter how un-Web 2.0 it might be. And I still believe, perhaps more so than ever, that customer service is of the utmost importance.
It’s true in the online world for sure. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Matt McWilliams of Legacy Learning Systems is the 2010 Pinnacle Awards Affiliate Manager of the Year – www.learnandmaster.com/affiliates.
Download the entire FeedFront issue 9 here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/24376105/FeedFront-Magazine-Issue-9
FeedFront issue 9 articles can be found here as well: http://feedfront.com/archives/article002334
