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Blitz Ezine # 215 May 19, 2003
Business Formulas that will help grow your business

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The Blitz-Promotions News Letter.
Issue no. 215, May 19, 2003

************ In This Issue **************
Comments
Food for thought
Articles
The Classifieds
Next Issues
Link to this issue online -
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz214.htm

Coming Next Issue -

Building your profit centers - part 1

An overview of our promotion packages -

http://www.blitzpromotions.com/compare.htm

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Food for thought
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The flowers or weeds that spring up tomorrow are in the seeds we sow today.

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Useful formulas to grow your business
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Last week we talked extensively about your stats. This week we're going to learn how to use those stats to grow your business.

--> Hits to Sales - HTS (Conversion Rate)

This is one of your most important numbers. Like I mentioned last time you want to make sure that you use the same stats each time (whether hits or visitors).

We'll use an example -

We have a site that gets 100 hits a day and we sell an average of 2 products a day. Our average profit on a sale is $25.00.

Sales / Visitors = (Make this number a percentage) = HTS

2/100= 0.02 x 100 = 2 %

Profit per visitor -

Average profit * sales / Visitors = PPV

$25.00 * 2 = $50.00 / 100 = 0.50 (or 50 cents).

What does it mean -

So for every 100 visitors we make 2 sales. Each visitor is worth 50 cents.
So how can we increase our bottom line.

1) Get more visitors. Note many times as the number of visitors goes up your conversion rate (HTS) will go down. The more targetted your visitors the more your converstion rate will increase, but the oposite is true as well - the untargetted visitors will cause the number to drop dramatically.

2) Improve your site - this can be anything from improving the copy of your site, changing the prices (up or down), adding / changing your guarantee, offering different payment options, make the site more user friendly. The best way to do this is through testing and we'll speak a bit about this in the testing section below.

--> Return on Investment - ROI -

You buy an ezine ad for $100.00 in a popular ezine. How can you tell if it's been worth it or not? First make sure that any advertising you use make sure that it has some kind of tracking. We'll use the example stats below.

Ad in "Best Ezine"

Cost $100.00
Hits - 649
Sales - 4
Average profit per item - $32.00

Conversion rate -
4/649 = 0.006 x 100 = 0.6%
So the conversion rate went down - the profit per sale went up. So for the ad you made - $128 - or a profit after the ad cost of $28.00. Would I run the ad again - certainly.

--> Testing -

Tweak and tune your site for better results. The thing is to make sure you save a copy of the site as it is now. The make only one change on the site - for example price, upload it and track it for a week or two.

What happened to your -
Conversion rate -
Profit per sale-
Profit per visior -

Did these numbers go up - keep the test going for another week or two and if they're still good make those changes permanent. Then start testing something else. If the numbers don't go up - put the old stuff back up - wait a week - and test something else.

Next week -
Profit centers - part 1

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Quick Ways to Boost Sales in a Slow Economy
By Kevin Nunley
http://www.drnunley.com
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These days everyone has the same problem. With war updates broadcast 24/7, people are too focused on death, violence, political upheaval, and an uncertain future to worry about shopping. And that's what puts the economy in its current state.

Pam, a former customer of mine, had a thriving business selling vitamin supplements online. Through the events that followed 9/11, her business continued to do well. But this spring everything changed. As the economy tightened and the news focused on war, her customers disappeared. Of course, her M.I.A. customers had nothing to do with how she was running her business. She offered a broad range of products and used various successful marketing techniques to get the word out about her business.

The drop in sales was due to external factors. More specifically, her customers were glued to 24-hour war coverage that made them feel like the world was about to end. Not much there to make people want to buy. The laws of physics say that what goes up must come down. But when things go down, there is no comforting law that says they have to come back up. However, keep in mind that they usually do anyway.

As a business owner, you must accept certain facts, one of which is that a recession makes the strong stronger and the weak weaker. The only way to survive a recession is to get creative with your marketing, and your budget. Here are a few ideas to help you boost your sales quickly, regardless of economic conditions, and get back in the game as a strong contender:

1. Do Something Extra - No matter what state the economy is in, people love to feel like they are getting great value at a low price. Try putting together a package of popular products or services for an especially low price, then send out an enthusiastic email to your list of subscribers and previous customers. If you don't have a list, arrange a solo send through someone else's newsletter.

2. Exploit Market Vulnerabilities - This is the best time to take your competitors to the mattresses. Forge partnerships and co- marketing opportunities. Find ways to steal business from competitors who are hesitating in the market or withdrawing their marketing until the economy shifts.

3. Take Advantage of New Opportunities - When one door closes, another one opens. Maybe it's harder to get people to buy during an economic downturn, but as the economy dips, so do the prices of ad space. Try buying up a lot of commercial airtime on one radio station for a Sunday. The prices are cheapest on this day, and even cheaper since the recession. You can dominate the airwaves for a day and make a strong impact on an audience you may have overlooked.

New doors in your market may have opened during this economic downturn. Find out what problems businesses similar to yours are facing. What do these changes and challenges mean for your prospects? New problems for your competitors and customers mean new opportunities for you.

4. Reinvent Your Business - There is an important lesson to be learned from Madonna. She keeps selling albums because she reinvents herself constantly to keep people's interest. Consider changing the products or services you offer.

I knew a guy who switched his site selling old records to a site that sells only John Denver memorabilia. His business picked up immediately. Is there an enthusiastic segment of your customer base or audience who really want a certain kind of product or service? Maybe your business should be geared more to suit them.

You could also try giving your business or website a makeover. Get a new logo for your website or sign. You can get great logos form gotlogos.com for just $25. Try redesigning your website or using a new color palette for the whole site. A new look boosts excitement for old customers.

5. Spend Less, but Spend Wisely - Don't cut your marketing efforts. Resist the driving temptation to do so. Businesses who try to save money by eliminating marketing are weak, and as I said before, during an economic downturn, the weak get weaker. The strong eliminate wasteful marketing dollars, but not marketing efforts. Track your marketing results and simply cut the unproductive efforts. Find new ways to market on the cheap and keep your name out there.

This is the time to establish market dominance. To save money on goods and services you need, try bartering. Remember, the barter must be win-win for both parties, so offer something as valuable as what you'll be getting. Make sure you know where every dollar you spend goes. When you make a purchase, always ask yourself how it will improve the company's bottom line. Will it help to improve sales, bring new leads, or improve customer retention? Think before you open your wallet.

6. Cultivate Efficiency - The more efficiently you run your business, the more money you can save and the faster you can bring money in. If you are a service provider, ask for a deposit before starting a job. This gives you operating money to survive on until the job gets done. Pay close attention to your accounts receivable and get invoices out right away. Deposit checks and cash immediately. No more procrastinating.

Review expenses from time to time. Are there things you are spending on that you once thought would turn a nice profit, but now they are no longer making you much money? Cut them! A down economy closes a lot of doors for all business owners, but if you know where to look, and you have the right key, you can find and open a whole new world of doors. You never know-- recession may be the best thing that ever happened to your business.

Promote BIG with Kevin's All-Out Marketing Package. For one affordable price you get a press release with national media distribution, your own article sent to 2,200 ezines, ezine ads, and a page of expert sales copy for email or your web site. We write it all fresh from scratch!

http://drnunley.com/marketing_plan.htm

Reach Kevin at mailto:kevin@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.