-•- TheHomeBizDigest Newsletter - Issue 216 -•-
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Marketing Tip
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If you're selling products this holiday season, here is a little
tip that is sure to help your sales. According to an eBrain Market 
Research study, more than 80 percent of online consumers say that 
the important factors in influencing purchase decisions are free 
shipping and frequent-shopper discounts. Consumers have become a 
bit more savvy over the years and realize that shipping will make 
up a decent part of the purchase price in some cases. I know that
when I buy, I rarely buy something online if the shipping cost is 
going to be 10% or more of the purchase price. If you can, do your
absolute best to include shipping in your prices long before the 
holiday season gets started and paste a huge "free shipping" logo
on your website. I realize that this may require a little more in
the accounting department for some of you, but if you are able to 
bring in 15% more holiday sales this season, wouldn't a few extra
hours of number-crunching make it worthwhile? The other factor in 
the study was frequent shopper discounts. With many clients buying
early to avoid the rush, you may be able to generate a good number
of repeat buyers if you offer them an incentive to come back. You
are already providing them a great shopping experience, right? So
why wouldn't they come back if they know they're getting service 
and a small token of your appreciation? The key here isn't getting
the very last penny out of every last sale, the idea is getting a
bunch more sales to the pennies don't matter. If you can't offer a
repeat purchase discount, at least go for the free shipping. Free
shipping is huge this holiday season, and if you're not offering 
it, you will lose clients to merchants who are.
 
 
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Featured Guest Article
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Don't Tell Me That You Love Me
by John Colanzi
 
It's a natural human instinct to love praise.
 
Our egos thrive on it.
 
The problem is praise isn't always good.
 
Sometimes we need a realistic criticism of our work,
but friends and family give us praise instead.
 
They don't want to bruise our egos.
 
Well, I don't mean to be rude, but if you can't accept
honest criticism you'll never reach your full potential.
 
This happened to me recently on a product I was working
on. I sent a sample out for evaluation, but everyone
gave only positive feedback, when there was a need for
some honest criticism.
 
I launched the product and low and behold a percentage
of buyers started returning negative feedback.
 
I've been online long enough to know that one or two
negative comments may be insignificant, but when the
criticism reaches a certain point, it's time to re -
evaluate.
 
I looked over all the comments and determined what 
changes needed to be made to eliminate the drawbacks.
 
After a total revamping and making all the changes 
necessary, sales increased, feedback became more 
positive and charge backs were eliminated.
 
This drove the point home, that although praise may
feel good in the short term, honest criticism is more
valuable.
 
Learn to accept honest feedback and you'll save your -
self time, energy and money.
 
Having your ego stroked may feel good, but reality rules
the day.
 
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Copyright (c) John Colanzi
Discover how you can literally turn hundreds of online
newsletters into your own 24 hour sales machine. Forget
the hype and learn what really works online.
http://www.thesimplesystem.net/confessions.html
 

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Beware
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It's possible to take your company public without using an 
investment banker, but I think it's a bad idea. Security laws 
are complicated and picky, and as careful as you might be, I 
think it would be easy to be in violation of some regulation. 
If you were, the management of your company, and its principal 
equity holders, can be help liable.
 
 
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