Surviving Tough Times Online

by: Jim Edwards
- by Jim Edwards(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.thenetreporter.com=====================================With economic problems dominating the headlines, allbusinesses, online and off, need to make the most of everysingle customer contact if they hope to stay in business!Consumers want to hang onto every dollar and only spendmoney for things they feel they really "must" have. To put yourself and your business in the best position tosurvive and thrive in the current economy, follow thesesimple rules for making every website visitor count.The first step in making every visitor count involvesknowing exactly what people want from you. The vastmajority of businesses never bother to ask what customersand visitors want, and therefore, they make fewer salesthan they could with a little research. Smart online business owners use surveys regularly to stayin touch with customer needs, tastes, and preferences. Itcosts next to nothing to ask a customer what they want andthen simply give it to them. But, it may cost youeverything if you don't take the time to ask first.Next, businesses hoping to make it in these uncertaineconomic times must form alliances with other businessowners who cater to the same audience. Other businessowners have the traffic you need in order to grow yourbusiness.For this reason, you must constantly look for creative waysto work with them. The easiest way to profit by workingwith other website owners involves endorsing each other'sproducts to your own lists or, at a minimum, trading linksto funnel traffic back and forth. Creating traffic from "scratch" rates the slowest andcostliest way to bring customers to your website.Persuading other people to send targeted traffic your wayputs you on the fast track to profits.The third step for triumphing in uncertain economic timesentails building one-on-one relationships with yourcustomers and prospects, even if you have thousands ofthem. They must feel as if you are speaking only to themin all of your communications. The quickest way to accomplish this involves specializingin one highly specific area of concern for them. In otherwords, no matter what you sell, you'll never succeed as"Wal-Mart." To succeed, your online business mustcompletely meet the needs of your customers in one,specific area.Time to face facts: the Internet won't go away! In fact,despite the well publicized "dot bombs" of a couple ofyears ago, the Internet forms a more integral part of ourlives than ever. Even if you feel like your business, your job, or someother important aspect of your life doesn't depend on theInternet today, what about tomorrow?Finally, everyone must stay current at all times with theever-changing landscape of the Internet. At some point,virtually every one of us will find the Internet anintegral part of our business lives. As effective business people, we must develop the abilityto adapt to change and give customers what they want - notin months or years -but in the space of hours or days.