Making Money Online

byChrisGooden

14.2K followers

Updated 9 years ago

How do you make money online? The same way as you do offline.

You get customers. Simple!

To get customers you just need to answer the question “How do people become customers?”

The Buying Cycle

Customers buy stuff. Have you ever bought stuff? Then you are a customer. How did it happen to you?

If you don’t know how you became a customer then you’ll never be able to answer the question “How do people become customers?”

There is a process that we all go through when we buy stuff.

1. We become aware. Aware of a gap that needs filling. Aware of stuff that could fill the gap. Aware of stuff we could buy, whether or not we knew we wanted it.
2. We find out more about the stuff. We research it. Ask about it. Google it. We also research sellers, their pricing, their guarantees, their trustworthiness
3. We make decisions
   1. about colour, shape, size, taste, fragrance, texture, etc
   2. about how much we’re prepared to pay
   3. about who we want to buy it from
   4. and who we won’t touch with a barge pole
4. We make the purchase and we hand over our money
5. We are, hopefully, made aware of other products we could have

Where Does It All Go Wrong?

As a site owner we are treading water until the customer makes the purchase. No money arrives in our account until that moment. This is the moment called “Sales Conversion”. It is a pivotal moment.

Many (very many) site owners ensure that this “Sales Conversion” never happens. Why would they do that?

They don’t do it deliberately, of course. But they do take specific actions that derail the buying process. It’s like the car driver who slides off the road and says “It just went into a skid”. Be very clear -”it” did nothing of the kind. On the contrary, it was the actions of the driver that setup the conditions in which a skid was guaranteed. The driver controls the pedals. The driver controls the steering wheel. The driver sets up the car’s speed and direction.

Think about how you respond when you visit a shop you’ve never heard of, owned by someone you’ve never met, and the moment you walk in they try to sell you the latest gadget, offer you discounts, tell you it comes with “free delivery”. I’ll bet good money you beat a hasty retreat. Shop makes no sale. They killed it.

Now think about your website. Is that what happens to your visitor? If it is, he’s out the door. Whose fault is that? Yours!

Get Great Conversion

Start with understanding yourself. Answer the questions about how you become a customer. Then put those processes in place for your site visitors. Walk alongside the customer through all the preliminary stages. Give him data to aid his research. Give him choices that aid his decisions. Watch and wait until he reaches his own “decision” point. Do not even mention, not hint about, your product or service prior to that moment, or he’s gone to someone more accomodating.

You have twice as many ears as you have mouths, for a very good reason. Listen twice as much, and for twice as long, as you speak.

Be your own customer