Understanding that the Internet is another vehicle fordirect response marketing can potentially make yourich!

It's true. Not many people actually 'get it'.

Information marketing has much in common with the 'oldschool' mail order business. In fact, many of thepractices you see online today such as two page directsales mini-sites, mailing lists and unique products,come directly from the mail order model.

Every Internet Marketer would benefit from studyingthe mail order industry. The basic marketingprinciples and practices employed by the industrytranslate naturally to the online environment.

The five core priorities of successful mail ordercompanies parallel those of the online marketer. Theyare: demographics, targeting, testing and tracking,up-selling and customer follow up. If you aren'tfocused on these key areas yet, read on to discoverwhy should be, and what it will mean for your bottomline.

Direct Response Lesson #1: Demographics

Demographic information provides an in depth profileof your potential customer. There are two ways toacquire demographic information, and two separatemotives for each method.

You can:

? Acquire data from consumer data mining companiessuch as MarketShare Online ? Acquire data from your existing customer base

The preferred source depends on your productdevelopment process and your current resources.Professionally gathered data allows you to survey themarket and create highly targeted products. Ratherthan searching through keyword lists for potentialniches, you can use demographic data to targetspecific classes of consumers based on their spendinghabits and disposable income. Your marketing strategybecomes much clearer with this data in hand. It allowsyou advance insight into your customer's interests,pricing points and mindset. Now, you have a baselineagainst which to test the effectiveness of your salesmessage.

You should also acquire as much demographic data aspossible from your existing customer base and mailinglist. Even when you possess the resources to pay forthis information you should still query your owncustomers.

Why?

Quite simply, you need to compare the profile of yourexisting customer base against your expected customerbase. For example, if you sell a high-pricedinformation product targeted towards small businessowners, yet find that 50% of your list is composed ofnon-qualified tire-kickers, something is off witheither your sales copy, your targeting or both.

Direct Response Lesson #2: Targeting

Here is a rule of thumb for you to memorize: interestand need alone are not enough to generate a sale. Thisis a controversial statement, I know. Ask yourself thefollowing question, though: how often have you foundyourself interested in a product yet not purchased it?How often have you needed a product, yet not been ableto afford it?

The truth is that, in either case, despite yourinterest and your need, you were only marginallytargeted when the offer was presented to you.

This subtle case points to the synergy betweendemographics and targeting. This is why mail ordercompanies go to such great effort to acquire detailedinformation on the marketplace. Whether you send 100, 000 pieces of mail or pay for 100,000 visitors to yourweb site, the goal is the same: put the offer in frontof the right people, at the right time. If you put theright offer in front of the right person at the wrongtime, it's the same as no offer at all. It isuntargeted.

Direct Response Lesson #3: Testing and Tracking

You absolutely must test and track everything you do.You must track your pay-per-click campaigns, yournewsletter mailings and the paths taken by visitors toyour web site. You must test your ad copy and yourproduct pricing.

The testing and tracking phase of a marketing campaignmarks the proving ground between demographics andtargeting. Once you've acquired the data on yourpotential customer's behavior, you must track theiractual behavior to find out if it matches the expectedresults.

Until you do this, you are really only guessing atwhat works. Every mail order company places a trackingcode on their post cards. This allows them to zero inon the exact location, age, income, race and maritalstatus of responsive customers. When you first launcha product online, however, you are essentially blindto this information until you start tracking. As yougather your data, however, you will discover whichsearch engines and which newsletters pull the best.Over time, you will be able to match this up withdeeper demographic data collected from your list anddiscover, at the very least, the age and income ofyour customers and which search engines they prefer.

Can you imagine knowing that men between the ages of24-34, for example, prefer Google, or that stay athome mothers prefer Yahoo? This type of data ispriceless because it directs your targeting up front.This is the exact goldmine which awaits you when youdevote careful attention to testing and tracking yourcampaigns.

Direct Response Lesson #4: Create Robust Order Formsfor the Up-Sell

Your order form can pull more profit through impulsepurchases than you realize. Many internet marketersseem to believe that one product should lead to onesimple order form. This is probably due to so many ofus being self-taught. We copy what we've seen.

Have you ever stopped to examine a mail-in coupon orcatalog form? Even when the offer ultimately focuseson one major product, the form still includes anup-sell and sometimes even a counter-offer.

For example:

"Yes! I'd like to order the Incredible Bikini WaxSystem for $49.95 today! Also, please include my 14ounce bottle of Instant Soothing Moisturizer, aperfect complement to the Incredible Bikini Wax Systemand a steal at only $9.99" (Up-Sell)

"Yes, I'd like to subscribe to Golfing Today! Insteadof the incredible offer of 12 issues for $14.99, I'dlike to receive a full 52 issues a year for $29.95" ( counter-offer)

The reason for doing this, of course, is that thecustomer is already interested and already in a buyingmindset. You've done all the hard work to lead him toyour site and you've enticed him with your salesletter. He's on the order form with credit card inhand. Why not use this moment to make a complementaryoffer? You can up-sell a related product of your ownor that of one of your joint venture partners for aprofit split.

There's really no harm in making the offer. Thecustomer will either take you up on it or he won't.The important point here is that a robust order form,with additional offers, helps you squeeze out extraprofit and cuts down the work of luring that customerback in the future to make additional purchases.

Direct Response Lesson #5: Post Sale Follow Up

What happens to your customer after the sale? Take apage from the book of mail order secrets and follow upwith that customer! If you've ever purchased anythingthrough a catalog, you know what happens. You end upon their mailing list and continue to receive catalogsand other offers in the mail.

In fact, you may receive so much mail from that onecompany that you become irritated! While I don'trecommend going overboard with your mailings, I dorecommend moving your customers to an announcementlist or newsletter.

You don't want a one time shot with that individual.Rather, you want to build a lasting relationship. Yourfollow up process should be designed with severalgoals in mind:

? Keeping your name and brand in front of the customer ? To build trust and credibility by sharing supportingmaterial that adds value to the product ? To maintain contact so that you can make additionaloffers in the future

Customer follow up is so important it can't bestressed enough. There is a rule which states that 80%of your sales will come from 20% of your customers. Inother words, if someone purchases from you once, theyare likely to purchase from you again provided youtake appropriate action and keep them connected to you.

Remember that your customers are human and may gothrough a variety of emotions after making a purchase.

They may experience buyer's remorse. They may feelnervous about sharing their credit card informationwith you and then never hearing from you again. Theymay absolutely love you and your product and want toreach out for more information. You must tend to eachof these variables in order to gain the customer'strust and appreciation, so follow up!

What will you do with the five lessons presented toyou in this article? You have before you a nearlycomplete outline of a profitable business system foronline marketing. Take these principles to hear andput them into practice. Know your market. Speak toyour market. Connect to your market. I guarantee yourprofits will soar.

Copyright 2004 Jo Han Mok

Jo Han Mok is a frequent guest and featured speaker atInternet Marketing bootcamps and conferences onsubjects such as copywriting and Joint VentureMarketing. Visit his website to get a simplestep-by-step plan that can take you from ground zeroto having money deposited in your bank account from anonline business every single day for the rest of yourlife! ==> http://www.SuperFastProfit.com