Copyright 2002
by Kevin Bidwell

Every year in our town there is a "festival" of sorts called
"Old Fashioned Tradin' Days". It comes the second weekend
in September.

Sometimes, it's HOT.

A couple years ago a couple kids had the bright idea of
taking one of those coolers on wheels--you've probably seen
them--filling it with ice and Cokes and walking around
selling their icy elixir to the thirsty masses.

They paid about 25 cents for each can and sold them for 50.

I thought it was "cute"--kinda like a Lemonade stand. I
thought I would "help the kids out" so I gave the nine year
old "entrepreneur" a $5 and told her to "keep the change."

Matter of factly I asked her how much money she and her
little friend had made on their mini-biz: "Today, sir?"
Yes, today. "Just $75 sir, not too good, but we made about
$200 yesterday."

I almost asked HER for a loan!

How did two little kids, with no sophistication, turn a
profit of over $200 in a couple days? THEY TOOK TIME TO
KNOW THEIR CUSTOMERS.

They knew there was a large group with parched throats and
full pockets, ready to give them a couple quarters to quench
their thirst. It is much easier to sell people what they
already want rather than to try to make them want what you
have.

Do you know what your customers are thirsty for? Do you
know what things your visitors are looking for? How about
what age they are? How much money they have? What country
they live in?

All of these things can be very useful in making money on
the web. In fact, if you will take time to know your
customers and visitors, you will MULTIPLY your income on the
web.

For instance: If you know that your average visitor is
female, 42, living in the western world, spending an average
of $75 each month online and who is interested in ways to
lose weight and look younger, then you can choose a product
that will fit her desires.

How can you know your customers? There are several ways:

1. Survey your Customers.

By giving a discount or some other reward to your customers
for filling out a short--or lengthy--survey, you can gain
all sorts of useful information about who is likely to buy
from you NEXT time, PLUS what products your current
customers would be interested in getting from you.

You can also learn about your customers by looking at where
they are from. One of the surprising things for us was to
learn that we are very popular in Australia and the Southern
US. Why? We're not really sure, but we try to find offers
that will fit the demographics of those consumers.

2. Check your Visitors.

Using a JavaScript counter (such as is available free from
SiteMeter.com), you can look at all kinds of information
that can help you:

*Time Zone--tells you where in the world your visitors live.
*Length of Visit--Tells you whether people are finding on
your site what they anticipated.
*Referrer--This can tell you if your visits are coming from
a search engine and what search terms, what linking
partners are really delivering quality traffic.
*Entry Page--What page each visitor actually comes to first.
*Exit Page--The last page--why are people leaving on this
one?

The amount of information you can gain is quite impressive
and can be used effectively. Let me give you an example:

Several months ago we realized that when the price of one of
our products was higher, US sales went up BUT sales to New
Zealand and Australia fell to almost ZERO. By looking at
the numbers, we decided that we needed to change our prices
based on where a person lived.

So, we simply wrote a routine that looked at the time zone
of our visitors and showed them a price pre-determined to
sell in that time zone.

Was it perfect? No, some people have a time OTHER THAN
their local time on their computer. BUT, for every sale we
made at a lower rate--or lost altogether--we made 2 ro 3 we
would not have made without the routine.

3. Look at your Competitors.

Where do your main competitors advertise? Who are their
customers? Chances are those are the same places you need
to advertise and that their customers are also a good market
for you.

4. Use Your Imagination.

We realized several months ago that a large number of our
newsletter subscribers were single men. We signed up for
several affiliate programs geared toward the needs and wants
of single men. No, they weren't particularly related to our
"core" products, but they were of interest to our clients.

5. Consider Related Products.

If you are selling Web Hosting, you might also want to offer
web construction services. Why? A large percentage of web
hosting customers are about to build a web page. Sell art?
Sell framing services as well. Become a "one-stop-shopping"
center.

6. Listen to Your Critics.

You can't take your critics too seriously--it can really
mess with your mind. Still, if you get 2 or 3 complaints
about the same thing, make sure you have a good reason for
doing things the way you do. In fact, most of the time we
have found that the changes necessary to appease our critics
actually improve our sites and sales.

So, if you take the time to know your customers and
visitors, you will make more and LARGER sales which means
better profits for you.

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Kevin Bidwell is owner of http://www.all-in-one-business.com
and works with web business owners all over the world to
help them succeed in business. All-In-One Business receives
over 1 MILLION visits per year and his Success Secrets
course has helped hundreds of people achieve financial
independence in their own Internet business.

This article may be reprinted for use in newsletters and
websites provided that this information box is kept intact.
Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not
required: Kevin@All-In-One-Business.com
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