What is the number of leads you will need to earn the income you want this year? As simple as this question might be, I’ve found very few people actually have this number in the top of their minds.

There are two factors to take into consideration.  First, there are your expenses.  You should make sure to have an online accounting program advanced enough to help you analyze your costs and how they relate to your profitability. 

The second factor is your ability to convert leads to sales (conversion rate).  The more efficient you are at converting leads, the more income you will be able to make. 

Let’s take a look at the process more closely:

The first step is to determine your monthly sales goal. For our example, let’s say you want to make $100,000 in sales a month.

Next, you need to calculate your current conversion rates. Let’s suppose that all of your leads are generated through you website in order to keep this example simple. 

Suppose you convert 2 and a half out of 1000 visitors into paying customers. That’s a .25% conversion rate.

Use this formula to figure out how many visitors you would need to your website to acquire enough leads to get the sales you want.  To keep this example simple, we will assume every “conversion” described above will ultimately purchase from you.

(Desired Sales / Sale Price / Conversion Rate) X 100

Therefore, if you have a $20 average sales price, a conversion rate of .25%, and you want to achieve sales of $100,000, your calculation would look like:

($100,000 / $20 / .25) X 100 = 2,000,000 visitors needed per month to achieve your sales goal.

Yikes!  That is a lot of visitation!  Luckily, there are a few adjustments you can make.  You can change your price. Your can improve your conversion rate or you can multiply visitors.

For most people, the best place to start is conversion rate. It is very possible to increase to ablut 2% from an original .25% rate.

Take a look at the difference that makes to the number of visitors you need to achieve your goals:

($100,000 / $20 / 2) X 100 = 250,000 visitors per month to achieve your sales goal.

What a difference! 

If you want to decrease the number of visitors you need even more, try increasing average sales to $47:

($100,000 / $47 / 2) X 100 = 106,383 visitors per month to achieve your sales goal. 

Today, it’s all about working smarter, not harder.  Hopefully these examples drive home the importance of planning the leads you will need to reach your sales goals, and testing the factors you can change to become more efficient. 

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year”  to learn about an online accounting program that makes it simple to track your conversion rates.

No business owner likes to make cold calls.  But mastering the technique can be beneficial, even when you don’t use the strategy as part of your direct marketing campaign.  Here are a few ways you can use cold calling to your advantage:

Market Research  

Cold calling has a negative reputation from those pesky telemarketers that call right at dinner time, but the truth is that you can use cold calling to get the questions you need to successfully grow your business answered.  

All those questions that pop into your mind can be answered simply by picking up the phone, calling local companies that would know, and asking.  True, these people are busy and you don’t always get a positive response, but you will be surprised at how often you do.  And by making more calls or independent research based on those answers, you can fill in the blanks and learn more than you can imagine.  

Strategic Alliances

Today, success in business is all about forming strategic alliances that benefit all parties.  Sure, networking events and meet up groups are a great way to form these alliances, but you are limited to those that attend the event and the people they will ultimately introduce you to.   

Maybe you have a particular person or business in mind that you would like to meet, but you haven’t had the opportunity to connect with them.  One option might be to hunt them down and ambush them, but it would be more effective (and professional) to just pick up the phone and give them a call.  You can begin with general market research questions, and if you sense a positive reaction move into brainstorming ways your company can help theirs (and vice versa).  

In today’s competitive environment, successful small business owners need to stay open to any technique that will help them understand their industry better and form the partnerships that will make a difference to their bottom line.  Cold calling can be an effective strategy to achieving these goals.   

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year”  to learn about an online accounting program that makes it easy to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

No business owner likes to make cold calls.  But mastering the technique can be beneficial, even when you don’t use the strategy as part of your direct marketing campaign.  Here are a few ways you can use cold calling to your advantage:

Market Research 

While most people think of cold calling only as those annoying telemarketers that interrupt you at home, cold calling tactics can be used to find out just about anything that you need to know to make your small business more successful. 

All those questions that pop into your mind can be answered simply by picking up the phone, calling local companies that would know, and asking.  You may not always get an answer, these folks are busy too, but many times you do.  And you can always make more calls or do some additional research on your own to fill in the blanks. 

Strategic Alliances

Now more than ever a successful business person will focus on strategic partnerships to grow their business.  Sure, networking events and meet up groups are a great way to form these alliances, but you are limited to those that attend the event and the people they will ultimately introduce you to.  

Often you have a specific business or person in mind that you’d really like to meet, but so far have not had the opportunity.  While stalking them out is an option, a more direct approach may be to give them a call on the phone.  You can begin with general market research questions, and if you sense a positive reaction move into brainstorming ways your company can help theirs (and vice versa). 

In today’s competitive environment, successful small business owners need to stay open to any technique that will help them understand their industry better and form the partnerships that will make a difference to their bottom line.  One cost effective way to achieve those objectives is to reach out through cold calling.  

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year”  to learn about an online accounting program that makes it easy to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

Cold calling strikes fear in the hearts of small business owners, new and old alike.  But even if you’ve found other ways to generate sales, mastering the art of cold calling can help your business to succeed.  Here are some ways to use cold calling you might not have thought of:

Market Research 

While most people think of cold calling only as those annoying telemarketers that interrupt you at home, cold calling tactics can be used to find out just about anything that you need to know to make your small business more successful. 

Just by picking up the phone and calling local businesses that should know the answers, you can resolve any number of problems that might come up.  True, these people are busy and you don’t always get a positive response, but you will be surprised at how often you do.  And by making more calls or independent research based on those answers, you can fill in the blanks and learn more than you can imagine. 

Strategic Alliances

Now more than ever a successful business person will focus on strategic partnerships to grow their business.  Most people limit their exposure to these possible alliances to those people they meet at meet up groups and other networking events, and possible referrals that come through those events.  

You may know of a particular business person that you would love to meet, but have not had the chance.  You can always resort to the stalking technique, but often much more effective is to pick up the phone and reach out.  You can begin with general market research questions, and if you sense a positive reaction move into brainstorming ways your company can help theirs (and vice versa). 

In today’s competitive environment, successful small business owners need to stay open to any technique that will help them understand their industry better and form the partnerships that will make a difference to their bottom line.  An effective, low cost technique for achieving those goals is learning how to reach out through cold calling.  

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year”  to learn about an online accounting program that makes it easy to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

What is the number of leads you will need to earn the income you want this year? While this may seem like an easy question, not a lot of people can come up with the number.

There are two factors to take into consideration.  Expenses are your first consideration.  You should make sure to have an online accounting program advanced enough to help you analyze your costs and how they relate to your profitability. 

The second factor is your ability to convert leads to sales (conversion rate).  The better you can convert your leads, the more profitability you are capable of achieving. 

Let’s take a look at the process more closely:

First you need to settle on a sales goal for each month. For our example, let’s say you want to make $100,000 in sales a month.

Now you need to figure out your conversion rate. In order to keep this example easy, suppose that all of your leads come from your website. 

Assume that you are able to convert 2.5 visitors into sales for every 1000 visitors to your website. You have a .25% conversion rate.

Here is a formula to calculate the number of visitors your would need to meet your monthly sales goals.  Let’s assume every conversion will actually purchase from you in order to keep it easy.

(Desired Sales / Sale Price / Conversion Rate) X 100

The formula would look like this, if you want to achieve $100,000 a month in sales, you have a conversion rate of .25% and your average sales price is $20:

($100,000 / $20 / .25) X 100 = 2,000,000 visitors needed per month to achieve your sales goal.

Ouch!  That’s a lot of visitors!  Luckily, there are a few adjustments you can make.  You can increase the average sales price. You can change your visitation, or you can change your conversion rate.

Many begin by increasing the conversion rate. By testing various options and changes, it is possible to improve a .25% conversion to about 2%.

Look at how that will affect the calculation:

($100,000 / $20 / 2) X 100 = 250,000 visitors per month to achieve your sales goal.

I could live with that change! 

You can improve things even more by raising your average sale to $47:

($100,000 / $47 / 2) X 100 = 106,383 visitors per month to achieve your sales goal. 

If you are like most, you would rather make smart changes to improve your sales success rather than work harder.  Hopefully these examples drive home the importance of planning the leads you will need to reach your sales goals, and testing the factors you can change to become more efficient. 

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year”  to learn about an online accounting program that makes it simple to track your conversion rates.

Customers are tough. They’re extremely media aware and increasingly cynical – it’s a clever marketeer who can get through to them. Online surveys reinvent the traditional format – bringing all the benefits of the Internet without the programming. Here are ten reasons why they may be the silver bullet marketeers’ need, complete with examples supplied by Martin Day, managing director of Survey Galaxy - one of a new breed of websites making online surveys quicker and cheaper

1. It’s cheap as chips
Select the right survey website and creating surveys can be free of any charge and the cost to publish excellent value for money.
Useful information derived from surveys can be reused and repackaged in other marketing and PR for use in press outlets making it a very efficient form of information gathering.

2. It’s easy peasy
Anyone can create and design an online survey. Online surveys are quick and simple to create and design, no programming skills are required and when publishing completing the surveys is straight forward.

3. Multiple deployment options
Promoting an online survey can be via email (with a link enclosed), through a link from a website or as a referenced by other forms of advertising. Anyone who has the URL can be connected instantly to the survey, at a time that’s convenient to them, 24×7.

4. We have all got an opinion – and we like to give it
The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand. They provide a good method for broaching sensitive subjects with concerned employees; a survey asking a workforce on their opinion of change allows the key issues to be raised in a positive manner and encourages employee participation. Online surveys allow the message to reach each individual and invite feedback in a manageable form.

5. Get inside their heads
A customer may see an advertisement but you can’t be sure they have read it. Surveys engage the respondent, who think about the question before giving their response.

6. Seize the opportunity
It needn’t all end at the end of the survey – while you have their attention and are in the mood you can ask if they want to sign up for more information or a regular newsletter – making the most of the window when you have their interest.

7. Have you also seen….
One of the most important benefits of a survey is the ability to make inspired or useful connections instantly to other areas. By embedding links within the survey you are able to reinforce the marketing message.

8. The soft sell
Surveys can associate a product with a number of positive attributes. By listing the many features of a product and then asking the respondent to say how important the features are to them, regardless of their response, the respondent will associate the product with the features.

9. It’s not just about selling
A survey is an effective, quick and easy method to promote and gain acceptance for a difficult proposal; maybe a public body trying to gain acceptance and support for a particular scheme.
Take the example of a city trying to gain support from the general public for their bid to host a future Olympic Games. A survey can explain each benefit putting the respondent in a much better position to appreciate what the real advantages are that might just combat any negative headlines. Unlike other forms of marketing as well as promoting a cause, useful feedback can be gained that can then be used to fine tune the overall marketing strategy.

10. Engage your target group
Thinking laterally a lively and imaginative approach to surveys can provide the ‘hook’ to engage respondents. The survey subject can be targeted towards a particular group on a subject close to theirs hearts. The survey’s marketing message can take the form of a simple brand awareness message by stating that ‘this survey was sponsored by brand name’, or by finding a link from the subject matter to the product – something that is surprisingly easy and highly effective.

Attract traffic by providing a Public Survey section as many people who enjoy completing crosswords and doing word puzzles enjoy completing surveys. Low cost and automated, having a public survey notice board as part of a website will help increase traffic and establish a loyal and returning following. No need for moderators as unlike discussion boards there is no opportunity for people to disrupt the site by inappropriate remarks as the survey results can be displayed in summary form.

The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will in fact welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand.

Many of the techniques and a few more are contained in the following Sample Marketing Survey.

What will conducting effective market research teach you?

Know your customers – Market research will help you better understand your customers in a number of ways including demographic information such as their age, gender and geographic spread. The better you know your customer the easier it is to target your marketing and fine tune your product or service.

Know your target market - Who exactly are your existing customers and where do they live? What age group does your product or service appeal to? Who are your potential customers and where do they live?

Know your competition – Market Research will help you measure your service compared to others. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your business and are you improving in the areas that customers demand?

Products and services - Do you have the products or services that people want? Do you represent value for money? How do your products and services compare to that of your competitors? Can you, do you, should you deliver?

Ease of doing business – Do your customers find it easy to deal with you and when they visit your store and/or website do they find what they want? Is there adequate advice and assistance on hand? Do you make it easy for your customers to buy? Are all your employees properly trained, knowledgeable, helpful and available?

Marketing – Is your marketing reaching the right people and is the marketing message clear and effective. Which are the most effective marketing channels?

Do people understand your marketing message? Does all your marketing correctly embody your brand? Do you use the right channels to advertise? Are you reaching the right people?

With the power of the Internet it is now very easy to conduct market research using one of the many online survey software sites that make conducting surveys and collating good market research intelligence quick, easy and extremely cost effective.

By conducting effective market research what you can learn?

Know your customers – Market research will help you better understand your customers in a number of ways including demographic information such as their age, gender and geographic spread. The better you know your customer the easier it is to fine tune your product or service towards the target market.

Know your target market - Who exactly are your existing customers and where do they live? Does your product or service appeal to specific age group? Who are your potential customers and where do they live?

Know your competition – Market Research will help you measure your service compared to others. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your business and are you improving in the areas that customers demand?

Products and services - Do you have the products or services that people want? Is what you offer value for money? How do your products and services compare to those of your competitors? Can you deliver, do you deliver, should you deliver?

Ease of doing business – Do your customers find it easy to deal with you and when they visit your store and/or website do they find what they want? Is there adequate advice and assistance on hand? Do you make it easy for people to buy from you? Are your employees properly trained, helpful, knowledgeable and available?

Marketing – Is your marketing reaching the right people and is the marketing message clear and effective. Which marketing channels are effective and which ones are ineffective?

Do the right people understand your marketing message? Does your marketing material accurately reflect your brand? Are the right channels being used to advertise? Are you reaching the right people?

With the power of the Internet it is now very easy to conduct market research using one of the many online survey software sites that make conducting surveys and collating good market research intelligence quick, easy and extremely cost effective.

For any organization that wants to offer products or services that are highly focused and well targeted market research is important. Business decisions based on good market research can help minimise any risk and should pay dividends in the longer term. By making market research part and parcel of the business process and conducting market research throughout the life cycle of a product or service market research will bring the following benefits:-

 

• Market research will help you better communicate - Your current customers experiences are a valuable information source, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong. By asking the customer you can take the guesswork out of customer services and show them that you care.
• Market research helps you identify opportunities – If you are planning to operate a new service and want to know the preconceived attitudes people have then market research can help, not only in evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also by identify the areas where a marketing message needs to be honed.
• Market research will minimise risk - Market research can help shape a new product or service, identifying what is needed and ensure that the development of a product is highly focused towards demand.
• Market research creates benchmarks and helps you measure your progress - You need to be able to measure so that you can ensure that your organization is always improving. Early research can identify flaws in your service or areas where a product needs to be improved, by conducting regular market research it will identify if improvements are being made and, if positive, will in turn help motivate a development team.

Market research brings considerable benefits and it is perhaps surprising how few businesses invest sufficient resources to gather good intelligence that will help them improve business. Many may think that market research takes too much time and effort but that is just not the case anymore as through the power of the Internet online survey software is readily available and vital market research data can now be gathered in a quick, simple and cost effective manner.

For any business that wants to offer products or services that are focused and well targeted market research is essential. Business decisions based on good market research can help minimise any risk and should pay dividends in the longer term. By making market research part and parcel of the business process and conducting market research throughout the life cycle of a product or service market research will bring the following benefits:-

 

• Market research will help you better communicate - Your current customers experiences are a valuable information source, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong. By asking the customer you can take the guesswork out of customer services and show them that you care.
• Market research helps you identify opportunities – If you are planning to operate a new service and want to know the preconceived attitudes people have then market research can help, not only in evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also by identify the areas where a marketing message needs to be honed.
• Market research will minimise risk - Market research can identifying what is needed for a new service and product and ensure that the development of a product matches demand.
• Market research creates benchmarks and helps you measure your progress - Unless you measure you may not be able to gauge how well your business is performing. Early research may highlight glaring holes in your service or short falls in your product, regular market research will show if improvements are being made and, if positive, will help motivate a team.

Market research brings considerable benefits and it is perhaps surprising how few organizations invest sufficient resources to enable them to gather good intelligence that will help them improve their business. Many may think that market research takes too much time and effort but that is just not the case anymore as through the power of the Internet online survey software is readily available and vital market research data can now be gathered in a quick, simple and cost effective manner.