Sell Ice Cream On Hot Sunny Days!

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by Ernie West

One of the biggest mistakes that web marketers make online today is in coming up with a product/service first and then trying to find a market to promote it to.

The other day I was out for a walk, enjoying a nice warm spring evening. I came across a local Dairy Queen and was astounded at the lineup stretching right out the door. Business was booming. Why? Because they were selling something people wanted at that particular time!

This made me realize that you must take the time to find out what people want right now or in the future, and *then* develop something to market to them. What they wanted in the past is irrelevant. Targeted timing is everything. Trying to coast on an old idea is like trying to sell ice cream in the middle of winter.

Don't try to squeeze a segment of the Internet population into a concept to which you are emotionally attached. Business has no feelings. It runs purely on logic. If something isn't working, scrap it and try something else. Those who have been successful online so far have learned how to adapt and change their thinking on a moment's notice if need be.

The challenge is in finding something that is or will be in great demand. This is where the work lies. Those who don't want to do the work will end up becoming the clients and consumers of those who do. It's your choice. You can be the ice cream vendor or one of the people standing in line.

And if your ice cream is good enough, word will get around. "Relationship advertising" is the best and most economical. People can't help but talk about how professional you are, how good your prices are, how good the ice cream tastes, etc. And they will come back for more, giving you back-end sales.

The research that successful Internet marketers performed in order to find their product/service was obviously worth the time and effort. Yet most people look at where these gurus are today and label them "lucky". I would like to suggest that they are no more lucky than anyone else, just smart, persistent and tenacious. They stuck to their guns until they developed ice cream that outperformed everyone's expectations.

It is too easy to look at a web store-front and forget that it all started as an idea in somebody's mind. It is even easier to forget that not long ago it didn't even exist until somebody created it. And since we are overlooking everything anyway, we might as well ignore the blood, sweat and tears they invested into building the darn thing.

Personally I want to place myself in a position to greet all the new and existing people on the Web wanting ice cream. The Internet is the hot sunny day and your website is your shop. What are you going to market, cold refreshing ice cream or warm gruel?

Open multiple locations offering a top-notch product that is in demand and promote like crazy. Automate wherever possible and continue to add new exciting products. This is like adding different flavors of ice cream, peanuts, banana splits, chocolate dip, etc. Notice how vendors up-sell people. Since you're buying anyway, why not add a little something extra for a nominal charge...

Keep track of your visitors. Some vendors have a club card that they stamp for each visit. Online this is getting their email address and then consistently following up. Don't harass them but give them valuable tidbits of information to gain their loyalty.

It all starts with a dream and a never-give-up desire to build. Change your mindset to one of success. Focus on the reasons why you can and rid yourself of the reasons why you can't. Constantly think of ways to expand and improve your empire every day.

And always remember: it is the thirsty people on a hot sunny day that you want to put your ice cream in front of. See you at the top.