1.You need to plan how to attract new customers
2.You need to persuade these customers to buy more in their initial orders
3.You need to encourage these customers to buy more from you more often
4.You need to hold on to your customers for life.

Keep these questions in mind as you read the next section.

What Do You Want Them To Do?

When you are designing your website or your marketing plan, you must ask yourself: What is it that I most want my visitor to do?

Everything that you do (website design, marketing, PR, etc.) should be focused around the answer to this question.

If you have already designed a marketing campaign or launched your website, and you find you haven't properly answered this question, answer it and be ready to make some serious changes. Any cost, in terms of time or money, will be returned ten fold by addressing this properly.

Are you looking for people to buy something? Then this is your goal. If you are offering a service then your goal might be getting a lead, so you can follow up and make a better or more personal pitch. Likewise, if you are selling something that costs 25,000 dollars, you can't expect that people will buy that right away, so your goal will similarly be to get a visitor's contact information so you can follow up or send them more information.

Be realistic with your goal. Even if you're ideal response would be to have someone buy a 25,000-dollar product without flinching, you will have a poor conversion rate if this is your first priority.

For example, by getting prospective customers to fill out a form on your website, providing personal information, you have a chance to see what about your visitor affects how well they complete your goal. If your goal is for your visitors to buy a boat and most of your visitors live more than a hundred miles from any water, you have to reevaluate your approach. This is often a good opportunity to ask how people found you. This, along with proper web analytics, is invaluable, as it will show you the strengths and weaknesses of your marketing plan.

Make sure that you can measure the effectiveness of your goal through proper web analytics. If you can't test how a slight change to your website affects how successful your goal is, you will not get the most out of your business. The smallest changes to any detail of your offer, including design, copy, price, etc. can bring a dramatic rise in sales.

If your goal requires a response on your part, how fast can you respond? If someone requests information or fills out a form, the faster you respond the more respect and credibility you will receive? the more your lead will like you. It is expected that the average turn-around time is less than 24 hours. If you can make it an hour turn-around time, you will have begun to separate yourself from the majority of your competition.

Let's go back to those four questions.

Attract New Customers

In order to attract new customers you need to understand your different niches. You obviously don't have to have more than one niche to be successful, but if you do, remember that you have to treat each one differently with a unique marketing campaign for each. In general, the tighter your focus, the more you will be able to capitalize on your market.

So where are theses hungry crowds? Everywhere. Sometimes they congregate and this makes your life easier. However, many people don't know their hungry. And it's your job to remind them. This means they could be everywhere and anywhere. Why do you think that television advertising is so popular? Because, if they can find potential buyers, remind them they're hungry, and convince them that you are the right food to eat, all in 30 seconds, they can potentially get a lot business.

Think about your marketing as offering free education to consumers. You have to assume that an individual doesn't understand the full scope of what your product or service offers. And you have to assume that they don't even always understand why they need it.

The advantage of the Internet is that it is a proactive process. In other words, you don't have to work as hard to get them to act. It's why you always see coupon books at the entrances to grocery stores. Everybody that's coming in is already in the mood to buy.

Even if it is a proactive process, most people go online to do a very specific thing, like checking their email, or finding out information through search engines. Your job is to create a detour, hand them the coupon book, and show them how to use it to buy something or give you their contact information

Make Them Buy More

In order to increase the average size of each order, you can up-sell your customers to a higher quality product or service that has more benefits than what they were interested. You can also recommend accessory products and services, or add-ons that compliment what your customer is purchasing. Or you can package several items or services that would cost more money if sold separately.

One of the most effective ways to do this on the Internet is do put your up-sell as a one-time-offer on your thank you/download page. Explain to whomever just purchased your product or service, that this is the only chance they will have to receive this special offer. Of course they could always copy the URL and come back later, but so what? If you get the sale, you get the sale.

Make Them Buy More Often

In order to get your customers to buy more often, you have to establish an ongoing communication channel whereby you continue to present persuasive offers that are hard to turn down.

Ask your customers how they like your product or service. Ask them what they're happy about and what they would like different. See if you can't offer something else to help increase their satisfaction.

Keep the competition away by learning about the buying patterns of your customers. If you can predict what a customer will end up needing, and reach them before they realize that need, you will dramatically increase your customer retention and overall sales.

Make Them Life-Long Customers

To create life-long customers, focus on true customer service. Customer service is an art in its own right. If you can figure out how to go the extra mile and provide your customers with more support than they were expecting, they will love you and come back for more.

Ask your customers for testimonials about you, your products, and your customer service. People like to give back. People like to feel appreciated. Always ask questions on how you can make your product or service better.

Again, the more you understand who your customer base is and what their needs are, the less chance you will let your customers slip away to the competition.

One technique I've seen used is to send people birthday cards. If that doesn't make them appreciate you more, I don't know what will. Holiday cards would do the same. In essence, any communication that is not sales-oriented, but simply communication to just say hello or thank you will significantly differentiate you from your competition, as it is very rare that businesses (and friends alike) remember when your birthday is.