How do you build trust with others? You get to know them and find out what they are all about. It is easier to do that face to face, yes, but it can also be accomplished in cyberspace if you are willing to work at it. But, why do any of that anyway?

Building relationships with your readers is vital to your business. Remember that your goal is to make money and for that you will need people to visit your site. But, visiting is not enough in and of itself.

Think about it in these terms. Let’s say you launch an incredible new product. You advertise everywhere that you can think of. In the first months of your launch, your unique visitors go up 100% (it’s possible!) AND the sales go through the roof.

In your bliss don’t forget that the journey towards one-time sales is a short trip. If you made six figures in each of those months, it still wouldn’t compensate for the next eight months of basement stats because none of those customers came back. That’s no way to run and grow a successful business enterprise.

Instead, strive for repeat visitors every month of the year. How do you do that? You build a relationship with each one of them. No, you don’t have to know them all by name, but you will want to pay attention and give them what they want to keep them coming back.

Readers are more than just people who come to hear what you have to say, they are looking for something. It could be your product but they won’t stay where they are not appreciated.

Here are a few reasons why reader relationships are so important to your site:

1. They have friends. You never know who is visiting and reading your site content. One thing that you do know is that they have a sphere of influence with someone. That sphere can be yours if they are satisfied with their relationship with you.

2. They have money. What started out as simply a visitor can be converted to a customer who uses your products or services if they trust you. Now you have the potential for repeat business.

3. They represent a portion of the population. Whatever their connections, they can be useful to you in building a better business. Online business owners can provide organic backlinks for you; bloggers can ask you to guest post for them; avid social bookmarkers can help lift you to expert status by linking to your content.

Readers are not just numbers; they are people who are important in their own right and to your business. Connect with them.

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In today’s economy, people are always looking for businesses who give them a break on prices. There are ways to give customers and potential customers a helping hand on your website without putting yourself in the poor house. One such way is to offer coupons.

We shop at the grocery store with coupons. Retail stores offer discount coupons to get you to come and at least look and hopefully to shop. Online stores are full of coupon codes that are helpful to lower your total shopping bill.

Coupons are a great way for you to promote your website and possibly increase your conversion rate at the same time. A discount coupon will get them in the door to check out your website and what you have to offer. You can use your web content and your fabulous marketing skills to do the rest.

Remember all those names on the list you worked so hard to build?  You can advertise your coupon offerings in your monthly newsletter sent to your email list of names. Create a page or a section of your newsletter devoted to highlighting discounts and coupons.

Here you can create sample coupons that contain a code which you will incorporate in your shopping cart so that customers get their discount. The purpose of the sample coupon is so your subscribers can print it out and pass it along to others. This is viral marketing. Make sure that your coupon has your website name listed on it as well as any terms and conditions of using the code.

Coupons can also be featured in an email marketing series. For instance, when someone on your list downloads your free report or signs up to buy the featured eBook, they get sent a discount coupon code that they can use towards other products in the future.

When you participate in joint ventures, offering special discount coupons specifically for your partner’s lists will encourage visits to your site.

Determine what type of coupon or offer that you will offer, set up your shopping cart to utilize the coupons or how you will have them to take advantage of the coupon and begin promotion.

Need help creating your couponing strategy or campaign.  Check out how we can help with our services.

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