Though the basic model is sound, it is quite lacking. For starters, it's too simplistic that it's even naïve for its purposes. A sales page will not automatically convert people into sales. A money router will be useless without profit generation. And the visitors who decided not to purchase your product will most certainly be lost if you don't DO anything about it. The basic online business model is terribly lacking. Much like a car that can't run with its skeletal framework alone, the basic online business model won't be able to achieve success if it's left to its own devices. A money router is basically a third party payment processor that will accept payments on your behalf. These payments can come in the form of credit card transactions or other alternative payment options.
The idea of the basic online business model is quite simple: Lead traffic to your sales page and try to convert them into customers. Some people will decide to make a purchase, while some people won't. Of the people who decide to buy your offer, you will make instant profit. The people who decide not to buy your product, on the other hand, will be lost if you employ this simple setup for an online business. Suppose you have a conversion rate of 10%, meaning 1 out of 10 visitors decide to buy your product after reading the sales page. What will happen to the other 9 visitors? Should you just let them go? Here lies the failing of the basic online business model. It relies exclusively on people who do decide to buy whatever it is you're offering. This can be fatal, as you will be allowing a great majority of your visitors to just leave and never come back. It's an essential lesson you should remember. Just imagine how profitable your online enterprise can be if you're able to convert the 9 out of 10 visitors into sales. You'll be able to explode your sales and profit rate by 1,000%, at the very least. This is what the online marketing superstars realized a long time ago. Every visitor counts and every effort should be made so as not to lose them.
But what is your conversion rate, exactly?
Basically, the conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that eventually become customers. Your sales page's conversion rate is one of the most important statistics of your online business. Your sales page may boast of a conversion rate equal to 50%, which is pretty high. This means that half of your visitors decide to purchase your offer. You may be generating 10 visitors per day, but since your sales page is proven to convert half of them, you have 5 sales for the same period, which is very, very good, especially if this level is sustained. Imagine if you're generating 1,000 visitors per day then. How many sales will you have with the same conversion rate? So immediately, we see how important a role your conversion rate plays for your online enterprise.
Efforts must be made to maximize your conversion rate to as high a percentage as possible. There are many ways by which you can maximize your sales page's conversion prowess. Here are some of them:
• Provide a good sales page. By "good," I don't mean well-written. I mean a scientifically written sales page. Copywriting is a science, after all. Your choice of words, the creation of a need, the magnification of a need, the establishment of a demand, the delivery of the persuasion, and the attainment of compulsion are components that require prior study and training in the field of copywriting. Additionally, a good sales page is not merely delivered to your inbox. It requires many hours of testing to see what works and what doesn't.
• A simple and functional layout. Forget about slow-loading graphics. Forget about ornate flash animations that take forever to view. The simpler your web design is, the better it will be for your business. Bear in mind that most of the world still relies on slower Internet connections. You wouldn't want to alienate this large section of the market with big file sizes that will test the limits of their patience. Also, you need to make your page as user-friendly as possible. The buttons and navigation tools should be laid out in a manner that will be intuitive for your visitors to make their way through your pages.
• Add testimonials to your sales page. People will have an easier time trusting the words of people other than the seller himself. Great third party recommendations will go a long, long way in winning the assent of your prospects.
• Pack your products with a multitude of bonuses. Doing this will increase the perceived value of what you're offering, and it will be easier for your prospects to make a decision with regards to buying your products.
• Offer other incentives that will compel your prospects to buy your offer at the soonest possible time. For example, you can throw in a bonus or two for the first ten customers. Or you can give the first 20 customers a substantial discount for their succeeding purchases. There are many, many more conversion maximizers that will help you increase your conversion rate.
