Recently I’ve been changing the direction of my business, which means I’ve been investing money in products and services to help me automate many of my business systems.

Whilst I’ve been researching products I’ve contacted a few product owners through their websites and asked them questions about their product.  Let me share with you my experiences …

Product 1 : I contacted them asking them a simple question about the rights to their products … 6 days later … no answer.  In the ticket I even said, I’m ready to join your site (which isn’t cheap), can you just clarify these points.  No answer.

Product 2 :  Costs $150 a month to subscribe to.  I sent them a ticket, after a few days, no answer.  Sent them another, and another and another.  28 days later, before the subscription renews, I cancel it.  It’s now been 3 months and I’ve NEVER had a reply to these tickets.

Product 3 : I ask a question about rights to their products and in less than 24 hours I get a response answering me clearly.

Product 4 : I raise a ticket querying how their software works.  In less than 2 hours I’ve had a response clarifying my point plus a link to a video showing me more information.

Which of these companies would you do business with?

Company 1 - never do business with them if they can’t be bothered answering tickets - I even told them I am ready to pay up and they still haven’t answered!

Company 2 - may their name never darken my computer screen again

Company 3 - 24 hours is a good response time and I will join their site

Company 4 - Will definitely do business with someone that is that dedicated

Customer service is a fine art and one that far too many companies and people are forgetting about.

In these tough economic times, amazing customer service is something that is free for you to provide and can make a massive difference to your bottom line.

The cost of finding a new customer can often be 10 times what it costs to retain an existing customer.  If you go the extra mile with your customer service then you will find your customers will become a loyal fan base who will interact with you (and provide testimonials / replies to surveys etc) and who will buy from you again.

Take a moment to think about how you would like to be treated as a customer.  This goes for offline as well as online.

Treat your customers like golddust and give them the best customer service possible - the loyal fanbase you create will help you take your business to the next level whilst almost effortlessly increasing your earnings.

Remember, good customer service doesn’t cost a penny!

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Many people start Internet Marketing and are completely and utterly overwhelmed by the options.

Do you create Adsense sites?

Affiliate Marketing?

Your own products?

Authority sites?

Forums?

Social Networking sites?

Membership sites?

And the list goes on and on.

To add even further noise to the confusion, they sign up for some Internet Marketing lists and are constantly bombarded by offers for the latest products that will ensure they make $1000 in 10 days or $300 an hour.

The majority of people will buy each of these products, start reading them and then stop halfway through when they see another great offer in their inbox that will make them rich.

And do you know what happens to these people?

Nothing.

That’s right.

Nothing.

They don’t get rich.  They don’t make it online and they soon return to the offline world bitter and twisted with their dreams shattered.

Why?

Because they lack focus?

Be honest with me … if you create products, how many half created products do you have on your computer?  Products you haven’t finished?

I’ve got about 30 or 40 that I’ll admit to … there might be more, not to mention the post-it notes of scribbled ideas.

For me though, most of these were started some time ago before I realised the power of focus.

Focus means to create yourself a business plan so that you know what you are doing and STICK TO IT!

Ignore all those offers that are flooding your inbox.  You know what, most of them aren’t going to deliver what they say and you are probably better off without almost all of them.

What I would recommend is that you keep an eye on the offers so you can identify market trends and what is popular (it may give you an idea for a product) and watch out for anything that will help grow your business.

If you have a business plan you can almost instantly evaluate every offer to see if it helps take you towards your goal or if it is a distraction.

The marketers who succeed online are those who have a plan, focus on creating one product at a time and make it profitable before moving on to the next.

The marketers who don’t succeed online are those who chase the bandwagons desperate for a get rich quick scheme and never focus on building a business.

Marketing online is like building a business offline.  You need a plan, you need focus and you need to think long term.  You are highly unlikely to make a milli0n dollars over night, but if you plan and work towards that plan you can make a million dollars in a year, or two years, or five years.

Take a look at your online marketing efforts right now.  What are you doing?

How much of what you are doing is bringing you results and income?

How much isn’t?

Should you stop focusing on what isn’t working and spend more time focusing on what is?  What would that do for your earnings?

If you don’t have a business plan, take an afternoon off away from the computer with a pen and paper and create a business plan.  Create a realistic schedule of product or site development and promotion and then stick to it.

Evaluate every offer you get as to whether it will help or hinder your plan.

Mix some focus with some work and you have a sure fire recipe for success!