Marketing Tips Direct From My Holiday In ... - Home Business Articles

I've just come back from a great holiday in Morocco. we went on an early summer holiday as I figured it would get very hot there in August.

The people where friendly and the food, with only one exception, was pretty good. What I wasn't expecting was how different their shopping system is to ours in the west - and it got me thinking about how similar it was to Internet Marketing - I'll explain later.

We arrived one evening in Marrakesh and were met by the guide we would be using for a trek we'd organized in the Sahara desert. He dropped us off at our hotel and left us to explore the city for the next day and a half. Our rooms looked good, we had a lovely meal - spicy but not too hot - and we set off to have a look around.

The sights, sounds and smells were all so vivid. Nothing overpowering, and it all felt safe enough, but definitely NOT home!

The streets were sometimes quite narrow and it took a while to get used to the mix of pedestrians and mopeds zipping along with all sorts of cargo on the back.

Looking at the shops was also very different from being at home. In Marrakesh the shopkeepers are all outside on the pavement. They aim to get you into their shop, by directly interacting with you as a passer by. Some were more animated than others but all made a effort to get your business.

Once inside the pressure increased, there wasn't much chance to just browse. Needless to say we bought quite a few things, some we didn't really want, but on the whole it was a good experience. The most difficult was to NOT buy a carpet, they're beautiful, all hand made. Each carpet seemed to have a story and history, I wasn't sure how much was made up for our benefit but it was fun until we decided to leave, then it was sad faces and more persuasion.

I've been to Turkey and Tunisia before and the people we met in Morocco were certainly a gentler group, having said that they are all skilled salesmen, even the children in the square with toys to sell. Its difficult to describe, they weren't overly pushy but just good at selling compared to people at home.

Which brings me around to my inspiration for writing this article.

I noticed after a while that some shops were a lot more effective than others. It started thinking about how that is the same for Internet Marketing.

After a while I noticed that there was quite a difference in the types of shopkeeper:

The first group of shopkeepers didn't seem to be interested in what WE wanted, they just wanted to sell us something and that came across quite clearly. There shops had a big variety of stock, with no particular theme - just trinkets. There thoughts appeared to be, 'quick there is a passing tourist I'm sure I can get some money out of them!'

The second group had shops filled with what seemed like good quality items, but nothing we were interested in.

The third group had a well laid out store, it was clear what they were selling and it was stuff we may be interested in, but the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen.The forth type had a store that had the items we were sort of looking for, and a friendly shopkeeper who was happy to help us find what we wanted.

My wife, Laura, was in the market for some lampshades and decorative candles. We knew more or less what we wanted and in the end found a great little shop, the shopkeeper was a lovely lady and the bartering went well, I must admit though I leave that side to Laura as I haven't got the patience!

We came away with a really pretty lampshade and 6 scented candles.

The next day we had an eight hour transfer to Zagora - on the edge the Sahara desert. I was day dreaming on the way and realized that just as there are different types of shop and shopkeeper there are many different type of website business.

The internet is so busy that it seems like a crowded marketplace or shopping mall. So now if you imagine that your website is a shop then you'll get the idea that came to me. Then I got to thinking about what kind of shops do I have, what kind of shopkeeper am I to my potential customers?

That triggered more questions.

Is it clear what each shop is selling? If someone comes to visit would they be confused or is the message clear?

Am I talking in a language that the future customer understands, more importantly am I selling what they are looking for?

This 'exercise' put a whole new life into what I had been doing and when I got back home I carried out an audit of my websites.

I've put some changes into those that needed it and am watching to see how it goes.

I'll keep you posted with more details in future articles.

The question now is - how is your shop?

------------------------------

Uncover a secret library of ebook resources that show you exactly how to start your own highly profitable web based business today with simple, step by step, easy to follow guides. Request your free and very comprehensive 40 page report and training video today. Visit this special web page now... http://www.gladwinmarketinginsights.com/

ben flajnik randy moss randy moss hunger games premiere the bachelor good morning america red meat