PW:You have pioneered a very
interesting concept on the Internet, a product called Web
Cards. Can you tell us a bit about them?
CH: Web
Cards are full-color printed postcards with an image of your
Web site on one side and your custom message printed in black ink
on the other side. They are used to promote new Web Sites, give
out at trade shows and it seems as though each new client has a
different use for their cards. We've done them for sites as diverse
as the Empire State Building to the City of Munich.
PW:These cards seem to be gaining in popularity quite
quickly. What techniques have you used to promote them?
CH: Business has boomed. We've been growing
almost 25% a month. We've tried a wide range of marketing ideas--including
opt-in email, banner advertising and practicing what we preach--sending
Web Cards to our mailing list
which always gets us great response. Our affiliate program brings
us hundreds of qualified leads every day. We keep in touch with
our list through a regular newsletter.
PW:You quite liberaly give away free samples. It is quite
unusual for a company to give away samples like you do to
anyone and everyone. Has it paid off for you to give them away like this?
CH: The samples we give away are from other sites we have done. Each time
we get a lead, we send them sample cards and our brochure. We are very
happy with the number of people who order after getting samples.
PW:You also offer a affiliate program, where you pay the
affiliate a dollar for every person they get to request free
samples! This is probably one of the most generous affiliate
programs on the Internet right now... has it been worth it for you?
CH: We know, historically, what kind of response we will get from
responding to leads so we know how much we can afford to pay for each one.
We now have over 1300 affiliates and the number is growing by almost 75 per
week. We have just introduced a new addition to our affiliate program that
also pays a 10% commission on all orders. Our experience is that the more
generous we are with affiliates, the more they promote Web Cards for us.
PW:I know a lot of people wish for your kind of success on
the Internet. So in closing, do you have any tips or ideas
for our readers to help their products to do better on the Internet?
CH: I think the key to the success of any
business is good relationships especially with customers. Many of
our clients order again and again so we try very hard to keep them
happy. Keeping in touch with prospects and cutomers on a regular
basis is very important. The Internet is just another tool for doing
that . People who want to sell products should test a variety of
marketing tools--both on the Internet and off--and see what what
works for them. Hopefully, one of the tools they test will be Web
Cards!
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