You can spend hours, days and even months designing the perfect website. You can spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on your advertising campaign. You can do all this with the greatest precision and if you neglect the one critical element that is absolutely "key", you might as well turn your computer off..for good! That one crucial element is, without question, follow up.

It almost seems like the Internet is a living, breathing entity, but that it has two personalities. It can be a cold and lonely place or a warm and inviting environment. There is an established criterion that is solidly in place and it would serve you well to learn all you can about it. It's pivotal to your success.

If you have ever been in sales in the offline arena, then you already know how vital proper client or prospect follow up is. What makes it even more imperative on the Internet is that 99% of the time, you will never meet anyone face to face. In order to be remembered, you need to keep your name in front of people. There is one very important addendum to that. Your name must be respected and that happens only through learning and implementing the criteria I mentioned earlier.

Equally important to the success of your business, and part of the process, is consistent follow up. The process, in itself, has positive repercussions:

* Your name will become synonomous with other leading experts.
* You will be trusted as a professional.
* Your sales level will increase.

One of the most rewarding contributions you can make in this industry is your willingness to help others succeed. Proper follow up allows you to do just that and, at the same time, generate revenue for your own company.

It is the universal law of "sowing and reaping". Don't just look at follow up as a way to make money. See it as an opportunity to help someone else get what "they" want. If you really believe in what you are selling, this shouldn't be a problem for you. If you don't, then you shouldn't be promoting it!



Below are the statistics regarding the importance of following up from the Association of Professional Salesmen and the National Sales Executive Association:

2% of sales are made on the 1st contact
3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
10% of sales are made on the 4th contact
80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact!!

As with anything Internet driven, there is a right way and a wrong way to follow up. What you don't want to do is make a nuisance of yourself, but you also don't want to be forgotten. Potential customers receive a walloping amount of "have I got a deal for you" messages and, unless yours is unique and inviting, you will get lost in the myriad.

Even though the Internet is a staggeringly huge medium, it's really not that hard to work yourself into a position of authority. Persistence and integrity are the needed ingredients and qualities. Don't try to "fool" anybody into purchasing anything that you aren't passionate about yourself.

There are some excellent resources on the Internet to help you construct first-rate follow up letters. Search them out, study them and master the technique. Soon it will become second nature to you and you will have the tremendous opportunity to help others! What could be better than that?