Simpleology Blog

Traffic Tactic. Sandwich giant Subway brings out the big guns by tapping Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps to entice "hungry" buyers.

If you haven't read the two previous posts, scroll down to take a look. Check out the answers submitted for the contest. They will really open your mind.

OK, so the question was, "What is the most critical element of your business?"

We got a lot of different--and brilliant--answers but there was only one person who hit the nail right on the head for the contest. (Congratulations, Deidre!)

The most critical element to any business is...

Let me explain with a story about my blog post-inspiring food run.

A few days ago, I decided to grab a bite at a sandwich shop just around the corner from my place. I had planned to do some solo brainstorming for what I was going to blog about while I munched on a chicken sandwich. Then again, since there were just a few people in the shop, I ended up talking to the salt-and-pepper-haired man behind the counter--who also happened to be the owner.

It didn't take long before we started discussing business. That's when I asked him, "What do you do to get people into your store?"

"Not much really. We just hope the people walking by will decide to come in," he replied.

At first, I didn't really know how to respond but then I asked him another question: "What if it's a rainy day?"

He answered, "Business is always slow when the weather is bad. But isn't that the case for everyone?"

I think he must have guessed my answer to his question just by the look on my face. I had my baffled-nosy-customer look: I had one eyebrow raised and I was mouthing a silent "What!?!" The sandwich shop owner merely shook his head and chuckled.

Anyway, it was then that I decided to share with him The Most Critical Element to Any Business.

You see, this critical element applies for all kinds of business--whether it's based online or it's an actual establishment. It's the same for all businesses--be it a chain of supermarkets or a little sandwich shop.

Bottom line: If you don't have anyone visiting your website or dropping by your store, you'll never be able to sell any products. You need TRAFFIC!!!

In our previous post, many of you mentioned things like cash flow, persistence, communication, market research, and so on.

Make no mistake about it, all these things are important.

However, it all starts with traffic.

If people don't see or hear about what you have, absolutely no business will ever be done.

Granted, once they see your product, a whole new set of forces will influence the sale. But, it all starts with traffic.

So if my new friend the sandwich shop owner decides to be proactive in his marketing, he should look for a number of ways to spread the word about his sandwiches. He would give people more reasons to visit his shop over and over again.

The problem is, too many business owners don't realize the importance of proactively generating a consistent stream of traffic. As such, their business is dependent on "hope."

They hope people will come into the store--even on a rainy day.

They hope these people will buy their products.

They hope that their customers will tell their friends and family.

And they continue to "hope" that they'll achieve all their business goals and dreams.

Now, I know you aren't in this category. I'm also pretty sure that you don't want to fall into it. That's why it's important for us to develop a plan that utilizes proven success strategies.

You see, one of the things that we know for sure is that even though traffic is the most critical element for any business, not all traffic is equal.

For example, people who have a craving for a tasty sandwich are much more likely to buy than those who are just casually walking by. And the people with the craving are even more likely to buy if it's lunchtime, when they haven't eaten yet and they've heard that you have, say, $1.00 off their favorite sandwich.

So what's the most effective way to consistently generate a bunch of "hungry" buyers?

Let me share this with you...

One of our students at Simpleology made a commitment to really focus on using this one method over the last 12 months.

Take a look at what happened...

Sales Revenue 12 Months Preceding: $1,499,384.00
Sales Revenue 12 Months After: $3,474,343.83

These numbers speak for themselves.

Now, of course, there were some other contributing factors to his success. Then again, he was consistently doing this one crucial thing week after week and, as a result, his business grew and grew.

Just who is this Simpleology student and how exactly did make his business grow so fast? You'll know all the fascinating details soon enough.

In my next post, I'll tell you all about what he did and discuss how you yourself can use it to build a solid base of happy customers that are eager to buy from you again and again.

Stay tuned!