In the world of internet marketing, there is always an
opportunity to step back and examine exactly what is happening
with your online business.

When you started this endeavor, you most likely had the idea
of making money in mind.  However, without the appropriate tools and
methods, achieving this status of profitability can certainly be a
difficult endeavor.

#1  Traffic.  Your sales funnel normally begins at the moment
when a prospect chooses to opt-in when they reach your
capture page.   This is your opt-in box or sign-up page where the
guest  viewing the website decides to input their personal
information to be added to your list.

Without this critical point among your web pages, you have no
opportunity to build either a list of potential customers, or
develop your sales funnel.   Guests of your website will just
visit, browse around a bit, and turn to someone else’s page for information.

The desired goal is for people to visit your website and stay
long enough to leave their contact information. This results
in them agreeing to receive further communication from you.

Whether your preference is ezine arrticles, pay-per-click, or
any other marketing strategy, once a prospect gives
you permission to contact them, your sales funnel has begun.

However, in order for you to achieve this goal you need to
master attracting people to your website.   Any internet
marketer must learn this critical skill from the beginning
of their online venture.

Generating traffic to your capture page is vital to your business success.

#2  Continuing Communication.  Keeping your prospects
interested and confident in what you have to offer is the next
task on your sales funnel agenda.

If your correspondence is lacking in substance, your chances of losing them as future customers are very high.   Proving you have value driven information should be your goal with your customers.  Once you are known, trusted and well liked by your prospects, you significantly raise your chances of them returning in the future.

Quality updates on a frequent basis to your list not only
proves you have helpful information to offer, but will help you identify those who aren’t
really interested in your online business.

#3  Marketing.  Customer marketing begins after these
relationships have been formed.  This is where you start to
promote more products or services to your list.

You are still working on maintaining their trust as well as
providing them with valuable information.  They have now begun to
wait with a state of anticipation and excitement for your next message.

The more interest and excitement you can spark in your
prospects, the more they will invest into their business, and
contribute to your business success as well.

All of these steps bring you to yet another step in your sales
funnel. You potentially now have both front-end and back-end
sales. Both income streams are working towards your sales funnel
becoming the profitable online business you've always envisioned.