How To Apply The Less-Equals-More Principle For More Effective Marketing

By: Ba Kiwanuka

Conventional wisdom normally dictates that more is better than less, but as far as online marketing goes, a good rule of thumb is to toss conventional wisdom screaming and pleading out the 21st floor window and rather abide by the Less-Equals-More Principle that has many points of application in web marketing. But first let me back track a little to better explain the paradox that is this principle.

Okay it's a no-brainer that it's better to have more than less; be a "Have-More" (as the 43rd President of the United States so smugly described his rich guests at a speech once) than a plain commoner; have more money than less; have several cars rather than one; have two or more homes as opposed to a single abode of residence; have a different wife for each day of the week than just the one. (Whoa! Just kidding about that last one, though there're cultures where that is the norm.)

Anyway the list is virtually endless and I could go on practically forever, but I'm sure you get the picture I'm painting here--that generally speaking "More" beats out "Less", except, as previously stated, in the applied science of internet marketing. So without further ado here are the various situations where it is indeed better to apply the Less-Equals-More Principle in your marketing strategy:

1. Adsense: Assuming you posted adsense ads on your site to generate extra revenue, you should opt for fewer than more ads. Why? Because starting from topmost left to bottom most right the amount you get paid for each click-per-ad decreases (note that there're several different adsense formats but inevitably the ads on the left have the highest payout, topmost first). This is one of the classical applications of the Less-Equals-More Principle and is well known to adsense aficionados.

2. Tackling Too Many Goals At Once: It's a well documented fact of life that any given day only has 24hrs. This is a truism that applies to every single sane individual residing on this planet and what it means is that you only have a finite amount of time to accomplish your goals.

If you attempt to do too many tasks at once the end result is that in all likelihood you'll probably not even complete a single one. This is what is known as spreading yourself too thin. Think of your mental processes as your own personal army; the tasks and goals you've set count as your adversaries.

As with any conventional army it doesn't matter whether you have superior forces if you don't allocate those forces strategically. If you spread those forces too thin then it is entirely possible for a smaller army to punch through your lines and even possibly overwhelm your forces. Same thing goes for your internet marketing strategy -- try to accomplish too much at once and you'll probably succumb to information overload (one of the killer diseases for marketing newbies).

The bottom line is that you'll end up as a "Jack of All Trades Master of None" which is a colorful way of saying you know a bit about everything yet are unaccomplished at all!

3. Brandishing A Webpage of Mass Dazzle: I like to refer to such web pages as bling-bling pages because they remind me of rappers' bling-bling (bling-bling refers to the oversized sparkling jewelry once heavily favored by the majority of hip-hop and rap artists (these days they seem to be toning down a bit however).

So what exactly do I mean by a bling-bling web page? I'm referring to those web pages that literally hurt your eyes with dazzle as though a confetti bomb had been exploded. There is so much going on the page it is truly difficult to focus on any one thing. Such pages are characterized with: garish colors; flash scripts buzzing about; pop-ups wheezing by; multi-colored text and a vast array of offerings liberally sprinkled between a smattering of text.

Now if your goal is to chase your visitors away as fast as possible, it doesn't get any better than this. If, on the other hand you are trying to get your visitors to purchase a product, but you so happen to be the proud owner of such a bling-bling web page, then it really is high time you rethought your marketing strategy.

Your goal as a marketer is to guide the visitors to your site from Point A to Point B with as little fuss and confusion as possible; where Point A is your compelling, clear, concise copy convincing them why they absolutely cannot do without your product, and Point B is where they make the purchase. Once again the Less-Equals-More Principle reigns supreme.

4. Spoilt For Choice: Several studies and market research has revealed that the more choices presented to an individual, the harder they find it to reach a decision. Strange huh -- You'd think people would welcome a greater selection of choice, wouldn't you? Well apparently not. Those extra selections insert an added element of uncertainty and doubt that didn't originally exist.

Where, beforehand your visitor was 100% ready to buy your product on the strength of your copy, two different but equally matched products presented side by side necessitate the need to conduct further research to determine which one is better and why.

That further research may ultimately lead your almost-about-to-buy visitor to your competitor's doorstep where ironically they may end up buying the exact same product they first encountered on your site!

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Ba Kiwanuka is the webmaster of www.internetbusinessmart.com The website that provides marketing solutions and tips .Internet Marketing Solutions

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