AR vs. URL: What Works Best for Selling Online?

When Guerrilla Jim Daniels of Smithfield, RI created his Web site, he made some changes to his classified ads. He replaced the autoresponders--which had allowed his prospects to receive sales letters almost instantly--with his URL in his classified ads. He assumed that people would prefer to visit the site and view the color, sound, and graphics.

When his response dropped, he realized that there are literally millions of people who use email but don't surf the web. So out went the URL address in favor of the autoresponders. Daniels also had an email newsletter so he decided to do a little more experimenting. There, his newsletter ads contained both the autoresponder address and the URL.

Finally he had the perfect mix. His total inquiries (autoresponders plus page hits) went up by about 20% and remained there as long as his ad contained both contact methods. Along with these increased prospects came increased profits.

A valuable lesson learned.