80/20 Rule

If you're a budding Internet entrepreneur, it's time you really understood the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule has been around for decades. We normally think of it in relation to business.

For example:

  • 80 percent of a company's sales come from 20 percent of the company's product line
  • 80 percent of a company's orders come from 20 percent of the customer base
  • 80 percent of the sales team underperform, 20 percent overperform
and so it goes on.

Agree to Disagree

In the world of the Internet entrepreneur, I maintain that the 80/20 rule must be cherished. "Nonsense!", you say, "Doing business on the Internet is a numbers game. Volume is everything. It doesn't matter how clever you are with targeting, it all begins and ends with getting traffic to your site. And lots of it. The more the merrier. It's unreasonable to expect 20 orders out of each 100 visitors to my site, therefore the 80/20 rule can't possibly apply."

Hmm, let's just take a step back and think about it for a moment.

Promoting and Marketing Parade

You've set up your Web site. You've got a really comprehensive marketing and promotion plan you'd like to implement. This might involve any of the following online components:

  1. Search Engine submission
  2. Directory listings
  3. Classified advertising
  4. Use of Newsgroups
  5. Press Releases
  6. E-zine articles
  7. Banners
  8. Site Newsletter
  9. Pay-per-Click
  10. E-mail campaigns
  11. Viral marketing
  12. Own Affiliate program
  13. Join Affiliate programs
  14. Web ring
  15. Site Award submissions
  16. Gateway pages
  17. FFA links
  18. Reciprocal links
  19. Free services
  20. E-mail signature file
  21. Autoresponders
  22. Bulletin Boards
  23. Special offer promotion
  24. Joint Venture
  25. Auction feature
After reading that list, I hope you're saying, "Wow! So much to do and so little time." There is no way you can hope to implement that little lot, unless you're looking for your site to go live in about nine months time. But, there is an answer.

The 80/20 Rule to the Rescue

Here's the 80/20 rule expressed especially for you, the Internet entrepreneur: spend 80 percent of your time on 20 percent of your possibilities. This is how you apply the 80/20 rule to your site's marketing and promotion plan:

  1. Of the 25 options listed, estimate which five will bring the highest volume of relevant traffic
  2. Of the five selected, decide which one will bring the most traffic
  3. Implement that item now, if not sooner!
  4. Of the four remaining, calculate which one will bring the next highest traffic volume
  5. Implement that item now, if not sooner!
You get the idea. Carry on until you have completed the top five you selected.

We took 20 percent of the marketing and promotion list -- that's five items. Then we took 20 percent of the five-item list. What we are doing here is getting the list, any list, down to one priority item. Once we get that, we go to work on it.

And that's the essence of the 80/20 rule. Yes, you can use it the normal way to describe past performances or predict future outcomes. But, as you've seen, you can also apply the 80/20 rule to any jobs, tasks or functions you wish to perform.

Test of Time

You know how much of a time-stealer the Internet can be. It doesn't matter whether you are browsing, designing or marketing your site, the Internet has no respect for your valuable time. Don't be too proud to use the 80/20 rule. You will focus more of your precious time on your priority activities, and work much more quickly to the Internet success you are seeking.

The 80/20 rule has stood the test of time in every industry, for every profession covering every job function. Use the 80/20 rule wisely in your Internet entrepreneurial activity, and you will be well rewarded.

Article appeared in Internet Day. Written by Brian McGregor is CEO of Work Winners.