Archive for Marketing
Every piece of your website is a link in the sales chain.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
One way to get quick sales boost is: find the weak or broken links in your sales process and strengthen or repair them. And almost every website has at least a few week or broken links. I’m not just talking about hyperlinks, here… I’m talking about any crucial part of the sales process. Here are some examples of things you might want to do:
Fix Broken Links. The most obvious example is actual broken links. These are frustrating at best for your visitors, and for many it will kill the sale instantly (“if they can’t get their links fixed, what must their product be like?”).
Remove Inconsistencies. Even seemingly small inconsistencies send a subconscious signal to your prospects that all is not right. Some specifics to look for: different typefaces or look & feel on your pages; lack of consistent layout from one section of your site to the next; jarring differences between your major sales pages (opt-in page, salesletter page, order page, thank you page). Get fanatical about consistency.
Remove “Mind Stoppers”. Some things just cause us to “stop our mind” when reading a website. For example, strange or unnatural wording can cause us to stop in the flow of reading and ask “What? Huh?” Even though these “Mind Stoppers” may only cause a pause of 1 or 2 seconds, they interrupt the flow of your sales message. Avoid “Mind Stoppers” at all costs. The best way to find them: read your copy aloud, to another human being, in a natural tone and at an easy pace. Then have them read it aloud back to you. In each case, mark any section that causes you to pause or stumble. Re-write those sections and remove the “Mind Stoppers”.
When you forge stronger links in your “Sales Chain”, you’ll increase the results. And that means more sales and profits for you and your small business.
If you’re business is not producing the online sales and profits you want, knowing only four crucial numbers can instantly show you where the problem is.
And how to fix it.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Visitors: how many people show up to your website each month? You can track these easily in your web hosting account, or you can use a service like Google Analytics.
2. Optins: How many of your unique visitors join your optin email list? In other words, how many of them raise their hand saying, “yes, you have my permission to market to me via email”? If this number is not at least 25% of your Unique Visitors, you have a problem with your opt-in conversion process. You need a more compelling “ethical bribe” to get the opt-in… or better copy describing that bribe… or a more effective page design… or to add/delete/alter some of the elements on the opt-in page (more on opt-in pages in a future post).
3. Order Page Conversions: Between your opt-in page and your Order Page is your “sales page”. That’s the page where your sales letter lives. This sales page has one job and one job only: to persuade the reader to click the order button (which takes them to the Order Page). When that happens, we have an “Order Page Conversion”. 10% of your total Unique Visitors is the bare minimum conversion you’re looking for. I have written sales pages that convert at 30% or more. That’s not as unusual as you may think. If you’re not getting at least a 10% conversion to the Order Page… your sales letter needs work (could be the copy… could be the design… could be the offer… but something is not working!).
4. Sales Conversions: When someone actually fills out the order form on the Order Page, and clicks the button completing their credit card transaction… that is an actual Sales Conversion. It’s different from the Order Page conversion; there is always a certain level of “abandonment” from the Order Page. Some people put their credit card information in wrong; others receive a decline notice; and some, remaining unconvinced and perhaps merely curious as to what Order Page looked like, simply abandon their purchase and click away. So your third conversion is from the Order Page to the Thank You or Download Page… and this is your actual Sales Conversion. If that Sales conversion is below 5% of your total unique visitors, examine your Order Page for possible bottlenecks (is the order form easy to understand? Does it work? Does it look like the rest of your site or totally alien? Could you add something that might increase conversion, like a testimonial, or audio, or video? Could you take something away, like too much copy or garish graphics?).
Market by the numbers – these four simple ones – and watch your results improve.
We live by the calendar.
Our year is marked by signposts.
Dates on the calendar around which we plan our annual journey.
In the USA, some of the major calendar signposts include:
• New Year’s Day
• SuperBowl Sunday
• Valentine’s Day
• St. Patrick’s Day
• Easter
• Memorial Day
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day
• Independence Day
• Back to School
• Labor Day
• Halloween
• Veteran’s Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas
There are many others, of course, and your list will vary depending on your cultural and religious background.
The point is, the major signposts are easy to identify. And easy to construct a marketing calendar around. What’s the point of that?
We copywriters talk a lot about “joining the conversation already taking place in the prospect’s mind” (a phrase borrowed from Robert Collier).
When you tie your marketing efforts to major mindset changing calendar dates, you go a long way toward “joining” that conversation.
John E. Kennedy identified the power of “reason why” copy: prospects are more likely to respond if you give them a reason why they should. They’re more likely to pay attention to your promotion if you give them a “reason why” you’re doing the promotion to begin with.
Retailers have done this so long (and with so little imagination) we’ve grown accustomed to it. (“The January White Sale”… “The Sweetheart Sale” for Valentine’s Day… “Saving the Green” sales for St. Patrick’s Day… etc.).
The good news for your online business is that all of these “old school” ideas work very well online. And if you can get a little more creative with them (for instance, having a “Click Your Treat” promotion around Halloween) they work even better.
The point is: give your prospects and customers a new reason to visit your website at least once per month.
Planning your promotional calendar becomes very easy when you adopt this model. The list above is not a bad start.
If you’re more ambitious, you can select from hundreds of “reasons why” at 2009 Holidays & Observances Calendar … and have a reason to do a promotion 52 times per year.
Need ideas about what sort of promotions to do? Borrow ideas from the businesses that have made an art form of this method: brick & morter retailers. Car dealers, big box stores, and grocery stores in particular will supply you with a rich “swipe file” of ideas.
Just visit your local library (yes, they still exist) and get the back issues of your local newspaper’s Sunday issues (it’ll have the most ads) for the last year. You’ll have 52 “mini-swipe files” to build your library of promotions from.
What do you suppose might happen to your sales and profits then?
Wow. We’re already up to #7 of our 21 Small Business Profit Booster tactics.
I hope you’re making use of these ideas — feel free to post your success stories if you want. I’d love to read them, and I’m sure others would, too.
Okay… on to today’s Profit Booster: postcard marketing.
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective ones. Here’s the scoop…
Send everyone on your list (your prospect list and your customer list) a simple postcard.
The card can say something like, “just wanted to say thank you for being part of my world…” and then offer a link to a special webpage.
I recommend you register a new domain for the special webpage, because you want the address to be short and easy to type. Don’t obsess over the domain name. You can easily find plenty of good ones-for instance, www.ThanksFromBob.com (I suggest using your own name).
So, what’s on this page? Why, a special offer of course. Available only to the people who received your postcard. And of course, to all the people who read your postcard. Because postcards are what’s called “naked mail”-anyone who wants to can read it. That’s why it’s a good idea to put the benefit of the special offer right there on the postcard (“I’m giving you a gift worth $500 at a special webpage…”).
Also don’t obsess about getting the postcards out. You can upload your customer lists and create your postcard copy dirt cheap at www.USPS.com -they’ll even stamp and mail the postcard for you!
So go ahead, send some “naked mail” today, and start watching the profits pour in.
Every day you and your employees come into contact with your customers.
For most companies this is a disaster.
Every contact with your prospects and customers is either an opportunity, or a problem. There is no in between.
Question: why do we leave these interactions to chance?
We all instinctively know there is usually a “best way” to answer the phone, greet a customer, run an interview, or deal with a customer service issue.
Yet we (and more frighteningly, our employees) do absolutely nothing to prepare for these interactions. What if you changed that?
Write a script for every interaction you can anticipate with your prospects and customers. This means you’ll have a script for:
- Answering the phone
- Greeting customers
- Conducting a client needs analysis interview
- Running a consultation
- Giving a presentation
- Dealing with customer complaints
- And every other interaction you can think of
Creating a script for each situation-and making sure your employees actually use the script-can make a world of difference for your company.
So get busy. Write your scripts. Know your lines.
And make sure your people know their lines too.
As marketers and entrepreneurs, we have a simple job.
To get other people to do what we want them to do.
There is a tactic that gives almost magical powers of persuasion.
You can, quite simply, get practically anyone to do practically anything.
It’s so simple you’ll be tempted to shrug it off.
Don’t.
Here it is…
“Enter the conversation already taking place in your prospect’s mind.”
As far as I know, that idea originated with Robert Collier. It’s a simple principle, but not easy to do. So how do you do it?
Listen. Pay attention to what people say. Hang out in online forums. Track trends on twitter. Collect the words, phrases and ideas your market uses. Speak back to them in their own words.
Watch. Be conscious of what your store or website visitors actually do. What causes them to opt in? To opt out? To buy? To ask for a refund? Nothing teaches like behavior. People vote with their feet. Watch their feet.
Think. How can you solve their problems? How can you solve them quickly… easily… and with simplicity? Be the aspirin for their headache and abundance will be yours.
If you can do these things, your readers/visitors/ listeners will be nodding their heads, slapping the table top, and saying, “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel!”
And when that happens, Constant Reader, they will do anything you ask.
Because anything you ask will be in alignment with what they already desire.
That’s a deep well I just pushed you into. Follow it all the way down, and be rewarded with the cool fresh water of more sales, more often.
Want to create a big surge in profits?
Create instant cash flow?
Sometimes the big answers are the obvious ones.
The ones that sit right in front of our faces.
Take for instance the time-honored retail practice of: having a sale.
I’ve written copy for (probably) thousands of sales, most of it while I was in the radio business.
I’ve seen many sales that worked very well… and many that failed miserably.
And I have identified some of the key common elements of successful sales. Successful sales:
1. Have a reason for being. “After Thanksgiving Sale” works as a reason.. but telling the story of why you’re so thankful for your customers and how to you want to give them a substantial discount works better. And stories that are not tied to “traditional” sale days (Christmas, New Year’s Day, Back to School) work best.
2. Offer true value. Either the price is enticing enough to motivate your customers to act..or you’ll need to add something that will motivate them (additional bonuses, etc.)
3. Are time-bound. They have a definitive start and end date. The shorter and more immediate the better.
Coming up with a reason for your sale shouldn’t be tough. Just think about what your actual reasons are (beyond “I want to make more money”) and build on that story.
The best way to get your sale done – and putting money in your bank account – is to set a date in the immediate future and commit to it. Put a stake in the ground.
Let’s say you have an online business, and your sale is going to be a 3-day sale. You’ll want to send an email the day before (to grab a little attention and “get on the radar” of your customers), one each day of the sale (to drive mores sales), and one “thanks for your business” email the day after (provides a proof element and teaches your customers that when you say it will be over… it will be over).
If you do this, it will be like strapping a rocket to your profits. So… go have a sale!
Our next Profit Booster: Use This Power To Get Anyone To Do Anything
Thanks-Giving is Thanks-Getting
In the United States, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving. In our tradition, this means expressing our gratitude for the bountiful harvest. It is a long-standing tradition, steeped in the mythology of the birth of our nation.
For many people, it is one of the very few times of the year they pause to truly reflect on what they’re thankful for.
In keeping with the idea of giving thanks, I’m about to suggest a simple strategy of thanks-giving that can also have a “boomerang effect”; by giving thanks, it’s possible to get thanks back in return. In the form of dollars in your bank account.
Which leads us to Tactic #2 in our 21-part series. Here’s the tactic…
Read more…
21 Ways to Get More Sales, Increase Profits and Reduce Expenses… All at the Same Time
I’ve had it with all the loser talk about the economy.
I know it’s bad.
I know people are losing money.
I have lost money, too – my retirement account is worth about two thirds what it was worth six months ago.
So I get it.
But it’s time for all of us to stop talking about it, and instead start doing something about it.
First Of All, I’m Not Suze Orman
I’m not going to pretend to advise you on what to do with your investments, or that kind of thing. There are plenty of experts who can help you with that. In fact, I recommend you listen to these audios by Tony Robbins for some guidance on your finances – and your attitude.
What I have to offer is of a different nature. Here’s my contribution…
I’m writing a series of blog posts (starting with this one) that are focused on one thing, and one thing only: helping small business owners thrive-not just survive, but thrive-in today’s economic environment.
I believe that is realistic and attainable for almost all small businesses – if they’re willing to do what it takes.
Are you?
We’ll see. Read more…
The Story: It’s a shame that so many copywriters struggle to get business, when it’s so easy to do. (Not to mention the fact that it’s not a great advertisement for your skill level. Would you go to a fat doctor for weight loss advice? Get your hair styled by a bald barber? Take financial advice from a broke person?)
The Point: Don’t make getting clients harder than it is. Physician, heal thyself!
The Resource:
5 Ways To Get More Clients Now:
1. Send an email.
2. Call people on the phone.
3. Go fishing in the forums.
4. Release a white paper.
5. Do a teleseminar.
Click for the Podcast Audio:
Click Here
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By Ray Edwards | December 14, 2008 
