5 Tips to Empower Your Web Site to Sell for You
Is your web site bringing your small business prospects? Hear Dean Mercado discuss 5 tips to empower your web site to sell for you! Read more
SUBSCRIBE to Blog
-
Recent Posts
-
Dean Mercado’s Marketing Minute
Who Else Wants World Class Business Advice From Top Experts For Little or No Cost?
Well I’ll tell you, I certainly do! And why not? There’s plenty of it out there for the taking. As a matter of fact there’s more available these days than ever before in history. Why? Mainly because of the ease of access to both the material as well as those who have authored them… thanks mainly to the maturing of the Internet that is. There are educational and content rich web sites, blogs, podcasts, videos, seminars, teleseminars, and we can go on and on and on here. However, for all of that new technology that exists today, in my opinion, there’s still one medium that stands head and shoulders above the rest… especially when we consider getting the most bang-for-the-buck!
So what am I talking about here? I’m talking about books!
Books are one of the most effective and inexpensive ways of allowing you to climb inside the mind of someone who has been there and done that. Besides providing tremendous insight, they can save you years of struggle.
Personally on average I read about a book a week from either the “self-help”, “business” or “marketing” categories. I share this with you not to impress you in any way but to impress upon you the importance of reading. Does this mean you need to be as voracious a reader as I am? Absolutely not! I read as much as I do for a variety of reasons, one of which is just the fact that it’s one of my favorite hobbies… I do it for fun. It just so happens that my hobby brings with it a whole host of residual benefits for me and my business as well.
Now I am a firm believer that if you were to study maybe just a couple of great books from each of the categories I just mentioned to you a moment ago, and diligently practiced applying the wisdom they so generously shared, you would probably see a significant increase in your success.
Often when I’m working with a client I’ll recommend a book or two that would significantly further their success… some clients willingly take on the challenge by running out, buying the book and devouring it immediately. These are typically the clients that seem to move along their path to success the fastest. Then there are the other clients who kick and scream the whole way… making every excuse in the world why they can’t read what I recommended. Some of the excuses I hear the most are:
“I don’t have time to read.” Come on… isn’t your future worth a measly 15 minutes a day? At that pace, you could still finish about 26 books over the next year.
“But I don’t like to read.” Well then try an audio book and listen instead.
“I can’t afford to buy the books I want.” Well than fortunately for you, in America we have a place called a Library where you can borrow them for free.
Now I have to say my responses here were quite gentle… more gentle than I’d like to be because if you’re serious about taking your business and your life up a notch, there is simply no excuse for not reading.
So in closing, when was the last time you read a book on marketing? How about any business book for that matter? Or better yet how about a book in the self-help genre because if you’re anything like most people, it’s always best to get you out of your own way first; This way, the business and marketing strategies and tactics that you’ve picked up in the other books can stand a chance at succeeding. Ooh… that’s a bit harsh, however it’s said with only the best intentions for you!
Anyhow, let me leave you with a powerful quote from someone that many consider a guru to the stars in business and that’s Jim Rohn… and he once said, “Most homes valued at over $1,000,000 have a library. That should tell us something.”
Copyright 2008 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.
5 Tips to Empower Your Web Site to Sell for You
Hey small businesses can use all the sales and marketing help they can get… am I right or am I right?!
The typical small business just doesn’t seem to have the means to hire the team they need to bring in the business. This is a big problem that typically forces the small business owner to try to go it alone… becoming the so-called “Chief Cook & Bottle-Washer”.
Now where there’s a will, there’s a way and there are ways around this dilemma. One way which we’ll discuss here is to empower your web site to become a virtual sales person. How? Well here are 5 tips to help make that happen:
1. Provide Lead Generation
It’s simple… Everyone loves free stuff. So the idea here is to offer something for free on your web site that your ideal prospect would love to get their hands on. In exchange, all you ask for is their contact information and the right to market to them going forward. Essentially you are dangling a carrot in front of them… a carrot in the form of a free special report, a free newsletter, a free eBook, free tips and tricks, free discount coupon, or a free whatever.
Chances are if they’re interested enough to sign up at your web site, they may be interested in what you offer at some point.
Keep in mind, you should be trying to build or solidify a relationship here with your prospects, not sell them; so this free giveaway must be value driven not sales pitch driven.
2. Establish or Further Your Credibility and Brand
Since people most often buy from people they know, like, and trust, your web site can be a great tool in helping build the comfort level needed to influence your prospects to buy from you.
Some great ways of doing this are by providing references, case studies, and testimonials of satisfied customers. These forms of unbiased third-party justifications are powerful at removing the fears out of doing business with you!
3. Provide Pre-sales and Post-sales Support
The possibilities here are endless. Tactics can go from as simple as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on your web site to more interactive methods such as blogs, forums, online chatting, and more. These tactics are great to help convert those prospects who are either “sitting on the fence” or just can’t seem to get enough information to make a decision.
4. Allow Prospects to Buy Your Products and Services Directly From Your Web Site
Hey if your prospect is ready to buy, they’re ready to buy. Why stand in their way? Give them the ability to buy whichever products or services that you see fit right from your web site using either their credit card or some other immediate means such as PayPal.
The bottom line here is that people buy first with emotion and then justify their purchase afterwards with logic. So capitalize on that emotion… Get them while they’re hot so to speak and help them justify their purchase afterwards with your stellar post-sales support.
5. Provide Full Contact Information
This final tip is one that may seem like common sense but I guess it’s not because I come across web sites all the time that either do not provide full contact information or hide it so well that it’s almost impossible to find.
The idea here is to make it real easy for prospects to find you both online and offline. Provide full contact information that at a minimum includes a phone number, a fax number, an email address, and a physical mailing address because the lack of providing one can make a prospect question whether or not you are a real business.
Best case scenario is to provide this information on every page of your web site this way you prospect has it at their fingertips if they want it.
So in closing, the key lesson here is leverage. If you got a web site, make it work overtime for you. Give it a chance to earn its keep. Why not? It cost you money to create it and even more to maintain it. Milk it for all its worth!
Copyright 2008 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.
