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AtricleZine - 20 Website Mistakes That Cost Me Three Years and $22,000
#10 Develop a business plan – No matter what type or size of online business you want to start, it is really important that you spend the time to plan out your business. A business plan is the perfect tool for this. A business plan will help you better understand your business strategy, competition, economic landscape and financial scenarios. Although a business plan takes a little time, you do not have to be a business expert to write one.#9 Know your visitors – Who are you trying to attract to your website? Knowing the types of visitors that will come to your site will help you custom tailor your products, services, content, features and website presentation. As you launch and manage your online business, carefully pay attention to your visitor traffic. You may find that the types of visitors that are coming to your site are a little bit different than you had originally planned. Be adaptive and take advantage of your traffic observations by fine-tuning your website to best fit your visitors.#8 Test and proofread – The quality of your website is the absolute first impression of your online business. Make sure you thoroughly test and proofread all of the pages of your website. Having broken links, error messages, or numerous typographical or grammar errors sends the wrong message to your customers. Think of your website as a physical retail outlet. Would you buy products from a store with broken windows or lots of spelling errors in their marketing brochures?#7 Ask for feedback – Throughout the process of building and managing your online business, constantly ask for feedback. Feedback can come f
frequently. Just one example of this is when they ask their
nontechnie buyers the question, "Choose your server."
The majority of their buyers have no idea what this means.
They do not understand you are asking if they want a Unix or
Windows based system. Moreover, even these same buyers are
asked in this manner, they still do not have any clue what
are the advantages or disadvantages or either one.
So, they feel stupid. You will lose more buyers with
questions like this. The buyer feels frustrated and 99% of
the time leaves without buying. Look on your site, are you
asking any questions that make the buyer or visitor feel
stupid?
15. The most common place to click on any web page is the
top left-hand corner. Put the choice to go to the next page
or to pick the most popular page or product in this
location. If the purpose of the page/site is different, you
may want to put the back and forward buttons there.
Don't put graphics, especially your logo, in the upper left
hand corner. This is prime real estate for your website.
If you have a retail site, place your top-selling item in
this space or a drop down menu of three of the top selling
items.
16. Answer the visitors' main questions in one easy-to-find
and readable paragraph. Don't make the font too small to
read and do not make it go across the page requiring the
reader to scroll. I've seen young web site designers use
small fonts who want to attract a market that’s in their 40s
and 50s. Fact, the older you get the bigger the font.
17. Don't talk down to your visitors. They are intelligent
people who will not stand for it. They will leave and never
come back. There is a difference in talking down and
presenting a conversational style. Talking down is like
explaining it to your child; the other is like talking to
another adult. Technical people have a big tendency to talk
down to nontechnical people.
18. Make it easy for them to share their comments with you.
Whether it is about a hyperlink that does not work or other
errors they have found. They may wan
There has been talk at the Federal Trade Commission of requiring Franchisor’s to give earnings claims in their disclosure documents. The franchise rights groups want it and the consumers need it to help them make a decision. But unfortunately with all the litigation in our nation it is too risky for franchisors. The Federal Trade Commission put forth a report on franchising last summer and has been reviewing the franchise rule in our country. Chances are and most agree in the franchise industry that earnings claims should not be required but should be considered for those franchisors who wish to sell more franchises as it will improve their sales.On page 26 of the Franchise Report; the Federal Trade Commission made reference to a potentially gray area of this rule and said they believed that a statement such as:“You’ll make so much money you can buy a Porsche!”is an earnings claim and maybe it could be considered that. These types of things appear in advertising, brochures and in simple conversation. My question is; Yes, this is in a way an earnings claim, yet are we really interested in regulating normal human interaction? I mean we already have such a sterile world as it is. People are afraid what to say for fear they might get sued? This breaks down communication. Adding to this the FTC wishes to regulate such common conversation? And if a picture is worth a thousand words then what is an advertisement, which has a franchisee next to his house? Did he purchase that exact house through his franchised outlet or was it left to him from his folks or did he buy that house during his many years as an executive at IBM, Lockheed, 3M or Microsoft? You can’t use t
Learn from mine, save three precious marketing years, tons
of frustration, energy, and come out way ahead of the game.
Best of all, you probably didn't lose thousands of dollars
like I did.
1. If you use a shopping cart, check if the zip code request
appears before the city and state on the order form. Most
carts don't to this. Why is this important? Because if
ordering is not easy, I mean real easy, for your buyers,
they drop out in the process. Ordering should be as
effortless as possible for the purchaser.
If the zip code is before the city and state and is set to
drop their city and state into the next two fields
automatically, it saves the purchaser's time. Believe it or
not, this one "little" item leaves a memory chip and they
will remember the experience in the future. Did you know
that 60% of buyers opt-out and don't complete the
transaction because of the little things.
2. Do you have boxes or radial buttons that they need to
check off in the ordering process? Yes, then go ahead and
fill-in the checkmark in for them. Let them uncheck it if
they do not want the choice you are gave them. Again,
making it easier to buy from you and reduce the chance of
them leaving before completing the transaction.
If you have a questionnaire or survey form, check all the
"yes" categories or one of the radial buttons for them so
they don't have to do the work. They will remember the
experience as "easy" and it will imprint in their minds for
the next purchase or experience with you.
3. Many people forget to set up their "error page" on their
web site. Do not leave that to chance. Ask them questions
on the error page so that you know what occurred. Example:
"Tell me how you saw this page please." Add your e-mail
address. Hyperlink the address and spell out the full
address for those with different browsers. Make it easy for
people to identify any errors on your web site so you can
fix them quickly.
If you think that will never happen to you and that you have
checked your links repeatedly, it can still happen.
Software has glitches and it happens to the best of the
best. In addition, an error page is a great place to add
other hyperlinked navigational bar (a list of the main areas
of your web site). Also, offer an opportunity for them to
enroll in your ezine here as well.
4. Omit the metaphors. Most adults do not have the time or
the patience to play games on the Internet. If your market
is teens, this is a different story. Teenagers will enjoy
the entertainment.
If you offer an entertaining feature on your site, you will
need to carryout the theme throughout your site, otherwise
they will leave as soon as it stops. This has occurred
quite often lately as professionals add video to their site
(considered entertainment) and then the rest of the site is
flat. They get a lot of hits to the video and then no
response on the call to action they set it up to give them.
5. Please do not activate "under construction" pages. Wait
until the page is ready and then upload it. If you are
using FrontPage, you can remove it from the Navigational
system by right clicking on the page and turning it off.
6. Don't beat around the bush with your visitors. Make your
message so clear that even a ten year old will understand
it. Make the language conversational -- easy English.
7. Make your "buy me" buttons "Amazon" blue. Backed by good
research, Amazon has trained millions of their visitors in
this color and in their design style. Use their success to
your advantage. Visit http://www.amazon.com to see what
"Amazon" blue looks like.
8. Do you offer a search form on your site? You need to.
Once again -- make it easy for your visitors to find the
information they want quickly. Here is a tip that I learned
only a few months ago that has paid big since. After all I
have read and learned over the past 10 years, nothing was
every mentioned about this. When someone searches for
something and it is not found, set up a default-selling
page.
Here are a few ideas on how to use the default page when
their search comes up empty. Offer them a 10% coupon for
something else, or for anything on your site. Tell them
this is a one-time offer (they will not know otherwise). On
the other hand, you could provide a list of available
discounts or offer them a choice of sections to proceed to.
Do not let them get the "Can't find a match" message at any
time.
9. When collecting visitor information for your database, do
it one step at a time. Do not try to do everything at once.
If you offer an ezine, the first step is to ask for their e-
mail address only. After they type that in, take them to
another page to answer questions.
Alternatively, you can send them an auto responder asking
them questions. Better yet, send them to a survey page
after they have subscribed to your newsletter. You will
enjoy an increase in subscribers and survey submissions.
10. If you use drop down menus for your states or countries,
remove them. "Techies" like drop down menus, but visitors
don't. Let the visitor type in their state and country. It
is ten times faster and much easier than looking through a
long list searching for the state and country. Even if the
United States is at the top, it is still makes the buyer
search.
11. The best way to give your visitors what they want is to
keep it simple. This is especially true for the landing
page of your web site. The landing page is your main or
index page.
What do you want your visitor to do when they reach your
site? If they are there to subscribe to your ezine
(electronic newsletter), send them to that page by giving
them that immediate option. Then send them to a page that
focuses them on subscribing. Give them all the information
they need to make a choice and to subscribe. If they are a
first-time visitor, where do they click first?
For example, if you are a coach, ask them if they want to
know more about coaching. If you are a virtual assistant
(VA), send them to a page or two about what a VA does and
how you help your clients. After they get to the next page,
give them choice of different areas where you can help them
as a virtual assistant or a coach.
Walk them through the process in steps, "hold their hand" as
you lead them through all the things that you can do for
them. Create a walk-through easy-to-follow effect. It will
pay off in profits.
12. Do not add any pages to the site that do not pertain
to the visitors' reasons for coming to your site. People do
not have time for irrelevant information.
13. You do not need an engineer or web site designer to
design your website. In fact, while they would not like to
hear this, you do not need them. They may do everything
right technically, but they do not know how to get people to
stay at your site or buy from you.
Marketers know how to do that. While 98% of engineers and
web site designer claim they are marketers, less than 1%
know anything about marketing. The truly rare commodity is
a fantastic marketer who is savvy about web site design.
Building your site is just like building a house: without an
architect who knows about layout, structure air flow, etc.,
all you have is a construction company building the house
from their sense of style, direction and beliefs.
Know where the advice is coming from and hire them only for
their expertise. If you are reading an article on marketing
on the Internet that was written by someone who is a web
site designer, a red flag should go up.
If you are talking with a marketer who does not have web
site design experience and you are looking for help in
building your web site, raise that flag again. The rare
person with the unique combination may be hard to find, but
we exist -- I designed my learning to be one of those rare
ones.
I have helped many people clean up their web site after they
have worked with web designers and/or marketers. And trust
me, the clean up is more time consuming than starting all
over.
14. Don't make your buyer feel stupid while they are in the
process of buying from you -- in the "cart" process.
Internet service providers (ISPs and web site hosts) do this
frequently. Just one example of this is when they ask their
nontechnie buyers the question, "Choose your server."
The majority of their buyers have no idea what this means.
They do not understand you are asking if they want a Unix or
Windows based system. Moreover, even these same buyers are
asked in this manner, they still do not have any clue what
are the advantages or disadvantages or either one.
So, they feel stupid. You will lose more buyers with
questions like this. The buyer feels frustrated and 99% of
the time leaves without buying. Look on your site, are you
asking any questions that make the buyer or visitor feel
stupid?
15. The most common place to click on any web page is the
top left-hand corner. Put the choice to go to the next page
or to pick the most popular page or product in this
location. If the purpose of the page/site is different, you
may want to put the back and forward buttons there.
Don't put graphics, especially your logo, in the upper left
hand corner. This is prime real estate for your website.
If you have a retail site, place your top-selling item in
this space or a drop down menu of three of the top selling
items.
16. Answer the visitors' main questions in one easy-to-find
and readable paragraph. Don't make the font too small to
read and do not make it go across the page requiring the
reader to scroll. I've seen young web site designers use
small fonts who want to attract a market that’s in their 40s
and 50s. Fact, the older you get the bigger the font.
17. Don't talk down to your visitors. They are intelligent
people who will not stand for it. They will leave and never
come back. There is a difference in talking down and
presenting a conversational style. Talking down is like
explaining it to your child; the other is like talking to
another adult. Technical people have a big tendency to talk
down to nontechnical people.
18. Make it easy for them to share their comments with you.
Whether it is about a hyperlink that does not work or other
errors they have found. They may want
Have you ever been slideswiped? You walk into a meeting and once everyone has arrived, the lights are often dimmed and the show begins. The presenter clicks the mouse again and again, showing you slide after slide until you can take no more. Exasperated, you shut your eyes and doze off. You have just been slideswiped! Or, have the training classes and presentations at your company become stale and commonplace? Do they tend to look and feel exactly the same regardless of the topic? The only difference is the words have been changed—Few presentations stand out and you begin to wonder if anyone in your company is capable of a creative thought. Maybe most of the presentations you see have started with one of the templates found in PowerPoint®. Do you need to communicate bad news? Click on the template “Communicating Bad News.” Do you need to report progress or status? Click on the template “Reporting Progress or Status.” Do you need to create an employee orientation training program? Click on the template “Employee Orientation.” Do you need to create a company handbook? Click on the template “Company Handbook.” Now, your company looks and sounds like all the others. If you think these scenarios can’t happen, think again. They already are happening in companies across the globe. PowerPoint® has become so popular it is now a synonym for a presentation. Instead of asking for a copy of the salient points in a training program or company presentation, people are now saying, “Please send me the PowerPoint® from Wednesday’s class.” Scott Adams is cartooning about it, too. In the first frame Dilbert is using a pointer and says, “As you can clearly see in slide 397…” In t
Software has glitches and it happens to the best of the
best. In addition, an error page is a great place to add
other hyperlinked navigational bar (a list of the main areas
of your web site). Also, offer an opportunity for them to
enroll in your ezine here as well.
4. Omit the metaphors. Most adults do not have the time or
the patience to play games on the Internet. If your market
is teens, this is a different story. Teenagers will enjoy
the entertainment.
If you offer an entertaining feature on your site, you will
need to carryout the theme throughout your site, otherwise
they will leave as soon as it stops. This has occurred
quite often lately as professionals add video to their site
(considered entertainment) and then the rest of the site is
flat. They get a lot of hits to the video and then no
response on the call to action they set it up to give them.
5. Please do not activate "under construction" pages. Wait
until the page is ready and then upload it. If you are
using FrontPage, you can remove it from the Navigational
system by right clicking on the page and turning it off.
6. Don't beat around the bush with your visitors. Make your
message so clear that even a ten year old will understand
it. Make the language conversational -- easy English.
7. Make your "buy me" buttons "Amazon" blue. Backed by good
research, Amazon has trained millions of their visitors in
this color and in their design style. Use their success to
your advantage. Visit http://www.amazon.com to see what
"Amazon" blue looks like.
8. Do you offer a search form on your site? You need to.
Once again -- make it easy for your visitors to find the
information they want quickly. Here is a tip that I learned
only a few months ago that has paid big since. After all I
have read and learned over the past 10 years, nothing was
every mentioned about this. When someone searches for
something and it is not found, set up a default-selling
page.
Here are a few ideas on how to use the default page when
their search comes up empty. Offer them a 10% coupon for
something else, or for anything on your site. Tell them
this is a one-time offer (they will not know otherwise). On
the other hand, you could provide a list of available
discounts or offer them a choice of sections to proceed to.
Do not let them get the "Can't find a match" message at any
time.
9. When collecting visitor information for your database, do
it one step at a time. Do not try to do everything at once.
If you offer an ezine, the first step is to ask for their e-
mail address only. After they type that in, take them to
another page to answer questions.
Alternatively, you can send them an auto responder asking
them questions. Better yet, send them to a survey page
after they have subscribed to your newsletter. You will
enjoy an increase in subscribers and survey submissions.
10. If you use drop down menus for your states or countries,
remove them. "Techies" like drop down menus, but visitors
don't. Let the visitor type in their state and country. It
is ten times faster and much easier than looking through a
long list searching for the state and country. Even if the
United States is at the top, it is still makes the buyer
search.
11. The best way to give your visitors what they want is to
keep it simple. This is especially true for the landing
page of your web site. The landing page is your main or
index page.
What do you want your visitor to do when they reach your
site? If they are there to subscribe to your ezine
(electronic newsletter), send them to that page by giving
them that immediate option. Then send them to a page that
focuses them on subscribing. Give them all the information
they need to make a choice and to subscribe. If they are a
first-time visitor, where do they click first?
For example, if you are a coach, ask them if they want to
know more about coaching. If you are a virtual assistant
(VA), send them to a page or two about what a VA does and
how you help your clients. After they get to the next page,
give them choice of different areas where you can help them
as a virtual assistant or a coach.
Walk them through the process in steps, "hold their hand" as
you lead them through all the things that you can do for
them. Create a walk-through easy-to-follow effect. It will
pay off in profits.
12. Do not add any pages to the site that do not pertain
to the visitors' reasons for coming to your site. People do
not have time for irrelevant information.
13. You do not need an engineer or web site designer to
design your website. In fact, while they would not like to
hear this, you do not need them. They may do everything
right technically, but they do not know how to get people to
stay at your site or buy from you.
Marketers know how to do that. While 98% of engineers and
web site designer claim they are marketers, less than 1%
know anything about marketing. The truly rare commodity is
a fantastic marketer who is savvy about web site design.
Building your site is just like building a house: without an
architect who knows about layout, structure air flow, etc.,
all you have is a construction company building the house
from their sense of style, direction and beliefs.
Know where the advice is coming from and hire them only for
their expertise. If you are reading an article on marketing
on the Internet that was written by someone who is a web
site designer, a red flag should go up.
If you are talking with a marketer who does not have web
site design experience and you are looking for help in
building your web site, raise that flag again. The rare
person with the unique combination may be hard to find, but
we exist -- I designed my learning to be one of those rare
ones.
I have helped many people clean up their web site after they
have worked with web designers and/or marketers. And trust
me, the clean up is more time consuming than starting all
over.
14. Don't make your buyer feel stupid while they are in the
process of buying from you -- in the "cart" process.
Internet service providers (ISPs and web site hosts) do this
frequently. Just one example of this is when they ask their
nontechnie buyers the question, "Choose your server."
The majority of their buyers have no idea what this means.
They do not understand you are asking if they want a Unix or
Windows based system. Moreover, even these same buyers are
asked in this manner, they still do not have any clue what
are the advantages or disadvantages or either one.
So, they feel stupid. You will lose more buyers with
questions like this. The buyer feels frustrated and 99% of
the time leaves without buying. Look on your site, are you
asking any questions that make the buyer or visitor feel
stupid?
15. The most common place to click on any web page is the
top left-hand corner. Put the choice to go to the next page
or to pick the most popular page or product in this
location. If the purpose of the page/site is different, you
may want to put the back and forward buttons there.
Don't put graphics, especially your logo, in the upper left
hand corner. This is prime real estate for your website.
If you have a retail site, place your top-selling item in
this space or a drop down menu of three of the top selling
items.
16. Answer the visitors' main questions in one easy-to-find
and readable paragraph. Don't make the font too small to
read and do not make it go across the page requiring the
reader to scroll. I've seen young web site designers use
small fonts who want to attract a market that’s in their 40s
and 50s. Fact, the older you get the bigger the font.
17. Don't talk down to your visitors. They are intelligent
people who will not stand for it. They will leave and never
come back. There is a difference in talking down and
presenting a conversational style. Talking down is like
explaining it to your child; the other is like talking to
another adult. Technical people have a big tendency to talk
down to nontechnical people.
18. Make it easy for them to share their comments with you.
Whether it is about a hyperlink that does not work or other
errors they have found. They may wan
1. Career choice tests. There are a lot of tests out there designed to tell you what kind of career would be best for your personality and skill type. You can find some cheesy ones online that don't tell you much, or you can go to a career center/guidance center at your college if you are in school or apply at an employment agency that has one. Ask to take a career choice test; I'm sure they will have something for you. These tests are only to help you get ideas, and the results shouldn't be taken as your fate. Many times they are far from what you were originally planning to do and if thats the case it gives you something to think about.2. Job shadowing. It's a really great way to see what different careers are like, so you shouldn't underestimate it. It's easy to set up a day for job shadowing, especially if you know someone who works at the place where you want to shadow. Just call them up; most people are willing to help. Also network with people online who are in that line of work. Tell them you are interested and would like to know their honest opinion about what they do. I am sure they will be glad to tell you.3. Internships. Similar to job shadowing, and gives you some experience in the field which helps if you decide to continue that career path. Hands on experience is always the best, and you also get to see the type of environment and other type of people you may have to work with. You may see that you may like those surroundings or that you work better in a different environment4. Remember that you can always change careers later. Even though you have lots of interests, don't be afraid to pick just one or two and go for them. Even in you gradua
their search comes up empty. Offer them a 10% coupon for
something else, or for anything on your site. Tell them
this is a one-time offer (they will not know otherwise). On
the other hand, you could provide a list of available
discounts or offer them a choice of sections to proceed to.
Do not let them get the "Can't find a match" message at any
time.
9. When collecting visitor information for your database, do
it one step at a time. Do not try to do everything at once.
If you offer an ezine, the first step is to ask for their e-
mail address only. After they type that in, take them to
another page to answer questions.
Alternatively, you can send them an auto responder asking
them questions. Better yet, send them to a survey page
after they have subscribed to your newsletter. You will
enjoy an increase in subscribers and survey submissions.
10. If you use drop down menus for your states or countries,
remove them. "Techies" like drop down menus, but visitors
don't. Let the visitor type in their state and country. It
is ten times faster and much easier than looking through a
long list searching for the state and country. Even if the
United States is at the top, it is still makes the buyer
search.
11. The best way to give your visitors what they want is to
keep it simple. This is especially true for the landing
page of your web site. The landing page is your main or
index page.
What do you want your visitor to do when they reach your
site? If they are there to subscribe to your ezine
(electronic newsletter), send them to that page by giving
them that immediate option. Then send them to a page that
focuses them on subscribing. Give them all the information
they need to make a choice and to subscribe. If they are a
first-time visitor, where do they click first?
For example, if you are a coach, ask them if they want to
know more about coaching. If you are a virtual assistant
(VA), send them to a page or two about what a VA does and
how you help your clients. After they get to the next page,
give them choice of different areas where you can help them
as a virtual assistant or a coach.
Walk them through the process in steps, "hold their hand" as
you lead them through all the things that you can do for
them. Create a walk-through easy-to-follow effect. It will
pay off in profits.
12. Do not add any pages to the site that do not pertain
to the visitors' reasons for coming to your site. People do
not have time for irrelevant information.
13. You do not need an engineer or web site designer to
design your website. In fact, while they would not like to
hear this, you do not need them. They may do everything
right technically, but they do not know how to get people to
stay at your site or buy from you.
Marketers know how to do that. While 98% of engineers and
web site designer claim they are marketers, less than 1%
know anything about marketing. The truly rare commodity is
a fantastic marketer who is savvy about web site design.
Building your site is just like building a house: without an
architect who knows about layout, structure air flow, etc.,
all you have is a construction company building the house
from their sense of style, direction and beliefs.
Know where the advice is coming from and hire them only for
their expertise. If you are reading an article on marketing
on the Internet that was written by someone who is a web
site designer, a red flag should go up.
If you are talking with a marketer who does not have web
site design experience and you are looking for help in
building your web site, raise that flag again. The rare
person with the unique combination may be hard to find, but
we exist -- I designed my learning to be one of those rare
ones.
I have helped many people clean up their web site after they
have worked with web designers and/or marketers. And trust
me, the clean up is more time consuming than starting all
over.
14. Don't make your buyer feel stupid while they are in the
process of buying from you -- in the "cart" process.
Internet service providers (ISPs and web site hosts) do this
frequently. Just one example of this is when they ask their
nontechnie buyers the question, "Choose your server."
The majority of their buyers have no idea what this means.
They do not understand you are asking if they want a Unix or
Windows based system. Moreover, even these same buyers are
asked in this manner, they still do not have any clue what
are the advantages or disadvantages or either one.
So, they feel stupid. You will lose more buyers with
questions like this. The buyer feels frustrated and 99% of
the time leaves without buying. Look on your site, are you
asking any questions that make the buyer or visitor feel
stupid?
15. The most common place to click on any web page is the
top left-hand corner. Put the choice to go to the next page
or to pick the most popular page or product in this
location. If the purpose of the page/site is different, you
may want to put the back and forward buttons there.
Don't put graphics, especially your logo, in the upper left
hand corner. This is prime real estate for your website.
If you have a retail site, place your top-selling item in
this space or a drop down menu of three of the top selling
items.
16. Answer the visitors' main questions in one easy-to-find
and readable paragraph. Don't make the font too small to
read and do not make it go across the page requiring the
reader to scroll. I've seen young web site designers use
small fonts who want to attract a market that’s in their 40s
and 50s. Fact, the older you get the bigger the font.
17. Don't talk down to your visitors. They are intelligent
people who will not stand for it. They will leave and never
come back. There is a difference in talking down and
presenting a conversational style. Talking down is like
explaining it to your child; the other is like talking to
another adult. Technical people have a big tendency to talk
down to nontechnical people.
18. Make it easy for them to share their comments with you.
Whether it is about a hyperlink that does not work or other
errors they have found. They may wan
Guerrilla Marketing is not rocket science. It doesn't take a genius to understand the concept: Unconventional marketing campaigns, using minimum resources to get maximum results. Or in other words, promoting your business to the max on low-budget or -- even better -- no-budget terms.I like to think of Guerrilla Marketing in terms of The Three I's: Ingenuity, Imagination, Innovation. Be creative and original in your marketing approach. Dream up something that perhaps has never been done before. Be bold and daring. Use everything that is available. For your promotions, use national holidays, enlist the services of local dignitaries, provide needed services to the community, support local charities.Here is an example of the use of The Three I's by our advertising-marketing firm in Sedona, Arizona -- a small town (11,000 population) with millions of visitors each year. Our client was a unique pet store, part of a small national franchise which is primarily dog-oriented. The store is located in an area of heavy tourist traffic in Uptown Sedona.Our client was about to celebrate its grand opening and needed a short, multi-faceted campaign to introduce the place to the community as a whole. The problem for the client -- and for most businesses in Uptown Sedona, a kind of tourist ghetto -- is that most locals refuse to shop in Uptown. Parking is difficult, tourists stumble around with glazed eyes bumping into each other, and prices are generally high.The challenge: How to lure the locals (dog owners, primarily) while bringing in a steady stream of pet-owning tourists who would take the doggie products home and maybe continue the relationship via Intern
as a virtual assistant or a coach.
Walk them through the process in steps, "hold their hand" as
you lead them through all the things that you can do for
them. Create a walk-through easy-to-follow effect. It will
pay off in profits.
12. Do not add any pages to the site that do not pertain
to the visitors' reasons for coming to your site. People do
not have time for irrelevant information.
13. You do not need an engineer or web site designer to
design your website. In fact, while they would not like to
hear this, you do not need them. They may do everything
right technically, but they do not know how to get people to
stay at your site or buy from you.
Marketers know how to do that. While 98% of engineers and
web site designer claim they are marketers, less than 1%
know anything about marketing. The truly rare commodity is
a fantastic marketer who is savvy about web site design.
Building your site is just like building a house: without an
architect who knows about layout, structure air flow, etc.,
all you have is a construction company building the house
from their sense of style, direction and beliefs.
Know where the advice is coming from and hire them only for
their expertise. If you are reading an article on marketing
on the Internet that was written by someone who is a web
site designer, a red flag should go up.
If you are talking with a marketer who does not have web
site design experience and you are looking for help in
building your web site, raise that flag again. The rare
person with the unique combination may be hard to find, but
we exist -- I designed my learning to be one of those rare
ones.
I have helped many people clean up their web site after they
have worked with web designers and/or marketers. And trust
me, the clean up is more time consuming than starting all
over.
14. Don't make your buyer feel stupid while they are in the
process of buying from you -- in the "cart" process.
Internet service providers (ISPs and web site hosts) do this
frequently. Just one example of this is when they ask their
nontechnie buyers the question, "Choose your server."
The majority of their buyers have no idea what this means.
They do not understand you are asking if they want a Unix or
Windows based system. Moreover, even these same buyers are
asked in this manner, they still do not have any clue what
are the advantages or disadvantages or either one.
So, they feel stupid. You will lose more buyers with
questions like this. The buyer feels frustrated and 99% of
the time leaves without buying. Look on your site, are you
asking any questions that make the buyer or visitor feel
stupid?
15. The most common place to click on any web page is the
top left-hand corner. Put the choice to go to the next page
or to pick the most popular page or product in this
location. If the purpose of the page/site is different, you
may want to put the back and forward buttons there.
Don't put graphics, especially your logo, in the upper left
hand corner. This is prime real estate for your website.
If you have a retail site, place your top-selling item in
this space or a drop down menu of three of the top selling
items.
16. Answer the visitors' main questions in one easy-to-find
and readable paragraph. Don't make the font too small to
read and do not make it go across the page requiring the
reader to scroll. I've seen young web site designers use
small fonts who want to attract a market that’s in their 40s
and 50s. Fact, the older you get the bigger the font.
17. Don't talk down to your visitors. They are intelligent
people who will not stand for it. They will leave and never
come back. There is a difference in talking down and
presenting a conversational style. Talking down is like
explaining it to your child; the other is like talking to
another adult. Technical people have a big tendency to talk
down to nontechnical people.
18. Make it easy for them to share their comments with you.
Whether it is about a hyperlink that does not work or other
errors they have found. They may wan
Have you ever come across any Internet Business mentoring or coaching offers to grow or start your internet business? Are you thinking of going that route? If so, I'll advice you to tread very carefully.These companies offer their services such as 'personalized' one-to-one tutoring, online classes, email support with your mentor, printed materials, CDs, DVDs to watch, seminars if you're based in the US. You are required to work - as part of your agreement - a certain amount of hours per week, usually 10-16 hours. Most we've come across guarantee success within six months. Within that time, they promise to get you website up and running and generating income. Some actually make it clear that you'll be helping them sell some of their products. As to whether they deliver results, is still very much a debatable issue.In our under-cover research, we've uncovered some of the pressure-tactics used by some of these companies: they outline what their company can do for you, then they capitalise on your need to generate a quick income from your current or prospective internet business. When they've managed to convince you that mentoring is the route for you, then they inform you of how much it costs.For the ones we've investigated, they don't inform you straight away how much it costs. Instead, they try to get the feel of how much you're able to afford then they encourage you to use your credit card as a form of leverage. After they've taken the card details from you, they get one of their personnel to call you while they record the conversation. This is where any prospective candidate ought to watch their step - most give you only 3 business days to change your
frequently. Just one example of this is when they ask their
nontechnie buyers the question, "Choose your server."
The majority of their buyers have no idea what this means.
They do not understand you are asking if they want a Unix or
Windows based system. Moreover, even these same buyers are
asked in this manner, they still do not have any clue what
are the advantages or disadvantages or either one.
So, they feel stupid. You will lose more buyers with
questions like this. The buyer feels frustrated and 99% of
the time leaves without buying. Look on your site, are you
asking any questions that make the buyer or visitor feel
stupid?
15. The most common place to click on any web page is the
top left-hand corner. Put the choice to go to the next page
or to pick the most popular page or product in this
location. If the purpose of the page/site is different, you
may want to put the back and forward buttons there.
Don't put graphics, especially your logo, in the upper left
hand corner. This is prime real estate for your website.
If you have a retail site, place your top-selling item in
this space or a drop down menu of three of the top selling
items.
16. Answer the visitors' main questions in one easy-to-find
and readable paragraph. Don't make the font too small to
read and do not make it go across the page requiring the
reader to scroll. I've seen young web site designers use
small fonts who want to attract a market that’s in their 40s
and 50s. Fact, the older you get the bigger the font.
17. Don't talk down to your visitors. They are intelligent
people who will not stand for it. They will leave and never
come back. There is a difference in talking down and
presenting a conversational style. Talking down is like
explaining it to your child; the other is like talking to
another adult. Technical people have a big tendency to talk
down to nontechnical people.
18. Make it easy for them to share their comments with you.
Whether it is about a hyperlink that does not work or other
errors they have found. They may want to tell how much they
appreciated your information. Create a place on every page
where they can feel comfortable about submitting their
comments. Comfortable also means that they have a choice on
sending their contact information or not.
19. Organize your site from the visitors' point of view.
If you are not sure, ask some typical visitors. "What
questions did they have when they landed on the first page?"
is a great question to start. Get them to walk you through
their thinking. You will pick up some patterns after the
first three or four. This is the best research you can do
and it will save you years of revisions.
Do not ask family members or friends. Ask clients who have
just finished visiting your site. They are familiar visitors
and they will want something different from a new visitor.
You need to set up your landing page to handle both familiar
and new visitors without being confusing.
20. One of the most valuable pages in a web site that is
sadly overlooked is the "thank you" page. If someone signs
up for your ezine or places an orders include a popup saying
"thank you for visiting." Use whatever way you can think
says it best, but don't leave it out. The other half of this
equation is not to loose the opportunities to cross sell or
up sell on the thank you page.
First, say thank you and then give them an offer they cannot
refuse. On the thank you page, you can provide a coupon for
10 percent off anything in the store or 10 percent off any
overstocked or limited stock item.
Now that you have these tips on what mistakes not to make,
you need to put them into practice. Choose three and start
completing them. Then move on to the next three and keep
moving through the list. You will be excited by the
results.
Bonus Tip 1: 60% of the buyers opt out of purchasing a
product on the Internet in between the first cart processing
page and the last page. It is usually because it took to
many clicks to complete the transaction or it took too much
time to think about it or to make choices. Check your web
site and eliminate any obstacles or places so you can reduce
this percentage on your web site.
Bonus Tip 2: If you have questions on your page, divide
them into categories and don't put them all on one page.
Spread them out between pages. It looks easier and faster
to the person answering the questions. Give them an
incentive to move from one page to the next and give them
encouragement between the incentives.
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