This may seem like a very basic question. However, it's one that needs to be asked and answered. Why? Because a lot of business owners don't "get" the value of good copy.
You may be asking "What is this copy you talk about?" In the simplest form, words. Just like the ones you're reading now. But not just any old words. Words that explain what your business, product or service can do for a prospect.
More importantly, words that sell. Words that will motivate someone to give you money in exchange for value. And words are a key part of every ad or marketing campaign a business runs.
The right words will sell and the wrong ones won't. It's really that simple (but not easy) to write a winning sales letter or message.
Words are part of radio and TV commercials and newspaper ads. They're on pay-per-click ads, landing pages and sales letters. And they're part of brochures, follow-up e-mails and every other marketing message. Bottom line - words are part of all your marketing efforts.
The right words are critical in direct-response marketing, which is what every business owner should use. Direct-response marketing asks the customer to take a certain action. It can be to opt-in to an e-mail list, sign up to watch a video or buy a product.
A business owner will know exactly which ads work to make a sale. Why? Because you can track to the penny how many prospects buy from each ad.
This is why most ad agencies don't like this type of marketing. They want you to pay for their ads over a period of time and ignore the results. That's because most of the time these ads don't make many sales.
Their ads may win awards for being clever or creative. But when it comes to making sales, these ads almost always fall short.
Most agencies rely on image or "branding" type marketing. This relies on expensive ads with few words that don't really sell. It's a popular myth based on the theory of "brand awareness."
I use the word theory because I haven't seen it work well in the real world. It says if you put your company name out there often enough, folks will eventually buy from you.
This kind of marketing can make some sales in the short run. For example, if you have a stopped-up toilet and hear an ad for a plumber on the radio.
Here's the problem with this theory. If you can't directly track an ad to a sale, you don't know if it works. What's the ultimate goal of a business? Make enough sales to at least cover your costs. And better yet, make a profit.
This ties back to my original point. Why the right words are critical to business success.
I know this may sound really basic. But I see a lot of business owners who don't seem to get this simple concept.
If your marketing hasn't worked well, you might be using the wrong words. You could make an offer your market doesn't want. Or you could make your offer to the wrong people. If you want to sell T-bone steaks, you wouldn't target a group of Boulder vegans.
A savvy copywriter and marketing pro can look at all three to find the weak link(s).
I'll admit this is a little self-serving. That's because I am a copywriter. I tell you this because it's critical to your business success.
More than a few companies do OK without good marketing. Will they continue to do OK in the future with a so-so economy? With a few exceptions, I doubt it.
The economy won't get any better anytime soon. Especially with state-run health care.
There are so many "wildcards" that affect the economy today - both here and around the world - that I don't know when it will get back to 'normal' or even decent.
In the future, good business and marketing basics will be more important than ever. That includes good copy, offers and strategy.
Don't believe that good marketing makes a difference? Listen to this Tony Robbins interview of Jay Abraham:
http://bit.ly/1cJxeed
Jay is a well-known marketing legend. His advice produced $9.4 billion in sales for his clients.
Listen to the audio more than once and take plenty of notes to mine the marketing "gold."
What's the best measure of your marketing? Not how many leads or how much "brand awareness" you have. It's how well you convert those leads into sales, which lead to dollars in your bank account.
This should be your main goal when you make any marketing decision. Not to just 'get your name out there' or 'boost brand awareness.'
If it don't make the cash register ring, it doesn't mean a thing.
That's the best reason why good copy is critical to your business success.
Showing posts with label website marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website marketing. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Why You Shouldn't Rely On SEO To Make More Money Online
Almost every business owner I talk to wants to have their business on the first page or #1 on Google search results. SEO does make a difference, but it isn't the "magic bullet" that will solve your online marketing problems.
Good SEO practices will help get traffic to your website, but if you don't have good copy and follow-up (via auto-responder e-mails), it won't help you that much. To paraphrase an old saying: "You can lead a prospect to your website, but you can't make them opt-in."
When you look at improving the results from your website, look at increasing the conversion rate first - before you increase the amount of traffic. It's best to test changes in marketing on a small scale, make sure they're working to increase conversion... then roll them out on a bigger scale (i.e., sending more traffic to your website).
If you get these steps backwards, you will be leaving a LOT of money on the table if your conversion rate sucks. Here are a few quick tips on how you can grow your e-mail list, increase your conversion rates and make more money from your business website:
1. Make sure your website or landing page solves a painful problem for your prospect. Everybody is looking on the Internet for a solution to their problem - not to read how great your company is, how long you've been in business, or if it's "family-owned and operated." Hate to burst your bubble about that, but it's true - it's human nature that we all look for things that will benefit us.
Make sure that the focus of your marketing and copy is on the prospect and his problem. Doing this alone should drastically improve your online marketing results.
2. Offer valuable free information (or "opt-in bait") in exchange for someone giving you their name and e-mail address. Good marketing is content or education-based. As you've probably discovered, people are becoming more selective about how (and with who) they spend their hard-earned dollars. That's a trend that started with the real estate and stock market collapses of 2008, and I don't see it changing any time soon.
The good news is that if you take time to provide quality information, and build trust and credibility with your prospect, he'll be more likely to buy. This will take more time and effort on your part, but if done correctly it will be worth it. And many of your competitors probably won't do this.
3. Have a good series of auto-responder e-mails to follow up with, once someone has opted-in to your list. A common (and true) saying in sales and marketing is: "The fortune is in the follow-up." And it couldn't be more true today. When you write auto-responder e-mails that are fun, interesting and useful, this will let prospects get to know, like and trust you... which ultimately will lead to more sales.
Remember, always test these changes with small amounts of website traffic (to make sure they work) before you roll them out on a bigger scale with larger amounts of traffic. You'll have more sales, better results, and more peace of mind as a business owner.
When you look at improving the results from your website, look at increasing the conversion rate first - before you increase the amount of traffic. It's best to test changes in marketing on a small scale, make sure they're working to increase conversion... then roll them out on a bigger scale (i.e., sending more traffic to your website).
If you get these steps backwards, you will be leaving a LOT of money on the table if your conversion rate sucks. Here are a few quick tips on how you can grow your e-mail list, increase your conversion rates and make more money from your business website:
1. Make sure your website or landing page solves a painful problem for your prospect. Everybody is looking on the Internet for a solution to their problem - not to read how great your company is, how long you've been in business, or if it's "family-owned and operated." Hate to burst your bubble about that, but it's true - it's human nature that we all look for things that will benefit us.
Make sure that the focus of your marketing and copy is on the prospect and his problem. Doing this alone should drastically improve your online marketing results.
2. Offer valuable free information (or "opt-in bait") in exchange for someone giving you their name and e-mail address. Good marketing is content or education-based. As you've probably discovered, people are becoming more selective about how (and with who) they spend their hard-earned dollars. That's a trend that started with the real estate and stock market collapses of 2008, and I don't see it changing any time soon.
The good news is that if you take time to provide quality information, and build trust and credibility with your prospect, he'll be more likely to buy. This will take more time and effort on your part, but if done correctly it will be worth it. And many of your competitors probably won't do this.
3. Have a good series of auto-responder e-mails to follow up with, once someone has opted-in to your list. A common (and true) saying in sales and marketing is: "The fortune is in the follow-up." And it couldn't be more true today. When you write auto-responder e-mails that are fun, interesting and useful, this will let prospects get to know, like and trust you... which ultimately will lead to more sales.
Remember, always test these changes with small amounts of website traffic (to make sure they work) before you roll them out on a bigger scale with larger amounts of traffic. You'll have more sales, better results, and more peace of mind as a business owner.
Friday, June 18, 2010
It's the PROCESS, Not the Product
Many times business owners come up with an idea for what they think is a great product or service. However, many times they're surprised that the prospects they're selling to aren't as enthusiastic.
I thought about this title because a friend of mine showed me the website of someone with - surprise! - a really cool product they like, and they hope enough other people will like enough to buy. The premise behind her friend's marketing plan was to get enough people to buy this one product, and their business problems would be solved.
As I've learned over the years, that's not the most profitable business model to use. The initial product you sell to a customer should be the START of a long-lasting business relationship. You discover what problem(s) they want to solve, and provide products and services - either your own or from other biz owners - that will solve your customers problems.
You can become an affiliate for other quality products and services, and get paid for the sales that you refer to another busines owner. However, make sure that you only become an affiliate for good people with quality products and services - not just the ones with the highest affiliate payout.
Most of the time it's not the product, but the marketing process that will lead you to business success. And here it is:
1) Build a qualified list of customers and prospects. You can do this from networking events, landing pages, Pay-Per-Click (but only if the lifetime value of the customer is more than the cost of generating the lead), and opt-in forms on your website.
2) Communicate with and educate people on your list through e-mail, Social Media, teleseminars and/or webinars, and your website. There's an old saying in business: "The more you tell, the more you sell." Provide quality information that truly educates people about your industry, business, product or service - it can't be just a thinly-disguised sales pitch. People will see through that in a heartbeat.
3) Survey people on your list periodically. This is to make sure you're providing the products or services they want - not the ones you think are a cool idea. Many an entrepreneur has failed because they had a "cool idea." I'm not critizing innovation or creativity, but you should always TEST your ideas on a small scale... before rolling them out on a larger one.
4) Promote your - or someone else's - product or service, one promotion at a time. Try it for a few days or a week, then take a look at your numbers and evaluate your results. If you like the results you got, keep doing what you were doing - but remember that no matter how good a promotion or message is, it'll eventually suffer from "message fatigue." If the results aren't to your liking, you may want to try another product/service, or change the way you're marketing it to your list.
5) Rinse and repeat the process. Although it isn't easy, it is that simple.
Have a great weekend, look for another educational marketing post next week.
I thought about this title because a friend of mine showed me the website of someone with - surprise! - a really cool product they like, and they hope enough other people will like enough to buy. The premise behind her friend's marketing plan was to get enough people to buy this one product, and their business problems would be solved.
As I've learned over the years, that's not the most profitable business model to use. The initial product you sell to a customer should be the START of a long-lasting business relationship. You discover what problem(s) they want to solve, and provide products and services - either your own or from other biz owners - that will solve your customers problems.
You can become an affiliate for other quality products and services, and get paid for the sales that you refer to another busines owner. However, make sure that you only become an affiliate for good people with quality products and services - not just the ones with the highest affiliate payout.
Most of the time it's not the product, but the marketing process that will lead you to business success. And here it is:
1) Build a qualified list of customers and prospects. You can do this from networking events, landing pages, Pay-Per-Click (but only if the lifetime value of the customer is more than the cost of generating the lead), and opt-in forms on your website.
2) Communicate with and educate people on your list through e-mail, Social Media, teleseminars and/or webinars, and your website. There's an old saying in business: "The more you tell, the more you sell." Provide quality information that truly educates people about your industry, business, product or service - it can't be just a thinly-disguised sales pitch. People will see through that in a heartbeat.
3) Survey people on your list periodically. This is to make sure you're providing the products or services they want - not the ones you think are a cool idea. Many an entrepreneur has failed because they had a "cool idea." I'm not critizing innovation or creativity, but you should always TEST your ideas on a small scale... before rolling them out on a larger one.
4) Promote your - or someone else's - product or service, one promotion at a time. Try it for a few days or a week, then take a look at your numbers and evaluate your results. If you like the results you got, keep doing what you were doing - but remember that no matter how good a promotion or message is, it'll eventually suffer from "message fatigue." If the results aren't to your liking, you may want to try another product/service, or change the way you're marketing it to your list.
5) Rinse and repeat the process. Although it isn't easy, it is that simple.
Have a great weekend, look for another educational marketing post next week.
Monday, December 07, 2009
3 Reasons Why Your Website Doesn't Make Money
You may wonder why a well-designed, professional looking website doesn't always translate to profits. I've given some thought to this problem, and here are the biggest reasons why:
1) It doesn't motivate a new visitor to stay at your site. A website visitor will decide in 7 seconds whether to stay at a new website. To accomplish this goal, your website must: A) Inspire trust - through B) A professional-looking design, and C) Provide useful and valuable content to the reader.
Cheesy-looking websites done by a high-school kid in Front Page worked 5 or 10 years ago - but not today. People are much more skeptical, and won't spend their time - or money - with a business that looks less-than-professional.
You should include a headline that addresses the biggest problem for a visitor - and how your business can solve it. This will grab a visitor by the eyeballs (to get his attention); quality content - such as articles, Free Reports and/or White Papers - will keep it.
The best kind of marketing is educational or content-based. By using this approach, you position yourself as a thought leader in your marketplace - and not just another business pitching their product or service.
Having a good website is just the start to making more sales. Here's the 2nd reason why your website isn't performing like it should:
2) The website doesn't include opt-in fields for a visitor's first name and e-mail address. The Internet is a great marketing medium - however, it's shortened the attention span of people around the world. Which means that unless a visitor really likes - and bookmarks - your website, he may never return again. Unless... you capture his e-mail address, and consistently follow-up.
It's important because only a very small percentage (3% at most) are ready to buy now. Think of Internet marketing like a dating relationship. You meet someone you're attracted to, and talk with them for a little while. You learn more about their personality, the common interests you share, and if you want to pursue the relationship further.
Some marketers say that you only need a WordPress blog/website for your business, and that's it. Maybe - but only if it provides great content and the opt-in fields with "opt-in bait" - such as a free report, audio, video and/or White Paper).
If someone goes to your WordPress site - and they're not on your list - and you don't have a way to keep in contact with them... you're hoping they'll remember you (over dozens of other websites out there) and come back to your site. It could happen, but given the shorter attention spans of people nowadays, it's not likely.
Once you start and develop the relationship with your list, you'll see better results from your website marketing. Which leads to Reason #3 why your website isn't making the money you want:
3) Not communicating consistently enough - with quality content - to your audience.
If you don't keep in contact with your customer or prospect frequently, they'll lose interest and probably forget about you. And definitely won't buy from you. This doesn't mean you send daily sales pitches, which say something like: "I'm cool, Social Media's cool - buy my stuff!"
This approach gets real old, real quick. To make money with your website, obviously, you need to make sales. You should provide a higher ratio of content to sales pitches. Bob Bly says the optimum ratio in your e-mail marketing is about 80% content to 20% pitches.
Because buyers are flooded with thousands of messages every day - e-mails, social media and blog posts, and traditional advertising - they're becoming more selective about what (and who) they listen to. That's why if you don't provide quality content in your communications - and show you're interested in solving someone's problem - people will stop listening to you (or receiving your e-mails), and won't buy from you.
Marketing fundamentals transcend time - and still work - whether you use snail mail or e-mail to connect with your customers. In summary, here's the formula for website sales success:
1) Present a good business image
2) Show your customers you care and are truly interested in solving their problems
3) Provide a valuable solution that will solve their problems.
If you stay focused on your customer and how you can help them, you'll be amazed how well your website and business will perform - even in a slow economy.
1) It doesn't motivate a new visitor to stay at your site. A website visitor will decide in 7 seconds whether to stay at a new website. To accomplish this goal, your website must: A) Inspire trust - through B) A professional-looking design, and C) Provide useful and valuable content to the reader.
Cheesy-looking websites done by a high-school kid in Front Page worked 5 or 10 years ago - but not today. People are much more skeptical, and won't spend their time - or money - with a business that looks less-than-professional.
You should include a headline that addresses the biggest problem for a visitor - and how your business can solve it. This will grab a visitor by the eyeballs (to get his attention); quality content - such as articles, Free Reports and/or White Papers - will keep it.
The best kind of marketing is educational or content-based. By using this approach, you position yourself as a thought leader in your marketplace - and not just another business pitching their product or service.
Having a good website is just the start to making more sales. Here's the 2nd reason why your website isn't performing like it should:
2) The website doesn't include opt-in fields for a visitor's first name and e-mail address. The Internet is a great marketing medium - however, it's shortened the attention span of people around the world. Which means that unless a visitor really likes - and bookmarks - your website, he may never return again. Unless... you capture his e-mail address, and consistently follow-up.
It's important because only a very small percentage (3% at most) are ready to buy now. Think of Internet marketing like a dating relationship. You meet someone you're attracted to, and talk with them for a little while. You learn more about their personality, the common interests you share, and if you want to pursue the relationship further.
Some marketers say that you only need a WordPress blog/website for your business, and that's it. Maybe - but only if it provides great content and the opt-in fields with "opt-in bait" - such as a free report, audio, video and/or White Paper).
If someone goes to your WordPress site - and they're not on your list - and you don't have a way to keep in contact with them... you're hoping they'll remember you (over dozens of other websites out there) and come back to your site. It could happen, but given the shorter attention spans of people nowadays, it's not likely.
Once you start and develop the relationship with your list, you'll see better results from your website marketing. Which leads to Reason #3 why your website isn't making the money you want:
3) Not communicating consistently enough - with quality content - to your audience.
If you don't keep in contact with your customer or prospect frequently, they'll lose interest and probably forget about you. And definitely won't buy from you. This doesn't mean you send daily sales pitches, which say something like: "I'm cool, Social Media's cool - buy my stuff!"
This approach gets real old, real quick. To make money with your website, obviously, you need to make sales. You should provide a higher ratio of content to sales pitches. Bob Bly says the optimum ratio in your e-mail marketing is about 80% content to 20% pitches.
Because buyers are flooded with thousands of messages every day - e-mails, social media and blog posts, and traditional advertising - they're becoming more selective about what (and who) they listen to. That's why if you don't provide quality content in your communications - and show you're interested in solving someone's problem - people will stop listening to you (or receiving your e-mails), and won't buy from you.
Marketing fundamentals transcend time - and still work - whether you use snail mail or e-mail to connect with your customers. In summary, here's the formula for website sales success:
1) Present a good business image
2) Show your customers you care and are truly interested in solving their problems
3) Provide a valuable solution that will solve their problems.
If you stay focused on your customer and how you can help them, you'll be amazed how well your website and business will perform - even in a slow economy.
Monday, September 28, 2009
If Your Marketing Needs Help, Go Back to Basics
I've learned there are no "magic bullets" (or quick fixes) when it comes to anything in life. Whether it's athletics, relationships, or business... the answer can almost always be found by making sure your fundamentals are sound; said an easier way, getting back to basics.
If your website or offline marketing isn't doing as well as you think it should, go back to these business basics:
1) Know exactly who you're marketing to. It may sound like an odd question, however, it's the foundation for your business marketing. If you aren't crystal clear on this point, it's about impossible to market effectively. Maybe the demographics of your market has shifted, and they want different products and services than they used to. If you aren't sure, then ASK them! Make a quick, free survey at www.SurveyMonkey.com, and send it out - be sure to offer something in return if they complete the survey.
2) Communicate with folks on your list frequently. It doesn't mean pitching them every time - you must provide valuable, usable information in addition to the occasional (and also valuable) offer. Outlook is OK to use for your e-mail list, however, I'd recommend you use a good e-mail management system like aWeber. It allows you to send out e-mails at different times of the day (or night), and provides tools that can track your e-mail marketing, and make it more effective.
3) Make sure your website captures a visitor's attention, provides value, and gives a clear call to action. A lot of websites nowadays are well-designed, and look professional. However, what they don't do is give people a reason to stay at that site. The average website visitor takes between 3-10 seconds to decide if they'll stay or go. You should provide "opt-in bait" to make sure you capture a new visitor's name and e-mail address. This is very important to building your e-mail list, which is THE most valuable asset your business has.
4) Make sure your offers are what your customers really want. Go back to point #1 - if you aren't sure, make a short survey at www.SurveyMonkey.com, and send it out to your list. Offer something valuable in return if they take the survey.
5) Make the focus of your website, marketing and business on your customers - not you. It's an easy trap business owners fall into, because its human nature - everyone loves talking about themselves. Read through your website and marketing... if you see the words "me," "I," "us," or "our company" more than 2 or 3 times - you need to make some changes.
If your website or business is struggling, and you aren't sure why; go back to these business basics, and you should have a pretty good idea.
If you go over these 5 basics, and you still aren't sure - then contact me at: Brian.Ochsner@gmail.com with the phrase "Business Basics" in the subject line, and I'll be glad to conduct a Business Marketing Evaluation (a $297 value) for no charge through October 15th, 2009.
We're almost to the 4th quarter of 2009, and time is flying. Block out time in your schedule to do this; if you don't have time, contact me @: Brian.Ochsner@gmail.com with the phrase "Business Basics" in the subject line, and I can do it for you. Time waits for no man (or woman) - take action today.
If your website or offline marketing isn't doing as well as you think it should, go back to these business basics:
1) Know exactly who you're marketing to. It may sound like an odd question, however, it's the foundation for your business marketing. If you aren't crystal clear on this point, it's about impossible to market effectively. Maybe the demographics of your market has shifted, and they want different products and services than they used to. If you aren't sure, then ASK them! Make a quick, free survey at www.SurveyMonkey.com, and send it out - be sure to offer something in return if they complete the survey.
2) Communicate with folks on your list frequently. It doesn't mean pitching them every time - you must provide valuable, usable information in addition to the occasional (and also valuable) offer. Outlook is OK to use for your e-mail list, however, I'd recommend you use a good e-mail management system like aWeber. It allows you to send out e-mails at different times of the day (or night), and provides tools that can track your e-mail marketing, and make it more effective.
3) Make sure your website captures a visitor's attention, provides value, and gives a clear call to action. A lot of websites nowadays are well-designed, and look professional. However, what they don't do is give people a reason to stay at that site. The average website visitor takes between 3-10 seconds to decide if they'll stay or go. You should provide "opt-in bait" to make sure you capture a new visitor's name and e-mail address. This is very important to building your e-mail list, which is THE most valuable asset your business has.
4) Make sure your offers are what your customers really want. Go back to point #1 - if you aren't sure, make a short survey at www.SurveyMonkey.com, and send it out to your list. Offer something valuable in return if they take the survey.
5) Make the focus of your website, marketing and business on your customers - not you. It's an easy trap business owners fall into, because its human nature - everyone loves talking about themselves. Read through your website and marketing... if you see the words "me," "I," "us," or "our company" more than 2 or 3 times - you need to make some changes.
If your website or business is struggling, and you aren't sure why; go back to these business basics, and you should have a pretty good idea.
If you go over these 5 basics, and you still aren't sure - then contact me at: Brian.Ochsner@gmail.com with the phrase "Business Basics" in the subject line, and I'll be glad to conduct a Business Marketing Evaluation (a $297 value) for no charge through October 15th, 2009.
We're almost to the 4th quarter of 2009, and time is flying. Block out time in your schedule to do this; if you don't have time, contact me @: Brian.Ochsner@gmail.com with the phrase "Business Basics" in the subject line, and I can do it for you. Time waits for no man (or woman) - take action today.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)