If your small business sells tiddlywinks, it may be easy to assume everyone in the world knows a lot about tiddlywinks as well.

This may come to a shock to you…but they don’t!

It’s easy when we live and breathe an industry that we just assume the consumers know what we know. The brand of tiddlywinks all the professionals use and the different air resistance factors that can affect a match.

But people don’t. So you need to teach them. And if you take a pre-emptive strike and answer all their questions before they’re asked…well you might just be on your way to building a relationship.

Why

In the physical world it’s easier to explain to a client why they should choose this product over that product. And if the client trusts you they will usually take your recommendation. If you say that X brand of tiddlywinks (really I just like using the word) is going to splinter and give you nasty thumb injuries, they’ll believe you.

The same needs to apply with your website. You need to educate your visitors so they can make an informed decision with your products. They need to walk away from the experience feeling they got the absolute best result for their time and money.

And if your products aren’t suitable for them, let them know! Nothing will impress a potential client more and gain more loyalty than pointing them in the direction of a different solution that will give a better result. Because the next time they need something from your industry…who do you think they’ll come to?

How

Write guides on how to select the best product for their needs. Teach them everything they need to know about the products they’re looking at. Those that want the information can go over it in great detail, while the rest can just get what they need and make the purchase.

Have solution assessment flowcharts, have product demonstration videos. Collect questions and make the responses into a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Homework

Choose a problem your visitors face and write a guide to help them find the best solution.

Website visitors are a fickle lot, one minute they’re reading an incredibly crafted blog about improving their website. The next moment they’re off checking their emails. Then Facebook. Then off to a website about cheese.

It’s a little ridiculous how our attention wanders.

But I sure do like cheese! Don’t you? There are so many types and flavours! Cheese should be a food group all by itself.

Umm…but I digress…

So you need to make sure your visitors go where you want them. Which is why I didn’t include a link to Cheese.com. Ok…so I’m crap at this game. Remember: Do as I say, not as I do!

Why

Your website has a purpose, believe it or not. And it’s up to you to allow your website to be successful. You do want your website to be successful don’t you? You don’t want to give it crushing self-esteem issues later in life?

Once you know what your website is meant to do, it’s much easier to guide your visitor there. You need to map out a path for visitors to take that ends at the result you want. The trick is to get all the possible random visitor paths to end where you want.

How

To do this you just have to make the result obvious and of value to your visitor. For example, I want you to remember my website and keep visiting. So I write these short teaser blog posts and give away a lot more in-depth information in my Free Members Only Area. Aren’t I sneaky!

You get great information to help improve your website and make money. And I get the pleasure of your company. Win-Win! One day I might even have time to make some helpful and valuable products for you and make some money from this website. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Homework

Work out what you want your visitor to do and then see if your website’s path takes them to the right destination. If it doesn’t, fix it…

Small businesses tend to forget just who their website was created for. It’s not your business, it’s not your shareholders, and it’s not your mother.

Your website exists to serve your customers, first and foremost. It may serve them by helping them buy your wonderful products, but your website experience is all about the visitor.

Why

People are selfish *shrug* They want to make themselves feel good above all else. Some people do this by hurting others, normal people do this by searching for experiences that add to their life. The sooner you realise this fact, the better your website will become.

So when a visitor comes to your website you want them to get the best experience possible. So good, that they might even buy some of your products…don’t faint yet…stay with me…

Surprisingly, the best approach to selling your products is not getting right in a person’s face and yelling “Buy my damn product!!!” Salespeople, advertisers, and marketers have tested this technique thoroughly and finally the results are in.

People don’t like being sold to.

So why would you make your website all about your business and your products? No one wants to read a sales brochure on the Internet. It’s just boring and doesn’t add anything to their life…unless they buy your product.

We need a new approach.

How

Your website should help visitors with what they seek. You should earn their trust by providing quality information that can help them out first. If what they need leads to your products, then that will happen in good time. But there’s no use jumping out from behind a flashing banner ad and yelling “Buy my product!”

Because we know that doesn’t work.

Instead, ask yourself how you could add value to your visitor’s life. Make their visit to your website worth something even if they don’t buy your products.

You’ll quickly find the more satisfied visitors you have, the more clients will appear wanting to buy your products…if they have a good reason to.

Homework

Look at your website and list the benefits a visitor gets from it. If there are none, make another list of what benefits you could offer visitors. Then go do it. If you already offer some benefits, add some more!

Once you’ve started to write your content, you need to put it on your website. No worries, just create a few article links and she’ll be right!

Wrong! This is another way to get visitors to leave your website. You sure are getting good at driving traffic away from your website, eh?

So how do you keep that oh so precious traffic on your website for hours at an end? You structure it properly of course. So what exactly does that mean?

Your website is telling a story. The story starts when the visitor enters your website and ends when they leave. It’s up to you whether the story ends happily for both you and your new customer. Or sadly after the Big Bad Wolf eats Grandma, Little Red Riding Hood, the Wood Cutter, and skips off into the forest with their wallets.

How do you tell the story? By linking the relevant content together in a clear, logical, and easy to follow way. The homepage flows into more useful information, the articles flow into other related articles. And all the time, your website is building a relationship with your visitor.

After all, when you have a relationship with a visitor, it’s much easier to slip a ring on their finger and convert them into a long term customer. To death do you part!

Do a search for any product or service you like. What do the results return? Pages and pages of people trying to sell you something.

If an encyclopaedia salesperson knocks on your door, do you let them in?

If you walk into a clothing store and a salesperson asks if you need any help, do you say “YES PLEASE!”

Usually…No! So why would you behave any different on the internet? It’s even easier to reject a salesperson here as you never even see their face.

Your website needs to build a relationship with its visitors. It needs to give your customers what they want. First thing they want? Information. They want to find out as much as possible before making a purchase. They want to know if they can trust you. They want to build a relationship so they know you’ll be there if things go wrong.

How do you build a relationship with these lovely people? Content, loads and loads of content. Useful, informative, brilliant content. That’s how you build a relationship online.

 

 The five biggest secrets your web designer doesn't know about making money on the internet: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The internet is full of websites that fail to live up to their potential. The main reason is small business owners don’t understand the potential for their website. However, most web designers don’t either!

Over the next two weeks, you’ll be light years ahead of other businesses on the internet as we discuss the five most important facts your web designer doesn’t know about making money.

We’ll be covering:

1. Why a pretty website does not make you money
2. Why salespeople are a dying breed, especially on the internet
3. How to structure your website to retain your visitors
4. The problem with marketing online, no one knows how to do it!
5. The real story on search engines

I hope you tune in and put this knowledge to good use in your business. As always, let me know your thoughts and comments below.

 

 The future of marketing: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

What is the future of marketing? I’ve posted before about my beliefs that internet advertising is dead and marketing as we know it will soon be going the same way.

The problem is what people think of when they think of marketing. Marketing is usually linked directly to advertising, to newspaper, tv, or radio ads, and these methods are definitely in trouble. The concept of marketing as pushing product information at your customer is dead. With the internet, the entire paradigm is shifting, and many businesses will be left behind.

If you look at marketing courses in university, or the huge majority of marketing books out there, you’ll see all the traditional forms of marketing and how to put them into practice. The problem is, they don’t work anymore!

These days, advertising is everywhere, and every corner we turn, someone is trying to sell us something. We’re being marketed to constantly and have taught ourselves just to switch off.

As business owners, what do we do about this? Marketing is one of the key aspects of a successful business and if the traditional methods aren’t working, aren’t we all in a lot of trouble?

No. People like us aren’t in trouble, we’re in a position to benefit the most from these changes! The people that aren’t prepared to change, to seek out new ideas, to constantly improve…they are the ones in trouble.

So get excited, we’re going to start talking about the new form of marketing, that has been named ‘Social Marketing’ by the experts. I have faith that you’re probably doing some of this marketing already. You just may not be aware of it, or just not taking full advantage of it yet.

It’s time to start creating the future of marketing ourselves, and take our businesses to the next level.

Ok, so once you’ve got your website sorted and mastered the basic internet marketing techniques you’ll want to try something a little more tricky. This is where the advanced internet marketing techniques come in. Most of these advanced techniques are based on the basic techniques so there’s no use skipping straight to here either. If you’re still looking for the get quick rich answer, I’ve told you over and over that you’re not going to find it here.

Brand Building
What do all big successful companies do? That’s right, build a massive brand. Before you dismiss this as out of your budget, let’s think about it briefly. First, what is a brand? I would say the public perception of your business or product. So what forms your brand? All the interactions you have with the public. And what are a lot of the intermediate techniques? Bingo, interacting with the public by helping solve their problems and creating a positive public image of your company. So have a think how you can continue to develop your brand.

Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is creating something that spreads through the internet like wildfire. Created half through skill and half through luck it is definitely worth some attention. Think of some of the email forwards you’ve seen over the years. Think of Youtube videos that people have spread around. Imagine having your business’ name attached to the Star Wars Kid. Now that’s powerful.

Alliance Partners
Taking direct marketing to the next level involves partnership. Think about your nice big mailing list. Now think about all the companies in your industry that have those same sized mailing lists. You make one alliance and you just doubled your potential customer list. Just remember that you need to still be offering your customers something great from the other company that adds value to your customer relationship. And never sell your mailing list or let it get into the hands of spammers. Market your partners’ products to your customers yourself.

Backend Systems
Want even more bang from your mailing list. Welcome to the backend sales process. So once you’ve got a customer, how do you keep them a customer? Have them buy something else from you of course. If your customer bought product A, chances are they may be interested in product B. Especially if product A was incredible and exceeded their expectations. Again, remember the golden rule, always be offering your customers more value. Not just trying to add value to your bottom line.

Competitor Analysis
I’ve put this in advanced because if it’s done properly, it really is an advanced technique. I hope you have some form of competitor analysis now. At least going to their website and see what they’re up to. But if you really want to be the head of your niche you need to take this a lot more seriously. Examine in depth your competitors. Work out what they’re selling, how they’re selling it, what their unique selling proposition seems to be. Why are customers buying from them? By knowing exactly what your competitors are doing, you can outmanoeuvre them at every point.

So there you have it, enough internet marketing techniques to keep you going for a long time. As time goes by I will have been writing longer articles on each technique so you can fully implement them in your business. However, remember that new techniques are not the most important thing in your business.

It all stems from your mindset, you as the entrepreneur. If you haven’t got this area handled, all the techniques in the world will not save your business. So train your mind, and everything else will follow behind.

Your website needs four basic components to be built correctly before you start even thinking about getting fancy with Internet Marketing. I call them DUFF for short:

• Design
• Usability
• Findable
• Functionality

Design
If your website doesn’t look professional and trustworthy you can kiss customers money goodbye right from the start. If you can’t get this right, I’m never going to trust you to get a credit card processing system right! Fortunately there are a lot of web designers out there and this is where they excel. Don’t skimp on your web designer, I know you have a friend who can do it, but you need a professional.

Usability
This is the hidden component of design that often gets overlooked. Your website must be ordered in a nice, easy to follow and logical way. Menu systems should be abundant on your pages and easy to use. Every page has an objective, whether it’s to get you to the next page or complete a sale, make sure it’s fulfilling its objective. And make it fast to load, especially if you may have customers on dial-up, you’d be surprised how many that could be. Lots of text but graphics in moderation is the way to a healthy website.

Findable
To use the ancient Chinese proverb: “If you build a business in the forest but no-one is around to visit it, does it make a sale?” This is even truer of the internet and a critical factor. How will you get people to visit your website? Marketing! And one of your critical marketing actions should be making your website rank well in the search engines with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Once it’s there, it costs you very little to maintain and the traffic comes from people wanting to learn about and buy what you are selling. Traffic can also come from other marketing like Pay per Click (PPC) ads and Viral marketing, but SEO should be in every beginner’s bag.

Functionality
Does the website do its job, normally, sell your product? Whether you accept credit card payments online or have contact details on the website, are people buying your products? This is one of the most overlooked aspects of a website and a personal pet peeve of mine. As I said before, every page has an objective, and most of them should be leading the customer closer to the sale. Make sure you write a good website that people are compelled to buy from and you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Once you get all these components sorted you can move on to actually marketing your website. We’ll talk tomorrow about some basic techniques to use. But remember, you should be starting with these four aspects or the visitors you attract will just as quickly leave your website.

Expanding your business can be difficult at times, especially when you’re doing all the work yourself. The secret is to exploit the power of Strategic Alliances. Find a company that serves your customer base and see what kind of joint ventures you can do.

This could be as simple as being advertised as a trusted friend in their mailing list. Or you could group products together and make joint offers to your customers. In a strong alliance you could even up-sell each others products.

Create a great network, use it creatively, and your business will grow overnight.