If you opened up a Restaurant and started giving away free cheesy snacks (as a way of generating a buzz) would the whole neighborhood show up just to get their free snacks? And then leave town…for good?
Or would they be compelled to stick around and buy something from you afterward? Better yet, would they totally fall in love with your Restaurant (or hot dog van) to the point of setting up a little camp outside (just to be the first ones through the door)?
Whether it’s a real store (powered by humans), or an online one (that’s sitting on a cloud somewhere), the likelihood of “converting” an ice cold visitor into a toasty warm “lead” or a flaming hot “buyer”, all depend on the “sales funnel” that you weave into your “freebie/special offer”.
The bait might reel them in. And the hook (that proceeds the bait) can keep them “dangling” around the shop/store for a little while. But eventually, you have to set them free so that they can come back on a later day to become “paying customers”. Or so they can…run for dear life.
Obviously, the baits and the hooks used with websites are a little different, even though they’re “conceptually” the same.
For a “website bait”, instead of using a butt ugly worm, we would use something a little more “appealing” like some “free information” or a “free incentive” of some kind.
This “free information” serves as a (non-lethal) bait for both the site visitors and the Search Engine Spiders. Search Engine Spiders (in case you haven’t come across any at home) are creatures of the big bad web that feed on of all kinds information (as opposed to flies and rhubarb pies).
These spiders subject each website/web page (that fall on their radar) to a series of sniff and taste tests. If the site passes all of the tests (with flying colors), as a result of providing good value, regular updates, and high-quality content to the web (whilst keeping its’ nose clean of “spam”) it gets promoted up the ranks to the top of the search engines over a period of time. That’s of course, provided that it’s also acquired enough “legitimate votes” (i.e. “clean backlinks”) in the process.
So, whilst your bait is keeping those hairy search engines spiders happy, it’s also reeling in a decent number of visitors to your website. And hooking them onto a sales funnel…with Catlike precision.
Now, the idea behind this sales funnel (as you may have already guessed) is to “get the sale” (in order to feed the Family and the two newly adopted Giraffes and to avoid fumbling into a series of unfortunate events at home).
And if the customers who do buy (as a result of swimming through your sales funnel), end up being “totally ecstatic” about the “electric jumping frogs” they had bought from your site, they could very easily turn out to be huge “click happy” advocates of your products and services. This could then lead to many future sales (and referrals), lasting all the way till they become Great Grandpas and Great Grandmas.
The Bait:
Now, the bait to use for your products and services depend entirely on the “kind of website” you’re dealing with.
If it’s an information driven website or a blog with products and services tied to its backend, then the bait can just be a free newsletter, a video course, an audio course. an eBook or even a fortune cookie.
But if it’s a straightforward online store, it’ll most likely be a discount coupon, a newsletter consisting of discount coupons and other helpful information. Or it could be a hypnosis CD designed to make your prospects wake up in the middle of the night and buy ALL your stuff.
So here’s what a good sales funnel (as opposed to an awful one) consist of:
1. Premium quality information – Anyone can throw a bunch of ideas and facts into a blender, press a button and whip up with a “decent enough” article, eBook or video. But that’s something any infant in a diaper can do (provided they aren’t too preoccupied with their pacifiers).
So, what will set you apart (from the competition) is in going beyond the norm, rising far and above their expectations. And in leaving your readers/viewers’ eyes gleaming like round cut diamonds.
Sure. This might just seem like “free information”. But in essence, it’s really a series of “warm up sales letters” that lets your audience know what you’re about, what you represent (as a brand, a company, a person, a hitman or a supernatural entity of some kind). And it allows them to determine (fairly or unfairly) whether you’re trustworthy, lovable and huggable enough to win your sale. Or whether you’re just too slim and too shady to deal with.
2. A Landing page opt-in – So someone (surfing the great big waves of the Internet) stumbles upon a piece of information that you had written and released to the World (in a bottle). And they decide to follow that snippet of information (using their mouse), all the way to your website…with hopes of finding a pot of Gold or at least…a darn good article.
But since this is the first time this “fine-looking stranger” is showing up at your domain (i.e. your website) you wanna give them something a “little bit extra” to remember you by…like a free 12-part video course, an audio recording of a seminar or an exceptionally well-written eBook. And if none of that work…a gigantic cookie.
The premium quality free information may suffice to quench their thirst of your knowledge readers. But since we want them to bookmark us, visit us often and keep our website name in their thoughts day and night, we’re gonna hit them with a nice little unexpected surprise…called a popup.
But this isn’t your everyday pop up that makes you wanna throw everything you have nearby at the monitor. This is one of those popups that makes them go “huh?”. That’s because this popup would also be tied to a freebie, that’s way too good to pass.
On top of that, it’s not even asking them for their name, address, email address, star sign or the combination lock number to their security safes to claim it. In fact, all they have to do to claim it, is just hit that little bitty orange button at the bottom that says… “Claim your freebie!” (or words to that effect).
Now, that doesn’t mean we’re giving away all our store merchandise without anything to fall back on. We’re eventually gonna grab those suckers’ (I mean those “prospects”) email addresses. But for now, we wanna make them feel comfortable, by not showing them the one thing that make their hair go all frizzy…the dreaded email opt-in.
Nowadays, just the very sight of an email opt-in is enough to send most folks to the Emergency Room. That’s because they know that many email opt-ins usually lead to…tons of spam (of all kinds of flavors) …followed up with several scams…followed up with a severe case of nausea…giddiness…and a possible visit from their in-laws.
So, the likelihood of getting someone to divulge their contact information through a single-step email opt-in (even if the freebie on offer was a Brand New Mercedes) …would be slim to none. The only exception to that would be a Kid surfing the web with their Mom’s or Dad’s credit card at hand, who would be more than happy to trade their Parents contact details for an Ice cream or two.
So, after we have taken away their “fear element”, given them enough time to soak in the “value” of the offer, and they had expressed their interest by clicking on orange button, we ask them for their email address…ideally with their first name. Now, asking for their name (in addition to their email) will definitely lower the conversion rates (i.e. the number of opt-ins) by a tiny fraction (or by a catastrophic amount). But it will help build rapport with your readers/viewers, as most people don’t particularly enjoy being referred to as “I wish I knew your name”.
Wth landing page opt-ins, if the “first time visitor” lands on your homepage, you’ll wanna drop those big popups on them, right where they’re standing…without taking too long. That’s because most people showing up on your homepage, aren’t being directed there through an “informational snippet” they had tripped over (whilst “surfing the web”). So, there’s probably no preexisting hook or bait in place to hold their interest. Therefore, it’s up to you to toss that fishing net (i.e. the popup) over them and grab their attention asap. At the same time, you wanna give them about 30 seconds to get accustomed to the new surroundings. Otherwise, they’ll genuinely feel like they just had a big fishing net thrown over them.
Now, if that “first time visitor” shows up at your site by first picking up the scent of… one of your articles, then it’s best that you allow them enough time (about 3-5 minutes) to graze on a portion of the article, before hitting them with that all important 2-step opt-in.
3. An exit page opt-in – Landing page opt-ins or “Greeting popups” as I like to call them, don’t always work. There’s always a few that slip through the net. Or they’ve just conditioned themselves to hit the big X (aka the “get lost” button) on just about anything that even remotely represents a popup.
They’ll also tactfully tiptoe around every popup we have strategically planted throughout the website.
So, the best time to “get their attention” is when they’re done with your site and are about to hit the lights to call it a day.
This also gives us the opportunity to “change our strategy” and hit them with something a little different, such as a different popup for the same offer. Or a completely different offer.
4. A sidebar opt-in – The special thing about sidebar opt-ins is their “strategic location”. It’s a very neutral way of grabbing the attention of your viewer’s right eye, without distracting their left one. It’s also far less imposing than the popup approach.
Yes. There are still two steps involved. But it’s only triggered on the reader’s request.
Human beings, Elephants (and some heavily stoned Koalas) usually need to see something 7-10 times before their brains get sold on an idea. And given that this “static opt-in” catches their eye, no matter what page or post of the site they visit, it’s only a matter of time, before they become at least a little intrigued to “take a peak”.
5. A Call to action at the end of each page/post or sales page – Education is by far the best approach to making a sale in almost any situation unless the prospect is already familiar with the product or service. And is only looking around to find the vendor with the “best-looking smile”. But even these “smartasses”, had to once be educated in order for them to be “knowledgeable enough” to know what the product or service is for. Otherwise, they would most likely be using their washing machines to do their dishes as well.
Education is what encourages people to buy a good quality toothbrush and a toothpaste and to brush only the teeth they want to keep. Education is what lets them know that it’s probably not a good idea to walk into a job interview in their jammies and bunny slippers. Education is what sells people on the necessity of eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water and enrolling on a daily fitness program, to prevent their bones and immune systems from crumbling like a stack of cookies… with age. And education is what lets them know that the best way to keep their arms and legs firmly attached to their bodies is to not smoke (and to not go skydiving without a parachute).
But despite all the education in the World, nothing happens unless they actually do something with that knowledge (aside from “forgetting about it”). And since most people’s fingers, toes, and ears swell up at the very thought of “taking action”, we have to be the ones giving them that much-needed push, NOT onto an oncoming vehicle, but into… “taking action”.
In fact, if the product or service you’re selling is likely to change their lives and possibly the lives of their loved ones (in a good way), then it’s your absolute duty (as an unusually intelligent lifeform) to flick them on their noses and encourage them to “invest in themselves”.
This “call to action” should ideally happen at the end of a sales letter, article, video or a very large meal, when their brains are a little more tender and are therefore more susceptible to suggestions.
And, what would one of these “calls to action” look like?
Well, that depends entirely on the outcome you’re looking to attain. If you’re just looking to get more eyeballs to a page or video, you would use a subtle and less invasive approach, whereby you ask your readers/viewers to like, share or comment on your free circulations (be they articles, videos or podcasts).
You could also use this to ask them to opt-in to your newsletter or get them to register for a free webinar.
The conversion rates with this type of “call to action” tend to be much higher, because the stakes are low. And it doesn’t entail pulling out a credit card, phoning a friend for a loan or using a lifeline.
A similar “call to action” (that you can use alongside this) is a social share/follow button feature, embedded to the header segments of nearly all of your content. Now, with sales letters, you can really go the extra mile by giving your readers/prospects the opportunity to enter a “social share raffle” that gives them the opportunity of winning a free copy of… whatever. In a similar way, you can give them the opportunity to get the product completely free in exchange for generating a certain number of likes or shares to the offer.
The second type of “call to action” is the shameless “buy my stuff” approach, where you would present your potential buyers with a sales letter or video and at the end , then stare into their eyes and ask them to…buy your stuff.
This approach can be injected into all of your articles and videos, whereby you direct your visitors to a certain website or possibly a “recommendations/sponsorship” page on your site. And for those looking for more “tools” and “techniques” to spread their wings further (without losing any feathers in the process), this would most likely be something to chirp about.
If you wanna see some examples of the above in action, you’ll find a ton of them (that uses both approaches) sprinkled throughout my site, video channel, and social media accounts. You’ll also find several well-written sales letters (with really badass “calls to actions”) under the “Biz Tools” and “Life Tools” pages of my website.
6. Social share buttons – The social share buttons add a viral component to just about anything you post online.
The same applies to those grim and serious looking ecommerce sites, where it’s now become standard practice to have a series of “share buttons” at a pinky’s distance to the “call to action” button(s).
And once one of these buttons is clicked, your name/brand can spread through the Internet like wildfire, infecting just about anyone in its path (in a sweet and super friendly way).
You can easily find the code or a free plugin for this feature by Googling the term “free share buttons”, followed by the name of the platform you’re using.
So, if your site is on WordPress, the term you would Google for would be “free share buttons WordPress” or something along those lines.
7. A professional site/sales page design – What makes a website or sales page “approachable” and less “scary” to your audience is its “attire”.
If a CEO of a company showed up to work, wearing the funkiest party outfit he/she could find, and behaved like a party animal on steroids, then the employees might have a hard time taking them serious (unless they already work in a fun work environment, where nobody and nothing’s “normal”).
Likewise, with a website or a sales page, what makes a site “professional” is not the number of balloons, tinsels or disco balls that are stringed to the background. Or the eerie music that you have it set to play when someone lands on the site.
Instead what makes a website professional, smart, good looking, caring, funny and all that… are the following:
• A professional color scheme consisting of more than 4 colors
• Content laced over a white canvas (or a similarly light color)
• The use of black lettering for a majority of its content (aside from the occasional “attention grabbers”)
• Fonts being restricted to Times New Roman, Garamond, Bookman Old Style, Arial, Helvetica or Verdana
• Segmentations, subtopics, and bullet points used for illustration purposes
• Site/Sales page consists of an About us page, terms of service page, a privacy policy page, a contact page and a disclaimer page (depending on the “type” of site that it is)
• High-quality images and videos (preferably “not stolen”)
• Industry standard site security
• Omission of animated images or flying saucers
and last (but not least)
• a whole truckload of “credibility”.
Now, the easiest way to come up with your own “professional” website (that puts you Kangaroo leaps ahead of your “mediocre competition”) is to find out how the Top Dogs in your field are doing. And then “model” after what they had done, without copying everything verbatim and ending up in a jail that has no cable TV.
8. Good copywriting –A good sales copy is one that bridges the gap between what you’re selling and it’s many benefits, with your prospects wants and desires. In fact, a good copywriter has the ability to know what the reader had for breakfast, what they do for a living, what they’re discontent about and what makes them more fulfilled etc.
If on the other hand, the product/service you’re selling is an everyday product that your prospects are already familiar with…such as a teaspoon…then the copywriting becomes more about differentiating your products from all the other “teaspoon sellers” and brands out there.
Good copywriting is a skill, that takes a little more doing than learning to flip a light switch. But is far less complicated than heart surgery. Now, if you’re contemplating on becoming a really badass copywriter at any stage, then I recommend starting out by getting yourself a copy of Dan Kennedy’s “The Ultimate Sales Letter”. However, if you wanna avoid the risk of potentially refunding everything that you sell through one of your “trial sales copies”, then you might wanna consider hiring a copywriter that’s already made a gazillion dollars in sales for other (non-felicitous) people in the past.
9. Incentives that make you go mmm – Would you be more compelled to buy a home if it came with a free roof? How about free doors and windows? And maybe a Cat or two?
Everybody wants the biggest bang for their buck. Therefore, we’re naturally drawn to offers that give us a little something extra…for the same money.
In fact, if the “incentives” were sweet enough, we might even become “temporarily amnesic” to the price tag (at least until the card statement shows up).
So, whenever you’re selling a virtual product, make it a point to go the extra 26 miles. And tie in as much “relevant” and “genuinely useful” bonuses as you can with that offer.
In fact, if the value of what you’re giving away for free supersedes the value of the original offer, then your prospects will have a hard time restraining themselves from hitting that “buy now” button.
This works equally well with physical products too (just as long as you’re not tempted to give away more than what you’re charging).
10. Disclaimers – If Shaggy was asked to do the disclaimer for his own site, it would’ve probably read “It wasn’t me”. Thankfully, he had a brilliant team behind him to avoid that from happening.
Disclaimers (particularly legal disclaimers) protect site owners from lawsuits, bad hair days or worse…people who get offended over “cat jokes”.
Disclaimers illustrate the limitations of what a company or a site owner is liable for, where the advice of other professionals (such as Physicians and Rocket Scientists) should be sought and why Celery just tastes better with Peanut Butter.
In addition to disclaimers keeping our butts’ immune to bee stings, they also get us in the good books of most major search engines. That’s because well-written disclaimers are normally seen as a sign of a “legitimate business”, although they’re now being widely used by numerous hitmen to let their customers know that they’re not in any way responsible for any “unforeseeable accidents” that fall upon customers who ask for refunds.
11. Good support – Ever walked into a Store and found yourself chasing sales staff around the whole neighborhood, just to get some service?
Many Businesses see their once great customer service gets downgraded to “average customer service” as soon they get used to seeing more than 10 people (a day) come through the doors. This “average customer service” then gets downgraded to bad customer service (the minute those “nasty customers” start asking too many questions). Finally, we’re left with a bunch of people that fall asleep while they’re talking.
This “complacency” is one of the biggest reasons behind the closure of nearly 80% of all first-time Businesses (in the US). There’s also selling goods and services for less than the cost price (which is “normally” bad for Business), hiring 5-year old wannabe Accountants to balance the books, setting up shop in a rural area (with a population of less than 5 people) and forgetting to open the doors to the store every morning.
But good customer service is not just about being “available”. It’s also about meeting and exceeding your customers’ expectations tenfold. And then leaving them feeling like they had just gotten handed the winning lottery numbers.
As per what channels of communication to make available to your readers/prospects, this can vary from one type of site to another. For an ecommerce site or a service based site, an online chat, a ticket based email portal, social media chats, a snail/turtle mail address and a real phone number (that isn’t disconnected) can go a long way.
But for most standard and affiliate blogs (that primarily promote third party products and services), an email contact form along with links to several social media channels would suffice. That’s unless you’re hugely popular and receive emails at a rate of around one per eye blink. In that case, you should consider tapping into all modalities of communications, mentioned here.
12. Good branding – Ever bought an Ice Cream tub that didn’t come with any kind of branding, labeling or expiry date, and only had the words “Ice Cream” scribbled across it with a crayon?
If you hadn’t, then that’s most likely because you prefer to buy something that won’t kill you (at least not instantly).
We all place a significant emphasis on “Branded products and services” even if it’s the cheapest one in its category. That’s because a Brand is something that gets nurtured and cultivated over time.
And it adheres to a set of strict rules and standards (such as not burping whilst being sworn into a position of authority and not sneezing directly into somebody’s face etc.). This not only makes the brand marketable, but it also gives it a “customer appeal”, making the “branded products” more “sellable”.
And if they also spend some time brainstorming ideas (whilst taking their Dog or Cat for a walk), they can even come up with a “competitive advantage” that can (in some way) make them better than their competition. That’s provided the Dog or the Cat is also in a “thinking mood”.
You don’t have to be big, bold or have high cheekbones to be considered worthy enough to “brand” your products or services.
All you need is a good idea and a spoonful of ambition to get started.
In essence, a brand should consist of:
• A “name”, be it a Company name or your own name.
• A vision statement and a mission statement for you (and your Team) to align yourselves with every day.
• A standard color/image scheme.
• A set of standards (woven around the same color/image scheme) to reflect across every aspect of the Business or Brand.
and
• Your “personality” tied into the brand (excluding all the “moody aspects” of it).
13. Good followup – Remember the “bait and hook” approach we used earlier to get your (partially unwilling) fans onboard?
Well, once they’re in the net (so to speak), you have to feed them and nurture them in order to prevent them dying from “information starvation”. And you do that by feeding them (i.e. your fans/followers/stalkers) “byte size chunks” of succulent information often…ideally once per day.
And if they don’t like the idea of being emailed every day, then you can always give them the option to switch over to a weekly schedule. If that still doesn’t work, you can just cut the net loose and let them swim freely… into shark ridden waters.
So, what would one of these follow-up email campaigns look like?
A “good quality” email campaign would consist of “pure information” consisting of factual tips, suggestions, helpful advice and maybe a joke or two to help your readers giggle and grow simultaneously.
In essence, your emails should leave your readers inspired, informed and uplifted (by a couple of feet at least). And not leave them feeling like they just swallowed a live squid (right down to the last tentacle).
And once your readers get to know that you’re not a wanted criminal and that you have their best interest at heart, you can even “recommend” them a product or a service to further “enhance” the value that you’re already adding to their lives.
For instance, let’s say you’re a runner. And you’re trying to encourage your readers to go for a 30-minute jog (or a 5-hour sprint) every day. Then you can “enhance” their experience by introducing them to your running gear (without directly exposing them to the running shoes you had been using for the last 10 years).
As per the style of writing (for your emails), how formal, informal, cheerful, miserable or Shakespeare-like you should sound depend entirely on your niche and your personality. Whilst a partially informal and upbeat writing style works best with most audiences, if the people you’re emailing “reside” at the Cemetery and only wake up at midnight, then you’ll probably have a higher response rate with a grim and as eerie writing tone.
14. Credibility – If one of your friends was in need of a heart surgery (“emotional heart surgery” perhaps), then you’ll presumably call on someone who has a Medical Degree of some sort (at least a veterinary one). And has operated on something bigger than a mouse.
In addition to the Medical Degree, you’ll also most likely talk to a few Patients that this “Doctor” had operated on (who didn’t die on the operating table).
And just to be extra thorough, you might even talk to a few of the Doctor’s neighbors to determine if his/her moving into the neighborhood led to a rapid increase in the number of “missing persons” in their area.
But you’ll probably not worry too much about the credibility of the Doctor’s helpers, even if they looked a little “buzzed”.
That’s because the Surgeon’s credibility more than compensates for his/her assistants’ “lightheadedness”.
So Credibility is a big deal, particularly when it comes to “mission critical” aspects of our lives.
That’s why you would only hire a Lawyer based on their Credentials. And why you would only book a flight with a major airline (that you’ve heard of before). It is also why you would always check for a seller’s track record for delivering on their promises, before buying what they’re selling.
Now, with brick and mortar Businesses there’s a whole bunch of factors that contribute a company’s credibility, such as the presentation of the Business premise, staff dress codes, amenities, quality of furniture, stationary, the number of pets each employee is allowed to bring to work etc.
But with online Businesses, credibility is weighed using 6 primary factors:
• The human element: Everybody wants to know that the Company/Brand they’re looking to do Business with is being powered by real humans (that eat, drink, breathe and sneeze). And that it’s not run by a bunch of Aliens with dangly antennas sticking out of their heads.
This is accomplished by first adding a bright and sunny picture of yourself (provided you’re a Human) to the homepage of your site (and elsewhere as needed). And then by adding a comprehensive support page to your site.
How comprehensive of a “support page” you ask?
Well, if you’re running an ecommerce site that’s currently receiving more than a gazillion visitors per day, then your support desk cannot be limited to a single email account and a string telephone. Instead, it should be powered with an email ticketing system, a PBX phone system, a snail/turtle mail address and links to several of your social media channels.
If on the other hand, you just launched your ecommerce site 2 days ago and it’s currently generating less than 1 visitor per day, then an email ticketing system along with links to a couple of your preferred social media channels would suffice.
However, in the case of one-person brands and affiliate websites, this is entirely dependent on your preference and the size of your team. You can either give them the option to contact you via mail, email, phone, cellphone, social media, pigeon post or even telepathically. Or you can limit the number of communication portals you have open to the public to just a few social media channels and one email account.
• Product knowledge – Your sales staff (unless you’re flying solo) would need to know “intricately” what they’re selling.
They can only do that by opening their hearts and minds to understanding the products and services being offered, at a very personal level. And by stuffing their brains full of “NOT totally useless” information about those products.
There’s nothing that puts a damper on the credibility of a brand or a company than a bunch of salespeople trying to figure out what they’re selling, whilst they’re “trying” to sell them.
• Availability – When a store claims to be open between 9 and 5, you don’t expect to find the store doors clamped shut at 11am with a sign that reads “Gone skydiving. Be back soon (hopefully)”.
Likewise, when you enter the store, you don’t expect it to NOT have a single sales assistant on the floor.
This concept holds true in the online World as well. Your sales team should be available at the times stated, even if everything’s managed through a ticketing system. The more responsive and attentive your customer service, the more likely they’re to drop in again (and not just when it’s raining outside).
• Efficiency – Most customers want their problems solved… yesterday. If not, a year before they occurred.
So, they don’t particularly enjoy waiting in line, for more than a few seconds.
The speed of service enhances your credibility factor by leaps and bounds. And it lets your customers know whether it’s worth their while buying from you. Or whether they’re better off taking their Business to the popcorn guy down the road.
• Quality – It’s no fun in buying a brand new blender that costs half as much. And then have it blow up in your face the minute you plug it in.
People prefer “quality” over price any day, especially when the discounted item is designed to “not work”. Or it comes with about as many compromises as a Donkey-powered wagon.
That’s why you should strive to only provide quality products and services that leave your customers breathless (preferably for less than a few minutes as they could start suffocating otherwise).
• Aftersales – Many mediocre businesses make the sale, get the cash, ship the item and then flee the Country for a month or two (in an effort to mitigate the possibility of a refund).
But in actuality, the end of the sale is what marks the beginning of your brand spanking new Business relationship with that Customer.
That’s because they took the plunge and invested in the crap (I mean…the “high quality” products and services) you were peddling (I mean…selling). And they have now said their “customer vows” and have committed to using your products and services…till they get hit by a meteoroid or something (many years down the line).
So, if something strange happens in their neighborhood whilst they’re trying out your products or services, they won’t be looking to call the Ghost Busters or the Myth Busters to come to their rescue. Instead, they’ll expect you to be there for them on the other end of the line, telling them that “Everything’s gonna be alright (yeah) Everything’s gonna be okay (no doubt)”.
This is why the Company or the Person that provides the “better product or service warranty” (preferably both) is perceived to be “more credible” and has a greater chance of winning the sale (unless of course, they’re in cahoots with the Mafia and don’t “look” as trustworthy).
15. Online Security – Every time we slip into our surfing gear, jump on our surfboards and go “surfing” the World wide web (of confusion), we’re being tailed by a bunch of credit card loving Sharks…very stealthily. But instead of these sharks aiming their teeth at our ankles or big toes, they’re patiently waiting for us to key in our card details into an insecure site or a secure “hoax site” that they redirect you to, so that they can party like it’s 1999…again.
And once these critters have our card details, they’ll wait a little while (for their tummies to settle down) …and then…have us for desert.
So, how do you “protect yourself” whilst online?
You protect yourself and your clients from all the nasties of the dangly web of information, by only associating with ecommerce solutions providers that have a good reputation behind them. And by only using sites that have the backing of these companies or have the direct backing of a Certificate Authority. Slipping into a biohazard suit before going online may also help.
A Certificate of Authority facilitates the secure connection between yourself and the buyers, using a bunch of digital keys. And if the site isn’t secure or the owners of the site have signed their own digital certificate (just as they have done for all their academic certificates), then your Web Browser will tug at your big toe and tell you about it. Or it might just flash a warning across the screen, telling you that the site you’re about to enter is a “bad mother-fathering site” that’s up to no good. You’ll also a see the “https” portion of the website URL (that you were about to visit) crossed out in red.
But for the most part, if you just go with an ecommerce solutions provider that has been powering websites since the days of the Dinosaur, then you’re pretty much covered.
16. Scarcity (no correlation to SimCity or Sin City) – People love chasing after things they can’t have or are just hard to get. And they’ll do almost anything to hold on things that they’re “about to lose”. This holds true in every aspect of their lives, be it their relationships, health, finances or their spirituality.
Most Men and Women take their Partners for granted or focus too much on their own needs until the other person leaves, cheats or just kills them softly in their sleep (with a song).
Likewise, most smokers will keep puffing away on those cigarettes until they wake up one morning and realize that they’re down to 2 teeth and one tiny patch of hair.
It’s the heat and the pressure that makes diamonds.
And in the case of us humans, it’s the heat and the pressure that bring out our true colors (provided we don’t get burnt to a crisp before that).
In essence, the extra pressure helps “accelerate” our decision-making process, whenever we’re in doubt. In a relationship, “pressure” helps us decide between holding onto bad habits and sleeping alone. In a health crisis, it helps us decide between continuing to indulge in something that’s “cooking/smoking us from the inside” and living a life without wheelchairs, wrinkles, lung diseases, stinky clothes and hospital vacations.
And in the Business world, it’s what helps your customers decide whether they wanna buy that all powerful electric chopper to save themselves a ton of time, effort and a lot of grunting. Or whether they much prefer continuing to chop everything with their bare hands.
This is why many Stores cycle through various “sales promotions” every few weeks/months. When something is on sale and is only available for a short while, people are more compelled to buy it (provided they actually want it and have enough space left in their houses to put it).
But without that “added pressure” they might have continued to walk by that product for the next 10 years without giving it a thought.
And normally the “shorter” the promotion period, the more likely they’re to make a buying decision.
Scarcity plays a big part primarily with online informational/software product launches, where their buying decision is often times squeezed into a 72-hour timeframe or smaller. If they don’t pay up within that time, chances are they’ll never see their kidnapped Pet Hamster alive again. They might also miss out on a really good offer.
17. Relevant traffic (and a traffic Cop to keep things “cool”)- If a person looking to buy a car started shopping for one at every Florist around, he/she’ll probably not go too far before being forced into a straitjacket.
Likewise, if a Florist started getting hordes of people visiting them for all kinds of things, other than flowers, they might start showing up for work with an ice bag over their heads, everyday.
The same holds true in the online world, where it’s the relevant traffic that leads to profit (provided you have all the ducks in your sales funnel lined up beautifully). Irrelevant traffic, on the other hand, would only lead to confusion, disappointment and possibly even hair loss.
So, where does relevant traffic come from?
The 3 “most reliable” sources of “relevant traffic” around are PPC (aka Pay per click traffic), SEO (aka “Search Engine Marketing”) and Content Marketing. In many instances, Content Marketing is regarded as a part of SEO.
Of the 3, the fastest route to “sales” is PPC, because it can put you in front of people who are looking for your products and services with just a nose wiggle or two. And of all the many flavors of PPC available in the Market, the most popular one (which also happens to have the most traction) is Google Adwords PPC.
Now, whilst PPC (when done right) can do wonders for your Business, when done wrong, it can cost you your whole shoe collection (along with Mr. Teddy). So, always do your due diligence and research before implementing one. And start out with the smallest “daily budget” allotment possible.
Another good source of paid traffic is Solo Ads. With solo ads, you’ll have a handful of Buds that are worth keeping around and a whole bunch of Duds that’ll just suck you dry and leave you out in the Sun.
So, paid advertising (regardless of the platform) carries risk. But you can minimize that risk by aligning yourself with people who specialize in the “Ancient and bewildering arts of paid advertising”.
Search Engine Marketing, on the other hand, carries far fewer risks (cost-wise). But it can (in some cases) take a century or two to yield desirable results, primarily as a result of going after the wrong “search terms” (aka Keywords).
Now, the quickest solution to the keywords dilemma is to use a keyword tool that does nearly all the work for you like SECockpit. Yes. It’s “comparatively” more expensive. And it’s provided on a Monthly subscription (which can be canceled at any time). But it does what most other software take hours (or even days) to do in as little as a few seconds. So, if you go by what your time’s worth and how important finding the “right keywords” are to you, then the price might more than makeup for it. But if you’re looking to get the research done for just one or two campaigns, then you’re probably better off going to Fiverr.com, making a few inquiries and finding out which of the sellers there use SEcockpit for their keyword research. And then pay them just five bucks to have it done for you.
The second phase of SEO…is generating “natural votes” for the keywords nominated, without waking up any “Search Engine Rottweilers” in the process. The Search Engine Rottweilers are usually a happy bunch. And they’ll keep grinning away, provided you keep the voting process (aka as the backlink building process) to your site as natural (and as “clean”) as possible.
Also, you need more than just a “few” natural looking votes to make a difference. Even if you get “voted to the top” (through the “quality of the votes” as opposed to the quantity), the site can only stay there, if it continues to be popular. In that sense, it’s like an Election that happens every day, where the Politicians get just enough time to sit down for one celebratory Cookie, before having to prep for the next election.
The third “fundamental requirement” to appeasing those mighty Search Engines is in generating backlinks from diversified sources.
You never see an election (in the real World) won based solely on votes accumulated from one age group, gender or ethnicity. It’s the votes generated through many diverse groups, that make the difference.
Then we have the Search Engine Spider’s favorite meal: high-quality content. An SEO campaign is always far much more effective when it’s combined with Content Marketing.
So, if those spiders start seeing a whole bunch of “quality content” being pooped out of your site regularly (ideally every day/week), then your site will receive some serious Search Engine Spider Love for each piece “good quality” content generated.
18. Track those puppies– When you do your hair in a certain way, you get a certain reaction (be it a good reaction or very bad one). And if you do your hair a different way the next day, you’ll most likely get a different reaction (provided they recognize you). The same goes for your shoes, watch, jewelry, makeup and everything contributing to your appearance.
So, if you take a moment to record every little reaction you receive (preferably from the opposite sex) against every “subtle change” made, you would most likely get an idea as to what works best for you (lookswise).
In the online World, “subtle tweaks” (made to various aspects of a marketing campaign) would lead to generating the “highest possible interest” resulting in the “highest possible conversions”.
So with a website, you would observe how your site visitors react to an opt-in box being moved, to having the wording or pictures changed, to changing the timing of a popup, to different color schemes, to different offers etc. Then you can monitor how your changes affect the viewers’ reaction through a heat mapping software of your choosing. The results you get here may be “guesstimates” at best. But after a while, you’ll begin to spot patterns in your readers’ behavior, that will either drive you toward a sale or drive you miles away from one.
And with sales pages and full page opt-in pages you can implement 2 or more unique designs of the same (with slight variations) and test them against one another in real-time, using a software like Leadpages or Clickfunnels. The software will then tell you which of your pages convert better and which ones just looked pretty but didn’t do much.
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.