Article Categories

SiteProNews Blogs

The Virtual Edge - The Website that Shines

06 2008 Monday

By Diana Ennen in Featured

Do you have the Virtual Edge with your business? That website that when people go there they say, Wow, I want to work with that company. If not, here are a few pointers.

Packing a Punch

Your website is the one thing that defines you and your business and has the potential to draw the entire virtual world to your products or services. How important is it? Well, I just recently had mine redone, and I immediately starting gaining more clients. Also, because I added a more professional edge to my site, I started getting clients who were a higher caliber and who paid more, now it don’t get any better than that.

Here are a few pointers I think you might find useful:

The First Glance - Hook Them!! Keep in mind that the first thing listed in the main body of your site should be the best you offer. The main thing you are bringing people to the site to see. It has to clearly state what is it you want to sell, offer, feature, etc. Go look at your site, have you done it?
Buttons That Tell & Sell - Those side and top buttons-you need to clearly set up so that people want to click on them and find out more. Also, you need to have these labeled correctly so they know what they are clicking on to see. That name is critical to making them take the time to check out that page. § Bullet Power- Clients often skim sites and rarely read through the entire site. They look for items that interest them. If you list paragraph after paragraph, it won’t get read. Think back, do you read those paragraphs. I don’t! Therefore use bullets or symbols instead. And try the slanted bullets or a different bullet style for more eye appeal.
Chose Your Words Wisely - Every word on your site should say something important. Absolutely you need to use keywords, but you also need to use convincing words to sell you and your business. Don’t get so caught up in keywords that you lose the focus of the site. Write the text, edit and delete, and repeat that last step over and over until you have it just right.
Convenience – Clickable Links — In the body of the website itself, whenever you are providing a reference to a site, make sure you have a clickable link, even if you have it on the side panel. People often won’t take the time to go look for the button, so make it easy for them. § Colors Are Cool — Match your colors to your business or your book. For example, for one of my clients who has a science fiction book with an awesome green cover, I designed the website to match. Now you immediately make the connection.
Front Page Magic - Offer Something FREE - On your front page, it helps to offer something for FREE. I offer a free booklet on obtaining clients in a pdf format. How about a free 10 ways to do whatever it is you do? That sort of thing. Let people long after they leave your site remember you and want to come back to you with their money and business.
Contests - Come One- Come All — Yes, we know they work. They get people to your site and that adds to your traffic. But, here’s a tip to make them really successful. Follow-up each response with a personal e-mail. Now, the key is not making it a hard sale sales letter they will never read. Instead, a “Hi, thanks for entering the contests, I’m sorry you did/didn’t win, but I’m …” And then give them something special, including a coupon off of your services. Make them feel special.
Newsletter – List your newsletter on numerous pages if not all. This is what is going to be reconnecting you to your clients and potential clients. § The Eyes Have It - I strongly suggest you have another friend or business associate view your site and offer opinions. It’s incredible what they can see that you don’t as you are too close to it.
Eyes — Take Two — Right now, stop and check out your site. Have you looked at it from a potential client’s viewpoint? What did you think? Did it clearly define you and what you offered? Did it spark your interest?

I hope these tips help you to get the virtual edge you need for your business.

Diana Ennen, Author; Virtual Assistant the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, and Corel Word Perfect Office Ready Virtual Assistant Solution Pack (www.corel.com). She’s the president of Virtual Word Publishing, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com , offering publicity and book marketing. Article is free to be reprinted as long as author’s bio remains intact.

The Secret Weapon to Building a Massive List - Trust

06 2008 Monday

By Simon Whincop in Featured

With the amount of daily junk entering our e-mail boxes these days, most of us will go to great lengths to keep our e-mail accounts spam-free. However, there are many others who subscribe to mail that promotes products and services from websites, mainly because these subscribers are keen to learn more about what is being offered and whether it can benefit them. In fact, they expect to get be kept informed about what’s new in the market in their chosen field. Internet marketers love these kinds of customers: they are a vital element of their business. But how do you win over these kinds of cusromers? The internet marketer’s secret weapon is trust: When your customers trust you they will reward you with their loyalty.

Send to legitimate subscribers only! To be able to be allowed to send promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and marketing media, the first thing you will is need permission from your recipient, so make sure you only send to people who have willingly signed up to your subscribers’ list. Having good material on your website or landing page will already begin to build their trust. After all, they are not going to sign up to something they don’t trust.
Share your expertise: Gaining your customers’ trust should be easy if you give them some of your knowledge and expertise. People rely on other people who know what they are talking about. Gain as much knowledge and information about your internet marketing business as you can. Frankly, if you chose to go into a field you have no interest in it, you should think again.
Be an expert: Demonstrate to your clients that you know what you are talking about. Provide them with helpful hints and tips pertaining to your product or market. Talk about how to install programs if you’re marketing software or provide articles on exercise if you’re a promoting weight-loss products. If your customers see you as someone who knows what you’re talking about, they will trust you quickly.
Use the secret weapon of business - integrity: In other words, be true to your customers. Provide first class products and services, give money-back guarantees and after-sales services. The more satisfied customers you get, the more likely it is that they will recommend you to others. Recommendations will grow your list ten-fold: people trust someone they know, so when one person recommends you, another will go to your site and check it for themselves, already with an attitude of trust. So make sure you provide top-class, consistent service. Remember not to lose the trust you have gained. Never do anything with their email addresses like sell them or give them out. That is a good way to destroy your list
Provide a get-out clause. Show them that you are not there to trap them. Every e-mail you send should enable them to unsubscribe anytime they want. Providing information on how to unsubscribe from the list on your website form will add to the feeling of trust, Guaranteeing that they can let go of the service whenever they want to. Many people are wary of being stuck for life and will even feel forced to abandon their email accounts when they get over-pestered with spam.

To build a good opt-in list you need people to trust you quickly. And the faster you build your opt-in list, the faster word about your site and internet marketing business will spread. As your opt-in list grows, so will your traffic, spelling more profits. The math is easy if you think about it. Getting the numbers is not that simple though, or is it?

Simon Whincop is a successful Internet Marketer and writes on a variety of subjects. Visit http://www.webcashmillions.com to find out more about how to build wealth successfully from home as an Internet Marketer.

List Building - Proven Strategies From The Trenches

06 2008 Monday

By Titus-Hoskins in Featured

List building is one of the most vital elements of
any business - online or offline - mainly because
building a responsive customer/contact list simply
means money in the bank. It is a proven marketing
tactic that works.

List building can take on many forms and can be as
simple or as complicated as you want to make it.
Unfortunately, for most webmasters, it only means
slapping an opt-in form on their site to build a
simple subscriber list that allows them to send
out a weekly or monthly ezine/newsletter to entice
these subscribers back to their site or to buy a
recommended product.

For other webmasters and marketers, including myself,
list building can be taken to a whole new level. They
fully exploit list building for its many benefits and
rewards. For them, list building is a powerful and
effective marketing tool that simply delivers more
traffic and sales.

Some History

List building is close to my heart. It was the first
“serious marketing topic” I explored when I first
started marketing online. It was a very tangible
topic since my goal was to build a list of 1000
subscribers for my site’s newsletter. Just the
act of accomplishing that feat told me most of
what I needed to know about list building. And
it sparked my interest.

List building is now one of my targeted keywords;
so you know I make it a point to read and absorb
everything I can possibly get on the topic. It has
proven itself to be a very lucrative education,
as I now owe much of my online earnings directly
or indirectly to list building.

Building an Opt-in List Is Very Easy

I found building a list very easy to do. Here are
some of the most effective ways or things you can
do to build your list quickly:

1. Have an opt-in form on EVERY page of your website.
Make it double opt-in and remind subscribers that
they have to confirm their contact information.

2. Offer something FREE. Whether it be a free ebook,
ezine, tips, guides, software… just make sure you
entice your visitors to sign up or opt-in. I find
giving a visual, tangible image of your ezine or
guide will increase your conversion rate, so invest
in some good professional graphics.

3. Use simple psychology. People want to be a part
of a group; they want to be in the know… offering
secrets, private memberships and access to valuable
information will always draw in the most subscribers.

4. If you have your own product, doing joint ventures
with well-established marketers is the fastest way to
build your list. Don’t forget the squeeze page where
you collect the contact information; again offer a
special bonus to further entice people to opt-in to
your list.

5. Use pop-up or slide-in forms. I have found these
will greatly increase your sign-up rate. But don’t
rely only on gimmicks; offering useful, relevant
content on your pages will always help you garner
the most subscribers.

6. Social media sites, videos, blogs, forums… don’t
forget the new “Internet” is an excellent hunting
ground for building your list or lists. Make sure
you at least have a blog and RSS feed connected to
your site to help spread your content around the
web and gather subscribers.

7. Never forget that the web is the best “viral medium”
we have ever had. Always encourage your present subscribers
to help spread your message and content. If your ezine/content
is first rate, people will recommend it to their friends
and colleagues. Let your subscribers build your list for you.

Building a Responsive Loyal List Is the Hard Part

I have always found building a list is the easy part;
however, building a responsive list that’s loyal is
the real hard part. Keeping your subscribers interested
in your information and getting them to respond to your
“call to action” is the difficult part.

I have found only good, informative content will keep
your subscribers coming back for more. If you bombard
them with “product offers” week after week… they will
just unsubscribe from your list or simply stop reading.
So try to limit your offers to products that you have
tested and used.

Keep in mind that almost everyone is now operating a
list and your subscribers will probably be bombarded
with hundreds of offers when a major launch is done.
I personally ignore most of the major launches these
days, which takes you out of the marketing loop; but
everything has become so satiated lately with so many
well-known marketers jumping on the bandwagon, it is
turning many potential buyers off.

Instead, whenever I find any good free resource,
product or marketing tip - I pass it along to my
subscribers. Over time, this has a way of building
some good loyalty and good will, resulting in the
occasional sale when I do offer a product recommendation.

The Art of the Follow-up

Having said all the above, there is one aspect of
list building that has proven very effective and
very lucrative for me. It is a little different
from offering an ongoing ezine or newsletter and
has to do with the simple follow-up.

I call it micro-list building (for the lack of a
better word). I build hundreds of separate lists
dealing with the different niche products I market,
micro-marketing and micro-targeting to interested
prospects. These are follow-up emails (10-20 or more)
offering valuable information on the product being
promoted. These follow-up emails also usually contain
or offer special deals, bargains, bonus products and
coupons if the prospect buys from your link.

I use an unlimited Autoresponder system (Aweber),
which lets me have countless campaigns ongoing at
the same time. These follow-up campaigns do require
some “set-up” work since you have to write at least
7-10 emails for each campaign; but once they are in
place, you can forget about them.

Studies have shown that it usually takes 6 or 7
follow-ups before a prospect will buy. Having all
these lists of prospective buyers will increase your
traffic and sales. This is one major reason for you
to start building your lists today. If you’re like
me and make your living with online affiliate marketing,
list building is something you simply can’t afford not
to do. Your livelihood will depend upon it.

Cookie Your Lists

If your objective is to make money from your list
or lists - here is my number one proven strategy
for monetizing your list.

Your lists are simply a way of gathering prospective
buyers for the products you’re promoting. Your goal
is to get them to buy directly from you or thru your
affiliate link. One way of making more sales is to
“Cookie Your List” - most affiliate products will set
a cookie when a prospect arrives at their site from
your affiliate link - this means no matter when they
buy in the next couple of days or months you still
get credit for the sale.

I usually pick and promote affiliate products that
have a 90-day cookie or more. This cookie is very
important because if the prospect buys in the next
90 days… you receive credit for the sale. A special
few marketers and companies will even give you a
lifetime cookie.

One tactic I use is to promote 4 or 5 different but
related products in a niche market - pointing out
the benefits and disadvantages of each. You remain
neutral but your goal is get your list’s prospects
to visit each product’s site so that they can be
“cookied.” Then it doesn’t matter which affiliate
product they finally purchase since they are
“cookied” and you will get credit and the sale.

Let’s face it, when we’re in the right mindset to
buy a product… we usually do it within a few months
of considering the idea. That’s why the “cookie” is
so important to your overall sales. Combine this tactic
with your list building and you will greatly increase
your sales.

For me, the object of list building is to find those
prospective buyers when they’re ready to buy. Then give
them valuable, helpful information, along with bonus
gifts or special coupons/bargains to sweeten the deal.
And I make sure all the prospective buyers are “cookied”
with my affiliate IDs.

As I mentioned before, list building can be as simple
or as complex as you want to make it. The possibilities
are endless, but I would suggest anyone with a website
should have a rudimentary subscriber or membership list
just to build a sense of community and to take advantage
of repeat visitors. Anyone who is doing affiliate marketing
should definitely explore all the different avenues, like
the one above, to fully harvest all the rewards list building
will give them.

20 really DUMB ways of promoting a website or how to lose over $65,000! Part I

06 2008 Monday

By Tony Hetherington in Featured

We’ve all tried different ways to get that holy grail of websites - traffic eager to buy! Schemes come and go and leave behind them a trail of disappointed people. It’s time for some group therapy as we all admit to past mistakes and the 20 really DUMB ways of promote a website. How any have you fallen for?