Here are some tips for creating a “successful” website:

1. TRAFFIC- Just having a website doesn’t mean that people will know it exists. You need to make sure it is “highly visible” to YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENTS. This involves generating traffic to your website.  The most common way of doing this is through Search Engine Optimization or SEO.  This is a key element to long term success. There are a number of methods to generate traffic to your site, such as:  (a) print and online  advertising; (b) using Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked In to spread the word;  (c) building an e-mail list;  (d) blogging; (e) podcasting; (f) posting videos; (g) bookmark sharing; (h) article marketing; (i) buzz marketing.

But generating “visits” to your website is meaningless unless those “visits” are from TARGETED visitors who have a potential interest in what you have to sell.

2. CONVERSIONS (CONTENT)- Once at your site, you need to engage the user and have them take an action. Either contact you, remember you or make a purchase. This involves effective, convincing COPY. The words that will be used to sell or motivate your prospect to take action. These words can come in a few forms: a) written words b) words in a video you may have on your site. c) words in an audio on your site d) any combination of a-c.

The critical component of copywriting is something that most site owners forget about or do not budget properly for.  A good copywriter who can create engaging words and stimulate your site’s visitors to take action does not come cheaply. But they are often worth far more than what you pay them in terms of your long term return on investment.

Search Engine spiders love to see a site that has fresh and ever changing content. It shows that the site is alive and has activity.

3. FOLLOW THROUGH – So, you have your customer hooked on the line. They’ve found your site and been convinced to take an action. Just like in fishing, it isn’t over until they’re reeled in and on the boat in the cooler.
Let’s say you’ve come as far as capturing their name, address and phone number. How well do you respond to and treat that lead? This is the same whether you have a website or a brick-and-mortar business.

After the sale has been made, I’ve seen countless businesses lose a critical marketing opportunity by failing to Follow Up with the client and take some basic steps such as asking for referrals or getting a testimonial.  Even more businesses lose the opportunities afforded by developing a long term relationship with their clients. It’s a well known fact in the marketing world that

4. MEASUREMENT - I’ve been in marketing for a number of years and am constantly surprised by the number of business owners who have little clue as to how their customers came to do business with them and what their customers thought of the experience.

You need a system in place to measure your success and failures and analyze them, taking appropriate actions to constantly refine your methods to make them better and increase your rate of success. This will help insure that your website and your business will be there for the long haul.

In Conclusion, let me point out that I offer SOLUTIONS to all the pitfalls pointed out above. I’d love the chance to work with you to help create a long term success for your website and your business.

What?  You DON’T have a website? Well just give me a call and we can correct that oversight. My expert team of Designers, Project Managers, SEO Specialists and Copywriters can create a complete look for your business.

But, after you’ve delivered that first bit of information to your prospect, do you send him any further information?

If you are like most Internet marketers, you don’t.  Probably because of all the effort you think it will take and the subtle doubts floating in your mind that all that work may NOT lead to a sale.

Yet, when you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him.

Often, a prospect will purposely put off making a purchase, to see if you find him important enough to follow up with later. When he doesn’t receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.

Are you losing profits due to inconsistent and ineffective follow up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process – it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

Consistent follow up gets results!

When I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the “List Technique.” I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company’s latest news as a follow up piece.

I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me. While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn’t a very good follow up method. Why isn’t the “List Technique” very effective?

• The List Technique isn’t consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have “big news”.
• List Technique messages don’t give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can’t make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you’ve just moved your headquarters?
• List Technique messages convey a “big list” mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

What follow up method really works?

Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you’ll need to develop your follow up messages. If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!

Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Phrase each of your final 1 or 2 follow up messages in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn’t yet placed an order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is to high, the product isn’t the right color or doesn’t have the right features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By this time, it’s unlikely that this person will order from you. However, his feedback can help you modify your follow up letters or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)

The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as their content. You don’t want one prospect to receive a follow up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions!

Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors’. You will make the sale!

Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don’t want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least 4 days apart.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow up – don’t you want to be one of the few to get it right?

Our team can create a series of follow up e-mail messages that can be delivered via an Autoresponder. We’ll do the design, copy, graphics – everything you need.  We’ll even help you secure your own automated Genie and system to help you consistently keep track of your prospects;  send out promotional mailings; deliver newsletters to clients; track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and so much more.  All with minimal initial effort on your part.

Or, if you prefer to get started right away, you can sign up for your own affordable Autoresponder marketing system by clicking here.  Then, give us a call at 877-MAZIARZ and we’ll get started on creating your own personalized “Follow Up Genie.”

It all started when I recently checked my e-mail and saw one of the typical “so and so is now following you on Twitter” e-mails.  Except this one said Maggiano’s.  It was different and it was a name that I thought I recognized. So, I opened the  e-mail to find out more about this new follower… Here is the screen I was greeted with:

I then clicked on the link in the e-mail to find out more about my new follower and was taken to their Twitter Profile:

Here is where I GOT VERY INTERESTED.  Just glancing through the feed, I noticed that they:

• Have an e-mail club where you can get discounts
• Give Club Members a free meal on their birthday
• Have daily contests
• Follow up on how people liked their experience
• Let people know in advance about delivery delays

Each of these examples on it’s own stands out as something that most businesses COULD do if they really wanted to. Doing even one or two of these things would let you stand high and above your competition in the minds of your customers and prospects.  But to see ONE PLACE DOING THEM ALL and making PERFECT USE of a social media like Twitter to do so is COMPLETELY UNHEARD OF AND TRULY OUTSTANDING!!

So, without further delay, I quickly went to their website (proving that using Twitter can drive targeted traffic to your website).  Here is what I saw there:

As impressed as I was when I visited their Twitter Page, I was BLOWN AWAY when I got to their website. I’ve highlighted the reasons why on the image.  But let me summarize:

GREAT DESIGN – I love the tasteful colors and the subtle texture effect of the background.

ONLINE ORDERING – There are services that let restaurants do this efficiently. But how many REAL RESTAURANTS actually take the time to offer it?

ONLINE RESERVATIONS – Think about it – this can be accomplished for any business. Whether it is a restaurant, tanning salon, garage, carpet cleaner, hair salon, barber shop, manicurist, etc.  Plus, you could even print out a coupon when your client makes a successful appointment.  Or a receipt – so when they walk in, they hand the receipt to a receptionist and immediately go ahead of any “walk-ins” because they have an appointment.  Then, using some other twists, how about offering them a reminder text message to their cell phone? It is certainly do-able and I can help make it happen for YOUR BUSINESS if you want.

E-MAIL CLUB – Capturing your client’s and prospect’s e-mail addresses is something you should be doing. Give them some kind of reward for joining and something on their birthday and other unadvertised bargains throughout the year. You can use any of the popular foundation services to help you manage your e-mail list. I can help you get started with that if you’d like.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS – On Maggiano’s website you will also find the Social Media connect buttons for Facebook and Twitter making it easy for people to connect to them and get advance notice on deals, etc.

IN CLOSING…

The clincher for me was that Maggiano’s took the time to find me – someone located near one of their locations. Exactly how they did find me on Twitter could be as simple as a search for folks living in a city near one of their locations. But they made a proactive use of Social Media to get themselves a client and CERTAINLY got their name in a prominent place in my mind.  Your business can do this too! I can help make it happen! Start this year off right – just give me a call or an e-mail and we’ll get you ‘hooked up’ and on the road to success!

877-MAZIARZ

When good things happen, it’s beneficial to call them to the attention of others.  Anyway, the decision reverses an earlier stance which would have put several hundred people out of work just in time for Christmas. A real Baah Humbugger if you ask me. It’s bad to lose your job – but just before Christmas is insult to injury.

What am I talking about?   You can read the full story here.  But, I’ll summarize by saying that I tip my hat to the management and CEO of GE Capital and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. for working together to bring about this welcomed turn of events.

STEP 1 – Establish Ownership

Back when I was a young pup facing a similar circumstance, I had the good fortune to run into an old and wise attorney in my town who suggested that I do something fairly simple to prove that my idea was in fact mine.  He had me go home and write my idea down on paper and then come back to his office.  He added a small paragraph to the bottom of the document where I swore that it was my original idea.  He made three copies.  He had his secretary notarize all three copies. I kept one copy, he kept one copy and the other was mailed to me via certified mail with return receipt requested. The return receipt went to his office.

When I inquired as to what all this was about, he explained that this would clearly establish that it was my idea and when I had it.  He and his legal assistant were both witnesses to the whole thing and could also testify in court as to the authenticity of the documents should the need ever arise.   Plus, having the sealed certified letter containing an exact copy of the document would be “icing on the cake.”

Ever since that time, if I have an idea that I think has the potential to generate revenue and I elect to pursue it, these are the first steps I take to establish my idea and ownership of it.

Now, you can go even further and pursue a patent on your idea and concept. But this is costly and time consuming and is, in my opinion, only worth doing if there are millions at stake and you have some investors that can foot the bill for the patents.

STEP 2 – A Confidentiality Agreement

Once you have established your idea as yours, you’ll want to have a Confidentiality Agreement at your disposal.  This is a legal document which protects your idea even further.  In your search for a partner to help develop your idea for you, you are going to have to tell them what you want them to do.  But, BEFORE you tell them your idea, you have them sign a Confidentiality Agreement.  In essence,  it states that they will not use your idea for their benefit and will not tell anyone else about your idea.

Any competent developer with ethics and morals will have no problem signing such an agreement.  Especially if it has a few key clauses in it that protect their interests as well.  Remember that you may NOT be the only one who had such an idea.  What happens if, after you tell the person or company your idea they say, “We are already working on that.”  With the right clause in the Confidentiality Agreement, they are protected.

However, it’s been known to happen that they lied when they said, “We are already working on that.” They saw the huge potential and they wanted to claim the idea as their own. It’s happened more than once.  That’s where what you did in Step One really comes in handy.  Can they PROVE when they had the idea and started working on it?  Maybe not.  But YOU sure can!

In another post, I’ll give you some tips on finding the right developer to help bring your idea to reality.

Just as you needed to take time and carefully consider naming and locating your physical business, you’ll need to do the same thing when it comes time to establish a business on the Internet. You will need a Domain Name – the common English representation of your online business. If you’re new to the online world of business, commonly referred to as  eCommerce, here are some pointers for you to consider when naming your online enterprise.

1. Make It Unique

Be sure to make your domain as unique as possible. The more unique your name is, the better it is for branding purposes. Also, make sure that the name is not too close to an existing domain name or does not contain a  trademarked name or phrase. Choosing a name too similar to one for an already established firm is going to work  against you.

2. Dot-Coms FIRST

Whenever possible use only a “.com” extension. This will save your potential customers a lot of confusion. Despite what the originators of the internet intended when creating the various extensions (.com, .biz, .net, .org, .info, etc.) people still make an automatic assumption that all domain names end in “.com”. So use that to your advantage.

3. Think Of The End Result

Search Engine Optimization is a field unto itself – but it simply means doing everything you can to have your website listed at the top of the major search engines for your chosen keywords. These key words should describe what your  website will be about.

Put yourself in your potential customers position. Try to think of what someone looking for the product or service you offer would type into a search engine to try and find it. For instance, if you have a service to help people with their  resumes, they might type (I Need A Better Resume). Your domain name could be something like BetterResume.com or  ResumeHelper.com

4. Make it Easy to Remember

Your domain name should be something that most people find easy to remember. Think of if you have to tell  somebody what your name is. Will they be able to remember it without writing it down.

5. Keep it Short/Simple

Keep your domain name short and to the point. Having a shorter name plays into how easy it is to remember, and how easy it is to type correctly. Remember the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle.

6. Avoid hyphens and numbers

Stay away from hyphens or numbers in your domain name. Domain names can only be letters, numbers, and dashes.  Using numbers (such a 4 instead of for) can add to confusion and lost opportunities.

7. Make it Relevant

Try to keep your domain name descriptive and relevant to your content. When someone hears it, or sees it for the first time, it should give them a general idea of what your website is all about. In other words, your domain name should be  a bit intuitive. This will help people find you when searching for what you are selling.

If you are selling dog collars, a domain like woof.com, while being “in the vicinity,” does not really tell them that you are selling dog collars.

8. Skip Something Trendy

Don’t try to be trendy or hip or catch the latest fad. That is, unless your website is specifically targeting those people who think they are trendy and hip. Or you are selling something related to the latest fad going around.

What passes for hip now will likely fade into the background and work against you in the long run. Remember that your domain name is quite possibly the very first thing your potential customers see or hear of you.

9. Watch for Dual Meanings

Some people have registered and used domain names without really looking into other ways in which they could be interpreted.

therapistfinder.com can be thought of as “therapist finder” OR “the rapist finder”
penisland.com can be seen in two ways as well “pen island” OR “penis land”
madriver.com might be either “ma driver” OR “mad river”

10. Register Using a Major Registrar

Stick with one of the major players when registering your domain name. You might pay a few dollars more for the  name, but those few extra dollars might save you from hours and hours of trouble in the long run. Don’t go to some out  of the way place who you’ve never heard of just to try to save a few bucks.  Your domain name is not the place to try  and save.

Who are some reputable registrars? Places like Network Solutions, Go Daddy, Bulk Register, eNom, HostGator, and  Yahoo to name a few.

There you have it, my tips on creating a long-lasting, great domain name.  If you’d like help brainstorming your domain name, feel free to contact me using the Contact link above.

The power of social media and community interaction is well known in today’s online world. Build a thriving community and great following and you will prosper. Leave your purchasers and customers to fend for themselves and you’re ignoring one of the most important tenents for long term, satisfying, success.

There’s Facebook and Twitter and MySpace and Blogging. Just set that previous sentence to the tune of “A Few of My Favorite Things” and you’ve got a new holiday tune on your hands. Now that I’ve sent you to the clouds, I need to jerk you back to reality. Because that’s what counts. Go ahead. Have a good look around your attempt at a thriving online following and robust presence.

Do you keep content around that’s as old as the internet?  Or as old as your business? Why? In the energized, hyper-active, well connected world of today, that’s almost like committing suicide. Folks who are going to kick the tires a bit will see what looks like a place where no one wants to go. It’s the equivalent of the old haunted house, full of cobwebs and dust and creaky floors, set high up on a hill and next to a cemetery. That same cemetery where your business will reside if you don’t do something to correct this flaw.

What you want to do is build a centralized, vibrant and active community. Directing your visitors there and ENGAGING THEM so that your potential customers can see the activity and feel the excitement of your visitors. Let that vibrant, community of active users of your product help you convince the next generation of purchasers to climb on board.

How do you accomplish this? Give me a call at 888-464-2742 or e-mail me.

If you have a particular term covered – just leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Master this and you’ll be well on your way toward getting lots of free traffic and getting your website listed on the first two pages of ALL the major search engines.  No matter what your goal is for your website, there’s no use even having a website if no one knows it’s there.  If you have a website, Search Engine Optimization (SEO for short) is something you need to know about.

However, I cannot devote the proper space here and now to fully cover the subject.  Because you’d be drowning in information. Let me summarize it by saying that it all hinges on Keywords.  Keywords are what you type into the Search box when you are on one of the major search engines and are looking for information on a particular subject.

The idea behind Search Engine Optimization is to put “keyword rich content” on your site, relevant to the overall purpose of your site,  so that when someone searches for what you have to offer your site will appear within the first two page sof results that are returned.  It is generally accepted that most people consider the first two pages of returned results when searching for somethign.  So, you definitely want to be somewhere on the first two pages. The higher up the better.

Three Important SEO Tips

1. Beware of anyone promising or Guaranteeing quick results! The methods used to do so can often get your site banned or bumped way down in the rankings.
2. SEO Requires Constant Effort. Don’t expect to hire someone to optimize your site once and have it work forever. It takes constant effort and fresh content to keep your site up there and relevant to the search engine robots that cruise by.
3. SEO Takes Time. It will generally take a few months of constant effort and tweaking to get your site competitive in the Search Engines. Do not get discouraged early on.  Keep at it.

As I said, HOW you go about making this happen is an entire course of study in and of itself.  You can learn it. But it will take you a considerable amount of time and effort to get good at it.

Discover more about SEO. I have a set of TEN videos which explain the process in greater detail. This is a fairly massive download of nearly 180MB.  You MUST have a fast connection to the internet to make use of these.  I’ve made them extremely affordable at only $17.  Click here to find out more.

The key word here is cost.   Lets take a simple example and say that you are selling a single product on your website.  The product costs you $12 and you are selling it for $36.  So you are making a profit of $24 each time you sell one of the item.

We all know that not everyone buys each time they visit a sales page.  So, you have to determine your conversion rate.

CONVERSION RATE : The percentage of visitors to your sales page that actually buy what you are selling.

In reality, a good conversion rate is around 4%.  This will vary depending on how well you have targeted your audience and how good your website sales copy is. But that is a whole subject unto itself.

Let’s keep it simple and say that 100 people have clicked on your ad and come to the site.  With a 4% Conversion Rate, that means that 4 people will buy (.04 x 100).

Let’s say that you agreed to pay 45 cents per click for each click on your ad.

Let’s do the math:

.45 x 100     =  $45.00   (.45 for each click x 100 clicks)
$12.00 x 4   = $48.00   ($12 product cost x 4 sales)
———–
TOTAL           = $93.00

So, my REAL CPC is actually 93 cents ($=93.00 cost / 100 clicks).

This is a simple example.  It gets a bit more complicated once you start factoring in multiple ads and multiple products.

The bottom line is to make sure that you are not paying more for your clicks then you are generating in profits!