Archive for April, 2009
Don't forget your business cards - they get the word out.
Increasing website traffic is always an urgent matter for any website owner. Small business owners in the brick and mortar world – after realizing the many benefits of a company website – can often be at an advantage for promotion techniques using the offline methods they’re already accustomed to. Letterhead, business cards, and printed media are natural places to include your website address – but what if your business operates solely online?
Any webmaster can increase traffic to any website using offline promotion techniques.
In fact, the most successful websites typically use a diverse selection of both online and offline methods to drive more visitors and increase profits. One of the easiest and most cost effective methods is mentioning your website address to family, friends, and colleagues. Add your URL to your business cards, letterhead, and email signatures or consider making business cards specifically for your website if you haven’t already. It makes sense that the more visible your website is, the more traffic it will generate.
There are several different ways you can use business cards, flyers, and other print to promote your online business in your offline world.
- Pass out your card at business meetings, dinner gatherings, or on the golf course.
- Include 5 or 10 cards each time you ship a purchase. Encourage clients to pass along your URL by offering a discount for referrals.
- Leave your card or business flyer on community bulletin boards at convenience stores, libraries, grocers, and other local sites.
- Search for offline businesses with similar clientele and discuss the possibilities of promoting one another. Many local companies will be glad to promote your website to their customers in exchange for an online ad on your website.
Get creative when you promote your website and watch your traffic levels soar – along with your profits!
Printed media isn’t the only place you should consider displaying your website address. Create a moving billboard by placing your URL on a decal for your vehicle; contract an affordable print shop to have your web address printed on pens, key chains, coffee mugs, stickers, or tee shirts.
Take these ideas to your audience.
“If you build it, they will come”…but only if they know it’s there. Promotional paraphernalia is completely worthless sitting in a box. The right techniques can increase your traffic with or without these additional tools.
- Find places where your potential clients gather – and join them. Conventions, workshops, and other public events are a great place to meet people with similar interests and can bring a number of new visitors to your website.
- Start a sticker campaign. A number of websites involve their members and current visitors to generate new traffic. Mail out stickers with your URL and hold contests for referrals, creative placement, and other categories.
- Don’t be afraid to approach your local radio stations, newspapers, or even television stations about possible opportunities to promote a community angle of your website.
Whatever methods you’re using to increase traffic to your website, remember that the key to any successful site is a functional, friendly design with informative, unique, and original content.
If you think your email spam filter is the perfect way to screen unwanted solicitations, overseas million-dollar bank transactions, and ploys for ridiculous products, think again.
As a freelance writer, I’ve sent requests for interviews and other notices through the email hundreds of times. I’ve always expected responses to safely arrive in my Inbox, but after anxiously waiting for a confirmation code, I soon learned the hard way that spam filters are not 100% accurate.
Usually, I ignore my spam box, as it can accumulate up to 1,000 pieces of cyber-garbage in one week, including mail with a send date of 2038. Upon further investigation, I discovered registration information, Facebook alerts, and replies to important business emails drowning in a spam wasteland.
I started to panic and recalled all the times I didn’t receive a response to something significant. My heart also sank to think of all the people who thought I was ignoring their emails.
I feel completely relying on a spam filter is foolish. Just with every technological wonder and advancement, there is always room for error and the potential glitches. I have now gotten into the habit of checking my spam box on a daily basis…and like clockwork…I have found relevant emails every single day. I can only imagine the information, potential job opportunities, and business-related details that I have already missed over the years.
If anyone has had an experience with a reliable and effective spam filter, please share in the comments section.
Sales letters boost online and offline consumer interest.
Sales copy letters are a hot commodity in the internet marketing and business world. If you’ve ever clicked on a page containing a sales letter and you rolled your eyes, clicked off the page, or figured it was a scam – that sales letter was poorly written. When you are operating an online business or if you’re in internet marketing, you have one disadvantage.
You can not talk to the customer. You have only one chance to make them see the benefits and greatness of your product or service. Sales copy letters are the best way to have a conversation with your readers.
You can reach your customers in a few different ways with a great sales letter:
* Reaching readers or customers through their emotions is a very powerful selling technique! People are emotional buyers, not logical. For this reason, they need to be approached on an emotional level.
* Sales letters which target the desires of readers do a few different things. They force the reader to think of the possibilities. If they are in a certain financial situation but want to be in a better one, a great sales letter will invoke this desire and create interest.
* Without being pushy or overwhelming, a perfectly written sales letter can outline the benefits of the particular service or product in a way that the reader will appreciate.
What is the Proper Length of a Sales Copy Letter?
While there is no ’set’ length, there’s a small rule of thumb that can help you decide the length. The higher the price of your product, the longer the copy needs to be. If you are selling an informational product for several hundred dollars, you really need to let the readers know why they should invest this amount of money. It’s very important that your sales copy letter is meaty enough to get the reader interested. If this happens, they will keep reading and that is the goal.
Most Important Elements of a Sales Letter:
Not every writer follows this rule, but including these things in your sales copy will really increase performance:
- Include statistics – When readers are able to see numbers which actually tell a story in themselves, they relate better to the copy. For instance, when writing a sales letter for a money-making product, you might include something like, “Did you know that 27% of people will become wealthy through their own hard work?” Similarly, you could say, “73% of people will never make enough money to be considered wealthy.”
- Make sure you have an excellent headline – Your headline is quite possibly the most important part of your sales letter. It has the responsibility of catching attention, creating interest and compelling the reader to keep reading.
- Be positive - Include positive phrases like, “Yes you can,” and “You can do this too.” This gets the reader to think positively about the offered service or product as well.
These guidelines can really pump up the performance of your sales letter and this means more conversions and sales. Whether you write it yourself or hire a killer sales copy writer, be sure these elements are present.
How satisfying is your marketing efforts?
A friend and colleague of mine recently began printing full color, beautifully designed business cards for local businesses. One of his goals was to receive orders from at least 7 local businesses in his first month of printing. For a local business, this is a pretty large goal, especially in his first month. He came to me and asked for my suggestions on how to receive these orders. After pondering a bit, I gave him my ideas. He said, “Are you serious?” I was quite serious.
So many of us follow specific guidelines on how to market our businesses and get our business information out there to potential clients. While this is definitely a wise thing to do – sometimes we lose the big O. Originality! We are absolutely bombarded with advertisements on a daily basis. From billboards to television and radio to URL’s on spice packets that come from our favorite restaurants – it becomes rather easy to tune these messages out. It’s important to make your message stand out from the rest.
My friend did exactly what I told him to do, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He made a personal visit to 20 different companies in our area. First, he swiped business cards from them and took them back to the shop. After creating some sample cards that made the old ones look outdated and dull, he made another visit to those businesses.
He spoke to the managers or owners and introduced himself and his company. He then left each of them with a set of 10 personalized sample cards that they could actually use for their businesses and asked that they call on him when they needed to re-order. Now, what kind of company gives you something free BEFORE you order? Imagine getting a couple of free meals from a restaurant so you can decide if you like their food…it just doesn’t happen. This was original and although my friend spent a bit of his own money to make it happen, he received 10 orders within 35 days. Not too shabby, right?
If you have a business that operates exclusively online, you may not be able to visit a bunch of clients that you’d like to obtain, but you can still be original. Here are some tips on originality that you can use within your business:
- Do something you know your competitors won’t do. Perhaps you’re a website designer. Visit 20 sites a week and compose a very polite, interesting e-mail complimenting a possible client’s website – and then include some helpful tips. Tell them what to do with their website to make it stand out and convert more visitors. Of course, include your company name and business URL.
- If you sell a certain product, get some small samples together and advertise them on your site. Allow your customers the chance to try the product before they buy it. If you believe in your product and know it’s the best, you will most likely get some orders just by letting your customers try it first!
- Hold actual contests, which are free for potential customers. Make them fun and give away free products or services to the winners. This gets people involved and you will probably get some great orders!
While you’re following your checklists, your handbooks and marketing guides, don’t neglect the big O. You’ll be surprised how your message will stick out from the other advertisements if it’s original and different! Good luck and stay original.
Photo by Caitlinator on Flickr
“Writing eases my suffering. When you use words, you’re able to keep your mind alive. Writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.” Gao Xingjian
Individuals all over the world engage in some type of writing every single day. Whether you’re writing an article to promote your site, a note to let your spouse know you’ll be home early or a letter to a family member out of state.
When is the last time that you wrote something simply because you wanted to – or because there was no real reason?
I keep a journal and although I don’t write every single day, I usually put something down in it at least 3 times a week. Some people would consider this a waste of time – an hour that could be spent doing something more productive.
However, according to studies this hour could be very important for both my physical and emotional health!
When you write about events in your life that are upsetting, wonderful, depressing, exciting, etc. – you are expressing yourself. You’re utilizing a great outlet to drain the negativity and record the positive things that happen to you. Rather than suppressing those important emotions, you allow them to be expressed through writing.
Reducing Stress and Physical Health Benefits of Writing –
Stress is a dangerous thing, yet it’s something that most of us deal with on a daily basis. When stress is allowed to get out of control, serious health problems can develop. Stress has been proven to increase an individual’s risk of anxiety, depression, heart attack, obesity and other chronic health diseases. When that stress is vented regularly through writing, it isn’t permitted to build up and cause these problems.
By just writing for 5 to 10 minutes each day about things that may have angered or saddened you during the day, you can get rid of that dangerous stress buildup. Hey – that’s a pretty cheap and easy way to take care of your health!
Recognizing Patterns in Your Feelings and Making Changes Based on Those Patterns –
Keeping a journal or engaging in regular writing can give you a key to your own personality, moods, feelings and emotions. As you read back over past entries in your journal, you’re able to detect patterns within your own emotions and personality that you may not ever find otherwise. By first detecting these patterns in your writing, you can make positive changes which will affect your life for the better.
In a study designed by Dr. James Pennebaker of the University of Texas at Austin, students who suffered from depression were instructed to engage in expressive writing. Another group of students who suffered from depression were instructed to write about everyday events or things. The group of students who engaged in expressive writing reported improved moods, and a better overall sense of wellbeing.
The Challenge: Write everyday in a journal for 5 to 10 minutes. Write about the things that make you feel angry, depressed, and ecstatic – any thing that triggers emotions. Don’t worry about what you write because this is only for your eyes. Spending just a few minutes each day can have an enormous effect on your health – both physical and emotional. Writing for health…priceless!
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