“Make Your Website Work For You” (You Work Hard Enough Already!)

In this issue:

1. Seven tips to get your website working and sweating for you
2. Greening Your Company: Our Company & Clients in the News
3. Search Engine Optimization Class – Limited Space, Sign Up Now!
4. Comprehensive, Affordable Podcasts Produced for You

A. MAKE YOUR WEBSITE SWEAT

If you’re still wheedling with your website, begging for it to save you time and make you money, it’s time to lay down the law.

Tell your website it’s fired unless it can handle these items for you:

1. Set auto-responders to email people who are inquiring about your services or products. Let prospects know you want to set up an appointment, and describe your services and answer their questions quickly, or get your product into their hands as soon as humanly possible. Almost all web hosts allow you to set up 25-100 auto responders. If you don’t know how, call your host [or call us, and we’ll handle this for you].
   
   
2. Provide detailed descriptions of how your services work. Or, make sure your site can “answer” the 5-10 most common questions people ask when they want to know what working with you (or your product) will be like, and how to get started. Don’t make potential clients sift through annoying FAQ pages – it’s the lazy way out. If you have the proper info, your sales will increase: Your prospects won’t have to wait for you to respond, and they’ll get a better sense of whether your service or products meet their needs (or not). Make your website work to deliver that information. Here’s an example of how my marketing coaching package answers common questions.
   
   
3. Put your contracts online. When people can submit them to you electronically, you won’t need to spend time tailoring and sending each agreement. In the same vein, if you have other forms people need to fill out – such as sales agreements, promotional coupons, rewards, or similar items – put those online, too. Then you can just send links instead of emails, since attachments are often missing or corrupted. And you’ll save even more time!
   
   
4. Create “hidden pages” on your website. Then archive policies, sales documents, instructional pieces, forms for estimates/quotes, calculators, product specs, or other items that your staff might need to access while they’re away from the office. Make sure these are proprietary pages your visitors won’t see (but your staff or vendors can still find), like this fictitious page name: www.allisonbliss.com/contract or www.abliss.com/salesquotationform. Get the idea?
   
   
5. Add your products or workshops into a shopping cart. That way, people can pay via credit card and sign up when they’re finally finished with work for the day (even at midnight!!). Often, companies find this method increases sales by 20-40%, because it makes it so much easier for your purchaser. And, of course, this feature saves you time because you don’t have to process every single order by hand. Your shopping cart will do that for you, and then deposit the money into your bank account. Ahhhh, what luxury! Aside from class registrations, I use 2CO for every item in my shopping cart – it’s so easy that even I can set it up! If you sign up here, I even get an affiliate credit from them.
   
   
6. Add assessments, quizzes, evaluations or intake forms. This allows you to collect information when it’s convenient for your clients, and saves all that “gee, I never got your email” time. You’ll be able to collect your site visitors’ information, too, in order to build your mailing list. A large list means a larger potential client base, and larger revenues. Then with all that extra cash you can buy an electric car, and save money on gas, too! :)
   
   
7. Put your prices online. Don’t make your visitors ask. You remember the old adage, “If you have to ask how much it is, you probably can’t afford it”? Well, it’s likely that many of your site visitors are thinking the same thing. So make it easy for them. If you’re worried about your competition finding out your pricing, you’re probably not confident in what you’re offering and whether it’s a fair price. In that case, our “Knowledge is Bliss” business evaluation can get you on track. (see our website for prices and details)

We have dozens of other ideas if you need a thorough website evaluation. But these easy strategies above will help you get started.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION – SEE ITEM #3 BELOW
Be sure to see our Search Engine Optimization workshop noted below; you’ll learn how to start directing tons of traffic to your site, and get ranked higher in search engines. Then you can convert lookie-loos into purchasers, save time, and make more revenues to take a vacation … or add solar power to your office!

B. SPEAKING OF GREENING OUR PLANET...

Our company was cited in a recent issue of the East Bay Business Times (.pdf/1.3MB) for our long-standing green policies (we don’t even toot our horn anymore, it’s just so automatic for us to support local organizations), and the great examples some of our clients are setting. Congratulations to clients Lisa Locke of “Locke & Key”, a dynamo recruiting firm, and to the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center!

C. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION CLASS: GET ON TOP OF GOOGLE!

If you have a website (or are creating one), you'll want a high ranking on Google to earn more income, right?

Some people simply don't realize that "website designers" or "writers" are NOT optimizers. Learn what you can do to save yourself thousands of dollars in mistakes (almost everyone makes missteps on their website)! And, enjoy a large increase in your income by implementing what works. The best news is, you can do much of this yourself for free!

We have LIMIITED SPACE, so if you'd like to register please click here.

What You'll Learn:

• Internet Marketing: Its Relationship to SEO
• Techniques to Get More Highly Ranked on Search Engines: What Google is Looking For
• Tips and No-No's That Will Get You Kicked Off Google
• How to Design a Site That Can Get Ranked on Google
• Understanding Page Rank
• Resources that Do the Work For You
• The Truth About Keywords
• Web 2.0 & Social Media; Influencing SEO
• Promoting Your Site
• Conversion (Getting Web Visitors to Make Purchases) & Increasing Your Income

June 9th from 7-9:30 p.m. in Alameda; cost is $55. If you prefer to send a check, just email Janet Savage, the producer of this business workshop series, to ask for a registration form: handtales@earthlink.net.

D. NEED A PODCAST?

My podcast partner, Jerry Franklin, and I have developed a comprehensive podcast production service for companies who hate to write, but want to get the word out about their area of expertise. It’s fun, educational, builds credibility, and is delivered to your listeners for free—it’s just like having your own radio show, online. And our package is so inexpensive for prepping and recording the show, editing, mixing sound, music selection, distribution—the whole enchilada! If you’re not podcasting you should at least listen to a short sample by clicking on this symbol -- you can listen at your computer, or download it to your iPod and listen while at the gym, doing dishes, riding your bike, or whatever (just like your future clients will be doing!).

FEATURED CLIENT EXPERIENCE

Conducting market research with Interplan’s clients, we helped the company redevelop its entire marketing image and message. Our goal was to have their clients feel that 'using Interplan’s services is just as reliable & relaxing as taking a vacation'. Our exhibit design was themed as a hawaiian beach vacation. We designed, wrote, and produced all new marketing materials, brochures, and trade show exhibits. The result: Interplan experienced such success that they sold the company and merged with another firm! Here’s what they told us: