Pay close attention, because what we are discussing today freely may one day be sold and not told. "Sometimes you have to travel a long ways, to find a shortcut." When it comes to successfully marketing your small online or home based business, keep this in mind... Shortcuts do not exist. A so called "shortcut" is really just a more efficient way to do whatever it is that you've been doing.
The main ingredient for progress in any business online or offline, whether you work from home or at the office is TIME. It's impossible to move forward or upward when you're out of time. Or when you don't take the time to do the things that are necessary to insure your success. Especially where it concerns the marketing of your small business. And specifically when your advertising is being displayed on the Internet.
When I started my first online business 3 years ago, I tried every "shortcut" in the book in an effort to sell, sell, sell. I tried buying "traffic" (website visitors) from those "guaranteed hits or visitors" websites. (useless waste of money. I wouldn't recommend them.) In an effort to impress the few human visitors my site did receive, I had a lot of bright colors, cool stuff that flashed and blinked, and "calls to action" that actually shrieked, "Buy now... Or else you'll feel like a fool and hate yourself later!"
I basically let all of the tools provided to me as an affiliate of different internet businesses, do all of the communicating to my website visitors for me. The only input I really had on the page was a hello at the top of the page and a thanks for visiting at the bottom! But guess what...
When it came to converting potential customers, into customers, I may as well had placed my thank you for visiting, please come again message at the TOP of the page! I was getting nothing. No sales. And I had purchased so many guaranteed hits of traffic my site had an Alexa ranking of about 750,000. (So just because a site has a decent Alexa ranking, doesn't mean that the site is making money.) My ranking was manipulated.
I had no page rank, in fact My site had been banned by "Google" I think because I unknowingly used one of those "Automatic Hits" generators. It's a software pakage. (beware!) In that entire year I earned about $117.00. Every easy way and shortcut that I have ever tried to promote my home based business with, in order to get more traffic either "backfired" into my face, or was totally useless.
I think a lot of us who work at home and advertise online would much rather pay to get potential customers to our websites', than to spend the huge amount of time it take's to figure out how to connect with our potential customers' on a personal and individualized level.
You have probably seen a few of those websites' that have the animated characters that will interact with you, or you may remember some websites' that when you return as a visitor, the website will possibly greet you by your name in text. All of this brilliant technology (that some "geek" has probably stayed awake all night, in order to hatch.) in an effort to "personally" connect with potential customers.
I guessing you are probably similar to me in the sense that an animated image,that greets me by name, or a scrolling welcome back "your name" sign does not compel me to "feel" as though this online business really "cares" about MY business.
All I see is a bit of programming, that might impress some one who has never seen animation before. But these animations and personalized scrolling text messages don't give me a sense of confidence nor trust in the business these "fancy" high tech websites represent. I believe that Confidence and Trust are the final factors that will determine whether our potential customers' will complete the purchase process and come back for other possibly valuable items or services your online business provides.
I have personally purchased items that I was not sure that I really needed OR wanted, simply because I had confidence and trust in the salesperson that was recommending the product or service. And rarely have I been disapointed. Trust and Confidence my friend, gives birth to likability! In most cases people will buy from a personality that they "like" before they'll buy from someone that they are ambivalent about.
I will buy from a business that I "like" sometimes even if it cost me more money, even if I have to wait a little longer to get what I want. Why? Because I feel "good" when I make a purchase from a business that I like. I feel like I have not only purchased what I wanted, I also get to contribute to the success of a business that others will appreciate as much as I. Win, win situation! For you and your customer.
Hopefully by now we have established the importance of personally connecting with our potential customers'. let's discuss possible techniques to connect with our potential customer's subconcious minds, in a way that will increase their enthusiasm or adrenaline levels about our products and services as well as cultivating confidence in us as small online and home based business owner's, in a manner that works out beautifully and honestly for our customer's and for us.
How do we make a personal connection with people whom we have never met or spoken with before? The greatest lesson no one ever taught me about entertaining people as a radio air personality, and public speaker is this...
It is not my job to bring my audience (my customers) into MY world. No matter how comical, cool, talented or original I consider myself to be as an entertainer. My responsibility, challenge, and indeed, my passion is to always join you in your world. So whatever silly "nutty" thing I may be saying at any given moment, or whatever point I'm trying to illustrate on my "show", I find a way to make it relate or "link" to where you are mentally at that moment in time.
How do I do that? Actually you have just seen one of my techniques. Read the above paragraph again. Did you notice when I referred to "my" job, and "my" customers? That's all about me! You see? Now scan the line below it, and you'll see again where I refer to "my" responsibility and passion. Again that's all about me. But guess what...
Look again, and you'll see where I go on to say... my challenge is to always join YOU in YOUR world. See, I probably WOULD have said, my passion is to join "my" audience in THEIR world. But if I had said it like that, I would have completed that thought... and you most surely would have understood what I was saying just as clearly. But, I would have left you as a reader or listener completely out of the conversation. Completely out of "my" experience.
What I just did was transfer the conversation about "my" audience over to joining YOU in your world. And that's what you really wanted to hear about anyway right? Topics that relate to you... In your world. This is what YOUR audience or potential customers inwardly yearn for. Personal Arttention. The more personal and the more genuine, your attenion is for them the mo' better it will be for you, and your home based business.
If I am communicating with you, and I don't include YOU in the communication process, the only thing you'll probably hear me saying is a bunch of words. When you are advertising your products or services, does your content join your audience where they are mentally and emotionally, or does your audience have to join you and your product or services in YOUR world?
I suspect Enthusiasm will cause adrenaline to flow almost as well as fear. Do you know one thing that universally will cause any people, anywhere to become enthusiastic about life? Answer... Other groups of people who show a sincere and positive interest in them!
One of the reasons I work so hard at relating to you personally, when you visit my home based business is because 1 it's the right thing to do business or not, and 2 I know little to nothing about choosing keywords, Search Engine Optimization, or landing page layouts. And frankly it all seems a little too complicated and unstable for me to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.
SEO stuff to me alway's reads like one "geek" writing to another! I try to use what little of these techniques that I can understand, but this stuff is like trying to read music in the dark to me! I don't have the patience for it, I just wanna' be a great business person! And when you check the blogs, it's always the same questions, follwed by "did you try this, did you try that?" "Well try this!" And if that doesn't work, maybe you need to delete your entire website and try again! Or for a hefty fee we'll do it for you.
Even these SEO guys admit, that their so called "fixes" may only be temporary, until the algorithms change again. I'm don't see paying these guys money for their temporary fixes. From what I can tell these SEO experts at some point in time, always find themselves and their clients one step behind the latest algorithm update.
They write blogs warning their clients in advance, that all of their money may go down the drain when the algorithm change takes place. But don't worry we'll catch up. I read blogs where website owners are practically in tears, because Google is getting ready to make a change. I would rather develop a business relationship and cultivate one loyal customer, who may mention my online business to friends and contacts, or maybe even in an article, than to attempt to "SEO" my way to maybe thousands of curiosity seekers and inaccurate search engine results. But if they ever come up with a permanent answer... i'll be the first in line!
Dr. Ken Evoy of Site Sell once wrote, that if you have 100 visitors to your online or home based business and you convert 30 of those visitors into customers, that's an astronomical conversion rate for Internet standards. But you have still wasted 70 potential customers! I believe that it's possible to save money and make money at the same time in a situation like this. Save money by learning to get the most out of the visitors we already have. How much more money would your home based business be making right now if you increased your conversion rates by 20% with the traffic that you already have? As small business owners, why spend to get more traffic, when we are not making the most of what we have now?
Ohhh... Look at the time! Wanna' continue this after the weekend? Cool! because guess what...
I gotta' go now! I MUST return to my mountain top retreat!
Thank YOU once again for this rendevous! I look forward to getting back with you.
Have a superb weekend! Dont forget what I said.
Peace! And always remember...
Any pursuit is great... when GREATLY pursued!
"Special people do Special things." It has nothing to do with talent, or power.
Nothing is more special than an act or word of kindness to someone who needs it.
Be Special to someone TODAY.
I'll Holla',
Nick B.
p.s.... For you senior citizens, I'll holla' means that I will speak with you later.
Peace, and whatever you do... don't drop the denture cream! (BIG Smile!)
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