More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: Is your web site getting visitors to take action or is it just sitting there?
The Action-Oriented Web Site
At the workshop I lead in Los Angeles this past weekend I focused primarily on the "Marketing Conversations" we use to get attention, interest, desire and action from prospective clients. (More on the same workshop in San Francisco below.)
Often we think of conversations as verbal, and certainly they are. But many marketing conversations are written. An email you send, a follow-up letter and an eZine like this one are all really conversations designed to move prospective clients closer to using your services.
One of the most important written marketing conversations, as we discovered in the workshop, is the home page of your web site. And how you conduct that conversation can make the difference between a struggling and a thriving business.
I'm not even going to go into the design of your web site here. Of course that's very important. A poorly designed site can turn people off immediately and prevent them from reading what you have to say.
I'm going to concentrate on that focused conversation that you have on the very first page of your site - the home page.
Many home pages just don't get the job done. They tend to talk more about what the company does than what your prospects get. But the purpose of a home page is to give a quick snapshot of your company in "what's in it for me" language that gets them to explore other areas of the web site - and ultimately take some action that will lead them to becoming clients.
First, let's look at exactly what you want to accomplish on this home page. You want to have a very clear purpose and intention.
1. You want to grab the attention of your visitor.2. You want to get them interested in your services.
3. You want them to desire what you are offering.
4. You want them to take action to find out more.
That's a tall order but it can be done. Let's look at how, one step at a time. As an example I'm going to use a web site that I helped develop a few years back. (www.drummondandassociates.com)
1. Attention
You get attention with both the headline and the opening paragraph on your home page. I like to use a headline that highlights a problem, issue or challenge that your prospects can easily relate to:
"Are Poorly Run Meetings Destroying Your Productivity?"And then in the opening paragraph you want to paint a picture of what that problem or issue is costing:
"If you a work for a company, any company, you know how UGLY meetings can get."Remember the last time you were in an ineffective meeting. You were squirming, frustrated, nothing was getting done, the parading personalities made you want to scream. You could feel the energy and creativity draining out the door."
What you're trying to do is hit a nerve. You're not interested in being nice (yet). You will get a whole lot more immediate attention if you get them to relate to a specific problem.
Next you want to say how it could be:
"We know that meetings are one of the critical leverage points for creating WOW in your organization. What if your meetings actually contributed to productivity and teamwork? They can."OK, with that problem scenario and with the outcome they could have if things were improved, you will have effectively gotten their attention.
2. Interest
Next you want to generate interest by talking about value and benefits:
"Just imagine meetings where...- The objective of the meeting is clear... and is met every time- The agenda creates momentum and keeps the team moving forward
- You start and end on time
- Everyone participates and is heard
- Difficult personalities and dysfunctional behavior are effectively dealt with
- Focus is maintained and the discussion stays on track
- Action plans and commitments are agreed upon before adjournment
"If this were the norm for every meeting in your company, how much more productive could your people be?"
3. Desire
If these benefit points are what your visitors are looking for, their next question is typically. "Does this really work?" You now need to prove that it does. And the best way to do that is through a short story or a testimonial:
"Thank you for the quality training and the coaching you provided, in leading meetings and effectively working with particpants. I was better able to handle dysfunctional behavior and keep discussions on track while addressing extremely challenging and contentious issues, mostly because the skills I learned from you gave me the confidence to know what was appropriate and effective. Thank you!" - C.C. President XYZ Co.Stories take a prospect beyond attention and interest. They generate desire to get similar results. At this point the visitors to your web site are looking for what to do next. You tell them:
4. Action
"No matter what business you are in, poorly run meetings waste time, money and energy and can destroy your teams' ability to be productive. If you're ready for things to be different, please browse the information on this page and get our article on "Ten Ways to Dramatically Improve Your Meetings" at the link below."Once you've generated attention, interest and desire, people are ready to take action. Not action to buy your services - yet, but action to find out more. They now want some free information.
You point them towards a specific link to get a report or other valuable information. When they sign up for the report you add them to your email list (with their permission, of course). And that email list becomes your most important long-term marketing tool - your email newsletter or eZine.
Capturing your visitor's name and email address should be the number one result you want from first-time visitors to your web site. You can then use your eZine to send them back to your site over and over again to learn about your services and products.
Do you measure up?
Now take a look at your web site. How closely does it follow this model? Do you have a headline that addresses a problem? Do your opening paragraphs outline both the challenge and the desired outcome? Do you include the benefits your services deliver? Do you include a story or testimonial? And is there a clear call to action?
If not, I will bet anything that your web site is under-performing. People are not getting involved in your marketing conversation. They are losing interest. They don't want to know more. They are not taking any action and they are going somewhere else.
In fact, if you don't generate attention, interest, desire and action the very first time someone visits your web site, the chances that they will ever come back again are virtually zero.
Now you know how to make sure that never happens again.
More on the "Action-Oriented Web Site" in Marketing Flashes below.
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Get Your Web Site into Action
I hope today's article convinced you of the importance of good web copy that is designed to generate attention, interest, desire and action. The good news is that it's relatively easy to do if you know how.
And the payoff can be huge. For the past several years I've generated all my business from my web site. Tens of thousands of dollars every single month in products and services. And when people visit my site they take action. On average over 1,000 new people sign up for this eZine every month. You're one of them!
It's not an accident and I'm not lucky. I've cracked the code to get qualified prospects to respond to my written marketing conversations. And you can too. You just need to know what I know.
What I recommend to everyone first is...
The InfoGuru Marketing Manual
What you may not know about the manual is that it includes 15 pages on written marketing materials, 17 pages on web site copy and content, 14 pages about web site promotion, 17 pages on email newsletters plus 7 pages on writing attention-getting copy (plus 217 more pages covering just about every other area of marketing your professional services).
Plus with the InfoGuru Support Forum that comes with the manual you can get free feedback on improving your written copy for any marketing materials you use. Many people also use the Forum to get feedback on their websites and how to make them more effective, client-attracting tools.
Just one new client will pay for the manual many times over. And if you're not happy with what you get, we'll be happy to refund your purchase price in full.
Link below for complete details:
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.htmlIf you already have the manual, your next step is the Marketing Mastery Workshop on 12 CDs. This program, professionally recorded from a live workshop last year, includes hundreds of marketing ideas and strategies that you can listen to over and over at your home, office or while driving your car.
Available with the InfoGuru Marketing Manual at the link above or to owners of the manual at this link:
http://www.clientmagnet.com/infoguru#home
Last West Coast Workshop this year
The "Mastering the Marketing Conversation" workshop doesn't just dump more marketing information on you and put you into "marketing overload." It's different and highly participative.
The workshop focuses on teaching you how to use marketing conversations (both verbal and written) that you'll be able to apply immediately after leaving the workshop to attract more clients using the marketing activities you're already doing.
As a bonus, at the end of the workshop we'll get you together with other participants to play the "ActionPlan Game," a virtual mastermind group where you will get the chance to practice and deepen what you've learned in the workshop.
San Francisco - Sat, March 26 - 9 am to 5 pm
http://www.actionplan.com/wkp/sfwkp.htmlClick below for interview with me about the workshop:
http://www.actionplan.com/pdf/wkint.pdf~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marketing Flashes on "The Action-Oriented Web Site"
Some big misconceptions about the web that may be holding you back from turning it into a powerful, client-attracting tool.
* People don't want to read a lot of copy on a web site. Just a few bullet points are better. Sorry, not so. Look, people don't think in bullet points. They think in complete thoughts. If you write conversationally and the material is relevant, people will read not just a few pages but dozens of pages.
* A problem-oriented headline is negative and will turn people off. Just the reverse. When you talk about the issues and challenges people are experiencing, they immediately can relate to you. You are proving that you understand their pain. That's very compelling and gets people to read more.
* Nobody signs up for eZines anymore. They don't work. Maybe someday they won't, but they certainly do work now. What doesn't work are poorly done eZines with poor planning and writing and ones that do nothing but promote. You've got to give away some real value to get permission from your readers to promote your services and products in your eZine.
* If I give away too much free information, then my prospects won't have a reason to buy my services. Another myth. I've found that the more I give away the more money I make. Why? Because people need a certain amount of free information before they feel comfortable about buying.
* You can't actually sign people up for expensive services on the web. Is that so? My most expensive service is the Marketing Action Groups. I fill them every time and have a long waiting list. I do a two-step sale. I have people apply to the program then get back to them by email. All communication is by email and I rarely need to speak to anyone by phone.
Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Cracking the Marketing Code for Independent Professionals~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2005 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:
"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses."
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