Category: Offline Business

Web Pages: It’s what happens afterwards that counts

This is the fifth of five posts comparing web pages to a trade show. In the first we compared the multiple reasons people have for being at a trade show and how people browsing the web have varying interests as well.

We then discussed exhibitor’s booths and drew comparisons to web page design, booth location with keywords and exhibitors signage and the importance of the the web real estate that is “above the fold.”

We then talked about attractors, how they bring people passing by to the booth and how their goal was to transform prospects into leads. I suggested and maintain that this is precisely the purpose of both a trade show and a web page.

And yesterday, I discussed the people at a trade show and how this was one area where a trade show had a distinct advantage over a web site. It’s much easier for people to be interactive. To ask and answer questions. I went on to talk about an empty trade show booth with just brochures left behind. I think you would agree with me that having people interact with prospects is far more effective than a stack of brochures, however nice they may be.

Unfortunately, most business’s web pages are just that, electronic brochures. This is a shame as its not difficult at all to begin the process to change that. The key component is an opt in box that can either be tied into the web page design, ideally “above the fold” and promoted with an valuable attractor. Of note, its possible to add a “light box” style Opt In form, that doesn’t require you to make any changes to your existing web site.

For many businesses the best type of attractor is a free down loadable report providing useful “How to,” or “What to look for” information. Think about the types of questions the people at your trade show booth would be most likely asked and answer them in a short and concise format.

The goal of both a trade show and your web site is to transform the web browser from being just another face in the crowd into a “lead.” A lead is someone the trade show people call or mail to after they empty the sweepstakes box of all those names that didn’t win the “free siding” or what ever they used to capture people’s names and contact info.

The advantage for the web site is that it’s easy to capture your leads name and email address, if you offer the viewer something they want. What I call an ethical bribe. And once you do, you can design a series of follow up emails to provide them additional useful information they need to make a wise buying decision.

There are two types of emails a business owner might send these new leads. This first set is a structured series of email that are pre-written and are “dripped” on the recipient at appropriate intervals. These are “evergreen” messages that once written and installed in an auto responder can be left to do their thing over time. Once set up they run on auto pilot.

These can be simple or sophisticated. An initial email for instance could ask the recipient if they want specific info an several different topics. If they pick one or more they can opt into as many different specialized series of followup messages as may be desired. This is useful for firms with multiple product lines.

Designing and creating this initial series of follow-up emails is the biggest investment in the entire process. A top notch auto responder service such as AWEBER can cost under $20 a month and will reliably capture the lead from your web page or even permit people to sign up even if you do not have a web page. Once the initial series of emails is created, will work day in and day out for you for peanuts.

A second type of follow-up message is the broadcast message. These can be used to advertise special sales, or send out holiday greetings or any other message you want. The combination of preloaded evergreen messages and occasional broadcasts can fulfill many purposes and can serve to not only win new business, but effectively stay in touch with existing customers as well.

This ongoing aspect of maintaining periodic contact with current and past customers is one of the best uses of an auto responder, and one that will generate significant new sales for any business that takes the time to creatively apply it to their specific circumstances.

Follow up is the name of the game in new sales and in developing repeat business. As I said in the title, it’s what happens after a person has been to your web site that counts, when you get around to counting your bottom line.

Check out the page above that discusses my services. I can help you apply these concepts to your business and help it grow, even in these challenging times.

Web Pages: People Vs. A Brochure

This is the fourth in a series of postings comparing a business web site to a trade show. In the initial post we discussed the traffic flow at a trade show and how it resembled web traffic. Then we looked at the exhibit booth and showed at least three corresponding aspects of a web page. And yesterday, we talked about attractors used at trade shows and how they too could and should be applied online.

Today we will talk about the people behind the booth at a trade show and see if we can’t learn some lessons from them as well.

I almost touched on the people in yesterday’s post on attractors, as it’s common for firms, particularly larger corporations to use models in their booths. Pretty women do seem to have an attractive quality.

But the main purpose of the people in the booth is to engage in conversation with the passing traffic.
The booth setup itself may have optimum placement on the floor, and attractors up the wazoo but it really doesn’t matter if there’s no one there to meet and greet, ask and answer questions.

Now some firms may just rely on pictures and exhibits posted in their booth to convey their message, and others may put a stack of brochures on the table for passerby’s to pick up. This may be better than nothing, but do you think it’s as effective as having a real live person who can engage prospects in conversation? Not likely.

Remember that we discussed the varied makeup of the crowd. Some are there for exercise or entertainment, others to get information, and a few to buy. As they walk past our booth, it’s the job of the booth staff to engage them in conversation, to inquire about their needs, interests and to elicit their questions.

Getting to understand what they are looking for is one of the key ingredients for both the seller and the prospective buyer to learn whether or not a transaction is possible. When it is, the conversation also serves as an investment by both parties in terms of time and effort toward a mutually agreeable solution. If properly handled, if the sales staff is good and skilled in their conversation, this is the process that leads a prospective buyer to the decision point, and ultimately the successful sale.

This is one area, where the trade show has a distinct advantage over the web site. The personality and skill of a good sales person in an interactive conversation with a prospect is hard to replicate online on a web page.

Because it’s difficult, doesn’t mean that steps can’t be taken to design the web presentation in a way that at least mimics the live relationship.

A few paragraphs ago, I suggested live staff were better than a table full of brochures or static pictures on the booth wall. That is precisely the level where most small business web sites are now.

They are little more than brochures. And like most brochures they get tossed into the mental round file almost immediately.

We want to avoid that. We want instead to mimic the live salespeople and set up our web sites to answer questions. To do that we need to think about what our least informed prospective customer might want to know. When designing your web pages, imagine that you are at a trade show. What questions did people ask? These are the questions your page needs to begin to answer.

Our web sites should thus focus on setting the basic parameters of our product, so that viewers get a sense of what we are about. So they are able to make some basic self assessment as to which type of product or service they might be interested in. But then, most businesses should stop.

They should turn the responsibility back to the prospect to declare themselves a “Lead” by having them opt in for more information. This is similar to a person in the crowd at a trade show walking up to the booth. The booth staff engage in small talk and lead to some basic clarifying information. When the prospect asks a relevant product oriented question, they may still be just fishing for general information, but they are also beginning the sales process. It’s time to bring them into a sophisticated sales presentation.

In real life, your sales person would answer and followup with more questions. Online, you need to convert that person then and there. Convert them from being a prospect in the crowd to a “Lead” in your sales funnel. You need them to opt in to your auto-responder service, so they can get more detailed information to enable them to make a “wise decision.” This is exactly what we discussed yesterday in our conversation about attractors.

Don’t miss the point about giving them information to make a wise decision. Design your opt in “ethical bribe” as a tool for them to make a wise decision. Offer them the information they need to do that. Offer them the info they need, when they need it and you are well on your way to the sale.

Once they have opted in, the conversation is now interactive. They came to your site. You provided information, They responded by opting in. A conversation has begun.

Once you have the leads, you need to do the follow-up. That’s our next topic. Till then…

Web Pages: Trade Show Candy = Ethical Bribe

In my two most recent blog postings I described how the crowd at a trade show resembles the traffic that streams past your businesses’ web page. Then I discussed the trade show booth, its appearance, signage and location on an exhibit floor and how they too related to web pages. Today, I will discuss the ethical bribes trade shows use to draw you to their booth and how you should be doing the same thing on your web site.

By ethical bribes I’m referring to the candy dish that might be on the front table, or perhaps the miniature golf putting green, or other features exhibitors use to get you to approach their booth. When I was a kid, you used to be able to get a wooden yard stick at the state fair. Such premiums now cost a buck or more, but in the old days it was a big crowd attractor.

The most common attractor at fairs and trade shows though are prize drawings. Fill out your name and address and/or phone number to win Free Siding, or a free set of encyclopedias or what ever.

It’s this last idea, that should be part and parcel of your web page. The fact that you were interested in winning that free siding suggested you might be a candidate to buy free siding. By filling in the drawing form, you were no longer part of the crowd at the trade show or fair. You were now a “Lead.” A lead is a valuable commodity.

The odds that you would win the grand prize were pretty slim. The odds that you would be called or mailed to were 100% For the business in the booth, it made a lot more sense to call you, than to call a random page out of the phone book. You had indirectly indicated that you could use new siding.

And that is the primary purpose of your web site if you are in business. Your web site’s primary goal should be to transform web site browsers into Leads. And you do that by offering ethical bribes.

It may be possible to offer candy or a coupon for candy from your site. You could perhaps treat a visitor to a virtual game of golf on your web site as well. In fact, there are a lot of things you could do online that resemble or duplicate virtually any idea you have seen in the trade show or fair arena.

But the most common tool online is to offer free information. Not on your web site, but down loadable in exchange for interested people’s name and email address.

This is such an important concept, it should be on the above the fold portion of your web site, so anyone who visits your site will see and understand that they can readily get this valuable freebie.

(There are options that don’t require redoing your entire web page, if this is an issue for you. I’d be happy to discuss these with you, if you want to drop me an email at enetwal@gmail.com)

Now what you offer need not be difficult to create. A simple report of 5-7 pages is adequate. But it should be “sexy.” It should offer to meet your prospects every desire for appropriate information relevant to their decision making process when considering a product like yours.

Last year I did a comprehensive review of the Home Staging Industry. These small business people help their clients get faster sales and often better prices by applying their specific skills to create a positive impression on prospective buyers when they first enter a house and in each room they see thereafter. As I learned in my surveys of practitioners, most were crackerjacks at what they were doing, but often lacked marketing expertise. I suggested to them as I am to you now that they needed to add an “opt in form” on their web sites to draw in clients.

I suggested they create a little report such as, “7 things to do before you call the Realtor,” or “How to De-clutter your home.” You will want to so something similar relevant to your business. Tips and “How to’s” are excellent places to start when thinking about what you can offer.

I will spend more discussing the all important followup process in a future posting. But prior to that I will talk more about the people manning the trade show booth in my next edition. They have one advantage your web site might not. It’s important to understand their function so you can replicate it as much as possible on your web site.

Till then…

Web pages: It’s the booths visual appeal to start

In my last posting I discussed how the crowd at a trade show was similar to the traffic one might expect to see on the internet. While some are there with a specific intention to buy, many are there for any number of other reasons. What I may not have stressed well enough, was that as a business, you want your web page to appeal to as broad a section of that crowd as possible.

Too many web sites are either just informational or just oriented to the active buyer. We will discuss other options as we go, but first we will discuss the trade show exhibitor’s booth.

In a past career, I was VP of a small consulting firm. We did a couple trade shows for our niche and were blown away at the high cost of convention booth set ups, not to mention the price of floor space. We quickly learned that the booth setup and appearance were a big deal, and critical to being effective in the trade show arena. In our case we borrowed a set up from a firm we did business with rather than invest in our own gear, but we did learn a lot from that experience.

The booth at a trade show is similar to the first page of your web page. It is what the passerby sees first. The appearance and configuration of a trade show booth makes a difference. The passing traffic will either be attracted to, or repelled by first impressions.

For some purposes, the front of a booth may be a table that prevents people from entering the booth area. Others may have an open front to invite people in. Those doing direct sales from the booth may use the closed both format to conduct sales and provide inventory control.

In our case we wanted to entice people into our booth so we could engage them in conversation, learn about their circumstances and determine if we might be of service to them.

We had a video we had produced streaming a commentary on a monitor up front on a table to catch people’s attention.

We also had a nice brochure we passed out to anyone who would take it.

Continue reading Web pages: It’s the booths visual appeal to start

Web Pages are like a Trade Show: Consider the Crowd

I had trouble sleeping last night.

My head was working on a speech, I will give to my Toastmaster Group Thursday morning.  I’ve decide to talk about why I think most small business’s web pages stink.

I’ve been toying with the content of this speech for a couple of weeks now.  I know why I think they stink, but have been having trouble coming up with a hook and a word picture I can use to convey my message.

The added difficulty is that I need to compress my comments into a 5-7 minute time frame.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t find the right formula, and so I did a lot of tossing and turning despite  my best efforts to just forget it and sleep.

Eventually, I did, and lo and behold as I woke in the morning, in those luxurious moments before I actually woke, the winning concept occurred to me.

It’s hard on my beauty to sleep this way, but I do come up with much of my speeches at night.

—

A web page is very much like a trade show.

But unlike a trade show, where most businesses would have a sales person up front to greet and engage passersby, most web pages use a deaf mute to do the same task.

This week I will work on this concept. Today let’s look at the crowd at the trade show and compare them to web browsers who may chance on your web sites.

Imagine a typical home improvement show or similar trade show.  Think of the crowd.  They are like web browsers.  There are a lot of different reasons someone might be at a trade show.  For some it is simply an outing, a form of entertainment or exercise.  Some are there to get ideas, or maybe looking for comparison products, or alternative suppliers.  Some want information on prices, or learn about features or other options they may want to consider.  A few may even have come to the show to actually buy something.  This last group is probably a minority.

So too, with web browsers.  If you are a business on or off line, most of the people who walk past your booth or browse by your web page are not actively looking to buy.

If you are to meet the needs of those people actively looking to buy, you need to give them the information they need and and the means to actually do so.

If your web page does this, you may have met the needs of the active buyer, but what about the others, those not quite ready to make a purchase?

Has your web site met their needs to the point that they will come back to you when they are ready to buy?

When you think of the crowd at the trade show, they tend to be moving in some sort of circle, streaming through the displays, browsing as they go.  Often overloaded in stimuli as each exhibitor tries to attract their attention.  If they are like me, they pass most booths with scarcely a glance, unless something grabs them and then holds their attention.

Same to with a web site.  I don’t know what the actual number is, but many people suggest you have but 2-3 seconds to catch the crowds attention with your web site. And even then, you have an uphill battle to keep them at the site.  That’s why I like the web sites the folks at David Goes Online produce for small businesses.  As part of their deal, they are offering a free video, that gives their site some stickiness.

But that is getting into the next discussion which is on the booth exhibitors set up.  In future blog posts I will also discuss the ethical bribes they offer to convert traffic into leads and then the follow-up they do, once they have the lead.  And most importantly I will discuss why they don’t hire the handicapped.  Why they don’t use deaf and dumb sales people to meet and greet their visitors, and why I think most business web pages do.