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"The Diary of an Online Business Professional"
Website Promotion Blogby Lee Gilbert |
Latest Posts
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Why Do I Need An Opt-In Form? I Just Want To Make A Sale!
And as I'm setting up the site, I place an opt-in form in a prominent position, along with my free offer, so it can't be missed. I like to put it at the top of the page, above the fold and I've been known to move other items around on the page so I can get that opt-in form up to the top. It's just that important.
That opt-in form is my way of knowing who's visiting my site and it tells me that they're interested in my product. Not interested enough to buy it – yet – but interested enough that they were willing to part with their name and email address to get my free offer. You'd be surprised how many people don't like to part with that information. So, when they do, you know you have an interested potential buyer.
Now, instead of waiting and hoping that the potential buyer remembers to visit my site 5 or 6 more times, I have a way to contact him and give him a little nudge. But it's not time to start selling yet, so don't get in a hurry. You need to first establish a relationship with this person so he can learn to trust you. After all, he's only seen your website, he hasn't actually met you. He needs to know that you're a reliable sort if you expect him to part with his hard earned cash.
At the same time I set up my opt-in form, I also set up an autoresponder series to go along with it. Of course, the first message my visitor receives is the link to that free product. But then, usually 4 days later, I'll send him a little follow up message, thanking him for downloading my free gift and telling him that I hope he enjoyed it. And I always include a link back to my site with the promise of even more information.
The next few emails that I send include additional information about my niche, maybe something that's not included on the site. And the usual link back to the site. So it's 3 or 4 emails in before I start referencing the actual product. Now, you might think this isn't really helping you get that sale any faster at all. But what if you didn't have that opt-in form? And what if the visitor didn't bookmark your site? How would he know how to get back again for those 4 or 5 more visits? And say he did bookmark your site. Who knows how long it will be before he comes back again? If he ever does. By having that opt-in form up there, and giving him a free product to entice him to give you his contact information, you've established a connection to that visitor that will allow you to pull him back to your site whenever you want.
However, you need to be very careful with your email marketing campaigns. You need to concentrate on providing quality content in your emails just as much as you do on your site. And you should always concentrate more on establishing and maintaining a relationship than you do on sales. If you get too pushy, it only takes that subscriber one click of the button to leave your list for good. But, if you work carefully to establish a relationship of trust, and then mix in a selling email every now and then, you can develop a very loyal following.
Too many marketers rush to the sale and scare their subscribers away. Remember, online shoppers already have a built in distrust of Internet Marketers, simply because they can't look you in the eye to see if you're honest and trustworthy. And remember too, that you job is to eliminate all the obstacles between your visitor and the shopping cart button. You can use your emails to eliminate a lot of obstacles just by providing your subscribers with valuable information about your site.
A good Internet Marketer doesn't stop communicating with his list after they've purchased his product. You have a loyal follower there. Someone who trusts you now. As long as you treat this person honestly and fairly, you'll be able to continue selling other products to him. If he was interested enough, and trusted you enough, to purchase your ebook on Dog Training, maybe he'd also be interested on your book of Dog Food Recipes.
Make sure you've set up another autoresponder series to take up after each sale, too. Let your buyer know that you appreciate his business and ask him what he thinks of the product. If you're selling a software item, send him upgrades as you complete them or offer him a free guide to go along with it. Don't drown him in emails, but weekly or bi-monthly updates will keep him interested in your site.
I also use my list as a way to generate traffic to my blog. If I've just posted an article that I think everyone should read, (of course, I think everyone should read ALL of my posts!) I send a Broadcast message to my entire list and tell them there's something exciting on my blog that I think they'd really be interested in. And then I invite them to come have a look and tell me in the comments section what they think.
Not only am I generating traffic, but I'm creating activity and excitement on my blog. Something that the search engines love. And visitors love it, too. Who doesn't like to be asked for their opinion?!
So now that I've told you how important an opt-in box is, I should probably tell you how to install one on your blog or website. First, I recommend that you use Aweber. Their service is excellent and their their tracking and analytics are second to none. You can even find out which of your visitors is clicking on the links you send out in your emails! And if you CLICK HERE, you can see my article at eHow.com that tells you exactly how to set up and install that first opt-in box. How To Write A Sales Page That Converts
A lot of Internet Marketers simply don't realise what an important sales tool their sales page is. They think that once they've got the buyer to their sales page, the battle is over and the war is won. However, the sales page is actually the biggest battle of all. And it's your last opportunity to win the war. If your sales page doesn't convert, then you might as well just surrender and lay down your gun.
Your sales page needs to compel your buyer, every step of the way, from the point where he enters the page to the shopping cart button or buy button. And it's your job to make sure there are no obstacles in your buyer's path. Every time you buyer hesitates on that path from the top of the page to the buy button, is another chance that he may just change his mind and click off the page. Eliminate all the obstacles so he never has to hesitate on the path.
You Need To Know Your Product
In order for you to be able to remove those obstacles, you must first do your research. You need to know the features and benefits of your product. It's no good simply telling your visitors that XYZ dog food is made with all natural ingredients. Tell him why that's important. All natural ingredients will make your dog's coat shiny and give him back that youthful energy he had when he was a pup.
You Need To Know Your Buyer
The next thing you need to know is who your target customer is. Who typically buys your product? To answer this question you need to know your product again. For example, if you're selling a video game, is it a game that teenagers will play? If so, your customers will probably be teenagers. But if it's a game for preschoolers, it will probably be their parents who you'll be selling to. In the case of the teenager, you'll want to tell him how fun and exciting the game is. Parents, however, will be more concerned about how educational the game is.
Identifying your target audience will also give you the reasons why people are buying your product. Are they buying your acne medication because it clears up their acne, or because it clears up their acne AND eliminates scarring as well? Are they buying your ebook to learn how to set up a website or to learn how to set up an Adsense website? Find out what features of your product would be most attractive to your target customer and why they would be important.
To find answers to these questions, you can start out by looking at Google keywords. This will give you a very good idea of what people are searching for with regard to your product. You can also go to Yahoo Answers to see what types of questions people have and you can look around forums to see what topics seem to be the hottest at the moment.
Identifying your target customer is important for a number of reasons. First, you'll want to “speak” differently to a teenager than you will a parent. And you'll want to “speak” differently again if your target customer is a doctor or a lawyer. Using terminology that your customer is familiar with will put them more at ease while they're reading your informative sales page.
But most important, when you know who your buyer is and what it is they're looking for, then by answering all of their questions on your sales page, you eliminate the obstacles between their finger and your buy button. And that's really the most important thing you need to do with your sales page – eliminate any and all obstacles that might prevent your customer from buying.
So when you sit down to write that sales page, imagine yourself as the buyer and ask yourself why do you need this product? Why are you so desperately looking for information about this product? And then answer every question you can come up with. But answer them for each buyer, personally.
You Need To Speak Directly To The Customer's Needs
For example, when you're trying to sell that ebook about improving your golf swing, it's not enough to tell your customer that if he buys this book his swing will improve. And it's not enough to tell him that your swing improved. Especially since he's not the least bit concerned about your gold swing. He's only concerned about his own. Tell your customer, “I know you're concerned about your gold swing and this book will help you because it shows you exactly how to hold the club and at what point in your swing to drop your elbow. You'll be shooting under par in a week!”
Believe it or not, the biggest mistake that marketers make with their sales page involves the buy button. They get so caught up in making this beautiful sales page and they want their buy button to blend in and look just as pretty as the rest of the page. But the best way to get your customer to click that button is to make it us ugly and eye catching as you possibly can. Don't make that button blend in with the rest of your page. It needs to pop out so your customer can easily see it and know exactly what he needs to do next.
And What About That Buy Button?
After thousands and thousands of split tests, it's been determined that the best converting sales button is a bright orange button. Not red, because while red does certainly get your attention, psychologically it makes us think of danger. And a yellow button, while also bright and attractive, psychologically makes us think of caution. However, orange is a bright, attention getting color that put's people at ease and relaxes them. So, it's easier for people to click on an orange button that it is a red or yellow button. For proof of this psychological effect, just take a look at the Visa, Mastercard and Discover card. All three have orange in their logos.
It's also been determined that instead of using the words “Buy Now” or “Click Here” on your button, your visitors feel more comfortable clicking on a button that says “Add To Cart”. This is because a lot of people are still uncomfortable shopping online and the words “Add To Cart” make them feel more like their shopping in a physical store. And yes, it's even been determined that printing those words, “Add To” in a Royal Blue font, will be have a positive effect on your conversions as well.
One other thing that you can do to eliminate one more obstacle – during all of this research it was found that customers prefer our sales pages to look more like physical advertisements like they see in magazines and flyers. And believe it or not, when you place your Add To Cart button inside a rectangle that's made of a dashed broken line, to resemble a coupon, more customer will click on it without even giving it a second thought. Simply because they're comfortable with that coupon image.
So you see, those obstacles that you need to overcome for your buyers aren't always physically on your sales page. Sometimes, they're in the buyer's mind instead. But you still need to realize that those obstacles exist and take the necessary steps to overcome them if you want to have a sales page that converts.
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