Impulse shopping in the checkout lane may be what drives grocery store profits, but chances are it doesn't do a thing for your business. Your customers are far more likely to need up to nine contacts from you before they trust you enough to buy from you.
Nine!
That's up sharply from when I entered the marketing field lo those many years ago, and you should expect that number to continue rising over your career too. The good news is that there are some very simple steps you can take to eliminate some of those contacts, or at least shorten the time span from initial contact to first sale.
The first step is to acknowledge that we've created our own monster in our efforts to build our businesses. On average, we're bombarded by more than 3,000 sales and marketing messages everyday. That's 3,000 times a day someone waves something in our face, or shouts something in our ear in an effort to get us to buy this, do that, and spend the rest now.
Next, think about how you react to this daily assault. As consumers (for ourselves or our company), we've all gotten very good at tuning ads out online. It's a basic survival tactic.
Like warriors on a dawn patrol in enemy territory, we'll jump from a site two seconds after we land there if we catch a glimpse of an annoying animated gif whosits or doodad in the corner of the page. We use weapons like search engines, popup blockers, personal portal homepages and newsreaders to filter out all but the information we want to see right now.
But we do more than try to avoid them. We sneer at blinking yellow "security alerts" that offer to eliminate adware deposited on our computer when someone clicks on something like a blinking yellow security alert message. We roll our eyes at Hollywood style hype. And our response to claims of "new and improved" anything is a yawned, "yeah, right."
We've become jaded, cynical, distrustful, and focused on nothing but fending off all distractions between us and the information we're online to retrieve. Is it any wonder we arrive at the end of our day exhausted, with cramped hands, hunched shoulders and clenched jaws?
Now switch hats quickly and look at this from your perspective as a business promoting yourself online. Any way you can help a battle weary consumer get more value out of your website and emails will help you earn their business, right?
Obviously, giving them a clearly marked path from landing point to information source wrapped in an appealing design is something you must do. But that alone may not be enough to win their dollars. You still have to win their attention and their respect before they'll set foot on that path.
Fortunately there is a very simple, affordable way you can do it. With no shouting.
Today's streaming video tools allow you to easily provide visitors with a brief personal message that does more than command instant attention. A simple greeting that you create and manage yourself opens the door to a genuine conversation. All the technical barriers of the web fall away in the face of it and your visitor learns what he needs to know about you in seconds.
How? Your expressions, your gestures, your smile, and your tone of voice, hold more power to attract attention, convey a deeper meaning to your message and convince people of your sincerity than anything else you can do. Scientists have proven that up to 93% of what we learn and remember from a conversation comes from these unspoken, and unwritten clues.
Your human visitors absorb and process all that complicated information a matter of seconds in an attempt to answer one question. They're looking for the consistency between your words and your non verbal message that will tell them whether or not they can trust you and believe what you say has value to them.
That makes you the very best tool you have to increase your credibility. If you're feeling too shy to step in front of the camera consider this. As a consumer, you wouldn't dream of turning off your spam filters and popup blockers, or opening every attachment that came your way.
As a businessman using the Internet to generate leads or sales for your company, can you really afford to leave your big gun at home?
Copyright 2005 Liz Micik
Liz Micik turns your video learning curve into a fast and easy profit curve in her newest book, "Cue the Director: 10 Simple Steps to Online Video Success."
Visit http://www.powerpresenters.com to have free weekly video tips emailed to you.
I've recently begun working with individuals one-on-one who are truly... Read More
For four years I worked in the editorial department of... Read More
Staying awake at night wondering how to pump up your... Read More
Exponential Multiplication a Real Life Example:Double a penny every day... Read More
If you have zero budget then this is the article... Read More
There are many simple, infallible ways to earn income, and... Read More
Still marketing through press releases, networking groups, and talks to... Read More
This is part one of an article series which will... Read More
A common question and topic of discussion among Internet marketers... Read More
Major marketers in the United States have recognized the importance... Read More
Have you ever been lost in the woods - wondering... Read More
Many of us in the marketing services and/or agency business... Read More
Did you recently buy your first computer and just started... Read More
I know what you're thinking, "Why is having your own... Read More
It never ceases to amaze me how many people set-up... Read More
In the early days of web development, business owners had... Read More
Do you want me to tell you the truth or... Read More
Everyday people ask me if they will make money with... Read More
Are you looking for ways of persuading your web site... Read More
I'd like to show you five secret strategies to extract... Read More
Where do I start if I want to be an... Read More
Online sales is like a fine art and you have... Read More
Viral Marketing is allowing people to giveaway and use your... Read More
There are many different ways to have fun and socialize... Read More
Could you use some laughs? I'll bet you could, especially... Read More
I know what your thinking, "what the heck does starting... Read More
This "little" test I ran was in dedication of Corey... Read More
The use of tracking links in the following scenario puts... Read More
The current climate on the internet is very unfavourable to... Read More
Hey, I just noticed something. I've been sitting here filling... Read More
Internet marketing is a wonderful thing, but it has it's... Read More
FREE online classified advertising - the equation is simple. A... Read More
Let me reveal to you a few shocking website sales... Read More
One way to keep in touch with your customers and... Read More
Yeah, TOO ethical!? Lately, with some of the issues I've... Read More
Everyday I talk with people who want to get started... Read More
Have you ever attended a class where the instructor followed... Read More
I. Summary of a marketing planThe marketing planning (concretized in... Read More
The world of entrepreneurship is a difficult one full of... Read More
Oh no... are people leaving your site without buying?Get used... Read More
Recently, I stumbled upon a simple way to hit the... Read More
If you have ever studied search engine optimization, then you'll... Read More
Communication is the engine that powers business.It is an important... Read More
You have managed to get your website to that magical... Read More
As any successful businessman will confirm, having a great product... Read More
- Are you tired of chasing down publishers just to... Read More
If you're looking for Internet marketing help you've come to... Read More
There is a trend going on in the world of... Read More
There are thousands of web sites, books, CD-ROM's, cassette tapes... Read More
Who said marketing on the internet was easy. All the... Read More
Internet Marketing |