Russell Taylor is a university-degreed geographer who is also a husband and a homeowner at the tender age of 24.  The following is a real-life conversation he had with his mom:

"I can't believe that a city the size of Austin doesn't have a carpet cleaning company or a lawn-care service."

"What do you mean?"

"I just spent 30 minutes trying to find a carpet cleaning company. Evidently, Austin doesn't have one."

Russell's mother, operations manager Corrine Taylor, is from a different generation; one that doesn't immediately think of searching the internet when they have questions about a product or service. Reaching inside her kitchen cabinet, she quietly handed her son a telephone book.

"I think this might solve your problem."

Staring at it, Russell replied, "Gee. That never crossed my mind."

This conversation took place in 2003*, by the way.  And in terms of the Internet, it now represents ancient history because a quick Google search of “Austin Carpet Cleaning Services” will bring up 10 pages worth of results. 

But of course, that just further proves the point: a whole generation of Americans went digital and then up-sold the Google habit to their parents and grandparents.  The Internet is now where everyone turns to first when they have a question or a problem or a buying itch they want to scratch.
 

The Basics of Establishing a Web Presence

This Google-ification of America means a Web presence today is more important to your business than a Yellow Page ad was 10 years ago.  Think about that when considering your Website budget. 

In other words, if someone types in your city’s name and whatever keywords define your product/problem/solution into Google, will your business come up in the first page?  If search is the new Yellow Pages, do you even have an ad in the book?  And would your ad make someone want to call you?  If a prospective customer actually searched on the name of your company, would they find the answers they're looking for when they land on your Website?

The good news is that building a respectable, leadn and business generating Website can usually be done for less than what you used to pay for Yellow Page ads.

The even better news is that you don’t even have to have a fancy site that actually sells stuff online.  It’s enough just to have a decent looking site with solid sales copy capable of answering people’s questions and convincing them that you’re the one to call.

Think of your Website as a half step between the customer thinking about your product and actually walking into your store.  You can also think of your Website as the cheapest 24-hour sales person you’ll ever have, or even of a Yellow Page ad that finally gives you the room you need to tell your story. 

A Few Tips On Your Site – Where to Spend The Money

Now that you’ve got a rough idea of the importance of your Web presence and what kind of budget you should be looking at, here are a few tips on how to get the most from your site.

1)    You can't afford to have your Website look cheap.  Here are some "must-haves" that will keep your site looking professional and trustworthy:

• a professional banner with your logo and phone number in it.  
• a navigation bar that looks professionally designed
• an attractive and appropriate color pallet
• pictures and graphic elements that look well placed and integrated with the text rather than awkwardly "pasted" in
• 3-dimensional buttons or “Calls to Action.”  In other words, if you want someone to click a button, then your button should look clickable.

As a graphic, before and after example of these items, take a look at this Website redesign done by my colleagues Paul Boomer and Tim Miles to get a sense of “homemade” vs. “professional” looking sites.  This isn’t just about pretty – it’s about instilling confidence in your visitors.

BEFORE

AFTER

2)    Spend the money on persuasive copy.  Contrary to popular belief, people DO read online, and what you say to them through your website WILL determine the difference between visitors clicking over to your competitors vs. picking up the phone and calling you.  A recent study on lead generation Websites found that 50% of potential leads where lost due to inadequate information.  In other words, half your leads could be lost simply because you haven't answered your potential customers' questions.  Spend the money, hire a great copywriter to answer your customers' concerns and questions, and then steal your competitor's lunch money when all the good leads sign up to do business with you.

3)    Good Web copy resembles a sales conversation rather than a sales “pitch.”  Good salespeople talk about what matters to the customer and respectfully answer their questions.  Bad salespeople “Show up and throw up,” forcing prospects to leave angry.  A good copywriter should be able to talk with your sales staff and really dig into your prospect’s concerns, typical questions, and buying criteria.  Then they should create copy that answers those questions within the sales copy they’re writing.  If a copywriter suggests sticking the answers into a FAQ page, fire ‘em.  The last thing you want to do is to force visitors to search for answers to their questions.

4)    Bad Web copy is about you.  Good Web copy is about the customer.  How can you quickly tell if your copy passes muster?  Easy, just count how many “We” statements you’re using vs. the amount of “You” statements.  If you’re constantly talking about how great your dealership is, how great your product is, etc, than you’ll likely rack up a whole lot of “we” statements.  That’s called “we-we” copy, and it’s about as attractive to customers as constantly talking about yourself is to a date.  Stop “we-we”-ing all over yourself by focusing on “Why would this matter to the customer.”  This is very similar to the old Benefits vs. Feature distinction so familiar to good sales professionals.  People don’t buy features, they buy benefits.  Is your copy is feature rich and written from the customer’s perspective, or is it all about how your product has the best features in the business?

5)    Place a picture of your office building and staff in your “About Us” page.  People will always rather buy from an established business than a guy working out of his truck.  A picture of your office and staff says a thousand very powerful words about why your web visitor should trust you.

A Few Words about combining Radio Ads and your Website

Once you have website, the next question will be how to drive customers to it.  You’ll be tempted to start a Google Ad Words or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign.  And while that may be a profitable option for you, I’d suggest you also look into a radio advertising campaign as a driver of local traffic to your small business Website.  Here’s why:

1)    Radio reaches about a 1000 times more people per dollar than PPC

2)    A properly constructed radio campaign is cumulative – this year’s success can build upon last year’s and so on.  With PPC Ads, there’s no cumulative effect or build-up - it’s strictly Pay-Per-Click: you pays yer money and you’s gets yer click. 

3)    Radio is an ideal traffic driver for websites while websites are an ideal half step for radio.  With radio, you can get a mass audience to remember your distributorship when they think of water purifiers – to the point that they’ll likely Google your dealership’s name rather than a general search term.  Plus, your website allows you to tell the prospect all the things you’d like to say in a 60 second ad but don’t have time to.  And it’s a lot easier to remember a website from a radio ad than a phone number, isn’t it?  In short, Radio can allow you to beat out the competitions Website before a prospect even goes online for your product, and your website can move an interested radio listener into a qualified lead.

4)    There are only so many people ALREADY LOOKING for your product.  So part of your marketing burden is convincing people who aren't already actively shopping for your product or service that they'd be happier or have a lot less aggravation in life or be able to kick more butt if they only had your product or servive.  PPC has almost no ability to do that, but a Radio-Website combination can do wonders in this area.  Plus, if you stamp your company's name into tens of thousands of listeners memories, so that your the first name they think of the company that they feel best about whenever your product or service category is mentioned, what do you think is going to happen when these people do become actual buyers?  Do you think they'll search for the name of your company, or do you think they'll just do a general search using category search terms?  Chances are they'll search on your name - thereby eliminating your competition from even getting a chance at selling them.  And that's no small advantage when gaining market share becomes crucial to just staying flat, let alone growing.

That’s all I got for you this month.  But if you're looking to hire a web developer/persuasive copyweriting and planner for creating your website, I highly recommend Paul Boomer, Dave Young, and Tom Wanek.   Tom Walters is also an excellent copywriter.  All of these people can be found right here at AmericanSmallBusiness.com

-    Jeff

* Beginning example and dialogue taken from Roy H. William’s Monday Morning Memo of January 20th, 2003 titled: Societal Metamorphosis.  You can find it here:

http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/?ShowMe=ThisMemo&MemoID=1433
 

 P.S.  Tim Miles was kind enough to respond to this post with the following bit of news that really drives home the point of this article:  "Interestingly, we've gotten five contact us leads - three for business, two for employment in the last 36 hours. Including two (both sales leads) in the middle of the night ... when no brick and mortar HVAC business is open."

Read About Jeff Sexton

The Wizard of Ads partner group is doing it again. And this time we're heading to the Rocky Mountains, specifically Denver's Qwest events Center, for the next installment of the Wizard of Ads roadshow.

This event, dubbed the Marketing Performance Seminar, again features a "Who's Who" of the Wizard of Ads partner group: Steve Rae, Michele Miller, Chris Maddock, Mike Drew, Dave Young, Jeff Sexton, Paul Boomer, Clay Campbell, Jane Fraser, Tom Wanek, Steve Sorenson, the list goes on and on and on.

What distinguishes this event from previous Wizard of Ads event offerings is a strict adherence to the marketing performance equation, which is a fundamental component of the way the Wizard of Ads group does business and gets such monumental results for its clients, according to event organizer David Young.

"By co-opting everyone's material to fit a particular plank in the marketing performance equation, we hope that this event will be useful and educational to Independent business owners," said Young.

Your humble narrator or is also one of the presenters.  I'll be performing, for the second time only, a module on marketing in times of recession, and how this affects the marketing performance equation.

Additionally, you can learn about triggering word of mouth buzz, successful advertising for small businesses, how to write powerful ads, the secrets of successful radio advertising, and how women purchase differently than men.

Registration information is available at the event website. Register today to confirm your comfy swivel chair for February 19 and 20th.

Read About Ray Seggern

I have put together hundreds of events, and I must say the recent " Boom Your Business" in Nashville, was one I was very proud to be a part. Everyone was so professional to work with. Each Partner pitched in and offered to be a cog in the wheel of opportunity that this event offered.  Our next Boom Your Business is scheduled for Denver, Colorado February 19th and 20th  2009.

If you missed the Nashville event, here is an overview of what took place at the Music City Sheraton on August 1st and 2nd.
 

• Friday Morning Welcome by Clay Campbell and Peter Nevland
• Mike Dandridge - How to fight the big boys and win
• Tom Walters -the APE - Advertising Performance Equation
• Ray Seggern - Ad budget and the different media comparisons
• Dave Young - Web sites, Building relationships
• Paul Boomer-  10 things to do to improve your website
• Yours Truly- Get Big Results from a Small Ad Budget
• Chris Maddock presented an abbreviated course from his Wizard Academy Ad Writing 101 class
• Michele Miller closed out day one with Marketing to Women
  DAY TWO
• Tom Wanek showed an intriguing PowerPoint - Signaling Theory
• Chuck McKay - Marketing PAIN - writing an ad for the different buying stages of a consumer
• Chris Maddock and Tom Walters Ad Writing Workshop
• Peter Nevland  Thinking Outside the Box
• Video How to avoid Embezzlement
• Scott Fraser told the great success story of his business in Canada, and talked about Commodity Revolution
• Michael Kessee closed out the two day event with a presentation made famous by Roy H. Williams called “The Pendulum ” Michael’s version was Marketing in 2008 and Beyond
  
  Watching the event go from speaker to speaker with everything timed and going like clockwork made me again so proud to be one of the Wizard of Ads Partners.

The Wizards on the Road may coming to your area. To find out when- sign up for the Monday Morning Memo

Does one of these presentations interest you?? You could have a Wizard Partner to come to your town and make their presentation for your group, just call the home office 512-295-5700 or you can get all the Partners contact info by just clicking on their name in the column to the left.

 

 






 

Read About Clay Campbell

Dave Young was one of the original Wizard of Ads partners and one of the original instructors of a class at Wizard Academy, about blogging.  Dave's interest in all things web have made him a sought after speaker and persuasion architect.  He's speaking at Boom Your Business in Nashville and we're happy to get a few minutes in his busy schedule today...

Q. I know I need a web site (or a better one than I have). Will I come away from your presentation knowing what my site should accomplish with respect to my customers?

Read About Ray Seggern

Should you give away stuff in your website?

Is your business jingle a "hit" in your place of business and because it´s your "baby", you don´t want to share it as a free download?

Do you have a book, and you´re waiting for it to be published, but you haven´t considered put it on the web for free?

How much, is too much?

Giving stuff away, means no money in the cash register?

1. In the music and film industry, there´s certainly a lot of controversy. But here a a few examples of artists and producers willing to give away their products:

A. Nine Inch Nails´ Trent Reznor put out a CD in the stores and as a Free Download on the Net, with the option of paying $5 for higger resolution mp3´s. In his website he published the results of making that decision. The band Radiohead did the same choice, and helped get their new release in Rolling Stone´s Best Albums List of 2007. (Radiohead could easily have make $2,736,000 with a "name your own price" download. hey would have had to sell nearly 3, 180,000 CDs to earn that amount).

Click here to read Tren´ts note. and read for yourself how this decision made greater impact on his artist´s career, including expousure, money, concerts booking and free advertising. Many Big Artists like Robbie Williams, ColdPlay and Lilly Allen, are considering this option, since their label´s not supporting the new releases.

B. I won´t steal.net published a campaing. Appealed to Torrent User´s, LimerWire Fans and Share Credo  Comunitty.  See the website and Video Ad

C. MySpace.com allows the artists to enable his sample songs as free downloads. Almost every Independent Artists activates this feature and converts it´s traffic into expousure, people having their music in their iPods and eventually getting booked for live shows. ;any Major Label Artists are doing it too. Or linking their MySpace pages directly to iTunes to convert the traffic.

2. Wizard sites offer free downloadable tools.  You should download them soon:

Wizard Academy Press let´s you download a lot of cool tools.

Dave Young´s New Website has a full "Free Stuff" Section on the right bottom of the page.

3. Alex Urrea, a Latinamerican writter published "Soñando con elefantes" (Dreaming with Elefants) No publisher wants to take the risk of publishing this fiction-spiritual novel. So he decided to give it away as a free dowload. Alex has been invited to many Latin Countries as a speakers to share about his book, and his courage of making it free for every people that was willing to visit his page, click, dowload and read.

Do you have anything you want to share to your clients?

Consider making it available for free in your website and use it a a coverter tool.

Read About Luis Lopez

Persuasion Architect, Dave Young, introduces an easy way to understand the customers early buying phase. With the help of some hunting analogies and a cool video series Dave takes us through 2 websites Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops.

Read, watch and listen as Dave shares his words of wizardom on:

1. Relevance
2. Screen Space
3. Scent Trails
4. AIDAS - Awareness. Interest. Desire. Action. Satisfaction
5. Inside-the-Bottle Syndrome

Enjoy Dave's Hunting for Persuasion Series

Early Bird Thinking - Part 1

Read About Craig Arthur