#313
How’s your website doing? www.nothing.com
Website still in first gear? No traffic? No hits? No inquiries? No sales? Rats! Wondering or beginning to doubt the efficacy of your investment? Welcome to the www.poorplanning.com club.
REAL WORLD FACT: The web is still an infant. Just because it isn’t working for you, doesn’t mean it’s not working. Ask people like Netscape Navigator, Yahoo, Amazon.com, and Microsoft. They seem to be taking advantage of the www.
There are thousands maybe millions of “get the website up and wait for something to happen” businesses. Now what? Best option www.don’tquit.com. There’s still a chance. You can begin to get more results by attracting more inquiries. But the web is it’s own marketing project.
If you want to crank up your sales engine you have to (proactively) drive the traffic to the web. Here are a few places to network, link up, and expose your site for more people to find to create your own (website) rush hour:
1. Include your web address on every piece of printed material that you use all the time. This includes letterhead, business cards, proposals, quotes, invoices, fax cover sheets get everyone you do business with to “see” your address every time they see you.
2. Include your web address in all advertising, any promotional items that you have. Brochure, annual report, flyers, reports, newsletters.
3. Add your webaddress to every directory you are listed in or organization you’re a member of. Trade association, Chamber of commerce, country club, health club, networking group.
4. Make your website name identifiable or congruent with your company name. cnn.com is the most widely accessed news web site in the universe. I wonder why? (yahoo.com is the most widely accessed general site)
5. List your company, your website, and it’s key words on all the search engines you can find. Often generic key words will bring up thousands of other references, so try to use key words specific to your industry. The best way to see the effect of this is go to a couple of search engines and try a few words and see what pops up. (Hint: If you’ve never tried it, you’ll be blown away.)
6. Establish hot links from your site and to your site. Every vendor, similar interest sites, trade association, and even customers will be happy to link you if there is a value component to your site that affects them (how to use, tips, help).
7. Use traditional marketing outreach. Real low cost stuff like broadcast fax and direct mail to your existing database, or use classified ads in trade journals.
8. Expose your present customers to offers that are only good if they access the web. Esaver airline tickets have generated millions of dollars of found money to the airlines. They fill the planes on the weekends and drive people to their website.
9. Start talking on the web. User group chat rooms, news groups, people who use your stuff or are interested in how to better use what you do or what you make.
10. Your own email outreach. Email your data base, Email a specific target. BUT drive those people there with a oneclick offer of value. Make me WANT to go and see what you have.
Oh, by the way one other tiny problem. Your website may suck. Take a hard look at it. If it’s full of stuff about you and nothing about how your product is used, or there’s nothing of interest or value to the surfer (your customer or prospect), you may be a victim of www.mememe.com. Bad disease. Soooooooo…
10.5 Have information on your site that your customers and prospects can use and change it often. Stuff about them that has value. This will bring return visitors AND create word of mouth advertising to your site. A “hot” site can generate thousands of hits a day. Get hot.
A decision not to expand your web exposure is a decision against Bill Gates. www.bigmistake.com. So far Bill’s success track record is pretty good.
EPLILOGUE: After completing this article and being real proud of its completeness and worthiness I received this email:
Dear Mr Gitomer, I have read your web site, with great intrest. May I offer you a tip on selling on the internet, “think” how can somebody in the UK or anywhere else on this planet purchase your products without the ability to phone a US 0800 number. I wonder how many sales you have lost. I believe this assistance will go a long way to enhancing your sales. I wish no cash
payment for this service just a few of your books will recompence. Keep up the good work, there is a big world outside the US.
yours faithfully,
Keith Brooks
Surrey, England
www.eatdirt.com. I sent him a book and a set of tapes.
FREE GitBit… Want a web site outline of the basic elements your site must contain? Sure you do. Just go to www.gitomer.com click Free Stuff the click GitBit register and enter the secret words, “WEB OUTLINE”.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. President of Charlottebased Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at 704/3331112 or email to salesman@gitomer.com
1999 All Rights Reserved Don’t even think about reproducing this document without written
permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer 704/3331112
