Online service business owners face a unique challenge. They have to introduce themselves to prospective clients without a face-to-face meeting. Even when prospective clients hear about you through referrals, they will still come to your website before buying. They want to learn more about you.

Many service business owners and independent professionals are reluctant to showcase their skills and strengths. They are afraid of bragging and boasting. As a result, they forego an opportunity to connect with prospective clients in an important and meaningful way.

What you may not realize is that your clients want you to brag. They want to believe they’ve hired the best possible resource for their problems. They want to be convinced they’re getting their money’s worth. When they ask, “Are you good at what you do?” they get nervous when you hesitate. After all, who wants to hire a loser?

Your website offers you an excellent place demonstrate your strengths and stand out from the pack. To convert visitors to buyers, you can take this opportunity to “show, don’t tell.” In this way you sound confident and knowledgeable rather than boastful. Here are a few ways to accomplish this goal.

– Write up stories of your professional success. How have you helped your clients? What was your role in helping them meet challenges and solve their problems? Emphasize results rather than your own processes.

– Use numbers to report facts. For example you may be able to claim truthfully, “Eighty-two percent of people who take this course tell me they increase business by at least 30%.”

You can also refer to the number of clients you’ve worked with, years you’ve been in business or percentage increases in results.

– Relate your past interests and experience to the way you serve your clients. For instance, if you spent twenty years climbing the corporate ladder, you might be well suited to coaching clients who are trying to escape the corporate world or manage their careers more effectively,

– Collect testimonials. Your most convincing promotional copy gets written by others colleagues, customers, bosses, and occasionally friends. However, you probably will need to edit these testimonials to present yourself effectively. Often satisfied clients open their testimonials with, “Carl was an interesting person…”

– Use article marketing to communicate your expertise. Articles are a good way to increase traffic. But they’re also extremely effective as a way to showcase your expertise. Readers will get a sense of what you know, as well as your enthusiasm for your work. Typically you can incorporate a few examples of how you worked.

And now I invite you to find out more by visiting
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com . Download my free report,
7 secrets of websites that *really* attract clients. From Cathy Goodwin, The Website Makeover Pro.
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com

[tags]attract clients,get more clients, service business, professional service, entpreneurship[/tags]

You can have the best website design in the world, the most useful product available, and the best of intentions—and your business still might not succeed. You cannot have a successful business , without customers. Therefore, traffic is one of your most critical considerations. Even if you have 5,000 visitors every week, that will not do you any good , unless you can convert that traffic , from visitors to customers. Increasing your traffic conversion rate is not an easy task , but it can be done if you understand the fundamentals.

There are many people who claim to have the secrets to traffic conversion, but you can only trust their methods if they have verifiable proof that it will work. Otherwise, you might very well end up just wasting valuable time and money , on marketing tactics that simply do not work. So how do you guarantee that you can increase your traffic conversion rate? You get help and advice , from experts in internet marketing traffic generation and conversion , to help you to increase your own traffic conversion rate. There are a number of different tools and tactics , that you can take advantage of , that actually work rather well , regardless of the type of business that you have , or need to direct targeted traffic to.

Targeted traffic? That is right. You can not just waste your time marketing willy-nilly. You need to focus on your niche market , and advertise in ways that draw their attention to your website. Then, you need to employ various marketing principles , in order to turn that traffic into sales. If you just worry about getting hits to your website , creating any kind of traffic to your business , you will definitely lose focus , and not gain as much of a positive result as you might have , from targeting the traffic to the people who are most likely to make a purchase. Think of the people who can most readily use your products and/or services. Then, focus your traffic generation and conversion tactics , on them. The difference here is that you will get a decent amount of visitors to your site , that are actively seeking what you are promoting , rather than just generalized marketing which might or might not get you traffic that could be in your target market , or traffic that has any real interest in your business.

Do not waste your efforts ; make sure that you optimize your site to make it desirable once customers arrive. Spend as much time on your conversion tactics , as you do on using marketing strategies that ultimately will drive traffic to your site. Do not just focus on traffic generation , which is , of course , vital to your business , but traffic conversion , and your business has a very good chance to be successful. Just about anyone can get people to visit a website ; It takes a true businessperson to convert those visitors , into paying customers.

Jeff King is an internet marketer , who presently ,lives and works in sunny Southern California

http://tiny.cc/ask_internet_experts_now

[tags]traffic conversion , traffic conversion rate , targeted traffic[/tags]

Your website is your business. In order to be successful in that business, you need to not only get people to visit your site, but you also need to get people to convert to customers once they arrive at that site. How do you do this? Well, there are many different tools and methods that you can use, but you need to figure out what works best for YOU. In order to come up with the best conversion tactics, you are going to need to focus on both your product , and your target audience. You obviously can not use marketing tools or ploys , that people will not respond to , so you must know your customer base very well.

First, you must ensure that your website is properly optimized. After all, if you can not generate traffic, you are going to have a really hard time turning clicks into sales. Make sure that you are focused on your target audience , so that you get traffic that has the highest potential of actually making a purchase. Once you have done that, you will be in a much better position. Another great way to improve on turning clicks into sales , and increasing your conversion rate , is to get personal. People really are not interested in , or need to hear , the sob story about how your pet hamster , Fred , died a tragic death when you were seven , and how you are now scarred for life. However, they do want to know who you are, and why you do what you do

In the past, hard sales and good marketing strategy alone , was enough to get steady business. Nowadays , people today want to be able to get personal with their businesses. If you have a website that seems friendly, personable, and sincere, you are more likely to increase your conversion rate than someone who is all business and has a cold, stale website. Another thing people do not seem to want , is a confusing site. They want to know that it is the real deal and can give them what they need , no questions asked. Therefore, your FAQ section should be very thorough, and include actual contact information so that they can reach you if they have questions before they order.

Anything that you can do to make the experience more secure, simple, and focused is going to give you better results when it comes to turning clicks into sales. People tend to have higher standards and bigger needs , when they shop online , so when you do everything that you can to meet those needs, you will be able to increase your conversion rates with ease.

Jeff King is an internet marketer , who presently ,lives and works in sunny Southern California

http://tiny.cc/ask_internet_experts_now

[tags]traffic conversion , rate, targeted traffic[/tags]

The key to doing well with any product, whether it is a PLR product that you have made your own or a product that you created is to have a way to continue to follow up with visitors. This can improve your sales significantly with a minimum of extra effort.

You took the time and edited your PLR product. You bought a domain. You set up everything you need to sell it.

1. You put up the sales page.
2. You added a payment button.
3. You created a download page.
4. You tested everything (Something people have been known to forget.)

You start sending traffic but even if you have a great sales letter most people will not buy the first time they see your page. Whether you are paying for that traffic with your time or money adding a way to continue the conversation can greatly increase your return on your investment.

This is not a new concept but despite the wide spread knowledge of this fact most do not do it. (Blushing and raising my hand to that all too often.) Usually it is because of that L word - lazy. For some though the thought of creating a follow up series is simply overwhelming.

Most of the better autoresponders will allow you to create some sort of lead capture page. This can be added either directly to your sales or it can be slide in or pop up.that can be added to your sales page with just a line or two of code that they provide so that is not a major stumbling block.

The big stumbling block is writing the follow up series. This does not need to be the huge stumbling block that most of us make it. Yes I said most I had this problem for quite a while I am in there too.
My key for overcoming that is what I call What - Why - How. If you look at most information products isn’t that exactly what they provide? What you should be doing, why you need to do it and exactly how to do it. If that is your product and most are then this method will work well for you.

If you have 10 chapters just create a 10 part e-course. In each e-mail explain what needs to be done to educate your subscriber and then explain why they need to do it. Make sure to give them the benefit they receive for doing this.
Finally end up with how your product will show them exactly how to do that with a link back to your sales letter.

This simple formula gives you an easy outline to create a follow up e-mail series for any product.
Add these to your autoresponder, use the form generator your autoresponder supplies and add the code to your sales page offering your e-course. Now you will be able to continue to follow up with those who did not buy your product and build the relationship until they are ready to buy.

For more information on using PLR for many different purposes, check out Mike Paetzold’s blog at The PLR Secrets.

[tags]internet marketing, PLR, plr products, private label rights, using PLR[/tags]

If you are as dedicated to web analytics as most online retailers, you keep a close eye on your bounce rate.

Bounce rate is a measure of the number of visitors to your site who leave the website directly from the page they enter without clicking through to any other page of the website. Bounce rate is calculated by the number of visitors who bounce by the total number of visitors to the site over the same period.

Do not confuse bounce rate with a page’s percent exit rate. The exit rate represents the percentage of people who exit the site from any particular page. They may have already viewed many other pages on your site and simply choose to leave when they get to a specific page. The page that confirms a purchase order will have a high percentage exit rate.

Visitors bounce from a site for a variety of reasons. For example, if the keywords that visitors are using to find your site do not match up well with the site content, you probably could not retain that traffic.

This scenario sometimes occurs with a black hat technique that adds very popular keywords onto pages that they are not relevant to, in order to drive traffic then hope to entice visitors to stay. But, if you attracted someone because you managed to fit the words Angelina Jolie together with waterproof tents and camp stoves, the Jolie fans probably could not stick around long.

Pay per click ads can also be a problem if they are not closely aligned with the page content, causing visitors to leave again quickly.

Visitors may arrive at your site for the right reason, but if they find that the page is too difficult to read, or the right information is not readily available, they will leave and go onto the next page ranking in their results list. The same is true if the landing page is useful but there is not a clear navigation step to the next page. Websites that require visitors to download special software in order to make use of their information may fall into this category of ‘just not worth the time’ bouncers.

While most web analytics experts would say that you want to aim for the lowest possible bounce rate, there are some web experts that suggest you look a little more closely to solve the problem of a high bounce rate. For example, it is quite possible that your page with a high bounce rate is actually meant to be both an entrance and exit page. Because searchers are now looking for exactly the information they need, your high bounce page may have worked perfectly for them and they left completely satisfied.

You should also look at the return rate in conjunction with the bounce rate. If you have high visitor loyalty, then the bounce rate may be inconsequential to you. Your visitors come to your site, get what they need and leave. As long as you are getting whatever value you need from those visits, you can probably ignore bounce rates.

Source wholesale , dropshippers, drop shipping & dropship suppliers. Browse wholesale dropshippers by country: Wholesale Italy, USA Wholesale & American Wholesalers, Wholesale France wholesalers.

[tags]bounce rate,traffic analysis,converting traffic,wholesale,wholesalers,dropshippers,importers[/tags]

Online marketing is one of the best ways for independent professionals to attract clients. You don’t have to leave home. You don’t have to spend time and money on rubber chicken lunches. Your car stays in the garage: no parking, tolls, or gas. Instead, you reach thousands of prospects all over the world (and a surprising number who live down the block).

But attracting those prospects through online marketing means you need a web site or blog with compelling content. You need to be persuasive. Here’s where many professionals balk. They tell their copywriters, “I want great copy — but don’t give me anything sales-y or hype-y.”

Frankly, I can relate to this question because I asked the same thing, almost word for word, when I first studied copywriting. “My audience is different,” I said. “They’re professionals. Many have advanced degrees. I can’t insult their intelligence.”

But I realized I was paying to learn copywriting so I tried an experiment with one of my information products. I added some proven sales phrases, mixed in some high-flying bullets, closed my eyes, crossed my fingers and posted the new page.

And guess what…this product started to attract buyers. My educated, sniffy target market? They sent me testimonials.

What was happening? I didn’t know then but I do now.

First, people surfing the web are usually not looking for intellectual stimulation. They’re searching for solutions to problems. They are hurting.

It’s like going to the Emergency Room when you’re in intense pain. (I’ve only had to do this once in my life, but it was enough.) You aren’t checking out the decor of the place, making small talk with the staff or hoping you get a good looking doctor. You definitely are not picking up pamphlets to satisfy your curiosity about some esoteric disease. You just want someone to make the pain go away — fast. And I bet you’re not asking, “How much does will it cost?” even if you’re buried up to your ears in credit card debt.

That’s how most serious buyers surf the Internet. They’ve got boyfriends who just dumped them, corns on their toes, a business that’s draining their savings, or a house that won’t sell. It’s no accident that Stop Your Divorce has long been an Internet best seller.

Second, when you’re looking for a solution, you will read copy as helpful, not hype-y. Try this easy experiment. Keep a folder of junk mail. Notice which pieces you read (or consider reading) and which seem hype-y and sales-y.

For example, I get unsolicited mail for insurance companies. No interest. I read their messages as hype-y. But I also get mail about DSL services from Qwest, Comcast and Verizon. Now, I am considering changing my service, so I find those pieces helpful and informative. For these services, slogans like, “Locked and Loaded Triple Play” actually rouse my curiosity.

And now I invite you to learn how to find serious buyers for your services and products: people who are desperate to find solutions and will pay immediately. Get step-by-step guidance and a *free* 30-minute consultation.
Reach Desperate Buyers Now

[tags]copywriting,more clients,,internet,web site,online marketing,information products[/tags]

There are so many sellers on the web these days. Customers nowadays expect more and more from online sellers. If your website is not delivering or engaging enough then expect a high bounce rate. These customers will not re-visit your website and thus a potential loss of revenue.

Online shoppers are demanding and rightly so, as most people are internet savy. You should be asking:

What do my online customers actually expect?
Your online customers primarily expect beside top prices and service, transparency, convenience, security and reliability when shopping online. Recent studies have shown that a very high proportion of initiated order transactions are broken off before being completed. Very often the reason for abandoned orders is a lack of transparency and clarity in the ordering process.

If while buying online doubt arises as to the reliability, security and seriousness of the online operator, e.g. because product prices, claims for warranty or delivery times are not correctly communicated or the ordering process is unclear, the big danger exists that the customer loses trust in your online store and aborts his order. Few more reasons why you may suffer from the hands of abandoned orders are

High shipping prices or long delivery times
Comparison shopping and browsing
Changed Mind
Total cost of items is too high
Checkout process is too long
Checkout requires too much personal information
Site requires registration before purchase
Site is unstable or unreliable
Checkout process is confusing

In addition, it is highly likely that this customer will never visit your store again and is lost to your company.

However, if you manage to put across a good feeling in using your e-commerce site, you have made a significant step towards success in online commerce. Prospective customers who you do not disappoint in the entire handling process, from product selection to ordering, payment, delivery and after-sales services will become loyal patrons who trust you for a long time.

The following overview summarizes the most important demands, needs and wishes of online customers. Companies should consistently orient their e-commerce offerings to these customer demands, to build an online sales success and to secure it for the
long term.

Fast and easy product search
Clear navigation and fast loading times
Comprehensive, detailed product information in text and images
Inexpensive product prices
Show stock availability on the product page
Information about current availability
Simple, easy and secure ordering and payment
Choice of different payment methods
Fast order processing with automatic order confirmation
Fast and punctual delivery with logistics tracking
Return option (money-back guarantee)
Security through encrypted data transfer
Option for contacting merchant (e-mail, chat)
Give meaningful error messages
Offer compelling purchase incentives
Make the most of cross- and up-sell

Now you have different options to reduce shopping cart abandonment. Every site is different, with their own issues. Some of these tips will result in dramatic improvements; others may not do much at all. Test each one that’s appropriate. Improve conversion rate one step at a time.

John E, Media Relations Adviser Easily.co.uk - Domain name registration, register your low cost domain name today! Search domain names quickly, all major extensions and no catches.

[tags]domain names, domain name, hosting, website hosting[/tags]

Many independent professionals are using blogs to promote their services. Blogs are an excellent way to showcase your expertise. You can demonstrate your knowledge, style and even personality. You can answer questions from prospects. Most important, you can sell yourself subtly without appearing to brag.

Your blog will become an effective marketing tool when visitors not only get enticed by a great title, but also come over and read your posts. It’s not hard to create a blog that delivers business. Here are a few tips to get started.

First, choose your blog platform. You can use any platform if you are blogging for fun with friends and family. To be taken seriously by the blogosphere, you should host your blog on your own server (e.g., Wordpress) or pay a service to host your blog (e.g., Typepad). Otherwise you will lose control of your blog and you will not be taken seriously by the blogosphere.

Second, decide if your blog will be business or personal. One fitness professional named her blog something like, “Susan’s Blog and Love of Life.” The title is fine if Susan is writing for her close friends and family. But Susan needs to realize that her prospective clients won’t care about her blog, passions or loves. They want to know, “What can Susan do for me?”

So Susan might come up with a blog name like, “Perfect Health Without Drugs” or, “Grow Your Business the Healthy Way.” I am not recommending those specific titles, but I definitely recommend giving your blog a name that tell the reader just what you are offering.

Third, make your blog easy to read. I frequently see blogs with blue type on a blue background. I also see lime on dark green or pink on darker pink. Your readers will give up after the first line! Your posts should be black type on a white or off-white background. Your widgets can be dark type on beige or pale pastel. You might even bold some words in the posts, add contrast and highlighting, and feature images.

Fourth, make sure you prepare a helpful bio. Some professionals describe themselves as being friendly, warm and caring. They may even include references to being a “dad” or “mom.” Personal info is good, but readers want to know if you are a credible source. If they like your posts, they may even wonder if they could hire you…if they only knew what you do.

Fifth, keep blog posts short and relatively free of selling. Readers will read a long sales letter on a web page, if they are interested in the product. But they will back off if a long blog posts degenerates into a blatant sales pitch.

Of course many of us use our blogs to sell. But you can keep the pitch short and fun to read. Include information so readers won’t feel cheated even if they don’t buy. You can always conclude an informative post with a link to your longer sales letter.

And now I invite you to find out more by visiting
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com . Download my free report,
7 secrets of websites that *really* attract clients. From Cathy Goodwin, The Website Makeover Pro.
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com

[tags]internet marketing, online marketing, attract clients, service business,blogging, website marketing[/tags]

It can be difficult to inspire the trust needed to convince a site viewer to purchase a product, especially if the product is expensive or could manifest issues that requires ongoing contact with the online retailer. High end jewelry falls into this category, custom made items, high priced electronics and so on.

You already know some of the ways to build trust such as providing clear photos of the product from all angles, creating a complete description, making your shipping and return policies very clear, providing an address and telephone number for contact with a live person. You should already have these strategies in place. Once you do, think about expanding the human touch component of your website.

The human touch comprises those elements that help your buyer feel confident that there is a fair, caring person who will stand behind the products and services offered. The address and telephone number are a good start but you can do much more rather easily. Here are some tips.

1. Post photos of your office and inventory area. You probably do not have a bricks and mortar worthy work space and that is fine. Depending on what you sell and how your space looks, it may be a big help to show someone that you really do have a stock of the kind of item they want to buy or display a photo of a staff member on the phone with a customer or your pick and packers carefully wrapping an item for shipment.

2. Write a short history of your company. People love to know about online ventures and every story is interesting. Talk about how you got started, how long you have been in business, why you are different and better and where you are headed. Can you see how this sort of content can give you a great chance to build trust?

3. Add a separate page with your philosophy or your approach to business. It is a great place to talk about being the best, looking for quality or value, putting the customer first and all of those good things that can sound hollow when written on a home page but make a statement of philosophy really sing.

4. Write bios for your staff, even the folks who are not in management. Buyers love to hear that Cindy, the administrative assistant, is also working on a degree in marketing, has six cats and embarrasses her boyfriend with her singing on karaoke nights. These details make people real, allow buyers to identify with them and feel more confident about buying. Of course, beware of revealing any info that could be used in the wrong way or lead to the wrong kind of attention. You and your employees will need to be the judge.

Now, once you have done these things, be sure that you add Meta tags so that search engine spiders will note the photos and the new content. You can also very easily sprinkle important key words throughout your history and the biographies. All of these techniques can generate additional traffic to your site.

Source wholesale, dropshippers & dropship suppliers, distributors, importers and manufacturers. Browse wholesale suppliers & wholesalers by country: Italian wholesalers and Hong Kong wholesalers.

[tags]usability,online pr, public relations,trust,sales,wholesale,wholesalers,dropshipping,dropshippers[/tags]

When independent professionals begin marketing their businesses online, they need to begin by describing who they are and what they do. But when most professionals describe their services, they usually begin by talking about their process. “First, clients fill out an intake form. Then we meet for an hour. Then they take one of my assessments. And from there..”

Clients will be interested in your process, but first they want to know if you can help them solve their most pressing problems. Typically, clients call you because they are experiencing pain and distress. When a prospective client arrives on your website, her first question will be, “Am I in the right place? Will I be likely to get some pain relief here?” If she’s not sure, she’ll click away in about 5 seconds.

Therefore, copywriting for your website begins by creating a message based on the benefits you deliver. Your message has three parts that answer these three questions. Who are your clients? What are their greatest struggles? How do you help?

The first part of your marketing message answers the question, “Who are my clients? Who do I serve most effectively?” For example, if you are career coach, you might serve women over 50, mid-career executives seeking freedom from the corporate world, or sixty-something professionals who want to keep working after retirement. If your prospective client can’t see himself in your website, he will hesitate to ask for a consultation.

Second, your marketing message also needs to focus on your clients’ most painful struggles. For example, if you specialize in warehouse design, your clients are outgrowing their warehouses. They have tons of inventory and no place to put it. Yet they don’t want to invest in moving to a new building. You need to show that you understand where they’re coming from and that you can supply realistic solutions.

Sometimes your clients are also struggling with fear of picking up the phone to call. For example, if you’re a lawyer or psychotherapist, prospective clients wonder if you will be supportive or judgmental. They wonder if you will really listen and accept their needs and values.

Finally, you need to show what results your prospective clients can expect if they hire you. Even if your service feels fuzzy (such as life coaching), you can give examples that get far more specific than “take your life to the next level.” You can paint word pictures and tell stories.

If you want to attract more clients from your website, stop thinking of using your website to sell services. Instead think of your website as a place to demonstrate your ability to deliver results for a very specific set of problems experienced by clients who share certain qualities. Your whole website marketing message should focus entirely on your clients and how much better off they will be after you help them.

And now I invite you to find out more by visiting
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com . Download my free report,
7 secrets of websites that *really* attract clients. From Cathy Goodwin, The Website Makeover Pro.
http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com

[tags]copywriting,attract clients,internet marketing,service business,marketing,internet,web site[/tags]