I recently got a call from a good buddy of mine.  It went something like this:

"hey, can you check out my new website and tell me what you think"

"Ok, yup here it is, um, great, well, it looks nice but it won't sell anything"

"Well, what do you mean, we just had it professionally designed"
"Well for starters, there is no headline, no call to action and no sales copy"

See, my buddy is a computer network specialist.  He has a company that operates locally in his city and provides networking solutions to other companies.  They will go in and maintain a network, set up security, set up software and so on in their clients place of business.  He has a buddy who is an advertising guy - builds websites and the likes.  So here he is with his new website all set up.

The website looks very corporate, tells a litle bit about what they do - describes some of their services.

I said, OK, right now your website looks like all the other websites out there in your field.  Why should a client do business with you above any and all other options available to them?

He couldn't answer.  See, this is the USP - the Unique Selling Proposition.  What is it that sets you apart - what makes you different, why should anyone do business here?  He never defined what he does or what he sells.

Next question, where is your call to action?

"my what?"

What is it you want people to do once they come to your site?

"Oh, well, I don't know, I thought I just had to put up a nice site"

(oh, please)

See, my buddy doesn't even have a clear, defined sales process.  I said, OK, let's work backwards here.  How do you get new business?

"Well, all I know is that if I can meet with a prospect, there is a pretty good chance I can close them"

OK, now we are getting somewhere.

"OK, so if that is the case, then your website needs to sell a meeting.  You need to irritate a problem that your client would have and then offer to solve the problem by coming in to their business and having a free consultation.  Your website needs to sell the free meeting.  Then you can close them"

Now he was starting to see the light.

See, BEFORE you get started on all of this, you need to take a minute and clearly define your sales process.  What steps do you want your prospect to take?  Make them easy steps to take, tell them what to do, hold their hand as they do it.  Guide them along.  If your business works when you have a meeting with a prospect, then any marketing you do needs to be focussed on getting that meeting.  Print advertising, website, all need to be targeted towards getting that meeting.  The first thing that the prospect should see when they come to your website should be a good headline - one that draws them in and irritates the problem.  The solution to their problem needs to be for them to invite you to a meeting, and then make it very easy for them to set up the meeting right there.

If you can sell face to face, then your website needs to set that up.

It is too bad my buddy didn't ask me for help BEFORE he set up his site.  What a waste of a website

OK, so I understand the point of offering your visitors a trial - you make them an offer to your membership site at a discounted rate.  Maybe they try you out when they would not have.  You get them to try your service, load them with value in hopes of keeping them on at the full rate afterwards.

BUT, be carefull in how you run your show…

A couple of months ago, I got an offer from Derek Gehl at The Internet Marketing Center.  The offer was for a $2.95, 21 day trial to his new Search Marketing Lab.  OK, let's try it out.  So I sign up. It was new, I check it out, didn't feel there was much value.  I forget about it.  Now, i just realized that my credit card has been billed $27 for a monthly subscription.  I contact them to get it figured out (I never logged in again).  In the meantime, since that first charge, there has already been another.  I ask for a refund.

Well, they were fine to cancel my subscription and so on but when it came to the refund, here is what they wrote:

Jonathan,

 You were charged for 2 months – and no there were no refunds as you were outside the refund guarantee.

 Thank you and have a great day.

That's it, sorry, too bad, see you later.

Now, it would have been nice to get a note from them at the end of my trial to let me know my card was to be charged (but, no).  They should have sent me a receipt for payments made (but nothing).  At the very least, they could have forwarded me my login details and offered to refund me the last payment.  But a little note saying, "sorry, it sucks to be you" is no way to run a business.

I actually was going to join a more expensive program of theirs but have lost all respect for the way they run their operation and am no longer considering doing anything with them.

Remember that even though you are online, it doesn't mean you have to be more impersonal.  Your clients are still people and should be treated as such.  Run your business with dignity and respect, build relationships that are real - not just you emailing out to your list.  It is worth it.

I just love watching ads on tv for vacuum cleaners made by Dyson.  It is not so much that I enjoy vacuums, it is that the ads always impress me for their simplicity.  Here is one that is currently running:

http://www.dyson.com/about/ads/?movie=ball_principals_us

What impresses me about these ads is that they speak directly to the consumer, they irritate a problem and then offer a solution.  In this ad, the inventor is going on about how inconvinient it is to have a vacuum cleaner that can't turn around corners.  He spends a great deal of time talking about this issue.  He explains the problem in depth and then offers his solution.  By the time he is done talking, you are thinking "well of course, why didn't anyone else think of that before".  His solution is so simple that it is the only obvious choice.

He has run great ads before and they all seem to follow the same format.  Speak directly to the consumer, irritate the problem and then offer a simple solution.  Simple wisdom that any marketer can use.
Great job, Dyson.