I was recently involved at a local bridal show - related to a project I am working on.  A couple of things simply floored me.  First off, it was very interesting to see what kinds of businesses came out and took part.  Some you would expect, some you might not.  But I was blown away at how few of these businesses actually had a good website.  I mean, it is not rocket science to build one, nor does it cost a small fortune to outsource a nice site.  I understand that not everyone can build one but this is part of your marketing efforts.

For example, there was an event planner there.  To my knowledge they don’t even have a website.  I have looked for them online and can’t find them.  Nor do they have a site listed on their business card.  Their email address is at gmail.com.  Painful really.

Another company had a beautiful display at the show.  The are a business that rents out portable shelters.  So if you want to have an outdoor reception, you call them, they bring in a big tent and set up your deal.  Their business is named All Shelter Sales and Rentals, which unfortunately is not completely what they do.  They had a beautiful display at the trade show offering complete catering equipment, location decorating and so on.  Their website does not do justice to the different types of services and products they offer.

Here is what we do.  You see, our website at starsluxurylimousine.com is used daily right within our business.  Maybe someone finds our info in the phone book or from some advertising and they call us.  They are looking for a wedding package.  Great, we have 3 different wedding packages they can choose from.  But instead of trying to explain what these are over the phone, we just simply send them to the website.  Go check out our website and give us a call back (now, of course we take their contact info in case they do not call us back).  We do this for a couple of reasons.  First, you can’t explain the 3 packages over the phone and what the differences are.  People can’t remember that many details all at once and it just ends up sounding like gibberish when you are done.  So, this is all clearly laid out on our website - it is easy to find and easy to understand.  Secondly, we want people to go to our website.  It looks good, it displays our limousine very well, it is a good website and we are proud to have it.  If people go to our website and then to our competitors, they will book with us.  We want them to go there, call over another family member to say “hey, come see this site” and we want them to bookmark it for future reference.

Now, when people call back after seeing the site (most of the do, by the way) they are ready to book.  Very few questions are left to answer and we have had people that call use, go check the site, and call right back ready to book.  Now that is a great feeling - and a great use of our website.

Tags: internet marketing tips, internet marketing, website optimization, niche marketing, article marketing

For me, I do have experience in this and could have even coded it by hand if I wanted to but I chose to use Wordpress.  Wordpress has become my favourite way of building sites.  It is fast, easy and can be set up very well for SEO.  Maybe I’ll do a post on that down the road.  But for now I am using wordpress with the Corporate Theme put out by StudioPress.  In fact, the exact same setup as on themarketersmind.com.  I like the Corporate theme - it has a good layout that is easy to navigate and presents a simple, yet nice site.  I love the Featured Content Plugin they integrate as well.  It can take a bit of customizing if you want to change the menu or things like that.

OK, platform and theme selected.  Now create the site.  So, let’s think about the goals of this site.  We want to come up in the search engines of course, we can to present a very professional image to anyone who goes to the site and once people come to the website, we want them to call us on the phone.  At the end of the day, all of our business will be done on the phone.  We can’t offload that to the website.  There are special requests that people have, questions they need answered and so on.  We can put as much info as possible on the site but eventually they need to call us on the phone.  So the goal of the site is to presell our company and lead to a phone call.

Now we post all the info we can think of on our site.  We listed different packages we offer, obviously our contact info and definitely lots of pictures.  This business is one that has to be visually appealing and we want our site to show off our limousine.

Tags: Jonathan Hook, website optimization, internet marketing, niche marketing, internet marketing tips

I figured that instead of just relaying theories an ideas to you that it might be interesting to watch a real business being developed.

So, I have a new - from the ground up project that we are going to work on.  We are referring to this as the limousine project.  Here is the background…

I recently took over an existing local business.  This is a very local, service business.  A limousine company - www.StarsLuxuryLimousine.com.  Almost as basic a company as you can get.  We have one car, I got a few leads, company name, existing website and phone number.

Go time…

For me, first and foremost (obviously) is to get the website in order.  The site that they had was not bad but for me, that is where marketing starts.  For me a website is a good place to organize your marketing and refine your copy.

Tags: internet marketing, website optimization, internet marketing tips, affiliate marketing, Jonathan Hook

Is your site mobile friendly?

Make sure that as you design your website or order it built by a design firm that you make sure it is mobile friendly.  Certainly this means keeping flash to a minimum and certainly don’t build the whole site in flash - mobile devices can’t render flash - at least not very well.  It wouldn’t hurt to put a browser detector in and separate code for the mobile browsers.  you have to remember what the purpose of your website is - likely it is for people to find out about you and make sales.  So keep in mind these mobile browsers and that  you want to cater to them.  There is no point in having a website that can’t be read, that doesn’t help your business grow.  It is one of those things that you might not think of if you haven’t had the experience.  I hadn’t thought of it until I tried surfing on my mobile device.  But more and more people will be using these in the future - so it does matter a lot.

Tags: Jonathan Hook, affiliate marketing, internet marketing, website optimization, niche marketing

What can you do on an eCommerce site you ask? It is not just for sales. Depending on the base of operations for your business, the site can be used for a variety of purposes which you will find out about in just a few minutes.

Virtual Storefronts – These are the sites you see when you are looking to shop online. With a transactional site like this, you can do everything in one place. It gives new meaning to “one-stop shopping.” Shoppers can shop a virtual store much like they would a physical one.

Menus allow them to choose product categories and narrow their searches. Once items have been selected, they can be placed in a virtual basket or cart. When shopping is complete, they can checkout with the cashier and get confirmation of their purchase.

Many types of products are sold on virtual storefronts. You are only limited by what you can practically deliver to your clients and still make a profit for your business.

Information Sites – Here, the goal is making the sale but not on the website. Companies with physical stores can use this type of site to advertise for their products. Large corporations utilize this type of site to gain interest in their product.

One of the main reasons that people surf the Internet is to find information. Let’s say that you wanted to buy a car but didn’t want to spend the entire day and half a tank of gas driving to dealerships. Instead, visiting informational sites for cars can assist you in your car purchasing decisions.

These sites provide content on the products, like cars, that they sell. Visitors can see pictures and/or videos of the products as well as descriptions, pricing and location information.

Marketplaces – Have you heard of eBay? Unless you are a hermit, you probably have. In a marketplace eCommerce setting, a middleman brings sellers and buyers together to transact business. Items for sale can be purchased directly or through a bidding process as with eBay.

In this arena, there are several businesses working in one area at the same time. Because it is the virtual world, there is room for expansion into bigger spaces as your business grows. The beauty here is that much of what you will need to do to get prepared for eCommerce is laid out for you.

Food for thought: Know what type of site you want to begin with. Online businesses can use one or more of these types of sites to flesh out their business and be visible to the maximum amount of consumers.

Tags: article marketing, Jonathan Hook, affiliate marketing, niche marketing, website optimization

eCommerce is simply conducting business online. There are many ways to transact such business. Think of how you conduct business in the physical world. You go to the bank to make deposits; you visit the grocery store or retail shops to make purchases; you go to the gas station to fill up your car’s tank. Each of these activities represents a commercial transaction.

Businesses also conduct transactions between one another. They buy or lease equipment and exchange services. Businesses usually send invoices to be paid at a later date instead of asking for upfront payment.

In the virtual world, commerce is conducted in much the same way with the use of various technologies to meld it all together. eCommerce has become popular for a number of reasons:

• Convenience
• Speed of transactions
• Large numbers of businesses and consumers using eCommerce methods

A business is only as successful as the number of customers they attract. With more and more people using the Internet for more than just surfing, businesses have found a new avenue for increasing their sales. But, like anything else that is new, they have to gain their customer’s trust. The way to do that comprises the ins and outs of setting up an online business.

Purely online businesses rely on eCommerce for their livelihood. Physical businesses have discovered that eCommerce expands their markets globally (depending on their product line). The Internet opens up an entirely new audience of consumers with infinite niche possibilities.

All of this can result in a head rush but before you look through the crystal ball and predict dollar signs in your future, selling online is simple in concept but not necessarily in production. Knowing the nuances can make the difference between a successful enterprise and on that barely scrapes the bottom of the barrel.

There are many decisions to be made before embarking on the eCommerce ship. Planning and strategy are important here. But, to your advantage, there are many resources available to get you going in the right direction.

Use the resources at your disposal. They can help you do everything from marketing to setting up the type of site that you need to conduct your business to choosing the right product line to market online.

Tags: internet marketing, affiliate marketing, website optimization, niche marketing, article marketing

Well, that is a good argument and may be valid. However, the times, they are a changin’.

Having a website is like having a sign that says you are open for business. It is just a little part of doing business but it can make your business seem more legitimate to your clients.

Why?

You automatically:
- look more professional
- have more credibility

When you give a person your contact information, it makes you seem more established. When people see that you have your own website, right away it looks like you care about your customers and want to give them information. It is all about positioning yourself and setting yourself apart from the competition. If someone just rolls into town and they look up 3 different businesses and yours is the only one with a website, the others will look poorer for it.

When you have a website, it shows that you are up-to-date and current with your marketing. People expect to see your website address. They may never go and visit your site – they may not need to, but that doesn’t matter. You need to have a site and you need to get it out where people can see it. It can set you apart from other businesses in your town that do not have a site.

Another good reason to have your own website is that you can convey your image to people right inside their own homes.

Someone sitting in their living room can look you up online and find out about your business, the products or services you offer and get to know a bit about you before they even leave their house to buy your product or service. When you buy advertising space, usually the more you buy, the more it costs. A ½ page ad in the phone book costs more than a ¼ page ad. Then they charge you extra for colours and so on.

When you have a website you get to leverage your advertising dollars. Now all you need to do is market your website address and drive traffic there. Once people get to your website, you have basically all the space you want and it doesn’t cost extra! Now you can have pictures, audio, video, demonstrations, coupons, information, details, features, benefits, colours, logo, and anything else you can think of – at little or no extra cost! Far more than you can include directly into the various types of media you are currently utilizing.

So now you have a great “advertisement” - your website – but you are able to buy smaller, less expensive ads in the media. This can be very powerful to your advertising budget.

Having your own website name means you can have an email address at your-own-business-name.com (for example). It becomes part of your identity. It means you can have a company email address. Everyone needs an email address just like everyone needs a phone. Some people just prefer to use email over the phone and by not having one, you could be leaving those people unserved. Do not discount the value that a website – even a simple one – adds to your small business.

Tags: Jonathan Hook, website optimization, niche marketing, internet marketing tips, internet marketing

But don’t let online video take you over. There is a place for it - and there is a place it shouldn’t be.

For example, a sales letter.

If you do your entire sales letter in only video, you can have a problem. First, for whatever reason, there will be people who can’t watch your video. The connection is bad, they don’ have the right version of some plugin, or whatever. One, though is that they might not have the time. Another thing is that they may be at work or in another environment where video (specifically audio) is not a practical option. Not everyone does all their online work from their home office.

I know when I go to a site and see a video, the first thing I do is look to see how long the video is. I am only prepared to sit there and watch a sales video for a couple of minutes. If it is, say 10 minutes or longer, I won’t even start it. Why should I? I have not yet been sold on anything that this person is offering - that is why I am at the site. So, why should I give them my time?

If you want to use video on your sales page, keep it short. Use it as an intro to a longer video and get people to opt-in. Then send them the link by email. That way, if they don’t have time to watch it right now, they can come back to it. It also allows you to follow up with them and make sure that they watch it. Offer it in smaller chunks if it is long.

and don’t forget to also include a written text version of your sales letter on the same page. Some people will watch the video - but not all. Others will just want to read, or skim the sales letter. Let them. The point of video is to add an element to your site - not take away from it. Don’t exclude the people who want to read the sales letter.

Tags: internet marketing tips, niche marketing, affiliate marketing, internet marketing, Jonathan Hook

I have recently come to realize that much time can be wasted online just trying to keep up with the latest trend or newest fad. When really, what is needed is that I just clear the clutter away and focus on what I am doing. So, right now, since I am looking at all this unread email, I am going through it and unsubscribing from a LOT of lists. I have decided that I am taking my business in a certain direction. I am working on only a couple of projects for the time being and that is it. Everything else can go away. I don’t care.

I don’t care right now about 85 different ways to get free traffic, I don’t care how to use Twitter, I don’t care how to set up a Squidoo lens. All you need to be good at is ONE way of getting traffic to your site and ONE way to convert that into sales. That is it. If you can do that and get good at it, you can make money online. So that is it. I have decided to get really good at PPC and then transfer that traffic into a sales process. That’s it. That is what I have decided on. So I am not interested in everything else. It is way too easy to get sidetracked and carried away, which results in a big,fat nothing. You don’t get good at anything and you can’t get the result you wanted.

Just choose a path and get focused on it. Let everything else go, and you will excel.

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Tags: internet marketing, article marketing, affiliate marketing, Jonathan Hook, internet marketing tips

Tags: niche marketing, website optimization, article marketing, internet marketing, internet marketing tips