“In Business” by Roland Millward

Most businesses now have a website and spend time and money on developing and promoting it. Such expense and effort will hopefully bring in sales and leads.
However have you thought about generating additional income from your website?

This can be achieved in a number of ways, some of them very simple and easy to do. One that springs instantly to mind is Google Adsense. Simply sign up for an Adsense account and put a small piece of code onto your web page and a Google Ad will appear. You will get paid by Google on the click throughs to the advertiser. You can also incorporate a Google search box and again receive revenue.

There are also banner ads such as Tradedoubler where you will get paid on the number of times a banner is clicked or if a sale results.

Amazon have gone a step further and allow other companies to sell products on their website.

I am sure with a little research and effort your website can incorporate some of these features. One word of warning though is to make sure that you do not distract from your main goal of getting business for your company or make the web pages look untidy. The extra income generated may not make you rich but it could pay the costs of running your website and more.

For a business to do well  it needs to build credibilty with its customers. This is something that once you have a customer is relatively easy to do. By offering good service and value, fulfilling your promises and so forth will be credibility.

However what can you do to build credibility with people who have not yet used your services?

This has to be done by the impression that you give about your business from the first point of contact. How the is the phone is answered? Is it answered quickly and with a friendly voice? Are emails replied to promptly and brochures posted quickly? Your business must be run in a friendly and efficient manner. The website should look great and give client the information they need along with brochures and other material, making sure it is of the highest quality.

Every contact with a customer must reflect what your business will do for that customer when they commit to an order. Once that order is placed then you can continue to build on your reputation and keep that customer for life!

One of the best sources of business has to be when you get referrals from your customers. Now often we wait until a customer recommends our service to someone and such recommendations are greatly appreciated. However that is leaving things to chance. Is there a way of increasing those recommendations?

The answer is ‘yes’.

You can ask your customers for referrals! How? Well simply put you could say, “so John which one of your work colleagues has been showing an interest in getting xxx..” You may well find that John has been talking about his future purchase and others too said they would like one. There is your referral.

For customers on your mailing list you could ask them to write down the names and address of 2 or 3 people that they feel would like to know about your product or service. You can then follow those people up with a letter saying that ‘John has said you would be interested in xxx and you are pleased to tell them that you can help’.

There are many ways you can get referrals so don’t delay and don’t leave it to chance. Build into your sales pitch and follow ups a referral system. Remember too that referrals are more likely to buy from you than people that respond to an advertisement.

Good copywriting is vital for you to succeed with your sales letters, advertisements, web pages, news releases etc.

Here is a formula that will help you develop your material into something that will really work.

We will use the AIDA principle.

A: Attention
You need to capture your customers attention. Don’t write about how good you are. Write about something that will solve your customers problem or fulfill a need.

I: Interest
Once you have their attention it would be a shame to lose it! Keep their interest by adding relevant material that follows your opening lines. Show how you will solve that problem of fulfill that need.

D: Desire
Create or arouse in your customer Desire. Give them a powerful reason to buy your product or service.

Action:
Make sure you tell your customer what they have to do now. How do they order?

By using AIDA it will help you focus on your customer not you or your business. Customers are not really interested that your business has been operating for 30 years. They want a product or service. How will you supply it? How long you have been established and other such points can be tucked under logos and so forth but there is no need to promote that overtly.

If a person is looking for a plumber because they have a burst pipe they want to see things like: Call us anytime 24 hours a day – 7 days a week. We guarantee to be with you in 2 hours! Emergency telephone helpline! These are things that will solve their problem.

Sit down and write with specific problems and solutions in mind and target customers accordingly. Remember AIDA and you will find your copywriting will be greatly improved.

When someone wants to start a business they will hear many reasons why they should not do so.
It’s a bad time to start in a recession!
You don’t have the expertise!
You are too young!
You are too old!
and so on and so on—–

Let’s think about the last two points. Too young or too old.

Age is no barrier to someone making a success in business. Many of today’s leading entrepreneurs started when they were just kids. Sir Richard Branson (Virgin) and Cameron Johnson readily come to mind. Others have started very successful businesses in what can be described as ‘retirement’.

Never let any one put you off your goals because of age! If you plan to succeed you will do so.

With millions of websites how can you make sure that yours is successful?

There are 3 principles that you need to follow to make your website work. We can remember these by using the letters A C C. What do these letters stand for?

A is for Attraction
Your website must be attractive to visitors. It must be easy to read and grab the viewers attention in 8 seconds. People that visit the web are by nature looking for information quickly and they need to see that your website will offer what they want in a few seconds. Make sure that is the case with your landing pages. If you are using per per click it is vital that the landing page responds directly to the search terms used and that the page they land on is the one that will provide the information searched for.

Your website is your shop window to the world and once inside your web pages it is your store / office. It needs to represent quality, trustworthiness, efficiency, value, service and all the other qualities that customers are looking for from a business.

C is for Conversion
It is one thing getting customers to your website and staying on it for a while. You now need to convert those visitors into customers.
It is a good policy to try and capture the details of as many visitors to your website as possible by using an online form via a company such as Aweber (this will be vital for the next stage). How do you capture these details? There are 2 ways: You could require everyone has to ‘log in’ to access your website. This method I would not recommend and you will lose more customers than you will gain. The best way is to have a sign up form for a FREE gift such as a FREE eBook or other promotional tool. Aweber will provide you the forms to do this. Here is an example from my website FromeMortgages.co.uk. Notice on the home page there is a drop down form that appears. It is set so that returning visitors will only see it after a space of 5 days between visits. On the left column there is a ‘sign up’ form that appears on all pages. I am only collecting names and email addresses but you can collect more information.

Once you have customers information what is the next step?

C is for Communication

It tis said that it can take around 7 contacts with a person before they become a customer. Good communication from you is vital to build the trust that a potential customer will feel before he buys. This is where email using an auto responder is vital. Then we must not forget the telephone and old fashioned mail.
When you keep in touch with customers it does not mean that each time you try to sell them something. In fact is far better that you don’t. Use your communications to keep them updated. You might tell them about a change on your website or maybe you are extending your stores opening hours or closing for a holiday. Give them information not hard sell. Build up trust for you and your business. Don’t bombard them with forms of communication so that they will begin to get weary. Vary the style and type and make it genuine. For instance if you have posted a brochure of free book then a follow up phone to ask if they have received it would be a good idea, but again on that phone call be brief and don’t push for a sale. This may seem strange for those hard nosed direct sales types but the softly softly approach works far better even if it seems to be a slower process for the impatient one.

So there is my brief of summary of ACC. Take a good look at your website and see how you can put ACC into practice.
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Some people are terrified of spiders! I think they are fascinating creatures and there is something we can learn from them when it comes to business.

One of the legends surrounding spiders is found in British history. It is the story of Robert the Bruce (b1274) who secured Scotland’s independence from England. It is said that on one occasion he was looking defeated he watched a spider trying to climb up one of its threads only to keep falling back when it nearly got to the top. Time and time again this spider tried until finally it got there. Robert the Bruce took this as a lesson not to give up and as a result he was successful in his aims.

Of course we can apply this lesson to many aspects of life and in business it is vital that when faced with problems we don’t give up but find ways to deal with the problems.

There are other lessons that we can learn from the spider. The spider works hard to build its web. We too need to work hard to build our business as there is “no easy button” quoting the entrepreneur Joel Comm. A web is made up of many fibers that when woven together becomes a strong net so that the spider can catch its flies. Our businesses need to be built with many elements that come together in an effective way in order to ‘catch’ our customers. It is good to constantly analyze our business model to make sure that we are providing our customers with what they want thus ensuring that the ‘woven web’ will catch them.

Next time you see a spider take a moment to reflect on this marvelous little creature and take a few lessons that you can use in your business.

With this recession beginning to take its toll now is the time to make sure that we really focus on our business and the services and goods that we provide.

The businesses that will survive will be very different from those that fail. This is not just in the sense of good financial management but in the way which they operate in the market place. Businesses that are middle of the road will certainly face severe problems. As a business owner / manager you will need to lift your business above mediocrity.

Your service and products will need to be the best – not the cheapest. The immediate reaction in a downturn is to simply cut prices. However cutting prices reduces profits and if a business makes a loss it is heading for disaster. Take a look at what you can do to improve service and sell products that people are willing to pay a fair price for without cutting into profits. Try and avoid simply competing on price alone. Look for ways that you can add value to your goods or services that will set you apart from nearly all of your competitors.

Look for all the advice that you can get and analyse your business plans and action immediately things that need adjusting.

Speed is essential in surviving. You must stay ahead of your competition. In a survey of what made the most successful entrepreneurs, it was discovered that it was the speed at how quickly they reacted and put plans into action that really made it for them. Do the same!

Businesses spend huge amounts of money and time in getting new customers. Quite often a large majority of people that respond to the advertising do not always buy on their initial response. However it does not mean that those people will not buy but may not yet be ready or convinced to deal with you. It is estimated that it can take up to 7 contacts with a person before they become your customer.

It is essential therefore that you have a way of recording enquiries and keeping in touch with customers. For Internet enquiries you can use an automatic system such as Aweber to not only to respond to the enquiry but to send a series of broadcast messages.

In addition keep in touch with people by telephone, letter, email and newsletters. Do not fall into the trap of trying to sell to them each time. Build a relationship by giving them information freely. If you sell electronic gadgets for example you could send out a newsletter about new products about to be launched. However rather than trying to sell a product, simply give information and do not even give your price for it.

Occassionally send them a special offer or an invitation to a special event. These people are a potential goldmine if you look after them and once they have become customers are likely to have a long term relationship with your business.

Building lists of potential clients as well as listing existing ones is vital if you are going to be successful and in today’s economic climate your very survival could depend on it.

One of the things that many of us are bad at is pausing.

You know the scenario. You ask a question and then because the person does not answer quickly enough (in our minds) we say something else.

Today I want to write about pausing in several ways. The first in connection with the above scenario.

When you ask a question. Wait for an answer. Several seconds can seem like minutes but people do need time to think as to how they are going to answer. The time will seem far longer to you that it will to them. However the time will be worth it. You will get a proper answer and if it is being used as part of selling a product you will be far more successful.
The second point is to use pausing in our general speech. Good pausing is used to make ourselves clearer. For instance to emphasize something important then either pause before your statement of after it. Pausing certainly makes your point stand out. If there is a distraction perhaps a loud noise then rather than shout over the top of it, pause until it passes or we can move to a quieter location. Pausing gives our listeners time to think about what we have said and not to miss something else we are saying whilst they are trying to work out what we said last.

Thirdly it is in this context. Before making a decision or answering a question, pause! Think about what you are going to say or why you are going to do something. Do not be rash. Yes, far too often we are in a rush and this causes mistakes to be made. We can reduce those errors by simply pausing and taking a moment to reflect first.

Yes pausing is important and by taking the time to think about it and learn how to pause at the right time and in the right places will help you not only in your business but in life generally.

What do you think about this article? Have you any experiences that show the benefit of using pausing as tool?
Your comments are welcome.