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  • Suggest You - 5-Step Plan for ROI-ifying Your Website

    Are Your Customers Keeping Score? You'd Better Believe It!
    I had traveled last week and wanted to share one of my experiences with you. I had completed a series of seminars on Business Writing and finished in Oakland, Ca. That happens to be near where my brother lives and I took the opportunity to visit him over the weekend.We went to dinner on Saturday evening at a restaurant that was right down the street from his house. Here is where the story becomes about Customer Service. S
    your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pain does that solve for your prospect? Deliver the value in addition to the benefit.

    4. Ask not what you can do for your customer. Many companies are so busy explaining what they do that they forget to answer the questions buyers are asking themselves about why they should buy from you in the first place. Don't forget to consider these questions when crafting your message. You're much more likely to convert a prospect into a sale.

    5. Test befor

    Planning for Every Emergency
    Accidents happen! But even minor mishaps can be major catastrophes for small business owners. Every year, thousands of companies are unprepared for the interruption caused by a minor fire, flood, and burglary or computer meltdown.According to a recent NFIB National Small Business Poll, man-made disasters affect 10% of small businesses, whereas natural disasters have impacted more than 30% of all small businesses in the US
    Ah, the land of ROI-ification. A land where e-mails are opened and links are clicked and phones ring by the minute. Is this utopia? Or arms-length reality? Once you apply these proven strategies, you just might find out.

    But first, a look at the state of your website.

    What a big website you have, grandmother! Many corporate websites are little more than online brochures featuring product and service descriptions with a few crunchy benefits tossed in for variety. Slick design, not very engaging copy. They read like how a cubicle looks: bland, boring, safe. A tendency to rely on jargon and highly technical language to convince the prospect means most prospects remain unconvinced. Assuming they read that far.

    Thank God I'm Not Coca Cola!

    Fortunately, being small has its advantages. Nimbility is one of them. (Yes, you can even make up words.) As a small company, it's relatively painless to make a few quick adjustments if a particular message isn't working.

    So what's the alternative? What if you can't afford to take risks with edgy, engaging marketing communications? First, consider the consequences of lost opportunities. Not taking a risk may turn out to be the riskiest decision of all. Fortunately, you can change direction relatively quickly to start generating results. Here are 5 small steps to ROI-ify your website:

    1. Forget about your company, your product, your service. Tailor your messages to focus on the customer. Your customer. "We" and "I" are dirty words. "You" is a glorious symphony. What does this person care about? What keeps him up at night? What are his fears? Dreams? Favorite ice cream flavor? When prospects see themselves in your messaging, they're irresistibly drawn in. The more tightly you wrap your message around your prospect's concerns, the better your results.

    2. "Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

    3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pain does that solve for your prospect? Deliver the value in addition to the benefit.

    4. Ask not what you can do for your customer. Many companies are so busy explaining what they do that they forget to answer the questions buyers are asking themselves about why they should buy from you in the first place. Don't forget to consider these questions when crafting your message. You're much more likely to convert a prospect into a sale.

    5. Test before

    Software Companies, Don't Sabotage Your Long-Term Success!
    Over the years, I’ve paid a lot of attention to how companies recruit computer programmers. During that time, I’ve noticed how managers frequently make hiring decisions that seem to make sense in the short term, but which result in long-term chaos. I’ve seen the kind of havoc that this can wreak, and how devastating it can be to the company’s future.I’d like to say a few words about that today.The companies that I
    anguage to convince the prospect means most prospects remain unconvinced. Assuming they read that far.

    Thank God I'm Not Coca Cola!

    Fortunately, being small has its advantages. Nimbility is one of them. (Yes, you can even make up words.) As a small company, it's relatively painless to make a few quick adjustments if a particular message isn't working.

    So what's the alternative? What if you can't afford to take risks with edgy, engaging marketing communications? First, consider the consequences of lost opportunities. Not taking a risk may turn out to be the riskiest decision of all. Fortunately, you can change direction relatively quickly to start generating results. Here are 5 small steps to ROI-ify your website:

    1. Forget about your company, your product, your service. Tailor your messages to focus on the customer. Your customer. "We" and "I" are dirty words. "You" is a glorious symphony. What does this person care about? What keeps him up at night? What are his fears? Dreams? Favorite ice cream flavor? When prospects see themselves in your messaging, they're irresistibly drawn in. The more tightly you wrap your message around your prospect's concerns, the better your results.

    2. "Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

    3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pain does that solve for your prospect? Deliver the value in addition to the benefit.

    4. Ask not what you can do for your customer. Many companies are so busy explaining what they do that they forget to answer the questions buyers are asking themselves about why they should buy from you in the first place. Don't forget to consider these questions when crafting your message. You're much more likely to convert a prospect into a sale.

    5. Test befor

    Create Brochures For Your Businesss That Get Results
    A company brochure, done correctly, adds legitimacy to any small business. If you are a new entrepreneur who is just getting started, you may not have money available in the budget to pay a professional to produce company brochures. However, with a word processing program, careful writing and attention to the tips below, you can produce professional looking brochures that will speak directly to prospects and win new business.y, you can change direction relatively quickly to start generating results. Here are 5 small steps to ROI-ify your website:

    1. Forget about your company, your product, your service. Tailor your messages to focus on the customer. Your customer. "We" and "I" are dirty words. "You" is a glorious symphony. What does this person care about? What keeps him up at night? What are his fears? Dreams? Favorite ice cream flavor? When prospects see themselves in your messaging, they're irresistibly drawn in. The more tightly you wrap your message around your prospect's concerns, the better your results.

    2. "Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

    3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pain does that solve for your prospect? Deliver the value in addition to the benefit.

    4. Ask not what you can do for your customer. Many companies are so busy explaining what they do that they forget to answer the questions buyers are asking themselves about why they should buy from you in the first place. Don't forget to consider these questions when crafting your message. You're much more likely to convert a prospect into a sale.

    5. Test befor

    Is Business Behaving Badly or is the Blob of Bureaucracy to Blame?
    Many US citizens believe that the corporate world is totally corrupt and of course they believe this because they have been told by the mass media hysteria on their television sets that all business people are bad? Many people have surrendered their minds to their television sets and therefore they believe whatever they hear on TV. Further the media will often interview the government and the regulatory agencies and talk about
    Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

    3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pain does that solve for your prospect? Deliver the value in addition to the benefit.

    4. Ask not what you can do for your customer. Many companies are so busy explaining what they do that they forget to answer the questions buyers are asking themselves about why they should buy from you in the first place. Don't forget to consider these questions when crafting your message. You're much more likely to convert a prospect into a sale.

    5. Test befor

    Branding: What It Means To Your Business
    Do you know what the most recognised item in the world is ... it's the coke cola, believe it or not. A vacuum cleaner is not known by its proper name, but instead is known by a brand name – a Hoover (a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners). A photocopier was known for years not as a photocopier but as a Xerox machine – a manufacturer of photocopiers, a brand.This is how important branding is to businesses. Billions of pounds
    your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pain does that solve for your prospect? Deliver the value in addition to the benefit.

    4. Ask not what you can do for your customer. Many companies are so busy explaining what they do that they forget to answer the questions buyers are asking themselves about why they should buy from you in the first place. Don't forget to consider these questions when crafting your message. You're much more likely to convert a prospect into a sale.

    5. Test before rolling out the big guns. If you're already in the midst of a marketing campaign, don't panic. You don't need to employ all of these strategies at once. Successful companies embrace new approaches by testing them first. Marketing, after all, is part art, part science. Testing big changes helps you minimize risks and maximize results.

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