Improve Web Site Conversions With These 7 Strategies

Is your web site compelling? Does it reach out to your potential customer base and convert traffic into sales? Well, it should. On average you have roughly seven seconds to get your message across before the end user abandons your website for one of your competitors’ sites. We have created simple guidelines for what should—and, more important, should not—be featured on your homepage, so that you can convert regular traffic into revenue.

1) Create a Powerful Homepage Message.
Your homepage message should be a targeted, benefit-oriented statement that outlines what you can do for the potential customer. In order to properly draft an intriguing homepage message, you will need to identify the inherent benefit to your potential customer base. No one wants to hear that you are “the best”; customers want to hear why your product/service is different and what it means to them. Put more simply, customers are asking, “What can you do for me?” Answer them.

2) Focus on Clarity.
These days, with so many people searching online for products and services, your homepage should clearly identify who you are, what you offer, your core competitive benefits, and your supporting text—all in a clean and easy-to-navigate user interface. Use graphics and pictures to help illustrate what service or product you provide, and how these benefit the customer. However, the homepage should be a “no-fluff” zone. A good rule of thumb for the homepage is “less is more.” Make it easy for the user to understand what you do. Too much verbiage, images, and graphics will only confuse the user. White space, good. Clutter, bad!

3) Make Effective Use of “Secondary Messaging.”
After you have presented your homepage message, you will need to incorporate “secondary messaging” on the homepage. This includes any additional messages that will be used to help clarify and drive home the points made in the primary message. Secondary messaging should also incite the user to take certain steps—that is, it should be a call to action. These calls to action could direct the user to e-mail the company for additional information, phone the sales rep, download a white paper, read a recent success story, etc. The secondary message will change from company to company (isn’t this stating the obvious?). A good marketer will know how to choose a penetrating secondary message.

4) Integrate Imagery and/or “Flash” to Emphasize Your Core Message.
Imagery and flash animation are important parts of your homepage. To help illustrate your company’s core competitive benefits, both strategies help customers visualize how you can meet their needs and requirements. Most people are visually oriented, so your imagery/flash will quickly convey and emphasize your message. Be consistent with what you are telling your potential prospects. Align your messaging with your visual strategies. Images and flash are also great ways to eliminate clutter; by adding a visual component to your website, you are alleviating the need for additional reference text.

5) Drive Toward a Specific Call to Action.
You have already heard a little bit about calls to action, but it is such an important strategy that we have also dedicated a specific section to it. Failure to convert online potential customers into sales leads is mostly attributable to homepages that lack primary and secondary calls to action on homepage. A call to action can be as simple as a link that states, “Contact us for more information” or “Tell us more about your needs and we will schedule a conference call.” Statistics have proven that if you can guide web users along your sales process, you will convert more of them into customers.

6) Know Your Audience, and Know the Audience Within Your Audience. OK, so maybe you don’t know who Carl Jung is, but chances are, you either have taken or soon will take a Myers-Briggs personality test. Most people can clearly state whether they are an introvert or an extrovert; your website should cater to these and other personality types. Develop your website not only for an audience that requires what you can provide, but also for disparate personalities within that audience. Some people prefer to pick up the phone to find out more information about your products or services. Some may prefer to e-mail you instead. Others may want to schedule a meeting. Your website should cater to as many of these personality types as possible, or else you will lose conversions. Make it easy for the web user to contact you . . . using whatever method they choose.

7) Make Your Homepage Easy to Navigate.
You must lay out your website with easy-to-navigate options and buttons. If you are a service-based company, then put an “XYZ . . . Services” tab on the top navigation bar. If you sell more than one service, then enable a pull-down menu showing options for your customers. Allow them to select the page that they want to research—without having to click first to find out more (a big no-no!). Another strategy is to use sidebars to help users navigate as they read your content. You will also need to ensure that your homepage uses an interlinking strategy, so that if web users hit the wrong button, they can easily get back on track and find the information they seek.

The Bottom Line Make it easy for a prospect to find out more about your products and/or services. Create a homepage that takes the guesswork out of it by guiding web users through the process, from understanding the message to taking action. Statistics have shown that the more clicks it takes for potential customers to find what they seek, the higher the rate at which they will abandon the website.

Scott C. Margenau is president of ImageWorks Studio, an award-winning marketing, branding and advertising firm specializing in online and off-line media. Visit http://www.imageworksstudio.com for more info.

Selling in a Soft Economy

Establishing maximum value for your price is never easy. In today's volatile economy, it's even more of a challenge. For most companies, costs are increasing, yet the ability to pass them along to the customer is fraught with numerous roadblocks.

The customer's response to a price increase is rarely positive, with the usual line of objections that go along with it. In addition, there are the concerns that a competitor's price may undercut yours or that the customer may choose to go down a different path instead of buying from you at all.

As big as these issues are, they pale in comparison to the number one roadblock to maximizing your price point: the confidence of the salesperson. The main reason why companies do not capitalize on their potential revenue is because their salespeople do not have the confidence to ask for and receive the highest price point.

If a salesperson is secure in what they are selling and in knowing how the customer will benefit from their products/services, then they will be confident in asking for and getting the desired price point. The problem is that many times the salesperson lacks confidence in at least one of these areas, resulting in their inability to make their sales quota.

To rectify this problem, it's important to examine how the salesperson first developed a lack of confidence in their ability to maximize their price points. Generally, it stems from a sale they perceived to be lost because their price had been too high. On the surface, their assumption probably appeared to be correct. However, in reality, it just seemed that way because the right price-value relationship had not been established. If the salesperson had executed a proper sales strategy that allowed both himself and the customer to see the product's/service's true value, this could have been avoided.

It needs to be communicated that in a B to B environment, the benefits are to both the buyer and the business they're buying it for. In a B to C environment, the benefits are to both the buyer and to the person who will actually use the product or service. When the salesperson and the customer understand this, it can help erase the uncertainty that the price may pose. In general, new salespeople often lose the sale shortly after they've stated their price. Thus, it's only natural for them to believe that the price was the determining factor. However, when digging below the surface, the price was not what prevented them from closing the deal. Rather, they lost the sale because they didn't ask enough questions to fully establish the needs of the customer.

Top-performing salespeople ask questions that allow the customer to elaborate on their needs and then demonstrate their listening skills by asking appropriate open questions and probing deeper with great follow-up questions. They use the information that they learn to better explain how their product or service can be beneficial to the customer.

In my 25 plus years of selling, I've learned that the customer's real needs, hurts, and wants don't often surface until you're demonstrated genuine interest in what their thoughts and goals are. Ironically, this means that you can throw out their initial comments, as it is rarely the need they are looking to fill.

In summary, today's economy is full of opportunities for top performing salespeople to ask really good questions that get customers talking. This allows both the customer and the salesperson to see, feel, and understand what their true needs are. When the salesperson can experience this across multiple customers, they will begin to develop the assurance they need to be able to confidently convey the maximum price point their company expects them to receive.

Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter", is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit http://www.TheSalesHunter.com

Continue to Market Your Business to Succeed

Most business owners, once they become busy working with current clients, no longer make the time to market their businesses. It's only when business has dropped off (and the well is starting to run dry) that they frantically begin marketing their businesses again, anxious to fill in the gaps. When they speak to prospective clients, the prospects can hear the desperation in their voice and are thus unlikely to hire them. Frustrated by rejection, the business owner is off again, desperately seeking more clients. Does this describe your marketing pattern? If so, you're not alone.

More than 50% of service business owners experience this feast or famine scenario. What if you could create an environment so that the well never ran dry and would permit you to continuously market and promote your business? There is another way to keep yourself supplied with an eagerly waiting list of prospects with whom you can work when you have the time and space in your business. Often referred to as "drip marketing," this strategy is defined by a deliberate, planned and sequenced system of deploying marketing messages over a period of time. In many cases, drip marketing is conducted through direct mail, but the Internet entrepreneur can create her own drip marketing campaign as well.

Here are 6 secrets you can use to create your online drip marketing campaign and keep prospects in your pipeline:

1. Client attraction device. The best way to get prospects into your marketing funnel is to give away something that would compel them to part with their name and email address and join your list. Often called an "ethical bribe", your client attraction device must answer a pressing problem experienced by your target market. You can format this information into an ebook, special report, ecourse, audio recording, video, or some combination of all of these.

2. Newsletter: Whether you choose to publish a hard copy newsletter that's directly mailed to your prospects or an email newsletter that is emailed on a regular schedule to your list, your newsletter is the best "stay in touch" device that you have. Regular publication of an email newsletter (weekly is most effective) will enable your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and have you be top of mind when they are ready to solve the pressing problems that fall within your line of expertise.

3. Blog. Business blogging has become more popular than ever. Blogs use RSS feed technology to immediate get new posts and updates out to your blog subscribers through a feed reader, Unlike ezines or traditional websites, search engines index blog posts almost immediately, which help you generate traffic to your website. You need to post 2-3 times per week to keep your readers interested and coming back.

4. Article marketing. One of the best ways to generate traffic to your site or to your blog is to regular write and publish high quality articles that demonstrate your expertise. In addition to placing these articles on your website and blog, you'll want to get them distributed throughout the Internet on high traffic article directories. Ezine publishers, reporters, print media editors, and bloggers all frequent article directories in search of quality content to present to their readers.

5. Social networking. If you don't yet have accounts on the two most popular social networking platforms, Facebook and Twitter, today is the day to hop on board. Business owners are getting prospects on their lists and making sales every day to people they met exclusively through social networking. Best of all, these strategies are free of charge!

6. Public speaking/teleclasses. What better way to wow prospects than for them to hear you speak at an organizational meeting or on a teleclass? Speaking locally to groups comprised of your target market or holding teleclasses are very effective ways to build your list and increase the number of prospective clients. Design a signature speech or teleseminar that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise without giving away the store (focus on the what and the why but not the how) that compels your listeners to visit your website or request your client attraction device and get on your list.

Don't become overwhelmed and try all of these strategies at once. Pick one that you find appealing and work at it for 3 months. If you discover that you don't enjoy it or that it's not working for you, try another one. Continue to slowly add more drip marketing strategies until the process is firmly ingrained in your day-to-day business practices. Ultimately, you'll create a list of prospects who are ready, waiting, and eager to hire you.

This post provided by Donna Gunter, Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach helping independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizU.com . Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at http://www.AskDonnaGunter.com

The Power of Testimonials

Today's customers want to feel reassured that you are selling quality products and services. Customers do not want to lose money or feel like they've made a bad decision. The best way to do assure customers is to have good, strong testimonials.

If a business has happy customers and a lot of return clients, it should have testimonials. You wouldn't hire a contractor to remodel your house without checking references. Therefore be proud of the work you do and get some testimonials. Customer testimonials will help increase sales as well as boost the confidence of potential customers.

The Difference Between Good and Better

In order to have testimonials work for you and increase your client base, you must be careful how you phrase them. Testimonials are a marketing effort, which means that they need to be geared toward making your company look spectacular. For example, instead of writing "I love their vitamins", write "Taking these vitamins everyday gives me lots of energy and keeps me feeling great all day long." The latter testimonial is a lot more eye-catching and will be more effective in gaining a customer's confidence than the former. Ask customers who are willing to write testimonials to be specific.

Cherry Pick Your Testimonials

If you don't have any testimonials, check your company's email inbox for customers who sent compliments. If you can't find any ones you like, look at your client list and find out who is buying your products and at what frequency. Call or email a handful of your best customers and ask them to write a specific testimonial. Have them send a picture as well. This will give potential customers further reassurance of the validity of the testimonial.

Testimonials will not only improve your business, but will also improve your company's image as one that values customer satisfaction. So make the effort to get some strong testimonials.

Four Tips for Effective and Eye-Catching Locations

1. Once you have the testimonials, you need to figure out where to put them on your site. Placement is key, particularly when using flash. You want your testimonials to give maximum impact. The most common place on a website is for them to have their own navigation button titled either "Testimonials" or "Rave Reviews". This way more testimonials can be viewed on their own page.

2. Another option is to use flash testimonials on a sidebar on the homepage along with the customer's name, job title and company or logo. If you are using the testimonials in the masthead, they should rotate every 7-10 seconds then stop after all testimonials are shown. You don't want a testimonial to be so distracting that it takes the emphasis off of the content and what you are selling or offering. By having the flash cycle stop, you are allowing viewers to see the testimonials and then freely look at the content without the excess flash.

3. An alternative way to present testimonials is to sprinkle them throughout the site, highlighting them within the content using graphics, such as a color block background, upper and lower bar, etc. These visual stops are equally effective in reinforcing your credibility and can act as an additional selling point for specific products or services.

4. If you have the option for audio or video testimonials, this can be very effective in boosting your company's credibility. Audio is easy to record using Audio Acrobat. Video, on the other hand, requires more thought to positioning and angles. If you are at a trade show or with a client, you may want to pre-plan these testimonials for more impact.

Remember that in order for a testimonial to be effective, it needs to be specific, believable and placed in a credible location. With these three tips in mind, your testimonials will build customer confidence and web success.

This post provided by the Web Success Team. Contact the Team today and we'll show you how to beef up your online marketing efforts make your website capture more buyers and generate more income for your products and services. http://www.websuccessteam.com

The Most Important Aspect of Marketing...Testing

One of my colleagues recently asked me, out of all the aspects of marketing including online marketing, marketing strategy, Web 2.0, market research, etc., what was the most important? Without hesitation I replied, "Testing".

Many of my marketing friends might argue and profess that if you don't have the right message, reach the right audience, the right timing, or the right offer, you won't succeed. And to that I say ABSOLUTELY! In fact, those are the very elements of a successful campaign that can be identified through proper testing. So how do you know that your messaging is optimized or that you're reaching your target audience in the most effective way possible? Only proper testing can give you that information.

When someone on my team says that a particular campaign was a success I ask, "how do you know?" The answer often has something to do with metrics around campaign performance. But this information is merely releative. If your click through rate was 20% and your conversion rate was 0.35% for an online campaign, it may have generated a positive return, but is 0.35% the best we could have done? Did we test the campaign to set expectations before full launch?

By testing multiple landing pages, post cards, direct mail packages, keyword campaigns, and other marketing campaigns, you can find what resonates best with your audience and set proper expectations for performance. Once you've established a baseline, continue to test and experiment with different messaging, timing, and offers and compare your results against your baseline. Then, when someone asks you how well your campaign performed, you can say good, bad, or indifferent based on real data.

A great example of this was a recent email marketing campaign completed by my team. They tested 3 subject lines - everything else remainded the same (the list, the email creative, the price, the timing, etc.). During our test, one subject line outperformed the others 3 to 1. Wow! What a difference this made in our overall campaign performance when we sent the email to tens of thousands of potential customers.

Ongoing measurement and testing is essential for marketing success. If you're not testing your marketing campaigns on a continuous basis, you're missing out. Of course, once you establish a solid control (baseline), you'll have a hard time out performing it. In general, you'll only improve your success rate about 10% of the time. But continue to test, test, and test some more and you'll see your knowledge and results increase.

More on Search Engine Marketing

I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback on posts related to Search Engine Marketing. I hear from so many people who are spending money on Google Adwords and not seeing results that I've made today's post about how you can make the most of your search engine marketing.

When I started out in search marketing, I was experiencing the same thing. It seems that I could never get ahead. I might spend more but the revenue I generated for products and services simply covered my costs. Feeling a bit defeated, I called Google and eventually met with a representative to help me better understand how I might improve my results.

Believe it or not, the answer was quite simple. New ad copy, new ad groups, and keywords. You may be saying to yourself, isn't that just more the of the same? Well, yes and no. There certainly are lessons to be learned about writing your ads, analyzing your ads, and choosing the right keywords, and it can make all the difference.

Here are the most valuable lessons I learned when seeking to improve your benefit to cost ratio for Google Adwords:

1. Use initial caps when writing your ads. This ads credibility and helps your click through rate.

2. Put the starting price in your ads. Since price is usually the one factor that may influence purchase, putting price in your ad ensures that price is not an issue and buyers are qualified.

3. Break your ads up into multiple ad groups. Doing so allows for better tracking and experimentation. Over time, deactivate ads that do not produce the conversion rates you're looking for (Track EVERY ad with Google Conversion Tracking).

4. Create a long list of keywords and analyze which perform the best. Make sure your list is exhaustive and eliminate those that don't perform.

5. Add negative keywords. A great one is "free". Often times, individuals looking for free stuff aren't willing to pay for products or services. Learn more about negative keywords and this should eliminate much of the cost associated with unproductive clicks.

These are just a few of the strategies I've used for myself and for client to ensure that clicks generate profitable revenue. You should always be working on both sides of the equation. That is to say focus on reducing clicks that don't convert and improve conversion rates with better, more targeted ads.

Although we didn't discuss it here, you should also be focused on improving conversion rates through landing page tests. Change-up your landing pages and see if you can enhance conversion rates once someone has clicked through. This can result in a significant improvement in overall conversions and revenue.

Ask Who, Then What

If you're running a small or medium sized business, or perhaps a marketing department, it's difficult to stay on top of all the marketing changes over the last couple of years. Social media, networking, new technologies... who can keep up with it all?

One way to stay on top of your marketing game it so be actively engaged. Set up Google alerts, RSS feeds, and become an avid reader of industry magazines. Even with all of this information, we, as marketers, rarely have the time to stay on top of every bit of marketing news. So how can you manage it all? Ask who, then what.

Marketing technologies, strategies, and tactics will continually evolve and change. Therefore, you need the right people on your team who can keep up with different aspects of marketing - regardless of what changes come about.

Think about your team members and what they're most interested in. Is it marketing on Facebook, Twitter, or some other social networking site? How about mobile marketing or changes in the online advertising space. Find someone who is genuinely interested in an emerging aspect of marketing and have them update you on a regular basis. This is how the best marketers stay on top of just about everything.

Of course you could always work with an agency (if you budget allows), but an agency is doing the same thing you can do on your own. This is especially true if you have a team of people. Schedule monthly "update" meetings and ask everyone to report. You can then take this information to determine whether or not you have an opportunity to succeed with a new type of media or marketing tactic.

Keeping informed is much easier with the right people. First ask who, then what!

Making the Most of Your Click-Through Rates

Click through rate continues to be a key metric for Internet marketers. However, the question "What’s a good click-through rate?” is a little bit like asking “What’s your favorite movie?" Truthfully, it really comes down to personal preference. Just as some people might lean toward an adventure film as their favorite movie, others might prefer something from another genre.

The same is true for click-through rates on your Sponsored Search ads: The highest possible click-through rate may work for some—but it doesn’t work for all. That’s why the honest answer to the question is, “It depends.”

Click-through rates are naturally going to vary from campaign to campaign, and even from keyword to keyword. Everything involved in the way your ad is displayed plays a part, from your ad copy to the ad’s ranking on the results page.

This being the case, your click-through rate should really be viewed as only one indicator of your ad’s performance. It’s best to try and balance your evaluation of those rates with a just-as-critical look at your conversion rates (number of clicks converting into sales or other actions you want people to take). While it might be easy to generate a bump in your clicks, you also want those extra clicks convert into sales.

An ideal click-through rate provides the best possible return on investment, and to achieve that, it’s important to consider these factors:

1. Competition

Are your keywords fighting for clicks? Generic keywords, such as “dvd,” tend to have a lot of competition, which lessens the chance of getting clicks. More specific keywords, such as “transformers dvd,” generally have less competition and a greater chance for clicks.

2. Position

An ad with a high ranking may generate more traffic to your web site. To help attain a good position in search results, keep your bids competitive and your ad quality high.

3. Ad Quality

Are your ads relevant? Do they contain the related keywords? Do they reflect the offering of your site in a way that will appeal to users? And do they include any competitive advantages you offer that might set you apart from your competitors?

4. Ad Testing

Create multiple versions of your ads and use ad testing to determine which ad works best. Vary your ad offerings, as well as your display URLs, to see what gets the best results.

5. Identifying Low-Performing Keywords

Compare the click-through rate of similar keywords, to see if any are significantly under performing in relation to the others. If so, consider moving those low-performing keywords to a different ad group and creating new, highly relevant ads for those keywords.

There really is no hard and fast rule as to how high a click-through rate should be. But if your ads are compelling and your click-through and conversion rates are well balanced, you’re off to a great start.

Post provided by Noah Belson

Local Search: What You Need to Know

For small businesses and retail establishments, local search can have a favorable impact. Marketing to customers in your neighborhood used to be as easy as putting up a sign or advertising in the local newspaper. But today's web-savvy consumers shop for products and services locally on the Internet using local search.

Using a local search engine, marketers can target customers in a specific area while maximizing their marketing investment. They can use specific targeting, using the right keywords and search phrases to pull customers to their site and front door.

Local search offers low cost, relevant advertising dynamics, an audit trail to measure results and opportunities to increase revenues and profit. The key is partnering with a local search company that provides relevant search results, so your customers can find you easily. They should provide high-quality location data, geo-targeted advertising and efficient search algorithms.

Here are five reasons you should use local search:

It is on the rise The local search marketplace is expanding. Local search is estimated to grow to a $6.2 billion market opportunity by 2010. (Kelsey Group). According to Com­Score, 47% of local searchers contacted or visited a local merchant as a result of their online search.

There's money to be made It's been proven that “local” searchers convert into buyers.

According to industry analysts, approximately 80% of an indi­vidual's income is spent within about 50 miles of their home. With 95% of the potential local search advertising market today remaining untouched, this is a huge opportunity for businesses.

Online advertising just makes (dollars and) sense

In today's economy, more local companies are turning to online advertising as a new way to capture greater local customer revenue. At the same time, many Internet players are refocusing on local search as a method of increasing revenue and profit. (Mike Dobson, president of TeleMapics).

Local search costs less and delivers more

One of the reasons that local search attracts new advertising customers is that it offers relatively precise targeting capabilities, at one of the lowest costs per lead offered by any advertising medium (29 cents,according to Piper Jaffray & Co.). It also offers an audit trail.

Your customers can find you faster

Traffic has declined for traditional print publishers, as it is easier and quicker to research a buying opportunity online than to search print media. In the Yellow Pages arena, the market has fragmented because of increased competition between publishers, diluting the effective­ness of Yellow Pages advertising that many small businesses once relied upon.

If you haven't considered local search as an important part of your marketing program, now is the time to do so. You'd be surprised at what an impact you can make!

Jennifer Black is VP of marketing for Local.com.

Reputation Management Made Easy: 7 Effective Ways For Managing Your Reputation Online

Have you Googled your name recently? Today, more than ever, individuals are turning to the web to learn more about people they meet, interview, and simply want to know more about. With information being so pervasive, managing your reputation is more important than ever.

How to Manage Your Reputation Online

Fortunately, managing your reputation online isn't all that difficult, but it does take work. Here are 7 basic steps you can take to ensure that your reputation doesn't become negatively impacted by what's being said about you online.

1. See where you stand. Start your reputation management initiative by Googling your name. Try it with quotes and with out (first and last name together). Look through each of your results on page one and page two of Google. Are there any there are are negative or you wish to remove?

2. Set up a Google alert. Visit Google and set up an alert for your name. After setting up the alert Google will send you and email to confirm that you wish to receive the updates. Accept the alert and each time your name is published to the Web, you'll know about it.

3. Contact website owners for name removal. If there are sites that include your name and commentary that is less than desireable, contact the appropriate websites requesting that the information be removed. More often than not, website owners will agree to remove your name and/or inappropriate information.

4. Purchase a domain with your name. Add sites and webpages associated with your name and watch negative search results get pushed lower on Google rankings. Visit GoDaddy or another provider of website URLs and hosting, and purchase a domain that contains your name. Even if your name is rather common, experiment with variations until your name can be established in the form of a dot com. Once you own a domain, publish a webpage with your personal profile.

5. Start a blog under your name. Blogger is a great tool for setting up your own blog which can be used to publish information about yourself. Popular blog sites are often picked up by Google and you can control the content. Be sure to sign up for Technorati after your blog has been published. Submit your blog for review and its popularity will increase, improving search rankings and continuing to push down negative search results.

6. Free press release. Use free-press-release.com or a similar free press release site to publish favorable information about your and your reputation. This form of reputation management is easy and costs nothing. Be sure to use your name throughout the release and in the release title.

7. Author articles in your field. Publish article relative to a particular topic or area in which you've done some work or have experience. Use article distribution serivces to build online references to your content. Make sure your articles contain an about the author section that links back to your main website.

There are a variety of strategies you can use to manage online references about you, your family, or others that need to manage their reputation online. Other online sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Squidoo, offer ample opportunity to deliver favorable search results that can push unfavorable results down in search engine rankings. The key is to start today - proactively manage your reputation and put yourself in a favorable light.

Post by Michael Fleischner, Internet marketing and Online Reputation Management Expert who has been helping individuals improve their reputations online for more than four years. To learn how Michael can help you improve your reputation - contact him at support@marketingscoop.com or simply Google "Michael Fleischner" to learn more.

Marketing Through Admission

Use the proven power of 'the damaging admission' while promoting and selling your products and services to gain the trust of your prospects.

In the mid eighties, researchers at Cleveland State University made an astonishing discovery. The researchers created two fictitious job candidates, Dave and John. For each of them they created identical resumes and two almost identical letters of reference. The ONLY difference was that John's letter included this sentence: 'Sometimes, John can be a little difficult to get along with.' The researchers showed the resumes to personnel directors.

Guess which applicant the directors most wanted to interview? Believe it or not, the answer is John. The researchers concluded that the criticism of John made the rest of the reference far more believable.

Many savvy marketers have long understood the power of the 'damaging admission'. The damaging admission is where the seller points out the flaws of what they are offering. Few products, services or offers are perfect and most prospects can't help but wonder, 'What's the hidden catch?'

So if you take it upon yourself to let your prospects know up front what the weaknesses or limitations of what you are offering, you accomplish several things. First, by announcing upfront the limitations of your product service or idea, it stops your prospect from attempting to uncover those limitations for himself. Secondly, it lends credibility to everything else you have to say about your product or service. After all, if you're honest enough to admit the weaknesses and flaws of what you're offering, it stands to reason that all the positive things you have to say are true too. Finally, it can actually draw your prospects attention.

Who can resist paying attention to the sentence that starts, 'I shouldn't be telling you this, but..'? Cosmetics company Lush have long understood the power of the 'damaging admission'. Next to their product descriptions they include positive and negative comments from customers. Hence a shampoo that features rave reviews from some customers, may also be accompanied by comments from others such as 'smells like coal tar'. Kind of refutes the idea that the positive testimonials are manufactured doesn't it?

Here's another example of a damaging admission, taken from one of my own products: 'If you're determined to find a catch, there is one major flaw that you should know about. This programm won't pick up the phone and make the calls for you! You'll still have to pick up the phone and dial!'

What stops most people from making the 'damaging admission' is that they're afraid that by showing a weakness they'll lose the sale. In actual fact, the reverse is true. You're far more likely to win your customers' trust and respect if you admit the flaws of what you are offering.

Post by Bernadette Doyle who publishes her free, weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them then sign up for the Client Magnets newsletter at http://www.ClientMagnets.com today!

Make Your Search Campaign Successful

Search marketing is a great way to generate revenue and grow your business. However, many marketers fail at search and don't know it. The basic performance reports available from providers like Google can lead an advertiser to believe that his or her campaign is generating plenty of qualified interest, when the truth might be precisely the opposite.

Clicks, click-through rate and cost-per-click are the measuring sticks of most search campaigns, because they're the statistics most easily gleaned from online reports. Judging a campaign's performance by these standards is not only misleading, it can cause an advertiser to waste significant investment.

Why? Because a click is only one action — it doesn't measure what that prospect did when he or she clicked on your ad (that is, did he or she become a lead or buy your product) or even how qualified he or she is. Our experience tells us there are many advertisers who are content to generate thousands of clicks at considerable cost, but discover on further analysis that the vast majority of those clicks are completely worthless.

The perfect search campaign is one that:

■ generates a cost per acquisition (CPA) — whether your acquisi­tion is a lead, download, registration or sale — competitive with other advertising vehicles

■ generates predictable CPA results at projected spend levels

■ is sufficiently expansive to cover every keyword or phase, and every variation that a qualified prospect could search on

■ delivers relevant ad copy for every keyword (to drive clicks) and maps to relevant landing pages (to drive conversions)

■ is designed in such a way that specific terms, groups of terms and campaigns are all optimized separately, with separate bud­gets, ad copy, geo-targeting and day-parting

■ is tracked through use of a back-end database or CRM system that measures ROI on a keyword-by-keyword basis.

Don't have all these metrics in place? No one does. The sce­nario above is the ideal program, and a hypothetical ideal at that. But you should use these standards as goals and benchmarks.

Know what you want to achieve. Are you trying to generate downloads, registra­tions, page views, sales leads, qualified leads or sales? How are you defining that goal — is someone filling out a registra­tion form, hitting a particular page or meeting certain qualifi­cation criteria?

Your search campaign should measure how many of those desired actions are taking place; how much each desired action is costing in the aggregate; and, which keywords generate those actions at the lowest cost.

Howard Sewell is president of Connect Direct.