I’m really beginning to wonder if it’s in the water.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard the questions from one business owner after another:

• I really need a website makeover…my site is an expense that’s not bringing me any business…
• I need to update my site content…it doesn’t reflect what I’m doing anymore…
• I’m all over the place online, but I don’t know how to make it work together…
• People tell me I should have a Facebook page for my business, but isn’t my website enough?…
• I keep hearing that I should be blogging, but I just don’t know what to say…

And most of all – I just don’t have the time to spend on marketing my business online!

Let’s face it – online marketing does gobble up time, and can gobble up money too, if you’re not careful. You wind up trying one thing, then another, wondering how to make it all fit together and bring in new clients, and all the while your frustration level builds.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone could just do it for you – without breaking the bank?

Here’s the bottom-line truth: selling on the web is all about content. It’s not hard to put together a good-looking starter site…but to craft the content that will make it sell for you is another story entirely. It’s not just a matter of setting it up and forgetting it, either – to stay at the top of the search engine rankings and keep the traffic coming, you need fresh, keyword-targeted content on a regular basis…the more frequent, and in the more places, the better.

And that’s when the inspiration hit: to create a series of bundled content makeover services to get you started with the content you need, when and where you need it…and affordable ghostwriting or coaching services to help you keep that content coming!

That was the start of the Zero Headache Content Makeover Package…better than a bottle of aspirin. Just check out the service page (http://www.your-words-worth.com/content-makeover/) and call us…today!

Whether you’re running a brick-and-mortar shop, a sleek office in an industrial park, or a website, you have one goal in running your business:

GET TRAFFIC!!

It doesn’t matter whether “Traffic” means literal feet passing through your doorway, telephones ringing, email alerts pinging, or visitors following links or entering keywords to access your site. Traffic is the goal, the key to the treasure chest, the rainbow that leads to the pot of gold: sales!

When you get foot, phone, or email traffic, the next step is no secret: you respond! A salesperson welcomes the visitor, a friendly voice answers the call, a representative replies to the email. Simple, basic, Business 101, right?

But what do you do when you get a visitor to your website?

Let’s face it – website traffic isn’t easy to come by. Even when you’ve identified your niche and you have a solid search engine optimization strategy, even when you’re using pay per click advertising effectively, it can be a challenge to get visitors to zip past uncountable other sites to land at yours.

So – lacking a friendly salesperson or receptionist, what do you do with those visitors when they arrive?

That’s the biggest difference between real-time and online business tactics. When you have real live customers in your store or on the phone, you’d ordinarily go for the sales, right? Afterward, you’d seal the relationship by inviting them to opt in to your mailing list for news, discounts, coupons, etc.

It’s just the reverse online. Most visitors aren’t looking to buy when they first land on your site: they may be browsing, comparing prices, gathering information, and so on. In fact, unless you have very good web content,  most of them will stay less than 7 seconds – then they’re off to the next site, gone, and you’re forgotten!

Stop Them In Their Tracks…With Answers

Your job, before you try to win a single sale, is to capture those visitors. To win some way of staying in touch, staying in front of them, reminding them of your existence long after they’ve left your site. In short – to get them to opt in to your list!

This isn’t like asking a customer to sign up for your newsletter after s/he’s bought a product, as you would in a physical store. You haven’t earned any of those warm fuzzies – and unless you act fast, you’ll never get the chance to earn them!  These passing visitors came with a specific problem or need in mind. They aren’t going to want to load up their in-boxes with yet another newsletter unless they know that it fills that need.

So you need to get inside their heads and anticipate their reason for coming to your site. What was the need or problem they were looking to resolve, and how can you answer it? Then, provide at least a part of that answer as an incentive to opt in to your list. You want to put some practical, usable tools in their hands, along with the awareness that you have much more to offer them.

How can you do this? With free information products – articles, e-courses, special reports, teleseminars, etc. – based on the knowledge that you offer to your real-time customers on a daily basis. For example:

• for a camera store: The Five Biggest Mistakes New Digital SLR Users Make, And How to Avoid Them
• for a dog breeder: The Seven Signs That Identify Your New Best Friend
• for a plumber: Leaky Pipes? Save Your Money and Don’t Call Us Till You’ve Tried These Easy DIY Fixes

Offer a  Sample Taste of Information

You get the idea – you’re not offloading all your expertise, but answering a specific question that customers ask again and again, establishing the value of your services by offering a free information product that answers their immediate need, rather like the sample trays of products you find in the grocery store.

What else can they do? They need that question answered. And so they opt in to your list and become true prospects, with whom you can build a real relationship that leads to sales.

Penny-pinchers. Tightwads.Cost-cutters.  

Not very attractive descriptions, are they? Rather reminiscent of Scrooge in an overcoat and muffler, counting up his fortune by candlelight, perhaps?  

But these words take on a new, positive meaning when you’re talking about energy savings these days. It’s not just the “tightwads” who are setting their thermostats to lower temperatures and adding layers of clothes, or rolling low-wattage space heaters from room to room.  

As Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” And negawatts – the energy not consumed, resulting in the dollars not spent – are the hottest new income stream. The question of the day is – how can I get the greatest value from the lowest energy expenditure?  

Problem is – this is bordering on the territory of engineers, where jargon and technical specifications can confound the average consumer.  

Are You Selling What Your Customers Want To Buy?  

When you’re a green company targeting a shivering clientele – whether you’re selling pellet stoves, biobased insulation, or tankless water heaters – the key to your success is simple: How well are you communicating the benefits of your product?  

Floor-walking sales staff have known for years – sell the benefits, don’t drone on about the specs. Educate customers through the buying process, making sure they have all the information they need to make a good decision.  

But how do you translate this to online shopping? The concepts are very much the same.  

How Will Your Product Make a Difference In Their Lives?   

Most online shoppers don’t want to be immediately confronted with a long sales page that overwhelms them with industry jargon, long lists of features or specifications …or even technical terms. What’s a BTU? How does it relate to a watt? How do you figure BTUs per square foot? How (yes, really) do you figure the number of square feet to a room or home?  

Sure, you’ll always get a few informed buyers who have done their homework and want to skip right away to compare product features. But for many consumers, the question is - how much value will this product give me for the money I’m putting out? And specifically – how fast will it pay for itself in energy savings? Compared to this, everything else is embellishment. They’re looking for the big picture, the concepts, not the details yet.  

Answer The Important Questions First, Then Give The Details  

So give the big picture first. Load your product page with the benefits – the practical impact on the buyer’s life – not features. If the product will keep them warm for pennies per day, say so! Describe its energy consumption with easy comparisons: for example, “hour for hour, equivalent to running a ceiling fan.” Communicate in ordinary, conversational terms…the language your customers speak.  

List the features and specs? Of course – but not on the first page your prospect sees. Make them easily available, but not intiimidating. Think of the first questions your customers ask, and put those answers at the top: the product’s Energy Star rating, for example.  

Make It Easy and Convenient  

Don’t assume anything. Make the process as convenient as possible. Even if a consumer knows how to figure the number of square feet per room or watts per BTU, for example, you’ll win points if you provide a  handy online calculator that will keep them from reaching for the pencil and paper.  

Include customer ratings and reviews for the product, if possible, as well as text fields where new buyers can give their own feedback, and/or ask questions. Realize that most consumers shop around, visiting several websites before they settle on one vendor. Make it easy for them to come back to you with a bookmark or a wish-list email.  

Be The Expert Resource They Can Trust  

Most important: demonstrate that you understand their comparison shopping. Offer your visitors a free report listing, say, the 10 questions they need to ask to get the best product for their needs. Make it an incentive to opt into your email list, and be sure to check in with them a few days later, to offer further information or support if they need it.  

The less you assume, the more you educate, the more your clients will trust you. Help them to understand the high value of your product with high-value content.

This is a little bit of a rant, I’m afraid…I just read an article in GreenBiz News about an EcoPinion survey that found “Consumers Don’t Understand Green Terms.”

To quote the key paragraphs of the article: “a survey of 1,000 Americans conducted the first week of November, on communications and language commonly used by companies and stakeholders in the energy and environment space. The EcoPinion Survey confirms a green gap exists around terms such as energy efficiency, energy conservation, demand response, smart energy and clean energy, and customers’ understanding, acceptance and perceptions of value around those terms.
The green gap in communications is contributing to a growing misalignment between customers’ stated intentions, e.g., their desire to be more green or frugal with energy consumption, and their actual behavior.”

My judgment? It all boils down to something I tell my clients over and over: “Your customers don’t care what nifty bells and whistles your products or services have. What they care about is – what difference will those bells and whistles make in their lives, what real benefits do they offer?”

Bottom line – It’s not about you! If your customers/clients don’t understand why your green services are better – not just how, but why – if the difference is wrapped up in green industry-standard terms that mean nothing to John and Jane Doe – it doesn’t matter if you win every eco-award in the book. The customers will sail right past you to the company that speaks their language.

So what can you do to change this? Assume nothing! Start with the idea that visitors to your site have no clue whatsoever about the technologies you use and the standards you work so hard to meet…that the terminology that’s so easy and intuitive to you means less than a torrent of Japanese would to a monolingual English speaker.

Assume that they don’t know, say, the difference between “green business” and “sustainable business”…that they may or may not recycle their trash, much less know the difference between pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content…that “green building” may signify more about the color of siding on a house than the LEED standards that governed its construction…you get the idea! Define your terms. Explain your concepts. Look at your marketing content with “beginner’s eyes” – if you’d seen this when you were first learning about green business, would it have made any sense to you?

It’s up to you to pass on this information, share your passion about it – why does it matter, why is it better for your customers and the planet? What is your commitment to improving your customers’ lives and changing the world in the process?

And after all, what better way of gaining their interest and trust could you have, than providing the education that turns an incomprehensible wilderness into navigable territory? Create a blog and fill it with key concepts…send out marketing articles to distribution services…write a special report or e-book that introduces key concepts of the work you do…make it your mission to teach the world about your work, so your visitors will share your passion!

Yes – it’s a bit more work – but think of the talks you give to the Chamber of Commerce and your professional networking groups. How many more people will your information reach on the Internet?

If you’d like more information on ways of educating your visitors, demonstrating your expertise, and building your business through social networking and information marketing, and why a green copywriter can save you valuable time and money in crafting this information, contact me at phila@your-words-worth.com.

Oh, and if you’d like to check out that article and the study (it’s available free of charge), click here.

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