“How to Increase Your Sales During the Recession!”
If you’re waking up at night in a cold sweat, scared to death that your business may go belly up, and you wonder if that nightmare is ever going to end, then this may be the most important message you’ve ever read.
We all know that times are tough right now. Customers are saving money, buying less frequently and making smaller purchases. These days, all businesses need more sales.
What about you? Do you have all the sales you need? Or do you need new customers to make up for the sales you’ve been losing?
I don’t know how you are currently finding customers. Maybe you’re advertising in the newspaper or in fliers. Maybe you’re using those small coupon magazines sent through the mail. Maybe you’ve bought a Yellow Pages ad. Maybe you even have a website. You’re probably trying lots of different methods, maybe struggling to find anything that will generate more sales.
So, how are those methods working for you? If you’re getting all the sales you need, then Congratulations! I’m very happy for your success, especially in this tough environment.
If your sales are not where you’d like them to be, have you thought about using Internet marketing as a major pillar of your Sales Message? In a recent survey by Forrester Research, E-Commerce in the US will explode to almost $230 Billion by the year 2013 (an increase of 10% per year.). Would you like a slice of these online sales?
Isn’t Internet Marketing Hard?
If you already have a website, you probably know that Internet Marketing has several advantages over traditional advertising:
- It’s relatively inexpensive to build a website
- Your prospects can view your message 24/7
- There is increasing viewership, and with that comes increasing online sales
- On the internet, the world is your customer, not just people who live in your area.
- Smart business owners are using it to replace less effective forms of marketing
As with anything, there are a few drawbacks to internet marketing:
- You must first find someone who can properly set up your website
- You must design it so people searching for products and services like yours can find it
- Your website must be so appealing that prospects will either contact you or order from you
Internet marketing is not hard. The internet is simply another communication channel where you explain to potential customers the benefits of buying your product and doing business with you.
When you decide to begin your internet business, you must develop a site that does three things. You do these same things in your regular business, and the purpose is to generate sales or inquiries. Your internet business has to:
- Get people to view your site (just like you get people to visit your store)
- Your site must then present you and your products in a compelling way. You must come across as an obvious expert in your market. (Just like you position yourself as a credible expert in your offline store)
- Finally, you must get people to buy from you or to ask you for more information. (Don’t you do this at your offline store too?)
I’ll repeat, internet marketing is not hard. It is the same thing you’re already doing in your offline business. Now, you just have to make your website do the selling.
Do you think a website designer can do that?
May I tell you about Small Business Copy?
I am a businessman, not a website designer. My objective is designing sites that generate inquiries or sales. They present your company in a compelling way that gets prospects to want to do business with you. Your prospects will see you as an expert, and naturally want to do business with an expert.
Isn’t that what you really want from your website? A website designer can make your site look pretty, but can he make it sell or generate new inquiries?
Your site should talk to prospects about their problems, and show how they can solve their problems. This will turn generate inquiries and sales for you.
Your site should not talk about how great your company is. It should not have lots of pretty pictures. Sites with lots of pretty pictures have two drawbacks: they are not compelling (they are just “me too” sites) and they do not rank well in Search Engine Results.
If you want a “me too” site, contact a website designer.
I am not criticizing website designers. They are very good at what they do, but they are not businesspeople. They have not studied Sales, Marketing Advertising Copy or Search Engine Optimization, and are more interested in showcasing their impressive graphic design skills.
The dirty little secrets about Website Designers
Most website designers don’t know these facts about Internet marketing.
- If your website does not get listed in the top 2 pages of Search Engine Results, there is more than a 90% probability that it will not be read at all.
- Your website must be extremely relevant the search terms that prospects may use. Do you know your best search terms? Does your designer know how to find out? I do.
- Does your website designer know that search engines cannot read graphic designs? Search Engines can only read words. A designer may make your site look pretty, but the pretty pictures will NOT be read by the search engines. (Maybe someday, but not today)
Most website designers belong in the corporate world, designing corporate websites where it’s not important if the website sells or not. It just has to look pretty.
So who do you want to do your internet marketing? A website designer or a marketing expert?
Call me and we can talk about your business and how to improve your internet marketing. We’ll chat for a few minutes, and we’ll determine how I can help you. We’ll talk about your business, your customers, and your products. Then we’ll talk about the copy and design you’d need to get your site noticed and to generate sales and inquiries.
Can I guarantee that I can get you to the first two pages of the search engines? No I can’t. Nobody can guarantee that, and if anyone says he can, you should run away from him.
Can I guarantee that if you get to the front page of the search engines, that your sales will increase? Again, I cannot do that either.
My objective will always be to get your site viewed, present your business in a compelling way, and to ask for an order or inquiry. A marketer will always do it better than a website designer.
Call me today, so I can improve the performance of your website.
Gregory Forsthoefel Small Business Copy smallbusinesscopy@gmail.com 317/430-3425PS,
By the way, if you call me for a consultation, I’ll be happy to give you a free diagnostic questionnaire that you can use to analyze your marketing. Its 87 questions are designed to quickly pinpoint the areas of your business that need attention. Don’t be disappointed; just start working on the areas that are easiest to fix. Study the questionnaire, start improving these areas and re-take control of your business.
PPS,
I invite you to bookmark this site. From time to time I’ll post insights that I think will be beneficial to business owners. No fluff, just stuff I’ve learned and that I think will be helpful.
Also, click over to the Internet Marketing Terms page. There I define Internet Marketing Terms that maybe you’ve heard, but don’t quite understand. If you have further questions feel free to call me.
