Site Visitors Don't Care About You. Sorry.

“What’s In It For Me?”

That’s All Site Visitors Want To Know

As a site designer, SEO, copywriter or some other someone working in the web world, chances are you have clients – clients who have objectives.

Umm, they don't care about you.
Sorry.

Some want to sell something, or lots of different things. Some want opt-ins for a FREE special report. Others want visitors to subscribe to their insightful newsletters or fill out a form. These are the objectives of the site owner – your client and person with the checkbook.

Naturally, these clients want their sites to meet their objectives. If the client is selling a vitamin supplement, her objective is to sell more jars of the product. If the author of a newsletter on precious metals publishes an “insider’s report,” he wants more subscribers.

If the site is soliciting donations, the objective is obvious – more donors, repeat donors, generous donors. Therefore, the site copy on the home page and landing pages is usually written to meet the objectives of the site owner and not the site visitor.

And the fact is, the objectives of site owners and visitors are distinct and, at times, even contradictory. The fact is that site visitors don’t give a whit about your clients, their web sites, their problems or their clever turn of a phrase. They want the answer to one very simple question:

What’s in it for me?

Let’s look at a couple of examples of site text with snarky, visitor comments inserted:

Acme Pest Control is a family-owned business (who cares, I got bugs) with deep roots in the Tri-City Area. (I said I don’t care. Bugs are eating my house.) We offer a variety of services to manage your pest problems (Can you get rid of my bugs?) safely, effectively and completely. (Umm, okay.)

We offer the latest in pest control technology (Huh?) and we guarantee our work. (OK, that part’s good.)

Out technicians are trained in the latest pest control technology, they’re certified and they’re friendly. (I don’t care if he looks like Quasimodo, I just want somebody so get rid of termites. Now.)

That little snippet of text is all about Acme Pest Control and closing another sale. Naturally, that’s the company’s objective, but it’s not necessarily the site visitor’s objective, which is to find a solution to a termite problem.

So, posture the text to meet the objectives of the visitor, NOT the site owner.

Got bug problems? (Why, yes, yes I do.) Want to get rid of them today? (That’d be great?) Want to keep your family and pets safe? (Well, of course. I hadn’t even thought of that.)

Tired of calling around trying to find a solution to your pest problems? (Oh, man, I’m so tired. Can you help?) We solve all of your pest problems quickly, safely and now. (How do I reach you?) You want to solve a pest problem, call us at (123) 555-1234. (I’m dialing, I’m dialing!)

We’ll be there today to help you. Guaranteed. (“Hello, Acme Pest Control…”)

In this case, the site text isn’t about the company (your client) it’s all about the visitor – solving their problems and serving their needs.

Unfortunately, even gigantic, global conglomerates use site text that’s designed to meet their global conglomerate objectives, not the objectives of the site visitor. I’ll bet you 99.9% of all 122 million web sites are designed to meet the site owner’s objectives. And that’s why so many sites crash and burn.

It’s blunt but true: site visitors don’t care about you, your site, your corporate history or you cool new headquarters. Those are the objectives of the site owners – to brag a little bit and “sell” the site visitor.

Forget selling. Provide solutions in your site text, focus on the visitors objectives not your objectives or the client’s objectives (this may take a little explanation and diplomacy on your part) but the results will be there in higher conversion ratios.

Don’t design a site to meet the site owner’s objectives. They’re different from the objectives of site visitors. Instead, write copy the simplifies achieving visitor’s goals and the site will convert, the client will make money and parades will be scheduled in you honor.

Need a little visitor love? Who doesn't? Stop by webwordslinger.com, drop me a line and let's get you some good lovin'.

YOU, TOO, CAN BECOME AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD. HERE'S HOW!

photo courtesy kikriaturas

The Five Steps to Becoming a Guru:

Are You the Next Peter Lynch, Dan Kennedy or Skip McGrath?

Gurus, good ones anyway, are hard to find these days. Oh sure, the word gets thrown around quite a bit. “He’s an SEO guru.” “She’s the best marketing guru ever to walk the halls of this office.” “This guy is a penny stock guru. You can’t miss if you follow his picks.”

You know, anyone can become a guru on the web, regardless of subject of expertise, or any expertise at all. Google “Life Coach” and see how many hits you get. Today, it was 68,900,000 “gurus” on the amorphous topic of life coaching. That’s a lot of gurus all in one place. Now conduct s search for “Job Coach.”  Not as many hits as life coach (more narrow topic) but Google still delivers 39,900,000 links to job coaches – gurus who are going to help you climb the ladder of corporate success.

Life coach, job coach, stock picker, SEO expert, health and wellness insider – you can’t swing a dead personal development coach without hitting the next guru wannabe. In effect, becoming a guru is nothing more than good marketing and, with apologizes to Dan Kennedy, sales letter guru, there are better, so you don’t even have to be the best if you create the online persona of guru.

Here are five tips to start you down the yellow brick road (solid gold) to gurudom.

1. Take a different road. One-of-a kind explanations for common phenomenon set you apart, whether were talking about baking the best scones ever or building the perfect website.

Don’t rehash the rehash. Take a different tact from the rest of the pack and find that new slant. Peter Lynch, ex of the Fidelity Magellan Fund, used to listen to his kids for good stock picks. If the kids and all of their friends were going to the all-natural salon in the mall every Saturday, Lynch would do the spade work, find the corporate owner and take a position. It was a completely different take on fundamental versus chart (technical) stock analysis and Lynch made a whole lot of money listening to his kids and their friends.

2. Present different tips and tricks for putting in to place common procedures. The whole world might know how the procedure or model works, but if you come in with a unique way of analyzing a topic and presenting very specific strategies for improving your readers’ lives, gurudom is just around the corner.

How-to advice is a good place to start. Let’s say your claim to the title of guru is based on your uncanny ability to pick penny stocks just before they become dollar stocks. Bingo. You’re a penny stock buying guru and people will pay you a lot of money for your sage counsel.

3. Present both sides of the discussion. Gurus aren’t totalitarian cult figures. They have that inner calm and self confidence to present the other side of their position with self-assurance that their position is the correct one.

Get together a room full of SEO experts and you’ll hear every possible SEO strategy that ever appeared on the web. (If there’s an open bar, there’ll probably be some imbibing but you know how those SEOs are.) A guru – a good one – listens to all sides with absolute confidence that s/he is correct. And these gurus are getting $5,000 a head for their well-booked seminars.

4. Criticize. Warren Buffet, the Oracle (even better than a guru) of Omaha (and a true stock picking genius) constantly speaks to audiences on investment strategies that work and Mr. Buffet has made many shareholders of Berkshire-Hathaway millionaires.  

Back in the ‘90s, when everybody was hopping on this new web marketplace thing and buying anything with a dot com after its name, Buffet was buying steel, concrete, construction companies – the basic, nuts-and-bolts of our infrastructure. He spent years criticizing those brokers and faux gurus who were pushing their clients into these online startups and, if anyone can remember the Spring of ’01, we saw the dot com bubble implode.

On the other hand, Berkshire-Hathaway (Buffet) weathered the storm just fine. Don’t be a follower. Gurus don’t follow they lead.

5. Create controversy. Ultra-conservative and barely watchable, Ann Coulter has made a whole pile of cash with her controversial criticism of 9/11 widows, Democrats, cancer-victim Elizabeth Edwards, wife of candidate John Edwards, claiming that Ms Edwards, who is fighting a courageous battle against cancer, is using her disease to raise the sympathy vote, and while Ms. Coulter’s comments are reprehensible to even conservative Republicans, controversy sells – a lot.

The web is crawling with experts – cruise ship gurus, gold bugs, retail poo-bahs and other so-called experts. It’s actually pretty easy to make a name for yourself within a particular field because of the speed at which information moves across the web. The key is to find something that sets you apart from the crowd.

If all you’re doing is playing the same game that a thousand other gurus are playing you won’t stand out. Change the rules, provide utile information, don’t follow the pack and create controversy.

It’ll only be a matter of time before you’re asked to appear on Oprah. That’s how you know you’ve become a guru. So pick your topic. Health and wellness, weight loss painlessly, investment advice, marketing advice – whatever your area of expertise, you can become the next guru to be recognized on the web.

Next stop? The book tour. Oh, and the percentages that come with publishing a best seller.

The world is waiting for you. What are you waiting for?

Webwordslinger.com

TAKE ADAVANTAGE OF YOUR WEB HOST AND EARN CASH

Are You Taking Advantage of Your Web Host? You Should Be!

There are plenty of web hosting services out there and they’re all scrambling to keep existing clients and to add to their customer bases. That’s a good thing – a very good thing – for experienced and fledging site owners alike. Here’s why.

Because hosting is so competitive, web hosts look for any opportunity to spread the word about their services and with online advertising rates on the upswing, these companies are looking for low-cost ways of getting the word out.

That’s where you and your web site come in.

Become an Affiliate Site

Affiliate sites are simply web sites with a link to a services or goods provider who pays money to the affiliate site owner (that’d be you, of course) every time someone signs up for their services or buys some product through your site.

All you do is read the affiliate agreement posted on the home company site, agree to the terms and you’re an affiliate. Simple and easy.

Once you are an affiliate, you’ll receive a small HTML graphic of the home company’s logo that you strategically place somewhere on your site. In addition, you’ll receive a small text string to add to your site code. This text string identifies your site as the source of the click through. Also, it identifies you as the one who gets the bounty for each new web host client who signs on through your site.

Why Is This Such A Good Idea?

There are several reasons. First, you know the quality of service you receive from your web host. Assuming it meets your standards and expectations (not to mention all of your site needs) this is a company you can feel comfortable in recommending. The last thing you need is a bunch of unhappy customers coming back to you with complaints about your affiliation with an unscrupulous, unresponsive web host. And they’re out there. Anyone with a server stuffed in a closet can become an ISP. Remember, on the Internet no one knows you’re a dog.

When you become an affiliate site for your own web host, you know you’re selling a service that other potential site owners will appreciate.

Second, income derived through this affiliate program is passive income. You don’t have to add new products or offer new services, you don’t have to process the order, pay shipping and handling and (ugh) process returns and handle customer complaints. All you do is sign up, place the link and watch for those click-throughs to start generating regular, steady revenues while you focus on your own core business model. How cool is that?

So, by becoming an affiliate of your own hosting service, you’re recommending a product in which you have confidence and you’re generating additional revenue simply by placing a small link on your site. It’s a sweet deal.

Making the Most of Your Affiliation

If you’re going to become an affiliate for your web host, you might as well take a few simple steps to get the best return on your partnership.

Start be reading the affiliate agreement top to bottom, including all of the whereas’s and wherefores. Actually, if the managers behind your hosting service are on their toes, the affiliate agreement should be pretty straightforward. You agree to do blah-blah-blah and the hosting service agrees to pay you money for each sign up you deliver. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into before you get into it.

Next, link placement is a very important consideration. If you bury the link back to the host company on page 18 of your site, you’re going to get about zero response and, consequently, approximately zero dollars for your efforts.

Place the link somewhere on your site’s home page for best results. It doesn’t have to be huge, nor does it need to appear in the middle of the page. Place it discreetly to one side or the other so visitors will see it but it won’t distract from your own site’s sales. You don’t want visitors showing up to buy some of your products only to bounce them to the sign up page of your web host. (Or, maybe you do!)

Sell the service. Yes, you can simply place the affiliate link on the homepage and keep your fingers crossed, but you’ll do a lot better if you provide just a few sentences of sell copy above the link. It doesn’t have to be fancy or a hard sell. Simply a few words describing your complete, 100% satisfaction with the service provider and a short call to action: “Click here to get started building your own web site.” That ought to do it.

Finally, know something (a lot) about the services you’re recommending. This is important in developing a little blurb that will appeal to many of your site visitors. For example, if most of your visitors are w3 rookies, you’d want to mention just how easy it is to get started. On the other hand, if your B2B site attracts a lot of savvy, online business owners, you’d want to emphasize the low cost and full featured menu offered by your web host. Know who visits your sites so you can best direct them to the sign up page of your own host.

What Does The Home Company Bring to the Table?

Look for a couple of things, here. Terms of payment is a good place to start. As an affiliate, you’ll have access to the affiliates’ page within the host’s site. This is where you’ll find data on how many click throughs from your site actually converted, i.e., signed up with the web host. If your hosting service doesn’t offer access to such information, how will you know how much you’re owed?

The amount of payment for each delivered new customer is another key consideration. Some hosts give you a few bucks, others a few more bucks. If you’re going to all of the trouble of signing on as an affiliate and placing another company’s logo right there on your home page, you want the affiliate program to actually generate more revenue than the space it takes up. Lots more.

Check to make sure that your hosting company offers sales collaterals that you can use to actually sell the service. These might include sell pages, downloads of terms, maybe an animated link and other goodies that will boost your click-through rate and your bottom line.

Finally, look for a contact telephone number that provides affiliate services. Problem with your most recent payment? You want to pick up the phone, talk to a host company rep and get the problem fixed without blowing off an entire day to do it.

Partner With Your Web Host

That’s what you want – a partner and a symbiotic relationship. A relationship that benefits you and the hosting company. Some companies simply send you the HTML link and leave everything else up to you. Others actually want to partner with you to generate more business for them and more revenues for you.

Indeed, your hosting company wants your affiliation to be profitable for you. If it is, that means you’re driving a lot of new sign-ups to the host’s site. So look for a host that offers the biggest bang for your affiliation, a host that wants your efforts to pay off for you so they pay off for the hosting company.

If you aren’t taking advantage of your web host’s affiliate program, you should. It’s easy money and you’re selling a service you know is good from your own experience. It’s a win-win-win proposition so sign on today and start generating some of that easy, passive revenue this time tomorrow.

There are lots of ways to monetize a web site. If you aren't squeezing every penny out of your site, call me. You can make more from your on-line assets.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

COPYRIGHT: WHAT DO YOU REALLY OWN ON THE W3?

NOPE, I DON'T OWN IT BUT I CAN USE IT UNDER "FAIR USE" LAWS.

Web Copyright: Who Owns What?

Trying to figure out web copyright law is like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. It’s a topsy-turvy world in which media content giant Viacom (owners of cable’s Comedy Central) is suing You Tube for copyright infringement for displaying clips from Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and from “Daily Show” spin-off, “The Colbert Report.”

Interesting case with allegations flying from both well-funded complainant and defendant with accusations from You Tube owner, Google, that Viacom is posting its own clips on the site for marketing purposes. Hmmmm.

Same deal with the music industry that claims You Tube is making money off artists without paying licensing fees. You can see concert clips of music stars free on You Tube and the musicians, and their record companies, want their take even though these clips actually promote sales. You see Clapton play “Layla” in concert and you immediately open your iTunes account to download a copy. We all do it. Legally.

So, who owns what on the web and how can you, a site-owning webmaster, avoid a lawsuit for copyright infringement (as if you don’t have enough headaches).

What do you own?

If you’ve built your web site, you own an intellectual property just like a book or a movie or TV show – all intellectual properties. However, if you download rights free clip art to pepper your site with photos, you don’t own the pix. You can use them, but you don’t own them.

You own content that you wrote or paid to have written under a standard “Work for Hire” contract that you sign with a professional copywriter. (Make sure to get it in contract form.) Under these agreements, the professional gives up all rights (and there are lots of them) in exchange for payment of an agreed-upon amount.

You own your site’s URL as long as you re-up every 12 months. And you own anything that’s considered proprietary. For example, if you own the rights, license or patent on a product you sell, any images of that product are considered proprietary. You own them.

However, that doesn’t mean that other site owners can’t use these images. They can, even if you’ve copyrighted them. There are a variety of “fair use” clauses in copyright law that allow reviewers to quote from copyrighted books, or to show clips from a copyright movie. This is considered fair use of the images owned by someone else.

So, if someone writes a review of your product, they can show an image of that product under fair use statutes – as long as they don’t say anything untruthful about the product – something you and your lawyer can determine.

What you don’t own

Everything else.

If you have a great new idea for a sure-fire, can’t miss web-based business and somebody comes along and steals your thunder (and your idea) tough luck. You can’t copyright an idea.

You don’t own content from other sites, even if it’s syndicated and delivered each day by RSS feed. Again, you can use it (RSS use is a single right under a much broader umbrella of copyright protection) but you can’t claim it as your own, edit it, put your name on it or otherwise mislead the reader or viewer about the source of the content.

Play It Safe

To avoid problems, assume everything is copyrighted. The owner of an intellectual property isn’t required to add a copyright notice (©) but just because there isn’t a notice doesn’t mean it’s public domain content – content that can be used by anyone without cost or permission.

If you’re producing or displaying “Work for Hire” content on your site, it’s highly recommended that you do add a copyright notice – something like: © This work is protected under international copyright laws and may not be used without the written permission of (put your name or company name here). This won’t stop the practice, sometimes called “rip art” – intellectual property essentially stolen or appropriated without the necessary permissions of the copyright holder.

Oh, and the “I didn’t see any copyright notice” defense won’t save you. A number of site owners have tried it and the courts always side with the owner of the intellectual property, assuming that you’re smart enough to know that all content has an owner and content is an asset – something worth protecting.

Another key point: if you do use rights-free clip art, you can’t create any untruths (lies) about it. Here’s a rights free clip from the Microsoft collection available to anyone for download and use on their sites – rights free.

It’s fine to add a label that doesn’t misconstrue the intent of the photo. So, grabbing this picture from the Microsoft gallery, you could say “Busy sales executive on the go.” No problem.

What you can’t say is “Our mobile phones, like the one shown here, have the widest range of any cell on the market.” It’s a lie. Worse, you can’t say “This is just one more example of how prostitution has taken to the streets in our city.” That clearly misconstrues the intent of the photograph.

Good: A busy real estate agent has to keep in touch with her many clients.

Bad: The Acme Hands-Free headset makes driving a breeze.

Worst: This picture shows that sexually transmitted diseases affect all people. (This one could land you in court.)

Unfair Use of Meta Data

You can’t use company names trademarks, signature marks or other intellectual properties in your site’s meta data though many unknowing site owners do this. An ebiz owner selling Godiva chocolates can use Godiva in the site’s keyword and title tags. However, if the site doesn’t sell Godiva chocolates, the unethical site designer is ripping off Godiva’s good name to generate profit.

The case of Oppedahl & Larson v. Advanced Concepts, et al made it clear that even though the copyright infringement wasn’t visible, the defendants were benefiting from the use of someone else’s intellectual property.

Know Your DMCA

With the web growing like a weed in the 90s, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1998. The act takes into consideration heretofore undeveloped outlets for content, in most cases, digital outlets.

The actual DMCA is bone-dry, legal-speak but, if you’re going to be using content in any form from other sites – including rights-free pictures and text – it’s worth loading up on the caffeine and plowing through this document. The DMCA is based on a couple of international copyright treaties that countries, like China, have signed but completely ignore, pirating billions of dollars of intellectual properties every year. You can buy a DVD copy of the next summer blockbuster in Beijing before it even hits the screens in the U.S. However, if the culprit is U.S.-based, you could bring suit and follow through. If you really wanted to.

What if you get ripped off?

Well, it’s not quite tough toenails, but darned close. There are treaties and laws, acts, agreements, roundtables with bunches of legal experts from around the world – but there’s very little enforcement. Other than you.

There is no Web Police (wait for it) so if you find your well-written article on some other guy’s site you’ll have to take the initial action, and most times you’ll discover that any lawyer who’s up-to-speed on web copyright law is going to cost like a thousand bucks an hour, making it uneconomical to pursue legal action. Especially if the (alleged) perp lives in Timbuktu. Good luck in finding any court that’ll hear the case. And even if you do and you prove your case in court, how are you going to collect for damages? You may end up getting paid off in goats, if you collect anything.

The best thing to do if you find your intellectual property has been ripped is to contact the site owner (there’s usually a contact form, telephone number or some type of contact information) to inform the offending rip artist that s/he’s using your intellectual property and would s/he kindly remove it from the site.

Most site owners don’t want to hassle with copyright infringement cases, so the piece is likely to be removed.

And Now Back to Our Show: The You Tube-Viacom Smackdown

You Tube claims that it’s very protective of the intellectual property rights of others and that when informed that a copyrighted piece has been posted without permission, the company removes the post immediately.

Hard to say. Even with the battle of these two content titans in the headlines, there were plenty of clips from the “Daily Show,” the “Colbert Report” and other TV shows posted on You Tube today, along with movie trailers, music videos and a lot of content that has a big © right there on the screen. So you have to wonder.

The point is, recognize your exposure to risk. You can be sued for misappropriating someone else’s intellectual property. Is it likely to happen? Not today.

But is it really something you want to take to court? You, no doubt, have better things to do, so play it straight, get your signed use-permissions in place, and breathe a little easier because you’ve eliminated one more risk from your online venture.

Do you own it? Can you use it? Call me.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

NO THANKS, MAYBE NEXT TIME: MANAGING CUSTOMER OBJECTIONS

"Are you people total idiots, or what?"

Oh yeah, she'll be back.

Controlling Customer Objections On Line:

It Ain't Like Main Street

If you work in the world of commerce (you do, that's why you're reading this) you most certainly encounter customer objections - reasons the customer or client gives for NOT buying your products or services.

Now, in the 3-D, Main Street world, you hear these objections and address them as they arise. Face to face. That's what sales and marketing are all about. But, if you own a web-based business, there's no face time. So how do you address customer objections?

Anticipation. Preparation. Transparency. Trust. Your site text, the design, the look and feel - all of these should be targeted to address anticipated customer objections. The "push-back" as it's sometimes called on car lots. (Lots of face time, there.)

So, get ready for 'NO, THANKS' and a bounce rate high enough to cause a nose bleed. How do you handle the objections of site visitors? Well, if you know what you're doing, if you know your buyers' needs and expectations, it's not rocket science.

Check it out.

If you’ve built a career in sales you know all about customer objections. Objections are the reasons prospective customers give for NOT buying a product or service. It’s too expensive. It’s too complicated. I don’t really need it. These are common customer objections whether we’re talking about buying a new car or whatever it is you sell on your web site.

Even if you sell the best products or provide A-1 services, and even if you have the lowest prices on the entire web, you’ll encounter objections. Problem is, you won’t encounter them face to face in the world of e-commerce, which means you won’t have the opportunity to address objections face to face. Therefore, controlling objections must take place in the content of your website.

Additionally, in the real world, managing objections is reactive. The customer objects. The salesperson reacts with a counter to the objection. In the impersonal marketplace of the W3, managing customer objections must be proactive. Assume you will encounter objections and address them before the visitor clicks off to another site.

What Objections Will You Get?

Depending on what you’re selling, objections will differ. For example, most customers won’t be concerned with a long-term warranty on a $15 calculator. If it dies, buy a new one. On the other hand, if you’re selling $2,000 laptops, your customers are going to be looking at your warranties, guaranties, return policies – anything and everything that protects them from being ripped off.

And as a good citizen of the web community, you should have no problem posting warranties and return policies where they can be easily found and easily read! (Wouldn’t you like to get your hands on the guy who invented fine print?)

So what objections are you likely to encounter?

It costs too much money.

I saw it for a lower price.

I don’t have the money right now.

My old one is good enough.

It looks confusing.

I don’t understand how it works.

I don’t understand the guaranty.

I don’t (really) need it.

My (insert relation’s name here) would kill me.

Maybe another time.

There are plenty more. I’ve already got one; I want something with more features or fewer features (usually not the same consumer, btw); I don’t like the color, shape, size, design, feng shui or some other aspect of the product. The list is as varied as the customers who visit your web site.

And you better know what objections visitors will raise and proactively address them in your site’s content.

How Do I Address A Customer Objection?

Once you’ve determined which objections you’ll most likely encounter from site visitors you develop a strategy to address the objection before it even becomes an objection.

Example #1: It’s too complicated.

Okay, take a look at this 3-minute Flash demo that’ll show you how to assemble the (whatever it is you sell). You’re not addressing the objection with a long body of text explaining how to assemble your gizmo. You’re providing a clip that actually shows each step of assembly with text burns identifying key steps and just where Tab A is.

Example #2: It’s too expensive.

How will the product improve productivity or quality of life? Let’s say you’re selling hot tubs. You point out the benefits to the consumer. Forget product features. The “too-expensive” buyer must see personal benefit(s) in order for you to manage the objection.

“You come home from a stressful day, hop into the heated, soothing water, turn on the relaxing massage jets and feel the cares of the day melt away.” The buyer who believes “it’s” too expensive doesn’t care about the 15hp motor, the 18 water jets and the automated chlor-tab release. S/he needs to see personal benefit. Once that’s established, move on to features in you sales copy.

Example #3: I saw it for less at www.thecheapestsiteintheworld.com.

If you can’t beat the competition on price – and many times you won’t be able to compete with big box store prices – time to highlight the quality of your service, your easy return policy and the fact that there’s no re-stocking fee. (Wouldn’t you like to get your hands on the guy who invented the restocking fee?)

Some sites offer a “Beat any legitimate price” guarantee. You can, too. Even if your price is a bit higher, most visitors won’t take the time to find the lowest of the low and if they do, you’ve lost a few bucks but have a happy customer – one who’ll be back to buy the accessories.

Example #4: I don’t want to buy a (fill in the blank) on the web.

Would you buy a $4,000 diamond engagement ring online? From a site you never heard of? Not many people would. Too many risks. For all the buyer knows, you’re selling “diamacroids” as real diamonds. And if you’re half way around the world, the buyer has no recourse.

Establish trust be establishing verifiable credentials. Member of the online BBB, certified by the Diamond Sellers Association of the World, graduate of the School of Gemology, 140 years in business, etc. You’d buy a diamond online from Tiffany’s because the trust factor is built in. Not so for www.billscutratediamondbazaar.com – no matter how low Bill’s prices.

You get the idea. To successfully convert a visitor into a buyer requires that all objections be addressed in site content using a variety of media to get the job done. A Flash demo, an audio clip and picture of you, a picture of your factory, a virtual 360° tour, a step-by-step, idiot-proof assembly guide, 24-hour tech support – whatever works best to counter the objection.

All kinds of people will stop by your web site and each will come with his or her own expectations and objections. Meet those expectations and counter those objections right from the start. It’ll do wonders for your conversion ratio.

It’ll also keep your repeat buyer list growing. Why? No objections.

Call me.

Webwordslinger.com

DOMAIN PARKING: JUST PARK IT

Park It:

What Is Domain Parking and Why Do I Need It?

Once you’ve come up with the perfect domain name for your online business, the next step is to register the name through a registrar – in many cases the hosting service you’ve chosen. Once registered, you’re still not hooked up to the I-net, i.e. you lack any presence on the w3.

To show up at all, you have to park your domain. Parking simply means your domain is registered and has a route to and from the web. People can find you by typing in www.whateveryoursitesnameis.com. The point of parking a domain name? Several.

Search Engine Recognition

When you park your domain on a web host server, it is there. It exists. It’s real, even though there’s no website behind it. Just a few bytes for a single page. However, the simple step of parking a domain will make your domain recognizable to search engines. That’s a good thing. Even though there’s no content, the SE spiders will know your site is there. And being discovered by SE spiders can take time so park it ASAP and get the recognition process underway.

Generate Traffic

You won’t get any traffic through the natural results of search engine indexing because there’s no content or anything useful to the search engine user – yet. But you can tell all your friends and family to visit your site and start generating some traffic before your website is even started. In the world of ecommerce, every little bit helps – especially when you’re just starting out.

Domain For Sale

A registered domain name is a commodity. Domains are bought, sold and traded everyday – thousands of them. In fact, there are many domain brokers who will list your site and even put the name up for auction. A lot of people register domain names just to park them and put out the ‘For Sale’ sign.

If you’re interested in domain ‘homesteading’ – registering domains for fun and profit - use the services of a low-cost domain registration service, often associated with low-cost hosting companies. Many of these web hosts will register domains in bulk for as little as $2.95 per.

Do the math. Register 100 exceedingly clever domain names at $2.95 per and your registration costs are under $300. Your potential return, which of course depends on buyers’ interest, is significantly higher than your outlay. Good domain names are hard to find with more and more being registered daily so businesses are willing to pay big bucks for a good one.

Here’s an example. In 1996 a Denver-based publishing company registered the domain name Caboodle.com for the release of a new publication. When the publisher finished with the promotion, he kept the domain name on the off chance that someone might want to buy it.

Offers trickled in at first, usually in the $50 to $100 range. At last check, the publisher had been offered $2,000 for Caboodle.com. And he’s holding out for more. The fact is, he’ll get it because it’s a good name for a number of online businesses.

Free Parking

Obviously, the homesteading model falls to pieces if you have to pay monthly hosting fees – even really, really low hosting fees. Those 100 domain names you registered in bulk could easily end up costing you $600 to $700 a month if you have to pay for server space.

Make sure you get free parking for all domains registered through the host/registrar. Good hosts will let you park them for free so shop around and don’t pay anything for the tiny bit of server space your parked domain takes up.

Provide Contact Information

In the case of a ‘For Sale’ domain, parked on a host server, it’s helpful to provide at least a short form that potential buyers can complete. Good web hosts provide free tools and applications to create a simple, secure online form. Again, never pay for parking or site apps.

At the very least, include an email link so any potential buyer can contact you with an offer.

Under Construction

The most common use of domain parking is for sites under construction. If your site is simple and straightforward, you can be up and running in a few hours. No need for a “Coming Soon” sign.

On the other hand, if you’re creating a complex, deep site with lots of product offerings and a detailed back office, it could take several weeks to get everything just right before you launch. But that doesn’t mean you have to remain invisible to the public or to search engines. Go public with your site even as you’re building it.

This is a good idea because you can actually generate “type-in” traffic, SE acknowledgement and public curiosity. You may not get 10,000 hits a day while your site is in development, but you’ll get some. More importantly, you’ll be picked up by search engine spiders faster – before you launch.

Remember, look for a host that registers domain names in bulk at a low per registration price. Shop around. You’ll find registrars who will register a domain for one year for as little as $2.95. Some even offer FREE domain registration when you sign up for hosting services for 12 months. It saves a few bucks.

Your web host should also provide free parking for your domains registered through that host. If the host you’re considering charges a parking fee, keep looking. You can get it free.

If you’re domain homesteading, provide contact information on each of your parked sites so buyers can reach you to discuss terms. Find a host that gives you free tools and applications to create a contact information page for each site on the block.

And look for other hosting services and features. You want security to protect your digital realty, 24/7 tech support and lots of freebies. The hosting industry is hard-edged competitive so companies have to offer more for less all of the time.

So, take your time to find the right host, even if you’re just parking.

CGI, PHP, ASP AND THE ALPHABET SOUP OF SEO

Script Functionality:

LEARN A LITTLE. GROW A LOT.

Scripts, also called languages, come in lots of formats used for different web-based purposes. Some popular scripts include CGI, ASP, Perl, PHP, HTML and other programming languages intended to create the look of your web site and define how the web site interacts with the site visitor. Indeed, interactivity is a two-way street. Visitors don’t just interact with web sites. Web sites interact with visitors in many ways from both the server- and client-side of web communication, and using the right script to encourage the most desired response from visitors will set your site apart.

PHP: Creating Personalized Pages For Your Best Customers

Your best customers are the ones who come back a second, third and forth time. Repeat buyers. And each time they access your site, you learn more about the interests of individual buyers.

PHP scripting is a server side, HTML scripting language that allows you to create personalized, dynamic site pages. Dynamic? Yep, pages that are different for each visitor. Amazon uses dynamic PHP scripting to maximum advantage. When you log on (as a repeat buyer) you’re greeted by name and suggested items for purchase are offered. And when your best friend logs on to the same dynamic site page, s/he will see a different page with different recommendations for purchase.

PHP is open source software and is built to sync up with site building templates, equipping even the novice user to create personalized pages based on visitor information stored in the site’s database. That’s how Amazon knows you’re a fan of spy novels or baroque music. All of your buying history is stored in Amazon’s database and when you log on, information is pulled from the d-base for presentation on the site skin. PHP style.

This is just one example of how sites interact with visitors, offering a personalized welcome, personalized page appearance and other dynamic, on-the-fly information.

ASP Design and Object Oriented Programs

ASP stands for active server pages which, in many ways, are similar to PHP scripted site pages. ASP is a Microsoft, server-side script that employs built-in or embedded “objects” to create dynamic (changing) web pages.

An object is one unit of run time data storage – run time defining the actual operation of a specific computer program from its launch to completion. Object oriented programs (OOPs) are written using various run time data storage methodologies that enable the program designer to write code in which objects interact with each other to create the dynamics of an interactive site page.

A typical computer program is simply a list of commands or instructions “telling” the computer to first do this, next do this and so on down the line until the entire program has completed its run time.

Unlike more traditional forms of programming, objects embedded in programs are able to send and receive messages from other objects. Each object can receive, process and send data to other objects. This enables these programs to access database information to create the personalized interactivity found on many of today’s user-friendly web sites.

Each object created by a site programmer can be thought of as a little part of a larger machine, with all parts interacting to create a function – the thing the machine does, i.e. the function of a lawn mower is to cut grass, but to perform that function the lawn mower must have all its parts properly situated and operating together as a single machine. The more objects (machine parts) the more complex the function of the machine, or in the case of web site design, the more interactive and user friendly the web site.

Perl – Processing Faster and Smoother

Perl stands for practical extraction and report language. Like PHP and ASP, it’s a server side OSS used in the creation of web scripts that speed up interactivity between site visitor and host server.

As the public grows more web savvy, the expectations of web users increase. Perl scripting is not embedded within HTML (hyper text markup language), the most common web site scripting language employed today. Perl scripting is not downloaded to the user’s browser but, instead, remains on the host server. This cuts download times and improves site performance. Perl scripting is activated by commands embedded in the underlying HTML code that defines everything from the look of the web site to its functionality – from simple to extremely complex.

Perl is used primarily for processing text and, as such, is often employed in the creation of CGI scripts.

CGI Scripting

Without CGI programming, we wouldn’t be able to “communicate” with a web site’s host server. CGI stands for common gateway interface. A CGI is a web protocol used to receive server commands and deliver data on demand to the user’s browser. For example, when you complete an online form for submission, you’re activating a CGI program and utilizing an effective means of running programs within your browser, i.e. on your computer.

Some of the most common programs activated by CGI scripting include Java applets, Java scripts (programs) and Active X, used to run animations and even create web-based games for entertainment. Collectively, these programs are called client-side applications because they run directly within the user’s browser rather than server-side apps that run from the web site’s host server.

One common complaint about CGI scripting is that each time the user activates a CGI program, a new process or function is started. This won’t cause a problem for smaller, simpler and less frequented sites. However, because CGI scripting operates on the client side, it’s cumbersome for busy websites and may well degrade site performance because of all of that extra download time required to download and install the CGI script within the user’s browser.

Does All of This Confuse You?

Fortunately, you don’t need to know a thing about scripting languages and defining site functionality thanks to the creation of template-based modules that simply hook up with the HTML code that defines your web site.

For example, quality web hosting companies provide PHP modules such as phppgadmin to oversee the operation of your site from an easy-to understand, console-like interface. Want to add a bulletin board for quick postings? phpBB is designed to plug directly into your HTML code or, if you aren’t writing HTML code from scratch, phpBB plugs in to your web site design template with a click.

To create dynamic site pages that greet return visitors by name, a quality web host will provide both the database, MySQL Server, for example, and PHP interface that allows you to immediately access d-base information for display within the visitor’s browser.

The point is, if you’re just starting out on the web, you may be put off by the alphabet soup of scripting languages (HTML, XML, PHP, CGI, ASP, etc.) but you can relax by selecting a hosting company that provides PHP modules and CGI wizards – pre-programmed solutions that enable even a novice to create more friendly, faster functioning web sites – even if you don’t know a thing about writing script or embedding objects.

Look for a web host that offers an expansive tool kit and 24/7 tech support if you’re making your first foray into the world of e-commerce. You’ll save a ton of money on site design, you’ll be able to change and update your site as newer versions of scripting languages become available (saving more money) and you’ll be able to create a fully dynamic, interactive site that works with site visitors to encourage sales, speed up downloads and enhance the on-site experience regardless of what browser is employed by the visitor.

It may sound like a lot of geek-speak, but if you can click a mouse, you can design a site that rivals the most up-to-date, interactive, feature-rich sites on the W3.

And no one will know you’re a beginner. In fact, you’ll look like a pro from the get-go.

Ready to pump up your web site? That's what SEO JUICE is all about. Call me. It ain't rocket science.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

DON'T BREAK THE BANK. SAVE MONEY AND STILL MAKE THE SALE

Do You Need a Merchant Account For Your Site?

Not Really, Though It Might Help

When first-time, online entrepreneurs start to put together a budget they often overlook what will almost certainly be a significant expense – the cost of a merchant account. A merchant account is simply an account with a credit card company or companies that allows you to accept credit card orders. Without a merchant account, no credit cards please.

Now, credit cards are the most popular way to pay for items or on-line services, but check out some of the merchant account providers – resellers of merchant accounts that assume some of the risk of granting you credit. (In effect, that’s what a merchant account does. It grants you, the site owner, credit which you then pass on to your buying customers.)

These merchant account resellers often require you to sign a one- or two-year contract that means you’re going to pay a monthly fee of $30 or more for 24 months even if your site closes after two months. And that monthly ‘service charge’ never goes away. Not a problem for active, profitable sites, but a $30 bite each month might actually mean the difference between success and failure for a pushcart, start-up site selling a single ebook download and hoping to generate AdWords revenues to put the kids through college.

You’ll also get dinged a ‘per transaction fee’ (anywhere from 25 cents to 75 cents) and pay the merchant account provider a percentage of each sale on a sliding scale. Those online commercial sites that process thousands of orders daily pay the least – maybe 0.5% of each transaction. Online businesses that only process a few orders each day may pay as much as 3% of each order’s total.

So add it up. Monthly fee = $30 minimum. 25-75 cents per transaction. Plus 0.5 – 3% of the total order. Those fees, expenses and percentages are certainly going to nibble away at your bottom line, even though they don’t sound too bad. But let’s say you’re operating at a 24% margin on a small number of monthly sales. Merchant account fees can decrease your margins by as much as 20%, and that’s a big hit when you’re just starting out.

Don’t forget to add merchant account cost to your line item site budget.

And one more thing: no matter how much the merchant account reseller charges, you still may not be able to get an account – especially if you have a less-than-stellar credit history. Also, even though the merchant account will be set up in the name of your online business, you are personally responsible for all business activities and payments, whether you make a single sale or not. You pay.

It actually might make sense to skip the merchant account altogether, at least for the first few months until you start to see actual incoming revenue.

But then, how is the buyer going to pay for services rendered or goods shipped without a credit card?

Alternative Payment Methods

There are, of course, alternatives to the credit card and, with some creative copywriting on your part you can turn a negative into a positive using these alternative payment methods.

Let’s start with good, old-fashioned snail mail. Mail in a check for the order amount (six business days), wait for the check to clear (three business days) and snail mail order delivery (add another seven business days to account for handling at the warehouse). You could easily forget the order before it even arrives it takes so long to get to you. Especially in this age of one-click shopping and free overnight delivery. Using snail mail is one possibility, but you won’t get rich depending on your letter carrier’s daily visit.

However, there are web-based payment gateways that most knowledgeable web users recognize and accept. And if you construct your checkout to “highlight” the benefits of these alternative payment methods, you might actually convince a few buyers to make that first purchase.

One alternative payment method is 2checkout. Low fees, no long term contracts and available to even those whose credit records look like a disaster in the making. 2checkout, like other gateways, doesn’t actually extend credit to you or your buyer. It is simply a processing service for individuals who already have credit cards. So, because the risk is lessened, so, too, are the costs.

Another option is payQuake, another order processing service with more merchant account features that 2checkout. payQuake offers tiered services depending on the size of your online enterprise – from lite (perfect for small established sites and start-ups) all the way up to the PRO version, perfect for online businesses that process lots of orders and generate a pile of revenue. payQuake, as its website states, “[provides] merchant controlled payment processing solutions…[payQuake] is a Real Merchant Account.”

payQuake offers complete ecommerce accounts, swiped card accounts for brick and mortar outlets, international accounts, specialty merchant accounts for high risk (read high end) transactions and electronic checking.

Finally, you’ll want to open a www.PayPal.com account. PayPal, which is owned by eBay, enables buyers to charge purchases on their own credit cards or to pay by direct transfer from their checking or saving accounts. PayPal is the most recognized name in cash transferal services – one most buyers will recognize immediately. And one that most buyers will have confidence in.

Turning a Negative Into a Positive

WE DON’T WANT YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER!

Now that’ll grab a lot of eyeballs. Since when do e-tailors NOT want credit card numbers. When they want to protect the sensitive data of their customers or clients.

Make a point to remind customers about online credit card fraud and the risks they take whenever they give out a credit card number online. You don’t want to put your valuable customers at risk so you don’t accept credit card information directly – only through processing services like payQuake and PayPal.

Further, point out that buyers can eliminate credit card charges and over-limit fees by using PayPal to electronically transfer funds directly from the buyer’s checking or savings account into your business account. No numbers exchange hands. Just the payment. Many people prefer this method of purchase. It doesn’t run up large credit card bills and actually prevents the buyer from over-spending because, if the money isn’t in the account, the transaction won’t be made.

In other words, describe the benefits of using PayPal, payQuake and 2checkout. Lower costs (We pass the savings on to you!) and less likelihood of credit card fraud because the buyer’s credit card numbers are all stored in one place instead of dozens of big and small online sites. Buyers have confidence in PayPal and similar services because of their amazing, trouble-free histories.

So, skip the merchant account until you determine that (1) you need one and (2) that you can afford one. As a start up, every entrepreneurial penny should go into building an attractive site and promoting that site. Keep cash close at hand and hold on to every cent until you see whether this thing is actually going to fly.

You may someday decide to get a merchant account. You’ve heard many pundits state that the more payment gateways you offer, the more sales you generate. That may be true – at some point. But on the day you launch your site you may not see a single visitor. They don’t know you’re there yet. So why pay $30 a month to accept a Visa purchase that never takes place.

Wait to see how things go. You’ll know soon enough whether a merchant account is something you want or need. And, if you go with a web host that’s established and reliable, you may be able to get a break on some of those merchant account charges through your web host (and merchant account reseller, but one that actually cares that your site be successful.)

Ready to launch? Drop me a line or give me a call before you do. Don't screw this up.

Later, young entrepreneurs,

Webwordslinger.com

10 DUMBEST WEB DESIGN MISTAKES: SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT

DON'T MAKE IT HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE.

START COUNTING CLICKS. THE FEWER CLICKS, THE MORE MDAS.

The Top 10 Dumbest Site Design Practices:

Be Smart. Web Success Is Hard Enough

Despite some of the posts on SEOmoz.org, site optimization is NOT a science. Science requires accurate, contestable data. No metrics or analytics deliver empirical data so it ain’t no science. SEO Pros don’t even agree on which weighting factors have the most impact on PR and TR.

However, it doesn’t take rock solid numbers to identify dumb design decisions – decisions that prevent access, make buying difficult and make site navigation a wonderland of surprises.

Thus, I offer the 10 Dumbest Design Practices IMHO.

10. Flyouts or drop down menus that cover site text. Umm, yes I want to navigate to that page but that flyout covers home page content that I want to read. Dumber still? No way to close the flyout. Duh.

9. Limited payment gateways. DIY site owners happily launch with PayPal as their only payment gateway. A lot of buyers have never even heard of PayPal, they don’t have an account and they’re not going to the trouble to open one.

The more payment gateways, the more orders you’ll receive. Get a merchant account.

8. Spamglish. Yep, it’s still out there on critical pages that, ostensibly, are designed for humans. Keyword density, as a factor in PR and TR is losing significance so why stuff pages with keywords.

7. Critical site information in graphics. Bots can’t read graphics, so important indexing data may be lost, tucked in a bitmap somewhere.

6. No telephone number. This one is a poser. As a site owner, you went to a great deal of trouble, time and money to get that visitor on site. Wouldn’t it be great to have a telephone number (toll free) so visitors could call with questions or, better yet, orders?

5. Ambiguous navigation. The assumption, here, is that site visitors know what a link labeled “Damsels” means – kinda like those rest room signs in theme restaurants, i.e. “Buoys and Gulls.”

4. No site map. Come on, you guys. You can buy a site map generator for less than $25. And, in creating this remarkable map, you help visitors and bots find their ways around.

3. Dated, duplicate content. We’ve all encountered the entrepreneur who wants a low-ball site populated with public domain and syndicated content and 1,200 affiliate links. The site is dated the day it launches.

2. The long-form sales letter. I’m sure Dan Kennedy meant no harm but these endless pages of mixed type faces, heaps of hype and the never ending (literally) PS, PPS and PPPS bonuses are insulting to the intelligent of a chimp.

1. Home page opt ins. Are you nuts? I don’t even know what I’m opting for (or against). If I have to give you my email address knowing that you’re going to back sell me to the grave, I want to know what I’m getting.

Why place this HUGE stumbling block on page uno. I’m bouncing.

Start counting clicks. How many clicks are required for the site visitor to perform the most desired action or MDA. The fewer clicks, the more MDAs. Call me to discuss your site performance. beleive me, this ain't brain surgery.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

There are dozens (100s) of mistakes that even experienced site designers make - especially the designer who's cranking out the sausage 24/7. Know what makes a high-functioning site. Then tell your programmer how to build it.

Have fun,

Webwordslinger.com

webwordslinger.com

CUSTOMER RETENTION: WANT THEM TO COME BACK?

Customer Retention:

Keep Them Locked In Place

How much did it cost you to get your latest customer? $0.50? You should be so lucky. $5.00? Ummmm, maybe. $10.00? You’re getting warmer.

The fact is, most site owners don’t have a clue how much it cost them to acquire a customer. More importantly, they don’t know if the customer made enough of an initial purchase to even cover customer acquisition costs such as Google AdWords, a press release, syndicated content or some other means of attracting attention on the W3.

However, you can get a rough estimate of cost per customer by totaling up marketing and promotion expenses and dividing by the number of customers – not just site visitors but visitors who converted to buyers. And this is far from a pointless exercise. When you determine just how much it cost you to recruit a customer – a paying customer – you’re going to want to keep that person coming back time and time again.

The Importance of Customer Retention to Site Success

It’s called customer retention and if you’re just starting out in the wild world of e-commerce, you’ll soon realize how critical customer retention is to your long-term success. And, even if you’ve been doing this a while, there are plenty of steps you can take to retain the customers you’ve accumulated over the years. Is it worth it? What do you think?

So here are a few tips that have worked for companies as diverse as Amazon and Netflix. And both of those e-businesses are doing well with their customer retention strategies.

Personalize the Buying Experience

You can do this using your database to deliver customized content to each visitor. You can welcome each customer by name and offer suggestions for purchase based on their past buying history.

Gather Customer Data

Two ways to do this: either through the use of metrics software or by providing repeat buyers (those are the ones you love) a form to write both gripes and praise. Fix the gripes. Expand the praiseworthy features. Easy. Oh, and don’t forget to mention that this form is for repeat customers only so you can improve both your products and services to enhance that repeat buyer’s on-site experience.

By the way, this kind of “personalized” input will probably reveal problems that never occurred to you. Conversely, it’ll point out your site’s under-utilized strengths like a one-click checkout, for instance.

Stay In Touch

Even small sites have new products and special sales. Use your database to provide email announcements for “customers” only.

Now don’t overdo this or your emails will end up in the recycling bin. However, the judicious use of email is very effective. Check out ajferrari.com. It’s a relatively small site that does big business in selling authentic Italian olive oils and other hard-to-find foods from Italy.

During the holiday season and a few weeks before Mother’s or Father’s day, this company sends out an email announcing gift ideas – and these emails pull big time.

Create a Customers Only Section

This requires a log in name and a password but it provides lots of useful informational content about the company’s products or services. Again, not too much hype. Keep the content informational to provide a little bonus for your regulars.

You may also want to consider adding a customer’s forum in this section – a place where regulars can share their experiences – good or bad – with your company (fix the bad) – they can exchange recipes, strategies, ask and answer questions. It’s a great way to build a site community – a group that returns to your site on a regular basis. And buys stuff.

Reward Loyalty

Free stuff. That’s always a nice reward. Offer free shipping to all of your regulars or offer a free gift with their next purchase. A free ebook download – anything that says “Thank you, we appreciate your patronage.”

BTW, these loyalty rewards may do better when placed in the “Customer Only” section so you don’t alienate newcomers to your site.

Surprise Savings

Regular customers will stay that way when you offer surprise savings on certain items. As items are placed in the shopping cart, you can flash a “Surprise Savings” icon announcing that “because you’re a regular customer, this item is only $5.99 instead of the $10.99 new customers pay.” Think of the old-time Blue Light Specials. It’s like free money and your regulars will definitely appreciate it.

Coupons work, too. Place them throughout your site so that visitors have to search for them, like a treasure hunt. Coupons can knock 10% off your total purchase price, provide free shipping and handling or offer a free thank-you gift – a show of appreciation for the customer’s regular patronage. And the customer gets the benefit today at the POP!

Simplify Everything

Keep things simple for regulars. Provide a one click checkout so these regulars can load up their shopping carts, make a single checkout click and their goods are on the way. Easy.

Provide a 24-hour customer service line. And even if you’re just starting out and cash is tight, this might be worth outsourcing. Otherwise you may end up spending your days handling customer care – not a happy thought – when you could put your time and energy to better use – like growing the business!

Make returns easy, too. Larger online businesses keep complete records of the buying practices of their customers. So, if you call in with a problem, your account pops up on screen telling the representative everything s/he needs to know about you.

If you’re a big spender and a regular, the service rep will do handstands to make sure you’re happy – even if it means the business loses money on this one sale. Your customer profile shows you’re worth keeping.

However, if you’re a first-time buyer or, worse, a customer who complains about every purchase, don’t expect the same treatment that good customers receive. Good customers are worth the effort. Problem buyers aren’t.

Always Over Deliver

One online company that caters to new brides always includes a little extra gift no matter how small the order. One woman ordered two bed side lamps and received, as a gift, four place mats – which probably cost as much as the two lamps she ordered. Think that customer will be back? She will.

This is a great way to get rid of excess inventory and maintain customer retention. But it doesn’t have to be a gift. It can be going the extra mile – overnight delivery or a special order – anything that makes the buyer feel as though you care – because you do care…a lot.

It costs you money for every buyer you get so it just makes sense that once they’ve become a customer, you keep them coming back by creating customer loyalty in lots of little ways.

Finally, No Unpleasant Surprises, Please.

Don’t forget to eliminate any unpleasant surprises. For example, a customer places a $9.95 order only to discover at the checkout that there’s a $7.95 shipping and handling fee. There’s an abandoned shopping cart and rest assured, that customer won’t be back.

Or, how about advertising an item on site only to inform the buyer that the item has been back ordered and won’t ship until the boat arrives from China. Think that customer will be pleased upon hearing that? How about orders that take six weeks to fill? That’s a no-no for sure.

Look you worked hard and paid for every one of your customers so everything you can do to keep them customers is, in the long run, going to improve your bottom line.

Back in the day, there was the view among merchants that “The customer is always right.” Somewhere along the way, that idea got lost. But in the intensely competitive world of e-commerce, the idea is making a comeback.

So, have a sign made up. Hang it where all employees (including you) can see it. In big bold letters, it should read:

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. ALWAYS!

That’s the best way to keep the customer base you’ve worked so hard to build.

Hey, it costs 10 times the dough to find a new client than to keep an existing client. Doesn't it make sense to keep the clients you have? Call me. Let's talk.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com