Wizard Wisdom

From an email I get each week:

Dear Scott, Change... it is a word most people fear. However the process of positive change is needed for a business to stay healthy and strong. Below are 4 of my favourite quotes on change. They also form a good guide for anyone contemplating change. 1. "To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought." – Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume 2. "The first step to change is to recognise the barriers holding us back and work through them." - David Connell 3. "The wrong way always seems the more reasonable." - George Moore 4. "Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history." - Joan Wallach Scott This week we'll look at the power shift or change from Yellow Pages to Websites. In This Issue: This week's Chronicle features 2 articles by *Jeff Sexton. (edited from the original.) Part 1: Websites... the "New Improved" Yellow Pages Part 2: How to Drive Customers to Your Website *Jeff Sexton is Wizard of Ads Partner, an instructor at Wizard Academy, an editor at Australian Small Business, and a Future Now, Inc. trained Persuasion Architect and Online Copywriter. Plus he's a really nice guy! Want to talk to Jeff?... send him an email... jeffsexton@wizardofads.com Websites... the "New Improved" Yellow Pages By Wizard Partner Jeff Sexton A whole generation went digital and then up-sold the Google habit to their parents and grandparents. The Internet is now where everyone turns to first when they have a question or a problem or a buying itch they want to scratch. This Google-ification means a Web presence today is more important to your business than a Yellow Page ad was 10 years ago. Think about that when considering your Website budget. In other words, if someone types in your city’s name and whatever keywords define your product/problem/solution into Google, will your business come up in the first page? If search is the new Yellow Pages, do you even have an ad in the book? And would your ad make someone want to call you? If a prospective customer actually searched on the name of your company, would they find the answers they're looking for when they land on your Website? The Basics of Establishing a Web Presence The good news is that building a respectable, lead and business generating Website can usually be done for less than what you used to pay for Yellow Page ads. The even better news is that you don’t even have to have a fancy site that actually sells stuff online. It’s enough just to have a decent looking site with solid sales copy capable of answering people’s questions and convincing them that you’re the one to call. Think of your Website as a half step between the customer thinking about your product and actually walking into your store. You can also think of your Website as the cheapest 24-hour sales person you’ll ever have, or even of a Yellow Page ad that finally gives you the room you need to tell your story. A Few Tips On Your Site – Where to Spend The Money Now that you’ve got a rough idea of the importance of your Web presence and what kind of budget you should be looking at, here are a few tips on how to get the most from your site. 1) You can't afford to have your Website look cheap. Here are some "must-haves" that will keep your site looking professional and trustworthy: a professional banner with your logo and phone number in it. a navigation bar that looks professionally designed. an attractive and appropriate color pallet. pictures and graphic elements that look well placed and integrated with the text rather than awkwardly "pasted" in. 3-dimensional buttons or “Calls to Action.” In other words, if you want someone to click a button, then your button should look clickable. 2) Spend the money on persuasive copy. Contrary to popular belief, people DO read online, and what you say to them through your website WILL determine the difference between visitors clicking over to your competitors vs. picking up the phone and calling you. A recent study on lead generation Websites found that 50% of potential leads where lost due to inadequate information. In other words, half your leads could be lost simply because you haven't answered your potential customers' questions. Spend the money, hire a great copywriter to answer your customers' concerns and questions, and then steal your competitor's lunch money when all the good leads sign up to do business with you. 3) Good Web copy resembles a sales conversation rather than a sales “pitch.” Good salespeople talk about what matters to the customer and respectfully answer their questions. Bad salespeople “Show up and throw up,” forcing prospects to leave angry. A good copywriter should be able to talk with your sales staff and really dig into your prospect’s concerns, typical questions, and buying criteria. Then they should create copy that answers those questions within the sales copy they’re writing. If a copywriter suggests sticking the answers into a FAQ page, fire ‘em. The last thing you want to do is to force visitors to search for answers to their questions. 4) Bad Web copy is about you. Good Web copy is about the customer. How can you quickly tell if your copy passes muster? Easy, just count how many “We” statements you’re using vs. the amount of “You” statements. If you’re constantly talking about how great your dealership is, how great your product is, etc, than you’ll likely rack up a whole lot of “we” statements. That’s called “we-we” copy, and it’s about as attractive to customers as constantly talking about yourself is to a date. Stop “we-we”-ing all over yourself by focusing on “Why would this matter to the customer.” This is very similar to the old Benefits vs. Feature distinction so familiar to good sales professionals. People don’t buy features, they buy benefits. If your copy is feature rich and written from the customer’s perspective, or is it all about how your product has the best features in the business? 5) Place a picture of your office building and staff in your “About Us” page. People will always rather buy from an established business than a guy working out of his truck. A picture of your office and staff says a thousand very powerful words about why your web visitor should trust you. How to Drive Customers to Your Website By Wizard Partner Jeff Sexton Once you have website, the next question will be how to drive customers to it. You’ll be tempted to start a Google Ad Words or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign. And while that may be a profitable option for you, I’d suggest you also look into a radio advertising campaign as a driver of local traffic to your small business Website. Here’s why: 1) Radio reaches about a 1000 times more people per dollar than PPC 2) A properly constructed radio campaign is cumulative – this year’s success can build upon last year’s and so on. With PPC Ads, there’s no cumulative effect or build-up - it’s strictly Pay-Per-Click: you pays yer money and you’s gets yer click. The Editor: Unfortunately very few radio campaigns are properly constructed. 3) Radio is an ideal traffic driver for websites while websites are an ideal half step for radio. With radio, you can get a mass audience to remember your business name when they think of the product or service you sell – to the point that they’ll likely Google your business name rather than a general search term. Plus, your website allows you to tell the prospect all the things you’d like to say in a 30 second ad but don’t have time to. And it’s a lot easier to remember a website from a radio ad than a phone number, isn’t it? In short, Radio can allow you to beat out the competitions website before a prospect even goes online for your product, and your website can move an interested radio listener into a qualified lead. 4) There are only so many people ALREADY LOOKING for your product. So part of your marketing burden is convincing people who aren't already actively shopping for your product or service that they'd be happier or have a lot less aggravation in life or be able to kick more butt if they only had your product or survive. PPC has almost no ability to do that, but a Radio-Website combination can do wonders in this area. Plus, if you stamp your company's name into tens of thousands of listeners memories, so that your the first name they think of the company that they feel best about whenever your product or service category is mentioned, what do you think is going to happen when these people do become actual buyers? Do you think they'll search for the name of your company, or do you think they'll just do a general search using category search terms? Chances are they'll search on your name - thereby eliminating your competition from even getting a chance at selling them. And that's no small advantage when gaining market share becomes crucial to just staying flat, let alone growing. A Closing Thought On the subject of change... "Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall." - Tobias George Smollett Craig Arthur Wizard Partners Part of the Wizard of Ads group of companies PS. Need help to attract more customers and grow your business? Our Promise? We will NEVER try to sell you. So what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and call, or send us an email. We look forward to hearing your story. Australia & New Zealand Call Craig Arthur - (07) 4728 4866 or send an email United States & Canada Call Dave Young - 308-254-2732 or send an email Call Tom Wanek - 440-610-9746 or send an email Call or email to book a FREE alignment meeting. No obligation. No pressure. It is at this meeting we both decide if there is a fit between our 2 companies. It is only then can we explore your options. We will never try to sell you. Call (07) 4728 4866.

Wizard Partners Australia. Call Us: (07) 4728 4866

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