Let Your Website Do The Work!

How Do You Know If Your Online Business Has What It Takes

So you've decided to start an online business or take your offline business online. Maybe you're tired of your corporate job? Maybe you're a Mom, like me, looking for a way to take care of your kids while you work from home? Or maybe you already have a business, but tired of trading hours for dollars? 

You have a story, you have passion, and you are hoping you have a business idea. I love when business owners have passion for what they're doing. I'm such a passionate person and it makes going into your office so much more enjoyable when you've got passion for what you're doing. But unfortunately passion alone won't create a successful online business. The key to a booming online business or any business for that matter is passion plus demand. Without demand you have no customers and thus no business.

It's easy to just tell your friends and family about your new business idea, but you are going to need a little bit more market research then this. So where do you start?

Google Keyword Tool- Find out how many people are searching for what you're passionate about. Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and type in a phrase people would enter to find what you're selling. Take a good look at the numbers that come up and how many people are searching for it and how many competitors there are. Now, I can't tell you exactly how many searches there needs to be to succeed. But the more searches and the fewer competitors the better. Also, you if you know your top competitor's website, you can enter their website address and find out the top keywords. This can really help if you're unsure of what keywords people are searching for to find your product. You can let your competitor do the work.

Google Trends-http://www.google.com/trends If you're looking for some quick website traffic via search engine optimization, Google Trends will be a great resource for you. It tells you what's hot and being searched right now. For example, if were one of the first ones to notice the iphone as a new trend you would be doing very well right now.

Create a free offer- Another great way to test the market is to create a free irresistible offer and see if anyone is interested in it. By setting up a one page website, a squeeze page, you can test the demand. The most important thing to keep in mind though is you must send traffic to this website to get accurate results. If no one is signing up for your free offer you might want to tweak it or you might need to move into a different niche.

 Check out the bookstore- If your business idea has a huge section in Barnes & Noble and several magazine racks you're onto something. Also, I just got this great tip from one of my Twitter friends @NormLanier. Head on over to the personal development section and check all of the Chick Soup book titles. There is a reason these books are so successful and there are over 100s of subjects they focus on.

So even if you've already started your online business, it's not too late to do your market research. You might find a niche you never thought of. And if you're just getting started remember to combine your passion and demand and you'll easily create an online business that has what it takes. 

Why Do Market Research?

When starting your online business there are many things you probably thought about, what you wanted to do, how much money you wanted to make, how many hours you hoped to work, or hoped to have for "free" time, but have you or did you think about market research?

WHO you are targeting with your business makes a huge difference. In order to truly be successful with your business you must know as much as possible about WHO you are targeting, WHAT their needs are, HOW much they are willing to spend, HOW they like to communicate, and HOW they like to take in information.  All of this is known as "market research".  Without researching your target market you are going to be left at a significant disadvantage.

After all, it is highly likely that your competition did their research.  This is another thing you must consider when you're researching the market that you hope to be successful in, your competition.  How much is out there, how successful are they, and how competitive can you be? 

You can learn a great deal about your market from your competitors, so that is definitely a good place to begin.  

Doing your market research can help you to do the following:

• Determine your unique approach. 
• Set your short term and long term goals.
• Create and plan your marketing activities. 

You might ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who are my customers?
2. How can I reach those customers?
3. What are my customer's needs?
4. Can I compete with the competition?
5. Can my target customer afford my product?

These ideas and questions are just a starting point.  Want to learn more? 

Attend back to back ustream shows on market research and list building. Starting at 9 pm EST/ 6 pm PST watch James Wedmore and the guys of Reality Mastermind talk all about market research. These guys can make even a boring subject like market research entertaining! Then right after their show stay tuned for my show on list building where I’ll show you how to create a web page to effectively grow your list. Tune in on Thursday April 9th  at RealityMastermind.tv. See you on Thursday! And if you have specific questions you want answered just ask away by leaving a comment.

Photo credit: bast

Say No to Fear & Start Creating Your Own Online Tribe

Many of us have experienced it, the fear that often creeps up within us when it comes to marketing our businesses.  We fear because we are uncertain, we fear what others will think, we lack confidence in our abilities and we do not truly believe we could ever have a following, our own tribe.  The truth is you can and if you take the proper steps you will. 

I too have had that fear, but I am ready to break past that fear, just as Seth Godin teaches in his book Tribes, I am going to push forward and seek out my tribe.  The truth is this should be fairly easy, with online tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and blogging you can create your own space and then recruit your tribe fairly easily and quickly too. 

So, get out there, if you aren't using these tools, set them up and began making use of them today.  It is the first step in the right direction.  It is one you will be glad you took.  You may have fears about it but let those fears be the fuel that catapults you forward to marketing success.

Not only should you embrace these tools to build your tribe, but also you need to be over the top! People don't pay attention to ordinary. As Seth Godin says in Tribes "Ordinary thinking and ordinary effort are almost never enough to generate leadership. It takes something extraordinary, a call to action that is irresistible, and a cause worth fighting for to make people actually join in. If you're not over the top, you're not going to have any chance of making things happen."

This really spoke to me and has inspired me to be over the top! In a few weeks I will be holding a contest to win a free website built by me live on my own Ustream show. Yes, it will be timed and the world will be watching! So stay tuned for more details on how you can win a free website.

What Makes an Irresistable Offer?

So is your free website offer simply irresistible? Do you have a free offer on your current website? If not this step by step solution will help create your offer that will have your clients knocking down your door!

First let's talk about why an irresistible offer on your website is so important. Without this in place your website visitors will never remember you or your website! I know this is harsh, but you usually find a website because you have a need right now. You're searching for a solution and you find a website that has the exact solution you're looking for in the form of a free offer. Do you enter your name and email address? Of course, but only If the offer has perceived VALUE!

If you follow the 5 steps below, your free offer will have tremendous value.

   1. Offer Should Be Something You Could Sell or Have Sold- If you haven't created an information products yet, it's ok. When you're developing your free offer make sure you could put a price tag on it. If you already have information products than you're ahead of the game. You can use one of your products as the free irresistible offer. And remember to make sure you list the value of your free offer. For example my Ezine is valued at $197 per year. So go ahead; it's ok. Your information is very valuable!

   2. Bundle Your Offers- Combine several offers into one irresistible offer! Combine a transcript, a free audio, and Ezine subscription into one offer and you will stand out. If you're not bundling your free offer already think about recording your free report as a free audio. Or get your audio or video file transcribed to add as a bonus!

   3. Different Mediums Add Value- Everyone has different learning styles so the more types of mediums you can provide the more value you're providing to the potential client. Some people like to listen to audio in their car, some like to sit down and read a report, and some love to watch videos. If you cover all of these bases of course your free offer will be amazing! But in reality that is a little overwhelming if you're just getting started. So I want to share my secret of how I created my free offer with you. I started with a free teleseminar and recorded and transcribed this special event. Off it went to a proofreader to clean it up. Free report, done in less than a few hours of my time!

 

  4. Add Even More Value With A Graphic- To increase the perceived value of your offer why not add a graphic to represent your digital or sometimes physical offer. Add a graphic that looks like a magazine to represent your free report or a beautiful CD graphic to represent your free audio. We are visual people and this graphic catches the eye and gives your free offer more value.

   5. Solve a Problem or Reveal The Mistakes- Whenever you can your free offer title should pull at a pain your clients are experiencing. If you're solving their problem this is very valuable. If you're revealing the biggest mistakes or helping them sleep at night with your solution, then you've got an IRRESISTIBLE OFFER!

So if you're ready to turn your current website into a website that does the work for you, start by creating your free irresistible offer.

Jennifer Haubein publishes "SiteNotes" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want a website that actually works. If you're ready to let your website do the work, check out my FREE video series at http://www.AutomateYourBizVideos.com.

Is Your Website Working? Understanding Your Website Conversion Stats

I recently received a very important question from one of my clients.  What’s a good conversion or opt-in rate for your free offer on your website?  This is a difficult question to answer, because it depends on several factors.  It depends on what industry you are in, how compelling your free offer is, and if you’re getting enough website traffic to effectively measure this statistic. 

First how do you calculate your website conversion or opt-in rate?

1)      You must have a website statistic tool installed on your website.  I recommend www.StatCounter.com and Google Analytics, both are free tools.

2)      Use your website stat tool to determine the number of unique visitors to your website in a specific timeframe such as a month or week. 

3)      You should be able to obtain the number of subscribers to your free offer.  If you’re using 1ShoppingCart view the autoresponder report associated with your free offer.  This report shows you a breakdown of new signups for your free offer within the last 30 days. Obtain the number of subscribers using the same specific time frame as your unique visitors.

4)      Calculate your conversion using this formula: (Number of Subscribers During A Specific Timeframe)/(Number of Unique Website Visitors During A Specific Timeframe)= Opt-In Rate

Now, that you have your conversion or opt-in rate, how do you know if it’s a good number? 

If you’re just starting out with a brand new website and don’t have much traffic yet, it might be hard to get accurate numbers.

I just recently calculated my opt-in rate and I got 15% opt-in rate.  I’m very happy with this opt-in after comparing with a successful internet marketer, Ali Brown.  Ali Brown’s recent opt-in rate on her squeeze page according to numbers presented at her last workshop was 13-26%.  So you might think that you should be getting very high opt-in on your free offer, but with an increase in free offers and email newsletters people are picky about who they give their name and email address to. 

In my opinion, a good opt-in rate for a free offer is anywhere from 5-30%.  If your opt-in rate is lower I would suggest focusing on increasing your website traffic and making sure your free offer is presented in a compelling manner. 

Also, keep in mind that a good conversion rate for a sales page is usually about 1%, so don’t apply these same numbers to your sales conversions.

Jennifer Haubein publishes “SiteNotes” a FREE bi-weekly ezine for small business owners who want a website that actually works. If you’re ready to get insider tips website developers don’t want you to know, and start making more money online, get your FREE tips now at http://www.BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com/newsletter.html

3 Biggest Mistakes Small Business Owners Make With Their Advertising

I'm so excited to interview Kathleen Ann of Power Up Your Marketing!  Won't you join us Wednesday July 23rd at 8pm EST. 

You’ll leave this call with key strategies to boost your leads and sales – you will know:

• The difference between Image and Direct Response Advertising
• Why big companies use Image advertising and why small companies and entrepreneurs must never do it
• What a “unique selling proposition” USP is, and why you must have one

To sign up for this FREE call go to: http://www.powerupyourmarketing.com/jennifer_teleseminar.html

I look forward to hearing you on the call!

Getting Paid To Post- Will It Work For Your Small Business Blog?

I'm working on a special resource guide for my latest new product I'm launching and I wanted to share some great resources with my readers. Have you wondered how you can make money with your blog? You can actually get paid to write posts! You will get paid to write honest reviews about advertisers products or services. This sounds great, but will it work for your small business blog? This could be risky, but I think as long as you are upfront about your payment and try to focus on products which would be helpful to your readers it might be something to think about. But try not to lose focus on the main purpose of your business blog, to attract more clients not necessarily earn money with your blog. But with the right strategy it might be possible to do both.

Here are the links to a few companies that pay you to post or if you would like to advertise your products it's a great resource as well.

Sponsored Review- http://www.sponsoredreviews.com - Earn cash while writing honest review of products and services.

Pay Per Post – http://www.payperpost.com – Get paid to post.