What is a Browser?

That may seem like a silly question if you make your living online and work on a computer 10 hours a day. But are you making assumptions about what your website visitors know that might be killing your site conversions or preventing a large number of your site visitors from taking positive actions (or any kind of actions) on your website?

I am not suggesting or otherwise recommending one browser over another, would just encourage you to think a little more about your website, and what your site visitors may or may not know.  Don’t assume they know what you do! It could be costing you a LOT of lost business.

Until next time,

Follow me on Twitter!
Ed

Ways To Improve Sales Through Your Website

Ways To Improve Sales Through Your Website

Anyone who has been marketing online knows the lifeblood of a business is the traffic of a web site.  More visitors equal more sales.  However, here are some ways you can tweak your sites to improve sales without the need to get more visitors.

The first method is to weave in your personal touch in your sales message.  Nobody wants to be sold to by a total stranger, but many people will buy what their close friends recommend to them.  If you can convince your audience that you are a personal friend who has their best interest at heart, they will be convinced to buy your products.  Remember to speak to an individual in your salesletter, not your whole audience.

The second method is to publish testimonials and comments from your customers.  A good idea would be to publish both good and bad comments; that way prospects will be really convinced that these testimonials are real.  When prospects see testimonials on your website, they will have the confidence to buy from you because human beings follow the herd mentality; when others have bought and proven it authentic, they will jump on the bandwagon and buy too.

The third method is to use visual representations for the problems and solutions that your product offers.  Not everyone will read your text copy from the head to the tail, but most people will pay attention to images (or video) on your website.

The fourth method:  Offer quality bonuses to accompany your product.  When you offer bonuses that complement your product, your prospects will feel it’s a very good deal and it would be stupid to miss it.  Be sure to state the monetary value of your bonuses so people will be even more compelled to grab your great bargain.

Lastly, ask for the sale!  Many people entice their prospects with the benefits of their product, sell to them with stories of how it has solved many problems, even offered killer bonuses but forget to ask for the sale.  Give a clear instruction on how to buy your product (e.g. “click the button to buy now!”).

Until next time…

Follow my Tweets on Twitter

Ed

Web Traffic – How to Get More Of It

This is an age-old question that I get asked as much as any one thing…  “How do I get more traffic to my website?”

 

Most of you have known me for a very long time, and have been clients of ours for an equally long time.  I think most of you know me well enough to know… I don’t recommend anything to you that I have not either tried myself, or am currently using in my marketing efforts, and know that it works.

 

I have spent (perhaps invested would be a better word) THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars over the years purchasing things, ads, gimmicks, etc… trying to find anything that might work better for you, my valued client, in your efforts to get more and better traffic to your websites.

 

About 4 years ago, I invested $1000 into a program that promised to deliver all of the very latest tricks to getting more traffic to your web site.  The program consisted of about half a dozen DVD’s, and two workbooks, along with several audio CD’s (for listening in the car, etc).

 

The brain behind that program was a guy by the name of John Reese.  John is a mastermind when it comes to “driving traffic” to websites. I’ve studied him, I’ve heard him speak at several conferences on the topic… and whenever he speaks… I tend to pay attention and take notice.. because he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to multiple ways to drive traffic to a website.

 

Whether you are looking to generate floods of trageted traffic to your site, or just finding simple ways to start a new site or expand an existing one… John Reese is a mastermind.  John was pretty quiet over the past year or two.  I didn’t hear much about him…didn’t see him speaking at any of the many conferences I attend, and now I know why.

 

John has been quietly testing hundreds of ALL-NEW traffic methods and strategies to take his original course (the one I paid a thousand bucks to get) to a whole new level.  He wanted to take advantgage of all the powerful opportunities of Social Media, Video Marketing, Content Syndication, and much, much more.

 

He has posted a new video that YOU NEED TO WATCH!  I know it’s Friday.  I know many are already in the “Weekend Mode” and don’t want to be bothered with anything new heading in to a weekend.  But to put this off and NOT watch what he’s put together COULD COST YOU!

 

Aside from all the great content that he shares, just check out the Video Style itself.  One look at this video and you’ll get a good idea of where the future of Video Marketing is headed.  It’s really impressive. 

 

You can actually watch TWO videos right now by visiting the link I’m about to give you… but before you do…let me just tell you RIGHT UP FRONT what’s about to happen here:

 

Next Tuesday, John is going to be releasing his much anticipated “Traffic Secrets 2.0”. By you watching the video I’m recommending to you right now… you’ll learn a bit about what Traffic Secrets 2.0 is going to contain. The second video (which you’ll be asked to opt in to watch) will go even deeper into the program.  Some might call these two videos a “Teaser”… but I know John Reese too well.  He really doesn’t care whether you buy his new course or not.  But I’ll tell you right up front… if you DO BUY IT… I will earn an affiliate check from him by you buying it from my affiliate link.  I’m not trying to hide anything here… I just think it’s important enough for you to listen to what John has to say, that you go and watch these two videos now before he takes them down.

 

On top of all that… if you decide (next week when he releases Traffic Secrets 2.0) to buy it… I am going to credit you back half of the affiliate fee he is paying to people like myself who refer people to his program.  This is not going to be a $1000.00 course.  It will be even less than half that amount, but will contain ten times the content his first course did… and I can honestly say, his first course made me ten times what I paid for it. So YOU DO THE MATH.

 

Am I going to buy it when it’s released next week?  ABSOLUTELY!  I’ll be waiting for the site to go live with credit card in hand.  Should you buy it?  I believe it would be a good investment if you do, but you have to decide that for yourself. I’m not going to be pitching you on 10 reasons why you need it… other than I know EVERYONE wants and needs more traffic to their website… and John’s course will teach you how to bring all the pieces of that mysterious puzzle together.

 

Just go and watch the video RIGHT NOW.  Opt in to watch the second video… THEN decide.  You can’t even order anything now… and no one is going to be pressuring you to order next week either.  I just believe this course will be good for anyone interested in driving more traffic to their website.  I know I need more traffic, and I know you do too… so watch the video!  You may learn some new things you hadn’t even given the first second of thought to…  

 

Check it out!  http://www.trafficsecrets.com/ehudson

 

Talk to you next week!  Have a great weekend!

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

Few Ideas

Well.. either most everyone is far too busy working with clients (not the reason I suspect), OR, most everyone is stumped by the question.

 

My question was:

What is your USP? What makes you different from your competitors — in ten words or less — and gives your customers a powerful, compelling reason to use your service?

 

Some of the responses were:

  • I have the key to your new home at the price you want to pay.
  • 100% HomeBuyer Representation 100% of the Time!
  • Protecting your bottom line is our business.
  • Exclusive Buyer Agent – Don’t invest in real estate without one!
  • Three important words in real estate: exclusive, buyer, agent.
  • Real estate “no spin zone” – an Exclusive Buyer Agent.
  • Where HomeBuyers Make and $ave Money.
  • Sellers NEVER, Buyers ONLY!
  • The Home Buyer’s team, always on your side.
  • I have a ‘Heart’ to be an Advocate** for HomeBuyers. 
    (** Advocate-to zealously work on your behalf always.

 

Let’s be brutally honest here for a moment, can we?

 

If you were an un-educated home buyer just beginning to think about buying a home, and just beginning to research real estate agents online (or off-line for that matter) Do ANY of those above USP’s cause you to say, “Hmmm… now that sounds like an agent (or company) I need to check out..” ?  Do they?

 

I’m not here to condemn, criticize or complain, just trying to stir some thought process here folks. 

 

I think, ALL TOO OFTEN, we all get very complacent and stuck in our ruts of thinking that just because we offer a unique and top notch service to home buyers, they are all going to automatically know it, just because I call myself an EBA.

 

It’s no fluke that EBA’s EVERYWHERE are having bad years.  The terrible press, the constant news about how bad the real estate industry is, the constant bad publicity with the sub-prime mortgage markets, all of these things are lending themselves to everyone (in most markets) seeing their lead flow decrease dramatically over the past few weeks and months.

 

Add to that, the fact that we (and I say we in general terms) are not exactly screaming our USP’s to the buying public and causing them to come running to see us or sign up at our websites for more information… and it’s no wonder that traffic is down.

 

Yet, at the same time, some brokers are having their best year ever… and recent news proves that record numbers of people are buying real estate right now in spite of all the bad news about how the home buying sector sucks.

 

One of the things that continues to amaze me after all these years is the number of brokers who don’t even promote their own blog or website on every single thing they do or send out… including, business cards, email signature lines (a big missed opportunity) letterhead, all print ads, phone on hold messages, and the list goes on and on and on.

 

I see it everyday… people who put up a website, and think the world will come flocking to their doorstep (their home page)…. and it just doesn’t happen.
“What’s wrong with my site?”  “What am I doing wrong?”  “Why am I not getting any leads?”

 

All very legitimate questions, but also questions that should be causing you to re-examine how you’re treating your business.

 

Over the next few weeks, I am going to continue this thread here, trying to instill in everyone a different mindset.  One that will cause you to look at what you’re doing (or not doing) in your business, and make you begin to think more about how you can compete better with today’s Internet, and what you need to be doing next to stay on the cutting edge, and how you need to be marketing today in order to stay competitive.

 

As EBA’s… we all too often get caught up in the fact that, yes, we know that what we do is best for the consumer, but how can we get that word out there, so the consumer knows?  That’s a question EBA’s have been asking since day one.  And although I don’t claim to all of a sudden have the magical answer… I do believe I have some ideas that, if put to use, will help you turn the rest of 2007 into one of the best years you’ve ever had.

 

You see, I am a firm believer that when real estate (in general) slows down or hits bottom, THAT is is the time to ramp up, not pull back.

 

Conventional thinking among most brokers is just the opposite.  Most start pulling back and cutting back when sales or leads are down, and that is the quickest way to sure death in your business you could go!

 

Keep reading here, and please.. continue to post your ideas and thoughts.  I don’t want this blog to be a one-way conversation of just me.  I appreciate your input, and appreciate your thoughts.   I know we have a lot of very smart individuals as clients, and I appreciate you being out there on a day-to-day basis… battling the battle and struggling to survive in a down market.   Let’s all share that wisdom, and make this blog a very active forum for idea exchange.

 

I’m also going to be changing this blog in the very near future so that you will be able to subscribe to comments, giving you the ability to receive an email anytime anyone comments on one of your comments.  Stay tuned for that.

 

In the meantime, as you prepare for this upcoming Memorial Day Holiday weekend… I’d like to personally thank you for your continued support and loyalty… and beg you to put your thinking caps on and be ready to expand your thinking over the coming weeks and months as I share some new stuff with you here. 🙂

 

Have a great holiday weekend!  Take some time to relax and enjoy!!

 

Ed