Many of the objections will be around fear or concerns about how good your product or service is; others will be around cost or delivery time.
Try to find as many reasons someone would chose not to buy from you, and then address each of those concerns.
What you are selling will not be perfect. So be honest about it. Instead of ignoring a flaw, do the opposite and draw attention to it (so long as it is not critical).
Right from the start point out the imperfection and then turn it into a benefit or at least negate its importance. This way the ‘imperfection’ is no longer an issue for your customers.
You will be more confident singing the praises about the rest of your product because the fault has been addressed. Your customers will appreciate your honesty. They’ll like that you have highlighted the fault and offered a positive instead.
It also removes any damage that could be done should your competition point out those flaws. By talking about it yourself, it takes away any potential power that could be used against you.
11. Proving Value
You need to prove to your customers that what you are selling is easily worth the price you are asking.
To justify the cost, you need to provide evidence that your product does what you say it will.
It’s no good exaggerating the merits of your product. Your customers are smart and will see through your false claims.
If a product or service costs a lot to build, setup or maintain, then say so. If a product or service will save a customer time or money then point out how much. If your competition is charging much more for the same product then show the comparison. If you are charging much more than your competition then explain why.
When you are realistic and honest about your product, and provide genuine value, your customers will be happy to invest in your product.
Good Marketing Removes the Need to Sell (24 Advanced Conversion Secrets) 12. The Most Powerful Psychological Trick
You must never, ever lie—it’s not worth it!
But you can imply something. Often implying something is more powerful than actually stating it.
When you imply something, you allow your customers to come to their own assumptions.
And the conclusions they make by themselves are rarely challenged.
This is because they take on their conclusions they’ve made as their own personal beliefs.
The power of this technique should not be underestimated. Use it carefully and use it with integrity.
13. Offer Only Two choices at a Time
It’s strange but true. People find it difficult to make more than two choices at one time. A confused mind will dither and make no decision.
Because of this, you should only offer your customers two choices at a time. When you reduce the amount of choices, you will instantly increase your number of sales.
And what you offer should be a win-win situation for you. Ask your customers if they would like to take the full payment option or the payment plan option. (Either way they still must buy.) This was proven in the example Joe Sugarman gave when Swatch first approached him to sell their watches in America.
He wanted to sell only the men’s black watch; they wanted him to offer men’s and women’s in several different colors. So he split test the ad.
His offering of only the black watch, outperformed the multiple options ad by over 6 times. And this is despite the logic that more people would be interested when more choices were provided.
14. Habits
Depending on the type of business you are in, may depend whether you are competing against people’s habitual behavior. For example, people identify with certain products. Part of someone’s identity may be as a smoker, a coke drinker or a Mac user.
Coke has spent billions of dollars plastering the world’s billboards with smiley, happy people. This is so you subconsciously associate drinking Coke with having a good time.
Ask yourself if your product will make it challenging for you to compete with already existing products? Or will it be easy for your product to overcome what’s out there?
The strength of the emotional drivers behind people’s habits, will determine how easily someone’s habit is to change. If your product can provide a stronger emotional association and reason, you will be able to change people’s habits away from your competition.
15. Collectors Addiction
Have you ever bought a DVD where you were given a free collector’s box? And have you ever bought the remaining 5 DVDs just to fill the gap? (Or something similar, sticker books or card collections as a kid, a book series, etc?)
Many people hate the feeling of incompleteness. If there is something missing, that disharmony can only be quieted once it is filled.
Often the collector’s box will cost more than the first DVD. The people selling the DVDs know that those who continue to buy the full collection, are far more likely to buy the collector’s box than those who will only keep the one DVD.
If you can create some form of incompleteness, you can make more money. Micro-continuity programs are a great example of this. This is a membership program which lasts for a specified amount of time.
Good Marketing Removes the Need to Sell (24 Advanced Conversion Secrets) Knowing that many people drop out after the first couple of months, people in a micro-continuity program will hang in there until the set of four, five or six months is up. They know they don’t have much longer to complete the course.
16. Text on Your ‘Buy Now’ Buttons
I have mentioned this already, but I will say it again as most people underestimate the power of this.
Do not use the words ‘Buy Now’ on your ‘buy now’ buttons. Nobody wants to be sold to. And no one wants to feel like you are trying to get hold of their money.
When selling your product it’s better to use ‘Secure My Copy’ or
‘Secure My Order’, or ‘Click Here to Access Now’. Use words that your customers identify with, so they have the feeling of safety or the feeling they will access something quickly.
For an opt-in form it has been tested that ‘Free Instant Access’ will convert a lot better than ‘Submit’.
Generally green is the highest converting color to use for your ‘buy now’
buttons. But it may not be the case in every situation. Do your own split testing to see which works best for you.
For your ‘No’ buttons, use a bit of reverse psychology. Tell your customers on your ‘No’ buttons that they will miss out on a key emotional driver.
For example, ‘No Thanks, I’d prefer not make more money’ or ‘No Thanks I Would Prefer to Miss Out’. Write your key emotional driver on your ‘No’ buttons to really make it uncomfortable for your customers to click on this button.
Do not hide your ‘No’ button. This will only annoy your customers.
Make it visible and make it stand out. Red may be a better color than grey to use. Do your own testing.
17. Font
Serif fonts such as Times New Roman work well in print advertising.
The letters have little ‘feet’ on their letters, which create an artificial rule line underneath the actual sentence making it easy to scan and read quickly.
What works in print media doesn’t always carry across online. Don’t get carried away with strange, fancy fonts.
Testing has proven that sans serif fonts (such as Arial and Verdana) work best online. This is because Arial and Verdana are both very readable fonts and are widely used, so people are familiar with it.
When you use either of these fonts in your copy, you too will automatically instill a sense of trust.
18. Colors
Avoid using white text on a black background—readability diminishes.
Also avoid using that garish, fire-engine red in your headlines. When you use a softer brick-red, your conversions can increase up to 50% (just by changing the shade of red you use).
For the bulk of your copy use black text on a white background. This is because people need maximum contrast when they’re reading. The more contrast you provide between the background and the text, the more readable your words will be.
When choosing the colors of your website your target audience must feel comfortable, and the colors must instill trust in your site.
19. Be Wary of Web Designers
The job of a web designer is to make your website as good as they can.
It is your job to educate them and tell them which factors make a web page readable. The more easily read your site is, the higher your conversions will be.
Good Marketing Removes the Need to Sell (24 Advanced Conversion Secrets) Remember, usability is paramount. Design should compliment not comprise usability.
20. The Page Size Google Recommends
Your web designer will want to maximize the space on your screen. But it’s uncomfortable to read a huge width of text. Even a 1080 pixel wide screen is too broad to read.
Google has done a lot of testing and they recommend the optimal width is 770 pixels wide. This width will also fit in older style monitors.
Today, many of us are using video on our sales pages. And a width of 770
pixels wide is not always practical when you already have an opt-in box on the side. However, make sure that any single line of text within your page does not exceed this width.
(This is also one reason newspapers use narrow columns. It makes it easier to read.)
21. Page Flow
It doesn’t matter how good your copy is if nobody reads it. Your web pages must look approachable and attractive.
A solid block of text looks overwhelming to read. And no one likes to be read something that looks like hard work. They won’t even bother and will click off your page quickly.
Use headlines, subheads, bullets, Johnson boxes, images, arrows and testimonials to visually break up your web pages. These page elements should fluidly lead your customers from one place to the next.
22. Pixel Perfection
Pixel perfection is something I find hard to explain, but I’ll do my best…
When you look at a page it has to be harmonious and balanced in how every feature is laid out. This is a very subconscious element of conversion and if you get it right you will make more money for sure.
People can feel incongruent, even if they don’t know why they’re feeling that way.
Sometimes it comes down to something seemingly anal like your opt-in box being two pixels higher than the top line of the headline next to it.
Gideon Shalwick has mastered pixel perfection in his website www.dlwmmm.com/gideon All Gideon’s work (even his free reports) maintains the same level of pixel precision. Everything is clean, pure and in exact alignment.
Straight away you get a sense of quality, and trust is instilled immediately.
Gideon’s site stands out immediately in terms of quality.
Go to his site and study what he has done. And then do your best to do the same.
You are the business owner and even though you may be outsourcing your website design, it is your job to instruct them how you want your site to appear.
What looks perfect in one browser can look different in another browser.
Sometimes this is unavoidable, but make sure the differences are not too great. Good coders can usually overcome this problem.
If you can do your best to aim for pixel perfection, you will be rewarded with increased conversions.
23. Yellow Highlight
Many internet marketers use bright yellow to highlight sections of text.
(Making it look like someone has used a yellow highlighter on a text document.)
Good Marketing Removes the Need to Sell (24 Advanced Conversion Secrets) When used sparingly, yellow highlight has its place. Moderation is key, as too much looks hypey.
24. Test
Use split testing to find out what is working, and then improve on it.
Open up a separate e-mail account and sign up to every internet marketer’s list you can.
Scan them all to see what is going on. What are people writing about?
What techniques are they using? See if you can understand what exactly they’re doing that’s working.
It is worth taking the time to analyze and then test every marketing tip and apply it to your own business.
Split testing is what will allow your business to go from mediocre to outstanding. (Or even prevent it from going bust.) Do not be lazy on this.
There are many split testing systems out there. Use them.
Chapter 14.
Action Steps
• Time to revise your copy again.
Check through your marketing materials and incorporate the strategies within this chapter.
Each time you do this, you should get better and better. Perfection comes through refinement, rarely as a first attempt.
• Look at your overall marketing plan and your marketing strategy. If you don’t have one, now is the time to create one.
Use the ideas in this chapter to apply to both online and offline marketing.
Think about how any advertising is being used, and how it all links together.
Write up your calendar of what will happen and when regarding your marketing efforts. Things like advertising going out, websites going live, promotions, affiliates mailing, and products being released. I recommend Google calendars for this as you can share them easily with other team members. www.dlwmmm.com/calendar
This won’t be perfect or complete yet... However, it is important to start somewhere, and to have something you can refine as you get new ideas.
Everything should work together as a whole. Anything working in isolation is only going to be a fraction as effective as it could be when working as part of a bigger master plan.
Chapter 15.
“A customer is the most
important visitor on
Traffic: The Life-Blood our premises, he is not of Your Business
dependent on us. We
are dependent on him.
He is not an outsider
in our business. He is
part of it. We are not
doing him a favour
by serving him. He
is doing us a favour
by giving us an
opportunity to do so.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Traffic: The Life-Blood of Your Business
Traffic: The Life-Blood of Your Business
It’s true.
Every business needs traffic to survive.
Traffic is simply people, and without people coming to your website, you won’t have anyone to buy your product.
Right now there are people online searching for exactly what you have to offer.
Once you put yourself in front of these people, they will have the opportunity to buy your product or service.
Even if your website is optimized as much as it can be and your product is the best in the world… you still need traffic.
If you’re like many other business owners you’re probably impatient. The truth is, many traffic sources take time to build. And you have to stick with a strategy long enough to see results.
The problem is many people get fed up. They think the traffic strategies they’re using are not working and try something else.
Being patient, persistent and consistent is the key to reaping the long-term rewards of sustainable traffic.
There is no quick fix so please don’t bother looking for one. There are some strategies that are quick to implement that can drive traffic quickly to your sites, but the traffic rarely lasts long (e.g. an affiliate promotion).
There are literally hundreds of ways to encourage traffic to your site. We are going to cover the strategies that have been proven to work.
It’s your job to implement them.
More Traffic Does Not Always Equal More Money Some people think the more traffic they generate, the more money they’ll make.
This is flawed thinking.
It’s not just about how much traffic you have. It’s also about how good your traffic is. When your traffic is pre-qualified it means they are already interested in what you have to offer.
The quality of your traffic is the most important factor—whether you decide to use paid or free methods.
Which is Best? Free or Paid Traffic?
When you use both free and paid traffic you get the best of both worlds.
Usually when you’re starting out (and have limited resources), free traffic strategies are best to begin with.
Once your site is making you money, then you can invest it back into paid traffic methods.
Free traffic is great obviously because it doesn’t have to cost you anything.
(You can always pay to help generate free traffic, such as SEO, article or bookmarking services.) Unfortunately, free traffic can take longer (than paid traffic) to give you results and it can be harder to target.
Paid traffic can give you faster (if not immediate) results than free traffic. If used properly you can target exactly the type of potential customers you want.
The most important thing is always to make sure you have a positive ROI (return on investment). This is true whether that investment is time or money.
Traffic: The Life-Blood of Your Business
Which Hat to Wear? Black, Grey or White?
If you want your business to be profitable in the long-term, I don’t recommend you choose fast, yet erratic income. It’s best to build your business so you attract consistent, growing profits.
1. Black Hat
Taking part in ‘black hat’ traffic generating techniques involves doing things that are unethical, and tend to break Google’s or other traffic supplier’s terms of service.
When you attempt to ‘trick’ the search engines you may be found out. If you are caught, chances are your entire website will be de-indexed (and won’t be found in Google).
2. Grey Hat
‘Grey hat’ activities sit in between black and white hat practices.
Sometimes it’s hard to identify if a technique is a black or white hat. If you are not proud to tell someone about a particular strategy, but it is not illegal or against terms of service, then it is likely a grey hat activity.
Grey hat techniques pollute the internet. Uploading five of the same video (and just changing the title) to every video sharing directory, is an example of a grey hat activity.
You’re not really adding value to your customer’s experience. Generally it is best to avoid these sorts of techniques, there are plenty of better ways to spend your energy.
3. White Hat
The best techniques to use are strictly ‘white hat’. These are liked and accepted by the search engines. And you’ll sleep easily at night.
There is no reason to spam.
When you create great content and go after traffic the authentic way you’ll be rewarded. Stick to what has proven to work and you too will reap the profits in the long run.
5 Traffic Techniques to Avoid
There are too many internet cons out there claiming to give you instant traffic.
Take note of these five common scams…
1. Avoid ‘Guaranteed Views’
This is definitely designed to rip you off. Typically these services will put your website as a 0x0 pop-up on a porn site. This so-called traffic strategy is worthless as no one actually sees your site.
2. Avoid Co-Reg Lists
A co-reg list is known as co-registration. This is where you sign up for something and there’s another box that signs you up for something else.
Most people are not aware they’ve been signed up to another list. So when they get e-mails from this other list, they view it as spam. It’s not fair to spam people, so don’t waste money taking part in co-reg lists.
Who cares how many people you have on your list if they get annoyed and report you? It’s the quality of your list that counts.
3. Avoid Reciprocal Back-linking
It used to be that having a lot of back-links helped you to rank well in the search engines. That’s not the case anymore.
Google recognizes the quality of your back-links (where your back-links are coming from) and like to see one-way links to your site.
Exchanging links with other websites can do you more harm than good, especially if you link to a site that is de-indexed (banned). Your credibility with Google is on the line.
Traffic: The Life-Blood of Your Business
4. Avoid Buying Lists
Don’t even go there. You’ll only be pouring money down the drain if you buy a list. If you buy and e-mail to that list you’re taking part in an illegal activity and you could be sued for a lot of money.
The e-mail lists you can buy are usually old, fake or not responsive.
They’re built by automated programs which find and assemble e-mail addresses without the owner knowing their address is being sold to spammers.
If they have given their e-mail freely they won’t associate this with you.
Therefore, despite being legitimate, they are likely to still see you as a spammer and these lists rarely convert.
5. Avoid 95% of SEO Services
There are multiple SEO services out there, many of whom will try to contact you.
Most of them are total rubbish. Do not use an SEO service unless they come highly recommended. Be prepared to pay. Those that are effective do not come cheap. Anything less is nothing but a waste of money.
How to Create a Formidable Affiliate Program
By now you should know how to create your own product. Almost every product can benefit from its own affiliate program.
The success of nearly every business has been largely attributed to other people promoting their product.
Your affiliates do the work for you—they generate the traffic in return for a commission. So you’re piggy-backing off their hard work because they’re promoting for you.
Think of affiliates as a commission only sales force working for you 24/7.
3 Benefits of Having an Affiliate Program
There are many advantages to having your own affiliate program. Here are three of the most important ones…
1. Instant, Overnight Traffic
Your affiliates each have their own lists. By sending just one e-mail, they can direct thousands of visitors to your site almost instantly.
2. Leverage Your Affiliate’s Credibility
Each affiliate who promotes for you, has already worked long and hard to establish a relationship with their list. So when your product is mentioned, many are happy to follow their recommendation.
3. Targeted Traffic
Your affiliates will typically be in the same niche as you. This means the traffic they send will also be in the same niche.
This targeted traffic converts well, and coming from an affiliate, you only pay if someone buys so it’s zero risk for both of you.
3 Types of Affiliate Systems
You have a few options of which type of system you can use to create and host your affiliate program.
1. Self Hosted
This is an affiliate program that you host on your own server.www.
dlwmmm.com/postaffiliatepro has a great script. But if you do not have programming knowledge, it can be difficult to install and integrate with your site.
It can also require a lot of testing as there are many settings and potential integration issues. Another problem with self hosted services is that, refunds often need to be manually checked as they either can not be Traffic: The Life-Blood of Your Business
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