Client Magnets Official Blog

Archive for the ‘Internet Business’ Category

Do you know what the most valuable page on your website is?

It’s not your “About Me” page. It’s not your “Testimonials” page.

It is the page where people give you their contact information and purchase your products or programs. That is the goal of your business.

To achieve that goal, you need to get people to opt-in. Nothing else can happen until they do this.  That is why the design of the page where they opt-in – your squeeze page – is so important.

Getting your prospects to hand over their contact info isn’t always easy, but if you focus on your squeeze page set-up, you will successfully obtain client information, build your list and make sales.  Use my tips below to maximize the effectiveness of your squeeze page.  These strategies work!

•    Make your homepage a squeeze page

To get maximum results, make your squeeze page your homepage. This will lead to a significant increase in your opt-ins and in your list.

•    Model successful squeeze pages

To get ideas for your new home page, model other successful squeeze pages. Look at other people’s pages with new eyes. Emulate the elements that make them successful while using your own unique copy that speaks to your own target audience.

•    The important information should appear within the browser window

The pages that are most attractive give the most important information at the top, without having to scroll down. Everything your visitors need to see should appear within the browser window in front of them. Don’t make them have to “lift a finger” to find the best of what you have to offer.

•    Use headlines and bullets to present your message

Announce your best information in the area that most people notice first – the headline. Develop a headline that will grab your visitors’ interest and get them to stay online to hear the rest of your message. Use a prehead and a subhead to deliver your best copy.

Successful pages don’t include one long paragraph of copy after another. A successful squeeze page presents its best content as great mini headlines in a bulleted format.

•    Make big, bold promises

Use numbers within your bullet headlines. State that you’re going to solve problems. Make big promises in your bullets. You’ve done the research, campaigns and surveys to determine what your target audience wants, now highlight that information in your bullets.

•    Make a personal connection

Your target audience want to know who you are.   Don’t keep your personality a secret. Make your squeeze page personal. People buy people. Although we’re all speaking virtually, on Twitter and on teleseminars, people want the personal human connection.

They want to know you. They want to see the person behind the site. At the very least, include a photograph of yourself. Add audio and video to increase the personalization.

•    Use a thank you page

Don’t lose that personal touch once your visitor has opted in on your squeeze page. Your thank-you page is a great place to further your relationship and offer your new client even more. You could make another sale just by asking for it on your thank-you page.

•    Remove Navigation Bar and Banner

There are a couple of web page staples that should not appear on a successful squeeze page. These items do nothing to help you get people to opt-in. So, strip out the navigation bar and ditch your banner. They should not be on your squeeze page.

•    Test, measure and improve your conversation rates

Make sure you test and measure your conversion rate on your squeeze page. Find out how many visitors are actually buying into your offer. Regularly measuring your conversion rates will tell you what’s working and what isn’t on your page.

When you apply at least one of these tips, and you will see an improvement in your conversion.

Make a checklist and work through it. Improve your squeeze page one component at a time and you’ll be in a much stronger position – I promise!

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Social networking platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, give you a powerful new tool for connecting with potential prospects, clients, sales leads and new business partners. Because of the nature of social networking, successful social networking is about more than just creating a marketing campaign and sending it out into the ether. Social networking is a social process, and it works best when your personality shines through to your social networking contacts. With the right techniques, you can build your personality on social networking platforms and improve your social networking success.

Offer Advice: One way you can get real personal, real fast with your contacts is to offer advice or even just sympathetic comments. Listen to what people say, and respond to them even when it’s not related to your business. This is a fast and easy way to form personal connections with people, which can lead to unexpected business opportunities. Additionally, by offering advice or sharing information about related things in your life, you’re letting people find out more about you as a person and letting your personality shine through your social networking.

Share Personal Information: Share personal information via Twitter and Facebook. For years, people have had distinctive mindsets of “this is business” and “personal is for friends.” Let your business contacts be your friends, too. When you share information about your diet, or struggling with the conflicts of being a parent and business person, you’re sharing personal information that lets other people see that you’re not just a faceless business – you’re an individual.

The things that you share might resonate with your followers, and give them a reason to keep following you beyond your business information. People are also more likely to refer friends to other friends for business opportunities than to faceless strangers, so if you and your business can become a friend, you’ll get more business opportunities.

Find Ways to Blend Business and Personal: Find ways to blend business and personal updates. If all of your updates are personal, your followers who aren’t particularly interested in your business might just go away. If you share personal information, too, your followers may be interested in you as a person and continue to follow, even if they don’t find your business particularly interesting.

By blending business with personal updates, you can share information about your business without being blatant. For example, you could say something like “Going to Ireland to speak for business, and taking my husband along as an anniversary gift.” This lets people know that you’re a successful business person who travels and speaks, but also shares information about your personal life – that you and your husband have an anniversary.

Be Genuine: The most important thing about sharing your personality through social networking is to be genuine. Don’t give fake updates tailored just to get a reaction from your followers; be forthright and honest, and people will respect your integrity. If you let your personality shine through to your social networking followers, you’ll find yourself with a bigger pool of followers, which potentially gives you more business opportunities.

Bernadette Doyle created Client Magnets Ltd to help self-employed people solve one of their biggest business problems: attract a steady stream of clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

When you think about writing a blog, which do you think is more important?

• Focusing on the content that you’re sharing with readers, expecting that people will read your blogs because of the quality and value your blogs provide.

• Concentrating on how your blog will rank in the search engines and cramming every relatable keyword possible into your post.

Writing for the person is much more important than writing for the search engines. Your blog should demonstrate your expertise to your target niche and convey your passion for what you’re doing. It should come from your heart. That is how you will connect with your readers and why they will share your blog with their network.

That doesn’t mean that SEO isn’t important, however. Offering quality and value in your content won’t do any good if people can’t readily find it.

Optimize your blog for SEO purposes with links. Be sure to include proper links to legitimate, respected sites; don’t just buy links or list them in directories.

Another way to help your blog rank higher on search engines is to add tags. This is something overlooked by many people, but there is real value in tags.

Adding tags is a relatively simple process. If you are using WordPress, look for the tags link, then click “create” under tags. Type your tag, which is basically your description of your post, into that little area.

If, for example, I were to write a post about the top 30 Internet coaches, I would list each person’s name in that area. That will show Google – or other search engines – that information about that particular person is going to appear in my blog post. The search engine will actually create a category of sorts about the person. People looking up that person will see all the posts online about them,  including mine.

Yanik Silver, one of my mentors who has hundreds of thousands of followers, was tagged by blogging entrepreneur Michael Dunlop in a post about the top 30 things to do before you die. Yanik runs Maverick Business Adventures, a wonderful company that offers unique trips around the world to people with plenty of money to take them.

In his adventure program, Yanik offers one of the top 30 things Michael writes about in his blog. That is why Michael tagged him. Michael’s blog ranked seventh in search engines when people looked up Yanik, which drew an incredible amount of traffic to his site.

All he did was add the tag. This is something you can do with every post. If you tag the name of a prominent person because they are relevant to the blog you’ve written and the niche you’re writing for, more people searching for that person will have the opportunity to come across your post.

So, post a list on your next blog, and tag the names on it. It will give your post a higher ranking, maybe on the first page on Google. It’s an easy way to draw traffic. And, in many instances, because that traffic will be people in your target niche, they will probably be interested in what you have to offer.

Bernadette Doyle created Client Magnets Ltd to help self-employed people solve one of their biggest business problems: attract a steady stream of clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Although starting a blog isn’t really a complex undertaking, it’s still a good idea to do some research so that you know you’re presenting the best site possible. You want to drive as much traffic as you can to your blog in order to keep your internet rankings climbing.

It’s also important to keep in mind that blogging involves more than just writing the posts. You have to consider such factors as user experience, site design, and the software you’ll need to get your blog running.

Here are a few resources you can check out that offer great information for starting a blog.

www.IncomeDiary.com. This is the site where Michael Dunlop, blogging entrepreneur, offers a free e-course that details his process.

www.WordPress.com. WordPress offers the software you’ll need to get started. One of its strongest selling points is the ability to customize features to suit your own needs. There are also many free features you can use to get started in a matter of minutes. It also allows you to track statistics and block spam.

www.UXBooth.com. You want visitors to your site to have a good experience; this is what will bring them back again and again. This site offers tips for creating the best experience for your readers.

www.SmashingMagazine.com. This design site presents the latest in web design and development. While you won’t need to study design in order to launch a blog, this site can be a useful resource for getting ideas about how your site should look.

www.CopyBlogger.com. This is a good resource for learning how to write blogs that will drive traffic to your site as you build your list and market products.  It offers courses on copywriting, SEO, headline writing and keywords, among other topics.

www.ProBlogger.net. Visit this site to learn about the more technical side of having a successful blog. You’ll find information about blog design, advertising, tools and services, and much more.

www.WarriorForum.com. A forum where Internet marketers talk about their trade, this site can provide useful information about sales techniques. You might even find tips for marketing methods that apply directly to your niche.

www.TaskUS.com. Although this is technically a virtual assistant site, you can use the service to create custom ranking lists and other useful information that you can post in your blog.

Once you’re comfortable with the technical and writing aspects of blogging, you can start drawing visitors to your site.

Remember that if you want to become a great copywriter, you should first be a great copyreader. You can learn so much from reading other people’s copy and applying what you learn to your own niche.

These resources are sure to give you tips and tricks that will help make your blog successful.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

If you’re eager to share your brilliant expertise with potential clients, starting a blog is a great option for you. It’s also a fantastic way to generate more income for your business.

How will an online blog help you to increase your revenue?

While blogs were once used primarily as outlets for expression and basic journaling, they now also serve as a very useful tool for making money online.

Once you’ve established yourself in your field, your blog postings will enable you to connect with your audience, gain their trust and develop a loyal following of readers. Some of those readers will then translate into paying customers.

You may be very familiar with blogs, and may even be a loyal reader of some – perhaps this one – but if you’ve never created a blog, the concept may intimidate you. However, let me assure you – once you understand the basics of blogging, you’ll see how valuable it can be to your business.

Michael Dunlop, who ventured into online blogging at age fourteen, says that starting one is nearly idiot-proof. He puts it very simply – a blog is easy to create; then you just start adding content, building traffic and making money.

He grew his refurbished website, www.RetireAt21.com, to 160,000 visitors each month over the course of only five months. It is currently the largest site for young entrepreneurs.

To be as successful as Michael in blogging requires two initial things: quality software and quality content.

Knowing the best software to use when creating your blog will give you an edge over the competition. Poorly programmed blog sites don’t rank as well in search engines. Michael highly recommends using WordPress for your blog software because it will help your site outrank others that aren’t using this software. Being ranked higher than other sites will give you a lot of advantage. People always tend to click on those links first.

WordPress is also easy to use. With many features that can be customized, it will help your blog to stand out among the thousands of other more generically programmed sites out there in the virtual world.
That is the name of the game. The higher your blog ranks and the more it stands out, the more visitors you will get.

The other aspect that will set your blog apart from the rest is its content. Plenty of people write and post blogs daily, but how many are really profiting from them?

The difference between the blogs that make money and the blogs that don’t is the value they provide. When you write your blog, write about something new, give something valuable to your audience or package your information in an interesting way. As an expert in your own right, the information you have is valuable to your readers.

Using the right software and taking the time to share and present your expertise are the keys to a valuable and successful blog.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Meet Bernadette’s online business mentor Yanik Silver.

Instant Profit Boosters – one of the things Yanik is known for is squeezing out additional revenue and profits from absolutely zero additional marketing budget, visitors or customers.

Yanik will show you how to look at your website and business to identify immediate profit increases.

Don’t miss this call!

My Next MARKETING* MASTERMIND Call

Tuesday, 22nd June, 2010

8:00pm UK Time (3pm EASTERN, 12 noon PACIFIC)

TOPIC:  *Instant Profit Boosters*

This call is FREE for my hundreds of Marketing Mastermind and Stepping UP! members. They also get the CD and transcript of this call at no extra charge, plus a tonne of other member benefits – such as access to our online members forum.

Not a member?  Click here to join the Marketing Mastermind Group today so you can take advantage of this call and all the other member goodies each and every month.

I look forward to “meeting” you on our call.

Best Wishes,
Bernadette Doyle
www.clientmagnets.com

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT – Instant Profit Boosters

What’s the worst that can happen?

This is a question that I encourage you to ask yourself. Too often, we don’t allow ourselves to do something because we’re worried about the sky falling in. When you feel that way, consider the worst case scenario.

For instance, perhaps you are uncomfortable making cold calls, but that is your primary way of generating business. As terrified as you may be to pick up the phone, think about the worst possible thing that could happen.

The prospect might shout at you or hang up on you. While that’s not pleasant, it certainly isn’t the end of the world. Because after that, it’s then over. The person isn’t going to start a Twitter campaign telling the world that you called him and he didn’t want to buy from you. Nothing else will happen.

Considering the worst case scenario will help you to learn how to take risks in your business. It will toughen you against the possibility of any little thing going wrong, and will give you the confidence to move forward in spite of that possibility.

The thought of losing money holds a lot of people back from taking risks or making changes. They are afraid their investment won’t pan out and they’ll look foolish for having lost money.

One thing I have personally learnt from considering the worst that could happen is that it’s impossible to lose money. If something doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would, don’t consider it as lost money. You just didn’t get the expected return on your investment, but you didn’t lose.

When this happens, view it as an educational experience. For example, a few months ago we had a mistake happen in my business that cost $20,000. While, yes, that is a lot of money, it was also a $20,000 education for me and the team members involved. That mistake will not be made again. We didn’t lose money; we learned a valuable lesson.

In fact, we couldn’t have bought that particular education. There isn’t a $20,000 seminar that could teach us what we really learned through that one mistake. We didn’t just learn it in theory; we learned it in the muscle, where it will always stay.

When you are considering making an investment or a change of some sort in your business, don’t set yourself up for disappointment. Face the worst case scenario head on. Once you realize what might go wrong, you can handle it. And, if it does, view it as a learning experience, not as a loss.

You will find yourself moving into areas of growth that you never thought possible.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Twitter is one of the most popular social networking platforms today, and is growing in popularity exponentially. More and more businesses are turning to Twitter to make connections with clients, other businesses and potential sales leads. The first step to successfully building your online presence via Twitter is to create a profile on Twitter. What’s the best way to create a profile that will get your business noticed on Twitter?

Firstly,  What is Twitter?
Twitter is essentially a web platform where you can share 140-character snippets with the people who are interested in what you say. In order to see your 140-character updates, people must “Follow” you on Twitter. In order for you to see their updates, you must “Follow” them back. The people who follow you and read what you write are called “Followers,” and the people whose updates you can see you are said to be “Following.”

Pick a Username that Conveys You And Your Business
When you create a profile on Twitter, pick a username that conveys you and your business. If your business has a short name, such as Bike Bandit, you might select BikeBandit as your username.  You can also sign up using your personal name.  Select whatever makes it easy for other Twitter users to find and follow you. If you have a long business name, such as Wintergreen Hospitality Services Incorporated, you might want to use just an identifying word from your business, such as Wintergreen. Pick a short username consistent with your business, and one that your users will be able to find easily.

Keep Your Profile Consistent with Twitter
When you’re building your Twitter profile, keep it consistent with Twitter. Twitter only gives you 140 characters for your bio, so think of a few words or a phrase that summarizes your business. You can also provide a link to your website in your profile, so that gives you a chance to funnel your Twitter followers to a specific page that gives them more information about you. Think of your Twitter bio as a teaser, and point them to a page that will make them want to know more about you via your profile URL.

Using Icons and Backgrounds Effectively
You can upload a picture to represent your business on Twitter, but the size is limited. Some businesses prefer to use a logo; one that’s consistent with other branding; so it’s easy to identify the business. Many people prefer to use a personal photograph, though, because the purpose of Twitter is to connect with other people. A photograph is more humanizing, and makes you more accessible as a person.

You can also put up a background on your Twitter page that followers see when they come to your page. You can use this background for your company logo, or to show your product or important things from your company.

Building a successful Twitter profile is your first step in building a strong Twitter following for your business. Remember that people want to connect with a human, so try to humanize your profile as much as possible. Utilizing your profile effectively makes it easier for people to find you and understand what your business does. If you follow these easy tips, you’ll have a successful Twitter profile in no time!

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Recently, my friend and mentor, Kevin Nations, was offering a teleseminar.  Since he’s been such a great help to me, I passed the word along to my list of people.  But some who were reaching the web page to sign up for the call were having technical problems and unable to use the signup form.  They started emailing to find more information and to complete their signup.  I couldn’t help but think what a great offer he had – so great that it compelled people to take the extra steps to overcome a technical problem to get signed up!  Would they do that for your offer?

Just a few years ago, it was so easy to build a list of potential clients using online resources.  A little signup box in the corner of a webpage that offered a few free tips worked well for list building.  Soon the tips grew to a free report.  Is your list continuing to grow?  If your list isn’t growing as it once did, it’s time to take a fresh look at your offer.

We call that offer your ethical bribe.  You’re giving people something of value to them in return for their name and email address, which is of value to you.  And you’re not just getting any old name and email.  It’s someone who’s showing, just by the nature of your offer, that they have an interest in your product.  They are the perfect person to sell to – someone who’s receptive to your product.  But is it time to sweeten the pot?  Are you offering enough that someone would take an extra step to get the free offering?

Since building a list of potential clients is key to building your sales, you need to make sure that you continue to cultivate your list.  What were once tried and true methods for list building may now be growing more lackluster.  If you’re not generating results as you once were, take a fresh look at what you’re offering.  Is it compelling with enough value that people would take an extra step to get it?

One tried and true sales method is to create a sense of urgency, and this is the same for creating a valuable ethical bribe.  That may the reason that free reports don’t work as quickly and effectively as they used to – there’s no sense of urgency.  It’s still going to be there next week or next month.  On the other hand, a teleseminar has a deadline, it’s taking place on a certain date, so by its very nature it has the deadline to create urgency.  It also has scarcity in that there are only so many lines available for the call.  Together, the deadline and the scarcity create the urgency you need to compel people to act.

Think about your ethical bribe – does it have a high enough perceived value?  Is it enough that people will take an extra step for it?  Keep it fresh and compelling to keep your list, and therefore your business, growing.

Video Marketing Secrets: this is a huge opportunity right now, and is THE way to establish yourself as an ‘overnight expert’ online. And it’s easier than you think. How you can get started, why you don’t need expensive film crews or equipment.

How to create EFFECTIVE videos that work like

TRAFFIC MAGNETS

to attract targeted traffic to YOUR site.

My Next “MARKETING* MASTERMIND Call…”

Tuesday, 25th May, 2010

8:00pm UK Time (3pm EASTERN, 12 noon PACIFIC)

TOPIC:  *Video Marketing Secrets*

This call is FREE for my hundreds of Marketing Mastermind and Stepping UP! members. They also get the CD and transcript of this call at no extra charge, plus a ton of other member benefits – such as access to our online members forum.

Not a member?  Then join the Marketing Mastermind Group today so you can take advantage of this call and all the other member goodies each and every month.

I look forward to “meeting” you on our call.
Best Wishes

Bernadette Doyle
www.clientmagnets.com

PS – Even if you can’t make the call, all Mastermind members receive a FREE CD of the call as well as a digital version of the audio and transcript! Take advantage now: http://bit.ly/SellingSuccess