Testimonials | online marketing | business marketing

- May 09 2009
- Is Your Website Underperforming?
- 19 Comments
- Posted In Blog
  
  Add Your Comment
Hey everybody–Rich here, and that’s a question I was asked recently by CNN…

Take a look for yourself:

Check out the CNN article here

In the Small Business section of CNNMoney.com, they profiled a furniture store in Virginia that wanted to be more competitive in the marketplace.

So they contacted me to have a look around their website. And man, the things I found…

I’m going to highlight a few of them here, followed by some changes I would suggest and how you can immediately add more selling power to your own website:

Problem: They’ve made it extremely hard for prospects to find what they’re looking for.

Solution: Step inside your prospect’s shoes and walk around the website in their frame of mind. Are you finding what you want? Or are your frustrated beyond belief? Then make the appropriate changes.

How You Can Benefit: This problem is a plague upon internet businesses everywhere. So many businesses fail because people can’t find what they REALLY want on their website.

The key here is to make it as easy as possible. Have all of your “hottest buttons” front and center. Make your best offers in plain sight. Don’t make your prospect work for it, because they won’t. They’ll just go to your competitor’s website, which is easier to navigate.

Problem: They were losing traffic due to not taking advantage of misspelled search engine inquiries.

Solution: Adding the misspellings to the meta tags could increase their traffic by 20% or more.

How You Can Benefit: Here’s one I see a lot, yet few take advantage of it. If your URL or product is something that’s misspelled frequently, make sure you do some keyword research and see how many searches are actually entered incorrectly.

You’ll be surprised at what you find. There could be hundreds–or even thousands–of people looking for you. But if they get one letter wrong, they’ll never get to your site.

That’s why it’s important to include ANY and ALL spellings in your meta tags. By doing this, you’ll substantially increase your chances of being found by those who are “grammatically challenged”.

Problem: There’s a page inside advertising their interior design services, but nothing to show us their talents in this area.

Solution: Show us your work–don’t just tell us–with some before and after photos. Or better yet, some video.

How You Can Benefit: This is CRUCIAL to any service provider. In order to highlight your skills. you must show your prospects what you’ve done in the past. That’s why testimonials are so important to your business.

And don’t just throw anything up there. Make sure they’re GOOD. Talk about how you’ve changed their lives, made them more money, gave them a better future, etc (much like the before/after photos I suggested above).

And here’s a tip: write the testimonial FOR them. Word it exactly the way you want to, then simply ask for an approval. It’s fast, easy, and most of the time you’ll get exactly what you want.

Problem: The first hour of interior decorating consultation was free, but they had this perk buried at the bottom of an inside page.

Solution: Put your strongest selling points front and center on the top of the page or even on the main page.

How You Can Benefit: HELLO! Major selling point alert! If you have something that offers value and separates your product or service from the rest, make sure your visitors know about it.

And don’t just mention it in passing–put it in plain sight on your main page. These are the types of things that can swing a decision your way instead of your competitors’. So take advantage of it!

That’s just a few of the suggestions I made. There’s lots more great tips and insights in the article, so make sure you take a look:

Check out the CNN article here

In the meantime, give your website the once over this week. Take a closer look at the offers…the copy…the design…the meta tags…anything that could be improved.

You might be surprised at the money you’re leaving on the table…money that can easily be yours with only a few easy tweaks.

To Higher Profits,

Rich

P.S. What about you? Did you see anything else they could improve on?

Check out the CNN article here

Let me know in the comments below. I know all of you have very sharp “marketing radar” and I’d love to see if there was anything I missed.

So make sure you give it a once over and let me know what you find!

Check out the CNN article here

Tags: interior decorating, meta tags, Rich Schefren, strategic profits, Testimonials

- Aug 14 2008
- Listen To Rich Schefren Interview Dr. Robert Cialdini, Author Of “Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive”
- 50 Comments
- Posted In Blog
  
  Add Your Comment
Someone once said, “Never meet your heroes. They’ll only disappoint you .”

And that’s been true to a certain extent. I’ve had the privilege to meet and chat with several people who have been a hero of mine in either a business or personal sense, and most of the time I came away discouraged

But in this case, the exact opposite happened–I came away INVIGORATED.

Download Rich Schefren’s Interview with Dr. Robert Cialidini About His Book, Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive MP3

Ask any top level marketer what their 5 favorite business books are, and 9 out of 10 will have Robert Cialidini’s “Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion” in there somewhere.

This book has become required reading for marketers and business owners. It provides a fascinating insight into your prospect’s mind, revealing scientific principles behind how we process decisions and the factors involved in making them.

Cialdini’s works have had a HUGE influence on my business, and are an integral part of what I teach. So when he agreed to an interview with me this past summer, I was absolutely thrilled. .

Dr. Cialdini and I talked for over an hour about a variety of different topics, including social media, testimonials, blogging, continuity programs, and his new book titled, “Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive.”

And as a gift to my blog readers, I’ve made the audio of this interview available to you absolutely free at the link below.

Download Rich Schefren’s Interview with Dr. Robert Cialidini About His Book, Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive MP3

I can’t tell you how pumped up I was when I finished this interview. It was one of the most thrilling hours of my life, and I’m grateful to Dr, Cialdini for giving me his valuable time. He’s always been (and still is, thankfully) a true hero of mine.

And if you enjoy it as much as I did, let me know your thoughts in the comments below, okay?

Download Rich Schefren’s Interview with Dr. Robert Cialidini About His Book, Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive MP3

To Higher Profits,
Rich

P.S. On a different note…the machine is cranking up for a massive launch coming in a few weeks.

So make sure you’re checking back to this page. Because we’ll be delivering a BOATLOAD of highly valuable (and totally FREE) content that you won’t want to miss.

Mark my words–this fall, EVERYONE will be talking about the ultra-powerful tools we’re about to unleash. And if you’re checking this page daily, you’ll be the first to know about it.

So bookmark the blog right now–and keep an eye out. Because things are about to get VERY interesting.

Tags: blogging, continuity programs, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini, social media, Testimonials