5 reasons

1 - YOUR SITE IS BORING...

The thing is... you can’t think of your site as a freeway billboard. In advertising we talk a lot about two major factors when trying to get your

message to your market. Reach and frequency is what the billboard beside the freeway is trying to accomplish. Hopefully it “reaches” many people

and then depending how long it stays there it begins to develop “frequency” or better said, the same person sees the message several times. Typically a billboard contains a very short message or a visual cue to your company’s product or service. Your website is not a billboard. Visitors expect your site to be dynamic, educational and entertaining. Sadly most companies treat their web site like the freeway billboard and are puzzled as to why they aren’t getting results.

2 - YOUR SITE HASN’T CHANGED IN SIX MONTHS...

If your favorite TV network showed the same show and the same episode every night... how many times would you watch that network? Ok... I understand it’s a silly example... but that exactly what most folks do with their web site. They put it up and forget about. If you want people to visit your site... you need to give them a reason to visit and a reason to return.

3 - THE VALUE OF AN AUTO RESPONSE...

One of the worst things you can do to your browsers (folks that visit your website) is rely on an auto response to answer questions. A good e-marketing professional will spend hours designing your site so people visit, stay long enough to understand your product or service and give them a good reason to return. The entire goal of your site is to get people to send in an inquiry. After designing a site that entices people to ask you about your product or service... you then insult them with an impersonal, meaningless auto response? Would you rely on an answering machine to run your business or would you staff it with a live person that can immediately attend to your customers needs?

4 - YOU AREN’T INVOLVED WITH YOUR SITE...

I hear this a lot lately. “I don’t have time to sit in front of the computer... I just don’t know how people find the time.”

Ok... here’s the deal. I’m sure at one point people thought the telephone was an annoying contraption as well but there comes a time when you must recognize new trends. The computer and the Internet have been with us for quite a while. If you want a website to produce for you... YOU (the owner) must be actively involved with its design, updates and what kind of results it’s generating. If you delegate this part of your business to a part time kid you’re blowing it big time.

5 - YOUR EMAIL CUSTOMERS ARE ANSWERED WITHIN 48 HOURS...

How many times have you gone to a website, become interested in a product or service and then taken the time to send in a request for more information only to receive an auto-response that someone will contact you within 48 (or even 24) hours (and then... you never get a response). I’ll bet... you went right back to Google/Yahoo and looked for another company that could give you the answer right now. In 48 or even 24 hours most people won’t even remember what they asked you or who you are. If you can’t respond to your email or other website inquiries within 15 minutes (or less) you will likely loose that person as a future customer. It’s a shame to have a site that generates interest only to turn off your potential customer by dropping the ball.

None of the above information is a product of rocket science however... any one of the above points is business fatal and yet I am constantly shocked at how many good company web sites make more than 1 of the above mistakes in their e-marketing efforts.

I can show you how to design or enhance your website along with the supporting infrastructure so your site generates the results that it should but that’s only the beginning. It’s what you do after your site does it’s job that makes your e-marketing effort pay off. Mishandle this step and you not only loose potential customers... you will create even more long term damage. The above information will be at the heart of your e-marketing success or failure. Your TV will disappear before computers or the Internet does. Maximizing the use of these technologies is the most efficient way to dramatically increase your ability to compete and succeed regardless of the economy’s health.

jb