What is Info Elasticity? As a "closet economist" I've coined the term "Info Elasticity" to describe the inverse relationship between our Prospect Response Rates resulting from asking for too much information on our Website Contact Forms.

The term "elasticity" comes from the study of microeconomics. The Economics Glossary gives the following definition for elasticity:  "Elasticity is a measure of responsiveness. The responsiveness of behavior measured by variable Z to a change in environment variable Y is the change in Z observed in response to a change in Y.  Specifically, this approximation is common:  elasticity = (percentage change in Z) / (percentage change in Y)"

Please don't worry if that definition went over your head. It does for most and I have a BS-Economics.  The key thing to understand here is that we can use the concept of "elasticity" when we want to see how the relationship of one thing changes when we change something else. How does demand for goods or service change when we change its price?  How does the demand for goods or services change when the price of a substitute changes?  How does our contact form response rate change when we ask for more or less information?  These are the types of questions that "elasticity" can help us answer. 

What is the objective of your Contact Form? From my experience, the objective of a Contact Form should be to get the Website Visitor or Web Surfer to "raise their hands" and say they are interested in knowing more about your products or services. 

Asking for the minimum information you need is a courtesy to prospects and in my opinion can significantly increase your response rate.  Long, complex forms or requests for large amounts of detail or sensitive information could put off potential responses (forever).  In addition to first and last name, the most important information to request is telephone number and or e-mail address, either piece of info gives you a way to contact the website visitor and start a relationship.

I strongly recommend that you don't ask for more than the basic information unless you need it.  In some cases you may need to know a little more information to provide better service such as a position title or website address.  However, my experience, common sense, and now privacy laws suggest that you should avoid asking for sensitive information like income, social security numbers, or credit card numbers, unless absolutely needed, to prevent scams or the potential for identity theft.  I know from my own website interactions that I am resistant to provide information that I don't feel is needed or warranted.

So, I believe that a response or contact us form is simply a starting point to build a customer relationship. A customer may just ask a question, for a free white paper or to subscribe to your newsletter, but that request gives you the opportunity to open a dialog, gather further information, and build a detailed customer profile as a basis for future marketing campaigns.  I've found that to be successful online you must have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) like Full Partner's system in place to ensure that the prospect’s initial request is developed into a customer relationship.

Can LESS be MORE? Yes, from my experience, "Info Elasticity" simply means: The more information we ask for; the less our response rate. I have seen many cases where asking for too much information significantly reduced the response rate and conversely asking for less information actually increased the Contact Form response rate.  For example, in the Mortgage Broker Lead industry when we asked for too much info or if the form was not easy to use the "Info Elasticity" kicked in and the response rate when down.  So, we tested forms until we reached a happy medium that produced a high volume of mortgage rate quotes while still capturing the minimum consumer information.   Recently, in another example, I recommended that an Internet Marketing Client reduce the information that they were asking for on their Contact Form by 66%, to just the basics, and their monthly Prospect Response Rate when up 400%. 

Dave Westfall is a Internet Marketing Consultant and Business Coach who provides solid advice and proven solutions that work to help you achieve your vision and goals.  Dave was recently quoted in this Wall Street Journal New and Improved Small Business Turnaround Article.  

Click on these links to follow Dave on Twitter or connect with him on Facebook or LinkedIn or for more information please visit Dave online . 

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA
DewPointe Ventures LLC

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

I've found that graduation time is a good period to sit down, evaluate and measure the marketing effectiveness of your business website.  What letter grade would your small business website get?  Would it be an A or an F?  Or something in between?

Do you remember "grading on the curve" from your high school report cards and courses?  Well, in my opinion, you could use that same scale to evaluate the letter grade that your website should get for marketing effectiveness.  Some website grading tools create scores that go up to 99, so those results could be scored on the same scale that we learned back in high school:

90-99 = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D
< 60   = F

Now, I know that there is some controversy out there in the blogsphere about whether or not website grades are a valid measurement tool or "crap".   But for the purposes of this blog and from my personal experience as an Internet Marketing Consultant, they do appear to have at least some validity and provide a valuable guide to what needs to be fixed on your website to improve its marketing effectiveness. 

After all, why do you have a website?  Isn't it to generate traffic, leads or sales for your business and to help you make money?  Maybe it is like the vast majority, could be as high as 99% of all websites, because they don't get a passing grade on marketing effectiveness or page rank.  As you've probably heard, if your website doesn't show up on page one of a Search Engine Results Page (SERP), then the majority of web surfers will never find you.

Now, I'm not talking about how "pretty" your website looks or if it has a "flash intro".  Yes, those things could be important too.  Or could they be "part of the problem"?  I'm talking about marketing RESULTS!  But here's the question we're asking you to consider in this blog:  Is my website a lean, mean, lead generating machine?   

In Ajay Prasad's When Should You Fire Your Website Designer article posted in the www.SiteProNews.com  newsletter over the weekend, he says:  "Always Remember Your Website is your Marketing Machine

It is all about driving people to your website. This is more than "being found" for the right search terms. This is about having a comprehensive strategy that links your offline and online marketíng together to create leverage for your business and to get maximum results.

You need to be sure your online partner can:
    • Create a site that entices visitors to convert from information seekers to paying customers
    • Generate a stream of online and offline leads
    • Show you what functions of your business can be automated to save you dollars...and put those savíngs to good use...getting more customers 
    • Show you the secrets of capturing information and how to utilize it for easy access and follow up 
    • Show you how to make more sales with your existing customers
    • Help you set up marketing campaigns that get real results and build customer loyalty
    • Help you use marketing with email ethically and effectively

Seriously, if your web designer/dungeon master/graphic Zulu cannot do ALL of these things and more, FIRE them now. You are wasting time and money. And time is often worth more than money."

In my opinion just as importantly, if your website can't do all of these things for you; then isn't it time to FIRE your "starter" business website and upgrade to an affordable Small Business eCommerce website solution that can?

Using website grading tools, I've been able to help my Internet Marketing customers improve their website grade from an F to an A (from <60 to 96.8 in one case) and significantly increase their website lead generation traffic by 4X to 10X and its marketing effectiveness.

Over the next month I'm offering a series of workshops and webinars that will help you improve your website grade and marketing effectiveness:
1. Using Social Media for Better Marketing and Publicity Workshop May 29th 1-5pm MDT Denver
2. Does Your Website Get a Passing Grade? Webinar June 4th Noon Eastern
3. Turn your Website into a Lead Generating Machine Webinar June 18th Noon Eastern 

Please click on this link to ask for your FREE website grade.

Dave Westfall is a Internet Marketing Consultant and Business Coach who provides solid advice and proven solutions that work to help you achieve your vision and goals.  Dave was recently quoted in this Wall Street Journal New and Improved Small Business Turnaround Article.  

Click on these links to follow Dave on Twitter or connect with him on Facebook or LinkedIn or for more information please visit Dave online . 

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA
DewPointe Ventures LLC

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

Content Management Systems (CMS) are all the rage in web site development circles these days and there are several good reasons why.  But very few of them are affordable yet full integrated with all the bells and whistles that you'll eventually need to run your eCommerce business.  For Small Business web site owners with eCommerce needs, a fully integrated Full Partner CMS solution will put control of the web site back into your hands so that you don't get nickel and dimed anymore.  The best part is that you don't need to know anything about HTML programming or Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to do it all yourself.  Anyone can add or edit pages on their web site, post new blogs, upload photos or video clips, create professional looking newsletters and email eMarketing campaigns, update your built-in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database plus manage your Affiliates, Members or Prospects and handle all aspects of your Products or running an Event.  Here are some of the advantages of an affordable Small Business eCommerce CMS web site solution from Full Partner:

• There's nothing to install or lose. Your Full Partner CMS web site model is installed on our secure web servers. On your computer all you need is a web browser like Internet Explorer or FireFox and the admin password to login.
• Updates are immediate. In the old non-CMS model, you probably sent a list of updates to your web developer and waited for them to squeeze youin and then send you a bill. With the Full Partner CMS you can make the changes instantly yourself at no cost.
• Easy to maintain consistent look and feel. A Full Partner CMS separates the dynamic content areas of the web site that will change on each page from the static areas like the navigation, header and footer that should stay the same.So updating your content doesn't break your web site layout or impact your look and feel.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO). A good CMS like Full Partner's does most of the heavy-lifting of optimizing your web site for you. Search engine friendly page names (URLs) and HTML happen behind the scenes or can be customized. The built in Full Partner blog is another powerful SEO feature that means all of that visitor traffic comes directly to your web site where they can buy something from you and prevents traffic leakage to a blog hosting company like WordPress and Blogger.
• Schedule your blogs and web page content. One of the neatest features of a Full Partner CMS is that you can write a blog article today or create a new web page for an advertising campaignand set it to post at some point in the future. So you can put together several blogs or new pages for the web site in one sitting and schedule them to trickle out while you're on vacation or working on another project.
• Make your web site sticky. "Sticky" is an important buzzword in the Internet world. It just means you're giving people a reason to come back to your web site and stay longer (sticky eyeballs) when they do.
• Put bait on your hook. Search engines love the Full Partner CMS that comes with a built in blog and the tools to update your content to keep it fresh and relevant. It lets you put "bait" on your hook so that you can reel in visitors and effortlessly convert them to customers.
• All the bells and whistles you'll ever need. A Full Partner CMS comes with all the functionality built-in that you'll probably ever need to run a robust eCommerce web site for your small business. Even if you don't need all of the "big boys" built-in functionality for managing Affiliates, Members and Events, right now, it will be there when you do need it at no additional cost or time and effort to learn a new system.
  
  Please share your thoughts or questions on this blog by leaving a comment here or by sending a private email.   Please click on this link for more information on the Full Partner eCommerce Content Management System.

  Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer who provides solid advice and proven solutions that work to help you grow and transition your business.  For more information on him please visit Dave online . 

  All the best,

  Dave Westfall, MBA
  email:  davewestfall@dewpointe.com
  
  Please visit one or more of our "DewPointe Ventures" websites at:  
  Dave Westfall Coaching 
  Business Coaching Corner (BCC) Blog
  RENT an MBA
  My Appointment Setter
  One Stop Estate Liquidation Services
  SocialNetomics  

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

This Full Partner Content Management System (CMS) Customer Case Study is about www.sallyterry.com.  I recently enjoyed interviewing Sally Terry of Sally Terry® LLC Brand Products.   Sally is an Internet Business Owner, Trainer and Machine Quilting Expert who travels internationally.  In my opinion, she is a 1 person marketing dynamo that ships her 16 products worldwide.   There is a lot more here than meets the eye.  Sally believes that we are all in the marketing business.

Sally is an avid reader with a life-long commitment to learning and in another life she loved to sail.   In addition to machine quilting, her passions now are marketing and poker.   She only lives about 10 miles from a Harrah’s casino on the Ohio River and practices Texas Holdem online for points.   Sally told me she is planning a trip to Las Vegas in the near future to “do some gambling”...  Oh, did I mention that in her “spare time” she helps other business owners to improve their marketing and quilting businesses.

Sally also offers Machine Quilting and Quilting Business Classes in a variety of ways:

• At her Paducah, Kentucky Studio
• Via Email and Digital Download
• Live On-Line or Webinar
• Private Coaching and Mentoring

As shown below, Sally also sells machine quilting templates, patterns and designs plus she is a published Author of several books.

Westfall:  When did you start using the Full Partner eCommerce Content Management System (eCMS)?

Terry:   In December 2007 after speaking with one of the Full Partner sales representatives I quickly made the decision to transfer over my “website skins” from Register.com.

Westfall:  How did you choose the Full Partner eCMS system?

Terry:  I was referred by Ari Galper a well known Author and Business Coach who is associated with www.unlockthegame.com and www.chatwise.com that was using a Full Partner system.  I felt certain that Ari wouldn’t have recommended the Full Partner eCMS solution to me if it didn’t work.  

Westfall:  Why did you choose Full Partner’s eCMS system?

Terry:   As you can see from the pictures on my website, I run a very visual business.  It is critical that my customers are able to see my quilt designs, patterns and templates before they buy.   So, I was looking for an affordable website solution that already has everything on it with tons of capabilities.   I wanted it all- Blog, Website, Catalog, Surveys, Email, and Autoresponders.  And I wanted to be able to “Do It Myself” and be able to change the content or pictures with no html programming or technical knowledge required.

Westfall:  What were you using before you chose the Full Partner eCMS?

Terry:   I was using a Register.com website but the eCommerce side was so bad, especially the pixel limitations on their postage stamp sized pictures.  It was excruciatingly painful for me and I had to look for an alternative.   I ended up paying for Register.com’s catalog product but never used it.   I did keep and still use Rick Raddatz’s Instant Teleseminar audio generator service and eBook generator tools.   I also kept Ari Galper’s Chatwise Instant Messaging service that I had been using and had Ted Nevels, Full Partner’s CTO add it to my new system as a Custom Plug in.

Westfall:  How are you using the Full Partner eCMS system?

Terry:   Well, I’m probably not using 50% of what’s there, but I am using the website, blog, event registration, email, subscription lists and customer relationship management (CRM) modules, plus the order management, reporting and shopping cart systems.   I love how the email designer walks you thru the process.   My orders show up now with email addresses and telephone numbers, allowing me to handle split tickets and ship internationally.   So, I really want for nothing, everything is so effortless and automatic and very affordable.  I’ve even recently added PayPal as a payment option.   I’m also planning to add the Affiliate marketing capability soon.  

Westfall:  What do you like about the Full Partner eCMS system?

Terry:  It is so much fun using the Full Partner system.  I “fell in love” with the eCommerce side of the Full Partner System during my online demo.   I really like all of the custom queries that I can set up for my Products and Buyers.    Plus with the Do It Myself Content Management System (CMS) I can put my personal marketing stamp on it.  The Full Partner System is fabulous; its mind blowing what you can do with it!  I was able to set my website up the way I wanted it.  Sallee Haerr and the rest of Full Partner’s design and support team did a great job helping me get there.

Westfall:  Is there anything else you want to say about the Full Partner system?

Terry:   Yes, I love how responsive the whole Full Partner team is.  That was a refreshing change from what I had been using.  Ted has been very helpful to me and very responsive to my phone calls and emails.   The Full Partner training that Sallee delivered using GoToMeeting was wonderful and unbelievable.   I especially like that Full Partner doesn’t have a “Gestapo-like” Receptionist acting as a gate keeper and that I can interact directly with their Tech Support team.   Finally, and most importantly, my business has doubled, maybe tripled, in the last year since switching to Full Partner and my Customers love it!!

You can reach Sally Terry by email at: sally@sallyterry.com or by visiting her website at www.sallyterry.com.

Please share your thoughts or questions on this Full Partner Case Study by leaving a comment here or by sending a private email.   Please click on this link for more information on the Full Partner eCommerce Content Management System.

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer who provides solid advice and proven solutions that work.  For more information on him please visit Dave online . 

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA
email:  davewestfall@dewpointe.com

Please visit one or more of our "DewPointe Ventures" websites at:  
Dave Westfall Coaching 
Business Coaching Corner (BCC) Blog
RENT an MBA
My Appointment Setter
One Stop Estate Liquidation Services
SocialNetomics  

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

This Full Partner Customer Case Study is about www.integratedalliances.com.  I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Mike O’Neil the visionary leader, Founder, CEO and President of Integrated Alliances.   Mike is a Speaker, Trainer & Social Networking Expert and the World’s Most Experienced LinkedIn Trainer having trained over 4,000 Users.  He has over 19,000 direct connections and ranks in the top 50 on LinkedIn Worldwide.

Mike O’Neil, 48, is an experienced Industrial Engineer, Sales Engineer and Applications Engineer.  As the CEO of Integrated Alliances (IA) for the last 6 years he leads the strategic team delivering methodologies, strategies and training combining to bring Web 2.0 into the modern day business world for their clients. Integrated Alliances has been delivering client solutions since 2003, with almost 3 years of dedication to social media and LinkedIn.  Mike speaks and offers training in technology, LinkedIn, recruiting, sales training and business networking.  He is the author of a soon to be published book on using LinkedIn for Sales and Marketing.

Westfall:  When did you start using the Full Partner System?
O’Neil:  Integrated Alliances (IA) started using Full Partner’s eCommerce Content Management (eCMS) system in November 2007 in preparation for our Annual December Holiday Parties with 550+ attendees.  We started out with a bang working on the registrations for our biggest networking event of the year.   At the time because of our system limitations we were only able to do 4-5 live networking events and training workshops and 2-3 webinars a month.  So, we phased in the migration to the Full Partner system starting with new Event Registrations first and then moved the Website and Email accounts over.   We finished the migration by imported our membership/subscription data records and event registration databases into the Full Partner User CRM and Events databases.

Westfall: How did IA choose the Full Partner eCMS system?
O’Neil: I was originally introduced to Full Partner by one of their Sales staff, thru my Social Media activities.  He came to one of our live Boulder, CO networking events in January 2007 then later attended LinkedIn Training sessions.   Coincidently, Chip Lambert our Affiliate in Phoenix, AZ was also considering using the Full Partner eCMS system.  So, thru a long series of events in October of 2007 I ended up attending a Full Partner demonstration hosted by one of our Marketing Consultants.   After that demonstration, I immediately made the decision to move forward with converting our operations to the Full Partner System.

Westfall:Why did you choose Full Partner’s eCMS system?
O’Neil:  Juggling all of the data imports/separate systems was frustrating and it was blocking IA’s growth.

So, I really liked the following Full Partner features and benefits:

1. Full Integration of User CRM, Newsletter eMarketing, Event Registration and Website. 
       a.  IA had over 2,000 .csv files and I was importing and exporting files everywhere.
       b.   It had become just too much to do our weekly IA newsletters the old way.
2. Integrated solution allowed IA to ramp up selling Affiliates
       a.   Found out after selling Colorado Springs market that we had a “BIG training problem”
       b.   IA couldn’t scale the business with existing systems and grow our Affiliate base
       c.   IA needed to standardize operations- across everything, reporting, set-up, etc.
3. Our research found only 3-4 companies that offered a fully integrated eCMS solution and the others were quite a bit more expensive.
4. I liked that he could have a personal relationship with Scott Hickey, CEO and also that Full Partner was local Colorado company
5. Scott and his team went way above and beyond the call of duty to help us launch the Full Partner System during our 2007 holiday party.
6. On-Site Name tag printing being fully integrated, allowing IA to print badges on-site was huge.
7. Customization of the Full Partner eCMS allowed for expansion of our Affiliates and Resellers.

Westfall:What were you using before you chose the Full Partner eCMS?

O’Neil:  As shown above, the RegOnline (ROL) online event registration system spit out a PDF file that we could use to print our Avery Name Badges but it took 3 or 4 hours to produce the name badges. ROL only processed Visa and MasterCard credit cards so we had to have a manual Point Of Sale (POS) terminal for accepting American Express and Discover.  So, IA had to have Two Merchant Accounts.  This required that we cut off our online registrations at Noon and we had to hand write name badges on site and that didn’t look very professional with our 25%-50% walk-ins.  I was juggling 2,000 .csv files, constantly importing and exporting them into different applications.   Plus we were annoying our loyal customers because we used to repeatedly send the same messages to the same person 3 or 4 times.  Now with Full Partner we only send it once.

Westfall:  How are you using the Full Partner eCMS system?
O’Neil:   As shown below, using the Full Partner system we’re able to grow our organization and offer 30-40 events, workshops and webinars a month now.   Now we have Trainers and Resellers operating in 15 markets.

Westfall:  What do you like about the Full Partner eCMS system?
O’Neil:   I really like the full Integration, the logic of the system and especially that by using the event queries our website event listing displays are automatically updated.  So, we don’t have to remember to manually change them like we used to have to in our old website system.   I really like that Full Partner has an integrated Blog capability.  We didn’t have one before.   With the Full Partner system we could offer an Affiliate program that has generated additional revenue sources.  I also like the digital delivery capability for our LinkedIn Profile guide and selling our pre-recorded webinars, training videos and other Products like my soon to be completed book.

Westfall:  Is there anything else you want to say about the Full Partner system?
O’Neil:  IA was looking for an Internet based Application Service Protocol (ASP) model that had no software CD’s to be installed, allowed for multiple users and having multiple windows open at the same time.   I just recommended Full Partner to another large Social Media Consulting and Sales training company in Chicago.  IA is headed toward a Distributed Model operating in multiple cities with our Authorized Reseller (Regional Executive Director) organization and we can get there with Full Partner.

You can reach Mike O’Neil at Integrated Alliances by email at: moneil@integratedalliances.com. Please view Mike’s LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneil.

Please share your thoughts or questions on this Full Partner Case Study by leaving a comment here or by sending a private email. 

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer who provides solid advice and proven solutions that work.  For more information or to follow or connect please visit Dave online . 

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA
email:  davewestfall@dewpointe.com

Please visit our "DewPointe Ventures" websites at:  
Dave Westfall Coaching 
RENT an MBA
My Appointment Setter
One Stop Estate Liquidation Services
SocialNetomics  

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

One of my blog readers asked: 
"The 3 blogs on converting website traffic in to sales were great; but tell me how to do it?"

Okay, let's use some "gone fishing" metaphors: it appears that many of you have a fishing pole, reel and some fishing line (that's your website and your external blog).. So, you have some traffic coming to your website, however, with an external blog you may be using a leaky bucket (because most of the blog traffic never comes directly to your main website). 

It appears that many of you don't have a hook on the line (much less a sharp one) and there is no "bait" on the hook...  I hope that you'll agree that you won't catch many fish without a hook and some bait ..   So, let's review those 5 stages of the sale again and see if we can tie a hook on the end of your fishing line and then put some bait on the hook to reel in those website sales?

Here are some ideas on what you could do at each of the 5 sale stages to put bait (coupons, free offers) on your hook (Calls to Action, Autoresponders, Drip email campaigns) :

1. Make contact with the Prospect
   a. Offer an integrated Blog
   b. Offer different Calls to Action at every stage
   c. Use Autoresponder emails to create a drip marketing campaign
   d. Send regular newsletters (to targeted groups)
   e. Use walk-on video, multi-media, or audio to pre-sell and explain your products or services
   f.  Offer an online store or catalog with color pictures to showcase and explain your products and services
2. Engage the Prospect in dialogue
   a. You'll need a flexible eCommerce Content Management System (CMS) to do this
   b. Offer RSS feed on your blog
   c. Offer opt-in newsletter subscription lists (e.g. email address only)
   d. Offer Free White Papers in exchange for contact info or other free offers
   e. Offer anonymous Live Help Instant Messaging (IM)
   f.  Offer FAQ's, Glossary of Terms and User Forums (e.g. make your website "sticky"
   g. Offer Contact Us or Prospect forms (ask for the least info possible)
   h. Use Autoresponders to automatically react to Prospect inquiries
   i.  Set-up Email Drip marketing campaigns to "follow-up" with Prospects
3. Send Prospect a proposal
   a. Allow Visitor to complete an RFP/RFI Prospect form (like Marriott's online Event Planner RFP)
   b. Use Autoresponders to acknowledge receipt of RFP
   c. Respond to RFP within 24 hours to significantly improve close rate
   d. Follow-up with phone call and RFP drip email campaign
4. Receive notice of selection
   a. Set-up a separate group email reply account for expediting Proposal responses
   b. Use Autoresponders to acknowledge receipt of Acceptance
   c. Follow-up with phone call within 24 hours
5. Negotiate and sign the contract
   a. Offer a secure easy to use integrated shopping cart with payment options
   b. Use a seamless CRM that tracks Prospect, dialogues, tasks and orders through to the sale
6. Bait to use during the 5 closes:
   a. Direct close
        1. Offer Products online with Cross-Sells and Up-Sells (e.g. Webinar recordings, eBooks, CDs, tapes)
        2. Online Event registrations
        3. Integrated Shopping Cart with multiple payment options
   b. Concession close
        1. Offer discount coupons- 10, 20, 30% off
        2. Membership and Quantity discounts
   c. Time-driven
        1. Offer discount coupons with short expiration dates
        2. Offer coupons that expire upon check-out
   d. Trial offers
        1. Offer installment payment plans with FREE trial periods
        2. Offer memberships with different prices and service levels
   e. Continuation (Near Close)
        1. Offer Free Initial Consultation or Free Needs Analysis
        2. Offer an online RFP Proposal form
        3. Set-up Email Drip marketing campaigns to "follow-up" with Prospects

I hope that this gives you some ideas on the different kinds of bait that you can put on your hooks?

"What? ", you say..  Your website system can't do all of that?  Then you need to take a look at a fully integrated eCommerce Content Management System (CMS) with website and blog like the ones offered by Full Partner.

Please subscribe to our RSS feed, leave a comment here or contact us with any questions?

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer with DewPointe Ventures LLC. You can reach him by email at: davewestfall@dewpointe.com.  Please check out Dave's profile on www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall  or you can follow Dave's updates on www.twitter.com/davewestfall.

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

Okay, in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on “How to convert Website Traffic in to Sales”, we learned that:

1. Every situation is different so the answer depends on where your website shows on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP)
2. Most search engine users tend to select organic SEO listings over paid SEM listings and most never go beyond the first page.
3. There are very striking differences in click thru and conversions rates:
4. Website Visitors tend to come back up to 7 times before they buy.
5. Need a good web analytics package to be able to measure the website traffic metrics to know where they came from, how they got there, and what they did while there.
6.  There are three (3) Website Visitor Zones - Red, Yellow and Green (see diagram in Part 2):

We’ve covered a lot so far in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series about Website Visitor progression.   So, now let’s turn our attention to how a fully integrated ecommerce content management system website allows you to pursue a variety of closes to get the Visitor sale.

From my experience most “experts” agree that there are 5 stages to a typical Business to Business (B2B) sale and that many also apply to online Business to Consumer (B2C) sales.  So, here are some ideas on what you need to do at each sale stage:

1.       Make contact with the Prospect

a.       Offer a Blog

b.      Offer Calls to Action at every stage

c.       Send emails

d.      Send newsletters

e.      Use walk-on video,  multi-media, videos or audio to pre-sell and explain

2.       Engage the Prospect in dialogue

a.       You’ll need a flexible eCommerce Content Management System (CMS)

b.      Offer RSS feed on your blog

c.       Offer Opt-in newsletter subscription lists (e.g. email address only)

d.      Offer Free White Papers for contact info or other free offers

e.      Offer anonymous Live Help Instant Messaging (IM)

f.        Offer FAQ’s, Glossary of Terms and User Forums

g.       Offer Contact Us or Prospect forms (ask for the least info possible)

h.      Use Autoresponders to respond to Prospects inquiries

i.         Set-up Email Drip marketing campaigns to “follow-up” with Prospects

3.       Send Prospect a proposal

a.       Allow Visitor to complete an RFP/RFI Prospect form

                                                                           i.      For example see Marriott’s online Event Planner RFP  

b.      Use Autoresponders to acknowledge receipt of RFP

c.       Respond to RFP within 24 hours to improve close rate

d.      Follow-up with phone call and RFP drip email campaign

4.       Receive notice of selection

a.       Set-up a separate email reply account for expediting Proposal responses

b.      Use Autoresponders to acknowledge receipt of Acceptance

c.       Follow-up with phone call within 24 hours

5.       Negotiate and sign the contract

a.       Offer a secure easy to use integrated shopping cart with payment options

b.      Use a seamless CRM that tracks Prospect, dialogues, tasks and orders thru to sale

It is also generally agreed that there are at least 5 types of B2B closes:

1.       Direct close

a.       Offer Products online with Cross-Sells and Up-Sells

b.      Online Event registrations

c.       Integrated Shopping Cart with payment options

2.       Concession close

a.       Offer discount coupons

b.      Membership and Quantity discounts

3.       Time-driven

a.       Offer discount coupons with short expiration dates

b.       Offer coupons that expire after check-out

4.       Trial offers
      a.   Offer installment payment plans with FREE trial periods

             b.   Offer memberships with different prices and service levels

5.    Continuation (Near Close)

a.      Offer Free Initial Consultation or Needs Analysis

b.      Offer an online RFP Proposal form

Yes, there are other types of closes like the Assumptive close, Ben Franklin close, Feel-Felt-Found close, SPIN Selling, etal, but that is enough options for this blog.   So, in review, using a fully integrated eCommerce Content Management System like Full Partner’s will allow your website to make contact, engage the website Visitor on each of their 7 repeat visits and will also allow fewer people in your sales department to focus on only those prospects that need, want and can afford your product or service.  Understanding website Visitor behavior allows you have a much better chance of closing the sale.

Please post a comment here or feel free to ask any questions that you may have.

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer with DewPointe Ventures LLC.  You can reach him by email at: davewestfall@dewpointe.com.  Please check out Dave’s profile on www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall or you can follow Dave on www.twitter.com/davewestfall.

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

This is Part 2 of our 3 Part series on How to convert Website Traffic in to Sales.  While working as a Business Coach I’ve observed that patience can be an issue with most entrepreneurs. So, to help my small to medium sized business (SMB) Internet Marketing customers understand this 7 step repeat website visitor behavior I’ve put together an illustrative but theoretical model, as shown below, of this “Website Visitor Progression”. Plus from my Internet Marketing consulting experience I’ve also made an attempt on this model to estimate the odds of closing website visitors at these 7 repeat visit stages. 

From my experience, in the red zone or the first 3 “Looker” or “Be Back” stages, website visitors prefer to remain anonymous and are reluctant to provide any contact information.  It’s only when they have developed enough interest, trust and confidence in your products or services to enter the yellow zone that they will begin to respond to Calls to Action to become “Subscribers” but then I've found normally only to RSS Blog Feeds or the like. 

So, it’s only at the Questioning stage 4 that website visitors become “Suspects” or “Leads” in the classical sense and will provide limited contact information such as their first name or maybe just an email address or phone number. Up until that point all you may have is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) address for these visitors. So, stage 4 is the point at which offering contact forms, signing up to receive white papers and or opt-in newsletter subscription lists via your Autoresponders and or Email Drip marketing campaigns can kick in to keep the website visitors engaged and move them into the Pre-Qualification phase. 

In some cases, stage 5 could include the completion of a detailed “Contact Us” prospect form or email inquiries that would lead to the hand-off from your online marketing to your “off-line” sales department.  Using a fully integrated automated eCommerce Content Management System (CMS) like Full Partner’s with effortless conversion tools would allow you to let the website visitor continue to pre-qualify themselves 24/7 and conduct their own needs analysis to arrive at the buying decision and become a customer.  This would allow your sales department to focus on only the prospects that need, want, and can afford your product or service.

So, if this 5 to 7 visit theory is realistic, as it appears to be, then it is even more critical that your website have the integrated ecommerce functionality and design to get the visitors attention on the first visit (normally in 8 seconds or less), create interest, build desire and the conviction that leads them to the point of taking action to contact or buy from you.  In Part 3 of this series we’ll take a closer look at those critical Yellow and Green Zone visits and what you can do to convert them into sales.

Please post a comment here or feel free to ask any questions that you may have.

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer with DewPointe Ventures LLC.  You can reach him by email at: davewestfall@dewpointe.com.  Please check out Dave’s profile on www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall or you can follow Dave on www.twitter.com/davewestfall.

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA

Categories: ecommerce  |  internet marketing

Okay, you’ve done Search Engine Optimization (SEO) work on your website and or you’ve started to run some Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising campaigns and you finally have some visitor traffic coming to your website.   The most frequent question I get asked as a Business Coach and Internet Marketing Consultant at this stage is:  How do I convert my website traffic into sales?

Well, the answer to that question is:  It depends!  Every situation is different and there are very striking differences in click thru and conversions rates between industries and where your website shows up on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).   Your results will also depend on whether your website shows up in the organic SEO search results or if they show up in the paid or sponsored SEM PPC results. 

As indicated in one of my previous blogs, most search engine users tend to select organic SEO listings over paid SEM listings.  Some comments I’ve seen indicate that the top organic search result might receive as many as 40-50% of the clicks from that top 10 page.  I’ve also learned that 90% of search engines users never go beyond the first page.  But that’s the topic for a future blog.  Some blog feedback comments I’ve read indicate that click thru rates (CTR) vary from less than 0.5% to around 2% with some websites claiming 3-5% CTR’s or higher.   So, based on these blog comments you could have to generate 50,000 or more SEO or SEM SERP “Impressions” to get 1,000 visitors to click thru to your website. 

Before we can discuss how to convert website traffic into sales, we first need to understand the behavior of website visitors.   One of the commonly accepted website traffic theories is that visitors tend to come back up to 7 times before they buy.   I’ve also observed that the higher the price of your product or service the more times the website visitor may return. 

This 7 visit theory is reaffirmed in a recent SiteProNews.com blog post by Jimmie Leonguerrero in Advertising on How to Keep your Website Visitors Coming Back for More.  Another blog post written by DJ in Website Conversion on the RiseToTheTop.Techwyse.com blog about a client case study his company recently did regarding Perfecting Your Sales Funnel  documents a 5 step visitor online sales process  (shown in his graphic) that they had observed.  

But whatever the number of steps in the online sales process followed you’ll need to have a good web analytics package to be able to measure the website traffic metrics.  I have been unable to find any recent hard research data or studies to support this 7 visit theory.  But intuitively and from my Internet Marketing client’s experience repeat website visits is logical and does make common sense. 

Please post a comment on this blog if you know of any published or unpublished independent research studies that supports this 7 visit theory.   In Part 2 of this series we’ll take a closer look at these 7 website visits.  And in Part 3 we’ll look at what you can do to engage the website visitor and convert those repeat visits into sales.

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer with DewPointe Ventures LLC.  You can reach him by email at: davewestfall@dewpointe.com.  Please check out Dave’s profile on www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall or you can follow Dave on www.twitter.com/davewestfall.

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA

Categories: internet marketing  |  ecommerce

Working as a Business Coach and Internet Marketing Consultant I am frequently asked by Clients and Prospects: “How can I increase my website traffic?” Well, the answer to that question is that there are really only 3 ways to grow your website traffic.  You can:

1. Buy It
2. Borrow It
3. Build It

So, let’s take a closer look at those three ways of growing your website traffic.

Buy It, for example, could mean that you have the financial resources to drive traffic to your website using traditional marketing methods like paying $3 million for a 30 second TV commercial during the Super Bowl as GoDaddy.com and other larger companies do.   Or on a smaller scale you could be running ads with your domain name listed on local or cable TV, radio, or buying print ads in national or local magazines, newspapers or those online or offline yellow pages ads.

But it could also mean that you are incurring Pay Per Click (PPC) fees for each time a website visitor clicks on your website link on Google or Yahoo by running Search Engine Marketing (SEM) advertising campaigns.  Be careful, because depending on the cost “per click” those PPC fees can really add up fast. 

Finally, buying traffic could mean that you are buying “Paid Links” back to your website from professional or membership organizations and other Internet directories that charge you to list your website.   

Borrow It could mean that you are tapping into another websites existing traffic and in many cases paying the owner for referrals or clicks or customers.  Borrowing this type of website traffic is normally referred to as participating as an advertiser or content provider on larger websites like eBay or YouTube.  Or you could simply trade website links with other synergistic and or complimentary websites in or out of your industry that target the same customer profile.   Plus on some social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or Twitter you can list your domain name in your online profile and those viewers can link back to your website.

In addition to borrowing the website traffic that you may get from these large social networks there are other additional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) benefits associated with getting incoming links from these high Google “page ranked” websites.  But more on that in a future blog post.  However, it is highly recommended that you not participate in link exchanges with “Link Farms” that exist primarily for the purpose of artificially boosting your website traffic.   Participating in this “black hat” practice could actually get your website banned from the major search engines.

Build It primarily means following “ethical” Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques and creating good on-page content to attract visitors to your website.  This is the “hard work” part, but much of the traffic generated this way can be “free” or “low cost” and is usually the best way to generate traffic to your website for the longer term.    Most research studies indicate that the vast majority of Internet users still chose to click on links from the organic or “non-paid” search engine results over the paid or “sponsored” PPC advertisement links.

Other effective ways of building your own website traffic are to write a book, ezine, blog, post comments on other people’s blogs in your area of interest to share your expertise, send online newsletters, participate in online forums, and provide answers to other people’s questions.  Additionally, you could build website traffic by participating in message boards, chat rooms, writing online or printed articles and posting them on the Internet or by issuing traditional or online press releases that contain links back to your website or by running online contests or sending surveys. 

But don’t forget to drive traffic to your website by overlooking simply putting your website domain name like my www.dewpointe.com on your business cards, brochures, flyers, direct mail letters, postcards or in your email signature.   Plus, you’ll also want to take advantage of Viral Marketing techniques as discussed in this previous Full Partner blog post, word of mouth advertising and referrals from satisfied customers to drive traffic to your website.

Now, you’ll want to find a way to make all of that “Build It” work easy to do with no HTML knowledge required, right?  Plus once you’ve done all of that work and paid all of that money to advertise your domain name you’ll want to know where all the traffic is coming from.  So, having a fully integrated eCommerce Content Management System (CMS) website like those offered by Full Partner makes it easy for you to optimize these three ways of driving traffic to your website.  Full Partner websites come with web analytics to track your website traffic plus an affiliate marketing program and a built-in blog so that all the traffic comes directly to your website rather than to Blogger or WordPress.

Please post a comment here or feel free to ask any questions that you may have.

Dave Westfall is a Business Coach, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Trainer with DewPointe Ventures LLC.  You can reach him by email at: davewestfall@dewpointe.com.  Please check out Dave’s profile on www.linkedin.com/in/davewestfall or you can follow Dave on www.twitter.com/davewestfall.

All the best,

Dave Westfall, MBA

Categories: internet marketing  |  target marketing tool  |  blogging

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