Too often business owners forget the importance of conversion in their quest for traffic. You may win the bidding wars over click rates or even the battle to get to the top of the search engine, but that is not all that matters. Your website could be getting thousands of hits every day, but none of this matters if you don’t have people converting from visitors to buyers.

Even if you aren’t selling something for money on a page, you are selling your business. And when they are sold on your business, they keep coming back for more. When you do offer something for sale, even if they are not interested at that time, they may tell someone who needs what you are offering, or come back later. This is the ultimate goal of conversion… getting your visitors sold on your business.

To improve conversion, you may push yourself to create new and different copy. But there are tried and true techniques that work. Even if you are converting, there is always room for improvement. Imagine doubling your current conversion rate by your clients buying more, and recommending you to more people!

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”

~ Leo Burnett ~
Advertising Executive who created the Jolly Green Giant, Tony the Tiger and many more

High Converting Copy Starts with the Right Approach

By Scott Martin

One of the keys to turning website and landing page visitors into clients and customers is what the visitor sees ‘above the fold’, or specifically what’s on the screen before someone (hopefully) scrolls down. When the copy addresses an interest or need, the visitor will keep reading. Strong copy starts not with a headline, but with the approach.

Let’s go through a few approaches, each of which can be extremely effective depending on what you’re selling.

The News Approach

You see this more in newspapers and magazines but the approach is to make an advertisement look like a regular article. The most famous example is the John Caples advertisement:

They Laughed When I Sat Down to at the Piano…But When I Started to Play!

If the advertisement looks like an article, which it should, the newspaper or magazine publisher will feel it’s essential to put the word “Advertisement” at the top of the ad. A good problem to have.

(A quick side note: we all know that copy set in reversed type is harder to read. The really intelligent direct marketers set the word “Advertisement” in reverse type on ads in newspapers and magazines. Brilliant.)

The approach is to make the advertisement seem like an article. The headline must simulate a newspaper or magazine headline, so it must offer news. Let’s say we’re selling a fishing rod. A tepid headline would read: The Snapper Rod Helps You Catch More Fish! Here’s a more newsworthy headline:

10 Year Old Girl Breaks State Fishing Record at Lake Snails. Her Secret? The New Snapper Fishing Rod.

Stories can be extremely powerful in copy, but be careful. A boring story is like a bad joke and will turn people away.

If you want to see great examples of newspaper headlines, forget the serious newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times. Instead, look at the tabloids, especially the English and Scottish tabloids like The Sun, The Daily Record, The News of the World, The New York Post, and The Daily Mirror. Headlines equal sales for these newspapers.

It’s harder to use this approach on the web because the visitor knows they’re going to a page that’s advertising something. So use the news approach for banners and buttons on news and information sites.

The Empathy Approach

“I know your job or life is terrible and difficult! I’m here to help.” When the product or service is targeted at a highly defined audience, this approach is worth trying. And you don’t need a headline so much as a series of sub-heads. For example:

Being a Marketing Executive is a Tough Job…Especially Today…

Just keeping up with Internet technology is a full-time job, AND THEN you have to run all the marketing.

We’re going to make your life a lot easier…

Very soon, your CEO will praise you for being totally up-to-date with everything in today’s eCommerce universe and staying on top of things will only take you 30 minutes a week—or less.

It’s a good way to state a problem then tease the reader about the solution. You will almost always get someone’s attention when you make them feel you understand their troubles and issues.

The Straight Ahead “Here’s the Benefit” Approach

It’s basic, perhaps, but there’s a reason so many successful direct marketers use this ‘default’ approach. If you’re not certain one of the other approaches will work, use the straightforward approach. In most cases, you’ll see a “How to” or “Are you…?” headline.

How to catch more fish with less effort.

Are you ready to avoid traffic jams?

Are you ready to pay 50% less for tires?

“How to” and “Are you” headlines can be used, but headlines that state the benefits even more directly are fine.

With The Ultimate Guide to Increasing Wedding and Banquet Business, Your Club Will be Swimming in Tens of Thousands of New Revenue in Just Three Months.

Specificity is mandatory: a set time frame…an increase in distance…a number of extra fish…be specific when detailing the benefit.

The “Successful” and “Unsuccessful”

There’s a famous direct response advertisement for The Wall Street Journal. In the ad, the writer details two students who went to the same university. The one who reads The Wall Street Journal is now a successful top-level executive while the other has not been very successful. Martin Conroy wrote the original letter.

Here’s the first paragraph:

“Dear Reader:

On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men.”

And later in the copy…

“About those two college classmates, I mentioned at the beginning of this letter. They graduated from college together and together got started in the business world. So what made their lives in business different?

Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And its application.”

The comparison approach includes significant quantities of empathy…always a powerful ingredient. There’s a book using this approach: Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

The Offer/Bonus/Discount Approach

Perhaps the most direct approach of all…go straight to the offer.

Order before December 15 and you get FREE next day shipping PLUS a FREE pair of goatskin slippers.

Buy THREE tires, get one FREE.

Often, with this approach, there’s no need to get into pages and pages of copy, especially with a widget or commodity. With a country club membership asking for a $15,000 initiation fee, you need more copy.

This approach can be effective in email marketing.

The Guarantee Approach

Absolutely one of my favorites. Maybe it’s just me, but I often think the guarantee comes too late in most direct response copy: a solid guarantee can be the clincher, especially when a potential customer is on the fence. I’m not alone in this thought, which is why a number of copywriters use the guarantee approach: detail the guarantee immediately.

“I guarantee my seminar will increase PROFITS at your lumber yard by 25% in just six months or I will refund your investment, cover your travel expenses AND send you a check for $1,000 for wasting your time.”

It’s not enough to leave the reader with just the guarantee. The copy MUST pound away with the guarantee.

The Fear Approach

Fear, as we know, is a powerful motivator, especially when combined with major issues, like death or parenting. For example, you may have a product that will help parents keep teenagers from starting to smoke. The fear approach provides an opportunity to use the WARNING headline.

WARNING: If your teenager starts smoking now, there’s a 70 per cent chance they will be addicted by age 18 and will smoke at least two packs a day until they die from lung cancer…

What keeps your potential clients awake at night? If it’s a powerful motivator, the fear approach might work.

The most popular direct response copywriting strategy is AIDA, which stands for

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

The approaches listed above have one goal: to get your attention and lead the reader to the facts, figures, and benefits they will find interesting.

And test like crazy to see which approach starts to get the best results. One of my clients used to write copy for a company in Japan that sold products through newspaper ads. They kept trying different approaches before they found the one that generated the best leads. Once they had the approach they liked, they continuously tweaked the copy until just one minor change produced an advertisement that brought them a ton of sales.

By Scott Martin

Scott is a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Reach him through his website, www.scottmartinwriting.com where he offers a free direct response copywriting checklist.

Video

Getting Conversion Wise One Simple Tip to Prevent Business Death:
By Ryan Garey

FLV / MOV / M4V

STOMPER Speed Boost

SEO Pro Returns to Dallas!

Finally: Discover How to Get and KEEP Your Website (or a Client’s Website) Ranked at the Top of the Search Engines by Attending the ONLY Workshop Backed by the 5-Year Reputation and Proven Track Record of the World’s Largest SEO and Online Business Training Company!

Click here for details!

Secret Sauce Checklist

Great Approaches for High Conversion Copy:

• The News:   The headline reads like an article
• Empathy:  Provide help
• Straight Ahead:  Start with the benefit
• Comparison:  A Successful versus Unsuccessful
• Offer/ Bonus / Discounts
• Guarantee:  The clincher at the end
• Fear:  Tell them their fears

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Where Is Your Focus?

Stompernet Blog

As mentioned over the past several weeks, traffic to your site is essential. But once you have traffic to your site, converting that traffic is even more important. You need those visitors to be consumers of your goods.

What do you need on your site to make that happen?

We at StomperNet have information to help you. The topic this week is Conversion. While it may seem like an art form, turning visitors into buyers, it is actually a skill all can easily learn. Learning that skill will create a positive impact on your bottom line.

The true skill is not getting more traffic but converting the traffic you have into buyers. Turning those people who already visit into people who linger is the first step. People who linger on your website are more likely to buy. And let’s face it; converting traffic you already have is going to be far better for your bottom line than constantly hunting for new traffic.

Here it is in number form: Imagine if you have 1000 visitors. If 10 people become buyers, that is one percent of your visitors. Double that conversion percentage and you are looking at 20 buyers. That is a very positive increase in your bottom line and why we at StomperNet want to help.

Talk soon and enjoy the resources below!

Ryan Taylor
Director of Operations
StomperNet, LLC

IMPORTANT:  Some of the resources shown are only available to members. With our all-new tiered benefit levels you can join us today for as little as $49.00and get instant access to the world’s largest SEO and Online Business community plus all the tools and resources you need (including upcoming free webinar replays) to enhance your existing business or start, build and grow a thriving Internet-based business!

SEO Pro Comes to Dallas!

Finally: Discover How to Get and KEEP Your Website (or a Client’s Website) Ranked at the Top of the Search Engines by Attending the ONLY Workshop Backed by the 5-Year Reputation and Proven Track Record of the World’s Largest SEO and Online Business Training Company!

Click here for details!

Curriculum Resources

• Day 16 Conversion 101

Forum Posts

• Conversion from this type of presentation…
  

* Free Live Webinars This Week

WEDNESDAY January 11, 2011 ~ 2 pm Eastern

“Learn The Ins & Outs Of Fiverr” with Lee Vance

Fiverr has been quite the rage for a couple years now.  It is a great tool used by many business and entrepreneurs to jump into outsourcing and get things done for their businesses.  HOWEVER, there are some important factors you need to know… that go beyond the hype of Fiverr… to the dark side of Fiverr.  Join Lee Vance and learn how to avoid critical mistakes that can kill months or even years of hard work you have already performed, or that can even get you in legal trouble.

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Members Only Webinars This Week

THURSDAY January 12, 2011 ~ 3 pm Eastern

“How to Track AdWords Conversions” with Joel McDonald

Learn how to improve the way you are tracking (or should be tracking) your Adwords campaigns to get you the highest conversion rates

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Special Announcements

“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11EDT

We know everyone has questions about their business or different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A sessions and playback will not be available.

Stompernet Blog

If you have been watching it over the past year, you have seen many changes. Some have been major changes, some minor. These changes are intended to get you our guests to notice the website, take action and to come back again.

Traffic is great, but traffic that comes, looks at your page for 5 seconds and leaves is not going to increase your income. You want your traffic to take notice of what you have to offer and to take action.

Additionally, you want your customers to actually want what you are offering and to be able to find it. Have you ever gone to a site and can’t find what you are looking for? Frustrating isn’t it! Well, with some minor changes to your website, you can help your visitors find exactly what they want without having to look all over the site.

You can also provide them with the type of look that keeps them there and focused on your site. But don’t worry… you don’t necessarily have to do a complete overhaul of your website to get that traffic. Read Vin Montello’s article below and learn exactly what you need.

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“Design should never say, “Look at me.” It should always say, “Look at this.”

~ David Craib ~
401 Design Meditations: Wisdom, Insights, and Intriguing Thoughts from 150 Leading Designers

Increase Traffic with A Change in Website Appearance

aah… January will begin clean… empty… with so much promise. Like everything at school upon returning from summer break.

I used to love that feeling of a new school year.

On that day we all have hope; Hope that this year will be different.

The sprucing up of the school sets us up for a “shot at success.”

I’d like to give you a similar shot at a successful business year by helping you spruce up your websites for 2012.  A little bit of change can be enough to increase your traffic because it spruces up your website and people are drawn to that change.

So what kind of changes can you do that are major enough to cause your potential customers to notice but minor enough to not redo the whole site?

Add some pictures

If you don’t have any graphics or photos to help your page “sell,” then look to the royalty-free websites. There are a ton of these sites that will sell you professional photos and graphics for what amounts to a dollar or two per piece.

The little known secret is that some of these sites have thousands of graphics you can not only use royalty free, but ones you can download and use “free” free!

That means your site can take a giant leap towards looking more attractive and professional for less than 10 bucks… or in some cases nothing!

Try some strategic highlighting

A yellow highlighter can be your friend when trying to optimize your page for selling. The highlighter is great for “pulling” must see parts of your sales message out so even copy skimmers can’t miss them.

But… when highlighting, remember this phrase: “When you draw attention to everything, you end up drawing attention to nothing.” Put simply… use your highlighter sparingly!

Add (or change) Color

There are styles and trends in advertising colors that change from time to time. Not as often as fashion changes, but still something you should put some time into. That’s why I keep The Big Book of Color in Design on my desk at all times.

It explores how color can be a feeling or feelings.  While you may not think of black, yellow and cream as feminine they can be.  In fact you probably have seen that combination in the store if not at your home on a bottle labeled Olay.

But if you are trying to portray, like soothing, technological, rich, etc, you can flip to a section with that “feeling.”  Then you will get numerous examples with exact colors in the exact combinations… with the hex numbers you can punch right into Photoshop!

Freshen up your fonts

As with color, fonts sometimes fall in and out of fashion. We all know by now that the vast majority of time you want to use a sans serif font.  Serif – if you don’t know are those curly bits on the ends of fonts like Times New Roman or Courier.  Sans serif simply means “without serif.”

So… your website should probably use a sans serif font, but which one?

That’s when Google can be your best friend. Just search for “new fonts,” “font trends,” or things like that and you’ll find page after page of people who know better than either of us. One place I find myself going to find the newest trends in fontage (is that a word?) is www.fontshop.com/blog.

Consider switching over to WordPress

It’s getting to the point now where almost no one puts up static html websites anymore. Whether your site is a catalog site, services site or a standard sales letter, it can all be done inside the confines of a WordPress blog.

These days there is a theme or template for anything you want to do with your blog. Just search around for ten minutes and before you know it, your page is not only better looking, but more easily updated.

by Vin Montello

Vin Montello is a former Hollywood television writer that brings his 20 years’ experience as a story-teller, to every direct response sales letter he writes. Vin invites you to his wildly successful marketing blog at MarketingClambake.com. You can also learn more about him at MontelloMarketing.com.

STOMPER Speed Boost

To celebrate our 5th Anniversary,
we’re doing something extra special for you…

Secret Sauce Checklist

Website Changes that Create Sticky Traffic:

• Add pictures
• Highlight special text
• Add or change colors
• Change your fonts
• Switch to WordPress

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Income Continuity

Stompernet Blog

Wednesday’s StomperTip included the article I wrote about monetizing your site, and today we have an article by Scott Martin. His view is a little bit different than mine, but the advantage of having different authors is that we have different points of view.

Scott came from the retail field, so he knows what it is like working with customers in a brick-and-mortar business as well as online.

These subtle differences can be used to improve each type of business, and just a few modifications can help your business grow into one that can create income from customers that you might have otherwise lost.

Isn’t it better to get money from customers later than have them walk away from your business without spending a dime?

Read on and you will see how you can get better conversions from your visitors both online and offline. 

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“The absolute fundamental aim is to make money out of satisfying customers.”
~ Sir John Egan ~
British industrialist

Nurturing Clients and Customers to Increase Profits

I used to work in a local store selling outdoor equipment and clothing. It was 21 years ago, well before email, the Internet, and digital marketing. There were three types of customers.

1. Customers coming to buy a specific item.
2. People ‘just looking.’
3. Shoplifters.

Thankfully, shoplifters were rare even though I once saw a large woman take three pairs of pants and stuff them under her expansive skirt. The store had a specific policy for dealing with shoplifters, and the managers trained us how to handle the cash register when making sale, but there was no policy for the ‘just looking’ visitors.

“Hello,” I would say. “Can I help you find something?”

“No thank you,” was the reply. “I’m just looking.”

End of conversation.

If the owner had really understood marketing, he would have trained us to get the potential customer’s name and address to add them to the database. If I had been the marketing manager, I would have purchased some outdoor books for 50 cents from a publisher looking to shift remaindered titles; I would have given a book away in return for data. I could have built a great list of about 3,000 people in three months. Convert just three per cent into lifelong customers who spend $200 a year and that’s picking money up off the floor.

You’re not going to get shoplifters visiting your site, but you’re going to get plenty of visitors who are ‘just looking.’ How can you convert the ‘just looking’ visitor to a customer who pulls a credit card out of their pocket?  I’ll show you how.

1. You MUST make an effort to collect an opt-in email and name from visitors.
2. Give the visitor five ways to opt-in: an autoresponder series; an eBook; instant access to a video; something else free (like a round of golf); a contest.
3. Salient information in an easy and proven way to harvest data.
4. Make it clear you will not share the data, since opting out is always an option.
5. Nurture the leads over time, and convert them to paying customers.

You would be surprised at how much data visitors will supply if you ask.

Andrew Wood, president and founder of Legendary Marketing, helps golf courses generate more business. Weddings are a massive opportunity for golf clubs and resorts. To harvest wedding leads, Andrew offers his clients a free 20-page wedding planner; to get the planner, the bride-to-be has to complete a form with 20 questions. This tactic generates a lot of highly qualified leads.

Will Swayne runs a successful lead generation company in Brisbane, Australia. His home page offers an autoresponder series, Seven Steps to Doubling Your Website Leads. Timely information can work extremely well, too. A friend is a social media specialist, and his website offers a free download about the latest Facebook trends and techniques; needless to say, he’s built a significant list.

Test, Then Test Some More

Using even the most basic tracking tools, you can see what type of opt-in rates you’re getting. If you’re NOT getting people to opt-in, change the offers. If you’ve got several ways to harvest data, see which method works the best and make sure it’s front and center.

Even Aweber, a popular autoresponder service, offers basic but effective A v. B testing. If you’re in the restaurant information business, test the following downloads.

• Generate instant 15 per cent revenue gain by getting your wait staff to upsell. Get FREE proven techniques here.
• How to create improved Sunday to Wednesday business using Facebook. Provide FREE proven techniques here.

Sometimes I’ll sign up for an autoresponder series and the series is disappointing. Before you offer a ‘Seven Part Series’ or something similar, make sure the content is riveting. For example, Will Swayne’s series is excellent and includes copy, videos, and podcasts.

You’ve Got the Data…Now What?

As you build your database, you need to keep people on the list and get them to buy. Again, content is king. I signed up for information from Bob Bly, the famous and accomplished copywriter. Every week, I get an email offering great stories about accomplished copywriters and/or free copywriting advice. Bly is trying to sell me something, usually an eBook. Will Swayne also nurtures his leads confidently, as does Andrew Wood. Bly, Wood, and Swayne follow the same strategy:

• Provide a useful nugget of information.
• Tie this information to the product or service you’re trying to sell.

Expand your media beyond the written word to include video and podcasts; both are relatively simple to produce. If you can hire professionals to create the content, you’ll get even better results.

So imagine if the ‘just looking’ visitors to the outdoor store received six postcards in six weeks after the initial visit. I’m confident the results would have been significantly better than simply letting the potential customer walk out the door.

by Scott Martin

Scott is a direct response copywriter with repeat clients around the world. Reach him at scott@scottmartinwriting.com or through his website www.scottmartinwriting.com.

STOMPER Speed Boost

To celebrate our 5th Anniversary,
we’re doing something extra special for you…

Secret Sauce Checklist

How to Nurture Clients and Customers:

• Collect names and emails
• Give them several reasons to give their name and email
• Test to see what works best
• Nurture them so they will turn into buyers

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Traffic

Stompernet Blog

By Lee Collins

You’ve probably heard “the money is in the list”. The “gurus” chant this over and over and for years we have believed them like it’s just a universal and undisputable truth.

So we all obediently worked day and night, trying to build our list…

We create name capture pages online. We run small classified ads to get people to give us their information. We even do joint ventures to leech customers from each other – to “build our list”.

The problem is… the gurus ALL have it wrong or, at best, it’s just half the story.

Don’t be embarrassed – for years I believed them, too! Until I discovered the truth…

First, let me give you an example of what I mean…

Let’s say you have a list of 5,000 people. Not 5,000 random people you picked up for $10 on eBay (more about this common mistake shortly) but a GENUINE list of 5,000 people who have raised their hand and want your products or services.

So now they’re on your list…

What happens next?

Drawing a blank? Don’t worry, most people do. To help you understand why, let me ask you four important questions…

Question #1: Do you have additional products to offer them? If so, how many additional products do you have for them – 1, 2, 5, 10? (Most people answer NONE.)

Question #2: Do you have an automated system that makes those offers for you, or do you have to manually send the offers to your prospects?

Question #3: If they respond to your offer, do you have an automated delivery system already set up to fulfill their orders on autopilot, or do you have to manually send the order to them?

Alright, last question… and please be honest…

Question #4: If the money is in the list, and you have a list of 5,000 people, tell me, exactly where is the money coming from if you answered NO to any of the questions above?

Is it magic? Of course not…

The real truth is this: The money is not in the list…

…the money is in The BACK-END!

Definition: Back-End

Back-End sales are simply providing the next logical solution to your customer’s next logical need. It’s providing them additional products that they are hungry to buy.

Fact: If you’re going to spend the remainder of your business life focused on making only one sale per customer, you’re going to be continually working and trying to overcome the hardest thing in business – making that first sale.

When I discovered and took action on this truth, my business (and my lifestyle) literally changed overnight!

Even More Hardcore Fact: It doesn’t matter if you have a list of 5 people or 5,000 people because without a ready-made, profit-certain, auto-pilot BACK-END full of products and services that your list is hungry to buy, you are never going to make any serious money! Period.

I believe you’re starting to get the idea, but usually at this point is where we’re told by most of our clients (usually in a whiny, moany, groany voice)…

“But I don’t have any back-end products…”

And that’s the problem…

The problem is most people struggle and have nothing to offer their customers after the first sale! They struggle, scrape, and fight to make the first sale and then, because they’ve spent all their energy on the “front end” sale, there is nothing to offer on the “back end”.

In fact, if you don’t believe you have a back-end, you are NOT alone… in our experience, an amazing 95% of business owners don’t have a back-end product line!

THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY…

If you’re going to spend the remainder of your business life focused on making only one sale per customer, you’re going to be continually working and trying to overcome the hardest thing in business, which is – making that first sale.

And you will likely fail much more than you succeed. (Sound familiar?)

In fact, studies have shown that it’s an estimated 8-11 times more difficult to make the first sale than it is to make subsequent sales to the same customer!

That means, after the first sale, your customer is much more likely to buy from you again. (Assuming of course, you provided a good product or service.)

If you have failed to work out in advance what you will sell them next – or something additional you can up sell them during the initial sales transaction – you are literally leaving money on the table.

And we aren’t talking about TAKING anything from the customer. Back-end sales is simply providing the next logical solution to your customer’s next logical need.

It’s your DUTY to identify that next logical need, to create the solution for that need, and continually sell and sell and sell again, to fill it.

(Now we’re NOT talking about the hard-core, in-your face sales tactics. We’re talking about allowing the customer to make a second or third buying decision based on their satisfaction with their first experience with you.)

Human Nature

As a business owner, you need to realize early on that your customers actually need to be led from one purchase to the next.

This is true not only in business, but also in many aspects of our lives.  There are times when we want someone to tell us what to do so we don’t have to make that decision ourselves.   It’s just human nature.

Have you ever heard a conversation that goes something like this:

Person 1: “Hey, what do you want to do?

Person 2: “I don’t care, what do you want to do?”

Person 1: “I don’t care, I’ll do whatever you want to do.”

Person 2: “Well, it doesn’t matter to me.”

And so it goes! You’ve probably even had some of these conversations yourself. The point is that we as consumers need you to tell us what we need next.  This leads us to the topic at hand… Back-End Sales.

After I buy from you the first time – what happens next?

If I could sum up the process of creating back-end sales in four simple steps, here is what they would be:

1. Make the initial sale… (Shhh…there is a super-secret tip for this step that we will get to in just a minute.)
2. Offer add-on products, up selling the customer at the time of the sale
3. Follow up with the client, making them aware of similar products
4. Offer discounts or bonuses that can be tied to a return visit or additional purchase

Alright, now let’s discuss each of these points in detail.

Making the initial sale

To keep this article focused on back-end sales, we will assume that you have marketed correctly to get that initial sale.  The initial sale is simply the first “exchange” of goods or services between you and your customer.

Add-On Products

Your first question may be, “What the heck is an Add-On Product”.

For an easy example, think of your favorite fast food restaurant.  You just ordered your cheeseburger with ketchup only and a medium soda. What are the next words out of the cashier’s mouth…”Would you like fries with that?”

That’s an add-on. A back-end.

This up-sell generates millions of additional dollars for these fast food chains each year.

So that’s one strategy.

Figure out what you can offer at the time of your product sale as an add-on, and watch your profits climb.

One tip though – make sure the add-on makes sense.

Think about it… you wouldn’t want to get a print cartridge add-on with your cheeseburger order, right? (Maybe you would, if you’re weird.)

Customer Follow Up

Building a continued relationship with your customer base is a critical piece of the puzzle. This point is so important that it has filled dozens of books all on its own.

But I’ll show you how it ties into the importance of our back-end sales process …

Like we mentioned above, a person who has already purchased from you is eight to eleven times more likely to buy from you again.

Part of your marketing should absolutely include some type of customer follow up.

During this follow-up you will be providing your customer with information on other products that are related to the items they have already purchased. This WILL lead to additional sales. Plain and simple.

Discounts and Bonuses

Providing a discount coupon that a customer can use on their next purchase is an incredible incentive for that customer to buy from you again. This does two things…

1. It shows the customer that you have additional products to offer, and

2. The customer will feel appreciated and this helps build a trust with you.

Picture yourself as a consumer who has just had the oil in your Land Rover changed.

You pay for the service and the technician slips you a discount coupon for your next visit. Where will you go for your next oil service? The same place, of course!

And what about bonuses?

Providing your customer with an unexpected bonus can hugely increase your back-end sales. The trick is to make sure that you tie the bonus back to another one of your products that is related to the initial purchase product or service.

For example, you buy a dozen glazed donuts from your local bakery. The bakery throws in a bonus donut. But it isn’t a glazed donut – it is their new custard filled, chocolate covered pastry.

Sure, you’re happy because they just gave you a free donut. But think how happy the baker will be when the sales of this new pastry soar by providing it as a bonus in each of their orders.

Here’s a hot tip for easy back-end promotions: Slip a catalog or information sheet for a related product into the bag when someone makes a purchase. Do you ship your products? Add a catalog or a free sample for another product to the package!

How to Monetize a Non-eCommerce Website

by Jon Butts

FLV / MOV

Stompernet Blog

The topic this week is Monetizing Your Website. You probably have products and services that you sell on your site. Or you may be trying to decide what to sell on your website.

Imagine if you could make some minor changes to your website that will easily add more money. And no we are not talking about AdSense ads.  You want to keep your potential consumers on your website so they spend even more with you!

This week you will be able to read a variety of hints and tips that can boost your bottom line. Often these tips are not going to require much more work from you so they are a big win for you. And if you do not like one of the ideas, don’t worry there are others.

2012 could be a brighter, more profitable year for you! Just read up and enjoy!

Talk soon and enjoy the resources below!

Ryan Taylor
Director of Operations
StomperNet, LLC

IMPORTANT:  Some of the resources shown are only available to members. With our all-new tiered benefit levels you can join us today for as little as $49.00and get instant access to the world’s largest SEO and Online Business community plus all the tools and resources you need (including upcoming free webinar replays) to enhance your existing business or start, build and grow a thriving Internet-based business!

To celebrate our 5th Anniversary,we’re doing something extra special for you…

Curriculum Resources

• How to Monetize a non-eCommerce Website: Jon Butt

New Media

• How to Build Your Value in the Eyes of Your Customers: Vin Montello
• SEO Basics: Renee Corbett

Free Live Webinars This Week

THURSDAY December 8, 2011 ~ 2 pm Eastern

“Crowdfunding: Intro & Update” with StomperNet Moderator Lee Vance

Join Lee and learn how you can use Crowdfunding to get funding to market and develop some of those awesome product and development ideas.

You’ll discover:

• What it is
• How it works
• Pitfalls to avoid
• How to get accepted
• How to get your business going!

Register Now

Special Announcements

Stompernet Blog

On Wednesday, we covered some great tips that you needed BEFORE you started on your website. So what does your website need AFTER you covered those basics?

Some basic search engine optimization tips can help your website push higher on the page rankings. Yes, you may think you know basic SEO, but we all need reminders of how important it is to our business success. There may be some wonderful tips you may have forgotten or you may not have ever learned… like using the page numbers on web pages.  It surprises me that some websites still use the page number instead of name, yet it still happens.

And while you’re busy doing all the SEO work on the website, it becomes really easy to forget that search engines rank the pages individually as well. These little things may not be much by themselves, but together they add up to results that can really help your search engine ranking.

All these pieces come together like a puzzle to create your search engine ranking and create a site that helps visitors know you have what they want. When you combine a good ranking with multiple pages that offer visitor-related materials, you will have a much greater chance of converting them to consumers.

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“SEO is not rocket science (or anywhere close to it). But it certainly can get as technical and detailed as you want to make it.”

~ John I. Jerkovic ~
SEO Warrior

LAST DAY!

It’s finally here…and you don’t want to miss this sale!

SEO Basic Factors

While you may think SEO is important for your website, ranking is important for each individual page.  Each page has its own rank in the search engines, the whole website is only a part of the factor.

Based on experience the three strongest elements to a page are its Domain Name, Title Tag and Back Links, and depending on the level of competition for your search phrase, an adjustment to any of these can increase your page anywhere from few up to hundreds of spots.

There are some other elements as well, that I will also cover in this article.

Domain Name

Include keywords, if possible; however, don’t make it “spammy” with too much hyphenation! My personal rule of thumb is no more than 2 hyphens. If your niche is wedding favors, and all the “good” domain names are taken, you could consider beautiful-wedding-favors.com, but I wouldn’t recommend the-very-best-wedding-favors-ever.com. Get the picture?

The Title Tag

I think of it like the mullet hairstyle: business in the front, party in the back. Your most important keywords should be in the front, and it should be followed with a compelling reason to click the link:

Beautiful Wedding Favors: We ship your Wedding Favors for Free

Beach Wedding Favors: Free Shipping on all Beach Theme Favors

You don’t have to “stuff” the title tag, and in the search results it is the most prominent, clickable element. You want to design it to help you rank higher AND get more clicks than the other folks.

Back Links

It has been said that enough back links can solve any ranking problem, and that’s probably true, but you do want to make them work well for you. Remember, anchor text matters! Your best links will include keyword rich words and phrases, not your URL. For example:

Buy beautiful beach wedding favors from my-great-sites.com

…is MUCH better than…

Buy beautiful beach wedding favors from my-great-sites.com.

Hint: Your links should look NATURAL. In other words, they shouldn’t all say exactly the same thing. Immediately having 10,000 back links to a site that’s been online 2 days, with all the same exact links just doesn’t “feel” right.

ALSO … Remember that you want to get links DEEP into your site, not just the home page. It has been suggested in the past that no more than 50% of your links should point to the home page, so be sure to get links to categories and even product level pages (if you’re in eCommerce)!

The next element that I work diligently on to make keyword rich is the actual page name. Consider the keywords that are targeted for the page, and name the pages accordingly – even in eCommerce and database driven sites.

Page Names

Do you have a generic domain, or a custom domain? (www.mydomain.com/seo-expert-tips.html vs. www.mydomain.com/?3z42.php)

Your pages should be themed based on relevance. If the page is about beach wedding favors, keep the content relevant. Don’t stray and add extra content about wedding shoes and the dress – unless it’s appropriate.

Meta Description

The Meta Description should NOT be ignored. While it will not affect the search results, it can alter the results of the search and drive a higher click through rate. This is the second feature anyone will notice about your site, BEFORE they ever arrive on the page. So use keyword rich content with compelling text to encourage them to click on that search engine listing to visit your site. I have seen occasions on our own site where we were getting higher click throughs at #2 than the listing at #1, and our only conclusion is that our meta description copy was more compelling to the user.

Meta Keywords

Meta Keywords are certainly not used for ranking, but I add them to each page so that I can keep track of what the page theme is ranking for. Some folks are concerned that using them this way would allow others to “steal” your keywords, but frankly there are so many other tools out there that they don’t have to view my meta keywords to find out what I am trying to rank that page for.

These are just the basics that can help your page rank better.  There are additional factors that you may want to add depending on your site.

By Michelle Chance-Sangthong

Michelle has proven her ability to transform lackluster websites into dynamic profit-generators. Through her company, Red Hawk Strategies , Michelle is now offering consultations, workshops, and seminars that will help you increase your company’s marketing efficiency by making your website a beacon for your target audience. Contact her at michellechancesangthong@gmail.com

STOMPER Speed Boost

To celebrate our 5th Anniversary,
we’re doing something extra special for you…

Secret Sauce Checklist

The Strongest SEO Elements:

• Domain Name: Include keywords, if possible. Don’t OVER HYPHENATE
• Title Tag: The tag should be targeted AND clickable
• Back Links

Also Consider these SEO Basics

• Pages Names:  Named according to the page content
• Meta Description: What people see on the Search Engine Results and can get you better click-through
• Meta Keywords:  While Search engines don’t use these, you can use for tracking purposes

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Monetizing Your Site

Upcoming StomperNet Public Webinars

THURSDAY December 8, 2011 ~ 2 pm Eastern

“Crowdfunding: Intro & Update” with StomperNet Moderator Lee Vance

Join Lee and learn how you can use Crowdfunding to get funding to market and develop some of those awesome product and development ideas.

You’ll discover:

• What it is
• How it works
• Pitfalls to avoid
• How to get accepted
• How to get your business going!

Register Now

We know everyone has questions about their business or  different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the  table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience  of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on  your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we  hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A  sessions and playback will not be available.

Let us know your thoughts on today’s issue.

Post Your Comments Here

Stompernet Blog

By Wilson Mattos

Hello Stompers!  It’s that time of year again…  Before the holidays end and the New Year begins, let’s work on generating a higher quality score for your landing page.  When creating a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign to test a new product or niche, you don’t want to spend a lot of time creating different landing pages for each Ad Group and/or keyword you want to target.  However, you need to make sure that your page is relevant to the user that clicks on your ad, and that your landing page is relevant for the keywords you are bidding on so that your “Quality Score” is high, and your prices are low!

I am going to give you the exact instructions for improving your landing page quality score by automatically generating relevant page title, H1 headings, and text specific for each of your PPC Ad Groups without having to create additional landing pages.  This will help you test a new campaign very quickly.  The trick uses PHP code, but you don’t have to worry because I am going to make it as simple as copy and paste.  No previous PHP knowledge required!

Here we go:

Set Up Your Landing Page

Create your landing page using whatever method you are familiar with and name it “index.php”.

Paste the following code at the very top of the “index.php” file:

<?php
if ($_GET['page'] != “”) {
$keyword=ucwords(str_replace(‘-’,’ ‘,$_GET['page']));
} else {
$keyword=”Default Phrase”;
}
?>

(Caption): Update the 5th line to have your default text show up in case the parameter is not passed to index.php.  If you don’t know what this means, read the entire article and it will become clear.

Keyword Title

Anywhere on the page where you would like to use the custom text, place the following code, instead of the content you put there when you created the page:

<?php echo $keyword; ?>

Let’s say that your page title looked something like this:

<title>This is My Title</title>

You would change it to look like this instead:

<title><?php echo $keyword; ?></title>

Default Phrase

Upload the “index.php” file to your server and you are ready to use it.  However, I will show you another improvement in a second, so make sure to keep on reading.

Access the page with a browser, and you should see that the “default phrase” you entered in line 5 of the above step shows up.

Assuming your web server is www.mydomain.com and that you uploaded your index.php file to the root directory, access the page like this:

http://www.mydomain.com/?page=new-custom-title

You will now see that the title, and anything else (such as H1 heading) that you updated with the PHP code in Step 3 automatically updates on the page and shows up instead of the default text.

Note: Just separate the words in your phrase with “-” as I did in my example.

Now, when you create an ad group, you can use a URL that includes “?page=…” to be super relevant to your keyword, which will help increase your Quality Score as well as benefit the user who clicked on the ad.

Pretty URLs

I don’t like the “ugly” URLs I showed you above, so I created yet another small hack that allows me to have “better looking” URLs.  Just paste this in your “.htaccess” file.  If you don’t have one, just create one and put the following code in place, then upload to your server.

RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d

RewriteRule ^(.*)\.html index.php?page=$1 [NC,L]

Now, you can have the same effect as the example above by accessing the file as an “.html” file.  For example:

http://www.mydomain.com/new-custom-title.html

This code will automatically use the requested “.html” file name to generate the tags for you, as long as a real “.html” file with that name does not exist.  Again, just use “-” to separate the words.

You can do a lot more with this trick by using multiple variables to change text in multiple areas of the page with different text in each area.  The example above will get you started and I will leave the rest to your imagination!  Happy Stomping!

by Wilson Mattos

Wilson Mattos has over 18 years of experience in the Information Technology industry and he has worked with numerous Fortune 1000 companies to help accelerate the adoption of technology solutions to provide competitive advantage.  Wilson holds a Masters Degree from Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.  You can contact Wilson via Twitter (http://twitter.com/WilsonMattos) or via his blog (http://WilsonMattos.com).

Landing Page and Site Review

FLV

Stompernet Blog

We have some gardeners on the StomperNet team. Some have roses, some have flowers, and some have vegetable gardens or combinations thereof. But these are a lot of work, unless you put some great systems into place that can make it easier.

Your business is similar in many aspects to a garden. Both should have certain systems and mechanisms in place to automate labor and reduce it as well.

Weed block cloth reduces weeding, just like using someone to check your email reduces your email. Sprinkler systems help reduce the amount of watering the gardener does, just as your autoresponder sprinkles information to your subscribers. Many gardens require supports to help the plants grow better and stronger, just like businesses. These are all systems the gardener or your business can use to make things work smoother and easier.

You have already received some great advice this week about systems and automation. Today we have some tips that you want to make certain are part of your business. Although basic, these are the supports that will help your business, so you aren’t constantly weeding and watering your business to get it to grow.

Now you can work on the main goal, which is the cultivation of your business and the regular harvests of profits.

Talk soon!

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“Organize around business functions, not people. Build systems within each business function. Let systems run the business and people run the systems. People come and go but the systems remain constant”

~ Michael Gerber ~
E-Myth Revisited

Tips for Virtual Teams and Systems for Your Business

Three years after starting my first successful online ecommerce store, I was exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated and underpaid!  Thanks to the original Stomping the Search Engines course, my website was ranking in the top 10 for most all of the major keywords we went after and sales were through the roof!

Unfortunately, this meant that I spent most waking hours answering the phones, emailing orders to vendors, and updating the website with new products and sales!  This left little to no time for marketing and almost no time for sleep during our peak season.  The site soon became a source of conflict, and I began to wonder if this was the entrepreneurial dream that I had signed up for!

But I have learned some tips about virtual teams and systems for your business that helped my business and they can help yours.

Out-task.

One of the very first and important business tips I learned was that I needed to out-task. As long as I was answering the phones and processing orders, my business could not grow. Basically the premise is that if you can pay someone minimum wage to do a task and you choose to do that task, then you are earning minimum wage. A good idea is to make a daily To Do list, and examine what you are spending your time on. If there are tasks on the list that are not generating income or making your business run more effectively, then those tasks need to be out-tasked to someone else.

Systemize everything.

If your business is dependent on you, then you will never be able to take a vacation or enjoy the reasons you became a business owner in the first place. Create How To guides and manuals for each area of your business. This is a gradual process and not something that you do once only to forget about it. Set up your business processes and when there is a breakdown and an employee or contractor has to come seeking your approval or advice, update your business processes.

Set specific goals and tasks for everyone on your team.

Have a weekly meeting and discuss the pending tasks and any issues that have arisen with those tasks. Always praise in public and criticize in private. Take this time to give positive feedback and to deal with any problems. Many times employees don’t bring problems to management because they think it is their responsibility to try to figure it out themselves. Such initiative is often good, but other times, there are problems that we as management have already dealt with and we can provide a simple solution in about 20 seconds!

Teach your team to out-task and supervise others.

To be successful you will need a core team that supports you and can work effectively to get projects done with little to no input or guidance from you. If your team is not functioning, it’s your responsibility as the business owner to set up systems and procedures so that they can be successful. Everything does rise and fall on leadership. If you have great team member but he or she is not able to give up some of their responsibilities and supervise others, then you cannot grow. One person can never do it all. Teach them to assign tasks to junior team members and how to effectively supervise their junior team members so that their time is freed up doing more productive things.

Have two people for each job.

Although this may seem impossible in the beginning when finances are tight, as soon as possible, always have two people for every job. When out-tasking projects overseas, unexpected problems happen. Hurricanes (especially in the Philippines), power outages, kids get sick, and so on. By having two people trained for every task, you ensure that you won’t have to renege on the responsibilities you have already trained others to take over.

These are just a few tips that I have used in my business.  As a mom of 7 children, a wife and a missionary, my life is busy.  Your life is busy so you can’t afford to not add what you can to make your business run easier and automatically.

by Nicole Munoz

Nicole is an SEO expert, mom of 7 kids, and missionary wife that runs her business from Puebla, Mexico. Get your virtual team up and running in record time with her newest venture SEOTrainingMaterials.com. If you are interested in full service SEO work with an emphasis on link building, check out her website www.StartRankingNow.com.

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we’re doing something extra special for you…

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Secret Sauce Checklist

Tips for Virtual Teams and Systems for Your Business

• Out Task.
• Systemize everything.
• Set specific goals and tasks for everyone on your team.
• Teach your team to out-task and supervise others.
• Unexpected things happen, so make certain you have 2 people for each job

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Landing Pages

Stompernet Blog

While I enjoy working on web design, learning how others implement web design is an essential part of my continuing education. No matter how much you know about any niche, there are always new things to learn. Plus, it’s always good to keep your mind refreshed on the essential basics.

The article below is a great refresher of what is current. But even though the basics are somewhat dynamic, they modify as technology and people change. Yet the core elements of sales pages remain constant.

You always want to follow the best placement rules and good copy. Images have been a part of it for years, but now in the visual era, videos have become commonplace.

You want to reach potential buyers where they are and all of these features need to be added to your web design. If you want to turn visitors into buyers, the design needs to tell what actions to take, quickly and easily. All pages should be designed around the customer, not you.

Adam Stonehocker has more information to help your product page look great!

Lee Collins
Managing Director
StomperNet, LLC

“It is easy to fail when designing an interactive experience. Designers fail when they do not know the audience, integrate the threads of content and context, welcome the public properly, or make clear what the experience is and what the audience’s role in it will be.”

~ Edwin Schlossberg ~
Founder of ESI Design

4 Steps to the Perfect Product Page

By Adam Stonehocker, for Claim the Web

Your customer has navigated into a product page and is thinking about buying. What can you do to make sure that the customer purchases from you? Good content and information will make a big difference in conversion rates, but it’s important to focus on the right information. What information is found on a good product page?  Let’s walk through a few steps on how to create great selling product pages!

Step 1 – Keep it “Above the Fold”

Try to keep your content all in one easy-to-view page. The less scrolling that your customers have to do to investigate features and characteristics about your product, the better. Keep that “Buy Now” button in their view and always above the fold.

Many ecommerce sites now use a tab feature so that customers don’t get lost when scrolling down a page to find reviews, videos, color options and so on. This a great way to allow customers to keep their eyes on the product and the “Buy Now” button.

Step 2 – K.I.S.S. (Keep it Super Simple)

With product pages, less is more. Don’t clutter your page with paragraph after paragraph of descriptions, features and benefits of the product. Otherwise, you’re boring your customer! Keep the product description short and concise, organize your main selling points with bullet points, and make sure to label and organize common information like weight, dimensions, material (if applicable) and other common data related to your item needs to be organized and easy to see, not hidden in the text of a long paragraph.

Step 3 – Share with Social Media

Let your customers share your products on social networks! A simple tool like “add this” will greatly enhance your customer’s ability to show off their latest purchase. (Not to mention drive more traffic to your site.) If your current ecommerce software allows you to integrate social media into your product pages, make sure you turn the feature on, and that you link everything up to all your social media accounts.

Step 4 – Good Images and Video

Images and video are crucial to selling your products. Remember that customers cannot pick up your product, feel it in their hands, and hold it in front of them. Give them the next best thing: images and video. It’s great to have a static image of your item, but you also need additional images to show different angles of the product or to show the item in action with a lifestyle photo. Any video that can show the product in action or illustrate all the features and details of the product is essential.

If you have the right amount of content, you’ll keep your customer thinking, “Buy now!” And when you show the customer amazing pictures and video, you will see your conversion rates and sales increase.

Now that you’ve got great product pages, your customers are more inclined to purchase from you, rather than go check out the competition. Start to implement these 4 simple steps, and you’ll see your conversion rates increase and receive far less phone calls with people confused about the product that you’re offering.

STOMPER Speed Boost

To celebrate our 5th Anniversary,

we’re doing something extra special for you…

Secret Sauce Checklist

4 Web Design Tips to Convert Visitors to Buyers

• Remember to keep it “above the fold”
• KISS Keep it Super Simple
• Let them share it with Social Media
• Always use good images and video

Stomper Buzz

Next Week’s Focus: Setting Up Systems & Automating Them

Faculty Office Hours Next Week:

WEDNESDAY November 16, 2011 ~ 2 pm Eastern

“Strategic Thinking – Clarifying Your Thoughts” with Judy Whalen

Strategic Thinking helps you to explore options, get clarity and make good decisions.

Having trouble figuring out the next steps?  Not sure which way to go or what decision to make?  Join Judy as she shows you how strategic thinking can give you clarity, direction and confidence to pursue that direction. StomperNet Members Register Now

Upcoming StomperNet Public Webinars:

THURSDAY November 17, 2011 ~ 7 pm Eastern

“Setting Up Systems & Automating Them” with Dr. Lisa Lang

In this webinar, Dr Lisa will share the automated process they use to automatically generate leads.  She will share all the details of what they do, what technology they use and all the specifics.  Bring your questions about how you might get started with an automated system!

Register Now

Have a Question? We Have ANSWERS for YOU

“StomperNet Open Forum” Fridays at 11ET

We know everyone has questions about their business or different stumbling blocks. Well we invite you to bring them to the table during our Open Forum. With the combined training and experience of our Coaches you will get the direction you need to get you back on your road to success!

The next StomperNet Open Forum Call with our Professional Coaches happens next Friday at 11am EDT and we hope to see you there! These calls are intended to be live Q&A sessions and playback will not be available.

Let us know your thoughts on today’s issue.

Post Your Comments Here

Stompernet Blog