Over the last 5 years countless millions of dollars have been lost to poor internet strategies and the building of ineffective web sites.

Over the last 5 years countless millions of dollars have been lost to poor internet strategies and the building of ineffective web sites.

Listed below are the most common mistakes, how to avoid them and what to do now to get the maximum benefit out of your web presense.

Mistake #1) A Brochure Website

What just about everybody did and continues to do is MAKE a Brochure web site which looks like a brochure. Let me ask you this…have you ever been to a meeting where someone handed you a brochure?

What did you do as soon as you were out of that sales meeting? That’s right. You chucked it in the bin.

OK, Sometimes you may have even held onto it for a few days with the pretense that you would actually read it but ultimately like all brochures it wound up in the round file(waste basket).
Brochures don’t even sell things in the real world!!!

They don’t work there so why do you think they are going to work on your website?

Heres the scoop. Billions and billions and billions of dollars have been made using this simple technique. Things from brokerage accounts, to Hong Kong property, to very expensive paintings, to everything else you can think of.

What is it? A me-talking-to-you personal sales letter.

You may not think that YOUR product can be sold that way. But it can. If you’ll just go check http://www.srds.com and check out the direct mail rates and data volumes you’ll find out that this is a fact.

Imagine a sales person that works for you on call day and night whenever somebody is interested in your product or service. They deliver a complete presentation with all the unique benefits of your product or service.

They vigilantly answer all the questions in the best way. They take no breaks. You don’t have to pay them a salary or a commission. And with a payment system set up they’re ready to ask for the order and take it right away.

Thats what you’ve got when you’ve got a well crafted sales letter on your website for each of your products and services and a way for them your customers to pay right now.

Some people say “I don’t like those letters”. My, friend it isn’t about what you like or don’t like. It’s about what your customers buy from. And I promise you, they buy from compelling, motivating letters, that are written personally in a me-to-you sale.

Sites with me-to-you personal letters are making money around the clock and so can yours.

Mistake #2) Failing to Test

If you’re not testing prices, headlines, copy and all the components that make up your site you’ll never know what the market wants, or what it will pay. You’re just guessing.

Today, I urge you to get an inexpensive but professional content management system so that you can start testing headlines, copy, and prices immediately by changing your website copy on a regular basis.

A few short years ago when websites were the new rage, skill shortages and demand meant web designers could charge outrageous prices. With the invention of cheap content management systems and a flood of web designers on to the employment market web services are cheaper than ever before.

Now with less than $50 a month content management systems you can have your secretary update your website regularly and test, test, test!

Try different pitches, differently priced offers, then review how they did. One test against another.

As you continue to do this you will make more and more money without having to increase the amount of money you spend on your advertising.

You’re going to be paying an ongoing cost for your website anyway with hosting etc why not make it pay you back the highest return on investment possible?

Mistake #3) Not having Back-End Sales

The back end is vital to any business - selling to your customers again and again once they’ve bought. We’ve all heard that it costs 20 times more money to get a new customer as it does to sell to an old one.

No matter what business you’re in your customers are your greatest asset. If you’ve sold your customer a great product or service that has instantly added more value to their life they will like you and trust you. They’ll want to hear from you again.

Listen up. People are silently begging to be acknowledged, informed, given advance information and led to action. Your competitor realizes if they remain creatively alert, there is almost no limit to how much their existing customers will buy from them. So, they keep the dialogue going, and they test and retest sales messages. Case and point being Master P.

You may not have heard of Master P but in less than 10 years he went from selling records from out of his car boot in New Orleans to having a Hip Hop Merchandising Business worth over $350 million dollars.

He found a market that wanted unique and specific product (a rap record about what REAL life on the streets was all about).

Once they had bought from him, he constantly found and created new products and merchandise so that they would buy from him over and over again. They wanted to be acknowledged and they loved his products. It made him a centi-millionaire.

There are a multitude of ways that you can automate follow up sales, cross sales, endorsements, joint ventures, referrals and all kinds of additional revenue streams for your website. It goes beyond the scope of one short article.

If you want to find out more either contact me directly and let me show you how on +61 40 3875381.

Mistake #4) Running Institutional Ads (banner ads with your logo etc)

Institutional ads are a sheer waste of money because they don’t direct the reader, viewer or listener to any intelligent action or buying decision. Your potential customers attention span and time is limited.

First of all you’ve got to grab your potential customers attention then you’ve got to hold it while you make a complete case for your product or service.

Your ad/site needs to answer all major questions. It must promise and guarantee specific results. Then its got to ask for the business and make it easy for your new customer to order now.

Allow them to start experiencing the amazing benefits of your wonderful product or service right away.

We live in a time where instant gratification is demanded. Are you stopping your customers from knowing all they need to know to make a buying decision right now? Are you preventing them from buying by making it hard for them to order right away?

What to do: There is only one thing that your advertising should aim to achieve and thats getting your prospects to take a specific action now. Once you’ve grabbed their interest, and they’re ready to act right away, you’ve got to make it as easy as possible.

Do a stock take of your current advertising channels. Go through each of them and ask yourself these questions. Does it make a complete case for taking a specific action now? Does the advertising ask for action? Does it make it as easy as possible to take action?

Mistake #5) Failing to Emphasise Uniqueness

Every competitor and their dog wants to sell your customer their product or service. Why should they want to buy off you? What makes you so much better? These are the questions you need to answer and emphasise to your prospects.

If your website doesn’t consistantly and specifically tell your prospects why your product or service has something “special” that your competitor simply can’t or doesn’t offer your prospect has no reason to order right away. They can go on to your competitor and let them tell your prospect why their offer is unique or superior to yours.

Whether it be an additional feature that compounds the benefits of your products worth or simply a better price for the same quality what ever your USP is make it the heart of all your marketing efforts. Your choice of Unique Selling Propositions is virtually limitless.

Once you’ve clearly decided what it is make sure that any promises you make on the basis of your USP are always fulfilled. Explain why your USP is so compelling and pour on the benefits. Get started right away!