· page 4 i call it the hype free zone. i would use a more colorful word for hype, but i really...

Copyright © 2007 Leister Marketing Group

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book or its associated ma-terials may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational store or retrieval system without express written permis-sion from the publisher.

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Why Am IGetting This Newsletter?

You are receiving this complimentary subscription to SMALL BUSINESS: BIG RESULTS for one reason: I want to help you grow the profits of your business.

One of the most effective marketing strategies I use in my business is to deliver real value to the businesses I come in contact with--regardless of whether or not they

ever invest in my services.

By offering the type of proven information you will find in each issue, I can help make an immediate impact on the profits of your business.

Please accept this subscription with my best wishes for future success. And don’t hesitate to contact me with any additional questions about how you can double and even triple the bottom line of your business.

Jason LeisterLeister Marketing Group, LLC4560 E Wild Elk TrailFlagstaff, AZ 86004Phone: (928) 255-5328Fax: (866) 519-3859Email: [email protected]: http://www.leistermg.com

From the Desk of Jason LeisterPresident, Leister Marketing Group

Dear Business Owner,

Sometimes the internet really rubs me the wrong way.

Just yesterday, I got 8 “offers” in my email promising to show me the real way to be successful online. They all promised to tell me the “never before revealed” secrets that would surely catapult my busi-ness to the top, even if I have four heads, 6 arms and don’t know how to turn on a computer... or even have electricity.

OK, so maybe that’s stretching it a bit, but you get the point.

As an entrepreneur, running a business where it is necessary to stand out and be noticed, print your contact information wherever you can, and actually pick up the phone when it rings, I am sure that you receive a steady supply of emails and phone calls just like the ones I receive.

In fact, I would bet that it probably hasn’t been too long since someone dialed your number and promised a top ranking on Google in 30 days or less or something equally as outrageous. Maybe it even happened to you this week.

In every industry, there are always a few bad apples that spoil the whole barrel. And the internet is no different. In fact, there are a lot more bad apples because the barrel is a whole lot bigger.

So let me get all my cards out on the table where they belong.

Here’s my plan:

For the next few minutes, I am going to take you on a journey into my little world. It’s a place I retreat to when all of the trash and snake oil salespeople on the internet finally try my last nerve (which right now is at least once or twice a week).

I call it the hype free zone. I would use a more colorful word for hype, but I really don’t want to offend anybody this early on.

My hype free zone is a place that is focused on helping entre-preneurs like you accomplish more than you are currently accomplish-ing – to help you create results that are more in line with where you want to go rather than where you find yourself right now.

After I take you there, it will be time for you to take action. To put what you are about to learn to the test and create some real results for your business. Whether or not you take any action, however, is not under my control.

Making sure that you come away from the next few minutes with new ammunition to improve your business, however, is well un-der my control.

And my intention is to completely overdeliver.

So let’s jump in...

Enter the Hype Free Zone...

Do you know what your website is doing right now?

Is it sending the right signals out to your market to attract more business to you, or is it turning away your prospects at the door – forc-ing them to go out and do business with your competition?

If all of the statistics are true, and people are really using the internet to get help to grow their business, then why the heck aren’t more of them calling you?

It might be because you are standing in your own way.

If you put your website together by modeling it after someone else’s, then you are probably making at least one of the mistakes I am about to cover, if not more...

Here’s the simple truth...

The reality is this:

Creating a successful website for your business is simple. Pe-riod.

So if that’s true, then why do so many businesses seem to struggle and keep pumping money into their website with little more than a growing credit card bill to show for it?

Because of this simple law of human nature: reality isn’t real-ity, perception is reality.

Basically it comes down to this: If you think it is hard, it will be hard. If you think it is rocket science, it will be rocket science for you.

Think back to some of your previous clients or customers...

Do you remember a client in the past where you really outdid yourself? You really delivered. You got big results. You marketed well, you delivered the goods, and you waited on your buyers like they were the last people on earth?

But your client’s reaction to your results was barely lukewarm?

Of course it probably had nothing to do with you at all. It had to do with your client’s perception of you or what you did and their thoughts and feelings about what they got versus what they think they should have gotten or not gotten.

Here’s the same idea in another industry:

Did you know that in blind taste tests, RC Cola absolutely demolishes Coke and Pepsi?

The fact that it tastes better is reality. The facts don’t lie. But

in the marketplace, facts are often irrelevant. And if you take a look at the sales figures of Coke, Pepsi and RC Cola, you’ll find a very differ-ent story.

Coke and Pepsi are so dominating that RC Cola barely even registers on most people’s radar, if they have even ever heard of it.

Why is that?

Because most people just perceive Coke or Pepsi to be better... They aren’t even interested in giving anyone else a chance.

I remember back a few years ago when I decided to go out and learn how to sell cars. (Yes, I sold cars.) It was probably the best sales education I’ve ever had.

Pounding the pavement 14 hours a day, working 7 days a week for weeks at a time was not fun. But it did teach me a whole lot about sales, marketing and people.

And one of the things that I learned is that perception either pays your bills or keeps you from paying your bills.

On the car lot (which was about 120 degrees in the heat of the summer in Scottsdale, AZ – so hot my shoes melted), no one wanted to do business with the best salesperson: the one who would honestly work with them to really help them get the car they wanted.

They wanted to do business with the salesperson they per-ceived was better. And their perception rarely led them to the best salesperson.

So having a better website is all about creating the perception that your business is the best choice, and really the only logical choice for anyone with a shred of sense in your market.

And when you actually have the goods, the skill and the level of service to backup that perception with real results, you will be in a very, very good place.

Now before we really get started, one note...

Most of these “mistakes” we are about to discuss are actually business problems in disguise. One of the biggest benefits of creating a profitable website and then investing the time, energy and resources to improve it is that it forces you to look at your business in a new way.

Your website isn’t just about advertising your products or ser-vices, or generating a lead.

It needs to be about communicating the essence of your entire business in words and pictures.

So let’s go...

The Top 10 Website Mistakes Most Businesses Are Making

Actually, let’s rephrase that...

The Top 10 Website Opportunities Most Businesses Are Missing

Missed Opportunity #10: Not Focusing On A Very Specific Target

In internet marketing guru Mark Joyner’s recent book, The Great Formula, he outlines his three step formula for business success. It is almost so simple and sounds so much like common sense that the tendency is to discount it and say, “Oh, I knew that.” That was my first reaction. Those thoughts entered my mind right away. And then I changed my tune when I realized which steps my business was ignor-ing.

Here is the formula: Step 1: Create the Irresistible Offer Step 2: Present it to a Thirsty Crowd Step 3: Sell them a Second Glass

Who is your thirsty crowd? Who is the exact market you serve? If you haven’t nailed that down yet, here’s something to think about:

Don’t choose your target market based on where you can com-pete, choose one where you can absolutely dominate.

Can you dominate if your market is small and medium-sized businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth market?

Probably not, that’s way too big...

Can you dominate if your market is CPA firms with annual revenues over 1 million dollars?

You’re getting warmer...

If someone visited your website for 10 seconds, would it be clear who your “thirsty crowd” is?

Missed Opportunity #9: No U.S.P.:Not Communicating an Obvious and Compelling Reason To Do Business With You

If you’ve ever seen the Godfather, you probably remember the line, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse...”

What’s your offer? What that one thing that only you can deliver to the marketplace? Your offer is your U.S.P. or unique selling proposition. It’s the cornerstone of your website (and your business).

This is marketing 101. So why doesn’t everyone do it?

Missed Opportunity #8: Turning Off the Drill When You’re

Ten Feet From Diamonds

Success on the internet and in business isn’t something you come upon some day by chance. It’s something that you discover over time, by continuously moving forward and making small corrections as you go.

How do you know what corrections to make? By testing, test-ing, testing...

How well is the headline on your website working now? You won’t know until you write a new one and test the results.

Now in all honesty, I used to be really lazy about testing. My thought was, “I’ll know it works when the business comes through the door.” “If they don’t come, it must not be working.”

How many huge opportunities I missed because of that attitude I will never know. But I am sure it was a lot of them.

I remember reading a story about someone drilling for dia-monds. The owner of the mine drilled and drilled and drilled, but never found anything. So he sold the mine and went on his way.

The new owner moved the drilling crew 10 feet to the left and bingo, diamonds.

Never stop testing. Testing will give you clues about what your market wants. And once you have that knowledge, all you have to do is give them more of it.

Missed Opportunity #7: Not Being Crystal Clear About What You Want Them To Do

People want to be led. They want to make the right decisions - they want to be saved from making mistakes, from losing money, from wasting time.

If you know that you can help them do those things, you need to make it very clear exactly what they need to do to take advantage of your products or services.

So don’t leave anything to chance on your website.

If you want your visitors to sign-up for your email newsletter, then tell them. And tell them more than once. If you want your web-site visitors to stop what they are doing, pickup the phone and call you right away, then that is what you need to tell them.

Don’t be timid about asking for what you want, and don’t leave it up to your website visitors to come to their own conclusions about what the “next step” is and when to take it. Tell them.

Sometimes all you have to do is ask for what you want.

Missed Opportunity #6: Selling Yourself Instead of Helping Them

Do you ever get turned off when you come in contact with someone who can’t stop talking about how great they are? They are full of stories about what they’ve done, what they’ve achieved, who they’ve met and what they have...

People like that don’t usually have too many real friends.

So here is the question:

If your website visitor has to absolutely know without a doubt that you practice what you preach and that you can deliver on what you promise, how do you communicate that without focusing too much on you?

You do it by helping them connect the dots between what you do and what they get because of what you do.

And then you back it up by letting other people talk about how great you are through testimonials from satisfied clients. It’s rarely perceived as bragging when someone else says it.

Take a look at your website. How many places can you find to connect the dots between your products and services and what your visitor will actually get because of them?

Missed Opportunity #5: No Headline, or a Bland Headline

I really believe that a good headline has more effect on the suc-cess of your website than almost anything else. A great headline will get the attention of your visitor and communicate a powerful enough benefit to them that they will stick around and read the rest of your website.

Without a clear headline focused on the biggest benefit your business delivers, you run the risk of losing your visitor for good.

The good news it that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to headlines. You don’t really need to invent anything. In fact, most of the hard work has already been done for you and is waiting for you to steal – err I mean “creatively adapt” to your busi-ness.

Just take a look at the cover of Cosmopolitan or Oprah’s maga-zine. Those little teasers are headlines... They get people to act.

And those copywriters get paid a ton of money for making that happen.

The next time you are in CVS or your local grocery store and see one of those headlines, just ask yourself, “How can I adapt this for my business?”

Missed Opportunity #4: Copy That Snoozes...

If there is a “Golden Rule” of marketing online and offline, I am convinced it is this:

DON’T BE BORING!

Sorry for shouting, but it is really that important. You’ve got to stand for something, right? So make it known what you stand for in an interesting way and then let the chips fall where they may.

Let’s take somebody like Don King... If you don’t remem-ber, he is the promoter that worked with boxers like Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson.

He’s an outspoken guy with absolutely crazy hair. You either love him or hate him. He is a very polarizing figure.

From a marketing perspective, it’s a smart position, because it makes it very easy to know exactly where he stands with people.

Some people love him. Some people think he is crazy.

But very few people have absolutely no opinion about the man.

So think about that when you are writing the copy for your website. The worst thing that can possibly happen is for your visitor to read it and have absolutely no emotional reaction at all.

Don’t be boring!

Missed Opportunity #3: Believing That Your Search Engine Ranking Determines Your Success

Here’s the truth:

There are only 10 websites that can be in the top ten for any particular search phrase. That’s it. So what are the rest of the websites

supposed to do? Close up shop? Give up and concede defeat?

Are you kidding?

Your search engine ranking does not determine your success. There are so many ways to build a steady supply of traffic to your web-site without following the constantly changing whims of Google, MSN and Yahoo!. Google wasn’t even on anyone’s radar 5 years ago. Who knows if they will even be around 5 years from now.

If you are in business for the long haul, then you’ve got a virtually limitless supply of ways to build website traffic. The real challenge is deciding which ones to pursue first.

Missed Opportunity #2: Not Tracking Everything

The internet is a marketer’s dream because it allows you to track absolutely every move your market makes on your website.

If you want to know which pages of your website are most popular, you can find out in a few seconds. If you want to understand the path that most visitors take through your site, you can track it. If you want to find out which bit of copy compels more visitors to give you their CORRECT contact information, the data is there for the tak-ing.

The internet can give you all of the clues you need to unlock the code behind what makes your market tick and why your visitors act the way they do (even if their actions don’t match up with what they tell you).

Now tracking takes some discipline at first.

When you are first starting out, tracking each email newsletter you send out or each information request you get or the conversion rate of visitors to requests can seem like a drag.

But once you get in the habit of doing it, you will not be able to operate any other way. Making decisions without that level of hard data will feel like you are shooting in the dark – and that’s exactly what most websites are trying to do.

Track everything... and make it a habit.

Missed Opportunity #1: Not “Failing” Enough Times To Succeed

In high school or college, getting a 30% on a test is pretty bad news. In baseball, striking out 7 out of every 10 times at bat can make you a very wealthy person...

What’s the deal? Are the rules we start out with in school re-ally that different from the rules we play by in life and business?

You bet...

In fact, I argue that there is no such thing as failure. Every-thing you do produces some sort of a result. It may not be the result you want, but it is a result.

Success comes from experience... experience comes from knowing how to make the right decisions... and knowing how to make the right decisions usually comes from... making the wrong decisions.

The path to a great website is to start with anything, even one that stinks, and move forward.

You will make mistakes. You will go down paths that are dead ends. You will create some spectacular “failures.” But every step of the way, you will learn what it takes to create a better result.

And eventually, that knowledge will translate into your success online.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].

Now go get started...

P.S. I’m booking marketing and copywriting projects for 2008 as we speak. If you’re interested in hearing how I can help you, then call (not email) me at (928) 255-5328. The clock is ticking… Mid February is my first available spot.

P.P.S. I just launched a promotion of my own. If you’re curious, you can take a look at it:

http://businessofcopy.com

(No making fun of the guy talking in the videos :)

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· page 4 i call it the hype free zone. i would use a more colorful word for hype, but i really...

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