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The Top
Three |
| What are the three most
important factors to remember in doing business on the Internet? If you pose a like question to a real estate agent, he or she will say Location, Location, and Location. Similarly, for the Internet marketer, it should be Communication, Communication, and Communication. Of course, the Internet itself is really all about communication. We know that, but sometimes forget how that translates into the way we do business on the net. What are some of the areas where communications issues trip us up? Here's some of the ones I have seen on sales pages (including mine, sorry to say). 1. Unclear offer When you are madly trying to put a new product up for sale, it is easy to miss some details that could be crucial to completing a sale. Are there resale rights? Master resale rights? Are sales pages included? You will never know how many customers passed up your offer ONLY because some simple question wasn't covered. Instead, they found it easier to go elsewhere than to dig for an answer or e-mail you to find out. Or, moving from simply unclear toward deceptive, is it really free, or must the recipient provide the e-mail addresses of 10 friends? Also, some product offers I have seen make it difficult to grasp exactly what they are offering. Is it a product or continuing service? Is the product ever updated? Don't make them guess! They are likely either to guess wrong and be unhappy or simply click on rather than spend time figuring out what you are offering. 2. Ambiguous payment issues Do you provide at least three separate links the customer can clearly see? Do you have credit card and/or PayPal logos that are clickable? Do you accept only credit cards, or are online checks and PayPal accepted? Do you require a payment ID to be sent to you to complete the sale? Making all these items clear and unambiguous will remove another hurdle to sales. 3. Incomplete instructions I have been placing a number of ads in ezines and other places lately, and observe a wide range of approaches to making payment and submitting the ad content. I have come to almost assume there will be some ambiguity about the process, somewhere. There may be no instructions at all as to how I should proceed after payment is complete, in which case I have to e-mail to get instructions. There may be no statement of ad guidelines, leaving me to guess or to wonder whether my ad will be rejected for violating some unstated rule. Knowing is not enough Is knowing about these possible confusion factors enough to avoid them? I wish it were so, but I don't believe it is quite that simple. Certainly using the above items as part of a checklist on your sales pages will go a long way to avoiding confusion and lost sales. But, after I have written my sales copy, it is impossible to remain objective about it. I am immediately blind to possible problems because I am operating with knowledge about the product and the ordering process which the first time viewer simply doesn't share. Enlist testers I strongly suggest that you have someone new to your product look at your sales page and report any areas that need clarification. A spouse may be a good choice; better to enlist several people who will volunteer as testers in exchange for something of value. You will be amazed at the range of things that several sets of eyes will see that are simply invisible to you. The goal of your sales page should always be to present information in a way that conveys understanding to a range of people with varying educational backgrounds and levels of technical competence. To help you reach that level of clarity, no one person can possibly substitute for the services of several randomly chosen testers. While it is difficult to measure, your sales will inevitably be hurt if the viewer encounters problems in any of the three areas noted above. Remember, its communication, communication, and communication! Glenn Gordon - Building Success Online at http://www.ur-in-business.com The Ultimate Autoresponder Guide at http://www.AllAboutAutoresponders.info http://www.BusinessBuilderNewsletter.com This article may be freely reproduced as long as the resource information is included. |