Any individual, business, association or enterprise with a website (their are still some out there without one) their are basic rules around ensuring that website actually makes the business money.

The first is obvious, so obvious many don’t even see it spending too much time on what it looks like rather than what and how it does it.

What is the point of a website?

First of all it’s a point of reference and research. Many clients will want to sample the expertise of a business prior to engaging with it financially. We used to do this over the phone, try and find out if the sales person or BDM actually knew what they were talking about. Now we lazily look at the website, check their social media and ask Captain Google.

How does the business get value from this?

If they want to sample your expertise, raise the value of that information and put a price on it. We are not talking money here, but information. Create a guide, that reeks of value, that promises (and of course delivers) on answering the top ten burning questions your clients have. They will trip over themselves to take it off your hands, then ensure that they have to pass on their email address, some additional information that you would like to know and then give it to them.

You can go a step further and create a guide that gives them the information they seek, with a questionnaire to qualify themselves as a customer or not. Why pay a sales person to do this when the client can do this themselves and send you the answers?! Call it a what you like, an effective tool like this can quickly become the source of most of your sales if it is well written.

More than this, they may be kicking tyres now but be ready to buy in a month. Why waste you sales teams time when you can reach them for just a few cents with a personal communication that just keep reinforcing your authority, expertise and building trust with them.

Who will they turn to when they need that thing that only you can provide, the way you do it? Your list is a gold mine of potential, businesses are in part valued on the size of their database, so why not grow it? We call this customer training, with well trained, responsive trusting customers your business would never be out of business. Sounds simple right? So why do close to 90% of businesses in Australia never do this?

Can this also be related to the same percentages of businesses failing within the first 5 years. Coincidence, maybe, but then why risk it?

Here are some industry standards around email marketing:

1. It takes 4 to 7 contacts (on average) to make a sale
2. The majority of site visitors will come to your site and never come back. If you don’t capture their email address – you will not be able to bring them back.

4 Email Statistics That Should Not Be Ignored!

1. 82% of online buyers have made at least one purchase in response to an email promotion
2. 67% of users open at least 60% of the emails they have subscribed to
3. 32% have made an immediate online purchase in response to an email campaign
4. 59% have gone on to redeem an email coupon in an online OR offline store

Remember, people value their email. More and more are accessing their email on the move, it’s getting to SMS responsiveness! Well, let’s not go crazy but do you follow us? Are your email campaigns mobile friendly, and if so how are you making immediate and hard to resist offers?

More people are buying online EVERY month, and they are bright and they have more choice than ever. Everything you do online has to be earned, It is as easy as offering something different, they can only get from you in this way and something they actually want (this may require you introducing a need they didn’t realise they had) if you can do this, you have already won, but only if you promote it.