The Internet is all too often mistreated and misunderstood as a “place to be,” or “something to be on.” Many companies treat the Internet like a billboard, but it’s not. People don’t surf by and see your web site. Your web site is a destination – but not the ultimate one (unless you sell your product online).
Thinking of the Internet as a billboard or a place causes companies to design web sites that have too much or too little information. For example, a web site that is nothing but a big advertisement is a waste – the only people who will visit your site are people who already know about your business, so why the big advertisement? And when people do visit, they’re not likely to return. On the flipside, a web site that goes on and on and on about the history, the people, all of the services you offer, can quickly contain too much information for it to be valuable. Rather than thinking of the Internet a place to be or something to be on, think of it as a tool. For most companies, their web site is not (or shouldn’t be) the main thrust of their marketing efforts. It is one tool in the arsenal. The way to hone the tool to be as effective as possible is fairly simple. Start by determining what your web site should accomplish for YOUR BUSINESS. What net output do you desire? If there isn’t really anything you expect to receive from your customers via your web site, you may not need to “be on the Internet.” Once you’ve determined what the desired output is, ask yourself what the site needs to do to yield that output. As a simple rule, if a piece of information doesn’t ultimately help you achieve your goal, don’t include it on your web site. It’s important to understand, people probably don’t want to visit your site and spend their time reading about you and how you got started and seeing pictures of your staff. That’s such a harsh truth, isn’t it? People want to learn one thing: how you can help them. If your web site does a good enough job convincing them that you can help them, they’re likely to give you what you want. So get what you want and get on with your life and let them get on with theirs. Don’t be a web hog. For some companies, this can be accomplished with one web page. For others it may take dozens of web pages. And for still others it may be impossible. They should considering skipping the whole “www-thing.” If you have a web site already, give it a test. Find out what it does for your business, your sales. Think creatively about how you can put it to work for you. If you don’t have a web site already, carefully apply these principles to find out if you need one, and if so, how it should be designed. A special tip: a “flashy” presentation rarely yields output – it just builds brand. That’s no longer one of your goals, is it? We have some very helpful and specific ideas about how to get what you want from your web site. They’re all jammed into the “Gravitational Marketing System.” Tomorrow we’re going to debunk that nonsense about mixing business with pleasure. So dust off your twister game and get ready to mix it up! Get the full e-book "Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Marketing That Cost You Tons" and others at our website: http://www.scend.net/resources.htm
Tall Tale #10 “You can’t control word-of-mouth advertising”
We genuinely feel sorry for anyone who believes this. Almost everybody agrees that the ideal form of advertising is word-of-mouth. Don’t you agree? But almost everybody also agrees that it’s impossible to control. That’s nonsense – proliferated by the pay-per-advertise media. They don’t want you to find out that there’s a way to control the best advertising process of all – the one that’s 100% free.
Tall Tale #9 “You can’t mix business with pleasure”
We’ve all heard this one, right? And since marketing your business has always seemed so daunting and confusing, how could it ever be pleasurable anyway? But when you start to apply smart marketing principles to your business, you will start to have fun. You’ll have fun because it will become easy to get customers and you’ll be making money without sweating about how to get business. And when you have fun, so will your customers, and that will cause them to return and to tell their friends about you.
Tall Tale #7 "People don't like advertising"
Most people believe that people don’t like advertising. People don’t like Crisco either. But when it’s combined with other ingredients and baked into a fluffy pie crust they love the end result. Some pies are so good that people beg for more and are willing to pay to get them. The same is true with smart advertising. Sound too good to be true? Keep reading.
