Bag Of Tricks

Have you ever noticed that in every shopping mall, there is what
is referred to as an anchor store? This is normally a large store
that attracts a lot of customers, and the other stores in the
mall benefit from the "spill over" customers that go there .

With all the talk about online marketing, can we benefit from
this concept. Sure - try to find popular sites that attract a
large number of visitors. Try to work out a link exchange with
them. You will get potential customers to your site this way .
Many people feel that this is just as important as search engine
placement.

As far as your online marketing is concerned, I consider a Web
Page to be the anchor for your sales efforts. This is the place
where you want your potential customers to go for information
about your Company. This is where you can make or break your
sale.

Many people make serious mistakes when designing their Web Page.
Let's face it - if someone comes to your Web Page, they are
looking for information. While beautiful pictures are nice to
look at, they seldom have a reason to exist on your Web Page.
Why? Because they take too long to load, a visitor will quickly
become frustrated, and they "click away" to something else - a
lost opportunity.

If you want a presence on the Web, your design goals should be
simple. You should have a page that loads quickly and doesn't
require the visitor to page down to get your primary message.
Face it - you have seconds to capture their attention. The page
should be attractive, and stimulate the person to page down, or
link to other pages. This is where you can then expand on what
you are trying to present. Once you get them to page down, or
click on a link to another of your pages, the odds are that they
will read it.

Any advertising program should be geared toward one goal and that
is to make sales. Your ads in Online Newsletters or Web
Classifieds also have one purpose, and that is to get them to
request more information. Here is where Autoresponders and Web
Pages shine. They are your silent salespeople who are available
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Used in combination they are the
"dynamic duo".

So, if you want to design your own web pages or contract with
someone to do it, what should be your first steps? First - browse
the web looking for web sites that you like. If the page loads
quickly and is attractive, it is a candidate for your design
consideration - bookmark it. After you find several examples, and
if you are HTML proficient, download your favorite and look at it
with your web page design software. Can you use the same
techniques that they used?

Do not use any of their graphics or text that are included in the
web page. These are normally copyrighted and could cause you a
"heap" of trouble. If you are not HTML proficient and want to
contract with a third party, inform them of the web site you
like. This can save them a lot of false starts in their design
efforts for you.

Second - provide content that might encourage visitors to come
back to your site. This content should change on a periodic
basis, and does not have to be limited to your Web Site. A News
Ticker for example can be something you can use, as well as a
link to the Weather Channel.

Finally, you have to market your web site. Your URL and E-mail
address should not only be publicized online, but offline as
well. Put them on your letter head, your business card, your
offline advertising - anyplace where people can see them. We send
out postcards with specials all the time - you can bet they are
there. The Internet is not magic - it is just another tool in
your marketing "bag of tricks".