The Success Magnets with Cara Lumen

The Single Biggest Mistake You Can Make On Your Web Site

We all do it. It is such a natural thing to do. We know how hard we worked and how excited we are with what we offer and we want to share it with everyone who comes to our web site.

But wait, what’s wrong with that picture.

People only want to know what’s in it for them

Isn’t that a bummer. All the why’s and wherefores of how we have created our business is not important to them. All they want to know is how it will solve their problem or make them feel better or do better or be more successful. And that’s exactly what we have to tell them on every page of our web site.

People want to know they will feel better after using your product or service

One of the most interesting aspects of marketing is to know that you are most successful when people feel good about the decision they make. They must be able to feel and imagine how different their life will be after they make the purchase. They must have a positive kinesthetic response to the idea of using your products or services.

Always make promises you can keep

What can you assure people will happen to improve their business or their life if they purchase from you? Will they make more money? If so, how much? Will they feel better? If so, how soon? Will they know more? If so, how much? You get the picture. Give them measurable results that they can expect from what you have to offer.

Emphasize your benefits

Keep the phrase “so that” handy as you write your benefit copy. Start with the list of the benefits you offer people. Then add “so that” to help further clarify the benefit. For instance:

“I help you write compelling copy so that you can convert more visitors on your web site.”

“I help you focus your services so that your target market can easily understand your offerings and want to purchase them.”

These might then turn into bullet points like
• Convert more visitors on your web site
• Earn greater profit by laser focusing your services

You see, the visitor doesn’t care how I might go about doing that for them, as in helping them write compelling copy or focusing their services, they want the bottom line, the end result. They want to know what’s in it for them.

When you finally do talk about yourself keep it relevant

After you have written about the benefits of your services and listed some of the features, which are the form your offering takes, then you can add your credentials for being the right person to deliver the results. Don’t go back to your early life, don’t go through your process of arriving at this business; speak instead of your unique skill or talent or training that is relevant for producing the results you are offering. Even when you write for your media page, keep your bio relevant to the subject you are an expert on.

It’s hard when we’ve put so much into it

I know this goes against every grain. We’ve worked so hard and studied so much and put our hearts into our offering. But we have to be satisfied that we know what it has meant to us. We have to focus on the other person, the visitor to our web site. It’s not about us, it’s about them. That’s how to have a successful web site.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, specializes in internet content strategy. Through her Magnetic Marketing Method, she offers innovative, inexpensive, and impactful ideas for the proactive entrepreneur. Subscribe to The Success Magnet Emagazine at www.caralumen.com

How Hiring a Web Content Strategist Can Save You Money

Ya gotta have a plan. You’ve gotta know where you are going and what you are going to find when you get there. It’s not enough to say “I want a web site.” You have to know exactly why you want a web site, who you are targeting, and what you want your web site to achieve for you. That’s why you hire a Web Content Strategist - that organizational and internet marketing specialist who can save you money by keeping you from making expensive mistakes.

Focus

As a Content Strategist, my most important role is to help my clients focus their business, specifically as it applies to how they want to put their web site to work for them. That’s why we start by defining the services page. It helps the client choose exactly what they want to offer and who they want to offer it to. This is the most important aspect of the work we do together. The majority of entrepreneurs have too many ideas and are trying to reach too large a target market. I help them focus their vision. I look for bundling and leveraging possibilities. I listen to their vision and help them tailor their choices to support it every step of the way.

Navigation

Creating a web site that is easy to navigate is vital. If people can’t easily find what they want, they will leave. My job as Content Strategist is to know all the best internet marketing options and help you select the navigation that most suits your products and services. Together we create a Site Map to guide us in the development of a profitable web presence.

Technical Tools

Because it is my area of expertise, I can anticipate what technical tools you need to put in your site at the very beginning - shopping cart, affiliate program, autoresponders, web host. Together we select the technical tools most suited to your personality, time, pocketbook, and inclination. I help you keep your eye on the future. And I help you think big.

Content Development

You have 7 seconds to capture their attention and you better get it right. That’s why a good Content Strategist will help you write the headlines, craft strong bullet points and organize the content of each sales page for the most profitable impact.

Product Development

A Content Strategist is full of creative ideas that can leverage what you already have, expand your thinking about what is possible, and give you concrete ideas to fill you marketing funnel with products that add to your expertise and credibility.

Holding your Vision

A good Content Strategist holds your vision, even as you sink into the morass of words and ideas and details that are part of the creative process. She keeps you on target, makes certain you consistently address your niche, strengthens your copy, maintains the tone of the site, and makes certain the readers’ experience will lead to a high conversion rate.

A Content Strategist Saves You Money

When you and your Content Strategist complete your work together, your web site content is ready for your web designer. She has helped you focus your intention, constantly make crucial choices, and helped you create impactful and relevant content. In doing so, you have eliminated the unnecessary, the irrelevant, and the no-longer useful before you made the mistake of putting them into practice and then find it necessary and expensive to eliminate them. A Content Strategist is mentor, advisor, resource, cheerleader and friend. Investing in an experienced Content Strategist assures that you get the most from your investment as you create a profitable presence on the internet.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller , is a content strategist who helps you distill your vision into a specific and profitable course of action. Her specialty is content development, internet marketing, and signature product development. Through her Magnetic Marketing Method, Cara offers innovative, inexpensive, and impactful ideas for the pro-active entrepreneur. Learn how you can become a Success Magnet at www.caralumen.com

Do you have what it takes to make money as an affiliate?

Too often people have the wrong idea about making money from affiliate marketing. The general impression is that all you have to do is sign up and the money will start pouring in. And it pops me right back to square one.

What are you passionate about?

The best businesses are built on our passion. When what we are passionate about is also something we are good at, that is a great way to make our income. We cannot just put up a sales page and expect things to happen. We cannot just choose a bunch of unrelated products and expect to sell them. Well, maybe some people can, but only a handful and that’s because they are already great marketers and simply like to sell.

You primarily sell to your list

New marketers seldom realize that you primarily sell to your list and if you don’t have a list, you’ll have a hard time selling anything. 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your prospects so a smart marketer spends the majority of her time attracting people to her list and cultivating a relationship with her present list and designing programs and services specifically for those prospects and their needs. These are people who know and trust you so that when you recommend a product or service, they can trust your word.

Are you a smart marketer?

You can’t be all things to all people; you’ll end up being nothing to everyone. You can’t write targeted copy, you can’t post on relevant blogs, you can’t even find your target audience unless you have identified them. And the smaller the better. Niches are riches. A smart marketer continues to identify and narrow her niche.

How affiliate marketing can work

My most lucrative affiliate associations are with products and services I use that would be helpful to my clients if they used them. For instance, because I coach people in content strategy for their web sites, I have an affiliate association with the shopping cart I recommend, the merchant account, the web hosting company, and the blog hosting company I use myself and can enthusiastically recommend. My clients come to me for internet marketing information. They do not expect or want me to try to sell them vitamins. Stick with what you yourself use. Stick with those programs that will bring value to your prospects Then you can genuinely share your enthusiasm and people will be attracted to what you have to offer. Keep your affiliate selections relevant to your target audience

Build your list

Back to square one. If you have a list, great. If you don’t, you need to build one. And it’s not just about having a list, it’s about having a pre-qualified list, people who see what you offer and give you permission to keep them posted on what you offer. That is done either through a web site with an opt in box or blog postings on a specific topic that builds your RSS feed list. Whichever you choose, you have to have one major topic and one target audience.

For instance, I can have a niche as a holistic health resource and find all sorts of affiliates to feature. I can have a niche as a marketing expert (I do) or a copy writer (I’m working on it) but each niche will draw a select audience and you want to be certain you focus your content and affiliate resources to their specific needs.

Have your own affiliate program

If you have active services and a number of products, it’s great to have your own affiliate program. However, like anything else in busyness, you need to support your affiliates with html banners and text links and suggested email copy and special promotions. You have to cultivate your relationship with your own affiliates just as you cultivate your prospects.

The resource page on my web site is filled with affiliate links. Sure I recommend things that don’t have an affiliate program, because I am in service to my web site visitors and want to give them as much value as I can. But when I can, it’s an affiliate link.

Follow your passion

I still think the desire to do something simply to earn money is a poor choice. People won’t buy just because you want to sell. They buy because they want it even more than they need it. They buy when you can get them caught up in your passion and excitement about the product or service they might purchase. Emotion sells. My suggestion for what it takes to earn money as an affiliate – follow your passion, stay in service and choose affiliate associates that fit your niche.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, helps you focus your passion and distill your vision into a specific and profitable course of action. Her specialty is internet marketing, content strategy, and signature product development. Through her Magnetic Marketing Method, Cara offers innovative, inexpensive, and impactful ideas for the pro-active entrepreneur. Learn how you can become a Success Magnet at www.caralumen.com