11 Ways You’re Shooting Yourself and Your Business in the Foot

I’ve been online since 1993 when it was still in the DOS stage of life, but as it grew, I of course allowed my knowledge to grow. Going from pleasure to business was a complete mind shift for me back in 2001.

However, if I’d allowed the below 15 ways to shooting yourself and your business in the foot to kill or even stagnate my growth you wouldn’t be reading this today.

Over the years I’ve heard the battle cries and struggles of many people: online or face-to-face. And what I’ve collected are common denominators to the lack of success: business or personal.

I have struggled with many of these self-afflicting symptoms. I recognize a lot of them daily within my day-to-day travels.

Today, I’m sharing with you symptoms that are harming to many entrepreneurs, authors and small business.

1. Free Mindset – Are individuals who look and expect for everything to be free. I’ve seen it where people refuse to invest $10 for a domain name. Even that is too much to ask.

Often he/she will constantly seek out the only the cheapest and free methods as they drive up the ladder toward success.

2. Constant Complainers – Are individuals who spend their time finding fault and disliking everything under the sun. Ask them to do it better, they wouldn’t know how.

3. The Non-Reader – The reason these individuals fail achieve the results or answers they’re looking for is due to their inability to slow down and read.

Reading is fundamental!

4. Do It My Way – Are individuals who want everything delivered in the exact way they would do it. More often than none, they’ll miss out on one time opportunities.

It’s an unwillingness to open one’s self to new a way to receive information.

5. Overly Skeptical – No matter how much they’re struggling with, let’s say web traffic, this individual will talk themselves out of investing 50 dollars to achieve results.

I myself understand the fear of being burnt because I have invested thousands into a program that didn’t deliver what it promised.

6. Not The Right Answer – Are individuals who will suck up the time and knowledge of another person to get an answer to their dilemma, but the answer entails for “too” much work, then for them it wasn’t the right answer.

7. Quick, Fast, & Hurry – Are individuals who always want results yesterday without the leg work or the building of the foundation.

How do I get web traffic? I need to sell XYZ amount of books in three months.

8. Cornered – Are individuals who will remain in the corner, rather than branching out in order to increase their skills and their network.

9. I Can’t – Are individuals who allow the phrase ‘I can’t” dictate their abilities online or offline. They have the capillarity to do a lot more once they take away the belief of  “I can’t”.

The word can’t shuts down one’s ability to move.

10. Network – No matter how many contacts, Twitter followers or Facebook friends one may have, it doesn’t compare to having a network of colleagues one can connect with locally.

It took a minute for me to step outside of myself. I have a mastermind group that has helped me immensely. You can find one in your area on MeetUp.com

11. Look At Me – Are individuals with social networking ratio of 90% look at me and 10% of by the way here’s something I found.

People are turned off to constant self-pointing. The way people will notice people when they offer solutions. When it comes to commanding attention is when individuals bring value into each place they enter into… online or offline.

There are others that weren’t mentioned above and some you already know about yourself. If there’s ever a time to put the gun away and place a bandage on your wounds to start the healing process, then that time is now.

Make a commitment to yourself, then to your business to change one thing a month that you’ve been shooting youself in your foot with. Now, if it’s a bunion keep on shooting. I’m joking!

Seriously, take time to reflect on what’s been debilitating your growth and your ability to reach higher levels in life: personal or business. Once you’ve identify them: Face it, Trace it, then Erase it.

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About The Author
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And to help you from increasing your web traffic to finding your target audience, C.F. Jackson invites you to join the 120 Day Challenge… Achieving online success in 120 days. To participate is simple… Just got to http://www.VirtualTutorialCenter.com – Create your account and you’re ready to go!

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Learning how to sell your own self-published
books to book marketing is centered around
getting traffic to your website. In this brief
audio I discuss one key to help get you
started…

Comment | Copy This

Join today! It’s Free
http://www.VirtualTutorialCenter.com

Continue to make it happen!

Won’t Be Denied,
C.F. Jackson

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Book Marketing Online:How To Get
The Right Keywords

Website Makeover Monday – Choosing
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Book Marketing Strategies With Matt Bacak The Millionaire Internet Marketer & Author

Just a few weeks ago I engulfed myself into over
40 hours of seminars: personal, financial, business,
and internet developement.

The bulk of my 40 hours came from the three day
event hosted by Matt Bacak. It’s events like these
that have helped me gain a better understanding
when it comes learning how to sell your book
online, how to market a book, and website marketing
optimization tips.

I learned about Matt Bacak in 2005 when I attended
an event here in Atlanta. I’ve shared my story of how
it was this event where I learned that there was whole
lot of stuff I didn’t know when it came to being online
as an author. Just having a website with a book cover,
book excerpt and few reviews wasn’t enough.

 

 

After hearing Matt and several others successful people
back in June of 2005 is when I decided to learn more about what I
truly needed in order to be successful online. And since then I’ve
been studying, learning, implementing, and invested in coaching
from those who are successful online. I’ve enjoyed the results from
the knowledge I have and continue to gain.

Since 2005, I’ve had the pleasure to hear Matt Bacak speak and
teach many times. But on this day December 7, 2008 it was an
honor to have the opportunity to speak with him so I could
introduce him to you.

So take a few valuaeable minutes to tune in and to learn a key
strategy you should be implementing online and how to put it
into action…. Today!

 

Resources Mentioned in Interview:
1. Aweber (Have Used)
2. 1Automation Wiz (My Provider)

Are you interested in learning more about how
autoreponders work and how they can benefit
you? 

Just enter you Name and Email below…

Name
Email

 

Talk back and share your thoughts, questions, and ideas.

Continue to make it happen through ACTION!

Won’t Be Denied,
C.F. Jackson

 

Book Marketing: 12 Reasons Your Website Is Failing

Here’s a great article from an expert whom I’ve
had the opportunity finally hear LIVE & meet just
earlier this year!

So read the content of this article as if you were
in class because everything he’s sharing is worth
rereading….

Willie Crawford is a internet marketer at heart and
only just a few things may throw you off as an
author… Just continue to move forward and Just
Ask! We’ll provide you an answer!

Share you comments, thoughts, and ideas about
today’s Keys to Success Article… Won’t you do that?

Enjoy!

Won’t Be Denied,
C.F. Jackson
———

12 Reasons Your Website Is Failing

Most Saturdays I conduct a free networking and brainstorming call where we critique and give makeovers to 2-3 websites. On the weeks that we don’t review websites, the calls are generally “open discussion” of Internet marketing issues.

These calls are just another tool in my very effective marketing arsenal, and you can join them by registering at: http://WillieCrawford.com/free-brainstorming-calls.html

During most weeks, I get dozens of joint venture proposals, and several potential new clients who want me to evaluate the potential of a project that they’re working on.

Many of the joint ventures that I turn down, and many of the clients that I reject, are for the same reason. Their websites are so poorly written that I know that the websites won’t convert. I rarely do outside copywriting, but I often suggest revamping their websites before they move forward.

With the sites reviewed on my calls, and with the sites I look at for other reasons, I notice many of the same mistakes. Here are 12 of the most common:

1) The site has no focus. A website should be designed with its primary purpose in mind. You should have ONE thing that you’d really like most visitors to your page to do. Almost everything on that page should lead the visitors toward deciding to take that primary action. Nothing on the page should distract them and “lead them off down other trails.”

Common primary actions that you’ll want your visitor to take are to join your list, buy your product, download a free trial version, or join an online community. Make sure that you know what you want your visitors to focus on and get rid of the other distractions. It’s been proven that if you give your visitors too many choices or confuse them, they will simply choose to leave!

2) The site has no email capture mechanism. Most honest copywriters will tell you that in most Internet marketing type niches, a 1-2% response rate to a sales letter is VERY respectable. You’ve worked very hard to get visitors to your site, and if you completely ignore the 98% who don’t buy you’re not going to be in business very long.

Incorporate a form into your website that gets them into an autoresponder so that you can follow-up with them. Offer them a free report, access to an MP3 on the topic, or access to an exclusive community. Get them to opt-in, and then you can follow-up with them on their topic of interest.

Your opt-in form can be set up “in-line” as a part of the webpage, and even take them back to the point on the webpage where they were reading before they stopped to opt-in. You can also have an exit popup, or pop-under, that offers them a freebie as they’re leaving your site. Once they’ve decided to leave, you’ll probably NEVER see them again unless you have a way to invite them back. An autoresponder is the perfect way to do this automatically.

3) The owner is “hiding behind the website.” Web surfers are skeptical and distrusting. You need to let them know that there is a real person behind the site. Give them contact information, show them your photo, and even let them hear you. You can easily add audio or video to your website, and allow it to “touch” your visitor on such a deeper level. When people hear your voice or see you talking and get to watch your body language, you communicate so much more effectively than just the written word.

To add audio to your website, all you need is a microphone plugged into your computer. To add video to your website, all you really need is a webcam plugged into your computer. There are services that will take this audio or video, allow you to edit it with a few clicks of your mouse, and then stream it from their servers or upload it to your server.

A totally amazing service that I use is called Audio Acrobat. I use it to have customers, subscribers, etc., call in and leave testimonials. I use it to record some teleseminars, interviews, product recommendations, and for dozens of other purposes. I do record video from my webcam to this service too. You can also upload video recorded on a regular video camera to this service, and then stream it from their website.

As I said, I LOVE Audio Acrobat. If you want to check it out, you can get a free 30-day trial from here: williec.audioacrobat.com It’s where I have dozens of testimonial lines, dozens of audios, and a few videos. It’s also how I save on my web hosting bandwidth

4) The owner of the site offers no credentials. The very first question I ask when reading a magazine article, watching a television show, or reading a webpage, is “What makes this person qualified to teach ME this topic.” Most web surfers don’t trust you and believe that most Internet sites are out to rip them off. You need to show them that your experience and training make you qualified to teach them the topic. In addition to formal credentials, a professional looking website also shows that you are a serious businessperson. Don’t skimp on your website’s design!

5) Not offering proof of statements. It’s natural for you to say how great you and your product are. That means nothing to potential customers. Get others to share how your product improved their lives. Use media interviews and statements by officials in professional organizations to provide third-party validation.

Testimonials with photos, audio, or video, are very powerful. Testimonials with just a set of initials, or with just a first name, have NO credibility.

6) Offering the wrong payment options. The majority of Internet users prefer to pay via credit card. If your product allows you to do it, and still make a satisfactory profit, consider taking orders through an answering service or call center, via fax, via snail mail, and through third party processors such as Paypal as well. Evaluate each of these options and decide which of these make sense for you.

As an aside, I once considered even offering my customers the option to order C.O.D. (cash on delivery). My local postmaster strongly suggested that I NOT do that and also pointed out that it’s almost never done these days. He convinced me that it was more trouble than it was worth

7) Using the wrong or too many fonts. When you use different sizes and colors of letters on your webpage you need to have a real reason. When you highlight or underline text on your webpage you need to have a logical reason.

As your site visitor reads your webpage, he will subconsciously ask himself why you emphasized a certain word or sentence on the page. If you had no logical reason, you pull him out of your message as his mind “wrestles with the why.”

You page should be structured such that a “skimmer” could just read the headlines and sub-headlines and get the message. He should be able to read just the highlighted text and get the gist of your webpage. He should be able to just go to the bottom of the page, read the “P.S.” where you’ve restated your offer, and order without being forced to read the rest of the page . . . if he’s in a hurry.

Using header graphics that distract from the message. Your header graphic should spell out or emphasize the main benefit of your product. It should be simple enough that the visitor is not forced to waste time trying to decipher its meaning.

Sometimes it’s better not to even have a header graphic. This is something you should test. You want to get your visitor reading the text on your page and discovering how your product can help him as soon as practical. This is what will sell him . . . not cute or fancy graphics.

9) Not focusing on benefits rather than features. Don’t tell your visitor how great the product is; tell him how it will improve his life. Your testimonials should also provide concrete, and very specific, examples of how it improved someone else’s life.

10) Focusing on “I” rather than “you”! Look at your webpage and make sure that it talks about the customer and his problem more than it talks about you, your company, and your products. Your customers don’t really care about you. They care about how you can help them! Read through your copy and make sure that it answers that question. Make sure that you’re not talking about yourself too much and that when you do talk about yourself, it’s answering the question of how you can help the reader.

11) Not emphasizing the guarantee. When a customer purchases with a credit card, or through certain third-party processors, the guarantee is implied anyway. So, why not make your guarantee a selling point? If a customer goes to Visa or MasterCard and states that they are unhappy with their purchase from you, they will get their money back in most cases… and you’ll pay an extra fee for the “chargeback.” If a customer goes to Clickbank or Paypal with a complaint, they will end up issuing a refund in many cases.

Make it easy on yourself by offering and honoring a guarantee. It will increase your conversion rate; and unless your product is total JUNK, it won’t increase your refund rate.

12) Not using a P.S. Many busy surfers will jump right to the end of your webpage and read the P.S.(s). If they were somewhat pre-sold before they arrived at your page, many will go ahead and purchase at that time. Use the P.S.(s) to restate your offer, emphasize the guarantee, showcase your bonuses, and to emphasize any scarcity factor in the offer.

The bottom line is that if your sales page is horrific, it’s pointless to drive traffic to the site. Fix the page before you do anything else, or you’re just wasting time and frustrating yourself.

A well-written webpage is so pivotal to the sales process that many professional copywriters will often rewrite bad sales letters. When they discover great products that they KNOW would sell if the products’ owners just had better copy, they will often rewrite bad sales letters, pre-sell the products, and then send the “ready-to-buy” customers directly to the order form.

My friend and colleague, Dr. Mike Woo-Ming, recognized the value in revamping bad sales letters so much that he went as far as to set up a membership site, offering members rewritten sales letters for Clickbank products in hot niches. You can check out what Dr. Mike has done and join his site, if he hasn’t already closed memberships, at: FixingTerribleWebpages.com Tell him that I sent you.

Fix the 12 common errors covered above, and your website will be more effective than 99% of direct sales websites out there. Don’t fix these mistakes and your sales won’t increase, but at-least now you will understand why.
Willie Crawford has taught thousands how to build successful online businesses since late-1996. His membership site contains over 40 interviews of leading online marketers sharing their views on “How To Break Into The Internet Marketing Inner Circle.” You can access those powerful and shocking interviews at: TheInternetMarketingInnerCircle.com

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How Do You Draw Your Visitors Into Your Website?

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Make It Happen Monday!

Won’t Be Denied,
C.F. Jackson