Tuesday - September 6, 2005

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My goal is to help wedding professionals nationwide sell more of their products and services using the Internet. I've helped thousands get better results from their web sites. Tell me how I can help you.

I'd also like to draw your attention to my Inner Circle program. I haven't really pushed this in the past but I'm really getting some good results and I know more and more people are ready to take their online marketing to the next level (or get it off the ground!). The Inner Circle is a cost effective way to do just that. If you're looking for a competitive advantage that keeps your online marketing in top-notch form, consider joining today. It's a small investment with big returns.

+ + Think Conversion in 2006

About this time last year I was writing about traffic building strategies: Search engine optimization, online advertising, pay-per-click advertising, inbound link building, and integration of your offline and online advertising and marketing.

If you’ve worked effectively on these issues I’m sure you’re seeing great results. If you're not, something is wrong.

Assuming you've got good traffic, it's time to focus on conversion – turning the brides and grooms who visit your website into inquiries, phone calls, and new sales!

Here are the first of a series of conversion tips and techniques that I think you will find valuable.

Inquiries From Your Website Are The Best

The leads and inquiries you get from your web site are almost always the best type of leads you can get. That said, not all of them will be qualified to buy your products and services, and certainly many will be “lookers”. Even though, I am a firm believer that inquiries that come from your website are nuggets of gold. Lists from bridal shows or lists offered from wedding web sites are valuable to a degree, but too often I hear they are becoming less and less effective

A bride who has visited your site and makes an inquiry is already familiar with your company, products and services – and she's expecting to hear from you. Brides who are on a list and getting dozens of calls from all kinds of wedding vendors can easily become frazzled that you're a run-of-the-mill telemarketer – and wonder where you got their name and personal information. This is never an ideal situation to start the sales process.

Avoid Using an EMAIL Link As Your Only Contact Option

Simple EMAIL links at a website work but rarely are they as effective as using an online form. If you use an email link most of your inquiries will come in with missing information, I guarantee it. You might not get a phone number, a full name, a wedding date, or probably most of the other information you really need to appropriately follow-up and pre-qualify your prospect. A simple web-based form solves that problem.

Implement an Easy-To-Use Form

Online forms are very effective at gathering the information you need to start the sales process and they are easy for brides to use. If you've been a subscriber to any of my newsletters you know my mantra when it comes to managing web site visitors: "Don't Make Them Think". Using a form instead of just an email link actually helps a bride request information from your company. She knows what information you need, she can easily fill out a form, and you help her by "guiding her" through the process. Studies show people have NO PROBLEM using forms so don't avoid them thinking people your visitors won't use them. On top of that, a well-designed form will always help you get the information you need - and ALL of it.

Using this conversion technique (and the following tip) Claire Goodman who owns Sacred Ground Ceremonies received three inquiries on the day her new form went up!

Make Your Contact Form Too Easy To Find

If your contact form is easy to find you'll get more inquiries. Sounds simple enough but too many webmasters almost hide their "Contact Us" option, making a bride look for it. Where is your "Contact Us" option? Is it at the top and bottom of every page (or a link to it)? Is it integrated into your page copy? Maybe your contact form should be on every page, in the footer? It certainly should be on the most POPULAR pages of your site (as indicated by your web site statistics).

Use A Colorful Button or Graphic USE A COLORFUL BUTTON OR GRAPHIC
Brides read pages from the top down and left to right. When they get to the bottom of a page it's decision time. I also call it "conversion time". Using a colorful and highly visible button ASK them to make an inquiry, right now. If I visited your site today, how well would you capture my attention and get me to your inquiry option?

A few of my favorite buttons include the following text:

"Tell Us How We Can Help You"
"Free Engagement Photo Sitting - Inquire Today"
"Check Our Availability - General Inquiries - Contact Us Today"
"Make An Appointment Online Right Now !!"
"Best Dates Go Fast – Contact Us Today"
Or are you using the boring "Same As Everyone Else's Web Site" buttons like:
"Contact"
"Contact Us"
"Inquiries"

More Conversion tips and techniques next week...

+ + Are You A Member of My "Inner Circle" ??

Speaking of keywords and keyword phrases, members of my Inner Circle can just login to the members bulletin board and "cut-and-paste" the keywords and keyword phrases they should be using. Caterers, DJs, Photographers... more categories and keywords are being added this week. You'll also find the full suite of meta-tags I'm using that help me get and keep top positioning at Yahoo!, Google, and MSN.

Now Online (Inner Circle Member Access Required)

Keywords Forum: http://www.jimedia.com/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=5
Full Meta-Tag Suite: http://www.jimedia.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=21
Need Great Website Stats (for free!): http://www.jimedia.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=10
Glossary of Internet Terms (that you have to know!): http://www.jimedia.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=24
How To Add Your Website to the new MSN Search Engine: http://www.jimedia.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=27
Keyword Tools: http://www.jimedia.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=28
More Tips, Techniques, and Great Information are in Toolbox area: http://www.jimedia.com/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=4

For more information about membership visit: http://www.sellmoreweddings.com/innercircle/

 + + More Traffic, More Inquiries

Conversion is important but if you don't have traffic you never get the chance. Advertise and link your website with WEDDINGPLANNINGLINKS.COM and I'll send you great traffic for a full year for less than $1/day. On average we'll send more than 500 brides/grooms to your site and unlike Google, MSN, or Yahoo! I can guarantee you top positioning that doesn't change. 95% of my advertisers renew because WEDDINGPLANNINGLINKS.COM works. More information is here: http://www.weddingplanninglinks.com/inquiry.html 

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Best wishes,

Chris Jaeger
Sell More Weddings Inc.
195 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930
(978) 283-8295