The Blog - Where Business Collides with Human Nature

Turning occasional visitors into quality leads is a process that demands creativity from every brand – and it involves much more than having great products to display. You want to convey what makes your solution effective but also distinctive among the other options out there.

With the new challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are looking for new strategies to promote their brand online. But evaluating all the available options and assessing the ones that best suit your needs can be a bit overwhelming for the uninitiated.

To make the task more straightforward for you, we’ve narrowed down the list of options into five crucial tools you should consider using for the consideration stage of your funnel: social media promos, sweepstakes and contests, video marketing content, and high-converting landing pages, and eBooks.

Understanding their strengths and learning how to leverage them to their full potential will help you bring your prospects closer to a confident buying decision.

"Keep it simple stupid." - Coined by Kelly Johnson

"Don't make me think." - Steve Krug wrote the book.

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." - Confucius

"It is always the simple that produces the marvelous." - Amelia Barr

"In building a statue, a sculptor doesn't keep adding clay to his subject. Actually, he keeps chiseling away at the inessentials until the truth of its creation is revealed without obstructions. It is not daily increase but daily decrease; hack away the unessential." - Bruce Lee

You have heard wisdom about "simple" a thousand times but your brilliant and complex mind wants to add to the puzzle while you are hoping to provide a solution. A website page (aka landing page) is created to deliver awesome to someone interested in the topic. A conversion happens when someone shares contact information because they see the relevance, understand and believe. An over complicated mind can add more than what is necessary which makes people pause vs greasing the proverbial wheel to get an introduction.

Which are the best offers to use on a landing page?  The answer varies based on the visitor and what phase they are in during their buying process.  Since no two people think the same, we can break down them down into three basic groups:

1. Awareness:  People have either become aware of your product or service, or they have become aware that they have a need that must be fulfilled.

2. Evaluation:  People are aware that your product or service could fulfill their need, and they are trying to determine whether you are the best fit.

3. Purchase:  People are ready to make a purchase or take action very close to making a purchase.

The word an entrepreneur loves to hear is "yes" and it comes from faith, trust and curiosity. A landing page is a moment of decision where seven short seconds can make all the difference. As the seconds click by, here are barriers to getting a "Yes! I will complete the form and give you my real information!":

Website design has become more important and it has also become much more complicated. In the 1990s, an innovative business owner could figure out how to make a basic website and customers would be happy.  It was simpler then.

A lot has changed. The idea that a business owner can run a company and manage an effective website at the same time is unrealistic.  This is also why so many companies have turned to professionals to help them meet their performance goals with growing business with the Internet.

What will it take to get a yes?  Not just a nod of the head, but action in the form of an introduction.

What it takes has been referred to as an ethical bribe, bait, an offer, a bargain, something free and by many other names.  I like to think of it as something valuable that will have high impact and make their day.  You can do it online, in a radio spot, by phone or on the TV.  The reason the Internet is a great option is because of the cost and convenience.

If you have any to all of the offers on the list below, you increase your chances of getting an introduction.

A simple truth:  Running a business is much different than five years ago.  Before you dive into the infographic below,  take off your old hat and mindset of: "This is how we've always done it".  A new survey data from Constant Contact, where they asked 917 small business owners to explain what it's like running their small business now compared to five years ago.  Then, in honor of National Small Business Week,  Constant Contact compiled this data into an infographic to highlight the study's discoveries about how running a small business has changed.

While your own business may vary from the infographic, it is important to stay aware of the new reality. Changes over the last five years have been mostly invisible.  The virtual world, mobile, and electronics continue to reshape how we live around the globe and we don't see a thing as the world morphs.

The small business owner is feeling the tax burden but may be unsure of how or why.  The biggest challenge to small business owners is complying with government regulations.  The ChamberofCommerce.com has created this infographic to shed some light on the subject: