The Secret Weapon of Successful Web Marketing Is

Impulse shopping in the checkout lane may be what drives grocery store profits, but chances are it doesn't do a thing for your business. Your customers are far more likely to need up to nine contacts from you before they trust you enough to buy from you.

Nine!

That's up sharply from when I entered the marketing field lo those many years ago, and you should expect that number to continue rising over your career too. The good news is that there are some very simple steps you can take to eliminate some of those contacts, or at least shorten the time span from initial contact to first sale.

The first step is to acknowledge that we've created our own monster in our efforts to build our businesses. On average, we're bombarded by more than 3,000 sales and marketing messages everyday. That's 3,000 times a day someone waves something in our face, or shouts something in our ear in an effort to get us to buy this, do that, and spend the rest now.

Next, think about how you react to this daily assault. As consumers (for ourselves or our company), we've all gotten very good at tuning ads out online. It's a basic survival tactic.

Like warriors on a dawn patrol in enemy territory, we'll jump from a site two seconds after we land there if we catch a glimpse of an annoying animated gif whosits or doodad in the corner of the page. We use weapons like search engines, popup blockers, personal portal homepages and newsreaders to filter out all but the information we want to see right now.

But we do more than try to avoid them. We sneer at blinking yellow "security alerts" that offer to eliminate adware deposited on our computer when someone clicks on something like a blinking yellow security alert message. We roll our eyes at Hollywood style hype. And our response to claims of "new and improved" anything is a yawned, "yeah, right."

We've become jaded, cynical, distrustful, and focused on nothing but fending off all distractions between us and the information we're online to retrieve. Is it any wonder we arrive at the end of our day exhausted, with cramped hands, hunched shoulders and clenched jaws?

Now switch hats quickly and look at this from your perspective as a business promoting yourself online. Any way you can help a battle weary consumer get more value out of your website and emails will help you earn their business, right?

Obviously, giving them a clearly marked path from landing point to information source wrapped in an appealing design is something you must do. But that alone may not be enough to win their dollars. You still have to win their attention and their respect before they'll set foot on that path.

Fortunately there is a very simple, affordable way you can do it. With no shouting.

Today's streaming video tools allow you to easily provide visitors with a brief personal message that does more than command instant attention. A simple greeting that you create and manage yourself opens the door to a genuine conversation. All the technical barriers of the web fall away in the face of it and your visitor learns what he needs to know about you in seconds.

How? Your expressions, your gestures, your smile, and your tone of voice, hold more power to attract attention, convey a deeper meaning to your message and convince people of your sincerity than anything else you can do. Scientists have proven that up to 93% of what we learn and remember from a conversation comes from these unspoken, and unwritten clues.

Your human visitors absorb and process all that complicated information a matter of seconds in an attempt to answer one question. They're looking for the consistency between your words and your non verbal message that will tell them whether or not they can trust you and believe what you say has value to them.

That makes you the very best tool you have to increase your credibility. If you're feeling too shy to step in front of the camera consider this. As a consumer, you wouldn't dream of turning off your spam filters and popup blockers, or opening every attachment that came your way.

As a businessman using the Internet to generate leads or sales for your company, can you really afford to leave your big gun at home?

Copyright 2005 Liz Micik

Liz Micik turns your video learning curve into a fast and easy profit curve in her newest book, "Cue the Director: 10 Simple Steps to Online Video Success."

Visit http://www.powerpresenters.com to have free weekly video tips emailed to you.

---

I Hate Asking for Referrals! ? 6 Proven Methods for Getting a Flood of Referrals Without Asking

Yes, I admit it - I hate asking for referrals... Read More

If you Sell a Product, Use Online Marketing, Part 1

When you offer your products via an email campaign to... Read More

Internet Marketing, Fact Or Fiction?

I'm sure you've seen it before, your inbox overflowing with... Read More

Top 3 Online Business Success Needs

1) Web SiteThis is for sure the most important part... Read More

How Quality Content Will Increase Your Traffic and Sales

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT... Read More

Using Ad Boards in Your Marketing Campaigns

Are free advertising boards a waste of time?Not if you... Read More

Developing Your Export Import Business Using Internet - Part I

Since most of the businesses throughout the world have access... Read More

Keep those Back end Sales Flowing 24/7 Using The Funnel Theory of Marketing and Automated Tools

The Funnel Theory of Marketing Relies on the fact that... Read More

Choosing Effective Programs for Your Internet Marketing Plan

Objectives, strategies, and tactics (i.e. programs or action plans) -... Read More

Milk Your Winners, Drop Your Losers

In my previous article How To Be 100% Sure That... Read More

Your E-Business Strategy: Is It Love ... Or Fear?

I read recently that every human thought originates from either... Read More

The Naughty Niches: Potential Gold Mines or Business Killers?

Okay, so you're looking for new ways to grow your... Read More

Website Marketing: 10 Smart Ways To Profit In An Uncertain Economy

When the economy is booming, you may do well in... Read More

The Worst Internet Marketing Strategy Ever?

Many people are downright frustrated.And when you look at their... Read More

The Struggling Internet Marketer

Instead of giving you advice on how to make a... Read More

Dont Forget B.O.B.!

So you've got everything in place, busily working away for... Read More

Take the Guesswork Out of Niche Marketing

Many of us learn from the Gurus that we should... Read More

Do?s and Don?ts for the Internet Marketing Newbie (Part 1)

I, myself, being an internet marketing "newbie" (endearing term used... Read More

Niche Marketing: Broker Your Way To Profits

If you haven't started your own niche business yet because... Read More

An Approach to Advertising on the Internet

Budweiser has the frogs. McDonalds has Ronald. Goodyear has the... Read More

Internet Marketing In A Room FULL Of Naked Men!

NO, that's not one of my secret dreams :-) It's... Read More

The Reality Of How To Make Money In An Online Business

"Making money online quick and easy" seems to be the... Read More

URLs Everywhere

Your URL (www) should be everywhere and more. I know... Read More

DOI, a Proven Marketing Tool for Driving Traffic and Increasing Search Engine Rankings

The Digital Object Identifier otherwise known as the DOI is... Read More

Niche Marketing Nuggets: Picking the Gold from the Internet Mine

Building an Internet business based on a specific niche is... Read More

Internet Marketing - Article Announcer

Who said marketing on the internet was easy. All the... Read More

Online Advertising Techniques

Online advertising is necessary for your computer business to grow.... Read More

Boost Your Web Site Sales

The following strategies are used every day to boost sales... Read More

Internet Marketing And Public Speaking: Ten Tips For When The Twain Shall Meet

Internet marketing and public speaking? Not quite ham and eggs,... Read More

The Secret To Having A Successful Online Business

For three years in Internet Marketing, I've tried to find... Read More

How Do You Live the Internet Dream? Automate, Automate, Automate!

There's no doubt that one of the things that excited... Read More

Beat The Phenomenon Of Awful Sale Statistics

It is a purely shocking statistic, that only 4 in... Read More

Find Your Niche - The Internet Marketers Goldmine

If you haven't heard the word 'niche' being batted around... Read More