Help! My Client’s Web Site Isn’t Making Any Money

Q.  Hi Donna!  This question is really for one of my clients–she’s in very specialized field and very frustrated with her online (and offline) marketing efforts.  A couple of years ago she printed and wrote a couple of "guides" and has never come anywhere near making her money back.  Last fall she held a teleclass with great turn-out but unfortunately, she has not achieved the results she wanted (essentially no sales).  Do you think rewriting her sales copy might work for her? She’s spent tons of money with almost zero return on her investment.  I’m open to any other thoughts you might have.

Thanks!
Janet

A.  Thanks for your question, Janet!  The content of your web site is critical to attracting or losing visitors.  These are the questions visitors are asking when they arrive on a web site:

1.  Are you for me? (i.e. do you work with people like me?)
2.  Do you know and understand my problem?
3.  Do you have a ready solution for my problem?

Here’s a checklist of things I look for when I evaluate a web site when I hear that it’s not making money for the owner:

1.  Brand your business by choosing a domain name that is compelling  to your target market.  Refer to my aritcle, 7 Strategies to Choosing an Effective Domain Name for more info.

2.  Define a narrowly focused niche market.  Greet them by name on your site.

3.  Let your niche market know that you understand their problems and that you offer a solution to those problems. This should be in the copy of your web site. 

4.  Showcase your expertise with articles, case studies, and client testimonials.

5.  Visitors get a sense of who you are as a person from your photo, audio, video, articles, newsletters, etc.

6.  Your "stay in touch" devices (email newsletter, ecourse, podcast, blog, etc.) are prominently displayed so that visitors can easily receive more info from you.

7.  Create a free lead generation tool — special report, ebook, ecourse, teleclass recording, etc.  In order to make it more appealing, create a graphic of it to post on your site.

8.  Your primary "call to action" is featured on each page–whether that’s to call you, sign up for something, or visit another page of the site — and it should be "above the fold", to use newspaper terms (on the top half of the site).

9.  Give them a reason to hang around and come back.  This is called "web site stickiness". Regularly post new articles, assessments, checklists, etc. on your site.

I have two sources that I regularly use for creating "sticky" content on web sites:

1.  Armand Morin’s Sales Letter Generator — This is a great tool that asks the right questions to help you create a long, one-page sales letter.  However, it just asks you the right questions–it won’t create your copy for you..:)

2.  Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero’s ebook, Red Hot Copy to Woo Your Target Market, is an excellent resource on writing headlines and copy.