subject: To Convert More Customers, "Land" Your Prospects by:Neil Asher [print this page] One of the three pillars to successful Information marketing is conversion. In the world of Internet marketing, and information products in particular, you have got to accept the fact that it is not all about selling something immediately. It is unrealistic to expect visitors to plunk down their credit cards the minute they arrive at your web site, saying, "Where do I buy? Show me where to buy. I need to buy your information product right now!"
Now, when I was getting started, that's a mistaken assumption I had. As soon as you came to my website, you were either going to buy my information product or not, and that was it. Period.
In fact, that had to be it, because I didn't offer you any other options. I could have done just as well by hanging up a big banner, reading, "Buy This or Go Away!" You couldn't opt-in or anything else. And I couldn't find out who you were unless you pulled your credit card out. Looking back, I was pretty nave, wasn't I?
But you know, you still see that same kind of navet on information product web sites all the time. If you don't believe you need to add some more conversion steps to your information marketing process, then I suggest that you might want to test out the "all or nothing" approach yourself. Use it as a way of getting starting and setting a benchmark for your conversion rates, before you move on to techniques that are a little bit more sophisticated.
When you are ready to add some "smarts" to your information marketing conversion strategy, I recommend you begin by creating a list of potential buyers so you can dialog with them. Of course, you are going to ask me, "How do I build a list?"
Well, here's the first thing that I did. I created what's called a "landing page." I designed my first one with the help of a good friend, Internet marketing expert Dean Jackson. Now you can see this type of landing page all over the Internet. I suspect Dean's design has been "knocked off" by tens of thousands of people. So I am pretty sure you have seen them everywhere.
A good landing page begins with a simple, compelling headline. You add a few bullet points describing what you are going to get when you come inside the web site. Then you request that the visitor opt-in by providing a first name and an e-mail address. That's pretty much all there is to it.
Amazingly, this simple tool really revolutionized my business, because it took me from just selling things one at time to building a list I could market to over and over. With a list, I was able to go back and start building a relationship with my prospects. I knew who they were by name. And I used e-mail newsletters as my communications channelwhich is another thing that helped revolutionize my business, and I may write about later.
My main point is that a landing page can help you identify who is coming to our web site and give you a valuable information marketing toola listto starting converting visitors into buyers. And the sooner you start finding out who is coming to your web site, the better, don't you think?
About the author
Neil Asher (http://www.neilasher.com/freestuff.htm) has built five multi-million dollar companies from zero, including one he took to $8 million in sales in under two years. He has created and sold successful franchises in England, Italy, Ireland, Australia and South Africa. Visit his web site for access to 17 FREE videos, 6 FREE books and two hours of audio training, revealing "How To Make BIG Money Selling Information Products On The InternetEven If You Don't Have A Website And You've Never Sold Anything On The Internet Before."
