Seven Tips to Make Your Website More Effective

If you want your website to help generate more business for your company, keep the following tips in mind:

Tip #1 Let your prospective clients know about your track record. People who are looking for coaches want to see that you have succeeded in what you say you do. Post to your website all recent news articles that mention your coaching practice, and include press releases. Some top free online press release distribution sites include:

http://www.prlog.org/
http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/
http://www.free-press-release.com/
http://www.live-pr.com/en/ - (Google News Listed)
http://www.newswiretoday.com/

Tip #2 List your community involvement, speaking engagements, etc. When you plan to do a presentation, make an announcement. Make sure the folks on your mailing list know. Make sure the professionals whose businesses complement yours know. Add these scheduled appearances in your social media marketing (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, your groups' discussion areas on linkedin.com, etc). Inform the keeper of the bulletin board of the organizations you belong to so they can post them. Go where your market goes, and shout it out somehow.

However, before you do that, read up on the most effective ways to write it up, so that your announcement can be as successful as possible.

Check the end of this blog post article for everything a coach needs to know about Twitter. If you are serious about getting the word out about your coaching practice, YOU MUST READ THIS!

Tip #3 Have a page on your website that talks about your specialty. Visitors who come to your site, particularly people who are of your niche market, will be looking to see your experience with their problem. On that page, you can include articles that you have written on the subject, breakthroughs that you've had dealing with the behavioral area, tips you've shared, testimonials or anything that shows your expertise.

Tips #4 Keep your information current. Check the information on your site. Recently I was checking out a legal consultant's information, and he was listed in a publication that annually rates his profession. Using a plaque they gave him, he touted a superior rating received many many years ago. So, what's wrong with that? Well, if this publication annually rates your profession and the last time you were awarded a high rating was years ago, it makes me think, at first glance, what's wrong with you that it's been that long since you were worthy of a high accolade and now you're not. It's okay to talk about past achievements, but you need to also talk about what makes you wonderful now. What have you done lately? If you haven't done anything . . . do something! Then, of course, brag about it.

Tip #5 Broken links are annoying. Have your webmaster check this regularly to make sure all the links on your site work. This is frustrating for your visitors who are looking forward to visiting the site of the authority you are recommending and can't.

Tip #6 Provide FAQ's to educate your visitors. The more information you put on your site, the more qualified leads you will get.

Tip #7 Call to Action should never be forgotten. Don't leave your visitors hanging now that you've peaked their interest in your practice or your skills as a coach. Tell them what you want them to do with a clear marketing “call to action”. For example: Get a free e-book when you join our newsletter; Call now for your free consultation; For a short time only . . .

When creating or revamping your website, always put your best foot forward. Your website is where many people develop their first impression of your coaching practice.

For free tips on how to design your call to action, shoot me an email.

Twitter Explained:

1. Create a Twitter account. (This takes less than 5 minutes)

2. Make sure you are being "followed" by people in your target audience.

Here's How: Once you sign up for Twitter (which takes less than five minutes) go to search.twitter.com. If lawyers, for example, are your core market, type in the word "lawyers" in the box at the top of the page. Lawyers who have Twitter accounts will appear on the page. Click on their icons or pictures, and you will be taken to their Twitter page. You will sign on to your account from their page. Click on the "Follow" tab under their picture on the left. You are now "following" them, which has two major bonuses:

(a) It means when they post something on Twitter, you can now see it from your Twitter page. This allows you to keep tabs on things that can clue you in to their needs, etc.

(b) They will get an email telling them you are following them. They will then go to your Twitter page, which, when you first set it up, allows you to provide a link to your website. They will then accept and follow you back, if they are interested. I find that, so long as you don't seem like a nut or a spammer, most people have no problem following you back. Now every time you post a scheduled appearance or anything else on Twitter, they can see your post about it, link to it, sign up or email you, or call you about it, etc. It's up to you to make your post appealing.

3. How To Put up a Post (also known as a tweet) on Twitter: Sign on to your Twitter account, now that you have one. Type the headline or the title of your presentation, etc., in the "what are you doing now" box, and add your website address that leads to the page where information on this presentation is posted. If you have an article posted on your blog or your website, you can add the headline/title of that article in the "what are you doing now" box and add the address that leads to that blog post's page or that particular website page. You can tweet about some interesting tidbit that you think your followers should know or may want to know and add the web address that leads to further information. This does not necessarily have to be your website. However, it shows that you have interesting things to tweet about and will make people interested in checking you or your tweets out, because you are that tweeter who's in-the-know.

If your website URL is too long (because you are only allowed 140 characters in Twitter), go here and get a smaller version of your website address called a "tinyurl," then put your tinyurl in the box, instead of your long web address. When people click on the tinyurl, it will take them to your site. This takes less two minute to do!

In that same box, after your web address, type: Please RT.

RT stands for "retweet". Twitter users love to retweet (RT) good articles, witty comments, etc. and being viral is what you want. So what happens? Your followers can now take your twitter message and rebroadcast that same message to their followers and them to their followers and so on. This information about you or your program or your article or your presentation . . . flies across the Internet and, particularly, to those people likely to be interested in your services or who know people who are likely to be interested in your services. Remember, you have sought out people in your target market to be followed by.

Many of you - professionals -are missing out on the value of Twitter, because you don't understand how Twitter can really help your business grow. It goes way beyond "what are you doing now?" that's it's known for.

There's a wonderful article on how to use Twitter to grow your business on Copyblogger that I highly recommend.

Good luck

4 Simple Steps to Automate Your Coaching Business Online - FREE Teleclass

To Coaches: Why do you want to attend this Free tele-class?


Why run your business the hard way, when someone has already taken the steps to make it easy for you. If your marketing is not completely automated, whether you are a new coach or even if you are established and successful already, this call is for you.

Your time should be spent coaching and meeting new potential clients, while the leads and money automatically come in.

Rob Goyette of businesscoach.com is going to teach you about creating your marketing funnel and show you how to get people to effortlessly go through your marketing process until they become your best clients.

Rob's also going to teach you to get massive traffic to your site and then improve your sales process over time with a free tool from Google.


Sign up here for Thursday's call.

Always Make Sure Your Headlines Target Your Niche Markets

If you have a niche market, and you have something amazing, truly life-altering, and different to offer and you know there are people in your niche market - folks out there, who really need what you have, you have got to let them know it the moment they discover you. It must be in your headline, so that you increase your chance of solidifying in their minds that you are the very coach they need for their particular situation AND NOT THE OTHER 100,000 coaches they are going to see or have seen on the Internet.

In the eyes of a prospective client who does not know you, who has never heard of you, there is nothing special about you as a coach until you tell them there is something special about you as a coach. You still have to win them over in your intake process, but you must get them in the door first. We do this with headlines, unique headlines.

Don't make the mistake of settling for boilerplate cookie-cutter headlines so often used by coaches on websites, brochures and flyers. You know, these:

Live Your Dream

Live Your Dream Life

Reach the Peak of Your Heart's Desire

Surpass Your Dreams

Enhance Your Life

Are You Ready for a Positive Change?

Of course they are ready for a change. Guys, PLEASE. These promises are every coach's promise. It's what coaches do. They change your life. So what; they all do.

You've worked very hard to have a practice that stands out from the crowd (at least I hope you have). So, don't do this to your practice or yourself. And, more importantly, don't do this to a client for whom you have something mind-blowing to offer, but who may never know it, because there is nothing in your message that says to him or her that YOU can help them.

Don't Let Your Coaching Training Damage Your Marketing Efforts

Coaching training tends to teach coaches that their skills apply to anybody in any situation at any point in your prospect's life. That may well be true. However, in your marketing message, you are not talking to someone who sat in on that class. Your prospects don't know this. You are talking to a person who has very specific needs and issues that require a resolution that they think is exclusive to their own type of situation, and that person will be more inclined to talk to someone who pops through the clutter of all other coaches and whose message says, unmistakably, I UNDERSTAND YOUR particular circumstance and what I offer benefits people in YOUR particular situation!

If you specialize in dealing with relatives of the terminally ill, then dig into your research on this market and say something you know speaks to their heart. Perhaps, you can think about it in the following way: what is it about your style, your background, your experiences, your current situation that would benefit your particular market, resonate with them and therefore make a great headline?

Take some time to figure this out. And take some time to come up with a targeted headline to attract your niche market. You owe it to your coaching practice. You owe it to the people you vowed to help. If you are what they need . . . make sure they know it!

Small Business Advice on 5 Ways to Turn Your Website Into a Client Magnet

As small business owners, when we think about our web sites, we're often thinking fancy and impressive. Then we invest hundreds, often thousands, to get our dream web site created. The web designer adds flash, moving images, a generous helping of oh-so-cool graphics, music and all the glitz and glamour. In the end, you're totally impressed with your fabulous new web site, and you just know your web site visitors are sure to be impressed as well.

Big mistake and here's why... (um... no offense to the flashy web designers out there). I would venture a guess that your business goal is not to impress others, but to attract prospects and clients to whom you can provide a valuable product or service. Last I checked, prospects don't turn into clients because of an impressive web site (just ask them.) They become your clients because you effectively conveyed how you can solve a specific problem or meet a specific need they had.

Now if you're flaunting a fancy brochure web site right now, I'm certainly not dissing you here. :-) But how do you turn your web site into a magnetic marketing tool that brings in loads of prospects, clients and, of course, sales? Here are 5 actions you can take immediately to turn your web site into a client magnet:

1) Speak to what’s on my mind right now: When you ideal visitor arrives at your web site, they should feel like you just read their mind. Their reaction should be something like "Yes, that's exactly what I was looking for!" Too often web sites are set up to talk about the business and all the services offered. But it does nothing to let the visitor know the key problems you solve or how you meet their greatest desires. Your web site becomes magnetic when it connects with exactly what your visitor is thinking when they arrive.

2) Give me a valuable FREE offer I can’t refuse: Anyone visiting your web site for the first time wants to know a little more about how you can help them. Upon arrival, they should be invited to take action in the direction of solving their key problem/need/desire. The best way to invite someone to take action is to offer them a taste of that solution at absolutely zero cost.

There are many ways to do this: a free checklist, a free assessment, a free report, a free audio, a free CD. Your web site becomes magnetic when you offer something of value at no cost so your prospects can get to know you and what you have to offer.

3) Ask for at least my first name and email: Your freebie would require the visitor to enter their name and email address so they can get the free offer. You will quickly learn that as a small business owner, your most critical and most valuable asset is your list. The name and email serves to build a list of people interested in your area of expertise and allows you to follow up. Your web site becomes magnetic when it continuously builds your list.

4) Connect me to a follow up plan: So your visitor was interested enough to submit their name and email to get your freebie. This means they’ve raised their hand indicating they are interested in what you do. Now what? Rarely do people instantly become customers after having just one interaction with you. So you’d need to keep in touch by continuing to share valuable information. Your web site becomes magnetic when interested visitors are fed into an effective follow-up system.

5) Use a tool for follow-up: Trying to follow-up manually with a growing list would only frustrate and overwhelm you. You would need some type of list management system. Check out http://www.greatsmallbusinessCART.com (the system I use) or
http://www.ConstantContact.com (another great system I've used in the past). These systems allow you to quickly and efficiently manage and communicate with your list. They both include tracking features to measure different aspects of your follow-up. Your web site becomes magnetic when it is connected to a system that manages your list, and allows you to easily build an ongoing relationship that creates sales.

If you enjoyed this article, you'll love Allison's Ultimate Clients & Cash System which reveals a 4-step formula for creating a IFO (irresistible free offer) as an ultra-magnetic prospect-attracting marketing tool.

Copyright © 2009 Allison Babb International LLC


Allison Babb is an author, speaker and Small Business Coach to solo entrepreneurs. Allison publishes the "Small Business Success" weekly Ezine on how to create a steady stream of clients for your small business at: www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com