You Know Why You Are The Best, But Do They?

November 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment

The Everyman’s Guide to Site Optimization: Step One: The Value Proposition

One of the first steps to optimizing a website or landing page is to evaluate your Value Proposition. A Value Proposition is the statement that conveys why a customer should buy your product or your service. This statement should be clear on what you offer and why you are the best choice over your competitors. A kind of “look no further, for you have arrived” declaration on how you are the best solution to what they have been seeking. This sounds simple and many of you may think it is common sense when promoting your business online. It is! But that does not mean that this golden rule of online marketing is always followed or can not be improved upon.

As the name of this very site states, many people can not see the forest for the trees. They get bogged down in the details and after months of reading their own materials or creating their site, they assume the message is clear. Well, maybe it is to a point, but is that enough? Learning to be concise, getting into the mind of the prospect and conveying why they should take their mouse off the back button and read more, will take your Value Proposition from average to impressive. Impressive is what gets results.

There are two key points to review on your Value Proposition to ensure that you have successfully completed Step One of your site optimization.

1. You need to Determine a Value Proposition
2. You need to Communicate a Value Proposition

You may think you know what your Value Proposition is already. However an effective Value Proposition is often discovered after a business finds they seem to meet a certain demographic’s need or that they excel over their competitors for one reason or another. You may start with one idea of why you are the best, but find there are other specific reasons why people are drawn to you or your product. Do not be afraid to change your statement as you discover this. A healthy company is ever evolving… pay attention to the demands of your market and your customers.

The question to answer is “why should my ideal customer/demographic buy from me over my competitors?” Once you answer this, research what your competition claims they can offer. You may be very similar, but you must find the one element of your product or service that sets you apart. Differentiation is key. If you do not have this, then why bother. You are or can be special so maybe it’s time to innovate and create something that sets you apart. You must know and must be able to state why you are ultimately the best choice for your ideal customer.

Ok, do you know what your special element is? Write out a few sentences describing now why you are the company of choice for what you offer. Distill it down to a single, authentic persuasive statement. There you have it!

Do this exercise regularly. Don’t let your site get stale. You may find that you are appealing to a different or new customer group down the line than when you started. This calls for a new statement or at least an additional landing page to show off to the variety of consumers attracted to your product or service. I wish you success.

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What is Marketing Really?

November 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

For so many small businesses, Marketing is pixie-dust, pretty brochures and the killer idea of the week.  To them, Sales starts when they go stand in front of a prospect and start pitching their products or services. The world has changed!

Ridgely Evers, the Founder & CEO of NetBooks (a tremendous Forest For The Trees & Duct Tape Marketing partner by the way) makes a tongue-in-cheek point of the idea that ’salesandmarketing’ is not one word. But, thats how so many businesses think of it.

Marketing is the foundation of every company, no matter what business you are in. No sales happen without a strong marketing base. 

As Ridgely Evers states in his post:

“Simply put, Marketing is the science that helps you (1) identify your best markets, (2) compellingly engage them as a group, and (3) refine your offerings to better meet their needs.”

To put it another way, marketing is getting prospects to know, like and trust you… and choose to do business with you. Pretty simple - and it can change the way you look at ’salesandmarketing’ forever.

There is more to come on this topic. In my next parts of this discussion on Sales and Marketing, I’m going to introduce the ideas of ‘Educational Marketing’ and ‘A Selling System Refined’. I will also discuss how to harness the internet and technology in a way that is so much more than a website or SEO.

 You started a business because you are passionate about what you do. Get this part right, and you’ll have all the business you could ever want.

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