We wrote in our last Detroit Sales Tips blog about the ability of your website to sell 24/7/365. This is true whether you’re in our home base of Detroit, or anywhere around the country. Think of your website as a kind of “super employee” who doesn’t get paid or needs health insurance and benefits. It’s a real “perfect world.”
Too Good to Be True?
It might be that easy, except for one thing: Your website needs to be managed, and that probably falls on you…the owner. One more thing to do, and for many, it never gets done. It then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as the website is forgotten, begins to look forgotten to the customer, and then fails to make a difference in your sales.
What are you to do? How can you make the site work for you and get more sales? Here are some of our tips:
- BE READY! VERY STRONG ECONOMY CONTINUES: While the media often underplays how robust the U.S. economy is, don’t be fooled. Politics aside, it’s thriving. Whether or not GDP will hit 4% again like last year is an unknown, but it’s still strong. Be prepared to get your unfair share.
- BE EVERYWHERE: You need to have a competitive website. You also need to have a presence on Facebook, Instagram and maybe even Pinterest. After all…they’re all free.
- STRATEGIC BLOGGING: What’s your position in the mind of your perfect customer? Do they even know you? Have they forgotten you? Do they love you? Tell them that they matter. Blog away.
- ONLINE STORE: Do you have one? Does it make sense to build one? Here’s a whole new stream of revenue for you. It’s money in the bank. Why are you not doing it if it makes sense?
- NEWSLETTER: Make sure your website contains a form to permit your customers to sign up for your newsletter, and then get one out as often as makes sense…at least monthly. This is a great sales tool. If you’re not doing it, start now. It’s too big of an opportunity to miss.
- THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: Are you the thought leader in your space? Now really. If the local newspaper, radio or TV station needs a quote for something in your industry, do they call you? This is huge and not to be underestimated. Start your newsletter. Start your blog. Get all of your social media up and running on a regular basis. This is what it takes for people who don’t know you to find your business, and for people who know you but have forgotten about you to come back. Be the “go to” source.
There is a lot to take in here we know, but it’s all vitally important in the “holistic” sense that Google works today. All of these different points of contact that Google has coded into their algorithms to monitor about your site, you and your business, will lead to better a ranking for your website, and in turn, more awareness and resulting business for you.
So please, make it one of your resolutions for the new year to follow our recommendations and watch your sales increase. It will work. It’s only a matter of time. More tips next time. Onward and upward!
