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From Ben Hunt: Secret #36 - “Tell People What To Think”

Friday, October 7th, 2011

It is very tempting to treat visitors to your website with kid gloves. To be very gentle, and offer them a range of information and options. And then to stand back politely to let them make up their own minds about the options.

What will they do in this situation? They’ll get bored, turn and walk out of the door, down the road to the next web site - that gives them what they want.

What do we want when we go to web sites? We want to be told what to think!

The facts are plain. When you take a confident, commanding tone in your marketing, you convert more.

When you’re looking for something online - some solution to your problem - what’s your real goal?

It’s to be confident that you’ve found what you’re looking for, and that you can stop looking.

So, when someone comes to your website, your job is to get them to that point. “You have found what you’re looking for.”

The way to do that is to TELL THEM. You can’t hint, suggest, sow seeds…

You have to stand in front of them, look them dead in the eye, and tell them with confidence…

  • that this really is the best whatever-it-is on the market
  • the benefits they’ll personally get from choosing it
  • why they can trust you
  • and why they should ACT NOW

Every site or sector has its own boundaries of acceptable conduct. It would not be appropriate to be aggressively salesy on a childcare provider’s or undertaker’s web site. But, wherever the line is, walk up to it and meet your customers there.

Have I made myself clear?

Cheers,
Ben
Ben Hunt Limited
50 Penrhyn Road
Sheffield, UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #35 - “Pay-Per-Worm Advertising”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
Are you doing PPW?

What’s PPW? Well, it’s the latest thing, and it’s all over the web.

Secret #35 - “Pay-Per-Worm Advertising”

Marketing online is a lot like fishing, but more fun. And you don’t have to go outside. Or get wet. Or hit anything repeatedly over the head (actually, that one’s not always true).

The point is, you’re trying to get business (fish).

To do that, you first have to guess where the fish are. Next, you show them something that will attract them, and then you have to hook ‘em and reel ‘em in.

One great way to attract the fish is to invest in juicy fat worms that they love. If that gets you plenty of bites, and you can land the catch, it’s well worth it.

How does that relate to online marketing?

The first part (getting a bite) is attracting traffic. You can do this organically, or you can buy your traffic with PPC (pay-per-click). However you go about it, the more you invest, the more results you expect.

The crazy thing is how many web sites only focus on the first part (getting the traffic) and are very lazy about landing the catch. If you don’t have a sharp, powerful hook, you’ll lose a lot of worms. And sometimes those worms aren’t cheap!

Here’s what a smart marketer does.

1 - Test

Test a variety of bait at different places in the river. You may never know what markets are there unless you go looking for them. Don’t assume that there’s only one type of fish in there just because that’s all you’ve ever seen. Maybe you’re using the wrong bait, or you’re fishing in the wrong place.

2 - Be Scientific

Measure the returns you get from every campaign. Figure out what gets you the most traffic most cheaply.

3 - Land the Catch

When you get that traffic, make sure you’ve got a good “hook” - a great offer - and compelling content that answers your prospects’ questions, gives them every reason to proceed, and no reason not to.

Pay attention to your conversion, or you’ll be wasting a lot of worms!

For the complete guide to how to make the most out of your online marketing, check out my book - “Convert!”
Best,
Ben

Scratchmedia Limited
Floor 3, 111 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0WQ
UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #34 - “Learn to Stop Looking at Design”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
Design is not meant to be looked at.

It’s meant to be looked through.

Design is the window that delivers your content. If you notice the window, you’re not seeing what’s being offered, you’re distracted.
  • In the same way that if you notice the skill of the film maker, they’ve failed, because you’re not in the experience of the movie.
  • Or if you see how an illusionist is doing the trick, the experience is ruined.
  • Or a waiter in a fine restaurant, whose whole focus should be on your enjoyment of your meal.
You don’t want people to look at your design. You want them to get the experience of the communication, and not notice the design is there.

This raises a paradox for the web designer. We need to learn our craft to the level that we can focus on the end point, and create the mechanisms that deliver that experience for all visitors.

Of course, that means we must focus on the design features, we must master them so that we can express our end result almost without thinking.

Ideally, a designer should be like a jazz musician who plays by feel, whose fingers know the notes and the way the notes work together.
Your friend,
Ben

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #33 - “Do You Really Need a Custom Web Design?”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
If you have a car, was it custom-built just for you?

What was the last piece of clothing you bought? Was it tailored specially for you?

What about the last piece of furniture you purchased? Was that hand-crafted to your exact specifications?

So why, when we need a web site, do we imagine we need to start from first principles and get a new design hand-crafted in Photoshop and lovingly produced to make a truly original custom web site?

Now, if the results were that much better with a custom build, I’d see the point. But most web designers are not trained. They don’t understand marketing. They don’t understand how to influence or to sell. They have little appreciation of attracting or converting the right visitors. And they have a perverse view of what graphic design really is.

Yet, the vast majority of the cost of any custom web site will be spent on custom design and custom build. Relatively little is spent on what really matters (strategy, keyword research, intelligent information architecture, and compelling copywriting).

The net result is, most custom-built web sites deliver very bad ROI (return on investment). That’s just a fact. A few work great, but the majority of the web is still crap.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have people selling nasty web site templates, which will also deliver rubbish results.

So what do you do to get value from web design? Here are a few ideas..

If you have a truly unique and original concept, talk to a web designer who really has the skills to craft a truly original web site that also works. (But this does not apply to the majority of us.)

I’m a big fan of publishing platforms like Wordpress, and there are a lot of good themes out there, which will remove the majority of the human cost of design & build. So, if you’re hiring a web designer, insist that they start with a great theme that will deliver what you need, and spend some time customising it to fit the brand.

Then, focus all your attention on crafting a powerful message, great offers, and creating imaginative content that you know will draw visitors from far and wide.

If the web designer complains, find a different web designer that understands ROI and who puts their client’s success before their own profits.

And, before you do anything, research the neighbourhood. Look at all the competition (the ones who rank for the keywords you need to rank for). Look at what works. Which landing pages would make you want to engage with the site? Then ask why.

Finally, learn from those lessons. If something works, whether it’s copy, design, layout, navigation, do something like that. Don’t reinvent the wheel, unless you really have got money to burn.
Cheers,
Ben

Scratchmedia Limited
Floor 3, 111 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0WQ
UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #32 - “Products or Services”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
The insight for this secret comes directly from an outstanding coaching company I had the privilege to work with in 2010. For more info on Shirlaws (and to download an outstanding free ebook), see www.shirlawscoaching.co.uk.

(I must say this is my interpretation, and doesn’t scratch the surface of the insights that Shirlaws provides to its clients.)

Secret #32 - “Products or Services”

Are you a product company or a service company? Or both?

What do you sell? If it’s time, you’re in the service business. Do you get paid for each hour you work? That’s service.

When you’re in service, your earnings are limited by two factors: how much you can charge for a chunk of time; and how much time there is.

Problem is, the market provides a natural ceiling on rates, and there are only so many working hours in a month.

So, in service, to make more money, you have to make more hours. That means you have to hire and train more people, which brings its own costs and risks, as most small business owners know all too well.

With a product business, on the other hand, you’re not selling time. You’re selling something else. If you have a widget company, you can grow by making more widgets more quickly. You can install another widget machine and optimise your systems to make more profit.

Taking the product concept further, some products are intangible. Like intellectual property. If you own the patent to something, or a brand that makes people want to buy something, you can sell the rights to your use your virtual assets, without even shipping anything.

Now, the world will always need product companies and service companies. But I believe it is more attractive to make money through product. That’s not to say you can’t make good profits by providing services - you can - but there are more natural constraints on growth that will make it more challenging to increase those profits.

The guys at 37Signals recognised this over 10 years ago, and switched from being a very talented web design agency to a very talented product company (article).

So the question I would put to you is.. If you’re a service business now, could you also be a product business?

Taking my own business, I have captured the qualities of the services I do in multiple products, which can be re-sold many times over (without requiring extra time): two books (1) (2), one course, and a forthcoming series of video web site reviews.

These products are not only profitable, but they also help me achieve my goal of making the web a better place - which I couldn’t do one web site at a time.

So what products could you create and sell?
Cheers,
Ben

(If you have friends who you think would like this message, please forward it on. They can always subscribe to the whole series at http://webdesignfromscratch.com/articles-and-tutorials.php)

Scratchmedia Limited
Floor 3, 111 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0WQ
UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #31 - “Repeat What Works”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
It seems to me - and probably to you - that not many of these secrets are directly about web design. Has that crossed your mind?

I’m OK with that. There’s a lot of info around on how to make a web site, how to drive traffic, how to do stuff that looks nice, blah blah blah…

What I’m trying to do is fill in the gaps, tell you what every web designer, or web site owner, should know and may not have ever been told.

So bear with me, because this one has nothing to do with designing web pages at all! But it’s short, so I hope you’ll forgive me.

Secret #31 - “Repeat What Works”

Look at your markets.

Who buys the products and services you sell?

Maybe even draw out those markets on a piece of paper, with circles representing the relative size of each market to your business.

You may define your markets in terms of the type of client, their industry, their job title, how much they spend, or what they actually buy. There are loads of ways of cutting this cake.

(Personally, I prefer to distinguish markets by “What’s their problem?” i.e. What’s the problem / issue / result / opportunity they want to resolve?)

Now ask yourself these questions:
  • Which of these markets is most profitable?
  • Which do I enjoy dealing with most?
  • Which is easiest, or less painful to deal with?
  • Which is least risky?
  • Which customers do I make the happiest?
  • Which do I care about the most?
Now, if you see the same ones coming up many times, as yourself this final question:
  • What would happen if I sacked all the others, and focused all my energy, all my marketing, all my messaging, my whole business… on just these guys that I love?
I think a lot of us are addicted to chasing work we don’t love, that we don’t do so well, that brings us pain and stress and risk. Maybe because we believe we should never pass up an opportunity.

But, then again, maybe we should. Maybe the secret to greatness in business is knowing who not to deal with.

If there’s a large enough population of the people you love dealing with, which generates profits, and which you find fulfilling to serve, take my tip. Throw yourself at that market with all your heart, and enjoy every minute.
Your pal,
Ben

(If you have friends who you think would like this message, please forward it on. They can always subscribe to the whole series at http://webdesignfromscratch.com/articles-and-tutorials.php)

Scratchmedia Limited
Floor 3, 111 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0WQ
UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #30 - “Cut the Decoration”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
If you were to strip all the:
  • Content (whether imagery or text)
  • Navigation
  • Branding
  • Functions
… out of your web page, how much would be left?

If your web page still looks nice; if it has an interesting, appealing visual style, you’ve got a problem.

All this stuff that isn’t in one of the four categories above is called “decoration” and it harms the success rates of your web site.

Every pixel you put on your web pages can draw visitors’ attention.

What really matters is - what you draw their attention to.

Anything that’s big, bold, distinctively coloured, high-contrast, or has dynamic lines, or even moves… all these things draw the eye most.

Now ask yourself, what draws the eye on your web pages?

If you’re drawing attention to content, navigation and functions, that’s great, because you’re helping your visitors get your unique, distinctive message. You’re helping them find what they want on your site.

But if your decoration draws the eye, you’re drawing attention away from what matters most.

See these two examples. When I strip out all the signage, branding, content and functions… there’s very little left. Nothing strong, bold, or striking that’s going to pull you away from what you really want.
All the best,
Ben

Scratchmedia Limited
Floor 3, 111 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0WQ
UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #28 - “Pop the damn question”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
Content is king. The way you deliver your content is far less important than the content itself.

Poor delivery can prevent good content from reaching its audience, but great delivery cannot compensate for crappy content.

When you’re designing web sites, or if you’re commissioning a web designer to do it for you, please invest the majority of your time and your budget on crafting a great offer, powerful appeal, compelling propositions.

The graphic design of your web site needs to be good enough, and you should invest enough to ensure it works, and is appropriate for the task.

But if you don’t invest in your message, whatever you spend on your sexy delivery will be wasted.

So many web sites are so focused on setting the right atmosphere and looking impressive that they seem to forget the whole purpose is to engage someone.

It’s like spending a fortune on the perfect romantic setting, with candlelight, music, great food, and a diamond ring… but forgetting to ask the question.

If you want to engage someone, there’s only one thing you absolutely must do. ASK THE DAMN QUESTION!!!

That means setting out your proposition, making it compelling, and then having a clear call to action that demands a yes or no decision.

If you do this, I promise you your web site will make more money. Ignore this advice at your peril.

To learn how you can craft an amazing offer, this is THE book to get. It’s under $15 but it’s worth a fortune The Irresistible Offer: How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less

Best wishes,
Ben

Scratchmedia Limited
Floor 3, 111 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0WQ
UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #28 - “Please, tell me why I can trust you!”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
Put yourself in this scenario…

You want to buy a bed. You visit 10 different bed shops and speak to the sales advisors there.

You ask them what bed they would recommend and why.

They tell you about the different types of materials used, the prices, the credit options, the flame retardant, the choice of sponginess or springiness.

But they don’t tell you why. They don’t tell you “From what you’ve told me, I think this is just the bed for you, because…”

Of course, that would never happen in the real world, because the bed shops would go out of business.

But it’s all over the web! Try a search for what you do, and look at the top 10 results from your competitors. How many home pages step forward, take you by the hand, and tell you what’s so special about them, or who could really benefit from what they’re offering?

As part of my Pro Web Design Course, I’m running a series of “Top 10 Google result review” screencasts for my students. What keeps striking me is how many web sites shrink into the shadows, muttering about what they do, instead of grabbing the visitor in a big warm hug and telling them, “Yes! You’re in the right place! You’ve found what you’re looking for! Let me show you why!”


Best wishes,
Ben

Scratchmedia Limited
Floor 3, 111 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0WQ
UK

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From Ben Hunt: Secret #27 - “The Best SEO is - No SEO at all”

Friday, October 7th, 2011
If you’re trying to target a specific search market, it always pays to do keyword research, to optimise your landing pages for your target keywords, and sometimes to build inbound links.

The problem is, link-building is, to use a technical term, a royal pain in the arse.

It’s time-consuming and it feels kind of wrong, going onto people’s blogs and forums and trying to trick them into not rejecting your half-hearted comments. Personally, I don’t feel good about it.

It’s much easier if you already own a bunch of domains or you’re established on a range of forums (or you have a bunch of friends who are).

But the ideal way to generate links is not to have to do it at all, and the way to do that is by building a reputation instead.

It’s not the short path, but it’s the best path.

I started posting web design articles online in 2004. Now, when I add a new article, I don’t need to do any promotion. I’ll tweet about it, and add it to del.icio.us, digg, stumbleupon, and reddit. But the heavy lifting is done by my RSS feed.

Here’s the secret… Write good content

If you consistently publish content that is:
  • interesting
  • newsworthy
  • generous
  • useful
  • and timely
… you will build a following. Do it with integrity, with openness, and trust your readers, and they’ll repay your trust by trusting you in return.

Make it easy for people to follow you through RSS, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. and definitely set up an email list.

Even if you don’t have an audience today, believe me, it’s worth it.

All you have to do to be a leader is start being a leader. People don’t recognise a leader until they see one doing what leaders do.

Then, when you want to reach a new market, you just write another great piece of content for that market, and tell a few people, who’ll each tell a few other people, and so on. Easy.

But, like most incredibly useful things, there’s a barrier to entry. You need commitment, and you need faith.

If I’ve earned your trust then trust me on this, have faith, and go for it ;-)


Cheers,
Ben

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