Site Sell!

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TOC - Site Selling

  Foreword
4
   
1. How to Use MYSS!
6
     
    1.1. Links to Spots within MYSS!
6
    1.2. Navigation Features
6
    1.3. Viewing Features
11
    1.4. Search Features
13
    1.5. Print Features
13
    1.6. Links to the Web
14
    1.7. Sidebars
14
     
2. Intro to MYSS!
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    2.1. Why You Need MYSS!... Today
16
      2.1.1. Already On the Web?
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      2.1.2. Just Thinking About It?
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    2.2. Who MYSS! is For..
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    2.3. What MYSS! Won't Do...
21
    2.4. If I Can, You Can!
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      2.4.1. The Big 3 to Succeed on the Web
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      2.4.2. How to "Nail" The Big 3
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      2.4.3. First, The Product
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      2.4.4. Next, Make a Site That SELLS!
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      2.4.5. PennyGold As a Site Example
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      2.4.6. Finally, Attract Targeted Customers
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    2.5. Join the 1% Who SELL!
33
    2.6. Getting the Most Out of MYSS!
34
     
3. Most Wanted Response
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  3.1. Set Your Most Wanted Response
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  3.2. Get Your Most Wanted Response
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  3.3. MWR Doesn't Apply to You?
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  3.4. It's Not Just the Number, It's the Rate
42
  3.5. Respond to the MWR... Fast
43
 

4. It Starts With Product
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5. You Can Write to SELL!
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    5.1. Know Your Customer
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      5.1.1. So Who Is on the Web?
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      5.1.2. Attitudes To Web & Shopping
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      5.1.3. An Informal Top 10 Web Activities..
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      5.1.4. Your Surfer-Customer's Mindset..
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      5.1.5. Where is Your Target Coming From?
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      5.1.6. Write for your Target's Personality Type
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      5.1.7. How & Why to Thumbnail Your Target
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    5.2. Crash Course... Write to SELL!
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      5.2.1. Powerful Tools of the Trade
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      5.2.2. Benefits, Benefits, and More Benefits
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      5.2.3. Hot Copy SELLS, but..
65
      5.2.4. The You : Me Ratio
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      5.2.5. Turn the Info-Pyramid Upside-Down
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      5.2.6. Never Waver, Never Stray
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    5.3. Make Each Page SELL!
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      5.3.1. The All-Important Headline
69
      5.3.2. How to Write Headlines that Hit
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      5.3.3. Joints ---The Key to Visitor Pull-Through
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      5.3.4. How to Write a Magnetic Joint
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      5.3.5. Summing It All Up
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    5.4. The "Write" Tone
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      5.4.1. Turn Your Visitor Into Your Friend
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      5.4.2. Become a Story-Teller
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      5.4.3. Don't Make These Friend-Losing Boo-boos
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    5.5. Cut, Chop, Axe, & Prune
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    5.6. The 3 Rules for Words that SELL
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6. Build Trust & "Likeability"
80
     
    6.1. It Starts With Look & Feel
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      6.1.1. Two Tasty Examples
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    6.2. Join the Big Leagues... Get Your Own Domain
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    6.3. Win SALES With Valuable Content
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    6.4. Unique Ways to Use Photos
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    6.5. Prove It!
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    6.6. Specifics Are Reassuring
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    6.7. Certification Boosts SALES
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    6.8. More Confidence-Builders
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    6.9. Never Mislead... Not Even a Little
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    6.10. 12 Sales-Killing Ways to Erode Confidence
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      6.10.1. You Don't Hype Your Friends
103
      6.10.2. Quit Talking... Let Your Visitor Play, Too
103
      6.10.3. Typos... Sure Sign of a Sloppy Company
104
      6.10.4. Missing Graphics --Amateurs Only
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      6.10.5. Outdated Info... Are You Still Open???
104
      6.10.6. Guest Books, Tired & Tacky
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      6.10.7. Scrolling Marquees --"Look What I Can Do!"
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      6.10.8. "Under Construction" ---Who Isn't??
105
      6.10.9. "Site of the Micro-Second" Awards
105
      6.10.10. "Download Netscape" (or Explorer) Button
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      6.10.11. Don't Keep Asking for a Cookie!
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      6.10.12. Hit Counters --Who Cares? So What?
107
     
7. Make Your Site Usable
108
     
    7.1. Your Server as Pizza Delivery Car
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      7.1.1. Get a Fast, Reliable Vehicle
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      7.1.2. What to Look for in a Web Host
111
      7.1.3. How to Find the Best Web Hosts
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      7.1.4. How to Make Sure Your Site is Up!
117
      7.1.5. Get a Fast Driver (Web Designer)
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      7.1.6. Designers, Put the Pedal to the Metal
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    7.2. The #1 Usability Principle..
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    7.3. Make it Readable, then Scannable
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      7.3.1. Long Scrollers... What to Do
126
      7.3.2. The Optimal Size for Text Blocks
126
      7.3.3. How to Use Lines, Bullets and Other Mini-Icons
127
    7.4. Do Your Links Clink?
128
      7.4.1. Link Rot... The #1 Sales Killer
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      7.4.2. Links in the Copy... What to Do
129
      7.4.3. Embedded Links, A Big No-no!
130
      7.4.4. How to Fool-proof the Destination
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      7.4.5. 8 Ways Links Can Cost You
131
      7.4.6. The Bottom Line?
133
    7.5. 13 More Usability Ways to Kill Sales
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      7.5.1. Frames --Netscape's Curse to the Web
134
      7.5.2. The Agony of Browser-Specific Sites
135
      7.5.3. Not Cross (-platform, -browser, -specs)
135
      7.5.4. Requiring Plug-Ins Will Plug Sales
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      7.5.5. Long, Messy URLs
138
      7.5.6. Use of Full-Text Search Engines
138
      7.5.7. Orphan Pages... So Now Where Do I Go?
139
      7.5.8. No Link to MWR Closer Page on Every Page
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      7.5.9. "Best viewed with Explorer 4+ and Shockwave"
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      7.5.10. The Deadly Horizontal Scroll Bar
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      7.5.11. The Dreaded 404 File Not Found
142
      7.5.12. Popping Up New Windows Like Daisies
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      7.5.13. The Impersonal Pre-Fab
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    7.6. Test, Test, then Test Some More
144
    7.7. And If It's Not Usable..
145
    7.8. Links to Usability Gurus
146
     
8. Navigation... Where Am I??
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    8.1. Points of Reference Help to Build Context
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    8.2. The Anatomy of a Web Site
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      8.2.1. Content Page --The Guts
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      8.2.2. Link Page -- Link Only
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      8.2.3. Opening Page --Grab their Attention
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      8.2.4. MWR Closer Page --Get the Order
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      8.2.5. Pathways --Lead Your Customers
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    8.3. How To Build a Navbar
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    8.4. How to Build a Table of Contents
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      8.4.1. Text-based TOCs
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      8.4.2. Graphic-based TOCs
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      8.4.3. The Rule of 7
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    8.5. Uses for The Left-Sided Margin
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    8.6. A Rock-Solid Navigation Structure
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    8.7. How to Use Links on Content Pages
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    8.8. Meandering = Lost Sales
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    8.9. Keep the Browser's Navigation Functions in Mind
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    8.10. Other Navigational Aids
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    8.11. Special-Content Sections
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    8.12. Simple Structure + Clear Pathways = Never Lost
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    8.13. Cisco as Example
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      8.13.1. Table of Contents -- Outstanding!
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      8.13.2. Navbars --Whoops!
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      8.13.3. Left Margin... a Variety of Uses
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      8.13.4. Let's Go Product-Hunting!
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      8.13.5. Drill-Down..
180
      8.13.6. Click Again..
181
      8.13.7. Or... the Shortcut..
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    8.14. Let There Be Light!
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9. The You-Focused Opener
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    9.1. Fire Your Biggest Gun First
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      9.1.1. The Unique Selling Proposition... A "How-To"
188
      9.1.2. An Opener that SELLS!..
189
      9.1.3. "That's where the money is!"
192
    9.2. Building a Killer Opening Page
193
    9.3. "Talk About My Lawn, Not Your Grass Seed!"
195
     
10. Two Critical Sales-Builders
196
     
    10.1. How to Make Testimonials SELL!
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      10.1.1. How to Secure Great Testimonials
197
      10.1.2. Get Maximum Mileage From Your Testimonials
198
      10.1.3. How to Get & Use Product Reviews
200
      10.1.4. Articles on You, Your Company, Your Products
202
      10.1.5. Using Other Third Party References..
202
      10.1.6. Your Unsalaried Sales Staff..
203
    10.2. The SALES-Clinching Guarantee
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      10.2.1. Developing the Perfect Guarantee..
205
      10.2.2. How to Handle the Refund Request
206
      10.2.3. How to Reduce Refund Requests to Near-Zero
207
      10.2.4. Summing Up...
208
     
11. Site-Sales Techniques
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    11.1. Build a Form that Works!
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      11.1.1. Make it Short
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      11.1.2. How to Qualify Your Prospect
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      11.1.3. Make it Clear
211
      11.1.4. "Submit" is for Techies
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      11.1.5. How to Remove Worries
212
      11.1.6. Verify the Data
212
      11.1.7. Put Up a Response Page
213
      11.1.8. Follow-up with an E-mail
214
    11.2. How and When to Use Music
214
    11.3. The RIGHT Picture is Worth 1,000 Words
217
      11.3.1. Where to, Why to & When to Use Graphics
218
      11.3.2. Show Your Products in Their Best Light
219
      11.3.3. Are Your Graphics Confusing?
220
      11.3.4. How to Do Photos Right..
221
      11.3.5. Clip Art, Buttons, Backgrounds, Bullets, Etc
221
      11.3.6. A Few Basics About Graphics
222
      11.3.7. The $62,000 Graphic-Killing Question
223
    11.4. Give Your Visitor Something to Do...
223
    11.5. A Rarely Used Powerful Tool
225
    11.6. Build Community to Build SALES
227
    11.7. Using FAQs to the Max
228
      11.7.1. 5 Steps to a FAQ that SELLS!
229
     
12. "Who Cares? So What?" <yawn>
233
     
    12.1. The Product Features Page
233
      12.1.1. It's Not as Easy as It Sounds!
234
      12.1.2. Two Compelling "Show & SELL" Techniques
235
    12.2. The About Our Company Page
236
    12.3. The Tech Support Page... Why NOT!
238
    12.4. How to Use a Disclaimer To Build Credibility
239
     
13. The Closer Page
241
     
    13.1. Build to the SALE
241
    13.2. Skip to the SALE
242
    13.3. No Distractions, Just Close!
243
    13.4. Why Via the Web
244
    13.5. How to Make an Offer They Can't Refuse
245
      13.5.1. What's the Right Price?
246
      13.5.2. How to Use the Free Bonus
247
      13.5.3. How to Create "Buy Now" Anxiety
248
      13.5.4. The Perfect Offer..
250
    13.6. The Call to Action
251
    13.7. And How Would You Like to Order Today?
251
      13.7.1. Secure vs. Non-Secure Server
252
      13.7.2. Four Steps to SELLING Via Secure Server
254
      13.7.3. Phone -- "I Just Wanted to Hear a Voice"
256
      13.7.4. Fax -- "I Like to Send Paper"
258
      13.7.5. Snail Mail -- "I Hate Giving My Credit Card"
259
      13.7.6. No Matter How They Order, K-I-S-S!
261
      13.7.7. How to Set up a Currency Converter
262
    13.8. The A-B-Cs of Online Ordering
264
      13.8.1. Order Forms and CGI Scripts (Made Easy)
264
      13.8.2. Shopping Cart Software... The Basics
268
      13.8.3. Shopping Cart Software... Two Recommendations
271
      13.8.4. E-Commerce Solutions... Online Store Building Packages
272
      13.8.5. E-Commerce Solutions... Commerce Servers
274
    13.9. No Clicks from Offer to Order
275
    13.10. The Thank You Note
276
    13.11. The "Last Ditch" Pitch
278
    13.12. Example of "How to Close"
280
    13.13. If At First You Don't Succeed..
281
    13.14. Summing It All Up..
282
     
14. The Backup Response
283
     
    14.1. It's Now or Never. Unless..
285
    14.2. Keep Your Eye on the Ball
286
    14.3. The Perfect Products for Backups
287
    14.4. Give, then Take
288
    14.5. Match Product to Desired Response
289
      14.5.1. The True Purpose of the Free Report
290
      14.5.2. Text of "Sales Letter" as "Special Report"
293
      14.5.3. How to Use Mini-Apps to Drive SALES
299
      14.5.4. Newsletters --Building Your Business
303
      14.5.5. How to Start & Grow Your Own Newsletter
304
      14.5.6. Sample Newsletter Format
311
      14.5.7. Getting Signups for Future Notifications
316
      14.5.8. Freebies --Your Chance to SELL!... or SMELL!
316
    14.6. Getting the Backup Response
317
      14.6.1. The Compelling Offer
317
      14.6.2. The Crystal-Clear Call to Action
318
      14.6.3. Automate Your Reply to the Backup Response
318
     
15. "Well, that's done!" ......NOT!
320
     
    15.1. How to Analyze Traffic to Boost SALES
321
      15.1.1. The Ideal Log File Analyzer
322
      15.1.2. The Best Traffic Analyzers for Your
324
      15.1.3. Data from Log File Analysis
326
      15.1.4. Number of Visitors and the Conversion Rate
327
      15.1.5. Do You Know Where Your Visitors Come From?
328
      15.1.6. Use Visitor Behavior to Boost Conversion Rate
330
      15.1.7. More Info On Analyzing Your Traffic
332
    15.2. Quadrupling your Conversion Rate
333
    15.3. A Checklist for Quadrupling Your CR
334
      15.3.1. How to Test and Measure Site Improvements
336
    15.4. Update the Old and Develop the New
337
      15.4.1. Borrow New Concepts and Technologies
338
    15.5. Use Customer Questions to Increase SALES
340
    15.6. How to Fix Invisible SALES-Losing Errors
341
    15.7. Revisit Later with Fresh Eyes
341
    15.8. Bottom Line... It's Never Done!
342
     
16. Using E-mail to Close the SALE
343
     
    16.1. Power E-mail
343
      16.1.1. For a Pro-Looking Letter..
344
      16.1.2. Soften Your Writing
346
      16.1.3. Write to SELL!
348
      16.1.4. The Subject... Your E-mail "Headline"
348
      16.1.5. Sig Files That SELL!
349
      16.1.6. Composing the Perfect Sig File
351
      16.1.7. How to Hit Reply for Best Effect
353
      16.1.8. How to Use the '>' Tag for Special Effects
356
      16.1.9. Special Considerations for E-mail
357
      16.1.10. How to Turn It Around in Hours
358
      16.1.11. Putting Water on the Flames
359
      16.1.12. How to Use Autoresponders to Get SALES
359
    16.2. Real-Life Example of Closing the Sale
362
      16.2.1. Letter From Interested Customer
362
      16.2.2. The Three Rules of Power E-mail
363
      16.2.3. Prompt, Friendly E-mail Reply
363
      16.2.4. High-Tech Opens, High-Touch Closes
365
      16.2.5. Prompt, Friendly E-mail Follow-up
365
      16.2.6. It Was More Than Worth the Effort
366
    16.3. Automate Replies to the "Same Old, Same Old"
367
      16.3.1. Best Answer to the Request for More Info
367
    16.4. Real-Life Example of Losing a Sale
370
      16.4.1. First Letter to InfoSeek
371
      16.4.2. InfoSeek's Reply
371
      16.4.3. Second Letter to InfoSeek
372
      16.4.4. InfoSeek's Reply
372
      16.4.5. Third Letter to InfoSeek
373
      16.4.6. InfoSeek's Reply
374
      16.4.7. Fourth Letter to InfoSeek
375
      16.4.8. InfoSeek's Reply
375
      16.4.9. Fifth Letter to InfoSeek
376
      16.4.10. InfoSeek's Reply
377
      16.4.11. Comparison with Excite
378
     
17. After the Sale
380
     
    17.1. How to Get Paid
380
      17.1.1. Unable to Get a Merchant Account? Here's How!
380
      17.1.2. Don't Step on These Credit Card Land Mines
383
      17.1.3. How To STOP Credit Card Fraud
384
      17.1.4. How to Eliminate Credit Card Chargebacks
387
      17.1.5. How to Do Real-time Credit Card Verification
390
      17.1.6. Want to Scare Away Thieves?
393
      17.1.7. Resources to Help You Avoid The Land Mines
393
      17.1.8. Other Anti-Land Mine "Devices"
395
      17.1.9. The Ins and Outs of Electronic Cash
397
      17.1.10. Accepting Online E-Checks!
398
      17.1.11. Using 1-900 Phone Billing
401
      17.1.12. The Tried-and-True Boosts Income, Too!
401
    17.2. The "Final" Step... Fulfillment
403
    17.3. Nurture Your Customers to Grow the Relationship
405
      17.3.1. Automated, Yet Personal, E-mail Follow-up
406
      17.3.2. Delivering Super Customer Support
408
      17.3.3. Maximizing Support / Minimizing Time
412
      17.3.4. The Best Way to Build A Long-Term Biz
415
      17.3.5. Walk the Walk..
416
     
18. Sites that SELL!
417
     
    18.1. How Small Companies SELL!
417
      18.1.1. Do You Have Success Anorexia?
418
      18.1.2. Web Pages That Suck
419
    18.2. How Big Companies SELL!
421
      18.2.1. Dell
422
      18.2.2. Amazon.com
424
    18.3. Experience Speaks
428
      18.3.1. Learning from the ShopIrish Webstore
429
      18.3.2. Advice from Signature Software
433
      18.3.3. The Success Clinic's "Words to Succeed By"
437
      18.3.4. Mind Food Media's "Food for Thought"
441
    18.4. Words from the Wise
446
      18.4.1. The Ten Secrets of Netsavvy's Sell It!
446
      18.4.2. The Seven "Must-Remembers"
450
19. It Ends With Traffic
454
20. Wrapping It All Up..
456
     
    20.1. When to Break the Rules
456
    20.2. Manipulation vs. Ethical Sales
458
    20.3. Practical Nuts-and-Bolts "To Do List"
459
      20.3.1. The Min --Enough to Get You Started
460
      20.3.2. The Max --The Whole Nine Yards
460
    20.4. Building Your Web Team
462
      20.4.1. Sales V.P. as "Head Designer"?!
463
      20.4.2. Hiring or Assembling a Team
464
      20.4.3. Experience Counts
466
      20.4.4. The Legals
466
      20.4.5. Maintain Your Site
467
    20.5. Web Sales Newsletters & Sites... The Cream of the Crop
468
      20.5.1. SELLING on the Web
468
      20.5.2. Traffic-Building
471
      20.5.3. General E-commerce
471
      20.5.4. Miscellaneous, but Important..
473
    20.6. The Future is Slo-o-o-o-ow... 'til 2003
475
      20.6.1. Bandwidth Forces Everyone to K-I-S-S
475
      20.6.2. And Don't Be Tempted by "The Latest and Greatest"
477
    20.7. A Great Way to Know You're Succeeding!
478
    20.8. 11 Steps to a Site that SELLS!
479
      20.8.1. Prepare... Don't Repair
480
      20.8.2. Set, and Get, the MWR
481
      20.8.3. Backup Responses..
482
      20.8.4. Design & Usability
482
      20.8.5. Write the Opening Paragraph
482
      20.8.6. Write the Pathway
483
      20.8.7. Re-write 4 --Tighten and Activate
485
      20.8.8. The 10-Point Pathway Checklist
486
      20.8.9. Html and Usability Testing
487
      20.8.10. Showtime!
488
      20.8.11. Build Targeted Traffic
488
    20.9. The Top 6 Rules in 17 Words
489
    20.10. The Bottom Line
489

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