Sales from the EDGE
Back Issue #039
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Sales from the EDGE Issue #039
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Sales from the EDGE
Breaking Through the "White Noise" Of Selling on the Net
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>From time to time, the EDGE publishes important updates that
you need to SELL on the Net. Most "latest and greatest" Net
marketing & sales developments simply waste our time. Today's
"hot new technology" is tomorrow's "whatever happened to?"
Occasionally, though, something comes along that STICKS. It
might NOT even be NEW... but we need to be reminded. When
that happens, the EDGE cuts through all the "white noise" of
Web marketing. It explains the issue and outlines clearly
how YOU can best take advantage of it.
SALES FROM THE EDGE is sent ONLY to SiteSell product owners.
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September 18, 2003
Issue #039
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
o SITESELL NEWS...
1) SBI! WebMail Launches! A Killer App!
o FEATURED ARTICLES...
1) How Good is the HTML Editor Compatibility Module?
2) How to Increase Your Conversion Rate by 35%
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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---1---
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SBI! WebMail Launches! A Killer App!
WebMail launched this week, one more big step as SBI!
becomes the "all-under-one-roof" solution for your small
business. Included in that "all" of course, is actual
success... targeted traffic and solid profits. :-)
WebMail is a snap to use, far easier than any client-side
software like OutLook or other Web-based services like
HotMail and Yahoo (not to mention, far more professional --
never use a cheesy free e-mail address to do business.)
Now, you'd think it would be pretty unlikely to actually get
excited about something as mundane as E-MAIL. But e-mail is
one of the Net's true killer apps. We all use it to do
business day after day, and I don't mean e-zine publishing.
Your DAY-TO-DAY e-mail is critical to your business. So it
must be fast, effective, and professional.
That's why SBI! user Robert Aycock, from Alabama, United
States, dropped us a very excited note...
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I have looked and can't find an address to e-mail
a compliment to SiteSell. So I figured I'd try
support.sitesell.com, since I just had to thank
you for SBI Webmail.
I love SBI, but this is the best thing that the
brilliant minds at SiteSell have done lately. I
love it. It is so user friendly, so much more
simple that those other webmail services.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for SiteSell
WebMail. It's just terrific. It is something
I've been waiting for.
All the best,
Robert Aycock
robert@word-sell.com
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One thing is very clear, from the surprisingly generous and
gushing comments we've received so far...
More and more, small business people are looking to simplify
and consolidate. SBI! WebMail makes that another step easier.
And...
AOL users are ecstatic, of course. Up to now, they had to
purchase the more expensive "AOL BUSINESS" solution if they
wanted to send e-mail using a "non-@aol.com" address.
(There is one "teeny" problem with that solution -- the AOL
BUSINESS customer gets about 5% of what SBI! offers, 0% of
the success, at much greater cost.) Without that AOL
BUSINESS solution, AOL users cannot send non-aol e-mail
(same with some other major ISPs, too -- check with yours).
Now they CAN!
One more thing...
SBI! WebMail is like having your own Hotmail or Yahoo! mail
account, only better... it's YOUR OWN DOMAIN (a "must" for
business), and there are no ads, and no limits! Those free
e-mail addresses (ex., hotmail.com, yahoo.com, etc.) hurt
the credibility of your business. Free-mail looks so
"cheap" in business. It says "strictly amateur" to
potential customers/clients. Heck...
For that matter, even "@aol.com" hurts your BUSINESS
credibility. Your e-mail address domain and your site
domain name must match -- that's a fundamental MUST.
More and more, SBI! really is becoming the comprehensive
"all-under-one-roof" way to SUCCESSFULLY do business online.
And all, of course, for the "all-under-one-roof" single
value-bundle price of $299.
-----SIDEBAR-----
Watch for pricing news in a special issue of
the EDGE next week -- it has been years since
SBI! increased in price (from $139 to $299).
But its functionality has skyrocketed. Lock
in the current price before it jumps.
-----SIDEBAR-----
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FEATURED ARTICLES~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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---1---
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How Good is the HTML Editor Compatibility Module?
How delighted are Webmasters with the HTML Editor
Compatibility module? Would you believe they're dancing?
Yes... I know Webmasters don't dance (neither do I), but...
http://www.updatexp.com/sbi.html
Check out Marc Liron's Web site, updatexp.com (an SBI! site
converted from its original format to HTML-editor-built).
Marc is a Webmaster (now "SBI! Certified") who was very
anxious for the HTML Editor Compatibility module release.
-----SIDEBAR-----
More on "SBI! Certified Webmasters" in
a special issue of the EDGE next week.
-----SIDEBAR-----
First, see Marc's review on this Web page...
http://www.updatexp.com/sbi.html
Then check out the rest of Marc's SBI! site. It not only
looks great and delivers super content, it already scores in
the Top 1% of all sites on the Net!
http://www.alexa.com/data/details?url=updatexp.com
Savvy Webmasters ARE catching on to SBI!...
http://webmaster.sitesell.com/
THE BEAUTY, THOUGH, is that you don't have to be a savvy
Webmaster. If you know your business and have some
motivation to build a business, you'll do every bit as well
as the savviest of Net marketers.
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How to Increase Your Conversion Rate by 35%
It's a great, big Net out there.
So it's real easy to lose a visitor who comes "oh so close"
to buying your product, but who then bookmarks you... never
to return. S/he meant to, but...
It's a great, big Net out there.
Let's take Site Build It! as a example. *WE* know that SBI!
is simply light years ahead of any other small business
product on the Net. But the site visitor does not know that
yet. S/he has questions and/or doubts -- it's only natural.
For every ONE who buys, 10 come very, very close. So close.
But "coming close" does not do them any good. "Coming
close" only counts in horseshoes and dancing. And so, with
those doubts unanswered, they click to the next site...
... and soon forget that you are even a bookmark.
--
What a shame.
SBI! gets results...
http://buildit.sitesell.com/sbi-businesses/traffic-alexa.html
http://results.sitesell.com/
http://buildit.sitesell.com/sbi-samplesites/
--
SBI! meets the needs of just about every small business...
http://buildit.sitesell.com/sbi-businesses/
... in a unique, powerful way that WORKS.
--
SBI! doesn't guarantee satisfaction. It guarantees SUCCESS.
So...
Why doesn't EVERYONE buy SBI!?
Like I said...
It's a great, big Net out there.
People have doubts, which they intend to somehow address
"later." They bookmark your site and click to the next
site. Sooner or later, they buy at one of the many sites
they're visiting... whenever the music in their head happens
to stop. And if they're not on YOUR site when it stops...
You lose the sale.
--
Why don't customers buy when they're on YOUR site? Well,
some do, of course. But many more could and should do so.
Here are just a few reasons why visitors came "oh so close"
on our SBI! site, but didn't quite make the right choice and
use SBI! to build a high-ROI online presence...
"SBI! is for newbies, not me."
"I've tried the Net before -- the Net does not work."
"Maybe next month."
"You can't create your own look and feel, do javascript, etc."
"What if it's a hoax? It sounds too good to be true."
"SBI! sounds great. But I just have no time to do it."
There are a thousand reasons like this. But...
As you can see, all of these reasons can be addressed. Some
just need a warm, human, knowledgeable voice to reassure.
Some need the simple answer to a rather unique scenario. In
other words, for a wide variety of reasons, your Web site
just can't complete the sale.
It needs help. Without that help...
Many SBI! visitors make tragic mistakes, and will likely now
waste hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars before they
realize that their old-fashioned Web-hosted site is dying
for all the usual reasons... no traffic, no PREselling, no
diversified monetization plan, no execution, lack of
technical and SEO skills, no time, etc., etc., etc.
--
Instinctively, you want to answer these points on the Web
site. But that will NOT work (believe me, we've ab-split
tested this to the "nth" degree).
Why? For one or more of the following reasons...
a) There comes a time when the voices of doubt cannot be
overcome by more WRITTEN words.
b) You raise MORE doubts in the minds of OTHERS than you
answer.
c) Your site could stretch to infinity if you tried to
foresee and answer all the worries and questions.
d) Go ahead and put them all in a FAQBAQ. Few people
read them, and fewer still find the answer they seek.
e) It doesn't address the core issue of trust and warmth.
f) These questions are beyond the common/obvious.
--
The solution?
You need a real human to answer those voices of doubt.
Encourage people to call with their worries and questions.
Ask them to call for advice on how your product helps THEM.
So that's EXACTLY what we did.
We recently introduced our own team of SBI! advisors (real
SBI! owners) who answer questions by phone, chat and e-mail.
See the invitations to call, chat or e-mail them at...
http://buildit.sitesell.com/
http://webmaster.sitesell.com/
The visitor can either phone, or click to chat, or click to
send an e-mail via form...
http://question.sitesell.com/
(Note the audio message to further encourage participation.)
Essentially, the SBI! advisors become an extension of the
SBI! site. Smart, experienced folks answer any question.
They provide advice. And just as important, they tell small
business people if SBI! is *NOT* right for what they need.
--
To test this...
We set up an ab-split test, whereby half of our NEW visitors
(i.e., had no SiteSell cookies) saw a site with the SBI!
advisors, and half saw the IDENTICAL site except it did NOT
feature the advisors. That was the ONLY difference.
We closed the study after 20K visitors to each site. And
then we followed this 40K cohort for 8 weeks.
Results?
The Conversion Rate of the "otherwise identical" site WITH
the advisors was 35% higher!
So... if YOU have a GREAT product and are wondering...
"Gosh, the site communicates well. The message is clear.
Why doesn't EVERYONE buy?"
Don't feel bad. There are a million reasons, most of them
addressable, but not by the Web site itself.
Consider an advisory team to complete your site's mission.
--
By the way...
Our SBI! advisors, successful SBI! users, WILL answer all
your questions... and keep you from making the mistake of
your life... opting for "old-fashioned" Web hosting.
Once you do make that mistake, you're cooked. You'll spend
thousands of dollars and hours. Months later, you'll ask...
"What went wrong?"
The answer... EVERYTHING.
Ouch. Too late.
Does YOUR small business (or small business idea) fall into
one of the following categories?...
http://buildit.sitesell.com/sbi-businesses/
If so, please visit...
http://buildit.sitesell.com/
Have a question about SBI!? Talk to a successful SBI! user.
Call today and find out why SBI! is *THE* most important
decision you'll ever make, and how it will help YOU...
http://question.sitesell.com/
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Next week... Two important monetization articles. A Web
site without traffic is pointless. So is traffic without a
diversified monetization plan. See you next week. :-)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SiteSell Discount Directory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html
Please bookmark this page -- it's the only page that you
will EVER need to buy SiteSell products at an owners-only
discount. For owners of SiteSell products ONLY, it provides
discounts on all products, except for MYSS! 2002 -- if I
reduced the price on it, I'd have to pay *you* to buy it!
;-)
SiteSell Discount Directory
http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html
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Contact info: E-mail us at support@sitesell.com
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Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.,
President, SiteSell.com
(c) copyright 2003 SiteSell.com
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