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1st Click Works
What the 2008 Presidential Election Suggests About Interactivity
2008 Election Research Proves It!
Why You Should Sell Something on Your Web Site
According to a recent Pew Internet & American Life Project report, 68 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Democrats were “online political users” during the 2008 Presidential campaign. But, Obama’s supporters participated in more online political activities.
For example, 15 percent of Obama’s supporters vs. 6 percent of McCain’s supporters made online donations. Eleven percent of Obama’s supporters and just 4 percent of McCain’s supporters signed up to volunteer online.
There is an important message to small business owners in these statistics. My guess is that the Obama website did a better job of encouraging interaction. If your website is designed only to impart information, it is not going to reach its full potential for selling your business.
You must find ways to engage your visitors online. Provide them with a method of communicating with you. Allow them to sign up to receive free stuff. And encourage them to buy things—even if you have a service business!
Most of my clients are service-related businesses. They often find it difficult to make their websites more interactive, but one of the best ways is to add some simple ecommerce components to their site. When you sell something, you naturally include a “call to action” that can also directly increase revenue. Let me give you a few examples:
- A business consultant offers books from some of the best-selling authors in his field. Having the books appear on his site elevates his own credibility by association. To avoid having to deal with shipping issues, he uses a link from his site to Amazon and receives a small commission when a visitor makes a purchase.
- An accountant’s website recommends accounting software designed for use by his/her “perfect prospect.” The downloadable software is sold through a link to an affiliate site.
- A dentist has discovered that many of her patients are concerned about the chemicals in the tooth-cleaning products they use. She recommends and sells a natural, organic line of products that can be purchased at her office or online. Online transactions are completed through PayPal.
- A travel agency sells travel-related books and luggage through affiliate programs linked to its website.
There are obviously many other possibilities. To get a comprehensive listing of many (if not all) affiliate programs on the web, take a look at AffiliateScout.com.
It is important that the products you sell on your site are of high quality and ones that you can recommend. If there are appropriate products that you especially like, try contacting the manufacturer directly and asking if they have an affiliate program. If your sales volume is high enough, you may even be able to set up a drop-shipping arrangement and receive higher commissions for direct sales from your website.
By allowing your visitors to transact business on your site, you will turn your readers into “doers.” And that should make your site more successful at generating leads, as well.
Posted by Janet Macdaniel on 4th May, 2009 | Comments | Trackbacks
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