Attract More Visitors

In my last post How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym and YouTube video I showed how you can use the free software program Evernote to jot down notes so you can remember anything anywhere at anytime.  As I mentioned this works on any platform/ computer (PC, Mac, iPhone, Mobile Phone).

Turn Photos of Notes into Recognizable/Findable Text

One thing I didn't mention about Evernote is that theoretically you can also take photos of your handwritten notes with your mobile/iPhone and Evernote will recognize your handwriting so you can search/find your notes later.

Turn Lost/Misplaced Notes Into Information Bonanza

How many times have you taken notes at a live lecture, webinar, conference call, and filed the notes somewhere (in that giant uncategorized file)...where they're totally lost to you, since you can't locate them when you need them?

Think of all of the conferences, seminars, etc. with tons of great info that would be excellent to tap into...if you just could find it and view it.  This should be great for students, conference/seminar/webinar-attendees, knowledge-lovers, and internet marketers (who are always studying and learning).

Now there's a solution, or at least a potential solution...

Not Quite In-Focus Yet

I haven't quite gotten the note recognition functionality to work yet with my T-Mobile Wing phone but this most likely has to do with the resolution (size: number of pixels), quality (fineness), brightness (of light), and/or the distance from the orginal handwritten note (due to the focal length of the camera).  Evernote addressed this in their Help/Support: Why can't Evernote find some of the words in my pictures?

How to Turn Handwritten Notes into Retrievable Information

1. Install Evernote on your Mobile Phone or iPhone.
2. Start the Evernote program (on your phone).
3. Select "Snapshot" (Note: This takes you to your phone's camera).
4. View the handwritten note through your viewfinder and when it's the clearest, take the photo.
5. Press the curved arrow button.
6. Enter a title.
7. Press "Done" (Note: Then your picture will upload to your Evernote page on the Internet).
8. Go to your Evernote page on the Internet.
9. Refresh the page (by hitting <Ctrl> + F5 on a PC, or Command/Apple + F5 on a Mac).
10. View the photo of your handwritten note.
11. Note: It may take awhile for Evernote to recognize/index the photo of your note.
12. As I understand it, your note will be processed quicker if you opt for the fee-version of Evernote (which also increases your monthly storage allowance).
13. Search for a word in your note and Evernote should find your handwritten note so you can read it.

Note: If this doesn't work, then play with the resolution and quality settings on your phone's camera and/or the brightness of the light as well as the distance of the camera from your note.

That's it! (once I figure the last part out, that is).

FYI: It looks like Griffin has a solution for improving the clarity for iPhone photos of text/notes called "Clarifi": A protective case with built-in close-up lens for iPhone 3G.

--> If anyone knows of a clarity-improving solution like this for the T-Mobile Wing or other non-iPhone mobile phones please let me know with a comment below...

Attraction and Internet Marketing

Question: What does all of this have to do with attracting visitors and Internet Marketing?

Answer: People are attracted to:

• How to articles.
• Solutions to problems.
• Tools and gadgets.
• Tips and Reviews.
• Keywords of interest (e.g., "treasure")
• YouTube videos.

Writing blog posts or making YouTube videos addressing what attracts people can increase the traffic to your blog/YouTube site and to your website from there (if they find information of value to them), e.g., IncreaseOnlineProfits.com.

Last word: Always provide valuable content which helps people since "Content is King".

Comments, Questions, Better Solutions?

• Have something to say about this?  Let me know...
• Have a better solution.  Chime in...
• Have you gotten this to work with your T-Mobile Wing or your mobile phone?
• Were there any additional/crucial tips to getting this to work.  If so, please let  me and the AttractMoreVisitorsblog readers know by leaving a comment below...

Know anyone who might find this blog post interesting/helpful?  Then please use "Tell A Friend" below...

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Problem: Too many Great Ideas, not enough Memory

I love working out at the gym because it's a great opportunity to listen to internet marketing podcasts and learn about the lastest marketing strategies and trends.  The only problem is that when you hear great ideas (especially ideas that you're thinking of tweeting/blogging about later) it's tough to remember them.  Since it's hard to remember several ideas (or website links) throughout your entire workout and until you get to your home/office, it would be great to be able to write them down.  But who wants to carry a clipboard or notebook around the gym?

Solution: Your Mobile Phone/iPhone and the multi-platform Evernote program.

Evernote is  an excellent web-based as well as phone-based program you can use to jot down your notes in a hurry.  All you have to do is register on Evernote's website and then download the Evernote software and install it onto your laptop/desktop (PC or Mac) and web-enabled phone. Since the Evernote site has directions, videos & tutorials & screenshots, I'm just going to show you how to use Evernote at the gym during your workout.

How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym

1. Download and Synchronize podcasts onto your mobile phone/iPhone.
   Note: I use Juice and Windows Media Player for this.
   You may use iTunes.
2. Listen to the podcasts while doing your workout.
3. When you hear a great idea start Evernote on your mobile phone/iPhone.
4. Jot down a note in Evernote.
5. Example: "MOC: Google Website Analyzer" (see Evernote image).
6. Rinse and repeat (do this for every great idea you hear that you want to remember).
7. Extra credit to boost your site traffic: When you get back to your home/office write a tweet or blog post based on the great idea.

• Twitter Example:
  • Google Website Optimizer tweet with thanks to Marketing Over Coffee podcast and @cspenn (Christopher Penn) for the great idea.

• Blog Post Example:
  • For Immediate Release (FIR) podcast by Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #441: April 20, 2009 re: Domino's Pizza.
  • Generated idea for Attract More Visitors blog post re: Domino's and How to Deal With Social Media Emergency Responses.
  • Clearly when you write these notes on Elliptical Trainers or the Treadmill they don't always look that great (do not do this...see the Caveat/Warning below).
  • But the point is: All they have to do is be good enough to remind you of the idea you need so you can take action on them, e.g, writing a tweet or posting a blog post.

YouTube Video: "How to Improve Your Memory During Your Workout at the Gym"

How does this help me Attract More Visitors to my Site?

You might be thinking, this is all great, but how does it help me get traffic to my website? Basically, by helping you remember all of the great ideas you heard in internet marketing and social media podcasts so you can blog and tweet about them on Twitter.  That's it, no magic or mirrors involved, just enabling you to write more blog posts and Twitter tweets which others may see or find via Google searches and then follow to your website (from your blog or your Twitter bio/profile).

Comments

Have a better way to remember great ideas during your workout? - just let me know...

And "extra credit" points for ways which improve your site traffic as well.

Caveats and Fine Print Warnings!

Please consult your Doctor before engaging in any exercise program.  Also, please be sure to *pause* during your exercise routine *before* writing notes in Evernote in your mobile phone/iPhone!  After all, you don't want to end up falling or having an accident at the gym.

And no matter what happens, please do not hold Evernote, me (Karl Kasca), Attract More Visitors blog, IncreaseOnlineProfits.com, or Social Mastermind Corp. responsible as we've already cautioned you above.

Are you Clean with that? - Part II

In Part I of "Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Are you Clean with that?" I mentioned the hand sanitizers used on Disney Cruises in all of their places to eat. Since we went on our cruise a number of supermarkets have also placed moist hand wipes at their front entrances. Now every time you go to the store you have an opportunity to think about your internet marketing techniques / methods / practices and think "Are you clean with that?".

8 Tests for Clean Marketing

1. Can you sleep at night? - "Sleep like a baby"? (soundly, peacefully).
2. Or are you kept up at night worrying?
3. Would you be OK with your marketing methods if your Mother read about them in an exposé on the front page of the New York Times?
4. Do you get a little queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about your marketing techniques?
5. Do your Friends ask you questions like, "What happened to you, you always used to be so (insert any nice wholesome word/concept here)?
6. Could words like bill of goods, cheat, con, deceit, deception, delusion, dishonest, double-dealing, evasion, exaggeration (huge), falsehood, fraud, hype, illusion, lie, misleading, misrepresentation, overstatement (gross), pretense, scam, scheme, shell game, snake oil, snow job, subterfuge, etc. be associated with your internet marketing techniques?
7. Would you use the same marketing methods on your friends or family. (The ones you like, that is).
8. If someone used the same marketing method on you, would you feel tricked or played for a sucker. Again, the "Golden Rule".

Solutions: "Faith, Trust, And Pixie Dust"

1. Clarity and transparency - it's as simple (and clean) as that.
2. If you can explain your internet marketing methods to a child or to the hero of a child (e.g., Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty, Lilo [not Stitch!]) and they're ok with them, then you're probably OK.
3. Being open and honest with your visitors and customers will give them a reason to believe in you, and your methods, and your site - a reason to have faith in you and trust you, your business, and your website/blog/podcast.
4. Building trust through the words you use and living up to them with follow-through.
5. Building trust by using trust badges/symbols, etc. where a visitor would want them to be.  E.g., Better Business Bureau, Association logos, Visa/MasterCard badges (when purchasing), etc.
6. Building trust through real Testimonials/Reviews.  People can spot bogus testimonials. Remember what your Mom said, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
7. Using persuasion instead of delusion or confusion. Be conscious of when you begin using internet marketing hype instead of a persuasive argument.
8. Pixie dust: It's ok to have add a little magic - some zing. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) seems like magic, but it works. So a little "white hat" SEO (the good SEO) is fine. Especially since these techniques are no more than what Google recommends so it can serve-up more targeted search results to its customers (searchers). You're just helping Google's customers find what they're truly looking for better.

Bottom Line: Add content and value - true value - and market them as straightforwardly as possible.

Morality Screed versus "What Just Makes Sense" and the Law

You might be thinking that this is just a heavy-handed moral screed, but really it's a plea to consider how your marketing efforts are viewed by those who encounter them, your potential customers.  Then turn it around and think (deep down), "Do I want to be marketed to that way?" and that should be your answer.

But if that's not enough, "It's the Law" as outlined by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road:

"The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if it is likely to:

• mislead consumers and
• affect consumers' behavior or decisions about the product or service."

Also there's a special section on "Testimonials and Endorsements".
See FTC Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Hope this helps!

Take care & hope you're internet marketing is a great success,

Karl

Comments?

Got one?   Think I'm off-track...or not - just let me know below.

But if you like this for whatever reason, then "Tell A Friend" below.

Everything I need to know about Internet Marketing, I learned on a Disney Cruise: "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust".  Are you "clean with that"? (more on this below...)

Cleanest Hands in the World

Clean hands make a healthy voyage.  Every time you eat on a Disney Cruise, you're given moist hand wipes before you're allowed in the dining facility.  One of the comedians on the cruise joked that "We have the cleanest hands in the world."

I'm "Clean With That"

When I used to work for a Big Oil company (I mean large global energy resources corporation), one of my co-workers used to rate decisions and/or courses of actions by saying, "I'm clean with that."  This is like saying, "I'm OK with that," but far more positively.

Clean Marketing

Similar to these two examples, if we can be "clean" with the methods of Marketing we use, then we can feel good about what we're doing.  I think this spirit of positivity carries over to the people we're attracting to our web sites and creating relationships with.  If we're genuine about our intent then people will sense this and naturally be more predisposed to purchase at our web site.

"Mud People" versus The Golden Rule

Conversely, I remember hearing a professional speaker refer to the members of his audiences as "mud people".  These were people he felt were stuck in the mud in their lives and needed his hand (techniques) to help pull them out.

This is wrong on so many levels.  Once you start thinking of your potential visitors or customers as "marks" (easy marks), as they say in the carnival business, then clearly you've lost all respect for them. As always, the time-honored test is, "Would I want to be thought of that way?"

• As the Golden Rule says: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
• "The ethic of reciprocity (also known as the Golden Rule) is an ethical code that states one has a right to just treatment, and a responsibility to ensure justice for others." - Wikipedia

If you would not want to be thought of that way, then steer a straight course for a journey to internet marketing success you can be "clean" with.

More on this is Part 2: Why Internet Marketing is Like a Disney Cruise - Part 2

Wishing you the best online marketing success,

Karl

PS: Have a Comment on this?  Or are you "clean with that"?

I'm not sure if you saw my last post on "The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising", but now I'd to discuss what happened from an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) standpoint.

What happened (Sequence of Events)

• First I posted my PowerPoint slides on Slideshare.
• Then I blogged about the slide show and embedded the slides in my blog post: "The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising".
• Within an hour my Slideshare slides were already indexed and findable on Google. A Google search yielded the top search result for: The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising
• I tweeted about the slideshow on Twitter and now those tweets are currently the highest ranked on Twitter Search: slideshare ranking google search.

What Really Happened (SEO-wise)

1) Google indexes Slideshare very quickly

• First, slide shows posted on Slideshare appear to be indexed by Google really quickly.
• This makes sense since Slideshare has very fresh content posted by people who should be authorities/experts regarding their subjects and content. Google loves fresh content and authority sources.
• Conclusion: Slideshare has great Google Juice!

2) Long tail Google searches are really powerful

• Second, long tail Google searches (searches with many keywords) are very powerful, especially when exactly match the title of  Slidehare slide show.
• And yes, this is "gaming" Google a little, since chances would be remote that many people would choose this exact search.
• But that's the power of "The Long Tail", in that some people may actually try that search and find exactly what they were looking for.

3) Long tail Twitter searches are really powerful

• Similarly, doing a strategically-chosen long tail search in with particular keywords in Twitter Search provided the top (and only) results in Twitter Search (see image above).
• Again, that's the power of "The Long Tail".
• Conclusion: Google and Twitter searches with many keywords rock!

4) Slideshare slides are can be organized, shared , and can go viral

• Lastly, within a few days of posting my slideshow on Slideshare, etalbert re-posted it to the Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media groups on Slideshare's site.
• This way the slideshow is given more "organization" by being categorized in a couple of relevant groups.
• Also, people in those groups may find my slide show more easily.
• Conclusion: The slideshow is being found and shared with others who may find it useful, helpful, and/or interesting.

5) Slideshare rocks with Google Juice!

• Overall Conclusion: Slideshare rocks(!) and has great Google Juice (even in you "cheat" a little and use long tail multiple-word keyword searches).

Comments...

Have a comment or a better way to get "Google Juice" using Slideshare or other social media methods? - Please let me know...

Last night I spoke to Mark Stern's Ethics in Marketing & Advertising class at UCLA extension on "The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising" and I just wanted to share the slides with you in Slideshare:

Slideshare

The other thing that's cool about sharing these slides with you via SlideShare is that I can embed them (above) or get a Widget and install it in my sidebar (see the right column under "Technorati Favorites" above the Global Translator flags).

Creative Commons License

What's also great is that you can use a Creative Commons Attribution license to "...let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request."  This way others can use your PowerPoint presentation, or parts of it, but they need to credit/attribute it to you.

Online Marketing & Social Media

Slideshare is another great social media tool for sharing information with others, so they get the info they need and then they can share it with others, who can share it with others...

Descriptive Tags

Not only that, but you can include many tags describing your slideshow when you upload your slides. This way your slides can be found easily on Slideshow, but better than that, they'll be indexed by Google and easily findable in Google searches.

Google Juice

In fact, my slideshow was already #1 in the Google rankings and I only uploaded it 1 hour ago - and I ate lunch in between! See image below...

That's great Google Juice!

Thanks Slideshare!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Of course this makes sense since Google tries to provide fresh valuable content from reliable sources/authors to it's customers: Web Searchers.

So this is just good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as using great tools like Slideshare.

And of course I used the "Mother-of-All" long tail Google searches too (see below & image):

The Importance of Ethics in Social Media in Marketing and Advertising

Comments?

Have a Comment? Do you have other great ways to get Google Juice? If so, let me know...

In Part I we started looking at ways of evaluating and changing your website (or blog) to improve it. Today I'm giving you 10 Quick Questions to help with this process:

10 Quick Questions for Evaluating/Improving your Website




1. Does your website look nice and inviting? (Does it make your visitors "feel" nice, like the landscape on the right?)




2. Is it a site that you'd feel like staying at if you just happened to land on it? (Where you feel like you could lie down in the meadow, enjoy the blue sky, and watch the  clouds - in other words: hang out for awhile, check out the info/resources, and engage at the site.)




3. Can visitors find your "Buy" button? (so they can take the desired action easily, e.g., Buy, Join, Subscribe, Register, etc.).




4. Can prospective buyers (visitors) find what they need easily (information, prices, reviews/testimonials, etc.)?




5. Is it easy and intuitive to navigate around your site? (Or is it a virtual maze or an impossibly dense mishmash of text or links pretending to be organized)?




6. Is it easy to use/access your site? (Are there so many fonts and colors that the content is difficult to see, especially for visually impaired individuals)?




7. Does your site rank highly in search engine results (particularly Google's)?




8. Is your site's search engine result (Title and Description) enticing enough that you'd click on it (versus all of the others)?




9. If you click on your site's search engine result, are you taken to the site you'd expect from the Title and Description?




10. Now loop back to #1 (above) and quickly run through this list again with "fresh" eyes (based on how your site might be found by potential visitors searching the internet).

Bottom Line

IMPORTANT: Please note that "potential visitors" aren't visitors until they visit and "potential buyers" aren't buyers until they buy.

Your task is to re-design your site to create the environment that entices searchers to visit and visitors to buy. This may involve using some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as some E-Marketing techniques and strategy (list building, E-Newsletters, Social Media/Networking, etc.) to promote your site and attract people to it.

If you'd like more ways to evaluate and improve your website (or blog) you might enjoy our free 77 Great Tips of Internet Marketing (at top-right of web page) for a more complete checklist.

~~~

Have any questions, comments, or tips of your own for evaluating websites? If so, please leave a comment...

~~~

Next post (Part III): 11 Quick Questions for Podcasts
Prior post (Part I): How's Your Website Doing? -- Part I - Opportunities for Change Looking Forward

Asking these 7 Questions can leverage brand slogan marketing and keyword optimization to attract and satisfy visitors to your website, just as Costa Rica uses "Pura Vida" (Good Life) to attract and satisfy tourists to their country.

Satisfying visitors helps create customers and success for countries as well as websites. Just as satisfied tourists (customers) tend to re-visit countries, your website can flourish too.

Just in case you missed these points in my last post ( Pura Vida - Good Life - and your Visitors ) I wanted to highlight them for you:

Leveraging Keyword Optimization

Part I showed an Example about optimizing keywords in brand slogans/taglines/mottos: What Keyword Research showed about Life (Good vs. Great). What a difference a single word can make!

Leveraging Brand Slogan Marketing and Keyword Optimization

Part II of the post had a list of 7 questions which can leverage your company's brand slogan for your website's success: Part II: Attracting Visitors with the Principles of Pura Vida (Good Life).

The 7 Questions are summarized* here:

• Does your company have a tagline or motto and are you putting it everywhere and on everything?

• Are you using the best/optimized keyword terms to attract visitors to your website, e.g., "good" vs. "great"?

• Are you satisfying people's needs on your website?

• Is your website and are your employees "talking the talk and walking the walk"?

• Can your employees or customer service "make lemonade out of lemons", e.g., turning terrible roads into massages?

• Does your site make what people want or need easy to find, e.g., "eco-tour" signs being everywhere, appealing to the youthful environmentally-conscious traveler demographic?

• Is the spirit of your brand "lived" (portrayed) on every part of your website and by your personnel and consistently used in every/all places it makes sense to?

* For more information see Part II: Attracting Visitors with the Principles of Pura Vida (Good Life), or the entire post: Pura Vida - Good Life - and your Visitors.

Comments/Questions? - Just let me know...

Part I: Pura Vida - Marketing the Experience of the "Good Life" in Costa Rica

How "Pura Vida" (Good Life), the national motto/tagline of Costa Rica, can help *you* attract more visitors to *your* website.

Two weeks ago I returned from a 7 day trip to Costa Rica where my Wife and I had a wonderful time. In fact, the feeling of Pura Vida (POO-rah VEE-dah), or "Pure Life" (or "Life is Great" ), is still with me.

Pura Vida - The Tagline/Motto for Costa Rica

Pura Vida is a national motto, or tagline, for Costa Rica. You see it everywhere on everything. Almost every hat, bag, coffee mug, and other tourist item seems to be subtly labeled somewhere with "Pura Vida". It's not always blatant. A cap may have a picture of a volcano on the front and "Pura Vida" on the side band.

Needs Being Met = Satisfaction

One of our drivers told us "If you're working, life is good." In other words, if people in Costa Rica have steady work then they can do all right and have a good life. And isn't that fundamental for all of us? It's like Maslow's hierarchies - Having food, shelter, etc. (benefits of work) satisfied allows one to consider other possibilities in life.

What Keyword Research showed about Life (Good vs. Great)

Interestingly, when I was checking Google AdWords Keyword Tool for the title of this blog post, "good life" had an approximate average of 673,000 monthly searches.  Not surprisingly, there were about 1 million searches in October - Clearly people were looking for "good life" when the financial industry crashed and the world stock markets went into a collective nosedives.

But perhaps more interestingly "great life" only had an average of 74,000 searches - monthly and in October. And "perfect life" was just searched for 22,200 times on average.

So people were just searching for "good life" and they weren't even daring to search for "great life" (let alone "perfect life"!). It's kind of sad when we're not even *hoping* for the best possible outcome versus some lesser flavor of it.

Pura Vida Exemplified: "Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk"

Clearly people should have been in Costa Rica last month! (where they could have actually been living "great life"). The people there "talk the talk and walk the walk" about Pura Vida. I never saw one upset person the whole week we were there.

Terrible Roads = Massages

The roads are challenging (terrible) to say the least...but no-one complains about them. In fact some tourists who rented vehicles seemed to take delight in  the rough pot-hole laden snaking dirt roadways. The roads just are what they are. When our drivers arrived to pick us up they would say, "Are you ready for your massage?" since the twisting turning up-and-down motion of a trip on their roads felt like a massage. This is certainly making the best of the what some may feel was the worst of situations. Pura Vida!

Leveraging the Main Industry and Trends

We were told that Costa Rica's main industry is Tourism. Eco-tourism signs are everywhere, clearing tapping into world trends and the preferences of many youthful travelers.

Omnipresent Branding

Is Costa Rica promoting "Pura Vida"? I hope so, because everyone in the country appears to be living the spirit of it. In fact the small print at the bottom of PuraVida.com home page states that "PuraVida.com is a national brand dedicated to promoting the Costa Rican lifestyle to the world." And it's not hard to see how this is expressed when their brand slogan ("Pura Vida") is on almost every piece of tourist merchandise that mentions Costa Rica, and/or has a picture of a tree frog, toucan, or a volcano on it.

But the omnipresent branding and merchandising in no way lessens the wonderful experience of Pura Vida in Costa Rica and in fact, it seems to enhance it.

Caveat/Disclaimer: By the way, I'm *not* an expert in Costa Rica and I'm *not* commenting as a social or political or historical expert on their country or life. I'm only commenting as a liver and enjoyer of life.

Part II: Attracting Visitors with the Principles of Pura Vida (Good Life)

Here are some things to keep in mind when Attracting Visitors to your website:

• Does your company have a tagline or motto and are you putting it everywhere and on everything?
  • Website, Blog, Business Cards, Literature, Promotional materials, Brochures, etc.
    • By the way, if you need your company name or motto/tagline printed on literally anything, I can highly recommend Joe and Marcy Roschitsch at SCEP Inc.

• Are you using the best/optimized keyword terms to attract visitors to your website, e.g., "good" vs. "great"?

• Are you satisfying people's needs on your website?
  • Are they finding what they came for once they get to your site?
  • Is what they find at your site congruent (in keeping with) what they were promised in the process of getting there?
  • Will they feel good about your site and want to re-visit it again and again?

• Is your website and are your employees "talking the talk and walking the walk" re: your:
  • Tagline/Motto?
  • Mission and Vision?
  • What your marketing and advertising promise leading up to their arrival?
  • What your website promises to deliver?

• Can your employees or customer service "make lemonade out of lemons", e.g., turning terrible roads into massages?
  • And perhaps more importantly can this transformation be delivered happily and without complaints, e.g., a Pura Vida "Great Life" attitude?
  • Clearly Costa Rica has tapped into the whole "spa experience"-type feeling as a lifestyle and philosophy of life people would love to come and experience themselves...again and again.

• Does your site make what people want or need easy to find, e.g., "eco-tour" signs being everywhere, appealing to the youthful environmentally-conscious traveler demographic?
  • Are you leveraging your equivalent of this for your brand, motto/tagline, products, etc.?

• Is the spirit of your brand "lived" (portrayed) on every part of your website and by your personnel and consistently used in every/all places it makes sense to, e.g., your equivalent of coffee mugs with the image of a volcano and the words "Pura Vida" inscribed on them?
  • For instance if Disneyland, "The Happiest Place on Earth"*, didn't fulfill their motto and the expectation of it, people wouldn't look forward to visiting and re-visiting their theme parks as much.
    • * The Happiest place...other than Costa Rica, that is.

In any case, I hope that you enjoyed my impressions from Costa Rica and how I think you can leverage some of these ideas to improve your website so you can leap frog (or tree frog) your competitors to success!

Does your website (or company) have its own version of Pura Vida? If so, what is it and how is it expressed on your site(s)?

• I'd love to hear your comments - please let me know what *your* thoughts/experiences are on this...

Welcome to the Attract More Visitors blog. The mission of this blog is to help you attract more visitors to your web site, blog, or podcast.

How?

• By using evil internet marketing techniques, vacuuming unwilling and unsuspecting innocent bystanders onto your site and holding them hostage until they buy from you?
  • No!

How really?

• By using proven e-Marketing, Social Media/Networking, and traditional marketing techniques.
• Of course any discussion about attracting visitors and increasing traffic wouldn't be complete without some SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), and SMO (Social Media Optimization).
• For more on this, see the About page.

Who reads this blog?

• Anyone who has a site that isn't performing to the level they'd like.
  • Maybe you have a business-card website that you set up years ago and have never done anything with since.
  • Or maybe your business has the obligatory stagnant website that no-one ever updated.
  • Or perhaps your business has a phenomenal web site, but not as many people come to it as you would like, so your chances of convincing them to buy from you are problematic at best.

Why does the Title of this post say "...or Else!"

• That's just a fun and humorous way of titling the post. Life is too dull and serious anyway. The process of attracting people to your web site should be interesting - to you...and them. Nothing says that you can't have a good time during this process. Part of this blog will be using humor, satire, irony, and roasting (there's nothing like "roasted web site"...ummmm!...until you've seen it) to make some points. So stay tuned and see if you can "spot the irony".

While the focus of this blog is to Attract More Visitors, the focus of our sister blog is to Create More Customers. Together these blogs and our upcoming web site are an integrated whole which will help your business achieve the success you desire. Well that is, if you take the techniques we show you and apply them.

Nike has a great slogan: "Just Do It". And you should do it too. We'll show you how - all you need to do...is, well, do it. By applying these techniques consistently you'll find success, which means that more visitors will find your site and choose to do business with you...over and over.

Sound like a plan?

Ok, let's get to it then...

Oh, and by the way, our IncreaseOnlineProfits.com web site will have a lot more techniques (with "how-to" descriptions, videos, etc.) available when it's up and going. If you'd like to keep updated on when these will be available, just subscribe to our eNewsletter and grab our free 77* Point Internet Marketing Checklist while you're at it. See the upper right corner of this page for the opt-in box to subscribe.

* 77 Points as of this post date. With the imminent roll-out of changes to Google's algorithms these points may also change somewhat, but if you continue adding true value and transparent usability of your site for your visitors then you should still be on the right track.

One last thing:

You might wonder why we're making the distinction between "attracting visitors" and "creating customers".

• First you have to get the people in the door, or in our case, in the "virtual door" of your web site. Then you can consider how to "convert" them to a customer or buyer of your products, services, ideas, etc.
• If there's no "there there", visitors will leap (bounce) out of your site and you won't have a chance to sell to them.
• The "creating customers" side of the equation involves everything that would give the visitor an enjoyable and informative time on your site, such that everything they're exposed to eases and smoothes their way to finding what they need (visually pleasing, intuitively organized, with great accessibility and usability) so they can make an informed decision and finally make their purchase(s) seamlessly and without a hitch.
• As my partner, Rick Henkin says, "Your competitors are only a click away." Getting your visitors to stay long enough to buy is critical to this process. Is every aspect of your site designed to lead visitors to this favorable conclusion? That's why the "create customers" part is crucial. For more on this see the Create More Customers blog.

And if you want to know who's behind this nefarious plot to make you successful, just see Rick's Create More Customers About page and my (Karl's) Attract More Visitors About page.

Best success!