Creating A Small Business Marketing Map

Ever get lost and wish you had a map or GPS to show you where to go?

Many years ago, I set out on a backpacking trip with a group of friends in the Cascade Mountains north of Seattle. I’d never been to the Cascades in Washington before, but my good friend Bart had grown up hiking in the region and was confident he could guide us.

Before we left the trail head, Bart glanced at his guidebook and made a few notes on the back on an envelope. We didn’t take the guidebook or Bart’s map. After all, we didn’t want to carry the extra three or four ounces of weight. We headed out into 505,000 acres of wilderness with just a few casual notes.

The first day we followed a clear trail and had no problems. The second day, we headed off on our own, following Bart’s scribbles. We climbed one mountain and started down to the valley floor below.

On paper, this had looked easy. Of course, the scrap of paper Bart had to guide us didn’t show the huge snowfield that we had to slide down, mostly out of control, much less the 200-foot cliff at the end of it.

I’ve done a few really stupid things in my life. Hanging onto a cliff with a fully loaded 40-pound backpack, no way down and no clear way to get back up was one of them.

Despite our youthful enthusiasm and determination, we had to painstakingly pick our way back up the cliff, retrace our steps up the snowfield, which was more ice than snow, and go back the way we’d come. We never did make it down to our destination in the valley and ended up cutting our trip short.

We never were totally lost, but we sure didn’t know how to get where we wanted to go.

Don’t put your prospects in this situation. Show them the quickest path to becoming a customer.

Want to make sure your prospects never get lost? Use this link to find out how >>

If prospects visit your site and it isn’t clear where to go first, second and third, they’ll leave without getting what they want. Without a clear map of what to read first, second and third, and a clear sequence of steps to take, they’re going to get lost. And they won’t have to backtrack to get out — they’ll click away in a matter of seconds.

Let me ask you a couple of questions about your business and your online marketing.

Did you consult a guidebook and use a map before you built your web site to ensure that it would work?

Does the organization of the copy and design elements on your site function like a map to make it insanely easy for prospects to know what to do on your site?

Heading out into the wilderness with just a few notes and no map was a dumb mistake that almost cost me my life, and it’s one I haven’t made again.

Want to avoid the number one mistake 99 out of 100 web site owners make? Find out what to do and what not to do >>

Most web site owners make the same mistake with their web sites with the result that they hardly generate any leads or sales. They build site pages that don’t guide prospects to become buyers. Then they leave the pages up there and wonder why nothing changes.

This is the lemming approach to web marketing. Just because most people do it, doesn’t make it right. And I know you don’t want to keep using this failed approach.

You want to know what actually works to generate online sales. You want to discover how to funnel prospects to your site, grab their attention, keep them reading and get them to contact you and buy from you.

Whether you use a web designer or build your web pages yourself, it pays to know how your site should work. If you don’t, who will?

Don’t expect your web designers to puzzle this out for you. They don’t know the answer, either.

Take responsibility for your own success.

If I’d wanted to avoid getting lost, I could have taken responsibility for taking a map myself. If I had, I would have seen the cliff and plotted a better route.

To make your site work, you need to do the same. Take responsibility for its success.

Discover how to create a web site that sells. Get the answers here >>

– Charlie
Small Business Marketing That Sells