Do you believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, Cupid, and the Tooth Fairy? In business an amazing number of people think the web functions like all of these rolled into one.
Now I don’t want to burst your bubble (actually I do) but most small business owners I talk to and the ones that hire me to help them are struggling because they believe… 
a handful of myths about marketing and online marketing – myths that are killing their profits instead of helping them grow their business.
And I don’t want that to happen to you – which is why I want you to know the truth about online marketing, so you can base your business decisions on reality versus myth.
Ready?
The Top 5 Online Marketing Myths – Busted!
1. Build It And They Will Come
Wouldn’t it be nice if it were so! The truth is no matter how great you are or how valuable your service or how much your clients like you – that’s not enough.
Getting found, getting top rankings and getting people to contact you via your website requires a lot of work. You need first to clearly identify your target market, define your keyword strategy, and have an optimization and content strategy.
2. The Purpose Of Your Website Is To Sell
Unless you’re a large retailer like Amazon.com with a big fat reputation to match, expecting your website to be your marketing and sale department all rolled into one is a big mistake.
For most small businesses’ the single purpose of your website is to generate a lead, to get people to contact you so you can follow up with them and help them get to know you like you, and most importantly, trust you.
Expecting people to take a quick look at your site and then whip out their credit card – rarely works.
3. Traffic Is The Solution
Getting people to find your site and visit it is a start, but if hardly any of your qualified prospects contact you – it’s just a big waste of time and money.
The success of your online marketing can easily be measured by how many people contact you, via email or phone. The challenge is, once someone visits your site, to get them to read the content, then to provide them with a compelling offer to maximize the number of people who contact you. Then you can followup to help them get to know you, like you and trust you.
4. Your Website Can Close The Sale
If you sell professional services of any kind, your prospects are buying you, your reputation, your knowledge and your ability to understand their needs. While your website, done right, can go a long way towards pre-selling prospects, it’s about 100 times more effective to talk to the prospect if you want to close the sale.
Seems obvious, right? But the majority of business owners I talk to want to skip having to actually talk to people and sell them. They just want customers to fill in an online form and pay them money, without actually talking to them about their needs or concerns. Whoops! Big mistake.
People may buy mp3 downloads or retail items online using impersonal ordering systems, but it doesn’t work for services. Selling your services requires a more personal approach.
5. It’s Quality That Generates Repeat Sales
With the amount of information flowing these days every day into your prospects’ brains from TV, texting, email, online browsing, and even talking with people – we’re all overloaded. Even if your prospects thought you did a fabulous job – if they loved your services – regular reminders to increase their perception of need to buy again are good idea.
I’m sure you’ve noticed most successful mail order retailers, like Sears, L.L. Beans and J.Crew send you a catalogue frequently. And with email you can easily stay in touch, positioning yourself as the go to expert and increase repeat demand for your services.
Want to build your online marketing on reality, what works to get your phone ringing and converts contacts into new sales?
To your success,
Charlie
P.S. I’ve got nothing against Santa, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy, or people believing the web is all of these rolled into one, but I like to think you’re smarter than that.
In marketing the simple concept is to sell to emotion, but build your marketing system based on logic.
Interested?
