How to Drive Traffic to Your Coaching Website with This Facebook Page Tweak

This post was originally published on Kenn’s blog Coaching Sites That Work.

As you know, a website is of little use without traffic. You could have a nice site with bells and whistles, but if no one is coming, what purpose will it serve?

Here’s a neat tweak for the new Facebook Page layout (February 2012) to get more people to your site and onto your list.

What we are going to do is update your page’s “About” section (very prominent on your FB Page) with your giveaway invitation.

You’ll need to have a Facebook Page already created, of course. You’ll also need a coaching website with a free giveaway like a report, audio, article or other.

Sooo ….

Here’s a screenshot of my Facebook Page:

Note, the immediate viewing screen, without scrolling, is known as the area “above the fold”. It’s in this area you want to put your invitation to visit your business website.

Here’s a screenshot highlighting the “About” section:

As you can see, the About section is highly prominent. It’s the first block of text that a person can read. This is where you want to make a juicy invitation to go to your website.

For my Facebook Page’s “About” area, I used this text:

Client-attracting websites for professional coaches. Get 5 WEBSITE STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING CLIENTS” at www.CoachingSitesThatWork.com.

Here are the steps to updating the About section:

  1. Log into your page’s admin area. You can do this by logging into your Facebook account and typing your page’s title into the search box. Your page should be first in the list.
  2. Once you get to your page, if the “Admin Panel” isn’t showing, then click the “Admin Panel” button in the top right to display it. Then click “Manage > Edit Page.” Then click on “Basic Information” on the left.
  3. You’ll see a field titled “About”. Add your invitation to include both a short summary of your business and an invitation to get your free giveaway. There isn’t a lot of space here – so keep it short.

Some notes

I’ve titled my free giveaway in all capitals. This makes it stand out and also helps indicate that it’s a title. Quotations marks will work as well.

While it’s not required, I’ve included the “http://” in front of my website address to help indicate that it’s a link. For technical reasons, this helps it “survive” around the web. You could simply begin your link with “www” and Facebook would ensure it’s a clickable.

I lead with my business tagline to give visitors a quick summary of what my site is about. You could write something else to summarize your business, but bear in mind there isn’t much more room to write more. Additionally, there’s a “description” field you could use for a lengthier write-up.

In summary, be sure to update your Facebook Page’s About section to both describe your business and entice them to click to your website. And, be sure to allure them with something free.


5 Website Strategies for Attracting Coaching ClientsKenn Schroder helps coaches create client-attracting websites. Get your free copy of “5 WEBSITE STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING COACHING CLIENTS” at http://www.coachingsitesthatwork.com


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Blogging for Business

Web logs (blogs) came into play in the late 1990s, but today they offer options beyond those of aspiring writers or the simple online diaries of old. 

The terrain of the blogosphere has changed radically. Governments and big business have homed in on blogs as a focus of social media marketing with blogging options such as microblogging via Twitter. While some believe the blog has lost its charm, others find blogging presents opportunities to reach their target market with information and resources that will lead them to make a purchase. To be successful utilizing a blog platform, you need to understand the proper way to use blogging as a part of your overall Internet marketing plan.  

Promoting the Blog 

Beginner bloggers probably started on a free blog site such as Blogger, WordPress or Typepad, only to find that no-one was reading their lovingly crafted posts. They quickly discovered that to reach their audience required their time and effort into search engine optimization, link-building, directory listings and other methods of self-promotion of the blog.  

This provided those with the time, energy and motivation a distinct edge. Unfortunately, the people who had the time were often those who had something to sell. They learned the necessary skills to move their blogs forward, while the average Joe languished in obscurity with low rankings, swamped by professional competition.  

Is Blogging Worthwhile? 

Yes, blogs can be worthwhile, even for amateur bloggers. They are designed for entertainment and staying in touch with friends and family, and if the writing is good enough, it may attract a following beyond that, through word of mouth. Quality still rises to the top amongst blog enthusiasts and differentiates you from less desirable Internet content.  

Bloggers many times make the mistake of defining their blog too broadly, forgetting to target their blog’s focus on their niche’s interests to keep readers engaged and hungry for more. Some even miss simple strategies like improving their profile for maximum exposure.  

The blog is no longer a novelty and the average reader isn’t interested in your life, unless you have something special to convey. There has to be a ‘hook’ to grab their attention.  Think of Nightjack, a British police officer who won awards for his blog about his experiences in law enforcement – until he faced disciplinary action. 

A blog will also require a bit of SEO (search engine optimization), carefully chosen keywords and tags, as well as, listings with directories and indexes such as Technorati, StumbleUpon, or Digg, just to mention a few.  

Reading and responding to other people’s blogs is also a big part of the bogging community. However, to gain a wide readership you either have to have something reasonably spectacular to offer or a lot of time to spend on promotion.  

Blogging Hazards 

Blogging has been found to get people into trouble. Blogging about work regularly opens the door to disaster. Nightjack was outed by the press and subjected to disciplinary proceedings. In another case, insults about a model led to the disclosure of the blogger’s identity and legal action. Exposing your personal life can be dangerous, even if you remain anonymous.  

So Why Blog? 

If you’re able to walk the walk and talk the talk, blogging can propel your career or become a satisfying pastime. Used as a business tool, in tandem with other social media marketing, a blog can help expand your reach and help to promote your product, service or views. A blog allows you to show the ‘human’ side of your business and keep your search engine rankings high with what they highly value, FRESH content. 

A hundred million people regularly follow blogs.  The blogosphere may not be what it used to be, but when used in the business arena, as a part of a larger marketing effort, it can be a powerful tool for getting your message out to the masses.  It can be as versatile as a website without any added expense.   

As long as you consider both sides of the equation, having a blog is a great way to express yourself and build a following. So make a little history of your own, take your business to the next level by utilizing a blog.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, provides marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. For information about finding a VA, download her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or to learn why Social Media should be an important part of your marketing plan with her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.internetmarketingvirtualassistant.net, or contact her at info@internetmarketingvirtualassistant.net

 

 

 

 

 

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Are You Overwhelming Website Visitors with Too Many Options?

This post was originally published on Lisa’s blog Health Practices Online.

How many programs and services do you have for sale?

Does your programs or services page scroll on forever? If so, it’s likely you need to pare back your offerings.

You want to keep the options easy to navigate. What’s that saying? I think it’s “A confused mind always says no.” It’s better to keep the options few and easily understandable so a potential customer knows exactly which is right for them.

You don’t need to try and meet everyone’s needs on your website. Narrow it down to one or two package options. If someone wants a particular combination you haven’t identified, they can always contact you to inquire about alternative options.

Also, you don’t have to list all services (or add on services) you provide on your website. Identify what is the first step for 90% of your clients. List that or those program options on your website. That doesn’t mean you don’t offer other services, it just means you can discuss it with clients after you “get them in the door”.

Also, to make a buying decision people may need more information. This could be a longer sales page for each individual program. Or you may need to make it clear you can be contacted to help determine which program is right for them, to discuss what all is involved, and answer any questions.

If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for the free report Increase Your Income Online: How to Sell Your Health Services Virtually at http://healthpracticesonline.com.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://healthpracticesonline.com

Increase Your Income Online:
How to Sell Your
Health Services Virtually

Learn more about this free guide here.

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A Simple Home Page Title Tag Formula for Getting Traffic

This post was originally published on Kenn’s blog Coaching Sites That Work.

The title tag is a VITAL element for getting traffic from search engines. When properly done it can do two things nicely: (1) improve your rankings so that you show up higher on searchers, and (2) attract more clicks from being visually attractive.

Each page on your site has a title tag associated with it. This tag is hidden in the code. The content in this tag is what search engines show to searchers. It’s smart to optimize this.

Two keys for optimizing it:

1. Get good keywords into your title tag.

The best keywords to use in your site are the ones that people ARE actually searching on. If you’re a health coach, these could be “nutritionist san fran”, “gluten free diet” or “weight-loss coach.” They are words people know and use.

Bad keywords to use are ones that people are NOT searching on, like “holistic energy healer” or “new age life coach”, or “your wellness awaits.” While these terms might be “cool” to you, are they really words your clients would use?

So, be sure to use phrases that people will actually use.

When you put those good keywords in the title tag, search engines will be more likely to show your page to searchers and searchers will be able to quickly spot your link.

2. Get benefits into your title tag.

In addition to getting your keywords into your title, getting big benefits into it will increase your chances of getting clicked.

Let’s say you did a search for “health coach New York.” Let’s also say the following two listings were at the top of the page:

  • “132 East 56th St NY, Clinical Testing, Health, Coaching …”
  • “Health Coach NY – Lose Fat Naturally with Dr. Stevens”

Which would you click on first?

While they both have the words “health coach ny” in them, the second is more readable and boasts big benefits.

A simple formula for writing your home page title tag:

[top keyword phrase] – [benefit with keywords]

And here are some examples:

  • Nutritionist San Fran – Lose Weight with Nutritionist Anne Cook
  • Dating Coach for Men – Attract Sexy, Fun Women with Adam Vines
  • Effective Tech Management – Manage Tech Teams Effectively and Succeed

Here’s a live example:

Do you see how the title has both the keywords (new york dating coach) and benefits (start meeting and dating women)?

In conclusion, bear in mind that your home page title tag is the one most likely to show up on search engines and if you can get your good top keywords into it and some benefits, you’ll be in the running for high visibility and high clickability.


5 Website Strategies for Attracting Coaching ClientsKenn Schroder helps coaches create client-attracting websites. Get your free copy of “5 WEBSITE STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING COACHING CLIENTS” at http://www.coachingsitesthatwork.com


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Article Marketing Advantages for Business!

Article marketing on the Internet harnesses the power of the Web and the hunger for written content.  Article marketing allows writers to promote themselves, their websites, products or literally anything, by writing about them and making the content freely available for reproduction on other Internet sites and electronic mediums. 

To use it as a marketing tool you first need to create the article on the topic you want to promote.  Once created, the article can be uploaded to any of hundreds of article directories allowing others to ‘reprint’ your article, usually for free, in exchange for posting your article bio, or resource box, a small section of text, usually at the end of the article, where links can be included.  

These links are used to drive traffic to your website or blog to capture and entice prospects to consider your offerings. If your article is of interest to a broad audience, it’s likely to be picked up and reproduced in a number of ways relating to the subject matter.   

The fact that one link has now turned into several links without you having to do anything, will have a positive impact on your search engine page rankings.  The more backlinks you can get to your site across the Web, the greater the perceived importance of your website, in general terms.  The reproduced backlink is the valuable item in this case.  The more your article is picked up by others, the more times your backlink will be reproduced. 

Carrying your name across the Internet can also give you some excellent reputational benefits.  To build your reputation, focus the resource box more on you and less on a target website that you want people to visit.  Writing quality articles will help you build your own reputation as someone who knows their subject and through time, helps you establish yourself as an authority on the subject. 

When writing your articles be sure to provide information and resources, not an ad for you or your website. No one will be interested in using this type of article. Many unsuccessful article marketers make the mistake of using sub-standard articles and expecting good results.   

Your article should always be of good quality.  If it isn’t, then you are telling prospective visitors, or customers, that quality is not important to you and that they can expect poor quality information on the target website.  Equally, because others will not wish to reprint your article, the reproduction of backlinks that you so badly want, will not happen. 

Don’t get carried away with website promotion and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Remember that your article needs to be of interest to people, not for search engines to browse. You’re looking to have your article picked up and reprinted by real readers so that you can promote yourself, your subject or whatever you’ve included in your resource box. 

In short, to make article marketing work for you, you must: 

  • Make sure your article is related to your target website/market and is relevant.
  • Use good quality, well written original articles.
  • Make it readable and interesting.
  • Be patient.  Traffic and backlinks won’t appear overnight.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, provides marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. For information about finding a VA, download her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or to learn why Social Media should be an important part of your marketing plan with her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.internetmarketingvirtualassistant.net, or contact her at info@internetmarketingvirtualassistant.net 

 

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Is Your Website Set Up to Make Sales?

This post was originally published on Lisa’s blog Health Practices Online.

It takes more than having an attractive, professional web presence to convert site visitors into paying clients.

There are a series of steps they must move through and it’s your job to make sure they know the steps. You don’t want someone to land on your page and guess where they need to go next.

Here are some essential pieces you need to have in place to convert website visitors into clients/customers.

#1 – Landing Page

This is a stand alone webpage that is used to collect the names/emails of site visitors in exchange for a “free taste”. By free taste I’m referring to a free report, free ecourse, free audio series, free video series, etc. that gives individuals a taste of the service you provide. This free taste needs to address whatever their burning question may be so they can’t pass it up.

Continue reading

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Can I Get a Second Chance at a First Impression?

The short answer to that question is, ‘no’ – it is what it is.  A first impression is what you project to someone whenever they are first connected to you. 

Especially if you’re in a B2B-type business, it’s important to remember that your body language, the words you speak, and the way you present yourself (hair, clothing, if online, through your copy), etc., are what people will immediately judge. 

Yes, as humans, no matter what, we do judge.  Some more than others, but we all do it!  I was raised with all those basic ‘golden’ rules, and abide by them faithfully.  In this situation, it’s the ‘do unto others’ rule that helps me stay focused on how I present myself. 

Beyond that, and equally as important, my first impression, and those that follow, are a huge part of my personal brand.  Branding within your business is not only the look and feel of your website, or your logo, letterhead and business cards, but in many ways, about how you do business, and your business style and acumen.

Even when I was in phone sales, the tone of my voice, the way I managed and cared for my clients, and even the level of knowledge I shared, were all a part of that first and on-going impression.  When I started my own business, having had so many years in phone sales really allowed me some distinct advantages over my competitors, because I understood this brand and the promise I made when serving them, as well as a real secret that many didn’t even think of in the same situation. 

Even though I could have been sitting at my desk working in pajamas, I made myself shower and dress each morning as if I were going to a corporate office.  I remembered to ‘smile’ when I picked up the phone and addressed a caller, and I was continually complimented because people noticed.

But I do believe that we can get a second chance at that first impression, if we handle it properly, and try to be more of a listener when in someone’s company on that second effort. 

I know there have been times when someone has not made a good first impression on me, but later, and sometimes it takes multiple ‘later’ connections to happen, I will find that the person is not who I initially thought they were, and have gone on to have a mutually beneficial relationship, whether on a personal or professional  level. 

I’d be the first to say that there have been times when I was not at the top of my game, or perhaps was having a bad day, but if the relationship is worth developing, the laws of attraction will find a way to bring you back together, to consider a more positive connection. 

To make a great first impression, you need to develop your personal brand and make sure you project it each and every time you’re meeting people for the first time.  Even if you never end up seeing that person again, leaving a good impression is sure to help you grow as a person and a professional. 

 

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7 Strategies for Finding and Engaging Qualified Prospects Online

(This article was originally posted in the IAC Voice in March 2012.)

The more connected you are with qualified prospects, the more likely you are to win ideal clients. If that’s true, why is it that so many coaches struggle to find and connect with their target market?

You either believe that your target market is leaving a trail that leads you to them, or you believe you need to create a trail that leads them to you. The first way is by far the easier, quicker and more profitable of the two.

Here are seven strategies that can help you pick up the trail of your best prospects and win more ideal clients:

  1. Look for the 3 C’s—concentrations, conversations and congregations. People in your target market share certain interests, and people who have common interests tend to gravitate towards each other and talk about the thing they’re interested in. So your first task is to find these clumps of people who are talking about certain topics.
  2. Use keywords related to your target market to search the three general areas where people tend to ‘”‘clump” together:
    • Online forums and virtual communities
    • Groups on social networks, whether focused on business or personal interests (or both)
    • Industry and professional associations, which often have forums or networking events for members
  3. Follow the leaders. Do a Google/Internet search for the more prominent thought leaders in your niche and pay attention to where they’re showing up and participating, both online and offline (for example, public speaking events). Then follow them right into those nooks and crannies.
  4. Watch and listen before you jump into the conversation. Once you’ve identified a community or group, don’t just barge in and start talking. Take time to look at the history of the conversation and follow a couple of active threads to see what folks are interested in. Then watch for opportunities to introduce yourself and contribute; offer encouragement and resources, move the conversation forward, share your perspective in a positive way, etc.
  5. Do NOT try to sell anything to the group, even if the community guidelines allow it. The people you meet online are not yet qualified to receive an offer from you—they haven’t even taken the first step into your sales funnel (i.e., they haven’t joined your mailing list). When you focus instead on building trust and relationship, your list will grow as if by magic.
  6. When you find a good group, don’t be shy about asking about the other groups and communities people belong to. This is like following a vein deeper into the gold mine.
  7. Be both consistent and persistent. Put a structure in place so that you are searching for and participating in online communities on a regular basis. Don’t stop after you find the first few places, or you’ll get left behind as the market evolves. I have recurring tasks set up in Outlook that remind me to research and check in at various groups and forums. I invest time in research once a month and post/participate in forums and social networks every few days (more frequently on the more active groups.)

You can spend precious time and resources hoping that clients find you one by one, or you can be proactive and find a trail that leads you straight back to where tens, hundreds or even thousands of qualified prospects are buzzing about the very things that you love to help them with.

Happy hunting!

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Five Reasons to Have Your Own Branded Domain Name

This post was originally published on Kenn’s blog Coaching Sites That Work.

Your domain name or URL or “the link to your site” is what you put on your biz cards, your email signatures, and web profiles. It’s the link that people use to get to your website. And you don’t want to make this difficult for people to see, read or understand.

For example, mine is: www.CoachingSitesThatWork.com

It begins with “www” then has the name of the website, and then ends in the common “.com”. This is the most ideal way to have it as it’s what people expect.

You don’t want to have something that looks like these:

These look odd to you. They are not “branded” in the sense that they aren’t solely focused on your business. They have the extra words at the end that are for some other company. They add confusion when looked at.

The only benefit to having this kind of unbranded domain name for your website is that you won’t have to pay the $10 per year to own it. It’s usually free.

Here are the five reasons you SHOULD have a branded domain name:

1. Branded domain names are easier to remember.

When people try to pull up your website, they would love it if they could just type it in without thinking. If they have to jog their memory, dig through email or hunt down some piece of paper, they are likely to get frustrated or distracted and end up doing something else. (Digging through email is the worst!)

It’s also more difficult to share your website address with others you talk to if you can’t quickly recall it and pull it up on your iPhone. If you have to tell them you’ll email it to them later – you’ll probably agree that later = never.

2. Branded domain names are shorter.

Space is limited! The shorter and simpler your domain, the better on many fronts.

Web profiles on social networks, emails on handheld devices, and business cards all provide limited space when viewing or writing. The longer your name, the more space it takes and the more it’s at risk of not being understood, or copied correctly, or getting broken up in more than one line causing it to fail.

3. Branded domain names are easier to type in.

How many times do we get over frustrated with mis-typing in things to the browser? How hard is it to type on a small hand-held device?

Long domain names (common to those which are unbranded) are a pain to type in due to the length and due to the confusion as it’s just not what we are used to.

Every little shortcut, simplifier, usable trick we can use to help our visitors along is almost always worth it. Aiming for of simpler, lesser, quicker is almost always the move to make.

4. Branded domain names don’t distract visitors.

Unbranded domain names are typically free – free in terms of monetary cost. But you pay different price for having an unbranded domain name. You pay in “attention” – the asset of the Web.

Websites that are unbranded will have ads trying to promote the underlying service (for example, the free website builder offered by Weebly). And as a result, the underlying service will attempt to wisp away your visitor and get her to build her own site instead of spending time at yours.

5. Branded domain names don’t scream “over-night business.”

Having an automated website builder attached to your domain name says that your site was built overnight. Fly-by-night businesses and spammers gravitate to free services like these. You take a credibility hit.

In sum, remember that simplicity, ease and speed are highly underrated by website owners and highly appreciated by website visitors. Couple that with a strong message and you’ve got a winner.


5 Website Strategies for Attracting Coaching ClientsKenn Schroder helps coaches create client-attracting websites. Get your free copy of “5 WEBSITE STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING COACHING CLIENTS” at http://www.coachingsitesthatwork.com


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5 Options for Updating Your Facebook Page Status

This post was originally published on Lisa’s blog Health Practices Online.

Do you have a Facebook business page, but not sure what you should be posting?

The goal with Facebook is to be active on a regular basis so you stay in your “fans” newsfeed. This means they will see you frequently, be reminder of the services you offer and remain aware of your area of expertise.

But what do you share?

Here are status update options you could alternate:

1. Current events/information

If you read an article you like and think your target market would like, share a comment and post a link to it on Facebook.

2. Link to articles you write yourself and post on your blog

We do this for you as part of the content marketing package.

3. Post an occasional question
This is to try and generate discussion.

4. Provide a quick tip that links to nothing

You don’t want to be seen as constantly promote. Tips with no strings attached are good.

5. Periodic promo pieces

Such as a note and link to a product, service, or free offer you provide

Ideally you want to be interacting on Facebook via your business/fan page, not your personal page. So, if you have a lot of personal “friends” that are actually business associates, you may want to invite them over to your business page. You could also put a note periodically on your personal profile wall reminding friends to join you on your business page.

If you have found another form of interacting to be effective for communicating with Facebook fans, please take a moment to share it below!

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://healthpracticesonline.com

Increase Your Income Online:
How to Sell Your
Health Services Virtually

Learn more about this free guide here.

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Five Online Business Optimization Strategies

Running an online business gives entrepreneurs an incredible chance to expand and scale their operations. While offline business requires a physical presence — offices, retail outlets, and kiosks in every location — an online business can operate virtually and via digital real estate. Expanding is simple, and scaling businesses can be achieved without the need for expensive physical locations.

Still, there are some major errors that newbie online entrepreneurs tend to make when they scale their businesses. The road to running an online business is paved with lots of potholes, from expanding too quickly to moving in all the wrong directions. These five strategies are designed to help you achieve worthwhile business optimization, and take your business to new heights without endless setbacks.

1. Stick to the 80/20 Rule.

Pareto’s Principle — known as the 80/20 rule — dictates that 80% of your returns — in this case, business profits — will come from just 20% of your actions. Your goal in running an internet business is not to do as much as you can, but to achieve as much as you can. Focus on the ultra-profitable 20% that contributes to your business, and eliminate as much of the fluff as you possibly can.

2. Whenever possible, add products to service businesses.

Service businesses are a good short-term model, but as a long-term earning option alone, they are not. The main issue with service businesses is the lack of scalability and long-term earnings potential. By running a service business, you are essentially tying a value to your time and working to that alone. It would be an effective use of your time to create a product to enhance your sales.

3. Package and sell your information.

Informational products are extremely popular, especially in the online world. From guides on mastering online business to simple how-to sets for learning a new skill, informational products make up a huge percentage of online sales. If you have got skills that would otherwise only be valuable in a service business, consider turning them into an information product that you can sell online?

4. Focus on marketing before you start your business.

One of the major things my clients need and the make-or-break component of any online business is marketing. The internet is crowded, and there is no chance to survive without a large customer or client base that knows how to find you. The world’s most profitable companies invested in marketing before they expanded their businesses. You should too.

5. Set a value for your time, and don’t waste it.

You have set up your online business, invested in some manual and paid marketing options, and have started to earn over $100 a day. The only problem is that it is taking almost 12 hours to do it. There will be times, especially when running an online business, that you will rack up a reasonably impressive daily earnings total. Ignore it. Daily totals are deceiving and are not an accurate metric for judging online business success.

What is much more valuable is the amount of time that goes into that income. Set a minimum value for your time, and create an online business that gives you options on where to spend it. Sometimes services might be worthwhile, other times product-based work might be the best solution. Either way, set a minimum cost for an hour of your time, and design a business that allows you to earn above it.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, provides marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. For information about finding a VA, download her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or to learn why Social Media should be an important part of your marketing plan with her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.internetmarketingvirtualassistant.net, or contact her at info@internetmarketingvirtualassistant.net

 

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The 8-Second Rule on Coaching Home Pages

This post was originally published on Kenn’s blog Coaching Sites That Work.

When people arrive, they’ve gotta jive with your site! They need to feel that this is a place that’s easy for them to navigate, easy for them to understand, what it is, where to begin, and most of all that there’s some value to be gained here. That’s your home page’s job.

If they don’t get those answers, they hit the road and almost never return. They need to know that this is the site of a coach (expert, consultant, guru, etc.) and that there’s good advice that can be garnered.

And you’ve got to do this in 8 seconds or less according to usability experts. I’d guess this number is even lower. It’s those first few moments we scan the site to ensure whether this is worth our while or not.

Here are five tips for engaging people from the get-go:

1. Have a tagline with benefits

Taglines are great for expanding on your business name (which for many coaches doesn’t say much). Get benefits into your tagline to give people the thing they really want – the better life/career/health/etc.

Over at LinkedIn, I recently reviewed over 30 websites of coaches. A good many are guilty of hiding the ultimate benefit. They often put that at the end of their business summary, services or about pages.

There’s a good chance that when you talk about your services you are doing the same – talking about benefits at the end. Try bringing those benefits out to the front.

2. Navigation that gives an overview

Not only does your website’s navigation menu help people get around, a quick scan of it also gives them a summary of what’s available at your site. Take that opportunity to give them a good overview.

For example, if you’re a fledgling coaching business, you’ll have pages/sections like these:

  • Home
  • Free Stuff
  • What I do
  • My Clients
  • Services
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Articles
  • About
  • Contact
  • Free Consult

Don’t include amorphic things like this:

  • Freedom
  • ABC Technique
  • Your Best
  • Discover
  • Learning Center
  • Reach Out

These things are too vague, and while they may have meaning to you, they mean very little to a visitor.

Instead, think in terms of what THEY want and structure your site around that. Then, as they get to know you , introduce concepts, services, techniques and offers. Gain their interest, desire and trust first. Then sell em – err – invite them to discuss coaching together.

3. An obvious place to begin

If there is no obvious place to begin, we flounder around.

Home pages that are overloaded with stuff fighting for your attention overwhelm you and make you leave. Determine what your visitors really want and lead them on to it.

For many new coaches, getting them to opt-in to your email list, blog or other keep-in-touch strategy is the move. This gives you the chance to build a trusting relationship with them over time.

Whatever your choice is, make it big, prominent, and glaringly obvious.

4. Your photo and your title (aligned to the client)

You ARE a huge part of your brand. It’s you who your clients will be working with. It’s you who they will follow for support. And thus, you should be right there on the home page saying, “Hi!”.

Be sure to include your name and title next to your face so people know it’s you and know what to refer to you as.

5. A lead-in headline

People come to your site because they are hoping you can help them. Thus, you want to engage them in content that does just that -> helps them.

You could begin with an article, blog post, or discussion of the challenges you help clients overcome. This headline also ought to be focused on your visitor and the challenges they face or goals they want to attain. That’s what gets attention.

Summary

Remember, your site has a few seconds to make a great first impression. It must be clear what your site’s about, how to get around, where to begin – and of utmost, the big benefit to be gained. Else why should people stick around?


5 Website Strategies for Attracting Coaching ClientsKenn Schroder helps coaches create client-attracting websites. Get your free copy of “5 WEBSITE STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING COACHING CLIENTS” at http://www.coachingsitesthatwork.com


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How to Increase Website Traffic with Your LinkedIn Sig

This post was originally published on Kenn’s blog Coaching Sites That Work.

If you’re networking on LinkedIn often, then this signature move outlined below can bring more qualified traffic to your site – leading to new subscribers, clients, and product sales.

If you’ve noticed, LinkedIn has no signature feature – that is, they do not automatically put your signature when you make comments.

As a result, in order for people to discover your coaching website, they need to click into your profile first and then find your website link.

Hoping for traffic from curious passersbys doesn’t work well.

A better approach is to append your own sig directly to your comments.

Simply, put your own signature line after your comments or discussions.

Doing so puts your message right in front of those who are reading your comments. It reminds them briefly what you’re about and how to get to your website.

Here’s how mine looks:

Important notes

1. Your link. Be sure to include “http://” before your link or else it won’t be clickable.

2. Give a reason to click to your site. You may have a blog, articles, free audio or video, special report, assessment, or top-10 list.

Use an enticer to drive traffic. As you can see in my signature, I invite people to get my free report.

If you don’t have a site or handy article, then …

… simply put a juicy summary of what you do.

It could be as simple as “Learn how I help you free up 10 hours a week while getting more done” or “Helping busy professionals eat well, lose weight, and feel great!”

Be sure to highlight the benefits you bring!

One thing that sucks is that you have to type it in each time.

If you’re posting often, then writing your signature in each time could be a bit of a pain in the butt.

What you can do is write out your signature and save it as a text file on your desktop and then copy and paste it in when needed.

Another option, if you use Firefox, is to use this trick for quickly entering in your signature: http://lifehacker.com/text-substitution.

Also, don’t be annoying!

Don’t make your signature very long and your comments very short. This screams unprofessional. You’d be acting like a spa-mmer.

Also, if you’re making many comments within a single discussion, you don’t need your signature on every single comment. Go for the bigger comments – the more meaningful ones.

In summary …

If you’re actively seeking clients and growing your coaching business and hoping to make LinkedIn a viable source, then take advantage of your efforts and include a solid signature to drive traffic to your site.


5 Website Strategies for Attracting Coaching ClientsKenn Schroder helps coaches create client-attracting websites. Get your free copy of “5 WEBSITE STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING COACHING CLIENTS” at http://www.coachingsitesthatwork.com


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Design or Text-Only Email Newsletters?

This post was originally published on Kenn’s blog Coaching Sites That Work.

While having a gorgeously designed email template gives eye appeal, the harsh reality is that trying to implement a visually stunning email newsletter often causes more problems than its worth for new coaches starting a business.

Here are five common problems with designed newsletters:

1. Accessibility is poorer.

When you send a designed email, it requires coding to properly position the graphics.

The email program that people use to read email (Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, etc.) needs to interpret that code to make the graphics show as intended.

Since there are a wide range of email programs (again, Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, etc.)  out there and a wide range of browsers (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) that these programs run on and a range of machines and devices to consider (PCs, Macs, Iphones, etc.), the interpretation of the code is almost never consistent.

Thus, graphical newsletters end up looking like a mess.

People avoid messes.

2. It takes a lot of time.

A newsletter is traditionally seen as a small pamphlet containing many different writing pieces: welcome letter, article, tips, events, news, etc. It’s quite a beefy publishing to make.

This can be very time consuming for a new coach who may not be the best writer, may not have a lot of time to compile all of those elements.

Even on a monthly basis, many coaches have struggled to be consistent.

3. Costs are higher.

Designing a visual layout for your newsletter can take a lot of time to create. Or it can cost you money to hire a designer.

Even the designer might not be testing out that design on every browser, device, and email program out there to ensure a consistent display.

4. You’ll get blocked more.

Email filters review each piece of incoming email to determine if it’s junk or not. The filters look at the words used in the message.

In an attempt to avoid those filters, S.P.A.Mers will embed the words of their offending message into an image.

Thus, emails with images tend to get blocked more by filters.

Just think, how many emails do you send in a day that have images in them? Almost none. People use email primarily for sending text.

When you send a designed email, you are sending images and are at a higher risk of getting blocked by email programs.

Incidentally, you’re also sending code with those images, another common flag that can get your email message blocked.

5. Images are frequently turned off anyhow.

To move information faster, to preserve bandwidth, and to save on space, the often defaulted setting for many email programs is to NOT show images.

This makes sense because most email is simply text based. Think about emails you send to friends and colleagues.

Also, for people who have slow internet speeds, they often browse the web with images turned off.

These could be people in hills or mountains where high-speed data lines aren’t available. Or, they could be people using PDAs that don’t come with high speed access.

As internet access reaches more areas of the world on more kinds of devices the speeds will, at first, be slow.

I suggest starting out simply with blogging.

Just to clarify, when you blog, you don’t have to write about your Smurf collection or how you like Goji berries in your oatmeal.

A blog doesn’t have to be that personal and in your case, as a new coach growing his or her business, you shouldn’t.

Instead, focus your blog content on serving your market. Simply send out a helpful article to your email list on a weekly basis. This will ensure that your subscribers are more than happy.

When you blog, simply send a copy of that blog article to your email list as a text (as opposed to a designed newsletter).

If you do want a graphically enhanced newsletter …

If you do create a visual for your email newsletter, keep it ultra simple and just have a header followed by body text.

Keep the layout to a one column layout with your welcome message first, then main article, followed by promotional content, and then contact information at the end.

In summary, for new coaches with limited resources, go for a text-only newsletter (or blog article that you send to your list). You’ll avoid a lot of red-tape in your efforts to market to your list subscribers.


5 Website Strategies for Attracting Coaching ClientsKenn Schroder helps coaches create client-attracting websites. Get your free copy of “5 WEBSITE STRATEGIES FOR ATTRACTING COACHING CLIENTS” at http://www.coachingsitesthatwork.com


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Your Swipe File for Writing

This post was originally published on Lisa’s blog Health Practices Online.

Are you struggling to come up with a topic idea for this week’s blog post or newsletter article? If so, it’s time to start a ‘swipe file’. This is simply a place you can store ideas when they come to you.

That’s exactly how I’ve come up with the topic for this blog post. I made myself the following note I don’t know how long ago:

Where to get content ideas

There are so many times I’m surfing the internet or reading an email and I think “that’s a great topic idea I could write about”. Instead of relying on the likelihood I’ll actually remember this when I need it (might as well forget it now!), I copy the page url and topic into a notepad file labeled ‘writing ideas’.

I just keep a running list I can easily scan through until the right one grabs me the next time I’m struggling to come up with an idea.

When it comes to writing for my nutrition business I not only keep this virtual list of ideas, I also have resources I can depend on for almost always giving me an idea.

My favorites are a subscription to Tufts Health & Nutrition Newsletter, ADA Daily News Digest, Dr. Stephan Sinatra’s print newsletter, and the ADA journal.

Do you have a list of resources readily available when you need an idea?

If not, I encourage you to start now. Regularly producing good quality, relevant content can be a daunting task. As long as you have places to refer there’s no reason you can’t whip up a good article at a moments notice when you need one!

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://healthpracticesonline.com

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