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You’re connected with hundreds, maybe thousands of people through Facebook and Twitter. How do you get them to raise their hands and say, “please market to me!”?
You can take the lead in the conversation when they give you their e-mail address, phone number or both. The trick is to ask for this information in the right way.
1. Develop a compelling offer.
Attract those you can help by offering to share the secrets of solving a painful problem—the one you’re an expert in solving—as a free gift from you. You’ll need to package up those secrets in an information product you can deliver electronically, like a special report or audio recording.
2. Get a landing page just for the offer.
You risk losing your visitors’ attention when your social media links to your blog or home page—they’ll be tempted to browse around and might forget your offer. If you don’t have a blog or website yet, all the better! This landing page is a great “starter home” for your internet business. Give it a unique domain name that reflects your offer.
3. Create page content that converts.
Make the offer clear and irresistible with persuasive copy, graphics that lead the eye, a strong call to action, and an easy-to-use opt-in form.
4. Plan how to handle the leads.
Connect your opt-in form to your list management system, or prepare your team to smile and dial. Either way, prepare a second offer that helps prospects reveal their needs even more clearly. You might offer a choice of an alternate, more targeted report or training via an auto-responder series.
5. Test, invite and monitor your results.
Put the word out through your social networks—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and all your groups. Add the URL to all your profile pages and to your e-mail signature. For a reliable stream of traffic, you might even consider a pay-per-click advertising campaign.
All the traffic you can wish for won’t help if the content of your page doesn’t convert. Be sure to:
- Make your headline sync up with whatever drove her to click—your social media blurb or advertising headline, for example. This keeps your visitor oriented and engaged, ready for the next step.
- Remind her of the terrible trouble she’s in. Make the consequences of living with the unsolved problem so vivid and personal that she’ll be uncomfortable with the status quo.
- Paint a beautiful picture of the wonderful things that can happen when the problem is solved—the best case, dream-come-true, “that’s what I really want” scenario she wants to move towards.
- Offer to share the secret of getting there. Give her a hint… what’s the trick you’re going to reveal?
- Tell her in no uncertain terms to fill in the opt-in form. Ask only for the information you need to take the initiative in the conversation. Promise not to spam or share her info.
- Do all of the above in 200 words or less. Use “you.” Avoid “we,” “I,” or any other subject. Make this about your visitor!
- Lead her eye through this sequence with strong graphics and white space. She should be able to see all of it without scrolling.
- Test your opt-in box—the input fields and Submit button. (Submit is just its function. Please name it something tempting, like Get the Report.) Make sure the form delivers the information you need, and that any validation errors (“Hey! You forgot your area code!”) are consistent with the image you want to convey online.
These tips can get you started, but they’re just a map. As you actually travel the terrain, you’ll want to dig deeper into developing your offer, page design, copy and traffic. Get the support you need: seek out someone who’s done it before and been successful. The journey is better with a friend!
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