Are You a Mystery?

Are you shrouded in mystery or is your torch blazing for the world to see? When someone lands on your website, do they know what you do and who you can help?  Or are you hiding behind some vague, mysterious tagline?

Your tagline- that one little sentence that sits at the top of your website, next to your logo- should tell the world what you can do for them at a glance.  A clear, well-crafted tagline will tell new visitors to your site if you can help them or if you have what they are looking for.

So, lets talk about how to write a killer tagline…

Keep Your Audience In Mind

When writing your tagline, you need to keep you audience in mind.  It should be directed towards new visitors to your site.  You want to write specifically to your target market.  You don’t want to waste valuable time trying to appeal to people who don’t fit the people that you can most help.  Your time is valuable and so is theirs.

It is especially important when first starting out to make your tagline very clear.  Established brands can get away with vague, clever, or provocative taglines, but new brands need to focus on clarity.  If someone lands on your site, but can’t tell what you do or what you can do for them, they won’t waste their time trying to figure it out. It is better to be clear than clever.

Focus On What & Who

Your tagline should tell what you do and who its for.  This isn’t the place to get into your mission or your purpose.  You need to keep it simple and easy to understand.

Add Flavor

Avoid the over-used and worn-out words and phrases that just don’t mean anything any more.  You know: quality, commitment, excellence, etc.  Ugh! Boring!  They certainly don’t lend themselves to being easily remembered or setting one apart from the rest.  They blend in and kind of taste stale or bitter on the tongue.

It’s okay to add a little personality. Add a little spice, but not too much.  Remember, clarity is key, here.  Make your tagline appealing to your target market, something that will capture their attention.  It should capture the essence of your brand and mission, without being too lengthy or vague.

Take Courage, My Child

There is a lot to think about when writing your tagline.  It is a pretty important part of both your branding and your website.  It’s a big task, but I have confidence in you!  You should definitely spend some time with it!  Take your time and don’t get discouraged.  It’s okay to ask for help, but remember that too much help will only make it harder!

With that, I will leave you with a little present that I made just for you.  I created a little worksheet to help you discover that “killer” tagline that is hiding in wait for you! Click here for download.

So, we’ve already talked about why you need a website.  Now, we need to have a little chat about why you need a blog on that website.

According to HubSpot, a leading authority on inbound marketing, companies that blog have:

• 434% MORE indexed pages
• 97% MORE inbound links
• 55% MORE website visitors
• 79% MORE Twitter followers

What does this mean for your small business?  You need to blog!  However, you need to go about it the right way.  If you do, and you do it regularly, you will get more visitors to your site.  More importantly, you will get more of the right visitors to your site.  Getting the right visitors to your site will put more money in your pocket.

To some of you, this post may seem unnecessary, but the more I talk to some small business owners, the more this post seems relevant, even today.  So, let me convince you…

1. Get found!
   Face it; the day of the Yellow Pages is over.  Seriously, at my house, we use our phone books to start fires!  It’s the only use we will ever get out of them.  If you don’t have some sort of presence online, how will anyone know that you exist?  How will someone like me, who would much rather jump online than thumb through a phonebook, find you?
2. Let people get to know you.
   Most, if not all, of your potential customers probably want to find out more about you and your company before they are willing to do business with you.  If you set up your website the right way and have the right information available to your soon-to-be customers, they will feel a lot more comfortable giving you their money.
3. It’s a 24/7 type of world.
   No, you can not live a 24/7 life, but your website can!  It can be there for the customer that is browsing online at 2am.  Or the one can only get on at 2pm, right before picking the kids up from school. We all lead busy and hectic lives and everyone seems to be on a different schedule.  So, even though you can’t be answering the phone at all hours of the night, your website can be there for your customers: answering their questions, easing their minds, and educating them on your products.
4. Get your product or message into as many hands and minds as possible.
   The web reaches so much farther than one little company could ever reach without it!  If you only had traditional means to promote and advertize your business, you probably would not be able to grow past your own little town.  The web makes it easy to reach to the other side of the world!
5. Make it easy for people to buy from you.
   Your customers may want to buy from you, but if you don’t have your stuff available online, this is what they probably have to go through:
   • pack up their kids
   • drive 20 minutes out of the way
   • get their kids out of the car
   • go into your establishment
   • browse through your stuff (but only with half their attention, because they are quietly “shushing” their kids while quickly diverting tiny hands from your fragile items)
   • after stressfully and hurriedly, they walk up to the register to make their purchase
   • herd their kids back together
   • pack everyone back into the car
   • drive 20 minutes back home, probably with some screaming or fussing or fighting, depending on what mood the kiddos are in
   • unpack everyone from the car
   • you get the idea
6. It costs a lot less moolah than the old way!
   Just think about the cost of print for a bit…

   How much would it cost you to get some quality brochures printed up, much less designed?  Then, one brochure is only good for one person.  Then you have to think about how many people actually read the brochure they get. Please understand that I’m not knocking print, here.  There is a place and a time for print materials.  However, your website has the possibility of reaching way more potential customers than a stack of printed brochures.  If you limit yourself to print materials, you are missing out on a lot!

   Now, think again about all of that money you just spent on printing those brochures.  What if, after all is said and done, you realize that you messed up and put the wrong phone number?  What if you decide to change your prices?  There is a whole mess of stuff that can happen.  And you would have to pay all of that money all over again.  With a website you can easily change that information for a lot less money (even for free… stay tuned!)

7. It can do some of your work for you.
   Yep! Your website can work for you!  If you do set it up right, that is. Auto-responders, shopping carts, check out pages, FAQ’s… They’re all tasks that your website can perform for you!
8. Helps you to convey a professional image.
   Actually, your website can help you convey any image that you want. (Again, if you do it right!)  Your customers will see and hear what you want them to.  You can’t always control that in a brick-and-mortar store.  Take the right approach, and your customers will not only trust you, they’ll love you!
9. You can educate and appeal to people you never thought possible.
   If you were out trying to promote your business, you might not approach some the very people who would be your ideal customers if you only knew. Your loyal and loving fans probably know exactly which of their friends, family, and acquaintances that your products or message will appeal to.  And it is so easy to share your products with the right people (if its set up right!).

So, there you have it.  Nine reasons you need a website.  Now that you’re convinced that you need one (you are, right?), stay tuned!  I have lots more information coming your way!