HOW TO GET A PERSONAL WEBSITE THAT SELLS YOUR SERVICE
- even if you know nothing about websites -
When talking to a group of coaches about the typical struggles of getting a personal webiste that actually helps them grow their business, there are a few issues that they frequently talk about:

  1. “I struggle to get people to go and check my website”
  2. “I get traffic on my website but my IT guy says visitors leave very quickly”
  3. ”I let my web designer take care of everything, I don’t know anything about websites”
  4. ”I don’t get it: the pictures, the logo, the copy are all great. What am I missing?”

In one sentence: ”My webiste does not do what it is supposed to do”. Let me tell you, most of the time it’s not your fault. I’ll tell you later why.
No sweat: you can start resolving all those problems today, if you understand the only 3 things that matter when building your own website (or have it built for you) and then take the right first steps moving forward from here.

What you’ll learn in this post:

  1. The 3 things you must know if you want to get a website that actually sells
  2. How and why it’s important to put a business rationale behind a web designer
  3. What you can do with to make sure your website delivers more with little investment

Cool. Take a big breath. Let’s dive in.

First off: stop getting distracted by the fancy stuff

Basic assumption: the only job of a good business website is to promote your business and sell your products.
Most websites are built by web designers, whose job is to please their client (and their ego) and make a website look fancy, disregarding the role that a business website is actually supposed to play. Now, we don’t mean that a good design and user experience are not important (they are!), however focusing on beautiful pictures, fancy logo, and flowery copy does not add to your business as much as you would like to - and won’t bring any real results.

Why is it not working?

Once we search through the web, we are easily overwhelmed with the amount of options. Our attention span shrinks and we can only devote a few seconds to a webpage to find out if it’s relevant for us and if we want/need to read more.

If your website does not deliver what a visitor is looking for in the first few seconds, they will leave your page, go back to the Google search and never come back. Period. I am sure you’ve done it too for many things you searched in the past.

How can you get your website to work for you?

Nothing complex and cumbersome. A good website comes down to 3 main things. Carry them out well, directly, in the right way and your website will become a totally different asset for your business.

THE 3 KEY OBJECTIVES OF A GOOD BUSINESS WEBSITE

OBJECTIVE #1. Turn strangers (visitors) into friends (new subscribers)

If nothing else, your website should (at least) do this. Your website should turn the incoming traffic (be it people who look for you proactively, get referred or click one of your ads) into subscribers in your mailing list (technically called opt-ins)

Not everyone will sign up, but you need to have a tool that systematically captures emails.

How to:

-Use an autoresponder (Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Avatar, etc.)

-Include optin forms in every page of your website, trying different free incentives (e.g. a free PDF report, a short video clip, a downloadable audio podcast, etc.)

-Use pop-up windows (everyone “hates” them but they work)

-Send the free incentive by email, not directly downloadable (it avoids fake emails)

-Use the sentence “Where shall we send it?” to increase email opt-in.

Addressing this objective will make your website alead generation tool.Your website now turns strangers into friends, they know you and start to like you.

OBJECTIVE #2. Turn subscribers (friends) into clients

Once that a visitor becomes a subscriber, they start to like you. It’s time to keep delivering value and start talking about your front-end offer (for example a free 1H consultation) or low-price back end (the first product they could buy). Don’t throw expensive offers at them, it simply won’t work - yet.

Addressing this objective will make your website aselling machine. Subscribers will turn into clients, they now know you and really like you. They also start to trust you.

OBJECTIVE #3. Keep on reaffirming your expert position

Once your subscribers have consumed your free content (which helps them get to trust you), your website has to keep delivering value and showing that you’re the go-to expert they want to work with.

How to’s:

-Create a blog and post regularly about issues that are affecting your potential clients (once a week or 2 weeks)

-Mail your newly released content to your list to stimulate engagement and interaction

-Create blog posts with value and with a teaser to your services. Tease them to the value part and to the offer too.

Addressing this objective will make your website acash machine. First time clients will keep reaffirming your value in their mind, they will follow you and buy repeatedly your services.

Time out.
Now, these 3 questions are the MUST DO for a solid business website. Now many non-technical coaches reading this go... “I don’t know any of this technical stuff”, “It’s too complicated”...etc. etc.

Our answer is: you’re a business, you want to help more people and increase your income. If technical implementation is not your thing, pay someone to do it for you. With this insights you now know what to ask for.

Next steps - Make it real

Here we are, we’ve come to the turning point: you can make it happen.
In order for any of this to work, one thing has to happen. You can’t simply reframe those 3 things in your mind, saying “Yes, I got it”, and hoping that they magically stick together.
You have to write stuff down, let it out, savor it, review it and cherish your notes. This is the stuff that will make you great, more than anything else.

  1. Open a new document or a take your notebook and start answering.

Objective #1. Turn visitors into subscribers (what can you create to attract them?)

Objective #2. Turn subscribers into first time clients (how can you keep your list engaged and make them take the next step?)

Objective #3. Build your expert position (how can you become aware and regularly address their pressing questions to stack up your authority?)

  1. Use those answers to create compelling incentives for your website (to use in the opt-in boxes and with the autoresponder)
  1. Use those answers to create compelling topics for your blog / LinkedIn Pulse / FB posts.
  2. Ask your best clients for feedback and feel free to adjust the answers and improve them as you grow and learn more about your topic and about your audience.

Warning: if you don’t see fast results, don’t panic and don’t get frustrated. Good things like building a tribe of raving fans deserve a little time. You’re on the right path.

So many coaches get excited about quick solutions and expect to see results the same day, and when they don’t get them, guess what? They either give up or look around for another quick fix that will keep them busy for another week or two.
Do yourself a favor, don’t be like that.

Now, if you’ve enjoyed this lesson and want to explore more strategies to get more income and free time in your life, we’ll be running a 100% FREE 30-Day “Business Reboot” Challengestarting on 15 November.

How does this “Business Reboot” Challenge work exactly?

●For 30 days straight you get every day an email with a (different) short, exciting assignment that takes only ONE MINUTE to read and 15 minutes to complete. Each assignment can bring you new prospects, new clients, grow your brand awareness, increase your expert position, get you more engagement, recognition, referrals or focus. The goal is to help you create new powerful success habits through a series of manageable simple steps.

●You get these assignments totally FREE of charge, starting from 15 November.

●You have hundreds of like-minded entrepreneurs, just like you, joining in to support, inspire and energize you.

●Every single day, you get a (different) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow your business in one area.

AND…a special treat for you ;-)

If you leave a comment in the box below answering the question: “When it comes to growing your business, what are your main struggles?” - you also get my ‘Business Boost in 60 Minutes’ online seminar – “10 Great Methods to Attract Ideal Clients” as my gift for taking the first action in boosting your business.

Sign up for the FREE 30-Day “Business Reboot” Challenge here and let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.

Your message matters. Someone out there is looking for an answer and what you know can change their lives.

Live fully, be awesome.