Nothing builds credibility and trust like being a published expert in your field. It is a feature that will set you apart from your competition.

Now, I’m guessing that you don’t have the time or motivation to write a traditional 400 page book – but there is a powerful publishing tool that should be well within your time and budget constraints.

That tool is an e-newsletter.

An e-newsletter (or ezine) is an email based publication that is sent on a regular basis to a list of subscribers that have agreed in advance to receive it.

Here are just a few benefits of publishing an e-newsletter:

• It will enhance the visibility of your business, products and services.
• It will build a reputation for you as an expert in your field.
• It will capture visitors to your website that may have otherwise been lost.
• Researching topics for an e-newsletter will help you to keep on top of your game.
• It will help you to develop a long term relationship with your readers – turning prospects into customers and customers into raving fans.

And it will do all this for little cost and minimal resources. Convinced? Great!

So, what can you do today to get started as an e-newsletter publisher?

The first step is to talk to your web developer about placing an e-newsletter subscription form on your website. This is how your visitors express their desire to receive your content – and how you build your subscriber list.

Once that is done you can set to work writing your first newsletter. Start by picking a topic in your sector that will be of interest to your readers.

For example, an accountant you might choose to write about a new ATO ruling that will affect her reader’s tax returns. Once you have selected a topic, write your article in an interesting and informative style. Aim for about a page in length and make sure it is well written and free of spelling errors.

You might jazz up the e-newsletter by also adding in a couple of quick tips or industry news items.

And when you’re happy with your content your e-newsletter can be published at the click of a mouse button.

Aim to write a couple of e-newsletters per month and you should see your readership – and your reputation as an expert – grow steadily over time.

This post is part of a series of website marketing tips for small business.

Website Marketing Tip 4 – Become a published expert (within an hour) is a post from: Sharp Dart

I have another experiment for you. If you have a website, open it up and read the contents of the home page and one or two other key pages.

Ask yourself this question – “what are these pages about?”

90% of readers of this post will say they are about their business, their employees, how long they’ve been operating, the features of their products and services etc etc…

Well, I’m afraid this is WRONG and it is losing you a lot of business.

Your website (like all your marketing) should not be about you and your business – it should be about the customer. It should demonstrate how your business offers a unique and compelling solution to their specific needs. After all, the most important thing to your customer is themselves – not you!

With that in mind, how might you change your website copy, images, video and an other material to be more oriented towards your customer?

This post is part of a series of website marketing tips for small business.

Website Marketing Tip 3 – Whats In It For Me? is a post from: Sharp Dart

The Internet is a huge, cluttered place.

In fact, it is probably second only to the Yellow Pages in terms of competitive advertising spaces.

One thing is for sure – your visitors will only be on your website for a short time, and once they leave they are highly unlikely to ever come back.

So, you need to make the most of every single visitor – and be sure to capture their contact information so that you have an opportunity to actively follow up with them at a later date.

To do this you need a couple of things.

Firstly, you need to set up a system on your website that enables visitors to leave their name and email address – and perhaps even their telephone number. Such systems (known by various names such as autoresponders, contact management tools and CRM’s) cost relatively little, are easy to install and can be very secure and reliable.

Secondly, you need to provide a reason for your visitors to willingly give you their contact information. This is commonly achieved by offering something of value and that is of particular interest to your target audience.

For example, a car mechanic could provide a guide on how to look after your car during the cold winter months. Or a restaurant owner could offer a 15% discount voucher or a free bottle of wine.

With an appropriate incentive and a prominently placed submission form, most small businesses will be able to build a good sized list of prospects.

Of course, building a list of prospects is only half the story. To convert the list into real business you’ll need to design a good follow up marketing campaign.

This post is part of a series of website marketing tips for small business.

Website Marketing Tip 2 – Capture visitors is a post from: Sharp Dart

For any small business there are basically two types of website.

The first – and most commonly sold by web developers – is the brochure website. Brochure websites are characterised by heavy designs, stock images and page after page of generic “corporate speak”.

Now, as an Internet marketer I am a little biased but in my opinion a brochure website is the WRONG type of website for the vast majority of small businesses.

Why? Because they are BORING for visitors. They are standard fare – seen over and over again. They do not connect with the needs of the customer and they do not provide any opportunity for a business to communicate whatever it is that makes it remarkable.

Worse still, brochure websites do next to nothing to bring new leads into a business. In particular, they are rarely constructed with search engine ranking in mind.

So, what is the second type of website? It’s what’s called a direct response website. Direct response websites are designed and implemented specifically to deliver bottom line results for a business.

They engage with the visitor, speak directly to their needs and desires, and provide them with clear instructions (and a compelling reason) to take the next step.

If your website is not generating a steady stream of sales leads then it is likely that your site is a boring brochure – and it is not standing out from the crowd and connecting with your target customer.

This post is part of a series of website marketing tips for small business.

Website Marketing Tip 1 – Avoid boring brochures is a post from: Sharp Dart

I have an experiment for you… And completing it could yield some serious improvements in your Internet marketing efforts.

Open a new tab in your Internet browser and surf on over to your business website. Take a good look at what you see and answer this question – “what do I want my visitors to do when they arrive on this page?”

Pick another couple of pages at random from the website and ask yourself the same question.

Were you able to give a solid answer for each of your web pages? And if you were – are you confident that your visitors will reach the same conclusion?

One Page – One Goal

One of the most common mistakes business owners make with their websites is not having a single goal or objective defined for each page on the website. And when you think about it – if you don’t have a clear objective in mind for your visitors then it’s highly likely they will be doing all sorts of random stuff – including leaving your website and heading over to your competitors.

Here’s the golden rule for a results driven business website: One page – One goal.

Right now you might be asking what exactly is a goal? Well, it’s basically a specific action you want your visitors to take as a result of visiting your page. Typically your goal will be related to moving a casual visitor to a sales prospect, or a sales prospect to a customer.

Here are just a few examples:

• Buy something directly from the website.
• Call a sales or customer enquiry telephone number.
• Perform a specific interaction with the website or content.
• Become a registered member of the site.
• Sign up to an email newsletter.
• Post a comment, question or testimonial.

So how do you build web pages that funnel your visitors towards a single goal? In the end it is all about engaging with your visitor and demonstrating that by taking a specific action (your goal) they will be moving closer to having their needs met.

And the better you capture and hold your visitors attention the more compelled they will be to take action.

But how do you communicate what action you want them to take? Very simply, you use a call to action…

A Call to Action

A call to action is a statement, slogan, or special offer that motivates a visitor to act immediately. A well crafted call to action has the following ingredients:

• It instills a sense of urgency around the action.
• It resonates with the state of mind the visitor is in.
• It clearly communicates the benefit in taking the action.
• It clearly defines exactly what action you expect the visitor to take.
• It is prominently placed and easily found.

You will have seen calls to action many, many times as a consumer. A classic is “Offer only available for a limited time – call today”. And the reason you have seen them so often is that they really do work. They’ve been tried and tested by marketers for decades.

For more customers and less marketing spend – ACT NOW!

If you’ve had a website for a while you’ll know that attracting visitors is no trivial matter. Before you consider increasing your effort and budget on traffic generating attraction strategies make sure you are getting the most from your current visitors.

It can often be more profitable to work on your conversion rates using specific goals and calls to action than it is to attract more visitors to an underperforming website.

What’s the goal of your website? is a post from: Sharp Dart