How To Get Valuable Feedback from Your Customers

July 18th, 2010

You can learn many things you didn’t know about your business by getting valuable feedback from your customers.  Your customers may buy your crafts just to get the free gifts. Your visitors may think it’s too hard to navigate through your web site.

By knowing this type of important information you can improve your web site, products/ services, advertising, and marketing. Below are nine techniques you can use to get valuable feedback from your customers.

  • Use surveys and questionnaires regularly to improve your business. Publish them on your web site, e-zine, print newsletter, direct mail material, include them with product shipments or inside product packages. Post them on appropriate online message boards, e-mail discussion lists and newsgroups on the internet.
  • Create an online community for your customers. Include a chat room, message board, e-mail discussion list on your site for customers to participate in. You can regularly moderate these communities to see what your customers are saying about your crafts.
  • Give away your new or potential craft products to a group of your customers. Ask them to use and review the crafts. Ask them to fill out an evaluation form and send it back. Some customers may fill them out, some may not, but the feedback you do get will be valuable.
  • Offer your web site visitors an online craft product or service from your web site at no cost. It could be an “How to” ebook, tip for using your crafts, decorating with crafts, etc. In return, ask them to fill out a short survey about your web site, craft products or services you’re selling
  • Create a customer focus group. Invite ten to twenty of your most loyal customers to meet regularly. They will give you ideas and input on how to improve your customer service. You could pay them, take them out to dinner or give them free products.
  • Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis. Offer them a free newsletter subscription. Ask customers if they want to be updated by e-mail when you make changes to your Web site. Follow-up after every sale, to see if your customers are satisfied with their purchases.
  • Make it easy for your customers to contact you. Offer as many contact methods as possible. Allow customers to contact you by e-mail. Hyperlink your e-mail address so customers won’t have to type it. Offer toll free numbers for phone and fax contacts. This will make it easy for your customers to voice their opinions.
  • You could regularly contact customers on birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays. Send thank you gifts to lifetime customers. E-mail them online greeting cards on holidays or birthdays. Call them personally to wish them a happy holiday. You could them follow-up with a survey or ask them if they’re happy with your business.
  • Invite your customers to company meetings, luncheons, workshops or seminars. Create special events for your customers like parties, barbecue’s, dances etc. Make a point for yourself and your employees to interact with them at these events to get valuable feedback for your business.

You could use a couple or all of the techniques listed above to get valuable customer feedback. These aren’t the only ways. Be creative and come up with some of your own.

Tell me how you go about getting feedback from your customers.

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5 Questions to Improve Your Copywriting

July 17th, 2010

When you’re trying to sell crafts online, your sales copy needs to be as good as it possibly can be. You need to direct people to buy what you’re selling and the only way to do that is with great copywriting. However, writing great sales copy isn’t easy. But there are 5 questions you can ask yourself once you’re done writing the copy. Whenever you finish your own sales copy, make sure you ask yourself these 5 questions to improve your copywriting.

Is the Copy Interesting?


To improve your copywriting, the first question you have to ask is if the copy is interesting. It doesn’t matter how great the product is, and it doesn’t matter how many benefits you’ve listed in the copy. If the copy isn’t interesting, then nobody will read it.

Is the Copy Readable?


Next you have to ask yourself if the copy is readable. This means that there aren’t any mistakes in the copy. It also means that the words are short, the sentences are short, and the paragraphs are short. Finally, the copy also needs to flow well.

Is the copy believable?


The third of the 5 questions to improve your copywriting is: Is the copy believable? What you wrote can’t make any promises that won’t be believed. You want the copy to impress the reader and make them want the product, but you don’t want to make any crazy promises that will turn the reader off.

Does the Headline Hook the Reader?


If the headline doesn’t hook the reader then it doesn’t matter how great the rest of the copy is. You might have the best sales copy ever written. But if your headline is weak, then your copy will fail to pull in any customers. So make sure your headline draws in the reader and makes them read the rest of your copy.

Does my Copy Answer my Headline?


Finally, for the last of the questions, you want to make sure your copy answers your headline. The hook in your headline is the whole reason why the reader decided to read your copy. So, make sure you pay them off by answering what your headline promised.

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Referral Offers Your Customers Can’t Refuse

July 16th, 2010

A great craft product or service and pleasing customer experience are essential to building a steady stream of referrals to your business.

Every startup crafter hopes to build a solid and consistent stream of referred leads. To make this happen, you must provide a great product or service and a great experience. But that’s often not enough on its own. To get the referral tap flowing, you also need to create compelling ways to stay top of mind with your referral sources (customers) and convince them to sing your praises. Here are referral tactics I’ve seen other crafters use successfully:

Expectation: This is the simplest tactic of all. During your lead conversion process, mention that “we know you’re going to be so thrilled with our craft products (replace with your specific craft) that in 60 days, we’ll check and make sure you’re thrilled, then ask you to suggest three others who you know would love this result. Is that a deal?” Don’t overlook the ease of how this works. It’s powerful.

Gift certificate giveaway: Send a periodic e-mails or postcards to your customers and referral sources, offering a gift certificate of real value for your products or services. Tell the recipients that they’re free to forward this to anyone they choose. Many customers want to refer you; this gives them something tangible to use in the process.

Nonprofit partner: Find a group you want to support. Propose several ways to create a deep partnership, such as a campaign that benefits your partner for every craft product purchased this month. This kind of campaign is a win for all and can motivate your partner to introduce your promotion to their constituency.

A 100-percent refund: This one works because it sounds so good. When customers buy a craft product or service, offer them a 100 percent refund on their purchase. All they need to do is give away four special cards to friends. For each of these cards resulting in a new customer for you, your referral source gets a refund of 25 percent up to 100 percent. This is really just paying a commission for referrals, but it turns into a game with a nice marketing ring to it. Don’t forget to take photos of all your 100-percent refund club members.

Secret price list: Another great way to earn referrals is to surprise your customers with a deal. Once they agree to a purchase your crafts, offer them a lower price if they provide referrals on the spot. I once worked with an crafter who did this using postcards that the customer would fill out immediately, referring them to a friend.

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10 Magic Ways to Multiply Your Craft Orders on Your Website

July 15th, 2010

The best way to multiply the craft orders on your website is to keep current your customer returning while you are working to get new customers to your website.

  • Use reward programs to keep people revisiting your web site and buying your craft products. You could reward gifts or discounts for revisiting or buying. When they are close to and when they have reached a reward or discount level, remind them via e-mail.  Make it easy for them to immediately obtain he reward or discount by sure to include a clickable link to your website.
  • Write helpful articles for other craft web sites to increase your traffic. Write an article that can be used by a variety of crafters. Don’t be afraid to offer the articles to crafters in your craft – yes, I mean your competitors.  You will be seen as an expert.  Don’t forget to include a well written profile and signature block that includes a link to your website. You can do it at no charge and in return just ask for a sponsor ad in each issue.
  • Trade endorsement ads with other craft websites. They pull more hits and sales than just trading classified ads because it gives your ad instant credibility.
  • Test your ad copy before you start taking orders. Tell your visitors to e-mail you if they want to be notified when you launch a new product.
  • Get your visitors excited about your product by letting them know how excited you are about it. Tell them why you’re excited and use exclamation points.
  • Use incentives to gain referrals if you don’t have an affiliate program. Tell people when they refer customers you will award them with free products.
  • Tell your visitors the reason why you’re having a sale so they don’t think your products are cheap. It could be a holiday/seasonal sale or clearance sale.
  • Stay away from overloading your web site with high tech gadgets. They can create a slow loading web page and distract people away from your offer.
  • Cut out words, phrases, and paragraphs in your ad copy that aren’t selling or supporting your product. This will stop people from getting bored with your website.
  • Keep people at your web site as long as possible. Allow them to download free ebooks, sign-up for contests, use free online services, etc.
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10 Killer Ways to Make Online Testimonials More Believable

July 14th, 2010

Testimonials are an effective way to persuade potential customers to purchase your product or service.  However, testimonials have received a bad rap from some potential customers.  To many customers, testimonials look faked and fraudulent.  Here are 10 ways to make online testimonials more believable.

ONLINE VIDEO – If some of the people who give you testimonials have a camcorder, ask them to record their testimonial on video and send it to you. Then you could convert the video to an online video file and upload it to your site. You can find more information about converting video at http://www.real.com/

ONLINE AUDIO – Record people’s testimonials with a mini tape recorder over the phone, on your answering machine, or voice mail. Then you could convert the recording into an online audio file and upload it to your web site. You can find more information about converting audio
recording’s at http://www.real.com/.

PICTURES – Ask people for a digital picture with their testimonial. If they don’t have one scanned you could have them send their picture by mail and you could scan it. This technique will give your testimonials more credibility.

PROFILES – Ask people to include a profile of themselves with their testimonial. You could just have them answer some questions like age, occupation, hobbies, favorite quote, etc. This will make your testimonials more entertaining to read.
CONTACT INFORMATION – When you get testimonials from people, ask them if you could include their contact information under the testimonial. This will allow potential customers to ask your current customers questions about your product or service before they buy. Usually, they will trust them more than you without even contacting the person providing the testimonial.

ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES – Most online testimonials you see have text signatures. You could have people mail their written signature, scan it, and upload it with their testimonial. People will feel the testimonial is more official.

POSTCARDS – Have people mail you their testimonial on a postcard, scan it and upload it to your web site. This will give people proof that the testimonial isn’t fake because it will have a post mark on it.

HAND WRITTEN LETTERS – Handwritten letters are similar to the “electronic signature” tip. Scan and upload the entire written testimonial or letter to your web site. This will give your testimonials a feel of realism.

E-MAIL MESSAGES – When you get e-mail testimonials, publish the entire e-mail message instead of just the contents. It will be more believable because it will include the date, time, subject, who it’s from and the recipient.  Make sure that the e-mails are real, but use a special e-mail in case you are spammed.

RECORDINGS – Record peoples testimonials over the phone with a mini tape recorder. Then, take the recording and record it to an answering machine or voice mail system. Under each one, include a phone number they can call to hear the actual testimonial.

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10 Rules of Living by Thomas Jefferson

July 13th, 2010
  1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
  2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
  3. Never spend your money before you have it.
  4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will never be dear to you.
  5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
  6. Never repent of having eaten too little.
  7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
  8. Don’t let the evils which have never happened cost you pain.
  9. Always take things by their smooth handle.
  10. When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count to one hundred.
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3 Ways to Create More Word of Mouth Advantages for Your Craft Newsletter

July 13th, 2010
  1. Include a tell-a-friend link – Include a tell-a-friend link in each newsletter you send. Even if only a few people actually use the link, it will put the idea of forwarding your content in their minds. Newsletters have the natural word of mouth advantage of being sent through email (the most forwarded form of communication). A tell-a-friend link is still a key component to encourage folks to share your publication.
  2. Include something personal or goofy - It gives people an easy way to talk about your stuff. Examples include an interesting and unrelated link, stories about your favorite sport, kids, trips, a clever joke, or a great quote. Your serious, informative content is what your core audience subscribes for — but it’s the fun stuff that inspires them to forward it to a friend.
  3. Make it about them – Make your newsletter relevant to your audience.  If your newsletter is all about you and what you sell, there’s no value and no reason to share it with others. Nobody forwards a boring, shamelessly self-promotional advertisement. Instead share helpful tips, giving away ideas, and demonstrating thought leadership
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5 Simple Ways NOT to Generate Traffic from Forums

July 13th, 2010

Some marketers do not consider forums as a potential source of traffic. Yet a 2008 survey showed that forums are still a vital foundation of the social web, used by just as many people as blogs and social networking sites.

Forums can be powerful traffic drivers, but they can also be protective and sensitive to outsiders. But, if you do your homework, participate genuinely and approach them with respect, you can benefit from your participation with increased awareness of your Web site, company or brand. Do it wrong, you’ll lose any chance of generating traffic from the forum

Here are five simple ways NOT to generate traffic from forums:

  1. Don’t participate in forums. If you don’t participate in forums, you definitely won’t generate any traffic.  However, you may also miss out on building relationships, learning from others, and being perceived as an expert and mentor.
  2. Sound off immediately. If you come across immediately as a self-proclaimed “expert”, you will probably be ostracized by the forum.  Nobody likes a braggart. Instead, observe first before acting. Before you do anything, check out the forums simply as a reader. See how people participate and what the social norms are. Check out the guidelines (or rules) and read them thoroughly. Respect these rules to the absolute letter. If you are unsure about anything, always ask a member of the site’s staff first. And, since you are looking to generate traffic, make sure that you are at least allowed to link to your site in your signature.
  3. Don’t fill out your profile, especially your signature or picture. If you don’t fill out your profile or include a picture, others in the forum will not be able to learn more about you.  They also won’t be able to link to your product, website, etc.  Go to a community on flowers and put a link in your signature begging people to join your community about flowers.  Everyone loves someone trying to steal members away from their forum. However, once you’ve determined that links are allowed in your signature, put them there. Link to the product, Web site, whatever it is that you are looking to share with people. If you are allowed a profile homepage URL, use it. Be tasteful. Provide information that is useful.  Forum members will visit your forum if they think your information is useful.
  4. Either don’t participate or bully other forum members. Not participating is called “lurking.” It’s like eavesdropping on a conversation.  If you don’t participate, how will anyone know that you are around?  Bullying other forum members is another way to guarantee that you will not be welcome in the forum. You have to want to be a member of the forum by participating and being the very best member that you can be. Share your opinions in a helpful, thoughtful way. Have fun and share appropriate humor. Help others. Participate in a manner that is consistent with you and your brand. Never fall into the trap of arguing with someone in a way that would reflect negatively on you. Personal attacks and name calling have no place in forums, especially if you want to generate traffic.
  5. Always mention other social media like Facebook, Twitter, and your Web site. If you consider a forum like your personal Twitter account, or your Facebook page, or if you set up your Twitter and Facebook accounts to automatically post on forums, you will only alienate other forum members. Instead, do not mention your Web site in posts or refer to your signature, unless it is abundantly, extremely clear that it is acceptable. A forum is a community space not your personal Twitter account or your Facebook page . The way you generate traffic from forums is generally through your signature. You do great things, you help people, and you make good posts. That makes people look at your signature and your profile, which is how you generate receive traffic.
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Should you concentrate on promote Your Website, Facebook Fan Page, or Both Equally? – Part 2

May 18th, 2010

In part 1 – I discussed whether you should concentrate on promoting your business on your website, Facebook, or both equally. The reality is that both Facebook and your own websites are great locations to promote your business.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages.  Concentrate on the advantages and minimize the disadvantages and you can promote your business on both URLs.

It’s a mistake to believe that social and business don’t mix. There is if you have a sensible strategy. Why can’t you give special offers to your Facebook audience? Niche retailers like Accessories Online are using Facebook and Twitter effectively to drive traffic/sales because they have built up a relationship with the audience first to establish trust.

The challenge is to make your presence relevant and to add value. Facebook can act as a good traffic driver to your websites in the same way that Twitter can but nothing is guaranteed – you need to work out where your audience is, how they want to engage with you and then give them the tools. It won’t necessarily work for every business but then neither does TV advertising.

A BIG benefit of Facebook fan pages – ongoing communication. Why does someone become a join a Facebook fan page?  It’s because the fan page has a message/product/service that users will want to become a fan of. If managed correctly, when someone joins a Facebook fan then you have an ongoing communication channel with them

Facebook’s popularity represents a challenge to marketers to think differently about how to reach target audiences online. Facebook visits tend not to start via a search page – they start directly. In other words, people start web sessions at Facebook, which means the ubiquitous “front door” of internet sessions has shifted somewhat away from search and toward Facebook. That means clients need to consider shifting resources away from search (or adding resources) to capture eyeballs and minds via Facebook. How they do that, is a book unto itself. But what most everyone in online has realized through early failed experiments is that creating EFFECTIVE Facebook presences cost time and money and require skill and experience as well (surprise). And they have to be supported continuously. Clients tend to discover this the hard way. Some interpret failure as the fault of the platform, most correctly realize it takes effort to make good use of it.

Find out what your customers are interested in by asking them and running tests. There is a big difference between brand push hard selling and driving sales via intelligent engagement strategies and communication. For me it’s like email marketing. Targeted personalized content outperforms lazy generic broadcasts that get high unsubscribed rates and poor click through.

Measuring results from Facebook and Twitter can be a problem. If you give gifts away to people via Facebook, Twitter, etc., how do you track whether or not they come back to your main site and purchase in the future?

Make your content visible across all of your online and offline channels. Optimize your primary website to capture search traffic for campaign relevant searches. Use your social media presence to engage customers who prefer those channels. Drive traffic from social media channels back to your primary website.

A point that may bear enforcing here is that Facebook traffic MUST be linked back somehow to the website to be optimally effective as part of an overall marketing program. The website is still the best long-term answer for which platform is best suited to serve as the “hub” or fulfillment center, of your online marketing efforts. As a hub, the website has survived (thus far): blogs, Facebook, etc. and probably will continue to do so because it has the greatest flexibility of both presentation and functionality, and because search marketing is so closely mated to it (esp. if you embed a blog in the site).

As much as possible, you should conduct the final transaction, whether financial or not, on your primary website. However, don’t exclude customers that want to rather use the social channel. It’s not an either/or situation. Instead it’s a case of using all available, relevant communication channels in a complimentary manner to maximize impact?

So we are back to the original question.  Should you concentrate on promote Your Website, Facebook Fan Page, or Both Equally?  The answer really depends on you, your products or services and your customers.  I recommend testing all methods and using the system that works best for you.

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New Knee – Big Pain – Long delay in posting

May 18th, 2010

I want to apologize to everyone for the delay in posting new posts.  I had a total knee replacement on April 20.  While the surgery went well, the pain has been much more than I expected.  The pain medicine has caused me to be somewhat foggy and I have not really felt that I could write in a coherent manner.

Thanks for all of the cards and letters.  I promise to begin writing more often.