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Growing Your Business In CyberSpace
by: Mark Sincevich
A synopsis of
Philippa Gamse's Presentation to the
National Speakers Association, Washington DC
chapter on Saturday, January 10, 2004
Someone had
asked Philippa why Websites are such a
'pain' in a pre-seminar question. Her
opening reply was simple, yet powerful,
"when you stop improving your site, you stop
growing." She believes that Websites are a
work in progress much like a business plan
or one's own self-improvement. In fact, the
first question you should ask yourself about
your own Website is, "What does it really do
for people?"
The second
question is "Who is your audience?" You see,
websites are really a lot like a business
plan! If you are trying to attract
prospective clients, then each individual
page on your site should offer something of
value to your audience. The number one way
that Philippa adds value to her audience is
through her articles. The best way to keep
getting top listings with the most popular
search engines such as Google, Yahoo! or
MSN, is to constantly change or add content.
Her articles add value to her audience and
are her number one search engine strategy.
Maybe this is why she doesn't cold-call. Her
customers tell her that they have seen her
name in multiple locations before they call
her directly.
She said that
we should think about the emotional
connection that our website makes. How does
your website represent you when you are not
there? Unfortunately most websites are not a
true reflection of what we do and who we
are. The reality is that our websites need
to become an expertise center. We need to
show a clear benefit such as how our
programs will increase the creativity and
balance of a prospective customer. Every
page should have a strategy, a way to
increase our database and provide a call to
action.
Philippa also
believes that each web site should have a
dynamite testimonial across the front of the
homepage, because testimonials are the
least-viewed section on every website! She
recommends that we pull out our testimonials
and sprinkle them throughout our site. And
when we think of testimonials, we should be
thinking about the substantive ways that we
have helped our customers. If we attempt to
be clear and specific about our program
benefits, why not be clear and specific
about their outcomes from real customers.
She recommends that we have specific
testimonials for specific programs. Talk
about maximizing our congruency!
In order to
get started, Philippa wants to know what we
have done today to improve our website. Two
days after her seminar, I added a question
and answer section and submitted my site to
a dozen search engines. My next step is to
write another article. What are you going to
do today to improve your web site, your
business and even yourself? She encourages
you to contact her about the changes you
have made.
For more
information on how to improve your website
further, Philippa recommends that you
download her tip sheet, "Twenty-Three Proven
Tips and Ideas for On-Line Marketing" at
http://www.cyberspeaker.com/tipsheet.html.
Philippa can be contacted directly at her
office in Santa Cruz, California at
831-465-0317 or pgamse@cyberspeaker.com. If
she doesn't get back to you immediately, it
is due to her ongoing quest to find the best
deli sandwich outside of New York City.
(c) 2004, Mark
Sincevich. All rights in all media reserved.
About The Author
Mark Sincevich is a
professional speaker, photographer and
author of two books and numerous
articles. He works with organizations to
increase their creativity, balance,
leadership and personal development. He
can be reached at 301-654-3010,
mark@staashpress.com, or
http://www.staashpress.com.
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